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The Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Paw
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Professor Irving Fisher, of Yale,
and Other Students of Eco
nomics, After a Careful Study
Have Arrived at the Sum of
$90 as Representing the Aver
age Value of the Human Infant
S a baby worth as much as a pig? It
depends a good deal on the pig. O.ie
Berkshire hoe was sold the other
day, at a "pork fair" in New Brunswick,
N. J., for $1,125. Some prize winning
swine have M)ld as high as $5,000 to
$6,000.
The "economic value" of a new-born
baby (as reckoned by enerta in such
matters) is about ?!K). The amount is
so low because the chance is so large
that the child will not survive. When
it has passed the first year snfely it is
worth a good deal move money; but
nothing like $".123. The pig easily beats
' it in market r Hue.
Eleven hun Ired nnd twenty-five dollars
. is not much for a hoj. Prize n'gs some
times fetch two or three times that price.
A bonr of high farm lineage has been
known to sell for $6,000, as already men
tioned. Babies you can get for nothing
at any foundling asylum.
Mr. Howard Willetts, of White Tlains;
a "gentleman farmer," provides bathtubs
for his pigs. He can afford to do bo,
considering the fact that his piglings
commonly sell at $500 apiece.
In point of economic value, one of Mr.
Willetts' piglings Is equal to at least five
young babies. A $6,000 hog worth
more than fifty babies.
How the Pig's Extra
Value Is Computed.
Ons naturally asks, what Is it that
makes a pig (at all events, some pigs) so
mucn more precious than a baby?
The prize pig, slaughtered, would fetch,
or course, only the ordinary price of
porK. Its value, alive, lies in its useful
ness to ths breeder, In other words, in
Its power to transmit to its progeny cer
tain desirable attributes.
The ordinary farm hog, full-grown, is
worth only $8. But the superplg is a
Tery different animal. It grows faster;
It attains much larger size; and it fur
nishes much more and better meat. Also,
and not least Important, the sow pro
duces nearly twice as many young.
The superpig, at eight months, is ex
pected to weigh 250 pounds. It is a
"Quick fattener"; In shape it is clean-cut;
Its- meat Is delicately "marbled" with fat,
contributing lusciousness to the flavor.
It has relatively small bones, and so
yields a high percentage of muscle tissue
and lard.
The ordinary farm sow produces one
litter a year (sometimes two), with four
piglings to a litter. The supersow can bs
counted on to produce two litters an
nually, with seTen piglings to a litter
Fourteen pigs a year, at $500 a pig,
amounts to $7,000 a year. Very few
babies can be counted on to produce
that Income especially girl babies. So
the girl pig and the girl baby have very
different prospects as money getters. The
girl pigling Is a good investment at $500,
tut the girl baby is a doubtful bargain
at 190.
The ultimate aim of the pig-breeders
lsr to improve the whole race of hogs in
the United State. It is a matter of no
small Importance, because ours Is the
great pig-raising country. Germany,
though standing easily first in this re
spect among European nations, possesses
only about half as many pigs as we have.
According to Government figures, there
are to-day on our farms about 66,000,000
pigs.
The Government is greatly interested
In pig uplift, and is trying to encourage
the farmers to pay more attention to
breeding, with a view to producing hogs
that will grow fast and propagate their
species more rapidly. Quality of meat
hniiM so be considered. Ths cry for
ou; Students of Economic Values Have
Arrived at $90 as Being What an
Infant Is Worth While
Prize Hogs Bring $6,000
A $6,000
Champion
Swine. The
Children of
This Animal
Are Worth
More Than
$500 Apiece
the Week
A "Gentleman Farmer's Farm Buildings and Piggery.
This is a Sample of the Elaborate Farm Buildings
On Some of the American Country Estates Where
the Little Pigs Have Every Comfort, Are sur
rounded by the Most Sanitary Equipment, and
Are Provided with Individual Bath Tub
"better babies" finds an echo In a cry
for better piglings.
Another thing to be thought of Is that
as time goes on the pig must inevitably
displace other animals to a great extent
iff a source of meat supply. Beef and
mutton (not to mention veal) will
steadily rise in price, and folks of or
dinary means will be able to afford less
and less of those already-expensive lux
uries. They will fall back on pork.
Pork is dear enough to-day, goodness
knows; but the supply of it can be in
definitely increased, because pigs can be
bred rapidly and raised almost anywhere,
whereas available areas for the pastur
ing of cattle and sheep are steadily
growing smaller.
Furthermore, pigs can be fed largely on
refuse materials; and 84 per cent of the
hog's carcase is utillzable as food,
whereas only 73 per cent of the beef an'
mal and 04 per cent of the sheep is meat.
It is for these reasons (say the ex
perts) that in China the pig is the only
four-footed animal that survives as a
meat-producer. A like condition of af
fairs seem to be destined eventually to
arrive in our own country. At all events,
a generation or two hence, beef, mutton
and poultry may be expected to be so
high In price as to be purchasable only
by the very well-to-do.
American mothers, after learning that
a pig may be worth $1,125, will perhaps
be a little shocked to learn that the value
of the average American baby Is just $90.
That is the decision of Professor Irving
Fisher, of Vale University, one of the
most distinguished of American econ
mists. He has made an exhaustive study
of the subject. He does not, of course,
allow any sentimental or moral value to
the baby. He estimates simply its ma
terial value to the community and takes
into consideration Its prospects of long
life, of good and bad health, of entering
upon a useful calling, and also of becom
ing a burden to society. Taking all these
things into consideration, this blgh au
thority finds that the value of the average
baby Is only $90.
Jt Is obvious tbst, considered from this
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purely economic point of view, some
babies must have a much greater value,
and therefore It follows that the very low
average must be due to the fact that
most babies are worth little or nothing.
It would be reasonable to argue that the
baby John D. Rockefeller was worth
many million? to the community. Some
people might object that little John Ds
vast earning potentiality was more valu
able to himrelf than to other people.
Leaving that delicate point aside It
remains unquestionable that the baby
Thomas A. Edison and many other great
inventors and producers were of Im
mense economic value to society. That
some babies are valuable is certain.
The enormous difference in value be
tween a fine pig and the average baby,
as Judged by Professor Fisher, can only
be explained by the fact that there is a
great neglect of baby life and of the
average baby's possibilities.
There has been a great difference of
opinion among judges a. d Jurors In es
timating the value of a baby' life, even
In cases where the person sued for dam
ages was guilty of negligence.
In the case of baby Dernard Farrell,
who was run over by a brewry wagon in
front nf liU home, the jury awarded the
mother 6 cents damages. In a well known
decision Justice Gummere, of New Jer
sey, fixed the value of a baby's life at $1.
Judge Earle, of the New Vork Court
of Appealv. a very high judicial authority,
has expressed the legal view of a baby's
value in these words:
"The rule of damages In such cases is
a difficult one to apply. The 'pecuniary
injuries,' for which recovery can only be
had, are always difficult of precise proof,
uncertain and problematic, and what
should be a proper compensation must
always, upon such proof as can be made,
be left to the judgment of the Jury. In
estimating the pecuniary value of this
child to her next of kin the Jury could
take Into consideration all the probable
or even the possible benefits which might
result to them from her life, modified, as
In their estimation they should be, by
the chances of failure and misfortune.
Copyright, 1919, by th Star Comoinr. Ort Hrltain Rights Reserved.
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This Mother Hog nas a Group of Children Around
Her Which Are Worth $500 Apiece a Litter of
Pigs of a Total Value of $2,500 the Week They
Were Born, as Compared with This Human
Youngster Whose Economic Value Was $90
There is no mis but their own good sense
for their guidance."
A New York attorney, who has de
fended many damage suits, gave this
further explanation of Judge Earle'a
ruling:
"The amount of damages Is, I think,
and should be, determined to quite an
extent by the social and financial stand
ing of the plaintiff and the financial
When You Go to Sleep
I
T you are very tired when you get on
conductor that It Is quite likely you
tralL reaches your destination, and
In that event to wake you, can you safely yield to the desire for
slumber, relying upon the conductor's promise?
Suppose the conductor forgets all about you and you are car
ried far beyond your destination, can you hold the company re
sponsible for whatever damages you suffer?
A case has recently been decided in South Carolina by the
Supreme Court which will tend to make train conductors in
that State, at any rate a little more careful In 1Mb respect,
although the court draws a distinction between a case where a
passenger goes to sleep voluntarily and where he Is Involuntarily
overcome by slumber.
In the rase In question, Y. S. Ollkerson got on a train of the
Atlantic Coast I.lne Railroad Company at Florence, 8. C. to go
to Laurens, S. C It was necessary for him to change cars at
Sumter at 4 a. rn. According to his testimony, he told the con
ductor that he was very tired and would probably be asleep
when the train arrived at Sumter, and asked the conductor to
waken him, which the conductor agreed to do.
When the train arrived at Sumter Gilkerson was sleeping
peacefully, and when the train pulled out Gilkerson was still
sleeping. The conductor bad evidently forgotten all about him
The result was that Gilkerson was carried several miles beyond
his destination and had to walk the whole distance back. To
make matters worse, Gilkerson had a lot of baggage to carry,
6 r'Ui.k;:::
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standing of the defendant I think that
precedent Mistains this. I have often
noticed that persons of social standing,
education and refinement recover larger
damages for the same Injury than de
praved and degraded people do, or even
merely poor people. Juries no doubt
take Into consideration the station of the
parents and the prospects of the child."
Professor Sellgman, of Columbia Uni
versity, another economist, differs from
a train, and tell the
will be asleep when the
the conductor promises
3
(mm
Prize Winning Hogs Frequently Reach a Money Valu
of from $5,000 to $6,000. These Animals Most Have
All the Beat Points So That Their Children Will
Inherit These Valuable Points. At the $90 Val
uation for a Human Infant the Hog is Worth
Considerably More Than Fifty Times as
Much as the Baby.
Professor Fisher and declares that ths
baby would be worth nearer $150,000
than $90. Professor Seligman bases the
baby's value on the supposition that he
would earn the average American's
wages for thirty to forty years. He leaves
out of his calculations the probabilities
of early death, sickness, laziness, crim
inality and failure, causes that prevent
many average babies from becoming even
average men.
on a Train
there were several long trestles to cross and it was pitch dsrk.
Gilkerson brought suit, but the court dismissed the case with
out ever letting it go to the Jury. This decision has now been
reversed by the Supreme Court, which bases its opinion upon
the fact that this was not a case where a "passenger was at
tempting to convert an ordinary coacn into a sleeping apart
ment, but where he was afraid he would be overcome by sleep
involuntarily on account of his physical condition, and therefor
sought the assistance of tne conductor in order that he might be
in a condition to make the necessary change of cars."
This decision is based upon the generally recognized rule of
law that It is the duty of a railroad company to assist passen
gers to alight at their destination. While this duty la generally
complied with by causing the train to stop at the destination an
announcing the station, yet where the condition of a passenger
is such that more la necessary to enable him to alight In safely,
the railroad company Is bound to do it.
Suppose, for Instance, a passenger Is blind and deaf and the
conductor Is notified of his Infirmity. In such a case, it would
certainly be the conductor's duty to go further than ordinarily
in apprising tbe passenger of the train's arrival at his destina
tion. In the same way, the South Carolina court now holds, that if
a passenger is so sleepy when he gets on a train that, to all
practical purposes, he will be both deaf and blind when his sta
tion Is reached, he may safely rely upon the conductor to
awaken him; and If the conductor fails to do so after being re
quested to do so, tbe company Is liable for damages.