■■ *^*^, v^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) L<>^*^^ Wcf , 4^' (.0 1.1 11.25 ■u lii 12.2 s; ufi 12.0 u Ui& ii^i^l 1.6 fliotDgrafte SdHioes Corporation 23 WIST MAIN STiHT WIBSTIR,N.Y. 14S(I0 ( 71* ) 172-4503 m* CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Instit Jte for Historical l^icror«productions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions liistoriquas Technical and Bibliographtc Notaa/Notaa tachniquaa at bibiiographiquaa Tha Instituta haa atctamptad to obtain tha boat original copy availabia for filming. Faaturaa of thia copy which may ba bibiiographieaiiy uniqua, which may altar any of tha imagao in tha raproduction, or which may algnifieantly changa tha uaual mathod of filming, ara chackad balow. r~l Colourad covara/ ! vl Couvartura da coulaur I I Covara damagad/ D n n n n Couvartura andommagia Covara raatorad and/or laminatad/ Couvartura raataurAa at/ou palliculAa I — I Covar titia miaaing/ La titra da couvartura manqua □ Colourad mapa/ Car\«a gAographiquas an coulaur Colourad ink (i.a. other than blua or black)/ Encra da coulaur (i.a. autra qua blaua ou noire) I — I Colourad platea and/or illuatrationa/ Planchea at/ou illuatrationa an couleur Bound with other material/ Re!i£ avac d'autrea documanta Tight binding may cauae ahadowa or diatortion along interior margin/ La re liure aarr^a peut cauaar da I'ombre ou de la diatortion la long da la marge intirieure Blank leavea added during reatoration may appear within the text. Whenever poaaibki, theae have been omitted from filming/ II ae peut que certainea pagea blanchea aJoutAea lora d'une reatauration apparaiaaent dana la texte, mala, loraque cela *t»it poaaible, cea pagea n'ont pea At* tilmAea. Additional commenta:/ Commentairea auppMmentairea; L'Inatitut a microfilm* la mailleur OMemplaira qu'il lui a it* poaaible de ae procurer. Lea d*tail8 de eat exemplaire qui aont paut-Atre uniquaa du point da vue Mbliographlqua, qui peuvent modifier une Image /eprodvite, ou qui peuvent cxiger une modification dana la m*thoda normale de filmaga aont indlqu*a ci-daaaoua. Til to D D n D Q D D D n Coloured pagea/ Pagea de couleur Pagea damaged/ Pagea endommag*aa Pagea raatorad and/or laminated/ Pagea reataur*aa at/ou pellicul*es Pagea diacoloured. atained or foxed/ Pagea d*color*ea. tachet*ea ou piqu*aa Pagea detached/ Pagea d*tcle. Thia item ia filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document eat film* au taux de r*ductk>n indiqu* oi-deaaoua. Tt P( of fil Oi bi th all ol fil ail Ol Tl al Tl w M di ei bi ri ri nr 10X MX itx 22X 26X aox c V 12X lex SDX MX 2BX '. '., -, 32X Th* copy fllm«d hw has bMn raproduMd thanks to tho o«n«nMity of: Library of tha Public Archivaa of Canada Tha imagaa appaarlng hara ara tha baat quality potslbia conaMarlng tha condition and laglbillty of tha oriolnal copy and in icaaping with tha filming contract apacif Icationa. Original copiaa In printad papar covara ara flimad beginning with tha front covar and anding on tha iaat paga with a printad or iiiuatratad impras- •ion, or tha back covar whan appropriata. Ail othar original copiaa ara filmad beginning on tha first paga with a printad or Iiiuatratad impras- sion, and anding on tha last paga with a printad or lllustratad imprasslon. Tha last recorded frame on each microfiche shell contain the symbol ^4^ (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END '). whicliever eppiles. Maps, plates, charts, etc., mey be filmed at different reduction ratios. Thoae too large to be entireiy included in one expoeure ere filmed beginning in tlte upper left hand comer, left to right and top to bottom, as meny framea as rsquired. The followir - diagrams illustrate the method: 1 2 3 L'exemplaira fllm4 f ut reproduH grice i la gAnArositA da: La bibllothAqua des Archives publiques du Canada Lee imegea suhrantes ont 4t4 reproduites evec le plus grand soln, compta tenu de le condition et do le netteti da rexemplaira film*, et on conf ormit* evec lea conditions du contrat da flimage. Lee exemplalres origineux dont la couvarture an papier est imprimis sent flimte en commen^ant par hi premier plat et en terminant soit par la darnlAre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impresslon ou d'lllustratlon, soit par la second plet, seion ie cas. Tous las autres exemplalres origineux sent fllmAs en commen9ent par la premMre page qui comporte une emprelntM d'Impreaalon ou d'lllustration et en terminant par la damlAre pege qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles sulvants apparaltra sur la darnlAre imege de cliaque microfiche, selon le cas: la symboie -^ signlfle "A SUIVRE", le symbols Y signlfle "FIN". Las csrtes, plenches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atra fiimAs A des taux de rAduction diff Arents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atra raproduit en un soul cilcliA, II est flimA A partir de I'angle aupArieur geuche, de gauetie A droita. at de haut en bea, en prenent le nombre d'Imagae nAcessalre. Lea diagrammes aulvants illustrant la mAthode. 1 2 3 4 5 6 d ■i\t PR GLANCE AT THE PRESENT STATE OF TUB €mmm (§mh of Canak, &c., &c., &c. A P A P J". R M before Ibe JLIieNri) qi]5 gl^ioHcul Socieijj of Qiiebec, Gtu Aprii, 1864. BY E. A. MEREDITH, LL. D. PRINTED BY HUNTER, ROSE k Co., No. 2 J, ST. URSULE STRBET. 1864. GLANCE AT THE PRESENT STATE or TUB COMMON GAOLS OF CANADA. Till': INDIVIDUAL SEPARATION OV PRISONKUS (WITH SHORTENEP SENTENCES) RECOMMENDED ON MORAL AND ECONOMIC GROUNDS. "There arc in every couutj InEuglund large itublicacliool.-", iiiiiinlaimd lit the expense of the county, for the encourngemcnt of profligaiy and vice, and for providing a proper succession of housebreakers, profligates, aud thieves. They cro gcliools, too, conducted without tlic smuUest degree of partiality or favour, there being no man (howcvnr mean his birth or obscure Ilia lituation) who may not easily procure admission to them. The momciit any young person eviac«8 the slightest propensity lor lliese i)ursuits, he is provided with food, clothing and lodging, and put to his studies under tiie ^ most accomplibhed thieves and cut tliroiits tlie country can supply. Tlicrc is not, to be sure, a formal arrangement of lectures, after tlie manner of our Universities ; but the petty la-'cenous stripling, being left destitute of every species of employment, and locked up with accomplished \iilaini. as idle as himself, listens to their pleasant narrative of successful crimes, and pants for the hour of freedom, that he may begin the Siimc bold and interesting career.' This is tbo picture drawn by the late SyJiioy Smith ot' the pri- sous of Englaud, a little move than forty years ago — a perfectly true picture, he tells U8, of the pvi^ions of many counties in Engluml at that time. Happily, a great revolution has since then been effected in prison discipline in England, and if there is still luucli room fur improvement in her pribon system, yet there arc few, if any, prisons in t'lat country to which the preceding description would now be apflicable. To bring about that much-needed reform, few, per- haps, contributed more than the famous Canon of St. Paul's, whose strong good sense, caustic humour, and tvcnchant logic were never employed with more effect or more hearty good will than in laying bare the social abuses of his time. Aud if the prison discipline of England is to attain a still liigher degree of excellence, it will pro- bably be by following out and developing the admirable practical suggestions contained in the essays on prisons written by Sydney Smith more than forty years ago. It is a very strong argument to mj mind, in favor of the views COMMON (um.s. whicli :iic advauccd in tho picsout paper, that tboj arc in the luuin identical witli those so powcrlully enforced by that j^rcat social reformer. The picture yiveu by Sydney Smith, though intended for the gaoltJ of England alone, wis unhappily applicable to the gaol.s of nearly all countries at that time. Certainly it contains u most truthful representation of tho condition of tho gaols of th's Canada of ours a few years back. The first important step taken in (Canada, towards relbriiiing our prison system, was by the establishment, in 1859, of a IJoard of luipecturs of Asylums and Prisuus. As a member of that ]]oard since its llrst establishment, I certainly am not irjclined to uudervaluo its labours in the niattcr ol prison refunu, and duriii,L,' the course of tho remarks wbioh I'ullow J shall have occasion to notice some t»f tho improreracnts whicii havel)een elfcetcd in uur prison system throuj;h the instrumentalily of tho Hoard. Tut tho powers of tho inspectors reach but a short way, while tlu evils lo be remedied were of lou^' growth, widely si>road, iind di.eply rooted. Though, mueh, therefore, lins already I \'n tlone, mueh, very much, remains to 1)0 done before wo can rest satijificd with our work, before we can pretend that our prisons and prison discipline in (.'anada arc at all what they ought to be in a civilized and Christian land. We have said thnt Sydney Smith's picture of tho county gaols of England forty years ago was a faithful representation of all our gaols in Canada, a very few years )»ack. Is it possible th..t it is a faithful picture of any of om prisons at the present day i* Can it bo true that any of ouv gaols now arc nurseries of crime, school!* where our criminals arc trained in vice atid educated for tho peni- tentiary and the gallows ? Can it bo po.«sildc that we still have gaols where wc arc systematically maniifacturintj criminals instead of rc- fonninj ihem ? Those who are best acquainted with our common griols, particularly those of our larger cities, (Juebee, 3Iontreal and Toronto, will be least likely to answer these litafy eonfino- ment is eTcr exercised in eithsi section of the Province. Indeed, until within COMMON OAOLS. 9 But while, through the etForts of the Board, many important changes have thus been eflFected in our system of prison discipline, and while many others have been 8uj;gested, it appciirs to rae that the giant evil of the whole system has been left almost wholly un- touched and unchallenged. I refer to the free intercourse which the prisoners are permitted to have in thoir wards or day-rooms. Unchecked association among our prisoners — and there is no check of any kind on the intercourse of the prisoners in our gaols — is synonimous with the corruption and contamination of all who have not reached the lovel of degradation of the worst and lowest. Class- ify the prisoners, and you diminish the evil, but assuredly you do not cure it. There is but the one real remedy, and that is the strict and absolute separation of the prisoners one from the other. It would but little avail in our hospitals to enforce cleanliness in the wards, and to secure able medical advice f«r the patients, if, at the same time, we permitted those who were infected with loath- some and contagious diseases to mix with the ordinary patients. How much more unwise — how much more cruel is it so to organize our gaols (our moral hospitals) as to allow those who are morally diseased to the very core to pollute and contaminate, by their pre- sence and conversation, the young and comparatively (nay, possibly wholly) innocent prisoners w- oni accident or misfortune may have made, for the time, their associates in person ! If, then, association of pri^ouerii in gaol is in fact (as I hold it is) pynonimous with their contamination oud" corruption, we are bound to put a stop to it. If the State cannot or will not make auy effort to reform its prisoners, it is at least its plain and bounden duty to see that those whom it thrusts into prison do not leave it more depraved and vicious than they were when they enter- ed it. If it will not reform them, at least it should not make them worse. Hard labor constitutes at present the only punishment super- added by the courts in Canada to the deprivation of the prisoner's liberty. But strange as it may seem, this " hard labour " to which the last two or throo years, it would hare bcon wrong to attempt to enforce such a sentoQCp.. there boiug in few, if any, of tho gaols, colli suitable for the purpose. 10 COMMON GAOLS. our prisoners are day after day solemnly Hcntcuced by the courts, really meaus nothing. The sentence is rarely, if ever, enforced, and in most cases the prisoner hears the la&t of his hard labour when he has heard the words from the lips of the judge. The term " hard labour," though so frequently used in our courts, is not, so far as I am aware, deflncd any where in our Statutes. lu England " hard labour " iu gaols is generally understood, for even there the words lack legal precision, to niofin penal or unproduc- tive labour, such as the tread-wLcol, the crank, or shot-drill. Such labour is designated "hard labour," In contradistinction to ordinary industrial labour. There is not a solitary gaol in Canada in wliich " hard labour," in the sense of penal, unproductive labour, has been or is carried out, — cranks, tread-whccls, and shot drill being absolutely unknown in our Canadian prisons. But taking the sentence of hard labour in the .sense in which it is perhaps generally understood in Canada, as referring that is, to such ordinary industrial labour as is occasionally carried on in our Canadian gaols, as, for example, breaking stones, sawlug wood or the like, it is still certain that In this acceptation of the term " hard labour," there arc very few prisons in the province where tho sentence could be strictly carried out, for the simple reason that there arc very few prisons where it is possible to give tho prisoners so sentenced constant work of any sort to do. To introduce " hard labour," iu the strict penal sense of the word, into our gaols would of course be possible, by making it compulsory to have in each gaol a trcad-whccl, crank or apparatus for shot-drill; but this would Involve a large outlay in the first instance, as well as a pernianont addition to the staflFof each gaol, for the purpose of superintending tho prlsoaers undergoing the sentence. The cost therefore would of Itself be a serious if not a fatal objection to such an attcntpt. On the other hand, the proved impossibility of obtaining a con- stant supply of industrial occupatiou for the i)rIsoncrs in the com- mon gaols forbids us to hope that by resorting to the use of indus- trial oooupationj the sentence of '' hard labor " could bo rigidly en- forced. COMMON GAOLS. 11 in I For myself I do not hesitate to avow, that while I aw totally op- posed to the false and mistaken humanity which seeks to make the condition of the criminal in gaol an object of envy to the honest laborer outside ; while I am prepared to advocate a stern and severe prison discipline, a di&ciplinc calculated to teach the lesson " that the way of transgressors is hard" — while I am desirous to sec *^ penal luhor " part of the ordinary sentence of every prisoner in the central gaols, where the proper machinery for the purpose might bo established, and the necessary fiupervision exercised — yet I am fully persuaded that it is wrong in principle and unwise iu prac- tice to make any industrial occupation part of a prisoner's punish- ment. Our efforts should be directed rather to conquer than to iu- crease that dislike to labor which, in all probability, has mainly con- tributed to bring the man to prison. Make ordinary labor part of the prisoner's punishment, and his aversion to labor cannot fail to bo intensified. If, on the contrary, the discipline of our prisons could be so organized (as I believe it might be in the proposed central prisons), that the prisoners should come to regard the permission to work as an indulgence and a boon, something would be done to di- minish the man's distaste for labor, if not to give him a positive liking for it. " ^Fake your prisoners industrious^" said Howard the philantb.ropist, " and you make them virtuous." Which system is the more likely to make tuen industrious, that which makes labor a punishment, or that which makes labor a reward ? I do not, however, deem it necessary here to do more than allude to this objection to making industrial labor the sole or principal part of the punishment of the prisoners iu our gaols, because, as I have already gtat-d, however anxious we might be todoso, it would be practically impossible to carry out such a sentence. As a matter ot fact, then, we cannot enforce " hard labor," whether ^^penaV* or ^' iuilustrial" in our common gaols. But is there anything to prevent us from enforcing what I propose to sub- stitute iu its stead — ''solitary confinement?" None whatever. All experience proves that the deterrent influence of "solitary pun- ishment " is incomparably greater than that of hard labour, however severe the latter may be. There is no part of prison discipline 12 COMMON QAOLS. whioh the ordiDary iDioates of our gaols droad so much ns '' solitary confioeraeat," none which exercises so bcucfiulul and powerful a moral influence on the prisoner's mind, especially >f uccompanicd tor, at least, part of the sentence with enlorccd idlcuoss, for " idle- ness in solitude leads to repentance, idleness in coiupuuy leads to vice." Solitary continemcut is now regarded iu truth as the basis of every sound system of prison discipline. Whatever diversity of opinion there may still be is to the propvioty of rigidly enforcing "solitary confinemcut" for Iohij pcrioih ii pcnid'ntiiwlci^, nil writers arc agreed that for the ehort-sentencod prisoners ol' our common gaols " solitary confinement " during the whole term of thu sentence is not only unobjectionable and practicable, but that it is the wisest and the best system. '' Solitary confinement" is, however, uuijuestiouably u much moio severe punishment than " hard labor," and therefore in England even, where " hard labor " is really enforced in the strictest way by means of "tread-wheels," "cranks," or "shot-drill," ten day's " solitary confinement " is considered as fully equiva- lent to thirty days' imprisonment with "hard labor." In this country, therefore, where the " hard labor " is entirely imaginary, if " solitary confinement " were substituted for it, the sentences should at the same time be considerably reduced, probably to one-third of their present length. Let us recapitulate briefly, theadvantagcs whicii would be gained by thus substituting " solitary confinement " for " hurd labor," sup- posing the sentence of im.prisonment to be at the same time reduced to one-third its present length. First. The punishment would be more formidable to the piisonervi, and its deterrent influence consequently much greater. Something would thus be done to render our z'mU what hitherto they have not been, " a terror to evil-doers." Secondly. The moral influcrct ;u the minds of the prisouers could hardly fail to be saluta.y. Thirdly. Above and befcro riH, it would effectually check the sys- tem of corruption and denxcv: ization which must go on in any gaols where prisoners, however v.cil classified, are permitted to associate freely with one another. Our gaols would thus cease to be, as they { COMMON GAOLS. 1) have been hitherto, hotbcda'of iDfamy, and nuraerioa of vice and crime.* To this result of the introduction of the system of separate con- finement in onr common gaols, namely, the checking of the demor- alization and corruption of which they have hitherto been the cen- tres, I attach, as I have already intimated, even moro importance than to its deterrent influences. Fourthly. It would diminish immediately (by probably one-halt) the average number of prisoners confined in our gaols, and conse- quently virtually more than double the accommodation of the gaols. Fifthly. It w^ould diminish the cost of the maintenance of our prisons to the same extent, or nearly to the same extent, as it reduc- ed the average number of prisoners confined in them . Sixthly. It would tend to bring about what is most desirable, a uniformity of punishment in prisons. It is hardly necessary to observe that so long as prisoners are sentenced to hard labor, in the absence of any proper machinery in the majority of gaols systematically to enforce the sentence, there must be great inequalities in the penal discipline of different gaols. The severity of the prisoners' punishment will, in fact, bo deter- mined, not by the sentence of the judge, but by the extent to which, in any particular gaol, the authorities have the means or in- clination to enforce hard labor. It would have, moreover, this incidental advantage which is worth souer.H, icthing y have "'How much it couccrns us to chock the process of demoralization and c«r- ruption now Roing on among the prisoners in our gaols, will at once bo ad- mitted when it is remembered that the average number of annual imprison- ments in the common gaols of Canada during the last fivo years, ia between 11,000 and 12,000. If any eno needs proof of the frightful effects of the present system in our un- improved gaols, he will find it in the sad examples furnished in the separate report of Mr. Inspeetor Ferres for the year 1802; examples, be it remembered, all taken from ono single prison, that of Montreal. Alluding to the revelations contained in Mr. Ferrets' report as to the way in which criminals were manufac- tured in the Montreal gaol, a leading newspaper of Montreal remarks ; " The gaols ot our great towns are nurseries of vice. They breed, rear and educate criminals for the work of preying on society. They rob the community of the wealth that might be earned by felons if saved from this baneful education. They entail the heavy cost of catching, trying, and keeping incarcerated, at these prisons, educated felons " To put an end to a system which bears such fruits, would bo, indeed, a con- summation devoutly to be wished ; and this we might hope to do by the intro- duction of solitary confinement. 14 COMMON OAOL0. noting, that it would relieve the judges from the ueoessity of daily goiog through the sulcmn furco of pronouncing sentences, which they, the prisoners and the public, well know, cannot possibly be enforced. The ablest writers on the subject ofprison discipline in Kugland have, of late years, earnestly urged the necessity of enforcing separate oonliDcment in all common gaolfl, and reocutly these vicwii have been advocated most forcibly in the admirable report of the select committee of the House of Lords, on the state of prison discipline in England, made last year. Trgiug the necessity of the complete separation of prisoners while in gaol, they observe: " The committee entertain a very decided opinion on this head, and having reference to the course of lou;islation now extending over i my years, and the agreement in opinion and practice of the highest authorities, they consider that the system generally known as the 'separate system' must now be acccptcl as the foundation of prison discipline, and that its rigid maintenance is a vital principle in the efficiency of county and borough gaols." They quote also, with approval, the opinvon expressed by former Commissioners, that " (the separation of one prisoner from another is the only sound basis on which a reformatory discipllno can bo established with any reasonable hope of success." * I have already stated that there is at present an almost universal concurrence of opinion among writers upon the peculiar value of " solitary confinement " as a part of prison diselipline. I may again cite here the opinion of probably the greatest (jrerman au- thority on questions of this sort — Professor Mittcrmaier — quoted in my separate report of 18G2 : '' The old disputed question," says the professor, "whether the system of 'associated imprisonment ' or of ' solitary confinement,' is to be preferred, and how the former might be amended, disappears, giving place to a general conviction, the result of recent investigation, that * solitary confinement' must bo recognized as an indispensable part of all prison discipline. The question at present is rather whether ' solitary confinement' should * The conclusions of the committee are entirely sustained by tho concurring testimony of tho very numerous ncd highly competent witnesses examined before them. nOMMt>\ (lAOLS. 15 y of daily C9, which ossibly be ICugland enforcing leso viewn jrt of the of prison iifcy of the re: "The id having ver r any highest wn as the idation of principle aoto also, iissioncrs, ly sound with any universal value of I may rman au- juoted in )n," says onmcnt ' e former nviction, must be 10. The ' should concurriD/; examined ': 1 1)0 adopted as g<'iioral and only system in euriyingout the entire execution of sentences of impvisoiiment, or whotlier it shall be em- ployed only lor a part of the ••entenee." I^pon this point Sir .loshuiv ifebb and .Sir Walter Orofton, the great rival authorities in'Kngland and Ireland (whoso opinions upon iiinny other points are at variance), are perfectly agreed. The adoption of "solitary punishment" instead of the present utterly illusory hcnteueo of ** hurd labour," would now bo possible in many of our gaols in (/anada, I'ntil very lately indeed it would not have been possibhi in any. Four years ago, wbcn the present lioard entered upon its duties, tlujre was not in the eitire provinec, from (jaspif' to Ainherstburgh, a single gaol wliere it would have been practicable to enforeo " solitary cen'inenient." Now, however, there arc ample means of enforcing this eomplete separation, not only in all the new gaols (about one-fourth of the whole), but also in a great number of the old gaols — in all those, in fact, in which alterations and additions have been made in accordance wiih the ro(|uiremcnts of the law and the suggestions of the Hoard.* To have earlier attempted the change now proposed would, there- lore, have been premature, but it is submitted that there Is no valid reason why the ohange should not now be made. It is, indeed, true that there are still some few gaols in both Upper and Lower Canada in which, from their defective construction, it would be impossible to carry out strictly the principle of " solitary confinement." But there does not appear to bo any sufficient reason for not intrudu. eing the change of system in those gaols where " solitary confine, ment" could bo really enforced. At the worst, even if "solitary confinement " were substituted at once in all our prisons iu place of " hard labour," we should bo much better off than at present, for the latter sentence cannot be enforced in one single gaol in (Janada, whereas the former could be from the first enforced in a very largo number of them. There would be this benefit, more ^'In all tho gaols above referred to, there ia a certain proportion of the cells, generally about one-third of the whole number, termed " night and day" cells, which were intended by the Board to bo used for separate confinement. These colls are as largo as those now used in England for tho same parpose, feet long by 6 feet wide. See question 1002 in report of selcot committee of the House of Lorda un prison discipline, for 18C2. S 16 rOMMOV GAOLS. orer, rosuliing from the iuiincdiato adoption dF tho proposed njn- icm of " Bolitary conflnemcut " with shortened sentences in the gaols whore the construction would allow of its being introduced, that the great economy of the new system as compared with the old would at once be made apparen t, and municipal councils and other public bodies who cannot be persuaded to make the noecs- pary alterations in their gaols from motives of humanity or moral- ity might yet be induced to make them from motives of economy. It is not necessary to discuss here at any length the question, which is merely one of detail, as to the time and manner of making the proposed change in our prison nystem. I shall merely remark in passing that it appears to ice the change might bo at once in- troduced into all those gaols which should be certified by the Board to the Government to be adapted for it, and that the remaining prisons might be from time to time proclaimed in the ofiieial Gazette as coming within the meaning nf the Act, on its being duly certified to the Government by the Board that the ncccpsary alterations had been made in them to adapt them to the purpose. The system thus strongly recommended by the Committee of the House of Lords has indeed already been partially tried in Eng- land, and with the most satisfactory results. In 1839 an Act was passed (2 and 3 Vic., cap. r)G) authorizing the separate confine- ment of prisoners during the whole or any part of their imprison- ment in gaol. The following extract from the Report of the In- spector of Prisons for the Southern District of England,' for the year 1862, shows how well the Act ha.s worked : " It is very satisfactory to refer to the irroat and manifold im- provements that have taken place in the (.'onstruction and discipline in the prisons of England and Wales since the enactment of the Statute 2 and 3 Victoria, cap. 56, by which the separate confine- ment of prisoners, as contra-distinguished from solitary confinement, was first sanctioned by law. In the year 1843, when I had the honor to be appointed to my present ollicc, tlicro wore two prisons only in the part of the country now comprised in the Southern District, in which advantage had been taken of the provisions of that Act. * >i« * * These prisons, at the time COMMON (iAOLR. 17 )SOcl 8J5- 9 in tbo prisons ?outhcrn risions of the time to which I refer, contained \oh» than an aggregate number of 200 certified colls, whereas at tho present time there are moro than 8000 which have received tho legal sanction to bo used in tho same form of discipline. In indicating this chango as evidence of tho growing conviction of tho advantages which have attended tho adoption of Koparate confinement, it should be mentioned that moro than nine- tenths of tho cells so certified are contained in prisons expressly built for tho oxeroiso of this discipline, and tho remainder have been obtained by alterations of existing ccll!>, of so exponsivo n character that they would not havo been undertaken without a Ktrong conviction of tho superiority of tho form of discipline to bo carried out in them." Tho Inspector adds that tho number of commitments to tho prisons thus altered, rapidly decreased, and that in many gaols it was reduced to one-half what it had bc'7n ten years before. Tho provisions of the Imperial statute just referred to, respecting the separate confinement of prisoners, leave the matter to tho discre- tion of the local authorities. But tho committee of the House of Lords, in their report, recommend " that legislative measures bo taken as speedily as possible to render tho adoption of separation obligatory upon all gaols and houses of correction in England and ' Wales, and that the payment of the proportion of the charge^ now issued from the public revenues in aid of the county and borough prisons be made contingent, in each case, on tho adoption of tho soparate system." If the adoption of tho " separate system " be necessary in England, whore every gaol possesses in its chaplain, its schoolmaster — its sys- tem of hard labor — so many agencies to check or counteract the evil cft'ccts of the association of the prisoners, how much more ne- cessary is such a system in Canada, whore our gaols are without chap- lains, without school-masters, without any means of providing la- bor for our prisoners, and where, consequently, the system of associa- tion of prisoners is left wholly unchecked to produce its sad and bitter fruits. In conclusion, I would observe that the subject which I have ven- tured to bring under your notice this evening, is one of no ordinary practical importance to society. It belongs, however, to ^ class of 18 COMMON (JAOLS. HX'inI quoMtionjj which have ii.it, in uiy o|)iiiiuii,rot't'ivtMl ii(UM|ii;ihMit- trntioii from tho thinking and cdiicntcil men in tlnMotiininnily. It iH niuinly with the hope of awakening, in Honio degree, a peisonal intercHt in theHO great Rueiul prohlcnis among tlie monihers ul* this society, and through them in tho puhlio generally, that I have been induced to nddrcH» you on tho present Huhjeet. Ni> important ehangcH in our prison Hystom are likely to ho cfTtu'ted until those ihangcs are demanded and supported hy public opinion, and the first step towards <'rcating this public opinion is to excite a personal in- terest in these qucBtiouM among thinking men. It is the sum of personal interest, felt and expressed on such subjects by the intelli. gontmindsof tho community, which, in every free country, forms and moulds the character of public opinion ; and it is this public opinion which ordains and shapes the laws and institutions of the la-nl. r^