The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-08-25
WAR and BABIES
THE TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORMATION BUREAU
By Frederic j. Haskin. Director,
Washington. ID. G.

Washington, Aug. 23.-The first eff |
feet of the declaration of war in this |
country upon the relations of the sexes
was an increase in the number OF /
marriages The second, according to |
somewhat vague reports, will prop
ably be falling off in the number
of births, owing to the fact that Won-
en-, whose husbands are going, or may
go to war, do not feel equal to the
responsibility of bringing children into
the world.
If war really has the effect OF re-
ducing the birth rate in this country
it will be a most unusual phenomenon.
In all previous wars, and in all the
belligerent countries in this war, the
tendency has been the opposite IL the
birth rate has not actually lncreaseo
in all cases, it is nevertheless huch
larger proportionally, when the num-
Der of homes broken up and the num-
Der of married couples separated Is
taken into consideration.
A high government official whose
name is not given is quoted as saying
that he does not blame the women
the nation for refusing, motherhood
at this time, and that the tendency
is not altogether to be deplored be-
cause what we need in the way of
babies is quality, not quantity.
That point of view is not shared by
the statesmen of other belligerent
countries. Modern warfare costs the
lives of the best men in the world
by the million, and if nation IS ID
save itself from physical degeneration
it must have babies, and especially
male babies, in quantity. In this war.
which means wholesale destruction OF
life, wholesale reproduction of life Is
a necessity of continued national exist
ence. 1t is probable that the nigh
government official referred to will
| in6 n
as have the officials Of other beilig-
erent countries, and to substitute for
fewer and better babies" more
| babies at any cost"
| War Registration and Marriage.
| A few days ago federal secret se.-
vice men raided the marriage license
4 bureau in New York and made young
| men show their registration cards for
the alleged purpose of intimidating
| the great numbers who were seeking
| the right to marry. Their presence
! had the desired effect. Next day the
number of applicants was much
smaller.
| While officials in this country ar.
| thus discouraging marriage in order
| to keep more men eligible for service,
! foreign belligerent governments are
encouraging in every way the produc-
| tive powers of their peoples in order
| that they may have materials from
which to reconstruct their shattered
| nations after the war. In Germany,
| especially, a very scientific and I'M
| toward the need for more human ma
| terial. Everything possible has been
| done to take the stigma away from
| illegitimacy. Married and unmarried
| women are accepted on like terms in
the hospitals which have been pro-
| vided for poor mothers. Likewise, in
sending soldiers home on fur1ough so
| that the birth rate may be kept up,
no distinction is made between the
| married and the unmarried. As a re-
suit Of these measures, il1egitinacy
| has greatly increased, but the birth
rate has been maintained. At the same
time Germany is trying to encourage
marriage by offering to young mar
ried couples twice the amount of food
| which their cards call for, by way of
a honeymoon present.
The general effect of war always
has been, and doubtless eventually
will be in this country, to stimulate
marriage, the birthrate and also all
illegitimate sexual relations. Thus one
English writer explains that war slim
ulates sex interest by making men
more manly, women more womanly
Man is engaged in the intensely mas
culine occupation of battle, woman il
nursing wounds and bearing children
| In this way the contrast between the
sexes, which is the source of sex at
traction, is greatly accumulated. Mod
ern civilization, on the other hand
tends to force women into the same
: occupations as men, to eliminate SCI
contrasts and with it much of the
erotic element in the relations of mel
and women.
The Fighting Man in Khaki.
There can be no doubt but that
woman demanding a vote or conduct
r ing a shoe store has vastly less 70
l mantle and erotic appeal for the in
7 tensely masculine male than woman il
the part of Red Cross nurse or tear
full waiting war bride. Likewise tn
/ fighting man in khaki, with hi
wounds and decorations, inspires tn
feminine imagination more than
man who writes novels or keeps books
= But the fact remains that civiliza
G ton is built by men who work witt
their heads rather than those VIII
y fight with their hands, and that ma
= has more and more need for the al
n of the feminine mind. In word tn
civilized tendency is toward NOR
3 comradeship between men and wo
r men, more cooperation and less croft
f passion. War restores for a time tn
old romantic relation of barbaric an
L feudal times. This appeals to tn
e imagination and sentiments and ais
r serves the practical purpose of maxim
up for some of the carnage by Undue
ing women to bear more children
: But in the nature of the case, it
o only a temporary change in the rela
lions of the sexes, and one which car
ries numerous ills in its train
t The European belligerents recos
II nize this problem of the future ger
erations and of sex relations after tn
war as one of the create" to whic
the struggle has given rise; while sc
e cial disorganization due to the wa
y is leading present problem in all {
N these countries. The naive remark
of the high government official al
W | typical of the American attitude; W
W have scarcely given this w.ir problel
w a thought.
w Our Generous Insurance Plan.
90 Our generous insurance plan IL
soldiers will go long way towar
IS solving the problem of social organ
lie ization, for it means thai relativel
n few women will be left without adj
IL A IL.