60 ADMINISTRATIVE SECTION 



The care of infants, both legitimate and illegiti- 

 mate, is essentially a matter for State and municipal 

 health authorities ; the many problems connected 

 with the child and the mother are of such national 

 import that they should no longer be dealt with 

 altogether upon lines of charity, as has been the 

 custom in the past. 



The time has arrived, and their lives are so 

 precious, while the magnitude of the work is such 

 as to command from governments and municipal 

 authorities their serious attention. It is more para- 

 mount than the building of navies and the training 

 and equipment of armies for defence. To accom- 

 plish the objects we have at heart means the ex- 

 penditure of money, as the work cannot be begun 

 or operated without cost. When once instituted 

 under State and municipal legislation and aid, the 

 results will be so great and manifest that the nation 

 or people which engages in the hygiene of the child 

 will not turn back, but will go on to better and higher 

 things. 



The possible lines of operation may be considered 

 as either State or municipal. As the former is the 

 power which is supposed to legislate for the good of 

 all, and as there are some portions of health work 

 which can be best instituted and carried out by the 

 greater body, so it is in the case before us. The 

 State can by legislation bring into operation and by 

 proper supervision co-ordinate the many and diverse 

 channels along which health authorities could work, 

 and at the same time co-operate with those desiring to 

 assist along the lines of philanthropy. The State is 

 the one authority best fitted to institute some system 

 of insurance whereby material assistance will be 

 assured to mothers and their offspring ; and it might 

 properly lend financial aid to the institutional portion 

 of the work. 



The local boards of health should extend their 



