Arizona silver belt., 1896-05-14
NO WORKL~JSES.
The Poor Ohildron of Australia
 Cared For by the State.
A system of Providing for the waifs Which Has Become Popular and suc- cessful- Trained for use-
 fui Ltves.

which Has Become Popular and suc-
 c~ssful- Trained for use-
 fui L,ves.
 The British poor law system being unknown in Australia, where there ure no work houses, it follows that there are no poor rates, such not being need- d, for although 1t may happen that from time to time the assistance of the state is claimed by, and granted to, able.bodied men who are unable to ind employment, that assistance takes the form of wages paid for work spe- cially provided by the state to meet condition of the labor market which is certainly abnormal. The chief cf- forts of the authorities, as regard char itv, are directed toward the rescue of the young from criminal companion ship and temptation to crime, the sup port of the aged and iniirm, the care of the imbecile or insane, and the sub sidizing of private charity for the cure of the sick and injured, and the nmelio- ration of want. Even where the gov ernment grants aid for philanthropic purposes, the management of the in- stitutions supervising the expenditure is in private hands; and, in addition to state-aided institutions, there are Du- Inerous private charities, whose efforts for the relief of those whom penury, sickness or misfortune has afflicted are beyond all praise. The rescue of the young from crime is attempted in two ways--first, by means of orphanages. industrial schools and reformatories, which take care of children who have been abandoned by their natural guar dians, 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 cd with very great difficulty, and in New South Wales its solution was at- scmpted many years ago by the estab- lishment of the orphanagcs at Parra- matta, and the destitute children's asy lum at Randwick, as well as the Vernon training ship for boys, and the Biloela rcformatory and industrial school for girls.
 The system of crowding children in large establishments was rightly con sidered as open to many grave objec-' tions, and in 1880 scheme of separate treatment was inaugurated, m act be- ing passed by the New South Wales legislature empowering the formation of q state children's relief board, to whose charge the destitute or neglect edchildren of thecolony were entrusted. The board was empowered to take chil- dren from the various institutions and deal with them in certain specified ways. Starting with the charge of 50 children in 1881, the number has an nually increased until the beginning of the present year, when it was 3.lT4, 1922 being boys and the remainder girls The greater portion of the chil- dren are boarded out in private fam. lilies, few are adopted. and, where :hey are of infantile age or possess delicate constitutions, they are placed in charge of properly selected nurses. At the commencement of 1895. there were 1,239 homes with one board td-out child each, 3os homes with two children each, l97 with three children. Ss with four children and three with five children. Where possible, families Jf children are kept in the same home; thus there are 2s2 families with sep lrate 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.
 4 marked illustration of the popular fly 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 grati- lying 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 n the list of guardians. The average cost of each child to the state is G13fss &d per annum. As the children grow up 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 of the board the system has been sue cess from the very first, and is doing much to prevent the introduction of the hereditary pauper element among the New South Wales population. Where practicable, the parents are compelled to contribute to the support of their offspring, and tis encouraging to note that, while instances of mis- conduct on the part of guardians or wrongful conduct on the part of the children are comparatively few, the number of boys and girls who are rapidly becoming good and useful members of society is large, and stead lily on the increase. Letter.
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