3

H.—2o

provide for the making of boots, clothing, &c, for the inmates and the staffs, and the cooking, baking) cleaning, &c, that have to be carried out in connection with the management of the various institutions. From our returns we find that the daily average; number of able-bodied prisoners throughout the year was 908-4. When considering the increased expenditure of the Department during recent years it must not be forgotten that the amelioration of the conditions of prison life involves increased charges. The payment of wages to the dependants of prisoners has resulted, for instance, in additional expenditure to the extent of about £3,500 per annum. Other changes and improvements, together with the establishment of a probation branch to control the large number of probationers now placed under the Department's care, account for another £3,000 ; while the development of our various properties, necessitating the employment of prisoners and officers in remote districts, adds materially to our annual expenditure. The increase in the value of the public estate that this expenditure brings about cannot be represented in figures or in the balance-sheets that are now published, but, as has been pointed out in previous reports, the State's assets are being built up substantially each year, and when at a later stage a comparison is made between the values of the various properties when first acquired and the values after their development has been completed there will bo a fuller understanding of the national importance of the work upon which the Department is engaged. For the reasons stated it is quite impossible to make a fair comparison of the cost per head of maintaining prisoners in New Zealand and the cost under the prison systems of other countries. Payments to prisoners' dependants and of wages to prisoners on the scale we provide are practically unknown elsewhere, while the nature of our work is entirely different from that of other systems. Neither are other administrations usually charged with the cost of a Probation Branch. If, however, it comparison is made between the value per head of prison labour in New Zealand and in other countries it will be found that we have established a substantial lead.

Average Cost per Head of Prisoners' Rations from 1910 to the 31st March, 1924.

Table 1.—Cash received and Amounts credited to the Prisons Vote for the Year ended 31st March, 1924.

v«„„ Number of Cost per v ,, "f.. Number of Cost per Year. Prisoners H( J Year. Expenditure p risoner8 Hea £ on Kations. on Rations. . £ £ £ £ 1910 .. 9,322 90173 10-33 1917-18.. 15,522 94M1 16-64 1911 .. 8,494 863-26 9'83 1918-19 .. 16,473 1,003-43 16-41 1912 .. 9,405 919-35 10-23 1919-20 .. 17,294 965-07 17-93 1913 .. 9,754 893-24 10-91 1920-21 .. 18,766 965-03 19-44 1914 .. 11,555 979-81 11-79 1921-22.. 17,962 1,075-34 16-70 1915 .. 15,099 1,008-12 1497 1922-23.. 16,803 1,103-95 15-22 1916-17.. 15,092 920-15 16-41 1923-24.. 17,441 1,145-46 15-23 Cash Receipts and Credits. £ £ 1912 .. .. .. 5,451 1918-19.. .. .. 21,654 1913 .. .. .. 7,382 1919-20 .. 31,177 1914 .. .. .. 9,162 1920-21.. ..' .. 39,136 1915 .. .. .. 11,982 1921-22.. .. .. 49,866 1916-17 .. .. 9,867 1922-23.. 46,060 1917-18 .. .. 15,083 1923-24.. .. .. 53,178

Metal, Gravel, Broken Concrete, *c. Farmand Dairyproduce. i C +a GO I f h M I Prison Labour Concrete Timber Tailoring, employed Blocks and Boots, and for other and Fire- Mail-bag DepartTilcs. wood. Repairs, menls and Local Bodies. Prison Unart. Officers works em P'oy«d I Sundries. Totals. I ' on Public g Buildings, h 8 £ £ I £ £ £ £ £ £ Addington Auckland Hautu lnvercargill . . Napier New Plyinou th Paparua Point Halswell Waikeria Waikune Wellington .. Wi Tako .. Minor gaols .. Miscellaneous 15,558 383 1.227 14 3,363 136 1,922 227 4.124 1,164 1,367 183 518 164 .. . . i 367 .. 140 .. 3,261 91 30 245 27 551 245 £ £ £ £ £ 18 32 123 323 19,501 144 144 1,162 4 153 6,121 8 391 26 1,416 1,062 .. I 349 5,251 136 .. | 97 643 622 6,629 3,454 .. .. 426 5,558 221 14 386 3,121 289 ... , 203 2,568 81 1,654 149 149 i i062 136 183 518 .. 1.365 1.580 21 42 11 17 11 1,478 1,678 104 15 .. 763 23 522 104 1,678 15 23 3,454 221 289 I 1,573 Totals .. 20,321 9,849 3,245 2451,495 1,495 825 1,961 3,266 2,768 825 1,961 3,454 3,454 2,870 1)1 2,985 53,178 2,870