Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1917-01-30

Senate bill No. 70, otherwise known
as the sterilization bill, was the special
order yesterday afternoon at . o'clock.
Several senator's took advantage of the
opportunity to practice up on their ora
tory and the old senatororial chamber
echoed with impassioned utterances as
fervid as any that in the old days.
when senators were elected by the leeis-
ture, painted in glowing colors the quail
ifications of the candidates. There was
not so much esprit - in the flights as
"house bill No. 1912 no longer has in
Vulnerable copies of itself in every com
mittee room. In spite of this drawback,
the debate was far from dry.
1t was a rather delicate subject to
discuss before mixed audience. or
would have been so considered in the
days of our grandmotherS, and before
the "new woman" arrived. Things were
called by their first names in familiar
sort of way, but the feminine portion of
the audience chewed gum and took
deep interest, and never batted an eye
lash. 1t was an illustration of. the new
thought, and the results of taking wo-
man off the high pedestal on which for
so many years she has stood and bring
ing her down to real equality with
mere man.
Senator Farrell spoke in favor of the
BILL reading at some lcngth from re-
ports of leading alienists, and others in
charge of institutions where this class
of feeble minded and degenerate are
cared for He spoke of the Jewkes fam
lily which in seven generations had in
creased so rapidly that it furnished the
state of New York in that time seven
generations some 1900 feeble minded
citizens, who had cost the state above
$4,000 to care for them.
The Prolific Unfit.
He called attention to another family
in Ohio which was close second, in
this case the feeble mindedness follow
ing the mothers side. The father had
married twice, the children by the sec
ond wife being as were their descend
ants, normal while the descendants from
the children by the first wife had pro-
duced some 700 descendants all feeble
minded. He called attention to a case
at the asylum here where the great
grandmother was a patient, her daugh-
ter also being in the asylum and her
daughter also at one time in the asylum
though now a street walker in Portland,
and there were several children now in
the institute for the feeble minded. He
thought the state owed it to civilization
to put a stop to increase of this class.
H called attention to the fact that peo-
pie of this class We're always unusually
prolific and increased from two TO four
times as fast as normal folks.
Vinton was opposed to the plan Be
cause these poor people were of low
mentality we had no right to prevent
them using their God-given rights" If
the good women who think they are do
ing good would use the same energy,
fill these poor unfortunates up with
food and clothe them they would do
more good. "Look at Germany, " he
shouted, despite the fact that such a
look would strain a fellow s eyesight
Look at Germany. She has no feeble
minded. She takes care of her poor A
few years ago these same people who
are now asking the sterilization of these
unfortunate ones were shouting that it
was alcohol that was running our coun-
try and was the cause of all crime and
ihodhltf' ANOW tHtJ ltll US II Is lew
hundred people locked behind the bars
that are endangering civilization and
breeding criminals. How can they when
they are locked upY" he inquired Con-
cluding he said "In case of weak
minded person you can't tell whether or
not he is a criminal until he commits a
crime and then it is too late. Do you
want TO sterilize feeble minded wo-
man and then turn her loose where your
young boys are also running loOse?'
Makes Life All Sunshine
Senator Garland indorsed the bill. He
thought the senator, Vinton, did not
draw the line or understand just what
sterilization meant. Take the case of
stock. If you have the very finest and
allow a scrub sire TO run with them you
will raise scrub stock, and you will raise
nothing else and that stock win get still
more scrubby with each generation. He
quoted from some manager of or direc
tor at one of the institutions, in In
diana, who reported he had performed
23S such operations, that it was praeti-
eally painless, the person operated re-
suming his work at once. Besides it
set them free from melancholia and
gave them bright and sunny disposi-
ton and was beneficial in every way.
So true was this that many of those