THE AMOKURA.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 285, 25 April 1913, Page 8

THE AMOKURA.

CORPORAL I'L'XI.SIiIMENT. THE DKPAKT.YIJ'XTAL REPORT. Per Press, Association*. Wellington!,. Last Night. With regard to tlu> recent Departmental inquiry into the nllvgeJ flogging of boys on the trajning ship AmoKuru, and the demand that a pulific inquiry into the whole circumstances should be* held the Hon. 11. I). Bel!, Acting-Minister of Marine, ir.ade the following .statement to a pressman to-day"The departmental inquiry by Mr. Allport. Under-Secretary of Slarine, has been held. Mr, Macitsscy, of the Crown Law Office, being present throughout. Full onportumty whi giyen to anyone who desi'wd! to be hoard" and many of the boys, a» wt»Il as some of thn public, gave ivi<l. nre. I am surisij.d that all the information necessary to enable the Governmeut to deal with the matter has been obtained, and that no good end would be served by further investigation. There is no authority for the Government, any more than for any other persons or body, to hold what has been called a 'public inquiry,' except through a Royal Commission. The purposes of a Royal Commission are to obtain evidence of facts and to suggest remedies. The Government has that evidence and does not require suggestions as to. the course it should adopt Corporal punishment has been administered for serious offences since the training ship was established in 1007. Lite regulations have always left thp matter of punishment to the discretion of the Commander of the Amokura. Corporal punishment will not be abolished as as ultimate penalty for serious offences, or for repeated misconduct. It has hitherto been administered with a ropes' end on boys' buttocks the limit m most cases being six strokes, and the maximum being twelve. The evidence has disproved the assertion that cruelty or undue severity has been exercised. The boys no doubt bear marks for some days, and in some very few cases the skin has been slightly broken, but there is no instance of a hoy being incapitated from immediately returning to work after punishment. It is probable that the boys themselves, like most other boys, ■would prefer corporal punishment to minor penalties of detention and disrating which are imposed for ordinary offences, and this may have led to a more frequent application of the rope's end than was necessary for the enforcement of discipline on board. No punishment lias in any case been ordered by an yother than the captain, and in every : of corporal punishment the captaiQ ! himself has inflicted it. It is the intention of the Government by regulations to prescribe more particularly offences for which corporal punishment may be inflicted, and (ps in the case of the education department) to prescribe the nature of the instrument of punishment and the number of strokes that may be inflicted. It is also the intention of the Government to direct that in future | corporal punishment shall not be inj fliated in the presence of the whole ship's company as heretofore, but in the presence of one or two only. As to other complaints made, they were all completely disproved,, except that of the gpmewliftt. circumscribed which V due to uesmaU tonnage of tlie vessel. If either Houße of Parliament desires to consider the departmental report '.he report will be laid on thp table after the meeting of Parliament."