New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 1877.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4929, 9 January 1877, Page 2

New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 1877.

Ouit present system of dealing with juvenile offenders who from misfortune or other causes come within the pale of the criminal law, is a matter deserving some little consideration; For the first offence,' and that! bftena most trivial one, children - frequently become inmates of a gaol. The effect of this is only too apparent, for the mission of the gaol is certainly in the case of the young to work a bad transformation, -for ' it Undoubtedly nurtures them for crime, and rears them for its own' family. In England' there are no less than 28,(50 youngsters committed to prison'annually for offences, in the most part venial in their nature ; and although theevildoes not exist to the same extent in this colony, yet it does exist, and if we can only find some effective means of dealing with juvenile offenders we shall tap the head spring and tributary of that stream of, crime which year by year appears to be gathering force and volume in our-midst. Our treatment is too severe, and, lacking tbleration for small faults, our Statute book calls very foolish deeds' hard names, and not only that,, but also exposes young children in public courts, and awards to the half freak of a lad the same punishment as to the deliberate act of a man. Undoubtedly the.' policeman and possible gaol exercise a valuable deterring influence upon the folly and reck-

lessness of outcast children ; but once the possible gaol becomes an actual reality, the direction of this influence is reversed, and its power is for evil. What would be most reprehensible in ihe child brought', up by God-fearing siirrounded by comfort and plenty, would be passable ia the street Arab, with no one to care, for or look after him, and perhaps those' who by nature should care for him themselves examples of every species of vice and iniquity, and .possibly might be indicative of a strong moral life. . Yet those youthful, unfortunates who once let virtue slip fall into, the iron hands of the law and are gaoled; and the gaol means the foimation of criminal habits and associations, the shutting of the offender out of the bright happy world, and into a lower and more evil a wurd, it means "social doom." That the effects of gaol on children should be such is not at all surprising, for the susceptibilities of childhood render, all: moral influences, whether for good or evil, far more powerful and far more permarientj than similar, influences exercised on manhood. The committal of children to prison creates the veryevils it was intended to destroy,and in the calamity the punisher and the punished are alike involved; Considered from a humanitarian point of view, the picture! is not a pleasing one, arid shows the: necessity for reform ; but it also presents another and more of a utilitarian aspect. Although crime has not.made sufficient strides in this colony as yet apparently to; affect the labor market, yet that it does so is a doctrine of political economy too well known to be denied. It is only a question of degree, and year by year as we go on and prosper its influence will become more appreciable. The present system of incarceration for youthful peccadilloes will in its effects only serve to' increase the burdens of the taxpayer, inasmuch as the deprivation of a decent reputation tends to exclude him, deprived from the" labor market, and thus Conduces to make him idle, and ultimately chargeable 'on the State. Degradation of character also multiplies the' chances of imprisonment, and renders what otherwise might have been a productive unit of national prosperity a useless expense,to the Government. It may ;be said that, it is' a Utopian idea to write thus of juvenile crime, and something must be done to nip it in the bud. We admit that something must be done; but thefpresent system.is hot that something, and there must be' a change, the nature and direction of which we intend to allude to on another occasion. What can be done is shown by the success, of the reformatory school system in England, under which no le3s than :75. per cent: of the children received have turned out well and become useful and respectable members of "society. This proves a great fact, viz., that the almost wholesale, ruin 'following mere imprisonment is caused not by inherent vicioushess- of- character in the victims, but by subjection to degrading influences—and it is to be borne ! in mind that this 75 per cent, has been saved after gaol contamination. What would it be if the children were at trie outset sent-to the , reformatory schools instead of first serving an apprenticeship in sin amongst hardened criminals 1 There are many earnest men and women amongst us who would work heart and soul in a reformatory scheme; and at a recent ■ Church meeting the matter was most feel-" | ingly alluded to; but these good people ! are generally sneered at as sentimentalists. There may be some foundation in 'the sneer, but no great movement was I ever started without the aid of enthusiasts, and if this matter be only pushed by those who we .know. are interested, there can only be one result—a thorough j and efficient reform, a hope for the erring •young, and a great benefit to the State.