Untitled

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 21, 15 January 1879, Page 2

Tlie juvenile precocity of tlieyouthfnl Baoon, tlie would-be disoiplo of tlie Australian murderer an,d bii^hraiis^r, presents a sad pictureof the ris\nggeneration of JS T ew Zealand..: ,-ftiias been stated, I suppose by way qf amelioration of the gravity of the offence, that thf boy's parents are bi^hjy respei-tt able. \f such be the. case, X deeply sympatiii.se with them m their ai^iction ; but still I cannot help thinking that m nine ca.ses out of ten where boys step out of the beaten track of juvenility, and take to the road of rascality and ruia, thfir legitimate guardians are by no means blameless, Ta my mind ttiu yeiiy plea of respeiAUibility .sejfnp in' ex, tenluation is one of the-moat painful and a la'fuiing' lV aWi'es hi ttlro-oa.su,--- f ixrUrw*'. Mothei: Country the ranks of the criminal ilass draw tueir rocruits fruim me cry Ufe^s- ot gjciei-y-j- ■tiio > s;yu^« ut

vice, and poverty and degradation. Not so m the colonies. Trace thegenraology of the youthful forger, the embezzler, the perpetrators of swindles and larcenies, and the army of. larrikins, and it will be found that, they do not belong to what would be deemed the hereditary criminal class. This is more especially notwealile with regard to. that purely colonial tribe^-'the" larrikips. The large cities-.-.of both the -^Qld arid New Worlds— London, Liverpool, ; NtoW York and -New Orleans— have nil their. . street Bedouins, but the Arajisbf those-, cities differ most materially from" the' geniist wh'icb is indigenous to Colonial soil. The ringleaders--attd -moat daringare not those whose eyes first saw li<sht m the purlieus and back-slums of their native cities, of whose infantile gam Hols were bounded by the -gutters. Ho: trace them to their homes after their, ruffianly and disgraeefu.l outrages, and. it will be found that they enter circles where domestic happiness, purity, and innocence reign supreme, the heads of which read with horror and dismay (he doings of gangs of which their offspring form no inconsiderable part. The cause is found m the fact that Colonial youths are forced into the position of manhood before their characters are developed or stability ensured, and the consequence is that with the desire foe mischief of boys, they have all the opportunities of "gratifying it of men, In fact there are n.o suc-h things as boys, ; as the term is understood at Horne — no half-way between the cHild and the man. With the desire for fun and frolic which is- buE natural to their years, there is combined an advanced stage consonant with the u.atu<re of their daily pursuits ; so that while boyhood bursts, forth and declares itself by love of trickery, premature manhood asserts its sway by dictating the nature of the pursuits, Ha. v ing placed their children, I m positions, which are calculated to make them independent, the parents are powerless to, control their action, or exercise sway, at the most critical stage of existence, and hence it js they roam, uncontrolled — a disgrace to their families, a curse to the community, a scourge to. society, and a burden to the State.