THE COLONIST. Published Every Morning. Friday. February 26. 1909. AND POLICE REFORM.

Colonist, Volume LI, Issue 12474, 26 February 1909, Page 2

THE COLONIST. Published Every Morning. Friday. February 26. 1909. AND POLICE REFORM.

I ~ " " ■ s' ' The >Ho.n. Dr. Findlay, Minister of ;sustice,-is devoting liinvself with; commendable zeal to the duties attaching to his new " Department, and great things may-be justly anticipated to result from his efforts, in the shape of an all-round increase in efficiency. In particular, we watch with considerable interest his revision- of the prisons and police regulationSj both of which havo remained practically stationary during the last forty years, and. haveonly now been ' discovered to J)e in: many respects obsolete and. a clog upon several desirable reforms 'in both departments. The amendment, of the police regulations is a departmental matter, in the result of which the pub-lic"-will-be more interested than in the details: There has been enough evidence beforo the 1 public in recent years however, to show that the conditions of service of the police force are not in keeping with present day requirements, or with;the generally admirable character and- efficiency of "the Dominion's -^police now obtaining. To maintain arid increase these characteristics is the aim of the Minister, and in going beyond New Zealand for advanced ideas he is taking the proper course. The" administration of the Prisons Department also could not have fallen into better or more capable hands. A criminologist himself of considerable attainments, the cause and treatment of crime is a subject upon which some illuminating utterances and .-papers-have come from Dr. Findlay, and inj this direction, too, we look for innovations that have long been wanted in -our New Zealand prisons. Chief of these is the classification of prisoners. That prisons should oxist solely for the punishment of crime «is an exploded theory. It is not of so much moment to the country to wreak} punishment and revenge upon the lawbreaker, as to deter others from following his example, and to return thq criminal himself to society, a normal citizen. The lastideal, except the case of -youthful or first offenders, is iiot often attainable ; it might be said, indeed, that it is almost, impossible!, of attainment in our present stage of knowledge of the sub-: ject ;' and it is universally recognised now that one of the' most potent factors ; in" the- production of hardened (

and confirmed criminals is the generally adopted punitive system, herding together prisoners of all . shades and degrees of iniquity, and giving the least possible encouragement in consequence to promise of reform. Without going to the grotesque extremes practised in America, it should be possible to deal with offenders in such a manner that they would emerge from gaolat least no worse than they were at. the commencement of their incarceration, which rarely results, we are afraid, from the present system. The most hopeful feature of the New Zealand prison system is the prison : camp, which would 'have' been showing good results before .this if more judgment had been exercised in regard to it. It is plain that large numbers of prisoners who could more properly have been dealt with under, strict discipline and hard labour in ordinary gaols have been distributed among the less hardened population of the camps, from whom it was supposed they were to be separated. No better means could have been selected to defeat the object for which the less rigorous and irksome system was instituted. This, land the extension of the principle of utilising prison labour in useful work in the country,, are matters which the Minister has promised attention in connection with his scheme of classification. If the \pfison camp system is to have an opportunity of realising the anticipations which led to its in° sititution, the speedy removal of the. aiuse alluded to is imperative.