The Evening Star. WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News and the Morning News. FRIDAY, JUNE 18, 1875.

Auckland Star, Volume VI, Issue 1664, 18 June 1875, Page 2

The Evening Star. WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News and the Morning News.

FRIDAY, JUNE 18, 1875.

For the cause that lack 3,- ■. Satanc For the wrcng Hist ue-.-i!: n- .;■ u""sr the f*tuie in the diaf.iDes &Ai the c«od that, we aau ie.

The fame of the Dunedin gaol 13 not confined to New Zealand or the colonies, but we observe that the peculiar features of the establishment hare been referred to in terms of warm commendation, even at the meeting of the Social Science Congress in Glasgow. It is not in disparagement of the conduct of our local establishment at Mount Eden, or of its efficient Governor, that we direct our attention to what is doing among our canny friends down South. A man with plenty of money in hand can place himself in a position to live in a more economical way than another to whom, from his limited means, economy is a matter of incomparably greater importance. And thus it is with the self sustaining prison at Duneclin; and with every respect to Mr Governor Caldwell, we scarcely hesitate to say that if he were at Mount Eden°and found himself from the first, and found himself at the last, and at every turn fettered by the diabolical difficulty of want of funds, the position would take the stiffening out of him, and make him hang down his hand 3in despair. But we have to regard him now as he ia, unrestrained from giving to his theories a free fling, and the result is siich that not even provincial jealousy can prevent us from giving him and his gaol the meed of praise. We have before us ths " JEteport of' H.M. Gaol,' Dunedin for 1874-5," as laid upon the table of the Provincial Council last month; and irrespective of the results unfolded, it is a document of value to anyone conversant in the least degree with the important subject of the punishment and reformation of. the criminal. But we shall come first to the distinctive feature of tbia penal establishment, which as most of our readers know, is its remunerative or at least reproductive character. Wa find that the vote of the Provincial Council for the gaol for the year wai £7,992 10s, from which there was not expended the sum of £499 3s OJd, leaving £7,493 68 lljd paid away for gaol purposes. On the other hand there is shown a return of £8,946 7s 7d as " the earninga of the department"— in. other words "a balance in favour of, the department of £1,453 Oa 7M not including inside work performed by prisoners." The meaning of this ia that, irrespective of " all repairs to the gaol buildings, painting, plumbing, tailoring, shoemakin!?, cooking, &of, which were effected by prison labour, no outside assistance being required," the earnings of the prisoners employed in various public works away from the gaol, show a profit of £1453 over and above the cost of the support and management of the prison and the prisoners. This statement at first sight appears to be too good to be true ; but, though we admit that it must be taken subject to important qualifications, still a careful examination, of the details shows a surprisingly successful result. The thing that to our eye greatly weakens the strength of Mr Caldwell's position is the high value he sets on the labour of his detenus. They must be a rare class of criminals indeed, or Mr Caldwell must have established some overpowering influence on their minds, if their labour ia worth seven shillings per day per head—for such is the

value which he affixes to the daily results of each labouring man's exertions on the roads and jetties of the province. We admit the difference in the price of labour, as between Auckland and Otago, but if at Ofcagan rates of 8s to 10s per day for ordinary labour, Mr Caldwell gets seven shillings' worth out of each of these forcals he deserves a greater fame than that which even at present he worthily enjoys. His carpenters and painters are valued at ten shillings per day ; his "tiadesmen overseers" at twelve shillings ; and his "Foremen Warders," what ever they are, at ten shillings per diem. As we have said, the weak point in Mr Caldwell's financial statement is this estimate of the value of enforced labour. It is generally admitted that a" voluntary worker is better than two pressed men, and if Mr Caldwell desires in his next report to shut the mouths of gaineayers, knowing that the weakest stone in the bridge is the measure of its strength, we would recommend him to apply his main attention to this, and afford some proof, either by quantities of earth removed or measurements of roads' and jetties and reclamations, that his labourers have really done seven shillings' worth of work each in the four-and-twenty hours. We say this from the idea that if such calculations are correct, the system would be come self destructive ; for really if people saw that they would have to work as hard in gaol as honest men do without, nobody would go to gaol, and Othello's occupation would be gone. An enthusiastic gaoler must have a kind of pride in his prisoners. This is as natural as life ; but really we think that Mr Caldwell must have an opinion of the merits of his interesting proteges that would not stand the test of a hardheaded and hard-hearted contractor who had to make lm bread over his amount of tender. But admitting all this, it is impossible to glance at the class of works on which the prisoners of Dunedin have been employed without feeling tha^ the gaol and gaoler deserve that distinctive reputation vrhich attaches to them. The lifting away bodily of Bell Hill is a visible evidence to the efficacy of prison labour. The formation of the District Road, and reclamation at Port Chalmers, with works on the Graving Dock, and street-making there, prove the possibility of works being extensively effected by prison gangs, a long way from home ; and altogether the works performed aro of a character not to be overcome by mere dilettante service, but such as would have required the extraction of hard coin from the Provincial till, and plenty of it, had it not bfcn for tho efforts of this able and enthusiastic controller of convicts. To some of Mr. Caldwell'a theories on penal discipline we shall on another occasion revert; for not merely is his government the mecbauical exercise of rcmtinc, but, evidently well read in the literature of this queer subject, he thinks with originality and vigour for himaelf; and his Annual R.eport is not only a compilation of results in the year's experience, but a masterly treatment of the whole subject of prison discipline.