The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1912-06-21
PROTECT HEH0ME
Plea For Pensions For Widows
With Children.
HOW SOCIETY WOULD Benefit

Under Existing Conditions WiooWeo
Mothers Dependent on Their Own Ef-
forts Must Neglect the Babes, Who
Become Social Menace.
There are a great many widows In
this country, most Of whom have chill
dren. There are those whose hus-
bands are dead. There are those
whose husbands have given up and
walked away, and the mothers must
support the children. There are wo'
men worse than widowed-women
whose husbands have been crippled
or injured on the railroads or in the
steel works or in various other indus.
tries that annually MAIN their tens of
thousands. In all these cases the
mother has the double burden of car
ing for the home and making the liv
ing for the family.
Only few occupations are open to
such women. Such mothers may be
young strong and skillful, but what
can they do? Few lines of work can be
followed by woman with baby in
her arms and little ones hanging to
her skirts
If there were public nurseries, con-
Quoted as well, say, as the public
schools are conducted at present, so
that mother might leave her babies
for some hours each day and feel
reasonably sure that they were safe.
she might do something more effective
toward making living. But as it is
there is no place for them but the
charity nurseries or to stay with the
mother.
Usually widowed mother, In her
eagerness to keep her children together
and maintain little home. takes up
the hardest kind Of toll. Washing and
scrubbing generally fall to her lot, and
she slaves early and late for bare
cheap living. She is willing. even
eager, to do it for her children, but the
tragedy Of it is that even by sacrificing
herself she cannot save them. They
will be neglected. for the work will
take her time. They will be Ill nour-
ished, for she will be underpaid. They
will suffer hunger and cold, and If
they do not go to the bad it will be
miracle.
| Such a mother must live in poor
street, side by side with other poor
people, who have small influence in
municipal affairs. Such streets are
dirty and i'll kept The alleys are the
highways of bad boys the neglected
children of other overworked moth
ers), and the whole environment is
conducive to bad citizenship. Three
fourths of the petty crimes-in fact,
three-fourths Of all the crimes that are
| finding their way to the penitentiaries
in this country-are committed by
| youths under twenty Make 1t pos
| sible for mothers to take good care of
their children and you save the chill
| dren.
Present society is not trying to save
| children. and yet it costs more to lose
them than it would to save them. Pc
lice, criminal courts, judges, jails, re-
formatories, penitentiaries, detectives,
jailers, sheriffs and wardens cost more
than clean streets, public nurseries,
public Fairgrounds, good food and
wholesome surroundings generally
would cost.
Probation officers and Juvenile court
| judges bear testimony that the chill
dren Of poor widows are brought their
way far oftener than any other class
| of children, and it is because their
| mothers are Overworked and overbur-
dened and cannot give them care.
IL anything happens to the mother
so that the children are completely
orphaned they will be maintained at
public expense. But as long as the
breath of life remains in the mother,
the entire burden Of supporting the
children remains with her.
This country pensions its soldiers
for what Is called protecting the
country" But for the mothers who
made the soldiers, who nourished them
and raised them, it gives nothing, not
even an opportunity. A pension to a
veteran enables him to live his last
years better. Pensions to mothers
would permit many boys and girls to
begin life better. And In many, many
cases few dollars In pensions to
mothers would mean the difference be.
tween good, efficient citizens and half
starved slum children who are marked
by crime and physical ineff1ciency be-
fore they are of age
They prate about the home and the
beauties Of home life, but the insin-
certify Of such talk is shown by the
fact that nothing is done to protect the
home.
Every woman who is dependent on
her own efforts and has a baby to
raise should be paid an honorable pen.
sion. Such a measure, even under
capitalism, would save the breaking
up OF many home.-Agnes FL. Down
Ing in Progressive Women.