Evening star., 1927-03-08
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

but of how they could help buddy
who has not had the plenty that has
filled their lives? Thinking outwardly
makes a man of boy. and gives him
world of billions of opportunities.
instead of an ego of one little
shriveled, blase, spoiled kid" who
vainIy imagines that his tragic but
Insignificant passing on will make him
a hero and a wonder to the rest OF
this world. Why doesn't some elo-
quent preacher drive that home with
a. text meaning in plain English,
Think ot1fwardly"?
+
Suicides are increasing all over the
world, yet not to any alarming ex-
tent. In the American Journal of
Hygiene, July. 1922, appeared an ex-
haustive study of suicide. by John
Rice Miner, Phi. D., of Baltimore. DIR.
Miner explodes several errors regard
ing the causes and tendencies of sui
eide. In his summary, he cites his
conclusions:
"A factor in the upward trend is
found in the decay of the group spirit.
The European war has produced d
sharp decline" The discipline of the
army group" corrected the inward
egotism of smart individualism.
For example. the number of suicides
per 100000 population in the United
States per year. for the five years,
1906-191O, was l6; in 1914 1t was 1876
and 1915 it was 16.7. Then we en-
tered the war. and the suicides per
100000 population in 1917 We're 1874,
in 1918 were 1872, and 1919. ia.
DIR. Miner does not theorize as to
the cause of the decline, but did Amer
ice not have to think OutwardIy" dur
ing all those fearful days of 1917 to
1919?
DIR. Miner says Germany, France,
Denmark and Sweden show high
rates; the British Isles. Norway.
Netherlands and the south and east of
Europe show low rates. Japan and
is not poverty. it is not "life's end
less endeavor." that causes suicides.
Certainly 1t is not courage. In the
United States rates are lowest in the
South, highest in the West.
The lowest suicide rates are shown
by the Greek Church, followed by the
Roman Catholic and the Protestant
Jewish rates have increased rapidly.
Urban rates are higher than rural
This explodes the tale that farm
wives are driven crazy by the
"monotonous drudgery" of their work
There are twice as many male
suicides as female The married
show lower suicide rates than the
single or widowed. They think
outwardly" of their mates. The
divorced have a high rate-ingrown
ego in many cases. Parents show
lower rates than the childIess. They
have other interests than selfish ego.
1t seems possible to trace all
through the above summarized state
ment of statistics, the thread of DIR.
Works philosophy. that the best cure
for trouble. mental or physical. is to
look outwardly" where one will dis
cover millions of reasons for loving
life with all its opportunities for the
joy of service. How egotistic, selfish
and cowardly is a suicide!
X X xx
Child suicides have increased in
Europe during the last century and a
half. In Prussia, from 1888 to 1898.
there were only three child suicides;
from 1900 to 1903, in Prussia, there
were 100 such tragedies. In a state
ment issued by Arthur Macdonald of
this city. honorary president of the
Third International Congress on
Criminal Anthropology of Europe, he
said:
THE general increase of all suicides
does not correspond to that of child
suicide in the same period. There
seems to be no parallel. This fact
suggests that in the suicide of chill
dren the causes are not the same as
I'm the case of adults. General con-
ditionS do not seem to influence the
child, but his immediate surround
ings have much effect upon his
thought and feeling. If the family
and school life go on without refer
ence to the child's individuality and
capability, or in direct opposition to
them, they may awaken in him a
disposition to suicide. - Be-
tween the years of IL and Is most of
the suicides of children take place.
Before IL years. suicide is exceptional.
Here the child plays murder or
suicide, just as it plays INDIAN"
One may pity the childish igno-
rance of the youth in his rashness.
but Montaigne puts ii as to the adult:
TT Is the role of cowardice, not of
courage, to! go and crouch down in a
hole under a massive tomb, to avoid
the blows of fortune"
:. tcopyright, 1877. By Paul Y. collinsl