Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 11.djvu/230

 214 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

decreased its mortality from 29 per 1,000 in 1835 to from 17 to 19 at present. The armies of the leading nations of the world, by the enforcement of simple sanitary measures, have greatly decreased their mortality from disease. In our own army since 1872 there has been a decrease of nearly 40 per cent., and officers and men of that army, with their superior knowledge of sanita- tion, have stamped out the yellow fever in Havana. Does it not seem, then, that the wisest expenditure of money that a city can make is in the endeavor to approach the sanitary ideal, namely, the absolute prevention of all parasitic diseases? In view of the possibilities in this direction, how childish and foolish are some of the expenditures of municipal funds in the entertain- ment of a foreign figure-head, for instance, or in the jubilee cele- Brations at the close of the Spanish War !

What has just been said of the economic loss due to munici- pal neglect of health might also be said of education. No one can estimate the loss of a municipality from suppressed or unde- veloped capacities. True economy practiced here would take every child out of the factory and off the streets, and put it into the school, and keep it there for whole-day sessions until it is sixteen years old. It would more than double the expenditure for teachers and equipment As a nation, we boast of our educa- tional system and the money we expend upon it; and it seems a pity to say anything derogatory of it now while we are busy appropriating the flattering comments of the Moseley Commis- sion. But I venture the assertion that, while in comparison with other countries we may have some reason to boast, this educa- tional system upon which we pride ourselves, when considered in the light of what it ought to be, is pitiably defective and ineffi- cient. As a nation, we spend $225,000,000 a year for common schools; but the sum is small compared with what some nations spend on their armies. Our own military appropriations for 1903 were $220,000,000, and there are loud complaints of the comparative insignificance of our army and our navy. We pay four or five millions for a warship, and begrudge a slender appropriation for schools. We do not recognize how much more economical it is to invest money in men than in men-of-