With this great work, from its inception, I have been in deepest sympathy and have collaborated in such a manner as I could to further it. The work accomplished has produced benefits which are difficult to measure by any standard which can be properly appreciated. The American people have come to believe in the application of a single standard of value and this is a scientific principle with which, as a rule, I would have no quarrel, but unfortunately the single standard which Americans have been taught to value is that which pertains to the almighty dollar. The Conservation Congress, however, has not been blind to the fact that the standards of ethics, health, morality and happiness are of even far greater value than that of money. Nevertheless, in order to present the subject in a manner easily grasped by the American people, attempts have been made to measure the value of health and life by a money standard. As a justification of this, we have the procedures of the courts, based upon statutory enactments, which fix a money value upon life, although in many cases, after mature deliberation, it has been found that the life for which compensation has been asked, was of small value. In like manner, in the treatises which have been written on the public health and its value as a national asset, it has been attempted to portray in dollars the most precious of all human possessions, namely, life. And, in point of fact, it is not wholly unscientific, though undoubtedly unsentimental, to thus value human existence. All useful members of a community render services of some kind, for which payment is made in the coin of the realm. Following one of the established customs of great financial operations, it has been customary to capitalize the human life on its earning capacity, either active or prospective. The infant and the child, measured upon an actual earning capacity, would have practically no value, but this would be an unscientific method of determining worth, because of the fact that the infant and the child represent the necessary preparatory stages of earning capacity. Based upon this fact they both have a real monetary value.
I shall not take up the time of this address with any effort to ascertain the actual values which may safely be assigned to the infant, the child, and the grown-up person. This has been carefully and sufficiently accomplished by other investigators. Abraham Lincoln said that in so far as efficiency is concerned the human race may be divided into three classes, namely, one, those who work effectively; two, those who work to no purpose, and three, those who do not work at all. Judging by rigid standards which have been set up by students of efficiency, class one is probably the least numerous of the three. Class two is composed of well-meaning people who do work, are willing to work, and anxious to work, but who do not know how, and therefore waste their energies. Class three is made up of the idle rich, the idle poor, and that considerable portion of our population incapacitated by disease or otherwise exempt from taking part in any useful employment.
FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF THE CONSERVATION OF MAN.
Primarily, in the study of the conservation of human efficiency, that is of man, man himself and knowledge of what he is, and what he has been, within the years in which man has been studied, in a scientific way, is of the utmost importance. Unfortunately, we have not access to a universal system of demography, inasmuch as only a few countries have adopted scientific demography in its entirety. The world descriptions of human life, health, and efficiency are, therefore, exceedingly fragmentary. We are too apt to base our ideas upon personal acquaintance and knowledge of the efficiency of man, than upon a scientific study thereof, and yet, in order to have a proper view of the subject of the conservation of man, the actual state of his health and his capacity for useful labor must engage our attention.
The Division of Vital Statistics of the Census Bureau has done much to furnish the student of humanity with fundamental data, and first of all let us consider what is the expectation of life in the various countries according to the latest authorities which can be secured. The Division of Vital Statistics has prepared the following table, which is to be accepted as the most authoritative which is accessible. No claim is made, of course, for entire accuracy, but it is sufficient to show what the condition was in this country twelve years ago. It is reasonable to suppose that conditions have improved somewhat in the twelve years which have passed since the compilation of the data submitted.
EXPECTATION OF LIFE IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES ACCORDING TO LATEST LIFE TABLES.
(The “expectation of life” is sometimes known as the “mean after-life time,” “average after-life time,” “mean duration of life,” and “average duration of life.” Data are from the international tables in Statistik des deutschen Reichs, Bd. 299, Siechetafeln; the French Statistique internationale; the English Registrar-General’s Report; Supplement, 1891–1900, and Census Bulletin No. 15, Twelfth Census, Tables for the United States, or rather for that part of it having fairly complete registration of deaths, will be published in connection with the Reports for 1910, now in preparation.)
EXPECTATION OF LIFE IN YEARS.
| Males. | Females. | ||||||
| At | One | Ten | At | One | Ten | ||
| Country or State. | Years. | Birth. | Year. | Years. | Birth. | Year. | Years. |
| England and Wales | 1891–1900 | 44.13 | 52.22 | 49.63 | 47.77 | 54.53 | 51.97 |
| Healthy Districts | 1891–1900 | 52.87 | 59.13 | 54.16 | 55.71 | 60.53 | 54.46 |
| France | 1901 | 45.31 | 53.10 | 49.25 | 48.69 | 55.34 | 51.53 |
| Italy | 1899–1902 | 42.83 | 50.67 | 51.25 | 43.17 | 50.08 | 51.00 |
| Austria | 1900–1901 | 37.77 | 49.17 | 48.22 | 39.87 | 49.31 | 48.54 |
| Belgium | 1891–1900 | 45.39 | 53.51 | 50.32 | 48.84 | 55.88 | 52.78 |
| The Netherlands | 1890–1899 | 46.2 | 54.8 | 51.7 | 49.0 | 56.2 | 53.0 |
| Sweden | 1891–1900 | 50.94 | 56.25 | 52.79 | 53.63 | 58.04 | 54.61 |
| Massachusetts | 1893–1897 | 44.09 | 52.18 | 49.33 | 46.61 | 53.58 | 50.70 |
| German Empire | 1891–1900 | 40.56 | 51.85 | 49.66 | 43.97 | 53.78 | 51.71 |
| New South Wales | 1891 | 49.60 | —— | 50.89 | 52.90 | —— | 53.39 |
| India | 1901 | 23.63 | —— | 34.73 | 23.96 | —— | 33.86 |
| District of Columbia (white) | 1900 | 41.64 | 49.30 | 46.37 | 45.77 | 52.89 | 49.90 |
| Massachusetts (white) | 1900 | 44.29 | 53.13 | 50.15 | 47.80 | 54.96 | 51.70 |
| New Jersey (white) | 1900 | 44.06 | 52.05 | 49.27 | 48.27 | 54.45 | 51.59 |
One of the most remarkable facts presented by the above table is in the marked increase in the expectation of life after the age of one year. In other words, the terrible infant mortality, which prevails in all countries, is so great that the expectation of life at birth is a number of years less than at the age of one year. In England and Wales, the infant mortality decreases the expectation of life at birth, in round numbers by eight years; in France and Italy about the same; in Austria, by eleven years; in Sweden, by six years; in the German Empire, by eleven years; in Massachusetts, by nine years. In the report, of the Bureau of the Census on Mortality Statistics, printed in 1909, and referring to the calendar year 1908, data are collected from seventeen States, the District of Columbia, and seventy-four registration cities, comprising a total of 51.8 per cent. of the total estimated population of the country. The total number of deaths registered in this area in 1908 is 691,574, corresponding to a death rate of 15.4 per 1,000 of population, which is said to indicate a remarkably favorable condition of the public health.