OUR PRISON POPULATION.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVI, Issue 38, 20 June 1913, Page 6

OUR PRISON POPULATION.

/i : > |n 0 ' 1,1 ; INTERESTING STATEMENT Bt THE MINISTER. [Per Press Association.] Wellington, June 20. The Minister of Justice, who. has completed his tour of investigation of the prisons ‘in New Zealand, review'ed the position in a statement to a Post representative to-day. He said that the legislation dealing with habitual criminals bad been w r ell tested now, and ho believed it w ; as working with a fair amount of Subcess. The gaoler at New Plymouth had informed him that quite a number of the habituals released were turning out well. At the present time there were confined in New' Zealand gaols 59 habitual criminals, 42 prisoners undergoing hard-labor sentences and declared habitual criminals, 104 detained for reformative treatment, 48 prisoners undergoing hard-labor sentences to bo followed by reformative treatment, and 619 prisoners working 6ut hard-labor sentences over three months. Since March, 1911, forty-two habitual criminals and 82 prisoners detained for reformative treatment have been released on probation. On the recommendation of the Prisons Board, fifteen habituals and eight reformative detention prisoners wdio were released had been returned to prison. The Minister states that it is quite impossible without the expenditure of large sums of money, to do much in the way of classification and what is called reform w r ork. Some of the gaols, such as Lyttelton, Wellington, and Napier, are obsolete, and until money is available for the construction of modern institutions, a perfect system of classification cannot be devised, but even w'ith the limited means at the disposal of the State, a commencement had been made to imnrove the conditions.