Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-05-20
TRAFFIC IN BABIES TOLD OF
BY MR.. HASKIN TODAY
Daily Letter by Frederic j. Haskin

NEW YORK CITY, May IL
Children used 10 be sold into slavery
Until recently the Chinese were &C
customed to preventing an over
abundance of females by abandon
ing a certain proportion of girl ba-
bies. American women always
SILVER daintily over these foreign &C.
centricities, yet in this country to-
day thousands of children are be-
ing disposed of as though they were
puppies or kittens.
A six months investigation re-
Gently made by the New York
State Charities Aid Association, re-
vealed the appalling fact that, in
addition to the large number of in
fants annually abandoned in New
York city a baby a day is given
away through advertisements in
the daily newspapers.
Several specially significant facts
emerge as a result of this investi-
CATION" says the Associations re-
port. First, it is clear that large
numbers of unmarried mothers are
surrendering their babies to stran-
gers about whose morals, person.
atty, financial standing and stand
ards of living they know nothing.
Second. that married couples are
s~urrendering 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, psychopathlc or
tainted with hereditary disease, are
being foisted upon ignorant but in
many cases well meaning foster var
ents. Fourth, hat such indiscrim-
mate giving away of children not
only works great hardships upon IN
dividual children and individual los
ter parents, but also has the enect
of ~discrediting conscientious n IN
telligent home finding done by COM
petent child placing agencies. In
all fairness to the babies n 10
persons honestly seeking to adopt
children, legislation should De
enacted to end this indiscriminate
exchange 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-describ-
ed her tremendous difficulties in at
tempting to care for the child; how
eventually she had advertised for
some one to adopt it: how 1t a
finally been placed-and then re-
turned. After that, she advertised
several times. always with h same
result. Each time she thought she
had seen the last of the infant 1t
was returned to her, usually pc
cause IL 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 astonishing discoveries. He
found that in most cases the par
ents cared little for the moral n
financial character of h individual
willing to adopt their offspring. on
the other hand, he found that the
persons willing to adopt such chill
dren exhibited surprisingly little In
terest in the child's heredity or pre-
vious environment.
In one case the State Charities Aid
Association was called upon oy 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 thai ne
lived in almost complete isolation
without communication with rela-
tives or friends. These circum-
stances together with the mans Pc
culiar personality, led the associa-
ton to refuse his application. Some
time later, he called again, trium-
phantly displaying the photograph
of a little girl he had secured for
adoption through an advertisement
Two years later the papers announc-
ed that the child had been taken
from him on the ground of i'm
| proper guardianship.
In another instance a little white
hoy was found living in the home
| of a colored couple. who had secur-
ed him through an advertisement.
They had given him the best OF care
and were devoted to him, but the
! city authorities interviewed. believ-
ing that the child would be better
| of in the hands of foster parents OF
! his own race.
rhn e~soefaffor' reporf goes on 10