“GAOLBIRDS ARE SOFTER”

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12395, 15 March 1926, Page 7

“GAOLBIRDS ARE SOFTER”

REPORT ON BRITISH PRISONS NERVOUS BREAKDOWNS FASHIONABLE UNEMPLOYMENT MAKES * CRIMINALS By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright (Sydney "Sun” Cable.) LONDON, March 12. The Prisons Report shows that there are 55,619 inmates of prisons, 2597 fewer than the previous year. Maintenance cost £1,034,000. Tho prison regime has been transformed through tho introduction of more humane treatment, interesting work, helpful training, attractive concerts and lectures, and less rigid nules permitting conversation. Already there are good ‘results. It is noteworthy that gaolbirds are better educated than formerly,'but softer, and more inclined to whine. The governor of Dartmoor Gaol says that neurasthenia and nervous breakdowns, formerly rare, are now fashionable, with frequent requests for aspirin, sleeping draughts, and nervt> tonics. The governor of Cardiff Gaol says that unemployment is producing a heavy crop of young prisoners. The governor of Brixton Gaol Bays that they must, sooner or later, in the interests of society, fnco the problem of tho segregation of s-Dxnnl perverts.