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

stand, they wotud be glad to take
moneA from any source. and most
particularly from the treasury OF the
State Of Maine. and disregard tho
Federal Government part Of 1t, es-
peciAlly II they could get more money
from the State than they could get
by joining with the Federal govern
ment in the enforcement of this
Sheppard Towner act.
There was laid on our desk .Irl
Speaker and Members of the Hous,.
two or three weeks ago q pamphlet
headed by the words, What is the
Life of the Baby WORTH" And in
large print right under 1t, what is
the Life of the Mother WORTH" This
was obviously intended as an appeal
arc opposed to the Sheppard-Towner
act are placed in the embarrassing
situation that we are presumed TO be
disintcrested in the question Of what
is the life of the baby worth and
what Is the life of the mother worth.
I studied this pamphlet very care
fully and because. although 1 may not
be follower of the great authority,
Alexander Hamilton. to the full ex-
tent perhaps, am a great admirer
Of Thomas Jefferson and Batrick
Henry, and l. am interested In the
lives Of mothers and the lives Of
things generally. and / hope that
you all have studied this pamphlet
because 1t is filled with half-truths,
that most insidious form of decspti IN.
worse than an outright falsehood be-
| cause it requires investigation to SEQ
it and to answer 1T. On the third
page. on the inside, '%his Is laid down:
.t.A, 4
in the Federal Government. The
State authorities formulate the plans
under which the work is to be done
and carry out those plans" The State
| authorities formulate the plans. but
they cannot get dollar of the Fed
eral money until those plans are
agreed to. ratified and adopted by
| the Chief of the Children's Bureau,
i the Surgeon General Of Public
| Health, and the Commissioner of
! Education, off in Washington. That
| is an absolute fact.
! On the second page of the pampi,-
| let, the pamphlet says: What the
| Maternity and Infancy Act is. The
plans submitted by the States and
approved by the Board vary greatly
| in accordance with State needs and
| the progress already made in infant
| welfare work. They include such
| measures as the following:
Glasses for mothers in prenatal
care. distribution of literature on pre-
natal and infant care and letters to
prospective mothers. Increase in num-
Der of well-baby stations. Increase in
| number of public health nurses end
employment of supervising nurses I'M
provement in birth and death registra-
ton"
Now am not one of those who stand
| for the old, half-century ago Victorian
| simplicity. Victorian Drudery; but /
regret to sec this modern tendency of
which we sec so much nowadayS,-to
discuss before mixed audiences qucs-
tons of eugenic. prenatal care. mater
nifty. and the like. These subjects are
discussed freely nowadays even though
girls of tender years may be in the
audience. For myself I would prefer
to ignore this: but as this propaganda
has raised that question. j wish to call
attention to the fact that in June, 1919.
| this Children's Bureau called a great
public meeting in Washington for the
purpose Of formulating plans TO get the
Sheppard Towner act through Congress.
and to that end they summoned men
| and women. not only from all over the
country, but from all over the world
Russians who believed in state father
hood and motherhood. parenthood of
the state; who believed that the child
! is an economic unit; japanese to tell
the American Christian mother how to
bring up her child. Among other
, things they announced their plans. and
| these words here are taken from their
plans. Evidently. by the wording. they
| In M oil ha fnll Mime n this n.
uganda that was given to us. perhaps
| because it begins--the statement OF
their plans that was published and sent
| broadcast throughout the country at
government expense. under the govern
ment stamp. from the government
printing office. The first one says here.
MATERNITY or prenatal centers suff1-
cient to provide for all cases not re-
ceiving prenatal supervision from pri-
waite physicians . The applica-
ton of the Wasserman (syphilis) test
when indicated" You do not find that
in there You find that in the original
plans. That is the purpose of the
Childrens Bureau in Washington to
make plans. to send out field agents.
to enter homes. to ask mothers such
questions as Have you taken the Was
serman test" and various other ques-
tions of that kind. This was published
as a government document entitled,
STANDARD Of Child Welfare"
We American people respect our gov
eminent. and many of US, unfortunate
ly, when We think of the federal gov
eminent. think of something that exists
an entity by itself. That is not true.
This Childrcn's Bureau is a part of the
government. 1t is the government func-
tioning in that direction. When they
send out that pamphlet. it is as if the
government was recommending them to
the people. Now among the speakers
OF this meeting in June. 1919. was Ger
tain DIR. Royal Mcckcr, and in this
bulletin of the Standard of Child We'll
fare there is quotation of what this
DR.. Royal Meeker said: whether we
discuss babies, baseball. bolshcvism or
the binomial theory, we finally come up
against the fundamental philosophy of
life-the meaning of creation. What
is it all about? Many economic discus
sions deal with babies chiefly as poten-
tial labor power =. take it that
the Children's Bureau has been estab-
lished for purpose quite similar to
that which brought about the estab-
! lishment of the Bureau of Animal Hus-
bandry."
My friend. the gentleman from Au-
gusta (Mr Maher), referred to the
State aid that we have received for
the maintenance of the University of
Maine. for agricultural work, and the
like. This DR.. Royal Meeker evidently
believed that the enforcement of the
Maternity Act would also come under
the Agricultural Department. 1t is
true. very true. that this State and
other states have been accepting Fed
oral Aid for roads. for poultry. and
other animal industry. but it is a bad
precedent to establish, and one that
really must be stopped. If your friend
who steals an automobile. when