The times., 1901-03-10
THE JUVENILE REPUBLIC
\ Miniature of the National Gov
ernment at Washington.
Boys and Girls From the SIums
Taught what American Institu-
lions Are, IndustrinIIy and PoIiti-
caIIy-MakinG Desirable Citizens.

Washington has just passed through
! the ceremonies incidental to the inaugu-
I ration of a President. Congress has
posed for the benefit and awe Of the as
sembled multitude and put on an air OF
august greatness and dignity calculated
to take away the breath of obscure citi-
zens. The President, looking wise and
distinguished has told the multitude
what he is going to do to make the cOun-
try great and prosperous.
The military has paraded its tinsel and
gold lace with pomp and flare of trum-
! pet and drum. The visitor goes home
full Of patriotism and national pride. not
( Knowing, perhaps, that within the bor-
ders Of this great land is a little Juve-
/ nile Republic, the exact prototype in min
! iature Of the Government at Washing
/ ton.
The Junior Republic has its seat Of gov
/ ernment on a farm in FreeviHe n. Y
The citizens Of this republic are bows and
! girls taken from the Sums Of the great
1 cities and there they learn how govern
! ment is conducted; how laws are made.
ana why and how benefits are acquired
/ and enjoyed by the citizen
! The government consists Of a legfsla-
! tive body and an executive-that is, a
/ Senate and a House Of Representatives.
President and his Cabinet. The man
dates OF the Government are enforc 10.
( by navy and an army, but by d well
/ organized and efficient police fore The
main difference between the national an J
4 juvenile Republican Government lis that
there has been but one President since
/ the foundation Of the juvenile Govern
mont, some years ago, and he is its
! President still He is William r. George,
the founder of the Republic
The aim Of this miniature Republic is to
teach the children Of the poorer classes
about American institutions. political and
Industrial, their functions ana the penal
ties resulting from the infringement of
the laws which underiie these institu-
tons
The methods employed at Freeyflle ar
I such that a boy or girl is likely to pass
/ from the lowest rank in the little Repub.
/ lies society TO the highest social and
/ official status; that is. from the jail 10
4,the Speakership Of the House Of Repre-
sentatives.
/ The sources from which the children ar.
/ drawn are the lower strata OF society
and may be divided into three general
/ classes. These are the hoodIum tn sac-
/ per, and the improvident. The hoo llun
/ is known everywhere and needs no de
scription The pauper boy is one who ex-
poets TO go through life assisted by th,.
humanitarian Of others. His highest am
bltiOn is to lean upon somebody for his
support. The idea of his becominai ab-
solutely self-supporting never occurs 70
him. or, il it does, he is too lazy or too
demoralized TO put forth the requisite ef-
fort in his own behalf.
The improyident boy or girl does not
. come from pauper stock, but from parents
who do not spend their earnings judi
ciously. They live for today and have no
thought Of the morrow. With unmpor-
tJnt exceptions All the children Of the
Junior Republic can easily be placed il
one Of these three Glasses
Before the boys and girls are taken to
l'rcevilie, Mr. George secures absolute
control Of them for sixty days and takes
their parents piHce completely. After
The expiration of the sixty days the chH
dIcn are returned to their homes some
with enough provisions, the result of theia
earnings, to keep the family supplied fal
q whole season. others return just as
they LEFT their homes with nothing eN-
Ccpt the clothes they brought with them
The FreeVilie farm is Of forty acres ANA
contains a number of buildings. The first
things the children see when they cute3
the buildings are numerous sieas posteG
over the doors. one sign reads Bank.
another Counting Room and other
Senate House of Representatives.
Court House" etc.
Down in a dark and dingy passagew8y
is . sign which reads Jail
The boys are shown the workshops
abundautly supplied with tools and tn.
girls are conducted through the kitchen
dressmaking, and millinery rooms. They
are told that they must work for all they
get They can make their own selection
a 10 the kind of work they prefer Most
Of the girls would rather do millinery and
dress making than kitchen work. Com
petent instructors stand ready to teach