AN OFFICIOUS VISIT AND WHAT CAME OF IT.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVIII, Issue 24, 14 June 1900, Page 18

AN OFFICIOUS VISIT AND WHAT CAME OF IT.

The hubbub raised within the past few days over the punishment of two abscondera from the Catholic Orphanage at Stoke (Nelson) has set the newspapers talking, sometimes very much at random, on the matter. On the appearance of statements on the subject in the Dunedin Press, we at once requested our Nelson correspondent to forward us a detailed and reliable statement of the true facts of the case. We are, therefore, enabled to publish the following, which disposes of, or seriously qualifies, many of the statements that have been made and tha rumors that have been set afloat with regard to the management of that charitable institute which has cost Borne £12,000, and which has been of inestimable benefit to the Catholic orphan boys of New Zealand :—: — THE ACCUSATION. The situation is briefly as follows : Two boys (Maher and James) had absconded from the Orphanage. After some time they were discovered, arrested, and brought before Judge Robinson, who ordered them to be returned to the school, and to be there punished in accordance with the rules of the school. The usual resort of flogging is repugnant to the methods of the Marist Brothers who conduct the Orphanage, and their method in such cases is to keep the boys in rooms apart, but adjoining those occupied by the Brothers. Rumors circulated that the punishment inflicted on the young runaways was too severe. Three members of the local Charitable Aid Board— Messrs. G. M. Rout, C. J. Harley, and Piper — paid a surprise visit to the Orphanage. After their visit they stated to an Opposition paper, the Nelson Evening Mail, that they ' had reason for believing that boys were kept in solitary confinement ' in cells ; that they had to ' exercise considerable firmness before their demands for admission to the cells were complied with ' ; and that the absconders thus punished ' said they were fed on bread and water night and morning, with Irish stew for dinner.' Such is the substance of their statements to the Nelson Evening Mad. BROTHER LiETUS REPLIES. A very different complexion is put upon the whole affair by the following reply of Brother Lsetus (superintendent of the school), which appeared in the Evening Mad of June 2 :—: — ' I beg to call your atteution to the paragraph in yesterday's Mad re the "surprise visit" of the Charitable Aid Board to the Stoke Orphanage, as the report is somewhat misleading, unintentionally, I presume. ' In the first place, the visit can scarcely be called a " surprise visit," as visits to this institution are of daily occurrence. It ia well known that we are always happy to receive visitors. ' The other statements in your report might; have been given in more lightsome colors. 'The two boys in question, James Maher atd Albert James, are two absconders who, about a week ago, were brought before the Police Court and ordered to be returned to St. Mary's Industrial School, there to be punished according to the rules of the institution. Now the rule (and no secret has ever been made of it) is that a ooy absconding be kept in solitude a number of days equal to the number of days he has been absent from the institution ; flogging being opposed to the Brothers' rules. Besides, it can scarcely be called solitary confinement, as one of the cells ia separated from the Brother Superior's room by a single wooden partition, and the other from the Brothers' dormitory by a similar partition. Both cells are lightsome, clean, and airy, and in them the boys study the school lessons assigned them. When the weather permits it, the boy is taken by one of the staff to do outdoor work for a portion of each day. The members of the Charitable Aid Board were informed of this. ' I give an absolute denial to the assertion that a deal of firmness was necessary on the part of the visiting members of the Board to gain admission to the two boys in question. The only delay, I must admit, was during the few seconds it took me to unbutton my waterproof overcoat, on my return from Nelson, just as the visitors were about to leave the orphanage after their visit. As for the cells, the Brother in charge, not having the pleasure of knowing the visitors and doubting the legality of their visit, admitted that he had not the key, though he might, on inquiry, have discovered that the Brother in charge of the boys on the occasion of the visit had a key for each. The moment I was asked to show both boys and cells, I made no demur — beyond the brief delay above mentioned. ' The members of the Board do not find fault with the cells, but with the principle of solitary (?) confinement, and they advocated a good flogging instead. Ihey were informed that this was opposed to our methods, and that a boy would not be deterred from absconding by any afflictive punishment ; that if the members of the Board could suggest some sort of punishment that would be both effective and unobjectionable, we would be most happy to adopt it. No suggestion except that of flogging was offered by the members of the Board.

' The visitors expressed themselves satisfied with the answers given them by the two boys, as well as their personal appearance, which bore testimony that solitary (?) confinement as practised at Stoke was not what they believed it to be. Plenty of food, tea, bread, milk, and porridge ad lib for breakfast, not bread and water only, as asserted by members of the Board. I pointed out to the gentlemen, when speaking of the cells, a parallel elsewhere, which they could not deny. 1 The members of the Charitable Aid Board were lond in their praises of the institution, that everything was ' tip-top,' as the chairman paid, except the two cells. They said their intention was not to give publicity to the result of their visit I hope their having done so is not in consequence of the silent indifference with which I treated their gracious intimation. It would be folly to expect privacy in a matter of this kind, even were it attempted, owing to f rcqupnt visits from parents and others, not to speak of the monthly letters written by the boys to their friends, the number of boys going to situations, etc., so that the inner life of the Stoke Orphanage is no secret for the public. ' As regards the food of the inmates, facts ''peak for themselves ; the tree is known by its fruit. Suffice it to say that our medical attendant can testify that for the last 18 months there has not been a single case of sickness among our boys. What other institution of the kind can say as much, nay, ia there any large family in Nelson to whom the medical gentleman is a stranger during a like period ? — Yours truly, ' Bro. Ljetub, ' Director Stoke Industrial School. 'Stoke, June 2, 1900.' ANOTHER VISIT OF INSPECTION. (By telegraph, from our own correspondent). On June f>, at the invitation of Dean Mahjney, manager of St. Mary's Orphanage, a number of prominent citizens paid a vieit to the institution. They included Judge Robinson (the District judge), the Mayor of Kelson (Mr. J. A. Harley), the Crown Prosecutor, four medical men, and members of the Charitable Aid Board. Ihey were accompanied by Dean Mahoney and Father George Mahony, and were received by Brothers Lsetus and Augustine. In the course of remarks made to the assembled company in the waiting-room of the institute, Dean Mahoney referred to the case of the boys Maher and James, and pointed out that they had absconded not merely from the school, but also from comfortable situations provided for them with people who would treat them kindly. They were brought before Judge Robinson, and by him ordered to be returned to the school and there punished according to the rules of the school. Flogging was repugnant to the Brothers and their method was to keep the boys in rooms separate from the other boys, but these rooms were on the same floor as other rooms, and each adjoined rooms occupied by the Brothers. It appeared that these boys told someone that they would b^ punished, and three members of the Charitable Aid Board came up to the school. Brother L.i'tus was in town and he (Dean Mahoney) was not present. He was the legal manager of the Institution and gazetted as such, and considered that he was the person who should have been seen. If he was an official visitor and had a grievance in respect of the A=ylum, he would not approach the warders, bnt would go to the superintendent. In this casp, however, he knew nothing about the matter till he paw it in the papers. Three only of the members of the Board visited the school, and as far as he was aware there was no direction from the Board that a visit to the School t-hould be made [I may here remark that at the monthly meeting of the Charitable Aid Board on the following evening, June 6, it did not appear that the visit was in any way authorised. Moreover, legal opinion was read at the meeting from Messrs. Pitt and Moore, solicitors, pointing out that ' the only persons entitled to viyit at all times that school are Inspectors ot Industrial Schools apppointed under the Industrial Schools Act of 1882,' and its amendments, and that ' if the Nelson local Hospital and Charitable Aid Board consider there is any matter requiring investigation or remedy at such school, the proper course for the Board to pursue is to forward a communication of such facts as they are satisfied can be established by evidence to the Hon. the Minister for Education, and request him to make such inquiry in the matter as he may deem proper.' Briefly : the members of the Charitable Aid Board took upon themselves to exercise a public function to which they had no legal right ] Dean Mahoney, continuing his address, said that members of the Legislature and Justices of the Peace had a right to vibit the place ; there was no mention of anyone else, but it had always been a pleasure to see any gentleman vi-ut the school. Admitting, however, that there had been a visit by the Board, he thought that what had transpired should have been kept kept private till the meeting of the Board, and then the matter Bhould be thrashed out properly. It would have been his duty to make the inquiry they were then making, but it was not so much to counteract the result of the hurried visit of the three members of the Charitable Aid Board that the present inquiry was being made, but to meet the false reports which had come to the knowledge of Brother Liutuß, and which he felt very keenly. For himself, he had not heard so much of this. These reports we 'c that the boys, without difference being made between absconders and other* had been whipped and scourged — in fact, almost put into chains. They wished the gentleV men present to examine the boys individually and collectively, and see whether much punishment had ever been administered. They had but four boys belonging to Nelson paid for by the G-overnment. They wished also that the reports made in the visitors' book should be examined. It was the first time in his 2(J years' connection with the school that he had heard anything of the kind, of boys being whipped and scourged. It was the suggestion of Bro. Lißtus, who was the resident manager, that an inquiry should be held as a general refutation of these state nents of whipping and scourging.

AN INQUIRY. An informal inquiry was then instituted. Bro. Augustine stated that Mr. Piper (one of the 'surprise ' visitors) had spoken of the place as being ' admirably kept aad very clean ; boys clean, and plenty of clothing ' ; but that he objected to ' the lock up business.' In reply to his inquiry for a better way of dealing with absconderß, Mr. Piper and Mr. Harley both suggested flogging, but were told that it was of no use, that it had been given up years ago, and that seclusion was found more effectual. Minor offendeis were punished by a slap on the hands with a small cane, offences in the playground by the culprit being obliged to stand against the wall, and absconding by confinement lasting a day for every day the runaway was absent from the Institution. Dean Mahoney gave the visitors many interesting details as to the management of the school, and dwelt on the cordiality of the relations between him and the boys, in who-e games he joined on occasion. There was one thing, he added, he never did, and that was to let it be known why a boy was sent to the school, and he ventured to say that not a dozen boys in the place knew why another boy was there. These boys had a home at the school always, and they came back to it as a home. He was bound to put the wages of the boys licensed out in the bank in his official name as manager of the school, and he could not touch that money without a Government order. Through his (the speaker's) representations to the Government, the boys were now allowed Is per week as pocket money, but down south they did not get this. Some of the boys had as much as £30 in the Savings Bank, and in all he had £700 or £800 to keep on behalf of the boys, separate books for each. He was sure that there was nothing in the complaints, which he was afraid were the result of narrowmindedness, and he asked those preaentto be thoroughly impartial. After some further inquiries, which elicited the fact that flogging was a disciplinary measure unknown in the institution, the visitors inspected the room on the ground floor in which the boy Jame? was kept. It consisted of 280 cubic feet of air space, was well lighted and aired, and had a good ' outlook on the grounds in front of the building.' Brother Laetus, in reply to Mr. Fell, said that boys were kept in this room for punishment, but were taken out every day ; boys had been kept in for as long as a week ; if it was wet weather they were given some tailoring or similar work ; the boys slept in the room, with proper bedding ; they had no light at night ; a Brother's room was next door. The bedding in the dormitory was closely examined and tossed over and found scrupulously clean. The room in which Maher had been kept was also visited. Both he and James were stripped and examined for signs of corporal punishment, but none were found, and ' the boys,' says the Nelson Colonist, -appeared well nourished and healthy.' Both stated that they had been caned on the hands, but that they had not been corporally punished in any other way. Maher stated. that he was let out sometimes to write and to go to Mass, and on the last two d.iys of confinement he went into Brother Laatus' room to make a catalogue of the library. The other stated that he was employed during his seclusion in sorting postage-stamps for the school museum. The following entries were, by request, read by Dr. Fell from the visitors' book. The first, dated February 8, 1900, runs as follows :—: — •The members of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board have this day paid a surprise visit to this institution, and are very pleased with what they have seen. The boys appear healthy, happy, and well cared for, and reflect very great credit on the manager of the institution, Brother Lastus. (Signed) G. M. Rout, P. Best, G. H. Kidson, George Macmahon, W. L. Heyward (Relieving Officer).' The visitors then made the following entry in the same book under date June 5, 1900 :— ' The undersigned have this day visited this institution, and find that the boys are in good health and spirits, and well nourished No complaints made, nor any signs of any corporal punishment. The whole place clean ; bedding clean and sufficient ; and ample means of washing provided. The rooms for seclusion contain" ample light and air, and the inmates have each day been taken out for work and exercise. The only corporal punishment ever inflicted has been with a slight supplejack upon the palm of the hands. (Signed) C. Y. Fell, J. W." Marsden, Jas. Hudson, M.8., W. J. Mackie, M D., A. J. Leggatt, G. A. Macquarle, H. W. Robinson, A. W. Tatton, E. J. Roberts, M.B. Dr. Roberts said that he had been medical officer for years, and visited the school at all sorts of times, night and day, most awkward hours in fact. He had also arrived when there was not anyone present to answer his ring, and he had often walked in. He has passed through the dormitories at night, also when the boys were there, and at all times he had found them happy, and full of spirits. During the last eighteen months there had not been any case of sickness, which spoke well for the care and diet, and he deplored the fact that there hal been any imputation on the institution. The manager (Dean Mahoney) has communicated with the Government regarding the visits of the Charitable Aid Board, and received a reply to the effect that such Boards have no legal right whatever to visit any Industrial School. The local Boaid is indignant over this reply and talk of petitions to Parliament, Royal Commissions, and what not. And here the matter rests for the present. The following certificates appeared in the Nelson Colonist of June 8 :—: — •Nelson, June 6th, 1900. ' We, the undersigned medical practioners, certify : That yesterday we visited the Industrial School at Stoke and found the boys in good health and spirits, they were well nourished and quite free Iroin any signs of the infliction of any corporal injury or punishment. — Wui. J. Mackie, M.D., Edw. J. Roberts, M.8., Jas. Hudson, MB.'

The following letter was addressed to Dean Mahoney by Dr. Leggatt :— 'Nelson, June 6th, 1900. 4 Dear Sir, — Regarding my visit to the Stoke Orphanage yesterday, I beg to record my opinion as follows :—: — ' The building is suitable in every way for the purpose. The appliances for the comfort and well being of the boys are ample. The boys themselves are well-clothed, well-nourished, and show no evidence of aii> hardship, they have a cherf ul appearance and bear no marks whatever of corporal punishment ; in fact, all confess that with the exception of a few cuts with a rattan on the hand, such punishment is never resorted to. The small rooms in which refractory or absconding boys are confined are not such as to be in any way deleterious to health ; the cubic space 280 feet being sufficient, and the lighting ample. The diet seems to be ample, bat I cannot offer any opinion of the cooking of the same, as I had no opportunity of being present when a meal was served. Of course it is absurd to think that an institution of that size can be oarried on without punishment of some sort, and I can assure you that those inflicted in this school are very mild compared with what were constantly inflicted at the Sunbury Industrial School in Victoria, of which institution I was for over two years medical officer. — I remain, my dear Dean, yours truly, 'A. J. Leggatt.'