Occasional Notes.

Clutha Leader, Volume II, Issue 81, 27 January 1876, Page 3

Occasional Notes.

By Colonus. school savings banks., I am not paterfamilias the father of a family, and" never had the superintendence of youth, nor ever undertook — what the poet Thomson, is it not ? calls the ", delightful task, to 1 rear the tender thought, and teach the young idea how to shoot " — but I have certain theoi-ies with regard to the treatment of children by parents and guardians, and one of such theories is this— that although too much care can hardly be paid to the. moral and religious education of children, or to ' their bodily health, yet that children are more likely to healthily develope in body and mind if they ; be allowed as much liberty as can possibly be afforded to them, consistently with proper attention to their moral and physical welfare. Ido not. know much about the Belgian * scheme of School Savings Banks, and have not yet had an opportunity of perusing the pamphlet lately published in Dunedin on the subject • but I am not very well pleased with the notion as far as l comprehend the nature of it. One objection I have to it is, that it is an undesirable interference with the infantile scope of action. Let the infants do what they like with their little capital, instead of bothering and pestering them to invest it in a manner they are not prompted to do by their natural inclinations, j Children, like grown up people, are very susceptible with what they consider their rights, and most children would undoubtedly feel, that being advised or j importuned to lay out their, capital otherwise than in accordance to the suggestions of their own minds, was a plaguy interference with their rights. I think many children would feel it like a sort of robbery of the weak by the strong, for the importunities and advice of elders cannot be altogether ignored; and a child who declined to do what his parents or guardians urged or strongly advised him to do, would feel himself, to a certain extent, under disgrace. In fact, the advice to a child to lay by periodically a little sum as an accumulating fund, almost amounts to a command to him to do so. A child would either be obliged to surrender what he considers his natural rights, or he would feel that . he had acted in a manner adverse to the wish of his guardians. It would be hardly possible to carry out a scheme of this sort, leaving children with a feeling* that they were acting altogether of their own free will, in consenting or declining to hoard. I know not how the Belgian children like it, but I suspect the free nature of British boys would strongly rebel against such a clandestine method of interference with those rights, which boys, like grown men, feel they possess, of being allowed to do what they like with their own properly. It is extremely undesirable that children should feel either that their childish, rights are being tampered or interfered with, or that, they have acted to any extent in opposition to the will or wish of their parents or teachers. Most children are well aware that they owe a certain amount of obedience, to their elders, but also that, though children, they have rights, any interference with which done in either an open or covert manner they feel a grievance or injustice. It is all very well to say the children would be quite free to hoard or not : the children would feel, and their elders would well understand, that in the case supposed the children would not be altogether free agents. A child who invested in the School Savings Bank would be commended/ one who never did, though not blamed or punished, would probably be looked rather sourly upon. Apart from the objection to the scheme ; as to whether or not it is advisable to teach children to hoard opinions may differ. Although many men, and probably more women, among the working classes, are capital economists, avoiding all waste, and making the best of resources, yet undoubtedly, many men and some women in the receipt of, wages, here and in Great Britain, waste their money very foolishly. If people generally were a great deal more provident than they are, and made the best of good times in order to provide for bad, there would probably be considerably' less pauperism in the world than there is at present. I feel considerable doubt however as to whether it is advisable to teach young children to hoard. Among his playmates, the generous open handed lad is more popular than the,, close fisted youngster, who if he gets a cake from home when at boarding school locks it up in his box, and nibbles at it occasionally, instead of dividing it among his fellows,, or keeps a sovereign continually imder lock and key, instead of occasionally treating his playmates to pies and buns. The boyish impulse is probably : a right one in this case. is a nobler quality than frugality, and though in after years the.. practice 'of economy may. become a duty,, the vn r ; observance of which is certainly wrong, yet I question -whether it is., well to tarnish 7the- face and Unsophisticated nature of childhood by inducing or compelling" the -young to practice the attstere virtue, ..of,, thrift. If aipong grown up people there ace many spendthrifts, there are also many people whose* minds, are ;• far : . too much given up to, tne acquisition .of wealth,-' andperhaps covetousness," : which: ''occasional the grinding down of "the

poor, and does more'harmto society than She .waste of rn.one.tafc/* .resources.. ..Undoubtedly a child as well as a grown up person, may _. be -both provident and generous, but the practice of economy seems more suitable for adults than for children. • It yappears; to me. that there is 1 quite enough of the element of covetousness in humanity at present, without increasing the amount of it by teaching young children to hoard and imbueing them with a love of gain, even though it be done with the good intention of conferring habits of thrift., I shall endeavor however to get a sight of the pamphlet above .referred to, and possibly after a perusal of it I shall be inclined to modify my opinion on this subject, but I think at any rate, it would be well to' give tho matter a thorough consideration before we establish miniature saving banks in our New Zealand schools.