CO885-(11-12) — Page 346

269

FUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

TUTIIT

Reference -

C.O.882/12

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BF REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

48

direct to the Cashiers' Branch of the Treasury. The further action now performed by the Treasury and the local Revenue Inspectors for ensuring the payment of the direct tax would be carried out by the Police.

We have carefully examined in consultation with the Inspector- General the items of " Other charges" in the Police estimates and are satisfied that they are not unnecessary or excessive. The total of these charges has shown a steady reduction year by year, the decrease since the estimates for 1925-26 being no less than Rs.105,626.

20. A possible line of economy, in the present conditions of financial stringency with which the Colony is confronted, is sug- gested by the existence of the Police Band, which as a luxury service might perhaps be regarded as a fitting subject for retrench- ment. The total cost of the Band is Rs.38,235 per annum of which Rs.28,740 represents the cost of personnel and Rs.9,495 other charges. This, however, is the gross cost against which must be set an estimated revenue of Rs.12,150 from fees for perform- ances at non-Police functions, leaving a net cost of only Rs.26,085. We are not disposed to recommend any reduction in this item of expenditure. The building up of an efficient Police Force has been proceeding with increasing success for some years under circum- stances of exceptional difficulties arising from the differences of race and language among its members, and we have no doubt that the Band by stimulating a sense of esprit de corps throughout the heterogeneous elements of which the Force is composed and by increasing the importance and dignity of the Force in the eyes of the public is contributing in some measure to the growth of its efficiency.

21. Before leaving the subject of the Police we would mention that the Inspector-General who also holds the post of Superin- tendent of Prisons is in our opinion overburdened by this double responsibility. We consider, however, that there are practical advantages in continuing this arrangement which was made on the recommendation of the Royal Commission of 1909, but in discuss- ing the Prisons Department we have suggested a means of relieving the Inspector-General from undue strain.

Prisons.-Head 15.

22. The Royal Commission in 1909 considered the administra- tion of the prisons to be unsatisfactory. They recommended that separate cells should be provided for each convict, that the prisoners should be classified, that the Beau Bassin prison should be used only for long-sentence prisoners, that a regular system of labour should be observed, that remunerative work should be given and useful industries should be taught, that the vegetable garden should be extended and that a less extravagant scale of rations should be adopted, maize being partially substituted for rice.

49

These recommendations have been carried out and we consider that the prisous now reach a remarkably high standard of organiza- tion and efficiency. The buildings of the central prison at Beau Basein are admirably laid out and are of an excellent type for their Prisoners are still purpose of housing long-sentence convicts. employed in gang work outside the prison, usually on the main- tenance of public gardens, but no longer on road work-this follows a recommendation of the Royal Commission that employment on public roads should be restricted. Inside the prison a number of useful industries are taught, and the receipts from the bakery, tinsmith's, and carpenter's shops exceed the expenditure. We note in passing that these receipts are for services rendered to other departments and should not be shown as revenue; the expenditure should be indicated in the different departments. and the total should be deducted from the total expenditure on prisons, leaving a net figure in the estimates. The garden at Beau Bassin is excellent; a large area of land has been gradually cleared, the stone being used for prison purposes; a variety of vegetables and food crops is being obtained and cultivation is being extended. The prison estate is an object lesson to the island. The good work is reflected in the fact that the cost of provisions, fuel, and lighting is only Rs.35,000 for the two prisons.

23. It has been suggested to us that the older prison at Port Louis might be closed as a measure of economy and the Central Prison alone maintained. The ground for this suggestion is that Beau Bassin has much more accommodation than is now required for its average population. We do not think that this is a sufficient ground. The first principle of prison administration must be classi- fication and segregation. The Port Louis prison can most con- veniently take the under-trial prisoners, and can also accommodate females, elderly and invalid offenders, and first offenders. The buildings at Beau Bassin are quite unsuited to receive these small special classes of prisoners; it would be expensive to alter them and we doubt satisfactory modification is possible. For these reasons we do not consider that the saving of cost would justify the dis- location of the existing system which is working well.

24. Our attention has also been drawn to the Industrial School, the cost of which, Rs.26,220, is more than one tenth of the ex- penditure of the Prison Department. The number of inmates steadily decreases, and the cost per head is now considerable. At the same time no one is satisfied with the results; waifs and strays have to be housed with juvenile offenders, and the odium of a reformatory must follow its inmates and make it difficult for them to obtain employment when they are discharged. The closing of the school, however, would mean the opening up of a juvenile section in one of the two prisons and we do not think that this would be a desirable step to take even in the interests of economy.