The Sun.
London, England, 1853-07-14 00:00:00

CRIMINAL AND DESTITUTE CHILDREN.

IMPORTANT RESOLUTIONS.

The following are the important resolutions adopted
by this committee. It will be seen that Mr. Adderley
has introduced' a bill into the House of Commons pro-
viding for one of the measures recommended—namely,
reformatory schools. Every reformer should give Mr.
Adderley his best help, and the Government must be
strongly urged to deal with the entire subject. No
single social question is more important than the check-
ing of crime by the reformation of young criminals.
Retsokei :
1. That it is the opinion of this committee that a great
amount of juvenile destitution, ignorance, vagrancy, and
crime has long existed in this country, for which no
adequate remedy has yet been provided.
2. That the existence of similar evils in France, Ger-
many, Switzerland, Belgium, and the United States has
been met by vigorous efforts in those countries ; and, in
the opinion of this committee, sound policy requires that
this country should promptly adopt measures for the
same purpose.
3. That it appears to this committee to be established
by the evidence that a large proportion of the present
aggregate of crime might be prevented, and thousands
of miserable human beings, who have before them under
our present system nothing but a hopeless career of
wickedness and vice, might be converted into virtuous,
honest, and industrious citizens, if due care were taken
to rescue destitute, neglected, and criminal children
from the dangers and temptations incident to their posi-
tion.
4. That a great proportion of the criminal children of
this country, especially those convicted of first offences,
appear rather to require systematic education, care, and
industrial occupation than mere punishment.
5. That the common gaols and houses of correction
do not generally provide suitable means for the educa-
tional or corrective treatment of young children, who
ought, when guilty of crime, to be treated in a manner
different from the ordinary punishments of adult
criminals.
6. That various private reformatory establishments
for young criminals have proved successful, but are not
sure of permanent support ; and are deficient in legal
control over the inmates.
7. That penal reformatory establishments ought to be
instituted for the detention and correction of criminal
children convicted before magistrates or courts of justice
of serious offences. _ .

8. That such penal reformatory establishments ought
to be founded and supported entirely at the public cost,
and to be under the care and inspection of the Govern-
ment,
9. That reformatory schools should be established for
the education and correction of children convicted of
minor offences.

10. That such reformatory schools should be founded
and supported partially by local rates and partially by
contributions from the state, and that poci er should be
given for raising the necessary amount of local rates.
11. That power should be given to the government to
contract with the managers of reformatory schools,
founded and supported by voluntary contributions, for
the care and maintenance of criminal children within
such institutions.

12. That the delinquency of children, in consequence
of which they may become subjects of penal or reforma-
tory discipline, ought not to relieve parents from their
liability to maintain them.
13. That in any legislation upon this subject, it is es-
sential that power should be given, under such restric-
tions as may be necessary to prevent hardship or injustice,
to recover from parents the whole or a portion of the
cost of the maintenance of their children while detained
in reformatory institutions.
14. That it is also essential that power should be
given to detain children placed in such institutions so
long as may be necessary for their reformation ; pro-
vided always that no child be so detained after the age
of 16.

15. That the summary jurisdiction, with respect to
criminal children, given to !magistrates by 10 and 11
Vict. c. 82, has had a beneficial tendency, as far as it
has been exercised.

16. That, in addition to the discretion which is given
by that statute to any court before which a child is
charged with any minor offence to dismiss such child on
sureties being foundj for its future good behaviour, a
power should be given in such cases, in default of sure-
ties, to send the child to a reformatory school.

17. That if, during any child's detention in a reforma-
tory school, satisfactory sureties should be offered for
its future good behaviour, there should be power to re-
lease such child from further detention.

18. That, irrespectively of the high moral considera-
tions which are involved in this subject, this committee
desire to express their belief that, whatever may be the
cost of such schools and establishments, they would be
productive of great pecuniary saving, by the effect
which they would have in diminishing the sources from
which our criminal population is now constantly re-
cruited, and thereby reducing the great cost of the ad-
ministration of the criminal lavt.
19. That the education given in workhouses, although
improved of late, has not been sufficiently directed to
industrial training, which the committee deem to be of
especial value, as affording the best means of enabling,
children to provide for themselves the means of independ-
ent support upon leaving the workhouse.

20. That it is essential for the future welfare of chil-
dren in workhouses that such arrangements should be
made as will prevent the possibility of their intermixing
with the adult classes, to the moral detriment of the
children.

21. That from the expense attending the building of
district schools, under 7 & 8 Viet., c. 101, but few
unions have combined for the purpose of establishing
such schools ; but where such schols have been es-
tablished, they have effected much good.
22. That it is expedient that greater facilities should
be given to the guardians of different unions to combine
for the purpose of establishing such district schools, and
that the Government should be empowered to assist the
unions willing to establish them by partially contri-
buting to the expense of the building.
23. That the ragged schools existing in England and
Scotland, and recently introduced into Ireland, espe-
cially the ragged industrial feeding schools, at present
supported by voluntary subscriptions, or, as in Glas-
gow, by local rates, have produced beneficial effects on
the children of the most destitute classes of society in-
habiting large towns.
24. That voluntary contributions have been found inade-
quate to supply the number of such schools at present re-
quired in the metropolis, and other cities and towns • and
therefore they should not be excluded from the aid of the
national grant, under the distribution of the Committee
of Council for Education, great care being necessary in
framing the minutes applicable to this description of
schools, so as not to fetter private exertions, or to exclude
men eminently qualified to fill the laborious and diffi-
cult positon of teachers by the requirement of too high
an educational certificate.

tya.s .....
25. That in any legislation which may take place on
the subjects referred to this committee especial attention
should be paid to the industrial part of the education of
criminal and destitute children.

SIGHT AND SOUND.