The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-11-10

pfouEnt into vac WOr!d ilS economic
value.
THE Investment In dollars ana
cents in the infant, newborn" he as
serted, rs at least s300---in the case
of some of us rich fellows 1t reaches
sl,eoe or more, but | am speaking
from the standpoint OF the poorest
and by the time the child Is year
old It Is worth $1,000
More than Loco infants were borr
In this country today That IL 5000
coo worth OF humanity. One year
from today le7 of these gifts to hu.
manly will be i'll their graves
The child grows up BY the time
II is fifteen years old II represents ar
Investment OF $4,000. at a minimum
AT twenty-one the child becomes
an individual WAT there Is then
| invested can be measured by its earn
ing power. If It works at common la
Dor IL earns sS00 a year, SIX per cent
on an investment of So 600. II the
child has gone to college its average
earnings amount to the interest on au
investment Of from $1,000 to SIS 0o0,
Nv hat are we doing with this in
vested CapitalI Are we trying to con-
serve it2
Most Important Question Lost.
THE last thing we think about. al
City Council or the al. Leg stature
IL ked for moncv te protect the
health Of the child. do We get It? They
think Of putting In "a eurhiHE or I'M
proving a street. The hardest thing to
GET money for is 70. the protection of
the child.
THE whole Department of Agr!cul-
ture Is spending thousands each day
to stamp out the foot and mouth dis
ease IN cattle There are several
states under quarantine from which
cattle cannot be shipped into another.
The disease Is net confined to cattle
II sometimes strikes the politician. i
have seen politicians with it; every
time they open their mouth they put
their foot into il. All this money is
. spent on the conservation of cattle /.
/ how much in spent to conserve human
1 life?
There is nSthing go cheap in this
I country today as human life.' Or.
( Wiley declared. and he cited figures
showing the number killed and MAIN
ed In accident and the number aging
7 of prevent2hle diseases"
After declaring his belief in the con-
scryation OF national natural resources.
the forests. the streams. the mines, the
soils. and telling Of his sympathy with
/ clifford Finch0t in the latterS work.
Or Wiley again emphasized the great
Importance of the conserving OF hu-
man life, by contrast showing that the
value of all such conservation is in
significant when compared with the
wealth OF humanity.
Appeals Through Pocketbooh
II appeal through the pocketboOk
he said, TO all 10 look to health. The
men are moacy- mad, women. fashion
mad; youth. footbal!mad and the
politician politically mad. We ask
for money to promote the public
health after everything else has been
provided for.
The average period OF life Is now
forty~four years. in the United States,
in some countries II is longer. in some
shorter We ought to lead the other
nations uf the earth In longevity, in
stead Of hold a middle ground We
can provide healthfui surroundings
We have proven ii in the Panama
Canal Zone Once the most dangerous
spot in the world. 1t is now the most
heaithfGl What General Gorgas has
done IN the Canal Zone we can do here
Millions We're spent in getting rid Of
the anophales that the diggers could
complete the canal. Millions are not
being spent 70 get the anopheles out
of the country. We have the money
bat wc viii not spend it, We say, in
an academic way. that we love life
and want to live long, but we'd rather
spend The money in other WAYS
The medical profession iS ready,
experts in hygiene and engineers in
sanitation are radY to helu us II they
are given the money with which to do
the work bu we sepnd money in the
building Of toHus many Of which lead
to the cemetIE"
sIeb. coo, 900 for Big Ditch.
tJr. Wiley told that a hundred mil
hon dollars spent ON widening and
,+.a4Af.e++iHg tht- lisN ditch in N@a-A ark
the Erie Canal, benefited the con-
tractors. but in no way benefited the
health of N" people OF the State.
We're | to go before the state
legislature at Albany and ask for a
hundred million, promising To eradi-
cafe and eliminate tuberculosis, both
huI1an and bovine. from that State.
would get only the merry ha. ha. Yet
with a hundred million dollars ! could
rid tho State of New York OF the
dreadful scouTgo | could kill every
tnberCuiar COW in the State and pay
Its owner III full TO bovine tubercu-
tosis is traceable nearly every case of
tuherculosis in the child All diseases
which are Contagious or epidemic can
5e eliminated"
Ut. Wiley told of the anxiey Of