A VOICE FROM THE GAOL.

West Coast Times, Issue 181, 18 April 1866, Page 3

A VOICE FROM THE GAOL.

(TO THE EDITOR OP THE WEST COAST TIMEB.) Sib— -Would you kindly permit me— through the medium of your valuable columns — to bring under the notice of the public the treatment that debtors incarcerated in the Hokitika Gaol are subjected to. In doing so, it is not my intention # to enter into the abstract question as to the policy of imprisonment for debt or Otherwise ; but simply to state what actually takes place to those who have been uufor<tunate enough to be compelled to bow to the majeity of the law of New Zealand. -Therefore, I may briefly state that at the time I write, and for the lait month, eight debtors have been pent up in the Camp in a cell measuring 8 x 10 ; that they are only permitted half an hour's exercise during the day— and that in the most pub--j*v place— where they are exposed to the ' gaze of all passers-by ; during the re- ( ' mainder of the tinie they are kept close under lock and chain ; and during the night the cell (or dungeon) becomes almost untenantable, in consequence of the bad ventilation and the impurity of the atmosphere. They are compelled to lie upon the floor, with a blanket to cover them, which in many instances is not of the cleanest description— nor far from being totally free from vermin. And dur» ing the weary hours of night many are . compelled to give way to the calls of nature, which you may imagine fills the .' place with a pestiferous odour— sufficient „ in itself to bring on sickness and disease. I may also state that this cell is not only occupied by debtors, but " cranky" people and others have been, and are continually V put into it. In fact, debtors and criminals 7"" are treated in the same manner, and all 1 take their meals together. Now, Sir, I do think that this is scarcely treatment for men who have, byunforseen circumstances, been brought into a state of iqipecuniosity. That they should herd with men of the lowest possible grade, and of the vilest Character ;— that they should be deprived of healthy exercise, and immured in. an unhealthy cell, is certainly too much, even for Hokitika. Therefore I would urge upon you, Sir, to use your powerful pen in striving to ameliorate the condition, not only of those that are already incarcerated, bnt also of those that are sure to come to this hotbed of disease and uncleanness. Trusting you will give this a corner in your next issue, I am, Sir, Yours, &c, A Dbbtor. [The facts are almost incredible, when told of a free and Christian country !]