PRISON CONTROL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1502, 26 July 1912, Page 6

PRISON CONTROL.

SOME REFORMS FORECASTED,

STATEMENT BY THE EON. A, L, HERDMAN.

The new Minister for Justice (the Hon. A. L. Herdmon) is waking eonio investigation into the conduct of the prisons of the Dominion. Asked by a. Dominion reporter whether ho could make anv statement as to tho result of his inquiries to date, ho said: "There is not much to bo eaid nt present, and there is nothing to bo alarmed about. My predecessor called together tho various gaolers in the Dominion. They nieNand discussed gaol management with' mm, and their opinions have 'been eraboaiod in. a confidential report. I cannot make it public because I understand that Mr. Hauan Rave tho gaolers an. assurance that their statements were to be treated as confidential. There is not much to trouble about; any defects iu our system of administering the prisons can, in my opinion, be gradually- remedied. A certmn amount of slackness exists. Tho discipline is not what it should be. Ihero line been no proper inspection, for some years. There is no uniformity in tho working of prisons. Such an episode as the etriko in the Lyttoltoa Gaol and tho escape of Powelka would never have happened had there been proper disciplino and capablo management. / "To assist mo to (jet a grasp of the prison system and for the purpose of stiffening up and stimulating the wholo service, I have temporarily detached Mr. Ironsides from the Auckland Gaol; aud havo sent him oft" to inspect and report to me on matters relating to discipline and internal management. It will take him perhaps nbout ii month to do this. Meantime the Auckland Gaol is being controlled by the chief warder, who, I am informed, is a thoroughly competent man. "Probably tho appointment of an Inspector of Prisons will be necessary. Should that be so, I hope to be oblo to iget a satisfactory man. from the Public •Service, without going out of New Zealand. Dr. Hay, who is in change of tho Mental Hospitals, and who attends to health conditions in tho gaols, has not the timo to superintend tho organisation and discipline of gaol staffs. New. orison, regulations are boing prepared by the Under-Secrotary for Justice, and they •will soon be in tho hands of tho Government printer."