( JC ON THE LOCAL TAXATION OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN. 23 expenditure on the building, leaves 4,500/ 0 If there were 250 prisoners, which is Mr. the average number, the expense would be 36/. for each, exclusive of the repay- Richard Purdy. ment to government; but if the 1,000/. that is presented each term for repayment V - n^ 11-^ to government, was excluded in the amount, the expense in tliat case, would be ( 30 April.) 44/. a year for each prisoner, that is, charging the prison with a proportion of the salaries, say two- fifths of the entire. That is taking the total expense of the prison on the one hand, and dividing that by the average number of prisoners on the other, and you mean to say that it is 36/. a year per head ?— Including a proportion of the allowance for salaries, I rather think it comes to $ cl. a day, Will you take upon you to say, that the expense for food daily is 3 ?— It may have been, but supposing the rate to be 5d. in England, I think, 3 id. would not be very low in Ireland. Do you know how many descriptions of grand juries in Dublin have the power of raising money by taxation?— Two descriptions, I have understood, the term grand jury, and the sessions grand jury. What are the objects presented for by the term grand jury ?— The support of prisoners, and all those items included in the presentment sheet as having passed by the term grand jury. What is the description of presentments made by the sessions grand jury; is there any difference between them ?— There is this difference, that the present- ments of the sessions grand jury arose from fees to officers, matters of stationery for the sessions house, repairs of the sheriffs prison occasionally, and cleaning the prison; the only remark that I have to make respecting the sessions grand jury is, that I know an individual who was on that grand jury, and he stated to me, that an account for stationery was presented to the jury, and that he stopped the account to look at it; the foreman of the jury, a sheriff's peer, told him to send it on; the juror said, he wished to look at it before he passed it; send it on says the foreman, we have enough ( meaning a majority) without you; the juror said, I cannot send it on without remarking on one item; here is a charge at the rate of a guinea per hundred for quills; the account was passed, and the juror has never been summoned upon a sessions grand jury since. What is the gentleman's name ?— Mr. Ivertland. Is he in attendance upon this Committee?— 1 do not know whether he has been summoned, he was on the committee of St. Mary's parish. Do you happen to know what are the sums presented by the grand jury of the city of Dublin, for the total and entire support of the prisoners confined in all the Dublin gaols together?— Including cost of prosecution, the amount is about 25,000 /. Do you happen to know what the average number of prisoners in all those prisons put together amount to?— I think from 700 to 750. Do you mean in all the prisons in Dublin?— Yes, in those for which grand jury cess is levied. How many prisons are there in Dublin ?— Those I allude to are supported by the grand jury cess; the Newgate, the Richmond bridewell, the Smithfield penitentiary, and the sheriff's prison. Is there not besides a gaol for poor prisoners, who cannot support themselves, annexed to the sheriff's prison ?— I have understood that there is, but the expense of it must have been considerably reduced by the more frequent discharge of prisoners, under the Insolvent Act; as prisoners for debt have usually sufficient for their support during the short periods of their confinement under the present Act. By whom is the gaol allowance supplied ?— By presentments of the grand jury. Who keeps it in repair ?— I have seen charges included in the presentment sheet of the grand jury. Who pays for the whitewashing of it?— The grand jury. Who contracts for the whitewashing?— Sheriff Thorp, to whom there appears to have been five presentments, last Michaelmas term. Is it, or is it not the subject of annual competition by advertisement for the lowest bidder ?— I believe it may be like the other contracts. Can you form a guess as to what the general sum total of presentments by grand juries was in the year 1822 ?— I have not seen the return for 1822, that for 1821 states the amount at 27,515/. is. lid. Are you aware, that 110 money for any contract of any sort, kind or description, is ever paid or advanced to any human being, but to the identical contractor him- 549- £ d f'