The record-union., 1898-06-07
TO SAVE THE LITTLE ONES.
WORK OF THE ANTI.CRUELTY
SOCIETY.
Very Interesting Reports-O@cers
Elected for the New
Ofacial Year.

a sort Of a love feast and reunion.
There was a good attendance, but not
what it should have been considering
the great usefulness the society has
proved itself to be capable Of in the
community.
The statistical reports show the So
clety to be in a good financial condi-
ton, but it was shown that it is by no
means as yet equal to the calls upon
it. With about 81 800 in the treasury,
that Is still a long way from the tenn
porary home and shelter for which the
society strives. and to secure which it
Is bending its energies. Its monthly
calls are now in excess of it's revenue,
it was said, if it responded to the ap-
peals put forward in the name of char
ity. Most of these have to be de-
clined, yet it was shown that a great
deal is done in that way which strictly
is not within the purpose Of the organi-
zation.
| officer Dan Healy first made his
monthly report. 1t consisted of seven
teen cases, some Of them so pitiful as
to cause tears to arise in more than
one pair Of eyes. Some of the poverty
cases reported were singularly affect
ing, and in one case the officer reported
|
tion, which even his offices failed to
prevent, as it came too late to his at
| tention
Yet in a measure intemperance, vice
and profligacy were shown to lie be-
hind these cases uphappily, however,
the victims are innocent children. The
Secretary and President verified the Of
| ficer's report in several cases by sup
plementals even more pitiful than the
report of the officer himself
President Charles Van Norden then
read his annual report which was lis
tened to with profound attention.
PRESIDENT VAN NORDEN'S RE-
PORT.
The work of the Society for the Pre-
vention Of Cruelty to Children has no
new methods or results to report. We
can only say that the well-known les
sons Of this form Of charity have been
| emphasized anew. Our confidence in
| establishing an organization in Sacra-
| mento for the prevention Of cruelty to
| children, and for the suppression of
| precociouS vice. has been justified.
| The tabulated report of cases will be
/ presented by the Secretary, and the
| financial items of interest by the Treas
urer 1t remains for the President only
| to call attention to some interesting
| facts, and to draw some differences of
possible value.
! We certainly have won and have de-
served the respect of this community,
the goodwill Of the virtuous and the
dread of the debased. The fear of our
authority, Of our vigilance, Of our cour-
age and of our good officer, has fallen
| upon the cruel and vicious. Only per-
sons of ungovernable temper now defy
US in maltreatment of their children
| and wards; and the vice that purposes
| the degradation of young girls has be-
| come extremely dangerous to the per-
| petrators. Never once this year has
our society failed to accept response
| bility or remorselessly to punish the Of
fender.
:. It is evident that on these lines Of
| impression, warning and chastisement
our best work is to be done. The larg-
est part of our success is in the line of
| prevention.
This is well, for prevention is better
| than the best Of cures which are at our
disposal. The remedies we can offer for
| the offenseS the State permits us to no.
tice are unsatisfactory and by no means
| always reformatory. We punish by fine
and Imprisonment the cruel, but have
| no means personally to better them
| and We immune in benevolent institu-
tions the homeless and degraded, but
| we cannot furnish the orphaned with
| loving fathers and mothers, nor give
new hearts to straying girls. Like 9TH
er remedies Of disease-and we are deal
j ing rather with disease than sin-these
of our own, while they are better than
nothing, and save some little ones from
| oppression, and some young girls from
| lives Of shame, fall far short Of our
| desires in operation. It is more desir-
able to prevent than to cure here, as
everywhere, and in this we are meas
| urably succeeding.
Another interesting fact is the gener-
osity Of contributions on the part of
our citizens, especially Of prominent
| merchants. The items showing this
will appear in the Treasurer's report.
To insure the future prosperity Of this
society several precautions must be
carefully observed We must use the
vast power conferred upon US by the
State with the utmost forbearance, and
with conscientious consideration for
| the rights of individuals. We could soon
| destroy our influence and cut off our
support by making ourselves the tools
| of busybodies and the channel of COM
mon scandal. Every case should be
| scrutinized with reference to not SO
much our powers as our responsibilities,
| not so much in the light of what we
| could as Of what we ought to do, and
what is wise and just, that we should
do. To punish cruelty and to suppress
precocious vice, and not to intermeddle
| with the concerns of citizens, is our le
| gitimate work; yet the latter we are
constantly tempted to, by anonymous
letters and gossiping neighbors.
Second, the utmost fearlessness and
| even-handed righteousness is demanded
of us. To strike the poor transgressor
and to avert gaze from the rich is not
permitted US by either the equities of
the case nor by our own best interests.
The spirit of the advocate or the par
tisan should never disturb our counsels.
and only the calm justice Of the judi
cial temper appear.
Finally, we had best understand at
the very beginning of participation in
this work that it involves little poetic
sentiment and less benevolent satisfac-
ton. The victims of cruelty are as a
rule the children of the ignorant and
| brutal, and the laws of heredity have
| rendered them uninteresting. The
young girls we save or immune are not
lovely unfortunates, whom other cir
cumstances would have given to ad-
miring society as models Of virtue; as
a rule they are coarse, crafty and not
| very unwilling to be led astray. The
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