Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-02-18
Will the Stork Strike !?
BY Frederic ]. Haskin

day. But one strike has been cnIled n
Gently which il so unusual that it ought
make even the most hardened of ris sit u
and take notice This n birth strike {
five years duration, advocated by Ma
garct Sanger, head of the birth contrs
movement in this country.
The time was, and not so long age
| when the mention Of birth control !
any gathering WAS followed by scan
dalized silence, and the future ostrac,sr
bof the rash and unconventional ncDtlonei
But now there is hardly debutante VIII
| cannot quote glib statistics on the subject
Most of the big periodicals, and many Q
/ the larger newspapers, are discussing Z
| openly and unblushingly. Those oi u
who believe that Ignorance and sIcnc
have never aided the solution of any vita
| question of national welfare may we'll b
encouraged by this growth of this broad
minded attitude. Whether we are for o
against the principles of birth control
the fair thing to do is to allow both side
Of the movement To state their eases clear
" and then decide the matter for our
selves, "a American citizens, self-govern
ing and untrammeled by superstition
are popularity supposed to do.
QUESTION IS ECONOMIC osE.
The main reason for the growing in
terest in birth control Is not the senti
mental one of saving the poor under-nour
ished mothers Of the slums from lives o.
hardship and early graves, or of pre-
venting the birth OF unwanted children
In already crowded families where they
will never have fair chance Of surviving
and developing into anything but burden
to the state Rather il il a purely econorn-
ic reason of such obvious urgency that
even government officials in some coun-
tries are beginning to consider IT. The
late Lord Rhondda, formerly food con
troller of Great Britain. says the end
Of the unproductive five years OF the war
found Europe with exhausted credit, a
shortage of food, and other primary re-
quiremcnts of life. All this rnesrts in-
dustrlal disorganization for some years 10
como II means hardship and coupled
with the food situation IL means starva~
tion. H. means want for a considerable
portion of the European population for n
considerable part of the lifetime of the
children now being born And these con-
dltions IN Europe will inevitably have their
effect upon America This world u sn
closely knit together that no part ri 1t
can suffer without bringing suffering TO
the rest
1t is this situation which IL responsible
for Margaret Sangnrs birth strike. It.
seems the logical thing % her, and 10
many other thinking people, ~ try 10
feed, clothe and educate the children al-
ready in the world, and prepare them IA
best we can for their huge task of paying
for the war rather than 10 thrust hordes
Of new babies into q world unable 10 feed
them properly. OF course there Is another
group Of serious thinkers who advocate
Just the reverse As cure for all our
troubles they want more children and
still more.
EXAMPLE At HOLLAND
The only way to decide which plan Is
oest is 10 look at The examples offered
Is by countries who do practice birth con-
.rol, and compare them with those who do
not. say the birth control supporters.
Take Holland for instance. Holland Is a
,hIning example of a birth control coun-
.ry. For forty-hve years public birth
'ontrol clinics have been maintained there
With the consent of the government. As a
iirect result, the family limitation en-
husiasts claim. and seem to have reason
N their side, the death rate IN Holland IS
he lowest In the world, for strange as il
nay seem, q high birth rate and a high
niant and mother mortality rate go hand
u hand Also Holland was able 10 support
'erself during the war without outside
eip because her population did not ex-
eed her food resources.
And-when the men of Holland were
1obiized as war time measure-they
lere found to be nmety-hve per cent ef-
clent, as against our sixty per cent All
nis points out, say the birth contro! en-
nusiasts, that it IS better 10 concentrate
pom the quality of our citizens than upon
ne quantity. We all must admit that
Holland Is a very pleasant and highly re-
oectable little country. They don't |
ave birth control clinics in Russia, and
hey don I have them IN China and they
ont have them in India. II will also be |
that Germany was strong
,T big families. Her population in |
-eased fifteen millions in thirty wears, and |
le Pan-GerInan dreams of national ex- |
anslop grew and waxed strong until Ger
Iany precipitated the fearful World War. !
An instance worthy of notice is the sud- |
en interest which the japanese govern |
ent Is showing in birth control. During /
lie last six months fifteen Japanese Of I
;ials have sought Margaret Sanger to /
It the benefit of her wide knowledge and /
,penence IN the work of educating people |
the real meaning and advantages of |
nth control as she sees them. They say /
iat the Japanese government agrees that /
e OveTcrowded condition of their country
cans birth control now or war of ag-
esslon twenty years hence, and they have
,clded on birth control for humane rea-
rs. Every book on the s,tbiect which !
rs. Sanger recommended to them is be-
g translated into japanese.
Margaret Sanger is the last person one
'uld expect to find leading a reform She
the mother of three sturdy children
rselt, but IN spite of this, and her years
strenuous work, she has the dehcacy
ID prettIness of a wild flower And she
emphatlcally no4 wild-eyed radical
IS to avert the revolution, to which some
ople say the present economic condition
leading, that she advocates the birth
IKE. However misguided her oppo-
nts may feel her zeal to be, no one who |
$ talked with her can fail to realize that
r patriotism and love of humanity are so
ong that she is ready to make anv
'rItice for them.
Il feel, " she said recently, sit is so inn
rtant TO the welfare of this country
ere hordes OF immigrant women are
iring children, unwanted and unfit for
according to our standards, that |
We been willing to go to Jail for voicinc
opinion"
Before she took up this work she was a
ined nurse in New York, working |
ong the two and three-room tenement
mes on the lower East Side where fami- |