The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-06-26
Children Not Wanted,
NV Mrs. Jefferson Davis.)

NV Mrs. Jefferson DaVlS.)
r,o immense wealth now concentra'eu
:, tho hands of a few families III CON
function with the desire OF the "anS CO
f. vored ones to vie with those "oie w.
,note mas set the standard OF luSur'ouS
ro,,;raments so high in New YORK tha'
49, homo as it is remembered by many
of us is almost disestablisheo' II "
senarate domicile, set in an ample yaio'
not to say grounds, from "hion az
strangers were excluded, except as IL
vited and temporary guests. NO" I 80,
twists in a metropolis, for the very lioh.
The great mansion of the CITY N@
non,lous DAYS are utilized to accoHmo-
date boarders by those who nave hallo"
Incomes. In the crowded cities these are
the refuge of people OF moderate hieanS
to some extent, but more frequently "pa.'-
ment- houses have grown up as Hore m
q home. and families are FOUND ID srea'-
er numbers there. In these cara'anoai -
naonle are crowded into a few rooms ana
80 nooocsitv thew and their children are
in a measure interdependent upon the
other occupants.
There is a certain comfy among the
,odeers. especially where the partitions
are thin and the space very circumScrlp-
ed. which enforces the duty upon each
family to see to it that their nelghDors
are not disturbed or inconven1enced' anu
therefore the family must be quiet. n
CRYING child, and generally an I'll cnliu
does cry. will upset a whole floor full OF
ordinarily friendly, considerate people.
Consequently the landlord or janltor OF
the suit is sorely put about. When one
enters the door of the observation-disclosures,
and generally in the more luxurious OF
them, the first question asked by the
suave agents is: "Have you children IN
your family? We do not lease 10 lamllles
with children"
"HAVE YOU CHILDREN IN YOUR
FAMILY?"
Perhaps there is a placard on the door
to save the proprietor trouble, announc-
ing: "No children or dogs taken;' or II
the children are lodged, "Children and
dogs not allowed in the halls The build
ings can be filled easily with childless
couples, they say, and tenants who nave
no children of their own do not want
to be annoyed by those of other people;
besides, children are destructive to fur
niture, carpets and walls. In some OF the
poorer tenements, copying the fashion OF
the better lodging-houses, where there is
a mlScIdUlC OllClOlH OAly OA Tx AiOOA, ohS
reads: "Children not allowed to play in
this hall" Indeed, in many a home there
is a sign invisible, but none the less pro-
hibitory, "Children not wanted"
Children, like the leperS of old, must
keep alOof from every one except their
own family, and in many cases these find
them burdensome. 1t is an awful charge
to bring against modern civilization that
it is not making proper provision for the
coming generation. Once, in q similar
state of society, children were a precious
possession prayed and lOnged for, a sa-
cred trust, a God given we'll spring of
joy and hope in the home, but now they
are to some extent considered a nuisance,
an afhictiOn, and to be avoided if possible,
and if not, to be merely tolerated. The
hotels reject them, SO do the boarding
houses and renting agents, and the rents
demanded for q detached entire house,
taken in conjunction with the increasing
difficulty of getting servants and the very
high wages they command, seems to con-
denim the poor little Ishmaelites, wheth-
er their parents desire it or not, to a
joyless future in the pent-up apartments
or lodgings.
The economic objections to large fami-
lies have prevailed so universally in
France that now the government is wres-
tllu6 4 IL pIODiom VI a SCodOlly Ill
minishing ratio Of births to deaths.
CHILDREN OF THE TENEMENTs.
1t is a melancholy fact that few large
families are to be found in the great CT
ties. The large families are generally the
children of the very poor. These unfort-
unates overflow onto the sidewalks, their
only playground, and there they associate
with all sorts and conditions of desoluate
"cabin-cribbed" children. Thew are
sorely tempted by an example set them
OF flching from the little booths and
stalls the cakes for which they long but
cannot acquire honestly, and gradually
habits of theft are acquired and other
evil ways harden within and petrify the
feeling"
The children of the rich are too often
given over to the charge of companion
ship, first of nurses and then of govern
esses, as their ages may Indicate. Is il
possible or even reasonable to expect that
those Will look after the building up of
the characters of the children or the Gull
lure OF thelr moral nature, as a parent
would! The hereditary tendencies of q
chllu can only be known and appreciated
by It's parents. Certainly the gOvernase
must work e~Xperimentally and in the
udih' as well as without an enlightening
io'e 70 guloe her. l once asked an insub-
'Siy oAldi girl VINO was alone
ana crying Historically on her fathers
stairway after she had got into an alter
cation with her governess, "Why are Won
not a good little girl?" She sobbed ont
Il cannot be good because she does not
ioVe me. This is the gravaman of a good
ildny OF the complaints children make
"llnout knowing the origin of their
troubles. They do not associate with
'helr mothers in an intimate way.
l nave been astonished when driving IN
Ueh'ral Park to see so few children in
'he splendid equippages which roll nv !,
ehuiess succession. Very often thero !,
a dog sometimes one of considerah1e
SIZE on the seat with the mistress. but
very rarely a child. 1 do not know wbe.n
er 1t Is questionable to take children
their health to walk. ~
l neard a bright, devoted girl one dow
say 10 her mother after being unayoic-
anly separated for many years from hon.
~ iiC1