The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1911-08-25
IF BORN DON'T NEGLECT T.
REPORT 1T
(Statesnlan)

II, the bureau or vital STATISTICS VIII
get you if you don't watch out!
No excuses go, from now on. c
L. Waterbury is sitting on the lid a
the state board of health Office, ant
he is just as strict about deaths Al
he is about births. So don't taxi
any chances in shutting off this morta
coil without notifying the local regis
trar. Failure to do this may result
in your facing an official complain
at the Pearly City and st. Peter, wht
is believed to stand in with he mum
dane authorities on this game, ma!
turn you back for officials credentials
According to Mr.. Waterbury, who
is sitting up on the roof of the Falk
building with his eye peeled on q
telescope or all arrivals and depart
ures, vital statistics have come to be
recognized by experts in various lines
as 1eing among the most vital of all
statistics. At first glance, birth
may not seem in itself SO important,
because baby is so very, very little
that lots of folks may overlook it
fond mothers who object to the i'm
personal pronoun it," may here sub
stitute he or "she" as the case
may be), but, on the other hand,
sometimes a birth certificate is very
important. Often it figures in big
cases in the courts, so the lawyers
say, and in the state of Wisconsin, for
example, the official records prove
that within the last five years $780,
600, 900 that should have been inher-
tied by various citizens has not been
SO distributed by the courts for the
reason that they could not prove their
parentage, and so show that they
were entitled to the estates.
Prima Facie Evidence
The law, says Mr. Waterbury, pro-
vides that where, in case in court,
there is doubt involving such a
matter. a birth certificate shall be
absolute and prima facie evidence.
He AYERS that it is surprising to dis
cover how many people there are in
the world today. who don't know.
wneG they we're born, and lots of
them don't know where they were
born, or who horned" them. Birth
certificates, it appears, are very use
full, and no household where children
occnr should be without them, as no
one. knows when they'll become
handy.
Birth and death are undoubtedly
the most important things that &C.
cur in the life of the interested per-
son." said Mr.. Waterbury yesterday
when he outlined the necessity for
popular education concerning the
need for strict enforcement of the new
vital statistics law in Idaho.
Surely then, record should be
kept of births and Deaths" he con-
.tinued, "ahd the individual has a
right when he is grown to know who
his parents were, and where and when
he was born, even If some people pay
wonder why. AS for the deaths, this
law assumes that the city, county,
state and nation have the right to
cause records to be kept of the causes
of deaths and the circumstances and
conditions under which they. occurred.
1--WE started only month ago to
the whole state under this
new law. OF course, all of the re-
CURED officers haven't been appoint
ed yet, though we are making rapid
progress of that work, and some
of the new officers aren't familiar yet
with the details of the law and their
special duties under it, naturally we
haven't received complete reports. It
is believed, however, that before
long the big machine will be working
smoothly, and then the records of
births and deaths in every city, town,
hamlet and country place will be-
come of value.
ut will be necessary for the bureau
to appoint 80 deputies and these will
in turn appoint Ave deputies each,
so that the machine will have about
$50 cogs over the state. i,
How They are Paid
Each Of the 80 local registrars Is
to receive Is cents for every birth
or death certificate that is completely
filled out and is satisfactory to the
bureau. The local registrar divides
this with the sub-registrar, so the
latter receives 12h cents for every
certificate that he sends in to the