WATCHING OVER THE CHILDREN.

Evening Post, Volume LXXII, Issue 93, 17 October 1906, Page 6

WATCHING OVER THE CHILDREN.

Year by year tho Society fc* the Protection of Women and Children more fully justifies its existence, and the an* nual report presented at yesterday's meeting is a record of work the full value of which can never be fully known, and which, as it is now only in the germ, will be better realised in days to come. "Prevention is better than cure" is one of the soundest of proverbs ; and the work of the society in guarding i helpless infant lives, shielding them from the neglect and brutality of unnatural guardians, securing their physical well-being, and removing them from foul associations, is of prime importance to society. Its operations begin at the fountain-head. All ciedit is duo to those who carry on the thankless work of rescue of human wreckage ; but reform after maturity of life, when habits are usually fixed, is a task which, though not wholly hopeless, is difficult in the extreme, lv all ways it is bettor to start upon the moulding of character while it is as yet unformed and plastic. There is probably a good deal of misapprehension still as to the nature and scope of the society's work, which a study of its report would go far to dispel. One of the speakers at the meeting confessed that he had formerly supposed it to be "an institution for prosecuting offending men." Many may be under a. similar illusion, for the rea*on that this necessary but unpleasant; j branch of its operations is the one that most frequently come* before the public eye. A little consideration, however, should show that its most important functions are of such a nature as never to come into general view. In the past year in Wellington, for instance, out of seventy "cases" taken in hand, only five came before the court, of which four were successful. The cases in which the institution felt called upon to act are" classified as "ill-treatment of women and children, maintenance of illegitimate ! children, children in unsuitable surroundings, maternity cases, and neglect of wife and children." In each of these directions tha work of the society consists in maintaining tho cause of the weak and defenceless against those who would Deglect, oppress, or corrupt them; and rightly understood the charity is not limited to those thus benefited. It is in its way quite as great a kindness to the idle or brutal ruffian to compel him to discharge in some degree the natural obligations he would_ fain evado as it is to remove his victim beyond the range of his malice. The work is one requiring wisdom and a high degree of tact, and the names of the executive members are themselves a guarantee that these essential qualities are not wanting. Familiarity with the "seamy side" of city life has given them special - knowledge of legislative and other omissions and' errors in the past, and this knowledge should give weicrht to ■J.heir suggestions as- to the directions which legislation should take, and sb to those matters in which the Stato may or may not legitimately interfere. Overcrowding in cities, childlabour in the dairy industry, and juvenile courts, are naturally among the subjects to which the society has given attention, and in which its knowledfjo should be of practical value. While ! keeping within its own well - defined limits, it works in harmony and cooperation with the other charitable institutions, with the Christian Associations, the Kindergarten Union, and ,the oducational and sanitary authorities. It is a. body 1 to which the 1 public are under great obligation, and its work may be safely commended to their sympathy and support.