REPORT I S T OBERT T. DEVLIN President of the State Board of Prison Directors of California, OX VARIOUS REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS UNITED STATES. STATE OFFICE, 8ACRAMENTO: : : : : J. D. YOUNG, SUPT. STATE PRINTING. 1890. EEPORT ROBERT T. DEVLIN, President of the State Board of Prison Directors of California, ON VARIOUS REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS UNITED STATES. SACRAMENTO: STATE OFFICE, : : : : j. D. YOUNG, SUPT. STATE PRINTING. 1890. CONTENTS. PART I. REFORM OR INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS. PAGE. General view - 4 Different plans of management 3 Cottage or family plan T 5 Boys' Industrial School of Ohio 6 Connecticut State Reform School 8 Industrial School, Kearney, Nebraska 21 Illinois State Reform School . 25 Indiana Reform School for Boys 28 Cincinnati House of Refuge 29 eo Pennsylvania Reform School 31 en House of Refuge, Philadelphia 33 Lyman School for Boys 36 as. Reform School of the District of Columbia 37 as Minnesota State Reform School 40 ~ Buildings ..- 41 JEZ Superintendent 42 PART II. REFORMATORIES OR INTERMEDIATE PRISONS. Pennsylvania Industrial Reformatory 43 New York State Reformatory at Elmira 45 Indiana Reformatory Institution for Women and Girls 55 PART III. STATE PRISONS. Ohio Penitentiary , 57 Illinois State Penitentiary 66 Western Penitentiary of Pennsylvania 97 State Penitentiary for Eastern District of Pennsylvania 99 Massachusetts State Prison 153 REPORT. To the State Board of Prison Directors of California: Having been authorized by you, far the purpose of maturing the system of government, instruction, and discipline of the Preston School of Industry, to be located at or near lone, Amador County, to visit aimi- lar institutions in practical operation and of the best repute, and by personal inspection and investigation to acquire an insight into the principles and workings thereof for the information and benefit of the Board, I now submit the following report. I visited and carefully examined the management of the following named industrial, reformatory, and penal institutions: Connecticut State Reform School, at Meriden; Boys' Industrial School of Ohio, at Lancaster; Illinois State Reform School, at Pontiac; State Industrial School for Juvenile Offenders of Nebraska, at Kearney; House of Refuge, at Philadelphia; House of Correction, at Chicago; Pennsylvania Reform School, at Morganza; Lyman School for Boys, at Westborough, Massachusetts; Reform School of the District of Columbia, at Wash- ington; Indiana Reform School for Boys, at Plainfield; Pennsylvania Industrial Reformatory, at Huntingdon; Cincinnati House of Refuge; Illi- nois State Penitentiary, at Joliet; Massachusetts State Prison, at Charles- town; Western Penitentiary of Pennsylvania, at Allegheny City; Ohio Penitentiary, at Columbus; New York State Reformatory, at Elmira; State Penitentiary for Eastern District of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia; In- diana Reformatory Institution for Women and Girls, at Indianapolis; Minnesota State Reform School, at St. Paul; besides the City Prison of New York, known as the "Tombs;" the prison at Blackwell's Island, New York, and some other public institutions for the care of the insane. I also conferred with such persons as I was able to meet who had given particular attention to reformatory institutions. For the purpose of securing an orderly arrangement, I shall divide this report into three main heads, the first devoted to the consideration of industrial or reform schools; the second to the subject of reformato- ries; and the third to State Prisons. REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. PART I. Reform or Industrial Schools. GENERAL VIEW. The Act creating the Preston School of Industry provides that "the Board shall cause to be organized and maintained a department of instruction for the inmates of said school, with a course of study cor- responding as far as practicable with the course of study in the public schools of this State, but the course shall not be higher than the course prescribed in grammar schools. They shall adopt a system of govern- ment, embracing such laws and regulations as are necessary for the guidance of the officers and employes, for the regulation of the hours of study and labor, for the preservation of order, for the enforcement of discipline, for the preservation of health, and for the industrial training of the inmates. The ultimate purpose of all such instruction, discipline, and industries shall be to qualify the inmates for honorable and profit- able employment, rather than to make the institution self-sustaining." The Act also provides that the school " shall be conducted on such plan as to the Board may seem best calculated to carry out the inten- tions of this Act, and its inmates shall be subject to military discipline, including daily drill. They shall be clothed in military uniform of such pattern and material as may be prescribed by the Board, but under no circumstances shall such inmates be clothed in convict stripes while undergoing commitment in said school." Boys between the ages of eight and eighteen may be committed to the school for a period not exceeding the time when they shall attain major- ity, and the Board may make rules reducing for good conduct the time for which a boy is committed. Whenever the Board may consider an inmate sufficiently reformed to justify his reward, they may give him an honorable dismissal. The Board has power to issue certificates of conditional dismissal and parole to any worthy boy, on the condition that it binds him by articles of indenture to some suitable person who will engage to educate him and instruct him in some useful art or trade. It also has power to return him to his parents or to place him under the care of a reputable citizen and resident of this State, bound to the Board with sufficient sureties for the proper care, education, and moral and REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 5 i industrial training of such boy. For a violation of the parole the boy may be returned to the school, or if received from a State Prison may be returned to the latter. But if the parole be properly observed he shall be entitled to the same immunities as if he had been discharged from the institution. If a boy be found to be incorrigible he may be returned to the Court by which he was committed, and the Court may enter such judgment as it had power to make at the time of the com- mitment. Any boy undergoing sentence for less than life, in either of the State Prisons, who may be deemed a fit subject for training in the school, may, upon recommendation of the Board, with the approval of the Governor, be transferred to the school for the unexpired period of his sentence, and when honorably discharged shall be entitled to the same immunities as any other inmate may have. These are the main features of the school. - DIFFERENT PLANS OF MANAGEMENT. The question as to best methods to be followed for the reformation of juvenile offenders, has provoked much discussion and differences of opin- ion. Formerly these schools were of a penal character, in which the guarding and custody of the inmates were considered to be the main objects desired. At an early day many of these institutions were located in the heart of growing cities, and it became necessary, in order to secure the inmates, that the buildings should be strongly built and sur- rounded by high walls to prevent escapes. Institutions managed in this way, on what we may call the congregate plan, offered some advan- tages, and at the same time were open to several objections. By placing a large number beneath one roof, the cost of maintenance was lessened. But the main object of a reform school is to develop character, to train for a useful life, as well as to safely guard. These schools were found in some way to be defective in accomplishing all that was hoped from them in the way of reforming or improving a boy. ^ THE COTTAGE OR FAMILY PLAN. The great defect in institutions managed on the congregate plan was that they lacked the influences of family life. This led to the adoption of what is known as the cottage plan. The inmates under this system are divided into classes, according to size and form, forty to fifty being placed in a cottage, although Mr. Chapin, Superintendent of the school at Westborough, Massachusetts, advised that to attain the best results not more than twenty-five should be placed in one building. Schools managed on this plan may be differently managed, as different private homes are 6 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. managed. But the nearer an approach to home life is made, the more is perfection of management attained. In the words of a gentleman who has given much thought to the subject: "The internal system of the reformatory school should be, as nearly as practicable, that of the family, with its refining and elevating influences; while awakening of the conscience and the inculation of religious principles should be pri- mary aims. Perhaps a boy enters the school feeling that the hand of every man is against him, and with revenge in his heart; but let him there find a corps of just but merciful guides ready to teach him and help him and love him, and it is reasonable to expect that he will soon be actuated by better feelings and nobler resolves. The school should be thorough in all its methods, and aim to impart a plain education, and also give instruction in mechanical drawing. Every boy should be instructed in some useful trade or occupation, and his wishes consulted in selecting it." A better idea can be obtained, perhaps, of the plan of management that should prevail in these schools by examining some of those of recog- nized merit, individually, than by entering into an abstract discussion. Accordingly, I shall proceed to describe in detail those that I inspected. BOYS' INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL OF OHIO. The State of Ohio, in 1856, appointed a Commission to visit reform schools, and report a plan for the management of a reform school for that State. The Commission recommended the adoption of the family or cottage plan, and finally the school was located on a farm of twelve hundred acres, six miles south of the town of Lancaster. The ground is hilly in places, with fertile valleys between the ridges. In some places it breaks into high rocks. The buildings consist of the main building, ten family buildings, printing office, shoe, brush, polytechnic, paint, blacksmith, carpenter, tailor, and bake shops, carriage, bath, meat, ware, engine, gas, ice, corn, and green houses, water tower, hospital, mending-room, knitting-room, and barns. The family buildings are named after the State and its rivers, and are known as the Ohio, Hocking, Union, Muskingum, Cuyahoga, Scioto, Huron, Miami, Erie, and Maumee buildings. With the exception of a double building used for the very youngest boys, and separated from the other buildings by a distance of half a mile, all the buildings are arranged in the form of a segment of a circle about the main building. The main building is one hundred and sixty-one feet in length, and consists of three stories and basement. The chapel has a seating REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 7 capacity of six hundred, and is ninety-one feet in length by sixty in width. The school receives boys between the ages of ten and sixteen. In 1885 a system of merits and demerits was introduced, which classifies the inmates, according to the offense, into three grades. If a boy is committed on the charge of murder, manslaughter, obstructing rail- roads, highway robbery, rape, or arson, he is debited with seven thousand demerits; if on the charge of assault and battery with intent, embezzle- ment exceeding $35, burglary, grand larceny, forgery, or perjury, he is debited with six thousand demerits; if on the charge of aiding prisoners to escape, embezzlement under $35, or petit larceny, he is debited with five thousand demerits. For good deportment a boy receives ten merits a day, and if he has a perfect record for three successive months he is entitled to three hundred extra merits. Information given of an attempt to escape, if the information proves correct, entitles the informer to a reward of three hundred merits. When all the demerits have been canceled, the boy is entitled to a leave of absence for four months, and if he continues to conduct himself properly, he may have his "leave of absence" card renewed at the expiration of every four months, until he reaches his majority. If he is guilty of misbehavior while on leave of absence, he is returned to the institution and charged with one thousand demerits in addition to the number originally debited against him. The discipline is that of the family, school, workshop, and farm, and not of the prison. The inmates are not considered as prisoners or criminals, but are watched over as pupils in a public school. The rules of the school provide that the food used shall be that approved by the common custom of the country, well prepared. Before each meal, grace is said. No officer or assistant is allowed at any time or place to make use of liquor as a beverage. All persons employed at the school are required to attend all religious services on the Sabbath, unless a special leave of absence is obtained from the Superintendent. The salaries paid at this institution are as follows: Superintendent $100 per month. Matron $33^ per month. Assistant Superintendent $70 per month. Assistant Matron $25 per month. Steward $1,150 per annum. Elder Brother and wife. .$45 for husband, $20 for wife, or $65 per month. Engineer $55 per month. Gardener and florist $55 per month. Shoemaker $50 per month. 8 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. In addition to these salaries, the officers are allowed board, lodging, stationery, and washing. The Superintendent, Mr. Barrett, said, in conversation, that he aims to feed the inmates well, as nothing is made by any other course. Bean dinners are supplied three days in each week, and meat every day. Eggs twenty-five times during the year. The average per capita cost of maintenance is $120 per year. The buildings are heated by steam and lighted by coal gas manufactured at the place; but the Superintendent informed me that he considered elec- tric light preferable. The boys bathe every Saturday. There is no dis- tinction among the boys as to the kind of clothing worn or food eaten. They are all, in these matters, on an equality. CONNECTICUT STATE REFORM SCHOOL. This school is situated at Meriden, Connecticut, and is under the superintendence of Mr. G. E. Howe. Mr. Howe had charge of the Lan- caster School before he assumed control of the school at Meriden. I explained to him fully what we hoped to do, what money we had available, and asked him to put himself in the place of the Board of Directors, and from that standpoint to give me his views. In reply he said that he would recommend the erection of four cottages costing about $20,000 each, and one administration building, which ought to cost about $60,000. The cottages should be built so as to accommodate about fifty inmates each. The administration building should have a department for boys who had not earned their freedom, and the part of the building devoted to this purpose should be made secure. In arrangement, the administration building should be central and the others should be erected in semi-cirular form around, at distances apart from the main building of not less than one hundred and fifty feet. The chapel should be a separate building. The administration building should contain rooms for the Board of Directors and apart- ments for Superintendent and assistant, and also general bakery, general laundry, tailor shop, and other shops, if necessary or convenient. With regard to trades and labor, Mr. Howe thought that preference should be given to farm labor, as such work was well adapted to effect a reformation of the inmates. He does not favor the use of machinery. Each cottage should have a separate workshop. The boys should be kept in school during three hours of each day, and the remainder of their time should be directed between labor and recreation. There REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 9 should be no distinctions in the matter of dress or food. It is a sufficient reward that good conduct will shorten the term of the inmate. Mr. Howe believes that flogging should not be altogether dispensed with, but all punishment should be under the charge of the Superintend- ent. He prefers, for sleeping purposes, dormitories, to separate rooms. At Meriden, the Superintendent is the purchasing agent, only meat being bought by contract. Supplies are delivered to the persons in charge of the cottages every Saturday morning, and charged up to them. The cost of keeping the inmates is $150 per capita per year. And this sum covers also all ordinary repairs to the buildings. The buildings of this school embrace the original main building and five additional separate buildings. Each of these separate buildings or cottages will conveniently house about fifty boys. Each building is a miniature institution in itself. The boys in each building constitute a separate family; they eat, sleep, and attend school in the same building. They have a separate recreation ground, and do not mingle with the boys in other families. Each family is under the supervision of three persons a man and his wife who reside with the family, and a lady teacher, who also resides in the same building. The buildings have only the ordinary fastenings, and are surrounded by no fence or inclosure of any kind. These buildings are situate upon an eminence within the corporate limits of the city and within a short distance of some of its most attractive residences. Throughout the institution there prevails the neatness and order of a well regulated family. A system of marks is used for the purpose of maintaining discipline, and the boys are relied upon as monitors. The boys are allowed two suits of clothes. For daily use, they wear all-wool, indigo-blue jackets, lined with flannel, with heavy, all-wool gray cloth for vest and pants, hickory shirts, good shoes and stockings, and blue caps. On Sundays the pants worn are blue instead of gray. Great care is exercised to have the utmost cleanliness. The inmates sleep in single beds supplied always with an abundance of clean bed- ding. Their food is prepared in the most approved manner, meats and bread are of the first quality, and vegetables, when in season, are boun- tifully supplied. Coffee is served every morning and evening; and the tables, covered with white oil-cloth, with the white porcelain crockery and the silver-plated knives, forks, spoons, casters, and soup tureens, give the dining-rooms the appearance of a well kept restaurant. During every Sabbath afternoon the pulpit is filled by some minister from the churches of the city, and also instruction is given to a class of Catholic boys by the Sisters of Mercy. 10 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. Mr. Howe has devoted his life to this work, and is constantly appealed to for advice and information. He has kindly furnished me with the plans of buildings at Meriden, and explained in detail the operation and management of his school. The whole system is founded in sim- plicity, but he has prepared the following explanation of the open or family system, which contains in his own language his views and coun- sel on such matters as will arise in the organization of a school to be conducted on this system and an answer to the objections made to it: The family system is that which has for its underlying and grand idea the family as a divine institution, and that the Creator has or- dained that human beings shall receive, through it, greater and more lasting social and moral influence than through any sphere of life. In conformity with this great and fundamental principle the inmates are classified, and limited numbers are placed in modest but well built cot- tages, which are free from anything like the usual prison appliances, and furnished with all the necessaries and comforts of a well ordered home, presided over by a Christian gentleman and lady, who, as hus- band and wife, hold the relation of father and mother toward the youth of the household. Each family is distinct from the other families in all matters of its own particular management, but is united with all the others under one central head, every family having its own school-room, dining-room, dormitory, and playground; the government of each fam- ily to be thoroughly parental, and physical coercion never to be used until other means have failed, and when used, to be administered under the humanizing spirit and genius of the family. Thus we claim for our system a foundation upon natural and funda- mental principles, and upon that one best known and deepest felt in the universal mind and heart of men: that in the family and home are found the most impressive and lasting influences that shape the child into the man. It would appear that there could be no cavil against the self-evidence that this was the Creator's design in the founding and con- servation of human society. It follows, then, that in removing a boy from an inadequate or bad home, into a better and good one, we are not acting in violation, but in harmony with natural law. And the wisdom of harmonious procedure must be further apparent, when we consider the nature, the instincts, and necessities of child life. If, in the being of man and woman there is the implanted instinct, the cry of nature for offspring, for some creation from their own loins to love, there is also the corresponding implanted appeal in the child for the protection and tenderness of a father and mother and the breedings of a home. So that if we remove a child from parents who have vir- tually orphaned him by their inadequacy, neglect, or cruel usage, and from a home unnatural and hateful, and bring him into the adoption of a wiser and better parentage, and into the more natural home of comfort and benevolence, then, again, we are not going contrary to, but in unison with, natural principles. Such, in brief, is the fundamental idea and theory of our plan for juvenile reformative government, in opposition to the genius and meth- ods of the common and penal institution. The prison principle is more or less hateful to the adult delinquent; REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 11 it is an abhorrence to the youthful offender. The prison principle in reform peculiarly outrages the nature of child life. The shock pene- trates to the ends of his being, and body and soul rise up against it in the fiercest antagonism; for, as soon as born, the great law is upon the child, that he springs toward the development of a man. To this end his Creator has endowed him with the most intense activity and restless- ness. The child loves and pants for freedom. His every contact with nature is but his communion with a second mother. To a boy the bolted door, the barred window, the walled yard, the shadowy cell, and the divers contrivances of brute force, are not so much terrors as enemies, that he is not afraid to fight, and with which every impulse of his nature does wage implacable conflict, though, for the time being, he may be rendered helpless against them. These barriers against the deep crav- ings of his child nature, instead of becoming factors in his reform, become like Carthaginian altars, and he, like a young Hannibal, swears upon them undying hatred to them, to the builders of them; and such is the desperate growth of his ferocious hate, that he fancies in every man the architect of some new prison and its penalties. Behind them and under their despotic sway, the question, we believe, never enters his mind, " How shall I reform through these agencies?" but " How shall I get away from them?" The darkness of these things is so great to him, that never a ray of Christian and humanizing light can he see in such an economy of government and instruction. All of it is an unnatural home to him, no home only a horde of criminals, more or less bad, and the star of hope, if it shines at all, flickers dim and sickly. His officers and teachers, however kind in intention, are, by the genius of such a system, never parental or fraternal, but sus- picious constables and taskmasters; every movement of his life under a galling surveillance. And to add to the cloudy prospect of a child un- der this system, there is increase of whatever natural stigma comes to him by being " sent to a reform school," and it makes such opprobrium far greater and miserable. As the child enters, he knows by public opinion that he is thought only fit to have a prison for a home, police- men for parents, and bolts and dungeons for laws; and when he conies out he finds the "jail bird" estimate engraven so deeply that no sweat of any virtuous effort can rub it out, and finally, as a crowning disad- vantage and demerit of the prison reformatory, we see the State, in plac- ing her wayward children under such a system, committing herself to a most stultifying and suicidal policy, in that while her great aim is to bring such children into reformed men, she seeks to do this by training them as criminals. Whatever may be said of the penal institution for the rectification of adult and matured depravity, as a system for the wayward child it is a barbarism, a worthy relic of the harsh and heartless ages past, when men were rated about in the percentage of cattle, and belongs not to this age, so irradiated by influences that prize degraded humanity at something of the value put upon it by the redeeming, loving Christ. In contrast with the destructive nature and methods, and the abort- ive results of the congregate or prison policy, we urge with every instinct of our soul, and on literal knowledge of the actual, tangible, and glo- rious successes, the claims of the open or family system. The man or the woman, through the wear and grind of life outside the prison, may, even for the scant hospitalities inside of it, sink into a 12 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. degree of contentment; but the child and youth deprived of this degree of liberty, with life a perpetual shackle, is put into an unconquerable antagonism to all reformatory influences; for, again, see the operations of natural law! The growing child and youth is under the press of the animal nature, environed by the conditions of animalism, has the motive power of animal spirits within as the adult has not. In youth we see the warm and eruptive. In the adult they have greatly spent their force. Now, the prison and its methods are those barriers to the neces- sary, proper vent and outflow of the basilar forces. But the open, the freer, the home system, with its wide facilities for labor, for play, for wide communion with nature outside, and the social and moral facili- ties within the home, are the natural, healthful means, the aqueducts through which these inflammable and critical propensities may expend themselves safely. . . The family plan gives time and most 4 convenient opportunities tor close contact and confiding interview with each child; for he is a child in a home and not one of a promiscuous and repellant gang. In the heads of the family he has a father and a mother; in his teachers he has elder brothers and sisters. His life passes day by day in review before them; but this parental and fraternal watchfulness never excites his hostility, but in natural, healthful way tempers and disciplines his tendencies to waywardness. And here the way opens to the most ample opportunities for woman's transcendent influence. The universal heart of men will acknowledge the strange potency of the mother upon the growing character of a child, and especially in lasting influence upon a boy. Here, then, in this system we give the boy to be mothered, by giving him a home, such as the necessities of the penal plan know nothing about; and especially does this consideration rise into moment- ous importance as we know that many of the commitments are of chil- dren of tender age. Then if we can have a reformatory system that will give us woman's ear to listen to little ailments; woman's hand to soften the rigors of the young orphaned life, and the scepter of woman's soft and winning love to rule in that strange kingdom, the heart of a child, then it is immeasurable gain! But while we have full confidence in the soundness of these mere fundamental considerations, we hasten on to others, which, of course, will have greater general acceptance, the proofs wrought out by actual experience. And here, in referring as briefly as possible to the history and results of the Ohio Reform School for Boys, over which we had the honor of presiding for so many years, we can only mention that the institutions in Germany and France, the authors of the Ohio school principle, were noble successes, the hope of philanthropists there, and gave the most promising warrant for the adoption of the experiment in Ohio. The first reformatory institution organized upon the open or family plan in this country was at Lancaster, Ohio, in the year 1858, founded essentially on the principle, and adopting the methods of the "Rauhe Haus" at Horn, Germany, founded by Dr. Wichern, and the military school at Mettray, France, organized by DeMetz. The first ten boys were received from the Cincinnati House of Refuge, January thirtieth of the first year. Two of the four original buildings for family purposes were of brick, and two of logs, and very plain. These soon made way for better ones, until the school became one of surprising and splendid REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 13 proportions. In the establishment of this school, of course, there were no precedents that were at all well defined and practicable, by which its economy could be guided. All was new, and to so great extent novel that the people at large were utterly skeptical and scoffing toward the pretenses of a system that proposed to govern bad and criminal boys without the usual apparatus of the prison; and appropriations came sparingly and grudgingly, so that the whole pioneer history of this institution is largely the unwritten one of arduous and painful toil. And the tide of disbelief and opposition only began to flow back when there went out from the institution into different parts of the State, by twos and threes, the first companies of reformed boys. These gave such universal and marked credit to the place and Avork that had saved them, that immediately we began to receive the grateful interest and support which the fuller success of the institution so imperatively demanded; and, thanks to an all wise helping Providence, it was demonstrated, to us convincingly, overwhelmingly, in our nineteen years of superintend- ence of that institution, that this was a better way to bring into a true captivity the wayward body and spirit, than by their incarceration between frowning walls, and its all-hateful and abortive array of brutal power. We have seen, again and again, most signally vindicated that heavenly reminder to men, that there is still left in the nature of their most fallen fellows a craving for mercy and kindness, and the instinct to respond to any such benign exhibition. Such far penetrating and marvelous transformations of character have we seen, as the harvest of this policy, that we have said, "Indeed, it does run current with the charities of God," " It is the plan of God himself," " It is the true one, and there is no other." Of the large number that passed out of the institution to care for themselves, a mass of wonderful and most gratifying statistics could be gathered. Among the number may be found eminent lawyers, doctors, and members of other honorable professions; some passed through col- lege with high honors; some have become editors and proprietors of influential journals; others, skilled mechanics and tradesmen, while scores have become industrious farmers and horticulturists, acquiring their taste and knowledge of these noble industries at the school. Most affecting reminiscences of soldierly fidelity could be given of those who enlisted in the war of the rebellion. We do not believe that the same number of youths taken from the ordinary walks of life would furnish a better average record, and yet the majority of these boys who have made these good records were from the lower walks of society. But it may be possible that it will occur to some minds that such successes were isolated and phenomenal; then let us add to this testimony the wide and significant fact that the Ohio school has become the pioneer and pattern of similar institutions in several of the States, and that no State, since the successes of that school, has erected a reformatory on the prison plan; while, on the other hand, some, while not seeing their way clear to make radical changes, have modified their penal systems. The following States have adopted the open, or family, institution, either fully or with slight modifications: New Jersey, Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, Western Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia. The States of Ohio, Massachusetts, and Connecticut have each a school on the open plan for girls and for boys: Massachusetts has her institution at Westborough as a " mixed " one. In addition to 14 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. the " big " house, or prison portion, there are " trust " houses outside the walls. Connecticut is adopting essentially this modification, beginning to build outside of the walls this year, it being the best she can do for the present, We are confident that other States would wholly or parti- ally adopt the family system, if it were not that large expenditures having been made, new outlays would come only by great effort, and with natural reluctance. Objections have been advanced against the open or family system, that it is natural to suppose will, from time to time, be revived. It will be our attempt to reply to these; and first, in a more general way, by discussing the requisites favorable to the success of a reformatory on the family system, which it is hoped will meet at least the more trivial misgivings; and second, by a particular consideration of the more spe- cific objections. The primary requisite is a farm of thoroughly good land, and large enough to furnish all the necessaries and some of the luxuries, that the needs of the institution may be met, and to spare. Large and fertile, that it may never lack support for a sufficient herd of cows, and for the necessary equipment of the farm. All the fruit trees which will flourish in the region should be lavishly planted and assiduously cultivated. The greatest number of acres possible should be reserved for tillage, because these acres are to be such real factors in the boy's reformation. We have remarked, as a prime consideration, that the land should be thoroughly good. We wish to emphasize this so essential necessity, not only that the institution may have the highest opportunities to pay its way, but also in the moral effect upon the minds of the officers who superintend, and the boys who work it. That they shall not have to toil and sweat, and reap not, but to expect bloom and wealth, and get them. Indeed, all agricultural and horticultural matters are to have such generous attention paid them, that it shall be felt throughout the institution that the noble farming industry is the chief and central one. Another prime prerequisite is the location of the school near an abund- ance of sweet, pure water; and we hardly need add that the site of the reformatory should be first and foremost an healthful one. It should also be situated in an intelligent and moral community. The surroundings of such an institution are of great importance. There are many such institutions that are suffering through the inimical feeling of its neigh- bors; springing largely from ignorance, and the narrowness bred of it. We are reminded by these considerations of the hinderances with w r hich the r Ohio school had to contend, and w r hich still, in great measure, ham- per it. Its farm land is wretchedly poor, necessitating a vast amount of labor and discouraging hope; and at its inception, at least, the stand- ard of intelligence in the surrounding inhabitants, and their prejudices, were anything but desirable. The location of a reformatory should be made with wise reference to markets and transportation, and yet, to be too near a city or large village is detrimental; but, on the other hand, extreme isolation is to be avoided. All life and animation which indicate the honorable progress of the age are profitable as incitements to body and mind. The buildings should be plain, but substantial and comfortable; the executive buildings to be the central ones, and the family cottages con- veniently and pleasantly surrounding. The cottages to be appropriately named, and surrounded with the beauty of lawn, shrub, and flower. EEFOEMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 15 Each to have its own family garden for the common interest of the household, and, if possible, each child to have a part in it as his own. This latter feature was at one time pursued with most gratifying results in the Ohio school. The homes should be ones to which every boy can aspire by industry and prudence, and he should be so taught. Everything in and outside the homes should be made educative and pleasant. They should be provided with an abundance of wholesome food. If it is true that the " way to a man's heart is through his stomach," how much more is this the road of promise in the growing, vigorous child. No specified dietary should be allowed children should never know beforehand such times as " bean day," " fish day," etc. All distinguishments in dress should be avoided. Let the boys dress as other boys do. Let all such arbitrary distinctions be put as far away as possible, that the child may live a simple, natural life, and going back into general society, the transition shall be an easy and natural one. And now, if, in the ideas thus set forth, it is thought there is created too much of the mere pleasure home, with danger of engendered idle disposition, and character lacking thrift and sturdiness, we say, no! While it should be the sacred aim that the comforts and pleasures of a true home are to accompany all efforts, yet the aim equally sacred and sought is to make the reform institution a nursery of honorable indus- try, and the formation of energetic, sturdy habits of thrift, to train in manly and Christian purpose and action. In trades and occupations, to teach the boys perfectly what they essay to learn, whatever it is; that for their own sake, when they go forth, and for the sake of the State, they shall be found skilled and expert laborers. The great aim of this education should be to make the boy self-sustaining, himself to become a a wise and worthy head of a family. As a second consideration in the prerequisites for a thorough and efficient reformatory on the family plan, we remark upon the required character of its officers and teachers. It will be readily acknowledged that this matter is of first moment in endeavors to get what little good is possible from the prison plan of reform; but regarding it in its relation to our family system, it is the core, the marrow of our system. It is to it life, paralysis, or death. The genius of our system is the home the family. In the heads of it the father and mother; in the subordinate, officer and teacher the elder brother. In methods, its fundamental aim is kindness, gentleness, for- bearance, self-sacrifice, humanizing and Christian influences. Now, to have a weak king or magistrate is damaging; but to have fathers and mothers and brethren of the family inadequate and weak, is destruc- tion. The Superintendent to be sought for is to be one who has had actual practical experience in reformatory, or at least in some philanthropic labor of course, the more the better ; a man who believes his work to be the noblest on earth, who has enthusiasm for his profession; a man believing with all his soul in the fundamental idea of the family system, and expecting results from it with an assurance like that which looks for the sun's light and shining on to-morrow; a man of intelligence, good common sense, tact, and conciliatory spirit. These same general requisites of character are to be sought for in all the subordinate officers and teachers; love and enthusiasm for the work 16 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. are ever the great requirements to be insisted upon in the choice of those to be in authority and parentage over these children and youth, and anything like the hireling spirit in the candidate for these places is to be abhorred, and the mere seekers of place and salary to be rejected as unworthy. In the government of the reformatory we hardly dare say that any one person may be less fitted for his place than another; but if any such thing noi 10 6 95 15 50 75 85 34 72 21 70 1,080 51 500 54 446 56 120 00 470 94 154 43 47 85 464 91 14 00 6 20 11 85 17 04 18 80 168 56 h "3 >5 < September Totals second fiscal year _> *. .February ... March . . 1 ^ c z I t iiLfr -O 00 >H^3^>l>-c _4f 1 Iffilii (5-^a o^p^feS< sU oooo oooo ,rt S e 1-5 72 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. STATEMENT SHOWING THE EXPENSE OF DISCHARGING PRISONERS Continued. Average Cost per Con- vict per Day Cents. cr i i CO i . s CO Average Costper Pris- oner Discharged * rH C-l C-l *ff i 00 I M- ; Tot P al Discharge Ex- nses S !OO>OOHiOt^C rTfcocoooooc^a >S8i3S CO 1C 1C CD 00 NP $ t- IO~ as- < Ot~--i'H'-Ho O.i-J i H - O COlOt~(NOCOlOCN i-Ti-Ti-T i-T W9- 00 N t^ S(9- 1OO10OCOOIMOOOOO t^-COt-^i-Ht^-OlOC^^COC^lC i-H CO CN i-H O5 CC <3> i 1 O5 rH 00 i-T r-T 3 00 t~r Sundry Sup- plies . OT O O O O * iH 00 -H O. ^H" %- < i-H rH g cc r- iH 1 1 i * 2 2 Pu 8S8-SS- CN O5CC O5 1 83 cot--aOTf- S w 9! * "W rH "1 1 >O *< ^ I-H CO s * MONTHS. a> S >> Illili ||||||, CD t^ 00 ao OO 00 i 1 i-H S > 1^ 11 i '5 H: H^ *5 September Totals second fiscal year August September Totals first fiscal year 1887 Ontnhpr . i ~ I ^ December 1888 Jannarv - February March * c > REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 73 The prison and buildings are heated by steam. The coal used, which is soft coal, costs $1 90 per ton. Flour costs from $4 25 to $4 50 per barrel; beef, 4| cents per pound, dressed, and 8 cents for hind quarters. Butterine, costing 16 cents per pound, is used instead of butter. The tobacco furnished to the prisoners is manufactured at the prison. Each prisoner is allowed four ounces of chewing tobacco per week. Smoking is prohibited except three times during the year, on holidays, when they are allowed two cigars each, which are worth about $18 per thousand. All the convicts are treated alike. Friends can give them fruit, to be eaten in their presence. There are two prisons in Illinois, the other of which is known as the Southern Illinois Penitentiary. The prison at Joliet, which is the gen- eral penitentiary for the State, is under the charge of three Commission- ers, appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and subject to removal by the Governor at his discretion. If removed, that fact, and the cause thereof, must be reported by the Governor to the next Legislature. The Warden, Chaplain, and Physi- cian are appointed by the Commissioners, and hold their respective offices for the term of three years, unless sooner removed by the Com- missioners. The Commissioners give bonds in the sum of $25,000 each for the faithful performance of their duties, and the Warden gives a like bond in the sum of $50,000. The Warden has power, by and with the consent of the Commission- ers, or a majority of them, to appoint a Deputy Warden, Clerk, and Steward, who, however, are subject to removal. by the Warden. The Commissioners prescribe the articles of food and the quantity of each kind which shall be provided for the convicts, and determine the number of hours per day during which the convicts shall be required to labor. The law makes it the duty of the Commissioners to cause, at least once a year, a full and accurate inventory and appraisement of all the ma- chinery, fixtures, goods, and property of every description belonging to the State in and about the penitentiary, to be made under oath by two or more competent appraisers, to be appointed for that purpose by the Commissioners, and to cause a copy of such inventory and appraisement to be filed in the office of the Auditor of Public Accounts, and another copy to be appended to their biennial report to the Governor. It is the duty of the Commissioners to meet at the penitentiary at least as often as once in each month, and as much oftener as the proper control and superintendence of the prison may require. It is their duty 74 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. also to examine and inquire into all matters connected with the govern- ment, discipline, and police of the penitentiary, the punishment and employment of the convicts, and also into any improper conduct which may be alleged to have been committed by the Warden or any other officer or employe; and for this purpose the Commissioners have power to issue subpoenas, and compel the attendance of witnesses, and the pro- duction before them of writings and papers, and examine any witnesses on oath who may appear before them. The statutes governing the penitentiary provide that it shall be the duty of the Warden to reside in and constantly attend the penitentiary, except when absent on some necessary duty connected with his office, and that in no case shall the Warden and Deputy Warden be absent at the same time. The Warden, among other duties, is required to examine daily into the state of the penitentiary, and into the health, condition, and safe-keep- ing of the convicts, and to inquire into the justice of any complaints made by any of the convicts relative to their provisions, clothing, or treatment. Among the salaries paid per annum are: Commissioners, each $1 ,500 Warden 2,500 Deputy Warden 1 ,800 Chaplain 1,500 Physician 1 ,500 Meal tickets are sold to visitors if they desire them. Visitors are allowed to visit the pri.son every day except Sundays and holidays. They are taken in charge by an usher at nine A. M., eleven A. M., two p. M., and four p. M. And if they arrive after any one of these hours they are required to wait until the next specified hour. An admission fee is charged to general visitors. Each Guard receives twelve meal tickets free, which he may use as he pleases during the year. If he desires more he is charged at the rate of 25 cents per ticket, and if he does not use all that he is entitled to with- out charge, he may surrender those remaining unused and receive 25 cents for each. This prison has a well deserved reputation throughout the United States for its discipline and government. This is largely due to its rules and regulations, and their strict and impartial enforcement. The rules now in force are these: REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 75 The Warden. The Warden, in the performance of his duties as chief executive offi- cer of the Illinois State Penitentiary, shall be guided by the statutes and laws providing for the management of the penitentiary, and by such rules and orders as may, from time to time, be adopted and placed on record by the Board of Penitentiary Commissioners. Duties of the Deputy Warden. 1 . The Deputy Warden is the assistant and agent of the Warden in the general government and management of the penitentiary, more par- ticularly in matters of discipline of its officers and prisoners. 2. He shall attend daily at the prison, from the hour of unlocking in the morning until after the prisoners shall have been locked up at night. 3. In the absence of the Warden from the prison, the Deputy War- den shall perform his duties, and shall not leave the prison until the Warden returns. 4. He shall not be absent from the prison, at any time during the day, when the prisoners are out of their cells, without first obtaining leave from the Warden. 5. He shall visit the prison occasionally during the night by surprise, and personally ascertain that the prisoners are all secure; and that the officers are on duty and alert. 6. Under the orders of the Warden, he shall have special control and direction of the Keepers, Guards, Foremen, and other servants of the prison, and shall be responsible that every one performs his respective duties with intelligence, fidelity, and zeal. And it shall be his duty to report to the Warden, strictly and promptly, every neglect of duty or impropriety or misconduct on the part of any officer. 7. He shall report to the Warden the name of every officer coming upon duty under the influence of intoxicants or without being in uni- form. 8. He shall not grant leave of absence to any officer for a longer period than one day without consulting the Warden, except in cases of emer- gency. 9. He shall enforce obedience to the prison rules and regulations, and to all orders given from time to time by the Warden, and shall maintain generally the police and discipline of the prison with the strictest exact- ness, for which purpose he shall frequently, during the day, but at irreg- ular periods and without notice, visit the shops, yards, hospital, kitchen, cells, and other apartments of the prison, and the different places where work is in hand, taking every precaution for the security of the prison and prisoners, seeing that the officers are vigilant and attentive to their duties, and that they keep the prisoners under them diligently employed during their hours of labor. 10. He shall not permit any book, pamphlet, or newspaper to be read by any officer, nor to be in his possession, while on duty in or about the prison. 11. When a prisoner is received, the Deputy Warden shall see that he is properly bathed, clothed in a prison suit, and duly inspected by the prison Physician, and vaccinated. He shall then read and explain to him the rules and regulations for the government of prisoners, give 76 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. him his privilege tickets, and assign him to duty under direction of the Warden. 12. He shall at short intervals examine the locks, levers, and gratings in and about the entire prison, and see that they are in good condition. 13. He shall exercise due vigilance, to see that there is no embezzle- ment of the property of the penitentiary; that not only no willful waste, but also no want of economy in the necessary consumption or the use of supplies takes place, without making such known to the Warden immediately. 14. He shall consider it his duty to make himself acquainted with the social habits and conduct of every subordinate officer and employe of the prison, and particularly whether, when off duty, he is a frequenter of saloons or other houses of similar resort, or associates with idle or loose characters, and report the facts to the Warden. 15. He shall see that no material is allowed to be placed near the inclosing walls, and that nothing is accessible to prisoners which can facilitate escape. He shall especially see that ladders are properly secured. 16. He shall have a vigilant eye over every person who may have business about the prison, to see that nothing is carried in or out for a prisoner; and, so far as he can, that no communication of any descrip- tion is attempted by such person with any prisoner, except by authority, and in the presence of an officer. 17. He shall, every evening, before relieving the Guards and Keepers from duty, verify by actual count the written daily count report fur- nished him from the office. 18. As the Penitentiary Act of 1872 affords to prisoners the privilege of earning diminution of their sentence, it will be incumbent upon all the officers of the prison to give the strictest attention to the conduct and character of every prisoner; and especially it shall be the duty of the Deputy Warden to satisfy himself as to the behavior of every pris- oner, his industry, alacrity, and zeal in the execution of his work, so that the Deputy may be able to advise with the Warden, as to the dim- inution of sentence to be made to each convict. And for this purpose he shall communicate freely with every officer in charge of a gang, when making his rounds. 19. The Deputy Warden shall, under orders of the Warden, investi- gate all reports of offenses committed by prisoners, and make disposition of the same. In these investigations the Deputy Warden shall be careful in endeavoring to arrive at the truth concerning each case; in awarding punishment he shall take into consideration the age, previous conduct, habits, and disposition of the offender, so far as he may be able to ascer- tain the same, and in the administration of punishment he shall take special care to deprive it of all appearance of personal vindictiveness, even under great provocation, at the same time making it sufficiently severe, without cruelty, to secure the end desired. He shall make daily written report to the Warden of all prisoners reported to him, the nature of their offense, and of all punishments awarded or administered. 20. The only disciplinary punishments of prisoners allowed to be administered in this prison are: 1. Taking from prisoners one or all of their privilege tickets. 2. Solitary confinement on short rations of bread and water. REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. , , 3. Handcuffing prisoner to the grated cell door at the height of his breast. Corporal punishments of any kind are prohibited by the statute. Duties of Assistant Deputy Warden. 1 . The Assistant Deputy Warden shall attend daily at the prison from the hour of unlocking in the morning until after the prisoners have been locked up at night. 2. He shall assist the Deputy Warden in the discharge of his duties whenever called on by him; and in the absence of the Deputy Warden from the prison, he shall perform all the duties incumbent upon that officer. 3. He shall assist the Deputy Warden in maintaining and executing the rules of government of the prison, and report to him any violation of the same by either the officers or the prisoners that may come under his notice. 4. He shall keep, mornings and evenings, the time of officers on duty during the day, and report the same to the Clerk on the first of each month. 5. He shall attend the daily sick call, accompanying prisoners who are to see the Physician, from the different workshops to the hospital, and ordering them to sick cell or on duty, as the Physician may direct. 6. He shall have charge of the prison armory, assigning Guards and Keepers their arms and accouterments, and seeing that everything belong- ing to the armory, including the special supply of lanterns, is in good condition and serviceable at a moment's notice. 7. He shall inspect the arms and equipments of the Guards at least once a week, and report any officer whose rifle or equipments are not in good order. He shall frequently inspect all the arms and equipments not in daily use and see that they are kept in thorough repair. Duties of Chaplain. 1 . He shall conduct religious services in the penitentiary under such regulations as the Commissioners may prescribe, and attend to the spiritual wants of the prisoners. 2. He shall obtain from each prisoner, when received in the peniten- tiary, as complete a statement as possible, of his religious and educa- tional antecedents, and his parental and conjugal relations, and shall make report thereof, on blanks furnished, to the Warden. 8. He shall visit the prisoners in their cells, for the purpose of giving them moral and religious instruction. 4. He shall furnish, at the expense of the State, a Bible to each pris- oner. 5. He shall not have any intercourse with prisoners in the shops or while they are at work, nor shall he hold communication with them, except as may be necessary and proper in imparting to them such secu- lar and religious instruction as is required by law and the prison regu- lations. 6. He shall not furnish the prisoners with any information or intelli- gence in relation to outside matters, except by permission of the Warden. 7. He shall visit daily the sick in the hospital and administer to their spiritual wants. 78 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 8. He shall, once a week, read to prisoners that have arrived during the preceding seven days, the rules and regulations for the government of prisoners, impressing upon them the necessity of their strict observ- ance of the same, and the benefits they may derive thereby under the good time law. 9. He shall have charge of the library, so far as to see that no im- proper books are placed in possession of the prisoners, and if such books are found, either in the cells, or in possession of prisoners, he shall take away and deliver the same to the Warden; and for the purpose of the proper discharge of these duties, he shall visit the cells in the penitentiary, and the books so taken away from prisoners shall not be returned to them without the express order of the Commissioners. 10. Sectarian doctrines in the matter of religious belief shall not be taught, nor shall any attempt be made, directly or indirectly, to prose- lyte a prisoner. If any prisoner desires communication with a minister or instructor of his particular faith, on proper application to the War- den it shall be allowed, under and in conformity with the law and the general regulations of the prison; but such minister or instructor, on such occasions, must in all things conform to the rules and regulations for the government of the Chaplain; any infringement or departure from which Avill debar him from future intercourse with the prisoners. 11. He shall make an annual report to the Commissioners for each year ending the first day of October, relative to the religious and moral conduct of the prisoners during such year; stating therein what services he has performed, and the fruits of his instruction, together with any other facts relative to said prisoners he may deem proper to report. 12. The Chaplain shall, when required by the Commissioners, give instruction in the useful branches of an English education to such pris- oners as, in the judgment of the Warden, may require the same and be benefited thereby, and be entitled thereto by previous good conduct; and such instruction may be given for such length of time daily as said Commissioners shall prescribe (Sunday excepted), between the hours of six and nine p. M. 13. He shall make a quarterly report to the Commissioners in case such instruction shall be given, stating the number of prisoners instructed during the quarter, the branches of education taught, the text-books used, the progress made by the convicts, and note especially any case in which unusual progress has been made by a prisoner. Duties of the Physician. 1. He shall attend at all times to the wants of the sick prisoners, whether in the hospital or in their cells, and shall render them all necessary, medical service. 2. He shall examine weekly the cells of the prisoners, for the purpose of ascertaining whether they are kept in a proper state of cleanliness and ventilation, and report the same weekly to the Warden. 3. He shall examine, at least once a week, and oftener if he thinks proper, into the quality and condition of the provisions provided for the prisoners; and whenever he shall have reason to believe that any pro- visions are prejudicial to the health of the prisoners, he shall imme- diately make report thereof to the Warden. He shall also have power, and it shall be his duty to prescribe the diet of the sick prisoners, and REFOKMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 79 his directions in relation thereto shall be followed by the Warden and Steward. 4. He shall vaccinate every prisoner on his entering the prison, and examine him as to the condition of his heart, lungs, and chest, evidence of previous or present hereditary disease, and keep a record of such examination in a book provided for that purpose. 5. He shall visit the prison every day between the hours of seven and ten in the morning. When the state of a sick prisoner requires it, he shall visit at such hours as he may think the case demands, and if sent for at any time by the Warden or Deputy Warden, he shall immediately repair to the prison to the exclusion of all other engagements. 6. He shall keep a daily record of all admissions to the hospital, and the cases treated in the cells or elsewhere, indicating the sex, color, nativity, age, occupation, habits of life, period of entrance and discharge from the hospital, disease, and the prescription and treatment in each case. 7. He shall have full control over the patients in hospital, subject to the rules of the prison and instructions of the Commissioners, and shall leave his daily general instructions as to the government, etc., of the patients with the Hospital Steward. 8. It shall be the duty of the Physician, in case of any prisoner claim- ing to be unable to labor by reason of sickness, to examine such prisoner; and if, in his opinion, upon examination, said prisoner is unable to labor, he shall immediately certify the same to the Warden, and such prisoner shall thereupon be released from labor and admitted to the hospital, or placed in his cell, or elsewhere, for medical treatment, as said Physician shall direct, having a due regard for the safe-keeping of such prisoner, and such prisoner shall not be required to labor so long as in the opin- ion of said Physician such disability shall continue; and whenever said Physician shall certify to the Warden that such prisoner is sufficiently recovered to be able to labor, said prisoner shall be required to labor, and not before. He shall also direct the transfer, permanent or tem- porary, of prisoners from first to second class work, and report such transfer to the Warden. 9. He shall examine carefully every morning all prisoners in punish- ment in the solitary cells, and shall make written report to the Warden of their condition. He shall be particular to report to the Warden in writing any prisoner whose health he thinks is suffering or endangered by the punishment he is undergoing, and shall recommend such changes in the diet of prisoners in punishment as he may think necessary. He shall require the Hospital Steward to make a similar examination every evening, between the hours of four and five o'clock, and make a written report of the same. 10. He shall, whenever in his opinion a prisoner becomes insane, cer- tify that fact to the Warden, giving his reasons therefor, and make, on blanks furnished him for that purpose, a brief statement of the general condition of the patient, together with his recommendation as to what disposition shall be made of him. 11. When a prisoner dies, the Physician shall record the nature of the complaint and all the circumstances connected therewith that he may deem proper and necessary, and report to the Warden. 12. When the Physician considers it necessary, or when required by the Commissioners or Warden, to make a post mortem examination of 80 REFOEMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. any prisoner, he shall do so within thirty-six hours after the decease. He shall make written reports of his examination to the Warden, and of his conclusion as to the cause of death. 13. He shall keep such books and in such forms as from time to time may be indicated to him according to schedules ordered by the Com- missioners; all of such books shall be open at all times to the Warden. 14. He shall make a written report daily to the Warden of the attend- ance at sick call in the morning, and of the disposition made of those reported sick, also of all admissions to and discharges from hospital, deaths, etc. 15. He shall, whenever requested so to do by the Commissioners or Warden, make a careful examination of any prisoner, and make written report of his physical condition. 16. He shall make report monthly to the Commissioners, of patients received into the hospital, or treated in the cells or elsewhere during the preceding month, stating their respective age, color, disease, occupation in prison, quantity and kinds of medicine administered during the month, the time they have remained in hospital, date of commencement and termination of treatment, and number of days during which such patients, in consequence of sickness, have been relieved from labor; also of all deaths and cause thereof, transfers to insane hospitals, etc. 17. He shall make a yearly report to the Commissioners of the sani- tary condition of the penitentiary for the past year, in which all infor- mation in his daily and monthly reports shall be condensed. This report shall also contain nominal lists of prisoners who have died or been certified to be insane during the year. Duties of Hospital Steward. 1 . The Hospital Steward shall be the assistant to and shall act under the immediate directions of the Physician about the hospital, and in his absence shall perform the duties of his office. 2. He shall be responsible for the nurses, orderlies, and other servants, employed about the hospital, and shall see that good discipline in the hospital is at all times maintained. 3. He shall have charge of the dispensary and the hospital, for the good order and cleanliness of which, and of all its approaches and sur- roundings, he shall be responsible. 4. He shall have charge of the sick in the hospital, and of the con- valescent prisoners, so long as they are receiving advice from the Phy- sician, and shall strictly attend to all instructions that may be given him as to their medicine, diet, and treatment. 5. He shall also attend to the complaining prisoners not in hospital, to whom medicine is administered. 6. He shall see that every chamber in the hospital is well ventilated, the bedding and clothing cleansed and changed when necessary, the ceilings, walls, and floors cleaned and purified by frequent scrubbing and whitewashing, and that all impurities of every description are instantly removed. 7. He shall attend the Physician in his visits to the sick, make up alt the prescriptions, compound all the medicines, and see that they are administered in the form and at the times ordered by the Physician. 8. Should the symptoms of any patient appear to him to become REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 81 aggravated, he shall at once report to the Warden, in order that, if necessary, the Physician may be sent for, without loss of time. 9. Should he observe the death of a prisoner approaching he shall at once notify the Warden or Deputy, in order that information may be sent to the Chaplain. 10. It shall be his duty to make a tour of the wards of the hospital frequently during the day, and especially he shall do so, as his first duty in the morning and the last duty at night. 11. He shall see that the bedclothes of patients, who are able to leave their beds, are well ventilated, while they are out of bed. 12. When a prisoner is received sick, from the cell-house during the night, the Hospital Steward shall immediately notify the Warden, if the case seems to him to be urgent. 13. He shall issue no alcoholic or intoxicating liquors to any employe or prisoner under any circumstances, except upon the written order of the Warden, or the written prescription of the Physician. Duties of the Clerk. 1. He shall be the Warden's accountant and his assistant and agent in matters of the records and fiscal affairs of the penitentiary, and shall as such have charge, under the supervision and immediate direction of the Warden, of the following books and records. Records: 1. The Commissioners' Journal of Proceedings. 2. The Warden's Record of Official Orders. 3. The Convict Register and complete index thereto. 4. The Discharge Register and Records. 5. The Record of Statistics. 6. Punishment Record. 7. Book of Daily Counts. Account Books: 1. The Store, double-entry Journal and Ledger and auxiliary books, accounting for the receipts and issues of supplies. (See Storekeeper.) 2. The State Shops' Day Book, accounting for all transactions of the State Shops, in the way of permanent improvements, repairs, fur- nishing of implements, fuel, etc. (See Supt. State Shops.) 3. The Convict Money Journal and Ledger, accounting, individ- ually, for moneys deposited by and paid to prisoners. 4. The Consolidated Check Roll, an abstract from all the Time Check Rolls of the prison, which in their aggregate are daily to correspond with the evening's count. 5. The Cash Book, with triplicate vouchers for all expenditures, and as complete a system of vouchers for receipts (by stubs, tickets, etc.) as practicable. These books may be consolidated and abstracted monthly, in: 6. The General Journal; and, 7. The General Ledger. 2. He shall be responsible for the safe-keeping and orderly arrange- ment of all the accounts, vouchers, bills, mittimuses, and other docu- ments of every kind confided to him. 3. He shall make out all financial and other statements and exhibits of any kind at such times as the Warden may direct. GD 82 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 4. He shall assist the Warden in making the annual and biennial statements and exhibits (financial and statistical) as are by law, and under the directions of the Commissioners, required of the Warden. 5. He shall collect from employes and outsiders, all the bills made against them by the Store, State Shops, Clothing Department, or other departments of the prison, give receipt for same, and report the col- lections to the Storekeeper or the Superintendents of the respective departments on the regular stub blanks provided for that purpose. 6. He shall give individual receipts to all prisoners from or for whom he has received money or other articles of value. 7. All vouchers for payment of supplies must be made from original bills of particulars approved by the Steward and must pass through Store books. All vouchers for payrolls and other expenses must be authorized and approved by the Warden. 8. He shall, at the end of every month, make from the Discharge Reg- ister a complete list of all prisoners to be released during the succeeding month by expiration of sentence, and furnish a copy of this list to all officers of the penitentiary whose business it is to be acquainted with it. 9. He shall, on the first of every month, make a statement to the Gov- ernor of the State, giving a nominal list of all prisoners received during the preceding month, the counties they come from, and their crimes and sentences, and also a list of all prisoners discharged, pardoned, and otherwise released during the same period. Duties of the Assistant Clerk. 1. He shall assist the Clerk in the performance of his duties, and in his absence shall perform the duties of the office or any other clerical work required of him by the Warden. 2. He shall be a telegraphist and have charge of the prison telegraph and electric apparatus. 3. He shall take, or have taken, the photograph of every incoming male prisoner as soon as practicable after his arrival, preserve and take care of the negatives, and keep the respective photographs in orderly arrangement in a case provided for that purpose. Duties of the Steward. 1. The Steward shall be the Warden's agent and assistant in making purchases of goods and merchandise used for the penitentiary, and gen- erally supervising the property of the State, and shall, subject to the decision of the Warden, and under his direction, be the judge of the needs and requirements of the prison in the matter of supplies. 2. He shall have particular charge of the supply department of the penitentiary, of the kitchen, the cellars, and the other chambers where provisions are kept, and all the passages leading thereto. 3. He shall receive all the provisions directly from the party supply- ing the same, as well as all fuel and forage, and shall cause every article to be weighed or measured as the case may be. Immediately on receipt of goods he shall have them turned over to the store. 4. He shall not receive any article of supplies without a bill of partic- ulars along with it, nor until after he has carefully examined the article, and ascertained that it is of good quality, and strictly according to the specifications of contract. Should the bill be correct, he shall certify REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 83 the same and transmit it to the Storekeeper without delay; if not, he shall report the facts to the Warden. 5. He shall not sell or permit tHe Storekeeper to sell any goods or property of the State, with the following exceptions: Contractors are allowed to purchase such articles as they may require for shop use only. Employes may purchase, through the store, uniforms, hats, caps, cloth, and buttons. Rags, hides, tallow, lard, and bones may be sold, through the store, at market prices, to outsiders. 6. He shall see that all provisions of every kind received by him are, until used, kept in a proper place, and in proper vessels, to prevent their becoming injured. He shall take care that no provisions which have become unserviceable are cooked, and that everything unsound is taken away. 7. Should provisions be delivered by a contractor, which are found by rigid examination to be not according to contract, he shall refuse to receive them, and shall at once report the fact to the Warden, so that no delay may take place in obtaining a supply from elsewhere, if the contractor should be unable, or unwilling, to replace immediately what has been rejected. 8. He shall take special care that the utmost cleanliness prevails in the kitchen, the cellars, and in every chamber or vessel in which pro- visions are kept, or from which they are eaten. 9. He shall daily attend upon and see to the cooking and serving of the provisions for the prisoners, to the end that no improper food is used, that it is cooked in a proper and cleanly manner, served in clean, whole- some vessels, and equally and honestly distributed to the prisoners. 10. He shall report to the Warden from time to time the condition of the supplies and the necessities of immediate purchase thereof, and it shall be his duty, under the direction of the Commissioners and the Warden, to purchase such supplies; and at all times, when such pur- chases are made, to furnish the Warden proper certified bills for the same. 11. He shall have special charge of the farm, and the stock thereon, and see that everything connected with that department is managed to the best interest of the State. Duties of Storekeeper. 1. He shall be the custodian and keeper of all supplies purchased for the use of the penitentiary by the Warden or his agent, the Steward. 2. He shall personally receive check from bills of particulars, and inspect all goods delivered to him, and report deficiencies in quantity and quality of the same to the Steward and also to the Warden, who will decide as to their receipt or rejection. He will have charge of issu- ing supplies to the different departments on requisitions approved by the Steward, and shall not issue anything without having such requisi- tion therefor, or without making a memorandum bill on manifold bill book. 3. He shall, under direction and supervision of the Clerk of the peni- tentiary, keep accurate double-entry accounts of all transactions in the store, of receipts and issues or sales, and shall, at the end of each month, or as soon thereafter as practicable, furnish a trial balance to the Clerk, together with bills of items against contractors and such other parties 84 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. as may be permitted to purchase supplies from the store. (See duties of Steward.) 4. He shall, every three months, lake inventory of all property in the store, and give a transcript of the same to the Clerk. 5. He shall, from the bill book, make individual bills for all the sales from the store to citizens (not contractors), and balance them, on stub, upon receipt of cash delivery tickets from office. These individual bills shall also be entered on his ledger. Duties of the Warden-House Stewards. 1. The Steward of the Warden House Proper has charge of and is responsible for the good condition of the main, second, and third floors of the house, and all property therein. The house servants are accounta- ble to him, and it is his duty to know that the rooms are in order at all times. He has charge of all rooms and will make daily (and oftener when necessary) inspection of apartments, generally supervising and directing the work of his men. 2. He shall use his best endeavors to maintain strict discipline among the men under his charge, and be particularly watchful to prevent escapes. 3. He shall see that all supplies furnished him on his daily requisi- tions are economically and properly used. 4. He shall assign rooms and beds for employes in such manner as to accommodate the greatest number. 5. He shall make written lists of clothes he sends to the female prison to be washed, and check them on their return. 6. He shall, on the first of every month, make a detailed report to the Steward of the Penitentiary, giving the aggregate cost of subsistence in his department and the average cost of each meal served. 7. The Steward of the Warden House Basement has charge of the basement floor of the house and its contents, receiving his instructions from the Steward of the Penitentiary. 8. He is responsible for the conduct and good discipline of the pris- oners in his department, and Keepers and Guards are prohibited from interfering unless called upon; also from conversing with prisoners in basement about anything not strictly pertaining to their duties. 9. He has charge of and is accountable for all State property in his department, and shall use strict economy in the use of supplies of every kind furnished him on his requisitions. 10. He shall allow no person, not an officer of the penitentiary, unless authorized by the Warden, to take a meal in his department without a ticket procured at the Clerk's office. 11. He shall check the Clerk's office on every meal ticket sold or otherwise issued from there. 12. He shall exact and enforce strict compliance with all regulations of common decency in public eating houses. 13. He shall, on the first of every month, make a detailed report to the Steward of the Penitentiary, giving the aggregate cost of subsist- ence in his department and the average cost of each meal served, giving credit to the department for every commutation or single meal ticket known to him as having been sold by the Clerk. 14. The barber shop and bath-rooms are for the convenience of the REFORMATOEY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 85 employes, and may be used by any one connected with the institution, under such restrictions as may from time to time be provided. Duties of Convict Kitchen Steward. 1. He shall, under immediate direction of the Steward of the Peni- tentiary, have charge of the convict kitchen and bakery, also the flour- room, vegetable-rooms, and cellars belonging thereto, and of all State property in that department, and shall direct and supervise the labor of prisoners assigned to him, and maintain strict discipline among them. 2. He shall make his written bill of fare and requisition on the store once a week for supplies for his department during the entire succeeding week; and he shall personally inspect all supplies before cooking them, and refuse all such as may not come up to the requirement of being absolutely wholesome. He will be held responsible for cooking any article of food that is not in good and wholesome condition. 3. He shall take special care that the utmost cleanliness prevails in the kitchen, bakery, and appurtenances, and in every vessel in which provisions are kept or from which they are eaten. 4. He shall see that provisions are properly cooked and seasoned, and that the meals can be served warm, in sufficient quantity, and at the proper time. 5. He shall admit to the kitchen dining-rooms such prisoners only as have special permits to that effect from the Warden or Deputy. 6. He shall, on the first of every month, make to the Steward of the Penitentiary a detailed statement of all supplies of subsistence con- sumed in his department during the preceding month, the aggregate cost of such supplies, and the average cost of subsistence per man per day. Duties of the Chief Engineer and Superintendent of State Shops. 1. He shall have charge of all property, machinery, tools, implements, and merchandise in the different departments of the State shops, of all boilers and engines belonging to the State, and of machinery and fixtures employed for the service of the State, as appearing from the annual inventory of machinery and fixtures. 2. He shall have charge of the water supply system for the prison, shall be responsible for the condition of the necessary pipes, pumps, and other appliances, and for any unnecessary waste of water. 3. He shall have supervision of the entire steam apparatus for the heating, cooking, ventilating, and mechanical purposes of the prison, and shall see that the same is kept in good condition. 4. He shall have supervision of the sewer system of the prison, and direct the construction and repairs of the same. 5. He shall have charge of the gas works, and see that waste is pre- vented and economy exercised. 6. He shall have charge of the fire department, take care of the chem- ical engines, and test their efficiency from time to time, and see that the fire buckets, grenades, etc., placed in different stations around the prison, are serviceable and in good condition. 7. He shall have charge of the machine shop, the blacksmith, car- penter, tin, and paint shops connected with his department, together with the control and management of the prisoners therein engaged; 86 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. shall see that all work is properly done, and that skill and industry are attained and observed. 8. He shall see that all machinery, tools, implements, materials, stock, or other effects necessary for carrying on the above mentioned duties and industries are properly used, taken care of, and accounted for. 9. He shall have charge of the erection of all buildings within the prison inclosure; the plans, estimates, and specifications for the same shall be prepared by him and submitted, through the Warden, for the approval of the Board of Commissioners. 10. He shall, at the direction of the Board of Commissioners or the Warden, furnish estimates as to the cost of any proposed improvement or change in the prison buildings. 11. He shall have supervision of all improvements or repairs on the prison buildings, and see that skill, economy, and industry are exercised by those working thereon for the State. 12. He shall have general supervision of all the buildings constituting the prison, and shall see that they are kept in proper repair. 13. He shall superintend and instruct in their duties all citizens, engineers, or workmen that may from time to time, either permanently or temporarily, be employed for the service of the State. 14. He shall, in a general way, supervise the condition of the boilers and engines belonging to contractors, and shall at once make report to the Warden when, in his opinion, there is danger to life or property threatened from that source. 15. He shall furnish and charge to contractors any material or work that they may desire for their workshops and machinery. 16. He shall, under direction and supervision of the Clerk of the penitentiary, keep accurate account of his transactions in any of the branches above enumerated, in a day book, giving separately the amounts respectively charged for labor and material. A summary and abstract of this day book shall be furnished to the Clerk on the first of every month. 17. He shall from his bill book make individual bills for all work done in the State shops for citizens (not contractors), and balance them, on stub, upon receipt of corresponding cash delivery tickets from office. These individual bills shall also be entered on his day book. Duties of Receiving and Discharging Officer (Superintendent of Clothing Department), 1. He shall receive from the office all incoming prisoners and attend personally to the bathing, washing, and clothing of the same, and take from them all money and valuables on their persons, to be turned over to the Clerk. 2. He shall, on the blanks furnished him, take a detailed personal description of every incoming prisoner, and also take his written consent to the examination of his incoming and outgoing mail by the Warden or an officer authorized by him. 3. He shall clothe and take to the office for discharge all the prisoners whose terms of sentence have expired according to monthly list furnished him from the office, or who have been pardoned or otherwise released; in so doing he shall be careful that nothing is carried out by a discharged prisoner that is not his property. REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 87 4. He is charged with the execution of all orders, special and general, relating to clothing and bedding for the use of the prisoners. 5. He shall have charge of the wash-room, bath-room, clothing-room, and repair shop, and shall keep an account of all stock received, used, and issued, and of all articles made and repaired in said shop. 6. He shall have superintendence of all work performed in the wash- room and clothing-room, and see that it is properly done. 7. He shall superintend the shaving, hair cutting, and bathing of the prisoners, and shall see that it is done at the proper time. 8. He shall, from his bill book, make individual bills for all repairs and other work done in his department for citizens, and check off and balance them, on stub, upon receipt of corresponding cash delivery tick- ets from office. 9. He shall, on the first of every month, make a report to the Warden of the operations under his charge, giving account of the quantities of materials used and goods issued. Duties of Usher. 1. The Usher shall, at such hours as may from time to time be desig- nated by the Warden, conduct visitors through the penitentiary, but to such places only as are indicated on visitors' passes and admission tickets. 2. He shall be supplied by the Clerk with admission tickets, hand to the Turnkey one for each visitor not provided with a pass, and shall, once a month, settle with the Clerk for his monthly sales of tickets. 3. He is forbidden to point out any individual prisoner to visitors. 4. He will not permit visitors to have any communication whatever with prisoners, to point at, or to speak to them, or to handle any tools, working material, or manufactured goods in shops. 5. It shall also be the duty of the Usher to closely examine all incom- ing and outgoing mail of prisoners, also all newspapers, parcels, and packages addressed to prisoners, and to admit and permit only such matter as is consistent with the general rules of the prison and require- ments made known to him by the Warden. 6. He shall also attend to interviews between prisoners and their friends under restrictions of the general rules for the government of prisoners; shall pay close attention to their conversation, and see that no articles of. contraband character pass between them. 7. He shall receive and investigate complaints of prisoners through the Keepers, of irregularities in the receipt of mail and newspapers, and remedy the defects if possible. 8. He shall turn over to the Clerk all moneys and valuables sent to prisoners by mail, or deposited with him by friends visiting them, and shall take the Clerk's receipt therefor. Duties of Librarian. 1. He shall, under the direction of the Warden, have charge of the Prison Library, shall have the books properly covered, labeled, and shelved, and see that they are kept in good condition by prisoners or other persons entitled to the privilege of the library. 2. He shall superintend the issuing of books to prisoners under such regulations and restrictions, and in such manner as the Warden, from 88 REFORMATOEY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. time to time, may direct, and shall pay particular attention, by frequent personal inspection, that the right books are delivered to the prisoners who order them. 3. Civilians employed by or otherwise connected with the penitentiary must, before they are permitted to draw books out of the library, be pro- vided with a written permit from the Warden to that effect, and the Librarian shall take individual receipts on blanks, furnished for that purpose, for books issued on the authority of such permits. 4. He shall examine the books when they are returned from the cell- houses, and shall report any serious mutilation or defacing of them to the Warden or Deputy. 5. He shall carefully check the bills of particulars for books bought for the library, receive the books, assort and catalogue them, and report any deficiency to the Warden. 6. He shall furnish the Warden such statements and statistics con- cerning the library, as may from time to time be required. Duties of the Wagonmaster. 1. He shall have charge of the teams, conveyances, and rolling stock of the penitentiary, and all the appurtenances thereto; shall see that the horses and mules are properly cared for, and that all the State property under his charge is economically used and kept in good repair. 2. He shall, under the directions of the Warden and Deputy, supply the contractors and State department with teams in sufficient number and at the proper time. Duties of Mail Carrier and Expressman. 1 . He shall be a sworn mail carrier of the United States postal service and carry the penitentiary mail to and from the Joilet Post Office, in such manner and at such times as the Warden may direct. 2. He shall, on every mail trip to Joilet, visit the express companies for parcels directed to the institution or its employes, and do such other errands in Joilet for the service of the institution as the Warden or heads of departments may request. 3. He shall, when not on duty with his regular mail trips, assist the Usher in conducting visitors through the penitentiary. Duties of Keepers and Guards. 1. The Keepers and Guards are the agents of the Warden in enforcing the police and discipline of the prison, and in carrying into effect the laws for the government thereof. 2. It shall be the duty of the Keepers and Guards to attend at the prison at the opening thereof, and not absent themselves therefrom, on any pretext or excuse, during prison hours, except by permission of the Warden or Deputy Warden. 3. They shall supply themselves with uniform, such as shall be pre- scribed by the Warden, with the approval of the Board of Commission- ers, which shall be constantly worn while on duty; they shall constantly observe the utmost cleanliness in dress, person, and habits. 4. While within the prison, the Keepers and Guards shall refrain REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 89 from whistling, scuffling, immoderate laughter, boisterous conversation, exciting discussions on politics, religion, or other subjects, provoking witticisms or sarcasms, and all other acts calculated to disturb the har- mony and good order of the prison. 5. In their intercourse among themselves the officers, Keepers, and Guards of the prison are at all times to treat each other with that mu- tual respect and kindness that become gentlemen and friends, and are required to avoid all collisions, jealousies, separate and party views and interests among themselves, and are strictly forbidden to treat each other with disrespect, or to use any ungentlemanly epithets. 6. They shall not, while on duty, hold conversation with each other, nor with the contractors or their foreman, except such as may be neces- sary in the discharge of their duties. 7. Neither shall they be engaged, while on duty, in reading or writing, other than making necessary entries, nor in any other employment calcu- lated to interfere with constant care and vigilance. 8. They shall not under any circumstances allow prisoners to speak to them upon any subject not immediately connected with their duty, employments, or wants. 9. They shall keep the prisoners under their charge diligently at work at the several occupations at which they are employed, and shall make report on the check roll books of the daily attendance at work, also of all time lost by reason of sickness, punishment, or otherwise; closely following the instructions printed in front of each check roll. 10. They shall not permit prisoners to hold any conversation with each other, or with any person whatever, except those allowed by law, nor to communicate with each other by signs or signals, except in con- nection with their work. 11. They shall require the greatest possible cleanliness in the prison- ers, their persons and clothing, and in their working and sleeping apartments. 12. They shall instruct the prisoners in all the rules of the prison necessary for their government, and admonish them on the least appear- ance of insubordination. 13. In all their intercourse with prisoners, they shall be careful to maintain a quiet demeanor, under any provocation, recollecting that the prisoner, however disposed to be violent or abusive, is entirely in their power. 14. They shall not punish a prisoner, nor strike him, except in sell- defense, or to quell an insurrection; nor shall they use any profane or indecorous language to prisoners, or in their presence, but shall uni- formly treat them in a kind and humane manner. 1 5. Whenever a prisoner is guilty of any infraction of prison disciplinary rules, the Keeper shall at once report the fact in writing to the Deputy, stating the nature of the offense, and keeping a copy of such report on the stub of the blank book furnished him for that purpose. 16. Discipline is the first and highest consideration in a, prison, and must be maintained at all hazards, but that officer who maintains it with the lowest number of punishments deserves the highest commenda- tion. 17. If a prisoner desires to make any complaint to or have an audi- ence with the Governor, Commissioners, or Warden, the Keeper shall receive his application and report it in writing at once to the Warden's 90 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. office, keeping on the corresponding stub of the blank book, furnished for that purpose, a copy of such report. 18. Whenever, in the morning, a prisoner reports himself sick or desirous to see the Physician, the Keeper shall put the applicant's name and register number on the sick list book, and have both book and prisoner in readiness to go to the hospital with the Assistant Deputy Warden on his daily round for sick reports. If a prisoner is taken sick or injured during the day, the Keeper shall at once report the fact to the Deputy or his assistant. 19. It shall be the duty of Keepers to keep constant watch over pris- oners in workshops, to see that, while pretending to be engaged on the work given them to do, they are not in reality at work at something else. Keepers shall not allow prisoners to leave their work without permis- sion, nor to speak to or gaze at visitors. 20. The duties of Keepers should be understood as separate and dis- tinct from those of foremen, and the Keepers will not interfere with or attempt to instruct the prisoners in the manner in which they shall work, or on what particular part they shall labor, or what amount they shall perform; but they shall listen to all reports the foremen may desire to make, and dispose of the cases as instructed. 21. In forming their opinions with respect to the industry of a pris- oner, officers will bear in mind that as one prisoner may be able to do more work in a given time than another, so their reports on this head will have regard more to the continuous labor of the prisoner, the care bestowed upon it, and the evidence of his desire to do all he can, than the absolute quantity he does, as compared with others. An amount of work which may thus be sufficient for one man, may be quite insuffi- cient for another, and the officers' reports will be made accordingly. 22. Keepers shall receive applications from prisoners to send or trans- fer money to friends or for subscription to newspapers, etc., and shall twice a month make a report to the Clerk. Transfers of money from one prisoner to another must be approved by the Warden or Deputy. 23. No officer, Keeper, or Guard shall receive from or deliver to a pris- oner any article or thing whatsoever, without the knowledge or consent of the Warden or his Deputy. 24. When a prisoner is sent from one part of the prison to another, the officer sending him shall give him a pass, stating the place from which, and the place to which, or person to whom he is sent. Care shall be taken that the pass is delivered up by the prisoner, and that he is not too long away. 25. When a prisoner is obliged to retire for necessary purposes, the officer in charge shall take care that the place is so conspicuous that the prisoner cannot leave it without being fully seen; that only one is per- mitted to be in the place at a time, and that he is absent for a reason- able time only. Any delay in such cases should arouse suspicion at once, and the officer must immediately make certain that all is right. 26. No officer shall take the statement of one prisoner against another, on which to make a report for punishment, respecting the prisoner com- plained of, but shall report the facts nevertheless to the Warden or Deputy. 27. If a prisoner makes complaint to any officer of any order given him, or of any action towards him, by which he considers himself ag- grieved, it shall be the duty of the officer to inform the Warden thereof REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 91 at the earliest moment convenient thereafter, and the Warden will act in the matter as he may think reason and justice may require; but the officer shall in the meantime see that the prisoner obeys the order given him. 28. As soon as the prisoners are locked up at night, each Keeper hav- ing charge of a division shall report immediately to the Deputy Warden the number he has locked up or has in charge, at the same time turning over the cell door keys to the Warden House Turnkey. 29. The Turnkey and the Gatekeepers shall permit no person, not connected with the prison as a regular employe of the State, or contract- ors, to enter the prison, except in company with the Governor of the State, the Commissioners, the Warden, Deputy, Assistant Deputy, or Chaplain, unless such person is provided with a pass from the office; nor shall they allow any prisoner to pass outside the walls unless he is accompanied by an officer or has written authority to pass. 30. Gatekeepers will closely examine the contents of wagons and other vehicles passing out of their gates, and must ever be vigilant in guard- ing against surprise or stratagem on the part of prisoners. They must never permit both of the trap gates to be opened at the same time. 31. The East Gatekeepers and West Yardkeepers shall carefully weigh all goods or merchandise in bulk, consigned to the penitentiary by rail- road or teams, also all goods coming from the prison farm and slaughter house, and shall make daily report thereof in writing to the Steward and Storekeeper. The West Yardkeeper, particularly, shall keep close and accurate account of all railroad cars left on the prison tracks, and keep record of their contents, and how and where to they are disposed of, and make daily report thereof to the Steward and Storekeeper. 32. The Yardkeeper shall have general supervision of the yard, and keep it at all times in the most cleanly condition possible. He shall assist and take instructions from the Superintendent of State Shops in any work where the services of the yardmen are required on the grounds of the prison. He shall have charge of the tools and implements as- signed to the yard gang, and keep them in good condition and repair. 33. The front yards and the courts of the hospital and solitary and the greenhouse shall be in charge of a special officer assigned to that duty by the Warden. 34. The Keeper of the solitary shall have charge of the punishment cells and the court solitary cells and their inmates. In regard to men in punishment, he shall strictly execute the orders given him by the Warden or Deputy, and shall at once report to them any unusual occur- rence in his department. He shall carefully search each prisoner enter- ing a solitary cell for punishment, and take from him every article found on his person, except his clothing; he shall also, at least twice a day, open every cell occupied, and look after the condition of its occupant. He will remain constantly within call of every prisoner occupying a punishment cell, except when relieved by another officer, who will assume his duties. 35. Cell-house Keepers will see that the utmost cleanliness prevails in the cells and corridors, that the houses are thoroughly ventilated and warmed when necessary, that the cells are regularly supplied with drink- ing and washing water, and that the distribution of food at meal times, also the regular issues of tobacco, soap, and other supplies, are properly and impartially made. They shall also carefully and promptly deliver 92 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. all letters, newspapers, etc., handed over to them by the Usher with his " permit," to their respective addresses. They are not permitted to ex- amine or inspect either outgoing or incoming convict mail. They shall, from time to time, examine the cell doors and gratings and see that they are in good and secure condition; they also shall occasionally examine and search cells and report the presence of any contraband articles to the Warden or Deputy. Duties of Armed Guards. 1. Guards are subject to the same rules and regulations as Keepers, in regard to their relation to officers and prisoners. 2. The first and most important duty of a Guard at all times is to maintain the safe custody of the prisoners, and to that end the rules of the institution require, and the laws of the State justify, the shooting of prisoners, when in a state of mutiny, when offering violence to officers or other prisoners, or when attempting to escape. Except in extreme cases, offenders should be once distinctly warned of the consequences before shooting is resorted to. 3. Wall and Front Guards are required to pace their beats at least half the time while on duty, with rifle in hand, and must never leave their post of duty without being relieved by proper authority. 4. Guards must keep their arms and accouterments clean and in per- fect order, constantly ready for use, and neither cut, mark, nor deface them in any manner. Arms will be charged to them, and they will be required to pay for the willful or careless loss, destruction, or damage to the same. 5. The Guards will require on the part of the prisoners a strict com- pliance with such rules of the institution as may come within the province of their special duties to enforce, and report at the earliest practicable moment any infraction thereof. Duties of Captain of Night Watch and Night Guards. 1. The night force shall go on duty at the sound of the evening whistle, and remain on duty until the signal is given in the morning for unlock- ing the cells of the prisoners. 2. The Captain shall be held responsible for the security of the prison and see that good order is maintained during the night. He shall make report to the Warden in the morning of any unusual occurrence or any violation of the rules and regulations of the prison that may have taken place during the night. It shall be his duty to call the Warden at any hour during the night that he may regard his presence necessary. 3. It shall be his duty to make a thorough inspection of the prison during the night once every two hours, and personally convince himself of the watchfulness of his subordinates in the different parts of the prison. 4. He shall require of all officers or citizens who work inside of the walls at night a strict compliance with all the rules that prevail in the daytime, and has authority to eject any citizen who does not strictly conform to them. 5. He shall not, under any circumstances, leave the prison during his time of duty, or until properly relieved, without the consent of the Warden. REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 93 6. The Warden House front door must invariably be locked at eleven o'clock p. M. The Captain and the Night Turnkey are both required to promptly report to the Warden on the following morning any person entering the prison under the influence of liquor or at an unusually late hour. 7. It shall be the duty of the Night Guards, having charge of the cell- houses, to be moving around the cells with " sneakshoes " on, in a silent manner, that they may be able to detect any unnecessary noise; and it is strictly enjoined upon them not to hold conversation with the prison- ers, or to suffer the prisoners to speak to them except to make known immediate wants; they must use their utmost exertions to suppress noise of any kind, and report to the Captain of the Night Watch any violations of the rules and regulations of the penitentiary, by the prison- ers, while in their cells. 8. The Night Guard in the solitary shall closely follow the instructions of the Warden and Deputy in regard to inmates of punishment cells, and shall every morning make written report to the Warden of the num- ber of prisoners in solitary and their condition during the night, noting every unusual occurrence coming under his observation. 9. The Night Guard in the hospital shall observe the rules governing the Hospital Steward in regard to inmates of the hospital, and attend conscientiously to wants of the sick. 10. The Night Fire Watch shall make his regular rounds in the prison at short intervals, in such a way as the Warden or Captain of the Night Watch, from time to time, may direct. Duties of Matron. 1. She 'shall, under the supervision of the Warden, have charge of the Female Department of the penitentiary, and of the prisoners and prison property therein. She shall conform to the general rules and regulations governing the prison. 2. She shall not introduce any change in the nature of the employ- ment of the prisoners without the permission of the Warden. 3. She shall see that each prisoner under her charge is furnished with such clothing, food, and other articles as the prison regulations prescribe. 4. She shall see that good discipline and order are observed by all the inmates, and that the prisoners faithfully do the work required of them by direction of the Warden. 5. On the reception of a prisoner, she shall see that she is thoroughly washed, dressed in prison clothing, and examined by the Physician. Every article which a prisoner brings in with her shall be taken from her, and the same steps taken with regard to her effects as are required with those of male prisoners. 6. She shall spend the entire day visiting frequently, but irregularly and w'ithout notice, the work shop and laundry, instructing the prison- ers in their work, and see that it is properly done. 7. She shall attend the sick and see that they are properly cared for. 8. Cases of sickness are to be regularly reported by her to the Physi- cian, and any sudden case occurring during either the day or night must be reported immediately to the Warden, Deputy Warden, or Cap- tain of the Night Watch. 9. She shall not absent herself from the penitentiary during her time of duty, without the permission of the Warden. 94 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 10. She shall attend Sunday morning services whenever held for the inmates of the female prison. 11. She shall reside at the penitentiary, in the apartments furnished for her by the State, and shall, on the first of each month, furnish a written report to the Warden of the work done in her department the previous month, and the general condition thereof. General Rules. 1. Every man received upon the staff of the penitentiary will bear constantly in mind the nature of the institution into the service of which he enters, the peculiarity of the duties he will have to perform as an officer, and the moral obligations he is 'Understood to assume, with reference to his own personal conduct, from the time he is engaged. 2. He must understand that the penitentiary is not only designed as a prison for the punishment of persons who have offended against the law r s, but also as an institution which intends their reformation, if pos- sible. 3. Every officer, therefore, will not only feel it his duty to see that the rules of the prison are observed by the prisoners placed under him, but will also understand that he must conduct himself, when off duty as well as when on duty, in such a way as to inspire sentiments of respect for his moral principles and character. 4. He will be accordingly expected to be circumspect in his way of life in society, careful as to the company he keeps and the places he frequents, and guarded as to the discharge of his personal obligations, debts, etc.; and the Warden will take all necessary steps to make him- self acquainted with the conduct and general habits of every officer and servant of the institution, as it will be his dilty to retain no man in the service whose conduct is improper. 5. It shall be the duty of every officer of the penitentiary to make himself acquainted with the provisions of the Penitentiary Act, and also with the rules and regulations of the prison, and with the orders on the bulletin board, to obey them readily himself in all points of his own duty, and to enforce strict obedience of them upon all who may come under his authority. 6. All persons entering upon or retaining any position as employes of this institution, must do so with the full understanding that they are to lead a prompt, willing, and positive obedience to the rules of the penitentiary, and the instructions of its officers, and devote their best energies and abilities industriously and faithfully to the performance of the duties to which they may be assigned; and all who cannot do so cheerfully must neither accept nor retain position here. 7. Any employe desiring to leave the service of the institution will be required to give thirty days' notice of his intention so to do, otherwise all pay due will be forfeited to the penitentiary. While the 'prison authorities are willing to give the same notice when consistent with the interests of the institution, yet they reserve the right to dismiss at any time, without notice, by paying in full for all services rendered. 8. Employes will be required to report to the Assistant Deputy War- den twice each day (morning and evening), that their time may be correctly kept, and to be promptly at their respective posts and places of business at the appointed hour. REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 95 9. No employe will be allowed to absent himself from duty under any circumstances, without permission from the Warden or Deputy. Should an employe be taken sick he must immediately send information thereof to the Warden or Deputy, so that another may be employed temporarily in his place. 10. Employes are strictly prohibited from taking newspapers, books, or other reading matter inside the walls or cell-houses, and are cautioned against leaving the same about the Warden's house within reach of the prisoners, and are absolutely prohibited from leaving any citizens' cloth- ing inside the yard or cell-houses. 11. Employes are strictly prohibited from talking with prisoners at any time, except as the nature of their business may require, and all familiarity between employes and prisoners is absolutely prohibited. 12. Employes are prohibited from selling to or buying anything from prisoners, or giving to or receiving from them anything in the nature of a gift or present, or conveying to or from them any message, either writ- ten or verbal. 13. Employes are prohibited from replying in like terms to what they may conceive to be impudent or insulting language on the part of a prisoner. Their duty is to report such infraction of discipline. 14. Employes are prohibited from using profane, indecent, abusive, or insulting language toward prisoners, or in their presence, and are required to refrain at all times from the use of such language in or about the institution. 15. Employes will be required to pay for the willful destruction, loss, waste, or damage by them of any property of the prison. 16. All employes are prohibited from discussing, within the limits of the prison, the manner in which any officer or employe performs his duty, and from making any remarks which might tend to reflect upon the character or management of such officer or employe. They are also prohibited from discussing, in the presence of prisoners, matters relating to the discipline or management of this or other similar institutions. 17. Employes are strictly prohibited at all times from smoking inside the walls or cell-houses. 18. Intemperance will not be tolerated among employes, neither will they be allowed to keep or use intoxicating drinks in or about the insti- tution. Frequenting saloons or disreputable places by employes will be considered as sufficient cause for their dismissal. 19. Employes will refrain from visiting the shops or yard while off duty, and from receiving visits while on duty. 20. No officer, Guard, or Keeper will be permitted, except in an emer- gency, to exchange duties with another or procure a substitute to dis- charge his duties, without first obtaining permission of the Warden or Deputy Warden. 21. Every officer of the penitentiary must understand that the War- den has the right to exact his services without extra pay in any capacity for which he may consider the officer fit. 22. Employes, who reside at the penitentiary, have to report to the Deputy Warden whenever they absent themselves from the prison in the evening or during the night. The outer doors of the prison will be locked at eleven o'clock; officers returning after that hour without special permit will be reported to the Warden. 23. Under the laws of this State the Warden of the penitentiary and 96 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. his assistants, the Guards and Keepers, shall be conservators of the peace, and, as such, have power to arrest or cause to be arrested, with or with- out process, upon any grounds owned or leased by the State of Illinois and used by the penitentiary, all persons who shall break the peace or be found upon said grounds violating any criminal law of this State, and take such persons before a magistrate for trial. 24. The Commissioners allow each employe of the institution, after six months' continuous service, a furlough of fourteen days each year without loss of pay, and in order to equalize this furlough among all, the commutation of the same in money to all whose salary is less than $70 per month. This commutation of furlough will be paid once a year, about the first of July, but is forfeited either by resignation or discharge. Therefore, absence from the prison for any cause whatever will be charged against the officer's payroll; the only exception being sickness, when, on producing a certificate from a physician, an officer will be allowed pay for ten days each year for absence from duty on that account. Rules for Contractors and Foremen. 1. Contractors, their agents and foremen, shall hold no intercourse with any of the prisoners, other than those employed or superintended by them, nor upon any subject whatever, other than the business car- ried on by them. 2. No foreman shall be employed by contractors within the prison without first obtaining the consent of the Warden. 3. The chief duty of foremen is to instruct and direct prisoners in that particular branch of business to which they are assigned, and to do so in a mild but firm and dignified manner. In assigning tasks to pris- oners the amount of each task shall be determined by the Warden, sub- ject to revision by the Commissioners. 4. Foremen are not required for the purpose of governing or disciplin- ing prisoners; therefore it is not necessary that they should use force or threatening language in the discharge of their duties, and the use of such is strictly prohibited, except of course in cases of self-defense, in defense of others, or to preserve the peace of the institution, and main- tain the safe custody of the prisoners. 5. When prisoners willfully fail to carry out the instructions of a foreman, or use threatening, defiant, or impudent language, or commit any other act endangering the peace and good discipline of the institu- tion, it shall be the duty of the foreman to immediately report the same to the Keeper in charge. 6. All foremen must be promptly at their respective shops at the hour fixed for prisoners to commence work, and will be required to remain there during working hours, and make a thorough examination of their premises personally, after the prisoners have left, at noon and at night. 7. Foremen are particularly prohibited from carrying in or out of the prison any mail matter for prisoners without express permission from the Warden. Offenders will invariably be summarily dealt with. 8. Contractors will not be allowed to erect any temporary wooden buildings or sheds within the prison walls. 9. All scraps, shavings, chips, sticks, and other combustible waste must be disposed of each day either for fuel or by removal from the yard. REFORMATOKY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 97 10. Old trash and other material, not necessary to carry on the busi- ness of the contracts, must not be permitted to accumulate within the yard or shops. WESTERN PENITENTIARY OF PENNSYLVANIA. This institution is situated at Allegheny, Pennsylvania. In 1883 the law abolished contract labor, and this necessitate'd a resort to the public account system; and the management selected the manufacture of cocoa mats and matting as the main industry, for the reason that this branch of labor did not compete with any interest of the State. The work is performed almost wholly by hand, and is of such a simple character that it can be easily learned. But this industry does not give employment to all the convicts, and many are idle for want of proper employment. The Warden receives a salary of $4,500 per annum, with a furnished house, horses, carriage, and driver, but supplies his own provisions and subsistence. The salary of the Deputy Warden is $2,000 a year. The Chaplain receives a salary of $1,500 per year, the Physician $1,200, the Clerk $1,800, the Assistant Deputy Warden $1,000, Steward $1,000, Chief En- gineer $1,300, and Assistant Engineer $1,000. The Guards or Overseers who have been in the service for less than six months receive $600 per annum; those who have been retained for two and a half years receive $700 per annum; those who have served after that time and less than five years receive ,$800 per annum; while those who have been in the service of the State for over five years receive $900 per annum. At the time that I visited this institution in September, it had six hundred and seventy-one inmates. The prisoners are fed in their cells, all eating the same kind of food, and their fare is varied for different days, running through the week as follows: Monday. Breakfast. Bread, coffee, and cheese; sugar or syrup once a month. Dinner. Fresh beef, boiled rice, and coffee, with a little sugar on top of rice. Supper. Bread and coffee. Tuesday. Breakfast. Bread, coffee, and fried bacon. Dinner. Vegetables, soup, boiled beef, and potatoes. Supper. Bread and tea, and during the summer season a small quantity of fruit or tomatoes. Wednesday. Breakfast. Bread, coffee, and fried mush. Dinner. Roast beef, baked beans or potatoes, coffee. Supper. Bread and coffee. 98 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. Thursday. Breakfast. Bread, coffee, and "Bowery" hash. The hash is made of twelve bushels of potatoes, one hundred and fifty pounds of beef, and three bushels of onions. Dinner. Tomato or bean soup, boiled beef. Supper. Coffee and bread. Friday. Breakfast. Bread, coffee, fried salmon. ( Columbia River salt salmon. ) Dinner. Stew (composed of three hundred and twenty-five pounds of mutton and beef, fifteen bushels of potatoes, and three bushels of onions). Supper. Bread and tea. Saturday. Breakfast. Cornbread and coffee. Dinner. Bean soup and meat. Supper. Coffee and bread. Sunday. Breakfast. Bread and coffee. Dinner. Pork, potatoes, raw onions or pickles. Supper. Coffee. I made some inquiry of the officers as to what extent convicts were permitted to perform clerical work in the prison. They are allowed, I was told, to make entries in the books of the Commissary Department, but not in those of the Clerk of the prison. The per capita cost last year was 45 cents per day, including all repairs; but excluding these, the cost was 36-| cents per capita, and of this amount a per capita cost of 12 cents was required for subsistence. The convicts are not allowed to put furniture in their cells. They are allowed a looking-glass costing 25 cents, and all else is required to be in keeping with their surroundings. The mode of punishment usually resorted to is incarceration in a semi-dark cell, for a period not extending over eight or nine days. Visitors are required to have a pass from one of the Inspectors. They are received every afternoon except on Saturdays and Sundays, and the general visitor is charged an admission fee of 25 cents, and the money realized from this source is devoted to the library. The officers all board themselves in the city. They are required to be on duty from six A. M. to six p. M. Each officer is allowed ten days leave of absence during the year without reduction of salary. If in case of sickness or other cause his absence from duty reaches a longer period, he does not receive any salary for such excess. Cigarette smoking is not allowed. The prisoners are allowed to smoke in their cells in the evening from six to seven o'clock. They are allowed REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 99 the use of string instruments, and instruction is given to illiterate pris- oners by an officer detailed for that 'purpose. Convicts are allowed to write to friends or others once a month and to receive letters from them in return, and may see their friends once in three months; but these privileges may be suspended for bad conduct. STATE PENITENTIARY FOR EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA. The prison is situated at Philadelphia, and is unique in its character, being the only one in the United States in which the plan of the sep- arate imprisonment of prisoners is now followed. Mr. Richard Vaux, who is President of the Board of Inspectors, and has a reputation throughout the United States and Europe as an able writer and deep thinker on prison management and penal subjects, gave me many valu- able suggestions in reference to the treatment of criminals and the reformation of the young. To him I am indebted for the following information concerning the history and management of this institution. On the seventh of February, 1776, there was formed in Philadelphia an association known as " The Philadelphia Society for Assisting Dis- tressed Prisoners." Owing to the possession of the city by the British army, the society was able to accomplish but little. In 1787 another society was formed under the name of "The Phila- delphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons." This society presented a memorial to the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, in which it was represented that punishment " by more private or even solitary labor would more successfully tend to redeem the unhappy objects." This society presented several memorials to the Legislature of the State, and several Acts were at different times passed by that body relating to prison management; and finally, in 1821, an Act was passed authorizing the erection of a State Penitentiary within the City and County of Philadelphia, to be conducted on the principle of the solitary confinement of the convicts. The question of whether the congregate or the separate plan was the better for prison management was a topic much discussed. The separate plan had many opponents as well as friends. As showing the views that prevailed at that time among those who considered the separate plan as the more advisable, attention is called to the following extract from the answer of Roberts Vaux to the objections of an opponent of this system: It is very evident to my mind that the true nature of the " separate confinement " which is proposed, requires explanation. I will, there- fore, endeavor to describe what is intended by its friends. Previously, 100 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. however, it ought to be understood that the chambers and yards pro- vided for the prisoners are like anything but those dreary and fearful abodes which the pamphlet before me would represent them to be, " des- tined to contain an epitome and concentration of all human misery, of which the Bastile of France and the Inquisition of Spain were only pro- totypes and humble models." The rooms of the new penitentiary at Philadelphia are fire-proof, of comfortable dimensions, with convenient courts to each, built on the surface of the ground judiciously lighted from the roof well ventilated and warmed, and ingeniously provided with means for affording a con- tinual supply of excellent water, to insure the most perfect cleanliness of every prisoner and his apartment.* They are, moreover, so arranged as to be inspected and protected without a military guard, usually though unnecessarily employed in establishments of this kind in most other States. In these chambers no individual, however humble or elevated, can be confined, so long as the public liberty shall endure, but upon conviction of a known and well defined offense, by the verdict of a jury of the country, and under the sentence of a Court for a specified time. The terms of imprisonment it is believed can be apportioned to the nature of every crime with considerable accuracy, and will no doubt be meas- ured in that merciful degree which has uniformly characterized the modern penal legislation of Pennsylvania. Where then, allow me to inquire, is there in this system the least resemblance to that dreadful receptacle constructed in Paris during the reign of Charles the Fifth, and which at different periods through four centuries and a half was an engine of oppression and torture to thousands of innocent persons; or by what detortion can it be compared to the inquisitorial Courts and prisons that were instituted in Italy, Portugal, and Spain between the years 1251 and 1537? With such accommodations as I have mentioned, and with the mod- erate duration of imprisonment contemplated on the Pennsylvania plan, I cannot admit the possibility of the consequences which thy pamphlet predicts, "that a great number of individuals will probably be put to death by the superinduction of diseases inseparable from such mode of treatment." I do not apprehend either the physical maladies, so vividly portrayed, or the mental sufferings, which with equal confidence it is promised shall "cause the mind to rush back upon itself, and drive reason from her seat." On the contrary, it is my belief that less bodily indisposition and less mortality will attend separate confinement than imprisonment upon the present method, for which some reasons might be given that it w r ould be improper here to expose. By " separate confinement," therefore, it is intended to punish those who will not control their wicked passions and propensities, thereby violating divine and human laws; and moreover to effect this punishment, without terminating the life of the culprit in the midst of his wickedness, or making a mockery of justice by forming such into communities of hardened and corrupting transgressors, who enjoy each other's society, and contemn the very power which thus vainly seeks their restoration, and idly calculates to afford security to the State from their outrages in future. *The exact size of the chambers is eight feet by twelve feet, the highest point of the ceiling sixteen feet. The yards are eight feet by twenty feet. REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 101 In " separate confinement " every prisoner is placed beyond the possi- bility of being made more corrupt by his imprisonment, since the least association of convicts with each other must inevitably yield pernicious consequences in a greater or less degree. In " separate confinement " the prisoners will not know who are undergoing punishment at the same time with themselves; and thus will be afforded one of the greatest protections to such as may happily be enabled to form resolutions to behave well when they are discharged, and be better qualified to do so, because plans of villainy are often formed in jail which the authors carry into operation when at large, not unfrequently engaging the aid of their companions, who are thereby induced to commit new and more heinous offenses, and come back to prison under the heaviest sentences of the law. In "separate confinement" it is especially intended to furnish the criminal with every opportunity which Christian duty enjoins for pro- moting his restoration to the path of virtue, because seclusion is believed to be an essential ingredient in moral treatment, and with religious instruction and advice superadded, is calculated to achieve more than has ever yet been done for the miserable tenants of our penitentiaries. In " separate confinement " a specific graduation of punishment can be obtained as surely and with as much facility as by any other system. Some prisoners may labor some may be kept without labor some may have the privilege of books others may be deprived of it some may experience total seclusion others may enjoy such intercourse as shall comport with an entire separation of prisoners. In "separate confinement" the same variety of discipline for offenses committed after convicts are introduced into prison, which any other mode affords, can be obtained, though irregularities must necessarily be less frequent by denying the refractory individual the benefit of his yard, by taking from him his books or labor, and lastly, in extreme cases, by diminishing his diet to the lowest rate. By the last means the most fierce, hardened, and desperate offender can be subdued. Hon. John Sergeant, of Philadelphia, in a letter published in 1827, in vindication of the Pennsylvania system, said: The objection to it is that its severity would be intolerable. As it has never been fairly tested by experiment, this objection must, for the present, be somewhat conjectural. There may be individuals who will not be able to endure continued solitude for a considerable length of time. In such cases some modification in their favor may be necessary. Experience will show to what extent this ought to be made. That there are any to whom solitary confinement, even for a short time, would be fatal, or even highly injurious, may well be doubted, for we have had frequent instances of its infliction without such effects. To return, however, to the charge of cruelty, with which it has been stigmatized in advance, and therefore gratuitously, it may be replied, in the first place, that if it be only meant that the punishment will be severe, but without injury to the health or morals of the patient, there is nothing in the objection. Punishment ought to be severe, if it is meant to operate at all. People are not sent to prison to enjoy there the comforts and luxuries of life. It may be replied, further, that admit- ting it to be severe, or even very severe, before it can on that account be 102 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. condemned, it must be compared with any other practicable mode of punishment, and a fair comparison made of the cruelty (so called) of each. And in making this comparison we must take into account the general merits of the respective plans as they tend more or less to the welfare of society and of the unhappy subject of punishment. If there is a well grounded hope of lessening the quantity of crime, and thus promoting the general happiness and security of society, and if there is also a hope of reforming the criminal, or even deterring him from the repetition of crime, these are powerful considerations to be placed in the scale against specific objections of severity. Nor, in this estimate, must we forget that this plan of solitary confinement has one peculiar and great recommendation which no one can question. It will prevent prisoners from injuring each other by vicious instruction, a most cruel thing, it must be admitted, as it relates to those who are exposed to such a novitiate, and as it relates to society in general. In 1828, Hon. Edward Livingston, lawyer and publicist, in a printed letter on the subject, used the following language: But above all, do not force those whom you are obliged to imprison before trial, be they innocent or guilty, into that contaminating society from which, after they are found to be guilty, you are so anxious to keep them. Remember, that in Philadelphia, as well as in New York, more than two thousand five hundred are annually committed, of whom not one fourth are found to be guilty, and that thus you have introduced every year one thousand eight hundred persons, presumed to be inno- cent, into a school where every vice and every crime are taught by the ablest masters; and we shut our eyes to this enormous evil, and incon- sistently go on preaching the necessity of seclusion and labor and indus- try after conviction, as if penitentiaries were the only places in which the contamination of evil society were to be dreaded. Why will not Penn- sylvania take the lead in perfecting the work she began, and, instead of patchwork legislation, that can never be effectual, establish a complete system, in which all the different but mutually dependent subjects of education, pauperism, penal law, and prison discipline should be em- braced? I am preaching, I know, to the converted, when I urge the consideration of these subjects upon you; but mutual exhortation is of service even between those who think alike, and there is no cause to the success of which I would more willingly devote my feeble talents, and the exertions of my life, including, as it does, the cause of religion, humanity, and social order, than the one which forms the subject of this letter; there is none, I am sure, more interesting to you, and therefore I will mix with it no other than that of the high esteem with which I am always, my dear sir, your friend and humble servant. The Hon. H. W. Desaussure, a member of the judiciary of South Carolina, in his views upon this subject, published in 1834, said: I confess my own mind had imbibed some prejudices against it as a cruel punishment, and as tending to drive the mind to madness. Experience has shown, it seems, that the latter effect has not been pro- duced, and the severity of solitary confinement is entirely obviated by the prisoner being allowed to labor and to receive instruction, literary REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 103 and moral, during his confinement. These seem to approximate the system as near to perfection as any human plan can be carried into effect; we must not, however, expect too much from it. If we suppose this treatment will reform all offenders, we shall be mistaken. The strongest motives are held out by human and divine laws to avoid the commission of crimes, yet men commit them daily. In 1829, Mr. George W. Smith published a "Defense of the Pennsyl- vania System of Solitary Confinement of Prisoners." A second edition of this pamphlet appeared in 1833, and in it he expressed his views as follows : The introduction of labor as an essential element of a general sys- tem of prison discipline may perhaps be justly attributed to that spirit of economy w r hich characterizes the legislation of the Dutch. The main- tenance of any class in idleness has never been intentionally practiced by this industrious and thrifty nation. Hence prisons and workhouses have been synonymous terms in Holland from a very remote period; attempts to promote reformation by the religious instruction of the pris- oners appear to have been sometimes made in that country, with partial success. In no other part of Europe was this system generally pursued; in few countries was it attempted in any of their prisons; and, in Great Britain, it had not even entered into their imaginations. We think it highly probable that our illustrious founder, William Penn, observed during his travels in Holland this striking feature of their policy, and resolved to adopt the measure, when he projected the celebrated code of laws in England (1682) for the government of this province. In the tenth section it is expressly declared that " all prisons shall be work- houses for felons, vagrants, and loose and idle persons." The Great Law (1682) contains a similar enactment the stock on which all our subsequent legislation has been grafted. The merit, therefore, of origi- nality has been perhaps erroneously attributed to him. It is, however, sufficient praise that he had the penetration to perceive and judgment to approve and copy these useful institutions of a foreign land. His fame as a legislator for originality and humanity rests on a sure basis the abolition of the punishment of death for all crimes but murder (which exception, however, is known to have been contrary to his opinion). From the year 1682 to 1717 labor formed an invariable portion of the punishments of those sentenced to our prisons; at this period our mild Penal Code was finally repealed by Great Britain, which had neither the humanity to adopt it, nor the magnanimity to permit its continuance. The decline of this system, until its final extinction in practice, some years before the Revolution, proves the negligence of our ancestors. At some future time we may resume this subject, but our present design will not permit us at present to discuss this interest- ing portion of our history. A few years before the Revolution, the Penal Code, with its sanguinary enactments, and the abuses existing in prison discipline, began to attract the attention of some of the humane citizens of Philadelphia; they finally formed a society on the seventh of February, 1776, for the pur- pose of effecting their benevolent designs. This association, which was called "The Philadelphia Society for Assisting Distressed Prisoners," 104 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. after a brief but not useless existence of nineteen months, was dissolved, or rather suspended, by the capture of Philadelphia in 1777. The public mind had been, however, prepared for the amelioration of the Penal Code, partly by the efforts of the members of this society; and the first Con- stitution of the State, in 1776, ordains in Chapter II, Section 28, that "punishments be made in some cases less sanguinary," and in Section 39, punishment by " hard labor " in the prisons is substituted. The law remained a dead letter during that memorable period; and it was not until the year 1786, after the conclusion of peace, that the sub- ject was resumed, and hard labor enforced; but these efforts were par- tial and ineffectual. In the following year, May 8, 1787, some of the surviving members of the society previously mentioned, and others, reorganized the association under the name of " The Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons." This useful and unas- suming body is the parent of all the societies which have been since formed for similar purposes in Europe and this country. It has perhaps effected more for the permanent benefit of mankind than any of the meritorious charities of this city of benevolence. It has the enviable fame of being the first to reduce the humane and philosophic theory of preventive and reforming punishments, by the separate confinement and instruction of prisoners, to the unerring test of successful experiment. Before we describe the actual introduction of solitary confinement, as it is perhaps erroneously styled, into our system of legislation, it may be expedient to make a few observations on the history of this interest- ing department of prison discipline. As a means of more effectual seclusion from society and the preven- tion of further injury by prisoners during the period of incarceration, and as a mode of inflicting vindictive punishment, it has been partially practiced in almost every nation from the remotest ages. The Egyptians were accustomed to bury alive in the dark, narrow, and secluded cells of some of their vast and secure edifices, which at once served for prisons and for tombs, certain offenders against their laws. These unhappy vic- tims, from the hour when they were immured until the tedious period when death released them from their lingering misery, never beheld the light of day, never inhaled the fresh air of heaven, and never again beheld the face of man, nor heard the consoling accents of his voice. Among the Romans, among the nations of the dark ages, among the modern Italian republics, and in yet later times, solitary confinement has been occasionally practiced as one of the most dreadful means of vindictive punishment a confinement unmitigated, absolute, and inhuman; a confinement at the mere mention of which the philanthropist shudders with horror, and the philosophic reformer turns aside with disgust and reprobation. The earliest cases of solitary confinement, as an intended means of reform, may be discovered in the records of ecclesiastical history. Never- theless, it is to Catholic Rome that we owe the first great reform in pen- itentiary discipline. The prison in which it was introduced remained for nearly a century a solitary instance of successful benevolence, ex- tended no further in Rome, where it originated, and unimitated in Chris- tendom. The Hospital of St. Michael (founded in Rome, 1718) was the first " house of refuge " in Europe. Mere workhouses, in which the oper- atives were felons, had indeed been established in other countries; and, although in a few of them instruction had been attempted, the corrupt- REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 105 ing intercourse which was permitted day and night; the mixture of all ages, ranks, and sexes into one corrupting leavened mass of shameless iniquity, rendered the consignment of a juvenile offender to these abodes of sin a certain sentence of moral death. He who entered their gates a novice in guilt, accomplished his education in viliiany; and leaving character, shame, independence, and every incentive to voluntary indus- try and virtue within their walls, departed an adept in crime, ignorant only of his duties, prepared to practice at the expense of society those lessons of vice which its folly had forced on his acquaintance, and almost compelled him to exercise as a profession when discharged. Such was the deplorable condition of these colleges of crime, as prisons have been too correctly denominated, when this noble institution of St. Michael was commenced; the foundations were laid on the firm basis of humanity and sound philosophy. The great evils of idleness were prevented by constant labor during the day; classification to a certain extent, and silence, as far as practicable in an assembly, were enforced; and separate dormitories, or night rooms, for each prisoner provided; appropriate moral sentiments were inscribed on conspicuous tablets, for the continual inspection of the inmates; and, above all, religious in- struction was administered. The Assembly of Pennsylvania, convinced by the arguments of the society, in the year 1789-90 effected a radical change in the discipline of the prison. The convicts were compelled to labor; the sexes were separated; the convicts were separated from the untried prisoners and debtors; suitable food and clothing were provided for them; the intro- duction of ardent spirits was strictly prohibited, and jail fees and gar- nish utterly abolished; above all, religious instruction, and as far as possible, a classification of the prisoners, were introduced; conversation Avas also restrained. The prisoners at that time not being numerous, these arrangements were practicable in the prison, which was, however, far too limited to test the merits of the system of improvements which the society was anxious to introduce. The Legislature was not at that time prepared to appropriate a sufficient sum of money to construct a new and perfect prison for the purpose of testing the merits of an untried experiment, however flattering might be the prospects of success. The friends of the new system were willing to test its merits with the imper- fect apparatus which alone was at their disposal. These alterations, in conjunction with some others of a minor description, would alone have produced effects highly beneficial; and doubtless a portion of the reformation, which most unquestionably was produced by the new sys- tem, is attributable to them; but the great object of reform was mainly produced by the celebrated law enacted by the Legislature of Pennsyl- vania, April 5, 1790, by which separate and solitary confinement was first introduced. In the preamble to that Act it is declared that the previous laws for the punishment of criminals " had failed of success, from the communication with each other not being sufficiently restrained within the places of confinement, and it is hoped that the addition of unremitted solitude to laborious employment, as far as it can be effected, will contribute as much to reform as to deter." In the eighth section it is ordered that " a suitable number of cells be constructed in the yard of the jail of the said county, each of which cells shall be six feet in width, eight feet in length, and nine feet in height; and the said cells shall be separate from the common yard by a wall of such height as, 106 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. without any unnecessary exclusion of air and light, will prevent all external communication, for the purpose of confining therein the more hardened and atrocious offenders," viz.: those mentioned in this and a former Act. In section tenth, " the residue of the said jail shall be appropriated to the purposes of confining as well such male convicts sentenced to hard labor as cannot be accommodated in the said cells, as female convicts sentenced in like manner, persons convicted of capital offenses, vagrants, and disorderly persons committed as such, and persons charged with misdemeanors only; all of which persons are hereby required to be kept separate and apart from each other as much as the convenience of the building will admit," etc. In section thirteenth, " during which labor the said offenders shall be kept separate and apart from each other, if the nature of their several employments will admit thereof; and where the nature of such employment requires two or more to work together, the Keeper of the said jail, or one of his deputies, shall, if possible, be con- stantly present." In section twenty-first, for certain offenses committed within the prison, the Jailer is authorized to confine prisoners violating the discipline of the prison in the dark cells, on bread and water, for a short time only; but in the county prisons, the period of inflicting this punishment is unlimited. In 1829 the Legislature of Pennsylvania enacted several reforms in the Penal Code of that State, and also prescribed the following rules for the government of the penitentiary: SECTION 8. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the following rules and regulations for the better ordering and government of said penitentiaries shall be and continue in force until altered by the Legislature, or in the manner hereinafter stated. ARTICLE I. Of the Inspectors and their Duties. They shall at their first meeting, and annually thereafter, appoint out of their number a President, Secretary, and Treasurer, and keep regular minutes of their proceedings; they shall hold stated meetings once a month, and adjourned and special meetings whenever necessary; the Treasurer shall give bond with sufficient surety in such amount as the Inspectors may fix and determine, and shall receive and disburse all moneys belonging to the prison, according to the order of the Board; they shall semi-annually appoint a Warden, a Physician, and Clerk for the institution, and shall fix their salaries as w r ell as those of the Under - keepers or Overseers, and the persons employed about the prison; they shall serve without any pecuniary compensation, and shall.be exempted from military duty, from serving on juries and arbitrations, or as guard- ians of the poor; they shall visit the penitentiary at least twice in every week, to see that the duties of the several officers and attendants are performed; to prevent all oppression, peculation, or other abuse or mis- management of the said institutions; they shall have power, if they on conference find it necessary, to make such rules for the internal govern- ment of said prison, as may not be inconsistent with the principles of solitary confinement as set forth and declared by this Act. REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 107 They shall attend to the religious instruction of the prisoners and procure a suitable person for this object, who shall be the religious instructor of the prisoners; provided, their services shall be gratuitous. They shall direct the manner in which all raw materials to be manu- factured by the convicts in said prisons, and the provisions and other supplies for the prisons shall be purchased, and also the sale of all arti- cles manufactured in said prisons. They shall cause accurate accounts to be kept by the Clerk, of all expenditures and receipts in the penitentiaries, which accounts, respect- ively, shall be annually examined and settled by the Auditors of the county of Allegheny, and of the county of Philadelphia. They shall on or before the first day of January in every year make a report in writing to the Legislature, of the state of the penitentiaries. The report shall contain the number of prisoners in confinement, their age, sex, place of nativity, time of commitment, term of imprisonment during the preceding year, noticing also those who have escaped or died, or who were pardoned or discharged, designating the offense for which the commitment was made, and whether for a first or repeated offense, and when and in what Court, or by whose order; and in such return the Inspectors shall make such observations as to the efficiency of the sys- tem of solitary confinement as may be the result of their experience, and give such information as they may deem expedient for making the said institution effectual in the punishment and reformation of offenders. They shall have power to examine any person upon oath or affirma- tion relative to any abuse in the said places of confinement, or matter within the purview of their duties; they shall direct in what manner the rations for the subsistence of the prisoners shall be composed, in conformity with the general directions on that subject hereinafter con- tained. The Inspectors in their weekly visits to the several places of confine- ment shall speak to each person confined therein out of the presence of any of the persons employed therein; shall' listen to any complaints that may be made of oppression or ill conduct of the persons so employed, examine into the truth thereof, and proceed therein when the complaint is well founded; and on such visits they shall have the calendar of the prisoners furnished to them by the Warden, and see by actual inspec- tion whether all the prisoners named in the said calendar are found in the said prison, in the situation in which by the said calendar they are declared to be. A majority of the said Inspectors shall constitute a Board, and may do any of the acts required of the said Inspectors; two of the Inspectors shall be a quorum for the weekly visitations hereby directed to be made. The Warden shall not, nor shall any Inspector, without the direction of a majority of the Inspectors, sell any article for the use of the said penitentiaries, or either of them, or of the persons confined therein dur- ing their confinement, nor derive any emolument from such purchase or sale, nor shall he, or they, or either of them, receive, under any pretense whatever from either of the said prisoners, or from any one in his behalf, any sum of money, emolument, or reward whatever, or any article of value, as a gratuity or gift, under the penalty of five hundred dollars fine, to be recovered' in the name of the Commonwealth, by an action of debt, in any Court of record thereof, having jurisdiction of sums of that amount. 108 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. ARTICLE II. Of the Duties of the Warden. The Warden shall reside in the penitentiary; he shall visit every cell and apartment, and see every prisoner under his care at least once in every day; he shall keep a journal, in which shall be regularly entered the reception, discharge, death, pardon, or escape of any prisoner, and also the complaints that are made, and the punishments that are inflicted for the breach of prison discipline, as they occur; the visits of the In- spector and the Physician, and all other occurrences of note that concern the state of the prison, except the receipts and expenditures, the account of which is to be kept in the manner hereinafter directed. The Warden shall appoint the Underkeepers, who shall be called Over- seers, and all necessary servants, and dismiss them whenever he thinks proper, or the Board of Inspectors direct him so to do. He shall report all infractions of the rules to the Inspectors, and with the approbation of one of them, may punish the offender, in such man- ner as shall be directed in the rules to be enacted by the Inspectors, con- cerning the treatment of prisoners. He shall not absent himself from the penitentiary for a night without permission in writing from two of the Inspectors. He shall not be present when the Inspectors make their stated visits to the prisoners under his care, unless thereto required by the Inspectors. ARTICLE III. Of the Duty of the Overseers. It shall be the duty of the Overseers to inspect the condition of each prisoner at least three times in every day, to see that his meals are regu- larly delivered, according to the prison allowance, and to superintend the work of the prisoners. They shall give immediate notice to the Warden or Physician when- ever any convict shall complain of such illness as to require medical aid. Each Overseer shall have a certain number of prisoners assigned to his care. He shall make a daily report to the Warden of the health and con- duct of the prisoners, and a like report to the Inspectors when required. No Overseer shall be present when the Warden or the Inspectors visit the prisoners under his particular care, unless thereto required by the Warden or Inspectors. The Overseers shall obey all legal orders given by the Warden, and all rules established by the Board of Inspectors, for the government of the prison. All orders to the Overseers must be given through or by the Warden. The Overseers shall not absent themselves from the prison without permission from the Warden. No Overseer shall receive from any one confined in the penitentiary, or from any one in behalf of such prisoner, any emolument or reward whatever, or the promise of any, either for services or supplies, or as a gratuity, under the penalty of one hundred dollars and imprisonment for thirty days in the county jail; and when any breach of this article shall come to the knowledge of the Warden or Inspectors, the Overseer REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 109 or Overseers so offending shall be immediately discharged from his office, and prosecuted for the said offense according to law. No Overseer who shall have been discharged for any offense whatever shall again be employed. ARTICLE IV. Of the Duties of the Physician. The Physician shall visit every prisoner in the prison twice in every week, and oftener, if the state of their health require it, and shall report once in every month to the Inspectors. He shall attend immediately on notice from the Warden that any person is sick. He shall examine every prisoner that shall be brought into the peni- tentiary, before he shall be confined in his cell. Whenever, in the opinion of the Physician, any convict in the peni- tentiary is so ill as to require removal, the Warden shall direct such removal to the infirmary of the institution, and the prisoner shall be kept in the infirmary until the Physican shall certify that he may be removed without injury to his health, and he shall then be removed to his cell. He shall visit the patients in the infirmary at least once in every day, and he shall give such directions for the health and cleanliness of the prisoners, and, when necessary, as to the alteration of their diet, as he may deem expedient, which the Warden shall have executed; provided, they shall not be contrary to the provisions of this law, nor inconsistent with the safe custody of the said prisoners; and the directions he may give, whether complied with or not, shall be entered in the journal of the Warden, and in his own. The Physician shall inquire into the mental as well as the bodily state of every prisoner, and when he shall have reason to believe that the mind or body is materially affected by the discipline, treatment, or diet, he shall inform the Warden thereof, and shall enter his observa- tion in the journal hereinafter directed to be kept, which shall be an authority for the Warden for altering the discipline, treatment, or diet of any prisoner, until the next meeting of the Inspectors, who shall inquire into the case, and make orders accordingly. The Physician shall keep a journal, in which, opposite to the name of each prisoner, shall be entered the state of his health, and if sick, whether in the infirmary or not, together with such remarks as he may deem important, which journal shall be open to the inspection of the Warden and the Inspectors, and the same, together with the return pro- vided for in the first article in this section, shall be laid before the Inspectors once in every month, or oftener if called for. The prisoners under the care of the Physician shall be allowed such diet as he shall direct. No prisoner shall be discharged while laboring under a dangerous disease, although entitled to his discharge, unless by his own desire. The infirmary shall have a suitable partition between every bed, and no two patients shall occupy the same bed; and the Physician and his attendants shall take every precaution in their power to prevent all intercourse betAveen the convicts while in the infirmary. 110 KEFOEMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. ARTICLE V. Of the Treatment of the Prisoners in the Penitentiary. Of the Recep- tion of the Convicts. Every convict sentenced to imprisonment in the penitentiary shall, immediately after the sentence shall have been finally pronounced, be conveyed by the Sheriff of the county in which he was condemned to the penitentiary. On the arrival of a convict, immediate notice shall be given to the Physician, who shall examine the state of his or her health; he or she shall then be stripped of his or her clothes, and clothed in the uniform of the prison, in the manner hereinafter provided, being first bathed and cleaned. He or she shall then be examined by the Clerk and the Warden, in the presence of as many of the Overseers as can conveniently attend, in order to their becoming acquainted with his or her person and counte- nance; and his or her name, height, apparent and alleged age, place of nativity, trade, complexion, color of hair and eyes, and length of his or her feet, to be accurately measured, shall be entered in a book provided for that purpose, together with such other natural or accidental marks, or peculiarity of feature or appearance, as may serve to identify him or her, and if the convict can write, his or her signature shall be written under the said description of his or her person. All the effects on the person of the convict, as well as his or her clothes, shall be taken from him or her, and specially mentioned and preserved under the care of the Warden, to be restored to him or her on his or her discharge. If the convict is not in such ill health as to require being sent to the infirmary, he or she shall then be conducted to the cell assigned to him or her, numerically designated, by which he or she shall thereafter be known during his or her confinement. ARTICLE VI. Of the Clothing and Diet of the Convicts. The uniform of the prison for males shall be a jacket and trousers of -cloth or other warm stuff for the winter, and lighter materials for the summer; the form and color shall be determined by the Inspectors, and two changes of linen shall be furnished to each prisoner every week. No prisoner is to receive anything but the prison allowance. No tobacco in any form shall be used by the convicts, and any one who shall supply them with it, or with wine or spirituous or intoxicating fermented liquor, unless by order of the Physician, shall be fined ten dollars, and if an officer, be dismissed. Of Visitors. No person who is not an official visitor of the prisons, or who has not .a written permission according to such rules as the Inspectors may adopt as aforesaid, shall be allowed to visit the same; the official visitors are the Governor, the Speaker and members of the Senate, the Speaker and KEFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. Ill members of the House of Representatives, the Secretary of the Common- wealth, the Judges of the Supreme Court, the Attorney-General and his Deputies, the President and Associate Judges of all the Courts in the State, the Mayor and Recorder of the Cities of Philadelphia, Lancaster, and Pittsburg, Commissioners and Sheriffs of the several counties, and the Acting Committee of the Philadelphia Society for the Alleviation of the Miseries of Public Prisons. None but the official visitors can have any communication with the convicts, nor shall any visitor whatever be permitted to deliver to or receive from any of the convicts any letter or message whatever, or to supply them with any article of any kind, under the penalty of one hundred dollars fine, to be recovered as hereinbefore provided for other fines imposed by this Act. Any visitor who shall discover any abuse, infraction of law, or oppression, shall immediately make the same known to the Board of Inspectors of the Commonwealth, if the Inspectors or either of them are implicated. ARTICLE VIII. Of the Discharge of the Convicts. Whenever a convict shall be discharged by the expiration of the term for which he or she was condemned, or by pardon, he or she shall take oft' the prison uniform, and have the clothes which he or she brought to the prison restored to him or her, together with the other property, if any. that was taken from him or her on his or her commitment, that has not been otherwise disposed of. When a prisoner is to be discharged, it shall be the duty of the War- den to obtain from him or her, as far as is practicable, his or her former history; what means of literary, moral, or religious instruction he or she enjoyed; what early temptations to crime, by wicked associations or otherwise, he or she was exposed to; his or her general habits, predom- inant passions, and prevailing vices, and in what part of the country he or she purposes to fix his or her residence; all of which shall be entered by the Clerk in a book to be kept for that purpose, together with his or her name, age, and time of discharge. If the Inspectors and Warden have been satisfied with the morality, industry, and order of his conduct, they shall give him a certificate to that effect, and shall furnish the discharged convict with four dollars, to be paid by the State, whereby the temptation immediately to commit offenses against society, before employment can be obtained, may be ob- viated. ARTICLE IX. Duties of the Religious Instructor. It shall be the duty of the Instructor to attend to the moral and religious instruction of the convicts, in such manner as to make their confinement, as far as possible, the means of their reformation, so that when restored to their liberty they may prove honest, industrious, and useful members of society; and the Inspectors and officers are enjoined to give every facility to the Instructor, in such measures as he may think necessary to produce so desirable a result, not inconsistent with the rules and discipline of the prison. 112 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. SEC. 9. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the expenses of maintaining* and keeping the convicts in the said Eastern and Western Penitentiaries shall be borne by the respective counties in which they shall be convicted, and the said expense shall be paid to the said Inspectors by orders, to be drawn by them on the Treasurers of the said counties, who shall accept and pay the same; provided, that the said orders shall not be presented to the said Treas- urers before the first Monday of May in each and every year; and pro- vided, also, that the said Inspectors shall annually, on or before the first Monday of February, transmit, by the public mail, to the Com- missioners of such of the counties as may have become indebted for convicts confined in said penitentiaries, an account of the expense of keeping and maintaining said convicts, which account shall be signed by the said Inspectors, and be sworn or affirmed to by them, and attested by the Clerk; and it shall be the duty of the said Commissioners, imme- diately on receipt of said accounts, to give notice to the Treasurers of the respective counties of the amount of said accounts, with instructions to collect and retain moneys for the payment of said orders when pre- sented; and all salaries of the officers of the said penitentiaries shall be paid by the State, and it shall be the duty of the Inspectors to transmit to the Auditor-General the names of the persons by them appointed, and the salaries agreed to be paid to each of them under the provisions of this Act, which sums shall be paid in the usual manner, by warrants drawn by the Governor upon the Treasurer oi the Commonwealth. SEC. 10. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the several Acts of Assembly of this Commonwealth, and such parts thereof, so far as the same are altered or supplied by this Act, be and the same are hereby repealed, from and after the first day of July next; provided, that the repeal thereof shall in no wise affect any indictment, trial, sentence, or punishment of any of the said herein mentioned crimes or offenses which have been or shall be committed before this Act shall come into operation. SEC. 11. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the Governor be and he is hereby authorized and required to issue his warrant to the State Treasurer, in favor of the Inspectors of the Western Penitentiary, for the sum of three thousand dollars, to be applied by said Inspectors to such alteration of the interior of said penitentiary, as in their opinion will best adapt the same to the provisions of this Act. SEC. 12. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That, for the purpose of finishing the Eastern Penitentiary, introducing a supply of water from Fairmount Waterworks, and procuring the neces- sary furniture and fixtures for the accommodation and reception of the prisoners, the sum of five thousand dollars be and it is hereby appro- priated for the said purposes, and the Commissioners appointed to super- intend the erection of the State Penitentiary for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania are directed to carry the same into effect, and to draw the sum hereby authorized from the State Treasury, in the same manner as is by law provided. SEC. 13. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the Board of Inspectors of the Eastern Penitentiary, who shall be ap- pointed as is hereinbefore provided, be and they hereby are authorized * Repealed Act of 1833. REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 113 to draw from the State Treasury, upon warrants drawn in the usual manner, any sums of money which shall not together amount to more than one thousand dollars, to enable said Inspectors to support and employ the prisoners who may be committed to said penitentiary, until so much of such sums of money as may become payable by the several counties from which convicts may be removed to said prison shall be received by said Board, as will enable them to manage the affairs of said prison without such aid, which sum so advanced by the State shall be repaid to the State Treasury by the said Board as soon as the funds of said prison will enable said Board to make such repayment. A description of this prison can best be given in the words of those who at different times have made an exhaustive study of it. In 1823 the following description was given of this prison and its condition at that time: The Eastern State Penitentiary is situated on one of the most elevated, airy, and healthy sites in the vicinity of Philadelphia. Large sums have been expended for the purpose of giving an unusual degree of solidity and durability to every part of this immense structure, which is the most extensive building in the United States. The ground occupied by it con- tains about ten acres. The material with which the edifices are built is a grayish granite, or gneiss, employed in large masses; every room is vaulted and fire-proof. The design and execution impart a grave, severe, and awful character to the external aspect of this building. The effect which it produces on the imagination of every passing spectator is pecul- iarly impressive, solemn, and instructive. The architecture is in keep- ing with the design. The broad masses, the small and well proportioned apertures, the continuity of lines, and the bold and expressive simplicity which characterize the features of the facade, are most happily and judi- ciously combined. The originality of the plan, the excellent arrange- ment and execution of the details, display the taste and ingenuity of the architect, to whom our country is indebted for some of her noblest edi- fices-^-our fellow citizen, Mr. John Haviland. This penitentiary is the only edifice in this country which is calculated to convey to our citizens the external appearance of those magnificent and picturesq.ue castles of the middle ages, w T hich contribute so eminently to embellish the scenery of Europe. A reference to the accompanying view and plan will render only a brief description necessary. The front of this building is composed of large blocks of hewn and squared granite; the walls are twelve feet thick at the base, and diminish to the top, where they are two and three quarters feet in thickness. A wall of thirty feet in height above the interior platform, incloses an area six hundred and forty feet square; at each angle of the wall is a tower for the purpose of overlooking the establishment; three other towers, which will be presently described, are situated near the gate of entrance. The facade or principal front, which is represented in the accompanying view, is six hundred and seventy feet in length, and reposes on a terrace, which, from the inequalities of the ground, varies from three to nine feet in height; the basement or belting course, which is ten feet high, is scarped, and extends uniformly the whole length. The central building is two hundred feet in length, con- sists of two projecting massive square towers, fifty feet high, crowned by 8n 114 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. projecting embattled parapets, supported by pointed arches resting on corbels or brackets. The pointed mullioned windows in these towers contribute in a high degree to their picturesque effect. The curtain between the towers is forty-one feet high, and is finished with a parapet and embrasures. The pointed windows in it are very lofty and narrow. The great gateway in the center is a very conspicuous feature; it is twenty- seven feet high and fifteen feet wide, and is filled by a massive wrought iron portcullis, and double oaken gates studded with projecting iron rivets, the whole weighing several tons; nevertheless they can be opened with the greatest facility. On each side of this entrance (which is the most imposing in the United States) are enormous solid buttresses diminishing in offsets and terminating in pinnacles. A lofty octangular tower, eighty feet high, containing an alarm bell and clock, surmounts this entrance, and forms a picturesque proportional center. On each side of this main building (which contains the apartments of the War- den, Keepers, domestics, etc.) are screen wing walls, which appear to constitute portions of the main edifice; they are pierced with small blank-pointed windows, and are surmounted by a parapet; at their ex- tremities are high octangular towers terminating in parapets pierced by embrasures. In the center of the great court-yard is an observatory, whence long corridors, eight in number, radiate; (three only of these corridors, etc., are at present finished). On each side of these corridors the cells are situated, each at right angles to them, and communicating with them only by small openings for the purpose of supplying the pris- oner with food, etc. r and for the purpose of inspecting his movements without attracting his attention; other apertures, for the admission of cool or heated air, and for the purpose of ventilation, are provided. Among the advocates of this system in Europe, we may refer to How- ard, Paul, Eden, Mansfield, Blackstone, Paley, Liancourt, Villerme, etc., and in this country, to the venerable Bishop White, whose whole life has been but one prolonged illustration of that religion which he pro- fesses, Dr. Rush, Bradford, Vaux, Wood, Sergeant, Livingston, and many of our most eminent citizens. The intrinsic and obvious excellence of the plan afforded a powerful argument for its adoption upwards of* forty years since. The partial experience of its merits has been beneficially experienced in our State and other parts of the Union, notwithstanding the numerous disadvantages which have heretofore attended the trial. The only failures which have occurred in other States are unquestion- ably attributable to the absurd and culpable manner in which the pro- cess has sometimes been conducted. The experience of several of the European States, as well as of our own Commonwealth, incontestably proves that this system of prison discipline is the most efficient which the wisdom of philanthropists has heretofore devised; that, when admin- istered in a proper manner, the reformation of the great majority of criminals is practicable; that no injury to the health, mental or bodily, of the convicts occur; that the severity is sufficient, not only to operate on the inmates of the prison, but to deter others by the example of their sufferings; and, finally, that as a means of preventing crimes it is in fact the most economical. A superficial view of this subject has too frequently led to erroneous conclusions in some of our sister States. As "the Pennsylvania system of prison discipline" effects, not indeed the extirpation, but the prevention and diminution of crime, to an unknown and unrivaled extent, the dictates of mere economy, of sordid REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. llo self-interest, as well as of patriotism, humanity, and general religion, cry aloud for its general adoption. The prime cost of an efficient labor- saving machine is never considered by the intelligent and wealthy cap- italist as a wasteful expenditure, but as a productive investment. This penitentiary will be, strictly speaking, an apparatus for the expeditious, certain, and economical eradication of vice, and the production of reforma- tion. The State of Pennsylvania has exhibited at once her wisdom, philanthropy, and munificence, by the erection of this immense and expensive structure, which, in connection with her other noble institu- tions, will largely contribute to the amelioration and protection of her population. The corner-stone of the front building of the penitentiary was laid on the twenty-second day of May, 1823, in the presence of the Commis- sioners, architect, Superintendent, and workmen. On this interesting occasion, Mr. Roberts Vaux said that he much regretted the unavoidable absence of the President of the Board, in whose place he had just then been unexpectedly desired to say a few words concerning the purpose for which the Commissioners were assembled. He remarked that the occasion was calculated to awaken reflections at once painful and gratifying. Painful, because such was the erring character of man, so ungovernable were his passions, and so numerous his propensities to evil, that it was necessary society should provide means for the punishment of offenders against its laws. Gratifying, because a correct view of human nature, coupled with the indispensable exercise of Christian benevolence, had led to the melioration of punish- ments. Justice was now mixed with mercy, and whilst the community designed to teach offenders that the way of the transgressor is hard, it wisely and compassionately sought to secure and reform the criminal by the most strict solitary confinement. The penitentiary now to be erected was designed to accomplish these important ends, and when it shall be completed it will afford the first opportunity of putting into efficient practice the Penal Code of this State. Mr. Vaux congratulated his fellow citizens of Pennsylvania, because their legislators were the first (almost forty years ago) to abolish those cruel and vindictive pen- alties which are in use in the European countries from which we had descended. The pillory, the whipping-post, and the chain were not cal- culated to prevent crime, but to familiarize the mind with cruelty, and, consequently, to harden the hearts of those who suffered, and those who witnessed such punishments. The substitution in Pennsylvania of milder correctives had excited the notice and respect of nations abroad, as well as of our sister States; our example had, in some instances, been followed, and he had no doubt the principle would more extensively prevail. The box deposited in the corner-stone, which you have seen laid, con- tains a plan and elevation of the prison, and a metal plate bearing the following inscription: 116 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. PENITENTIARY FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA. FOUNDED, AGREEABLY TO AN ACT OF ASSEMBLY Passed on the twentieth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-one. JOSEPH HIESTER, ANDREW GREGG, Governor. Secretary of the Commonwealth. Under the direction of the following named gentlemen, COMMISSIONERS: Thomas Sparkes, John Bacon, Roberts Vaux, Samuel R. Wood, Cole- man Sellers, James Thackara, Daniel H. Miller, William Davidson, Thomas Bradford, Jr., Caleb Carmalt, Geo. N. Baker. JOHN HAVILAND, JACOB SOUDER, Architect. Superintendent of Masonry. It only remains for us, said Mr. Vaux, in conclusion, to express our ardent desire that this institution may fully answer the important purr poses for which it was founded. In a report to the Legislature, Mr. Thomas McElwee gave this de- scription: The Walnut-Street Prison was commenced in 1773, finished in 1774. It contained sixteen cells for solitary confinement they were only used in emergency. The evils of permitting convicts to work and lodge in companies, with unrestrained intercourse with each other, were mani- fested at an early day to the discerning and the philanthropist. In 1801 a memorial was presented to the Legislature by the "Phila- delphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons," dated Philadelphia, 12 mo., 1801, signed Wm. White, President, requesting the Legislature to devise means "to separate the convicts from all other descriptions of prisoners;" and two years afterwards the same society requested the Legislature " to adopt the mode of punishing criminals by solitary confinement at hard labor." In 1818, the society presented another petition in which they request the Legislature " to consider the propriety and expediency of erecting penitentiaries in suitable parts of the State for the more effectual employment and separation of the pris- oners, and of proving the efficacy of solitude on the morals of those unhappy objects" The chief object of the society appears to be to lessen the commission of crime by inflicting the punishment of privation, solitude, and labor for a certain time for a specified ofiense, not as a mere matter of restraint, but strictly as a punishment. REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 117 In 1821 another memorial was laid before the Legislature, signed by Wm. White, Roberts Vaux, and other eminent men who have labored unceasingly to promote the happiness of their fellow-beings. This peti- tion was successful. The Legislature, by Act of March 20, 1821, author- ized the construction of the Eastern Penitentiary on the principle of " separate and solitary confinement at labor," with an appropriation of $100,000, and the proceeds of the sales of certain lots of ground situate in the City and County of Philadelphia; and the interest of the Com- monwealth in the Arch-Street Prison was vested in the Commissioners on condition of securing to the State the payment of $50,000 out of the proceeds of the sale of that building and the lots on which it is situated. A lot containing thirteen acres, situate on Cherry Hill, two miles northwest of the Court House, was purchased and appropriated for this important purpose. The corner-stone of the front building was laid on the twenty-second day of May, 1823, in the presence of the Commissioners, architect, Superintendent, and workmen; Roberts Vaux presiding over the cere- monies. A box was deposited in the corner-stone, containing a plan and eleva- tion of the prison, and a metal plate bearing the following inscription: [See the copy of inscription printed on page 116.] Thus was laid the foundation of the Eastern Penitentiary of Pennsyl- vania. The Eastern State Penitentiary is situated on one of the most elevated, airy, and healthy sites in the vicinity of Philadelphia. Large sums have been expended for the purpose of giving an unusual degree of solidity and durability to every part of this immense structure, which is the most extensive building in the United States. The ground occupied by it con- tains about ten acres. The material with which the edifices are built is a grayish granite, or gneiss, employed in large masses; every room is vaulted and fire-proof. The design and execution impart a grave, severe, and awful character to the external aspect of this building. The effect which it produces on the imagination of every passing spectator is pecul- iarly impressive, solemn, and instructive. The architecture is in keep- ing with the design. The broad masses, the small and well proportioned apertures, the continuity of lines, and the bold and expressive simplicity which characterize the features of the facade, are most happily and judi- ciously combined. The originality of the plan, the excellent arrange- ment and execution of the details, display the taste and ingenuity of the architect, who has planned some of the noblest edifices of our country. * * * * * * * * * " In the center of the great court-yard is an observatory, whence long corridors, seven in number, radiate. On each side of those corridors the cells are situated, each at right angles to them, and communicating with them only by small openings, for the purpose of supplying the prisoner with food, and inspecting his movements without attracting his attention; other apertures for the admission of cool or heated air, and for the pur- pose of ventilation, are provided. The privy pipes carry off the impuri- ties of the cell to a common sewer. Originally there was a defect in the construction of those pipes, which admitted communication between the prisoners, endangering the existence of the institution. This defect is, I understand, removed. The cells are warmed by heated air, conducted by flues through the whole range. Light is admitted by a large circular 118 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. glass in the crown of the arch, which is raking, and the highest part six- teen feet six inches above the floor, which is of wood, overlying a solid foundation of stone. The walls are plastered and whitewashed; the cells are eleven feet nine inches long, and seven feet six inches wide. At the extremity of the cell, opposite to the apertures for inspection, etc., pre- viously mentioned, is the doorway, containing two doors; one a lattice work or iron grating, to admit the air, and secure the prisoner; the other composed of planks to exclude the air if required. This door leads to a yard attached to each cell on the ground floor, eighteen feet by eight, the walls of which are eleven and a half feet high. In the second story each prisoner is allowed an additional cell or bed-room. Each cell is fur- nished with a bedstead, clothes rail, seat, shelf, tin cup, wash basin, victuals pan, looking-glass, combs, scrubbing brush and sweeping brush, straw mattress, and one sheet, one blanket, and one coverlet. The bedstead or bunk is so constructed that the prisoner can rear it against the wall and fasten it with a staple, which gives him more room in the cell. Each cell is provided with water by means of a stopcock. The bedstead now in use is constructed of wood. The iron bedstead and hammock were found inexpedient. There were three hundred and eleven cells completed on the first day of January, 1835; all the rest are nearly fitted for the reception of prisoners. The edifice is calculated to contain in all about six hundred and fifty convicts. The three blocks first con- structed are one story; the other four are two stories each. The close approximation of the level of the edifice to the surface of the public reservoirs at Fairmount, has produced some difficulty in obtain- ing an ample supply of water. That difficulty has been removed by the following contrivance: A well of thirty feet in diameter, and about twenty-five feet in depth from the surface of the ground, is duly and securely walled up and arched over with bricks; contiguous to this well a building of substantial masonry has been erected of forty feet by thirty- four feet; an arched basement contains the furnaces and boilers, over which is placed a steam engine of six horse-power, by means of which the water will be drawn from the large well, and forced into a reservoir, erected also of substantial masonry, north of and adjoining the last mentioned building. This reservoir is about forty feet in diameter and ten in height above the surface of the ground, and contains about seventy- six thousand six hundred gallons of water supplied by the Fairmount Waterworks. From this reservoir the lower stories of the cell buildings and the privy pipes belonging thereto receive their supply of water. Over this reservoir is an apartment sufficiently capacious to contain nine large cedar tanks or cisterns, filled with water from the large well by the power of the engine. From these tanks the second stories of cells and privy pipes will receive their supply of water. This contrivance, which is very excellent, will furnish an ample supply of water to the whole establishment. An apothecary's shop is kept within the walls under the superintend- ence of the Physician. One apartment is allotted to the Inspectors and one as a hospital. Within the walls is a garden appropriated to the Warden and one to the domestics. The food of the convicts is cooked by steam, but it is estimated that the present apparatus has not the capacity to prepare food for more than two hundred persons. REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 119 The cost of the building cannot be acurately ascertained, but the fol- lowing sums are known to have been appropriated by the Legislature: By Act of March 20, 1821 1 . ..$100,000 00 By Act of March 15, 1824 80,000 00 By Act of March 1, 1825 . 60,00000 By Act of March 15, 1826 89,124 09 By Act of April 9, 1827 1,00000 By Act of April 14, 1828 4,000 00 By Act of April 23, 1829 5,00000 By Act of April 3, 1830 4,000 00 By Act of March 28, 1831 120,000 00 By Act of February 27, 1833 130,000 00 By Act of April 15, 1834 20,000 00 By Act of April 14, 1835 60,000 00 City prison, city lots, etc 99,476 60 * Total $772,600 69 Pennsylvania is indebted for the penitentiary system to such men as the Rt. Rev. Bishop Win. White, R. Wells, B. Wynkoop, T. Wistar, S. P. Griffitts, J. Kaighn, Wm. Rogers, C. Marshall, T. Connelly, T. Cooper, C. Lowndes, B. Shaw, T. Harrison, Wm. Lippincott, Geo. DuffieJd, Rob- erts Vaux, N. Collin, T. Reed, etc. men whose philanthropy knows no bounds, whose courage nothing could daunt, and whose industry in benev- olence knows no resting place. Those are the men who have devised a system, and under whose auspices was commenced an institution which, in the strong language uttered by an experienced man to the writer, " had it been rightly conducted it would have been impossible to find a fault with it." Richard Wistar led the way in alleviating the miseries of prisons in Pennsylvania. This benevolent man, before the Revolutionary War, was in the habit of causing wholesome soup, prepared at his own dwell- ing, to be conveyed to the prisoners and distributed among them. The jail was then situated at the southwest corner of Market and Third Streets. " The Philadelphia Society for Assisting Distressed Prisoners" was formed on the seventh of February, 1776, suspended in 1777, by reason of the presence of the British army in Philadelphia, and revived May 8, 1787, under the name of "The Philadelphia Society for Alleviat- ing the Miseries of Public Prisons." To the efforts of this society may be attributed the construction of the Eastern State Penitentiary. At a meeting held in March, 1872, the Board of Inspectors directed the President, Mr. Richards Vaux, to prepare a brief sketch of the origin and history of the prison for a meeting held in London to consider prison subjects, and he gives this description of the prison: The front entrance of the penitentiary is sixteen feet wide, forty in height. It has two gates, an outer one on Coates Street, and an inside gate opening into the interior grounds. These two gates are not allowed to be opened at the same time, and when a vehicle passes in from the street the gate from the outside is closed and locked before the inner gate leading to the premises is opened. The same precaution is observed 120 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. when the vehicle passes out. The Gatekeeper is always present in his room at the western side of this entrance. The eastern portion of the front buildings is for the Warden's family, and the Inspectors have their room on that side. The western is for the Resident Physician and the Clerk's office, and any other purpose for which it may be needed. The carriage and footway to the center building is thirty feet wide, and on either side of it are large plots of ground with flowers and grass. The "center building " is forty feet in diameter. It is of an octagonal shape, and each corridor opens into it. A good idea may be had of its form by likening it to the hub of a wheel from which the spokes, repre- senting the corridors, radiate. It is two stories high. On the top is a lantern and lookout. In the lantern or cupola are eight reflectors, twenty inches in diameter, silver-plated, and by the use of gas the light is thrown at night into all parts of the grounds. It is deemed one of the best protections. The height of these reflectors from the ground is about fifty feet. The center building stands in the exact center of the whole plot of ground, around whilh is a substantial stone wall, the aver- age height of which is thirty-five feet. At the base it is twelve feet wide, and at the top two feet, with a coping overhanging inside two and one half feet. There is a tower at each corner, and the plot of ground con- tains about ten acres. Escapes. Since the opening of the penitentiary, in 1829, there have been nine escapes. Of these six were retaken. Flour Mill. The grist mill, situated over the cook house and boiler-room, forms an important feature in the economical arrangement of this prison, inas- much as it furnishes the penitentiary with fresh flour, uniformly sweet and good, at a very considerably less cost than it purchased in the market. The engine which drives the mill is one of ten horse-power, and was erected in the year 1834, for the purpose of pumping water from a large well into the reservoir at times of scarcity of water at the city water- works, and it still performs that service when needed. The net gain of this arrangement, for the eleven months it has been in operation, has been $1,324 46. Carpenter Shop. There is a building in the grounds, between the third and fourth blocks, constructed so that, in case of emergency, or if a contagious dis- ease should manifest itself in the cells, a comfortable, well heated, and ventilated hospital could, in a few hours, be ready for use. It is fifty feet in length, twenty-five in width, and two stories in height. The use to which it is designed is a general shop for storing wood and for car- penter's work. The upper story, twelve feet in height, can be promptly made ready for a hospital, and the patients separated by temporary screens. Reservoirs. The water is supplied from a reservoir to all the prisoners. This res- ervoir is circular in form, forty-one feet six inches in diameter, twenty- REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 121 five feet deep, holds two hundred and fifty-two thousand nine hundred and ninety-two gallons of water. The weight of the water, when full, is equal to one thousand five hundred tons. There were two hundred thousand bricks used on the inner wall; the outside wall is of stone. The walls are three feet thick, and bound with iron hoops, built in the wall, two feet apart. The whole is covered with a slate roof with venti- lator at the top. The kitchen, for preparing the food of the prisoners, the bake house, and the flour mill, in which all the flour is ground, are located in the buildings adjoining the reservoir. There is a well fourteen feet in diam- eter between the reservoir and the kitchen, out of which a supply of water is pumped by steam when the water in the basin supplied by the city waterworks is too low for general use. Heating and Lighting. The heating of the cells is by steam from boilers at the end of the corridors, and the refuse steam is used for the prisoners' bath house, and to heat the center building and library, which is on the second story of the center building. Five and one half miles of iron pipe are employed in conducting the steam through various parts of the premises. Steam as a means of heating has been introduced in lieu of hot water. The total number of gas burners whereby the cells are lighted is six hundred and fifty. Wash-Room. The wash-room is twenty-five by twenty-five feet, the drying-room twenty-five by thirty feet, and each fifteen feet high. Between these rooms is the boiler-room, twenty-five by twenty feet and twelve high, and over the boiler-room is the room for storing boots and shoes, twenty- five by twenty feet and eleven feet high. These rooms are situated at the end of the seventh block. The drying-room is heated by steam pipes, giving a temperature of 150 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. The same boiler which heats this room supplies hot water in abun- dance for washing. The washing is done with a machine, which is put in rapid motion by a pair of cranks or winches, turned by four men. It is found to be very effective, doing its work thoroughly. After washing, the clothes are put under a screw-press and the water forced out, leaving them nearly dry. There are not less than two thousand eight hundred pieces of clothing washed each week. Each article is marked with the prisoner's number, and his own clothes and bedding are always returned to him. Receiving- Room. On the western side of the main entrance, at a short distance beyond the inside gate, is a room properly protected for the reception of the convicts. It is so secured that no combination of prisoners to escape can be successful. They sometimes arrive, several at one time, in the night, from the counties comprising the Eastern District, when caution is necessary, as they are then unknown to the prison authorities. In this room the reception of the prisoners takes place, and all the exami- 122 EEFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. nations then necessary are made before they are taken to the cells. In passing from the front to the center building, and thence to their cells, they wear a cap which prevents recognition in the daytime and secures them from acquiring any topographical knowledge of the ground plan of the penitentiary. Every prisoner, on being received, is taken to a bath-room and thoroughly cleansed. He is then supplied with a clean suit of prison garments, and the clothing he wore upon admission and such articles as were found upon his person are carefully packed away, to be restored to him on his discharge. Personal cleanliness is further secured by a frequent use of the bath-room. A number is assigned to each prisoner when received, and by that number he is designated as long as he remains in the institution. Corridors and Blocks of Cells. The length of the "first block" is three hundred and sixty-eight feet; ten feet wide, twenty-one feet high to the top of the arch. The old cells in this block are seven feet six inches in width by twelve feet in length, and say fourteen feet in height. The new cells in this block are eight feet wide, sixteen feet long, and eleven feet high. There are twenty of these new cells, built in 1869-70. There are fifty cells in this block. The length of the " second block " is two hundred and sixty-eight feet, including passage way from the corridor to the center building. The block is only one hundred and eighty feet in length, ten feet wide, and twenty-one feet high. There are thirty-eight cells in this block. The size of the " third block "is same as second block. There are twenty cells in this block; eighteen "double cells," or seventeen by twelve feet, twelve feet high, and used as shops. These three blocks are one story high. The length of the " fourth block " is two hundred and sixty-eight feet. It is two stories in height. There are fifty cells on the ground floor, and fifty cells in the second story. The size is seven feet six inches wide by fifteen feet long and eleven feet high. The cells in the second story are the same size as the others, and twelve feet high. There are one hundred and thirty-six cells in this block. The " fifth block " is three hundred and sixty-two feet in length, ten feet wide. The corridor is thirty-three feet high and has two stories. There are sixty-eight cells on the ground floor and sixty-eight on the second floor. The size of the cells is the same as in the " fourth block." The "sixth block" is two hundred and sixty-eight feet long, ten feet wide, two stories high. The height of the corridor is thirty -three feet, and it contains one hundred cells of the same size as in the " fourth block." The " seventh block " is three hundred and sixty-five feet long, two stories high, fifteen feet wide on the gallery, ten feet wide on the ground floor. It is thirty-eight feet in height. The cells are seven feet six inches wide, sixteen feet long, and eleven feet high. There are one hun- dred and thirty-six cells in this block. The cells on the ground floor of all the corridors have yards attached to them; the cells in the second story have no yards. Some are double cells (two cells in one), for special use. REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 123 The New Cells. Twenty new cells have been added to the first block corridor. They are the result, in construction, of all the experience gained as to the best mode of building such apartments. These new cells are eight feet by six- teen, and twelve feet high. They are lighted by a skylight five feet by twelve inches. The means of supplying heat and ventilation and light are regarded as most complete. The heat is from steam supplied by a boiler at the end of the block, and is sufficient for this and the second block. Each cell has a yard eight by fourteen feet, and inclosed by a wall eleven feet high. The water for drinking is at the command of the prisoner. The gas is given between certain hours. A privy is in each cell, and is cleaned daily by flooding into a sewer. The doors into the corridors slide in grooves, and the fastenings were designed by Mr. Cassidy, the principal Overseer, who had entire super- intendence of the construction of the work. The cells are regarded as the most approved of any in use. A Review of the Development of the Administration. From the opening of this penitentiary in 1829, to the end of last year, 1871, forty-two years have elapsed. This period may be subdivided into two epochs. The first, from 1829 to 1849, should be designated as the epoch of "experiment and experience;" the latter of "development and progress." It requires neither argument nor justification to denominate the first period as one during which the system was to be studied and understood. From the earliest efforts to secure "solitude," as it was called, for the convict during his imprisonment, till the trial was so indifferently and partially made in the Walnut-Street Prison, by the separation of a few prisoners, it was the theory of separation that was mainly considered. When the penitentiary was ready in 1829 for the reception of some occupants, it may be said that very little was really known as to the effect of the discipline on the prisoners. Indeed, the discipline of itself was a theory. For many years following 1829, it was not possible to do more than supervise the administration, and put it into working order. It required some time to settle what were the consequences of the disci- pline, and patient investigation was necessary to determine them. To finish all the buildings, suffer from some serious criticisms on the man- agement, and harmonize almost irreconcilable opinions, if not feelings, among those who were first connected with the administration of the penitentiary, distracted the minds of those who were charged with the government of the institution. Therefore, from 1829 to 1835 the atten- tion of the Inspectors was not wholly concentrated on the workings of the system which had been established for the penitentiary. From 1835 to 1849 the treatment of the prisoners was thoroughly considered, and then it was that the experience developed in the experiment of the sepa- rate system became of great importance. From 1849 to 1871, the Inspectors were to a greater extent occupied in investigating the principles and the philosophy of the separate or indi- vidual treatment discipline, which is now in full operation in this peni- tentiary. These remarks are properly prefatory to the annexed extracts from the reports of the Inspectors to the Legislature. They are also intended 124 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. to present the reason for, and explain the purpose of, the statement of the results of the administration of the system of separate confinement of prisoners in the penitentiary, for the two periods to which reference has been made. This statement will give some idea of the progress made, but prominently shows the philosophic basis on which penology must rest, and the intimate relations it bears to social science. The penitentiary went into operation, by the reception of the first prisoner, on October 25, 1829. The law organizing it was in force June 1, 1829, and S. R. Wood, the first Warden, took charge August 1, 1829. Four blocks of cells were yet unfinished, and the architect and the friends of the separate system, as well as the Inspectors, were engaged in ascer- taining what improvements could be made in the details of the general plan. The State Penitentiary at Pittsburg (Allegheny), and the one at Philadelphia, constructed on the plan of separate confinement of the con- victs, were both originally devised without, of course, much, if any, prac- tical experience in their adaptation to the objects for which they were to be occupied. It is not to be presumed that experience, when obtained, did not suggest various improvements in the structure of prisons for the separation, individual treatment, and labor and instruction of the inmates. It is but proper to note that, in 1818, there was a difference of opinion among the friends of the system as to what it really should be in its administration. Some were for solitude, as it was called in contradis- tinction to congregation, without labor. Others were in favor of solitude and hard labor. The first blocks of cells were erected when this subject had been settled, but it had so engaged the minds of all parties before the great results which experience has since shown were to result from separation and the individual treatment of the prisoners, that these apart- ments were not wholly suited to the wiser and truer discipline. It is not now scarcely possible to explain how much of discussion and difference of opinion then existed on these subjects. The friends of the separate system had not only to educate the public mind in Pennsylvania as to its real merits, but also to combat opposition in England, New En- gland, New York, and among various gentlemen who had some general opinions on penal jurisprudence. It is not possible to give all the views expressed from these sources. A history, even as brief as the one now presented, would not, however, be satisfactory without some reference to these interesting questions and their effects on the Pennsylvania system. The system of Pennsylvania may now be properly described as the separate and individual treatment system of prison discipline. We believe it to be as great a success as human effort, under all the circum- stances, could be expected to accomplish. Crime and criminals should be regarded in the relation they bear to the social condition. Society, the State, or Commonwealth, demands protection against violations of those laws which are enacted for pro- tection of the interests, happiness, security, and welfare of the people. For these violations of law, punishment is to be inflicted on the offender. Thus far the State is directly interested in the laws defining crimes, and declaring the penalties. The vindication of the law and its administra- tion, and the infliction of the punishment, comprise the paramount inter- ests of the State. The punishment begins its operation on the criminal, and so far as that punishment deters from crime, the State has a direct interest in the system by which it is administered. Out of the system come other benefits to the State, such as the reformation of the offender, REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 125 and the protection of the State from the perils of a crime-class, created by the system of punishment. The system by which, in penitentiary or prison, the punishment is inflicted, and by which these benefits are to be derived both by the State and the convict, is of equal importance with any other of the interests the State has directly in its jurisprudence. This system is one to be considered and determined by applying to the principles on which it is based a scientific investigation only, for any other subordinates to the feelings and interests what should be pre- dominant as a question of social science. This subject, it may be remarked, is one that requires the most thor- ough examination before any conclusions can be safely arrived at. The questions of original cost, kind of labor, or capacity to be self-support- ing, have no direct concern with the system of punishment. If the punishment by the separate and individual treatment of the convicts, secures society and protects the people; deters from crime; punishes the offender; reforms the individual; returns him to his former social rela- tions better, or no worse, than when he was separated from them by his imprisonment; prevents the organization or augmentation of a crime- class in the community; then the principal purposes, the highest aims of punishment are obtained. It is with these that society is directly concerned. To ascertain whether these effects are the consequences of any system of punishment, requires that the system should be scientific- ally and practically investigated, and all other questions should be postponed till these consequences are determined. It is claimed for the separate and individual treatment system, as now administered in the Eastern State Penitentiary at Philadelphia, that it accomplishes all these purposes. Let the contrary be demonstrated before the system is either condemned or set aside for one which yields less or none of the great objects of punishment by imprisonment of offend- ers. It will not suffice to condemn the separate system, because by the separation of convicts less profits are obtained from their labor than when they work, aided by machinery, in an associate or congregate prison. The State has no such paramount interest in the profits of the labor of its convicts as to abandon all the other benefits which should be derived from their punishment. The congregation or association of con- victs during their punishment by imprisonment, produces evils ulti- mately far more expensive to the State than the loss of profits gained by working them together for the period of their imprisonment. It is doubted if ever yet a system of penitentiary discipline, or of treat- ment of offenders sentenced to separation from society for crimes against it, has been adjudged the best because it is preeminently a profit-mak- ing, money-gaining system. Such a decision, based on such a principle, would, or should, shock the moral sense of mankind. It may be possi- ble to introduce into the profit-making discipline a means of moral cult- ure, promising the reform of those who are subjected to it. But so long as the profits are the primary purpose of the discipline, the great aim, punishment, is lost sight of, because punishment then is only incarcera- tion in a prison, and the reformation of the prisoner is subordinate to the best method of labor. 126 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. No regard is paid to the effects of congregating in a prison large num- bers of convicts working together, when these prisoners leave the insti- tution to mix again in society. This consideration, and the reformation and individual benefits to be derived from proper instruction during punishment, are questions which, if considered, and due weight given to their importance, would involve loss of profits. A congregate prison the system of congregating prisoners for work unless it is profit-making, could not be regarded as defensible. Its only merit now consists in the asserted fact that it may be self-supporting. Such are the sordid influ- ences that the system of money-making prisons begets a system so prejudicial to the convict and society. Remarks and Facts in Relation to Administration. It may be said, without fear of denial, that the best system of prison discipline ever devised may utterly fail by reason of its bad administra- tion. So, also, is it true of a bad system; it may produce good results, provided it is well administered. So much depends on administration. The most important element in all administrations is the character and capacity of the governing power, and the adaptation of the officers to their duties. It is to be remarked that the changing of the officers for any reason other than unfitness, or impropriety of conduct, is to be con- demned in the strongest manner as fatal to the best interests of the insti- tution. Political or sectarian influences should never be permitted to control the administration, nor in any way interfere with the government of a prison. It produces the worst possible condition of the administra- tion, and destroys the independence of those who are required to be responsible for the faithful discharge of their peculiar duties, which must be systematized, rigidly supervised, and performed with exactness, and with a full understanding that direct accountability is demanded. Very little consideration is given to the importance of these principles in prison government. It is too often the case that favoritism is made the ground for pertinacious recommendations for positions, when the want of character and fitness in the applicant is known to be positive. Appointments to positions should be in every case dependent only on integrity, character, and special qualifications for the duties to be per- formed, and the tenure should depend solely on good conduct. In this penitentiary all the appointments of Overseers are made by the Warden without the intervention of the Inspectors, who, however, hold the War- den responsible therefor. It may better explain the basis of the administration of the discipline to give the following account of some of the means adopted to improve and reform the prisoners: For the past three years, out of a total population during that period of one thousand four hundred and ninety-five persons, only ninety-six were subjected to punishment for violating the rules, for gross insubor- dination, or for other bad conduct. The only punishment permitted is a dark cell and bread and water. For the same period twenty thousand three hundred lessons were given by the secular teachers, instructing those who were illiterate, or improv- ing those who had some education. The whole number of lessons given by the Moral Instructor was twenty- REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 127 four thousand two hundred and ninety-six, besides one thousand and eighty-nine Sunday exercises on the Sundays of these years. There were twenty-eight thousand and thirty-one newspapers, of all religious denominations, distributed. The library contains six thousand two hundred and sixty-eight vol- umes, and for three years sixty-nine thousand six hundred and fifty- eight books were distributed to the prisoners, besides one hundred and twelve thousand six hundred and fifteen pages of tracts. Every prisoner is taught a handicraft occupation, and when able to do the work he is allowed one half of the product of his labor, in excess of his task, for his own use or that of his family. All those who are received and capable of learning are taught to read, write, cipher, and a trade. When any prisoner has a decided talent for either intellectual or mechanical pursuits, he is permitted to improve himself in study or perfect himself in mechanism. Letters to and from the prisoners are forwarded by the Warden after such examination only as to provide against infractions of the rules. Within the past three years eleven thousand two hundred and seventy- five letters were sent by prisoners, and eighteen thousand nine hundred and eleven received by them. The influences best adapted to each individual as a reformatory treat- ment of his case are directly applied. The cells are regularly cleaned, and great attention is given to this subject, and also to personal cleanliness. The number of general visitors to the institution for the past ten years amounts to one hundred and fourteen thousand four hundred and forty. Visits to the prisoners are regulated by a general rule, but special cases are governed by the circumstances in each case. The officers, Warden, Physician, Moral Instructors, and Teachers and Overseers in charge, have constant intercourse with the prisoners. Two of the Inspectors arc detailed each month as " Visiting Inspect- ors," who have the general duties of supervision imposed on them, besides such special business in regard to the administration as the Board directs. The " Prison Society " has a visiting committee which occupies itself with visits to the prisoners, and a special officer of the society to look after discharged prisoners. Meetings of the Board. The regular meetings of the Board of Inspectors are held monthly, at which time a written report in detail is required from the Treasurer, Warden, Physician, Moral Instructor, and Secular Instructor. Bills are at the same time submitted by the Warden for all purchases made by him since the preceding meeting, their payment, however, not being ordered by the Board until, upon examination by a committee of the Board, they are found to be correct. The Warden is also required by law to keep a journal and enter therein daily all events happening in the penitentiary, including all cases of punishment or discipline, open to the examination of the Inspectors. 128 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. Annual Reports of the Inspectors to the Legislature. From the first year of the opening of the penitentiary, 1829, annually, as by law required, the Inspectors have made to the Legislature of the State reports on the condition of the institution. These reports are exhaustive on all the subjects connected with the administration of the penitentiary. The views of the Inspectors as to the system of separate or individual treatment of convicts are presented, and such suggestions are from time to time made as directly relate to the cause of crime, legis- lation for the prevention and punishment of offenders, and also the opinions of the Inspectors on the proper means by which the effects of punishment are most surely produced. Each annual report is accom- panied by statistical tables most carefully prepared from the best sources of information, in which the most thorough exposition of the relations, physical, moral, and mental, of each prisoner on admission and dis- charge is shown. It is believed that no more full and complete exhibit of any institution can be found than is thus afforded. The student of penal science, in its relations to social science, jurispru- dence, systems of punishment, prison discipline, the effects of imprison- ment by the separate system on all who are subjected to it, can obtain in these reports most valuable information. There are now printed and published forty -three of these reports with full tabular statistical exhibits, and in order that those who desire to learn how much has been done by the Inspectors for the past few years, for the information of those who take any interest in investigating the questions involved, it may be stated that each of the more recent annual reports contain about one hundred and fifty pages of printed matter. Receiving Book. The following is a copy of the " Receiving Book " which has been in use in this penitentiary for nearly forty years: No. Age, Native of, Bound, Trade, Complexion, Eyes, Hair, Stature, Marks, No. of convictions, Parents, Reads, Writes, Temperate, Married, Property, Crime, Sentence, County and Court, Sentenced, Received, Remarks, Apprenticed: and left before the end of term of apprenticeship, and served until expiration of term. Went to public school, Went to private school, Age on leaving school, REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. A Copy of the Medical General Record of Admissions. 129 P 3 A G ED T o Color. 35 A Sex. Bodily Health Mental Health P cr 05 Social State. Protected A Smallpox .. Hereditary D in the Fami O O o" o' Length of Senl Time in Count * a s Occupation.. . w P ?r Mulatto. K Female. Married GO 5" A" A o 3 3 O * i :/ DO ! A I ! p A Copy of the Medical General Record of Discharges. o p o Color. >> Sex. Bodily Health. Mental Health. v% H 5' S? Sf 3 A A A i- B A S" 2 5" o Mulatto.. 5T Female. .. Improved Unimprov Im- paired. Improved Unimprov Im- paired. ;h during I onment... in Prison. 3- cc i ; a ; a e : o/ Medical Monthly Report. p 3 A O Color. n Sex. Date of Admissi H 3' (D 5' S3' o Disease o c 00 A Event Monthly Summ Remarks, etc. er F s p* Mulatto. A" Female . C B I Relieved Time Out Pardoned d A & I ! ; : 1 [I 9D 130 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. Medical Department. The health of the large number of inmates of a penitentiary is a sub- ject of careful attention. After much experience and reflection, the Inspectors came to the conclusion that the importance of the interests involved required that a competent physician should permanently reside upon the premises, so as to be constantly at hand, by day or night, when- ever an occasion should arise for his services. This has been found much more satisfactory than the system of a visiting physician from without. Medical visits, of which a daily record is kept, are constantly and systematically made by the Resident Physician to every prisoner, and each new recipient into the institution undergoes, upon his admis- sion, a thorough and medical examination, the results of which are fully recorded. An ample assortment of medical supplies is kept in the apoth- ecary shop of the penitentiary, which is under the charge of the Resi- dent Physician. The Discharge of Prisoners. It is of great importance, where a penitentiary, located in a city, receives inmates from a distance, that they should when discharged be immediately sent to the localities whence they came, and not be exposed to the temptations of the city. In order to accomplish this beneficial object, the Inspectors have obtained authority, by an Act of Assembly of the State of Pennsylvania, to give, if it should be needed, to each prisoner, upon his discharge, a specified sum of money for the purpose of paying his traveling expenses to the county from which he came, viz.: $5 under fifty and $10 over fifty miles. The "Prison Society" also, as a part of its benevolent operations, takes care that each prisoner, upon his discharge, shall, if his necessities require it, be supplied with such clothing as shall enable him to present a proper appearance when he rejoins his family or friends. Rules for the Prisoner. In each cell there is a printed copy of these rules. "You are desired strictly to observe the following rules established by the Inspectors for your government:" First You must keep you person, cell, and utensils clean and in order. Second You must obey promptly all directions given to you either by the Inspectors, Warden, or Overseers. Third You must not make any unnecessary noise, either by singing, whistling, or in any other manner; but in all respects preserve becom- ing order. You must not try to communicate with your fellow prisoners in the adjoining cells, either from your own apartment, or during the time you are exercising in your yard. Fourth All surplus food must be placed in the vessel provided for that purpose; and all wastage of materials, or other dirt, must be care- fully collected and handed out of the cell, when called for by the Over- seer. Fifth You must apply yourself industriously, at whatever employ- ment is assigned you; and when your task is finished, it is recommended that your time be devoted to the proper improvement of your mind, REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 131 either in reading the books provided for the purpose, or in case you can- not read, in learning to do so. Sixth Should you have any complaint to make against the Overseer having charge of you, make it to the Warden or Inspector; if against the Warden, to an Inspector. Seventh Be at all times, in your intercourse with the officers of the penitentiary, respectful and courteous, and never suffer yourself to be led astray from your duties by angry or revengeful feelings. Eighth Observe the Sabbath; though you are separated from the world, the day is not the less holy. The Inspectors desire to treat every prisoner under their charge with humanity and kindness; and they hope that in return the prisoner will strictly conform to the rules adopted for his government, which are not merely advisory, but are a law to him, especially the third, any violation of which will incur proper punishment. Special Notice. Violations of these rules or any part of the discipline of the institution, will deprive the prisoner of the benefit of the "Com- mutation Law." N. B. Not to be defaced in any manner. Mr. Vaux then proceeded to answer some of the popular prejudices against the separate system, and said: The volume entitled "American Notes," by Mr. Charles Dickens, has had a large circulation in Europe and America. From his description of the Eastern Penitentiary, an impression has doubtless been made on the minds of many persons corresponding to his published idea of the institution. He thus writes in regard to it: " In the outskirts stands a great prison called the Eastern Penitentiary, conducted on a plan peculiar to the State of Pennsylvania. The system here is rigid, strict, and hopeless solitary confinement. I believe it in its effects to be cruel and wrong. In its intention, I am well convinced that it is kind, humane, and meant for reformation; but I am persuaded that those who devised this system of prison discipline, and those benevolent gentlemen who carry it into execution, do not know what it is that they are doing. I believe that very few men are capable of estimating the immense amount of torture and agony which this dreadful punishment, prolonged for years, inflicts upon the sufferers, and in guessing at it myself, and in reasoning from what I have seen written upon their faces, and what to my certain knowledge they feel within, I am only the more con- vinced that there is a depth of terrible endurance in it which none but the sufferers themselves can fathom, and which no man has a right to inflict upon his fellow creature. * * * I was accompanied to this prison by two gentlemen officially connected with its management, and passed the day in going from cell to cell and talking with the inmates. Every facility was afforded me that utmost courtesy could suggest. Nothing was concealed or hidden from my view, and every piece of information that I sought was openly and frankly given. * * * In another cell there was a German sentenced to five years' imprisonment for larceny, two of which had just expired. With colors procured in the same man- ner, he had painted every inch of the walls and ceiling quite beautifully. He had laid out the few feet of ground behind with exquisite neatness, and had made a little bed in the center that looked, by the bye, like a 132 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. grave. The taste and ingenuity he had displayed in everything were most extraordinary; and yet a more dejected, heart-broken, wretched creature it would be difficult to imagine. I never saw such a picture of forlorn affliction and distress of mind. My heart bled for him, and when the tears ran down his cheeks, and he took one of the visitors aside to ask, with trembling hands nervously clutching at his coat to detain him, whether there was no hope of his dismal sentence being commuted, the spectacle was really too painful to witness. I never saw or heard of any kind of misery that impressed me more than the wretchedness of this man." American Notes, vol. 2, page 246, A. D. 1842. Mr. Dickens visited at his own special request the Eastern Penitentiary. He remarked, when asking for an opportunity to examine the institution, that " the Falls of Niagara and your penitentiary are two objects I might almost say I most wish to see in America." His visit was thorough. He saw everything in the penitentiary, and all the prisoners that he chose to visit. When about to leave, he remarked to Mr. Bevan, the President of the Board, that he " never before saw a public institution in which the relation of ' father and family' was so well exemplified as in this." Not one word of criticism or objection was then or there made. He did not even express a doubt of the success of separate confinement as a system of prison discipline. How could he, for he never understood it? On his return to England, his " Notes " were published, from which the foregoing extract is taken. Mr. Dickens' recollections of his early life, and the impression then made on him by its associations and privations, perhaps gave, beyond his power of detection, the coloring to his descrip- tion of the penitentiary. His delineation of character is marked by the strong contrasts which he paints in his fictions, and, therefore, his account of his visit to the " solitary prison " may be presumed to be exaggerated or untrustworthy. The case of the German prisoner, which has been given in full from the " Notes," justifies this remark. This German prisoner, this " picture of forlorn affliction and distress of mind," this " dejected, heart-broken, wretched creature," was sentenced to this penitentiary for the first time, May 15, 1840, for five years; on June 28, 1852, he was sent to this penitentiary for one year; February 24, 1855, he was a third time committed to this prison for two years; April 4, 1861, he came again for one year; on the 12th of March, 1872, he returned to this penitentiary for two years. Thus this " picture of forlorn affliction and distress of mind" is now a living, hale, hearty man of seventy-two years of age, having served out nine years of im- prisonment, under five different sentences, in this penitentiary, with all its horrors and cruelty, such as " no man has a right to inflict on his fellow man; " while the author of the "American Notes," notwithstanding his associations and journeyings, and his life in the midst of pleasure and friends, sleeps with " David Copperfield." So much for crude and emotional criticism on an institution in which punishment is considered with the care, deliberation, and thoughtfulness devoted to any other scientific question. Since De Tocqueville, of France, wrote his report on prison discipline, there have been several learned and eminent men who have carefully investigated the subject of individual treatment of convicts as applied under the separate system. In Italy, Belgium, and England many stu- dents of penal science, as well as those conversant practically with this REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 133 subject, have published most interesting papers in defense of cellular imprisonment. In Philadelphia there have been contributed exhaustive arguments and statistical information, derived from the actual condition of the admin- istration of the separate system at the penitentiary in that city, both in the reports of the Inspectors to the Legislature and from other sources. Special reference is here made to William Parker Faulke's " Remarks on Cellular Separation," Philadelphia, 1871; and "Journal of Prison Discipline," Philadelphia, by the Hon. Joseph R. Chandler. The con- tributions by Francis Lieber, LL.D., on the Pennsylvania system are well known. In this connection it is most proper to refer to the book of the Rev. J. Field, Chaplain of the Reading (England) Gaol, entitled " Prison Discipline and the Advantages of the Separate System of Im- prisonment," 2 vol., London, 1848, Longman, Brown, Green & Co., pub- lishers. He then gave extracts from some of the annual reports of the In- spectors to the Legislature of Pennsylvania, showing the views of the Inspectors and comparisons with other systems: In the report of 1830 the Inspectors write: " Believing that an accurate knowledge of the discipline established in the Western State Penitentiary, near Pittsburg (in regard to which from rumor there was some uncertainty), might be useful in estimating the operation of that in the East, the President of the Board visited that institution in June last, to ascertain from personal inspection the char- acter of the experiment there made, and, it is trusted, the Board can in nowise be regarded as reflecting upon the highly respectable gentlemen who superintend that prison, constructed, as it confessedly was, for soli- tary confinement, unmitigated by labor, in the remarks here submitted. The ranges of cells being too small and not sufficiently ventilated and lighted to be used as workshops, appeared to be principally used as dor- mitories, and he was induced to believe that convicts could not be advan- tageously employed therein at solitary labor. The building being also unprovided with separate yards for the different cells, it became neces- sary to the health of the prisoners to allow them to associate with each other in the common yards in which the sexes only appeared to be sepa- rated. The result of this visit was a belief that no inference can be drawn from the situation of a prison thus constructed (as some un- friendly to the system appeared to think) prejudicial to the permanency of the greatly successful experiment of its operation in the Eastern Pen- itentiary, in which every prisoner is provided with a separate cell of ample dimensions and with sufficient light, communicating with a sepa- rate yard, for air and exercise. " Unbiased by the speculations of enthusiastic theorists on either side, and unbending to the authority of names, whatever their repute, the Legislature of this Commonwealth, by its statute of the twenty-third of April, 1829, so far as concerned the offenses embraced in that Act, com- mitted the ancient penitentiary system of Pennsylvania to the test of actual experiment in a building adequate to the purpose, content to abide the event before it should be abandoned or extended to the whole calen- dar of penitentiary offenses. That system, however imperfectly enforced heretofore, owing to the faulty construction of our prisons, this Board 134 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. considers to be briefly this: solitary confinement at labor, with instruc- tion in labor, in morals, and in religion. . The noble structure under the direction of the Board, so honorable to the liberality and philan- thropy of the State, has, for the first time, presented the opportunity of effectually enforcing this mode of punishing and reforming the violators of the laws of society. In accordance with the views of the Legislature, and in the faithful execution of the trust reposed in the Board, it is now proposed to express a judgment founded on actual experience of the oper- ation of solitary confinement with labor and instruction upon the moral and physical powers of the convicts, and of the probable expense to the counties of maintaining their prisoners. " The evidence of the Physician, with the concurring testimony of the Warden, whose respective reports to the Board are annexed, and the particular observation of this Board, establish the fact that neither insanity nor bodily infirmity has been produced by the mitigated soli- tude in which the prisoners are confined. Absolute solitude for years, without labor or moral or religious instruction, probably does bear too severely upon a social being like man, and were such the mode of pun- ishment in this institution, the Board would feel little hesitation in recommending its repeal, as cruel, because calculated to undermine the moral and physical powers of the prisoner, and to disqualify him from earning his bread at the expiration of his sentence; as impolitic, because, when persisted in beyond a very limited time it tends to harden rather than reform the offender, while it produces great expense to the public, the prisoner in no way contributing by labor to his support. An oppor- tunity of witnessing the effects of absolute solitude without labor has occasionally been presented, when, as a punishment to a sturdy and dis- orderly convict, the Warden has ordered the light of his cell to be closed; little time has elapsed with the most hardy before the prisoner has been found broken down in his spirit, and begging for his work and his Bible, to beguile the tedium of absolute idleness in solitude." From the report of the year 1834, the following extract is taken: " The Pennsylvania system is emphatically a mild and humane sys- tem. Let us look for a moment at the condition of the majority of those who become subject to its regulation. We find them living a hurried and thoughtless life of hourly excitement, and shuddering at the possi- bility of a pause which could let in (to them) the demon reflection. We see them wanting the ordinary comforts of clothing and cleanliness, without home save that afforded by chance companionship. We find them in the brothel and the ginshop, giving up to all manner of excesses, indulging in every extreme of vice, self-degraded and brutal. We see them corrupted and corrupting, initiating new candidates in the race of misery and dragging them in their own vortex to a death of infamy and horror. Where do we place them, and how do we treat them? They are taken to the bath and cleansed of outward pollution, they are newly clad in warm and comfortable garments, they are placed in an apartment infinitely superior to what they have been accustomed, they are given employment to enable them to live by their own industry, they are addressed in the language of kindness, interest is shown in their pres- ent and future welfare, they are advised and urged to think of their former course and to avoid it, they are lifted gently from their state of humiliation; self-degradation is removed, and self-esteem inducted. Pride of character and manliness is inculcated, and they go out of prison REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 135 unknown as convicts, determined to wrestle for a living in the path of honesty and virtue. Is not this humane? The object of all prison establishments should be to reclaim. The separation of convicts affords facilities (which would be impossible under other circumstances) to treat each individual case in a manner best adapted to that result. There are no doubt some criminals who are incorrigible, but even with these the vindictive feelings usually generated by prison discipline find no place, and they leave the establishment with sentiments of regard rather than resentment, towards those who have attempted to alter their vicious habits. We are unwilling to make any remarks which may appear invidious, but we ask that a single glance shall be taken at any of the other plans now in operation, and then let it be answered whether the Pennsylvania system does not possess distinctive features which entirely change the relationship of prisoners towards society, and whether it does not embrace an extensive plan of amelioration of their condition." In the report for 1836, the Inspectors say: "Although a definite labor appears to be assigned, yet inasmuch as the Inspectors may be looked upon as public agents in this particular department, it is hoped they will not be considered as stepping out of their province if they take a more enlarged view of the subject than these limits seem to prescribe. The present Inspectors stand in a pecul- iar relation to the Commonwealth; they were the friends and associates of the promoters of the system, and were in the habit of discussing the subject of penitentiary regulations in all its bearings. They were fully imbued with the principles and views of its advocates, and the majority of them took an active part in calling into operation the schemes of those who felt the necessity of a reform in the criminal jurisprudence of the State. " The experiment at the time was a bold one, and was attended with difficulties at its commencement that would have dampened the courage of any set of men less persuaded of the practicability of a plan which years of deliberation had decided to be the true one. Opposed at home by a respectable number of our fellow citizens, who, with views quite as honest, held adverse opinions; its main principles questioned by a Com- mission of our own State especially instituted to examine the subject; assailed by the official agent of an influential and indefatigable society of a sister State, because it conflicted with his favorite system; attacked from abroad by persons of high consideration in the moral and political world, who had become endeared to America by their military and other services, the friends of the Pennsylvania system held their course un- checked, and with steadiness and perseverance worthy the cause, made their opinions public sentiment, and the State at length passed the law which will render her character for philanthropy preeminent. " The experiment at the outset was attended with an expense which even a great nation has paused to incur, and is only to be reconciled by the prevalent humanity of the people of Pennsylvania, which yearned to ameliorate the condition of her criminals, and to substitute a moral and wholesome atmosphere in lieu of the vicious miasma which pervades great communities. " Accustomed to look at the great results of the law, the Inspectors hold themselves excused, if in attempting to satisfy the public mind as to the wisdom of the measure, they should take a more comprehensive view of the subject than may seem to be required by the letter of the 136 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. Act of their appointment. Being called upon to attend to the operation of a system which was urged upon the State, and to test a theory by its practical results, the duty was entered upon with much anxiety and some little distrust, and the Board have hitherto delayed a positive assertion in its favor, until it is forced from them by evidence which appears to be incontestable." The report for 1844 contains the following: "The Inspectors believe that the following conclusions irresistibly present themselves, as the result of the above comparison of the two systems: "1. That the separate system prevents the commission of crime. " 2. That it is preeminently calculated to induce and effect reform in the minds of the prisoners. " 3. That the health of the prisoners is equal to that of any community, and is not, in the least, injuriously affected by the system. " 4. That mortality, under the separate system, is not greater than that of any other system of prison discipline. " 5. That the discipline, and the proper administration of the system, are superior to all others. " 6. That, of the objections which have been urged against the system, none have been realized. " It may be proper here to remark, that the term ' solitary or separate confinement ' refers to the fact that each prisoner is ' alone,' in contra- distinction to the ' aggregate confinement,' or ' silent system,' where prisoners are in gangs, or together in large or small numbers. The prisoners in the separate or solitary prisons have the same intercourse with all but their fellow convicts, and an idle curiosity, as in other systems; and the idea that prisoners are shut up, and shut out, from all intercommunication with the good and the instructive, is an error a gross error. They have that, at all times, besides almost hourly inter- course with their Overseers and other officers of the prison. " In the last annual report of the Inspectors, they say, that ' fully impressed with the necessity of a watchful care over the moral and mental improvement of the prisoners, as constituting a fundamental principle in this, as in all penitentiary reform, we are endeavoring to effect some improvements in the present plan of such instruction, particularly as relates to the education in reading and writing, thereby to enlarge the number of those who obtain this knowledge while in confinement.' "Within the last year the moral and rudimental instruction has been divided. The former has been left, as heretofore, under the law, together with such religious teaching as each prisoner may desire, and from whatever professional teacher he may select. The latter has been intrusted to a competent person, who acts as an Overseer when required. Ample time is thus given to both branches of learning; and thus a schoolmaster has been successfully introduced into the prison, whose chief duty it is to teach the ignorant to read and write, and practical arithmetic." The Inspectors in their report for 1846 report as follows: " What may be the analogy between crime and disease, so far as relates to general cause and effect in the moral and physical constitution, is not intended to be here the subject of discussion. It may, however, become the theme for serious and important inquiry and examination. " The causes of crime as certainly exist as the causes of disease, for REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 137 both are but effects in themselves. Some crimes are committed from an imperfection in the moral organization, while others are the result of sudden and exciting moral affections; the former will continue to be repeated so long as the cause remains, and the latter may never occur again, because the excitement may never reappear. The effect of pun- ishment in these two cases would be different, and hence a primary object of punishment should be to correct the cause of the moral dis- turbance which has produced the crime. The separate system is pecul- iarly adapted to such purpose, and as the subject of prison discipline continues to receive the attention of the intelligent observer, unforeseen benefits may result from the adaptation of punishment to the correction or remedy for these moral disorders. " The aim and end of imprisonment for crime is punishment, as the first consequence; and in considering the subject of penitentiary disci- pline, care should be taken not to lose sight of this primary object. The law consigns the convict to restraint of his personal liberty in a prison for a violation or infraction of its decrees, and in the prison he is to be subjected to treatment which is in unison with the object for which he was sentenced. The judgment of conviction is but a forfeiture of certain natural rights, as a recompense to society for his inability td regard and obey those regulations which have been established for the protection of the rights of individuals which constitute such community. At this point the power of the law ceases over the convict, for it has exhausted its power in the accomplishment of all its ends. By the pres- ent enlightened policy of our State Penitentiary discipline, the convict thus situated, while undergoing punishment, is sought to be improved, benefited, reformed. In this, society has a deep interest; for if the con- vict at the expiration of the term of imprisonment is improved in his moral character, encouraged to refrain from the commission of offenses against the law, reformed in his habits, and taught those religious or moral lessons of practical utility which will avail him on his again commingling with society deterred by punishment from crime the community has gained twofold by such an imprisonment; it has pun- ished and improved a prisoner, and made an example for the warning of all who are, or may be disposed to become, enemies of social order. " To these ends the separate system of penitentiary discipline is eminently conducive; and as they are and ever should be the prominent features of prison discipline, that system which promotes them with the most certainty and effect should be considered as the best adapted to the purposes which an enlightened people, a regenerated Penal Code, and the instincts of a just and benevolent public opinion, should seek to attain. Pennsylvania has nobly set the example; she made the experiment at a time when doubts and difficulties, impediment and hinderance, were clouding the prospect; but year after year has brought to light the wis- dom of the founders of the system, and added proof upon proof of its complete success. It is now no longer an experiment; but the separate system of prison discipline speaks in the voice of experience, subjected to the test of strict trial, to the spirit of progress of this age. Its argu- ments are facts; and its power of convincement over the minds of the enlightened, and unbiased, and unprejudiced, is found to exist in the cumulative evidence which is adduced to maintain that all it ever prom- ised has been more than realized. " Irrespective of the results which are to be found in our own State 138 KEFORMATOKY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. and Federal Union in support of the great features of our prison reform and meliorated discipline, the testimony of France, England, and Prus- sia is fully sufficient to seal its success. In these countries the system has been subjected to the most scrutinizing examination, and the most able and distinguished champions of social improvement have, after long and arduous inquiry, awarded to the Pennsylvania system their support. However these lights may be sought to be kept ' hidden under a bushel,' they have nevertheless shown in the brightness of honest con- viction. It is not to be supposed that improvements are not, or have not been suggested, on the plan of the administration of the separate sys- tem; this has never been asserted; but whatever these improvements may be, so long as the distinctive features of the Pennsylvania plan are adhered to, so long will that system remain in its original integrity. These features are: Separation of the prisoners from each other at all times; moral and intellectual improvement; honest and persuasive efforts to reform and reclaim the prisoners; prevention, by this con- stant separation from each other, of the evil of contamination and the prejudicial influence which must arise from the association of the more or less hardened offenders; the prevention, by separation, of the acquaintance and knowledge which the community of evil-minded per- sons obtain of each other by association in the place of punishment; the ability which is afforded, by the separation of offenders, to individ- ualize the corrective and reformatory treatment best suited to their peculiar characters; the almost certain consequence which results from the separate system, of making those no worse who cannot be made better by the infliction of the punishment they undergo; the addition of all improvements which experience and not mere theory suggests in the improvement of the moral and physical condition of the prisoners. " These are the principles on which the Pennsylvania system is based; these rendered it antagonistical to the congregate system. If experience has proved that one plan is better than the other, if the prisoner and the community are benefited by the operation of one rather than the other, then to the best mode the other must give place. Improve the details of administration as they require and as experience suggests, and the consequences must be that these improvements will only tend to increase the superiority of the separate system over all others." In the forty-second report of the Inspectors to the Legislature, dated February 27, 1871, they say: "It will be observed by the returns made by the Inspectors in this report that a large number of prisoners have been sentenced for un- usually long terms of imprisonment. These were for crimes of the highest grades, and the individuals are reported to be men of dangerous character in society. When it is known that by the commutation law a ten-year sentence can, by the ' good conduct ' of the prisoner, be dimin- ished by at least twenty-three months, based on the ratio directed in the law, there is no real advantage to the public from these sentences. The words of the law are: ' One month on each of the first two years, of two months on each succeeding year to the fifth year, and of three months on each following year to the tenth year, and of four months on each remaining year of the term of their sentence.' It never has been the opinion of the Inspectors of this penitentiary that long sentences to this institution, or any penitentiary on the separate or individual treat- ment system, are productive of benefits to the State or the convict. The REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 139 certainty of punishment is more to be regarded than its duration, so far as society is protected and crime punished by the example of convic- tions of offenders. Time is no true element in punishment by impris- onment. Long sentences do not reform the individual, nor protect the public security, nor produce that fear in the crime-class which prevents their committing crime. The fact that every offender is punished for his crime has the effect which is sought to be produced by penal laws. "In the Massachusetts State Penitentiary during the year ending September 30, 1870, there was a total population of seven hundred and seventy-four convicts. Of these sixty-three were pardoned. The sen- tences of six of those were for life, six for ten years, two for twenty years, two for fifteen years, and the others for from one to ten years each. The better way to state it will be to say that of fifty-seven prison- ers, the six for life omitted, the average sentence was seven years three months and eleven days, while the time served when they were par- doned was four years two months and eight days. It is not, therefore, a patent remedy for heinous offenses that the convict is sentenced for long terms, or even ' for life ' imprisonment in that State, where, it is to be presumed, the action of the public authorities is governed by integ- rity, wisdom, and intelligence. " It is stated that the Executive of the State of New York during the year 1870 issued eighty-five pardons, thirty-four commutations, and one reprieve. Of the pardons, sixteen were on account of ill health; five, insane; ten, innocent; and three for discovering plots among prisoners. Of the pardoned prisoners, two were sentenced for twenty years, five for fifteen years, nine for ten years, one for nineteen years, two for life, and three were sentenced to be hung. All but two were sentenced since 1860. " No reference is here made of the ' commutation ' for shorter periods of imprisonment than the sentence. " During the year 1870, of the nine hundred and fifty-three total pop- ulation in this penitentiary, fourteen were pardoned. Of these, thirteen were by the State of Pennsylvania, and one by the United States: for ill health, none; insane, none all fourteen for special reasons. "The average term of sentences was three years nine months and twenty-three days; and the average time served, one year eight months and one day. "To a prison on the separate system the average sentences for the lesser degrees of crime, when punishment promptly follows the offense, might be fixed at two years as the maximum, while a five years' sentence in most cases might be sufficient for those offenses in the commission of which human life was not put in peril. For young offenders, for the first offense, it is very questionable if any advantage results to society or the individual by a longer imprisonment than one year, unless for exceptional cases. " It is to be remarked that the primary object of a wise administration of penal laws, regulating the punishment by imprisonment of individ- uals, should be to prevent the creation of a crime-class by the associa- tion of convicts in communities after their imprisonment is terminated. The consequences resulting from such a state of things are to be feared, since by this association desperate men, each known to the other to have been a convict, conspire to commit crimes, and by this association they more easily escape arrest and defy conviction. The separate sys- tem of imprisonment, on this ground, is a protection to the public, while 140 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. it presents the best opportunity for introducing to the convict's attention those reformatory agencies which it is the part of Christian benevolence ever to hold out to the just and the unjust. " The Inspectors feel justified in calling to the attention of the Legis- lature the most gratifying fact that in other States some of the promi- nent features of the administration of the Pennsylvania system of penitentiary discipline are receiving both recognition and approval. For many years past the Inspectors, in their annual reports to your honor- able bodies, have given the convictions of their judgment, from practical experience, that the government of penal institutions should be intrusted to those whose capacity, knowledge, experience, and integrity alone qualify them for such responsible duties. It has been found in this penitentiary that honesty and capability, with intelligent observation of the practical working of the system of punishment, on the part of the executive officers, were essential to secure the purposes of peniten- tiary discipline. Frequent change in the executive officers, or their selection on any other recommendation than fitness and fidelity, has ever been condemned as most injurious to the interests intrusted to the Inspectors to guard. Almost alone in these opinions for so long a period of time, it is now with great satisfaction the Inspectors learn that the Prison Discipline Association of the State of New York, in a public meeting, adopted a "Memorial" to the authorities of that State, which thus gives testimony in support of the Pennsylvania practice in this respect: " ' The remedy which the association proposes is a radical one, involv- ing an entire change in the organization of the government of the pris- ons. Their examination has extended over the whole period of the existence of the present form "of that government. They say: " ' By the Constitution, all the State Prisons are put wholly under the government of three Inspectors, who hold office for three years, and are elected one every year, and who superintend the State Prisons and appoint all the officers therein. They are called Inspectors, but are in fact gov- ernors of the prisons and controllers of the system, subject to no super- vision or inspection, except such as the Legislature may direct, and that of the imperfect power given to the Prison Association. Every year one of them is thrown into the arena of party politics.' "The 'Memorial' proposes the State Constitution to be amended so that "'There shall be a Board of Managers of Prisons, to be composed of five persons appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, who shall hold office for ten years. " ' That Board shall have the charge and superintendence of the pris- ons, and have such powers and perform such duties in respect to other prisons in the State as the Legislature may prescribe. " ' They shall appoint a Secretary, who shall be removable at their pleasure, and perform such duties as the Legislature or Board may direct, and receive a salary to be determined by law. " ' The Board shall appoint the Warden, Clerk, Physician, and Chap- lain of each State Prison, and shall have power to remove them for cause only, after opportunity to be heard on written charges. " 'All other officers of each prison shall be appointed by the Warden thereof, and be removable at his pleasure. REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 141 '' ' The Governor may remove any of the Managers for misconduct or neglect of duty, after opportunity to be heard on written charges. " ' The five Managers first appointed shall, as the Legislature may direct, be so classified that the term of one shall expire at the end of each two years during the first ten years. " ' This amendment shall go into effect on the first Monday of January next after its adoption by the people.' " If you, gentlemen of the Legislature, will refer to the recent reports from the Inspectors of this State Penitentiary, you will observe that the ' contract system ' of employing convict labor has been condemned as most injurious to society, unjust, and unworthy of an enlightened civili- zation. " Under this plan of working convicts, in congregation, by contract with employers, every consideration but the benefit of the convict was absorbed in profit making out of the criminals whom the State punished for violating its laws. This profit was the claimed advantage of this plan of labor, so unworthy of a people who thus justified the brutalizing of those who were young, or convicted for a first offense, as well as those who had, it might be, some redeeming characteristics, in one common mass with the atrocious and hardened veteran in a life of crime. The Inspectors, in these reports, were the only protestants against this con- tract system. The experience, however, of the society alluded to has, at last, enabled it, in the ' Memorial ' to which reference has been made, thus to condemn this plan of prison labor. "Thus the 'Memorial' continues: * * * ********* " ' On the other side of the account this tendency to augmentation does not seem to have prevailed to the same extent. In Sing Sing, in 1847, convicts put on contracts were let at 35 cents a day; in 1869, they were let at from 30 to 40 cents a day. In Auburn they were let, in 1847, at from 30 to 50 cents a day; and in 1869, at an average of 50 cents a day. Thus while the rate of wages, inuring to the benefit of the State, increased not over 50 per cent, the expenditures, at the cost of the State, increased during the same period at the rate of 300 per cent. The contract system seeming, even to the Inspectors, to be a failure, they have attempted within the last five or six years to abandon it in a measure, and have had re- course to labor conducted under their immediate supervision, with what success the foregoing statements show. Within the past frve years, from 1865 to 1869, inclusive, the deficiency of earnings to pay expenses has been $1,094,151 05; an amount larger than the deficiencies of the whole previous eighteen years; and the appropriations from the State treasury have been $4,193,760 07, being about equal in amount to the appropria- tions for all those previous years.' " Again from this ' Memorial:' " ' The effort, however, during the whole of the last twenty-two years has been a failure, and is, year after year, becoming more signally and disastrously so. " ' The following is a table of the number of prisoners at the begin- ning and at the end of the present system: 142 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 1848. 1869. 473 950 604 1,279 84 130 "Clinton - 181 504 Asylum (not built until 1859) 78 Totals 1,342 2,932 Increase, 119 per cent. Expenditures for the Same Period. 1848. 1869. Female ... $11,790 54 $25,856 26 Sing Sing 97,221 41 351,032 57 Auburn 66,969 41 171,015 81 Clinton - - . .. 41,510 16 317,309 70 Asylum 13,954 92 Totals $217,491 52 $879,219 26 Increase, over 300 per cent. " ' The following shows the condition of affairs from the beginning of the system to the present day: Table of Progress from 18$ to 1869, inclusive. YEARS. Number of Prisoners. Expendi- tures. Earnings. Deficits. 1847... 1,421 $125833 85 $120 860 08 $4973 77 1848 1366 204091 80 110658 94 93432 86 1849 1380 188754 74 139285 34 49469 40 1850 1621 208397 74 158422 25 50975 49 1851 1,703 266011 20 178914 09 27097 11 1852 1,852 211,751 80 193,303 11 18448 69 1853 1967 250818 24 216 110 65 34 707 59 1854 2005 272413 03 213 178 03 59235 00 1855 1957 233445 59 197230 29 35 215 30 1856 1910 223477 99 197 105 13 25372 66 1857 1 890 212 714 17 191 783 63 9Q 930 54 1858 2126 250356 02 149 173 93 101 182 04 1859 2538 279333 68 189836 52 89497 16 1860 2*729 291 744 69 238627 56 53 117 13 1861 2818 388904 76 265 55 9 78 93 351 gg 1862 2697 294 685 57 228*481 51 66204 06 1863 2131 291 216 53 928330 74 62 885 79 1864 1915 342 794 55 255957 81 86 836 63 1865 1 885 414 713 30 202506 57 212 306 73 1866 2368 463 995 46 229413 83 234 581 63 1867 2*920 779579 61 600013 43 179566 18 1868 2881 844 373 93 601 630 05 242 734 88 1869 2930 879 219 26 654 157 68 225061 63 Making an aggregate deficit in twenty-three years of $1997084 45 ' The foregoing statements, though they show a result sufficiently disastrous to convince the association that the present system is finan- cially a failure, do not show the whole extent of the disaster.' " These quotations from the ' Memorial' are made with satisfaction, REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 143 because they are most important testimony in themselves, and unwill- ingly sustain the Inspectors of this penitentiary in their expressed opin- ions on the subject, and show that the time is coming when the broader and more philosophic views of penitentiary discipline which a scientific examination of so increasingly important a subject will produce, may yet become triumphant over the ignorance of bigotry, or the baser, ignoble, and narrow motives which have so long controlled the partisan management of institutions too generally considered only as public receptacles for convicted felons. It would have been worthy of those who in this ' Memorial' have so thoroughly exposed the evils against which they invoke rebuke and remedy, if they had, at least, given to Pennsyl- vania some credit for a consistent opposition to them. It would have been simple justice to our State, to have pointed to her as an example for the reforms which the ' Memorial ' now so markedly approves and advocates in the penitentiaries of New York. " The following extract from the ' Memorial' is so thorough a justifi- cation of the discipline, as well as the ' separate system' itself, con- trasted with the ' congregate plan,' now adopted in New York, and heretofore claimed to be the best system of prison government, that it needs no comment: " ' MORAL ADMINISTRATION. It is now about twenty-five years since a change was introduced into the moral government of our prisons. Prior to that time the prominent ideas had been punishment and earnings. This change was the introduction of rewards as well as punishments, and keeping the reformation of the prisoners in view as the main object. Appended is a brief enumeration of the measures employed, of their defective execution, and of the benefits that may result from them. " ' The Mode of Enforcing Obedience. Formerly it was by means of the whip, but with occasional resorts to other means of violence. In 1830 the use of the whip was abolished among the females, and in 1849 among the males, except in cases of insurrection, revolt, and self-defense. The substitute provided for it by law was solitary confinement; and in the latter year the law directed solitary cells for that purpose to be built in all the prisons. Those cells have not yet been built, and during the succeeding twenty years other means of force were resorted to, until, in 1869, such means, so far as they assumed the form of the " shower-bath, crucifix, and yoke and buck," were forbidden. This was done without providing any substitutes, and the consequences were disastrous. As soon as the passage of the law was known, a general uneasiness in all the prisons was shown. This was followed by individual acts of vio- lence. At Auburn a keeper was assaulted by a convict, struck down by a hammer, and his life saved only by the interposition of another con- vict. At Clinton a keeper was stabbed, and disabled for life; and at Sing Sing a keeper was struck down by a bar of iron, and the officers fired upon by a convict. Then ensued more general movements. At Auburn whole shops refused to work. At Sing Sing one hundred and fifty convicts, on one day, and some five hundred or six hundred the next day, refused to work; and at Clinton there was a general con- spiracy to escape, which was fortunately discovered in time to be pre- vented. At Sing Sing twenty, at Auburn twelve, and at Clinton ten of the ringleaders were kept in irons and chained to the cells for several months, and it is believed that nothing but the action of the well-dis- posed among the prisoners prevented more general outbreaks, and per- 144 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. haps an emptying of our prisons of the great body of their inmates. The use of blows upon the prisoners is forbidden only in our State Prisons. In all the local penitentiaries, to which many of our State prisoners have been removed, it is still allowed; and in the State Prisons it seems to be left to the discretion of the officer immediately in charge to determine what is the condition of revolt, insurrection, or self-defense, which will justify a resort to the whip. A general system of discipline to prevail alike in all the prisons, and which shall prevent the officers immediately affected by disorder from acting as complainant, Judge, and executioner, and which will cultivate the habit of self-government now so predominant among the great number of the prisoners, is a measure greatly to be desired. " ' The Introduction of Libraries. This was begun before the adoption of our present Constitution. So thoroughly was this sanctioned by the Legislature that, during the past twenty-four years, appropriations for this purpose have been made to the amount of about $20,000, and the agents were directed to append to their annual reports a catalogue of the prison libraries. This duty has never been performed. " ' Teaching the Prisoners. The law has provided, in this respect, that the Chaplains, besides religious services in the chapels, shall visit the convicts in their cells, and devote one hour each work-day, and the afternoon of each Sunday, to giving them religious and moral instruc- tion. So the law has provided for ten teachers in the prisons, at an annual expense of $1,500, to instruct the unlearned in the first rudi- ments of education. In these respects, also, there is a great waste of the wise benevolence of the law, owing to the absence of a well digested plan of instruction; for at present the system of instruction is so con- ducted as to amount to a farce. " ' Overwork and Aid to Discharged Convicts. The original allowance to convicts on their discharge was $3 to each from the prison funds. It is now increased to $10; and a practice has grown up, not yet sanctioned or organized by law, of allowing the prisoners to earn money for them- selves, over and above their allotted stents. This also demands an organized system to prevent an abuse of the privilege by prisoners and contractors, to guard against unjust partiality by the officers in charge, and to accord it impartially to all. " ' Commutation of Sentence. There is now prevailing in all our State Prisons (but not in all local ones) a measure of enabling the convicts, by their own good conduct, to shorten their terms of imprisonment. In 1863, out of one thousand one hundred and twenty-three prisoners who left during the year, only eighty-two left by expiration of sentence, while eight hundred and twenty-nine went out by commutation under the law. In this there is great danger, as well as the actual existence of partiality and injustice, which nothing can prevent so well as the creation of an intelligent and judicious tribunal.' " Notwithstanding this is the forty-second yearly report of the In- spectors to the Legislature of this State on the practical results of the Pennsylvania system of separate treatment of prisoners, yet even now there are many, professing to be possessed of general information on penal science as applied to prison populations and systems of convict punishment, who entirely mistake the principles, and are ignorant of the practical results, which these reports exhibit of the Pennsylvania system of penitentiary convict discipline. REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 145 " It is not possible in this report to condense the statements made in the forty-one which have preceded it. But justice to this penitentiary, at least, requires that for the past year, 1870, a comparison should be made of the exhibits of one penitentiary on each system of convict treatment. The Charlestown Penitentiary of Massachusetts is taken as best managed on the congregate, and this penitentiary, on the separate system, for this purpose. "In the Massachusetts Penitentiary the total population for 1870 is given as seven hundred and seventy-four. Out of this number there were fourteen deaths, or 1.81 per cent. "In this penitentiary the total population for 1870 was nine hundred and fifty-three. Out of this number there were twelve deaths, or 1.26 per cent. The difference in population is as seven hundred and seventy- four is to nine hundred and fifty-three, or one hundred and seventy-nine excess in this penitentiary. " Of the seven hundred and seventy-four in Massachusetts, sixty-three convicts were pardoned. " Of the nine hundred and fifty-three in Pennsylvania, fourteen con- victs were pardoned. "In the Massachusetts Penitentiary two convicts were sent to the Insane Asylum. "In this penitentiary three convicts were of unsound mind; but, by the treatment in the penitentiary, are reported by the Resident Physi- cian, Dr. Klapp, to be 'fully restored to reason.' "As to the discipline or government of the prisoners in the Massa- chusetts Penitentiary, it is stated that ' it is not to be supposed that six hundred men, some of them unquestionably bad, but more of them unfortunate; some of them receiving the just reward for crimes com- mitted, whilst others, in their own minds, at least, are suffering unjustly, can be managed and controlled without occasional friction.' "In this penitentiary the discipline has been maintained; for it ap- pears that ' we have had a prison population of nine hundred and fifty- three convicts, many of whom are among the most desperate men who have ever been imprisoned within these walls. Yet quiet and good order have prevailed, and by the vigilance and active care of the officers no escape, even into the yard, has been effected, and no harsh or severe treatment has been found needful.' " The above extracts, at least, suggest the inquiry, if congregating into one mass those convicts, the control of whom is described as producing ' occasional friction,' is the wisest plan for their proper government, or for the best interests of society. " In Massachusetts, with seven hundred and seventy-four convicts as the total population for 1870, 'our expenses,' as given, were $122,265 72. "In this penitentiary, with a total population for 1870 of nine hun- dred and fifty-three convicts, our expenses were $98,886 48. " In the Massachusetts Prison the recommitments on seven hundred and seventy-four convicts, total population during 1870, were one hun- dred, or equal to 13.44 per cent. " In this penitentiary the total recommitments on five thousand two hundred and ninety-eight convicts, the whole number liable to reconvic- tion since 1829, were five hundred and thirty-two, or for, say, forty years, 10 per cent. " It is shown by this comparative statement that the ' separate system ' 10D 146 KEFOKMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. has triumphantly vindicated itself against open, as well as covert assaults, which ignorance, prejudice, or that 'little knowledge' so dangerous in scientific studies, has from time to time made against ,it. " It would no,t be presuming too much to believe that you, gentlemen of the Legislature, will invoke the experience of this State institution before enacting into laws measures relating to convict discipline, penal jurisprudence, or crime-cause, either for prevention or punishment. Surely the knowledge of facts, and the practical working of principles or theories on penal science for a period of forty years, might be impor- tant to test either new propositions or determine the proposed benefits that the love of change always promises as the undoubted results thereby to be attained. " The necessity for legislation presupposes an understanding of the subject-matter, and no source of information which is reliable, or experi- ence which is respectable, or knowledge which has been carefully and intelligently acquired, should be ignored while such legislation is being perfected for its purpose. Your own experience, gentlemen of the Legis- lature, makes this self-evident. " While the primary purpose of this report to the Legislature is to comply with the law directing it to be made, yet the scope of the direc- tion that besides the specific return, ' such information ' may be given as may be deemed ' expedient ' for making this ' institution effectual in the punishment and reformation of offenders/ implies the expression of such suggestions as more generally relate to the subject of penal juris- prudence. " It is believed that the statistical information contained in the tables submitted indicates the careful investigation of the case of each convict, and the confidence established between the individual and the prison authorities. This tends to create in the mind of the prisoners the im- pression that though convicts, human sympathy is not to be denied them, and that even in prison there is an interest felt in their welfare and improvement. To some, this is a first lesson in reformation; with others, it awakens the good impressions of childhood. The influence on all is to facilitate the acceptance of any agencies that are designed for reform. " But, apart from these considerations, the contributions made in these reports to penal science, limited though they are to the investigation of the population of this penitentiary, it is hoped will invite the Legisla- ture to favorably consider the great importance of authorizing by law, comprehensive reports to be obtained by a department of the State Gov- ernment on those subjects which are intimately connected with unhealth- ful developments in the social conditions of certain classes in the whole population. " If such information could be obtained and systematically arranged, it would enable the Legislature to understand what legislation was most necessary for the public good. " Crime-cause would be better understood, prevention and punishment could be so adjusted as to separate the proper treatment of those who most needed either, under laws adapted to each. " It might be then ascertained that industrial schools and reformatory institutions for the first offenses of the young offenders were more essen- tial than neglected or ill-regulated prisons or more penitentiaries. " From such information, the conclusions might be arrived at, that REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 147 county prisons on the separate system, properly governed and admin- istered, should be the rule for all large counties, rather than the excep- tion in Pennsylvania. " It could hardly be doubted that with such reports carefully made the Legislature could better determine how the money of the people might be liberally and wisely expended for the poor, the suffering, the idle, the vicious, the criminal, the ignorant, and the unfortunate. From each section of the State the real condition of these classes would be presented, and then it would be better known how to relieve, restrain, prevent, punish, and educate. It probably would indicate that for all classes a general rule was impossible. True philosophy would teach the adaptation of individual treatment to individual, or special develop- ments of causes producing particular results. " It would more certainly enable a judicious classification to be made of remedial, preventive, and punitive agencies, and prevent the pauper- ization of individuals into an idle or indigent class, or a more dreaded crime-class. If no other result was reached, it would be possible to establish by law some system by which education in handicraft skilled labor could be within the reach of those of the young who sought it, and at the same time be approved and applauded by an enlightened public opinion. "Reference has already been made to the 'Commutation Law' by which sentences of the convicts are shortened by their ' good conduct ' while under conviction. This plan has been described as a statutory recommendation to the Executive to discharge the convict before the sentence inflicted by the judicial power expires. While it is not a par- don under the exercise of the constitutional prerogative of the Governor, it is a device which, by legislation, controls the judicial and directs Execu- tive action. How wise such legislation may be is no part of the province of the Inspectors to consider, much less to determine. It is now brought to the notice of the Legislature for the purpose of inviting attention to the precedent thus established. If the Legislature can enact a law by which a judicial sentence can be terminated before it expires by its own limita- tion, then it becomes a most important question to consider if this prin- ciple cannot be applied for the purpose of more effectually securing the aim of punishment by imprisonment in particular cases. It sometimes happens that the exercise of the pardoning power is subject to public criticism. There are no doubt cases in which there are grounds for this animadversion, but the Inspectors do not desire to express any opinion on cases of which they have no direct knowledge from their official rela- tions with the prisoner. "The comparison hereinbefore made between the pardons granted by Massachusetts. New York, and Pennsylvania, shows that in this State Executive clemency has been very sparingly exercised on convicts in this penitentiary. " It is undoubtedly true that there are now in this institution several convicts who are fully entitled to pardon, if the purpose of their punish- ment was to qualify them for restoration to liberty, with benefit to them- selves and advantage to society. " To reach these cases is difficult of accomplishment under the present system. If a pardon is asked, then the Inspectors may be regarded as exceeding the line of their duty, and their action misunderstood or mis- construed; or they might be subjected to applications from unworthy 148 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. persons; or the Executive might fail to appreciate their motives. Nev- ertheless, these cases exist; and continuing in prison those who have been brought within the effects of punishment, and over whom it has exercised all the influences designed by law and justice, is of very doubt- ful propriety. It is imprisonment for no purpose. The example, the prevention of crime, as they are supposed to be reached by a conviction of the guilty, has been eected by such conviction and the infliction of the punishment. The only remaining purpose of the law which this punishment proposed has been produced. Society has been protected; the example has been made; those who are intended to be warned have had their warning; and the individual who is punished is now alone to be considered. If this punishment has caused him to repent of his wickedness, and determine, in so far as he can, to reform, then his liberty is more a right than a favor, for longer incarceration is useless to him, and society gains nothing thereby. That these are the well considered opinions of the Inspectors will appear from the following extracts from their reports to the Legislature. " From the report for the year 1852 the following extract is taken: " ' The Inspectors cannot close this report without again briefly calling the attention of the General Assembly to the subject of revising the Penal Code so as to shorten the minimum period of confinement affixed to certain crimes. The daily observation of the effects of separate and solitary confinement, with the influences connected with it in this peni- tentiary, have fully convinced them that a much greater degree of good would be achieved by shortening most of the sentences for first offenses, and particularly those of all young offenders. For this latter class a few months' confinement, or a year at most, would produce in general vastly more salutary effects than longer terms. The Inspectors are gratified to know that throughout the Eastern District of the State this fact has become apparent to most of the judicial tribunals, and is acted upon to the limits of the law. Should this disposition become general, and a larger discretion be given by law, it would remove, in a great measure, the necessity that is now often believed to exist for the exercise of the pardoning power.' "The Pennsylvania system is best described as the individual treatment of convicts, as contrasted with that in other States, which is the congre- gate or class treatment. This distinction is important while considering the views now under discussion. "Again, in the report for 1853 it is remarked: " ' The Inspectors have again to remark on the subject of the duration of sentences inflicted upon juvenile offenders. It is with regret the Inspectors find that, of the prisoners admitted during the year 1853, there are twenty-two under twenty-one years of age, and forty-eight under twenty-five years of age. The Inspectors are of opinion that in cases of first conviction of minors, or those of immature age, unless for crimes of the most aggravated character, a short term of imprisonment is of far greater benefit to the individual than one which is calculated to punish beyond the period when moral influences have awakened in the heart strong feelings of repentance and a desire to reform. Evil associ- ates, bad example, and a want of proper parental care and watchfulness, admonition, and control, lead the young into crimes. When, therefore, imprisoned as a punishment, the young convict is brought to feel, prob- ably for the first time, the truth of the proverb, that the way of the REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 149 transgressor is hard, then it is that the most judicious counsel and advice induces the most decided improvement. It is believed that if in such instances the prisoner were set at liberty, a revolution would be effected in his morals and habits, and a new career would be sought after for his future life. The Inspectors make these suggestions in the hope that good may result from their careful consideration.' "In the report for the year 1854, the Inspectors thus speak on this interesting subject: " ' The Inspectors again feel it their duty to call the attention of the Legislature to the length of sentences inflicted for first offenses, and also on young offenders. It is no longer a question that severity in punish- ment is no prevention of crime; neither does severity of punishment produce the desired effect upon the offender. The causes of crime should be more fully investigated after a conviction, and have a potent influence in determining the duration of the punishment. There is a period in the history of every criminal's punishment when his liberation would most benefit him, and hence society would gain, by the improvement afforded in reclaiming an offender. Those whose constant intercourse with convicts enables them to form an opinion upon the subject, will admit that such periods occur, when most decided advantage would result from the prisoner's liberation. One mode, to be sure a most im- perfect one, to effect this object, is to shorten the sentence, as much as a proper regard to the interests of society would justify, in all cases of first convictions and convictions of young offenders. The Inspectors feel the force of these views, and they have ventured again to invoke legislative attention to the subject. This is not the occasion to suggest any plan to modify and improve the present laws upon this subject; but it is hoped that the time will come when the Legislature of Penn- sylvania will take the important subject of the present Penal Code, as it relates to our admirable system of penitentiary punishment, into consid- eration. Sporadic reforms are worse than useless. Labors of those who are required to learn while they attempt to teach, are vain. The famil- iarity of long experience, careful and earnest devotion to the subject, and an interest in the questions involved, above and beyond an interest in self, are among the qualifications which a proper reform in penal jurisprudence will require at the hands of those who undertake the task.' "From the report for 1860: " ' It will be observed that the Inspectors have heretofore refrained from presenting reforms in the Penal Code, in relation to young crimi- nals. It was hoped and believed, that one of the citizens to whom the codification of the penal laws was referred, might have been selected for his interest in, and ability to understand, the subject. If such a selec- tion had been made, it would have resulted beneficially, by the incorpo- ration into the penal law of a provision to meet the class of cases to which the attention of the Legislature has been called. " ' The Inspectors do not feel themselves required, either by law or from their official position, to do more than make such " observations " as they deem of importance to the public, or prisoners. " ' Lest, however, it might be by some attributed to their silence that they have no practical suggestions to offer, they most respectfully sub- mit, as the substance for amendments to the present law, the following proposition: " ' That in all cases of first conviction for crime, of minors, the term 150 KEFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. of imprisonment shall be terminated by the Inspectors with the consent of the President Judge of the Court in which such minor was sentenced, when in their opinion the punishment has produced its expected results. " ' That in all cases of first conviction for crime, of persons between twenty-one and twenty-five years of age, the term of imprisonment shall in like manner be lessened, as a reward for good conduct, by the reduc- tion of three days out of every thirty after the first twelve months of imprisonment. " ' That in all cases of first conviction for crime, of minors, the jury trying the case shall find by their verdict if the father of the minor (he being alive and within the jurisdiction of the process of the Common- wealth) was negligent and derelict in his parental duties toward said minor, and on so finding, the Court shall cause said father to be held to pay the costs to the Commonwealth of said trial. " ' The Inspectors have ventured respectfully to make these suggestions, with the view to remedy the evil which has been thus authentically brought to the attention of the General Assembly. " ' It will not be denied that the necessity for legislation is most seri- ous. That it is increasing, a superficial examination of the facts herein set out cannot fail to teach the observer. That the want of parental control is demoralizing a large and increasing number of our youths, the consequences are manifest. The minor is ungoverned, wayward, vagabond, vicious, contaminated, contaminating, and convict. The moralist, as well as the Christian, must deplore such causes and conse- quences. " ' It is believed that the most unconcerned for the welfare of society and its constituents would hardly agree that penitentiary discipline should take the place of primary parental teachings and supervisory restraint. " ' The least benevolent will fully consent to the principle, as one of justice, that the child only should not be punished for its parent's neglect or disregard of his duties. " 'If in either case society stands in the place of the parent, magnan- imity and mercy both plead that the most reformatory and beneficent influences should be extended to such unfortunates.' "In the report for 1867, the Inspectors use the following language: " ' It is of vital importance that the individualities and characteristics and surroundings of the accused should be ascertained on his trial, and their just consideration should be taken fully into the judicial deter- mination of the punishment. Arbitrary or merely conventional sen- tences, operating on classes not persons, are unphilosophical, and often unjust, both to the individual and the community. Again, take the crime of larceny. It should be divided into degrees. The highest, and each in sequence to the lowest, should be determined at the trial, from the facts and circumstances and the characteristics of the accused. To determine beforehand, when framing the indictment, the degree of crim- inality, before the accused can explain or defend his acts, is at war with the principle which seeks to protect the accused till he is found beyond the operation of the presumptions of innocence. This system adopted as to all crimes or offenses has the advantage of placing the accused in the exact position in which his acts place him, not that which the defi- nition or description of a class of acts would compel him to occupy without the explanatory benefits he alone could produce. Again, it REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 151 would not make individuals more criminal than they really are, and thus often unwisely add to the crime-class those who would else never be associated with it. The injurious effects of any system which aug- ments the number of convicts, placing on them the distinguishing mark of enemies to public safety, becomes more and more apparent as popula- tion increases. The true principle of legislation on this branch of the subject is to make few acts of individual crimes, and as few members of society criminals as a due regard for the safety of life, rights, and prop- erty will justify. The more simple the crime code, the more it is ren- dered flexible in individual application; the less rigorous and unbending; the greater opportunity to take the principles of the common law as preferable to those of a statute, and the greater the responsibilities that are placed on the judiciary and taken from the law-making power in all these respects the greater and more substantial are the benefits which society secures. It is thus that society speaks its voice, under the restraints of law, in each particular case. " ' Following this view as to the code, we come to consider the punish- ment of crimes. By the present practice there is really no standard. The offense too often determines the sentence, because no opportunity is permitted to investigate all the circumstances of each case; nor is any authority granted for that judicial discretion which should always be an element in the official action of the ministers of justice. The maximum and the minimum of the term of punishment are the only judicial guides, and these regulate the judgment of Judges who, from the trial of the issue of fact, are informed by the verdict of the guilt of the accused. Every offender is actuated by different motives, influenced by various causes of crime; his peculiar position as an individual in society, his lack of advantages, his associations, his mental, moral, per- sonal disabilities, all his individualities are hid from view, because the present system only presents one fact to be ascertained. The interests of society demand that crime be punished, and crime prevented; beyond that it has no other interest, so far as a particular offense is concerned. But growing out of the determination of that fact are vastly important considerations to the very best interests of society. For what degree of crime, for what period of time the guilty is to be sentenced, the motives and causes that induced him to violate law, the effect upon the indi- vidual directly and on society indirectly, are consequences which must result to society finally, to prejudice it to a greater or less degree if the guilty has been punished without regard to these questions. There is no more dangerous element in social condition than the feeling which harshness and injustice produce in the administration of justice. The first of the dangers is the unwillingness to convict for crime, or the anxiety in the minds of juries to except the case from the operations of these influences. Vibrating between the extremes of unwillingness to convict, and the prompt conviction, in the latter case to maintain the law by sporadic firmness in the administration of justice, creates a dis- respect for the law. When one is guilty of a less crime than that for which he is indicted, but escapes because of the arbitrary or fixed defi- nition of acts, as crimes, which the trial shows the accused has not made himself technically amenable to, there is left on the public mind a feeling of insecurity and a distrust of public justice. So on either hand the present system convicts a certain portion of offenders, and society has to be satisfied that all the guilty do not escape. If, however, 152 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. the system of jurisprudence was in harmony with the views expressed as to the code, these defects would probably be remedied. " ' By the judicious subdivision into degrees, and the consequent reduc- tion of the higher grades of crime, the assimilation of the offense to the acts and motives of the accused, the certainty of, as well as a wise dis- crimination in the punishment, the diminution of the number of indi- viduals united with the crime-class, the better would it be for all the great interests associated in and protected by penal legislation.' " That some system should be made lawful by which the opinion of the Inspectors, and that of the chief officers of the penitentiary, as to the propriety of discharging prisoners deserving liberation, would be effective in producing their discharge by competent authority, is most desirable. The Inspectors respectfully call this subject to the attention of the Legislature. It may not meet with favor until a thorough inves- tigation of the question is made, free from those objections which a first impression is most likely to suggest." The following is the bill of fare: Monday. Breakfast. Coffee and bread. Dinner. Stewed mutton. Supper. Tea and bread. Tuesday. Breakfast. Coffee and bread. Dinner. Bologna sausage and bread. Supper. Tea and bread. . Wednesday. Breakfast. Coffee and bread. Dinner. Beef and soup. Supper. Tea and bread. Thursday. Breakfast. Coffee and bread. Dinner. Stewed beef. Supper. Tea and bread. Friday. Breakfast. Coffee and bread. Dinner. Stewed mutton. Supper. Tea and bread. Saturday. Breakfast. Coffee and bread. Dinner. Mutton and mutton soup. Supper. Tea and coffee. Sunday. Breakfast. Coffee and bread. Dinner. Baked potpie. Supper. Tea and bread. REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 153 In addition to these, vegetables when in season are supplied at din- ner, but breakfast and supper remain the same during the entire year. During the winter months sauerkraut is supplied once or twice a week. No canned goods are used. In the spring, onions and tomatoes are sup- plied. The Warden receives a salary of $4,500 per annum; the Clerk, $2,000; the Moral Instructor, $1,500; and the Physician, $1,500. The Overseers or Guards are paid according to their term of service, receiving for the first five years, $800 per annum; second five years, $900 per annum; third five years, $1,000 per annum; fourth five years, $1,050 per annum; fifth five years, $1,100 per annum; thirty years and over, $1,200 per annum. MASSACHUSETTS STATE PRISON. In Massachusetts, the Commissioners of Prisons are five in number; two of whom are required to be women. They hold office for the term of five years, and are appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Council. They receive no compensation, but are allowed their personal expenses while engaged in official duties. They have the general supervision of the State Prison and of the reformatory prison for women, and may make all necessary rules not repugnant to law, for the direction of the officers in the discharge of their duties; the government, employment, discipline, and instruction of the convicts. They also have power to make such rules in regard to the food, clothing, and bedding of the convicts, as the health, well being, and cir- cumstances of each convict may require. The law, however, requires that all food, clothing, beds, and bedding shall be of good quality and in sufficient quantity for the sustenance and comfort of the convicts, and the bedding shall include mattresses, blankets, and pillows. After the rules have been established, they are to be laid before the Governor and Council, who may approve, annul, or modify them. One or more of the Commissioners must visit the State Prison and reformatory prison for women at least once in each month, and a majority of the Board must visit these prisons once in three months, and oftener if they consider it to be necessary, for the purpose of inspecting their books and manage- ment, and ascertaining whether the laws and rules are duly observed, the officers competent and faithful, and the convicts properly governed and employed. The full Board are required to visit these prisons semi- annually, and make a thorough examination of them. They must report immediately to the Governor and Council all viola- tions of law and omissions of duty which come to their knowledge, on 154 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. the part of the Warden, Chaplain, Physician of the State Prison, or on the part of the Superintendent, Chaplain, or Physician of the reforma- tory prison for women. Every officer of the prison who holds his office at the pleasure of the Warden and Commissioners, who is found to be unfaithful or incompetent, or who uses intoxicating liquor as a beverage, the law declares shall be immediately removed, and in the event of a disagreement between the Warden and the Commissioners relating to the removal of any officer or employe, the subject may be referred to the Governor and Council, who may make such removal. The Warden, Chaplain, and Physician and Surgeon of the State Prison are appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Council, and hold their offices during the Executive's pleasure. The Warden appoints the Deputy Warden and all other officers, subject to the^approval [of the Commissioners, and they hold thir offices during the pleasure of the Warden and Commissioners. The Warden has the right to appeal to the Governor in case there is a disagreement between him and the Commissioners concerning the removal of any officer, and, after reasonable notice to the Commissioners and a hearing, the Gov- ernor and Council may make the removal. The Warden receives an annual salary of $3,500; the Chaplain, $2,000; the Physician and Surgeon, $1,000; the Deputy Warden, $2,000; the Clerk of the Turnkeys, $1,200; each Watchman who has been in the service of the prison for less than three years, $800; each Watchman who has been in the service for three years and less than six years, $1,000; and every Watchman who has been in the service for six years, $1,200. No officer is allowed to receive any other perquisite, reward, or emol- ument, except there is allowed to the Warden and Deputy Warden sufficient house-room, with fuel and lights for themselves and their families. The Warden supplies his table at his own expense. Neither the Warden nor any officer of the prison is permitted to be employed in any business for private emolument, or which does not pertain to the duties of his office. All officers, excepting the Clerk, Physician, and Chaplain, are required to wear, while on duty, such uni- form, cap, or badge as may be from time to time prescribed by the Warden and Commissioners. The bond of the Warden is $20,000, and the Warden and Deputy Warden are compelled to reside constantly within the precincts of the prison. The law provides that the Warden may, with the consent of the Com- missioners, cause a Sabbath-school to be maintained in the prison for REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 155 the instruction of the convicts in their religious duties, and permit such persons as they consider suitable to attend the school as instructors. The Warden is authorized to maintain schools for the instruction of the prisoners at such times, excepting Sunday, as he, with the approval of the Commissioners, may fix from time to time, and under such rules and regulations as the Commissioners may prescribe, and he is permitted to expend for such purposes a sum not exceeding $2,000 a year. The laws of the State provide that convicts sentenced to the punish- ment of hard labor in the prison shall be constantly employed for the benefit of the State, but no convict shall be employed in engraving of any kind; that the Warden, with the consent of one or more of the Commissioners, may, for such time as may be thought necessary to produce penitence, confine to solitary labor obstinate and refractory convicts. Contract labor is forbidden, and the law prohibits the use of new machinery other than such as may be propelled by hand or foot power. A General Superintendent of Prisons is appointed by the Governor, and he determines, in connection with the Warden, the industries to be pursued. The number of prisoners employed at the same time in a single industry cannot exceed one twentieth of the number of persons em- ployed in such industry in the State of Massachusetts, according to the classification given by the last census preceding such employment, unless a number in excess of this proportion is required to produce materials to be supplied in State and county institutions. Among the various industries carried on are brushmaking, harness- making, boot and shoe making, manufacture of tinware, and gilding. The rations for the convicts are as follows, although varied somewhat by the Warden, who, upon holidays and at other times at his discretion, introduces articles not named herein: Sunday. Breakfast. Rice and milk, white bread, and coffee. Dinner. Baked fish or baked meat, white bread, fruit, and tea. Monday. Breakfast. Cornmeal and milk, white bread, and coffee. Dinner. Corned beef and vegetables. Supper. White bread and tea. Tuesday. Breakfast. Meat hash, white bread, and coffee. Dinner. Baked beans and graham bread. Supper. Corned beef, white bread, and tea. 156 REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. Wednesday. Breakfast. Oatmeal and milk, white bread, and coffee. Dinner. Beef soup, potatoes, and white bread. Supper. White bread and tea. Thursday. Breakfast. Meat hash, white bread, and coffee. Dinner. Baked beans and brown bread. Supper. Corned beef, white bread, and tea. Friday. Breakfast. Mush and milk, white bread, and coffee. Dinner. Fish, potatoes, and white bread. Supper. White bread and tea. Saturday. Breakfast. Meat hash, white bread, and coffee. Dinner. Beef soup, potatoes, and white bread. Supper. Corned beef, white bread, and tea. The hospital rations are: Sunday. Breakfast. Baked beans and pancakes, bread and butter, and coffee. Dinner. Roast veal, mashed potatoes, bread and butter. Supper. Toast and tea, mush and milk. Monday. Breakfast. Beefsteak, etc. Dinner. Roast beef or fish, potatoes, etc. Supper. Toast and tea, mush and milk. Tuesday. Breakfast. Hot biscuit and coffee. Dinner. Boiled dinner, etc. Supper. Toast and tea, mush and milk. Wednesday. Breakfast. Corned beef, mush or beans, and coffee. Dinner. Broiled steak, baked potatoes, pudding. Supper. Toast and tea, mush and milk. Thursday. Breakfast. Hash, rice and milk, etc. Dinner. Roast beef or fried liver. Supper. Toast and tea, mush and milk. REFORMATORY AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 157 Friday. Breakfast. Fish balls and fried pork, etc. Dinner. Vegetable soup, bread and butter. Supper. Toast and tea, mush and milk. Saturday. Breakfast. Hot biscuit and coffee. Dinner. Beefsteak and onions, etc. Supper. Toast and tea, mush and milk. The above list is subject to variations during the different seasons of the year. CONCLUSION. I have endeavored to convey a practical idea of the manner in which the best managed reform schools are conducted, and hope that the infor- mation submitted will be of service to the Board. I have refrained from any remarks on abstract questions, dealing only with the practical side of the management of these institutions. The portion of this report devoted to State Prisons has been made longer than perhaps was neces- sary, but it was deemed best to present somewhat fully what I had gleaned on this subject, in the hope that it would prove not altogether unprofitable in the superintendence of the institutions of which the Board have charge. I was received with uniform kindness and courtesy by all whom I met, and desire to thank them one and all for the assistance they have rendered. I desire also to express my obligation to the Board for the honor they have conferred upon me in selecting me to make this inves- tigation, and hope that the trust thus imposed has been satisfactorily discharged. Respectfully submitted. ROBERT T. DEVLIN, President of the State Board of Prison Directors of California. INDEX. ALLEGHENY PAGE. Western Penitentiary 97 BILL OF FARE See Rations. BUILDINGS FOR INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL 41 CASSIDY, M. J. Views of, on indeterminate sentences 46 CINCINNATI HOUSE OF REFUGE 29 CONNECTICUT STATE REFORM SCHOOL 8 COTTAGE PLAN OF MANAGEMENT 5 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Reform School of 37 ELMIRA REFORMATORY 45 EXPENSES Boys' Industrial School of Ohio 8 Connecticut State Reform School 9 Nebraska Industrial School 22 Illinois State Reform School 27 Indiana Reform School 29 Indiana Reformatory Institution for Women 55 Ohio Penitentiary 57,64 Illinois State Penitentiary 66-74 Western Penitentiary of Pennsylvania 97 Eastern Penitentiary of Pennsylvania 153 Massachusetts State Prison ' 154 HOWE, G. E. Recommendations of 8 Views of 10 HUNTINGDON REFORMATORY 43 ILLINOIS State Reform School 25 State Penitentiary 66 INDETERMINATE SENTENCES- Huntingdon 43 Elmira 45 Cassidy, M. J., views of 46 Warner, Charles Dudley, views of 48 Massachusetts, report of Prison Commissioners of 53 Ohio, law of 57 INDIANA State Reform School for Boys 28 Reformatory Institution for Women and Girls 55 INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS See Reform Schools. JOLIET Penitentiary at 66 160 INDEX. KEARNEY PAGE - Industrial School at - 21 LANCASTER Boys' Industrial School at LYMAN SCHOOL FOR BOYS 36 MASSACHUSETTS- Lyman School for Boys '- 36 State Prison 153 MERIDEN Reform School at MINNESOTA State Reform School - 40 MORGANZA Reform School at 31 NEBRASKA Industrial School at 21 OHIO- Industrial School of ' 6 Penitentiary of 57 Indeterminate sentence 57 PAROLE System in Ohio 62 PENNSYLVANIA House of Refuge, Philadelphia. 33 Industrial Reformatory at Huntingdon 43 Penitentiary for Eastern District .. 99 Reform School 31 Western Penitentiary 97 PER CAPITA See Expenses. PHILADELPHIA- House of Refuge at , 33 Eastern Penitentiary 99 PLAINF1ELD Reform School for Boys 28 PONTIAC State Reform School at 25 PRISONS Ohio Penitentiary 57 Illinois State Penitentiary 66 Western Penitentiary of Pennsylvania 97 State Penitentiary Eastern District of Pennsylvania 99 Massachusetts State Prison 153 RATIONS Ohio Penitentiary 65 Western Penitentiary of Pennsylvania _ 97 State Penitentiary for Eastern District of Pennsylvania 152 Massachusetts State Prison 155 REFORMATORIES Huntingdon 43 Elmira 45 Indianapolis 55 INDEX. 161 REFORM SCHOOLS PAGE. Different plans of management - -.- 5 Cottage or family plan 5 Ohio, Boys' Industrial School of 6 Connecticut, State Reform School of 8 Nebraska, State Industrial School of 21 Illinois State Reform School - 25 Indiana Reform School for Boys . 28 Cincinnati House of Refuge 29 Pennsylvania Reform School 31 Pennsylvania House of Refuge, Philadelphia -- 33 Massachusetts, Lyman School for Boys 36 District of Columbia Reform School 37 Minnesota State Reform School 40 Buildings 41 Superintendent 42 SALARIES Boys' Industrial School of Ohio 7 Illinois State Reform School .-. 28 Indiana Reform School for Boys 29 Pennsylvania Reform School - - 33 Lyman School for Boys - 36 Reform School, District of Columbia 38 House of Refuge, Philadelphia 39 Ohio Penitentiary 57,64 Illinois State Penitentiary 74 Western Penitentiary of Pennsylvania <. 97 Penitentiary for Eastern District of Pennsylvania 153 Massachusetts State Prison 154 ST. PAUL REFORM SCHOOL 40 STATE PRISONS See Prisons. SUPERINTENDENT Qualifications of - 42 WASHINGTON- Reform School at -* 37 WESTBO ROUGH Lyman School for boys --- 36 llD A""i HIM mum || 000 079 453 7 DATE DUE