ENGLISH BORSTALS

Southland Times, Issue 23178, 20 April 1937, Page 9

ENGLISH BORSTALS

To The Editor

Sir, —Your correspondent, Miss B. E. Baughan, Akaroa, in The Southland Times of January 14, 1937, on the English Borstal is accurate in every de•tail regarding the work carried out at Lowdham Grange. On Mai ch 10, 1937, I had the privilege of going over the Borstal estate at Lowdham (which is 570 acres in extent) and seeing the boys at work. There are a few dozen villas on the estate, all built by the boys. Four of them are in the course of erection. These are a credit to the builders and instructors and are comparable with any contractor-built villas. There are 40 boys being taught building; 18 being taught joinery, 20 plumbing and painting; 16 gardening and horticulture, 18 farming; several cooking and baking. Many boys are engaged in house duties and are drafted to the trade of their choice as they get older. Each trade is under an. experienced supervisee. As the boys become efficient in the first stage of their adopted trade they are promoted and receive twopence a day extra on promotion. This is continued until they are fully qualified tradesmen. The farm boys are under no supervision whatever, each taking his team and going to his appointed place on the 570 acre estate. Boys are to be found working on distant parts of the estate without any superviser. The boys.’are allowed to go to the pictures or theatre in the city 10 miles away, a local bus being employed for the purpose, this also without any supervision other than that of an elder boy chosen for that part. On Sundays they go to a local church of their choice. If a boy decides to make his escape he is not brought back to Lowdham. This has not happened for several years. “They cannot find a better place,” is the slogan among them. There is another Borstal institution near here which was at one time a criminal prison and the death sentences were often carried out there. It is now used as a Borstal. Although there are no open country spaces the young men have built several pairs of villas. They are taught trades as at Lowdham. The boys are much older (average ages) than those at Lowdham. They have the same liberty and no locks or bolts are used against them. This is the one-time Bagthorpe prison. The Borstal authorities are alive to the fact that half achievement means waste, that a half trained boy may be again attracted by the forces of evil, hence the endeavour to keep the boys in a homely atmosphere and train them to become a benefit to mankind and the country. Anyone wishing to view a Borstal Institution must obtain a permit from H.M. Prisons Commission, Home Office, Whitehall. I hope Miss Baughan has many supporters in her interest in the Borstal system. Only kindness can prevent the return to criminal tendencies. —Yours, etc., A. INGRAM late, 129 Crinan Street, INVERCARGILL. Notts, England, March 12, 1937.