78-10-A6
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Charity[edit]
Transcript[edit]You've heard me criticize government many times for taking on tasks that properly should be left to the people. To tell you the truth, a very real fear of mine is that government with its many social reforms may rob us of that great sense of generosity and charity which is our American heritage. Not too long ago I received a letter from a long time friend, Robert Young. To younger listeners, I'm speaking of the Robert Young you probably know as Dr. Welby. In his letter he told me some facts about child abuse--that is the number one killer of children under five years of age--that 60 percent of abuse victims are not yet two years old--that 325,000 cases are on record, but experts say the real total, including the unreported, is probably over a million. Those, of course, are just statistics--they don't tell about a father plunging a squirming 14-month old son into a tub of scalding water because he cried or a nine year old retarded boy beaten while he knelt on carpet tacks. They don't tell of little Mary Beth. Investigating officers went to a typical suburban residence where they were greeted by a neatly dressed young mother. There were two boys, ages six and eight, in the room who seemed to be uncommonly quiet. When the officers mentioned that neighbors had reported hearing. screams, the young mother said she had disciplined one of her children for misbehaving. As she was talking, the officers heard a soft whimper, like the sound of a hurt animal coming from a room down the hall. While the two boys cowered in fear and the mother protested, the officers threw open a bedroom door. There was an overpowering stench of urine, vomit and defecation. Then they saw the little girl huddled naked in a corner of the bed--one wrist tied to the bed post with an electric cord. An ugly blue, black swelling had closed one eye, her lip was split and her mouth was swollen. As her mother followed the officers into the room, little Mary Beth, through her bruised and swollen lips, said: "Mommy, if I die, then will you love me?" Neighbors said this little battered animal was really a bright, beautiful and charming child. Her punishment had been for wetting the bed. In his letter, Robert Young told me about "Children's Village", a modern residential facility near Los Angeles on 119 acres, where abused children can be cared for--where they will hear possibly for the first time a kind voice as they are tucked in bed with a teddy bear or a doll. Children's Village U.S.A.--because some of your fellow citizens wanted to make a battered, hurting child whole again. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
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