The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-04-28

ny JOHN ELrnErn wArk1Ns.

II
you will be Interested in tho chill
dren's bureau of the Federal gov
eminent. which President Tafts sigma :
lurc brought into being upon the 9Th
day OF April.
Uncle Sam has 4l,0e0.000 boys and
S'f!5 In their teens and younger Lutte
~ he awoKe to the fact that except az
10 their school training he knew very
Hllle ABOUT this vast army OF Juveniles
tufiicient in numbers to fourd u junior
republic OF their own more popuious
than France. But through this new
Federal Office OF Juvenile ana!rs he
VIII grow better and better acquainted
with them iIcnceforth untn he learns
the problems even OF IN. most needy
and most lowly.
Young Americana Maiden Aunt
Ills iirst step in this direction has
peen the selection of Il philanthropic
ana kind-hearted woman 10 act as the
maiden aunt of all young Americans
VINO have been neglected..
politicians were nstoundcd when q,
low days ago. President Taft am
nounced the appointment of Miss Julia
Lathrop, Of Chicago, ns chief of the
ne" children's bureau, at q SALARY of
$4,000 "A year. No woman bureau chief
lad ever sat st the capital in all OF
the previous. history OF the republic
Here. with "a Vengeance was the he
ginning of petticoat rule.
Now let me tell you something about
Chief Lathrop. Like her sister settle
Inent worker. Jane Adams she is n
product of the Illinois prairies, ana
with Jane Addana she has lived al,
khat famous haven of the poor. Huh
HOUSE Tor q score OF years. They are,
consequently, chuns. ana both believe
mat He pivots In the homes Of the
1owly.
Young Americas now maiden aunt
Is II graduate and also trustee o.
Nassar College. Soon after Joining
lane .iddams's staff sue rolled up her
sleeves and Went 10 work in the most
sluaiid tencmcuts OF the needy She
liad herself appointed county visitor"
Of the poor and assigned to tho chi
cdgo Sums surrounding Hun House
During the year Of the Chicago
Worlds Fair the Governor elevated
her to the State Board OF Charities.
Ehe'eon she served three tcrina
throughout this service she always at
tackled problems OF the charitable IN
situations from the viewpoint OF the
inmates rather than OF the managers.
Hiskcd Her Life in rcstIIenee.
Her pluck was shown throughout
the great smallpox epidemic following
the Worlds Fair She then exposed
herself daily at the crowded pest
house where she worked like "A
Trojan 10 keep the pcstllcnce from
spreading to the poor. Next she
started house clearing or the chart
table institutions. whence had come
charges that political appontces were
nalireating the inmates. TO see ac-
tual conditions for herself she became
AN inmate OF ono institution after an
other. ate their food and slept in their
beds. Then came splashing into print
articles exposing the abuses discoy-
cred
She next started in with another
woman retormer, Mrs. Alma stevens.
TO secure juvenile court and proba-
'Ion law for Illinois. Ana their .f-
forts met with final success thirteen
years ago, despite the fact that such
legislation is now generally regarded
a reflcctIng new ideas
Chief Lathrop is none OF your long
faced rcformcrs. witty ana fully pos
sessed OF the saving sense OF humor.
she has a good stor" TO tell in en-
plinsIs OF a point 10 bc gained. it has
been said of her in print that "of all
rcformcrs tina; ever reformed she Is
least nuisance"
The woman who said this. and a
great deal more was the well known
sociologist Miss Lillian ID. Wald, Il
native OF Ohio. who a score OF years
ago founded in New Yort; city the
Henry street Nurses Settlement. OF
which she is the head. Not only is
she the mother OF the rev childrcn's
bureau. but the worlds first organizer