H.—2o

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Bbotmaking and other industries connected with the clothing of the inmates have been carried on satisfactorily. Addinglou. —Gardening forms the principal outdoor work for the female prisoners at this Prison. Their industry lias not only provided an ample supply of vegetables for their own institution, but a substantial surplus has been sent to Lyttelton. The saving to the Department by the economical working of the garden ground has been considerable, while the provision of healthful employment for the female prisoners is an important factor in the successful carrying-out of the purposes for which, the institution was established. Dtinedin. This Prison is now utilized for short-sentence prisoners. A small revenue is derived from the making of coir mats. The unfortunate situation of the; building precludes the employment of the prisoners in any other way. Oisborne.- The prisoners confined in this Gaol have been employed in clearing, levelling, turfing, and laying out the grounds. Further work will be found for them in connection with the building of a reinforced-conerete wall which is to be carried round the whole of the Gaol property. Greymoulh. Hitherto there has been practically no work except cleaning for the prisoners confined in this Gaol to do, but steps are now being taken to drain some land at the back of the Gaol and utilize it as a vegetable-garden. Employment will, thus be found for the small number of short-sentence prisoners who serve their time at Greyinouth. Invercargill. —The whole of the inmates of this Prison have been very fully occupied during the year. The chief work has been the construction of the embankments and other works required.in connection with the reclamation scheme that has been occupying the attention of the Department for some time past. The principal embankment has now been completed. The labour-value of this work alone represents some thousands of pounds, while the subsidiary embankments that are now being proceeded with, although of less magnitude, are by no means small undertakings. As has been stated before, the Department is being compensated for the labour it has provided for this work by the transfer to it from the Invercargill Borough Council of 650 acres of the area that is being reclaimed. The draining and bringing into cultivation of this block will ultimately mean the employment of a number of prisoners for a considerable period. The construction of an extension of the north-west wing of the Prison building has been proceeded with during the year, but owing to a variety of causes progress has been somewhat slow. It has been decided that the extension shall be of three stories, the top story being reserved at present for a gymnasium, schoolroom, and for general purposes. Provision will, however, be made for the easy conversion of the major portion of this floor into cells if the developments at Invercargill require it. A considerable amount of work has been done in connection with the building of the outer Prison wall. This should bo completed within a reasonable time. The manufacture of concrete blocks for the construction of the building and the walls, and for private sale, has been energetically carried on during the year. The sale of blocks and of vegetables grown in the Prison garden has resulted in a credit of £642 being shown in the departmental accounts. Kaingaroa. —The details of the tree-planting operations carried on at this camp are given in the Gaoler's report. The amount credited to the Prisons Department by the Forestry Department for the year's work amounted to £1,568 7s. I Id. Lyttelton. —As has been pointed out in previous reports, there is practically no means of employing the bulk of the prisoners at Lyttelton except on municipal works for which no adequate payment or compensation can be obtained. The record of work for the year in this direction is fairly good, but the State does not, of course, obtain a satisfactory return for the labour provided. This will be obviated when the new Prison to be built at Paparua is completed and the prisoners are finally transferred from Lyttelton. A considerable amount of factory-work has been carried on at this Prison, from which clothing and uniforms are supplied to the whole of the prisons of the Dominion. Boots are also made for a number of other prisons, and also for one of the mental hospitals. Napier.- -Beyond the usual domestic work, a stone-quarry provides the sole means of occupation for the short-sentence men confined in this Prison. The advisability of obtaining another site and building a small prison in some locality where more suitable and remunerative employment can be found has already been suggested. New Plymouth- The habitual criminals confined in this Prison are employed almost entirely in the stone-quarry and garden. From these two sources the institution derived a revenue of £51.9 for the year,

Paparua.- —Work on the area recently reserved for prison purposes at Templeton was not commenced until after the end of the prison year, and up to the present has been mainly confined to the erection of temporary buildings for the accommodation of the working-parties and the staff. A certain amount of attention has also been devoted to the clearing-away of gorse from the Department's property, and the working of one of the two small farms acquired for prison purposes. When the necessary preliminary work has been completed a start will be made on the foundations of the uew r Prison buildings. Roto Aira. -This camp has been established for the purpose of constructing and improving a road from Waimarino to Tokaanu. The initial work consisted in completing the building of huts, stable, &c, preparing the camp for occupation, and erecting a telephone-line betweenthe Prison and the Waimarino Railway-station. The existing rough, road from the station to the camp had then to be repaired, improved, and afterwards maintained. Deep drains, three miles in length, were then dug each side of the road. With, the assistance of a Public Works officer two bridges were afterwards constructed over the Maugahuia and Whakapapaiti Streams, and a substantial cutting and filling, forming the approach to the second bridge, completed. Temporary bridges, culverts, &c, have also