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PUBLI REC
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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE. LONDON
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the 1st July by the appointment of six "night guarda," whose duties are laid down in the printed instructions. The same difficulty in obtaining respectable and trustworthy men as warders, to which I referred in my last Report, still continues; but I hope the measures which are in contemplation for improving the position of these officers will have the effect of eventually securing the services of an efficient prison corps.
Buildings. The several wards of the gaol are in good repair, but the ventilation of the cells, especially of those in the wooden prison, is imperfect, the improvements in this respect, which were begun some years ago, never having been completed.
The female ward is occasionally inconveniently overcrowded, and it would be very desirable to increase the accommodation in this department of the gaol, if not to remove it altogether, so as entirely to separate the female prison from that for males. I believe that Jand conveniently situated for the purpose, and overlooked by the keeper's house, may be now obtained at a moderate price.
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During the year a great improvement has been effected in the prison by the introduc- tion of gas not only into the yard, but also into the corridors of the male wards, which are now lighted at night. Service hose connected with the town water-works have also been carried into each storey of the wooden prison.
Prisoners. The total number of prisoners received into the Georgetown Gaol in 1874, under summary convictions by stipendiary and special magistrates, was 7,416, namely, 5,663 males, and 1,753 females, being an increase of 2,110 males, and 860 females, above the number received in 1873.
On comparing Return No. 1 appended to this Report with the corresponding Return for 1873, this large increase will be seen to have arisen in some measure from an increase in the number of offences against the "labour laws "-2,074 males and 727 females, chiefly immigrants from India, having been convicted of this class of offences in 1874, as com- pared with 693 males and 280 females, convicted in 1873, making an increase in the past year of 1,381 males and 447 females.
An increase will also be found in the number of committals for breaches of the peace, for using obscene language, and for offences detailed in Return No. 3.
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On the other hand the convictions for petty thefts remain nearly the same for the two years, and there are fewer in 1874 than in 1873, under the Merchant Shipping and the Mutiny and Militia Acts.
In 1874, 242 males and 27 females were referred for trial before the Supreme and Inferior Criminal Courts, of whom 197 males and 17 females were convicted. This contrasts not unfavourably with the number referred to the same Courts in 1873, namely 285 males and 16 females, of whom 224 males and 14 females were con- victed.
Of the prisoners received into the gaol under summary convictions, 5,107 were com mitted for terms varying from four to fourteen days; 1,831 from fourteen days to one month; and 478 from over one month and not exceeding two, which, except in special cases, is the limit of a magistrate's jurisdiction.
The daily average number of prisoners in the gaol in 1874 was 541, the highest number on any one day being 733, namely, 627 males and 106 females on the 29th of August, and the lowest number on the 16th February, when there were 420 males and 56 females. In the course of the year the Georgetown Gaol was relieved by the transfer of forty male prisoners to the Penal Settlement, and of ninety-six to the district prison at Fellowship,
Native Countries of Prisoners.—The native countries of the prisoners are fully set out in Return No. 1.
As in former years the Indian immigrants furnished the largest number, and next to these the Creole population, followed at no long interval, especially when their relative numbers as a whole are considered, by the immigrants introduced from the neighbouring colonies.
State of Crime-Notwithstanding the great number of prisoners committed to gaol in 1874, it would be a mistake to affirm that crime exists to any extraordinary extent in the Colony (if we except that of wife-murder among the coolies)." "A reference to Returns Nos.1 and 3, will show how very large a proportion of the prisoners convicted in 1874 were guilty of offences, which, while they unfortunately afford abundant evidence of a want of industry on the part of the Indian immigrants, and of the low moral and social condition of many among the lower orders of the people, yet cannot be classed under the head of crime.
Employment of Prisoners.—Return No. 4, appended, gives in detail the manner in which the prisoners have been employed during the year, It will be seen that they have furnished 100,520 productive days' labour, namely:-
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To the sea defences
To public institutiona
To the Town Council
To the Race Course
To the Assembly Rooms..
To the Rifle ge
To the Prison, as mechanics and bakers
111
To the Prison, in sanitary and other employment
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48,363
9,078
5,986
1,177 194
633
3,007
32,082
100,520
And 11,718 unproductive at shot drill, 580 tons of stone were also broken. Of the indoor labour, the female prisoners have given 15,104 days in stone-breaking and in washing 54,536 pieces of clothes. I am not aware that any measurement is made, or any record kept of the work performed by the prisoners employed on the public works or elsewhere outside the prison, and its value carried to the credit of the gaol as is the practice in English prisons. Were this done, I believe it would be found that the labour, even at a low estimate, goes a considerable way towards meeting the annual expenditure of the establish- ment. This expenditure, I am informed by the Auditor-General, amounted to 37,556 dols. 76 c. for 187+.
Discipline. I am afraid that the great demand for regular labour which exists through- out the Colony, and the requirements of the Colonial Engineer's department, of the Town Council, and of other institutions, rendered almost unavoidable the employment of the prisoners outside the walls of the gaol; but it is destructive of discipline. Their daily march through town, to and from work, and their occasional employment in the most crowded streets, afford them opportunities of seeing, if not of communicating, with their friends. It is a system unknown ja English County Gaols and Houses of Correction, and seems to be practised only in the West India Colonies, where, at the same time, is is con- demned by the authorities. See the replies of Colonial Governors to the circular despatches of the Secretary of State in 1867, and the more recent reports of the Inspectors of Prisons in Barbados and Trinidad. It is unnecessary for me to enlarge on this point, may be permitted to refer to the Report of the Lords Committee, "that the system known as the separate system must now be accepted as the foundation of prison discipline, and that its rigid maintenance is a vital principle to the efficiency of county and borough gnols."
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It has also been stated, as the result of much experience, that prisoners naturally prefer labour outside the prison to working inside, and the substitution of shorter terms of solitary imprisonment with bread and water, for longer terms of nominal hard labour is very desirable.-"Solitary confinement on bread and water is the only punishment which prisoners really fear," and this is supported by the opinion of Sir Francis Hincks, who says:-"It is alleged that negroes would not consider solitary confinement as a punish- ment, but that I consider an unfounded opinion. Real solitary confinement would produce the same effect on a black as on a white man.'
Juvenile Offenders.-All prisoners of 16 years of age and under, are classed under this head. The number committed in 1874 was 285, and most had attained an age when in this climate they may be looked upon and treated as men and women.
The prospect of the early establishment of efficient Reformatories and Industrial Schools, renders it unnecessary for me to ask for a separate prison for juvenile offenders. So far as the gaol arrangements permit they are kept apart from the older prisoners.
Escapes. There were no escapes from the Georgetown Gaol during the year, but 9 prisoners escaped when at work on the sea defences.
Dietary. The dietary scale at the gaol is by no means excessive-it is much below that in force at the Penal Settlement. The cost of a full day's ration is 8 cents; of a reduced ration 6 cents, and of a punishment ration 5 cents.
Recommitments.-In the course of the year 129 males and 50 females were recom. mitted once to the Georgetown Gaol. 18 males and 8 females, twice; and 4 males and 4 females, thrice and oftener.
Sanitary Condition of Georgetown Gaol.—3,352 patients were admitted into the Gaol 'Hospital in 1874, as compared with 2,535 admitted in 1873, the daily average number being 71.
The death rate was lower, however, in the past year than in 1873, namely, 11 against 14. The executions also were fewer, being 3 against 4.
The Surgeon's Report is laid over, shewing the races of the patients, their numbers, the diseases treated, and the results.
Religious Instruction.-There is no chapel attached to the prison. Divine service is performed on Sundays under the open shed which is used on week days for shot drill.
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