PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference -
TITTC.O.885
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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corridors, at liberty, like the men, to talk to each other, or to the female prisoners in the cells.
6. I was informed, on my first visit to the gaol, that the interiors of both the Brick Prison and the Wooden Prison for males were left at night entirely unlighted, and the reason assigned for this was the necessity of leaving prisoners loose in the corridors who might get at and tamper with the lights, there being no turnkey or guard inside either prison at night. I at once gave directions that lights, under proper control, should be kept burning all night in both prisons. The associated wards and rooms were likewise unlighted, and I do not know that any more effectual means of depraving men could be found than that of locking them up by twenties and thirties from sunset to sunrise in small rooms without a light.
7. With a prison so overcrowded the enforcement of rigid discipline would be a difficult task even for the trained officers of English prisons. To the badly trained officers of a West India prison the task becomes impossible, and the inevitable con- sequence is that imprisonment ceases to be deterrent, and the number of prisoners increases, though I do not doubt that other causes also are in operation which have a tendency to swell the number of prisoners. In connection with this part of the question I inclose Mr. Sheriff Brummell's Annual Report on the Georgetown Gaol, in which that officer, who has great experience, attributes the increase of the committals to the poverty of the Creoles, and their consequent inability to pay fines which, in former years, would have been paid at once. It is, however, manifest that, even if this be admitted to be the case, it must also be admitted that imprisonment has failed to check the com- mission of petty offences, which are so alarmingly on the increase. The number of prisoners received into Georgetown Gaol in 1873 was 4,765, against 3,083 in 1872, an increase of 53 per cent. The daily average number of prisoners, which was 415 in 1871, and 416 in 1872, rose to 477 in 1873, and has exceeded 500 in the present year.
8. It was easier to perceive the defects in the prison, and the consequences of those defects, than to devise a remedy. The district prisons at New Amsterdam, at Mahaica, at Fellowship, and at Cupoey, were all full and could afford no relief.
9. I therefore paid a visit to the Penal Settlement at Massaruni, but I found that the prisons there were also full, and that it would be absolutely necessary to build a new prison.
10. In this conjuncture I adopted a course for which I must seek your Lordship's approval, on the ground that it was the only one by which I think I can meet the exigency of the case.
11. After consulting the Superintendent of the Settlement,I determined on building an additional wooden ward at Massaruni, capable of containing 100 prisoners. I did not overlook the instructions given in the Earl of Kimberley's despatch to Sir John Scott, No. 403, dated 11th December, 1872, to take steps without delay to establish a well-constructed prison in the immediate neighbourhood of Georgetown. But, for the reasons set forth by Sir John Scott in his despatch No. 9, dated 16th January, 1873, the establishment of a large convict prison near Georgetown would be a matter of much difficulty, and, as the work has not yet been commenced, two years at least would elapse before the prison could be completed. In the meanwhile it is, as I have, I think, sufficiently demonstrated, imperative on the Government to provide additional accommo- dation at once. It is proposed to build the new ward chiefly by convict labour, and a sum of 10,000 dollars, or 2,0831. 6s. 8d., was, by my desire, placed on the supplemental estimates for this work.
12. The distance of Massaruni from the capital must always remain, even under the best management, a serious drawback, which can, however, be partly remedied by more frequent communication. Massaruni is now under the management of Mr. Sealy, an officer who has had great experience both in English convict prisons and in the superin- tendence of the prisons of Trinidad, where he served under me and gave great satisfaction, and I think every confidence may be placed in him for the maintenance of proper discipline. I shall have occasion to refer again to Massarani in forwarding Mr. Sealy's Report for the year 1873, which has been for some time in the hands of the printer.
13. The removal even of 100 prisoners from Georgetown Gaol will not so reduce the number of prisoners as to allow of separate cells being provided for each prisoner without making great alterations and additions. I hope, however, by the steady infliction
of strictly penal labour for the whole period of short imprisonments for offences of a criminal character (not offences under the Labour Laws, Health, or Revenue Acts), to check the increase and, perhaps, reduce the daily average of prisoners. The Court of Policy have, at my request, agreed to a vote of 2,000 dollars for the purchase of a tread- wheel and the Combined Court have sanctioned the vote.
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14. The infliction of this punishment will, I do not doubt, restrain the number of offenders of this class, and I hope to be able to lay before your Lordship, at an early day, some proposals for diminishing the number of Coolies who are now sent to prison for offences under the Labour Laws.
Sir,
J. R. LONGDEN.
I have, &c.
(Signed)
Inclosure 1 in No. 26.
Sheriff's Office, April 4, 1874.
I HAVE the honour to submit my Annual Report on the Georgetown Gaol and the District Prisons at Mabaica and Fellowship, for 1873.
Georgetown Gaol.-The Georgetown Gaol is a common gaol to which are committed :-
1. All prisoners of both sexes summarily convicted by the Stipendiary Magistrates in the County of Demerara, and in the Essequibo Islands, except male immigrants under sentences for breaches of the Immigration Ordinance, who, so far as there is accom- modation for them, are sent to the District Prisons at Mahaica and Fellowship.
2. All prisoners convicted by the Supreme and Inferior Courts of Criminal Justice for terms not exceeding two years.
3. All civil prisoners from the Counties of Demerara and Essequibo.
4. All military prisoners.
5. All female prisoners under sentences of penal servitude and minor sentences. Prison Buildings.-The buildings in the Georgetown Gaol consist of:-
A brick prison, containing 80 separate cells and 2 rooms.
A prison built of wood, containing 120 separate cells and 5 wards. A female prison, containing 30 cells.
A debtor's ward.
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There are also male and female hospitals, and houses for the keeper and 1st turnkey. The buildings are unfortunately erected upon a limited extent of ground, and are consequently rather crowded together, and they are placed so near the outer fence that they quite overlook the public streets which run under the walls on four sides.
Prison Staff.—The Georgetown Gaol, by Ordinance No. 12 of 1862, is under the superintendence of the Sheriff of the county.
The indoor staff consists of a Resident Keeper, Clerk, Assistant Clerk, Surgeon, 2 Chaplains, 6 Turnkeys, Gate Keeper, Matron, Female Overseer, Hospital Superin- tendent, Chinese Interpreter and Nurse, Indian Interpreter and Nurse, Messenger; and the outdoor, of a Head Overseer, and 6 Overseers.
During the year, as vacancies have occurred, I have endeavoured to procure a better class of men as turnkeys than those who have been formerly employed, and the difficulty which now exists among respectable persons in finding employment has enabled me to do so to a trifling extent, but the improvement of the prison staffs throughout all the prisons in the Colony has been for a long time a subject under consideration. It has been suggested that a “ Prison Corps" might be formed, the members of which should occasionally be transferred from one prison to another, including the Penal Settlement. This arrangement, it is presumed, would prevent the officers getting slack in their duties or too intimate with the prisoners under their charge.
I have recommended the retirement of three officers on the 30th June next, owing to az and infirmity, and have asked for a gratuity of three months' pay for each on quitting the service.
Number of Prisoners.-The number of prisoners received in the Georgetown Gaol. in 1878 was 4,765, namely, 3,855 males and 910 females, as compared with 2,521 males and 562 females received in 1872; of these 4.765, 195 had been convicted once before, 44 twice, and 15 thrice. The number summarily convicted by the Stipendiary Magistrates in 1873 amounted to 3,570 males and 894 females, and 285 male and 16 females were referred for trial before the higher Courts; 77 males and 1 female were also sent to the Georgetown Gaol from other prisons, as stated in Return A, appended.
The Returns C and D afford the means of comparing the number and nature of the offences in 1873, with those in 1872, and of ascertaining under what heads the marked excess of last year occurs. This excess, I believe, may to some extent be readily
accounted for.
Under the head " breaches of the labour laws," the 973 committals to the Georgetown Gaol in 1873, against 398 in 1872, are mainly owing to the immigrant prisoners from the
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