20 The Journal of Heredity sterilization law in 1905, but this was vetoed by the Governor, leaving to Indiana the distinction of being the first state to put a sterilization law on its statute books, in 1907. In the next legislative year, that of 1909, Washington and California both followed this example by the adoption of sterilization law only a few weeks apart. The Washington law has remained virtually unused ever since. The California law was introduced on February 8, 1909, as a bill by Senator W. F. Price, of Santa Rosa, Calif. It passed the Senate on March 16 with 21 ayes and 1 no, and passed the House on March 22 with 41 ayes and not a single vote recorded against it. It was approved on April 26 by Gov. James N. Gillett and became a law on June 25, 1909. The drafting and adoption of this bill, virtually without opposition, form a permanent monument to Dr. F. W. Hatch who was Secretary of the State Lunacy Commission and later given the title of General Superintendent of State Hospitals. For nearly a quarter of a century Dr. Hatch was virtually in charge of the state's measures and machinery for dealing with the insane and the feeble-minded. The adoption of sterilization as a state policy was one of his greatest interests and he followed the administration of this law with the closest attention until his death on February 24, 1924, at the age of 74. The conservative, sympathetic, and intelligent administration of the California law which was carried out by Dr. Hatch and the various medical superintendents of the state hospitals and institutions, gave the application of sterilization in this state a long lead, so that even up to the present California has performed more sterilizations than all the other states combined. Other states have continued to fall in line with these precedents, the 27 states that now have eugenic sterilization on their statute books being as follows with the year in which the first law was adopted in each case: [photo] Sterilization Pioneer Figure 4 Dr. F. W. Hatch is credited with drafting the California sterilization statute; and after its almost unanimous adoption by the legislature he had charge of its enforcement during the early years. Largely on account of the Hatch's administration of the law during its experimental stages, more sterilizations have been performed in California than in all the other states combined. [double hairline column width] Alabama . . .1919 Arizona . . .1929 California . . .1909 Connecticut . . .1909 Delaware . . .1923 Idaho. . . 1925 Indiana . . .1907 Iowa . . .1911 Kansas . . .1913 Maine . . .1925 Michigan . . .1913 Minnesota . . .1925 Mississippi . . .1928 Montana . . .1923 Nebraska . . .1915 New Hampshire . . .1917 North Carolina . . .1919 North Dakota . . .1913 Oklahoma . . .1931 Oregon. . .1917 South Dakota . . .1917 Utah . . .1925 Vermont . . .1931 Virginia . . .1924 Washington . . .1909 West Virginia . . .1929 Wisconsin . . .1913