PRISON REFORM.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 315, 31 May 1911, Page 5

PRISON REFORM.

IN NEW SOUTH WALES. LESSONS FROM NEW ZEALAND. By Cable—Press Association—Copyright. Sydney, May 30. Mr. Hoiman, Minister of Justice, lecturing at a meeting of the Royal Society, outlined important prison reforms. He said he had found that the hard labor diet was inadequate for a strong man, and it would be altered. Consumptive prisoners would receive outdoor scientific treatment. In order that prisoners' wives and families might not suffer, they would be compelled to do remunerative work, and thus repair the wrong done to society.

He would introduce an experiment in afforestation by ex-prisoners, as was done in New Zealand, where it had been highly successful. He intended to establish free camps conducted by the Government, where released men could go straight from gaol, and earn eight shillings a day. This would do wonders in completing their reformatory system. He was arranging for the abolition of Supreme Court circuits in the country, and instead would send judges shortly after prisoners' commitment on a serious charge in order to prevent unjust waiting, and the congestion of litigation. In Sydney a Court of Criminal Appeal would be established; also the executive would be relieved of the duty of deciding whether capital sentences should be carried out by the transfer of the responsibility to a tribunal of Supreme Court judges, presided over by the Chief Justice.