PRISON CHANGES

Evening Post, Volume XCVII, Issue 131, 5 June 1919, Page 8

PRISON CHANGES

MINISTER'S PROPOSALS £ OUTLINED

THE PART OF WI TAKO. Jf

In response to a request for a statt ,"'. ment regarding the prison site in'.tMfjj| Trentham area, the Minister for Justiv^M (Hon. T. M. Wilford) to-day gave , off? following interview to a Post report 'life: —"Iliad not intended," he said, 'i-'^'J; lishing' anything in reference to pri..'. :'"'? changes until I had effected them X^i. believe that to be the best mcihc'^'f-P adopt iv Departmental administer. \ m; However, as the Wi Tako reformat.-, p--'' •- has been advertised considerably, ; sm_: late,.-though not by me, I will ouM^v^ my scheme. I intend to, do away»i_f ■"»'_i the Terrace Gaol as a prison. P '*''fi^'-V the gaol is claimed by the City C,^''"" to bo Town Belt. Tlie women's aiM^M" at the Terrace Gaol are in my M ..*<.'.'>:■?' out of date and inadequate. The VjP^MJ Halswell prison will become the ft^t'---oi" women. The Napier prison ha.-'' *ri"';< sold to. the Napier Borough Counc -1- a>xd will be demolished by them and dded to their Esplanade Reserve. Th ■'■'■ Wanganui Prison I hope to do away with as well. ' Cabinet has authorised me to select a central site on a railway route on which I hope to see an up-tr date prison erected to meet the requirements of tho districts of Wanganui, Napier, and Wellington. This prison, when • erected, should do away with the necessity : for tho three prisons . abdv>-men-' tioned. The site and the price for the-, same will, of course, have to, be ap-,' proved by. Cabinet before the. scheme' can be carried, out. I am handing over Mount Cook area to the Technical School,-, and evacuating,, it. ■ I am proposing to supply the prison labour to excavate: the site for the Technical, College, and have authorised the Inspector of Prisons ,to arrange for that work to be done in conjnetion with, the Technical School Board. This will be a great help to technical education in the district.

'"Phe Wi Tako area consists of 300 odd: acres of mountainous, swamp land, -and a small area of stony ground covered with gorse. The entrance Section near the railway will be laid out as a- garden and a central drive. The hills will be planted, having regard to lessons learned at Kaiangaroa and Waikeria. A huge swamp area will be drained and made into good land. Neither the prison campi nor the swamp • area, upon which..the., prisoners will be employed for. many a month to come, is in view of any householder at Heretaunga 'or ahypassenger on the railway • The site 'of ' the camp is one mile as the crow flies • over the inountaiiis from the Heretaunga post office. The land is entirely unsuitable for small holdings or settlement'of any kind. I intend to make it suitable' for both. ; ;

"Our brick-making works at Mount Cook have come to an end, and we have tested the soil in the hills at the ba.k of the block, and havo produced a brick second to none in New Zealand." A sample of this'brick was shown to the reporter, who, judging as a lyaman,' could see no fault in it.

"The making of bricks will not in the' future interfere with private enterprise, •' but will fill the requirements of the Gov-;' eminent Departments as in the past. The bricks used in the new Parliament,ary Buildings have ,been made at .Mt;;. Cook, but the manufacture, as I- have said, at Mt. Cook has come to an end. '•';.

"None of the prisoners at Wi Tako; will be- dangerousl or troublesome men. Burglars and seducers; of women or.girls will never see this camp. They-have to: be held in central prisons. Waikeria has proved that it is possible to select shortsentence men whose behaviour is exem-. plary, and who receive the, maximum marks for good conduct. Prisoners in the Wi Tako'Reformatory, like the Waikeria Reformatory and others, do not wear the broad arrow nor the white prison suit. It is necessary oh the ground of expense to have the reformatory,as close as possible to the Courts in which the prisoners are committed, and on a line of railway. lam satisfied that the move is a good one, and in the interest of all. I purposely christened the reformatory the Wi Tako Reformatory, instead of the Heretaunga Reformatory, in order to avoid undue publicity and drawing public, attention to the .particular locality, on account of the .hyper-sensitiveness of some well-meaning people. lam satisfied that in time to come the wisdom of the step I have taken in giving first offenders who are serving short sentences a chance to be kept apart from the-hardened criminals whom no one can reform, will be applauded and not condemned." r The Minister showed the reporter a plan of the reserve, from which it could be seen that none of the rifle ranges were disturbed in,any way.