PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
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C.O.885
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2 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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present number, is insufficient, and it would be very difficult to make any satisfactory improvement in this respect, except under the general scheme referred to; neither is there any doubt that when sickness is prevalent in Colombo it soon finds its way into Welikada and rapidly spreads, unless immediate measures are taken for the removal of the sick to the Borella Hospital.
4. If Welikada is to be completed on the original plan, it will be necessary to con- struct a hospital at an estimated cost of 7,5001, and two new blocks of cells at a cost of 4,000, with the possible result that after this further outlay of 11,500l., the congre- gating of 800 to 1,000 men within the prison walls in a climate like that of Colombo will be found so objectionable in a sanitary point that the buildings must be abandoned.
5. The alternative, and the one I desire to recommend for your Lordship's sanction, is that the accommodation from Welikada which is now capable of holding 308 penal-stage men under strict discipline shall remain as at present, the hospital at Borella continuing available for the sick at Welikada, and if at the expiration of the year the health of the prisoners has been satisfactory, and bears favourable comparison with the other gaols of the Colony, that a permanent hospital shall be built at Welikada on a reduced scale to meet the requirements of the present number of prisoners detained there, but that the prison shall not otherwise be increased for some time to come.
The
6. If this arrangement is sanctioned it will then become necessary to construct cellular accommodation elsewhere, which is urgently required for 400 men, and I propose to convert the old Ceylon Rifle Barracks at Kandy into a Penal Gaol for this purpose. health of prisoners at Kandy has been invariably good, and, during the time it was necessary to empty Welikada, from 200 to 250 of those sent up to Kandy Gaol occupied these barracks.
7. The present Gaol at Kandy is barely sufficient for the Police Court cases, and it is inconveniently situated in the centre of the town, and in the event of a new gaol being constructed I should propose to convert this building into police barracks.
8. I believe that Mr. Gregory is prepared to agree in these suggestions, and should your Lordship sanction this arrangement, the necessary expenditnre might be voted in the Supplementary Supply Bill from surplus balances of the past year. I have, &c.
(Signed) ARTHUR N. BIRCH.
Inclosure 1 in No. 43.
Western Province.
The Convict Establishment.—This establishment, at the beginning of 1873, consisted
of the two prisons of Welikada and Hultsdorf.
In Welikada were confined long-sentenced prisoners from all parts of the island both in the penal stage and in the second and third stages. In a separate inclosure were confined all female prisoners, convicted and unconvicted, whether for long or short
terms.
At Hultsdorf were confined all short-sentenced male prisoners (necessarily in the penal stage), and all unconvicted male prisoners, whether detained for trial, for further examination, or on default of security. Lunatics under medical observation were likewise confined here, and in a separate inclosure were the prisoners detained for debt.
The two gaols together, including the hospital accommodation, were capable of holding 310 prisoners in separate confinement, and about 65 in association, yet the daily average at Welikada in 1872 had reached 464, and at Hultsdorf 156, making a total of 621. The overcrowding that occurred at Welikada led to the state of things described in Sessional Paper No. XIII. before referred to. I shall now report what has been done to remedy this, and what is the condition of the convict establishment at the present time.
In the first place every remedy and recommendation made by the Commission has either been carried out, or is in process of being carried ont, with the one exception of On this point I will remark establishing bells and tell-tales to every cell and ward.
hereafter.
1. Welikada has been thoroughly emptied and kept so for six months, the grounds have been dug up, not six inches but one or two feet, left exposed for months, relaid and gravelled; earth in the neighbourhood of cesspools and hospitals being dug out, and conveyed beyond the walls of the gaol.
2. The interior walls of all the cells and wards have been thoroughly scraped to the
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bare bricks, and plastered with cement instead of with whitewash. Every cell and ward has been thoroughly disinfected.
8. The placing of more than one prisoner in a cell has been prohibited, and the order has been strictly enforced.
4. No prisoner is allowed to work in the sleeping cell, separate compartments are being erected as fast as possible, so that each prisoner in cellular confinements shall have a separate working shed during the day.
5. Every prisoner has a suit of night-clothing as well as of day-clothing.
6. All tubs, chatties, and urinals, have been removed from cells and wards and prisoners' call, and are led out to vessels placed in the corridors (sec hereafter the objection to this system).
7. The smallpox hospital (as earnestly recommended) has been retained as the gaol hospital.
8. The corridors of the cells are being fitted with double roofs, in order to give additional ventilation.
9. Greater facilities have been given for bathing and washing, and estimates are now being prepared for building baths and improving the water supply still further.
These were the recommendations of the Commission, but the improvement of the gaols has not stopped here.
In recontruction, rearrangement of buildings, and in sanitary arrangements great changes have been made.
The ventilation of the cells has been much improved. The small iron grating 2 ft. 6 in. by 1 ft., have been removed and large iron barred windows, 3 ft. 8 in. by 3 ft. 3 in., have been placed instead. Verandahs 20 ft. broad have been added to protect these windows from wind and rain during the monsoon.
These broads verandalis serve
as exercising grounds and mess-rooms, so that the cells are kept empty and open the whole day. Two large open sheds, 130 ft. by 24 ft., formerly workshops, now serve as shot drill grounds, so that this exercise is taken under cover as recommended by the medical authorities.
The 42 new cells (or rather 38 cells and one small convalescent ward) began in 1872, have been finished, and are devoted exclusively to European prisoners.
The female prisoners have been removed to a separate gaol at Hultsdorf. The Welikada gaol has been divided by walls into 5 distinct divisions.
No. 1, containing 270 cells, with shot-drill yards and coir-beating compartments is
devoted exclusively to native penal-stage prisoners.
No. 2, containing 38 cells and one small ward, is devoted solely to European prisoners. No. 3, containing two large wards is capable of holding 65 second-stage prisoners in association. These men simply sleep here, being employed during the day in prison services or on the workshop at certain trades required in gaol improvements.
No. 4 contains the kitchen.
No. 5, the offices, workshops, and one large temporary ward, capable of holding 30 prisoners in case of a sudden rise in the prison strength.
The Hultsdorf prison, which is no longer part of the convict establishment, has likewise been thoroughly re-arranged.
The debtors' prison which is a distinct gaol, has been converted into a female prison,
it is not everything that could be desired, but it answers its purpose very well, and has many advantages over Welikada. It is close to the courts so that further examination females are not taken backwards and forwards a long distance. It is very healthy, and though it appears rather hot to an European, it is a palace to most of the wretched women therein confined, still I should like to see a good inexpensive female prison built at once on proper gaol principles.
The old gnol at Hulsdorf, containing 30 cells and ward accommodation for about 170 persons, is now devoted exclusively to unconvicted prisoners and debtors, who have a palisaded inclosure to separate them from those charged with crimes.
During 1873 it was necessary to send a number of men from Welikada to this gaol, and a large temporary shed was run up capable of holding 30 or 40 men; a few days ago, I received authority of Government to erect a permanent ward in its place, and all risk of this gaol being overcrowded, will then cease. Even when dreadfully overerammed, this gaol strangely enough.has always been most healthy.
During the year 1873 and the first quarter of 1874, two new gaols have been added to the convict establishment, the one at Slave Island and the other (called the Breakwater Gaol) at the Galle Buck.
The Slave Island Gaol (with the new buildings recently erected) is capable of holding 360 prisoners, and the Breakwater Gaol 140; so that, setting aside Hultsdorf, which is
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