MOTHER AND CHILD.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1726, 18 April 1913, Page 6

MOTHER AND CHILD.

PATHETIC CASE IN COURT.

NEGLECT UNDER STATE CARE ALLEGED.

(From Our Special Correspondent.)

~,, . Auckland, April <7. Iho laumarunui "correspondent of tlui Herald relates a story that recalls Lliza m Uncle loin's Cabin." Tho case was licjid at the Magistrate's Court at iauniuruimi this week, and the conesjwmlent savs, (xtneated from the mass of legal details, the story as told in Court is as tolknvs:—

A married couple with their throe children lived in Auckland somo eighteen months ago. The eldest child was a. l»y ol seven j tho others were two little girl's oi two years and one year respectively. ' Ihe family had fallen into trouble; the mother was sick, ami the father was so circumstanced as to to unable to look ' niter or provido for those dependent on him. ilio boy fell in with two evil companions older than himself, and all three wero detected in a petty theft, for which i ,) ,°J'„V' as ™»>»)ttcd'to un industrial . school. Ihe mother bavin; recovered and • the father, having got oh his feet.again, they began to long for tho boy. Tho mother fretted, grew thin and ailing, and the doctor ordered her to leavo town. Sho had saved a few pounds, intending to go' to sec the boy, and they realised a little more money by selling up some furniture which they possessed. ot long ago they left Auckland lor Wellington, ana called at the office of Mrs. Dick, who is matron over industrial homes and inspects them periodically, They had leanwd previously that their son hud been sonic nine months before put out to board with a certain woman, irom whom they had letters about him. Iter_ address had not been giveiT . Ihey obtained tho address from Mi's, Dick, and sot out to visit the boy. It was alter seven in the evening whep > > they got to the station, and it was quite, dusk when they reached tho woman's , home, a small farm a mile out of a cer- )• tain township. When Hearing -it -the' father stopped to make inquiries at ■ house, but tho mother pushed on and cnt , countered the boy himself on tho road-*: sido gathering sticks. According to th< ' mother, sho was shocked at what she described his utterly ncglected-looking l ; condition; long, unkempt .hair, ragged] , ; ill-fitting clothes of the coarsest, and", dirtiest kind, bare feet, and arms sticking/' out of a skimpy jnckct. Continuing hef V story, tho mother said the boy rau to hei and begged to bo taken home, as .ho said / the woman was unkind both to him and\ ; to four other children of whom she had charge from the same institution.; Ro gavo a harrowing description of.liis life at the farm, and said their only periods of comfort were when Mrs. Dick arrived on her monthly inspection, for they were thou bedded indoors instead o£ in . da outhouse, and they got proper food instead of the .boiled pollard which was ' their usual diet.

The mother then decided to take the boy away, though she had not previously intended to do to. The father knew this was an illegal step, but agreed to risk the 1 consequences. They waited two hours at the railway-station for the return train, \ no inquiries being made for the hoy meanwhile. The guard of the train to whom they showed the boy was. stated to have said' ho would testify whenever wanted'as to his condition; The boarding-house keeper with Whom they stayed at l'iijmerston North was said to have made the siims offer and to. have expressed indignation at ■ the state of the child. Next morning (Sunday) they .bought a new suit of clothes for him and set out on Monday niorning for. Taumarunui. Before leaving the station a detective entered "tho chvriago and asked.the mother if she we're | Mr?.' ■ —. She said "No," end the man ' passed on. On arrival the mother and oho or two friends examined the child and. found Ivjm to be in a filthy condition. They also discovered that he had forgotten all that he had formerly learned and they.' , sent him to school at once. They also sent ft telegram to the woman who had charge of tho boy;, telling her thatho was ; well and was going to Sydney with his , mother. 'Hie boy had with his parr, 1 cnts;'!f)W4Ver, only* 'a' fortnight constable heard of the matter and tie boy was sent back in custody to tho place where ho was taken from. Tho motliei* was prosecuted for a broach of.the Industrial Schools Act in removing the boy. The father is at present in steady work in Taumarunui. Ho and his wifo and two'children were present in Court andtold" in their evidence the story outlined above.

Counsel for defendant urged that under the. circumstances ihe mother did what any mother would havt done, and that even if she was guilty of a- technical brcach of the law she was not deserving of punishment. He also urged that ■' an inquiry should he held into tho circumstances related in evidence, and said that as the parents were now able aiid willing to look after tliu child it should be restored to (hem.

The Bench said that the circumstances were quite peculiar. While Did alleged neglect at tho home rested cliisfy on the child's statement, the clothing (produced in Court) and the evidence of the parents afforded some corroboration. The mother had only done what any.other mother would do, and while lie had to convict her of a technical breach of the low he would discharge her. He would make representation in the proper quarter rcgarding'att inquiry. -