Now-and Then

NZ Truth, Issue 1035, 26 September 1925, Page 9

Now-and Then

THE demolishment ■of the old Terrace gaol m Wellington proceeds m accordance with the continuance of building on the new gaol at Mh-amar, remote on a distant 1 hillside. Soon the warders and "the prison gangs will betake themselves from the city. A school is to be built on the old site. The lumbering prison A r ans, bumping heartlessly on solid tyres, will have a ten mile drive each way daily when conveying prisoners to the courts, and other transport expenses will be correspondingly greater. The move will spell another step m the progress of penal reform, which is all towards keeping prisoners away from public view. Forty years ago, perhaps even less, men were seen m chains m Welling- j ton streets, and less than 20 years ago] prison gangs (though not hampered] by irons) were seen making their way, downcast and sullen, through public streets. ; That was finally cut out, but the central gaol and its yard were for all to see from surrounding hillsides.