1 GIFT or Grace E.Barnard ] A Xl s-f IM^'- Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/childproblemsOOmangrich THE CITIZEN'S LIBRARY OF ECONOMICS, POLITICS, AND SOCIOLOGY EDITED BY RICHARD T. ELY, Ph.D., LL.D. PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL ECONOMY, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN CHILD PROBLEMS SOCIAL SCIENCE TEXT BOOKS OUTLINES OF ECONOMICS By Richard T. Ely, Ph.D., LL.D. Revised and enlarged by the Author and Thomas S. Adams, Ph.D., Max 0. Lorenz, Ph.D., Allyn A. Young, Ph.D. HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT By Lewis T. Haney. BUSINESS ORGANIZATION AND COMBINATION By Lewis T. Haney. PROBLEMS OF CHILD WELFARE By George B. Mangold, Ph.D. M THE CITIZFrmS :IjI:B.n'AMJ: , CHILD PROBLEmF BY GEORGE B. MANGOLD, Ph.D. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR SAINT LOUIS SCHOOL OF SOCIAL ECONOMY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1914 All rights reserved ■1^ Copyright, 1910, By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. Set up and electrotypcd. Published October, igio. Reprinted January, 1913; June, 1914. tCUCATlON DEPt- J. S. Cashing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co, Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. PREFACE The chief purpose of this book is to give its readers a general view of the principal social child problems of to-day. These problems are rapidly becoming prominent in the public mind, and therefore some book which contains a survey of the principles and facts relating to this series of questions should be distinctly serviceable. The author hopes that this book will, at least in a measure, meet this need. An effort has been made to adapt it to the use of the student engaged in college or university work, and also to the general reader who wishes to cultivate this impor- tant field of social endeavor. The author takes great pleasure in acknowledging his indebtedness to Professor Eichard T. Ely for his careful reading of the manuscript and for his many valuable sug- gestions, both as to form and subject-matter. Thanks are also due to Mr. E. A. Hall of Chicago, for his helpful criti- cisms of a portion of the manuscript. Finally, the author wishes to recognize the services of his wife, especially in her collection and formulation of the material in the chapter on " The Education of Backward Children." G. B. M. St. Louis. 567743 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAttX Introduction . 1 1. Child Problems and Heredity 1 2. Child Problems and Environment 2 3. Social Obligations to Childhood 5 a. The Preservation of Life 5 h. The Preservation of Health 7 c. The Right to Play 8 d. The Right to Freedom from Work .... 9 e. The Right to Education 10 BOOK I. INFANT AND CHILD MORTALITY CHAPTER I Infant and Child Mortality. Historic ai* 1. Introductory 2. Decline in the Death Rates of Children 3. Historical Stages .... a. First Period .... 6. Second Period. Stationary c. Third Period. Preventive Methods CHAPTER II 15 15 16 18 18 19 20 General Aspects of the Problem 22 1. The Waste of Life 22 2. Economic Cost of Child Mortality 24 3. Physiological Cost 26 4. Social Costs 29 6. The Decline in Birth Rates 30 6. Physical Degeneracy 32 CHAPTER III Mortality Rates in the United States «... 36 1. Rural vs. Urban Mortality 36 Viil TABLE OF CONTENTS 2. Negro vs. White Death Kates 38 8. Differences among Cities 40 4. Differences based upon Social and Industrial Conditions . 41 5. Reasonable Rates of Mortality 43 6. General Rates in the United States 44 7. Estimate of Preventable Deaths 46 CHAPTER rV Children's Diseases 1. Specific Diseases .... a. Diphtheria .... b. Measles and Scarlet Fever c. Whooping Cough and Bronchitis d. Diseases of the Digestive System c. Prematurity .... /. Convulsions and Meningitis 2. Proportionate Mortality from Principal Diseases CHAPTER V 49 49 50 62 64 64 57 67 68 Ultimate Causes of Infant Mortality .... 60 1. Principal Causes 60 2. Classification of Causes 61 3. Use of Artificial Foods 62 4. Heat and Neglect as Contributory Causes ... 65 5. Bad Housing Conditions 66 CHAPTER VI The Milk Problem 67 1. The Milk Factor 67 2. Requisites of Good Milk 68 3. Pasteurization vs. Sterilization 70 4. The Experience of Rochester, New York .... 72 5. Milk Depots in Other Cities 75 6. Clinics for Babies 76 7. Dairy Inspection 77 8. Summary 78 CHAPTER VII Supplementary Methods op Decreasing Mortality . . 80 1. Avoidance of Artificial Foods 80 TABLE OF CONTENTS ix PAGB 2. Parental Education 81 3. The Visiting Nurse 83 4. The Day Nursery 84 5. Education of Girls 85 6. Training of Boys 86 7. Municipal Campaigns against Infant Mortality . . 87 8. Prevention of Overcrowding 88 9. Prevention of Employment of Married Women . , 89 10. Suppression of Other Causes of Mortality ... 90 11. Summary 91 BOOK II. RECENT ASPECTS OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM CHAPTER I Plat 96 1. Introduction 95 2. Physical Effects of Play 95 3. Play and Tuberculosis 96 4. The Social Values of Play 97 6. Mental Value of Play 100 6. Recent Appreciation of Play 101 CHAPTER n The Playground Movement . 103 1. The Play Problem 103 2. Origin of the Movement 105 3. Types of Playgrounds 106 4. The Civic Centers of Chicago 109 5. Progress of the Playground Movement . . . .111 6. Method of Administration ...... 113 CHAPTER m The Medical Inspection of Schools 117 1. Theory of Inspection 117 2. Nature of Inspection 119 3. Organization of School Inspection 120 4. The Medical Inspector 122 X TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGB 5. The School Nurse " 123 6. The Teacher 125 7. The School Child 126 8. Legal Provision for Medical Lispection , . . , 126 CHAPTER IV The Education of Backward Children .... 128 1. Introduction 128 2. Number of Backward Children 129 3. Causes of Mental Dullness 130 4. Origin and Results of the Work Abroad .... 132 5. Work in the United States 133 6. Needs of Backward Children 136 7. Organization of Special Classes 137 CHAPTER V The New Education 140 1. Literary Education 140 2. Illiteracy 140 3. The Adaptation of Education 142 4. Present Limitations of Education 143 6. Compulsory Education 144 6. Untrained Children in Industry 146 7. Industrial Training 147 a. Public Instruction . 149 h. Private Trade Training 163 8. Instruction in Sex Physiology 164 BOOK IIL CHILD LABOR CHAPTER I Causes of Child Labor 159 1. Avarice of Parents 159 2. Desire of the Child to Work 161 3. Greed of Employers 162 4. Modern Industrial Conditions 166 6. Indifference of the Public 167 TABLE OF CONTENTS xi CHAPTER II PAGE Conditions of Child Labor 170 1. Occupational Distribution 170 2. Territorial Distribution 175 3. Age and Literacy 176 4. Night Work of Children 178 6. Overtime .180 6. Homework 180 CHAPTER in Physiological Aspects of Child Labor .... 182 1. Importance of Physical Development .... 182 2. Present Physical Requirements 183 3. Effect of Premature Employment 184 4. Incidental Results of Child Labor 184 6. Unhealthful Occupations 185 6. Effect of Night Work 188 7. R^sumd 189 CHAPTER IV General Effects of Child Labor 191 1. Introduction 191 2. Economic Cost of Child Labor 192 3. Social Costs 196 4. Moral Effects 196 CHAPTER V Child Labor Legislation 201 1. Evolution of Legislation 201 2. Agencies Supporting Legislation 201 3. Uniformity of Laws 203 4. A Model Law . 204 5. Hours of Labor 205 6. Night Work 206 7. Age Limits 207 8. Working Papers 208 9. Educational Requirements . . . . . . 209 10. Dangerous Trades 211 11. Industries Exempted 212 12. Enforcement of Law 214 xii TABLE OF CONTENTS BOOK IV. THE DELINQUENT CHILD CHAPTER I PAGE Causes and Nature op Juvenile Delinquency . . . 221 1. Development of the Juvenile Delinquent . . . .221 2. Moral* Classification of Children 223 3. Causes of Juvenile Delinquency 225 a. Home Conditions 225 b. Environment and Associations .... 229 c. Criminal Tendencies ...... 230 d. Street Trades 232 4. Nature of Juvehile Offenses 232 CHAPTER II The Juvenile Court 235 1. Origin of the Court 235 2. Organization 236 3. Court Hearings 237 4. Disposition of Offenders 240 6. Qualifications of the Juvenile Court Judge . . . 241 6. Evolution of the Juvenile Court 243 CHAPTER m The Probation System 245 1. Origin of the System ....... 245 2. Extent of the System 245 3. Probation Officers and their Duties . . . . . 246 a. Investigating Officials 247 6. Parole Officers 248 c. Unpaid Officials 249 d. Volunteer Probation Officers 251 c. The Judge as Probation Officer .... 253 4. Qualities of Probation Officers 254 5. Probation Districts 254 6. Length of Probation 255 7. Number of Cases per Official 256 8. Results of Probation 257 9. Essentials of a Successful Probation System . . . 259 TABLE OF CONTENTS xiii CHAPTER IV PAGE Reformatory Institutions 260 1. Evolution of Institutional Treatment .... 260 2. Present Functions of Institutions 262 3. Types of Institutions 263 a. Detention Homes 263 h. Parental or Truant Schools 264 c. Training Schools, Industrial Schools, and Houses of Refuge 265 4. Separation of Sexes 266 5. The Cottage System 267 6. Physical Training 268 7. Industrial and Literary Training 269 8. Discipline 271 9. Number of Delinquents in Institutions .... 271 10. Term of Commitment 273 11. Essentials of Reformatory Institutions .... 274 CHAPTER V The Prevention op Juvenile Delinquency .... 275 1. Investigation of Causes 275 2. Improved Methods of Legal Control .... 276 3. Juvenile Improvement Associations .... 276 4. Boys' Clubs 277 6. Parks and Playgrounds 280 6. Amusements 281 7. Contributory Delinquency Laws 283 8. Socialization of the Public School 285 9. Compulsory School Attendance and Prevention of Tru- ancy 286 10. Vocational Training 287 11. Prohibition of the Street Trades and Other Measures of Child Protection 288 12. Education of Parents 289 Xiv TABLE OF CONTENTS BOOK V. THE DEPENDENT AND NEGLECTED CHILD CHAPTER I PAOK The Dependent and Neglected Child 293 1. The Importance of the Home 293 2. Types of Dependents 294 3. Causes of Dependency 297 4. Number of Dependent Children 300 CHAPTER II Principles of Child Saving 303 1. Placing out vs. the Institution 803 2. Principles of Child Saving 304 3. The Foster Home 306 4. The Cottage Plan 306 6. State Supervision and Incorporation of Private Agencies 307 6. Cooperation 308 7. Children in Almshouses 310 8. Defective Children 310 CHAPTER m Methods of Child Saving. Private 312 1. The Children's Aid Society 312 2. Guiding Principles 313 3. Work of the New York Society 314 4. Placing Out 315 6. Difficulties of Placing Out 319 6. The Temporary Home 320 7. Results of the Placing-out System 320 8. Adoption .321 9. Dangers of Incompetent Management .... 322 10. Needs and Reforms 322 CHAPTER IV Methods of Child Saving. Private (continued) . . . 324 1. Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children . . 324 a. Functions of Societies 325 TABLE OF CONTENTS XV PAGE h. Work of Typical Societies 328 2. The Institution 330 a. Disadvantages of the Institution .... 330 6. Advantages 332 3. Foundling Asylums 333 4. Conclusion 334 CHAPTER V Child-sating Agencies. Public 335 1. The State School System 335 a. Essential Elements of the State School System . 336 6. Placing Out 338 c. Results of System 338 2. Boarding and Placing-out Systems 339 a. Child Saving in New Jersey 339 b. Methods in the District of Columbia . . . 340 c. The Massachusetts Board of Charity . . . 340 3. The County Home System 342 4. Public Subsidy System 342 5. Public Care of Cruelty Cases 343 6. The Future of State Systems 344 Conclusion 349 Appendix 355 Bibliography 364 Index 375 p-^//^ 9d. CHILD PROBLEMS INTRODUCTION Society is slowly beginning to realize th at Child Prob- lems are the greatest probl ems of our time . This growing "ooliyi3iuusne5»s iy R direct outgrowth of the increasing fore- sightedness of philanthropic workers and their continuous agitation in favor of preventive methods of social better - ment. The superiority ot the ''ounce oFprevention " has long since been admitted, but the practical apphcationof the principle has been inexcusably retarded. In recent years only have our sociological students emphasized the supreme importance of building our social structure on the child. "The child is father to the man" has become the motto of intelligent social work. It is slowly dawning upon the discerning philanthropist that the child is a bundle of misnpllfl.TiPniis potpntifl.lities and is portentous of good or evil almost exactly in proportion to the training and op- portunities which he receives during the plastic period of his childhood. Therefore the greater need of enthusiastic effort to mold the child into the symmetrically developed adult. If society would concentrate more of its now dis- sip ated energies upon the problems of the child, it could with an equal expenditure of effort accomplish more good than can be reaHzed from any other form of philanthropic endeavor. The problems themselves are, however, most varied and their solution must be the result of the most painstaking effort. BT- ' 1 '* yt ^.* 2 ' ' ' !^ I m7\B0BUCTI0N 1. Child Problems and Heredity. The task of relating the problems of childhood to hered- ity depends upon the work of biologists whose investiga- tions are continually adding to our knowledge of the subject. This knowledge will throw light on the degree of training of which children are susceptible. Certain facts have been so definitely established that the sociologist can use them as fundamental propositions upon which to build his system of preventive work. In many cases the child is already doomed at birth, and no subsequent training can give to him a normal social life. Defective heredity is annually responsible for a large number of children who are condemned to lifelong handicaps, such as idiocy, imbecility, backwardness, deaf-mutism, blindness, pre- disposition to criminality, or certain forms of constitutional disease. As a result of such heredity these defects may be expected to reappear in the offspring of each subsequent generation. The problem of the defective child, however, occupies a separate field and is necessarily excluded from discussion in this book. We can only allude to the guiding principle that the child be well born ; that is, that he be endowed at birth with capacity for development into a perfectly normal individual. The accomphshment of this result requires good parentage and depends upon work among adults rather than among children. 2. Child Problems and Environment. It is now clear that the development of the child is largely determined by his environmental conditions, both prenatal and postnatal. In the study of the influence of environment the opinion of the expert sociologist should carry weight, and his investigations are establishing certain conclusions upon which definite rules of action can now be based. The knowledge that a bad environment is INTRODUCTION 8 responsible for the seriousness of many of our child prob- lems paves the way for a more comprehensive and feasible treatment of the subject than could be given if bad hered- ity were the root of the difficulties. Much has already been accomplished by carrying into effect the suggestions of sociologists holding this point of view. Furthermore, pre- natal causes of defects in children must increasingly receive the attention of biologists in order that society may de- mand proper attention for the mother during the gestational period. To what extent a special psychical bent can thus be deliberately imparted to the child is not yet known. At present, comparatively little importance is attached to this idea, but the belief that causal relationships exist has considerable support. The more important question, however, is, What influence does the physical condition of the expectant mother have upon the physique of the child ? That the child may suffer constitutionally if subjected to abnormal conditions during the prenatal period is un- questionable. The foetus, if insufficiently nourished, may be retarded in its development, or defects in physical structure ensue, and the child may always remain a de- fective. The character of nutrition before and immediately after birth is one of the most important manageable factors in the physical development of the child. These phases of the subject should be studied in greater detail by the specialist. As has been shown by John Fiske, the absolute helpless- ness of the newly born babe and the prolongation of the period of childhood furnish the human being with untold possibilities of development. The comparative unim- portance of instinct and the supreme plasticity of the child allow the marvelous development of reason that man has enjoyed. The impressionable child easily yields to the influence of contact with the remaining members of the family. In early life certain characteristics and psy- 4 INTRODUCTION chical traits become relatively fixed owing to the constant association with special mental types. That part of the child's psychical nature which is clearly and absolutely individual and unique is relatively small. The greater portion of his characteristic mental endowment is gained from the interaction of his own small mental nucleus with the minds of his parents and of the other members of the family. The fixation of traits in the human being should be a paramount consideration in the training and develop- ment of the child during the entire adolescent period of his life. It is well known how ardently adults cling to the beliefs and traditions acquired during childhood. Right training from the earliest self-conscious moments of the child's life is, therefore, a matter of great sociological im- portance. Social heredity within the family — that is, the transmission of ancestral ideas, traditions, prejudices, and knowledge — is a powerful factor in the hfe of every normal individual. "Like father, like son," is often largely the result of this species of communication and influence. The general tendency of the children to follow the religious and political inclination of their parents illustrates the power of social heredity, which is in actual fact a condition of environment. Most important among the conditions of environment are the home surroundings of the child. His home environ- ment continues comparatively unchanged for a longer period of time than do external conditions. Home life and adequate home training are, therefore, vital in the development of the child. Unless prevented, the boy, particularly, soon becomes partially subject to influences emanating from without the home, and these in turn tend to mold his character as well as to affect his physical well- being. His associates, the manner of his life, the sani- tary conditions of school, street, alley, or workshop — all of these considerations directly affect both his physique INTRODUCTION 5 and character. Attention to the environment of the child both within and without the home is accordingly the sine qua non of the solution of our child problems. 3. Social Obligations to Childhood. Nowhere does history indicate that so many rights were accorded to childhood as are conceded to it to-da5^ Men have been accustomed to life in the present, taking but little thought of the morrow. They have considered but slightly the influence of the existing condition of society on the character of the society of the future. As thought for the morrow has increased, society has become more unselfish and has begun to build for the interests of the coming generations. This has frequently involved a rela- tive subordination of immediate interests and has been accompanied by considerable cost. The self-abnegation of society consists usually of the sacrifice of present pleas- ures for the future advantage of the race. Carried out consistently, such a policy eventually results in the de- velopment of certain rights of childhood. Some of these expanding rights are not yet adequately recognized by society. As the existence of abstract rights may be ques- tioned, it will be less confusing to consider these claims upon the present generation as obligations to childhood. a. The Preservation of Life. The first claim of the child upon society is that of proper care while a helpless babe so that he may retain the inde- pendent life given to him at birth. He was not consulted in regard to the desirability of coming into existence and had no power to will or forbid this event. The individuals who are responsible for his birth have therefore incurred new responsibilities and obligations. The child has a right to a fair chance for fife. If parents are delinquent in fur- nishing their children with this opportunity, it is the clear duty of the state to interfere in behalf of defrauded child- 6 INTRODUCTION hood. The duty of society to the child must be gradually extended because parental neglect imposes a relatively greater social loss and cost as civihzation advances and becomes more complex. Society should determine what class of children shall be allowed to come into existence, but, once born, all normal children have the unequivocal right to be, saved from all forms of preventable death. The right to life is indicated in the penalty for the pre- meditated destruction of foetal life. Primitive society, however, seldom recognized this obligation, and many tribes even claimed the right to sacrifice all children who were not desired. Infanticide has been a common prac- tice among nearly all savage peoples and was not unknown among semicivilized tribes. The Africa and Asia of to- day still furnish numerous examples of this practice. Not only has it been customary to slay the weak, crippled, and defective, but the life of all, especially that of female chil- dren, depended upon the caprice of the parents. For- tunately, civilized nations with higher ideals have con- trolling power among these barbarous peoples, and the crime of infanticide has been almost abolished. Among the poor in our own country and also in other civihzed lands a situation has arisen which in general results does not differ materially from the infanticide of old. This statement may be illustrated by many authenticated cases of which the following is an ordinary example : In one of our large cities a mother has given birth to eleven children, all of whom, with two exceptions, are now dead. Ignorance and lack of care have been the predominant causes of this heavy mortality. The last two children were twins, and owing to absolute inability and ignorance on the part of the mother they became badly diseased. The physician recommended that they be sent to the hospital, but the mother at first refused to allow them to go. When finally taken they died within a few days. Society has INTRODUCTION 7 still to learn the vital truths that its own interests are para- mount, that mothers have a right to knowledge and oppor- tunity, and that such instances of cruelty must not be tolerated. In sheer self-defense, society must develop the principles of justifiable interference with the species of neglect illustrated above. Our obligations to extend to infants the right to life demand this development. b. The Preservation of Health. Nothing mihtates against future industrial and social efficiency so much as does the absence of health. Without health, education and training are almost impossible and the physical and mental faculties are permanently impaired. Boys need to be given the opportunity to grow up into robust men, and in the case of the girls, physical training and muscular exercise are even more necessary, especially since the tendency of civiUzation has been to retard that symmetrical development which our futm^e mothers need. The keen competition of to-day and the new demands of social and industrial fife are so important that the growing child must demand that he be physically prepared to meet the exigencies of a new era. Otherwise he will soon join the ranks of the great and constantly increasing army of the unfit and unemployable. A changing social attitude toward the problem of the child's health is a natural con- sequence of this danger. The recent movement in favor of medical inspection of school children is a case in point. Society must care for the diseased and disabled. But much more important is the task of insisting upon repair- ing the palpable physical defects of our children so that the age of incapacity may be indefinitely postponed. The realization of such a program demands extension of pubHc authority which may at present appear almost entirely unwarranted, yet the course of civihzation is inexorably carrying us in this direction. The legitimacy of the prohibition of child labor is in part 8 INTRODUCTION based upon the physical injury which such work entails. The danger is accentuated by the double source from which it emanates — the pernicious influence of factory life upon the immature and undeveloped body, and the inability of the plastic and growing body to withstand the arduous task of continued manual labor. That the child must not be compelled or allowed to sacrifice his health for the mere pittance which he earns is now generally accepted ; al- though not more than seventy-five years ago reputable economists opposed interference by the state in behalf of the little ten-year-old child working underground in the coal mines of England ! The social obligation to child- hood in this respect has developed with a fair degree of rapidity, and the near future will witness the emergence of this obligation into a definite right, which cannot be gainsaid nor overthrown. c. The Right to Play. All animals play. Play is fikewise one of the funda- mental instincts of the child. If there are any inherent rights of childhood, the right to play must be considered one of them. It carries with it immeasurable benefits, but the exact results still remain comparatively uncertain. It is unquestionable, however, that play promotes the physical and mental development of the child and that it is no mean factor in his social and moral elevation. In fact the social value of play is one of the incontrovertible reasons for the furtherance of the playground movement. The democratic impulses which well-regulated play fosters are an urgent need of the present era. The ancient attitude toward play was that of toleration of the ebullient spirits of the growing boy. It was a ram- pant impulse which could not be checked, so parents sub- mitted from necessity. The utilitarian function of play was undreamed of. The physical weakness of the child and his incapacity for concentrated thought and endeavor INTRODUCTION 9 saved to him the enjoyment of play until his parents could use his services in some gainful occupation. Work was substituted for play as soon as the most limited degree of success offered some justification for such action. Play — the most enjoyable right of childhood — was unduly cur- tailed, and even at the present day its value is minimized by many who do not recognize its varied functions. Dis- regarding the different theories respecting the origin of play either in animals or in man, the present social value of play can not be denied. Play involves freedom from work and adequate leisure from the duties of the school- room. Nor can it be socially successful without sufficient space or playground faciUties. Consequently a new duty of society has arisen — that of providing the child with ample field for the enjoyment of the opportunity to play. d. The Right to Freedom from Work. Prominent among the rights of the child must be the right to abstain from the task of earning money either for his own support or to increase the family income. jPremature child labor is an absolute evil and is wholly (without justification. Employment of children under a certain age in factories, mills, workshops, mercantile estab- lishments, and in the street trades inflicts irremediable consequences. Among the principal results of such prema- ture child labor are : the danger to health and physical development ; the handicap in the acquisition of a trade ; the mental retardation involved ; the real loss of oppor- tunity for self-development ; the bar to future social and industrial efl^iciency; the incentive to criminality afforded, and the consequent moral degradation. The question of child labor is therefore fraught with deep meaning for future generations, and has become an important social problem. ' The enlightened view of to-day refuses to regard the child as a mere commercial asset of the parent. On the 10 INTRODUCTION contrary the relation of the two is exactly reversed. Until children reach a certain age it is absolutely necessary that they be supported by their parents, and society must en- force this obligation. The child as interest-bearing capital has no place in the enlightened civihzation of our present industrial age. The right of society to restrict labor in factories and establishments of all kinds, while now gen- erally recognized, does not include the right to restrain parents from using their children for gainful purposes. Until the community recognizes the social interests in- volved in such interference, it will be necessary for private agencies to use their influence in behalf of the child. Freedom from work does not legitimize idleness. The idle child soon becomes the victim of its wayward impulses, or of incorrigible companions, and rapidly degenerates. The evils of idleness are perhaps more serious than those of work, but this fact in no way justifies premature child labor. Childhood is a period of training when preparation for the duties of life is being made and while society must demand rigid requirements of the growing child, these requirements are entirely consistent with his general wel- fare. The adjustment of the individual in our industrial and social relations is so delicate that nothing can be over- looked to make that adjustment perfect. The more dif- ficult the adaptation, the greater the need of previous training and of preparation for the individual's life work. Accordingly an adequate program for the development of the child must be adopted. e. The Right to Education. The educational advantages which society must grant to the child are at least threefold : literary and industrial training ; moral education ; and a knowledge of the ele- ments of sex physiology. Without extensive development along each of these very important lines, many social evils will remain to retard the progress of mankind. In our INTRODUCTION 11 complex social life of to-day, education has assumed star- tling importance. Comparatively illiterate men have until recently been able to acquire a considerable compe- tence and even to amass a large fortune. This is no longer possible, and without training few men can hope to suc- ceed. A large percentage of our recent immigrants are illiterate ; but illiteracy abroad, owing to relatively simple conditions, does not constitute the handicap that it does in the United States. If the injury resulting from ignorance were confined to the individual affected, the community would hardly be justified in interfering; but an entire group may suffer because of the ignorance of one of its members, and may therefore be forced to lower their standard of life. Compulsory education is a justifiable measure of coercing the negligent. The training required must meet the direct occupational need of the child. Otherwise it is only a halfway meas- ure, and society has not fully discharged its obligations. Machine production and the consequent extensive divi- sion of labor necessitate some preparation for trade Hfe. The growing problem of unemployment cannot be solved unless greater attention is paid to the untrained child. Low wages and shameful conditions of living are partly due to defective education. Society must furnish the individual with the initial equipment necessary for a life of usefulness and profit. The most important step in the direction of equahzation of opportunity is training for industrial effi- ciency. But the other interests of the child should also receive due recognition, therefore literary training cannot be neglected. Recent developments also demand a revision of the methods pursued in providing our youth with a moral education. The child is the unshaped marble out of which is hewn the virtuous man or the criminal. Shall no one superintend the sculptor's work ? The results of improper 12 INTRODUCTION and insufficient moral training are already too evident. By providing effective moral training for the child, society can prevent such criminality as is due to wrong methods of training ; and so much at least the present owes to the future. A form of education which is now demanding increased attention is discreet education along the Hnes of sex physi- ology. So direful have been the consequences, especially to the female sex, of the absence of needed knowledge that advanced thinkers are justly demanding reform. The adolescent youth of to-day should be protected from the bitter results of an ignorance which depends upon the mis- taken ideals of parents and upon the failure of the schools to appreciate the problem. The physical welfare of society, the happiness of the home, and the social emancipation of woman, depend in large part upon sufficient, rational, and timely instruction in this subject. It is a child problem, because the instruction cannot be delayed until the young mind is blackened by the evil teaching of the vicious. The duty of society to care for the dependent and neg- lected child admits of no controversy. Such children are not responsible for their misfortunes, and society is pledged to grant them opportunities for a useful life. This general duty of society, coupled with the expanding rights of child- 1 hood as outlined above, gives rise to the series of child! problems discussed in this book under the following heads ; Book I. Infant and Child Mortality. Book II. Recent Aspects of Educational Reform. Book III. Child Labor. Book IV. The Delinquent Child. Book V. The Dependent and Neglected Child. BOOK I INFANT AND CHILD MORTALITY CHAPTER I infant and child mortality. historical* 1. Introductory. The abstract right of the child to life has slowly received concrete expression in measures designed to reduce infant and child mortality. Happily the history of the world demonstrates the possibility of almost unlimited progress. The gradual decrease in mortahty during the centuries indicates that ameUorative forces have been constantly in operation. Mortality rates both for infants and adults depend upon many complex considerations, and society is learning the social, economic, and physiological factors which determine the fluctuations, gains, and losses. The economic conditions, the social environment, the moral and intellectual standards, and the advance in medical science of any community are reflected in the vitality of its children. In fact, the infant and child mortahty of a people is a barometer of their social progress. 1 The subject of vital statistics has become increasingly important in the United States and will, we hope, ere long faithfully reflect our general mortality rates and enable us to reason concerning our social and eco- nomic defects, and to point out the improvements possible along other scientific lines, including, of course, the medical. We are far behind other countries in this respect. Especially is this true of the older Euro- pean countries, which have all given considerable attention to the careful collaboration of statistics on these vital matters. They are, therefore, able to follow more closely and with greater accuracy the exact tendencies which are evident. About one third of our states (Maine, New Hamp- 15 16 CHILD PROBLEMS The problem of infant mortality formerly received but little attention apart from occasional references to the sub- ject by physicians. When birth rates were high, the social consequences of a large annual loss were hardly apparent, and the matter received little consideration. In recent years loss of life has become a very serious problem and the individual has become relatively more valuable. Moral obhgations now compel us to save life whenever possible. The history of, and present facts relating to, infant mortality therefore clearly indicate the nature of the problem, the duties of society, and the methods necessary to secure lower death rates. 2. Decline in the Death Rates of Children. In investigating the present waste of child life we must not overlook the progress of the last two centuries. We cannot deny our immeasurable superiority over the civiliza- tion of two hundred years ago. Then a large majority of the children born in London perished before they reached the fifth year of life. What a brutal waste of energy and life blood such a record of mortality shows ! Yet the be- ginnings of national life throughout Europe were accom- shire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, District of Columbia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, California, Colorado, and South Dakota) collect their vital statistics in sufficient detail to justify the Bureau of the Cen- sus in including them in its list of registration states. A large number of cities in other states also cover this ground so well as to be included in the list of registration cities. The entire registration area at present comprises more than one half of our total population. The facts in regard to birth rates are not treated adequately and have a limited value only. Likewise, the records of infant death rates are not precise and do not reveal the exact situation, but are more nearly correct than the statistics relating to birth. Therefore the computation of the rate of infant mortality on the basis of the recorded number of births will lead to a small percentage of error. On the whole, however, tendencies are certainly indicated and comparisons can be made between different cities, states, and localities. Sufficient accuracy has been attained to enable the sociologist to use the statistics for practical purposes. INFANT AND CHILD MORTALITY 17 panied by a similar waste of child life. Accordingly the population of nearly every European country increased but slowly until about 1750. The infant mortality of London was little higher than that of other English cities, and all England as well as the continent lived beneath the pall of the blighting destroyer of little children. Even as late as 1761, 50 per cent of the Enghsh population died before reaching the age of twenty. The enormous gain of to-day is not appreciated until one realizes that at present one half of the people of England Hve until the fifty-fourth year has been reached. It will occasion no surprise to learn that in Prussia during the decade 1751- 1760, only 312 out of every 1000 children survived to the age of ten.^ In other words, two thirds of the entire popu- lation failed to reach an age of social usefulness, and per- ished while still a burden to parents and a cost to society. Russia likewise has been a laggard in its attention to the moral and social conditions which result in a low infantile death rate. It has been estimated that at the beginning of the nineteenth century only one third of the children of Russian peasants grew to maturity and that not more than 36 per cent of the entire population of Russia reached the age of twenty years ! Not so many years ago many scien- tists believed that a city population left to its own repro- ductive powers would gradually die out. Luckily this dismal philosophy has been dissipated by the humanitarian and scientific progress of our recent civilization. Cities actually do maintain themselves by means of a birth rate larger than their death rate. Although they draw heavily upon the rural districts, they would still in- crease in size were they to rely entirely upon their own native vitahty. 1 Roscher, William, Political Economy, Vol. II, p. 307. These statis- tics, as well as most figures for the eighteenth century and before, prob- ably contain a considerable percentage of error. o 18 CHILD PROBLEMS 3. Historical Stages. a. First Period. The history of infant mortahty is roughly divided into three separate stages or periods, each characterized by its own distinctive features and results. No date can be given for the beginning of the first stage, which represents the period during which the costly inactivity of society was slowly succeeded by increased attention to the lot of the newly born and helpless child. Only the most patent and active causes of mortality were removed, however. During this period began the triumph of man's power over disease. The absence of preventive medicine and in- capacity to cure disease were serious handicaps, and prob- ably the history of the Caucasian race furnishes no more striking example of the power and havoc of scourge than that of smallpox. Formerly it was the most frightful of contagious diseases, and very few individuals — prob- ably not more than 4 per cent of all persons reaching the age of thirty — escaped all attacks of this ever present plague. Two thirds of the entire infant population are said to have been attacked, and a large mortality resulted. Westergaarde points out that in Sweden during the decade 1751-1760, 13 per cent of all deaths were due to smallpox — a proportion far in excess of that caused by the "White Plague" of to-day. Owing to the high rates of mortality which then prevailed, the absolute death rates from small- pox were enormous. During certain years the proportion in France rose to 10 per cent, while that in Liverpool has been as high as 20 per cent. Toward the close of the eighteenth century, the remarkable discoveries of Jenner finally brought smallpox into subjection. A very rapid decline of the mortality from this disease has taken place, and now deaths from smallpox are almost a negligible factor in the records of vital statistics. The pitted faces INFANT AND CHILD MORTALITY 19 once so prevalent are seldom seen to-day, and because of the comparative elimination of this disease, the average dura- tion of life has been increased three and one half years. On account of its frequency, smallpox was formerly a children's disease ; to-day in the United States the average age of persons dying from it is about twenty-seven years. Vaccination has saved the adult as well as the child. The progress which was made during this period is further illustrated by the decreased variations in the general death rates of London.^ The death rates during certain years in the decade 1740-1750 was 60 per cent higher than that occurring in other years of the same decade. During the following half century, fluctuations of 333^ per cent were common, but in the decade 1820-1830 the variations did not exceed 20 per cent. Even such a percentage would furnish occasion for alarm at the present day. Among the important reforms inaugurated during the first period were better housing, more effective sanitation, and the conquest of famine. Furthermore, notable con- tributions to medical science, improvement in the quantity and quality of food, the general introduction of sanitary measures, and the promotion of better hygiene, finally mark the culmination of this period, which came to a close about 1840. The former waste of child life had by that time been reduced to rates of mortality but little above those prevaihng at the present time. h. Second Period. Stationary. The second period lasted until the very recent past, and many localities still retain the characteristics of this stage. Extensive reforms had been accomplished in the former period, therefore society settled down to a time of com- parative indifference and neglect, of which little children were the unhappy victims. Accordingly, during the last fifty years the death rate in England for children under 1 Roscher, William, Political Economy, Vol. II, p. 308. 20 CHILD PROBLEMS one year of age has remained practically unchanged, although the general death rate has decreased 18 per cent. This fact indicates indifference to the causes of infant mortality. France actually showed an increase in infant death rates between 1840 and 1880, and in many German localities alarming rates still prevail. In Massachusetts the mortality of children under the age of one increased slightly between 1856 and 1895, but meanwhile the death rates of children under five slowly declined. These facts indicate that the needs of infants were not understood, nor were the means of meeting such needs known. The pe- cuHar susceptibility of the babe to the smallest environ- mental change, whether in external conditions or in char- acter of food given, was not appreciated. Furthermore, infants suffered from the comparatively low value at which they were rated. Perhaps the all-absorbing growth of industrialism de- flected attention from many of the serious social problems of the day. Interference with individuals to save them from the consequences of their own ignorance was prac- ticed in part only. Laws affecting child labor and the employment of women had indeed been passed and put into operation. To carry the work of social education to the parents' homes was still unthought of, and the ameli- orative program of the philanthropy of that day had not been succeeded by the recent insistence on preventive methods. c. Third Period. Preventive Methods. The third period has only recently been inaugurated. It is characterized by intensive methods of saving human hfe. Precedents are being broken as new poUcies are adopted. Old principles are being discarded as new ones are accepted. Problems of human betterment are being solved. The social importance of the birth of a child and the duty of society to grant that child an opportunity for INFANT AND CHILD MORTALITY 21 life and health are facts that are rapidly being recognized. We are hving in the sunshine, not in the shadow, of a former age, and our present watchword is the future, not the past. Examples of energetic application to the task of reducing infant mortality are found in the recent work of Hudders- field, England, and Rochester, New York. About 1885 Paris likewise began a crusade against the high death rates among its children. The recent rapid growth of knowledge about the micro-organisms that attack the human body is proving a tremendous aid in the solution of the question. The most dangerous and destructive children's diseases can be almost entirely eliminated by the recently discovered methods of attacking germ diseases, and of all the possible attempts to lessen the average death rates of to-day, efforts directed toward the diminution of infant and child mor- tality promise to be rewarded with the most immediate and abundant success. It is the purpose of Book I to call attention to this serious problem, to point out present difficulties in the way of its solution, and to suggest such methods of amelioration as would probably prove successful. Our brief historical review of the progress which society has already achieved indicates that bed rock has not yet been reached ; that thousands of child lives are still wantonly wasted, and that an efficient method of reducing infant mortahty is one of the most urgent needs of the day. CHAPTER II general aspects of the problem 1. The Waste of Life. The law of natural selection has undoubtedly been a tremendous factor in fixing the physical and physiological traits of human kind. From the infancy of human exist- ence up to the present time it has been ceaseless in its operation, diminishing in intensity, however, with the gradually increasing control by man of the natural environ- ment. The waste which natural selection incurs among animal life is stupendous. But for the rigorous processes and destructiveness of nature, even the most slowly repro- ducing animals would soon overstock the earth. The early life of man is replete with the conditions of struggle and contest. The primitive races have always suffered from an enormous waste of lives. Every advance in civ- ilization, however, means a saving of human lives. Each successively higher stage of human society has instituted additional saving processes and has witnessed a more economical use of nature's bounties. Civilization implies an increasing utilization of our powers and of our mental and physical equipment as well as the most efficient use of the many intricate forces of nature. The more primitive a society, the more absolute is its subjection to the con- ditions of environment and the more helpless are its mem- bers in the face of disease and death. Probably in no other field of human activity has man's former ignorance been more lamentable in its consequences 22 GENERAL ASPECTS OF THE PROBLEM 23 than in that of rearing children — the future parents of the race. Even the slow increase of savage tribes is pur- chased at a tremendous expenditure of energy, and the number of infants and httle children whose physical and economic cost is never compensated for by useful and pro- ductive lives has been appalling. Although decreasing costs of progress characterize an advancing civilization, nations have not until recently even begun to realize the costs involved in the loss of infant and child hves. Industrial progress has far outstripped our advance in standards of hfe and other social conditions. The utiliza- tion of material formerly wasted has been developed into a science, and in some cases the difference between profit and loss has been measured by this saving. The continued decrease of necessary cost and labor is one of the aims of industry. Apply this principle to the cost of propagating the human race, and we find that society has hardly begun to conserve its physical powers in economical ways. Thou- sands of lives are still needlessly sacrificed because of failure to appreciate the loss. The darkness and austerity of a civilization finds no mean measure in its infant death rate. In this respect great progress has indeed been made, but it is an advance far outstripped by the progress of in- dustry. Much still remains to be done. Problems of vitality and of disease should be studied from every avail- able point of view, in order to determine the fundamental causes of conditions and to effect such changes as may be necessary. In Europe the subject of infant mortality is regarded as a social problem. Books, although written by physicians, have emphasized its social nature. It is well, therefore, for the American people to recognize every phase of the question and to hold to strict accountability the physician who treats the disease, the economist who investigates the material conditions of society, the moralist who studies the influence of ethics, and the sociologist who 24 CHILD PROBLEMS is interested in the social conditions which make for health and vitality. The susceptibihty of the child to the handi- caps of his environment intensifies the social nature of the problem of infant mortality. 2. Economic Cost of Child Mortality. Every child born into this world represents an invest- ment, the value of which is measured by his expectation of life at birth. If his expectation is low, society cannot hope for a heavy reahzation upon its outlay. The economic gain derived from his services will be small, and will corre- spond to a low rate of interest on an investment. Pro- ductive human lives are the assets of society, and the divi- dends of progress depend upon the sum total of years spent in useful service. The heavy economic loss resulting from a high infant mortality can be but vaguely expressed in figures of mortality or longevity. Nor is it possible to approximate the probable cost incurred in rearing the children who die before the age of fifteen has been reached. In most cases the child before this age is not a producer, but a consumer only, and remains an economic cost to society. Vast sums are expended to augment the future efficiency of such children. Hundreds of dollars are lav- ished on them, and societj^ naturally expects some reim- bursement for its expenditure. Former rates of mortality were too excessive to make a long course of educational training profitable. If we pause to consider that every death of a child below the age of puberty means an absolute loss of potential capital and productive power, our imagi- nation slowly begins to appreciate the appalling loss to society that high death rates among children involve. The older the child, the greater the cost which he has en- tailed, and the greater the loss in case of death. It has been estimated that among the Bontoc Igorotte of the Philippines, 60 per cent of all persons die before the age GENERAL ASPECTS OP THE PROBLEM 25 of puberty is reached ! Is it any wonder that these people have progressed so httle ? Much of their energy has been entirely wasted. Western civilization has suffered severely from its former inattention to problems of health and vitality. Estimates based on records for Geneva, Switzerland, indicate that the expectation of life at birth rose from twenty-one and one sixth years in the last half of the sixteenth century to forty and two thirds years in the first quarter of the nine- teenth. Considered from the economic point of view, the productivity per equal amounts of population in the latter period is more than four times that of the former. In the first period the duration of life after the beginning of the productive period (say fifteen years) was a little more than six years ; in the second it had risen to twenty-five. In the older days, however, a much larger proportion of in- dividuals died in the earlier age groups ; accordingly, the proportions just given are too harsh, and fail to do com- plete justice to the sixteenth century. Undoubtedly a comparison between the two periods as to the expectation of life at the age of fifteen would show a much smaller dis- crepancy. Nevertheless, the tremendous cost of rearing a productive population in the sixteenth century is only too evident. England, France, Germany, and the minor European countries all testify to the gradually increasing expectation of life of their inhabitants. The tables com- puted for Netherlands show a most remarkable degree of progress. In the period 1811-1825 one half of the males died before reaching the age of twenty-five. During the decade 1860-1869 forty years represented a probable life- time. The table by Van Pesch for 1890-1899 shows that the fifty-sixth year is now passed before one half of the males perish, although one fourth only were left at that age in the period 1816-1827. American records indicate the heavy economic loss due 26 CHILD PROBLEMS to unreasonable rates of mortality. In 1900 the average expectation of life in Massachusetts was forty-six years. That for the entire United States probably did not differ much from this. In the same year the death rates in the registration area of the United States indicated that 30 per cent of all children die before reaching the age of fifteen. Combining these two sets of figures, we ascertain that nearly one third of the total number of American children fail to reach the third part of their expected lifetime. Only 70 per cent reach the productive period of life and begin to yield returns upon the social investment. Risk- ing the possibility of a future advantage from their ser- vices, society has, through their parents, provided the children with food, clothing, shelter, and other necessary means of subsistence. It has given the older children educational advantages and, through the agency of the community, has offered moral and religious instruction. Fortunately, five eighths of the total mortaUty of the chil- dren under fifteen falls within the first five years of life, when the economic cost of the child has not assumed ex- tensive proportions. The importance and significance of this economic problem has not received due recognition. 3. Physiological Cost. Graver and more serious than the economic aspect of the question is the physical and physiological cost involved in any useless waste of fife. From the economic point of view the investment in growing children has justified itself by returns more than adequate to cover the losses incurred by the death of the unproductive, but no one can measure the physical loss resulting from an unnecessary rate of infant mortality. The burden of motherhood is not lightly borne. The civilization of to-day has, in fact, aggravated the pain and suffering of parturition, and one of the problems of our current civiHzation is the restoration GENERAL ASPECTS OP THE PROBLEM 27 of our women to a physiological condition which, like that of the European peasant, allows comparatively easy con- finements. The physical life of society must be renewed at a constantly decreasing cost. Other^vise civilization is stationary. The strain upon the life-giving powers and vital energies must be made to yield the maximum of returns. In lower animal life reproduction means a dechne in vigor, or is possibly followed by death. Reproduction is the Alpha and Omega of individual life, which is subor- dinated in importance to the life of the species. This is Nature^s law, not the result of conscious planning. In higher animal life a tax on strength and vitality continues. Among human beings enlightened civihzation recognizes that the rights no less than the duties of a parent generation must receive due consideration. The perpetuation of the race is not the sole task of our species. Consequently the load borne by mothers needs to be viewed from two stand- points, that of society and that of the individual, and the necessary course of action must be fair to both. An excess of births over deaths is necessary for the growth of society. The loss of a large percentage of children in- dicates an enormous and unjustifiable physiological waste. A lower death rate produces at a reduced cost the same effect as a greater fecundity. The duty of motherhood, on the other hand, should not be evaded, and must remain for all time. The necessary hardships involved must be borne, as all necessary pain and suffering is borne by men and women, who are nowhere free from physical pain. To- day, however, the importance of quality in human beings is being increasingly recognized, and the unnecessary tax upon our mothers resulting from an extravagant birth rate is a sin against which the voice of the sociologist should be raised. To the individual mother the physical cost of rearing a family is twofold : first, the vital energy expended in bear- 28 CHILD PROBLEMS ing and nursing the child; and second, the "wear and tear" upon mothers in the care of their children. The first cost continues until nearly a year after the birth of the child, although the greatest expenditure occurs during the pre- natal period. While the economic cost of children increases with their age, this portion of the physical cost is all under- gone during the first year of life, and therefore an excessive infant mortahty results in almost a complete loss of vital energy. The magnitude of this loss is appalling when we realize that out of every five or six children one dies in the first year of life! Has not the woman who has been the mother of six children, of whom only three survive to adult life, undergone a greater physical loss than the mother of three who loses none of her children? Yet the contribu- tion to the race is the same for each. Furthermore, the latter mother has been able to use the saved energy in being a better wife and mother and a more efficient member of society. Are not such birth rates as those prevailing in certain parts of Europe and among many classes in our own country brutal in their pressure upon people already loaded down with innumerable troubles? Without doubt the physical life of society can be maintained and expanded at a greatly reduced cost and with much better results. The second item of physical cost — the constant strain upon mothers in the care of their children — can never be replaced, and we have no right to permit its wanton waste. When concentrated upon a few healthy children, it is charged with power for their future welfare, but when this energy is freely dissipated among sickly, short-lived chil- dren, the social consequences can not be hopeful, and the next generation has reason to fear the effects. To guide and train children aright is not mere recreation, and efforts in this direction can not be too wisely expended. A reason- able increase in population is a goal of all thinkers on social subjects, and the small families of children that fail to re- GENERAL ASPECTS OF THE PROBLEM 29 place their parents numerically and that threaten extinction of the race can not be condoned. On the other hand, the imprudent, inconsiderate, and machine-like regularity of increase as effected among certain classes of people, finds no rational justification. And if a large proportion of the infants are doomed to early death, an irreparable loss to motherhood has been incurred. 4. Social Costs. From the social, moral, and intellectual point of view, the infant mortality of the ages has been a constant re- proach to men. Is it not true that, two centuries ago, hap- less mothers, full of grief and anguish at the sight of life- less babes, believed implicitly in a Providence whose decree was inexorable, who gave and who took away the tiny flower of love at the first sign of blossom, to test a mother's faith and piety? Social neglect fettered the souls and minds of thousands and inflicted upon them a fatalism whose consequences were submissivenessand unconscious brutality. What an exquisite touch of love and human sympathy from the impassioned religionists of a former time who protested against the administration of an anaesthetic to an expectant mother, because, they alleged, woman was irrevocably cursed to suffer, and in pain and sorrow to bring forth her offspring ; therefore, man had no right to interfere with this divine decree ! Happily, such a morbid and barbarous fatalism has been dissipated by the medical advance of a hundred years and by the achieve- ments of men with active, throbbing human sympathies who have applied themselves to problems of social better- ment. However, the gloomy philosophy of a former day has not been entirely relegated to the category of aban- doned behefs. It is no difficult task to-day to find the crushed mother of a family of eight or ten, the majority of whom have become the victims of social and individual 30 CHILD PROBLEMS neglect, consoling herself with the thought that it is God^s will and she must submit. Were her knowledge wider, how could she explain the discriminations against her class, her portion of the city, or her particular locality? No evil can be greater than that which prevents the emanci- pation of the human mind. For example, a mother of eight children, a number of whom are physically and men- tally deformed, in recent conversation indicated with phil- osophical equanimity her intention to bear the inflictions which a Higher Power had placed upon her ! Would that our own depravity and wajrwardness were assigned its proper place, and not ascribed to Him to whom we must answer for our shortcomings ! That the moral effect of the social neglect of the needy can be uplifting is not con- ceivable. Furthermore, the social efficiency of the parents of dying infants has been greatly diminished, and many of the active, inspiriting impulses which might be contrib- uted have been lost. 5. The Decline in Birth Rates. The vital statistics of the last century present two strik- ing phenomena : a decreased birth rate and a decreased death rate. It is not certain that birth rates were high in the infancy of human society. On the contrary, the works of practically all students of primitive races indicate that a comparatively low birth rate obtained among sav- age peoples. Evidently exorbitant birth rates belong to later stages — to the civilization of the present Chinese and to that of Europeans until within the last fifty years. The changing social and economic conditions of the European people during recent centuries have had a marked effect upon birth rates and upon the growth of population. As the power and ability of men to control the conditions of their environment was increasingly realized, birth rates lost their stability and began to decline. Coincident GENERAL ASPECTS OF THE PROBLEM 31 with this decline there has occurred a rapid increase in population. An observing demographer in the early part of the last century summed up the situation in the follow- ing words : " Population does not so much increase because more are born but because fewer die." Conscious efforts by statesmen to enhance a nation's growth have not largely influenced that nation's birth rate. Undoubtedly the diminished mortality of children due to increased knowl- edge and better methods of arresting disease has been the dominant factor in the rapid increase of the population of the world in the last one hundred and fifty years. Mer- ciless birth rates and abnormal death rates are being suc- ceeded by humane birth rates and a greatly decreased infant mortality. The records of European vital statistics tell a very sig- nificant story. During the decade 1831-1840, birth rates in Sweden, Finland, Austria, Prussia, Belgium, and France were higher than they were in the same countries during the last decade of the nineteenth century. Between these two periods death rates declined very largely in each one of the countries mentioned. The reduction has been due to various causes, less in general, however, to the mortahty of small infants than to the decrease in deaths of children under five years of age. In both of the periods mentioned the birth rate in each country exceeds its death rate, but the countries with the highest birth rates also have the highest mortality. Furthermore, in every case except that of France the net excess of births over deaths has increased considerably, despite the universally lower birth rate. It is clear, therefore, that under ordinary conditions these countries are arriving at the same destination, but by means of a more humane method than formerly — by paying increased attention to, and removing, the causes that oper- ate to destroy human life. An increase in the birth rate has not shown itself neces- 32 CHILD PROBLEMS sary for the realization of the dream of those statesmen who beheve that national strength lies in a large aggre- gate of population. For example, birth rates in England, Sweden, and Belgium are as low as death rates in Hungary, Spain, and Russia. Accordingly, if the mortality rates of the latter countries existed in the former, birth rates re- maining the same, the growth of population would defi- nitely cease. A stationary population in the North Euro- pean countries is avoided, however, by the low infantile mortality. Exorbitant birth rates are necessary in the countries of eastern Europe to overcome their enormous mortality and provide for an increase of population equal to that of the other countries mentioned. In fact, Eng- land's net percentage of increase in population, measured by excess of births over deaths, was higher during the decade 1891-1900 than that of Hungary during the same period, although the respective birth rates were 29.9 and 40.6 per one thousand population ! There can be no ques- tion but that lower infantile mortality is superior to high birth rates as a method of national growth. 6. Physical Degeneracy. A final consideration worthy of notice is the relation of infant and child mortality to physical deterioration and to our standards of physique. To this question no definite answer has as yet been given, and data upon the subject are too inadequate for broad and definite generalizations. The author, however, views with impatience the callous- ness of men who regard with favor a considerable wastage of child life because it accords with their theory of the im- provement of the human race through the operation of the law of natural selection. Beneficent as results may be for the race of the future, this law, unmitigated and untem- pered by human hands and hearts, is harsh and cruel, and its operation tends to debase the sensibilities of men and to GENERAL ASPECTS OF TPIE PROBLEM 33 retard progress. Race improvement cannot be left to the whims of unconscious nature, and man can act less harshly and with equal effect by means of a process of social selec- tion. Instead of permitting the unfit to die, the more humane and economical method is that of refusing to per- mit the unfit to come into the world. This avoids the brutality of natural selection and accomplishes the same result. Standards of fitness must eventually be created. These must be positive in character and independent of the caprices of environment. Accordingly they can not be secured through the operation of natural selection. Mind, not matter, and reason, not instinct, must hereafter direct our line of progress. In former days absence of the physician's conmiand over life and death gave disease and contagion full sway. Man- kind, therefore, suffered from a long category of children's diseases. Certain races and peoples have in this way pur- chased considerable immunity from various diseases. The individuals most unfit to withstand some particular disease were swept aside, and this long-continued process of elimi- nation resulted in strengthening such a people against further attacks of this disease. A selection of this kind protects against certain forms of attack only and does not immunize a people from other diseases. It is not clear that in this way a race is provided with the physical stand- ards best adapted to the conditions of modern life. For example, the susceptibility of the Negro to yellow fever is unquestionably less than that of the white man. This comparative immunitj^, however, does not extend to all diseases, and in other respects the white man enjoys a sim- ilar superiority. Consequently selection by disease is not an important cause of race vigor in this case. That is, iramunity from disease is not the chief or only basis from which to judge physical standards. Actual physical strength, productive capacity, and expectation of life are 34 CHILD PROBLEMS the criteria of fitness, but the advantages enjoyed by any single race are insufficient to enable it to gain a superiority in all these respects. Smallpox serves as an eloquent illustration of the fact that we have little to fear from the elimination of such diseases. How brutally selective this malignant scourge has been can be read in the history of its ravages among the savage tribes to which civilization has introduced it. Their proneness to the disease is due in part to their former isolation from the smallpox germs. The determining question, however, is. Has the elimination of the children vulnerable to this disease improved the race or people long subject to smallpox? It has undoubtedly lessened the intensity of future attacks upon the Caucasian race. For example, an athletic Indian of splendid physique may succumb, while a diminutive Englishman or American may escape with a slight attack only. Who then can measure the actual physical gain from the decimating effects of smallpox ? There is no certainty that it has accomplished anything in that direction which other forces would not have done with equal efficiency. So with the entire army of germ diseases. They have been selecting for survival those most capable of resisting the germ, but here their labors cease. Being proof against germs is not an inherent characteristic of good physique. The two, on the contrary, have very loose connections ! The future will endeavor to destroy the germ as well as to discover antidotes for the disease. If any deterioration should accompany these scientific triumphs, the remedy will consist of positive measures to rear a more vigorous progeny, not to eliminate weaklings. The most that we can hope to gain from im- munity against some particular germ is the strengthening of physique in a single particular only. Physical strength and bodily vigor will undergo little change. Although death rates may represent certain forms of GENERAL ASPECTS OF THE PROBLEM 35 physiological selection, infant mortality is hardly a method of such selection. It is really a measure of the depths of the ignorance and backwardness of a civilization. If the reduction in infant mortality which will follow aggressive social reform should occasion a positive loss in physique and strength, then only will it become necessary to utilize positive methods of selection. Meanwhile the problem of physical degeneracy need cause little worry. The in- difference and moral obtuseness consequent upon a mis- understood infant mortality should have no place in the lives of men and women. Education and opportunity should be provided for all. Then only have we instituted a proper system of social economy. CHAPTER III MORTALITY RATES IN THE UNITED STATES General conditions in the United States vary widely from those prevailing in Western Europe, and therefore the problem of infant and child mortality is somewhat different. Until recently our population has been largely rural, but with the development of urban and industrial centers and the increase of a wage-earning class, new conditions have been thrust upon us. These conditions are reflected in the varied rates of infant mortality. 1. Rural vs. Urban Mortality. The first characteristic variation in infant death rates is the difference between the mortaHty of rural and urban districts. This difference, although not necessarily inhe- rent, will tend to persist for an indefinite length of time. The growth of our cities has been so rapid that they now contain more than one third of our entire population. A steadily increasing percentage of children are thus becom- ing subject to the higher death rates of the cities. City life suffers from a number of very grave and almost in- superable disadvantages. Unless the cities advance very rapidly in the reduction of their infant mortality, they will hardly be able to attain the low level of the rural rates. For a long time to come children in the city must suffer from a congestion of population. A pall of smoke or dust continually hovers over some cities and contaminates the air. The atmosphere is always more or less vitiated by impurities, and billions of injurious germs are ever ready to destroy human life. The city children must also endure the handicap of insufficient light and sunshine. The salu- 36 MORTALITY RATES IN THE UNITED STATES 37 brious effects of nature's vitalizing agencies are well known, but the country child is their chief beneficiary. Danger from contagion is much more common in the city than in the country districts. Even the most pains- taldng measures bf quarantine and isolation will not ob- viate the differences. The ebb and flow of city popula- tions tends to perpetuate disease and to carry it from place to place. From these dangers the rural districts are almost immune. The cities likewise offer the lurking germs a better opportunity to hide themselves, and the squalor and poverty of the ''other half" renders them easy victims of disease. Federal statistics indicate that such children's diseases as diphtheria, measles, scarlet fever, and the diarrheal diseases are much more frequent in the cities than elsewhere. It has been shown that in Massa- chusetts measles and scarlet fever are three times as fre- quent in the city as in the country districts, and that in the United States smallpox and diphtheria are twice as prev- alent in urban communities. Another handicap which the city child must suffer is dependence upon an imported food supply which is subject to deterioration while en route to the city. Especially is this true of milk, from the bad effects of which thousands of children die every year, the immediate cause usually being some form of diarrheal disease. Various contagious diseases are sometimes traceable to an infected milk supply. Bad city water is a source of danger to thousands, whereas a single well or even a number of wells in the country will affect comparatively few people. Urban life, therefore, is inferior to rural life in three important respects : first, there is an insufficiency of fresh air, of sunlight, and of healthful outdoor life ; second, contagious diseases are more common and less easily suppressed ; third, the food and drink consumed in the city have a relatively greater deleterious effect. 38 CHILD PROBLEMS The statistical results of the differences that exist are briefly indicated in the following table of mortality. The rates for the diseases specified show the proportion of deaths among 100,000 children of the two age groups — under one and under five.^ Death Rate op CmLDREN in Registration States (1900) Diseases CrriBs Rural Parts Under 1 Under 5 Under 1 Under 5 Measles Scarlet Fever .... Diphtheria and Croup . Diarrheal Diseases . . Total Death Rate of White Children . . 206.3 35.1 180.9 4595.9 18,410 151.2 80.6 343.8 1218 5970 119.3 20.9 99 2576.6 11,740 63.4 40 124.6 713.7 3440 The above-mentioned diseases are classed as children's diseases. In addition to these causes of a relatively high urban infant mortaUty may be mentioned deaths from premature births, congenital debility, and similar weak- nesses, which in the cities exceed the rural rate by 60 per cent ; while deaths from convulsions are 50 per cent higher. The figures presenting the general death rate of children show that the urban mortality is more than 50 per cent higher for each of the two age periods than is the rural death rate. Our cities destroy three children for every two who die in the country ! 2. Negro vs. White Death Rates. A second variation of rates is the difference between the death rates of negro and of white children. This 1 Census of 1900, Vital Statistics, Part I, pp. Ixxxiii and ff. MORTALITY RATES IN THE UNITED STATES 39 difference is so wide as to make it a problem of the utmost gravity for the negro race. The negro possesses certain constitutional disqualifications on account of which he suffers from a uniformly high death rate in every age period of life. Other considerations, however, affect his vitality. Among these are his poverty, ignorance, bad housing con- ditions, sexual excesses, and the disadvantages of city life. The mortahty of negro infants is more than twice as high as that of whites, the rate for the former in 1900 having been 371.5 per 1000 children under one year of age. Al- most three eighths of all colored children of this age group are the victims of disease and death. In the country dis- tricts, however, the rate had fallen in 1900 to the more ac- ceptable level of 218.9 per 1000 as compared with 116 for the whites. Furthermore, this rate is but little higher than was the total infant death rate of all races in 1890. Progress for the negro, as he increases in intelligence, may therefore be confidently expected. The wide disparity between the urban and rural rates is evidence that his high mortality is not entirely dependent upon heredity, but is attributable in large measure to other causes. Certain Southern cities still show exorbitant rates of mortality for both colored and white children, but invariably the former suffer more. Savannah in 1900 reported a death rate of 409.3 per 1000 births of negro children, and other cities have closely followed this unenviable lead. The mortahty of colored children under five is likewise enormous, the rate in 1900 having been 118.5 per 1000 of population of corresponding age compared with a rate of 49.7 for whites. Scarlet fever and diphtheria have been less severe in their attacks upon the negro child than on the native white, but the relative fataHties from the diarrheal diseases have been distressingly larger, being almost double the already excessively high white death rate. A lower death rate from certain diseases clearly indicates the com- 40 CHILD PROBLEMS parative immunity of the negro race from those diseases ; on the other hand, higher rates do not in themselves prove a greater susceptibility to other diseases, because the pre- cise influence of inferior social conditions can not be deter- mined. The latter seldom favor the negro child, who, if he refuses to succumb to disease, clearly demonstrates superior resisting power. 3. Differences among Cities. Our cities differ widely among themselves in regard to the relative healthfulness of their children. This disparity is only in part due to the inherent advantages of one city over another. Natural climatic conditions, however, lie at the base of the intrinsic differences that exist. A first group of cities, including especially those located in the Northwest, have an infant mortality of about 100 per 1000 of population under one year of age — a rate which for a considerable time to come cannot be approximated by the majority of American cities. Good climate as well as a diminutive slum population partly account for this advan- tage. Another group of cities suffers from a rate ranging from 150 to 180. This includes a majority of the large cities of the East. But many cities in the South and Southwest fall within this group. A third class consists of the distinctively unhealthful cities, which have an infant death rate in excess of 200 and therefore present the most serious problem in respect to the saving of child lives. Excessive heat in summer, malarial conditions, and diffi- culty in obtaining good water are the chief causes of this excessive rate of mortality. Controllable causes, such as bad housing conditions, ignorance, and poor food, are ad- ditional causes which these cities must first overcome before their child mortality can be lessened. These wide variations in cities are brought about largely by environ- MORTALITY RATES IN THE UNITED STATES 41 mental differences, and therefore the establishment of reme- dial agencies will tend to cause a convergence of rates, the lower limit of which will be measured by the healthful cities. In the majority of all instances present mortahty rates can still be reduced to much lower figures. 4. Differences based upon Social and Industrial Conditions. The difference between good and bad social and indus- trial conditions is roughly measured by the difference be- tween intelligent care and neglect of children. The infant mortality in our slum sections and industrial centers is almost invariably larger than that in the other parts of our cities, the conspicuous exception to this rule being the low mortality of Jewish children, in spite of their life in the slums and among almost intolerable conditions. Indus- trial cities are prone to develop conditions inimical to child life. Frequently the number of married women employed is so large as to affect vitally the degree of care which can be bestowed upon the child. The large factory towns of New England are conspicuous examples. A considerable foreign population has entered the manufacturing estabhsh- ments there, women are employed in large numbers in the mills, and consequently many children are neglected. In Massachusetts the infant mortality of the industrial cen- ters where tenement houses are common, as in Fall River, is more than twice as large as that of the residential towns. Cities in which mixed conditions prevail show a propor- tionate mortality, the rates declining as residential features gain in comparative importance. Cholera infantum has been shown to have a direct relation to the number of married women employed away from home. The number of deaths from the diarrheal diseases in the industrial sec- tions is appalling and must be definitely attributed to the 42 CHILD PROBLEMS gross neglect of the children by their hard-working parents. The misery of the slum is a well-known fact. The poor districts of a city suffer from the excessive infant mortality imposed upon them by their surroundings. In Chicago, for instance, the Stockyards section is hopelessly inferior to a residence section such as Hyde Park. Milwaukee also clearly illustrates this aspect of the problem. Two specified wards of the city each contain a characteristic population, the one is a slum, the other an aristocratic section. The total population of the two is almost equal, but in the one the birth rate is 59 per cent higher than in the other. When relative death rates among infants are compared, the first ward exceeds the other by nearly 250 per cent ! The disproportion for children between one and .five years of age is still greater. The slum ward, therefore, in spite of its high birth rate, is unable to increase its popu- lation as rapidly as does the aristocratic ward. The laboring classes suffer from a much higher infant mortality than do the salaried and professional classes.^ Some years ago "Wolf presented statistics for Erfurt, Ger- many, which indicated that 505 out of every 1000 infants died among the working classes; that the relative mor- tality among the middle classes was 173 ; that among the rich it was only 89. The principal cause of this lower rate among the wealthy was their greater capacity to care for their children in the right way. In the United States, how- ever, differences are less accentuated. Nevertheless the conditions of environment can be made uniformly superior for the child of wealthy parents ; the housing is better, the food is more adaptable, a physician is always procurable, detailed care can be given, and disease can be more suc- cessfully combated. The proportion of wealthy children dying from measles and summer complaint is comparatively small. The higher mortaUty among the children of the ^See Spargo, The Bitter Cry of the Children, p. 7. MORTALITY RATES IN THE UNITED STATES 43 working classes is due to the absence of these advantages. Even where women are not compelled to work away from home, other handicaps often exist. But when the mother must enter the gainful occupations, the situation is well- nigh hopeless. In several European countries the agricul- tural districts suffer from very high infant death rates, which are mainly due to the enforced absence of the mother from the home. Home conditions must suffer when the mother is compelled to spend her time in the fields. 5. Reasonable Rates of Mortality. The gravity of the problem in the United States is meas- ured by the difference between the actual and a reasonable infant mortahty. Social progress demands that the rate be reduced to the lowest minimum consistent with the physi- cal welfare of the people. There is a limit below which the reduction of infant mortality would only result in an increase of the death rate throughout the childhood period, or in the preservation to adult years of men and women doomed to early death on account of constitutional weak- nesses. The saving of weaklings may be of doubtful bene- fit to society, yet social progress should be possible without the sacrifice of child lives. The present problem consists in reducing the infant mortality to the lowest point which enlightened civilization can accomplish. The reasonable bed rock is far from present attainment. Experiments in limited areas where exceptional care could be given to chil- dren have resulted in remarkable reductions of the infant mortality. Because such experiments are necessarily local, the death rates which are attained represent a figure lower than the average to which general rates can be reduced for a considerable time to come. A mortality of 100 per 1000 under one year is, however, a goal which all large cities should set for themselves, and the better situated cities of 44 CHILD PROBLEMS the West should establish a still lower level as a standard. Conditions should not require the loss of more than one out of every ten infants during the first year of life. A mortality of 10 per cent may be regarded as reasonable for the larger cities of to-day. In the smaller towns and in the rural districts, where there is less poverty and where a greater salubrity prevails, infant death rates ought to be less than 8 per cent. These limits should not be considered as permanent ones, as a much lower rate can be realized before society will suffer physically from this cause. When the rates mentioned have been reached, enough general progress will have been made to justify the establishment of still lower limits. The gradual change in the environ- ment and the better care of infants are important factors, the influence of which will then determine the newly attain- able level of infant mortality. 6. General Rates in the United States.^ In order to show how far the United States falls short of reasonable rates of infant and child mortality the follow- ing statistics are presented : ^ — 1 The infant and child mortality of any district may be indicated in two ways : — First, the total mortality per 1000 children of a given age may be specified. This method of comparison permits an exact determination of the proportion of loss, provided that accurate birth statistics are at hand. The aggregate shrinkage is the more important question, and therefore this method is the correct one to use in comparing the net gain and loss to child life both as to time and to space. Standard death rates are important as an index to general social conditions. Second, the relation of infant mortality to total mortality may be considered. The smaller the proportion of the former the more favor- able are the conditions of environment. As child life is more susceptible to disease than is the adult, a relative decline in infant mortality is a favorable indication. This method of computation, however, only re- lates the comparative death rate of one period to that of another and does not show the changes in the level of the death rates themselves. * Census of 1900, Vital Statistics, Part I, p. Ixxxii. MORTALITY RATES IN THE UNITED STATES 45 Deaths in Registration Area per 1000 of Population OF Corresponding Ages (1900) Under one Year Under Five Years Color and Nativitt Total Cities Rural Part of Registra- tion States Total Cities Rural Part of Registra- tion States Aggregate . . 165.4 179.9 117.4 52.1 57.6 34.4 White . . . 158 171.1 116 49.7 54.8 34 Native . . . 158 171.2 116 50 55.1 34.1 Foreign . . 149 159.9 114.6 34.7 36.8 27.1 Colored . . 371.5 387 218.9 118.5 123.6 67 A most significant change has occurred since 1890. In that year the mortality of infants was 205.8. During the following decade there occurred a decline of about 20 per cent. The rates for children under five fell from 66.8 in 1890 to 52.1 in 1900, and, while in the former year 389 out of every 1000 children died before reaching the fifteenth year of life, in 1900 the number had fallen to 303, thus insuring a noteworthy increase in the number of persons surviving to an age of economic usefulness. This decline has not been general, and many localities have failed to participate in the gain. Massachusetts reported a higher infant mortality in 1900 than during the decade which included the Civil War, but its rates for children under five had slightly decreased. Since 1900 considerable prog- ress has been made. The development of urban and in- dustrial conditions, however, has been a prime factor in the failure of many cities to lower their rates. Providence, Rhode Island, increased its infant mortality from 122 per 1000 births in the period 1856-1860 to 158 in the period 1901-1905, and this has occurred in spite of many efforts to check the increasing death rate. 46 CHILD PROBLEMS A few figures showing the change in the proportion of infant and child mortahty for the registration area and for selected cities therein have positive value as an indication of existing conditions. Pbopobtion of Infant and Child Mortality to Total Mortality (in percentages) 1880 1890 1900 1905 1908 District Un- der 1 Un- der 5 Un- der 1 Un- der 6 Un- der 1 Un- der 5 Un- der 1 Un- der 5 Un- der 1 Un- der 5 Reg. Area . . 20.60 30.04 19.30 27.00 19.70 27.50 Chicago . . . 30.08 53.90 30.33 45.22 21.41 33.21 21.43 31.28 22.70 31.80 New York (old) 27.00 45.90 25.30 40.64 23.02 36.40 22.80 33.80 22.70 33.60 Philadelphia . — 38.53 — 36.40 — 32.21 21.40 28.10 20.80 30.00 Providence 18.41 37.30 19.00 32.24 22.11 32.62 19.60 27.60 21.70 30.80 This table indicates that a substantial reduction in the proportion of child mortality has taken place even in the large cities, but it is also apparent that the decrease is more marked for children under five than for infants — a fact which proves that the health problems of the latter have not yet received sufficient attention, for we now know that this mortality can be decreased. Throughout the period covered in the above table general death rates have de- creased; accordingly any decline in the proportionate mor- tality of children represents a considerable gain. The most remarkable instance of American success in reducing infant mortality rates is furnished by the city of Rochester, New York. An account of this work is given in a subse- quent chapter. 7. Estimate of Preventable Deaths. In 1900 the number of deaths of children under five years of age in the United States was 317,532, or 30.5 per cent MORTALITY RATES IN THE UNITED STATES 47 of all deaths. The total deaths under one were 199,325, or 19 per cent of the mortality at all ages. In 1905 the registration area showed an aggregate of deaths almost identical with its record of 1900. The more satisfactory records of 1908 show that 189,865 children under five years of age died in that year in the registration area. If similar proportions were maintained throughout the United States, the loss to the country must have been more than 366,000 children, of whom over 100,000 were above one year but less than five. These children were therefore beyond the age when constitutional diseases destroy them, and had successfully passed through the period when the weak and unfit are ehminated. The death of these children is an evidence of the gravest social neglect.^ If the rate of infant mortality in the rural districts of the registration area in 1900 had been general throughout this area, the number of deaths would have fallen from 102,220 to about 72,300, or a gain of nearly 30,000 infants, while the gain for the entire United States would have reached a total of 59,000. For children under five the rural rate was one third less than the general rate, and its application to the entire country would result in a constructive saving of 105,000 lives to the United States every year. The births during the census year of 1900 were 2,063,386 infants, 1 Professor Irving Fisher of Yale University has computed the fol- lowing ratio of preventability of deaths from certain diseases in which the median age at death is under five. Premature birth, 40 per cent ; congenital debility, 40 ; diarrhea and enteritis, 60 ; measles, 40 ; broncho- pneumonia, 50 ; whooping cough, 40 ; meningitis, 70 ; diphtheria, 70 ; croup, 75. He concludes that of all diseases in which the median age is one year the percentage of preventability is 47 and of other diseases of childhood is 67. Applied to our present infant and child mortality these percentages would result in a saving of about 200,000 children to the United States every year. See Bulletin of the Committee of One Hundred on National Health. Report on National Vitality, its Waste and Conservation, by Professor Irving Fisher. 48 CHILD PROBLEMS and the saving would be equivalent to a change of 5 per cent in the birth rate. Even the rural death rates are un- reasonably high, so the total saving of lives measured by a fair standard should be considerably more. At least 40 per cent of the infant mortality, and a still larger pro- portion of the deaths under five years of age should be re- garded as unnecessary and therefore strictly preventable. Positive means should immediately be enacted to eliminate this useless and costly waste of human life and of physical and social energy. The net saving which would result from such a decrease of mortality would approximate 150,000 child lives annually. Surely this constitutes one of the gravest child problems of the day. CHAPTER IV 1. Specific Diseases. Children are particularly susceptible to certain diseases, and therefore the average age at death of persons dying from these diseases is comparatively low. The term "children's diseases" may therefore be properly apphed to a number of such affections, of which the following are the principal ones : — CmLDREN's Diseases and Average Age at Death Census of 1900 Disease Average Age at Death Diphtheria . . . Measles .... Scarlet Fever . . Croup .... Whooping Cough . Diarrheal Diseases Smallpox . . . Years 5.8 4.4 5.9 5.4 1.8 12.3 27.9 Smallpox, as the table shows, is no longer a disease of childhood, but has been included because it formerly ranked as such. The change is not due to the nature of the disease but to the splendid achievements of medical science, which B 49 50 CHILD PROBLEMS has almost exterminated it. Vaccination has rendered the child comparatively immune, and adults now suffer as frequently as do the children. Medicine will, it is hoped, accomplish equally successful results for the other diseases of childhood. a. Diphtheria. This disease has been the terror of childhood since the virtual elimination of smallpox. It is an extremely malignant disease, and the case fatality has reflected its persistent virulence. The remarkable change, however, which medicine has accomplished since 1890 is shown by the following table of case fatalities. Case Fatality FROM Diphtheria ^ (In percentages) Year Case Fatality New York City (Old) Brooklyn 1891 1894 1895 36.5 30.0 18.5 63.6 45.0 31.0 1900 15.5 22.5 1903 10.5 15.6 In every large city significant changes in favor of lower rates have occurred since 1895, when the use of antitoxin was introduced. Formerly the case fatality from diph- theria was uniformly high, having reached a maximum of 74 per cent in Baltimore in 1894. The change since 1895 has been permanent and decisive, and has robbed the disease of its ancient terrors. During the decade 1897- 1906 the case fatality in Chicago from cases treated with antitoxin by the bureau of health was only 6.5 per cent. 1 Report of the Department of Health, City of New York, 1904, Vol. I, p. 294 £f. CHILDREN'S DISEASES 51 The experience of this city also illustrates the advantage of eariy treatment of the disease. The results from the treatment of 8372 cases during the period given above show that if the administration of antitoxin occurred on the first day of the disease the rate of mortality was .32 per cent; if on the second day, 1.51 per cent; if on the third day, 3.38 per cent ; if on the fourth, 11.15 per cent ; but if antitoxin was not used until a later day, the rate rose to 22.01 per cent.^ Furthermore, during this period more than 9000 persons who had been exposed to the disease were treated with immunizing doses of antitoxin, and of these persons only 51 afterwards contracted the disease, all of whom subsequently recovered. The scourge of diphtheria now rests lightly upon the child. The steps taken to save the children from this disease are the following : — First, the establishment of a rigid quarantine, and in the larger cities of medical inspection in the schools by means of which many incipient cases of diphtheria are dis- covered. The rates of morbidity are therefore consid- erably decreased. Second, a bacteriological diagnosis of the case. New York City began this in the year 1892, and accomplished good results through the exercise of this precaution. Third, the extensive use of antitoxin. This has saved thousands of Hves. The effectiveness of the virus is evi- dent from the work done in the tenement house districts of New York City, where the case fatality in 1903 among the poor who were treated free of charge by the health officials was only 5.7 per cent, as compared with an average of 10.5 per cent for the entire city. The existence of this remedy has lessened the tendency of many parents to con- ceal the fact that some of their children were suffering from the disease. The serum is still rather costly, and the poor 1 Report of the Department of Health, Chicago, 1906, p. 129. 52 CHILD PROBLEMS are unable to pay for its use, but all of the large cities have liberally provided for the free distribution of antitoxin to those unable to engage the services of a physician directly, and private charity has provided adequate hospital room. Accordingly no one need forego the enlightened treatment which present day advancement affords. Undue caution, however, frequently results in a tardy diagnosis, with con- sequent disaster to the child. Fourth, the tracing of the contagion to the place of origin and ascertaining its communicating medium. Bad milk, sweat-shop goods, unclean food, and other agencies which carry the disease are being more carefully inspected than formerly. In many cities pasteurization has acted as a deterrent. In the city of Washington, the prevalence of diphtheria has declined, owing largely to this method of caring for milk. Pure food laws and inspection of goods made in tenements have also attacked the disease at its sources and decreased the danger of contagion. Climatic and racial conditions influence the prevalence of diphtheria. It is a winter disease, and comparatively low rates of mortality prevail during the summer months. The negro child enjoys a somewhat greater immunity from the disease than does the white child. Owing to these differences, the children of the South suffer less from this ailment than do children in the remainder of the United States. In European countries rates do not differ mate- rially from the ones prevailing here, and the use of anti- toxin is working similar results. b. Measles and Scarlet Fever. Although less dangerous than diphtheria, measles and scarlet fever are extremely contagious. Science has as yet discovered no specific for them, and victims must rely upon the old methods of treatment. The case fatality is less, but the net mortality greater, from measles than from scarlet fever. The former is especially fatal during the CHILDREN'S DISEASES 53 second year of life, while a greater percentage of fatalities occurs from scarlet fever during the third and fourth years. The first four months of the year are most fatal for this disease, while the greatest mortality from measles occurs from February to May. The number of cases of the latter disease fluctuates widely from year to year, with a general downward tendency. In New York City waves of inci- dence seem to appear every second year. Since the disease has been quarantined and the use of fumigation employed, a favorable decline has occurred. Cities still suffer dis- proportionately, and far exceed the rural districts in their fatalities. The disease could be more effectively checked but for the attitude of many mothers, who regard measles as an unavoidable disease and who permit their children to be exposed to it. Wage-earning mothers frequently hide the fact from the health officials, and so evade quarantine. Scarlet fever is practically unknown in those countries, such as Japan, that do not use cow's milk as food ; it is therefore probable that a close relation exists between the use of the milk and the disease. The elimination of the disease consequently depends largely upon the purification of the milk supply. An epidemic has on several occasions been traced to a dairy farm where victims of the fever have infected the milk. Buffalo, Chicago, and other cities have endeavored to prevent the disease by attempting to discover its source. The scarlet fever germ will lie dor- mant for years and then infect through contact with the individual. More easily than any other malignant disease can it be carried about by old or exposed clothes, and pre- cautionary methods are therefore very necessary. The poor and constitutionally weak are more prone to succumb to this disease than the strong and well-fed, since the former have less vital power of resistance. Better nutrition, sufficient food, and more adequate care of the young are needed to resist attacks of the fever. 54 CHILD PROBLEMS c. Whooping Cough and Bronchitis. Whooping cough is decidedly a disease of infancy. More than one half of the deaths from this disease occur during the first year of life, and very few after the fifth year. The rural rates are but little lower than those of the cities, but the American mortality from this cause is hardly one half that of England or Germany. Epidemics in our cities, however, sometimes continue for several years and occasion a heavy mortality, although the disease is not commonly considered dangerous. Whooping cough is most common during the summer and autumn months. Bronchitis is a disease of childhood as well as of old age. About one third of all deaths from this cause occur during the first year of life ; one half take place in the first five- year period, and nearly all of the remainder occur after the forty-fifth year. Here again the rural districts show lower rates than do the cities, but the difference is not a marked one. The total death rates from either bronchitis or pneumonia are much higher than the rates for measles, scarlet fever, or whooping cough. The winter months are especially favorable to a high mortality from these respiratory diseases. Ignorance, exposure, and lack of care are fruitful causes of the heavy death rate which they occasion. d. Diseases of the Digestive System. The most deadly of all diseases of infancy and childhood are the various forms of acute intestinal diseases, including diarrhea and enteritis, cholera infantum being classed under enteritis. The problem of infant mortality has received but little attention in those cities in which no decline in the death rates from these diseases has been recorded. Effective work in saving child lives is largely measured by the success attained in decreasing the mortality from the diseases of the digestive system. Success in this respect indicates a high-water mark in the history of preventive CHILDREN'S DISEASES 55 work. The following table illustrates the situation in the registration area of the United States : ^ — Deaths from Diarrhea and Enteritis per 100,000 op Population Area Registration Area Registration Cities Registration States Cities in Registration States . . . Rural Part of Registration States . Registration Cities in other States . Average 1900-1904 112.8 126.0 113.4 139.9 80.3 111.8 1C05 116.7 128.5 117.3 141.1 86.1 115.6 1908 116.0 128.0 116.2 133.5 96.9 114.6 More than 40,000 children die annually in the registra- tion area from these diseases, and the aggregate mortality for the United States approximates about twice this num- ber, or three times the number of deaths from diphtheria and croup. About four fifths of these deaths, however, occur during the first year of life. The urban rate ranges from 33^ to 50 per cent higher than the rural rate, and the industrial cities show a distinctively heavy mortality. In recent years the rate throughout the registration area has fluctuated but slightly, the year 1905 marking a high point, and 1908 showing a small decline. Many individual cities have, on the other hand, successfully reduced their mor- tality from the intestinal diseases. Among cities having a population of more than 100,000, Fall River, Massachu- setts, reported the highest rate in 1908, its mortality being 380.1 per 100,000 of population, or nearly three times the 1 U. S. Bureau of Census. Mortality Statistics, 1900-1904, 1905, 1908. Although the above table represents death rates on the basis of the population at all ages, 85 per cent of the deaths occur among children under two years of age. 56 CHILD PROBLEMS average rate for the registration cities. Local social and industrial conditions are largely responsible for this fact. In manufacturing cities the rates tend to remain stationary, although several exceptions occur. Several large cities have, however, in spite of the difficulties attending the work, succeeded in reducing the mortality from the diar- rheal diseases. New York City (old) annually contributes between three and four thousand children under five years of age to the mortality from this group of diseases. Still the absolute number of deaths has remained almost sta- tionary, and the rate has decreased considerably since 1895, when a decided fall in the mortality from this source took place. Chicago has shown a decline in the following re- spects: the rate of mortality from these diseases, the total number of such deaths, and the proportion of all mortality due to these causes. The distribution of these diseases throughout the differ- ent months of the year is most significant. In no other case does the death rate vary so heavily from season to season. The predominating influence of weather conditions as a cause of the violent fluctuations in rates is therefore at once apparent. The following table shows the propor- tion of deaths each month of the year, according to figures Proportion of Deaths from Diarrhea and Enteritis (Base = 1000) Months Proportion Months Proportion January .... February . . . March .... April May June 29.2 27.4 30.8 32.7 39.6 74.6 July .... August . . . September . . October . . . November . . December . . 231.2 230.1 158.8 78.5 37.5 29.6 CHILDREN'S DISEASES 57 based on the mortality in the registration area of the United States during the years 1900-1904/ This table shows that during the winter and spring months the mortality is very low, and that few or no epi- demics of these diseases exist. On the other hand, the three months of July, August, and September witness more than three fifths of the entire number of deaths. The first two are the hottest months of the year, and a clear relation between heat and the prevalence of the diarrheal diseases is thus indicated. The heat, however, acts indirectly by hastening the growth of harmful bacteria in the milk, and these in turn cause disease. No other phase of infant mor- tality offers so large a field for the work of the physician and the philanthropist. e. Prematurity. A large group of children die annually from the diseases of early infancy. . Premature birth and congenital debility fall within this group. Thirty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-four infants died from this class of diseases in the registration area in 1908. If the same rate of mor- tality prevailed throughout the United States, the total deaths would exceed 62,000. That this large mortality does not entirely depend on purely hereditary causes is proven by the wide differences existing between urban and rural rates, the latter being only 73 per cent of the former. The death rate in the United States is a fluctuating one, and shows no pronounced tendency either upward or down- ward. In England, on the other hand, the death rate from this source is not only higher than here, but the rate has been increasing and is a cause of grave concern to the Eng- lish people. /. Convulsions and Meningitis. Convulsions are specially fatal to infants and are annually responsible for about 7000 to 8000 deaths in the registra- 1 U. S. Bureau of Census, Mortality Statistics, 1900-1904. 58 CHILD PROBLEMS tion area, and of probably 15,000 throughout the entire country. Although classified among the diseases of the nervous system, '' convulsions" is a loose and indefinite term. The symptoms are often remotely connected with the diseases of the digestive system. Another ailment which is especially fatal to children is meningitis. This disease destroys nearly as many persons under five years of age as do convulsions. Unlike the latter, meningitis shows a fluctuating rate, and science has not yet been able to strike at the root of the disease. 2. Proportionate Mortality from Principal Dis- eases. Having completed this short summary of the diseases to which children are especially prone, the following table showing the distribution of mortality among several groups of diseases is particularly significant. Proportionate Mortality from Principal Diseases (in Percentages) Diseases Eng- land! Registration Area OP THE United States 2 Diseases of early Infancy Diarrhea and Enteritis Convulsions Under 1 32.3 13.9 10.7 17.4 25.7 Under 1 26.4 26.0 5.0 14.6 28.0 Under 5 19.0 23.5 4.3 Bronchitis and Pneumonia .... All other Causes 16.9 36.3 This table indicates that four groups of diseases are responsible for three fourths of the deaths of infants and 1 Figures taken from Infant Mortality, by George W. Newman. 2 Computed from Report of the Bureau of the Census, Mortality Statistics, 1905. CHILDREN'S DISEASES 59 for about two thirds of the deaths of children under five. The first group includes most of the cases of children afflicted with constitutional weaknesses or with acquired atrophied conditions. The prevention of this mortality- is most difficult, and will require extensive social changes. The diarrheal diseases cause about one fourth of the mor- tality of infants and small children in the United States. The figures for England do not include gastritis, which, if added, as in the American tables, would raise the mor- tality from this group of diseases to about 20 per cent. This heavy mortality is largely preventable, and practi- cable measures for solving the problem have been adopted in a number of cities. Convulsions are twice as common in England as they are in the United States. The chief respiratory diseases claim from one seventh to one sixth of the infant mortality. Exposure is the principal cause of this high rate. It will be noticed that the contagious dis- eases form a comparatively inconspicuous part of the infant mortality of to-day. The entire group of such diseases, as well as all others, are classed under '^ all other causes," yet this entire group contributes only one fourth of the total death rate and little more than the American death rate for diseases of the digestive system. Both in- dividual and social conditions are at fault, and a marked reduction of the mortality of children can not occur with- out considerable reform. Increased interference with the parental control of children and with the social causes of disease is necessary. CHAPTER V ultimate causes of infant mortality 1. Principal Causes. More fundamental than the immediate causes of the death rate quoted in the foregoing chapter are the ultimate factors which are responsible for the fatal diseases of child- hood. The art of medicine deals with specific diseases, but social workers are more directly concerned with the prevention of the particular ailments than with their medi- cal treatment. Dr. Farr, the eminent English vital statis- tician, concluded that the conditions in respect to food, water, cleanliness, malnutrition, and midwifery were the principal causes of the unnecessary infant mortality in England. This was fifty years ago, however. Arthur Newsholme in 1899 gave the following classification of causes : — 1. Premature Birth and Congenital Defects. 2. Hereditary Tendencies. (Inheritance of siphilis, drunkenness, etc.) 3. Inexperience and Neglect of Mothers. 4. Industrial Conditions. (Women working during and after pregnancy.) 5. Social Conditions. 6. Improper Food. 7. Deaths from Accidental or Homicidal Violence. George Newman regards the ante-natal influence as a most prominent cause of infant mortality in England. Among the important factors he includes the ill effects of 60 ULTIMATE CAUSES OF INFANT MORTALITY 61 poisoning caused by the work of mothers in certain dan- gerous trades, the action of alcohol upon foetal life, poor physique and ill health in the mother, previous miscarriages, poverty and insufficiency of food, and overv\'ork by the mother. Among the post-natal causes are : the occupa- tion of mothers who leave their children at home without providing them with proper care ; the prevalence of city life ; poor housing ; bad social conditions ; artificial feed- ing of infants ; the use of contaminated milk ; and igno- rance and carelessness on the part of mothers. This ignorance manifests itself in the methods of feeding, in uncleanliness, in exposure, in drunkenness, and in indif- ference to parental obligations. To poverty as a cause Newman does not attach much weight. 2. Classification of Causes. The underlying causes with special reference to the United States may be conveniently classified as follows : — I. Improper Feeding : 1. Artificial feeding. 2. Use of indigestible foods. 3. Use of bad milk, II. Underfeeding. 1. Caused by ignorance of mother. 2. Caused by failure of natural food supply. 3. Caused by poverty of parents. III. Unsanitary Conditions. 1. Bad housing conditions, such as insufficient light and air. 2. Overcrowding. 3. Filthy homes. 4. Absence of needed sanitary arrangements, e.g.j sewage systems. 5. Germ-laden water. 6. Lack of park area. 62 CHILD PROBLEMS IV. Ignorance of Parents. 1. As to need of pure air. 2. As to right methods of feeding the child. 3. As to proper way of protecting child from ex- posure. 4. As to intelligent care of the sick child. V. Inadequate Quarantine System. VI. General Influence of City Life. VII. Parental NegUgence. VIII. Chmatic Conditions. 1. Extremes of heat or cold. 2. Dampness. IX. Occupation of Mother. X. Prenatal Influences. 1. Hereditary causes. a. Defectiveness. h. Constitutional weakness, c. Inherited disease. 2. Acquired Conditions. a. Effects of overwork by mother. b. Toxic influence on foetal life. c. Malnutrition of mother. d. Conditions inducing abortion, premature birth, and malformation. The exact weight of each of these causes cannot be de- termined, nor is it possible to isolate any of the factors, but the comparative importance of some of them can at least be approximated. Among the most important causes are : improper feeding, ignorance of parents, and insanitary conditions. 3. Use of Artificial Foods. Nature has provided a most satisfactory way of feeding the infant, but civilization has recently begun to substitute other methods. So far the substitutions have not been ULTIMATE CAUSES OF INFANT MORTALITY 63 generally successful, although there is no inherent reason why they may not be eventually so perfected that efficient results will follow. Many mothers now feed their babies on cow's milk, and have discontinued breast feeding. This is probably true of a majority of the wealthy classes and of a large minority of the poor. If ordinary raw dairy milk is used, the result is frequently disastrous to the child. The effects of milk substitutes are on the other hand still more fatal, and both classes of food may be heavily laden with disease and death. Tests made in European coun- tries have revealed the ^f act that breast feeding yields the lowest infant mortality, that the use of animal milk causes a larger death rate, and that the milk substitutes are re- sponsible for the highest rates. Animal milk, in order to become an adequate substitute for the natural milk of the babe, must be modified, because the normal ingredients of the two differ in their proportions, and the animal milk is not naturally adapted to the infant. If therefore the use of such milk is to increase, its modifica- tion will be necessary in the case of thousands of infants in order to prevent their becoming victims of disease. Many children are able to thrive on undiluted cow's milk, but it is precisely because large numbers are incapable of adapting themselves to this unnatural diet that diseases of the digestive system attack and destroy them. Breast milk changes in constituency, varying with the age of the child — an accommodation which has been worked out by nature for the advantage of the babe. Animal milk does not vary in its constituency to meet the changing needs of the infant, and consequently is an inferior and un- satisfactory food. The proper modification of animal food requires various mixtures, each adapted to a specific age period of the infant. At least three or four different modifications are needed during the first six months of life. Experiments conducted by the Rockefeller Institute 64 CHILD PROBLEMS of New York City to test the relative merits of the different kinds of milk used for infants resulted in the following statistics. The tests covered four kinds of milk, families using such milk being selected for observation. A study was made of 400 families divided into four equal groups, each of which used a different grade of milk. The results secured are given in the subjoined table. Merits of Different Grades of Milk Grade of Milk Results Good Results Bad Condensed mWk Store milk 56 60 81 61 4t 40 Straus and diet kitchen milk . . . Bottled milk 19 39 The store milk was sold from the open cans, and was therefore subject to rapid deterioration and multiplication of bacteria. It yielded the worst results, with the ex- ception of the condensed milk, which is not adapted to the small child and which can not, from its very nature, be expected to be successful. Bottled milk proved slightly more favorable, but the pasteurized and specially prepared milk alone showed a high percentage of good results. The difference between the last grade and the rest is sufficiently striking to illustrate the necessity of constant attention to the character of food given to the infant. The investigation made in 1907 by the summer corps of inspectors and nurses of the New York City Department of Health yielded the following very interesting conclusions in relation to the results of feeding children wath various kinds of milk : of the total number of children under nine months of age, 81.15 per cent were being breast-fed, and only 18.85 per cent received cow's milk or other forms of ULTIMATE CAUSES OF INFANT MORTALITY 65 artificial food. The latter group of children, however, furnished 57.53 per cent of all cases of diarrhea, while the former group, comprising more than four fifths of all the children investigated, supplied less than one half (42.47 per cent, of the cases. Of the children under nine months of age who died of diarrheal diseases, 25.04 per cent had been breast-fed, while 74.96 per cent had been artificially fed. The proportions for children over nine months were almost similar, being 23.72 and 76.28 per cent respectively. Accordingly, three fourths of the deaths from these dis- eases were furnished by a group containing less than one fifth of the total number of children. The superiority of mother's milk and the bad effects under ordinary conditions of the various forms of artificial foods are thus clearly demonstrated.^ The first step advocated by many physicians is the re- turn to breast feeding wherever that is possible, because a pure clean food is thereby assured. In an increasing number of cases, however, this seems impossible, and the market supply of milk must be improved in order to insure the health of the babies and small children. The milk supply of our cities, however, receives but little attention because its importance has not yet been appreciated. 4. Heat and Neglect as Contributory Causes. The principal specific result of the use of bad milk is the occurrence of diseases of the digestive system, and these, as has already been shown, are the most important group of causes of infant and child mortality. The special in- cidence of a high death rate during the hot summer months depends partly upon the effect of the heat upon the milk, which deteriorates and develops harmful bacteria in a very short time. Accordingly, the child suffers relatively more in summer from the use of milk originally as good and as 1 See Report of Department of Health of New York City, 1907, pp. 43 ff . V 66 CHILD PROBLEMS carefully handled as the milk which is supplied during the winter months. The effect of heat, it must be observed, is indirect ; bad milk is the immediate cause of the intes- tinal disorders. The heat, however, aggravates these diseases, and the ignorance of parents in regard to the proper care of children under these conditions contributes further to the gravity of the problem. Ignorance and neglect are believed to be three times as fatal as the hot weather ! 5. Bad Housing Conditions. Coupled with the questions of bad milk, ignorance of parents, and neglect of children, are the frequent disrepu- table housing conditions of the poor, whereby insuffi- cient light, fresh air, sunshine, and good water are procured. The probability of a sick child^s survival is thus greatly lessened. Remedial measures must be applied to the entire gamut of social causes of child mortality, although the factors which have just been indicated should receive the most attention. CHAPTER VI the milk problem 1. The Milk Factor. The importance of the milk question is evident from the attitude of the health boards of the various cities. The New York City Health Department has given the follow- ing reasons for the decrease of 62 per cent in infant mor- tality from 1881 to 1903 : — a. Purer milk secured through increased official watch- fulness. b. Pasteurization of milk by private philanthropies. c. Education of mothers and nurses in regard to food, especially to milk. d. The opening of small parks. 6. Cleaner streets. /. The floating hospital of St. John's Guild. Three of these measures of relief are connected with the problem of good milk, and special emphasis is placed upon them by the department because they have been the chief factors in causing the reduction of the mortality. Health boards everywhere are beginning to solve the question by undertaking to supply either pure or pasteurized milk for the small children. The nature of the prob- lem varies from city to city, and therefore the methods used can not be identical. Local conditions determine whether a city shall demand pure milk or be content with pasteurization. 67 68 CHILD PROBLEMS 2. Requisites of Good Milk. Specialists now demand that all milk meet two require- ments : cleanliness and proper temperature.^ The former is the supreme need, as without cleanliness the develop- ment of bacteria can not be prevented. The principal considerations upon which clean milk depends are the fol- lowing : cows must be in good condition and incapable of responding to the tuberculin test ; dairymen and all per- sons handling the milk must be free from contagious dis- eases and must carry on their work with sufficient care to reduce to a minimum the amount of dirt and foreign par- ticles in the milk ; the premises as well as the cows must be kept clean to protect the milk from contamination ; cans, bottles, and all vessels containing milk need adequate sterilization because dirty utensils are a source of danger, as the bacteria lodge in the uneven surfaces of the vessels and speedily multiply in the milk ; depots must maintain sanitary conditions to prevent the infection of milk ; finally, the consumer must know the essential conditions under which milk will deteriorate and become dangerous food for small children. Proper temperature is the next essential, because it is only by rapid cooling that the deterioration of milk can be retarded. There are three stages in the handling of milk : first, it is cooled at the dairy, where its temperature should be immediately reduced to not more than 50 degrees Fahrenheit and then kept at or below this figure ; second, it is subject to the churning process of transportation, at first by wagon, then by rail, and finally by wagon dehvery again ; third, it is kept and sold by the retailer. During the second stage it must be kept at a temperature not ex- ceeding 45 degrees. The influence of changing temperature 1 Charities and Commons, Vol. XVII, p. 677. THE MILK PROBLEM 69 upon the quality of milk is demonstrated by experiments conducted in the city of Chicago. A sample of fresh milk, containing 11,500 bacteria per cubic centimeter, was divided into two equal parts labeled ''A" and "B.'^ ''A" was cooled at the dairy, but only after being loaded for shipment. "B" was immediately cooled, then iced and in a condition of l-efrigeration was sent to the city. Both samples were delivered to dealers, and the milk was twenty- four hours old when it reached the customer. The ex- aminations showed the following results : ^ — Table Showing the Multiplication op Bacteria in Milk M? Place Bacteria pek Cubic Centimeter^ See Newman, George, Infant Mortality, p. 265. METHODS OF DECREASING MORTALITY 83 erties of fresh air.^ These facts show an appaUing lack of knowledge on these vital subjects. Coming from a different climate and guided by foreign methods, immi- grant mothers often fail utterly to realize the need of ade- quate clothing for their children during the cold seasons of the year. The author has seen small children indecently clad even for summer time playing on the open streets on cold February days. Such ignorance necessarily increases infant and child mortality. 3. The Visiting Nurse. The duties of the visiting nurse will eventually be so extended as to include the personal care of infants and the instruction of mothers in the principles of baby manage- ment. A visit to the family to nurse the young infant has value as training for the mother and the older children, and the knowledge thus disseminated is in no way measured by the number of infants visited. In Boston many small children have been saved in the homes of consumptives because the treatment of the latter has been accompanied by examinations of the children. The work of the nurse has heretofore been so strenuous that the cases visited have not usually included small babies, although young mothers have frequently become the objects of such visits. Special attention to the problem of infant mortality from the standpoint of the usefulness of the trained nurse as guide and teacher will be necessary before the problem can be satisfactorily solved. Nurses available for this purpose can be recruited from the various organizations which at present employ such service. The departments of health in some of our cities have nurses attached to their staff of officials ; some cities have visiting nurse associa- 1 Report of New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, 1906, p. 76. 84 CHILD PROBLEMS tions maintained by private charity ; some charity organi- zation societies employ nurses directly ; some settlements also maintain one or more nurses, and many dispensaries command the services of the trained nurse. Some or all of these agencies will have to be used in the near future. The work must be done by employing these nurses as agents consciously bent upon the removal of the ignorance and carelessness of parents in respect to infant care and man- agement. To be successful permanently, instruction must also be furnished to prospective as well as to actual mothers. The general level of knowledge can only be raised through the use of rigid educational measures. As the social ser- vice work of our more progressive hospitals expands in volume, direct attention will be paid not only to the sick child, but also to the proper methods of prevention of disease. The school nurse whose field of employment is not limited to the school will also become a factor in trans- forming the conditions of the home, where she will be sent to follow up cases and to give instruction. 4. The Day Nursery. The day nursery has a limited value in educating mothers, but the total number of children cared for at the nurseries is insignificant compared with the absolute number of children who are in need of more intelligent care. The nursery is patronized almost exclusively by women who work away from home, yet thousands of mothers do not enter the gainful occupations, and the influence of the nur- sery does not reach them. This influence usually operates through the children who are daily fed and cared for and who reflect at home the conditions and high standards of the nursery. Indirectly therefore the nursery trans- forms the life and ideals of a limited number of homes, but its work as a child-saving agency has not yet reached METHODS OF DECREASING MORTALITY 85 its full development. Its direct beneficiaries are, however, limited to small children, and the infant gains only indi- rectly from the new ideals established in the homes. 5. Education of Girls. Our educational system needs revision, and the curricu- lum of the school must be made to conform more nearly to the actual requirements of our complex hfe of to-day. Our emphasis upon literary education is gradually being dis- placed by an insistence upon training which will equip the growing boy and girl for industrial and trade oppor- tunities. The economic needs are being supplied, but the social aspects of education have not received sufficient encouragement. It is important to train children for the varied duties of life, and our young men and young women must learn more about the requirements and needs of the home and of home life. Domestic science, the art of house- keeping, proper uses of food, the importance of cleanliness, hygiene, and sanitation, and other items of value should become part of the instruction of every young woman. Such instruction is so fundamental that it should rank as a most important preventive measure. Domestic science must soon form part of the curriculum in every elementary school. It should be made compul- sory for every girl in the seventh and eighth grades, and the amount of ground covered during these two grades ought to be sufficient to enable a young woman to learn all the rudiments necessary to begin a home on an intelli- gent basis. A very large percentage of public school pupils leave school before they reach these grades, many leaving at the end of the fifth year. The loss during the sixth year is also very heavy. Provision of some kind for these chil- dren is imperative, for it is precisely this class that swells the aggregate of undesirable elements in our large cities. Compulsory education will reach all who are not over-aged, 86 CHILD PROBLEMS but the latter form a special problem and can not be neg- lected. Either they must be given the training in special classes, or they must be held at school until they have had the needed training. The group of girls most in need of the training afforded by domestic science and household economy are least liable to be reached by the present halting methods of instruction. The majority of cities have done little for the cause of domestic science, and therefore the fundamental cause of parental ignorance still remains. Domestic science in the high school should be encouraged, and it will be a source of pleasure and also of profit to the high school girl. Instruction in this branch, however, does not benefit the children of the poor, because they do not reach the high school ; and effective preventive work for the child of the coming generation can be per- formed only by educating the girl and boy who are most in need of the training which these branches will yield. The introduction of such courses into the secondary schools is only a palliative, and can in no way be regarded as a cure. Our schools are strangely lacking in their provisions for instruction in household economy, and the need of reform is urgent and immediate. 6. Training of Boys. Boys likewise need additional training, especially in hygienic methods and sanitation. The value of nature's curative forces and regenerative agencies must be taught in order to give the boy a proper appreciation of the danger and injury incident to insanitary housing conditions. The uses of fresh air, the germ-destroying power of sunlight, the effects of contamination of air, the influence of gases, standards in regard to sufficient air space, and other neces- sary knowledge relating to proper housing conditions must be effectually taught to all young boys. The meager knowledge gained at present in the study of physiology METHODS OF DECREASING MORTALITY 87 is entirely insufficient, and an extension of this study, by taking up the lines indicated, is necessary ; otherwise the instruction must be given as a separate branch of the work of the school. Whatever be the course followed, it must be judged from the standpoint of efficiency. The knowledge which makes for better homes and more sanitary houses, and which will accordingly save the lives of thousands of babies, must be acquired before the homes are formed and before babies are born. If this is not done, children will always be the victims of parental ignorance and neglect. The evening school, with its classes in appropriate subjects for both young men and young women, and the classes formed in settlements and other institutions which strive to meet this deficiency in the education of the child, reach a small number of persons only and can not adequateld meet the situation. Furthermore, this work is, or shouly be, considered a mere temporary expedient, to be aban- doned when the elementary schools expand their functions so as to include home science among the subjects taught. However, a temporary expansion of the work of these classes should be cordially welcomed, because the public school does not now meet the needs of a large bulk of our growing youth, and many anticipated reforms are not yet being reahzed. 7. Municipal Campaigns against Infant Mortality. Special campaigns of education in our large cities can do something to mitigate the evil of infant mortality. The boards of health, through the physicians whom they detail for work in the slums, can educate parents, or the boards can teach the latter directly in appropriate ways. Cam- paigns of this sort should be carried on during the hot weather especially, but should not be confined to the summer months, because the problem of care in the winter season and of protection from exposure also demands attention. 88 CHILD PROBLEMS Private agencies should introduce effective methods of propaganda ; but the cities should so enlarge the scope of their work as to spread effectually the desired information among the poor. 8. Prevention of Overcrowding. FataHties among children depend in part on the bad housing conditions of a city. The nature of overcrowding which is most dangerous to the susceptible child is the crowding of a large number of persons into a single flat or group of rooms. The density per acre may be very heavy, yet the conditions under which the individual fam- ilies live accord with all the demands of sanitation and cleanliness. Tenement houses well cared for and well inspected by the city authorities may house a dense popu- lation without special injury or excessive suffering to the indwellers. This is particularly true if houses are built according to the best modern models. In actual practice, however, a heavy per acre density is usually associated with tenement house conditions of the worst type, the size of the families of the better classes being uniformly smaller and the families themselves refusing to submit to such crowding. Congestion invariably means poor conditions and inadequate equipment. Investigations have made quite plain the following propositions in regard to the effects of crowding : first, the mortahty of a population increases as the density per acre is increased, and is considerably higher when a very heavy density obtains. Second, mortality is much less if single tenement houses only are built upon the lots than if front and rear tenements exist. Statistics for New York City (old) show that the mortality of children under five was nearly twice as high in the latter type of buildings. Third, mortahty varies inversely according to the number of rooms METHODS OF DECREASING MORTALITY 89 per apartment. English figures have shown that the one- room apartment is nearly twice as fatal as the four-room apartment. This form of overcrowding is bj^ far the most dangerous to life and health, as it is directly related to the problem of adequate air space, especially for sleeping pur- poses. It also prevents the enjoyment of sufficient sun- light and ventilation. It is especially under such con- ditions that a large infant mortality ensues. It becomes impossible to provide the child with a sufficient amount of nature's curative forces and properties. It has been shown that in Vienna, Austria, when 8 per cent of the population was overcrowded the mortahty increased more than 100 per cent above the normal and that all overcrowding was accompanied by a high rate of mortality. ^ The noxious influence of overcrowding upon the life and health of the young child is well known. There remains only the prob- lem of ascertaining the precise influence of this factor in order that our cities may become more resolute in providing and demanding sufficient air and room. Reform in housing conditions, including the building of wholesome tenements and the proper inspection of all tenements, is urgently needed, as well as insistence upon better conditions in and about the two-family houses, especially in regard to plumbing, sewage, garbage disposal, closets, etc. 9. Prevention of Employment of Married Women. An additional method of lessening our infant mortality consists in reducing the number of married women em- ployed in factories, offices, and mercantile establishments. In 1900 the total number of married women in the United States engaged in the gainful occupations was 769,477, or 5.6 per cent of the entire number of married women. Al- though a small number, it represents an increase of one per 1 Bailey, W. B., Modern Social Conditions, p. 323. 90 CHILD PROBLEMS cent in the proportion of married women at work when compared with the census of 1890. We must assume there- fore that the tendency is in favor of the increased use of married women in industry. Our heavy recent immi- gration from Europe has increased this proportion, although statistics to that effect have not yet been gathered. Many Itahan, Pohsh, Bohemian, and French Canadian mothers are at present employed in our factories and workshops, and therefore are compelled to neglect their children. In Boston recently a young child was regularly brought to one of the factories of the city at noon to be nursed by the mother during her intermission from work. In Fall River a large percentage of the married women are at work in the cotton mills ; the infant mortaHty in this city is not only very high, but it exceeds that of every American city having a population of 100,000 or more. The rates for diarrhea and enteritis are also disproportionately high. There can be no doubt of the causal relation between this high mortality and the presence of mothers in the factories. 10. Suppression of otherICauses of Mortality. The immorality of many men and the consequent in- fliction of disease upon their offspring is responsible for a growing proportion of infant and child deaths. Innocent women are frequent victims of such men, but the peril to children is perhaps the graver, because deformity or death is the frequent penalty. Poverty and mal-feeding are causes of atrophy, and many underfed and emaciated children can be daily seen in our large hospitals. The chief blame for this suffering, however, rests with the parents. Their ignorance is often responsible for the method of feeding which entails such serious consequences upon the child. Absolute poverty is less often the cause of death than is malnutrition. METHODS OF DECREASING MORTALITY 91 11. Summary. In addition to the improvement of the milk supply, the chief remedies for our excessive infant and child mortality may be summarized as follows : the education of mothers as to the superiority of breast feeding; instruction of parents, especially mothers, concerning the value of good food, fresh air, sunlight, clean water, ventilation, and out- door exercise ; instruction of young women in the art of domestic economy and personal hygiene and of young men in hygiene and proper sanitation ; diffusion of knowledge relative to malnutrition and improper feeding ; increased caution against exposure of young children ; improvement of the housing conditions of the poor ; day nurseries for the children of women who must work, though efforts should be made to diminish the number of married women in industry ; and higher ideals of personal purity, especially among boys and men. BOOK II RECENT ASPECTS OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM CHAPTER I PLAT 1. Introduction. All of our four-footed friends of the higher orders indulge in play while young, and to them it is a most valuable ex- perience in their training for life. Whatever be the correct theory of play — that it is practice in the Hne of future methods of conduct, that it is simply the discharge of the surplus energy of the young, or that it is for the purpose of relaxation and recreation only — whatever theory be adopted, the inestimable value of play to the child and to the nation can not be gainsaid. Play is an irrepressible method of self-expression. Fortunately the absolute pre- vention of play is impossible. It is one of nature's gifts, and needs only to be utilized aright and so directed as to become of the maximum service to the growing boy and giri. 2. Physical Effects op Play. Play touches every phase of the development of youth. The effects are not only physical, but mental, moral, and social as well. As all children play somewhere, the physical effect of ordinary play need not be discussed, but that of the supervised playground is an important object of in- quiry. Well-organized play results in a symmetrical de- velopment of the body through the use of such games and modes of exercise as will bring into activity the largest possible variety of nuscles. No single game exercises 95 96 CHILD PROBLEMS and develops all the muscles of the body, therefore a vari- ety alone will afford the opportunity of complete develop- ment. Furthermore the use of the same game becomes monotonous and repels the player. The total disuse of an organ tends to atrophy it, and a reasonable exercise of all organs is necessary to promote the symmetrical develop- ment of the young child. The child of the slum suffers from the disadvantage of insanitary surroundings, and is dwarfed and stunted by their effects upon his plastic body and mind. Without facilities for play on open areas where reasonably fresh air can be secured, he can not develop properly. Accordingly the people of the poorer sections of the cities are smaller in stature and physically weaker than those living in the better sections. For example, a difference of three inches in height between the wealthy and the East End Jew of Lon- don illustrates the consequences of a bad environment. In Glasgow the slum population, although composed of similar racial elements, is about four inches shorter than the people of the surrounding country regions — an eloquent commentary upon the physique-destroying powers of the slums. Organized play on ample playgrounds furnished by our cities will militate against this insidious enemy of mankind. The physical organ in need of special care can thus be developed, normal stature and strength be acquired, and a greater capacity for survival be evolved. 3. Play and Tubebculosis. One of the diseases against which special inroads can be made by the establishment of organized play is tuber- culosis. A disease of filth, it will long remain with us, and a development of resisting power in the individual is ab- solutely necessary. The play of growing children under good surroundings will, more than any other agency, pre- PLAY 97 pare the child for the struggle with this disease. Although the greatest prevalence of tuberculosis is during the adult period of life, notably between the thirtieth and fortieth years, the time for preparation against the disease is during childhood. Proper development of the appropriate organs forms a splendid asset for the individual when he is later dangerously exposed to the tubercular germ. Play as a precautionary measure cannot be urged too strongly, es- pecially for weakly and subnormal children. 4. The Social Values of Play. The social and moral influences of play produce indelible effects upon the child mind. All play is didactic, and leaves its traces for good or bad as the case may be. Un- organized and spontaneous play often develops the bully and the coward ; systematic play minimizes these defects and impresses the ideals taught by organization and co- operation. The recognition of mutual rights is one of its initial values. These rights are but little understood by the unthinking child and, when brute force permits, are often entirely overthrown or perverted into a mere tolera- tion of privileges. Few children are spontaneously gen- erous ; the majority are selfish and require companionship to soften their egoism. On the supervised playground, a new regime is put into operation. The right to the use of the sand pile can not be monopolized by any ambitious player. All things are held in common, and every child must be granted an equal opportunity. So with the use of swings, of ladders, and of every device for the child's enjoyment. In the games no group of children can usurp all the privileges. Each individual learns that others have rights that must be respected, and that these in turn must have due consideration for his own rights. The development of the idea of mutual rights possesses a profound significance for the growth of a healthy citizen- 98 CHILD PROBLEMS ship. Our rapidly increasing density of population and the increasing number of contacts which it involves de- mand new limitations of rights and a more ample recog- nition of the exact boundaries of the rights of the indi- vidual. Failure in municipal government and failure in other public activities can in part be remedied by learn- ing both the extent of, and the limitation of, individual rights. Play therefore becomes a most important school of citizenship, and supplies the child with one of his most urgent needs. Allied to the development of mutual rights is the growth of self-control, which is a natural consequence of the former. The social results which follow are expressed in such ethical values as order, obedience, self-denial, and discipHne. Coordination, or the spirit of teamwork, also develops. Unless the child observes proper restraint, he can not succeed as a member of a baseball nine or a foot- ball eleven or of any other group of which the individual forms a necessary part. The teamwork which enables a body of school children to outwit a fire in the building is fostered by well-conducted play. The soldier boy can be almost instantly detected by his carriage. The team work of play develops a characteristic most necessary for the success of our democratic experiment. The self-repression, not self-effacement, which develops from the influence of play, makes obedience something more than unwilling subordination. It becomes respect for authority as well as deference for the welfare of the group. A sense of the value and of the uses of order is accordingly developed, and this becomes the mainstay of social stability. Order in government and in society has its counterpart in the harmonious organization of play. Whether or not men shall be successful in the control of government, depends upon their training, and the values which play inculcates will form no mean part in the solu- tion of this question. PLAY 99 Play also emphasizes the importance of the group as contrasted with the worth of the individual. The latter soon learns that group life is more desirable than isolation. Consequently his activities must make the cooperation of others attractive. The group becomes predominant for two reasons : first, it is necessary to interest the indi- vidual and supply him with the desired pleasures ; second, the group must be preferred in order that the individual pleasures may not perish. The success of the team is more important than the brilliant achievements of a single player. Accordingly the necessary concessions to the interests of the group demand certain sacrifices of the individual. An ethical quality of unmistakable value is thus developed. This use of play is in direct harmony with the present social needs, which emphasize the group at the apparent but not real cost of the individual. The growth of the instinct of cooperation is perhaps the most valuable result of play. Cooperation is the ideal of the democratic movement, and capacity in this direction needs further enlargement. Ability to cooperate spells ability to excel. Absence of this power means ultimate disorganization and disorder. Practice in accomplishing a given task together impresses boys or girls with the im- mense value of concerted action. Things must be done in unison. Every person takes part, no one can be omitted. The individual begins to learn that he is necessary for pleasure, and also that without his sane cooperation neither he nor his associates will be able to enjoy themselves. Thus through practice and sheer necessity capacity for cooperation develops. The citizen will not govern wisely until he learns the value of cooperation and until he feels himself a part of the government. If government is only moderately successful, he must feel the disparagement ; if it fails, he must participate in the disgrace ; if it succeeds, he may rejoice in the accomplishment as he would if it were 100 CHILD PROBLEMS entirely his own. Good government depends upon a coop- eration so intense that each accomplishment will inevi- tably reflect itself in the attitude of the individual. The successful adjustment of the individual characteristics to those of a group so as to make interrelations possible is a prime task of the playground and can nowhere else re- ceive equal encouragement and development. Play will improve the good citizenship of a nation, and therefore becomes a wise and safe form of social insurance and a guarantee of better government. One possible influence of play is less reassuring ; unless it is carefully carried on, an unhealthful development of the gang spirit may result. The absence of complete de- mocracy tends to segregate the children into antagonistic groups among whom a spirit of intolerance may arise. Base leaders appear, and these dominate the actions of the gang, which panders to the baser instincts that are present on the playground. The heterogeneous elements will, if amalgamating influences are absent, form numerous gangs in which the spirit of true cooperation will fail and intrigue as well as enmity will control action. The prin- ciple of complete self-government can not be successfully applied to immature minds, and play, in order to conserve its good effects and to eliminate its evil propensities, must be properly supervised. 5. Mental Value of Play. The child can not play without receiving mental influ- ences of various kinds. Play is not only educational, but stimulates the capacity for mental growth. The backward child through the influence of judiciously prescribed play accelerates his feeble intellectual development and becomes capable of better work. The normal child adds new mental qualities, such as initiative, alertness, mental ability, and foresight. The need of alertness stimulates the child PL^V • - 101 to activity, and the task of solving the problems which every play presents requires a fresh display of initiative for each added instance. The quality of leadership devel- ops, and this [involves the use of the calculating faculties and requires constant planning and the use of judgment. Play does not imply complete mental relaxation ; the men- tal development which it occasions is merely hidden be- hind a mass of pleasurable sensations. The advantages of properly conducted play have a value far in excess of the energy and cost required for adequate supervision. Therefore the ethical values of play must be carefully guarded, and its consequences must receive the attention of every student of society. The playground movement is alive with tremendous social possibilities. 6. Recent Appreciation of Play. Until recent years the value of play has not received due consideration. The majority of parents, and of teachers as well, have regarded the play of the child as a natural but somewhat useless activity. Parents often prevent their children, especially the older ones, from indulging in play because they do not understand its character-building qualities and believe it a mere waste of time. As a needed relief from the confinement and concentration of the school- room, its usefulness has, however, been generally accepted. The physical effects of play received the first recognition, and its social and moral effects were unobserved until some of their necessary consequences became too patent to remain hidden from the view of the sociologist and the morahst. That some of the world's great teachers have long since recognized the uses of play is true, but the popu- lar mind has not followed them, and the discovery had to be made anew. The present attitude toward play is a mark of the chang- ing tendency in regard to our many social problems. The 102 CfelLp EpOBLEMS social reformer finds that play and the playground are powerful agencies which, if carefully used, will accomplish much good. The potential criminal of the slums must be transformed into a law-abiding citizen, and the indifferent must become zealous in the cause of reform. The depleted physique of the children of the poor must be renewed, and their intellectual and moral improvement be required. The riotous child of the street and the gang of the dismal alley must be reclaimed and their energies directed toward nobler standards of living. The accomplishment of these results is the aim and hope of the advocates of the play- ground movement. The results of the meager efforts made to promote play have partially justified this optimism. The social attitude toward play is now a healthful and hopeful one, but the problem is serious, owing to the diffi- culties which are naturally involved in the realization of comprehensive plans. CHAPTER II the playground movement 1. The Play Problem. Play is an easy problem after the facilities for play are provided. Boys and girls can always be discovered in sufficient numbers to use the grounds, but the practical difficulty hes in capacity to acquire adequate playgrounds and equipment. In some cities the need of room for the school child was hardly considered until recently. Ac- cordingly many school buildings are entirely without attached playgrounds for children, who must either re- frain from play or indulge their recreational instincts in the streets. The schoolhouses of the slum districts have been the chief sufferers, although these localities are pre- cisely the ones in which the needs are greatest. New York City has school buildings for which no provision whatever has been made for surface playgrounds. In Philadelphia the recent facilities for a certain school con- sisted of a little slope used by the boys as an inchne on which they slid down upon the street-car track. In nu- merous instances in the large cities the entire space available for play purposes consists of a few square feet of ground directly in front of the school building. This is often very scrupulously paved over with brick, which makes play unattractive and leaves the children without oppor- tunity to enjoy themselves except upon the street. In New York City, owing to the character of both the tenement houses and the school buildings, much progress 103 104 CHILD PROBLEMS has recently been made in transforming the roofs of the latter into suitable playgrounds. A number of distinct advantages arise from this solution of the problem. The streets are so narrow and the amount of space that could be procured is so small and inadequate that the roof play- ground affords more real space than could otherwise be obtained. In this way the children avoid the demoralizing influences and the contaminated air of the streets, and enjoy an abundance of health-giving sunlight. The roof of the building is covered with wire netting so as to make acci- dents impossible. The playground is sometimes accom- panied by a small roof garden. This is used for ex- periments in the cultivation of flowers and vegetables. Several other cities have begun to copy this plan of provid- ing playgrounds and recreation. In the foreign sections of the large cities, where over- crowding is common, the streets are in actual practice used to a considerable extent by both boys and girls for purposes of play. Some of the asphalt-covered streets on the lower East Side in New York City are very useful to the small children who have inadequate facihties for play elsewhere. The authorities are generous to the child, and do not drive every fun-loving urchin from the street ; accordingly the streets little used for wagon traffic become the favorite resort not only of children but of persons of all ages. An attempt is likewise made to limit the trafl&c as much as possible to certain streets,' and this precaution- ary measure increases the breathing space of the inhabitant of the slums. The indifference with which both sidewalks and streets are used by pedestrians illustrates the indul- gence of the city authorities. The condition of the streets in the slum districts of other large cities is such that the child can not use them so readily and successfully as in New York. Unless streets are better paved and cared for than they are in the typical slum, they give the children THE PLAYGROUND MOVEMENT 105 very inferior service. Furthermore, the associations fre- quently demoralize and corrupt the players. The numerous vacant lots in many cities are temporarily turned into playgrounds by the boys of the neighborhood. In some cases the permission of the authorities is necessary before these places can be used for play purposes. This is quite readily secured, however, and thus the playground room of a city can be enormously extended beyond the meager facilities directly under municipal and philan- thropic control. Play on these lots is not supervised, and is conducted by the boys according to their own plans and methods, and therefore the good results expected from play are not always realized. It reheves the congestion of the streets, however, and has a limited value. The fundamental question for every city which intends to inaugurate a system of playgrounds is that of securing funds for the purchase of the grounds. The needed recrea- tion centers, if established at all, must be created in the localities where children can use them. In the crowded quarters of the city the cost of real estate is high, and very little vacant space can be found. The cost of acquiring a small plot of ground in such a district is almost pro- hibitive, so less expensive centers are sometimes secured. No city can establish a system of playgrounds except at a considerable cost, but the benefits of the enterprise measured in the gain from investment in character, morals, and social spirit, are well worth the financial expenditure which is involved. 2. Origin of the Movement. The playground movement in the United States is a recent development. The idea seems to have been bor- rowed from the city of Berlin, where small sand piles had been scattered through the public parks for the purpose of giving the children an opportunity to play. Boston 106 CHILD PROBLEMS heard about this innovation, and in 1886 two religious societies of that city followed the Berlin plan. Since then the number of playgrounds in Boston has been greatly in- creased. Philadelphia and New York next introduced playgrounds of various kinds. Nearly all of the large cities now give some attention to the problem and are providing a limited number of such recreation centers. The most rapid strides ,have occurred since 1900, and in the last decade the greatest single impetus given to the movement was the convention of the National Playground Association at Chicago in the smnmer of 1907. A second convention was held in New York City the following year, when twenty-nine states were represented, thus indicating the momentum which the movement had acquired. These two congresses resulted in the formation of definite organi- zation to carry on the work of providing children with the necessary recreational facilities. Systematic agitation through the instrumentality of a special magazine and of pamphlet literature has become a prominent factor in the campaign. Even the small cities are now beginning to realize their shortcomings, and are interested in the move- ment. 3. Types op Playgrounds. Various types of playgrounds are in use, and some of the recreation centers are intended for the younger as well as for the older children. The type of playground and the method of its control vary with the age group which is to be accommodated. The park for small children as found in many cities is a distinct type. Some parks are divided into two parts, one for boys and the other for girls ; often an entire playground is limited to the use of a single sex. Special provision is sometimes made for the little children, who are given a small inclosed space into which the others may not come. Usually these playgrounds contain sand THE PLAYGROUND MOVEMENT 107 gardens, swings, teeterboards, and some additional appa- ratus, besides space for games of various kinds. In the middle of the sand garden is a covered inclosure contain- ing the sand. The level of the sand pile is about two feet above that of the adjacent ground, and the sand is accessi- ble from all sides. The pile is perhaps twenty feet long, and about half as wide. Small children are allowed to dig in this sand pile, and are carefully watched by an attendant so that no accidents may occur and that trouble among the children may be avoided. Some opportunity is also given for digging in the sand and in the garden around the inclosed sand pile. Here the older children may enjoy themselves. The swings and teeter boards may be out in the open air or under a protecting roof. Some of the parks are provided with equipment of both kinds. In certain parts of the park seats are provided for the child mother, who may rest there with her smaller brothers and sisters. These parks usually open at nine o'clock in the morning and close about sunset, and are in use through the warmer months of the year only. Formerly many of them were mere vacation schools operating for ten or twelve weeks during the summer, but now a general exten- sion of the time has been granted. A second type of playground accommodates children of all ages, and therefore contains a greater measure of pro- vision for the older boy, who does not dig in the sand nor play baby games. In addition to provision for the small child, opportunities for physical exercise are given to both boys and girls, and appropriate machinery for this purpose is furnished. The grounds contain poles, ladders, horizon- tal and parallel bars, play-horses, small merry-go-rounds, and other apparatus. The boys are usually better provided with the means of enjojnnent than are the girls, but the latter are gradually being recognized. This type of play- ground is not usually inclosed, and may be used whenever 108 CHILD PROBLEMS the condition of the weather allows. Accordingly on a bright winter day and frequently in the early spring these grounds may be seen covered with boys eager to use such playground apparatus as may be allowed to remain all winter. In the summer months they are covered far into the night with enthusiastic children. The ordinary city park is of limited service to the child. The inhabitants of the slums can draw but little comfort from a park several miles away. Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, with its 3000 acres of land, is hardly used by the poor child. It is too far away. Only the well-to-do can afford the necessary car fares. The thousands of little children seen there are not the children of the poorer sec- tions of the city; hence the park has a limited usefulness only. Even Central Park, on the narrow island of Man- hattan, is but meager relief to the child of the East Side, and it can attract no children at all from the more distant slum sections. Playgrounds and parks for small children must be located within one fourth mile, and for large children within one half mile of the home of the child. In spite of their many prohibitions parks offer a large oppor- tunity for play and sport. Games of many kinds can be played, but the chief advantage is for the larger boy and girl rather than for the small child. The larger and better equipped park is seldom visited by the poor except on those rare occasions which form distinct events in the life of these people. In New York and in a few additional cities recreation piers have been established, but these again cater to the older children and are not serviceable for the smaller ones. The chief source of enjoyment here consists of music, which is furnished free of charge by the cities, as is often done during the summer months in many of the parks. The evening recreation centers and the evening roof playgrounds of New York City are additional methods of providing recreation for children. THE PLAYGROUND MOVEMENT 109 Progress in the socialization of public school property has resulted in the increased use of the playground at- tached to the school, and boards of education are beginning to realize the importance of this step. These grounds are now in some cities open to children after school hours, instead of being closed immediately at the end of the ses- sions of the day. Children may therefore remain on the grounds instead of being compelled to seek the doubtful opportunities of the street. Owing to the absence of suit- able supervisors, success in these experiments has unfor- tunately not been sufficiently marked. Accordingly dis- order has been common, and the presence of the rowdy element and of the bully has often culminated in the with- drawal of the self-respecting child from the yards. In some cities, notably in New York, many public school buildings are open in the evenings, and boys and girls enjoy the opportunities afforded by the recreational facil- ities that are provided. The evening use of pubHc school property is not only desirable, but in the near future will be required in the interests of social welfare. 4. The Civic Centers of Chicago. The most notable recreation center in the United States is the civic center of Chicago, which comprises a small park containing a finely equipped field house. The idea took form in 1903, when the South Park Commission of Chicago decided to establish a number of such centers on the south side of that city, and within four years ten civic centers were erected. A typical center is estab- lished at a cost of about $220,000, and the yearly cost of maintenance amounts to approximately $30,000. These centers comprise an area in some cases of ten acres each, and are therefore much larger than the ordinary play- ground for children. However, they do not confine their activities to the needs of children, and many adults par- 110 CHILD PROBLEMS ticipate in the advantages. They are located in regions badly in need of play facilities, and are therefore, with some exceptions, found in the poorer and more disagreeable parts of the South Side. The grounds were secured by direct purchase of the land ; buildings were removed and the parks and centers created. The grounds are inclosed, and contain various buildings and an exceedingly good equipment. A typical field house consists of a large assembly hall where enter- tainments of various kinds are continually held, and where dancing parties frequently convene ; a boys' gymnasium equipped for games, especially for basketball and for physical exercises ; and a girls' gymnasium in another part of the building, where the equipment is equally ade- quate. The building shelters one of the branches of the public library, and contains many clubrooms used by adult persons as well as by boys and girls. An indoor swimming pool is a valuable feature of the equipment, and a large ♦pool is found just outside the building. This is used by males five days of the week, while on two days its use is limited to females. During the winter months facilities are provided for indoor play, but when good weather ap- proaches, the outdoor equipment is more generally utilized. The outdoor facilities consist of provisions for the little children, for a boys' ground, and for a girls' field. The portion allotted to the small child contains a wading pool absolutely safe, swings, teeter boards, and similar appa- ratus, as well as sand bins. Only children under ten years of age are allowed to use these grounds. Provision is made for the caretakers, who are supplied with ample shade while they watch the little ones. Mothers may come with their children and remain to see them play. The boys' field is the largest area of the three divisions, but the patron- age is also the largest ; the field contains tennis grounds, a baseball diamond, an outdoor handball court, and THE PLAYGROUND MOVEMENT 111 apparatus adapted to the larger boy. A running track is usually included, and contests are a part of the regular program. In a few instances small ball grounds have been set apart for little boys, but the general rule is to admit all classes to the larger ball field. The girls' field has the usual outdoor equipment, with opportunity for play and exercise. Even athletic contests for the girls and women have been inaugurated, and among the events are the running high jump, vertical ladder chmb, and fifty-yard dash. Hundreds of girls participate in these contests — a fact which attests their popularity. When false modesty has subsided, their utility will also be generally recognized. A portion of the grounds is used in common, or for certain definite purposes. In winter part of the field is flooded and converted into a skating pond. A little dressing room is provided in a corner of the park, and serves as a starting point for the skaters. A number of tennis courts are located on this common field where the sexes may mingle in their play. A variety of sports are allowed, but baseball often preempts this section of the grounds. The outdoor fields are open from May to November, but the indoor gymnasia are open throughout the year. 5. Progress of the Playground Movement. The rapid extension of playground facilities is being recognized as the most important phase of the playground problem. Types of playgrounds are of secondary value. Playgrounds may be both public and private. A large number are in fact being conducted by private societies, and it is the initiative of the latter which is responsible for much of the impetus given to the demands for play- grounds everywhere. The earlier playgrounds were almost entirely provided for by charitable and philanthropic societies. Social settlements started the movement in 112 CHILD PROBLEMS Chicago and in New York, but in all cases the interest of the municipalities was soon aroused and assistance was given to the movement. The city of Chicago excels at present in its playground facihties, and its ten recreation centers alone showed a record of attendance in 1907 of more than 5,000,000 persons. Adults, however, are included in this enumeration. The city has appropriated an additional $3,000,000 for the extension of its field houses to every part of the city in special need of such institutions. New York plans an extensive development of facilities, and in 1908 operated about 125 vacation playgrounds, 36 vacation schools, and 31 evening recreation centers. The expenditure for the music furnished at the recreation piers exceeds S50,000 for a season. In addition nearly $25,000 is spent for entertainment at the evening roof playgrounds. The ad- vantages thus furnished, however, accrue almost exclusively to adults. In 1907 only 66 cities had joined the play- ground movement, but in 1908 this number had grown to 185, and an additional 118 other cities were contemplating the establishment of facilities for play. In 1909, 339 cities operated playgrounds. Thus a very rapid advance in the movement has occurred, and all of the larger cities are enlisted in the cause. In Missouri, the State University has carried on a propaganda through one of its departments and has succeeded in establishing playgrounds in more than 30 cities in the state. Although no statistics are available showing the total number of playgrounds in the American cities, hundreds of them are now in existence. Several cities, notably Washington, Newark, and Rochester, have recently purchased considerable ground for the purpose of providing play facilities, and propose to establish an elaborate system of playgrounds. New Jersey, through state law, has authorized a playground commission for each one of its larger cities. The commission selects a site for a THE PLAYGROUND MOVEMENT 113 playground, purchases the land, and organizes the work as fast as it is possible to secure appropriations for this purpose. Boston has also developed an extensive system, and has placed it in the hands of a school committee. In the South, Atlanta has responded to the need, and has appropriated a small sum to carry on a number of play- grounds. The success of the Chicago system of small parks and field houses has profoundly impressed students of the problem, and workers as well, and a tendency to imitate this plan is apparent. The systematic organization of the Chicago civic centers has also excited a wide-spread inter- est. There is still, however, a general belief in the ser- viceability of small playgrounds as found in the majority of cities. Social conditions must eventually determine which system is to be adopted by each particular city. 6. Method of Administration. The importance of play, not as mere recreation, but as having a vigorous formative influence on the character and ideals of the child, has been recognized, and so the question how to make this influence most effective natu- rally arises. Shall play be supervised, or not ? Wherever the park ideal of playground prevails, very little super- vision is possible. In the large park there is none, but in the small parks a system of limited supervision may exist. The results of the operation of the unsupervised playground have not been sufficiently encouraging to gain much sup- port for this method. In fact, the experience of the school playground, as well as the results in at least one city — Buffalo — contain a note of warning against this system. Consequently the recent tendency has been toward the ideal of the supervised playground. In the latter the bully and the gang can not rule and can not destroy the ethical values of play, nor can the larger boys monopolize 114 CHILD PROBLEMS opportunity to the detriment of the smaller child. Un- questionably the supervised playground is superior in its capacity to develop the character and the social ideals of the child. The quality of the supervision is likewise a matter of utmost importance, especially to the boys. The success of supervision depends largely upon the efficiency of playground directors. These should be trained either in courses offered in connection with the department of physical education in our colleges or normal schools, or they should receive separate training in schools of social work. The public school teacher likewise should have a wider knowledge of the social aspects of play and educa- tion, so as to enable her to direct more efficiently the play of the children under her charge. Under an ideal arrangement playground facilities should be accessible throughout the year, but inclemency of weather makes outdoor sport in the small playgrounds and in the parks impossible during the winter months. The grounds, however, should be in use as long as the con- ditions of the weather allow. In the majority of Ameri- can cities this is about seven months. Indoor equipment is important, and this problem is partially met by the Chicago recreation centers, which make provision during the winter for all classes except the small children. Every- where the vacation playground must have its functions enlarged and the time of operation extended so that the child may continually be provided with the opportunity to play. Shall small parks, playgrounds, and recreation centers be controlled by the board of education or by some other department of the city government? This question re- ceives various answers, but the concensus of opinion is slowly crystallizing in favor of control by some special bureau or department. According to this arrangement, parks, all forms of recreation centers, swimming pools, THE PLAYGROUND MOVEMENT 115 and public baths are placed under the charge of the same branch of the municipal government. In favor of this plan it is argued that the facilities for play are not con- fined to school children and that the functions of the parks are much broader, granting privileges and opportunities as they do to many classes, and permitting enjoyment to all through the variety of activities allowed. Accord- ingly this work is outside the scope of the duties of a board of education. Furthermore the latter does not have charge of all matters affecting children, but of a few of their prob- lems only. If everything relating to childhood were brought under the jurisdiction of the school authorities, the supervision of playgrounds might also be included. But this is far from the actual condition. Again, the close relation to each other of the members of this group of activities naturally suggests their inclusion under a single administrator. On the other hand, it is claimed that the board of edu- cation is the proper authority under which all playgrounds should be placed, because play is essentially educational and social in its nature. Although the playground move- ment began apart from the public school, there is an iden- tity of interest which justifies the control of play facilities by the educational authorities. The control of this ac- tivity should not be divided between two departments, as it would be if the board of education retained control of the school playgrounds and all other playgrounds were subjected to some alien authority. Therefore an extension of the administrative functions of the board seems ad- visable. Furthermore, a propaganda supported by the combined influence of the educational forces of a city is more likely to secure the facilities for which the public contends. It has been the policy of the American boards to extend their functions and enlarge their duties as need for these changes has developed. 116 CHILD PROBLEMS In actual practice a diversity of method still prevails. The vacation schools, playgrounds, and recreation centers of New York City are directly under the control of its board of education. In Boston, likewise, the school board has charge of all playgrounds, both those in the parks and in the school yards. This city may, however, soon create a new municipal department which will have charge of the playgrounds as well as of other activities. The fine recrea- tion centers of Chicago are under the supervision of a park commission, and in St. Louis the control is vested in a similar municipal body. The divergent methods of con- trol which characterize the large cities is_ equally reflected among the smaller ones. Opinion and method, however, is nearly unanimous in favor of the continued control of the school playground by the board of education. As the ideals of our people develop and the urgenc}^ of recreation centers for all classes is generally accepted, playgrounds for children will be regarded as a mere ramification of a fixed social program. It is likely that our cities, when dominated by this point of view, will gradually subject the public playground facilities to the control of some appropriate municipal body other than the school board. This seems to be the logical development. CHAPTER III the medical inspection op schools 1. Theory of Inspection. The right of the child to health must hereafter be re- garded as a fundamental claim upon society. This claim depends upon two important considerations : first, the inability of the child to realize the permanent disadvan- tage which ill health may entail upon him ; second, the failure of ignorant parents to care for their children in a proper manner. The health interests of the child have received due recognition only since children have been congregated in our schoolrooms. Accordingly the medi- cal inspection of children has taken the form of inspection of school children. The scope of inspection naturally depends upon the purpose of the work, and will vary in extensiveness according to the theory held in regard to the basic grounds for inspection of the schools. The earlier theory advanced in justification of the medi- cal inspection of school children was that such inspection falls within the police power of the state. The right of the government to safeguard public health by suppressing contagion warrants, not only the enactment of quarantine laws and the establishment of pesthouses, but also the creation of medical inspectors for the public schools ; for the schoolroom is the ideal place for the rapid diffusion of epidemics — the clearing-house for all the contagious diseases of the community. To this theory the first medi- cal inspection of the schools is to be credited. Europe 117 118 CHILD PROBLEMS led the way, several German cities adopting a system of inspection in 1867. The movement began in Austria in 1873, in Belgium in 1874, and in France in 1884.i This early inspection was practically restricted, of course, to the detection of contagious diseases. The beginning of the sys- tem in the United States was characterized by similar limitations. In New York City, inspection was at first confined to sixteen different diseases ; the number was later reduced to seven of the most malignant of these dis- eases. The second theory of the right of inspection is the one upon which the most modern methods of social and philan- thropic work are based. According to this theory, society is bound not only to employ measures for its own defense, but also to initiate constructive methods for the purpose of ameliorating conditions for the coming generation. The new theory is, in short, an outlook into the future. The motto of the present-day social worker is that no con- dition which imperils the welfare of the individual is to be ignored unless the disadvantages of interference outweigh the value of remedial service. Hence the examination of school children for contagious diseases is but part of the work, and medical inspection is extended to the detection of mental and physical defects and the minor diseases of the child. Philanthropic workers have not until recently begun to appreciate the importance of a complete system of inspection. This seemed to call for an unjustifiable interference with the personal liberty of the American people. Happily, silly sentiment regarding this liberty is rapidly giving way to wholesome policies of social reform which are destined to remove the causes of individual inefficiency and to increase the ability of the poor to become self-supporting. 1 Annual Report of the U. S. Commissioner of Education, 1902, Vol. I, chap. xi. THE MEDICAL INSPECTION OF SCHOOLS 119 2. Nature of Inspection. In the inspection of children, the following points should be considered : — a. Diseases of every description, especially contagious and infectious cases. h. Mental defects. Backward children need most care- ful diagnosis in order to effect such segregation as may be necessary for their educational interests, as well as to as- certain the precise nature of their defects, which may often be remediable. c. Defective sense organs. A very large group of chil- dren is suffering from defective eyesight, of which the prin- cipal forms are shortsightedness and focal inequalities. The pupils should have their attention called to these defects, and the parents should be requested to remedy them. Delay may lead to such defective vision as would handicap in a most serious manner the industrial efficiency of the child. Again, deafness is often the cause of the teacher's failure to understand the child. Backwardness is often occasioned by the absence of methods which will give the child the greatest measure of opportunity possible. d. Other phj^sical defects. Stammering requires atten- tion, and rules for its treatment should be given. Defects of the teeth are more common than any other physical subnormaHties of the child. Such defects, although slight in their incipient stages, need attention not only on ac- count of the subsequent results, but also because of the tendency of the child to neglect the care of the teeth. Adenoids and affections of the throat afflict large numbers of children, and are therefore an important item in the work of the inspector. Adenoids may be relieved by an opera- tion that can be performed by the school physician. Medi- cal inspection will bring to light a multitude of other com- plaints, ailments, and physical deformities. The nervous, 120 CHILD PROBLEMS respiratory, and circulatory systems all stand in need of careful examination. The defects and diseases sepa- rately named above are, however, of prime importance, and should be given precedence in the work of inspection. 3. Organization of School Inspection. The organization of the work requires the active co- operation of several classes of officials, chief among which are the school nurses and the physicians or medical inspec- tors. The teacher and the parents are also very necessary adjuncts. To secure adequate relief it is necessary in the large cities to obtain the cooperation of family physicians, and, in some cases, of suitable dispensaries. Whether medical inspection of the schools should be a function of the board of health or of the board of education is a mooted question. The health departments wish to obtain juris- diction over the health of the school children, while boards of education claim that the work is only a special applica- tion of their own powers. The detection of contagious diseases is a necessary part of the work of the health depart- ment, and the danger of epidemics makes watchfulness on its part absolutely necessary. Compulsory vaccination, effectual quarantine, and other precautionary measures have been established by this department, and the logical development of its work carries it into the school to detect evidences of contagion there. The work has simply be- come positive instead of remaining negative as it formerly was. The bar to contagion is easy if access to the probable agents of an epidemic can be gained in time. It would seem, therefore, that the health bureau has a claim to the right to superintend the work of medical inspection of the schools. The board of education, on the other hand, contends that the health, cleanliness, and physical condition of the THE MEDICAL INSPECTION OF SCHOOLS 121 child are, apart from the presence of contagious disease, closely bound up with his school work, and that therefore the best results can be achieved only by placing the medical inspectors under its direction. The chief demands made upon the school physician are the adaptation of the pupil to the conditions of the school and the removal of minor defects. The achievement of these results means increased capacity of the child to accomplish the work of the school- room. The great proportion of the inspector's work is more closely aUied to the natural functions of the teacher than to those of the representative of the bureau of health. Defective vision, deafness, backwardness, and subnormal physical development directly affect capacity for education and determine the methods of instruction that should be applied. Accordingly the board of education considers medical inspection a mere extension of the work of its hygiene and physical exercise departments. ' In actual practice nearly all of the large cities of the United States are doing the work under the supervision of their health departments. Boards of health acted be- fore the educational departments began the work ; hence medical inspection is almost entirely in the hands of the former wherever very active care of the conditions of public health has been necessary. These boards are naturally loath to relinquish the work which they have undertaken, and thus occasion jealousy if not animosity on the part of the boards of education. New Orleans and St. Louis are the only large cities in which educa- tional authorities control the work of inspection. The tendency, however, is toward the increased power of the boards of education and the surrender to them of at least a portion of these duties. In a few cities the work is done conjointly by the two boards, but this system tends to create confusion and endangers the efficiency of the inspection, and especially 122 CHILD PROBLEMS of the remedial work which follows and which gives value to the examination of the child. Joint responsibility is not proving successful because of the friction which it engenders and the consequent impossibility of securing the best results. Most of the remedial work and the statistical tabulations, including the keeping of records, will in either case remain a part of the task of the school authorities. Therefore it seems clear that the interests of the child will be better subserved by placing the in- spectors under the control of the board of education. Regular reports, however, must be made to the board of health to enable the latter to perform its legitimate duties and safeguard the public health. The handling of the problem of contagious diseases must remain with the board of health. 4. The Medical Inspector. Each inspector should have assigned to him about four schools, all of which should be visited in the routine of his work. At stated intervals it should be the duty of the inspector to examine every child in each school. Such examination should be thorough, according to the method of several German cities. It should in the first place cover all minor defects, then the general physical constitution, chest measurement, weight, height, condition of the skin, spine, eyelids, sense organs, etc., should be carefully noted and recorded. The information thus obtained would be useful for both immediate and comparative purposes, and should furnish the basis for a constructive program of physical development. The daily visit to a school should be for the purpose of understanding the graver ailments of the child. A clinic or examination room should be pro- vided, and only such children should be sent to the inspec- tor as require examination. The principal matters of interest should be : the detection of contagious diseases THE MEDICAL INSPECTION OF SCHOOLS 123 and the exclusion from school of the affected children ; the inspection of children who have returned to school after exclusion on account of disease or other cause ; also the examination of those who have been recently treated and of those who are plainly in need of treatment. Suspicious cases should always be referred to the inspector by the teacher or by the trained nurse. Parents should be noti- fied or children be referred to appropriate places for treat- ment. In some instances it will be necessary for the physician to follow the child into the home, but this task should usually belong to the school nurse. Treatment by the physician in the home will not be welcomed by the medi- cal fraternity, which depends for its subsistence upon the fees received from private practice. It is well at the present time not to interfere too seriously with the work of the practicing physician, although means must be provided for those who are unable to command the private ser- vices of a physician. 5. The School Nurse. The great burden of the remedial work required in our schools rests upon the school nurse. Her duties should consist briefly of the following tasks : — a. The treatment of the minor cases which the medical inspector orders sent to her. These include numerous skin diseases, some of which may be contagious; cuts, sprains ; certain affections of the eye, etc. h. Instruction in regard to pediculosis and the nature of the home treatment required. c. The detection of minor cases of disease among the pupils and the summary exclusion of cases showing symp- toms of a serious contagious disease. d. Visits to the home to advise parents as to methods of treatment and when necessary to impress upon them 124 CHILD PROBLEMS the need of medical attention. In some cities the nurses frequently attend the child to the hospital or dispensary. e. The keeping of records showing the physical con- dition of the child. Besides these general duties, sub- sidiary ones are common. In Philadelphia, for example, the nurses have excluded a large number of children on account of unsatisfactory vaccination. Underfed and dirty children also receive the nurses' attention. The school nurse handles about five schools and visits each one every day, but can not make detailed examinations on each visit. The treatment of cases requires much time, and an enormous amount of work must be done. A single nurse in Philadelphia during one year treated 8600 cases, cured 993, made 884 visits to homes and 212 visits to dispensaries. The work of the nurses in that city within a short time reduced pediculosis 73 per cent and provided many children with eyeglasses who would otherwise have ruined their eyes. The principal ailments with which the school nurse has to deal in the large cities are, in the order of their importance : pediculosis, eye disease, and ring- worm. A large group of other defects must before long be given the careful attention of the school nurse ; the most important of these is defective vision, then follow bad teeth, imperfect hearing, and various other defects. The function of the school nurse is a most important one. She is more valuable to the child than any other part of the system of medical inspection. She prepares the pupil for a more intelligent care of himself, interests him in hygienic methods and cleanliness, and teaches his parents both how to care for their child and the need of giving him their attention. By her promptness she saves much valuable time to the school child, who can not well afford to be excluded from school for any length of time. She must have a strong but gentle personality, as her success depends not upon her powers of compulsion but upon her persuasive influence. THE MEDICAL INSPECTION OF SCHOOLS 125 6. The Teacher. The teacher forms an essential part of the system of medical inspection. Her alert eye must be ever ready to distinguish the suspicious case. She must cooperate with the nurse and inspector and put their suggestions into practice. Tests of vision and hearing are in some states made by the teachers themselves, and in Massachusetts such tests are made when recommended by specialists. The teacher is in close touch with the pupil, the tests are comparatively simple, competency to conduct them is soon acquired, and the resulting disclosures make the teacher more diligent in her attention to defects in the physical equipment of the school. On the other hand, examination of the children by a specialist carries more weight with the parents upon whom falls the final duty of supplying the children's needs. In those states and cities in which no comprehensive medical inspection as yet obtains, the duty of the teacher to make these tests, inform the parents, and remedy the defects as best she can is absolutely clear. When medical inspection has been officially introduced, it may not be necessary for the teacher to attend to the work herself. 7. The School Child. In any large city the danger from contagion is consid- erable. Children who have been infected with disease infect others, and, unless strict precautions are observed, epidemics may follow. Serious epidemics, however, are less common than the minor ailments and defects of children. From twelve to sixteen contagious diseases usually comprise the list of diseases for which children are excluded. The defects which come under the care of the nurse are much more numerous, and it is the inclusion of these which swells the total number of defective children. 126 CHILD PROBLEMS There are very few perfect children, and in some schools the thorough physician will find that every child suffers from some defect, trivial though it may be. The number of defective school children in the United States has been estimated as comprising from about two thirds to three fourths of the entire number of school children, but these estimates include all those afflicted with minor defects, such as bad teeth, etc. It is not likely that each one of these deficiencies would seriously handicap the child, although treatment would be an advantage. The advisability of removing all defects in our school children is entirely clear, but no occasion for serious alarm has as yet presented itself. The proportion of defectiveness is greatly reduced when the minor defects are excluded. 8. Legal Provision for Medical Inspection. Once begun, the movement in the United States in favor of medical inspection has advanced very rapidly. A large number of our cities have provided for inspection in some form. Boston was the first large city to adopt it officially. The work began there in 1894 and is under the control of the board of health. Chicago followed the next year, the bureau of health providing for a limited inspection. Later the work there was practically aban- doned for ten years, and only recommenced in 1906. Phil- adelphia began the work with an insufficient corps of physicians and a nurse borrowed from the Visiting Nurse Association of the city. The latter city now has five nurses, but more are needed to meet the demands of the city. New York City has 166 physicians and 50 nurses at the present time, yet the combined efforts of so many physicians and nurses have been unable to cover adequately all the schools of the city. The example of these large cities operates to create general sentiment in favor of the movement, and many smaller cities have begun to make provision for THE MEDICAL INSPECTION OF SCHOOLS 127 medical inspection by appointing physicians to take charge of the examinations. Nor has the movement been con- fined to the cities. Several states have passed laws on the subject. Connecticut enjoys the priority by having passed its laws in 1899, but these laws provide only for eye tests. Vermont and Massachusetts have followed, and include among their requirements inspection for both contagious and non-contagious diseases. New Jersey has authorized medical inspection, but as the law is not manda- tory, good results must await the development of public opinion. In many of the states the growing demand for attention to the defects of the children has caused the state board of health to advise or require that inspection for certain defects be made. In many places the subject is under discussion, and several states will beyond doubt add provisions in the near future for the inspection of all school children within their respective borders. Note. The major portion of the facts contained in the foregoing chapter may be found in the volume by Gulick and Ayres on "Medical Inspection of Schools.". CHAPTER IV the education of backwaed children 1. Introduction. In recent years we have begun to realize that a consid- erable number of our children, notably the dull and back- ward pupils, are not receiving justice at the hands of our public schools. By "backward child" is meant neither the idiot nor the imbecile, but the child who is slightly deficient mentally. He who is behind his classes because of illness or absence from school is not properly included. The backward child is one who can not keep up with the normal pupil, who is not sufficiently defective to belong in an institution, but who requires special care and atten- tion. He is educable to a greater or less degree, and re- sponds favorably to the right kind of training, but is com- monly from two to five years below grade. The child slightly defective physically has received more attention in the public school than the mentally slow or dull one. In modern schools the pupil with poor eyesight is given a front seat, the one with defective hearing is brought within range of the teacher's voice, the one with weak heart or lungs is given concessions in regard to marching, climbing stairs, etc., and is exempt from difficult gymnasium work. But it is only in recent years and in a few places that the dull child has been segregated under special training, that is, in special classes doing the regular grade work but in smaller quantities and with longer periods of time. 128 EDUCATION OF BACKWARD CHILDREN 129 2. Number of Backward Children. In 1906, in the annual report of the Superintendent of Schools of New York City, more than 30 per cent of the children were reported above normal age. This, however, has little significance for the country in general when one considers the number of immigrant children in New York handicapped by lack of knowledge of the English language. Professor Monroe of Stanford University gathered par- ticulars of 10,000 children in the public schools of Cali- fornia, and claims to have found about 10 per cent dull or backward, and about 3 per cent feeble-minded. Dr. Fran- cis Warner, member of the Royal Commission of Blind, Deaf, etc., having investigated 100,000 English school chil- dren, found 7 per cent dull and 1.6 per cent feeble-minded. In London alone there are 8000 deficient children. These figures indicate rates much higher than those discovered by most investigators of the subject in the United States. The Committee on Backward Children of Philadelphia estimates the number of these children at 1 per cent of the school population. This seems somewhat lower than the general average, but is, at least, a very conservative estimate. The Census of 1900 reported that 13,178,900 children between the ages of five and twenty years were attending school.^ By taking 1 per cent of this number we have 131,789 "backward children" in schools in the United States in 1900. In 1908 this number has no doubt in- creased to approximately 200,000. Many backward chil- dren drop out of school; therefore the aggregate number must be considerably larger than the figures just given. The question of proper instruction, then, is of suflScient importance to merit agitation and action. » Abstract of Twelfth Census, p. 72. 130 CHILD PROBLEMS 3. Causes of Mental Dullness. The most commonly admitted causes of mental dullness are defective eyesight and hearing, adenoids, and throat disorders. The investigation of the special sense organs of children was begun years ago, but has only recently been practically applied. In Germany, Dr. Cohn found that in the lower grades 22 per cent had defective eyesight ; in the upper grades 58 per cent; in Sweden, Axel Key found only 6 per cent at eleven years of age, but 37 per cent at twenty years. In the United States defective eyesight affects about 20 per cent of the school children. Defects in hearing are somewhat less common. The percentages range about as follows : Germany, 30 per cent ; France, 17 per cent ; England, 27 per cent ; Russia, 21 per cent ; United States, 5 to 6 per cent. It is well understood that the visual and auditory sensations are closely related to the activities of the mind ; furthermore, that eye strain and overtaxed attention act directly upon the nervous system, exhausting it and making the child irritable as well as incapable of normal mental activity. Mr. Dawson^ says that no type of the commoner physical defects of childhood has quite so stupefying an effect upon the men- tal life as have the nose and throat affections. Out of 99,240 children examined in New York City in 1905, 18,131, or 18 per cent, had enlarged tonsils; and 10 per cent had adenoid growths, many of them with accompany- ing affections of ears, nose, lungs, and impairment of health and mental vigor. Another great cause of slow mentality is the low con- dition of the nervous system. This is again correlated with arrested physical growth, deformities, etc. Dr. Francis Warner studied 50,000 London school children, 1 Dawson, George, Physical Study of the Child, National Conference of Charities and Correction, 1907. EDUCATION OF BACKWARD CHILDREN 131 and found that 9 per cent of them showed abnormal nerve conditions. These were usually associated with physical defects, with low nutrition and mental dullness. It is now generally conceded that the latest acquired characteristics are the most unstable ; consequently the first to be affected by poor physical conditions. Very naturally, then, the cerebrum, and the mind as well as the entire nervous system, are early affected by arrested physical develop- ment. Spargo claims that ''low nutrition is the prime and most fruitful cause of mental dullness." However, this is an ultimate rather than an immediate cause. Mal- nutrition is often a cause of poor physical condition or arrested development, which in turn is a cause of low mentality. Gulick and Ayres have brought out some evidence show- ing that while physical defects are ''a cause they are not the cause of retardation," and that possibly this side of the question had been overestimated in recent years. ^ In May and June, 1908, these two authors made an investi- gation of children from fifteen schools of New York City. Seven thousand six hundred and eight pupils were exam- ined physically. Nearly 80 per cent of the normal age children had physical defects, while only 75 per cent of the over-age children were physically defective ! It is shown, however, that children outgrow their defects and that the percentages given merely indicate, as is self-evi- dent, that those above normal age are older than the other children in their grade and so naturally have fewer defects. But for the backward children the presence of physical defects is a more serious matter. In all, 1012 atypical children, four fifths of whom were ten years of age or over, were examined. Of this number, 60 per cent were suffer- ing from malnutrition, 78 per cent from nervous disorders, 1 Gulick and Ayres, Medical Inspection of Schools. Chapter on Re- tardation and Physical Defects. 132 CHILD PROBLEMS 56 per cent from adenoid growths, 60 per cent from hyper- trophied tonsils, 69 per cent from defective vision, 30 per cent from defective hearing, and 80 per cent from defective teeth. A majority of these children had numerous defects, and malnutrition was plainly one of the important causes of their mental retardation. A cause of continued defect is the discouragement that comes when slightly deficient children try to keep up with brighter schoolmates and fail. Since they can not receive special attention, they lose courage and fall farther behind. Absence from school for whatever reason is probably the most common cause of retardation. While this is not strictly backwardness, it often appears so, and when suffi- ciently pronounced amounts to the same thing, because the child lacking early training is not so apt and active in mind as is the normal child. 4. Origin and Results of the Work Abroad. In the establishment of special classes for mentally deficient children, Germany was the pioneer, and began the work in 1867. Norway followed in 1874, and England, Switzerland, and Austria in 1892. In Prussia since 1880 special schools or classes for defectives have been required in all cities having a population of 20,000 or more. In some cases Germany has special schools, in others, special classes for these children. In 1901 at the Congress on the Education of Feeble-Minded Children at Augsburg, 98 day schools — in all 326 classes — were reported. This meant 7013 children in attendance. All were not provided for, however, and had the provision been adequate, 60,000 ''special class" children should have been reported. Ger- man experience has shown that about 83 per cent of these children are able at the end of school age to secure employ- ment requiring little skill, and can in time support them- EDUCATION OF BACKWARD CHILDREN 133 selves wholly or in part. The care of the remaining 17 per cent is more of a problem, and without doubt the ma- jority should be transferred to institutions before the end of their school age. England opened her first special class in 1892. In 1907 London had 60 schools accommodating 3000 pupils. Eng- land estimates the cost of training in special classes as twice that in the ordinary grades. In Birmingham, where an after-care committee has kept careful record of pupils of special classes, 26 out of the 83 cases followed have been reported as wage-earners, but only a small percentage of these were self-supporting. About 38 per cent seemed to require permanent protection and at least partial sup- port. In England, however, a lower grade of children than those accepted in the United States has been included in the category of backward children. 5. Work in the United States. In the United States, Providence, Rhode Island, first took up this work. In 1893 three schools for special dis- cipHne and instruction were ''organized and made a part of the public school system." Backward children were tried in these disciplinary schools, but it was soon dis- covered that treatment suited to ''active mischievous boys" was not suited to "feeble plodding children." Accord- ingly in 1896 a special class for the latter was opened. A second was added in 1897, and a third in 1898. Out of eighty-two children in these classes, between 1896 and 1900, five were returned to regular schools, seven were sent to the disciplinary schools, and sixteen over fifteen years of age were earning part or all of their living. With five exceptions, all had improved, some of them to a marked degree. The first class in Boston began work in 1899. In 1907 seven special classes containing 134 CHILD PROBLEMS 95 children were reported. This was out of a school population of 82,378. The Boston Committee on the Health of Children in their report for the same year recommended more special classes, especially in the first three grades. In 1899 the Public Education Association and the Civic Club of Philadelphia first agitated for that city the ques- tion of special provision for defective children. The same year the Philadelphia School for Backward Children was organized. After two years the work was taken over by the Board of Education. In 1906 there were nine classes for boys and one for girls. Although in separate classes, the backward children were in the same building with the classes for truants and incorrigibles. In New York more ample provision is made for dull and backward children, and special classes have been instituted for over-aged, non- English speaking, and below-grade pupils. The atypical or mentally backward children are placed in ''ungraded classes." ^ In 1908, 61 such classes were in operation, with a total registration of 1012 pupils. During the year more than 2000 children were specially examined for the purpose of ascertaining the grade of their mental defectiveness and the desirability of assigning them to these classes. Of this number, 1084 were recommended for the ungraded work. In St. Louis there are at present seven special schools, each having two classes of about fifteen pupils per class. The great difficulty here is the presence in the same class of mental defectives, moral defectives, slow pupils, and nor- mal children handicapped by lack of language, etc. The work is so new in St. Louis that much remains to be done in the way of classifying and segregating as well as of pro- viding more classes. The schools, as far as situation, en- vironment, condition of buildings, etc., are concerned, are 1 Tenth Annual Report of City Superintendent of Schools, New York City, p. 112. EDUCATION OF BACKWARD CHILDREN 135 excellent. In a number of other cities special work for backward children has been introduced, but the examples given illustrate the nature and trend of the work in the United States. 6. Needs of Backward Children. The presence of the backward child in the ordinary- schoolroom is a distinct disadvantage to every one in the room. The teacher is not so much concerned over spend- ing some of her valuable time with the slow pupils as she is with the problem of what is to be done with the 30 or 40 normal children meanwhile. There is an inevitable inter- ruption, school discipline suffers, interest wavers, and work drags every time these backward children try to recite. The ordinary grade teacher is kept busy with the regular work. The consequence is that, because the greatest good to the greatest number must be chosen when time is Hmited, the backward child does not receive the help he needs. The work goes too fast for his slower mind to follow, he becomes confused and disheartened, and loses all interest in school. Very probably he grows to hate the work he can never succeed in doing as other chil- dren do. Then follows the discouragement of parents, the removal from school, and the child is permanently deprived of the education he so sorely needs. To become self-supporting, or even to become able to contribute toward that end", requires that such a child be patiently and care- fully trained. If this is not done, a tendency to drift into crime and to swell our prison and reformatory population is inevitable. In nearly all institutions of this kind there is a large percentage whom those in charge recognize as mentally deficient, yet they have been tried and sentenced in exactly the same way as though they had been nor- mally responsible. If they could have been taken in the "hopeful years of three to thirteen^' and helped and taught 136 CHILD PROBLEMS in special classes, they might have become at least partially self-supporting; or even if their support must have de- volved upon the state, they might have been placed in institutions before they turned to evil and to crime. One of the most pressing needs of backward children is medical attention. If the physical defects which are so often the cause of their dullness were removed or treated, the backwardness itself would often vanish. However, public opinion has as yet failed to demand medical atten- tion in most schools, and in some instances wrong ways of agitating the question have prejudiced people against the movement. Classes of backward children should have nurses assigned to them so that hygienic and medical needs may be carefully attended to. The physique of each child must be carefully built up. Defects should be removed or remedied and wholesome nutrition provided. Experience in New York City has demonstrated that when properly fed, backward children have achieved wonderful progress. Another great need of successful work in this line is a better method of transferal from the ordinary grades and the removal of very deficient pupils. Both improvements require the advice of a medical inspector. The removal of the child from his grade should follow one or two failures, provided, of course, that there has not been some valid reason for his defection. Germany has a wise system of admission to special classes. If after several trials children fail to advance with the regular grades, they are visited in their homes and then sent to the special classes on trial. After a few weeks a committee, consisting of inspector, school doctor, and teacher, pass upon their fitness to remain. If, after a fair chance, backward children fail to respond to special class instruction, they should be placed in insti- tutions and their places given to others who might profit by the opportunity. In order to make a success of special EDUCATION OF BACKWARD CHILDREN 137 classes, there must be room enough in institutions to ac- commodate those who can not be kept in the classes. Just as the dull child must be taken from the regular grades, so the feeble-minded child must be taken from the special classes. He is the same menace there that the backward child is in the ordinary schoolroom. Most especially do these children need kindly, patient, whole-hearted women as teachers. The German system, while excellent in many ways, is handicapped by its choice of teachers. These are men, and they are usually without special training, being chosen on the basis of aptitude for the work. It seems that here if anywhere is woman's field. Besides, training of teachers is absolutely essen- tial.^ As Dr. Johnstone says, "What we need is forward teachers for backward pupils." "After-care Committees,'' such as have been organized in England and elsewhere, are extremely important. They aim to keep a friendly eye on defective children who have left the special classes, and to tide them across from school to life. 7. Organization of Special Classes. /Most large cities have decided that classes need to be situated in separate buildings so as to remove them from all association, on the playground and elsewhere, with ordinary pupils, and so shield them not only from ridicule but also from the worry and strain likely to result from such association. These severely handicapped children will do better if associated only with their teachers and with other pupils whose powers are more nearly like their own. The environment of these schools should be cheerful, sani- tary, and helpful at all times. Sufficient yard space, as well as a well-appointed interior, should be secured. There * A few institutions, such as the New Jersey Training School for Feeble- Minded Boys and Girls, have been giving short summer courses for teachers who intend to take charge of special classes. 138 CHILD PROBLEMS should be a supervisor of special class work, who should have general supervision and assist teachers in arranging courses and planning the work and in settling special problems. In number the class should not exceed fifteen, as each pupil needs individual attention and care, and such classes can not be well graded. The best plan in large cities would be to have three or more classes in one center. This would allow a saving in material equipment, as well as make a slight gradation possible. The work done in the classes should be a combination of mental, moral, and physical training. Most classes base their teaching on the theory that physiological train- ing of the hand arouses action in the brain; hence the emphasis put upon manual training, such as sloyd, clay modeling, basket- weaving, sewing, raffia work, etc., and cooking, laundrying, and general housework for the girls. Another aim of manual training is to create a love of work and so give an ambition to be self-supporting rather than dependent.^ In many schools special emphasis is laid on 1 Miss Chase gives an interesting account of the manual work done by the somewhat noted class of Miss Elizabeth Farrell on the lower East Side in New York City. This class consisted usually of from 18 to 20 boys, ranging in age from six and one half to seventeen years. Miss Chase says, "They always have some subject as a center ; at present it is the farm. In wood-work they are making a house and a barn, fences, fur- niture, and flower-boxes. They are weaving the rugs for the floor, doing raffia work and basketry. They went to the country for the soil to plant their miniature fields, and sent to Washington for the seeds. In painting, their subjects have been apple-blossoms and violets with an illustrated trip to Bronx Park. In picture study, they have taken ' Oxen Plowing,' 'The Angelus,' etc. In arithmetic, the older boys measure, in a concrete way, the rooms of the house and the fields. In their written work in English, they are having stories of farm life, and reports of personal ob- servation ; in reading, stories of dogs, horses, making hay, and so on ; in spelling, words relating to manual occupations, e.g., soil, seed, leaves, barn. In nature work, they are studying soils, the earthworm, buds, and seeds. This is simply suggestive of the excellent work that the boys are taking up at present. The subjects are chosen and the different studies related to the center with the purpose of developing the social EDUCATION OF BACKWARD CHILDREN 139 games, and the children are taught how to play. Instruc- tion in the usual school branches is quite elementary, and is sometimes a form of kindergarten instruction. Super- intendent Soldan of St. Louis, who was intensely inter- ested in this subject, and who gave his last living thoughts to the question, said that much should be made of singing, that music possessed a great power over the mental defec- tive, and that the learning and memorizing of good songs would be beneficial. He thought much attention should be given to the spoken language ; to memorizing ; to read- ing and spelling ; to writing by muscular movement ; to the manual activities ; and that general information in science, geography, and history should be regularly given as it proved serviceable. The children should be interested in plants and animals and gather knowledge about them. A measure of advancement can in this way be accomplished. Everywhere it should be borne in mind that much mental achievement must not be expected of these chil- dren. If they can be made self-supporting and self-con- trolling, very much has been done to lighten the burden of society and to ease the social conscience in regard to its duty to these handicapped children. Furthermore the rights of deficient children can not justly be neglected, and to them as to normal children society owes its choicest gift — an adapted education. instincts in the boys." See National Conference of Charities and Cor- rection, 1904, pp. 399-400. ' For an able discussion of the special schools of New York City that handle over-aged, non-English speaking, and other below-grade children, see National Conference of Charities and Correction, 1907. Special Classes and Special Schools for Delinquent and Backward Children, by Miss Julia Bichman. CHAPTER V THE NEW EDUCATION 1. LiTERAKY Education. Education has long since been recognized as an indis- pensable accompaniment of effective citizenship. Accord- ingly very few children escape an elementary education of some kind. The public school is such a fundamental American institution that it has reached out and com- prehended almost the entire school population. As a factor in the training of the youth of our land for the duties of life, it has no equal, and whatever may be its shortcom- ings, its future will be more and more important. 2. Illiteracy. The real test of our educational system depends upon the percentage of illiterates among our native white popu- lation under twenty-five years of age. Our statistics show that among the native white male population of the United States from 21 to 24 years of age, the amount of ilHteracy is only 3.8 per cent. The principal European countries excelling us in respect to literacy are Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, and Scotland. The first three have an almost negligible quantity of illit- eracy, while Netherlands, England, and France have only a slightly higher rate than ours. In Massachusetts, Connecticut, and nearly all of the Northern states west of the Mississippi River, the rate is less than one per cent, but none of these states can compare with Germany, which 140 THE NEW EDUCATION 141 claims an illiteracy among its army recruits of only eleven hundredths of one per cent. Owing to the great illiteracy among our foreign born, the rate for our entire white male population 21 to 24 years of age is 5 per cent. Many of the immigrants have arrived here too late to receive the benefit of our public schools and have come from coun- tries in which education is but slightly appreciated. The illiteracy of the females of the same age is somewhat in excess of that of the males. This is especially true of the foreign born. Of our entire population 10 years of age and over, 10.7 per cent were illiterate in 1900 — a con siderable decrease, however, from the rates of the preceding decade. Although the negroes form but 11 per cent of the entire population, they furnish nearly 47 per cent of the illiteracy. In 1900, 44.5 per cent were classed as iUiterate compared with 6.2 per cent for the white population. In 1890 more than half of the negroes were illiterate, there- fore some progress at least is indicated. The rates of illiteracy among native whites are only about one third of those of the foreign born, but native whites of native parentage have three times the illiteracy of native whites of foreign parentage. This latter fact is due not to any special desire on the part of foreign-born parents to educate their children, but to two other impor- tant considerations : first, the great majority of the chil- dren of immigrants Uve in the large cities where education is compulsory; second, absence of educational oppor- tunities and inferior economic conditions are responsible for a large illiteracy among the white children of the South, who are almost exclusively of native extraction. In the medium-sized cities, on the other hand, where laws are less stringent and where there are few foreign born, the native American children show less illiteracy than those of foreign parentage. Out of 160 cities having 25,000 inhabitants or more, 99 have a greater proportion of illit- 142 CHILD PROBLEMS eracy among the children of foreign-born parents. In 53, the children of native parents have the larger proportion, and in 8 cities the rates are equal. The efficiency of our educational systems is largely in- dicated by the amount of illiteracy in the age group 10 to 14 years. In 1900, this percentage for all races was 7.1 per cent, but the aggregate number of white illiterates was less than that of the colored, in spite of the discrepancies in relative population. The lowest rates were found in Nebraska, Iowa, Oregon, the eastern North Central states, and in Connecticut, Utah, and Massachusetts. Child illiteracy is very high in the Southern states. This is due to high rates among both negroes and whites.^ The cities enjoy an advantage over the country districts. A better educational system, better teachers, and compulsory school attendance — all tend to reduce the proportion of illiteracy in the cities to a lower level than that attained in rural sections. The aggregate number of illiterate children in 1900 was 577,649. Including adults, the total number of illiterates in the United States is more than six million persons. 3. The Adaptation of Education. The purpose of education should be to fit the child for life. To accomplish this purpose the child must become capable of adapting himself to the conditions of his environ- ment, of enjoying the higher pleasures, and of taking his rightful place in society. It is obvious at once that no school can give the child a complete education, and that this is obtained slowly, if at all, through the lessons learned from activity in the world as well as through those taught 1 In the South Atlantic states in 1900 the illiteracy of colored children from 10 to 14 years of age was computed at 31.3 per cent, in the South Central states at 32.9 per cent. The illiteracy of white children for the corresponding sections was 9.4 and 9.8 per cent respectively. THE NEW EDUCATION 143 in the classroom. The predominant interests of society vary from time to time, therefore the most important ele- ments in education will also vary. Literary education formerly received a very proper emphasis, and met popular needs quite effectually. It no longer does so, and industrial education must be added in order to adapt the child more fully to the requirements of modern industry. It is now generally admitted that the present literary education is inadequate, since it does not train the hand, although the vast majority of all persons become manual laborers. Both brain and hand should be educated, and each in pro- portion to the use which will be made of it in later life. 4. Present Limitations of Education. The most successful education accomplishes two im- portant results : it prepares the child for life, and it sustains his interest until the essentials have been gained. In an industrial era book learning is plainly inadequate. Many practical-minded children lose interest in their work and drop out of school. One of two possible consequences may then occur : the child may become a truant and even- tually a delinquent, or he may enter some gainful occu- pation and swell the ranks of child laborers. In actual practice a tremendous decline in school attendance occurs after children leave the fifth grade. This is true not only where no compulsory education laws exist, but also in the large cities with their exceptional laws and advanced curricula. In New York City, for example, the sixth- grade classes show a dechne of nearly 15 per cent in number from the preceding year. Eighth-grade students are less than one half as numerous as are those of the fifth year. Forty per cent of the children in the fifth year are above the normal age. Owing to the large number who drop out of school from this grade, the percentage of over-aged chil- dren in the higher grades decreases with each successive 144 CHILD PROBLEMS year. Other cities suffer a similar experience in regard to the disappearance of their school population. It is there- fore apparent that a large group of children leave the pub- lic school with a very meager and inefficient educational equipment. This applies with equal force to the parochial schools, which are conducted in large numbers by the Cath- olic and Lutheran churches. 5. Compulsory Education. The movement in favor of compulsory education laws has made rapid strides within the last two decades. Twenty- six states have such laws applying to children under 14 years of age, but in many cases the necessary annual atten- dance is limited to 12 weeks. If children over 14 remain unemployed, many states require their school attendance until the age of 16. The New York law, for example, requires attendance for the entire school year of all children under the age of 14, and for the entire school year of un- employed children between 14 and 16. New Jersey re- cently passed a law requiring all children to remain in school until they finish the elementary grades or reach the fifteenth year of age. Under certain conditions, children not fin- ishing then are required to attend a day school until they become 17. The South has been tardy in the enactment of compulsory education laws, but in several Southern states such laws apply to particular cities or counties. Kentucky and Oklahoma have enacted state-wide laws, and in South Carolina, Texas, and Arkansas some restric- tions have been placed upon the employment of illiterate children. Such restrictions tend to keep children in school. Compulsory education is the proper complement of child labor laws, and should be required for the entire school year of all children who have not reached the working age specified in the laws. Twenty-three states now have provisions of this sort. The remainder of the states, by THE NEW EDUCATION 145 requiring a short attendance only or by allowing specific exemptions from the operation of the laws, fail to protect fully the educational interests of the children. Unless pupils attend regularly throughout the year, they will not obtain sufficient advantages from their education. Pov- erty exemptions for children under 14 can have no justi- fication. Philanthropy should intervene to provide the child with such aid as will make possible his continuation in school. The non-enforcement of compulsory education laws renders the advancement which has been made less than it appears. Attendance and truant officers, unless pro- vided in sufficient numbers, can not cope adequately with the problem. Efficiency of service is also needed. The poor change residence so frequently that children often can not be traced. In New York the migrating children who work in canning factories during the summer months receive but little education. In many country districts throughout the United States compulsory education laws do not actually increase school attendance. Irregularity, exemptions, and non-enforcement of law, therefore, ac- count partly for over-aged children and for the small num- ber who actually graduate from the grammar schools. Many children also leave school at the first opportunity and enter some gainful occupation, because restless and anxious for a chance to earn money, however Uttle that may be. 6. Untrained Children in Industry. Thousands of children enter industry without having finished their primary education or having obtained any industrial training. No children who drop out of school at the end of the fifth or sixth grade can hope to have acquired direct training for any occupation which they may enter, but the seventh and eighth-grade children do 146 CHILD PROBLEMS acquire a little manual dexterity. The consequence of this exodus from the schools is an army of untrained workers. The child who drops out of school enters the first avail- able occupation. This is almost uniformly some undesir- able trade which affords but httle compensation. Boys enter the messenger service, run errands, become delivery boys for the large stores or the small groceries, or enter factories and become general utility boys with little pros- pect of training for permanent occupation. Some, it is true, are more fortunate and are able at once to begin the work of preparation for a coveted trade. When a boy is made an apprentice, it too frequently happens that instead of being taught a trade he is merely utilized as a handy boy, and learns his trade, if at all, by absorption. No special effort is made to instruct him, and unless he is ambitious and aggressive he will be retarded in his efforts to acquire definite trade knowledge. The great majority of children who inopportunely leave the public school for the gainful occupations necessarily lack in stability of mind and persistence in work. They, therefore, have no definite aims, have no particular trade in view, are willing to experiment with many forms of occupation, and being without proper guidance are not taught the need of earnest concentration of energy ; as a result they quickly drift from one occupation to another, and are often engaged in many different employments within a single year. Such a Bohemian industrial career prevents the acquisition of skill in any trade and a desirable degree of specialization. Since the occupations entered are usually very different, the experience of the child has no cumulative value. At the end of several years he is but little better prepared for life than at the beginning of his industrial career. A consistent increase in wages de- pends on the development of skill in definite directions. This skill is not acquired, so the boy changes occupations, THE NEW EDUCATION 147 but remains at a comparatively stationary wage. After spending several years in almost useless and wasted labor at a very low wage, he joins the permanent ranks of un- skilled workers, and his wages soon reach a rigid limit at a point below the level of present standards of living. Our educational system, which allows children who are almost illiterate to leave the schools and to enter industry is sadly at fault. A compulsory education law which ap- plies only to children below a certain age establishes arti- ficial and illogical boundary Hues. If at 14 the boy happens to be behind his proper grade in school, the state is not justified in allowing him to begin wasting several years of time in unskilled occupations. If at 14 he is not pre- pared for fife, but is mentally and physically capable of adequate preparation, he should be required to continue his school training. The fixing of arbitrary ages for com- pulsory attendance overlooks the entire problem of indus- trial efficiency, and emphasizes time instead of accom- plishment. Child labor laws should so supplement our educational requirements as to prevent the employment of all children not properly trained in the schools. Com- plete cooperation between the two interests is necessary for the adequate equipment of our youth. 7. Industrial Training. The industrial training of all prospective workers is de- sirable for two reasons : first, and most important, because it will enhance the skill of the worker, increase his wages, raise his standard of life, give him greater economic inde- pendence, and add to his general resourcefulness in in- dustry; second, because it will increase the productivity of society, stimulate inventions, and benefit consumers by fixing lower prices for goods. Two methods of training are possible: the apprentice- ship system, and trade instruction in the schools. The 148 CHILD PROBLEMS former is rapidly declining, and will shortly be unavailable. The following reasons for its decline are given by the United States Bureau of Labor.^ 1. The decline of personal relations between master and apprentice. 2. The extensive use of machinery and the subdivision of labor. 3. The disinclination of employers to use apprentices. 4. The unwillingness of journeymen to instruct appren- tices. 5. The unwillingness of boys to become apprentices. Manufacturers are somewhat loath to grant apprentices the broad training necessary for their permanent welfare. The speed required in modern industry, and the extreme subdivision of labor, often induce the employer to attempt to limit the work of apprentices to some particular occu- pation in order that they may speedily acquire skill therein. This unsocial attitude is opposed by both the apprentice and the labor unions. The latter demand an extensive training of apprentices, and also frequently insist upon a limitation of their numbers. Another objection to the present method of employing apprentices is based on the practice of using them in the more unskilled forms of labor at lower rates of compensation than those paid to journey- men. They can be supervised by a competent journey- man, will do fairly satisfactory work, and will lessen the cost of production for the employer. The restrictions by trade unions, however, hardly affect the problem, and the larger industrial developments furnish the chief reasons for the decline of the apprenticeship system. The problem of industrial training must be solved by our educational system. Methods of instruction must be ^ Charities and Commons, Vol. XIX, p. 814. Quoted in article by Ralph Albertson. THE NEW EDUCATION 149 so revised as to meet the new needs of our industrial classes. The purpose of such training is not to satisfy narrow- minded manufacturers who are seeking for skilled labor and who in some instances have advocated trade instruc- tion at an incredibly early age, but to equip individuals for their life work and make them capable and useful mem- bers of society. Not the advantage of some class interest, but the good of the social whole, is the goal of the movement. Industrial training in order to become an efficient service must touch the great bulk of workers. This can be ac- complished in one of two ways, or by a combination of the two. All children must be compelled to remain in school until they have passed through the grades in which trade instruction is now being taught, or such instruction must descend into the grades until it affects the great mass of children. Perhaps a compromise will yield the best results. a. Public Instruction. Our schools have begun to grapple with the question of trade training, and are now beginning with a plan of in- struction for the older and better trained children. Ac- cordingly in some cities trade schools which rank with high schools have been established. In these schools trade instruction may occupy only part of the time of the pupil, or the curriculum may be limited to practical training and such studies as bear directly on the trades taught. The former plan enjoys popular favor. Employers of labor have, however, availed themselves but little of the skilled workers trained in these schools. Pupils also have fre- quently elected these courses because of their desire for manual dexterity, although they have no intention of enter- ing the trades. The class of students in the trade school of high school grade does not largely supply the ranks of labor in the common acceptation of the term, and, there- fore, these schools fail to meet the immediate needs of the majority of prospective workers. The proportion of chil- 150 CHILD PROBLEMS dren graduating from the grammar school and entering upon a secondary education is so small that the limitation of trade instruction to this class prevents the achievement of considerable results. Although trade schools of high school rank have their place, the solution of the problem requires an extension of facilities for industrial training. The report of its special Committee on Trade Schools to the New York Board of Education illustrates the move- ment. Among the recommendations made were the fol- lowing : — 1 . 1 That shop work be introduced into all schools in which there are boys in the seventh and eighth years. 2. That as far as possible the practical use of tools em- ployed in the wood-working and metal-working trades be taught in those years. 3. That the workshops be equipped, as far as possible, with the necessary tools. 4. That shop work be required of boys who reach their twelfth year. 5. That the additional time needed for the extension of work in the shop be fixed as between three and five in the afternoon, on Saturday morinngs, or, if necessary, in the evenings. 6. That a separate vocational school for boys between fourteen and sixteen be established, and another for girls of the same ages. The two salient features of this program are the recom- mendations in favor of vocational schools for children be- tween the ages of fourteen and sixteen, and for more effec- tive manual training. Many children have not finished the grades, but would not therefore be barred from trade instruction. It is hkewise considered important to "im- prove the efficiency of the present shop system in our ele- 1 Annual Report of Superintendent of Schools to Board of Educa- tion, 1908, p. 125. THE NEW EDUCATION 151 mentary schools by organizing the manual training from a vocational point of view so that it may bear direct and immediate relation to the industrial efl&ciency of the chil- dren when they leave school." The vocational school which permits all graduates of the grammar schools to enter and all persons fourteen years of age who are sufficiently prepared for trade training, will reach a large group of children. The boy of fourteen who is still in the sixth grade probably needs precisely the character of work provided in a vocational school. Back- wardness is often the result of inadaptability to the lit- erary work of the elementary school. If the boy can be provided with purposeful manual training his real needs will have been more successfully met. Although manual training is gradually filtering down through the grades and reaching the younger children, it has not been sufficiently directed toward immediately useful ends. Shop work for all boys twelve years of age or over, and cooking, sewing, and household economy for all girls in the seventh and eighth grades are necessary to reach the great majority of children. So many leave school at the end of the fifth grade that a large number of girls would still escape the needed courses in domestic science. Literary instruction, however, can not be displaced, and the new adaptations must consider the entire gamut of individual interests, the social and cultural group as well as the industrial. The introduction of useful manual training in the seventh and eighth grades is proceeding rapidly among the schools in our larger cities, and the reorganization of the work will prove of immense value to our prospective working popu- lation. The original purpose of manual training is being diverted from that of making the hands skillful to that of training them for skill in the accomplishment of some useful purpose. The severe conditions of modern industry require men 152 CHILD PROBLEMS armed with manual skill and trade training, and the workers who are not properly equipped can not hope to maintain reasonable or progressive standards of life. The older methods of training provided a broad education, and the departure therefrom results in a loss in the sweep of knowl- edge, but a gain in specialization and equipment for a par- ticular service. The tendency is to narrow education, but the welfare of the masses requires this concession to utilitarianism. The movement must be regarded as a means to an end, and not as a desirable goal. Industrial education represents the immediate adaptation to the cur- rent needs of the present transition stage. In a future society education may be compelled to adapt itself to new needs, always with the distinct hope of bringing to all the greatest possible breadth and depth of education and culture. Evening trade schools have met with less resistance than day trade schools. Several of the large cities have estab- lished such schools for boys and girls who work during the day and who desire to increase their efficiency by enjoying the advantages of these schools. Unfortunately the tax on the workers is too great to justify such a combination of work and study, and means should be provided to make possible the use of part of the working day for school pur- poses, for children under a certain age. The system of compelling such young people who work throughout the day to attend night trade or immigrant schools can only be justified as a temporary measure. For older persons the evening school is more appropriate, and rest from the work of the day less necessary for physical growth and development. Opinion is rapidly crystallizing in favor of public in- struction in industrial training. The subject is agitated by employers of labor, by philanthropic workers, and boards of education. The labor unions which had long THE NEW EDUCATION 153 held a dubious attitude, at the Convention of the American Federation of Labor at Toronto, Canada, October, 1909, declared themselves in favor of trade schools for children between fourteen and sixteen years of age. They de- manded, however, that other subjects be taught in addition to industrial training. Such subjects were to include the sciences that are related to the trades chosen, mathematics, certain English courses, and special phases of economic theory. That the pubhc school system should provide elementary industrial training is now generally admitted. Vocational schools should provide courses of at least two years' duration. But how to reach the children who would commonly limit themselves to a grammar school is the greatest difficulty with which the advocates of industrial training have to contend. Abundant faciUties are pro- vided for those who can afford a secondary or college education. Our state and private institutions, technical schools, and specialized institutions grant sufficient oppor- tunity for advanced training. 6. Private Trade Training. Apart from technical schools for advanced students, several private schools adapted to the needs of persons sixteen years of age or over, have been established and are leading the way for our public school system. Among typical schools of this class are the New York Trade School, the Williamson Free Trade School in Pennsylvania, and the Ranken Trade School of St. Louis. The New York school provides a short-term training, the other two in- clude courses covering three and two years respectively. In the New York school are taught : plumbing, carpentry, electrical work, brick laying, sign painting, house and fresco painting, sheet-metal and cornice work, plastering, steam and hot water fitting, blacksmithing, printing, and drawing. The Williamson Free School, as an example of the type with a longer curriculum, covers such trades as : 154 CHILD PROBLEMS carpentry, brick laying, — including range, furnace, and boiler setting, — pattern and cabinet making, machine trade with its many details, steam and electrical engineer- ing, steam fitting, etc. Each pupil is required to take a preliminary course in wood carving and mechanical draw- ing, and a well-developed academic department supple- ments the industrial training with courses in science and literature. Among the hundreds of private schools which equip boys and girls for some particular trade or occupation, such as stenography and typewriting, bookkeeping, sew- ing, millinery, plumbing, etc., are many which maintain such low standards that the graduate is ill equipped to perform his work efficiently. Literary requirements are often too low, and insufficient time is allowed for a proper completion of the course. Very incompetent individuals are thus frequently graduated and allowed to begin their industrial career. It behooves our educational system to organize its industrial and commercial instruction so effectively that our boys and girls can acquire the needed training in the public schools and be compelled to carry sufficient literary work to make them thoroughly com- petent to fill their position in industry. In this way the slipshod and inefficient methods of many private schools can be eUminated and real industrial efficiency be pro- cured. 8. Instruction in Sex Physiology. Boys and girls need instruction in the fundamental facts of sex physiology. The fact that one fourth or more of all blind children become so because of the immorality of parents, that sterility is largely traceable to vice, that thousands of women are brought to the operating table because of the immorahty of men — these and other as- tounding facts of present civilization indicate that in some THE NEW EDUCATION 155 way society must pay attention to our youth so that the elimination of these demoraUzing results can be effected. The girl suffers chiefly through ignorance. The boy, on the other hand, needs not only knowledge but a develop- ment of moral fiber, and both sexes need to view the subject in a more complacent and less sentimental manner. In- struction is certainly needed. Who shall provide it is a mooted question. Shall it be the parents or the teacher? The question must receive the most dehcate treatment. Unless the present attitude of the child can be completely changed and a feeling of reverence substituted, instruction may become absolutely harmful. Parents find it difficult to discuss this subject with their children and to make them realize the noble plane on which reflections on these facts must rest. Children learn from evil sources, and are debased thereby. If the knowledge gained from parents or teachers does not dignify the subject, it only keeps alive evil thoughts and impulses. It would be hard, how- ever, to imagine a system of instruction that would be worse in its results than the present negligence. If the subject is to be handled by the teacher, it should not be delayed until the high school age, for few will reap the advantage. A number of classes in physiology have successfully in- cluded a discussion of the facts of sex, but this method will hardly be possible for young children. In Germany, especially, progress has been made by leading children through the natural steps of plant life to the animal and human facts of sex. American societies for the promotion of social hygiene are now devising methods of education. BOOK III CHILD LABOR CHAPTER I CAUSES OP CHILD LABOR The causes of child labor may be summarized under several heads, but the precise influence of each cause can not be weighed. The different contributing factors are so interdependent that if one of the causes should suddenly fail the others would become largely inactive; at least much of their coercive power would have disappeared. Nor do the factors work with equal force in different local- ities. In some regions a certain cause will be much more powerful than any other. In other localities the remaining causes will be by far the most potent forces responsible for the evil. 1. Avarice op Parents. That the greed of parents is often the chief cause of the employment of children is an undeniable fact. Many parents, both those engaged in farming and those employed in other industry, regard their growing children as capital or economic assets on which they hope to realize as soon as dividends can be declared. Thousands of rural children are recorded as engaged in gainful occupations. Work- ing with their parents upon the home farm, they do not usually suffer from exploitation, and the profits gained will ultimately be shared by the children. Consequently such child labor has extenuating features. Too often, however, the farmer compels his small son who ought to be 159 160 CHILD PROBLEMS in the village school to assist in the farm work, and in this way the boy is deprived of a sufficient education to become efficient in any occupation other than that of farming. The small boy compelled to hire out to another farmer suffers more from the evils of child labor, and his lot is not enviable. Parental greed presents its darkest aspects in the attitude of the ignorant classes of native Americans and of a large proportion of the newly arrived immigrant population. In fact, the child labor question is in some sections closely allied to the problem of immigration. Children are ex- ploited for two principal reasons: first, in order to in- crease the family income ; second, to enable parents to withdraw from work and live upon the earnings which the children provide. Fall River, Massachusetts, furnishes a good example of the tendency to use the entire family as an income-gaining agency. In addition to] husband and wife, the children of the foreign born enter the mills as soon as the laws of the state permit. Investigation has amply shown that parents often send their children to work as soon as the fourteenth birthday has been reached, despite the deficiency in education which may exist. Hun- dreds of children drop out of school in the midst of their school year, and are expected to become wholly, or at least partly, self-supporting. Factory inspectors fre- quently find that children do not give their age correctly and claim to be above the required working age, no matter how small or under-aged they may appear. Furthermore, parents are often guilty of perjury in regard to the ages of their children. In the anthracite regions of Pennsyl- vania the extensive violations of the law are in part attributable to the dishonesty and false ideals of parents. The second cause of exploitation finds a less common expression, but is not absent. The child labor problem CAUSES OF CHILD LABOR 161 in New England before 1820 was somewhat intensified by the desire of parents to retire as soon as their children were able to obtain sufficient wages to maintain the entire family. In more recent years indolent and shiftless parents have allowed their children as soon as possible to bear the entire burden of family support. An extreme case of this kind has recently been noted. A young foreigner not many years in the United States, having married early, found that when he had reached the age of thirty-four his children were able to support him, and that the family could be maintained without his aid. He therefore retired, and began to spend his days in idleness and pleasure. Cases have been cited of fathers in the cotton mill district of the South whose chief occupation was that of car- rying lunches and dinners to their children in the fac- tories ! 2. Desire of the Child to Work. The desire of the child to work is a more important fac- tor than public opinion has been accustomed to believe. The young child does not understand the full value of the education which he is receiving, and longs to leave the con- finement of the schoolroom and try his fortunes in gainful employment. This feeling is aggravated by the fact that education is not fully adapted to the child's needs. Re- cent investigations have shown that a considerable per- centage of working children deliberately leave school before their education in the grades is completed because they are anxious to avoid the burden and drudgery of the schoolroom. They observe that their friends and other children are earning some wages, even though the sums be small, and they are eager therefore to vie with them in the distinction of being in part self-supporting and of enjoying spending money of their own. In fact, the child, instead of being driven to work, often takes this step volun- 162 CHILD PROBLEMS tarily. Worse than that, parents are frequently unable to compel the child to remain at school. Such children, although eager to work, are totally unfitted to enter any occupation. 3. Greed of Employers. The attitude of employers of labor is responsible for a large proportion of the child labor of the United States. The culpability of the employer in this respect is twofold : first, he makes the entrance of the child into industry possible by employing children who are pressed into ser- vice by their parents or who deliberately decide to enter on their own initiative. By accepting children he en- courages the tendency of parents and child workers to continue the evil of child labor. In the second place, many employers directly encourage and demand child labor in order to enhance their profits. The pressure of parents would be of no avail if employers did not offer inducements to children. Wages indeed are poor, but other considerations play a part. When the child, dis- couraged on account of unsatisfactory school work, turns to the factory or mill, he often finds a cordial welcome in industry instead of finding the doors resolutely closed against him. An increasing number of employers, in- fluenced by both human kindness and longsighted busi- ness considerations, have reduced the quantity of child labor in their employ, but a large contingent still favor the employment of children and do not consider the in- fluence of such employment upon the future prospects of the child. Progressive employers have sometimes voluntarily refused to encourage child labor. In the South this attitude has taken the form of temporary agreements not to employ children below a certain age. Competitive conditions, however, usually prevent such agreements from becoming permanent. CAUSES OF CHILD LABOR 163 The attitude of the dominating faction in industry is indicated by the character of the laws in those states in which certain industries are largely localized. In spite of protestations to the contrary, the canning and preserv- ing industry has endeavored to prevent wholesome child labor legislation. In nearly every state in which this in- dustry is economically important it is wholly or partially exempt from the operation of child labor laws. The ex- emption is based on the supposed necessity of working long and irregular hours in order to save perishable prod- ucts. Long hours, however, are not limited to the period when additional work is necessary to save the product, but occur at other intervals, and thus represent a real abuse. Among many instances personally known to the writer is that of a cannery which operated at night, presumably to save the unusually large crop, although at that time receipts were actually below the normal expectation for the year. The crops were suffering from a drought, the output was necessarily small, yet the night work continued. It thus appeared that the capacity of the plant was hardly sufficient for normal years, and that systematic overtime was practiced. Another illustration of the power as well as the attitude of some employers is found in the state of Delaware, which exempts the manufacture of fruit and berry baskets from the operation of the child labor law, although there is no question concerning the perishability of the product. The employers who did not want the law to apply to their industry were sufficiently powerful to prevent its extension. The failure of Pennsylvania to prohibit the night work of boys in the glasshouses of that state illustrates the power of the glass manufacturers. At present boys of fourteen and over may work in the glass mills on all-night shifts. In no other state in which the glass industry is important is night work of children allowed, but in New Jersey it has 164 CHILD PROBLEMS only recently been abandoned. The argument that the products manufactured are perishable goods can hardly be made to apply to glass, although the exemption has been made on this theory. A conspicuous illustration of oppo- sition by many manufacturers to child labor reform is furnished by the cotton mill industry of the South. Out- side of agriculture this is the most important child-employ- ing industry of this section. The South is rapidly sur- passing the New England states in the cotton industry, and will soon manufacture the major portion of the cotton goods made in the United States, although at present it excels only in making the cheaper products. The most determined efforts of reformers in North and South Caro- lina, Georgia, and Alabama — the principal cotton manu- facturing states of the South — have so far failed to secure the enactment of adequate child labor laws. In each of these states the laws fall far short of the standards estab- lished by social reformers. Failure to restrict night work, the low minimum age limit, and the absence of efficient systems of inspection and enforcement — all indicate that economic conditions and the influence of mill owners are too powerful to permit reasonable child labor legislation. : It must not be forgotten that many Southern mill owners are strong supporters of moderate child labor laws, and that manufacturers frequently maintain schools for the mill children who in their old homes received no education whatsoever. Quite singularly also some of the strongest opponents of progressive legislation are Northern men who have invested in Southern cotton mills and who are credited with willing conformity to the more advanced laws of New England. The newsboy has enjoyed greater immunity from the law than any other class of working children. Many news- papers, although they advocate suitable child labor laws for other industries, are opposed to legislation which will CAUSES OF CHILD LABOR 165 curtail the operations of the vendor of their own wares. This opposition arises from two causes : the belief that the newsboy conduces to a larger circulation of the paper, and sympathy for the boy in his present desires rather than in his future needs. Attachment to the boy, com- mendable at the right time but not appropriate in this connection, aids him in the continuation of his own un- doing. Other industries which use their influence to weaken or prevent child labor legislation could be men- tioned, but those discussed illustrate an important cause of child labor. 4. Modern Industrial Conditions. Modern industrial conditions have made room for both woman and child labor in two ways : first, by the use of improved machinery, and second, by such a minute sub- division of labor as to separate lighter forms of work from the more difficult occupations. Children are in many cases able to operate a machine because modern improve- ments have made it so nearly automatic. The machinist must be continued, but the adult operators can be dismissed in favor of the young boy or girl. When the work does not require special skill or strength, the tendency to use the child is especially marked. The chief advantage which accrues to the employer from this substitution is the use of poorly paid child labor instead of adult labor. Nor is out- put decreased by this change, as the worn-out boy can soon be displaced by another eager to obtain his paltry earnings. In certain factories young girls from fourteen to sixteen years of age are taking the place of men in the operation of machines, but are receiving wages no higher than those usually paid to girls of that age. The writer recently saw a machine operated by a girl of this description. The machine was comparatively new, and had displaced one which had always been controlled by men. The new 166 CHILD PROBLEMS machine, owing to the simpUfications which had been made, was not only operated by the girl, but was capable of a much larger output than was its predecessor. The girl, however, received the regular wages paid to children. Modern machinery is able to utilize the child as a helper. Much work which requires time and running to and fro is apportioned to the httle boy or girl. In the cotton mills the children are very largely used for this kind of work ; for example, the doffers, bobbin boys, and spool boys. In fact, a large proportion of the older boys drop out of the cotton mills because they have outgrown their work. The glasshouses use boys in similar ways ; and elsewhere in industry niches for the employment of the child have been made by the convenience afforded by the helper and the apprentice. The extreme subdivision of modern labor accentuates the problem of child labor. A particular occupation may thus be isolated from the series of processes necessary to complete an article; and if only a single act of skill is required, a child can become proficient in a short time. In the clothing trade such minor occupations become a department in which children are frequently employed. The tasks allotted to small girls in the manu- facture of artificial flowers require little skill ; all processes requiring much care and attention are performed by skilled hands, but much can be left to the work of the untried employee. The comparative facility with which a large proportion of the occupations in many mills can be per- formed tends directly toward the use of the child wherever he can be secured for the carrying on of these occupations. Modern competition is an additional factor which often paralyzes the efforts of progressive manufacturers. The margin of profit is frequently so narrow that legislation may become a menace. Natural advantages and child labor in some states also operate to encourage the use of child labor in other states. The competitive conditions CAUSES OF CHILD LABOR 167 over which employers have no immediate control are often responsible for the antagonistic attitude of employers toward the abolition of child labor. 5. Indifference of the Public. The public can eliminate much child labor by seriously opposing the practice. The culpability of the public takes several forms : direct preference for the goods or wares made or peddled by the child ; a willingness to allow child labor for purposes of self-support or support of dependent par- ents ; inability to recognize the ultimate results of prema- ture child labor ; the desire to purchase goods at the lowest possible cost regardless of the child labor which may be involved ; and finally, utter indifference to the social problem itself. The pubhc encourages child labor by its willful patronage of the small boy. The tiny newsboy seated on the doorstep of a pubhc building gets the major portion of the business without exertion on his part, while the larger boy strives in vain to secure his share of the sales. The same principle obtains with the child selling wares on the streets. Sympathy for the child bhnds reason and foresight, and thus the child is allowed to continue his work. The public must learn that it is not efficient kind- ness to buy from the small boy, but that such a policy is demoralizing to the child. In some of our states children are exempt from the application of the laws if their work is necessary to main- tain dependent members of the family. A social attitude which allows a child under fourteen to bear the economic burdens of a family is responsible for much of this evil. In some states the laws contain a poverty exemption clause. Children of tender years can thus be exploited and com- pelled to labor for hire. Even our relief societies, which supposedly are actuated by the most prudential and far- sighted motives, will, on occasion, endanger the prospects 168 CHILD PROBLEMS of the child by insisting that upon his arriving at the age when he may legally be employed he shall immediately enter some gainful occupation in order to relieve the public of the support of dependent parents. This has been done in spite of the child's immaturity and lack of preparation for industry. Such societies are grossly neglectful of their duty and short-sighted in their methods when they force the child prematurely into industry to relieve themselves of a burden. Many men of prominence fail to realize that the new industrial conditions require special preparation on the child's part. Because many men began work as mere boys and succeeded, is no argument against wholesome legis- lation at the present time. Yet recently United States senators in opposing appropriate legislation pointed to their own cases as sufficient proof of the harmlessness of child labor. Successful men frequently oppose good laws because they themselves have not failed and have withstood the disadvantages of premature toil. They have thus become blinded to the evil effects of child labor, and are often bitter enemies of the real interests of the child of to-day. The farming class likewise fails to understand the dangers of child labor in the cities and in industrial centers, because farmers are prone to judge the results of all forms of labor by the effects of labor on the farm. In our legislatures such men are easily influenced to oppose needed legislation. It thus appears that while the specific causes of child labor are numerous, the chief factors are reducible to five heads : the attitude of the parents, the ambition of the child, the greed of employers, modern industrial conditions, and the indifference of the public. The relative importance of each of these factors can not even be approximated, and in most instances they cooperate closely to produce the evil in question, but the absence of any one of these causes CAUSES OF CHILD LABOR 169 materially diminishes the amount of child labor. As a preventive of progressive legislation the opposition of the employer undoubtedly stands foremost, but the non- enforcement of law depends upon every one of the above causes. CHAPTER II conditions of child labor 1. Occupational Distribution. The menace of child labor lies to a large extent in the character of work demanded of the growing child. Health depends partly upon the opportunity for outdoor work or the necessity of indoor work. Industrial opportunity may be enhanced or retarded by the specific emplo3maent in which the child engages. Morals hkewise are contingent upon the nature of the employment. Therefore the occu- pational distribution of child labor throws hght upon the gravity of our problem, as does also the aggregate number of children engaged in industry. The social attitude toward the child labor problem should be that of exclusion of all children from all occupations unless it is clear that the emplo3nnent of the child would not retard his development but would increase his opportunities and capacity for usefulness. According to the Census of 1900 the amount and dis- tribution of child labor in the United States in that year is represented in the statistical table on page 171. These statistics illustrate the distribution of child labor among the five large occupational groups, as well as among certain subsidiary occupations. It will be noticed that more than one million of the workers are engaged in agri- culture, which is less objectionable as a field of employ- ment than any other occupation. Fifty-three per cent of this group are native whites of native parents, and 38 per 170 CONDITIONS OF CHILD LABOR 171 OcCtrPATIONS All occupations Agriculture Professional service Domestic and personal service Trade and transportation Manufacturing and mechanical pursuits . . MiNOB OccupATioKS (included among above groups) Servants and waiters Laborers (not specified) Cotton mill operatives Messenger, errand, and office boys and girls Textile workers Miners and quarrymen Clerks and copyists Sales persons Children from 10 TO 15 Years 1,750,178 1,061,971 2,945 279,031 112,362 283,869 138,065 128,617 44,427 42,021 35,070 24,209 22,005 20,332 cent are negro children. It is significant that only a small percentage — about 8 per cent — are foreign born or the children of foreign parents. More than 800,000 of these children were members of the farmers' families, and were simply assisting their parents. The chief danger for a majority of these children is the probabihty of their receiv- ing an insufficient education to meet the strenuous de- mands of modern business, both in the country and in the city. For obvious reasons professional service is not an im- portant occupation of the child, and therefore needs no further discussion. Domestic and personal service, how- ever, claims the employment of a large group of children, and with these begins a more serious aspect of child labor. Children of native parentage form only 38 per cent of the total, negroes constitute one third, and the children of 172 CHILD PROBLEMS foreign parents the remainder, or 28 per cent. The nature of the problem differs from that of agriculture, in that purely business, and not blood, ties obtain in the relation- ship of employer and employee. The character of the occupations falling within this group is such that it fails to give the independence and opportunities needed by the children. About one half of the entire number are em- ployed as servants and waiters, and thus begin at an early age in an occupation for which they are not fitted and which promises much menial work as well as moral temptation. Owing to the number of young girls in this group of occu- pations, the moral effects are especially serious. Trade and transportation, and manufacturing and me- chanical pursuits, together, employ more than 400,000 boys and girls, and the problem of child labor applies with special force to the great majority of children in these groups. The more noteworthy occupations are those connected with the cotton and the textile mills, the mes- senger service, mines, and mercantile establishments. In trade and transportation, 52 per cent of the children employed are of foreign parentage, nearly all of the re- mainder being native born of native parents ; the number of negroes in this group is comparatively small. In manu- facturing, children of foreign parents form a still larger proportion and constitute 56 per cent, and children of native white parentage form 40.5 per cent. In the cotton mills, however, the native element predominates ; this fact is due to the prevalence of child labor in the Southern cotton mills, in which, owing to the absence of an immi- grant population, the children employed are almost ex- clusively of native parentage. In the North, where a fair comparison of the relative tendencies of the native and the foreign-born child to engage prematurely in the gainful occupations can be made, the children of native parents form only about one eighth of the total number of children CONDITIONS OF CHILD LABOR 173 employed in the cotton mills. The foreign born consti- tute one half, and the remaining three eighths consist of the children of foreigners, thus indicating that in the North- ern states the problem is closely allied to that of the immi- grant. The textile workers furnish another interesting illus- tration of the predominance of the foreign element in child labor. Among the girls who comprise the great propor- tion of the children in this group of occupations only 26 per cent are of native parentage, 46 per cent are natives of foreign parentage, and more than one fourth are them- selves foreign born. In the messenger service more than 55 per cent of the boys are of foreign parentage, but, since this occupation is largely limited to the large cities where persons of foreign parentage form a majority, this propor-. tion is not excessive. A considerable number of children are found in our coal mines and in quarries. Of the total number so employed about 60 per cent are the children of foreign-born parents. In the silk mills in the United States in 1900 only 57 per cent of the white children em- ployed were of foreign parentage, although in New York and New Jersey the percentage rose to 75. In Penn- sylvania, on the other hand, children of native parentage actually formed a majority. In the tobacco and cigar mak- ing trades the native element is in the minority, but in the glasshouses they constitute a majority, one reason for this fact being the establishment of the glassworks in the smaller towns, where the children of foreign parents are less numerous. Omitting the children engaged in agriculture and those engaged in several minor and perhaps harmless occupa- tions, it appears that in 1900 about 600,000 children were employed in industries and trades in which their employ- ment constitutes a serious problem. Tendencies are, how- ever, as important as aggregate numbers, and the serious- 174 CHILD PROBLEMS ness of the question depends largely upon the changing pro- portions of children at work. In 1880, of all children from ten to fifteen years of age, 16.8 per cent were engaged in gainful occupations, but by 1900 the percentage had risen to 18.2. Boys and girls alike shared in this increase. The groups of occupations which were particularly affected indi- cate more clearly the nature of the change. A small in- crease occurred in agriculture, but this will occasion but little harm. The percentage engaged in domestic service has dechned, but in trade and transportation a heavy increase has taken place. The most serious change has been the tremendous addition to the number of children engaged in manufacturing — the group of occupations which furnish the greatest problem of child labor. Chil- dren have likewise encroached upon the adult working popu- lation, and in 1900 were forming a larger percentage of the entire labor force, thus indicating that they have in part been substituted for adults. It is evident that women are frequently displaced by girls and that to some extent boys take the place of men. New industries have grown up, and children are used in large numbers to do the lighter forms of work. The enactment of drastic child labor laws in a number of states has materially decreased the number of small chil- dren at work and made it more difficult for the larger ones to enter industry. The changing attitude in many locali- ties of employers of labor toward the child has also as- sisted in lessening the number of opportunities for child labor. On the other hand, in some states the number of children at work is perceptibly increasing. While the number of children in the cotton mills of the North has decreased since 1900, the opposite is true for the mills of the South. The amount of such labor in the Southern mills is unknown, but probably the estimate of 60,000 made by a representative of the National Child Labor Committee CONDITIONS OF CHILD LABOR 175 is not too large, although this number is more than twice the total number of children employed in these mills in 1900. A large percentage of these children are under fifteen years of age. In the Pennsylvania mine regions the number of boys at work has also increased very rapidly, owing to lax enforcement of law and the incursion of for- eigners who look with disfavor on the attempts to prevent their children from working. The recent exodus of silk mills from New Jersey to the anthracite regions of Penn- sylvania is partly due to the readiness of foreign girls to enter the mills. The fathers and sons are in the mines or breakers, and in order to give work to the daughters appro- priate mills must be built ! This achievement is accom- plished by bringing the mills from another state where child labor is less popular. 2. Territorial Distribution. The percentage of negro children at work is much larger than that of the whites, and since they live largely in the South the proportion of child labor in that locality is con- siderably augmented. Negroes, old and young, however, are found chiefly in the rural districts, and of the negro working children, 80 per cent are engaged in agriculture. Including all children in agricultural occupations, the South furnishes 60 per cent of the total child labor of this country. If agriculture is excluded, the chief incidence of child labor falls upon the North Atlantic states and the principal manufacturing states of the Middle West. Al- though Alabama has the largest number of children at work, the great majority of these are engaged in agricul- ture. On the other hand, Pennsylvania has considerably more than 100,000 children engaged in other than agricul- tural pursuits, and is followed by New York, Illinois, and Ohio, in the order given. In the North Atlantic states 68 per cent of the total child labor is in manufacturing, 176 CHILD PROBLEMS and trade and transportation, and 70 per cent of the female child labor is engaged in these occupations. In the South- ern states more than 80 per cent of the male, and nearly 70 per cent of the female child labor is in agriculture, but the amount of labor in manufacturing has rapidly increased since 1900. As certain child-employing industries are partly localized, the states in which these industries are located gain an unenviable reputation. Pennsylvania and New Jersey lead in the manufacture of silk, and the former state em- ploys more than one half of the children working in the silk mills of the United States. The coal industry of Penn- sylvania also employs about 60 per cent of the entire force of boys working in the coal mines of the country, and nearly one third of the child glassworkers belong to the same state. Many children are employed in the canning and preserving industry. Maryland and New York lead in this industry and employ large groups of children in the work of preparing the material for canning and preserving. 3. Age and Literacy. The one and three quarter millions of child laborers include all the workers between the ages of ten and sixteen years. Naturally the greatest concentration would be in the fourteenth and fifteenth years. 62 per cent of the entire number fall within these years ; thus leaving nearly 800,000 who are from ten to thirteen years of age. More than one half of the child workers on the farm are less than fourteen years of age, but the majority are merely assisting their parents. Negro children begin to work at an earlier age than do white children, nearly 60 per cent of them being less than fourteen. The great majority of all foreign-born children fifteen years of age are engaged in some gainful occupation. Of the children at work during the early years of life, native whites of native parents have CONDITIONS OF CHILD LABOR 177 a larger proportion than have other whites. On the other hand, they have a smaller proportion of child workers in the fourteenth and fifteenth years. These facts indicate that the children of American parentage have a greater desire for training than do the foreign born or their chil- dren. The age distribution of child workers in the various industries, excluding agriculture, is, according to the census of 1900, represented by the following table : — Age Group Number 10-15 years 688,207 377,389 186,366 10—14 years 10-13 years More than 300,000 of the entire group of children are fif- teen years of age, and only 27 per cent are less than four- teen years old. If the fifteenth birthday, however, is made the dividing line, it will be seen that 52 per cent of the total number are below this age. As many reformers advocate the establishment of fifteen as the minimum age limit, the importance of these numbers becomes apparent. In the industries other than agriculture we find several occupations in which a large percentage of children are employed who are only ten or eleven years of age. Among these, servants and waiters head the list, and workers in the cotton mills follow. Local investigations recently made into the ages of boys in the coal districts of Penn- sylvania have revealed the fact that a considerable num- ber of boys nine years of age and over were employed in and about the mines. In the South likewise many children under ten years of age have until recently been allowed to work in factories, and, owing to inadequate enforcement 178 CHILD PROBLEMS of the law, the percentage of children under twelve years is very large, but no accurate estimates of the total num- ber can be made. Investigations in the mill districts of the South show that many children now ten or twelve years of age began to work at seven. Small children not over six or seven years of age stay at the mills during the day and perhaps '' help " a little, but are not regular workers. Exemptions for orphans and children of dependent parents allow such children to work regardless of age, and many begin work in the factories while very young. In some states during the summer vacation the laws do not apply to all industries, and small children therefore engage in the exempted occupations. Little is known of the educational qualifications of the child who is at work, as no general investigation of this subject has as yet been made. About 30 per cent of all negro children from ten to fourteen years of age, however, are illiterate, and no doubt the ratio for those engaged in gainful occupations is still higher. In the Northern states the amount of illiteracy is small, but in the South nearly 10 per cent of all white children of the above ages are illit- erate. The proportion of illiteracy among the children in the cotton mills is undoubtedly much larger, since the major portion of the workers are secured from that class of the population which has not yet learned the value of education. A census of one mill showed that twenty- eight out of forty-one children were illiterate. The eager- ness of the foreign-born children throughout the entire United States to enter industry results in a low level of learning for this class, although the absolute iUiteracy is small. 4. Night Work of Children. One of the greatest abuses of child labor is night work. This, however, is rapidly diminishing. Overtime, which CONDITIONS OF CHILD LABOR 179 is often required of employees in factories and mercantile establishments, although much of it occurs at night, is some- what different in its essential characteristics. Overtime means a long day ; night work in its strict sense consists of a separate shift operating part or all of the night and leaving the individual free the remainder of the time. In some cases a part day and part night shift is operated. Night shifts in manufacturing establishments do not usually include children, but in at least two industries exceptions occur. In some of the glasshouses of Penn- sylvania boys work on a shift lasting eight and three quarters or nine hours and operating from about five in the afternoon until after two in the early morning. The usual plan is to require the boys to alternate between day and night shifts. During one week a set of boys work on the day shift ; during the next week they are required to engage in night work. The cotton industry has also re- quired regular night work of children. In nearly all North- ern states such work is now forbidden, but in the South until very recently many of the cotton mills operated night shifts for children. Temporarily, and it will be hoped permanently, such night shifts have been abandoned in every Southern state except North Carohna, where a num- ber of mills still employ children at night. In the cotton mills, unfortunately, very small children have been used at night, whereas in the Pennsylvania glasshouses few boys under fourteen years are actually employed during the midnight hours. Another group of occupations in which injurious night work is carried on is the street trades. The principal occupations are those of the newsboy and the messenger service. Both groups often carry on their work far into the night, and the newsboy is often on duty very early on Sunday mornings. Selling flowers and other small trinkets represents a minor form of the street trades. 180 CHILD PROBLEMS 5. Overtime. Overtime employment, even in the states where fairly acceptable child labor laws are in operation, still continues. The principal occupations in which overtime for children is required are the seasonal trades. On account of the necessity of doing the major portion of the year's work within a comparatively short time, these industries engage in overtime during a part of the year and operate on short time during the remainder. Among the trades in which children are largely represented and compelled to work overtime are : the paper-box industry, the confectionery trade, the canning and preserving of fruits and vegetables, artificial flower making, toy making, and, to a limited extent, the making of cotton and woolen goods. The period of overtime extends from a few days, as in some of the mercantile establishments, to three months, as in many candy factories. The amount of overtime is often excessive, and frequently children are employed thirteen or fourteen hours per day for three or four days per week. The majority of factories engaging in overtime limit themselves to not more than four nights per week. Although factories sometimes operate until ten o'clock, and in some instances on Sundays as well, the usual closing hour for overtime work is at or before nine p.m. In the cheaper stores in some cities the doors are not closed in the pre-Christmas season until very late in the evening — a limit of eleven-thirty p.m. having been recently reached in one large city ! 6. Home Work. Child labor in the home is one of the most injurious forms in which the evil manifests itself. It usually degenerates into labor in the poorest tenements and under the worst housing conditions. The practice is usually confined to CONDITIONS OF CHILD LABOR 181 the children of foreigners, especially Bohemians and Italians. The chief industries subject to this form of child labor are : artificial flower making, the making of white goods of various kinds, the clothing trade, and cigar and cigarette making. The chief evils of and difficulties in meeting this form of child labor are the following : — 1. Hours are almost invariably excessive, and the wages of the children are absurdly low. 2. Children of all ages from three to sixteen years have been found at work in these homes. 3. Manufacturing is carried on in unlicensed homes because inspection can never be adequate and therefore homes escape investigation. CHAPTER III physiological aspects of child labor 1. Importance of Physical Development. The bad effect upon bodily gro^vth and physiological development is one of the most important objections to child labor. Society must attempt to make the individual capable of self-support, and can not afford to incapacitate him by forcing him into premature employment. Death does not remove him as soon as he becomes a public charge, and the state must expend its energies to maintain him. The interests of society demand men and women of phys- ical vigor, therefore every effort should be made to develop the child into a strong, healthy person. In childhood the foundation is laid for strength, vigor, and general healthfulness. Activity is the keynote of this development, but this does not imply that the work of the factory will furnish the needed exercise. On the contrary, this is exactly what the factory fails to accom- plish. The vigorous man requires a symmetrical develop- ment, and this can be secured only by combining the use of all the five hundred muscles of the body. The self-chosen activities of the child are a better means of providing the necessary exercise than are the monotonous operations of the factory, and whatever interferes with his needed playtime, be it work, school, or sickness, handicaps him in his proper development. By means of play, exercise, out- door sports, and other similar activities, the child develops brain, nerves, and muscles, promotes a good circulation 182 PHYSIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF CHILD LABOR 183 of the blood, and compels nature to provide a strong and adequate physical structure. Industrial capacity depends upon this development. 2. Present Physical Requirements. The need of strong men and women in industry is greater than ever before. The domestic system did not sap the energies of men as does the strain of modern labor. Cer- tain diseases, such as apoplexy, heart disease, and Bright's disease, are increasing their proportion of fatalities, and extreme longevity is becoming less common. Further- more, the stress of the factory and workshop shortens the trade life of thousands of laborers, and provision must be made for them in their old age. After the age of forty- five the individual who has not established himself or who loses his position has extreme difficulty in again adjusting himself favorably in the industrial system. Some firms will not engage the services of any new man who has at- tained this age, although they will retain their own em- ployees. Voluntary pension systems are springing up to care for many in their old age, but in not a few cases the aged are asked to resign. A significant movement has recently taken place in teaching circles, and one large university has made sixty-five the age limit for its pro- fessors. Upon reaching this age they are expected to resign. The trade life of the ordinary worker, is, however, much shorter than that of those engaged in professional work, and the average child worker may be expected to join the former class of laborers. There is a large group of confessedly dangerous trades, besides many others, which slowly undermine the strength and vitality of the worker. The average physical requirements of to-day are therefore much higher in all industries than they for- merly were. The comparative inefficiency of the foreigner unaccustomed to the muscle-producing American foods emphasizes the need of physical vigor. 184 CHILD PROBLEMS 3. Effect of Premature Employment. During the period of its growth the body of the child is more or less plastic. This susceptibility to external impressions, and the long years of plasticity, make the highest development possible, or under untoward circum- stances may cause the individual's ruin. At the age of puberty the body undergoes a considerable transformation, and injuries often leave permanent effects. The boy is harmed by improper development, but the girl suffers more severely from the effects of unnatural activities at this period, and overstrain is especially dangerous. The muscles are easily affected at about the thirteenth year, as it is the period of their hardening, and excessive strain may produce a tension which will prove permanently injurious. The child may also become dwarfed or stunted ; if so, almost unlimited effort will be required to induce development in later years. The physical decline of the English people, which resulted in lower requirements for enlistment in the British army during the Boer War, is in large measure attributed to the former presence of child labor and to inferior housing conditions of large numbers of the English people. The seeds of child labor yield a harvest of physical degenerates. The working child tends to become anemic, and the various organs of his body receive insufficient nourishment. Muscles in certain parts of the body are over-developed ; while others, owing to their weakness and lack of exercise, fail to develop, and the child becomes deformed. Work, as carried on in mod- ern industry, can not perform the beneficent function of play. 4. Incidental Results of Child Labor. Certain specific conditions of child labor are specially harmful. The constant standing to which many children PHYSIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF CHILD LABOR 185 are subjected is often the cause of very injurious results. And in some industries girls are often compelled to stand for hours at a time — a tension which frequently is the cause of much harm. Besides acquiring flatfoot and placing excessive strain upon certain muscles, the girl frequently suffers from internal derangements. In the candy and paper-box factories, as well as in many textile mills, standing is common, while in stores small girls are almost invariably on their feet, although moving to and fro. The bundle wrappers often stand in one spot all day. Rest while at work depends upon a change in position and in the use of a new set of muscles so as to allow the wearied ones to recover from their fatigue. For this reason constant sitting is nearly as laborious and tiresome as the standing posture, and frequently involves a cramped position which injures the lungs and prevents the full and free development of the chest. The workers subjected to these conditions are very susceptible to the various lung diseases. The cramped position which constant sitting necessitates also tends to deform the growing child. 5. Unhealthful Occupations. Certain industries are by nature injurious to the worker and especially to the plastic child. Among these are cer- tain industries in which a large amount of dust is formed. The boys working in the breakers of our coal mines are continually compelled to breathe the black dust in which they are enveloped. In a short time their lungs are so jBlled with dust that they turn completely black, and the constant presence of this foreign substance undoubtedly interferes with the free function of the lungs and retards the full development of the child. Many stunted and unreasonably small boys are found at work in the coal regions of Pennsylvania. In the textile mills the lint and dust are noticeably 186 CHILD PROBLEMS injurious, and the best of mills can not entirely escape the presence of these substances. Artificial methods of allay- ing the dust and of minimizing the diffusion of lint through- out the air have accomplished much toward the creation of an unpolluted atmosphere, but mills should likewise refuse to employ small and young children. The cotton lint may be undiscernible in the air, but its presence is indicated by a deposit of the substance upon stationary objects. The air is breathed by the children, the lint pene- trates to the lungs, and can with difficulty be thrown off by them. Therefore the child is bound to suffer phj^sically from this admittedly injurious substance. The initial processes in the manufacture of goods from flax and hemp occasion a vast quantity of dust, and much of the pre- liminary work is done by children. Often the workers are surro.unded by a cloud of dust which irritates the throat and bronchial tubes. The wool dust is especially harmful, but recent industrial improvements have greatly dimin- ished its deleterious consequences in the better grade of mills. The dust of the tobacco leaf is injurious, because it contains a poisonous substance. A large number of children are found in tobacco factories in the North and the South, and the occupations pursued require the con- stant breathing of this poisonous fume. The principal effects of the dust on the child are the development of nervous affections and of nausea, the latter condition re- sulting more frequently among girls than among boys. A predisposition to disease is also developed, and even adults suffer from the effects of work in tobacco factories, many of which are most unsanitary. This is especially true of the smaller shops where the under-aged child is so frequently found. Injurious dusts are common in mills of various kinds, and in all cases the child suffers more severely than the adult worker because of physical im- maturity. PHYSIOLOGICAL^ ASPECTS OF CHILD LABOR 187 Rapid variations in temperature produce baneful con- sequences. Such changes are common in the glasshouses, in which boys are frequently employed. Some of the boys work close by the furnaces, and are continually subjected to the fierce heat, while others run to and fro and thus alternate between currents of hot and moderate air. The excessive heat, the cooler air, and the drafts, combine to undermine the health of the boys. In some factories, such as confectionery establishments, certain rooms are heated or cooled to specifically required temperatures and the child does his work at that constant temperature. The cool rooms are the more unhealthful, as the girl employed does not usually exercise the necessary precautions re- quired to protect her against the cold; and the change from one level of temperature to another is likewise fraught with dangers. Many textile mills are overheated and pro- duce debilitating effects, and the majority of laundries are necessarily warmer than the outside air. Children can not escape the heat of the laundry, and the dislike of many employees to allow the drafts to handicap them in their work often results in insufl^cient ventilation. In the summer months frequent faintings occur on account of the heat, both children and young women suffering from this misfortune. Fans and ventilators in the better class of laundries now diminish the harmful effects of excessive heat. Over-exertion in the heat of glasshouses or laun- dries is an especial danger of the summer months, and many laundries operate a longer day during the summer than during the cooler months. Moisture is another cause of physical discomfort. Dr. Sewall, in her investigations, found barefooted girls in some of the flax-spinning rooms, while in others the girls wore rubbers to protect themselves from the wet floors.^ In 1 Child Labor in the United States. Bulletin U. S. Bureau of Labor, No. 52. 188 CHILD PROBLEMS bleacheries, half-naked boys were trampling cloth in deep vats, and in the bottling department of one brewery the boys wore rubber boots. In another, wooden shoes were used. In some laundries the moisture is drawn off by means of hoods, and thus the bad effect of steam is miti- gated. Aside from the tobacco industry, few children are en- gaged in occupations bringing them in contact with very poisonous substances. The extreme susceptibility of the child to such substances has generally kept child labor from these industries. In dye-houses or in establishments where dyeing forms one of the occupations boys are occasionally found. Here they are required to use coloring matter of various kinds for artificial flowers, and for certain pro- cesses in textile mills. In some enameling works the use of lead is an unhealthful element. Varnish and paint also injure the young child. In many trades children suffer severely from accidents resulting from their natural care- lessness. It is true that many times children do not appear to be injured from factory life, but are nevertheless physi- cally affected and later reap the results. 6. Effect of Night Work. The physiological disadvantage of night work is far greater than that of employment during the day. This applies especially to indoor work, although night work in the street trades is also a cause of physical depletion. The night work which takes the form of overtime is harm- ful because of the long hours which are usually involved. In this case the injurious effects are serious because recov- ery from extreme exhaustion is proportionally more diffi- cult than from ordinary weariness. The bad effect of long hours is cumulative. The first obstacle which the night worker encounters is the difficulty of habituating himself to the unnatural change. Night work is not in accordance , PHYSIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF CHILD LABOR 189 with the wish of nature, and the individual profits best by- using the night for purposes of sleep. Daylight does not lend itself to efficient rest. The air is full of noises, and boys can not entirely isolate themselves from all disturbing factors. Because they can not sleep they are out again by noon engaged in play or sport. Some time must elapse before the child can train himself to sleep sufficiently during the day to meet his needs. Where the same child alter- nates weekly between day and night shifts, as he does in some Pennsylvania glasshouses, time is not given to adjust himself to the ever-changing conditions. Therefore his physical energy is slowly sapped, and injurious results follow. Night work also invariably involves the use of artificial light, and confinement to its use is measurably harmful. The custom in some factories of operating only part of the night results in turning the factory hands out in the very middle of the night, and the change for the young boys is often distinctly unfavorable. The child who works at night is generally less efficient than the child who works an equal number of hours during the daytime. This inefficiency is a sign of physical injury. The abandon- ment of night work by many manufacturing establishments is in part due to the recognition of its inherent disadvan- tages, and the enactment of laws forbidding child labor in the factories at night is a further indication of this point of view. 7. Resume. The emphasis which is being increasingly placed upon good physique, and the growing need of this qualification, demonstrates the importance of the consideration of the physiological effects of child labor. For in this phase of the problem lies much of the rationale of stringent child labor laws. Premature employment during the day or employment at night paves the way for those physical 190 CHILD PROBLEMS disabilities which result in an early incapacity for self- support, or in excesses of divers kinds which hasten the breakdown of the individual. The conservation of energy and the production of the best types of physical vigor are inexorably necessary in the complicated civihzation of to- day. Both economic and social conditions require high standards of physique, and the following summary of the physiological effects of child labor will indicate the various results which must be prevented if we are to retain a vig- orous manhood and womanhood. 1. Physical development is retarded or entirely stopped. 2. The muscles remain weak, anemic conditions ensue, and nervous excitability results. 3. Cramping leads to tuberculosis or insufficient chest development. 4. Certain postures produce lateral curvature of the spine. 5. Pelvic disorders occur among the girls who are sub- jected to constant standing. 6. Slow devitalization follows the inhalation of poisonous substances. 7. The child does not develop symmetrically, and de- formities follow. 8. In night work all the bad conditions of the day are aggravated. CHAPTER IV general effects op child labor 1. Introduction. The original opposition to child labor was largely based on humanitarian motives. The horrible conditions which formerly prevailed finally determined sympathetic men to abolish the atrocious system. The economists at first opposed its abolition on account of the reputed detriment to the industries affected, but later they discovered an economic justification for such legislation. This evolution first took place in England, but in the United States an almost similar development occurred. Here the original attitude toward child labor was the exact opposite of the one held to-day. When our manufacturing enterprises began to spring up in the Eastern states, it was generally believed that industry could be made more productive and children more useful by their employment in gainful occupations, especially in the manufacture of textiles. The cotton and woolen mills therefore soon began to swarm with little children called from the farms and small towns of New England. The wages received were absurdly low, but this agreeable desideratum made the business more profitable to the capitalist ! In 1812 many children were employed at less than a half dollar per week, but by 1832 boys in the cotton mills commonly received $1.75 for a week's work. Our legislators were more interested in the needs of industry than in those of the child; there- fore they directly encouraged child labor. 191 192 CHILD PROBLEMS The labor of the child under the domestic system differed essentially from present labor in the factory or in the tene- ments, but this contrast was not appreciated by the early economists or the American statesmen of the beginning of the nineteenth century. The requisites for economic survival were likewise different then from the requisites of to-day and child labor was less detrimental in its social effects. A strong impetus was therefore given to the em- ploynient of children wherever they could be used. Com- pulsory education had not yet dawned, and women were denied the opportunity of acquiring any considerable de- gree of learning. Consequently no impelling motive existed to prevent the child from entering some gainful occupation. Changing social standards have now awakened the Amer- ican people to the seriousness of the child labor problem. 2. Economic Cost of Child Labor. The economic disadvantage of child labor is self-evident, consequently the subject only needs elaboration along certain lines. One of the direct economic effects of child labor is a shortening of the period of trade life, owing to the physical depletion which results from premature labor in factories and insanitary workshops. As has been shown in another chapter, the present conditions of industry are such that the boy who begins to work at an early age will be unable to endure the strain of industry as long as the child not subjected to premature toil. It is important, therefore, that such precautionary measures be taken as will offer the greatest opportunity for an extension by every individual of his industrial career. Child labor draws prematurely upon our economic assets, and thus diminishes the amount of available labor power. By employing the labor before it is mature an earlier yield upon the investment will be realized, but the human being will be exhausted so much sooner that great harm will have been done and the GENERAL EFFECTS OF CHILD LABOR 193 total trade life will be actually shorter. The economic loss caused by this handicap depends upon two results : the death of the child or of the worker in middle life, or the disablement of the child through accident, which may cause partial or total incapacity for work. The mortality of children in a number of industries, such as cotton and glass manufacture, is too high, and obviously is caused in part by their employment, although precise statistics on the subject have not yet been collaborated. The economic loss due to a higher mortality can not be replaced. Accident as an economic cost is receiving greater attention as the appalling loss of human life in industry is becoming better known. The child is more prone to accidents than the adult, and will suffer even in industries regarded as comparatively safe. Young boys and girls are naturally careless, and are frequently the victims of accidents which maim them for life and lessen their economic capacity. The accident rate for girls has been shown to be especially high. Children are allowed or compelled to tend machines requiring the utmost care of the adult operator, and serious injury becomes almost inevitable. The danger is often the greatest for the very class least capable of declining to accept hazardous employment. Several states, includ- ing Illinois and Missouri, have enacted laws forbidding the employment of children in certain occupations in which danger from accidents is considerable. Few states, how- ever, have enacted other than general laws prohibiting the employment of children in dangerous occupations. Unless the industries are specified, such laws have but little value. The general physiological effects of premature employ- ment all operate to lessen the economic efficiency of the individual. These effects, as has been shown, may be of a varied character. Whether they result in deformity, stunted physique, weak internal organs, or in some other 194 CHILD PROBLEMS defect, the result is uniform — a loss of capacity for work and an early retirement from the industrial field. An- other economic effect of child labor is the low eflaciency of the child owing to a failure to receive proper training and education. The child necessarily enters industry without having acquired a trade education. He there- fore joins the ranks of unskilled labor. He may be re- quired to perform the routine work of a very simple occu- pation in which he may acquire remarkable skill and dexterity. If he has patience, and the monotony is not too oppressive, he may be successful for a time, but his specialization is so extreme that no other employments are open to him in case of sudden dismissal from his occu- pation. Child labor therefore promotes a division of labor which under our present system has already been carried too far for the best interests of the working classes. Child labor means untrained and unstable labor. Mo- notonous work and extreme speciahzation are inherently contrary to the natural and spontaneous activities of the child. Unless some superior coercive force — a parent's insistence, the absolute needs of the child, or some similar force — compels him, he will not remain in the same position for more than a very short period. The young child belongs to the floating class of workers, and this is especially true of the boy. Yet his need of a definite trade is more urgent than that of the young girl, whose entire industrial career, owing to marriage and subsequent retire- ment from industry, is limited to about five years. The untrained child can not know his own mind, so simply drifts along until dire necessity forces him to begin to con- centrate his efforts on a single industry. Meanwhile he has lost several years of time, and his opportunity for an education is gone. Therefore he soon reaches the limit of his earning capacity, and does not contribute to society the values which would be expected from him if he were GENERAL EFFECTS OF CHILD LABOR 195 trained. Investigations in Massachusetts and also in sev- eral large cities indicate that the untrained child suffers an enormous handicap. Although for a short time he may outstrip his trained associate in earning power, this ad- vantage is quickly lost. The latter may gain an indefinite increase of wages or salary, but the former must always remain among the wage-earning classes. The net result of the entrance of children into industry is a positive cur- tailment of the wealth-producing power of the nation. 3. Social Costs. The social consequences of premature employment can not be measured in any material form, but are never- theless a serious menace to our national welfare. Child labor hardens the successful child laborer to the evils of the system. Accordingly the very men who should be strong- est in their advocacy of progressive laws are precisely the men who look backward and do not struggle for the interests of the child of to-day. Child labor, however, oppresses the great majority of working children, and, while an ad- vantage to the few, is a great social waste. Society suffers because the individuals subjected to child labor cannot reaHze the full amplitude of their powers. Not only is the loss occasioned an economic disadvantage, but race deterioration is threatened. In addition, the child has no opportunity to develop his full mental powers. A loss results to him in the limitation of his social opportunities and to society in its failure to receive the best contribution of which the child would have been capable. Child labor debars the individual from acquiring an adequate education, and thus handicaps him in his effi- ciency as a citizen. Many working .children are illiterate ; others have so little education that almost no advantage can result. The demands of the state are becoming in- creasingly urgent, and every reasonable effort should be 196 CHILD PROBLEMS made to equip every boy and girl for the duties of citizen^ ship. Successful citizenship requires intelligent appli- cation of the powers which education develops in the individual. Child labor is a serious bar to this achieve- ment. The usefulness of the American citizen is achieved only by time and education. Unfitness for the social and political life of to-day therefore follows in the wake of child labor, and the citizenship of our country is thereby endangered. Few child workers, when grown, attain to positions of prominence or become factors in directing our civilization. Incapacity relegates them to the lower classes. The curtailment of the earning power of the individual on account of the handicap which child labor imposes results in a relative incapacity to rise in the scale of living. Thus the problem of poverty is accentuated, standards of living fail to rise, and the dependent classes increase in numbers. Without the needed moral, industrial, and trade education, the young worker likewise is unable to use adequate foresight, he can not cooperate so successfully with others, and the benefits accruing from organized labor can not be fully realized. 4. Moral Effects. The demoralizing effects of child labor depend largely upon the baneful influence of night work and that of the street trades. The direct consequences of work in the stores and factories are less patent unless such work is carried on for an unreasonable number of hours. The morals imparted by the street trades should emphatically condemn the use of children as street venders ; yet these trades have been the most successful ones in their resistance of preventive legislation. The small boy selling papers on the streets easily degenerates into the beggar, especially if he plies his trade at night when his artifices meet with GENERAL EFFECTS OF CHILD LABOR 197 a greater degree of success. Both practice in begging and in methods of deceit tend to demoralize him and prepare him for the juvenile court. Investigation has shown that a vast majority of the newsboys are not compelled to enter industry to maintain a Hvehhood, but do so because of the attractions and adventures of the business.' Demorahza- tion, therefore, is easy and rapid. Both the newsboy and the messenger boy are particularly exposed to the seduc- tions of vice. The associations of the bad men of the street are pernicious and induce immoral habits and even sexual vice, but the influences of the saloon and the houses of prostitution are doubly vicious in their power to deprave the child. In many cities the newsboy does not hesitate to enter saloons in the pursuit of his trade, and frequently he visits the haunts of vice and himself becomes infected with serious disease. In a large parental school, it was recently ascertained that of the newsboys who were in- mates, one third were suffering from disease caused by immorality. Also that the newsboy was considerably below the normal standards of stature and weight. In another large institution for delinquent children, the newsboys form 40 per cent of all the boys who had pre- viously been gainfully employed. The boys make the acquaintance of bad women, they become steeled to de- grading sights, and are often thoroughly trained for a career of vice. Employees in the messenger service are specially subject to the pernicious influences of the immoral districts of the city. They are often compelled to deliver messages at un- reasonable hours and in localities which are clearly de- moralizing, and they therefore form close associations with vice. There is a large percentage of juvenile delinquency among the members of the messenger service, and in at least one prominent reformatory for boys the representa- tives of this trade outnumber those of any other occupa- 198 CHILD PROBLEMS tion. The girl employed in this service suffers from the greatest moral temptations, but the recognition of this fact has prompted several states to prohibit such employment of girls unless they are at least eighteen years of age. In some states similar attempts to save the boys have been made by prohibiting them from entering any questionable resort to which they may be compelled to carry messages. The latter provision, however, has little deterring power. The street trades also lend themselves to the oppor- tunity for gaming, and a number of games which develop the gambling habit are very popular. The newsboy enjoys a large amount of leisure, and therefore is an active par- ticipant in these questionable games. Shooting craps, throwing dice, and even policy playing, are some of the games which develop the gambling instinct in the boys of the street. The pennies which fall into their hands through the work of the day are often lost again by their unsuccessful contest in the petty gambling in which they engage. This loss, however, is less serious than the per- manent injury to their character and the inculcation of the baser instincts. Some of the street trades are an efficient cause of truancy, and wherever truancy laws are not properly enforced the street trades become a refuge for the wayward boy. Tru- ancy and these trades are complementary activities. The truant deceives by entering one of these occupations, oping thus to escape the compulsion of the schoolroom, and the devotee of the street becomes irregular in school attendance or habitually practices truancy. Such irregu- larity unfits the boy for concentrated efforts in any legiti- mate fine. The reputed demands of his trade enable the newsboy to assume a certain unwholesome air of inde- pendence, which, if persisted in, leads to morally injurious consequences. This tends to lessen the control of parents over their children, but a relaxation of such control makes GENERAL EFFECTS OF CHILD LABOR 199 the recovery of parental authority well-nigh impossible. Consequently we witness a growing number of incorrigible and disorderly children. These forms of child labor are not entirely responsible for this growing evil, but are a large factor in its development. The street trades leave the child with little or no direct supervision by his employers, yet no working child can develop morally and spiritually in a satisfactory manner unless he is subjected to right discipline. The newsboy, however, frequently operates under the immediate control of overseers, whose influence can hardly be uplifting. If the parent loses control, the boy in the street trades practically escapes moral discipline. In this respect the boy or girl in factory or workshop has an immense advantage because the restraints imposed by employers are rigid and certainly tend to induce regularity, industry, and obedience. Night work in factories has several important moral consequences. The discipline of the factory or of the store tends to greater leniency at night and therefore the children will be more given to excesses. A factory in- spector in a prominent state claims that the behavior of children in factories at night is noticeably worse than during the day. The long hours of the child make him restless, and the different conditions at night urge him to throw off restraints, and hence demoralizing tendencies follow. Night work in the glasshouses undoubtedly has an injurious effect upon the boys. Contact with adult workers tends to become demoralizing, but the tendency is more marked at night. Smoking and drinking habits are formed by the boys, and profanity is acquired. The child on the street at midnight, whether a newsboy or a factory employee on his way to or from work, can hardly escape moral degradation. The moral danger of night work to girls consists chiefly in the pernicious contacts with the baser elements of the street. The sensibilities are easily 200 CHILD PROBLEMS blunted by the environment which the street creates for the working girl. A pretty as well as useful custom among many Italians requires that the Italian girls, if compelled to remain at work after nightfall, shall not be allowed to pass through the streets without a companion or chaperone. In practice this custom enables them to evade the teasing and bantering to which the lone girl or group of girls are subjected when on the streets at night. These insults to girls are common, even to those who are quietly return- ing to their homes. In the early morning the young girl must run the gauntlet of curious eyes and provoking familiarities. Girls need to be saved from this danger of the street, but the continuation of overtime or the use of night work renders this quite impossible. Although not necessarily a cause of juvenile delinquency, it does weaken the moral strength of the individuaL In extenuation of the moral effects of child labor it can justly be urged that in some cases at least the child has been taken from a bad street environment and placed under discipline in the factory. Child labor is a school, however, to this extent only — it may occasionally put a child where degrading influences are less aggressive. Even this slight extenuation can not in any sense apply to the street trades. Society should not allow either the opportunity for mischievous associations, or the child labor which sometimes becomes the substitute. More edu- cation, more parks and playgrounds, and better homes, not more child labor, are the remedies for the bad influences of the street. CHAPTER V child labor legislation 1. Evolution of Legislation. A perfect child labor law is only a theoretical possibility. In a djmamic society no absolute adjustment to conditions can be made. A law must therefore be suitably revised from time to time to meet the new conditions that arise. The recent industrial history of England and of the United States illustrates this' fact, for the laws of to-day are so radi- cal that they could not even have been considered fifty years ago. Yet few, if any, American child labor laws are really socially adequate at the present time. The increasing complexity of our social relations, the changing requisites for social and industrial survival, and the ethical necessity of an adaptation to the needs of the present de- mand a rapid evolution in appropriate legislation. Exist- ing laws will probably be considered quite inadquate within a shorter time than has elapsed since serious at- tempts to enact child labor laws at all were first made. 2. Agencies Supporting Legislation. The majority of the recent child labor laws of the dif- ferent states have been enacted since 1895. Before that time the principal legislation against the employment of children related to certain dangerous and immoral occupa- tions. In point of time we have lagged far behind Great Britain, but our progress has been more rapid, and some of our states now have excellent laws. The rapid develop- 201 202 CHILD PROBLEMS ment of industry has accentuated the problem, conse- quently private organizations have advocated a program of good legislation and with favorable results. The most capable societies of this kind have been the child labor committees. The National Child Labor Committee was organized in 1904 and has carried its propaganda into every state in which the problem has assumed a menacing aspect. Its work consists of investigating the conditions of child labor, of educating the pubUc through pamphlets, public addresses, etc., and of trying to secure child labor legislation, especially in the states most in need of better laws. In many of the states local child labor committees assist the national organization in its untiring fight for better legislation. Much of the recent progress is due to the efforts of these private societies. Good legislation has been fostered by other agencies, notably labor unions, women's trade union leagues, con- sumers^ leagues, women's clubs of various kinds, mis- cellaneous associations, and state labor bureaus. The consumers' leagues of the United States through their method of organizing consumers and of insisting on the manufacture and sale of products under good labor condi- tions can be made a powerful factor in raising the standards of public opinion. State labor bureaus have in a number of instances drafted bills for presentation to the state legislatures, and have had considerable success in securing their passage. Unfortunately they have not always stood for the best and most modem legislation, and therefore the results of their efforts have not been sufficiently favorable. Even the manufacturers have in several cases passed resolutions favoring some restrictions of child labor, and have thus imposed higher standards upon themselves, The creation of sentiment and the enactment of satisfac- tory child labor laws depend largely upon the work of or- ganizations specially interested in children. CHILD LABOR LEGISLATION 203 3. Uniformity of Laws. A serious handicap to adequate legislation in the United States is the right of each state to enact its own child labor laws. A great variety of laws has been the natural con- sequence. This enables the employers affected by pro- posed legislation to threaten to abandon the states in which their establishments are located and to continue business elsewhere. State selfishness and the desire to build up local interests are forces of such magnitude that the state hesitates to enact legislation which may drive capital from within its borders. With free trade among our states, uniform laws are necessary to render industry stable. So far each state has acted independently, hence child labor laws have not been highly effective. The federal government has been negligent in its legis- lation against child labor. It has supreme control of the territories and the District of Columbia, and has recently enacted an inferior child labor law for the latter. The government should have passed a model law which the states could advantageously copy. The prohibition of child labor in the states by the federal government may be unconstitutional, at least all efforts to accompHsh such legislation have failed. A bill introduced in the Fifty-ninth Congress provided that interstate commerce in products in the manufacture of which children under fourteen years of age participated should be illegal. Had this measure passed and been sustained by our courts as constitutional, it would at once have secured a large degree of uniformity of child labor conditions throughout the United States, and the baclcward states would have been compelled to raise their age limits for the employment of children. Other methods for securing uniformity are interstate child labor conferences. Such conferences, however, can only recommend, and the different states may utterly 204 CHILD PROBLEMS ignore the sentiments of such a congress. The reform forces are seldom united, while the opponents of good legislation usually act in perfect unison with each other. The education of the people to a realization of what con- stitutes proper standards is necessary to establish uniform legislation. The pressure of opinion can then be exerted in the states requiring better laws, and eventually a fair degree of uniformity can be obtained. 4. A Model Law. A model child labor law for all time can not be proposed. Although laws should be subject to revision when occasion demands, several important requisites are fundamental to an acceptable law. Among these are : first, the law must be clear and distinct in its meaning, so as to permit of but one interpretation. Confusion in this respect is often a ground for its non-enforcement. Second, enforceability is basic. Unless the law can be applied in an expedient manner and properly enforced, its very presence on the statute books may prove harmful. Third, the law must conform to the requirements of the social interests which are involved. A new plane of ideals will have been estab- lished, and the ethical progress evidenced in the law can then be generalized. The critical sections of a child labor law relate to the questions of : number of hours of work per day and week, the age limits, night work, methods of securing certificates, previous education required, and the provisions for enforcement. A child labor law should be comprehensive and cover employment in all factories, workshops, mercantile establishments, laundries, hotels, restaurants, and the telegraph and messenger service, as well as in the sale of newspapers. Agricultural labor may be omitted in so far as such labor does not interfere with appropriate compulsory education laws. The laws most nearly approximating a model child CHILD LABOR LEGISLATION 205 labor law are found in New York and Illinois. On the other hand, the most unsatisfactory laws are those of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Alabama. In the North, Pennsylvania still fails to meet reasonable require- ments. 5. Hours of Labor. In several states, notably New York and Illinois, the hours of work in factories are limited to eight per day or forty-eight per week. In New York the work must fall between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., and the law there- fore enjoys the advantage of effective enforceability. In Illinois the eight hours of work inay occur any time between 7 A.M. and 7 p.m. When such leeway is allowed, enforce- ment of law becomes difficult, and all employers should be required to post the exact hours when children are expected to work, and also to furnish the bureau of factory inspection with similar information. Then if any child is found at work at some time other than that indicated in the schedule, a violation of law is to be presumed. In several Western states, child labor in the mines is limited to eight hours per day, but in Colorado the law applies to factories and stores as well. Only a few states have established a nine-hour day for children, and the majority of laws allow ten hours as a standard day. This does not in all cases imply a sixty- hour week, for several New England states allow only fifty-eight, while New Jersey permits but fifty-five. The state of North Carolina allows children to work twelve hours per day and sixty-six per week, and stands at the foot of the series of states having regulations on this sub- ject. Pennsylvania also allows a twelve-hour day, but its weekly limit of sixty hours either results in uniform days of shorter length or in an alternation of long and short days. In a number of states a distinction is made 206 CHILD PROBLEMS between manufacturing and mercantile establishments, longer or unlimited hours being allowed in the latter. No working child should be allowed to labor more than eight hours per day, nor more than forty-eight hours per week, and both limitations should be specified in order that Sun- day labor may be aboHshed. Some industries operate seven days per week, but society should permit no child to be overworked in this manner. 6. Night Work. Night work can hardly be prevented unless a closing hour is set. In factories and mercantile establishments no children should be allowed to work later than 7 p.m. In the industries exempted from child labor laws a con- siderable amount of night work prevails. In Alabama night work of children between thirteen and sixteen years of age is permitted by law, but restricted to forty-eight hours per week. Several states allow night work for chil- dren over fourteen. At present night work is specifically prohibited in twenty-three states, but the age limit varies, although in the majority of cases it is sixteen. The legal efforts to abolish night work of children in the glasshouses of Pennsylvania have failed. Six states prohibit night work in factories before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m. for children under sixteen, and in several cases the law applies to all gainful occupations, except agriculture and the street trades. Five additional ones have similar regulations for children under fourteen. In nearly all of the remaining states where closing hours are limited by laws, an un- necessarily late hour is allowed, some states setting the limit at ten o'clock. Night work in the messenger service and the newsboys' trade is almost unrestricted, but should be limited to 8 p.m for all children under sixteen years of age. Under present conditions actual night work is most common in the street trades and the seasonal industries. CHILD LABOR LEGISLATION 207 7. Age Limits. The history of child labor legislation shows that the age limits of the working child have gradually been raised. When England first agitated the problem, little children not more than five years of age were found in her factories. In certain canning factories in New York and in parts of the South children not more than six or seven years of age have until recently been used in industry, although not appearing on the pay-rolls. The minimum age limit for working children must vary from time to time and must depend upon existing social and industrial conditions. Most American child labor laws have adopted the four- teenth year as a proper age limit, and this should be the minimum requirement for a model law. In a number of Southern states a minimum age limit of twelve years is allowed. The practice in some states of allowing children of twelve to enter certain occupations during the summer vacation is probably justifiable. Poverty exemptions such as those allowed in South Carolina, Arkansas, Mis- souri, and Alabama, where children under twelve years of age may be employed in case of dependent parents are an infringement upon the rights of children. Under certain conditions newsboys twelve years of age or over should be allowed to sell papers, but such employment must not interfere with the educational requirements of the law. In the near future the minimum working age should be raised to fifteen years. At present no children between the ages of fourteen and sixteen should be allowed to enter manu- facturing or mercantile establishments without having first secured a working certificate. There is a growing ten- dency to prohibit children under sixteen from entering dangerous occupations, including mining, and to exclude the ilHterate child from gainful emplojmient. 208 CHILD PROBLEMS 8. Working Papers. The purpose of requiring all children between fourteen and sixteen years of age to obtain working papers is to guard against the admission of applicants who are not socially justified in beginning a career as wage-earners. Without certain prerequisites no child should be granted a permit to work. Such a permit should contain satis- factory evidence in regard to the age, education, and phys- ical qualifications of the child. Proof of age should depend largely upon certificates of birth and baptism, supplemented by the records of the school which the applicant has at- tended. The statement of the parent is not sufficient in itself, as perjury is not uncommon in the localities where only the aflidavit of parents is necessary to obtain certifi- cates. In such places a sort of traffic in working papers is carried on. Often the same paper descends from one member of the family to another. Children frequently lie about their ages, having been carefully coached either by their parents or by their employers. No matter how small the boy or how tiny the girl, on inquiry the inter- rogator learns that the child is fourteen years of age ! In thirteen states the affidavit of the parent is accepted as sufficient evidence of the age of the child. North Carofina merely provides that the parent shall furnish the estabhsh- ment with a written statement of the age of the child and a certificate of school attendance, four months of schooling in the previous twelve months being also required. Apart from the affidavit system, several methods of granting working papers are in operation in the different states. The certificates may be granted by the school authorities, by factory inspectors, by boards of health, or by judges of county, municipal, or juvenile courts. Fourteen of the eighteen states which require written proof of the age of the child place the duty of granting CHILD LABOR LEGISLATION 209 certificates in the hands of the school authorities. The very efficient laws of Illinois and Massachusetts make this provision. School records are usually faithful and re- liable sources of information, although the direct record of the birth of the child, if that can be procured, is a still safer proof of age. In New York the papers must be signed by an official of the board of health, who shall not approve them imless a properly signed school record of the child has been filed, as well as a record of his birth or baptism. In default of the latter the affidavit of the parent is re- quired. This complex system makes the issuing of papers to under-aged children almost impossible. In several states, including Wisconsin and Missouri, the factory inspectors issue the certificates, and in these two states very successful work has been accomplished. On the other hand, the poHcy of allowing judges or magistrates to grant certificates has met with considerable objection. The examination of the documentary evidence is usually less thorough if papers are procured in this way. As the physical effects of premature child labor furnish one of the fundamental bases of child labor laws, no child should be given a working certificate unless his health and physical requirements are satisfactory. Unless he has the normal weight and stature of persons between fourteen and sixteen years of age, papers should be refused. The health department should be authorized to decide upon the physical fitness of all appHcants for working papers. New York and Ohio follow this plan. In some cases this work can be done by the physicians of the board of educa- tion. In some states the child only requires a medical certificate. In others no physical tests are made. 9. Educational Requikements. A compulsory education law is the best preventive of premature child labor, but the great majority of states 210 CHILD PROBLEMS have not correlated their compulsory education and child labor laws. There are two types of educational require- ments affecting the working child : first, direct compulsory education within certain age limits. This requirement merely emphasizes the time spent in school, and after a child has passed the upper age limit, he may enter indus- try without further educational examination. Unfor- tunately a large number of states do not require a sufficient annual attendance to insure the child of working age a reasonable education. In order that dependent children may have a chance to support themselves some states excuse them from school attendance. A second type of educational requirement is a provision of law requiring all children before they enter industry to have acquired a certain amount of education. The state of Washington requires the child to have completed the eight years' course of the elementary school, but lacks the machinery of enforcement. Other states require the completion of a specified course in which is included a knowledge of grammar, geography, and a certain advance in the elements of arithmetic. New York exemplifies this type of legislation. It practically provides that the child shall have completed the fifth grade of the school curriculum. Another group of states simply provides that the child shall have attended school for a specified time before he may receive working papers, and a few require the child to attend school during the period of employment. In some cities children are expected to attend the night schools, but exemptions from this requirement are allowed in some instances. A knowledge of the English language is absolutely es- sential to every child. The educational requirement of working children should be not less than the completion of the standard sixth grade work. As our educational system becomes more rational, and a more satisfactory CHILD LABOR LEGISLATION 211 adaptation to present conditions is secured, an eighth grade training should be required of all children. 10. Dangerous Trades. A number of industries are relatively more dangerous than others, and from these in some states children are excluded by law. No child under sixteen years of age should be allowed to enter any occupation which is dan- gerous to the life, limb, health, or morals of such child. The moral and physiological plasticity of the child is a source of danger when exposure to bad conditions takes place, and certain trades should therefore be specifically forbidden to all persons below the age indicated. Among such trades are the following groups : first, occupations in which dangerous machinery is used, for the young boy or girl is much more liable to serious accident on account of the absence of caution and judgment. Second, occupations which require the use of poisonous acids, paints, colors, or injurious chemicals, such as white lead, phosphorus, and others. Third, occupations which place the safety and security of others in the hands of the worker, for ex- ample, the operation of passenger elevators, and equally important occupations connected with the mining industry. Fourth, occupations which are likely to affect the morals of the child. The liquor trade, occupations that occasion contact with houses of ill fame, and the manufacture of goods produced for immoral purposes, are included in this category. Fifth, occupations which are considered un- healthful. The ordinary blanket laws, which refer to all unhealthful occupations without specifying the particular occupation or industry, have no value whatsoever, and are not enforced. The physical welfare of children demands effective laws on this subject. Our legislation should therefore be patterned after the English law, which places power in the hands of the proper officials to determine 212 CHILD PROBLEMS whether an occupation is dangerous or not. Furthermore, each state should provide one or more medical inspectors whose sole duty should be to ascertain whether certain industries are not inimical to the employment of children under sixteen years of age. Such industries should be added to the Hst from which children are excluded. 11. Industries Exempted. Usually child labor laws have not been applied to certain industries, of which, owing to its peculiar conditions, agri- culture is the most conspicuous example. The reasons for its exemption are so valid that they need no further discussion. A most serious factor in industry is the prob- lem of perishable goods. These include various fruits and vegetables in preparation for preserving and canning, certain kinds of confectionery, fresh oysters, and other products of minor importance. The canning and preserv- ing industry, however, is the chief manufacturing indus- try which in many states is granted exemption from the provisions of the law. This is partly on account of the agricultural connections, but largely because of the perish- able nature of the products. The New York child labor law has, through the decision of the attorney-general of the state, been so modified as practically to exclude this industry from its operation. It was ruled that the law did not apply to the sheds where the preparatory work is largely done and where child labor is chiefly carried on. The result has been leniency in enforcement of law in those cases to which it does apply. English experience shows that insistence on the regulation of seasonal industries has resulted in a most remarkable degree of conformity to the limitations imposed. Many of the long hours and much of the night work were found unnecessary. In the United States the right to work unlimited hours in the canning and preserving industry has been abused, CHILD LABOR LEGISLATION 213 and more stringent legislation is needed. Whatever be the regulations in regard to adult labor, child labor should at least be carefully restricted by law. A large group of industries are seasonal in their nature, and the goods produced are commercially perishable if not subject to phys- ical deterioration. The exemption of one industry tends to open the way for the escape of others. Law, however, should attempt to render industry more stable ; besides, the interests of the child must not be sacrificed. A large group of the states do not include retail stores among the industries in which child labor is prohibited. In the small towns this is hardly a problem, but in the large cities much exploitation of children is possible if restrain- ing laws do not exist. Many stores are open one or more evenings per week, and consequently children are forced to work long hours on certain days, especially on Saturdays. The states which do not include these establishments do not all insist on conformity to the laws throughout the year, but several of them allow overtime or late hours for a definite period shortly before Christmas. Four states make exemptions for the Christmas season. The number of days on which the law is suspended varies from four to twenty. This is precisely the time of the year when chil- dren in mercantile establishments are subjected to the most exhausting work and are in special need of shorter hours. Many young girls collapse during this season, and conse- quently lose a portion of their working time. Under no conditions should the child labor law be suspended during the holiday season. The health of the child is more im- portant than the amount of holiday sales ; furthermore early shopping should make long hours during the rush season unnecessary. With only a few exceptions the street trades have escaped legislation. The New York law applies to newsboys in larger cities only, chief among which are Buffalo and New 214 CHILD PROBLEMS York City. Boys under ten are excluded, and all newsboys between the ages of ten and fourteen are required to secure a license, while girls under sixteen are entirely prohibited from selling papers. The state of Massachusetts author- izes the city officials to control the employment of chil- dren in the street trades. Boston has utilized this grant of power, and has taken steps to regulate the work of boot- blacks, newsboys, and other street venders. In Wiscon- sin a state law has recently subjected the street trades of Milwaukee to legal control, and in some cities an attempt to cope with the problem is being made through the pas- sage of municipal ordinances. In St. Louis, by a police order, girls under sixteen have been prohibited from selling newspapers. The messenger service, formerly exempted from regulation, is rapidly being included in child labor laws, and twelve states now protect the child from this occupation. The age limit most commonly established is fourteen years. 12. Enforcement of Law. In regard to the enforcement of child labor laws a wide diversity of method prevails. The principal agencies intrusted with this task are : departments of labor, bu- reaus of factory inspection, the poHce, and boards of health. In addition, truant and attendance officers sometimes aid in enforcing the law. In the more populous manufactur- ing states the departments of labor are usually composed of subdivisions, of which the bureau of factory inspection forms one branch. Sometimes the latter is made a sepa- rate department. In either case the enforcement of law rests with the factory inspection organization. New York is an example of the former type, and Illinois of the latter. Fourteen states have adopted the first plan and nine the second. The states in which manufacturing is a com- paratively unimportant industry have generally allowed CHILD LABOR LEGISLATION 215 the labor department to enforce the law. In the industrial states the tendency toward divison of labor has operated to create a special department of factory inspection, but New York has returned to the former system. In Massa- chusetts the inspectors are under the direction of the District Pohce. A separate body of inspectors is, however, detailed by the department, and these resemble in quali- fications the inspectors of the other two systems. In each of the states mentioned a high degree of efficiency in the enforcement of law has been achieved. Maryland has a separate corps of child labor inspectors, but the plan has not proven entirely successful, and Pennsylvania, with a factory inspection department, has been notoriously negli- gent. Until recently, child labor in mercantile establish- ments in New York was controlled by the boards of health. The results were unsatisfactory, and the work of inspection has now been transferred to the department of labor. A few states empower the school officials to enforce the law against child labor, and in a considerable number of states truant officers are authorized to assist the other inspectors. These officials, however, aim primarily to compel school attendance rather than to prevent child labor. In several Southern states, especially those in which the child labor problem is a serious one, the provisions for law enforcement are extremely inadequate. In Ala- bama the inspector may prosecute violators of the law if ordered to do so by the governor ! Georgia and the Carolinas have practically no law-enforcing machinery. Few, if any, of the states possess an adequate corps of inspectors. New York provides for sixty, while Illinois allows twenty-five. Medical inspectors, who are badly needed to secure good working conditions, are still a nov- elty, only two states making any provision for such offi- cials. New York has one medical inspector attached to the bureau of factory inspection, while Massachusetts has 216 CHILD PROBLEMS engaged in some such inspection through the agency of its school system. Inadequate inspection is a striking weakness of our American child labor laws. With insufficient inspectors the law has been violated with impunity. Both the num- ber and the remuneration of our inspectors have been inadequate. Owing to lack of vigor and a sane social viewpoint the prosecutions of violators of the child labor laws have not been sufficient in many states to become an effective deterrent of subsequent violation. Inspectors have not been able to make sufficiently frequent visits to establishments employing children, but in some cases the neglect has been intentional. In one state recently, an establishment employing a large force of children had not been inspected for an entire year, although the firm was suspected of violating the law. Efficient inspection depends in part upon the good faith and ideals of the chief factory inspector, and the energy with which violations of the law are prosecuted. Such prosecutions must become deterrent influences. In those states in which the cost to the employer of a violation of the law has been inconsiderable, efficient enforcement has been difficult or impossible. In some cases earnest cooperation between the employer and the factory in- spectors for the enforcement of the law has been followed by the refusal to prosecute firms for the illegal employ- ment of children, on the promise that the violation would not be repeated. This method can be successful only when a real interest is evinced by the employer of child labor. Vigilance on the part of the inspectors, however, still remains a necessity, and individual inspectors can not be allowed to pass upon the wisdom or unwisdom of a law, or to enforce only that part which appeals to them as rational. The refusal to require obedience to law lies at the base of the failure in many sections to diminish the CHILD LABOR LEGISLATION 217 amount of illegal child labor. Competent officials selected through civil service examination are badly needed, and the lack of these has been a severe handicap to real prog- ress. Such officials can not be procured unless an adequate salary is paid for their services and a professional career is opened to them. Good men can not afford to accept the poorly paid and uncertain positions. Factory in- spectors should be paid a fixed salary from the state treas- ury, and money should never be allowed to pass from fac- tory owner to inspector. At best, graft and bribery can only be avoided with great difficulty. In formulating child labor laws, legislators should be guided by the fundamental principles which are involved. The social interests demand that such a protection of chil- dren be assured as to guarantee to an oncoming generation a physical, mental, and moral capacity equal to the indus- trial and social progress which has meanwhile been made. BOOK IV THE DELINQUENT CHILD CHAPTER I causes and nature of juvenile delinquency 1. Development of the Juvenile Delinquent. The attitude of society toward the juvenile dehnquent has undergone a fundamental change within a few decades. Part of this change is due to revulsion against the treat- ment formerly accorded to children, who were not fully responsible for the offenses which they committed. The court trial in Philadelphia of a little child of eight years was the beginning of the juvenile court movement in that city. A few years ago a boy of eleven in the state of Iowa was sentenced to imprisonment for life on the charge of murder ! Hundreds of Httle children have been thrown into jail in company with vile adult criminals, and in Eng- land little children were formerly sentenced to death for offenses so petty that to-day they would hardly justify the mildest forms of probationary treatment. We now realize that the child can not be judged by the same standards with which we judge adults. Accordingly youthful offenders receive a separate classification and appropriate treatment. Juvenile delinquency now gen- erally refers to the violation of state law or of city ordi- nances, by a person who is sixteen years of age or under. The age limits vary among the different states, and in Illinois and Indiana the limit for boys is seventeen and for girls is eighteen. Whatever age represents, for the 221 222 CHILD PROBLEMS great majority of offenders, the line separating full moral responsibility for offenses committed from a mere partial responsibility, should constitute the age limit of juvenile delinquency. The term '^delinquent" has been slowly expanding in meaning so as to include not only deliberate acts which would be punishable if committed by adults, but also way- ward tendencies of a serious character. It is necessary to reach the embryo delinquent — the prospective crim- inal — and in many cases it is already too late when the boy is brought into a juvenile court. Accordingly we find laws such as the Colorado law, which includes under "dehnquents," persons sixteen years of age or under who are guilty of such offenses as the following : violation of any law of the state or any city or village ordinance ; incorrigibility ; association with immoral persons ; know- ingly visiting houses of ill repute, or gambling houses of any description ; visiting saloons ; wandering aimlessly about the streets at night or about railroad yards ; the use of vile and obscene language ; immoral conduct ; jump- ing on moving trains, etc. This law covers almost every species of conduct which is likely to result in law break- ing and criminality, and is therefore capable of exercising preventive control over the child. Development in the direction of greater elasticity in the definition of delin- quency represents the logical expansion of preventive measures. Although in some cases the legal meaning of delinquency is confined to direct violation of law, the more progressive states in the revision of their juvenile court laws or in the enactment of new laws are quite uni- versally following the pattern of law described above. Effective work depends upon the legal right to direct and control the prospective offender. CAUSES OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY 223 2. Moral Classification of Children. The juvenile court idea depends upon the recently developed consciousness that the child is less in need of ref- ormation than he is of the formation and fixation of char- acter. The teachings of recent psychology and ethics have forced the acceptance of the theory that conscience and character are developmental ; therefore the problem of the child becomes one of construction, not of repression, and youthful misdeeds are recognized to be largely the result of the environmental influences which continually impress themselves upon the child. The development of the child divides itself into three quite distinct periods. The first eight years of life form one period. Many chil- dren of this age, if not immoral, are at least unsocial, but their delinquency is almost wholly due to the neglect of their moral education by their parents, and they should be treated as neglected persons. The neglected dehn- quent child at this age is hardly worse in his fundamental proclivities than the child who is merely neglected. Ac- cordingly different treatment is not necessary. Full cognizance of the underlying causes of the difficulty points merely to the gross neglect or moral depravity of the parents. The child is not fully responsible, so there is but little difference between the delinquent and the neglected child of this age. During the age period — nine to thirteen years — several characteristic traits of childhood appear. Many of the instinctive actions of earlier life have vanished, and the development of the mind enlarges the comparative importance of reason. The child, however, has not yet learned to correlate cause and effect. He is still deficient in prudence and foresight and to a large degree unconscious of the lateral effects of his acts. He is self-centered, and loath to relinquish the sources of his enjoyment. His 224 CHILD PROBLEMS morals are still in process of development, and the plas- ticity of this period makes him very susceptible to the external impressions which he receives. Not yet of a sufficiently reflective nature, his morals are largely the result of imitation or of teaching, accepted because of its seeming authority. The formation of habit proceeds at a rapid pace during this period. The moral habits are of special importance because they later ripen into the moral aberrations with which adolescence is characterized. The religious bias is, however, imparted during this period, and the child likewise tends to become more truthful. The conspicuous traits of this period are developing con- science, growing reason, formation of habit, and advance in foresight. The period of life including the years from twelve or thirteen to seventeen is marked by the practical com- pletion of habit formation, and trains the child for an as- cending or descending career. This period witnesses the culmination of fundamental physiological and psycholog- ical changes. The child arrives at puberty, and endures many physical and emotional disturbances. These years are therefore fraught with danger for boy and girl. It is significant that the religious impulse is strongest in this period, and that conversions are most numerous.^ Star- buck has well shown the age incidence of emotionalism both for boys and girls, and his observations suggest the importance of properly harnessing this psychic energy. The religious impulse has its counterpart in the wayward and criminal instincts of the boy, and these come to the surface during the same period. Accordingly a large number of boys manifest an incorrigibility which, unless properly directed, will lead to absolute criminality. Rapid growth and the failure of the child to understand himself also lead to moral aberrations which require the most care- » See The Psychology of Religion, Chapters III, XVI. CAUSES OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY 225 ful treatment. Sex differentiation in this period affects not only the direct mental equilibrium of the youth, but the attitude of the two sexes toward each other. The crys- tallization of habit and the permanent tendencies which are imparted thereby call emphatic attention to the problem of the child of this age period/ 3. Causes of Juvenile Delinquency. a. Home Conditions. A fruitful cause of juvenile delinquency consists of the changing social conditions which make individual acts, harmless in themselves, a menace to society. The exu- berant spirits of the boy must find expression in activity and excitement, and suppression is not possible. The numerous contacts of the city require a limitation of in- dividual activity. Thoughtless acts which are entirely justifiable and even desirable in the country districts may be a constant danger to property in the city. Accordingly a series of city ordinances have been enacted which con- demn and prohibit such acts. Playing ball is not inher- ently a punishable offense, but to obstruct the streets or to endanger other persons who are using the street is distinctly anti-social, and is therefore prohibited by city ordinances. Persons may be injured, windows broken, and runaways caused by such sports conducted on the streets. The highly valued bonfire belongs to the same category. Few boys can restrain themselves at the sight of a fire, and an even greater thrill follows their participa- tion in a bonfire scene. The social needs of to-day there- fore interdict acts which boys have for centuries been allowed to do, and as the boy nature has not changed, many offenses are committed which the self-centered and 1 This classification is a slight modification of that offered by Professor C. R. Henderson in his book, Dependents, Defectives, Delinquents. 226 CHILD PROBLEMS thoughtless boy does without malice or deliberation. The Philadelphia girl of eight who set fire to a house did so to see the fire and the fire engines, not to commit arson. Home training, not laws, are needed in such cases. A change of law does not readily reconstruct a child's nature. Parental incompetency is a prolific source of juvenile delinquency, for the home environment is the most potent factor contributing to the formation of character and habit. The force of social heredity, comprising the ideals, morals, religious impulses, teaching, discipline, order, per- sonal habits, and superstitions of the parents, overpowers the child by its almost irresistible momentum. A recent development in the home, especially the native American home, is the too liberal abandonment of the dis- cipline and subordination of the child. The brutal cor- poral punishment of old has given way in many cases to soft effeminate indulgence by parents of the idlest humors of their children. Thus selfish and imperious instincts develop at the expense of altruism and obedience, and parents are unable to develop appropriate moral and social traits in their children. The latter dominate and subdue instead of being molded into moral shape by their parents. If children were mentally mature, they should be permitted to enjoy complete self-direction. But they are not, and unless subjected to the proper restrictions and discipline, they will fail to reach the full level of human moral attain- ment. Corporal punishment, although undesirable in the majority of cases, can not be totally abandoned either in the home or in the school, except at the cost of the moral development of a limited number of children. The grow- ing protest against its total abolition is not without sig- nificance. Is it not surprising that native-born children of native-born parents should form so large a percentage of the total delinquency in our large cities? We are not yet ready for exclusive control by moral suasion. CAUSES OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY 227 Parental incompetency is also manifested by the failure of parents to recognize that the life of to-day requires different treatment of the child than did the conditions of their own youth. What may have been permissible then is anti-social now. The energy of the child must be allowed to express itself, but this does not authorize unbridled and ruthless methods which are a menace to life and property. The great majority of children expend their enthusiasm in harmless ways, and yet reap all the advan- tages which such excesses afford. Parental incapacity to adapt the needs of the child to those of the community results in an antiquated attitude on the part of the child, the frequent outcome of which is waywardness and crimi- nality. Neglect is an important cause of delinquency. The ( relation of the character of home government to the amount of juvenile delinquency is remarkable evidence to this effect. The statistics of one large city show that less than one half of the neglected and delinquent children had homes containing both father and mother. In the majority of cases one of the parents was dead or they had separated ; step-parents had intervened ; desertions had occurred ; or the parents were both dead. The absence of natural home conditions is therefore an unmistakable cause of the vicious tendencies of the child. The control of the father seems more effectual than that of the mother. Fewer instances of delinquency are recorded for children who live with their father only, than for those who live with their mother.^ The absence of either parent and the neglect of the child by both parents produce the volume of delinquency. '^According to Drahms, 50 per cent of the population of our industrial schools are either orphans or the children of divorced parents. Of the 4838 juvenile male population in French reformatories in 1896, 4821, 1 See Annual Report of Juvenile Court, Kansas City, 1908. 228 CHILD PROBLEMS or 89.3 per cent, were illegitimate. Of the 1095 girls, 849, or 77.53 per cent, were illegitimate." ^ Perhaps nothing demonstrates the importance of home influences more decisively than does the abnormal number of vicious children coming from defective homes. Neglect of the home is a frequent result of the drinking habit or of the indolence and indifference of the father. These attributes are easily transmitted to the child, whose vagrant instincts need only the slightest encouragement. Parental begging and stealing leave intricate traces on the minds of children, and confirm them in a life of idleness and crime. The child caught in an environment of this sort and accustomed to wrong and debased standards can with difficulty recover from the coercion of social heredity. Bad example, owing to the imitative instincts and tend- encies of the child, contributes enormously to delinquency. Too often the parents are entirely indifferent to the petty marauding expeditions of boys who steal junk, wood, and other articles, some of which are brought to the home and utilized by the parents. Direct encouragement is thus afforded toward the continuation of a life of crime. That dishonesty and petty larceny is a result of the failure of parents to provide their children with a reason- able amount of spending money is amply demonstrated. Boys engaged in the street trades usually enjoy small sums of money. This is spent often in improper ways. The difficulty of entering street life without money tempts the boy to steal and dispose of the goods. The first step taken, stealing becomes a habit, and can with difficulty be checked. Many boys who have entered some gainful occupation are compelled to bring home the entire wage and are denied the use of the smallest portion. Investigations have shown that a large percentage of boys do not report to their parents the increase in wages which they receive. 1 Parsons, Philip A., Responsibility for Crime, p. 139. CAUSES OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY 229 The difference between the original and the later wage represents the boy's spending money. Dishonest habits are thus ingrained in the moral fiber of the young boy; yet such habits are the natural result of the parents' failure to allow him any spending money from his hard-earned wage. A most serious form of neglect often results from a second marriage and the introduction of a step-father or step- mother. It frequently follows that under the new ar- rangement estrangements occur, or cruelty is practiced and the child becomes delinquent. Such parents, instead of correcting the child, seem to revenge themselves upon him. This is also true of many foreign-born parents. Vicious whippings of the very young child harden him and prevent him from responding to the chastening effects of properly administered punishment. Instead of obedi- ence he develops defiance and incorrigibility. What seem to be original criminal tendencies of the child are often merely the results of cruelty. Such other forms of cruelty as neglect to provide and abuse drive the child into the street and into devious ways of living, and are therefore not without effect. b. Environment and Associations. The environment of the boy outside of the home and the character of his associates leave their definite prints upon his moral nature, and are a large factor in producing de- Hnquents. The child who must spend a considerable portion of his time upon the streets faces many tempta- tions. His parents have not sufficiently warned him against the pitfalls to be encountered, and the child, because of lack of self-restraint, speedily succumbs to the influence of his bad associations. Since the boy is not sufficiently given to reflection, the bad environment surely impresses its characteristics upon him. One plotter or mischief- maker will demoralize an entire ''gang." It is here that 230 CHILD PROBLEMS the pickpocket develops and the petty thief. It is owing to his street associations that the boy's actions degenerate into disorderly conduct, disturbance of the peace, and often into the ruthless and wanton destruction of property. The bad boy is ever present, and degrades his less resolute associates. The opportunities for legitimate sport are meager ; hence a greater readiness to indulge in the for- bidden pleasures. The many fruitless attempts of pro- bation officers to reform boys placed on parole in their natural surroundings are an eloquent witness to the in- exorable influence of a bad environment. Among the specific causes of juvenile delinquency is the presence of numerous saloons. Newsboys, and other boys as well, frequent the saloon and form habits which inevitably lead to delinquency. Boys play policy, fre- quent poolrooms, and indulge in pernicious games until they become enslaved to the gambling habit. The meager outlet for the energies of the boy of the slums results in spontaneous boys' clubs conducted in forbidden places and under most unwholesome conditions. Such clubs are the natural development of the organization of the street gang, and their work is equally wanton and mischievous. c. Criminal Tendencies. In spite of the theory that the child of the juvenile courts is in need of formation instead of reformation, it is plainly apparent that a considerable number of children have acquired criminal tendencies. To what extent these are due to natural and inherited traits and instincts and what importance shall be attached to the contagion of an early vicious environment are still unsolved questions. Instances of moral perverts are sufficiently numerous. Persons are born with the innate tendency to develop into full-fledged criminals. Boys who have not suffered from the slightest suggestion of larceny have degenerated CAUSES OF^ JUVENILE DELINQUENCY 231 into thieves, thus indicating that their criminality was instinctive. It is probable, however, but scientifically undetermined, that the majority of children included in this class are indebted for their delinquency to the influence of parents and the vicious surroundings of their earliest youth. Many of these children are precocious, and form habits and tendencies sooner than is usual. It appears, therefore, that physical heredity is responsible for rela- tively few delinquents. This group of children may be classified as follows, beginning with the less serious and proceeding toward the more heinous offenders : the morally weak who easily yield to the temptation to do wrong and who have an apparent bias in this direction; the vagrant child who glories in remaining away from home at night and who dehghts in the joys of numerous escapades; the truant who disobeys his parents and habitually outwits the teacher and the attendance officer ; and the incorrigible child who not only disobeys, but maliciously resists parental control. The first of these classes consists of children who are not confirmed in evil ways, but whose minds are open to sug- gestions of wrong and mischief. They possess a plastic moral nature, and are easily susceptible to pernicious ac- tivity of mind. The boys who willfully throw stones with injurious intent, who place stones on car tracks and attempt to derail cars, and who play other pranks of a serious nature — these boys will eventually be found in the juve- nile court. The vagrant, in many cases, has suffered from parental cruelty, and thus has developed not only a wander- ing spirit, but an ugly disposition as well. As he grows older his bohemian habits lead him in the wake of the professional tramp. The truant is of similar nature, but impressed with a heavier stamp of evil. Boys who sleep in boxes and sheds and elsewhere away from home at night, who continually deceive their parents, and are led away 232 CHILD PROBLEMS from their duties by the associations they have formed, rapidly become incorrigible. The street clubs demoralize boys with tremendous rapidity, and parents, on account of their unwise methods, implant in their children the seeds of criminality. Thus children at an early age have their criminal instincts so developed that reformation is neces- sary to restore them to a normal life. d. Street Trades. A prolific cause of juvenile delinquency is the influence of the street trades on the working boy. No other form of work has such demoralizing consequences. The vice, immorality, and delinquency of the newsboy and the mes- senger boy have already been discussed in a former chap- ter. These boys are brought into the juvenile court, and their misdemeanors are often so great that reformatory treatment is necessary for them. Accordingly they repre- sent a large proportion of the boys in the different insti- tutions. The demoralization produced by the street trades affects others than those engaged in such trades, but the latter are the chief sufferers ; therefore the importance of legislation which will shut off this source of infection. The causes of juvenile deHnquency combine to operate upon the same child, hence few children are bad owing to a single cause. They have been the target of a com- plex of influences, — malnutrition, parental incompetency, home conditions, environmental associations, and criminal tendencies. The influence of the environmental factors are the most powerful, and heredity is not believed to account for more than one fifth of the entire number of delinquents. 4. Nature of Juvenile Offenses. Lack of uniformity of classification, among the different juvenile courts, of the offenses for which children are com- mitted to institutions or placed on probation, makes an accurate ranking of the various offenses impossible. The CAUSES OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY 233 character of offenses, however, does not differ widely from city to city, and children everywhere are prone to distrib- ute their delinquency — at least among the most impor- tant offenses — in substantially similar proportions. The following table shows the classification by offenses of 521 boys and 45 girls placed on probation in the state of New York during the last quarter of 1907. Offense Burglary or robbery Disorderly conduct or breach of peace Improper guardianship or exposure Incorrigibility or waywardness Larceny Truancy Violation of local ordinance . . Other charges and unstated . . Per cent Girls Among boys, truancy seems to rank first, and undoubt- edly incorrigibility contains a large amount of truancy also ; larceny comes second, but if burglary be included as an allied offense, then offenses against property rank first in importance. Disorderly conduct also ranks rela- tively high. Among the girls, improper guardianship and exposure are foremost, but owing to the inclusion of many cases of neglect these statistics have but little value. Apart from this group of offenses truancy stands first, incorrigi- bihty follows, while larceny ranks comparatively low. In the different cities the relations are very similar ; lar- ceny, truancy, and incorrigibility being the chief offenses committed, and often their frequency follows the order given. New York City reports a large number of cases under the head of disorderly conduct. In the category 234 CHILD PROBLEMS of offenses all manner of charges appear, from murder to mere mischievousness. The United States Census Bureau in its enumeration of the delinquents in institutions gives the following per cent distribution by offense : ^ — Offense Against Society . . Incorrigibility . , Truancy . . . . Vagrancy . . . Disorderly conduct Other Against the person . Against property Larceny . . . . Burglary . , . Other Neglected children . Other offenses . . Peb Cent 50.4 26.8 7.2 5.4 5.2 5.8 2.6 32.1 23.0 7.6 1.6 10.3 4.6 1 Prisoners and Juvenile Ddinquents, Bureau of Census, p. 235. CHAPTER II the juvenile court 1. Origin of the Court. The first official juvenile court dates back to 1899, when the city of Chicago established its court, the act having been made possible by a law previously passed by the lUinois state legislature. The idea had, however, existed in the minds of many for several decades, and in Massa- chusetts steps in the direction of a similar procedure were taken as early as 1869. In that year this state granted children separate trials, at which it also required the state agent for children to be present. Dehnquent children were also placed with private societies instead of being held in jails and prisons. The states which practiced the most advanced methods of child saving did not lead in the establishment of the juvenile court, their need being less; but, owing to reaction against heartless methods of pro- cedure, the states where little had been done adopted the new idea with enthusiasm. Several years of agitation preceded the successful at- tempt to secure a law for Illinois, but success here gave a remarkable impetus to the juvenile court movement every- where. The law was scattered broadcast and became a basis for laws elsewhere. In Denver a court was estab- lished prior to the meeting of the Colorado legislature which enacted a suitable juvenile court law ; Philadelphia introduced its court in 1901. The Pennsylvania law, however, was declared unconstitutional, but a new law 235 236 CHILD PROBLEMS was passed in 1903, and the court was then permanently estabUshed. New York City followed in 1902, and the cities of Brooklyn and St. Louis in the succeeding year. The efficient Indianapolis court was organized in 1902. All of the large cities now either have separate courts for children, or the individual courts have devised methods of granting the children separate trials. A probation system has rapidly followed the organization of a juvenile court wherever the latter has taken root. The rapid rise of the juvenile court is a marked instance of the imitativeness of the American mind. Although the new psychology had already deeply permeated the minds of leaders in philanthropic work, still the movement made but little headway. In Chicago boys had been thrown into the police station ; in Denver, within six years before the inauguration of the juvenile court, about 2000 boys had been temporarily placed in jail ; in Indianapolis, Buffalo, and elsewhere the large number of children sub- jected to methods applicable to adults but unsuited to themselves caused a revolt which needed only the example of a new way of handling juvenile cases. Chicago was therefore quickly followed by the other cities. 2. Organization. In the majority of cases the juvenile court merely con- sists of separate sessions of the circuit court and is not yet organized on an independent footing. It is an append- age of some other court and is served by one or more of the judges from that court. In Denver, IndianapoHs, and Boston the court is separately organized and its judges confine their judicial work to the business of the juvenile court, but this differentiation has only recently taken place. The two former cities now elect judges for this position, the term of office in each case being four years. The establishment of children's courts entirely separated from THE JUVENILE COURT 237 other forms of administration of justice represents the logical development of the present movement. By a proper division of labor all children's cases — neglected, depend- ent, and delinquent, — will be thrown into these courts and all other cases excluded. A more satisfactory and farsighted treatment of children will then follow. A present weakness of the juvenile court system is the method of rotation of judges as used in many cities. In- stead of election for a definite term, appointments for short periods are common. Chicago selects one of its circuit court judges for a term of one year. Fortunately it has continued the same judge for a number of years, and thus the city has given to the world two notable juvenile court judges. In Brooklyn the judge serves two months, and six different men occupy the bench during the year. The bad effects of this method are partly minimized by the long terms which the judges serve. The system of rotation tends to lessen the interest of the judge in the merits of the varying child problems, and does not allow sufficient specialization to meet the delicate problems which daily confront the judge. Therefore election for an extended term or continuous assignment over a series of years is necessary to insure satisfactory results. Until recently the act of presiding over children's cases has been regarded as beneath the dignity of the judge, and therefore one that should be avoided ; some of our well-known judges began as martyrs, but the subject has now been invested with greater dignity, and the aversion no longer exists. The growing consciousness that children offer the greatest of all problems accounts for this change of attitude. 3. Court Hearings. Undue publicity of children's cases was a problem before the founding of the juvenile court, and was one of the causes 238 CHILD PROBLEMS of its origin. Newspapers in many instances had agreed to omit from their columns accounts of juvenile delin- quency because they might embarrass the youthful offender and accordingly promote crime. Separate hearings for children, some of them private, also preceded the court proper. Out of the exigencies of the situation has arisen the type of hearings now conducted in the juvenile courts. Officially the hearings are of two kinds, pubhc and private. Most of the cities retain the public hearing, but their methods have been so developed that the public can gain but little through attendance at the trials. Few people seem to know when the children are on trial, and on ac- count of the informal method adopted those who do attend gain no advantage from their presence. The judge is usually seated at his bench, and the defendants, complain- ants, witnesses, officers, and others directly interested crowd about him in a dense mass. The oath may or may not be administered, and then the trial proceeds. The parties almost invariably speak in low tones ; after a short trial the case is concluded and its disposition ordered. Persons in the audience learn little or nothing of the merits of the case, and the interest which is excited is so meager that few spectators consider it worth while to attend. What is nominally a public hearing consequently becomes one which is in practice largely private. Glimpses of the defendants and the usually bedraggled appearance of both children and adults afford the chief amusement possible, and this is insufficient to draw any considerable number of spectators. The chief advantage of the public hearing is in the opportunity it gives to philanthropic persons to ascertain whether the child secures proper and humane treatment. Abuse of the powers of the juvenile court is also impossible under such an arrangement. The repre- sentatives of children's societies, of orphan homes, and persons directly interested in children, attend the hearings THE JUVENILE COURT 239 in many cities, and satisfy themselves concerning the justice of the disposition of cases. Private hearings are in vogue in a number of cities, of which Boston is an example. According to this system spectators are not allowed, and no one is present except the parties directly participating in the trial and the necessary officials. The children are entirely saved from the con- fusion resulting from the presence of an audience. A child is usually embarrassed on meeting a person who attended his trial at the juvenile court, and the avoidance of this possibility makes his reclamation more probable. The recreant parents also suffer a similar humihation. On the other hand, the secrecy of private hearings invites suspicion, and the public becomes dissatisfied. Star chamber methods are hinted at, for no one knows of the methods employed in deafing with the children. Although no harm has come from the use of this method, the public hearing enjoys an advantage because it allays suspicion and satisfies critics. It allows a probing of method, but secures virtual privacy by means of the court practices that have developed. The juvenile court is or should be one of original and unlimited jurisdiction. This enables the judge to deal adequately with the child. In exercising the parental functions of the state the delegated authority must have a free hand to govern the situation, otherwise the exercise of these rights will be nugatory. The juvenile delinquent is a difficult case ; hence efficient methods must be authorized. Jury trial, although allowed almost without exception, is seldom employed by the court. The case is usually canvassed by at least one probation officer before the judge, guided by the facts so gathered, makes disposition of the case. The judgment of trained officials is far superior to that of the jury which would be secured, and in theory the judge is regarded as the friend and pro- tector of the child. Accordingly the interests of the child 240 CHILD PROBLEMS will not suffer. By retaining his control over the disposi- tion of the delinquent, the judge can facilitate effective reformation. Given a free hand, appropriate treatment can be prescribed and carried out. 4. Disposition of Offenders. Juvenile offenders are subject to several forms of dis- position, including acquittal, dismissal, fines, supervision, probation, commitment to institutions, and the require- ment of restitution for property destroyed. Sentence is imposed upon the boy, not as a punishment for offenses committed, but as an aid toward the building up of his character. The juvenile court does not regard the child as a criminal, but as a plastic being capable of normal func- tioning and of complete restoration to the accepted moral plane of living. The decision of the judge therefore de- pends upon the character of the child rather than that of the offense. It is but a step in the constructive work of developing character. It follows then that the sentence imposed must embody the corrective principle best appli- cable to each particular child. The courts in the different cities consequently vary widely in their disposition of cases. A large number of cases are everywhere settled out of court. In some cities the character of the law allows complaints on flimsy and unwarranted charges. On in- vestigation many of these grievances are settled amicably without judicial intervention. A considerable percentage of the defendants are discharged or dismissed after hearing in court. In some cases even the guilty are discharged, especially in case of a first offense. A reprimand and warn- ing from the judge usually accompanies such a disposition of the case. A large proportion of the children in New York City were formerly paroled, no sentence having been imposed, and were not placed on probation. Commitments THE JUVENILE COURT 241 were also heavy, but with the development of the pro- bation system a small percentage of the cases are now placed under the care of probation officers. Several cities, such as Denver and Indianapolis, place from 70 to 75 per cent of their delinquent children on probation, and the courts send a very small number to institutions. Denver sends about 10 per cent, but this includes those who fail to reform if placed on probation, and who must therefore receive sterner treatment. The influence of local con- ditions, the presence of reformatories and parental schools, and the attitude of judges are sharply felt in the changing proportions between commitments and probationary cases. In Yonkers, New York, during the four years 1903-1907, commitments fell from 53 to 18.1 per cent, while probation cases rose from none to 47.1 per cent. St. Louis during the five years 1903-1908 reduced its percent- age of original probation cases from 44.1 to 12.2 and in- creased its commitments from 30.6 to 34.5 per cent. In the latter city short institutional treatment finds much favor. The child after his release remains under the charge of the probation officers, thus swelling the actual number of children on probation. A number of cities place about one third of their cases on probation, and an approximately equal number in reformatory institutions, most of the remainder being directly discharged. More efficient probation tends on the whole to lessen the pro- portion committed, and to increase the percentage allowed their liberty but answerable to the probation and parole officers. 5. Qualifications of the Juvenile Court Judge. The manner of his disposition of cases reflects the qual- ities of the judge, and these are important items in the solution of the difficult problems of the delinquent child. In many respects the children's judge must possess qual- 242 CHILD_ PROBLEMS ities which may be absent in his compatriots on another bench. He must possess the legal knowledge and judicial training with which every judge should be equipped, as the training can only enhance his efficiency. Other qual- ities are, however, more essential for successful work : first, the judge must have a definite knowledge of child psychology. He must be able to know and interpret the child, to see the limitations of the child's horizon, and to understand the natural subjective effects of external in- fluences. To know the mind of the child is the first step toward his reformation. Behind the offense stands the offender. It is with him that the judge must deal, and must deal wisely. Children can not be handled in job lots, but as individual packages only. Successful work by the judge also depends upon his knowledge of the socio- logical principles involved. The problem of juvenile delinquency is a social question, and its legal phases are only the vehicles utilized to transport the child to the right destination. The purpose and aim of the work must be distinctly understood. The social as well as the individual causes of delinquency, the handicaps of bad parentage, and the compulsion of environment are factors which every judge must consider in his disposition of cases. A thor- ough knowledge of the problems of practical sociology, especially of those relating to the life and conditions of the poor, is a necessary part of the equipment of every juvenile court judge. Another quality with which the judge must be specially endowed is a sympathetic temperament. The so-called judicial temperament is out of place in the children's court, and if introduced will only multiply the mass of sin and suffering which already exists. Although the functions of the judge and the probation officer must be separated (and in but few cases is it possible or advisable that the former perform any of the work assigned to the latter), THE JUVENILE COURT 243 still the judge must actively plan for the full reclamation of the boy — a task which can not be effectively performed without human sympathy duly tempered with a measure of prudence. The proper attitude of the judge is summed up in the following extracts from an address by Julian W. Mack, formerly judge of the Juvenile Court, Chicago :^ ** Unless the judge be really interested in philanthropy, you might as well give up the Juvenile Court; unless he realizes that the problem before him is totally different from the problem either in the civil or the criminal court, that the question which he has to determine is not — has the child done a certain thing and should a certain thing be done to the child because of the act — but it is purely and simply, what can we do to save and redeem this child ; he might as well abandon his position. But even though the judge have the proper conception of the function of the Juvenile Court, he must gain a thorough experience in order to be able to deal with the problem. It takes study, and thought, and patience, and above all, experience. ..." The need of judges fitted to direct the Hves of the vast num- bers of erring children coming under their control can not be too strongly emphasized. 6. Evolution of the Juvenile Couet. When first organized the juvenile court was merely re- garded as an institution dealing with juvenile offenders. Separate detention of children, separate trials, and pro- bationary oversight — these were the principal functions of the court. The system, however, could not long exist on the theory that no child is a criminal, without develop- ing preventive methods. The court therefore tends to become a constructive force in the community, and co- operates with other agencies to improve the moral and 1 National Conference of Charities and Correction, 1906, p. 217. 244 CHILD PROBLEMS social environment of the child. The increasing coopera- tion with attendance officers, factory inspectors, school physicians, children's societies, settlements, and churches is an evidence of this development. There is no theoretical reason why the juvenile court should be a branch of the criminal court, therefore the former can expand its func- tions so as to include the disposition of every variety of case involving children — delinquent, neglected, dependent, and cruelty cases. Dependent children are at present usually handled in the probate courts, but these cases could very properly be transferred to a children's court. Some states have already taken steps in this direction. In the Denver court, for example, the children are classified as neglected, dependent, and delinquent. In other cities the classifications are usually limited to two, — delinquent and neglected, — and the number of neglected children is about one chird that of the delinquent, but if dependents are included, the total number of children is more than doubled. By concentrating all children's cases in a juve- nile court, the importance of the court is increased and a greater variety of problems present themselves. Action of this nature increases the dignity of the court, and the cases are decided with increased gravity. Judges recog- nize more clearly the importance of the work, are inchned to study the various child problems, and become ambitious to serve society through the children's court. CHAPTER III THE PROBATION SYSTEM 1. Origin of the System. The probation system antedated the juvenile court by many years, Massachusetts having begun this method of deahng with the delinquent in 1869. With the rise of the juvenile court, however, the probation system sprang into greater prominence. It has been called the "key- stone" of the juvenile court, and with reason, because it alone makes the success of the court possible. The court itself is little more than the disposing agency directing what shall be done with the child, but the probation offi- cer is the arm of the law which deals with the child directly. These children are the wards of the state, and it is the pro- bation officer who makes the state's guardianship effective. 2. Extent of System. Although the juvenile court is only ten years old, thirty- four states have enacted probation laws and are using the new method of dealing with the youthful delinquent. All the states containing large cities are included among this number. In 1898 Rhode Island passed a law providing for the temporary supervision of delinquents ; the Illinois law was passed in 1899 ; and a number of states made provision for probation in 1903. Since then the system has been rapidly extended. The probation system is being gradually brought under state supervision. Already twelve states have adopted a partial or complete system 245 246 CHILD PROBLEMS of such supervision. Rhode Island was again the pioneer, and in 1899 placed the general direction of the work under the authority of the state board of charities. The board also appoints the officers and fixes their salaries. The small size of the state renders this function an easier one than would otherwise be the case. Other agencies under the control of which some states have placed the probation system are : State Board of Prison Commissioners, Prison Association, Board of Control, and State Probation Com- mission. Two states — Massachusetts and New York — have adopted the last method of control. State control in Colorado permits the rejection of local appointments to the position of probation officer. The state of Utah allows its commission to appoint and fix the salaries of both juvenile court judges and probation officers. Other states limit the functions of the state bodies to inquiry into the methods and results of probation work, to sug- gestions for its improvement, to the gathering of statistics, and to attempts to secure a unification of policy through- out the state. 3. Probation Officers and their Duties. The primary duties of the probation officer are well expressed in the Illinois statute: "It shall be the duty of the probation officer to make such investigation as may be required by the court ; to be present in court in order to represent the interest of the child when the case is heard ; to furnish the court such information and assistance as the judge may require; and to take such charge of the child before and after trial as may be directed by the court." In some cities a head probation officer is appointed who has charge of the other officers. In the larger cities spe- cialization of the work of the officers has advanced consider- ably. The different types of probation officials are the following : — THE PROBATION SYSTEM 247 (1) Paid officers whose sole duty is that of investigation of cases to be brought into the court. (2) Paid officers confining their efforts to the super- vision of the paroled child. (3) Unpaid persons engaged in parole work. (4) Unpaid volunteer workers whose duties are limited to supervisory work. (5) The judge acting in the capacity of probation officer. a. Investigating Officials. The delinquent child may be summoned into court after complaint by some citizen or official — policeman or probation officer — or he may be brought on warrant. Be- fore the case of the child is settled by the court, a pre- Uminary investigation is made by the probation officer, or in the large cities by the officers detailed for the work of investigating the cases of children charged with delin- quency. Such official attempts to present sufficiently complete information to enable the judge to dispose of the case without further evidence. In a well-developed pro- bation system the history of the child and of its parents, the home conditions, emplo3niient of child and of parents, education, habitual associations, nationality and nativity, religion, and other pertinent facts concerning the child, are gathered, and these facilitate the correct disposition of the case. This information is secured in part from the child and his parents directly, but is supplemented and corroborated by neighbors and acquaintances. School records and employment records are also utilized when necessary. The chief probation officer gives his judg- ment upon the case, and the judge in most instances fol- lows the suggestions made. Unless he is skillful in his task, the investigating officer will fail to collect many of the most important facts about the child. A trained worker is most necessary for this work, and considerable skill is required to extort the truth from the unwilling 248 CHILD PROBLEMS subjects of investigation. As indicated, wherever there is a large amount of work to be done, as in the large cities, there can be much subdivision of labor, and the work of the probation staff can be specialized. In this case some of the officials can hardly be regarded as probation officers. Greater economy and efficiency is gained if the duties of investigation and parole work are separated. If not bur- dened with parole work, the investigating officer can secure more adequate information and prepare each case for a more intelligent disposition. b. Parole Officers. The work of the judge is less important than that of the probation officers who carry out the parental functions of the court. The judge can only determine the method of disposition of the delinquent; the probation officer must endeavor to restore him to a normal moral status. The child when placed on probation presents a new prob- lem, and critical constructive work then commences. Pa- role officers must deal with two kinds of delinquents ; those who are released and simply placed under the care of some official, and the children who are conditionally released from some institution. Two distinct classes of offenders are represented in these tj^Des, and the methods of super- vision must correspond. In the first place the parole officer usually brings the child to the detention house, although in many cases the police still continue to do so. If relieved of the task of making preliminary investigations, the parole officer must still be familiar with the facts that have been obtained in order to supervise the child efficiently. His duties then are largely confined to supervision. He almost invariably requires the child to report in person at regular intervals. These conferences cover the work and conduct of the child since the time of the last report, and outline the nature of his prospective activities. Written reports are also THE PROBATION SYSTEM 249 filed. These consist of reports made out by the dehnquent himself, reports from the school which he attends, reports from parents or guardians and perhaps employers, and occasionally from others. The parole officer also files his own report of the conduct of the child. When a child remains in his old environment — and in the majority of cases the environment has been responsible for the delin- quency — the parole officer must be familiar with the influences that surround the delinquent. He must know what the child is doing, not from reports that have been filled out and sent him, but from personal observation. Although not a spy nor detective, he must be familiar with the daily routine of the child's fife, and if he is an efficient friend of dehnquent children, he mil take such steps as will lessen the temptation to repeat offenses, and will strengthen children in their purpose to remain law- abiding. To supervise the activities of the child in order to prevent degeneration, to turn his attention to wholesome sports and amusements, to interest him in better com- panionship, to surround him with elevating influences, to discourage any proclivity toward truancy and disobedi- ence to parents ; in short, to build up his character — these are some of the duties which the probation system imposes upon its officials. Success can be best obtained by securing the cooperation of supplementary agencies which are able to work permanently for the reclamation of wayward children, by filling their lives with wholesome influences. Such agencies will continue to work for the good of delinquent children after they are released from the jurisdiction of the probation officer. c. Unpaid Officials. At the beginning of the juvenile court movement, the principles of probation were so misunderstood that in many cities parole or probation officers were designated by the court to serve without pay. The Pennsylvania 250 CHILD PROBLEMS law of 1903, for example, provided for the appointment by the court of one or more discreet persons of good char- acter to serve as probation officers during the pleasure of the court, said probation officers to receive no compen- sation from the public treasury ; and it further required that the probation officers make such investigations as the court might demand, that they be present in court when the case was heard, that they furnish the court such information and assistance as the court might require, and that they take such charge of the child before or after trial as the court might direct. Compulsory unpaid ser- vice has had a short-lived existence in the United States. Practically every state having probation laws has pro- vided public compensation for its probation officers, al- though in many cases very meager salaries are being paid. Social workers recognized almost immediately the necessity of granting compensation to the probation offi- cers in order to secure enough competent individuals for the work. The burden of providing salaries for the officials was sometimes borne by women's clubs, sometimes by churches, and sometimes by settlements and other organi- zations interested in social betterment. It is needless to say that the compensation given under this system was far from adequate. This fact, together with the justice and propriety of salaries paid from the public treasury, hastened the advent of a system of public compensation. A serious objection to compulsory unpaid work consists in the difficulty of securing trained workers for this purpose. The trained worker is almost invariably a person who makes the work a means of gaining a Hvelihood and natu- rally endeavors to increase his efficiency so as to gain a reputation and command a higher salary. Those in- dividuals who have sufficient leisure to undertake these duties without requiring pay rarely possess the training and experience needed for successful work. Often they THE PROBATION SYSTEM 251 are unwilling to accept the inconveniences necessary to success. d. Volunteer Probation Officers. The relation of the volunteer worker to the court system is somewhat different from that of the appointed unpaid worker. The volunteer deliberately undertakes without compensation part of the work falling within the jurisdic- tion of the probation officials. He is expected to do faith- fully the work which is assigned to him. The volunteer system in charitable enterprise in the United States rests on a rather insecure basis ; whereas in Germany under the Elberfeld system such honor attaches to unpaid work as to make the office a stepping-stone to a pubUc career. Only an incentive of this kind can insure successful results from unpaid work. In the United States as yet no such incentive has been developed. The volunteer, however, is not drafted into the service, but is appointed only after signifying his desire to assist in the work of the probation office. Therefore it might be supposed that only persons sincerely interested in the work would apply for appoint- ment. In actual practice volunteer work, which is most commonly carried on by women, is handicapped by the following disadvantages : — (1) Frequently the volunteer has only an ephemeral in- terest in probation work — an interest excited by a sudden contact with the fascinating features of the problem. After a few reverses in attempting to reform delinquent children, her ardor cools, and as she does not feel the responsibility borne by a paid official, her efficiency rapidly declines. (2) Volunteer work is often in danger of becoming fash- ionable. When such conditions obtain, it is less the spirit of service than the popularity of service which dominates the volunteer. (3) It can never be regarded as more than a mere avo- cation, and this can often be conveniently slighted, when 252 CHILD PROBLEMS other interests, such as dinners, balls, etc., absorb the mind. The needs of the child are not made paramount, and there- fore do not receive sufficient attention. On account of her inexperience and lack of training, the volunteer is often an incompetent guide, and much harm may result. On the other hand, capable volunteers for probation work are frequently secured from the general body of social workers in any community. The principle of volun- teer service must be maintained, but whether such service shall be given in connection with the juvenile court or with some other form of philanthropic endeavor depends upon the comparative harmfulness of the results. Some temporary harm may be tolerated if the undoubted result would be the enlargement of the area of interest in social problems. Social progress depends upon a widened area of intelligent interest in the welfare of humanity. The most extensive experiment with volunteer proba- tion officers has been conducted in Indianapolis, where, since only two regular probation officers were at first avail- able, it was necessary to rely in part upon volunteer help.^ During the first year of the existence of the juvenile court in that city, nearly 190 men and women offered their services. About 80 of these were employed, and 240 children, or an average of three each, were assigned to them. A large percentage of the volunteers were men of affairs full of practical suggestions. The philanthropic organizations and societies also contributed some efficient workers. At first the system in Indianapolis met with considerable success, but at present it is somewhat disorganized. In many of the larger cities volunteers have been accepted and a number of cases assigned to each officer, but the practice is being discouraged in favor of a working corps 1 Children's Courts in the U. S. 58th Congress, 2d Session, House of Rep., Doc. No. 701, p. 153 ; also National Conference of Charities and Correction, 1904, p. 369. Article by Mrs. Helen Rogers. THE PROBATION SYSTEM 253 of paid officials only. The city of Buffalo, however, depends largely upon an efficient corps of volunteers for its probation work. In 1908 the court was assisted by 72 such persons, the majority of whom were connected with educational, religious, or philanthropic work. It is to be hoped that through the gradual extension of volun- teer work the paid officials will be aided, but not displaced. e. The Judge as Probation Officer. In a few cases the judges partially assume the function of probation officer, and compel delinquent children to report to them as well as to other officials. The prin- cipal cities in which this system has found favor are Den- ver, Washington, and Salt Lake City. The success of this system depends largely upon the concurrence of two factors : a judge with a strong personal influence, and a citj' of small or medium size, such as the cities named above. The able judge of the Denver juvenile court originated the system, and nearly three hundred boys report to his court every other Saturday, and come into direct contact with the judge.^ Common sense talks are given, and loy- alty to the court and to law is inspired in the boys. Fre- quent individual conferences with the boys are held, and their difficulties and problems made plain and plans of conduct worked out. The judge consequently becomes a friend and adviser instead of remaining a mere official executing the functions of his office. Two principal results have developed in Denver : first, loyalty to the judge and proper behavior in order to demonstrate this fact ; second, the growth of a class of voluntary delinquents, that is, a class of boys who voluntarily confess to the court that they have been violating the law. Many of these boys desire to mend their ways, but find it difficult to do so with- out being placed under the jurisdiction of the court. In two years 150 such boys have come into the Denver court, J Children's Courts in the United States, pp. 34, 80, etc. 254 CHILD PROBLEMS and among them have been a number of serious offenders. Although several cities have adopted in part the method of the Denver court, the majority have delegated the work of probation entirely to their probation officers. Unless the judge understands children thoroughly and has the proper temperament, he can not inspire the delinquent boy with up- lifting motives. He loses his dignity and falls into contempt. 4. Qualities of Probation Officers. Since probation officers are the most important adjunct of the juvenile court, their quahties will determine the suc- cess of the system. They must have a comprehensive understanding of child psychology and know how to deal with children ; they must have personal touch and know the secret byways to the child's heart ; they must be able to influence their wards and rouse in them moral and noble ambitions ; they must promote the development of the child's moral qualities, since he is still in process of formation. This they can not do without an unlimited fund of patience. They must be sympathetic but not sentimental, and they require a quality of firmness which will give the child resolution. This is urgently needed, for the absence of parental firmness is responsible for much serious delinquency. The probation officer must have an outlook sufficiently broad to comprehend the needs and in- terests of the child and to make the most of them. Finally, he must be never-ceasing in his vigils, for the time allowed him to mold the child's character is all too short. 5. Probation Districts. Two different methods of assigning cases to the proba- tion officers are in operation. According to one, the city is divided into districts, to each of which a different officer is assigned, who cares for all the cases in this district. The advantage of this plan Hes in the fact that the territory THE PROBATION SYSTEM 255 to be covered by the official is so compact that he is able to become acquainted with the conditions and can therefore plan more successfully the program for each child. On the other hand, the acceptance of every variety of case prevents such specialization as would conduce to the most intelligent methods of treatment. The district plan may be somewhat modified by increasing the size of each dis- trict and placing two officers therein. One of these should be a woman having charge of delinquent girls and the smaller boys. Philadelphia and Chicago furnish examples of the district method. According to the second method, each probation officer has charge of a special type of cases which may be scat- tered throughout the city. Colored children are cared for by a colored official ; white girls by a white woman ; and cases of very serious delinquency by a man trained in the art of handling this type of boys. This plan, while it may enable the official to acquaint himself with the details of a case, does not allow him to understand thor- oughly the community in which the delinquent resides. It likewise compels him to cover a large territory, and occasions a considerable loss of time. Furthermore it les- sens the opportunity of the probation officer to identify himself with a community in a positive and. constructive manner. Its chief virtue lies in the advantage which specialization in types of delinquency affords. St. Louis and Brooklyn are the principal examples of this method of assigning probation cases. 6. Length of Probation. Courts occasionally grant a suspension of sentence without submitting the offender to probation, but ordi- narily juvenile delinquents are placed on probation for a hmited time. The average length of probation as repre- sented by the practice in several leading cities is indicated 256 CHILD PROBLEMS in the following table compiled by Mr. Roger N. Baldwin, Chief Probation Officer of St. Louis: — Cities Length op Probation St. Louis 6 to 18 months (average 10 months) Brooklyn Average 4 months Boston 6 to 18 months (average 9 months) Indianapolis .... Average 1 year Cleveland Average 3 months Chicago From 6 months to 3 or 4 years Denver 6 months to 2 years These figures ^ show considerable variety in the average length of probation, as well as uncertainty on the part of some of the courts as to the precise average which their statistics would yield. In Yonkers, New York, investiga- tion revealed an average length of probation of not more than three months. This was regarded as too short by the New York State Probation Commission, which recom- mended a minimum period of six months for practically all delinquent cases. It should be evident that if permanent cures are to be effected a reasonable length of time must be allowed to enable the probation officer to perfect a program of reform for each child under his control. An average of nine or ten months is none too long for this purpose. 7. Number of Cases per Official. Volunteer officers do not usually care for more than two or three cases each, but regularly paid officials each handle a large number. The different cities vary widely in this respect, the number of probationers per official ranging from 50 to about 130. The number which can be con- veniently handled depends partly upon the character of 1 Report of the Juvenile Court, St. Louis, 190S. THE PROBATION SYSTEM 257 the offenders and partly on the length of the probation period. Serious cases can not be given too much attention, and the care of 75 delinquents is sufficient work for the average probation officer. If this number is exceeded, unsatisfactory results are likely to follow. 8. Results of Probation. The precise results of the new system of handling cases offdehnquent children can not be determined, as the method has not been in operation a sufficient length of time. It will first be necessary to ascertain to what extent peni- tentiary convicts as well as vagrants, mendicants, and inefficient workingmen are recruited from the ranks of former juvenile delinquents. Some rough estimates of the results can, however, be made by noting the percentage of recurring and successful cases. Several large cities re- port about 30 per cent of the cases as having appeared two or more times, thus indicating either that the probation was insufficient or that the boy was incorrigible. Third ap- pearances in court, however, range only from one fourth to one half of the number of second offenses. This seems to show that additional probation and treatment is de- cidedly effective. The following table records the results of probation in about 470 cases in the state of New York : ^ REStTLTS Per Cent Boys Per Cent Girls Discharged with improvement . . Discharged without improvement Rearrested and committed .... Rearrested and still in custody, pend- ■ ing final disposition Absconded 78.7 3 11.9 1.4 1.4 3 95.4 2.3 ^ 2.3 Removed 1 First Report of the State Probation Commission, p. 30. 258 CHILD PROBLEMS The investigation conducted in the city of Yonkers showed that from two thirds to three fourths of the pro- bationers were benefited, that the system was especially successful in the prevention of truancy, and that com- mitments had been greatly reduced. It appears that pro- bation fails in less than 20 per cent of the cases, and that, as the foregoing table shows, more than four fifths of the delinquents are positively benefited thereby. During the first two years of the Denver court about 5.5 per cent of the probationers failed under the system. The first figures from Indianapolis showed about 10 per cent of unsuccessful cases. These statistics are somewhat mis- leading because they do not include the cases committed to institutions, to which the more flagrant offenders are usually sent. Commonly, probation deals with the first and less callous offender rather than the serious lawbreaker. On the other hand, social workers report that children frequently boast of their juvenile court record. The best possible results can not be obtained so long as this is true. The effects of probation are profoundly modified by the existence of adequate supplementary agencies aiming to fill the life of the child with forms of activity which tend to develop his better nature. The success of proba- tion in the parts of Chicago supplied with small parks is an example. It is plain that the system has justified its present existence, but its future is uncertain. The test of probation is not the percentage of children that are reformed, but the superiority of the system over other pre- ventive and constructive agencies. The permanency of the probation system depends upon this superiority. 9. Essentials of a Successful Peobation System. Among the requisites of a successful probation system are the following : — (1) Civil service examinations, and trained probation THE PROBATION SYSTEM 259 officers, for purposes both of investigation and of super- vision. (2) Adequate salaries to retain a corps of good officials. (3) The care by a single probation officer of no more cases than will make possible personal relations, and the use of personal influence over the delinquents. (4) Cooperation with the other child-saving agencies of the community. (5) A period of probation of sufficient length to impress the child with law-abiding tendencies. (6) A diagnosis of the causes of delinquency so com- plete as to make possible an adequate program of pre- vention. (7) The utilization of all available preventive agencies, and the inauguration of beneficial environmental influences so as to diminish the need of a probation system. (8) A judge interested in probation and in full sympathy with probation officials. CHAPTER IV REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS 1. Evolution of Institutional Treatment. Adequate care of delinquent children can not be given without the aid of reformatory institutions of various kinds. At each stage of their adolescence children must be subjected to forms of treatment appropriate to their psychological and physiological needs. Probation may be best for one child ; institutional care for another. The former, however, has limitations which can not at present be overcome, hence the reformatory is a necessary supple- ment. The age of the child determines the type of in- stitution best fitted to benefit him. The social attitude toward the proper function of an institution for delinquent children has undergone a very interesting change, and is reflected in the names given to such institutions. Originally they were named '^Houses of Refuge" — a name which still clings to a number of reform schools throughout the country. The name is a relic of the day when the object of institutional care was less that of restoration to right living than that of providing a means of escape from temptations. Such an object is wholly foreign to the enlightened methods of to-day. The first House of Refuge in the United States was established in New York City in 1825. The Lyman School in Massachusetts, opened in 1848, was the first such institution placed under the exclusive control of the state.^ 1 See National Conference of Charities and Correction, 1901, pp. 245 ff. 260 REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS 261 As long as venerable notions of human depravity and the full responsibility of children for their delinquencies prevailed, the modern view was quite impossible. The idea of reformation, however, took root, and soon ''Reform School" became an appropriate name for these institutions. The method of reform was crude and unscientific because the essential elements of child nature were not understood. Reform meant the complete subjugation of the boy, which often resulted in the development of a malevolent spirit, owing to cruel treatment and to too frequent corporal pun- ishment. Repression by suppression instead of by develop- ment therefore marked the earlier attempts to care for delinquent children, and the Reform School is the legacy of this period of misguided effort. The growing recognition that children were largely untrained instead of criminal led to the idea of the train- ing school. Accordingly training was seized upon as the remedy for youthful criminality. The need of filling the mind of the boy with good wholesome thoughts and of preparing him for a useful career was recognized in the program of the institution. In assuming this position the men in charge of reformatories applied the correct principles. Experience has shown that the most success- ful reformation has been accomplished by means of trade training. Some of the institutions therefore assumed the name of ''Industrial Schools," thus recognizing not only the need of training but the character of training neces- sary to meet the demands of the present industrial world. That disincUnation to attend school and dissatisfaction with the kind of instruction received in schools are important causes of delinquency is a noteworthy fact. That indus- trial training is far more agreeable to this class of persons than literary education is equally true. Accordingly the introduction of industrial training became the logical out- come of the attempt to use effective reformatory measures. 262 CHILD PROBLEMS The last step in the evolution of institutional treatment consists in the attempt to realize within the walls of an institution the advantages which a good home affords. No institution can rival our best homes in their possibilities of making good citizens. And the average home is better than most institutions. Accordingly the tried methods of millions of homes must be imitated as far as possible in the treatment of deUnquents placed in Industrial Schools. In order to preserve or reproduce this home life the '' Cot- tage System" was attempted. Although this system was begun in 1833 in Hamburg, Germany, it is not yet fully developed and does not properly supplement the industrial training which the institutional child now receives. Illi- nois has recently named one of its training schools a '' Home " thus recognizing more fully their complete ob- ject and purpose. They should be homelike as well as preparatory for industrial life. 2. Present Functions of Institutions. Reformatory institutions are needed for several reasons : first, the incorrigible and dangerous child must be defi- nitely segregated from his erstwhile associates in order to prevent their contamination. Probation, even though it should prove ultimately successful with the incorrigible, would be too costly in view of the numbers who would be led astray meanwhile. Quarantine is necessary to pre- vent the outbreak of an epidemic. Second, many chil- dren can not be reformed outside of training schools, and such institutions furnish the only safeguard to society. The rigid disciphne which the institution enforces can not be supplied elsewhere, and the habits which must be formed can only be acquired under close surveillance. Some judges hold that the first offender gains a very wholesome lesson if he is permitted to serve several months in the REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS 263 training school. The majority of judges, however, do not commit the first offender except in the more flagrant cases. Third, commitment, or its prospect, has a deterring in- fluence, and the effectiveness of the probation system would be curtailed but for the dread alternative of the reformatory. Finally, children suffering from evil homes can be given a much better environment and more home- like surroundings in model institutions such as are arising at the present time. Probation is doomed to failure from the outset if bad boys are allowed to remain in some of the homes from which they come. A change of residence or the "placing out" of the boys is often impracticable or unwise, so the only remaining course is commitment to an institution. 3. Types of Institutions. a. Detention Homes. The Detention Home is a temporary shelter for the child about to be brought into the juvenile court. When the child is arrested he is taken to this home, or, in certain cases, allowed his liberty if reasonable assurances are given that he will appear in court at the appointed time. The detention homes seldom provide for a large number of children. They take the place of the police stations as far as children are concerned, and children are held for only a few days at most. Separate accommodations are pro- vided for the two sexes, also playrooms, lounging rooms, etc. In the smaller cities, where juvenile court convenes but once throughout the week, a child may be detained for a period of six days, and toward the approach of court day the home is often filled with prospective delinquents. In the larger cities, where the court holds its sessions three or more times per week, the day of trial arrives sooner and the problem of the detention home is less acute. After 264 CHILD PROBLEMS the conclusion of the trial the child is removed from the home and placed according to the disposition which has been made of the case. b. Parental or Truant Schools. Scarcely rising to the dignity and character of an in- stitution, yet necessary for the reclamation of the bad boy, is the parental school. The schools are of two types. The one retains the child during school hours only, and is simply a special day school where manual training and handicraft are emphasized. Failure to attend these schools, when ordered to do so, incurs additional punishment, and sub- jects the child to the further discretion of the authorities. The system suffers somewhat from the disinclination of the children to work themselves out of the school. They are placed under favorable conditions, and many prefer to remain there, thus making true progress difficult. A second type of parental school maintains institutional features. The children are removed to the school, and are there maintained and given instruction. The two schools of New York City belong to this type. They supply food, clothing, bedding, medical care, and other services, to the inmates. Commitments are temporary only, and either a release or a transference to some other institution follows shortly. Private institutions in some instances perform the functions of the truant school, but these do not usually separate children committed for this reason from those who have come for other causes, and therefore often yield inferior results. The parental school is needed for the control of wayward, incorrigible, and truant children who can not be successfully governed by their parents and who defy the truant officers as well as the court officials. The school should be devoted to chil- dren whose delinquencies are not so serious as to require commitment to the reform school. However, children should not be sent unless they are ten or more years of REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS 265 age. Younger children can usually be disposed of accord- ing to the family plan, or placing-out system. For the child of twelve years, rigorous discipline is often necessary, and this can be best provided by means of a short term at such a school. He will then be prepared for probation or for normal home hfe. At the parental school he is under watchful care, is boarded, is given instruction along both literary and industrial lines, and is measurably domesticated. The John Worthy School of Chicago is perhaps the most conspicuous school of this class. c. Training Schools, Industrial Schools^ and Houses of Refuge. As already indicated, the institutions passing under the various names forming the topic of this paragraph all belong to the same type. At present their purpose, re- gardless of their name, is identical. They are reforma- tories to which the more serious cases of youthful delin- quency are sent. Violations of law which constitute penitentiary offenses if perpetrated by adults require the commitment of a child guilty of a similar offense to the training or industrial school. In many cases less heinous offenders are also sent to these institutions. All children under sixteen — the age period during which the juvenile court has jurisdiction — are subject to sen- tence to the reformatory. Control of the child may be maintained until his majority, although some of the com- mitments are for definite periods. These institutions should be connected with the edu- cational system of the city or state. In theory they are training schools dealing with a class of very difficult cases. The logical sequence of the theory demands that the school become an integral part of the educational work of the community. In the practical application of methods, a wide divergence from the normal may properly be allowed. The Industrial School of the city of St. Louis is controlled 266 CHILD PROBLEMS by a Board of Trustees, which, under a time contract, has granted to the Board of Education the charge of the school instruction of the children. Inmates of industrial schools should not be released until they give satisfactory evidence that their recommitment will not be necessary. The various state reform schools do not differ func- tionally from the class of institutions just discussed. In order that the scattered delinquent children of the more sparsely settled districts may be accommodated, it is neces- sary for the state to make provision for their commitment. Many cities have established their own industrial schools, but state institutions are needed for the benefit of the smaller communities. Some of the state schools, how- ever, admit children up to the age of eighteen years. Cor- rect method requires that children over sixteen years of age be separated from those under that age. Where more extended age limits prevail, the probability of proper sepa- ration is somewhat remote. 4. Separation of Sexes. The number of boys committed to public institutions for delinquent children is about four times that of girls. A prime essential of successful control consists in the sepa- ration of the sexes, either through the establishment of separate institutions or of separate departments in the same institution so conducted that no communication between them will be possible. Separate institutions entail a considerable duplication of equipment, but insure the necessary segregation of the sexes. The school for girls usually being smaller, some danger exists in regard to its efficiency. This difficulty is overcome when the two sexes form departments of the same institution. The problem of the delinquent girl is a most serious one, and therefore she needs special attention. Regardless of the specific offense for which they may have been committed, a very REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS 267 large percentage of these girls are immoral. Their restora- tion will tax the energies of the most capable superin- tendents. Separate and well-equipped schools yield the best results. 5. The Cottage System. The value of the cottage system is in exact proportion to the needs of the delinquent children for the uplifting and steadying influences of family Hfe. Certain virtues almost depend upon the home for their perpetuation ; for the development of these virtues, home life must be re- stored as far as possible. In the parental schools, to which the younger children are sent, the need of the cottage system is less apparent. The children are sent for stated periods of usually not more than six months, and the chief purpose to be accomplished is submission to authority and the enforcement of discipline. The training, indus- trial, and reform schools, however, should all be constructed on the cottage plan. The children in these schools need the definite impress of family life. This should form a most useful part of the moral discipline. The essential features of the cottage plan are these: separate buildings for each family of children ; families not exceeding forty in number (the best results, however, can not be achieved unless the size of the group is reduced to less than twenty persons) ; a preceptress for each cottage ; separate dining rooms, and a home life distinct from that of the other cottages. The personnel of each cottage should consist of varied but congenial individuals, so as to reproduce typical home conditions. The children of a family are not of like ages, neither should those of a cottage be. The progress of the cottage system has been considerably retarded by its great cost. The institution type of build- ing is so much cheaper that the cottage plan has been unfavorably received on account of the added expenditure. 268 CHILD PROBLEMS And where the system has been nominally adopted, the number of persons per cottage has usually ranged from about forty to sixty. The hoped-for individual contacts have therefore failed of realization. Institutions within the borders of a large city seldom hold a sufficient amount of land to attempt the plan at all. The greater the approxi- mation to the family ideal, the surer will be the hope of reformation. The modified cottage plan, on the other hand, is better than the old institutional type of building. With this system come pictures, decorations, and other forms of beautification, all of which serve to inspire and uplift the delinquent. The number of children in reform schools is not so large but that our public agencies can properly develop a fairly successful system based upon the cottage plan. 6. Physical Training. A very large percentage of delinquents are subnormal physically. In 1901 an investigation which was made of the children in the John Worthy School in Chicago revealed the fact that the average physique and strength of these children was considerably less than the normal. An undoubted effect upon their morals is caused by this deficiency, and their mentality is also somewhat affected. Complete reformation therefore usually depends upon two important requisites : suflacient good wholesome food and abundant physical exercise. Much of the success of Elmira Reformatory is due to the emphasis which is placed upon physical training. The experience of the Philadelphia House of Refuge also corroborates this prin- ciple. After the body has been restored to normal con- ditions the child becomes more susceptible to the moral influences with which he is surrounded. Strength, desir- able mental attributes, and discipline are promoted by REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS 269 exercise, gymnastics, and military drill. Every well- equipped school is provided with a gymnasium. For purposes of physical relaxation and moral stimulation the use of the gymnasium can not be too highly commended. Stress is laid upon this feature in the schools of each sex, and girls need the training as abundantly as do the boys. The training school is a moral hospital, and good physique conduces to good morals. 7. Industrial and Literary Training. Training schools should without exception be located in rural districts where an abundance of pure air can be freely secured and where ample room is not too costly. Furthermore, the schools should be provided with exten- sive farming facilities. Sufficient buildings can then be erected, farming can be successfully carried on, and ample instruction given in trade and industry. The precise value of the practice in farming depends upon the personnel of the inmates of the institution. If the children have been largely gathered from the rural districts, it is reasonably certain that a considerable proportion will return to the farm or small towns, and a better knowledge of farming methods will be a distinct gain. If the great majority of the boys are from the large cities with no knowledge of farming, nor inclined to study it, practice along this line must be regarded as disciphne rather than as an at- tempt to prepare the child for his life work. The proba- bility of his migrating to the farm and becoming success- ful there is too remote to permit of serious consideration. The importance of the farm for purposes of industrial training has been over-emphasized, but its value for the promotion of good physique and right living can not be overestimated. In addition to farming and gardening, the schools aim 270 CHILD PROBLEMS to give instruction in such trades as the following : car- pentering, painting, shoemaking, tailoring, sewing, baking, bricklaying, plastering, and printing.^ The girls are taught domestic science, sewing, millinery, ironing, and in some cases stenography and typewriting. In some institutions girls are specially prepared for household work, because this offers fewer temptations than many other forms of gainful employment. Very properly many institutions are almost entirely supplied by their own inmates with the necessary clothing, bedding, and agricultural produce ; buildings are repaired by their own labor ; and the laun- dry, kitchen, and print shop are operated by the delin- quents. The training which the average inmate receives equips him for successful competition with other mem- bers of his trade when he is released from the school. In- dustrial training, by making a livelihood possible for every inmate, lessens the incentive to continue a career of lawlessness. Furthermore, the great majority of these children are interested quite exclusively in the manual arts to the disparagement of literary education. The boys enjoy the shop work, and forget their mischievous ten- dencies. Inadequate facihties for practice unfortunately handicap some of our institutions. The literary training provided is similar to such training elsewhere. Many of the children are woefully lacking in this respect, but every progressive school grants ample means for the child's education, and in fact insists upon his literary development. Industrial training is usually given precedence, but the combination of the two is necessary in the outside world if the child is to hold his own. Music plays an important part in the life of an institution ; es- pecially is this true of schools for boys. The band is not only an educative force, but a disciplinary power. It con- ^ For an account of the industrial training accorded to boys, see An- nual Reports of the Philadelphia House of Refuge. REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS 271 duces to the moral elevation of the members of the school. Many of the children show considerable talent and in- clination in the direction of a musical education. 8. Discipline. Present methods of discipline differ widely from those in operation some years ago. The recognition of the facts that the children are not fully responsible for their mis- deeds, and that their minds and morals are still growing, serves to throw emphasis upon the positive upbuilding of the character of the inmates. To lead them to do right and to interest them in things worth while rather than to defy them to do wrong, represents the principle on which present discipline is based. A premium is placed upon the act of doing right, but, if necessary for the reformation of the child, punishment is not withheld. The curtailment of opportunities and privileges constitutes the form of pun- ishment enforced in many cases. Inmates come to value the shghtest privilege, and the removal of such privileges is not only a hardship but a weighty deterrent influ- ence. The increased use of the indeterminate sentence grants the inmate the power of releasing himself from the institution whenever his conduct justifies his freedom. An institution should be as free as possible from prison features, even though an occasional boy should escape. Modern discipline rightly accommodates itself to this condition, and the gain of the inmates in self-respect is immeasurably greater. 9. Number of Delinquents in Institutions. No recent statistics on this subject are available, and the most complete account of the number of children in in- stitutions for dehnquents is given in a special report of the United States Bureau of Census compiled in 1904.^ The 1 Prisoners and Juvenile Delinquents in Institutions, 1904, Bureau of the Census. 272 CHILD PROBLEMS figures in this report are based upon statistics gathered from the institutions in 39 states and territories, the re- maining states not being provided with any. The majority of the institutions are pubhc, but a number of private and denominational schools are included because several states intrust them with the care of a considerable num- ber of delinquents. The Cathohc Protectory at West- chester, New York, which was included, contained at the time of the enumeration 2566 delinquents, or about one ninth of the total number reported for the entire United States. Ten institutions were reported from New York, and an equal number from Massachusetts, the majority from the latter state being truant schools. Unfortunately such parental schools as the John Worthy School of Chi- cago were omitted from the enumeration. The principal facts for the United States and for the most prominent states are given in the following table : — Juvenile Delinquents (June 30, 1904) Continental United States New York Pennsylvania Ohio Illinois Michigan Massachusetts .... Maryland Total Male 23,034 18,177 5,826 4,718 1,692 1,461 1,741 1,316 1,386 1,062 1,114 777 1,107 892 1,070 938 Female 4,857 1,108 231 425 324 337 215 142 The remaining states reported less than one thousand each, and in the South Central states both the juvenile court and reformatory are so little developed that no accurate estimate of the amount of delinquency can be made. It REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS 273 appears that 3162 of the total number of delinquents enumerated are colored. The aggregate number of juve- nile deUnquents in institutions in the United States is un- doubtedly much larger at the present time, the juvenile court having received its greatest impetus since the com- pilation of this report. The total number of delinquents likewise is much larger than this institutional population, since the great majority of offenders are simply on pro- bation. 10. Term of Commitment. The child is sent to the institution because proper control can not be exercised over him in his native environment. The period of incarceration therefore should depend upon the length of time necessary to so train the child that effec- tive control outside of the institution will be both possible and probable. The more youthful offenders, such as are sent to parental schools, usually require but a short period of institutional training ; but the more hardened cases of the industrial school often stand in need of indeterminate commitment. Both the sentence and the method of dis- cipline must be adapted to the grade and character of the offenders. Present practice in regard to the length of the term of commitment is well illustrated by the record of the year 1904. Out of 11,814 persons committed during that year, nearly 40 per cent were given an indeterminate sentence, and 41 per cent were committed for the period of their minority. Adequate control of the delinquent is thereby assured. In several States, e.g. Illinois, Ohio, New York, and Pennsylvania, the indeterminate sentence is used in the majority of cases, while several states of the Middle West commit during minority only. In order to be fair to the delinquent, this form of commitment should, after a reasonable length of detention in the institution, be 274 CHILD PROBLEMS modifiable to the extent of permitting parole during good behavior. 11. Essentials of Reformatory Institutions. In a brief summary of the principles to be applied to the conduct of institutions for delinquent children we enu- merate the following : — (1) The adoption of the cottage system and the aboli- tion of the old congregate plan. (2) The location of the plant in some rural district. (3) The complete separation of delinquent children from other institutional children. (4) Separation of the sexes. (5) Emphasis upon training for self-maintenance. (6) Conditional release whenever the progress of the delinquent justifies such action. (7) A policy of upbuilding character. CHAPTER V the prevention op juvenile delinquency 1. Investigation of Causes. Juvenile delinquency can not be prevented without a prior knowledge of its causes. In spite of efforts to as- certain these causes, no diagnosis has yet been made of a sufficient number of delinquent children to discover the exact truth. We do not know how much to attribute to one factor and how much to another. We do not know what proportion of delinquency is caused by bad heredity, parental indifference, street associations, street trades, im- proper school training, etc. The best that has been accom- plished is little more than conjecture. The fundamental step, therefore, in preventive work is to discover the pro- portion of blame to be attributed to each cause of delin- quency. When this is determined, the application of remedies becomes more simple. Agencies are needed to undertake problems of this kind. The proposed Federal Children's Bureau could render a signal service to preventive philanthropy by probing into the causes of delinquency and carrjdng on the investiga- tions with such detail as would establish beyond doubt the comparative importance of each of the principal con- tributing factors. Private philanthropy can conduct limited investigations of causes, and it is significant that several philanthropic agencies in Chicago are at present engaged in an extended investigation of this character. It is proposed to study the boy directly, to weigh the 275 276 CHILD PROBLEMS variety of influences brought to bear upon him, to deter- mine these influences, and to ascertain the antecedent conditions, hereditary and otherwise, which have predis- posed the child to dehnquency. The advent of state probation commissions also increases the probability of adequate investigations of the fundamental factors of the problem. Meanwhile emphasis must be placed on those measures calculated to remove the present apparent causes of juvenile delinquency. 2. Improved Methods of Legal Control. Improved methods of legal control of children should tend to lessen juvenile delinquency. The work of the pro- bation system should diminish the need of its existence. Much preventive work can be accomplished by a proper organization and coordination of the philanthropic re- sources of a community. Better institutional treatment will reduce the number of second offenders, and compre- hensive adult delinquency laws will force parents to shoul- der the responsibility of wayward children. 3. Juvenile Improvement Associations. Probably the first association formed for the purpose of preventing juvenile delinquency was organized in Denver in 1903. Its avowed object was the promotion of social betterment among the children. Formerly, dehnquent boys had been sent from Denver to the Colorado beet- fields, but owing to the lack of supervision results were unfavorable. An association was therefore organized, and the children were divided into groups of twenty each. Each group was provided with a camping outfit and placed under the charge of a competent person. In this way much good has been accomplished and the impulse to crimi- nahty partially redirected into normal channels. Sim- ilar associations have sprung up in a number of our larger PREVENTION OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY 277 cities, and are now carrying on such a program of preven- tive work as seems to be adapted to the particular city. In one city such a club conducts the following varied enter- prises : a system of scholarships for young boys and girls, three dollars a week being paid to those receiving this form of aid ; limited medical treatment for poor children ; two boys' clubs ; a home for incorrigible colored girls ; a summer camp lasting six weeks where more than three hundred boys and girls are accommodated yearly ; a hotel for boys, and another for girls. Nearly every one of these agencies has been instrumental in directing the over- flowing energies of the boy and girl into right channels. Preventive measures can not successfully curb the activities of the child, but they can substitute forms of activities which will lessen the propensities to wrong-doing and which will encourage enthusiasm for self-culture and in- dividual development. Juvenile improvement societies can do much to prevent law-breaking by promoting schemes of social betterment among children. 4. Boys' Clubs. Boys' clubs require time, thought, and energy, but they are one of the most useful methods of preventing boys from accomplishing mischief. The club operates to at- tract the boy from the street ; to give an honorable outlet to his surplus vitality ; and to socialize him as well as to in- sure the prevention of moral degeneracy. Boys will have clubs, whether under good auspices or no. In one large city a club was recently discovered holding its sessions in a small basement room. The equipment consisted of a set of dominoes and a pail of beer which was replenished nightly. Boys hold club meetings in the most incon- ceivable places, and frequently in the very shadow of vice and crime. The street gang tends to organize itself into a club, and if without proper leaders establishes itself in a 278 CHILD PROBLEMS degrading environment. It usually consists of boys of similar ages and differing but little in race and religion. Therefore it can easily furnish the raw material for suc- cessful organization. A gang usually develops a leader. The latter's adherence to a project for the establishment of a well-ordered club is necessary to prevent its subsequent demorahzation. The club should therefore endeavor to capture this type of boy. The homes of so many pro- spective delinquents are so disreputable and their parents so degraded and incompetent that the club must be intro- duced to give the boy an opportunity for wholesome leisure, for games, for sport, for reading, for Uterary training, for high-minded social intercourse, and for proper physical development. The club must provide advantages which the home, as existing in thousands of instances, can in no wise afford. It is a happy antidote for the squalor and wretchedness of these homes, and prevents boys from passing to the sinister emdronment of the street or to other questionable associations. The club movement is not only a hopeful preventive of juvenile delinquency, but promises to uplift home conditions themselves. Eventually the home may become so attractive that boys will be less anxious to seek amusements elsewhere. There are two principal types of boys' clubs : the large one, which the boys join without the expectation of meeting weekly in an organized capacity, and the small club, limited to perhaps not more than twenty-five members, and which generally acts as a body. The former has in a number of instances achieved a marked success. Its chief pur- pose is recreation, and the boys may come and go when they please, their chief delights being games and gymnastic advantages. The Light Bearers' Club of Kansas City organized in 1903 has a membership of five hundred boys, and the effects of its work are plainly distinguishable in the increased manly bearing and the greater refinement of PREVENTION OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY 279 the club members. The Chicago Boys' Club has had a most successful career. The enrolled membership for 1908 was 1266, the total attendance 55,256. In addition to the usual variety of wholesome sports and amusements which it provided, it gave more than 6000 free meals, 1734 lodgings, and 3091 free baths. Industrial training of various kinds was also provided for both boys and girls. The club has greatly reduced the business of the adjacent saloons — a fact which demonstrates its value as a moral and social agent. Progressive settlements also encourage the formation of clubs, some of which belong to the loosely organized variety, such as the Boys' Club of Chicago Commons. In the majority of instances, however, settlements cultivate the smaller club conducted by a resident or volunteer worker. These clubs are normally organized on an age basis ; otherwise much disharmony prevails. The smaller boys usually indulge in games and sports, intellectual pursuits being quite completely excluded. Boys of four- teen or more can more profitably mingle debating, dra- matics, current topics, and varied literary programs, with amusement and social intercourse. The club leader should in all cases grant the club the greatest possible amount of autonomy. Patience, self-control, orderliness, and other desirable qualities are thereby developed. Re- sponsibility is increased by a policy of requiring initiation fees and regular dues, neither, of course, being prohibitive in amount. These clubs, although they do not reach so many individuals, are thoroughly effective in their restraint of juvenile excesses. No one realizes more deeply than does the club leader the spirit of potential good or evil residing in a group of boys between ten and fifteen years of age. If these boys can be properly guided at that time, the volume of juvenile delinquency will be greatly reduced. 280 CHILD PROBLEMS The club movement in favor of the boy, and to some extent of the girl also, is now enlisting the support of many missions and churches, especiallj^ the institutional churches. These have formed and established clubs, have provided summer camps, and have arranged for outings on both land and water. The boys' club offers an opportunity for our churches to increase greatly their capacity for doing good. It is to be earnestly hoped that their gradual awakening from their social lethargy will result in splendid development of their power to restrain evil inclinations in the child and to encourage the latent good. The new municipal civic centers conducted or projected by a num- ber of our progressive cities afford an additional foothold for the club movement and should become an important factor in the problem. Private agencies can do much to encourage club work, and the results will amply repay the investment. 5. Parks and Playgrounds. Playgrounds are a factor in reducing juvenile delin- quency. Play facilities which will draw the boy between the ages of twelve and sixteen — the years of greatest de- linquency — necessarily lessen the opportunity of such boys to give vent to their surplus energies in unlawful ways. Wholesome sport soon becomes attractive and employs the energies of the boys. The recency of the playground movement makes it impossible to judge of its exact moral effects, and the relative value of playgrounds for small children and those for larger boys has not been determined. To be successful the playground must at- tract the boy of juvenile court age — that is, from twelve to sixteen years. The small child may be influenced, but effects must be measured largely by objective standards ; hence the relations between the playground and juvenile delinquency furnish us with the best test of the moral PREVENTION OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY 281 values of the playground. In numerous cases teachers have reported that the bad boys in their charge have re- formed under the influence of some agent which has kept idle minds from contemplating mischief, or even crime. This agent may be play, exercise, the club, or work. The results of the work of the new recreation centers of Chicago indicate that the playground may directly decrease the prevalence of juvenile delinquency. Pro- fessor Allen T. Burns ^ has compared the delinquency of the area tributary to a recreation center with the delinquency of the same district before the centers were established. He has shown that two years after the open- ing of the small parks the delinquency of the South Side decreased 17 per cent, while that of the remainder of the city increased 11 per cent, thus indicating a net difference in favor of the former of 28 per cent. In four probation districts which are provided with almost adequate play- ground facilities, the decHne in juvenile delinquency aver- aged 44 per cent, but the district having the most uniform population showed a decrease of 70 per cent. The play- grounds also affected the percentage of successful proba- tion cases — that is, cases of delinquency that were dis- charged from the care of the officials. In the city at large this percentage was 39, but in the territory tributary to the recreation centers 46 per cent of the cases were suc- cessful. The general conclusions justify the belief that these small parks have been an influential factor in reducing the juvenile delinquency of the city. 6. Amusements. Children can not forego the pleasure that is derived from modern amusements. Our commercial agencies are pro- viding cheap amusements, but it is important that the effects be uplifting instead of degrading. The five-cent 1 Charities and Commons, October 3, 1908. 282 CHILD PROBLEMS show, which is so liberally patronized, needs careful censor- ship. The committee recently organized in New York City for the purpose of censoring moving picture shows has passed on about 80 per cent of the film subjects used in the United States. The standard of nickelodeons has therefore been raised, but until all films are properly cen- sored, vicious subjects will continue to be presented and boys and girls be degraded thereby. Standards likewise must be slowly raised, and many films which are at present tolerated must eventually be excluded. Local censorship in the large cities is also necessary. Many of the scenes presented in such shows, especially the more dramatic exhibitions, such as robberies, burglaries, and thriUing episodes, although they do not directly teach vice and crime, so inflame the imagination of the child that he often instinctively purposes to reenact similar scenes. The great majority of juvenile delinquents fre- quent the five-cent show and the cheap theater. Al- though causal connections can be established only in a limited number of cases, there can be no doubt that many children are demoralized in this way. The moving picture show can be made a wholesome amusement for children. Philanthropic and municipal activity should provide high-class amusements consisting of moving pictures and lantern slide exhibitions. The recreational need of the child can thus be partially met and elevating forces be granted an opportunity to exert an unconscious influence over the boy and girl. The in- creased use by our public schools of appropriate pictures and scenes in the study of history, geography, hterature, and other subjects will also serve as a wholesome substi- tute for inferior commercial recreations. The penny arcade, the cheap dance hall, and the pool room supply additional forms of amusements. The views which the curious boy sees for one cent are often sugges- PREVENTION OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY 283 tive of, and conducive to, immorality. The cheap dance hall is especially disastrous to the young girl, whose inno- cence often presages her downfall. A strict control of such questionable amusements should be exercised. When- ever possible, private, philanthropic or municipal activity should provide a substitute. This can be done by the use of assembly halls in settlements and civic centers for dances conducted in orderly ways. The pool rooms, hkewise, must be dissociated from demoralizing environmental in- fluences. The city, settlements, churches, societies, schools, and clubs must furnish adequate amusements and drive vicious pool rooms out of existence. The problem of providing amusement for children, and for older boys and girls, is one that can not receive too much attention. Amuse- ment will be sought, and healthy social conditions depend to a very large degree upon the character of the amuse- ments provided. 7. Contributory Delinquency Laws. An important method of lessening juvenile delinquency is the enactment of adult or contributory dehnquency laws. Colorado enjoys the credit of having passed the first law of this character. The purpose of this legisla- tion is to force the responsibility of caring for the child upon the rightful authority — the parent. The interests of the child must be safeguarded, but if possible they should be advanced through the agency of the parents rather than through that of the state. If a child becomes a de- linquent and the parent has aided or encouraged such de- linquency, both should come within reach of the law. If boys steal coal from the railroad yards, and their parents, without compunction of conscience, use the coal for fuel, both parents and children should be held responsible. Contributory delinquency laws contain three principal provisions : first, a parent, guardian, or other person 284 CHILD PROBLEMS having the custody of a child, who encourages, aids, and contributes to the dependency of such child is guilty of a misdemeanor ; second, the guilty person is subject to fine or imprisonment or both. Fines range from purely nominal sums to $1000, and imprisonment may be allowed in the county j ail for a term not exceeding one year. Third, the judge maj^ suspend the sentence, provided the guilty party complies with the conditions imposed upon him by the court. Some courts have given these laws real vital- ity by compelling the misdemeanant to pay a small part of the fine imposed on him or to spend several days in jail as a reminder of his duties. The remainder of the sentence has then been suspended. Thereafter the guilty party has seldom neglected to discourage delinquency among his wards. An obstacle to the success and widespread influence of such a law is the difficulty encountered in fastening responsibility on the parent or guardian. It is not purposeful neglect, but ignorance and even helplessness, that frequently accounts for the appearance of complicity. Contributory dehnquency laws have been enacted in twenty-four states.^ The provisions of the different laws are quite similar, but they do not in all cases apply to the entire state, but frequently to the larger cities only. An additional method of enforcing parental responsi- bility consists of compelling the persons legally responsible for the child to pay part or all of the cost of maintaining the latter in an industrial or training school. Such a pro- vision of the law should not be mandatory, but its applica- tion left to the discretion of the court. If parents have been deliberately neglectful, charges for maintenance ^ The states which have enacted some form of adult delinquency law applying to either the whole or part of said state are the following : Colo- rado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, also the District of Columbia. PREVENTION OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY 285 may be justifiably required of them, but if they have exhausted their resources in training their children, such additional costs will tend to make them harsh and brutal in their treatment of the children. It is generally con- ceded that parents should be compelled to pay the main- tenance cost of children sent to parental schools. Free care of children in such institutions sometimes enables parents to shirk the responsibility of training difficult boys, the parents themselves being foremost in their efforts to have the children committed. Typical cases have been reported from Philadelphia, where a number of parents, who were unwilling to pay for the temporary placing of their children in foster homes, succeeded in having them sent to the house of refuge. Some of the Brooklyn judges have found it expedient to place parents under an order to contribute a weekly sum for the support of their children in the truant school. For this reason many Italian parents have become enthusiastic over the educational f^ciUties of the New World ! If delinquency becomes costly, par- ents develop greater responsibility. i 8. Socialization of the Public School. As in the case of churches, which stand idle most of the time, our pubHc school property can be more extensively used. If this were done, another preventive of juvenile delinquency would be brought into operation. The school playground should be open after school hours and on Sat- urdays. Supervision would be necessary, but the results would justify the measure. Many schools already allow this departure. Very wisely, shower baths, a gymnasium equipment accessible in the evening, and club facilities have been introduced in some of our public schools. The schools supply such elegant housing conditions that their more extended use for the refreshment, amusement, and physical advantage of the child is not only proper, but 286 CHILD PROBLEMS neglect to make such provision is distinctly blameworthy and economically wasteful. The use of the school for the holding of club meetings is especially desirable. 9. Compulsory School Attendance and Prevention OF Truancy. The school child is in the habit-forming age. The habit of truancy leads to incorrigibility and criminality. Tru- ancy is itself a violation of law and an evasion of parental desire. A large percentage of delinquency consists of truancy, and the most serious aspect of the problem is the effect of truancy upon the child. He habituates himself to lawbreaking and suffers from the loss of his school work. Where the street trades are open to the unwilling learner, truancy is frequent, the boy delighting in the exciting but demoralizing life of the street. He sells papers not only before and after school, but whenever his truant inclina- tions gain control. The street trader is the most skillful as well as the most troublesome truant. The prevention of truancy depends upon four main considerations : first, a compulsory education law apply- ing to all schools of an elementary character, whether pubUc, parochial, or private, and truant officers empowered to compel attendance of all children at one of these schools. Second, an adequate and able corps of officers to enforce the laws. Greater New York, for example, maintains 83 truant officers, who in 1908 discovered 11,865 cases of truancy. Third, legal provision for the punishment of parents who connive at the truancy of their children. Such provision is of course useless without adequate enforce- ment. So far little has been done to punish indifferent parents, but parental responsibifity can no longer be neg- lected. Fourth, truant schools. These act both as a means of reclaiming truants and incorrigibles and as a preventive of more widespread dehnquency. The latter PREVENTION OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY 287 result depends largely upon the segregation of the delin- quent from the normal children. The causes of truancy must likewise receive attention ; otherwise the efforts of the attendance officers will avail but httle. Among the principal causes are the follow- ing : — 1. Parental indifference, especially that of certain na- tionalities, notably the Italians and Poles. Very few Jewish parents fail to educate their children. 2. The lure of the street trades and the meager earnings which are afforded the boy who would otherwise be pen- niless. 3. The unsatisfactory nature of the elementary school curriculum. Many boys feel no interest in the work ex- pected of them, do not realize its ultimate value, and con- sider their time wasted. Failure of the schools to equip them for industrial pursuits partly accounts for this atti- tude. 4. Unfair treatment by their teachers of children re- turned to school after a period of truancy. These chil- dren need encouragement and should be attracted to school instead of being repelled, as is often the case. 5. The dissatisfaction of backward children with their slow progress in the schools. The over-aged boy becomes especially anxious to leave school and easily develops truant habits. The removal of these causes as well as the enforcement of the legal provisions above indicated are necessary for the abolition of truancy. If school attend- ance can be enforced, good habits are formed, and the opportunity for the development of the baser instincts is not lessened. 10. Vocational Training. It is well known that boys have committed serious offenses and remained apparently unrepentant in order 288 CHILD PROBLEMS to be sent to a reformatory where they might learn one of the trades being taught there. Although few offenses are committed for this purpose, the sum total of delin- quency would be lessened if the opportunity for learning a trade were given to all boys. The great majority of men in our states' prisons are unskilled laborers, without knowl- edge of any particular trade. It is desirable that children before they reach the sixteenth year of age be taught the fundamentals of some trade. Our young boys, instead of stirring up mischief or engaging aimlessly in some tem- porary occupation, can then equip themselves for life. More manual training in the upper grades of the elemen- tary schools also serves to keep the hands busy both within and without the schools, and is an active deterrent of de- linquency. The attempt to acquire skill is captivating and is a wholesome activity because it trains not only the hand and the eye, but the moral nature as well. 11. Prohibition of the Street Trades, and Other Measures of Child Protection. The newsboy standing or lounging about the saloon, hopping on and off cars, plying his trade at all hours of the day and night, is full and fair on the road to criminality. Acquainted with the worst sections of the city, bohemian in his habits, taught in the games and vices of the streets, and frequently away from home the entire night, his moral nature necessarily becomes warped and defective. The night work of the messenger boy and the strange sights and sounds which he encounters leave consequences no less demoralizing. The large percentage of newsboys and messenger boys in our juvenile reformatories should be sufficient warning that juvenile dehnquency can not be abolished unless child labor in the street trades is also prohibited. The news girl, although less frequently found, is open to the same influences and soon loses her PREVENTION OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY 289 native modesty by becoming familiar with the men who patronize her as well as with the men of the streets. The right to employ children on the stage should be care- fully regulated and prohibited within certain Hmits. Fur- thermore, children suffering from cruelty or neglect must be cared for, otherwise the reaction from their treatment will arouse their antisocial tendencies and send them to the court as delinquents. 2. Education of Parents. Parents are invested by society with the duty of caring for their children, but they receive little previous training for this most important and delicate task. The advent of domestic science and of household economy is now affording our girls a Httle training for home life, but does not yet touch that most vital point — the proper care of children. When this feature is introduced, the small child will be the gainer. Our boys receive no training of this kind whatsoever. It is plain from the evidence of our juvenile courts that a large number of fathers are utterly ignorant of the proper methods of training children. These parents need advice and instruction. They need to know the elements of American citizenship, the requisites of ordinary law, the dangers of the city, and its temptations for their children. They require a better knowledge of child nature and of correct methods of discipline. The solution of the problem is difficult, however. We can educate children for the next generation, but can do little for the parents of this generation. Still the settlements, churches, missions, and other organizations among the poor can, through mothers' meetings, men's clubs, and individual instruction, accomplish something. Probation and truant officers can also influence parents as effectually as any other agency, and their efforts should be utiHzed in this direction. 290 CHILD PROBLEMS Although not a complete list, the measures urged above are the most important ones and can readily be subjected to practical application. The problem of the prevention of juvenile delinquency is one that covers the entire range of constructive philanthropy. The measures of reform which will solve this problem w^ill also solve many others and will go far toward the establishment of healthful social relations. BOOK V THE DEPENDENT AND NEGLECTED CHILD CHAPTER I the dependent and neglected child 1. The Importance op the Home. The right of the child to life, health, play, freedom from work, opportunity, and a chance for moral develop- ment has been covered in the preceding chapters. That society must secure to children these rights is a principle of the present philanthropic propaganda. The nature of the task, however, differs for each variety of need. In all cases the children are wards of the state, which may in- terfere with private arrangements when the rights of the child are flagrantly violated. In the majority of cases the state merely assumes the position of overseer or super- visor and allows parent to carry on the work of properly providing for their children. Wherever possible, the re- sponsibility of the parents is enforced and the interference of the state limited to the insistence that parents perform their social obUgations. This work by parents must be done within the home. The home is an institution funda- mental to our civilization. Its preservation must be rigidly guarded, and the duties taken from the home must not be so numerous as to lessen the cohesive force of this civ- ilizing power. In fact, the state is using the home as one of its means of achieving further progress. Consequently any action which interferes with the sanctity and do- minion of a home must be wisely planned and must not weaken the integrity of the institution. The breaking up of a home is a serious act and justifiable only under 293 294 CHILD PROBLEMS exceptional conditions. Nevertheless, the rights of society are paramount, and if its interests will be plainly served by such action, then the step is right and expedient. The problem of the dependent and neglected child often becomes the question of the re-formation of family and home ties. The state may be compelled to take upon itself the direct duties of parent, since the proper parental authority has failed. Furthermore, instead of a temporary removal of the child, he may be permanently secured against the jurisdiction of his blood relatives, but even in taking this step the bond of parental affection must not be overlooked. The sacrifice of the latter may outweigh the advantages of separation. Accordingly the various factors in the problem — the parent, the home, and the child — must each be given due weight, and the disposition of a case should be determined on the basis of the relative importance of each factor. 2. Types of Dependents. There are many dependent and neglected children repre- senting numerous types and forms of dependency. One group of children consists of those who are crippled or de- formed from birth. Although their number is not large, accommodations for their advantage are usually lacking ; and thus they become a grievous burden to their parents and fail to receive the care and attention which they merit. A portion are curable, or may at least be made partially self-supporting, if they are provided with the proper medi- cal and educational facilities. Institutional care for this class is undoubtedly the wisest form of prescription. A second class includes illegitimate children, foundlings, and abandoned infants. Society has very unjustly charged such children with the blame of their ignoble birth, and their entire lives have been spent under the handicap of such a terrible injustice. These infants deserve every THE DEPENDENT AND NEGLECTED CHILD 295 consideration given to the legitimate child, and equal pro- vision for their care should be made. Their parents must indeed be held responsible as far as possible and a burden be placed upon them, but the child should not be sacri- ficed because of another's guilt. The French experiment of relieving parents of responsibility for illegitimate chil- dren proved extremely disastrous. It not only increased illegitimacy, but enormously increased the number of foundhngs and was necessarily abandoned. In the United States the niunber of illegitimate children is relatively small and the number of foundlings quite insignificant, ex- cept in the laTge cities where shame can be concealed and where poverty often pinches. A large number of children, especially in our industrial centers and in the congested portions of our cities, can not be comfortably^ provided for by their parents. Frequently the mother is forced to spend the day in the factory, and her children are either neglected or placed in the care of a small daughter — a ''child mother." Again, among the poor, medical attention is often omitted because financial means are wanting, and accordingly children do not re- cover fully from disease ; scars, traces, and minor defects remain, and sometimes more serious defects permanently handicap the child. Scarlet fever, which is especially severe on the poor, is one of the most maHgnant of these diseases. This group of children constitutes a semi- neglected class, and the neglect frequently leads to such conditions of subnormality as will render the individual barely self-supporting on his reaching maturity. The day nursery, summer outings, playgrounds, medical in- spection of the schools, and in some cases direct assistance, tend to prevent complete dependence and partially over- come the natural effects of neglect. The largest group of children considered in this class are those who for various reasons are partially or completely 296 CHILD PROBLEMS dependent upon society. Many are without natural family support, owing to the desertion of the father, and in the absence of the latter the state may be forced to pro- vide for the children. Some are orphans, but if part of the family still remains, the method of provision will de- pend upon the advisabiUty of keeping the remainder of the family together. Charitable agencies sometimes quite properly pension a widowed mother or father of a large family when investigation proves that the family can be reared to better advantage if it remains united. In some cases parents are temporarily or permanently disabled, and their children must therefore be given temporary relief. Cruelty is but the superlative degree of neglect, there- fore the victims of neglect and of cruelty belong to the same category. The neglected child is one for whom parents fail to care or provide so that the child suffers from actual want or is demoralized. The following case occurring in New York City illustrates the type. Investi- gation by the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children disclosed " two children, aged six and four years respectively, badly neglected by a drunken mother. The surroundings were filthy, the mother almost hopelessly intoxicated, the children quite nude, and a sister of the mother lay dying from consumption on a bed of rags near by." Refusal of the father to turn over a sufficient amount of his regular wages to the mother to enable her to care for the children properly also constitutes a frequent cause of neglect. The laxity of parents who allow children to indulge in pernicious associations, to beg, frequent saloons and gambling houses, and sleep away from home, subjects such parents to the charge of neglect and cruelty. The grosser forms of cruelty usuallyJ:consist of beating and similar abuses of children. Parents often frighten their sons by excessive corporal punishment ; the latter become THE DEPENDENT AND NEGLECTED CHILD 297 refractory, only to suffer still more from the cruelty of the father. Neither the wife beater nor the child beater has become extinct. Cruelty often drives the boy away from home, but being without friends or experience, he goes from bad to worse until his pitiable state may finally draw attention to himself and to the causes of his misfortune. Such cases differ from pure dependency in that, not only must a proper disposition be made of the child, but the parent must be punished for his offense. 3. Causes of Dependency. The prevention of dependency furnishes one of the most difficult of all child problems. A very large percentage of dependency is at present uncontrollable. A radical reconstruction of social relations would be necessary to prevent its regular recurrence. Hereditary influences, unexpected death of parent or natural supporter, industrial maladjustments, sickness, and many other causes of de- pendency can be remedied with difficulty. Nevertheless the situation is not hopeless, and much dependency among children can be mitigated, and some of it can be entirely prevented. The causes differ materially from the causes of dependency among adults. Since no adequate Amer- ican statistics are available, no detailed study of causes can be given. Warner quotes German statistics on de- pendent children,^ but the figures, which were compiled by Bohmert, are now more than fifteen years old at least. The percentages, however, still have value. According to these figures, the chief causes of dependency among 13,000 children were distributed as follows : orphanage, 38.75 per cent ; lack of work on part of guardian, 14.90 sickness, etc., 11.88; abandonment by guardian, 11.66 imprisonment of guardian, 4.7 ; abuse and neglect, 4.5 1 Warner, Amos, American Charities, p. 43 of First Edition, p. 54 of Revised Edition. 298 CHILD PROBLEMS sickness of guardian, 4.34 ; laziness of guardian, 3.49 ; drunkenness of guardian, L54 ; mental or physical defect in guardian, 1.74. The remaining causes are of minor importance. According to Bohmert, one fourth of the chil- dren are dependent owing to causes controlled by their parents or guardians. He has, however, included only the more palpable culpability of parents, omitting lack of work, sickness, and of course orphanage. To a large degree lack of work depends on the inefficiency of the parent, and is a remediable evil. Furthermore much sickness could be avoided by the exercise of a little more intelligence. The amount of unnecessary dependency is therefore much larger than the estimate given above. Eventually the lessening of the death rate through the decrease of the nmnber of accidents, better sanitation, the elimination of certain diseases especially prevalent among the poor, and a lower occupational mortality will decrease the aggregate amount of orphanage. Consid- erable time ^vill, however, be necessary for the realization of these reforms. The large families among the poor are an additional cause of dependency. Rountree showed that in York, England, the proportion of actual poverty due to the existence of large families was 22.16 per cent. The death of one of the parents in such cases almost necessarily makes the children at least partially dependent. Frequently temporary aid in the home is sufficient to meet such needs, but often the family must be separated. Excessive re- production, coupled with precarious economic conditions, make considerable relief necessary. The number of dependent children is closely related to the prevaihng relief policy. Certain systems foster the increase of dependents, while others as faithfully diminish their number. Unwise philanthropy undoubtedly accen- tuates the problem. The orphanage and institution have THE DEPENDENT AND NEGLECTED CHILD 299 not reduced dependency to a minimum, but have rather tended to prevent the greatest possible reduction. The proportion of dependent children in the state of New York, which uses the institutional method, is much larger than in other states where placing out methods are used. How- ever, there are other reasons why New York should have an unusually large number of dependent children. Cruelty and alcoholism are allied causes of dependency One large western home-finding society reports that a majority of its cases are at least partially the result of alcoholism. The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has published in one of its annual reports the following statement : "Reference to the records of the society during the entire years of its existence would establish beyond all controversy the fact that to the ex- cessive use of intoxicants by parents is largely due the great neglect, the suffering, and grosser forms of cruelty imposed upon childhood. It has been the province of the Society to respond to constant appeals made for the pro- tection of children against drunken and brutal parents." ^ Drunkenness easily degenerates into brutalitj^ In many cases the mother is an offender as well as the father. In some cities, the proportion of neglect directly attributable to intemperance is much smaller than that credited to New York City. Abnormal family conditions play an important part in causing neglect. In a typical city, in nearly 20 per cent of the cases the parents had separated, the child usually living with the mother. In 12 per cent the child lived with the father, the mother being dead or living elsewhere ; in 25 per cent the mother held the child, the father being dead or having abandoned the family ; in 10 per cent of the cases, step-parents complicated matters; and a small 1 Annual Report of New York Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children, 1908. 300 CHILD PROBLEMS percentage of children were entirely abandoned.^ The desire of the child in the great majority of cases to go with the mother on her separation from the father indicates the comparative worthlessness and cruelty of many fathers. Illegitimates and children of immoral parents are often neglected, and in one large city about 50 per cent of the neglected children receiving public care had been deserted by their fathers. Private philanthropy, however, had charge of a large number of the neglected children of the city, so the net proportion of deserted cases was much smaller. ''Improper guardianship," which forms the usual charge against the parents of neglected children, besides being attributable to drunkenness, abnormal family relations, and child desertion, depends upon a cruel disposition, ignorance of the temptations which beset children, indifference, and extreme selfishness. 4. Number of Dependent Children. The exact number of dependent and neglected children in the United States is not known, as statistics are not available for the children who have been boarded out and placed out. The number of children in institutions, however, has been tabulated by the federal government. The following table gives the number of children in such institutions and the number admitted during the year 1904, in the United States and the most densely populated states. The states of Indiana, Missouri, New Jersey, and Mary- land each held in their orphanages and children's homes more than two thousand children. The number of in- mates in the remaining states was much less. These statistics show a tremendous disparity among the states as to the proportion of children in homes of the kind desig- * Annual Report of Juvenile Court, Kansas City, 1908. THE DEPENDENT AND NEGLECTED CHILD 301 Orphanages and Children's Homes Statb No. Inmates (1904) No. Ad- mitted (1904) No. Inmates PER 100,000 POPXJLATION United States New York Pennsylvania Ohio Illinois California Massachusetts District of Columbia . . . 92,289 24,907 10,418 7,670 5,245 4,680 3,953 967 70,825 18,171 4,786 6,292 7,587 3,404 5,443 606 113.6 317.3 153.6 175.1 99.4 290.8 129. 321.4 nated. In several of the western states the number and proportion of institution children is quite negligible. In these, either the dependent children are not largely repre- sented in institutions or the actual number is much smaller. Both contingencies are probable and must be considered in an estimate of the total number of dependent children. Some states use the institution more extensively than do others, and their statistics therefore create false impres- sions. New York contains in its orphanages and homes more than one fourth of the children found in such insti- tutions throughout the United States. It follows the District of Columbia with the second largest proportion of inmates per given unit of population. In several states the children pass rapidly through the institutions, and therefore the number admitted during the year is larger than the number remaining at its close. Setting aside these modi- fying factors, we find that more than 92,000 children were in such institutions at the close of the year 1904. In addi- tion to this a considerable number of children were at the I Benevolent Institutions. 1904, pp. 26 ff. Special Report of Bureau of the Census, 302 CHILD PROBLEMS same time imiiates of other institutions. In "Permanent Homes" for adults and children the number enumerated was 5625, New York and Texas having each more than 700. The movement of children through these homes was, however, almost as rapid as the movement though the orphanages. The "Temporary Homes" form another class of institutions. These contained 8124 children, although the mmiber of admissions during the year aggre- gated 23,032. The average stay of each child was accord- ingly a little more than four months, while the average stay in the other institutions was somewhat more than one year. New York led with 2949 inmates, and 10,404 admissions. The aggregate number of children in institutions on December 31, 1904, was 106,038. Among this number are included infants in foundling asylums, illegitimate children, and a small number of incorrigibles and cripples. With very little variation, however, the figure given repre- sents the sum total of dependent children in institutions in the United States. The great disparity in proportions among the various states indicates that many of them have disposed of their dependent children in other ways. The boarding and placing out system accounts for thou- sands of such children, but the exact number is not known. According to estimates made, there are at the present time about 50,000 children in foster homes or being boarded at the cost of some society or other agency. The total num- ber of dependent children thus rises to an aggregate of more than 150,000. Some of the neglected children fall into the hands of placing-out societies and of institutions, and are therefore enumerated in the foregoing figures. A considerable class of neglected children, however, do not figure in the statistical tables. They are the less serious cases, it is true; nevertheless they are not living under normal conditions and are suffering from the handicap of uncertain training and precarious family fife. CHAPTER II principles of child saving 1. Placing Out vs. the Institution. Social workers were long divided into two camps on the question of the proper method of caring for dependent children. One party advocated the institutional plan and favored the orphanage, the cliildren's home, the per- manent home, and industrial schools where children should be brought up to adult life. Without natural supporters they would, it was beheved, prosper better in some insti- tution where discipline, education, moral instruction, good environment, physical training, and other advantages could be provided. This party pointed out the defects of the placing-out system, and the unsatisfactory results that the latter formerly achieved. The advocates of the placing-out system, on the other hand, insisted on the absence of real family life in the institution, they pointed out the manifold evils of aggregation, of the absence of individuation, and of the unnatural conditions and sur- roundings of an institution. They claimed great advan- tages for the home and for its favorable moral environment, and contended that life away from the temptations and pitfalls of a large city and outside of an institution would yield the best results. Even the temporary home was opposed by the most radical advocates of the placing-out plan. The contending parties gradually weakened in their 303 304 CHILD PROBLEMS opposition to each other, and finally sought to harmonize their differences. Some good in institutions was discov- ered, and the value of the placing-out system was definitely recognized. In 1899 the National Conference of Charities and Correction adopted a report which ended the strife and set forth the principles of child saving on a permanent basis. These principles are restated in the report of 1906, and an elaborate exposition has been pubUshed in the report of the White House Conference in 1909.^ 2. Pbinciples of Child Saving. The principles concerning which there is now substantial agreement are the following : — (1) Preservation of home ties wherever possible. (2) The paramount importance of preventive work. (3) The superiority of the foster home as a substitute for the natural home. (4) The use of the institution for temporary purposes only, except for feeble-minded, epileptic, and certain crippled, deformed, and otherwise incurable children. (5) The incorporation of child-caring agencies. (6) The adoption of the cottage plan for institutions. (7) State inspection of the work of child-caring agencies. (8) Education in institutions as part of the pubhc edu- cational system. (9) The keeping of adequate records. (10) Cooperation among child-caring agencies. (11) Undesirability of legislation by states so as to han- dicap the placing out of children from other states. (12) The need of a national association on the care of dependent children. (13) A federal Children's Bureau. ^ See National Conference of Charities and Correction, 1906, pp. 87-89, also the Survey for February 20, 1909. PRINCIPLES OF CHILD SAVING 305 3. The Foster Home. The value of the home tie can not be too strongly em- phasized. Its severance may work untold hardships when a slightly different form of aid might serve to tide over a temporary difficulty. When the trouble is not perma- nent, the home should rarely be broken up. Every reason- able effort should be made to keep together the family of a worthy and willing widow or widower. A certain class of homes, however, can not remain unmolested. This class is usually the concern of the Society for the Preven- tion of Cruelty to Children. The gross neglect and cruelty cases often require that the child be permanently removed from the home. Dr. E. T. Devine says, *'If children are removed because their parents are morally unfit guardians for them, this removal should be imconditional. There should be no hesitation in transferring the legal guar- dianship in such cases." 1 While the burden of proof to show parental incompetency rests upon the state, the latter has the undoubted right to interfere with the natural home relations when it becomes evident that the children are the victims of violently abnormal treatment. Board- ing out may be necessary if the number of desirable free homes is limited. Much of the opposition to the placing- out system was occasioned by the lax methods employed by home-finding societies. In former years a number of the eastern societies regularly sent a considerable num- ber of their dependent children to western states, and owing to the distance from the central offices, the children on the farms were inadequately supervised. The cruel and abusive treatment of the children was in many cases unknown to the society, and consequently the percentage of failures to secure good results was excessive. The fault, however, was not an inherent part of the system. 1 Principles of Relief, p. 103. 306 CHILD PROBLEMS It has been remedied by adequate organization and suffi- cient inspection and supervision. The well-regulated home being usually regarded as the best medium in which to develop the growing boy or girl, the most advisable step in connection with the dependent child is to secure for him some carefully selected foster home. In the home the child has the advantage of con- tact with his foster parents and with his playmates and is in touch with wholesome life. The normal child must meet persons and children of all ages. Otherwise his com- plete development can not be secured. When placed in the home the child enjoys the prospect of these advantages, but an institution is necessarily surrounded by artificial conditions, and therefore can not provide the training which natural contacts make possible. The ultimate goal is to secure the adoption of the child by the family, but if that is not possible, to have him placed in a free home subject to regular supervision by the home-finding society. Child- less couples are frequently anxious to adopt one or more promising children, and partiality of parents toward par- ticular children is not likely in such cases. The right to remove the child placed on probation in a family protects the children who have been unfortunately located. Sim- ilar rights of rejection allow would-be foster parents to release undesirable children. d:. The Cottage Plan. The cottage plan is as desirable for institutions caring for dependent children as for those containing juvenile delinquents. As the merits of the system have been dis- cussed in a previous chapter, no repetition of the argument is necessary. In view of the fact that more than 100,000 children are at the present time located in institutions throughout the United States, the adoption of the cottage plan is an important consideration. The large majority PRINCIPLES OF CHILD SAVING 307 of institutions are found within city limits, and but a small proportion of all our institutions have adopted the cottage plan. Although the desirability of the system is fully recognized among social workers, the financial condition of institutions has prevented them from introducing the cottage system as rapidly as desirable. To meet this shortcoming it is the more necessary for home-finding societies to exert themselves to the utmost to find suitable homes for the dependent children. Furthermore, if the pubhc reahzed more fully the value of the cottage plan, the necessary funds for its installation might be forthcoming. 5. State Supervision and Incorporation of Pri- vate Agencies. The work of private philanthropy is being increasingly regarded as properly subject to the supervision of the state. This appUes to hospitals, dispensaries, homes, etc., as well as to institutions and agencies caring for dependent chil- dren. In order that private charity may meet more rigid requirements, state inspection of its work is advisable. In most states, pubHc authority provides to some extent for dependent children and private societies are merely covering part of the field. State inspection guarantees a higher degree of efficiency among these societies, and tends to unify the work. Even strong private societies have in some cases enhanced the efficiency of the more doubtful philanthropic agencies by refusing to cooperate with the latter or by keeping on file a record of their relative efficiency. A number of states, notably New York, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota have estabfished state inspection of the child-caring and the placing-out work of private societies. In Indiana a very progressive law recently passed requires every private child-caring agency to secure an annual license from the board of state charities. 308 CHILD PROBLEMS The incorporation of child-caring agencies is desirable in order to increase the responsibihty of such societies and to insure for them the confidence of the public. Philan- thropic men refuse to give money to charities of doubtful efficiency, and many of the most prominent agencies were incorporated before legal compulsion was considered. However, numerous small societies of uncertain standing would probably discontinue if incorporation were made legally obfigatory. A greater measure of control over such charities would also be realized and their general efficiency enhanced. 6. Cooperation. Passing over the questions of education and the keep- ing of adequate records, the value of cooperation among child-saving societies can not be too strongly emphasized. Hard and fast fines between dependent and definquent children are no longer favored. The National Conference of Charities and Correction discusses them under a single head. The essential unity of the problems of dependency and delinquency is now recognized and the functions of the juvenile courts are being very properly expanded. Fur- thermore, greater cooperation between home-finding and aid societies and societies taking charge of cruelty cases is desirable. So, too, institutions could make better use of the societies and could use them for the purpose of placing out their children. The disinclination of some institutions to give up their children is a bar to such co- operation. One New York City home for destitute chil- dren stipulates in advance that no child will be received for less than a year, although few children should be per- mitted to remain that period of time in any orphanage or home for dependent children. The most significant recent movement in the direction of cooperation was the estabfishment in Philadelphia in PRINCIPLES OF CHILD SAVING 309 1907 of a children's bureau by the joint action of the Chil- dren's Aid Society of Pennsylvania and the Seybert In- stitution for Poor Boys and Girls. In 1908 the Pennsyl- vania Society to Protect Children from Cruelty joined the others in the work of the bureau. The management of the bureau is vested in a joint committee of six persons, the president and secretary or superintendent of each agency being selected for this purpose. This committee supervises the work of the bureau. A superintendent is placed in immediate charge of the apphcations, and has control of the agents. This joint bureau makes it pos- sible to refer each case at once to the particular agency best prepared to handle the problem. Duplication of effort and the referral of cases from one societ}^ to another is thus avoided. In this instance three societies of differ- ent character, and to some extent of different purpose, although performing much identical work, have wisely hit upon a plan of cooperation which greatly facilitates their work and enhances their efficiency in child saving. Very successful cooperation is being carried on in Boston where seven child-caring agencies use identical record blanks and work together in other ways. In some cities temporary homes for children, orphan homes, and the board of education have cooperated faith- fully with child-saving societies and with the juvenile court for the purpose of assisting in the disposition of juvenile delinquents, and especially for the placing of de- pendent and neglected children. In Kansas City an institutional church maintains a temporary home for neglected children and cooperates directly with the agencies having immediate charge of the children. Denomina- tional jealousies and the fear that children will be placed with foster parents professing antagonistic religions are among the obstacles to better cooperation between insti- tutions and home-finding societies. The essential prin- 310 CHILD PROBLEMS ciples and methods of child saving being agreed upon, these various agencies should be able to yield a maximum of good results. 7. Children in Almshouses. A principle of action generally accepted but still seriously violated in actual practice in many places is the unde- sirability of sheltering children in almshouses. The bru- tality of the custom of placing children in poorhouses became so evident that other accommodations have been provided for them in the great majority of cases. In many of the country almshouses little children may, however, be found even now. A recent investigation of Missouri almshouses showed that in more than one third of the entire number, children were being maintained. Several of our largest cities also allow children to remain in such houses, but frequently these children are feeble-minded or otherwise slightly defective. Inadequate facilities for the custody of the idiotic and feeble-minded have com- pelled many children of these classes to suffer the neglect which accompanies their life in the almshouse. Although no children of any kind should be allowed in any of our almshouses, the objection to infants under two years of age is less serious than that to children of considerable mental advancement. The latter are almost sure to suffer seriously from their association with the degenerates con- gregated in an almshouse. 8. Defective Children. The principles of child saving as outlined above do not apply to feeble-minded, idiotic, epileptic, and incurably diseased children, who should be given permanent insti- tutional care. The perpetuation of a bad heredity must be checked, and the helplessness of the children makes special care advisable. Such principles as tend to facilitate PRINCIPLES OF CHILD SAVING 311 the work of agencies dealing with this class of cases are, however, appHcable here, and the cottage system is equally desirable for institutions for defectives. The problem of the defective child does not fall within the province of this book, and therefore can only receive casual men- tion here. The principles and methods of child saving center about the fundamental fact that the interests of the child are paramount. Adequate care for children is the most effec- tive form of preventive work. The child of to-day becomes the useful citizen or the adult dependent or delinquent of to-morrow. The status and conditions of future society are contingent upon our present methods of providing for our children. The importance of the home as an insti- tution surmounts the value of a child, but the children of any particular home are to be preferred to the continua- tion of that home. The child rather than the parent is the proper object of consideration. The child is the man in the making, and it is work well worth doing well. CHAPTER III methods of child saving. private 1. The Children's Aid Society. Although pubHc agencies have in most states made some provision for dependent children, the bulk of the work has been accomplished by private organizations of various description. Aid and home-finding societies have been organized in a majority of the different states. They are committed to the placing-out principle ; hence a chief feature of their work consists in finding suitable homes for the children placed under their care. On the other hand, the prohibition of placing children in almshouses has resulted in the improper use of aid societies as a depository for dependent children. The societies no longer compete with public charity, but are used by public officials as a necessary part of charitable organization. The typical aid society is an undenominational organi- zation of private philanthropy, and ranks as the most scientific in method of the child-saving agencies of a com- munity. It is controlled by a board of directors usually representing the principal contributors to the funds of the society. A public account of their stewardship is annually given, contributions being entirely voluntary. The work- ing force of the society consists of the secretary or super- intendent, placing-out and visiting agents, some of whom may reside in distant states in case the society transports some of its charges to such states. Many of the societies are equipped with temporary homes for the housing of the 312 METHODS OF CHILD SAVING. PRIVATE 313 homeless and dependent children. Even in the more antagonistic societies, the opposition to the institution has collapsed sufficiently to pave the way for the use of the temporary home. 2. Guiding Principles. The principles which govern the activities of the chil- dren's aid societies vary in different places. In the larg- est cities the needs are so extensive that a great variety of labors is undertaken. This is especially true of the New York Society. The scope of its work is not at all confined to the task of caring for dependent children, and in addition to placing out, many other forms of philan- thropic work are undertaken. ''The fundamental prin- ciple of the society and its governing motive is that of ' self-help ' — of teaching children how to help themselves. It also advocates that the ' f armer^s home ' is the best pos- sible place to shelter and rear the orphan, or outcast child, far better than any asylum or the best managed public institution." ^ Accordingly it has sent large numbers of children to western states, available room not having been found in the East for all of the children to be cared for. The stated principles of the Pennsylvania Children's Aid Society are more detailed, and typify the fundamentals of a large number of these societies. They are as follows : "We are trying to accomplish four things: 1st, to keep in our office information concerning every child-caring in- stitution in the city, and a list of private family homes, both in the city and surrounding country, where children can be received and cared for, so that we may know at any time and in any case of child-need just what can be done. 2d, to use existing institutions and create no new ones. 3d, to scatter children into private homes and small » Report of the New York Children's Aid Society, 1908. 314 CHILD PROBLEMS institutions rather than to congregate them into large ones. 4th, to put the support of a child upon its legal guardians whenever possible." ^ Some of the societies, instead of erecting their own temporary homes, have been able to cooperate with institutions which allow them temporary lodging for their charges. The best societies strive to keep dependent children in their own homes or with their natural supporters wherever such action is practicable and expedient. 3. Work of the New York Society. The actual work accomplished in no case excels the fine record of the New York Society, which was founded in 1853. Previously to 1908 it placed 26,268 orphans and deserted children in family homes in the country. It provided situations at wages in the country for 26,889 older boys and girls, and returned 7731 runaway children to their parents. It also assisted poor persons, num- bering 46,025, mostly children, to reach friends and em- ployment in the West. The work accomplished and the variety of its labors during the year 1908 are signified by the following statistics, which are given in some detail be- cause they indicate not only the kind of aid needed by children, but also because they show the emphasis placed by the society upon the different forms of aid and relief. During the year 12,639 children were enrolled in its in- dustrial schools ; 10,144 were given relief in their homes ; 8248 boys and girls were sheltered in its lodging houses ; 1270 attended the farm school ; 8945 persons were given an outing varying from one to four weeks ; 6649 women and children received single day outings ; 685 orphan children were permanently placed in homes ; 862 chil- dren were placed in homes at wages ; 865 boys and girls with their parents were assisted to emigrate ; 528 children ^ Report of the Pennsylvania Children's Aid Society, 1908. METHODS OF CHILD SAVING. PRIVATE 315 were returned to their relatives ; 686 homeless mothers and children were given shelter ; and 2334 children were treated in the Sick Children's Mission. In the Society's industrial schools work was carried on in classes studying the following subjects : cobbling, car- pentry, basketry, chair caning, cooking, dressmaking, sewing, iron and wire bending, millinery, embroidery, embossing, designing, and pyrography. Both day and night schools were conducted. Four lodging houses for homeless boys were established, and by means of coopera- tion with the municipal lodging house and private charities, boys and young men under twenty-one years of age were provided for temporarily so as to avoid the contact with older vagrants. One of the happiest forms of labor was the sending of the ailing children and their mothers to the health home on the ocean beach. Receiving stations were opened, each equipped with physician and nurse detailed to discover the most needy children and order their transportation to the home. 4. Placing Out. The most important work of the average children's aid society consists of finding homes for its wards. The method of disposal, however, is not uniform, and leads to the frequent use of the society by public charities, private institutions, and other charitable agencies for the disposal of the children under their care. It may become the placing-out machine used in common by the other forms of organized charity. Children may be placed with fam- iHes or individuals under one of three conditions, — in- dentured, boarded out, or placed out in free homes. The last is the most desirable, provided a suitable family home can be obtained. The best homes, according to Homer Folks, are those in which children are grown up and gone, but where the child will be received as a member of the 316 CHILD PROBLEMS family, and those in which no children have appeared but one or more are earnestly desired. Experienced foster parents are likely to be more successful, but the child in the home of the childless is certain to receive ample atten- tion. The child who is added to a home in which there are other children is often discriminated against, and this can only be discovered by careful supervision. In order to find a suitable home it is necessary to ask for applications for children or to find homes willing to receive them. Many societies constantly receive appli- cations and only need to consider their merits. Appli- cants should be required to make detailed statements in regard to the pertinent features of their home and home life. Among the questions which they should be required to answer are the following : occupation; financial status ; if a farmer, size and ownership of farm ; distance from church or Sunday school ; distance from school ; con- ditions within the home ; general environmental condi- tions ; purpose in regard to the child ; proposed social status of the child ; sleeping accommodations ; nationality and age of applicants, their habits, character, social con- nections, their treatment of employees, and the number of children. A list of about fifty questions is usually required. The answers often indicate the uselessness of further investigation, especially when they convey un- favorable impressions. The applicant is required to give a number of references, and persons familiar with the conditions of the applicant are the recipients of inquiries. Furthermore, agents are usually sent out to interview the applicants in their homes and to collect such other informa- tion as may seem necessary or expedient. A large number of children are not adapted to certain homes, and must be replaced before securing a satisfactory location. This can only be avoided by a most careful selection of the initial home. Success depends upon tern- METHODS OF CHILD SAVING. PRIVATE 317 peramental and religious considerations as well as upon the physical and moral fitness of the home. As much as possible children should be placed with families of similar religious tendencies. The child who is old enough to have received religious training particularly requires this mode of disposition. The small children, however, are not torn from any denominational bias and therefore not injured by being placed with families of different religious belief from that of their parents. Denominational considera- tions are not the most important ones, and must yield when the general welfare of the child is at stake. To be placed out in a good home where some other religion is taught is far superior to being placed in a doubtful home that may satisfy the religious requirements of some in- tolerant agent or institution. Good homes rather than creed form the child's character and develop correct morals. A second consideration requiring precaution is the se- lection of a child adapted to the particular family home. The physical appearance of the child may affect the preju- dices of the family. Likewise the type of mind may be such as to make the new relation unpleasant for both parties. Temperamental harmony is needed to insure success. Foster parents may be successful with one type of mind and utter failures with another. Even before the child is placed on trial with the family, these considerations should be emphasized so as to avoid unnecessary removals from family to family. Parents should, if possible, see the prospective child before he leaves the child saving agency. This would tend to lessen delay and misfits. The third step in the disposition of the child is that of placing him in his newly secured home. The head of the home in which the child is placed usually signs a written agreement in which he promises to treat the child in ac- cordance with the standards required by the society or agency. Among these requirements we generally find 318 CHILD PROBLEMS the following : to treat him kindly and as a member of the family, to cause him to attend church and Sunday school, to provide him with a pubHc school education, to teach him an occupation so as to make him self-supporting, to give him ample clothing both for week days and Sundays, and to give him proper food and suitable medical attend- ance. These agreements can be canceled by the child- saving agency whenever it deems it necessary for the welfare of the child, and a limited right of cancellation is also granted to the guardian. The fourth step is the supervision of the child in his new home. This supervision continues until the child is released from the control of the society. Many children are not adopted at all, and are supervised by the child- caring agency until their majority or until they are suffi- ciently mature to make further care unnecessary. Agents of the child-caring society visit the children in their new homes and learn of their progress and development. Guar- dians may become neglectful, indifference to the welfare of the child may arise, and fundamental changes occur in the family conditions or relations — all of which may con- duce to the disadvantage of the child. The history of placing out under inadequate supervision demonstrates the need of frequent visitation of children. Experience has also indicated the need of the following features in connection with the supervision of children in foster homes : first, visits to be effective should be made quarterly or oftener. Unfortunately this is not usually done, and many failures are either never discovered or are unearthed long after the child has begun to suffer from his uncongenial environment. Second, visits should be made without previous notice to guardians. The conditions which actually obtain can not otherwise be discovered. Third, written reports made out by the agents should be on file in the office of the society so that the condition of METHODS OP CHILD SAVING. PRIVATE 319 the child can be continuously followed. A report should cover all the essential details regarding the progress of the child. Fourth, the judgment of the agent should deter- mine the advisability of allowing the child to remain or of requiring his removal. Additional means of securing adequate knowledge of the conditions of the child are usually employed. Reports are sent by the teacher of the school attended, by the pastor of the church, by the Sunday school teacher, and by the guardian directly. Agents of the state or county in some states also visit children and report as to the conditions under which they found them. In New York, officials are required to report to the State Board of Charities every month. 5. Difficulties of Placing Out. The difficulties of placing out are twofold — those affecting the child and those affecting the guardian. When a large number of children must be disposed of, the number of free homes may be insufficient to meet the demands. Accordingly only the more likely children can be placed, while those suffering from deformities, weaknesses, illegiti- mate origin, and marked racial tendencies, can be placed only with difficulty or must be boarded or otherwise pro- vided for. Again, little children, especially girls under three years of age, are placed more easily than the older children. The former are captivating and attractive, and have not yet suffered from the evil influence of the usual environment of the dependent child. The older children are often vicious and spoiled, and therefore applicants hesitate to select them. The outward expression of heredi- tary traits as well as the impressions made by a bad en- vironment reahze themselves in part long before the age limit beyond which societies usually decline to accept chil- dren for placing out. Such children suffer greatly from this disadvantage, and are not so easily placed. 320 CHILD PROBLEMS The difficulty in regard to prospective guardians con- sists largely of the selfish or economic motive which prompts them to attempt to secure children from the placing-out agency. The older children are wanted because of their ability to work. Many farmers apply for children in the spring of the year when work is plentiful and help is needed. Other applicants have use for a handy boy, while girls are often wanted for household purposes. Extreme ^aution is necessary on the part of the investigating agency in order to insure the rejection of all appUcations for children wanted for mere mercenary reasons, and without effec- tive supervision harsh treatment might not be discovered and the child be victimized for several years. 6. The Temporary Home. The temporary home has become a valuable adjunct of the Home-Finding Society. Children are taken to these homes before they are placed out, but are retained no longer than necessary to find them an agreeable home, except in a limited number of cases which require the dis- cipline of short institutional treatment. The vicious and unmanageable children are at a disadvantage, and are likely to fail unless the curative discipHne of the temporary home is provided for them. In a short time they may be ready for the family home. It is probable that a larger percentage of children who have temporary institutional treatment are successful, than of those placed out without preliminary training. 7. Results of the Placing-Out System. The precise results of placing out as a policy of child- saving still remain undetermined.^ Reports vary widely in their judgment on this point. In spite of utmost pre- ^ The Russell Sage Foundation has recently undertaken an investiga- tion of this subject. METHODS OF CHILD SAVING. PRIVATE 321 cautions, a large number of children must be placed twice or oftener before a congenial home can be found. It has been estimated that 50 per cent of all children must be replaced.* After the transfers are made the great majority of children are measurably successful. The New York Society estimates that 87 per cent of the children which it placed out are "doing well." The Michigan State School reportg that in 1908, 75 per cent of the children placed out belong to this class, and most of the remainder were reported as doing "fairly well." The number of failures was small. A small percentage of children, however, disappear entirely, and a few are sent to reformatory in- stitutions. Those doing poorly are usually boys and girls placed after they have reached the age of ten. At present the average age at which children are placed out by a munber of our best child-caring agencies — public and private — ranges from five to six years. Good results may be expected from a policy of placing very young children. 8. Adoption. It is desirable that the number of adoptions be as large as possible, as far as this may be consistent with the rights of parents. Sometimes the latter regain their ability to care for their children, and desire their return. Under certain conditions this should be allowed. The actual percentage of adoptions does not rise above 25 per cent, and for most agencies is considerably lower, often falling to mere nominal figures. Children are given a trial of about one year, after which they may be adopted. If this step is taken, the jurisdiction of the society ceases. The great bulk of children in the free homes become of age or self-supporting without being made members of the guar- dian's family. 1 Henderson, C. R., Dependents, Defectives, Delinquents, p. 114. T 322 CHILD PROBLEMS 9. Dangers of Incompetent Management. The larger societies are very efficiently managed, but the smaller ones still suffer from inferior service. The New York Committee of the State Board of Charities, which investigates placing out in that state, has discovered conditions which indicate that, while the children were usu- ally well-fed and properly clothed, they suffered from the following disadvantages : — (1) Agents were careless in the selection of a home. (2) The preliminary examinations were far from being thorough. (3) Localities desired to shift the responsibihty of caring for their dependent children. (4) Children were often transferred from one family; to another independently of the action of a society. (5) School attendance was being neglected. Although these conditions are largely disappearing in New York, they still obtain in certain parts of the country. 10. Needs and Reforms. Cooperation of child-saving agencies and their simpli- fication as well as reduction in numbers are among the greatest needs of to-day. A considerable number of small, ill-equipped agencies are in existence, and their work is quite inferior to present standards. By combining and cooperating, greater efficiency will be obtained. De- nominational friction prevents the needed reduction of agencies at present, but even here greater cooperation is possible. A large nondenominational society is sufficient for a single state unless the presence of a large city necessi- tates some auxiliary aid. This can be furnished by a very limited number of sectarian agencies. Concentration of the work in the hands of a single administration would be more desirable, however. A children's bureau acting METHODS OF CHILD SAVING. PRIVATE 323 as a clearing-house of cases marks the farthest step in advance. Efficient management is one of the important needs in child-saving agencies. Thorough organization is required so that children can be promptly and efficiently handled. The child ready to be placed out should not suffer from delays. There should be ample knowledge of the where- abouts of desirable homes. More trained officials are needed to carry on the work. Too often the social per- spective of the agent, or even of the secretary himself, is too narrow to make possible the best results. Hence children are poorly placed or undergo a demoralizing routine from which recovery is extremely difficult. The smaller societies especially need more trained officials. The larger ones, recognizing the need of efficient workers, have begun to train their own staff by requiring attendance at appro- priate lectures in schools of social work, or by organizing for themselves a course on child problems. CHAPTER IV METHODS OF CHILD SAVING. PRIVATE {continued) 1. Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Cases of destitution depending upon ill treatment, neg- lect, and cruelty are somewhat different from pure depend- ency cases, and are in many cities handled by separate organizations. The Humane or Prevention of Cruelty Societies were originated for this purpose. So little atten- tion was until recently paid to the neglected child that his interests were practically overlooked and nothing was done for him. Societies concerned with the prevention of cruelty were only organized within the last forty years. The New York City society was founded in 1874, and incorporated in the following year under a law enacted for the special purpose of giving such societies a legal standing. This pioneer work was followed by a wave of societies rising all over the United States. Many were formed during the seventies, and in the smaller cities and towns extensive organization has occurred during the last decade. In the majority of cases among the latter the "Humane Society" has been established, but in the large cities distinct societies for the prevention of cruelty to children are the rule. The original humane societies were interested in animals only and were organized for their protection. In the majority of cases, even now, in spite of the anomaly of the combination, they protect both children and animals from 324 METHODS OF CHILD SAVING. PRIVATE 325 cruelty. This is especially true in the small cities, which can not afford two separate societies and therefore combine the two functions in one. In many instances the protection of children seems to have been an afterthought. Unfor- tunately the principles of action which determine policies in regard to children and to animals are so different that the society caring for both threatens to become warped in perspective, and appUes to children the wrong kind of treatment. The character of organization usually agrees with the special conditions under which the work is done. Some societies have a state organization and conduct branches in various parts of the state. Of this type the Massachu- setts society is an example. Those of Ohio and Wisconsin enjoy still wider ramifications, and have a considerable number of branches. The best class of these societies is incorporated under the laws of the state. Some, however, limit their work to the city or county in which they are located. County incorporation is very common, especially among humane societies of the smaller towns of the West. Occasionally they take the form of city organizations, con- fining their work to the particular city or perhaps extending it to suburban sections. Sometimes the society is a branch or department of the charity organization society. Canada has a considerable number of protective societies, and the work has also been established abroad. The London organization operates throughout England, Wales, and Ireland and has more than one thousand centers of work. Paris has a society, and the one in Berlin has es- tablished five branch societies. More work of this kind is badly needed in other European countries. a. Functions of Societies. The corporate objects of the New York Society are as follows: "The particular business of this society and objects of this society are the prevention of cruelty to chil- 326 CHILD PROBLEMS dren and the enforcement by all lawful means of the laws relating to or in any wise affecting children." To carry out these objects the society may prefer complaints before the proper courts for the violation of laws affecting or relating to children and may aid in bringing the facts before the courts. The proper functions of such a society have been very concisely and ably stated by Mr. C. C. Carstens of Massachusetts : ^ — (1) ''To prevent physical injury, remove the child when- ever it is necessary to protect it, and punish the offenders whenever the best interests of all concerned demand it. (2) ''To prevent physical neglect; in extreme cases to remove the children and find better homes for them through suitable agencies. (3) " To rescue children from immoral surroundings and shield them from immoral contamination. (4) "To protect wife and dependent children from non- support and desertion of the bread-winner and to protect children from abandonment by either parent. (5) "To secure suitable new guardians for children who have been deprived of their natural guardians or who should be removed from them in the interests of humanity." The purposes thus stated include protection and amel- ioration of conditions for the neglected child and the pre- vention of contingencies which will cause the child to be victimized. Protection to the child is accomplished through the prosecution of cruel parents and guardians as well as through various devices for directly shielding the child from cruelty. The more conservative societies have largely confined their attention to remedial efforts, only cases of actual cruelty or violations of the laws safeguard- ing the interests of children being considered. Thus few homes are interfered with, and a vast amount of misery 1 28th Annual Report, Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. METHODS OF CHILD SAVING. PRIVATE 327 remains entirely uncovered and unmolested. Meanwhile children suffer, become immoral or vicious, and are shorn of normal opportunities. Preventive work is needed, and therefore radical leaders have favored interference with family relations whenever the interests of the child seemed to be jeopardized. This, however, has led to the more extensive breaking of family ties than society justifies at the present time. Anti-cruelty societies have suffered from the charge that they were largely interested in the work of breaking up families, but their mission has been misunderstood. Overzealous officials may sometimes consider only the interests of the child and overlook the possible danger to the family as an institution. The child should not be removed unless he will gain more than he loses by the transaction, but in addition the effect of the act upon society itself must not be dropped from consid- eration. The parent is also a factor, and can not be Ughtly thrown aside. Many parents, however, are unfit, and their children can only be saved by removing them and placing them under new and more congenial surroundings. The following quotation from Mr. Carsten's statement of the society's functions represents a progressive but safe attitude toward the subject.^ ''A society for the prevention of cruelty to children should be equipped so that it may deal promptly with all flagrant instances of cruelty and neglect, and in cooperation with other agencies carry out the community's purposes. It should be ready to assume leadership in urging legislation or in organizing community action to protect children from abuses that exist or are likely to arise. It should engage in an organ- ized way to make a community increasingly sensitive to forms of abuse that exist but whose evil results have not yet been appreciated.'' Here we find not only emphasis on remedial work, but also upon methods which if properly 1 Op. cit. 328 CHILD PROBLEMS instituted and carried out will prevent much of the abuse from which children are suffering at the present time. h. Work of Typical Societies, Cruelty cases often develop into destitution cases, but as these societies are not relief agencies, and should not be, effective work requires their cooperation with other agencies which will care for the children rescued from their neglected condition. Accordingly such methods of cooperation should be instituted as will hasten the disposition of the child in question. Institutions and home-finding societies are the chief child-caring agencies to which the cruelty societies may turn. In Massachusetts the Children's Aid Society and the state board of charity are especially used for this purpose, and the Catholic charities take care of some of the children. In Philadelphia the formation of the children's bureau simpHfies the work, and the placing-out agency takes the children turned over to it from the cruelty society and disposes of them according to its regular meth- ods. In New York City the great majority of destitute children are transferred to the overabundant institutions of the city. Catholic, Protestant, and Hebrew institutions are the chief recipients. Nonsectarian institutions re- ceive comparatively few children. In other cities and states one or more of the above mentioned methods are in operation. The amount of work accomplished by the New York society is astonishing. During 1906-1907, 9902 children were placed in homes or institutions ; 10,371 cases affect- ing children were prosecuted, and 8456 convictions pro- cured ; 916 lost children were recovered ; a large number of the theaters were investigated in regard to the employ- ment of children upon the stage ; and more than 1000 baby farm applications were considered. It also collected from deUnquent parents upward of $40,000, which was paid into the city treasury. A large percentage of the METHODS OF CHILD SAVING. PRIVATE 329 prosecution cases were offenses against children. Con- victions were procured for such offenses as selling liquor to children, seUing firearms, buying junk, enticement into or exposure to immoral surroundings, keeping gambling devices for the use of children, assault, cruelty, and neg- lect. A considerable proportion of the work of the society, however, was in connection with the delinquent child in the juvenile court, and therefore no comparisons can be made with the work of other societies which confine their labors to the neglected and ill-treated child. In 1908 the Massachusetts society investigated cases involving 6180 different children, of which 1966 were brought into court, and 262 children were cared for in the society's home during the year. As the average period of detention was only 17 days, most of these children were speedily placed in homes and institutions under proper care. These societies cooperate so closely with the courts that they are virtually semi-governmental bodies and not mere private philanthropies. One of their greatest needs is close cooperation with other charitable agencies as well as with the courts. Heretofore they have been handicapped by not being prepared to dispose of children taken by them from bad family conditions. Placing out is a function of the home-finding societies, but the absence of suflicient co- operation has thrown the anti-cruelty societies on their own resources. In New York an immense institutional population has been maintained by this unfortunate feeder. It has been easier to place children in the hands of an in- stitution, and therefore cooperation with placing-out so- cieties has been far from adequate. In the future such cooperation will increase, and the institution will gain but little from the work of societies for the prevention of cruelty to children. The abandonment of relief work will enable these societies to insist more effectively on preventive work. 330 CHILD PROBLEMS 2. The Institution.* The institution still plays a very important part among the philanthropic agencies of the country. In spite of the objections of social workers, it persists in its work, and nearly two thirds of all dependent children are under its control. Orphanages and children's homes form about one fourth of all the benevolent institutions in the United States. There are more than 1000 of these homes, 956 of which are under the control of private or ecclesiastical bodies, and only 119 are directly controlled by the pub- lic.^ The population of the public institutions is only about one tenth that of the orphanages. In 1904 the ecclesiastical homes contained 52,000 of the 92,000 chil- dren in homes, while other private institutions held 30,000. During this year, 32,199 children were received in the private institutions, and 31,443 in those under ecclesiastical control. Although receiving a smaller number of children, the denominational institutions contain a much larger aggregate of inmates, thus indicating that they do not allow their children to pass through their institutions so rapidly as do the private homes. Owing to the various methods of handling dependent children, the different states vary widely in their proportion of institutions as well as of inmates. Where placing-out systems are well estab- lished, the percentage of children in orphanages has been greatly reduced. a. Disadvantages of the Institution. One of the important disadvantages of the institution is the slow movement of its population into individual homes. Unless an efficient placing-out bureau is main- 1 Althot\gh the institution still plays a large part in the work of child- saving, the principles and methods involved in institutional care are so well known by philanthropic and even by lay workers, that nothing more than a brief discussion of the subject is necessary. 2 Benevolent Institutions, Bureau of the Census, p. 28. METHODS OF CHILD SAVING. PRIVATE 331 tained or some central agency can be utilized, the orphan- age will fail to place its children in family homes or will delay this important duty. Many institutions have utterly failed to develop a satisfactory plan of home finding for their inmates. Some of them are proud of the large num- ber of children for which they are caring. Instead, they should feel pride in their ability to find private homes for their inmates. To the uncritical eye, more seems to be accomplished if children can be seen swarming all over the institution. The happy child in the country home is not present to impress the visitor at the orphanage. So there is often the disinclination to part with the children. Another disadvantage of the institution is the type of building, and its usual location. The cottage system has not commonly superseded the old institutional form of building, which is usually located in the city itself or in the immediate outskirts where sufficient room and the most congenial surroundings are not available. Another pos- sible danger fies in the difficulty of properly classifying and segregating children of various types and dispositions. Within a single institution we frequently find mental defectives, backward children, dehnquents, dependents, and neglected or ill-treated children. Contamination of the moral children by those displaying immoral tendencies can hardly be avoided except by the strictest possible classification. Individualization is not possible in institutions, and one of the most important needs of the child is therefore neg- lected. In the home the child is ''mothered," and enjoys a spontaneity and freedom from irksome discipHne which develops his self-reliance and ability to do independent work. He comes in contact with the world, and by learning its methods adapts himself to its conditions. The child in the institution leads an artificial life under artificial conditions, and his ''hothouse'' development does not pre- 332 CHILD PROBLEMS pare for the environment into which he passes after he leaves the institution. He finds himself quite helpless, and the problems of life overtax him. He does not under- stand the struggles of the world, and is frequently sub- merged. His education is often less efficient than that provided for the normal boy, and his play and recreational facihties are so limited that he fails utterly to gain the freedom and pleasure enjoyed by the child in the home. Many social workers of to-day declare that unless a home is very bad, it is better for the child than a good institution. Furthermore, many institutions do not reach the level of the best standards, and the effect on the child is injurious. Children are in many instances still marched to schools in squads and returned in similar manner. Besides, in many places even the wisdom of sending them to the pub- He schools has not yet been recognized. However, an ex- ception must be made in favor of some institutions, espe- cially many Hebrew orphanages which now grant complete freedom to children going to and coming from school. Kindergarten instruction and manual training of superior value have also been added to the curricula of many or- phanages. Through summer outings and excursions, re- freshing nature is temporarily substituted for the prosaic surroundings of the institution. These encouraging fea- tures can not, however, remove the inherent disadvantages of institutional life. h. Advantages. As indicated in a preceding chapter, a most appropriate function of the institution is its use as a home or school for defective children and those who are crippled, deformed, incurably diseased, or otherwise so afflicted that either custodial care or prolonged treatment is necessary. Such children can be more successfully handled and trained in an institution than in any other way. A second value consists of the opportunity for temporary shelter for the METHODS OF CHILD SAVING. PRIVATE 333 child pending a search for a suitable home. In spite of the effort to place children out directly, few agencies are able to dispense entirely with some form of institution. Again, children in need of temporary care can often find no other accommodations than those afforded by an insti- tution. The disciphne, regularity, and decorum enforced in well-established children's homes often prepares the untaught child for family life. The child who has hved in a bad home under improper training has invariably developed irregular and irresponsible habits. For such habits the unrelaxing routine of institutional life is the best treatment. Without this discipline, it is doubtful if such children would ever become law-abiding citizens. 3. Foundling Asylums. Homes for foundlings and illegitimate children must be provided to save the helpless infants that are picked up on the streets, or the children born in shame and dependent on an unmarried mother. Institutions of this kind should be small, and care for a limited number of babies. Other- wise an enormous death rate will prevail. The mortality of illegitimate children is almost double that of lawful children. Inanition, malnutrition, premature birth, and physical defects are the principal causes. Many abnormal children are also found among this group. It is also true that lack of adequate care is often responsible for the heavy death rate. The illegitimate does not always receive sufficient attention, because institutions are commonly too large to provide the child with individual care. The neces- sary death rate need be but Httle larger than that of legiti- mate infants. Improved methods of care either in small homes or in private families will materially reduce the mortality. Cooperation with municipal authorities is usually neces- sary for successful work. Frequezitly these asylums are 334 CHILD PROBLEMS denominational, hence the police and city officials in the large cities must apportion the children among the various institutions ministering to this need. Relations with some of the maternity hospitals must also be established Wher- ever possible the infants should be placed out under the care of kind mothers who will keep them under close super- vision. The methods of disposition should be so arranged as to obtain if possible the following results : first, the full responsibility of both parents of the child ; second, the care of the child by its parents ; third, a deterring influence on society and the lessening of the percentage of abandon- ment and illegitimacy. 4. Conclusion. The work of private child-caring agencies thus appears to cover every branch of child saving. Home-finding and aid societies care for dependent children within or without their homes, and often pay attention to the neg- lected child. More than one third of all children removed froni homes are thus cared for. The anti-cruelty societies care for neglected and ill-treated cases, and cover most of the work done in the United States in this respect. The institutions, in spite of their defects, are caring for the bulk of dependent children, and minister to the needy of every class. Other agencies frequently give temporary aid. Charity organization societies, settlements, churches, clubs, etc., often assist in the care of children ; day nurseries handle small children during daylight hours ; summer outing machinery is provided in various ways and operates to give fresh air and enjoyment to the poor as well as to the dependent children. The variety of work now under- taken is extensive and most hopeful for the future. CHAPTER V CHILD-SAVING AGENCIES. PUBLIC. Owing to the peculiar development of American philan- thropy, public agencies for the care of dependent and neg- lected children have taken several forms. Among these are : the State School System, State Placing-out System, County Home Plan, and the system of PubUc Subsidies to Private Institutions. Local methods of work in the indi- vidual states have naturally determined the evolution of systems along particular lines, and a variety of methods of child saving have therefore arisen. 1. The State School System. The most common method of pubHc care is the state school system. It has been adopted in whole or in part by eleven states — Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Montana, Texas, Colo- rado, and Nevada. In a number of states the function of the homes for soldiers' and sailors' orphans has been ex- panded to include the duties of a state school. In Iowa, for example, children may be sent as county wards to the school and are partially supported by state funds, but these children are distinguished from those for whom the in- stitution was originally built. The first state to adopt the system was Michigan, in 1874. At that time at least 600 children were scattered about in the almshouses of that state, and a radical departure in method was necessary to save them from pauperism. Accordingly the state school was established, and dependent children between the 335 336 CHILD PROBLEMS ages of four and fourteen years were admitted. Subse- quent revisions of the law established new age limits. At present children from one to twelve years of age are spe- cially cared for, but under certain conditions any child under fourteen years of age will be received. A babies' cottage has been provided to meet the needs of infants. a. Essential Elements of the State School System. The essential elements of the state school system, as exempHfied by Michigan, are the following : the investiga- tion of cases considered for the state school, the transferal by the courts of the children to the school, the temporary detention and maintenance of the children in the insti- tution, training and school work during the stay of the child, a state placing-out system, the speedy placing of children in private homes, and the subsequent supervision of the child in these homes. A dependent child is sent to the school only after a petition has been filed in the pro- bate court of the county in which the child resides, and the petition must be signed by at least two of the super- intendents of the poor in the said county. The court orders an investigation of the causes of dependency, the condition of the parents, the child's former maintenance, etc., before making an appropriate disposition of the case. Ample precautions are thus taken to prevent the sending of unworthy children to the school. When the child is made a pubHc ward, the State Board of Control becomes his legal guardian and parents or relatives sever their direct control. The school is essentially a temporary home. It com- prises nine cottages, and accommodations are provided for 250 children. At no time has it been the purpose of the managers or superintendents to detain children longer than necessary. The training given is intended to fit them for life in the family so that they may inspire the affection which is necessary to promote the possibility of their adop- CHILD-SAVING AGENCIES. PUBLIC. 337 tion. The actual average length of residence of children in tlie school is three and one tenth months. They receive good medical service, and during their brief stay are given instruction in the common branches, manual training, and domestic science. As the children are quite young, the greater portion of the work consists of kindergarten and primary instruction. A garden and a farm of 160 acres offer some opportunities for the older children. The Minnesota school, although very efficient, holds children received for the first time an average length of about five and five tenths months, but including those who are returned and placed again, the length of stay is thirteen months. In Iowa, where the law prevents facihty in handUng the cases, soldiers' children actually remain an average of a little over four years. The county wards, on the other hand, remain only two years and eleven months. The most successful work for dependent children is done for those who are comparatively young. Because children form many bad habits under the abnormal conditions among which they are almost invariably found, it is neces- sary to place them out at the earliest possible age, so that their habits may be re-formed in the new home. In the Michigan state school the average age of the children is less than seven years, but in Minnesota it is eight and four tenths years. In Iowa, with its bunglesome state law, the age of the soldiers' children is ten and of the county chil- dren nine and one tenth years ; but within two years the general average has been reduced about one and one half years. Through efficiency in placing out its children, and through the policy of temporary maintenance only, the state of Michigan reduces the average age of the inmates of its school, and also shortens the period of deten- tion. The possibilities of this system are thereby demon- strated. 338 CHILD PROBLEMS b. Placing Out. In Michigan the placing out machinery consists of the state agent and numerous county agents. When appH- cations for children are first received, the county agent in- vestigates the merits of the applicants. Some counties, however, have no such official, and the state agent is there- fore required to make the preliminary investigations. In case of press of work this imposes a hardship upon the state agent, but the difficulty could be avoided by increasing the force of investigators. On approval of the home by the agent, the guardian signs a written agreement to care for the child according to the requirements demanded by the board of control. The child is then placed in the new home, where he is supervised. Among the official visitors are : the county and state agents, judges of probate, and superintendents of the poor. The placing-out methods are very similar to those of the best private societies, and so need no further discussion. c. Results oj System. Without doubt the state school system has been very successful. It is true that a number of children must be placed a second, and some a third, time, or even oftener, as is the case with private societies, but on the whole splen- did results have been achieved. Minnesota enjoys an excellent record, and in Michigan 64 per cent of the chil- dren are placed but once, while the remainder are returned and indentured again. In the latter state only 3 per cent of the cases have resulted in failure. The remainder have made fair or good progress. During the years 1874-1908, 6266 children were received by the Michigan school, and disposed of in various ways. Twelve per cent of the num- ber were adopted, nearly 10 per cent were returned to parents, 30 per cent have become self-supporting, many were returned to the counties, and a large percentage are still wards of the school. Of this aggregate of children. CHILD-SAVING AGENCIES. PUBLIC. 339 one half had both parents living, 37 per cent were half orphans, six per cent were orphans, and the parental con- dition of the remainder was unknown. The great bane of these children seems to have been worthless parents. A large proportion of adoptions is impossible in the case of children who have one or both parents Hving, because prospective foster parents hesitate to take them for adop- tion and the state naturally hopes that parents will even- tually resume their rightful obhgations once more. The adoption of the state school system naturally results in state interest in the work of private child-caring societies, and paves the way for state supervision of such work. It hkewise raises the standard of admission to private in- stitutions and tends to place it on a par with that of the state school. A greater uniformity in the care of depend- ent children is thus secured. On the whole the state school system has greatly increased the efficiency of the work done for dependent children in those states in which it has been adopted. The poUtical difficulties have not been formidable. The use of the state school by private agencies at first antagonistic to its methods and purposes has in- creased, better standards have been set for all, and a large number of children are now being adequately cared for. The proportion of dependent children has, on the other hand, declined under the operation of the system. 2. Boarding and Placing-out Systems. a. Child Saving in New Jersey. In New Jersey the State Board of Children's Guardians cares for dependent and neglected children and is em- powered to place such children in private homes within the state with or without the payment of board. In actual practice more than one half of the 737 children in the care of the state board in 1908 were Hving in free homes. Such children receive board, clothes, and the privilege of attend- 340 CHILD PROBLEMS ing school. Children are placed for adoption, and in such cases the prospective parents pay the expenses involved. A trial of six months is necessary before the Orphans* Court and state board will consent to adoption papers. The children who are boarded are maintained at a rate of SI. 50 per week, in addition to the cost of clothing and medical attendance. Children over ten years of age are seldom placed at board, but enter free homes. New Jersey has no central institution to which children are sent pending their transferal to private homes. The children are taken directly from their previous homes, from county poorhouses, from charitable institutions, or from temporary care in some private denominational in- stitution to the homes that have been secured for them. The system requires close cooperation between the eccle- siastical institutions and the state board of children's guardians. The usual placing-out machinery is provided, and all wards must be visited quarterly. h. Methods in the District of Columbia. A very interesting form of work is carried on by the Board of Children's Guardians of the District of Columbia. The board consists of nine members, and handles found- lings and destitute, delinquent, and feeble-minded cases. Children may be placed in free homes or at board in either homes or institutions. Ten dollars per month is paid for children boarded out. The smaller children are usually placed in homes and the older ones in institutions, but the majority of all children are located in homes. They may be indentured, apprenticed, or placed on trial for adoption, and children may be controlled until their maj ority . Many of the institutions utilized are in other states. , c. The Massachusetts Board of Charity. Massachusetts has assumed extensive control of the children within its borders. In 1908 the state board of charity had in its custody 3779 dependent, neglected, CHILD- SAVING AGENCIES. PUBLIC. 341 and delinquent children. More than 2000 of these were adjudged neglected. ^ The children were cared for in the following manner : 1210 were in families without board, 2316 in families with board, and 253 were in hospitals or institutions, receiving special care. The children are all treated in the same way, except that some of them are tem- porarily placed in homes maintained by the board, for the purpose of giving such training and physical care as will prepare them for private homes. Infants are placed in fam- ily homes after careful investigation by the board. The compensation allowed is $2.75 per week, and material for clothing is also given. As the age of the child increases, the rate paid for board is decreased. Infants are regularly and frequently visited by the medical investigators of the board. Before they are placed out, most of the babies are held at a temporary boarding place where their medical needs receive careful attention. Licenses to maintain boarding houses for infants are granted by the board, and in this way a measure of control is exercised over many agencies supporting infants. The great majority of chil- dren are placed out directly. Boys are usually sent to country homes, but girls are generally retained in or about the towns. When children have reached the age of twelve, free homes are secured for them. The Massachusetts plan represents a striking advance in child saving. The board has supervision of the children in a number of industrial and truant schools and of more than 1000 children supported by the towns and cities. More than 7000 children are under its care or supervision. Among the valuable features of the system are : — (1) Supervision of the great majority of dependent, neg- lected, and delinquent children of the state. (2) The policy of placuig out children, including deHn- quents. I 30th Annual Report of the State Board of Charity, Massachusetts, p. 101. 342 CHILD PROBLEMS (3) Control of boarding houses for infants. (4) Supervision of probation work. (5) Compulsory reports to the board from private char- itable corporations. 3. The County Home System. The establishment of county homes for dependent chil- dren has had a somewhat unsuccessful history in Indiana and Ohio. In 1906 Indiana had forty such homes and Ohio had forty-nine. These homes are controlled by a local board and supported by the counties. Children are not supposed to remain in the almshouses, and properly belong to the homes, although in some cases they are placed in private institutions. Sometimes the almshouse and children's home are controlled by the same management. Some counties are not provided with homes, but send their children to homes in the adjoining counties, and in one county the children are boarded out. The homes are usually small, and something approaching family life is often realized, but the management is frequently ineflS- cient owing to the limited area from which available super- intendents can be secured. The system tends to create a large institutional population, and does not foster good placing-out facilities. Furthermore, the children remain too long under institutional care. The Indiana system is now supplemented by a state placing-out agency, and state supervision of the county homes.^ 4. Public Subsidy System. Public subsidies to private child-caring institutions are granted in a number of states. New York, however, has proceeded farther in this direction than any other state. Here children are placed in private institutions, and a sub- 1 Folks, Homer, The Care of Destitute, Neglected, and Delinquent Chil- dren, p. 110. CHILD-SAVING AGENCIES. PUBLIC. 343 sidy is paid by the town, city, or county responsible for the children. In its cruder form, the system encourages a tremendous institutional population, as is evident from the disproportionate number of children in the institutions sub- sidized in New York, California, and the District of Colum- bia. State inspection of private institutions and regula- tions by the state board of charities tend to lessen the evils of this system. The homes for children usually contain both private and public patients, but the majority belong to the latter group. The New York Foundling Hospital cares for nearly 4000 children per year, nearly all of whom are supported by the public. Nine tenths of the 2500 children passing annually through the Catholic Protec- tory are public cases. Many of these institutions formerly cared for delinquent as well as dependent and neglected children, but the rules of the board of charities now re- quire an institution to limit its care to one of these two general classes. Absolute comphance to these rules has, however, not yet been secured. Private institutions probably operate somewhat cheaper than do those directly maintained by the public. The daily per capita cost in representative homes in New York City varies from $.23 to about $1, the latter figure apply- ing to one of the infant asylums. The large institutional population of the states employing this system indicates that the plan tends to lessen the responsibility of parents and also to cause the states to become neglectful of their full duties. 5. Public Care of Cruelty Cases. Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children are private organizations, although they usually rise to the dignity of semi-public agencies. Indiana is the only state which directly provides public machinery for the care of cruelty cases. There the law provides for boards of chil- 344 CHILD PROBLEMS dren's guardians which may be formed in each county. These boards consist of six persons, half of whom must be women. The board files petitions for the custody of such children as need their intervention, and the court transfers the children to the guardianship of the board. Meanwhile the children remain with their parents, except in urgent cases, when they may be taken away. The boards are usually^conservative and few cases are lost to them in court. They have become a valuable deterrent of cruelty, and have been able to settle many cases without recourse to legal process. The disposition of children is made in accordance with one of three possible methods : first, they may be taken to board's homes ; second, in the ab- sence of board's homes they may be committed to an orphan asylum ; third, they may be indentured or adopted. In most cases the institutional fife of the child is short, and they find places in individual homes. A recent law pro- viding for the punishment of the parents or guardians of neglected children increases the power of the boards. The system has had marked success in Indiana, but so far has not been copied in any other state. 6. The Future op State Systems. ^ State systems of caring for neglected and dependent children are gradually encroaching upon the domain of private philanthropy. Society is rapidly recognizing the duty of the state to these children, and will soon demand the rigid performance of this duty. The problem which will present itseK with increasing force is the selection by different states of the system best qualified to meet their needs. The growth of state care will gradually lessen the importance of private and ecclesiastical institutions. te At present the majority of states have no organized pub- ,lic care for dependent and neglected children. The state school system and the method of direct placing out through CHILD-SAVING AGENCIES. PUBLIC. 345 a state board differ but little from each other. Both em- phasize the placing out of children, but the latter method relies somewhat on the temporary use of private institu- tions. The states now without a pubUc system will even- tually choose one of these two methods of caring for their dependent children. The county homes will gradually disappear, and unless the present defects of the subsidy system can be removed, it will in turn be replaced by one of the two state systems. CONCLUSION CONCLUSION It is at once evident that we are not yet acquainted with the volume of fundamental facts necessary to the formation of permanent preventive methods, and that many of the simplest analyses are still wanting. Unless methods of prevention are based on correct principles the social pro- gram can not be logical or consistent. A successful solu- tion of the problems of children depends on more social research. The establishment of a federal children's bu- reau would be a magnificent step in advance. Such a bureau could investigate minutely the causes and pre- ventabiUty of infant and child mortahty ; it could ob- serve the results of specific social conditions ; it could study the problem of the school child, why he leaves school, and how education can be made adaptable ; and it could in- vestigate many other new questions connected with the physical and educational care of the child. The bureau \ should classify all trades in which the employment of chil- dren is dangerous, should indicate the remedies for child labor, and should suggest a definite program for the lessen- ing of the evil. One of the important problems to be studied is the moral development of the child ; what are the formative influences; how do they act ; what part is played by amusements, play, study, associates, surround- ings, and child labor ? What are the necessary elements in education in sex physiology ? What do children know, how have they acquired the knowledge, what is the effect, what should they know, and how can the requisite knowl- edge be best diffused? We need to know where the juve- nile offender comes from, whether heredity as an influence 349 350 CHILD PROBLEMS can be traced, whether the dechne of parental authority increases dehnquency, and how the contributing factors operate. The results of probation need more investiga- tion, and the relation of juvenile delinquency to crime, poverty, pauperism, and mendicancy should be deter- mined. We need to know more of the problem of physical degeneracy, its nature and its causes ; to what extent pre- natal conditions affect the growth and vigor of the child ; and what are the influences of city life, malnutrition, and slum conditions. The dependent child needs more attention. The in- fluence of orphanages and homes is capable of more exten- sive study. These institutions have been condemned on evidence not wholly conclusive, hence the subsequent career of their inmates needs further examination. The true outcome of neglect still remains unsolved. The re- lation of the environment of youth to the character and disposition of the homeless, vagrant, and unemployable class would furnish much material for preventive philan- thropy. Many other problems could be suggested, but the field is so large that only a brief summary of the work to be done by a children's bureau or similar agency can here be outUned. The spirit of investigation is now so strong that we may be very hopeful of the future, and before long we shall be possessed of the facts necessary for our purpose. Mean- while society must apply itself to these problems with all earnestness and determination. Our past history is re- plete with mistakes and short-sighted methods of deahng with children, and our ideals had not until recently devel- oped beyond that of preventive work. Our ignorance of the content and meaning of child life has resulted in the apphcation of ruinous methods to thousands of children. Even to-day many young people are suffering from the misguided efforts of untrained men and are deprived of CONCLUSION 351 opportunities for right living. Methods crude, unscien- tific, and almost worse than useless have been quite gen- erally employed in child saving, yet a humanitarian motive has prevailed. Within twenty-five years the viewpoint of scientific philanthropy has undergone a complete change. Remedial work — although necessary — is now supple- mented with preventive methods and constructive work. As much as possible philanthropic agencies are enjoined to assist in the development of such social reforms as will remove the causes of the child problems of to-day. It is a long step from the imprisonment of little children to a program of wholesome amusement to prevent dehnquency, or from the ignorant treatment of a sick infant to the insist- ence upon the production of clean milk so as to make disease avoidable. Reform proceeds gradually, but, with increasing interest in social problems, progress becomes rapid and cumulative. Accordingly, the next twenty-five years will accompHsh far more than was attained during the last quarter of a century. Public opinion, however, must be thoroughly convinced of the need of far-sighted philanthropy, and in this respect the reformer still meets with difiiculties. That careless milking means dying infants is hard to beheve; that child labor is harmful is quite incomprehensible to the farmer or the employer ; that the best of care in an insti- tution may mean total incapacity to sustain the shocks of the external world seems incredible to many. The con- version of such classes is necessary in order to hasten the advent of the needed reforms. Economic interests fre- quently oppose progress on selfish grounds. The social desirability of a projected reform may be granted, but selfish motives create overpowering opposition and the reform remains unaccomplished. Good tenement houses are needed to prevent disease and contagion ; but land- lords defeat appropriate legislation. Children should 352 CHILD PROBLEMS attend school rather than work, but child labor bills fail. Again, individuals are influenced by prejudice, by ancient j methods, and by immediate considerations, and therefore do not comprehend the significance of a constructive pro- gram of social betterment. The development in philan- thropic method has been so rapid that many have been unable to keep pace with the newer movements. These and many other difficulties hamper the progress of reform. Within the pages of this book an attempt has been made to set forth both the fundamental and immediate causes — as far as they are known — of the phenomena described. The emphasis on causes, it is beheved, is justified because adequate treatment depends on a satisfactory diagnosis of the case. A description and account of conditions has been added in order to indicate the magnitude of the problems treated. The discussion of methods of ameliora- tion and control necessarily requires a large share of atten- tion, owing to the prominence of this phase of social reform. I The work of to-day is important, for upon its foundation I will be built the more substantial methods of to-morrow. t Criticism of method is needed to create sentiment in favor i of the most capable management of existing agencies. Finally, the presentation of a constructive program wher- ever possible completes the elaboration of each subject. This portion of the discussion should be of the greatest importance because it considers the problems of the com- ing generations who gain or lose according to the degree of enlightenment exhibited in the social program of the present. APPENDIX APPENDIX The following Principles were affirmed at the White House Conference on Dependent Children held in 1909. I. Home Care. Home life is the highest and j&nest product of civilization. It is the great molding force of mind and character. Children should not be deprived of it except for urgent and compelling reasons. Children of parents of worthy char- acter, suffering from temporary misfortune, and children of reasonably efficient and deserving mothers who are without the support of the normal bread winner should, as a rule, be kept with their parents, such aid being given as may be necessary to maintain suitable homes for the rearing of the children. This aid should be given by such methods and from such sources as may be determined by the general rehef poUcy of each community, preferably in the form of private charity, rather than of pubHc rehef. Except in unusual circumstances, the home should not be broken up for reasons of poverty, but only for con- siderations of inefficiency or immoraUty. II. Preventive Work. The most important and valuable philanthropic work is not the curative, but the preventive ; to check depen- dency by a thorough study of its causes and by effectively remedying or eradicating them, should be the constant aim of society. Along these hnes we urge upon all friends of children the promotion of effective measures including legislation : to prevent bhndness ; to check tuberculosis and other diseases in dwellings and work places, and in- 355 356 CHILD PROBLEMS juries in hazardous occupations ; to secure compensation or insurance so as to provide a family income in case of sickness, accident, death, or invalidism of the breadwinner ; to promote child-labor reforms,5and, generally, to improve the conditions surrounding child-life. To secure these ends we urge efficient cooperation with all other agencies for social betterment. III. Home Finding. As to the children who for sufficient reasons must be removed from their own homes, or who have no homes, it is desirable that, if normal in mind and body, and not requiring special training, they should be cared for in fam- ilies whenever practicable. The carefully selected foster home is for the normal child the best substitute for the natural home. Such homes should be selected by a most careful process of investigation, carried on by skilled agents, through personal investigation, and with due regard to the rehgious faith of the child. After children are placed in homes, adequate visitation, with careful con- sideration of the physical, mental, moral, and spiritual training and development of each child, on the part of the responsible home-finding agency, is essential. It is recognized that for many children foster homes without payment for board are not practicable immedi- ately after the children become dependent, and that for children requiring temporary care only the free home is not available. For the temporary or more or less per- manent care of such children different methods are in use, notably the plan of placing them in families, paying for their board, and the plan of institutional care. Con- tact with family hfe is preferable for these children, as well as for other normal children. It is necessary, however, that a large number of carefully selected boarding homes be found if these children are to be cared for in famihes. APPENDIX 357 The extent to which such families can be found should be ascertained by careful inquiry and experiment in each locality. Unless and until such homes are foimd, the use of institutions is necessary. IV. Cottage System. So far as it may be found necessary temporarily or per- manently to care for certain classes of children in institu- tions, these institutions should be conducted on the cottage plan, in order that routine and impersonal care may not unduly suppress individuahty and initiative. The cottage unit should not be larger than will permit effective personal relations between the adult caretaker or caretakers of each cottage and each child therein. Twenty-five is suggested as a desirable cottage unit, subject to revision in the hght of further experience in the management of cottage insti- tutions. The cottage plan is probably somewhat more expensive, both in construction and in maintenance, than the congregate system. It is so, however, only because it secures for the children a larger degree of association with adults, and a nearer approach to the conditions of family life, which are required for the proper molding of childhood. These results more than justify the increased outlay, and are truly economical. Child-caring agencies, whether supported by pubHc or private funds, should by all legiti- mate means press for adequate financial support. In- ferior methods should never be accepted by reason of lack of funds without continuing protest. Cheap care of chil- dren is ultimately enormously expensive, and is unworthy of a strong community. Existing congregate institutions should so classify their inmates and segregate them into groups as to secure as many of the benefits of the cottage system as possible, and should look forward to the adoption of the cottage type when new buildings are constructed. The sending of children of any age or class to almshouses 358 CHILD PROBLEMS is an unqualified evil, and should be forbidden everywhere by law, with suitable penalty for its violation. V. Incorporation. To engage in the work of caring for needy children is to assume a most serious responsibility, and should, therefore, be permitted only to those who are definitely organized for the purpose, who are of suitable character, and possess, or have reasonable assurance of securing, the funds needed for their support. The only practicable plan of securing this end is to require the approval, by a State Board of Charities or other body exercising similar powers, of the incorporation of all child-caring agencies, including the approval of any amendments of the charter of a benevo- lent corporation, if it is to include child-caring work ; and by forbidding other than duly incorporated agencies to engage in the care of needy children. VI. State Inspection. The proper training of destitute children being essential to the well-being of the state, it is a sound public policy that the state, through its duly authorized representative, should inspect the work of all agencies which care for de- pendent children, whether by institutional or by home- finding methods, and whether supported by public or pri- vate funds. Such inspection should be made by trained agents, should be thorough, and the results thereof should be reported to the responsible authorities of the institution or agency concerned. The information so secured should be confidential, not to be disclosed except by competent authority. VII. Inspection of Educational Work. Destitute children at best labor under many disadvan- tages, and are deprived in greater or less degree of the assistance and guidance which parents afford their own APPENDIX 359 children. It is important, therefore, that such children be given an education which will fit them for self-support and for the duties of citizenship, and the state should pro- vide therefor. In order that this education may be equal to that afforded by the schools attended by the other children of the community, it is desirable that the education of children in orphan asylums and other similar institutions or placed in famiUes should be under the supervision of the educational authorities of the state. VIII. Facts and Records. The proper care of a child in the custody of a child-caring agency, as well as the wise decision as to the period of his retention and ultimate disposition to be made of him, in- volve a knowledge of the character and circumstances of his parents, or surviving parent, and near relatives, both before and at the time the child becomes dependent, and subsequently. One unfortunate feature of child-caring work hitherto is the scanty information available as to the actual careers of children who have been reared under the care of charitable agencies. This appHes both to institu- tions, which too frequently lose sight of the children soon after they leave their doors, and home-finding agencies, which too frequently have failed to exercise supervision ade- quate to enable them to judge of the real results of their work. It is extremely desirable that, taking all precautions to prevent injury or embarrassment to those who have been the subjects of charitable care, the agencies which have been responsible for the care of children should know to what station in life they attain and what sort of citizens they become. Only in this manner can they form a cor- rect judgment of the results of their efforts. We believe, therefore, that every child-caring agency should — 1. Secure full information concerning the character 360 CHILD PROBLEMS and circunistances of the parents and near relatives of each child in whose behalf application is made, through personal investigation by its own representative, unless adequate information is supplied by some other rehable agency. 2. Inform itself by personal investigation at least once each year of the circumstances of the parents of children in its charge, unless the parents have been legally deprived of guardianship, and unless this information is supplied by some other responsible agency. 3. Exercise supervision over children under their care until such children are legally adopted, are returned to their parents, attain their majority, or are clearly beyond the need of further supervision. . 4. Make a permanent record of all information thus secured. IX. Physical Care. The physical condition of children who become the subjects of charitable care has received inadequate consid- eration. Each child received into the care of such an agency should be carefully examined by a competent physician, especially for the purpose of ascertaining whether such peculiarities, if any, as the child presents may be due to any defect of the sense organs or to other physical defect. Both institutions and placing-out agencies should take every precaution to secure proper medical and sur- gical care of their children, and should see that suitable in- struction is given them in matters of health and hygiene. X. Cooperation. Great benefit can be derived from a close cooperation be- tween the various child-caring agencies, institutional and otherwise, in each locahty. It is especially desirable that harmonious relations be established in regard to the classes of children to be received by each agency, the relations of APPENDIX 361 such agencies to the parents of children received, and the subsequent oversight of children passing from the custody of child-caring agencies. The establishment of a joint bureau of investigation and information by all the child- caring agencies of each locality is highly commended, in the absence of any other suitable central agency through which they may cooperate. XI. Undesikable Legislation. We greatly deprecate the tendency of legislation in some states to place unnecessary obstacles in the way of placing children in family homes in such states by agencies whose headquarters are elsewhere, in view of the fact that we favor the care of destitute children, normal in mind and body, in famihes, whenever practicable. We recognize the right of each state to protect itself from vicious, diseased, or defective children from other states by the enactment of reasonable protective legisla- tion ; but experience proves that the reception of healthy normal children is not only an act of philanthropy, but also secures a valuable increment to the population of the community and an ultimate increase of its wealth. The people of the more prosperous and less congested districts owe a debt of hospitaHty to the older commu- nities from which many of them come. We earnestly protest, therefore, against such legislation as is prohibitive in form or in effect, and urge that where it exists it be repealed. XII. Permanent Organization. The care of dependent children is a subject about which nearly every session of the legislature of every state in the Union concerns itself ; it is a work in which state and local authorities in many states are engaged, and in which private agencies are active in every state. Important 362 CHILD PROBLEMS decisions are being made constantly by associations and public authorities affecting questions of policy, the type of buildings to be constructed, the establishment of an ade- quate system of investigating homes and visiting children placed in homes, and scores of important matters affecting the well-being of needy children. Each of these decisions should be made with full knowledge of the experience of other states and agencies, and of the trend of opinion among those most actively engaged in the care of children, and able to speak from wide experience and careful observation. One effective means of securing this result would be the establishment of a permanent organization to undertake, in this field, work comparable to that carried on by the National Playground Association, the National Associa- tion for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis, the National Child Labor Committee, and other similar or- ganizations in their respective fields. It is our judgment that the estabUshment of such a permanent voluntary organization, under auspices which would insure a careful consideration of all points of view, broad-mindedness and tolerance, would be desirable and helpful, if reasonably assured of adequate financial support. XIII. Federal Children's Bureau. A bill is pending in Congress for the establishment of a Federal Children's Bureau to collect and disseminate in- formation affecting the weffare of children. In our judg- ment the establishment of such a bureau is desirable, and we earnestly recommend the enactment of the pending measure. XIV. Summary. The preceding suggestions may be abnost completely summarized in this, — that the particular condition and needs of each child should be carefully studied and that he APPENDIX 363 should receive that care and treatment which his individual needs require, and which should be as nearly as possible like the life of the other children of the community. XV. We respectfully recommend that you send to Congress a message urging favorable action upon the bill for a Fed- eral Children's Bureau and the enactment of such legis- lation as will bring the laws and the pubHc administra- tion of the District of Columbia and other federal territory into harmony with the principles and conclusions herein stated, and we further recommend that you cause to be transmitted to the governor of each state in the Union a copy of the proceedings of this conference for the infor- mation of the State Board of Charities or other body exer- cising similar powers. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Abbreviations used : — Annals of American Academy, for Annals of American Academy of Political and Social Science. N.C.C.C., for Proceedings of National Conference of Charities and Correction. Nat. Educ. Assn., for Proceedings of National Education Asso- ciation. General Ely, R. T., Studies in the Evolution of Industrial Society. New York. 1903. Chapter on " Social Progress and Race Im- provement." FisKE, John. Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy. Vol. II. Haycraft, J. B. Darwinism and Race Progress. New York. 1895. Key, Ellen. The Centmy of the Child. New York. 1909. Oppenheim, Nathan. The Development of the Child. New York. 1902. Report of Interdepartmental Conunittee on Physical Deteriora- tion. (Great Britain.) 1904. Spargo, John. The Bitter Cry of the Children. New York. 1906. Infant and Child Mortality Bailey, W. B. Modem Social Conditions. New York. 1906. Farr, William. Vital Statistics. London. 1885. Heath, Llewellyn. The Infant, the Parent, the State. Lon- don. 1907. Newman, George. Infant Mortality. New York. 1907. Newsholme, Arthur. Vital Statistics. London. 1899. Spargo, John. The Common Sense of the Milk Question. New York. 1908. 364 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 365 American Association of Medical Milk Commissions. Report of First Annual Session at Atlantic City. 1907. American Academy of Medicine. Publications of. Annals of American Academy. Infant Mortality, a Symposium. Vol. XXXI. March, 1908. Charities and Commons. "Clean Milk for New York City." Vol. XVII, p. 677. Chicago. Report of Bureau of Health. 1906. Devine, E. T. "The Waste of Infant Life." The Survey. Vol. XXIII. Fisher, Irving. Report on National VitaUty, its Waste and Conservation. 1909. GoLER, George. "But a Thousand a Year." Charities and Commons. April, 1907. Sup. Hirshberg, L. K. "Slaughter of the Innocents." The Delinr eator. Vol. LXXIII, p. 681. Lane-Claypon, J. E. "Waste of Infant Life." Nineteenth Century. Vol. LXV. Mangold, Geo. B. "The Waste of Children." Popular Sci- ence Monthly. June, 1907. New York. Annual Reports of Department of Health. 1904- 1907. Phelps, Edw. B. "A Statistical Study of Infant MortaUty." American Statistical Association. Vol, XL No. 83. Sept., 1908. Rogers, Mrs. H. W. "Work of Pure Milk Commission of Children's Aid Association of Indianapolis." The Survey. Vol. XXII, p. 176. United States. Bureau of Animal Industry. "Medical Milk Commissions and the Production of Certified Milk in the United States." BuUetin No. 104. Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States. (1900.) Vital Statistics. . Mortality Statistics. 1900-1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908. Treasury Department. "Milk and its Relations to Public Health." Hygienic Laboratory. No. 41. 366 CHILD PROBLEMS (Much information is given in health reports of various cities, and many magazines, especially the World's Work, Outlook, Inde- pendent, Ladies' Home Journal, and Delineator, frequently con- tain articles or editorials. Medical journals, such as, American Medicine, Interstate Medical Journal, and Archives of Pediatrics frequently contain articles deahng with infant feeding and also with the social phases of the problem.) Play, Recreation and Clubs Addams, Jane. The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets. New York. 1909. Buck, Winifred. Self-governing Clubs. New York. 1903. FoRBusH, Wm. B. The Boy Problem. Boston. 1901. GuNCKEL, John. Boyrille. Toledo, 1909. Horne, H. H. The Philosophy of Education. New York. 1905. Lee, Joseph. Constructive and Preventive Philanthropy. New York. 1902. Merrill, Lilburn. Winning the Boy. New York. 1908. Riis, Jacob. The Children of the Poor. New York. 1892. Stelzle, Charles. The Boy of the Street. New York. 1904. Burns, Allen T. "Relation of the Playground to Juvenile Delinquency." Charities and Commons. Oct. 3, 1908. Charities and Commons. (Number on Play.) Aug. 5, 1907. . Second Playground Congress. Oct. 3, 1908. Curtis, H. S. "Vacation Schools, Playgrounds, and Settle- ments," in Report of the Commissioner of Education, 1903. Vol. I, Chap. 1. . "The Playground." National Conference of Charities and Correction. 1907. . "The School Playgrounds of America." Bureau of Education. 1907. Vol. I, pp. 341 ff. Peixotto, L. S. "The Aim of a Boys' Club." Charities and Commons. Vol. XX. (In four numbers.) Playground Association of America. Publications of. Survey, The. "Pittsburg Playgrounds." Vol. XXII. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 367 Medical Inspection of Schools GuLiCK, L. H., and Ayres, L. P. Medical Inspection of Schools. New York. 1909. Allen, Wm. H. Promotion of Health in Home, School, and Factory. (Committee Report.) N.C.C.C. 1907. Bm"eau of Education. Report of Commissioner of Education. 1902. Medical Inspection of Schools Abroad. Vol. I, Chap. 11. Report, Annual. 1907. Report of the Second International Congress on School Hygiene. Vol. I, Chap. 10. Dawson, George E. Physical Study of the Child. N.C.C.C. 1907. New York Committee on Physical Welfare of School Children. Physical Welfare of School Children. American Statistical Association. June, 1907. Report of City Superintendent of Schools to Board of Education. New York City. 1908. Reports, Annual, of Bureaus of Health of Cities. Rogers, Lina L. The Physician and Nurse in the Public School. N.C.C.C. 1905. Williams, Linsley R. Statistical Information concerning the Physical Welfare of School ChHdren. N.C.C.C. 1907. Backward Children Ayres, L. P. Laggards in the Schools. New York. 1909. GuLiCK and Ayres. Medical Inspection of the Schools. New York. 1909. Shuttleworth, G. E. Mentally Deficient Children. London. 1900. Chase, Lydia Gardiner. Public School Classes for Mentally Defective Children. N.C.C.C. 1904. Powell, F. M. Backward Children. N.C.C.C. 1900. Public Education Association of Philadelphia, Report of. 1906. Report of City Superintendent of Schools to Board of Education. New York City. 1908. 368 CHILD PROBLEMS RiCHMAN, Julia. Special Classes and Special Schools for De- linquent and Backward Children. N.C.C.C. 1907. Rogers, A. C. Relations of Institutions for Defectives to the Public School System. N.C.C.C. 1907. Industrial Education Carlton, F. T. Education and Industrial Evolution. New York. 1908. Hanus, Paul H. Beginnings in Industrial Education. Boston. 1908. Person, H. S. Industrial Education. Boston. 1908. Sadler, M. E. (editor). Continuation Schools in England and Elsewhere. Manchester, England. 1908. American Federationist. December, 1909; January, 1910. Annals of American Academy. (Number on Industrial Edu- cation.) Vol. XXXIII. January, 1909. Brereton, C. S. H. The Problem of Vocational Training in London. Nat. Educ. Assn. 1908. Chanties and Commons. (Number on Industrial Education.) Vol. XIX. Oct. 5, 1907. Draper, Andrew S. Adaptation of Schools to Industry and Efficiency. Nat. Educ. Assn. 1908. Flexner, M. "Plea for Vocational Training." The Survey. Vol. XXII. Harris, Wm. T. Compulsory Education. Its Relation to Crime and Social Morals. N.C.C.C. 1885. National Educational Association. Department of Manual Training. 1907, 1908. National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education. Publications of. Railway Carmen's Journal. January, 1910. Report of the Committee on Industrial and Technical Education. Senate. No. 349. Boston. 1906. U. S. Bureau of Labor. Bulletin 54. (1904.) . Seventeenth Annual Report of Commissioner of Labor. Wright, C. D. The Apprenticeship System in its Relation to Industry. U. S. Bureau of Education. 1908. Bulletin No. 6. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 369 Child Labor Adams and Sumner. Labor Problems. New York. 1905. Chapter on "Woman and Child Labor." Commons, J. R. Trade Unionism and Labor Problems. Boston. 1905. Chapter on "Employment of Girls in the Textile Industries of Pennsylvania," by Frank Julian Warne. Hunter, Robert. Poverty. New York. 1904. Chapter on "The Child." Industrial Commission. Reports of. Vol. XIX. Child Labor. Kelley, Florence. Some Ethical Gains from Legislation. New York. 1905. New Encyclopedia of Social Reform, edited by W. D. P. Bliss. Spargo, John. The Bitter Cry of the Children. New York. 1906. Wright, C. D. Outline of Practical Sociology. New York. 1902. Chap. XII. "Employment of Women and Children.'^ >j ■ • i^ • Adams, Myron E. Municipal Regulation of Street Trades. N.C.C.C. 1904. Addams, Jane. Child Labor and Pauperism. N.C.C.C. ' 1903. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. The following numbers are devoted to the subject of child labor : — Vol. XXV. No. 3. May, 1905. Vol. XXVII. No. 2. March, 1906. Vol. XXIX. No. 1. January, 1907. Vol. XXXII. No. 1. July, 1908. Vol. XXXIII. No. 2. March, 1909. (Supplement.) Beveridge, Albert J. Child Labor and the Constitution. : N.C.C.C. 1907. Bruere, R. W. Physiological Age and Child Labor. Nat. Educ. Assn. 1903. Chicago Industrial Exhibit. 1907. Goldmark, Josephine. Child Labor Legislation. An An- nual Handbook of the National Consumers' League. Hoffman, F. L. The Social and Medical Aspects of Child Labor. N.C.C.C. 1903. 2b 370 CHILD PROBLEMS Kelley, Florence. Child Labor Laws. N.C.C.C. 1904. . The Moral Dangers of Premature Employment. N.C.C.C. 1906. . Articles in Annals of American Academy. Lindsay, S. M. Conamittee Report on Child Labor. N.C.C.C. 1906. . Articles in Annals of American Academy. Lovejoy, Owen. Child Labor and Philanthropy. N.C.C.C. 1907. . Articles in Annals of American Academy. McKelway, a. J. "Child Labor in the Carolinas." Chanties and Commons. Vol. XXI, p. 743. . Articles in Annals of American Academy. New York State Bulletin of Conomissioner of Labor. March, 1907. Philadelphia Industrial Exhibit. 1907. Reports of State Bureaus of Factory Inspection and of Conmiis- sioners of Labor, especially New York and Pennsylvania. Smith, Hoke. Child Labor and Illiteracy. N.C.C.C. 1903. Survey, The. Developments in the child labor situation are regu- larly reported in this magazine. United States. Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the U. S. (1900) "Occupations." . Child Labor in the United States. Bulletin No. 69. Bureau of Labor. Bulletin No. 52. Child Labor in the United States. . Bulletin No. 73. Woman and Child Labor Laws. . Bulletin No. 80. Woman and Child Laborers in Great Britain. Van Kleek, Mary. "Child Labor in New York City Tene- ments.'' Chanties and Commons, Vol. XIX, p. 1405. Juvenile Delinquency Bureau of the Census. Prisoners and Juvenile Delinquents in the United States. 1904. Children's Courts in the U. S. 58th Congress. 2d Session. House of Representatives. Document No. 701. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 371 Folks, Homer. The Care of Destitute, Neglected, and Delin- quent Children. New York. 1902. George, Wm. R. The Republic. New York. 1910. Henderson, C. R. Dependents, Defectives, Delinquents. Boston. 1901. . Modem Methods of Charity. New York. 1904. Morrison, Wm. D. Juvenile Offenders. New York. 1897. Travis, Thomas. The Young Malefactor. New York. 1908. Bureau of Education. Report of Commissioner of Education. 1904. Juvenile Criminality in Germany. Vol. I, Chap. 9. Chanties and Commons. "Juvenile Court reducing its Need." Vol. XX, p. 287. Evans, Elizabeth. "Feeble-mindedness and Juvenile Delin- quency." Chanties and Commons. Vol. XX. Folks, Homer. Juvenile Probation. N.C.C.C. 1906. Francis, Vida Hunt. The Delmquent Gh-l. N.C.C.C. 1906. Hart, Hastings H. The Juvenile Reformatory of the Twen- tieth Century. N.C.C.C. 1907. Hilles, Charles D. Schools for Juvenile Delinquents. N.C.C.C. 1907. Henderson, C. R. Theory and Practice of Juvenile Courts. N.C.C.C. 1904. LiNDSEY, Ben. Recent Progress of the Juvenile Court Move- ment. N.C.C.C. 1905. Mack, Julian W. The Juvenile Court; the Judge and the Probation Officer. N.C.C.C. 1906. Montgomery, Mrs. Alice B. The Child of the Juvenile Court. N.C.C.C. 1905. New York State Probation Commission. Annual Reports of. NiBECKER, F. H. The Forward Movement in Boarding Schools for Delinquents. N.C.C.C. 1904. . The Mental Capacity of Juvenile Delinquents. N.C.C.C. 1901. Reports of Institutions for Delinquent Children. Reports of Juvenile Courts of Cities. Richman, Julia. The Incorrigible Child. Nat. Educ. Assn. 1907. 372 CHILD PROBLEMS Rogers, Mrs. Helen W. The Probation System of the Juve- nile Court of IndianapoUs. N.C.C.C. 1904. Stubbs, George B. The Mission of the Juvenile Court. N.C.C.C. 1904. Survey, The. (Number on Ten Years of the Juvenile Court.) Feb. 5, 1910. Thurston, H. W. "What shall a Probation Officer do for the Child?" Chanties and Commons. Vol. XXL Wade, F. E. The Prosecution of Parents for the DeHnquencies of their Children. N.C.C.C. 1909. Wentworth, Edwin P. The Origin and Development of the Juvenile Reformatory. N.C.C.C. 1901. (Committee Re- port.) The Dependent and Neglected Child Bureau of Census. Benevolent Institutions in the U. S. 1904, '"^ Washington. 1905. Devine, E. T. Principles of ReUef. New York. 1904. Folks, Homer. The Care of Destitute, Neglected, and Delin- quent Children. New York. 1902. Henderson, C. R. Dependents, Defectives, Delinquents. Boston. 1901. . Modern Methods of Charity. New York. 1904. International Congress of Charities. The Care of Dependent, Neglected, and Wayward Children. Baltimore. 1893. Proceedings of the Conference on the Care of Dependent Chil- dren. 1909. (White House Conference.) Reeder, R. R. How Two Hundred Children Live and Learn. New York. 1909. Warner, Amos. American Charities, New York. 1908. (Revised.) Butler, Amos. Saving the Children. N.C.C.C. 1901. (Committee Report.) Byers, Jos. P. The County Homes in Ohio. N.C.C.C. 1901. Carstens, C. C. The Breaking up of Families. N.C.C.C. 1909. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 373 Gushing, Grafton D. Work of the Societies for the Preven- tion of Cruelty to Children Essential in the Prevention of Crime. N.C.C.C. 1906. DuRAND, George H. The Study of the Child from the Stand- point of the Home-Finding Agency. N.C.C.C. 1907. Ellison, T. E. Child-Saving under State Supervision without a State School. N.C.C.C. 1901. Evans, Mrs. Glendower. What do you know of the Children after they leave your Home or Institution ? Do you Super- vise Them? N.C.C.C. 1907. Faulkner, C. E. Institutional Care for Dependent Children. N.C.C.C. 1904. Fox, Hugh F. Boards of Children's Guardians. N.C.C.C. 1904. Hart, H. H. The Economic Aspects of the Child Problem. N.C.C.C. 1892. . Children. N.C.C.C. 1906. (Committee Report.) Henderson, C. R. Neglected Children in Neglected Com- munities. N.C.C.C. 1901. Jacobs, Bertha. The Work of One State. N.C.C.C. 1904. Kelso, J. J. What Ontario is doing for Children. N.C.C.C. 1909. KiNKEAD, L. L. State Supervision of Dependent Children. N.C.C.C. 1904. Montgomery, J. B. The Michigan System of Child Saving. N.C.C.C. 1904. MuLRY, T. M. The Care of Destitute and Neglected Chil- dren. N.C.C.C. 1899. (Committee Report.) Pear, Wm. H. The Full Measure of Responsibility. N.C.C.C. 1906. Randall, C. D. Child-Saving Work under State Supervision with a State School. N.C.C.C. 1901. Reeder, R. R. Study of the Child from the Institutional Standpoint. N.C.C.C. 1907. Reports. Children's Aid and Home-Finding Societies. Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. State PubUc Schools. 374 CHILD PROBLEMS State Boards of Charities and Boards of Children's Guardians Private Institutions for Dependent and Neglected Children. Williams, Mornay. The Street Boy. Who he is, and what to do with him. N.C.C.C. 1903. Much miscellaneous literature on this subject is found in N.C.C.C, in the Reports of State Conferences of Charities and Correction, and in the Survey. INDEX Accidents, to children in industry, 193. Adoption, of children, 321. Affidavits, to secure working pa- pers, 208. Age, of children at work, 176; re- strictions on, in child labor laws, 207. Agriculture, child labor in, 170; negro children employed in, 175. Almshouses, children in, 310. Antitoxin, use of, 50. Appendix, 355. Applicants for children, investiga- tion of, 316; agreements with, 317. Apprentice system, attitude of manufacturers toward, 148; de- cline of, 147. Artificial foods, avoidance of, 80. Attendance, compulsory school, 286. Backward children, definition of, 128 ; medical inspection of, 136 ; needs of, 135 ; number of, 129 ; organization of special classes for, 137 ; Philadelphia committee on, 129 ; trained teachers for, 137 ; work for, in Germany, 132, in England, 133, in United States, 134. Backwardness, causes of, 130; Gulick and Ayres on, 131. Baldwin, R. N., 256. Bibliography, 364. Birth rates, decline of, 30 ; excess of, over deaths in Europe, 31. Boarding out, 315; in New Jersey, 339 ; system of, 339. Boys'clubs, 277 ; influence of, 278 ; types of, 278. Breast feeding, 63 ; diarrheal dis- eases lessened by, 65. Bronchitis, 54. Buffalo, volunteer probation officers in, 253. Burns, Allen T., 281. Canning industry, child labor in, 176; exempted from child labor laws, 163, 212. Carstens, C. C, 326. Chicago, civic centers in, 109, 281 ; milk tests in, 69; use of anti- toxin in, 50. Chicago Boys' Club, 279. Child, injured by premature em- ployment, 184 ; effect on, of night work, 188 ; physical develop- ment of, 182 ; physical require- ments of, 183 ; rights of, 5. Child labor, 159 ; age distribution of, 177; among foreign born, 176; caused by, ambition of child, 161, competitive condi- tions, 165, greed of employers, 162, immigration, 160, indiffer- ence of public, 167, machinery, 165, newspapers, 164, parental greed, 159; conditions of, 170; economic disadvantages of, 192; evolution of, 191 ; hours of, 205; industries employing, mentioned, agriculture, 171, canning indus- try, 176, coal mines, 175, cotton mills, 174, glasshouses, 179, silk mills, 176, street trades, 179 ; moral effects of, 196 ; numerical importance of, 171 ; occupational distribution of, 171 ; physical effects of, 184 ; physiological aspects of, 182; social costs of, 195 ; territorial distribution of, 175 ; training of child prevented by, 195 ; under the domestic system, 192. Child labor legislation, 201 ; age limits provided by, 207; agen- 375 376 INDEX cies supporting, 201 ; dangerous occupations and, 211; educa- tional requirements in, 209 ; enforcement of, 214 ; evolution of, 201 ; industries exempted by, 212 ; negligence of federal government in reference to, 203 ; requirements of model, 204; uniformity in, 203 ; weaknesses of, 216; working papers under, 208. Child life, waste of, 22, 59. Child mortality, economic costs of, 24 ; physiological costs of, 26 ; social costs of, 29 ; see also Infant mortality. Child problems, and environment, 2 ; and heredity, 1 ; importance of, 1. Child saving, cooperation in, 308, in Philadelphia, 309; foster homes and, 305, 315; home ties and, 304 ; methods of private, 312 ; methods of public, 335, boarding-out system, 339, county home system, 342, state school system, 335, subsidy system, 342 ; principles of, 304 ; relation of, to institutional care, 303 ; state supervision of private agen- cies engaged in, 307. Childhood, social obligations to, 5. Children, defects among, 119, 124; desire of, to work, 161 ; dwarfing of, in the slums, 96; moral classification of, 223 ; not im- moral, 261 ; untrained, in indus- try, 145. Children in industry, age of, 176 ; earning power of, 194; home work of, 180; inadequate train- ing of, 145, 192 ; literacy of, 178; night work of, 178; over- time work of, 180 ; unheal thful occupations of, 185. Children's Aid Society, incompetent management of, 322 ; investiga- tions by, 316 ; methods of, 313 ; nature of, 312 ; principles of Pennsylvania, 313 ; reforms in, 322 ; supervision of children by, 318; work of New York, 314. Children's bureau, in Philadelphia, 309 ; proposed federal, 349. Children's courts; see Juvenile courts. Children's home-finding society ; see Children's aid society. Cities, mortality in, 40. City life, as cause of juvenile delin- quency, 225. Civic centers, of Chicago, 109, 281 ; prevention of juvenile delin- quency by, 280. Clinics for babies, 76. Clubs, need of, 277. Coal mines, children employed in, 176. Compulsory education, laws for, defective, 145 ; need of, 144. Contributory delinquency laws, provisions of, 284 ; purpose of, 283 ; responsibility of parents enforced by, 284 ; states having, 284 note. Convulsions, 57. Cooperation, in child saving, 308. Cottage system, cost of, 267; use of, 267, 306. Cotton mills, child labor in, 174; night work in, 179. County home system, 342. Cruelty, parental, children re- moved from home because of, 296 ; juvenile delinquency caused by, 229. Cruelty cases, public care of, 343. Dairies, inspection of, 77. Dance halls, 282. Dangerous occupations, classifica- tion of, 211. Day nursery, 84. Death rates, decline of, 16; in London, 16. Defective children, 310. Degeneracy, physical, relation of, to child mortality, 32. Delinquency, among children in street trades, 196 ; nature of juvenile, 221. Delinquent ; see Juvenile delinquent. Delinquent girl, problem of the, 266. INDEX 377 Denver, judge as probation officer in, 253 ; juvenile court in, 236 ; juvenile improvement associa- tion in, 276. Dependency of children, abnormal family conditions affect, 299; causes of, desertion of father, 300, improper guardianship, 300, intemperance, 297, large fami- lies, 298 ; German statistics on, 297 ; preventability of, 297. Dependent children, in family homes, 302 ; in institutions, 301 ; in New York, 301 ; number of, 302 ; types of, 294. Desertion, dependency of children caused by, 300. Detention home, 263. Devine, E. T., 305. Diarrheal diseases, deaths from, 55 ; distribution of, by months, 56 ; in cities, 55 ; in rural districts, 55. Diphtheria, 50, Diseases, children's, 49 ; deaths from, in England, 58 ; immunity from various, 33 ; proportionate mortality from children's, 58. District of Columbia, child saving in, 340. Domestic science, 85, 151. Domestic service, child labor in, 171. Ecclesiastical institutions, 330. Education, and child labor, 145 ; and illiteracy, 140 ; compulsory, 144, exemptions from, 145, non-enforcement of, 145, number states having, 144, relation of, to child labor, 146 ; in sex physi- ology, 154; industrial, absence of, 145 ; limitations of, 143 ; literary, 141 ; need of, 147 ; of boys in hygiene, 86 ; of girls for motherhood, 85 ; parental, to reduce infant mortality, 81. Educational requirements in child labor laws, 209. Educational system, faults of, 147. Employers, child labor caused by greed of, 162. Enforcement of child labor laws, 214. Environment, importance of, in causing juvenile delinquency, 229 ; influence of, 2. Erfurt, infant mortality in, 42, Expectation of life, 25 ; increase of, 25; in Massachusetts, 26. Exploitation of children, cause of, 160. Factories, moral effect of work in, 199 ; night work in, 178, 199. Factory inspector, 215. Fall River, 41 ; diarrheal diseases in, 55 ; married women at work in, 90. Farr, Dr., conclusions of, on infant mortality, 60. Federal child labor bill, 203. Federal children's bureau, proposed, 349. Federal government, neglect of, in regard to child labor legislation, 203. Fiske, John, on prolongation of childhood, 3. Folks, Homer, 315. Foster home, 305, Foundling asylums, 333 ; mortality in, 333. Foundlings, 294, 333. Geneva, expectation of life in, 25. Girls, effect of child labor on, 185. Glasshouses, heat in, 187; night shifts in, 179. Gulick and Ayres, on retardation of school children, 131. Hearings, of juvenile court, 237. Heredity, and child problems, 1 ; and juvenile delinquency, 232. Home, the foster, 305 ; place of, in child saving, 293. Home conditions, and juvenile delinquency, 225. Home work, children engaged in, 180 ; evils of, 181, Hours of labor, 205. Housing, relation of, to infant mor- tality, 66. Huddersfield, infant mortality in, 21, 82. Humane society, 324. 378 INDEX Illegitimate children, in the United States, 294. Illinois, child labor law in, 205; duties of probation oflBicers in, 246. Illiteracy, in Europe, 140; in the United States, 141 ; of the immi- grant, 141 ; of the negro, 142. Immigrant, illiteracy of, 141. Immigration, child labor caused by, 160. Immunity from disease, 33. Indeterminate sentence, in re- formatory institutions, 273. Indiana, county home system in, 342 ; state supervision of child- caring agencies in, 307. Indianapolis, volunteer probation system in, 252. Industrial schools, conducted by the New York Children's Aid Society, 315; function of, 265; parental conditions of children in, 227; parental support for children in, 285. Industrial training, in reformatory institutions, 269; need of, 147; private, 153 ; public instruction in, 149 ; report on, to New York Board of Education, 150; value of, 147. Industries, exemptions of, from child labor laws, 212. Infant mortality, 15 ; among labor- ing classes, 41 ; artificial foods in relation to, 62 ; classification of causes of, 61 ; first period in history of, 18 ; heat and neglect as causes of, 65 ; in France, 20 ; in Huddersfield, 82 ; in Massa- chusetts, 20, 37; in New York City, 64, 67; in Rochester, 75; in slums, 42 ; influence of social conditions on, 41 ; methods of decreasing, 80, 91 ; municipal campaigns against, 87 ; of negro, 38; proportion of, to total mor- tality, 46 ; rates of, in the United States, 44; reasonable rates of, 43 ; rural vs. urban, 36 ; second and third stages in history of, 19 ; ultimate causes of, 60. Infanticide, 6. Inspection, dairy, 77; factory, for child labor, 215 ; medical, of schools, 117. Institutions for dependents, advan- tages of, 332 ; cottage system in, 306 ; disadvantages of, 330 ; im- portance of, 330 ; public vs. private, 330 ; relation of, to child saving, 304; temporary care in, 320. Investigation, spirit of, 350. Iowa, home for dependents in, 335. Italian girls, customs among, 200. Jenner, 18. John Worthy School, 265. Judges, as probation officers, 253; in juvenile court, 236 ; qualifica- tions of juvenile court, 241. Jury trial in juvenile court, 239. ' Juvenile court, and probation, 240 ; disposition of offenders by, 240; establishment of, 235; evolu- tion of, 243 ; hearings in, 237 ; jury trial in, 239 ; organization of, 236; qualifications of judge in, 241 ; rotation of judges in, 237. Juvenile delinquency, caused by, associations and environment 219, criminal tendencies, 230, cruelty, 229, dishonesty of parents, 228, home conditions, 225, neglect, 227, saloons, 230, street trades, 232 ; investigation of causes of, 275 ; meaning of, 225; prevention of, by, better amusements, 281, better legal control, 276, boys' clubs, 277, compulsory education, 286, con- tributory delinquency laws, 283, juvenile improvement associa- tions, 276 ; parental education, 289, parks and playgrounds, 280, prevention of truancy, 286, socialization of public school, 285, vocational training, 287. Juvenile delinquents, classification of, 231, 255; disposition of, 240; number of, in reformatories, 272 ; INDEX 379 physical defects among, 268; probation of, 245. Juvenile offenses, classification of, 231 ; nature of, 232. Kansas City, boys' clubs in, 278. Labor, child ; see Child labor. Laundries, heat in, 187. Legislation, agencies supporting child labor, 201 ; see also Child labor legislation. Literacy, of working children, 178. London, decline of death rates in, 16. Machinery, influence of, on child labor, 166. Mack, Judge, 243. Manual training, 151. Manufacturers, child labor legisla- tion opposed by, 163. Manufactures, importance of child labor in, 172 ; night shifts in, 178. Massachusetts, state care of chil- dren in, 340. Measles, 52. Medical inspection of schools, by board of education, 120 ; by board of health, 121 ; legal pro- visions for, 126; nature of, 119; state laws governing, 127; the- ory of , 117. Medical inspector, 122. Meningitis, 57. Mercantile establishments, over- time in, 180. Michigan state school, description of, 336 ; length of stay in, 337 ; placing out by, 338; results of, 338. Milk, certified, 77; experiments with, in Chicago, 69, in Roches- ter, 72 ; methods of handling, 67 ; pasteurization of, 71 ; req- uisites of good, 68 ; sterilization, 70; summary of methods of controlling, 78. Milk depots, in Rochester, 73 ; Straus, 75. Milk problem, the, essential ele- ments in, 68. Minnesota state school, the, 337. Modern industrial conditions, child labor caused by, 165. Mortality ; see Infant mortality. Motherhood, cost of, 27. Moving picture show, 282. National Child Labor Committee, 202. Neglect, of children, 296; delin- quency caused by, 227. Negro children, in agriculture, 175. New Jersey, boarding out in, 339. New York, child labor law in, 205 ; classification of juvenile offenses in, 233 ; probation in, 258 ; sub- sidy system in, 342. New York Children's Aid Society, work of, 314. New York City, diphtheria in, 51 ; infant mortality in, 64; play- grounds in, 103. New York Society for the Preven- tion of Cruelty to Children, on intemperance, 299 ; work of, 328. Newman, George, on infant mor- tality, 60. Newsboys, delinquency among, 198. Newsholme, Arthur, on infant mor- tality, 60. Nickelodeon, censorship of, 282. Night work, efifect of, 188 ; of chil- dren, 178 ; prohibition of, 206. Nurse, school, 123 ; visiting, 83. Occupations, lack of training for, 147 ; unhealthful, 185. Ohio, county home system in, 342. Overcrowding, prevention of, 88. Overtime, children engaged in, 180 ; in seasonal trades, 180. Parental education, to prevent juvenile delinquency, 289. Parental greed, child labor caused by, 159. Parental school, function of, 264, Parks, city, as playgrounds, 108; small, 106. Pasteurization, 70. Pennsylvania, child labor in, 175, 205. Pennsylvania Children's Aid So- ciety, principles of, 313. 380 INDEX Placing out, difficulties in, 319; essentials of, 315 ; importance of, 315 ; steps in, 316. Play, and tuberculosis, 96 ; cooper- ation fostered by, 99 ; discipline of, 97 ; gang spirit in, 100 ; moral effects of, 97; physical influence of, 96 ; social value of, 97 ; theories of, 96. Playground Association, National, 106. Playground movement, the, origin of, 105; progress of, 111. Playgrounds, administration of, 113; equipment of, 107; for older children, 107; in Chicago, 109; in New York, 112; school, 116; supervision of, 114; types of, 106. Poverty exemptions from child labor laws, 207. Prematurity, 67. Preventable mortality, 46, 47 note. Principles of child saving, 304. Probation, and playgrounds, 281 ; essentials of successful, 259 ; extent of system of, 245 ; length of, 255; origin of, 245; results of, 257 ; state supervision of, 246. Probation districts, 254. Probation ofl&cers, cooperation of, with other agencies, 249 ; duties of, 246 ; number of cases super- vised by, 256; qualifications of, 254; service of, without pay, 249 ; types of, investigators, 247, judges, 253, parole officers, 248, volunteers, 251. Public care of dependent children, 335 ; methods of, boarding out, 339, county home system, 342, placing out, 340, public subsidy to private institutions, 342, state school, 335. Public schools, socialization of, 109, 285. Public subsidies to private chari- ties, cost of, 343 ; evils of, 343. Recreation piers, 108. Reformatory institutions, cottage system in, 267; discipline in, 271 ; essentials of, 274 ; evolu- tion of treatment in, 260 ; farm- ing taught in, 269 ; home life in, 262; household economy taught in, 270; indeterminate sentence to, 273 ; industrial train- ing in, 269 ; necessity for, 262 ; number of juvenile delinquents in, 271 ; parental schools as, 264 ; physical training in, 268 ; present functions of, 262 ; sepa- ration of sexes in, 266 ; term of commitment to, 273 ; training and industrial schools as, 265 ; types of, 263. Registration Area, 16 note; deaths in, 38 ; diarrheal diseases in, 55. Rights of childhood, 5; to educa- tion, 10; to freedom from work, 9; to health, 7; to life, 5; to play, 8. Rochester, milk problem in, 72 ; re- duction of infant mortality in, 75. Rockefeller Institute, milk tests in, 63. Rountree, on poverty in York, 298. St. Louis, industrial school in, 265. Saloons, juvenile delinquency caused by, 230. Scarlet fever, 52. School attendance, character of, 143. School children, defects among, 125. School nurse, 123. School officials, and child labor laws, 215. School playgrounds, 109. Schools, industrial training in, 149 ; medical inspection of; see Medi- cal inspection. Seasonal trades, overtime in, 180. Sex physiology, education in, 154. Silk mills, child labor in, 175. Social reform, difficulties in secur- ing, 351. Social training, required by juve- nile court judge, 242. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, function of, 325; in England, 325 ; influence of in- temperance reported by, 299 ; INDEX 381 organization of, 325; origin of, 324 ; purpose of, in Massachu- setts, 326 ; work of, 328. South, the, child labor in, 174. Special schools for backward chil- dren, 134. Starbuck, 224. State care of dependent children, evolution of, 344. State school system, 335 ; examples of, 335 ; Michigan, 336 ; placing out under, 338. Sterilization, 70. Stores, exempted from child labor laws, 213. Straus milk depots, 75. Street associations, aa cause of >* juvenile delinquency, 229. Street trades, cause of juvenile delinquency, 232 ; child labor in, 179; moral effects of, 198; not included in child labor laws, 213. Supervision, of child in home, 318; state, of private child-saving agencies, 307. Teacher, the, relation of, to medical inspection, 125. Temporary home, for dependent children, 320. Textile mills, physical effects of working in, 187. Tobacco factories, poisonous fumes in, 186. Trade and transportation, class of children employed in, 172. Trade life, shortened by factory system, 183. Trade schools, attitude of labor unions toward, 152 ; evening, 152; private, 153. Trade training, 147. Trades, dangerous, 211 ; inspection of, to determine nature of, 212. Truancy, caused by street trades, 198 ; causes of, 287 ; prevention of, 286 ; responsibility of parents for, 287. Tuberculosis, influence of play on, 96. Uniformity, of child labor laws needed, 203. United States, classification of juvenile offenses in, 234. Untrained children, 145, 194. Unwise philanthropy, dependency caused by, 298. Vocational schools, 151 ; juvenile delinquency lessened by, 287. Volunteer probation officer, argu- ment for, 252 ; handicaps of, 251; place of, 251. Walker-Gordon laboratories, 79 note. Waste of chUd life, 22, 46, 69. Whooping cough, 54. Williamson Free School, 153. Wolf, on mortality in Erfurt, 42. Women, married, employment of, in industry, 89 ; employment of, a cause of infant mortality, 90. Working papers, 208; methods of granting, 208. Yonkers, results of probation in, 258. The Most Recent Additions to the CITIZEN'S LIBRARY G. /^* M.' * A * Their Problems and reat L>ltieS m A.meriCa Xhelr Government By DELOS F. WILCOX, Auikor of The American City'' Dr. Wilcox's forthcoming book differs from most works on this subject in that it is practical and concrete, rather than critical and theoretical. It embodies a careful first-hand investigation of ad- ministration in a number of typical cities — Washington, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Boston. It brings to the stu- dent's desk a great amount of statistical and statutory matter for which otherwise he would have to make difficult search. It ex- poses, in short, the actual workings of the municipal government in American cities in a way that every scholar should appreciate. Clothi leather back^ ismoy $i.2j net Wage-Elarning Women By ANNIE MARION MacLEAN Professor of Sociology in Adelphi College Quite recently the National Board of Young Women's Chris- tian Associations of the United States conducted an investigation throughout the entire country of the status of women in the most important industries. Its results are incorporated in this book. "This book needed to be written. Society has to be reminded that the prime function of women must ever be the perpetuation of the race. It can be so reminded only by a startling presentation of the woman who is 'speeded up' on a machine, the woman who breaks records in packing prunes or picking hops, the woman who outdoes all others in vamping shoes or spooling cotton. . . . The chapters give glimpses of women wage-earners as they toil in dif- ferent parts of the country. The author visited the shoeshops, and the paper, cotton, and woolen mills of New England, the department stores of Chicago, the garment-makers' homes in New York, the silk mills and potteries of New Jersey, the fruit farms of California, the coal fields of Pennsylvania, and the hop industries of Oregon. The author calls for legislation regardless of constitutional quibble, for a shorter work-day, a higher wage, the establishment of resi- dential clubs, the closer cooperation between existing organizations for industrial betterment." — Boston Advertiser. Cloth, leather back, i2mo, $1.2^ net The Citizen's Library of Economics, Politics, and Sociology is edited by Richard T. Ely, Professor of Political Economy at the University of Wisconsin. For a complete list of the volumes included in the series, address THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 64-66 Fifth Avenue, New York AMERICAN SOCIAL PROGRESS SERIES Edited by Samuel McCune Lindsay, Ph.D. A series of handbooks for the student and general reader, giving the results of the newer social thought and of recent scientific investigations of the facts of American social life and institutions. Each volume about 200 pages. 1. The New Basis of Civilization. By Professor S. N. Patten, Ph.D., LL.D., University of Pennsylvania. $1.00 net The new American Social Progress Series, which The Macmillan Company is bringing out under the editorship of Professor Sam- uel McCune Lindsay, has been admirably launched with Pro- fessor Patten's book, " The New Basis of Civilization." A well- known writer on economics has characterized it as "the book we have been waiting for to put social work on the basis of a well-reasoned philosophy." 2. Standards of Public Morality. By Arthur Twining Hadley, Ph.D., LL.D., President of Yale University. * %i.oo net This is a subject on which President Hadley has already spoken with conspicuous wisdom, and no man in America is better fitted to discuss it adequately. The events of the past two or three years have made this topic one of general interest, and Presi- dent Hadley's treatment of it will be found full of suggestive and stimulating thought. 3. Governmental Action for Social Welfare. By Professor Jere- miah W. Jenks, Ph.D., LL.D., Cornell University. t>i.oo net The book presents a great deal of information and comment which the average citizen should possess, and is written in Pro- fessor Jenks's shrewd, practical, and readable style. 4. Misery and Its Causes. By Edward T. Devine, Ph.D., LL.D., Columbia University. $1.23 net Poverty and Maladjustment. Out of Work. Out of Health. Out of Friends. The Justice and Prosperity of the Future. PUBLISHED BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 64-66 Fifth Avenue, New York RETURN TO the circulation desk of any University of California Library or to the NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY BIdg. 400, Richmond Field Station University of California Richmond, CA 94804-4698 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 2-month loans may be renewed by calling (415)642-6233 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing books to NRLF Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior to due date DUE AS STAMPED BELOW m 9 ^3^" SEP 3 2004 YB 30965 ^67743 t UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY L