The Degenerate.

White Ribbon, Volume 9, Issue 97, 1 June 1903, Page 3

The Degenerate.

A meeting was held in Christchurch on June 4, under the auspices of St. Saviour’sGuild,to see what steps should be taken in regard to the immorality referred to by Justice Denniston at a recent sitting 01 the Supreme Court in Christchurch. Members of Parliament were present by invitation, and Bishop Julius, Warden of the Guild, presided. Mr Hastings-Bridge said that the matter had been brought forward by the number of cases that had lately come before the Courts, by the Judge’s remarks, and by the opinions expressed by the jury. The council of the Guild thought that steps should be taken to unite with other bodies and decide upon some definite course of action. All who were engaged in the work of the Guild, and in similar work, should combine in the present case, so thit the evil which was striking at the very manhood of the community should be checked. He had asked Dr. Symes, who took an active interest in the matter, to move the first motion.

Dr. Symes said that he spoke with a deep sense of responsibility. He bad spent the best portion of his life in

studying the question of crime against the person. For twenty-six years he had been police surgeon here, and medical expert to the Crown in criminal cases. He had an opportunity of examining every person tried in the Supreme Court for those offences. He also had medical charge of the two reformatories here. It had been asserted that the degenerate class was increasing, proportionately, more rapidly than the rest of the population, and that the consequent growth of our gaols, asylums and numerous charitable institutions was gradually becoming a serious burden to the country. It had been proved in older countries that a considerable proportion of the crime and insanity belonged to a limited number of families. Mr Havelock Ellis, in his book on “ The Criminal,” had shown how a few notorious criminals had been the direct ancestors of many hundreds of the prisoners in American gaols. It was surely our duty to protect the next generation from such an evil legacy. In the case of an incorrigible offender we might surely refuse to let him propagate crime indefinitely. The motion he had prepared was as follows:—“ (i) That, in cases of indecent assault, the principle of corporal punishment should be generally approved; (2) that in cases of the most serious, or repeated offences against women and children, the offender should be committed to a penal colony on an island for an indefinite period; (3) that inmates of the island colony should be offered the option of surgical sterilisation, in mitigation of a part, or the whole of their sentence.” It was his firm conviction that while corporal or other punishment might be an effective deterrent to offenders of normal constitution, it was more or less useless in the case of offenders of the degenerate type. The great questions in dealing with offenders of the degenerate class were the interests of society and the interests of the offender. Society required protection from outiage, and the prevention of propagation of such faulty stock. The offender, who was the victim of ancestral defects, and was not adapted for normal society, required a home suited to his condition. Such a home could be offered by an island, where he could live in a natural and more primitive way, freed from much of the restraint of normal society, and subject only to such supervision and control as would be necessary to preserve order. Mrs Cunnington seconded the mo*

tion, saying that Dr. Symes's suggestions were based on scientific facts, and went to the root of the matter. On the suggestion of Mr T. E. Taylor, the reference to an island colony was deleted from the motion, as it would lead to too much discussion. Mr Laurenson said that the degenerates must not be allowed to propagate their race. Dr. Symes had given them an admirable paper. He believed that Parliament and the people were ready to deal with those questions. The matter could be dealt with almost from a Christian point of view. If Christiacs were co-w r orkers with God, they could carry out their duty by trying to raise mankind, and by trampling out the ape anti the tiger. Bishop Julius said, No doubt, as the members had bien go jd enough to attend, the matter would be taken up and discussed, and, perhaps, the Government would be induced to believe that noxious lives were as hurtful to the country as noxious weeds. The motion was altered to read as follows :—“ That in aggravated cases of immorality, offenders should be made subject to an indeterminate sentence.” In that form it was carried Mr Hastings Bridge brought up the question of giving power to magistrates and judges to clear their courts during the hearing of certain cases. The Guild had been emboldened to bring the matter forward nving to the remarks of Mr Justice Denniston on two occasions. The Rev. H. T. Purchas seconded the motion. Mr S. S. Blackburne moved : “ That in the opinion of this meeting it shall be the duty of all parents to register their children in the father’s name, subject to penalties for non-compliance with this requirement ; provided that in the case of children born out of wedlock, if the father is not a consenting party to the registration, it shall only be completed after magisterial inquiry, and that, if then the parentage cannot be ascertained to the satisfaction of the magistrate the registration shah be made in the name of the mother. ’ He said that there might be illegitimate union between parents, but there was no such thing as an illegitimate child. (Hear, hear.) Mr Hastings Bridge seconded the motion, saying that the father should be made equally responsible with the mother. The motion was carried.