Arizona republican., 1922-06-14
THERE IS Use FOR
TRAINED FOOLS
IS VIEW ADVANCED
Scientific Determination of
Significance of Word
Moron Is Made in Bull
letin Issued BY Charities
Association

NEW YORK June 13.-The word
"nooron," which criminologists as well
as newspaper headline writer's fire.
ouently use to designate a person OF
morbidly criminal tendencies, is de-
fined in a bulletin issued by the
State Charities Aid association.
moron" they say, comes from the
Greek ..,noros." meaning fool" And
the word. as applied by psychiatrists
end mental specialists, means just
that-"fool.'
It is not applied to insane persons,
TO lunatics, imbeciles or idiots, but TO
the considerable percentage OF the
population whose limited reasoning
power places them on the great DOR
derline of mental deficiency.
"Defectives" Called Liabilities
Before the word moron" came into
general use such persons were called
ssdefectives." They We're those who,
If left to shift for themselves, usually
became liabilities TO society.
Figuring from statistics gathered
bv army draft boards, the state as
sociation estimates that there are
$4,000 mental detectives
New York state today. This would
indicate. SAYS the report, that one
ficient and incapable of reasoning
sound judgments as to what is right
or wrong.
OF this number, 5000 are in state
institutions: 500 are in colonies at
tacled to such institutions; ana ioO0
are enrolled in special classes in pup
lie schools. This leaves some Sl,OVo
without any active supervision-at
large in all walks of life. Describing
the defective, the charities asSocla-
ton says:
sHe is often unable to adjust him
self to permanent employment and
is habitually changing his job. He Is
tremendously responsive to sugses-
tion and is thus particularly suseept.
ible to the criminal influence OF
others.
Nearly all the attempts at assas-
sination of prominent men In recent
years and of criminal assaults with
sexual phase have been the work ct
mental deficients. A moron killed
President Mckinley and another tried
to Kill Roosevelt. A moron tried to
kill Mayor Mitchell and shoot Cor
poration Counsel Polk. Mayor Gay
nor was shot by another defective"
Are Not as Insane
There is a distinct difference be-
tween mental deficiency and insanity,
it is pointed out. They have little
in common. Insanity is mental dis
ease which is durable in at least %
per cent of cases and preyentable ih
40 per cent.
A moron or mental defective is a
person who definitely lacks brain ca
pacity. The condition usually is in
l1erited and cannot be cured, for,
say the psychiatrists, science cam
not add what nature has omitted.
In other words. an adult moron is
Just a man or woman with the brain
of a child
The schools are considered the best
sorting pen for the discovery of the
detectives. There he automatically is
separated from the children of nor
NAL intelligence. Perhaps he pro-
crosses to the sixth grade without
displaying any lack of the power to
absorb knowledge. Then he falls be-
hind He doesn't seem able to learn
any more: his classmates go on,
while he remains, yainly trying to ab-
sorb his lessons, but without success.
Should he continue in school at this
time the chances are that he will be-
come incorrigible-tfe sort of over
grown bully who far outstrips has
playmates in size and strength, pat
who is a dwarf in the classroom. or
if he leaves school he is apt to JOIN
the class of easily led criminals, un-
guided by any sense or right or
wrong. wholly irresponsible, who go
from misdemeanor to felony and
thence to the electric chair or to
Mattewan.
How to Test Morons
Ar tho r,e,-iod of arrested develop
ment psychiatrists claim to be able
70 pick out the detectives by their
reaction to certain simple questions,
included in the Binet- Simon measur-
ing scale of intelligence. In the vo-
cabulary test the examiner may say:
Il want to find out how many
words YOU know. Listen, and when |
say word you tell me what 1t
means The word nerve comes
early in this test. Although 1t is
understood that to define the phys
ical organism is a matter Tor the
adult mind it has been found that
the normal child of s years will an
swer with. you've got nerve, or
something similar, which is scored as
a normal reaction.
Another test is known as Detect
ing Absurdities." Here the examiner
may say, yesterday the police found
the body of a girl cut into is pieces.
They believe she killed herself"
The SUBJ normal, the defective or
..moron. will probably react with this
exclamation: "Think she killed her
self, They know she did" Or it
may be, .tShe was a foolish girl to
Kill herself. No girl would do that
unless she was crazy.
Where do the detectives come
from? Are they Just accidents of
birth? The answer to this question
is best illustrated in the story of the
Kallakaks.
About 1870 Martin Kallakalz,
Young man of good family, who was
serving in George Washington's
army, met feeble minded girl and
became the father of feeble minded
son. Later he married a normal
woman The history of the two FAM
lilies that go back to Martin kallakak
have been accurately traced.
The feeble minded woman had $50
descendants. most of whom have been
paupers, criminals, immoral women
and drunkards. The normal woman
had about an equal number of de-
scendants, all of whom have been
worthy members of their commune
ties and some of whom have attained
10 positions of public eminence.
Given a chance, however the moron
often becomes a useful member of
society. Sometimes he displays a
rare aptitude for the simpler branches
of mechanics. Usually it is some
thing manual. although cases have
been known of mental detectives who
displayed rare talents with palette
md brush.
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