St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1913-07-23

whom ignorance, immortality, vice
and crime held sway, and this story,
awful as it was, is confirmed by
Gov. Fielder, who made the follow
ing statement about what he had
seen:
81 have been shocked at the con-
ditions 1 found. Evidently these
people are a serious menace to the
state of New Jersey because they
produce so many persons that inevi-
tably become public charges. They
have inbred and led lawless and
scandalous lives till they have be-
come a race of imbeciles, criminals
and detectives,
THE state must segregate them,
that is certain. 1 think it may be
necessary to steriliZe some of them.
They tell me there are as many as
! 1900 right here in Burlington
county and several thousand in the
pine belt of the state.
For the children we must have
social centers in the schools, and
these would do something for the
! grown persons. There must be
sharp heed that the children at
tend school, and it will be possible
to educate parents in many cases.
1.-THE low mentality of these
people is the great handicap, and it
is plainly responsible for the low
moral standards among them. Lack
! of education is another factor, and
the universal poverty and the fact
that the children all have to go
to work at a tender age contribute
to keep these people down.
But from what 1 have seen to-
day I believe that the Pineys large
ly know their plight. They are now
generally sending their children to
school. They are no longer indif-
ferent to whether the child can read
or write. There is hope for a race
that knows where it stands.
But I will act on the situation
at once. Just as soon as I can
intend to have a conference with
Commissioner of Charities and Cor
rections, Joseph P. Byres, on the
subject
Here is a state of affairs in the
heart of one of the richest, most
pOpulous and progressive states of
the Union that constitutes a seriousN
menace to the welfare of the con-
monwealth and presents a problem
that demands radical and heroic
treatment. Such treatment it is
uOW SSI1OuSIy pIOpOS0u W apply anu
in the application thereof New Jer-
sey is armed with a sterilization law
under the operation of which a de-
cline in the birthrate of degenerates
can be effected.
But New Jersey is not the only
commonwealth having this problem
to deal with. Other states have
their Pineys, who are permitted to
multiply and perpetuate a race of
degenerates, without the interior
ence of the state, whose right and
bounden duty is to adopt and en-
force such measures as will best
protect society and insure the
health and safety of the race.
In addition to the states, to which
the standard has heretofore re-
ferred, which have laws providing
for the segregation and sterilization
of degenerates or dealing with the
question in some other form, Penn
sylvania and North Dakota have re-
Gently passed laws prohibiting the
marriage of metally and physically
unfit persons.
Vermont has no pine belt like
New Jersey, but practically every
community has cases, more or less
numerous, of degenerates, whose
running at large constitutes a real
danger to society, and in dealing
with whom the state has an imper-
ative duty which it cannot afford to
neglect [Enosburg Standard.