NATION'S HOPE FOR FUTURE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 30, 30 October 1917, Page 6

NATION'S HOPE FOR FUTURE

OPENING OF THE NATIONAL CAMPAIGN

i This is "Save the Babies" Week. ".Save the Babies" Week, is a campaign organised by the ' Society with a twofold purpose'.— (1) To give the mothers and fathers of the community an opportunity of learning the most important facts with regard to the care of the baby.. (2) To bring home to the community a knowledge of the facts regarding the needless deaths of its babies and a realisation of the ways in which it must protect them. A Baby Weak should be a community campaign; each person in the community should feel that he or she ha,s a part in it. A Baby Week should not be a temporary flurry and excitement, but should lead to permanent work for the babies. You can help by attending one or more of the Lectures or Demonstrations which will be organised in the district; by listening to a Baby Sunday Sermon; by visiting a Mothercraft Exhibition if available, and generally by taking part in the local arrangements for Baby Week.

The local oampaTgn of Baby Week, which is being held this week throughout the Dominion, was begun in the Concert Chamber of the. Town Hall yesterday afternoon. The objects of the campaign are, first of all, to give the mothers and fathers of the community an opportunity of learning the most important facts witji regard to the care of the baby, and, secondly, to bring home to the community a knowledge of the facts regarding tho needless deaths of babies, and a realisation of the ways in which it must protect them. The Mayor, Mr. J. P. Luke, presided for part of the time, and after he had withdrawn, owing to further demands made upon his time, Mrs. W. F. Massey, provident of the Plunket Society (which IB responsible for tho campaign) took his placß. Also occupying seats upon the platform,were Her Excellency the Countess of J/iverpool, the Hon. G. W. Russell, Lady Ward, Mrs.' G.. W. Russell, and Dr. Pfiuts-Mills. In the course of his speech, the Mayor expressed the pleasure which was felt that Her Excellency should have consented to open the proceedings of Baby Week, and he felt sure that the campaign which was about to be started in this country would meet with similaf success'to that which had attonded Babj WeeE in Britain. A warm tribute was paid to the work of the Plunket Society by the speaker. Not only'bad members foregathered at conferences and published broadcast knowledge as to the upbringing of infants, but they, were now bent upon this campaign of still further spreading such knowledge abroad. Tho kindness, skill, and interest of the Plunket nurses were well known. A tribute to the work of tho medical fraternity was also paid by tho Mayor, and an especially warm one to Dr. Truhy King, who was' now setting the seal upon his v\vork Sy going to England to assist in the great effort that was being made thero to eavo the infant life of the nation. Mr. Luke also spoko about tlio burning question of the milk supply of tho city, and said that _the City Council did rija mean to turn tneir backs upon the work they had begun in regard to a pure milk supply. The difficulties in which the wholo question was involved wero not realised. They were now, ho hoped, on tho high road to a municipalisation of tho milk control of the city.

Her Excellency tile Countess of Liverpool, in opening the campaign of Baby Week, expressed the pleasure she felt in being associated with people who were working so earnestly in so good a cause as this. Proper food, care, and good surroundings were very necessary to tho making of' good citizens, and 'in this country there were many natural advantages in the way of climate, gardens, and space for playgrounds which were ,a good asset. She 'hoped that great results would come to the organisers of this campaign in return for their efforts. The Hon. Cr. W. Russell, Minister of Public Health, explained that this ef-fort-was educational, and was being carried out not only in Wellington, but elsewhere in New Zealand. The wastage of war had made child life of great value to the country, and although there was an improvement in the death rate there was still much to be done. A brief resume of the origin of tho Plunket Society started some years ago by Dr. and Mrs. Truby King was given, and in illustrating the growth of the movement, Mr. Ilussell stated that there were now thirty-one to thirty-live branches of the society established in this country which employed between forty and fifty nurses. Tfte Government subsidised tho work well by a grant yearly of .£4OOO, which meant .£IOO per year as salary for each nurse. In addition their travelling expenses were paid by the Government. A good (leal of literature was also published in connection with the work. For every birth which was registered a the society's pamphlet, "Baby's First Month," was sent by the Public Health Department to the'parents, while another pamphlet, which was of great value was "The Expectant Mother." In answer to tho request made to the Now Zealand Government by the Duchess of Marlborough on behalf of the organisation she i represented, Dr. Truby King was now going to England to carry on a similar work there to that ho had inaugurated in New Zealand, while an officer would be sent back to {he Dominion to assist the mental Hospital staff in place of Dr. Truby King.

training in the upbringing of infants, and were afterwards sent out to different parts of the Dominion to instruct others in what they had learnt. At the rooms in Courtenay Place, from October of 1916 to September, 1917, 6510 visits wero paid by mothers, and 5124 visits were ,paid by nurses to mothers in their own homes. Women were shown- how,, to prepare food for their iiifants, were given advice as to the care of their health and that of their little ones, and in every way all the help that trained women could give to others was given by theffe nurses. Dr. Platts-Mills followed Mrs. Massey, and traced the very gradual development in the world of child culture, a growth that only seemed to make headway within the last few centuries. A great deal of good had been accomplished by the International Child Welfare Conference that had been held at Brussels, and at the last one, held just before the outbreak of war, New had been represented by Dr. Truby King. With the spread of education and the growth of democracy the importance and dignity; of chili] welfare becaras nioro and more recognised. At the close of the speeches a repetition of the ordinary work followed out by the children in the course of the last hour of the morning, was given by .the children 'of the Wellington South Kindergarten, under Miss Riley's direction. Folk songs, games, dances, were gaily performed by the children, quite undisturbed by the fact that they were the centre of observation by all present in the Concert Chamber. Her Excellency was the recipient of a bouquet from one of the very little ones, at the beginning of the performance. This afternoon therp will be lectnreß and demonstrations by Plunket nurses.

As in most other English-speaking countries, tho birth-rate in New Zealand showed a most regrettable decrease. In the years 1882-86 it was 35.10 per 1000 of the population. Since then it had steadily declined to 25.33 in 1915, the lowest on record except for 1899, a period of great financial depression. The age of large families had apparently disappeared, and the Minister contended tltat the limitation of offspring among the people was a crime against humanity. No doubt a certain proportion of this limitation was due to economic reasons. and parents realised that there wero great responsibilities in having large families The time had now "onie, iie :onsidered, when the responsibilities of parents must be recognised by the State. The State must assist them in the upbringing of tho children. The shrinkage of the birth-rate to some extent was compensated for by the low death rate of the Dominion; and as a result New Zealand still stood high in the scale of countries as regarded natural increase. For the last"qninqiiennium it was 10.8. as compared with Germany and Italy, 12.5; Norway, 12.2; Ontario, 10.8; Scotland. 10.5; England and Wales, 10.4; Ireland. 6.3.

The Government Statistician had stated that had the natural increase Tate of 18S2-8G (24.56 per thousand of mean population) been maintained to the end of 1015 it would have meant an approximate increase of 210,000 persons over (he population of December 81, 1915. New Zealand, with all its advantages of climate and prosperity stood below (in regard to its birth rate) all the Australian States except Victoria.

As regards infantile mortality the death rate in New Zealand was the lowest in tho world. This he considered was due to the genial climate, our openair.- life, our insularity, and the efforts which were made to check infantile mortality, and our liospiial system. The death rale per 1000 births had fallen steadily from SS.7O in 1007 to 50.05 in 1015, ivfiile the mortality of children under five years of ago (including infants) had fallen from 27.14 per 1000 liviii" in 1907 to 14.27 in 1915. Mrs. Massey, who was next tailed upon to speak, gave an outline of the aims and objects of the Plnnket Society. As the result of n meeting of women which" was held in Dunedin ten years ago, women were sent to the Karit'ano Harris Hospital, where they received their