OUR DUTY TO THE UNFIT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11402, 20 April 1899, Page 6

OUR DUTY TO THE UNFIT.

A thoughtful paper on "Our Duty to th«j Unfit," was read by Mrs Wells (Christchurch), ',; at the meeting of the National Council, of ■'• Women at. Auckland, on tlie 13th inst. The essayist, in opening, referred to the distress '. that obtained in tlio old country from the V want of balance'in tho equation of production f ;ind distribution, and faid that distress, which | till humanitarians deplored, exisLed in its in- ) cipient stages among ue here, in New Zea- i land. What did all our organisations for the j amelioration of the neglected and destitute littlo children, of the ignorant yo\:ng people, the outcast men and women mean? The cry of the unemployed, the pauper, the criminal, the outcast, Uie children, had already reached our ear*. Should we, in response to the'cry, allow the "past's bloodstained key" tc att'mnp't to unlock the' future'/ Should we not, rather, abandon oid traditions, / aud • «ealiee that new times demanded new measures. .Mrs"' Wells first deal with the education .'of the children. '■■ In that slia could not.do better than follow along the lines laid down by Mr Kichardson in his book, "liow it Can bo Uone." ' First, then, public kindergartens, should be established in connection with.every public school. I'oilowing upon the kindergarten course, would coma the course that is arranged at present, but witli alterations and modifications. Seven standards, as the Educational Institute had fuggested, should coyer the.work-of the present six, and some, time daily should be given to physical culture, and to manual or technical instruction. At that stage she might mention the three points which should be steadfastly kept in view regarding their culture. First, the development of the general all-round faculties of both body and intellect; second, tho ascertaining of the real bent of the scholar's mind.;' third, the otter of such opportunities of choice and, pr*c- . tice in the special line chosen as to obviate tlie risic of making a mistake in the career, i'rom ' the second' system the scholars should pass into the secondary schools, where every scholar should spend a specified portion of his time in reproductive work on farms or in fac- :'. lories attached.to thi school. By some siich system as she had briefly sketched, each young person would leave school thoroughly'fequipped for one or more pursuits, aud what is , now imperfectly done for the few would then be done thoroughly for all. Our first duty, then, to the poor, was to insist that their children had an equal chance with all other children, and that their education be aelure'd to them under the best system the-.wisest ' could devise. She trusted that the women of New Zealand would see to it that the extension of education was their special care, tine then turned to the consideration of the class of persons who had fallen upop very evil days, and had to be counted :as the.recipients of charitable aid. She condemned the present-day system of charitable aid. ,W« must remember, first and always, that the paupers were our brothers and .sisters; and they had a right to claim from us what wt would give tc our dependent" children—a training in self-respect. .She-advocated th« establishment of a municipal colony, the labour required on which would help to solve the unemployed'difficulty that the charitable aid boards had to meet. Such a colony would offer inestimable advantages, to-.a-large class of deserving people in our midst. Then, for the sick, and mentally diseased,' and incapacitated. Chronic cases should be dealt with • after the very best and kindest methods. Homes or hospitals should be specially provided, where the most fitting attention'should be given. Some at times, others'frequently, might do some light work, either in ■•the homes or grounds. Next she came:to the unemployed, the dissolute," the drunkards,, and the. semi-criminals —the most difficult class ,to deal: with. The first'lesson they of necessity must learn was, that to eat they'must werk. Municipal farms should be taken by ,the local councils, where both men and women .would be employed. Those who refused to .work 'would-have to be compulsorily detained. -For instance, confirmed drunkards would probably need.segregation for a longer or shorter time—not as under " present methods, b"* where their work and relaxation would follow each other in orderly course, and they would be educated to cultivate self-control. / The woret of the criminal type might J)e passed by the municipalities on to the care of the State t and they should be treated in homes which should take the place of our prisons,' which Mrs: Wells condemned. In connecfion with municipal colonies, Mrs Wells quoted the'experiment of building and opening' common lodging houses by the Glasgow Improvement Trust, the Leicester co-operative industrial farms established by the Board of Guardians, and the establishment of factories, for the supply of clothing for the army, and navy by the, Government in, Pimlico, as instances of the success of the principle. The points which . she w.ould specially draw attention to) as being within a near distance of achievement, werei_ —(1) ITie need of women on all. local charitable aid, hospital, and lunatic .asylum boards; (2) .the necessity of the classification ..of our charitable aid recipients ;. (3) the saving graceof .reproductive work in arousing self-respect , in our less favoured brethren'; (4) the extension of our education., system by free kindergartens,' free technical, 'annual - and secondary : schools; ... (5)" the ' need of. municipalising ' public, 'utilitira; (6) the establishment of municipal ■ co-operative militarism in our prison system; (8) tlie need, of women as visiting justices of the peace tc all our prisons; (9) the necessity for indeterminate sentences, with a,view to the refoni .' of tlie criminal; (10) the institution of, special homes and hospitals for the reception ol chronic cases; (11) tho need for a reform m the treatment of our orphaned and. neglected children, on the humane lines of the Old Country. In conclusion, she would press, home the fact upon them that our paupers- were recruited from all sorts and.- conditions of men, Our duke's grandchild might be a jbeggar; our millionaire might- die a suicide from feai of poverty. For its own protection, socieij therefore should see to it that poverty: wai stamped,out as a disease more ; to be feared , than small-pox or leprosy. But, some would say, there were, those who. would not. listen, 'though one should come from the grave to entreat them. It was certainly true, but i| was also true that never before had the. spirit which was in\ Christ, been so greatly: in evidence^ Turn where we would, from most-un-expected,quarters we would find the championship of the worth, and dignity, of humanity; The belief was indeed potent for blessing,' that every honest thinker might conscientiously co-operate with the law of development which was to brine; the race out of the lane 1 . of bondage into the land of' freedom.—(Ap plause). . . : ■;" / ■'": • '-,'_'-■;