Arrant Nonsense About The Prison Conditions

Chronicle (Levin), 1 March 1948, Page 5

Arrant Nonsense About The Prison Conditions

WELLINGTON, Feb. 28. F \t ravagan t assei-tions made abou' conditions in .Mt. Eden prison at s meet ino ]udd in Auckland last weel; under the auspiees of the Howard League toi- Penal Reforui, are eonipletely iui I ounded. TJiev rest on no factuai b;isis but on an ugl\' chiniera existiug only in the minds tof the gentlemen wlio niiide them.'' I his stateiuent was made todav bv j the .Minist-er of .Justiee, YJr. Yfason, | when reJerring to jiublished reports oi j the meeting at which three main j sjiea kers were the Rcv. George Alore- I ton, ex-prison chaplain, Messrs. ('. I Ilowell and Alaurice Lee. i The .Ministei' declared that the asser- ! tious repovtedlv made by Mr. Ilowell, J tliat the food was bitd, that there was ! a good deal of gambling among the j pi-ifuniers, that the men spont most i the time bi'ooding ahd 1hat mejital torture was inllieted on them:; were so nmeh arrant nonsense as i was the Htat-emeiu attribued to tlie Re\-. .More ton that the prison was a | ''hunmii zoo " and warders dared not j go down the street aloue. Mr. Mason . added that the staff of the prison i stronglv resented the attack and had forw arded a petitiou to the Goutrolle.rGenera! of prisons asking that in fair uess to them, the statements be unequivocally refuted. l