THAT LAST WAIF
OR
SOCIAL QUARANTINE

Matthew, xviii; 1, 2 and 14

  1. At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

  2. And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them.

14. Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish?

Copyright, 1898
By HORACE FLETCHER

CONTENTS

"It was Juvenal who said, 'The man's character is made at seven; what he then is, he will always be.' This seems a sweeping assertion, but Aristotle, Plato, Lycurgus, Plutarch, Bacon, Locke, and Lord Brougham, all emphasize the same idea, while leading educators of a modern day are all united upon this point." [Sarah B. Cooper, to the National Conference of Charities and Correction of the United States and Canada.]

"This institution was established as the result of a quickened public conscience on the subject of waifs of the State, a comprehensive understanding of the relation of the State to the child, and the demonstrated effect of such institutions in decreasing crime." [The American Journal of Sociology, May, 1898, page 790.]

FOREWORD

"Waif," as herein employed, applies to all neglected or abused children, and not especially to those who have lost their parents, or have been abandoned.

While the evidence of the kindergartners may seem extreme as to the possibility of making useful citizens of all children, the unanimity of their enthusiasm must be taken as very strong evidence.

The plea for a social quarantine which shall establish protection for helpless infancy during the period of present neglect, and when the cost is insignificant, is made in the belief that, once attracted to the idea of the possibility of social quarantine, which is nothing if not complete, popular sentiment will demand a continuance of organized protection for each member of society as long as he may be helpless or weak, without reference to an age limit.

Immediate special attention, however, should be given to the victims of the "sweaters," to unsanitary work-rooms and other environing conditions provided by conscienceless (usually alien) employers, and to the prevention of children being employed in occupations where temptation is so strong as to be a menace to unformed character.

  1903 PREFACE

When first published, five years ago, this appeal for better care of children born into unfortunate environment met with very favorable reception, especially from practical child educators and child economists; and the author received numerous requests to address gatherings of altruists in various parts of the country. He responded to some forty of these invitations, and met with warmest encouragement and the assurance that the sentiment of this book was shared pretty generally, when the facts in the case were understood. In meeting men of all kinds in the outside world, as well as women from whom a generous sympathy might be expected, he found that any scheme offering care and protection for neglected children excited the sympathy and enlisted the assistance of all classes, and most readily the aid of people in the more lowly walks of