Evening star., 1902-02-28

With Care and Proper Safeguards.
parental guardianship the part Of
the state should be assumed with great
care and with proper safeguards. 1t
should recognize the sanctity of the home
the unit of our civilizaton--and invade
such sanctity only when the future we'll
being Of the child or children Is irnminently
threatened or when the general good is
m enaced. Then the powerful organization
Of the state should intervene In behalf
Of such children as are beyond the reach
of individual or volunteer effort. Such neg
lected children taken for cause from unfit
parents or improper surroundings are, to
all intents and purposes, parentless, and
the state must supply the need. The forced
separation of parent and child Is as pain
full as the amputation of limb. But who
will say the latter never should be done!
The state must extend the glad hand and
seek to bring sunshine into the clouded lives
and fit them for future usefulness. Chill
dren maintained by private charity are
practically dependent. and these the state
should also supervise. 1t should know
where they are and what is being done for
them. A regular inspection should be made
and their welfare supervised.
"A free and adequate education is the
birthright of every American child. The
state should see to 1t that Its young wards
have such. The early training and healthy
environment during child life will shut off
the supply to the criminal classes. 1t is a
noteworthy fact that In the states where
the parental function with reference to it's
neglected children Is carried to the highest
efficiency there child dependency decreases.
Parental effort Is stimulated in localities
where dependency is judicially and author
itatively determined.
1.-The state is beginning to awaken to the
fact that 1t should have hand in furnish
ing the ounce Of preVention.' In this Dis
trict an act approved March 3, 1901, pro-
vided for probation officer, the same act
forbdding our courts from committing
children under seventeen years OF age FOR
misdemeanors or petty crimes to the Jail
or WOrkhOuse. Under the operations OF this
act 255 juveniles were placed under the
care Of the probation officer. who must be an
emplove Of the board Of childrenS guardians,
and Of this number 90 were placed in their
homes, under the surveillance Of the pro-
baton officer. Here he guides, directs, in
structs. educates. With the force Of the
find out the causes of delinquency and
seek to remove them, so that the state need
not be ashamed to own the family cit
liens.
The Youthful Offenders.
"a separate court for the trial of youth
full offenders was organized and began work
in this District on January 13, 1902. With
our juvenile court and it's necessary ad-
junct a probation officer, a board Of chill
dren's guardians, with large discretionary
powers in placing it's wards, well-equip-
| ped industrial school and many co-operat-
ing private agencies, the juvenile offenders
of the District of Columbia have many
| friends at court who are lo0ngly working
for the uplifting in trying first of all to
bring them under home influences.
There is something radically wrong In
| the home of child who violates law. The
probation system seeks to correct TINS
wrong in the home itself and to save the
with youths is new here. Its advocates are
earnest and hopeful. Its methods ana pur-
poses are not fully understood, and conse-
| quently all the forces provided by the state
for prevention of crime are not enthnsiasti-
| cally imbued with it's principles. But it has
come to stay, for the sanction OF law Is De-
| hind 1t. Let the state furnish more prooa-
| tion officers, truant officers OF discretion
and judgment-there are no such officers In
this District now, although there Is law
| compelling school attendance-multiply our
Industrial and manual training schools ana
kindergartens, and the labor and expense
| at the other end OF the line Will pe mihl-
mized.
What State Should Do.
| 1.-THE state must be careful not to do FOR
| these children what private individuals or
| agencies should do. No system that checks
| human sympathy, or cools the desire 10
do good, or dries up the well-sprlngs OF
| Individual benevolence, Is a wise one.
There should be an intelligent division OF
the work. The state should provide the
| machinery and the motive powers Tor NOV
| ing it, Private agencies should supplement
| and strengthen and OIL the machinery by
| its day nurseries, it's boys clubs. its home
| libraries its associated charities, its
| friendly visitors and numerous other helps
| in preventive work. The intelligence and
heart Of a community can safely and cor
| rectly be measured by the character Of its
efforts to provide for the neglected child
| and to rescue its delinquents. The expen-
diture Of public money in such a cause re-
| straining, preventing and educating Is like
| stopping the leak In the dyke-small at
| first, but Of portentous Importance IL un-
| checked. 1t augurs well for the cause that
| it has enlisted the sympathies and active
labors of such an intelligent body of earn
est workers as constitute the mothers con-
gress. We feel that 1t 10 no disgrace to be
a child Of the state; and that he alone who
| CONTINUED on Eighth PaHe)