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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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a question of expense, and it is, of course, impossible for us to say how soon the finances of the Colony may be in a position to defray it.

Unnatural Offences.

117. We are, however, glad to record that although separation is so imperfectly carried out, the result of our inquiries has shown that there is no reason to believe that unnatural offences are at all prevalent. These remarks apply more or less to the other prisons of the Colony.

Warders.

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118. Another great difficulty in the way of establishing an efficient prison discipline is the character of the class from which the warders are necessarily drawn, as already pointed out in the Report. We fear that as a body they are by no means to be relied on, there is too much reason to think that especially when the gangs are out- side the prison they do not enforce labour, and that they connive at the prisoners com- municating with their friends and obtaining money and forbidden articles; while at other times they treat the prisoners with undue harshuess.

119. In several of his reports, dating as far back as 1804, the Inspector of Prisons has called attention to this difficulty, and while stating that the pay is low, being only 18. a-week on entering the service, he thinks that any practicable raise of wages could not secure better officers, as the class of men wanted, especially men capable of dealing with the white naval and military prisoners, cannot be found in the country. In this opinion we are disposed to concur, and we think that it would be highly desirable, in the Penitentiary at all events, to obtain the services of a few discharged soldiers from European regiments; or if possible of men who have served as warders in an English prison. Of course such men would require to be paid at a much higher rate than the present sub-officers, but we think the extra expense would be well incurred, and after probation the more intelligent of them might be usefully promoted to superior positions in the other prisons of the island, as vacancies occurred.

Salaries.

120. We would also call attention to the inequality of the salaries paid to the Superintendents of the different prisons. Thus, while the Superintendent of the Falmouth District Prison receives 2001. per annum, the Superintendent of the Saint Catherine District Prison, which usually contains more prisoners, receives only 1601. The Superintendent of the Mandeville Prison (after 18 years' service) only 1401.; of Port Maria 1201., and of Lucea 1001. We do not think that the salary of the Falmouth Superintendent is at all too high, but we would suggest that the salary at the Saint Catherine District Prison should be equalized with his, and the salaries of the Superin- tendents of what may be termed the Second Class District Prisons, i.e., Mandeville, Luces, and Port Maria, be raised to 1501. The pay of the Superintendents of the Short-Term Prisons seems to us sufficient.

121. We beg also to call attention to, what seems to us, the very inadequate pay of the Deputy-Superintendent of the Penitentiary, considering the arduous nature of his duties, and the responsibility which is thrown on him, and that he ought to be qualified to take full charge of the Institution in the event of the sickness or absence of the Superintendent; we think he is fairly entitled to a substantial increase of pay.

Lights and Patrols.

122. Another defect which we think ought to be immediately remedied is the We believe there is no instance throughout want of lights in the associated wards.

Even in the Ġeneral Peni- the island in which one of these wards is lighted, and, unless in the case of some special emergency, the patrol never enters the wards. tentiary the patrols never go round more than once every hour, and in the other prisons the duties of the patrol seem very imperfectly conducted. In fact the object of the patrol seems to be simply to guard against escapes and not to exercise any supervision over the conduct of the prisoners. This system evidently requires

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amendment, though it may be necessary in some instances to increase the staff of sub-officers.

Naval and Military Prisoners.

123. We think it right to express our strong opinion that naval and military prisoners ought not to be sent to the General Penitentiary. By the 49th section of the "Prison Consolidated Act, 1856," it is enacted that one section of the General Peni- tentiary shall be appropriated as a prison for soldiers or marines convicted by court- martial. Up to the present time, however, no portion of the Penitentiary has been especially appropriated for this purpose, and, as a matter of fact, a separate yard could not be walled off without very much interfering with the ventilation of the whole Institution. We have already pointed out that the sub-officers are, as a rule, very ill-qualified to manage this class of prisoners, their presence in the Penitentiary is subversive of the discipline of the establishment, and there is little doubt that they induce the sub-officers to supply them with forbidden articles. On the other hand, it seems very hard to compel a man, who may have merely committed some trifling breach of military or naval discipline, to submit to the degradation of wearing the dress of a common felon, and to be associated with the class of prisoners who are inmates of the Penitentiary in this country. We fear that the loss of self-respect and permanent sense of degradation produced by imprisonment in such a place and among such associates more than counterbalances any useful impressions which might have been produced by the punishment. We strongly recommend that a separate prison, under military supervision, should be established for soldiers and sailors convicted by courts- martial. Some of the unoccupied buildings at Up Park Camp might be adapted to this purpose. There are ready from 8 to 12 cells there, with ample room to enlarge

them.

124. The Superintendent of the General Penitentiary, who has been thirty years in the public service, was absent on leave during the sitting of the Commission, and we were therefore deprived of the benefit of his evidence. Should such a fresh ap- pointment become necessary, we are strongly of opinion that some gentleman of education, and who is practically conversant with the details of modern prison discipline as carried out in England, should be appointed to the office. The Penitentiary should 'be the model prison of the island, and too much importance cannot be attached to its being efficiently managed, as improvements introduced here would no doubt be followed by the other prisons.

125. The Superintendents of the Mandeville and Falmouth District Prisons appeared to us to be energetic and able officers, anxious to do their duty, and doing it well so far as they had the means at their command.

126. Of the Superintendents of the five short-term prisons, four have been sub- officers of the General Penitentiary, and on the whole perform their duties satisfactorily. 127. We think that, while far from perfect, the state of the prisons of Jamaica is, with the exceptions already alluded to, considering the difficulties which have had to be contended against, as good as could be expected. They are kept scrupulously clean, contrasting favourably in this respect with many of the lock-ups under the charge of the constabulary, and it speaks well for the management that no serious disturbance has occurred in any of them for some years past.

128. The number of cubic feet allowed for each prisoner, especially in the asso- ciated wards, is, as will be observed, very small, and no doubt it would be desirable to increase it. It, however, appears from experience and the opinion of most of the medical men who were examined by us, that no such ill-results as might have been expected have followed from the confined space in which the prisoners are locked up. This may be accounted for partly by the habits of the population when in their own homes, and partly by the constant perflation of air through the wards and cells. think, however, that in the case of white prisoners a much larger number of cubic feet is necessary, and this, we gather from the opinion of the medical witnesses, shouid not be less than 600 cubic feet.

We

120. The present Inspector of Prisons has not been at all backward in urging necessary reforms, and there is no doubt that the management of the prisons has con- siderably improved since Mr. Shaw has held office. Many suggestions have been made by him from time to time for the improvement of prison discipline, some of which have been adopted with good results, while others have been allowed to fall through, either from the want of funds or from other reasons.

130. In addition to the returns enumerated in this Report, we beg also to attach

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