Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1911-08-26

There is no chance to hide away
body and ''forget it,
The responsibility for reporting
deaths falls upon the undertaken.
Heavy penalties are provided in the
law for failure to report deaths and
punishment is also provided for fail
ure to take out a burial permit be-
fore the body is inferred or for per-
uniting interment without permit.
Births are to be reported by the
physician or midwife in attendance,
and in the event of no medical at
tendance or if no midwife is present.
the father or mother must attend to
the registration. A heavy penalty is
attached TO failure to make the
proper report. Kansas, at this time,
has no law regulating the practice of
midwives, but the Vital Statistics
Law compels them to register as well
as every undertaken and physician,
with the local registrar, and penalties
are provided for practicing without
registering.
A host of good reasons marshal
themselves up for the registration of
births. Track can be kept of the
movement of population. A large
per cent of our practice in the courts
requires definite statement of age.
Offenders in certain wrongful actions
under the age of twenty-five, go to
the reformatory. 1t often costs the
State much money to determine
these ages. District Judges in Kan
CO.. n no he 70
les of parents often causes much
trouble and expenditure in learning
the correct ages of offenders. FIRE.
quently there are charges of statutory
offense in which it is very essential
to prove ages. 1t is asserted that
there are men in the peniteniiary to-
day because ages could not be proven.
On the civil side of the legal phase
there are certain cases coming up in
relation to property rights in which
ages are of great Importance, The
rights of a minor are maintained in
certain instances year after the age
of majority has been attained. Sup
pose a. case appears in which an at
tempt is being made to cheat an heir
out of property where the age is of
vital Importance. Right there an Of
fetal authentic record could shape
the determination of whole dispute
with no loss of time and no question
of accuracy. There are always cases
in Inheritance where descent and age
are necessary and desirable. The
courts are continually demanding
certificates of births and deaths.
A striking example of the need of
Vital Statistics law came up recently
in Topeka. A young man and his
parents moved back to Europe. The
parents were born across the sea but
the son was born in Topeka The
latter desired to come back to To
peka for his education. He landed
at Ellis Island and had just money
enough to get to Topeka, and the i'm
migration officers raised the question
of his being an INDECENT foreigner.
He insisted that he was born in To
peka but had no proof of it. Efforts
were made in this city to get facts
about the matter but nothing could
be found until Father Hayden be-
came interested in the case. He
ScdICI1Sd OI16 IOOOIQS Vi HIS PARISH 1OT
a week and finally located the mid
wife who attended at his birth, and
seventeen years after he was born
the fact of his birth was registered
and he was permitted to enter his
native land. That was d striking
example of the need of vital sta
tistics law.
There is another argument cited,
which cannot be improved on. For
years it has been the custom to regis
ter horses, cattle, hogs and other
livestock, but the human race has
not, until now, seen tit to spend
twenty-five cents for the registration
of a birth or a death.
Under the provisions of a change
made in the law last winter, the