A VISIT TO THE WELLINGTON GAOL.

Evening Post, Volume XIII, Issue 36, 12 February 1876, Page 5 (Supplement)

A VISIT TO THE WELLINGTON GAOL.

It is the general opinion that the first buildings one sees directly a new town is founded are a church, a publichpuse,,anda<gaol-; and the last-named is alwayn Warded as a place where discontent, reigns supreme. Certain iy a y»iul may not be the most desirable place in the world to pass a few years of one's life in, but in these days it is quite a mistake to associate a prison with privation and discomfort to an unlimited extent. In our time we have visited a few prisons in various paifciof the world (voluntary visits. of course), and consequently are in t position to speak respecting the merits or demerits vi establishments of the ort. The lieso one we havi yeb seen iv the Southern hrmisphen is thu Punt ridge Stockade, Victoria and the next the Darlinghurst Gaol Sydney. lit both those places ther is an excellent system of cla-sificatioi of prisoners, and each is nearly, if no wholly, self- supporting. In New Ze<x laud, however, wo are not yet ad vanced far enough to cope with eithe P«-ntridge or Darlinghurst. We di things in a small way, while Mcl b mrno and Sydney do them wholesale Each of those prisons contains Severn hundreds of men and women, whif no j»a«>l in New Zealand can boast o more than one hundred and seventy It is hardly necessary to observe tha the chief town in every piovince ii this colony contains an establishraen which ia a sort of depot for all thosi who may have committed them selves in any part of th< particular province in which i is situated. Persons who re ceivo short sentences for trivia offences in the country districts an kept in the watch-house or police station nearest where they are con victed, but those who are guilty o serious offences are sent to the centi'a gaols. Such is the case in Welling ton.: The establishment over whicl Mr. Read presides is the place t( which all persons convicted of seriou; offences in any part of this proving are sent, and though it cannot for : moment be compared with either o the Australian yaols above relerrec to for size or importance, there ar< yet some points about it which an worthy of note. It is, in the tirsi place, built upon .one of the niosl healthy spots in the,, city, and, as i natural consequence, the iuinates verj seldom suffer from sickness of an> sort. Again, it is a perfect model oi cleanliness, and. bearing in mind the nature of the place, of comfort also. The buildings are commodious and well adapted to their purpose, although during the last few weeks a greatei number of prisoners than usual havt been confined, and consequently the accommodation has been found rathei insufficient. This, however, is a very rare eveut, but as the authorities intend at n-> distant date to erect a new wing, this difficulty will not much longer be experienced. The ventilation of the prison is extremely good, and the clothing, food, bedding, &c , supplied to the prisoners are of good quality. In fact we cannot see that those who are confined in the Wellington gaol have any cause for complaint in that direction. There is a library containing about 400 volumes in connection with the establishment, and with the books and the two hours schooling' which they receive every evening, they manage to pass the time, when they are uot at work, with comparative pleasure and certain profit. In regard to the school we may state that we were shown the copy-books of several men who, when they entered the gaol a few months ago, were unable to make even a pot-book, but who are now, thanks to the instruction they Jbavu received, uot only able to write, but to write moderately well. There is one improvement on the old system which we noticed, namely, that there is noinducementfor a prisoner to feign sickness. A prisoner who is industrious and lays himself out to do his work well, may obtain so many " good marks " that he will cut off one third of his sentence, while the man who goes to the hospital does not get this indulgence, and consequently has to remain in gaol when he might be at liberty. At the present moment the' number of inmates is sixty-one males and seventeen females. The former are employed at brick-making near the Asylum, and road-making on the Terrace. ' Mr. Read, the warden, informs us that lie expects shortly to be in a- position- to make a sufficient number of bricks to serve for all the public works in the province, and in another fortnight the- prisoners will be able to turn out 45,000 per week. The females wash and', repair the clothes used in the gaol, -aiid while not so engaged pick oakum. That prison labor may be rendered pro6table is exemplified by the' fact that the men themselves, with no assistance from outside the walls, have within the post few years built an elegant and substantial residence for the chief of ttfe establishment, and reclaimed a quantity of land round the gaol. Tb y v have also laid out very tastefully with va. ious kin<ls of trees the ground between the gaol^and" Woolcom'>estivet. In conclusion, we may state that^the... Wjelliniiton, gaol, reflects g eat credit oh Mi*. Bead and'those uuder him. Discipline is well maintained, and the prisoners are kept in

their proper places, while every attendance is paid to their comfort, and every iuducement held ont to them to become goud members of society. We have to thank Mr. Head for the courtesy shown and iuformation supplied by him to our representative on the Qccasion of his visit.