N.Z. PRISONS

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 100, 30 April 1930, Page 13

N.Z. PRISONS

PIONEERS .IN. REFORM

ADDRESS BY SIR T. K. SIDEY

Ho had for many years been interested .in the- subject of penal reform, stated the Hon. Sir Thomas Sidey, M.P., Minister of Justice, in his address delivered at the opening at Wellington this morning of the third animal conference of the Howard. League of New Zealand- for Penal Reform. HIS MAIDEN" SPEECH. In his maiden speech in Parliament in 1902, just about twenty-eight years ' ago, while acknowledging the progressive work of the then Government in several direction's, he had drawn at- , teniion to the fact that thero were two Departments in which the same progress had not been shown. One of these \»as the Department which dealt with the treatment of prisoners, and lie had advocated the introduction of the indeterminate sentence. ' In subsequent years he had repeatedly brought that matter under the notice of the then Minister of Justice, the Hon. Miv M'Gowan, and urged a greater classification of prisoners, involving also a greater classification of prisons. THE INDETERMINATE SENTENCE. In 1905 he had introduced a Bill to •provide for an indeterminate sentence in the case of confirmed offenders. That was the first Bill of its kind introduced into the New Zealand Parliament, and he could therefore, he thought, without undue egotism claim to have been the pioneer in New Zealand of. the indeterminate sentence. The Committee of the- House which considered the Bill referred it to the Government for consideration, with a view to legislation in the following session. The proposals of the- measure, which were unfavourably regarded by the Minister of Justice iv 1905, were, however, in the following session passed into law at the instance of the Minister, the Hon. Mr, M'Gowan. Those proposals were 'later extended, and the work since accomplished in classification and treatment of prisoners had more than jusified the attitude adopted by. him on that question towards the Government -■of which he was'a supporter. LATE ME. F. E. BAUME. , While making that personal allusion to his own association with prison reform, he must not omit to refer to the work in the same connection of the late Mr. F. E. Baume, of Auckland, who entered Parliament in 1903. Mr. Baumc was also an advocate, oj' prison reform and devoted special attention to methods of dealing with juvenile offenders. Iv 1905 Mr. Baume introduced into the New Zealand Parliament for the first, time a Bill to provide for special treatment, including special Courts, for juvenile offenders. Mr. Baume was thus entitled to be regarded as the pioneer in this country of the Child-, ren's Courts. Although many Magistrates liad for some years adopted the practice of dealing with juveniles in apartments outside the. ordinary Courtroom, it was not until 1925 that provision for the establishment of Children's Courts was placed upon < the ■Statute- Book. ~ LATE SIR JOHN FINDLAY. In referring to those who had beeu identified, with prison reform in this country he must not overlook the late . president of the Howard League, the Hon.. Sir- John Fiudlay, whose recent death was greatly to lie deplored. Mr. Baume, Sir John JTindlay, and himself had been contemporary students at the University of Otago. Mr. Baumo and himself had been circumscribed in their efforts at penal reform by. the disabili-. vties. attaching to their positiori as' pri? vate members of the House. Greater opportunities, however,' came to Sir John Findlay, who assumed the' office of Minister of Justice in'l9o9; and he had taken full advantage of them.. In 1910 Sir John was responsible ,for the passing of the Crimes Amendment Act, which extended the operation of the indeterminate sentence and provided for the establishment of the Prisons-Board. To him must to a.considerable degree alfeo be credited the establishment of prison farms. As Minister of Justice, Sir John had brought' to bear an enthusiasm and idealism which had left his imprint on the prisons legislation of New Zealand. SOCIAL FLOTSAM AND JETSAM. .Sir Thomas Sidey added that he had "noted with deep interest the gradual departure that had been made in recent years, from the early ideas of retaliatory or retributory justice; and in 1 bringing about that changed attitude he had observed - that the' Howard League for Penal- Reform in England' had played by no means an unimportan6< part. He was glad therefore to have had the opportunity of attending the conference, not only i/'uause he was personally interested in the important matter of penal reform, but because he realised that the care of the social ilotsam and .jetsam was not merely an official question, but a'social'problem, a work of salvage which should bo'the concern of every public spirited, citizen. ..' : . ■•- , REFORMING TKJ3 OFFENDER. : ; 7t was because of a fuller apprceia-. tion of the problem of reforming the offender and of the necessity for keeping "in view his ultimate rehabilitation .that the Department welcomed the assistance of voluntary societies which .were prepared to'■:co-operate to that end. ■ . ..-...-■ .-■.-.■ ' . .;. 1 It had -.been'.;said, with much truth, that in the present temper of society ex-prisoner found great hindrances to recovery. A social stigma rested upon him, and thejattitude of both employer and workmate: made it difficult for him to obtain work. It was in the direction of breaking down that pre,judice that the Howard League-could be of great assistance. While the-De-partment was deeply, grateful for the splendid help that had been given by their organisation in arranging for lectures and .entertainments, and in other ways contributing much towards alleviating" the repression of institutional routine, it was felt that the greatest field for constructive endeavour- la}', firstly, in creating an enlightened public opinion in penal .matters, and, secondly, in assisting offenders to reestablish themselves in the community, by co-operating with the 'Department in its after-care work. •"FACTS, AND FACTS s ONLY." In regard to the first matter, he was pleased 'to noto that the Wellington branch of the league last year had set put mainly on an educational campaign *«» enable'members to. acquire a more exact idea of the problems that had to be faced. That, in his opinion, was a wise preliminary, for it had been well stated by that great criminologist, Dr. -Goring, "that the needs of criminological science must bo approached across facts, and facts only," while it was Burke who said, "Men little- think how immorally they act in rashly moddlhig with what they do not understand.'' There was an enormous fund of literature available on the subject, and his Department .would at all times be pleased to recommend books to any of them who desired to make a deeper study of tho problem. When one considered the barbarous methods of barely fifty years ago, it was not surprising •that the revulsion of feeling should cause a. swing of tho pendulum to an extreme of sympathy for the offender, often to tho entire disregard of "the rights of society; Tho framing of a penal policy required keenness of judgment, kindly humanity, and a sense of justice not only to the criminal, but also to the law-abiding citizen.