The Sun.
London, England, 1835-02-04 00:00:00

JUVENILE EMIGRATION.

( From the South African Commercial Advertiser, published
at Cape Town, Nov. 25, 1834.)
" As a sort of controversy has _ arisen in England on the
subject of Juvenile Emigration, and as the gentlemen who
have devoted so much of their time to the relief of destitute
children have been roundly taxed in the public papers with the
commission of very serious offences, such as transporting Bri-
tish subjects contrary to law, reviving the slave trade,. jobbing
ia human misery, and so forth, we beg the reader's atten-
tion to a brief description of this new scheme of emigration.
The Society for the Suppression of Juvenile Vagrancy, now
called the Children's Friend Society, raised a fund, by private
subscription, for the relief of children found in the streets of
London entirely destitute of known relations, of lodging,
clothing, and food. For the reception of these children they
procured a house and grounds at Hackney, where they were
kept under proper discipline, education, and employment in
digging, gardening, &c. Finding that only a very small num-
ber of children, compared with the extent of juvenile distress,
could be, relieved in this way, they proposed to their wards
emigration to some of the British colonies, where they would
be piked in the service of farmers and others, and trained in
habits of order and industry. Where the relations of any of
the children could be discovered their consent was asked, as
well as that of the youths themselves ; where no relatives could
be found, the consent of the children to emigrate was consi-
dered sufficient. On their arrival in this colony, they are re-
ceived by a committee of gentlemen, who see them safely
housed and supplied with everything necessary for their health
and comfort. Application is then made to the Supreme Court
for authority to act as guardians, and to apprentice them, under
regular indentures, to their employers till they come f age.
The Supreme Court then appoints a barrister to examine each
of the children separately, as to whether they left England of
their own will and choice—whether they have any relations or
natural guardians in the colony, and whether they are willing
to accept the Committee as their guardians? These ques-
tions being answered to his satisfaction, lie reports the same to
the Supreme Court, and authority prayed for is then (and not
before) granted to the Committee. This process has to be
repeated in the case of every separate detachment of emi-
grants. These emigrants are children, minors, who require
guardians, and need to be instructed and taught some useful
trade or calling; for these purposes they are apprenticed tore"
spectable persons till they attain the years of majority.
" The committee at Cape Town are of opinion that the see.
vices of the children, up to the time of coming of age, is
worth, on an average, from Al. to 10/. ; this sum Was tiaarged,
and it has been found nearly sufficient to meet the ordinary ex-
penses of the emigration. For some who had eight or nine
years to serve a charge of from 12/. to la has been made.
For others, who were eighteen or nineteen, the charge has
been made so low as t'ern 21. to 41. or 51. For these, of
course, the outlay was as great as for those whose services were
worth 15/. The Society in London has, in several instances,
received poor children from the parish workhouses, and the
overseers, according to custom, paid to the Society the sum of
10/. for each, on being thus relieved of the burden of support-
ing them. Had all the children sent out been of this descrip-
tion, the Committee at Cape Town would probably have been
authorized to apprentice them without exacting any premium
from the masters ; but out of bet 200 children only five or six
have been thus prnvided for by their parishes. It was, there-
fore, impossible for the Society to make any distinctions on
this head; but they expect, that in future, from the liberality
of the public at home in making subscriptions and donations
for this excellent object, and from occasionally receiving parish
children with the above- mentioned allowance, they may be
enabled to reduce the premiu.n without endangering the sta-
bility and usefulness of the scheme itself. Such is the plan of
Juvenile Emigration which has been so strangely mirepre-
seated and misunderstood. As to the children themselves,
generally speaking their emigration has been like passing from
death to life. They have the satisfaction of feeling they are
no longer regarded as burdens on the, benevolent and humane
or the niggard charity of the law, but as useful and respectable
members of society, who have by their honest labour repaid
their benefactors, and established a claim to independence of
character,"