| 1902. | 1903. | 1904. | 1905. | 1906. | 1907. | 1908. | |||||||||
| Admitted | 4,389 | 3,428 | 3,546 | 3,057 | 2,505 | 2,402 | 2,798 | ||||||||
| Discharged | 4,034 | 3,372 | 3,413 | 3,116 | 2,318 | 2,105 | 2,215 | ||||||||
| Discharged | 177 | 138 | 142 | 135 | 125 | 152 | 142 | ||||||||
| Transferred | 177 | 138 | 142 | 135 | 125 | 152 | 142 | ||||||||
| Absconded | 85 | 72 | 40 | 58 | 59 | 91 | 118 | ||||||||
| Died | 87 | 99 | 99 | 74 | 82 | 92 | 83 | ||||||||
| Total | 4,383 | 3,681 | 3,694 | 3,383 | 2,584 | 2,440 | 2,558 | ||||||||
| Detained on December 31 | 2,003 | 1,750 | 1,602 | 1,276 | 1,197 | 1,159 | 1,399 | ||||||||
The frequency of commitment during the same years was as follows:—
| Number of Times Committed. | 1901. | 1902. | 1903. | 1904. | 1905. | 1906. | 1907. | 1908. | ||||||||
| For the first time | 1,523 | 1,483 | 1,281 | 1,296 | 1,070 | 903 | 856 | 1,222 | ||||||||
| For the second time | 709 | 772 | 555 | 596 | 524 | 402 | 375 | 435 | ||||||||
| For the third time | 413 | 478 | 380 | 389 | 320 | 232 | 234 | 261 | ||||||||
| For the fourth time | 291 | 329 | 257 | 249 | 249 | 174 | 176 | 163 | ||||||||
| For the fifth time, or oftener | 1,238 | 1,327 | 955 | 1,016 | 894 | 794 | 761 | 717 | ||||||||
| Total number of admissions | 4,174 | 4,389 | 3,428 | 3,546 | 3,057 | 2,505 | 2,402 | 2,798 | ||||||||
Both at Hoogstraeten and Wortel agriculture and industry are carried on; the trades at the former place include brewing, soap making, smithery, joinery, painting, stove making, cart building, and corn milling, and at the latter hand-loom weaving (cotton and woollen), tailoring, shoemaking, saddling, joinery and cabinet making, painting, smithery, and stove making. As far as possible, every man is put to the trade he knows best. The main aim is to produce articles which are needed for use or consumption in the Colony, and the surplus production is sold to other Government institutions. There are two farms, and besides the ordinary work provided by them, a certain amount of reclamation is done. Most of the building needed is the work of the colonists, and nearly all the domestic work is done by them.
The actual hours of labour, exclusive of intervals, are ten and a half daily in the summer months (April 1 to September 30), eight and a half in March and October, and eight in the winter months (November 1 to February 28). The daily routine is as follows (Sunday excepted):—
| March. | April 1 to September 30. | October. | November 1 to February 28. | ||||||||||
| Hour of Rising | 5.30 | a.m. | 5.0 | a.m. | 5.30 | a.m. | 6.0 | a.m. | |||||
| Distribution of bread | 6.0 | " | 5.30 | " | 6.0 | " | 6.30 | " | |||||
| Work | 6.30 | " | 6.0 | " | 6.30 | " | 7.0 | " | |||||
| Visit of doctor | 8.0 | " | 7.0 | " | 8.0 | " | 8.0 | " | |||||
| Distribution of coffee, and rest | 9.0 | " | 8.0 | " | 9.0 | " | [57] | " | |||||
| Work | 9.15 | " | 8.30 | " | 9.15 | " | — | ||||||
| Dinner, and rest | 12.0 | " | 12.0 | " | 12.0 | " | 12.0 | " | |||||
| Work | 1.30 | p.m. | 1.30 | p.m. | 1.30 | p.m. | 1.30 | p.m. | |||||
| Rest | 3.0 | " | 4.0 | " | 3.0 | p.m. | — | ||||||
| Work | 3.15 | " | 4.30 | " | 3.15 | p.m. | — | ||||||
| Cessation of work[58] | 5.0 | " | 7.0 | " | 5.0 | " | 4.30 | " | |||||
| Supper | 5.0 | " | 7.0 | " | 5.0 | " | 5.0 | " | |||||
| Bedtime | 6.0 | " | 7.30 | " | 6.0 | " | 6.0 | " | |||||
There is a regular scale of money payments, ranging from 9 centimes to 71 centimes per day, according to the class of work and of worker. The following are the daily rates now in force (100 centimes = 9½d.):—
| Class A. Centimes. | Class B. Centimes. | Class C. Centimes. | ||
| Workshops, etc. | 47-71 | 24-47 | 24 | |
| Cultivation, plantation, and navvies' work | 42-60 | 21-42 | 21 | |
| Domestic and agricultural | 18-27 | 9-18 | 9 | |