PRISON POPULATION FALLS

Taranaki Daily News, 7 September 1934, Page 7

PRISON POPULATION FALLS

MARKED DECREASE DURING YEAR.

ANNUAL REPORT OF DEPARTMENT.

(By Wire— Parliamentary Reporter.) Wellington, Last Night. A marked decrease in the number of "receptions” in New Zealand prisons during 1933 is revealed in the annual report of the Prisons Department, as presented to the House of Representatives this afternoon. During the year there were 4157 persons admitted, against 5198 in 1932, a decrease of 1041, or just over 20 per cent. The totals are now back to those of the pre-depression period. “The position is all the more satisfactory when it is borne in mind that in all countries the authorities recognise that during a time of industrial depression the tendency is for crime and prison populations to increase,” states the report. “The latest reports from England and Australia bear evidence of this. “There is no doubt that the drafting of young men to unemployment relief camps has been a contributory factor, in so far as the falling off in commitments to prisons is concerned. Several controlling officers and probation officers have commented on the fact that the unemployed schemes have been a boon in that the removal of a large number of men from the temptations that inevitably follow in the' wake of idleness in towns has deflected many from falling into some form of criminal pursuit.”

It is also reported that more care is taken by the Prisons Board, in so far as Borstal discharges are concerned, in seeing that arrangements are made for the placement of lads before they are released.

The number of distinct prisoners received in 1933 was 2731, compared with 3401 for 1932, a drop of 670 persons, or just under 25 per cent. The ratio of distinct prisoners to each 10,000 of the population was 17.75, which was substantially down on the figure of 22.29 for 1932.