The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1883.

Thames Star, Volume XIV, Issue 4624, 30 October 1883, Page 2

The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1883.

Although the district is .not much troubled with the scourge which most populated places suffer under, riz larrikinism; & small development of the evil betrays itself in our midst. To account for the growth of this nuisance is somewhat difficult, but it is not at all unreasonable to suppose that something must be deficient in the system adopted iv connec* tion with the early training of our youth. The many misbehaviours of the coming generation' in the public street, the total disregard for propriety acd mannerliness, and the absence of true manliness in members of the growing population mast be observed by all thinking persons, and be a source of grief to those, who >' vo any- interest in the welfare of our successors on earth. Where. the. root of the evil lies is, or should be, the point of attack, and we must confess that our notion of that point is the present system of education. Free, secular, and cumpulsory, wo admit, are desirable conditions to be attached to any scheme of^ State education, but we.

hold that the rising generation requires more instruction than they get in State schools, and that the additional requirement, is in the direction of morality, and of establishing some form which Will turn their thoughts towards other than gratifi cations of a vulgar and animal nature. Thepnblic behaviour of the youth of the day is becoming a reproach to the people, who are, of course, responsible for it. The behaviour in the street, the morals; in fact,, everything connected with the young people when not under control, as far as can be seen by any ordinary observer, point cut that a deficiency requires to be filled up; and that an omission has been made somewhere, and few can doubt that that omission has been in " the rearing of the child." " Just as the twig is bent, the tree 's inclined," and the all mv I portant direction of the growth of that twig, does not apparently seem to be recognised by either church or state. We have no desire tbat the present system of instructing young minds in fitting them to speak their own language, and add up a column of figures, should be interfered with; but, we assert that other training is requisite, to teach the higher duties of man, to inculcate the refinements which have followed the advancement of civilisation, and to withdraw the creature from. a state which threatens to lapse into that with which we must associate the savage races. Putting aside the necessary religious training which in itself is powerful enough to check [the greater portion of the larrikinism or hoodlumism of the day; we—paying deference to the expressed wish of the majority of the people, who have declared in favor of not allowing religions instruction to be imparted in the education provided by the Government—would point out the desirablenesss, nay, the necessity of the Government or some other persons- finding other means of checking the growing evil we refer to, an evil which is assuming alarmiog dimensions throughout this and other colonies, and which, if not put down at once, will be a source of much trouble in time to come.