AUTHORITIES' RESPONSIBILITIES: DISCUSSION 143 



took it up. They used to pay is. for their notifications, 

 and there was a feeling that when they ceased to pay that 

 is. they would lose the notifications, but he was pleased 

 to say that the people had continued to make use of the 

 Notification Act and they seemed to wish to let them know 

 that they had got babies. (Laughter.) After the lady 

 health visitors had visited the mothers with newly born 

 children, when they were no longer able to go on with 

 their visits, the cases were handed over to the voluntary 

 workers. The voluntary workers did a splendid service to 

 these mothers and their children and their work among 

 them was thoroughly appreciated. He recently got rather 

 a shock in connection with that voluntary work. He might 

 tell them that his wife acted entirely on her own responsi- 

 bility in many matters (laughter) and among others in 

 this work of looking after the children. Recently he was 

 looking in a book in which she kept her accounts and he 

 saw the rather puzzling entry " milk for my baby." 

 (Laughter.) That was rather alarming, because their 

 children were grown up and yet there was the entry " milk 

 for my baby." (Renewed laughter.) However, all was 

 well, for it turned out to be milk for a baby which his wife 

 had adopted in this way it seemed that in addition to 

 visiting these children many of the ladies undertook to see 

 that the babies got what was necessary in the way of milk 

 and other food. It was not done in the way of charity; 

 it was a friendly visit, and the child got as it were a second 

 mother. They could easily see the advantage of that to 

 the children of the poor, and it was astonishing how the 

 mothers wanted to share their responsibilities with these 

 ladies. They were told that the parents would resent the 

 visits of the ladies and that in fact there would be strong 

 opposition on the part of the people. They were also told 

 that the people would not be interfered with, but nothing 

 of the kind had happened. The mothers were delighted, 

 and if the lady health visitor forgot to call or did not come 

 frequently, sometimes they sent a message '' What about 

 my baby?" His point was that voluntary work could be 

 done in combination with municipal work and done very 

 effectively indeed. The health visitors came to understand 

 that one of the great difficulties poor mothers had in rearing 

 their children was the way in which they fed them. They 

 found that children in Sunderland were fed upon anything 

 that was going. He heard of one child that was fed on 

 radishes and tea. Of course it died, and the mother said 

 it was Providence. (Laughter.) He did not know whether 

 they agreed that radishes and tea was Providence he should 



