TREATMENT OF PRISONERS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 65, 17 March 1915, Page 7

TREATMENT OF PRISONERS.

(To the" Editor.) Sir.—"lii the inrrnest held upon the prisoner George, Hariri*, who committed suicide on Thursday in Mt. 'Eden gaol; another inmate 6f the gaol gave certain evidence before the Coroner and juryThis prisoner made certain allegations against a reliable and responsible warder, to wit, the. officer while on night duty failed to bring medical assistance when appealed to by the deceased George Harris, two weeks before his death. This statement was not upheld or corroborated by any other prisoners or evidence of any nature. 1 suggest that an ' n " qiriry should at once be set up to investigate these alleged charges, and if the accusations were proved groundless, which I have no doubt they would be. then adequate punishment should be meted out to the accuser. There are altogether too many slanderous statements made upon the treatment of the inmates of our public institutions, who are for the most part treated too leniently and too comfortably.—l am, etc., J. T. JACKSON. Mr George Hamilton. Ponsonby. also urges that an inquiry should be made into Todd's allegations. He says: "If this sort of treatment of unfortunate prisoners were true, then it is a terrible indictment of the administration of our prison system, anil those responsible should be dealt with in a manner befitting their actions. If there were no truth in the allegations, then the prisoner Todd should in his turn be made to realise that false evidence carries certain penalties. At any rate, the general public have a perfect right to have all allegations of cruelty and neglect probed to the very bottom."