TE ORANGA GIRLS' HOME.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13670, 8 April 1908, Page 5

TE ORANGA GIRLS' HOME.

-» "■ ■■ c , , THE COMMISSIONER'S ftIjPOJJT; NEED FOR CLASSIFICATION. OBJECTIONS TO CORPORAL l [ PUNISHMENT; . < r ' '■ > Per Press Association. . WELLINGTOKT, April 8. The report of Mr Bishop, S.M., the Commissioner appointed to- inquire into certain matters connected with Te Oranga Girls' Home, has been received. The Commissioner states that r owing to lack of sufficient, and suitable accommodation, the girls have 'been dealt with in two classes, the better girls being put in the first class and the more troublesome girls in the second. The difficulties of management under the system are almost overpowering and must often strain the patience and temper of the attendants to the breaking point. The inmates consist of girls of all ages, many of them having been hardened - and corrupted by indulgence in all forms of vice. The additions about to be made to the Home will improve the whole system and onable the lady manager tg so deal by way of classification with certain girls as to % do away entirely with a great deal of the punishment that she feels called upon at present to inflict to ensure proper discipline. . The Commissioner finds fault with the manager for the way. in which she kept the register of punishments and expresses himself opposed to the use of a strap on young women. The assertion that it would be impossible to run the. institution at all if cdrppral punishment were abolished h^e regards as a serious admission of weakness-. He thinks corporal punishment should be entirely abolished at Te Oranga, but if the Department is not prepared to go to that length, then, it should be used only on receipt of /authority ffom the Department, and under medical approval. j v- ' > He comments in terms, or approval oh the staff and their relations with the manager, and concludes: *'I can imagine no greater incentive to reform in the* case. of most of these young people than the fear of indeterminate detention. I believe it would ffo more to help forward the worklof reformatories than anything else- • ■ • L THE COMMISSIONER'S REPORT. CORPORAL PUNISHMENT NECES-. SARY. / '- DUNEDIN,. April 8. The Hon. G. Fowlds, referring to the Commissioner's report on',,Te Oran^a Girls' Home, said/ he was pleased that ' after searching investigation so little had been found. Tb,e most vital point was the necessity of ' efficient means of classification. He had .brought that matter before his colleagues. Re- ,< g»rding corporal pui^hment, the Minister said the Department as well as himself had always been opposed to . corporal punishment, but the ' unanimous opinion of those responsible for the actual management of the institution was that the use of the strap and hair cutting were, absolutely necessary in extreme cases. In similar institutions in America corporal punishment was, abandoned, but a^ter a lapse of 'five years' had to be resorted to again as the only corrective. The Commissioner's report, he said, proved conclusively that the complaints regarding the food and physical exercise of the girls were absolutely unwarranted. "Mr Fowlds said in conclusion:" "The management that can produce, such results from the materials described by v ~tho Commissioner must stand approved in the minds of unbiassed people."