The Sun.
London, England, 1853-08-29 00:00:00

PORTLAND BREAKWATER.

Before entering into the different questions which are of
interest with reference to the results of the discipline and
management of Portland Prison, it may be convenient
briefly to advert to the further object of constructing a
breakwater, for the formation of a harbour of refuge in
Portland Roads, and to the mode of carrying on the work.
The attention of the Government was called to the sub-
ject of " Harbours of Refuge" in 1843 ; and, in conse-
quence of the recommendation of a select committee of the
House of Commons, a commission was appointed to in-
quire into the most eligible situation for forming a har-
bour or harbours of refuge in the Channel.
The great natural advantages of Portland Bay—its im-
portant relative position—and the facilities for accom-
plishing the proposed object, could not fail to claim the
attention of the commissioners, who stated in their report
—" Our next and last visit was to Portland, which, from
from its situation with reference to the Channel islands,
and as the boundary of the narrow part of the Channel in
this direction, came naturally within the range ofinvesti-
gation."
The result was, the recommendation of the commis-
sioners " that a breakwater be constructed in Portland
Bay, sheltering an area of 1,200 acres."
The quarries which produce the well-known Portland
stone are situated on the summit of the island, from 300 to
400 feet above the level of the sea ; and the best kind of
stone, such as has been used in the construction of St.
Paul's, Whitehall, and other buildings, lies under several
strata of hard but inferior quality. The quarries were in
consequence encumbered with vast piles of refuse stone,
which had been removed for getting out the " best bed, '
as it is termed. This debris is made use of in the con-
struction of the breakwater, and some of the coarse beds
are quarried for the same purpose.
The stone is removed from the quarries by means of
several lines of railways, which are arranged in a series of
inclined planes, from the summit to the point where the
breakwater joins the shore. The waggons are raised and
lowered by wire ropes, working on " drums" placed at the
head of each " incline," the loaded train in its descent
drawing up the empty one from the breakwater.
The waggons, previously to being lowered down the in-
cline, pass over self-registering weigh-bridges, by which
the precise quantity of stone sent down is ascertained.
The convicts, besides constructing all the branch lines
into the quarries, repair the " plant," and are otherwise
usefully employed, and will be enabled when the arrange-
ments are complete to send down 1,500 to 2,000 tons of
stone a day or two.
The expense of constructing this great national work,
securing a naval station in time of war, or affording shelter
and safety to the commercial marine in the long line of coast
extending from Plymouth and Torbay to Portsmouth and
the Downs, might in consequence be greatly reduced, as
almost the whole of the works might be executed by con-
vict labour.
RESULTS OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM.

As regards the results of the discipline and industrial
training at Portland, which, as before stated, has been
more or less dependent upon the means of instruction
afforded to the men during their probationary discipline
in separate confinement, they may, I trust, be considered
to be highly satisfactory.
As a body, the men show a spirit of willing and cheerful
obedience. The strictest discipline is maintained, with a
very small proportion of punishment. The industry of the
working parties is remarkable ; and the fact that they ex-
ert themselves at their laborious occupation is manifested
by the circumstance that those who are employed, consti-
tuting only about four-fifths of the whole body, execute
work of a value nearly equal to the entire cost of the esta-
blishment.

Of their moral condition, the chaplain, and those who
have the best opportunities of forming an opinion, speak in
very favourable terms.
On the whole, though I felt very hopeful of success when
Portland Prison was first occupied, the results have far ex-
ceeded my expectations ; and as I have frequently stated
before, I would now repeat that, under Providence, it is due
to the principle of encouragement held out in the ules and
regulations sanctioned by the Secretary of State, and to
th judicious and admirable manner in which they have
been carried out by Captain Whitby and the governors and
chaplains who have had the immediate responsibility of
administering the discipline.
The foregoing observation will, I trust, have given your
lordship a comprehensive view of the present system ; and
I trust it will also appear that, taken as a whole, it may
claim to be founded upon bread and intelligible principles,
and on past experience of much that has to be avoided, and
much that affords encouragement to follow.
The records of Parliament may be appealed to in proof
of the fact, that there have been periods in the history of
the convict system of this country when, speaking humanly,
the demorialisation of every individual sentenced to trans-
portation was certain. No matter what might have been
his previous character, what the amount of his contrition,
or what the sincerity of his efforts and resolutions to
retrace his steps, he was placed within the influence of a
moral pestilence, from which, like death itself, there was
no escape.
Any candid and dispassionate inquiry into the condition
and prospects of the convicts who have passed through
periods of penal and reformatory discipline at Pentonville
and Portland, will prove beyond doubt that, to say the
least of it, the majority of those now serving are likely, on
their release, to be respectable in their station of life, and
useful to those who engage their services, and thus realising
the anticipations of the Pentonville commissioners, that
" a large proportion of our convicts would be qualified on
their discharge to occupy an honest position in their own
or any other country."