Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1912-07-13
talk
ON SAVING
THE BABIES
THE FOLLOWING AID.
VICE RECALLS THE OLD say
ING: "H-L is PAVED WITH
GOOD INTENTIONS, ADVICE AND
INFANTS SKULLS"

Some well-meaning persons are
holding "Baby Saving Shows" in some
of the larger cities. They are endeav-
oring to impress upon mothers the
kind Of treatment necessary to reduce
the rate of infant mortality. Here is
some information dispensed by them
in printed booklet for dwellers in
tenement districts to follow:
In this booklet the mother is told
"she should not work so hard as us
ual" before the baby Is born. Then in
caring for the baby she is told "he
should sleep alone. 1t is very bad for
him to be in the bed with older peo-
pie" Other advice is as follows:
Your baby needs fresh air all the
time Keep the baby out of the
kitchen" Don't consult a neighbor
when the baby is sick. Get doctor. ="
"The breast-fed baby's chance Of llv-
ing is just about five times as good as
bottle fed baby's.'
The mother is also advised to be
careful about the condition of the
house, The booklet asks: Are the
wall paper and plaster dry and
clean? "Is there plenty of sunlight
in the room" Are there any pools of
dirty water, dump heaps, manure
heaps or anything else that causes a
bad smell near the house?"
No doubt this is all good advice, but
is it not mockery to offer it to the in
dividuals that these baby saving shows
are intended to reach? While eco
nomic conditions force mothers to go
out to work or to do all the drudgery
that must be done about a house what
| is to be gained by telling her that
"she should not work so hard as us
ual - or to keep the baby out Of the
Kitchen" While workers get so small
a share of what they produce (when
allowed to produce at ALL what can
be accomplished by advising them
concerning the risk of living in houses
with damp and dirty plastering and
wall paper, or with insufficient sun
light, or with unsanitary surround
ings?
Joseph Fels once Mortified some
good people by telling them that IL the
corpses OF all babies who have died in
day as result of unjust economic
conditions were placed in front of the
state houses where the wilfully blind
legislators might see them, 1t would
do more to save other babies than all
the charity work Of life time The
advice being so freely offered by these
promoters Of baby saving shows makes
clear that Mr.. Fels was right. But 1t
may be that the legislators do not
alone need such an awful object les
son. The promoters of charity schemes
who favor anything to save the babies
except abolition of the cause that
makes them die untimely deaths, may
need 1t also.
The baby saving problem Is but one
phase Of the problem Of poverty. To
abolish povrty is about the last thing
that the charity workers seem to
want There is no other reasonable
explanation of their blindness. In ev-
cry city where poverty Is forcing pop
ulation into crowded slum districts
there Is enough vacant land being
withheld from use to afford room for
dwellings for all the tenement dwell
Iers and still leave lots of space to
spare. In every city there are old
unsanitary buildings in which no one
would live II low wages and high
rents did not compel them In every
city there are also laws in force which
penallze those who make improve
ments and encourage those who oh
struct them. Thus in every city, and
in the country districts also, oppor-
tunities for production are going 10
waste while men must crowd each
other for permission to work at the
opportunities left open, and only
those who will work for the lowest
wages may hope to get this coveted
favor. Yet the obvious remedy for
this state Of affairs, removal OF the
penalty which our tax laws place on
Industry and placing the penalty in
stead on the Withholding Of oppor-
tunites from use, that is the thing
which charity organizations are as ex-
pert In lodging as are the members
Of the legislatures.
Charity organizations Of the United
States held their Both annual conven-
tion at Cleveland on the Goth Of June.
Some speakers tried to impress on
those attending their duty In this mat
ter. Did their words fall on deaf
ears