PRISONS AND PRISONERS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1573, 6 July 1916, Page 4

PRISONS AND PRISONERS.

LAST YEAR’S OPERATIONS,

The report on the operations of the Prisons Department shows that from June, 1915, until the present date there has been a gradual decrease in the number of committals. .Prom January to May, 1915, however, the number was considerably higher than for the corresponding period of 1914, consequently the daily average for 1915 shows an increase of 28.31 over the figures of 1914. The report remarks that it cannot be said that there has

been the marked decline in the number of criminals in New Zealand that appears to have occurred in Great Britain as a result of the war, although a percentage of men who have undergone imprisonment have enlisted with he expeditionary forces. From the beginning of the war it has been apparent that a strong feeling of patriotism has existed among those who have had to be segregated in the interest of the State, and there has been evidence that this feeling has continued after release. In last year’s reAs an indication of the steady increase in the cost of living during the past year, adds the report, it might be pointed uot that whereas the cost of rations in the New Zealand prisons in 1914 averaged £ll per prisoner, the cost in 1915 was £l4 5s per head. While the expenditure for the year increased considerably, the cash receipts showed a substantial margin above those for the previous 12 months, and constituted a record for the Department. The cash credits for the last financial year were £11,982, as against £9,586 for 1914-1915. Among the largest contributions to port it was remarked that the large increase then noted on the figures for 1913 was confined entirely to male prisoners. In 1915, however, the position was altered, there being' a substantial increase in the number of female prisoners compared with previous years. This is regarded as being probably duo to more drastic police action having been taken during the past year in regard to a certain class of offenders.

this total were the following;— Payment for tree-planting work, £3,497; -manufacture of bricks for Parliamentary and other Government buildings, £2,(526; sale of road metal, dressed stone, and concrete blocks, £2,990; manufacture of boots, etc., £495; sale of farm produce, stock, etc., £782. Experience has proved, the report continues, that the best means of employing prison labour in the interest alike of the State and of the prisoners is in agricultural pursuits, and it is becoming increasingly evident that if adequate employment in this direction is to be provided in the future provision must 1)0 made at an early date for the acquisition of further areas for this purpose.