PRISON REFORM.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 13377, 19 March 1909, Page 4

PRISON REFORM.

OBSERVATIONS BY THE MINISTER FOR JUSTICE. I>r. Findlay, Minister for Justice, passed through Christchurch on his way to Dunedin yesterday, and is to deliver an address upon prison reform at the latter city this evening, during the course of which, it is understood, the Minister will unfold several imI portant details of the policy the Government intends shortly to adopt in dealing with the criminal classes. A •'Press" representative failed to induce the Minister to anticipate his Dunetiin address, but he indicated some at least of the ground that would be covered. Ho said he intended to outline the reformative methods in vogue, and to indicnto as far as possible the policy the Government had followed and intended following, including certain r.ew departures, several of which the Prime Minister had alluded to in a recent address at Auckland. ''Prison reform," the Minii'ter pursued, "lies outride the domain of party politics, and is a subject in which all parties are keenly interested. The regrettable feature, however, is that so little real interest is taken in the- subject, and so little ls known by the general mass of the people about prison life and its effect upon offenders against the law. It is well that the community has men like Mr Georpo Lnurer.scn in its midst. Since I became Minister for Justice, lie has given mc valuable assistance, as well as information, in regard to the working of Lyttelton gaol, while' his intense, enthusiasm has encouraged mc to face the perplexing problem with more, heart. At Dunedin I intend for the first time to give a full account of what- our prison system really is, what the prisoner undergoes in his dnily round, how our system compares with that of other countries, and what -n© must do to bring our system abreast of tho best modern methods pursued in England and America. Tho whole, success of modern prison reform depends mainly upon the reduction of recidivism (second offences). By far the larger number of persons in our gaols have been previously convicted, and especially those who are, imprisoned for serious offences. This object can be promoted only by some rational classification, securing the separation of the habitual and hardened criminals from tho first offenders. The system of indeterminate sentences, although it has only been a comparatively short time in operation, has -worked -well in Xew Zealand, and deserves extension. The youthful and first offenders should have, common gaol life reduced as much as possible, and in order to achieve this end the tree-planting system and the field system must be extended. By the field system I mean agricultural work, vegetable growing, etc. The Prime Minister is taking a keen interest in this question, and his readiness to consider improvements to our prison system has been exceedingly encouraging tc mc."