Nantwich, Sandbach & Crewe Star — 1890-07-05 ()

INFANTS SACRIFICED FOR GAIN.  In his speech on the occasion of the Free Gardeners' Jubilee, at Sandbach, Mr McLearn took exception to a Bill which had been introduced into the House of Lords for putting a limit on the right of parents to insure the lives of their children. 'J he Bill is the outcome of the efforts which are being made to diminish the rate of infart mortality. He was right in saying that the charge made was that many persons •;tho insured the lives of their children did not take proper precautions to keep them alive, but allowed them to die for the sake of the insurance money. This Mr McLearn do not believe. lie cannot see that there are people in the world who would deliberately insure the lives of infants for the sake of money. We are afraid Mr MeLearn's knowledge of the Social condition of the people is very limited when he comes to such a conclusion. There are some people in this country who would do anything for the sake of pecuniary gain; and when it is remembered that we have frequent cases of child murder when no reward is to be obtained, and where the inability to afford the necessary maintenance is the sole cause for the unnatural deed, we need not feel surprised that there should be men and women prepared to pay an insurance agent a few pence in order to obtain thirty shillings or a couple of sovereigns. We do not suppose that in Crewe or any part of this great pastoral county, or, indeed, in any portion of rural England,such deeds are common. The struggle for existence is, fortunately, not so great in these parts as to necessitate a resort to the taking of infant life. But in the great. towns, and particularly in the metropolis,- the social condition of thousands and thousands of people is so wretched that the destruction of infant life hus come to be regarded as a measure of amelioration. Of course, these murders are seldom done openly or avowedly, and in most instances it would be impossible to prove them to be murders at all. In London they are generally described as cases of overlaying, and form the subject of much serious comment by the coroners in whose jurisdiction they occur.' In a professional capacity we have had my an opportunities of listening to a coroner's dentincia,ion of infant insurance when advising the jury on overlaid eases. As a body, they have long thought that some legal cion ought to be taken to diminish the number of these overlaid cases,which are recorded with painfhl The Bill which is More the Lords wo:iid certainly have a salutary effect in that clirectinn, and we are astonished that Mr Mc Learn' sli displi y ny hostility towards it. His argumnii,  that the relatives might require part of the money for other purposes than funeral expenses is not a strong one. They may, but if they do, there are other agencies through which their requirements can be satisfied. The Bill refers to burial insurance, and money received on that account ought to be expended on the object for which it was obtained. Certainly there can be no hardship in making this a compulsory clause in a burial insurance bill, it it can be reasonably shown that by such a policy a great diminution of infant mortality would be likely to follow. We do not imagine that Mr McLaren would be prepared to stand by and see things go on as they are doing in regard to this important question. And yet from his observations at SAndbach he would appear to be indifferent to the opinious of men who by the nature of their profession are the best qualified to form a judgment on the subject. What is the cause of the eagerness and haste of parents to insure the lives of unborn babes, if it is not for the pecuniary advantages to be derived at their deaths. Now, according to the Bill in the Lords, parents would have no power of dispensation, and, therefore, we may be sure they would exercise greatet circumspection, both as to the care of their offspring and the manner of their insurance. Unless it is to be laid down as a principle that parents may take every secret opportunity they like of making away with infant lives when circumstances inspire them to do so, we think that some legislative action should be taken on the lines of the Bill before the Lords to diminish as far as possible the ever-increasing rate of nfant mortality.