Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-12-17
A shortage of Babies.

|
Lord Rosebery, deploring tn,
shortage of 100000 babies in Eng
land, extracts no comfort from tn,
prospective birth of a eugenic baby
He would rather see babies produced
under ordinary circumstances thar
rejoice at the advent of this one
miraculous child" whose birth will
| leave the country far short of the
number it should have.
This is, of course, heresy, all the
more regrettable because manifested
| in high place. Lord Rosebery well
understands that the ideal of eugen-
I les is quality and not quantity. There
are possibilities, to be sure, in hall
million inferior babies; they may
be counted on to produce statesmen,
philosophers or poets, and they have
their ultimate Importance in indus
try and war.
! n..t what has that to do with the
case? Such babies are barred by the
accident of birth from proving the
theory of eugenics, and their practical
use to the world is not under con-
sideration The fioriculturist takes
no thought of the roses sacrificed to
make the perfect rose, and why
should the eugenist concern himself
with the number of babies that re-
main unborn pending the time the
awaited eugenic baby appearsP
Doubtless the world will have to
worry along with the best kind of
babies it can get and be satisfied
If there are enough of them to carry
on its work. They are the substance
of things hoped for on which 1t must
rely until the promise of racial i'm
provement is more nearly realized
-
Formulation as Affected by Roads.
From the Louisville Courier Journal
As a general rule county that has
good roads is a prosperous county, IN
creasing in wealth and population.
The United states office of public
roads recently presented some COM
parative figures illustra ting the in
fluence of improved roads on county
progress.
In twenty-five counties taken at
random in twelve States, the num-
Der of inhabitants from 1890 to 1900
decreased 1888, an average decrease
of more than 5000 for each county.
The road improvement in these eoun-
ties was only $40 per cent.
In the same States twenty-five
other counties where the road inn
provement was 40 per cent. during the
same period were chosen for COMPARE
son. 1t was found that these had in
creased in population 49, 1888, an aver
age of nearly $4,000 in each county.
The figures show that the counties
which have built good roads have
gained heavily in population. while
those which have neglected their
highways have lost. Possibly there
We're other influences which con-
tributed to the gain or loss of popula-
hut oil hi
to believe that the roads were the
chief factor. especially as the office
of public roads makes the claim that
in other prospects the two groups of
counties were about equally matched.
1t is not surprising that a county
which has no good roads should lose
population. Progressive farmers are
more than likely to move away from
such counties, and progressive farmers
from elsewhere are not likely to take
their places. Homeseekers want the
advantages of good roads, and in
vestors cannot be interested in land
that is miles away from an improved
thoroughfare.
Land values increase where there is
proper highway maintenance. They
either decline or stand still in locali-
ties where road Improvement is
ignored. No county can expect con-
tinued prosperity if it neglects its
roads.
A National Employment Bureau.
From the Seattle Sun.
There ought to be a national en-
ployment bureau, such as Secretary
Wilson briefly outlined in one of his
Seattle addresses. Why not? The
Federal Government aids commerce;
1t aids navigation; it aids the farmer
through the Agricultural Department;
1t aids the banks through the Treas
ury Department; it aids our indus
tries In many ways. Why should it
not seek to help labor solve the vexed
and vexing problem of the unem-
| ployed? No valid argument can be
made against the proposed plan of
establishing national bureau of en-
ployment information, with power to
gather information with respect to
the labor supply and demand in all
parts of the country. Information
thus gathered could be sent out over
the country, just as weather reports,