Los Angeles herald., 1910-11-12
$4,000 CHILDREN
WORK IN GOTHAM
Federal StatistiCian Gives Data
to National Convention on
Infant Mortality
DEATHS ARE NOT REGISTERED
DR.. Wilbur Shows a Deplorable
Lack of Official Informa-
tion in Many States
DEATHS ARE NOT REGISTERED
ASSOCIATED Press,

BALTIMORE, Nov. 11.-'Medical
Prevention of Infant Mortality and
educational Prevention of Infant
Mortality" were the general topics of
discussion at today's sessions Of the
American Association for the Study
and Prevention of Infant Mortality, in
convention here.
The speakers under the first named
heading included DR.. Herman Schwarz,
DR.. Ira S. Vile and DR.. Thomas S.
Southworth of New York city, DR.. S.
w. Newmayer of Philadelphia, DR.. w.
Palmer Lucas of Boston and DR.. Henry
L. Colt of Newark. N. ].
An important feature of the session
was a report on Birth Registration,
by DR.. Cressy L. Wilbur, chief statisti-
clan of the department of vital sta
tistics of the bureau of census, Wash
ington. The session was presided over
by DR.. William H. Welch. DR.. Will
bur said:
Infant mortality cannot be stated,
as adult mortality Is in ratio to the
enumerated population. The infant
death rate must be computed In the
ratio to the number of infants born
alive during the year. Birth must
therefore be registered as regularly as
deaths, Because we do not register
births in the United States, 1t is i'm
possible to compute a death rate for
babies in any state or in any city in
the United states in such a way as to
be comparable with the infant death
rate of any other civilized country"
DR.. Wilbur said that there was ac-
curate registration or deaths Tor only
about one-half of the total population
of the country (55.S per cent?, and
that even in those states in which
there are fairly good death registra-
tion laws "the equally important OF
even more important registration of
births" is neglected.
DOCTORS NOT TO BLAME
"The blame is sometimes placed by
health officers upon physicians or mid
wives for failing or neglecting to reg
lister births. This is unfair, because
the physicians and midwives are not
charged with the enforcement of the
registration laws, but to obey them.
Here is an extract from a paper by
Florence Kelley, general secretary of
the Consumers league, in the Survey,
September 8, 1910, on What Our Off
cial Statistics Do Not Tell U.s."
In a rapidly growing number of
states children must produce their
birth certificates before they can go
to work. In New York city they must
produce such certificates before they
can enter the public schools, and again
before they can go to work. The ex-
ceptional children admitted upon other
evidence of age are put to such in
convenience in the rocess that every
exertion is made by parents to get
birth certificates. OF $4,000 children,
native-born and foreign alike, who get
working papers each year in New
York City, between tne ages of IA and
16 years, three-quarters have birth
certificates. The remaining quarter
who fail to get birth certificates are
alive American children and those
who come from certain parts of Rus
sia or from the earthquake district
of Italy. What earthquake and rev.
olution do in Europe, official sloven-
liness accomplishes throughout the
greater part of this nation, in depriv-
ing the children and citizens of the
most fundamental of all vital and in
dustrial statistics, the record of
births.''