658 Dietaries of Labouring Prisoners in Indian Jails. [part iv 



I. — That labouring prisoners sentenced for terms not exceeding three months should re3elve less than labour- 

 ing prisoners sentenced for longer terms. Opinions wei'e too conflicting to atimit of our coming to 

 any resolution as to the amount of reduction. 



II. — That the following scale be laid down as a maximum for adult male prisoners sentenced to hard labour :- - 



(1) Grain 28 oz. (including 4 oz, pulse) in the form of sifted flour, or 26 oz. in the case of wheat, rice or 



barley. 



(2) Green vegetables 6 oz. 



(3) Fatty matter | oz. 



(4) Salt 4 oz. 



(5) Condiments ^ oz., pepper from jail garden. 



(6) Firewood 1 lb. 



N.B. — Whenever it may be considered necessary, 4 oz, meat or flsh, or an equivalent, of milk, may be given 



instead of 4 oz. grain. 

 It is to be understood that reduction in one or more of the ahove articles does not warrant increase iti any 

 other. 



III. — That meat is not a necessary article of diet, except in the case of Natives who are in the habit of eating 

 it in free life (Dr. Henderson dissented from this resolution). 



36. A comparison of the scales of diet recommended by this Conference with those 



approved by the Committee of 1864 shows that the principal difference consists in the 



adoption of the principle that the issue of animal food should be left to the discretion 



of the local jail authorities instead of making it a compulsory article of the labouring and 



under-trial dietary. In doing this it would seem that the Conference was influenced 



by the satisfactory experience which the jails of the North-West Provinces and Oudh, and 



also of the Central Provinces, furnished of the dieting of all prisoners without the 



issue of any animal food whatever. In the face of such experience it would have been 



manifestly unwise to recommend that the jail authorities of any province should be 



compelled to adopt an expensive article of food when experience had shown that it was 



unnecessary in some provinces. In connection with this matter the following remarks by 



the Committee on English Local Prison dietaries may be appropriately cited : — " There 



would be no difficulty in constructing a diet containing nutritive principles equal to 



those of meat out of oatmeal, peas, beans and fats, and this could be done at a third 



or fourth of the cost incurred by depending entirely upon the animal kingdom for 



these alimentary products." * 



37. With regard to the apportioning of the quantities of grains and pulses, noted 

 under clause (1) of the second resolution of the Conference, some confusion is manifest in 

 the text, possibly owing to the transposition of the figures dealing with the quantities of 

 the sifted flour and grain which are suggested for the various dietaries. The superiority 

 of finely-sifted flour over the grain in its crude condition is so obvious as to be manifest 

 on a moment's reflection. It is therefore probable that the text of the resolution 

 of the Conference should be read thus : — " 26 ounces (including 4 oz. pulse) of sifted 

 fiour, and 28 oz. of grain in the case of wheat, rice or barley." This is the interpretation 

 which has been adopted in calculating the nutritive values of some of the principal 

 forms into which the dietary which they recommended may be resolved. It is, however, 



* A Report on Dietaries in Prisons submitted to Parliament in March 1878, page 31. 



