E.—4

10

New Zealand. However, it is not considered that the question of whether the police should appear in uniform or not in Children's Courts is one for legislation, or, in fact, a matter of any great importance. If the above proposal was carried into effect, together with the proposed provision in the Bill now before Parliament, for trivial offences to be dealt with by the Magistrates in consultation with the Welfare Officer concerned without requiring the attendance of children in the Courts, the need for the police to attend Children's' Courts would be practically eliminated. Illegitimate Children. The vital statistics in most countries reveal the fact that the death-rate of illegitimate infants is considerably higher than the death-rate of infants born in wedlock. As a result we find that in countries such as the United States, Canada, Norway, Denmark, and the States of Australia protective social measures have been introduced with the object of providing for (1) pre-natal care of the single mother ; (2) early notification of birth of child ; (3) establishment of paternity ; (4) supervision of child if placed apart from mother ; (5) assistance to mother in obtaining adequate assistance from father for support of child. The experience in New Zealand in this direction is in no way different from the experience in other countries, as the following official infantile tables will indicate :—

Deaths.

In the reports published by tlie Health Department the suggested reasons for the relatively high death-rate of illegitimate infants are as follows : (1) Psychological condition of the unmarried mother prior to confinement; (2) lack of pre-natal care, and ignorance on the part of the unmarried mother ; (3) frequent lack of post-natal care of the unwanted baby. It is suggested that any remedial measures seem to be along the lines of social work among women and girls, and extended teaching of sex hygiene, and increased measures for combating venereal disease. As far as the pregnant single mother is concerned, there are several rescue homes in the Dominion where such cases are admitted, and kept with their infants for periods up to six months in most cases ; but in a great many cases the girls find their way into private homes where they remain for ten days or a fortnight, and are then obliged to leave with their babies, with no resources to fall back upon, and have to make the best arrangements possible for themselves and their babies. Frequently the girl's relatives are not willing to assist, and if she is without means and has obtained no help from the father of the child she may seek a situation where she can have her child with her; but invariably she seeks the quickest and the easiest method of placing the responsibility of looking after the child upon the shoulders of others. In her efforts to hand the child over to others the mother may secure the assistance of the midwife managing the unregistered home, who, with no real interest in the child, may arrange for it to be adopted or placed in some unsuitable home frequently as the result of an advertisement. There is no doubt that a certain amount of trafficking in babies is carried out by means of advertisements in newspapers, and the consensus of expert opinion is that this method of exploitation should be prohibited by law. In other countries —Western Australia, for instance—it is an offence to advertise the offer either to take charge of or to hand over any infant for adoption or for any other purpose without the authority of the Welfare Department. If the infant is placed in a foster-home the keeper of the home has to be registered under the Child Welfare Branch of the Education Department, and the welfare of the child supervised by trained nurses. It frequently happens, however, that the mother, through ignorance probably, endeavours by every other means to dispose of her infant before resorting to placing it in a home that has to be registered and supervised by the State. Even where an infant has been placed in a family home it frequently happens that the woman does not seek registration. The experience is that the illegitimate infants that come under the Department's supervision are more or less impaired in health, the result of neglect (not always wilful) and ignorance as to proper feeding and care. Notwithstanding this fact, the number of deaths among illegitimate infants supervised by the State is unusually low. Last year, for instance, of the 559 infants born during the year and supervised in licensed homes, there were no deaths. The very high death-rate, and the large number of children who ultimately come under the notice of our officers, suffering from malnutrition and other results of want of proper care, were some of the reasons that led to the provision in the Child Welfare Act for the supervision of illegitimate births by Child Welfare Officers.

Legitimate. Illegitimate. eaI ' j Death-rate ! Death-rate Births. Deaths, j per 1,000 Births. Deaths, j per 1,000 Live Births. Live Births. 1921 .. .. 27,309 1,248 45-70 1,258 118 93-80 1922 .. .. 27,782 1,129 40-64 ' 1,224 86 70-26 1923 .. .. 26,707 1,143 42-80 1,260 82 65-08 1924 .. .. 26,676 1,033 .38-60 j 1,338 94 70-20 1925 .. .. 26,821 1,056 39-33 : 1,332 69 51-80 1926 .. .. 28,270 1,054 37-28 1,473 78 52-95 I