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68
NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INFANTILE MORTALITY.
This Conference was held at Caxton Hall, Westminster, on the 24th and
25th March. 1908. It was attended by your Medical Officer and Miss Pole
(one of your Women Inspectors) as delegates to represent the Corporation in
accordance with the Resolution of the Court of Common Council of the
27th February, 1908.
It was explained that the Conference was the outcome of meetings in
London, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, and various other places.
During the Conference a number of interesting papers dealing with the
question of Infantile Mortality were read and discussed. The following
Resolutions were passed:—
I. That this Conference expresses its appreciation of Parliament
having passed the Notification of Births Act, 1907, and urges upon all
local authorities the importance of adopting the Act and appointing
qualified women to carry out its provisions.
II. That, in order to combat the prevalent ignorance in wastage of
infant life and injury to health of many survivors, the Conference urges
upon the Board of Education, and upon educational authorities generally,
the importance of securing to all girls in every grade of school a
satisfactory training in domestic and personal hygiene and the duties of
womanhood.
III. That the Conference welcomes most gladly the Children Bill
introduced into the House of Commons by Mr. Herbert Samuel, M.P.,
for the amendment of the Infant Life Protection Act, 1897, and recommends
the Executive Committee to ask that the Bill be specially
amended to include the case in which one child only is put out to nurse
for reward, and that the Bill be further amended to empower local
authorities to charge upon the rates the cost of carrying out the existing
statutory provisions for the prevention of cruelty to children.
IV. That the Conference, being convinced of the injury done to infant
life and health through infants being taken into public-houses, urges
upon Parliament the necessity of providing such legislation as will
prevent this.
V. That this Conference urges upon the Boards of Guardians the
advisability of making greater use of their existing powers to adopt,
under the Poor Law Act, the children of incorrigible parents.
VI. That all preparations offered or sold as foods or drugs for infants
should be certified by a Government Analyst as non-injurious, and that
each packet should contain its analysis.