Appendix
It is of considerable interest, and may be in some cases of practical value to those interested in the well-being of children to notice in order some of the principal Acts of Parliament which have been passed during the last twenty-five years on behalf of children:—
1883. 46 & 47 Vic., c. 53. Employment of Children
in Factories and Workshops.
1885. 48 & 49 Vic., c. 69. Criminal Law Amendment
Act, relating to criminal assaults on
children and to the finding of children in
disorderly houses.
1887. 50 & 51 Vic., c. 58. Employment in Coal
Mines.
1889. 52 & 53 Vic., c. 44. The Prevention of
Cruelty to Children Act. This was the first
of the three Acts, the others being passed in
1894 and 1904 respectively. Sometimes called
“The Children’s Charter.” It is very wide in
application, making it an offence to assault,
illtreat, neglect, abandon, or expose a child under
sixteen years of age in a manner likely to cause
such child unnecessary suffering or injury to
its health.
1891. 54 & 55 Vic., c. 3. The Custody of Children
Act, dealing with the power of the Court to
decline to issue a writ for the production of a
child to an unfit parent, and with the power of
the Court to order repayment of costs of bringing
up a child.
1891. 54 & 55 Vic., c. 75 & 76. Further enactments
concerning employment in Factories and
Workshops.
1892. 55 & 56 Vic., c. 4. Betting Act, whereby
it became a misdemeanour for anyone for the
purpose of earning commission to send circulars,
etc., to invite an infant to make any bet or wager.
1893. 56 & 57 Vic., c. 48. Reformatory Schools
Act, giving power to a Court to remand a youthful
offender to a prison or to any other place,
which has in practice always been assumed to
be a workhouse.
1894. 57 & 58 Vic., c. 33. Industrial Schools Act.
Education.
1897. 60 & 61 Vic., c. 57. Infant Life Protection
Act, concerning persons receiving infants for
hire for the purpose of maintenance. An Act
for the abolition of illicit baby-farming.
1899. 62 & 63 Vic., c. 37. Poor Law Act, concerning
the control of guardians over orphans and
children of persons unfit to have control of them.
1901. 1 Ed. VII, c. 20. Youthful Offenders Act,
providing for (1) the removal of disqualifications
attaching to felony, (2) the liability of parent
or guardian in the case of youthful offenders,
(3) the remand of youthful offenders to other
places than prisons, (4) the recovery of expenses
of maintenance from parent or person legally
liable, etc., etc.
1901. 1 Ed. VII, c. 27. Intoxicating Liquors (Sale
to Children) Act, forbidding the sale or delivery
save at the residence or working place of the
purchaser of any description of intoxicating
liquor to any person under the age of fourteen
years, except in corked and sealed vessels, in
quantities not less than one reputed pint. It
should be noticed that the Licensing Act of 1872
prohibited the sale of any description of spirits
to any person apparently under the age of
sixteen years.
1903. 3 Ed. VII, c. 45. The Employment of
Children Act, containing restrictions on the
hours of employment, age of employees, nature
of employment, etc., etc.
There have also been several Education Acts either passed or proposed, but it is doubtful whether these have not usually had their origin in the exigencies of party politics rather than in a bonâ fide desire for the welfare of children. An honourable exception is the Elementary Education (Defective and Epileptic Children) Act of 1899.
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