REFORM OF PRISONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18458, 23 July 1923, Page 9

REFORM OF PRISONS.

xm — - ■ , ";'..]* "MAKING BETTER MEN." , ; MODERN POLICY'S SUCCESS. AGSICULTURAL PURSUITS. . . -A ..' : V. «■...;■.; X' : THE WORK AT WAIKERIA. [jj(T TELEGRAPH.— CORRESPONDENT.] !|?. ; f v WELLINGTON. Saturday, v '.The activities of the prisons Department and legislation ,for the benefit of prisoners generally, were traversed .by Mr. C. E. Matthews, Controller-General ,' '' ' of Prisons, in the cpurse of an interest~i& ing address before the, Justices of the Peace Association. ?.';■;' 'y The Controller-General : first dealt with 'I ,: the early administration affecting prison-,;' V.* ers in this country, contrasting, former methods with those prevailing to-day. He went on to say it was not until thft \\\ arrival of Colonel Hume in 1880 tha<> !■?;'•''. there was a system of; central control: Colonel Hume had been seat from Eng;i. : land at the request of the Government "■■/' to reorganise the system, and he had pro- ■ . pared a report which laid the foundation ;V : of the'separate cell system. ' The keynot in the old days was punish-, fe' r - ; ment and rigid discipline. The men » >.-. volted, and generally the prisoners "were '. far more difficult to govern than under '% present-day . conditions. Savage attacks on warders and officials were not infre- % '■'■-.: quently reported. , The, old system had gone, and the men -were now permitted "a. '•;'.•■'■ much greater degree of freedom On the retirement of Colonel Hume the new administration laid, down a new policy, particularly regarding tree plant, * ing, which -was carried out on a miicn 'larger scale. This work demonstrated the fact that the men could be trusted. ' Daring the administration of Sir John ;•• Firidlay as Minister for Justice, some 1250 &■' acres were purchased at Waikeria, near , Te Awamutu. "It was purchased from , ' the natives at £2 per acre," said Mr. • Matthews, " but it is worth a great deal mot* than that now." As a result of the prisoners' labour ho considered the farm ' -was now valued at over £20 per acre. The land wast in a good . condition, iind also carried : a herd of . cows as well as crops. For hatter-fat alone the sum of , , £3500 was received last year. The total mm raised by the farm exceeded £6000. ?y\ " Waikeria was the first branching out into what might be called the agricultural policy," declared by Matthews, who taid . that the department then : had turned its attention to Invercargill where excellent j work had been accomplished by young V prisoners. "■"."" Barren : Waste Converted. ¥' The work at Invercargill had dealt with sea swamp land, and, though developI ment had not been completed returns j;"' showed that £5400 had been received ;(;., , from butter-fat and other produce. A M. : total cash return of £7349 had. been re- ':.' ceived from this farm last year. Two " thousand acres had been taken over for f devebprnant. - This area was situated in : : an estuary, and:" consisted of sea-marsh land. A reserve of some 750 acres in the old Waimakariri riverbed, in Conterbury, was t«ksn over in 1914. when the Hon. A. L. : '.-,! "•. Herdman was Minister for Justice. This settlement had now extended to some m?- 1.500 acres. What was formerly a barren • waste had been converted into a very sat- •■"' isfactory farming "propostion. Owing to > lucerne growing ■- it had been '. possible ■. to f establish a milking herd, so that Paparoav fit had also been made interest-bearing. ; . £' : .Mention ■ was made also, of ' road work S V in the Waimarino district, where some 22 } v , miles had been constructed. There was '.: now a. splendid road formation, which ;>:' had opened up a new route to the dis- ;•};>!.- •. tricC ' '.V , - • '.'-■':• Prison Gamp. Activites. ; fe Mr. Matthews also spoke of the work ■-'■; ; at the Bantu prison camp, where land ff ; had been „ cleared and : trees : had been : fc. planted and a good deal of preparation W - work for (settlement had been carried out. '■■. i In this way some 10,000 would in 1 ' : time -be prepared '■':. for production. This was really shortening • the process of land .'■■.. settlement. i'., :?;■•■>*; ;4 $■■': '■ • ;- :: - :: '''-i'-,-''>' :: .!;.;'.."- Y Clearing, work.' badValso been done at Trenthara, where a brick works had been established. There was also a small herd .of .cows these, and root crops had been grown. -' The Point Halswell. reformatory he declared .would compare favourably with" '• any • similar institution in the ,;.-„ world. ~ "[<> \ ':.: ; - v ;. - Mr. Matthews added that at a low esti- '; mate the assets of the State had been increased at Invercargill with prison labour " by 5 £117,000.. -,The total s vsfno of prison ' labour to the State during the last few [i\. years was over £500,000. v -, " . • ;,,'''■"" The Gospel of .Work. ' :,-•-.' The present system was designed to . : treat men as men and, when they came "•: 'out, they were fitted to re-enter the battle; ■of life. The gospel of * work * was? inculcated, 'as it was realised that ife was owing to insufficient attention : to work in ,r; ; the past that many of the men were in . v i''-.,' prison. ' They were given a sense of re- ?. - sponsibility, and did not lose their self- '■!. jv"' respect. The department had i been stead- : i.v ily working to assist the prisonere in .;•; -everyway../', ■'•Attention was paid by the speaker to , the work .of the Prisons Board which, he declared, was of' great. importance. After referring to the educational work undertaken in the evenings, Mr. Matthews said that adequate ' attention was also paid to recreation.. ~ ■ '-•*•' You - might think we" may be doing .;" too much/' he added, "but it is all fin the direction of humanising. They get, a chance to come out better men than when : thay went in. I think that wo are carry- ;•';' ing out our work on sound 6ane and com- . mon-sense lines," he concluded. "We , have been following our heads anoi per- ■ haps sometimes our hearts." {Applause.)