The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-03-31
By Our Own Moscow Correspondent,
WILLIAM F. KRUSE.


problem of the not more than $4,000
homeless children, and the approx
mately 100000 in homes and insti-
buttons of various sorts. Ones is in
the hands of the state organs direct
ly, and the other is conducted by var
ious social organizations, by trade
unions, by the Young Communist
League, the Young Pioneers (Com-
munist Children's Movement), and
especially by a voluntary membership
society of about two million mem
bers, the Friends of the Children"
All Of the activities Of all of these
organs are of course closely inter
woven and co-ordinated, for here GER
tainly the state does not stand over
and above the social organs of the
working class.
Voluntary Workers.
1t has already been pointed out
that about 60 million roubles year
are spent in liquidating this postwar
and post-famine evil. Most of this
is furnished and spent by the vari-
Gus branches of the government. 1t
may be well, though, to outline first
the social units and their work in
collaboration with the official agen-
cies. The Friends of the Children"
is a great voluntary society of the
type of international Red Aid"
Society for Combating Illiteracy,"
ETC., in which the masses of Russian
workers who are not Communist Par
ty members, are actively engaged in
political organizational life.
These members pay about is ko-
peks per month in dues, and thereby
help maintain some of the childrens'
homes, labor communes, night shell
ters, trade schools, etc.
In addition many trade unions are
directly connected as patrons" over
certain homes, donating funds for
special clothing, holidays, gymastic
equipment, etc., and the children from
these homes in turn frequently visit
the union meeting, give little enter
tainment programs, etc. The rail-
road workers in particular have pro-
vided very extensively for the salvag-
ing of the young "tramps" with
whom they come into specially close
contact.
The Friends of the Children" pub
fish a magazine, run lotteries to raise
funds, and employ specially qualified
agents who go about among the
young waits to seek to persuade
them to abandon their vagabondage
in favor of the social arrangements
at their disposal. The Young Pho
neers, children themselves, do very
valuable work in getting hold of the
younger waits, in uncovering cases of
mistreatment of children in which
event they teach the wronged child
what its rights are and help him
maintain them.
The constant friendly influence of
the spic-and-span young Communist
children is one of the most power
full means of drawing hundreds of
children off the streets. Hand in
hand with their government the
workers, young and old, are exert
ing all energy to cope with this big
and complicated problem.
Activity of Soviet Government.
The programme for dealing with
these youngsters was laid down in
the decree of the All-Russian Cen
trail Executive Committee of the
Soviets on March 8th, 1926, and on
the basis of this decree the follow
ing measures are now being pursued
by the Soviet authorities:
u Help the children get back to
parents or relatives.
p Place these children with work
ing-class families, helping such fam
lilies materially to care for them. Il
have seen many such children now liv-
ing as members of Russian families,
and they share every advantage open
to the children of that family.
81 Placing the children in institu-
tons run by the Department for
the Protection of Mother and Child"
A. Placing the children in various
children's institutions run directly by
local government.
81 Placing them in hospitals and
medical institutions.
g. Placing them in industrial and
agricultural productive enterprises.
y Material aid to children in their
own homes.
81 Placing them in apprenticeship,
trade schools, handicraft artels.
81 General state guardianship over
all children so aided.
Spend Ten Times Over u. S.
AT present the Soviet Government
is spending 46 million roubles a year
directly, to which must be added 9
million spent by individual unions,
voluntary societies, ETC.; and other
items on the medical budgets which
bring the total up to about 60 mil
lion roubles a year.
The present annual appropriation
available to spend through the Child
ren'g Bureau of the United States