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Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 277, 19 August 1944, Page 6

The economic aspect of prison labour is the subject of some interesting and suggestive information in the annual report of the Prisons Department A good deal of false sentiment has been displayed on this topic. It is with the consciousness of this, no doubt, that the Conrtoller-Geueral prefaces bis remarks on the subject with the observation that while the gearing of the department’s labour force to an industrial organization designed solely for financial gain, regardless of social or humanitarian considerations, might perhaps be better than the old forms of task labour or the crank aud the treadmill, such a policy would by no means accord with current penological ideas. He goes on to say, however, that work that is economically worth while aids the prisoner in building up his sellrespect, and in addition to the beneficial results from-a reformative point of view “the purposeful marshalling of prison labour has made a not insignificant contribution to the national production.” He gives some instances: In the last financial year £47,147 was credited to the Pubi c Account from the sale of farm produce, apart from supplies for the depat tment’s own requirements; 1733 pigs to the value of £64.,1, were bred on the department's farms aud fattened to baconer stage m response to the Gov ernment’s appeal for supplies for the Armed Forces; credits for wool, skins and mutton totalled just under £15,000 from the departments sheepflocks totalling 16,000 head; the State benefited by over £BOOO from the puson oo factories; the returns from quarry metal totalled £15,961. Al ogether the total credits for the year aggregated £99,956, aud the net expenditure £<3T - On the moral side there is no reason to differ from the view y the Controller-General, that worthwhile labour is a definite aid rehabilitation of the individual’s sense of community responsibility.