PRISON PROFESSIONS.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 2497, 11 June 1920, Page 2

PRISON PROFESSIONS.

THE CRIMES THAT CAUSED SENTENCES. ‘‘See tliat little stout man third from the end of the line? He was a solicitor and he had seven years for embezzling his clients’ money. “And the .next?” asked the writer of the official who was showing him over the big prison. “The small man with the glasses ?” “He wa,s a bank cashier. Had the handling of thousands, and st-ofe. ’ ’ So the list, went on, and the curious point was how many of the prisoners were men who had stolen or embezzled money which was in their care. If you take «M the prisoners who are serving sentences of more than six months, you find that about forty ixu- ceinft. of them halve been sentenced for ibis class of offence Burglars, coiners, men who have committed crimes of violence, and sill the horde of blackmailers and sv,indlers comprise but sixty peri cent, of the prison population. Quite a large proportion, in all about fourteen per cent, of all prisoners have been in Government employ in * the revenue or similar offices. Another ten per cent, are postmen who have yielded to the temptation of appropriating money-orders and tile like. Many of them have served faithfully for years, then getting into the olutohes of money-lenders or the like have stolen money passing through their hands. Another six per cent, are railway employees, who have either embozzod, or else stolen articles from goods vans. Six Ist c-ent. is also the proportion of prisoners who have been connected with finance. Some are big company promoters, some quite small fry. Five ]Kr cent, nne horse-dealers or racing men of one sort or allot her. Jlv the latest, returns obtainable it would s<»em that tailoring is the profession that yields least to temptation. At any rate tailors compose K -.S than one-fifth of one per cent. o| our prison jtopulation.