Los Angeles herald., 1906-01-20

"Tn our largest cities many Of the
| poorer class live i'm novels, many Others
| dwell in poorly built and badly ventil-
| ated houses. the owners OF which fire.
/ quently neglect the needs Of the com
mon decenCies Of life and allow thelt
property to develop into slum condi-
| tions where crime Is daily and nightly
! taught and out Of which comes hordes
Of criminals to prey upon the people
Young boys, through the carelessness
| Of parents and lack Of supervision, are
! allowed to come in contact with pick
pockets and thieves whose stories of
adventure give to the boy mind the
idea of heroism and greatness.
| At the afternoon session DR.. w. V.
| Coffin. assistant superintendent of the
| Whittier state school, read an interest
| ing and instructive paper on THE
| Juvenile Reformatory of the Future"
Or. Coffin gave statistics regarding the
establishment Of the juvenile court and
the characters with which il has to
deal In quoting Or. Hall, he said:
"The years from eight to twelve con-
stitute a unique period Of human life,
in which the acute stage of teethlng
is passing, the brain has acquired
nearly its adult size and weight. Health
is almost at its best. Activity Is
greater and more varied than ever be-
fore, or than it will ever be again There
is a peculiar endurance, vitality and
resistance to fatigue The child de-
velops a life of its own, outside the
home circle its natural interests are
never so independent of adult influence.
Perception is very acute and there Is
great immunity to exposure, danger
and even temptation. Reason, true
morality, religion, sympathy, love and
esthetic enjoyment, are but slightly de-
veloped. Everything, In short, suggests
the elimination of one stage of life.
"At the beginning of this period Of
child life, there Is with all children,
little, If any recognition of the rights
Of others and the wisest and most
wholesome requirements seem to the
child unfair. alien and arbitrary, and
he meets them with evasion, disregard
and even active resistance. But the
senses are keen and alert, reactions
immediate and vigorous and the men,
ory is quick. sure and lasting. The
knowledge of right and wrong is rapid
ly unfolding. 1t is the period most
susceptible to drill and discipline, and
there is undoubtedly more actual
knowledge acquired and better re-
tained, than during all the rest Of
the three score years and ten of human
life.
"The child, wisely guided. will come
to the end of this period with evenly
balanced, well rounded mind and body.
Results of Evil Influences
"But what of the child who enters
this period from an infancy of neglect
and passes through it with an environ
ment which deforms his body, starves
his intellect and violently opposes the
birth of the finer feelings and sensi-
bilities of his soul. He has acquired
a certain amount of discernment,
shrewdness and even wisdom, but it is
akin to the sagacity of the higher
animals. He has come to feel himself
an enemy of society, not because he
is worse than others, but more un-
fortunate.
ITO take this child, to learn his
history, his antecedents, his career, to
learn him, decide, if possible, to uphold
him and rebuild him. to give him a
physical training which will round out
his poorly developed body, to give A
measure of training to his unframed
mind, to endeavor to kindle into life,
with an awakened consciousness of the
rights of his fellows and sufficient self
control Herewith to successfully resist
the forces which have heretofore domi-
mated and controlled him, are funda-
mental problems which the juvenile re-
formatory is to solve"
DR.. Coffin followed with a detailed
statement of the methods used and an
account of the children to be dealt
with. which proved of great interest.
Prof. William r, Randall, superin
tendent of Preston School of Industry,
opened the discussion of the paper.
DR.. Lindley followed. stating that
there is too much tendency to machine
like work among the boys and not
enough individualism.
NJ V. Rorll followed, indorsing the
opinions of DIR. Lindley and giving in
teresting personal experience in that
line
Senator John A. Anderson of Santa
Ana spoke at length upon the char
acter of those in charge of the schools.
Cost of States Charges
A. ]. Pinsbury secretary of the state
board of examiners, followed with an
address on The Relations of the State
to the Dependent Child" in which he
gave cOpious facts and figures, show
ing the cost and money expended in
this line.
julius A. Brown read a paper on "Tha
Care of Dependent Children-Statis-
tical Comparison" He said in part:
california, with all of it's prosperity,
shows to poor advantage when COM
pared with other states of the union
it is supporting or contributing to the
support of twenty three dependent
children for one in the states of Michi-
gan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The
difference, however, is not in the desti-
tuition of the people, but in the method
of relieving 1t.
california, with a population of
about two millions, last year paid S433-
70l for this department of public char
ity while in the three states named,
with a combined population of $500, 900,
the cost was $146,54. The dependent
children of California are mostly con-
fined in institutions or orphanages
which receive per capita bonus from
the state for their support. Those
of the three states named are placed
out in family homes and visited period
iCally by agents of the state.
The advantages to a child placed
in a family home over that of the in
stitution are so great that there is no
room for argument. The records of
these eastern states show that about
ninety per cent of the children placed
in family homes give every promise of
becoming good and useful citizens.