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information from members of this society, although it has been done before now.. But Chinese prisoners who are not Triads are often not unwilling to give information, provided they are not called on to give evidence in a Court which would expose them to the vengeance of the illegal societies.
17. Prison discipline during the year 1886 has, in my opinion, made steady and satisfactory progress. I annex Returns as to Prison offences similar to those submitted last year, adding for the sake of comparison the statistics of 1884 and 1885. In the Return showing prisoners previously con- victed, it will be observed that in 1886, 32 per cent. of prisoners confined on the last day of the year were old offenders as against 35 per cent. in 1885.
LABOUR ON PUBLIC WORKS AND INDUSTRIAL LABOUR.
18. A chain-gang of prisoners has been working during the year under the orders of the Surveyor General on Public Works. It has generally consisted of about 60 men. During the year 1885 and in previous years the work of the chain-gang had not given satisfaction. The men had been allowed extra food, and had not apparently been kept to much hard work by the officers in charge. In con- sequence of the recommendation of a Committee, Government directed the issue of extra food to be discontinued on the 26th June last. The system hitherto in force, of changing the officers in charge of the chain-gang monthly, appeared to me unsuitable and tending to careless supervision. I therefore directed the Head Turnkey in charge and his first assistant, to be kept on this duty for six months at a time and made them responsible for a proper amount of work being done. The result has been satisfactory. The Surveyor General has assured me that during the past year the work done by the chain-gang has been satisfactory and valuable.
19. The other industrial work carried on in the Gaol has, on the whole, been as satisfactory as the limited space for work-shops would allow. Considering the great advantage of teaching trades to the criminal class, it is very desirable that facilities should be afforded for the extension of industrial labour.
20. I append an abstract showing the actual profits or savings to Government in ten different industries carried on in the Gaol. The total profit during the year amounts to $3,849.66.
mugs
and
21. I have also recently commenced a new industry. Instead of purchasing the tin plates and for the prisoners' food and tea, I procured old kerosine oil tins and commenced making the plates mugs in Gaol. In next Annual Report this will be shown as a profitable industry.
22. I will only offer a few short remarks on prison industry.
23. OAKUM-has, like in the previous year, been the most profitable industry, but it has the draw- back, that in doing this work the prisoners cannot be said to be learning a trade. The demand is also limited and the storage of picked oakum is dangerous. The surplus now on hand will therefore shortly be sold by auction.
24. COIR YARN.-Another loom has been started during the year and the work has gone on well; the output has been more than doubled and the profit nearly doubled. .
25. RATTAN WORK.-This work has been steadily progressing, but the sale has as yet been limited. 26. NET-MAKING.-This work is only carried on when orders are received. The amount of work done has been less than in the previous year.
27. GRASS-MAT MAKING.-Another loom has been added and the work done during the year was more than triple that of the previous year.
28. WASHING.-A strict account of this industry has been kept this year, for the first time, and it appears that, charging for washing at only half the usual rate in Hongkong (one cent per piece) a very profitable saving has been realised.
29. CARPENTERING-is almost entirely confined to work done for the Gaol.
30. TAILORS' SHOP.-The work in this shop has been considerably extended. The summer clothing of the Gaol Officers was, this year, made up in the Gaol, but under considerable difficulties, and a.cer- tain amount of free labour from outside had to be hired to complete the work. I do not think this should be tried again, unless the officer in charge understood the business of tailoring.
31. SHOE-MAKING. This trade has been very successfully enlarged. All the boots and shoes for Prison Officers have been made and very well made in this shop at a saving of about half a dollar on each pair.
32. PRINTING has been done for Public Offices and some money has been realised for book- binding.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
33. The most important suggestion I have to offer is one which I repeatedly made, viz.: that immediate steps should be taken to introduce the separate system at least as regards long sentence prisoners, and to increase the space for work-shops and industrial labour. Unless this is done, no really