THE AMOKURA.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 271, 8 April 1913, Page 3

THE AMOKURA.

A FATHER'S OBSERVATIONS. ' BOYS' TREATMENT " A DISGRACE TO THE COUNTRY." Christchurcb, April 4. The father of one'of the boys now on board the training ship Amokura called at the Lyttolton Times office and made to a reporter some very startling allegations in regard to the treatment of the lads serving on the vessel. Very shortly uftcr his son joined the vessel he suspected from his letters that his life at sea was not all his youthful fancy had pictured it to be. There were hints at rough accommodation, rougher food, hard work and harsh punishments; not complaints, but just a boy's homely allusions to passing events i and the talk among his shipmates. When the father asked for further particulars the lad evaded the question, or said, with a very proper spirit, that he could not give il'e names or vouch lor mTiiiTw.iv-. lif Ikii! no!, svii : Init when the rumors took more detinite shape and reached the father's ears from another source, he common icatcd with Mr. Harp, the gentleman who had been promised a "thorough investigation" by the Minister of Marine.

As a result. lie appeared as a witness at tlic enquiry on board the Aniokitra and took the opportunity to learn all he could about the vessel and her crew. His observations did not reassure him. "The boys."' he said, ''were given no chance. With the captain standing oil one side of the official making the enquiry and the first officer on the other, with a solicitor ready to turn anything hi' said inside out, a lad was not likely to speak his mind very freely. Tie was as much under discipline while giving evidence as he was while washing the decks or at drill, and he was not allowed to forget the fact. The enquiry was simply a farce. Half-a-dozen officials, helped by a lawyer, enquiring into their own conduct, and a pack of frightened bnvs standing by!" But, apart from the enquiry, the father managed to obtain a good deal of information concerning the ship and her management. The accommodation for the boys, be told the reporter, is utterly inadequate. Sixty odd boys are packed awav in a space no bigger than the captain's qiiar-

ters. Perhaps the best is made of the limited space, lull, the lest, is shockingly I bad, and a disgrace to UiCvcAiumry. I There is no special complaint about the quality of the tood as it comes to the ship, hut by the lime it readied the , boys much of it is unlit for consumption owing to the h;ek of proper storerooms and appliances, and a large proportion is thrown overboard. If the .father's story is true, the waste of provisions is not the least ilagrant of the long list of abuses that require attention. That the boys are Hogged, and severely Hogged, there can be no doubt. They, at :iny rate, are not spoiled by "sparing the rod." the old-fashioned rope's end being laid on their backs with an emphasis that leaves its murk for many a day. Perhaps some of them deserve it; perhaps some of them do not. lint other stories have .been brought to light by the stories of Hogging, and it seems due to the community, as well as to the boys and their parents, that a public enquiry should be held at onee. Whatever the report "of the private departmental enquiry may be, it will carry 110 weight with the people whose suspicions have been aroused.