CHILD WELFARE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 273, 18 November 1927, Page 8

CHILD WELFARE.

AMENDING LEGISLATION. NO SEPARATE DEPARTMENT. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, Thursday. The Child Welfare Amendment Bill was discussed I y the House this cven-

The Prime Minister, Mr. Coates, said good work was beiug done by the Child Welfare Department, the development of which must in later years prove of great value to the country by reducing the proportion of pauperism and wrongdoing. Ho commended the work being done by the Young Men's Christian Association and the Big Brother movement iifcdirccting youth into honourable careers.

Mr. W. J. Jordan (Manukau) considered the welfare work had grown to such an extent as to warrant its being administered by a separate department instead of being included in the Education Department's activities. He .said while it was all very well to encourage brilliant scholars at technical and other schools, a special effort should be made to encourage those who were less fortunately endowed with a less fortunate upbringing.

Mr. T. W. Rhodes (Thames) agreed that the time had come when the scope of the child welfare branch should be extended, but he did not agree it should be separated from the Education Department. Not one, but several homes should be established in the North Island.

Mr. H. G. R. Mason (Eden) thought it would be economy to have the branch set up as a separate department. It would thus attract more attention and excite greater patriotism among people. It was one of the greatest aids to nation building, and was worthy of greater effort than preparing for war.

The Minister of Education, Hon. R. A. Wright, deprecated the idea of setting up a separate department for child welfare. To do so would be neither more economical nor efficient, as the same officers would have to go to it. The Education Department was the natural body to look after such children, whose education had to be supervised. He admitted many of the wayward children were the product of indifferent paternal training, and he thought it would not be a bad idea to have a home where some of the parents could be trained. He favoured putting children in private homes where there was a mother-, but not too large a family, and he thought that policy was better than establishing special institutions in the North Island. The bill was passed.