Salt Lake Telegram | 1915-10-17 | Page 29 | Urges a Military Standard for Aliens

URGES A MILITARY STANDARD FOR ALIENS U. U S. S Surgeon Proposes Army Enlistment Tests for Immigrants NEW NSW YORK Oct 16 Urging Urging that thata a mandatory mandatory physical standard equivalent equiv I alent t tp our minimum requirements for tor enlistment In the United States army should be required of ot aliens coming to this country Dr Jr Howard Howard How flow ard A. A I Knox nox surgeon in fn the Ule United t States States States' public health service at Ellis ElUs Island discusses s mental de deficiency le- le In aliens allen 1 In a paper published PUD- PUD pub in the the Now York Medical Journal of ot October 9 Dr Knox states that it Is believed by many that a eugenic program ann c-ann cannot t be applied to the ItIs It ItIs Its Is s unnecessary they argue for tor durIng during during dur dur- ing o our cur r national life lite we have Improved improved improved im Im- im- im proved and progressed without such sucha a R program To this this' It Is easy sy to tomake tomake make a reply Dr says fur for how much easier would our pro progress ress be I for instance If Ie we were not compelled compelled com corn to care for tor so ao many Incarcerated ed persons the vast majority of whom are a burden to society because of mental deficiency or defective germ i f fAt At present adds Dr Knox ap approximately ap- ap proximately 1 per cent of the people people peo peo- pie in this country are arc confined in institutions Institution for one blind deaf feeble minded i criminal Juvenile de delinquent de- de paupers or ot the It Is not hard to conceive at least a a. majority of these as being so situated ed fd because of ot some sort of predisposition aLtion or constitutional inferiority which must be Included in our broader broad broad- er r conception of mental deficiency The number of those persons who are born and nd the relative perr per of those foreign and American American Ameri Amen can born have not been accurately determined for the whole country but such lIuch a stud study might be productive of results somewhat favorable to the alien It should be remembered that Immigrants coming to us from countries tain-countries countries of Europe where the infant death rate is unusually high are already highly selected and that in our own country modern social conditions are party responsible for forthe forthe forthe the problems that face us Natural selection election would continue to cut off lines of ot stock to conditions conditions conditions condi condi- here if It It were permitted to operate but here It is not flot permitted to do so b by beneficent society and and the basis of parenthood is thereby thereby there there- by hy lowered permitting the dissemination tion of defective traits among the general population until deterioration shall have progressed to such sucha a 1 point th that t society will vilI no longer be able to bolster up lP the defective but this Is not the end however for at this time natural selection will again become become be be- come como operative and more worthy strains of mankind manki d will arise This theory is probably a fact nevertheless nev nev- we wish to maintain present present pres pres- ent cut Standards and to do so we must supply rational selection in place of natural natural selection which we are preventing preventing pre pre- venting else our race must bly My deteriorate as has been the case with some of ot the too often otten conquered countries of ot the old world Orld Dr Knox maintains that every person person per per- son von who l presents rEsents evidence of inferior mien mien- or germ genn physical or mental he- he rEgarded as bad potentially and and- should bould be excluded without re recourse re- re course o to bonds and those who ad- ad ter the law should not be in- in cl with so long as they are cons conscientiously performing their du du- du U ties s. s physical standard is equivalent to our minimum mini mini- m mum m requirements for enlistment Intha in inthe the tha United States army It should be e remembered that applicants with con m asthenia I c c. c are arc never accepted and thereto there- there to fot it this physical clause was in incorporated In- In ted In th thc tho present law vast hor hordes horde eg of potential psychopaths and defectives s. s both ph physical and mental would be prevented pre from landing A stan standard ld fd for women might be adopted adopt adopt- ed ad d. d il if thought thought advisable