New Britain herald., 1914-04-28
STATES DUTY TOWARD WEAKER CHILDREN
Alexander Johnson DeliV]rS Lee .urc Concerning feeb 6 Minded Persons.

Johnson, director of the extension department at the Training school at Vineland, N. J., addressing the State Conference of Charities and Correc- tions here yesterday, brought out the duty of the mother state toward her weaker children. He remarked:
 Recent researches made in several states have shown that the usual es- inmates which have prevailed as to the number. of feeble-minded persons in the United States have much un- derstated the facts. Instead of one in five hundred of the population, which has been a usual estimate, it seems probable that there are fully twice as many. Other studies that are being made show that the num- Der of tdelinquents who are really Predetermined, and therefore proper subjects for care and guardianship, not for reformation or punishment, is much larger than has been stated until quite recently. Some recent in- vestigations of reformatories for girls and women have shown from twenty to thirty five per cent. of the inmates to be Predetermined. Many of the terribly immoral and incorrigible girls are among the number Efforts to IclOI HI llcHI are lulllc. is merely cruelty. Permanent cus- todial care, with useful employment and treatment that will make them as happy as their condition admits of, is the only proper way of treating them.
 Present Methods Useless.
 Similar facts have been disclosed with regard to male inmates of pris- cns and reformatories. Our present methods with the army of defective delinquents are utterly useless, and are very wasteful To imprison such people for short terms, and send them out, merely to have them commit some new crime or depreciation, and go over the whole costly process of arrest, trial, commitment, and deten- tion again and again, is one of the conspicuously foolish proceedings of which every state in the Union is guilty.
 "A recent report from Pennsylvania showed 1S,0OO detectives needing proper care in that state, over and above those now in institutions. The report went on to say that 1000 of these were women of collaborating age, that most of them are already mothers of defective children, and that, until they are properly cared for and controlled, they will continue to increase and multiply. The legisla- ture was stirred to action by the, spe- cial need of protection to the women and girls. They have spent $500, ,00O: on new institution, but, so4far, have only provided for some of the boys.4 f'f's Research made ssin New Jersey, partly by the state, through the office of the commissioner of charities, and partly by the Training school at vineland, has disclosed facts which prove most clearly that feeble-mind- edness is chiefly q matter of hered-' ity, and that at least sixty-five per cent of all present cases have ln- herited the defective condition.
 In Six Generations.
 "It has been demonstrated that the defect introduced into a family by one feeble minded girl has come down through six generations in an in- creasing stream of evil; that feeble minded parents always have feeble. minded children; that all the other social evils, such as lcoholism. pros- titution, syphilis, illegitimacy, crime, insanity, are closely connected with the one great defect-in word, that if this defective condition could be eliminated every social burden would be made lighter, and some would cease to be.
 ''The lecture was illustrated with q number of slides showing children of l different degrees of idiocy There were illustrations of the Binet and other tests which showed the ances- i try for three or more generations of inmates of the Training school at l Vineland, New Jersey, where MT. l Johnson is director of the extension l department.
 "The work of the school was also l shown, the various classes and many other interesting things connected l with 1t.
 Room For Great Work. There is plenty of waste land that only needs skill and industry to be made highly profitable. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of imbe. ciles and morons, who, if neglected and abused, are a social menace, who fill the jails, prisons, and other tnsti- !! tutions, and who are increasing and multiplying at a fearful rate, but who,
 if trained to usefulness, and then co,-
 onized on the waste land, could be l approximately self-supporting, and could lead lives of happiness and de- cency. The state of Connecticut has ! recently taken over the training
 school which was founded many years I ago by Dr. Knight, one of the great leaders in the care of the feeble 1 minded of this country. Hero few
 of the many who need care can re-
 ceive it. The institution should bc
 much enlarged and new departments
 for custodial care and for industrial 1 segregation should be added, until all
 this dangerous social class shall have l proper and safe care and control. Tho