“THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILDREN.”

White Ribbon, Volume 23, Issue 265, 18 July 1917, Page 10

“THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILDREN.”

(To the ‘T.ditor.) Madam, The enclosed clipping from the Svdney “Bulletin” should be widely read, though the writer should have remembered the inexorable law

men invoke, “The sins of the fathers shall be v»sited on the c hildren,” and in remembering that, should have warned young people to restrain themselves. That the effect of their selfindulgence does not stay with them, but punishes innocent children. That, 111 fact, sensual indulgence is essentially child-murder. Think of it, young men and women. Self-indulgence is not “a good time,” but child-murder and inc redible suffering for .ill concerned. Pause* and think! Is it worth while? -1 am, etc., SAM. A. BROWNE. Clevedon, Aurk'and, July 2nd, 1 Commonwealth Statistician Knibbs supplied some surprising figures to the Svdnew Child Welfare Conference.* In Australia, if the* average death-rate for the first day after birth were maintained, there would be no kiddies left after iof> days. In all other countries, unless perhaps Maoriland, a shorter period would make corpses of them all. However, the* rate falls off rapidly for the first week ; then more slowly till the twelfth year. By that time it is only 1-3400th of what it was on the hist day. Then it begins to inc re use again Australia’s mortality for the* first year has been falling for the last 30 years. Knibbs suggests that as the first year is so fatal, the end ot that period might well be taken as the datum peg for measuring the effective b : rth-rate: i.e., instead of counting all children born, only the first year’s survivors might be reckoned. Australia’s survivors are now <>3 per cent, of births, as against Chile’s bS per cent. Congenital debility and malformation are the young immigrants’ most frequent enemies—a fact which sonic* good folk who reckon that venereal disease ; s “pun shment for sin” might paste in their hats. Also, having discovered what “sin” the poor little immigrants have committed, they might paste that in their hats, too.