One question of some importance must have presented itself to
a good many parents in connexion with the possibility of the migration of children to the Dominions or the United States. Only this week I had a letter from a frequent con- tributor to these pages asking me whether I thought he and his wife were right to decline invitations to the latter and three small children to go to the United States, on the ground that the family ought to stay here and bear what has to be borne by other families which have no opportunity of crossing the Atlantic. Admirable as that attitude is in some respects I cannot think it right. Nothing is gained by adding to the sum of anxiety and possible suffering which the coming weeks may have in store. Children in particular, I submit, should not be exposed to something that may mark their whole lives if the possibility of sparing them the ordeal exists. Even any adults who for one reason or another cannot contribute to the war effort are better away from the beleaguered fortress if they have the means of getting away. By staying they consume food and risk becoming a casualty on someone else's hands. That is justifiable if, and only if, the value of the work they are doing is enough to outweigh those considerations. In the case of children it obviously cannot be. * * * *
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