Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-09-30
EVERYBODY HAS ENOUGH
INDUSTRY AND CONTENT IN A
MODEL FACTORY TOWN.
No Police and No Arrests-Citizens
Do Not Wander From Their
Homes-The Leclaire idea.
=. o. Nelson, in the Independent.


=. o. Nelson. in the Independent.
Not long since a st. Louis boy of
twenty, named De Witt, killed a middle
aged woman who had befriended and fed
him because she would not also supply
him with money The boy will be hanged.
He Is type of the town boy. grown up
without regular work, spending his time
with the gang. living by his wits, some
times by outright crime. He Is the ma
terial Of which the criminal class is
made. His class fill the Juvenile courts
and later on the penitentiaries. 1nclud-
ing his minor offenses. he makes up
large part of the police arrests.
Arrests for all causes in cities OF the
United States average forty in 1000 pop
ulation per year. Many of them are for
trivial misdemeanors. Many are not con-
victed, but all indicate some misconduct
and some deficiency of character ana as
sociations. They supply the future de-
linquent and dependent classes
BY this average of arrests LeGiaire'
the Illinois factory town in which l live,
should have had in its life of eighteen
wears 21O arrests. It has had none 1t
has no unemployed or unemployable 1t
is an unsolicited population OF worKlns
people, of many natonalities ana re,
iic.ons, drawn from city, town, mine and
farm.
Why is Leclaire immune from De
Wits and other offenders? De W.T. Was
an unemployable; he was an irresponsible
loafer who had never learned to work.
Had he applied to me in st. Louis TOT
work there was nothing he knew how TO
do He would be unable to stick to work
nine hours at a stretch. 1t would be too
tedious and slow to earn his living by ap-
prentice work .
At Leclaire every boy has JOB walt
oicyl,f
is fourteen nine hours at sixteen. NOT
the deadly child labor so luridly de-
scribed by the writer's who hunt for only
the exceptional. but the beginnings or
keenly anxious to get at the Joo. ne
has longed for the schoolbook days TO De
over SO that he could take his place with
the men he has looked up to ana the
boys he plays with. He wants to ne
doing he wants to make things, he
wants to earn money for mother and
himself, he wants to be a little man.
Factory Work.
In nv own Judgment and my taste.
outdoor work is preferable to indoor; the
field is better than the factory. My ex-
perience in employing men and boys IN
farming as we'll as manufacturing teaches
that when equally accessible and available
the commonest preference is for outdoor
work. But farm labor is longer, harder
and less pay Independent farming takes
capital, skill. management and RESPONSE
bility. The factory job Is ready at hano'
easier and care-free while 1t lasts
The boys in a factory town and FANNY
20 at factory work. In Leclaire he can
usually have his choice of six or eight
trades-in brass. wood, marble, machneS
and housebuilding The IS. shops in,. are we" ven
not bosses, but directors and instructors;
the managers are not tyrants. but organ
izers and leaders. The boy starts by the
in the company Of his neighbors; he quits
at or o'clock, gets his supper, dresses
up and goes to the ball ground or the
lake or the band practice or down town
to see the sights and sounds of Edwards
vile courthouse square.
1t is impossible for him to become De
Witt-he has not the opportunity If he has
the inclination. There is no gang; there
is no glory In being arrested there are
no playmates In business hours; there Is
play and sociability evenings and holt
days. There is not even a cop to DEFY
or . don't" sign to pull down. Nothing
chief. Fathers and sons go literally hand
in-hand: the boys and girls grow up to-
gether. There have been no De Wits in
Leclaire-there can be none.
At eighteen to twenty. the boy has
learned his trade. He has never been
laid off a day. He is employable and en-
ployed.. At this stage the writer's and
want the glare and hippodrome of the
city and the possible higher day rate of
wages. But again the theory Is smashed
by the facts. The Leclaire boys, grown
up and masters Of q trade, do not leave.
None has left for preferring q city or dis
liking Leclaire and the country. Very
few have left on any ground. Some have
gone for a week or a month. got home
sick and returned.
Instead of a modern factory, overgrown
with vines and surrounded by flowers
and trees. their city workshops were old
Snnl inxy yyy1d{ Inc
buildings and tumble-down tenements
ITgiiness everywhere. His comrades were
strangers. with other ideas and ideals
and interests than his. He lodged in
boarding house, dismal and forlorn. His
evenings could not be borne in his lonely
room, he must go out for amusement. to
cheap theaters land Nasty or saloons or
billiard parlors dens. This is the life
1t from our Leclaire boys and as have
found 1t by trying 1t.
The Leclaire boy comes back to his
work, his people, his friends, his freedom.
The evil influences of the city have not
infected him; they have only shocked.
Is not the explanation simple why there
are no De Wits in Leclare, no arrests,
no emigration?
Condition Of the Girls.
And the girls! None Of them has gone
away to get work. none has taken hired
labor, not even our own light core work
in the brass foundry. Either they help
their mothers or marry or have qualified
for business positions. Two are we'll paid
clerks in the county recorders office. Ed
wardsville. Immediately adjoining us. be-
ing the county seat. Some are stenogra-
pliers. cashiers, one high-grade tailoress
and one was for many years our most ex-
cellent Kindergarten, until she married
the school principal. OF the many who
have married nearly all have settled in
or adjacent to Leclaire. The outside
member of the couple Is apparently made
to understand that Leclaire must be the
home.
The young people are enthusiastic about
Leclaire; their visiting friends are enthu
siastic. There is always something going
on. II only the pleasant social walking
about along the winding streets fronted
by we'll kept yards and shaded with ma
pies and elms and Carolina poplars. The
family parties in the hall, with refresh
ments, music and dancing. bring out sew
eral hundred of all ages Good manners.
good dressing and good feeling are more
prominent in these gatherings than I have