The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-02-22
RICH WOMEN CLASH
OVER ABABIES' HOME
Lines Drawn in Greenwich on
Whether or Not Institu-
ton Shall Continue.
TOWN MEETING IS CALLED
Mrs. Macy on One Side Is Op-
posed by Mrs. Percy and
Mrs. w. G. Vanderbilt.

GREENWICH, Conn.,. Feb. si.-There IL
open hostility among the wealthy women
Of this town as to the manner in which
certain charities should DO dispensed. a.
was made manifest to-day. when commit
tees representing two factions made a
house to house canvass, getting sigma
lures to petitions which will be discussed
at a town meeting called for next Wednes-
day.
one faction. calling itself the Incorpo-
rators Of the Emily Bruce Shelter. would
take over the Emily Bruce House. home
for dependent children. which has hereto
fore been under the supervision OF the
United Workers OF Greenwich. and carry
on the work with the same standards
adopted while under the United Workers.
The other faction. however. would abolish
the Bruce home as a shelter for babies
and place the children in Greenwich
homes.
The principal question in dispute. says
Mrs. Nelson Macy. 10 what Is known In
charitable parlance as the child depend
ency" question. Mrs. Macy believes that
the dependent chiids place IL in a home
and not an institution.
Her views on charity are disputed by
Charlotte NJ. Webb. Anne J. Edwards,
Charlotte X. Chapman. Mary c. Ray and
Helen u. Tuttle, who as incorporators OF
the home are anxious to see 1t continued
as a sheltering place for dependent chill
dren.
Much Friction, Says Mrs. Macy.
There are 80 many diverging opinions
as to what shall be done with the Green
wich child that the situation at present
according to Mrs. Macy. Is ian unfor-
tunate one.. replete with friction and per-
sonal feeling"
The trouble started several weeks ago
when Hiram Myers, an investigator OF
the Sage Foundation. came here and
studied conditions. He suggested that the
Bruce Home be put to other uses and
the placing out system used.
Subsequently the executive board OF the
United Workers sided with Mr.. Myers
and notified all parents and guardians OF
children In the home that they could not
be supported after March l. This plan met
with strong opposition by the women most
actively interested in the home, including
Mrs. Percy A. Rockefeller. Mrs William
G. Rockefeller, Mrs. A A. Anderson, Mrs.
George F. Dominick and Mrs Duncan
| Edwards, and they formed a rival faction.
There has been talk. however. that long
before Mr.. Myers was called to Green
witch as an adviser on the child dependency
question trouble was already brewing. AZ
| late az last summer. II Ia said. the execu-
tive committee OF the United Workers
| refused to accept the proceeds OF raffle
on the ground that money received from
such means was questionable.
Mira Nathaniel Webb. daughter Of the
late w. II. McCord of New York. and Mrs.
F. X Brown were interested In the raffie.
Mrs Webb canvassed 200 shares Of United
States Steel stock. said to have been given
by f. c. Converse, and Mrs Brown sold
tickets for an automobile. At the time It
was said that $4,000 would be realized
from the raffie but In the midst OF the
work the executive committee-the same
! nm 1yvnit fsA hat
Bruce Home-objected.
No one seems to know what became OF
the Steel stock and the automobile.
hundred or more Greenwich people still
hold tickets for the rafiie.
After the open rupture between the
members there were wholesale resigna-
tons from the main organization. The
only member Of the original Bruce Home
committee who still remains Is Mrs. +. o.
Parker. Mrs. Nathaniel Webb, Mrs,
George Wartoi Edwards, Mrs. f. n.
Chapman. Mrs. +. 6. Ray, Mrs, Herman
cred their connections and want the house
| discontinued as a home for babies.
Others who Joined them are Mrs. Elon
II. Hooker. Mrs. Charles F. Peck Mrs.
Seymour Runk. Miss Elizabeth Leonard.
| Miss Julia b. Mead. Mrs. Charles F. Tay-
Tor, Mrs. d. ]. Holden. Mrs. G. c. st. John
and Mrs. NJ. Il. Barrows.
The town meeting has been called by
many people who supplied funds for the
maintenance Of the Bruce Home for Ba-
bies and who object TO its discontInuance.
They will ask. the town to continue the
use OF the building for a home under the
name OF the Emily Bruce Shelter and
have Incorporated under that name. They
feel that the placing out system OF caring
for children has not yet been tried sue
! cessfully in Greenwich where certain
conditions Of average housekeeping are
exceptional.
On the other hand Mrs. Macy. who Is
the leader of the rival faction. believes
that the institutional method Of caring
for normal dependent children IL anti
quated.
institutions arc being abolished and
the family home plan extended" said Mrs.
Macy to-day. There 10 no real problem
Of child dependency IN our town. BY
maintaining an institution in Greenwich
the tendency has already grown to break
down the ties Of family life and to bring
here from other cities. States and even
countries persons who sought to be re-
lieved Of the responsibility Of their chill
dren.
Problems for Other Places.
IAN institution In Greenwich supplies
an easy way Of escape from the stigma
of illegitlmacy and makes more diff
cult the handling Of these problems In
neighboring cities and States. II Green
witch. with all her wealth. can afford
financially to assume this responsibility.
which should fall on other shoulders, she
cannot afford to assume the grave and
deep moral responsibility Of lifting the
care OF the child from the normal parent,
thereby depriving It Of a mothers love"
The extent OF the child problem In
Greenwich. explains Mrs. Macy. 10 that
the sixteen children now In the Bruce
Home have mothers physically and NOR
ally capable to care for them. and some
even have fathers anxious to care for
them. In other words Mrs. Macy ques-
lions whether charity 10 really needed In
Greenwich or not
The incorporators of the Bruce Home
| disagree with Mrs. Macy and her fol-
lowers and assert that poor mothers now
have an opportunity to support themselves
and still be near their children II the
home shelters them.
Both factions are working hard for
converts to their particular cause and
even the husbands are distributing Pc
al