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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLVII. No. 1209 



that such a woman should be favored 

 with the admiration of the community 

 in which she lives and not as at pres- 

 ent with its commiseration and pity. 

 The state may find it expedient, likewise, 

 to encourage parenthood by considering 

 the size of the family as a factor among 

 others in fixing exemptions from taxes. 



Individual selfishness is at bottom the 

 source of the evil I have described. An in- 

 creasing number of men and women do not 

 assume the marital state or, when married, 

 do not raise a family of children, because 

 they prefer to live better than their fore- 

 bears and to spend more on themselves 

 than would be possible if they had chil- 

 dren to raise and educate. Under present 

 conditions children are not an economic 

 asset. Restrictive compulsory education 

 and child-labor laws make children an ex- 

 pensive luxury which only the poor can 

 afford. In fact, there is no very good rea- 

 son on the score of personal comfort alone 

 why individuals should assume the obliga- 

 tions and sacrifices which large families 

 entail. Such, indeed, is the logical con- 

 clusion of our growing materialism. Yet 

 the shallowness of this attitude must be 

 obvious. Men and women who to-day are 

 rallying to the defense of the country in 

 war time, need not be reminded that we live 

 not for ourselves but rather for the fuller 

 life of the community. If only the same 

 spirit would animate us in times of peace ! 

 More would then meet their obligation to 

 the state through parenthood. A new cit- 

 izenship would then arise which would be 

 worthy to receive the noble traditions from 

 our past and to carry our civilization for- 

 ward into the future. Our appeal must be 

 made to the religious impulse in our indi- 

 vidual lives. It will require all the relig- 

 ious power latent in our people to set us 

 right. I do not mean the mandate of any 

 particular religious sect but rather the 



ethical force which arises within us when 

 we realize clearly our relation to the com- 

 munity about us and the obligation which 

 this relationship involves. The problem of 

 the size of the family, like a whole host of 

 other important social questions, will be 

 Solved only when men realize the holy 

 purpose of life, that we are here to add to 

 the sum total of the common good, in a 

 word, that we must leave the world better 

 than we have found it. 



In conclusion, let me emphasize the need 

 for birth release among the healthy and 

 normal people of our country as a primary 

 national duty. Such release must be con- 

 scious and deliberate, the act of will of free 

 individuals who thus express a highly 

 moral purpose. Louis I. Dublin 



Metropolitan Life Insurance Company 



MINUTES OF THE WAR EMERGENCY 



BOARD OF AMERICAN PLANT 



PATHOLOGISTS 



A SPECIAL meeting of the War Emergency 

 Board was held in Washington, D. C, Feb- 

 ruary 9, 10 and 11, 1918. The following com- 

 missioners were present: Professor H. H. 

 Whetzel, chairman, of Cornell University; Dr. 

 F. D. Kern, of the Pennsylvania State College; 

 Dr. E. C. Stakman, of the University of Min- 

 nesota ; Professor H. P. Barss, of Oregon State 

 Agricultural College; Professor H. W. Barre, 

 of Clemson College, S. C, and Dr. G. R. Ly- 

 man, of the Bureau of Plant Industry. 



Dr. Mel T. Cook, of the New Jersey Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station, and Professor 

 H. S. Fawcett, of the Citrus Experiment Sta- 

 tion, Riverside, Calif., also took part in the 

 deliberations of the 'board, and many of the 

 federal pathologists were called in consulta- 

 tion. Open meetings were also held at which 

 practically all the pathological workers of the 

 Department of Agriculture were present, for 

 discussion of the program of war emergency 

 work. 



All the commissioners reported practically 

 universal approval of the aims and objects of 



