CRIME RECORDS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1891, 28 October 1913, Page 9

CRIME RECORDS.

TREATMENT OP PRISONERS NEW PROPOSALS. Tho annual report on the penal establishments of Victoria has been published. ' There are, Bays tho "Argus," two_ regrettablo features revealed I) 3' the prison statistics for 1912, viz.: Tho number of persons received ion first conviction, and the number admitted to prison under 20 years of ago. Of 3891 persons convicted and admitted to prison during tho year, 1485, or 38 pqr cent, of tho whole, had not been previoue.lv convicted. This is tho' highest number of first offenders for any oiio year in the last decade. Again, tho numhor of ad- | missions under 20 years of age was 743, being the highest number for 12 years, and exceeding tlio number for each of the past six years by upwards of 300. Certain polico officers attribute the increase in younger offenders to the administration of the Children's Courts Actj while other observers consider that laxity of parental control is tho main cause, and that tho excessivo freedom allowed young folk,' and tho powers of suggestion from picture shows and bad associates are contributing factors. The gaol (said Mr. Callaway) should certainly be the last resourco in the caso of young and first offenders, as tho stigma remains as an ineradicable scar in Ilia after-life. In this respect tho gaol is a factor in tho making of the criminal, not on account of his treatment or associations within the walls of the prison, but because of the irrational view of the general public, that one who has mado a slip can never afterwards bo trustod. Those who have practical experience in tho handling' of discharged prisoners know too well the difficulties to bo encountered in finding them employment. I strongly favour tho application of the probation system to first offenders, as provided under the Indeterminate Sentences Act; in preference to committing them to gaol, and.would advocate provision for restitution to tho injured party, as far as practicable, being made a condition of relief from imprisonment. Tho omission of tho Courts to realise the services of probation officers deprives ,many first offenders, released on recognisanco, of a very helpful aid in regaining their lost status; whilst tlio disciplinary advantages of supervision in requiring' strict observance of tho conditions of bond are also lost. There are, doubtless, cases where tho naturo of the offence, or surrounding circumstances, render it imperative that the youthful offender be sent to prison, when the term should be sufficiently long to permit of tho inculcation of habits of discipline and industry. Short sentences constitute an important factor in recruiting tho ranks of tho habitual _ criminal. Applied to potty recidivists, tliey are to the onlooker a farce, and to tho unfortunate a tragedy. They simply make prison a retreat for a periodical cleaning-up of the offender. Out of a total of 4102 sentences on which persons wero admitted to our prisons in the past year, 3110, or 75 per ccnt., of the sentences imposed for the year wore under three mouths, 2334 being undor one montli. Tho utter hopelessness of dealing with such cases from a reformatory standpoint will be apparent to any winking person, other than the justices. The working of tho l By stem of light sentonces is shown by a table. Four offenders have been selected. "A" was convicted on 15 occasions daring tho year. For one offence of larceny ho was sentenced to seven days' imprisonment. He was convicted 14 times for . drunkenness, and' ordered 'to pay fines ranging from 10s. to £5. "B," who was 18 times convioted for offences in which drink was an element, was lot off with similar fines. "C," who was convicted 13 times ; and "D," against whom 11 convictions- wore recorded, were dealt with in tho same way. "If tho offender could have been charged with habitual drunkenness," says Mr. Callaway, "and sontenced to twelve months' imprisonment, this courso would have been infinitely better than doling out such sentences as a fine or three days, a fine or seven days, or a fvno or fourteen days, or a month,'interspersed with aii occasional throemonths' sentenco, giving the prison officials a miximum of troublo, with absolutely no benefit to tho offender The present .law appears to be defective in regard to conviction for habitual drunkenness, apart from riotous or indecent ■behaviour. An amendment of tho Indeterminate Sentences Act, empowering a Court of Potty Sessions, presided over by a police Magistrate, to apply the indeterminate sentence _to petty recidivists, would go far to mitigate tho present useless system of passing _ repeated short sentences, and an inebriato institution or farm, wider tho control of tho Penal Department, for the treatment of the alcoholic offender, would do much to further reduco tho prison population, and to lessen the amount of petty crime. These measures would also benefit the offenders, and render a maximum of protection to society. The prison population might bo materially reduced by modifying the present system of fines as an alternative of imprisonment. Of 2190 admissions to tho Melbourne Gaol on convictions during 1012, 1905, ot 86 per cent., were in default of payment of fine, «nd of this number 322 obtained their release on paying their fines. No doubt, a fair proportion of tho remainder would have paid portion of the fine if the sentence were reduced pro rata, but, under tho Victorian law, tho whole fine must be paid to obtain release, even though greater portion of the alternative imprisonment may have been undergone. This is not just, and the adoption cf the system of part-payment of fines which is in voftno in England and also in Now South Wales, would be of mora! and material, advantage to the State.It is suggested that deserting husbands who are undergoing imprisonment should bo compelled to work at clearing or tree-planting for the benefit of the State, the wages earned, beyond the cost of their own maintenance., to bo handed over to their wives. Should thev be unwilling to submit to this mono of 'life, they should be sentenced to some form of hard labour, but gaol should be the last expedient.