第85章 MORE CRUSADES.(19)

Apart from the independent agencies employed to prosecute this class of enquiries,which it is proposed to very largely increase,the Army possesses in itself peculiar advantages for this kind of investigation.

The mode of operation is as follows:--

There is a Head Centre under the direction of a capable Officer and assistants,to which particulars of lost husbands,sons,daughters,and wives,as the case may be,are forwarded.These are advertised,except when deemed inadvisable,in the English "War Cry,"with its 300,000circulation,and from it copied into the twenty-three other "War Crys"published in different parts of the world.Specially prepared information in each case is sent to the local Officers of the Army when that is thought wise,or Special Enquiry Officers trained to their work are immediately set to work to follow up any clue which has been given by enquiring relations or friends.

Every one of its 10,000Officers,nay,almost every soldier in its ranks,scattered,as they are,through every quarter of the globe,may be regarded as an Agent.A small charge for enquiries is made,and,where persons are able,all the costs of the investigation will he defrayed by them.

SECTION 8.--REFUGES FOR THE CHILDREN OF THE STREETS.

For the waifs and strays of the streets of London much commiseration is expressed,and far more pity is deserved than is bestowed.We have no direct purpose of entering on a crusade on their behalf,apart from our attempt at changing the hearts and lives and improving the circumstances of their parents.

Our main hope for these wild,youthful,outcasts lies in this direction.If we can reach and benefit their guardians,morally and materially,we shall take the most effectual road to benefit the children themselves.

Still,a number of them will unavoidably be forced upon us;and we shall be quite prepared to accept the responsibility of dealing with them,calculating that our organisation will enable us to do so,not only with facility and efficiency,but with trifling cost to the public To begin with,Children's Creches or Children's Day Homes would be established in the centres of every poor population,where for a small charge babies and young children can be taken care of in the day while the mothers are at work,instead of being left to the dangers of the thoroughfares or the almost greater peril of being burnt to death in their own miserable homes.

By this plan we shall not only be able to benefit the poor children,if in no other direction than that of soap and water and a little wholesome food,but exercise some humanising influence upon the mothers themselves.

On the Farm Colony,we should be able to deal with the infants from the Unions and other quarters.Our Cottage mothers,with two or three children of their own,would readily take in an extra one on the usual terms of boarding out children,and nothing would be more simple or easy for us than to set apart some trustworthy experienced dame to make a constant inspection as to whether the children placed out were enjoying the necessary conditions of health and general well-being.

Here would be a Baby Farm carried on with the most favourable surroundings.

SECTION 9.--INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS.

I also propose,at the earliest opportunity,to give the subject of the industrial training of boys a fair trial;and,if successful,follow it on with a similar one for girls.I am nearly satisfied in my own mind that the children of the streets taken,say at eight years of age,and kept till,say twenty-one,would,by judicious management and the utilisation of their strength and capacity,amply supply all their own wants,and would,I think,be likely to turn out thoroughly good and capable members of the community.

Apart from the mere benevolent aspect of the question,the present system of teaching is,to my mind,unnatural,and shamefully wasteful of the energies of the children.Fully one-half the time that boys and girls are compelled to sit in school is spent to little or no purpose --nay,it is worse than wasted.The minds of the children are only capable of useful application for so many consecutive minutes,and hence the rational method must be to apportion the time of the children;say,half the morning's work to be given to their books,and the other half to some industrial employment;the garden would be most natural and healthy in fair weather,while the workshop should be fallen back upon when unfavourable.

By this method health would be promoted,school would be loved,the cost of education would be cheapened,and the natural bent of the child's capacities would be discovered and could be cultivated.

Instead of coming out of school,or going away from apprenticeship,with the most precious part of life for ever gone so far as learning is concerned,chained to some pursuit for which there is no predilection,and which promises nothing higher than mediocrity if not failure--the work for which the mind was peculiarly adapted and for which,therefore,it would have a natural capacity,would not only have been discovered,but the bent of the inclination cultivated,and the life's work chosen accordingly.

It is not for me to attempt any reform of our School system on this model.But I do think that I may be allowed to test the theory by its practical working in an Industrial School in connection with the Farm Colony.I should begin probably with children selected for their goodness and capacity,with a view to imparting a superior education,thus fitting them for the position of Officers in all parts of the world,with the special object of raising up a body of men thoroughly trained and educated,among other things,to carry out all the branches of the Social work that are set forth in this book,and it may be to instruct other nations in the same.

SECTION 10.--ASYLUMS FOR MORAL LUNATICS.