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Mr. Parr, in his evidence further stated, whilst he was in
favour of having inspection of all cases, he was of opinion that
where childless people adopted children in good faith and where
no payment was made, local authorities might grant a certificate
of exemption on being satisfied of the bona fides of the persons
concerned.
Mr. Joseph Brown, President of the Poor Law Unions'
Associations of England and Wales, stated that out of 201
unions connected with the Association, 171 were of opinion that
protection should be extended to one-child homes.
In our own district I am not suggesting that in the onechild
houses cruelty towTards the nurse child is at all prevalent,
but we do find foster mothers are, in many cases, crassly
ignorant of the management of children and totally unfitted to
do justice to their charges. In several instances the homes
cannot be considered satisfactory.
If it is necessary to have examination of homes where
two or more children are received, it seems unjust that the
single child should be deprived of the same protection.
Lady St. Helier, in giving evidence before the Committee,
practically objected to the registration of one-child homes. She
admitted that her experience on the subject was not recent, as
the maternity home which she conducted was closed in 1899.
The witness stated that she had looked carefully through her
books and had been unable to find a single case of cruelty or
ill-treatment recorded in regard to any one of the children who
had passed through her hands. She admitted, however, there
were cases in which the child had to be removed from the foster
parents on account of bad feeding and sometimes overfeeding,
and put where the care of the child was better understood.
Surely this admission is in favour of registration. The objection