PRISON POLICY.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXVII, Issue LXXVII, 6 June 1919, Page 5

PRISON POLICY.

CHANGES AT WELLINGTON

(by telegraph— phess association ) i WELLINGTON, June 5. ! The Hon. Mr Wilford, in a statement to the press, says he intends t° dp away with the Terrace Gaol, Wellington, the women's quarters or which are out of date and inadequate. The Napier prison has been sold to the Napier Borough Council to be demolished and added to the esplanade reserve, and the Minister also hopes to do away with the Wanganui prison. Cabinet has authorised him to select a central site on the railway route, and a block of 300 acres of mountainous country, swamp land, and a small area of stony ground had been secured in the vicinity of Trent-ham and christened by Mr Wilford "Wi Tako" (named after an old Maori chief at v j |* utt>- The 6oil from the hills had been tested and had produced a brick which the Minister declares is second to none in New Zealand.. Making bricks by prisoners will not interfere with private enterprise, but will £11 the requirements of the Government dapartments.

Mr Wilford states that the land chosen is at present entirely unsuitable for small holdings or settlement of any kind. The site of the proposed camp is a mile from the Heretaunga post office. The entrance, /a- section near the railway, will b e laid out as a garden with a central drive. [Wi Takq did great service to the Europeans in the war. and for many years was a member of the Legislative Council.]