The Dominion. THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 1908. TE ORANGA HOME.
Although in some particulars the report of the Commissioner upon the conditions prevailing at Te Oranga Home discloses defects in the administration, the finding of Mr. Bishop is a general vindication, not only of the methods employed, but of the good results which .have been achieved by those methods. There is no occasion for the ecstasies of delight'into which Mr. Fowlds was thrown.by the report; but it is a matter for public satisfaction that the inmates of the Home are not ill-treated, and that there is a substantial harvest of reformation to show for the expense of keeping up the institution. To us it is far more important that the Home should really be doing reformative work than that there should be no suspicion of severity in the process of reform. A large number > of well-intentioned' people hold a contrary view, and would rather see criminals and quasi-criminals pampered. and- coddled /than subjected to the_ sharp curative discipline, without which,' gaols and reformatories are a useless waste of money. These peoplewill be pleased with the unqualified disfavour with which the Commissioner looks upon corporal punishment, and they will be glad to know' that the work .< enforced upon the. girls is " neither oppressive nor degrading," and that " no fault whatever is to be found'with the food." The chief defect in the management—and it is a most serious one—is the neglect of the manager to .keep .the register of punishments properly. " The register showed that only 153 punishments had been inflicted on 43 girls, during the last two years, which is manifestly an understatement. Now that the inquiry has been held, this grave neglect of duty will probably end. An absolutely reliable record of punishments is essential as a deterrent to persecution, and also because from it must be'deduced the efficiency of the management, and the efficiency .of the general rules laid down to govern the manager. . . Mr. Bishop .feels very strongly- that corporal punishment should be entirely abolished, and he regards as " a serious admission of weakness" the assertion that without corporal punishment it would be impossible to' run :the institution. ■' Surely, in .the face of his own account of tlie kind of girls who are admitted to the, Home—girls uncontrolled, absolutely undisciplined and rebellious,' sullen, almost dehumanised, and often utterly; depravedsome kind of sharp punishment :is re- 1 quired, at times to hold them in check. If it is not to be corporal punishment, it must.be the -equivalent of that, if an adequate equivalent, can lie .discovered. To denounce as ' unsuccessful a system that, cannot dispense .with' _ corporal punishment, is, in our opinion, to take an- impossibly optimistic view of the curative power of kindliness and' forbearance. The ; absence- v-of , means whereby there can be a\ better classififcation.of the inmates is; to be repaired, although the. Minister .declares that lie took the first steps towards the accommodation twelve months ago, the/holding - of the inquiry l must be-given the - credit for forcing on this very necessary, improvement. 'The most important portion of' •Mr. Bishop's report,is his recommenda-' 'tion of ''indeterminate, .detention.''. At present ,an inmate, must be discharged on reaching tlie . age of 21 years, even v although, as may ; frequently happen, she is " hopelessly bad," or a "sexual degenerate,"''ana so a constant, source 'of evil wherever she goes. The principle of " indeterminate , detention " i has : already received legislative 'recognition in the Habitual Offenders ;Act; and it sliould 1 be -.extended to apply. to reformatories! of-all kinds. The statistics quoted by the Commissioner show that tlie Home is doing good work, and-the Govern- .< ment should therefore feel the greater confidence in taking this 'necessary step jto render the institution- still more efficient. ,
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Bibliographic details
Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 168, 9 April 1908, Page 6
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620The Dominion. THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 1908. TE ORANGA HOME. Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 168, 9 April 1908, Page 6
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