The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1913-01-30
STUDIES 4 GREAT PROBLEM
BUREAU OF SOCIAL HYGIENE 10
ExPLAlNED.
John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Tells Of !ts
Origin. Work and Plans for the In
vestigation of Vice Conditions.

v~estigation of Vice Conditions.
New York. Jan. 27.-1n order that
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 a result Of the
work of a special grand jury appoint
ed to investigate the white slave traf.
fc in New York City. This jury rec
commended that a public commission
be appointed to study the social evil.
MI. Rockefeller was foreman of
that. grand jury and he thereafter
gave the subject deep thought and
conferred with a large number OF lead
ing men and women. These confer
%ences," says Mr.. Rockefeller, "devel-
oped h feeling that a public commits
sion would labor under a number of
disadvantages, such as the fact that
it would be short lived; that it's 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 a real
and lasting improvement in condi-
tons, a permanent organization should
be created, the continuation of which
would not be dependent upon a tenn
porary wave of reform. nor upon the
life OF my man or group of men, but
which would go on, generation after
generation, continuously making war
fare against the forces of evil. It
also appeared that a private organiza-
ton would have, among other 'advan-
tages. a certain freedom from public
ity 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 Katherine Benz
ent Davis. superintendent of the New
York State Reformatory for Women
at Bedford Hills, N. Y; Paul M. 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.
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. u.-der Miss Davis direction.
In this laboratory it is proposed to
study from the physical, mental. So
cia1 and moral side each person com.
mitted to the r~eformatory. 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
recommend the treatment most likely
to reform the individual. or, if refor-
nation is impossible, to recommend
permanent custodial care. Further
more. reaching out beyond the indi-
viduals involved. it is believed that
thus important contributions may be
made to a fuller knowledge OF. the
conditions ultimately responsible for
vice. II this experiment is successful
the principle may prove applicable to
all classes of criminals and the con
ditions precedent to crime, and lead
to lines OF action not only more scien-
tif1c and humane but also less waste
full than those at present followed"
That it's work might be done intelli-
gently the bureau employed George ).
kneeland to make a comprehensive
survey of vice conditions in New York,
and Abraham Flexner to study the
social evil i'll 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-
tical 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 bu-
eau is not sensational or sentimen-
tai or historical; 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
entific as we'll as humane interest in
a great world problem" .
Er;eeo E>u.u Dat. ~>II:L>