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New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7694, 20 July 1886, Page 4

Apparently larrikinism is greatly on the increase in Auckland, and it would seem as if the gangs of hoodlums were becoming more and more dangerous and daring. A few evenings ago, several members of the class made an attack at the Star Hotel, and as the proprietor of that hotel managed to get gome of the fellows arrested, they were pretty sharply dealt with by the Bench. Wβ have heard of other cases recently, where gangs of young reckless scoundrels have created disturbances at hotels, but have been got rid of without the police having been called in. The propensities of these fellows frequently take them in other directions. They hang in gangs about houses where girls are harboured for immoral purposes, disturbing a whole neighbourhood, and rendering entire localities almost unbearable to decent people. The other night, when several girls were taken into custody for consorting at a house in Freeman's Bay, the constables were surrounded by a large cro.-d of young scamps hooting and yelling, The Police Court yesterday offered a singular spectacle. When the girls were placed in the dock, the large Courtroom was rushed by hundreds of men, mostly young fellows of the class we have spoken of. How it is that so many men can afford to be idle at eleven o'clock on Monday forenoon, is a puzzle. But there they were, idle vicious fellows, causing crime, and ready themselves to become criminals. This great blot on the colonies is owing, we believe, to the slackness of parental control here. Most of these lads or boys are living upon their parents, who maintain them in idleness, not very contentedly perhaps, but still they allow them to roam about the streets, ready for any mischief or any degrading crime.