3
H.—6
1883. These were minor punishments awarded by Visiting Justices, while 17 serious or aggravated prison offences, after being inquired into by a Visiting Justice, were reheard in open Court. This system of taking the aggravated prison offences to Court has worked well, and I believe has proved deterrent in some cases. Soon after the passing of the Prisons Act of 1883 there seemed to be a general impression amongst the prisoners that in going to open Court for trial they would be given the opportunity of haranguing the Bench on imaginary prison grievances quite foreign to the charge on which they were being tried; but when it was found, as is invariably the case, that the Bench would not permit such addresses, the result has proved that it has not been necessary to again bring up the same prisoner for an aggravated offence. There have, of course, been exceptions to this ; but, as far as I am at present able to judge, the Act is working very much better than even I ventured to predict it would. I shall, however, be in a better position to report upon this matter next year, when it will have been a fair time in operation. Considering the high state of discipline that now exists in the prisons, it must, I think, be looked on as satisfactory to find that during the past year only 469 days' bread and water have been awarded to offenders, and only 1,133 days' remission have been forfeited, throughout the whole of the prisons. 20. In the year 1884 there were 32 offences recorded against officers, as against 48 in 1883. With the exception of 2 for intoxication they were mostly for trivial neglects of duty; and on the whole I have every reason to be satisfied with the conduct of the prison staff, as they have shown zeal and ability in carrying out their duties. The interchange of officers between different prisons continues to be attended with beneficial results to the service. 21. Table E shows a slight decrease in the number of juvenile criminals received, those under ten years of age being 17 in 1884, as against 25 in 1883; but in those from ten to fifteen years of age there is an increase of 13 on the previous year, the numbers being 118 in 1884, as against 105 in 1883 ; while in those aged from fifteen to twenty years there is a decrease, the numbers being 261 in 1883, as against 258 last year : giving a total decrease during the past year of 2 prisoners under the age of twenty. 22. Pair progress has been made in the last year in the construction of new buildings. At the new prison at Mount Cook the manufacture of bricks still continues, and about two millions have been made in the year reported upon. Various tests of the quality of these _ bricks have been made by competent official authority, which has pronounced them superior to anything of the kind previously produced by private enterprise. The actual building of the new prison was begun last year, and the basement story is now well on towards completion. The work is entirely performed by prison labour, and employment thereon has, with good effect on the prisoners, been made a reward for good conduct. The building of the new prison at Auckland, which was stopped for some months for want of funds, is again being proceeded with ; and, as it is most urgently required, I hope no unforeseen circumstances will again arise to necessitate the work being suspended. Another wing of the new prison at New Plymouth has been completed, and is now ready for occupation. When these three new prisons are completed they, with those now in existence, should afford ample accommodation for a complete cellular system of classification, and should admit of the separate location of prisoners as follows : First, those convicted of first offences; second, those against whom several convictions are recorded—viz., hardened ' criminals ; and, third, those convicted of unnatural offences, indecent assaults, rape, &c. Until this is done classification can only be of a superficial kind, unworthy of the name. 23. In my report presented in 1882 it is stated that during the then preceding year considerable expense had been saved, by the transfer of tradesmen prisoners from one prison to another, where they were required for special work, which work, had they not been available for such transfer, would have caused additional expenditure to the department. In carrying out these transfers, however, there is not only the difficulty alluded to in that report of the desire of Gaolers to retain their good tradesmen, but there is now offered a further obstacle, less easy to overcome—that is, the reluctance of local municipal bodies to part with prisoners whose detention in the local gaols enables the corporations to readily utilize their labour. This has in numerous cases prevented the transfer of prisoners whose labour was required in other districts where it would have been far more remunerative to the department. I believe it is essential to a satisfactory dealing with the whole body of prisoners within the colony, as well as aiding an economical management, that transfers of this kind should be effected from time to time as necessity requires. 24. There has been a marked improvement in the amount of work performed by prisoners during -the past year, and it is gratifying to be able to report that what has been contemptuously termed the "Government stroke " has now almost, if not entirely, disappeared from the working parties. As a proof of this it may be mentioned that when I took charge of the department nearly five years ago one local body was paying for prison labour Is. per man per diem ; and from the testimony of their engineer, as well as from an examination of the books, I ascertained that they were losers at the end of the year. The same body are now employing the prisoners at 2s. 6d. per manner diem, and report that their balance-sheet shows a considerable saving in the work done. Soon after my appointment I endeavoured to ascertain by regular periodical measurements the amount of work that was being completed ; but this was considered an unpractical suggestion. By dint of perseverance, however, this course has now been adopted, with the result above reported. The works in hand for municipal bodies, as well as the building works for the department, are now carefully measured quarterly, and a very fair average of the amount done by every prisoner can be obtained. That prisoners will do the same amount of work as free men is, I believe, universally admitted to be a fallacy ; but the average of three prisoners doing as much work as two free men has been fairly maintained throughout the colony during the past year. It is satisfactory to find that about 85 per cent, of the prisoners earn the full remission marks, while there have only been 16 reports for idleness. The reclamation works at Lyttelton and Otago Heads, which are considered suitable works for the employment of prisoners, have made good progress, and the buildings and excavations at New Plymouth, Auckland, and Mount Cook are also being
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