To  instil  into  the  convicts  habits  of  industry,  to  develop  their  intelligence  by
employing  them  on  useful  labour,  and  to  facilitate  their  entering  the  ranks  of  honest
exertion  on  their  discharge,  by  giving  them  facilities  for  acquiring  a  knowledge  of
trades,  is  an  established  principle  with  the  Wardens.  Another,  and  very  desirable
object^  is  accomplished  bj  these  means,  namely,  that  of  making  the  institutions,  to


some  extent,  self-sustaining,  as  the  value  of  the  labour  performed  covers  a  consider-
able portion  of  the  cost  of  their  maintenance.  The  gross  cost  for  maintaining  the
Penitentiaries,  in  1875,  was  $191,323.16,  and  in  the  same  period  the  earnings  of  the
convicts  amounted  to  $100,999.26,  or  $127.17  per  head  on  the  average  number  of  795-
The  net  cost  of  the  Penitentiaries,  after  deducting  the  value  of  the  convicts'  labour,
amoui^^ts  to  $90,323.85,  or  $113.61  per  head..  The  average  number  and  annual  cost
per  head,  in  each  Penitentiary,  will  be  seen  further  on.
