Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 3, Number 5, DeMotte, Jasper County, 15 June 1933 — Find 15 Per Cent of Americans Subnormal [ARTICLE]

Find 15 Per Cent of Americans Subnormal

Disclosures Made in Sage Foundation Survey.

New York.--Fifteen per cent of the total population of the United States is intellectually subnormal or retarded. More than one-half of the 800,000 hospital beds in America are set aside for the mentally ill. More than 1,400,000 persons in America are feeble-minded. These startling figures on mental health are contained in a report of a survey just completed by the Russell Sage foundation covering the work of organized social forces of the country. Feeble-Minded a Problem. To help meet the problem of the feeble-minded, forty-four states maintain state institutions for their care. In 266 cities of the country subnormal children are enrolled in special classes. The survey shows humanitarian activities of various charities and the new work added to their burden by the depression. Family life is given prominent attention by social scientists. Marriage guidance bureaus have recently been established in the states of California, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania where persons contemplating marriage may secure advice and where those involved in marital difficulties may take their troubles. The last three years have also shown a marked increase in the number of centers where birth control information is given, in accordance with the laws of the respective states. Over 100 such centers are reported in oper-

ation by Mrs. Margaret Sanger, as against approximately fifty-five reported by her in 1929. Efforts to preserve the values of home life for the child where the mother has been widowed or the bread-earner otherwise removed are represented by mothers’ aid laws which have been enacted in all states except Georgia and South Carolina.

Homes involving 256,000 children were so aided in 1930. For mothers who must work, more than 800 day nurseries have been established in cities all over the United States, charging a nominal five to twenty-five cents a day. There have also been set up 4,178 child health centers. Park Movement Grows. In the fields of recreation and selfimprovement, the park movement has grown until recent figures indicate 11,686 city parks representing property value exceeding $2,000,000,000. In addition to the city parks there are state parks in forty-three of the states, covering 7,000,000 acres; national parks covering 10,000,000 acres and national forests, most of which are open to recreational use, covering an additional 150,000,000 acres. Excluding the national forests, which are set apart more particularly for economic than recreational purposes, the remaining park acreage is nevertheless larger than the combined area of Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.