THE DUNEDIN GAOL ENQUIRY.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 2773, 13 August 1883, Page 2

THE DUNEDIN GAOL ENQUIRY.

(Br Teleqihph.) Dtjnedin, Aug. 10. At the gaol ei.quirj to-day, Captain Hume was allowed to reply to Mr Solomon. Mr Curtis Buid that a considerable amount of the speech, especially the earlier portion of it, consisted of censure of the action of Captain Hume, both as regarded bis evidence end also to eomo eitent bis conduct of the enquiry. They bad determined to allow him ihe right to reply. Captain Hume, after thanking their Worships, aaid : — lf m making the reckleis and violont charges upon me, of which Mr Solomon's lengthy address mainly consist* 1 , that, gentleman was persuaded that your Worships would refuse ma the privilpge of defending myself, then I say that he was doubly guilty when, for tbo purpose of defending his client, heentertd upou a listof calumnies, every one of which was known m its true light to Mr Caldwell. lam not qualified to judge of the true licence of counsel m the advocacy of a client, bat as Mr Solomon has further posed as tho arbiter of what is and what U not honorable conduct, I can with confidence draw bis attention to a speech wherein baseleea charges of the moat grave and serious nature are formulated against me, and motives of a shameful character are repeatedly imputed to me m the express belief that I am to be refused even the boon of a denial. Mr BolomoD, he went ou, had asked whosa idea the issuing of this Commission had been. He had to answer that it was his, and he left m their Worehips' h&nde the determination o£ the question as to the pressing necessity for some authoritative investigation into the matters that had been laid before them. Mr Solomon had asked what was the object of the enquiry, which he thought did not need an answer. Mr Solomon asked them to believe that he had obtained the Commission to remove from bis path a dangerous rival. He had no wish to comment on Mr Cald well's fitness, but it had been his duty daring this Commission to listen to ft mass of evidence and admission! which would lull to r st fears of diiplaesment m the heart of the most timorous. To show that he wai actuated only by a desire for tho well-being of his Department, he said : " I venture to draw jour attention to tho following matters :— The records of tho puniihment book, showing a number of prison offencei altogether disproportionate with the offences m other gaols, whose discipline compared favorably with lhi>t of the Duoerfin G-aol ; disorganisation end discord prevalent among the staff; habitual disobedisneo of ths Prisons Act Regulations and Civil Service Regulations ; incessant complaints of officers and prisoners." When I required an explanation of these matter?, as I invariably did from the gaoler, the replies I received were m no case satisfactory, and often insubordinate, while occt* sioaally Messrs liogtm and Brown intervened, pleading that the breaches complained of had been committed with their approval. In my visits to the prison I felt that every maa'a hand was against me. I felt that a system of prevarication prevailed, preventing me from placing reliance on any information received m the prison, and that attempts were made to mis* lead me, to hamper and hoodwink me, and to throw dust m my eye* at every turn | that the gaoler avoided me.and repeatedly absented himself on my visits ; that the some of the local papers teemed with abuse of me, even before I left KogUnd ; that the gnole- himself considered my offica unnecetßiry bnd improper ; tint Messrs Logan and Brown were actively opposed to me m the discharge of my duties ; that they, with the gaoler, left no stone unturned to impede my way ; that they resented my very Tints to ihe prison — that, m short, to quote Mr Caldwell, "a black cloud hung over Dunedin gaol." He went on to comment on Mes*rs Logan and Brown having made a charge against him of causing insubordination, aj a serious slander. Mr Solomon had said he had no power to inter* view prisoners ; but it appear* d to him one of the most important functions of an inspector was to sec that prisoners were treated fairly and impartially. He was satisfied that ha was lukiag a proper view when he looked on prisoners as as much under his charge SB gaolers and warders. He continued — " Then, gentlemrn, your attention is called to my demeanor throughout this enquiry, and it has been compared to that of a prosecutor strain* ing every nerve for a conviction. I candidly admit that to the best of my ability I hare endeavored to assit your Worships to make this enquiry as searching and exhaustive as possible. Although I have done this I beg to state that I have not m any way acted as • prosecutor. I have merely, as the officer ia charge of the Prisons Department, lent my assiitance to the elucidation of the mysteries and supposed irregularities surrounding the Dunedin gaol. If at any time during this Commißaion I have shown a desire and eager* neia to extract evidence from any witness, it has been, during the latter days when my utmost efforts failed to obtain from Messrs; Lagan, Brown and Caldwell anything m sap* port of the charges they had levelled against me. If lat that point appeared to Mr Sols* mon m the light of a prosecutor he musthavs been struck with the singular circumstance tint I was defendant as well. I h»ve done my best to obtain any evidence that might bear on tho case, and that I have not been partial m my endeavors is shown from the fact that although Mr Caldwell and hi» counsel have taken it that they were thrown on the defensive, there is not a single witneu of nny importance called by them who would not have been summoned under any circumstances." He concluded: "I may state, finally, that the conduct of this enquiry has been to roe, from the commencement, a most unpleasant task ; but I am satisfied, from facte that were knowu to me before aid facts which have como out during the progress of tho enquiry, that had I shirked it I would have been guilty of a gross neglect of doty. I have been charged with saddling the country with the cjst of a Commission confidently stated to be unnecessary. I feel certain, gentlemen, thut with the evidence that ia before you you will come to the conclusion that it wm my imperative duty to obtain fall enquiry into the matters which have occupied you 10 long a time, and that one result of your labors will be to bring about a revolution m prison matters to the infinite benefit of the colony at large, and which can only be attained with the aid of such a Commission as the present one. That the proceedings of a Bojal Com* mission should be attended with some expense is known to all, but when yon consider -that hundreds of individuals ara so powerfully affected by the faulty administration of prison laws and rules, you will, I am sure, agree with mo that the expense (which is often exceeded m the unsuccessful prosecution of one person charged with a criminal offence) it dis* proportionate to the magnitude of the interests involved. If ihere appear to be reasonable grounds to suppose that serious abmes exiet m any public institutions, particularly m such as gaol?, Parliament iind the public havo a right to have theie inquired into by responsible persons, no matter what the cost, as it goes to the Tery root of the matter. I beg once more to declare that m these proceedings I am not prosecutor, Mi' Caldwell is not the accused, nor have any charges been formulated for him to answer. It has suited bis counsel to date that the re7erae is tho cast)} butlfeel that your Worships must admit that, during the whole enquiry, and to far as my actions h&Ti oome under the notice of the Commission, I have not taken a position other than that which, to a reasonable and honorable m»r, would seem to attach to the office of Inspector of Prisons. For the reasons which I haT« Bnnmerated, and with the experience Ihkve gained m this and other countries, I am emboldened to say that so long as I occupy such 9. position as I do now, I shall unhesitatingly endeavor to place the Department I superintend m a proper condition ; and, to farther this object, I shall not flinch from seeking, when the occasion demands it, the assistance it a Boyal Commission. I hare to thank you gentlemen, for the assistance you hare given me." • % - - The Oommiiiion-rs will remain is Duntdia

for a few days, for the purpose of inspeoting the gaol records, and will then report to tho Government the result of tbeir investigations.