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The S.A's deal at Island BayThe Salvation Army buys a house and grounds at Island Bay to start Prison Gate Home
In 1909 the Salvation Army proposed establishing a “prison gate” hostel in Melrose Street, Island Bay. Locals argued strongly for the prisoners to be reintegrated into someone else's backyard. This article draws on reports in the Salvation Army publication War Cry, The Evening Post and the cartoons and original captions of J.C. Bloomfield of the New Zealand Freelance. The house intended for the hostel was later used as a boys’ home as detailed in Southern Bays No. 3. It is still there, and its future use is again being considered by residents. Meanwhile, as we go to press, Island Bay residents are debating the establishment of a ‘wet hostel’ a few minutes walk away from the site of the 1909 dispute.
The Salvation Army were pleased with their purchase, for £4000, of the Melrose Street house. Their magazine War Cry announced that the men's social secretary for the Dominion, Brigadier James H. Bray, had acquired a fine property for a Prison Gate and Industrial Home in Wellington:
The house comprises nine rooms, and stands in over five acres of land. The situation is admirable for the purpose for which the property has been purchased, being at Island Bay. Extensive alterations will be made and additional accommodation added, and it is anticipated that quite three months will elapse before the place is ready for occupation.
In 1909 Island Bay was a burgeoning suburb growing on the base of its seaside resort past, and the easy access afforded by the recent extension of the tram service.
Announcement of the plan for a prison gate home in The Evening Post of 28 September explained the background, and gave a detailed account of the Army's position. It also gave an account of the land's immediate history and location as “some six acres of land at the head of Melrose Street, which leads up into the hills behind Mr W.C. Chatfield's property on the eastern side of the flat at the Bay”. The owner of the property purchased by the Army was Mr John Nicol, of Wellington.
Rather less helpfully to the Army, The Evening Post dispatched a reporter to gather the reaction of the locals:
He found there was a certain anxiety and resentment among the suburban dwellers. One gentleman pointed out that in a sparsely populated and insufficiently policed locality like Island Bay, the residents would never feel safe to leave their houses, knowing that men who had committed crimes and served sentences for them were close at hand. There were so many young children about the place, 100, that the danger would be twofold. Residents would certainly not be favourable to the establishment of such an institution in their midst. The query was frequently put: Why should not the Army go elsewhere with its prison gate home - further away from a closely populated spot.
The Army responded with what was to become a familiar statement: their other homes in Australia and Auckland were accepted by neighbours and the ex-prisoners were well-behaved: “The residents of Island Bay might...rest assured that the establishment of the home would do them no harm whatever”.
Three days later The Evening Post gave details of Brigadier Bray's plans to have 30 inmates at the home by the beginning of 1910. These 30 men, he said, would not be competing in the open labour market, but would mainly be “toy-making, mat-making, paper-sorting, and rag-sorting. In fact, the ‘waste’ amongst the ‘humans’ will be turned into good material by the collection of the waste and despised material of the city”.
Island Bay was, however, unmoved and an ‘Indignation Meeting’ was called. Mr W.C. Chatfield, an architect who owned the property next door, complained to The Evening Post that local property values would fall. That was not all:
There would be no security for women and children in the vicinity of the home, and the whole district would be in constant apprehension of the movements of ex-criminals. It would mean the introduction of an undesirable class into a suburban community. The public school was not far away, and there might be the danger of contamination. Police protection, as it now stood, would be quite insufficient to cope with the efforts of a band of criminals. At present the women of the district were in a great state of mind about the matter. They would be afraid of being left alone during the day time. Again there was the occupation of the inmates of the home - rag-picking. How would people take the introduction of all sorts of filthy germ-laden rags into a healthy district?
Island Bay Takes AlarmBut when Commander Bray is seen nailing a notice board to the veranda post, Island Bay becomes alarmed
To the residents and property owners of Island Bay
Brigadier Bray attempted to calm the fears:
There is not the slightest cause for alarm...we have nothing to do with the professional, the habitual, or the dangerous criminal. Such men never come near our homes. It is only men with a desire to reform that come to us. They are shown the conditions, and know that if they do not abide by them and the regulations, they will not be allowed to stay there. It is the man, who honestly desires to make a fresh start that we want, and we get. The burglar and the man who assaults women and children, does not come to us. Now as to the work they do. It is such work as does not conflict with any established industry. Take the rag-sorting branch. The rags are not germ-laden, filthy material, but for the most part clippings and waste from warehouses and clothing manufactories. They are collected by our own sub-officers, not by the inmates of the Home. We have never in our experience had any case of infection from the rags we use. We want to work in harmony with the people of the district, and we are sure that in a few years the people of Island Bay will be our strongest supporters.
Island Bay residents were not reassured. A meeting was called “in the Public Schoolroom”. (Left)
Brigadier Bray was to have his confidence in Island Bay dashed by the vehemence of the reaction, as reported by the Evening Post:
Residents of Island Bay gathered in strength last evening at the schoolhouse to protest against the establishment by the Salvation Army of a prison-gate home in the district. When proceedings commenced there must have been nearly a hundred persons present, including about twenty ladies. Mr. A.H. Hindmarsh was voted to the chair...Mr. W.C. Chatfield explained that none of the committee who had convened the meeting were opposed to the Salvation Army in general. What they were trying to do was to preserve the Bay from a number of 'reformed’ prisoners being dumped down in the middle of a residential district like Island Bay. He felt sure they would receive something in the shape of annual subscriptions if they would dump it elsewhere. He did not really wish the aspect of the depreciation of property to be incorporated in the matter at all. He was speaking on behalf of the women and children. There would be about thirty discharged prisoners — convicts — in their midst. If the Army persisted in the project, he felt sure that all subscriptions from the Bay would cease. (Hear, hear.) Before moving the motion, Mr. Chatfield read letters from Mr. J. P. Luke, M.P. for the district, and the Hon. T. W. Hislop (late Mayor of Wellington). Mr. Luke stated that while every credit should be given to the Christian philanthropy of the Salvation Army, the interests of the community had to be safeguarded...Mr. Hislop said that the Island Bay site seemed inadvisable for obvious reasons. Mr. Chatfield added that the Mayor had consented to receive a deputation, and Dr Frengley (district health officer) had been, approached. The motion was that — ''While being entirely in sympathy with the good work carried on by the Salvation Army, we, the residents and property owners of Island Bay, view with alarm the intention of the Army to establish in our midst a prison-gate home for the purpose of congregating discharged criminals and others from the gaols of the Dominion, and emphatically protest on behalf of our women and children against the establishment of such an institution, believing as we do that it is a menace to the safety and respectability of the district." The chairman was about to put the motion to the meeting, when Mr. Justice Edwards rose to speak. Though not so recently a resident of Island Bay as Mr. Chatfield, not having resided in the district for some years, he could, he said, claim to be the pioneer of the district.
Mr. Charles Hill, senior: One of them.
Mr. Justice Edwards: The one, Mr. Hill.
ISLAND BAY PREFORMSAnd when it is discovered that the Army intends to dump reformed prisoners in the area, Island Bay flies off the handle
INDIGNATION AT THE BAYMr Justice Edwards: I am the pioneer at the Bay Grandpa Hill: Excuse me .. One of themMr Justice Edwards: No, Sir, THE pioneer
His Honour, continuing...It may be true the Salvation Army are very careful in choosing the class of persons they would send out here — men from whom the ladies may fear no danger ...yet neither our wives nor our daughters nor our little children can feel safe, if this establishment is set on foot in Island Bay — unless the Salvation Army undertake to send a brigade to protect us, or the police force is very much increased”. (Hear, hear.) ..."I believe," he said, "the Salvation Army is endeavouring; to do a good work, and does it well, according to its lights. To take the drunkard, the harlot, the thief, and strive to raise them up, strive to teach them to work and save them from crime, is indeed a noble thing. While I say this from the bottom of my heart, I think none the less the Salvation Army is committing a grave mistake in attempting to establish a prison gate home in our midst... it will bring dissolute scoundrels and thieves into the midst of men who are honest and respectable, living by their daily toil, while bringing up children in the hope and belief that in a purer community they will not be exposed to the evil influences of the town. Persons who establish homes in such a community are to be considered first. (Hear, hear.) However noble may be the object of the Salvation Army— and its objects are noble — its proposal to establish a home here will certainly lessen the feeling of security among the women, and, indeed, the men of this little place." (Loud and prolonged applause.) The chairman then put the motion, which was carried unanimously. After some discussion as to ways and means, a strong committee was chosen to wait on the City Council to-night in regard to the matter.
The council resolved to oppose the opening of the home, without hearing from the Salvation Army.
Meanwhile, 251 women of the Island Bay district signed a petition to the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General Hon Dr John Findlay opposing the prison gate house, and local MP J. P. Luke led a deputation to see him. Dr Findlay said a petition signed by 251 women could not be lightly ignored, but praised the work of the Salvation Army, and went on to explain the he failed to see where he had the slightest power or jurisdiction to interfere. He said the intervention of a Minister of the Crown would be contrary to British fair play.
Pressure was maintained with a meeting of the Island Bay School Committee which resolved unanimously that they considered "the establishment of such an institution could not but have a bad effect on the moral tone of the children living in the district."
Dr Findlay got to hear the other side of the case from the Salvation Army's Lieutenant-Colonel Knight, Provincial Commander, and Brigadier Bray, telling him the home would not be a menace to women and children and defended the work planned for the home. The officers also criticised the Island Bay locals for going to the Council and the government without approaching the Army and said they were taken by surprise when the City Council passed a resolution against the institution.
APPEAL TO THE CITY FATHERSMr John Luke, M.P., introduces a deputation of Bay residents to the City Fathers to protest against the Prison Gate Home. They are advised to see the Attorney-General.
ON LAMBTON QUAYGrandpa Hill argues the case with Dr McArthur
Meanwhile, some rose to the defence of the Salvationists – even if from behind a pseudonym. “Social Supporter” wrote to the editor of The Evening Post:
Many undesirables are made such for want of opportunity to do right. Let us, as a Christian community, try and lift them up, remembering the words of our Lord when the Magdalene was accused before him: Let him that is without sin cast the first stone. I trust the Army will continue to act the part of the good Samaritan, and alleviate the sufferings of mankind.
Observing the stones continuing to fall like rain, the Army tactics changed from vigorous defence to delay, with a small story late in November telling the citizens of Island Bay that:
It is understood that the question as to whether a Prison Gate Reformatory will be established at Island Bay by the Salvation Army will remain in abeyance until next January, when Commissioner [James] Hay, of Australia, will pay a visit to Wellington.
It was perhaps without careful thought that Commissioner Hay, at the conclusion of his visit in early February, told the press that he thought the protest was “the dying kick of class distinction”, and that he would visit the home (presumably functioning) on his next visit to Wellington.
Island Bay residents, in response, were reported to be “again stirring”. The residents had decided that the project had been abandoned because the furniture has been removed from the home. But seeing Commissioner Hay's remarks, they reformed their committee (now called a “Vigilance Committee”) and renewed their protest, seeking a meeting with the Commissioner. The committee first sought the support of the City Council, and again presented their case. This time the Council sought a meeting led by the Mayor, and involving both residents and the Army. Its chances of success were perhaps not helped by attacks on the Army for “treating the objectors with contempt” and the view of Councillor Hindmarsh that it
was time to speak plainly about the Salvation Army; it was going to establish this home at the Bay, the speaker alleged, for the money it could make out of it. He regretted the bigotry which made people generally afraid to attack abuses connected with any religious body. He thought that all such reforms as the Salvation Army was proposing should be undertaken by the government.
The Evening Post at this point added its editorial voice to the argument, elegantly describing what decades later would be called the NIMBY, or “not in my back yard” syndrome:
While the home is "in the air" it is admired by all reasonable men, but the moment it touches ground an outcry is inevitable. The only way, apparently, by which the Salvation Army could silence all objectors would be by sheltering the ex-prisoners on a vessel away out in the harbour, but, of course, that locale will not appeal to the Army. Whether it is decided to have the home in a place where settlement is sparse or congested, the voices of the dissatisfied will be loudly heard.
On 17 February 1910, the Mayor (Dr Newman), five councillors, Salvationists Colonel Knight and Brigadier Bray, and representatives of Island Bay, met at the Wellington Town Hall and attempted to find common ground. They failed. Brigadier Bray promised to report to Commissioner Hay on the outcome of the meeting, but said he was not in a position to compromise. Councillor Hindmarsh, saying he was not speaking as a Christian but as a “selfish atheist” said the Army was being “very un-Christian” and showing selfishness in coming out to establish this home to “affect the surroundings of a little community”. Councillor Luke supported both sides, and said it was the duty of the City Council and the Government to go hand in hand with the Army, and get a site in the city, and help the Army to establish a Home:
Colonel Knight said no officer of the Army would gain a penny by the establishment of the Home. It was not a policy of selfishness or greed with the Army, nor were the members of the Army trying to thwart the wishes of the community, but they could not afford to throw away the experience of twenty-seven years and accept what anybody might say to upset the present proposal. Their experience had been bought by many years' hard toil, sacrifice, and devotion. Allegations of depreciation of property could be disproved by the experience of similar homes in every large town in Australasia. They were not wedded to the Island Bay site, but it was the best they could do under the circumstances.
WHERE?Commander Bray receives advice where to plant his home
The Evening Post was not impressed by the attitude of the locals:
If the residents of Island Bay had desired to detract from a really good grievance and to alienate the public sympathy which they are endeavouring to arouse, they could have hardly set to work in a more appropriate way than by their selection of speakers and arguments for yesterday's conference with the representatives of the City Council and the Salvation Army...Can it really be that these gentlemen think that their cause will be served by the abandonment of fair and considerate argument, and a resort to browbeating and intimidation? It can hardly be necessary to assure the general body of Island Bay residents that the use of such tactics is the best possible way of alienating the public sympathy to which, in the absence of a legal remedy they are making their appeal, and of hardening up the officials of the Salvation Army into obstinate resentment.
The mayor, after some more meetings of his committee, appears to have given up hope, and reported to the Council that ‘no definite conclusion’ had been arrived at, and added that the Council had been advised that it had no legal power to interfere with the steps proposed to be taken by the Army.
CAN NOTHING BE DONE?
Brigadier Bray's reserves of patience were perhaps exhausted by this time, explaining his comment to War Cry that the comments of one of those present “would have done credit to a Billingsgate fish-fag, being nothing but sound and fury”. The Army, however, seems to have spent some time assessing the reaction, and in 1912 announced that a boys' home would be set up on the Melrose Street site, with 40 inmates. The Army added that the supervisors of the home would be Adjutant and Mrs. Scotney, and in case the Island Bay residents became too relaxed, noted that Adjutant Scotney would also “interview discharged prisoners and visit the Police Courts, with a view to seeing whether it is necessary to establish a Prison-gate Home in Wellington.”
SourcesThe Evening PostThe New Zealand freelanceWar CryA version of this article with footnotes is available on request from the Society’s Archives
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