Newark evening star and Newark advertiser., 1915-09-15
LIVE I6EPTr@|
By
NWfM11od BZackI
How Would Governmental Control of
Babies Work?

Babies WOrkf
| Do you want your baby educated by
the government?
Do you want him fed by an 1napec
tor, clothed by government visitor
and put to bed by somebody who's
paid to see that he sleeps the right
number of hours, whether he wants
to or not2
Have you any right to have chill
dren at all?
! How do you known
Have you asked the government
about it2
Who are you to bring a child into
the world and love him and take care
of him and be proud of him and work
for him and believe in him and trust
him and lean on him, as your mother
did before your
How do you know that you're eu-
genie?
Have you passed a scientific exami-
nation on the proper care of a nursing
| bottle?
Can you talk learnedly about PRO
! teids and values?"
If you can't, out upon you'll You
/ DSlOIK III I'LL OoS luihb yOb NANN
poor, little, natural, everyday chill
dren!
Nine. Selma Huldricksen, the ia
nous Norwegian psychologist and
feminist, would tell you so in a min
ute.
Nine. Huldricksen says there's
nothing the matter with the eugenio
theory of marriage and the rearing
of children, except that the Few peo-
pie who have begun to practise 1t try
to carry out the theory themselves,
instead of letting the government do
it, ..o,,,. ~.
| GIN" says Nine. Huldricksen, "before
! a couple Ia married, and it should
continue till they die.
There should be house to house
visits and ministrations of the gov
ernment from the cradle to the grave.
Households should be inspected,
children should be watched, babies
| should be bathed, fed, clothed and put
to sleep under the advice of govern
ment experts.
''The government should have super
vision of q child's education. The
| government should have the right,
when IL is deemed best, to take the
| child from the parent and rear 1t ac-
cording to the government standard
There, now, what do you think or
| Nine. Huldricksen's philosophy In
teresting, isn't it2
| WHY. ii would be nothing but a joke
to marry, bring children into the
world and raise and educate them, II
| the government would do 1t Tor us!
| Now If Nine. Huldricksen could only
arrange some way to have the gov
ernnent bear the children, what a
| Nth fhfd wOIIld be.
The twilight sleep helps some, but
that's only beginning.
| What we want, Nine. Huldrtcksen,
is to get rid Of this whole irksome
burden of the bearing Of children.
1t isn't fair for women to have to
do it, all by Themselves.
It isn't a square deal. we've thought
SO since the world began-we women
but somehow we never could tnlnK
just what to do about it.
You must know, Nine. Huldricksen,
you who know so much about the
government.
What Is this government, anyway,
that you seem to think SO highly or?
Is it something supernal, something
all wise, all powerful, all benehcent!
The postman was an hour ana
half late with my letters today. is ne
part of the government, or is ne JUST
a plain human being, with tired reet
and a disposition to gossip along the
| way?
An army officer told he the other
day that It was hard work for him
to get the men in his regiment 10 take
a really vital interest in drill when
the hot weather began.
Who are these soldiers? They were
Just human beings yesterday, weren't
they? But today they are soldiers.
They belong to the government. HOW
is 1t that they are not perfect, all at
once?
They should be, according to Nine.
Huldricksen's philosophy.
The government shall do this. the
government shall do that. VINO Is
going to make the government 40 IL
know a good old black woman who
told me once that she wasn't gong 10
worry any more about buying nome.
"Dis yer Mistah Billy Malone, he's
gwine build me my house, SAID tne
black woman, land he's gwine puild
1t Jest de way want it. De preacher
done fold me all about him. He's a
mighty good man to the poor, DIS yer
| Mistah Billy Malone"
And when l told her that Mr.. Billy
Malone was not a man at ALL but the
Building and Loan Society, her faith
began to waver
Who is this sublimated Mr.. Billy
Malone who's going to rise up all at
once and be the government ana do
all these wonderful things for us?
Do you know him? Do /?
I've met an alderman once-he's 9
part of the city government-ano,
whisperl 1 wouldn't let him tell me
what to give my little boy to eat for
anything. I'm afraid he'd suggest
chewing tobacco.
Where are they all coming from,
these super-men who will be so all
wise and so inhumanly humane the
minute they become a part OF the