East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1913-10-23
SOCIAL EVIL CAUSE
OF CRIME DECLARES
K|LPACK IN SPEECH
FOR BOYS AND
GIRLS AID READS INTER-
ESTING PAPER.
DEPLoREs DIVORCES OF TO-DAY
Education and Enlightmcnt Are
Needed to Combat the Evil. He
Says-Public Discussion Must BE
Forerunner of Effective Measure
to Stamp Out Tendency.

One of the interesting papers read
before the county teachers institute
assembled this afternoon was the one
on The Social Evil in Relation to
Child Welfare" by John G. Kilpack
investigator and district visitor for the
Boys and Girls Aid Society of Ore
gon. In part Mr.. Kilpack said:
There is probably no subject more
widely discussed in this day and age
than the Social Evil in its relation
to the welfare of humanity at large.
but it is in it's relation to the youth
of our nation that We as child spec
ialists are particularly interested, and
I believe We shall all agree on this
one point however much we may dis
agree on others that it is because of
its evil and insidious effect upon the
impressionable child that so much
crime and consequently suffering ex-
ist in the world today.
moral conditions are doubtless
not vitally different in the states that
you ladies' and gentlemen represent,
to what .they are in oregon. and II
your experience comedies with mine
1t will show that large percentage
of children committed to our institu-
tions are there because of immoral
conditions in their homes. or because
IL is contributing If not direct cause
This evil is not confined by any
means to the city or town. for exper-
ience has made clear to me that this
fostering sore infects the children OF
our rural communities, and that con-
ditiOns in some of our country dis
tricts are as bad If not worse than IN
our cities. in proportion to their
population.
Ignorance Indifference and wilful
neglect in regard to this evil are the
three most powerful enemies with
which we have to contend If we ex-
pect to make any headway against
its onslaughts upon the youth of this
country The first two can only be
overcome by education ana enugnt-
ment. and the third by repression.
Ignorance being the root of much
of the social evil. knowledge as to
what life is and how 1t can best be
preserved. and without this knowledge
no child should be considered to have
received an all-around education. We
cannot expect to accomplish this end
until prudishness and so-called pa
rental modesty" have been swept
away and the parental conscience
quickened.
THE evils of human slavery had to
be publicly discussed for generations
before that great wrong could be
righted. In like manner, public dis
cussion. plain spoken but invested
with dignity and reserve. must be the
forerunner of any effective measures
to stamp out the social evil.
What measures shall we adopt in
the case of those who are not ignor-
ant, but who are wilfully contributing
to the dependency and delinquency
of their own and other children by
permitting and fostering immortality
and kindred vices IN their homes? The
time Is surely coming when we must
insist upon the responsibility of the
man or woman, and that pressure be
brought to bear upon the individ-
ual who refuses to do his duty, NOR
ally or otherwise.
When in England several years
ago / was much impressed with the
fact that where children were found
to be neglected In any form, the par
ent or individual was put on trial,
and II conditions warranted, were
sent to the workhouse or jail, and
their wages taken for the support OF
their children. The government oi
that country has also recently estab-
lished the whipping post for white
slavers. and 1t Is my conviction thai
we need such stern and repressive
measures in this country II we expec'
to eradicate the more hideous formi
OF this evil.
"The social evil is the greatest en-
emy of the American home today, II
being responsible for the increasing
number Of children wnom we receive
year by year in our institutions as
! result of separation. divorce and de-
sertion