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Show CHILDREN'S BUREAU. In these days of progress aud reform, not to say fads, foibles and fancies, a number of things have been and aro being dono which meet with universal approval One of the most noteworthy note-worthy of these is tho study of the conditions surrounding fbo ljirth, education edu-cation and well-being of tho childron of thu United States. fu tho closing days of tho'adminis-tratiou tho'adminis-tratiou of: President Taft a children's bureau was established in the department depart-ment of labor, the duties of the bivrcau being to investigate and report upon all matters pertaining to child life among all classes of people, and especially espe-cially io investigate the quustions of birthrate, orphanage, juvonilo courts, desertion, daugorous occupations, accidents acci-dents and diseases of children, employment, employ-ment, legislation affecting children and, iudocd, all matters which could possibky havo anything to do wilh the rising generation. The first annual report of tho chief of the children 's bureau, Julia C-Lath-rop, has just come to band. Necessarily, Necessar-ily, owing to tho shortness of time since the organization of the bureau, tho report is not exhaustive. Nevertheless quite a bit of information iMvy be gleaned from its perusal. For instance, attention is called to tho fact that nearly one-third of tho population of the United States, r.l,220,U6l persons, consists, of children under sixteen years of age. The figures are of course taken from the census report of 1910. The fact that a vast majority of these children chil-dren arc of averago health and opportunity oppor-tunity has been established 03' the bureau. Upon the subject of infant mortality the report lays the greatest stress. At tho outset attention is called to the fact that the Unitod States differs from all other civilized countries in "having no general system of birth registration, rendering it impossible to stato with accuracy the proportionate loss. Kc-courso Kc-courso is had to the report of the, census cen-sus bureau, which estimates that our actual loss last year was 1500,000 babies under ono 'ear of age. The bureau of child labor reaches the conclusion, and wo have no doubt the health officers of the country will agree, that "at least half of these little ones would now bo living had we, as individuals and communities, applied those measures of lo'gicnc and sanitation sanita-tion which are known and available." Tho old idea that a high infant death rate indicates a greater degree of vigor in the survivors no longer obtains. Upon this point tho report says that "it is agreed that the conditions which destroy so many of the youngest lives of the community must also result in crippling and maiming many others and must react unfavorably upon tho health of the entire community.'"' One would not have to travel far to find a physician physi-cian who would voice his agreement with tho above conclusion. Tho necessity of careful registration of births in the United States has been pointed ont continually for the last fifty years, but very little effort has been made by tho lawmakers in that direction. Children como into tho world and go out of it in some communities com-munities without a line in any official record or even the family bible. In tho old country this duty is performed by the pnrish churches. Owiug to the innumerable creeds in tho United States tho country- in not subdivided on an ecclesiastical basis, each denomination denomi-nation recording its own christenings and no attention being paid tho advent, into tho world of the infanta of those who do not claim membership. The doctors are required in most slates to report births, but doctors are not always called in such cases, and consequently no blank is filled out when the neighbor women aro called npon to officiate. Slate laws are notoriously no-toriously inefficient In the matter of registering tho birth of infants. If wo are to have a uniform marriage and divorce law, which fo many reformers re-formers advocate, it would not be a bad idea for tho federal governmont lo also provide for an accurate record of j fljo birth of infants at th same time. A iK'torr 5l at fil, tho bureau has not lnl lime ti mal-e an f.hau liu uii' of all tho conditions surrounding child life. No doubt a more comprehensive report will bo made next year. |