The Star. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1926. PRISON REFORM AND HABITUAL CRIMINALS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18013, 25 November 1926, Page 6

The Star. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1926. PRISON REFORM AND HABITUAL CRIMINALS.

Much more important than the prisoner Baume's treatment during transfer to the Borstal institution are the principles on which the Prisons Board acts in recommending the release of prisoners; and yet there is not much to be gained from the report that the Minister of Justice has called for on the subject. It is certain that the report will be an unanswerable exposition of the old principle that the quality of mercy is not strained (with appropriate reservations regarding the safety of the community and the preservation of law and order). It will be a report, without doubt, that nobody will be able to take the slightest exception to, and yet it will enunciate principles that it would be highly dangerous to leave to the interpretation of any but the hardest-headed men of the world. And what is important at the moment is the manner in which these principles are being interpreted. For that reason it would be more instructive to come down to facts, and have a return showing the number of prisoners released and the number and nature of the offences commited by them during their period of probation. Returns have been published from time to time, showing that a fairly high percentage of prisoners do not return to crime, but these percentages are of doubtful value, because when a prisoner leaves his country for his country’s good, it is impossible to say how he is behaving himself in exile. But this much is known, that time after time, when habitual and other criminals have been released by the Prisons Board, they have started to prey on the community immediately, until the police have been positively discouraged in the performance of their duty as a result of this mistaken leniency. This is the direction in which an inquiry is wanted, and any other order of reference will not be of much practical value. The screening of a programme of all-British films in Dunedin is, of course, a notable event, and will be gratifying to those who are in accord with the views of the Imperial Conference on this subject, but New Zealand has a lot Of leeway to make up. It is a curious proof of the Universality of the Empire, to which the journal, “ Empire Fellowship,” draws attention, that the first big move on behalf of British films should come from the native princes of India! Dr Niranian Pal states tjiat a number of Indian princes have combined to help an Empire film campaign, to break down the “ octupus-like grip ” that America has obtained on the cinemas of India and the Empire. Part of the scheme is to create in India a chain of cinemas, in which British films will be shown on a system of exchange in the Empire. The sum represented in offers of money and land is roughly £1,000,000. The Indian princes helping are the Maharajah Of Alwar, the Maharajah of Patiala, the Maharajah of Bikaner, the Maharajah of Jaipur, the Aga Khan, and the Maharajah of Kashmir. Under the plan India, the second largest market for films in the British Empire, will show six British films in exchange for the showing in Great Britain or the Empire of one Indian film. There are possibilities of reciprocity in this plan. Will New Zealand some day have its Hollywood?