902, was splendidly attended, and it
was on a resolution moved by me that the council came into existence.
Lady Way was the first President, and I was one of the Vice-Presidents.
I gave several addresses, and in 1904 contributed a paper on
"Epileptics." In dealing with this subject I owed much to the splendid
help I received from my dear friend Miss Alice Henry, of Victoria, now
in Chicago, whose writings on epileptics and weak-minded children have
contributed largely to the awakening of the public conscience to a
sense of duty towards these social weaklings. In 1905 I contributed a
paper to the quinquennial meeting of the International Council of
Women, held at Berlin, on the laws relating to women and children in
South Australia, and gave an account of the philanthropic institutions
of the State, with special reference to the State Children's Council
and Juvenile Courts. The work of the National Council in this State was
disappointing to many earnest women, who had hoped to find in it a
means for the social, political, and philanthropic education of the
women of South Australia. Had the council been formed before we had
obtained the vote there would probably have been more cohesion and a
greater sustained effort to make it a useful body. But as it was there
was so apparent a disinclination to touch "live" subjects that interest
in the meetings dwindled, and in 1906 I resigned my position on the
executive in order to have more time to spare for other public work.

A problem which was occasioning the State Children's Council much
anxious thought was how to deal effectively with the ever-increasing
number of the "children of the streets". Boys and girls alike, who
should either be at school or engaged at some useful occupation, were
roaming the streets and parks, uncontrolled and sometimes
uncontrollable. We recognised that their condition was one of moral
peril, and graduation to criminality from these nurseries of crime so
frequently occurred that State interference seemed absolutely
imperative to save the neglected unfortunates for a worthier
citizenship. It is much easier and far more economical to save the
child than to punish the criminal. One of the most effective means of
clearing the streets would be to raise the compulsory age for school
attendance up to the time of employment. That truancy was to a great
extent responsible for these juvenile delinquents was proved by the
fact that more then one-half of the lad