El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-04-14

declared a well known woman in a re-
cent address. We may not be able to
influence the parents but whatever we
do for the children now viii help the
Darents of the next generation"
The great child conservation move
nent which is at work all over the
country, largely is brought about
Through the efforts of women. Many
Of them have no children Of their own
hut the maternal instinct inherent in
every WOman's breast 1mpels them to
use their efforts toward securing to
every child the indisputable rights OF
childhood: healthful surroundings,
proper education and due amount OF
time and space for natural play When
the essentials are denied TO the chill
dren. the parents of the future will
pay the bill
ChiIdren's Bureau.
The greatest triumph Of women's
work for children was the establish
ment last year Of the chlldrens Du-
reau in Washington as part OF the
deDartment of commerce and labor. 1t
il now under the new department of
labor. It has for its head Miss Julia
I.athrop, who in a long experience OF
work with Miss Jane adams IN HUH
House has come in contact with many
forms Of child oppression which she
always has been alert to alleviate MISS
IathrOp is a NaSsar graduate ana mas
Travelled extensively IN Europe "Heie
She made special studies of the proVl-
-
ments in caring for their children IN
some respects they are superior 70
those of this country because the OlueT
countries value their children as eS-
scntia1 to their population and pros
Derity. The influx Of immigration 70 the
United States is said to be one reason
why the conservation Of the cnlIdren
for the future good of the nation so
largely has been neglected here
Suffering Among Children.
n-s1a~aT hrrn1T for
children originated with Miss Lillian
Valid, a visiting nurse Of New oIh
city. During the rounds OF her uatIy
work Miss Valid found so many PluLuI
instances of suffering childhood she
felt that nothing short Of federal au-
thOrity could accomplish the needed
reforms. She found little children com
PEELED TO work from their babyhOods at
times for twenty hours out OF the
twentyfOur. Their food always was IN
sufficient and often almost pO1sonOuSIy
bad in quality. They had no place for
play and no time to play il they mao
the place. Sometimes they were III
and crippled by the carelessnesS OF
some person who should have protect
ed them. Often they could be made
healthy and strong if only reasonable
attention were given to them, but no
one had the authority to interfere
Miss Wald's work is well known she
has brought influence to bear upon the
poorly equipped day nurseries In dill
ferent paTts of greater New York. She
has secured more OF them and better
equipment, and a larger number OF
workers. Through her influence many
society women have felt 1mpelled 10
give some personal attention to the
neglected little ones IN their ne1gnDor-
hoods. This interest, once aroused, has
been the leavening of a mighty lump
and the Improvement which has come
to the conditions Of the New York chill
dren of the poor already is a gracious
history. although as yet it is only at
its beginning
Child TOiIers Decrease.
There is a system of milk inspection
which insures q purer supply Of milk
and more organizations are endeaF or
ing to see that the chlldren VINO n ,27tl
this milk have it supplied to them Inc
army of baby tOilers gradually IS d.
minishing and the number of play
grounds. generally with a child loving
woman in charge OF each, IS lnerea IS
ing each year The good women al
over the country are organizing TO
prevent the employment of baby I'm
gers upon garments made IN tenement
The little ones thus released from toll,
are having a chance to securSthe mea-
sure of play time which IS rnelr que
Juvenile Courts.
Less than a generation ago IN every
city. the childish offender, arrested US
ually for some misdemeanOr he would
not have committed had be been less
closely restrained, was brought into
nails Often he was thrown into prison
with them while awaiting the appear
ance at court Children thus We're eN-
posed to a moral temptation which ire
Quently ruined their lives The WON
en- of the country conceived the idea
of the establishment of juvenile courts
in which youthful offenders received
special attention and chance 10 cor
rect whatever wrong doing had been
committed without being under the
stigma of a criminal court appearance
Play Ground Movement.
The play ground movement IS one or
the great reforms now in popular favor
1t had its 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 surround
ings that they did not know how Now
all pver the country parks are being
fitted up for the children to play IN
Then some woman 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 new lesson at school
but gradually learns to take pleasure
in them. The woman in charge becomes
n more beloved person than the favor
lite teacher in school Frequently this
woman is a volunteer doing this work
to make children happy because she
has no little folks OF her own to claim
her time Through the children, she
reaches the mother and an understand
ing is established that frequently gives
to the child better home conditions be-
cause of his play ground pleasure.
Army Of Child Workers.
While much has been done to reduce
the amount of child labor, especially
in the large cities. there is still a large
enough army of children tOiling in the
industries Of the country to make a
charitable woman sick at heart In
every state, child labor bills are being
advocated by the different WOmen's or
CARNATIONS, many of which are spend
ing large sums of money as well as
time, TO release the toll imprisoned. In
Ohio, restrictive child labor laws pro-
tect the children and no less than eight
women factory inspectors are employed
by the state to secure their enforce
ment- In New England there are laws
which restrict child labor to a degree
in all but the perishable Industries. The
women now are turning their attention
to this matter. a woman visitor along
the coast of Maine recently has re-
ported the hardships 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
a small part of it. As soon as they
can secure employment they rush to
the factory in answer to the whistle
which announces that a fishing boat is
in. If the work cannot be finished in
the day time they work all night and
1t is no uncommon sight to see these