H.—2o

3

of £14,204. The items contributing most heavily towards this increase were —Salaries, £5,893; clothing, bedding, etc., £2,247; expenditure on farms, £3,119; tools and materials for prison labour, £2,00.1 ; rations, £821. As in 1918-19, the salaries vote accounted for the largest proportion of the increase. 'The larger expenditure on clothing, bedding, &c, is accounted for by the fact that a considerable supply of cotton goods and other material was received from England during the year on account of an order sent to the High Commissioner in 1918. The result was that our general store at Wellington and our local stores in the different institutions were well filled at the end of the financial year, the total value of goods in hand, as shown by the stocksheets, being £12,488 10s. lid. The increased expenditure on tools and materials was caused to some extent by the amount, of work that was carried out, as evidenced by our labour returns. Farm expenditure was particularly heavy, but much of the increase is accounted for by the purchase of store stock, dairy cows, manures, seed, etc, for which we obtained an adequate return, in addition to the enhanced value of our various properties caused by further development in the way of grassing, roading, &o. The cost of rations again showed a slight upward tendency, but the increase of £821 over the previous year cannot be considered excessive. The table given below is interesting as illustrating the "cost of living" problem as it has affected (he prisons food-bills since 1909 :—

Average Cost per Head of Prisoners' Rations from, 1909 to 31st March, 1920.

Receipts. While the expenditure for the year has been heavy, it is gratifying to be able to report that our cash receipts were nearly 50 per cent, higher than those of 1918-19, which constituted a record for the Department, 'fhe total amount received in cash and cash credits was £31,177, compared with £21,654 in the preceding year and £15,083 in 1917-18. From Table 1 below it will be seen that the three farm properties now being developed contributed largely towards this total. The return was, however, materially assisted by the payments received for work on the Invercargill rifle-range embankment, the Roto-aira Road, and for bricks supplied from one Mould Cook brickworks. The dairy herds at Waikeria and Invercargill both gave fairly good returns for the year, the total amount received for butterfat being £1,006 at the former institution and £1,001 at the latter. The Invercargill Borstal institution also made a, commencement with the stock-fattening industry, as shown by the fact that £1,740 was received on account of stock sales. Paparua lias again obtained useful returns from the sale of sheep, lambs, and wool, while the area planted in wheat also contributed towards the cash receipts for the year.

Table 1. —Cash received and Amounts credited to the Prisons Vote for the Year ended 31st March, 1920.

Year. Total Expenditure on Rations. Number of Prisoners. Cost per Head. 1909 1.910 1911 1912 1913 1911 1915 1916 17 1918 1919 1920 £ i £ 8,544 9,322 8,494 9,405 9,754 11,555 15,099 15,092 15,522 16,473 17,294 809-84 901 73 836-26 917-89 893-24 979-81 1,008-12 920-15 941-11 1,003-43 965-07 10-55 10-33 1015 10-24 .10 91 11-79 14-97 16-41 16-64 16-41 17-93

. . Concreto Prison or ,.;.!, "f Farm- Farm Rri „i,,, Poles, TreeInstitution, wivti, prodllc( . : stock | uritKH. Biocte, planting. ' vc - Tiles, <fcc. £ £ £ £ £ £ Auckland ..2,803 Invercargill .. .. 1,066 1,740 .. 118 Kaingaroa .. .. 55 .. .. .. 2,499 Napier . . 186 New Plymouth 825 53 Paparua .. .. 790 1,285 .. 1,299 Roto-aira Waikeria 1,634 129 Wellington .. .. 34 1.20 2,652 Wi Tako Mi s ii I'JIaiieiius credits , , Totals .. 3,814 3,632 3,274 2,652 1,417 2,499 a . Salaries i if it -a . t ■ of Officers • wo, on Publio wood - Buildings. Read Works. Invereargill Blue Range. Totals. £ £ £ 551 900 £ £ 675 608 3,223 £ 3,354 7,047 2,554 186 878 4,657 4,103 2,292 3,579 302 2,225 252 409 .. 130 302 4,103 277 234 2,499 409 1,220 2,192 4,6.14 3,223 3.1,177