Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1909-01-26
GESTATEA|O.
FORCH|LOREN
OF POOR
BREAKING UP OF HOMES
SHOULD BE LAST RESORT
President Roosevelt Addresses
Notable Gathering Of Charity
Workers on Problem of Car
ing for Nations Young.
IBy Morning journal Special Lsnssd wirsI

my Morning journal Special I@ased wirsI
Washington. Jan ot.--Thc impor-
tanace of the preservation of the
home intact. was the principal theme
of discussion at the conference on the
care of dependent children. which was
opened at the white House by Presi-
dent Roosevelt late today. The sub
ject under consideration was, 'Should
the Breaking OF a Home BE Permitted
for Reasons OF Poverty or Only TO
Reasons of Inelficlency or Immor-
ality?"
II was the unanimous opinion O. AN
array Of notable charity workers tha
children can best be reared under the
influence OF the home, and that they
should be removed from the family
circle only when proper supervision at
home has become impossible, 1t also
was tho consensus Of opinion that
where poverty exists in the home,
state aid should be given.
President Roosevelt. previous to
calling the gathering to order. receiv-
ed the delegates in the east room Az
ter outlining the scope Of the work
before the conference, the president
called Homer Folks president OF the
state probation commission OF New
York TO the chair. and spoke in part
as follows:
There can be no more important
subject from the standpoint OF the ma
tion than that which you are to deal;
because when you take care of the
children, you are taking care of the
nation of tomorrow. and VI IL incum-
bent upon every one of us to do all in
his power TO provide for the interests
of those children whom cruel misfor-
! tune has handicapped at the very out
SIT Of their lives. | earnestly hope that
| the members of this conference will
take a progressive stand, so as to es-
tabllsh goal toward which tho
whole country can work. In other
words | earnestly hope each OF you
VIII consider not only the interests OF
his own immediate locality. but the
interests of the nation as a whole
There are, OF course, several differ
ent types of conditions which you are
trying to meet, | believe we, all OF
US, have come to the conclusion that
where possible the thing TO be done
for the child Is 10 provide home for
IT, and that where that is not possible.
we should make the conditions as
nearly as possible like those which tho
child would have in a home
There are half dozen different
types OF children for whom we need
TO care. There is first of all, the
complete orphan, the child who has
lost both father and mother. For this
child we wish to make permanent pro-
vision. My own belief is that the
best kind of permanent provision, II
feasible. is to place the child In a
home.
I'VE then have to meet the CASE
one of the most distressing of cases
where the father has died. where
the breadwinner has gone, where the
mother would like to keep the chill
dren but simply lacks the earning ca
pacty surely in such a case the goal
toward which we should strive is to
help that mother so that she can keep
her own home and keep the child In
II; that is the best thing possible to
be done for that child.
Then we come to the case of the
away from the parent or parents, but
where it is not desirable that the sep
aration should be permanent There
are other problems, of course, that you
VIII have to deal with--for instance.
the crippled child who can not be
treated at home for a disensc, but yet
can not be completely cured In hos
pital and the case OF the child whose
f.ut ont. 4. 4
lessly inefficient. Here We must pro-
vide for the exercising of the greatest
wisdom obtainable in knowing where
to draw the line; so as to know just
when 1t becomes necessary to~say that
even the undoubted advantages OF
keeping the children in a pretty poor
home, IL that home is its own. are
countcrbalanccd by the fact that the
home has become not source OF BEN
eft, but source of menace and dan.
ger to the child.
The government can do much. But
never forget that the government can
not do everything. There must always
be help by individuals and associations
outside. or we can not get the best re-
suits"
An emphatic affirmative was given
TO the question. should the state in
spect the work Of all child-caring
agencies. including both instructions
and home-finding societies?"
An affirmative answer was given to
the question. should child-caring
agencies aim to Cooperate with each
other, or with other agencies of social
bctterment for the purpose of dimin-
ishiug or removing altogether the
causes Of ornhanage or child destitu-
tion and child delinquency"
The last topic was should the ap-
proval Of the state board OF charities
Cor other board exercising sirni'a-
rowerl be ncressar, 70 thf in,arVcfa,-
ton OF all child-caring agencies
The conference at the White House
was open only to those who directly