Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 4.djvu/489

 CONCERNING A FORM OF DEGENERACY 469

It has been intimated above that the early hopes of the first promoters of the training of the feeble-minded were not realized. It has not been found practicable to discharge large numbers of the educated imbeciles to care for themselves and direct their own course of life. But it by no means follows that it is not possible to train large numbers of them so that they may earn their own livelihood. It is necessary here carefully to discrimi- nate between self-support and self-direction. The fact is that, given the right training, followed by favorable opportunity under wise and kindly guardianship, large numbers of the feeble- minded may be rendered entirely self-supporting. Another large proportion may be taught to do some work. Only a small minority is incapable of any useful labor.

The proportion of the feeble-minded who may be made to earn their own living, under control, is variously estimated. The superintendents of at least two of the large training schools, both men of practical common sense, place the estimate as high as 50 per cent, of the whole number admitted. It is instructive to notice that estimates of this kind tend to become larger, espe- cially as made by the managers of institutions which have a large acreage of farming and fruit-growing lands.

In considering such estimates as the foregoing, we must remember that an able-bodied laborer, with steady employment, can provide for himself, a wife, and several children ; the product of his labor should be equal, at least, to the support of three adults. If, therefore, an imbecile laborer perform one-third of a man's full work, or just as much more than that as will pay for the extra supervision required because he is feeble-minded, he is entitled to be classed as self-supporting.

It is possible that the time may come when there will be so large a number of adult imbeciles, gathered into the institutions, who have received all the advantages that the training school can give them, that it may be difficult to provide them with prof- itable labor. But that time appears to be far distant in most places of the kind. Few or none of them are yet doing all that they believe to be possible of the work of the intitution, by the labor of their tramed inmates. Farming, gardening, laundering,