H.—2l.

92

[f. b. inWgod.

6. In your opinion, are the children here bright and happy, or the reverse?— Most emphatically, happy. 7. Have you seen them at this tree-felling?— Yes. 8. Have they seemed to you to be overworked or crushed with that work? —No, because they take their time over it, and work that would be heavy if one were pressed is nothing if you take it so slowly. 9. Have you been present when the staff and the girls have been together?—l think so. 10. Have you ever heard the staff speaking nastily to the girls? —No. 11. On the other hand, have you heard them speaking courteously and nicely to them?— Always. I have never heard any words spoken that ought not to have been spoken. 12. Do many of the girls go to church? —About twenty-five of the best of them. 13. So all these girls would know you?-—Yes, they know me well. 14. Have they ever complained to you at all here, or said they wanted to speak to you about anything privately?— Not a word. 15. If any girls had wanted to make a complaint, could they have done so?—I have had them in classes where I have been alone with them, and it would have been an easy matter for them to have stated any grievance, but nobody ever has. 16. From your personal observation, are you satisfied this Home is doing good work?—l am most decidedly satisfied. I think Christchurch ought to be very proud of having a Home like this in its midst. 17. Do you see any upward movement in the girls?- —I do see it most decidedly. I see them come in in the rough material, as the Commissioner does, and I think he will agree with me that when they are turned out they are not at all the girls who came in. They are humanised and refined and uplifted in every possible way. 18. Mr. Salter.] You say you think you have been present when the staff have been present with the girls, but you are not quite sure you have ever been near the girls when at their work? — I have been in and out in the workroom and outside. I think I have seen them under all circumstances. 19. How long have you remained with them outside? —I do not remain. I see them passing to and fro. 20. It is hardly likely, even if the girls were dissatisfied with anything that was going on, that they would call out whilst you were passing?— Not whilst I was passing. 21. Have you all the girls in your class, or only a few of the best girls?—l take those who are recommended to me for special instruction. Some of them are the very best, and some are not so good, but I take them in the hope that those who are not so good may be made better by attending my class. 22. Can you say whether the worst girls are ever brought to your class?— Yes, they are. I have them all in time—all except those who do not come under my tuition. 23. What is your idea about strapping these girls?—l have not the objection to corporal punishment that many people have. To my mind, it is more humane than docking food or shutting them up in a cell. It is soon over, and the injury is set square at one sitting, and I really have not any fault to find with it. 24. The Commissioner.] Apart from that, have you formed the opinion that there is anything degrading in a strapping inflicted upon a young woman of twenty? —It is private. 25. Certainly, it is private?—l do not think it is degrading. 26. Not on a young woman of twenty?—l do not think so. 27. What is your opinion in regard to the question of hair-cutting as a form of punishment? —I do not think there is any hardship at all in it. I should not regard the sentiment as worthy of notice, because the hair soon grows again. It is the best deterrent to keep them from absconding. 28. To your mind, it is justifiable?— Yes, and indeed praiseworthy. 29. Do you keep in touch with these girls in after-life?— Yes. 30. And do you find the effects lasting?— Yes. Mary Theresa Inwood examined on oath. 1. Mr. Russell.] You are the wife of the previous witness?— Yes. 2. Do you corroborate all that your husband has said in regard to the treatment of the girls and as *to what has been done at Te Oranga ?—Yes. I**" 1 3. The Commissioner.] Have you come in contact in after-life with any of the girls who have passed through the Home? —No, I have not had the chance. William Henry Syme examined on oath. 1. Mr. Russell.] You are a registered medical practitioner of Christchurch? —Yes. 2. And from the time this Home started until about two years ago I think you were the Medical Officer in Charge? —Yes. 3. Were you at the Home pretty often? —Yes. 4. Did you restrict your visits to once a month? —It depended on circumstances. I came whenever Mrs. Branting suggested. 5. During the time you were here you had an opportunity of seeing for yourself how the place was conducted ?—Yes. Whenever I did come I generally stayed three or four hours. 6. During the years you visited here, were the children happy or unhappy apparently?—l think generally they were very bright and cheerful. 7. And, so far as you could see, you had no reason to think otherwise?— None whatever. 8. Did the Home contain all,the requirements to make the children happy? —To a considerable extent,