206 Feeble-Mindedness and Insanity [extract text]Sixty-two per cent of all cases committed to our inebriate homes are either insane of mentally defective. [superior 8] Certain feeble-minded families have lived and propagated their kind in almshouses for six and seven generations. Fully eight per cent of all persons in our almshouses are feeble-minded.[superior 9] Feeble-mindedness produces more pauperism, degeneracy and crime than any other one force.[superior 10] When we view the number of the feeble-minded, their fecundity, and their lack of control, the menace they are, the degradation they cause, the degeneracy they perpetuate, the suffering and misery and crime they spread, --- these are the burden we must bear.[superior 11][end extract text] Similar quotations might be continued indefinitely. The fact is apparent that there is hardly a social problem that is not complicated by the presence of the feeble-minded. It is unfortunately true that there are still school superintendents who say, "We have no feeble-minded in our schools." There are physicians who say, "They will outgrow it." There are judges who say, "A girl who can answer like that is not feeble-minded." There are still thousands of parents who say, "Even if your examinations and tests do satisfy you I am sure my child is not feeble-minded." And because these far outnumber those who recognize the feeble-minded and are actively engaged in studying and providing care for them, and because the "average citizen" (including the legislators) knows little or nothing about the subject there is great need of stimulating public interest. I am happy to say that there is now one national body whose declared purpose is "To disseminate knowledge concerning the [em dash flush left][begin footnotes] [superior 1][em dash]Fernald: Prevention of Mental Defect, National Conference of Charities and Correction 1915, p. 290. [superior 2][em dash]Fernald. [superior 3][em dash]Goddard: Feeble-Mindedness: Its Causes and Consequences, p. 47. [superior 4][em dash]Tredgold: Report of Royal Commission of England, Pt. 6, p. 199. [superior 5][em dash]Rogers: National Conference of Charities and Correction 1907, p. 471. [superior 6][em dash]Salmon, Clark and Dana: Outlines for a State Policy for Dealing with Mental Deficiency. Medical Record, April 17, 1915. [superior 7][em dash]Massachusetts Commission for the Investigation of the White Slave Traffic, So-Called. Report 1914, p. 29. [superior 8][em dash]Branthwait - England. [superior 9][em dash]Mental Defectives in Virginia. Report, State Board of Charities, 1916. [superior 10][em dash]Butler: National Conference of Charities and Correction 1907, p. 10. [superior 11][em dash]Butler: The Need of Research, Proceedings National Conference of Charities and Correction 1915, p. 361. [superior 12][em dash]The Committee on Provision for the Feeble-Minded, 501-2 Empire Building, Philadelphia, Pa. [superior 13][em dash]The National Committee for Mental Hygiene, 50 Union Square, New York City. [end footnote text] [end]