Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 1896.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7665, 29 June 1896, Page 2

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 1896.

One of the most important features of the Municipal Conference held in Welliugton laat week was a discussion upon the subject of juvouile depravity, aud it is aturtliog to find the unanimity of opinion which exists amongst those qualified to speak that theie is a rapid growth of immorality — something far more serious than the foolish pranks of larriainism — amongst the young people of the colony. To show that we are not exaggerating the ease, we quote from ths chief speakers. The Mayor of Auckland said: "In the larger cities girls aud boys walked the streets at late hours of the uight. He had noticed this in Wellington. It had led to temptations being placed in the way of young girla. Tho City Couucil of Auckland had received correspondence on the subject from doctors, officers of warships, and clergymen iv all parts of the colony. The report of tbe truant officer in Auokland on this evil was deplorable. The evil was a national one, and for the sake of future generations ahould be stopped." The Mayor of Dunedin said that if this evil were not promptly dealt with the colony would be training larrikins, who would become a burden on the next generation. The Mayor of Christchuroh said be was glad— we should have thought he would have been sorry — to learn that the evil was not confined to the city he represented, where it was rampant. The Mayor of Welliugton said he was not a purist, nor a saint, and he did not believe in grandmotherly legislation. Yet he believed that the evil of juvenile depravity struck with fearful force at the very root of the social fabric, and the Legislature ahould deal with it energetically. It was a subject that ought to engage the attention of the best intellects of the colony. Councillor Carson (Wanganui) said the greatest menace to the future of the colony was the liberty allowed to young men and girls to walk about the streets at all hours of the night, which was a great discredit to parents. The evil was rapidly growing. What was truo of the larger cities was true in a less degree of the smaller ones. The Mayor of Nelson agreed with the views of other speakers as to the enormity of the evil. Councillor Devine said the evil complained of was increasing the burdens on the Benevolent Societies and ou the rates. Councillor Baylis iustanced a case where two children aged six and seven years were committed to industrial schools because their parents could not keep them at home. We could quote further if we thought it were necessary. We could recall recent records of Police Courts, and the remarks made by a Supreme Court Judge in Christchurch that it was a deplorable fact that of the prisoners brought before him a very large percentage wore native born New Zealanders. With statements such as these before ua it is surely time for the people of New Zealand to awaken to the gravity of the situation. As the Mayor of VVellington said truly the evils strike at the very root of the social fabric. It is often remarked that tho growth of national sentiment, which is such a great factor in building up a strong natiou, is dying out, and that our young mon care but little for tho affairs of their country. Iv matters of public interest they show little or no concern, but ask tbem as to the horses engaged in a coming race meeting or as to the possibilities of the next football match and you will find them ou these points quite au fait. If our young men neglect to tako an interest iv tho afl'airs of their country, how can they intelligently exercise their functions aB members of the commonwealth, and is it surprising that there should be Parliamentary decadence, and that evils aro tolorated wbich a strong people would put down '! The importance of the subject cannot be exaggerated. What is the cause of it, and wherein lies the remedy 'l The speakers at the Municipal Conference were generally agreed as to the ' cause. Thus the Mayor of Auckland: "It was in a great measure the fault of parents, aud owing to tbe lower standard of homelife. Parents seemed to be losing control over tbeir children, and many of them neglected their otfspriug in their earlier years." The Mayor of Christchurch said a conference had been discussiug this question, \ aud had obtained statistics, and the conclusion arrived at was that the only remedy was to stir up parents to a sense of tlieir responsibilities in order to prevent their children from growing up larrikins aud prostitutes. There is also onother predisposing cause to the lack of national sentiment of which we hnve been speaking, and in this paruntß and youi>g people alike are responsible. We quote from tho words of a wise old man, the Rev. W. Oolouso, in an address delivored a few months ago to the Hawke's Bay Philosophical Institute : — "The powerful and active enemies of science and general learning (especially here in the colony) were too great love of holidays and idleness, of frivolity and of fleeting pleasures,

which yielded no enduring satisfaction ; which generally, if not invariably, looked for more, never being satisfied, and mostly leaving 'an aching void.' And should there be, before the fiual close, a few hours or day free from pain and extreme weakness for reflection, then the sad heart-rending visla presented itself of time lost, of noble, almost God-like faculties abused, of a wasted life." Coming nearer home, the words uttered by the Rev. Mr Ryburn last night bear forcibly on tliß subject, aud point to the root of tbe whole matter as " the sin of indolence," which was so plainly shown to lend to the formation of evil habits. Again we woulr! quote Mr Colenso's words : — " I, as an aged minister of religion, and a fervent disciple of Nature, and with increasing conviction of the Truth (soon by mo to be realised), would say one word more to any audience re our talents and our time here, that as you sow now you will reap hereafter. Young friends, don't waste time ; don't abuse talents ; seek to make the best use of both. Our bodies will remain, bub our minds will go with us." As to the remedy for the evils mentioned, it will be found only in parents awakening to a sense of their duties and taking a more active interest iv the affairs of their children, making the homes more attractive for them ; in tho youug people beiog taught early to apply their miuds and hands to useful subjects, and to cultivate habits of industrionsoess. It is not wholly by legislative cuactmeot that (he evils which have been mentioned can be suppressed, and on this point it may be mentioned that there was a want of unanimity at the Municipal Conference. The Mayor of Dunedin, who evidently favors Mr W. Hutchinson's Bill empowering the police to clear the streets of children out at late hours without protection, found a few supporters when he spoke in favor of a reversion to the time of the curfew bell, when very few young peoplo were seen out in the streets at night. But others disagreed with the proposal to resort to the drastic methods of the middle ages, nor do we think that in a climate such as ours where outdoor exercise is possible during the greater part of the year, and where the young people employed in shops and workrooms during the day naturally seek fresh air in the evening, it would be wise or proper to have any such restrictive enactments. As to the necessity of putting down the grosser evils of immorality which have been mentioned there can be no two opinions, and the Conference unanimously adopted this resolution :" " That this Conference earnestly urges upon the Government to support any Bill calculated to suppress juvenile depravity."