Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1922-10-25
Helping .our Own" Children
(Dorothv Garfield Fishery

Anyone who has ever gone from
door to door soliciting funds Tor
charitable organization knows a.
thing or two about human nature,
that he wouldn't have learned IN any
other way. One of the revelations
which come to him is the widespread
prevalence, more or less openly ex-
pressed of a real unwillingness on
the part of prosperous, energetic peo-
pie to help those who are weaker,
poorer or more unfortunate than
they. Their attitude seems to them
perfectly justifiable, their arguments
unanswerable.
What can you say to well-to-do
farmer who answers your request for
little money to help out the Chill
dren's Aid Society, by saying, mo
ma'am not a cent. don't believe in
! pampering poor folks. It only makes
them lazy. The more you do for
them the more they want you to do.
Why should l give my good money,
that I've worked hard for, to he,
out that shiftless, do-less Emerton
family? Jim Emerton never did real
days work in his life. If he did, his
children wouldn't be ragged and
pindling. His wife's a lazy, good
| for-nothing piece. Let her take care
of her own children. We do ours"
We all know that man, and his
hard working, competent, self-right-
eous wife, who, whatever she may
say, agrees perfectly with her hus-
band. He probably lives just down
the road from your home. For all I
know he may live right in your house
, and inside your own skin. There is
some of him hidden in almost all our
| hearts.
| Well, let us tell you what happened
to the one whom 1 happen to know
personally, who lives in a nearby
town. After talking like that all his
life, he came to see me last year
about some poor children who had
moved into his district and were at
tending the same district school with
| his children. He said, 1Isn't there
some society-seems as though I'd
heard you tell Of one-that looks out
for the poor, miserable children that
their homes aren't fit to live in?
| Those Lawner kids are going to our
/ school and something's got to be
/ done about it! Their heads are full
of you-know-what, and one of them
has got an awful queer-looking sore
place on his neck, that might be
catching, and they use the awfullest
language. My wife is wild; she
spends all her time combing out our
Pete to stop using bad words. And
the teacher says they are so behind
in school, she can't do anything with
them. They just spoil her school,
keep the others back so. That big
fourteen-year-old boy is only in the
| third grade, and he oughtn't to be
with those little kids. Lord knows
what deviltry he'll be teaching them
behind the teachers back"
| I was unkind enough to answer him
! in his own words, ooh, let their folks
take care of them! Their mothers a
| lazy, good-for-nothing piece. Why
! doesn't she clean them up? If their
father was any good, he'd look out
for them. It'd just make them lazier
if a society took care of the children"
There is nothing like little first
handed contact with facts, when they
affect you personally, to open your
eyes. This man did not even recog-
nize his own arguments. He answer
ed Indignantly, "Their mothers got
consumption, that's what the matter
with her, and she never was overly
bright. She can't take care of them,
she's sick; and dumb, into the bar
I gain. The children's father is dead.
It's her brother that lives with them,
and he's the cussedest skunk, drunk
half the time, and mean as a mule
| the rest of the time. If we waited
! around till those two took care of
| their family, I'd like to know what
| would become of our children? And
the kids are all right, really, if any
body'd clean 'em up and teach 'em
something. Their father had good
enough head-piece, and the teacher
/! says the children are bright enough,
| naturally They haven't had any
chance, that's all. And the way
they're growing up-why it's not only
sure to send them to the devil, but
they're likely to drag along any child
that knows them. Why gee! You
district-it's just as though they had
the smallpox or the itch, or anything
else that's catching. We can't do by
our own children the way we'd ought
| to, till they're taken care of. And
anyhow, they'd ought to be looked out
for. Tain't their fault"
This is what happened. We made
an appeal to the Vermont Children's
/ Aid society. their agent came down.
| investigated the case, got in touch
with the Anti-tuberculosis League
sent the Wrefched, SkeletOn-l1ke moth
er to sanitarium and put both chill
dren in boarding home, where they
4 were kent clean, under a doctors
care, with EXPERT supervision for q
few weeks. The big boy proved to
have adenoids which were taken out
The poor. sickly little girl was amaze
i mic and was put on Strengthening
l diet. In five weeks time nobody
would have recognized them. The
J, Girl was adopted by lonely widowed
dressmaker. whose life is suddenly
sun flooded bv +he presence of child
in the home. The how was taken in
: 20 tho family of farmer. whose owr
! wall-hrough+-rD sons are now grown
and GONE away from home. He lives
his life between the decent self-re.
snectino farmo~. ard his wise, moth
erly wife: and he told the agent Of
he Children's Aid society the Other
day. Sometimes it comes over me
+ how +hinrs ueod TO he. and how they
are now-and it just makes me stor
right still where 7 am, and-and-'
h's nxr~eeeinn added silently, "anc
: thank God"
As for +lno mrn who didn't see why
I hard -7vorkir~ thrifty folks should b.
: nvnected 70 holm ont the lame duck
what is he DOING?