The Daily Times. The oldest Manawatu Journal ; Established 1875. SATURDAY, OCTOBER, 5, 1883.

Manawatu Times, Volume VIII, Issue 379, 8 October 1883, Page 2

The Daily Times. The oldest Manawatu Journal ; Established 1875. SATURDAY, OCTOBER, 5, 1883.

O^e great result of the Dunedin Gapl enqniry.was the passing of the Prisons Act Amendment Act, the chief feature of which is the part relating to prisoners charged with aggravated offences being tried m open Court. No doubt one of the prime causes of the scandals which grew m the Dunedin Gaol was the secrecy with which the enquiries were conducted. Public opinion has no possible opportunity of ex» ercising its power when the data upon which it could work is sup» pressed. No doubt the facts elicited by the Dunedin Gaol enquiry were scandalous to a degree. But it is awful te think of what may have gone on m the Dunedin and other New Zealand gaols which has not conic out. Certainly everyone readn ing the evidence at the time would conclude there was more behind. The trouble was to get at it. Parliament has taken the right step m opening the doors of the gaols, and enabling prisoners charged with aggravated offences to be sent out to the open Court for trial. The new law is an improvements many res spects. Hitherto the law has pro* ceeded on the assumption that gaol officers wereinfaHibleandimmacukte and every prisoner a possible (or even probable) incarnation of evil. Hence the powers of the Visiting Justices as regards offences by officers against prisoners have been infinitesimal ;— m f»ct, the law has hardly presumed sucii occurrences could happen. But the Dunedin Gftol enquiry opened the eyes of the poio»istß, an 4we find Visiting Justices now haya ample ppwer to hear either privately or otherwise ajjy complaints made by prisoners against officers, or to enquire into alleged abuses, and to report to the Minister of Justice. This should prove an untold boon to prisoners who are goaded by overbearing turnkeys, and maltreated by gepspns " dressed m a littlebrief authority/ Then, ji|ain, full power is given the Justices £q enauire into offences by prisoners, but every s.uph enquiry must be n?ade m the presence pf f;he person charged, prison offences are divided into Mvo^lmw, minor *»d a^gra- 1

vated. The minor offences are as follow : — Disobedience of regulations, assaults on other prisoners, profaue language, indecent behavior; irreverent behavior at Divine ser« vice, insulting or threatening language, idleness, negligence, mismanagement at work, obstructing or disobeying officers, giving or ex- j changing provisions, communicating J with other prisoners, disrespect to officers, committing a nuisance, marking or defacing prison property, singing, whistling, or making unnecessary noises, secreting or purloining anything, or any other conduct subversive of the peace, order } or good government of the prison.' For any of the above offences the Visiting Justices may order the following punishments : — Close confinement m a light cell with or without irons for not longer than three days ; bread and water diet for not longer than three days ; removal to a lower class [privileges m gaol increase accordhg to class]; sus. pension without actual removal from the privileges of the class the prisoner belongs to; forfeit of the numbar of marks necessary to obtain 14 days' remission of sentence. Aggravated offences consist of the f Allowing : — Mutiny or open incites ment thereto, personal violence' to officers, escaping or attemptin aggravated or repeated assaults on prisoners, committal of minor offence after being twice punished thmf >r, wilfully destroying prison property, making or attempting to make auy wound or sore, pretending illness, preferring false or frivolous corn* plaints against officers, when under punishment wilfully making a disturbance tending to interrupt the order and discipline of the prison ; or any other act of gross misconduct or insubordination. En passant, we fear one item m the above list is capable . of being abused, viz., that referring to " false or frivolous complaints against offi* cere," which would be calculated perhaps to make prisoners who had reasonable camplaints rather bear I the ills they had than fly to others ! they knew not of. The punishments which may be inflicted for aggravated offences are — close or other confinement, with or without irons, m a light cell, for any length of time, but not longer than 30 days m irons ; bread and water diet for fourteen < days; removal to a lower class or suspension of privileges ; if not already at hard labor to be liable to hard labor for not more than one year ; to forfeit the marks necessary to obtain a year's remission of sentence. The special improvement is that the power of inflicting these heavy punishments for aggravated offences does not rest with the Visiting Justices ; for when j they find a prisoner has been guilty of an offence of this c?ass they are required to relegate the charge to the nearest B.M. Court, where it is heard openly before the Resident Magistrate or two Justices of the Peace, who alone have power to punish the offender. Already several cases of the kind have come be% fore Eesident Magistrates m open Court, with the best possible effect. &.B regards minor offences, no punishment can be inflicted which will extend the pris aoner's incarceration beyond the term of the original sentence, but this provision does not apply to ag« gravated offences. On the whole, the amendments made m the Prison? Act last session are such m the best sense of the word, and will, v is to be hoped, prevent the recurrence of such scandals as those which were perpetrated m the Dunedin Gaol.