The Daily News. MONDAY, MARCH 16. PROTECTION OF INFANT LIFE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 73, 16 March 1908, Page 2

The Daily News. MONDAY, MARCH 16. PROTECTION OF INFANT LIFE.

.Notwithstanding the stupendous aJvanees made in the sciences of surgery, medicine, and hygiene within the past half-eeutury, there still remains ii great gull to lie bridged ere the hunuiu nu-u beneiits as it should from iui'am Jiu .-eienlilii- knowledge. One of the gravest blots on tin' advanced knowledge and civilisation of the twentieth century itliu terribly high infant mortality. Whether it be at the diction of fashio.i, of necessity, or of altered conditions of living, one allegedly contributing factor stands ■nit prominently—the increasing antipathy of mother-, to imparting to their babies the nourishment provided by nature. Artilieial feeding is the re suit, and, while infants may thrive evci better, perhaps, in a large percentage of case, oil artilieial than the natural food when the former is judiciously selected, unfortunately very great ignorance of the subject prevails, and the unfortunate infant is the sufferer. Tile old-world idea that every mother knows best what is most suitable for her babe dies slowly, though unfortunately nul so the unskilfully-fed child. In recent veal's noble efforts have been made to arrest this increasing death-rate, to spread knowledge of artilieial feeding, and generally to awaken the people to a sense of the seriousness of the national responsibility. The late Mr. Seddon, during the later years of hi* life, never missed an opportunity of pleadiug the case of the unfortunate babes, and the work he accomplished in the establishment of the popular Si. Helens maternity homes in the cities stands out among the crowning monuments of his life's work. In another direction Lady Plunket is continuing the good work, and in the prosecution of her scheme is to address a public meeting in the Town Hall at New Plymouth on Wednesday afternoon. It is Lady Plunket's wish to establish in all the centres of population a. branch of the Society for the Protection of Infant Ufe, and her address here will be in the direction of expounding the objects of the Society and appealing for assistance. The Society is already working most successfully in Dunedin and other cities, where its popularity is increasingly in evidence. To apply the methods of the Society to New Plymouth and district, the Society would procure a nurse specially trained in the scientific and accurate feeding and management of infants, a training which is now obtainable in Dunedin. The nurse, working under the local committee, would give lectures and demonstrations in any part of the district, and personally visit and instruct any mother who may as'< her to do so, continuing the visits 0 4 long as she could be of assistance. Another important branch of the work of the Society, already in operation in Dunedin, is the organisation and supervision of a supply of humanised milk, prepared in different strengths and scut out in different bottles. With the ob jeets of such a humanitarian organisation, everyone will sympathise, but sympathy alone will not assist it to materialise. A nurse qualified to carry out the duties would cost £IOB a 'year, which Lady Plunket proposes should bo raised by memliers at 3s each, in th's district there should surely lie little difficulty in procuring four hundr?d practical sympathisers in a "work of such far-reaching importance as the protection and improvement, if not necessarily saving, of infant life. We have little doubt that Lady Plunket's meeting, which is also to be addressed by experienced nurses and medical men. will be largely attended, and that the able advocacy of the speakers w':'.l awaken chords of sympathy and interest resulting in the establishment of a strong society.

THE MONEY MARKET. Marking the recent advance in the deposit rates of the banks trading in New Zealand, the "New Zealand Trade E ■- view" says: —The rates are now 4 p;-r wnt. for two years ami ;!'/;, per cent, for one year; six months remaining unchanged at 2 per cent. The Rank of Australasia form, an exception to the rule, tn the extent that it oilers (h,. <aine term-. :1V;. per cent., for both one and luo \car-. H cannot !*• duubted that, at all event- to ; , very large extent, the hardening that has thus been brought about is the result of the heavy inroads made upon local funds through the medium of the Post Ollice Savings Bank and the sales of Government <l •■ bentures. It must not, however, be forgotten that other claimants have also been in the market within the last twelve months or so—harbor boards, municipalities, and other public bodi ■-. Only quite recently the Wellington Harbor Board has resolved to apply to Parliament for power to raise a loan or loans to the extent of one million, W harbor equipment works. The dearness of the London market has driveu seekers after money in Australasia to look to local resources. These latter, however, arc by no means inexhaustible, and it would appear that the process has gone quite far enough. It seems opportune that the London market shows, at the moment, every indication of the advent of a period of cheap money, and it seems probable, that Australian and New Zealand Governments will soon be able to raise any needed funds to a reasonable amount on satisfactory terms in that market. Meantime, besides the higher price of money, there is a general tendency to caution, which imposes a soberI ing check, perhaps not unnecded, upon , the propensity to speculation and rashI ness so readily begotten by prosperous times and an easy money market. Oil the other hand, a striugent money market is detrimental to legitimate enterprise, to general trade, and to the extension of settlement, and it is to be hoped that the Government and local governing bodies will be able to facilitate a return to easier conditions by raising any needed funds outside the Dominion.