Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-01-23
FOR THE CHILDREN.
Continued from Ninth page.>


to send them to the work house or the Jail.
We have had some very respectable people
who have gone to jail, and have seen these
children behind the bars when the children
were SO small that they had to he held up
to the bars in order to be seen. That has
caused great complaint. Mr.. Lewis, the
agent of the board of chidren's guardians,
goes out into the slums where the sur
roundings are immoral and where this
restitution exists, and very often brings
them into court. If he deems 1T proper he
recommends the court to place them in
charge of this board. That makes the board
morning. and one child was only a few
weeks Old"
Agent Lewis ON Expenses.
In regard to the expenses of the board Of
children's guardians Agent Lewis said:
I'VE have fifty children who are already
situated in private homes and which cost
in the neighborhood of SO apiece for the
necessary maintenance and expense. If
you should spend so for the next five
years for salaries and the expenses Of
looking after them it would have cost the
District at the end of five years 5000. If,
on the other hand, you had gone on, as Is
done now, it would have cost over 1000.
That is in a few words the figures and a
practical demonstration OF the workings Of
this matter.
Superintendent Tracey's Opposition.
dren's guardians, Superintendent Tracey
said:
six or eight months trial is not long
enough to demonstrate the necessity Of such
a change. involving the practical abandon
ment Of very valuable properties, which are
the joint creation of governmental liberal
ity and of munifcent individual benefaction.
If, at the end of the fiscal year. it shall
be apparent that the general good can be
conserved, and government interests, as well
as local ones. promoted by the transfer Of
the entire care of dependent children of all
classes to the board of children's guardians.
the superintendent of charities will take
pleasure in recommending legislation for
such transfer. which cannot be accom-
plished under existing laws. If the system
of the board Of guardians be not only the
best, but also in itself adequate to the en-
tire work of juvenile charity and reforma
ton. the fact will then be demonstrated.
Existing evidences do not prove 1t, however
strongly they may indicate that with wise
management such will be the end.
Prejudice Against Surrendering Chill
dren.
There Is a very strong prejudice in the
minds Of most people, and especially most
parents, to surrendering their children to the
government or any institution which is rec
ognized as public institution; therefore IT
puts them to a greater or lesser extent into
the pauper class. Therefore people who are
not in absolute want and really destitute
will not come to a strictly public agency to
have their children provided for. On the
other hand. those institutions that are strict
ly and entirely private and receive no appro-
priation from the government, have rather
close lines to what they will do. as to
the class they take; therefore they select
those wherein the most good can be accom-
plished; so in those two branches Of institu-
tional work you get into the institution the
children who ought to be there.
The general allegation of incompatibihty
between the operations of the guardians
board and of the chldren's Institutions
comes not from the pre-established institu-
tons. but from the board. The practice of
the board is to require the total surrender
and obliteration of parental rights. and Of
other guardianship through natural kinship,
or the operation of law. "Once ward, al
ways a ward" is the rule Cor which the
board of guardians strenuously and invari
ably contends It's theory Ibis subjec: IS
well and ably set forth in The report of the
boards agent, commencing on page % of
the Report on Charitable and Retormaiory
Institutions for this year. On the other
hand. kinfolk strongly obje,t to the total
surrender of children without opportunity
to recover them. A widowed mother. unable
to maintain both her family and herself by
her labor, Is often willing 10 commit her
child for time to an institution in order
that she may support herself, AMI, when
circumstances permit, reunite her family.
1t is so with relatives of other degrees of
relationship to children. IT has been so
from time immemorial, and will continue SO
as long as human nature remains unchanged
in its general characteristics. In worthy
cases. such temporary care of children Is
not considered wrong to the community
The dependents would necessarily be public
charges If not cared for; and good citi-
zenship. morality and ability to earn live
lihcod being promoted by their sojourn In
asylums. the public may benefit to a degree
far beyond the cost of the care"