Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1915-05-06

BIZ
fits Of the work Of the Mothers con,
gross will later be apparent.
Root and Acker.
City Supt. G. G. Root welcomed the
visitors in the name of the schools OF
the city. He referred to the rapid
development iof North Dakota in the
matter of material resources, stating
that he could remember as a boy play,
ing with his mothers geography book,
where, on a map, what is now North
Dakota was referred to as THE Great
American Desert" While electricity,
railroads aud other facilities have
fastened the material development,
the more important work had been
the deelopment OF the schools and
homes of the community. He vel.
coined the members Of the congress
because they stood for this work. :
DR.. Rudolph Acher, professor of
psychology in the Valley City Normal,
spoke Q fthe fine art Of rearing chill.
dren." Comparing this art to the
work OF the sculptors, he stated that
while the sculptor worked with q
piece Of cold marble, The paernt work
ed with the living child, and how
mach more skill and intelligence the
parents work demanded. The speak.
ers Of the congress, he said, had
shown their proficiency in this, the
greatest of all arts. for they had
brought up their children to be bless
ings to their communities. They were
new devoting their energies with Il
.philanthropic motive to teaching 9th.
err mothers how to do their work.
Mrs. Bright Responds.
The response was given by Mrs. o.
Vile r. Bright OF Chicago, vice presi-
dent of the organization. She told how
gland the visiting ladies we're to come
to North Dakota, how they had found
the state to be as great as the fo--
mer speakers had represented tiff and
how their hearts had been warmed b.
the cordial greetings which they had
received.
A piano solo was given by Miss
Helen Fisk, and the address Of the
evening by Mrs. Frederic Schoff. Phil
delphia, president of the National
Congress Of Mothers ana Parent.
Teacher associations, followed.
Mrs. Schoff took as her subject,
"Guarding and Guiding the Children
Of the Nation" She stated that there
arc 13,000,0O children in the United
States under 6 years of age, that 300
900 babies are dying every year, large.
ly as the result of ignorance on the
part Of mothers. 1t has been proved
by actual experiment that this death
rate can be reduced over 70 per cent
by educating mothers, thus saving the
lives of many thousand babies each
year.
Purpose of Organization.
The main purpose of the organiza,
ton which she, represents is to reach
the home; to reach the inadequate,
Indifferent and inefficient parents and
teach them. Because it is not con.
venient for parents to go to school
and learn their duties, parent-teache'
associations are being formed in ev-
cry community to bring the needed
Instruction to the parents. We need
not worry about the dreaded ques.
ton of heredity because, as DR.. G.
Stanley Hall says, when you go back
to the time Of William the Conquer
or we each have about 5000 900 an
cestors, and among that number there
isbbound to, be some good, as we'll as
bad" .... Esa
Mrs. Schoff told how she was led to
an interest in so-called criminal chill.
dren. She saw glaring headlines in
a newspaper about a little girl of s
who was "a prodigy in crime" She
had set a house on fire, and was to
be confined in the reform school. Mrs.
Schoff went to the judge and asked il
she might have the child. The judge
said he had committed her to the re.
form school because he did not know
what else to do with her, but he did
not wish to put her there. A home
was found for the child with one Of
tho vice presidents of the Mothers
Congress.
1t was learned that she set the
house on fire to see it burn and to see
the engine come. She is today a grad.
uate Of a Normal school and a fine
woman. which she would not have
been il she had been brought up in
a reform school. The Mothers Con.
gress has taken a great interest in
the work of the juvenile court, not be
cause 1t is the best method, but b..
cause it is a step in the right direc.
ton. In the future better measures
may be utilized. The Mothers Con.
gress is working to take children OH:
Of prisons. In many states they are
treated as grown-up criminals. What
is needed is trained moral nurses.
who will do In the moral realm what
nurses do in the realm of physical
health.
Criminal Children. ~
Mrs. Schoff told of her work in rails
ing money to support probation Off.
GERS in Philadelphia. As a result OF
this work 10000 so-called criminal
children passed under her supervision
in a year. Nearly all Of them had
come into trouble because Of condi.
lions in their home life, conditions
for which they were not responsible.
These conditions must be changed.
With Judge Lindsay and three Others
she comprised . committee of fva
who investigated the early lives OF in.
mates of penitentiaries. A question.
aire was prepared, asking about sew:
eral matters on which light was