The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1911-02-02
PROBLEM IN CARE
OF DfGENfRATES
oupT. OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
L. WRIGHT SAYS THAT
SOCIETY MUST FACE
TASK.

The problem confronting the pub
IT.. school. that OF caring for mental
aofoetlyes was presented by Superin-
,o,dont of puslic instruction l.. l..
u-rioht before the Sociology class of
tho First Baptist church at Lansing
,,ccntlv Mr.. Wright also dwelt eX
tensiyely and spoke with vigor and
anxiety on the like problem facing all
.ociety-the problem OF caring for del
,oouents and checking their increase.
School Huge Hopper.
"rbe public school of America is
,il,e n huge hopper into which all kinds
If grain. American, German, Irish.
scandinavian. Australian and of every
other nationality are placed and ex-
,scted TO come out -four. IL is the mis-
sion of the public school to care for all
i,,rfs of students. We have taken care
or one great class, the bright and ef-
Gcient. we have taken care of various
Kinds of detectives 1.-THE manual train
inc and teaching of industries I'm the
school have provided for that class OF
students who are dun at books but
bright i'm some particular branch; the
hind students are sent TO the School
for the Blind; the uncomfortable To
the Industrial school. The compulsory
school law demands that every person
Of school age attend school of some
kind. What a tremendous step in So
cialism the passing of that law was,
IL, ,.,..opn,napt Of ndupa ton
was taken out of the hands of the in
g.. dual and placed In the hands Of
the state.
"But there is n large class of de-
fectives for which there is little pro-
vision made-the mental detectives.
II has been estimated by man who
has made a study of the situation that
there are 10000 mental detectives in
the state of Michigan for which no
proper povision is made The state in
stitution for them at Lapeer accom-
modates only 800.
"There are three divisions of these
defectives-the idiots, the imbeciles
and the morons, The morons are the
higher class of idiots but they are
also hopeless they are the people who
have the minds of children but the
bodies and passions of men; 1T is with
this class, the morons, that our prisons
and low dives are filed
Mr. Wright referred to an address
given recently by DIR. GODDARD before
the state legislature, I'm which he APP
pealed To them to pass laws placing a
check on the increase among these
detectives.
Blind to the Danger.
1--WE are closing our eyes MT
Wright continued ito the fact that the
increase of defective children Is greater
than that Of the efficient children. we
are going along recklessly without
Thought of the future and allowing
these detectives to increase. Recent
~ at the Lapeer institution | found an
idiot woman with three idiot children
Before her confinement i'm the institu-
ton she had married n degenerate
drunkard. Two idiots cannot possibly
produce n normal child. An idiot ano
a normal person have been known tc
poduce a normal child but the degen-
eracy comes out in the third genera
ton without fail. The state instltu-
ton at Lapeer and five or six schools
for delinquent children take care OF
only a small proportion of the defec'
tives. The public school teachers
come In direct contact with them ah'
have to care for them.
Il never was so impressed with th'
words of the scripture where 1t says
FOR / the Lord thy God am a jealous
God. visiting the sins of the tather'
upon the children unto the third an'
fourth generations. as after | begai
to study this situation"