I showed some years ago that, as we shall see in
more detail in a later chapter, alcohol makes not less than forty-five
thousand widows and orphans every year in England and Wales. Nothing
can be more certain than that, in the interests of all except the
worthless type of man, the economic protection of motherhood is an
urgent need, less open to criticism perhaps than any other economic
reconstruction proposed by the reformer. Some will argue, of course,
that the State is to look after children directly, but I, for one, as a
biologist, have no choice but to believe that the way to save children
is to safeguard parenthood, and I cannot question that our duty is to
provide the mother with the necessary means for performing her supreme
function, whether she has a living husband or is a widow or is
unmarried.
The question remains, how is this to be done, and whence is the money to
be obtained?
Here we join issue with those Socialist writers who advocate the
endowment of motherhood and give it their own meaning; and that is why
in a preceding paragraph the word fundamental has been emphasized, since
in the endowment of motherhood as understood by socialists there are two
principles, one which I call fundamental, and a second--that the
endowment shall be by the State--which now falls to be considered. I do
not see how any one can challenge the following sentences from Mr.
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