PRISON WARDERS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11028, 17 March 1914, Page 3

PRISON WARDERS.

DISCONTENT IN THE SERVICE. [From Ottr Correspondent.] AUCKLAND, March 16. A good deal has been said lately concerning the discontent amongst the ■warders in the New Zealand prisons with their conditions of work. The Wellington papers of a recent date published an official statement denying any reason for discontent and maintaining that the men were not called upon to work more than eight hours per day. This assertion is not endorsed by several men who recently threw up their positions in the Mount Eden Gaol and who state that discontent is rife- throughout the dominion. One of those wh6 recently resigned from the Mount Eden Gaol stated his grievances this morning. There are, lie states,, only thirty-eight warders in the institution to look after nearly three hundred prisoners and they work from nine to ten hours per day. Their hours are not regular. On alternate days they start at ten minutes to sevjn in the morning. "When they unlock the cells for breakfast the .warders, have to make sure that everything is all right so far as the prisoners under their care are concerned. • Prison orderlies take in each man's breakfast, porridge, bread and tea. Then the cells are locked up again and cacli warder returns and makes his report. At ten minutes to eight there is,a general "unlock" and the prisoners are marched out to. commence labour. At .ten minutes to twelve the prisoners are marched back to their cells, each man .taking Up his dinner —consisting of soup on "soup days," meat, two ounces of vegetables and one pound of potatoes—as he 'goes along the corridor. At five minutes to one o'clock the prisoners are taken out again for a smoke in the exercise yard, and fifteen minutes later they fall in line, are searched, and then proceed once more to those places in the gaol precincts where they are employed. At five o'clock the last bell goes, the prisoners return to the- cells, and have their tea. It is 5.30 before the warders'* are ready to siorn off. Then there is .the " night school" on various nights in the week, at which younger prisoners are taught various subjects ranging from arithmetic and reading to shorthand. _ "Altogether," added the ex-warder imparting the informatioii, "the position is about as had as it can be. The men have long been discontented about their hours, and since the present Government came into power the conditions have become worse."

According to the • same authority, there is particular discontent in regard to the liorirs which .the men on night duty work. Two warders watch over the prisoners during the night for something like eleven hours, but it is so arranged that between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. each takes-five hours' sleep in a room from which he can readily he summoned. This room, it is alleged, is infected with vermin and has , "been the cause of endless trouble. Bugs, in fact, he states, are the terror of those who have the misfortune to find their way into the wooden wing of the gaol, and it is alleged that prisoners have even had their eyes "bunged tip" with bites. For these hours the warders get from £l3O to £165 per year, with house allowance. It is stated thai in the last three weeks there have been four resignations at Mount Eden, three at Wellington, and four at Lyttelton, and that the advertisements issued by the Prison Department for new men have not. produced a satisfactory response because the conditions are known to be so bad. • ,