Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1909-02-12
WOMEN'S COLUMN.
The unbelieyer.

The Unbeliever.
Because his faith was simpler than the rest
And no man understood his humble way;
Because the only chapel he possessed
was flower strewn and cobalt rooted and
Because his creed swung to the things he
knew
And pulsed with every feathered singer 5
Because he gave their priests no revenue,
His peers adjudged his scheme of things
as wrong
Men called him athiest-uor knew that he
Once wept before brown bird hurt to
death:
Nor knew he loved each forest shrub ana
Nor knew the evening zephyrs scented
breath
Bore through his open chamber window
dreams
or duleet rills and skies Of amethyst
And woye his slumber to the fairest
themes
Aud, knowing not they called him
Stacy E. Baker. in The Craftsman
-o..o-
Women and Juvenile Courts.
In recent lecture before the New
York League for the Civic Education
of Women tan anti-sufrage society in
disguise), Mrs. Mabel Kalbfeiseh said
that Juvenile courts had been established
in many states and that in most of these
woman had no votes. Therefore, she
claimed. woman suffrage is not needed
for the reformation of juvenile criminals.
But, admitting, for the sake of argu-
ment that the facts are as she stated,
her conclusion is altogether unwarrant-
ed. 1t is proper to ask by whose efforts
these juvenile courts have been estah-
ished? how have they been admins
tered? and what results they have ac-
compLshedI
It win be found on inquiry, that
this wise and humane legislation has
IN every case been brought about by
public spirited women, whose mother
ly pity has been aroused by the in
adequacy of police methods and judicial
supervision to reclaim boys and girls
who have gone astray. These cOnces-
sions have been wrung from reluctant
Legislatures, by these DISTINGUISHED
women. But. in very many cases, the
Judges and officers of these courts have
been appointed without regard to their
personal fitness, and in their selection
the women have not been consulted.
Such courts have often failed TO carry
out the purposes for which they have
been created.
Take, Tor instance, New Orleans,
which has at last obtained a real juve-
nile court Six years ago the Era
club Of that city, an association of
ardent suffragists, learning of the ad-
mirable work of Judge Lindsey in the
woman suffrage state of Colorado.
sought to get a statute which should
make mandatory the holding of n
children's court. The club raised a
thousand dollars, employed an unof-
fetal probation officer, maintained IA
juvenile court committee, and, in CO.
operation with the Society for the
Prevention OF Cruelty to Children, has
attended the sessions of the municipal
courts ana enlisted the support of the
women of the churches and the club
women of the state.
But now, when the work has crystal
lied into a legal reality, the women
have been wholly ignored by the mu-
nicipa authorities. A judge has been
appointed without consultation with the
women; probation officers and clerks
have been chosen through political in
fiuences No woman has been consid-
cred eligible, and their past efficient serv-
ices lave been completely overlooked.
But when the taxes are levied with
which to pay the expenses of the court
womesY Mill not be forgotten Their
property will be taxed to support these
officials That will be the only form
III NHiSh ltIEs VIII bt liihtfN va RAi
equality with the men.
1t is a rude awakening for the WON
en- of New Orleans. The newly elected
Judge Wilson and his subordinates have
none of them shown any special inter
est or ability in the management or ref
ormation of children. But the members
of the Era club--women like Miss Bon
mabel and Mrs. Dudley Coleman, who
have given years of consecrated service
10 this work. were not even invited to
be present at the opening ceremonies.
There. behind the bar, sat Frances Jo-
seph, whose work IS a monument to the
children Of her race" The mother ele
ment which was responsible for the
courts existence. sat almost like cul-
prits, while the district attorney and
gentlemen of the learned professions
held forth on the great advance; no
woman named. If women had voted for
the Judge and the clerk Of the court,
such an oversight would have been i'm
possible.
Contrast the cases of Denver and New
Orleans.
In Denver the women voters demand
ed juvenile court and got it, They
chose and elected Lindsey, exceptionally
well qualified for judge, who made it