Read Ebook: The journal of prison discipline and philanthropy (Vol. XV No. I January 1860) by Philadelphia Society For Alleviating The Miseries Of Public Prisons

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A few words as to the County Prisons of Texas. The only opportunity which offered for visiting a county jail was at Brenham, Washington County. The jail building stands near the court house, a little off from the public square, in the centre of the town, and is without enclosure of any kind. It is a plain, two story building, about twenty-five feet square, built of a double thickness of hewed logs. A narrow corridor runs around the inside of the lower story, and surrounds the dungeon, which is the only room upon this story, and has walls of a triple thickness of logs. The entrance to the dungeon is through a heavy iron trap-door in the floor of the second story. The single door of the jail itself opens directly from the street into the corridor. The second story has but two apartments, which occupy its entire extent; and one of these is appropriated for female prisoners, when there are any. There was but one occupant, a man, at the time of our visit. A short time previous, a prisoner had been confined in the dungeon, awaiting his trial on a charge of murder, but had succeeded in making his escape, in which he must have had assistance from the outside. No jailer or other officer lives at the jail, nor is any special watch kept. The only furniture was a rude stool or two, and a few bed-clothes, laid upon the bare floor. There are no windows in the building, and a few narrow, horizontal openings in the log-walls, secured with iron bars, afford the only supplies of light and air; no shutters, sashes, or other means of closing these openings are provided. There is no provision made for warming the prison, and the cold must sometimes be severe, especially during the prevalence of the Northers. The jail is in charge of the Sheriff, and the food of the prisoners depends altogether upon his discretion. It is possible, that in Galveston, and perhaps in one or two other places, the County Prisons may be upon a better plan, but in none of them is the separate system in force. The prisoners, untried as well as convicts, have an almost unrestrained intercourse. From all that we could learn, it is to be feared that the jails of many of the Counties are even less comfortable than the one at Brenham. But very many things combine to render it peculiarly difficult to awaken the public mind of Texas to the necessity and importance of a careful consideration of the subject of Prison Discipline.

To the statesman and political economist, not less than to the Christian philanthropist, an inquiry into the sources and extent of crime, and the number, condition and previous history of criminals cannot be without interest. Scarcely a day passes in our chief cities, without the occurrence of some startling outrage upon the public peace, or on the person or property of the citizen. Scarcely a newspaper can be taken up, which does not contain a record more or less in detail of acts of violence and fraud. Why are they not prevented? What provokes their perpetration? How are the guilty parties punished, and what is the effect of their punishment on themselves or others?

In the absence of reliable statistics on such subjects in our own country, we are compelled to resort to the elaborate and authentic reports made to the British government. And as the vicious dispositions and passions of men are the same there as here, and the temptations to crime, as well as crimes themselves and the methods of perpetrating them, do not materially differ in the two countries, we find great satisfaction and instruction in the information they furnish.

In our last number we gave an abstract of the criminal statistics of England and Wales for 1857. Since that time we have received the more full and complete returns for 1858. We do not propose to notice the same class of items to which our former article adverted, but to cull a few facts and results of general and universal interest, which were not then ascertained. The following table exhibits a significant class of facts.

The reader cannot fail to be impressed by the singular disproportion in the number belonging to the criminal ranks, observed on comparing these different groups of towns, classed according to the predominant occupation or business of the inhabitants. There is no doubt that the incentives to a lawless life are much more numerous and powerful at certain times and places than at others. It would be easy to indicate probable causes for such discrepancies, and to trace their connection with particular phases of crime, but that is not relevant to our present purpose.

From the tabular view, it would seem that the criminal class is highest in the great seats of hardware manufacture; next in towns in rural districts; then in commercial ports; next in pleasure towns; then in towns employed in small textile manufactures; then in cotton manufacturing towns; next in woolen manufacturing towns; and last in the metropolis. But in the number of prostitutes the order is materially changed, the largest proportion being in the commercial ports, and the smallest in the woolen and worsted manufacturing towns,--the metropolis being considerably below the average.

There is a remarkable variation both in the general criminal classes, and in the specific crime of prostitution in different agricultural districts.

In the eastern agriculturing district the criminal per centage is 1 in 113-- Prostitutes 1 in 1122 In the south and south-western 1 in 104 ,, 1 in 1829 In the midland district 1 in 103 ,, 1 in 1307

The present returns show that only the very small proportion of about one-fifth of the known criminal classes are in prison at any one time.

Of the parties proceeded against by indictment, nearly one-fourth were of "previous good character;" and of those proceeded against summarily, full one-half were of "previous good character," and of both classes fourteen per cent. of both sexes were under sixteen!

Considering that until very recently, at least 4000 of the worst criminals were annually removed from the country by transportation, and that though a much more efficient police system has been in force, yet the number of commitments has not been sensibly increased, the inference is drawn that a better system of prevention prevails, and that better prison management has led to the absorption of a large number of discharged prisoners in honest employments.

There are in the country--

A curious comparison is given of crimes and arrests. The number of known crimes of a grave character against the person, and all violent offences against property were 57,868.

The greater prevalence of crime in the winter months is accounted for on the ground that employment is more scarce, and the prolonged hours of darkness afford greater opportunities to commit it. It is obvious that the return of crimes committed embraces but an inconsiderable portion of the overt criminal acts in the community. During the period covered by it, there were upwards of 40,000 known thieves and depredators, and 40,000 suspected persons at large. The former living by thieving must thieve to live, and it is "clear that a large amount of petty depredations occur, which, with every allowance for the large summary jurisdiction exercised in cases of theft, is not represented in the return, as well as many continued domestic thefts and frauds which are never detected, or never brought within the cognizance of the police."

The present report shows, that of 30,458 persons, 5,398 were of previous good character, and 7,886 were known to be of bad character. Out of 404,034 proceeded against summarily, 148,178 were of "previous good character," and of 130,502 it was not known to be bad.

The Report of Coroner's inquests for the year gives a total of 19,846, against 20,167 in 1857, and 22,221 in 1856. The diminution is ascribed to the fact that in 1856 the rule was established not to allow the expenses of inquests when it turned out that the death ensued from natural causes, and without any ground to suspect a criminal act or culpable neglect; and it is also alleged, that police officers are not disposed to give notice of cases that might properly fall under the Coroner's investigation. There is, certainly, a singular uniformity in the operation of the causes that result in death by violence and accident. When we think of the changes in the condition of society--the fluctuations of business--and the excitements of passion, it seems scarcely credible that so comparatively slight a variation should occur in a succession of years; for example:--

Only 1 difference in the murders of 1857 and 1858, only 10 in manslaughter, and only 17 in accidental deaths; and in suicides, only 35 difference between 1856 and 1857.

It is worthy of remark that, of the 19,846 inquests held, 5,517 were children seven years old or under, and 3,318 were aged or infirm persons over sixty; showing that 44 1/2 per cent. were persons least able to protect themselves from accident or injury. The average cost of each inquest was dollars.

The total number of convicts in custody during the year was 11,292, of whom 1,326 were women. Of the whole number, 110 died, 3 escaped, and only 36 were pardoned! The daily average, for the year, was 7,859, and the annual cost of each prisoner was 7.50, or about 42 cents per day. This sum is subject to a reduction to the extent of the value of their labor.

The Reformatory Schools have risen from 1 in 1854, to 47 in 1858; and the number of inmates, from 21 to 700. To these schools, the government allows .75 per week, for each inmate; and the Managers have authority to require a contribution from the parents, when able. From the former source 7,844 were received, and from parents ,738; showing the cost of each inmate, under these items alone, to be 7 per annum; and the Report has no allusion to their labor as of any value. The average cost in any House of Refuge in the United States, with which we are acquainted, does not much exceed 0.

There is now an extension of the system of Reformatory Schools, which will doubtless prove of much value. The law authorizes a provisional commitment, to certified industrial schools, of children taken into custody on a charge of vagrancy,--after due inquiry into the condition of their parents, and of the circumstances of their arrest,--to be detained till fifteen years of age, unless suitable provision is made for their care and employment elsewhere. The present is the first year of its operation.

It is not easy even to approximate an estimate, in money, of the cost to which crime subjects a community. Sixty years ago, Colquhoun, in his work on the "Police of the Metropolis," estimated the loss by depredation, in London alone, at ten millions of dollars; and the Watch-Committee of Liverpool, in an elaborate report in 1836, stated the loss in that borough, by depredation, at not less than three million five hundred thousand dollars, declaring that this was not exaggerated, but, on the contrary, much less than the actual amount. We suppose that in such an estimate are included, not only the property abstracted by theft and robbery, but also the fruits of the various species of frauds on the government and on public institutions, fraudulent bankruptcies, losses by incendiary fires, and various kinds of malicious mischief.

To the value of property sacrificed to crime, must be added the expenses of police, prosecutions and prisons, amounting to not less than twelve millions of dollars; and to these we must add a large sum for a proportion of the salaries of judges and justices, and their clerks; the maintenance of court-houses; costs of coroners' inquests; expenses of sheriffs; costs of prosecution by public bodies, and costs paid by private prosecutors over and above the costs allowed; charges for convicts and colonies, &c.

We have a sound basis for an estimate sufficiently impressive. There is a standing army of one hundred and thirty-five thousand men and women, at war with the community, and living on plunder and vice,--yesterday, engaged in depredations upon property--to-day, rioting in reckless extravagance,--to-morrow, reduced to pinching want. Supposing each of them to spend one hundred and twenty-five dollars a year,--say two and a half dollars a week, we have a sum total of nearly seventeen millions--and this cannot be levied upon the public at less than double that sum. This would amount to but a fraction less than thirty-five millions of dollars, and, with the costs already enumerated, would swell the grand total to very nearly fifty millions, as the annual expense which the criminal classes of England and Wales entail upon the community.

It is to be regretted that we have no reliable data from which to form even a probable estimate of either the number of criminals or the cost of crime in any one of our States or cities, so far as our information extends. If there were such, even in one State or city, an inference, of more or less value, might be drawn from a comparison of population, police force, &c. We can scarcely suppose that the incentives to crime are much more numerous and powerful here than in England. It is not found that crime abounds most in seasons of depression in business or of reduction of wages or employment, but the contrary; and therefore, the facilities with which people in our country obtain a living may, perhaps, rather promote than prevent crime. That we make much less of all crime here than is made in the older countries, is very obvious; and that escape or impunity is much more common here than there, will not be denied: so that, on the whole, we may reasonably conclude that if the tax imposed on the public, as the direct consequence of crime, could be ascertained, its enormous amount would awaken an interest in the means of preventing or suppressing it, which the considerations of humanity and religion seem inadequate to excite.

THE TWENTY-SEVENTH REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE BRITISH LADIES' SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING THE REFORMATION OF FEMALE PRISONERS, 1858.

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE BOARD OF MANAGERS OF THE HOWARD INSTITUTION, 1858.

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE WOMEN'S PRISON ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK. "THE ISAAC T. HOPPER HOME," 191 TENTH AVENUE, 1859.

Although the number of female inmates of our Penitentiaries is comparatively small, their reformation is not less an object of interest. Certain it is, that efforts directed to them have been crowned with a remarkable degree of success, in proportion to their numbers. Prison returns show that it is much more rare for a female to return, on a second conviction, than for a male; and though a bad woman may be a much more revolting object than an equally bad man, she must be very radically and thoroughly degraded not to show more susceptibility of kind and good influences than most male prisoners show. Whether it is the world-wide fame of the late Mrs. Elizabeth Fry and the stimulus of her bright example, that has drawn unusual attention to the subject, or whether the wealth and leisure of ladies of rank and distinction, has enabled them to devote more attention and patronage to the reformation and restoration to society, of women who have fallen under the condemnation of penal law, we cannot say. But, certainly, the provision for such unhappy persons is much more liberal, systematic and extensive in the British Isles, than anything known among us.

We have before us "the twenty-seventh report of the Committee of the British Ladies' Society for promoting the reformation of female prisoners." With the parent institution there are connected ten county associations, besides five in Scotland, and the report embraces notices, more or less extensive, of the transactions of each of them. The central committee is subdivided into sub-committees, to each of which is assigned the care of one of the seven principal prisons of the metropolis in which female convicts are received.

There is a distinct sub-committee, consisting of ten ladies and two secretaries, known as the Patronage Committee. "It sits on every Friday, and its especial duty is to attend to those cases of discharged prisoners from metropolitan gaols which are recommended to its care by the authorities of the prisons, or by ladies who visit there. Endeavors are made to investigate the previous history of each individual; and if there be reason to believe that one is in earnest in the desire to reform, measures are taken to assist her in so doing.

"The rule of the Patronage Committee is, that the prisoner appears before them immediately on her liberation, to comply with which rule she often voluntarily stays back in the prison till Friday. She brings with her, under the charge of a warder, a certificate of health, and the written answers to a list of printed questions."

Sometimes a little temporary out-door relief meets the necessity of the case, and occasionally an immediate return to her family is deemed advisable; but in the large majority of instances, these poor women are entirely unfit to be restored to society at large without further probation. A refuge is needed to give the opportunity of preparation for entering upon the duties of a changed course of life. "The quiet discipline of those institutions, the word of God there faithfully taught, the encouraging influence of Christian ladies there met with, have mercifully been blessed to the softening of many a hard heart, and to the healing of many a broken spirit."

When it is believed that the penitence is sincere, and the hope of restoration decided, the individual is sent direct to the "Elizabeth Fry Refuge," as a preliminary to other more permanent asylums, or to await the future arrangements that may appear most desirable for her. The funds of the "Elizabeth Fry Refuge" permit fifteen of these patronage cases to be kept in the house free of expense, as on the foundation; all above that number are paid for by the British Ladies' Society, at the rate of .75 each, weekly.

Two hundred and sixty-four cases were disposed of by this committee between June, 1856, and June, 1858.

The report contains brief notices of the cases occurring at the several prisons, and it is quite evident that the machinery is well adapted to the purpose in view, and is eminently successful in its workings.

There can be no doubt of the softening and subduing influence exerted upon the mind of a prisoner under almost any circumstances, by the visit of an intelligent Christian friend. However kind and sympathising the attending officers may be, "the presence of some one connected with the outer world is in itself a relief from the monotony of prison life. Thus the prisoner is predisposed to listen kindly to words kindly spoken, by one who voluntarily, for a time, shares her cell, and reads the only book which reveals authoritatively the terms of acceptance on which both must rely for pardon and salvation."

There is a public institution, corresponding in its principal features to the houses of reception to which we have referred. It is the Government "Refuge" at Fulham. Prisoners who have conducted themselves well at Millbank and Brixton, and who are likely to profit by more individual attention than they can receive at either of those prisons, are, during the concluding period of their imprisonment, placed in the Government 'Refuge' at Fulham. Being selected with a view to their being placed in service, or being provided with some means of obtaining an honest livelihood after they are liberated, they are instructed in laundry and household work of every kind; and every means employed in the best Reformatories are here afforded, with the encouragement of knowing that, while they behave well, the penal character of this last stage of imprisonment is merged in the enjoyment of all the spiritual and temporal privileges which they could meet with in an asylum for the free. We are enabled to state, on the best authority, that, out of eighty cases which had left the Fulham Refuge in the month of April last, sixty were doing well.

In the report of the Exeter Refuge allusion is made to the fact, that the introduction of the SEPARATE SYSTEM into the prison there, has reduced the number of prisoners greatly. Of 199 discharged female prisoners received, fifteen are now under care, and a good account is given of 104 who have left it. We cannot but regard such a measure of success as most encouraging. That much of this success is owing to the individual separation of the convicts cannot be doubted. Indeed, the visitors to the Falmouth Prison emphatically condemn it for the absence of that principle. "With regard to our prison I can say nothing encouraging; there is no change with regard to its arrangements. Some of those who are interested for the poor people immured within its walls, do what they can to keep the necessity of improvement before the public, and there are two who visit regularly, as they may find it convenient, but I fear they can say nothing with regard to the effect produced. We feel that we must keep in view the injunction, 'In the morning sow thy seed,' &c. Could solitary confinement be but partially carried out, the case would be more encouraging; and we shall be most glad to have such a prison as would allow of our making trial of it."

And in respect to the Gloucester Prison, a lady who has visited it regularly, says: "City convicts are received by the county; but prisoners before trial, summary convictions and prostitutes all herd together in one common ward and yard by day, and one large room by night, both rooms being out of sight and hearing of the Matron. I believe that I have mentioned this often to you; but it is so great an evil, and so dangerous to the comparatively innocent, that I cannot but advert to it again."

In the city of Utrecht a new prison, on the Cellularian or separate plan, has been erected, and a Ladies' Committee, formed, like the one in London; and the government of Holland has expressed a wish that near every prison such a Society be established, with full permission to visit the prisoners. In Stockholm, also, is a Ladies' Committee. "There is not a female prisoner in Stockholm who is not visited once in the week, or who has not at least the opportunity of hearing the word of God explained to her in one of the departments of the large house for penal servitude, where their attendance on Sunday is voluntary."

The readers of our Journal are aware that in Philadelphia and New York, and perhaps in other cities of the United States, similar organizations have existed for many years. Among them is the "Howard Institution," under the care of an Association of Women-Friends of Philadelphia, the object of which is, "the care and reformation of female prisoners, who, after a term of imprisonment, manifest a disposition to reform; or others who, on account of their evil habits, need Christian counsel, moral restraint and domestic discipline. To accomplish this, a home is provided to shelter them from evil associations; to surround them with wholesome moral and religious influences; to inculcate good principles, and habits of neatness and industry; to instruct them in domestic duties, so as to qualify them for usefulness; and after a term of probation, to obtain for them respectable situations in town or country."

The Fourteenth Annual Report of the Women's Prison Association of New York, concerns a charity hereafter to be known as "The Isaac T. Hopper Home," and it brings to view some interesting facts, and presents strong claims to generous assistance. The institution has been for several years independent of the New York Prison Association. Its object is to ameliorate the condition of female prisoners, improve the discipline and government of prisons so far as females are concerned, and to give temporary support and encouragement to reformed female convicts. To give system and efficiency to their laudable efforts, they earnestly desired help in erecting a building adapted to that purpose, and at one time had flattering prospects of success. They had reasonable ground to believe, that with suitable accommodations, they might make the home a self-sustaining house of industry; but their expectations were not realized, and as the only alternative they purchased and put in repair the house they have long occupied.

We have often adverted to the lessons which a sound economy reads to us on the subject of caring for discharged prisoners. When it is considered what immeasurable injury a single evil-disposed person may do, and what expenses mere vagrants or petty thieves, to say nothing of forgers and counterfeiters, impose on the community, it cannot be regarded as a matter of trivial moment whether an enemy of society is transformed into a friend, and a burden into a help. Hence the managers of the Society repudiate the idea that they are beggars, and claim to be instruments of a true economy.

The facts are very stubborn. Here are one hundred and twenty-five women, addicted for the most part to degrading and infamous vices--living in vagrancy, dishonesty, drunkenness and prostitution; and a large proportion of them familiar with the corruption and degradation of prison life. Somebody must look after them, and none but practical, zealous, working women, who will give themselves to such a task--not for a visit or two, nor for a few days or weeks, but for months, and perhaps, for years--seeking out, watching over, encouraging and guiding those who are susceptible of improvement, if not of radical reform.

A few such are found, and the one hundred and twenty-five outcasts are gathered to "The Isaac T. Hopper Home." There are some interesting cases among them, and they are all objects of interest; but, says one, "Do you really expect to do any permanent good to such people?" And another exclaims, "How disgusting it must be!" And a third, "How very disagreeable to go to such horrible places! How much better and wiser to drop a twenty or a fifty dollar bank note to the board of managers, or the matron, saying, You have hard materials to make up. Here is an expression of my sympathy. The friend of the friendless bless and prosper you." But what has become of the one hundred and twenty-five inmates received during the year? Why, seventy of them were sent to service, and generally in the country. Of course they are not burdens to the public treasury while in this position, nor are they plundering houses and stores, nor provoking home brawls and street fights. This is no little saving all around. They not only cease to be burdens; they have been converted into producers; one has twenty, another fifty, and another seventy dollars reserved from earned wages. The cleansing, tidying, training, encouraging and aiding received at the Home, have fitted them for, and introduced them to, respectable and useful occupations. What sum shall we set against this as the probable amount of expense in arrests, prosecutions, sustenance, gaol fees, &c., had they been suffered to pursue their chosen way.

We cannot refrain from expressing the conviction that the more rigidly persons who have been convicted of crime can be separated one from another, until their resolutions to lead an amended life are fully confirmed and well tested, the less the danger of a relapse. We are aware of the argument sometimes used, viz.: That these principles cannot be tested till the parties are exposed to temptation. But there are temptations enough in the ordinary circumstances of life. If a young woman, discharged from the penitentiary, and received into some "Home" or "Refuge," should be kept from all association with those who have been in like condemnation, until she is prepared for, and provided with, some place in the country, the first day in her new position would present temptations enough to test her newly acquired strength. Industry, honesty, truthfulness and sobriety are every day virtues. If they are possessed they will show themselves without urging, but while under any degree of restraint or inspection these virtues may be counterfeited. It is not needful to put them into the company of a vagrant, a thief, a liar or a drunkard to bring them out. On the contrary, our true policy is to keep them as far apart as possible, and especially when the virtues are struggling to supplant the vices.

Let our penitentiaries and county gaols provide for strict individual separation, accommodation and employment of all prisoners, of every grade, tried and untried. Let kind, judicious, intelligent friends visit them, express proper sympathy with them, and hold out encouragement to them. Upon their discharge, let there be found a place of temporary refuge where they can be comfortably provided for, relieved from the pressure of immediate temptation, exempted from any associations unfriendly to their permanent reform, and prepared by a reasonable probation for some employment. The moment this is accomplished, and some benevolent heart is opened to give the party an opportunity to retrieve a forfeited place in the confidence of the community, let it be embraced with a continuance of the watchful care which may be still needed in unforeseen emergencies.

With these precautions and aids we are confident thousands of our convicts might be rescued from reckless criminality or hopeless despair, and some of the most prolific sources of crime be dried up. The government is bound, by every consideration of public policy, to aid liberally in restoring to honest and virtuous ways those who have been subjected to penal suffering, and who are disposed to amend their lives. Its functions do not begin nor end in arrests, convictions and sentences. It is to employ all practicable means of keeping people out of crime, by encouraging and sustaining schools--literary, industrial and reformatory, and bringing ALL the children and youth of the country under their influence. And when, in spite of all these wholesome provisions, men and women do betake themselves to criminal courses, and have suffered the just reward of their deeds, it is the duty of the government not to leave them, at the expiration of their sentence, to shift for themselves, but to hold out a kind hand to them, if they are inclined to better ways, and assist them to regain a creditable position among their fellow men. Society has the worst of it if they relapse into their previous associations and practices. And hence, we earnestly plead for the support and encouragement, by public and private liberality, of every sensible scheme to convert a convict into an honest man--an enemy of society into a friend and helper.

The intermediate system of discipline adopted in the convict prisons of Ireland, to which we have called the attention of our readers in previous numbers of this Journal, seems to gain favor. The simple principle on which it is founded is the gradual improvement of those prisoners who are susceptible of reforming influences, until they are prepared for entire freedom, and the return to and continuance in confinement of those who are obstinately bent on pursuing a criminal career. The system is so arranged as to give the convict the control, in a great measure, of his own position. If he is disposed to do well, every reasonable aid is afforded him for the purpose. If his vicious habits are so confirmed as to forbid the hope of his permanent reformation, society is protected from his hostility, by his retention, indefinitely, in prison. In the first place, the prisoner must conform to certain rules, while confined in the ordinary prison, to entitle himself to the privileges of the intermediate prisons. Any misconduct at this stage, will have the effect of postponing his admission into the intermediate prison, and thereby defer, to an equal extent, the remission of a portion of his sentence. The following table shows, at a glance, what inducement the prisoner has to co-operate with the government in his reformation:

It will be seen that, by this scale, a three years' sentence is reduced to two and a half; four years to three and a fourth; five years to four; six years to four and a half; seven years to five and a fourth; eight years to six and three-fourths; ten years to seven and a half; twelve years to nine, and fifteen years to ten.

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