“By educating mothers through social centers, the Civic Club of Philadelphia believes that many juvenile crimes will be averted, because the mothers will take proper precautions to safeguard their children. Mrs. J. L. Pickering, chief probation officer of the city, concurs in this view.
“Mrs. M. Gordon McCouch, a well-known clubwoman, says that properly supervised playgrounds reduce crime in the neighborhood about one-half, and that the taxpayers should be interested in them, if only from an economical standpoint.
“A militant campaign against the illegal sale of liquor has been started by the clubwomen of San José, Cal. When the police department refused its coöperation, a committee of women gathered their own evidence. Already they have done much to improve conditions.
“Prosecutions against violators of the State anti-cigarette law will be initiated by the Women’s Clubs of Madison, Wis. Cigarette dealers have been warned of the impending campaign for the enforcement of the law, also that women detectives have already collected evidence of violations.
“Juvenile courts, uniform child labor laws, anti-tuberculosis appropriation, women on school boards, restriction of liquor traffic, also of cigarettes—these are some of the measures which the West Virginia clubwomen expect from their legislature this year.”
Reformation
“Reforming the convict by means of education as practiced at the Moundsville penitentiary meets with the unqualified approval and support of the West Virginia Federation of Women’s Clubs. At the annual meeting in Huntington, recently, a resolution was adopted recommending to the next session of the legislature that steps be taken to enlarge the rooms and increase the educational facilities at the prison school so that all prisoners who wish may avail themselves of the instruction provided. The present facilities at the school limit the enrollment to 125 men. Another important resolution passed was that petitioning the legislature to establish a reformatory for women who are beyond the age limit for admission to the industrial schools and who are now committed to the county jails for misdemeanors.
“A reformatory for women is greatly needed in Maine, according to Miss Mabel Davies of the Prison Reform Association. The Woman’s Council of Portland indorses the plan and asks all women’s organizations in the state to join in an effort to secure the legislation necessary to maintain such an institution.
“A woman member on the new state board of control for penal and charitable institutions is strongly urged by the New Hampshire Federation of Women’s Clubs.
“Minnesota women’s clubs are working for a woman’s reformatory and one of their leaders who has had long experience in prison work insists that reform can only be a success ‘when society makes good its teaching to unfortunates that it pays to be good.’”