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It is to be pointed out that while the above table provides an interesting review of industries it cannot be regarded as a complete basis of earning-capacity of each institution, for a number of reasons. While Waikune Prison Camp shows revenue received amounting to nearly £20,000, the adjacent prison camps at Rangipo and Hautu are each less than £300, yet the earning-capacity of prisoners at all three places is approximately the same per head. In the case of Waikune the full value of the work performed by prisoners is on roadworks and is recouped to the vote annually from the Public Works Department. In the cases of Hautu and Rangipo the labour is expended on land development and is being capitalized. The value will not be recouped to Prisons Vote until realization, when settlement of the blocks now being broken up takes place. In the effort to build up credits there is a temptation to employ prisoners on undertakings that show short-run results, when a more far-sighted policy would be to the greater ultimate advantage of the State and to the immediate benefit of the prisoners. While the reformative effects of good hard work must be recognized, the modern idea in prison-administration is not to subordinate the welfare of the prisoners to the economic considerations, and although it is highly desirable to utilize the prisoner where the product of his labour will be most effective in lessening the burden on the taxpayer, this idea should not be permitted to overshadow the question of whether the nature of the employment is such as to be most likely to fit the prisoner to take his place on release as a self-reliant unit of society. This idea was excellently stated by the Right Honourable Sir William Joynson Hicks in welcoming the delegates to the Prison Conference last year : " The time has long since passed when Executive Governments can say that they have done their duty to society as soon as they had arrested an offender and placed him in safe custody. They now recognize that at that point their duties, far from being at an end, have in fact only begun. In arresting a human being and depriving him of his liberty for a period of time, which is often prolonged, the Executive Government has undertaken a new responsibility of the very gravest kind —namely, that of the treatment and training of the offender during the period of incarceration. The State will not have done its duty if it releases him after his period of imprisonment is over, and, in consequence of such imprisonment, in such a condition of mind and body that he is no longer fit to take his part in society as a citizen." A review of the activities of the Department shows that there are numerous difficulties incidental to the utilization of prisoners on manufacturing or on what are usually known as secondary industries. While it may be said that to the extent to which an industry affords employment for prisoners it is serving a useful purpose, it must not be overlooked that the conduct of industry on modern lines involves expenditure on the installation of labour-saving machinery, which, of course, largely negatives the primary purpose of the establishment of the industry—viz., employment for prisoners. Modern technique tends to defeat the purposes of industrial undertakings as labour-providing agencies. Difficulties. in regard to the marketing of prison products present another problem. It is now .generally accepted as a reasonable practice to utilize the products of prison labour for State use —and under this head are included Government Departments and Public Authorities—on the ground that by so doing the general burden on the taxpayer for the cost of administration and maintenance of prisoners is thereby lessened ; but there are numerous objections to the extension of sales beyond this sphere, as an anomalous position arises in the promotion of an industry, the pecuniary means for the establishment of which are raised by taxation, for the purpose of entering into competition with the taxpayer. There is also the objection that where prison-made commodities are sold in the open market in competition with those of free labour there is the tendency to depress the labourmarket so far as that particular industry is concerned. As costs of production are largely contingent on output, and as an unrestricted market is essential to a satisfactory output to enable costs of production to be kept down to a profitable level, it is quite clear that prison industrial undertakings are difficult to run successfully ; therefore, with certain exceptions, where locality conditions render the conducting of an industry practically the only means of occupying prisoners, I would recommend the abandonment of this class of industry and the concentration on such activities as farming, roadwork, and tree-planting. Of course, there are certain classes of prisoners who cannot be trusted on such work, consequently for the protection of society these must be employed on intra-mural occupations. The breaking-in of areas of the Dominion's third-class and waste land presents none of the above industrial drawbacks, but it is essentially work of a nature that requires an abundant labour supply such as the Department has available, and it has the advantage that it is increasing the sum total of the productivity of the Dominion. New Zealand is essentially a primary producing country, consequently the greatest opportunity for rehabilitation exists in connection with farming-work. It is now generally recognized that physical health is a necessary concomitant to a healthy mental and moral condition, and the following of a farming pursuit helps considerably in this respect. Further, a review of the present social conditions, so far as they afiect crime, show that a considerable amount of delinquency is traceable to the fact that there are so many " misfits "in city avocations. If anything can be done to inculcate in the mind of the potential criminal a love of the open air and a desire to take up farm occupation a twofold advantage will result. From the individual point of view it will be found that greater opportunities to " make good " exist away from the temptation of the towns, while from the community point of view the reforming of the delinquent into a useful producing unit is a matter of considerable importance in our soc al and economic development. On roadwork excellent results have been accomplished. Although it is not desirable to utilize prisoners near the centre of populations where roadworks offer scope for relief purposes, in the backblocks, such as in the vicinity of Raurimu, splendid work has been accomplished by Prison labour.

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