In our opinion it is time that lightning should clear our social atmosphere. We have been shown the way and the fuse has been put in our hand. There is no difference of opinion as to there being impurities in the social atmosphere, and methods of purification have been proven to be effective and have been approved by social chemists who have intelligently investigated. No creed, no political party, no class interest, no selfish interest, nothing! opposes the giving of babies a chance to develop their best possibilities, while the cost of it, lavish though it may be in the beginning, is a better investment than any other, not only to the Commonwealth, but to each contributing unit; to you, and to me, and to our children. Fellow Citizens, do you not see and smell and feel the impurities in our social atmosphere? Do you not realize, even if you are indifferent yourself, that your children are breathing and are being morally and spiritually asphyxiated by this atmosphere? With the fuse placed in your hand and the promise of the Master of our Civilization that "Of Such is the Kingdom of Heaven"; the heaven that we are seeking, can you resist applying the fuse? Do you not think it is time to lighten, when we know that the bolt of destruction will consume only the evils which now environ us and our own children? Are we not agreed? Yes! We are agreed! Then touch the fuse and let the lightning strike! Some children are now perishing, and we know it, and the means of rescue are at hand. The responsibility now is ours. Then, again, our responsibility demands it, IT MUST LIGHTEN!! APPENDIX IT HAS BEGUN--DEDICATION Let but wise training be added, suitable to age, idiosyncrasies and physical conditions, and the future welfare of all those rescued is practically secured, while many social problems which now perplex the most thoughtful, will, in the next generation, have found a satisfactory solution. These should be incentives and rewards enough for the patient worker among the slums of our great cities. But if further stimulus is needed, it may assuredly be found in the gracious and memorable words of our Divine Master: "Whoso shall receive one such little child in My name receiveth Me."--_Thomas F. Barnardo, F.R.C.S., Ed., Founder of the "Dr. Barnardo's Homes," London, England._ IT HAS BEGUN