STATE WARDS

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25364, 11 December 1947, Page 4

STATE WARDS

’ Sir,—Are State wards compelled to work on farms against their will; or are those who wish to do so given the opportunity of learning a trade? Undoubtedly sending the State ward to the country solves the problem of board for the Government, which I understand offers the princely sum of 22s 6d to board a boy in town. Is there no place in the city where a boy from the country, or one who is proved to be unhappy at home, can obtain board, while in the apprenticeship stage, at a reasonable cost? Such a hostel—caH it a club—would keep a lot of these lads off the streets and pay a much handsomer dividend, than the 17 £ 2000 cars that haye been imported by the Government into this country.—Yours, etc,, ■ BLOOD BEFORE December 7, 1947. [When children under the care of the Child Welfare branch were placed in employment, every consideration was giVten to their desires and aptitudes, said Mr J. R. O’Sullivan (District Child Welfare Officer) when he .was asked to comment on this letter. Only three boys were employed on farms in the Christchurch district, the remainder being either apprenticed or in town occupations. The churches and such organisations as the Young Men’s Christian Association and Toe H frequently assisted in arranging board for boys from the country, while a hostel providing specifically for such boys was recently opened under the control of the City Mission.]