Arizona republican., 1905-09-06
A Census on the Race Suicide Theory

A Census on the Race Suicide Theory.
 It has been President Rooseveits fortune to excite interest and start public discussion in many different directions. A year or two ago he coined and issued the phrase race suicide" as descriptive of what ap- peared to be the intentional avoidance of large families among our people. The phrase was instantly taken up by the public and since then has formed ! the theme of many serious as well as some jocose articles in the press of the day.
 A Boston dispatch says that the question has now been taken up in earnest by Charles Felton Pidgin, the chief of the Massachusetts labor bu- reau, who proposes to institute a rigid inquiry concerning the alleged evil. It seems that it is Mr. Pidgin's opin ion that the chief responsibility for the slow growth of the native popula- tion belongs rather to citizens who fail to enter into the marriage state than to the heads of small families. Whether that is true or not he proposes to discover. So he has drawn up a list of questions which. it is stated, twill have to be answered by every married woman in the state" As the nature of these questions is not disclosed, it is impos- sible to approve or criticise them; but it is obvious that they will need to be very judiciously framed if enlighten- ing responses are to be secured. The inuuisitfveness of census enumerators when seeking information about the number of persons only in a family, and such other trifies as the ages of the women. often eXcites the wrath of sensitive wives and mothers, and an attempt to penetrate further into the reserve of the home might be seriously resented. Few women comparatively even among the intelligent and edu- cated. are so scientifically inclined as to give full and accurate answers along the lines indicated by MT. Pld- gins scheme.
 Of the sociological value of such data as MT. Pidgin desires to secure there can be no question. It is i'm portant to know whether or not the charge is true that if it were not for recruitment from foreign sources our native population would show dimin- ished instead of augmented numbers At present there is a difference or opinion on the subject. The man in the street. or on his porch in the gloaming, or in the neighborhOod of a public school. or at a family summer resort. would scout the notion that children of respectable American homes are a diminishing fictOr in American life. But one cannot al- ways rely upon general impressions and it is a fact well known to care full observers that a few lusty boys can make themselves appear very numerous.
 One thing Mir. Pidgin intends to be very particular about is the nativity of a woman's grandparents. That, probably. has a serious bearing on the question under consideration; but there is reason to apprehend that good many ladies would be found as much in the dark concerning their family tree as the census takers them selves. Until the appearance of the Daughters of the Revolution in this country not much interest was taken in genealogy by our women There are some people, indeed, who are quite sensitive about their grandfathers and Frandmothers, while it will be difficult to make others understand how the nativity of ones ancestors is going to effect ones hope of pOsterity.
 On the whole, while MT. Pidgin has Etruck an exceedingly interesting vein there is reason to believe that he is going to plunge his agents into a sea of trouble. It Is very probable that before they get through they will have to answer more questions than they ask.
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