The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1914-01-02


chief work was obtaining jobs for
dependent mothers. Such Jobs as
they obtained were washing and
scrubbjng, laborious work which
ruined the mother and broke up
the family. Thousands of families
were broken up i'll this way Inc
technical court charge for breaking
up the family, however, was tru-
ancy delinquency. failing to keep
the house cleaG,' or the mother
was sent to the hospital broken
down. Thus. juvenile court records
and the amazing statistics of the
charity trust show that no homes
were broken up by poverty. The
facts are that poverty was the
cause of all the broken homes that
passed through the juvenile court
and charity trust,
Early in 1911, | happened to
run into this supreme crime against
motherhood and childhood. Selling
black babies away from their moth
ers, outraged humane persons thru
out the world and helped bring on
the bloody civil war. But | have
seen white mothers, good mothers,
noble mothers, separated from their
own children, because they We're
poor and this crime was committed
in the name OF kindness and char
lily. | hope God will forgive them.
This is going on in New York at
this very hour and any person may
prove il by visiting the juvenile
courts and observing the processes.
Appalled, at the separation OF
mother and child, the supreme
crime, and the most awful punish
ment that could be devised by
friends. conceived the idea of
pensioning mothers, Quietly the
law was passed in illinois and went
into effect Oh July !, 1871. Since
that time thousands of children
have been relieved from poverty |
and the breaking up of homes has
been checked. The new system /
met with the approval Of the pub
lie and at this time has been /
adopted by eighteen other states. |
The begging charities OF Chicago /
have proven inefficient, in the eyes
Of the public The high salared /
experts and the hords of "inNestl- |
gators could not raise last year |
more than $4,000, although as !
sisted by committees OF prominent /
business men. Many charity work |
ers thrown out of work by the fail i
ure of the begging societies nave i
been hired by the county as civil /
service employees to help the pen
stoned mothers, instead OF vast !
ing their time as employment |
agents for wash women and scrub
bers.
The pension system has been
found economical as ali the money
goes directly to the children and
their mother and the family is
not subjected TO the insult OF char
ity any more than the pupil in the
public school. Under this system
families are not broken up; hope
Eliminates the life of the mother;
she remains at home and takes
care of her own children; the lit
lie ones may have home of which
they are proud. and the records OF
the juvenile courts show that the
usual juvenile delinquency has
about disappeared from pensioned
families.
Before the pension system was
adopted in Chicago, 900 out OF
i 900 children We're brought into
court on charges of petty theft and
other infractions of the law After
these same LOO children had been
pensioned only three were brought
into court on, charges. The cause
of this is the pension which en-
ahed the mother to remain at
home ard look after her own chit
dren. The results are amazingly
successful, and Chicago will soon
abolish entirely from the city lin
its, child poverty, the blight Of civ
iliZation.
Begging must stop. 1t is
failure.