The New Zealand Times. THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 1910. PRISON REFORM

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7079, 17 March 1910, Page 6

The New Zealand Times. THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 1910. PRISON REFORM

At whatever point it is touched the memorandum upon prison reform issued by the Minister for Justice is fertile of suggestion. "Too many penal institutions," wrote Canon Horsley some years ago, "are simply reservoirs of social sewage where little is done to filter and purify the contents." This indictment of English prisons is as true, to-day as when it was penned. It is truo of the New Zealand prisons. It is extremely doubtful if tho mighty' powers exercised in tho manufacture of criminals by intemperance, idleness and poverty are equally as crime-producing agencies" by the influences of the prison itself. We are not so much concerned just now with demonstrating the need of reform in the treatment of criminals so much as to consider one or two details of Dt Findlay's general plan of readjustment. It must, however, bo insistod that there is necessity, of recognising tho object aimed at by prison reform. The State is not waging war against the criminal, but against crime. War is not declared against mad dogs but against rabies. Tho destruction is a necessary one if proper comprehension is to bo had of modern theories upon this question of Society's relation to the wrongdoer and to crime. The problem narrowed down to the briefest possible compass is this: Having got a delinquent within four walls what shall the State do with him? Unless he is a murderer it is not soing to hang him. He is on Society's hands. The conclusions of experience aro that the chief value of incarceration lies in the opportunity it affords for rational corrective measures, and this we take it is the view upon which the Minister will base Ms application for legislative authority to put his scheme into practical operation. » The point upon which controversy may be expected to centre is the suggested extension of the provisions for indetorminato sentences. The proposal is that in "all proper cases" liberation after serving the time-sentenco fixed by the Court shall depend upon the prisoner being ablo to prove that he is in a position to support himself and can give satisfactory assurance that he is no longer a menace to the peace and order of society." On general principles it seems justifiable to beliove that recidivism can. only bo cheeked by taking the most drastic precautions to prevent the liberation of instinotive criminals or individuals of an inherent immoral bias. But it would be a most tragic blunder to suppose that all offenders aro criminals. Tho really instinctive criminal, the.downright anti-social tiger of the positivist school, ■ constitutes ■ only a fraction of the inmates of prisons, and if this application of tho indeterminate sentence is to bo made a means of treating offenders against tho law in accordance with the needs and safety of tho Commonwealth very great care will require to ' be exercised by the State. Under a wise .system of discrimination and an organisation that will rca.ch beyond the Courts and tho prisons this extension of the indeterminate sentence is to bo welcomed. It is the keystone of a successful Borstal system in England, applied to juvenile offenders, and adapted to the right class of. offenders would assuredly place a dam across one of the streams which go to swell tho main, current of criminalism. Humanity will be studied as much as justice by deflecting tho anti-social instinct away from crime to good citizenship. "Education ia tho foundation upon which the whole man is built" says the author of "Genius and Degeneration," and it is this theory which should govern tho attitude of the State towards those occasional offendera from whom habitual criminals are made. Tho young criminal is almost always an individual of arrested development or one suffering from moral paralysis. Fortunately for tho salvation of tho poor and the erring, human nature has within itself the powers of regeneration and recuperation, and these powers only require assistance to assert themselves. To say that there are extraordinary difficulties in the way of distinguishing tho "proper cases" for the prompt application of provisional detention is only another reason for making effort to overcome these obstacles to a humanitarian duty. "There are crimes of the individual and crimes of Society," says Tallack, • "but the latter are immensely more disastrous than the former." Not the least hideous of them has been the premium placed on recidivication, • • • • • Not the least interesting innovation contemplated by the Minister involves a systematic method of dealing with those poor, wretched creatures

who come within the category of "occasional" and "habitual" drunkards. Hitherto we have had the mournful spectacle of these unfortunate victims of a diseased appetite sent to gaol for a day or two, or a week or two, only to come before the Courts immediately after —their whole life spent in a procession from pot-house to prison. Broken men who make hells of their homes, unsexed harridans who raise Cain in the streets have been treated with a perfunctory indifference to their physical health and the efficacy of gaol as a deterrent. Weary Magistrates have sent them to prison year after year; alert policemen have added up the dreadful record, of "previous convictions" to show how futile all the fining and gaoling has been. Dr Findlay proposes to treat the incorrigible drunk as a problem in path-ology—-to commit him to an inebriate institution. Tho "occasional" is to bo given a qualified parole under which, he will be made to work and keep sober if he desires relaxation of the disciplinary oversight that will' be maintained over him. These proposals wo believe are in the right direction, and the provision for protecting the interests of the offenders' family is to be cordially welcomed. It would make this system more effective if the penalties ' . for stipplying liquor to "oocasionals" on parole were made so substantial that such misplaced benevolence would be not practised twice by the same person.

Under a new. "marks system" it is proposed to credit prisoners with, marks for the performance of certain tasks, these marks having a monetary value. Upon these earnings the relief of a prisoner's dependents will be a first charge. The last annual report of the Prisons Department shows that 6391 • prisoners passed through th» gaols of the Dominion during tho yeaf at a oost to tho taxpayers, after tak. ing credit for work performed, of £3€ 12s 3d each individual. The daily average number of inmates was 553, and it would appear that . they were able to oarn 7s 6d a week each ia "labour for other departments, etc.' 1 Does not this disclose a wooden-head-ednoss beyond comprehension—that this groat number of men can only be maintained by levies being made upon industrious citizens instead of by their own labour? Why is a man in'gaol not able to oarn enough to keep himself and to help support his dependents as well. Tho reply to this guostion has never been satisfactory or even intelligible. We know that a man outside of prison can clothe and feed himself, but not why one who i« able to get food and raiment more cheaply in prison is unable to do so. I Wo should imagine that one of tho most salutary reforms to bo introduced into our gaols would be a system whereby tho people who go to prison would have to maintain themselves. That would bo the first stop m reformation and the best training they could have. It is repugnant to common>-sense that these individuals cannot be usefully employed. If their time is Wasted the opportunities for reform aro discounted. If the Minister for Justice could bring himself to seo that a prisoner who had to earn what ho oats and drinks was, getting the very ' finest lesson in citizenship his scheme of reformatory effort would be even more complete than it is now.