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THE INDUSTRIAL AND EEFOB
KATOBY SCHOOLS.
Within the last few years the state has
taken upon itself a new and grave respon
sibility. It has undertaken the charge of
those unhappy children whom misfortune, ?
or the misconduct of their parents, has
deprived of the shelter of a home. Al
though this state charity is liable to
obvious abuses, we have never entertained
a doubt as to the line of public duty. The
QUEEN is parens patriot, and, in the exercise ?
of that high prerogative, the Court o.f
Chancery has at all times interfered in
behalf of the ehiid when the parent's mode
of life and conduct proved his unfitness
for the performance of his parental charge.
But this power can be effectively exercised
only when the child is entitled in his own
right to property sufficient for his mainten
ance. The further interference of the Legis
lature is therefore both needed to accom
plish the desired object, and is justified by
considerations of the highest public policy.
Even on mere economical grounds, the
outlay, if it be successful, is one of the most
profitable in which the Government can
invest. It gives us, or at least is intended
to give us, useful members of society. But
it also does much more. It eaves us from
the depredations of an enlarged criminal
class. If no effort were made to bring up
these children well, they would inevitably
be brought up ill. Qur chief gain in the
matter is that which we do not see-^-the
amount of evil which we avoid.
But our industrial and reformatory
schools bring with them their own troubles.
We do not now speak of the difficulties
which beset these schools at their opening.
No doubt mistakes might have been ex
pected, and no -doubt they' were made.
These early difficulties have been in a
great degree overcome; but the recent
report of the inspector, Mr. DUNCAN, shows
that the whole subject must be further
considered. Mr.. DUNCAN complains of
the defects of the act in certain respects,
and he also declares that further accommo
dation is imperatively necessary. At
Sunbury there are 700children where there
is room for only SO0. The schools at
Prince's-bridge are. unfit for occupation.
Thfe buildings are so dilapidated that they
will not shelter the children from thein
clemency of the weather, are infested
with rate, and : are filled with
?? 'ifr
?j tnak^hift, .altogeg^r unauited,
. their, ^jttpwse. We needjxot go
j int| the'
$ deihand for . additional -wcohnittihrintion
i tora|kvaUsuining4htt m tttiBt take %litafc«*
Jitvdf wpoB Ahisj *ubjeofc|}i«
t M «&*<
f 'pnident pf
i «r 1 * * y «
disregard any educational duty, have
deliberately abandoned the system of We
public schools. In a building recently
erected at a great cost in Edinburgh for
Poor Law purposes, no accommodation
?whatever has been provided for children
It is not of course that there are no pauper
children in Scotland, or that these Children
are excluded from relief. But the ex
perience of 20 years has satisfied the
Scotch people that poor children can be
brought up in private families better than
in -workhouses. The practice is to send
ouf the children, especially the very young
children, to some respectable femilytJ
board; and it is wonderful how quickly in
the great majority of cases these poor little
waifs and strays are absorbed into the
system of their new home. They become
a part of the fefmly, are called by the same
name, and are regarded in the neigh
bourhood not with suspicion or dis
like, but in the same manner as the
other children of the adopting femily.
Nor has Scotland been alone in this ex
periment. More than 40 years ago the
commissioners of inquiry into the Dublin
Foundling Hospital reported results pre
cisely similar as following from the partial
adoption of the family system in con
nexion with that institution. More re
cently the Protestant Orphan Society has
carried out this system with great success
and at a considerable saving of cost. Their
" failures" have been but 5 per cent., and
the cost of each child averages £6 a year.
Various Roman Catholic charities have
been established on the same principle.
Everywhere that it has been tried the
results have been satisfactory.
Now let us see what are the results of
the workhouse system. It would be but
too easy to accumulate evidence on this
point; but we will mention only one
case. Some few years since, the girls'
school of Eton Union was"* regarded as one
of the best managed establishments of the
kind in England. The school was duly
inspected, both by Heb MAJESTY'S inr
Bpector and by the diocesan inspector. The
results were very satisfactory. The child
ren were clean, well fed, and well taught.
They were familiar with Scripture history,
and were great in hymns. Yet very
shortly afterwards it was found necessary
to , break up the whole school The
reasons, we believe, were -not published,
although they may be readily surmised,
but the inspector himself who had re
ported favourably upon it admitted, when
he was made aware of the facts, that the
course taken was proper. It appears, how
ever, that inquiries then made into the
history of the girls who for four
preceding years had left the school,
showed that 40 per cent, had gone
astray. In many other cases the
loss has been far greater, ? amount
ing sometimes to 80 per cent. What a
oontrast to the five per cent, of the
Protestant orphans. We cannot imagine
a more forcible illustration tbnn this Eton
case of the fundamental difference between
education and instruction. Those poor
girls received instruction:, both secular
and religious, better than most of their
class. But they were not reared in the
conditions in which alone woman's virtues
are best developed-in the sanctities of a
happy, although it may be a humble
home, and all their teaching went for
naught.
Is there no lesson for us in this ? If
Nature has provided that children shall be
trained under the kindly influences of
domestic rule in the United Kingdom, -
can we suppose that this great moral law ,
will bp suspended in favour of Prince's
bridge or Sunbury P Before we commit
ourselves to any great building enterprise,
ought we not to consider whether we can
not, under of course proper regulations,
disperse throughout the country the
younger of these children? We have
h&rait said, what indeed is usually raid
whfn anything in the lejwt new is pro
that ihere are Jao families bere, such as
thopein Swtland tmd Ireland who would ,
- - Butitisat least
wprth whileto try,, The population s .
there is a greater number
an if^y^4gbt - -
? . tluuiihew ;was when the .
«nd Criminal Children'* '
)nwl»wdn^be$lftd thns to
itin <the first: instanoe upon a ? v
^the*«- '
ight be
f|h:JI^
siiroen^ W liave already ob- <
choola. It i**
«j^e
) the lii such; a rtatter ia tnfc

least important part of the subject. The

uCstion is not one of cost but of efficiency,
yjjat would indeed be a miserable
i cc0tiomy which would, for the Bake of sav

ing a few pounds a head, deliberately
adopt a system under which at least half
tj,e children turned out badly, in prefer
ence to another system under which al
most all °f them turned out reasonably
well.

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