12 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE Mr superintendence, is under 100/. a year; the number of patients seldom averages John McMullen. less than forty; a larger proportion than will be found at any one time in the whole ' of the Dublin gaols. ( 6 May.) Do you mean that the offices of physician and surgeon should be united ?— I con- ceive there should be only a fully qualified surgeon amongst the faculty of Dublin; a consulting physician who would act gratuitously, would be readily found in England; as far as I have been able to ascertain, the consulting physicians, when such an officer is attached, to the gaol, never receives a salary; that the present salary of the surgeon is unnecessarily large, is evident from the fact, that the gentleman who now fills the office, paid 500 I. for it, with a clause, that his predecessor should, during his life, have half the amount of any future increase which might be made in the salary, by the grand jury. Do you know that?— I know that by the admission of one of the grand jury. It was stated to you by one of the grand jury ?— It was stated to me by various persons, and I inquired of the truth of this fact from a member of the grand jury, who admitted that it was true. Do you see at page 104 of the printed presentments, a presentment to Allen and Green ?— I do. For what purpose ?— For making a return to Parliament of the number of com- mittals to Newgate in 1819. What is the amount?— The charge likewise appears in the preceding year; the amount in each instance is thirty guineas. Who are Allen and Green?— Town clerks; I inquired in Newgate in London, and found that such returns were made by the keeper without any compensation. You mentioned that the expense of blankets was considerable in the Dublin gaols; what was the amount ?— In the printed accounts the charge for blankets is almost always mixed up with other articles, so that it is impossible to ascertain either the quantity or the price; in 1816, there were 300 pairs supplied, and the quantity is uniformly large ; in Michaelmas term, in the year 1819, there is a presentment to Mr. Studdart, 213/. 7- y.; a second presentment to the same gentleman of 133/. 12J.; and in the same term, a third presentment for blankets and other necessaries, C591. 145. 8 d., making a total ot 1,006 I. 135. 8 d. but how much of the last sum was expended upon articles other than blankets I have no means of ascertaining. Within what period of time?— Within one term and included in one present- ment: in 1821 and 1822, the consumption would appear to be about 650 pairs, besides runs, & c. & c. Are blankets used at Newgate in London ?—' No. What substitute do they use?— The prisoners are allowed only coloured rugs, and they sleep upon hemp mats made by the convicts in the other prisons. Who is generally the contractor for supplying blankets in Dublin?— Mr. Stud- dart a sheriffs peer; in page 109, there is a presentment to him for blankets 145^- Qd. Mr. Studdart served upon the grand jury, who presented this sum to himself; his name appears on the list; and it would consequently appear, either that the blankets were not furnished by contract and that the usual system was abandoned in this instance, or that if they were furnished by contract, the law was violated, which forbids a grand juror from being a contractor, or from directly or indirectly receiving any profit from a contract, under a very heavy penalty. What was the date of that?— The date is Michaelmas 1820. Does it appear that Mr. Studdart was upon the grand jury which adopted the contract for blankets provided by him ?— It does not appear, whether the contract was entered into at that or the preceding term. Have you the means of ascertaining the fact?— I have not; nor do I conceive it material, as there is a further presentment to Mr. Studdart in the very next term, Easter 1821, for blankets 111/. 8s. qd; he must have been a consenting party in his character of a grand juror to one or the other of these contracts, if not to both. Do any other Aldermen usually serve upon grand juries, that supply blankets? — In Easter term in 1813, there is a presentment to Alderman Nugent for this purpose. Can you undertake to say, whether Mr. Nugent was upon the grand jury at that period ?— I have not, at present, the means of ascertaining it. Are there any others of the supplies of the gaols that appear to you unnecessarily large?— Iu the two gaols of Newgate and the city bridewell, the supply of coals from 1816 to 1820, appears to cost upon an average nearly 700/. a year; the quantity