The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-10-27
JUDICI0US BIRTH CONTROL IS RAGE
 AID, .KNOPF SAYS
Would Establish Clinic For Dissemination of Infor-
 nation on Subject.

Cincinnati, O., Oct. 27-"Judicious birth control is not race suicide, but race preservation" said Dr. $. Adol- phus Knopf, Professor of Medicine at the New York Post Graduate Medi- cal School and Hospital, in an address here today before the American Pub lie Health Association. Vigorously urging repeal of Federal and State laws prohibiting circulation of inform ation as to birth control, pr. Knopf pleaded for the establishment of free clinics directed by regular physicians of high repute, paid by city or state. who would be competent to give in- formation as to birth limitations in cases where they deemed such instruc- ton advisable.
 At the conclusion of his paper Dr. Knopf gave the answers to a number of letters of inquiry sent to leading clergymen, jurors, sociologists and po- litical economists and their opinions were, he said, almost unanimous with those expressed by him.
 Dr. Knopf pointed out that in the majority of cases the larger the fam fly the more congested will be the quarters they live in and the more unsanitary the environment.
 With the increase of the family" he said, there is rarely, if ever, corresponding income of the earnings of the father or mother, and as a re- suit, malnutrition and insufficient clothing enter as factors to prehis- pose to tuberculosis and other dis eases. In the larger families it is usually the latter .born who contract tuberculosis most frequently. Fifty thousand children die annually from tuberculosis in the United States and the morbidity and mortality from this disease is highest among the poor where the number of childHen is greatest.
 '"The economic loss to families and communities by the deaths of wives and children because of transmitted infectious diseases, cardiac and renal . affections, to which has been added excessive child+bearing, goes into mill lions. Tbese vast sums and untold physical sufferings could have been saved by judicious birth control aA ex- ercised in Holland, where since the es- tablishment of birth control clinics the population has increased in physical stature and wel1-being. The average birth rate in three principal cities of Holland was 33.7 per thousand in 1881 when birth control clinics were start ed. In 1912 it had fallen to 25.3 per thousand. The general death rate, however, had dropped during the same period from PAP to III per thous- and"
 The records of the charity organiza- tions prove that, as Fule, the larger the families are that apply for relief, the greater is their distress, according to pr. Knopf. The larger the family of the poor, the more there is child la- bor, the more disruption and irregu- larity, and the more frequently one finds a lower standard of life and mor- als in general, he said. In Holland, among families of the lajborers, there is a better personal and general hy- giene and a finer moral and intellec- tual developmentfs fsince the establish rnent of birth control clinics, he as- serted; young people marry earlier. and 1llegitimacy, venereal diseases and, prostitution have become more and more rare.
 Dr. Knopf said that as a result of deep study he believes in birth con- trol based on medical, sanitary, mo1al and economic reasons. He believes in it. he declared, because with aid of it man and woman could decide when to have a child. could work and prepare for its arrival welcome it as the fulfil- ment of their hearts desire, watch over it tenderly, care for and educate it, and raise it to be happy, healthy and strong in mind, body and soul.
 Dr. Knopf is convinced, he said. by following the example of Holland the life span of the American, people would be heightened.