PRISONS OF THE WORLD

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 17953, 3 December 1932, Page 13

PRISONS OF THE WORLD

TOUR BY AMERICAN VISIT PAID TO AUSTRALIA After visiting 110 prisons in an inspection of penal establishments of the world, Mr. S. Harris, of Boston, Massachusetts, arrived in Melbourne the other •day. Mr. Harris left Boston six years ago to inspect every important prison in the world, and when%he returns to tho United States from Australia by way of Japan he will have completed his task. Ho will write a book on his experiences and impressions, and he will also make a lecturing tour of the United States. Mr. Harris visited Pentridge prison, Melbourne, and spent the clay inspecting the establishment and the methods employed for the welfare and education of prisoners. He said . that ho found these to he much above the average standard in other prisons he had visited, and he was very favorably impressed by the gaol, considering its age. Although he has seen prisons in many countries, Mr. Hants said the penal esablishment at Stillwater, Minnesota, was the finest in the world. At Manila, in the Philippine Islands, cells had been abolished, and the convicts were grouped in dormitories, each containing 35 men. These dormitories conducted their own “honor courts,” in which offenders against prison discipline were tried 1 and punished by a court of prisoners. In China, where he spent a 'considerable time, he found prison conditions almost entirely lacking.