Omaha daily bee., 1916-11-12
FRENCH SCIENTIST
ON RACE SUICIDE
Prot. Pinard Urges School Girl
Be Taught Laws of Right
Motherhood.
KILL BLIND REPRODUCTION


said Prof. A. Pinard of the French
Academy OF Medicine in an interview
with the Associated Press.
Prof. Pinard, who has devoted the
last two years to the care OF war
babies" is one of Frances most emf
nent physician and perhaps the best
authority on the physiology of re-
population. He declares that the
trouble with the birth rate of France
is voluntary resistance. with econ
omic reasons at the bottom OF it.
The state must get at those reasons,
he says, and overcome them by ap-
propriate legislation, while the in
dividual must learn more concerning
what makes a numerous and phys
ically superior population. Eugenics
he regards as certain to have an
enormous influence on the future of
the human race, while a theory Of
his own that he has named Eugen-
netique, will facilitate the practical
application OF eugenics. He is now
appealing to parliament to enforce
the application of his doctrine by OBJ
ligatory education OF the future
mother while she is still school girl
Puericultufe. as he calls it--or moral
and physical education combined---he
wants taught as currently as reading,
writing and arithmetic.
Mother Against Mare.
Blind reproduction must disap-
pear was the professors comment
on eugenics. In our country the fu-
turc mother is not from any point OF
view placed on an equal footing with
a thoroughbred brood mare.
"We have laws for the protection
OF both animals and children after
birth--the child alone lacks protec-
ton before birth, and the result is
such as shown by the statistics OF the
Baudelocque clinic; out of 10000 chill
dren tina. left the clinic alive, 5,3o7
were prematurcly born.
Legislators look upon my propo-
sition as revolutionary--even i'm
moral. / am not afraid OF their APP
probation, for am Frcnshnan
first, then 'puericulteur.' To render
the fatherland more powerful, TO pre-
serve and improve the human species
and tighten family ties, arc ambitions
that are moral enough for me even
il they are revolutionary.
War Babies Best.
Never before were there born in
Paris such. strong and handsome
babies as during this war" Prof.
Pinard declared They are strik-
ing example of what may be accom-
plished by better care OF mothers and
their offspring result Of a
spontaneous effort from every direc-
ton to do something for France, for
the defenders OF France, and for the
wives and children OF the soldiers left
at home without protection. At the
bureau OF vital statistics, upon the
declaration OF the birth OF child,
every mother was sought out and, il
she needed assistance, she got 1t, while
mothers were prevailed upon more
than ever to nurse their own children;
in consequence, the war generation
will be a rugged one.
Large families are not found
among the thoughtful and prudent"
Prof. Pinard points out, as proof that
restriction OF births is the result OF
reflection. They are only among
those whose circumstances permit
them to neglect prudence, or among
those who do not think, who live
from day to day. from hand to mouth,
and never worry about the future.
Prudence - embracing economy = a
native quality in the French char
acter, carried to excess, is, if not the
only cause, the most potent influence
in the restriction OF births.
France of late years has been oc-
cupied in saving and spending; new
social laws have continually increased
public expenditures and added to the
family mans taxes, until just before
the war the budget amounted to LIS
francs ($2s) head for every inhab-
liant. r
Cost Of Children.
"The man with a large family is
more heavily taxed under our system
than the childless couple or the
bachelor, many OF whom escape taxa
ton altogether. The cost Of raising
family went up continually, while
the heads OF families did not derive
from these social laws the profit that
was promised to offset the disad-
vantages.
THE possibility OF remedying the
situation by legislation has already
been proven" said DIR. Pinard who
urges the adoption of the law pro-
posed by Monsieur Benazet, deputy
Of the lndre. The law OF 1878 that
dispensed young married men from
military service resulted in an in
crease Of II per cent in births in two
years
The regretted General Gallieni.
who realized the danger and was a
man OF action, succeeded by mere ad-
ministrative measures in obtaining a
like result in Madagascar when he
was governdr-general OF that colony.
In 1900 there were So births per 1000
inhabitants there; they rose to As in
1901, to AZ in 1902 and to 81 in 1908.
Parliamentary action on such ques-
tons is slow; il required some mo-
mentous event, such as the present
war, 10 stir every mind to the neces-
sity of action.
Family System Right.
The bringing up OF children in
public institutions is failure" Prof.
Pinard declares. France will re-
people itself only through the family.
That systems which separate the
mother from her offspring are de-
fective, is proven by the report of
DIR. Drouineau on 100000 children
confided to the Assistance Publipue,'
Of whom only third were brought
to manhood.
INSTEAD Of substituting itself for
the mother charity---or common jus