TREATMENT OF PRISONERS

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 21, 16 May 1914, Page 6

TREATMENT OF PRISONERS

AT Ml LSTA Ry DETENTION CAM P. [Pes Pbess Association..! Auckland, May 15. About a fortnight ago two young; men were fined £5 each and costs at the Onehunga Magistrate's Court for failing to attend military drill, with the. alternative of 26 day**' .military detention in barracks at Devonport. Both refused to pay the fine, and yes - terday morning presented themselves at the police station, .and asked to be arrested. One of them said he was out of work, and the other intimated that he had. left his employment rather than have his wages attached. . , . • Recently a young man returned from the marine suburb, and gave a glowing account of the.treatment meted out to military prisoners. According to his statement, the detention was purely a holiday. The menu, lie said, consisted of ham and eggs for breakfast, with the best cuts of roast beef for dinner. As for work, it was merely child's play. Now it seems that all persistent shirkers have decided to become, the guests of the Government at Devonport. An omphalic denial that the military prisoners had anything but an unpleasant tinfe was given this morning by Captain Kewish, who stated that the assertion' that the convicted men preferred to go to gaol at Devonport rather thjin pay their fine was "all humbug." "Our prisoners," ho. stated, "are treated in almost the same way as are convicts in the gaols. They undergo hard labor, and are compelled to do ordinary drills. As far as food is concerned, the daily allowance amounts to 2s, and it is not possible to live very high on that amount," ■~-._ ... "''^H^'wcs^miv