TREATMENT OE CRIMINALS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 1884, 10 January 1885, Page 2

TREATMENT OE CRIMINALS.

A STARTTING REFORM. An occasional contributor, who is just now in Wellington, mites as follows in reference to tho recent Cabinet meeting which has excited so much speculation Special corrcspondents.and othera have been very much exercised during the last day or two concerning the sudden return of 'the Governor and the Premier, and the Cabinet meetings whidi immediately followed their arrival in Wellington. With , the greatest possible respect for the enterprise of the gentlemen who prof ess to find out the intentions of the Government for the benefit of the journals they represent, •I thini a free-lance, such as lam, can occasionally get more information than they can. At any rate .it . will admited, I fancy that I have-done so this time to some purpose. I will not, however, keep you longer in suspense, but give you my news. . .......

It appears that the active moving spirit 3 of the Ministry is ever on the look out for J fresh' fields. of enterprise and'- avenues whereby-some new departure or other can 0 be made from the humdrum track of ordi- J nary representative, government. Accord- v ingly every -department .of the State is J being passed under critical review,' with J the object of bringing about .its. reform, ' or,-better still, its abolition. Among J others- the extensive branoh.represented, f by Police and Gaols has .'come under "tha " careful consideration' of the Cabinet, with : the result that arofomvhasbeen proposed ; as'novel-as it is startling; and it is, I 1 understand, in . this connection that the 1 Premier and the Governor have been ? summoned to Wellington so suddenly, j German annexation is a very Important 1 question, but there is nothing new enough; | ;or pressing'WpUt 'that to keep' Her ' Majesty's representative and the head of ( the Government, at work in holiday time. 1 I learn that a communication has been ' received;from.Professor Von, Hoffh'er, a '■}, well-known German mesmerist)-- which ' required an immediate answer, and as my 1 informant has also received a letter from ; the Professor, who is well known to him, ! it will be seen at once that the following explanation of the business, which occupied the Ministry during tho' dosing hours of the year, can be implicitly relied upon. . It seems that the idea was conceived—when and by whom it matters nqt jiiat now—that society and the State would be enormously benefited if criminals could be disposed of moro satisfactorily than at present. The moment the mind so to speak—of the Government began to turn this proposition over, the solution pre? sented itself,. It.is - as ■ simple as AB O, Instead of shutting a man up in a costly prison, with iron gates and iron-hearted warders, he is simply handed over to a certain functionary—directly he has been sentenced—who 'mesmerises'.him. After that he not only becomes quite harmless, and ready to do whatever his keeper—who is of course the mesmeriser—orders him to do, but he cannot to himself away from the neighborhood .of that indi- • • vidual. No need of bars and bolts to keep him from running away. He won't go away,"or in other wtjrds ljo cfm't, Hq ig held by invisible tym'ds, anil will hang around the gaol until the keeper orders him, to. depart, Just imagine for one moment the advantage this kind of watch and ward possesses .over the old-fashioned style. For not only is the cost of an expensive prison with its cells and walls and turnkeys avoided, but all the prisoners do exaotly 7.3s they are told , without a murniur.' dumber seventy, q nqfced. burglar, 4ay.be sept to ihe Bank fffthtne holer's ninthly.- cheque, and can upon tq bring" every farthing of the njoney in less than , jiq tjip, I am tqld, t00,., that, a properly murderer, may be safely Ijired qut ag a . chemist's—or.oven .i^Wber's—assistant j without the least risk in.tl\o.\vorld; for he can't become a free, agent-.without going back to the gaoler.' I/have;not space'to' enlarge upon all the astonishing advan--1 tages of the proposed" scheme of treating, ' criminals which have been pointed out to. > me. It is sufficient, to say that Professor.-. ■ Yon Hoffner has ? satisfied himself • by ' actual of t)ie of the 1 sch'emeVliaving succeeded in ob|ajnii)g a 1 number of the most blqod-tl}irf}ty villain's ! in Berlin to operate upon, • Tlie Jesuits '' were mora remarkable, for every one of '. the parties he-brought under his control ■became as gentlo as lambs pd as obedient •as—husbands'. Tho only point not-yet ; settled is what will! happen when-he . releases them. However that is his j- business and theirs, and I .leave them-to ' 'fight/it qjii, f'am' told that ;Professortq tl}e. i various -Governments of Europe, Asia, 5 America and the colonies, but as yet only 1 those pf New Zealand and China have a given favorable replies. Doubtless all the world will follow the example of the New Zealand Government, should the scheme be finally deolded upon. The question at ,1 present before the Cabinet-is whether the s offer of the Professor to come out at once 0 and superintend'the introduction of the 1. new system into this colony shall be ,t accepted. Ho undertakes to instruct a ;t sufficient number of persons to .act as e- gaolers throughout New Zealand under the mesmeric principle, and will accept d tjie appointnpt of toector-Gencral of Prisons tea iaterjf of soojj 3 year. Ho requests an immediate reply' 'd§ ffie Emperor of phina has agreed to his' terms l)!)t for obvious reasons he would prefer to .cqine to ijW ' I may add that I understand there if evepy p&bg,bj}jty f)f hjs qffer being accepted.' Of cqurgeßar- | lianient wjfi have to ,de,cide whether the l ' sygtem shall' bo iijtroduced into this |f country or hot. Bl}t iii the meptjme the urgency of the case admits of nq delay and it is hinted that a well-known philan- ? throphiat in the North Island has formally undertaken to guarantee the Government , the Halary and expenses of Professor Hoff-" 1 ner in the event of Parliament refusing to jj Miifjrn) hjg appointment. I may add that j, it is intendhig* to qbiain » gf. |h<j worst yilljans not actually under sentence to volunteer for a consideration, po that the Professor may experiment upon them before next session for the special infor- * mation of Parliament, in order that the . system may be thoroughly understood j -before it§ adpptjon js finally decided uppn, ; Should anything elso transpire jn cqn= nectipn with this very radical reform, you may rely upon my letting you have the 1 earliest infermatioili e . MALVOLIO,