The Daily News MONDAY, JUNE 1. THE WAIOTAPU BLOT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 137, 1 June 1908, Page 2

The Daily News MONDAY, JUNE 1. THE WAIOTAPU BLOT.

Much lias boon said and written at various times in support of the .system of rural prison camps, particularly regarding its leavening inlluenci; for reform on the class of prisoner whose, rehahililation to respectable and law-abiding society is not without hope of realisation. With the two-fuhl object of protecting society and reforming the prisoner the rural prison system was established in the Dominion, and with, we believe, the ■prospect of producing results in the reforming direction such as could not reasonably hi! expected from detention within' the grim crime-reeking atmosphere of the gaols, lender the. more enlightened system, classification of prisoners became possible, but to what extent has the opportunity been availed of. and the experiment honestly treated'/

Despite the dogmatism ami denials of the Minister for Justice, the lion. .1. Mctlowan. and his churlish treatment of deputations that have, on the soundest of grounds, protested that the prison camps were licing misused as "holiday" resorts for criminals of the worst type, recent events have- proved, to the hilt, either that the Minister's supervision of his Department in this connection has been perfunctory in the extreme, or that he has, without justification, or because of lack of knowledge, made statements that have, since been proved erroneous. Statements have from time to time been made by ex-prisoners to the eil'ect that Waiotapu, far from being a moral paradise, has been, in not isolated instances, converted into a den of infamy, a modern Sodom. That such is jiot idle assertion—although we arc not in a position to prove it—it is generally agreed by policemen and gaol officials, who are not uncommunicative to pressmen on subjects regarding which they privately entertain abhorrence. For such a state of affairs, if it exists, the Minister is not held directly responsible, except in so far that lio permits of vicious perverts being drafted to the camps.

The most serious charge against Waiotapu and similar caui]W, however, is that. their existence has grown to constitute a real danger to the community, in that desperate criminals—in violation of the intentions of Parliament, the Courts, ami of public opinion—have been sont there, whence they have the best of opportuuites of escaping to pursue their vocation of crime. When approached on the subject, the supercilious Mr. Mc(iowan a few weeks ago denied that this class or prisoner was aent the prison tree-planting stations, yet within a few days ottapes of dangerous convicts from Waiotapu wero recorded. Speaking from memory wc believe at least one o f these is still at large. Another, who made his escape under sensational circumstances and was re-captured, had been tried on a charge of attempted murder, and was serving a long sentence. In the face of such irrefutable evidence, how can the Minister for Justice publicly deny that the rural prison experiment is being abused? In view of the class of prisoner that has recently been earning notoriety for Waiotapu it is jiertincnt to inquire what percentage of the camp's population is of the hardened criminal variety, and it is to be hoped that members' of Parliament will insist, during the coming session, on the information being supplied at an early date. As we have already said. Ave have every reason to believe that, with discriminating selection, the treeplanting camps would be productive of genuine good. On the other hand, however, we consider it almost, a. direct incentive to crime that criminals of the worst type should be so solicitously nursed by the State.

Where the Minister of Justice has failed in his manifest duty, we are pleased fo observe the Judges have shown themselves solicitous for the public safety, and his Honor Mr. Justice Edwards is deserving of the thanks of the community for his outspoken remarks in dealing with a recent escapee from Waiotapu. Incidentally, his Honor impliedly relinked the administration that made it possible for such a class of prisoner being seni to Waiotapu. anil il is to be Imped ihe Minister for .rustic,, has noted the fact. His Honor, last week, in Sentencing a prisoner named William Smith, who made a sensational leap from an express train when being conveyed from Waiotapu to Mt. Kden gaol, pointed out that sentences were not imposed by way of punishment, but in order to saleguard the community, and the prisoner must suffer because the community could not be safe otherwise. An offence might be comparatively trivial, or it might be serious, hut ill the prisoners case it was serious. The prisoner, continued his Honor, had been sentenced to a long term, ten years. He considered the jury, when the m:ln was tried, would have been quite justified in finding him guilty of the crime of attempted murder. At all events the. prisoner was obviously a person most dangerous to tho community and the. sentence, was accordingly for a vcrv considerable period. Further, it was quite certain he should have, been kept in strict custody during that time, "llo.v you got. to Waiotapu I don't know," commented the Judge. "It did not rest with me that, you should have got there, and depend upon it. you would have foregone that, visit. The only sensible thing in connection with the matter appears to me to have been the decision to have yOu again removed to gaol. The fact that you held you r own life and limbs at such small value, coupled with the further fact that you had previously been convicted of a very serious crime, shows that you are a person without respect for human life and safety. Your past indicates that, and your escaping was serious beyond all doubt. I desire to have it known that since such persons urn scut to Waiotapu I will treat any attempt to escape from that place as a serious offence."