n2021-4_b001_f08_x01_03

(Photo Caption)
Left: At the GFWC Installation Ceremonies in Chicago, Mrs. Pearce's
family attended. From left: her son, Frank H. Pearce and his wife,
Marilym, Mrs. Pearce, and her husband, E. D. Pearce. Above: Gover-
nor Haydon Burns of the State of Florida honored Mrs. Pearce by
his presence at the Instillation.

more to keep a woman healthy, does
more to make her home more interest-
ing, does more to fulfill her desides to
contribute something worthwhile be-
yond the home, does more to keep her
young than all the cosmetic artifices in
the world. Because the youth glows
from inside out . . . it is an intrinsic
part of her being and her spirit.

Let us, then, interpret the word
"youth" in this Administration theme
in two ways: first, as it applies to our-
selves: adopting a vigorous approach
to life and issues; and secondly, help-
ing our young people to train them-
selves for the responsibilities they must
assume.

We will, therefore, embark on a
program of action to make available
more college scholarships for our
young people. Many of our youth have
displayed high promise and ability, but
are discouraged in their education plans
becuase they lack the necessary finan-
cial resources.

The gifted child of the very needy is
taken care of, - we must assure that all
qualified children who desire a college
education will be able to secure it.

Exactly how this can be accomplished
and through what new processes and re-
quirements scholarships will be award-
ed, is a situation to which we will
apply ourselves.

On the opposite side of the education
pole are the school dropouts - an esti-
mated 26 million of them! These are
the youngsters who are entering the
labor force during the '60's and these
are the youngsters who will be the last
to be fired and the first to be fired.

It provides one with some idea of the
magnitude of this problem when we
realize that the largest group of today's
unemployed are between 16 and 19
years old. Their unemployment rate is
more than three times that for the labor
force as a whole.

Our population boom, our crowded
cities, our broken families and high
divorce rates, and the fact that the family
life today does not, as a rule, center in
the home . . . these are surely major
contributing factors to juvenile delin-
quency. There were 1.4 million juve-
nile arrests last year. There were
200,000 cases of venereal disease among
teenagers, and there were 100,000 ille-
gitimate births to adolescent mothers.
Isn't it appropriate for us, as club-
women, as mothers, to channel our ac-
tivities to try and clear up some por-
tion of this tragic problem? Well, I
think it is! I think that if we mothers
do not take this problem to heard -
and to mind - then we are not acquit-
ting outselves of our responsibilities as
God intended we should, as guardians
of the home.

Now there are many facets to this
problem. And there's one more that I
should like to place before you, because
it's so basic, so pertinent. This per-
tains to our juvenile court judges. The
General Federation, in years past, has
done much yeoman work to see that
the number of juvenile court judges
was increased and to visit these courts,
and in this Administration we are going
to continue this program and go one
step farther.

James Bennett, former Director of
the Federal Bureau of Prisons, recalled
that less than five percent of the Fed-
eral judges in his time ever visited a
Federal prison. Is this not dismaying?
And especially to realize that very few
juvenile court judges are aware of the
situations within the institutions to
which they commit youngsters! Let us
not, however, point a finger at the
judges alone. There are the mayors
and the councilmen and the supervisros
and the state legislators? Have they in-
vestigated these places where we en-
trust our delinquents, and if they have,
and if these institutions do not come
up to standards, - what higher priority
could there be for expendityre of pub-
lic funds? This is a project for every
one of our clubs, and I hope that you
will follow through on this in your
communities.

In the health field we face many
other challenges. It is said that three
percent of the youngsters in the United
States from 15 to 21 years old are drug
addicts. This is a new an frightening
situation that has swept across the
country in rising proportions since
1964.

There is legislation now pending in
Congress that bears upon this situa-
tion, and I ask you to write to your
representatives in Congress for the in-
formation on this, to follow it, to sup-
port those bills that you and your club
have studied and investigated and
found to be in accord with your con-
victions.

During this Admisnistration you will
not be called upon to participate in
any special project. Instead, our sights
will be set on walking hand in hand
with youth for community service. I would
prefer to see all of your marvellous
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