Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 203, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 September 1917 — UNITED STATES MUST PROTECT CHILDREN OF COUNTRY DURING THE WAR [ARTICLE]

UNITED STATES MUST PROTECT CHILDREN OF COUNTRY DURING THE WAR

By MISS JULIA C. LATHROP.

Chief of Children’s Bureau, U. S. Department of Labor.

The war has placed a tremendous valuationjaporrASerlcaii children, and Avnet if'A n i ust i’liurlah" these children? ' A nation, such as ours, which takes its men by law and puts them into the field of battle, must provide for -the home folk. Men sent to Europe to win dem nrr the wnrld must nnt on TUP home to find democracy smashed in their own households. Mothers and children must be cared for. Surely we should learn from the mistakes of the belligerent nations, and take every precaution to keep our children normal and free to grow up to carry on the work of the world. Thousands of children besides war orphans and refugees have been directly affected by the war, according to reports from belligerent countries which have come to the children's bureau. Juvenile delinquency has increased, more children have been necessary to protect the health of mothers and babies, and home life has been broken up by the increased employment of mothers. We in America cannot afford jto ignore these lessons. Our own democracy—the democracy of the American home must be protected. In the fifty years since the Civil war legislation affecting the family and its economic status has shown marked growth. Mothers’ pension laws, minimum wage laws, and workmen’s compensation laws are recognized examples, and it is acknowledged that their result has not been to pauperize, but distinctly improve the power of the family to protect itself. In view of this tendency "it is to be expected that a system of compensation for soldiers and sailors can be developed whereby the government will make possible for their children the home life and parental care which are the need of every child.