Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1904-12-08

8 increase Of mortality, and especially of in
FAINT mortality, with the decrease in the mum
Der OF rooms used by the family. and will
the consequent overcrowding Is startling Th
slum exacts a heavy total OF death from
those who dwell therein; and this Is thu
case not merely In the great crowded slum
or high buildings in New York and Chicago
put IN the alley slums of Washington. ii
washington people cannot afford to ignor'
, the harm that this causes. No Christian ant
civilized community can afford to show
happy -go-lucky lack of concern for the youtl
or today; for If SO, the community Will have
to pay terrible penalty of financial burder
and social degradation in the tomorrow
There should be severe child-labor and rae
tory y-inspection laws, 1t is very desirable
that married women should not work in fac
tories. The prime duty Of the man Is u
work, to be the breadwinner: the prime duty
or the woman Is to be the mother, the mouse
Wife All questions of tariff and finance SIM
into utter insignifcance when compared will
the tremendous, the vital Importance OF try
Ing to shape conditions so that these two
duties of the and Of the woman car
be fulfilled under reasonably favorable cir
cumstances If a does not have plenty
of children or If the children do not gro"
up or II when they grow up they are un
| healthy In body and stunted or vicious fr
mind. then that race Is decadent and nc
heaping up Of wealth. no splendor Of mo-
mentary material prosperity, can avail ir
any degree offsets.
The Congress has the same power Of legs-
lation for the District OF Columbia which
the State Legislatures have for the various
states. The problems incident to our highly
complex modern industrial civilization, with
its manifold and perplexing tendencies both
for good and for evil. far less sharply
accentuated in the City OF Washington than
in most other cities. For this very reason
it is easier to deal with the various phases
of these problems in Washington. and the
District of Columbia government should be
a model for the other municipal governments
q hp a ms a. IL
| pervision of the housing Of the poor. the
creation Of small parks in the districts in
/ habited by the poor. in laws affecting la
Dor, in laws providing for the taking care
I of the children, in truant laws. and in pro-
| viding schools.
In the vital matter of taking of chill
dren, much advantage could be gained by a
careful study Of what has been accomplished
in such states Illinois and Colorado by
the juvenile courts The work of the juven-
lie court is really work of character build
ing. 1t is now generally recognized that
young boys and young girls who go wrong
should not be treated as criminals, not even
necessarily as needing reformation, but
rather needing to have their characters
formed, and for this end to have them
tested and developed by system of proba
ton. Much admirable work has been done in
many of our commonwealths by earnest men
and women who have made special study
of the needs of those classes of children
which furnish the greatest number of juven-
lie offenders. and therefore the greatest
NUMBER OF aQult OHenderS, ana by thelr alu,
and by profiting by the experiences of the
different states and cities in these matters,
1t would be easy to provide a good code for
the District of Columbia.
Several considerations suggest the need
for a systematic investigation into and i'm
provement Of housing conditions in Washing
ton. The hidden residential alleys breed
ing grounds Of vice and disease, and should
be opened into minor streets. For num-
ber of years influential citizens have Joined
with the District Commissioners in the vain
endeavor to secure laws permitting the con-
demnatOn Of insanitary dwellings. The local
death rates, especially from preventable dis
eases, are so unduly high to suggest that
the exceptional whOlesomeness of Washing
toms better sections is offset by bad con-
ditions in her poorer neighborhoods. spe
cial Commission on Housing and Health
Conditions in the National Capital would
not only bring about reformation of existing
evils, but would also formulate appropri
ate building code to protect the city from
mammoth brick tenements and other evils
which threaten to develop here they have
in other cities. That the Nations capital
should be made a model for other munich
palities is an ideal which appeals to all
patriotic citizens everywhere. and such
special commission might map out and or
ganize the citys future development in lines
of civic social service just Major l. En-
FAINT and the recent Park Commission planned
the arrangement of her streets and parks.
1t is mortifying to remember that Wash
ington has no compulsory school attendance
law and that careful inquiries indicate the
habtual absence from school of some 20
per cent of all children between the ages of
and II 1t must be evident to all who
consider the problems of neglected child
life the benefits of compulsory education
in other cities that one of the most urgent
needs of the National capital is a law re-
dren, this law to be enforced by attendance I
agents directed by the Board of Education. |
Public Fairgrounds are necessary means for
the development of wholesome citizenship in
modern cities. 1t is important that the work
inaugurated here through voluntary efforts
should be taken UP and extended through
Congressional appropriation OF funds suf-
fcent to equip and maintain numerous con-
venient small Fairgrounds upon land which
can be secured without purchase rental
1t Is also desirable that small vacant places
be purchased and reserved small-park
Fairgrounds in densely settled sections of
the city which now have public open
spaces and destined soon to be built up
solidy All these needs should be met i'm
mediately. To meet them would entil ex-
penses but a corresponding saving could
be made by stopping the building of streets
and levellng of ground for purposes largely
speculative in outlying parts of the city.
There are certain offenders, whose crmin-
ality takes the shape Of brutality and cruelty
towards the weak, who need a special type OF
punishment The wife beater for example,
is inadeQuately punished by imprisonment;
for imprisonment may often mean nothing
to him. while it may cause hunger and want
to the wife and children who have been the
victims of his brutality. Probably some form
of corporal punishment would be the most
adequate way Of meeting this kind of crime.
The Department of Agriculture has grown
into educational institution with fac
ulty of 1000 specialists making research into
all the sciences of production. The Congress
appropriates directly and indirectly, $6 000
600 annually to carry
Agriculture this work II
reaches every state
and territory in the Union and the islands
of the sea lately come under our flag. Co
operation is had with the state experiment
stations, and with many other institutions
and individuals. The world is carefully
searched for varieties of grains. fruits,
grasses. vegetables trees and shrubs. suit
able to various localities in country;
and marked benefit to producers has
suited.
The activities of age in lines OF
search have reached the tillers of the soil
and inspired them with ambition to know
more of the principles that govern the forces
Of Nature with which they have to deal.
Nearly half of the people OF this country
devote their energies to growing things from
the soil. Until recent date little has been
done to prepare these millions for their life
work. In most lines of human activity col
ege-trained men are the leaders The
farmer had no opportunity for special train