THE PLACE OF THE CHILD IN PRESENT-DAY RUSSIA.

On November 7, 1942, the Soviet Union celebrated the first quarter of a century of its existence. In its present gigantic struggle for its own preservation and for the maintenance of freedom and decency in the world, the Soviet Government depends greatly on its present generation, those born or grown up since 1917. The Soviet Government is now thus reaping the harvest of its investment in the care, training, and general bringing up of the generation in the years gone by. The purpose of this paper is to review briefly the highlights in the Soviet child-care program in the last twenty-five years. Such a review, of necessity sketchy and general, is hereby presented not only by way of a better understanding of the Russian ally, but also to throw some light on the problem of child care in these crucial times. In 1914 in the whole vast Russian Empire, with a population of about 170 million, there were altogether 7,000 maternity beds available to the public. Total accommodations for nursery children was 500. At the outbreak of World War I, there were less than 8 million children attending the primary and secondary schools in that country. During the same period the attendance at the higher educational institutions was slightly over a hundred thousand.