The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1914-01-04
MOTHERS PENSIONS
FOR EVERY STATE
Judge Neil, Originator of the Plan
Has Begun Campaign to Have
It Adopted.


II Adopted.
NEW YORK, Jan 3.-Judge Henry
Neil, father of the mothers pen
sions,'' has just begun a campaign to
have New York state adopt the law
which he declares will break the
charity trust" He explains in the
following article, written for the Unit
ed Press, why mothers pensions
should be paid by every state.
!
by Judge Henry Neil, written for
the United Press
In every city, large and small, are
organizations of well meaning people
who propose to care for children in
poverty. These people beg from the
rich and well-to.do to get money,
clothing, shelter and food for poor
children. Children who fall into the
hands of these charitable organiza-
tons are first disgraced, then taken
from their mothers and in the end
poverty is not even relieved
Begging is d'emoralizing to all con,
cerned, even when it is done by a
fine lady, or a fine organization of our
best people, on fine stationary ON a
fine Office History shows that beg
ging failed to educate the children
and as industry demanded girls and
boys who could read and write, the
free public school system was sstab-
lished and has just about abolished
illiteracy.
Charity schools were miserable
failure. They have gone. But the
Russell Sage Foundation and other
great institutions will go pifflins
around trying to convince the people
that charity will relieve child povel ty
Charity disgraces the receiver
teaches him to beg, and fills the Civ
er with false pride that hurts his
/; character Charity can not even re
lieve child poverty and It does no,
| even propose to abolish it.
| For scores of years this begging
bushes went on unhindered. This
i
more than 100000 a year, seventy
five per cent of which went to salar
les of investigators, whose chic
work was obtaining jobs for derend
ent mothers. Such Jobs as they OBJ
| tanned were washing and scrubbing
laborious work which ruined this
mother and broke up the family
4 Thousands of families were broker
| up in this way. The technical cour
charge for breaking up the family
however, was "truancy, delinquency
falling to keep the house clean O
the mother was sent to the hospital
1 broken down. Thus, juvenile cour
4 records and the amazing statistics 0
the charity trust show that no HON ,
were broken up by poverty The fact
are that poverty was the cause of al
the broken homes that passed throug
the iuvenils court and charity trus
/ Early in 1911, happened to ru
into this supreme crime agains st mott
erhood and childhood Selling blac
babies away from their mothers, ou
ragged humane persons Throughout
the world and helped bring On tn
bloody civil war. But / have see
white mothers, good mothers, nobl
moth ers, separated forever from thel
own children, because they We're poo
and this crime was committed in tn
name of kindness and charity. l hop
God will forgive them. This is goin
on in New York state at this yer
hour and any person may prove 1t b
visiting the juvenile courts and OF
serving the processes.
Appalled, at the separation of mott
er and child, the supreme crime, an
the most awful punishment that coul
be devised by friends, l conceived tn
idea of pensioning mothers Quietl
the law was passed In Illinois an
went into effect on July l, 1911. Sine
that TINE thousand, Of children hav
been relieved from poverty and tn
breaking up Of homes has been cheel
ed. The new system met with tn
approval of the public and at thl
time has been adopted by eightes
other states The begging charlie
of Chicago have proven inefficient, l
: the eyes of the public The hig
salaried experts and the horde of III
: vestigators" could not raise last yea
: more than $4,000 although assiste
by committees of prominent bushes
! men. Many charity workers throw
out Of work by the failure Of the be-
ging societies have been hired by tn
: county as civil service employees
{ help the pensioned moth ars, instea
I Of wasting their time as employmer
4 agents for wash women and scrubber
The pension system has been foun
I economical as all the money goes q
rectly to the children and their mot
0 er and the family is not subjected
a the insult Of charity any more tba
S the pupil in the public school Und'
this system families are not brok
$ up; hope Eliminates the life Of IL
r mother; she remains at home ar
T takes care of her own children: IL
little ones may have home of wh'c
. they are proud, and the records of I'll