THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1912. A PROGRESSIVE PRISON SYSTEM.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15602, 4 November 1912, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1912. A PROGRESSIVE PRISON SYSTEM.

roil a gooa many years past jncw boutli \V«ilc3 luis taken the load among Australasian States in res[)Oct to a prison system for which tlio enthusiasm of Captain Noitcnstcin, a very practical student of penology, had been largely instrumental in earning .1 bound reputation on account of tho progressive methods in relation to reformatory treatment that wcro embodied in it. Captain Noilcnstein is,no longer in the service of the New South Wales Government, but tho report of his successor in olhco as Comptroller-General for tho year 1911 shows that interesting work is being carried out in developing tho system along tho ]incs laid down by him. Penology is, of course, anything but an exact science. It demands persistent study and varied experience, and Ilia methods that arc employed must necessarily ho largely experimental. Of tho success of thesis in Now South Wales n diminution of gaol population maintained over a number "( years is probably tho most satisfactory evidence that can be adduced. The Stale occupies, in fad, a rather enviable position in tho slatLstio to which it can point in this relation. Tho steady decrease in the prison population, says the (.'-oinptrollerGenera! in his latest report, is bein;; maintained. A glance at some of tho figures is interesting. It seems a rather remarkable- fact that tho number of all persons under detention in New South Wales—this including inebriates, who are now treated separately—was les3 .it the cud ait last, year than it was ill 1867. The general population of the SUitc increased from 447,620 in 1867 to 1,695,038 in 3011, or by 278 per cent. Yet there was an actual decreiiso of 536 in tho inimlK;!' of persons in gaol. If the prison population during the period referred to kid increased relatively to the general population there would have been 7191 persons in gaol r.t tho end of last year, or more than iiw times the number actually there, which was only 1363. It 1.1 of interest to mention that in their report of March, 1911, tho English Prison Commissioners took exception to a con(siusion " so disappointing and so discouraging," us that embodied in tho latest IJhie Book 011 Judicial Statistics tien under tbeir notice, which was to tt» effect

that " criminality had become (somewhat moro prevalent than it formerly was among tho community generally: that tho increaso of crimo hnd been specially marked daring tho list ten years ; that it was largely duo to a relaxation of tho public sentiment with regard to it: that (ho incrcaeo in tho .number of indictable offences for the last ten years is net a mere pawing phenomenon, but the symptom of a real and increasing danger to the public welfare" It is apparent that tho 6tatistics for New South Wales at all events offer evidenco of a moro eatisfactory kind to thoso who arc looking for eomo encouragement from tho efforts that aw overyvrhe.ro being made towards tho reclamation of the criminal. While admitting that the opinion that the dominating factor among tho causes of a decrease in the gaol population in New South Wales may probably ho traced to educational facilities and the general prosperity of the country »till holds good, Uw Comptroller-General of Prisons appears lo claim by no means too much wheh ho gays: "Thero can lw no question, however, that good results have- attended tho efforts of our judicative authorities, Generally speaking, the penal legislation in Jorca in this State has much to commend it. In its effect on tho individual and tho community it may be restrictive, reformative, deterrent, or punitive, and tho manner in which tho law has been administered is undoubtedly a potent factor in tho greatly reduced numbers of poisons received into gaol." Oilier States, including New Zealand, have experienced prosperity and an extension of educational facilities, and yet havo been unable, liko Now South Wales, to illustrate that an increasing population should not necessarily entail a need for increased prison accommodation. There may seem, at first observation, to bo an inconsistency between these satisfactory prison records in New South Wales and the epidemic of theft and burglary from which that State, in common with other parts of tho Commonwealth, has, according to all accounts, boon suffering for somo time past. Jiut thcro is probably no inconsistency at all. It lias been established as a fact that the offenders whoso daring criminal propensities havo created some alarm and sensation, havo in many cases been drawn from on influx of undcsirablo immigrants from tho United States. Tho number of rccopliorw of native-born jicrsons into the Now South Wales prisons is, to judge from llw returns prepared on this point, apparently decreasing, and the fact that tho numbor of young offenders is not increasing is reasonably described as a satisfactory feature, as it is from this class that tho criminal of tJio futiiro is to be expected. The reformative aspect ut prison lifo in New South Wales has moro interesting features than it is possible to refer to here. It will suffice to say that (ill through tho CoinplTollor-GeiioraPs lengthy report, as well as through the report's of the governors of tho various institutions which are tho outward manifestation of tho prison system, runs the idea that the reclamation of the criminal should l>o the ultimate molivo underlying »nd justifying or explaining the methods of treatment to which ho is subject. And Micro is no suggestion of sentimentality or of overdorm sympathy for tho wrongdoer about this consideration of his caso. It is as much to the interest of the community as it is to his own interest that ho should lie reclaimed, and tho whole business is regarded front an eminently sauu and practical standpoint. The reformative- method of dealing with prisoners has not made great advance as ycl in Now Zealand, and tiino will l>o required for its development, hut it is not unsatisfactory to note that there is at least one feature of tho prison system of this country which tin; New South Wales authorities aro disused to admire and imitate— namely, tJio tree-planting prison camps. After personal investigation of tho system of carrying on afforestation by prison kliour, as exemplified in New Zealand, the Comptroller-General of Prisons expresses tho opinion that from an economic point, of view there would appear no reasonable ground f<rr doubting Iho ultimate success of tho tree-planting syst«un. lie is careful, Iwwever, to add : " From tho iKinnlogicnl point of view, experience nlono can .demonstrate whether the tree-planting system carried out by prison laliour is detrimental to tlio prisoners engaged in tho work, or to the ordinary gaol industries."