absence of His Excellency prevented; however, in future he proposed to hold a Session in Dunedin twice a year, and would endeavour to arrange his arrival and sojourn to meet the convenience of the public. His Honor, however, deplored that Dunedin was behind all other parts of the colony. There was no accommodation for the Court, which was of first importance in administering justice; there were the total absence of restraint and discipline in the building courteously denominated a jail; and worst of all, there were no prisoners in it. A few paltry and inadequate additions were being made for the accommodation of prisoners when they could be got, but there was no fence around the building to prevent escape, and no turnkey to keep control. In fact, when there was a prisoner he was habitually sent to town for his own rations without any guard; nay more, from the system of indulgence adopted, the prisoners remained the guests of the gaoler, because forsooth their so-called prison house was made to them a comfortable house of accommodation of which they were glad to avail themselves. Such a state of things did away with the wholesome terror of the law, and brought its administration into ridicule and contempt; nay more, it induced the gaoler to commit a crime, the punishment for which might be the same as for treason or murder. He trusted the Grand Jury would find it their duty to use their influence to the utmost point to put an end to a system so demoralising to the population and so disgraceful to the Government.
It was not only of the prisons the learned Judge had to complain. He was grieved to find that equal apathy prevailed as to finding accommodation for the Supreme Court. It was with considerable difficulty, and after more than one refusal by the committee, that the use of the building in which he sat was obtained, and at one time he seriously thought of adjourning the Court until proper accommodation was secured.
The Dunedin gaoler was celebrated for the tact he displayed in managing his prisoners under very disadvantageous circumstances. The first prison was erected on the section at the corner of Stuart and Cumberland-streets, adjoining the present gaol, and contained two large cells, with a day room, and was surrounded with a substantial wooden fence 7ft. high, which gave it the appearance of security. From some untoward cause it
