A PRINCE OF PRISONERS.

NZ Truth, Issue 170, 19 September 1908, Page 5

A PRINCE OF PRISONERS.

REMARKABLE TREATMENT OF

A. C. ELLIOTT.

A Swindler's Sojourn m the

Nick.

A Word to the Gaol Authorities.

The treatment, of prisoners m New Zealand gaols is a matter m which this paper has, and will- ever evince, a great interest because, it is only by wholesale and wholesome, and m some quarters regarded- as unwnolesome, / publicity, that gaol authorities are made to feel that they are not V a law unto themselves, but individuals who are ever liable 'to render an account of their stewardship to their masters— the public. Moreover, clear, honest daylight on the management, of our prisons should be invited, welcomed, and not shunned. Publicity ' m the years that haye. gone has ; helped more than all the mag ' m Parliament to remodel and- reform the penal system m the English-speaking world, though, sad •to say, the lessons of the past have often 'been' lost on many who, clothed m .the garb of authority., haye vainly imagined \ that none would dare "to question -Hbeir supervision. Abuses continue to creep m 'the management of bur gaols. 'Even m the "nick" there are class dis.tinctiGns. The man who has influence and wealth without, who has a pull somewhere, who has been mercifully treated by a Judge on account of previous intense respectability, is treated m. gaol with marked .favoritism. Marked m this respect : -their; /lives, the; daily monotony behind bars or under the supervision; of an armed .warder, is strangely different to the" poof v friendless wretch, who,, perhaps from Want, driven to desperaticn by {the : pangs of hunger, the victim^ maybe, of unscrupulous detectives or policemen, committed some serious crime, and on jwhora '. • . THE GATES OF MERCY seem to be for ever closed. /Indeed, were it not that "Truth" is not at. all given to sickening, sentimentalismj it could glow- and '■ grow ' quite eloquent on this matter, but it prefers, however, to be plain, blunt, arid, it necessary, brutally truthful.' Criminals .are sent to gaol for punishment, and the faint idea is always entertained of their reformation. True, i gaol-life m New Zealand just inqw: is not exactly a bed of roses, but it has . improved. Every inducement is held out to the inmate to reform/ and "Truth" further ventures the assertion that -■ the life on such a p^nai settlement, as Waitapu is conducive to, the reform of . the prisoner. „. There strict discipline is maintained,- but ' the prisoner has the benefit of. free, outside life. He is not restricted to a hum-drum monotonous .existence/ He is allowed to play cards,

to smoke, to pursue' any useful . hobby r; he is taught a ttade. But the fact that he is the Law's prisoner is ever impress-

Ed upon him. Whether the gaol taint ,vvill permeate him when he is a free man once again is a niatter "Truth" does hot wish to dwell upon. The inmates; of these establishments are generally good conduct prisoners, mostly young ,men, whose ultimate redemption is , not despaired . of. Some of them have been harshly sentenced, some/ of them perhaps deserved it, but .none are favorites, and it is oh the question of favoritism that ",T,ruth" is going to deal. Now,, this' paper has seldom been backward ' '•/ IN RAISING A .HOWL

when it was discovered that some prisoners, were being treated with a partial-, ity and a tenderness and a respect that ■ teemed altogether foreign toua penal sys-> tern. Moreover, -we ' have unwittingly, too, hurt those who, thcugh innocent, were! unfortunate enough to) he related to t'e favored "crook." J In prison there should be no distinctions, and as long as Ihe prison authorities continue .to display. a suspicious favoritism to. one prisoner against .another,.. so long will ithis paper, at anyrate>' continue to protest. It is not so very long ago that that .arch scoundrel and 1 craven cur, Albert Clarence Elliott, received a three years' sen- I tence for fraud and theft , and wholesale swindling, his depredations' running into live, figures. He -robbed rich and poor, widow and orphan alike. He spared nobody, but he howled for mercy when m the dock, .and the ridiculously lenient sentence of three' years' imprisonment was' passed by a Judge, who seemed / to have more ' regard for Elliott's ' respectii.ble past than he had for the magnitude of his crimes. From the .very onset Elliott was treated wish markefl civ r ility. The * pclicei called him "Mister." He Had a. clean cell and clean bedding and got coffee 'with his breakfast. .He was duly committed for trial )'. there was the usual profuse shedding of crocodile tears, and,: now we come.to^his life m prison. This/ champion crook,- the bilker of men, Women and, children, is located at i the Terrace Gaol; / He was sentenced to hard <labqr; He is now a sort of clerk. He "works" regular hours. 'He lives on the best; He is, to all • intents and -, purposes, a free agent, excepting that ac is barred from . GOING* INTO TOWN, tie is looked up to and almost revered, and whether or not there is any foundation for; the: assertion "Truth" cannot tell, but it is alleged that he is ..even jailed Mister . Elliott. Anyhow, he* lives iilte a fighting cock. He is a sort of prince of prisoners, and, naturally enough, being pampered and petted as 'he is, he looks down m contempt on the common hjsrd. of crook, whose crimes feink into: significance compared with those of Elliott., True, this land, agent swindler is m gaol, where, 1 he is "expiating" his crime, but what this paper wants to kiiow is the reasons, or the reasons actuating Gaoler Armstrong m treating Elliott just as if he were a distinguished/ visitor. It' has become too strong altogether. Durfag the past few weeks representations hay been * made to this journal that Elliott's treatment compared to Hhat of other 1 pris^^ is a, scandal, "far be', it from "Truth" advocating that Elliott; or any other -bird," '(.liould be ; treated 'to ; a ; brutal * dose of *h:ird toir, 1 birt 3 whefr' distractions are^ being made. without a regard to , the decent _qnd impartiajt, management of a gaol then t ii is time' |onijethijig was said, m the niatter and /the . attention of the public ,'ffrawn -tb/iti-' , Elliott's, lenient sentence, the all-rpiiild re"spes tendered to , him, is .foreign tb,''pur^ idea ' of, Jfistjce^, because itetc are. better.; men ' than: this skunk in' durance vile, "who are taught, m gaol,

< WHAT HARDr LABOR MEANS. When these poor devils are released they will be tracked and spied upon' and pushed when they appear to be slipping. But not so Elliott, he will come out from gaol, swindler and sharper that' he is, ready to mix m cleatf society, and no doubt reidy to t^fee everybody down again. We 'have said enough on this matter to explain wbat we meant when we declared a tew monihst back that jvery display of marked favoritism m g,aol would be promptly dealt with m ihese columns- We have staying powers and the gaol authorities ought to be made acquainted' with that fact.

Apparently Juagtr S^lnr has had the impertinence to insert a strike clause m the Canterbury '-Shearers' award, which makes a Uniort "responsible for any ifrefeponsibJe small section that may cause a Klrike. the effect of said strike being to make an award inoperative; A judge may administer the law as he finds it, and administer it darned badly too, hut this is the first time a Judge has had the astounding nerve to : make a new !i>w off his own bat, or horsehair wig. -ilu has affirmed a new and vital principle m his strike clause, and if he is going to make the future laws of the country, we might as well sack Parliament while there is a general election ■m What docs Joe Ward, think of this Jatriifc !»;>Tik of Fat's principal representative on the Arbitration Court.?