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In four cases of poverty, Hawker's Licences have been obtained and paid for by the Society and a suf- ficient stock provided to enable the parent to start business.
In two cases the Society arranged for destitute and illiterate boys to be removed from undersirable sur- roundings and to be placed in the St. Louis Industrial School where they will be maintained at the Society's expense until they have been fully trained in some useful trade. In their new surroundings these lads are happily settling down to elementary education before commencing to learn a trade. Members of the Executive Committee visit these boys.
Arrangements are in hand for placing two more destitute boys in the same institution to whose invalu- able work the writers of this report desire to pay a tribute.
In a report of this nature it is impossible to give a detailed analysis the diverse manner in which the cases have been dealt with. Each case presents parti- cular features of its own and the only settled principle of treatment must necessarly be to do that which may seem best in the interests of the individual child.
Of the 107 cases 56 have been closed, leaving 51 cases still under supervision. The necessity for lengthy supervision and continued supply of food in cases where the young children of the poor are suffering from mal- nutrition is obvious,
Juvenile Offenders.
The Society has continued to interest itself in the subject of the treatment of Juvenile Offenders.
Five members of the Executive Committee were invited to join the Committee appointed by His Excel- lency the Governor to report upon the measures necessary for the institution of Juvenile Courts, and this Committee has prepared for consideration be the Government draft Bills providing for the institution of Juvenile Courts and of Reformatory and Industrial Schools.
Under the existing laws there is a total lack of provision for placing youthful offenders on probation,
for their segregation from adult criminals, for their custody elsewhere than in prisons, or even for remov- ing a child from the custody of those who may have been convicted of having grossly maltreated him.
Bills.
These and other matters are dealt with in the Draft
It is hoped that these Bills will become law at an early date and that a new era will open for delinquent, destitute and maltreated children in this Colony.
Child Beggars.
As appears elsewhere in this Report the Society has investigated a number of cases of begging by children. The child beggar presents a difficult proplem to those who wish to do what is best in the interests of the child.
The existing law provides that where a child is habitually found begging a magistrate may in the ease of a boy under 14 years old order him to be sent to a reformatory school or in the case of a boy under ten years old order him to be placed in the charge of the Superintendent of Reformatory Schools for the purpose of being boarded out, and in the case of a girl may order her to be placed in charge of the Secretary for Chinese Affairs for the purpose of being boarded ont.
As the Colony has not, for many years, had either a Reformatory School or a Superintendent of Reforma- tory Schools, these provisions as to boys are ineffectual it is hoped that this state of affairs will be remedied by the adoption of the recommendations of the Juvenile Courts Committee.
The parent of a child who has been found habitually begging, can, if the begging has resulted wholly or in part from the neglect of the parent, be fined up to $100 or imprisoned for any term not exceeding a month.
Out of ten cases of child begging investigated by the Society the income of the parents was ascertained in 7 cases. It amounted to a monthly total of $72,50 for the maintenance of 17 persons or an average of under $4.30 per head per month.
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