The Republican., 1896-01-02
CHILDREN or THE STATE.
Austl alias System Is to Board Them Out
in Private FamiIies


no wprk houses, it follows that there
are MP poor rates, such not being need
Cd y although it may happen that
IRON lme to time the assistance of the
staoe is claimed by, and granted to,
aole- 5died men who are unable to
ma Employment, that assistance takes
the \ n IN of wages paid for work spe-
ciallY rovided by the state to meet a
cond4 IN of the labor market which
is ce5nfnly abnormal. The chief ef-
1orts orr the authorities, as regard char
lty, d directed toward the rescue of
'he Wing from criminal companion
snip 4d temptation to crime, the sup
port the aged and infirm, the care
OF theI mbecile' or insane, and the sub
sld1zin of private charity for the cure
OF the flick and injured, and the amelio-
ratlon OF want. Even where the gov
ernment grants aid for philanthropic
purposes, the management of the in
stltutlons supervising the expenditure
is IN private hands; and, in addition to
Ftate-stded institutions, there are nu-
merouf private charities, whose efforts
| Hu 1CllCl VI OliOSC WDOlll y,
sicknFe or misfortune has afflicted are
Des Bnhll praise. The rescue of the
yopN e'Som crime is attempted in two
| Tdys27nrst, by means of orphanages.
industrial schools and reformatories,
which take care of children who have
been abandoned by their natural guar
dlans, or who are likely, from the pow
erty or incapacity of their parents, to
be so neglected as to render them liable
to lapse into crime; and secondly, by
sequestering children who have al
ready committed crime, or whose pa
rents or guardians find themselves un-
able to control them. The problem of
dealing with destitute children and
those liable from their environment to
become criminal is naturally surround
ed with very great difficulty, and in
New South Wales its solution was at
tempted many years ago by the estab-
lishment of the orphanages at PARA
malta, and the destitute children's asy-
| lum at Randwick, as well as the Vernon
training ship for boys, and the Biloela
reformatory and industrial school for
| girls.
The system of crowding children in
large establishments was rightly con-
sidered as open to many grave obiec-
tions, and in 1880 a scheme of separate
treatment was inaugurated, an act be-
| ing passed by the New South Wales
legislature empowering the formation
OF state children's relief board, to
whose charge the destitute or neglect
ed dchildren of the colonywere entrusted.
The board was empowered to take chill
dren from the various institutions and
deal with them in certain specified
ways. Starting with the charge of SO
children in 1881, the number has an
nually increased until the beginning
OF the present year, when it was 3,174,
1.S22 being boys and the remainder
girls. The greater portion of the chill
dren are boarded out in private fam
1lies, a few are adopted, and, where
fys4-sS,.9re of infantile age CT possess
an Charge ostitutiops they ara - 4
At the commencement of 1895, there
were 1889 homes with one board
ed-out child each, 39S homes with two
children each, 1877 with three children,
SIS with four children and three with
five children. Where possible, families
OF children are kept in the same home;
thus there are 2S2 families with sep
arate guardians, the idea being to pre-
serve intact the ties of family. The
children are boarded out all over the
colony, and are under the supervision
of local women visitors, who give their
services gratuitously.
A marked illustration of the popular
ity and success of the boarding-out sys-
tenn is to be found in the very large in
crease which takes place every year in
the number of persons who desire to
obtain the control of state children,
and the illustration is the more graft
fying when it is remembered that the
applications are unsolicited in any way,
and come from all parts of the country.
Many of the boys are taken by farmers,
but almost every leading industry and
profession in the colony is represented
in the list of guardians. The average
cost of each child to the state is 13 1Ss
I'd per annum. AS the children grow VI
I
they are apprenticed to useful trades
the money paid for their services being
placed to their individual credit in the
government savings bank. Under the
firm and energetic administration o.
the board the system has been sue
cess from the very first, and is doing
much to prevent the introduction o
the hereditary pauper element among
the New South Wales population
Where practicable, the parents ar
compelled to contribute. to the supper
OF their offspring, and it is encouraging
TO note that, while instances of mis-
conduct on the part of guardians o
wrongful conduct on the part o
the children are comparativel
few, the number of boys and girls wh
are rapidly becoming good and usefu
members of society is large, and steac
lily on the increase.-Australian Letter
AS She Understood 1t.