 The Cavalcade of America Although it may seem late in the day to wish our listeners a merry Christmas all of the people associated in producing the Cavalcade of America Hope that your Christmas has been full of joy for young and old This series presented by Dupont brings you true stories of the traits of character that have built our nation and Nothing has been more important to the welfare and progress of America than our growing appreciation of America's children as Illustrated by this evening's dramatic episode and when we repeat Dupont's phrase better things for better living through chemistry May we amplify it by saying that better living in America depends first of all on the care that all of us devote to America's children Especially appropriate at Christmas time is Humphredinck's opera Hensel and Gratles It's charming music accompanies the adventures of the two children in the Enchanted Forest Our Cavalcade Orchestra will play some of the melodies from Hensel and Gratles No more devoted champions of humanity can be found in the world and those Americans who have loved and coiled for children But children have had slight recognition by the state until fairly recently a Roman father might kill his child if he pleased an early 19th century father might let his son work 16 hours a day in a mind But in America this situation was to change It is 1874 in New York City in a small shabby tenement room beside a woman's bed Neal's Mrs. Ethel Wheeler a voluntary missionary No messages the center relative I had no relatives or to friends. I've been chatting so long That is there is one If you can help that I'm happy Why do you think that Now it's beginning. I think it's closer about the room first I listen to it like that tonight so I think I'll go mad But are you sure a child is being hurt? Wait a bit. What that poor might must go through before she's thrown it up to escape Oh, good heaven. And now he's sleeping up. Where's the door to that room? Across the hall. Oh, thank God you'll go through But I hear going on in the room. I'm coming in. Yeah, come ahead. Who cares? Look over my little palace and meet the kids. I've got an extra stirrup a little drink Breeze now, baby. Oh Can't you get up off the floor? You didn't get it. You didn't get my dolly. You had a dolly wanton. Okay, let's dance Why did he want a deal? He said to give it to him. No deal. It was a 9-9 call Come now. We'll go down and find me. I'll carry it. No, no, don't touch me. I'll carry it Oh my heavens. The wealth on your shoulders and your back Walk with me quietly. Daddy says that can't be. I can't ever lose my whole life because it's killing me. Walk very quietly there. To the door Oh, what's this? Where are you going? I'm taking your child to find me a policeman Oh, listen, get out of here you scurly old fool. Don't touch me. Now get out or I'll throw you downstairs Well, all the time I'm going is right out in front of you. Where's the fire, lady? What's wrong? What's the matter, lady? What's happened? Oh, I know, mom It has ring a man's heart until he's no strength left. Then why don't you do something? Oh, my mom, there's nothing I can do. Twix the man and his child Just the law of the land and we must bear it and listen to what tired will scream her life out According to law there was nothing Mrs. Wheeler could do But she was persistent and a few hours later we find her at the office of the society for the prevention of cruelty to animals Mr. Jerry, I haven't come about either a dog or a horse But a child Child? But madam, we have nothing to do with children here Doesn't anyone have help for children? Mr. Jerry, I have seen it in the days of tragic that I tremble thinking of it In an east side tournament, a child is being beaten every day I've been to the police. I've been to a magistrate. They can't save her I know how you feel, but we can do nothing The law in this country and in any other country won't interfere with families Is there no city in this world for a helpless child? Pity, but no law, I'm afraid Now, in the case of Lanson versus Dennis, do we- Mr. Gage, you're a human being, sir, and a lawyer after all I know that because of the wonderful work you've done aiding poor helpless animals You've got both those humane offers where you can make a rest, haven't you? Yes, but- Send them for this child Why, I can't do that, Mrs. Wheeler. It's illegal He's dying. Not quickly. No sure mice for us and no kindly pressure on a windpipe It's a slow death. By torture, he's being whipped so she's bleeding Stop, Mrs. Wheeler. Pritz, Peter What is it, Mr. Jerry? An emergency case. We'll all go together The dog or cat, I'll get the cage Neither. A child A child, Mr. Gere? Yes. Don't ask me any questions. You'll be less responsible, of course It's a good cause Mrs. Wheeler, for the first time in my life I'm leaping into a thing and trying to think of a legal excuse for it afterwards A few minutes later in the Panama Department of the father and child Well, we got him locked in the other room all right, Mr. Gary Peter'll handle him there to be ready to leave with the kids and good Did you get the weapon or any scissors? Yeah, here they are Well, there's some evidence anyway Heaven knows if it'll do us any good if you want to have it up for abduction Yes, sir. There'll be plenty of trouble for this day's work What will I ever say to a judge? That's what we've all got to decide right now Oh, Mrs. Wheeler, how is he? He's alive wonderfully with cold water Come, dear Why, she's a scrapped-up size of me son What did I tell you? Where is he? Your daddy, you mean? He's not my daddy Daddy's dad Oh, then this man married your mother Mummy's dad, too Undaunted Daddy thinks that's where I'm bad Oh, darling, you're not bad Surely that brute couldn't have adopted her, who would let him? He came to the orphanage, darling, and adopted me Can I go back to the orphanage, darling? That's a plea we don't offer here And what's your name, Charles? Mary Ellen Mary Ellen Even with those tear stains and all the dirt You're as pretty and as datey as a kitten As a kitten Why, there's our legal case What do you mean? Mary Ellen is a small animal Of course, she has a mind and a soul, too But the state hasn't yet learned a concern itself about that So the Supreme Court of the sovereign state of New York Will have to accept her as a small animal A small animal Yes Come along now and we'll see about a new doll In place of the one Mrs. Wheeler told me about For I think you're the prettiest small animal I ever risked my legal standing for The case of Mary Ellen Decided before the Supreme Court of New York state Sent her foster parent to prison for a year And focused national attention On the need of mercy for helpless youth From it ruled a society for the prevention of cruelty to children An enduring monument to the humanitarian feeling of America Like Opsie's ballet in the Nutcracker Suite Portrayed the story of a little girl Who ate too many Christmas goodies She dreams on Christmas night That she again sees a tree lighter than all its glory And the toys and the dolls Are holding a fairy revel Led by Nutcracker Prince of Fairyland Our DuPont Cavalcade Orchestra Plays the waltz of the flowers from the Nutcracker Suite The American Cavalcade moves onward In the present day records of the juvenile court Can be found some of the most impressive examples Of America's concern for its boys and girls In this evening's second episode The time is the present The first scene is a dark city street at midnight In front of the doorway of a small grocery store Five boys, eight from nine to 14, huddled together first please The other side of the street keeps their fellas The key fitters are orders Don't make a move till a cop has passed Come to see me What do you guys? You're all waiting for me right here at the door, huh? I said for one that keeps guarding the other's scatter But a thief, it's a color to rock on, right? Wait a minute Before we go let's leave our car Where's the rocks? Next day in a poor tenement apartment Where Mr. and Mrs. Martin live with their two children, Mary and Jimmy Ah, where's Jimmy? Late to supper again, huh? Well, we'll sit down without him But wait till he comes in Oh, now, Prah, don't get missed too Maybe he's got a reason Yeah, he's always got a reason Peaky-tongued breath as he is my son He must be feeling worse tonight, isn't he, Paul? Things no worse than usual, Mary Oh, there he is Oh, you're back, Jimmy Ah, keep quiet, Jimmy Well, I know he's gonna draw me for being late But he'd better not try to pace me any more I'll pace him If I had my strength back, I'd... I was just coming to ask writer's market And, uh, frankly, I just all smashed out Must've been some bases in there Then it was done They got almost 100 hours for the cash register Oh, how awful Where are you going, Jimmy? Get in the bedroom Ain't it all right if I comb my hair? I'll go in and talk to him I know he's sorry already, John, for the way you talked to him Get around here, Paul, since you and Jimmy got to fighting all the time Oh, Jimmy! What's the matter? Oh, he's got this Oh, Jimmy's got the money It's in there Oh, no I might have known it A thief Well, what's all around about? I'll take it back to him, man, writer Yes, you will The police will be here any minute And after we got there, all the trouble you was in before We again, Jimmy Buy an office suit for a man So he wouldn't tell the police You go to jail for this And I hope you do I hope you do Oh, no, John, not your own boy Yes, I hope he does He's been a convert And I hope they pick him up Okay, well, I hope they do so Aren't you on? Jimmy was traced and arrested And apparently hopeless case A few days later In a juvenile courtroom The history of James Martin, aged 10 Is that what you want, Red? Yes He had his complete physical examination It's here with the laboratory test and results And the recommendation Here's the case with his report on his home You've already seen that Yes How do these mental ratings amount? Above normal You wouldn't think so from this report, Karen Well, I may as well start the case Show the mother in Oh, your honor Your honor, if my husband loses his temper in the courtroom And asks for the boy to be sent to a foreign school Don't listen to him Oh, please, please Mrs. Martin, don't worry I've only called you in to ask you not to mind If Jimmy has held a few days in the detention home That's not the form school It's connected only with his court We might keep him a few days while we study how to break the gang Beyond that, I suppose you might check with me The accuracy of the support on Jimmy's home life I read it His father, a chronic invalid from rheumatism Teases and bullies him He was kept out of school at one time last year Until he fell behind the grave As he is bright, school now bored him The root of this problem is his defiance for his father Whoever wrote that saw the truth What do you think we should do, Mrs. Martin? I don't know Seems like only yesterday he was the prettiest queen This baby he ever saw And now it's too late Now, Mrs. Martin, that's something this court very rarely admits That it's too late to help a boy It's something I don't ever want to hear a mother admit I'm sorry, sir That's in this case history about you To despair too easily Oh, I'm sorry Well, that's all I want to talk to your son alone Yes, sir When this court starts Quiet, it has started This is court Yes, sir Where's the big desk and the people? We don't have any big desk or any people This is a children's court And we don't care to frighten them Oh That's all, Mrs. Martin Thank you for calling Yes, sir You can use this other door Oh, thank you Goodbye, Mrs. Martin Goodbye, and God bless you Jimmy Martin Hello, son You gonna send me up? Why? Am I going to the pen? Heavens, no Sit down there Make yourself comfortable There's no use asking me about the sticker flyby name Because I won't tell I see Well, then we'll just skip all that And start with the press Jimmy, you've got quite a gang, haven't you? Yeah, that's tough, guys How many are there? Five? Seven Seat on the road with me, too They call me Chief And Chief Martin? Magic Chief Last year, Jimmy, when an officer of the Crime Prevention Bureau Was in your neighborhood He tried to get your gang to join a boy's club down there And you wouldn't let them Now, why was that? We knew what that flatfoot was after Trying to break that stuff I hear he wanted to teach you how to play baseball That's what he did Now, wait a minute It takes a lot of muscle to play baseball Let's feel your muscle Hold out your arms Four I ain't sure Boy's club you wouldn't join That turned out a first-class baseball team in one year We could beat them without looking at it I'd like to see you try that sometimes What are you trying to get me in, a judge? You said you could beat them Suppose you try it We'd have to have a while of getting shit You can have a month We'll stay at one of our boarding homes and play And Jimmy, if you lose a game I become head of the gang What do you mean, judge? If you've been a good Chief, the boys will win If you've been a bad one, you'll lose You can't have a gang unless you know how to run it That's all You may go Yeah, but don't you want to hear about how I opened the cash register Trying to pick up a racket as big as your sister And he's a shooter winner? Oh, I'm not interested in that Only in how you're going to come out in this baseball game When you play that, son, we'll have another talk For a month, Jimmy prepared for the great ball game That was to prove his ability as a leader A month later, in the juvenile court A judge talks to Mr. Martin He's a spirited boy, Mr. Martin, with a strong love of adventure in him And he didn't have any way to take it out Yeah, I know I didn't need help in many That side of a boy has to come out in games I have to talk to fathers about that A mother can't help Now, so many fathers neglect their sons because they have to work too hard I know you've got a better excuse Yeah, I guess you'll let my rumours give me too much of a grudge Well, the clinic will help your rheumatism In the meantime, never too late for a fresh start Oh, I've got more hope than I've had in months Good, yes I was, uh, so proud of it You did it Done, you died when I thought that he'd gone wrong on Mr. Early Well, he didn't go wrong You've got a great boy Good luck, Martin No, thanks, good Right Good name, Martin Well, how's the manager of the Chicago Cubs feeling today? Uh, I just want to figure out what happened Well, I hear your pitching was pretty wild Well, sort of But they had all a break Jimmy Martin, that's the first thing I've heard you say that I didn't like to hear A good ballplayer stands up to a thing You were late, weren't you? Well, admit it All right Good gosh, good Well, that'll run to play second base from hit back to bed when it's seventh There we go, it was rock And I'm afraid you and your boys wouldn't be much help to Mickey Kotlin Out of training That's a local about it, said I don't blame you Well, what are you going to do? What are you going to do? You and your gang, I mean my gang now I'm going to train every day at the boys' club You'll spend a good bit of time with your probation officer And oh yes, you're moving home Your father's missing He has? He's over here talking to me about it He's awfully fond of you, Jimmy He's a good dad Your dad doesn't feel so well, you know He needs all the help you can give him Well, you want to try to go as straight for us? Yeah, I don't know When I decided to do a thing like this with him So I got to make up my mind Well, you think it over for a minute Well, the only thing I like to be beside the gas is a hand mail pilot Well, Jimmy, you ought to know a lot about motors All kinds if you're going to fly How would you like to go to a class at a good grade school in the early... Well, sure, but if it's course and class... Oh, no, it won't cost a cent You're going into a special class at your own grade school for a while too But you'll catch up with your right class How about it, Jimmy? Sure, I'll do it No hard feelings, I hope, about that baseball game Oh, I do know, judge, I can take it So I think we're still friends You bet we are, your hands on it, judge Your hands on it, judge The humanitarian urge, the desire to protect those weaker than themselves That is a civilizing and a nobling influence in the hearts of Americans today Nowhere has it shown itself more clearly than in the great legal and social protection given to children, those young citizens of our nation To whom we must pass the leadership of the cavalcade of America America has learned, is still learning How to care for and appreciate America's children And on Christmas Day, which belongs to children more than any other day of the year We should devoutly hope that the grown-ups of America and of the world will never forget their responsibility to the coming generation If the world is to be worth living in tomorrow Today's children must be happy and healthy Must be allowed to grow mentally and spiritually The youngster who is out playing today should in a few years be devoting that energy to engineering, medicine, architecture, chemistry, or some other useful pursuits Naturally, we of DuPont like to think of him as a chemist Each year from leading universities, fine young fellows come into our research laboratories or join some other part of our organization It is a great pride to us to see them develop into men whose contribution of many products useful in the daily life of everyone is summed up in DuPont's phrase better things for better living through chemistry Next week at this same time DuPont will again present the cavalcade of America This is the Columbia Broadcasting System