THE TE ORANGA TROUBLE.

NZ Truth, Issue 145, 28 March 1908, Page 6

THE TE ORANGA TROUBLE.

THE ENQUIRY CLOSED,

The Remarkable Management of Matron Branting.

COMMISSIONER BISHOR GOING TO REPORT.

The task of representing' to Te Dranga Home Commissioner Bishop that it is a beneficial thing to herd Sirls together m a joyless institution, where flogging, hair-cutting, bread and dripping, insufficient nourishing food, and gaol-like deprival of association >with their .fellow-beings -Is the ordinary routine, is still being undertaken with snug satisfaction by the management. It is .deplorable that m defend ing themselves from imputation, the staff should deem it iiecessary to sing the praises of the horrible system. A person named George Ring was fulsome m bis adulation of the institution as a ; i desirable residence. "The inmates, used to look up to the matron as a mother, and on occasions when he invited girls, to his house, he noticed that each of them would try to be nearest to Mrs , Branting" (the matron). "Truth!' once knew an /industrial school where the maggots m the awful mess of" stewed meat were. as. fat as worms and the' black treacle On the lumpy porridge defied all efforts to swallow it, and thickened m the greasy crevices of the battered and unutterably loathsome tin plates. When the inspectpr was expected" the miserable kid's we're given • real butter and fruit was placed on the tables : but there were strict m- v Junctions that the fruit was not to be touched. It was removed eret the steps of the official person died away Sown the passage. There were sev- 1 eral prize boys put forward for 'the 'delectation 6i visitors. These insufferable whelps sang the praises of the matron and manager, and said THEY WERE HAPPY AND . ■ " . CONTENTED. They were bribed by an extra' allowance, and were known as the boss's yets among the other miserable nippersr*. Ther.e were plenty of applicants for the post of pet on account of its material advantages, and this paper has never been able to get rid of ; a doubt at the back of its mind iwhen it reads m connection with one . of these nurseries of vice that "the inmates used to look: up to the matron as a mother." The witnesses •lie doubtless honest m their belief Ilhat'the Home is a home, but some $irls from Te Oranga designate if a kell. Sarah Jackson, manager of .the Auckland Industrial School, gave •vidence .m favor of tiie staff, but ker testimony is valueless because the brutal system, of which ;she. is herself an exponent, is on its trial. "Corporal punishment," she said, iwould be a good thing to strengthen the administration. 'If a girl absconded and took other; girls to a house of, . ill-fame she would advise corporal' punishment." , This . paper w-ould like to see some person who feriows give evidence - to the effect that flogging women of twenty 'has a arutalising influence, and has the eflect of making' them irreconcilables. Such a witness would -explain that a prostitute has real jamt'and butter on her bread and doesn't grub lupins ; Ibhus would be explained the strange attraction of the brothel for the Home inmate, who will naturally commit, sexual excesses inexact proportion to the seventy of . the measures practised m her case. Parsoh F. P. Fendall was one of - ftho individuals whose correspondence ito the pr^ss originated the inquiry. He got his information frony a girl inmate and compared the methods at ■ffche home to the savagery of the .slave-owners m Amiuica. Questioned before the Commission, he said he never intended to cjast reflections on ■the matron. The Department had rthe responsibility of the institution, and the Department's regulations were responsible.- "You may cow a girl for a time by flogging her," he said, "but you Cannot cure her permanently by.tljat method." His reason for saying, the Home was run on nine's , OF INHUMANITY AND BARBARISM jwas that a -girl of nineteen or twenty Wad her hair cut off and .was lashed practically on her bare back. •Mrs Smith, an official visitor, showed ingenuous surprise when a girl who had always spoken m the highest terms of the Home and the matron, subsequently stated when m service that there was no love lost between Mrs Branting and herself. -, The system inspires fear, and fear breeds hypocrisy, and hypocrisy prompts pleasant remarks about love for the matron whose ill-will would tnake life m the Home unpleasant. The evidence disclosed nothing really wrong with the management which carried out the "system." The matron gave 5s to the postman as a Christmas box and subsequently put it down to fruit, fish, dinners, or something, but it is a tribute to her steern honesty if -this is the only tiling that could "be raked up against her. Mrs Branting remarked m evidence lhat she wasn't dependent on the ■•■'-/•. > me for a living ; which is a very

She acknowledged ' that, punishment was inflicted by making a girl go a • "piece" short at 'her meals, a species ,of inhumanity which seem'Sv i:o be tolerated with equanimity. It helps to make the balance-sheet look well. A girl put m a punishment cell and forgotten should have howled to attract attention. Horrible !' It was not the practice to box gMs^ ears, but she might have done it. A girl absconder who had been " strapped complained of pains m her head, but the .doctor didn't attribute it to. the thrashing. • Missioner Smaile, who waits around the Ohristchuroh Courts to succour the criminals whom a softhearted Magistrate gives another chance, is a broad-minded cleric, a sympathiser . with the afflicted, and a generous-souled individual, who ought to receive every encouragement. He would like to see rule of kindness m a Home like the Te Oranga, so that the bad points of the inmates might be forgotten and the good m them brought Jto the surface and developed to their fullest, extent. He believes there is no woman so bad that there isn't some good m her, and relates that, 'his ministrations once brought him within the retreat of. SOME HARDENED PROSTITUTES. In the course- of conversation he remarked to one of the toughest of the. extremely tough cases, "You will come to me and ask me to find you a place yet." The mere idea of the soiled dove ever becoming virtuouswas so irresistably funny that it became a standing joke m Prossydom ; yet it came to pass as Smails had foretold, and the ex-courtesan is now an honored I wife 'and mother. Strangely _ enough, Smaile believes it would be inadvisable and dangerous to abolish flogging the worst girls, . and when reproached by a "Truth" representative, he stoutly denied •that the lash had a brutalising influence m extreme cases. The mis-, sioner suggested a scheme of classification which will probably find favor with the Commissioner, and if the girls are to be ruled away from their fellows, Ok seems to be the best method m " the , circumstances. He would create a reception ward presided over by an extremely tactful person,, where the sheep might he separated from the goats, so to speak, the diseased from the healthy, and where a general analysis of the newcomers might be made. Three other classes included a good and a bad one, and one wherein the gir.l might hover until her goodness or her badness definitely asserted itself, and Smaile desired that the girls should , receive the benefit of the doubt "as to suspected goodness as long as possible. The Commission concluded its sittings on Monday, when Miss Howden, "a dismissed attendant, was reexamined. This lady quitted the establishment under remarkable circumstances, and her ' dismissal was m all probability largely responsible for the inquiry. Originally engaged jas clerk at £52 a year, she' was asked by Matron Branting to relieve occasionally and ■ she did so with pleasure so lon-g as the extica work did not encroach on her own time. She had to graf-k all hours, however (averaging fourteen a (lav) on attendant duties which "she hadn't been engaged to do, _ and she protested with vehemence. Her relations with the matron became ruffled, and when three of THE MOST NOTORIOUS LTitRS m the Home made a statement about Miss , Howden to the Matron things reached a climax. The stateitient was to the effect that if the .authorities knew I>he Matron" boxed;'' the ears, of the inmates, Mrs Brainiting would "get her walking ticket: '^Tho Miatron consulted Pope, the Department's Inspector, and Pope iedoiffmended his bosses to ask Miss H,owdeh to resign. Miiss Howden refused to resign, and was dismissed with a month's pay, m lieu of notice. But she declined to take the money. It, was she who accused the Matron of giving the postman 5s as a Christmas-box, and putting it down to "dinners." Also, the Matron got the benefit of discount on things bought for the girls. A rough book was kept, m which the punishments were marked down before being placed on record and Miss Howden told the Commission Ihat these punishments were submitted to the Matron, who gave instructions, to diminish or increase the offences or the punishments. This rough book was produced by Miss Howden and handed to Mr Bishop, but Miss Hunt claimed it as her private property, and although Miss Howden protested that if was a regular record and contained nothing private, the Commissioner remarked .that lie couldn't m law make use of private property which had come improperly into the hands of an adverse person. (Miss Hunt had said, with the asperity of her sex, that she didn't care to say 1/hn book had been stolen.) Miss * en ' denied , - with i n dign a1 ion , ;§ws*?he had become improperly pos-

sessed of the trophy, but ihe Commissioner allowed Miss Hunt t.o. take the record. Miss -Howdpn depended upon this book to -prove •.sundry allegations she proposed toiYrakc against the Matron, but was out-manoeuvred. She would be able to prove by it that Mrs Branting had been SYSTEMATICALLY DECJJSVING THE DEPARTMENT and doctor as to the. nature* of the punishments for some time. Solitary confinement m cell, .for instance, was altered to "cell and detention yard. " It contained ■ . information about the gratuity of the postman, which had been put dovft£ : to dinners for service girls. The Matrwi first denied, then admitted, this ; deception. Miss Howden alleged 'that the cost of afternoon tea to the Matron's friends was put down tq "dinners," "fish," or something like .that,, and the r.ough book would prove m other ways that the accounts had been falsified. In the circumstances, it seems strange that his Worship did not impound this, valuable record, which had been used for the purposes of the Home, even though it were priva-te property. * ' • Mrs Branting, who is a masterfullooking woman, and widow of the late Dr. Branting, a Norwegian, is absolute boss of the Home, and Miss Howden, who is -a conscientious clerk, objected to the fraudulent practices referred to, 'and didn't become the willing' tool of the Matron, upon whom she acted as a check. -It seems to this unprejudiced journal to be highly improper to invest the Matron with supreme control, even to the fixing of the remuneration of her assistants. She promised Miss Howden £60 a year df she was good. There should be some person representing the Department.. on the staff (entirely independent of 'the Matron), who rnlight audit accounts and act as check on the matron.--!. ; Mrs Branting receives £4 or £5 a y month for the girls,, wages and marks moriey, and has the use. of that cash. . She deducts 2d per month from eacn girl for the church, when Id would be sufficient, and took 5s out of the girls' funds to GjTVE THE REV. SEATON A . ' , SEND-OFF. She is certainly an economical person, for it is a horrifying fact that m an institution of 56- inmates and seven of a staff, the cook had instruc-. tions to Keep the butcher's bill down to £3 a month. The menu includes bread and "scrape," otherwise attenuated jam or watered treacle, and butter is rarely seen. What little there is .of it is made on the premises, but is so bad as to create nausea m the consumers. The matron is further accused of speaking m a vulgar manner to the inmates. When she accused them of absconding for imvmoral purposes, she didn't say it as nicely as that, but gave the sinfulness its most brutal name. She was always chucking the girls' offences up at them instead of burying the lapses out of sight. Mips Howden • objected to this sort of thing and became unpopular with the matron, because she was "too kind to the girls." Pope, the Department's Inspector, ought to foe a check on the matron, but that lady seems to have him sweet, and as the departmental secretary, a titled person named Giibbs, depends on Pope, the matron is a miniature Almighty m the institution. Pope confessed that at first, some years ago, he thought the. matron was rather severe on the girls, but had since altered that opinion. The food wasn't so luxurious, as that to whiqh the girls had been ) accustomed to outside, but it was good and wholesome. Also the equipment was excellent, - having consideration for the taxpayers. Good old taxpayers ! It is pleasing to learn that the Department is averse to hair-cutting and corporal punishment. The late lamented Dick Seddon would never allow THE BRUTAL CUTTING OF HAIR, but his successor, George Fowlds, seems to have few scruples about it, for it was allowed m the cases of Harriet Morris and Emily Smith, who, it was alleged by the matron, tried "to induce G-ladvs James and Maud Hyland to run away to a Christchurch brothel. Personally, Pope favored flogging. It seems that Mrs Bean, wife of the vicar of Addington, complained to the Department about the- management of the Home, and Mrs Branting remarked to Pope that she had a, lot of things to say to the Minister which she didn't like to see placed on the records. Pope "then' suggested •to her that she might mark her correspondence "confidentiial." Questioned l)~ Solicitor Salter as to the propriety of this secrecy, Pope explained that confidential letters of this description represented a common departmental practice. Counsel also unearthed the extraordinary case of Louisa Chow Chic, or Russell, .^a half-caste alien, who was put £o service and kept m ignorance that she was 21 years a.eje. and was now her own mistress. With the concurrence of peculiar Pope, one of the Department's license forms was filled m and the girl was duped into the belief that she was licensed out to her employer, an accountant named Aitken. and was still under the" domination of the matron, to' whom the girl brought her wages and' who had the use- of the money . which was .not banked with the other .girls' 'funds, and there was no check on the astounding woman's possession of the coin. It was explained that -in this case it was assumed THAT THE GIRL WAS UNVIRTUOUS. and the matron was afraid she would go back to her old life and live with the unspeakable Chows. Pope acknowledged that it wasn't strictly legal, but remarked that the management had to sail . pretty close to the wind m the interests of the inmates. Ho instanced the case of a Burnham degenerate whom the management didn't desire to let loose on society, and they took advantage of a techniicality to keep him m the institution. Pressure was brought to bear m the boy's favor, however, and all tliey could do was to Warn the police m the district to which he moved when liberated (What chance has a boy got who is already marked out as a criminal when he essays a start m life 1) Pope explained to the inquisitive Salter that the jam which had the appearance of a "scrape," produced at the inquiry, had really soaked into the staff of life and didn't present the best, appearance. Do you approve of the matron using bedroom chambers for jam ?— I advised that they should not' be refilled. I had not noticed thorn -before. They were on the high shelves.

Do you disapprove of the practice ? —Yes. It was further elicited that the public had SUBSCRIBED SUMS FOR DELICACIES ' for the inmates at Christmas time, but the greater part of: the cash was applied to the formation of a tennis court, the money being subscribed by the ■Government. . . ■, The matron, further examined, said that although funds had been diverted to , the tennis court -at Christmas, the girls had a special spread at that festival. A little more dripping, I suppose, and a little more jam ? The matron said she had £94 to credit of a fund to provide a swimming bath, and she required £150, which would bo subsidised £ for £ by the Government. '""'■ •Solicitor Russell-: Re Louisa Chow Chic, or Russell. Did you ever tell her to lock her bedroom door, as Mr Aitken might come m and sleep with her ?— I did not. I simply gave her warning that I- give all girls on oc* casion. This closed the 1 defence," and the Commission terminated. Mr Bishop will report to the Government m due course.