Evening star., 1923-12-20
SOCIAL WELFARE
AID IS PROMISED
Representative RathbOne o.
fers Cooperation to Lead
erS of Work Here.

Representative Henry c. Rathbone,
Illinois, new member of the House
District committee, held an informal
conference with leaders in social well
far. work in Washington yesterday
afternoon at the home of Mr. and
Mrs. Archibald Hopkins. 1926 Massa-
chusetts avenue, and promised MS
hearty cooperation in the fight for
brttering social conditions here Where
il did not conflict too much with the
economic program of Congress.
The new member made II plain that
H. stood behind tight budget strings
and lower taxes. but not to the point
OF uiggardlineSS, not to the extent
where ii meant decrease in gov
prnmcnt efficiency or lowered stand
AIDS of living conditions in crowded
areas His first thought. he said. in
legislation affecting the social wei
fale conditions in Washington. was
chat it should be of a permanent
nature. locking always TO the future
betterment and beautifylng, or the
city He urged that all social
agencies be Co-ordinated so that
Congress would be impressed by the
unified power of public opinion on
certain vital issues and not Hooded
with countless correlated and over
lapBiug appeals inadeQuately backed.
Dep,oreS I.aci> of Fairgrounds.
his first impression on seeing Wash =
iugton for til" first time since ms
Younger days when he lived here was
:. decided shock al the lack OF small
pla& grounds in the poorer sections or
fht. city and the many vacant lots
;hat might be used for such purposes.
nut instead were piled high with de
cay iug rubbish. apparently years olu,
In discussing the alley dwellings,
situation with John Ihlder, president
l., .t--l
N.cncieS. Mr.. I;athhone agreed that
ii Was a dcplnrable state. and gave 1t
a. his view that 1t was Impractlcal 10
cut through small streets to replace
the alleys. but that the alleys should
L., cleared out as fast as possible and
1h,. space devoted Ia Fairgrounds, ga =
rag"S and parking space.
MIR Ihlder urged that the same bill
al eviction that WAS passed by the
last Congress and killed 10y the
courts. he put through again with
some future date OF eviction applied
when the housing situation IS !CSS
acute and cheap sanitary buildings
are obtainable. Representative Rath-
bone gave il as his opinion that the
government or the citizens OF the
city would he taking an cconontlcdi
step by supplying sanitary dwellings,
for those who live in alleys. t"r we
cost of the housing would more than
be COMPENSATED for eventually by Il
decrease in expenses hy the pH.;ce
force. health bureau. courts ana jailS
and general uplifting of Jhe stand
ardS OF citizenship.
Mr.. Hopkins made an urgent ap-
peal that Congress should intercept
the proposed plans of local civic
bodies to foster bringing factories TO
Washington. First, he said, 1t would
tend TO ruin the beauty of the city,
then il would tend to keep away a
fine. type of people that are con-
tinually coming to Washington be-
cause i. is free from such an atmos-
phere. and lastly that Congress had
originally planned being away from
the possible influence of mob &uE-
se"tion or the foreign element that
might he brought here with the in
fux of factory workers.
Mrs Walter s. Ufford, social worker.
urged the passage of the Capper-
F"Cht compulsory education bill,
pointing out the absolute tnadcquacy
of the present law in producing any
standard Of education or regulating
child labor. Judge Kathryn Sellers
Of the juvenile Court backed up this
plea for q truancy law and told OF
the great number of truantS brought
to her court that the authorities could
not control. Judge Sellers also asked
that the Juvenile Court act be with
held until the present code commits
sion was functioning properly, to be
able to sift out the best judgment on
the contents of the act
More Judges Asked.
Mrs. Nina c. Van Wrinkle, head of
the woman'S bureau of the police
force, made an appeal for more courts
and more judges. so that prisoners
would not be kept waiting trial,
sometimes as long as a year or more.
in the city Jail. and Mrs. Hopkins
added to this the plea for better jail
conditions where. she stated, the
prisoners are housed three in one
small cell and were allowed only one
hour a day for outdoor recreation.
Mr.. Rathbone told the meeting that
he had investigated the jail already
and found the conditions there de
plorable."
the Visiting Nurses Association, ex-
planned the needs for increased sal
aries for officials at the training
school for nurses at the Gallinger
Hospital, the Training School for
Boys, the Industrial Home School and
other institutions in the city. George
s. Wilson, chairman of the District
putting through the appropriation for
100000 for the erection of the
Training School for Feeble Minded
Children, which already has been ap-
proved by the budget bureau and the
land appropriated by Congress.
To all of these projects Representa-
tive Rathbonc lent d ready ear, ap-
proved of them in principle and prom
ised his cooperation. He was heart
lily congratulated on being one of the
few members of Congress who seen
to have their whole hearts and souls
in working for the needs of the Dis
trict.., Others who were present at the
meeting included Walter S. Ufford
general secretary of the Associated
i -,ti ~ ~