D—No. 2a

EEPORTS AND MEMORANDA OF vincial Government! This regulation is conceived in that spirit, which becomes a representative of Her Majesty; but lam sure your Excellency would be grieved, if the fund to arise therefrom constituted the principal source, either of wealth to the Savings Bank, of income to the Visiting Justices, or of solvency to any Provincial Government whatever. The truth, is, there are no tools, implements of trade, or other means of applying this regulation, and convicts have earnestly complained to me upon the subject. 3. The Punishment Regulations respecting escapes have their commentary above. As to destroying the property of the Government, the Government seems to have little property to destroy, unless it be either the " tools," &c, (which albeit carefully locked up, are easily reached by prisoners taking up a board from their cell flooring, and then using the lock-up tools to facilitate their own escape,) or perhaps, the Prison buildings themselves, the destruction of which in the case of the Auckland Gaol, would be a blessing to the community. 4. Cleanliness is strictly enjoined, on paper; —but the Prisoners at the Stockade have little water, and no conduit, are left to dabble in what utensils they can get about the yards for cleanliness, with (when I visited there a short time since) one towel, one razor, and no comb to clean and shave twelve convicts. 5. Religion and Divine Service are special objects in the Regulations;—but, I am informed, the Government supplies neither clergy, nor bible, nor prayer books, a few of which only have been gratuitously presented by unpaid Ministers of the Gospel. 6. "The Regulations" are careful to preserve from injury (by the prisoners) all books, whether of religious or secular instruction, and are scrupulous that all books must be first approved by the Visiting Justices; but the Government offers no books for the Visiting Justices to approve, and of secular instruction there is none. Debtors' Rules. —The Judges of the Supreme Court have also gone through the ceremony of framing " Debtors' Regulations." The powers given to the Supreme Court Judges by the Prison Ordinance (Sess. 7, No. 7) are ample, whereby the Judges may "make Rules and Regulations for " the Management of such Gaols as now are or hereafter may be used for the Improsonment of " Debtors, and for the Control of the Debtors therein." Accordingly, in May, 1859, we provided Rules that— 1. The Debtors should be " kept quite separate from all Felons and Misdemeanants undergoing " their sentences, and all persons waiting for trial, and all Lunatics." But I have shewn your Excellency that those are precisely the persons with whom the Debtors of this Province are herded together. 2. "In respect of diet, exercise, and prison discipline, Debtors shall (at least) be put on the " same footing as first-class Misdemeanants not sentenced to hard labor." But, as to diet, the Debtor has either to maintain himself or break stones for his rations. Exercise he takes among the company of the Debtors' yard. Misdemeanants are not classified; and discipline there is none. 3. As to the facilities which, we rule, should be given for Debtors to work at their trades while in prison, Your Excellency will refer to the description given above of the Debtors' cells, and thence estimate those facilities—what they are likely to be. I belive, I have now presented to the notice of your Excellency the principal facts, which the Grand Jury of this Province would wish me to present. In so doing, although I have avoided multitudinous detail, I have yet framed this Report more as an Inspector of Prisons might do, than as appertains strictly to the judicial office. But lam aware that general statements, whether of fact or of opinion, are often contradicted or impugned, when particular details remain unimpeached and unimpeachable. The greater portion of the above statements I have personally ascertained to be true. What may be the state of other Gaols or Lock-ups in this Province I have been unable to ascertain, save from rumour. Probably your Excellency's advisers are better informed than myself thereon. The remaining observations I beg leave to add as from myself, inasmuch as lam not authorized to present, as from the Grand Jury, any opinions, but merely to represent the condition of the Prisons, and their defective organization. But I feel assured that I should have the sanction of the Grand Jury in testifying to your Excellency my belief that the evils above set forth are attributable rather to the system than to any neglect or misconduct in the Prison authorities. So far as lam informed, I believe that His Honor the Superintendent, with the most benevolent intentions, under the present system, can by no possibility meet the requirements of the Law. The Prisons, such as they are, appear admirably kept; the Gaolers I believe to be men of humanity and of experience; and the other officers, albeit under-paid and over-worked, seem to discharge their duty with promptitude, temper, and discretion. The administration of the Law is seriously embarrassed by the defective Prisons, Even in Civil actions a Creditor may, and, I fear, sometimes does, delay bringing his action in the Supreme Court till he has reason to believe his Debtor is about to quit the Colony, perchance on that Debtor's ordinary business, and with full intention to return. He then holds his Debtor to bail, under a Writ of Arrest: and the horrors of imprisonment in Auckland Gaol, even for 48 hours, till bail can be procured, may well extort from the Debtor the full amount of an excessive demand. If the Debtor cannot procure bail, his friends, and sometimes even strangers, are moved to pay or compromise the demand, rather than allow the party arrested to be condemned to such a place, even till the action can be tried and justice obtained. But illustrations are not needed. It is self-evident that the State fails in its duty to the subject, if it allows him to be arrested and, in default of bail, to suffer more inconvenience than is absolutely necessary. In Criminal cases, a Judo-o of the Supreme Court is perplexed with the consciousness that his office, the Law, and himself, are made instruments of cruelty to the Criminal, and of wrong to the community: for he