THE COMMISSIONER'S FINDINGS.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12441, 2 March 1906, Page 5

THE COMMISSIONER'S FINDINGS.

The Commissioner gives hie opinion in these charges and complaints, taken seriatim, ac follows:'— . t (1) RE IMPROPER MANAGEMENT., It will be convenient under this head-, ing to giv« a short history >of what is hero termed the Charitable Aid Orphanage. The Ashburton and North Canterbury United Charitable Aid Board came into existence after the passing into Haw of the Hospitals and Charitable Institutions Act, 1885. In due course the Lyttelton Orphanage, so named under the heading of Charitable j Institutions, contained in the second schedule of the Act, came under the control of the Board., For several yean the Board carried, on thia Orphanage, with increasing difficulty and varying eucceas. The number.} of children provided for therein mnged from a maximum of 102 in 1886 to a minimum of oin 1895. The building was old, inconvenient, and in every, way unsuitable for. ite purpose. Changes in management occurred from time to time. Oα May let, 1900, Mrs Carpenter was appointed to the charge of the Orphanage. She wee then, and had, been fer some time, inspector > under the Board, end continued the duties of that office, in addition to those pertaining to the Orphanage,, up to December, 1902, when she was 'relieved of her duties as inspector, and was appointed .solely as matron of - tho Orphanage. On 'March 25th, 1904, the Orphanage wee destroyed by fire, and, after some temporaiy. provision, the children, .to, the number of eleven, were located for some thirteen months in a building in Lyttelton, rented for ; the purpose. In April, 1905, the Board purchased, for 1 a sum of £1200, the property now known ac the "Weltherm Orphanage, in Austin, street, Sydenham. After the building had been eomowha-t .altered and the necessary furniture procured, the children, numbering eleven, were brought from Lyttelton end duly installed in their n«rw quarters, with Mrs Carpenter etill cc matron in charge. They took possession on May 10th, 1905. At the present time there are eight children in the Orphanage, one girl and eeven boys. The total cost of the Orphanage, including alterations, furniture, etc., bee been about £1600. This has been provided for out of a sum of £2080. which wee the amount for which the old Lyttelton Orphanage was insured. There is still a sum of £528 15s C\ to the credit of the Orphanage i account. , •

The allegation that the Charitable Aid Orphanage is and has been . improperly managed and controlled prao-. tically covora the *«whole coop© of the enquiry; and, speaking generally, there can be no doubt that it is eubetantially proved. Matfcera dealt with hereafter under other heeding* all go to show this. The weak npot throughout, in my opinion, has been the apparent inftbility of the majority of the members of the Board to grasp and deal with the fact that the matron tyae in every way unsuited for the position eho had been pJaoed in. Very little interest in the Orphanage end its internal arrangements end working - would, I think, at any time have conclusively settled -this fact. Mrs Wolfe's evidence, which there is no reason to doubt the absolute correctnene of, makes this quite clear. And still matters were allowed to drift. And then came the enquiry held by the Board on September 13th, 1905. which would appeer to afford ample material - nronvpt action. And still nothing was

done. The Board could scarce]? .< have imagihed at thie stag© that the matter-. - would bo allowed to remain .where \ itu was left, and' further enquiry was in- * ovitablc- Doubtless many members ol . the Board Here influenced in their views on the real merits, of the q*»a- „ tion by feelings of respect and regard •% for Mns Carpenter, and by a strong desire to avoid doing anything to injure Iwr or to prejudice Ker futuw praH pects. Events have shown'tiiat it was ■ most mistaken kindnefcs,-for. tho position in which she kr placed to-day Iβ a "' moat unfortunate oneinevery respect. She is tho victim of circumstances, andean only thank her friends for It. Whatever action with regard , to hertho Board may hereafter decide to take, tliero are certain matters personal to'C - horse) f which, cannot but redound to her discredit as tho result of thie enquiry- And all this might so eaedy have boon avoided. , As touching the question of management and control, it will bo con/e----nient hero to state that 1 have pereori- ~ ally visited the present Orphanage. found that tho only drainage,». bJ , ;. means of a slow-flowing stream within. * , few yardifeof tho houee, and thie ■Jβ really nothing eke but an open newer at tho pr«apt time. The weather wa* cloudy ana cool on tho xwoaeron ol my visit,* but etill tho stencn of- "the" drain, wa» meet offensive and ite ■appearance >. most ropukave. What it'would be like • on a hot, Runny day can*bo beet left to the imagination. The matron informed mo that its existence was a constant source of unpleasantness and anxiety to her. Her lear of the effect of the nuisance upon, the health of the children was bo great that she constantly Kept , them away from ite neighbourhood. Ihil eeenis to slkhv a groat lack of interest on tho part of the Board, for tho moefc casual inspection would have detected the nuisance. It » only fair to Ml* Carpenter to cay that she aeserte that eho Jtoe than once mentioned the matter to the secretary of the -Board. Another matter that struck mo was th# apparent insufficiency of tho sanitary arrangements. Thie IB a matter that can- ■. notT>o too strongly insisted upon where children are concerned. lneide tho houeoi I was impressed, by the absence ■ of what I may term neat and suitable table appointments. The crockery wae of the most meagre and mixed description. All thie seemed to mc to show an entire disregard for those little amenities that go bo far towards encouraging and developing an innocent lova of refinement. So liar as the children them- ' selves wore concerned, they seamed healthy, happy, and free from undue restraint. Tho site of three acres oo which the Orphanage stands might" ho -, very much better utilised than it Iβ, and' - made more attractive in appearance. (2) RE DEPARTING FROM REAL PURPOSE OF ORPHANAGE. . I do not think that this affords any 1 lieal ground of complaint. A very wide discretion must necessarily -be allowed to tho Charitable Aid Board as to whether certain, and what, children shall be admitted to the Orphanage, and the time during which, they ahall be allowed to remain there. I presume that the . reference herein made is to the fact that at the time the Lyttelton, Orphanage was taken over there were '102 children, resident therein, and that there .ore now only eight at WaJtham. Thie is the result of the policy of the Board , to gradually oeaee to use the Orphan* age as an institution, in the strict nim of the term, and to board out the children committed to their care.. . Thia policy,. to my mind, in this particular! instance is one to be' commended. • .It - has certainly been successful, in a- general way. -, ' . - ? (3) RE ABSENCE OF THORAL TRAINING. ', * , , I am afraid that there dan be , no doubt as to tho truth of .this, sliega- ■' tion. Jfc would, scarcely be jui'exaggeration to say that the conception, of duty towards the children, in the. Orphanage, on the part of those respond < sible "for them, or to -whose care they. have been committed, has been almost ■, entirely limited to housing and feeding. Nothing practical or systematic in. the shape of moral teaching has. been af« -, forded them, and no attempt-whatever * has been made to form and strengthen . the charaotem of the, children! v or. to i develop in any way their intelligence* Those old .enough have attended • the '- neighbouring public school, and . oov Sundays some of the children hmre been =' sent to various Sunday aohoofe, Ai Mrst Wells has stated in her ■ evidence, ' 'There, were no , pleasant ef«ninja> no games, no pictures, no moMC, - nop stones told to them'—* deadly ,'duH\ routine froro day to day, varied per-f J hapt by< an/occasional period of silence./ ,'' • . .'■' ",''.'-■ (4) RE LACtf OP "EXAMPLE ANK • *-. txFLvtscE."' -' ■".-.--: There own be *nof.doubt that thi» ii true. It ie unfortunate that those in \ authority' over the children did*not have a higher conception of what .them ■„> duty really wae to thow 'children. ; - The : matron has been deplorably lacking ia those qualities, that would tend, by;ex- ' ample and influence, .to develop'the. highest qualities, of mind and ©onduct' in those who are at the meet impwiri sionable ago of their Uvea; and must' inevitably take their tome and style, from the one being' who,' etandmg to them as a mother, can in their .eye* "do no wrong." , It has beep. just,tfca*V : element of true motherhood thai ha« ~ been so terribly lacking, and the Or-' - phanage' ha* never, been, under- Mm Carpenter, what an ideal orphanage ought to b^—that i*, the aY/ proach to a natural home. '.'Them won,; be nothing extravagant in wtoh an ideal in .respect of the WalthanT Orphanage. : , At no one time have there bead mom" , than fourteen children, of both aexea, l under the charge of the .matron. There- v- ' fore, whether the Orphanage' were re- " garded either as an institution or a oot- ' toge homo, there wonld eeem do poaeinle reason why ■ these children, unfortunately depnved as they were e< their ' natural parente, should not ( ; have been treated and trained an ■ such a manner as would tend to make.. them, as/the first aim of such treat* ment and training, good and upright ' ' end useful members of'the commiiniw." In the regulations laid'down .by tie Charitable Aid Board in respect of the r v boarding-out of destitute, children it it ' provided, inter alia, that .the "foaterparent" will endeavour "to train soeh child in the habits of truthfulness, enoe, personal cleanliness and industiy, and to such suitable domestic and oat. door work as may fit him or her. to earn • a livelihood and become a useful member of the community." Thie would afpaar. • to bee sensible outline of the dutiea of the "foster-parent" from; the Board'fl - standpoint. It certainly cannot be eaHed extravagant. And yet, to my mind, the treatment at the Orphanage has falko far short of it. . (5) RE HARSH TREATMENT. I do not thinkNhat this charge is substantiated in a general sense. Mm jOerpenter, however uneuited ahe may i be by training and disposition for the proper discharge of the, peculiar and trying duties of matron of an orphanago, is ebonn by the evidence to be of a most kindly nature, and a most ufi« likely person to treat children with de» liberato unkindneas. I prefer to say that, in my opinion, any acts of hers , • which eppear to be mooneetent with thb account of her qualities were cue to grave errors of judgment. (6) RE GROTESQUE COSTUMES. , ; It is clear that two of the children had the misfortune to be dressed, onooca-; sions, in eomewhat grotesque costumes, and on thie account formed the subject' of remark, if not of ridicule and merriment. Ido not gather that this was the result of a deliberate intention on Mrs.. Carpenter's part. According to the evidence, she is o woman of no taste'whatever in the matter of dress, and in that respect is lacking in sound judgment, She was therefore unable tp see that in these two instances the result of her lack of taste was co atrocious, both in potears and style, that the unfortunate cbJldwy were at times, the butts of rude criticism.

(7) RE TAUNTING CHILDREN. I It is very greatly to bejregretted that Mrs Carpenter has at tames referred to the unfortunate relative of two of tho | children within their hearjpg, under such circumstances as laid her open to the implication of ft deliberate intention to munt them with the relationship. It is no extraordinarily inconsistent with tho disposition of Mrs Carpenter, as described by Mjveral witnesses who aro least in with lier methods, that I find i? hard to believe that (hose lapH?s woro anything inoro than further instances of ji fiir-from-unusnal lack of judgment on lior part. ($) JIB INTERNAL ECONOMY OF ORPHANAGE. Then , certainly has been room for improvement under this heading, but ir »!i lurks hack to the came catifio, that, ii--, the entire unsnitability of the matron fer her position, and the con-.M\-ju?nt lack ot methed and system in tht> general control of the domestic economy of the Orphanage. (9) RE PUNISHMENT OF SILENCE. Thin refers to a matter on which tlore wiil undoubtedly be a difference oj' opinion as to the propriety or ndvttibility ot this form or winiahment. jlns Carpenter certainly gave very long periocV t> t silence by way of punishment. It would appear to be a very favourite form with her. Jt i« in cvi- j douce that conic girls were kept in hilence (or a week, and even a month, continuously. This would appear to b<? siltogother excoswive, and the tact that mo punishment was fo frequent would go' to show that it was ineffective. (10) RK PROPER SUPERINTENDENCE OF CHILDREN. It is abundantly clear that there was an entire lack of proper i-.upcrinte-nd-crieo of tlio children, and especially in connection with the use of the bathroom. Jn an orphunagy containing children of various ages and ■uiixku w\\e->' there can be scarcely too miicn Miiiervision ami care exercii-ed to prevent possible mischievous results. This supervision should specially extend to j the bath and the bedrooms. (11) RE USE OF BAD LANGUAGE. | Thera is ample'proof of the truth of thin charge, both by thu evidence of j several witneieee and by the partial admissions of Mrs Carpenter herself. It in quite unnecessary to, refer to de- - tails. One can. oaly ceeply regret that tJie extreme impropriety of many of j Mrs Carpenter's expressions was not ,, fully appreciated by the Board after its enquiry, even though the language proved there wae not co eerious as in tlio present instance. (12) RE ILL-TREATMENT OF CERTAIN , CHILDREN. I cannot say that .this allegation is satisfactorily proved to the extent implied in the charge as formulated. There was undoubtedly a .want of discretion shown in tho treatment of several of tho children, but there was no deliberate ill-treatnjent. There was very Kttto thought or discrimination on the part of Mrs Carpenter in dealing ''with individual cages', and in the enso ojf May Burbury the real condition of 1 the child, iiv tho instan-oo which has been so much referred to in the- cours-o, of the enquiry, Was undoubtedly not proporly appreciated by the "matron; . driid there seems no reason for doubting j 'that the child was really ill when etoei went to Mrs Peaehey'e house; and tho ■ evidence ■of several witneeaee would go to show that her condition in the morn■- '■' ing ought to .have been sufficiently apparent to h aye ensured her being kept trormschcol, and bo have saved the unof vwhat afterwards • cc?curredj sThoro U evidence that cor-* • poral "punishment■ was freely inflicted ; by Mrs Carpenter ; when she deemed' it 'I and under conditions as to * holding down, etc., that w6uld # seoni to eliow "that the punishment was pretty severe. " I don't think that at any 'time -it' ''amounted-'* to actnals ill-treat-merit.. The necessity for the infliction 'of corporal punishment on children is a matter upon which opinions greatly •differ. As .any'opinion which. V ooulα 'express would be only that of an individual, I refrain from expressing any.

.(13). RE NEGLECT OF PERCY - - ," WHITTLE. 1 Am inclined to think that there has 1 been no such neglect in this case as ' would call for special comment. 16 is quite clear that Percy. Whittle's condi- • tion would appear very much worse to> tho lay observer than it really was, .and, in tact, tho lowness of his oondi- . tion seems to hare struck several persona who saw, him, with a sen so of chock; but the evidence of Dr. Crooko .and others goes to show that the lad ■ was .very deficato and abnormally !*fchin, but that there was nothing in his con- { dition or appearance that would warrant an opinion that he had been neglected. (14) RE OTHER MATTERS. - There is nothing of any moment that can be .referred to under this heading. GENERAL. A' very important question had, of • course, arisen in connection with the enquiry, states the Commissioner, and that wns as to the beet method of dealing with orphans and other dependent children. Lnder th« present system in the'colony, by which the cost of providing for and maintaining dependent • children woe thrown upon Jocal Charit'ablo Aid Boards, to be paid for out of rates, tho nature and. extent of the provision must necessarily bo affected by considerations of economy; and herein at onoo arose thejdnnger of the f ,.truo interests of tho' children being subordinated' to tho necessities of tho balance-sheet. This danger had apparently been recognised by Dr. Macgrcgor. "It might, I think," snys Mr Uishop, "form tho subject of very serious consideration, if only as the result- - of this enquiry, whether our present eystem of dealing with this dace of children is not wholly at fault; .whether, in fact, tonio" comprehensive schemo of a national order should not l>6 doviscd and carried out, even if at some considerable cost to the State, to tako the* plaoo of tho somewhat hap- • hazard and unsatisfactory of dealing, as at present practised by various Charitable Aid Boards throngh- • out tho colony. To deal satisfactorily • with a problem so all-important as the < bringing-tip of a very large number of children, with a view (1) to give them the very best substitute for the normal family life, and (2) to train them to booome good and valuable citizens, is almost the μ-ork of experts. Very few indeed of the members of the various Boards would probably claim to be this and, , alivo as so • many of them are to the important isetiee involved, I believe thoy would cordially welcome any change that would relieve thorn of what at present is the source of so much anxiety. . . . . It seems to mc that no Board could be more theoretically alive to its re- . sponeibilities in tbjs matter than the : Ashburton and North Canterbury Chantablo Aid Board. It has the epecinl advantage of a chairman of wide sympathies, great experience and varied knowledge, qnd the presence amongst its members of three ladies of a progressive type, all of whom hare made a special study of this particular Tsub- . jeet. And yet we have almost an admission oi failure: or, if not that. , then certainly a falling far short of ; what might be reasonably expected. , Could any stronger argument than this bo adduced to show the necessity for a change?;-.. It'teems to mc that the -policy pursued at present is very liable to attach to the child the pauper Ktamp, as t»rt of mark and origin of its. start in.-life.- And the danger of this w that the child, after going out into the world,, sooner cr later—and raoro 'Often ■ sooner— falls back, as a natural condition, into a pauperised condition. Whether, however, tho care of the dependent children shall h<? assumed entirely by the State, aa a .matter of special duty and ou'a compiehenstve bask, or whether matters eholl continue to be left os at present, the interesting and ell-important qiiee- ■/ tion will still remain as to tho very best method to bo adopted to secure a . maximum of good raulte." Mr Bishop

goes on to d : 6cuc-s the three recognised methods of providing for dependent children by boarding out, and cottage homes. The first syetem, ho states, is utterly out ot toucu with modern methods. Bcarfling out has rrany advantages, and, witn proi>er safeguards, may bo made. rnot't valuab.*; but. without tnesc, is liable to become mi/.chievoiw in the extreme. The cottage home tystem seemed to him the ideal one. "There i« abundant evidence that wherever these homes have been established in England, properly equipped and property managed, they lave been an unqualified sneccrc. lam i.ware that the matter of expeniie will be iiriwi in thix connection; but where the results are so admirabls, 6urely we need uot scruple over somo sliglit extravac „ .„. ...u j.u-.'Ui. or tiu " .Ut:e cinluifii. ... It may, or course, be considered impossible, on the ecore of expeiiße, to carry out the cottage home system on a large c-cale throughout the colon}-; but it would, I think, be a most distinct advance upon the present condition of things if the three ey-stems to which I have referred wero worked together on a modified scale. There would seem to be nothing whatever to prevent this." The reierences made during the enquiry to the treatment of old age pensioners emphasised tho need for tlio whole question being put on a proper footing, in fairnees bottt to tho tiobrd mud to tho pensioners. Other clauses of the report aro as follows: —■ RE TECHNICAL TRAINING. I may say, too, hero,that I feel very strongly' that no >y.stem can possibly be complete, and in Uic best interests both of the child and of tlio State, that does not provide for the technical training of dependent children at a suitable age. RE WOMEN MEMBERS OF BOARD. Another question much discussed has been the presence of women—"progressive women," as they have been lermcd — om tho Board, and their treatment by eomo of tho more conservative of their fellow-members. It is no part of my duty to criticise the actions of any individual members of the Board, but I may perhaps be permitted to venture the opinion—a very diffident one, and as a "mere man"—that the presence and work of rhc"?e women on the Board has been of distinct advantage. All reformers are necessarily enthusiastic, and these particular "progressives" have no doubt shown thonlseivee very zealous and active. They can only, however, be fairly judged by the result of such reforms as they have been able to carry out, and they will doubtless be satisfied to be so judged. Anyone "who reads the evidence of Mesdames Wells, Henderson and Black, given during this enquiry, must bo at onoo • satisfied as to tlieir special qualifications for membership on a Charitable. Aid'ißoard. RE ELECTION OF BOARDS. ■ Another matter to which some prominence has been given is the present modo of election of members of the Board There would seem to bo ample ground for suggesting that tho .time has arrived when it should be very seriously taken into consideration whether the system of election should not be on a more popular basis, end whether the period f6r which the members are elected should not be at least three years. These are matters to which I can do no more than briefly refer, in the hope- that they may be deemed worthy of further serious consideration.