PROVIDING COUNTRY HOMES.
THE OPPOSITION TO THIS REMEDY--ITS EFFECTS.
This most sound and practical of charities always met with an intense
opposition here from a certain class, for bigoted reasons. The poor were
early taught, even from the altar, that the whole scheme of emigration
was one of "proselytizing" and that every child thus taken forth was
made, a "Protestant." Stories were spread, too, that these unfortunate
children were re-named in the West, and that thus even brothers and
sisters might meet and perhaps marry! Others scattered the pleasant
information that the little ones "were sold as slaves," and that the
agents enriched themselves from the transaction.
These were the obstacles and objections among the poor themselves. So
powerful were these, that it would often happen that a poor woman,
seeing her child becoming ruined on the streets, and soon plainly to
come forth as a criminal, would prefer this to a good home in the West;
and we would have the discouragement of beholding the lad a thief behind
prison-bars, when a journey to the country would have saved him. Most
distressing of all was, when a drunken mother or father followed a
half-starved boy, already scarred and sore with their brutality, and
snatched him from one of our parties of little emigrants, all joyful
with their new prospects, only to beat him and leave him on the
streets.
With a small number of the better classes there was also a determined
opposition to this humane remedy. What may be called the
"Asylum-interest" set itself in stiff repugnance to our
emigration-scheme. They claimed--and I presume the most obstinate among
them still claim--that we were scattering poison over the country, and
that we benefited neither the farmers nor the children. They urged that
a restraint of a few years in an Asylum or House of Detention rendered
these children of poverty much more fit for practical life, and purified
them to be good members of society.
We, on the other hand, took the ground that, as our children were not
criminals, but simply destitute and homeless boys and girls, usually
with some ostensible occupation, they could not easily, on any legal
grounds, be inclosed within Asylums; that, if they were, the expense of
their maintenance would be enormous, while the cost of a temporary care
of them in our Schools and Lodging-houses, and their transferrence to
the West, was only trifling--in the proportion of fifteen dollars to one
hundred and fifty dollars, reckoning the latter as a year's cost for a
child's support in an Asylum. Furthermore, we held and stoutly
maintained that an asylum-life is a bad preparation for practical life.
The child, most of all, needs individual care and sympathy. In an
Asylum, he is "Letter B, of Class 3," or "No. 2, of Cell 426," and that
is all that is known of him. As a poor boy, who most live in a small
house, he ought to learn to draw his own water, to split his wood,
kindle his fires, and light his candle; as an "institutional child," he
is lighted, warmed, and watered by machinery. He has a child's
imitation, a desire to please his superiors, and readiness to be
influenced by his companions. In a great caravansary he soon learns the
external virtues which secure him a good bed and meal--decorum and
apparent piety and discipline--while he practices the vices and
unnamable habits which masses of boys of any class nearly always teach
one another. His virtue seems to have an alms-house flavor; even his
vices do not present the frank character of a thorough street-boy; he is
found to lie easily, and to be very weak under temptation; somewhat
given to hypocrisy, and something of a sneak. And, what is very natural,
_the longer he is in the Asylum, the less likely he is to do well in
outside life._ I hope I do no injustice to the unfortunate graduates of
our Asylums; but that was and continues to be my strong impression of
the institutional effect on an ordinary street boy or girl. Of course
there are numerous exceptional cases among children--of criminality and
inherited habits, and perverse and low organization, and premature
cunning, lust, and temper, where a half-prison life may be the very best
thing for them; but the majority of criminals among children, I do not
believe, are much worse than the children of the same class outside, and
therefore need scarcely any different training.
One test, which I used often to administer to myself, as to our
different systems, was to ask--and I request any Asylum advocate to do
the same--"If your son were suddenly, by the death of his parents and
relatives, to be thrown out on the streets, poor and homeless--as these
children are--where would you prefer him to be placed--in an Asylum, or
in a good farmer's home in the West?"
"The plainest farmer's home rather than the best Asylum--a thousand
times!" was always my sincere answer.
Our discussion waxed warm, and was useful to both sides. Our weak point
was that, if a single boy or girl in a village, from a large company we
had sent, turned out bad, there was a cry raised that "every New-York
poor child," thus sent out, became "a thief or a vagabond," and for a
time people believed it.
Our antagonists seized hold of this, and we immediately dispatched
careful agents to collect statistics in the Central West, and, if
possible, disprove the charges. They, however, in the meantime,
indiscreetly published their statistics, and from these it appeared that
only too many of the Asylum graduates committed offenses, and that those
of the shortest terms did the best. The latter fact somewhat confused
their line of attack.
The effort of tabulating, or making statistics, in regard to the
children dispatched by our society, soon appeared exceedingly difficult,
mainly because these youthful wanderers shared the national
characteristic of love-of-change, and, like our own servants here, they
often left one place for another, merely for fancy or variety. This was
especially true of the lads or girls over sixteen or seventeen. The
offer of better wages, or the attraction of a new employer, or the
desire of "moving," continually stirred up these latter to migrate to
another village, county, or State.
In 1859 we made a comprehensive effort to collect some of these
statistics in regard to our children who had begun their new life in the
West. The following is an extract from our report at this time:--
"During the last spring, the Secretary made an extended journey through
the Western States, to see for himself the nature and results of this
work, carried on for the last five years through those States, under Mr.
Tracy's careful supervision. During that time we have scattered there
several thousands of poor boys and girls. In this journey he visited
personally, and heard directly of, many hundreds of these little
creatures, and appreciated, for the first time, to the full extent, the
spirit with which the West has opened its arms to them. The effort to
reform and improve these young outcasts has become a mission-work there.
Their labor, it is true, is needed. But many a time a bountiful and
Christian home is opened to the miserable little stranger, his habits
are patiently corrected, faults without number are borne with, time and
money are expended on him, solely and entirely from the highest
religious motive of a noble self-sacrifice for an unfortunate
fellow-creature. The peculiar warm-heartedness of the Western people,
and the equality of all classes, give them an especial adaptation to
this work, and account for their success.
"'Wherever we went' (we quote from his account) 'we found the children
sitting at the same table with the families, going to the school with
the children, and every way treated as well as any other children. Some
whom we had seen once in the most extreme misery, we beheld sitting,
clothed and clean, at hospitable tables, calling the employer, father,'
loved by the happy circle, and apparently growing up with as good hopes
and prospects as any children in the country. Others who had been in the
city on the very line between virtue and vice, and who at any time might
have fallen into crime, we saw pursuing industrial occupations, and
gaining a good name for themselves in their village. The observations on
this journey alone would have rewarded years of labor for this class.
The results--so far as we could ascertain them--were remarkable, and,
unless we reflect on the wonderful influences possible from a Christian
home upon a child unused to kindness, they would almost seem
incredible.
"'The estimate we formed from a considerable field of observation was,
that, out of those sent to the West under fifteen years, not more than
_two per cent._ turned out bad; and, even of those from fifteen to
eighteen, not more than _four per cent._'
"The former estimate is nearly the same as one forwarded to us since by
an intelligent clergyman of Michigan (Rev. Mr. Gelston, of Albion), of
the result in his State. Of course, some of the older boys disappear
entirely; some few return to the city; but it may generally be assumed
that we hear of the worst cases--that is, of those who commit criminal
offenses, or who come under the law--and it is these whom we reckon as
the failures. One or two of such cases, out of hundreds in a given
district who are doing well, sometimes make a great noise, and give a
momentary impression that the work is not coming out well there; and
there are always a few weak-minded people who accept such rumors without
examination. Were the proportion of failures far greater than it is, the
work would still be of advantage to the West, and a rich blessing to the
city.
"It is also remarkable, as years pass away, how few cases ever come to
the knowledge of the Society, of ill-treatment of these children. The
task of distributing them is carried on so publicly by Mr. Tracy, and in
connection with such responsible persons, that any case of positive
abuse would at once be known and corrected by the community itself.
"'On this journey,' says the secretary, 'we heard of but one instance
even of neglect. We visited the lad, and discovered that he had not been
schooled as he should, and had sometimes been left alone at night in the
lonely log-house. Yet this had roused the feelings of the whole
country-side; we removed the boy, amid the tears and protestations of
the "father" and "mother," and put him in another place. As soon as we
had left the village, he ran right back to his old place!'
* * * * * * *
"We give our evidence below, consisting of letters from prominent
gentlemen, clergymen, bankers, farmers, judges, and lawyers, through the
West, where the main body of these poor children have been placed. We
think these letters, coming from some hundred different towns, and the
evidence on our books from the boys themselves, establish the remarkable
success of the work. Some of the writers speak of the children as
thriving 'as well as any other children;' and, in some cases, those who
have become disobedient and troublesome are said to have been so
principally through the fault of their employers; few instances,
comparatively, from this four or five thousand, are known to have
committed criminal offenses--in some States not more than four per cent.
This is true of Michigan; and in Ohio, we do not think, from all the
returns we can gather, that the proportion is even so large as that. The
agent of the American and Foreign Christian Union for Indiana, a
gentleman of the highest respectability, constantly traveling through
the State--a State where we have placed five hundred and fifty-seven
children--testifies that 'very few have gone back to New York,' and that
'he has heard of no one who has committed criminal offenses.'
"The superintendent of the Chicago Reform School, one of the most
successful and experienced men in this country in juvenile reform,
states that his institution had never had but three of our children
committed by the Illinois State Courts, though we have sent to the State
two hundred and sixty-five, and such an institution is, of course, the
place where criminal children of this class would at once be committed.
"A prominent gentleman residing in Battle Creek, Michigan, in the
neighborhood of which we have put out about one hundred and twenty,
writes: 'I think it is susceptible of proof that no equal number of
children raised here are superior to those you have placed out.' Two
prominent gentlemen from Pennsylvania, one of them a leading judge in
the State, write that they have not known an instance of one of our
children being imprisoned for a criminal offense, though we have sent
four hundred and sixty-nine to this State."
These important results were obtained in 1859, with but four or five
thousand children settled in the West. We have now in various portions
of our country _between twenty and twenty-four thousand_ who have been
placed in homes or provided with work.
The general results are similar. The boys and girls who were sent out
when under fourteen are often heard from, and succeed remarkably well.
In hundreds of instances, they cannot be distinguished from the young
men and women natives in the villages. Large numbers have farms of their
own, and are prospering reasonably well in the world. Some are in the
professions, some are mechanics or shopkeepers; the girls are generally
well married. Quite a number have sent donations to the Society, and
some have again in their turn brought up poor children. It was estimated
that more than a thousand were in the national army in the civil war.
With them the experiment of "Emigration" has been an unmingled blessing.
With the larger boys, as we stated before, exact results are more
difficult to attain, as they leave their places frequently. Some few
seem to drift into the Western cities, and take up street-trades again.
Very few, indeed, get back to New York. The great mass become honest
producers on the Western soil instead of burdens or pests here, and are
absorbed into that active, busy population; not probably becoming
saints-on-earth, but not certainly preying on the community, or living
idlers on the alms of the public. Many we know who have also led out
their whole family from the house of poverty here, and have made the
last years of an old father or mother easier and more comfortable.
[Illustration: THE STREET BOY ON A FARM. (A year later.) NO. 2.]
The immense, practically unlimited demand by Western communities for the
services of these children shows that the first-comers have at least
done moderately well, especially as every case of crime is bruited over
a wide country-side, and stamps the whole company sent with disgrace.
These cases we always hear of. The lives of poor children in these homes
seem like the annals of great States in this, that, when they make no
report and pass in silence, then we may be sure happiness and virtue are
the rule. When they make a noise, crime and misery prevail. Twenty
years' virtuous life in a street-boy makes no impression on the public.
A single offense is heard for hundreds of miles. A theft of one lad is
imputed to scores of others about him.
The children are not indentured, but are free to leave, if ill-treated
or dissatisfied; and the farmers can dismiss them, if they find them
useless or otherwise unsuitable.
This apparently loose arrangement has worked well, and put both sides on
their good behavior. We have seldom had any cases brought to our
attention of ill-treatment. The main complaint is, that the older lads
change places often. This is an unavoidable result of a prosperous
condition of the laboring classes. The employers, however, are
ingenious, and succeed often, by little presents of a calf, or pony, or
lamb, or a small piece of land, in giving the child a permanent interest
in the family and the farm.
On the whole, if the warm discussion between the "Asylum-interest" and
the "Emigration-party" were ever renewed, probably both would agree (if
they were candid) that their opponents' plan had virtues which they did
not then see. There are some children so perverse, and inheriting such
bad tendencies, and so stamped with the traits of a vagabond life, that
a Reformatory is the best place for them. On the other hand, the
majority of orphan, deserted, and neglected boys and girls are far
better in a country home. The Asylum has its great dangers, and is very
expensive. The Emigration-plan must be conducted with careful judgment,
and applied, so far as is practicable, to children under, say, the age
of fourteen years. Both plans have defects, but, of the two, the latter
seems to us still to do the most good at the least cost.
A great obstacle in our own particular experience was, as was stated
before, the superstitious opposition of the poor. This is undoubtedly
cultivated by the priests, who seem seldom gifted with the broad spirit
of humanity of their brethren in Europe. They apparently desire to keep
the miserable masses here under their personal influence.
Our action, however, in regard to these waifs, has always been fair and
open. We know no sect or race. Both Catholic and Protestant homes were
offered freely to the children. No child's creed was interfered with. On
the committees themselves in the Western villages have frequently been
Roman Catholics. Notwithstanding this, the cry of "proselytizing" is
still kept up among the guides of the poor against this most humane
scheme, and continually checks our influence for good with the younger
children, and ultimately will probably diminish to a great degree the
useful results we might accomplish in this direction.
The experience we have thus had for twenty years in transferring such
masses of poor children to rural districts is very instructive on the
general subject of "Emigration as a cure for Pauperism."