CHILDREN IN RAILWAY CARRIAGES.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XLVII, Issue 12270, 2 September 1904, Page 2

CHILDREN IN RAILWAY CARRIAGES.

To the Editor.

Sir,— Although I did not see Mr. D. Fleming's > first lefbter, commenting, amiongstfc othier tilings, upon tihe necessity for sepiarate raidway carriages for Maoris, I read Mr. Allen's reply, and from tihat aaid 'Mr: Flem^ng'is letter of to-day, I gathered the gist of tba lat-, Iter's grievance. There is a great deal of iti-uth in Mr. Allen's remarks, ■respecb. iug the general behaviour of European children in railway carriages, and 1 can bear testimony that the Maori children are the "better 'behaved of; the two.' Xtf is a common thing to s?a European chil. dren raicing up and down the carriages TVi-th junks of bread and butter and' jam, which, as Mr. Al'len remarks, is littered over the floor and seats, and a man's light pants, or'a lady's clean print dress, are not improved by th© imprint of a pail* of juvenile digits which have been smeared with jam and butter, nor as a man's general appearance or temper, improved when ho finds that he has been sitting on something softer than a railway cushion, an&^d'isoovers upon alighting a lunjg_of bread'iand treacle }iaiiging f 'to hi&"'o9artaih. 'I hty^, J'owevei', seen very nice and well' behaved p^".children in railway "carriages, itn.d;?.--Mr.-f>.T-Aifen should^ recollect that it is the same . . ruVkrth© j^jir'iv'age as,, in. Hi© schoolroom. ■^'—^111 ..helifflvfijfchil^^ Jbbm 'o&w&yih in evidehceV'''#hiiist tttV'wistll' behaved are , lneTs!Bi i's%lM'> of. It#s^£tte^«oK'of. proper honie training, for which thelApaK, ents are responisble. Perhaps if the guards weixa occasionally to givo the piairenta a quiet reminder that th© car. riages are tor the use (not abuse) of all, it might have a good effect. I am forgetting, however, that tho ii^.t& parent Miight threaten him -nitli dismissal, or soime other dire calamity. A a regards a separate carriage for Maoris, although thoy may be as c!«an, and often cleaner, than some Europeans. tliey_ are not up to my standard of w,hat,a .b's-d of, yiqlstjs. should be, espeo^lly-'itfj^^.gppd" stiuaip, feed of shark: If|^h#e^^^t^in^p a vote, I, with many others, sll|ii|d|i|| in for separatipn. In Ind/ a s^&xjffa&gijfe: ■riages are prprided for natiyees^l^tijt^fe am afraid on©' might -write ?«tnd¥tolj^^|; they are black in the face^]bef6re"' latiyrV on© would entetrtiain th© idea of provid: ing separate carriages for Maoris, dirty Europeans, and ill-behaved children. — I Jam,'etc., A.A.B. "VVanganui, August 31, 1904.