The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-23 00:00:00

BABY-FARMING.

Mr. Conolly, a surgeon residing at Wood Green,
states that years ago he answered about fifteen ad-
vertisements and received replies, asking for particu-
lars respecting children who were to be " adopted."
Three of these came from Camberwell and nrixton,
giving real names and addresses, and the offers were
made in the most cool and business-like way. The
terms were moderate, only £lO, and this
small amount included expenses to mother, getting
rid of the child, if it lived, &c. The words if the
child lived were underlined, as if to draw attention to
the peculiar meaning of the phrase. Mr. Conolly
says that if the police were ever in earnest, they
could have easily broken up such a system, as there
was no attempt at disguise. He likewise states that
a medical man who was connected with one of the
" adopting institutions" sen:; him his card. Perhaps
Mr. Conolly may not feel it beyond his duty to society
to publish the name of the gentleman who shared in
the proceeds of these dens of crime. That the police
authorities were perfectly aware of the existence of
these places is beyond doubt. Not more than a
month ago a London daily paper was in the constant
habit of publishing two advertisements, in which the
matter was set out in terms too plain to be misun-
derstood. It has been suggested that a short Act
of Parliament should be passed to cheek baby-farming;
but there is no reason to believe that the powers of the
police are insufficient to stay this vile and horrible
practice.

DENOMINATIONAL OR SECTARIAN.

While gentlemen of the House of Commons are
working themselves up to fever heat on the subject
of education, it may be well to give an illustration
of the practical results of the laissez faire system.
This is supplied by a correspondent of the Times,
and theorists fresh from the controversial atmos-
phere of our legislative chamber, may read almost side
by side with their carefully prepared disquisitions
a plain commentary on the education of our rural
population. Riding through some fields in Hert-
fordshire, the attention of the correspondent in ques-
tion is called to a boy 10 or 11 years of age, who has
been caught in a farmer's orchard. The boy and his
elder brother had stolen the cherries, broken the
trees, and killed two turkeys. The farmer
is puzzled what to do, with the young
culprit, and asks the gentleman's advice.
Then follows the ensuing dialogue :—" Do you go to
school ?"—" No." Does your elder brother go to
school?"—" No." " Have you any other brothers
or sisters ?" " Yes." " Do they go to school?"

" No." "-Can any of you read or write ?"—" NO."
" Are your father and mother living ?"—" Only my
father." " What does he do F"—" Anything he can
get." " And what do you and your brothers and
sisters do ?"—"Father turns us out of a morning, and
if we don't bring something honie he won't let us
have anything to eat." On subsequent inquiry it was
found that neither the father nor any of his family
could read or write, that none of them ever went to
school; that the father had been in prison many
times, and most of the children frequentlyin fact,
that these candidates for penal servitude were in as
deplorable a condition as though they were the sub-
jects of some dusky king in the innermost recesses
of benighted heathendom. Meanwhile the wordy war

goes on.