MENTAL DEFECTIVES.

Waikato Times, Volume 97, Issue 1600, 31 May 1924, Page 8

MENTAL DEFECTIVES.

ENQUIRY AT WELLINGTON. SUGGESTED SEGREGATION. ' By Telegraph.—Press Association. WELLINGTON, Friday. Evidence- upon the control of mental defectives a.nd sexual perverts is being heard by the -committee of : inquiry set up for the purpose. The prevalence of a sexual crime wave-hi the Dominion is disclosed in the table showing the number of'-sexual offenders under- sentence in prisons. As on May 10. 1924, the figures were:— Carnal knowledge and attempted carnal knowledge 29, indecent assault 108, Incest and-attempted -inicest 14, sodomy and attempted sodomy 18, indecent acts 6, rape and attempted ripe 2.0. indecent exposure 10, manslaughter 1. The total,of 206 includes 21 prisoners who. appear under more • than one of the.: above headings. The actual number of individual offenders thus totals. 185. The number of sen-. fenced prisoner?, in custody at May 10 was, 1071, therefore the.sexual Offenders represent 17.273 per. cent of the prison population, or. 18.706 of the sentenced male population. Sir Robert Stout, chairman of the Prisons Board, said there were sometimes brought before Boards several ocrsons of one family who had offended against the laws. He had had one experience in -which people obtaining charitable aid had done so for three .arenerations —grandfather father or mother, and children. Some of these cases were traced, and it was found that the grand-parents bad bean originally in poor houses in the Homeland. He expressed the opinion that no person should be allowed to' land in New Zealand who was mentally defective: Sir Robert rummed up: "I would say, first, that w 3 have to recognise the inequality of mankind; second, that heredity'plays a most important part In the life of our- offenders; and, third, that-the State has the right to prevent them from breeding. This could be done by confining them not', in an ordinary prison, but in homes.. and I think the new criminal procedure should make - provision for that form of treatment." - Evidence -on behalf of the Education Department was given by the Director of Education, Mr .I.'Caughley. He tiiid it • seemed 'inevitable that practically every child bcrn of even one feeble-minded parent would itself be feeble-minded. • It should be made impossible for any feeble-minded person to transmit, to the danger Of society, their feeble-mindcdness,- and he, therefore, suggested the registration of every' feeble-minded person in New Zealand. This could be done confidentially, and at the present time it was being done by-the Department. The cases could then be classified. It seemed, essential -to ensure that all feeble-minded girls ; in particular, should be thoroughly guarded. After the classification was complete . recommendations might be made as to the form of care, and training that thouki be provided' by the Government; in each case. He was satisfied that by segregating all feeble-minded people,, girls 'in 'particular,,, "the present rapid increase would at' ones be stemmed. Giving evidence before the Mental Enquiry Committee to-day, Dr Clark, school medicalofncer, said he thought it was imperative that stricter enquiry be made into the intelligence of immigrants, their family history with regard to mental defects, and the intelligence of their children when they are accompanied by their families. "We had to care for our own defectives, but it was either quixotic or stupid to import them." Sir Robert Stout expressed the opinion that the State should see that no person was allowed to land in the Dominion who was mentally defective, and pointed out that at the present time that was not always insisted upon in the case of criminals.