BURNHAM INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVI, Issue 14202, 26 October 1906, Page 2

BURNHAM INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL.

THE COMMISSIONER’S REPORT, REBUILDING AND CLASSIFICATION ESSENTIAL. [From Our Correspondent.] WELLINGTON. October 25. The following is a resume of the report of Mr H. W. Bishop ; S.M., who was appointed a Commissioner to inquire into the management of the Burnham Industrial School, and the treatment of the inmates and members of the staff;— CLASSIFICATION. The buildings at Burnham were very old, very straggling and very inconvenient, and did not readily. lend themselves to efficient classification. There were four classes, and each class was divided into sections, but these divisions could not bo properly observed under present conditions. Claes IV. was the detention yard section, and was made up generally of absconder®, transfers from gaol, hardened offenders, and defectives of a low typo. Whether or not 'the yard was rightly or wisely established and adequately served its purpose, lie would not discuss; ho would merely point out that its existence was a recognition of the absolute necessity for exceptional treatment of a number of boys who might be termed “ incorrigible®,” and who were at all times and under 1 all conditions a source of contamination to the other inmate®. No stronger proof could bo adduced of the necessity for improved classification in the reformatory system than the existence of this yard. He held very strongly that so 1 long as certain boys were allowed to remain at Burnham, the State was not doing its duty by the other inmates whose care and reform it bad undertaken, and whom it was morally bound to do its very best to turn into good and decent citizen®. GENERAL TREATMENT OF INMATES. The general treatment of the inmates was distinctly good. As the result of a very long and exhaustive inquiry, he considered it bad be oh amply shown that all possible regard bad been had to the true interests of the boys, while an honest attempt had been made to enforce discipline under most difficult circumstances. With regard to the question of punishments : a considerable amount of corporal punishment was indicted at Burnham. H© himself held no brief for or against corporal punishment in Industrial Schools, but he did hold

most decidedly that when it was considered necessary to inflict such punishment, it should be done with the utmost discretion. A case had been referred to in evidence, which was absolutely sickening in its details, and should have been absolutely impossible under all circumstances. It was an isolated case, and Mr Arohey was absent from Burnham at the time. TREATMENT OF INMATES IN SICKNESS. In his opinion all reasonable care was shown to sick inmates. It was, of course, very easy to be wise after the event; but in considering the very few cases which appearecKto point to carelessness or neglect, it must not be lost sight of that there was at present no attendant in the institution who had the. slightest pretensions to trained knowledge of sickness or nursing, and nn ailment might, to the average lay judgment, appear to he slight and trifling, and ye.t he the forerunner of a serious;and even dangerous malady. He considered these remarks applied emphatically to the case of inmate Edward Arthur Lewis. This boy was sixteen years of age and not of very robust physique. He was taken ill on May 22, 1906, with tonsilitis, and isolated for some time. On Thursday, May 31, and tiro folowing day, he was up and about the institution,,and on the Saturday went to look on at a football match. He stated himself that he was feeling quite well at this time, and his appearance and demeanour certainly gave no indication that there was anything the matter with him. On the Sunday morning, ho got up with the other boys, and did his usual work, went for a short walk before' dinner, and in the afternoon for a longer walk. It was then that he began to feel stiff and tired, but he declined the option of going to bed. From the Monday ho remained in bed, feeling very stiff and unwell, and on Thursday, June 7, he I was brought to the Christchurch Hospital suffering from sub-acute rheumatism. He was now convalescent. There was little doubt in his mind that owing to the boy’s low condition of health he contracted the rheumatic attack when standing watching the football match on the Saturday afternoon—a cold, raw winter day. It was, of course, most regrettable that the lad should have suffered to the extent ho did hut he (the Commissioner) was in no wise prepared to hold any person at Burnham responsible. There was absolutely nothing in the evidence to warrant the serious allegations of | inhumanity and cruelty made ‘ against the management. During the progress of the inquiry the cases of other inmates had been fully investigated, and ho was convinced from the evidence that .no blame could reasonably attach either to the manager or matron in connection with this case. DUTIES AND CONDITIONS OF STAFF. Ho considered that the hours were long and the conditions of work ex- ■ ceedingly trying. The work was of a J peculiar nature, and involved the intimate and special work of controlling, supervising and humanising the boys. No man could possibly do his fullest measure of duty to the inmates without special qualifications, special interest in the boys and special study of, their characters and natures. /To secure the ,meet valuable service the condLions and the life generally should be made as attractive as possible. Constant changes in the staff meant a losrs of power, and these changes had been far too frequent of late. In several instances the attendants had left to bettor themselves financially and otherwise. Burnham as a locality in which to live was most unattractive, isolated, dreary and depressing. The'lot of the attendants would bo materially improved by the grant of an extra week’s holiday in each year and an extra day’s holiday in each month, making three weeks per year and four days per month. Generally speaking, he saw no reason to find fault with the scale of pay, and he had not gathered that any real discontent existed on that score. RELATIONS BETWEEN THE MANAGEMENT AND STAFF. In order to clear up fully the statements made with regard to the treat- I moat of the attendants by the manager and matron, ha had examined upon oath , all the present attendants ‘ at Burnham, and six ex-attendants. There could ho no doubt that there was a great deal of simmering discontent at one time, which came to a head on the occurrence of the unfortunate incident of Miss Lang's peremptory dismissal whilst suffering severely in health. Many of the statements made in the public Press and elsewhere were, however, greatly exaggerated, and some of them absolutely untrue, They were circumstantially told and bore the impress of truth, and quite justified the action of those to whom they were told in taking steps,to have the fullest possible inquiry made into the whole condition of things at Burnham. After the most complete inquiry and the most ample opportunity to substantiate their j grievances, it appeared that those .who 1 had complained most loudly were not prepared to substantiate their statements on oath. The incident in connection with Miss Lang was a most unfortunate one. This lady had been working at high pressure, and had con-

seqnently ran down in health and was suffering severely from her teeth. She asserts that she made the matron aware of her condition when asking to be allowed to go to Christchurch punctually on her monthly holiday; the matron denies that she was aware ol Miss Lang’s condition when she postponed her holiday; and Miss Lang’s letter, written to the manager only four days after the occurrence, represents the matter as a misunderstanding, and states that she knew the matron would not have been so unfeeling as to refuse the leave had she (the matron) known the state of her health. It would therefore seem clear that it was a case of misunderstanding rather than of wilful unkindness on the part of the-matron; On March 17, 190 G, ten. of the male attendants wrote a letter to ,the manager, asking for increased holidays; not receiving any formal acknowledgment, they addressed a further communication to him on March 21, asking if they could rely on ■ his support in referring the matter to the Department. The manager had already spoken of this petition to some of the signatories, and therefore took offence at this second letter, and replied in a manner scarcely conciliatory, and in consequence relations became strained. Correspondence between the manager and the Department proved conclusively that for a long time Mr Archey had been doing bis best to improve the conditions of the staff, and his voluntary efforts in this direction had been rewarded with many valuable concessions. Recently .the conditions of service at Burnhani had been still further improved, and at present the great, majority of the attendants professed themselves ' perfectly satisfied with their conditions, excepting in regard to the demand for holidays—a perfectly reasonable demand, and, indeed, an absolute necessity in the best interests of the institution. The lack of opportunity for the attendants to get to town, and so be lifted out of the dull daily routine, the tendency to become so imbued with the atmosphere of their narrow surroundings as to imagine that these constitute, the most important feature in their lives, and the inevitable inducement to magnify insignificant troubles and difficulties, militated against the spirit of contentment. Even in those cases where discontent had been exhibited, and a tendency to show up the management in the worst possible light, there had been very little evidence indeed of anything personal to Mr and Mrs Ai*chey. Speaking generally he believed _ that the manager had teen imbued with a desire to do the best possible for the staff, to improve their conditions, and so make them better qualified to render efficient service. He ■ had absolute control over the appointment and dismissal of Ids staff, and there was no evidence that he had ever abused this power; perhaps, indeed, he had not been quite wise in holding his hand in the face of known disloyalty. Antagonism and distrust had also grown up between certain attendants towards themselves, and it was impossible that this should be allowed to continue, for the effect was bound to react on the boys. The manager must adopt drastic measures to put things on a different footing, in the interests of the inmates. Many of the attendants showed high appreciation of their duties’ and responsibilities, and now that the air had been cleared all should work together with one common end in view the carrying out of the objects of the insti-, tution, without regard to minor grievances. There were many matters in which the judgment of the manager must rule. A very real cause of complaint, however, had existed among the members of the staff in the matter of insufficient and uncomfortable accommodation, and in the absence or. any means of recreation. All this would be very easily remedied when the scheme of rebuilding was Entered upon, such as he believed was now a necessity.

RESULTS OF THE REFORMATORY. It was very difficult to state accurately the details of the many cases which might fairly form the subject of remark and theory, hut he had gone to considerable trouble in tracing the after-life of a number of inmates of all descriptions. A most complete and valuable record was kept by the Education Department of the history of every Burnham boy. During the last five years, the total number of ex-in-mates was 235; 155 of these were now of good character, 8 fair,. 23 bad, 5 weak-minded, 23 -missing, 3 at sea, 2 dead, 1 discharged very young, and there were 15 about whoni no reliable information could be obtained. These figures were distinctly favourable and encouraging, and fully justified the inference that Burnham, with all its drawbacks, had achieved a large measure of success in i nproving the moral and social condition of the inmates, and in generally fulfilling the purpose of a reformatory. But still better results could be shown after the removal of the “ incorrigiblee” and the “mental defectives,” and by other means. In considering all questions such as these, it must be remembered that every lad reclaimed and reformed and made into a good citizen was a distinct gain to the State, and the saving by the good citizen as compared with the criminal could scarcely be estimated in all its many aspects. GENERAL.

There were' about 1100 acres of land attached to the Burnham Industrial School—land exceedingly poor in quality, and giving very poor return for the labour expended upon. it. A smaller area of good agricultural land would prove a much more valuable asset to the school, from an economical as well as from a technical-training point of. view. There was little at Burnham to encourage the boys to take a real interest in farming, excepting the excellent garden, which was a credit to the institution in every way. Ho hoped j that a great deal would bo done to. | improve the general farming conditions, | and as a first step he would suggest | the carrying out of an inexpensive sys- | tem of irrigation. At present there i was no attempt to givo instruction_ in |j dairy work. No course of instruction |j in general farm work could possibly be || complete without this; it was extra- || ordinary that not a single pound of i butter was made on the farm. _ | With regard to the teaching of i trades: it was, no doubt, useful that “ hoys should have some knowledge of t such trades as tailoring, shocmaking, |jj carpentry, etc., but in the main, having || regard to the antecedents of the boys, gi and to their future interests, they p should not be taught such trades as would incline them to centres of population, but preference should, ; bo given to outdoor pursuits. Many of til# ji

[ boys were sexual degenerates, and strong physical exercise was one of their greatest safeguards. - ''Strong opinions had been expressed that Burnham was not a suitable locality for a reformatory, but under .improved conditions he thought, as the result of mature consideration, there was no reason why it should not be an. unqualified success. The buildings were dilapidated and inconvenient, and the Department would require to enter i immediately upon a gradual re-building of the whole of the main buildings. The kitchen arrangements at the- school were inconvenient, inadequate and out-of-date, and precluded valuable training being given the, hoys. It was extraordinary that no bread was baked at the institution, and he strongly recommended the immediate erection of a brick, oven, in which all the bread required could be baked. In regard to sea-training, a most valuable suggestion had been made by Professor Has Lam, of Canterbury College, for the erection of certain material in the school grounds, .by means of which the boys could receive training in many branches of nautical work, as well as physical training of a most interesting nature. He heartily commended the scheme to the Education Department. As already stated, a large number of the boys were sexual degenerates, and both the medical officer and the manager took the greatest trouble to counteract these vicious tendencies. It seemed to him a matter for serious consideration whether the State should I not by statutory authority apply the operation of vasectomy to many of j these degenerates. Dr Symes l had, given most valuable evidence on this and many other matters affecting the school. He considered that the frequent l abi sences of the . manager indicated the ! need for a permanent deputy or subj manager, to' attend to the outside work and to act as deputy , in the unavoidable absence of the manager. • He also considered that in future the sub- - I matron should be a trained nurse. IMPROVED CLASSIFICATION. The weak spot at Burnham was the absolute impossibility of carrying out an effective system of classification, owing to the presence of a large number of hopelessly bad boys, who were a constant source of contamination, were ah- ' solutely incapable of reformation, and were a menace to the safety of the in-' stitufion. These boys were moral lepers, and should be removed to a disciplinary reformatory (such as might be established in the old Timaru gaol buildings), together with a certain class of moral S defectives, who were _ just as vicious, though lees responsible. The removal of these two classes would permit of almost perfect classification. State control ceased at the age of twenty-one years at .present ; but it was a serious question whether the State, admitting its failure to reform certain boys, should undertake the responsibility of turning them loose upon society at that age. The, eo-cailed cottage homes at-Burn-ham needed considerable development. Ho had had an opportunity of visiting the Boys’ Training Farm at Levin, which represented' a great and inspiring advance. The cottage home system was ah' important feature, and its results excellent. ‘ Levin was an industrial school, Burnham was a .reformatory, and the material to he dealt with—the boys’ natures—was therefore widely different; but he saw no reason why ; Burnham, with the improvements suggested, should not do as admirable work' as was being done at present, at Levin under the enlightened arad sympathetic ( management of Mr Burlinson. I THE MANAGER AND MATRON! ' A great- many baseless charges had been made against the management, 1 among them one of intemperance on the part of the manager, for which there was absolutely no foundation. Consif’-., e-ring the conditions, he was astonished that eo little real fault, could be ,found with the institution and its management, and speaking broadly, he'considered the results of the inquiry wonderfully good. In closing the report,’ the Commissioner said he would like to place on record his appreciation of the very valuable service rendered throughout the inquiry by Mr R. H. Pojje, the Assistant-Inspector of Industrial Schools, who had made the industrial school system a life study; and by Miss Rout, who had acted as shorthand reporter and secretary to the.- Commission, -