PRISONS, PRISONERS, AND PRISON CAMPS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 13055, 21 December 1905, Page 7

PRISONS, PRISONERS, AND PRISON CAMPS.

Sir, — is perhaps permissible for an out- I sider to say a few ■words- in endorsement, of your suggestion that a Royal Commission j should be appointed to inquire into the pri- j son administration of the colony. Only the inquiry must .bo thorough and impartial. The easeto quote historic words—for in- i tervention is overwhelming, and tho longer j an inquiry is delayed so much the better it ( will be for anarchy. Recent events in Mount Eden and Waiotapu are merely indications of, a general discontent (amongst prisoners and officers alike) at the maladministration of tho prison service generally. The prisoners are discontented (and justly so) at tho way extraneous influences are brought to bear in order to secure a mitigation of sentence and relaxation of rules and discipline in the cases of prisoners possessing either political or financial influence, or both. The officers are discontented at the way prisoners are permitted to set at defiance the prison regulations and breed incipient mutiny by such defiance. The task of a prison officer is a hard one, requiring as someone has said, " the innards of a saint with the head of a Socrates," but in the absence (happy absence . some think) of such qualifications it may be said that the prison service generally is officered by men conscientiously endeavouring to do their duty as God gives them to see it. Like all other human institutions it is not perfect, and contains a sprinkling of fools, and others of quito a different- order. And it, is just precisely { these "fools and others," in conjunction j with evil-disposed prisoners, who cause all, or nearly all, the mischief. No good end can be served (at present) by enumerating the many frightful examples" of prison maladministration that recur to one, when writing on a subject liiko the present. "'Suffice it to say that ample material exists for presenting not only the prisoners' side of the question, but-also that of the officers, and that if ever a Royal.Commission is appointed, with serious intentions of solving the problem, some startling revelations are likely to be made. Somewhere (pigeon-holed in Wellington I suppose) there aro two documents, which might prove interesting reading. Together they form a scathing indictment of tlio Waiotapu system. One of these documents is in the form of- 1 a letter to the inspector of prisons, and tho other is a petition addressed to Ilis Excellency tho Governor. Either (or both) of these documents was suppressed, and I am informed that all attempts to institute- an inquiry into the truth (or otherwise) of the contents have been steadfastly opposed by the authorities in Wellington. One can only ask why. The mon it) the " bier gaols"- referred to by Mr. Budd in his letter of to-day, have little to f rumble at regarding the extra remission of 26 days per annum, when it is remejuibered that each prisoner at a tree-planting camp turns out 20 minutes earlier, and returns to prison 20 minutes later daily, to and from work. A little arithmetic will thus i satisfy Mr. Budd that his conclusions are based on wrong premises. A reclassification of all prisoners is imperatively necessary. The present system, or rather want, ,of system, tends to a heartless and degrading crushing out" of all individual resource, in old and young alike. Together all are judged by one standard, like that of the laws of the Modes and Persians—the educated and the ignorant, the epileptic and the weak-minded, tho first offender overcome by sudden temptation and the old and hardened criminal, are put in this crucible, and turned out. Can it bo wondered at if the amalgam is worthless? Just a word in conclusion. Let every citizen who lias the well-being of the colony at heart see to it that a Royal Commission of fearless men, with clear intellects, clean hands, and honest hearts is appointed to inquire into this matter, and without unnecessary delay. Lot there be 110 delusions in this matter. ' The prisons of the colony cannot be partly under gaolers and partly under politicians. No compromise is possible without weakening responsibility and creating confusion. Let every particle of evidence adduced be sifted, and each recommendation he carefully considered by the light of knowledge and experience, and only adopted if it is clear that it constitutes an advance and not a retrogression in the path of prison reform. X. December 2, 1905.