PRISON POPULATION.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 14392, 3 September 1917, Page 6

PRISON POPULATION.

WAR MAKES NO DIFFKKKXn

RROP.LKU OF USEFUL IvMPLOY MEXT.

(From Our Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, this . day. A remarkable decrease' ib .the prison population of the United Kingdom followed the outbreak of war, but in New Zealand there has not been the same' movement, the number of prisoners In custody last year averaging 943; a reduc. lion of only 66 or about 6:4 per cent. Unioi-tunately,. states the XHnister in Charge nf Prisons, 1915 was a record year in the history of the New Zealand prisons, and in spite of the facti that a numbei' of ex-pnsoners are known to have enlisted, it does not appear as if our. criminal population is Jikely to.be reduced to a figure appreciably below that reached during the period. Wheii o the war is over it ,is feared that : w^ shall have tlie customary experience after the cessation of all. wars — a large, increase in the 'number of '■pearsons 'iibm-' nutted to our, prisons. It is difficuit. to assign a cause for the extraordinary differeaice between, tlie figures :foc England and Wales and our owiij ib»jk perhaps it is partly to be accounted , for , by the fact that, 'while the; war has revohitionised the social conditions existing, among the lower stratum of society in the older countries, making living" possible where it was formerly .impossible, • and providing well-paid 1 work for the masses who previously, found it difficult to obtain work at all; conditions in this country have remained practically tlie same. The ' waVhas fnade little or no difference. In New Zealand it cannot tie said that the ranks of the criminal' classes' are .recruited from the povertyrstricken. Poverty and the conditions arising therefrom are seldom the cause of crime- -"in this Dominion. " USEFUL LABOR,

It is shown that- the useful activities of prisoners in. New' Zealand include building (mostly strengthening and enlarging their own 'cages), road construction {including an imj>ortant .tourist road to Lake Taupo "■ from -the' Main Trunk railway -at Waimariiio), ston.e-quai'i'ying, brick-making, farming and reclamation. The" labor bf the physically fit prisoners employed on works and industries '.has! iiemilted iri a ''Waving to the State of nearly , £25,000. . This •' result must be looked upon as' eminently satisfactory, I mare .especially as a^consderable number! of the fit prisoners are, employed' onj domestic -work, cooking, cleaning etc;, 1 within the prisons. The value of their' labor is not shown, nor is that of the ! men employed on -farming, development work, •'etc;- Therd is also a percentage' qf-jnerj .who are mei'e. derelicts 1 and w^o : "are unfit for work. -of any description. ■ ■ Steps, are being taken to provide suitable workshop's at Auckland and else-: where in. order to- enable a much greater amount of industrial : work to be " carded; on in the central prisons, : but our efforts, states the report, must; be supported by this purchasing departments or w . sa^faotary results will 'accrue. 1 /There is) no reason ;why sprnja of ."; the 1 rougher classes of brushware, "coir . mats, ; bootg and; shoes, and clothing .required by the. Government should not be made in prisons; and the middleman's profit saved to ihe State. The Post and Tele : graph Department has recognised our efforts to 'develop business by placing with us an-., order . to inan,ufa : ctu^e 1500 Reinforced telegraph poles ,pf Various sizes ranjjing from 2Dft to 30ft in length! The work is being ■ carried, on at Pnparua, and' Ihvercargill prisons, and a: num.ber of, veiy satisfactoiy poles have already been' turned oait at each place. If a . further order- can be obtained: for 'supplying' the northern districts the industry will: also- bo established ... at Aiioldand. ' Increased meaiVs of employing thfe female prisoners at Addingtpn "arid other places is. also' Tequired, but so long as we- 'are unable to obtain. work other thaii washing, mending v and manufacturing articles for' 6nr own' institutions! so lon \ will there be a numbei* of women in. th > prisons who ' cahno^ fee 'fully- employed .