Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1909-08-31
SHOWS DECLINE
OF BRITISH RACE
Authorities Are Worried - Steps
May Soon Be Taken by the
British Government to Remedy
Conditions.


lection of statistics to the physical
and mental condition Of her school
children. aud to-day the first OF tho re.
ports of the medical officers appointed
Under Tho new scheme are being pub,
iished and DIRE cbniius IN lCr Wide and
earnest discusriGa. TO say that the
country Ia shocked at the condition OF
things revealed By the first thorough
INSPECTION is putting the case mildly.
She Is ar6tised W the danger implied
in the conditions, and the revival of
the military spirit which has been go
ing on Tor some time is intcnsifying
the concern of the public. where
are our soldiers coming from II we are
breeding race of wcaklings?" men
are asking, and n strong public dc.
mand is going up for immediate meas.
ures TO check the dcscneracy which IL
being revealed.
Decline Of the srltons.
The man IN the street realized IN II
mild sort of way before that England
today Is not breeding men equal TO
those Of his grandfather's time, but he
consoicd himself with the reflection
that even II they were not quite as
big they were quite as healthy, and
declared that when the time came
Englishmcn would chow that they had
not forgotten how to fight. Now. how
ever. he has the situation set before
him IN relentless figures and compare.
tive tables, and he realizes that some.
thing must be done. and done at once.
so far II Is not claimed for the sta
tistics that they are more than partial,
but aG far as they so they are accu.
rate. Some Of the new medical Off
GERS, owing to the delay in getting the
law into working order, organizing
their stan and wording out system
Of inspection. have only six months
actual work to report on. but in nearly
every part OF England the same story
IL told. The children who are grow
ing mp today are nearly all handicap
ped by the conditions under which
they are compelled to live, and many
Of them are actually diseased or men
tally defective.
The country children are better of
In many respects, OF course. than tho
children Of the towns: hut even I'm til,
agricultural districts lamcntabl,
amount OF undcrdevelopment and neg
lcct Is found. Two typical reports ar,
those of DR.. Stevenson, medical Office
for Somerset, whose system has beer
adopted as a model by the Local Gov
eminent Board. and DIR. Sanders
medical officer for West Ham. Somer
set Is almost a purely agriculture
county, where the conditions for tn,
growth and development of child III,
ought to he ideal, while West Ham /,
one of the great workins-class suburbs
of East London. where the children
are crowded into tiny houses in mar
Tow streets. and subject to all tn,
hardships resultant on the irregula,
and scantily paid employment of thcil
parents. II might be expected, then
that Somerset would make better
showing In some respects than Yves
Ham, and II does, but In others II 1,
lamentably behind.
Story Told In Figures.
In 1885 the British Anthropomctri
cal Association fixed q series of stand
ards based on the figures then avail
able for the entire country for tn,
height and weight of boys and girls n
various ages. The standards, o
course, were averages, and In Somer
SGT the height and weight Of the chill
dren might be expected to be aboy,
the standard. II Is not. At most age
It Is Just about the standard, while a
some II Is slightly lower. In Yves
Ham. OF course, both height an,
weight at all ages are greatly belo,
the standard. Even In the small town
OF Somerset the height and weight q
the children are noticeably belo,
those in the purely agricultural di,
tricts. ...
In the matter of nutrition, too, Their
Is striking difference between tn
country and the town. DR.. Stevenso
finds not single child In the Who'll
country which could be classed as di
tinclly badly fed, and he only find
II per cent who are below the no
nal. II Somerset 62 per cent of til
children are normally nourished, an
20 per cent are distinctly well nou
ished. In West Ham, on the otht
hand, II per cent OF the children an
recorded as badly nourished. viii
nearly all the rest are below the no
NAL.
DIR. Ker, the medical officer for Ii
London County Council schools, is a
vocatinS the establishment of scho
clinics, at which all the children wi
be treated for their ailments and II
PROJECTIONS by medical men, and,
connection with this. he insists thi
school kitchens should be establishes
II.