THE TOLL ON CHILD LIFE

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2523, 31 July 1915, Page 10

THE TOLL ON CHILD LIFE

' APPALLING FIGURES. Sirs. Paukliurst lias been a frequent speaker ill London during the past; few months, states the London correspondent of the '"JJaily Telegraph," writing on June 10. Last night, liowover, .1 heard Mrs. Pcthcrick Lawrenco address a meeting—her "first appearauco" binco war broke out. Slio is an at-tractive-looking woman, strongly and gracefully built, and she wore a pretty brown dress that toned admirably with her thick, curly brown hair and her general colouring. Her spcech is of so persuasive an eloquence that when one happens to disagree with her opinions it is apt to be necessary to get away from her magnetic presence before attempting to formulate any clear, contrary arguments. jirs. Lawrence touched on a subject which just now is giving thoughtful people matter for somo startled reflec-. tion. For some time various women doctors havo been raising their voices to urge increased caro of, tlio motherhood and babyhood of the nation; but in the press of events their warnings, I fear, havo received scant attention. The returns of births and deaths of the Registrar-General come as a, somewhat staggering confirmation, of their' romai'lis. In times liko these, the saying that a nation survives in its young is more obviously true than ever before, and now wo learn that in Greater London, ' allowing for the growth of population, the number of births every week is between 400 and 500 below the respectivo averages in tho corresponding weeks of the past five years. There, is also a very' serious increase in mortality. ■ Children havo been dying in London at tho rate of 200 a week for the last thirteen weeks in excess of the number dying during tho corresponding weoks of last year. Much the same falling-off in birth-rato and increase in. death-rate seems to hold, not only in London, but throughout the "other big towns of England aiid,AVales. If these figures are correct—and being official I suppose, they must be— the situation is surely appalling. An article in "The, Times" regards much of this dreadful toll on child-life as an indirect outcome of the present great struggle. There are fewer doctors and nurses in civil life, and these are much overworked. Also tliero has been an increaso in the industrial employment of married women owing to tho war, and a lack of agencies for looking after young children during the absence of tlier mothers from home. Day nurseries. where mothers while _at can for a few pence leave their children in safe keeping, have been in times past a great check on infant mortality. But such institutions are supported mainly by voluntary, subscription, aud it is difficult now to get money for any purpose not directly associated with the war. Consequently many day-nurser-ies havo been closed, and the mothers now have to leave their children with a neighbour, or professional minder, to whom they pay 3d. or 'Id. a day—a sum which could not possibly purchase the attention and food which a young child needs. The 'tragedy of the death of these babies in our midst brings the war very near to us.