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Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1146, 17 December 1879, Page 2

OAMAK«r has every reason to be_ dissatisfied with the treatment it ha 3 received at the hands of successive Governments. If anyone should doubt this let them glance at our public buildings. Let them do more—enter that imposing relic of a bygone nee, the gaol, and they will be surrounded with evidences far too palpable and incontrovertible. \\e wondered whether or not other places similarly situated were as unfortunate, and this fed us to look up statistics. From a perusal of these we glean the following figures Oamaru —Population, 5000: 1 gaoler, 1 matron. Wanganui Population, 3,601 ; 1 gaoler, 3 wardens. papier Population, 3-{|s; 1 eaoler, 4 warders. Timaru —Population. 3359 ; 1 gaoler, 3 warders. 1 matron. Hokitika Population, 3202; 1 gaoler, 1 overseer. 3 warders, 1 matron. Invercargill Population. 3701 ; 1 gaoler, 1 matron, .1 warders. There is a second warder here, but he is employed and paid by the Municipal Council to act as overseer of the shortterm prisoners. therefore, cannot be taken into account in instituting a comparison. c admit the necessity for additional caol servants in gold digging communities like llokitika, and would ha\c paid no attention to the fact that, with a much smaller population, it has aso much larger gaol staff, were it not that the same occurs in town* the populations of which arc small in comparison to the population of Oamaru. " e have shown the disparity between the gaol staffs of these towns for the puq>o3c of demonstrating that our gaol is totally inadequate to the requirements of the town. Larger staffs mean larger gaols anrl mote prisoners. Our first want is adequate gaol accommodation, our second is long-sen-tence prisoners. .Maintaining a small gaol unfortunately does not reduce the necessity for gaol accommodation, it only necessitates the transference of our long-term prisoners to Dnnsdtn. So far as wc can learn, such prisoners ace not transferred in the of Invereargill to Dtincdin, or in the ease of Timaru to Christchurch. There is no necessity for doing so, because there is in each of these places commodious gaols, ample staffs, anil independent lock-upsf. Here our miserable nondescript building, bv far too small to act as a simple gaol, is made to do duty as both gaol and lock-up. It is capable of "accommodating ten prisoners only, and there is a possibility that some day the whole available space may be occupied by drunkards. We hive every right to demand that we shall at iesut be placed on an equal footing with Invercargill and Timaru in this matter. Why should wc bo compelled to send our long-term prisoners to Duncdin, and loaethc benefit of their labor, when other places are not called ujion to make such a sacrifice? Tho retention of such prisoners is in every respect beneficial to a town. The solution of this matter is to be found in the carrying out of the plan of exchange susnrested by the Municipal Council, and which would place that body in possession of the present gaol site, in consideration of its providing the Government with a new and commodious gaol. Wc have not y<-t heard one smtnd argument against thisjirnposa! ; and if the Government wish to gain the respect of the people of this place they will ijrant what is asked.