when tragedy strikes in an american city with a disastrous hotel fire we are shocked and horrified before this blaze was extinguished fifty two people had lost their lives machinist industry lost the productive power of a skilled workman jayne edwards housewife a family lost a mother's care and affection these people lost their lives and the world lost their skill their artistry and their services fires and other catastrophes are dramatic events which attract wide attention but we ignore the less spectacular but continuous wastage and erosion of our population every day we are tragically wasting our human resources by failure to provide for a healthful and effective living wastage of human resources occurs at all age levels but infancy is an especially hazardous period in a single year the united states has recorded over sixty thousand infant deaths in the first month of life in the next eleven months of life over forty thousand more infant deaths adding the number of stillbirths would bring the figure to over one hundred and eighty thousand these infant deaths could be cut in half if the available health and medical knowledge bearing on infant an were widely applied next to infancy childhood is the most hazardous period of life in these years gendron are exposed to many dangers of the physical environment these dangers caused by far the greatest number of deaths in the childhood years accidents like this that kill and cripple thousands of children every year are caused by c inadequate safety precautions they are almost all preventable and so are diseases like pneumonia and influenza which also take a heavy toll in sickness and death among this age group most of these losses too could be avoided by early use of preventive measures and better medical care some various diseases which attack growing children and hamper their normal development their childhood is robbed of happiness and blighted by physical disaster even though children may escape by accident or disease they may be neglected maltreated are subjected to conditions that stunt their bodies and work their personalities after the childhood years with their attending hazards boys and girls face the transition to adolescence this is a period of rapid physical growth and social adjustment it is also an important time for education for citizenship for family life and for useful and personally satisfying work yet many use especially in rural areas where schools are often poor or are denied the opportunity for essential  in cities they leave school for dead end jobs that allow for little mental and vocational growth they fail to get the training necessary for more productive work many spend their time in unhealthy surroundings that fostered juvenile delinquency especially among those who have had an unhappy childhood this is an inexcusable waste of our most valuable resource day the records of our juvenile courts all plainly show how widespread is this tragic waste of youth this wastage could be prevented by more adequate provision for the basic needs of you as there are many hazards to mental and social development of youth there are also many hazards to their health these hazards often go unrecognized even by use itself at this not receive adequate medical care and health supervision the neglect of health in childhood and youth was in a large measure responsible for the conditions revealed by selective service examinations for world war two about two thirds of our available manpower of military age were fit to fight the other one third was rejected or later discharged for nervous and mental disorders muscular and skeletal defects hernia heart diseases ear no throat disorders and other causes and these were the findings with a group of men at the most vigorous time of life the middle years of life should be the most productive years on farms and mill and factory yet many are not at work because of accidents illness and occupational disease millions of productive hours are lost reducing income for workers and their families and reducing production for society unable to work because of chronic illnesses such as tuberculosis which blight so many adult lives at their most productive period many chronic illnesses of this type come from browsing poverty and lack of health care and protection these adverse conditions dangerous as they are for the men who work in the mills and factories threaten even more the health of women in the home is necessary if we are to give adequate protection to all our families while the energies and skills of a nation's people are its vital resources often they are wasted by unemployment and involuntary idleness this not only deprives society of services but also robs workers have been needed for their families and undermined their self confidence further wastage of skills and energies takes place in old age in the years to the continuing waste of life and vitality present a serious problem many old people are victims of accidents that cripple or chronic diseases that bring handicaps impairments and on happiness still others vainly seek work because of their need for an income and their desire to be useful with no work to do and no recognize place or real interest in living the aged often spend their last years in bitterness and happiness many men and women at all ages are confined in institutions and reformatories and in prisons in these ways to a large part of our population is being wasted temporarily or permanently in custody they are cut off from normal social and economic life others are in institutions for a mental defectives and in sta hospitals for mental disorders the number of such cases is increasing and we must add to the drug addicts who waste their own powers and the resources of society finally there is war the most tragic to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness what a challenge to every one of us