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23

H.—3la,

alive to the importance of greater care being taken to guard against the admission of these who are likely to lower the mental and physical standard of the race, and in the opinion of the Committee stricter precautions should be taken in New Zealand. The smallness of this country makes it all the more important that it should be occupied and developed by a selected population, while its attractiveness as a field of settlement and the limited amount of land available place it in a position of independence in which it is able to insist on the maintenance of a high standard of fitness on the part of those desiring to share in its advantages. Section 14. —Summary of Findings and Recommendations. The Committee find —• (1.) That the unchecked multiplication of the feeble-minded and epileptic is leading to a continually growing addition to the sum of human misery, an ever-increasing burden on the State, and the serious deterioration of the race. (2.) That it would be sound economy, as well as in the best interests of humanity, to deal with the problem at once, even though it involve a substantial expenditure. The Committee therefore recommend :— (1.) That to the definitions in the New Zealand Mental Defectives Act, 1911, there should be added a further definition—namely, that of " moral imbecile " contained in the English Act. (2.) That a special branch of the Mental Hospitals Department be established to deal with all classes of mental defectives who are not inmates of mental hospitals, and to act as an " after-care" Department to look after patients discharged from mental hospitals. (3.) That a Eugenic Board be appointed, to include a skilled psychiatrist, another member of the medical profession, and to be presided over by a Magistrate as Chairman. (4.) That the duty of the Department shall be to keep a complete register of persons coming under the following definitions in cases where the Eugenic Board has decided that the patients in their own interests or in the interests of society should be placed on the register : — (a.) Mental defectives who are not inmates of mental hospitals who in the judgment of the Eugenic Board come within the definition of " feeble-minded" in section 2, Class Y, of the Mental Defectives Act, 1911. (b.) Persons afflicted with epilepsy associated with automatism or other conditions rendering them especially liable to dangerous, immoral, or otherwise anti-social manifestations, and in the case of juvenile epileptics the mere frequency of fits rendering them unsuitable for attendance at ordinary schools. (c.) Moral imbeciles as defined in the English Mental Deficiency Act, 1913. (d.) Persons discharged from mental hospitals. (5.) That the care of backward and feeble-minded children, so long as these remain in an educable stage, shall be the duty, as at present, of the Education Department. (6.) That the Education Department obtain the services of psychological experts with a view to creating a comprehensive system providing increased facilities for the study of the individual child in school, for the classification of children according to their mental capacities, and for the adaptation of the curriculum to the needs of special children. This may necessitate the establishment of an increased number of special classes, an extension of the residential special schools, and also provision for social readjustment of the children when required. (7.) That fuller provision be made in connection with our Universities and training colleges for the education of teachers in child psychology and its practical application, and for their training for service in special classes and special schools. (8.) That full use be made of residential special schools for those cases who fail to benefit by attendance at special classes, but who are considered capable of training in manual work or handicrafts. The lower grades of the feeble-minded who require merely custodial care should, as a general rule, be excluded from special schools, but where there is any doubt as to a child's degree of mentality or aptitude for manual training admission to a special school for a probationary period should be arranged. (9.) That the Education Department shall report to the Eugenic Board those inmates of special schools found incapable of receiving benefit from further residence in such schools, and the Eugenic Board shall be empowered to place on the register such as they consider should be so dealt with. (10.) In regard to those on the register, the Eugenic Board shall have the power to order the removal of feeble-minded persons and moral imbeciles to a farm or industrial colony to be provided for the care and training of such persons. (11.) That any person alleged to be feeble-minded, or the parents or guardians of such person, shall have the right of appeal to a Judge of the Supreme Court against the placing of his or her name upon the register, and the parents or guardians of any person on the register shall have the right to apply to a Judge of the Supreme Court for the removal of the name of such person from the register, or for his or her release from any institution established under the Act.

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