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1936. NEW ZEALAND.

PRISONS DEPARTMENT (REPORT ON) FOR THE YEAR 1935-36.

Presented to both, Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

The Hon. the Minister in Charge of the Prisons Department to His Excellency the Governor-General. Wellington, Bth August, 1936. I have the honour to submit to Your Excellency the report of the Prisons Department for the year 1935-36. I have, &c., H. G. R. Mason, Minister in Charge of Prisons Department.

The Controller-General of Prisons to the Hon. the Minister in Charge of the Prisons Department. Sir, — I have the honour to present the annual report of the Prisons Department for the financial year ended 31st March, 1936, and the criminal statistics for the calendar year ended 31st, December, 1935, together with the reports from the Controlling Officers of the various institutions administered by the Department, showing in detail the many activities undertaken at the several institutions in an endeavour to train and reclaim those committed to the Department's care. The year under review has witnessed several improvements in prison conditions, all of which have been designed, without burdening the taxpayer, to make imprisonment more effectually fulfil its real purpose—namely, that it should as far as practicable be corrective and reconstructive. The outstanding features of this report are (1) the continued decline in the Dominion's prison population and the number committed to prison, the ratio to the general population being the lowest for half a century, and (2) the marked improvement in the revenue earned through the productive utilization of prison labour in the practical application of a system of occupational therapy. Prison Statistics. Decline in Receptions.—lt is satisfactory to observe that the decline in the number of commitments to prison recorded last year has progressed still further, the total receptions

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