AUCKLAND ROTARY CLUB.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 96, 24 April 1928, Page 11

AUCKLAND ROTARY CLUB.

WEEKLY LUNCH MEETING.

ADDRESS ON "THE CRIMINAL."

There was the usual full attendance at yesterday's meeting of the Auckland Rotary Club, the president, Mr. W. j. Holdsworth, in the chair. Amongst visitors present were:—Messrs. H.. C. Bartley (Sydney), W. J. Foster (Melbourne), F. M. Keesing (Palmerston North), J. D. Smith (Hamilton), R. W. Hansard (Napier). The chairman stated that the club's annual meeting would be held on May 21, and a nomination committee was set up. He read a letter from the District Governor, Rotarian Charles Rhodes, which stated, inter alia, that next year's District Governor would be Sir Alexander Roberts. He also urged that New Zealand should be represented by delegates to the Pacific Rotarian Conference to be held in Tokyo in October.

The speaker of the day was Rev. Chandler, of the City Mission, and chaplain of Mount Eden Prison, who chose as his subject "The Criminal."

There were various types, said the speaker, of which the political criminal was the highest. The instinctive criminal was the kind who was selfish in the extreme and was completely anti-social. The passionate criminal was the murderer and strange to say he was usually the best type of man in the gaol. The murderer was often one whose balance had given way under violent stress of his nature, frequently from circumstances related to sex.

The occasional criminal was one who might be weak and committed crime to help himself out of a hole. He was created by the State into an habitual criminal. He (the speaker) knew the difficulties of dealing properly with criminals on reformative lines. It was difficult to segregate effectively, and failure of our prisons in this respect had a good deal to do with the manufacture of habitual criminals.

Talking of types, he said that he had noticed that blue eyes and fair complexions were characteristic in gaols, but bald-headed criminals were rare.

Social criminals were the inevitable pioduct of the failures of our social system. He ! urged Rotarians to look at criminals from the humane angle, and use every opportunity to help the inmates of our prisons by visiting them and in other forms of encouragement.

A crying need in our prisons was a freer hand for ministers and for Christian men. He would like to see as warders men who had the educational faculty and the reforming spirit. At the conclusion of the address a hearty vote of thanks, moved by Rotarian Padre Cruickshank, was carried by acclamation.