Women’s Column: … … There is perhaps no item in the vast programme of social reform more uninteresting than the care and control of the feeble-minded. We do not want to hear about it. We turn from the statistics regarding it with sights of depression and involuntary loathing, and yet when read such an article as that published in the July number of the “Nineteenth Century,” by Mrs. Pinsent, one the Special Commission to inquire into the matter, we feel thankful that there are good people who are willing to investigate, and who, while ready to emphasise the … of the unhappy situation can nevertheless … many grounds for hope in the future. I would like readers to take the opportunity of studying this article. The question is very large, a woman’s question, and Mrs. Pinsent has … educate all intelligent, active, and kind-hearted women the need for prompt legislation. The various State regulations for the care of the feeble-minded do not cover the ground. The total number of mentally defective persons in England and Wales, apart from certified … in asylums, is estimated at 149,628 and of these Mrs. Pinsent says, over 66,000 are under no control other than that of often quite incompetent relatives. These poor creatures are a source of anxiety and danger to the community in which they live. Children feeble … sent by education authorities to special schools are maintained at considerable expense until the age of 16, and are then returned to their parents, in most cases relapse into ignorance and … and not infrequently into the … depths of degradation. The examples given in this paper of the perpetuation of idiocy from one generation to another are most striking and point to the need for some drastic legislation to deal with a great evil, which Mrs. Pinsent is convinced threatens us with steady deterioration of national efficiency. Her plea is for an authority to undertake care in childhood and control after school years are over. The men and women who face disagreeable facts and devote their time and energy to finding out the best method of bringing them to an end are worthy of our highest admiration and … support. We can best help them by informing ourselves as to what needs to be done and by creating a sound public opinion back them up. – PERTILOTE
Transcribed in whole or part from scanned originals: Presented with or without modified text and punctuation. For absolute accuracy refer to the original newspapers. Source: The British Newspaper Archive.
Referenced
GRO0245 Devonport: Ellen Frances Parker: 1866 – 1949