PRISONS DEPARTMENT AND PRISONS BOARD.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20334, 5 September 1931, Page 11

PRISONS DEPARTMENT AND PRISONS BOARD.

TO T.HE EDItCm OP THI! I>BESS. Sir, —I was sorry to read in to-day's Pp.ksß Mr. Itobt. -M. Xtafng's letter on "Prisons Department and Prisons Board," as I think that his criticism is destructive, and his remedy veiled and uncertain. Certainly he uses n few, high-sounding terms and phrases, but he offers no solution to tho problems he accuses the Prisons Department and Prisons Board of failing to solve. To criticise, the prison, warders as having had no training "in the treat' meat of the mind diseased," and as being unable to "give intelligent answers to simple psychological ; and sociological questions," and as being unfitted to carry out "a scheme of training and discipline for the most complicated and difficult of all prob-lems-—the treatment of the twisted and pathological conscience" is both unfair and ridiculous, for what has'that to do with the duties of the warders, who are there to carry Out the rules of the - prison, see to its discipline, and car* for the men in the most efficient and humane possible. That they do this, I can- vouch for on the testimony of discharged prisoners and from personal observation, and I object to Mr Laing's sarcastic innuendo our warders are men of poor education and poor mental qualities, iC.know •mauy. f of

them to he men of high 'intelligence, well read, and well educated, and, moreover, men with kind hearts and of fine moral character. That the warders and' members of our Prisons Board and the staff of -the Prisons Pepartment should be publicly castigated and condemned by Mr Laing because they "do not think as Joe''does along the lines of psychology; and psychiatry Is to my mind u .*bstii i u> and ' I take this opportunity- of- voicing my protest. If, i/Lr, T iamg had any' workable remedy to offer as a solution which, wonld ttxilf banish crime, one *-could', bear with him, but all he can do,is to Offer the' advice that If yOu'wash a pig nicely, train him well, treat him. kindly, dress him in good and comfortable clothes, and' place him in the drawing' room in good and congenial society, he will cease to be a pig and become a gentleman.,' He 'takes no cognisance of the fact that a pig is'a pigbocause he has * pig's heart; and a pig's.nature, as , well as a- pigV body, and seems to think that if you train the pig's mind and change Ms environment he will cease to be a pig and become* say, a lamb. This is. putting it a bit crudely, parhaps, is just about what it amounts to, as proved by-the fact that Some of the keenest.and most refined of minds and some of the best and. most accomplished' of gentlemen at, -lames commit dime and go to prison/ dot because their ' minds ate diseased) but because their hearts- are sinful. That, Sir, is the -root' principle lying, at the bottom of .all crime—-sitt lis ■ the heart, not disease "Of the mind. , If the mind does become that is, criminally diseased, it is because Bin' has dominion over the heart and mind of the subject, and until theslnful heart is changed by a power from without greater and more potent than the power ,of sin within, the criminal will, always Tj6 a criminal, and no amount of training, nursing,-eduea-tion, psychology, or anything else wiij have any lasting effect on him.—Tottrs, .DOUGLAS A. ADAMS. September 4th, IS3I. '