The Washington times., 1914-03-10

Among the many needs Of the Dis
trict. one Of the most pressing Is a
place for the feeble minded. The diff
ferent philanthropic agencies and the
secretary Of the Board Of Charities
haye data concerning go cases Of
varying ages and financial condi-
tons Of both races. OF these I'D.
there being no place for them In the
District. so are boarded in institu-
tions outside the District. at a heavy
expense, and at a cost Of much pain
to the families who are practically
cut OF from seeing them.
We all assume that there are as
many more such afflicted people Of
all ages who are with ther fami-
lies and nothing Is said about them,
because there is no help for them
and no place to send them. 1t Is
a class that should appeal to all,
not only In the matter of sympathy,
but with a view to the possible harm
which results from their being left
at large. The marriage Of such peo-
pie Is a grave menace to the Dis
trict. entailing great and ever in
creasing expenses. as children born
Of feeble-minded parents are almost
sure to be deficient In some measure.
Danger In Heredity.
II both parents arc oefitie the
offsprings are surely deficient, and
IL one Of the parents Is feeble-m nded,
the ch ldren may be perbap. a trife
less feeble than II both parents are
affected. but In any case. the child is
sure not to be normal child. men:
tally and physically. and Is. Of
course. a burden. first in the home
and then in the school. All the
grades in all the schools suffer from
the injury and rstarding of the
classes by having just sucn children
in them.
The special schools. Of which there
Is not adequate appropriation, are
doing the very best they can to
segregate these children; trying to
teach them what little they can be
taught. These sch oois. however. can
not reach them all. or counteract, In
results Of heredity Of perhaps Sew
eral generations. 1t con readily be
seen that the defective girl will not
be married by man VINO Is normal.
and so the detectives continue to
marry each other and each genera
ton grows worse and worse
Some Horrible Examples.
There Is no institution of a char
table nature. no hospital. no organ
ization engaged in philanthropic
work. which is not, at least. cog
infant Of one or two such cases. In
investigating a case for admission
recently. a hospital found that ono
Of the causes Of trouble In 6e fam
lily Of the applicant was a defective
girl, who had a child whose father
was unknown. and this child was an
added burden on her family. already
much afflicted.
In making recent Investigations IN
the schools. l have been told Of
children so feeble-minded that they
could not be trusted to go to school
alone. and unless watched would eat
refuse they found on the street Yet
in the Capital Of one Of the might
lutely no place to send this child
to protect it from itself. or to pro-
tect the community from it
There Is a large class of people of
moderate means who have such pa
thetic cases in their families. v no
are not capable, from question Of
expense or health. or many personal
reasons. Of properly caring for such
cases.
Model Home In New Jersey.
What Is needed here Is an .nstitu-
t on like the splendid one at Vine
land. N. j.. where all ages can be
cared for. according to their needs:
where they are given light occupa-
ton. which. in many cases. they are
we'll fitted for. and where they are
developed as far as possible and Civ
en- medical treatment. The handling
of such people s Just as much a pro-
fession as anything else. and one In
which the medical professor and
persons engaged in sociological work