The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-06-25
THE MODERN SEARCH
 FOR THE HOLY GRAIL
(By Louise Cowlea)

NRy AOuS6t OOEVE65sI
 Long ago: in the age of romance. accpstomed to ride in search of the. Holy Grail. the cup which Christ used at the Last Supper. Clad in their finest ar1nor the knights rode forth into all countries. encountering difn- culties as they rode. Few were ever successful, but the unsuccessful ones their lives earnestly seeking the silver vessel which was to them so holy
 Lowell in his 'fVision of Sir Laun- faI''s gives the modern and truer meaning of the quest. Sir Launfal realized in a dream that tne wooden bowl of cold water shared with a beg he hung away his golden armor say
 ssHe must be fenced with stronger
 Who would seek and find the Holy
 Like Sir Launfa1, we of to-day in an age of realism, do not ride forth upon a useless Journey But we do seek the Holy Grail What we seek is not merely a vessel of silverI We seek to aid helpless, struggling hu- we seek?
 Throughout the civilized world, and especially in this country, men and women are giving their lives to the work Of aiding their feilowmen Such i work is greatly needed, for from everywhere about us. from our fac- LOE16S,. our streets, OUT homes, comes the cry of the weak to the strong, Help us, or we perish"
 Strangely. the bitterest cry comes from children, from over worked, un- derfed, neglected children. In thous- ands of our factories are children toiI- ing at fatiguing tasks, stunting their ignorance. vice, and often crime. Child labor was encouraged at its out set through the greed of manufa ctur- CTS It has grown until 1t is one of the feG a1rT raf fI1fJ -fcI tenn of this country, for nearly two million children are at work in our factories and mines.
 Nothing is truer than the law that whatsoever a man soWeth that shall ne also reap. Now we are beginning to realize both the harm to the child and the social and economic cost. We are beginning to perceive that stoop- ing all day over a. dusty coal shute or l toi1ing all night in a glass factory. or working ten hours day in the foul air of a laundry prevents the develop ment of a strong mind and body.
 Since 1895, we have been working important national action was the formation in 1904, of the National Child Labor Committee The work of this body is along three lines; first, | it investigates factory conditions throughout the country; second it brings the child labor problem before the public by means of books and pa pers; third. it works to secure proper legislation. Many local and private organizations do splendid work in CO., operation with the national commit tee.
 The success of these committees is greatly hindered, especially by the non-uniformity of state laws. Yet be- cause of these earnest, persistent sf- forts. success must come until finally this system which is robbing our chill hood and depraving our citizenship. shall be entirely abolished.
 Although we force many children into lives of crime because of made quate legislation, we have at least learned that we can not judge them by the same standard that we use in large city, in which there is the child criminal problem, has it's Juvenile Court.
 The child of the city streets since he has in his life few good inf1u ences. comes early into the tolls of the law. His first offence may not be serious, yet he must be punished. Before the establishment of the children's court, the child was forced to undergo trial I in the regular circuit court Contact with older criminals and the publicity | of this court counteracted any incen- I tive to reform The judges too often did not understand children, and inn posed harsh sentences. In Denver, after several offences, the children were put in jail. There amongst men and women of the lowest type of mo- ra1ity, they became utterly depraved. When Ben Lindsey, who was at that time a judge in the Denver city court saw the horrible condition which ob- which resulted in the formation of the Denver Juvenile Court. This court while not the first of it's kind in the country, has become one of the most famous
 The judges of the chiIdren's court