Febeuary 18, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



227 



know, as we have not yet reached that stage 

 of intelligence which grasps the importance 

 of keeping a record of the births and 

 deaths in all sections of our country. 



We know that we have made a great ad- 

 vance in conserving infant lives. There- 

 fore, it may be said that if our rapidly 

 developing civilization has operated to re- 

 duce the birth rate, it has also provided us 

 with life-saving methods to offset the loss. 

 But the indications are that this gain in 

 this baby-saving is not sufficient to offset 

 the decline in the birth rate. 



The vital importance of the birth trend 

 as a national problem is emphasized by the 

 growing practise of birth control by par- 

 ents, and by the indifference of so many of 

 our young people to marriage. What we 

 need is not necessarily larger families, hut 

 more families. The proportion of married 

 people should have greatly increased under 

 our new civilization. A large proportion 

 of our 17,000,000 unmated men and women 

 should be married. The divorce habit 

 should have declined, but it has grown to 

 astonishing proportions. These are all rec- 

 ognized facts and have a very direct bear- 

 ing upon the problem of race survival, both 

 as to quality and quantity. 



Eugenics — the improvement of the breed 

 — and the general question of race protec- 

 tion should receive national recognition 

 and a sincere effort should be made to im- 

 press the public with their true purpose 

 and importance. 



WHY A NATIONAL VITALITY COMMISSION IS 

 NEEDED 



To summarize: 



National liberty rests upon national vi- 

 tality. The health and strength of the 

 people are therefore fundamental factors 

 in national defense. 



Neither our freedom nor our race can 

 be protected and developed by weak-limbed, 

 soft-muscled, low-powered men. 



Notmthstanding our progress in preven- 

 tion, the physically substandard and low- 

 powered group, which numbers millions, is 

 apparently increasing abnormally. 



The decline in the general death rate 

 and the increase in the average length of 

 life is due, not to an increase in the vital 

 strength of the people, but to the fact that 

 we are learning how to step around cer- 

 tain dangers — the germ diseases. The 

 death rate from the wearing out of the or- 

 gans is steadily increasing. 



Some of the conditions and reasons justi- 

 fying the appointment of a scientific com- 

 mission to investigate and report on the 

 trend of national vitality may be found in 

 the following 



BILL OP PAETICULAKS 



1. Our unprecedented prosperity and invention 

 of labor- and time-saving devices have developed 

 habits of extravagance, luxury, over-indulgence in 

 both work and physical ease, which have disturbed 

 our race stability. 



2. The high-tension element is obviously in- 

 creasing. Nervous strain and mental stress are 

 constantly adding to low-powered group. 



3. An extraordinary increase in sedentary life 

 has occurred. 



4. The overfed and under-exercised groups are 

 increasing. Result: obesity and weak limbs, soft 

 muscles — due to disuse. Easy and early victims 

 of organic disease. 



5. Prevalence of defective teeth, diseased gums 

 (largely due to non-use of teeth), impaired vision, 

 baldness, bad posture, flat-foot, constipation, 

 increased by sedentary occupations. 



6. A marked increase has occurred in the death 

 rate from diseases of the nervous and digestive 

 systems, heart and arterial system, kidneys and 

 urinary system — 19 per cent, in ten years. 



7. At least 8,500,000 men (of total 28 million) 

 age eighteen to sixty have evidences of approach- 

 ing organic disease or already have it in one or 

 more forms. 



8. Health and life waste from tuberculosis, ty- 

 phoid fever and other germ diseases is still exces- 

 sive; about 350,000 deaths annually. 



9. The mortality from cancer is rapidly in- 

 creasing. Annual deaths about 75,000. 



10. Accidental deaths have steadily increased 

 and now number nearly 90,000 annually. 



