State

Volume XIV Number 25 THE STATE A Weekly Survey of North Carolina November 16 1946 Entered as second-claw matter. June 1. 1933, at the Postofflcc at Rnlclsh. North Carolina, under the Act of March 3. 1879. The Tar Heel Baby Crop ably be made to admit that the baby crop — bless their darling little collective hearts— is the most important crop in his vicinity. But we are not thinking of babies sentimentally at the moment; we are not leading up to some Baby- Day slogan like "babies are better than much fine Id.” or "better than a bale of cotton is a bawling at.” What we are doing is wondering whether the on¬ coming bumper baby crop in the section of the na¬ tion which always leads all other sections in baby production — both legitimate and illegitimate — any¬ way. can possibly be made an asset to the South in general and North Carolina in particular? The dilemma of parents who have more children than they can provide for decently is familiar enough to be generally appreciated. But more and more (whether we like it or not) the ability of the individual family to core for its own progeny is becoming less and less important in proportion to the ability of the state to discharge itself of its responsibilities to the masses of its chil¬ dren. At the present moment North Carolina boasts a climate as suitable for the rearing of adequately housed, fed, and clothed children as can be found in the United States. Sadly Lacking in Other Respects In no other respect save this single God-given asset can our state claim to be up to "American Standards” as a desirable childbed for infants, playpen for chil¬ dren. or training field and schooling place for youth. Many of us are too vainglorious of the progress North Carolina has made in virtuous directions in the past 50 years to be as honestly and fearfully discon¬ tented as we should be with some of the compara¬ tive positions we now occupy even after such progress. An infant born in North Carolina today has less than the average American chance to live; it has more than the average American chance of losing its mother at birth. More than the average American child, the baby Tar Heel is likely to suffer or die of contagious, heredi¬ tary or malignant disease. He has fewer doctors to treat his ailments, fewer nurses to care for him, and fewer beds in fewer hos¬ pitals available for his needs, than the average American infant. His schools arc not so near his home, so well equipped, so adequately supplied with teachers as are the schools of the average state, nor is his teacher so well paid as the teachers of other children in Maine or Michigan. California or Connecticut, or the majority of states. The average swimming pool. park, playground, recreation center, athletic field, recreation director, tennis court, bowling alley, gymnasium is not avail¬ able to him. In his state there arc three times as many people as there arc books in the public li¬ braries. Problem of Higher Education He has less than average chance of getting through high school. If he does get through high school he has less than a normal American chance to enter college, or. on entering college, less than average chance of being graduated. If misfortune sends him afoul of the law, this Tar Heel youngster, more than the average Ameri¬ can girl or boy, is thrown into a common jail with adult malefactors adept at encouraging whatever anti-social instincts he may have. If. in course of time, he is called to arms in service for his country, he is more likely to be sent back home as unfit physically, mentally, or morally than the average American youth. Whether or not his sister would equal his de¬ ficiency nobody can say with authority, for she has not yet been asked to meet the same test. The story could be carried to great length. Un¬ happy facts could be cited to give extra discourage¬ ment to our North Carolina tot against losing his sanity, or suffering a disability, or going to the poorhousc in North Carolina. He can be informed of "average” states where he would fare much better in any of these cases. But though this vein could be explored farther it is one in which the North Carolinian, proud of his native health and ambitious for his common¬ wealth, runs the risk of tempting the fate of Thomas SELDOM recorded in print for general circu¬ lation, and even less often recorded other than casually hereabouts, is the fact that the leading crop of the South is the human baby crop. Now, in a mellow mo¬ ment, the resident of any region on earth could prob¬ Hcrc’s n thought-provoking article which shows how North Carolina has been an«l is being derelict in its duty to the children horn within its boun¬ daries. Mr. Murphy, the author, is editor of The Salisbury Post. By SPENCER MURPHY THE STATE. NOVEMBER 16. 1046 3