South Canterbury Times. TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 1881.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2520, 19 April 1881, Page 2

South Canterbury Times. TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 1881.

As the result of intelligent observation, it is beginning to dawn on the minds of political economists in these colonies that for social, just as for physical disorders, the more natural and the less violent the remedy that is adopted, the greater is the chance of improvement and eventual recovery. These remarks are specially applicable to Industrial Schools and juvenile reformatories. The colonial institutions of the kind indicated, which are intended for the reception, treatment, and maintenance of the destitute and incorrigible—have attained an abnormal development. And just in proportion as they have grown has the colonial evil known as larrikinism increased. Fortunately in New Zealand, as compared with the other colonies, the evil has only been felt to a diminished extent. The New Zealand larrikin is in a chrysalis condition, but that he has all the bad traits of his Australian cousins is evident. Some of the accounts that have lately appeared regarding the demoralised state of the Auckland Home, too clearly indicate what society in New Zealand may safely anticipate when the infant larrikin becomes full-fledged and takes wing from the parent institutions. It may seem an anomaly that refuges intended to reform the wayward and criminally inclined should only confirm their bad habits and add fuel to their vicious resolves, but such is the case. The Industrial School is generally but a stepping stone between social depravity and absolute crime. This has been experienced in Victoria and New South Wales where Industrial Schools and juvenile reformatories have long been in full swing. Advantage has been freely taken of them by careless and dissolute parents, and the waifs and strays of the streets have been carefully swept by the police. Now that they have served their time and regained their liberty, the street corneas of Melbourne and Sydney are swarmed with them, and they have proved themselves a terror to their original kidnappers. Several years ago Victoria began to treat the infant larrikin or waif in a rational manner. Instead of neglected children being confined and treated as prisoners in buildings that were neither more nor less than juvenile gaols, they were transferred from the street to comfortable homes. What is termed the boarding-out system has ever since been adopted, and, from a social point of view, the results have been eminently satisfactory. Although larrikinism has not been stamped out, a great deal has been done towards its gradual extinction. New South Wales, however, has been slow to follow the example of her neighbor. She has perceived the happy working of the the boarding-out system, but it is only now, when life and property in Sydney are menaced by rampant larrikinism, that she has resolved to avail herself of this remedy. Compelled to do something by the rapidly increasing magnitude of the larrikin evil, the New South Wales legislature has passed a Bill adopting the board-ing-out system, and this is regarded by the Sydney Press as one of the most valuable measures of the late session.

The Rev Mr Habens has lately been making enquiries concerning this system, and a report which be has furnished to the Government deals with it in a concise and intelligible manner. The boarding-out system as the name implies simply means the removal of neglected, or destitute

children, from the region of contaminating influences into comfortable homes, where their bad qualities if they have any,\vilh’eceiYe due attention

and useful habits will be cultivated

Instead of the sick and the healthy, the ripe and the unripe, the orphan and the child of the thief and drunkard, being herded promiscuously like mobs of sheep together, meeting at the same table, sleeping in the same dormitories and generally mixed, they are carefully and judiciously treated. Each family, when there is more than one child, is placed if possible in the same home, and in selecting guardians, nationality religion, and above all things thorough respectability are taken into consideration. The foster parents are paid by the State for the maintenance of the children, the scale of remuneration being graduated according to age, and in each centre a committee of ladies is appointed to tisit, inspect, and generally supervise the working of the system. The result is that the children in course of time are adopted into the families with which they are associated, their comfort, dispositions, and welfare arc studied, and they realise all the inestimable benefit of homo influence.