The Daily News. THURSDAY, AUGUST 11. CRIMES AMENDMENT ACT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 105, 11 August 1910, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, AUGUST 11. CRIMES AMENDMENT ACT.

* Clay's "Crimes lAmemuucui Bill" | : s probably the revolutionary pro-, [>osal that lias ever Jjeeu sauJUiutea 10 Che Kew Zealand, i'uinuiut:ui. me iiiu 1 is the result ox a ciose stuuy oi i„ne best system in vogue 111 uiose tou.iuies ; which, toeing tuickiy populated, imve a large number oi criminals, The absolute futility of wreaking vengeance on criminals without any attempt to make them aiter tiieir evil ways has long been recognised, but because New Zealand has not beiore obtained a lead from any statesman on the subject, the old system of punishment without cor- j rection has obtained: New Zealand has too large a population of criminals, and. it is impossible to blame environment. Heredity, immigration and facilities for the commitment of crimes have, of course, some influence on .the general total of crimes in New Zealand, and' probably the most potent factor of all is the lack of control in the home, the large number of desertions of children, and the general national unconcern in the moral and disciplinary regulations lof the lives of young people. It is re-1 cognised that the usual method of treat- | ing evil-doers results in their leaving I gaol with the full intention of commit|ting crime as soon as the opportunity occurs. The new Crimes Bill is such a drastic measure that no evil-doer knows when he goes into gaol whether he will return to the outside world again. This may have one of several effects. It can have no curative effect unless the prison authorities strive, by every means known to science, to eliminate the cause 'of crime; it may "have the effect of making people of criminal tendencies leave the country; and it may have the intended effect under the advanced methods proposed of really curing a proportion of criminals of the desire to commit crime. In a nutshell, the whole method is intended to be curative, as distinct from punitive. At present the larger proportion of convicted criminals in New Zealand on release return to crime. The authorities are so convinced that released convicted prisoners will again commit crime that they keep them in view as possible "game." On the other hand, our ibest police officers and gaolers so instinctively understand that a criminal can no more avoid committing! crime than a cock can avoid crowing that they have a very real and valuable sympathy with prisoners. We could quote many instances in New Zealand where police officers, by mere common sense and humanity, have put evildoers in the way .of becoming respectable members of society. Judges and magistrates have also an immense influence for reform, and a real understanding in a court of law has proved in innumerable cases a much more potent influence for reform than any subsequent discipline in gaol. But the system generally has ibeen by way of increasing crime, for mere vengeance on a criminal has always the effect of making him determine to repeat his crime at the earliest opportunity. The fact that he has. committed his crime because he has not enough mental resolution to keep clear of it has never before been considered, and there has been absolutely no system by which the causes could be studied or ascertained. The idea of mere preaching and punishment is devoid of common sense, for no word of mouth ever had the slightest effect in curing mental kinks, and no dreary grind of prison labor ever induced a man to become mentally sound and pure in heart. The new system will give better classification. Up to now a criminal has been a criminal, and not a "case," whether he has committed a crime against the person or against property. The new system of minute classification can only be effective if the persons who make the classification are expert, enthusiastic, just and sympathetic. The Government has appointed a criminologist, who, Dr. Findlay avers, is fully qualified to understand each criminal and to apportion hfe place and the methods of his cure. On that man or on any other men who 'may be appointed to the extraordinarily important position of endeavouring to understand each individual wrongdoer, will rest the success or failure of the system. It is inconceivable that any system, however good, can eliminate criminal taint, even in the minority of cases, but the smallest percentage of cures must necessarily be effected through the medium of officials. If it is proved that the sweeping reformatory methods, if carried otit in the best possible way, will produce the results hoped' for, it is essential that every prison official shall first of all be trained, enthusiastic, and with the goal of reform ever before his eyes. The Minister of Justice has stated that prison officials must give their undivided attention to the new system, and that on their diligence and- sympathetic attention to the working of the new scheme would rest their promotion. He has also mentioned that promotion in the service will not depend on seniority, but on ability to discharge the altered duties devolving on gaol officials. Experts mention that a criminal is only one-eighth' bad. The object of the new system is to discover which eighth is 'bad, the causes that led up to its badness, and the elimination of the badness. The success or failure of the new system will be disclosed only by the number of criminals cured of a desire to commit crime. In the meantime, the public will be protected in a more complete way than ever before, and the vast possibility is that the free ( criminal population will .find it desirable 'to quit the country. There^ are, how(ever, enough wrongdoers now in durance for the necessary experiments. j