The Daily News WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16. COERCION OF LOAFERS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 301, 16 December 1908, Page 2

The Daily News WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16. COERCION OF LOAFERS.

The extraordinary number of applications, to New Zealand benevolent institutions liy peuple who are the victims of loafers is ueplorablc. The chairman ui' the Charitable Aid Hoard at Auckland recently Had something tu say upon tile subject of tlii- control or coercion of loaters, and made the point that some place siioulil In- found where the loafer should be interned and by the sweat of his brow be made to earn his bread ami the bread of his wife and family. At the present moment an arrant loafer may throw his responsibilities oil' lilie an old coat and is easily able to get enough bread and beer to keep hint from starving without doing a hand's turn. Even if lie is sent to gaol "tinder the vag." he is simply getting well led, warmly clad, well washed an I his neuiui selcntiiieally attended to. Jn ihe meantime he may have a wile who is 100 proud to beg and who (we could i|itule numerous cases) slaves at the wash-tub or any other cheaply paid work until the loafer is out of gaol and comes back to "get even with her." On the other hand, a loafer is sent to gaol and the wife, who may be sick (as is so often the case) may have to appeal to the people through any of the organisations that exist for such purposes. The public, of course, never did mind helping the woman or children who were in straitened circumstances, but the point that sticks in the public- neck, as ; l were, is that it is shouldering the responsibilities and paying the bills of men who are well able to bear them. We know of a man outside of Taranaki who is au arrant loafer, lie goes to gaol pretty freiiuiiitiy. His wile r: i a woman who» in the intervals slaves ; bard and keeps her eight children clean and fairly well fed. As soon as the loafer is out of gaol he "turns over a new leaf for about a fortnight, then assaults his wife, robs somebody or something and goes to gaol lor an inadequate sentence. During three of the i periods this beautiful person has been in gaol (and this is a true case in every ] detail) the woman has borne him a child. Here is a tragedy in a nutshell. And yet thisparticular woman has never applied for charity of any kind in her life, and is, like most of these wonderful! women are, ready to "take him back" when he promises to turn over the new leaf mentioned. The loafer is a. menace and the loafer wdio goes to gaol and is put to unremunerative work is a worse scoundrel when he leaves gaol | than when he enters it.

The'loafer is generally a weak man. Sometimes he becomes a bookmaker (one of the most virulent typo'oi loat .r this country has) or he is merely oil" of the beer-feeding beasts who are "jolly good fellows'' to everyone but their own families. Some day the bookmaker loafers will be gathered up (it would be preferable to drive them with stockwhips) and yarded in a "colony'' where they may be forced to earn eignteenpeace a day for ten hours' work with pick and shovel, or something even heavier. As for the able-bodied beer--1 eater mentioned above, there are great possibilities in himself if i u . UTre ] o( )k,.,i 'after by officials who are less mealymouthed and chicken-hearted than those who permit prisoners who are "indeterminately" sentenced their freedom after a lew months' incareeratio'u. There is .■something especially chicken-hearted in a "justice" that gets hold of alleged garotters and gives the poor fellows bail so that they can go and squeeze some more throats and rob people of a few shillings. Our forefathers were absolutely ferocious in their dealings with the malefactor—and the loafer is tile spawn from which the malefactors are hatched. We are so fond of ourselves iu New Zealand that we think we are doing great strokes in the amelioration of the race by ridding ourselves of backbone in dealing with social pests. We ccrtnhlv should take some practical steps to coerce the loafers to earn their own bread and that of their dependants instead of the rest of the coniniunitv having to shoulder the responsibility and cost. We might do worse than act on the suggestion of the chairman of the Auckland Charitable Aid Board and intern these social pests iu labor colonies.