CHILD TORTURERS.

Hokitika Guardian, 15 September 1923, Page 4

CHILD TORTURERS.

STERN Ft! I’lM-IIM ENT NKKDEG. (iiv a Physician in Daily Had). As a nation we are jimlly renowned for our kindness to children and dun, > animals, and few crimes are more impulsive to the average man and woman than cruelty to eitner. Nevertheless a number of cases ol ill-tie.i - mein of children occur in our midst everv vear, and it is high time wo sought' to stamp out this most despicable of all crimes. Bad economic and hygienic, conditions make it a diflicull enough matter to rear children properly m the poorer districts of our towns. If lo these drawbacks are added cruelty and negl: ct, the child can have hut little chance of happiness. In till cases it is difficult to exaggerate the dreadful effects of ill-treatment experienced during childhood. btu. clothing. filthy surroundings, and, above all. poor and improper food ream most terribly oil the growing body. The digestive svstenn never gets a chance, with the result that the children stiller slow starvation and are an easy prey lo diseases of all kinds, in addition they stiller from those socalled "deficiency diseases” which had conditions always bring in their wake. Neglect of the hotly is had enough, hut it is terrible to witness the effects of wanton cruelty on the child s mind. Cowed and stunted, il, is unable te develop mentally or physically, with the result that the effects often last loiijr into adult liU 1 . Thiiso oi us who have worked amnii” the poor know only too well the ndverse conditions under which they live; we know also that though sheer ignorance and neglect lead them to make serious mistakes the great majority of lbelli are reasonably kind to their children.

Neglect of. and cruelly to. children is essentially an alcoholic ollenee —by which I mean that alcohol usually figures as an immediate cause. No father or mother who drinks to

excess is an efficient parent—the.-.i> pa, sans will usually he negleel Till. if tint actually cruel.

Unfortunately some people who are faille kiwi when sober are turned by drink into savage brutes, lit • licit drunken ’touts ih.ev are unite unable to appreciate eitltci tin amount ot violence they are using or the mi-ery I hey are causing. Such cases as the following are only too numerous: — A drunken father, returning I to, threatened to kill Ins sou. aged IJ, and when the mother attempted lo shield her child with her body he turned them both out into the rain - the child being naked —and kept them there all night. Another drunkard struck viciously at a sheening child of live with the buckle end ol iiis belt.

The difficulties of dealing with these cases are immense. Severe punishment, cither in the form ol lines or imprisonment, may lead to the breaking up of the home—a result we are loath to bring about except when the circumstances are so had as to make it absolutely necessary in the interests of the children.

AA'hett, however, full allowance made for drunkenness and had temper, brought on by overcrowding and insiinitarv conditions, there remain a number of cases due to v.ilinl and culpable neglect. ,

Persistent and studied cruelty to children is so despicable a crime that strong measures should be taken to stamp ii out. In such eases the breaking up of the home is no longer a consideration, ns children are better away from such fiends. Tt might even be beneficial to make the punishment fit the crime, and though one hesitates to recommend flogging, still, if such bullies knew that their own backs were likely t# suffer every time they belabour'd their defenceless children it might bring about in them a wholesome distaste for cruelty.