INFANT MORTALITY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14000, 5 September 1907, Page 5

INFANT MORTALITY

. THE DUTY OF THE STATE. * ATTOIINEY-GENERAL'S VIEWS, (Fboji Our Own Cobeespohdent.) . WELLINGTON, September 3) Tho subject of infant life protection was raised in tho Logislativo' Council by tho following motion, moved by tho Hon. Dr Oollin?, of, Wellington:—" That it is desir- ' ablo that;tho provisions, especially with regard to inspection, at present in force for tho i protection of infant lifo, should be taken into consideration by this Council." Two extremely interesting speeches were given on tho subject, the, importance of conserving infant lifo as a set-off against a diminishing birth rate being emphasised. Dr Collins declared it tho duty of the State to seo that ovfery child had a ehanco to live, and that it should not grow up a weakling, "to become an inmate of our hospitals or mental asylums. The Stato was doing- a good deal for the prescrva--tion of infant life, in New Zealand, but it cculd do moro. Ilq regarded tho Infant Life -Protection Act oa an admirable measure, but in deputing tho inspection of registered infant homes to the police it was 'deficient. Inspection should lie made by qualified nurseo, specially trained in regard to infant management, so that they could advjeo infant, homo-keepers. The law, which required an inquest to be held when an infant died in a home, was evaded by the child's removal before death. Under another act (the Industrial Schools Act) tho State becamo tho guardian of children. Tficy were hoarded out' under the' supervision of women inspectors, ami ho bolioved tho working of this system had an important effect .in doing !, r oocl to childron born of criminal stock by changing .their/environment!, THECOYERNMENT'S INTENTIONS. The-Hon. Dr Findlay (Attorney-general)-seconded ' tho motion, stating that he wished lb take the first opj.-orlunity of explaining to the Council the Government's intention'in regard fo. tho matter. Tho topic was of such importance-that for some time past tho Government, had been considering somo method of improving the protection -afforded by law to infant lifo and health. They were touching ono of the most important soc'al questions with "which our modem civilisation was faced. If, as was tho case under our law, a child. I must be born alive, it should bo entitled Ui ebmo measure; of Stato guarantee that it. should' at least have the means of living.'- It was the State's duty to protect that class whoso helpless fate' was • not duo to themselves, but. entirely to Nature or to fho .mikconduct, it uiay be, of tho parent. Ho would say at tho outset that tho Government—or, at least, h<s, as a member of it— : was not. oblivious of the. danger of

this class of legislation. The student of history knew that many a well-intentioned Slato measure in this particular direction had resulted in tho demoralisation of whole

districts in tho, old lands, but if a child was horn tho Stale's first duty was to protect its lifo and health. Therefore, he did not think' wo need walk with such a wary foot as those in tho past when dealing with the quostion of extending' help to irnfant children.

THE DIMINISHING BIRTH RATE, This brought him to tho population question—tho greatest of all questions. Ho did hot car'o ho'V wealth accumulated if population declined. Tho important thing was to lnoreaso tlio number of good citijscns, and if 0 country wm not doing that it was deolining. Wo we're confronted with a menace—that of tjio declining birth rate. Was it. not astonishing to find that if England enjoyod the samo birth rate as it did 50 years ago 60,000 additional infants Hvould iiavo beon born last year?; If Now Zealand hail its birth rale of 1882.a thousand moro infajits would ,ha.vo been born last year. :A careful, examination ,of statists indicated that, tho birth rato per thousand .married women ,in .New' Zoaland had 'steadily and - alarmingly decreased. since 1878, whon tho rato was 337 •por .thousand, and 1901,' ,when .it had diminished to 244 • per thousand. - - These were particularly-aigm'ficant facte, and tlioy pointed tho moral that tho State must inevitably sot itself to do tho beat it could to check, tho extinction' to which modern civilisation was marching. • A PARTIAL REMEDY. New South Wales ■ was in the' proud l position of- having, by reducing its infantile death i ; a(o, mado 'up for tho declining birth rato, : nnd it was - in this direction that. New- Zealand jnnst move. He. quoted an authority showing that one-fourth of tho total deaths registered in England and Wales were those of infante. Last year

ono in every 17 infants bom in wedlock! in Now.Zealand did not survivo, whilo tlio death' rato among illegitimates was. ono in seven; Early in his professional carccr lio had defended a woman who farmed Out theso children, and it had como to his kn'owledgo profasionally in that ca6c that thoro was wholcsalo butchery, not. by giving children" poison,; but by givini; thorn such food and in such a manner as resulted in the deaths of tlio children. He. did not suggest that all the keepers of tho homes wcro i tho same, but thoro cbuld bo no manner, of doubt that thoro was ncgleot, carelessness, and a stinting of food in many eases -Which resulted, -to a large extent, in increasing Iho death rate in those liomos. Here .in New Zealand we,had a threefold system—tho first, tho'infant, licensed homo —a system under which any individual ori obtaining tho neccssary certificates might apply for. a license under tho act of 1896. ' Therei wore a groat many homes of this class in tho colony, numbering some 300 or 400. Secondly, tliero was the system under which, tho Charitable Aid Board took theso children and found liomee for them; and,' lastly,, there was the system somewhat fully outlined by Dr Collins. Ho did not think a modical doctor was the proper person to' inspect these homes. Such an inspector did not know the kind of treatment in all its branches which be6t conduced to tho infant's life. Ho had not tlio • cxporicnco in the ,up-bringing'of children which an intelligent mother possessed. To his mind, what was wanted tog tho supervision of a. competent and trained nurse, who had tho best chanco of' knowing what helped tho child's life, and ho was ' sure a person could bo got who would dischargo this duty faithfully and. well. Then we: would have an efficient inothwl of impressing upon tho homckccpers tho propor system of infant ' feeding: and infant nursing. We had under the industrial .system 'an efficient method which wo wcro far too little apt to appreciate. Ho did not approve of rearing children •in institutions. By doing so wo robbed them of tho sympathies nccc6sary to mako good men and women.

' ' VAN •' IMPORTANT ! BEFOBM. To his mind'ono of the first reform's ncowsa ry was to step in and prevent the 6ystom of competition amongst keepers of homes: Wo should also ensure that a rq'asonablo sum was paid to the foster-mother of the child, whether tho parent- paid it. or not. If tho parent- were unable to pay, tho State should como in and indemnify the foster-mother, and that :was one 'of tho directions in which tho act' should bo amended. The Government never paid less than 10s per week for tho maintenance of an infant under 10 years, and it was littlo" enough. ■Of tho sum: of £35,018, which was the cost on industrial schools last year, only £3E6£> had been recovered from the parents; THE' CHILD OR TIIE FAILURE? ' Having quoted tho largo expenditure involved on tho part of the State in regard to char itable .'aid and;lunacy (over £170.000, as'compared with tho £li,ooo devoted to infant life), the speaker proceeded to say that jt. was far better to prcservo tho original articlc safe and .pure-than patch up tho unfortunates who. had: had theirchanco and failed. He approved of an amendment to the act. of 1896-that would put an end to police supervision of these homes, and would transfer them from the Justico . Department to the " Education Department. It was lipped to derive tlio Mine good results from it then as were obtained from tho industrial system. Ho thought-the .State should collect tlio amount of the .parents'.: contribution towards-tho maintenance, of'a child, and should regelate,tho amoun t'to bo paid by , tlio parent, mid- that not )e$ than that amount. ,should be paid. • He fiirthor-fhoughtthattho child should not. be taken from the hom'o until tho' Minister agreed that tho change being made . would bo -to the well-being .'of tho child.:-He, also considered, that adopted children should bo secured against misuse or- abuse of any kind, and that, the law should be amended by providing short jioticn of birth. ' Tho debate was- adjourned. .

■ FURTHER DEBATE IN.THE - COUNCIL , (Pnoit Our Ow.s- Coiusespoxdent.) . WELLINGTON. September ♦. The Hon, Dr Rndlav (Attorney-general), ■who ro6umod his epeooli in tho legislative Council yesterday upon tho motion by.the Hon. Dr Collins in favour of instituting further safeguards for tho protection of infant life, made further important suggestion's by which the present system ran.bo improved.. Tho Attorney-general expressed liis personal opinion that, sooner or later, it'must becoino .tlio. duty ot the State to Ecc...that, ,tkc nipgej. fgr'ji ybjJst'g mjkjljtc-.

nanco by a fostor.-mother should be collected by tlio State,' which, in the event of default by. the natural, parent, should make up tho deficiency, bccauso the burden of maintaining a child should not bo thrown upon tho foster-parent. Improvements woro required in the system of adoption. Tho payment of a lump sum for-the adoption of an infant was a pernicious system, likely to encourage a pertain class of-evil— " bnby-farmora." . In. prudence it . was well to get a lump sum from the. father, as largo as ho oould afford to pay, and ho submitted tliat tho system followed Winder tho Industrial Schools Act was a. wise one, tho principal sum being, deposited with the department, which would make weekly payments to! the foster-paront.' The system under our present Adoption Act was far from safe. Magistrates .woro often .busy incn, perhaps not capable of deciding upon the matter. Therefore adoption orders" were made in a somewhat perfunctory manner. Adoption orders should be. conditional for eix months, to be confirmed only upon tho Education Department making ft favourable report in regard to tho foster-parents. .Thoro was another difficulty: that of obtaining the 'consent of parents. Sometimes a mother was dissolute, and it was : far preferable that her child should bo taken from her control. But this was impossible, because the .mother would not givo her consent. Therefore, he would empower magistrates who were satisfied witli a mother's unfitness to dispense with her consent to adoption. During tho last 10 years thoro.had bcen'7s cases where a woman who. was receiving payment for a child under the Industrial School Act had oomo forward and said: " Lot mo become its adopted mother, and I will take no moro payment."A system which resulted iti such a dismay of motherly love was surely an excellent one.—("Hear, lieav.") 'Ho felt sure that we might bring our genoral adoption law into oonformitv with our industrial school system,' which had worked so we 11.,; •

Tho Hon. J. Rigg said what lie thought' was wanted was to save infant life at its sourco by establishing foundling' hospitals, State-maintained, where children could be received and no questions asked. If, might be said that such a. system favoured immorality, hut ho did not bclievo Ibis, for society had become too enlightened and refined for such an abominable, system .15 " free love." The feeling of tho community 6eomed to bo against any extension.of our divorco laws, but he believed' that cloeo' inquiry would fliow a necessity for'providing that unhappy marriages, could be dissolved, and their evil consequences thus prevented.

_ It., was suggested by (he Hon. S. T. Georgo that to cncouvago largo families the Government 6hould mako land grants to persons with'a certain number of children. Ho thought tho, School .Tournal ought to bo utilised.to educate mothers of tlw, futuro in tlio care of infants. Tho debato was again adjourned.

OPINION IN DUNEDIN. ' THE QUESTION OF INSPECTION. SOME INTERESTING INTERVIEWS, Considerable interest has been caused by tlio subject of infant life .protection ha,ving boon raised in tho Legislative Council, and the n«:es6ity for somo dofmito step in that direction seems to bo generally recognised. iV email minority still allect "to" treat'the matter with indifference, 011 tlio.ground that infant mortality is the result of a gigantic evil that :ha.i to bo'put up with. Infant mortality, they argue, exists everywhere. Some, when questioned concerning the unfortunate infants, go' so far as to say "let them die"; and these appear'to consider such a.release a merciful one.

Several well-known medical- men, wlion interviewed yesterday, considered that a very big subjeot had been opened up. Thero was not the. slightest doubt that legislation in tho manner indicated was urgontly required, and' that siieh could hardly fail to be of benefit to the. eolpny and incidentally to tho, race. Dr Collins's motion would seem to be tho outoomo of a deputation" that recently waited 011 the Minister requesting that police supervision of children's homes be .done away wjth. This deputation, which consisted l of Mrs Hoiking, Mrs Carow, and Dr and Mrs Truby King, was sent from the Duncdin Society for tho' Protection of the Healtlr of; Women ami Children,' Tlio deputation was not . we!comcd:<with open arms by Mr M'Gowan, but received every facility from the Hon. Dr Collins and Dr Findlny, the latter declaring their request to bo most reasonable. .

THE POSITION IN' DUNEDIN. ' Mrs Hasking, of tile Duncdin' Protection Sooiety. informal one of our reporters yesterday' that for some time past the licensed' infant homes, of which there are 59 in Dunedin, in some instances did not give satisfaction. Tho keepers of tlieso homes wcro dependent upon a. weekly payment- of a small sum by the infant's' father or mother, who were often weeks in arrears. This led to somo of, the children; being starved and neglected. They did not .die under thifi treatment,. Dut grew up rickotty." One instance in particular eamo under tho notice of Dr Truby King, and application was mado to the police for permission to remove 'the child from tho home and to place it,in the society's cottage at Karitane. With tho assistance of two justices of tho peace the. transfer was effected; but soon afterwards tlio keeper of tho home demanded the return- of the child to her charge. The society refused to give up the infant, but eventually the Mother arrived armed with official authority and took tho child away. It has since been discovered that tho child has been returned to the same surroundings • from which the fcooicty had taken all the trouble to remove it. The society, finding itself powerless to act further in the matter oh its own initiative, appointed a deputation, which proceeded to Wellington, and mado it pretty clearly understood that if somo satisfaction was not given it would demand a'ptiblio investigation. The society recently received a telegram to tho effect that, police supervision of children's homes had' been withdrawn, in favour of that by, the Education Department. Seeing that there arc 59 of Iheso licensed homes in Dunodin the society fails to seo how tho police matron and the sub-, inspector can possibly manage to supervise them' properly. As an alternative it suggests that Dr Yalintino should ho the chief inspector . of theso places, and the. subinspector bo replaced by properly-trained nurses; also that no less than 10s a week should be paid bv tho parents for . each child, and that this money shotdd be lodged with tho police ovory, month;. and in tho case of non-payment proceedings to 'lie taken against tho-parent?. This, it is thought, would, if thev were in a position to pay. shamo them into'doing so, and if they.were not able to pay fhe Government should mako up the lialance. That, at anvrato, would prevent the children from being starved. Mrs Hosking went. on to . say th(i.t the existing idea of first waiting' patiently till ohildrcn Ixcamo bad, and then'i, shutting them'up in industrial schools, was a great mistake. Prevention; "not cure, .was what was rconircd. Young children required tho homo lifo and associations, and it was ,a' shamo to shut them up in institutions. Mrs Hosking was carcful to point out that, tlio society in 110 way .wished to interfere with medical or other matters beyond its spliciro, but as a society for the Drotcction of women .and children's health it was bound to insist on cleanliness, sunshine, ventilation, p'roper food, and other details conducive tq .\vcll-be;iv?. Such ideas wero spreading, and Christchurch had started a society on the samo linos, also a factory for humanising milk.'- Tho proportion of diseased children in Now Zealand. <=be thought, was very small. The troublo lay in the way thev were iicglccfed >nd improperly clad awl fell. The children at the society's home had 110 luxuries, .but, they were cared for and • kept clean, ' a.nd a healthier lot of infants could not be seen anywhere;

v STUNTED CHILDREN.

Another authority 011 tlio subjcct when liitorvicvsxd yesterday, said that mankind, as'a rule, knew nothing whatever about.the treatment of infants; • and the police! What could a constable bo expected to know about- babies? The absurdity . of placing infant homes under polico supervision was obvious. ; Tho duties of the police in such rases appeared to lie. in an occasional visit- to tho home and a gossip with the woman in charge. ,A case had recently come to light' in which a number of children . woro crowded'into a stuffy little baok iroom, dismal and den-like, without sunsliiuo or ventilation.' The police confessed they had never even been into this apartment-. • Again, there was lately an instanoo of an infant being forcibly removed from one of these homes by certain ladies who sought, to rescue it from its surroundings, but the mother of the infant, watched her opportunity and kidnapped her child aiid handed it over to its keeper. The ladies who h.id .attempted the rescue would have gladly faced a writ of habeas corpus iii such a case, but the mother had got. her child, and tho law proved too st.ron;;. From information gathered from reliable sources it would appear that, .many oliililreii ffrow lip sltmieil ami even crippled,with tho flower of their childhood withered and their natures warpod. ~ It is only fair to state, however,' that this is not caused •by. illriw^liuent. ■ The jufant/s. fged,

and l in some instances too much, but it is often .not.the right kind of .food It-is.; stated that in many eases tliey are hardly ever washed. , Eaoh child has. its individual ailments and idiosyncrasies, and to attempt to treat children on any general principle is a'practice that cannot bo' too caTofully' guarded against. THE BIRTH TAINT." When_ tire question 'was raised In tho Legislative Council, Dr Collins stated that "tho Jaw, which required an inquest to bo held when an-infant, died in a home; 1 was evaded 'by tho' child's removal beforo death." .• It appears that this is eomptimce tho ease.' .When it beconics apparent that the little unfortunate must die, tile- homo usually knows it no'more. Tho question" naturally arises, What -becomes of it? Well, it is removed, in- most instances to tho ..hospital, where it dies. Tho authorities certify to tho disease from' which' tho child died, an inquest is not considered" necessary, and there is an end of it, and the colony loses a potential citizen. Nurso Holford, matron' of St. Helens Hospital, when interviewed, believed police superintendence of infant homos to be a' mistake. Such inspections should be made by nurses, who' would know how infants should bo reared, and who- would bo able to detect at a glanco if the sur- .: foundings or treatment woro likely' to militate against- tho infant's health." A great deal ooulcl also be done in the case of illegitimate children. 'In such cases sho by 110 means thought , the State should bear the whole burden. The parents should .contribute as much as they wore able fo tho child's maintenance. Sho was cfeoidcdly avorse to an illegitimate child being' separated from its mother. They both lind need of each other. Her child was often tho only thing that saved a woman from sinking to deeper ■ degradation,. and to snatoh away this, her \ only safeguard, was sheer cruelty) Affcotion between mother and child, even though the latter had the birth taint, was' bound to exercise a healthy, and refining influence over them both. People spoko of the child, becoming contaminated by, or imbued with, its mother's principles, or tho want of thein, but her idea was to raiso the status of tile mother. Such a reform could not, of course, spring into being all at onto. It would have to be effected by degrees. People were too apt to regard a woman who had "become tho mother of ail illegitimate child as one beyond tho pale', 'a creature to bo shunned, and the unfortunato' girl, ostracised and an outcast, saw nothing' but despair looming ahead. Her idea, again was to make this prospect brighter, - to hold out a helping hand to tho mother, instead of scorning her.

HEREDITY AND ENVIRONMENT. This ■view was ateo held by tho league, ivhioh endeavoured to brin.tr kindly-disposed people to take an interest in such eases. Personally, sho did not see why people who wished to benefit humanity by' adopting a. child should ■ draw tho lino so severely at tho acoidcnt. of birth. To adopt a baby under suoli circumstances would', sho thought, show more humane intent and Christianity ;thaiv in tho adoption of an infant born in wedlock. *If tllis-dllild's .p&renjs had been bad or even criminal, fhon the adopters would deserve all the more credit for having made a respectable oitnzon out of euch material. Questioned as to the contending influences of heredity ajid environment upon infants,Miss Holford firmly belioved that heredity did not, count, but that environment was everything.' "Take a child away from squalid surroundings and ovil associations," said Miss Holford, "and place it under bright and liappv influences, and in nine cases out of ten that ohild will turn out re- 'lv well." ,

Even if both paront6 .were convicts, for instance? asked, our representative. ■'Certainly," said Miss Holford. • THE STATE COLOSSUS. From various other inquiries made a 6 to what tho State could do in the matter of decreasing infant mortality, it seems to bo plain that .there is no wish that tho State should take ovor tho entire control of the instititutiona that ma.y bo forthcoming. The State, by the general public, is vaguely regarded as a colossus with unlimited wealth, and the public thinks that anything taken up by it can very well bo left entirely in its hands. Thero aro many little things; however, that mean a great deal to a hospital or a children's "homo that the official mind would not consider necessary. The public, having washed its hands of the wliolo affair because the State was responsible, would not contribute a . farthing.; so the hospital or'home would ha.ve lo go without. Local authorities on •the subject agree that the case of tho preservation of-infant health and life is one. for co-operation, and should bo 6hared by the parents; the public, and the State according to the responsibility .of each. DECLINING BIRTH-RATE.

In. regard to' the diminishing birth-rate, statistics obtained by the courtesy of the registrar for births, marriages, and deaths show that there is a decided fall in the bjrtli-rato to be observed, and that tho birth-rate of the Australian States ha 6 also decreased. In New Zealand the .proportion of births to every marriago solemnised in the preceding year was:—For 1886, 4.90; 1887, 5:31; 1888. 5.14; 1889. 4.93; 1890. 4.87:; 1891, 4.64; 1892. 4.541 1893, 4.37; 1894, 4.33; 1895, 4.24; 1896, 4.32; 1897, 3.70;'1898. 3.68; 3899, 3.54; 1900,-3.41; 1901, 3.34; 1902, 3.23; 1903. 3.26; 1904. 3.22; 1905. 3.24. In 1878 ono married woman (between 15 and 45 years old) in overy three boro a child, while in 1901 the rato was one in four only. The proportion of deaths of infants under one year .to every 1000 births, from 1896 to 1905 was as follows:—1896, 77.3; 1897, 72.3; 1898, 79.7; 1899, 75.9; 1900. 75.2; 1901, 76.3; 1902. 82.9: 1903. 81.1; 1904, 71; 1905, 67.5. Tho total number of deaths of infants under 12 months during this period was 15.838; and the total number of doaths of children under five years was 20,297. Now Zealand lias, however, been ,moro fortunate in this respect than 1 either New South Wales or "Victoria, and dealing. with .averages of five years, in New. Zealand 77 infants under one year died out. of every 1000 born, apainst 98 in Victoria and 102 in Now South Wale.'. European countries show a much higher mortality! ' '•<

Tho Royal Commission sitting in 1904 in New South Wales, has recorded the conditions operating on infant mortality, as follow:—Premature birth. 'defective oaro of tho newly-born, inability to provide natural nutrition and requisite., iiursing of infants 1 by mothers, a . want o"f knowledge of tlie proper modes of rearing infants, injurious quality of proprietary and other .artificial foods.- injurious quality-of milk. of chemioal' preservatives in milk, insufficient public maternity hospital accommodation for tho poorer clashes, insufficient nublio. hospital accommodation for sick infants, maternal indifference, defective' management of institutions and places wherd illegitimate infants are received, socret adoption of children for gain, infanticide.

It is estimated that about 1100 illegitimate children-. are born in this colony annually.