Treatment of the Feeble-Minded: The treatment of the feeble-minded was the subject of some very forceful addresses. Mrs. Pinsent in a particularly able speech, produced some startling diagrams, showing how the mental defects of a single individual are transmitted to an ever-increasing number in each generation, the result being a very heavy burden, through rates and taxes, on the more efficient stocks. Thus, while the inefficient are supported the burden checks the efficient stocks and prevents them giving their children a fair start in life. “A continuous control of the feeble-minded” will mark a “new era in civilisation,” she declared. Following on this, the Bishop of Ripon insisted on the peril of the nation which could no longer send out men to “till, to develop, and to garrison its borders.”; If, he declared, ” young men avoid matrimony and young women shun the duty of maternity ” dominion will pass to other races whose ” women are free from political aspirations and are willing ‘ to do their duty at the domestic fireside and in the nursery.” The discussion was given a practical turn by Dr. Shuttleworth: Marriage among the unfit should be discouraged or forbidden, as is the case in six States of the United States; the unfit should be placed in industrial colonies, and experience showed they were perfectly happy in them; and children who belong to the unfit class should be placed in schools connected with these colonies. The general feeling of the meeting was that the time is ripe for legislation on the lines of the Departmental Report issued a few months ago.
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