REPLY TO DR. MCGREGOR'S REPORT RE CHILDREN BOARDED OUT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 8883, 20 May 1892, Page 3

REPLY TO DR. MCGREGOR'S REPORT RE CHILDREN BOARDED OUT.

TO Tit 10 KMTOII. Sir.—ln your issue May 17th there appears a report from Dr. Maegregor relative to some children boarded out by the Charitable Aid Board, under our charge. The report appears under a heading (in capitals) of a very sensational character, and, of course, will be devoured in tjlobo by those who delight in such items of news There are always two sides to every story, and. as you have published Dr. Maegregor's statement, we expect you will do us the justice to publish our reply to that report. In-the outset, Dr. Maegregor says that he found that there were eight children boarding at our establishment. That is a mistake. He was not told we had eight boarders, and that four of these were paid for by their mothers or friends. 'J. " Tho surroundings and interior of this house arc fcipialiil and dirty in the extreme, and it was evident that the normal condition of the place was filthy beyond measure." These are strong expressions for a gentleman in Dr. Maegregor's position to make use of without making further enquiries, and will greatly surprise some very respectable people who have been in the habit of visiting us, and some who have resided in the house for several months at different periods within the past two years; and certainly reflects upon the police constable of the district, who has paid us live surprise visits within the last few months, if such a state of things existed, and were not reported by him.

Certainly the place was in a state of confusion, ami some, portions of the lloor dirty, but, it was stated to Dr. Macgregor before he hail entered the first room that Mrs. Stick ley was not in a presentable attire to receive the visit of a gentleman, and he was asked to wait a lew minutes. There was no attempt to excuse anything:; it was stated that we were having a "cleaning out," the kitchen range had been cleaned out, and preparations made for white - washing the chimney; the furniture in the children's nursery was all displaced ; the cradles were in the back room in order that they might be put out of doors to air, and be washed, and considering it was before eleven a.m. that the visit was paid, it surely cannot be much of a surprise to find a house iu some state of disorder and confusion. Dr. Macgregor has very concisely stated his impressions of what he saw, and drew his own conclusions without even asking any explanation. Dr. Macgregor says, " that it was only by persisting in seeing everything for myself that 1 found mv way into a side-room where two girls slept." This statement implies that some effort was made by us to prevent him from seeing all he wanted to see. If our answers were not satisfactory to him, it was because the overbearing and insulting manner in which he addressed us absolved us from any obligation to treat him with the courtesy due to his official capacity Dr. Maegregor says, "the beddinghesaw was scanty and so filthy as not to be lit for a dog kennel, and the mattress was wet and rotting, and clearly had not been attended to for a long time." All assumption on the part of Dr. Macfregor, who never asked for any explanation. [ad he done so, lie would have found there was a good supply of blankets in the house besides those outside, airing, and those he saw had been thrown there by the girls to hide the wet mattress; the mattresses tickings were certainly old and discoloured ; one of them was filled with oaten chaff, the other with clean wheat straw, which had been iu use not more than one month: the other, a palliasse, certainly was not so cleanlooking as it might have been ; but what Dr. Macgregor mistook for rottenness was not the result of any uncleanness but of an accident, a bucket of limewash having fallen upon it and remained undiscovered for some time, which caused the discolouration of the cover and the straw, for the space of about a foot square, and it had only been put in use temporarily while the proper mattress tickings were in the wash previous to being re-filled with new straw. The straw iu the palliasse is perfectly clean, and as good as when first put in by the maker. If Dr. McGregor had wished it the thing would have bee" ripped open for his satisfaction. • . ... lie says that " the most distressing thing of all, however, was to hear these children say that they had a nice, clean, warm bed 1" What Dr. Maegregor can mean I cannot understand. The children only told him what they had repeatedly told Mrs. Stickley ; but ho appears to have been disappointed at their reply, and then assumes they were brow-beaten and ill-used at home, because, when he " told them that he Had just seen their bed and tried to find out why they told him what was not irue, they looked at him and were too terrified to say a word more." No doubt they were ! _ They were not too terrified to detail their interview with Dr. Maegregor when they

came home to dinner, and voluntarily related the questions and answers which they gave. Relative to what he says in the report, that , they were insufficiently clad for this cold j weather, and the boots of the elder one were completely useless. This girl's boots were new soled, March 26, as also those of the younger girl, April 16, and paid for by the Board. They had good underclothing recently supplied by the Board, and should have had it on It was not to be expected that a girl of 11 years of age should want a nurse to dress her; the clothes were placed at their disposal, and Mrs. Stickley always saw that the younger one had on her proper garments. Dr. Macgregor says, " All I could discover was that sometimes they were beaten by a big boy named Cecil with a stick." _ This does not quite agree with what the girls related to us. Either Dr. Macgregor forgot something they told him, or they exaggerated a little in details. It is not true that they were beaten by the big boy with a stick. He did on one occasion interfere when the elder girl was beating the youngest sister (three years old), and when told to desist, continued her unkindness, and he then gave her a stroke with a small switch. Such things as a rod, cane, strap, or other instrument of torture, are never to be seen in our house, or allowed to be used. In conclusion, Dr. Macgregor says, " The girls have a pinched look, and are very thin; I believe they are not sufficiently fed." Another assumption on the part of Dr. Macgregor. These children were questioned on that point very minutely, but it appears did not make any complaint. They had the same kind of food which we had ourselves; they sat in the same room with us ; they had a share of fruit, of which we had a good supply during the season ; they had a plentiful supply of milk ; nothing is even locked up, and if they had wanted they could have helped themselves without detection. To their credit we must say we j never had any reason to think that they had taken anything which they would wish to hide from us.—l am, &c., John Stickley.