§ 50. Mr. SNOWDENasked the Prime Minister whether he is aware that there has been no revision of the law in England regarding illegitimacy since 1873; that several countries, including Sweden, Denmark, New Zealand, many States of America and Australia, and particularly Norway, have had in existence for some time laws of an ameliorative character regulating the treatment of the unmarried mother and her child; that the neglect and ill-treatment of an unmarried mother and her child tends to increase prostitution, poverty, crime, and disease; and whether, seeing that the number of ille- 2934 gitimate births shows no sign of decreasing and that the mortality amongst illegitimate is double that of legitimate-born children, he will undertake to introduce a Bill to amend the Bastardy Acts on the lines of the Norwegian laws?
§ 53. Captain BERKELEYasked the Prime Minister whether he will consider the introduction of legislation to provide for the legitimation of children born out of wedlock upon the subsequent marriage of their parents?
§ The PRIME MINISTERI can make no statement on these subjects at present.