El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-12-21
COOPERATION
Lies the Solution Uf the Pro-
blem Of Procuring Decent
Treatment For Hu-
mans and Beasts

Herald man asked the Rev. Mr.
Wheeler. the street missionary, what
steps. il any, he expected to take In
the matter of the little girl that is
performing on the stage of low resort
in this city. His answer in substance
was as follows:
1T seems that the people expect me
to take some step in this matter but
the people do not understand the pc
sition in which 1 am placed in this
case. 1 am obliged to take two sides
of this case. AS everybody who knows
me knows, l am an ex-showman and
am not disposed to fight show people.
1 have had a hard enough time as a
snowman to know that they have
enough troubles without me adding
more But cannot endorse show peo-
pie when they step out of the bounds
of law and order and common decen-
cy.
IF the people are willing to coop
operate with me with their assistance l
can rescue the little girl, but 1 will not
go and take her away from her moth
er and put her 90 ~ the streets to
beg for a living.
1T is not right to take her away
from her mother. nor to take her
mother away from her method of earn
ing a living. without providing a
home and something for them to do.
There is a state law that covers
this case Nou will find this case
touched upon by article 335. sections
A and B, of the statutes of Texas.
This law says that a child under
twelve years of age being mistreated
or kept in an immoral place, or hav-
ing an incompetent parent or guardian
in a moral sense, may be rescued by
any private individual. by going be-
fore a proper judge and making an afii
davit to the effect that such is the
case. But it would not be a humane
act to the child or mother to take
them away from where they now are
and turn them out on the world to
saved from poverty.
"If some person with the means to
carry out his plans will go to the wo-
man and tell her that if she will quit
the stage of an immoral theater and
seek a more respectable livelihood he
will secure her the position by which
she may do this and pay her way to
the place, it might have some effect.
"The prayers of the church people
and the horror that they express when
they think of the life that little girl
is being led into will not rescue the
girl. They must act. II the citizens
will cooperate with me 1 will organ
ize a humane society here. I would
be glad to do it. I can secure a char
ter that will empower the society to
appoint a special officer to arrest peo-
pie guilty of inhuman acts to humans
or beasts.
I'VE could have no more power in
the case under discussion than the law
gives the single individual, but the
idea is this: We would have a body
to act together. In union there is
strength.
THE society would have a man on
the lookout for such cases. He would
report them to the society, then all
together, they would step in and in
terfere with the law breaker and res
cue the prosecuted or the wronged in
any way. If money was required to
do we would have a body to act to-
gether to raise the money to carry out
the plans.
What is everybody's business is no
body's business. That is the way with
the case of the little girl. If we had
a humane society it would be the bus
mess of the society and it's alone to
rescue the little girl. When we get
the industrial school bill passed then
(C0nfinrod