"War Babies"
[From The Suffragette of London, edited by Christabel Pankhurst, in its issue of May 7, 1915.]
"The children who are coming into the world must be welcomed and must be provided with greater, not smaller, advantages, because they are legally fatherless.
"Why should not these children be brought up under model conditions, so that they may be the equal in knowledge and general cultivation of any in the land?
"Every one of them must become a valuable asset to the nation. But that can only be if they are reared in a generous way. They are everybody's children, and have a claim on the community as a whole. The problem of the illegitimate child has been shirked since the beginning of time. Now it has to be faced!"
—From The Suffragette of April 23.
The Women's Social and Political Union, in order to help in solving this problem, has in view the adoption of a number of "war babies," who will be reared under model conditions, and provided with a good general education followed by a training adapted to the natural ability and special gifts of each individual child.
The children will be brought up together in a home in which they will receive that loving care which is necessary for their happiness and full development.
Fuller details of the scheme will be given at a meeting to be addressed by Mrs. Pankhurst on Thursday afternoon, June 3, at the London Palladium. In the meantime those wishing to give their financial or other support are asked to write to Mrs. Pankhurst at Lincoln's Inn House, Kingsway, London, W.C.