THE BORSTAL SYSTEM

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21977, 12 June 1933, Page 9

THE BORSTAL SYSTEM

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —In answer, first of all, to “ Concerned,” the boys at the Invercargill Borstal are not really taught any trades. A few boys work in the boot-repairing shop and a few in the carpenter’s shop, and these only to do the repairs connected with the institution. Now, may I reply to the Minister of Justice regarding the relations between the superintendent and the staff? The Minister has either been misinformed or he has been kept in ignorance of the conditions. If he askg the acting-Con-troller-general of Prisons he can ascertain the particulars of the existing relations. Mr Cobbe expresses the opinion that the Borstal system in New Zealand is definitely better than that in England. He quotes Mr Weldon. All I can say is that Mr Weldon, being a visitor, was trying to be polite. Let someone be appointed to go to England to study the system there, and I feel that he will have much to tench New Zealand about the Borstal system when he comes back. Then let me say that I am not criticising the superintendent, but I am criticising the Borstal system in New Zealand, and the superintendent must be tied and bound by this faulty system if he is trying to do his best. The system in New Zealand comes far short of the English system, and if the superintendent is trying to work on the right lines I hope my .poor correspondence will help him. I am aware that discipline is necessary of the right kind, and acknowledge that had the boy s been disciplined in their early days they might not have been where they are now. I have always maintained that in many cases the parents are at fault, and should be in a Borstal themselves instead of their boys being there. A Borstal for delinquent parents might be a good thing. While writing of discipline, may I ask one or two pertinent questions? What means of discipline are resorted to in our Borstals? Is there corporal punishment? If not, why? In our schools it is necessary, then why is it not necessary in our Borstals? Is solitary confinement a means of discipline? If so, how long is a boy confined in loneliness in his cell? Is any furniture left in his cel] for his use? Is he provided with any means of heat? Invercargill is a very cold place. What is hi s food during his solitary confinement? I say very definitely that, If solitary confinement is resorted to as a means of discipline it is barbarous and cruel. Would not a good first thrashing meet most cases and be more effective and kinder? I ask these questions because I hear rumours that boys are punished in this way. Then, if the Invercargill Borstal is not a gaol, why are adult prisoners kept there? Do they mix with the boys? I am certain that the English system would not permit such a thing. Another question: Why arc boy s on remand often kept at an ordinary gaol before being sentenced? Surely Mr Cobbe can see the terrible psychological effect, this must have on the boys who are thus made to mix with hardened criminals. Mr Cobbe was only at the institution, itself in Invercargill for less than an hour. How could he judge the conditions in so short a time? How many boy s out of the 200 did Mr Cobbe si*. Why were gates and doors thrown open for his visit and at other times kept closed and locked ? Did Mr Cobbe look into the educational system? From what I know of it in the Borstal it is a farce —e.g., no examinations are held; only three hours a week are given to this important work. Is Mr Cobbe certain of bis figures when he says that only 14 per cent, come into conflict with the law again? . To return to the Minister's remarks on my criticism of the superintendent. When 1 speak of the relations between the

superintendent and his staff, I make no accusation against that official._ Either may be in fault or both, but it should be put right if the institution is to work properly. When I say that our Borstals need better management I speak generally, so where does my criticism of the superintendent come in? I think it is a pity Mr Cobbe took the wrong inference from my letter. It places the superintendent in an unenviable position which I did not intend.

I repeat: (1) Our Borstals are not Borstals under the present conditions, but prisons. (2) They need better buildings and better management. (31 The boys need a different atmosphere, better clothing, medical attention from a psychological point of view. (4) And, what is very important, they need more spiritual help and a better chapel—a chapel which is a chapel, not a building used for other purposes as well.

“Am I my brother’s keeper?” is an old question, and the answer is just as old. I am my brother’s keeper. We the public are responsible' for these girls and bjys in our Borstals, and we must not be satisfied until we are certain that they are getting the right treatment. Discipline they need, but it must be a discilpine which will bring out the best in them. Let a full inquiry be made of our Borstal system and then compare it with that in England. We must put the Borstals under the right department, and the Prisons Department is certainly not the right one. Why, the Borstal in Invercargill is the old gaol, commonly called the gaol, and is still a gaol and likely to remain a gaol unless the public sees to it. Put away the talk of no money; there is plenty of money in New Zealand in spite of the depression.—l am, etc., K. D. Andrews-Baxter. Invercargill, June 9. TO THE EDITOR Sir, —Is it not just possible that the Rev. K. D. Andrews-Baxter, who lives in Invercargill, haa already visited the Borstal there, and knows a good deal about it that the'Minister does not? The latter is a good deal at the mercy of departmental authorities; and if he really has not heard of trouble between staff and bead at Invercargill then it is clear that he has not been told much. As to poor Mr Welldon, it seems pretty clear that he was not told much either, or else that he did not understand what he was told; he committed, at any rate, so gi’bss and extraordinary a blunder (in print) about our i penal figures that it is surprising that the Minister can quote him as an authority about any part of our system, or can .the Minister in turn have misunderstood Mr Otherwise, why does one read, in the New Zealand 1932 prisons’ report (p. 19), that “ In further development of the English Borstal system . . . the house system has been inaugurated here?” Why “develop the English system” if ours (ye gods!) is already so much better?'-Surely a great pity? The Prisons Department balance sheet ran last year into over seven figures. All its money is public money, and the public is entitled to the truth, and the whole truth, about our penal system and institutions. Do we get it? Some 18 months ago, the Minister, evidently ill-informed, assured us that trades were taught in our Borstals. In two out of the three nothing of the kind has ever even been attempted, and he has, I see, wisely dropped that assertion—thanks to the Howard League! If one writes to him for information, one will only be told what departmental authorities wish one to hear. I, for one, have learned to have more faith in the facts as revealed by more impartial observers. Can Mr AndrewsBaxter tell us anything, then, about these four points at Invercargill Borstal: —(1) Is it true that feeble-minded boys are among its inmates—sent there by the courts for its expensive training? I am told there is a whole class of these boys, who, of course, need very different oversight. (2) Is there any psychological help at all —any examination of each boy by a psychologist capable of finding out his good points, as well as bis intelligence, and “sentiment development”? (3) Is there any Borstal after-care association, as in England? Or do the boys just pass out on ordinary probationary license to an ordinary, probation officer, who is very often (in the country places always) just a police constable? (4) Has probation always been properly tried before the expense of a boy’s Borstal training is inflicted on the public? It is said that the average English Borstal boy is a very much tougher problem than the average New Zealander, and that many of the latter would, in England, never have been sent to the Borstal at all. I was once at Invercargill, and some of the boys certainly looked pitifully young to have been sent there. Does Mr An-drews-Baxter think that our courts send boys too readily to Invercargill and that many would do quite well on (proper) probation instead? —I am, etc., B. E. Bauohan. Akaroa, June 7.