190 



. / 1 '.V TRAL. ISIA ILL USTRA 77:7 >. 



on the Government, deals directly with a large amount of casual poverty ; it distri- 

 butes outdoor relief after making all enquiries possible under the circumstances ; it has 

 a maternity hospital, and its doors are open at all times to take in the waifs and strays 

 who may fall into the hands of the police. The care of destitute children was for many 

 years attended to by the Randwick Asylum, an institution which originated in private 



philanthropy, but which gradually 

 came to depend mainly on public 

 funds a tendency common to all 

 the charitable institutions of the 

 colony, which look parti)- to private 

 and partly to public resources ; the 

 only exceptions being those cases 

 in which the Government limits its 

 bounty strictly to a pound for every 

 pound privately subscribed. In addi- 

 tion to the Randwick Asylum there 

 were for many years a Protestant 

 and a Catholic orphan school at 

 Parramatta, each supported by the 

 Government ; but of late years the 

 public policy has undergone a change. 

 The experiment of boarding out 

 children was undertaken tentatively 

 by a few ladies, in whose hands 

 the Government placed a small sum 

 of money for the purpose. The 

 experiment proved so successful 

 that the Government adopted the 



THE GLEBE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH arrangement officially. All the State 



children are now boarded out, and 



Government assistance has been withdrawn from the orphan and destitute asylums. Hut 

 the Randwick Asylum still continues its charitable work, though dependent on its private 

 resources. There are also in Sydney two soup-kitchens, two female refuges and the 

 Charity Organization Society, which does its utmost to make enquiries before giving 

 relief. In addition to this all the churches have their detached organizations for relieving 

 the poor and destitute. As a general check upon the abuses of the charitable institutions, 

 the Government employs an officer called the Inspector of Charities, who has the right 

 of entry and inspection wherever public money is granted, and whose duty it is to see 

 that the money is properly spent, and that mendicity is not encouraged by philanthropy. 

 The primary schools are maintained at the expense of the Government. The more 

 modern buildings are architecturally good, and have been carefully designed in the light 

 of a large experience. It is difficult in a closely-packed city to secure any large area 

 for playgrounds, but as much has been done in this respect as was practicable, and in 

 every case covered sheds are provided, so as to give the children protection from the 



