The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-08-01

examine into matters of this kind say
| that already great harm has been done;
confirmed nlendicancy is one of the least
of the forms, dishonesty and pro1igacy
being consequences as natural. The
! society already mentioned has taken
tentative steps towards the suppression
of the evil, but has heSitated to seem to
attack an enterprise undertaken in the
name OF charity by a newspaper. Com
| plants have been so numerous recent
", however, that it has been decided
] to adopt active measures without fur
Their delay, and every girl found begging
for pennies or anything else in the
name Of the World sick babies, or for
any other cause, VIII be arrested and
arraisned for the punishment prescria-
ey law. Mr.. Gearry, the president of
| the society, who is now on his way
from Europe, has written to members
of the society expressing his Indignation
at the abuse, of which he has heard
! much from friends, and 1t is probable
| that when he gets here the effort will be
redoubled to abate it. The society has
comparatively few agents, however. and
the evil is so widespread that it cannot
be eradfcated unless public opinion is
asserted against IT in some unmis. aka
bic way. 1t is thought that an appeal
might be made to the police commits
sloners TO instruct the police force to
ENFORCE the law in respect to begging;
tney certainly have the power An
expcstulauon was recently addressed
by the society to the World but nothing
came of it, except that some time ago
readers OF the Evening World were in
formed that no one was authorized to
coiiect money for the sick babies fund
The fund was started last year, and
the special plan adopted to popularfze
and perpetuate it HFaS to encoura ee
children 70 get money and send it in TO
the sick babies fund editor. Just how
they should get it, the World did not
say. Many of them got it by holding
entertainments Indoors. Then they be-
came more enterprising and went into
the streets and set up little stands
"here they sold lemonade or candy or
something else IN q. small way. So
many persons bought without appropri-
atHlg tneir purchases that a great num-
per OF chaidren soon learned that a
preoence of something TO sell was "a
good as the reality: hence a samn,a
oIten took the place of stock. From
this disguised begging the transition
was easy to undisguised begging. With
small boxes in their hands children
Wentr INNING around the streets beg
g1ng of aal passers-by in the name of
the Evening Worlds Sick Babies
FUND. And now 1t has become al
most a craze among children of certain
class, mainly the poorer.
Nearly all the children enga Cei in
this work are girls from ten to fourteen
years of age. They are becoming used
no accosting strange men upon the
street, TO entering into conversation
with them, to enduring the privileged
banter of an alms-giver. to receiving
money for the mere soliciting. Some
times two apply to the same man at
the same time, and in their competitive
zeal they lay hold of him to claim and
detain him as their particular prize.
II is in the opinion of persons who have
watched with trained eyes the progress
and effect of this experience, that it
directly tends first to make these girls
professional and confirmed mendicants
and, second, to destroy their morality
altogether.
Most OF the children who have actual
iy become self-appointed agents of the
fuIld are of the class 10 whom spending
money has been a rare luxury That
the temptation TO appropriate a part
of their collections should in many cas-
es prove irresistible is a foregone con-
clusion; and of course the dishonesty
IS progressive. 1t Is also certain that
such an excellent coax for profitable
mendicancy as the sick babies fund
affords must. have been thrown by
many confirmed beggars upon the
shoulders OF children under their con-
troll