El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-10-05
To INVESTIGATE
INFANT MORTALITY
CONTINUED from previous page).

last month, but is not yet fully organ
lzed, since the full staff provided for
IN the bill has not yet been secured
RMS staff includes an assistant chleIl
a statistical expert, a special agent and
several clerks, all of whom are ap-
pointed under the civil service reguIa-
lions and who are also especially quail
med, for the specific work for which
the bureau has been created.
FOR several months the chief and her
assistants have been carefully working
out a plan for the first years work.
FIRST a careful survey Of the WORK
winch has already been accomplished
mas been made, in order that the new
bureau may not in any way duplicate
wnat is already being done In this
connection, Miss LathrOp recognizes the
valuable services which are already be-
ing performed by the bureau OF educa-
non, the census bureau and the de-
partment of commerce and labor, and
mucn of the future work of the new
bureau will be to put the Information
winch has already been acquired in a
popular form. as most Of it IS now TOO
technical and detailed for the average
reader. In a sense one of the most i'm
portant features of the work Of the
cn1Idren's bureau is popularizing the
wisdom Of others and this task will
precede for the present the original
WORK of the bureau.
with this idea, g statistical hand
book viii be compiled which will en-
Drace the archives of various bureaus
win explanatory text. This would
nave to be compiled in some way for
me use of the bureau, and with but
little additional labor and expense it
can be put into a form to be of prac-
Jlcai use TO every worker in child
welfare
Infant Mortality First.
after much consideration it has been
decided that the first subject mentioned
inf 70 - CHI q
receive the first active investigation Of
Jne bureau This decision will involve,
IIrst of all, work to establish system
of birth registration, Miss Lathr0p was
one OF the speakers before the cOnven-
IIOn Of the General Federation of Wom-
ems clubs, held in san Francisco last
summer, and has thus secured the in
Jerest Of that great body At the re-
quest OF the federation, the bureau will
prepare some popular material to aid
p the Women's clubs in the effort they
are now planning to secure better
registration laws and their enforce
ment- This seems to be the foundation
OF ali effective work for children since
10 know how to stop the death Of 200,
UUU infants yearly, we must know why
Iney die, and when, and where. We
must register their births and deaths
as the essential element of intelligent
lire saving This subject affects both
the educational and the child labor
laws, since to know when the children
OF the nation are entitled to school, we
must know their age by legal record
ana to know when they can work
legally we must have their date of
birth.
At present, effective laws for birth
registration exist only in the New Eng
land states, in Pennsylvania and in
Michigan, and even here the enforce
ment is not perfect Consequently the
study of conditions which the bureau
is planning to begin must be confined
for the present to cities located in these
states, since only here, and in a few
single cities like New York, is there a
birth registration which permits accu-
rate study as to the real conditions Of
childhood in this country. This is a
matter which is peculiar to America as
IN no other civilized nation is there
sucn neglect of the preservation Of
vital statistics. The Children's bureau
VIII soon be in position to assist the
cub women and a number Of organi-
zauons interested in waging a vigor-
Gus campaign Of education in the mat
Ter Of recording vital statistics.
TO Have Foreign Reader.
Inc bureau is to include in its staff
q librarian reader who will be suffi-
GENTLY familiar with foreign languages
10 read what is being printed in Eu-
rope regarding children and to trans
Iare what seems important for use here.