"BOARDING OUT."

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17058, 1 February 1921, Page 9

"BOARDING OUT."

+ CHILDREN ON ISOLATED PAEMS,

(rEKSo ASSOCIATION" TELEGRAM.) WJiMiINOTON, January 31. At New Year timo there was a caso in the Magistrate's Court in the Auckland district in which a dairy farmer was lined for. beating a lad who "boarder! out"', witfi him. Ihiring the hearing it was alleged that tho lad was fcofc out of bed at 4 a.m. to help in ;nilkiug cows. The Minister of Etfucation announced nt the timo that ho would investigate the caso. Aiked to-day if he had como to any decision, tho Minister replied that ho hnd gono carefully into tnat particular ' case, and also into 'ho general question of "{warding oat"' children on farms. He was satisfied that, given l cartful supervision, it waa better to * board out neglected or orphan children than lo keen hundreds in institutions which wevi! lvallv a sort of prison, and winch carried a certain stigma which remained with tho boy fox, life. Ho thought wo had done right to abolish them iq Now Zealand. His Departmental officers assured hini that the greatest care was taken in selecting homes for these unfortunate children, and they were most carefully supervised. Moreover, trained nurses attended tho homes regularly to care for the •children if sicls.. Ho had given direct ions which would still further tighten -up tho supervision of these homes. A*s to the Auckland case, the evideuco showed that whilo it was truo that the boy had been severely thrashed, lie was nevertheless well fed and clothed by tho farmer, and the neighbours considered that on the wholo ho was well treated. Ifc was true that tha lad !iud given sonic trouble. "I- recognise," said the Minister, "my responsibility as head of this De~ nartment, ami have tnkch'stcm wliioh will Drevent for the future, Ihope, the possibility of a child being boarded out on an isolated form, and ill-treated. That sort of thing under tho new con- ■ oitions is not.- likely to occur again." Thero wore, lie added, two thousand children under tho enre of the special * f-chools branch of" tho Department, and nine hundred wcro boarded out.