nviction. In the
majority of such cases the charges are for minor offences and are dealt
with summarily, but a child charged with an indictable offence and
remanded to the Supreme Court for trial or sentence may in the interim
be detained in prison.

By arrangement between the Departments concerned most of the cases of
children and juveniles are investigated by the Juvenile Probation
Officer of the Education Department prior to the hearing, but these
officers have no legal standing in any Court, and are not even empowered
to bring a destitute child before a Magistrate for committal to the care
of the State. This function must be carried out by a police constable.

The Children's Court, as it is constituted in other countries, is a
Court of equity, and its principal function is to consider all children
brought before it as cases requiring protection and care. It is the
business of the Court, by means of careful investigation in each case of
conduct, school history, family history, and mental condition, to
ascertain, if possible, the reason for misconduct, and either to
eliminate or modify the causes, or to remove the child from the
environment that has contributed to its present condition.

The presiding Magistrates are usually selected on account of their
experience with children and knowledge of child psychology. In some of
the Courts in America women are selected for these positions.

It is common knowledge that lack of mental balance, retardation, and
physical defect are responsible for much juvenile delinquency, and it is
therefore essential that if the children appearing before the Courts are
to be dealt with in a scientific manner there should be provision on the
lines recommended above.

SECTION 9.--POLICY FOR THE FUTURE.

It seems to the Committee that the Dominion has now come to the parting
of the ways in this matter, and unless the multiplication of the
feeble-minded is to be allowed to go on in an ever-increasing ratio,
with consequences dreadful to contemplate, the problem must be dealt
with on broader lines, and in a more comprehensive fashion.

In the first place, a comprehensive system of notification is essential
so that a register as complete as possible may be made of the cases to
be dealt with.

The English Commission for Inquiring into the Care and Control of the
Feeble-minded, whose report appeared as far back as 1908, laid down the
basic principles of a sound policy in dealing with this