THE SCHEME OF THINGS

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 151, 30 June 1928, Page 14

THE SCHEME OF THINGS

: ;:;T ; (By H.M.C.) ''/ •l'hose who aro possimistic about the progress of the world towards a higher standard" of; civilisation and a better realisation, of the Christian standard in :lif c would:do well to read a report given'at a: meeting held in London of. the? committee of the State Children's Association. The meeting was held at tho residence tof Lady Emmott, and thero were several speakers, including Danie-Henrietta Barnett, D.B.E', and Mr; J. C. Loyat-Fraser. Th c first-nam-ed.; said .'that there are nearly 600,000 children• in the country who are "not kept, fed,"clothed, or loved .by their parents." • The association has in hand the'Welfare'and happiness''of these chiK dren,'an.immense task and a resi>onsi-' bility which is well pcrfornietl. As-1 . sistanee vis given by a. great band of .voluntary -workers/ To contrast the -work-done-to-day, Miss Paine, a probaitioh /officer,,sketched briefly the conditions: of children from seventy t6 one .hundred years ago. She.said that last ..'iyear,.in" the" annual.report of the eliil-i-dren's branch, the Home Ofiice publish-. ye a photograph showing a prison war- "■ der standing in. a prison. corridor, ; and; .on each side, of hini was a small boy ''of ' ten'; to eleven ' dressed in prison :clbthe^. ■ Within'-tbe memory of living1 ipeople a boy of fourteen had been sentenced. to dcattf'f or stealing a few shillings' worth of paint.' When Miss Paine was disposed to be depressed at 'niis- ;; takes, iriade in dealing with.child delinJquents to-day, she said she thought of j,tha't: boy,,who .stood alone, undefended, in the : dock of the, Old Bailey to r.e- .. coive. sentence of death. She felt that a great deal; of progress had been made, ■that'with children the measure of advance had been in. all penal icform; Oneof'thb best measures was'the passing ■: of "the- Probation ' .Act;. Dealing ' Nvith, some, of- the 'difficulties in respect to probationers, Miss Paine said: "There arei-soine cases -where the lethal cham- . ber seemed the only remedy," but there %yero ; many delightful instances' of success attained. "Most of the children are not cririinals at all," she said, "and they would ■ not have been before1 the Courts'had they been born in another station of life. A vast number, have to live' in, impossible conditions, and to'fight against temptations which were , much'too- difficult fot them to overcome." This realisation, which seemed . .impossible seventy years ago, is j ,fbf- the .hopeful signs -of the times. ';There;are some,>'.of course, who talk rof "pampering. 1' To these people; Dickens's' stern- lesson, given in Nicholas ;!Nickleby, might ■be recommended. Nic- , uncle, Ralph Nickelby, realised jt.hat the urifortunate Sinike, the drudge ■of the iYorkshire School (which had Sbsen supported by Ealph and thousands !,of men like him), was his own and he rushed out and, like Judas, "hangpd .himself; It is easy enough to ntalk.'of ;"pamperirig"'others, but if those "who talk had;their own-flesh and blood in trouble there would bo a different ;tale.to;tell. -'It'is one of the cheering of the; age, the ready and thor-ough-kindness which is so. often shown to the unfortunate and oppressed. ..' " The":law of.'adoption, .isr mentioned^ .■by..Maude . Hoyden, is comparatively .new in England, and is largely modelled on.'that of .Now Zealand. „:,Mrs. Kcynes, J.P.y states, that the 'new'logis- : lafcioh meets a real need, and involves serious, responsibilities, as shown by the large 'number of : applications with which the Courts have had to deal. In the Shoreditclt Juvenile Court alone JI9(J orders were made in the first fifteen /months the Act was in force. A rcc.entJly' .published "book by a Magistrate raises ■-interesting", points ■which, .have ■ not .as'yet been determined .by a Court of competent authority. These include questions as -to'-whether a man may; marry hi 3 adopted daughter, or sister by adoption; whether an adopted child ■continues to be an orphant for pension purposes,.'and other questions of sue■cession'*ami property' lights. It is tc■marked that' England was behind many •other countries, even her own Dominions, in giving powers of legal adoption, and 5t is greatly to be desired that 'the. Act should work smoothly and well. :A small committee has been appointed to ebnsider the difficulties and make recommendations, which will probably ,be met by amendments to the Act. I "■'.. -.The.' difficult subject of "Expression i-versus 'Bepression" is dealt with care'i'u'lly by J. R. Rces, .M.D.", in "Health in rHe shows the great difficulty tof dealing with the characteristics of bullying on the part of boys, *f or.'instance. The boy must not be a •bnlly, but the quality of cruelty or nvish for mastery, implanted before {birth, has to be dealt with wisely. "Painsmust be taken to direct a boy's energies in a right direction. Repressed 'material' mayA emerge, not as an' obvious exaggeration of the original tendency, but in ■ ' some substantial form, more or less harmful, ■The thing needs dealing with on clear ■'and sound lines. Nature is always" try'iig.to mako us more complete. When "vr'e bury, our talents Nature rebels, in border to impress on us the fact that ■twe.noed to make'proper and adequate

uso of valuable instincts. W8 need, in fact, says the writer, to find expression of • some kind/for them, and expression' does not mean indulgence. This, is tho special lesson given: that children should bo given the idea steadily that happiness docs not come by over-indulgence in any kind of pleasure. Happiness: is real—-so. is pleasure, but while the former is naturally sought it is not to'bo found in a way that is interwoven and;.commingled with selfishness. ',•".'.