The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-03-16


By Mrs. CAROLINE B
!. Ac' HE problem OF the unfortunate girl
and the dependent child-they arc
one and the same-iB one that the
. State must solve, and very soon. 1t grows
more complicated every year. We have a
. larger increase yearly in the number Of
children that tine State has to support
: For instance, 10 quote MY own State
New Jersey--we have in one county
Hudson--one hundred more child charges
this year than last. II they are permit
ted to increase at this rate, where will
the State be ten years hence?
Must We then, decrease the birth rate?
Not necessarily we must INCREASE the
marriage rate-and the State can do It
What ia the cause back OF the increas.
Ing dependency. the reformatories for girls,
the homes for feeble-minded children?
These institutions cost the State many
millions annually and they do not cure.
An institution is always sign of failure
not success an institution steps in and
takes care OF the offender. but II does not
cure the condition that created the Of
fender.
The condition and its cause are largely
economic When the State-and I mean
by State government whole-makes
the minimum wage obligatory on the en-
ployer, and by this Is meant marriage
able wage for grown men, then will we
have g large increase in the number OF
marriages in the aboring class and a
great decrease In the number OF illegiti.
mate babies
When started my work among the
unfortunate girls OF New Jersey twenty
FIVE years ago II was with determination
10 find the cause first. and then the solu-
ton. II Is not on the knees OF the gods.
II is not In the pocketbooks of private IN
dividuals. but in the hands OF the State
Itself, that deliyerance lies for these girls,
and the state, too. Private philanthropy
poisonous plant; the State must attack
the roots. Private philanthropy can and
does ameliorate the condition after It de-
velops, but the State must make this
condition unnecessary.
In protecting its women. IN providing
for It's children the citizens OF the future.
the State will be merely making good
investment, one that will pay a hundred
per cent No man will countenance in his
business condition that rots his bust
ness integrity or that eats away his
profits He will spend money to cure his
: business Ills because it pays. Why should
the State countenance a condition that
rots its social fabric. that Is bound TO ma,
into its future profits?
In the case OF founding the state
has to care for It. has to spend money to
find the mother and care for her in an
institution. has to expend money TO And
the father. and may have TO imprison
him If he refuses to marry the
mother pay for the child's support
Here. therefore, may be three unnecessary
charges on the State. And, more than this.
there is always the danger OF eventually
having placed In the public life half
grown boy or girl OF feeble mind. or
worse. This danger is An everpresent one
hos 4.
dtlons. Few States In this country make
any discrimination between normal and
abnormal men and women parents Any
man or woman at large Is tacitly consid.
cred worthy of being parent. Such pa
renthood Is a crime against the State and
the human race.
Figures are not always to be relied
upon. but 1t is true that ffty.threc per
cent OF the women who break the moral
law professionally are feeble-minded. and
some physicians place the percentage
much higher S5ty-sly per cent OF the H.
legitimate children are feeble minded or
worse, and In the greater number OF
States In the Union. IL not confined In
asylums, they are allowed to have chill
dren. These are In turn Idiots lunatics or
criminals Consider, therefore, the re-
sponsibility resting on the State that per
mits such condition when the cure is
attainable. This IS one human condition
that the law can abolish. / am not refer.
rms 10 the social evil, SO called, but to
promiscuous parenthood.
The manageable wage for tho man
the living wage for the girl, and stringent
marriage laws will do much to keen re-.
.ormatories, hospitals and children's
homes empty.
Education and training insisted upon bv
the State will help solve the problem for
the girl OF the future. From the obserya.
tons of the past twenty-five years should
say that the girl who earns fifteen or eigb
teen dollars n week or more seldom.
might say never, breaks the moral law un.
less she wants to-; she does not have TO
do 1t in order to live. neither is she In a
position where she comes incontact with
the men who traffic In women.
Is the girl, then. who earns a living
wage and more, more moral than the girl
who earns less than enough to keep body
and soul together? Assuredly not.
My experience Is that girls are nat.
urally moral, but the girl earning fifteen
dollars week is better fed, more WARMLY
clad and Is better housed than her poorer
sister. She has also something left over
for occasional pleasures. and pleasure "a
great factor in the lives of all girls. The
youthful heart turns to pleasure and