UNMARRIED MOTHERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19417, 27 August 1926, Page 8

UNMARRIED MOTHERS.

Sir, —By a letter in Tuesday's Herat,d the Rev. P. S. Smallfield. chairman of St. Mary's Homes, draws attention to tho fact that I was reported to have said, at the Door of Hope Association annual meeting, that there is no institution in Auckland which gives adequate attention to the care of unmarried mothers; also, that there are institutions in England which attend to such cases. Your correspondent seems to feel that a wrong impression may have been created by my statement. To remove any misunderstanding, may I say that, m concluding my address, I turned to Mr. \Y. R. Wilson, the chairman, and made an appeal through him to the committee for the. girl who had no Door of Hope. After pointing out tho excellent work this present institution is doing, I referred to the fact that the Door of Hope in England is an institution which provides a home for unmarried mothers, and the girls go out to work in the day time and return home at night to livo with their babies. Such an institution fosters the mother-love in the hearts of the girls and safeguards their lives, to a large extent, from further disaster. I further said that, as far as I could ascertain, there was no such institution in tho city of Auckland and I suggested that tho committee might consider adding such a home to their present institution. 1 greatly admire tho excellent work which the Salvation Army and the Church of England are doing for unmarried mothers and their babies, but I have yet to learn that there is an institution such »s t pleaded for in the city of Auckland. If there is, I shall be pleased to know of it and support it. If not, then I sincerely trust that one will be opened in our city without unnecessary delay. Lionel B. Fletcher.