The Star.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 1166, 13 November 1871, Page 2

The Star.

intntelligenee and greatness. Tm^JuTy^ ' thing man can do is lo prevent them , from inflicting injury on others, by l causing them, whru they come under ; tho ban of the Jnw, id undergo long ! periods of imprisonment. It will be- ~, mercy to tin- wretched beings them- . selves, and it will be beneficial tv society at large. ' • With regard to tho measures which * may be called preventive. Iv the first ( place, we would urgt- upon landlords < and their agents l!u< tu-cef.sity of great ( carefulness in letting Lheir small tone * meats, especially about the suburb*. ( "We know that wit'i every care v land- t lord may be dec-ived ; we know that i the hf-Uho ia fiourt-fSy mar t.aketl by tho J unfortunates themselves, but by some : friend, apparently respectable, and : that tho landloH is in some eiises un- < acquainted with the purpoao for which < the house ics let until th« unfortunates are in possession, and have become a . nuisance to the neighbourhood ; but j this wo also know, that generally a 1 higlu 1 !' rent it* obtained from them than ! can be paid by the man who honestly ] earns his livelihood, and moreover, that ( the unfortunates pay promptly on 1 the day when the rent is due, or in rid- 1 vauceifrequired. Still,thelandlordorthe ' agent, when lie Hitds that his house . has been let to those who are a nui- ■; sauce and a pest to the neighbourdood, i ought to take ateps lor their immediate ( removal. : ! It is, however, to home and home influences that we look for the greatest ] exercise of preventive power. We : have already pointed out that thoße parents who neglect the moral training of their children, both by example and i precept — who allow them to roam the streets even after nightfall, exposed to all sorts of corrupting influences— -are , inflicting a grievous wrong, not; only j ob the boys aad girls, but upon the < community at large. If this be wrong ' on. the part of parents when their ' ( children are comparatively infants, how j much greater does the wrong become i when boys and girls, from fourteen to ( fifteen years of age, are allowed by their parents to plunge deeper and j deeper into the abyss of folly — when j

they are allowed, not only to wandei the sfcreeta at will, but to attenr "select balls," as they are termed, meeting those who, however outwardh respectable, are sure to exercise a cor rupting influence on tho yout.hfui ruiud, and returning from those placeof amusement at one or two o'clock h. the morning, uneared for appartntiv by their parents, unwalehed by eve?an older friend. This is no ideal pic ture ; we know that these things exist amongst us, and we know also thai acquaintances are liable to be formed at those assemblies which, if unchecked, will end in the ruin of many a youth and maiden who, probably, were tbey cared for at home, would avoid the abyss into which they subsequently plunge. We have now pointed out; what we consider the chief means to be adopted in order to prevent the evil to which we have alluded — to prevent the increase of "unfortunates," the pariahs of the. community. We ngain repeat that parents who neglect the moral culture of their children, inflict 8 grievous wrong upon society. They sin against their own offspring — they sin against God ! They are sowing the wind, and verily, they will reap the whirlwind.