Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-04

Now that President Hoover has COM
mitted himself to the general subject
of farm relief" 1t is interesting to
note that he begins with the nursery"
by issuing a call for a White House
conference on child welfare. The mere
fact that the United States Treasury
devotes $500, o0o, 900 to the whole farm.
and some anonymous private bene-
factor donates 100000 for the research
of childhood, Is no indication of the
comparative importance OF the two
subjects.
There is an old German proverb
which says, Better have one pillow go
ing than two cradles" but the trouble
with America has been that we have
had overproduction from the pillow and
almost a famine of cradle crops. If,
now, the great engineer Of the White
House can give us equilibrium OF pillow
and cradle. all men should rise and
call him blessed. He will require no
milestone hanged about his neck.
Many good things in American insti-
tutions date back to the days Of Presi-
dent Theodore Roosevelt, and not the
least Of these was the calling of the
COI1ICISIlCC UAl WC11dAC CNCb
held, not only in America, but in the
world. That was In 1903 score Of
years ago. The tangible outcome of it
was the foundation, three years later, OF
the Children's Bureau, established by the
Government for the special purpose OF
STUDYING child welfare-health, environ
ment, labor regulations and the care OF
the child's mother This bureau, Great
ed In 1912, was the first In the world
and its usefulness was so quickly recog-
nized that 1t has. grown and broadened,
and been initiated in other countries.
The Presidents call for a general con-
ference on child welfare is far from
being criticism on the functioning OF
the bureau; rather, 1t Is q confirmation
of what the specialists of the bureau
have so ably demonstrated as to the
greatness of its problems and the all
Importance of their universal recogni-
ton. For the children Of today will be
the high officials of Government and
of enterprise, and the heads of families
of the oncoming generatton-in another
20 or 80 years. Hence. though the man
who can make two blades OF grass to
grow where but one grew before may
Be better than all the scurvy politi-
cians," he has nothing on the benefac-
tor who can take two blades" Of youth
and so cultivate them that they will be
worthy of the honors of the Republic
and of their neighbors and business as
sociates and beloved of their families.
X X y
It used to be the practice Of school
teachers, In their zeal to impress their
boys (not mere girls) with the possible
tiles of their futures, to bow obsequ1ousiy
to the boys as they entered the school-
room. How often were our forefatners
reminded in their youths that they
might some day become President OF
the United States! In those days, y
was a custom to apprentice boys for q
term of years while they learned a
trade, and the laws Of apprenticeship
were as strict as those Of slavery. A
runaway apprentice was as much OF
renegade as runaway slave. and the
law forbade giving such any employ.
ment or aid, but he must be captured
and returned to his master. "A Few Gays
ago, there was published 2 reproouc c.
ton of a North Carolina advertisement
offering $40 reward for runaway ap-
prentice of q tailor; the boys name
was Andrew JohnEon--and later Presl-
dent Andrew Johnson-predeceSsor OF
the other boy who had hard struggle
in youth, Herbert Hoover.
So the conditions surrounding boys
have really advanced In the last Two
or three generations, even II the boys
of today are so criticized as to make
life seem hard to the liberty-lovng
youth.
A few months ago one of the ONCE
holders of the Federal Government, who
had never risen above q subordinate
position, but had acquired modest
home and lived in serenity with his
family Of wife and two children, the
latter now grown to adult age, cele'
brated a wedding anniversary, and. In
the midst of it, received letter from
his son, who was working his way
through one of the leading educational