The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-11-25


/ the school is first, to protect society
from these vicious and inccrrigible
females. and, second. to reform, II
possible. the females themselves. and
in case Of destitute and ill-used girls,
/ afford them an asvIum until they are
/ grown Unless some of these pur-
poses are ACCOMPLISHED the school has
/ no excuse for ifs existence.
+ There are FOUR classes of females
wh!ch come within the intention of
/ the 'aw. ~ THE girl who Is desti-
| 'fte or reelected nv her parents or
| Guardians: f2) the girl guilty n lar
cerv or 9inh'tual truanry; fs) the
~'r' of n normal tyne who has been
auh iertc5 to a vicieus envlrnnmer.
and has become contaminated: f4)
/ 'fe totally repravsd moral pervert Of
! he ecehiemindAd or ebnerfnal type.
Tho girl NJ the srs.-ciass IS not
criminal but unfortunate The girl
~ the second class Is Nv no means
f7ecessarilv 1on-aved. TIE girl Of the
fh'rd class fs capable Of reformation
hv proper teaching and discfpline
I Girls o. the fourth-ciaes are prac-
"caliv hopeless. and are radiant CEN
ters Of contamination, moral and
physical.
S. IN July. 1918. this home or
school was subjected to an -irvestiga-
ton by the board of Charities and
Corrections and Mrs. Light. the ma
tron and resident manager testified
70 an unspeakable and almost un-
thiuksble condition OF depravfty
among great majority Of the thirty
FIVE inmate~~--that they were sexual
perverts Of the worst character and
lewd beyond the conception OF the
normal mind fsee the stenograph~rw
transcript of the evidence pages
1885.
House OF Horrors.
g. To this house Of horrors were
sent girls who under better auspices
might have been reformed. and these
girls were placed in physical contact
with the unspeakabiy depraved In
mates. TO- sentence a girl because
she is destitute and friendless, or who,
though crrtng. still has the capacity
for reformation. Is to sentence her TO
certain. final and unacceptable moral
death. Little girls OF eight and over
can be sentenced to this place and
little girls have been sent there and
are there now.
7. The fact that girls not too far
gone In vice to be reformed have been
condemned to association with these
moral and physical iepers: that i'm
portant and prominent men seek to
Justify II and powerful influences are
invoked TO continue It, is a terrible
indictment against the so-calied RENE.
dial agencies of our civilization.
3. Almost every one of the thirty
five girls now in the home were sent
there because IN the language of the
law they are vicious and incorrigible
and each was q menace to the com
ys1st yx{ St+s !. 5,S.
girls, each a menace to her own COM
munity. have. because OF lack of any
sort Of discipline. control or intelli-
gent management been practically
turned loose upon the decent self-re-
specttng community in which the
home Is situated. and these people
have been sneered at and blamed for
trying To protect the sanctity of their
homes against an evil many times as
bad as the evil to prevent which each
separate girl has been sent TO the
home.
o. The evidence before the investi- |
eating committee and the grand
jurtes. none OF which liz, or can be. |
-+r-trd. Is that the great majority OF
these girls are afflicted with COM
municahle diseases. and the i'm
morality Of their behavior is a matter
OF court stenogra record: that
they have been per n1itted To 40 about
unattended In the vicinity OF the home
slngiy, In small groups and large
groups: that they terrorked the
ne!ghborhood by armtng themselves
with deadly weapons and pursuing
the fleeing officers of the law with
threats and tumult. that a group of |
them went To the Southern railroad
station and danced indecently I'm the
presence and sight of white and negro |
men
10 The fact that the negro Ranks
Is now, and has for a long time been |
the overseer and in practical charge
of these girls. and that they will not !
permit decent white man to remain
on the place. and that the manage /!
ment of the home continues to keep
The negro Banks at the home. is in |
itself conclusive indictment against |
the management
Conclusive Indictment
IL. These are only n small part of !
the proven facts which constitute this |
so-called home q dreadful nuisance |
and dangerous menace to the com |
munity in which II is situated, and /
the significance OF these facts is In no /
way changed. nor their Influence for t
evil lessened. by the conceded fact
that the motives Of the gentlemen who |
are responsible for this management i
are pure and phiianthropic. A mo-
tive Is state OF mind, but when an |
act IL done to carry a motive into
effect the act becomes a fact, and |
this fact is TO be Judged by what II is |
= neither IL Is good or bad, and not by /
the motives Of the people who are re-
A,laonsihle for the act The moral re- I
sponsibil.ty OF men is fixed by their (
motives, bat facts as to whether they 4
3re good or bad must be Judged by I
themselves. II man sincerely thinks .
lis child. who Is suffer- ngfrom small i
OK. should neither he segregated nor +
medically treated. and bases this be-
lief upon a religious opinion, neverthe-
less society is justified in protecting
itesclf and enforcing segregation and /
treatment, despite the sincerity of the /
parents motives.
In the same way the estimahle gem
tlemen who arc now mana ging the I
home may. and we are willing TO ad- I
NIT, do sincerely believe, that II Is a
Christian AMI philanthropic act to In
fict these depraved and perverted /
farm alas without yantra} or ,5{erSrfira