MARRIAGE OF THE UNFIT.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1833, 21 August 1913, Page 11

MARRIAGE OF THE UNFIT.

AN ENGLISH OFFICIAL'S VIEW. Dr. WKltchousc, the medical officer of health for Deptford, England, deals in his annual report with a number of interesting questions. For ono thing, ho says, there is 110 doubt that tho timo ia fast approaching when some means will have to be adopted to prevent tho marriage of the unfit:—"How much better this country would be if tlwj legal part of a marriage were performed by the Mayor of a borough and thus mate it a municipal affair. In this civil contract tho contracting parties should first be required to give notice to tho medical officer of health, who would then issue .1 report to tho oflect that he- had reason to believo tho parties wore mentally and physically sound and suitable for marriage either on his own.examination or the certificate of tlieir medical attendant. Such a 'proceeding would do much to improvo tho stamina and mental efficiency of the next generation;" The interested parties could still rcccivo the blessing of their respective churches, whilst relieving tlie clergyman or registrar of what should lie serious responsibility. Only a generation Ago, Dr. Whitehouss remarks, the rich deserved the epithet of meddlesome. "Tho now rich do not bother their heads about the poor, and tlicv close their eyes to the agony along the' banks nf the Thames. Shimming is no longer fashionable among the well-to-do. and only the State cares. "It is all very well to say that the starving can fall back upon tho Poor Law, but the fact remains that in spite of the Poor Law women and children' starved during tho strikes in tho midst of plenty, and will starve at intervals. Children have been known to go naked and hungry, and tiny infants to bo fed on flour and water. However we look at it, wo cannot get rid of our responsibility for their suffering, and when an industrial wax takes place it is tho duty of every man and overy woman to see tnat the helpless do not suffer, whatever be tho rights and wrongs of a sti'iko dispute. '"If <a strike were an earthquake, or a shipwreck, its innocent victims," Dr. Whitohouso adds, "would bo speedily aided by' the oommunity." He does not see why a distinction should bo drawn between ono calamity and another whilst English children are drowning in the industrial river.