UC-NRLF SB SO CO l> CO o H /y? PRISON DISCIPLINE. THE FALLACIES AT the present period there appears to be an increasingly pervading feeling in the public mind with regard to the proper treatment of criminals ; that interest has been greatly enhanced of late from the prominence given to the subject of criminal jurisprudence by the public press. We hail public discussion upon any question as a favourable sign ; for, by discussion, ignorance is dispelled, and truth is elicited. Amongst the foremost of the public journals that have appeared to take a decided lead upon the question of Prison Discipline, we may mention the London Times. We are ready to concede, to the fullest extent, the vast power and mighty preponderance of that- periodical in influencing and controlling public opinion ; hence, its importance as a medium of communication, and the means of diffusing influences fertile with results that may be beneficial to mankind, or most pregnant with evil. Through such channels, 14 PRISON DISCIPLINE. which are daily commentaries, it is, that impressions are imper- ceptibly imbibed, which more or less become fixed principles of action. May we not then infer, that when information is thus received upon questions of great national utility, involving, deeply involving, the moral interests of the social compact, it is of the highest importance that the opinions so admitted should be from authority on which the most positive reliance may be placed ; that sentiments derived from such sources, should leave a thorough con- viction on the mind, that there may be the utmost dependence upon the knowledge thus acquired ? We are led to make these few prefatory remarks in reference to a subject in which the Times have professed to feel more than an ordinary interest : it is not too much to say, that they have taken " a decided lead" upon the question of Prison Discipline, and their readers cannot fail to have been imbued with strong prejudices in relation to the mode of the treatment of criminals which they have from time to time so strenuously denounced. We have read carefully, and with no common interest, the diver- sified statements, and we may say watched also, with deep concern, the various incongruities, of the Times in reference to that subject ; we cannot, therefore, refrain from expressing ourselves strongly on their proceedings. And we are compelled to charge them First, with a knowledge and suppression of facts, which they have most culpably distorted and perverted, to support their own pre- judiced, and, as appears to us, egregiously mistaken views of Prison Discipline. Secondly, we impute to them that they are uninstructed in the true nature, operations, and results of a great vital and national subject, on which they have presumed to be the directors of public opinion : and Thirdly, we accuse them of most unduly and arrogantly taking advantage of the popular ignorance ; assuming, as they seem to have done, that their statements are entitled to general credence and implicit belief. We repeat, that we are aware of their immense power and influ- THE FALLACIES OP " THE TIMES." 15 ence ; we well know, upon entering on this controversy, the unequal position we occupy the opportunity they have, and the nonchalance with which, when unable to bring fact and argument to bear, they can treat with ridicule and contempt those who may have the hardi- hood to contend with them, and that, with the dash of a paragraph, they may hold up, comparatively, to public derision, such persons. But we appeal not to the Times in this matter ; a reflecting and dispassionate community are able to judge, and to form their opinion of the right and the wrong in the argument, of the fairness or perver- sion of dealing, when truth and falsehood are placed in juxta-position. This we shall attempt to show in sifting the artifices, tracing the misrepresentations, and winnowing the chaff of sophistication of the Times ; and it is before the public we lay our evidence, and to the public we appeal. " The appalling announcement made by the National" referred to in the Times of the 25th November, 1843, with regard to the alleged " horrible results" of (we presume unmitigated J solitary confinement upon thirty political prisoners, consigned to the dun- geons of St. Michel, in France, is made the occasion for that journal to issue forth its denunciations against the system of discipline in operation at the Eastern Penitentiary at Philadelphia, and in the new Penitentiary at New Jersey, in the United States ; and, after detailing the effects of solitary confinement upon the political of- fenders alluded to, it proceeds at once, without reservation or qualification, to impute the same disastrous consequences as accruing to the inmates of the Penitentiaries which we have named ; whilst it is insidiously intended, as will appear from the leading articles which we shall have occasion to notice, to produce also a strong impression on the public mind against the more recent introduction of the separate system into this country, endeavouring to lead the reader to the belief that solitary confinement in the subterranean holds of St. Michel, in France, and separate confinement in the cells of the Model Prison, Pentonville, are identical in their nature, and " may be" equally baneful in effect. We commence our quotations from the Times of Nov. 25, 1843 16 PRISON DISCIPLINE. " Similar deplorable results have arisen from the enforcement of the " same accursed system in the Eastern Penitentiary at Philadelphia, " and in the New Penitentiary in New Jersey, in the United States." Whether such a sweeping declaration be founded in fact, and whether there be any analogy, will be shown by the evidence we shall produce from the official documents of the institutions men- tioned by that Journal. We will make a few citations as to the GENERAL HEALTH of the inmates of the Eastern Penitentiary, begin- ning with the third Report, for 1831. The physician states, " No " particular disease can be said to prevail in the Penitentiary, as " the result of the mode of confinement or discipline, and no mental " affection has been superinduced." In the Fourth Report, for 1832, the physician also says, "No " facts have been developed during this year, to show that the mode " of confinement adopted at the Eastern Penitentiary is particularly " injurious to health ; it has the effect of rendering the frame less " robust, but, at the same time, prevents the operation of numerous u causes of disease to which persons of the class which generally fill " our prisons, are usually exposed, either from necessity, or from " the indulgence of vicious habits ; the comparative healthfulness of " the confinement and mode of discipline must be apparent, as " exhibited in the comparative health on admission and discharge of " twenty prisoners liberated during the year." Dr. Franklin Bache further reports, " Upon the whole it may " be affirmed, that the health of the prisoners has been good during " the year : the same period has proved destructive of human life " in portions of our country, from the prevalence of pestilence ; " (cholera) but happily, from the isolated condition of our prisoners, " and the regularity of their lives, the destructive cause has passed " over them, without producing disease. Health continues to be " enjoyed by a number of prisoners, whose periods of imprisonment ft have been the longest." Fifth Report, for 1834. " The health of the prisoners for this " year has been better than for any preceding year since the opening jof the Penitentiary. Upon the whole, it may be safely asserted, THE FALLACIES OF " TUE Tl.MKs." 17 " as the result of more than four years' experience of the operations " of this Penitentiary, that the peculiar mode of confinement, so " far from being injurious to the health of the convicts, is generally " beneficial, and forms a decided improvement in this particular " over the modes of incarceration pursued in other prisons. " The medical facts derived from the experience of this year, are " more valuable than those of any former period ; inasmuch as they " are founded upon the observations of a larger number of prisoners." Sixth Report, 1835. " The number of cases of disease occurring " this year has been greater, in proportion to the number of pri- " soners, than in any former year since the opening of the Peniten- " tiary. The increase of disease was confined chiefly to July and " August ; during which months, in consequence probably of the " extreme heat of the weather, a large proportion of febrile cases " occurred ; notwithstanding the great amount of sickness, the " mortality of this year has been moderate." This is shown by a Table, and it is further noticed, " The facts contained in the above " Table show, that the confinement in the Penitentiary is not " unfavourable, as a general rule, to the health of the prisoners." The Inspectors, (Honorary Officers appointed by the Supreme Court of the State), who have the special supervision of the Peni- tentiary, in their Report of 1836, remark : " The expectation " hitherto expressed by the Board, that solitary or separate impri- " sonment, with labour, has no unfavourable influence upon the " mind or body of the prisoner, is fully confirmed by the experience " of another year." The Inspectors' Report, for 1837, evinces further favourable tes- timony. " It will be seen by the report of the physicians, that the " general health of the institution is good ; no case of illness having " occurred which can in any way be ascribed to the separate or " solitary confinement of the prisoners, or the operation of the " system of punishment." In the United States, as in this country, popular objections were raised by the advocates of the silent system against the Pennsylva- nia^ or separate system, respecting its injurious influence upon the 18 PRISON DISCIPLINE. mind and health ; and to ascertain whether such objections were valid or groundless, the State Legislature appointed a committee of its members, to visit and report upon the nature and effects of the discipline in operation at the Eastern Penitentiary ; and the following is an extract of such Report, read to the House, February, 1838. " The result of more than eight years' actual practice conclusively " proves, that the fears of its opponents were entirely without " foundation, and that the expectations of its warmest friends and " advocates have been more than realized. Your committee, sepa- " rately and together, visited most of the cells, and held private " conversation with the inmates thereof. In their interview with " the prisoners, they endeavoured to ascertain the moral and physical " effects of this system of punishment, as well as to hear the con- " vict's own narration of his general treatment by the officers of " the prison and it is with no small degree of pride, as Pennsyl- " vanians, and pleasure, as members of the committee, that they are " able to testify their entire satisfaction^ resulting from this part of " their investigation. This examination has clearly satisfied your " committee, that the system of discipline, as carried out in the " Eastern Penitentiary, has a salutary effect on the minds of most " of the prisoners. Being isolated, they have no opportunity to " corrupt each other, but are thus placed in a situation alike favour- " able for receiving lessons of religion and morality, and for serious " meditation and reflection." Dr. Hartshorne, in the last Report, for 1844, offers the following testimony upon the " general health" of prisoners. " I have not " been able to discover any disease peculiar to this Penitentiary. " Instances of general debility, resulting from various depressing " causes, must of course sometimes occur ; but they present an " assemblage of symptoms sufficiently often met with in other prisons, " and elsewhere in public and private practice." Only one quotation, having reference to the New Jersey Peni- tentiary : it is from the Report of the Joint Committee of the Council, and of the House of Assembly, and which Report was read to the State Legislature of New Jersey, November 5th, 1842, THE FALLACIES OF " THE TIMES." 19 " The Committee have thoroughly inspected the prison itself, have " visited many of its cells, and examined the condition of the in- " mates, and their general health is very good. The testimony of " each succeeding year is thus accumulating in favour of this " system of punishment for crime, sanctioned by our laws, both as " a means of punishment and of reformation to criminals ; the Com- " mittee believe that the present system is admirably adapted to " fulfil the wishes of its friends and advocates." It will be observed, allusion is here made to the Penitentiary of which Mr. Colenian, who is repeatedly mentioned by the Times, is the medical officer. We make a reference or two on the MENTAL INFLUENCE of separation, to meet the opposition of the Times to the " ac- " cursed" " maniac-making" system epithets applied by them to the discipline in operation also at the Eastern Penitentiary. We quote, first, from the Reports of the Committee appointed by the Legislature, and which were read to the Senate February 14th, 1837. After adverting to the allegations made against the separate system, in regard to its physical effects, the Committee state, " Another objection sometimes urged against the Pennsylvanian u system of discipline, and, in the apprehension of your Committee, " equally groundless with the last considered, is the supposed ten- " dency of uninterrupted solitary seclusion to ' dethrone reason, " and make wreck of the immortal mind.' In this case, too, the " Committee had recourse to indisputable facts, and the veracity of " recent evidence. A comparison of the registers of several Peni- " tentiaries in the United States, will demonstrate the position, that " the Pennsylvanian prison exhibits as few (if not fewer) cases of " mental derangement, as any similar institution; indeed, no instance " of insanity has yet occurred in the Eastern Penitentiary, which " has not been traced to causes wholly independent of, or either an- " terior or posterior to, confinement. The foregoing objections to " the Pennsylvanian, having been fully examined and considered by " your Committee, and, as they suppose, satisfactorily settled in " favour of our own policy, it almost follows, as a matter of course, 20 PRISON DISCIPLINE. " that our principles of prison discipline approach nearer to per- " fection than any that have as yet been tested" We have also the opinion of another Legislative Committee, in 1838, upon the subject of the mental influence of separate confine- ment. " It being urged by some who objected to this (separate) " system, that exclusive separation would weaken the mind, and " produce insanity, some of the Committee visited the cells, and " conversed with the prisoners, who had been five, six, and eight " years in confinement, and whose minds appeared both clear and " strong, without anything like aberration of mind, or insanity, " and that they were informed, that no case of insanity had ever " been produced by the system, nor can they suppose that there is " any danger of such an effect, when it will be remembered that " these prisoners have constant employment, a variety of books, " and have intercourse with their separate overseers several times a " day. "While the Committee are entirely satisfied with the result " of separate confinement, with labour, in the state prisons, they " believe the Pennsylvanian system will never be fully carried out " until a similar discipline shall be introduced into all the prisons " in the country'' Without increasing extracts from other official documents of the Eastern Penitentiary, in refutation of the statement of the Times, we will give a brief notice from the report for 1844. The inspectors, after fifteen years' experience, observe : " The ' hazard of stultify- " ing the mind/ has been regarded as a possible concomitant of " separate confinement with labour the inspectors desire to record " their conviction in regard thereto, that no case has occurred within " their knowledge where such effects have ever been produced." And the physician, in the same report, furnishes important testi- mony upon this subject. " Instead of ' stultifying the intellect,"' it is observed by Dr. Hartshorne, " as some imagine, I am fully satisfied " that separate imprisonment is more apt to produce the opposite " effect. The perceptions are evidently rendered more acute by " continual exertion under the difficulties of restraint. The reflec- " tive powers also are increased by their unwonted activity under THE FALLACIES OF "THE TIMES." 21 " the exigencies of a seclusion uninterrupted except by intercourse " with intelligent and considerate men." "We now more particularly bring under notice the gross manner in which the Times, of November 25th, 1843, further strive to show the injurious influence of the solitary system as it operates upon the intel- lectual faculties. "We notice the palpable omissions, and the studious evasion of a correct version of the citations professed to be given ; with a view, we contend, of supporting their own peculiar dogmas, and regardless of the undue prepossessions which such mutilated extracts may have upon the mind of the reader. The following is a quotation from that journal : "/TI the year 1838, it was officially announced., that out of 386 "prisoners in the Eastern Penitentiary, Fourteen had be- " come, within the year, victims of Dementia. In the next " year, it was declared, upon the same authority, that out of 387 "prisoners, there were Eighteen fresh victims to the same " malady ; and in 1 840, we are informed, that out of 434 prisoners, " there were then Twenty-six more" These statements are made by the Times without any exceptions or explanation. We have, with some care, analyzed the official documents of the Eastern Penitentiary, and we give, as under, the result of our examination with regard to the " FOURTEEN who had " become victims of dementia." They might have added, had they dealt fairly, " These cases of dementia have all been discharged cured, except " one only relieved and another yet on the list ; two-thirds were " coloured prisoners." Another reference: "EIGHTEEN fresh victims of the same malady," are brought under notice ; we will only give for example the eight " white cases:" Two admitted, " diseased" and " troubled mind" and " imperfect " health," both cured. Two admitted, " disturbed mind" and " good health," one cured, one remains. 22 PRISON DISCIPLINE. Three admitted, " good health," two cured, one " relieved, but " subsequently died of consumption." One admitted, " scrofula," " relieved and at work." Showing, that four were admitted of unsound mind, three of whom were cured, and one continued afflicted; of the remaining four, three were admitted in " good health" and one scrofulous, of whom two were cured and two relieved. Does it appear from the preceding, taking the proportion of white convicts, that they should be termed " fresh victims of the same " malady dementia ?" We next remark upon the " TWENTY-SIX more," adverted to by the Times; of these we will only take the thirteen white cases : Four admitted, one " monomania," one " eccentricity," one " hallucination," one " a hard drinker and distressed." Of these, one cured, one " continues distressed and at work," one " subject to " violent fits of anger," and one " sent to Alms-house." Two admitted, "imperfect health," "troubled and disturbed mind," both cured. One admitted, " good health," " disturbed mind," " sent to " Alms-house." Four admitted, " imperfect health," all cured. Two admitted, " good health," both cured. Of these, seven were admitted of unsound mind, of whom three were cured; two "sent to Alms-house ;" one " continues distressed " and at work ;" and one " subject to violent fits of anger." Of the remaining six, four were admitted in " imperfect health," " all cured ;" and two in " good health," also " cured." Do these furnish, in their proportion, " thirteen " " more cases of " dementia ?" Is not the assertion distinctly denied by the official Reports from which we derive our evidence ? Thus much for accuracy of statement and the alleged " incurable dementia" cases, as extracted from the same official source. We desire no disguise in this matter; we give the Times all the advantage of " official" state- ment with regard to the peculiar alleged characteristics of the cases THE FALLACIES OF " THE TIMES." 23 referred to ; but we think it will appear the reader must come to a somewhat different conclusion, from the tables we have furnished, as to the " mental disorder" cases mentioned by them, they affirming " that dementia is generally incurable lunacy." We may remark, that important testimony is given by a profes- sional gentleman, Dr. Yarrentrapp, upon the nature of these alleged " mental disorder" cases. See note A. % We give a passage or two more upon this branch of the inquiry, and with reference to the Eastern Penitentiary discipline ; it is from Dr. Coates, a physician of Philadelphia, who has bestowed considerable attention to the subject of the mental and physical influence of the Pennsylvanian system ; we shall have occasion again to adduce this gentleman's testimony. Dr. B. C. Coates observes, " The effect of separate imprisonment " has NOT been, as has been erroneously charged against it, to pro- - " duce insanity, although a humane and strict analysis has shown " many to have been affected, both with insanity, and with imbe- " cility, at the times when they committed the offences for which " they were sentenced." From this, it would appear, that the Eastern Penitentiary may be considered as having been, for these irresponsible beings, a lunatic asylum rather than a penal insti- tution ; and the reader will form his own opinion upon the correctness of applying such epithets as the "accursed" "maniac-making" system to the discipline of the Eastern Penitentiary. We shall now note the particular reference made by the Times as affecting the New Jersey Penitentiary, and which exhibits another extraordinary method of quotation. Upon insane cases they state, " In the year 1840, in the Penitentiary in New Jersey, out of " 152 prisoners, TWELVE had become deranged in consequence of the " unbroken solitude in which they had been confined" On an examination of the official document, it will be found that this statement is directly at variance with the fact of the case. Mr. Mr. Coleman, the Surgeon of the Penitentiary there, reports, "There " are now amongst the 152 prisoners, twelve deranged men : MORE 24 PRISON DISCIPLINE, " than half these were fit for a Lunatic Asylum when they were " received. Such men are not proper subjects for the Penitentiaries." Mr. Coleman has not furnished a tabular synopsis of the actual number insane when admitted. We may further remark concerning insane cases, that some of these identical pitiable objects came under our own immediate observation on the occasion of a visit to this Penitentiary, in 1841. One was a matricide ; another had murdered his wife ; we went into their cells, and truly they were not fit subjects for a penal In- stitution. Upon our making particular inquiries respecting them, we were assured by the officers of the prison, that there were no such cases in the establishment which did not give indications of unsound- ness of mind, on admission. What then becomes of the " TWELVE" alleged cases, the affirmed result of the "unbroken solitude" of the prison, as mentioned by the Times ? One more reference to the New Jersey Penitentiary adverted to by the Times., November 29th, 1843. There a quotation is made from the report of Mr. Coleman, the medical officer of that institu- tion, relative to the imputed injuriously physical and mental influence of solitary confinement, as stated in the Report for 1839. It may, however, be more satisfactory to give Mr. Coleman's opinion, the reflection of more lengthened experience, as presented in the Report for 1842; wherein that favourite authority of the Times, avouches, " There have been a very few on the sick list at any time during the " year, and no case of insanity has originated in the house within " this time." And he further observes " If the present plan be " continued, leaving it to the judgment of those in the management " of the prison, how to proportion the exercise of the convicts to " their actual wants, when to give them society, for mental relief, " when to indulge them with the air of the yard, for sickness, " making it a separate, rather than a solitary system of confinement, " our institution will stand first in point of excellence." Here, it will be seen, is an important recognition of the principles adopted at the Model Prison, London, principles which the advo- THE FALLACIES OF "THE TIME*." 25 cates of the Pennsylvania!! system contend for ; namely, a separate, and not a solitary system of confinement ;* and this principle we now find meeting with the concurrence even of Mr. Coleman, who has been considered by the opponents of the separate system, (the pro- moters of the Auburn, or silent system, and the Times), as the most weighty and conclusive authority against the Peunsylvanian system. TS r e may offer a concluding remark or two applicable to the New Jersey Penitentiary : By the polite introduction of the Hon. Mr. Pennington, Governor of the State of New Jersey, we were per- mitted most unreservedly to visit the separate cells of the Penitentiary under notice ; every facility was afforded to us for making the most minute examination ; we had free and unrestricted conversation with the prisoners under conviction for every grade of crime ; and, in our inquiries from them, (inquiries made, not in a manner to elicit answers that might appear to favour the system there adopted), as to their opinion of separation, in comparison with the system for- merly in operation at the Old Prison, upon the congregated plan ; (many of them being old offenders, and having there been inmates,) from the testimony of twenty convicts that we specially examined, there was a decided expression of sentiment favourable to isolation. The result of this examination, and the opinions enunciated, with the general result of our observations upon the state of ventilation, the warming of the prison, the condition of one of its blocks of corridors, and the length of sentences, formed topics for our remarks on leav- ing the Penitentiary ; and upon which also we made our entries in the visitors' book; and whatever may have been urged condemna- * By some of the advocates for separation, solitary confinement, and separate or individual imprisonment, with labour, (unwisely, we think) are not unfrequently referred to so as to make them appear of similar import ; of this, the opponents to the separate system take advantage ; associating separate or individual imprisonment with labour, with the cruelties of unmitigated solitary confinement which were adopted in connection with the early operations of the Auburn Institution, and also at Maine, Vermont, Virginia, &c. 26 PRISON DISCIPLINE. tory of the separate system as there in operation, we received from the lips of the officers who had been many years connected with the State Penal Institution, strong expressions in favour of the introduction of the Pennsylvanian system. And we are just reminded, whilst making these observations, of a communication which we received from the former Warden of the Old Prison, and who was also Warden of the Separate System, New Penitentiary, Mr. J. A. Yard, who thus writes, " I removed the prisoners from " the Old to the New Prison, in October, 1836, and continued with " them as principal keeper until November, 1839, near four years; " during which period I endeavoured to become acquainted with the " effect of imprisonment, on this system, upon the prisoner. I " visited every prisoner from once to three times each week, and saw " that every man and woman had constant employment. I observed " a manifest difference in the temper and disposition of the prisoners, " soon after removal to the new prison ; they appeared more subdued " in spirit, and became at once both frank and open in their commu- " nications upon all subjects. In regard to health, there was less " sickness and death in the four years past, in the New Prison, than " in the four years previous, at the Old Prison. In conclusion, I " have no hesitation in saying, that there is no comparison between " the two systems, (the congregated and separate,) the present " having so much the superiority over the former, if the present " system be fully carried out." This, be it remarked, is the result of eight years' every-day obser- vation and experience upon the operations of the modes of im- prisonment above referred to. It will not, we apprehend, be out of place, briefly to advert to the statement of Dr. Pelts, the Physician to the City and County Prison, or House of Correction, Philadelphia, in which the " solitary," or separate system, is adopted. Dr. Pelts is requested by the Committee of the State Legislature, appointed in 1838, to reply to the following query : " What effect does solitary confinement, with labour, appear to " have on the mind ; does it seem injuriously to affect it ? " THE FALLACIES OF " TITE TIMES." 27 The Doctor replied as follows, " To this, I can assure you, that so far as my observation has " gone, I am decidedly of opinion, that so far from being injurious, " solitary confinement, with labour, has an evident beneficial effect " upon the minds of the convicts. Since the prisoners have been " confined in the New County Prison, we have had a considerable " number of mania cases, but there has not been a single case, the " cause of whose insanity could not be traced to causes foreign to his " imprisonment, and entirely disconnected with the solitary confine- " ment, and discipline of the prison: on the contrary, the cure of " many cases that terminated favourably, must be attributed (to- " gether with other treatment) to the solitary confinement and " discipline of the prison." By these extracts, from official documents, it will be seen whether there be any analogy between the mode of action adopted, with regard to the prison at Mount St. Michel, in France,* and the discipline of the Eastern Penitentiary, and the Penitentiary at Trenton ; and whether the alleged " accursed system," adopted at Mount St. Michel and the American Penitentiaries, are the same ; the main object of the Times being to impute consequences men- tally injurious, resulting from separate confinement, which are not to be found in Penitentiaries adopting the Auburn, or silent system. "Without multiplying instances, we will only select a paragraph or two, from the reports of the two model institutions of America, upon the Auburn, or silent, and congregated system, and which may be information for the Times. In such institutions, there are to be found, unhappily, many cases of mental disorder. The Physician of the New York State Prison, at Auburn, observes, in his Report for 1844 : " The gloom and despondency " that afiect some of the convicts from brooding over their situation, " frequently enfeeble both mind and body ; and, if their confine- See Note B. 28 PRISON DISCIPLINE. " inent was unreasonably protracted, would eventually destroy life." We note the following from the Report of the Inspectors of the New York State Prison at Sing Sing, also for 1844. " No suitable " provision is made for convicts who become deranged ; there is " always a number of them in prison ; some are so when they arrive, " having doubtless committed their offences while partially insane, " others become so while in confinement, being reduced to that con- " dition either by disease or mental suffering."* We could quote at length from the report of several other Auburn or Silent System Penitentiaries, and show the tendency of their discipline, but what we have furnished may suffice ; and these, for- sooth, were exhibited to view as institutions " worthy of the world's imitation !"t What, may we not ask, have the Times proved by their analo- gies, or their anathemas, against the separate system of imprison- ment ? Have they not withheld counter evidence, by which they might have given the " mentally injurious" results which have fol- lowed from a rigid enforcement of the Auburn, or silent system, a system which meets with particular approval by the Times ? In the consideration of the treatment of criminals, its influence upon the mind and health is of the first importance ; and having noticed the exceptions taken by the Times in regard to these points, as it relates to the discipline of the separate, which is also termed by the Times, the solitary system ; our next reference will be to the observations of that journal with respect to PRISON MORTALITY, being the topic taken next in order. " We have perused the tables of mortality in fifteen Penitentiaries * In 1841, " several cases of paroxysmal aberration of mind" were re- ported, and which, with one exception, had " been successfully managed," and in 1843, there were in this Penitentiary seventeen deranged prisoners, besides seven sent to the Lunatic Asylum ; in all, twenty-four cases. t Boston Prison Discipline Society's Reports. THE FALLACIES OF "THE TIMES." 29 " in the United States, for the years 1840-1. Nine of them are " conducted upon the Auburn^ and six upon the Eastern Peniten- " tiary system. In the former, where the solitary system does not "prevail, the proportion of deaths amongst the prisoners is 1 in " 45 ; in the latter, where it does prevail, 1 in 23." To have an appearance of some research in the matter, and as though their statements were drawn from an official channel, the Times say ,, " We have perused the tables of mortality in fifteen peni- tentiaries," Arc. We at once assert that the Times have not "perused" such " tables." Why had they not the candour to inform their readers from whence they derived their information ? that it was from a table constructed by an inveterate opponent of the Separate System, the Secretary of the " Boston Prison Discipline Society" (the periodical records of which we shall have occasion to comment upon)? Had the Times severally presented the "nine" Penitentiaries "conducted upon the Auburn" System, and the "six upon " the Eastern Penitentiary" (or Separate) " System," we could then have analyzed them ; we should have been able to show a palpable omission of Separate System Penitentiaries of very low rates of mortality, which would have exhibited different results to " 1 in 23 ;" the same authority that furnished " nine" Peniten- tiaries "upon the Auburn" and " six upon the Eastern Peni- " tentiary System" could have given an equal number of peni- tentiaries upon the two respective systems, but such a mode of com- parison would not have suited the object of the constructor of the mortality table quoted by the Times ; we can, however, only deal with the statements as we find them in the columns of that Journal, and will give some documentary proof to show the value of the tes- timony of the Times upon this branch of the question, and com- mence by quoting from a Legislative Committee Report, relative to prison mortality in the Eastern Penitentiary, and also from docu- ments of subsequent periods until the last report of that institution, under the date of the present year (1844). The following is from the Report of the Pennsylvanian Legislative Committee, for 1837. "The notion has prevailed to some extent 30 PRISON DISCIPLINE. " in the community, that the continual uninterrupted restraints of " the solitary cell, practised in the Eastern Penitentiary, must ne- " cessarily undermine, and, eventually, destroy the health and " physical vigour of the convict. Your Committee have felt it their " duty to inquire into the truth or falsity of this allegation. On " this question, the Committee have not relied on abstract reasoning " and doubtful speculation, but have employed more convincing " tests the results of experiment and the application of ascertained "facts. In the prisons at Columbia, Ohio; at Wethersfield, Con- " necticut ; at Charlestown, Massachusetts ; Sing Sing, and at Au- " burn, New York ; and at several other Prisons and Penitentiaries, " solitary confinement in cells is alternated with labour in the open " air during a large portion of each day. A comparison of the bills " of mortality of the Eastern Penitentiary with these several insti- " tutions, will show conclusively, that the unbroken solitude of the " Pennsylvania!! discipline does not injuriously affect the health of " the convict. At the Eastern Penitentiary, the deaths are 2^ per " cent. ; at Sing Sing 4 per cent. ; at Auburn 2 per cent., and so on, " settling the question beyond the possibility of doubt, that as great " a measure of health is preserved in the Pennsylvanian prisons as in " other similar institutions in the United States, or elsewhere." The Report for 1843 of the Eastern Penitentiary states : " The " average mortality among the white prisoners of this Penitentiary, " since its institution, is only 2 J^, or say about 1 in 50, and " when it is recollected that so many of our prisoners are asso- " ciated with the vices and dissipations of a populous city and " suburbs, thereby contracting diseases which they bring into the " prison, we have no doubt, that the mortality is less than it would " be among the same number of persons had they remained at large." In the report for 1844, we have the following as the amount of mortality : " The whole number of deaths during the past year, "was eleven for 487 prisoners, of these 325 were white and 162 " coloured, shewing a per centum of 1 T 6 ^ as to the white, and " ^rVff as to the coloured prisoners." In the Report for 1841, the Physician observes, regarding health THE FALLACIES OF "THE TIMES." 31 and mortality at the Western or Pittsburgh Penitentiary : " Of the " whole number of sick in 1840, (with 130 prisoners) but one died : " when this result is compared with that of private practice, and " taking into consideration the mode of life of convicts in general, " I think the conviction is forced upon us, that our Pennsylvanian " system of solitary confinement, with labour, is rather conducive " than injurious to health." In the Report for 1843, the Inspectors observe: " "We cannot " admit that solitary confinement, with mitigated labour, which is, " in other words, only healthful exercise, the free admission of air, " the temperature regulated at pleasure by the inmates of the cell, " and a reasonable degree of the light of day, varied by access to " the Holy Scriptures, and treatises on moral and religious subjects, " connected with the diurnal visits of a pious and untiring moral " and religious instructor, is a position that can be regarded as un- " favourable to the health of the body or mind." The inspectors remark that the report of Dr. William Irwin, " conveys the most satisfactory information of the general, we may " say unexampled health of the prisoners." In 1841 and 1843, (we are without the Report for 1842,) with two annual averages of 138 prisoners, which presents a mortality of about one in fifty-five the three years quoted, say six deaths for 406 convicts, would give about one in sixty-eight. Is the mortality of this penitentiary included in the tables alleged to have been "perused" by the Times ? We may advert to statements of the health and mortality of a third Pennsylvanian System Institution, namely, the Moyamensing, or City and County Prison of Philadelphia. On the occasion of our visit to that establishment in 1841, the warden favoured us with the following particulars : " The health of the prison is very "good; the whole number in the sick list in 1839, on the " convict side, was 29 of this number 9 died, 6 of Phthisis Pul- " monalis, and 3 from other diseases ; in the untried department, " not less each year than 5,000 persons are confined, yet the annual " average of deaths does not exceed 4, as in 1839. So is the average 32 PRISON DISCIPLINE. " of each year with about 400 prisoners in confinement, or about " 1 in 100." Is the mortality of this prison to be found in " the tables of fifteen penitentiaries" "perused" by the Times ? "We will now give a fourth example of mortality in a Pennsyl- vanian, or Separate System Prison. The Times have referred to the New Jersey Penitentiary ; the following is extracted from the official report to the Legislature of New Jersey, and presents the rate of mortality from the commencement of the new institution, in 1836, to 1842. Date. Average Number of Prisoners. Deaths. 1837 126 1 1838 142 4 1839 159 2 1840 158 3 1841 151 2 1842 141 None. Twelve deaths for 887 prisoners, or one in seventy-three. The Times again revert to the subject of prison mortality in their ^ publication of January 27th, 1844, and to produce a still more deepened impression upon the public mind, as to the imputed injurious influence of separate confinement, a table is given under the following title: " Mortality of the American Prisons" during a period of four- teen years, and the two penal systems there prevailing are thus dis- tinguished, " Solitary at night, Auburn Plan" "Solitary day and "night, PennsylvanianPlan," and the mortality ratios of five Auburn System Penitentiaries are presented, " New Hampshire, Vermont, " W ether sfield, Connecticut, Charlestown, Massachusetts, Asylum " New York" with a mortality of " 1 in 50, or two per cent." One example only is quoted on the " Pennsylvanian Plan," namely, the " Philadelphia New Penitentiary," with its stated mortality of " 1 in 25, or four per cent" THE FALLACIES OF "THE TIMES." 33 Will the Times maintain that the table they have exhibited is a fair index of " mortality of THE American Prisons" during the term they have mentioned ? It will be perceived there is an entire omission of the Auburn, the Sing Sing, and the Baltimore Institutions, which would have in- creased the proportion of mortality of the " Auburn Plan" Peni- tentiaries, whilst no reference whatever is made to the following Separate or " Pennsyhanian Plan" Penitentiaries ; the Western Pennsylvanian or Pittsburgh, the mortality of which we have noted for three years, being about one in sixty-eight ; the Trenton or New Jersey Penitentiary, with its mortality table for seven years, of about one in seventy-three ; and also the Moyamensing Prison, with an " average of each year of about 1 in 100." With regard to the apparently large mortality of "1 in 25" in the " New Penitentiary, Philadelphia" as indicated by the Times, we shall take occasion to go at length into the peculiar characteristics of the mortality of that institution, with the variety of evidence which has been brought forward from authorities quite as much entitled to credit, in our estimation, as the testimony of the Times. We are enabled to give the following statistics, which are derived from the Reports for 1843 of the respective Institutions to which they refer, and are embodied in the Eastern Penitentiary Report for 1844. Auburn System. Prisoners. Deaths. Massachusetts 384 2 Michigan 130 1 Auburn 975 14 Sing Sing 1069 33 Maryland 387 21 2945 71 2-41 per cent, or one in forty-two. PRISON DISCIPLINE. Separate System. Prisoners. Deaths. Eastern State Penitentiary. 487 11 2*25 per cent. or one in forty-five. We present a further relative estimate, by which it will be seen that the Separate System imprisonment had not a com- paratively deleterious influence at the period quoted. In three Separate System Penitentiaries, for 1843, the following is the ratio of mortality : Eastern State Penitentiary...^ "Western ... >1'96, or less than 1 in 50. Trenton, New Jersey ) Another example is given of the Wethersfield (Connecticut) and the Eastern Penitentiaries ; and we may remark, that Wethersfield is universally acknowledged to be one of the best conducted Peni- tentiaries on the Auburn System. WETHERSFIELD. An Auburn, or Congregated System Penitentiary. fc Deaths. ^ 2 ~C -d i.2 1 00 'd OJ i 1 Years. ^ *l 13 i^ % <9 n i^ ^s F^H f&*^ [ o rH O I | - a H Year ending, March 31, 1842 208 nq 52 211 5 5 10 31, 1843 ... 207 155 48 203 5 3 g 31, 1844 . 195 H6 49 195 3 10 610 460 149 609 13 15 28 IHi: FALLACIES OF "THE TI.MI>. EASTERN PENITENTIARY. A Separate System Institution. ~ ^ Deaths. y; = = . J = .'- E Z > ~- j = ;j "S Yews, 2 2 .- - = ' i H 1 | ~ *<- *^ * r^ n lc| c 3 1-? ^ r o ^ 1 S Year ending December 31, 1841 347 201 134 335 4 13 17 31, 1842 342 212 119 331 3 6 9 31, 1843 334 235 124 359 5 6 11 1023 648 377 1025 12 25 37 Which gives for Wethersfield a proportion of deaths equal to 2*82 per cent, for white, and 10-06 per cent, for coloured. And for the Eastern Penitentiary, a proportion of deaths equal to 1-85 per cent, for white, and 6-63 per cent, for coloured, or near 1 per cent of white mortality in favour of separate confine- ment, or about 3J per cent, of coloured mortality also in favour of separate confinement. As collateral evidence for the further illustration of the subject, the following table is exhibited, constructed from the official docu- ments of each year, from the commencement of the Eastern Peni- tentiary, in 1829, to 1842 inclusive; having reference more parti- cularly to the white convicts. The following evidence is the result of the special examination of Dr. B. H. Coates, upon the subject of mortality, in the Eastern Penitentiary ; and the subjoined is extracted from a paper read by that gentleman at the centesimal anniversary of the American Philosophical Society, May 29th, 1843; and from which paper it will be seen, that the proportion of mortality amongst the white convicts in the Eastern Penitentiary, is decidedly less than the ratio of mortality amongst the community, and is far PRISON DISCIPLINE, from furnishing any argument against the physical effects of the Separate System, as attempted to be proved in the leading article of the Times, of November 25th, 1843. Date. Total Average of Prisoners. Average Number of Whites. White Deaths Total Mortality per cent. 1830 31 21-81 1 4-19 1831 67 47'75 2 4-18 1832 91 69-42 1 1.44 1833 123 89-30 1 1.11 1834 183 23-58 1 0-8 1835 266 154-74 2 1-26 1836 360 202 2 0-99 1837 387 233 7 3-0 1838 401 244 7 2-92 1839 418 245 2 0-81 1840 394 232 9 3-88 1841 347 203 4 1-97 1842 342 212 3 1-41 Thistable shows the average rate percent, of white deaths in thirteen years, to be 2'03, or about one in fifty ; and by comparing the ratios of ten years' (from 1821 to 1830 inclusive) mortality in the city and suburbs of Philadelphia, according to researches of Dr. Emerson, (Medical Statistics, Nov., 1831, p. 28) we find them to .be 2^^ ; thus exceeding the prison mortality. Upon this subject, Dr. Coates remarks, " The mortality of the coloured convicts in this " Penitentiary has been so great as to swell the total amount, and " attract the attention of humane critics, and this has, at times, been " so far the case, as to impair the character of the prison, and tend " to diminish the public confidence in the mode of punishment v a adopted in it. With the controversy which has grown out of this, " we have nothing to do, but the result exhibited was, that the THE FALLACIES OF "THE TIMES." 37 " average mortality of the white convicts in the prison, was less than " that of the white inhabitants of the ' city and liberties of Phila- " delphia: " We might give at length also a tabular statement, showing the mortality amongst coloured prisoners, which exceeds that of the community; it being 7'03, or one in fifteen. With that part of the ar- gument, we conceive, in this country it may not be so much a matter of interest, nor will it, we presume, help the writer of the prison article in the Times, to make out his case against the physical effects of the separate system, in relation to its adoption in this country. If he be disposed to take up the cause of coloured prisoners, he may find ample scope also for his benevolence in advocating the cause of the sable millions in the United States now in CIVIL THRALDOM. We have had occasion, incidentally, to refer to Walnut-street Prison, Philadelphia. That prison was in operation previous to and about five years concurrent with the Eastern Penitentiary ; was a gaol in which the prisoners were confined in large rooms, in congre- gated masses ; were employed in spacious airy workshops, having also capacious apartments for their dormitories. With this mode of confinement, the whites and the blacks were mingled together, and it may be interesting in our inquiry, to ascertain what was the ratio or proportion of mortality under such circumstances, in comparison with the proportion of mortality at the Eastern Penitentiary under the Separate System, and which mode of discipline was found to present the larger amount of mortality ? Dr. Varrentrapp* has furnished a very interesting analysis of mortality under the two respective systems, the comparison being made at periods co-temporaneous with, and also at subsequent periods to the introduction of the Separate System at the Eastern Penitentiary. * De IT Emprissonnment Individual. Paris, 1844, 38 PRISON DISCIPLINE. THE OLD, OB WALNUT STREET PRISON, UPON THE CONGREGATED SYSTEM. Ratio of Mortality Ratio of Mortality Total in Whites. in Blacks. Mortality. 1829-1834 4-26 6'88 5-43 per cent. THE NEW, OR EASTERN PENITENTIARY, UPON THE SEPARATE SYSTEM. 1830-1834 1-70 6-29 3'03 per cent. 1840-1842 2-02 6'78 3'86 ... From which it will be seen that the mortality amongst the white pri- soners had considerably diminished during the operation of the Separate System, " being less than one-half of what it was in the Old Prison" under the Congregated System. Of the blacks it is remarked, and which will be apparent, that, although the table regarding such, pre- sents but little amelioration, " their state had not retrogaded" and it is to be observed, that the terms of imprisonment were shorter in the Old, under the Congregated, than in the New Prison, under the Separate System. Will it satisfy the humanity of the Times to learn, that whilst it can be proved that the New Penitentiary at Phila- delphia has been "a recipient of disease, and a dispenser of " health," its mortality amongst the white convicts, has been " decidedly less than mortality amongst the community." The pre- ceding Tables present results under similar circumstances of locality and characteristic population, and must be considered a fair analogy for contrast with regard to proportions of mortality ; all these ratios, or estimates we have given, most conclusively proving, we appre- hend, that separate confinement has not a tendency to increase mor- tality, and that the representations of the Times upon this point are highly calculated to mislead. What, then, becomes of the objections of the Times as to the alleged increase of mortality under the Pennsylvanian system ? We are apprehensive that we shall try the patience of the inquirer who may not have investigated, to any extent, this important sub- TIIE FALLACIES OF "THE T1MI>. 39 ject ; but there is another point which bears seriously on the due consideration of this question, and which is likewise entirely left out of view by the Times, namely, the influence which the mortality of coloured convicts has, more especially upon the reported amount of mortality in the Separate System Penitentiaries, to which, had the Times been disposed to act fairly, they would not have failed to have given due prominence. "We will, therefore, elucidate this portion by " facts and figures," which will not, we think, require further explanation to an understanding of it. Dr. Varrentrapp, from whom we have already quoted, has care- fully examined this point, and with such perspicuity that we feel pleasure in giving the result of his inquiry, that gentleman well knowing the liability there is to err in taking a superficial view of the matter under observation. Referring to the inmates of the principal Penitentiaries in America, Dr. Yarrentrapp observes, " We find that in 1837, the proportion of " blacks was five times more in the Philadelphian Penitentiaries, than " in the Auburn Penitentiaries ;" and it is fair to assume, that it may be considered a general average, which is shown by the ensuing statistics. " The proportion of blacks to the number of whites was for the " following AUBURN SYSTEM PENITENTIARY. "Sing Sing (State of New York) ... 0-3 per cent, blacks "Tenessee 1-9 " Auburn (State of New York) 4-4 " " Charlestown (Massachusetts) 8-2 " " Columbus (Ohio) 10-4 " Baltimore (Maryland) 1 8'8 " Wethersfield (Connecticut) 25-2 SEPARATE SYSTEM INSTITUTIONS. " Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) 1 6'0 per cent, blacks " Trenton (New Jersey) 34-7 " " Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) 39 '1 " The first seven Penitentiaries here quoted, follow the Auburn" (or 40 PRISON DISCIPLINE. Silent and Congregated System); "the three last, the Pennsyl- " vanian" (or Separate System) ; " the mean number of the blacks "for the former, is 7 9-10ths per cent.; for the latter, 34 6-10ths "per cent. " We do not require, for our purpose," remarks Dr. Yarrentrapp, "that the years 1830 to 1833 should be taken for a comparison, a " period when there was not a single death among the blacks ; or the "years 1834, 1836, and 1839, when the mortality among the whites " was below 1 per cent. ; and on the other hand, it would be equally "unfair to draw our conclusions exclusively from the year 1838." Dr. Yarrentrapp further continues : " Compare the two systems " with the same sort of population, that is, exclude the blacks of "Philadelphia, and we shall find the mortality among the white " prisoners very much less at Philadelphia than at Auburn, and this " notwithstanding the more healthy climate of New York. It is " only at the first glance that the mortality among prisoners at " Philadelphia (5-97 per cent.) appears greater than Auburn (2-02 " per cent.), but when it is considered that in the former the pro- portion of blacks is eight times that of the latter, and that at " Auburn the pardons are four times larger in amount (pardons it is " stated to prevent prison mortality), the result will be reversed." " Let us," observes Dr. Yarrentrapp, " have fairness and imparti- " ality in this discussion ; let us take the whole term of years of " the Philadelphia Penitentiary, and a certain number of Auburn " Penitentiaries (with all the distinctive peculiarities to which re- " ference has been made), and we shall find the result will differ " very essentially from one drawn from a single and exceptional " year. The two systems should be compared, as far as possible, " under the same ' conditions' to form a correct estimate of actual "results." There is a further important constituent connected with the arriv- ing at a correct amount of the ratio of mortality also entirely omitted by the Times, in the manner which they have submitted it to the notice of their readers ; it is the serious influence which pardons, granted at Auburn, have had in diminishing the reported ratio of THE FALLACIES OF "THE TIMES." 41 mortality in that institution, and which would, of course, affect the aggregate which they have represented as being an accurate account of the mortality under the AUBURN SYSTEM. By the last Report, namely, for 1844, furnished by the physician of the Auburn Silent System Penitentiary, the following table is presented of the number of pardons granted under circumstances, we conceive, of peculiar and painful interest. In 1834. 1835. 1836. 1837. 1838. 1839. 1840. 1841. 1842. 1843. Pardons 49 54 43 35 57 14 33 35 38 38 Or a total of 398 pardons. What will the Times think of the following medical testimony, and from one who could not be supposed to have entertained any prejudices against the system which he was officially appointed to aid in carrying out ? Dr. Dimon observes in his report to the legislature of the State of New York, "The number of deaths in this prison is somewhat " DIMINISHED BY PARDONS, and it seems to me to be a legitimate " subject for the report of your physician, inasmuch as it must form " part of the correct data upon which to ascertain the effects of prison " confinement upon health. I am induced to mention it in this " connection." And this medical officer further remarks, " As it has long been a "principle upon which pardons have been granted, namely, that they " WERE NECESSARY TO SAVE LIFE, it is safe to presume, in the " absence of actual information, that an equal proportion of the above "pardons (as per table) have been yearly granted for such reason." The Times might inquire what argument is adduced by these medical statements against the influence of the Auburn System, when pardons are also granted under the Separate System? The Times will permit us first to place in apposition what is stated relative to the granting of pardons within a Separate System Penitentiary, namely, the Eastern, the denounced institution of the Times. In the Report for 1841 (the twelfth), the warden writes, " Of the seventy-one pardons (from the commencement of the " institution, twelve years), I believe only three or four have had 42 PRISON DISCIPLINE. " the sanction of the board or myself, and there is certainly no cause " for either of us abandoning our opposition to the practice. O ur penal "system will never be perfect until our governors" (not a word said upon medical grounds,) " cease to pardon, except in those cases " where innocence can be proved, or some circumstances that could " not be on their trial." Such are the sentiments expresssd by an officer of a Separate System Penitentiary; nor do we find any allusion made to the necessity of pardoning to save their lives ! The report for 1844 is very decided: "No prisoner has been pardoned on account of " ill health, nor has any been pardoned whose health was so im- " paired as to have been likely to add to the mortality of the year " if they had remained in prison." From the declaration of the physician of the Auburn Prison, we are warranted, we think, to remark, that even supposing the as- sertion of the Times to be correct, the annnal computation of mortality in Auburn Prisons would be greatly increased. The ~very fact that convicts are pardoned to prevent such mortality^ is conclusive that the Auburn Penitentiary Return would have shown a considerable addition to that which the Times have furnished ; and thus, whether any dependence can be placed upon the estimate given by them of the mortality in Separate System Penitentiaries of "1 in 23, or 1 in 25," as a general ratio, we will leave to be determined from the statistics which we have produced. The remarkable contrast upon pardons which we have presented in the comparison made by two functionaries of two rival in- stitutions, namely, the Auburn or Silent System Penitentiary and the Eastern or Separate System Penitentary, we leave to make its own impression on the mind of the reader. So much for the Auburn System that the Times " delight to honour !" How easy it is to make vague declarations, and thus create false apprehensions when there is an entire suppression of collateral evidence which would exhibit a clearly contrary result. This we maintain is the course which has been pursued by the Times, in reference to the manner in which they have exhibited their "prison mortality" views to the world. THE FALLACIES OF "THE TIMES. 43 We now enter upon the subject of COMMITTALS and RE-COM- MITTALS. It is observed by the Times : " Wherever the probationary " discipline has been longest tried there its failure has been most " conspicuous. In the Penitentiary of New Jersey, the number of "committals is 113 in 1836; in 1837, 141; in 1838, 163; in "1839, 166; and in 1840, 152." "In the Eastern Penitentiary at Philadelphia, the increase" (of committals) " will be most easily seen from a glance at the sub- " joined table. We may add, that, during the same eleven years the ' number of committals to the county prisons of that State was not " diminished but greatly increased." Times. Year. Average Number of Prisoners. 1830 31 1831 67 1832 91 1833 123 1834 183 1835 1836 1837 266 360 386 Official. 387 1838 387 401 1839 417 418 1840 434 394 We have seldom seen instances either of such egregious misrepre- sentation or of wilful deception than that practised by the Tirncs^ in attempting to prove what they have averred regarding the " con- spicuous failure" of the Separate System, or what is denominated by them " the probationary discipline ;" and in support of these allega- tions the asserted committals to the New Jersey Penitentiary and 44 PRISON DISCIPLINE. the Eastern Penitentiary me enumerated as examples of the " con- " spicuous failure" of tijfj^m there prevailing. Will the reader gpfe us momentary attention whilst we endeavour to show the veritable nature of this evidence ? We commence our notice of the New Jersey Penitentiary, as given by the Times. " In the Penitentiary of Ijfew Jersey the number of committals in " 1836 was 113, in 1837,' 141, in 1838, 153, in 1839, 166, and in " 1840, 152." It will be seen by these figures that the Times do not sustain their own proposition, the asserted "committals" in 1840 being less than in 1838, but we conceive it will be more satisfactory to derive information from an official document. We find the Legislative Committee of New Jersey, in their Re- port for 1838, thus writing: "One of the best evidences of " the beneficial effects thus produced is the great diminution of " re-convictions p , and the fact made known to us by the inspectors, " that many who have long since been discharged, to all appearance " lead moral, and in some cases it is believed, pious lives." In the New Jersey Penitentiary Report for 1842, we find it also stated, " It argues favourably for the operation of the prison under " the new system (that of separation), as well as for the morals of " our State, that notwithstanding the difficulties of the times, the " number of prisoners and of commitments is regularly diminishing," and the following numbers are given to show such decrease for five years, including 1842. Whole number ) 1838 1839 - 184 - 1841. 1842. of committals, j 78 n 6] 59 44 or a decrease of 43J per cent, from 1838, compared with 1842. We feel no reluctance in declaring that the Times , in their statement, have, to employ the mildest term, displayed unpardonable ignorance; the figures they have given having no reference whatever with the subject of "committals ;" "113 in 1836," is quoted as "committals" during that year, when in fact it is the number of persons removed from the Old Prison to the New Penitentiary on its completion in 45 1836, and these are termed " committal*)" the other numbers are equally fallacious. "What say the inspectors upon the "conspicuous failure" of the system at Xew Jersey in the same Report ? " In our intercourse " with the prisoners we have no reason to recommend a change "from the present system of Solitary confinement, but are still " better satisfied of its efficiency as a mode of punishment, and " better calculated to produce a reformation than one more social." Does this appear like " conspicuous failure ?" We now proceed to a more lengthened notice of the Eastern Peni- tentiary, and it will be seen how truth and the statements of the Times approximate. That Journal speaks of the penitentiary under consideration in the following terms : " In the Eastern Penitentiary at Philadelphia, the increase" (of committals) "will be most easily seen from a glance at the sub- '- joined table," e misunderstood, and is the cause of con- " g rat illation not only to the legislature, the inspectors, but the "people of the State." This does not appear like " conspicuous failure" In order to show how devoid of truth are the assertions of the Times, we adduce another class of evidence and which embraces a wider range, including the operations of three Prisons of the State of Pennsylvania, from which it will be seen what reliance can be placed on the asseverations of the Journal alluded to with regard to this topic. Dr. Varrentrapp has minutely investigated this head, the alleged increase of committals being an objection which he has ably combated, knowing the advantage taken by the opponents of separa- tion from the mere appearance of numbers, without those attendant explanations which candour and fairness would dictate. " Let us " see," remarks Dr. Varrentrapp, " if, as the persevering adversaries " of individual imprisonment contend, the number of convictions or " committals increased in the State of Pennsylvania. In order to "judge of this question, we will not," the Doctor says, "take a few "isolated years of any one penitentiary, we will rather give the PRISON DISCIPLINE. " amount of the committals to all the penitentiaries of the State of " Pennsylvania from the date of the opening of the Eastern Peni- " tentiary." We now give the following interesting table of the number of prisoners annually sent to the respective prisons referred to, as further evidence upon the subject of " committals." CONVICTIONS ADMITTED INTO THE PENITENTIARIES OF PENNSYLVANIA. Years. PHILADELPHIA. PITTSBURGH. Total. Annual Average. Walnut-street Prison. Eastern Penitentiary. Western Penitentiary. 1829 1830 249 247 9 49 43 39 301) 335) 318 1831 262 50 44 356^1 1832 171 34 47 252 I 300 1833 141 77 68 294 J 1834 191 118 48 357^1 1835 148* 68 216 I 256 1836 n 143 53 196J 1837 161 45 206 ^) 1838 178 56 234 L 234 1839 179 84 263 j 1840 139 79 218^ 1841 126 90 216 I 215 1842 142 67 211 j * " After deducting the sixty-nine prisoners removed 5th October, 1835, " from Walnut-street to the New or Eastern Penitentiary." Dr. Varren- trapp could have made other references of numbers " drafted" from Walnut-street and the Counties Prisons, which increased the numbers both previous and subsequent to 1835. THE FALLACIES OF "THE TIMES." 51 Dr. Varrentrapp, with great propriety, makes the inquiry, " Is " not this table sufficiently convincing ? "Will the opponents to " separation require more than a gradual diminution in the convic- " tions of 33 per cent, in the space of 14 years ; whilst the popu- " lation had increased 27*^- per cent, in 10 years ? If the committals " had only increased in the same proportion as the population, we " should have had, for the years 1840 to 1842, an annual average " of 440 cenvictions, instead of 215!" Will the Times allow us to inquire whether they consider the foregoing testimony as an evidence of the " conspicuous failure" of the probationary discipline, where it " has been longest tried;" will they not be compelled to admit, that the contrary is most " conspicuous'"** We leave the statements we have made to the judgment of our readers to determine the truthfulness of the confident declara- tion of the Times, regarding the failure of the Separate System, alleged as arising from the increase of committals to Separate System Penitentiaries. We ask of what value are such declarations ? Before we advance further, it may be interesting to the Times, to be made acquainted with the degrees of crime for which the various classes of criminals have been convicted, and were under sentence, at the Eastern Penitentiary, on the occasion of the visit of * In the Times of April 6th, 1844, we find a reiteration of their fallacies upon " committals." After referring to re-committals in this country, and which we shall notice in course, they remark : "In the United States, how- " ever, the evidence on this subject is more abundant, and beyond all question decisive. " As ice published certain returns made by the inspectors of the Neic Penitentiary, " 'at Si w Jersey, upon that institution and running through a series of years, ice shall " merely refer to them at present as undeniable proofs that the Solitary System has not " had any effect in diminishing crime, or eren in keeping it in check" Is "the evidence" produced by the Times, with regard to "committals, " abundant and beyond all question decisive ?" and furnishing (( undeniable proofs " that the Solitary System has not had an effect in diminishing crime 1 ?" Let the official documents we have quoted testify. 52 PRISON DISCIPLINE. the Legislative Committee, in 1838; such statement presenting somewhat of the general characteristics of the inmates of the insti- tution ! They were as follows : Assault and battery 2 Concealing the death of bastard child 1 Manslaughter 7 Misdemeanor 2 Cheating by false pretences 2 Receiving stolen goods 4 Robbing the leters from the mail 1 Robbing the mail 1 Robbery 16 Larceny 193 Larceny and breaking prison 1 Perjury 4 Arson 4 Arson and larceny 1 Arson, larceny, horse stealing, and breaking of prison. ... 1 Horse stealing 12 Horse stealing and larceny 6 Engraving bank note plate 1 Selling counterfeit money 2 Passing counterfeit money 11 Forgery 11 Forgery and horse stealing 1 Burglary 53 Burglary and larceny 10 Assault and battery, intent to rob, and burglary 3 Assault and battery, intent to rape 4 Rape 6 Assault and battery, intent to kill 11 Assault and battery, larceny, and intent to kill 1 Assault and battery, intent to commit rape, and kill 1 Attempt to poison 1 Poisoning ] Murder 1 ] Bee Note f. THE FALLACIES OP "THE TIMES." 53 These are the various classes of criminal inmates which may be found within the walls of the Eastern Penitentiary, and for whom the extraordinary sympathy of the Times is excited. In perusing such a catalogue of deeply aggravated offences, none will know better than the Times, that in many of the European countries, and even in our own, several of the crimes would have been expiated only at the hands of the executioner ; and a very large proportion would have had to linger out a miserable existence under the extreme suffering of a penal settlement. As to the alternative most in accordance with the principles of enlightened humanity, whilst the claims of justice are not compromised, we will leave it to the Times to determine. It is next in order to notice the garbled and partial statement made in the Times, under date November 29th, 1843. Passing by the reference to Mr. Dickens' Notes, (a work of no authority on prison discipline) it is said by the Times, " We shall, however, " deal not with fictions, be they impressed ever so strongly with " the features of reality, I at with incontrovertible facts, deposed " to by witnesses of unimpeachable veracity. Who that has " read can ever forget the evidence on this subject, which " Messrs. De Beaumont and De Tocquecille elicited from the " captives in the Eastern Penitentiary ?" The Times give the following quotation : " One of them stated " that, at first, solitude seemed to be horrid." Messrs. De Beaumont and De Tocqueville thus cite the case ; " No. 52. Age 39. Is in a state of relapse, has been formerly in " Walnut-street prison ; says, that that prison (on the congregated " system) is a shocking place ; one cannot leave it honest. If I had " been at first in the Eastern Penitentiary, I should not have corn- " niitted a second crime." Question. " Have you accustomed yourself easily to solitude ?" Answer. "At first solitude seemed to be horrid ; gradually I " accustomed myself to it, but I do not believe I could live here " without labour ; without labour there is no sleep." " This person has been nearly a year in prison, and enjoys good 54 PRISON DISCIPLINE. health." Will this case, fairly given, be considered as militating against the separate system ? The testimony is certainly against the congregated system. The second case is thus quoted by the Times : "Another stated, the discipline of the Penitentiary was very " severe, particularly at the beginning" The entire case is as follows : " No. 50. 37 years old. In re- " lapse ; paints energetically the vices which prevail in Walnut- " street, (congregated system) where he has been confined." The prisoner continues, " If they had put me here for my first " crime, I should never have committed a second ; but one always " leaves Walnut-street worse than he enters it. No where but here " is it possible to reflect." Question. " But the discipline is very severe ?" Answer. " Yes, sir, particularly at the beginning : During " the first two months, I was near falling into despair ; but reading " and labour have gradually comforted me." " The prisoner has been twenty months here ; health excellent." It will be seen whether the last case quoted is condemnatory of separation. A third case is presented, as exhibiting another specimen of honesty in quotation by the Times. " A fifth, aged 25, remembered that during the first months of " his solitude he was often visited by strange visions. During several " nights in succession, I saw, among other things, an eagle perching " at the foot of my bed." Here the extract given by the Times terminates ; the remainder thus continues : " But at present I work, and am accustomed to this " kind of life ; I am not any longer troubled with ideas of this kind." A weeping example is given, which it is unnecessary to notice. The Times proceeded with the cases : " The Rev. T. Larcombe, the chaplain of the Eastern Peniten- " tiary, furnishes us with another and more appalling declaration "from a prisoner : ' On finding myself suddenly in a solitary cell, " / was terror-struck with the idea, that God had come out against THE FALLACIES OF "THE TIMES." 55 " me to destroy me. For some time I could not sleep at night.' " " C