[vii]
(vi) That in particular the Superintendent in conjunction with a Visiting Justice should have power in aggravated cases to order two floggings
of, say, fifteen strokes each as a maximum with an interval of not less than a lunar month between each flogging;
(vii) That definite intervals should be fixed which must elapse before one flog-
ging may follow upon another flogging, e.g.:-
First flogging.
6 strokes.
12 strokes.
&c.
Interval.
10 days. 21 days.
&c.
with liberty to the Medical Officer to extend the interval if necessary;
(viii) That prisoners sentenced by Judges and Magistrates to be flogged at the end of their term of imprisonment should receive their punishment not later than twenty-one days prior to the date of their discharge from Gaol;
(ix) That all floggings are administered only after proper medical examination and certification of fitness; are inflicted by authorised instruments and in every other way in accordance with the Gaol regulations;
(x) That prisoners receive due attention from the Medical Officer after a
flogging;
(xi) That the death of prisoner No. 704 within eight days after receiving the second flogging, though greatly to be deplored, was not directly due to the flogging he received, but was probably due to causes over. which, under existing arrangements, the Medical Officer had no control;
(xii) That the blood poisoning which caused the death of prisoner No. 704 might have been the result of the absorption of germs whilst under treatment in the overcrowded and cramped hospital;
(xiii) That this case, being the first fatal case within living memory, goes to establish the conclusion that flogging with the rattan is not a punishment peculiarly perilous in its infliction on Chinese;
(xiv) That in the case of prisoner No. 528, there is sufficient ground for con- cluding that the aggravated state of his wounds might have been caused to some extent by his own conduct after his discharge from Gaol, and no sufficient ground for concluding that it was solely due to the manner in which he was flogged; nor do we think that the flogging- even if it did produce such results-must of necessity have been a brutal flogging;
(xv) That the formation of gluteal abscesses is a rare exception and a mere
accident, not a necessary consequence, of a flogging;
(xvi) That the rules and regulations governing prison offences and punish-
ments require to be re-drafted;
(xvii) That any misinterpretation of these rules and regulations that may have occurred is due to the difficulty attendant on the construing of them;
(xviii) That this misinterpretation, if any, has not been confined to the Super- intendent, but has been shared in by the majority of the Visiting Justices;
(xix) That for any such misinterpretation, no blame attaches to either the
Superintendent or the Visiting Justices;