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Convict Conditions
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799A. SUGGESTIONS.—The gruel should be supplied at breakfast. The church service in the morning is merely a waste of time. 800. CLASSIFICATION.—Classification would get rid of all present difficulties about discipline.The want of it has been at the root of all our troubles. C. E. Compton, a Warder, recalled and further examined. 800A. DIET.—I know very little about the food until after it is cooked. I remember a general complaint in the latter part of 1897. I think the food, generally, is good enough, but it is spoilt in the cooking. The cooking is bad. Greater variety in the vegetables would be desirable. 801. SUGGESTIONS.—Gruel to be supplied in the morning. The bread to be cut by machine; this would lead to greater accuracy in the apportionment of the proper weight of bread to each individual. Each man should be supplied separately in his cell with his food. You could then deal privately with each complaint as it arose, instead of as now happens, one man signalling on his complaint to his fellows and causing general dissatisfaction. 801A. DARK CELLS.—Dark cells should not, as a matter of course, follow on a sentence of three days bread and water. 802. FLOGGING.—A man should not be flogged for the offence of absconding when there is no violence. 802A. CLASSIFICATION.—This is essential. 803. HOURS OF WARDERS.—These are too long; 10½ hours. I get my meals very irregularly, the shifts of duty commencing at varying hours. James Proud, a Warder, examined. 804. PERSONAL.—Entered service October 15th, 1896. No previous prison experience. Pay, £126 and quarters. There are no regulations beyond the traditions as to practice handed on by predecessors. 805. DIET.—I know very little about the prison food. I remember a general complaint in the latter part of 1897, and there have been petty complaints, more or less, the whole time that I have been here. 806. SUGGESTIONS.—Gruel should be given at breakfast. Those men who really work hard during the day, and there are very few of them who do, would be better for a little more food at breakfast time. 807. DARK CELLS.—I have known no case where the health of the prisoners appeared to be permanently affected by confinement in the dark cells, but I think that that form of punishment should never be given except on the distinct and special order of the Magistrate. It should not go with three days bread and water as a matter of course, which is the present practice. 808. TRADE.—I am a worker in iron hollow-ware; tubs, buckets, and the like. (The Commission adjourned.) MONDAY, JANUARY 9TH, 1899 [AT FREMANTLE GAOL] Present: DR. ADAM JAMESON, Chairman. Mr. E. W. Mayhew, Mr. J. Gallop,. Mr. Horace Stirling, Dr. Lotz, and the Secretary. D. McLaren, a Warder, examined. 809. PERSONAL.—Entered service May 11th, 1897. Pay, 7s. a day for seven days in the week single men's quarters. Am in charge of the workshops. Take my instructions from Warder Dimock. Have about 30 or 40 prisoners under me in the workshops of which I am in charge. 810. TRADE.—Blacksmith. Among the prisoners in the shops are four or five smiths; about the same number of carpenters, and, occasionally, a few tinsmiths and other tradesmen. Some of the men in my party are only old men breaking stones. 811. DIET.—I do not know much about the food. As far as I have seen it, it is good, although I have heard complaints, principally about the bread. I have seen no bad bread. Some of it was somewhat under baked. The fault, I think, was principally with the stomachs of the prisoners who complained. 812. SUGGESTIONS.—In my opinion, the treatment of refractory prisoners is not sharp, and decisive enough. They are put on three days bread and water, but some of them tell me they would as soon do that as be out working. On the other hand, I do not think flogging is a good form of punishment, although those I have seen flogged were not apparently much distressed by it. 813. IMPROVEMENT OF THE WORKSHOPS.—For a small sum which could be remuneratively expended, great improvements could be made in the workshops, and the tools and appliances supplied, which are quite obsolete. The tools want modernising. There are plenty of young men here who would gladly learn and be readily taught some useful trade, and their labour might be remuneratively employed. The plan of the workshops should be altered as the permit of the officer in charge keeping his eye on all the men at one time, whereas now the shops are divided into two parts. 814. HOSPITAL.—Every second Sunday I take charge of the hospital. It is well managed and clean, but at night the ventilation is bad. 815. SANITARY ARRANGEMENTS.—These are latterly very good; great improvements having been recently effected. H. J. Jarvis, a Warder, examined. 816. PERSONAL.—Entered service February 1st 1896. No previous prison experience. Pay, £128, and quarters for myself and family. Uniforms are supplied, but at no stated or regular intervals. I am in charge of the quarry party. All the stone we cut is used in the prison. None is sold, so far as I know. There is an average of 35 men in my party. Some of the men will work well enough, but one bad man will contaminate a whole party, and there are generally one or two of these in every gang. Perhaps the men would work better if they were put on piecework. 817. ESCAPEES.—My instructions in regard to escapees come verbally from the Superintendent. Two armed sentries are with me. They have fired, on occasions, at the escaping men, but I am sure only to frighten them. 818. DIET.—Every other Sunday I am in charge of the cook-house. I have never seen any bad food, but there have been occasions when the pudding has been short, owing to a sudden influx of prisoners and then bread has been served out instead. My men have not complained, except about the potatoes, and I have seen them with potatoes which I would not care to eat myself; but that was some time ago. 819. DAILY SERVICE.—I think this is a mere farce; a waste of time. 820. DARK CELLS.—I know of no case where any prisoner has been injured by the dark cell punishment. 821. INQUESTS.—These are held in case of sudden death prisoners. One was held on a man in my party who died in the hospital as the result of an accident. 822. TRADE.—I worked with my father on heavy timber work, but I have not served my time as a carpenter. Charles Woods, a Warder, examined 823. Entered service nearly 10 years ago. Pay, £139 and quarters. Am receiving and discharging officer. 824. TRADE.—Blacksmith. 825. SUGGESTIONS.—I think it would be an improvement to have a uniform hour for reception of prisoners, say between 2 and 4 p.m. daily. The hour of discharge on Saturday, when a prisoner goes out on that day, is inconvenient for penniless prisoners seeking work. It would be better that they should go out early in the morning, or if possible, should be permitted to leave on the Friday evening. Local prisoners are usually discharged about noon, but by special permission they are sometimes discharged earlier. 826. REMUNERATION OF PRISONERS.—Prisoners ought to be put on to remunerative work and permitted to earn something. Many of them are destitute, and come in here in a deplorable filthy condition, and covered with vermin. 827. DIET.—I think the food is always good. I have had no complaints about quality. Robert Richards, a Warder, examined. 828. PERSONAL.—Entered service May 21st, 1892. No previous prison experiences. Pay, £137 and quarters. I am a gate-keeper. I have been in the cook-house, but have had little to do with the diet lately. I found it pretty fair when I had experience of it. 829. PUNISHMENTS.—I have no suggestions to make in regard to the punishments inflicted on prisoners. I have known no injury to a prisoner to be caused by punishment. 830. SUGGESTIONS.—I have none to offer in regard to the gaol generally; but, of course, if classifications is adopted, a lot of consequent alterations will become necessary in the prison arrangements. (The Commission adjourned.)
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