THE VALUE OF LIVES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3251, 5 July 1916, Page 33

THE VALUE OF LIVES.

INFANT MORTALITY. PRESSURE OF THE WAR. (Fbom Oub Own Cohbespondent.) LONDON, May 13. The revolution in social lifo which began in August, 1914, has made its greatest strides during the lust fow weeks, but they do not appear so remarkable because- the mental attitude of the nation has now becoii.e accustomed to drastic change. The passmg of tho two measures oi compulsion for military service have forced the last classes of poopie m Great i.-Siitaiii to consider fai-icuciiing changes in their domestic economy and their whole style of life ; and il is now more clearly seen than evier which classes are the sufferers and what are some of the likely permanent 'effects on the nation. As 1 have shown in previous 1> is, a new importance is now given to infant life. and there is a widespread movement in favour of infant feeding and the instruction of mothers. The statistics which have been published have given tho campaign a*brisk liilip, for tr}3 figures are sufficiently startling. Mr J. W. Nixon, for instance, tells the Royal Statistical Scciety that the natural increase of the population fell between 1913 and 1515 from 370,000 to 252,000, excluding deaths of soldiers abroad—a sufficiently cogent argument for either an increased birthrate __ or a decreased death-rate, or both. Mr Nixon, referring to the experience of the Franco-Prussian war, says that both countries in 1870 and 1871 ex;j rienced a rise in tho death rate, that of the civil populations being greater than that of the military, and the adjoining neutral States — Belgium, Holland, and Switzerland-all showed the same phenomenon. After tho war all the countries except Prussia showed a rapid recovery. Franco soon reaching tho lowest death rate on record. After the war there was a marriage boom —we have probably already experienced our marriage boorn owing to the liberal separation allowances. In the present war, Mr Nixon says, England, France, and Germany are all experiencing a serious decrease in tho birth-rate, The death-rate, on the contrary, docs not seiem to have been seriously affcted, at any rate, in England, where the increase of 1915 is traced to the bad winter and the measles epidemic. It is interesting to find that Mr Nixon declares to be quite groundless tho theory that the war was havmg tho effect of increasing the proportion of male births, and also the theory of the " war baby." To this information Sir Athelstano -Barnes added a few facts. He said that whereas tho proportion of people of marriageable ago had considerably increased, they were marrying less and later in life. The rate of natural increase had unfortunately been maintained at tho exryense of the young. It was a disturbing fact that the population was now growing _ old, not so much by the increasing longevity of its older constituents as bv tho decreasing r/inforcements of its youth. "There is a considerable body of unemployed single women." he add/ed, "the majority of whom. though now engaged on war work, may not find permanent occupation in tho future. For these the dominions afford an outlet, for which enterprise about half a million might be spared. It is a solution mere palatable than one more recently proposed for Germany after the war by one of her numerous learned professors—namely, to let loose from the army a select and certificated body of eligible polygamists, who would be respectively provided with an equally attested harem." WOMEN'S RESPONSIBILITY. Those who have spent their war months in England will probably realise better than others ever can the great part which women have taken and are taking in tho national struggle. The blow fell upon them early, in the removal of their husbands and other male protectors and bread-win-ners, and in the demand that they should themselves step into fields of labour of increasing hardness. The munition factories and the fields of England now absorb many thousands of women who formerly did not work at all or who worked at less exacting tasks. To these have been added such arduous occupations as van driving, tram and bus conducting', portering, and even the heavy work of lifting merchandise and coal. They have risen to their now responsibilities in a manner which justified Mr Asquith in assuring Mrs Fawcett that when domestic controversies are again resumed the demand of the women for the vote will be. viewed in a now light. On the whole the burdens have -fallen most heavily on the women of the middle classes, for they, unlike the poorer classes, are faced by the anxiety and worry duo to a greatly decreased income. As a writer in Tho Times says: "Military service has introduced comparative comfort into many poor homes, but it will bring comparative poverty to many well-to-do ones." BREAKING UP HOMES. In view of the calling up of husbands under the new laws there is a wide movement of middle-class families towards smaller houses,' and a consequent rise in rents of tho same. Many middle-class women, too, who were formerly in business or who- never worked for a living before, have to face earning their own living or contributing considerably towards the household expenses. There is no provision of creches for the convenience "of people of this class. The creches for the poor are now too 'well known and too crowded to afford any accommodation for the better classes. High wages have tempted many mothers from the poorer grades to return to work and leave their children in the creches during the day. On the whole, there is ample scope for measures to alleviate the lot of women who are going back to work, and to guard against an increase of infant mortality. As Bishop Frodsham pointed out a few days ago. in the first year of war 70.000 men were killed in action. In tho same period 100,000 babies died in England from preventable causes; five every half-hour of the day. Many local authorities have appointed lady experts to p<> about as our Phmket nurses do and instruct mothers in the feeding and care of their children, and the London County Council is urging all its subordinate health authorities to be up and doing. A circular letter was issued as long ago as July, 19.1 b, which it seems has not b?en nearly widely enough acted upon, end steps are now being taken to put it into force. Liverpool, acting on tho results of reStarch by Professor Beattio (the New Zea-

lander who is city bacteriologist there) shows signs of .01 forcing tho electric sterilisation oi all milk for human consumption, and in London associations are gradually forming to combat, the increasing rise in the price of milk, which is now being retailed at 6d per quart.