OCR Text |
Show ! J 34,000 Nameless Babies Is This a Problem of 'Sin' or 'Social Service'? Thv Llttla One 1 f gomiBSMMtgBssMjiM i, 1 an I po Inscribed a quaint wcatheraUlned , mar, 1 BE!i&&&'$rJ i'-s jrr.iNe in one of the oldest of New r , J9IH . . I r.ljlali-l - flBB the vlllagera tell In connection with ib.it tin-., more than o9ofl9oV Is the man: rles old traf- A Th. p,-oilem ha- grown in America IHHBQHHgU . -: mother's bittei hearl " :lm . iiised :ln. e orris lo br cared wav ,..'.. .HBnBBfgfasfe'rjwMy jiK In iteen hundrct Chen j , ..mrie "1 i-.-" was ihe exception 'Now , t&t-8&s! mor than I4-.000 uriwanted nioriciti babl (these ar the registered birth 5S 1., 1 iirjr., ' ' higher) com lh wdrld each :r. f ; j, L'&ff'P -. '; j?Pw 1 w yf r.riic i-f then ' - JjdiisypJLi5 'i Ei&'t. mi rut n 1 n nrin M' 1 1 fmipi 1 h it governmental authorities are ' m.t.TKi- al.lv remi--: In not providing iff XtKM-, h better solution ;: tl problem of .'aH W ' thi r 1 1 . . I 1 lie opinion of ' - It I .-1 S. Keilog. Ilwtun. who 3BQBv; ' m- s - X Jnai as SWOOI and enddly and pbyslcallj perfect n- if li- were not a "nameless baby." nual convention of Thr American Child Hygiene association in. St. Louis ' It is evident all agencies other than the state are inad.-'iu;. e,'1 hf- aold, "Scandlnanvlan countries and France recognise the lrjth of this, In the former for-mer countries there are 110 so-called illegitimate children. Every child, whether bora out of wedlock or not, must be supported by its father until U can earn .ts own living In France they handle the situation a litilc differently, but just as effectively effec-tively 1 he state beconiea the child a adopted father and sees Utat It is reared rear-ed without want and under official supervision, It it. taught a trade and ii: every way Is provided for precisely precise-ly an If it were the legitimate child 6f foster parents. Thus, as an adult this child becomes an economic ansst of society. so-ciety. France feels, and has felt for more th in half a century that tho state must protect French children, cven to the r:;tent of assuming ttv fatherhood of children born rf unwed mothers, ft IT M Hi Is 1 1 si H IM, vKKV 1( I rr Kellogg contrasted the infant. mortality rates in his own state, Mas Isachusetta, as an example. "The death rate for babies born in I wedlock In 1314 Was 95. That mean ; that 9f, out rf a thousand legitimate babies born In our state diod before they were a ear olci IJv suinabiy tJie hod at least the care oi an average I home. The baby death rate for the same year was 2M per thousand births I three times as great among the nameless babies. I The chief cause of this high rate is the separation of the baby and the nYother, Ui Kellogg claims. In order to keep mother and child together un- Itil the mother Is well and able to sup-pert sup-pert herself and child economic sup- Iporl must be forthcoming from some source. I "This is clearly the business r.f the state," Dr. Kellogg Continued. 'At present little or no progress Is hcing made The first step in the matter imust be the reconciliation of two op poslte, or at leas; differing points Of view, which may be termed orthodo:: (.ind social service. 1 "The one views the nameless baby in ; terms of sin" the other as an "economic "econ-omic probb in. ' 'Not until we f.icp this iuarely, as i ran -c has done and applied practic- ' al remedies, may we truly say that we a a state, or as citizens of that state, shall have fulfilled our whole duty! "unto the least of these." SUGGESTS PRACnCAIi REMEDY Dr. Kellogg'.-, suggestion in the way Of a practical remedy Is the establish- ment of state boards of Illegitimacy responsible in turn to a federal board.! .vhieh w ould be a department, perhaps I !of the already established Children's! Bureau of the C. S Department of L-i-1 j bor. After elaborating various details In iconnectlon with his proposed plan, Dr. j j Kellogg said : "The problem of Illegitimacy is bigj jenoug'h to bo handled and should be handled as an entity directed legally I ! sociologically, medically. Any leglsla-i tlon as for example, a proposed ma-ternlty ma-ternlty pohslon bill should not include clauses concerning Illegitimacy " |