Juvenile Depravity Suppression Bill.

Manawatu Herald, 15 August 1896, Page 2

Juvenile Depravity Suppression Bill.

This Bill has been read a second time in the House, bat we doubt if it will be passed this Bession. It is an attempt to do away with an admitted evil, but the manner of doing it is likely to be most unpalatable to all. Our democratic Government believe in free interference with the liberty of others, and on all hands, from the legislation of the last few years, places the population chat are not Government employees under the inspection of Government employees Whether your maid works in the house too many hours, or you despatch a box of butter without a proper brand, or ■»hift your sheep from one paddock to another, there is an Act of Parliament to be consulted to see whether a fine or imprisonment has not been incurred. " When the Curfew tolls tbe knell," or to all intents and purposes when that hour arrives, the Premier proposes that any girl loitering in the streets, shall, t/the constable thinks she is there for an improper purpose, be marched along till he meets another constable, and shall then be questioned as to her name, and abode, &0., and her reason for being from home. If the other constable is not to be found, and what constable is when he is wanted, the girl is to be taken to the nearest Justice or clergyman. This is the first process, and without wandering all through the Bill, the first start is enough to condemn it. The evils of the CD. Act are again repeated, and it is marvellous that a Parliament which repeals on* should in the same session put as bad an indignity upon women. That young girls should be kept in the house of an evening we can all agree to, but if the parents let them out, we hold that the State interfering is a step in thd wrong direction. The Premier, with his love for tbe present system of State Education, apparently fiada there is a void in its teachings which has to be filled up with constables, and that fine and imprisonment is the only argument of any value. It is a pity for a country when its chief administrator has to make such an admission, and we hold that even the introduction of such a Bill, let alone its being passed, is one of the greatest arguments in favour of reverting once again to religious instruction in tbe schools We hope the Bill will not become law this session, and we do not think it should, as it is a very grave interference with the liberty of the subjeot, and should be well considered by the people. Many peculiar positions could easily bs imagined were this Bill law, and as is usual with the present Government legislation, we believe the Bill would become a great inconvenience to the poorer of our colonists.