Page:Report of the Commission Appointed to inquire into the Penal System of the Colony.pdf/25

23 In fact, the only really general ground of complaint which appeared to us to have any substantial justification was that verbal rules and Instructions had been permitted to take the place of definite and fixed rules for the guidance of both officers and prisoners. To this matter we have made reference in a previous report. We quite agree with the superintendent, his subordinate officers, as well as the prisoners, that it is of great importance that a code of rules should be drawn up adapted to the actual requirements of the present day, the present rules and regulations being admittedly obsolete, impracticable, and unworkable.

THE GRAND JURY.

In this Colony the duties, which in England vest in the Grand Jury, are assigned to the Attorney General. If the Grand Jury is satisfied that the evidence in the possession of the Crown is inadequate to secure a conviction it throws the bill out. It is obvious that by the cessation of proceedings at this early stage an immense saving in the costs of needless trials is effected, whilst innocent men are not needlessly detained in custody. In Western Australia this part of the functions of the Grand Jury is too rarely exercised. The result is that, as compared with other countries, an unusual proportion of prisoners is sent up for trial against whom there never was any substantial case.

JURIES IN CRIMINAL CASES.

In our opinion it would be very desirable to appoint special Boards to revise the Criminal Jury Lists throughout the colony, and we believe that the standard of the juries might be raised by reducing the number of men on any jury to six, and paying them a higher fee than is now given.

GAOL ACCOMMODATION ON THE GOLDFIELDS.

Owing to the want of adequate gaol accommodation on the goldfields a, vast amount of unnecessary expense is entailed upon the public.

Warden Hare says that under the system which now obtains in the case of any prisoner whose committal does not take place shortly before the Coolgardie Quarter Sessions, "it is necessary to transfer him to Fremantle Gaol, where he remains until the Quarter Sessions. He is then brought to Coolgardie, and, if sentenced, returned to Fremantle. Thus a prisoner may have to travel with police escort 1,200 miles, incurring expense and taking police from their legitimate duties. It would be a great convenience and saving of expense to have a gaol at Kalgoorlie or Coolgardie."

On the same subject the Commissioner of Police says:—"The cell accommodation at Coolgardie might advantageously, and at small cost, be adapted for the purposes of a local gaol which is badly required. In regard to the present cost of transport, the gaol pays for the prisoners, and we pay for the police. A local gaol at Coolgardie would result in a great saving, and it would enable the police staff to be reduced. Sometimes we have to send away as many as five constables, according to the number of prisoners to be escorted."

We recommend the extension and adaptation of the existing cell accommodation at Coolgardie in the direction and for the reasons indicated by the Commissioner of Police.

ROTTNEST ISLAND.

At the time of our visit to Rottnest there were on the island 51 natives and four European prisoners. In the case of the latter we understand that only such men are selected to be sent to Rottnest as are likely to be useful in connection with the routine work of the prison.

—We inspected and measured the cells where the natives are locked up at night. Cells having the dimensions of 5ft. 8in. x 9ft. x 10ft. are occupied by three natives in each, whilst a larger cell 13ft. 7in. x 9ft. x 10ft. is tenanted by five natives. Cells of this cubic capacity are quite unfitted to the purposes for which they are used. We were informed that the floors are kerosened once a week, but the walls are very dirty, and the ventilation, such as it is, is of the most primitive and unscientific character.

For natives from the North-West, who have many of them been accustomed to roam about all their lives in a tropical climate and in a state of nature, it is difficult to imagine any mode of treatment more unsuitable in all its conditions than incarceration on Rottnest Island.

We are strongly of opinion that not only would a great saving to the country be effected in transit charges, but also that the health of the natives themselves would be greatly benefited by their being put to some remunerative open-air work within the latitudes to which they belong. The Superintendent in his evidence (question 956) said there is plenty of work to be found for the native prisoners in the North.

On the eastern side of the island there is a little good soil, some of it excellently adapted in patches for garden purposes, but it has hitherto been turned to little account.

Its isolated position renders communication between Rottnest and the mainland difficult, infrequent and expensive, otherwise, no doubt, vegetables might be grown here advantageously for other Government institutions.

The cost of supervision alone for the month of January last was £112, or about £2 per prisoner per month.

ABORIGINAL OFFENDERS GENERALLY.

Aboriginal offenders may be broadly divided into two classes—those who have lived in districts settled by white people, and have committed some offence against the latter; and those who know nothing of our laws, customs, or language, and who have done some deed contrary to our law, but possibly in strict conformity with their own tribal traditions and usages.

The treatment of this latter class has been the subject of very grave consideration in Queensland, where a like condition of things has long exercised the minds of the judicial and executive authorities. The Queensland Commissioners point out that the blacks have their own customary laws, and a breach of these laws is followed by punishment amongst themselves, in some form or other. It seems—they