CONCEALMENT OF BIRTH.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XV, Issue 4088, 14 November 1911, Page 5

CONCEALMENT OF BIRTH.

AN IMPORTANT STATEMENT. Electric Telegraph—Press Association. Christchurch, Last Night. An important statement, relative to concealment of birth cases, was made by Air Justice Denniston at the Supreme Court to-day. Addressing the accused woman, his Honour said:—“You have been convicted on your own admission of the crime of concealment of birth. That is a crime as to which the reason for enactment is not generally understood. When it is publicly discussed, it is generally on the lines of the hardship of the position of the woman — often the victim of seduction, and left to bear the consequences of her lapse, and to undergo the ordeal of maternity, while the seducer goes unbranded, and unpunishtd. “This is true in very many cases, and it is impossible not to sympathise with such a sentiment. But it must be remembered that concealment was made a crime, not for the punishment of the mother, but altogether for the security of the infant. A secret delivery is always a temptation, and often a deliberate preliminary to the destruction of the infant. “Substantial punishment for this offence is generally inflicted in England, and has been in New Zealand. The best course for those desirous to mitigate the effects of the existing law is, to my mind, not to treat it as a dead letter, but to give greater facilities for helping women, however erring, at such times, and to endeavour to create and foster a more discriminating and charitable public opinion in regard to such cases.”