The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1900-07-12
HOW THEY DID IT.
Hugh Fox Tells How the
State Board of Children's
Guardians Was Es-
tablished.
REVIEW OF WORK
l66 Children Returned to
Their Homes Only Four
Improper.
REVIEW OF WORK

1t was goodly audience of enthusiastic
workers from the Society of Philanthropy
that gathered today in Mrs. E. E. Will
iamsons rooms in the Fuller Building to
hear explained the inner workings of the
State Board of Chrildren's Guardians.
In fact, even in the face of the excessive
heat the rooms were crowded with inter-
ested philanthropists of note from var
ious points in the United States, even
from the far West.
The first thing on the programme was
an address by Mr.. Hugh Fox, of Bay
onne, member of the State Board of
Children's Guardians. He gave a brief
history of the difficulties connected with
the creation of the act and getting the
Board appointed. 1t might be, he
thought, of some future advantage to
some one who should wish to establish
a like institution. New Jersey and IL
lnois, he said, were the only Northern
States still housing children in Aims
houses. He reviewed the history of the
passing of the bill, spoke of the indif-
ference of a Legislature which received
the applicants with so much Indifference
that it provided no appropriation and
of how Mrs. Williamson came to the res
cue by forwarding the necessary funds
on the chance of getting it back.
1.-THE work was begun by bombarding
every individual and public system of
care of children" continued Mr.. Fox,
1--WE found that while they all set forth
their strong points, but failed to record
their failures
He spoke of visits to Boston, Phila-
delphia and the national convention in
Columbia, "and," said he, found it inn
possible to engraft any one system on
New Jersey"
The first plan was to have county
boards appointed by County courts and to
levy on the county not only for support
of children, but for maintenance of the
work. In addition a State Supervisor
Board was to be appointed This grad
ually evoked itself into the present State
Board consisting of seven persons, two of
whom are women.
Since the work started, Mr.. Fox ex-
planned how 16o children had been re-
turned to parents or relatives. The chill
dren must be placed in homes of the
same faith as their parents The Board
makes the investigation and If the chill
dren have any relatives, forces them Ito
care for them, according to law.
When the Legislature convened last
year the Board was able to report all
Almshouses emptied of children except
Hudson county. Conflict with private So
cieties and individuals had created so
many enemies that the Legislature was
unwilling to appropriate the $1,000 needed
and decided that as the Commission had
worried along one year on $1,000, it could
do SO again. That was just enough to
run the office and pay an agent. Mrs.
Williamson, however, gave her services
as agent gratus. There are now about
two hundred children in the Hudson
County Almshouse.
Mr.. Fox further explained how record
of each child was kept. Every boarding
home is visited once month Monthly
reports are sent in from school teachers,
not only noting the child's percentage in
study, but general appearance and
health, and the ministers of the church
attended by the child reports quarterly.
The free homes are visited twice year,
and record of all this is kept by
sociological system of bookkeeping.
Mrs. Williamson followed this address
by few remarks. She said that Mr. Fox
had given her so much praise that she felt
she must apologize. She did it because
she considered it her life work
when we went before the Legislature
and asked for a radical law said she,
"eradicating all children from the Aims
houses, it was something new and the
Legislature was afraid to adopt it, but
every claim made by us has come to
pass. OF the 450 children in the Aims
house we claimed we could put 150 back
with relatives. I have been asked
whether it was wise to place children
with relatives who do not want them?
That is not the question. When they
know they have to care for them they
will quickly learn to want them. OF
the 1866 children returned to relatives, only
four homes have been found improper.
One can always set faith for the grand