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structure of the community." With regard to the organization and administration of welfare supervision for women and girls the following conclusions are expressed "Under modern industrial conditions the employer usually has neither the time, nor frequently the experience, to give the requisite attention to many of the special problems affecting the health and welfare of women workers. There has therefore been an increasing tendency to appoint a special officer for the purpose, who is generally called a "Welfare Supervisor" or "Welfare Superintendent." The stress of war conditions, the widespread introduction of women into industry, and the increased employment of married women and young girls greatly increased the need for adequate supervision, and led the Committee to recommend in January, 1916, the appointment of welfare supervisors in all factories where women were employed. The welfare supervisor should have a clearly defined status and definite duties, and should be directly responsible to the manager. What her exact duties may be will to some extent depend upon the circumstances of the factory and her own capacity. Experience, however, shows that her duties may properly include the engagement of workers (so far as their general suitability is concerned); keeping of records of individual workers; investigation of cases of lost time, sickLess, low output, or wages, incapacity, dismissals or withdrawals, working conditions, home visiting, feeding arrangements, training and instruction, housing, transit, and recreation. They should not interfere with the work of trades unions. The welfare supervisor must be of good standing and education, and must possess strength of character, tact, and broadmindedness, such as will secure the confidence of the management as well as of the workers. Provided only that they are possessed of the requisite qualifications, they can and are drawn from all classes of the community. It is, as a rule, desirable that welfare supervisors should have undergone a preliminary course of training of not less than one year's duration, which should, while allowing of a special study of welfare problems, be grounded on a wide study of social problems. A large part of the time should be devoted

to practical work. Neither admission to the course nor financial assistance should be conditional on the student subsequently taking up welfare work. Welfare supervisors should not be appointed by the State. They will probably continue for some time to come at any rate to be appointed by the employer, as the person responsible for the maintenance of satisfactory conditions of employment, though the workers are likely to an increasing extent to seek some voice in the selection. Though the establishment by the Ministry of Munitions of a panel of candidates has been justified as a temporary expedient, it is not desirable that any Department of State should do so as a permanent arrangement. The time has not yet come when a definite judgment can be passed on the development of welfare work during the past two years, still less is it possible to prophesy as to future lines of development. The confident support of the workers has yet to be obtained. Undoubtedly unwise appointments have been made; complaints have been considerable and often well-founded, though their importance may have been over-emphasized. On the other hand, some mistakes were inevitable in the initiation of what was largely a new enterprise in industrial organization. The conditions of employment of women have vastly improved. It has been, and is likely to be, of material advantage that there should exist a body of persons specially concerned to promote the health and wellbeing of the worker." With regard to welfare supervision for boys and men the following statement is made: "The problems involved in the welfare supervision of boys are not new, though they have been accentuated by the War. The essential remedy is personal influence. The influences to which they are subject will largely affect their permanent outlook on life. High wages, restlessness, lack of control, all have demoralizing influences, which specially need control at the present time. Personal influence to be effective must ordinarily be exercised by some one individual, and the Committee in January, 1916, recommended the appointment of welfare supervisors wherever 100 boys were employed. Experience has shown that for this number of boys full-time appointment is desirable.

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Where, as is more often the case, smaller number are employed, a partțime arrangement is usual. The duties of a welfare supervisor for boys may usefully include most of those specified in the case of women, but nothing which makes for their well-being should be alien to his duties. The wider his outlook, the stronger is likely to be his position. It is specially desirable that he should keep in touch with all other persons and bodies in the district who are concerned with the well-being of boys. Recreation, training and instruction are matters calling for special concern. The need for the welfare supervision of boys has not been so readily appreciated as in the case of women and girls, and time has been required for obtaining the support of the foremen and the local trades union, as well as of the employer. These initial difficulties have, however, not been without their advantages in preventing hasty or ill-considered schemes, and while it is as yet too early to form any final judgment, the work appears to have started on sound lines. The problems of the welfare supervision of men are much more difficult, and only gradual development is to be anticipated. The whole question is intimately concerned with the growth of works councils now being so widely discussed. In the immediate future at any rate, any welfare work among men is likely to grow spontaneously out of that for boys." The Appendices of the Report contain much material of exceptional interest, and special reference should be made to Dr. Janet Campbell's "General Findings of Inquiries on the Health of Women Munition Workers." Sir George Newman and his colleagues on the Health of Munitions Workers Committee have accomplished a notable national service, and this, their Final Report, will remain as a permanent witness to the sure scientific foundations which they have so worthily laid, and on which we trust future generations of constructive workers will continue to build.

THE LONDON SCHOOL CHILD. Communications have recently passed between the Board of Education and the London County Council in which statistical data and other points relating to the welfare of the London school child were

brought forward, The provision made by the L.C.C. for the effective treatment of the principal maladies affecting schoolgoing children has continued to extend, and arrangements have been planned whereby it is hoped that in 1918-19, 152,744 cases will be dealt with, being about half as many again as in 1914, when the numbers reached were 98,976. The Board of Education, from the experience gained in other areas, estimates that the number of children requiring treatment annually for "minor ailments" should not be less than 65,000, or 10 per cent. of the total number of children in average attendance. While the provision for medical inspection and treatment has generally been well maintained and even extended under war conditions, it would seem that many voluntary workers have forsaken their duties or been withdrawn, and that therefore the work of care committees has suffered serious loss. The falling off in the personnel of the care committees would seem to have been greatest in those districts where the need for continuous service was greatest. The situation would seem to call for a reconstruction of arrangements whereby cases can be followed up. It would appear as though an extension of the school nursing service was essential. Under existing conditions cases are overlooked and serious delay occurs in dealing with children urgently requiring skilled medical assistance. Greater efforts would appear to be necessary for insuring the cleanliness of the children and for dealing with contagious parasitic skin affections. Approximately one-third of the girls examined at routine medical inspections are the subjects of uncleanliness of the head to a greater or less extent. In 1916 spectacles were prescribed for 20,597 children, but were provided in only 17,389 cases. London lags behind many other places in its provision for open-air education. There are only two open-air schools available, and these afford provision only for about 200 children. The importance of establishing additional open-air schools cannot be exaggerated. Large numbers of tuberculous and tuberculously disposed and other delicate children urgently need open-air instruction, and the establishment of playground classes certainly does not meet the needs of these necessitous

cases. An increase in provision for intellectually backward and mentally exceptional children is required. It seems probable that the total number of this class of child is not less than from 50,000 to 75,000. In spite of manifold difficulties much work of the most valuable kind has been successfully carried through. During 1914, 14,634 London children received treatment for "minor ailments" at twenty-five different centres. The arrangements sanctioned for 1918-19 provide for the treatment of 30,410 children in thirty-eight centres. The Board of Education have advocated the establishment of branch inspection clinics, but the L.C.C. are of opinion that under existing circumstances considerable practical difficulties would be experienced. The Council are, however, extending the service of their treatment centres, and are alive to the importance of improving the organization and administration of the school medical and nursing services for the school children of London. It is indeed of the utmost importance that no difficulties and no hindrances should be counted as excuses for the justification of curtailment or delay in the application of measures necessary for the well-being of the children in the schools of the L.C.C. The children of to-day are the citizens of to-morrow, and in their hands will be the destinies of our great British Commonwealth, for the maintenance of which in liberty, justice and righteousness, the fairest flowers of British youth and the richest fruits of British manhood are now being sacrificed.

METHODS OF SCHOOL

INSPECTION.

The Bureau of Education, India, have issued as No. 7 of their "Occasional Reports" an informing record of "Methods of School Inspection in England," prepared by Mr. H. G. Wyatt, Inspector of Schools, Rawalpindi Division (price 8 annas, or 9d.). In 135 pages much valuable information has been gathered, and all is presented in a form which will be acceptable to educationists in India, and likely to interest students of educational procedures at home. The work is based on a tour of inspection made in the spring of 1916. Mr. H. Sharp, the Educational Commissioner with the Govern

ment of India, in his preface indicates that there is much in the report which will be of practical value in India. The volume opens with an historical outline of school inspection. The first inspectors were appointed in England and Wales in 1839. Then follow chapters on " Qualifications and Training for School Inspection," "Procedure in Elementary Schools," "Co-ordination," and Reports and Inquiries. There are also sections on the Inspection of Secondary Schools, the Promotion of Special Movements in Elementary Education, and the Rôle of Inspection and Internal Examinations. There is a particularly interesting and suggestive account of medical inspection. It is a sign of the times to find that a report of this kind is being circulated and studied in India. We trust that Mr. Wyatt's discerning and discriminating record will lead to improvements in the methods of school inspection in India and to the organization of a definite school medical service. We hope that it will not be long before Mr. Wyatt or one of his colleagues will be able to provide us with a full account of inspectional methods now in vogue in the schools of India.

MEMORANDA.

Sir Henry Hadow, D. Mus., F.R.S.I., Principal of Armstrong College, Newcastle-on-Tyne, and late Vice-Chancellor of Durham University, has accepted the invitation of the Y.M.C.A. Universities Committee to become Director of Education on the lines of communication in France. At the request of G.H.Q. the Y.M.C.A. has undertaken to provide a complete system of classes and lectures in the base camps in France, covering all types of education. Sub-Directors are to be appointed, one for each base, and a special staff of workers, both men and women, will be maintained, and all necessary buildings, books, and other equipment are provided. The experience of the Y.M.C.A. for the past two years, especially in connection with University lectures at the Front, has demonstrated the eagerness of our men for educational facilities. All information about the scheme may be obtained from the Secretary, Rev. Basil Yeaxlee, Universities House, 25, Bloomsbury Square, W.C.1, to whom offers of service should be sent.

CHILD WELFARE AND THE WORK OF NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS.

During this period of supreme testing our journal will endeavour to render every possible assistance to National Associations and Societies, Hospitals, Homes and Orphanages, and all agencies working for child welfare and desirous of publishing particulars regarding their plans, purposes and activities for rendering special assistance to childhood and youth in these days of stress and strain. Particulars should be sent, in as clear and condensed a form as possible, to the Editor, with copies of any publications, appeals, &c., which are being issued to the public.

THE BABIES' HAVEN.

At Duxhurst, near Reigate, Lady Henry Somerset founded twenty-three years ago a village centre for women addicted to alcoholism. Side by side with measures for the restoration of mothers and other women there was established a home for babies and little children. With the coming of war, the need for increase in the means for providing for necessitous children led to an extension of this work. Under a representative council the Babies' Haven has developed into a colony of little folk. The babies are the children of unmarried mothers. Only first babies are taken. The mother pays a minimum of 5s. a week, and a guarantor accepts responsibility for payments. In connection with the Babies' Haven is the Mothers' Shelter. The story of the good work is attractively set forth in a booklet written by Lady Henry Somerset, entitled "Wasted Wealth." The text of the discourse is the striking statement Mr. Whitelaw Reid: "Nations will be saved or lost according as they remember or forget that the children of to-day are the citizens of to-morrow." Full particulars regarding the work at Duxhurst may be obtained on application being made to the London offices at 10, Gray's Inn Square, W.C.1.

NOTA BENE.

The National Baby Week Council, 27A, Cavendish Square, W.1, have issued a number of valuable publications which should be in the hands of all child welfare workers. "Nation's Wealth" contains a collection of "Messages" from well-known leaders; "Danger Ahead" is a play in three acts dealing with the difficulties of a young mother; "Civic Responsibilities with Regard to Chil Welfare" is a lecture delivered by Dr.

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The Junior Philatelic Society, under the editorship of the Hon. Secretary, Mr. Fred. J. Melville, is publishing, through Messrs. Stanley Gibbons, Ltd., 391, Strand, W.C.2, a series of "War Books." No. 1, "The Soldier and HiStamps," contains three suggestive articles: The Soldier and His Stamps: The Hobby for the Hospital and the Home," by Fred J. Melville; "The Soldier and His Stamps: The Finest Tonic in the World," by Lieut. E. M. Gilbert-Lodge; and Philately at the Front," by Major R. Lockhart. The volume also contains "The Junior Philatelic Society Roll of Honour." There are numerous reproductions of portraits. No. 2, Stamp Collections for War Museums," by Fred J. Melville, is a particularly suggestive handbook, which we commend to all stamp collectors. It shows how war stamps throw instructive sidelights on many aspects of the present war. There are a number of excellent figures of stamps. The price of each publication is 6d.

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THE BABIES' HAVEN AT DUXHUST: THE CHILDREN IN THE GARDEN.

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