nurse her baby? The community would not support you, yet in that general ruling that a mother must nurse her baby a year, that girl would have to stand by that job. Some say that it is bad to make a mother keep her baby. Here is a girl, strong and intelligent, and keenly alive to her plight, and she wants to keep her baby. But the law would say that she cannot. Or supposing you say you should never have a girl under sixteen keep her baby, and you have a Portuguese girl of fourteen who in many respects is equal physically to an American girl of eighteen or nineteen, fully developed. Many of these Portuguese marry at thirteen or fourteen and have children. In regard to this girl her mother and father are not disposed to give the child away. They are practically willing to stand by the child. Then you have a young feeble-minded mother and you say she must keep her baby. Mr. Kelso said it would be a good thing to take the child of every defective mother away as soon as it was born. Defective girls have had normal babies, and the State Board said there is no reason why they should not nurse their babies until they are seven or eight months old. That has worked very well, and the babies are now two or three years old, and I am sure they are in better position to develop into normal children than they would have been if they had been bottle-fed. They certainly did not get any feeble-mindedness in their mother's milk. In the matter of marriage there is a tendency on the part of many of us to try and transform a relation resulting in illegitimacy, into a structure of marriage. I think of five or six young girls who, if foolish people had not made them marry, would probably been married to men who really loved them and would have taken them with their children. Such a family in one instance has been put to the necessity of getting a divorce. There was no love. It was said that now the baby would be legitimate and everything would be all right.

At the Indiana State Conference of Charities, Mrs. Barrett, the National Director of the Florence Crittenton League, said that she was tired of hearing so much about the unmarried mother; she wanted to hear a lot about the unmarried father. I, too, want to hear a lot about the unmarried father. Five years ago I had a feeling that every illegitimacy problem involved some absolutely wretched type of man and woman who needed to be jailed, and who were a danger to the community. I do not believe

that way now.

We will all accept a change of view before we see the job fairly. The

Federal Bureau found that the question of responsibility rests very evenly between the father and the mother. We are caring now for illegitimate children and the men are the victims. The mothers started out to get some man and compromise him just are men who will compromise girls.

as there

In the matter of prosecution I do not think you can have a hard and fast regulation that you are going to prosecute every case of illegitimacy, as Mr. Kelso proposed. Supposing there is a doubt as to whether the man accused is really the father. Suppose he says "I am willing to do the fair thing; I have done wrong and I will give a thousand dollars if you will take the case out of court, but if you will not take it out of court I will spend that money on an attorney and fight you." Here is another case of a father of several children who was involved in an illegitimacy case was willing to pay all expenses and make an unusual contribution to the child's education and training. His wife knew of it but his children did not. It would not have helped the mother to arrest that man. His wife helped him to re-establish himself and to make amends for his wrong. So as I say, you cannot have a hard and fast rule in these matters. I think the State must get into the job of seeing what we do for unmarried mothers. A good institution and a good society may have some question put to it that should not faze it.

State

There is an enormous traffic in babies that can only be checked when the can put its finger on it. If the State's entrance into inspection of mater

nity homes and children's organizations meant the violation of privacy, I would

be

opposed to it; but it does not mean that. The State ought to know what is done

with the children and what becomes of them. There is in many states deliberate cold-blooded trafficking in babies. People gloss over it and say that it is helping the mothers or the babies or the fathers.

I have known girls to come back and say, "If someone had told me and helped me stand by my baby I would not have given it away." That is one the most tragic things I have ever heard. When I was in Philadelphia a girl under pressure of her family gave her baby and paid a certain lump sum to a given maternity home. She had a change of heart within a month and wanted to get her baby back, and she visited that home two or three times a month for two years hoping the family might bring it back. But it never came back. She will never forgive herself for having parted with it. We must protect the mothers from that, and it will require the finest social service to do it.

The ideal thing for children is family life. The county home in Ohio aims to give children into families. Is that equally applicable to mothers? The best maternity home is small. It cannot be large because there will be intermingling of experiences that are hard. A girl of eighteen in a maternity home with other girls is in a concentrated life of the very thing that is worrying her. I do not think that is normal, and I say it in all kindness. The ideal is to provide the thing we would like to have provided for our own sister, and that is privacy, quietness. seclusion, and not too much objection. One girl who has a baby, and who was in one of the best maternity homes in Boston, said that the thing which weighed upon her was what other girls said about their experiences. The matron of that home had assured her that the girls had never had but the one sex experience. This girl was told that some of the girls had had other babies, or had had experiences equally serious. If you say you will not take a mother who has the second baby, I can say that some of the most hopeful and promising mothers have been girls who made another mistake and had a second baby. There is in Boston today a stenographer earning twenty-five dollars a week who has two children, and who was equally at fault in getting into difficulty the second time. Today she stands with her back to the wall taking criticism, and being a wonderful mother to her children. Yet in New York and in Boston the good maternity homes refused her admission when she had the second baby. Maybe your equipment is such that you can only provide for mothers with one baby, and there is this big problem of mothers with more than one baby. Well, then you have to enlarge. It is not fair to the charitable public to say that you are sitting on the legitimacy lid.

Discussion by Dr. Frances M. Hollingshead, Columbus

Those of us who work with that problem know that step by step we have a problem under almost the same conditions. We have not made an attempt as yet to solve it. I happened to have been in Chillicothe lately. We knew about the reports concerning illegitimacy from camps. The first time I was in Chillicothe I went to the local authorities and asked if they would keep a careful check on the matter. We found that there was going to be an illegitimacy case. There had been reported to this agency four and possibly five cases of pregnant girls, but none of them could be traced to the camp. At that time they had not had a single report from the camp. We were very much interested to see that they substantiated what Mr. Murphy has said. As to gonorrhea and syphilis, all that talk is exaggerated.

We do not know our problem. We have coming into the State Department of Health an insufficient number of records, and in the last three years we have believed our proportion to be about 333 per cent of the girls reported to us. That is from institutions caring for girls of a different type, married as well as unmarried mothers. As to the institution that makes such a tremendous point of the religious element, we have the type of institution whose physical equipment is very

good, but not the best. It has had average supervision. A girl has been made to feel that she is more or less of a burden. When I first visited that institution, the girls would cover their heads. I tried to talk to them. I was very much distressed. Recently I met one of those girls who had been there and she told me that after she left that institution she debated for six weeks as to whether she would enter a life of prostitution because she was so disgusted with the forced religious attitude that was hurled at her. She said, "I know that I have done wrong, but I was a human being and they rubbed it into me till it was enough to kill two or three of us.”

As far as keeping the mother with the child and feeding the mother for the child, I think that is a very critical situation. One of our cities has been confronted with mothers wanting to give up their children, both married and unmarried mothers, to go into industrial pursuits. Many of these mothers are undeveloped. They earned money before marriage and do not care for motherhood, and they do this fearing that the bread earner of the family may be called to the front. In one city recently it was reported that certain manufacturers are expecting to establish baby farms in the back yard of the factory so the mothers who work there can be relieved of their children while at work. Some of these girls say to me when they have been urged and compelled to feed their children that they love the idea of caring for the child the first twenty-four hours. As Mr. Murphy has said many will put up a splendid fight for the child if they are given a chance. I remember a feebleminded girl of fourteen who has made a perfectly wonderful mother. She had a splendid supply of perfect milk. That baby has a better chance physically because also of the mother's intense devotion, and of course it will have to be taken away from her later, which is the sad part of it.

As to who is to blame, in recent studies in this state and in New York we found that over fifty per cent of these unmarried mothers are markedly feeble-minded. In many such cases it is certainly true that the girl is absolutely at fault and she is perfectly willing to acknowledge it. The law needs rewriting. As far as keeping the mother and children together, we cannot write a law which does not have to be interpreted along broad lines. It will be necessary when the law is recast, to say children and mothers must be kept together wherever possible and where conditions are favorable, because in many cases to force the child on the mother is unreasonable, quite as unreasonable as forcing a marriage. I believe that forcing a girl to marry this man is absolutely dangerous. There are cases where a girl married the father of her child and is leading a healthful life; but these are not cases where the marriage was forced. They are cases where they mutually met their responsibility.

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTIONS

Resolved, That we express to the Board of State Charities our appreciation for

the privilege of hearing the experts in child welfare work who appeared on the program, not only of the Conference on Dependent Children but of the general program

as well.

Resolved, That we hereby express our deep gratitude to the local committee for

the excellent provision for our comfort and convenience, and to the local press for the publicity given to the work of the Conference.

Resolved, That we heartily approve the scope and purpose of the Ohio State Conference on Dependent Children as set forth in the published reports of former

Conferences, and we congratulate our president, Mr. Geo. A. Mosher, and our secretary. Mr. R. A. Longman, for their thoroughness and efficiency in the performance of the duties of their offices, so as to approximate the high standards set forth in said published reports.

Resolved, That we record our full desire to co-operate with the Board of State Charities in making the State Conference of Charities and Correction a success in the review of all phases of charitable and correctional endeavor, and that we hereby pledge our organization to carry out in spirit any program arranged by the Board of State Charities for such conferences.

Resolved, That we favor an amendment to our present law providing for the expenses of delegates to State and national conferences on social work so as to include the matrons of children's homes.

Resolved, That the Ohio State Conference on Dependent Children be hereafter known as the Ohio State Conference on Child Welfare; and that an annual conference be held, independent of other conferences, at such time and place as may be agreed upon by the executive committee. It is specifically understood that this conference is not to affect our loyalty to and enthusiastic support of the Conference of Charities and Correction.

JAMES W. WAY, Chairman

CHILDREN'S HOME MATRONS SECTION

HOW CAN WE FIT OUR BOYS AND GIRLS TO TAKE UP THE
DUTIES OF LIFE?

MRS. W. C. MCCULLOUGH, WOOSTER

The world is in need of workers today perhaps as never before. There is room for trained workers in every line of activity and a great demand for those who can do commonplace work well.

If we should train all our girls to be good housekeepers and all our boys to do farm work well we would not have the least difficulty in placing all of them in good homes. Thus the problem of fitting our children for future usefulness and getting them located might be quickly and easily solved.

But would this be treating the children fairly?

There is within each individual the possibility of some great success. There is some one thing which each child can do royally and which the world needs done.

Is it not then our duty, as their guardians to study each child individually and find if possible the line of work in which he is most interested and then help him develop along that line?

We should do our utmost to have them physically fit to take up life's duties. A frail body is not a valuable asset to any boy or girl seeking a position. Regular hours for eating and sleeping, plenty of out-door exercise and an abundance of plain, wholesome food do wonders for our boys and girls. We who are engaged in institutional work, can testify to that when we note the improvement some of our neglected children make in a very short time under our care.

Explain to them the necessity of obeying the laws of health. If we can get them to understand that Nature will make them suffer, sooner or later, for every law of health they violate, perhaps, they will be more careful about forming habits that will undermine their health and be a hindrance to them all their lives.

Our children though may be almost perfect physically and yet not be capable

of taking up the duties of life.

They need intellectual training also.

Training the mind is almost the main purpose of our public schools so perhaps we can safety turn this part of our work over to our supervisors of education and their able assistants, the teachers.

A large share of each individual's knowledge, however, comes to him independ

ently of the schools. Our boys and girls must have some of this practical knowledge that is acquired from nature and from association with other people if we expect them to compare favorably with those reared in private homes.

They should be taught the value of money and how to spend it wisely.
Encourage them to think independently!

Some author said:

"Think for thyself one good idea and known to be thine own,

'Tis better than a thousand gleaned from fields by others sown."

Before an automobile is sent out from the factory it is given a trial run to discover any imperfections in its mechanism and correct them and thus avoid a possible wreck.

Is it not just as necessary that we test our children by giving them liberty to work out their ideas and use their own judgment. In this way we can discover their weak points and strengthen them before they leave our care.

But being able to make their own living is not an absolute guarantee that they will be successful. Many people make a good living but make a very poor life.

Our boys and girls must have moral training also and this is the most responsible part of our task.

A child reared in a good home will unconsciously fall into right ways of thinking and acting.

If as psychologists tell us, it is the early years of one's life that make us and that our early impressions are the most lasting ones, we who have undertaken the training of the children in our county homes are certainly put to a great disadvantage. Many of our children have come to us from homes where the parents were neglectful and careless. They have acquired evil habits and tendencies. These habits and tendencies must be overcome before they can even be started on the road of right living. In the few short years they are under our care we aim to transform these irresponsible, sometimes almost incorrigible, little people into dependable, trustworthy young men and women.

Is it any wonder that sometimes the finished product is a disappointment to us? They must be taught to distinguish right from wrong. This is a difficult lesson to teach to children. To them what is beautiful and pleasing seems right. Appearances often deceive those who are older.

The world has many illusions. The process begins in the world of nature
We know this is not a fact

The sun appears to rise in the east and set in the west.

and yet nothing is plainer to our sight than this appearance. The rainbow looks like a solid arch spanning the earth, and men have tried to approach it expecting to find treasures at its foot.

These illustrations only go to prove that the word has a false light thrown over it. That things are not always what they seem.

This same element of illusionment enters into our human world. Many of its pursuits and possessions paint rosy visions before us that never can be realized.

Wealth and pleasure have this power to a high degree.

Sin is the fascinating illusion of them all. Even the worst forms of vice are

gilded over until they sometimes deceive even those who have spent many years in the school of experience.

Is it any wonder then that the world looks good and beautiful to our boys and girls and that they fail to see the snares and pitfalls that are in their pathway.

There must be some way to get them to see through appearances into reality.

Life has two teachers: experience and example. Let us hope that we have so gained their love and confidence that they will heed our counsel and thus be saved many hard lessons they would otherwise have to learn in the school of experience.