Evening star., 1927-11-06
important part which the
federated club movement
played in the building OF the
Il Panama Canal was aptly re-

Y
federated club movement
played in the building of the
| Il Panama Canal was aptly re-
called at the Thursday morn
| ing session of the National CONFER
ence on the Reduction of Crime by
the presiding officer, Mrs. John DICK
| inson Sherman, president of the Cen
! eral Federation of Womens Ciuos'
/ who, when she introduced Chiet JUS
| tice Taft, said:
when Mr.. Taft was Secretary OF
State the building Of the Panama
| Canal was the great undertaking OF
| our Government, but the engineers
| and other technical men who were
assigned to this work found condltlons
very trying for their wives. Mr.. Iatt
sent q commission of clubwomen down
to Panama to find out how the situa'
ton for the wives of these profes'
sional men and others might be I'M
proved. They recommended organiz-
ing women's clubs, and Mr.. TAFT ap.
proved. The commission organized
clubs throughout the Canal zone,
later the Panama federation was
formed, and in due time it became q
part of the General Federation or
Women's Clubs. In 1910 l had the
pleasure Of visiting Panama, and dur
ing that visit Mr.. Taft. then President
elect, was there. and | recall his ad'
dress before the Panama Federation
of Women's Clubs. So l sub"1it that
this wise man, whom 1 am about to
present. felt that even the Panama
Canal could not be built without the
help of the federated clubwomen."
The General Federation of Women's
Clubs, an organization of more than
1000, 900 women. reaching into every
section of the country, for many years
has taken an active part in the cam.
paign for better prison methods, this
work in the federation being headed
by Miss Julia X. Jaffray of New York
City, who is the very able chairman
of the division of adult delinquency.
So it seemed especially fitting that
Mrs. Sherman should preside at one
of the two sessions of the conference
devoted to prison problems.
Eighteen years ago the federation
was made to realize that the working
girls In many of our large industrial
centers were suffering from the un.
fair competition from the goods manu-.
factured by man prisoners and sold
in great quantities at cheap prices on
the general market" said Mrs. Sher-
man in her general Introductory re-
cooperation with the American Fed
Grafton of Labor. the National Com.
mittee on Prisons and Prison Labor
was organized to draw together the
general public. including the manu-.
facturers, organized labor and the
prison officials. to work out a system
of employing prisoners which shall be
just to the State, the prisoner, the
prisoners family and the free work.
ing man and woman.
1.-The federation has consistently co.
operated with the committee in it's
work for several years. the secretary
of the committee, Miss Jaffray, head
ing the work in the federation. Our
work has been and is effective. The
general federation led the campaign
for. the establishment Of the Federal
prison for women. Mrs. Florence
Floore, former treasurer Of the gen.
eral federation, is one Of the leading
spirits in the present reorganization
Of the Texas prison system.
"The New England Federation OF
Women's Clubs has just called on the
New England Council Of Manufac-
turers to cooperate with the fedora.
ton and the prison officials in work.
ing out a better method of marketing
tue pTOOuCIS OL the pTlSOIS III TIC INcW
England zone. These are few Illus
trations Of our work. We pledge our
hearty support to every worthy move.
ment to make the prison a real in
strument in safeguarding the Nation
from crime. and our division Of adult
delinquency has been instructed to
assist the State Federations Of Won.
ems Clubs in affording cooperation to
State crime commissions. These State
federations face the problems Of pro-
baton, pardon and parole from the
national, the State and the local
standpoints; they face them from the
legislative standpoint. from our inter-
est in helping to secure good. govern
ment. and from the homely human
standpoint that we are the mothers of
the most restless element in the COM
munity.
"Our members are constantly being
asked to help in individual cases. We
are relying on the technical groups to
work out the practical programs which
we are to support, but we know what
we want. and any program which we