In the early 1900s, newspapers were all out of sorts with terms like eugenics and race suicide being bounced around like there would be no tomorrow. Here is an article from 1912 where a group wanted to restrict the amount of children allowed to a family.
Nothing Doing for Race Suicide Document
Madison, Wis., May 24. — The Lauma Kunhelea Cosmopolita Uniperseela Sobiete [nothing revealed in a Google search], of Milwaukee, was incorporated here today. But not until there had been a great deal of trouble over it.
When the society first presented its articles of incorporation to the Secretary of State, that dignitary immediately threw a fit.
The cause of the Secretary’s agitation was the first article, which announced in very plain English that the purpose of the society was “to reduce the size of families and to set a limit on the number of children to each family.”
“Nix!” said the Secretary, jumping up and down in his excitement. “Whatd’yu think this is? — a race suicide office! This is the office of the Secretary of State of Wisconsin, which belongs to that great and glorious union of freedom, the United States of America, where one may have as many children as he pleases, so long as he does so with full benefit of clergy.”
“But —“ began one of the incorporators.
“But me no buts,” said the secretary. “Away with this race suicidal document! To the ash heap with it! Know ye not that I am a married man? That I am the father of six bouncing boys, and five thrillingly beautiful girls? Get hence!”
The would be incorporators promptly “hence-ed,” the number of those in the secretary’s family being far above their limit, and further talk obviously useless.
Later, they brought the articles of incorporation back, with the first article obliterated, which is a Latin word meaning what Jack Johnson did to Jim Jeffries.
The incorporators are some secret about their weirdly named society. They refuse to bubble forth information as to the members of it, or the officers of it, or the idea of it, or the desire to reduce the population.
Source: The Day Book (Chicago, Illinois newspaper). May 24, 1912.
