The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1909-08-04
SCARE FOR ENGLAND.
Military Strength Threatened BY Race
Degeneraey.

l
Degeneraey.
About a year ago England began the
systematic collection OF statistics as 20
the physical and mental condition Of
her school children. Recently the first
Of the reports Of The medical officers
appointed under the new scheme were
published and are coming in for wide
and earnest discussion The country Is
shocked at the condition OF things re-
vealed by the first thorough inspection,
Is aroused to the danger implied in the
conditions The revival Of the military
spirit which has been going on for some
time Is intensifying the concern Of the
public, where are our soldiers coming
from If we are breeding race Of
WeaklingsP men are asking, and a
strong public demand Il going up for
immediate measures TO check the degen-
eracy which Is being revealed.
The man in the street before real
lied IN mild sort Of way that England
today i not breeding men equal TO those
of his grandfather's time. but he CON
soled himself with the reflection that
even If they were not as big they were
as healthy and declared that when the
time came Englishmeu would show that
they had not forgotten how 10 fight
Now, however, he has the situation set
before him III relentless figures and com.
paratiye tables and he realizes that
something must be done and done at
once.
So far Il Is claimed for the statistics
that they are more than partial, bat as
far as they 20 they are accurate Some
Of the new medical officers, owing to the
delay IN getting the law into working
order, organizing their staff and working
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 growing up today are nearly all
Handicapped ~ conditions under which
they are compelled to live, and many OF
them are diseased o. mentally defective.
The country children are better of IN
many respects, Of course, than the chill
dren Of the towns. But even IN the az.
rieultural districts a lamentahle amount
of under development and neglect Is
found. Two typical deports are those
of DR.. Stevenson. medical officer for
Somerset, whose system has been adopt
ed a sa model by the local government
board, and d. Sanders. medal Office for
West Ham. Somerset is almost q pure
" agricultural county where the eondi
ti0ns for the growth and development bf
child life ought to Be ideal West Ham
is one Of the great working class sub
tubs Of East London, where tho children
are crowded into tiny houses in narrow
streets and subject 10 all the hardships
resultant on the irregular and seantilY
paid employment Of their parents Is
might Be expected that Somerset would
make a better showing ID some respects
than West T7om and il does, but in
others it Is lamentably behind
To begin with the question Of height
and weight. iii 1885 the British An
thropametrcal association fixed q series
of standards based on the figures then
available for the entire country for the
height and weight Of boys and girls at
various ages The standards Of course
were averages, and it might Re expected
that in Somerset the height and weight
Of the children would be above the stan
dard It is not At most ages it is Just
about the standard while AT some il Isl
slightly lower In West Ham Of course
both height and weight a al ages are
greatly below the standard Even IN
the small towns Of Somerset the height
ard weight Of the children are notice
ably below those IN purely agricultural
districts
III the matter Of nutrition too there Is
a striking difference between the coun
try and the town. m Stevenson finds
not a single child in the whole county
which could be eiassed as distinctly
badly fed, and he only finds ! ] per cent
who are below the normal In Somerset
62 per cent. of the children are normally
and 26 per cent. are distinct
~ well noufished In West Ham, on
the other hand, # per cent. of the chill
dren are recorded as badly nourisbed,
while nearly all the rest are below the
normal
These are only a few Of the things
that have been discovered al result Of
the first year of inspeetian, but already
a demand il going UP for reform, Dr.
Ker, Che medical officer for the London
County Council schools. is advocating
the establishment Of school clinics at
which All the children win be treated
for their ailments and imperfeetions BY
medical men. In connection with this
he insists that school kitchens should
he established by which the evil Of nm
derfeeding may be remedied The as
tonishing thing about it is that the
British public Is not denoHucing these
as socialism It is taking
them quite seriously and even the Lon
don Times, that organ Of hidebound con
servatism, blessed Dr. Ker's proposals
iii ali editorial the other day
Another proposal which IS receiving
serious consideration from the educa
ton authorities IS that for the appoint
ment Of school dentists. School ocul
lists already have been appointed n some
districts, notably in Somerset, and it IS
urged that the teeth are even more i'm
portaut than the eyes. IN this the ed
ueation authorities are being supported
by the war office bully 80 per cent. Of
tie would Be recruits who offer them
selves for the British army every year
arc rejected because d their detective
teeth Kansas City Star.