The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-02-22
Conservation Of Child Life.
By Frederic J. Haskin.
iiId Rsscue Can,paiss,

I love. nor can it put happiness into sad
 little eyes. or sprishtiiness into list-
 less little feet.
 Many institutions of the advanced
 type are trying to make up for loss | of family life by establishing the cot- | tage plan for their children. Instead
 of big. 5ail-hke building where all would be herded together, the newer plan calls for many cottages scattered
 over green lawns, with about twenty | children of varying ages gathered in
 each cottage. This allows better op- portunities for normal development.
 An even better plan Is that of the stato
 of Massachusetts. which leads the coun-
 try in a movement to place orphaned
 or dependent children in good private
 homes. and considers the S600.000 so
 spent every year as money well inves-
 ted. Child placing agencies are ur-
 try.
 There are 25,000 children now in homes for juvenile dslinauentS. rhsr~ | Is no census to show the condition of
 the home life from which they sprang. | but as the Mansfield, Ohio, reformatory
 shows that three-fourths of its inmates
 come from broken homes,it Is safe to
 take this as an average representation. Had those children been given homea 1 when they first lost their parents, or
 had provision been made to help a wid- lowed or incapacitated parent, that home | might have been kept intact, and the reformatories of the country, would.
 in the long run. have had a population
 less disheartening to our national al- truism
 This phase of child rescue work
 that received such an impetus from the Washington meeting Is not an idea of | sporadic growth. With a membership such as 1t has. and with an aim such as l 1t states, 1t promises to be nation wide
 in its endurance. Better still, 1t Is
 built on the personal experience and | and integrity of a young man. For l once a six year old lad, a little fellow without @ relative in the world. went to live in anWashington orphanage.
 As the years passed he watched the | hungry-eyed children come and go. and while he washed windows and mended fences and did other chores, he dreamed long dreams in his lonely little heart.
 And the dreams were always of the time when every little homeless child | in the land might find the loving
 care that it longed for, and that is
 possible only where there is g. family
 fireside. He meant in some way, he
 didn't know just how, to help bring this about Today, lawyer of prominence, Sunday-school leader of note. a pro. moter of civio interests. and an untiring
 worker where matters pertaining to
 children are concerned. he Is seeing
 his ideal realized
 With his aid large family magazine.
 with particularly good opportunities. has been helping children find homes by telling of them in Its pages. The
 idea spread like wild fire. When the
 picture of an unusually attractive
 child appeared, letters and telegrams
 came to ask for 1t. About sixty chill dren have been specifically offered, and
 six thousand applications came for
 tn em. The difficulty in pressing the
 work lies in getting the institutions to give up their wards. There are 100000 in the various orphanages walt ing for homes. and, be 1t said to the shame of the nation. there are still a.
 bout 10000 children in the almshouse-. Theodore Dreiser of New York, and James E. West of Washington, soon saw there was urgent need of a wider | campaign. Subsequently group of prominent social workers joined with
 them in requesting the President to call a conference. On Christmas Day. 1908, the Chief Executive sent out in- 1 vitations to men and women of all walks of life and varying religious
 beliefs. to meet with him in washing ton, and recommend suitable action
 toward steps for helping dependent children. Among those he asked were
 Jane Addams, Judge Lindsey, Judge mack, Jacob Riis, Thomas M. Mulry,
 Rabbi Hirsch. Homer Folks and Dr. Hastings H. Hart.
 Later, in his message, the President argued that leach of these children
 represents either potential to tho productive capacity and the enlightened citizenship of the nation, or, if allowed
 to suffer from neglect. potential addition to the destructive forces of the community" Moreover, the President sent a copy of the conclusions
 of the conference, with a personal en- state in the Union, requesting co-oper-
 ation.
 Thus has been set in motion the moss
 powerful influences of American de- mocracy in the interest of the welfare
 of dependent children. And why notf For they are a class, more than any other, entitled, not only to sympathetic
 care, but to the sane protection and guardianship of the state. This com ference. distinctively American in every aspect. very appropriately had as its key
 note: "Home-life is the highest and fin- est product of civilization. Children should not be deprived of 1t except for urgent and compelling reasons. Pow erty alone should not disrupt any home Copyright. 1909, by Frederic J. Has,
 kin.)
 Tomorrow-C0nservat of Child
 Life.
 H. Preventing Cruelty to Children.