ALLEGED LAX DISCIPLINE.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 110, 11 May 1909, Page 7

ALLEGED LAX DISCIPLINE.

[By Teleghafh. — Special- to The Post.] ' CHRISTCHURCH, This Day. Some trouble has arisen at the prison . camp at Hanmer. It is. stated that the discipline is exceedingly lax, and some of the prisoners have got out of hand. The foresters engaged in the tree-plant-ing are supposed to assist the warders in maintaining discipline, but they seem to have bpen disinclined to do this. It is reported that f-ome of the prisoners have attended public gatherings, and that they have been photographed in public places, in company with warders. The position is regarded as rather serious. It is expected that Mr. W. C. Kensington, Under-Secretary for Lands, will arrive from Wellington to-morrow, and will go to Hanmer, and' that Mr. 11. W. Bishop, S.M., will also visit the plantation to-morrow to hold an enquiry. "As far as my information goes, and I have made enquiries," said tho Minister for Justice (Hon. Dr. Findlay) to a Post reporter, "the statements in the telegiam are fanciful and exaggerated. Some trouble has arisen in connection with the conduct of one of the warders, and there is some conflict as to the actual facts. I have asked Mr. Bishop, S.M. at Christchurch, to proceed to Hanmer and make a short enquiry and furnish me with a r^tps^"