PENALTIES FOR CRIME

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 5, 1 October 1943, Page 4

PENALTIES FOR CRIME

Capital And Corporal Punishment The desirability of restoring the penalties of capital and corporal punishment was urged by the president of the federation of New Zealand Justices Association, Mr. H. YV. Shortt, in ins address to the annual conference of the federation in YVellington yesterday. He recalled the case of a young man convicted of the brutal murder of a woman, and remarked that, if he behaved himself in prison, he would he_ at liberty again at the age of about 45 years. Referring to the attempted rape of an old blind woman, he said: “Didn’t that man deserve the best thrashing he could get. Mr. Shortt added that in the past all sentences of capital punishment were carefully reviewed and in 50 per cent, ot cases were commuted to life imprisonment- ... The conference decided to ask the Government to consider restoring to stipendiary magistrates the power to order corporal punishment of juvenile The resolution was opposed by Mr. £>. C. Robbius, M.L.C.. Mr. J. A. Y’nlentine, Taranaki, and Mr. YV. L. Kennedy, Tara”llMr. Valentine said that investigations in Taranaki had not revealed any alarming increase, in juvenile crime. He suggested that the apparent increase was partly due to the fact that many fathers were overseas and partly to the tact that child welfare work revealed more cases which formerly were undetected. Experience of teaching since 1879, he added, had convinced him that in most cases corporal punishment of children was more likely to lead to feelings of revenge than to reformation. The real trouble, he added, was that there was no Christian ethic in the homes. Supporting the resolution, Mr.. G. Stratton, Dunedin, said that he signed more summonses for juvenile offenders in a week than for adults in a year. Referring to recent eases of theft and destruction by boys, he said: “They need a thrashing. They don't get it at home. Too much money is passing through their hands —too many picture shows.”