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Mrs. Sanger Tells of Birth Control Spreading in Orient
Compared "Gross and Unthinking Stupidity Suffered in New York" to Courtesy Offered in Japan
Mrs. Margaret Sanger returned home from eight months' trip around the world convinced that "the idea of birth control has now trumphantly circled the globe" and that the masses of all nations "are ready and eager for its practice," she told an audience of more than 2,000 in Carnegie Hall last night.
The occasion was a welcome home meeting given Mrs. Sanger by the supporters of the beliefs she promulgates. Her subject was "Birth Control in China and Japan."
Aside from the larger message forming her conclusions, Mrs. Sanger dealt chiefly with overpopulation problems in the Orient, likening the position of Japan to that of Germany before the war, and picturing China as the worst example of a people ignorant of birth control.
China Needs Birth Control
"China," she said "does not need our religion. In exporting it to Asia, we are not doing much to bridge the chasm between the Occident and the Orient. Instead, we are developing misunderstanding. What China needs is our science, sanitation and birth control."
She encountered numerous government difficulties before she was permitted to enter Japan and speak there, she related, but once she had gained this advantage, through Japanese public opinion, she was received with the utmost courtesy. She continued:
"After battling in this country, and particularly in New York, with gross, unthinking stupidity, cloaking itself with the name of religion and democracy, it was a joy to be received, even by one's opponents, with intelligent respect and courtesy. I did not meet with vulgar leers and ribald laughs."
Lauds Japanese Officials
"I could not help comparing the breadth and subtlety of the minds of the Japanese officials with the unspeakable vulgarity and leering crudity of the politicans in New York, when we tried to bring the problem of birth control to the attention of our state legislators."
Other speakers were Mrs. Josephine Bennett, Dr. Sidney E. Goldstein, Dr. Lydia Allen DeVilbiss, of Washington Heywood Bround was chaiman. A considerable number of policemen were present in the lobbies when the meeting began, but apparently only in anticipation of large crowds, as they left early. No one in clerical garb was observed in attendance.