The Southland Times. MONDAY, JANUARY 27, 1868.

Southland Times, Issue 889, 27 January 1868, Page 2

The Southland Times. MONDAY, JANU ARY 27, 1868 .

The/ disposal" of the criminal classes is one of the itiosfc knotty questions th.it any statesman can be called upon to combat. It has baffled the ingenuity of law-makers throughout the civilized world. Theory after theory .has been expounded, and experiment after experiment made for, the treatment of the socalled " dangerous classes." Iv England this question ia still the " fly in the ointment " to every ministry, the one subject that all acknowledge an incapacity to legislate upon. In the old days of Botany Bay, Van Dieman's Land, and Norfolk Island pen.il settlements, the question attracted but little attention in England, as long a3 she could deluge the colonies with her prison pollution. But when this was stopped-^-when it became a necessity for her to keep her own criminals within her own bounds — every imaginable scheme waa adopted to ensure the reformation of the criminal- classes. "What has been the result.. The greater the leniency shown the more prolific the crime. The sentimental vapour-ings of Exeter Hall led to the adoption of a system of purchasing obedience by the lavish distribution of luxuries and a freedom destructive of -all discipline. It was s6on found that to localize offenders was to facilitate the expansion of their criminal instincts, make them accomplished hypocrites, and when liberated more dangerous than they were before punishment. Hence it is that England generally desire 3to find some hew land on which to plaut apenal settlenisrib. , The colonies have re. ili sad even more fully the abortiveneaa of attempting with sugar and soft words to suppress crine. "With a large class of hardened offenders scattered over the whole of the colonies, their surveillance baa become one of the most serous items of governmental expenditure. ; la Kew Zaal.iud thi3 is especially the case. TJader the provincial system there h nine petty pen il establishments, and the attendant cosb of nnicn c staffs of officials. It is satis factory to know that the Stafford Ministry have taken up thw question in serious earnestness. There has been a C ointnission. appointed, to report as to the desirability of forming one" penal settle-

ment for lopg sentence mon f° T tne whole colony: W& ; think that there can be no' question as to this being urgently required. It is a patent fact that however much may be expended on provincial gaols, the means at command must prove inadequate to provide for a satisfactory classification — that the youthful offender must be thrown into the society ©f'the hardened and incorri- 1 gable criminal. Large Btaflfs have to Be kept up, and- a multitude; of expenses incurred. \lfc is nob our intention to taoralize upon the evils arising from the •existing systems of prison arrangements, it being sufficiently apparent that it is costly, inefficient, and useless. That a central penal establishment is a necessity is generally acknow- ; •ledged. Where shall it be? This j will bs the great question for the j consideration of the Commission. The Auckland Islands appear at first sight to be well adapted for the purpose. What is most required in the formation of a Penal Settlement is isolation to the fullest extent, in order that the feeling of j a craving for plotting escapes should be deadened as far as possible. There are many reasons why in the consideration of a site for a central New Zealand prison the Auckland Islands should receive the first consideration. It is most desirable that some sort of settlement should be formed oa one of these islands. We are iuformed that Centre Islaud is about thirty miles long by six or seven in breadth. It is-true that, a* far as is yet known, [there is very little vegetation on this land, or soil for cultivation ; but on some of the other islands— Enderby's, &c— good vegetation; is found, j It may be advanced that to fornajx j?enal station in such a locality would be to throw, away the benefits of prison labor. This argument is not tenable. A penal establishment would bo chiefly for long sentenced and hardened criminalsJ All the work that could be got out of this, class would be equally as large and valuable on the Auckland Islands as it would be in our local prisons. There would be ground to be tilled, buildings to be erected, wharves, 'and likely a ; lighthoii3e to be constructed. In such an isolated spot, with no hope of escape, these prisoners Avould work, and work well. We throw out the suggestion to the Colonial Government, believing it deserving of more than apassing thought. It is certain that a colonial prison settlement will be established; it is equally certain that the further from the mainland the better— all the settled communities being opposed to be in too close proximity to the crime-stained- population. It is necessary that the Auckland Islands should be visited periodically, store depots formed, and other expenses incurred that would be considerably lightened if a settlement was planted there. We commend the suggestion to the consideration of I;he Penal Establishment Commissioners. ' ; , '-; •; -... } •