Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-07-11
NEGLECTEDCHILDREN
How They viii Be Cared For by the
Board of Guardians.
an INSTITUTION THAT WILL DO GOOD,
Already Many Have Been Placed
Under Its Charge.
PLAN OF OPER ATIONS

An institution which it is confidently be-
iieved will go far toward solving the perple1ing
problem which has long confronted the au-
thorities Of the District in relation to the dis
posai and care of those little waits thrown out
upon the world is the board Of children's
guardians. established by the act Of Congress
Of July &c. 1892.
Until the establishment Of this org anization
there had been no charitable institution in the
District to which a child could be committed
by any court of the District, and hence such
unfortunate little ones, when brought before
the courts, had either to be committed to the
District Jail or to the reform school, Com
mltment to the former meant despite the
vigilance OF the authorities, disgrace and an
euucation In crime and while a commitment to
the reform school meanta restraining influence
FOR the good Of the child and an education. the
| institution has invariably been so crowded that
there was seldom room for q boy there,
ana the unfortunate youngster had to be
released or sent to Jail, either con-
.ingency being equally injurious to his future
welfare. Now. however, all is changed. and
under the new condition of affairs there is
every indication that hereafter every child in
| the District thrown out upon the world, at the
| mercy OF the vicious and criminal classes can
be saved to a life Of usefulness.
ORGANIZATION AND OBJECTS.
The board Of guardians is Composed Of the
following well-known citizens: President, Simon
Wolf; vice president Miss Harriet Loring; Sec
rotary. B. Pickmau 6ann, and Messrs. Ross
Perry, Crosby S. Moves, William J. Miller, John
7. Cook, Mrs. L. s. Doolittle and Mrs. H. B. F.
Mcfarland.
The guardians are appointed by the Criminal
and Police courts Of the District, to serve with
out compensation. One third Of the present
board will serve for two years, one-third for
four years and the remainder for SIX years.
Those hereafter appointed will serve for six
years. The power of the board in respect to
the children committed to their care is practi-
cally that OF regularly appointed guardians,
and the law in relation to the commitment Of
children to their care IL as follows:
All children who are destitute Of suitable
homes and adequate means of earning An hon.
est living, all children abandoned by their
parents or guardians, all children Of habitually
drunken or vicious or unfit parents, all children
habitually begging on the streets or from door
to door, all children kept in vicious or immoral
associations, all children known by their Ian
guage or life TO be vicious incorrigible, when
ever such children may be committed to the
care OF tie board by the Police Court or the
Criminal Court Of the District, and power il
hereby given to these courts to commit such
children, when not over sixteen years Of age, to
said board: Provided, That the laws regulating
schools of the District shall not be deemed to
be repealed in any part by this act.
1t is also provided by the act establishing
the board that the directors Of the reform
school may. when in their opinion it would be
for the best interests Of the child, commit a
child in their institution to the care Of the
board Of guardians on condition Of its good
behavior. Children committed to the custody
Of the board may be apprenticed, bound out,
hired as help in private families,
placed with responsible parties for adop-
ton. placed in private families as part of the
families or placed in charitable institutions.
Up to the age OF sixteen years committed chill
dren may be recommitted from one care to an
other whenever it shall be deemed advisable
DUTIES OF THE AGENT
The board has an Office at 512 F street north
west, where Mr.. W. H. Lewis, late Of the
Minneapolis State School, tho salared agent of
the board, may be found His duties consist in
keeping the records of the board investigating
cases reported, and looking after committed
children. Since the first of the month, when
commitment OF children to the board became
authorized, hardly day has passed that Judge
Miller Of the Police Court has not
committed one or more children to the
care Of the board, and the number
Of children requiring the care the board is au-
the possibilities of the board. For admins
!rative purposes the board was voted for the
presen. year $4,000. and for other purposes
els, 900.
The organization Of the board, in the opinion
of Judge Miller, whose long experience in the
Police Court well qualities him to speak know
ingly, is an excellent thing, and an institution
long and badly needed here. There would, he
thought, be no trouble in carrying out the
work, and its advantages would be almost
incslculsble Agent Lewis says the board
will be able to handle children
of all classes, destitute or incorrigible. With
children under ten years OF age experience has
shown, he said, that it was seldom that more
discipline was needed than can be secured in a
well-re9ulated home. The board. he said,
hoped to be able to care for all children need
ing its care, and he was confident that much
good work would be accomplished.
THE PLACING OUT SYSTEM
1t is claimed that experience shows that the
placing out system decreases the death rate of
the children 40 per cent, as compared with
those placed in the best institutions, while the
effect upon their moral and mental develop
ment is infinitely better. 1t is also claimed
that several years of life in institutions is
really injurious to children, encouraging idle
and dependent habits, from which recovery is
seldom had. On the other hand, children
placed in private family with the advantages
of home life and instruction in the public
schools are much more apt to become good
men or women than those placed and reared in
charitable institutions Some fifty homes have
already been offered the board and many
more are expected as the work and purposes OF
the board become known. Whenever il is DOS
sible and thought best the natural protectors of
children in INDECENT circumstances will be pro-
vided with assistance. In a word, the board
hope to make glad and better the life of every
unfortunate little one committed to their care.