their soil, in the protection of their fruit trees and the cotton plants, and in the care and cure of their animals, the sum of $29,000 is not a large one to ask to secure somewhat similar information concerning the care of the children of the country, and that the purpose of the children's bureau is even a more worthy one than the purposes of those different bureaus of the Agricultural Department. The special items, say, in one of these bureaus, the Bureau of Entomology, sound large compared with the appropriation for the children's bureau. For the investigation of insects affecting orchards, vineyards, and so forth, $39,700; for the investigation of insects affecting cereal and forage plants, $50,000; for the investigation of insects af fecting southern field crops, including the cotton-boll weevil, $47,160; for the investigation of insects affecting forests, $44,750. In fact, half as much is appropriated for investigations in bee culture, namely, $15,000, as is asked for the children's bureau.

I met summer before last, at Clark University, where a large nuníber of national organizations interested in the welfare of children. held what they called a "child welfare conference," a professor of a Kansas agricultural college, Prof. William A. McKeever. It had occurred to Prof. McKeever that there was a demand on the part of parents for just such bulletins concerning the different problems of childhood as the Department of Agriculture was sending out with regard to cattle and sheep and hogs and cabbages, and this Kansas college professor published, on his own initiative, four or five such bulletins, scientific in their nature and largely at his own expense, with an occasional contribution from some one interested, and had, two years ago, circulated over a million copies of these bulletins, so great was the demand for them. I recall that one of them was a scientific article dealing with the effect of cigarette smoking on the heart action of immature boys.

At this same conference on child welfare I heard an admirable

paper from Dr. Helen Putnam on "Infant mortality." But the lamentable thing about the paper was that Dr. Putnam had to go for her statistics to England and Wales, because there were none for the whole country to be found anywhere in America. Is it not a national disgrace that nobody knows how many children in America die under 1 year of age? The number is variously estimated from the imperfect data of a limited registration area at 300,000 to 400,000 a year. We are told on high authority that one-half these deaths are preventable that is, we might save a million American-born children in a decade, making allowances for those who die after the first year, and these deaths are due to ignorance. Have you seen a baby die? Have you seen the sorrow of the mother following hard after the joy that succeeded travail? Does it not make some difference whether it is 300,000 or 400,000 babies that die annually before they are a year old? Are 100,000 babies a negligible quantity? And is it not time that this great Nation of ours were finding out not only how many die but why they die?

Now, it does seem to me that this experience shows how widespread is the demand for scientific literature concerning the care and treatment of children.

I have before me a copy of the children's act passed by the British Parliament in 1908. Of course, we recognize that under the British system of government Parliament has the power of administration,

whereas we claim for our own National Government simply the powers of investigation and publicity with respect to the problems of childhood. But this children's act, passed in 1908, popularly known as the children's charter, consolidates all the laws for the protection of children under the following heads: (1) Infant life protection, (2) prevention of cruelty to children and young persons, (3) juvenile smoking, (4) reformatories and industrial schools, (5) juvenile offenders, (6) a miscellaneous section. Under the provisions in this bill for an investigation of the legislation affecting children in the several States and Territories, it would be easy to prepare such a compilation of the laws as the British Government has already done, to the immense assistance of all those in each State who are working for the better protection of the children.

One of our cities has given us the actual experience of a children's bureau,_namely, Philadelphia. At a former hearing on this bill, Mr. J. Prentiss Murphy, superintendent of the children's bureau of Philadelphia, made the following statement:

Mr. MURPHY. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I represent the Children's Bureau of Philadelphia, a joint agency maintained by the Pennsylvania Society to Protect Children from Cruelty, the Pennsylvania Children's Aid Society, and the Seybert Institution for Poor Boys and Girls of Philadelphia, the three agencies having a combined budget of about $250,000 a year. The primary object of this children's bureau is the correlation of the work for children and the creation of a center for the giving of advice and information on any child's problem arising in the city. We are thus doing in part and on a small scale what is planned will be done by the proposed Federal children's bureau for the whole country. The above-named constituent agencies, working over most of the State of Pennsylvania, approve very heartily of a Federal bureau.

There are some very good examples arising in my own city and State which plainly emphasize the need for a central national agency that will be able to gather information from every section and acquaint anyone inquiring as to the best methods of procedure in matters pertaining to the welfare of children.

Three years ago, upon the death of Robert M. Carson, of Philadelphia, it was found that he had left a bequest of $4,000,000 for the establishing of a Girard College for girls. Quoting from the Charities and the Commons (now the Survey), of November 23, 1907:

“Mr. Carson is understood to have been a man of large heart who, although childless, bad loved children all his life, and it is further understood that the disposition of his estate is largely the result of the example of Stephen Girard, the founder of Girard College. The beneficiaries of this bequest, as announced by the press, are poor, white, healthy girls between the ages of 6 and 10 years who have lost both parents. Residents of Philadelphia and Montgomery Counties have the first claim to admission, and after them, girls from Pennsylvania and the United States. The provisions of the will require that the college be built at the country estate of Mr. Carson, Erdenheim," on the cottage plan, and give instruction in certain specified lines, in addition to care and maintenance. The example of Girard College is to be followed to a degree, but with important modifications in location, character of plant, and curriculum. Like Girard, the class of beneficiaries and the nature of work to be done in the college are strictly prescribed by the terms of the will. It is generally accepted that this bequest is the outcome of a generous desire to aid orphan girls, and that the donor was actuated by the highest of philanthropic motives.

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"Girard College is one of Philadelphia's best-known institutions, and a source of great pride to its citizens because of its splendid equipment, magnificent plant, and large number of beneficiaries. Some very important aspects of the college and its work, however, have escaped public attention-for example, the matter of the location and type of building prescribed by the will, with the resulting arrangement of large dormitories and dining rooms and the limitation of the boys' recreations and occupations to such activities as may be carried on in a congregate city plant; the admission requirements and the way in which they have been interpreted and worked out; the restriction of the curriculum to certain subjects specified by the testator; and the results achieved by the

college in the development of the boys who are received. While there is general appreciation of the real merits of this most remarkable institution, it has been felt by a few people who have given the matter some thought and study that the restricted location, the physical surroundings, the admission requirements, and the nature of the training which the will of Mr. Girard imposes are somewhat detrimental to the best welfare of the college. To put it boldly, it is felt that the trustees of the bequest could better adapt the work of the college to the needs of to-day and could do better by the beneficiaries were their hands not tied in the matters just mentioned.

"This being the case, the announcement that 80 years after Girard's death a similar institution is to be established for a certain class of orphan girls, with even more restrictions in some respects than those which impair the best interests of Girard College, gives ample occasion for thought. Immediately the basic question is raised whether any need for such an institution exists.

"With the many examples of ill-considered charities in view and the pressing need for agencies which will care for certain classes of children, notably the mentally defective, the question which workers for children in Philadelphia are asking is this: Why was a considerable sum of money, such as for the Carson bequest, left this definite and detailed purpose without a thoroughgoing investigation of the matter?"

Some two years after the Carson bequest, by the terms of the will of Charles E. Ellis, also a Philadelphian, who had just died, it was found that he had likewise made provision for the establishment of an educational institution for fatherless girls, the total sum involved being about $3,000,000. The same objections made against the Carson bequest can be made against the Ellis bequest. Thus a sum totaling $7,000,000 is tied up in such a way as not to be available for the classes of children most urgently in need of care. If a Federal bureau existed it would be perfectly possible to spread broadcast over the country information as to the classes of children most in need of supervision and care and there would cease to be a repetition of these two very serious blunders such as I have referred to in Philadelphia. In every State in the country there are charitable individuals, willing and anxious to place their money where it will do the most good, as were Mr. Carson and Mr. Ellis, but in the absence of information in the majority of cases they are likely to so designate their bequests as to really create institutions injurious socially.

I have also referred to the Home for the Orphans of Masons as another striking illustration of a large and generous charity unwisely directed. A Federal bureau would have been able to offer information which would have made it possible for a more careful investment of this large fortune.

The Pennsylvania Children's Aid Society, one of the largest child-caring agencies in the world, is attempting for the State of Pennsylvania the same methods of direction and help such as would figure in the Federal children's bureau for the whole country. In one county, within a half hour's ride from Philadelphia, it was only recently contemplated to erect a county home or institution for the poor children of the county, involving an expenditure of some $30,000. There was an almost absolute absence of information on the part of the county officials as to other methods of child caring. Through the efforts of the Children's Aid Society this plan was changed. The children are now going to private families, where they very soon become members of the family. The saving to the county by this new and better procedure, following methods approved by the best social experts, will amount to many thousands of dollars each year. It is unlikely that they would have been in danger of such unwise action if they could have appealed to a national agency for information as to the best methods for them to pursue in their county children's work. I feel very sure that this new bureau, if established, will prevent almost criminal duplication and continuation of wrong social methods over the whole country and mean a saving of many millions of dollars. It may be interesting to note that in Philadelphia alone it has been estimated that there is an investment of about $25,000,000 in children's charities. Surely from a purely business standpoint there is the need for the greatest care and economy in such a work. I sincerely hope that the members of the committee will find it possible to assist in the passage of this bill, and I feel very sure that the creation of this bureau will mean a very marked and helpful step for the country socially.

With regard to the demand for this bureau, I can say, briefly and simply, that in a somewhat wide acquaintance with workers in the children's cause I have never met one, and do not know of one to-day,

in any official position who is not in favor of the establishment of this bureau. It seems to me, gentlemen, that if before the Committee on Agriculture 200 or 300 of the most intelligent officials of farmers' organizations should appear and ask for an appropriation no larger than this one in the investigation of any phase of animal or plant life for their material benefit there would be no disposition anywhere to deny their request.

The conference on the care of dependent children, which assembled in Washington January 25 and 26, 1909, unanimously adopted the following resolution:

A bill is pending in Congress for the establishment of a Federal children's bureau to collect and disseminate information affecting the welfare of children. In our judgment the establishment of such a bureau is desirable and we earnestly recommend the enactment of the pending measure.

The members of that conference were as follows:

Addams, Hon. George S., Cleveland, Ohio, judge juvenile court.
Addams, Miss Jane, LL. D., Chicago, Ill., president Hull House.

Ahern, William J., Concord, N. H., secretary State board of charities and correction.

Amand, Bernard C., 120 East Nineteenth Street, New York City.

Atkinson, Judge George W., United States Court of Claims, president West Virginia Children's Home Society.

Ball, William C., 1138 South Fifth Street, Terre Haute, Ind., member board of control, Indiana Reform School for Boys.

Barnabas, Rev. Brother F. S. C., 417 Broome Street, New York City, superintendent of N. Y. C. P. Placing Out Bureau for Dependent Children; superintendent of Somer Agricultural School for Dependent Children; director of St. Philip's Home for Friendless Working Boys; member of New York State Conference Committee on Dependent Children.

Barrett, Mrs. Kate Waller, Alexandria, Va., general superintendent National Florence Crittenton Mission.

Bassford, Dr. S. J., Biddleford, Me., president York County Children's Aid Society.

Bernstein, Ludwig B., Ph. D., One hundred and fiftieth Street and Broadway, New York City, superintendent Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Orphan Asylum.

Bicknell, Ernest P., War Department, Washington, D. C., president National Conference of Charities and Correction; secretary National Red Cross Society. Formerly general superintendent Chicago Bureau of Charities; secretary board of State charities of Indiana.

Biggs, Robert, Law Building, Baltimore, Md., president St. Vincent de Paul Society.

Bingham, Hon. Robert W., Louisville, Ky., president Kentucky Children's Home Society; president Board of Children's Guardians for Louisville and Jefferson County. Formerly mayor of the city of Louisville.

Birtwell, Charles W., 43 Hawkins Street, Boston, Mass., general secretary Boston Children's Aid Society.

Black, Hon. Samuel L., Columbus, Ohio, judge of the juvenile court. Bowen, Mrs. Joseph Tilton, Chicago, Ill., president juvenile court committee. Brace, Charles Loring, 105 East Twenty-second Street, New York City, secretary New York Children's Aid Society.

Braucher, H. S., City Building, Portland, Me., general secretary associated charities.

Brown, Dr. Elmer Ellsworth, Washington, D. C., United States Commissioner of Education.

Brown, Julius A., 2317 West Ninth Street, Los Angeles, Cal., president California Children's Home Society.

Buck, William B., 1506 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pa., secretary children's bureau; superintendent Seybert Institution. Formerly secretary Cuban Orphan Society, New York; secretary New York County Committee, State Charities Aid Association; superintendent of inspection, New York State board of charities.

Burnett, Hon. John M., 2022 Sutter Street, San Francisco, Cal., president Particular Council of San Francisco, Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

Bush, Thomas G., Birmingham, Ala.

Butler, Amos W., statehouse, Indianapolis, Ind., secretary State board of charities, formerly chairman committee on children, National Conference of Charities and Correction; president National Conference of Charities and Correction; chairman section on anthropology, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Butler, Edward B., 3408 Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Ill., president of the board of directors of the Illinois Manual Training School Farm.

Butler, Edmond J., 44 East Twenty-third Street, New York City, tenementhouse commissioner; corresponding secretary Superior Council of New York, Society of St. Vincent de Paul; vice president Particular Council of New York, Society of St. Vincent de Paul; director Ozanam Association of City of New York; formerly director and member of executive committee of the Catholic Home Bureau of New York; member of committee on dependent children, Charity Organization Society of New York.

Carnegie, Andrew, New York City.

Carroll, Richard, Columbia, S. C., manager South Carolina Industrial Home for Destitute and Dependent Colored Children.

Carstens, C. C., Boston, Mass., secretary Massachusetts Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

Clark, A. W., Omaha, Nebr., superintendent Child Saving Institute of Omaha ; formerly superintendent Boys' and Girls' Aid Society of Omaha; general secretary Associated Charities of Omaha; member Nebraska State Board of Charities; member Nebraska Child Labor Committee; president Sociological Club of Omaha.

Clark, Dr. Wm. Bullock, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., president Children's Aid Society of Baltimore.

Conover, Hon. Allen B., Madison, Wis., member Wisconsin State Board of Control.

Corcoran, Rev. John F., New Haven, Conn., St. Francis Orphan Asylum. Crane, Richard, Ingalls Building, Cincinnati, Ohio, secretary Particular Council St. Vincent de Paul Society of Cincinnati; president St. Xavier Conference, St. Vincent de Paul Society of Cincinnati; treasurer St. Xavier Parochial School, of Cincinnati; trustee St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum of Cincinnati.

Crouse, Meigs V., 312 West Ninth Street, Cincinnati, Ohio, superintendent Cincinnati Children's Home.

Curtis, Miss Frances Greely, 28 Mount Vernon Street, Boston, Mass., member Massachusetts State Board of Charities and chairman committee on minor

wards.

Cushing, O. K., 37 Seventh Street, San Francisco, Cal., State Board of Charities.

De Forest, Robert W., 30 Broad Street, New York City, president New York Charity Organization Society; vice president Russell Sage Foundation; formerly president National Conference of Charities and Correction.

De Lacy, Hon. Wm. H., 1816 F Street NW., Washington, D. C., judge of the juvenile court; director St. Joseph's Male Orphan Asylum; vice president Southeast Boys' Club; president Society of St. Vincent de Paul for the District of Columbia.

Desmond, C. C., Spring and Third Streets, Los Angeles, Cal., president Parular Council of Los Angeles, Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

Devine, Dr. Edward T., 105 East Twenty-second Street, New York City, editor Charities and The Commons, general secretary Charity Organization Society, and professor of social economy, Columbia University; formerly president National Conference of Charities and Correction.

Dillard, James Hardy, 571 Audubon Street, New Orleans, La., president Jeanes Foundation (headquarters in New Orleans), member of board of Home for Destitute Boys, New Orleans, and member of board of the New Orleans Free Kindergarten Association; formerly dean of Tulane University, New Orleans.

Doyle, John A., 624 West St. Catherine Street, Louisville, Ky.

Doyle, Michael Francis, 1731 South Eighteenth Street, Philadelphia, Pa., vicepresident Particular Council of Philadelphia Society St. Vincent de Paul.

Dreiser, Theodore, Spring and Macdougal Streets, New York City, editor of the Delineator.

Dysart, Rev. J. P., Loan and Trust Building, Milwaukee, Wis., superintendent the Children's Home Society of Wisconsin.

Edson, John Joy, Ninth and F Streets NW., Washington, D. C., president of the Board of Charities of the District of Columbia, member of the President's