DEFECTIVES.
HOW TO DEAL THEM. SOME SAD CAiSES. , lf (By Telegraph.—Own CorriisftoruJent.) WELLINGTON, this day. The subject of the care of the feebleminded, and the morally, mentally, and physically deficient was discussed a.t the Health Conference Tp give two examples. In one instan.ee it; was shown that in a place in tie South, Island three feeble-minded girls {sisters) who coidd not be committed to a suitable institution had borne between tthem no less than ten. illegitimate children, and the local authority was paying £\IOO per J (•: r for the upkeep of these c'bildren, -hose fathers were unkiKnra. Anoth. ■• dreadful cast; referred to wo.s that o i an afflicted family which, consistc id. of one man, aged thirty (who is >blinld and unable to get up or sit down with v< out assistance), and a youth a,-.ed seven-- , teen, blind and unablu to -;ct about; without crutches, and a girl, fourteen,, blind and bedridden. In the course of! the discussion, Mr. Shriinpton (Napier) moved that homes for indigent imbe-
ciles and blind persons should be provided *'V the State (the charge for treatment to bo borne by the local authorities). In support lie related three distressing cases in his own district.
Mr. Maslin (South Canterbury) seconded the motion.
Mr. Hogben (Inspector-General of Schools) told the members of the Conference something about the working of the Otekaikc and Richmond institutions, and the classification of the mentally weak as (1) idiots, (2) imbeciles, and (3) feeble-minded. The Otekaike Home was for the feeble-minded, aaid was under the control of tha Education Department, that at Hic'iraond for the other two classes, and was coutrolV.i by the Mental Hospitals Department. So far, ot Otekaike, the Department had been able to take boys only, but as the estate was a large one, accommodation for girls could yet be provided, _ and tho necessary segregation obtained. There were fifty hoys at Otekaike, and these were roughly classified. Tho establishment of cottage homes on the. each cottage having only one kind of inmate, was at present under consideration. Plans ior buildinga to be used for the hotseing of girls were practically complete, and he was authorised by the Minister to say that the date at which feeble-minded would be admitted to Otekaike was very near at hand. As to the blind, he said cases under 21 -were taken in by the Jubilee Institute of the Blind at Auckland. These were cases, however, which were not feebleminded. A great deal of mat-making was done by the blind people at the Auckland Institute, while last year the inmates of it had made five million strawberry boxes. He spoke ol other work done by the blind, and said the Department was not afraid to tackle cases. Feeble-minded, blind and deaf children were admitted to Otekaike. Somo case,s were indeed pitiable, but the Department did its best to render tho lives of these people a little less burdensome to themselves, and les3 costly to the State. When cases came before the Magistrate, they should be reported to the Charitable Aid Board, of the district. At present the Department did not take in cases over 21 at the institutions referred to. The motion was carried.
Mrs. Wilson (JTorth Canterbury)' read a paper on the necessity of founding a State Home for girls and women of feeble whose proclivities are a source of danger to the community, both from physiological and moral points of view. At present there was no home for female defectives, but plenty for. what they ultimately became. There should be permanent segregation and proper classification.
Mr. Maslin asked the Inspector-Gen-eral of Hospitals whether, in view of the discussion, and the facts related in. the paper read by Mts. Wilson, he would be prepared to Teeommend the Goyernment to establish an institution where moral weaklings, who were a danger to and a tax on the community, could be kept in restraint. Dr. Valintine: Certainly. Mr. Maslin: We thought you would be, of course, and the discusion will, therefore, be of value. The motion was carried unanimously.
DEFECTIVES.
Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 154, 30 June 1911, Page 8
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