The New York herald., 1922-03-12
Historian of American Relief Administration, Back
i From War Zone, Says Burdens Will Fall Upon
the Men and Women of Tomorrow.

y
The author OF this article is the Of
ficial historian and keeper of archives
OF the American Relief Administration.
At the outbreak OF the war he entered
the service of Food Administration. He
spent 19iS-i9is in France in. charge of
documentary and historical service.
Mr.. Dickinson returned on June 2.
1921, from a tour OF investigation last
ing six months and covering the coun-
tries OF central Europe and Russia
BY THOMAS X. DICKINSON.
HE problem of the immediate flu
L ture in Europe is differently en-
visaged by various experts. To one
il is a problem of reparations; to an
other of currency; another finds bar
riers to recovery in the political
jealousies that have broken Europe up
into a checkerboard of independent
little States. To me the problem Of
the future is the, problem of the chill
dren, the mens and women of to-
morrow, to whom in the last analysis
Europe is bequeathing her burdens of
dilemmaS and debts. s.a&-
Like hundred thousand of my fell
low Americans, have just returned
from trip to the other side of the
water to look over the European in
valid. / have felt her pulse, have
looked at her tongue, 1 lave inter-
viewed her nurses in all the countries
of central Europe. For an invalid
rx,if N. co ~ hirlr ch 10
doing very well indeed.
Not being specialist, my chief in
terest in going to Europe and inter-
viewing the thousands Of officials who
submit themselves with resignation to
the ordeal was to find out low the
men and women Of Europe were re-
acting to the herculean tasks that
have been placed upon them. 1 found
them busily talking politics and pass
ing their problems on to the next gen
GRAFTON. That brought me then to the
crux of tie problem, What Of the
next generation?"
Even when we come to the, physical
effects of war on the children we can
not assume that war is everywhere
and under all conditions bad for child
life The adjustments of a nation to
war are of piece with its adjust
ments to the workaday problems that
come up between wars. II in peace
the nation protects the life of the
mother and safeguards the growing
child we may assume that the nation
will do the same thing in war.
Where Maternity and Child Welfare
Were Safeguarded Before the War
It is this fact that made the chill
dren of Belgium and OF England even
better off during the war than they
had been before. On July 80, 1914, at
the very moment that she was de-
claring war, England passed acts more
vigorously safeguarding maternity and
the welfare of children. Throughout
the war Belgium had the advantage Of
the advanced measures of child pro-
lection put into force by the Commits
sion for Relief in Belgium. II VIC
compare these facts, which represent
the attitude of the Allies even under
danger, with the measures taken in
Germany and Austria at q like period
we find how national policy soon spells
itself out in the life and health of
children. In 1915 women constituted
over one-third of all persons en-
pIoyed in Austria, a considerable in
crease over the number of women
working in 1914. BY an emergency
law passed on August 4, 1914, less
than week after the English had
placed increased safeguards over their
mothers and children. the German
Chancellor was given power to set
aside the factory laws in force for
the well-being of women and children.
The figures as to the effects of the
war on birth and infant mortality have
not as yet been completely digested
and only general conclusions can be
drawn. In France the number OF
deaths under one year per thousand OF
the unoccupied departments rose about
25 per cent. In England, on the other
hand, thanks to prompt measures for
the conservation of childhood, there
was a positive decrease In the infant
mortality rate of something like is
per cent. In both France and England
the number of births had been seri-
ously reduced. There resulted there
IOTt III IdICc - SEcdt dnu
a small deficit of population replen-
iahment during war years. In addi-
ton to the one and half million mill
tary dead In France ii Is estimated
that there was an actual loss OF two
million more by reason of decrease In
birth rate during the war. According
to DR.. Richard p. Strong of the Har-
ward Medical School, it. will take
france seventy years to recover her
former population. granting that sue
cessful measures are taken to stem
the tide against her.
Hungary's Greatly Reduced Births
And Vastly Increased Infant Deaths
in Hungary the infant mortality
rate was Immediately raised 33 per
cent. by the war. The number of
births in Hungary per year fell from
765,000 children in 1918 to 32S,000 in
1918, reduction or almost so per cent.
Austria shows like conditions. In 1912
there was an excess Of 43.567 births;
in 1918 there was an excess of 6S,30S
deaths. The number of children born
In the area comprised in the Austrian
Republic was reduced 40 per cent be-
tween 1912 and 1918; the infant NOR
tality among children live born was
increased 40 per cent. In Italy the