Ogden Daily Standard | 1918-12-27 | Page 4 | Feeble-Minded in Utah

IB FEEBLE-MINDED IN j In his biennial report to the gover- H nor, Dr. E. G. Gowans, state suporin- I' tendent of public instruction, issues ' this warning as to the menace to our social welfare from the feeble-minded: j "When we know positively that two- thirds of alt the feeble-minded persons I in Utah are iho children of feeble- 9 . minded parents or grandparents, or 8 both, and when wo know that these j incompetents are increasing twice as !j ' rapidly as our normal-minded popula- S lion, the argument for segregation and custodial care is absolutely irrcsist-Thc irrcsist-Thc state superintendent would have the state provide means to care for I the incompetents in colonies. The suggestion is timely aud should be acted on by the coming legislature. U It is a crime against humanity to allow M; the mentally weak to reproduce and If who derive no great pleasures from K life and serve no useful purpose. Whcr- j ever those extreme breakdowns in re- production occur, the state should step B in to end the tragedies. . Our opinion is that with state rc- straints where imbecility shows itself, I coupled with the control of social dis- I cases which is now being enforced, and the exclusion of strong drink, B Utah, within a few years, can almost eliminate the feeble minded.