E.—3.

J. E. (of weak intellect). I I I ~~ I i I J. A. (wife). P. E. S. E., 10 years. J. E., 8 years. A. E., 6 years. (See foregoing notes.) (See foregoing notes.) l ; , ' I Committed to industrial school in 1886; mother dead ; badly neglected. A. E. died soon after committal. S. E., E. P., 4 years. P.P., 6 years. after she reached twenty-one, confessed to immorality * , ' with different men; had illegitimate child. J. E.: Dr. Committed to industrial school in MacGregor said in 1887, " Little better than congenital 1891. Described as " wild children," imbecile." Mental deficiency at present time very pro- " unable to speak any language." nounced. Now at service, but both are shown in recent returns as " defectives." M.J. A., years.* S. A., years.* E. A., 2-& years.* V. A., years.* W. T. A., 5jL years.* v . — ' c 1 t M. J. A. and S. A. were committed to industrial school in Committed to industrial school in 1897--1892 —parents destitute. S. A. was at service, but has just Mother described by police as "an idiot" ; died as the result of eating match-heads. Both S. A. and children brought up like " wild ones." E. A. are shown in recent return as " defectives." The Director of the School for Deaf-mutes reported soon after their admission to industrial schools that they could not articulate ; the boy undoubtedly backward .in intellect, the girl not likely to turn out to be imbecile. The maintenance of the members of this family at industrial schools has already cost the State £1,137, and the burden still exists. This does not -include any of the cost in other ways, under the heads of lunatic asylums, charitable aid, police, &c. Defectives and Criminals. A. J., aged forty-eight; destitute circumstances; "makes a precarious living at nursing" (police report); living with a man named H. C, a thief, and is now away in the North Island. She is mother of A. J., patient committed to Sunnyside on the 20th September, 1897, direct from Burnham Industrial School. Further Particulars of Family. J. J., a cooper, living at Timaru, " a lazy, drunken fellow " (now dead). A. J. (wife), " a drunken prostitute" (police report, 1886). Seven children— W. J. : Committed to Burnham, December, 1877 ; recommitted, 1882 ; discharged, June, 1890, aged 18. Sentenced by Supreme Court, August, 1896, to three years for burglary. H. J.: Committed to Burnham for larceny, August, 1883 ; discharged, December, 1887, aged 17. B. J.: Committed to Burnham for breaking into and stealing, March, 1886, aged 16 ; discharged, June, 1890. G. J. : Committed to Burnham, September, 1891, aged 13; discharged, April, 1895, aged 18. A. J. : Committed to Burnham, September, 1891, aged 9-J-; boarded out with Mrs. H., at P., and then with Mrs. T., at M., ever since he was nine and a half years old. Of him medical men say: " His depraved habits result of bad bringing-up by his mother" (Dr. Prins); "Probably hereditary" (Dr. Jennings); "Satyriasis from congenital defect" (Dr. Syrnes) : "A case of moral depravity associated with mental deficiency and cretinism " (Dr. Levinge). Admitted Sunnyside Lunatic Asylum, September, 1897, at age of 15^; discharged from asylum in August, 1898, and returned to Burnham, and placed out at service in January, 1899; July, 1902, the Manager, Burnham, reported returned to school for misconduct, and described him as "one of the worst specimens of humanity I have ever met." Attained the age of twenty-one in March, 1903 ; whereabouts not known. E. J.: Said to be dependent on her mother, and aged LI, in 1897. November, 1897 committed to an industrial school; found wandering; parents serving six months' imprisonment for assaulting a constable. Transferred to Caversham, May, 1900; March, 1903, Manager, Caversham, described E. J. as "a big, stout, lazy girl, without any head." S. J.: Committed to Burnham, September, 1891, aged 7 ; in hospital for removal of growth in nose and defective sight, September, 1896. I have referred to the problems connected with " degenerates " in a somewhat disjointed way perhaps, but with the object of showing that the cases of moral and mental degeneracy differ so widely as to demand fundamentally different treatment, and that the question will not be solved merely by the establishment of homes for defective and epileptic children. lam glad, however, to think that in a short time there may be established such homes as those just named. It is a relief to find that the number of bad cases is, though too large, after all comparatively small in relation to the whole number of cases, and to find that the earnest care and untiring

* Age when committed to industrial school.

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