PRISON SYSTEM.

Shannon News, 9 July 1929, Page 1

PRISON SYSTEM.

CRITICISM BY CHAPLAIN. DOMINION GAOLS OUT OP DATE. A criticism of the prison system of Now Zealand, based on his own observation of its workings, was made by the Rev. Charles Chandler, assistantcity missioner and prison chaplain, in address at a meeting of the Howard League for Penal Reform in Auckland. Mr. Chandler said that the prison population of New Zealand was on the increase, while he understood that that of England was decreasing. Ho appealed for a greater degree of charity on the part of the public toward prisoners, and indicted the prisons as having a harmful effect on the inmates. Changes in the .svstein eonld not occur until the

public demanded them, and well-mean-ing officials in the gaols could not do their best until, they were given .the support of the public. The prisons of New Zealand were out-of-date and their condition was in some respects notably in that of archi tecture, medieval. Some effort , had bpen made at segregation of prisoners, but'the present facilities Were insufficient for this. In support of his contention that the present arrangement?

for natural lighting by window's were harmful Mr Chandler quoted the text “ Things that are evil love the darkness more than the light.” “I am in favour of Mount Eden'prison being rebuilt;, provided that the same Stones are; not used again, but arc broken up for street metal, ” he said. Mr. Chandler said he ■ did not think that prisons reformed. He thought instead',that they were schools of crime. In Australia and New Zealand fully 60

per cent, of first offenders returned for a second sentence. Most of them returned -within three months of their release. Their struggle . outside the gaol "was. harder than inside. Having been in gaol once they became “acclimatised.-'’ The fringe of the work of after-care of these men had hardly been touched.

Referring to his personal observations of the men in gaol, Mr. Chandler; said he considered that the most noticeable and general feature was their loyalty. He had found this spirit in cases when prison records were full of complaints registered against them. “So soon as you are prepared to believe in a man, then he starts to ro : form, ’’ flic speaker- continued. ‘‘The men responded quickly to efforts mad. 1 to help them, arid the result of improvements was immediately apparent. There was a tremendous sense of lovaltv in the average prisoner, who would not let a friend down.”