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1 2 3

4 5 6

Wit^i the CofHpliments of the Prisoni-:ks' Aid
Association of Canada.

PRISON REFORM.

The cause of Prison Reform is commended to the favorable
consideration of the Press of Ontario. We are under
obligations to the tveekly press for favorable notices. We
would be glad if the daily press would place us under a
like obligation.

PRISON REFORM.

The Prisoners' Aid Association of Canada wishes to
secure the co-operation of all good citizens in the cause of
Prison Reform. The Association has memorialized the
Ontario Government on the subject, and it is desirable that
organized societies, and private citizens as well, should join
in this endeavor to effect these most needed reforms. The
Ontario Government has been asked to appoint a Commis-
sion of competent gentlemen to collect information regarding
prisons, reformatories, houses of correction, workhouses,
etc., with a view to the adoption of the most a[)proved
methods of dealing with the criminal elapses. They are
also suggesting to the Government the propriety of erecting
sufficient prison and reformatory accommodation in the
Province to completely relieve the gaols of criminals con-
victed of crime and under sentence. When the gaols are
relieved of this class of prisoners there will then be room for
classification and for the isolation of persons under custody
And awaiting trial. The following resolutions have also

been commended to the favorable consideration of the
( Government :

1. County jails should be maintained only as places of
detention for persons charged with (jffencts and awaiting
trial, and should not be used for prisoners after trial and
conviction. .

2. County jails should be conclucted ^.tiictly on the sepa
rate or cellular system.

3. Persons convicted of crime shouUl not \x- detained in
county jails, but should be dealt with according to the age
and natural proclivities of the criminal.

4. A boy under fourteen years of age, not previously
vicious, should be restored to his parents upon their giving
a guarantee of his future good conduct. Failing this lie
should be sent to an Industrial School.

5. A boy under under fourteen or sixteen years of age,
having a natural tendency toward crime, or beuig convicted
of a second offence, should be sent either tc a Reformatory
direct or loan Industrial School on trial, according to (circum-
stances ; and a special court should be organized to deal
with these cases, as well as with females charged with
light offences. A boy should never be brought to o[)oii
Police Court nor sent to a county jail.

6. Industrial Schools and Reformatories should not be
considered as places for punishment, but should be utilized
wholly for the reformation of character. The young persons
sent to these institutions should not be committed for any
definite period, but they should be detained until reformation
is attained, irre.spective of the time requited. The ofticers of
these institutions should be carefully selected, preferably by
a system of examination and promotion, and without refer
encx' to [)arty or social intluence.

7. As industrial employment is a nece.ssary step towards
reformation, and as this cannot be supplied by the county
jails, the necessity arises for prisons and reformatories of
ami)le dimension;;, where such employment can be provided,
and where other influences of a reformatory character may
be utilized, and where a system of classification may be
carried out.

8. The expense and maintenance of such persons in such
institutions should be borne by the county from which they
are sent, when such expense exceeds the proceeds of the
industrial labor of the persons so sent.

9. Tramps and habitual drunkards should be sent to an
institution where they can be provided with productive

industrial cnij)loynicnt, and where they can l)e hrouglit
uhdcr refoimatdry influenrcs, and thev should he detained
in said Institution under inderterniiiiate sentences. Incorri-
gihles should t)e setitenced to jjenitenliary for life. They
should bei-onsidered as having forfeited all right co regain
their liberty unless reformation takes place.

10. In order to meet the requirements of the case there
should he suffnucnt prison accommodation in Ontario to
njlievc the county jails of all persons undergoing .sentence.'
This accommodaJon should be provided either by enlarging
the Central Prison or by erecting two additional i)iisons, one
in the east and the other in the west. There should be
unification in our prison system. The prisons should be
graded, and the reformatory princijjle in its most improved
form and after the best models should be incorporated with
said system.

11. riic (luesiion of prison labor should be removed from
the arena of party politics, and members of labor organiza-
tions should look at this ciueslion from a patriotic rather than
from a trades standpoint. ".

These recommendations have the endorsation of Dr. M.
Kavell, War^len of Kingston Penitentiary; James Massie,
Ksq., ^Varden of the Central Prison ; E. A. Merulith, 1,I,.I).,
late Inspector of I'risons, Canada; Hon S. H. Blake; W..
H. Howland, Esq. ; J. G. Hodgins, LI,. I)., and Hamilton
(Jassells, l-".sq., and they are in full accord with Inspector
Moylan's reports to the Dominion Government.

The above circular was recently sent out to County.
Judges, Sheriffs, Gaolers, etc., with a view of eliciting sug-
gestions on the subject of prison reform. A number of
replies have already been received, all of which are favor-
able to the action taken in the matter by die Prisoners' Aid
Association. The eleven principles of prison reform, com-
mended to the favorable consideration of the Government,
has the unqualified endorsation of the following, namely :
Judges Robinson, of j.amltton; Kingsmill, of Bruce;
Ardagh, of Sinicoe ; McDonald, of Leeds a ^d Grenville.
Jiulge Henson, of Northumberland and Durham, suggests
some slight modifications. Judge Scott, of Peel, approves
of the appointment of a Comraisson, but thinks that .sa'd
Commission, should lie untra\nmelloid. fhanoi^llQE^ B«>:<:i:
endorses the recrtmniendaiibjl'i'.as presented by the As.sQcia:_
tion. Governors (irecn, of the Toronto Gaol, Cameron, of
Woodstock, Kitchen, of Brantford, Cook, of Berlin, and.
Cpidsqn of VVelkmd, have i^^s9, r^^^pressed ,thejf,ap,p^y^ai,.gf,
these propo-sedretdrms. » -^ ♦<!►.>•". '....-.>,•,,'■ .-..,.•.

A circular from the Chairman of the Prison Reform Com-
mittee asks, on behalf of the Prisoners' Aid Association of
Canada, the co-operation of all good citizens in the cause of
prison reform. The Association has memorialized the
Ontario Government on the subject, and desires that organ
ized societies and private citizens as well, should join in this
endeavor to effect these most needed reforms, 'i'he Ontario
Government has been asked to api)oint a Commission of
comj)etent gentlemen to collect information regarding pris-
ons, reformatories, houses of correction, workhouses, etc.,
with a view to the adoption of the most approved methods
of dealing with the criminal classes. The circular further
commends to the favorable consideration of the Oovern
ment a series of re.solutions, embodying a number of much-
needed reforms, having the endorsation of the leading penol-
ogists of Canada and the United States. These recom-
mendations include the cellular system for county jails,
industrial schools and reformatories, conducted solely with
a view to the reformation of character, for youthful convicts ;
indeterminate sentences, with industrial employment, for
tramps and habitual drunkards, etc. The praiseworthy
efforts of the Committee deserve, and we trust they will
receive, the sympathy and co-operation asked iox -Thf
Week, March 15th, 1889.

The Prisoners' Aid Association of Canada has issued a
circular in which it askb the sympathy and co-operation of
the public in its efforts to secure certain important reforms
in the management of the prisoners and penitentiaries of the
Dominion. These reforms will, if adopted, cure some
serious evils that at present exist. They prevent the use of
county jails for the permanent confinement of convicted
prisoners They will, by the adoption of the separate or
cellular system, do away with the monstrous wrong of throw-
ing prisoners of all classes promiscuously together in the
cells and corridors, thus compelling the young and compara-
tively innocent often to associate with the vilest and mo<;t
hardened offenders. They will aim at securing industrial
emyloyment for all convicts, will send tramps and habitual
drunkards to an institution where they can be brought under
reformatory influences, be put to regular work, and detained
under indeterminate sentences until evidence of reformation
is given. These and other recommendations of the Com-
mittee will, we are sure, command the warm sympathy and
approval of all who have given any thought to the great
question of lessening crime and reforming criminals. — Cma-
dian Baptist^ March ai, 1889.

The Prisoner^' Aid Association has done a [JiiljHr (till)' in
directing atiention to the urgent need that exists for prison
reform, even in enlightened Ontario. 'I'he letter, in another
cokmin, indicates the lines upon which the reforms sliouhi
be made. They will commend themselves, we feel con-
vinced, to the good sense of the piil)lic, alike by their moi'er-
ation and by their practicability, ^^'e siiall refer to this subji. ct
agam, but in the meantime would bespeak for thi> letter the
careful attention of all our readers. -Kvan^^elical Chitrchinan.

We are glad to see the efforts made by the Prisoners' Aid
Association of Canaiia in tlie cati.se of prison reform. We
believe that the series of resolutions recommended by the
Association to the consideration of the Ontario ( Government
contains the jiilh of beneficent ciiiinge wliich is most desir-
able in prison di.scipline in this country. It would be hard
to mention a reform which has a firmer basis in the needs
of the existing system, or which has so long been deprived
of the effectual .miiathy of philanthropists. The disastrous
results of allowing young iriminals to associate with old and
hardened ones have made classification the strongest plank
in the platforni of prison reform. Having separated the
prisoner from his companions, the way is made clear for
the influence of motives which appeal to individual man-
hood, and for the character-reformation which is the ultimate
object. The good resulting from industrial emiitoyment is a
most important means of attaining that object. The pris,
oner's bodily and mental powers are directed to useful work-
and consequently away from the thoughts and associations
in of criminality. More especially with regard to the young,
dustriai employment and educational inlluence comljined pro-
mise to remove such ott'enders from the surroundings v>'iiich
are a defect in the present system. We trust that the com-
mission asked of the Ontario (Government by the Associa-
tion will be appointed, and that it will result in the adoption
of imjirovements on the line laid down by the resolutions
endorsed by the Association. — Christian Guardian.

The thoughtful reader of these recommendations must
have been struck with two things': 'I liat very ranch in our
system of prison administration needs to be reformed ; and
that hitherto so little .systewi has characterized prison admin-
istration in Ontario.'

The .Association has got to the root of the matter, when if.
points out that no sufficient means are at present taken to
prevent the co^ntinual recruiting of the criminal class from

among the waifs and strays, anil the vicious among the
youth of our communities. If crime i-> tf) l)e lessened, if the
criunnal class and it is now, alas, a wellrecogni/cd class in
society- is to be al>olished, or- nearly so, then we must not
go on muki/ii;; criminals, either by neglect or otherwise, 'i'he
only way to decrease the number of ( riminals is {v prevent
boys and girls trou) growing up in crime. It is easier far to
rec!;iim boys and girls from vicious ways than it is to reforn^
the hardened man or woman, steeped in crime. Stop re-
cruiting the criminal class, and the army of the vicious and
abandoned will soon be disl)aiided.

There is no lle.\bilit\ in our penal system, no di.scretionary
power given to judges or lo wardens, no account taken of
circumstances, of mental and morid differences between
privoners ; all are treated alike, and little or no inducement
is lield out for reformation. 'l"he criminal class know and
realize this ([uite well, and when convicted are content to
serve their sentences and l)ide their time, when they will be
free ag;iin to prey upon and torment s(;ciety. \V'hat is the
remetly for this ? Clearly one remedy, as pointed out by
the Association, is : the inauguration, especially in the case
of juvenile criminals, of the system of inHicting indeterminate
sentences. As Dr. Rose))rugh says: "There should be uni-
fication in our prison system. The prisons should be graded,
and the reformatory {jrinciple in its most improved form,
and after the best models, should be incorporated with said
system."

We heartily endorse all these recommendations of the
Association.

It is almost unnecessary to add anything by way of com-
ment to the mere statement of the reforms and ("hanges
a4vocated by the Prisoners' Aid .Vssociation ; they will
commend themselves, we feel convinced, to the good sense
of the community. The great wonder is, that we have
managed to get along without them thus far, and that they
were not introduced long ago. The very projjosal of these
somewhat radical changes in prison administration, coming
as it does from a body of men exp-ericnced in the practical
workings of our present system, shows that some reason, and
indeed, an urgent one, must exist for the inauguration of the
reforms referred to ; and that it is plainly the duty of the
government to look into the matter seriously and care-
ful!). -Evangelical Churchman.

His Honor next referrec! to the ^^aol system.

• He said it was a great mistake to put p.Axor in the

hands of a police officer by which he might apprehend

citizens ami confine tlK-m in the cells ulien tlu-y arc
charged with wiy trivial offences. Vounj^ men are
often C()n\icte(l oi otfenees which do not reall\- ->how
moral ^;ui]t. In thi' jf.iol they consDr* with hardened
criminals and so are educated in criuie. If, he con-
cluded, the dei^raded and the \icious were to meet to
dc\ ise a scheme f(;r the |)ro[)aL;ation of crime they
could ailopt no system to serve their jjurposi- more
fully than the present ^aol system. He notetl with
pleasure that a society had been formed in the cit\' to
improM.! our prison system, <ind he heartily wiihetl
them (iotl-spced. — Address to the drand jury by
fust ice /. /:. Kose. ^

KIIHKRFOKJ) B. U.WJ s. KX-l'RKSIOKNT OK THK ITNITKI*
STATKS, 0.\ PRISON RKFORM.

I think I am not mistaken when I say that among the
jUestiuns which have been amply debated and investigated,
the following are some of those which may be considered
S'.'ttled in the judgment of the Association :

I. As to /V?//.v, prison reform declares that the county jaii
system, as administered in the United States, is adisgraie to
civili/,atit)n, and "hat the administration of justice cannot bo
freed from the charge of miintaining training-schools of
rrime, until the construction and management of these
places are radically changed, so that their inmates shall be
separately confined, and all contaminating intercourse
rendered impossible. The county jail shoukl secure sucli
separation diat no prisoner shall l)e allowed to associate with
any other prisoner.

1. Prison reform requires that, wherever it is practicable,

here shall be separate prisons for women, with officers of
their own sex ; and that in any i)rison in which women are
held under arrest, or as convicts, nntrons or female officers
ouglit to be in constant attendance '

, 3. Prison reform urges the adoption of inflexible rules,
under which the habitual criminal -the unreformed convict
— shall always be held within j)rison walls. Is it not a
reproach to the administration of criminal justice, that well-
known professional criminals, after repeated convictions, are
still at l.irge, preying upon the community and requiring the
constant and vigilant efTorts of the police to prote('t life and
property?

4. Prison reform encourages organized (,'hristian effort to
aid and care for j^risoners after their disrharge. In most
cases no^v, sot^iety does not give the discliarged convicts a
chance to avoid his old haunts and his old conij)anions in
crimi,'. The hrand of Cain is upon him, and every man's
hand IS against him,

5. Pri>!on reform recommends the general education of the
youth of both sexes in industrial pursuits, employing and
training the facuIlKs of both inind and bodv in |)roducti\i;
labor, as an efKicient means of preventing crime

So also with iMlucation in all its lines whetlur moral,
intellectual or industrial - there is no difference of
opinion as to its necessitv, and they believe that under its
intluence the time is coming, anil now is, when a large
majority of the prisoners within the formative period of life
may be returned to liberty as law-abiding and self-supporting
citizens.

.So again, ujion the subject of prison labor, there is no dif-
ference of opinion among us as to its necessity. \\ ithout it
tin re can be no discipline, no progress, no reformation,
nothing of an intelligent prison administration. We believe,
also, that prison labor has no appreciable effect on free
labor, either in the prices of jiroducts or wages. How can
it have, when the produ(-t of convict labor in the United
States, as compared with convict labor in the same indus-
tries, is less than two per cent-, ;ind the tcjtnl ])roduct of
convict labor as compared with the total product of free
labor is only fifty-four one-hundredthsof one per cent.? As
to the systems of jirLson labor, there is doubtless a divergence
of opinion among us, but that is only a matter of detail, to
be determined by the circumstances of the locality in which
the prison is built, and the class of prisoners to be emi)loyed.
In Ohio, where we are grading our prisoners so as to have
life prisoners and inconigibles in one prison, and young men
under thirty convicted of their first offence in another, we
are inclined to adopt for the first prison that system \,hich
will make the most money for the State, and in the .second
whatever system >vill most conduce to the reformation of the
prisoner. In our n fortnatories for boys and in our reforma-
tories for girls we consider the question of laboi the same as in
om- common schools— no more and no less. In the matter
of |irison labor, however, we are satisfied that more depends
upon the efficiency of administration than upon the system
adopted. Under an efficient partisan administration, where
reformation of the pri.soner has no place, the contract system
is undoubtedly the best, for it will make money without any

lisk ; i)ut if the reformation of thi' |)risonir is to be the main
ohjt'ct, then some other system must !)<• adopted, anil trained
iifficers and a eivil sciviee administration is a necessity.

Prison retorm is not sentimenlalism. It does not make
aiartyrs of condemned murderers, or heroes out of convicted
felons. It does not send women to the cells of the justly
con<lemned with rare delicacies and costly llowers ; it is
ashamed of those who do such thinj^'s It does not sij^n
petitions for executive ciemoncv simply because somehcdy
presents them. Prison reforin believes in tlu' enforcement
of law, and the proper punishment of the criminal. As in
the case of inel^riatcs, so in the case of criminals, prison
reform believes in prcjlonged removal from temptation, and
n the case of a confirmed criminal, in imprisonment for
life. Prison n.form holds that this is necessary for the pro-
tection (jf society, and it is also tlif b';st in every way for
the criminal himself. Rut/ierfoul H. JJ('\es.

COUNTY JA ; S.

^There is no other instituti> n in this I'oimtry, having an
ofiicinl and legalized existence, that is sc 'i a reproach an 1
<:urse 'o our civilization. Eui^ene Sinilh.

More of tlie vice and crime ihat prcv- upon 'the com
munity can be directly traced to the corrupting infli"nces of
the county jail, than to any other cause, not excepting ,!ic
use of intoxicating liquors. Sinclair Ti>use\.

Vice is more infectious than di.se.ise, and it would be
more reasonable to put a man into a pesc-house to cure him
of headache, than to confine a young offender in one of our
common jails, organizeil on the common [)lan, to effect his
xc{oxmAX.\on.Eti!vard Livingston.

If it were the deliberate purpose to etsablish criminals in
all that is evil, and to root out the last remains of virtuinis
inclination, this puriiose could not be more effectually
accom[)lished tlian by incarceration in county jails as they
are now, with few excei)tions, constituted and governed. -
Dorothea L. Dix.

What is condemned on all hands is the indiscriminate
overcrowding of the corridors by neophytes in crime and the
hardened wretches who have grown old in wickedness.
This should not be suffered to continue. The prison,
instead of becoming a deterrent, is virtually a seminary of
crime, where experts indoctrinate the juveniles in all the
dark and devious ways that lead to wasted and ruined lives.
— Canadian Presbyterian.

CLASSIFICATION.

Wherever rhese methods have been fully and fairly tried,
crime has decreased and society in all respects has been
largely benefited. Deterrence has not been weakened, but
reformation hjs been largely increased.

Among the means that have been proved to be of most
service, the following are considered by the best authorities
as being the most important : Classification, industrial em-
ployment, indeterminate sentences, education, and prisoners'
aid societies.

The most important requirement in the reformation of
prisoners is classification. Very little can be accomplished'
in the reformation of prisoners while old offenders are
allowed to associate with other prisoners. There is but one
remedy, and that is the absolute separation of the prisoners,
so that no prisoner shall come in contact with any other
prisoner. No half measures will suffice, and (as well put by
Dr. Meredith, of this city) "the choice must be between
separation and contamination." This is known as the
cellular, the individual, or the Philadelphia system. The
separate system was recommended in England by a Select
Committee of the House of Lords as far back as in 1835,
again in 1847, and still again in 1850. In 1855 copies ui
the " Report and Evidence of the Committee of the House
of Lords " just referred to, were transmitted to the then
Governor-Ceneral of Canada, by the Secretary of State
for the Colonies, accompanied by an exhaustive circular
despatch, in order, as the despatch exj^lained, "that the
colony should have the benefit of the experienc of the
Mother country and of the eminent men who have made
that exjjerience their study, for the purpose of effecting any
Amendments which may be needed in the prisons and
system of prison discipline in use in Canada." And in urging
the adoption of the separate sy.stem in Canada it is added :
" You will bear in mind that no ordinary difficulties, nor,
indeed, any difficulties, should be allowed to stand in the
way of the establishment of the .system." Regarding the ne-
cessity of industrial employment for prisoners, there is no
difference of opinion among prison managers. There ran
be no reformation or proper discipline without il. T/ie
Mail.

THE INDETERMINATE SENTENCE.

Dr. E. C. Wines, one of the most emment of America's
penologists, and the originator of the International Prison
Commission, speaks of the Indeterminate Sentence as fol-

1 1

lows : " A criminal is a man who has committed an offence,
and deserves punishment. Hut he is also a man morally
diseased, and needs a cure. The prison is intended to
effect both these ends the punishment and the cure ; nay,
to effect the cure by means of the punishment. Now, as it
is clearly imi)ossible to predict the date of a sick man's
restoration to bodily health, so it is no less impossible to
foretell the day when a moral patient will be restored to
moral soundness. So that, by fixing the duration of the
sentence in this latter case, we run a double risk, namely,
on the one hand of turning the criminal loose on society
before he is cured, and on the other of detaining him after
he is cured. So that by maknig his release depend on the
mere lapse of time, we are almost sure of committing a
wrong on one side or the other -a wrong to society or a
wrong to the ])risoner. Still, again, the protection to society
is at once the end and the justification of imprisonment.
But society is not protected by the criminal's imprisonment,
unless he is reformed by it. 'I'here is the .same rea.son,
therefore, for keeping as for putting him in prison until
there is a moral certainty that, if set at liberty, he will not
go out to prey upon honest people, and to desjioil them of
their property. In such a case the end for which he was
iinj)risoned (the protection of society) fails utterh. The
State is cheated of its due benefit, and receives absolutely
nothing for all the trouble and expense it has incurred in
the apprehension, trial, conviction, and incarceration. We
do not set the madman free till he is cured of his madness.
Neither can we safely, nor even justly, set the criminal free
till he is cured of his proclivity to crime. As the satety of
society and the good of the lunatic reejuire that his confine-
ment should be regulated upon this principle, so equally do
the safetv of society and the good of the criminal require
that his detention .should be adjusted upon the same prin-
vi[)Ie."

In the able paper on "Prison Ref'irm" read by Dr. A.
M. Rosebrugh, before the Canadian Institute, the subject
of Indeterminate Sentences was dealt with. The main idea
ol this system is that a person frecjuently convicted of crime
is in the same category as an insane person, and should be,
when convicted, sent to prison and detained until apparently
cured. This plan has been ably discussed and advocated
by the late Hon. F. Hill, Inspector-Oeneral of Prisons for
Scotlan(l. In 1836 the system was adopted on Norfolk
Island, and is now approved by experts the world over.
Conditional liberation of criminalij naturally follows the

adoption of Indtterminnte Sentences. The system origin-
ated in England as the ticketof-leave plan, and there the
authorities are steadily improving and extending its ojjera-
tions with the most beneficial results. Britain has also set
another good e.xample in the almost universal adoj)tion of
compulsory education of every illiterate criminal coir.mitted
to prison. The whole aim of prison discipline should be
toward reformation of the criminal nnd deterring him from
future crinii'. T/ie Mail.

From the report of the standing committee of the
National Prison Association on the reform of the criminal
law :

1. The substitution of indeterminate sentences in all cases
of conviction, even for minor offences. This indeterminate
sentence is now almost universal in reform and industrial
schools, where the offence is often only nominal, and it
could be easily introduced in all ihi; minor prisons. ^

2. The extencion of this indeterminate sentence into
perpetual confinement for incorrigible offenders. If the
offeiu:e proves to be the result of insanity, epilepsy, habitual
drunkenness or the like, then let the continement i>e suffi-
cient for restraint and the protection of society without tjeing
penal.

Projessor IV'aviand, who was one of this committee,
followed the reading of the report with some general
remarks in the same line : " The treatment of a prisoner
naturally divided itself into two aspects. I^ither he must be
reformed or incapacitated for i'urther crime by the depriva-
tion of his life or his liberty. If a {)risoner was to be
released merely because an arbitrary period was at an end,
that was deliberately throwing society into danger. For
such continually recurring dangers indeterminate sentences
were the only alternative.

In the matter of the indeterminate sentence, the National
Prison Congress is steadily and surely growing up to ihe
conviction of its absolute necessity, if any great progress is
to be made in the reformation of criminals. In fact, I be-
lieve it is safe to say that that conviction has already been
reached, so far at' least as to sentences of young men Vmder
thirty years of age, convieted of their first offence. It be-
lieves also that prisoners who have indicated, by a third
coiiviction, that they are incorrigibly criminid, should be
senitehced for life, and' should not be paroled, at least till

they have served the maximum period fixed by law for the
crime for which they have lieen convicted.

In the matter of city and county jails, the National Prison
Congress has never had but one opinion since 1 have
attended its annual sessions, and its belief is that the
average American jail is an offence against God and hu-
manity, and that no large results can be attained in checking
the- rising tide of crime until it is abolished. We believe
there is but one remedy, and that is the absolute separation
of prisoners, so that no prisoners shall come in contact with
any other prisoner. In Ohio we are building all our new
jails- to secure this result. We believe also that the county
jail should be solely* a place of detention for prisoners
awaiting trial, and that convicted prisoners should be sent to
district workhouses or to the penitentiary, as the gravity of
the offence may indicate. 'I'his result has already been
secured in part by authorizing counties to send their misde-
meanants to the workhouses at Cleveland and Cincinnati,
and (piite a number have availed themselves of the privilege.
— Gen. Bn'nkerhojf, of Ohio.

PRISON l.\bOr.

Extracts from addresses made at the Annual Meeting of
Prisoners' Aid Association, February 26th, 18S9, The
President, Hon. S. H. Blake, spoke as follows : —

" We should have had a member of the Government here
to-night to condescend to listen to the matters that will
come up, and to reforms for which we want legislation ;
they were invited." A commission should be issued, he
said, to investigate these questions. It was a monstrous
wrong to put a man in {jrison and keep him in compulsory
iclleness. The prisoner's labor should be productive. I'urn-
ing to the question of classification of criminals, he said
places of detention were wanted. He did not think there
were so many difliculties in the way of prison lal)or as
labor unions contended ; but, anyway, a coniniission should
be appointed to investigate. He advocated indeterminate
sentences for second offenders. Returning to the question
of classification, he pointed out the danger into which the
State threw youn^, offenders by herding them with the har-
dened criminals, and concluded by calling for a loud voice
to go from that meeting for a commission to '00k into the
present system of prisons, and for remedial measures.

mm.

Rev. I). J. Macdonnei,l made a forcible speech, in which
Ke emphiisized the efficacy of home influences as a i)reven-
tive against crime, and referred as follows to the cjuestion of
prison labor: " I am amazed at the folly of workingmen
who object to prisoners working in prison. 1 do not know
how far they can see beyond their noses, but it is so mani-
festly in the interest of the community that I cannot see
how they can object."

Dr. Lavell made a speech that was full of touching in-
stances'of the reformation of criminals, and dealt with the
evils of the present system. He did not think the State
.should consider its whole duty to society done when it
placed criminals in a prison and provided for their j)unish-
ment. The present system tends to the manufacture rather,
than the reformation of crimnals, simj)ly because of the
ab.sence of classification. When he left Kingiiton there were
in the penitentiary 544 criminals, from sixteen years of age
upward. Sixty per cent, are under thirty years of age ; forty-
five per cent, are under twenty-five ; and over fifteen per
cent, under twenty years of age. Of the 178 j)risoners
received in 1888, twenty per cent, were repeaters. He con-
tended that the prison should be a school to fit the prison
ers to take a place in society on their release. The State
should consider them as wards. If they cannot read and
write, they should be taught. They should be educated
morally, mentally and physically. The men must be trained
to industrial pursuits. The men who are " repeaters " are
not those who have been trained in industrial pursuits.
Work in prisons, to be reformatory, must be intelligent.
He had no sympathy with the argimients of labor unions
against prison labor.

WHITTIER ON IDLENESS IN PRISONS.

A great meeting is to be held in New York this week
to protest against the enforced idleness of prisoners. The
prisoners themselves are .said to be anxious for work. ']"he
views of the Quaker poet on the subject are given in this
len«r: — ._ • „■■::..'::■.'■■ '■■"''-. — v?^*

• "' , '' Uasvers, MASi)., A/>fi7 J, iSSq.

■ ^Mv Dear Mr. Round, — I am glad a public meeting is
to be held in your city to protest in the, name of Christianity
arid human'ity against the enforced idlent^ss in prisons, perili'

»5

ous alike to body and mind, which can only result in filling
your prisons with maniacs. My sympathies are with the
laboring class in all their just demands, and 1 would tavor
every legitimate measure which promises to benefit them.
But the suppression of labor in the prisons is too small a
gain for them to be purchased by the transformation of
prisons into madhouses. I trust further reflection and
knowledge of the dreadful consequences of the slow torture
of brooding idleness will ere -long induce them to forego
what must be a trifling benefit at the best. With my best
wishes for the success of your philanthropic endeavors,
I am truly thy friend,

loHN O. Whittier.

We n^ust press for a commission. A good report on ttie
subject will give the Government something to act upon, and
remove, to a large extent, the fear which, ut present, ()re-
vents their interfering with the C'ounty Councils in the man-
aj:;ement of the gaols.- v7?;«. ii'. //. Blake.

You will accomi)lish more thro .gh a Government com
mission than in any other ^.v^. -Warden N. I.avell.

A practical difficulty in prison reform is the divided con
trol of the County gaols. In many cases the (rovernmenl
Inspector makes certain recommendations with regard to a
particular gaol. This recommendation is ignored by the
County Council. The recommendation is repeated, and is
again ignored, and so on, year after year; and the Govern-
ment declines to coerce the County Council, for ear of
endangering their popularity. The remedy is for the Ciov-
ernment to assume complete control of all tlu; gaols of the
Province.— _/. Cameron^ Gaoler, Woodstock.

The remedy is in anut-shell,- a central prison in thC east
and a central prison in the west, — both on the I'Llmira
reformatory principle, and large emuigi to completely relieve
the gaols of all prisoners under sentence, just what I rcf f)m
mended to the (iovcnment years ago.- y. W. Langmuir,
late InspecU)}- of Prisons.

Oommunications on the subject of Prison Reform should
be directed to Dr. A. M. Rosebrugh, Chairman of the Prison
Reform Committee, 121 Church Street, Toronto.

Id
)n