The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 1910. THE STATE AND THE DRUNKARD.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2764, 19 March 1910, Page 4

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 1910. THE STATE AND THE DRUNKARD.

Hitherto the State- met lauds of ha 110ling the drink victim have been crud'* in the extreme. Under our boasted system cf individual liberty it ha-s been possible for any man. to drink as much as he likes and as often as he likes to the detriment of bis own health, and frequently with the result of greet hardship to Ills wife and family. no might, spend all his earning-.- on beer and land home- drunk every night in the week, whilst his dependents went short- cf the necessaries cf life, sti‘l the State took no action. lc was only when in a state cf drunkenness he became disorderly or objectionable in tiie public street that- the law took cognisance of the alcoholic product. Then, per medium of a constable, it took hi-in with both hands, dragged him to the lockup, and dumped him in the cell to get over his bout. Next morning his overremdness for alcohol placed him in the criminal’s dock, and lie was dealt with through his pocket. If his poejeet was empty he had to liquidate his debt to the law .by a period in gaol. How this method of deterring .people from getting drunk, or rather from o'ot-: tiding their drunkenness in the public streets operated, may lie gathered from the fact that constant stream of drunks flows in and out of our police courts. Some of the unfortunate offenders go through cue miserable court- performance more than a hundred times before Death —m re kind to them than their fellows—terminates their ceaseless journeying to and fro between the public-house, the Court of Justice (?) and the gaol. Obviously there was nothing reformative in such a system. Alter all is said and done, it is the environment supplied by the community that is largely responsible for the annum crop of drunkards, and it theiefore becomes the inevitable duty of tile .com-' munity to deal justly, squarely, ana humanely with the victims of the traffic. Certainly that has not been the case in the past. Under the circumstances, it is not surprising that a feeling has been growing for some t’nie in the public mind that all is net well with our methods of handling the victims o» the li<ftaor habit!, and at last a definite scheme has been -propounded by the Government to .remedy the evils just referred to. In a comprehensive pLn of prison reform which lias been drawn up by- Dr. Findlay, and approved by the rest of the Cabinet, tlfe treatment of drunkards is thus referred to-:

Drunkards are classified as-Casu-als, oceasionals, liabituals, incorrigibles. Casuals are men who get drunk at but rare intervals. Occa-sionals arc men who from time to time indulge in drink/ninhabits bad enough to cause them, loss of employment. Habitual? are describ'd by their name. They are mostly loafers, and work but intermittently, spending; what wages they earn on drink. Incorrigibles, besides being habitual drunkards, combine minor offences with their original offence. Casuals are dealt with by fining. The amount of the fine is determined according to ability to pay. ahd habiluals are admitted to a specified term of probation. The former are committed by the magistrate to the custody cf a probation officer, whose duty it is to see that his charge reports himself every evening not later than a prescribed hour at the institution of which the probation officer has charge. The offender remains in the 1 institution, all night, and leaves after breakfast ini the morning, (provided that he has^ occupation to go to. His wages "are not paid to himself, but to his wife or a receiving officer, as tire magistrate thinks fit and directs. The first charge against his wages is for the cost of ins board and lodging at the institution. As' the offender gains the • confidence of .the probation officer aind .proves himself worthy of trust, the officer has power to report to the magistrate that his charge is worthy of a relaxation of disciplinary

oversight, and, authority being given, I lie may allow ft lie offender to sleep his own. home on one or more specified nights in the week. If this privilege is abused, the probationary officer can summarily withhold it, reporting his action as soon as possible to the magistrate for endorsement and for further instructions. If the magistrate, deems that the .offender’s conduct is sufficient- ■ bad he may summons the offender to appear in his presence, and, after investigation, deal with the offender aeither an habitual drunkard or an incorrigible drunkard. An habitual drunkard is admitted to a term of .probation under more stringent regulations. He is committed to the Probation: Officer, who keeps him in close detention, giving him only such liberty as he may deem expedient, submitting to the magistrate a report of the conditions of the form of detention imposed. The magistrate will endorse the report -or otherwise, according to his discretion. Incorrigible drunkards are committed to imprisonment in a. 'State inebriate institution^.'which. is for the detention of Incorrigible inebriates—-that is to say, persons who are convicted of minor crimes which are in themselves' the result of excessive drinking, such persons being considered unsuitable for detention under probationary discipline. The institution is in all respects a prison camp, except that this one class of offenders is alone committed to it. According to this, it would appear that the man who indulges in a drunken spree, but on rare occasions, is not likely to be sent to gaol for the offence, as his tine is to be measured by iiis ability to pay. A determined effort is. 'made to compel those loafers who- at present work just long enough to earn money to buy drink to mend their ways and lc-ok after their homes. Any fa: 1 - ure in this respect brings the offenders into the class of habitual drunkaids, who are kept under strict detention. What are termed incorrigible drunkards are to be confined within, the boundaries of a .prison camp, but are not to be associated with what are usually described as criminals. It is not easy ,to form an opinion cn tire scheme with.out having its details fully explained and justified by its author, hut it can, at any rate, he commended as a serious effort to grapple with a grave social evil.