TE ORANGA HOME INQUIRY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13703, 20 March 1908, Page 6

TE ORANGA HOME INQUIRY.

A WITNESS FROM AUCKLAND

CORPORAL PUNISHMENT NEEDED [BY telegraph.— ASSOCIATION-.] CHItISTCHURCH, Thursday. The inquiry into the management of the Te Oranga Home was continued by Mr. 11. W. Bishop, Commissioner, to-day. George King staled that for 30 years he had resided in the vicinity of the home. He had visited the institution frequently, and saw how things were done. lie stated without hesitation that. Mrs. Braining was carrying out her duties remarkably well. They had from 40 to 50 girls at To Oranga at work in the grounds, but in his opinion there was not sufficient work about the place to keep a man fully employed. Sarah E. Jackson, manager of the Auckland Industrial School for 25 years, said that there were 160 girls on the roll of the institution of which she bad charge, and their ages ranged from nine month* to nearly 20 years. She thought that there must be some form of corrective discipline, as the inmates were not morally balanced in mind. Some could not be reached by affection, and consequently bad to be corrected in .some way. She had very little experience with incorrigible girls, as when a girl showed a do-. cided inclination to rebel she was sent to the Te Oranga Home. Corporal punishment would be a good thing to strengthen the administration if a girl absconded and took other girls away. The matron erred on the side of leniency. Witness did not think that chopping wood was at all hard on the girls. ? To Mr. Salter : She had to do with young girls in Auckland, and she seldom administered the maximum number of strokes provided in the regulations. Witness produced flic punishment list for February, which showed that the number of strokes varied from two to five. She preferred to punish the girls herself. She did not disapprove of hair-cutting, because if the girls absconded the police would be better able to trace them, and anything that tended towards keeping. them in the home should be done. To the Commissioner : She would admit that there was very little analogy between the home she managed in Auckland and Te Oranga. Putting aside incorrigible girls, the effect of the Commission was that it created a feeling of unrest among the inmates.Frederick Phillips Fendall admitted writing a letter to a local paper in regard to the home. The only information he had was that supplied by a girl who had been in the institution. He never intended when he wrote the letter to east a reflection on Mrs. Branting. The Department made the regulations, and they were responsible. Mr. Russell You say this homo is rim on lines of inhumanity and barbarity? Witness: Well, a 'girl of 19 or 20 had her hair cut off, and was lashed practically on her bare back. Witness thought the punishment was barbarous. Harriet Petmne.nl, matron of the Caversham Industrial School, said that she agreed thai corporal punishment should be administered. As a last resource, she had to strap a girl for misbehaviour and not telling the truth. Since then the girl had improved greatly. Witness did not like strapping girls, but she would give the maximum amount if necessary. Mrs. Yaye, an official visitor, stated that she had found the girls and matron to be on the b.'-t of terms She had never seen girls suffering from the after effects of punishment. The girls did not seem to show physical distress on returning from work. The matron carried out the dietary scale, and the girls had ample clothing. The ma trod I wanted the girl from the Samaritan Home { in order to have her under supervision for a fortnight. Witness knew of the situation the girl intended taking, and she did not consider it suitably, as she would be without supervision at times. There was absolute necessity for better classification, and if this were attended to there would not be so milch need for corporal punishment., The Commission adjourned till to-morrow, j