Children's Rights and Others by Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin;Nora Smith
page 3 of 146 (02%)
page 3 of 146 (02%)
|
"Give me liberty, or give me death!"
The subject of Children's Rights does not provoke much sentimentalism in this country, where, as somebody says, the present problem of the children is the painless extinction of their elders. I interviewed the man who washes my windows, the other morning, with the purpose of getting at the level of his mind in the matter. "Dennis," I said, as he was polishing the glass, "I am writing an article on the 'Rights of Children.' What do you think about it?" Dennis carried his forefinger to his head in search of an idea, for he is not accustomed to having his intelligence so violently assaulted, and after a moment's puzzled thought he said, "What do I think about it, mum? Why, I think we'd ought to give 'em to 'em. But Lor', mum, if we don't, they _take_ 'em, so what's the odds?" And as he left the room I thought he looked pained that I should spin words and squander ink on such a topic. The French dressmaker was my next victim. As she fitted the collar of an effete civilization on my nineteenth century neck, I put the same question I had given to Dennis. "The rights of the child, madame?" she asked, her scissors poised in air. "Yes, the rights of the child." "Is it of the American child, madame?" |
|