The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1908-05-10
Exclusive use from Charities and The
Commons Press Eureau.)

(ExcIusIVe use from Charities ana ne
Commons Press 6ureau.)
In certain cOttOn-raiSing districts OF
the South there is a strange saying
that cotton and ignorance go natural
" together. a mans wealth-that IS
to say not his Well-being, which would
be right enough. but his money in
come-is measured by the number or
I his children, and not, as 1t should be,
by the efficiency of the adult Could
there be a clearer expression OF the
old, diScredited view of the child? The
bag Slung about the neck for the cot
ten is made to fit the child, while the
school term is adjusted not to the
child but to the working season. The
child is the center of the economic
world and not the center of the edu-
catiOnal and domestic world, and this
means that the child is for eXplolta-
ton and profit, rather than for nUr-
ture and protection. Thus cotton and
ignorance are linked toSether-nCt
naturally, but most unnaturaHy, and
/ the industry which is otherwise the
pride of the South and Of America is
blighted, not only in the mill, but
from the hour of its planting, joining
the sWeated industries of the north
ern cities and the glass, works OF
northern towns as an active cause OF
deg6neracy and race suicide, Though
it may be reprehensible fCE the race
10 perish for lack of births. it is a
more shameful thing TO destroy the
vitality, to dwarf the minds, to refuse
the natural and necessary protection
of childhood to the children who are
bern into the world.
The new view of the child, which
We may place against this background.
has not been revealed by any single
miraculous illumination. Would that
some apostle en- the way to Damascus
could have a glorious vision of the
divinity dwelling in the soul and body
Of the unspoiled child, But it is not
. that social workers are guided to
the formulation of their new ideals.
First there is the right of the con-
ceived child in the mothers womb to
be born. When the ChiIdren'S Blu
reau is established in Washington it
may well begin its labOrs by an in
vestigatiOn of sterility, abortions and
still births The new view. the re
/ liGious view. the social view, the
| physiological view, the rational view
] of the child from every standpoint is
! that the right to birth itself must not
! be abridged.
! The right 10 be welI-bcrn is fol
lowed. in the new view of the child,
I by the right to grow up We are
doing better than our fCrefathers in
/ this respect. Two hundred years ago
! in London. three quarters of all thC
: children that were born died before
the completion OF their fifth rner. De
cgde after decade that percentage has
been pushed down until now it is
! something like twenty-five instead OF
| seVenty-hve per cent.
/ Even now. in 1908, in the registra-
/ tiCn area OF the United States, the
death rate fer all children in their
! first year is 165 in the thousand. Milk
! poisoning. ignorance of mothers as to
| how 20 feed and care for their chill
dren, inability to nurse them, either
| for physical or for economic reasons,
| lack of necessary facilities for Surgi
cal and medical treatment, and lack
! of knowledge in the rank and file of
/ the medical profession concerning the
! diagnosis and treatment of infantile
disorders, are among the causes for
this high mortality among infapts.
/ The greatest advances of medical
! science have been in this field and
the substantial reduction in the death
rate of many communities is due to
the saving of the lives of babies more
/ than to reduction cat later age 1t is
| the new view, the social view, that
this process should be carried further,
and that these who are BON sh~0 he
permitted not only to survive, but to
| become physically healthy and strong.
! The third element in the new view
of the child is that he has a right TO
| be happy. even in school. PestalOssi
| and FNToebel helped us to think that
out Jane Adams has suggested that
! enc day We shall be ashamed of our
! present arguments for the prohibition
of child labor-that it is physically
destructive and Internationally diSas-
trOus, although these seem like Tea'
! sCnably adequate arguments TO start
with, and shall recognize that the joy
BUSINESS Of childhood. the glorious full
ness of enjoyment for which c.Iuren
are by nature adapted. and by their
! Creator intended. is in itself a worthy
end of legislation and social concern
1t is a part of this new view, fourth,
that the child has a right to become
a useful member of society. This i'm
plies industrial-or stating il more
brOadly-vOcation education 1t sup
/ ports the suggestion made by AIr.
; Moves in one of the publications Of
I the National Child Labor Committee
that the school day might we'll be
made longer, with greater variety in
curriculum; and that the work which
We deny, and rightly deny, in the fac
! tory for profit. may be demanded in
I the school for an hour or two or more
daily for education and training.
There is one final element in the
new view of the child. the right TO
inherit the past more and more fully,
the right to begin further and further
along. the right not only 70 begin
I where the parent began-even that is
denied when through destroying the
strength and retarding the education