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Orphan Asylum Management, Editor of The Times-Dispatch, S.,—Your columns recently reported a nen and wise departure In the mange ment of orphan nayone and a contem plated departure, which is wiser still, the actual departure being the education of orphans In public schools, and the con templated departure being the abolishing of Uniforms. No two initial steps more beneficial to orphans could be taken, but, in order to perfect the system of caring for orphans, one more step must be taken but of this later. It is not only unjust, but it is a serious Injury to orphans to immure them within four walls; to keep them segregated from their fellows without, and never, except on their daily or weekly march under HLriet surveillance to church services; to let them see or know anything of the World In which they will soon have to make their way, with the Inevitable Je sult that they enter practical life wholly unacquainted with Its ways, Its motives and Its temptations, and in great measure like shepherdless sheep amongst wolves. This vile world, as the hymnologist sings, is not a friend to grace, nor to ignorance or helplessness either, and so orphans, as at present graduate from asylums, are able to be the easy prey of the designing or unscrupulous. But In public schools orphans will learn much more than books. By contact with other children they will learn something, at least, of the world, will learn how other children think, feel, act and speak, and they will experience. In some degree, the warmth of human sympathy which, In great degree, is necessarily lacking fin e orphan asylums, regulated by strict dis cipling, which, experience teaches, is fatal to this heaven-born sentiment. Orphans are now automatons; public schools will teach them that Jack have minds, and, however imperfectly, how to use them. Abolishing uniforms is even more im portant than sending to public schools. The uniform is an ever present reminder that the wearer is the child of misfortune, or of misconduct, or of neglect, or pos sibly of dishonor; that It Is alone In the world, with no father, no mother, no brother, no sister to respond to Its cry, and that, however direc ts distress it must depend upon hired help, rarely of ever sympathetic, for constant association With suffering or dependence begets cal lousness; that he is a dependent, a sub ject of charity, a wall, or possibly an outcast, and, though orphans have not probably ua keen sense of the sad condi tions under Which they spend their young lives, and of the gadder conditions which have made them orphans, yet, nevertthe less these untoward conditions cannot, even though unconsciously, fail to depress their moral stamina, and to impair, if not destroy, their self respect, the root of all excellence, and without which one is a cipher or worse. Instead, therefore, of being ever remind ed by their uniforms that they are charity orphans, and that, to their disadvantage, they are different from other children, every sign or badge of orphanhood should, if possible, be obliterated, and they should be dressed, and, as far as possible, be reared the other children, and thus be made to forget, partially at least, their sid lot. As at present cared for, orphans cannot enter upon practical life with a robust, self-reliant and self-respecting morale, which alone can make the hope and useful citizen, or the mother of such citizens. A serious objection to caring for orphins in asylums is its excessive expanse. Thus computing [Interest on plant, repairs, in surance, taxes, which, though not paid by the asylum, are paid by the public and are, therefore, properly chargable as fin expense, and cost of administration, etc., etc., It will be found, we think, that the aggregate represents a sum greater than maintenance itself, so that, while under present methods only one hundred orphans, for example, can be maintained, under the method to be eroparthaerd quite twice that number could be maintained, and under conditions much more favor able for the development of a sound Morale, ‘thus taking, for example, St. Paul's Home for Children, which has Inaugu rated the departure herein discussed, and Which no doubt is well and economically managed. Cost nf plant furnished is not less than $1000, and probably much more, but ese timating as $10,000, dnterast thereon Would be srssserseseres $600 ‘Yaxes, Insurance, repairs, etc, 21-3 POY CEN, sive ceseres envener SEY; ' Matron, not less than ... tree 400 servants NOL JOSS MAN servers revereees 400 And we have an expenditure (estimat- GA), Of “serverteres overdver paper es cd sou before a cent is available for food, rai ment, fuel, light and Incidentals, of about $65 a head for twenty-five orphans, the number, on the basis of nineteen being of school age, estimated to be at the home. Estimating the cost of mainte nance of the same bum. Which would be about 18 cents each only per day, we have a minimum cost of $130 per year for each orphan, while under the plan to be proposed it is believed that the total cost need not be much. If any, above half that sum, He who makes two bindhes of grass row where one grow before, is said to be benefactor; and, if that be so, what should be said of that system which cares for only one orphan where two should be cared for? By the way, we take great pride in our orphan asylums, and regard them proof, both of our high Christian char acter and our high Christan civilization; yet looked at properly they are rather roof of the barbarism that still luvia en with the the veneer of dvlugation covering us. We have orphans and there fore orphan asylums, not because we are god, but simply because government is not founded upon equity, and consequent ly the few, or those who control an administer government, get very much more than their due and bear very much less burden than they should, and the governed, or the many, get very much fews than their duo, and bear very much more burden than they should. Govern ment thus, by Jtsy inordinate pressure upon the mony, eBrinds our orphans fear iniersely and incessantly, and yet we pride ourselves on the asylums we build to rev eale, although inadequately, the ruin and t he Wreck that our own Injustice or hare harism creates—another case, though much more lamentable, of the sat are ef the prophets, and the children building alters to them, there would
Newspaper Details
Richmond Times Dispatch
Richmond, Virginia, US
Thu, Dec 24, 1903
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Floranne S.
USA 17 Feb 2026
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