Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1913-02-05
STUDIES BIG PROBLEM
BUREAU OF SOCIAL HYGIENE IS
EXPLAINED.
John D. Rockefeller. Dr., Tets of Its
Origin, Work and Plans for the
Investigation of Vice
Conditions.


New York, Jan. 27.-In order
that the public might better under
stand the Bureau of Social Hygiene.
John d. Rockefeller, Jr., TO-DAY gave
out statement explaining The ORR
gin. work and plans of thai insti-
tuition. The bureau. he said. came
into existence about two Years ago
as result of the work of a special
grand jury appointed TO investigate
the white slave traffic in New York
city. This jury recommended that
a 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 public COM
mission would labor under a number
of disadvantages, such as the fact
that that it would be short lived
that its work would be done pub
lielyi that at best it could hardly do
more than present recommendations
So the conviction grew that in or
der to make a real and lasting i'm
proyement in conditions, permanent
organization should be created, the
continuation of which would not be
dependent upon temporary wave of
reform, nor upon the life of any man
or group of men, but which would
go on, generation after generation,
continuously making warfare against
the forces of evil. 1t also appeared
that private organization would
have, among other advantages, a GER
tain freedom from publicity and from
political bias, which a publicly ap-
pointed commission could not so cas-
lily avoid
Therefore, as the initial step. in
the winter of 1911 the Bureau of So
cial Hygiene was formed It's pres
est members are Miss Katharine
Bement Davis, superintendent of the
New York state Reformatory for
Women at Bedford Hills, N. Y; Paul
M. Warburg of the firm of Kuhn.
Loeb & Co.; Starr j. Murphy, of the
New York bar, and John d. Rookie
Teller, Jr. AS the work develops new
members may be added
zone of the first things undertake
en- by the bureau was the establish
ment at Bedford Hills adjacent to the
reformatory. of a laboratory of So
cial hygiene, under Miss Davis di-
rection In this laboratory it is pro-
posed to study from the physical,
mental social and moral side each
person committed to the reformatory.
This study will be carried on by ex-
perts and each case will be kept I'M
der observation for from three weeks
to three months, as may be required
When the diagnosis is completed, it
is hoped that the laboratory will be
in position to recommend the treat
ment most likely to reform the in
diyidual, or, if reformation is impos-
sible, to recommend permanent Gus
todial care Furthermore, reaching
| out beyond the individuals involved,
it is believed that thus important
contributions may be made to a full
er knowledge of the condition ulti-
mately responsible for vice. If this
| experiment is successful the princi-
pie may prove applicable to all
classes of criminals and the condi-
tions precedent to crime and lead to
lines of action not only more unscien-
titic and humane but also less waste
! full than those at present followed. -
That its work might be done in
| diligently the bureau employed
George J. Kneeland to make com
/ prehensive survey of vice conditions
in New York, and Abraham Flexner
to study the social evil in Europe,
| and their reports are now being pre-
| pared. These studies will be fol-
lowed by others in various Amer
! ican cities, and it is the hope of the
bureau that, based upon all of them,
may be devised practical plan for
/ dealing with the social evil.
! In conclusion Mr.. Rockefeller
| statement says: 1T cannot be too
strongly emphasized that the spirit
which dominates the work of the
bureau is not sensational or senti-
mental or historical; that it is not a
| spirit of criticism of public officials /:
but that it is essentially a spirit of
constructive suggestion and of deep
scientific as well as humane interest
/ in a great world problem