RECLAIMING CRIMINALS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 6, 26 May 1914, Page 2

RECLAIMING CRIMINALS.

PRISON BOARD SYSTEM. SUCCESS IN MAN* CASES'. DANGER OF OLD ASSOCIATIONS 'WeHiagton, Wednesday. Complaints were recently ventilated that '-a number of "habitual" criminals, released on license, hadi shown tliem- | oellivca unworthy of the privilege or ted returned to a life of crime. It wis suggested that; the Prisons' Board in some such cases, had' shown undue leniency, and toad' set men free who were not fit to he a.t large. There is,, iiowevor, another side ito the question. In conversation with a (reportor to-day, a gentleman, who has ibid a long experience of prisoners' administration; in this country, ,andi who enjoys exceptional opportunities for making himself acquainted With tflie rcfwlts attained under the system l which is in vogue in New Zealamd, expressed the opinion that the policy of releasing "habitual" criminals who had dione something, by their good conduct while in detention, to ea,rn tlmt privilege, had upon the Whole been thoroughly well justified. , Now and then, he continued, the experiment might turm out a failure, and the released men might s/how themselves undeserving of ■freedom, 'but thea© cases were ahravs heard wf. 'Less was heard of tihe cases in which released criminals made a thorough reformation a n d prospered in the paths -of honesty. Buch caises were by no means unknown, however. "There are ex-criminals," : -said the speaker, "who ihave taken ito steady employment <indi have made a 'brave effort, to rehabilitate .themselves. Some of them have saved money, and can show excellent reports from flheir employee's and from l the police, which are all'the more praiseworthy in view of their former associations. Apart from tlic failures and from these who make ».n lexlceptionalilj) go'od recovery of their social sjtandang, there is a much larger class of ex-criminals about whom, no very pronounced reports are made one way or the other, and it is reasonable to assume that at least a fair proportion of the members of this dlass n.re doing wall. One danger from which released criminals (have to toe protected, i* that of their being preyed upon bv the mien with whom they were associated before -they entered <tlie path of reformation. Tt is not an uncommon thing for a reformed prisoner to be pestered! by some former associate for a share of what (he lias earned bv honest toil, and Sometimes the old 'friend' is imena enough to teJnpt him to return to a life of crime. On occasions tint police have been able to come t'o the assistance of men wlm were being victimise in this way by taking tilue. .tempter# into custody." ITlie authority quoted is no pessimist in regard to the possibility of reclaiming and reforming a proportion even of those who are esteem®! to be •hardened criminals. Many of these men, he remarked, were clever enoti'rli to earn an -honest livelihood easily, anil't was worth while going to a great deal of trouble ill trying to-bring that fact hi>:w to t'liem. Tt still remained a problem he added, to devise some sort of institution which would lie neither « reformatory nor an industrial -m institution specially devoted to the reclamation of youths and young men who had gone wrong, but not hopelcs-ly wrung.-