Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-06-22
Professional Mothers
BY Frederic j. Haskin.

living and good education, whether its
mother is married or not, and that IL is the
duty of the State TO enable the mother TO
provide these things, received an irnpres-
sve Endorsement the other day when the
State conference on mothers pensions IN
Ohio passed a resolution favoring the ex-
tension Of the mothers pension law 10
mothers of ilegitimate children.
This radical principle wns not endorsed
without heated discussion. woman
delegate asserted that the mother of an
illegitimate child is nm abandoned crea-
tlre who does not deserve the help Of the
State, and somewhat the same point Of
view was expressed by others; but the
day was carried for the unmarried mothers
by Judge Frank w. Geiger Of Springfield.
How about the babics?" he demanded
"rhe real purpose of the pension ~ to
protect the children the Illegi-
innate child needs this protection as
much, or very much more, than any
other.
He went on 10 say that the mother in
such case, also needs the help of the
State, and that the State should grant IT,
This s startllngly new principle N
American law and social custom, but nm
old, il somewhat neglected one in Chris
tian ethics. Judge Geiger took the same
Jesus Christ took toward n woman In
somewhat similar circumstances.
Admittedly, however, il IL not the
| humanitarian value Of compassion for the
woman, but the practical and economic
value Of Justice for the child which is back
| of the growing movement for the granting
Of pensions 10 mothers Although few
| Americans realize it, pensions are now
granted "a mothers under various CIR
clfmstanccs, by ma Iority Of the states ~
| the Union Only one of them 80 far has
| included unmarried mothers ~ these
benefits, but the tendency plainly IS 70 ex-
tend the aid to them also.
AGAINST ouR TRADITIONS.
The growth of the mothers pensions
movement Is a striking example of now
| q practical need makes itself felt and IS
answered despite all theories against 4
| For the theory Of American government is
| absolutely individnalIsfic That Is We are
| all taught 10 believe that in this country,
opportunity il equal for ALL and that any
| one who will work can make a good living,
! bring up his children in health and COM
| fort and give them good education
| In practice this theory seems not 70
/ work perfectly. In tho old days when
/ there were not so ma ny people in America.
/ nearly everyone got enough 70 eat ana
/ probably most of them got such education
| as the country afforded. But Of late i has
i become increasingly apparent that many
/ thousands of American children yet neither
i enough Ia cat nor decent education. iq
| the shms of our great cities children dia
/ like flies of malnutrition and neglect IN
MANY rural districts they die almost ~
fast Of h0okworm malaria ard other
diseases that spring largely IRON poverty,
and in some rural districts he children GET
10 education worthy ~ the name tine
81 the results Of these conditions was seen
when the draft brought forward thousands
az Young men who were llnderuourlshed,
diseased. ignorant and even ilhterate Itis
4elf-evident, of course. that the state
cannot afford to 60 on raising hat KIND Of
men any more than q farmer can afford 10
raise many, stnnted and diseased live
stock
II has always been recognized 0f course
that some parents would be unable 20 4
care for their children and that some /
children would he horn out Of wedlock and (
that the State had certain responsibility /
for such unfortunate children. The recog- /
nitIon Of these facts created the or /
phanages, orphan asylums and like instl-
tutions which dot the country. But these |
places do not fill the bill. The child has no I
home life, no proper freedom. He IS not |
gwen the living and the education winch |
he deserves but merely makeshltt
substitute, the acceptance Of which he often
regards as disgrace,
CHARITY FAILS
The efforts OF private charity have ike
wise proved inadequate, ard 50 have the
attempts to solve the problem hy placing
children in homes. Despite these measures,
the enormous waste OF child HE has gone
on. The system Of pensionlng mothers
with State funds has gained headWay te-
cause il has, TO some extent, met the need
when everything else has failed, One state
after another has adopted 1t, and every
where II has accomplished good. The laws
are all different and few OF them are drawn
hv experts Few Of them provide really
adequate pensions, and still fewer MAKE
any ADEQUATE provision for the admins
Ftration OF the law by competent persons
Yet mothers pensions have tunmphed,
and IL has been purely practical I'll
umph 1t is against all American tradition
for the State to pension mothers. Ii IS q
purely socialistic measure. Washington
and Jefferson and the rest of the pantheon
of American political gods. never endorsed
it. But it saves child life, keeps homes IN
| tact, keeps women from taking 70 the
street IN sheer desperation, and therefore Il
has triumphcd again and again in CON
servative legislatures where common
sense is stronger than devotion 70 tradl-
ton or fear Of social theory
The dangers of granting pensions to
mothers are self-evldent There is obvl-
Gus danger Of fraud and waste. There IS
also an obvious temptation for office
holders to use such pensions as a means OF
building up tlofr constituencies. Yet
those who have had experience IN ad-
ministering\these laws say that the prac-
teal drawbacks are not as serious As they
look The growing participation Of women
in politics and public service will probably
be stimulus both 10 the passage Of such
legislation and 10 its proper administra-
ton
MOTHERHOOD AS A TR0FEssIoN.
This whole movement is really step
toward the recognition Of motherhood as a
profession which is of great value 10 the
State 1t will in all probability lead 70 more
systematic education Of women for
motherhood, so that when the State in
vests money in children it will he sure of
return As it is, most women 90 INTO mar
riage without the slightest training or
preparation for the difficult occupation of
raising children The proper motive for
marriage iii this country IS supposed TO lee
romantic love. The typical American girl
does not regard marriage and mother