Evening star., 1912-10-07
THE CHILDREN'S BUREAU.
BY Frederic J. Haskin.

first of all, work to establish system
of birth registration.
Miss LathrOp was one of the speakers
before the convention of the General
Federation of Women's Clubs, held in
San Francisco last summer, and has
thus secured the interest of that great
body. At the request of the fedora
tion the bureau will prepare some
popular material to aid the women's
clubs in the effort they are now plan
ming to secure better registration laws
and their enforcement. This seems to
be the foundation of all effective work
for children, since to know how to stop
the death of 100000 infants yearly we
must know why they die, and when, and
where. We must register their births
and deaths as the essential element of
intelligent life saving. This subject af-
fects 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. and 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
States Now Having Penns ylvania
Birth Registration, and and ~ aran ,,e"isan' hara
the enforcement is not perfect. Conse-
quently, the study of conditions which
the bureau is planning to begin must
located in these states, since only here
and in few single cities like New
York. is there a birth registration which
permits accurate study as to the real
conditions of childhood in this country
This iS a matter which g Jio
to America, as in no other civilized
nation is there such neglect of the
preservation of vital statistics. The
children's bureau will soon be in posi-
tion to assist the club women and
number of organizations interested in
waging a vigorous campaign of educa-
ton in the matter of recording vital
statistics.
The bureau is TO include in its staff a
librarian reader who will be sufficiently
familiar with foreign languages to read
what is being printed in Europe re-
garding children and to translate what
seems important for use here This
librarian will preserve all important pc
riodical literature relating to any phase
of child life and it is intended that this
department will become one of the most
important in the work of the bureau.
as it will contain the greatest and most
complete collection of literature pertain
ing to children to be found in the world
and it will be so arranged as to be read
lily accessible to any one. Bibliographies
will be prepared upon every subject per-
tanning to children SO that information
can be speedily given regarding any artl-
Gle in cases where q copy of it is not
procurable. This work will fill a long
felt want and will be in keeping with
the original purposes of the bureau
X x
The bureau will also establish direc.
tories of associations and individuals en-
gagged direct
Directories Also ly or Indirect
Will Be Established for H !" children M
Many inquiries regarding individual cases
of widely varying types are constantly
being received and the bureau Will en-
deavor at all times to make intelligent
answers Directories have already been
requested upon various subjects as, for
example, a directory of juvenile court
officials and a directory for the enforce
ment Of child labor laws. Compilations
and analyses of existing statutes and
proposed legislation will be made and
kept in available form.
Another important work of the bureau
will be the preparation of brief popular
monographs for distribution which will
be printed in various languages If neces-
sary. These will be especially suited to
the needs of communities outside of the
great urban centerS.
They will deal with practical matters
of hygiene such as blindness, the care
of the teeth. feeble-mindedness and
backwardness, the care of infants, the
need of birth registration, education,
child labor and kindred subjects.
These monographs will fill a long-felt
want SO that in the future it will not
be possible for senator to be quoted
as saying II have had over twenty
thousand bulletins furnished me for
distribution in my district relating to