The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1917-11-06
A Great War Problem Is the
RecuperatiOn of Man
Power, Says Overseas
LORD RHONDDA HAS
A PLAN OF CONTROL
For Every Man Who Falls in Battle a
Baby Dies in England, Writes In
FAINT Mortality Expert To Save
Lives of Babies is a Great Duty.

With the argument that for every |
field an English baby dies, a strong
plea for the establishment of a British
Health Ministry is made III the Septem
Der issue of Overseas, the organ of
the Overseas club, which has Just
reached New York. Lord Northcliffe
! is head of the Overseas club
The writer makes the point that the
greatest post -belum task Of England
viii be the recupcration of her man
power and that the most efiicacious
way to solve this problem is to lessen
infant mortality Many of the argu-
mentS presented in favor Of health
ministry are similar to those wEich
have been advanced in this country for
the creation of a department of health
in the agitation for which the Equit-
able Life Assurance society has been
Il leader.
1.-The blessed day when peace will be
declared peace we have won-wiu
not be our last day Of war, saws Oy n
/
wage viii not be against the Hun but
against our lessening numbers. Learned
professors may assure us that a low
birth rate means a greater percentage
of sound children; it may be %. but
one doubts it, recalling the lustv mem
bers of the comparatively few large
families that exist in Britain Bat
whether they are right or not on this
ayft a4y1aI 4
lv wrong from an imperial point al
view.
THE great need Of the nation TODAY
is for children. Even if they are not
all SamSonS. every one of them is
needed. From all Britain $ wide flung
dOminions her sons have rallied T. tho
battlehelds, where She IS proving hen
| might. They have left their nome,
| and lands, and many of them Will re
! turn no more. Their ranks mast bt
: filled up. And not only filled up, but
Il strengthened. We people of the smiir,
II hold enormous tracts of lands, and
II keep them we must populate them viii
our children.
II ITO talk Of the birth rate now Is +,
H label oneself bore. Most of Us hay,
II no ewes and ears save for the battle,
II being fought on the continent and il
II the East. This is natural. but II i
II not wisdom. We must refuse to b,
II hyrnotized into watching this struggle
II and neglectng other no less vital in
II tereStS. The time for conserving in
II FAINT life is now. Every dav sees Il
II bleeding a little whittier in men and il
II infants. We cannot stop the battles
II we can stop many children dying from
II preventable causes.
II Some time ago Lord Rhondda, the1
II president of the local governmen
II board, proposed that all the depart
II ments which have the care of the pub
II lie health, some fourteen in number
II should be linked up under central al
II thorlty, say, the local government
II board, and the whole be called healt
/ ministry. In this way we should ore
II more efficient and connected servic
| from them. At the present time Their
H are periods III the life Of an individual
II when his life is no ones care. rhi
has been proved to be had from III
II point Of view Of the individual end q
the state. rs it is a mistake for
II parent to neglect his children 5 health
H 50 it is a mistake for the state t
H neglect the health Of its children 4
H so it is not economy. | wonder no
II much the doctors cost the country t.
H day. Prevention Is better than cur
II and much cheaper.
III : Although Lord Rhondda 5 schen
. called for little change in the existiu
= order of things, that little change Ii;
"A not yet been made. Yet we are losir
1: babies at greater rate than we a
/: losing men on the battlefield Mrs
[ -.
"a more dangerous to be a baby in I'm
land than a soldier Of the line
!; France. To put it into figures, we 10
I'll 100 babies out Of every 900. This
!: q serious loss to the empire and
:sl heavy indictment Of our present svstcl