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Convict Conditions
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601. UNNECESSARY PUBLIC PARADING OF PRISONERS.—I have been working on the carts five months or so. I have, therefore, to cross the streets several times a day in full view of the public. 601A. EVIDENCE OF POLICE.—When arrested, the court was prejudiced by the evidence of the constable that I had been at the last races held at Geraldton. As a fact I was then working at the Diorite King Mine, hundreds of miles away, and had only been one day in Geraldton at the time of the arrest. 602. FIRST OFFENCE.—Six months is, I understand, the highest penalty given for an offence of this class. I got 12, and I have never been in prison before. 602A. REFRACTORY CELLS—EXERCISE.—I never came out of the refractory cells during the four days I was there, except to pass into the dark cells. No. 3435, examined. 603. OFFENCE AND SENTENCE.—Disorderly conduct; six months. 603A. PERSONAL.—I have never been in a court before, and have always been steady, hardworking man. I could have got the foreman under whom I worked to testify to my respectability and industry, but a remand for that purpose was refused. I was working at the Mundaring Weir. I did not even get the option of a fine, and I have not been allowed to petition. I have no complaints to make about the gaol. [Prisoner advised to see the Sheriff.] No. 3379, examined. 604. OFFENCE AND SENTENCE.—Unlawfully receiving; two years. 604A. PETITION.—I desire to petition, and would like the Commission to see the warrant on which I was committed. I was first charged with breaking and entering, but the charge was altered to one of unlawfully receiving. [Warrant read. Appeared to be carelessly drawn up; some material words apparently omitted. Prisoner advised that he could petition in the usual course.] (The Commission adjourned.) TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6TH, 1898. [AT PERTH.] Present: DR ADAM JAMESON, Chairman. Mr. F. Craig, Mr. E. W. Mayhew, Mr. J. Gallop, Mr. H. Stirling, and the Secretary. Mr. F. C. B. Vosper, M.L.A., examined. 605. ORIGIN OF THE COMMISSION.—By the Chairman: As it was mainly owing to your instigation that this Commission was appointed, we should be glad to be favoured with any statement which you may like to make?—I think I had better perhaps tell you first the history of my connection with the affairs of the Fremantle Gaol. About the middle of 1897 a case came under my notice where two men were arrested after a successful attempt to break prison. They were brought before the visiting Justice, and each sentenced to 36 lashes. Having regard to the peculiar nature of the circumstances, I thought the punishment too severe. I organised a deputation, which waited upon acting Premier to get a remission of the sentence. We were unsuccessful; but my action caused me to be regarded as, to some extent, the friend of the prisoners, and, as they were from time to time discharged, they made it a practice to see me. Prisoners in the gaol also sent me letters; some officially and some surreptitiously. In regard to the publication of these letters, I followed one uniform rule, and declined to publish any letters which reached me surreptitiously, although the letter often furnished useful clues for further inquiry. Eventually I took the steps which led to the appointment of your Commission. As a fact, I cannot give you much evidence at first hand. The information I received mostly came from the prisoners themselves, and no doubt you have already, in another form, elicited it direct from the writers; but my files are entirely at your disposal for reference, and I have brought them with me for that purpose. I have here, also, a number of the unpublished and surreptitious letters, which you may read. You will see that they contain a full account of the proceedings of the Commission at Fremantle Gaol. Of course the Commission will consider these letters as confidential, and hold the writers harmless. As to the mode in which surreptitious correspondence is kept up from and to the gaol, I believe the letters are, in some cases, smuggled out by officers who are in league with the prisoners. That, however, so far as I am concerned, is not capable of proof. Communication is also maintained with the outside world through gang of men employed at the lunatic asylum grounds. Signals are established by means of stones thrown over the wall, and letters or parcels, attached to stones, are thrown over the wall and brought into the prison. The mode of searching prisoners must be very inefficient. Then, again, among the men working at the quarries, news is conveyed into the prison that money, or a letter, will be found under a stone. In this way it is done systematically. It is not altogether an easy matter to make a through search of prisoners. The upper sheet of leather composing the sole of the boot is, in some cases, hollowed out by men in the carpenter's shop, and may be held in place by a couple of brads. The prisoners generally take care to get boots a trifle too large for them. Another practice is to open the waistband of the trousers or the front of the shirt. The band of the shirts is double, and a letter can be slipped in between. Nothing transpires inside or outside of the gaol the news of which cannot readily transferred. 605A. THE STRUCTURE OF THE GAOL.—What is your opinion about the adaptableness of the gaol to purpose for which it is used?—It is altogether unsuited. It is totally opposed to all the principles of modern penology. The latest prisoners are built in the form of a five-rayed star, radiating from a circular space in the interior, whence once officer can overlook a number of corridors and cells, thus much reducing the cost of supervision. Then, again, the air space in the cells at Fremantle is inadequate. The system of sanitation is insufficient, and the food supply is not properly supervised. I am informed by Mr. Pearce, a late warder of the prison, that on one occasion a number of his men fell out of the ranks, and complained of the food, but were prevented from pressing their grievances by the threat of a flogging. Again, if a magistrate dismisses the case of a prisoner brought before him in the gaol, the prisoner, nevertheless, loses eight days' remission merely because he is reported. Everything is done to prevent the possibility of a prisoner preferring a complaint, and the wonder really is that things are not worse. The remission scale is altogether chaotic. Even the executive orders as to remissions are interpreted in a way foreign to the text. Notes and addenda are put on to the official regulations by the Superintendent and others, which have the same effect as though they formed part of the instructions of the executive. The ticket-of-leave regulations are as bad as they can be. The latest are dated 1869. 606. TICKET OF LEAVE.—Would it be well to abolish the ticket-of-leave altogether?—No; I think the English system should be adopted, with less police supervision than there is now. 606A. By Mr. Stirling.—The effect of the present system is to force men back to the prison, is it not?—Yes; a man is prevented from earning an honest living by the present ticket-of-leave system, and so is driven to crime. [Witness read an article from the 'Sunday Times" commenting on this subject.] In England the ticket-of-leave man is only required to report himself to the head of the borough police every three months. 607. By Mr. Craig.—In the intervals he is out of the supervision of the police, and can practically go where he likes?—Yes; but if he does not report himself in due course at the time fixed, his photograph is sent around to all the stations and he is soon caught and punished. The worst feature of our ticket-of-leave regulations is that you put a weapon into the hands of the police which they can use without mercy. The promotion of the policeman largely depends upon the number of convictions that he can secure, and thus a vicious circle is set up, so that a man who once gets into prison is tolerably certain to be forced there again. Our regulations relating to penal matters have been greatly neglected since the old convict period. Penology has made gigantic strides under the efforts of Havelock, Ellis, Lombroso, and others during the last 20 years. 607A. By Mr. Stirling.—Our system is, in fact, neither reformatory nor deterrent?—Neither the one nor the other. 608. REMISSIONS.—By the Chairman: What is your opinion as to the way in which remissions should be granted?—I think the more mechanical and certain the system is made the better. In no case should the warders have any discretion in the matter. The warders are usually men of inferior standing. Men who can get a better class of work will not take it. The mark system is a good one. As to offences which count against the remissions, every such alleged offence should be tried publicly before the nearest court. 608A. Would it not be sufficient to have the reporters present?—I think not; because they may overlook the special notice, whereas they are sure to be present at the court in the discharge of their ordinary duties. In England all prison offences involving flogging, or any serious punishment, are tried before a Judge of the Supreme Court. 609. EVIDENCE ON OATH.—By Mr. Craig: What about the right of prisoners to call for evidence, and to have such evidence given on oath?—They should, in such matters, have all the rights of free men. 609A. LASH AND IRONS.—By Mr. Stirling: What is your view as to the efficacy of the lash or irons as punishment?—Neither, in my opinion, has done any good; but I recognise that there is a great diversity of opinion upon this point in the public mind. On the whole, I would retain flogging as a punishment for the present, until the public sentiment on the matter is further educated. In Russia they have done away with the knout and substituted the birch. The Russia penal policy in such matters has been completely reversed lately. From being one of the most sanguinary systems for the treatment of prisoners it has become one of the most merciful. Birching is more merciful than flogging, but it does not strike one as being a very rational mode of punishment. 610. DARK CELLS.—What about dark cells?—Dark cells have a tendency to unhinge the mind, especially in those cases, which so frequently occur, where the criminal is an incipient lunatic. In England, the practice is to tame the refractory prisoner by lowering his diet. 610A. And that is a more humane method of arriving at the result ?—I think so. 611. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.— By the Chairman: What are your views upon capital punishment?—Well, the worst use you can put a man to, they say, is to hang him. Imprisonment for life is a severer
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