Memorandum from Sir Evelyn Ruggles-Brise [Chairman of the Prison Commission] to [WSC] on the growth of prison expenditure. Sir Evelyn stresses that he is comparing expenditure, not estimates, and that Charles Hobhouse [Financial Secretary, Treasury] has drawn misleading comparisons [see CHAR 12/4/32] between the estimates for 1910-11 and 1900-1: two years in which there were no changes in policy. He points out that estimates may be misleading as they do not take account of unexpected savings and that the true indication of a department's expenditure is through comparison of expenditure. Sir Evelyn details specific examples of policy changes which have contributed to the rise in expenditure, including the establishment of reformatories for inebriates. He proposes that the gratuity system in convict prisons should be gradually discontinued to offset the cost of the establishment of a central agency for convicts. Typescript signed with initials with handwritten corrections.