DIGNITY IN PRISON

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21296, 24 September 1932, Page 3 (Supplement)

DIGNITY IN PRISON

TRIBUTE TO LORD KYLSANT COURTESY AND RESTRAIN!. \ i t • A tribute to the dignified bearing of Lord Kylsani, who was released from prison on August 18, is paid in an article in the Daily Express by a "Fellow Prisoner," who was released a few days earlier. The writer says: " Those who were associated with Lord Kylsant during his term-will ever remember his quiet, dignified mien and restraint. Particularly his restraint, for that is the one thing which all prisoners occasionally lose. There are times when the best disciplined mind seems almost to crack •beneath -the deadly monotony and bloodlessness of the system; when the strain becomes almost insupportable. "When these limes overtook smaller men, the -cheerful •*smile and courteous kindliness -of Owen 'C6sby Phrlipps, No. 2715, reinspired that hope which enables the prisoner to carry on. Quietly .he went about his allotted task, walking to and from the prison hospital for his meals and to sleep, calmly and without any air of grandeur, stamping anri numbering books in the prison iibrary. "At times he could be drawn out and would talk of his great enterprises, of amalgamations and company flotations running into millions, of the purchase of the whole of the surplus British shipping after the war by word of mouth and without written contract, ot the gradual acquisition, piece by piece, over a period of years, of the ereat biock of city propetty where Royal Mail House now stands, of his rise from a Glasgow clerk to the greatest controller of shipping the world has ever known, of the creation of the Welsh Church Fund, of his political life and his entertainment as a private citizen of priirces of the blood royal. Little wonder, perhaps, that they could not strip his mind nor. bow his head. ."Always the proud, upright carnage— I always the firm, resolute countenance and j the encouraging smile. And he is 69. I If nobility of life is the true criterion-of the nobleman, then he proved himself to be so during these months."

Before leaving the prison, Lord Kylsant shook hands .ivitli the governor and with several of the warders }». whose charge he had been during his nine months' stay, in the prison. As the car driven by Lady Kylsant, pulled up outside his Ex>ndon home, Lord Kylsant- stepped out and hurried into the house, followed by his wife. He left shortly afterward for his home at Coomb, Wales.

There were scenes of enthusiasm when Lord and Lady Kylsant reached Coomb later in the day. Tenants on tho .'.estate had gathered to give Lord Kylsant a welcome. During the night a triumphal arch of laurel and evergreen had been built over the gales by the Rev. D.iv:d Williams, the vicar of Llanybri, with the help of some tenants. A vivid red sigU bore the inscription, " Welcome home. No sooner had the car reached the gateway than the surge of the crowd made its progress utterly impossible. Long .ropes were quickly fastened to 'he front of it, Mid forty men drew it at rnnning pace about a quarter of a mile to the entianco to the mansion. Lord Kvlsant, whose family name is Owen Cosby Phuiipps, was formerly_diwrman of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. He was found guiltv last..>car and sentenced to twelve nionths impr*s ment iii.fhe second division of issuing a prospectus intended to ,m»v. lead investors.