H.—3o

6

Enclosure 4 in No. 1. Estimated Amount of Labour performed by 30 Prisoners employed removing Bell Hill, Dunedin, for Harbour Reclamation, per diem; also the Expenditure therewith. £ s. d. £ s. d. 174 cubic yards of rock at 3s. per yard ... ' ... ... 26 2 0 Expenditure,— 4 horses at 14s. 6d. per day ... ... 2 18 0 Tools and material ... ... ... 1 11 0 Powder and fuse ... ... ... 0 10 0 Boy to attend railway crossing, &c. ... ... 0 5 0 1 sergeant overseer at 14s. ... ... 0 14 0 2 trade overseers at 13s. ... ... ... 160 6 warders at 10s.* ... ... ... 3 0 0 10 4 0 Balance in excess of expenditure per day ... ... ... £15 18 0 * Two of the warders are practical quarrymen, find are constantly at work on Bell Hill; one of them hns charge of two prisoners at the reclamation lip, and he also is actively engaged ; there is also one of them acting as assistant overseer; and two sentries under arms. The trade overseers assist and superintend the prisoners employed in making and keeping tools, wagons, &c, in repair for two other gangs in addition to the above. Enclosure 5 in No. 1. Remaeks on Task-wouk. Task-work, as in force in this Gaol, has been productive of good results. The following are the parts of prison labour in which it is carried out —viz., stonebreaking, spalling, cutting, shoemaking, and tailoring, females making and repairing prison and other clothing. The tasks are as follow: — Winter. Summer. Stone-breaking ... ... 4| yards per week 5i yards per week. „, ,,. f Four heaps per week of Four heaps per week of Stonewalling ... | 41 yard F s 5* yards each. Stone-cutting (ashlar) ... lift, per week 15 ft. per week. Shoemakers ... ... Five pairs boots Six pairs. ( Jacket 1' Jacket. Tailors ... ... ... Four suits < Vest Five suits < Vest. (, Trousers ( Trousers. Females, forty hours per week, calculated from the following scale, viz., —Making men's cloth jacket, six hours ; vest, three hours; trousers, five hours ; shirt, eight hours ; women's chemise, six hours; skirt, four hours; bodice, three hours; jacket, five hours; knitting one pair socks, twelve hours ; knitting one pair stockings, sixteen hours; picking 6 lbs dry opium, eight hours; picking 12 lbs. wet opium, eight hours. Only prisoners that are considered capable of doing the tasks are put on this description of work. In the event of a prisoner not performing his task after sufficient time has been allowed him to learn the work, he is taken before the Gaol Surgeon, and it is from his decision that the prisoner is continued at the same work or put to a different kind of labour, either for a term or permanently.' It is resorted to in the case of old offenders and those having long sentences. The first portion of their time, say six months in a two years' sentence, is on task-work, the remainder quarrying, stone-splitting, &c, if their conduct continues good throughout, if not, they are kept at their allotted tasks until they become well-conducted, industrious prisoners, and obey the orders of those in authority over them. Some prisoners are now in the Gaol who perform their tasks readily, and while at this work are industrious and well-behaved, but when they are put to any other description of labour are idle, and not only a trouble to the officers in charge, but to the prisoners working with them. In a number of cases it is preferred by prisoners for the following reasons : It makes them feel an independence and satisfaction in their work after they have become used to the labour. Each man on task works by himself in the quarry, and is not liable to any annoyance by contact with prisoners of inferior conduct. After serving one-sixth of their sentence with good conduct (if a hard-labour sentence, and six months if penal), they are entitled to earn exertion money, to assist them on their discharge, or procure flannels and socks for their own use. None of the task3 are more than can be done with ease by a prisoner who attends to his work. Exertion Money. —I am of opinion that the system of allowing prisoners facilities to earn exertion money is good. It is an incentive to good conduct in a prisoner during the whole term of his imprisonment. It causes prisoners to exert all their strength on their work. A prisoner knowing that an account is kept of the money he is earning by his own exertion, and that he is weekly increasing the amount to his credit, calls forth greater efforts on his part, and enables a prisoner to do with ease a far greater quantity of work than he would without it, with greater satisfaction to himself and far less trouble to the officers in charge. If a prisoner misconducts himself, he is not allowed to again earn exertion money for one month from the date of the offence. This is felt as a severe punishment, and the liberty to do extra work and earn a few shillings for themselves is considered a great indulgence by prisoners.