The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1913-01-31
STUDIES BIG PROBLEM
BUREAU OF SOCIAL HYGIENE is
EXPLAINED.
John D. Rockefeller, Jry Tells OF It's
Origin, Work and Plans for the
Investigation Of Vice
Conditions.

the public might better understand
the Bureau of Social Hygiene, John
D. Rockefeller, Jr.;; today 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 result OF the
work of special grand jury ap'
pointed to investigate the white slave
traffic in New York city This jury
recommended that a public commits
sion 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 large number of lead
ing men and women. These confer
ences," says Mr. Rockefeller, "devel-
oped the feeling that public commits
sion would labor under a number OF
disadvantages, such as the fact that
it would be short lived; that its work
would be done publicly; that at best
it 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 go on, generation after
generation. continuously making war
| fare against the forces of evil. 1t also
appeared that private organization
would have, among other advantages,
certain freedom from publicity and
from political bias, which a 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. Its pres
ent members are Miss Katharine Benz
ent 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 ]. Murphy of the New York bar,
and John D. Rockefeller, Jr. AS the
work develops new members may be
added.
"One of the first things undertaken
by the bureau was the Adjustment
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
a fuller knowledge of the conditions
ultimately responsible for vice. If this
experiment is successful the principle
may prove applicable to all classes of
criminals and the onditions prece
dent 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 socia
evil.
In conclusion Mr. Rockefeller
statement says: at can not be toe
strongly emphasized that the spirit
which dominates the work of the blu
reau is not sensational or sentimen
tai or hysterical that it is not spirit
of criticism of public officials; bu
that it is essentially spirit of con
structive suggestion and of deep sci
entific as we'll as humane interest il
a great world problem"
ThIpk Human Tears of Value.