Evening journal., 1918-02-22

feeble minded has been Increasingly
recognized IN Delaware during recent
years. The grave menace OF IN prob
lem has ben brought home by the
thorough studies made IN this fleld by
the Federal Chlldrens Bureau The
studies show that many feeble-mlnded
are now IN Delaware Institutions which
are not at all adapted for their care and
that many more are at large In prl-
yate homes throughout the State.
"A start was made toward meeting the
situation by the passage last year Of a
bill providing for Commission for the
Feeble Minded and for the approprla-
ton Of $4,000 toward the starting Of
an institution 1t Is hoped that an In
stitutOn VIII soon be erected sufl-
Glen ly large to meet the needs, and be
constructed and administered along
approved lines
Delaware now permits the pres
ence Of children in her three aims
houses. During the year ending June
20, 1916, % children between the ages
OF 3 months and II years were In the
New Castle county almshouse alone,
for shorter or longer period. II is
generally agreed that children ought
not 10 live in an almshouse The
population OF an almshouse Is made up
for the most part OF hopeless broken
down persons many OF whom have
diseased bodies and corrupted minds
Their Standards Of living, speech. man
ners and dress are not those with
which Il is desirable that Initiative
children should come In contact. foi
even IN a short time the children must
receive through such association I'M
pressions which VIII leave a taint, OF
they may form injurious habits that
viii harm them through life. More
over, an almshouse provides no edu-
cation for Its inmates. Children re-
ceive no schooling, no vocational train
ing no special provision for play and
recreation They usually eat, sit. talk
and sleep IN the same quarters with
the unfortunate adults Many States
have passed laws forb'ddlng the pres
ence Of children In these institutions
We recommend that Delaware pass a
similar law
"The State has no organization
charged with the control or super
vision Of It's charitable and correction
al work. The right and duty OF
State to supervise It's charitable and
correctional organizations are now gen
eraly granted This has been true for
long time with regard to public in
sttutions, and in recent years the prin-
ciple has come to be quite generally
accepted rega-ding private institutions.
At the Tri-State Conference held last
November in this city a strong recon.
mendatlon was passed that State
Board Of Charities be created IN Della
ware.
I'VE recommend that a law be pass
ed calling for the appointment by the
Governor OF State Board Of Chari-
ties. or similar organization. Sugges-
tions regarding the personnel Of the
board and It's powers Will be found In
my report
Mr. Richardson then strongly ad-
vised the creation OF a Children's Code
Commission He spoke Of the excellent
results which such commissions had
made possible in Ohio, Missouri and
Minnesota, and pointed out that since
this Is an Off year for the Delaware
Legislature, sufficient time Is now az
forded for the formulation OF a we'll
balanced set Of bills for presentation
at the next session, and that II the
work is not undertaken now three
years must elapse before another op-
portunlty for enacting chlldren's laws
Is presented
Miss Emma o. Lundhurg Of the Fed
eral Chndren's Bureau, made a short
/ aneech and ended nv expresslnr the
willingness OF the Federal Bureau to
be Of any help possible TO the local bu-
reau.
/ The Chlldren's Bureau was organ
lied November 10, 1916, by represen-
tatives from the board Of seven Chill
dren's Agencies who felt the desira-
billty Of bringing about closer cooper
alton Of the chlld-helping work in this
State and Of keeping in touch with the
modern methods in other states. Two