H—2o

1947 NEW ZEALAND

PRISONS (REPORT ON) FOR THE YEAR 1946-47

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency

The Hon. the Minister of Justice to His Excellency the Governor-General Wellington, 25th July, 1947. I have the honour to submit to Your Excellency the report of the Controller-General on the prisons and Borstal institutions of the Dominion for the year 1946-47. I have, &c., H. G. R. Mason, Minister of Justice.

The Controller-General or Prisons to the Hon. the Minister of Justice. I have the honour to present the annual report for the Prisons Department for the financial year ending 31st March, 1947, and incorporating the criminal statistics for the year ended 31st December, 1946. INTRODUCTORY Appended are the reports of the officers controlling the various prisons and Borstal institutions. These briefly outline the activities embarked upon and designed primarily for instruction and for production. The ratio of persons convicted or sentenced to each 10,000 of the general population may be regarded as a fair index of criminality in the community. It is not absolute, for the reason that there must be considered such factors as the proportion of offences reported to the proportion of offences committed, and this may vary from time to time,