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I am indebted to the Prisoners' Aid Society, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, Messrs. J. Stewart and S. Falls, and many others who are always ready to grant assistance to prisoners upon release. The conduct of the staff of this prison, as a whole, has been very good. During the year many changes in the staff have taken place, and the new men, being often young and inexperienced, have required a great deal of guidance and supervision from the senior officers. Schoolmaster's Report on Work in Prison School. On assuming control of the prison school in September, 1925, I found it necessary to make close investigation into the individual progress of each pupil in the various subjects which form the basis of the primary-school curriculum. Individual differences are peculiarly noticeable in the types of men with whom I have to deal, and but little actual class teaching is called for, persona] tuition with detailed explanation being a great deal more effective. In appreciating the situation I found the services of the Assistant Schoolmaster invaluable, especially in the handling of routine work and in informing me of the capabilities, standards of attainment, and peculiar needs of the men. During the period of my initiation I was impressed by the keenness and enthusiasm of the men, by the evident effort the mastery of arithmetical rules called for, and bv the fact that there was little in the narrow application of the syllabus to appeal to the types of adult mind represented in the school. Therefore when I had gained a fairly complete idea of the individual needs of the men and could, without wasting the time of a class, accomplish more satisfactory work by coaching individuals, I attempted to rouse interest in subjects or phases of subjects which to my way of thinking would relieve the school-work of its tediousness and at the same time give the men an interest outside their circumscribed surroundings by interpreting rather broadly such of the prescribed subjects ab would make an appeal to the human element : fewer figures, less formality, and more of the social studies- —in particular history, geography, and literature. It has been my endeavour, therefore, to devote a certain portion of the school week to brief talks on a variety of topics, ranging from a series of lectures on the development of civilization to a few minutes' talk 011 such a subject as the historical significance of the " Fifth of November." Included in this range of topics are such widely diverse ideas as the rise of democratic Government in Britain, the rise of the German Empire, winds and their causes, latitude and longitude, the poetry of John Masefield, aspects of the Great War, how the war affected the map of Europe, and various phases of British history. The men have been keenly interested, listening with great attention and frequently asking intelligent questions. I emphasized this part of the work in the hot summer months when physical fatigue reacted on the receptivity of the men's minds and rendered the close concentration necessary in working problems in arithmetic, &c., almost impossible. In this connection I made it a practice to allow those men who so desired to carry on with their ordinary school-work. The majority of the men have made sound progress with their studies, some doing particularly well, while others have not had the necessary stimulus or mental equipment to progress at anything but a slow rate. As far as practicable, instruction is personal, the difficulties of individual men being dealt with as they require explanation. It is my intention to continue this form of instruction, varying the work by occasionally grouping classes for blackboard-work where that can profitably be done. More work along the broader lines I have indicated and especially experiments in discussion aroused by work in elementary economics and history and civics are to form a feature of the programme of studies in the near future. The special class for the Chinese inmates is performing great work. The English speaking and New Zealand educated instructor has a difficult task in, for example, pronunciation and enunciation alone, but his efforts, keenly backed up by the application and industry of his pupils, have resulted in astounding progress being made. Hautu Prison (Land-development Camp), Tokaanu. The daily average number of prisoners in custody during the year was 27-99. The health of the men has been good, there being no cases of sickness throughout the year. The general conduct of the prisoners has been very satisfactory, one man only having been punished for a breach of the regulations. The industry of the prisoners has been good, and the majority take a keen interest in the farm-work. The prison vegetable-garden continues to be a success. More than sufficient vegetables for local requirements have been grown, the surplus being sent to other institutions. The following is a summary of the work carried out during the year : 300 acres cleared ar d stumped and burned off ready for ploughing, 229 acres ploughed, disked, tine-harrowed, 215 acres of which was sown down in temporary pasture and turnips, 12 acres in oats, 1 acre in swedes, and 1 acre in potatoes. Forest-trees, consisting of 12,000 Pinus radiata and 1,000 black-wattle were planted in various parts of the farm for the purpose of shelter-belts, and 7,200 were supplied to other institutions, also 6,000 Pinus radiata were raised in the prison garden and lined out for planting in the coming autumn. Four miles of fencing were erected, consisting of three posts to the chain, and four, five, and six wires. Napier Prison. The daily average in custody during the year was—males 16-42, and females 0-31. The prisoners have been employed principally in quarrying and in the erection of a retaining-wall around an extensive slip on the side of the main entrance road. The conduct and industry of prisoners has been satisfactory. A prisoner held on remand escaped from custody, but was subsequently recaptured and dealt with at the Supreme Court for the offence. In addition to above there were three prisoners dealt with for minor prison offences.

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