Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-07-13
Enforce This Important Law.

VIZ sgras with the Macon News that II Woulu
.oa,,vIv unfortunate il the General Assem-
brv sbouId adjourn without perfecting the Ni'~i
s..,is,,cs law and provide adequate means lot
its enforcement Enacted several years ago. 'ni'
important legislation has been ineHectuai iOi
.,5 with which to establish and maintain
its administrative machinery In Nor'h %"
:, the meantime a similar measure has oeen car
ried- consistently into effect, and the oeheh'S
that State are incalcuIable. Guided by the extern
80 .r5 accurate data obtained through the regis
..,;o, of births and deaths and other vital sIa-
.,.,,o. the health authorities have been enaDIeu
90 vage wonderfully effective campaigns against
nrsvaIent diseases and to determine the partlc-
uIar sanitary needs of each DISTRICT and
Also. by means of its carefully registered "'Hi
.+;s,ics North Carolina has won place in the
health REPORTS of the United States Government
an advantage which Georgia, Notwithstanding i'S
natural heaIthfulness, is denied, because 1t mas no
record of such matters except for lew OF Che
larger towns and cities If a prospective investor
or homeseeker in some distant part OF America
wants to ascertain health conditions in North Car
.u, or in anv other State in the registration area,
he has only to turn to the federal reports; but IL
he il interested in Georgia, he has no authorlta-
tive source for such information. That is one or
the important reasons why business leaders as well
as physicians and educators are so earnestly de-
srous of putting GeOrga's Vital Statistics law INTO
oDeration: they know that it is essential to eco
nomic as we'll as to human interests.
To such arguments the Macon News adds this
particularly interesting and timely observation:
The courts of the country are trying men
who failed to register for the selective draft.
Many of them have been found to be nothing
less than slackers, and have been sent to
q
notable fact that in many instances there seems
to have been an honest question to how
old the prisoner was June 5. His liberty and
good name have been put in Jeopardy because
he was not able to establish promptly by con-
elusive evidence just how old he was.
During all these years it have been pointed
out that a complete record of births, deaths
and marriages, of which the ourts could take
judicial cognizance would prevent numerous
inconvenience and even hardships. 1t was
cited over and over again that data of this
kind furnished the very foundations of prop
erty rights. And now with the coming of the
selective draft the necessity of this data is
borne in upon more forcibIy than ever be-
fore.
We realize that the Legislature is confronted
by many urgent and worthy appeals for appropria-
tors and that it exercise caution IL it is
to take care of existing institutions and depart
ments provide for indispensable improvements and
at the time keep within bounds of the States
income. But the appropriation necessary to put
the Vital Statistics law into effect is relatively
small and, compared with the benefits it will yield
altogether trivial. As a matter of common justice
and common sense. let this important law be put
into public service.
The German chancellor is the kaiser's phono-