The Kenna record. (Kenna, Roosevelt County, N.M.) 190?-1924, 1913-01-31
I STUDIES A Big PROBLEM
BUREAU OF SOCIAL HYGIENE IS
EXPLAINED.
John D. Rockefeller, Jr, Tells Of Its
Origin, Work and Plans for the In
vestigation Of Vice Conditions.

| New York.-In order that the pub.
lie might better understand the Blu
reau Of Social Hygiene, John D.
/ Rockefeller, Jr., gave out a statement
explaining the, origin, work and plans
of that institution. The bureau, he
said, came into existence about two
years ago as a result of the work of
a special grand jury appointed to in
vestigate the white slave traffic in
New York City. This jury recon-
mended that public commission be
appointed to study the social evil.
Mr.. Rockefeller was foreman of
that grand jury and he thereafter
gave the subject deep thought and
conferred with a large number OF
leading men and women. These con-
ferences,"' says Mr.. Rockefeller, de
veloped the feeling that a public com
mission would labor under a number
of disadvantages, such as the fact that
1t would be short lived: that its work
would be done publicly; that at best
1t could hardly do more than present
recommendations So the conviction
grew that in order to make real and
lasting improvement in conditions, a
permanent organization Should be
created, the continuation of which
would not be dependent upon tenn
porary wave of reform, nor upon the
life of any man or group of men, but
which would so on, generation after
generation, continuously making war
fare against the forces of evil. 1t
also appeared that a private organi-
cation would have, among other ad-
vantages, certain freedom from pub
licity and from political bias, which
publicly appointed commission could
not so easily avoid.
Therefore, as the initial step, in
the winter of 1911 the Bureau of So
cial Hygiene was formed. It's present
members are Miss Katharine Bement
Davis, superintendent of the New
York State Reformatory for Women
at Bedford Hills, N. Y; Paul NJ. War
burg, of the firm of Kuhn, Loeb &
Co.; Starr J. Murphy, of the New
York bar, and John D. Rockefeller,
Jr. AS the work develops new mem
bers may be added.
Zone of the first things undertaken
by the bureau was the establishment
at Bedford Hills, adjacent to the re-
formatory, OF a laboratory of social
hygiene, under Miss Davis direction.
In this laboratory it is proposed to
study from the physical, mental, social
and moral side each person committed
to the reformatory. This study will
be carried on by experts and each
case will be kept under observation
for from three weeks to three months,
as may be required. When the dag
nosis is completed. it is hoped that the
laboratory will be in position to rec
ommend the treatment most likely to
reform the individual, or, If reforma-
ton is impossible, to recommend per
manent custodial care. Furthermore,
reaching out beyond the individuals
involved, it is believed that thus i'm
portant contributions may be made to
fuller knowledge of the conditions
ultimately responsible for vice. II
this experiment is successful the prin-
ciple may prove applicable to all
classes of criminals and the conditions
precedent to crime, and lead to lines
of action not only more scientific and
humane but also less wasteful than
those at present followed"
That its work might be done intelli
gently the bureau employed George j.
Kneeland to make a comprehensive
survey of vice conditions in New
York, and Abraham Flexner to study
the social evil in Europe. and their
reports are now being prepared. These
studies will be followed by others in
various American cities, and it is the
hope of the bureau that, based upon
all Of them, may be devised a prac
teal plan for dealing with the social
evil.
In conclusion Mr. Rockefeller's
statement says: 1T cannot be too
strongly emphasized that the spirit
which dominates the work of the blu
reau is not sensational or sentimen.
tai or hystericaa; that it is not a spirit
of criticism of public officials; but
that it is essentially a spirit of con.
structive suggestion and of deep sci
antific aa we'll 90 human intarast T.,