NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15130, 22 October 1912, Page 6

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

CHILDREN'S PLAYGROUNDS. The opening of a kindergarten' playground at Miller's Point, Sydney, has. led the Sydney Morning Herald to point out that far too little is being done to provide open spaces in the Australian cities. If every school had such an adjunct, says the Herald, the physique and intelligence, of the youth of the community would be improved to an incredible degree, as has been shown by the records of certain, cities in America. That this has not been done before is largely due to the fact that we are < so preoccupied with the rights of women, I and the wrongs of men, that the needs of i children have escaped cur notice. The ; former two classes are articulate, and not slow to voice their grievances. The lastnamed labours under the handicap of not knowing what it wants; not being able to ask for it if it did; and not possessing a vote. The result has been that in Australia, '" proverbially the land of large distances and open air life, thousands.of little on» pass the greater part of their childhood in an atmosphere hardly less confined than that in which the juvenile inhabitant i of the East, End of London grows to ma- ; turity. From the, standpoint of. national" health alone, the necessity for opon spaces in our cities is urgent; motives of practical !

ultilityprovide'. further argument. When the boy reaches adolescence ha is enrolled in the military forces,'and he "goes through a highly beneficial training, part of which j consists of drill. Where does he drill? To this the only answer is: "Where he can. Some fortunate areas possess parks, but in many the parade-grounds are the streets, and the inconvenience and the detriment to discipline this involves are sufficiently obvious. Had we more open spaces available for this purpose, some of the difficulties which beset the path of our citizen soldiers would be removed; and while the provision of such open spaces might be a costly matter, its immediate benefits would be considerable, and its ultimate benefits to national hygiene almost incalculable. LONDON'S FLOTSAM. A • great effort is shortly to bfa made by the London Asylums Board to clear the embankment of the tramps and outcasts who sleep there every night. Henceforth every policeman on night duty in the will carry, a number' of tickets with him, and when he finds the night sleeper the latj ter will be awakened, and presented with a I ticket which will give him admission to an office of the Asylums Board about to be opened. This office will- be open at night only, for the special purpose of dealing J with outcasts, and it is the i j fact that the situation of the office ! and waiting-room has not yet been decided on that has kept the operation of; tho. scheme ..back for a time. When the tramp presents his ticket at the office 'he will .-be questioned by the officer in charge, certain details ari3 particulars will be taken down, and one or the charitable shelte'is will be communicated with at once. A bed having been found, the individual is given another ticket and sent to his rest for the'night, and on the follow- : ing day ho will.be given some work which will repay his debt to the institution. If tho scheme is a success it will be extended to other areas. The Local Government Board has . been helped.in the consideration of the problem of the homeless poor by an advisory committee. This commit tee; consisting of representatives of various voluntary agencies, suggested this scheme, and the Commissioner of Police has offered to lend help by allowing the' night constables to carry the tickets. The tickets will contain directions to apply at the office, and show . the. number of the constable and the date. It will be impossible for the tickets to be- vised for begging purposes. One of the understandings, indeed, is that, the police do not guarantee that the tramp will.be helped. The hours during which the tickets will be given out are from 10 p.m. until two a.m. Practically every charitable organisation which works among the human flotsam in the district have placed their services at the disposal of the Aydums Board, Those tramps who refuse to take the tickets and prefer to I sleep "in the open" will incur the risk of being arrested for the offence of sleeping out, which is dealt with'under the Vagrancy Act, ' and it is hoped that the new scheme will strengthen the hands of tho police in dealing with those who turn the Embankment and the neighbouring street into open-air dormitories.