Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1912-05-01
VIRGINIA TO RECORD
BIRTHS AND DEATHS
Vital Statistics Made 0bIigator,
In the State
THE NEW LAW GIVES RECORD
Neglect in the Past Has Entailed
Great Hardship


conscious memorial OF their exist
ence. Empires have risen, have ex-
tended their sway and have left no
record OF their achievements. Great
dynasties have ruled over wide do /
minions and have fallen without
transmitting to posterity a single
chronicle of their deeds. Even
where future generations have been
able to reconstruct the history OF
the past, it has been through the
unconscious memorials rather than
through records that man intended
for pOsterity. The memoranda OF
business transactions which Baby.
lOnian merchants made to refresh
their memory have yielded more
light on the history of that empire
than have the chronicles OF kings
the pOtteries OF Crete tell the story
OF MinOan civilization where no legi
BILE record has ever been deciphered
To complete the story of a single
| conquest recorded on an Egyptian
obelisk, historians have been com.
PEELED to delve in graves and to I'M
ravel the meaning of unconscious
records of that day.
The age OF neglect is past and
present-day civilization can not fail
10 leave behind it for the informa.
ton OF vemotest posterity, a con-
nected, conscious story OF it's life.
But what men have done for the
race, they have not done for the indi-
vidual. They record the act OF gov
eminent and preserve the records
of State, but they take little thought
of the individual. Millions OF men
die every year, even in civilized
countries. and are remembered only
/ in the minds of their friends. With !
in few years, all accurate record |
OF their life has vanished; none
knows when they were born or of !
what they died or how old they
we're when they passed beyond. |
Indeed, unless man attain to fame, |
or commit some crime, or serve a
term in prison, or enlist in the
army or navy of his country, no
permanent record OF his existence
survives in many States, except by
accident.
This is not as it should be. Men
do more for the animals they cher.
ish. A blOOded horse is registered,
the date of his birth is known, the
names Of his sire and his dam are
recorded. Often it is possible 10
trace the genealogy of a famous
horse for generations. Sometimes
men have been forced to reckon
their own ages by the ages Of their
stock.
The last General Assembly OF Vir.
ginia. by the enactment of what is
known as the Vital Statistics Law,
has put an end to this state of affairs.
1t has provided that the State Board
of Health be required to keep a
strict and complete record of every
birth and death hereafter occurring
in Virginia, and 1t has eSta blished
machinery which will insure the en-.
forcement of the law. From aud
after June Is. 1912. every person
born in Virginia will have record
of his name. the ages and birth
places of his parents, his national.
Ity, the time of his birth and like
details. Every man who dies lfter
that time will leave for posterity a
record that will show the time of his
death, his age, the names OF his pa
rents, the nature of the disease OF
which he died, and the place of his
death and interment. From that
time forward. no man will be born
or die in the Common wealth, regard.
less of his estate or condition, whose
existence is not matter of record
Every man is assured vital record,
the least that government can do to
preserve the existence of citizens
Virginia Health Bulletin.
= -f-
5 All sections and all classes art
benefited by good roads. Few
/ movements are as truly national as
the cause Of highway improvement.