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23rd an Address was passed, requesting me to cause an estimate of the cost of carrying out the proposals of the Committee to be laid before the House. These were presented on the 24th of March, 1874; and on the 14th April, the Auditor-General introduced a Resolution for a grant of 8,5581., to be applied in enlarging Glendairy Prison, which was read a first time on that day. On the 5th May the Assembly expired; and the whole of the interval was occupied with a protracted contest on the Customis Establishment Bill, then before the House.

5. When the new House met on the 16th June, the Auditor-General was not a Member of it, and the House, as I informed your Lordship in my despatch of the 21st July, "intended to avoid entering upon the consideration of any of those important measures involving expenditure which I had recommended to their notice."

6. I brought the subject prominently before the Legislature in my speech at the opening of the Session. I inclose extracts from it. Nothing, however, was done until the 22nd December, when a motion was made, and carried, to the following effect :-

"Requesting that his Excellency the Governor would furnish the House with a Report from the Superintendent of Public Works, on the feasibility of making an open area around the Bridgetown Gaol, to the extent of about 20 feet, down to the level of the rooms in which prisoners are confined, by excavating the soft marl, thereby enabling the windows for ventilation and light to be open down to the floor level, and causing a healthy atmosphere around the building; and whether the rainfall of the surface of such area can be effectually carried off by wells, by the natural water strata, or if it would be necessary to cover the area with a roof; and if the marl earth composing the soil to be excavated, may be utilized for roads, and for filling in parts of the city suffering from want of drainage. Also a Report of what is requisite for effectually carrying out Moule's Earth System at the Town Hall Prison, to prevent the disgusting evil adverted to in the Grand Jury's reply to the Chief Judge's charge; with an estimate of the cost of the article, and of each work separately."

This information has been furnished.

7. I am assured by my Council that the object of the mover of this resolution was to defeat the project of enlarging Glendairy, but that the assembly does not sympathise with his views. They supported him, however, as the effect would be to retard any change, and the necessary expenditure, against which, from the commencement of the session, they had set their faces.

8. It remains to be seen whether your Lordship's renewed representations, and the reproach which a neglect of them will draw upon the Legislature, will move the Assembly to take the requisite action in this matter. It has been until lately the deplorable con- dition of the Executive in the present House of Assembly that it has not been represented in that body, and that there has been no independent Member upon whose enlightenment and stability of character the Governor could depend to adopt and carry through any measure which he might recommend. Latterly the Solicitor-General, Mr. Reeves, has taken up my several messages, and generally measures framed for the public benefit; but it requires no ordinary qualifications to force measures through the Assembly with the success which attended the efforts of Mr. W. B. Griffith. I will call the special attention of Mr. Reeves to this subject.

I have, &c.

(Signed)

RAWSON W. RAWSON.

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2. A vote for the enlargement of Glendairy Prison, recommended by a Joint Committee of the Council and Assembly.

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It will occur to many of you, when looking round this spacious hall, that the colony is bound to keep itself clear from the reproach that, while it has made such ample pro- vision for the convenience of the Legislature and the Public Officers, there should be any hesitation or delay in providing adequately for the humane treatment of the sick and insane among its population, the wholesome accommodation and due punishment of its criminals, and the sufficient relief-provident, but not niggardly-of the destitute and infirm. The inadequacy of existing arrangements in all these respects is brought to my notice almost daily by those who imagine that I have the power, because they believe I have the will, to effect the needful changes. My power is exhausted, and my duty is fulfilled, when I press these questions urgently upon your notice.

No. 23.

Governor Rawson, C.B., to the Earl of Carnarvon.-(Received May 13.)

(No. 53. Barbados.) My Lord,

I HAVE the honour to forward the Annual Returns, in duplicate, of Gaols and

Barbados, April 28, 1875. Prisoners and Criminal Statistics for the year 1874, in anticipation of the Blue Book for that year, together with the Report of the Acting Attorney-General upon them. The Report, founded upon the figures in the Returns, exhibits satisfactory results.

2. I inclose, for consideration, copy of a letter from the Colonial Secretary, explaining his doubts in two matters connected with the form of these Returns. regard to the first, I had no difficulty in instructing him to append a note, which shows With the number discharged for want of prosecution distinguished from those acquitted on trial. The distinction is important, as elucidating the action of the police, the nature of offences and prosecutions, and the administration of justice. A misprint has been detected at the last moment in the note upon this subject.

3. With regard to the second, I think it probable that many officers charged with the preparation of these Returns will share the doubt entertained by Mr. Gore. In the comparative Table No. 5, the third and fourth main divisions speak of "Summary Convictions," and of "Convictions in the Superior Courts," while the fifth speaks of "Persons acquitted." I believe that all three are intended to show the number of persons-

1. Summarily convicted.

2. Convicted in Superior Courts.

3. Acquitted.

The form would admit of no doubt if that language were used, and for the reasons I have stated there would be an advantage in adding a fourth category, viz., of discharged for want of prosecution.

persons

I have, &c. (Signed) RAWSON W. RAWSON.

Inclosure in No. 22.

Extract from the Governor's Speech at the opening of Session.

MY first duty on this occasion is to call your attention to several important matters which have been before the Legislature in previous Sessions, and which have not reached completion, less, I believe, from any hesitation to adopt the measures necessary to dispose of them, than from a reluctance, or an inability, to give them the time required for their due examination. The present season of meeting affords a most favourable opportunity for taking these questions into early consideration, and of disposing of the main business of the Session before the commencement of the next crop, when the attendance of Members engaged in agricultural pursuits necessarily becomes inconvenient and irregular.

Among these measures I would enumerate:-

1. A decision upon the plans, already submitted to you, for a new Lunatic Asylum, the necessity for which is increasing in proportion to the delay in providing it.

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