xli iv REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED TO VI.
Remedial Measures.
Gaols.
Audit.
Chaplains' Duties;
Local Prison Inspectors may be dispensed with.
Provision as to Prisons in Cities which are Counties.
now are from the Treasury, and which shall be repaid out of the County Rate.
That the Accounts of the Board of Superintendence of each County shall be audited in like manner as the Accounts of the Finance Committee.
In some Gaols of Ireland there are no Local Inspectors, and considering that the Prison Act, after providing for the appointment of Chaplains for Prisons, expressly requires that every such Chaplain shall visit the Prison for which he shall be appointed, " twice at least in every week, exclusive of his attendance on Sundays; that on such visits he shall go into every Room and Cell in the Prison, wherein any Prisoner so within his charge shall be confined," and that "every such Chaplain shall keep a journal, in which ho shall enter the time of his attendance on the performance of his duty, with any observations which may occur to him in the execution thereof, to be produced when required to the Board of Superintendence ;" and considering also, the suggestion wo have offered as to a weekly inspection of the Prisons and Bridewells of each County, by the Inspectors and Sub-Inspectors of the Constabulary, we think the office of Local Inspector of Prisons may be dispensed with, and therefore we have not taken it into account in preparing our general Estimate.
There is another matter to be noticed whilst we are on the subject of Prisons.
Each of the Cities of Cork, Kilkenny, Limerick and Waterford, and also the Town of Galway, is a County of itself; and therefore, although the Assizes for the adjoining County are held in it, and although the County Prison is also there, yet it has to maintain a separate Prison, with a separate Prison Staff, and a considerable expense is thus imposed upon each of these places, from which it would be freed if it were relieved from the necessity of maintaining a separate Prison.
The late Municipal Act (3rd and 4th Vict.,
ch.
108,) authorizes this to be done; and in preparing our Estimate of future expense, we have anticipated that the powers so given by the Municipal Act would be carried into execution.
The Town of Carrickfergus is at present a County of itself; but the Assizes of the County of Antrim being held there, and the Gaol of the County of Antrim being there, its Prisoners arc sent to tho County of Antrim Gaol, and although it pays their expenses, it thus escapes the charge of a separate Prison establish¬ ment.
The Town of Drogheda is the only other Town which is a County of itself, but the Assizes for the adjoining County of Louth are not held there.
It has a separate Assizes and general Gaol delivery; and we have therefore calculated on its having a distinct Gaol.
We propose to notice the Gaols of Dublin when wo come to speak, as we intend to do, separately of its Establishments.
Cities and Towns which are Counties.
Discontinuance of County Establish¬ ments recommended in the case of certain Cities and Towns,
Establishments of Counties of Cities, and Towns, other than Prisons.
The Town of Belfast, which is one of the most important in Ireland, is not a County of itself, neither is the City of Londonderry, and we see no advantage which any of the Cities or Towns which we have mentioned, except Drogheda, derives from being a County in itself.
In each City or Town in which the Assizes for the adjoining County are held, every local advantage which local Assizes could confer, must be equally enjoyed by the inhabitants, whether the Assizes be held for the particular City or Town, as a County of itself, or as part of the adjoining County.
Any advantage conferred by local Quarter Sessions, or a local Court of Record, for the recovery of debts, may be secured to any City or Town as effectually without its being, as by its being, a County of itself: provided that the inhabitants were not required to attend as Jurors at any Quarter Sessions, save those held for it exclusively.
We therefore recommend—that each of the Cities of Cork, Kilkenny, Limerick, and Waterford, and each of the Towns of Gahvay and Carrickfergus shall cease to be a County of itself, and shall be made part and parcel of the County, the County Court-llouse and Prison of which are situated therein; but that each shall be a separate Barony, and that the Lord Lieutenant in Council shall be authorized to make all necessary rules and regulations for the purpose.
