Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-08-14
Children and War
CHILD CONSERVATION.
by Frederic ]. Haskln


even defeat may be redeemed II the
ground work for a timely reconstruction
has been placed among the growing gene
| ration
/ The government Of the United States
is alive to this fact and the governments
| of our allies have also awakened 10 it.
| In almost all Of the countries now engaged
i'm the world struggle the work Of child
conservation IL proceeding on scale nj
most as extensive aB the work Of produc-
ing soldiers, ships or munitions. Every
where measures are being taken 10 lower
the rates Of infant mortality, and the fall
laeies which led 90 the closing Of schools
and recreation grounds rs n necessary
economy are being corrected.
In the United States this work has been
| centralized in the Childrens Bureau of the
| Department Of Labor, headed by Miss
| julia G. Lathrop, eminent rs sociolog-
| ist and former associate Of Mrs Jane
| Adams Of Chicago Hull House. While
| tho complete program for child reclana-
ton has not yet been launched by the
| Children's = Bureau, nm extensive study Of
conditions effecting children is being made
! in an cndeavor 10 determine which ri
| them mny menace the development of
| American boys and girls OF course, nm
| immense quantity Of detail Accumulated
| in wears of research Of social workers has
been placed at the disposal Of the bureau,
but much Of this cannot be applied IN the
| abnormal conditions which have grown
| out of the war.
PROBING DEATH RATES.
A largo portion of the study Of the
! Federal Chlldren's Bureau was directed
| toward the problem Of infant mortality
and invest Igations were conducted m
| communities whore n high death rate
| among babies seemed due TO social, econ
omic and civic factors Reports Of some
Of these Investigations have been previ-
otisly deta,ed in this column
II was realized thnt infant mortality
| could only be curtailed through proper
| provision for mot hers, and relative 10 this
a great deal of legislation has been intro
! duced at the behalf Of the Children =
| Bureau The most recent. md perhaps
| the most adequate Of these, was the bill
! presented jointly by Miss jeanette Rankin,
| Of Montana, and Senator Robinson Of
| Arkansas to extend 10 the mothers ~ the
| United States the measures Of protection
now IN effect IN England, where many sIc-
| cessfn inroads have been made INTO the
| rates Of infant mortality
In 1915, England succeeded IN bringing
| the infant death rate IN lower ehb than
ever before, and 10 a much lower ebb than
IN the birth registration areas Of the
/ 'nited States The belief is that this was
| duo 10 the subsidies, which IN England,
are granted to- such local welfare work NJ
| public health nursing and consultation
| centers The amount Of money spent for
| this purpose has been increased each
wear since the beginning Of the war and
4 Z Ag,s
| ~ 10000 for England and Wales. 4
still further expansion of this work y
beng discussed by Parliament.
cAN UsE SAME MEASURES HERE.
II il The belief ~ the Children Bureau
that the present alarming death rate
among mothers and young children IN tins
| country ran be reduced oniv when the
same measures are adopted here The
Rankin n-RGbinson bill provides that Fed
| eral aud be granted 20 State activities
! among mothers and children OF the rural
| districts Provision IL made, however,
| that sach Stare work shall conform 10
| standards set by the Children $ Bureau.
! For the first year each State would re-
| ceiye an appropriation Of $4,000 This
| allowance, under certain conditions, might
/ be considerably increased.
4 In rural districts, where physicians and
! hospitals are not accessible, and there i
| an almost complete lack Of trained nurses,
many mothers and babies die OF ills which
might easily have been prevented The
| public health nurse IS even more needed
! IN such districts than IN the large cities.
Another phase OF the child conserva-
ton problem Is the need Of providing
/ suitable means of recreation for growing
| children Considerable headway has
| been made in this regard by the establish
mcnt Of Chlldrens Year. The Children )
! Year. which began IN April OF this year
| and will extend until April, 1919, has been
| known as a recreation drive for having
Its objective the increase Of physical
vigor and adeptneSS among the boys and
| girls OF America 1t has been given q
| patriotic aspect, because an effort has
! been made to lmplant in the minds Of the
children that BY developing their own
/ health and strength they are performing
an invaluable service TO the country.
This work has been aided in a great
measure by the cooperation Of children 5
| organizations engaged III wartime activl-
| ties Among these might be mentioned
! the Boy Scouts, the Camp Fire Girls,
! the war gardeners Of the United States
Bureau Of Education, the Junior Red
/ Cross, the boys and girls clubs of the De
| partment OF Agriculture, and various
organizations sanctioned or supervised
! by the government.
PATRIOTIC PLAY wEEK."
As part Of this the bureau proposes TO
set aside week for the purpose of athletic
competition between or among the varl-
Gus organizations which have taken part
In the Childrens Year campaign. This
will be known as Patriotic Play Week :"
The first week in September has been sug-
gcsted for play week, but wherever an
other date may be better fitted TO the
needs of community, the change is
recommended. Whenever possible, play
week will be held in connection with a
county fair a grange meeting or other
| gatherings
Such activities as the Children's Year
campaign will be supplemented from time
| to time by other endeavors, and every
effort will be made to avoid or TO eradicate
| the sinister conditions which have shown
themselves In other countries engaged at
war In addition to the summer work at
| Fairgrounds, children's farms, settle
ment houses and other places, home life
SO far as possible will be reformed and
developed. School life and where it is of
a wholesome character, unorganized play
life will be encourage J, and instructors
| will be urged TO give more of their friend
ship and guardianship to those In their
| charge.
The keynote of the whole child con
servatlon idea was struck by President
! Wilson when he said, ''Next 10 the duty
of doing everything possible for the
n