11

H.—2o

One officer was transferred during the year from Dunedin to this Prison to fill a vacancy. The officers have carried out their duties in a most excellent manner. The following is a summary of the work carried out by the prisoners during the year, viz. : Area cleared, 300 acres; pits dug, 424,035; trees planted, 643,865; also, forming roads, building culverts, grubbing fire-breaks, &c, erecting boundary-fences, harvesting, and general mainten-ance-work. I have, &c, W. Atling, The Under-Secretary for Justice, Wellington. Acting-Gaoler. INVERCARGILL PRISON. Sir, — H.M. Prison, Invercargill, 30th January, 1913. I have the honour to submit the following report on the working of this Prison for the year ended 31st December, 1912. At the beginning of the year there were 61 males and no females in custody; 104 males were received. The number of individual prisoners received locally was 77, there having been 3 admitted twice, and 24 were received on transfer from other prisons. There were no lunatics received during the year : 4 males were received for medical treatment, and were discharged on expiration of remand on medical officer's certificate. It is satisfactory to note that the system of sending lunatics and persons suffering from the effects of drink to the public Hospital instead of to the Prison still obtains at Invercargill. This local arrangement continues to work satisfactorily and to the benefit of all concerned. The conduct of the permanent officers has been good, and they have carried out their duties in a highly satisfactory manner. The quality of rations supplied has been good. As I have before stated, the system adopted during recent years of purchasing in bulk has proved highly satisfactory, besides being more economical. The conduct of the majority of the prisoners has been very good. There were 22 minor offences committed, which were dealt with by the Visting Justices either by forfeiture of marks or a period of bread-and-water diet. One prisoner (an old offender) was charged with damaging prison property, and was sentenced to fourteen days on bread and water, and to forfeit marks equal to six months' remission of sentence, by the Stipendiary Magistrate in open Court. The Crimes Amendment Act continues to work satisfactorily, and as its provisions become better known even better results may be expected. In connection with the above I would strongly recommend that the Prisons Board should sit at this Prison at least once a year; by doing so the members could personally interview each prisoner, and thus gain an insight into the character of each applicant for release. This should materially assist the Board in coming to a decision, and should prove more satisfactory to the prisoners concerned, as in such case they would have an opportunity of stating their case to the Board personally, and even should the Board not see fit to grant them their release it must be conceded that a fair and impartial hearing would be given to their application. Three youths attempted to escape during the year, but were recaptured by prison officers within a few minutes of the attempt and returned to prison. One received twelve months' and the remaining two six months' additional imprisonment. The various works in connection with prison-extension a,re progressing favourably. During the year an additional wing capable of accommodating 38 prisoners and 7 single officers, also a prison hospital with dispensary and isolation ward, have been completed, and are now ready for occupation. This additional accommodation has been urgently required, and I feel certain that no scheme of reform can be properly administered unless suitable buildings are provided. A proper system of classification is urgently needed, and now that the new wing has been completed there should be no difficulty in introducing a proper scheme. There are at present 40 youths in this Prison undergoing various terms of reformative treatment, whose ages range from seventeen to twenty-five years. Many of those youths have never been kept under proper parental control, and in their cases the control of home influence has been wanting. It has therefore been found necessary to place them under forcible control, with the double object of the protection of society and the reformation of the offender. In order to accomplish this it is necessary that the term of detention should be a fairly long one. Habits of industry and self-control cannot be taught in a few months' time. This aspect of the question is worthy of consideration. The manufacture of concrete blocks for building purposes still continues. The whole of the prison buildings are being erected in this material, and the Public Works Department, I am pleased to say, are now using them extensively. Now that timber is becoming so scarce and costly this form of building-material should be more extensively used. Blocks to the number of seventy thousand were manufactured during the year. This industry is rapidly increasing, and will continue to do so. The work of reclaiming 2,450 acres in the Estuary mud-flats is being steadily pushed on. During the year considerable advance has been made, but much better progress would have been possible had it not been for the fact that the Public Works Department, owing to the decayed condition of the timber forming the structure, found it absolutely necessary in the interests of safety to close the bridge until repairs were effected. This work occupied about three months,