[2] Baughan noted, in a dictated piece written in the 1950s: The New Zealand Howard League for Penal Reform was started in 1924 in Christchurch by three people all convinced of the need.

Teething troubles quickly began and how our baby League managed to weather them I hardly know; but we had a few faithful members and survived a war, a slump, hostility from the authorities, contempt from some of the public and complete indifference from most of it.

We went on writing letters to the Press, taught it how to spell the strange words "psychology" and "psychiatry" and gradually convinced people that we were not a set of sentimental softies, but were seriously asking for less mass treatment, more individual attention to prisoners and altogether a more scientific approach to crime and criminals.

We also convinced our Courts that compared with figures obtained from England they were too freely sending to Borstal and prison, instead of making proper use of the newer methods of probation of which New Zealand was still very shy.

The League has certainly in these ways gradually educated New Zealand towards accepting the much better policy introduced in the last few years by our present Controller General of Prisons and Under Secretary of Justice.

The Canterbury branch was relaunched by Kathie Dunstall MNZM in February 1998 to work on reform of the penal system and especially to fight against the huge increase in prison numbers.