CHILD LABOUR IN THE DAIRY DISTRICTS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIV, Issue 103, 2 May 1902, Page 2

CHILD LABOUR IN THE DAIRY DISTRICTS.

The Wellington Evening Post of Tues day say?.: —" Ouv attack on whp.t v.-e iieliov-j to ba 111 abust-*, the overworking of m.iny children in the dairr districts of the colony, has appi-en iy roused much kdignu'.ion in (ho provincial district of IViMiftki. The loc .1 priss v. axes wrathful aud its fi.-iw denunciations have b»«n reinf «ce! l-y a resolution of »ha Education Board, which has fo-in-slly d' clare i such . arac'.es ea ouik to be 'misUadi-ig an<; . untrue' and t.ndicg to 'cast a , serious reflection on a la-ge number oi 'he bist class of cettlprs whose children are attending schools in the district, and compare fivourably ment'.liy . and physically with those of any other ■ province, as evidenced by the Inspector's annual report and the individual oxperience and observation of members.' The Chamber of Commerce has, we learn to-day, entered a like 1 protest against cur altitude-. All this 1 whs only to be expected. Taranaki has profited very largely by the dairy industry. Its people are, therefore, very raturally grateful to that industry for the benefits it has conferred upon them. They are disposed just at present to think deifying a more important matter than educstion. The local Education Board—very propeily, seeing that it is an elective body—reflects the sentiments of its constituency. Wo would remind tho indignant; people of Taranaki that wit laid no special blame at their do rr. The dairying cent es in tie Hawke's Bay and Wellington other North Island districts are open to the same charge. From information that ha-i reached us we find it impossible to accept the ipse dixils of the Taranaki press, Education Board, or Chamber c.f Oommorce concerning this matter. Sufficient evidence has beet) forthcoming to convince us> that a prima facie case has bcon established, and that a soarching and impartial inquiry into the conditions of child labour iu all thy dairying districts of the colony should be held forthwith." Our contemporary thus goes on to quote from the reports of several Inspectors of Schools in support of its contention, and proceeds '• Our contention is, as we have already stated, that a prima facie casa for investigation has bona established, and if in certain instances the conditions are as we are led to boiii've, the State must choose between checking the growth of child-labour and decreasing the edaoitiouil requirements iu dairy districts. For our own port, wo would, supposing tho circumstances to be its we arc givm to understand, clieck the child-labour. I's continuance can be defender] o: ly I upon lines similar to those adopte! bv I the former opponents of measures restricting the employment of women and children in English mines and! factories. {

' | To return, howover, to our I'aranaki critics. They u'lite in claiming that the children in their district can mcIcessfully challenge comparison with j those of all other districts in th« colony j not only physically, but mentally. It lis further "drmcrod by tho local pr.ws, jaud recognised by ourse-ves, that Parv- ! siaki is more concirned with tho dairy sindusSry than any othor e-luca'liou diaJ district. We would, therefor*, roai-i mend to tho careful aSUmtiou of this. I Taratmki Education Board and Cham-1 i bor of C ommeice the following statistics cu'leii from the noitiul reponsj of the Minister for Educitim. A-:-j cording to tiw 1901 rtpor'j, the las'i published, both '.ho 'strict average' ■' and 'working ntiendauco of[ children in tiie Taranaki dis'rict were' the lowest in the colony. T>w ' strict i average' for f li 'j whole colony w s! 82.9, T.uanaki comiug at tho bottom j | of tha list with 79.4. The 'working! 'average' for tho colony >v>-s 84.1, audi Tiu'an.du .\vu- agsiu the iotvost with: 81.4. Passing from attendance to | examination rrsn'ts, we find th.-t in' the per eentaao of passes to those es- J ••mined, Taiauaki i-: tise lowest of s.ii' the districts except Nelson, ivs me-a, age for the pacing of tho various sUndatds being, 1 ow-ver, uwaU:. j iatoi" than Nukou. 'i'aa poreovt-igt* 1 Pmbsoh for ihe waoio colony w&a Bft,i 1 ,; but for Taranaki oi.iy 78.2, la agea at which p".ss their va:. itcord of ail iiib other education districts. Its uuciui of ajos, ♦he highrsE i« t'aa colo.ay, ma Ai y*ai:n 11 wo.otlu>, '

whereas the mean for all district# wan 11 years 5 months. Taranaki bviog thus half a year babind tbe normal. Take the separate Btandards and the . ufm given - For Standard I, T«ra- . unki. the highest average aire of f as-- , ire, 9 y#-ars and 2 months, the ooloninl average being 8 years and 9 months ;' c fo? Standard 11., r 'aranaki, hil'lies' ® average age, 10 years and 4 months, £ with 9 ye'irs ti'nd 9 mon'.! s f- r the, * coteng; for Samlard 111., Taranaki, ® hi,h"st av, rate :igll years and 8 , months, with 11) ears for tho celony ; c ; for Sfcu dard IV., Taranaki, the highest!? aver.igo but orm (i'J-oyalorn giving a' 1 worse return for t'tis s.audird) 12j 9 years and 7 months, ith 12 y>ars and I v 2 in 'Dths fo the colony ; fur St tnd-rd 1 J V., Taran aki, the highest »v age, ' 13 years and 7 m >:iths, with 13 y.-a*K ' and 1 month fir the c 'buy ; and for ' Standard VI., Taraook', t'»e highee' i ver,tg» n«e, 14 years ai.d 4 mon'hs, i s again tl3 y-'ars and 11 months for the cjlony. Thus, for 1900, T-rmaki s'ood at the bottom of the scale in both | regularity of attendance aud examination lesults. Ihe Minister'? renort for 1900 assigns to Taranaki the s >ue unenviable position for the year 1899. Tiiat district had'for that yeara'si the lowest avdi-i.ge of attendance and the hsgln ss average aijf of passing in every standard. So far, 'h u iefore, as l "t- may < judge by educational risu ts, Tannaki , has little cause for boasting during th" two years 1889 and 1900. The district compares most unfavourably with o'hers in the colony. There is r.o reason to believe that Taranaki children are niturally more backward thaa those of other provincial districts," Abyoue ould suppose that aU this "•as njjti' and uukno \u to the pr.plo of Taranaki. If our contemp rary had takm as k<en inkiest in educptional matters in Taranaki as it is now doinj?, i j wouli have known that these repot ts have tee'i considered and di-4-c.u-sed by the Education Board on many occasions. In the pas' our contempo:ary's efforts h -ve chiefly been devoted to robbing the ifist-ici of i s tndo-v- - explanation of the high age is due to the number of children i w,.0 have had r.o fcchools to go to till 1 they weie well advanced in yew*, owing to the >cu er. d nature of the i population, till the introduction of th" dairy irdus'ry enab'ed schools to be ; huil.and maintained. Ths low averI -<gri attci dance is due to the distance I uhi'dten have to g) to school, the i wretched roads, aud the particularly heavy laicifall. Tho averages in every instance aie further very injuriously affected by the faci that Tarnoaki has no large schools. In nearly every district in the colony there are a nam - ber of large town or city schools where bad ronds or weather have no .ff-c", ai d these v«'<ry uiturally help theawi a».i in every r. spect. At the end of . 1900 (latest thire were 66 schools open in tbe dis'ric ; of » t'vsel3!> dlss'hat;2ochildri»n,42h:id lest than 41, the number requi-ed fo ■ a | (jupil teacher. Only fite had over 100, ? only two iad over 200, "hile cone r< ached 500. The total number < f , children p'e-e:<t"d at ex munition was i "n1y4117. That th-».largo schools are ; an "lupo! t- >nt f'Co- is sloven in th~ i rfp :rt of tha Weliing'on Inspector of • Seh'ols, who stys:—"The commend- ! able st iteof our hrg st schools is s'il! , tbe mainstay of the whole fabric." - In the Wellington district, also, wi b • only u. little over twice as many schools . as Taranaki—l2l as against 57—no 1 less than 29 of them are schools with an average attendance of over 100, i seven of v htse having over 500 children . in aver.igo attendance. The children i in thesi large tchoola have many ad- [ vantages in the way of equipment - quite unknown in Taranaki. Until, , however, the inspectors are under the central department, and a uniform . system of examination for the whole ; co'.ouy is adopted, the percent-ign o' passes in the feveral districts is quite i value'ess for the purposes of compa'i- , sou. Taranaki tia 'hers hold that the test in this district is hiph, and the f ret that 'ohildi'en|.oming from other districts arj r ueiy foiu.d to be in advance ,f of Tarauai i children, standard for sticdard, appears to this out. ; The red tesi is by results, and i r , must • be admi' t' d that T ran-.ki boys, and i ;;irls toj for tbe matter of that, are , geni-rally found able to hold their own i physically and mentally in the battle of life. Speaking at the presentation ' of prizes at the local High School some months back his Worship the Mayor' [/ave a long and interesting list of : Taranaki boys who were now valued acd respected members of the learned professions. That this standard of excellence is being maintained will be seen by a quotation from the annual report of too .Stratford District High School just to hand —a school which has always produced excellent rosulfs —situated right in the ontre of the dairy district, the children attending which are drawn almost entirely from a dairying population. The report says "In spita of the understaffiog the school h:is added to i'R r >pu'ation for thoroughly efficient te>ehi«p, as thfollowing results ijfex-tuiua'ioiiH show : —Six pupil toucher* pavs it' eir nnj mud oxamin itions, sovm teach rs ! pissad certificate .\v unina' i iiis, parly or wh' lly, fourtetn pupils q lalified fo:* .scholirships - , live pupils pi'sei ma"'iculati.)u, ono pupil qualiiie 1 for Vic- 1 tori t si'.ho'ai'ship, fiuir pupils passe 1 i' General lv .O'viejge ' fo. 1 salicitor's cximin I'ioii, papiN on a- 1 - count; of exccil iu:m in _■ wi ral w.n k i were granted lie; tuition a', tho High i Suliool fir two yen's." ( | We ViX'tutM to say very few soli to'.i ' in the colony can pr dticu a het. er ] record than this, and it Mone is a com j! plcte answer to the slaiulo.'s of our i j contemporary. j