to which I shall presently refer; and there are six large vessels stationed at the different naval ports, where from 2,500 to 3,000 boys are annually in course of training entirely for service as seamen in the Royal Navy. These are, however, altogether under the control of the Admiralty, the others to which I have referred being almost as entirely under the management of committees of private gentlemen, belonging to the different localities where the vessels are stationed; subject only to certain regulations issued by the Board of Trade. Although the inducements offered by the Admiralty are tempting to poor parents, as a boy on entry receives a gratuity of £5 for outfit, and £1 for bedding, the conditions on which he is entered are stringent. Originally he was received between the age of 14 and 15, provided he was the minimum height of 4 ft. 8 in., without shoes. In 1864, the conditions required that boys of 14 to 15 should be of that height, and 4 ft. 10 in. in height if between the ages of 15 and 16. In 1868, the Admiralty declined to receive boys under 15 years of age, and required that between that age and 15 they should be 4 ft. 10 in. in height, and 29 in. round the chest; if from 15 to 16 years of age, 4 ft. 11 in. in height; and if from 16 to were to be 5 ft. 1 in. in height, and 30 in. "his hands above his head, back to back, and 30 and 40 each minute in a steady manner." 4th August, 1875, every boy was required to be not merely of "robust frame, intelligent, of perfectly sound and healthy constitution, free from any physical defects or malformation, and not subject to fits," but also "able to read and write," the lowest test being that he should "read a passage of two ordinary lines of one syllable, and sign his name legibly." It was further required that 16 years of age, they round the chest, with counting aloud between By a circular of the "Every boy must bring with him a certificate of birth, or a declaration made by his parents or guardians, before a magistrate, to show that he is of proper age; and also the consent in writing of his parents or guardians, or nearest relatives, if he be an orphan, to his entering the Navy and engaging to serve until he shall have completed ten years continuous service from the age of 18." The last Admiralty Circular before me, that of 12th January, 1876, allows boys who can neither read nor write to enter training-ships for service in Her Majesty's vessels of war, but retains all the other conditions, and the permanent one that "boys are not to be received from reformatories or prisons." However eligible in other respects, they cannot be admitted to the service if they have once been convicted of the crime of any description. This regulation is of long standing, and, no doubt, when originally adopted, considering the experience which former Boards of Admiralty had of the " sweepings of our gaols," who on every emergency were drafted into the service of the Navy, was thought to be a precautionary, if not altogether a necessary regulation. As there is, however, a vast difference between the homeless boy who has committed some trivial crime, and the confirmed and hardened criminal, I think this long standing rule might be reconsidered to advantage. In the case of the latter, there is little hope of reform; but there is every hope for the former, as I have shown by the results of the destitute boys received on board of the Cumberland and other training-ships. I shall now furnish a more striking instance in favour of the views I venture to recommend to the Admiralty; and the training-vessel Endeavour is a remarkable case in point. The Endeavour, as I have already explained, is a model vessel, erected on the grounds of the Feltham Institution, within four miles of where I reside. I have more than once had the pleasure of inspecting the 150 boys who are there under drill for sea service. This excellent institution, which has accommodation for 800 boys, although the number seldom exceeds 750, is supported by a rate levied on the -county of Middlesex, yielding annually about £9,000, and contributions received from the Treasury of £6,300, and from the London School Board of £1,600. It is under the control of the magistrates of the county who appoint from their number a Committee of Visitors, whose chairman, the superintendent, Captain Rowland Brookes, a gentleman peculiarly suited for the responsible office he fills, and the chaplain, practically manage, with marked ability, the institution.* The Middlesex Industrial School, when established in 1859, under a Local Act 17 and 18 Vict., c. 169, was practically meant to be a prison for the vagrant boys of Middlesex, especially of London, who had been convicted of crime rather than for the purpose of a school; but the number of convicted boys now consists of only one-seventh of the whole, the remaining six-sevenths being youths sent under the power of the Industrial Schools Act, which provides for detention without conviction, while a large proportion of the present inmates are simply truant children sent at the instance of the London School Board, because their parents cannot control them and make them go to school. Consequently, the institution is no longer a prison, but a reformatory and compulsory school as is shown by the fact that its inmates, though allowed great freedom in their movements, seldom desert-I might say almost never, except when enticed away by, or through the instrumentality of, their depraved parents or others. The boys are received at the age of 10, and main * See Annual Report of the Committee of Visitors of the Industrial School at Feltham, 1876. tained until they are 16, but not later, when they have learned some branch of trade † and are fit to do for themselves. Perhaps in no part of the world can there be found a more depraved class of boys-"street Arabs," as they have been appropriately calledthan in the city of London. The Feltham Institution may, therefore, be said to receive, shelter, train and educate the very dregs of society, most of whom would soon be irretrievably steeped in crime, were they not thus saved from ruin and from becoming a nuisance to society. It would be difficult to find anywhere else human nature at so low an ebb, morally, socially, and physically, as a large number of these homeless waifs present when first admitted to the Feltham Institution; yet mark the results-they are satisfactory in the extreme. During the three years, 1872 to 1874, inclusive, for which the last returns have been made up, there were 821 boys discharged and provided for, of whom See Parliamentary Paper, "Training-Ships," ordered, on the motion of Captain Bedford Pim, R.N., to be printed 21th July, 1876. +The following table, from the Report of the Committee, shows the number of boys instructed in trades, &c., during the year ending 31st December, 1875: 82.5 per cent. are doing well, 8 per cent. dead, doubtful, and unascertained, and 9.5 per cent. have been convicted of crime, and these in the majority of cases from the 165 who were "placed under the care of friends." Out of the 285 who entered the Navy and Merchant Service, 85.9 per cent. are known to be doing well, and 61.4 per cent. are still following the sea. Although I do not pretend to say that all the boys at Feltham School who are training for the sea are the best that could be obtained for the purposes of the Royal Navy, they should not be altogether ignored as they now are; and therefore I hope, before there is any further legislation on the question of manning the Navy, the First Lord of the Admiralty himself, with the First Sea-Lord, will visit that institution and judge for themselves as to the qualities of the youths and of their fitness in time to enrol them to aid in fighting our battles. If my Lords can only be convinced of that fact, as I have been, they may render a two-fold service to their country of no ordinary importance, both as regards the social question and the means of efficiently manning our ships of war in the hour of need. There are 128,000 boys (about an equal number of girls) receiving either indoor or outdoor relief from the various parishes and unions of this country; and I see no reason why a considerable portion of these boys, or as many of them as we require, should not be made subservient to the purposes of the Royal Navy and Mercantile Marine. It is true, especially in the case of the Feltham School, that many of the boys at that institution do not meet the physical requirements of the Admiralty; but why those who do should not be received, now that it has been shown that there is nothing to fear from their conduct, I am at a loss to understand, except that the Admiralty has not made itself sufficiently conversant with the present state of this truly important question. Considering how these destitute boys have been brought up, the majority of them having no home, sleeping in the parks or on doorsteps, or under arches or by brick-kilns, and seeking the means of existence by begging or picking up what they can get in the streets, gutters, and common-sewers, they are, as might be supposed, when * If the system of "apprenticeship" was adopted for that of "boys," the percentage under the head of "following the sea" would be far in excess of 61·4, for, as it is now, a boy is free at the end of a voyage, and returning home to his friends, is often persuaded to follow some calling, and thus the expense of his special training is lost to the country. See an excellent pamphlet on "Training-Ships and Training-Schools," by Edmund E. Antrobus, Esq., who was chairman of the Feltham Industrial Schools, and who has given much attention to this subject. London: Stanton and Son, Strand. 1875. T admitted, in too many instances, a miserable-looking lot. But it is astonishing how they fill out when they have solid food, wholesome work, and proper places of rest. They may not all, at the limited age of 16, fulfil the requirements in height and breadth of the Admiralty, but there is every reason to suppose that if they continue to be well fed and cared for, they will in time make active and valuable seamen, unless they are diseased or there is about them an inherent weakness. I have seen many of the youths who were brought up at Feltham after they reached manhood, and I could not desire to see a more cleanly, active, muscular and respectable-looking class of young men, especially those who have continued to follow seafaring or other out-door pursuits. We do not require for the Royal Navy nor for the Merchant Service overgrown Herculean men, such as the Yorkshire navvies. What we want is intelligent, active, wiry fellows, who could creep into the muzzle of a gun if needs be, or unfurl the British ensign from the truck; and these are to be found from the sources I have named. Anything beyond 5 ft. 7 in. in height, or 12 stone in weight, only tends to make a sailor less agile, and therefore less useful on board ship. Above 16 stone, men are worthless for working or fighting; heavy-weights may carry the day in railway excavations or in charges at close quarters in a battle-field, but as a rule, they are in their persons an encumbrance at sea. I have gone more into detail in regard to the Feltham institution than I should otherwise have done, were it not the case that the Admiralty have hitherto declined to receive from it any boys into the Royal Navy, except 35 since the institution was established, or 2 per annum, and these were received solely because they had displayed a taste for music, and were likely to become proficient bandsmen!! The truth is, the Admiralty of to-day, as of old, are slow to change their established rules, and I fear do not sufficiently consider the progress made in our social position, nor the relative advantages of science, education, and activity as against bulk and weight. (To be continued.) W. S. LINDSAY. |