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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

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Ticket-of-Leave.

Discharges on ticket-of-leave during the past year have been less as compared with the previous year; this may be accounted for from the fact that the mark system lad down for this prison had been only partially carried out, to which I called attention on my assuming charge of this Department, and in consequence of which many prisoners were, during the year 1878, discharged on ticket-of-leave after having completed a little more than half of their original sentence. At present, the mark system is more rigidly carried out, and therefore the date of a convict's ticket-of-leave is made to depend upon uniform good conduct and industry, and no convict can be released upon ticket-of-leave, until he shall have earned by marks the remission of his sentence which the law provides, except in cases specially recommended to his Excellency. The amount of gratuity charged against this prison during the past year, as having been paid to convicts discharged on ticket-of-leave was 353 dols. 20 c. This amount extends, I presume, beyond the year 1874, inasmuch as seventeen convicts were discharged on ticket-of-leave, and the full amount of gratuity could only reach the sum of 244 dols. 80 c., being at the rate of 14 dols. 40 c. each, which the rule provide: in several cases, however, the full amount of gratuity was not recommended.

Of this liberal allowance to discharged. conviets I would observe that as far as my experience will enable me to form an opinion, I submit that if the amount of gratuity depended on willing and cheerful hard labour, about one prisoner out of five would be fairly entitled to receive it on discharge, and I think some modification in this respect is necessary, or abolished altogether, and an addition made to the pay of those officers whose duty it is to enforce hard labour upon convicts, and the payment of money to prisoners on discharge should be limited to a few shillings to enable them to subsist for a few days while seeking employment; and in cases where a convict has rendered good service as a mechanic during his imprisonment, in which cases a special report should be made to his Excellency.

•

Schools for Officers' Children.

In October last authority for an outlay for books, &c., having been obtained, a school was opened on 12th October, for the instruction of the warders' children in elementary education, and Sunday school teaching, the school was attended by the children for several weeks, but in consequence of changes by removal of warders, and by parents sending their children to town, the number of scholars dwindled down to three. I deem it desirable to close the school until a higher number could be attained. I am, however, in the hope as soon as additional quarters are completed (for the increase of warders so as to enable their families to reside at the Settlement) to reopen the school. I feel bound, however, to admit that there exists a great deal of shortsightedness in the parents of the children, who keep them from school, and from chapel on very slight pretexts, this perhaps might be obviated in a measure by the Chaplain exerting an influence over the officers, their wives and children, but I regret to observe that his time has been so fully occupied with mission work that little or no time is left for him to devote to the families on the Settlement. In order to convey more fully this want of pastoral care, of which the officers have good reason to complain, it may be stated that on the 4th September the steward's wife died, after an illness of three weeks' duration, and the solemn duty of per- forming the burial service fell to me, previous to which the steward officially reported to me that during the whole of his wife's illness the Chaplain never visited his dying wife although once or twice requested to attend her.

I cannot conclude this report on the prison, its discipline, and the results of the past year without stating that every effort on my part has been made with a view to do away with the abuses which once existed, and to raise the tone, and the discipline, and the general management of the Department to a higher standard, and whether I have succeeded in doing so I respectfully leave to those who peruse and compare the returns contained in this report, and I trust that my humble efforts may be appreciated by those who are competent to judge how prison discipline should be carried out with firmness. fairness, and kindness.

(Signed) T. SEALY,

Superintendent of Her Majesty's Penal Settlement.

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No. 15.

The Earl of Carnarvon to Governor Longden, C.M.G.

(No. 154. British Guna.)

Downing Street, September 18, 1875.

Sir

I OBSERVE that in Mr. Scaly's Report on the Massaruni Penal Settlements for 1874, inclosed in your despatch No. 143 of the 17th July,* to which I have replied generally in my despatch No. 155 of this date, he speaks incidentally of the quarters of the officers and inmates of the Kaow Island Leper Asylum as being in a "wretched damp condition."

2. It appears to me that this is a matter which should receive carly attention.

I have, &c.

(Signed)

CARNARVON.

No. 16.

The Earl of Carnarvon to Governor Longden, C.M.G.

(No. 155. British Guiana.)

Sir,

Downing Street, September 18, 1875. I HAVE to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch No. 143 of the 17th of July,* submitting some further proposals for the future management of the penal settlement at Massaruni.

2. The establishment of frequent and regular steam communication with the penal settlement will be an important step, both as insuring the constant and efficient super- vision of the convicts, and as a means of opening up the Essequebo River generally. I also approve of your proposal to appoint an Inspector-General of Prisons for the whole Colony, with the emoluments and powers of a stipendiary magistrate.

3. I notice in Mr. Scaly's Report that he speaks of the "pressing necessity for new rules and regulations to suit the present discipline." At the same time he states that the rules of 1870 have been, with some exceptions, adhered to, and does not state what other rules be considers necessary, except when in a subsequent part of his Report he suggests that escaped and recaptured prisoners should not be sent for trial, but punished by prison discipline. I should be glad to know what further suggestions Mr. Scaly may have to make on this subject, and I may take this opportunity of impressing on you the importance of a thorough reorganization of the prison service on the principle of a general amalgamation of the various prison. staffs, as proposed in the 5th paragraph of your despatch No. 115 of the 4th July, 1874.

(Signed)

No. 17.

I have, &c.

CARNARVON.

Governor Longden, C.M.G., to the Earl of Carnarvon.—(Reciired October 30.)

Government House, Georgetown, September 29, 1875.

(No. 205.) My Lord,

I HAVE the honour to forward herewith six printed copies of the Report of Mr. Sheriff Brumell on the Georgetown Gaol, and the subsidiary prisons for emigrants convicted under the the Labour Laws at Mahaica and Fellowship, for the year 1874.

2. In my despatches No. 102, dated 16th June, 1874, and No. 175, dated 22nd September, 1874,t I brought prominently under your Lordship's notice the overcrowded state of the Georgetown Prison, the herding together of prisoners at night in unlighted wards, where no supervision could be exercised over them, and other defects.

3. The overcrowding of the men's division of the prison has been relieved, but insufficiently so, by transferring men to the Fellowship Prison or to Massaruni, or to the new prison at Abary. The new buildings at Massaruni are progressing well, and I hope to be able to send eighty or ninety prisoners there before the end of the year. The new temporary lock-up at the Best will be completed in a few weeks, and will accommodate forty-eight short sentence prisoners.

• No. 14.

↑ Nos. 26 and 31 of Miscellaneous No. 23.

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