The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1913-04-14

them and better equipment, and a
larger number of workers., Through
her influence many society women
have. felt impelled to give some per-
sonal attention to the neglected little
ones in their neighborhoods. This
interest. once aroused, has been the
leavening of a mighty lump and the
Improvement which has come t the
Of the poor already is a gracious his
tory, although as yet it is only at its
beginning. sy
There is a system of milk inspection
which insures a purer supply of milk
and more organizations are %endeavor-
ing to see that the children who need
this milk have it supplied to them.
The army of baby toilers gradually is
diminishing and the number of play
grounds, generally with a child-loving
woman in charge of each, Is increas-
ing each year. The good women all
over the country are organizing to
prevent the employment of baby
fingers upon garments made in tene-
ment homes for the more fortunate
| child to wear. The little ones thus
released from toll, are having a chance
to secure the measure of play time
which is their due.
Less han a generation ago in every
city, the childish offender, arrested
usually for some misdemeanor he
would not have committed had he
been less closely restrained. was
brought into the courtroom with the
worst criminals. Often he was
AL-1.,. s-A1 --3oo- ,,tAl klx~. It'll
awaiting the appearance at court.
| Children thus were exposed to a moral
temptation which frequently ruined
their lives. The women Of the coun-
try conceived the idea of the. estab-
lishment of juvenile courts in which
youthful offenders received special at
tention and a chance to correct what
ever wrong-doing had been commit
ted without being under the stigma
Of a criminal court appearance
Women probation officers always were
present at these courts. Frequently
a boy left court to return to his home
helped by the knowledge that some
kind woman was going to help him
keep out Of trouble in the future. In
most of the large cities in this coun-
try juvenile courts are now in opera
ton. They have been secured largely
through women's efforts for children,
and always are supported by the
women of the community who help
with their work. The political vic
tories of Judge Ben Lindsey of Den
yer, are credited by him absolutely to
the efforts of the women of that city
who insisted that the "Children's
Judge should be enabled to continue
the work he has been carrying on so
successfully.
The playground movement is one
Of the great reforms now in popular
favor. 1t had it's origin with a few
charitable women who saw that the
children in a great city had no room
for play and that in many cases they
had lived in such unnatural and
cramped surroundings that they did
not know how. Now all over the
country parks are. being fitted up for
the children to play in. Then some
woma is placed in charge who has
studied carefully all the old games
which the country children Of a past
generation played in the open fields.
At first the modern child takes them
as seriously as a new lesson at school
but gradually learns to take pleasure
in them. The. woman in charge be
comes a more beloved person Than the
favorite teacher in school. FIRE.
q%uently this woman is a volunteer do
ing this work to make other children
happy because she has no little folks
Of her W to claim her time.
Through the children, she reaches the
nonthnr and IN 1orStor 1irr iS &c
tablished that frequently gives the
child better home conditions because
of his playground pleasure.
While much has been done to re-
duce the amount of child labor, espe-
cially in the large cities, there is stih
a large enough army of children toll
ing in the Industries of the country to
make a charitable woman sick 1t
heart. In every state, child labor
bills are being advocated by the diff
ferent women's organizations, many OF
which are spending large sums of
money as we'll as time, to release the.
toil-imprisoned little ones. In Ohio,
restrictive child labor laws protect the
children. and no less thai eight
women factory inspectors are en-
ployed by the state to secure their
enforcement. In New England there
are laws which restrict child labor to
a degree in all but the perishable in
dustries. The women now are turn
ing their attention to this matter. A
woman visitor along the coast OF
Maine recently has reported the hard
ships attendant upon the children in
the towns where fish is canned and
packed. , Fewer than half Of these
children have completed the work of
the grammar grade when they leave
school. Many of them complete only
d small part of it. AS soon as they
can secure employment they rush to
the factory in answer to the whistle
which that a fishing boat
is in. If the. work cannot he finished
in the day time they work all night,
and it is no uncommon sight to see
these small toilers almost staggering
home in the gray of the morning after
from ~ to 16 hours work taking the
fish for the canning.
The enforcement Of the compulsory
education laws now existing in most
of the states, is a matter to which
many women give vigilant attention.
In every city a large percentage of