GOODWARD'S SECOND FLOGGING.

Te Aroha News, Volume II, Issue 60, 26 July 1884, Page 6

GOODWARD'S SECOND FLOGGING.

(From the Auckland Slav," July 21.) Henry Goodwakd, who was convicted on a chargo of rape at the April sessions of the Supreme Court here, and sentenced to five years' penal servitude and two floggings, received his second flagellation within the precincts of Mount Eden Gaol this morning. The first Hogging was administered a few weeks after the pronouncing of the sentence, and then, despite the refusal of the gaol authorities to give any information respecting the punishment for publication, we were enabled to place before our roadera particulars of the punishment. The fact that the "secrets of the prison - house " had been disclosed very much annoyed the authorities, and for some "weeks strenuous endeavours were made at the instance of tho head gaoler to discover the name of our i informant. On tho occasion referred to wo gave a succinct account of the flogging, which was perftn-med by two warders, and also mentioned that one of the warders had resigned sooner than perform the humiliating and degrading office. During last session of Parliament, several members made allusion to this matter, and the action of the Department of Justice was criticised in no measured terms. We assume that all this has proyed on the minds of the gaol authorities, as on endeavouring to-day to learn something about the flogging, we found all avenues of information closed, extraordinary measures having been adopted to prevent anything leaking out. What we are fighting for is, first — that members of the press should be admitted to flagellations as they are to executions ; and, secondly, that the task of flogging should not be saddled on the gaol warders. In this connection we do not think we can do better than reproduce tho remarks of Mr JTeldwiek, member for Invercargill, in the House last session. We quote from " Hansard" : — "Mr Feldwick wished to call the attention of the Minister of Justice to a case which recently occurred in the Auckland Gaol, where one ol the warders was called upon to do what was really a hangman's work — to flog one of the prisoners. If a warder refused to perform such a disagreeable cjuty he was liable to be dismissed, no matter what might be his length of service, or whether or not he was entitled to a pen- \

&ion. No man of any spirit would like to undortako the work of flogging a prisoner ; bo would soonor hang a man than flog him. That was the position in which tho warders of prisons were placed throughout the colony. Many of these warders were sent out in charge of hard-labour gangs. Probably tho warder who had flogged a prisoner would be sent out in chargo of him as forming one of these labour gangs. All the prisoners would naturally have a down upon that warder. If such a system were carried out, the result would be that some of those warders would be murdered. There was not a man in the service who would flog a prisoner. During the time of the honourable gentleman's predecessor in office, tho Vi&Hing Justices of Otago Gaol obtained permission to employ the pervices of an outsider to undertake the task of flogging. The warder of the Auckland Gaol had been threatened with dismissal for the action he took. He hoped, if such an order had been given, the Minister of Justice would at once see that it was abrogated."