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Yet he found the children gainfully enough emp loyed in the institution,
no better or worse on leaving it than other children of the same class.
His words branded the apprenticeship system for all time.
The apprenticeship system has in fact, been one of cruel
slavery. The children are frequently badly fed , and
shamefu lly clothed, vilely lodged, inhumanely beaten, with
no redress, no wages for any of them, no holidays like others
of their own ages ....
Yet Hall could still see a place in the society for the institution, and
suggested that the three hundred and fifty children should be divided into
family groups of thirty, as in the Boys ' Home and Girls' Industrial School .
He did not altogether believe that Tarleton 's scheme of boarding-out would
be successful, as suitable homes for these children were just not available.
Nevertheless, the boarding-out system ought to be fairly
tried, but on a more liberal scale of allowances , and its
effects watched over by other than officials responsible
for it .
His last words drove home the message he had so long struggled to impart :
Until every vestige of the convict system is expelled from
the Queen 's Asylum, and the sinless and blameless victims of
others ' crimes, neglect or indifference, be treated as we
Nould treat our own children, as our great exemplar loved
little children, the management of the institution can never
accomplish its only lgitimate object, or give proper satisfaction
to any real Christian, or be worthy to bear the name of our
philanthropic Queen. 26
the Orphan Asylum.
On August 10, 1875, Hall wrote to the Mercury once again about
This time, it was not to plead on the children 's
behalf, but to praise what he had seen on his last visit;
Coverdale was
gone, his place taken by Sandford Scott, whom Hall felt was the right man
for the place;
he had previously seen;
the institution was clean and orderly, surp assing anything
many of the improvements recommended by the Royal
Commission in 1871 and long advocated by Hall, had been put into operation
by Scott;
to table as
the children were no longer treated as convicts, but sat down
civilized beings and used civilized table ware expressly made
in England for the institution;
the children 's clothing was no longer
ragged, and no longer were they sent from the institution in charity
garments ; the diet was amp le and nutritious ; not one child was confined
to bed in hospital .
Nonetheless, Hall felt there was still room for
26 Mercurr, July 22, 1873.