WOMEN'S INSTITUTE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXI, Issue 8446, 14 August 1911, Page 2

WOMEN'S INSTITUTE

A meeting of the Canterbury Women's Institute was held in Christchureh on Saturday afternoon, Mrs Wells presiding. Conscientious Objectors. The question of the imprisonment of youths for failing to comply with the military regulations of tho. "Dominion was discussed, and it was decided to forward tho following -osolntion as a protest to the Minister of TWenee and to the local member- < ' "Parliament:— " That this Institute prot-osts against the penalising^ of consciontions ohjectors to militarism, and calls upon the

'**%&***■ , j. nncp to review the Government at <^e onforci hastily-passed legist compulsory ■ mintaij « youths of the Dominion.' Uyttelton Gaol Conditions.

_. „ ... . V ] lO lately underwent a Mr Smith, viliow y G r term ot imprisonment in for speaking in Cathed,^ trary to a uty 0^ i * tine &nd Smith said that cloanlineaa m the cells of wh ito broad a Sef^the^ad and no^ilk with the tea. For dinner, coafpft* nrpnnred meat and potatoes were pro--sw?d and the dietary for tea was on the same scale as that of breakfast. The prison pallor was noticeable on the faces of tlic prisoners. No mattresses vert allowed, in the cells, P™oners being provided with a. hammock and five blankets, which were insufficient foi warmth. There was no arrangement for the warming of the cells ni winter, so that a considerable amount of suffering from cold was experienced. Ihe sun was excluded from the prison yards where the men did their «xercrae, and its absence seriously affected the men s health and spirits. Prisoners were confined, during the day from 11.cK) a.m till 2 p.m., and were locked m their cells, which were very dimly lighted from without, from 4 p.m. to c .a.m. This solitary confinement for so many hours cruelly tried men. Punishment for breaches of the prison regulations was solitary confinement and a diet of bread and water. He had seen nothing of the provisions for bathing. Qn Sunday he had seen prisoners in the yard and they had presented a horrible sight, with their pallid faces, their cropped hair and their hideous prison garb. For exercise, men were forced to walk in rings in the yard, which was merely an aggravation of the general treatment accorded to them. He believed, though he had not seen them, that boys were imprisoned there, and that classification meant that they occupied cells which were unlighted except by candles. Most of the men in gaol were poor men and many of them were there for offences against property. The treatment meted out to these offenders seemed unfair, as men with means, by payment of fines, retained their freedom. It could not be otherwise than that class consciousness should be aroused. He strongly opposed the principle of indeterminate sentences as long as the present' punitive measures were the only ones adopted' by the State. He also felt very keenly that the methods taken for the identification of prisoners were so crude that they were a degradation and an offence against the self-esteem of the prisoner. They emphasised too painfully the fact that the prisoners were expected to return. The generally accepted principles for the retention of wrongdoers were—(l) For the protection of society and (2) for the reform of the criminal. Lyttelton Gaol satisfied neither of these 'requirements.'ll If a. man long immured there returned to society no worse for his detention it was due to the innate goodness of human nature As a matter of fact, the treatment was calculated to make a man feel a cruel sense of his isolation from his fellows and brood on thoughts of malice, Hatred and revenge, which meant degradation of the criminal and boded ill to. society.