Chapter IV: Part 4

We too often start out on the principle that actuated the medical tyro who was working, might and main, over a patient burning up with fever. When gently entreated to know what he was doing, he snappishly replied: "Doing? Why, I'm trying to throw this man into a fit. I don't know much about curing fevers, but I'm death on fits. Just let me get him into a fit, and I'll fetch him!" It seems to me we often go on the same principle: we work harder in laying plans to redeem those who have fallen than to save others from falling. We seem to take it for granted that a certain condition of declension must be reached before we can work to advantage. I repeat again what I have said before--_we do not begin soon enough with the children_. It seems to me that both Church and State have yet to learn the vast import of those matchless words of the great Teacher Himself, where He said, pointing to a little child, "He that receiveth him in My name receiveth Me." He said it because, with omniscient vision, He saw the wondrous, folded-away possibilities imprisoned within the little child.

Now, I do not propose to go into the _rationale_ of the kindergarten system at all on this occasion; but I do wish to emphasize a few salient points; and, first, that the kindergarten aims at the cultivation of the heart. As its great founder himself declared, its regnant aim is to guide the heart and soul in the right direction, and lead them to the Creator of all life, and to personal union with Him. As I before said, the kindergarten is the paradise of childhood, the gate through which the little children may re-enter Eden. The law of duty is recognized by the little ones as the law of love. Froebel recognized the Divine Spirit as the true developing power. His theory was that the human heart can only be satisfied with the consciousness of the love of a personal God and Father, to whom we can pray and speak. He said religious _education_ was _more_ than religious _instruction_. It was his aim to lead the little ones to their heavenly Friend. He taught them to love one another, to help one another, to be kind to one another, to care for one another. No one can love God who does not love his fellows. Froebel grieved over the criminal classes. We say again, the design of the kindergarten is to PREVENT criminals. And what estimate shall be placed upon an instrumentality which saves the child from becoming a criminal, and so saves the State from the care and expense incident to such reform, and secures to the State all that which the life of a good citizen brings to it?

The State begins _too late_ when it permits the child to enter the public school at six years of age. It is locking the stable door after the horse is stolen.

One of the most distinguished writers on the law of heredity, Doctor Maudsley, says: "It is certain that lunatics and criminals are as much manufactured articles as are steam-engines and calico printing machines, only the processes of the organic manufactory are so complex that we are not able to follow them. They are neither accidents nor anomalies in the universe, but come by law and testify to causality; and it is the business of science to find out what the causes are, and by what laws they work." A republic that expects to survive, and to increase in power and greatness, must see to it that she does not carry within her the seeds of her own dissolution. It remains forever true of nations, as of individuals, that ignorance and crime breed dissolution and death.

I want to say that the men and women who indorse, sustain, and advocate kindergarten work in San Francisco are among its most thoughtful, philanthropic, and far-seeing citizens--men who seek to crown with ceaseless blessing the destinies of this western world, men and women whose better nature is always within call, and who, with a rich and mellow spirit of humanity, determine to leave the world better than they found it, happier and nobler for the legacy of their fruitful lives; men and women who are always devising generous things, and who go through life like a band of music; men and women who live to develop the resources of a great State--citizens of the world made by the time to make a new time. Such are the men and women who, by their generous gifts and pleading earnestness, help on this great work in San Francisco. Noble, far-seeing men and women! I love and honor them, every one.

Dear friends, I believe with all my soul that the shortest cut to permanent victory in the great and glorious cause of temperance is through the training of very little children in ways of virtue, self-government, and self-control, by the proper cultivation of the heart, as well as the head and hand, in the kindergarten. Only such schools as these, moulding and shaping character by careful habit and training, will ever build up a vigorous, healthful, virtuous national life. Only such schools as these will make poorhouses, insane asylums, penitentiaries, and like institutions unnecessary. Do they cost too much? Think of it! $50,000,000 invested for asylums, poorhouses, hospitals, blind, deaf-mute, and insane asylums in the State of New York alone, with an annual outlay of $10,000,000; and this does not include houses of correction, penitentiaries, prisons, jails, and the like. Even a portion of this money expended in kindergarten schools would make these penal and corrective institutions unnecessary in a few years.

If the civil authorities cannot and do not attend to the needy, neglected children that go to swell the great lists of crime, pauperism, and insanity, then Christian philanthropy should do it. Christianity, thank God, is coming to be more and more practical in its aspect and work. We are coming to feel more and more that a religion that has everything for a future world, and nothing for this world, has nothing for either. A religion that neglects this present life is a mother who neglects her infant, with the expectation that manhood will make everything right. There is a class of persons who spend their lives in trying to _be_ good. There is another class who spend their lives in trying to _do_ good. Genuine goodness is something more than a mere self-seeking for eternity. It is something more than that sort of pious living which means little else than a safe and sagacious investment in the skies. It is a working together with God in this world for the uplifting and advancement of the human race. It is a seeking to lessen the pains and burdens of life among the toilers and the strugglers. It is a reaching out after the little children of poverty and want--the hapless little ones who have been hurled prematurely against the life-wrecking problems of existence. Help that can run to help the helpless, and comfort the comfortless, always keeps closest by the side of God. Intensity of life is intensity of helpfulness. The great waiting world understands good actions far more readily than abstract doctrines.

Perhaps we shall find at last, in the day of final disclosure, that the deepest and most far-reaching influence that we ever exerted was the influence that we exerted over the helpless and neglected little children of the streets. Perhaps we shall find it to be the best work we ever accomplished. At all events, it is well to live well. And he lives the longest who lives the best. He is great who confers most of blessing on mankind.

CORROBORATIVE TESTIMONY

"Skilled employment must be taught to boys and girls alike, at the
earliest age consistent with educational claims. Labor must,
however, never be drudgery, but a delight to the young workers;
and to insure this, not only must the most effective teachers be
secured, but the tastes and capacity of each child must be
carefully studied, so that the industry chosen shall in each case
be congenial, and not repugnant.

"Religion must occupy no secondary position in such a Home. Its
principles must be taught and its precepts practiced with that
deep and loving enthusiasm which shall secure for it ever after a
sacred place and a mighty influence in the hearts and lives of the
children."--_Thomas J. Barnardo, F.R.C.S., Ed., Founder "Dr.
Barnardo Homes," London._

CORROBORATIVE TESTIMONY

OHIO STATE BOARD OF CHARITIES.

ASA S. BUSHNELL, Governor, Prest., Ex-officio.
ROELIFF BRINKERHOFF, Mansfield.
WILLIAM HOWAND NEFF, Cincinnati.
W. A. HALE, Dayton.
CHARLES PARROTT, Columbus.
M. D. FOLLETT, Marietta.
HENRY C. RANNEY, Cleveland.
JOSEPH P. BYERS, Clerk.

MANSFIELD, OHIO,
August 17, 1898.

MR. HORACE FLETCHER, Chicago, Ill.

_My Dear Sir_: Yours of the 15th inst. received; also proof
sheets of your forthcoming publication, which I have read with
great pleasure.

I heartily agree with you in the opinion that the children must
first be cared for if we are to make any great progress in
reducing crime.

In nearly all that I have written or spoken during the past twenty
years upon this subject I have taken this position.

Five years ago, when I was in San Francisco and spent some days
with Mrs. Sarah B. Cooper, with whom I had had correspondence for
several years, and with Mr. Crowley, Chief of Police, I was
profoundly impressed with the power for good of the kindergartens
as there administered.

The only way to make good character and good habits a foundation
in the lives of growing children, which is the aim of the
kindergarten, universal, is to make the training a part of our
common school system, and I think that accomplishment must be our
objective point.

You quote what I said about the results of kindergarten work in
San Francisco, and in the main, correctly, but just what Mrs.
Cooper and Chief Crowley said you will find in Warden Hale's
address, at Saint Paul, Minn., in 1894, which you will find in the
Annual Report of the Saint Paul National Prison Congress.

Mrs. Cooper said that in fourteen years, out of about 16,000
kindergarten children, they had the history of about 9,000, and of
these not one had been arrested for crime. Chief Crowley said that
out of 8,000 children arrested in San Francisco, but one had been
trained in a kindergarten.

Warden Hale for many years has been in charge of the great prison
at San Quentin, near San Francisco, and his testimony is valuable.

Your book is timely and will be a valuable aid in educating a
healthy public sentiment. In the hasty reading I have been able to
give it I see nothing to criticise. Personally I believe that the
religious element in teaching should, at least, have equal
prominence with the industrial and intellectual. Instead of the
three R's of first importance in old-time teaching, I am in favor
of three H's, in the following order: The Heart, the Hand, and the
Head.

I give you God-speed in your good work, and if I can at any time
give you a helping hand please command me. Very sincerely yours,

R. BRINKERHOFF.

AND A LITTLE CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM

"Suffer Little Children to Come Unto Me, and Forbid Them Not, For
of Such Is the Kingdom of Heaven."

"For inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the Least of These,
even so have ye done it unto Me."

"A New Commandment I give unto you, that ye Love One Another."

"Do unto Others as ye would that Others should do unto you."

AND A LITTLE CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM

Of the recorded utterances of Christ about children the most direct prophecy is the caption of this chapter.

It is no disrespect to the holy mission of Christ in the world to say that He was the first Great Kindergartner.

It is in the love and solicitude for children that the view of Christ differs greatly from all the great teachers whom the world reverence or worship.

The utterances of Christ are few, but the Golden Rule and references to children stand out clearly as among the important themes of His mission.

In the light of our present interest, and in behalf of our especial quest, the prophecy of Christ is a burning tower of hope that men and women will some time see Christ in the light that Froebel saw Him, and as many of the enthusiastic followers of the Froebel method of missionary work now see Him. May they gather to the support of our cause, to the support of a Perfect Social Quarantine that shall not permit any child of the community, of the nation, nor of the world, as far as possible, to escape the mandate of the Golden Rule and the solicitude that Christ expressed for them.

* * * * *

Will any great number of those who have been blessed with children deny that one of the most potent influences in their life, next to that of mother, has been desire for the respect of their own children?

There are many parents who shape their lives, consciously or unconsciously, so as not to be a bad example to their children. Society, public opinion, self-respect and law have a due measure of influence or restraint, but at the bottom of the best of conduct is the influence of the little child, for the prophecy is true, "And a little child shall lead them."

* * * * *

Not only in the family, but in the State, and in all the walks of life, the attention given to children is productive of the most profit.

* * * * *

"And a little child shall lead them!"

SUMMARY

"He is at once admitted to the school, where in most cases the
influences of cleanliness, decency, and home surroundings,
transform him in a few weeks from a homeless, dirty waif, ragged,
hungry and hopeless, into a bright, well clad, well fed lad, with
the opportunity before him of receiving a good education and
learning a trade which will give him an object in life. The
Training School is in no sense a prison, and has neither bolts nor
bars nor corporeal punishments. The boys are governed by love and
kindness; and, although they are taken from the street and gutter,
it is surprising as it is gratifying to find how short a time
produces an entire change in their appearance, manners and
conduct."--_Oscar L. Dudley, Secretary and General Manager of
the Illinois School of Agriculture and Manual Training for Boys,
before the National Conference of Charities and Correction._

SUMMARY

The author believes that character-building and habit-forming institutions should be appreciated and supported as _fundamental bases of government_, in that they are _nurseries of good citizenship_, and not simply as minor branches of education, as at present classified, and that no intelligent effort should be spared to make them available to the _Last Waif_ in a community as well as to the most favored.

* * * * *

Character-building and habit-forming institutions, as here meant, include the crèche, the kindergarten, domestic science, manual-training schools and parental farms of demonstrated usefulness; the special usefulness consisting of supplying nourishment for infants necessary to supplement that received at home, teaching suggestions from which to absorb self-respect, and also respect for thrift and order, and the provision of ample opportunities for the discovery of that talent or preference for some useful occupation with which every normal human being is equipped at birth--the one occupation that every person would rather pursue than do anything else, or be idle,--if only it can be found.

* * * * *

The moral effect of saving The Last Waif from neglect would, in itself, be much greater than the saving of hundreds of stray waifs by less thorough means, and the beneficial influence of a moral wave, such as the establishment of Perfect Social Quarantine would produce, would be felt in raising the average efficiency of family instruction in character-building in the same proportion that a complete thing is superior to anything that is weak in some of its parts. A resultant effect would be the establishment of Dirt Quarantine and Sanitary Quarantine Measures on lines of parallel efficiency, as already proven by the influence of kindergarten work in slums, for cleanliness begets cleanliness as surely as dirt begets dirt.

* * * * *

The wave of humanitarian sentiment that demanded freedom for Cuba cost the American people more than a million of dollars a day, and without hardship to any except those who endangered their lives in fighting for the cause.

The cost of saving the helpless neglected ones at home, and the establishment, for all time to come, of that first requisite of civilization, a perfect Moral and Social Quarantine, would be but a tithe of the cost of war with Spain, while all the outlay would be returned to the people and devoted to _Construction_, instead of being wasted in _Destruction_, as is necessary in the case of war.

* * * * *

The gaps of neglect in the present partial attempts at character-building and habit-forming for children, which are the bases of moral and social quarantine, are not very wide, as compared with what has already been accomplished for protection, but they are as dangerous and expensive as would be an open seaport during a season of yellow fever epidemic. These gaps can be closed by the judicious placing of a few more character and habit institutions where they are needed to supplement those already established, especially in the midst of the slums of great cities, where idleness, disorder and crime are wont to breed in neglect.

These institutions would, of necessity, have to be scattered about in such a manner that no child (apprentice citizen) in need of them could escape the influence of their profitable suggestions with which to supplement or counteract the influence of suggestions received at home.

* * * * *

A perfect cordon of care is of utmost importance during the period of life following earliest perceptions, until character is beginning to crystallize, and this is the season of present neglect.

* * * * *

Public institutions should not be intended to replace family influence, but to furnish intelligent models and supplement family teaching. At the same time they would supplement sectarian Sunday schools with unsectarian every-day instruction.

* * * * *

The cause of child-culture appeals to the everyone; capitalist and estate-owner on account of ultimate economy; to Sociology on the score of duty; to humanitarians on the plea of pity; to womankind in response to the mother impulse of protection and care; and to Christians by order of the mandate, "For inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these, even so have ye done it unto Me."

* * * * *

One-tenth of the present cost of guarding against disorder and the punishment of crime, applied to the intelligent care and training of children from the time of dawning perceptions until the average of ten years of age, by methods that already have been proven to be effective, would save to a community, within a single short generation, many times the amount of the original outlay, besides adding enormously to the equipment for production.

* * * * *

An immediate effect of character-school influence that is not yet sufficiently appreciated is its power to ameliorate present conditions of hopelessness and to tame and reclaim vicious and degenerate parents with insinuating ease, whereas fighting them with law and restraint at the front of their offending, and in the face of their full fledged and angry strength, only excites their antagonisms as the color of red excites the fury of bulls in the arenas of Spain.

* * * * *

Our appeal and argument are made with the hope of inspiring organization with the aim of closing all remaining gaps of neglect, so that no helpless soul, mind and body can escape intelligent care in which to properly develop the God-given equipment that is entrusted to our keeping.

The members of such an organization might appropriately be known as _Quarantinists_, in contradistinction to those who, being indifferent to neglect of children, would, with equal appropriateness, be known as _Neglectists_.

* * * * *

Every infant mentality that is born into the world is a seed from the Creator, folded in a tiny human casing, but bearing an important Divine Message relative to the progress of human civilization towards God-like ideals.

The environment Society provides for these Divine Contributions, so that they shall develop their best possibilities, is the measure of Man's duty towards their development.

Every seed is important, for some wise purpose, or the Creator would not send it, and the germ of a great soul flower may be wrapped within a humble and altogether improbable and unexpected individuality, to grow powerfully perverse, if warped at the beginning of world-life, or potently strong for good if started aright.

Society fails to do its duty to these God-sent Messages unless it endeavors to interpret and develop _each and every one_ of them with the ripest intelligence known to the Science of Child-Life, and each unit of Society fails of his duty to his Creator and to himself and to his own unless he works with his utmost strength to aid in the cultivation.

* * * * *

Child-training and child-saving experiments, within the past twenty-five years have proven by results, that there is no necessity of a Have-To-Be-Bad class of citizens, and that such a class of non-producing depredators in a community is the result of neglect, whose cost of prevention would not be a tithe of the present cost of futile attempts at correction by punishment.

* * * * *

Man reads the messages of Creation in its works, and has proven by centuries of experiment with his mental and physical equipments that while God creates all things capable of harmony, or good, Man is the one expression of His creation to whom is delegated the power of selection, direction and cultivation. God gives the force and the material, but man is given the unique capacity to aim, select, direct, cultivate and harmonize. Even the lightning, in the hands of Man, is applied to harmony and _construction_, and is diverted from discord and _destruction_.

In Man's ceaseless experimentation with his growing mental and physical equipments, and with the exterior forces of Nature, he has discovered that he can gather and direct the lightning; cultivate a skimpy wild flower into the imperial chrysanthemum; care for the elemental horse of his earliest discovery until it has developed into the "Black Beauty" of the present day; and, "last but not least," within only one brief quarter of one brief century, he has discovered that his greatest possibility of happiness lies in his power to make good and useful citizens of all his family.

Happiness is _the evidence and fruit of conscious usefulness_. Usefulness in adding to the sum of usefulness is, therefore, the best fruit of effort, and _child culture produces such fruit in abundance_.

* * * * *

God reveals, therefore, in His Work, what is not contradicted in His Word, when interpreted aright, that He creates all things good, subject to the possibility of Man to cultivate and harmonize and points out, as of first importance, a plant which has stored within it possibilities of endless further cultivation, of itself, and all else in Creation--the plant which we call a child.

Shall society do its duty to _all_ of these or only such as chance has favored with superior parentage?

Have we not arrived at the point of concrete intelligence when we should assist in the fulfillment of the prophecy, "And the Last Shall Be First," coupled with that other prophecy of the Master of our Christian Civilization, "And a Little Child Shall Lead Them."

* * * * *

And finally, the way?

_Ninety-eight per cent. of the condemned and neglected "Hopelessly submerged ten per cent. stratum"_ of cruel tradition, have been _reclaimed_ by present methods of care, and one hundred per cent. _can be saved to useful citizenship by means of prevention_ instead of correction. _One one-hundredth_ of present incomes of one-half the people saved from waste and applied to thorough quarantine will prevent the causes which now result in ten times the amount being swallowed up in futile attempts at correction by means of punishment, and which do not give either security from assault or protection from the curse of unsafe, unsanitary and uncleanly conditions.

* * * * *

The right way is the easy way and the way to work aright is to begin aright. The child is the key to the solution of the problems of social disorder or of social harmony and the kindergartners have proven themselves to be the locksmiths by whose intelligence and skill the key has been made to fit all heretofore-closed avenues leading towards hoped-for ideals.

* * * * *

Let us bless Saint Froebel and his apostles, "The Angels of the State," and the blessed institution they have reared; and by saving our waste for our waifs, give them the means needed for the regeneration of the Infinite Good and the eradication of the evils which now beset us and mar the happiness which is our natural inheritance, and without which, we know that we are bodily, mentally, morally and spiritually inadequate, and therefore, ill.

LOGICAL SEQUENCES

It is universally recognized to be the inherent right of all groups of men, beginning with the family, and holding its inviolable sacredness in the municipality, in the State and in the nation, to protect themselves against immorality, disease and disorder; but it is only when purity and harmony exist within the gates that the gates are effectively closed to that which is bred without.

There is little use to establish national or State seaport quarantine, either sanitary or social, if what is quarantined against is breeding and flourishing within the boundaries.

It is of little avail to exclude the Chinese, on account of their dull moral sense, which, it is said, precludes the possibility of good citizenship, or paupers, imbeciles and insane persons, while we are cultivating crops of similar defectives with an indifference of neglect which shows as dull moral sense among ourselves as that attributed to the Chinese, or as imbecile or insane lack of attention to first principles as could be exhibited by the leering and gibbering refuse of Europe which we turn back from our shores.

Care begets care as surely as carelessness begets carelessness. A house-wife who presides in a tidy home will hasten to close all openings when there is a dust storm raging without. This is too axiomatic to enlarge upon, but the illustration is strong. It is only when we have perfected the character of our own Apprentice Citizens, by giving them every chance to develop whatever qualities they bring with them from our mutual Creator, by the best methods known to the Science of Child-Culture, that we can appreciably feel any good results of closing our ports to the defective and neglected children of China or Europe. It can only be when we are ourselves free from expressions of criminal neglect that we can preach to the world except in the form of a paraphrased adaptation of the saying of a political economist of the saloon persuasion to a solicitor for a waif's home, which was as follows: "Let the blokes as breeds vermin look out for their vermin. I ain't got no sugar for the kids of such."

It will only be when we have attended to our own national first principles--our Cadet Citizens--that we can notice imported dullards and perverts among us by contrast with our own product.

When we have applied the thoroughness demanded by our highest intelligence in character culture we can close our gates to the bad characters of all the world, and say, with good grace and effect: "No! No! friends. We respect the sacred title of 'Brother,' we believe in brotherhood, and hope for the time when the mandate of Christ shall be fulfilled in the establishment of a Universal Brotherhood of Man, but let us begin to accomplish it in the right way. We have learned how to cultivate the children the Creator sends us in such a way as to make perfect chrysanthemums of good citizens out of the skimpiest little wild flowers of waifs that have heretofore languished in neglect on stony wastes, unnourished and uncared for. We have yet some little gardening--kindergartening--to attend to before we are ready to open our National Character Exposition, and in the meantime we will ask you to excuse us from the usual conventionalities of old-time methods while we start the brotherhood idea to propagating right here at home where we can watch it. It will take about three or four years to organize a Mother Branch of Government, raise and drill a sufficient army of "Angels of the State" and make them efficient kindergartners, and five years more to get rid of the criminals and perverts of the present time, either by conversion under the warmth of a new point-of-view that will throw a mantle of charity over their past ill-doing, or by certain death which will seek them as victims within that time, if they are helplessly lost to reform.

"Let us see--four years and five years are nine years. We have just cleared the home, as well as the foreign, atmosphere of certain impurities, of lack of respect for us on account of our granger and commercial habits of prosperity, as if by a flash of lightning, so that we may work in peace and have plenty of time in the next decade to prepare for the exposition which we will offer to the world under the name of United States and Canadian Character Exposition and Peace Jubilee. When we have opened our exhibit and given our object lesson, after the manner of the kindergarten, we can say to the world: "Come and see what we have done with material gathered from all your lands and nations. Not one race or national ingredient has been omitted from our brew. What God makes is good and within the power of man to cultivate into usefulness, and here is the proof of it. Now go home and do likewise within your own national boundaries, and when you have produced good material for brotherhood send it to us and we will welcome it, but until then, the purity of our own establishment demands that we refuse your neglects who are already too set in perversion to be easily reformed.

"Good friends of China and of India and of Africa and of the Islands of the Sea, or any of the so-called semi-civilized or uncivilized peoples of our earth, we will send you missionaries and show you how to cultivate what you have as well as the quality of the material will permit, and we will supply all the world with an object lesson, but we cannot take your defectives as boarders in our family."

* * * * *

As a logical sequence of a Strict Social Quarantine it is _possible_ for any civilized nation to make such an exhibit as given in the illustration in ten years, for the area of neglect is very small in which idleness and disorder and criminality breed, although the area of disturbance caused is as wide as the world. We say ten years as a measure of possibility on the authority of proved results, but fifteen years is a most reasonable time to settle as an aim if attempted by a majority co-operation.

It has been said that God never hurries. This is true when the contrast is made between our unit of time and our idea of eternity, but when His pure atmosphere has been encumbered with intolerable inconsistencies, He flashes the lightning, and calls the attention of the world to it by loud thunder.

In our opinion it is time that lightning should clear our social atmosphere. We have been shown the way and the fuse has been put in our hand. There is no difference of opinion as to there being impurities in the social atmosphere, and methods of purification have been proven to be effective and have been approved by social chemists who have intelligently investigated. No creed, no political party, no class interest, no selfish interest, nothing! opposes the giving of babies a chance to develop their best possibilities, while the cost of it, lavish though it may be in the beginning, is a better investment than any other, not only to the Commonwealth, but to each contributing unit; to you, and to me, and to our children.

Fellow Citizens, do you not see and smell and feel the impurities in our social atmosphere? Do you not realize, even if you are indifferent yourself, that your children are breathing and are being morally and spiritually asphyxiated by this atmosphere? With the fuse placed in your hand and the promise of the Master of our Civilization that "Of Such is the Kingdom of Heaven"; the heaven that we are seeking, can you resist applying the fuse? Do you not think it is time to lighten, when we know that the bolt of destruction will consume only the evils which now environ us and our own children? Are we not agreed? Yes! We are agreed! Then touch the fuse and let the lightning strike! Some children are now perishing, and we know it, and the means of rescue are at hand. The responsibility now is ours. Then, again, our responsibility demands it, IT MUST LIGHTEN!!

APPENDIX

IT HAS BEGUN--DEDICATION

Let but wise training be added, suitable to age, idiosyncrasies
and physical conditions, and the future welfare of all those
rescued is practically secured, while many social problems which
now perplex the most thoughtful, will, in the next generation,
have found a satisfactory solution.

These should be incentives and rewards enough for the patient
worker among the slums of our great cities. But if further
stimulus is needed, it may assuredly be found in the gracious and
memorable words of our Divine Master: "Whoso shall receive one
such little child in My name receiveth Me."--_Thomas F. Barnardo,
F.R.C.S., Ed., Founder of the "Dr. Barnardo's Homes," London,
England._

IT HAS BEGUN

Since the foregoing pages were electrotyped two incidents of the utmost importance and of the greatest significance are reported. That relative to disarmament at the suggestion of the Tzar of All the Russias is startling and most gratifying, but it is of no greater significance to the progress of civilization than the revival of interest in first principles in elementary education in the United States. There is activity in many directions and several cities have quietly made important additions to their facilities for the training of little children, even while popular interest has been absorbed in the excitement of war.

The example of the city of Chicago, the city of rapid change and of great results, in securing the services of a very distinguished educator from the head of a university to take charge of her public schools and the expressed attitude of this master of "higher education" toward elementary education "from the kindergarten up," may be given as a typical illustration.

Dr. E. Benjamin Andrews, in assuming charge of the Chicago public schools as superintendent gave free expression of his opinion relative to the problem he was called to solve. One report is as follows:

"Doctor, will you please give, for publication, your ideas concerning the schools as you now understand the question?"

"Certainly, and with pleasure. In the first place, and of first importance, I understand that rapid growth and a somewhat unsettled population has found the city unprepared for the care of all the small children. There are twenty thousand children of primary school age for whom there are no seats in school. I believe in applying first and unremitting effort to starting children right in their life career, and this must be done by especial care for elementary education from the kindergarten up."

"Do you consider French, German, drawing, manual-training, domestic science and other uncommon branches to be 'fads' of some educators and not suitable or necessary departments of public education?"

"I do not. All branches of learning are useful, and should be available to any who seek them, but none of the other branches should be supported at the sacrifice of the elementary branches."

During the preparation of this appeal for a Perfect Social Quarantine which shall allow no child _to escape_ intelligent care, the early galley proofs of the work were sent to a large number of persons, representing many different points-of-view, who are engaged in educational, correctional, political and business affairs in this country and in England for criticism and suggestions. The responses have been generous and much of the argument, as it stands, is based upon this testimony. While the book is in press, however, further responses are flooding in, which show the interest of all persons in the thorough aim appealed for. Those who have diverse ideas relative to grown-up questions of competitive interest are of one mind relative to giving babies a chance to develop the best there is in them. It is recognized that, under present conditions of neglect, there _are_ children born who "have no show on earth" to be good and useful citizens. It is also recognized that while one such example of neglect remains or is possible a nation has no good title or claim to the distinction of being called a civilized country. She can only be classed as "partly civilized," while there is one known case of neglect.

Of especial importance are the suggestions and data collected and sent to the author from London by Julian Ralph, Esq., and promise of "a substitution of a heavy backing of easily obtainable facts for the appeals, which would render them unnecessary," from Prof. Graham Taylor, of the University of Chicago, and of the Chicago Commons Social Settlement.

These must form a separate book, for they are too extended for the present volume, although their evidence adds valuable support.

The history of child-training and child-saving in the United States is that of a discovery and wonderful development of latent forces, whose cultivation or neglect produces more happiness or more unhappiness, as the case may be, than any other source of power.

Child-saving, in this country on an extensive scale, was inaugurated by Mr. Charles L. Brace, of New York, followed soon after by the Catholic Protectory under the care of the Paulist Brotherhood, and child-training was introduced from Germany into the United States by Elizabeth Peabody, of Boston.

About the same time Dr. Thomas J. Barnardo, of London, established the "Dr. Barnardo Homes," whose chronicles during thirty-two years show only 1.84 per cent. of failure to make good children of the worst product of city slums.[9]

[9] Within the past twenty-six years nine thousand five
hundred and fifty-six trained boys and girls, the flower of
my flock, have been placed out in situations in the
Colonies, and have been continuously looked after and
supervised ever since by a company of devoted and
experienced men and women. Results recently tabulated in
reports to and from the Government of Canada show that the
failures among these emigrants is less than two per cent.
(actually 1.84 per cent.) of the whole."--_Thomas J.
Barnardo, F.R.C.S., Ed., founder of the "Dr. Barnardo's
Homes," London, England._

The world owes these altruists, and all who have followed in the development of their work, a debt of happy gratitude.

The title of "Angels of the State," given to kindergartners, is borrowed from a charming little book by the Rev. Frank Sewall, of Washington, D.C.

DEDICATION

AUDITORIUM ANNEX,
Chicago, August 16, 1898.

MISS AMALIE HOFER,
Manager Kindergarten Literature Company,
Woman's Temple, Chicago, Ill.:

_Dear Miss Hofer_:--In searching for the best means of
distributing my new book--"That Last Waif; or, Social
Quarantine"--my attention was called to the decree on the cover
of your magazine--"Pledged to Make the Kindergarten Free to All
Children."

Further inquiry reveals the fact that your stockholders are deeply
interested in kindergarten-propagation work; that your profits are
dedicated to that cause, and that you have over four thousand
correspondents who are enthusiastic workers.

Inasmuch as I propose to contribute the profits derived from the
sale of the book to form the nucleus of a fund with which to
champion the establishment of Character-Building and Habit-Forming
schools or institutions to meet the needs of all Apprentice
Citizens, and for the advocacy of the creation of a department of
the Federal Government to promote and guard Citizen-Training
(especially during the period of tenderest and strongest
impressions), it seems to me that your organization and I should
co-operate.

The kindergarten has been the means of demonstrating the
efficiency of character-training, and, while it is only one branch
of elementary character education, it is the parent of all which
have come into existence as a result of the success of the
teachings of Pestalozzi and Froebel. You may, therefore,
consistently extend your interest to all phases of the work.

If the Child-Crop of a nation is the source of all its strength or
weakness--happiness or trouble--why should there not be a
strongly-equipped department of the national government to
minister to its interests, as there are departments of State,
Agriculture and others, whose heads form the Cabinet of the
Executive.

I send you herewith galley proofs of the book by which you may
learn if you are in sympathy with my presentation of the case.

Respectfully yours,

HORACE FLETCHER.

INDIVIDUAL CO-OPERATION

OR

What Constitutes an Active Quarantinist

Advance copies of _That Last Waif; or, Social Quarantine_, were sent to a large number of persons in different walks of life asking for suggestions relative to practical individual co-operation in promoting a social quarantine worthy of Twentieth Century Ideals, to be in active operation (started), with the complete aim, at the opening of the coming century, January 1st, 1900.

The time has been too short since the mailing of the advance copies to remote points to give the entire consensus of opinion. Sufficient suggestions have, however, been received to formulate a plan of individual co-operation, and to suggest the grouping of individuals into organizations for the purpose of a thorough quarantine campaign.

The most hopeful signs elicited by the call for suggestions come from the least expected sources. Persons who are themselves under the ban of social disapproval through participation in occupations that are classed "not respectable" by social decree, _jump_ to support the movement, because they best know that cruel conditions of persecution and neglect _do_ exist. They not only have felt the neglect or persecution themselves, but are in touch with it and with the children who now "have no show on earth to be good." This is due to the neglect of society to provide children an opportunity to choose between the good and the bad by supplying adequate infant and progressive character schools as recommended in our appeal.

FORMULA

1. The title of the individual shall be _Quarantinist_; all
others, not active quarantinists, being classed as _Neglectists_.

2. The insignia of the _Quarantinist Order_ shall be golden yellow
(the quarantine color) ground, with the fraction 1/100 on it in
black.

3. The contribution of the _Quarantinist_ to the promotion of
social quarantine shall be one one-hundredth of his or her time,
_each month_, toward assisting people in less fortunate
circumstances to favorable conditions; especial attention being
given to children as recommended in "That Last Waif; or, Social
Quarantine."

THE BENEFITS ARE MUTUAL

One per cent., or 1/100, of income may easily be saved from some careless waste, and if applied monthly would not be missed. Looking for waste for the small contribution to quarantine would lead to habits of care in personal and household economy that would pay the quarantinist many-fold benefit. One per cent, or 1/100, of time is seven to eight hours per month. That time, devoted to the consideration of the less fortunate, would reveal phases of one's own good fortune that would revive a just appreciation of blessings now lost sight of in contemplation of the glitter of extravagance, which flashes out in the midst of _still greater_ unhappiness and discontent in the social strata above.

The insignificant contribution of a quarantinist would, in the aggregate, even if participated in by only _half_ the people, easily effect a _Perfect Social Quarantine worthy of the highest Christian Ideals_.

Every suggestion involved in participation in the quarantine movement is for the benefit of the participant and involves no sacrifice that does not repay _in cash_ (_economy_) as well as in other means of happiness.

Next to the neglected children who "have no show on earth to be good," the most unfortunate class of any community is the clerk or other worker, having a salary of from $2,000 to $5,000 a year and having conventional social aspirations. Turning of the attention of this class of unfortunates to the suggestions involved in quarantine, and active participation in the work, even in so insignificant a degree as 1/100 of time and income, will remove a fruitful source of crime, due to extravagance, which reflects even more discredit upon our social system than any other of its inconsistencies.

WARNING

_Help people only to help themselves, if possible._

_Indiscriminate charity often does more harm than good._

_Dispense your charity personally, if possible._

_The best charity is assisting education, especially Character-Building and Useful-Habit-Forming._

ORGANIZATION

Supplementary to the suggestions for "Local Quarantine Organizations" beginning on page 169 of _That Last Waif; or, Social Quarantine_, several good ideas have been received.

A successful "boss" in politics, whose methods have been invincible in promoting the interests of his party says: "There is some good man or woman in every city block or ward who will be your resident representative. He or she will know the immediate requirements of his beat or detail in the matter of quarantine suggestions, and will give you all the information you want. District your community in as small sections as possible, find the right person to assist you in each section, tabulate your need for the prevention of neglect, estimate reasonable cost, and then demand it of the City Council or Town Board, and you'll get it without a kick. If your movement is all right, as it seems, the 1/100 dues by your quarantinists will be more than you will want for your purpose till the council acts, but any 'boodle' body, as people call the progressive governments, that I know anything about, will do it for you as quick as a wink and they won't want any 'rake off' either. They will be the first to join your order, as they can understand a 'sweep,' and they know the needs. Everybody will vote to give the babies a chance. Put me down anyhow; I'm with you for all I've got."

The above suggestion is excellent. One serious and earnest person in any community can start a movement to district his or her community and get co-operation in each district. The politicians will help you if your aim is single and if the welfare of the children, on non-political and non-sectarian lines, is your high purpose. DO THIS FIRST, AND KNOW THAT GOOD POLITICS AND RELIGION WILL BE THE FRUIT OF THE EFFORT AS SURELY AS LIGHT DISPELS GLOOM OR DARKNESS!

The above method is in use in many German cities for philanthropic and educational work and secures for the community practically a quarantine from disorder. The "five household" method of division and social supervision was the ancient method adopted in Japan, to whose influence is undoubtedly due the marvelous discipline, on social lines, and the immunity from disorder, that the Japanese enjoy more than any other people.

ABOVE ALL: BE A QUARANTINIST YOURSELF!! THE REST WILL FOLLOW.

_Later, February 1st, 1899_

"FIRED THE SHOT HEARD 'ROUND THE WORLD"

Leading citizens and officials in four cities have pledged their cities to accomplish Social Quarantine.

The General Federation of Women's Clubs of the United States, through the president, Mrs. Rebecca D. Lowe, of Atlanta, Ga., and the National Congress of Mothers, through the president, Mrs. Alice G. Birney, have pledged their efforts to Social Quarantine, and will make Social Quarantine the key-note of their administration.

The adjourned Prison Reform Congress, which convened at New Orleans in January last, resounded with notes which advocated prevention to avoid the necessity of punishment. Social Quarantine was explained to the Congress by the author, and, at the close of his address, by a rising vote, the Convention unanimously subscribed to the practicability, desirability, and possibility of Social Quarantine as just expounded.

BECAUSE "IT PAYS!"

The National Cash Register Company, of Dayton, Ohio, employing over two thousand employees, and said by experts to be the most perfectly organized industrial institution in the world, having many unusual features of comfort and recreation for the employees because "It Pays," and having kindergartens, cooking schools, gardens, etc., for the training of the children of the employees and other residents of the factory quarter, have published the decree that, "After 1915 no application for employment in the company will be considered unless the applicant has had an industrial (otherwise kindergarten) training in childhood." The company will continue to publish this conspicuously, and why? Because, in their experience, children so trained are workers to be trusted without superintendence, and "It Pays" to have such workers.

This shot at old conditions relative to the improper care of children is the result of experience, and it is truly a shot that will be "Heard 'round the World" louder than that which first belched forth in defence of personal liberty at Concord, Mass.

The liberty to learn to work with skill, and to participate in recreative work, is the ultimate liberty that ensures the possibility of happiness. This is the aim of the educational philosophy of Froebel, so ably endorsed by Charles Dickens, so beautifully exemplified by Mrs. Peabody, Mrs. Cooper, Miss Blow and others by successful practice, and now brought into the economics of manufacture by a great company which has tried it and finds that "_It Pays_."