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36. May you always take water with you if you like? —Yes. 37. Is it correct that complaints are sometimes made that the girls converse to one another about things they should not converse about?— Yes. 38. Who makes the complaint?— Some of the staff do sometimes. 39. Have they complained to you about your conversation? —No. 40. Have you heard them complain about others?— No. I have heard the Matron complain. 41. Was tnere any necessity for the complaint?—l never heard it. 42. How are the girls, as a rule, treated by the members of the staff?—We do not get very nice things said to Matron about us. Some of the things we do are taken up wrongly. 43. Do you mean the staff complain to the Matron unfairly?— Yes. 44. Does the Matron act as though she believed what the staff say?— Yes. 45. In what way?—We are punished. 46. Without being asked for an explanation?— Sometimes. 47. Has the Matron ever boxed your ears? —Yes. 48. Can you tell me any particular occasion on which she did it?— Boxing Day, 1906. 49. What for? —I was trying to explain something, and I did not get a chance. Matron boxed my ears before I explained it. 50. What did you say to her for doing it?—l said she did it to commemorate the day. 51. What did she do then? —She sent me to bed. 52. Have you seen the Matron boxing other girls' ears? —Yes. 53. Within the last twelve months, have you seen her doing it?—No; I have only been in the Home six months of the last year. 54. Are you one of the girls who have to do scrubbing on the winter mornings upstairs?— Yes. 55. With bare feet?— Yes. 56. What sort of water do you use?— Cold water. 57. Could you get hot water if you liked?— Miss McPherson stood at the door, and would not allow us to turn the hot tap on. 58. When the Matron has any complaint to make, does she make it to the girls privately or before the other girls?— Mostly before the others. 59. When are these complaints generally made? —At prayer-time in the evening or at meals. 60. Since you came back from Waikari have you had any other chance to go to service?— No. 61. There are some small girls in the Home? —Yes. 62. Do they do the same work as the big ones? —Yes. 63. Have you any other complaint to make about your treatment?— Yes. 64. Now is your time to say in what way you consider you have been harshly or unjustly treated ?—I was strapped once for sitting on another girl's bed, and other girls have got right into the beds and have not been punished at all. 65. You think the Matron knew that the other girls had been doing this?— The staff knew it. 66. You know M M ?—Yes. 67. Can you tell us anything about her ?—One girl refused to work, and she was threatened for it. The Matron told her she would strap her if she did not work. She did not do the work, and she was strapped. M M two or three days afterwards refused to do the same, and the Matron treated her to afternoon tea. 68. You think that was unjust?— Yes. 69. Does the Matron speak of one girl's faults to another? —Yes. 70. Have you heard her? —Yes. 71. And you do not like that? —No. 72. Has she spoken of your faults to another girl?— Yes. 73. What does she say when the girls run away or speak of running away?— She says they do not go for any good. 74. Does she ever say where she would find them if they got away?— Sleeping in the parks or somewhere. 75. Sometimes I believe the friends of the girls provide cake for them ?—Yes. 76. Do they get that cake?— The girl it is for generally gets it. 77. When you came back from Waikari, what did the Matron say to you particularly?— She told me when I was twenty-one I would turn out a prostitute. 78. Are other things of the same sort said about girls?— Yes. 79. Often? —When they are going to run away, or doing anything that is objected to. 80. Is there any other matter you want to speak or complain about now?—[No answer.] 81. Mr. Russell.] What age were you when you came to the Home?— Fifteen. 82. Had you been living with a man for a month before you came here? —No. 83. Were you away with a man for a week? —No. 84. You were not away with a man at all?— No. 85. You were in the Auckland Home? —Yes. 86. Did you get out when there?-—Yes. 87. You absconded ?—Not from the Home. 88. From your situation? —Yes. 89. Who did you go with?—l went by myself. 90. How long were you away before you were caught by the police?—A week. 91. Where were you during the week?—At the Thames. I walked there. 92. Where from?— From Hamilton. 93. Who did you walk with?—By myself. 94. Where did you stay at the Thames? —Is it necessary to answer all these questions? 1 ; bought the inquiry was into the Home, not into my life before I came here.

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