Note 227 — CRIMINALITY. (continued 2)

However, confining ourselves to figures for the period 1887–1891, 49% and 47% of the children in the two classes of institutions respectively came from normal families. In what follows we see what their education was; different competent witnesses before the “Royal Commission on Reformatory and Industrial Schools” affirmed that the environment from which these children came was very unfavorable. The most important testimony was that of Mr. Macdonald, one of the officers who receive the contributions of the parents to the support of their children in the “Industrial Schools.” According to him only 6% of the children came from homes favorable to their moral education. In Manchester 68% of the parents of children in the industrial schools had a bad reputation; 14.7% were of doubtful character; and only 17% conducted themselves well.227