MOUNT EDEN GAOL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15560, 18 March 1914, Page 9

MOUNT EDEN GAOL.

WARDERS' HOURS CF DUTY.

REPLY TO COMPLAINTS

STATEMENT BY MINISTER.

[BY TELEGRAPH. ASSOCIATION. ]

Wellington, Tuesday. Thb Minister for Justice (the Hon. A. L. Herdman), interviewed to-day regarding a, statement that there is discontent amon? the warders in the Auckland prison regarding hours of duty and other matters., stated that the remarks alleged to have been made by warders whose services have recently been dispensed with %re cither inaccurate or misleading. Recent inquiries had shown beyond question that there is no general discontent amongst the officers employed in Mount Eden prison. Among them, as among all bodies of men, there are occasional differences that -.require adjustment. Recent investigations into the affairs of Mount Eden gaol resulted in tho dismissal of an officer who is probably one of those referred to as having " thrown up his position."

Ot'aer officers again, who are found unfit for their work as prison warders, are sometimes "allowed to resign," and this, of course, sometimes leads to statements of the kind now being dealt with. In regard to the alleged discontent about the hours worked by the men on night duty, Mr. Herdman pointed out that although these men were nominally on duty from 5.30 p.m. to 7.50 a.mu, the night watch consisted of two men, each of whom had five hours pleep during that time, In any case this duty was taken in rotation, and no officer was called upon to do night duty for more than a fortnight in every five months. The statement that warders were required to work from nine to ten hours a day, the Minister added, was quite misleading, as it would indicate that that was the average time per day worked by each warder all the year round. This «'»« far from being the case, even during the summer months, while in the winter, work ceases one hour earlier, and the staff, of course, gets the full benefit of this concession. Comparison with prisons in Other countries showed that the hours worked in New Zealand were less than tiose worked elsewhere.

Another mis-statement made (said Mr. Iferdman) was in regard to the number of ■warders that were employed to look after 300 prisoners. As a matter of fact, {he number of male warders employed in the prison is 40 (not 38, as stated), and the average number of male prisoners they are called upon to supervise is 260 per day, not 300.

Mr. Herdman wither stated, in reference to the highly-coloured statements about, the night-watch officers' room being infested with vermin, that it was only quite recently that any complaint in this direction was made to the Department. An inspecting officer immediately inquired into this matter and, on finding" that vermin had occasionally been seen in the room in question, instructions were e-iven that a room in the main stone building •was to be prepared at once for the officers on night duty, and that the quarters hitherto u&ou were to be entirely abandoned.

It- wins strange," concluded the Minister, "that when I visited Mount Eden gaol at the beginning of the year rio complaint was made to me. I Vent over the prison with the gaoler, and I certainly formed the opinion that trie institution was managed admirably, and that sverything was working quite smoothly."