The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1909-10-19
SLAUGHTER OF
THE INNOCENTS
Alarming Mortality Among the
Babies Throughout the Civil
LIED World.

Apropos of the appalling mortality
among the babies, not only in our own
land. but throughout the civilized world,
no single factor can be pointed out as the
primary cause of this blot on our mod
ern civilization. The problem and the
possibility of its prevention are to be oon-
sidered at a special conference arranged
BY the American Academy OF Medicine,
to be held at New Haven. Conn, Nov IL
and u. What are regarded as coutribu-
tory causes can be gathered from some
OF the subjects mentioned in the an
nouncement for meeting. Four avenues
for the introduction of preventive meas
ures are indicated by the titles of the
sesslons-medical, philanthrOpiC, instttu-
tiOnal and educational. Practically all
causes suggested under these headings
are summarized in the four mentioned in
the section on medical pTeVentiOn-cOn-
genital debility, unsuitable nOurishment
improper care and communicable or in
fictitious diseases. When It is recalled that
the men who are In the thick OF the
fight against the needless and unneces-
sary waste of baby life assert that the
present infant death rate could be cut in
half by the enactment and rigid enforce
ment of laws requiring the adequate in
specttOn of the sources Of the milk sup
ply. coupled with the sanitary inspection
OF tenements the accurate registration Of
births and the instruction of the mothers
Uy N1SlllNS nurses OF OLLeE properly &C
credited representatives of the local
boards Of health, il is readily seen that
two very grave sources Of danger are to
be found in the quality Of the nOur1sh-
ment fed to babies, and the conditions OF
the homes themselves. Serious as the
problem of a pure milk supply is, Il is
much less difficult of solution than the
more complicated one of housing cOndi-
tiOns.
Urban Population.
One hundred years ago g 1-3 per cent Of
the population of the United States lived
100000 people are crowded into the
cities. OvercrOwding, the congestion Of
population in slum districts, the herding
together of the great unassimilated mass
of immigrants in inadequate and unsan-
itary quarters. the selfishness of property
owners, the apathy Of municipal govern
ments in dealing with situations which
require drastic mea sures, all contribute to
make this one Of the most complex, as
well as one Of the most disheartening,
factors in the big problem Of the preven-
ton of infant mortality The appoint
ment of tenement house commissions are
preliminary steps only, and steps which
are Of no consequence whatever, unless
the recommendation of the commissions
are enforced. Not even a Burbank would
attempt to bring a plant to maturity by
depriving it of light and air and sun
shine, but, according to recent report,
there are 100000 absolutely dark BEDROOMS
in the city Of New York alone, where hu-
mankind, old as well as young are sup
posed to live and move and have their
being.
Crowded Tenements.
Six years ago Bruins investigated 2.T0i
infant deaths in Berlin. OF that number
,792 occurred in families occupying one
room tenements, 754 in those living in two
rooms 122 in those occupying three rooms,
and only fOrty-thTee in families living in
1a
of population within a given area would
not necessarily mean the absence or ny
gienic conditions was pointed out recent
" in a paper by DR.. StOWell of New York,
visiting physician to the New York City
Children's hospital and schools. AS in
stances of congestion, under favorable
and under unfavOrable conditions, he con-
trasted the largest apartment hotel IN
New YOrk-the AnsOnia-which houses
12e2 persons 10 the acre, with the notori-
Gus Chrystie street tenement block, In
which ,2S0 persons are housed In a single
acre The hotel covers a total area OF
6 acres of ground and houses 900 per
sons in $500 rooms. As there are sixteen
inhabitabIe floors. the total area amounts
to about twenty-six acres, and all of the
rooms are open to the outside, admitting
light and air In the seven years since
the place was opened not one Of the 900
employees has become victim OF tuoer-
culosis The tenement block, on the other
ground for that disease.
One Good Remedy.
As a means of decreasing the over
whelming mortality in congested indus
trial Centers. the Garden City" like that
at Bonneville, near Birmingham, Eng
land is being established in some parts
of Great Britain and in our own cOun-
try. The removal of the manufacturing
plant which employs very large numbers
of individuals to some suburban district,
and the erection of cottages, with gar
dens attached for the workers and their
families; the establishment Of schools and
other features of city life, the develop
ment of the property along community
lines. with the agreement that all inter
est over D per cent on the investment
shall be devoted to public improvements.
are features Of this plan Obvious diff
Cuities make the application of the plan
on a general scale impracticable, and the
solution of the problem for the majority
of cities. The registration Of Stun prop
erty is advocated by some English in
vestigators as a means of wedding out
the undesirable and insanitary tenement
house. Owners of slum property are rot
particularly sensitive as q rule, to their
responsibility as their brothers keeper.
But nobody can tell what the future may
have in store. It is not as reputable to
amass a Swollen" fortune by the maniD-
ulation of great vested interests as it was
a few years ago. If the object lessons
taught by the cOngasted population ex-
hibits held recently are needed It may
eventually be quite al disreputable to live
in luxury off the rentals from property
that IS a breeding place Of crime and vice
end disease.