Evening star., 1909-06-12
WOMAN FOR LEADER
Julia Lathrop May Be Elected
Charities President.
JANE ADDAMs MENTIONED
Ergograph and Psychometer Describ-
ed at Conference.
TRUANCY BLAMED ON PARENTS
Children Of Immigrants Are Greater
Offenders-Plea for
Statistics.

BUFFALO, n. Y, June PA woman
proDably will be president Of the next
National Conference of Cratities and Cor
rection. Indications point to the selec-
tion Of Julia Lathrop OF Hull House. Chi
cago. She has been In charitable work
for years, and has been one of the lead
ers in the present movement. although
not present at this years sessions.
Leading officials in the conference say
that the plan of selecting a woman leader
occasionally has been discussed for a
long period 1t is probable. they state.
that Miss Lathrop will be chosen.
Another possible candidate from the
ranks Of the woman membership is Miss
Jane Adams. also OF Hull House. Chi
cago, who has been a co-worker with
Miss Lathrop for years. Both graduated
from the same school at Rockford. III.
This mornings session of the conference
of charities and correction was devoted
to the discussion of three subjects
"Children," Detectives and Families
and Neighborhoods'-co in sepa-
rate sections.
Strange Instruments Described.
Henry H. Goddard. Phi. D.. Of the New
Jersey Training School of Vineland dem
strated the use OF the ergograph and the
psychometer.
The state Of New Jersey is doing some
thing for It's defective citizens that no
other state has attempted It not only
provides an institution to house its feeble
minded youth, but it has made that In
stitution a laboratory where feeble-mind-
edness and other mental defects may be
studied, and where casual relations may
be worked out.
The ergograph is a new instrument de-
signed to measure the fatigue and atten-
ton of children. while the psychometer
enables the investigator to measure the
strength and variability of the emotions.
DR.. Goddard. in explaining this new
work for humanity which is being car
ried on at his institution. said:
by careful observation and expert
ment we are learning and recording the
exact mental state of each child: his
abilities and his limitations. When death
occurs. and an autopsy IS allowed we
examine the organs of the body, and
careful comparison Of enough cases Will
then show us what mental manifestations
are correlated with certain physical con-
ditions This work Is being done by
psychological, neurological and anatom-
tcal experts
Truancy Blamed on Parents.
Most of the habitual truancy of school
children was charged up to the kind OF
home life those children have by Miss
Mary Boyle O'Reilly in an address this
morning.
Few habitual truants have normal
homes" said Miss O'Reilly. "Out OF
one hundred family histories studied
one-fifth came from degenerating ol
pauper families: of one-third the father
or mother was dead, and Of more thar
one-half the father or mother was in
temperate.
"Out Of the hundred, one-fourth of thu
so-called truants, at the expiration OF
their term in the parental school. had tc
be boarded out or indentured. having nc
home to which they could return
The speaker said that her experience
in Boston showed that the great ma
jority Of truants were the children Of
immigrant parents.
Discussing the statistics of public out
door relief. DIR. Thomas ]. Riley of the
University of Missouri arraigned the
states for not collecting or publishing
adeqate statistics on the subject OF pub
lie relief of paupers in their homes.
The development by the public school
system of night classes for adults as a
solution of many of the problems of the
assimilation of immigrants was proposed
by Dr. Peter Roberts, secretary of the in
dustrial department of the international
committee of the Y. NJ. c. A. of New
York city.