The Westminster Budget from London, Greater London, England • Page 20

18 THE WESTMINSTER BUDGET NOVEMBER 10 1899 LEGISLATION FOR CHILDREN interesting paper on "Legislation as Affecting A A Child-Life" read by Mr; Fuliagar before the Incorporated Law Society at their recent annual iC meeting has now been issued as a pamphlet, anc forms a useful little compendium of infor- yeL lKrnM matlon on the treatment of children by the State ufE var "fo us countries, from ancient Greece to modern Japaa State interference in child-life jjtBSfFt ls as Mr. Fuliagar reminds us, for the most art a very modern proceeding, and is ing, some persons might feel inclined to add, at a rate and in a direction which will go far towards justifying its unpopularity. Hard-and-fast laws, drawn up by sentimental theorists, are fortunately in most cases a dead letter from the day of their birth, and their passage is at worst only a stupid waste of time; but even this may become a serious matter if their increase continues at its present rate. Prior to 1837, Mr. Fuliagar tells us, only ten statutes having reference to child-life had been passed, and since that date 111 Acts bearing on the subject have found their way into the Statute-book.

The particulars given of juvenile legislation in foreign countries are not always quite accurate Mr. Fuliagar speaks, for instance, of the French Department of the Assistance Publique and the Protectrice de l'Enfance as if they were both equally charitable societies, whereas the former is a large State department and the latter a private society. His admiration for the child-legislation of certain English colonies will not, 1 imagine, find many sympathisers. The Victorian law, for example, giving power to suspend sentences on, and to release, juveniles offenders, placing them on probation for a given time, strikes one as possessing demerits. To interrupt the happy career of a young gentleman whose pastimes are stone-throwing, placing obstructions on railway-lines, and picking pockets, is a proceeding as difficult as it is laudable, and when you have got him under lock and key his possible release bya cranky magistrate would not be regarded with equanimity by the neighbourhood.

The American law, quoted by Mr. Fuliagar, forbidding anyone under the age of sixteen to go to a theatre without a guardian, which at first sight brings legislation into the region of farce, would find advocates if there were any apparent need for it. I am inclined to protest most strongly against Mr. Fullagar's assertion that many of the countries which he mentions are far in advance of our own in the care of, and provision for, their England, we all know, can do nothing right; her Navy is a delusion, her Array a fraud, her morality a sham, her trade a myth, and I dare say that her laws dealing with children are comparatively few and evil. But Mr.

Fullagar's statement travels beyond the Statute-book, and, as it stands, is unmitigated nonsense. You can put a law on to one sheet of paper, just as you can put a navy on to another, but neither is worth twopence till it has been brought into action. If our legislation is little and bad we make that little go a long way. If a man desired to ill-treat a child, starve it, force it to make money by acrobatic or other dangerous methods, or indulge in any other brutality, he would be a very unwise person if he pinned too much faith to the tale of the English Statute-book, and chose this country for the scene of his operations. The French system inaugurated by St.

Vincent de Paul (after three years spent in France I am getting a little tired of St. Vincent de Paul; will someone kindly write me a Life of one of the rather numerous English philanthropists who founded homes for children is very justly admired by legal students and the officials who administer if. It is not uninteresting to note that the French Factory Acts (which deal also with child-beggars and dangerous performances for children) date from 1892, some considerable number of years later than our own; and we may note also that there is not much temptation to over-drive children in France, since their parents are not in the least ambitious for them to learn any trade, and there is very little trade for them to learn if they were but in theory there is very little to be said against the French laws for the protection of children. In practice I have never heard a person except the officials of the Assistance Publique say a good word for them, and one small experience among my own will illustrate their real working. A woman was promenading her ten-year-old child up and down the boulevards for obvious purposes, and, hearing from the police that they knew the woman well but could do nothing to stop her, I went to the headquarters of the Paris police to speak about the matter.

Being armed with a letter of introduction from the English Embassy, I found myself easily enough in the inner circle of the Department and told my story. Returning later, I was shown the dossier of the case, and assured that there could be no possible doubt of the trade which the woman was carrying on with her daughter, but that the business was far too well managed for any proof to be obtained which could be used in a police-court. The Chef of the Department could only assure me that if I could find one of the Children's Societies of Paris willing to take up the case his bureau would supply them with any information and all possible help. I then visited several societies, including the Societe Protect! ice de l'Enfance, and received after a few inquiries the same invariable proof which a judge Would accept must be forthcoming before they could do anything: As, in the event of such proof being found, the case would have been promptly dealt with by the police, this answer did not strike me as peculiarly intelligent, and the machinery of the societies seemed to me to be in need of considerable improvement if it could not deal with a common and very flagrant affair like this. Mr.

Fuliagar points out with much clearness and fulness some immediate additions required to the English laws about children mentioning especially the familiar matter of child-insurance, which is a scandal to the country, and advocating flogging in certain opinion in which most people will heartily concur. So warm an admirer of our colonial system is of course strongly in favour of that special State department for juvenile affairs, and special courts for youthfut delinquents, about which much is heard nowadays. The proposal would require a book for its adequate discussion, and no part of the book has yet, I think, been written. What this Whitehall Nursery would do which is not being fairly satisfactorily done in the Education Department, the Home Office, and the police-courts, I do not know. The mischief which it could do by improper interference is obvious to everyone, and in any case I imagine that a Society for the Protection of Parents would be a necessity when it was in working order.

Of course one can understand that prompt and delightful results would be seen if such an organisation took the field with Mr. Benjamin Waugh at its head, and I for one should be charmed to think that the millennium had begun for one portion of the community at any rate but in this ill-regulated world someone mostly has to pay for his neighbour having a good time, and I fear that Mr. Waugh's tenure of the office of Head-Nurse (with a seat in the Cabinet?) would be followed by a revolution among the grown-ups. His own Society, the most powerful and helpful of its kind in Europe, does better work than any Government department could hope to accomplish. E.

H. COOPER. AMERICA'S GIFT TO OUR WOUNDED. Remember the Maine" has a new meaning at present. The battle cry of last year's war is being used to further a charitable mission to this year's stricken fields.

A hospital ship for our wounded in South Africa has been promised to the War Office by American ladies in London, and it is to be called the Maine. Lu We believe we are correct in stating that the idea was first started by Lady Randolph Churchill and Mrs. Brown-Potter. They formed a committee, and in the last fortnight Mrs. Ronalds, the hon.

treasurer, has received £10,900. This, however, is not enough, and though money in the way of subscriptions is still coming in, the committee are anxious to leave no stone unturned to make the Maine one of the best-equipped hospital ships that have left for "the gentlemen in khaki ordered South." Mrs. Brown-Potter has therefore determined to rally the dramatic forces of her country in an entertainment to swell the fund for the American hospital ship. This is to take the form of a cafe chantant at Claridge's Hotel on November 18. The title includes a very varied dramatic performance, of which we are very pleased to give the programme as arranged so far.

"The Belle of New York company will give their services in the solos and choruses of their most popular pieces. The De Wolf Hopper company have promised as much, and Mr. Hopper has a special song for the occasion. Among the other American artists who have promised their assistance are Miss Ella Russell, Miss Maud Jeffries, Miss May Yohe, Miss Yaw (the star in D'Oyly Carte's new opera), Mr. R.

G. Knowles, and Mr. Eugene Stratton. The list is at present incomplete. The talent is to be strictly American, and the entertainment will be of the nature of a promenade concert Anyone who wishes may have the luxury of a little table for tea, coffee, and no doubt American cocktails and ices.

The committee, who include, besides Lady Randolph Churchill, the Duchess of Marlborough and Mrs. Joseph Chamberlain, are providing a bevy of American beauties to wait. As the performance is limited as to time arid space the entrance tickets have been fixed at a guinea and the tables at the same price. We understand that every American in London who can afford it is going to turn up for Mrs. Brown- Potter's cafe chantant.

There will, however, be plenty of room for others, and we hope that many Londoners will choose this way of spending a guinea. It must be made plain, however, that Mrs. Potter will herself perform. She will not find it difficult to choose a suitable monologue, and her name on the bills is essential. We refuse to believe in any rumour to the contrary.

We can only add that we wish the American ladies every success in their venture, and we could not do better than by endorsing Lord Wolseley's warm commendation of their mission. Such a gift to our wounded soldiers will, we believe, go far to cementing more firmly than ever the friendship between the separate parts of the Anglo-Saxon race..