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4. This discussion of the conditions
under which sentences are carried out does not however do much to affect the principal problem, i.e., the flow of short sentence prisoners to the Gaol. It is a fact that in July the total population of the Gaol was some 2,600 and the number of hawkers in Gaol at that time was 1,400. The Chief Magistrate said that so far as he knew very few of those hawkers would have a sentence of more than 7 days, 10 days being about the maximum. The Chairman of the Urban Council, Hon. Inspector General of Police and his Officers, were quite clear on the point that they did not regard hawkers as criminals but as nuisances and merely wished to keep them off the streets. It is also a fact acknowledged by all those who have anything to do with this problem that economic and other conditions in China provide a continual source of supply for these nuisances, but it is our opinion that the present method of dealing with them is cumbersome, inadequate and inefficient. They are not criminals and therefore should not be treated as such. They are nuisances and therefore should be kept off the streets. It is our considered opinion that special provision should be made for them by something of the type of an "Internment Camp" with the proviso that they should be made to earn their food by performing a stipulated amount of work. After viewing the methods of the Canton Provincial Prison we are of the opinion that such an "Internment Camp" could be efficiently and economically run under Chinese Guards. We would however suggest that the time and labour of our local Police Courts and prison administration might very well be halved by such a depar- ture. Incidentally a final corollary to this suggestion would be that hawking cases would not appear in Police case books which in spite of the arguments of the Hon. Inspector General of Police we feel may have something to do with the abnormal excess of petty prosecutions. We would further suggest that beggars and such like might well be included in such a system.
5. We might summarise our conclusions in the following form.
We consider that the moral, mental, physical, and economic conditions of the average Chinese prisoner in the prisons of Hong Kong differ so radically from those of the average prisoner in a prison in Great Britain that too rigid and literal an adherence to con- ditions and regulations applying at Home would defeat the object desired.
It is of course recognised by us that the dietary supplied should be sufficient to maintain the average prisoner in a decent state of health whilst undergoing the type of labour demanded by his sentence. It is necessary for him to have a sufficiency of rest and leisure, but it does not follow that his requirements correspond with those of an English prisoner in an English climate. For this reason we recommend that (a) the standard of discipline be tightened, (b) that the system of feeding be entirely reorganised, (c) that the prisoners where possible should be made to earn their keep by performing an amount of labour at least commensurate with the cost of their food, and (d) that an effort be made to separate hawkers, at least, and deal with them apart. from criminal prisoners. We cannot at this stage deal with the entire lack of reformative treatment in the Hong Kong Prisons.
Mr. Churn and I cannot conclude our report without an expression of deep- regret of the death of Mr. T. A. Mitchell who was appointed a member of this Committee with us. Until his death he carried out with us most faithfully a. very careful investigation, the results of which are shown in the records of the evidence taken. In addition, we had almost daily discussions on the various points as they arose. We are confident that in our conclusions we have not embodied any point with which he would not have been in entire agreement and we take this. opportunity of recording our gratitude to him for the care, energy, and good sense which he applied to the investigation.
We further wish to record our thanks to all those officers of the Government: who have given evidence before us, as also to other unofficials in Hong Kong who have so willingly helped us.