Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1923-03-01

of all deceased persons Now, MEM
bers Of the House, can follow the
New York State Federation part way.
If l were a member Of theoNew York
state Assembly would vote for that in
part. would vote to have dead men
finger printed. That might be all right
in democracy, but so ia. as the rest
goes. i should be very sorry to see
such legislation ever enacted either in
New York State or any other state.
Such tendencies are dangerous-the
tendency toward the Capitalization of
power. / do not want to 20 into the
question Of what was originally behind
the SheppardTowner net which lis
tened to at the hearing before the COM
mittee. 1t seems to me It Ia not now
important because the Sheppard Tow
ncr act is now the law; there is no
doubt OF that. The proposition that
faces US In whether or not we will put
the approval Of the state of Maine upon
the proposition that the State stand by
the expectant mother during the time
Of expectancy. that the State under
takes to become an overseeing partner
/ in that event. They may reply. they
do reply. that no mother 10 bound to
accept the aid or oversight of the
State; yet the fact remains that the
State will assume to do 1t. anu they
reply that no State or Federal author
tiles can enter the house against the
will Of the mother. But how do we
know. once we enter into this ind ,rtak-
ing. but what before future Legisla-
lures they will come, those who are in
favor OF this kind of Legislation. and
kBay: There are certain mothers in
the State who stand in our way. who
refuse this benifcent aid Of the State
of Maine and Of the Federal Govern
ment, and We ask now for an amend
meht to put teeth into this law-not
because we hate them. but because We
, love them. and we will make them good
and healthy by force who can speak
for what future Legislatures may do
under those circumstances?
The lady who first introduced this
proposition in the House Of Represent
atives at Washington was Miss jean
cite Rankin Of Montana. Has it work
cd successfully in the State of
! Maine? Thcrn is a precedent
In 1915. Miss Rankin was elected
to the House. In 1916, the state of
Montana-the Governor, the Lcgisla-
ture and the state authorities-agrccd
that there should be set up in Montana
model workshop. as you might call
! il; and they went and did the same
kind of work as is proposed now Field
agents, spinsters mostly of this Chill
dren's Bureau. went through the state,
and they reported that they did not
miss more than ten to twenty ex-
pectant mothers of that stctc Now in
the year 1915. according to the United
| States census of 1919, the maternal
mortality in Montana ives nineteen per
| ono 11rtpI p,,l ar
In 1916, when they started their prop
uganda of pamphlets, circulars. maps
and charts to eXpectant mothers it
had risen TO twenty-five. In 1917. the
state of Montana and the Children'a
Bureau of the Federal Government
we're working fine and the machinery
was going. The mortality then rose
| from twenty-five to twenty-eight per
one hundred thousand. In 1918, it
went to thirty-f1ve. Now it must be
said that in 1918 the flu also was rag
ing. In 1919. the Children's Bureau
ran out of money and had to stop. and
although that also was a flu year. the
mortality Immediately dropped from
thirty-five per one hundred thousand to
| twenty-sX per one hundred thou sand.
Now proponents of this measure make
the most of it. Have the real mothers
of this state come to this State and
asked for this kind of legislation? Is
! it not strange that after this one hun
dred years or more of the statehood of
the State CT Maine. is it not strange
after the four hundred years of the
American people living upon this con-
tincnt. is it not strange that after the
thousands of years of children that
have been born into this world without
state aid. is it not strange that the ne
cossity has suddenly arisen ard the
welfare OF society is in danger unless
We go into an undertaking whereby we
| permit the Federal government to say
what kind of teachings shall be given
| to mothers. what kind of medicine or
what kind of doctors. and what kind of
| spinster field agents shall be sent out
| from Washington? I have seen some
of those mothers. You have. I can
imagine the family of the father and
the mother that make up the backbone
| of the people Of the State of Maine.
F., Many time I have been in their
houses. Imagine some of them that
| YOU have secn-the working people,
, the steady people who are not in poll
tics. They do not look for Jobs in
politics or offices. They would not ac-
| cept them if offered TO them. Go to
| noon when the good mother has been
preparing not dinner. but supper. ready
for her man who is coming home from
his work! The children have come olt
of school. four or five different ones of
them. You can smell in that house a
| smell perhaps Of corn beef and cab
bage and yellow soap. When you enter
you are not met by pretty maid with
| a cap On her head. You go into the
| kitchen and you sit down. and talk
with the mother. the lady of the house.
and you find that the troubles of the
day. that the troubles of the children
| who have come home from school.-you
find that the poor mother is tired; she
| is cross: but she gets the supper ready
for the man and the children, she puts
the children to bed after they are
washed and mended and patched up.
| their faces and their hands. and she
sits down to patch and mend the
panties and the stockings; and tired
as she may be, there is song in the
heart OF that woman-the song Of the
| ages, the song Of motherhood. And the
good man who has worked hard all
day takes from the shelf in the kitchen
the pipe. the pipe that the mother has
often looked at and wondered how ne
could smoke such strong pipe,-but
he is strong man. He sits down and
he smokes and reads the evening paper.
Now he knows that the Legislature is
in session because he sees it in the
headlines. He has perhaps very vague
ideas about the powers of the Legis-
lature and the powers of the govern
nent. He is more interested in the
baseball dope. He reads that Christie
Notwithstanding Six Mathewson" has
bought the Boston. Braves. ard he
reads that the Legislature is going to
adjourn pretty soon, thank God.
(Laughter.) And he reads that Lane
is on the job with coal and all is well