INEBRIATES’ HOMES

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 17956, 7 December 1932, Page 7

INEBRIATES’ HOMES

PAYMENT FOR UPKEEP INMATES TO BE CHARGED (Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, this day. Authority for , the Justice Department to collect fees from inmates of certified inebriates’ or reformatory homes is contained in the Reformatory Institutions Amendment Bill which was introduced by Governor-General’s Message in the House- . . According to the provisions of tho bill, Justices of the Peace will have power to call upon inmates or their relatives to show cause why they should not be made subject of an order for maintenance, and if a magistrate who hears a complaint is satisfied that, having regard to all the circumstances, an inmate or his relative,- lias failed, or intends to fail to make adequate provision for the cost, he may issue an order for payment towards tho cost of future maintenance of & reasonable sum up to £1 -s 6(1 a week for the period of detention. AA ith similar discretion, if a magistrate is satisfied of a defendant’s ability to pay, be may order the payment of past maintenance up to £SO, in addition to incidental expenses, including the cost ol transportation. These latter ordersmay '' be made notwithstanding the death of an inmate or his discharge from tho m- •, stitution. ... Orders made under the legislation will be deemed to be maintenance orders under the Destitute Persons Act. Answering questions in the House, the Hon. J, G. Cobbe. Minister of Justice, said the bill merely enabled the department to collect fees from inmates in Rotoroa and Pakntoa Islands, where they were in position to pay. In the past, the department had paid the Salvation Army, which controlled the institutions, £1 a week for each inmate, and tho loss last year amounted to £I7OO. Some were in a position to pay, and collections from them had not been made previously The bill was read a first tune.