No Compulsory Evacuation of Children
It is one thing to use every power of persuasion to induce parents to keep children away froin the danger zones, and another thing to compel them. All who appreciate the strong feeling which many parents have about being separated from their children will agree with Mr. MacDonald that it is im- practicable to compel parents either to evacuate their childreh still remaining in bombed areas, or to keep them, if evacuated, where they are. But there are some powers of compulsion which should be resorted to, as was clear from Mr. MacDonald's state- n Parliament last week In the County of London and Easy and West Ham there still remain 89,50o schoolchildren (16 per cent.) and 45,500 children under five (17 per cent.). If children of school age remain in town, then their parents cannot be allowed to keep them away from school. That decision has been taken, and it is to be hoped that it will soon be applied universally. There is a further case in which the last word cannot rest with parents. If children are suffer- ing in health from the conditions of life in wartime London, then they must be removed. Powers are to be taken to require any child to be medically examined who is thought to be suffering in body or mind from conditions in danger zones. If the medical officer finds that the child is so suffering, then compulsion may be applied to send him or her away to be cared for in a hostel in the country. The decisions are wise. Compulsion is only applied in accordance with principles that have long been accepted that education and health must not be sacrificed. For the rest persuasion must go as far as it can.
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