A sympathetic social policy will always focus its attention on those young people who have been pushed to the edge of the abyss by a hard fate, in the depths of which so many have become, and unfortunately continue to become, prey to moral corruption and often also physical stunting. A child gone astray, a young person off the path of crime - a human life jeopardised, a whole human life lost! And a person who has already degenerated at a young age is difficult to save, least of all with a prison and a forced labour camp.

His classification as a useful member of society encounters first and foremost the insurmountable resistance that the emergence of moral concepts has been brutally blunted from an early age. Thrown off the track of an honest way of life, man rarely finds his way back to salvation by his own efforts. Even the well-advised often succumb to his seduction and the trail of his life is marked by all kinds of outrages. Let us therefore ensure that young people, who are in danger of being lost without the care of human society, are protected as best we can; in doing so, we benefit ourselves and earn the gratitude of posterity.

Friends of the people will therefore always welcome with joy and satisfaction the news of the tireless work in this area of social aid. Such news is now reaching the public again. The number of young people taken into the protection and care of the "Youth Welfare Association for Tyrol" is increasing rapidly. Each case reveals a different character of youth neglect and youth endangerment due to the peculiarity of the circumstances that necessitate the intervention of the association. Drunkenness, immorality, recklessness and criminal indifference to the responsible duty of an educator recur in all their gradations as the main basic phenomena that lead to the early ruin of a large proportion of our youth. It is not uncommon to come across cases of child abuse. They form a disgraceful stain on our age, which feels itself to be at the height of culture and civilisation, for the abuse of the sovereign rights of parents and educators, and inhumanity to the defenceless and defenceless child, must outrage even the hardest feelings.

Finally, there are quite a few young people who succumb to the pernicious influence from outside, to evil example and seduction. The difficult circumstances of life often force both the boy and his mother to follow the nurturing business, and so the child is left to his own devices at home and lacks the care of his father's house. It is no wonder that the wrong instincts in the young heart shoot up with the luxuriance of the weeds; the reference to the hundreds of wards of the Youth Welfare Association, as sadly as it illustrates the fact of the uncovered evil of the people, nevertheless, on the other hand, it is surrounded by the certainty that the spreading corruption is being effectively stopped. Once the protective hand of the association has reached the young person, he appears to be saved, preserved and restored to himself and to human society.

But success is not achieved effortlessly. Attempt after attempt must be made to achieve the goal. Only in a few cases has the desired success failed to materialise. Hopefully the future will also bring a change for the better, but like every war, the fight against youth degeneration and youth savagery also requires money and more money. Money and more money. Thousands of crowns are swallowed up every quarter by the cost of accommodating the club's fosterlings. But it is the best and most profitable capital investment imaginable: The salvation of the youth is the abundant reward for all the sacrifices made. Recognising the benefits of the Youth Welfare Association's work is also attracting more and more friends and patrons from all over the country. It is thanks to their support that the organisation can continue its work undaunted, and if the future brings new crowds of people in need of help, the number of those who contribute to the charitable rescue work according to their means will also steadily increase. Every new appeal to public charity will continue to be heard.

"Don't be merciless in the face of your neighbour's misfortune!"