LIFE HISTORY OF AN “HABITUAL.”

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7355, 6 February 1911, Page 1

LIFE HISTORY OF AN “HABITUAL.”

HOW HE WAS DORN INTO CRIME

MEETS HIS FATHER FOR THE FIRST TIME IN GAOL. EARLY GRADUATION TO PRISON. My soul is hungry to know what homo is:, and to mix with respectful people. It is with these tragic words that Charles Ronald Macpherson, an habitual criminal now serving sentence in New Plymouth gaol, in a covering letter to Mr Justice Coopey, tells the story of his life that must make -people think hard of prison methods old and new. His case is now engaging the attention of the Minister of Justice. Macpherson was sentenced hy Mr Justice Cooper to six month’s imprisonment with hard labour at Christchurch on Mary 13th, 1910, for theft from the Spiritualists’ Church, Christchurch, and declared an habitual criminal. Ha admitted the following previous convictions:— Ballarat, housebreaking—sentence, three months; Ballarat, theft, eighteen months; Sandhurst, theft, twelve months; Melbourne, theft from the person, five yeans; Sydney, garrotting, twelve years; Pietermaritzburg, housebreaking, three years; Johannesburg, house - breaking, four months; Johannesburg, house-breaking, twelvemonths. In a verbal statement tba accused made to his Honor on that occasion, he said his father was a criminal; his mother he had never known. The first knowledge he had erf his father was during one of his terms of imprisonment in Pentridgo gaol, when he found that a long-sentence prisoner, with whom he was working in a gang there, was his own father. “CAUGHT YOUNG.”

“The written statement of his life np to the time I sentenced him is very, interesting," says Mr Justice Cooper in placing the documents before the Minister. “I have no reason to doubt, the truth of the matters referred to Th'jg man was born oi 5 criminal parents, he has newer had a mother's care, his com father led a criminal life, and from the time he was two and- a half years old until he was thirty-two years of he was practically always under restraint. 'From the time ho attained nine years of age, with the exception of the time he was serving in South Africa under General Buller and the Marquis of Tulle* bardine, he led a criminal life and w'as, with brief intervals, always in gaol. His case seems bo me to be an object lesson establishing the'utter failure of , the old. system of treatment in. other English communities of neglected children and of juvenile and adult criminals. This man was ‘caught young/ . He was, when the State -first obtained control of him, barely able to walk and talk—an infant a little over two years old. With a humane and intelligent system of training he might have been educated to a life of morality and have become a useful member of society. He is really a ‘manufactured' criminal. I believe the reforms you have introduced into this Dominion in the new method of treatment of unfortunates who have been bom into this world handicapped, as this man seems to have been, from the time of birth will in the future result in the salvation of many who, otherwise, if treated under the old system, - would become, as this unfortunate man has become, miserable creatures, menaces to the community, and without hope in this world. I-com-mend his statement to you as one worthy of consideration, and affording a typical instance of the utter failure of the old system of criminal treatment. I, of course, cannot make any recommondation. H ask you to forward the statement to tiie board for its investigation and consideration. As it is a ‘human document,' and on© which must be of great interest to you to peruse, X send it in the first instance to you."EARLY EXPERIENCES STARTING WITH A HANDICAP. Macpher&on tells his story: I was born in August, 1887, at Ballarat, Victoria., When I was two and a half years of age I was sent to the industrial school for seven years for being a neglected child. There were in the same school between five and six hundred children the same as myself, sixty or seventy 'being under the care of an attendant and his wife. The whole*of their time was taken up with their duties, seeing that, we were kept clean, and carrying out the rules of such a big establishment. There were nine other large wards the same as the one I was in, each having an attendant and his wife. Therefore, they had no time to hear our little troubles as children always have, and as long as we obeyed the rules that was all that was required of us. The result was that we grew up with a cold nature, never l knowing what a mother's love was or a father's care; cut off from home influence, which has a great deal to do in anyone's character "as ho grows up into years of manhood. After having finished the seven years nobody cam© to claim me, and, being too young to be turned adrift, I was readmitted for a further term of six years, making in all thirteen years I would have to serve in the schools until I was sixteen years of age. and which would expire in August, 1883. RAN AWAY. In a big establishment like this there were always new* boys coming in, and us poor, unfortunate children who were reared in the school and knew nothing about the outside world, were only too eager to listen to the stories we were told about the big cities and what they had seen. _ There was nothing to prevent us running away, which was an everyday occurrence, chiefly by the bigger boys. When I was. twelve’ years of age X ran away with a new boy who was just admitted. and was found by the police sleeping under a house. I was charged with * vagrancy at the court in Collingwood. a suburb of Melbourne, and received a sentence of twelve months* imprison. 1 ment in October. 1579, being then twelve; years of age, this being my first offence J

according to my record. I was taken to the Melbourne Gaol and allowed to mix with the men who were waiting to be transhipped to the penal establishment called Pentridge. On my admittance there I was put among the other boy offenders in the' gaol. I remained there for some months, when one of the visiting officials one day seeing me, being a very small boy, asked what I was in gaol for, and being told, said there must bo a mistake somewhere. Two days after some official interviewed me, and- asked me where my mother was. I told him I did not know. The officials up till then did not know that,l had run away from the industrial school. TO THE REFORMATORY.

I then told the official I had run away from the school. Two days after the interview' I was sent to the head office of the Industrial Department. The. official thought if they sent me back to tire industrial school with nry gaol experience I might do a lot .of harm, so they sent mo to the reformatory for juvenile offenders. It was there that I saw crime in its worst form, crime I never saw in the industrial school or thought existed until I saw it in tho reformatory. I remained in the reformatory until January, 1882, when I ran away with another boy who had just been admitted. We were chased by the school officials, who were in a horse and cart. When they left the cart to catch ns we threw stones at the horse, so that they had to leave us to catch the house, and we got away, losing one another in the chase. Next morning I saw a hut, and being hungry, X saw some bread on the table. I opened the window to get some. It was then I saw some clothes hanging on the wall, and having the school uniform one, I took the clothes and put them on, so that I would not be known. So little did I know about crime then, I left the school uniform in the hut with my name on it. I then got work on a farm for a week, w-hen they found out that I had run away from the reformatory, and handed me over to the police to bo taken back. SENT TO GAOL. On being taken to the lock-up I was charged with breaking into the lint and stealing the clothes I had on, and, assaulting two of tho reformatory officials. I received three months for the assault, and was sent to the high court for breaking into the hut. After waiting in the trial yard among the mem, I received three months’ hard labour. I was then fourteen years of age, this being the first crime in my life till then. T was sent to the penal establishment. Pentridge, Melbourne, from Ballarat gaol. When my sentence was finished I was sent back to the reformatory to finish my terra, with a further gaol experience. I remained there a month wheu I ran away again, and stole a suit of clothes from tire school store; was arrested two days. , after, wearing the clothes, and was sent for trial. X. was put in the same waiting trial yard again among the men for three months, and then received eighteen months’ hard labour, being then a little over fifteen years of age. I was again, sent from Ballarat gaol to Pentridge, and put among tbo juvenile offenders. When I had done throe months the gaol officials tried an experiment to see if tho boys could do pick and shovel work, so they sent twenty of the strongest boys, I being one, to a country gaol called Maryborough, to make a lagoon. Besides ,us boys there were/ twenty men, there being no distinction made between the men or the boys, all being allowed to mix together; we hoys w r er6 allowed tobacco, the same as tie men. y A “FREE BOY”—FRIENDLESS.

After having . been- there thirteen months, I was discharged in February, 188 b being then a little over sixteen years of age. I was discharged a free boy for the first time in my life. I was turned adrift, no home to go to, no friends to take me in hand, no work to go to, an entire stranger to the outside world, with a pound in my .pocket—the first money I ever had in my life. What was I to do? I was lost in the new life I had to face—no one to advise me what to do, without a character, branded a gaol-bird. I was in a helpless position—accustomed to .school and gaol routine, to discipline, to obedience all my life, my individuality suppressed, my wits dulled, to fight my fellow-men in the world I had just entered. Suddenly launched into a condition of things the very opposite to what I had been used to, dazed at the activity about me, unaccustomed to exercise my individuality and use my brains, •I drifted to the people I only knew—those I had mot in gaol, taking the line of least resistance, and almost unconsciously drifted into a life of crime not from choice. The result was that I was in trouble again after having been ont of gaol a month. ANOTHER TWO YEARS.

I was tried for stealing a watch, a pistol, and for assault. The magistrate, not knowing anything about my past, only that I had three convictions, gave an© twelve months for the watch, six months for the pistol, and six months for the assault—two years in all. That was in Sandhurst. When I finished the two years, in November, 1885, I was then eighteen years of age, and out of that I had spent nine years in the industrial school, two years in the reformatory, and four and a half years in prison—in all fifteen and a half years under Government control out of the eighteen years of my life, and I was' in the same condition as when I was discharged in February, 1834-, in fact, worse, and the number of my gaol acquaintaces much larger. And so I drifted on into crime, friendless, and alono in the world. FIVE YEARS AND TWELVE YEARS. In 1888 I was arrested for stealing a purse, and received five years. I was* discharged in May, 1822, and went to New South Wales. Still being friendless, and never knowing what it was to be in a respectable house, I drifted to the only people I knew —gaol companions. The usual result was I was soon into trouble again, and the past being brought up against me. I received a long sentence, twelve years' hard labour for being connected in a case of garroting. By good conduct I was discharged at the end of six years, in April, 1892. I made up my mind to go to South Africa, where I would not be known, and away from gaol companions. WITH THE QUEEN'S COLOURS. I landed in South Africa in May, 1899, and went up to Johannesburg, got work in the mines. Then the war broke out, and I had to leave. I went to Capetown and joined the South African Light Horse in November. 1899, and was sent to Natal, serving under General Buller in the relief of Ladysmith and until General Buller was recalled Home in October, 1900. I left the South African Light Horse and received a good character as a soldier. Then I joined the Second Scottish Horse, serving under the Marquis of TuJlebardine for twelve months. I then met with ’an accident

ami was discharged as being medically unlit for further service. I was then a sergeant, and my character on my discharge was marked “exemplary." I was sent to Australia to regain my health, on a small pension, for twelve months, and remained there until August, 1902, having gained the use of my hand again. I then worked my passage back to South Africa in a cattle boat called the s.s. Kilburn, and landed in Durban, October, 1902. Seven days after landing I got work as a wood-turner, which I had learned in gaol, at Shipey and Son, Pietermaritzburg. X remained there until Christmas, 1902. OLD COMPANIONS.

Then, unfortunately, I met some of my old gaol companions from Australia, wno came to South Africa during the war. Instead of having the moral courage to give them a wide berth, we had drinks together, and that was my downfall again, after having made an uphill fight to be an honest man for nearly four years. I had led an honest life — two years fighting for the Mother Country and nearly tw r o years at other work, and then, in a moment of weakness for gaol companions, I got into trouble for breaking into an hotel, for which I received three years’ hard labour in February, 1303. After having served my sentence, X went back to Johannesburg again, got work in. the mines, and tried to pick myself up again. I was doing well for eighteen months, when, througix gaol companions, 1 got into trouble again, and received four months’ hard labour. Then I seemed to have lost all heart, for I got into trouble again, receiving twelve months for housebreaking in August, 1908. It was then that the police found out that 1 had been convicted in Australia. DEPORTED. I was tried for being an undesirable and received two motoths and to be deported, after having ~boeu in South Africa for eleven years. I was sent by the police officials to England,- and lauded there in October, 1909. Being a stranger, and there being thousands of mem out of work, and in winter, what chance had I with only a gaol character ? I didi not give up hope of trying to be honest. I went to the London Prisoners’ Aid Society. I told them I mas hiding nothing about my post life, but was told they could do nothing for me, as I had not been convicted in England. I then went to the New Scotland Yard, but they could do nothing for me. Not to bo beat, I went to the Salvation Army,' and told them all about m,y past. They took mo into one of their homes in London, where I remained until I wrote to the Marquis of Tullebardine, who was my commanding officer during the lata Boer war, asking him to help me to return to AustraliaAEEXVAL IN NEW ZEALAND.

After some delay, I got a job as a trimmer cm. one of tlio Shaw, Savill and Albion Compands boats . as a passage worker, with the intention of going to Anstralia, but being a cargo boat, it went direct to Dunedin, "New Zealand, from England. I was given to understand that .if I worked well I would receive something at the end of the voyage, which lasted nearly two months, leaving England fu January, and arriving at Dunedin at the end of February, 1910. I received my discharge on March Ist, 1910, receiving very .good conduct and very good ability, but did not get a penny. I was therefore landed in New Zealand without a penny in my pocket, and friendless, never being in New Zealand before. To prove that I intended to lead an honest life, I went and explained my case to Adjutant Thnrkettle, of the Salvation Army, hiding nothing about my past life, so anxious was I to get on. He sent me to a labour agent to see if I could get a job. . . . Someone else gob the job, and there being nothing else'going, the' adjutant paid my train fare to Christchurch, to see if I could get a boat at Lyttelton to Australia, and to see Staff Captain Bose at the Prison Gate Home at Addington. I stated my case to him, and he sent me to Lyttelton- For two or three days I tided to got a boat, having a rough time, very little to ejt, and sleeping anywhere, trying to keen myself straight. TEMPTATION AGAIN. Then I .gave way to temptation and got into trouble for stealing a coat from a church. It was then I made a statement to ■•the .police, telling them 1 all about my life. By making this statement I was putting myself in a very bad position, on account of my gaol record. What was the good of my passing as a first offender if I was coming, out of prison no better than when I went in ? But I was determined X would not give up the effort to lift myself out of the past to a brighter future, and to do that I must sacrifice myself in the hope that good might come out of it. And mercy was shown to me on tho ground that all the truth was out about my past life, for since then I am a bettor man, physically, morally and mentally. I believe the turning point of my life has come, and the future to me is bright, for I have nothing to hide. The Salvation Army officials have taken a great interest in my welfare, and are ?uite willing to take me into their home or .two or three years, where I shall bo away from my gaol companions, surrounded by good influences, learn to respect myself, and to learn to know what self-reliance and individuality is. A CHANCE WANTED. Never was a man more anxious to go under any test to prove that he is willing to do all in his power to better his condition in life and live down the past if he is given a chance to go to the Salvation Army Homo. AThen the time came to leave the home. I would be in a position to fight the world, which I never had before, for gaol companions. . . . My soul is hungry to know what home is and to mix with respectful people. CHAELES EONALD MACPHEESON. New Plymouth Gaol, January 1, 1911. THE CRIMES ACT ADMINISTRATION OF THE MEASURE. VIEWS OF THE MINISTER. Asked by a "New Zealand Times” representative regarding the administration of the- Crimes Aqt, the Hon. Dr Findlay (Minister of Justice), who is the author of the measure, expressed the greatest satisfaction at the approval already shown by the judges in their application of the indeterminate sentence. Since the beginning of the year the court has been, empowered to impose one or another of three different kinds of sentence even where the offender has not been previously convicted. They are, first a determinate sentence, second a determinate sentence to be followed by another which is indeterminate, and thirdly, an indeterminate sentence without any previous determinate one. Under the last, no definite sentence is imposed, but the prisoner is

committed to reformative detention, for such, period as -the new Prisons Board deems necessary for his reformation.. The maximum period of detention, howV ever, must not in this case exceed ten, years whx're the Supremo Court passes sentence, or three years where it is imposed by a magistrate. "The first criminal session in Now Zealand began only a few days ago, and yet the value of the Ac£ has alreadybeen shown," said Dr Findlay when his opinion was asked regarding the actual operation of the measure. “Demonstration of this is seen in the number of prisoners committed in Dunedin and Wellington under the new indeterminate sentence, and the fact that the judges, in imposing these sentences, have evinced their appreciation of their value for reformative purposes. No doubt the Act will also be usefully applied by our magistrates who, for the first time in. the history of Now Zealand, are empowered to impose this new indetermin* ate sentence not exceeding three years* in any case where the maximum term of imprisonment fixed by Law exceeds three months. When both judges and, magistrates are applying the new system, wo will have a wide operation and trial of its efficacy.’* “The case of Macpherson/’ said the Minister, “is one which is full of significance and interest to me. It reaches mo officially, and for that reason, and because I* find the judge has no objection, I make it public."