PRISON REFORM. I

Evening Post, Volume LXVVII, Issue 36, 12 February 1909, Page 6

PRISON REFORM. I

The new Minister of' Justice has lost no time in acquiring a first-hand acquaintance with some of the most important functions of his department, as thj interesting interview which we were j able to public yesterday testifies. Our j prison system is still, to a very large I extent, in the barbarous stage, but they(e v ( tendency is in the right direction, and*' 1 Dr. Findlay is evidently prepared to hasten the evolution of humaner u-ud more rational methods. During the last few days he has been visiting the camp at Waiotapu, where prisoners ajje engaged in tree-planting. He has person- 1 allj listened to their complaints and ! criticisms, and he has kept an open eye J for the merits of the systejn. and for ' the improvements that may "be needed, i The general result of his enquiries is highly encouraging. The camp is doing an excellent work, ar/d suggests that the principles which make it a success may be wisely extended to other branches of prison administration. The intrinsic value of tha work which is being accomplished a* Waiotapu would, if it stood alone, sapply a strong recommendation of the system. Instead of spending their time on the treadmill or in the picking of oakum, or in enforced idleness, after the fashion that once held sway, the prisoners at Waiotapu are transforming the face of a desolate country and supplying us with an asset of great beauty and commercial value. j Last year they planted over ten million trees, and "at this rate," says Dr. FindI lay. "in a few years the somewhat bare and unattractive landscape between Ro- ! torua and Waiotapu will be a continuous forest of fine trees." The work already extends for miles, and on a pure- | ly commercial basis is, in the Minister's opinion, "more than paying for itself." But while the prisoners are thus doing a great work for the country and counteracting to some extent the baneful process of forest-destruction which is raising a serious problem all over the civilised world, they are doing something still better for themselves. The surroundings are healthy, the four-bunked huts of the camp are abodes of freedom and luxury compared with the barrack life of the large prisons, and the work is wholesome and interesting. Health and hope are the great assets which the prisoner acquires for himself while he is at the same time doing a good turn for the country. Nor is the incentive of fear lacking. Just because of the superior attractions of camp life, its privileges are reserved for good-con-duct prisoners, and a man who does not continue to behave well knows that the result will be a return to the more irksome discipline of the prison. The success of this valuable experiment has conI vinced Dr. "Findlay that a wider applicaj tion of its principles should be made. | He considers that "our whole present prison system requires extension along the lines of reformative rather than punitive treatment," and we hope to see nis idea taking practical shape in the near future. While in the North, the Minister of Justice also visited the Salvation Army's Home for Inebriates on the island of Pakatoa, in the Hauraki Gulf, and he gives the management a very high character. The chief difficulty appears to be the legal one as to the term of treatment. Different magistrates have differ- ! ent ideas, and the wisest of them cannot really say in advance whether a two years' or a one year's term will meet any particular case. Clearly the case is one for applying the principle of the indeterminate sentence. "In my opinion," says Dr. Findlay, "the function of the committing magistrate should be confined to that of ordering the detention of the inebriate at the Home, leaving the period to be decided by those who have charge of him upon proper examination by medical or other experts." This is good sense. Who attempts to fix beforehand the precise period for which an ordinary patient shall remain in a hospital? Yet in the case of the inebriate a fixed term is even more absurd, since it precluded the operation of the moral motive to reform which can have no operation in an ordinary ailment. If the indeterminate p>rincipl)e and the power to release on probation are applied to the treatment of inebriates, the chances of success with these very baffling cases will be greatly improved.