The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1920-09-02
FULLY SPEAKS
IN OWN DEFENSE
Continued from page y

tHS COUNTY DOdEu, lIOm Lluic W OAhASs
and used their best efforts to have the
Office created, for the purpose, prin-
cipally of protecting the morals Of
the young people of the city, and near
ly every person called the attention
Of the board to the fact that it was
necessary that the one appointed fire.
quently visit dance halls and other
places where young people gather for
amusement purposes. ! tried on many
occasions to impress upon the proba-
ton officer the great necessity for do
ing such work but she informed me,
and so testified on the witness stand,
that this work did not come within the
scope of her duties; and further tes-
tilted that in case she did attend any
such place her only duty was to look
after boys and girls then under her
supervision, and that she would not
give the proper attention to the re-
naming boys and girls even though
instructed by the judge of the Juye
nile court to do so. This matter was
fully explained to the officer before
she accepted the position in question
and in justice to the work it was her
duty, I believe, to either carry out
reasonable instructions given by the
judge of the court or give up the work
entirely.
"Some people, perhaps, are Of the
opinion that the trouble in this case
was of recent origin; that is not the
fact. 1t began last February and, no
doubt, would have been overlooked by
4ha Jor had = Of
the fact that the officer in question
was instrumental in having matters
pertaining to court work taken up by
the county board for action, contrary
to the wishes and without the l1nowl"
edge of the judge of the Municipal
court. | am at loss to know how
any one in any public Office can hope
to succeed in his work when he does
not show the proper respect for the
officer from whom he receives his in
structions.
81 do not care TO go over the vari
Gus matters set forth in the complaint
on file in this case but am firmly
convinced that the evidence in the
case was sufficient to show cause for
the removal of the officer in question;
in fact, a great part thereof was adj
mitted as being true by the officer
and her attorney at such hearing.
mo organization of any kind, in
my opinion, ever succeeded where
there was lack of discipline shown.
This is true in every walk of life.
Show me the home, factory or BUSH
ness house where discipline is thrown
to the winds and the word failure"
appears in every direction in which
you look. If probation officer hopes
to be successful in teaching those un-
der his supervision, can he succeed in
his efforts if he does not respect the
orders and directions of his superior
officer? l do not think so.
The probation officer testified that
judge. She admitted that she refused
to carry out instructions given her by
the judge of the court, which instruc-
tions to him seemed very reasonable.
Can any one say that it would be for
the best interests of the probation de-
partment to permit an officer to go
on with her work when she deies the
person who appointed her and from
whom the law provides she shall re-
ceive her orders and instructions?
"The probation officer was quoted in
one of the local papers as saying that
I never cared for her from the time
Of her appointment and that / was
forced to appoint her because public
opinion justified such action. This
is not the case. / not only respected
the wishes of the public welfare com
mittee of the Chamber of Commerce
at that time, relative to the appoint
ment of such probation officer, but
was thereafter instrumental in having
her salary increased by the county
board and in having provision made
by the board for her monthly expense
account; and at all time informed her
that l was ready and willing to assist
her in any way that / could to make
the office a success. Was she justi-
fed then, in saying that l was not
giving her the proper cooperation in
her work?
Il am now of the opinion that the
best interests of the department can
be served by having a man at it's head.
Of course there are some who will
not agree with me. My principal rea-
son for so believing is that, knowing
the many unpleasant features connect
ed with the work, cannot help, say
ing that l have too much respect for
the dignity of womanhood to ask a
woman to so engage herself. l have
always been of the opinion that AL
mighty God in creating woman placed
her on a plane just little higher
than man, and when see a woman
engaged in work which is filled with
the filthy and sordid things of life
cannot help but feel that she is
making an effort to bring herself
down on level with man. Nearly
every man who is familiar with work
Of this nature, dare say, is of the
same opinion. There are many fields
Of labor where the women have taken
their place alongside of men and have
been successful in their efforts, but
in this particular position / cannot
help but feel that a man can get the
best results in the work, taking into
consideration the fact that provision
is made for only one probation Off
Ger and that there is no other female
police officer with whom she can work.
James E. Tully,
Municipal Judge
MISS KUBALL is HONOR GUEST.