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PROTECTION OF MATERNITY. 
It seems to me that we have to recognize that State rights is not an 
academic question. It is really very vital, and means the control by 
the people in their small communities. You have got to go back to 
the town meetings, which were the cradle of democracy, in New 
England and in Virginia, where the people were vitally interested in 
anything that affected their communities, and then through the coun 
ties and the States, and it seems to me that the States are the very 
smallest unit that could take up any of these questions. 
I think it is a case of where we can look at Germany and where 
we see so many of the young men, a great many, who are longing for 
the return of the Imperial German Government, because they feel 
that their Government took over too many of the different local 
functions. It is the attitude of slaves and not of free men, and we 
have seen where it led the Germans. We want to guard against 
that sort of a bill, and it seems to me that the people, even with an 
.imperial government, can find some way of ridding themselves of 
tyrants when things get very bad, but if we are tied up in bureaus, 
intrenched behind red tape, we have a hydra-headed monster that we 
can not attack, because it is hard to get the Congress of the United 
States into action, when once power is given into the hands of the 
bureaus. We have seen Federal officials get into the Children’s 
Bureau, and into the different States, and we have seen them exert 
pressure to bring suffrage about. I think that they felt that it was 
an admirable thing to do, but nevertheless it is one of those points of 
view open to dispute, and if they can do that in one instance, why 
should not a group of people come in power who believe in socialism, 
sovietism, and bolshevism, and under the guise of their power, go 
into the various States and bring about pressure of that kind. 
Now let us see who is advocating this measure. Good Housekeep 
ing it is said is advocating this measure. Who owns Good House 
keeping ? We all know that it is one of the Hearst publications, and 
I do not think that William Randolph Hearst is a very good guide to 
follow. There are a great deal of things certainly which are not admir 
able in what he has stood for. Perhaps, under his guidance, great 
discord could be brought about among the Allies. It seems to me 
when you begin to put this power out of reach of the people that you 
are doing a very grave thing. 
The Chairman. Are you opposed to the Children’s Bureau? 
Mrs. Gibbs. Not when it is limited along certain lines. I was on 
the child’s welfare committee in the Council of Defense, and they 
did very admirable work there. They aroused parents to the fact 
that there was a standard for their children, and they made them 
want to have their children come up to that standard. I think that 
we can lots of times, particularly in war times, get people interested 
in doing things when they would not do it in any other way. There is 
a great deal then which tends to stimulate action. Now, I am the 
mother of four children, and I do not think I am heedless to the suffer 
ers of humanity, and I can not feel that when you take these questions 
out of the control of the State, that you are going to get half as far 
as you do now. In our city we have a splendid organization of pub 
lic spirited men working along lines of charity, and one of the several 
charities is the public milk fund, which has 14 different stations, 
and which has clinics and nurses that visit, and. they are in touch 
with the most representative men who gladly sacrifice their time and 
their money to keep everything up to the standard.