Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1921-10-06
CONFERENCE OF SOCIAL
WORKERS WAS A Big EVENT.

!
with the showing of series of pict
ures and slides which gave clear evi
dence of the effectiveness and valu,
of the child welfare work Many un
der-nourished children had been bro
to full health and strength by suci
simple measures as providing addi
tional rest, depriving of tea and cof
fee or candy, and even by sleep in the
open air.
Friday morning, Mrs. Van Wyck
of Milwaukee, Secretary of the Mil
waukee Associated Charities, spoke
on Rebuilding Family Life" She
was followed by Rev. NJ. F. McEvoy fl
Milwaukee, Director of Catholic
Charities in that city, on "Child Wei
fare" Both these speakers brought
out the necessity Of working with the
family as unit in the effort to bet
ter social conditions, improve the
general health, lessen crime, and raiss
the standard of the community NOR
ally and spiritually, as we'll as in
dustrially and economically.
Hon. Ralph Smith, District Attor-
ney of Lincoln County, and former
member of the State Board of Con-
troll, spoke of the work of the Dist
rict Attorney along social lines. He
declared that many of the cases in
which the prosecution of an offender
is delayed or stopped are cases in
which an effort is being made to give
the offender chance to become USE
full citizen again, and thus add to So
ciety's forces, at the same time saw
ing the public money which would be
spent on court proceedings and the
like. He also pointed out the ex-
treme danger of the illicit liquor
traffic and stated that it is unjust for
citizens to expect the District Attor-
ney to take the prosecution of such
offenders entirely into his own hands.
His view is that it is the duty of the
people who want the prohibition law
enforced to help their officials get the
evidence and to come out in the open
as signers of complaint against the
parties complained of. Mr. Smith
also paid his compliments to the
country dance as menace to young
people, it being a dispensing place for
"moonshine" and other unlawful and
immoral agencies.
D. D. Witte of Madison, Secretary
of the State Industrial Commission,
spoke briefly of the work of that
Commission and explained the laws
under which they work. He pointed
out that these laws are made to ap-
ply chiefly to cases where children
are working on purely wage basis,
and not to their occasional or incid-
entail work in homes, on farms, or for
neighbors, relatives and friends. Their
application is therefore largely in the
cities and Industrial centers.
Miss Neprud, the new woman MEM
Der of the State. Board of Control,
who is in charge of the Juvenile Pro-
tective Department of that Board,
told of the extensive work of the
state in the care of blind, deaf, feeble
minded and crippled children. Her
talk brought out the rapid increase
of facilities of the state to discharge
this duty.
Sectional Conferences
The afternoon was given over to
group conferences on large variety
of subjects. In the Elks Club were
held the Red Cross and Industrial
Welfare Conferences. At these the
special work of each agency in it's
more local application was discussed
by those more directly interested in
them. At the Public Library there
was Library Conference, especially
TO help in broadening the work of the
Library Boards and making the Ii
.orary more useful in it's community
In the Congregational Church were
held Conferences on Education, on
Public Health, on Child Welfare
work, on w. C. T. u Work, on Public
Recreation, The Travellers Aid, that
cares for and protects especially the
i girls who go from outlying districts
20 the cities to work, on the work OF
the Girl Scouts, on Delinquents and
Corrections and on the work fol
iiirls by the Catholic Organizations
These sectional or group Conferenc-
S were thoroughly practical and ca
oable of local application, and viii
result in considerable social and in
tiustrial advancement in the district.
represented.
The Pageant
The pageant Friday afternoon a
l0aly's Theater by the school children
,irew an attendance that packed tn,
building to its doors. 1t was a sym
Elbolic presentation of the problems de
manding the attention of social work
ers, with the remedies and prevent
i've measures for each. The first cpl
sode presented the problems, the sec
ond the treatment, and the third tn
methods of prevention.
= The children who participated i
the pageant took their parts excel
tionallv well which torafhar wit