758 REPORT— 1901. 



reception of men who would otherwise he in the casual wards, inmates of work- 

 houses, or dependent partially on private charity. It was suo;^ested that the esta- 

 blishment of colonies of the first class was difficult ; but the further extension of the 

 second named was recommended as being both desirable and practicable. 



During- the last six years there has been extension in the work of the last 

 named, and so far with satisfactory results. Colonies under the control of volun- 

 tary committees, but subsidised by grants from Boards of Guardians, are at work : 

 (a) At Hadleigh in Essex, under the control of the Salvation Army ; (b) at Dorking 

 in Surrey, under the control of the Church Army, in succession to a smaller one 

 carried on by that organisation near Ilford in Essex ; and (c) at Lingfield in 

 Surrey, and another near Kendal in Westmoreland, under the control of the 

 Christian Union for Social Service. The financial and other results of each of 

 these efforts from their economic aspect is separately considered. 



There are also colonies in operation not subsidised by Poor Law funds, the 

 most important being the one under the control of the Scotch Colony Association, 

 near Dumfries. There is also a colonj^ for women only, founded by the efibrts of 

 Lady Henry Somerset, near Reigate in Surrey, as well as some smaller private 

 attempts at providing work on the land as a means of relief ; while Guardians at 

 Sheffield and elsewhere are working land. 



The results show that colonies for the second class (a) have reduced the cost 

 of maintenance of those there received as compared with the expense of their 

 maintenance in other ways ; and (b) have been beneficial as a reformatory influence 

 when the work has been under the control of Christian voluntary committees, 

 restoring some to independent life who would otherwise have remained in a perma- 

 nent dependent position. 



3. Feebleness of Mind, Pauperism, and Crime. By Miss Mary Dendy. 



The special point to be proved is this : we are to-day suffering from an evil 

 which will, if unchecked, bring ruin upon our nation, and that before very long. 

 A chain is no stronger than its weakest link, and the weakest link in the chain of 

 our social life is the mass of mentally feeble persons who live amongst us, 

 unguarded and unguided, suffering and helpless, a danger to themselves and to 

 Society, and perpetually propagating their species. The time has come when this 

 evil must be dealt with, very tenderly, very kindly, so far as individuals are 

 concerned, but very plainly, very scientifically, so far as Society at large is con- 

 cerned. As years ago our nation realised that we had no right to populate a new 

 country with criminals and ceased to send its convicts abroad, so now we should 

 realise that we have no right to provide for our own future a feeble, helpless, 

 half-witted population. That this is what we are doing at present there is no 

 doubt ; the main cause of feebleness of mind is heredity. 



The time is come when we should ask for scientific morality, should question 

 what is morality worth which is not scientific, and should demand that the 

 transmission to the future of a terrible evil shall be stopped — an evil which brings 

 all other evils in its train. It is not only that our weaker brethren themselves 

 become criminals ; they afford the opportunity for crime in those who are not 

 weak but only bad. It is prohable that two-thirds of the crimes of our nation 

 might be prevented in the course of two generations by a scientific method of 

 dealing with the feeble-minded. And we must remember that it is futile to talk 

 of weak-minded criminals as sinners. Sin there must be, where so much crime 

 and misery are ; but the sin lies where the responsibility lies, and that is with the 

 sane and not with the insane. 



The one defect most generally common to weak-minded persons is great 

 weakness of will-power. 



There is a whole class whose feebleness consists in a total lack of the moral 

 sense. It was of these that Huxley wrote : ' As there are men born physically 

 cripples and intellectually idiots, so there are some who are morally cripples and 

 idiots, and can be kept straight not even by punishment. For these people there 

 is nothing but shutting up or extirpation.' 



