Evening star., 1925-12-13

'''NAiaiASAlSVb Sltltl tlllitN dIllOllS pres
ent-day American faVorites.
The baby's popularity can be at
trlbuted to one or both of two out
standing CharacteriSticS-(a) it is al
ways new, and (b) it provides an un-
dying source of conversation, gossip
and advice from near and distant rela-
tives on how to raise it
These facts lend interest, though
small at present, to the eventual re-
consideration by Congress of the Shep-
pard-Towner maternity law. Passed
as an experiment in 1921 to run for
nVe years, Congress must decide
whether to continue or discontinue the
Federal appropriations which go to
assist the States in spreading scientific
information concerning maternity and
the proper care of children.
Advice Freest of All.
Now of all things which may be OBJ
tained free i'll the United States of
America, advice on maternity and the
raising of children is accounted by ex-
pert accountants to be the freest
Some statistiCianS maintain with con-
siderable heat that the supply of COM
pressed air obtained at service sta
tlonS ranks high as a coStless COM
modify. But others reply Coldly that
the hot air available in all quarters
concerning children and their proper
care SurpaSSeS the compressed air by
a generously fat margin.
1t is difficult, therefore, for some OBJ
servers to understand why the Federal
Government should appropriate good
money for spreading such information
when all the prospective mother or
the young mother has to do to get
1t without special appropriation is to
call up Aunt Eliza on the telephone
and ask pertinent question or stand
on the back porch and hear Mrs.
OFlaherty talk about the Scanda louS
way Mrs. Cohen is raising little Able.
The answer to this question, of
course, is that many mothers survive
the advice that Aunt Eliza gives over
the telephone. and many of them
raise their children despite the theories
of Mrs. O'Flaherty, but that the num-
Der is far too small compared to what
1t should be. There is a great deal
of difference between scientific advice
on motherhood and the care of chill
dren, and that which is passed back
and forth over the back fence. And
preponderating evidence favors the
former over the latter
Divided Into Groups.
But this is not the easiest argu-
ment proponents of the law must ad-
vance for its continuance There will
be opposition to further appropria-
lions, ana 1t is pretty we'll known
from what quarters it will come.
For instance: The United States is
divided into three separate groups
those who mount soap boxes, fire
plugs or discarded ash cans and de-
mand to know what business the Fed
eral Government has to tell the States
what they should or should not do;
those who mount soap boxes, fireplugs
or discarded ash cans and demand to
W ha >ala
does not do more for the States; and
finally, those who are sometimes de-
SCribed as oX-eyed, and who listen with
open mouths to both classes of orators
and go home wondering what they
are talking about and don't do any-
thing to find out.
That school of thought which be-
comes alarmed whenever the Federal
Government makes the slightest geS-
ture toward infringing States rights
Is prepared to allege that the Shep-
pard-Towner law abdridges the free
dom of the States as guaranteed un-
der the Constitution.
Others, violent in their opposition,
will Solemnly proclaim in voices which
shake with emotion, that the law is a
move toward the naturalization of
children; that it smacks of the Soviet
and makes of the child a creature of
the State instead of a blessing to
the home.
Have Gone Without Advice.
Still others will oppose the exten-
sion of the law on the ground that
their mothers, grandmothers, great
grandmotherS and great great grand
mothers had from 10 to 10 children
regularly during their lives and that
none of them received any advice from
the State or the Federal Government
on how to do it. There are other OPP
posers who belong to that large group
sometimes known as "aginnerS' and
who are emphaticalIy "'agin" every
thing and anything for the sake of
tradition alone.
The attitude of the medical profes-
sion as a whole is not definitely known
at present. When the original meas
ure was last being considered the
American Medical Association passed
resolution opposing it, but no op-
position has since been voiced, and
those who favor the legislation agree
among themselves, at least, that the
medical profession has little ground
for complaint over the manner in
which the law has been administered
None of the opposition is very alarm
ing to those who hope to see the
Sheppard ToWner law extended They
have three years of accomplishment
to look back upon. and they believe
the three years has allowed them
to establish a good foundation upon
which to build a solid and permanent
system designed to save more mothers
and to make of their children stronger
and better citizens.
These proponents have an unassail-
able argument in the need for some
agency to accomplish what the Shep-
pard-Towner Legislation seeks to ac-
cOmpliSh, whether it be the present
jaw or some other. Chile now has
the highest maternity death rate in
the world. The United States stands
next to Chile. The infant mortality
cate in the United States is lower,
Il still ranks higher than Australia,
the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and
the Irish Free State.
Marked Decrease in Death.
There was a marked decrease in
infant mortality during the first two
years of administration of the Shep.
pard-Towner law, although its friends
are careful not to attribute this de-
crease positively to the workings of
the act. But statistics are most
favorable. For instance, the rate of
still births among mothers who were
supervised through the Sheppard-
Towner law has been less than half
that of other mothers in the same
communities who We're not, for one
reason of another, given the benefits
of the advice and guidance provided
under the law. The same thing has
been true of the death rate of babies
under one month old. Mothers who
were given the natal care by State
nurses and doctors under the act lost
only half as many babies as those
who failed to receive such care. In a
Forthcoming report of the Children S
JlrIreaI will hn shown that a high