There was much concern in the 19th century with 'rescue work' - saving women and children, in particular, from the evils of life on the streets. Simplistically it was believed that children needed to be put to school and introduced to the rudiments of religion. In 1904 Sir Samuel Way, Chief Justice of South Australia, attributed the 'epidemic of crime' to various causes including, 'the want of religious training ... I am strongly in favour of, not merely Bible, but religious education in schools.' (Letter to Dr Buckley, 23 August 1904) The local British and Foreign Bible Society branch distributed Bibles to children, publishing this photograph in their annual report of 'some of the applicants' who had been recipients.