New Britain herald., 1915-10-14

the young wife, properly safeguarded, to her husbands home city there | to bring action against him. l We appealed to the Charity Or l ganization society of that city which | responded nobly. There was a com
 plicated correspondence and finally on the appointed day the girl was put | aboard the train in charge of the con- ductor, with an identifying tag pin | ned on, letters in hand to present to ] the conductors of the trains en route
 and to the Travellers Aid Agents, q | ticket from the public charities.
 pocket money from the Charity Or l ganiZation, and an all important mar l riage certificate.
 l After her exodus we waited anx- 1 iously. Successive letters brought us | news of her progress,-in changing | trains, being met and escorted to | lodging place, and later befriended in | court. Last of all came news of a complete reconciliation and the | couples retiring from court beaming l with smiles
 There are, indeed, many sides to | this business of ours-the common
 welfare. Parculiarly necessary in l them all is a true understanding of l our immigrant problem.
 ! l grant residents into integral parts of this nation is the business of phil l anthropy as we'll as of the schools.
 Naturally the greatest factor in the 1 fusion of racial elements Is educa- | tion. Immigrant children below the l age of sixteen years are receiving a | splendid instruction in our local | sch ools. Our real problem at present ] is how to reach those aliens over six
 teen who are not affected by our com pulsOry education laws.
 | We are prone to overlook the real | successes and dwell With resentment | on the dependency and delinquency of 1 some of our neighbors without real izing their handicap or making any conscious effort toward installing | American ideals. While we are hear
 ing so much about Made in America"
 products. what about the output of successful American citizens within 1 our borders?
 l When the immigrant arrives in this
 city he leaves behind him all the Old World machinery for life. Before him
 is the Promised Land. He brings with him another language, other customs
 inbred through generations, a stan | dard of living founded on a different basis, and a cringing to official au- l thority, acquired through military
 government. His dominant desire i5 | to make money in this much vaunted
 land of ours
 l Here he finds a new order of things. Coming usually from a rural district of the old country he is l plunged into city life; he sees strange, l new customs, he is awed by the inces- l sant rush and hurry.
 l ''If under sixteen years he enters l our schools, otherwise he is left to ad- | just himself as best he can. Is 1t any l wonder he is sometimes unequal to | the change? Becoming a dependent
 means the shattering of golden hopes
 and possibly deportation. Falling into | the delinquent class is even more seri- | ous.
 The Charity organization, then,
 must stand ready to interpret our so-
 cial life to the newcomers. who with | few exceptions, fill the ranks of our l applicants. We must be ready to re-
 ceive and befriend the aliens referred | to us. We must faithfully comply with such requests for service as the
 Red Cross has sent to us in the past 1 regarding victims of disaster whose | destination was this city. We must
 safeguard non- English speaking wo- | men and girls passing through the l city or coming to make their home | here. We must impress upon over ar l bitrary husbands the legal protection | given to wives in this country. We
 must warn that no such neglect of l children or abuse of animals will be | tolerated here as may have been per | mitted elsewhere. In short, in every
 conceivable phase of this new life we | must be prepared to advise and sug-
 gest, to champion or admonish. This | instead of being a side issue to the
 work of the Charity organization is
 matter of prime importance in so for
 eign a city as New Britain, and a | sense of obligation to us makes our | hearers the more receptive.
 "Our statistics show a tremendous l growth in the past two years, and as | conditions change with the expansion
 of our city, new problems, new oppor- | tunities and new responsibilities will
 constantly unfold It is our business
 to be so flexible and alert that we can
 meet demands successfully and take | our full share in the public welfare
 which Is the common business of all.'
 Agents Financial Report.
 The agents financial report, for the l past year follows:
 Balance on hand Oct 1, 1914 8 91S3
 Received by agent from con-
 tributions for special cases
 and return of loans ..... 774.62 Total ............ $S6645
 Expended by agent for special | caSeS:-
 Special Shoe fund ......... $10269 | nr