than ten years; we have asked for
reform schools for boys, where they should not be thrown in daily
contact with old and hardened criminals. Year after year we have
pleaded for better conditions for the children to whom we have
given the might of our love, the strength and labor of our lives;
but in not one instance has that prayer been granted. And at last
we have found the reason why. A senator in a sister State said to
a body of petitioners: "Ladies, you won't get your bill, but your
defeat will be a paying investment if it only teaches you that
the politician, little or big, is now, always was, and always
will be, the drawn image, pocket edition, safety valve and
speaking-trumpet of the fellow that voted him in."

Gentlemen, we ask your help to the end that not we, perhaps, but
the daughters and granddaughters whom we leave behind, may be
counted with "those that voted him in."

MRS. JEAN BROOKS GREENLEAF (N. Y.): Soon after I came to
Washington to make it my home for two years, one clear, bright
morning I drove up to this Capitol with a friend. As we ascended
the hill on the left we warmly expressed our admiration for the
beautiful structure within whose walls we are now standing, and
were enthusiastic in our admiration for those who so nobly
planned that, with the growth of the nation, there could be a
commensurate outstretching of its legislative halls without loss
to the dignity of the whole. We drove slowly around the front and
commenced the descent on the opposite side, when I called to the
driver to stop in order that we might feast our eyes on the
inspiring view which lay before us. There rose Washington
Monument so simple yet so grand, and I recalled the fact that in
its composition it fitly represented the Union of the States. My
heart swelled and my eyes overflowed as I thought of the grand
idea embodied in this Government, the possibilities of this
country's future. The lines of "My country, 'tis of thee," rose
to my lips, but they died there.

Whence came my right to speak those words? True I was born here;
true I was taught from my earliest youth to repeat the glorious
words of Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman and other patriots; but
when I grew to womanhood I had to learn the bitter lesson that
these words applied onl