THE TREATMENT OF PRISONERS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3215, 11 May 1911, Page 2

THE TREATMENT OF PRISONERS.

A DISTINGUISHED VISITOR’S VIEWS. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ENGjLAND AND NEW ZEAuANjU. lspecial to times.j AUCKLAND, .May 10. A distinguisnea visitor at present in Auckland is Lieut-Cbioiiel Hearn, V iceGuairmam of the Eng'usn Metropolitan Prisoners’ Aid! Society, of which Lord Alverstone (Lord Chief' Justice) is President, and Mr. Justice Channell. Chairman. Colonel Hearn lias now: almost completed a tour of New Zealand, during tiie course of winch lie has visited ail tiie principal gaols and reformatories with a view to reporting on -wliat is being done in this- country in the way of prison reform and reformation of the young offenders. Speaking to a “Star’’ representative this morning, Colonel Hearn sard that a comparison between England -and New Zealand was impossible, because Ic-iie total daily population in alt our gaols is only about ttb-0, while at the Penronville Gaol -alone in the Old Country, it is over 1100. In fact, at the prison in question, tiie discharges last year numbered 15,199. One tiling that bad struck him forcibly however, was that in this country the prisoners all seemed in remarkably good condition, indicating in the majority of cases, good prison fare, and a physique not previously impoverished t>y want or vice. Referring to the work of the Prisoners’ Aid bocietv at Home, Colonel Hearn said that- prisoners committed to Pentonville were mostly lads between 16 and 21, and they underwent treatment which is a modification of. the Borstal system. Under this system the juvenile inmates are taughri such trades as tailoring, carpentering, bootmaking, etc., while -those who arc anxious to go to sea on their release, are taught elementary navigation, while every lad is put through a course of physical drill. Until Colonel Hearn has finally completed his inspection of our New Zealand system, he prefers not to go into a discussion of the methods at- present obtaining in this country, as compared with the English treatment of prisoners.