A BRUTAL BASTILE

NZ Truth, Issue 477, 8 August 1914, Page 12

A BRUTAL BASTILE

THE "REFORMING" INFLUENCE OF MT. EDEN GAOL

AN EX-PRISONERS SENSATIONAL STORY.

An= Inquiry Into Prison Administration Demanded.

MOn or about. May 20, 1906, alter; waiting about three.' months m prison' for trial, a young" man, aged about 24 years, named "William Smith, was, at the Auckland Supreme Court, sentenced by Mr. Justice Edwards to 10 years' imprisonment • on charges or breaking and entering and shooting, with intent. At a later date Smith 'es'-^ caped from custody, and for' the"crime" of attempting to gain his freedom 1 he was sentenced to an additional 12 months' imprisonment. On Friday last, ' June 31, Smith was released from" Mt. Eden Gaol. On Saturday, ihe. day following his release, Smith, m pursuance of a determination formed m prison to expose through the columns of "Truth" the wrongs, the brutality, , THE WRETCHEDNESS AND ROTTENNESS of the prison system. of New Zealand,, carao to "Truth" office, Auckland, and, placed before a representative of this newspaper sufficient facts and circumstantial evidence which justifies it in' emphatically calling on the Government to set up a Royal Commission .to inquire into the administration 6f ihe spris^n' system of New Zealand, or, at any rate, to inquire into the manner m which -the Mt.' Eden Gaol, -or, rather, "Inferno," is managed. "Truth" regrets that,; the war; at present is engrossing public attention, nevertheless it hazards an* opinion that- when it is' finished, with \, '-the Mt.OEden "hell,"; somebody or other connected with that fiendish establishment will have -; ; ; \ LIVED -TO REGRET : that he or they forgot his or their common.mauhood, and by his or their brutality, by his or their lack of sympathy for those unfortunate 'enough to. have become prisoners of the State,' have-shown, to the world that the re- | formative system, which is alleged to be m force m the gaols m New Zealand, is a vain,andrfalse pretence, that it is the worst form, of . , ; "HLtfitßUG AND JKYPOGRISY, •that there is. nothing of an uplifting tendency about the system, that it is false and hollow, a sham and a snare.; These, , .admittedly,- are .extraordinary, if mot altogether sensational statements,, yet, for the major part, "Truth" dares, and defies official contradiction. ■. The. pfficial s ' can explain, they can mitigate, they can endeavor ,to blind the publjc to the truth, but m "Truth" office at present' are: to be found the proofs of i what we say, and if there are any prison reformers m this country, "Truth" now xtends to them ithe toyitation . of seeing for themselves I^ttttt a wretched, brutalising, "refoi^miftg'? tthd humbugging system our gaol system, is, or to localise the evil, what ttie° &unt Eden eaoX s ys ten V is. and wJiakit is likely to become if the officials of that gaol are riot keel-hauled ! and made to answer to the public for the gross evils which are growing up and -which* if not now prevented, will lead to greater evils, and will undo all the good which genuine prison reformers .are trying to bring about. It is ever thus. Big-hearted men, with sympathy for '*■; THEIR • CRUSHED FELLOWS work a.nd devote yoars of their lives to the doing of something to redeem and reclaim those who arc socially ostracised, thqs.e who have fallen by the wayside, "ohly to, haye all their good work, all their genuinely humane -efforts wasted, frustrated, set at nought by official jackanapes, who/ are destitute of '"feeling for their fellows, and are bound up by yards of red-tape, and generally are ignorant, insolent, and insipid "systematised" machines, who are galvanised into activity only when a paper like "Truth" explodes a bomb beneath them. And, "Truth" is not given to making empty, idle threats. It promises that m connection with the Mt. Eden "Hell," that somebody

will sit up and take notice. It promises that somebody will find that officialism will not cloak the truth, that there will be an inauiry,. that so far as poor Smith is concerned, he will get that justice which for eight years has been denied him. That Smith deserved or merited his sentence of ten years' hard labor, "Truth" is not going, to deny. The man, at the time of the offence of which he was convicted, was a hairdresser m Auckland. Early m the year of 190G he was caught breaking ♦and entering Spedding's ,- shop m Karangahape-road, and,, being pursuedby a constable, fired a revolver at his pursuer, fortunately doing no harm to the constable. He was CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED . ATDHDER, but was acquitted of that charge, and • convicted of the less serious offence of shooting with intent to do grcyious bodily harm. All the same, Mr.; Justice Edwards treated Smith m much the same fashion as if he had been ? convicted of attempted ■ murder, as the long sentence of 10 years' would show. It was about two years after his sentence, while coming from Rotorua,, where he had been tree -planting, that Smith designed and carried out his attempt to escape from' custody, but ; his spell of liberty was a short' one. He ; was rfecaptured,. and, for his foolhardiness, it cannot , be; . characterised as anything! else, Mr., Justice Edwards gave him another 'twelve months on top^of-his Vstretcli'Vof. ten -years. Besides thjs additional twelve months, the prisoner forfeited a large number of good marks, entitling him to certain remissions -and privileges. • Perhaps, it can. be said m mitigation of Smith, that he was a very * YOUNG AND FOOLISH MAN,.' Love of liberty is strong m us all, and it is the act of a desperate man, maddened, by the loss of his liberty, that m nine cases out of ten, actuates the convict tp make a bid for his freedomi As far as Smith is concerned, "Truth"' does. not intend to hide anything. Apparently, m the beginning, he was a troublesome prisoner. He had not settled do^n to'prison routine, and rebelled against the iron 1 discipline and irksome restraints of gaol. He might have been a mischief-niaker, encouraging others to rebel, and it might havo happened 'that it was necessary for the preservation of good order amefns those with whom he associated m prison,: that Smith had to be kept under, : all / the time ho was m gabt., "Truth" , is. merely surmising all this. It Is endeavoring , to make all the excuses for officialism that it possibly ' can, because, to be frank, when "Truth" !ia3concluded the- series of articles on. the Mount Eden ''hell," officialism will need to make a lot of excuses to damn Smith a liar, and to convince "TrUth" that the proofs of gaol barbarity, official sloth, and official brutality, which is m this paper's possession, arid which it proposes to hang onto, the Justice Department notwithstanding, arc no proofs at ail. "Truth" is m the position of a counsel defending a man with an unenviable record. H will at once, .for the purpose of making the course more smooth, admit that Smith is a "bad egg." On Friday morning, July 31, Smith, after serving, over eight years of a sentence of eloA'en years, was released; less than twenty-four hours after his release '; HE CALLED AT "TRUTH" OFFICE, requesting to be permitted to tell his experiences of ML Eden gaol, not that it would do him any good now, but m order that whatefver action this paper took would insure for the unfortunate inmate of prison something m Ihe shape of a "square deal." Smith cannot be said to have walked Into "Truth" 'office; he hobbled m, he crawled m, he just dragged one foot after the other. He was ill, ho looked ill, ho was m agony. He is now 32 years of age, eight years of gaol life, mostly spent m the Mt. Eden "Hell" have made this young man, an immaturely old man. He has left' gaol, crushed nnd broken. He has left gaol with a grudge against society. As Mr. Ironsides is the official head of Mt, Kden prison, will he pleuse explain how it comes about that a long-sentence prisoner is bundled out of gaol, at the expiration of hiss sentence, with a sore about two Inches square on his stomach? This sore is the result of A SCALD OR BURN, from a hot-water bag, which lmd been thrown at him much In the same fashion as n bone i« thrown at a dog, and which a bad attack of gastritis necessitated being worn to oa.s<j the pain. This burn, due to the luck of proper treatment nun now developed into a malignant, angry-looking sore, and Smith had to get on the bent way he could with si bit of a bandage and some carbolic ointment which had boon .supplied him by the doctor's orderly, who had, so It seems, omitted to mention to the doctor (about whom more anon) that Smith needed uttention. When men like Smith, who look ill. are emptied out of prison, m it nobody's concern thai he Hhoulil. before ho i.s emptied out receive ihe medleal ntU-n---tion thai he deserves? Will Mr. Iron- j sides deny the assertion that prisoners j at this "Hell" who ure genuinely 111, 'suffer m silence, put up with nil sorts of torture. l»r---eauae they are frightened of belnsr tfet down n.s malingerer*?, and will, as a consequence, lose jrood conduct murk*, and certain treasured privHeKe.s? "Truth" Is not blaming Gaoler JronsUlcs. H is i»« system. Smith did n-n complain of tho pain from this uwfui sore on his stomach; lv« was looking forward to his early release, he did not dcHire risking ft chaw of malingering belnn preferred ufcTilnst him. nnd though ho did HUggosl that the doctor's orderly should call Dr. Murray's attention to W« cane. i>»« f«ct remains that beyond v biuiduKe and some ointment, which the orderly procured fur him. 'nothlmc whatever wan done for Smith, if prinunura ur«-ud to cumphun iH-cnuHi* iht-y r<-ur tlu; <:ons.-qu.-no'» of brlriK .set down a.t malin«eriTM. when, In rcuHty. they are In urgent m-ed of tnedlenl attention, tfjen lluuo \h pomethin« rndictilly wronK with the tuJmlnujiruilon v( Mt. ISdcn Oaol. I'eruupa

Smith is such a bad f un that he inflicted the injury after he was released from prison. That sort of thing happens, according to the officials. Now .again, does Gaoler Ironsides j allow prisoners, who are wearing the day when freedom will be theirs, to go about LIMPING AND -IN- PAIN as Smith is limping to-day. Would not the fact of a limp suggest that there was something wrong with the man? Would riot the fact suggest to the humane man, the man charged with the "reformation" of the criminal, that there was something wrong, particularly as the day was hurrying along when the man would be-free. Is Gaoler ironsides 'blind? Is he bowelless? Has he no .pity '"for those over whom he is. placedin charge, and is paid to keep .m his charge? Perhaps, "Truth 1 * will he told that Smith did not limp, was not halt m gaol. ""•Marvellous! _.." Twentyfour hours after his release, Smith showed "Truth" his left foot. On the right side was a blister fully two inches long, the top of his ,toes were skinned and bleeding. Was all tins done by Smith, within 24 hours m order to j arouse "Truth's" indignation for nim, ' and to influence this paper against the administration of the prison? That painful blister, and those skinned and bleeding toes were caused m gaol, and rendered worse by being brought into contact with the perished leather of a boot that dufe to the gross sloth and carelessness of somebody m that prison had been allowed to rot for eight years. "Truth" hopes Gaoler Ironsides, as the administrative head of Mt. Sden prison, is still listening; "Truth" has not shown its hand yet. When this poor devil- went into prison' TO EXPIATE HIS CRIME, and to serve his "stretch' 'of 10 years, he was friendless, as most evil-doers are. His belongings included three suits of clothes, >n woollen jersey, or sweater, two hats, and , his working tool's, razors, strops, and ; other appliances which form, the hairdresser's stock-in-trade. These were taken Into, prison with him, and it is very interesting to learn what he brought out with him. ' Of. the three suits of clothes, not one is fit* to wear. So bad and moth-eaten were they - generally, that presumably ashamed of the neg-. lect which is apparent, the gaol officials refused to hand him over two suits. • pne suit, torn and -tattered, and ! "rotting, is lying at "Truth" office, absolutely unfit to wear. The jersey is likewise.. They are pretty bad, and as, thfe gaol officials declined to give Smith what remairiea of two suits of clothes, it "can be imagined that they were pretty rotten. His razors, etc., are unfit for use, being rusty, etc., etc. , It is true he was given a suit of clothes, a slop suit which can be purchased anywhere for 30s, a rug, and a liat, but ' THE MARVELLOUS PRISON DE- . : PARTMENT, with a Shylock-like-regard for a pound of flesh saw fit to deduct from the gratuity to which he was entitled, the sum of two pounds. As there is quite a lot more to sny about Smith,- about warders, about Avondale Mental Asylum, and, generally, about humanity m Mt. Eden prison, "Truth" proposes to hold over further comment until next issue.