Evening star., 1946-07-17
'Conferees Study
$334,000 Fund
For Day-Care
Debote Is Spirited
After Measure
Passes Senate

Fate of the controversial day.
care centers for children of
working mothers today was be-
fore conferees from both houses
of Congress as a result of Senate
action yesterday, adding an item
of $4,000 to the pending de-
flciency bill.
Insertion of the appropriation In
the measure by roll call vote of
Al to Is followed a spirited debate
enlivened by humor. and outbursts
of laughter from both the floor and
the galleries.
Chairman McKellar of the House
Appropriations Committee attacked
the bill as "communistic. The pro-
posal was stout1y defended by Sem
ator Hoey, Democrat, of North Caro-
lima who offered the amendment
from the floor, and by Senator Pep
per, Democrat, of Florida. Senator
McKellar had refused to insert the
appropriation in the deficiency bill
when it was before the Appropria-
tlons Committee.
Not in House Bill.
Later the deficiency bill was ap-
proved with amendments by the
Senate and now goes to conference.
AS the measure came from the
House it did not carry the day-care
item
Senator Hoey. in offering his
amendment, told the Senate Presi-
dent Truman had just signed the
measure authorizing appropriations
for the day-care centers.
Working mothers needed such
centers for the day care of their
children, Senator Hoey explained.
Most OF these mothers were widows,
the sole support of their children. he
said, and had been in war work He
emphasized that the legislation had
cut down the day-care program,
however, to one year only, and de-
creased the number of centers from
the former % at the height of the
program to IA now, enough for 45O
children.
Parents would pay 40 per cent of
the costs, he said, and the legislation
shifted responsibility for the centers
from the Board of Education to the
Board of Public Welfare. The pro-
gram would be less expensive, he
claimed, than supporting families on
relief.
Senator McKellar opened his at
tack on the bill by saying every one
has kindly feeling toward children,
even such an incorrigible old bache-
! lor as I am" But he launched into
criticism of the proposal as a
luxury service" by quoting from an
editorial in The Star of July 5. He
4charged such move would be an
opening wedge for a Nationwide
! program of State child care
His estimates of about $500 cost
for each child was challenged by
Senator Hoey. who said it would be
only an average of about s603 year.
Warning that such projects which
began as a war project" would
likely carry on unless stopped, and
might spread across the country,
Senator McKellar declared: It am
against this proposal for Washing
ton, for Memphis. for Miami for
any city, because I think the prin-
ciple of having the Government
rear children for mothers is all
wrong. 1t is an injury to the moth
er, it is an injury to the child, and
it should not be INDUCED in in
Washington or anywhere else
Bachelor Advice Cited.
! To this Senator Pepper rejoined:
All my life I have heard that if
you want to find out just exactly
how to raise children, ask an old
bachelor
L may not know anything about
rearing children" replied Senator
McKellar, but I have seen a lot of
them reared and in all my life I
never saw one who was reared BY a
government get anywhere"