, 1885-07-04

su~perintendence of the Kings Physician
and are to conform to the general lnstruc-
lions concerning the rights and duties OF
midwives, in similarity TO what is the case
in Denmark {" Instrux for Jordemodre") OF
28th September 1879 The midwives may
be punished for neglect by fines.
ad 8. AS some time will elapse before
the Midwife Districts can be fully provided
for. it is considered best to leave it, by 5 8
to the Government to fix the time at which
this Ordinance shall come into force.
The Gorsrnor introduced the Draft he
said, the question with which the Draft OF
Ordinance deals is a very important one
for ST. Croix it is well known to the 90
lonial Council from former discussions. 1t
is the aim of this Draft to settle the whole
matter so that not only the life OF young
children should be protected, but also that
those who are to be chiefly instrumental III
that object should be placed in such a
position hat they can perform their duty
satisfactorily. Whether the objects aimed
at will be thoroughly achieved in the way
now proposed by this Draft, is a point
which he hoped will be taken under care
full consideration by the Council and II 1t
be found necessary that alterations De
made therein, he shall be willing to agree
thereto, if only the Midwives be placed III
81 secure position. The regulations men
toned in 5 l for the division OF the Island
into Midwife Districts are those that have
been issued by the Government last year,
and they will be laid before the Council
during the discussions on this Draft. We
have now z trained Midwives appointed III
service, and 9 more are expected out i'll a
couple months time; the Ordinance can
therefore be put in force as soon as it has
been adopted ard has been sanctioned.
He would beg to recommend the Draft.
End Member for Frederiksted'S Country
District (HeWittJ begged to call attention
TO the material difference made by z OF
this Draft in the salaries OF MidWlves III
the towns and those in the country dis
tricts; the frstnamed are to be salarled
each with 1920 yearly, the latter with Sl92
or with free house $240 p. a. He could
not see why the midwives in town should
have SO much in salary, ut the same time
as we all know that those in the country
must keep cOnveyances for the discharge
of their duties, which is not necessary tor
those in town, and furthermore the coun-
try midwives are to be paid but 81 for at
tending women Of the working class, the
higher fee of 50 will very seldom be OBJ
tanned while III town the payments for
private HbJcuOdlCS Will 10 tltlCI Ahl SCA
He would then enquire if it will be III the
power Of the POlicemasters to help the
country midwives to collect the sums be-
coming due9 1t must be remembered that
the women will already some time previous
to confinement have been unable to work
or to earn anything; the most cases are
births of illegitimate children, the mothers
of whom are deserted by the fathers and
even by the woman's own family, and fire.
quently such women would be entirely
destitute were it not for the help afforded
them by the proprietor. He was Of the opin-
ion that the father, also in the case of ille-
gitimate children, should be made not only
to support their children but to pay for the
MISUNDERSTANDING. In the remarks to
{ l it is stated that the "abSence of reliable
attendance at birth is one of the principal
causes of the mortality among the children
of ST. Croix - from his experience in varl-
ons positions throughout the Island, he
could venture to say, that it is not so much
the want Of NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. that pro-
duces the prevailing mortality among the
children, as it is the neglect of the mothers
and the fathers; very often the father OF
such a child removes to some far off estate
to escape providing for the child, and the
mother is unable and not unfreQuently
unwilling to work she can scarcely get
enough for her own existence, and the
children are uncared for. The law should
be more strict in such cases, and the