MAORI FUNERAL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 229, 27 September 1930, Page 10

MAORI FUNERAL.

ATTENDED BY PRISONER. OBJECTION IN PARLIAMENT. "A CUSTOMARY PRIVILEGE." «V (By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, Friday. The case of a Maori prisoner who was; released from gaol and took a prominent part in the funeral of tlie late Sir Maui Pomare at Waitara for several days was raised in tlie House to-day by Mr. W. J. Poison (Independent/ Stratford), during ■■consideration of the Police Estimates. Tliere was, lie said, a considerable; amount of-local feeling on the subject.Tlie prisoner bad been convicted of ■'embezzlement and lie'flaunted himself: in front of,tlie people responsible for getting him sentenced a'nd caused tliein. great annoyance. He understood that all" prisoners . ; were : released to attend funerals of relatives, and, that, they had; an escort. In tlie present'case the member. and a number of other-persons could; not see any escort. Hecould notunder- 1 stand, a, prisoner being released for four or five days to attend a funeral. Mr... F. Langstona (Labour Waimar-. ino): It would do him good. ; . Mr. Poison: The man was sentenced for a serious crime, and there was-great difficulty in bringing it home to him. I have no sympathy with tlie wrongdoer, and I think prisons are for punishing prisoners, not pampering tliem. The Ho'n. J. G. Cobbe, Minister of Justice, replied that the matter was a prisons, not a police affair, but* he would deal with it. He believed some : individual has been pursuing tlie ques-j tion a good deal. There was an important funeral, and the relatives of a late; honourable Minister wished, that, tnis particular prisoner should have -the: opportunity of attending. He was allowed to do so u'nder escort, and- the practice was 'not. to .send, a .policeman,but an escort in private clothes who' would hot be too- obtrusive. This was ! done in'the. present case, and it would have been a great hardship to the relatives of the deceased if the privilege had not been-given. The Minister added.that, he was not aware,that the release had lasted four or; five days. ; He hardly thought this privilege was the sort of thing any member could object to. ."I know," he concluded, "that & certain individual in Waitara has been..pushing this thing on." -.; ; ; - -