ALLEGED SEXUAL OFFENCES

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27405, 19 July 1954, Page 5

ALLEGED SEXUAL OFFENCES

CONDUCT OF INQUIRY MR ALGIE SUPPORTS MR SALMON’S VIEWS (New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, July 17. The Minister of Education (Mr R. M. Algie) said today that he agreed with the view expressed by Mr J. H. Salmon, a retired Stipendiary Magistrate, that children showld not be called on to give evidence when the inquiry, promised by the Prime Minister (Mr Holland), is held into various aspects of juvenile sexual delinquency. “I feel that the remark made by Mr Salmon is a wise and timely one,” Mr Algie said. “It has the added merit of having been made by a man with a very long and wide judicial experience.

“I think it has been established beyond doubt that there is in our midst a serious evil that calls immediately for thoughtful study, and for the discovery of means that will help t<\combat ahd overcome it

“We know that the trouble exists, and I don’t think there is much to be gained in continuing a kind of probing process to find out how many individual cases ‘we can lay bare. In my view, the Prime Minister has taken the right course in promising a wellbalanced committee of inquiry with a sufficiently wide order of reference. “It 4 does seem to me that, if we go on pushing our questioning into specific cases in lots of schools, we will run a grave risk of upsetting unnecessarily quite a large number of teachers, who have given and who do give excellent service to scholars and parents alike,* said Mr Algie.

“I think that any unnecessary questioning can do a lot of harm to children whose minds are quite innocent of this sort of thing,” he said. “I know that our police have a duty in such a matter, and I am glad to leave it tp them to perform that duty as they see it. 1

“The point is that we know there is a problem that we have to face, and the Prime Minister has shown us that he means to tackle it. We already have enough material to work upon. Let us now address ourselves faithfully to the job of finding helpful and constructive suggestions and remedies. In doing so, I hope we may find it possible to adopt Mr Salmon’s advice and leave the children out of it as far as we possibly can,” Mr Afcie concluded. ▼