CHILD EVACUEES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 150, 26 June 1940, Page 6

CHILD EVACUEES.

The Government lias undertaken the responsibility of arranging for the settlement of 2500 British children. The proposal arose-, spontaneously in this Dominion, and . all New Zealanders will be glad that the authorities, both' in England and New Zealand, ' have so promptly adopted it. Not only does it commend itself on humanitarian grounds, but ifc is a. way of helping Britain in an hour of great need. Nevertheless, the' public, and particularly those hundreds of thousands of warm- 1 hearted' people who have offered to eeome foster-parents for the duration of the war, are entitled to some further information. According to Mr. Parrj-, the New Zealand Government has declined Britain's offer to contribute towards the" children's maintenance, and will expect the foster-parents to assume the full responsibility. This decision will undoubtedly prevent some would-be foster-parents frqm offering their hospitality for an indefinite period. There is need of some body through which people sympathetic to the proposal, 'but unable themselves to jtake children, will be enabled to I contribute to a'fund for necessitous leases. Without it, there will be 'a danger that a burden willingly assumed now will become onerous later, and to the disadvantage of the children. As it is intqnded that the (Children/ ov some o£ them, should lie returned to England after the war, who ■will pay for their repatriation? A further point is that if New Zealand intends to receive many thousands of children it must be prepared for a proportion of them to become, for various reasons, liaGilities. Who is to be responsible for them? Necessarily the plans have had to be hurriedly made, but it is. important that the answers to these questions should be known. ;