Arizona republican., 1922-05-28
The Traffic in Babies

NEW YORK CITY, May IT,
Children used to be sold into slavery.
Until recently the Chinese were ac-
customed to preventing an over
abundance of female by abandoning a
certain proportion of girl babies.
American women always shiver
daintily over these foreign ceccen-
tricities, yet in this country today
thousands of children are being dis
posed of as though they are puppies
or kittens.
A six months investigation, re-
Gently made by the New York State
Charities Aid Association, revealed
the appalling fact that, in addition to
the large number of infants annually
abandoned in New York City. a baby
day is given away through adver-
tisements in the daily newspapers.
Several specially significant facts
emerge as a result of this investiga-
tion," says the associations report.
First it is clear that large numbers
of unmarried mothers are surrender
ing their babies to strangers about
whose morals, personality, financial
standing and standards of living they
know nothing Second, that married
couples are surrendering legitimate
children without adequate reason
and in the same haphazard method.
Third, that children of unknown
history and family traits. who are
possibly feeble minded, psychopatlic
or tainted with hereditary disease,
are being foisted upon ignorant but
in many cases well-meaning foster
parents. Fourth that such indiscri-
inmate giving. away Of children not
only works great hardshipS upon
fsl1f Il xrff7,R ,Rs1I
foster parents, but also has the ef-
feet of discrediting conscientious
and intelligent home finding done by
competent child placing agencies. In
all fairness TO the babies and to per-
sons honestly seeking to adopt
children. legislation should be en-
acted to end this indiscriminate ex-
change of infants"
The attention of the Association
was first drawn to the matter
through the appeal made to it by a
desperate young mother, who had
been unable successfully to dispose
of her child through the advertising
method. The girl-she was scarcely
more than a child herself--described
her tremendous difficulties in at
tempting to care for the child: how
eventually she had advertised for
someone to adopt it; how it had fin
ally been placed.-and then returned.
After that, she advertised several
times, always with the same result.
Each time she thought she had seen
the last of the infant, it was returned
to her, usually because it cried
Cases Investigated
One of the Associations workers
was Immediately put to work on the
case. He clipped baby advertise
ments, followed them UP and made
some astounding discoveries. He
found that in most cases the parents
cared little for the moral and fin
willing to adopt their offspring On
the other hand, he found that the
persons willing to adopt such child
rem exhibited surprisingly little in-y
terest in the child's heredity Of pre-
vfous environment.
In one case the State Charities Aid
Association was called upon by an
eccentric bachelor who wanted to
adopt a little girl. The usual list
of interrogations revealed the fact
that he had no settled establishment
and no prospect of ever having one
that he was unmarried and that he
lived in almost complete isolation
without communication with relat-
JNto vi lIlNlluSs lHtoE tlAGuiilSldHteS.
together with the mans peculiar
personality. led the Association to
refuse his application. Some time
later, he called again. triumphantly
displaying the photograph of a .little
girl he had secured for adoption
through an advertisement Two
years later the papers announced
that the child had been taken from
him on the ground of improper
guardianship.
In another instance little white
boy was found living in the home
of colored couple. who had secured
him through an advertisement They
had given him the best of care and
Were devoted to him, but the. city
authorities intervened, believing that
the child would be better off in the
hands of foster parents of his own
race.
The Associations report goes on to
say that the mother of a baby who
is not wanted needs help-not help
to get rid of the baby quickly and
easily. but help in working out plan
which will preserve or reestablish so
far as possible the self respect Of
everyone concerned. The mother
needs to be protected against herself.
She may think that by giving her
baby she can nut him out of her life
that she can forget that she had ever
been a mother. but this is not true
Presumably what has been going
on in New York has been going on
a ,tr.xr