ADOPTION: NATIONAL AND- INTERNATIONAL. (To THE , Loris& or' THE "SPECTATOR."]
• Sia,—Ae a• nation we take up an attitude of almost criminal neglect towards- the illegitimate child; with averted eyes 'we carefully. pass it by; instead of studyings the -problem, we feign ignorance, and we- visit the sins of thesfathers, upon the children. All illegitimate children are not unwanted. In very many cases it is only dire necessity and-grinding 'poverty that will induce the mother to part with the child which has cost her so much. From whatever standpoint others may view the subject, it is, after all, only the unmarried mother herself who actually 'realizes .the heavy price she is called upon to pay; for. there is not a day nor even an hour that she is permitted to forget the consequences of her indiscretion. Let us consider for a moment what is being done abroad to meet the exceptional circumstances arising from the war. As soon as the invaded provinces of France were freed from German dominion the French Government were fared with the necessity of dealing. on an unprecedented scale, with the problem of illegitimacy— and they did not hesitate to find a satisfactory solution. Thus, when the mothers Gould be persuaded to part with their children, the State adopted the little ones, sending them to an orphanage, where they would be• -brought up in• ignorance iii their parentage, and trained, to be useful citizens. To the great credit of the mothers, it is-only fair to say -that many refused to part with their children. If France has the public spirit to deal chivalrously with these-children, in• whose veins is the blood of those who sought to destroy her, then surely we.- who pride ourselves; nationally, upon our sense of justice. can find, within the length and breadth of our vast Empire the means whereby these British children, free from all false reproach, may develop—mentally, morally, and physically— into self-respecting members of a broad-minded English nation.
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