WHY GIRLS LEAVE HOME.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 4 October 1924, Page 10

WHY GIRLS LEAVE HOME.

AND WHEN THEY MAY BO SO. THE LAW AND THE “INFANT” LADY. (Auckland Star.) Tales of girls who “disappear” from home remind one of that in which when a lady who had been favoured by Charles 11, gratefully said, “Your Majesty is the father of your subjects,” it was remarked, sott'o voce, by the Duke of Buckingham, “Ahem, a" good many of them!” The rulers of England. have very often been actually the fathers of large families; in law they are the fathers of many millions, for the King is the paramount father of nil infants (which is to say, persons under the age of 21), and he can decide what is the best for their, welfare and in .whose charge they shall be put. In England this jurisdication is exercised in the King’s name in, the Court of Chancery; in New Zealand it is taken by the Supreme Court. ■ Since so many daughters forsake the parental nest, the question arises, “Why do girls leave home?” Often, so we see in play and on the film, it is for love—or what their frail fancies imagine to he that delectable obsession. But in stern and unromantic reality it is through the undying mystery of discontent. Sometiems a girl (who would; perhaps, have been better horn a hoy), gets “fed up” with the sameness and tameness of her surroundings, and she sets forth on an adventurous voyage of the outside world. But in many cases, perhaps, there is reason for discontent. The drudgery imposed by inconsiderate parents, the too strict exercise of parental control and the forbidclal of amusements dear to the young in an amusement-loving, age, occasionally the harsh treatment of a step-mother ‘or step-father which creates mutual dislikes, the hardships‘ of poverty or the desire for “life,” and for comforts and pleasures unprocurable in a humble home, the influences of other girls better circumstanced which causes general discontent, the ambition to be out and earn and become independent—all these are factors which cause girls to leave home.. An interested party asked one of the brighter lights in the legal firmament. He assumed a dark look, and preliminarised thus: “The general base on which the law in New Zealand is worked is taken from English law, which is not a written law, hut has been formulated from decisions given in the past, and from these certain definite principles of -law have been laid down, qnd these are in force, excepting in. so far as they have been modified or grafted upon by statu, tory provisions. When New Zealand became a colony, in 1840, the law as in force in England at that date, both common lakv and English statute law, was taken as the law in New Zealand, and 'it remains in force to this day, excepting in so far as it has been modified by New Zealand statutes, although ho legislation passed in England since 1840 has any effect iii Neiv Zealand.” The solicitor then sent for his librarian, who produced many books, and from this the following information was interpreted: Anyone is liable to two years’ imprisonment with hard labour (and: if under 16 years of age to be, once whipped), who takes, or causes to be taken, any girl under the age of 16 years of age from the care of her father, mother or lawful guardian, without the consent of such person, to any place wher© such person cannot exercise control over her, with intent to her being immorally treated by the abductor or any other man. It is immaterial whether the girl is taken with her own consent or at her own suggestion even, or whether or not the offender believes the girl to he over the age of sixteen. Seven years imprisonment with hard labour is provided for any person who takes away any child under the age of fourteen, years witli intent to deprive any parent or guardian of possession. In the case of a girl over the age of sixteen going away, provided she goes to respectable people and is being looked after with due regard to her physical and moral welfare, in practice there is very little' remedy for the original guardian who seeks to recover her if the girl refuses to go back. However, the father of ’any child under the age of 21 has a natural jurisdiction which is only abrogated by the girl’s marriage, when, naturally, the husband becomes the natural guardian. The right of a parent in regard to a minor, or “infant,” may be enforced by a writ of habeas corpus directed against 'the persons under whose charge or in whose possession the girl happens to he after leaving home; but if the minor is of an age to exercise a reasonable choice, the Court will take the wishes of the child into consideration. It will all depend upon the stamp and mentality of, the child and the Court’s belief in her ability to exorcise a good discretion —and the Court will also, of course, carefully consider the position and character of her new guardians, who must he not only respectable, but capable of efficient control “Summed up,” said the legal luminary, relaxing his legal hook and speaking as one man to another, clear of the shadow of the six-an (1-eight, “a girl may really leave her parents’ home for another respectable home in which she will he under control at any age after fourteen, so long as she can legally be regarded as competent to exercise a rational discretion.”