AMOKURA INQUIRY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1800, 12 July 1913, Page 6

AMOKURA INQUIRY.

REPORT PRESENTED. DISCIPLINE MUST BE KEPT. CORPORAL PUNISHMENT.' The Hon, F. M. B. Fisher (Minister for Marine) laid upon tho table of the House of Representatives yesterday tho report of tho Departmental inquiry held into tho allegations mado somo months ago by j\lr. J. G. Harp, of Hamilton, that tho boys oil tho training ship Amolcura wero often brutally flogged, and that otherwise things wero wrong in tho control of tho ship. No Brutality. In tho course of his report, .Mr. G. Allport, Superintendent of Marine,states: ■ "During tho inquiry into charges, and ' when deciding on tho punishment and inflicting it wlien it is a whipping, I am satisfied from tho evidence that Captain Hooper docs his best to act in a considerate and fair manner.. Indeed, in nearly every ease, the boys who had been whipped admitted that the punishment awarded was deserved. When a whipping is ordered, tho boy is laid across tlirco hammocks, which have bedding rolled up in them and which are placed on tho hatch, and ho receives on the bare buttocks tho number of strokes ordered, which in .nearly all cases 'aro six, the instructors holding him whilo tho strokes are being inflicted. In no caso lmvo thoy beta given above tho waist. A piece of Manilla rope, U inches iii circumference, is used to inflict tho ■ punishment, and it is' inflicted in tho i presenco of the officers, instructors, and i boys. . . . Captain Hooper is solely responsible for tho punishment inflicted. In my opinion, from tho evidence given, it 1 is an exaggeration to say, as,is done in ' Mr. Harp's letters . , , that the boys aro mercilessly Hogged, and that thqy aro stripped to tho waist. 1 "Tho evidence indicates that tho relations botwoon Mr. Campbell and tho chief officer wero not friendly. Mr. Harp,' in his evidence, stated that, with the exception of what Captain Hooper had said to him at Raglan, tho charges contained 1 in his lotters woro ba/sed on what Mr. Campbell told him, and, in my opinion, from tho evidence, Mr. Campbell's object in telling Mr. Harp what lie did was for tho purpose of injuring tho chief officcr.. ... "As regards tho infliction of corporal punishment, tho captain of tho vessel, who is acting in loco parentis to tho boys should, I. think, continue to have, tho right to inflict it in cases when ho considers it is justified, other-, wiso I think it will bo impossiblo to proservo discipline with GO boys of different dispositions on board, but at tho same timo it would, in my opinion, bo advisable to abolish the uso of tho rope, and to substitute a light supple cano or plain leather strap, not less than inches in breadth, as used in industrial schools, also . that the whippings should not bo on tho i bare skin." Need for Whippings, Tho Hon, F. M. B. Fisher, presenting tho report, detailed tho circumstances which led up to the setting up of tho inquiry. A letter was published in a nowsjiaper in Hamilton, in which one J. G. Harp had complained about tho brutality of tho treatment of boys on tho ship. Ho thought it best to institute an inquiry into affairs on board tho ship, and at tho inquiry it was found that m somo small degree the statements mado by Mr, Harp had been justified. The declaration that boys ha<l been Hogged on board, and that as a result thcro had been wounds and bleeding, was true. Ono case was proved, and there were two or three cases in which tho evidcnco was doubtful. Tho .inquiry >as;conducted by .the Superintendent, of, Marine, ' Mr. Allport, and tliero were present, also, Mr. jtfacassey, of tho Crown Law Office, and a shorthand reporter from the Hansard staff. It appeared that tho allegations which led to tho inquiry woro the "outcomo of a certain amount of feeling between tho second officer (Mr. Campbell), and the first officer (Mr. Barnsdale). 'This culminated in Campbell being put off the ship at liaglan, and left on shore. There ho met Mr. Harp, who subsequently published what Mr. Campbell told him. Mr. Harp 'was brought down for/the inquiry, arid Mr. Campbell also, and under very great, pressure. ho gave a little of the information which he had supplied to Mr. Harp. There had been several inquiries from unions asking that a commission bo set up. Ho (tho Minister) had no authority to set up any inquiry other than ■ a Departmental ,ono, and he did not think anyone in tho Houso would say there was any need for a"n inquiry. Tho present systom of control on tho ship had been in existence sinco 1907, and there wero manyparents whoso children wero on tho ship who don't think tho discipline severe or harsh. Tlip ship was not a reformatory institution, but at tho samo timo tho, ship was mado tho homo of boys who .were,, to. put it mildly, hard to control in their own homes. Tho fault might not bo with tho boys, but with tho parents, but there wero many cases where parents who could not control their boys put them on board tho Amokura. Members of tho Houso should not forget that a group of boys on board a ship wero. somewhat difficult to control. What was to be the remedy for boys who wero guilty of stealing things, of breaking flio rules of tho ship, of deserting, as ono had done a few days ago by taking a boat and rowing ashore? 1 What was to be done with boys subverting discipline in that way? Tho result of the inquiry and tho mawkish sentiment extended to boys who were not entitled to it, was that tho discipline of tho shin had suffered, and the position was not nearly so satisfactory as it was. a few months ago.What the Captdin Says. Ho read a, letter from Commander Hooper concerning affairs on the ship. 'I'fio change, Aa reported, of using a cano instead of a . rope's end for inflicting corporal punishment and of _ administering punishment in the captain's cabin instead of before the boys, had not brought any good result. Since then tho conduct of tho boys had not been as good as formerly. His record showed that tho oli'enees of bringing on board tobacco and cigarettes still coutinued, stealing was common, and there had recently been two cases of gross insolcneo to officers. lor these offences he had taken nway two good-conduct badges, and disrated a petty officer. Ho thought, however, that these offences could have been much better dealt with by corporal punishment. His experience was that disrated boys were often permanently discouraged, and seldom regained their former rank, rather being incliued to join tho ranks of tho no'er-do-wells. The commander stated in conclusion tlmt he could sro the futility of trying to abolish corporal punishment. The Minister added that four boys had been disrated and ono was dismissed. Ho had taken a good deal of interest in the management of the ship and the caro of the boys, and ho was satisfied that if it were decided to abolish corporal punishment 'on the ship they might as well shut the ship up. (Hear,'hoar.) It could not be abolished on the ship any moro than in the public schools. Whilst in , ono or two cases injuries had been sustained by bays, which had led to bleeding wounds, there was no denying the fact that corporal punishment was necessary on the ship, and that it* disciplinary effect was good. A statement had.been published by his colleague, Mr. Bell, in which ho said -the cane should take tho place of the rope's end. and he thought : this was wise. He thought tlwt as a resuit of the inquiry things would be bet- . ter than they were. Ho did not know whether there was going to be any ner- ! manent result of tho allegations which : led to the inquiry, but the effect had been ■ bad up to the present. He hoped that parents would realise what the ship was doing, and that tho applications would be ns numerous as in tho past. '■ Cause of the Troubln. Mr. J. A. Young (Waikato), speaking as , tho member who first applied for .the in- , quiry, said that Mr. Harp, who had mado | tho 'allegations, had been more or -less | the victim of the former second officer of , the Amokura, Mr. Campbell. He described the circumstances leading up to j tho inquiry, and detailed the charges orig- ( inally made by Mr. Harp. Mr. Young I said that ho was perfectly satisfied him- i self that tho inquiry had been u fair one, ( but Mr. Campbell, upon whom Mr. Harn i

had relied, had "gone cold" on' him l Every facility to visit tho ship and to question the boys had been granted to . Mr. Harp by the Minister. It was not Mr Harp's fault if he had failed to succeed. Tho mau Campbell had misled him. Tho Hon. F. M. B. Fisher: I offered • Mr, Campbell an inquiry, but he doesn't want it. Mr. Young i Yes, Mr. Campl>ell doesn't want an inquiry, the Minister tells inei Mr, Young quoted from the evidence of tho chief officer of the Amokura, Mr, Barnsdale, statements that Mr. Campbell, had repeatedly endeavoured to provoke him into a fight on the deck of the Aiuo- , kura. no continued that ho had strongly urged Mr. Campbell to givo tho fulf--1 est possible evidence at the Departmental > inquiry, with a view, to justifying his L claim to a public inquiry, but the latter i had mado no reply to a telegram ad- , dressed to him on the subject. Tho . member for Waikato mentioned that one ; of his constituents had sent two of his . pons to the training-ship, and had ad' dressed a letter to tho Secretary for Marine, expressing his perfect satistaction with the manner in which his boys had been treated. Tho charges which had been made, Mr. Young stated, had broken down. Tho allegation that Mr. Campbell's health had broken down because of tho punishment inflicted on tho boys was all moonshine. Mr. ,L. Jf. Isitt (Christcliurch North) said that one of his constituents had recoivcd a letter from tlio_ captain nf tho Amokura, stating that his boy's timo was. drawing to a close. . Ho wrote to tho captain, asking whether lie would adviso him to enter the boy for tho Navy or in tho merchant service. To this lc'tter, Mr. Isitt stated, his conrtituent had received no reply, but somo. time later ha was notified that the lad had been entered upon a merchant vessel for a period. The father of the boy resented very much being given no voice in his boy's future, and also the fact that the boy liad been put upon tho vessel without any proper . clothing. Mr. A. M. Myers (Auckland Knst) asked, how many boys thcro were on the ship, and whether there were any vacancies. Tho Hon, F. M. B. Fisher said that there were fifty boys on the ship, ami seven or eight vacancies. Ho would bo glad to look into the matter raised by tho member , for Christcliurch North, if •tho latter supplied the name of his constituent.