PENAL COMMISSION.
FIRST PROGRESS REPORT.
To
Order of St. Michael and St. George, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over the Colony of Western Australia and its Dependencies, etc., etc., etc.
Sir,—
We, the Commissioners, appointed by Commission dated the seventh day of September, 1898, to
enquire into the existing conditions of the Penal System of Western Australia and to report upon the
method now in use for the punishment of criminals, their classification, the remission of sentences, and the
sanitary condition of Fremantle Gaol, as well as to enquire into all contracts for supplies of food and other
materials for use in the said Gaol, have the honor to respectfully submit our First Progress Report as follows:—
PRELIMINARY WORK OF THE COMMISSION.
Your Commissioners deemed it advisable at the outset to secure all the evidence obtainable from the prisoners in Gaol at Fremantle. For this purpose they caused it to be notified that every prisoner who cared to do so might present himself or herself for examination, and tender such evidence as the prisoner might deem fit, whether relating to personal grounds of complaint or to suggestions for the general welfare of prisoners. Of this opportunity an unexpectedly large proportion of the inmates of the Prison availed themselves, with the result that the Commissioners were enabled to procure a great deal of valuable evidence, which will serve as the groundwork for their future investigations into the penal system of the colony. That evidence is now being printed, and will, in due course, be presented to your Excellency. Your Commissioners have found it convenient to follow the general lines of examination adopted by a Queensland Commission appointed for a somewhat similar purpose. Due regard has, however, been had by them to the special circumstances of this province, and wherever prisoners made out what seemed a reasonably strong prima-facie case of injustice, or preferred any complaint of harsh treatment subsequent to the arrest, your Commissioners gave the complainants every latitude for the purpose of enabling them to state their case.
The Fremantle Gaol is structurally in no way adapted to meet the very varied purposes which it is now required to serve. The sanitary arrangements are in many particulars defective, and much behind the hygienic requirements of the present day, while the general plan of the prison is such as to needlessly increase the work of supervision and of maintaining discipline among the inmates.
The air space in the cells, being only one-third of the space allotted at, e.g., Pentridge or Wormwood Scrubs, is too limited under any circumstances for the health of the prisoners, particularly in the case of youths who spend 20 or more hours out of every 24 in these cells in a condition of enforced idleness. The ill-effects of the want of space are not so much felt by the adult prisoners, owing to a comparatively large proportion of their time being spent in the open air, under the associated system.
The mode of ventilation of the cells is extremely bad. A strong upward draught from the floor makes itself constantly and very unpleasantly felt, and naturally produces injurious effects upon the health of the prisoners.
Your Commissioners propose in a later report to submit some detailed suggestions for the structural adaptation and improvement of the Gaol buildings.
Meanwhile, in view of the separate system of treatment which the Commissioners propose to recommend, under which prisoners will be provided with work to do in their own cells, under competent instructors, it will be necessary, as a preliminary, to at least double the air space by knocking two cells into one. This will reduce the accommodation, immediately available by one-half, but your Commissioners believe that the circumstances, which, during the last few years have accidentally swelled the number of inmates by a foreign criminal population, are not likely to recur. It is satisfactory also to note that the number of criminals for whom accommodation has to be provided, is both steadily and rapidly diminishing, while the Commissioners confidently hope that the suggestions as a whole, which they submit, will permanently reduce the number of prisoners, and lessen the probability of their future return to prison after release.
CLASSIFICATION.
There are in Fremantle Gaol a vast variety of prisoners, these comprise among others:—
- (a) Trial prisoners, i.e., prisoners awaiting trial.
- (b) Civil offenders—debtors, etc.
- (c) Vagrants.
- (d) Lunatics whose mental condition is under observation.
- (e) Lunatics not under special observation, but who are persons of weak intellect, undergoing imprisonment for some breach of the laws.
- (f) Imperial convicts who, having been released on ticket-of-leave, have subsequently been re-convicted.
- (g) Colonial prisoners undergoing penal servitude.
- (h) Local prisoners serving sentences up to two years, with or without hard labor.
- (i) Youthful offenders.
To these may be added such sub-divisions as are created by sex, nationality, creed, and language. For instance, there are a number of Mahommedans, mostly of Asiatic or African origin.
