Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-09-21
BY Frederic J. haskin.

ny VWoOSV0 " tVa1RIu'
No part Of the program Of the In |
ternational Congress OF Hygiene and
Demography, now being held in WASH
ington. will lay hold on the American
heart to q greater degree than that
which has for its purpose the collec-
ton and distribution Of the worlds
knowledge Of methods for the preven-
ton Of infant mortality. Nearly three
hundred thousand babies under one
year old die annually In the United
States. Out OF each thousand babies
born no less than 212 die before they
pass their second year. Once baby
reaches Its third year its chances toI
live to be so years old are better than
were its chances to live to be two years
old.
That there are tens Of thousands Of
preventable deaths among the 100000
babies that die In the United States
in the first year Of life is easily shown.
There are a number of lines Of indis-
putable evidence by which 1t may be
proved. Sweden loses So out Of each
thousand children under one year old.
We lose 1875. Did we but take as good
care Of our babies as Swedish parents
do Of theirs. nearly 10000 homes
would be spared the sadness Of hav-
ing their babies taken away by the
hand Of death. Did the American
mother protect her baby as we'll as
the mothers of Norway protect their,
more than 100000 babies year would
live who now fill new made graves.
America Can Do Il.
What Norway and Sweden have
done America can do. The mothers
of New Zealand make even a better
showing than those OF Norway and
Sweden. If our number of deaths
among babies under one year were pro-
portionate to that OF New Zealand.
more than onc-half Of all the babies
who die under one year of age would
be saved. Statistics everywhere prove
that baby saving is not an untried the
Dry. Where poorer care Of the little
ones is taken than we take of ours,
| there the number of baby deaths is
proportionately higher. For instance,
in Chill the death rate of babies is
nearly double our own and more than
four times that of New Zealand. In
European Russia three babies die
where two die in the United States.
| and In Austria three die where one
| dies In New Zealand.
But one does not have to look to
| foreign countries to see the good re-
| suits which come from saving
| campaigns. study OF our own prog
ress will show the results of our
| rising tide of health sentiment upon
| infant mortality. In 1890 the deaths
among infants under one year OF age
amounted to 20,5S0 out of each 100, 900
| born. In 1900 they amounted to 16.540.
| In other words, in 10 years there was
a saving of more than four thousand
| babies a year brought about by the
| Improvement of the health conditions
of the country.
Another evidence OF what can be
done In baby saving is to be found in
contrasts between various American
| cities. In some of them one baby out
4, of five dies before it is year old.
In others only one baby out of ten
| dies. In the whole United States 1865
| out of thousand died in 1900. In
Boston today il has been cut to 127.
All of these things conclusively point
! to the fact that infant mortality can
! be averted. All that is required Is a
strict compliance with the laws of
health. Wherever these conditions
have been met children have been
saved. We often spend $4,000 to con-
Wet a single murderer. and sometimes
almost ten times as much. The same
! amount spent in caring for the babies
and teaching how they should be guild
| ed over the dangerous roads OF in
! fancy would save hundreds of babies
| from death.
Benefaetions Of Rich.
One authority has observed that the
benefactions OF the rich in the direc-
| ton of health seem to be on the
basis that 1t Is more valuable to cure
disease than to prevent 1t. He says
that giving to n hospital is spending
money that a handful may be restored
to health, rather than giving it to the
cause OF preventive medicine that a
| townful may be protected in theirs. He
declares it is past his understanding
that philanthropic people should re-
/, gard it as more important to discover
a not yet found germ than to discover
a method OF inducing communities to
kill the infinitely more dangerous ones
that already have been found. No
where is this better evidenced than in
| the case Of infant mortality. Il has
been estimated that two thirds OF all
the deaths OF infants might be avert
ed by the mere application Of the
knowledge we now possess. How ia
get that knowledge applied IL the prob
lem. It is a problem that some COM
munities are gradually solving. .
problem whose solution lies In . care
full campaign OF education.
1t Is interesting to note how some
communities are solving II. Boston
has been making inquiries among the
mothers OF the city as to how they
feed their babies. These inquiries