A BIG BOY PROBLEM.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3327, 20 September 1911, Page 8

A BIG BOY PROBLEM.

STARES ENGLAND IN THE FACE.

MUCH POVERTY DUE TO LACK OF OPPORTUNITY. -

“Wo have the finest raw material in the world,” said Premier Asquith in speaking of national education in Britain. But another of his utterances forms a- significant addition to that assertion, hinting at the .tough problem of hoy labor-which public men •are now trying to solve. “The delivery hoy at the- end of the van is one of the most depressing sights of a great city.” . In these two expressions of opinion from the head of the British Government you can. catch a glimpse of the kink in- this country’s social machinery. The result- of tliaifc kink is seen in. rags and the victims of that wretchedness form part of the raw material praised by the Prime Minister, but through lack of opportunity and guidance they drift into what is known as blind alley employment, the kind of labor that leads nowhere, unless it he to the gutter, or the jail. That is the weakest link in the chain of British imperialism so much talked of tills coronation year. Thousands of boys throughout the country on leaving school enter callings that offer neither prospect of advancement nor 'incentive >toi self-im-provement. You see lads everywhere, the soils of poor parents, beginning life on the downgrade that leads to destitution. Tp some extent this ca.n be seen also in American and British colonial cities, but nowhere to the same degree as in England. v ' • The education boys receive in the elementary schools here "is scarcely needed at all in the forms of labor they drift’ to, and consequently the advantages of their schooling are soon- lost. The result too often is that when, they outgrow the slender wage a large proportion of them either stop short at other mechanical jobs, or become unemployable. IMPROVEMENT NOTABLE. But beneficent changes in relation to children handicapped by fortune are noticeable in many departments of English life. Most significant is the improvement in; the lot of the children . who become chargeable to the poor law. Not long ago John Burns, President of the Local Government Board, told the House of Commons of the success of poor law children in- after life.' “Neither Eton nor Harrow, Rugby ncr Winchester can show anytlnng like so good a' record as the poor law children when they have been sufficiently long under poor law.-jurisdiction,” he said. In spite of class pride,and prejudice some of the poor; scholars struggle upward from the elementary schols, by means of scholarships to higher schools, ar.d a few to the universities. •

The brightest page in the more recent social history of England was begun in 1903 when the passing of the employment of children act. This definitely prohibited the employment of children' under 14 years of age between the hours of 9 in the evening and 6 in the morning, and empowered local authorities to pass by-laws further restricting and limiting such eirreWment. Previous to this there were laws making it possible to prevent children- under 12 years of age being employed during school hours.

Restrictive legislation is thu natural precursor of constructive endeavor It is all very well governing the conditions of juvenile employment, but if the employment itself is an undesirable one, the lot of the boy Is not much improved. One of the most striking, indications of the widespread desire to lead boys put- of the blind alley employment is noticeable in the Government postal service. Some time ago a standing committee on boy labor in the postoffice met and agreed upon certain concrete proposals to remedy the evil. According to the latest available annual figures, out of 15,790 boys in employment as messengers. 6782 left on the expiration-of their- term .of service at 16 years of age. Of this number 1615 were absorbed into the establishment, 1970 found occupations for themselves, 911 got situations through the department’s employment register, and 1590 left the public service without any de-finite-prospect of •• immediate employment.

MORE EMPLOYMENT FOR BOYS. Various recommendations have been made, and are now being ~*ut into operation, to retain a far larger proportion of the juvenile postal labor. As one-half of. the vacancies for postmen and porters are reserved for exsoldiers and sailors, it is suggested that messenger boys who on the expiration of their service are willing to enlist, shall he given the opportunity of returning to employment in the post-office as postmen or porters after a term of service in the army or navy. At one time. it . was proposed that girls should take the place of boys as outdoor messengers . but as it was found: that the scheme exposed' them to danger in the streets, it was abandoned 1 ' * The Admiralty is also doing its best to solve the problem by finding employment for be- telegraph messengers after thejr period of service. The installation of wireless telegraphy in the navy is followed by a corresponding increase in the size of the wireless telegraph staff under the control of the Admiralty. .Special facilities are therefore to be offered to postal employees who wish to join this branch of the public service.