The Akaroa Mail. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 4, Issue 373, 17 February 1880, Page 2

The Akaroa Mail. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17.

Stiii': by side with an elaborate system of secular State education, for which in some shape or another the country has to pay* I there is growing up, or rather is actually in full force, another system of education, of which neither the State nor society appears to take much notice, hut which is, nevertheless, far more expensive and certain in its results than that over which local committees, education loards, inspectors, and a Minister of the Crown exercise so efficient a control. The unofficial ■system has not "been honored with a distinctive title, but may, for want of a hotter, be designated the education o± the gutter and the street. It is not confined to one part of the colony, but is to bo met with wherever population abounds, and the pupils, though principally the children of what are railed the lower classes, include ninny from every section of the enmimniiiy. The senior professors are past-niaslors of rullianism and larrikinisrn, but every boy who joins its speedily qualified to impart, instruction and advice to bin fellows. Tha vlass-rooms are the streets, ftiul the principal hours of tuition the night. Under this great system, which liko the. ether, is piucly secular in its teachings, a lad is instructed in a thousand things which .'ire utterly hnd, and not one that is goof!, n;nl therefore ennobling. To b<; insolent an! brutal, Id lie, to curse, and obscene Ungiuigf, and <<i '-tea! arc i all included in Ui'j curriculum, and as j time j;oe;; or. other brni.v'hijs of infamy are ! added, :-u tlu.t in ils way thi. ;_Mith.r .-ehuol ! nystciii is us complete as could be wished ; ' and, in fact, taken in connection with the ' gaol, to which it is aiiiliaietl, it form.-.' a

combined nursery, school, and university of crime and wickedness.

Those, therefore, who are anxious that their children shall be distinguished in life, and are not particular as to what shall make them conspicuous, can be tolerably assured of the fulfilment of their desire, if only they will allow them free access to the street both by night and day, and carefully abstain from all supervision. There are in New Zealand multitudes who faithfully follow out (his plan, and without a shadow of doubt a very large proportion of them will be rewarded according to their deserts. There are boys, we presume, who, like Oliver Twist, could not be led astray ; but it is no slander on human nature to say that they are few and far between. Evil communications corrupt good manners just as surely in the nineteenth century as in the first, and youth is more susceptible of their influence than mature age. The Nelson School Inspector was right when he said in his last annual report that the seminaries where the boys learn to swear and pilfer are the street corners, where groups, of lads who ought to be at home may be seen lounging of an evening. We scarcely believe that any amount of warning, either from the pulpit or the Press will do much to mitigate what is one of the crying evils of these days of light and education. Many people can see the mischief so far as it regards their neighbors' children, but are blind to the effects of unrestrained liberty on their own. A great cry is made, and very properly so, about the want of classification of prisoners in the gaols of the Colony, and the non-separation of "first offenders' from old and hardened criminals: but how many of the so-called " first offenders," even when their parents occupy respectable positions in the community, are so in reality ? How many of them have graduated in the gutter and are first offenders in the eye of the law, merely because they have not been earlier found out? Unfortunately instances of juvenile depravity and precocity in crime are of frequent occurrence in New Zealand, and over and over again it has been proved that though only one or two boys may have actually committed a theft, a number of others have been cognizant of the fact, have refrained from speaking out, and have shared the plunder. Several such cases have occurred quite recently, and we are satisfied that, if all the facts could be brought to light, it would be found that the criminals had regularly graduated in the gutter school.

A case of this class which has come under our notice occurred a short time ago at Nelson, when a lad pleaded guilty to stealing £6 from the Fox Hill railway station. He was only thirteen years of age, yet he had been twice convicted beforeThis young thief was committed to gaol for a month, and the magistrate said he would consider during.the term of the sentence whether the prisoner should be sent to a reformatory for two years. We may remark in passing that, in our opinion, the matter did not demand two minutes' thought. The boy should certainly have been kept out of the streets and away from his old companions as long as possible. There are some very remarkable points in connection with this case which are worth while- 'alluding , to. In the first place the lad did his work like an old burglar, though he proceeded to enjoy the proceeds like a boy. Ho appears to have treated his companions liberally, and, among other methods of spending the money, went to three publichouses, at each of which ho obtained liquor, and shared it with the other boysIt docs not appear that the publicans, or any one of them, raised the slightest objection to supplying the juvenile topers with intoxicating drink. We sincerely hope the fact will be borne in mind when application is made for a renewal of their licenses. The publicans did not in all probability know that the money tendered in payment was part of the proceeds of a robbery, but their manhood might have served them sufficiently to refuse to supply such juvenile customers, though nothing in their licenses may have stood in the wa)\ Another remarkable fact, which corroborates what we before stated, is that the other boys seem to have known that this money which was being spent so freely had been dishonestly come by. One of them said he hoped there would be no noise about it, and the reply made in the presence of the others—we had almost said the gang—was, " It's all right; I took it off a drunken man at Fox Hill." Tho entertainment did not cease on that admission. There was more drinking, and then the thief gave each of his companions a small portion of the plunderNot one of them told tho story, and the thief was first suspected through some of his own acts, and was convicted on his own confession. What sort of boys were these, and what sort of school had they been taught in 't Wo believe their parents are what is called " respectable," but we are satisfied that whether their sons profit by the State system of education or not, the}' must bo willing pupils of the gutter school, and that no obstacles have- been thrown in tho way of their regular attendance. We can assure parents who allow their boys to roam the streets at night that they are exposing them to a risk worse than that of a deadly miasma. The consequences here may not be so immediately perceptible as

in a large city, but nevertheless the company met with even in this quiet place will have an effect the same in kind, if not in degree, as elsewhere.