Farmers' champion. (Elgin, Okla.) 1912-1922, 1913-02-06
STUDIES Big PROBLEM
OUREAU or SOCIAL HYGIENE %
EXPLAINED
John o. Rockefeller, Jr., Tells Of lie
orleln, Work and Plans for the
Investigation Of Vice
Conditions

CoUouttOVo
New York, Jan. 27.-ih order that
the public might better understand
the Bureau OF Social Hygiene, John
d. Rockefeller. Jr, today gave out .
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 appoint
ed to investigate the white slave |
traffic in New York City. This jury |
recommended that q public commits
sion be appointed to study the social
evil.
Mr.. Rockefeller was foreman Of that
grand jury and he thereafter gave tho
subject deep thought and conferred
with q large number Of leading men
and women. These conferences"
says Mr.. Rockefeller, developed the
feeling that a public commission
would labor under a number OF dis
| advantages, such a. the fact that 1t
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
a temporary wave Of reform. nor upon
the life of any man or group OF men,
but which would 60 on, generation
after generation, continuously making
warfare against the forces Of evfl. 1t
also appeared that private organi-
zatlon would have, among other ad-
vantages, a certain freedom from pub
betty and from political bias, which
a publicly appointed commission could
not 80 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 Kuhn, Loeb q Co.;
Starr J. Murphy, of the New York bar.
and John D. Rockefeller, Jr. AS the work
develops new members may be aAAed.
"One Of the first things undertaken
by the bureau was the establishment
at Bedford Hills, adjacent to the re-
formatory. Of . 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 roformatory. This study will
be carried on by experts and each
case will be kept under observation
for from three weeks to three montha,
az may be required. When the dag
nosis Is completed. 1t Is hoped that the
laboratory will be in position to rec
ommend the treatment most likely to
reform the individual, or, II reforma
tion IL impossible. to recommend per
. manent custodial care. Furthermore
reaching out beyond the individuals
involved. II 10 believed that thus i'm
portant contributions may be made tc
. fuller knowledge Of the conditions
a ultimately responsible for vice. Il
this experiment 10 successful the prin
Q ciple may prove applicable to al
r Glasses Of criminals and the conditions
d precedent to crime. and lead to linei
d OF action not only more scientific and
8 humane but also less wasteful thar
n those at present followed"
T. In conclusion Mr. Rockefeller
l statement says: ut cannot be to,
! strongly emphasized that the spiri
q which dominates the work Of the bu
l reau Ia not sensational or sentimen
q tai or hysterical; that 10 is not spiri
n or criticism Of public officials: bu
a that II is essentially spirit Of cor
structive suggestion and of deep scl
T. entifc as we'll as humane interest Il
great world problem"
. That its work might be done intell
10 gently the bureau employed George
= Kneeland to make a comprehensiv
survey of vice conditions In Ne,
York q. and Abraham Flexner to stud
the social evil In Europe. and thsi
+. reports sre now being prepared. Thes
- " studies will be followed by others
~ y, various American cities. and It is tn
-. ~ hope OF the bureau that. based upo
!" all Of them. may be devised q pra,
tical plan for dealing with the socii
- evil.