The Star. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1923. TO CHECK CRIME IN NEW ZEALAND.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17188, 3 November 1923, Page 8

The Star. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1923. TO CHECK CRIME IN NEW ZEALAND.

For a small community, New Zealand has been experiencing in some degree the crime wave that appears to have followed in the wake of the Great War in nearly all countries. The occurrence of several ghastly murders of late, and particularly the Wanganui murder, must have created a slight but general uneasiness in the public mind, and although the position by no means justifies any feeling of insecurity in regard to crimes of violence, it is well that the public should he aroused to the means by which crimes of all degrees may be prevented or stamped out. The problem has forced itself under the notice of many other countries less favourably situated than New Zealand, and they have had to take urgent steps to deal with if. New Zealand is having its share in proportion to its size, and it would be well to wake up to the danger that undoubtedly exists, and take prompt measures to suppress it. One direction in which effective work might be done is in the tightening up of the restrictions on the entry of undesirable immigrants into the country. There is clear cvidencc that many youthful and adult delinquents have been admitted among the immigrants from the Old Country, but a much more serious aspect of the case appears to relate to the easy entry of men who come to New Zealand among the crews of overseas vessels, and either desert or are convicted of crimes which land them in gaol beyond the time when their vessels sail again. Attention was called, the other day, to the case of a young native of South Africa, a coloured man, who had obtained entry to New Zealand by deserting from his ship, and had practically spent years of his life in New Zealand gaols, instead of being deported as soon as lie was found to have entered the country by irregular means. Then there was the case of the Australian stowaway who was sentenced yesterday by Justices of the Peace to fourteen days’ imprisonment in default of the payment of a fine of £5. This man was described by the Police as a derelict of a type not wanted in New Zealand, yet here he is in the country, which he has entered without complying with any of the conditions imposed on more welcome immigrants, and here he may remain for the rest of his life, maybe a good and maybe a bad citizen. There is fortunately no great complexity in the problem that faces New Zealand in regard to the prevention of crime. The strong public sentiment in favour of law and order has found expression almost invariably in very sound decisions by common juries in criminal cases. Judges have shown a wise co-operation in applying just penalties, and there has been an admirable absence of any attempt to interfere with the course of justice, or to delay or defer punishment. ■lt has been demonstrated in other countries that the swift and certain punishment of criminals decreases crime, and that any immunity enjoyed by professional criminals encourages others to acts of lawlessness and violence. It has also been proved, in recent investigations on the subject in the United States, that molly-coddling prisoners and making them the subject of misapplied sympathy have aggravated the evil conditions. Happily, in New Zealand, the problem is narrow r ed down largely to the actual detection of crime, for there appear to be no agencies actively at work creating or propagating criminality. New Zealand is three days’ steam from the nearest land, and it should be possible, by a closer scrutiny of those entering the country, to exclude known criminals from other parts, while a closer watch should be kept on the movements of the native-born criminals. Therefore it is important that the Police Force should be adequately manned and officered by the best men available, and that it should be kept contented and as well paid as is consistent with tiie finances of the country. There are, however, one or two factors that make for inefficiency in the Police system. One is promotion on seniority, and the other is the extraordinary leniency often exhibited by the Prisons Board in the release of criminals who simply commence a career of crime again. New Zealand has its criminal class, and the authorities must face the situation firmly, co-ordinating their work in every possible way if a real crime wave is to be avoided.