THE BIRTH-RATE.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2405, 10 March 1915, Page 7

THE BIRTH-RATE.

Sir,—Of late years many > papers throughout the,. Dominion, and your leading article of last Saturday amongst others, have discussed the deoreaßmg birth-rate of this colony, but none seem to grasp one of the great causeß for such. It must be remembered that the late, Mr. Seddon-often referred to it—and what he did to assist the— what will we call them—waifs mid strays, as I think'it was said, he erected what was called the St. Helens Nurßing Homes, for a special class—very thoughtful indeed. But as the work-ing-man's friend, what was done under his Government? Was there not an Act passed to establish . maternity homes, and force the public to patronise them? .What does this mean to a working man like the writer, especially those away in the back-blocks, $ome thirty miles out, with no roads, only bridle-traoks, where a man has to Btrap his wife on to a horse and bring her out to a home? Not to mention the extraordinary, cost and the risk of a woman's life. Even the man alongside the home has a cost right away of some £16 to £20, besides which a. man with a family has to get a housed keeper for the time being.. : Can the working man afford this? " And they have always been allowed to be the most proMo in that line. It's no wonder if the birth-rate is' declining. _ In former times a nurse was called in for •a week :or two, at a small cost, or a back-block settler got the assistance of some neighbour. The birth-rate did not frighten him. Now things *re altogether changed, and I have no doubt the state of our laws is greatly to blame.—l am, etc., A WORKING MAN.