The sun., 1878-05-03
FOUNDLING nOsrIriLs ~ FRANCE

Z -IfruupuslN urged VN iio N'ltleWYul N'ui IN 3,
and it has ,al'd forth % mass Of ominous st,-
usti, 81 which ind,,at1 that the method Of doal-
.n- ntn children deserted by their parents
u., 1',y hi Catholic France. but in Prof slant
..untr -cn"r4ly j.. open to ohic -tons.
Ia order To- gauge the effects Of the two sys-
toms upon the morals and wr-beinE OF a com
r.uufly Jet u4 SEQ Whut the so-cnlind tJut pro-
.i-oN ls, and under what conditions recourse is
l,i To- IT, This r'ccptaclo is "a box or basket.
disposed as cradle. and turning on n pivot in
30" sh, oi a wall, pertaining usuaiy to u found-
.ia-. hos lital. We may aid that the aperture is
commonly placed ut secluded and easily ne
c.,slb.s point OF tho building, and here. by a
turn of the wrist. the child deposited in the re-
ceiger ir transferred to the warm temperature
ol the int rior. whcrc it receives prompt att. m
tipn. In This way it IS obvious that safety and
serrecy are assured A needy mother. un-
ablo to provide for her offspring. is
not restrained from seeking succor by II sense
pi shame. while the child escapes tho exposure
| and priNation which its dcsertiOn in tho
street after the manner practiscd in England.
must frequently entail. The same spirit Of sin
+e-hc lrteI. unquustionng benevolsnco marks
the subsequent action OF founding hospitals
| where the to,0' system prevails. no effort what
| over being made to discover "a chld's origin.
hut every precaution being taken by an exact
| registration Of datos and careful preservation
ui clothes and trinkets. to promote any subse-
puent voluntary attempt ON the part OF parents
| TO recover their offspring. Ia word, this in
slitution Of ST. Vincent lie Paul was a work Of
pure bengnity. based. II ever charity WIS. upon
tho inIuncti II not to lot the right hand soc what
| tho lrIt hand doeih. But We need not say that
| admirable cleemosynary schemes are not al
| ways saiutnry in their social workings, and il
was partly from an alleged disscrvicc to the
cause OF morality, and partly from motives Of
economy hat after 1880 the t0p' system. or the
rc option Of foundlings without inquiry or
| oversight was gradually done away with in
France.
In this instance. however there is renson to
| think the public interests wcrc not furthered by
tho change. There may have been some saving
Of expenditure. although this does not appear
from on 'M data. But it is certain TINT since
parents have been forced - undergo police in
vcstigntion before securing the admission Of
their children to hospitals or obtaining relief mt
homo. the number of infants succOred in either
way has signally diminished. Thus. in $50
the whole number Of children lodged in found
ling hospitals. or sent - the country nj
public cost, was upward Of 10000. while
fifteen years later the aggregate had fallen
10 $4,000. or moro than Gj per cent. II is
insisted By the advocates Of u revorsion TO the
old system that the moment may bo predicted
from these figures when mothers. sooner than
subject themselves 10 official scrutiny and tho
compilation Of a police record. which will
follow them through life. will prefer to keen
their infants al homa though child and uarcnt
should su ,rumb To the same desti,ution. Auoin.
il wa, supuo..i thnt by surpre.sinr the to,o.s
or foundlinZ boxes. and thus indirectly oblg-
ng mothers - nurse their newly born on
spring them selves the rate Of infant mortality
from birth ~ one year Of age would be- con.
sidcrably reduced. Bat the reverse is shown
10 be the case by IN. stutiatics Of ihe Denart-
mont # the Seine. which aro the only data avail.
able II appears that in Paris tho class Of IN.
married uirls to whom four.nfths of th,
children deserted are ascribed. are very rarely
in a position To- keep their infants at home
These. aecordingly ara farm,d ont and
tho Disclosures r.,eutlv mnde bv Dr
Brochard ns IN thnir treatment urIor
{ such conditions are absolutely more harrowinl
than those which some years ago provoked M
EXPLOSION Of indignation i'm England. Thor,
i another categorv of fac,s upon which ib,
dosing Of the old secret reccptacles hns had fl,
untoward bearing. In tho pcrlod 1s2l-Go
during which the chane, took place while otha,
crimes n,aine, tho p,rson romainc1 s,,,i,por,
or diminished. the number Of infantieid..
, showed AN Increase of mora tbnn ooo nor cort
while that II abortions was actually onemontc,
by 500 Dor cent. Anoth.r noint of grave si.nin
,nnco is noted. namely. that Will, the duration
| If III, pcnerallv fs.Nnandin., in Fron,a vot H.,
last twenty years have Witnessed an extrnorli
nary rise I'm the denth rate Of stillh orn infants
i that term including al children who have live,
, during the thr.. DAYS allowed for the re ,istra
ton Of births. Anditisa sinister circumstanc,
that this increase is remarked almost exclu
! sively in ilegitimate children. nearly one
tenth Of whom are recorded as born dend.
Other facts are cited which. although iless al
rectly pcrtinent. attest the cruel suffering I'm
Il 1icted upon BETRAYED women by the extrcm
J, difficulty Of screening the consequences of
i wrong sion sincethe facilities formerly nfforde
i hy the founding hospitals have been abolished
such. for example. is the impressive nugmen
tntion in the number of suicides by Vounp Girls
attributed by judicial statistics TO an unfortu
= nate attachment. There are other forms Of self
u murder which tend to multiply. and which ar
-, not wholly foreign To the mattcr in view thos
= cases. namely. where married women film
- themselves and their children into tho rive