Sessional_Paper_1887-1888 — Page 140

HONGKONG, 11th October, 1887.

SIR,-In accordance with the direction of His Excellency the late Acting Governor General CAMERON, I have the honour to transmit a report on the Gaol from 19th January, 1887, to 11th August, 1887, the period during which it was under my control. The report would have been sent in carlier had it not been for the time taken in preparing the return which accompanies it.

2. During my tenure of office I followed in general the lines laid down by General GORDON, any divergence therefrom being, as a rule, in the direction of increased stringency. That this course was the correct one will, I think, be admitted when the difficulty of rendering imprisonment deterrent to the Chinese, for whom it means, good rations, sufficient clothing and two holidays a week instead of miserable food, scanty rags and unremitting labour is considered. Thus following the system in force in naval prisons, all offences, however slight, have been reported and punished. This has naturally caused a large increase in the number of petty offences recorded, but I do not consider the reports to be a satisfactory criterion of the state of the Gaol, which I believe to have continued steadily to im-

prove.

3. When I took command of the Gaol I found that an outbreak was expected on account of the reduction in rations recently effected. That that expectation was well founded, was proved by the occurrence of a strike and among the chain gang and some of the other prisoners on the morning of the 31st of January. Fortunately by the prompt action taken by the Warden and Chief Warders and with the assistance of the European Prisoners who volunteered to assist, the mutineers were locked up in their cells before the disturbance had led to bloodshed, but the outbreak seemed to me to prove that a sharp lesson was required in order to maintain discipline in the Gaol and to shew the prisoners that combined action would not be met by the punishment of a few only but of all, I therefore caused 69 of the mutineers to be whipped. The punishment proved most successful in the Gaol, and I may mention incidentally that the number of prisoners fell from 658 to 585 and that the Captain Superin- tendent of Police remarked, as I am informed of the quiet state of the town after its infliction.

4. I note with satisfaction that acting on my recommendation; the Government has ordered fifty more cranks for the use of the Gaol. This form of punishment is much disliked by the Chinese to whom it is much more distasteful than shot drill or oakum picking.

5. The chain gang has been increased from 47 to nearly 100, it being found that the cost to the Surveyor General of a gang of the latter strength was very little in excess of that of one half its size. The

gang has been usefully employed of late in cutting down the hill at the new Police Barracks opposite Green Island.

6. The want of accommodation still makes itself severely felt in the Gaol. Isolation is very dis- tasteful to the Chinese, but it can only be practised at present to a very limited extent, there being only 198 cells for an average of 607. The sleeping in association is, I consider, specially objectionable. The female prison is most unsatisfactory there being only two rooms for at times, twenty prisoners, thus entailing the association of petty offenders with hardened criminals.

7. The Gaol Staff is in a fairly satisfactory condition, the substitution of European for coloured warders being productive of good results; it is however difficult to induce steady reliable men to undertake or if undertaken to continue the hard and monotonous work of warders (the hours being from 6 to 6) for the very poor pay at present offered ($25 a month, without food, rising to $60). The constant changes which result interfere seriously with the effectiveness of the staff, as new men, in addition to learning their duties as warders, have to pick up a modicum of Chinese in order to be of much use.

To assist them in doing this, I have made for their use a small book containing the more ordinary expressions in use in the Gaol in low class Cantonese, which I trust may be found of

use.

8. Taking into consideration the central position of the Gaol, the continual changes in the staff, the fact of the prisoners being constantly in association, and the mild nature of their punishment as compared with those to which they are accustomed in their own country, I consider that their conduct has been on the whole satisfactory, and this I attribute in a great measure to the knowledge by them that no infraction of the Gaol rules, however slight would be excused. The health of the prisoners has, in view of the miserable condition of many of them on admittance been good.

I have the honour to be,

Sir,

Your most obedient Servant,

N. G. MITCHEll-Innes,

Late Acting Superintendent.

The Hon. FREDERICK STEWART, LL.D.,

Colonial Decretary.