THE TRAIL OF THE SERPENT.

Manawatu Times, Volume IV, Issue 44, 2 June 1880, Page 2

THE TRAIL OF THE SERPENT.

One cannot take up the public journals wilhout lioiug struck with surprise and alarm at tlie rapid spread of that social evil known by the name of " Larrikinism." Whether m town, or country, city or hamlet, the nuisance appears to have obtained a footing, which sooner or later will call for legislative measures for its repression. Some idea of the magnitude to which it has grown m Australia may be gleaned when it is stated that while the members of the Legislature feel called upon to takestringent action to cope with the monster, so powerful are the cu.prits, and so great the reign of terror exercised, that it was deemed prudent to keep the narae3 of the. mover and seconder secret m order to escape the terrible retaliation which would follow their temerity. The Larrikin is indigenous to the colony, and is totally of a different species to the gamin of Paris, or the Bedouin of London. Those unfortunate waifs of humanity are generally the offspring of crime, and always the children of misery, friendless atoms of the human race, who either have no parents, or t&oss of a ohtfwter

from whom it would be a blessing to be orphaned. The Bedouin life which they lead is a matter of stern necessity, and their nomadic vagrancy quite beyond their own choice. The streets are their homes, and misery,. cold, and privation their bed.f eiloW; ; still the qajnin of Paris, or the Street Arab of London or New York will compare »ost favorably with the Larrikin of the colonies, who is a pest of quite another genus, nnd like his twin brother, the Hoodlum of San Francisco, is a pest m the pure exercise of his vicious inclinations. There is no wit, no humor, no bright side on that dark spot on the boasted civilization of the Nineteenth Century — the Larrikin. He is cruel, vicious, and vindictive ; inflicting misery for the pleasure of witnessing it, and vastly enjoying pain as long as his own worthless hide goes free. Thoroughly callous to any appeal to his moral feelings, he still possesses a soft place which is acutely amenable to sensibility— his back. In New South Wales they are seeking to pass very severe measures against the Larrikin. Society has taken fright, and would seek a cure for the evil m the birch. Against this a section of the community are making an outcry. There are vehement protests from many quarters against the disgrace and degradation to which they point out young men are to be subjected, but we trust the good sense of the. majority will carry the day against such squeamish reasons. A healthy public opinion shouldfail to understand how a Larrikin could be degraded by a whipping to a lower level than that on which he has been flogged has placed him. For repression, iiis now generally understood, that the birch will probably be a wholesome and effectual remedy. Eut repression is not, or should not be, the highest aim of legislators. It is one of their duties, and not the less so, because the necessity for it is the severest reproach upon their past conduct. When politienns were attending to things of small moment, Larrikiuism was born ; whilst they were fighting for place, it has grown to be the greatest blot upon their civilization. It is the punishment to the blindness, the selfishness, aud the ignorance of those to whose keeping were committed the interests of the people. To stop the evil, repression is the first thing, but it is not the only remedy for the cvil — the cause must be removed. The first lies within the power and pro- j vince of the Stale; the second is m the hands of the people themselves. As we havo beforejstated, the juvenile vagrants of the Old World are very often, conceived iv crime, and cultured m iniquity, and the precarious lives thry lead* comes to them as an inheritance from the miserable beings of whom they are wretched or guilty offspring. Not so the Larrikin. He does not draw his first breath m a hovel, or pass his infun.iie days m crawling amongst the gutters. He has no anxiety as to what he will eat, where he is to sleep, or wherewith he will be clothed. His raiment is of the most approved cut, his boots the smallest and of the most artistic fashion, vis hair is nicely oiled, and his face retains the sapouacious sheen which' indicates a desire for cleanliness; but notwithstanding his ■effeminate dandified appearance, lie is just as brutish and cruel m his instincts as the vcrriest ruffian of the Five Points or Seven Dials. Follow him from the street corners — where hi? language is reeking with obscenity and blasphemy — >to his own home and you will see him take his scat at a fa mil)' board, the head of which loathes the very name of the tribe of which his own hopeful is such a prominent member. Little the sisters think that the brother of whom they are so proud, is fresh from the task of hurling riuakl f 'sts and outragious insults at evavy respectable female who might havo the misfortune to cross his path. But so it is. The ranks of the Larrikins are recruited, not from the gutters, but from the workman's bench, the merchant's desk, and the storekeeper's counter. It is a race having its inception rather m the plenitude of money, than froui a stint of it; strengthened and matured by the lack of all control, and the indulgence of an independence which is baneful m the extreme. The dealing with the Larrikin as lie exists should be the duty of the State, and that can be only done by that wholesome deterrent — the lash. The prevention of all Larrakiuisin m the future is thoroughly m the hands of the parents themselves. As the " twig is bent, so it shall grow." the road to ruin is a broad one, and those indulgent or careless parents who allow their children to follow their own iuclinatusus unchecked or uncontrolled, have generally a melancholy tale to tell. Is it not sickening to see fathers and mothers — as is daily the ease — solemnly declare m Court that they have lost all control over their children, even when the latter a>'e of an age at which they should be still at school. We had a mehneholy case of the sort a few days since when Mr. Wakd sent a youngster to the training ship. He had been brought up as an incorrigible by the police, and although the young rascal had not entered his teens he had threatened with an oath that if his mother did not comply with his demands "he would poison the -^ — < pig, and burn the =>- house down." What a melancholy and suggestive commentary upon the manner upon which such a father and mother had discharged their parental obligations, and what a terrible retribution for the neglect ! The cure decidedly lies within the province of the State ; but the prevention is m the hands of the parents themselves, who have it within their po»ver to mould their children's destinies for good or evil.