The Mental Deficiency Act, 1913 : together with the regulations and rules made under the provisions of that Act, the departmental circulars, the Elementary (Defectice and Epileptic Children) Acts, 1899 and 1914, and, introduction and annotations / by R.A. Leach.
- Date:
- 1914
Licence: In copyright
Credit: The Mental Deficiency Act, 1913 : together with the regulations and rules made under the provisions of that Act, the departmental circulars, the Elementary (Defectice and Epileptic Children) Acts, 1899 and 1914, and, introduction and annotations / by R.A. Leach. Source: Wellcome Collection.
12/312
![Provision for the ap])ointinent of “ Poor Law Guardians ” on such Committees has been s])eciaUy inserted. When the Bill of 1912 was in Committee Sir John Spear, who is President of the Poor-Law Unions’ Association of England and Wales, moved to insert the words “ and of such number of representatives of the Poor-Law Authorities wholly or partly comprised within the area of the local authority as may be fixed by the Secretary of State with the concurrence of the Local Government Board.” Sub- sequently this proposed amendment was by leave withdrawn, whereupon Sir John Spear moved the insertion of the words ” Poor-Law Guardians and other ” before the words ‘‘ persons having special knowledge,” and not the words ‘‘Poor-Law Guardians or other,” as they appear in the section. He w-as supported by other members of the Committee who spoke on behalf of the Poor-Law Authorities. It was urged in support of the demand that many of the feeble-minded would remain in or come back to the Workhouse, that the Guardians would have to provide a considerable amount of the money required, and that co-operation between the two bodies would be of advantage to the feeble-minded. The Home Secretary (Mr. McKenna) said ‘‘ the county and borough councils had represented to the Home Office very strongly that if Parliament recognised their com- petence to administer this Act they ought to ha^e a free hand. He said there was great force in that view'. He could not therefore accept the amendment, but w'as quite willing to insert the words ‘ Poor-Law Guardians or other ’ in the clause, w'hich, without making it compulsory, w'ould be an indication to the councils that, in the opinion of the Grand Committee, Poor-Law Guardians were persons of special experience who might well be appointed on the Care Committee.” (Times, 27th November, 1912.) Sir John Spear’s second proposed amendment was de- feated on a division by 14 votes to seven, and then the Home Secretary’s proposal was agreed to. An estimate of the Royal Commission is that in England and Wales over 66,000 defectives including school children, are urgent cases needing provision in special institutions for defectives, and at an annual outlay of £1,175,802, from which they make deduc- tions for the present public cost in one direction or another of the over 66,000 cases, leaving a balance of £541,492 as a new public burden. Some of the over 66,000 cases would, of course, be cases for ‘‘ State institutions,” and there maintained by the State. The inadequacy of the Parliamentary Grant w^as a subject of bitter complaint by the friends of the original Measure. Mr. McKenna in Committee in December, 1912, largely discounted the estimate of the number of the mentally defectives who would have to be provided for, and suggested that in any case, for the time being, tlie £150,000 grant (section 47) sliould be accepted witliout demur. It would take two or three years, he contended.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b29010172_0012.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
