MENTAL DEFICIENTS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10578, 6 October 1910, Page 4

MENTAL DEFICIENTS.

■ NEED FOil SEGREGATION. (Daily Times Correspondent.) Wellington,., October 4. In a report furnished to the Education Department the principal , of-the Special School for Boys at Otekaike (Mr J. Benstead) deals interestingly 'with tlie necessity for an institution for the training.of feeble-minded girls. Mr Benstead points out that feebleminded, girls and women form a large proportion of the, unmarried who comb to the lying-in wards of workhouses in ..England. They appear again and again,' and continually increase the burden of the country by producing degenerate and deficient- offspring. It is estimated that in England " and 1 Wales 600 feeble-minded single women give ■ birth to children in workhouses every year. "Probably some people will say that too much money is already being spent on the education of feeble-minded children," remarks Mr .Benstead, "but I may point out that it is entirely false economy to delay providing for the segregation of feeble-minded girls, inasmuch as delay means a continuous increase in the numbers', as has alreadybeen pointed out. No one who looks the question: of race betterment squarely in the face can for one moment con-

demn the ..expenditure necessary to equip an institution for the; accommodation of feeble-minded girls. The climate of Otekaike is an ideal one. The grounds are most suitable, and the cost of administration would; be considerably reduced; by extending our work so as to provide for the training of feebleminded girls. Also, extracts from letters 1 have received from the parents of mentally defective girls show that the provision of a girls' institution • is needed. That provision should be made for the reception of all feeble-minded children .-where parents are not wealthy enough to provide the special training or -where they have insufficient time to devote to such children, may be urged: (1) For the child's sake—(a) On account of the difficulty of obtaining sufficient, exercise in the fresli air ; (b) the impossibility of obtaining home training so as to divert their energies from mischievous habits; (c) the impossibility;of securing adequate protection from unkindncss and injury. There are cases on record of poor people with feebleminded children who have tied their children aip in a room or left them locked up indoors all day without;-, a fire, while they (the parents) have been out to work. In otjrer cases they have been turned out of doors all day long to run about without any supervision at all: (2) For the sake of the parents and friends — 1 (a) Because of the constant worry and anxiety, inseparable from the care of a feeble-minded childunder the ordinary conditions of home life, and the difficulty under such conditions of keeping .the child from harm; .(b) because of the interference with the. training of the other children belonging to the family. . ■_; Dealing generally with the question of mental deficiency Mr Benstead remarks, with regard to the Dominion of New Zealand: "Wie have already under consideration soine_ 150 cases :of mental deficiency apart those included as insane habitual criminals, or chronic in? ebriates. These 150 cascis have come to light without any special canvass, so that the total number of mental defectives in this Dominion / who are as yet outside institutional care must he- considerable. ; The Education Act of. 1908 provides for the compulsory education of .afflicted children between the ages of seven and 16. but it cannot be assumed that normal intelligence dawris at this age as a matter of course. At this critical age the protection of the law is still necessary. After care committees haye been appointed in various large towns in England with the object promoting the- welfare of defective children when -they have left school, but the results have been very disappointing.- It is generally recognised- now that the only thing for the majority of tlieso cases is permanent control. This is a,great question, beset with many difficulties, but it is ones of national importance. That phase, of the question with which we are \more immediately concerned is the permanent care and control: of the feeblo in mind.; The danger/llies in the factv.tliat, these degenerates mate with" the- healthy mem T bers o£-the. community, -andr thereby are constantly dragging: fresh Jblood into the vortexof disease, and- so; arp 1 continu-. ally; lowering the of the nation: I trust* that/in; tbo- near 1 future steps 'may be taken to amend-our Education Act'.so*.that wc . may be' ableto permanently segregate all those mentally feelole persons avlio< are unable to control 4 their;,own lives. They wouldi all learn .to contribute towards their own support. Society would bo secure fromjiheir 'depredations, and the danger; of their propagation."