UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES R E P R T INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS L OISTD oi. Denmark 86 4. France 86 5. German States 86 (1.) Baden 86 (2.) Bavaria 86 (3.) Prussia 86 (4.) Saxony - 86 (5.) Wiirtemberg ! 86 6. Italy 87 7. Mexico 87 8. Netherlands 87 9. Norway 87 10. Russia 87 11. Sweden 87 12. Switzerland 88 13. United States 88 14. England* and Ireland 89 Chapter IX: Prison officers, their qu^axifications and training 89 § 1. Austria i 89 2. Belgium 89 3. Denmark 89 4. France 89 5. German States 90 (1.) Baden 90 (2.) Bavaria , 90 (3.) Prussia 91 (4.) Saxony 91 (5.) Wiirtemberg 91 6. Italy 91 7. Mexico 91 8. Netherlands 91 9. Norway 92 10. Russia 92 11. Sweden 92 12. Switzerland 93 13. United States 93 14. England and Ireland 93 Chapter X : Sentences 94 § 1. Austria 94 2. Belgium 94 3. Denmark ^ , 94 4. France 94 5. German States 94 (1.) Baden 94 (2. ) Bavaria 94 ( 3. ) Prussia 94 (4.) Saxony 95 6. Italy 95 7. Mexico 95 8. Netherlands 95 VI CONTENTS. Page. Chapter X : Sentences — Coutinuecl. 9. Norway 95 10. Russia , 95 11. Sweden 95 12. Switzerland 95 13. United States 96 14. England and Ireland 96 Chapter XI : Imprisonment for debt 96 1^ 1. Austria 96 " 2. Belgium , 96 8. Denmark 96 4. France 96 5. German States 97 (1.) Baden 97 (2. ) Bavaria 97 (3J Prussia 97 (4.) Saxony 97 (5. ) Wiirtemberg 97 G. Italy 97 7. Mexico . : 97 8. Netherlands 97 9. Norway » 97 10. Russia 97 11. Sweden 98 12. Switzerland 98 13. United States 98 14. England and Ireland 98 CnAPTi^R XIJ : Causes op crime 98 (\ 1. Austria 98 2. Belgium 98 3. Denmark 98 4. France 98 5. German States 99 (1.) Baden 99 (2.) Bavaria 99 6. Italy 99 7. Mexico 99 H. Netherlands 100 9. Norway 100 10. Russia". 100 11. Sweden 100 12. Switzerland 100 13. United States 100 14. Engl.'ind and Ireland 100 Ciiai'Ter XIII : Liijerateo imusoners 101 $ 1. Austria 101 2. Belgium :.., 101 3. Denmark 101 4. France 102 .5. German States 102 (1.) Baden 102 (2.) Bavaria 102 ('.',.) I'rnssia H'3 (4.) Saxony 103 (5.) Wiirtemberg 103 0. Italy 103 7. Mexico • 103 H. Netherlands 103 9. Norway 104 10. KriHsia 104 11. Sweden 104 , ' 12. Switzerland ^ 104 13. United States 104 11. F'lngland 105 1.'.. Ireland 105 CiiArri-.K XIV: Sixjuehtions uklatino to J{ef<»i{mh 105 ^ 1. AuHtria 105 2. Belgium 10.5 3. France lOii CONTENTS VII Page. CiiArTER XIV : Suggestions relating to reforms— Continued. 4. German States 106 (1.) Baden lOR (2.) Bavaria 106 (3.) Prussia 106 .^). Norway 106 6. Netherlands 106 7. Eussia 107 8. Switzerland ll^I 9. United States 113 Chapter XV: Juvenile reformatories 114 § 1. Denmark 114 2. Saxony 114 3. France 114 4. Italy 115 5. Switzerland 115 6. United States 115 7. England 116 Historical sketch of reformatory system 116 Results of the system 118 Distinction between reformatory and industrial schools 119 Fnndamental principles of reformatory system 119 1. The union of private agency with government support and supervision 119 2. The use of moral in preference to physical dicipline 120 3. Its thoroughly religious tone and character 121 4. Careful industrial training ^ 121 5. Supervision and occasional assistance after liberation 121 6. The responsibility of parents to contribute toward the support of their children committed to reformatories 121 Chapter XVI : State of prisons in British possessions 122 ^1. India 122 " 2. Ceylon 124 3. Jamiaca 125 4, Victoria 126 PART SECOND : WOP.K OF THE CONGRESS. Introductory 128 Chapter XVII : The prisoner after arrest and before conviction 130 What treatment should he receive? 130 Remarks of Count de Foresta 130 Mr. Collins 131 Mr. Stevens 131 Mr.Pownell 131 Chapter XVIII : The prisoner during his incarceration 131 ^ 1. Proper maximum of prisoners for any single prison. 131 Remarks of Mr. Ekert 131 Sir John Bowring 132 Mr. Vaucher Cr6mieux 132 Mr. Stevens 132 Dr. Mowatt 132 Mr. Peterson, (Norway) 132 Hon. H. H. Leavitt./. 132 Mrs. Janney 133 Colonel Colville 133 Dr. Frey 133 General Pilsbury 133 Professor Foynitsky 133 Mr. F. Hill 133 Baron A'on Holtzendorff" 133 ij 2. Classification of prisoners 133 Remarks of M. d'Alinge 133 Mr. Stevens 134 Dr. Mowatt 134 Mr. Tallack 134 Dr. Marquardsen 134 Mr. Sargent Cox , 134 Dr. Bittinger 134 Colonel Ratcliff 135 Baron von Holtzendorff 135 VIII CONTENTS. Page. CliAPTEK XVIII : The rRisoxER during his incarceration — Continued. § 3. How far should prison management be regulated by legislation ? 135 Kemarks of Mr. Stevens 135 Baron Macay 135 Mr. F.Hill 135 Dr. Mowatt 135 Baron von Holtzendorff 135 Mr. Beltrani Scalia 136 Mr. Hastings 13G Mr. Berden 136 $|4. Whether ^vbipping should be used as a disciplinary punishment ... 136 ' Remarks of Mr. Stevens 136 Major DuCane 136 Dr. Mowatt.... 137 Mr. Shepherd 137 Dr. Marquardsen 137 Dr. Frey 137 Dr. Guillaume 137 Major Fulford 137 Mr'. Wills 137 Mrs. Julia Ward Howe 137 Mr. F.Hill 137 Mr. Hastings 137 Sir Walter Crofton 138 General Pilsbury . 138 Dr. Marquardsen 138 § 5. Kinds and limits of instruction suited to the reformatory treatment of prisoners 138 Remarks of Mr. Stevens 138 Mr. Tallack 139 Mr. Merry 139 Mr. McFarlane 139 Dr. Varrentrapp 139 Miss Mary Carpenter 139 ^ 6. Whether it is expedient in certain cases to employ an imprisonment consisting in mere privation of liberty without obligation to work.. . 139 Remarks of Count de Foresta 139 Professor Wladrinoif 139 Mr. Chandler 140 Dr. Mowatt 140 Dr. Marquardsen 140 $ 7. Whether sentences for life are expedient 140 Remarks of Baron von Holtzendortf 140 Dr. Wines 140 Dr. Mowatt 140 Hon. Daniel Haines 140 Mr. Stevens 140 Mr. Vaucher Cr6micux 140 Mr. Hastings 140 § 8. Whr. (Jiiillauiiic ■ 141 Connt d(! Foresta 141 Dr. BiUiiigcr 142 Mrs. .Julia Ward Howe 142 •',;*. Wliat hhould lie tin' niaxiininii of imprisonmonl, cellulnr or otherwise, for t«TMiH Irss than lid; ? 112 Remarks of 1 )r. .Maninanlseii H2 Dr. Frey 142 Mr. Htcvcns 142 Mr. Monciire 142 I'.arnii Mmkav 142 Sir VViilt.T Crofton 142 CONTENTS. IX Page. Chapter XVIII: The pklsoner during his incarceration— Contmued. ^ 10. Whether or not imprisonment should be uniform in nature, and differ only in length 142 Remarks of Count Sollohub 142 Dr. Mowatt 14« Count de Foresta 143 ^ 11. Prison labor — penal and industrial 143 Remarks of Mr. F. Hill 143 Major Fulford 144 General Pilsbury 145 Dr. Wiues 145 Mr. Hibbert, M. P 145 Sir John Bo wring , 145 Mr. Ploos von Amstel 145 Colonel Colville 145 Mr. Stevens 145 Dr. Mowatt 145 Dr. Frey 146 Chapter XIX: The prisoner after his liberation 146 § 1. Best mode of aiding discharged prisoners 146 Remarks of Mr. Murray Browne 146 Mr. Powell 147 M. d'Alinge 147 Mr. Rankin 147 Baron Mackay 148 Mrs. Meredith 148 Rev.M.Robin 148 Mr. M. Browne 148 A member from France 148 Dr. Guillaume 148 Mr. Biemner 149 $ 2. Best means of securing the rehabilitation of prisoners 149 Remarks of !Mr. Stevens 149 Mr. Hastings , 149 Sir Walter Crofton : 149 Mrs. Julia Ward Howe 149 Baron Mackay 149 Mr.Baker 149 Dr. Wines „ 149 Mr. Chandler 150 Sir John Packington 150 § 3. Best mode of giving remission of sentences and regulating conditional discharges « 150 Remarks of Sir W. Crofton 150 Mr. Tallack 150 Mr. Stevens 150 Mr. Chandler 151 Mr. F. Hill 151 Major Du Cane 151 Mr. Nevin '. 151 / Dr. Frey 151 Mr. Hastings 151 $ 4. Supervision of discharged convicts 152 Remarks of Mr. Baker 152 Mr. F. Hill 152 Mr. Browne 152 M. Stevens 152 Chapter XX : Miscellaneous joints 152 $ 1. Whether prison officers should have special training for their work 152 Remarks of Dr. Guillaume 152 Major Du Cane , 153 Baron Mackay 153 Sir Harry Vorney, M. P , 153 Mr. Rathbone 153 Major Fulford 153 Dr. Mouat 153 Dr. Wines 154 ^ 2. Whether transportation is expedient in punishment of crime 154 Rejmarks of Count de Foresta 154 X CONTENTS. Page Chapter XX: Miscf.i.i^\neous points— Continued. M.Pols 154 • Count Sollohub 154 Mr. Hastings 154 Count de Foresta 154 Baron Von Holtzeudortf 155 ^ 3. Whether short imprisonment and the non-payment of fines may be replaced hy compulsory labor without privation of liberty 155 Remarks of Count de Fox'esta 15.5 Mr.Tallack , 155 Rev. Mr. Collins 155 Mr. Stevens 155 Sir John Bowring 155 Baron Mackay 155 Mr. Bremuer 156 Baron von Holtzendorft' 156 •^ 4. The proper limits of the power of boards of prison-managers, as regards the administration of prisons 1.56 Remarks of M. Loysou 156 M. Yaucher-Cr6mieux 1.56 Colonel Ratclitf 1.56 ^> 5. Whether the government of j)risons should be placed in the hands of a supreme central authority 156 Remarks of Mr. Hastings'. 156 M. Ploos van Anistcl 156 M. Stevens 156 Dr. Guillaume 157 Messrs. Carter and Baker 157 «> ("). International prison statistics 157 Remarks of Mr. Beltrani-Scalia . . ^ 1-57 Count Sollohub 1.57 Dr. Frey 1.57 Dr. Guillaume 1.57 Trofessor Lione Leir 157 ^ 7. The best means of repressing crime-capitalists 157 Remarks of Mr. Edwin Hill 157 Mr. Serjeant Cox 158 Mr. Chandler 1.58 Colonel Ratcliff 1.58 Mr. Aspimill 159 $8. Whether whipi)iiig is expedient in punishmcut of crime 159 Remarks of M. Pols 159 , Mr. Aspinall 159 Colonel Ratolitt' 159 Dr. Maniuardsen 159 v> 9. lOx trad it ion trcatii'S 100 lieiiiai ks of Dr. Frey 100 MO. Woman's work in prisons 160 liemarivs of Mrs. Ciiaae 100 M iss 'Mary Carpenter 160 Miss Emily Faithful ir»l Mrs. .Julia Ward Howe 161 ^Irs. Ltswis 161 Mr. Jiremucr 162 liev. Mr. Crombleholuie 16"> l.afly Bowring h'>2 CiiAi'ii.K XXI: l'i:i;vK,N-nvK anu kkkok.matoky wokk 1.52 liiiiiaiki lit' Mr. Uracr 162 MIhh Cui'pi-nlitr 16U Mr. Foot.-, 164 .M. Vanclii r-(,'n'micux 164 Mr. Ilcndiicksou 164 .Mr. Howe 1 64 .M. Hourniit 164 .Mr. MiirHliall 164 •Sir "i". Fowell Baxtoii 104 Mr. linker 101 Haroii von I loltzendorH' 105 Dr. (inillaunuT 16.5 Mr. Wills 155 CONTENTS. XI Page. Chapter XXI : Preventivk and REroRMATOiiY work — Continued. Eev. Mr. Crombleholnie 165 Remarks of Mr. Aspinall '. 16.^ Sir W. Crofton 16." Dr. Marquardseu 16". Mr. Ford 165 Charter XXII : Penitentiary systems 166 ^ 1. The Irish convict system, as explained by Sir W. Crofton 16G • 2. The Irish borough and county prison system, as explained by Mr. Bourke and others 167 3. The English convict system, as explained by Major I)u Cane.., 167 4. The English borough and county jirison system, as explained by Cap- tain Armytage and others 16b 5. The Scotch prison system, as explained by Mr. Monclare 168 6. The Belgian prison system, as explained by Mr. Stevens 169 7. The Russian prison system, as explained by Count SoHohub 16^ 8. The French prison system, as explained by M. Berenger 169 9. The Swiss prison system, as explained by Dr. Guillaume 170 10. The Italian prison system, as explained by Count de Foresta 170 11. The German prison system, as explained bj- Heir Ekert, Dr. Varrentrapp, and Baron von Holizendoiff 170 12. The Netherland's prison system, as explained by M. Ploos van AmsteL. 171 13. The Swedish prison system, as explained by M. Almquist 171 1 4. The Austrian prison system, as explained by Dr. Frey 171 15. The prison system of India, as explained by Dr. Mouat 171 '16. The prison system of the United States, as explained by Mr. Chandler and others 171 Chapter XXIII : Concluding session of Congress 172 § 1. Presentation by -Dr. Wines of the Works of Edward Livingston on Criminal Jurisprudence, in English and French 172 Letters from M. Vergd, member of the institute, and Archbishop Man- ning on the subject of Livingston's Works 172 2. Presentation by Dr. Wines of M. Lucas's observations 17^-5 R«?sum^ of Mr. Lucas's views 173 3. Propo.sit ions submitted by American delegation , 174 4. Propositions embodied in tinal report of the executive committee, and adopted by the congress as expressing its conception of the funda- mental principles of prison discipline 177 Remarks of Mr. Hastings on moving the adoption of the report 178 • Gov. Haines in seconding same 179 Miss Carpenter on report 179 ' Siv John Packington on putting motion to adopt report 179 5. Creation of permanent international prison commission 179 6. Vote of thanks to Mrs. Hastings and Pears, with remarks by Dr. Wines, Archbishop Manning, and Sir John Packington ISO 7. Vote of thanks to Dr. Mouat, w ith remarks by Mr. Aspinall and Baron Mackay 180 8. Vote of thanks to Dr. Wines, with remarks by Drs. Guillaume, Mar- quardsen, and Sir John PacKiugton 180 Response by Dr. Wines ^ 181 9. Vote of thanks to Sir John Packington, "with remarks by Messrs. Has- tings and Mouat 181 10. Response by Sir John Packington 181 PART THIRD : PAPERS SUBMITTED TO THE CONGRESS. Introductory l«*ir Chapter XXIII : *Prisoners and their reformation, by Z. R. Brockway.. 162 Chapter XXIV : Cumulative sentences, by Liverpool magistrates 184 / Chapter XXV : Treatment of prisoners, by Sir W. Crofton.. 185 / Chapter XXVI : Preventive police organization, by Edwin Chadwick. .. 187 ~ / Chapter XXVII : Crimes of passion and crimes of reflection, by Dr. Bittinger 189 Chapter XXVIII : Life and services of Howard, by Dr. Bellows 190 Chapter XXIX : Historical sketch of the prison of Ghent, by M. Vis- SCHERS 194 Conception of this prison due to Viscount Vilain XIV - 194 State of society in Belgium near the middle of eighteenth century 195 * !Number of last chapter repeatedlnadvertently. XII CONTENTS. Page. Chapter XXIX : Historical sketch, etc.— Continued. Principal events in the life of Viscount Vilain 195 Analysis of two memoirs, by Vilain, proposing the construction of the prison of Ghent 19.5 Plan and interior division of the prison 196 ' Administration, discipline, and industries 197 Howard visits and praises this prison » 199 Kecapitulation of Vilain's principles of prison disciiiliue 200 Progress of prison discipline during the last century 200 Mr. Visschers prefers the Crofton system 201 Note on a paper communicated by Dr. Despine, of France, on the criminal himself, being a study and development of his moral anomalies 201 PART FOURTH: PERSONAL INSPECTIONS OF EUROPEAN PRISONS AND REFORMATORIES. INTRODUCTORY 201 Letter of instructions by Governor Seymour 201 Chapter XXX: Prisons and reformatories op Ireland 202 1. Convict prisons of Ireland 202 2. Juvenile reformatories of Ireland 208 Chapter XXXI : Prisons and reformatories op England 209 ? 1. English prisons 209 2. Aid to discharged prisoners - 213 A. Mrs. Meredith's wash-house in aid of discharged female prisoners 213 4. Carlisle memorial refuge for women 214 5. English reformatories 216 Chapter XXXII: Prisons and rejormatories of Switzerland 216 ^ 1. The prisons of Switzerland 216 Penitentiaries at Geneva and Berne 216 Penitentiary at Zurich - 216 Penitentiary at Lenzbourg 217 Penitentiary at Neufchatel 217 2. Reformatories of Switzerland 228 Chapter XXXIII: Prisons of Germany •.. 228 (' 1 . German convict prisons 228 (a) Convict prison at Berlin 228 (b) Convict prison at Bruchsal 229 {(•) Convict prison at Munich 230 2. Detention prison at Municli « 231 :?. Patronage of discharged prisoners at Bavaria 232 System of patronage admirably organized ; its orgauization/lcscribed in 'detail 232 Minutes of a njeeting of the patronage society of Munich, August 12, 1873 234 Chapter XXXIV: Prisons in Italy 235 ^ 1. The prison delhs Marate, at Florence 235 2. The ]iris<)iis of Rome 235 (a) 'I'he i)rison ch-Ue Terino 235 (h) Tlie juison of San Micliele 235 This prison liistoric 235 Founded in 1704, byl'ope Cleniont XI 2.36 San Micheie the germ of tlio Auburn system 236 3. Tin- fiitnro of penitentiary rcibrni in Italy 236 CHAITEK X.\X\ : I'KISO.NS and RErORMATOItlES OP BELGIUM 237 (» 1. Brjgian prisons 237 (a) l'( III tent iary of Lou vain 237 (h) (Convict prison of (ilient 238 (c) Detention prison and house of correction at Ghent 238 2. .jnveniln reforniatorirs of Belginni 2.38 ' liAriKR XXXV'I: I'imso.ns and itKioitMAToitiKS IN Netiikulands 240 ^1. Military jirison at J/cydcn 240 2. Cellular prison of AniMtcrdani 241 '■'. Detention jirinon at tlie Hague - 242 t. Aid tf> liberated prisoners 242 .5. Netherlands Mettruy 242 Chaptkr XXXVII: I'kihonw aki> kki-ohmatouiks ln France 245 $ 1. Two (list inline of the prison and restricted to the ])resoribed jn'ison fare ; 3, imprisonment on bread and water from two to thirty days. These punishments are uiulergone in the same buildings wliere persons not yet sentenced are detained. Every jurisdi(;tion has its jail, the whole number in the kingdom being ninety-three. They vary greatly in size, that in Copenhagen having accommodations for more than two hundred inmates, while the smaller ones can receive only from four to six. The ordinary inimber of persons, in the whole country, who are either awaiting trial or sentenced to imprisonment in jail, is about five liundnMl. These jails are constructed and maintained at the expense of t])e jurisdiction in whi(;h they are situated. J>y far the great^in- part are of recent (MUistruction ; and as none can be built or mateiially altered without an approval of the plan by the ministry, the sanu> i)r!n('.iples of construction are realized wil.ii res[)ect to all. Tlie law re(|uires that im- ])risonm('nt in the jails be cellular, uidess positively forbidden by the in(Hii(*al officer. Conserpiently all the cells in the more recent construc- tions are for single persons, and contain al)out 800 cubic feet of space. SentencM'S to hard labor are of two kinds, viz, to "labor for ame- liorating" and "lal)or for ])unishing." Sentences of the first class, from eight months to six yeais, are undergone in houses of corfecliou. The imprisonment is c.elluhir, l)ut-, with deductions from tiie ttu-nis of sen- tence, expicssly on the ground of the isolation of llie ])risoniM' increas- ing in j)i-opoition to tlie length of tlM> sentence. Thus a nominal sen- teiu'e of eiglit months is leihieed to six, and one ol six years to three and a iuilf, tiiis latter btang the longest period pernjitted by the laws of PRISON SYSTEMS DENMARK FRANCE. 11 Denmark for punislirneiit in separate cells. The persons sentenced to this denomination of labor are either, first, those who have coniinicted a slight offense or, at least, a crime not so great as to receive a sentence of more thtMi six years ; or, secondly, those who liave not been pre- viously convicted ; or, thirdly, young criminals, not exceeding twenty- five years. They are, consequently, without exception, persons whose moral regeneration may be hoped for. Sentences to hard laljor of the second class, ranging from two years to life, are undergone in prison!^ on the Auburn plan, the prisoners be- ing together in the daytime, but separated at night. The prisoners so sentenced are divided into two classes. The first receive sentences of two to six years, being persons of a more advanced age, or who have been punished before. Their crimes are not great, but their moral vigor is broken. They form the fixed stock of the prisons, inveterate thieves, an assemblage of i)ersous wretched and enervate, as well in a moral as in a bodily i)oint of view ; ruined by idleness, drink, and debauchery. The second class receive sentences from six years to life. They have the name of " great criminals," but, though the crime committed may be grave, it does not follow that it has necessarily sprung out of a thoroughly corrupted nature; on the contrary, it often stands solitary and has been committed in a momentary passion or under great mental depression. For criminals sentenced to ^' hard labor for ameliorating," there is one prison (male) on the cellular system. For those sentenced to " hard labor for punishing," there are three, (two male and one female,) all on the associated plan. However, as there is but one prison for women, it contains prisoners sentenced to "ameliorating" as well as to " punish- ing labor ; " but the former are treated on the cellular, as the latter on the congregate, principle. The four prisons have accommodations for an aggregate of seventeen hundred inmates. The average number is about twelve hundred, and the iiroportiou of women a fraction over 12 per cent.* While I am writing this report, a letter reaches me from Mr. Bruiin, in which he says that his first work, after his return from London, was to draw up, on the request of the ministry, a proposal touching the manner of carrying into effect the punishment in the congregate prisons, based on the resolutions formed by the congress. § 4. The prisons of France are comprehended in six classes, to wit : 1, penal colonies ; 2, central prisons ; 3, departmental prisons ; 4, es- tablishments for the correctional education of juvenile delinquents ; 5, chambers, or depots of safe-keeping; G, prisons for the army and navy. Formerly, persons sentenced to hard labor received their punishment in galleys. There remains but one establishment of this kind at present, the bagnio at Toulon. The galley-prisons have, since 1854, been re- placed by transportation to penal colonies. Of these there are three, viz, in Algeria, in Guiana, and in New Caledonia — an island of Oceanica — the latter being the most important and the most hopeful. The colony of New Caledonia was created in 18G4. This island offers, by the salubrity of its climate and the fertility of its soil, conditions propitious to trans- portation. The transportation of women is authorized by the law, in view of marriages to be contracted with the convicts after their provi- *The official report from Denmark being very brief, I bave aupplemeuted the infor- mation given in it by recourse to a paper on " Prison-Discipline in Denmark," pre- pared for the Cincinnati congress by Mr. Bruiin, supreme director of prisons in Den- mark.— E. C. W. 12 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIAEY CONGRESS. sioDal or definitive, liberation. Tlie administration selected, from amon;]^ tlie female prisoners of every class, those who expressed a desire to profit by these arrangements. These women are placed, to nndergo their punishment until their provisional or definitive libyaration, in a special establishment at Maroni, under the sn[)er vision of the religious ladies of Cherry. The majority of females, however, sentenced to hard labor still undergo their punishment in the Central prisons of the con- tinent. The central prisons of France correspond to the state prisons in the United States. Their legal designation is " prisons of hard labor and correction." The}^ receive three classes of prisoners, viz, woiuen of all ages and men of the age of sixty and upivard, persons sentenced to reclusion, and persons sentenced as correctionals to an imprisonment of more than a year. The departmental prisons are so called, not only because they are devoted to the exclusive service of the departments in wliich they are placed, but still more from considerations of property and maintenance; they have also the name of houses of arrest, of justice, and of correction. These prisons receive the arrested ; the accused ; the correctionals sen- tenced to one year and less; persons Sentenced to severer punishments who are awaiting their transfer; police prisoners; persons imprisoned for debts in matters criminal, correctional, of simple police, and of Jisc; juvenile prisoners, whether arrested, accused, or committed in the way of paternal correction, and civil and military prisoners eii route. In general, the three houses are but three distinct wards in the same establishment, although, to answer the intention of the law, the house of correction, as being a place of punishment, should be tlistiuct from the other tuo. The establislimeuts devoted to the correctional education of juvenile delinquents receive minors of both sexes of sixteen years and under. These will be considered more at length under another head. The name of chambers for safe-keeping is given to places in which are received prisoners who are being conveyed from point to point in localities where there is no house of arrest, of justice, or of correction. These chambers and depots have the same destination as such houses, and are but places for the temporary confinement of prisoners en route. The military prisons need not be described in this rei)()rt. The cellular system is not applied in any central prison. The disci- pline of these prisons is that of detention in common with the obliga- tion of silence. Some of them, however, have cellular wards, in which may be confined certain classes of ])risoners. Out of four hundred dcpartmeutal i)ris()ns, fifty are constructed on the celhdar system ; but even in these, or at huist a large i)roportion of tliein, it is the edifice only wliich is celhdar, the system being in reality that of association by day, whilov separation is restricted to the night; so that no att(;m[>t is made in the report from France to establish a com- parison of the results yielded by the two systems. The report declares that the results obtaiiu'd by the existing system are far from Ixnng satis- factory. i\Iore than 51) per <;ent. of the male ])risoners and about one- third of the women discharged IVom the central jnisons fall back into Ci'ime. The rei)ort strenuously ailvocates the abandoiiMU'nt of the rc(/iin(; in comiifon, so far as the arrested, the accused, and i)ersons sentetieed to short imjjrisouments art; concern(!(l. The, i)art (loiitrihuted l)y tiu! labor of the ])iisoners toward Ihe cost of inainlciiancsidy granted by the state, the earnings of the prisoners being sufficient for the support of the establislmieut. In another central prison the earnings more than defray the cost, and in sev- eral that result is approached more or less nearly. It is hoped from, these examples that the administration will at length attain the end which it has always sought in this regard — that of exempting the treas- ury from the personal expenses of the prisoners who are conliued in its great i>risons for punishment. The difference between sentences to simple imprisonment, to reclusion, and to hard labor, which are the three kinds of sentence known in France, is thus explained: Simple imprisonment is a correctional pun- ishment, its duration being for six days at least and five years at most. It is undergone in a departmental prison if its duration falls within a 3'ear; if beyond that, in a central prison. Eeclusion is a punishment attlictive and infamous. The sentence to it, which is from five to ten years, is always served in a central prison. It implies the loss of civic rights. Hard labor is an afflictive and infamous punishment. A sen- tence to it for life involves civic degradation and civil death. The sentence which iaiposes the punishment of hard labor is printed and posted in the central city of the department, in the city where the sentence was pronounced, in the commune where the crime was com- mitted, and in that of the domicile of the convict. Criminals sentenced to hard labor for a limited term are, at the expiration of their sentence and during their whole life, legally under the supervision of the police. Classification of prisoners has been practised to some extent both in the departmental and central prisons; but, apparently, it has not been such as to lead to solid results. An experiment, liowever, of great interest, was inaugurated a few years ago in this direction. Wards, to which has been given the name of wards of preservation and amend- ment, have been established in many central prisons, and a})proi)riated to persons sentenced for a first offense, committed under the influence of a sudden impulse or of some violent momentaiy passion. This experiment promises the best results. The prisoners placed in these wards have shown themselves sensible to the distinction of which they have been made the object and have exerted themselves to justify it by their good conduct. The cases are extremely rare in which it has been found necessary to put them back into the common ward. The different agents of the penitentiary administration are subject, as regards their retirement and the ])ension that may be granted them, to the rules embodied in the law of the Dtli of June, 1853, relating to civil pensions. The principle laid down by this law is that every public functionary, paid directly from the funds of the state, has a legal claim to a retiring- pension, when he fulHlls the required conditions of age and of continu- ance in the service, that is to say, when he has attained the age of sixty and has accomplished a service of twenty years. It is important to remark that account is made of military services when there are super- added to them twelve years, at least, of civil services. Moreover, a pension can be granted at fifty years of age, and after twenty years of service, to those who have become incapacitated from a longer discharge of official duty by grave infirmities resulting- from the exercise of their functions. In short, this same law relieves from every condition of age and continued service, 1, those who may have been disabled from continuing their service, whether as the result of an act of devotion in some public interest, or in exposing their own life to save the life of one 14 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. of tlieir fellow-citizens, or as tbe result of a struggle or combat encoun- tered iu the discharge of their duties; 2, those to whom a grave accident, resulting, notoriously, from the exercise of their functions, shall have made it impossible to continue them. § 5. The German Empire was represented by a delegate named by the central government, but no report was submitted on behalf of the whole empire. Five states, however — Baden, Bavaria, Prussia, Saxony, and Wiirtemberg — submitted reports each for itself. (1) There are four classes of prisons iu Baden : Houses of correc- tion ; central prisons, of which, however, there is but one ; district- prisons; and fortresses. Prisoners sentenced to hard labor are placed in houses of correction ; prisoners sentenced to more than six weeks of imprisonment are placed ill the central prison, and those sentenced to less than six weeks in dis- trict-prisons. The district-prisons are also used for the safe keeping of persons awaiting trial. There is one prison of this kind for each of the tifty-three district-courts of the grand duchy. The report does not state ^vhat class of criminals are sentenced to fortresses, but simply that the number of such is small. It further states that the punishment of those thus contiued, as well as of the inmates of district prisons, is simply privation of liberty, the prisoners being free as to the choice of food and occui)ation. The punishment of prisoners contiued in houses of correction and in the central prison is undergone in cells, as is also the imprisonment of persons under arrest. Certain restrictions, however, have yjlace as regards the intiiction of imprisonment on the cellular plan. It cannot be extended, contrary to the prisoner's wish, beyond three years ; nor can it, if he be between the ages of twelve and eighteen y/.-ars and if he object, be applied beyond a maximum of six months. Those Avho object to this kind of imprisonment beyond the terms named above, and those who are pronounced by the medical ofilicers unfit for it, are treated on the plan of association ; nevertheless, they are associated only during the hours of labor; and they are, as far as possible, classi- fied for distribution in the work shops according to their personal quali- ties, and in a manner best suited to promote their moral amendment. The results of the cellular system have been favorable, and so have those of the congregate system when it has been organized and carried out on right priucii)les. The number of prisoners confined, January 1, 1871, and which ])rob- ably rejjresents about the average, was: Houses of correction, 303; central prison of Bruchsal, 441; district-prisons, under sentence, 198 — awaiting trial, 227; total, 1,1G9. Of these, 85 per cent, were men and 1.5 |)('r ('cnt. women. The suppoitoCthe ])risons is derived from three sources, viz: 1, pay- ments by i)iis()ners who have property; these amount to very little ; 2, tiie, labor of the prisoners; Ij, subsidies by the state. 'J'lic gjiins liom prison-labor (lilTcr materially, according to the dura- tion of the piinislinicnt, tiu', kind (»ri)rison, and the number in each. Tiie ])rodnct of the tiades <;iirried on in the cellular i)rison of Bruchsal has Hometimes siiniccd to pay the wliole expense of the eslal>lishni<'nt, with the excejition of the salaries of oilicers; and for twenty yenrs it has, on theaverage, ])i\'u\ consile would exert a hurtful influence on others. The funtls for the support of the prisons are derived from the i)roducts of prison-labor, from fines, and from the public chest. The first of these sources yields 16 to 18 i^er cent, of the cost 5 the second, 28 to 32 per cent. ; and the state pays the balance. The pension, on retirement, is regulated by the len gth of service. If retirement becomes necessary within the first ten years, it is seven-tenths of the salary; if within the second ten, eight-tenths; if within the third ten, nine-tenths ; and after forty years of service, or after the officer has reached the age of seventy, the pension is the entire salary. (3) The prisons of Prussia are: 1, prisons exclusively for hard labor, 29; 2, prisons for imprisonment and simple detention, 15 ; 3, prisons of a mixed character, 11; 4, houses of correction for the punishment of slight offeii^es, 16 ; total, 71. They will hold 26,500 prisoners. Forty- seven i^risons are provided, to a less or greater extent, with cells for separate imprisonment day and night, the whole number being 3,247. There is but one prison organized exclusively on the cellular system. There are, altogether, only 2,000 separate cells for isolation at night, a number (the report says) wholly insufficient, but it is increasing dliily by new additions. There is no sensible difference between the two systems as regards reformatory results. The number of relapses has not been diminished by cellular treatment. Yet some remarkable refornmtions, even of hardened criminals, have been accomplished by cellular itnprisonment, concerning which a doubt is expressed whether they could or would have been effected by imprisonment in common. The effect of cellular separation upon prisoners during their incarceration is said to be decidedly favor- able, and, in the comparison, superior to that of associated imprison- ment. The punishments awarded by virtue of the penal code are: 1, hard 16 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. labor, the severest — inflicted for lifer or for a time ; miniinuni one year, maximum tifteeii — draws after it eompnlsory labor, without restriction of kind or place, and various civil disabilities ; 2, simple imprisonment — maximum five years ; no compulsion to work outside of the })rison or ;it occupations not in accord with the capacity of the prisoner and with his previous social position; 3, imprisonment in a. fortress — intiicted for life or a time; maximum, in the latter case, fifteen years — is a simple privation of liberty, with supervision over the prisoner's occupation and mode of life ; 4, detention for trifliui;- offenses — maximum six weeks — consists in a simple privation of liberty, but may be intensified by com- pulsory labor, when inflicted for vagrancy, begging, or professional prostitution. The minin.ium imprisonment under the last three kinds of sentence is one day. The classification of prisoners in Prussia goes little further than the separation of the younger from the older criminals. Prison officers rendered incapable of further service receive a pension, whose 'amount is regulated by the laws regarding the retiring allow- ances of all other state officers. To gain a right to a pension, ten years must be served: the pension increases with each additional year of service. It can, however, never exceed three-fourths of the salary. (4) The prisons of Saxony are divided into the following classes : pris- ons lor severe punishment, 2 ; prisons for less severe punishment, 3 ; prison in fortress, 1; reformatory prisons, o; prisons belonging to courts of justice, (number not stated ;) prisons belonging to policecourts, (number not stated.) The average number of criminals for 1871 was: In the first class of prisons, 1,153 ; in the second class, 1,001 ; in a for- tress, 1; in reformatories, (otherwise called houses of^ correction,) 6S-1; in the fifth and sixth classes, 1,800 ; total, 4,(539. « For more than twenty years there has been in Saxony a conviction that sentences of imprisonment should be undergone only for the exj)ia- tion of crime, the i)iotection of society, and to deter the prisoner from the commission of subsequent offenses. The Saxon government has, therefore, two principal objects in its penal system: the satisfaction of justice and Ihe reformation of the prisoner. Since 18r>0 the pe'nitentiary of Zuickau has been specially distinguished by a successful ap])lication of the principle of reformation by means of individual treatment. The Saxon government was in consequence induced to extinid the same system to all its ])risoiis. The government more readily placed confidence in the new method, because it works by no complicat(!d apparatus, complies with existing circumstances, is based upon, the i)riiiciple of individual treatment, and so combines different modes of imprisonment as to gain the best results. Thus, the common modes ol" ini|)risonment and treatment are excluded ; and, just as a ])hy- sician presciil>es suitable medicine and diet for his patients, so the ad- ministration ])rovides fit (Mlucation, work, and food for its ])risoners. ^J'he penitent iaiy of Zuickau gave proofs that this idea was not only theoretically right, but also i)racticable. The government, theivfore, in ]8o4, icsolved tliat all the Saxon i)iisons slionld ad()i)t the n(nv regula- tions for internal management and the treatment of ])risoiHM's. A(;coi'd- ingly, there is in Saxony no |)enitentiary wherc^ eif liei' solitary or col- ]ecti\'e imi»rison?nent is exclusi\-ely employed ; both imxles are used, according to the piisoners' indi\idual wants. Saxony has eleven ])ris- ons where, especially during the last ten years, the reforms mentioned above have been canied out. (.'■>) Tlur jtrisons of the grand dueliy of Wiirteinberg are: Prisons of rcclusion, 4; countiy prisons, 3; (brtress, 1; ])rison lor minors, 1 ; dis- PRISON SYSTEMS SAXONY WURTEMBERG. 17 trict prisons, (uumber not stated.) Of tlie first class, two are exclusively for lueUjOne exclusively for women, and one for prisoners of both sexes. Criuiiuals sentenced to reclusion and haid labor are placed in tliese establishments. In tlie second class, sentences for minor offenses are undergone, the maximum of the imprisonment being for four weeks. The district prisons are mainly for persons under arrest, but minor oftenders are also punished iu them for a. term not exceeding four ■weeks. The congregate system of imprisonment, with common dormitories, still prevails in Wiirtemberg, although cells for isolated deteutiou are found in all tlie prisons, some of which are used for separation at night and others for purposes of discipline. But it has been resolved to make trial of the cellular system, and to that eiul a special prison has been erected at Heilbronu, which is expected soou to be opened for the recep- tion of prisoners. The expense of maintaining the prisons, so far as it is not defrayed by the industrial labor and payments of the prisoners, is borne by the state, which, on the average, contributes about 35 percent, of the total expense of prisons; the remaining 05 per cent, is derived from the in- come of the prisons themselves, but the prisoners' payments form only a small part of tlie amount. What comes from the prisoners is mostly the result of their labor. § 6. The official report on the prisons of Italy commences with an explanation of the circumstances of the country. The various provinces of the Italian peninsula, divided, for ceuturies into so many different states, at length united under the house of Savoy, brought with them to the union, each its own laws, institutions, and traditions. It is, therefore, yot to be wondered at that there should be found in Italy a wide di\ersity in penal legislation, and, consequently, great variety in the punishmeuts adopted and in the mode of carrying them out. Thus, the law of the Tuscan provinces had abolished capital punish tueut since 1859 ; the ISTeapolitau and Sicilian legislation still inflicted this sentence in twenty-two cases; in other provinces of the kingdom capital punishment was decreed in ticenty seven cases. Again, the Tuscan provinces had adopted the system of con- tinual isolation ; others preferred and were adopting the Auburn system. In some provinces, fetters were in use both for males and females sen- tenced to a long imprisonment; in others, they were entirely abolished. In some proviuces, only those convicts sentenced to the heavier i)unish- ments were admitted into the bagnios; iu others, these establishments served as prisons also to those sentenced only for a few years ; in otliers, again, they were entirely proscribed. This diversity in the penal codes and the variety iu the methods of incarceration could not be at once done away with, but the government is directing its eflorts to the ref- ormation and complete unification of its iienal legislation. For detention before trial there are the central or c])ief prisons of the provinces, the district prisons, and the communal jails, (number not stated.) For penal detention there are: Bagnios, for criminals sentenced to hard labor for life or a limited time, 21 ; bridewells, for prisoners sentenced to reclusion or public works, 11 ; prisons for those sentenced to relegation or banishment, 3; houses of correction, for persons sen- tenced to simple imprisonment, 6; special establishments, (classed under the general name of houses of punishment,) 10; special prisons for women, 5; houses of correction for juvenile convicts, (minors.) 1 ; estab- lishments for forced detention (reformatories) of idlers, vagabonds, and youths admitted by request of parents for correction, (which also receive H. Ex. 185^ 2 18 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. juvenile offenders before trial,) 31 ; agricultural colonies, 2; penal estab- lishment for invalids, 1. The jails and prisons, as varying in their systems of imprisonment, may thus be classified : two on the system of continued isolation ; two on the system partly of continued isolation and partly of association ; five on the Auburn system complete ; two partly on the Auburn system, j)artl3' on that of community, and forty-five on the community system. The question of establishing a hospital for lunatic convicts and a nautical reformatoj'y is now under consideration by the central admin- istration. The average number of inmates of the jails (places of preliminary de- tention and miubr punishments) for 1871 was 45,083; of the peniten- tiaries, 10,738; of the bagnios, 15,118 ; of the prisons for juvenile con- victs under age, 573. The system of continued isolation has been decreed for all detention- prisons. Several jails have been erected on this phm, others are in process of erection, and pkms for a still greater number are under study. In the sense of assigning prisoners to different penal establishments accordingtotheir crimes and sentences, a complete system of classification exists. In the detention-prisons, the follovving classes are,^ as much as l)Ossible, separated from each other: the arrested, (who are at the dis- I)osal of the authorities of public safety,) the accused awaiting trial, those sentenced for terms not exceeding a year, those detained in tran- sit or sentenced and awaiting transfer, women, minors, and i)ersons imprisoned for debt. In the bagnios there are recognized four divisions, Avith sei)arate dormitories for each. They are : those sentenced for mili- tary crimes or assaults, those sentenced for theft,those sentenced for high- way robbery, and those convicted of atrocious crimes, such as assassina- tion, homicide, &g. Each of these four divisions is subdivided into three categories, distinguished by marks on their dress, according to their terms of sentence. The funds for tlie su])i)ort of the prisons are drawn from the general budget of the state. For the financial results of the prisoners' labor, reference is made tb the ofiicial statistics, for which examination the undersigned has no lime. The pension to which the directors and officers of the prisons are entitled, after a service of at least twenty-five years, is determined on the same ])rin<;ii)le as tliat of every other ollicer in the civil service of the state. Thus, when retired after twenty-live years of service, they have as many foitictiis of their salary, wlien it does not exceed two thousand Italian livres, and as many sixtieths when it is more than two thousand livres, as tlieii" years of service. But without regard to the twenty-five years of service there are cases of pensions granted to all classes of officers, when one becomes incapaciatcd by a wound (caused by some extraordinary act ])crformed in the dischai'ge of his olficialduties, or b}' a disease (;ontra<'ted in the public service. § 7. A (fommission of rt in answer to tln^ series of (piestions sul»iiiitled (o that as well as to the other governments, which weie in\ited lo take pait in tlu', movenuMit. On the subje(;t of the prison system of Mexico, the commission say that in the capital of the rej)iil»]ic thei(^ are two juisons, one for those who are simply arrested and detained, and the olliei' for adult i)ris<)ne.rs who are to be tried or have been already sentenced. Young children sentenced to a term of PRISON SYSTEMS ITALY MEXICO NETHERLANDS. 19 imprisonment are placed in an' establishment called " hospicio de los l^obres," [hospital of the poor.) For the punishment of criminal children between nine and eighteen 5'Gars of age, tliere is a spi^cial establisli- ment, where tliey receive an elementary religious education and learn a trade. The system of imprisonment is that of association. Its results are stated to have been very sad, the prisoners generally leaving the prisons worse than when they entered. Penitentiaries on the cellular system are in course of erection in several of the stat.es. Only one has, so far, been completed. As regards the proi)ortion contributed by the labor of the prisoners towards defraying the cost of maintaining the prisons, the commission reports only in relation to the Federal district and Louver California, where it is from 40 to 50 per cent. § 8. In the Netherlands four classes of prisons exist : The central prisons, for criminals sentenced to eighteen months and over ; deten- tion-prisons, for terms of sentence less than eighteen months; houses of arrest, tor sentences of three months and under; and police or can- tonal prisons^ for sentences not exceeding a month. The tiiree classes last named also receive prisoners under, arrest and awaiting trial. In some cases all three are united together, forming a single establish- ment. Both systems of imprisonment, cellular and associated, have place in the Netherlands. In no case, however, can cellular separation be ex- tended beyond a period of two years. The two systems are stated in the report to be applied not uniformly in the different prisons estab- lished on each plan, but in a manner quite irregular and little har- nionious; consequently the resuHs obtained are not such as to permit a fair and reliable comparison. Hence, there exists in the country a great difference of opinion on the question of preference. Still, the cellular vsystem, considered in itself, and apart from the manner of ap- plying it and the limits to be imposed on it, s(;arcely encounters any adversaries; and, for short imprisonments, public opinion is well-nigh unanimous in its favor. The classification of prisoners does not seem to receive much atten- tion in the Netherlands. In the central prisons, the more hardened and dangerous, and those sentenced on re-conviction, are separated from the other prisoners. The results are reported as favorable. The funds for the support of the prisons are a charge upon the annual budget of the state. The part contributed by the labor of the i)risou- ers is quite inconsiderable. The pensions granted to prison-officers when they become incapaci- tated for further service are the same as those accorded to all other employes of the state. Beyond this statement no information is given. The general proportion in which the sexes are represented in the Netherlands prisons is about twenty women to a hundred men ; but this proportion varies, especially in the different provinces. § 9. There are four classes of prisons in Norway : Prisons established in fortresses, 3 ; houses of correction, 4; a penitentiary, 1 ; district-pris- ons, (corresponding to our common jails,) 50. The system of imprisonment is that of association in the fortresses and houses of correction, and of separation in the penitentiary, and, to a very considerable extent, also, in the district prisons. The sentences to the penitentiary range from six months to six years ; but these sentences are shortened one-third, because of the system of 20 INTEENATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. iiiiprisonraent (cellular) applied there. 'No comparison of results yielded by the two systems is given. - The average uumber of prisoners in the fortresses is 217 j in the houses of correction, 940; in the penitentiary, 224; in the district prisons, not stated. The proportion of women in the district prisons cannot be accurately ascertained from the statistical returns ; but in the penal establishments it is nearly one fourth. No classification of the prisoners is carried out in the prisons based on the system of association, but, in distributing the prisoners in the work rooms and dormitories, care is taken to keej) the less corru[)ted prisoners separate, as far as possible, from the older and more danger- ous criminals. In the penitentiary has been introduced a system of I)rogressive classification, based on the zeal and merit of the prisoners, through which some mitigation of their punishment is gradually af- forded, by way of allowing the prisoners, to a larger extent than be- fore, to read, write, receive the visits of their relatives, work in the open air, &c. The liensions allowed to prison-officers on retirement are not regu- lated by law, but are matter of parliamentary grant in each individual case. The expenses of the penal institutions are defrayed out of the ex- chequer, less the proceeds of the prison-labor. These expenses, in 1S72, were 203,410 thalers, of which 109,970 thalers were met by the earnings of the piisoners, leaving 93,440 thalers to be supplied by the state. The expenses of the district prisons are paid by the districts in which they are severally situated. Nevertheless the exchequer has to pay for medicines, medical attendance, spiritual assistance, and the necessary clothing of the prisoners ; besides which the district receives from the excheqner an allowance of 24 skilling, equal to 11(7. sterling, a day for every jirisoner. The balance to be paid by the district after these va- rious grants cannot, one would think, be very onerous. § 10. The report submitted to the congress on the part of Russia was drawn up by Count Sollohub, president of the imperial commission re- cently appointed to devise a new penitentiary system for the Russian Empire. The count explains, in his introductory remarks, that a de- tailed description of the system now in operation in Russia is impossi- ble, and, if possible, could not give an exact idea of things, since the Ijenitentiary ([uestion in his country is at this moment passing through a transitional i)liase, a radical reform being proposed ami certain ex- periments ha\ ing been already commencetl. Russia is thus between two systems, one acknowledged to be unsatisfactory and the other but Just dawning, with its methods and measures yet undeveloped. From a scientific; [toiiit of view, such a transitional pliase njiglit be interest- ing, but it could Jiot give pre<'jse statements either as to what exists now or what is to exist hercalter. Tiiese considerations caused hesita- tion in resi)ect to the preparation of any report to be handed in to the congnusH, but it was finally concluded to prepare and submit a rei)ort, under the reserve that it is to be regarded, not as the exposition of a systi'in, but rather as a short sketcli of the traditions of the country. Tiie existing laws of Russia relating to the arrested and the sentenced are divided into two parts, the fiist referring to the impiisoncd, the second to the transported. The following is the present classification of prisons : 1. I'risonspidpeily so called, (r>.s7/vYy.s',) established in all the towns of the empire. ()ri;;inally tln'y were meicly places of sale-keep- ing, tlie actual punishment being eitlwr Ixxlily inllictions or deportation to the lajlliesl limits td the empire, with a treatment of gieater or less PRISON SYSTEMS NORWAY RUSSIA S^VITZERLAND. 21 severity. More recently they have been lised for ])nnis]iment in cases where the iinprisonuient does not exceed a year and fonr months. 2. Prisons lor arrest. This must not be confounded with preliininary arrest, where the detention is merely that of safe custody. It is a true punishment, whi(;h is inflicted by justices of the pea(;e for slight offenses and cannot exceed three months. 3. Houses of amendment and labor, established by the Empress Catherine, probably under the influence of Howard, to whom Eussia owes her first notions of the humane treat- ment of prisoners. 4. Prisons for industrial sections or companies. These companies, sentenced to labor on public works, formerly under the jurisdiction of the minister of ways and communications, have lately passed into that of the minister of the interior. Sentences to this class of i)risons cannot now exceed four years, though formerly they might be extended to twelve. The system of associated imprisonment in rooms still exists in Russia, with some exceptions 5 for example, in the o.S'/ro/ys of the first class there are separate cells. The result of imprisonment in common by day and night, and also of deportation, has been found lamentable. It has created in Eussia, a class of vagrants and wortliless characters {proletaires) not in harmony either with the fertility of the soil or the communal constitution of the country. The system individually preferred by the writer of the report is the following: 1, that of civil imprisonment for the accused awaiting trial; 2, that of cellular imprisonment for the convicted undergoing short sentences, with a reduction of two-thirds of the punishment as compared with the duration of collective imprisonment; 3, for houses of correction and convict prisons, that of separation by night in small cells open at the top, arranged in large common dormitories, well ven- tilated, well lighted, and under constant supervision, with labor in common workshops. The report opposes cellular imprisonment for long- periods, on the ground that it must either render the prisoner torpid, or produce in him such a constant feeling of restraint as will necessarily paralyze the play and development of his individual will, sole means of bis regeneration. Classification of the prisoners is rigidly required by the Enssian legislation, but the bad condition of many of the prison edifices, and especially the lack of space, restricts it to the separation of the sexes and of persons arrested from those who are undergoing their punish- ment. The prisons derive their support mainly from the treasury of the state. The earnings of the prisoners have thus far been inconsiderable, especially when considered in comparison with the vast ijopulatiou and the immense productive power of the empire. The system^f pensions is uniform for all public functionaries. What that system is is not stated. § 11. The prisons of Switzerland may be divided into four groups : 1, those of five cantons are administered on a kind of patriarchal sys- tem, (whatever that may mean,) by sisters of charity ; 2, those of three other cantons are administered on a different system, but leaving much to be desired in the way of imi^rovements ; 3, nine cantons have prisons of medium excellence, some of which are advancing toward the first rank; 4, four cantons, Argovie, Baleville, Neufehatel, and Tessin, have penitentiaries of a higher grade of excellence, into which has been in- troduced, in different degrees and under various modifications, the pro- gres'sive Crofton system. The system of congregate imprisonment predominates ; but etfort is 22 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. made to introduce cellular separation, especially at ni^ht. There is a general agreement that the system of association is favorable to indus- trial labor, and not unfavorable to disci i)line, but that, when extended to the dormitories as well as to the workshops, it is obstructive to the moral education of the prisoners. Penitetitiary training, it is held in Switzerland, imperatively requires cellular separation, at least in the initial stage; and it is on this sole con- dition that the prisoners can effectively enter into communion with themselves, a process which would be impeded by the contact and influ- ence of some, at least, of their fellow-prisoners. After the cellular stage, it is considered expedient to allow those prisoners to work together who furnish ground of hoi^e that a moral reformation has been, or may be, accomplished in them. It is under these conditions that associated labor is found in recently-constructed penitentiaries. The public opinion of Switzerland shows itself more and more favora- ble to the progressive Croftou penitentiary system, with conditional and revocable liberation. The exclusively cellular system should be reserved (so it is thought) for houses of preliminary detention, and for them it should be the only system in use. A methodical classification of prisoners exists only in the more re- cently constructed prisons, which are conducted, as far as circumstances permit, on the general principles of the Crofton system. There are, liowever, no intermediate prisons in Switzerland, and, consequently, wherever the Crofton system has been introduced, its application is carried out in one and the same establishment. The financial resources of no single canton would permit the realization of such a system, wiiich could be applied only by a uniou of funds of several cantons directed to that end. Besides which, public opinion, more or less imbued with the old ideas of intimidation and vengeance, is not yet ripe for such a change. Tiie treasury of each canton covers the deficit resulting from the dif- ference between the total expenditure and the special receii)ts of its jirisons, which receipts are composed of the i)roceeds of the prisoners' labor and moneys paid by cantons that place their convicts in tlie peni- tentiaries of other cantons of the confederation. In several of the can- tons, where the ])risons are best organized and industrial labor best managed, the in. recpiired to reuih-r an e(|ui\'alent in tin', foi'm of imprisoinnent on bread and water. Some jM-isons on tlie associatcMl |)lan are used for jxMSons sentenced to hard lal)or for life, and oMiers for those sentenced to hai'd labor for ai term exeeeding twoyeais. The results of cellular im[)risoument for those awaiting trial and for PRISON SYSTEMS SWEDEN UNITED STATES. 23 sentenced j)risoDers released at furthest after two years' imprisonment have been favorable. Congregate-prisons, siicli as they still exist in Sweden, having dormitories in common for forty to one hundred and thirty prisoners each, are regarded, iu spite of the strictest supervision, as nurseries of vice and crime. In those associated prisons where a separation takes place at night, and in which the prisoners work in small groups in common workshops by day, the results are found to be favorable. The official report on the prisons of Sweden was drawn up and is signed by Mr. Almquist, director general of prisons for that kingdom, who says: "Of all known penitentiary systems, it appears to me that the most excellent is the Orofton or progressive system, adopted in Ireland, with its special stages, through which the prisoners are required to pass." No classification of prisoners exists, beyond that of separating the sexes, and, as far as possible, young prisoners from the older and more hardened ones, in the common dormitories of the associated prisons. Prisoners not yet sentenced and those sentenced simply to recluswn are not compelled to work. They spend their time as they like, work- ing, reading, &c. They may procure better food and more comforts than the prison sup[)lies, provided they do not thereby interfere with the order and security of the prison. Prisoners sentenced to hard labor must do the work set them, and are restricted rigidly to the prison fare. On attaining' the age of fifty five, prisou-ofticers have the right to retire from the service on a pension of two-thirds of their salary ; those who serve till they are sixty-five generally receive from the Parliament a pension equal to their whole salary. § 13. The North American Republic is composed of nearly forty States with local self government, and a dozen dependencies hot yet elevated to the rank of States. These fifty jurisdictions are, in matters of crime and punishment, independent of each other, and very little controlled by the National Government. They vary in antiquity from Virginia, New York, and Massachusetts, which have been inhalnted by the Indo-Euro- pean races for more than two centuries. and ai half, to the new Territories of Dakota and Montana, which ten years ago were occupied only by roving savage tribes ; and, consequently, almost ever^^ variety of social condition prevails in this vast area, larger than half of Europe and more populous at this moment than any European nation except Russia. As a nation, the United States have existed for nearly a century, their sei)aration from the British Empire being coeval with the first improve- ment of prisons, resulting from the labors of John Howard. Conse- quently, the prison system of America, like all the modern systems, dates no further back than 1784, when the old Walnut Street prison of Philadelphia was built, and the first organized effort to improve prison discipline in the United States was made by the Pennsylvania Society for alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons, of which Dr. Franklin was one of the founders, in 1787. The National Government, as now estab- lished by the Federal Constitution of 1787, dates from the same period ; but it has never much concerned itself as a Government with the prison system of the country, its first step iu that direction being the appoint- ment of the undersigned in 1871, as a commissioner to the International Prison Congress of London. Whatever hafe beeu done, therefore, has been the work of the separate States of the Union, and almost wholly within the present century. The oldest penitentiary now iu use is [)rob- ably that of Massachusetts, at Charlestown, uear Boston, which was begun iu 1800 and first received convicts in 1805. Among the county- jails there are jprobably a few older than this, but the greater number, 24 INTERXATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. both of state and county prisons, have been built since the begiiiniug of the world-wide controversy between the advocates of the celiuhir or Penusylvauia system and tiie silent or Auburn systeia, now generally known as the separate and the congregate systems of prison management. This controversy, opened in America about half a ceutury ago, took a concrete and practical form with the opening of the Auburn and Sing- Sing penitentiaries in the State of New York, built on the congregate l)lan, with separation at night in single cells, and the two penitentiaries of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia and at Pittsburgh, built on the separate plan, with cellular imprisonment day and night for each convict. New Jersey and Rhode Island, in imitation of the eastern and western peni- tentiaries of Pennsylvania, introduced the cellular system into their state-prisons, respectively; but those States abandoned the system years ago, and more recently it has been given up at the western peni- tentiary of Pittsburgh. So the result of the controversy in the United States is that cellnlarisin exists only at the Cheriy Hill prison, or east- ern penitentiary, in Philadelphia; In some of the county-jails of Penn- sylvania ; in the Suflblk County jail in Boston ; and possibly a few other prisons of the same class. The proportion of prisoners confined on the separate plan in the whole United States is about one to thirty, or in the neighborhood of 3 per cent. It is therefore evident that the system of association, as opposed to that of cellularism, is the one which prevails in the United States. Nevertheless, it is believed that the enlightened friends of prison reform in this country very generally prefer the system of complete separation for all prisons of preliminary detention, and, moreover, that they w^ould prefer thfe restriction of all detention prisons to the purpose of safe-keeping alone, while minor oftenses, they hold, might better receive their punishment in district-prisons, forming a middle class of penitentiaries between the detention-prison and the state- prison, in which reformatory principles and processes might be more ho])i'rully ai)plied than they are now or ever can be in the county-jails. Tilt' broad distinction of American ])risons is that stated above, viz, into state-prisons and county-jails. States are the Federal unit of the American republic, and ot these there are thirty-seven ; but the units of each State are the counties, numbering, in the whole country, about 2,100. In each of these counties there is, or nmy be, a county-prison, and in some of them there are two, three, or four. In the thirty-seven States there are now thirty-nine state-prisons and two state work- liouses; the latter in Massachusetts and Phode Island. In two States, Floiida and Delaware, there are as yet no state-i)risons; in Pennsyl- vania ai'd Indiana there are two each, and in New York there are three. IN'ckoning about forty state-prisons in all, the average number of their inmates, Ibi- tlu? last year or two, has been about 1(!,(!(>0; but for the last y<'a)' the number has been increasing. Of this average number, th(! Stat(! of New York has I'urnished about 2,700 in its three great jjrisons; Illinois, 1,.'!()0 in its one prison; Ohio, a little moi-e than 1,000; J'ennsylvania, a little less than 1,000; JMassaehusetts, (including the workhouse convicts,) nearly t)00; Califoiiiia, almost 800; and Missouri nearly 000 ; so that tliese seven Stat(!S supi)ly about one-half the convicts of the higiier grades of crime. The same is true ot the inmates of the (;ity, county, and district *i)risons of all grades, who, in these seven Stafi'S, average now probably nearly 10,000, out of a total in the whole country of perhaps 22,000, These numbers are nothing nu)re than careful «'stimat('s, wliile the average in the state-prisons is nment. lis duration varies from i'ight to niiii'. months, ueeording to the eonduet of the i)risoner. Diwing this (list stage the imprisonment has a elnuiu^ter intensely penal. The work refpiired is lude and uninteresting, and the rations furnished are moderate in (plant ity an' this initial sta^e, is made tlioroui^bly acquainted with the whole system and with all the advantages that will accrue to him in his progress toward liberty, if he takes kindly to it and is uuiformerly well-behaved and attentive to all his duties. The second stage is passed in a congregate prison, with separation at night and associated labor during the day. The prisoner is here sub- jected to a much milder treatment, and his condition is improved more or less rapidly according to his conduct. He receives each month a certain number of marks which determine his advance from one class to another, for the essential principle of this second stage is that of a progressive classitication, based on good conduct and merit. There are four classes. Each class marks a change in the prisoner's situation and a mitigation of his punishment. On reaching the fourth class he no longer wears the prison-garb ; he is employed on special works ; he enjoys many privileges; and lie may almost be said to approach the state of liberty. It is this second stage which really characterizes the system. It is so ar- ranged and adjusted as to becoinean effective trial of the prisoner. If he is steadfast in his good resolutions and good conduct, he passes on froui class to class ; if, on the contrary, he is ill-disposed and disobedient, he is degraded to an inferior class, even to the lowest, if his conduct be such as to merit such severity. The convict who has successfully passed through this series of trials is adjudged to be prepared for a state of comparative freedom, and he is consequently admitted into the* inter- mediate prison. This constitutes the third stage in the Crofton system. Here the im- prisonment is little more than moral. The prisoner wears the dress of a freenuin, works on a large farm with his fellows, attends the village church, and is subjected to little more restraint of any kind than an ordinary' free laborer. This is, in effect, a probationary stage, and is designed to test the genuineness of his reformation. It is, for him, so to speak, the ap- prenticeship and prelude of liberty. If he hold out to the end in a good course of conduct, he receives a ticket of license and becomes conditionally free. The duration of his imprisonment may thus be shortened to the extent of a fourth part. But if, on the other .hand, his conduct is evil, he is remanded to the associated, or even to the cellular l^rison, to work his way up again by the same painful and painstaking process as before. The fourth stage of the Crofton system is that of conditional or pre- iminary liberation, which need not be particularly described. It will thus be seen that Sir Walter Crofton has devised a complete system of peiuil treatment; one which has a beginning, a middle, and an end, and "which is, at one and the same time, penal and reformatory. CHAPTER II. PRISON ADMINISTRATION. § 1. All the prisons of Austria are under the jurisdiction of the min- istry of justice, which shares its i)0wers of administration with two other classes of authority — local and intermediate. All matters of minor im- portance, which are naturally the most numerous, are attended to by the local authorities, and those of a graver character by the intermedi- ate authorities. It is only questions of the highest im[)ortance that are submitted to the decision of the ministr3" of justice. The ministry of 28 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. justice, as the central autliority over all prisons, is by law empowered to a[)poiut an official, from its own office, as the representative of the minister, and to entrust him with the supervision and guidance of all jtrisons. But, since 1867, an inspector-general of prisons has been ap- pointed. The ministry of justice appoints the directors of male prisons, the in- spectors of female prisons, the chaplains, the book-keepers, and the financial and medical officers. The subordinate officers are named, in certain prisons, by the local, and in others by the intermediate author- ities. The tenure of office is, as with all the servants of the state, with- out limit, tliat is, during good behavior. § 2. In Belgium, as in Austria, the ministry of justice has all pris- ons under its jurisdiction. The penitentiary of Louvain has a commis- sion charged with the inspection and supervision of that establishment. There are also commissions charged with the general supervision of the other prisons, and constituting administrative boards, invested with the right of investigating and redressing abuses, of proposing and introduc- ing reforms to tlie advantage of the service, of granting to the employes leave of absence for five days, and of imposing upon them certain dis- ciplinary punishments. The a|)pointnient of the directors and assist- ant directors is by royal decree. The other functionaries and employes of the prisons are named by the minister of justice. Tliere is no limit to the teyure of office ; it belotigs to the government to judge whether the functionary onglit to be retained or dismissed. § 3. No infV)rmation is given in the report from Denmark concern- ing the prison-administration of that country, except what is contained in the single brief statement that " a director of prisons has tlie control of all the prisons." It is to be presumed that there are some limitations to his powers; but what they are, the undersigned is unable to state. § 4. The prisons of France, except those of Paris, depend upon a central power, which is rei)resented by the minister of the interior, and, under him, by the director of the administration of prisons. The central power exercises its control by means of general inspec- tions, made by special functionaries — namely, inspectors-general of l)risons. B(\si(les tliis direct and most imj)()rtant control, there is a local control of the prefects for all the prisons ami penitentiary establish- nuAiits; of th(^, mayors and commissions of supervision for the houses of arrest, of justice, and of correction; and, liually, of thecouneil of sui)er- vision foi' the colonies of correctional education of juvenile delinquents. The director of the administrDtiou of prisons is chargiMl with admin- istering, under tlui aut]u)rity of the minister of the interior, th(^ ])ris()ns and penitentiary establishments of every class in France. Under him, and as a deliberative consultative board, is found thecouneil of insi)ect- ors-general of prisons, whi(;h Is calked ni)on, in the interval of their tours of inspection, to give advi(;e on the more important questions of the service. Th(5 instructions and regidations (Muanating from the (!en- tral administration are addressed, through the intervention of the pre- feets, who r(q>re.sent the (\\(!cutive power in the departments, to the di- jcetors of the, diffiTent establishments. At tlu» hearison is found a director. Jlis action extends to all parts of the serv- ice. ITe is Hpcfjially charged with (U)iiductingth(M',on<'Sj)ondenee with the minister of the interior, to whom he addresses his reports on the financial, industrial, and a! t ments. In liie prisons situated at the [)la(;e of their resi- PRISON ADMINISTEATION FRANX'E BADEN BAA^AKIA. 29 (lence their action makes itself felt directly, like that of tlie director of a ceutral prison, on all parts of tlie service, and in the other prisons indirectly tlirongli the agency of the principal keepers, who receive their instructions and are required to address to them frequent reports. An important part of their functions has reference to the economical administration of the prisons, to purchases, to the verification of ex- penses, to the control of the accounts, cash, and material; in short, to the preparation of the various financial documents which they send to the central administration. The principal keepers are the agents charged with the care and supervision of the houses of arrest, of justice, and of correction. In the central prisons and other similar establishments the function- aries, employes, and agents, to whichever department of the service they may be attached, are named by the minister of the interior. A^ regards the houses of arrest, of justice, and of correction, the func- tionaries and em[)loyes proposed for the administration are named b}' the minister, and the emi)loyes of the other services are named by the prefects, as also the agents of supervision other than the chief keepers. Still, these appointments do not become definitive till they have received the ministerial approval. By the terms of the law of the 5th August, 1850, relative to the edu- cation of juvenile delinquents, every private penitentiary colony is gov- erned by a responsible director, approved by the minister of the interior. The employes placed under the orders of the director must be, in like manner, ap[)roved by the prefect. In the department of the Seine, where the prisons are managed, in many of their relations, under authority of special provisions, the direct- ors are named by the minister of the interior, on presentation by the prefect of police; the other employes are named by the prefect. In etfect, it is the prefect of police who, in Paris, administers the iJeniteu- tiary establishments. The inspectors-general of prisons and penitentiary establishments are named by the minister of the interior. The duration of the functions of the different employes composing the personnel of the penitentiary service is not limited by any determinate time. The agents who have not been gravely derelict in the exercise of their functions continue in place till they have reached the age at least of sixty and have been in service thirty years. §5. The several states of the German Empire represented in the con- gress report as follows: (1) All the prisons of the Grand Duchy of Baden are under the control of the minister of justice and foreign affairs, who exercises over them complete administrative power. There is, however, acouncil of inspection fur all the larger penitentiary establishments. This council decides on the complaints of prisoners and the admissibility of administrative pro- ceedings against the inferior prison officers when such proceedings are beyond the cognizance of tlie director, confirms the contracts entered into by the administration for the supplies of the prison, and gives the necessary order, if desirable in any case, to substitute collective for soli- tary imprisonment. The su[>eiior officers are ai)pointed by the grand duke, the inferior olBcers by the minister of justice; their ai)pointment is for life. (2) All the prisons of Bavaria are under the jurisdiction of the min- istry of justice. The direction and inspection of prisons where iinj)ris- onment of more than three months is undergone belongs exclusively to this ministry, without the action of any intermediate authorities; the 30 INTERNATIONAL FENITENTIARY CONGRESS. inspectiou of the other prisons is by local officers. For the cellular prison at Xiirnberg, there exists a special council of inspection, consist- ing- of state officials, judges, district-attorneys, and prison-officials, to- gether with private persons belonging to Niiruberg. The directors and administrators are appointed by the King; the chaplains, doctors, teach- ers, stewards, and technical instructors by the ministry of justice; the keepers and clerks by the director of each prison. The directors and administrators only are.appointed for life, but the other officers also look upon the service as one in which their life is to be spent. As a rule, officials quit the prison service either in the beginning, when their incli- nations are against this work, or when it becomes apparent that they have not the necessary capacity, or on their being appointed to higher posts. (3) In Prussia there is no central authority having control of all the different classes of prisons. The local prisons, designed exclusivel,y for preliminary detention and for punishments of short duration, are under the control of the minister of justice, while the great penitentiary estab- lishments belong to the jurisdiction of the minister of the interior, who decides upon the general i)rinciples which are to regulate the economic administration of each prison and the treatment of the prisoners under the relations of discipline, religious and scholastic instruction, labor, clothing, and food. He causes inspections to be regularly nurde of the several peuitentiary establishments by the high functionary attached to his ministry, who is speciall}' charged with the oversight of prisons; and he decides, in the last resort, on all matters of complaint presented to him either by prisoners or by employes. All other matters appertaining to the control and administration of the })risons are attended to by the administrative authorities of the jjrovinces. To these especially belong the i^ermanent control to be exer- cised over the emploj-uieut of the moneys assigned to each establish- ment; over the details of the economic and industrial administration; over the treatment of the prisoners, wiiether in point of discipline or in other respects; and over the conduct and fidelity of the employes of the prison. In this view, every establishment is inspected by memlxTs of the provincial authorities delegated to that duty, at intervals not exceed- ing the la))se of some months. The minister of the interior apppoints the directors and su])erior offi- cers of tlu- ])risons ; the subaltern officers are a|)pointed by the ])rovin- cial authorities. The superior officers, after a certain period of trial, are appointed for life-. The subalterns are liable to dismissal; yet, after some years of blameless' conduct, the-y also are appointed for life. (4) 'JMiere exists in Saxony no one central authority for the admin- istialion of tiie penilentiaiy system. Th<' administrative authority rests, except in prisons belonging to courts of justice and police, in the hands of tlie ministry of the interior. The ministry of justice takes cognizance, by commissioners, of the manner in wliich the sentciuM^ is carried out, and also (U)ntrols the domestic aiiaiigements. The jtrisons i»elongiiig to courts of justiation of the l)risoneis. Neilher the, text nor the purport, however, of these orders is given in tlie rejiort submitted to the congress. (r>) The economic and corri'ciiona! adininistration of all the ])risons of \\'iirteml)erg is controlled l)y a (;entral authority, which also ex- ercises su]ter\ ision over district-priKons for preliminary detention and PRISON ADMINISTRATION PRUSSIA SAXONY, ETC. 61 minor puiilsliments. The central authority is subordinate to the minis- ter of justice. It is composed of members of the departments of justice, of the interior, and of finance ; it has likewise atta(;hed to it some skilled ecclesiastical members, a doctor, an architect, ami a mercliant. The directors and the cliief officers of the administration are appointed by the King', on the nomination of the minister of justice, who first con- sults the commissioners for i)risons. These api)ointments are generally tor life. The subordinate ofticers are appointed by the commissioners for prisons. § 6. The whole of the detention and penitentiary administration of the prisons of Italy, whether as regards the buildings, regulations, officers, discipline, or general supervision, is superintended by one central authority, which forms the general prison board and depends on the ministr}' of the interior. This board is composed of the director-general, four inspectors, and three departments, one of which is intrusted with the supervision of the directive, sanitary, and religious ofticers and jailors, another attends to the financial administration ; and the third regulates whatever refers to the construction of the buildings and the wants of the prisoners. Besides this, there is an office of statistics, a technical officer of engineers, and a copying-office, each of these having special employes and special work. All these branches of prison administration are concentrated in the general director, who, in his turn, regulates the service, seconded by the consultative vote of a' council of administration and discipline, com- posed of at least two central inspectors, and the director of that de- l)artment to which is intrusted the special subject under discussion. Nor does it seem possible otherwise to direct an administration so vast, and one requiring, as an indispensable rule, the most i)erfect unison in thought and regulation, to carry into effect the principle that "every citizen is equal in the eyes of the law." The directors and officers of the prisons, "whether central or local, are named by royal decree; the keepers and foremen by decree of the min- ister of the interior, on the jjroposal of the director-general. The tenure of office for the higher functionaries is for life; nor can they be removed, except for causes which would render them unfit for the service or unworthy of a place among the officers of the state. The keepers are chosen for six years. As to the foremen, their engagements with the penitentiary administration depend, in each case, on special arrangements. § 7. There is no central power in Mexico which controls the peniten- tiary administration of the whole country. The prisons in each munici- pality are under the care of a commission. The prisons of each state are subject to inspection by the governor of the state. In Mexico it- self, (city and district,) the governor and home secretary have a power of inspeotion. § 8. All the prisons in the aSTetherlands are under the supreme direc- tion of the minister of justice, and the general inspection of the prisons is made by an insj^ector, who has his deputy in the bureau of tlie de- partment of justice. For the inspection of the buildings, an engineer- architect is attached to the same department. The courts and tribunals are also required to cause the prisons to be inspected, from time to time, by members assigned to that duty. The reports of all these in- spections are addressed to the minister. The administration of the several prisons is confided to administra- tive commissions named in each locality where a prison exists. The members of these commissions are named by the King from among the 32 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. notables of the locality, who receive no salary. Whatever appertains to the local administration, to the internal service, to the discipline, and to the execution of the general and special regulations is confided to these commissions or is done thi^jugh their agency. They are in offi- cial relation with the minister, either directly or by the deputy of the royal commissioner (governor) of the province, their immediate superior and their honorary president. The directors of the central prisons are appointed by the King, the other officers by the minister of justice. There is no defined tenure of office. Incumbents hold their offices until they are displaced, dismissed, or voluntarily retire from the service. § 9. The department of justice is supreme in the administration of the prisons of Norway. This department is charged with the immediate administration of the prisons which receive prisoners sentenced to hard labor ; while, under it, the administration of the inferior or district prisons is confided to the prefects. The position and general functions of prefects are not stated in the report. Every prison of the higher grade has also its local administration, which makes the necessary ar- rangements with regard to jiinson discipline, economy, &c. 5 always, however, in conformity to the rules laid down by the department of justice, or having its approval and sanction. A director-general of prisons is wanting. The special directors and the chaplains of the several prisons are appointed by the King ; the medical and financial officers are named by the department of justice; the teachers receive their appointment from the chaplains, and the other functionaries from the directors. The members of the local nuiuaging boards of the dis- trict, who generally receive no salary, are named by the King, being taken from among the judicial or administrative otlicers of the district. The subordinate officers of this class of prisons are appointed by the prefects. Tenure of office is not for a fixed time. § lU. The jnisons of Russia are divided into two classes, military and civil. The military prisons are under the jurisdiction of the ministers of war and of the navy ; the civil prisons are attached to the ministry of the interior. The latter are further placed under the Imperial Society for the Guardianship of Prisons. This society was established in 1819, and has for object the intrcjduction of a move, humane treatnuMit of prisoners. In 1830 it was by law invested with fresh powers and [)re- rogatives. A committee, formed by a central committee sitting at St. PetJn-sburg under the i)residency of the minister of the interior, is established in the capital of ea(;h province, with braiuihes in each chief town of the several districts. Tiiese committees are com|)()sed, ex oJJU'io, of the officers of the state and of volunteer and benevolent members, who have a small salary and certain lionorable prerogatives. These committees select the governors and direct the economic manage- ment of the prisons. A considerable sum is grantetl for this- i)urpose to the committees, who have the right of referring, in a presinibed manner, to the minister, of tlie interior under his double office of mini.xtcr and president. This system not only lessens the expenses of ;idminisliation, l)nt has led to considc^rable gifts and the formation of ;i special capital. It must, however, be acknowledged that such a sys- tem of iidniiiiistration produces a cei'ta in amonnt of carc^Iessness nnd irresponsibility in the exercise of power, and that tln^ principle of phil- anthiopic committees and tJK'ir ]»artie.ipal ion in the manageiiu'nt of l)risonei's retpiire important mtxlifieiitlon in linssia. Outside of the control oftlu^ committ(M^s, there was recently estab- lished, when municipal laws were created in Itnssia, a new mode of de- PRIS. ADMN. MEXICO^-NETHERLANDS NORWAY, ETC. 33 tention, named arrest, not to be confounded with preliminary arrest. The jmnishment of arrest, inflicted by justices of the peace for slight violations of the law, cannot exceed three months. The establishment, maintenance, and administration of these new local prisons are under the control of the municipal institutions of each province. The appointment of directors and of members of committees is con- firmed by imperial decree. The other officers are appointed by the minister of the interior. Their tenure of office is not limited. § 11. All the prisons of Sweden are placed under the control and ad- ministration of a central independent authority, called the general administration of prisons. Under this general administration, the pro- vincial government has the direct inspection of the cellular prisons established in each province. The general administration derives its authority from the government, to wliich all reports are made through the medium of the minister of justice! The directors and officers of all the prisons of the state are named by the general administration of prisons. They are appointed for no speci- fied time, and generally they retain their places as long as they show themselves competent to their work. § 12. The Swiss Confederatiou, composed of twenty-two cantons and embracing twenty-five states, does not, by its own i)ower, exercise any control over the administration of penal justice and of prisons, or over the penitentiary rSgime. Military and political penal justice, so far as it is called upon to punish offenses against the constitution and the fed- eral laws, alone comes within its jurisdiction. Each canton is sovereigri. It has its own special penal system and its own places of imprisonment. Its prisons are thus placed under the control of the cantonal executive authority or of the council of state. The supervision of the prisons belongs more especially to one of the departments of the executive power. In certain cantons the prisons are placed, wholly or partially, under the supervision of the department of police, in others under that of the department of justice or of the interior, according to the stand-point from which the importance of this public service is viewed. In the cantons in which recently-constructed penitefitiaries are found, the whole or a part of the supervision is con- fided to the director of justice, or to a special department, which gives its attention not only to prisons, but also to hospitals, insane-asylums, &c. This department associates with itself a commission of super- vision composed of three to seven members, selected from among per- sons experienced in questions of i^euitentiary reform, of industry, and of commerce. In the cantons where this machinery exists, an official regulation defines the functions of the commission of supervision. The detention-prisons in the districts and places of detention for civil penal- ties are supervised by the agents of the council of state — prefects, coun- selors of prefecture, &c. The officers and employes of the prisons are named by the council of state. In the cantons where penitentiaries of recent construction exist, the officers are proposed by the department of justice or of police, which takes the advice of the commission of supervision. The foremen and overseers are appointed by the commission of supervision, on the nomi- nation of the director of the penitentiary. In some cantons the officers are subjected to a re-election every three years, in some every four years, and in others the tenure of office is without limitation. It may be affirmed that, as a general thing, the officers of the Swiss penitentiaries are not exposed to the iufluence of political changes, and H. Ex. 185^ 3 ' 34 INTERNATIONAL TENITENTIARY CONGRESS. that those whose position may have been endangered by IJae victory of a party have been effectually shielded by a public opinion which appre- ciated their merits and their devotion. § 13. The General Government of the United States, as was observed in the preceding chapter, does not concern itself with inisous. It has not a solitary jail or penitentiary under its jurisdiction, but imprisons the few criminals convicted under its laws and by its own courts iu the States where the conviction takes place. Prison-administration, there- fore, is a thing relegated to the governments of the several States. But even in the individual States there is no central authority governing all the prisons, although the last ten years have developed a tendency to establish such a central bureau in several of the States. Generally, the bureau is charged with the inspection of prisons only, and has no power to reguhite their management or appoint their officers. Such bureaus exist, under the name of boards of public charities, in Penn- sylvania, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Missouri; and similar boards in Massachusetts, Ehode Island, and North Carolina take some part in j)rison inspection, or management, or both. In New York the State board of charities is expressly excluded from any direction or even inspection of the prisons, and the three great prisons of that State are placed under the control of another board, known as the inspectors of State prisons, while a private societj', with public duties, the New York Prison Association, of which the undersigned was for many years the secretary, is allowed, and indeed required, to inspect all the prisons of the State and the counties. Nothing that can properly be called "central rtWif/ior/if?/" over all the jn'isons of a State is known to exist anywhere in the Union ; but wherever there is the nearest approach to this, the results are the most satisfactory. Without it, there is, at best, a great lack of method and of the highest order of prison discipline; and often gross abuses i)revail in many of the local prisons. These have been revealed, to some extent, in official reports within the past five years, notably in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michig-an, Illinois, and Wisconsin ; and were a searching investigation to be made in other States, even those most noted for the excellence of their prison admin- istration, no doubt such would be revealed iu them too. As a riWe, each city and couuty manages its own prisons; and where a city or county has several i)risons, these are very likely to be under distinct officers or boards of management, which have little acquaintance with each other and little knowledge of the general system of prisons in the State. Hence, if wclindiu'any State a prison exceptionally ^^ell managed, like the Albany penitentiary, under the nuinageinent of General Pilsbury, and the Detioit house of correction, under that of Mr. Prockway, it by no iiicaiis follows that the other i)risons will be good ; and it may happen that a spirit of envy or jealousy will pievent the managers of one prison from ado]»tiiig the imi)nn'ed system which has been introduced into another. The chief (lefects of this disoiganized condition of ]>risou nianagnncnt spring, however, from a mutual ignorance of the condition and working of prisons that should co-oi)erate with each other ; and one great advantage derived from the. meeting of the Cincinnati Prison Jieforni (>ongi<'ss was a better acfpiaintance of i)rison managers with each other, aiul a wider knowledge gained by them of the prisons of their own and other States. § 14. In Great Piitain ;nid Ireland th(i prison system is far from being a unit. In neither country is there any such tiling as a central and supreme authority, possessing juiisdiction overall its i)risons. Por the convict-prisons alone, there is in each a. central and controlling PKIS. ADMN. SWITZERLAND UNITED STATES, ETC. 35 power, w'hicli sits at the lielm, and which has within its jurisdiction the entire administration of the system. But as regards county and borough prisons, both in the larger and smaller island, the government has little power beyond that of inspection. Each prison has its own board of vis- iting justices, supreme withiu its own domain, but with no bond of union between them, and no power capable of giving unity and symmetry to tlie whole circle and system of prisons and their administration. CHAPTER III. PRISON DISCIPLINE. § 1. The agencies employed in the prisons of Austria as a stimulus to obedience and industry are : 1. The possibility of imperial clemency. Prisoners cannot shorten their terms of sentence according to any fixed rule, that principle not having, as yet, been introduced into the Aus- trian penitentiary discipline. But, according to an ancient custom, a number of prisoners Avho have undergone the greater part of their sen- tences, and who have given .solid proofs of improvement, are recom- mended periodically to the Emperor for pardon. 2. A share in their earnings. The industrial system is not uniform in the prisons of Austria. In some the labor of the prisoners is let to contractors ; in others, it is utilized on account of the state. In the former class of prisons the convicts receive one-half of the proceeds of their work after deducting certain exjienses, not very clearly explained in the report. In the latter class they receive a share, regulated by a fixed tariff, which amounts to about the same as that received by ijrisoners who work on contract. What is said above relates to prisons on the associated plan. In the partially cellular prison of Gratz, each prisoner has his daily task. Here the progressive system has been introduced; according to the measure of his industry and the class to which he belongs, each prisoner has placed to his credit daily a sum varying from two to six kreutzers, and, at the end of the month, the value of whatever overwork he may have done during the month. Besides the above-mentioned rewards, the privilege is accorded to the prisoners of spending one-half of what stands to their credit (not ex- ceeding, however, a florin and twenty kreutzers a w eek) in the purchase of additional comforts, as milk, coffee, wheaten bread, cold meats, wine, beer, tobacco, &c. ; or they may spend it in support of their families or in buying such clothes as they will need on their discharge. These arrange- ments, the report states, have worked well. The most frequent violation of prison-rules are disobedience, rude- ness to ofiQcers or comrades, refusal to work, and negligence in the performance of the assigned tasks. The disciplinary punishments employed are : Admonition ; coarse and unproductive work ; temporary withdrawal of privileges ; a bread-and- water diet — not given, however, oftener than on three alternate days in the week ; irons, (only used in extreme cases ;) hard bed, (either sack- ing or bare boards,) but not more frequently than bread and water; im- prisonment in a cell, with employment, and at least two visits a day from an officer, but not exceeding a month, nor to be repeated till a full month shall have passed ; removal to another part of the prison ; and 36 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. coufiiiemeut in a dark cell, uot exceeding three weeks, after which a week must elapse before the i)risoiier can be returned to it. An exact record is made of all punishments inflicted, and they are also inserted in a memorandum-book kept by each prisoner. § 2. Prisoners cannot shorten their sentences in Belgium by any fixed rule ; but this may be done by act of royal clemency in the case of pris- oners who are thought to deserve it, on the recommendation of the ad- ministrative boards, or boards of prison inspection. They receive a portion of their earnings according to the following" tarifl:: Prisoners " sentenced to hard labor receive three-tenths, those sentenced to reclu- sion four-tenths, and those sentenced correctionally five-tenths. This proportion cannot be increased. Other rewards, accorded to good con- duct, to diligence, to zeal and progress in school and labor, and to mer- itorious actions of whatever kind, are as follows: Admission to places of trust, to domestic service, and to certain exceptional labors ; an in- crease of the privilege of visits and of correspondence ; jiermission to make use of tobacco, in the form of snutt' or by smoking it at proper times; the grant of certain diversions and alleviations, sudi as the gift of books, engravings, tools, useful objects, &c. ; propositions of clemency and of reduction of punishment. The most frequent violations of prison rules are, in the cellular pris- ons, communications or attempted communications, verbal or written. In the congregate prisons they are infractions of the rule of silence and traffic. The following are the disciplinary punishments in use : Privation of work, reading, gratuities, the cantine^ visits, correspondence, and other indulgences granted in pursuance of the reguhitions ; a diet of bread and water ; confinement in a special cell, or in a dark cell, with or without the bread-and-water diet ; the withdrawal of rewards which might other- wise have been granted. All disciplinary punishments are recorded in a special register, to- gether with the causes for which they were inflicted. The oflenses com- mitted and the punishments administered are also placed in the moral account opened with each prisoner. § 3. The report for Denmark states that the discipline is intended to be reformatory. For the cellular prison is established a sort of pro- gressive system. In the associated prisons the inmates occupy sepa- rate sleeping-cells. The convicts work in divisions separate from each other. Ko complete progressive system has as yet been ado[)ted ; but such a system is in contemi)lation. The punishments for breach of dis- cipline are determined bylaw. Corporal punishments are among them. Tlie most cilicacious means of awakening and jireserving hope are, in the cellular prisons, the promotion to a higher class; in the associated prisons, wages paid for labor. Conditional release does not take l)lace. § 4. The principle of abbreviating the sentences of prisoners, as consti- tuting at once a stimulus and a leward of good conduct, has not yet been intiodnecd into the Frencli ]>('nit«'nliary disc-ipliiie. Tliis can only be doiK^ tluoiigh the exercisi; ol" the i>ar(h)ning po\v<'r. b'ixed rules are laid down to h(^ followed in ai)i)ii(;at ions I'or cUMnrMcy, wliich is generally dispensed in concert with the adniinistrativ<> and judicial authorities, and may tliereloie be i)r<'suMied to l)c done intelligently and on the ground of merit. In the central juisons tli(> product ol' the labor is 'nment is adjusted between the three classes thus: Correctionals, tive-teutlis; reclusionaries, four- tenths ; those sen- tenced to hard labor, three-tenths. The part assigned to prisoners sentenced on relapse is reduced one tenth for eacli previous convic- tion, down to the limit of the last tenth, which is, under all circum- stances, paid to the convict. The pecuUiim is divided by moieties into i)ecuUum disposable and peculmm reserved. The first is at the disposition of the convicts during their imprisonment for certain authorized uses, and especially for the inirchase of supplementarj- pro- visions and supplies, for the relief of their families, and for voluntary restitutions. It also furnishes reserves for fines, punishments, breaking prison, or damages to the prejudice of the state or the contractor. The peculimn reserved was established in view of securing to liberated pris- oners some resources for their first necessities on their discharge from the penitentiary. The number of tenths allowed to convicts may be increased on account of their good conduct and diligence. There may be granted to them, in consideration of these qualities, even six-tenths. Other rewards accorded to convicts are : designation for employment as foreman of a workshop, monitor in the school, overseer of a dormitory, and other positions of trust, such as hospital attendants, store-keepers, secretaries, &c. ; also a place on the roll of honor. The moral ofi'enses most frequently exhibited are theft, assaults, and indecencies. As regards the infractions of disciplinary rules, more than half the cases in the central prisons consist of violations of the law of silence. In most of the penitentiary establishments, next to that just named, the most frequent infractions are refusal to work, the secret use of tobacco, gambling, trafiicking, and the unlawful possession of money. Order and discipline are reported as maintained in all establishments dependent upon the penitentiary administration, without the necessity of a recourse to coercive measures of an excessive severity. Acts of rebellion and violence take place to only a limited extent, thanks to the vigorous enforcement of the rules intended to insure a strict but equitable distribution of disciplinary justice. The punishments, so far as the central prisons are concerned, are : Confinement in a cell, with or without irons; the hall of discipline; dry bread for three days or more; deprivation of the cantine or of the ordinary ration ; the reduction of the tenths; fines; privation of correspondence and of visits; and sometimes the loss of an honorable position, such as that of foreman, overseer of a dormitory, monitor in the school, «&c. The convict who has incurred dis- ciplinary punishments cannot be i)laced on the roll of honor. Corporal punishments are expressly forbidden. Every day (Sundays and feast-days excepted) the director of a central prison, assisted by his assessors, holds a tribunal of disciplinary justice, at which are required to appear prisoners reported on the previous evening as having committed some infraction. Each case is fully heard and fairly considered. It belongs to the director to pronounce judgment, and his decisions are immediately inscribed in a register kept for the purpose. Minutes are kept of the proceedings of each session. The punishments adjudged are inscribed by the schoolmaster on the bulletin of the moral statistics of the convict. In the houses of arrest, of justice^ and of correction, the punishments are inflicted by the director or the chief keeper, and are inscribed on a special register, which is subject to the inspection of the prefect and the mayor. § 5. The German states report : The principle of provisional libera- tion has been adopted in the penal code of the German Empire. o8 IXTERNATIOXAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. (1) In Baden actual imprisonment may, by good conduct, be reduced one-fourth, provided, however, that a full yearshall have been passed in confinement. The holder of a license may, at any time before the expiration of his sentence, have it revoked for misconduct or an infrac- tion of its terms, in which case the time intervening between his pro- visional liberation and his re-arrest is wholly disregarded, and the pris- oner is required to serve out his entire sentence as if he had not been released at all. For the i:>erformauce by the prisoner of the daily task required, which is equal to the average work of a free laborer, the sum of three kreutzers is placed to his credit. For additional work this sum may be increased to six kreutzers. To this reward diligence and the result of efficient work alone contribute, good conduct not being considered. Other rewards are special gratuities, the privilege of spending a xjai't of their pecuUum in procuring increased comforts, better prison fare, such occupation as they like, and school prizes. The offenses most common are forbidden communications with their fellow-prisoners. The disciplinary punishments in use are : Eeprimauds ; withdrawal of privileges ; solitary confinement, with or without light ; privation of bed ; diminution of food and drink ; aiid coercive chair, (the prisoner being bound to a solid chair.) A full record is kept of all punishments. (2) The same rule in regard to the shortening of i)ri$on-sentences by good conduct holds in Bavaria as in Baden. The proportion of their earnings allotted to prisoners varies from two to four kreutzers a day. In this award regard is had to good behavior as well as to industry and capability. Other rewards, given to act as an incentive to good, are: Permission to buy or receive extra articles of consumi)tion ; permission to receive more frequent visits and conduct a more extensive correspondence ; formal praise or recognition ; receiv- ing better and more lucrative work; school prizes, (presents of books;) rewards for work, (presents of money up to four florins.) The prison regulations oftenest violated are those which arise out of intercourse with other prisoners, namely : Exchange of articles of food and snuff"; disobedience and brutality, such as opposition to offi- cials, attacking fellow-prisoners, refusal to work, swearing, noisiness, and quarreling. The discii)linary i)unishmeiits are : Reproof; non-payment for labor up to four weeks; reduction of rations for a term of from eight to fourteen days ; arrest, with or without work, to a period not exceeding four weeks; imprisonment in a dark cell for a term not exceeding ten days; and wearing of irons, but in such a manner as not to prevent the prisoner from walking. Corporal ])unishment is strictly forbidden by law. livery ]»nnisliinent is entered in a book kei)t for the i)urpose ; an ex- tract from it is added to the dcjcuments furnished to each i)risoner. (.">) 'J'Im; same icgulation in regard to [uovisional liberation has place in I'rnssiii as in Baden and Bavaiia. Piisoncrs may icccivc a i>ait of tlnir earnings, but never more than one-sixtli. Tlur cxac^t proportion dcitcixls n[>()n their good or bad con- duct and tlie greater or less zeal they have sliown at their work. They may disj>ose of one-half of this share in increasing their ])ris()n com- forts; the other lialf is giNcn to them on their release. Beyond the HJxth of tlieii- earnings no other special rewards are granted to pris- oners. The most common infractions of ])rison rules in J'russia are : 1. »Slighl olfeiises against diseij>line, as neglecting to keep silence, disorder, PRISON DISCIPLINE GERMAN STATES. 39 untidiness, and quarreling with fellow-prisoners. These infractions, in 1869, were 57 per cent, of the whole. 2. The violations of regu- lations are — improper, insolent, and rebellious conduct toward the officers. These were, in 18G9, 24 per cent. 3. Those infractions of rules which consist in avoiding and escaping from work. These, in. 1869, were 19 per cent. The disciplinary punishments are : Degradation to the second class of prisoners ; privation of the right of disposing of any part of their earn- ings ; privation of the better treatment accorded on holidays ; solitary imprisonment in punishment-cells, accompanied by various degrees of rigor; and whipping, only inflicted on men, with a limitation to thirty lashes. An exact register of all punishments is kept. (1) Prison discipline in Saxony has a twofold object: the satisfac- tion of justice and the reformation of the prisoner. Above all things, effort is made to revive and cherish hope in the heart of the criminal, the hope of improving his condition in the prison, the hope of shorten- ing the term of imprisonment, the hope of a complete moral amendment, and the hope of regaining a respectable place in society. The adminis- tration thinks that the church, the school, and Sunday's instructions are the best means, in the hands of a sensible officer, for effecting moral reformation. It aims at making the prisoner understand that he can make progress neither in prison nor in civil life without radical and real amendment. The question whether a discipline founded on rewards or punishments is the more successful, is deemed almost superfluous, for it depends much on the individual character of the prisoner. By an order dated March 10, 1861, in consequence of the favorable results of experiments made during the previous ten years, disciplinary punishments were greatly reduced, and now consist in diminution of food, more or less severe imprisonment, and in withdrawing the recompense for work done. Corporal punishment with a rod or thin stick, up to thirty strokes, or punishment on laths, (the former only used against criminals of the lowest class of discipline,) is used under certain restrictions, and can only be applied after mature consideration and deliberation on the part of the officers. It is seldom used, and has, for example, not been applied in the penitentiary of Zwickau for the last ten years. Diligence is re- warded by a higher allowance, and good conduct i)laces the i^risoner in a higher class of discipline, or obtains for him a place of trust. A remission of part of the imprisonment is regarded by the i^risoners as the highest reward. The administration makes it the termination of the three stages of discipline. The remission of part of the sentence has proved excellent in its results, for down to January 1, 1872, of 415 pris- oners dismissed, only 11, or 2,65 per cent., relapsed. (5) Probationary liberations have been introduced into Wlirtemberg since the enactment of a jienal code for the German Empire. In cases where a question of the full pardon of a prisoner arises, his conduct is especially taken into consideration. Industrious prisoners receive, for their application and good conduct, a part of their earnings ; this part is fixed by the administration at one- fourth ; but if their earnings exceed eight kreutzers per day, they can receive only two kreutzers. Prisoners who are distinguished for good conduct are encouraged by being placed in a higher class, by receiving more agreeable and more profitable employment, by being allowed more frequent, communication with their friends and more liberty to make purchases out of their earnings, and by being recommended for i^ardou. The chief disciplinary punishments are : restricted communication 40 INTEKNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. with their relatives and friends ; withdrawal or diminution of the part of their earnings usually granted to them ; diminution of food ; isolated imprisonment ; and imprisonment in a dark cell. In prisons for reclusion, rons are also applied; corporal punishment is excluded. An exact register of punishments is kept. f G. The end aimed at in the administration of penitentiary discipline in Italy is so to direct punishment that, without allowing it to lose its necessary characteristic of deterrence, it shall also possess the other equally essential requisite of reforming the delinquent. Nothing there- fore is omitted to obtain this desirable end. While, on the one hand, it is instilled into the mind of the prisoner that he will be enabled, by good conduct, to ameliorate his condition ; on the other, the end aimed at is to raise his sense of manly dignity, that he may not become a hypocrite. In the penitentiaries those who distinguish themselves by their good conduct enjoy special advantages, such as being intrusted with domes- tic work, being recommended to mercy, &c. In the bagnios there has been established a system of progressive classification, under which prisoners, like the mercury in a thermometer, ascend and descend according to their deserts. Each class has its dis- tinctive badge and special privileges. Those prisoners who have distin- guished themselves by good conduct in the penitentiaries, aiid have worked out at least one-half their term, are removed to the agricultural colonies of Piauosa and Gorgona. The administration is at present occupied in the study of a plan for sending to the island of Capraja (Tuscan Archipelago) those prisoners who have continued in their good conduct during their sojourn in the islands of Pianosa and Gorgona. The prisoners on reaching Capraja will enjoy a semi-liberty within the island, without, however, being quite free from certain disciidiuary restraints. This is the Crofton intermediate prison. The disciplinary system in the two classes of prisons noticed below, va- rying according to the nature of the sentences to be worked out in them,^ differs somewhat. In the penitentiaries the jiunishments in use are : admonitions, privation of food, solitary cells, fetters at the longest for twenty-four hours, solitarj' confinement from one to six months ; while in the bagnios, besides admonitions, separate cells, and privation of food, there is also arrest, with or without fetters, the hard seat, &c. The rewards in the penitentiaries are: the appropriation for the ben- efit of the i^risoner of a <{uota of the profits arising from his labor; a more generous diet ; the privilege of a less interrupted family corre- spondence ; the right of dis})osing of a portion of the funds accruing from his wy tlie recurrence of tbc si)('cta<;Ui in whicb be is both actor anon the decision. The portion of their earnings allotted to the prisoners are : To civil prisoners sentenced to reclusion and to military j)risoners, 40 per cent. ; to the inmates of the central prisons, 50 per cent. ; and to those confined in other prisons, 70 per cent. These proportions are not increased by reason of the prisoners' good conduct. ]S"o other rewards are given to prisoners beyond this participation in their earnings. The distribution of premiums has been abolished for some time, and the industry of the prisoners finds its recompense in the increase of profits, which naturally result from zeal and capacity. Still, the re-establish- ment of i)remiums is under consideration at the present moment. The kinds and frequency of the violations of prison rules differ sen- sibly in different prisons, and often depend on the more or less intelli- gent administration of the chiefs and the employes. Insubordination and quarrels may be regarded as the most frequent infractions. Isola- tion by night (which is not yet generally introduced) has, in this respect, produced good fruits. The disciplinary punishments in use are: Re- striction to a diet of bread and water 5 withdrawal of the privilege of writing and receiving letters; privation of books; the dungeon; fetters; and, iu the central prisons, isolation in a cell. All these xninishments are recorded in a register. § 0. The principle of provisional liberation, and, by consequence, that of the i)ower of shortening the sentence by good conduct, has not l)cen introduced into tlie criminal jurisprudence of Norway. Only by royal ])ardon may the duration of a fixed sentence be abridged; but, iu dcciiling on the question of pardon, the behavior of the prisoner during his impiisonment is, as a matter of course, taken into consideration, I'ri.sonos do not receive any part of the ])roceeds of their labor. I-'oiiMcrly a certain part was allowed them, but the system was aban- (belied as not expedient. However, tlie (piestion of introducing the same, syst(!m to a grcalcr or less extent, and in an altered jnanner, has again been raised. In regard to other rewards as a stimulus to self - conti'ol and sell'-exeition, in the houses of correction and the fortresses, an extra allowance of food anunishment is also employed. The I)unishments are always inserted on the records. § 10. In Eussia the discipline of the prisons seems to be in a lax and inchoate state. The principle of an abbreviation of sentence by means of good conduct and industry has been admitted only in imprisonment with hard labor, and even there awaits a regular organization and a systematic application. Russian law prescribes work for the prisoners, and grants them a part of their earnings, according to the particular class of prison. But this law still remains almost a dead-letter ; it has been executed only in rare cases. The organization of industrial labor is regarded as lying at the root of the penitentiary improvements now under consideration by the government. One of the clauses in the pro- ject of reform relates to the proportion of earnings granted to the prisoners. Ino system of rewards has yet been established. Drunkenness is reported as the most frequent breach of prison rules, and as having been often encouraged by the cupidity and want of fidelity of the employes. The disciplinary punishments employed are the dungeon and some- times castigation or irons. In the better-regulated prisons a record of the punishments isiiept. § 11. Good conduct produces no abridgment of the time of imprison- ment in Sweden. The King exercises the right of pardon almost ex- clusively in favor of prisoners sentenced to hard labor for life, and whose conduct for ten years has been unexceptionable. Prisoners are encouraged by being allowed a share in the gain de- rived from their labor. In the associated prisons the amount received daily varies from one to seven cents of our money. This refers to the generality of prisoners ; but those who act as foremen, as well as those Avho are distinguished for skill, get an additional sum rising sometimes as high as sixty centimes, equal to twelve cents. In the cellular prisons in the provinces, in which the director procures both work and materials, the earnings of the prisoners sentenced to hard labor are distributed on the following scale : The prisoner receives two- sixths; the director for inspection and furniture two-sixths; theofQcers who exercise surveillance, one sixth ; and, in order to provide help for the prisoner when liberated, the remaining sixth is put in a savings-box. Any prisoner who commits in prison an offense liable to punishment loses his share of the money placed in the savings-box. Of the two- sixths which the prisoner receives he may spend two-thirds in buying additional food, as bread, beer, cheese, lard, «&c ; but this expenditure must not exceed two francs i^er week. Those who work in the open air especially rec^uire this extra food. There are no other rewards to stimu- late the prisoners' zeal. In cellular prisons the most usual offenses are attempts to communi- cate with other prisoners, drawing and writing on the walls, and neglect of cleanliness. In the collective prisons the most frequent violations of regulations are insults in words and actions to officers and prisoners, attempts to iirocure spirits, cheating, and thefts. In cellular prisons the punishments consist of withdrawal of bed- clothes, diminution of nourishment, or imprisonment in a dark cell for eight hours at most. This punishment is inflicted, on request, by the X^rovincial government. In the associated prisons, besides the punish- ments just cited, there are added imprisonment, with or without labor, and for very grave offenses tlie bastinado on men; this last in rare 44 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. cases. Imprisonment iu n cell for a period exceeding a mouth can only be by the central authority. An exact record is kept of all punishments. § 12. In all the cantons of Switzerland prisoners may, by their good conduct, obtain an abbreviation of their punishment by applying for pardon to the legislative authority, (great council,) which reserves to itself this right. Such reduction is rarely made conformably to fixed rules. In many of the cantons complaint is made that chance and caprice play too cousTjieuous a part, and that commissions of pardon do not always take account of grave and important facts. In some cantons clemency is exercised readily enough, while in others this is done only iu excep- tional cases. In certain cantons a decree of the legislative authority confides to the council of state, or to the department of justice, or even to the police, the right of remitting the latter portion of their punishment (one-twelfth, for example) to convicts whose conduct has been good. In cantons where penitentiary reform has made some progress, there is a tendency to bring down the use of pardons to the minimum, and to substitute the principle of conditional liberation ; in short, to confide this function to the direction of the department of prisons, which, having the super- vision of the penitentiary administration, is alone capable of judging whether or not the re-entrance of a prisoner into society offers any danger, and whether a probationary liberation may be safely granted him. In most of the cantons the prisoners have a share in the benefits of their labor. As a general thing this part has rather the character of a gratuity than that of lawful wages. The proportion varies in different prisons, and in the case of prisoners in different classes of the same prison, from 5 to 25 per cent. It is proposed by some of the wisest directors, Mr. Kiihne, for example, of the penitentiary of St. Gall, to increase the proportion beyond 25 per cent, to the worthiest of the prisoners. Whatever ma}' be the scale adopted in the different establishments, the gratuity is granted to all the prisoners who, con- formably to the regulations, have rendered themselves worthy of it. It is adjusted at the end of every month or every three months, and is placed to their credit in their memorandum of savings. The other rewards employed to stimulate the good conduct and zeal of tlie prisoners vary in kind and amount, according to the cantons and the degree, more or less advanced, of penitentiary reform. In well- administered establishments there are granted to good conduct, to application, to zeal, and progress in labor and school the following r(;wards: In the second penitentiary class, liberty to choose books from the library and to attend the lessons given in class, the use of tobacco — limitcMJ, however, to tlie hours of promenade in the exercise-yard — and liberty to have served to them a supplementary or extraordinary ration of food. In the third or higher class there are added to the above- mentioned rewards the privilege of promenade and free conversation with their fellow-prisoners of the same class, liberty to wear their beard, to work in their free hours for themselves and their families, to adorn their cells and to have plants in them, the use of a patch of land for .a gardlaces of trust — such as that of fortMuan — to sn|)(u iiit<'.nd Wn'.'w fcllow-iuisoners in learning trades, or to execute certain exceptional lahoi-i in the administrative, industrial, and domestic s('i'vi(!es. In tho cantons where the old convict-prisons still exist, th(> most fre- quent o(fe,nses against disciiiline an; disolx'dience and insubordination; next come escapes or attempts to es'cape; then lies; and finally immo- rality in acts and words. In the penitentiaries iu whi(;h the Auburn PRISON DISCIPLINE SWITZERLAND UNITED STATES. 45 system has been iutrodiiced it is foimd that the infractions most fre- quent are disorder, want of cleanliness, and viohition of the hiw of silence ; in the penitentiaries of recent construction, the want of pro- priety and dignity, lying, idleness, and disobedience. The disciplinary punishments in use may be divided into three classes: In the prisons whose organization is imperfect, and where the reforma- tion of the prisoners is not the aim of the imprisonment, we find exist- ing the dungeon and corporal puDishmeuts f in penitentiaries on the Auburn system, more or less completely organized, corporal punish- ments are gradually disappearing, and are replaced by a diet of bread and water and by confinement in the dark or ordinary cell; in the modern establishments there is coming into vogue a new series of pun- ishments, of a moral order, among which figure, by the side of the dungeon and the diet of bread and water, admonition, privation of work, of reading, of visits, of correspondence, and, in general, of all or a part of the diversions, alleviations, and other indulgences above men- tioned. Corporal chastisements are passing away, and in their place are substituted the strait-jacket and the cold-douche bath. Those who, through mischief or negligence, destroy or injure the effects, objects, instruments, and raw material placed at their disposal, are obliged to pay the value of the damage done. In most of the prisons are found registers in which the punishments inflicted are fully recorded. These registers, in the modern peniten- tiaries especially, give complete information as to the occasion, the kind, and the nature of the punishments inflicted. § 13. There are, perhaps, in the United States a thousand prisons large enough to have the word " discipline " applied to their management; and in these every variety of discipline, lack of discipline, and abuse of discipline are found. • In many, little is sought beyond the security of the prisoner and the convenience of the prison-keeper ; in many others, the discipline is intended mainly to be deterrent, but through laxity or severity becomes a stimulus to crime ; in some, it is really deterrent without being reformatory in aim or result; in a great many, the nominal aim is reformation, but the reasonable means thereto are neglected ; in a few, the wise combination of deterrent and reformatory means is at- tempted, and succeeds (in one direction, or in both, according to the skill, opportunity, and perseverance of the prison government. But the great majority of prisons in the United States are, in fact, neither deter- rent nor reformatory to any great extent ; sometimes because no effort is made to comply with the laws — which almost everywhere require in terms this twofold discipline, though they do not often furnish suitable means — and sometimes because the best agencies are not employed, or are not continued persistently. The deterrent agencies are solitude, silence, hard fare, and constant labor ; sometimes also severe punish- ments are employed. The reformatory agencies are instruction — secular and religious — industrial training, the encouragement of shortened sen- tences for good conduct, &g. By some of these means " it is sought to plant hope in the breast of the prisoner and keep it there ;" and to these are added gratuities for work, the visits of pliilanthropic persons and of the prisoner's own family, and the promise of help in leading an honest life upon his discharge. Conditional pardon, which enters so largely into the Crofton prison system, has little place in ours, the commutation- laws, by which sentences are shortened for good behavior, being almost the only feature of the Crofton system much in use here, and that not very systematically. Probably punishments are more relied on than rewards in governing 46 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. the prisous; but there is not rnucli variety of either in most of them. Flogging- is forbidden by law or nsage in most of the States, but is practised in some prisons where it is forbidden. The same is true of the iron yoke, the shower-bath, the iron crown, suspension by the thumbs, and other modes of torture. Deprivation of privileges, solitary im- prisonment — often in a dark cell — and wearing a ball and chain, are the most common punishments. Of rewards, the chief is a shortening of the sentence for good behavior; this, in truth, is about all there is that exerts much effect. The other rewards are petty privileges, such as better food, the use of tobacco, a light in the cell, &c. There is no exact mark-system, so far as is known to the undersigned, in any Ameri- can prison, but there may be examples not yet made public. § li. The principle of conditional release, or the power of abbreviat- ing the term of sentence, is fully introduced into the English convict- prisons. The maximum of abbreviation is one-fourth of that part of the sentence passed in the public works or congregate prison, no ac- count being made of the time spent in cellular separation. This remis- sion is gained by industry alone, which is measured by marks, a certain number of which are accorded daily to the prisoner, according to his dili- gence. The diligence and zeal of the convict are further stimulated by a system of progressive classification, whereby he may pass through four* classes during his term of sentence, viz, a i)robation, first, second, and third class ; and certain selected prisoners are also i^laced, during the last year of their sentence, in a special class. The minimum stay of the convicts in each of the three lower classes is one year, and the remainder of the sentence may be passed in the first class, unless a prisoner is promoted during his last year into the special class. Every promotion is followed by certain privileges, and each class wears its own badge. Though limited, these privileges offer inducements which are keenly felt. They are, in addition to remission of sentence, more frequent com- munication by visit or letter with their friends, greater freedom for ex- ercise on Sundays, and increased gratuities to be paid them on their release. The disciplinary imnishraents in use are forfeiture of remission, degradation to a lower class, the loss of privileges gained by industry, solitary confinement, reduction of diet, corporal punishment, and so on. The i)ower of punishing a prisoner resides only in the governor and in the director. The limits of punishment in both cases are laid down by the secretary of state, and no punishment can be awarded without full investigation of the charge coM(lu<;ted in tlie presence of the prisoners. The governor has ])o\vers sufficient to deal with minor- offenses, and every ])unish- iiH'Mt he, orders is n'[)()rtcd to the direct()r with a statement of the pris- oner's (((IV'iise. I'hc, iliiector, whose functions correspond Avith those of a magistrate, awards piinishuK-nts for offenses of a grave <'liaracter. Only the director lias power to award corporal punishment, and lu^ only for certain offenses dfliiied by thcsccictary of state, and after full inquiry on oath conducted in the most- formal mann<^r. No unusual punishments may be indicted. (liaiuH, hatnlciiffs, or means of s[>ecial restraint may not be made use of except und(!r avarin, all the larger prisons have chaplains wholly devoted to the duties of their oflice; in the district and police prisons, the cler- gyman of the ])la(;e ofli(!iiites. The regular chaplain is bound to hold staled jieriodsfor writing letters ; theonly con- dition would seem to be permission by the director. All letters, going MORAL AGENCIES BADEN BAVARIA PRUSSIA — SAXONY. 51 out or coming in, are examined by the director. Their correspondence has a beneficial effect on the prisoners. If the ties of family have been broken, they are thereby re-knit; if otherwise, they are made stronger. Prisoners may receive visits at any time by leave of the director. The visits are not to last nsually beyond fifteen minutes; they must be in the presence of an oflicer, und must be carried on audibly, and in a language understood by him. The visitor may neither give nor receive anything from the prisoner. The influence of these visits upon the prisoners, like that of their cor- respondence, is found to be useful rather thnn injurious. (3) Chaplains are found in all the prisons of Prussia, and for all forujs of worshi^j. They hold divine service every Sunday and once during the week ; administer the sacrament to the prisoners at stated periods ; give religious instruction ; superintend the primary instruction given by the schoolmasters ; are bound to labor seriously for the salvation of the souls of the prisoners; and, with this aim, must visit them regularly in their cells and in the infirmary. In all instruction given to adult prisoners, the aim is not so much to impart new knowledge, either useful or necessary, as to teach them to rellect, and to liberate them from that sad brutishness which is so often the chief cause of their crimes. The less instruction is an exercise of mere memory, and the less it demands a mere mechanical activity, the more it engages the attention of the entire man, and the more it acts at once on heart and intellect ; and to that extent it the more efficaciously fulfils its highest purpose. It is held in Prussia that the unchanging truths of religion and morality, when taught in a worthy and striking manner, best fulfil the highest aims of instruction and are richest in satisfactory results. Such instruction in prisons is, therefore, regarded as one of the most important means for the moral reformation of the prisoners. Private persons who are known to have great interest in all that con- cerns prisons, and who possess a high moral character, may, at their request, have admission into the prison, with a view to labor for the moral and spiritual well-being of the prisoners. There are many Sunday-schools in the prisons of Prussia, but neither the manner of conducting them nor their results are stated. Prisoners must have special permission from the director before they can either write or receive letters ; but such permission is withheld only in exceptional cases. All letters are read by the administration. The chaplain generally delivers the letters addressed to the prisoners; he takes this occasion for acquiring a knowledge of their relations and their affairs, and seizes any opportunity he may thus have of inducing them to seek eternal life. Such correspondence with their friends and relatives as is permitted has, in general, a beneficial effect on the [)risoners. Visits to prisoners are only exceptionally allowed, and when the vis- itor's character is above suspicion. Tliey are made in a room apjiropri- ated to the purpose and in the presence of an official charged with listen- ing to the conversation. Their general moral effect is good, and both visits and correspondence are regarded as an etiicacious remedy for the despair and wretchedness which so readily take possession of prisoners. (i) In Saxony, the religious wants of prisoners are equally regarded and cared tor, whatever their creed may be. Just as in every truly re- ligious household all the members must mutually help to attain what is desired, so in the Saxon prisons (it is claimed) everything is arranged for the purpose of promoting, above all, moral education by common worship of God and individual care of the soul. Eut the use of extra- 52 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. ordinary moral agencies is not allowerl. It is alleged that tliey have been found unpractical, and that prisonersplace little conlidence in strangers. Consequently casual visitors are not admitted, even though their pur- pose be the moral improvement of the prisoners. (5) In all the prisons of Wiirtemberg there are Protestant and Catho- lic chaplains. Their duties are to hold divine service on Sundays and festival-days, and to give once a week religious instruction to the prisoners of their respective creeds and general pastoral counsel on all suitable occasions. For prisoners of the Jewish faith there is similar provision for religious instruction. The labors of the chaplains are declared to be most valuable and beneficial in their results. Permission is not given to volunteer laborers to enter the prisons on missions of benevolence to the prisoners. Prisoners are allowed, under certain restrictions, to receive visits from their friends and to correspond with them. The regulations and results are much the same as in the other German prisons mentioned in this section. § 6. Under the head of moral and religious agencies, the supreme director of prisons in Italy, in his report submitted to the congress, holds the following language : No one will deny that religion lias an iranaeuse influence over man ; but to exercise that influence it is necessary that religion should be sincere and implanted in the heart, and it is in no wise to be confotincled with superstition or prejudice. There is no doubt, therefore, that, with those prisoners who have that innate religious senti- ment, practical acts of piety and the exhortations of the chaplains have weigiit; but with the I'cmainder, though it be well that the ministers of religion should do all in their power to implant religious feeling, and though the administration neglects noth- ing which seems conducive to this end, yet it does not consider moral agencies of minor importance, and the greatest of these is the good example to be set before the deliu- ijueuts by the behavior of the directing officers and jailors. In some provinces voluntary or semi-oflicial visitors were formerly- admitted into the prisons, and the government still allows such ; but the administration does not deem it exi)edient to pass an opinion as to their practical usefulness so long as the commission for penitentiary reform is still deliberating on this important question. § 7. All the prisons of Mexico do not have chaplains, nor, when they have such, do tlu'y also have them for all denon)inations. Even where chap- lains are ai)i)()iute(l, they have no well-detined oihcial duties to perform, exce[»t so lar as their ecclesiastical functions are concerned, and their duty of course is always to advise and comfort the pi'isoner and direct liim toward reformation. Keligion is believed to be the most valuable means of reforming tln^ prisoner. On the days and during the hours allowed by the lules, the ser\:if ions on each jtrisoner's manner of life and coiuluct. If the eli;ipl;iin is e(|ii;il to ills high mission and /eidous in its duties, the iacul- ti(^s of Mie prisoners are considerably dev»'lo|)(Ml ; they gain a ciear i)er- cpption of justice; and many of tiiem iir(^ h'd to form a firm resolve to Hve iti future an lioii(>st bfe. Snmhiy-si'hoois ure found in a few prisons, but they are exceptions to a general inle. Where, lliey exist, they luive a, beii(>ficial effcM-t. I'ersods not (;onnecle(i with llu' adminislration e;ni iiave access to the j)risoiierH only by special permission. Men of high character, and, known to be prudent and capable of laboring for their moral reforma. MORAL AGENCIES RUSSIA— SWEDEN— SWITZERLAND. 55 tion, are readily permitted to visit them. In the prisons for womeu Avell-kuowii ladies have obtained leave to visit the prisoners on Sunday to iustrnct them, and give them practice in singing. Th(; privilege of correspondence is pretty freely granted to prisoners, particularly with their nearest relatives, and is found to have a good influence on them. As regards visits, prisoners awaiting trial, and those sentenced cor- rectionally, have a large license ; but those sentenced to hard labor can- not see even their nearest of kin without special permission from the director. Visits are always made in the presence of the director or of an officer detailed to that duty. Duly regulated, they have no bad effect. § 12. Ministers of the Eeformed and qf the Catholic religion act a« chaplains in the prisons of Switzerland. The rabbi of the nearest locality is invited to visit such co-religionists as are occasionally found in them. In the establishments which are imperfectly organized, the chaplains, for the most part, coutine themselves to the celebration of public woi-ship. In proportion as the prisons approach the category of penitentiaries that aim at the reformation of the prisoners, these officers are seen paying regular visitts to them, consoling and counseling them, superintending the religious instruction of the juvenile delinquents, and fulfilling toward them all the duties of their ministry. Eeligious instruction, as a means of reforming prisoners, is looked upon in Switzerland as of the highest importance and as exercising the happiest influence, particularly if the person charged with it possesses the special aptitudes suited to the high mission which he is called to fulfill, and throws aside, as far as he may, mere dogmatic questions. Prisoners in whose heart the religious sentiment is not extinguished at the time of their entrance are easily impressed by the exhortations of the chaplains; on the other hand, such as do not possess it offer to the instructions of religion a soil arid and ungrateful. Among prisoners self-deception and hypocrisy are not unfrequently met with ; yet it often happens that individuals who reject or are ignorant of the Bible end by finding in its pages the consolation of which they are in pursuit. Sunday-schools, properly so called, do not exist in the Swiss prisons. At Ziirich the chaplain holds a catechetical exercise in the afternoon, and afterward an instructor gives a lesson in sacred music. Persons of both sexes, not connected with the administration, are admitted into the prisons to labor for the moral improvement of the prisoners. In the cantons which have new penitentiaries, such persons are authorized to visit the prisoners in virtue of decrees of the legisla- tive authorities. This is especially the case with members of aid societies, who have free access to the prisoners whom they seek to succor. In the female penitentiaries iadxr patronesses are frequently met with, especially in the cities which were visited in 1839 by Elizabeth Pry, and where, at the instance of that good and charitable woman, ladies' aid societies were organized to console, to place, to watch over, and to sustain criminal womeu. At Ziirich, where a society of this kind exists, the lady patronesses give to the female prisoners in the peniten- tiaries regular lessons and take charge of their religious instruction. The privilege of correspondence with friends is accorded, but under different regulations and with greater or less frequency in different cantons. In the establishments where the progressive Crofton system has been introduced, prisoners of the middle class can write letters every two 56 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. months, those of the higher class every month. But an extension of this favor is often granted, especially in cases where the (;orrespondence is of snch a character as to draw closer the ties of family, to exert a good inflnence, and contribute to the moral cure of the ])risoner. This powerful means of moral reformation is more or less neglected in estab- lishments where the organization is imperfect. As the letters pass under the inspection of the director, his eye sometimes detects senti- ments which have their taint of hypocrisy; but, in spite of that, the correspondence of the prisoners manifests a strong family afitection, and awakens tender household memories. The visits of relations and intimate acquaintances are permitted the same as correspondence, and are most carefully regulated in the prisons where penitentiary education receives the greatest attention. The in- ternal regulations of different penitentiaries grant the indulgence of visits more or less frequently, but the average is about once a month. As in the case of correspondence, an extension of this privilege is often accorded when the visits are found to have a salutary effect. § 13. The American report on this branch of the general subject is exceedingly meager, and appears to the undersigned, with all possible respect to the eminent and noble-hearted author, not quite just to the chaplains of our higher prisons, which alone, for the most part, of American prisons, have an officer of that class. There is scarcely a county jail in the country which enjoys the services of even a nominal chai)lain, and it is doubtful wliether there is one which has such an offi- cer exclusively devoted to the moral and spiritual welfare of its inmates. Most of the state-prisons have chaplains, but few, it is believed, of the prisons holding a middle ground between the state-piison and the county jail have them. The report represents indifferent chaplains as the lule, good and effective ones as the exception. The undersigned would reverse this order. He has had personal knowledge of many of these gentlemen, and, as a class, he cannot help regarding them as earnest, devoted, hard-working, useful prison off;,cers, and, he is sorry to ho compelled to add, very ill i>aid for the work they do. It has often been matter of woiuler to him that men so competent could be had for a comjxMisation so disproportioned to both the amount and the value of the service rendered. He has known instances in which the services of chaj>laiiis have been sought by wealthy churches, at largely increased rates of remuneration, and in wliich they nevertheless resisted the tempting call and icmained in their humbler position of prison pastor, from love to tlu^ Master and to those in whom, all fallen and criminal as they are. He has deigned to declare that He is Himself visited and minist(;red to. However large the prison may be, even though it con- tain an avenige population of a thousand or more souls, there is seldom, if e\'er, more than one chaplain ; and he is charged, not only with the H[)iritual care of this immense multitude, but also with the oversight of the pi'isoner.s' corresponrayer-meetings, which ar(^ atlciided l»y jjiisoneis varying in niimlxM- from a score or so to several IimimIkmI. Into most of our prisons workers from outside, of known jniidence and i>i<'ly, are freely admitted to labor, in ai vai'iety of ways, for the moial and spiiilual benefit of the conN'icts, in most cases (not in all) with excellent, elfcet,. Corj'es])ondence and visits of friends are perinitted in all prisons, but MORAL AGENCIES UNITED STATES ENGLAND IRELAND. 57 nniler a variety of rein'nlatioiis and restrictioiis too luimerons for state- ment. The general testimony of wardens and chaplains- is that the effect of both is lieneficial rather than otherwise. § 14. In England, every convict-prison has its staff of ministers of religion, who hold two religions services on Sunday and morning prayers daily, besides performing all the ordinary pastoral duties during the week. For the most part, tlie chaplains are not permitted to have any other occupations than those appertaining to their office, thus being left free to devote their whole time to the improvement of the prisoners placed under their spiritual care. The advantage of thus inculcating religious truth and seeking to awake religious feeling is held to be in- contestible, and notwithstandiu'g the doubts which have been called out by injudicious exaggeration of the results of these influences, the ad- vantages thus afforded are much appreciated by j)risoners, and the exer- tions of the ministers of religion bear perhaps as much fruit as in the world outside. Volunteer working visitors are not admitted into the convict-prisons. Periodical letters to respectable acquaintances are allowed, the fre- quency vai\ying according to the class. The same is true as regards the receiving of visits. Both privileges are found to be beneficial in their influence on the convicts. All county and borough jails in England are provided with chap- lains. Their duties are substantially the same as those of the chaplains of convict-prisons. No Sunday-schools exist in these prisons and no volunteer workers are admitted. Letters may be written and visits received by prisoners on the expira- tion of the first three months of their imprisonment; but as a very small proportion of the inmates remain three months, and not one in a thousand six months, it would seem to be, in regard to the mass, but a barren privilege. § 15. The regulations and usages of the Irish convict-prisons are sub- stantially the same as those of England in all that relates to the general subject-matter treated of in the present chapter. No ofiBcial report was made to the congress in so far as the borough and county prisons of Ireland are concerned. CHAPTER V. SCHOLASTIC EDUCATION. § 1. The average proportion of prisoners unable to read, in Austria, on their commitment, was, during the years 1868, 1869, and 1870, 38 j)er cent, of men and 50 per cent, of women. As a rule, all Austrian imsons are provided with schools. All prisoners of a suitable age to learn, (thirty-five years and under,) and who are either wholly illiterate or of defective attainments, are required to attend the prison school. The subjects taught are the common primary branches, together with composition, the elements of natural history, physics, geography and history, and, in rare cases, drawing and geometry. Besides this, in all the prisons for men, instruction in vocal and instrumental music is given, but only as a reward of merit and to such prisoners as possess musical gifts. The progress made in the schools is satisfactory. Libraries have existed in the j)risons only during the last few years. 58 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. The works selected are, besides those of a religious character, popular works ou history, geography, natural history, physics, husbandry, tech- nical subjects, and political economy, books of an entertaining and instructive character, as biographies of celebrated men, accounts of trav- els, descriptions of customs and manners, and moral tales. The use of the libraries is constantly increasing. Those who are able to read receive books for themselves; for those in associated confinement who are una- ble to read, readers are appointed. Preference is generally given to tales, travels, and biographical sketches. Only prisoners of some education ask for books of a higher standard. The influence of this reading is* exceedingly good, not only because the keeping of order and quietness is thereby greatly assisted, but because the mind of the prisoner is in this way withdrawn from his every-day life, directed to new objects, stirred to higher and better thoughts, and thereby unconsciously enno- bled. § 2. In Belgium, 49 per cent, of the prisoners when committed are un- able to read. Every prison with fifty inmates or more has a school or a teaching lecturer. At the penitentiary of Louvain, attendance is obliga- tory on all prisoners; at Ghent, it is obligatory on all under thirty years of age, and is permitted to those who have passed that limit. In other l)risons, attendance is obligatory on all juvenile delinquents and ou all adult prisoners who, having a sentence of at least six months, are under forty; it is permitted to all others. The instruction given in the peniten- tiary schools includes religion — which is taught by the chaplains or un- der their immediate direction — morals, reading, writing, arithmetic, ele- mentary notions of grammar, history and geography — particularly the history and geography of Belgium — the elements of geometry and linear drawing in their relations with trades, and other branches of a l)ractical utility. Great progress is made by the jmsouers in these studies. Libraries are found in all the prisons of Belgium. They contain three classes of works, which meet three several wants : that of reforming the i)risoners, that of instructing them, and that of diverting their n)inds by the reading of books at once entertaining, moral, and instruc- tive. The prisoners are very fond of reading, and spend much time in it. The inliu(Mi(;e of these readings is found to be excellent, and the forma- tion of ])ris()n lil)raries (it is thought) cannot be made with too much care and disciimiiiation. §3. In Denmark one or two school-masters are appointed to each l)rison. I'risoners under eighteen, who are only isolated at night, rec(;ive a sp(;cial treatment, with two or three hours', instruction a day. In cellMJar i)ris()ns, convicts under forty receive two to three hours' in- sLruction ji week. In the associate prisons, instruction is only given on Sundays, I<]very jyrison has school-rooms and a library. §4. The average proportion of aack to LSI!*. In virtue, of a (Ua^nie of December UG of that year, })rimary instruction, embracing nsiding and the first elements of calcu- lation, was required to l)e, given to prisoiKUs, following, as far as their nnnilxT perniit ted, the nietlnxl of mutual instruction. Since that time the administration has eslabbshed s<-,hools in all the inq)orLaiit prisons. In iSfit;, tlie minist<'r of tin; inteiior ()r(leic(l that a gr«?ater extension be given toprimaiy instruction, andrequircd that almost the entire prison- SCHOLASTIC EDUCATION — AUSTRIA BELGIUM, ETC. 59 population should be made to share in it, with the exception of old men, invalids, and those whose perversity requires their exclusion. The in- struction given in the prison schools comprises reading, writing, the first four rules of arithmetic, and the legal system of weiglits and meas- ures. To this list of branches may be added mental calculation, sur- veying, linear drawing, and general notions on the geography and his- tory of France. The administration has not been able, thus far, to al- low all the prisoners to participate in the benefits of primary instruc- tion. While striving to give a stronger impulse to instruction, it has "been obliged to discriminate, in admitting i^risoners to the school, by receiving first the youngest, afterward adults, and among the latter those whose conduct is the most satisfactory. The progress made by the j)risoners is generally rather slow, owing to the little aptitude of the greater part of them. Many who entered wholly illiterate leave the prison knowing how to read, to write passably well, and to perform the simpler operations of arithmetic; but a complete elementary education is rare. The administration has not been as well satisfied as it could have wished with the results of the instruction given in the prisons; and it is at this moment engaged in seeking new meth- ods of instruction and a better organization of the schools in the peni- tentiary establishments. The prison libraries include works for Catholics, Protestants, and Israelites, which are intended to serve for their moral and religious in- struction ; also, books of history, accounts of voyages, literary works, treatises on ordinary and technical science, novels, and miscellaneous works. These books are examined with care by the council of general inspection of the prisons. The works of piety admitted by each relig- ion are designated only on the recommendation of the ministers of the different religions. The catalogue contains special indication of the books more particularly adapted to men, to women, and to children. At this moment the superior administration is engaged in re-organizing and enlarging libraries in all the penitentiary establishments. The prisoners are generally fond of reading. Those who have a knowledge of this art nearly always profit from the practice of it. They have their Sundays for reading, and on week-days they read during the hours of rest and at)»meals. In some establishments there are readings in common to convicts who are unoccupied and to others during the intervals of labor. Sometimes such readings are given during meal- time in the refectory. The i)risoners listen to them with interest, but those who know how prefer to read to themselves. The distribution of books takes i)lace under the superintendence of the instructor or the chaplain, who, in his selection, has regard to the antecedents, the apti- tudes, and the conduct of each prisoner ; and the officers charged with this duty perform it in such manner as to cultivate a taste for reading by all the means which are consistent with the exigencies of the service. Books specially written for pxisoners are not those which they prefer. They read with greater pleasure books of history, voyages, novels, and narratives which have touches of the marvelous, of elevated sentiment, and of renowned actions. Eeading is found to exert a happy moral influence upon the prisoners. Those who contract a taste for it during their imprisonment are gener- ally well behaved. Properly directed, reading effects a salutary revo- lution in the soul and imagination of the prisoner. Hence, the choice of books becomes a matter of great importance. Works which amuse by the interest of the narrative and the charm of the style, and those w^hich have in them an element of instruction, contribute to enlighten 60 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. and to inform the prisoner at the same time that they afford to him diversion and consolation. They serye to awaken in him the love of home, and sometimes predispose him to the duties of religion. § 5. The German states report as follows: (1) In Baden only 4 per cent, of the prisoners are unable to read when received. Schools are organized in all the prisons. Male pris- oners under thirty-five are required to attend, women till they are thirty; beyond the ages named, tbose attend who choose. The sub- jects of instruction are the same as those in good primary schools. With few exceptions, the prisoners make satisfactory progress. Every prison has a good library. The books in it are religious, instructive, and amusing. The prisoners for the most part are fond of reading. Books written expressly for prisoners are in little request. Educated prisoners prefer descriptions of voyages, biograi^hies, and technical books ; those less educated prefer tales. Suitable reading exercises a beneficial influence ; it instructs and relaxes the prisoners' minds, and thus aids their reformation ; it favors discipline by removing the feeling of enmti and the tendency to disorder. (2) In Bavaria 12 per cent, of the prisoners on commitment are illit- erate. Schools are established only in houses of correction and the general jirisons. Attendance is obligatory till thirty-six; after that, it is optional ; but prisoners under thirty-six who are already sufficiently educated are excused, if they desire it. School instruction comprises reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, and German ; choral singing and drawing are also taught — the two latter subjects being optional. Prisoners who attend school for less than four months make no great progress ; those who have a longer term make very considerable advance. The libraries consist principally of treatises of a religious and moral character, of books which are generally useful, of popularly-written works on natural and general history, and of popular editions of German classics. Almost all prisoners in cells read a great deal and enjoy it, but those undergoing collective imprisonment prefer conversation. Eeading ex- ercises a good influence by doing away, in great measure, with the evil consequences arising from idleness, and promotes the prisoner's improve- ment by the cultivation of his mind. Simple tales and entertaining books are ))referred — religious books least of all. (3) Of one hundred i)risoners sentenced to hard labor in Prussia, seventreference is given to the young and to those whose education has been greatly neglected, and whose intel- lectual facidlies give promise of subsecpient ])rogress. The iirescrilted subjects of instruction are sacred history, reading, writing, arithmetic, singing, and sometimes drawing. The lessons in reading at the same time give instruction in the history and geography of Prussia. 'J'lu», arithmetic is such as isuselid in daily life. The prison- ers ai-e iiiligent, in learning, and make satisfactory progress. The prisons have libr;iiies eonlaining I'eligious, inst rMcti\'e, and (mter- taining l)(»oks. In l.sii!) the total nnmiter of hooks in these liltraries was ] tt,'llS: 12,210 enterluiiiiiig and instructive, 2;),7 lo educational books; the remainder were, icligions works. Most of the prisoners are willing and dilig(^nt readers. They all show SCHOLASTIC EDUCATION GERMAN STATES ITALY, ETC. 61 a marked preference for histories and works on natural science written in a popular style. Such reading has evidently a very good influence on them. (4) The prisoners in Saxony are generally sufficiently instructed in the elementary branches, but not many of them have gone much beyond that degree of education. The penitentiary takes especial care to supply the defect of the elementary- education by obligatory weekly instruction. The general and special preparation for their calling is supplied to the prisoners by free instruction on Sundays. Such instruction is not obligatory, but the prisoner has a claim to it arising from good behavior. It is voluntarily given by the officers, and not by the clergymen and teachers alone. The library in the penitentiary of Zwickau contains 5,000 volumes of religious, instructive, and entertaining books, thus providing for all the mental wants of the prisoners who, under the care- ful assistance of the teachers, are diligent readers. (5) Prisoners unable to read and write on their admission to the prisons of Wiirtemberg form a rare exception. Out of 1,317 prisoners pi-esent June 30, 1871, nine could neither read nor write ; eight could read and not write. All the prisons have schools. The prisoners must attend school till thirty years of age ; prisoners above that age are allowed to attend. The prison schools are as efficient as good primary schools. The branches of instruction are reading, writing, arithmetic, moral and sacred history, geography, history of the kingdom, and, in some prisons, drawing. Those sentenced to short imprisonments have their former knowledge recalled and fixed more firmly in their minds; those suffering long imprisonment have it extended, and thus get a higher education. Atten- tive and diligent prisoners are muchideased to take part in the instruc- tion. In all the prisons there are libraries. The books are religious, instructive, or entertaining. § 6. Both scholastic and industrial education is regarded bj' the peniten- tiary administration in Italy as a ])rincipal agent for the reformation of prisoners. To judge of the breadth and efficiency of the former, it will suffice to compare the degree of instruction possessed by those who enter and those who leave the penitentiaries. The illiterate among those entering are : In the bagnios, 92 per cent. ; in the penal establishments, 64 i^er cent, ; and in the establishments for minors, GO per cent. These l^ercentages are reduced for those leaving the prisons to: In the first class named, 73 ; in the second, 46; and, in the last, 12 for the houses of custody and 3 for the reformatories. In each penitentiary there existsii school, to which is admitted the largest possible number of prisoners, the youngest and best conducted having the preference. In the houses of detention and the reformatories, the school takes a wide range, as it admits all the inmates indiscriminately, and in these are specially taught drawing, vocal, and instrumental mu- sic, agriculture, some foreign language, &c., and this with admirable results. Every prison, whether for juveniles or adults, has a small library belonging to it, the formation of which specially occupies the attention of the central direction. The greater part of the works composing these libraries are books written si)ecially tor prisoners, and others selected from educational works, written in a pleasing style and l^resenting clear and elementary notions of the national history, mechan- ics, moral tales, &c. As soon as the prisoners acquire the ability to read, they show a great inclination to it ; but almost invariably they seek in books some diversion from their monotonous life, or food for the imagination, rather than a fund of solid knowledge ; consequently few of the books read by them are of a didactic character, but the greater 62 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. part are novels or romances, of course always of an unimpeachable moral tendency. § 7. Schools do not exist in all the prisons of Mexico. Wherever they do, tbey are usually frequented by all illiterate prisoners. The education imparted consists of tlie various branches of primary instruction and of religious and moral teaching. The progress made is satisfactory. There are no libraries in the Mexican prisons. Generally prisoners do not read much, as they belong for the most part to the lower classes of society, where education is seldom imparted. Many are not able to read. §8. Thirty-five to thirty-eight in the hundred will indicate, with suffi- cient accuracy, the proportion of prisoners in the Netherlands who are unable to read and write at the time of their entrance. Schools exist in all penal establishments, except in the police and cantonal prisons. In the cellular prisons the instruction is given in the cells. All prisoners, up to the age of forty years, who do not know how to read and write, are obliged to receive that instruction. The branches commonly taught are reading, writing, and arithme- tic. The system of instruction leaves much to be desired. Reforms have been introduced or are in contem]ilation. In the two central prisons for juvenile prisoners, the system of instruction is all that can be desired. There are libraries in all the prisons, which include books on morals and religion, histories, travels, &c. The books are specially classified according to the dift'orent religions. Most of the prisoners are fond of reading; they generally prefer books of history, travels, and the like. Their reading has a happy effect upon them. § 9. Only about one in the hundred of persons committed to prison in !Norway is entirely illiterate. Schools exist in all the penal prisons, but not in the minor prisons of the districts ; yet, even in these, some instruction is given to ignorant young prisoners who remain for any considerable time. Instruction is given in religion, reading, and arithmetic; to some extent, also, in writing and music. Generally, the prisoners make good progress. Lil)raries are found in all the prisons. Those in the district prisons contain chieily, though nor wliolly, religions books; those in tiie penal prisonsenibrace, besides religious works, histories, travels, &c. Naturally the prisoners, especially those confined in the cell-prisons, apply them- selves eagerly to reading, and evidently ])rofit by it. § 10. In Russia very few of the i)risoners, when received, are acquainted with reading and writing. Schools are giadnally introducing into all the prisons of any size. Attendance is optional. As regards the kinds and dcgrco of instruction imi)arted, no details can be given, as j)eniten- tiary educiition is still in its infancy. It is proposed, when fully organ- ized, lo iiiaUe it broad and comjtrehcnsivo. Mr. Savenke, a distinguished S|iecj;ilist, has already made, some remarkable expiu-iments and achieved extraordinary icsults in this department of prison work. Lihiaries, though still hut poorly supplied, are found in many prisons. The prisoners are fond of reading and of having books read to them, wiieii there is no eonqudsion in the case. § II. Neaily all the prisoneis eommitted to the Swedish prisons can rearactical instruction, not only in the lessons which they are studying, but in methods of teaching. The school is now very well graded and classified. Nightly records are made of each individual in school, and a system of monthly examinations aud reports is in operation, which not only tests the progress of the pupils, but meas- ures the success of the teachers also. Hence the new school-year of ld72 opens very auspiciously. This testimony is the more reliable, especially iu what relates to the comparative progress made by the prison-students and by the pupils in the public schools, inasmuch as Mr. Tarbell, the principal of the male prison-school, is also principal of one of the most important of the public schools of Detroit, and hence speaks with thorough knowledge of both classes of schools and scholars. Mr. Brockway makes this frank confession aud gives this sound ad- vice : In view of the benefits of the school it seems incredible that 1 conld have spent more riiau twenty years iu the management of prisoners, aud never, until I8iS, have , introduced this measure. Let me urge all who can do it thi)roughiy to put this feature into their nniuagement, as indispensable to satisfactory reformatory results, working and waiting for such changes in the law as shall enable us to carry the educatiou of every prisoner we receive to a point promotive of liis pecuniary piosperiti', his cousciou-* self-respect, aud his probity of deportment. H. Ex. 185— J QS INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. General I'ilsbury, of the Albany penitentiary, the teacher of Mr. Brockway in general prison management and discipline, is, as regards penitentiary education, nobly following the example of his distinguished pupil. He has fitted up a large and commodious school-room, giving a desk to each convict-scholar, and other accommodations equal to those afforded in the best public schools of our large cities. The work of instruction is ^gorously prosecuted and is yielding satisfactory results. Prison-schools are organized or instruction is given at the cell- door in many of our state-prisons ; but it is far from being as thor- oughly organized or as effective as at the Detroit House of Correc- tion. Of the 1G,000 prisoners in the state-prisons of the Union at the present moment, from 4,000 to 0,000 may be receiving scanty instruction in schools of some sort. Of the estimated 22,000 prisoners in common jails and houses of correction it is safe to say that not more than 3,000 are receiving any scholastic instruction whatever. We have already seen that about 20,000 of the 38,000 prisoners in the whole country are practically illiterate, and certainly less than 8,000 of these are under instruction in the prisons. Such a condition of things calls loudly for reform, and it is, therefore, a cheering circumstance to be able to add that the number of prison-schools is constantly increasing, and that their character improves day by day. The condition of penal institutions in the United States is much better in respect of libraries than of schools. Most of the state-prisons and houses of correction have libraries, some of them large and excellent. Probably the aggregate number of volumes in these two classes of prisons is 25,000. With the exception of the States in which slavery prevailed till within a recent period, of jirisoners confined in the state-prisons from eight to nine-tenths are able to read sufiliciently well to be enter- tained and profited by it. The taste for reading, thanks to the good libraries in our prisons, has become quite general with the prisoners; and there is a singular unanimity among the ofUcers of prisons as to the high advantage they derive from the indulgence of this taste. With one voice they bear testimony to the value of the libraries in communi- cating useful knowledge to the prisoners, in elevating their minds, in beguiling many an otherwise tedious hour, in making them cheerful and contented, in aifording material for profitable reflection, in supydying good topics for conversation with them, in improving the discipline^ and in constituting one of the most elfective of reformatory agencies. § 14. The dei>artment of education in the English convict-prisons, in- cluding the care of the library and the distribution of books among the l>risoners, belongs to the chaplain. Jiooks are supplied to the prisoners, ])oth of a i)ur('ly religions and of a more general character; and those who aiortiiniti('s anrisoners are engaged. The employments introduced into the prisons are chosen, preferably, from among those most likely to afford the prisoners, after liberation, the means of an honest livelihood. It is held in Belgium that labor ought not to be im- posed as a punishment, since the first necessity of man is labor, and the first sentiment to be developed in him is the love of labor. The liberated prisoner ought not to carry with him, on his discharge, the idea that w^ork is a i)unishment in this world, and that he has suffered it long enough during his imprisonment to hasten, at the hour of his deliver- ance, to free himself from its chains. Labor should be exhibited to him in tlie prison (as it is in society) as the source of the physical and moral elevation of man. He ought, in all things, so to identify the life of man with the necessity and the attraction of labor that even in captivity it should be still, if not the image of happiness, at least a solace attached to its exercise and an idea of punishment from its privation. In a word, if labor ought to enter as a penal element into penitentiary imprison- ment, it is not in the use but the privation of it. Undoubtedly, labor ill penitentiary imprisonment ought to be obligatory; but it ought not to l)e inii)osed on the i)risoner under 'the empire of constraint, but as an obligation to wliich his reason, his interest, his necessities, everything, oiigiit to urge him. I'enal labor is, therefore, repudiated in Belgium as inconsistent, in its very nature, with the fundamental idea of a true prison discipline. Two systems of labor are found in the Belgian prisons, namely, that of letting the labor to contractors and that of working it by the state. ICadi of thes(! systems is thought to have its special advantages and en to abuse, and n<'i ds to be guarded ;ind wjitclicd with the greatest circumspection. PEISON LABOR AUSTEIA BELGIUM DENMARK, ETC. 69 Only one system of lettiug the labor prevails — tliat of awarding it to contractors who offer remunerative prices and adequate guarantees of solvency and moralit3\ All the prison-keepers are required to be arti- sans, and they are charged, not only with the supervision of the i)ris- oners belonging to their several sections, but also witii instructing the prisoners in the trades which they are learning. From 60 to 70 per cent, of the prisonei^ have no regular business or assured means of support when committed. It is looked upon as a point of the greatest import- ance to impart to them, during their imprisonment, the art of self-help by teaching thera some regular business and training them to the love of work ; the more so, as it is believed that ignorance of a business and aversion to labor are among the chief causes which impel men to the commission of crimes against property. Hence special effort is made to give to the prisoner a clear perception and strong realization of the necessity of mastering a business while undergoing his punishment, so that, after his release, he may be able to work for his food, his bed, his clothing — in a word, to assure the satisfaction of his essential wants. § 4. In the prisons of France there is no x^eual labor, as that expres- sion is commonly understood. The penal system is no longer founded, as formerly, on suffering and terror. Corporal punishments have dis- appeared from it. What is desired at present is to punish the criminal; what is sought as the end of that punishment is his reformation. There- fore, industrial labor alone is found in the prisons, obligatory in the case of those under sentence, permitted in the case of the arrested and the accused. It is thereby sought to prevent the dangers of idleness and to form the taste and the habit of labor. In the smaller prisons there i« difficulty in organizing the labor. In the central prisons the labor is thoroughly organized ; if any are without occupation, it is the exception, and not the rule. Large industrial workshops in these estab- lishments continually present a scene of busy toil. Different industries, to the number of fifty or sixty, have been introduced into the male cen- tral prisons. The principal are shoe-making, the manufacture of hosiery, weaving, button-making, cabinet-work, lock-smithing, the manufacture of hardware, tanning, &c. There are, besides, three establishments in Corsica and one in Belle Isle, in which the prisoners are engaged in agricultural labors. Sewing, which can be applied to very different kinds of work, is almost the only industry pursued in the female cen- tral prisons. Piece-work is the general rule. With a view to avoid the competition of prison labor with free labor, the rates of payment for the work done have to be studied and regulated by the administration, which carefully considers before-hand the different interests involved. The rates must be the same as those paid to free industry for the same kinds of labor. The contract system of labor prevails in most of the prisons of France, and is the one to which the administration gives its j)reference. Of the men committed to the central prisons, 5 per cent, had no reg- ular calling or business i:)rior to commitment ; of the women, 12 per cent. Evidently this cannot mean that so large a proportion had learned trades and become artisans. The administration exerts itself, as far as possible, to cause to be taught to the prisoners previously without a regular business some calling which will enable them after liberation to gain an honest living. § 5. Germany reports : There is no merely penal labor in the prisons of any of the German states. (1.) In the Grand Duchy of Baden, the labor of the prisoners is not let 70 'international penitentiary congress. lb to contractors, but is managed by tlie administration itself. This sys- tem is preferred because it enables the authorities to observe the state of each prisoner and to exclude all outside elements prejudicial to dis- cipline and reformation. It is sought to introduce variety of trades, so tliat too many may not be employed on any one to the injury of private industry. An extensive market and the highest prices are sought. Forty per cent, of the jn-isoners are ignorant of a trade on entry. To impart to these a trade and the power of self help, if they have the requisite ability and stay long enough in prison, is the principal work. This result is arrived at by improving the prisoner's morals, by scholas- tic and industrial instruction, and by the whole prison treatment. (2) The several industries in the Bavarian prisons are conducted by their respective administrations. When prison-labor is given to con- tractors, another authority is placed between the administration and the prisoner, which cares only for making the greatest profit out of the prisoner's work.' Not only is discipline thereby interfered with; but the character of the iiunishment is changed and its purpose is placed in jeopardy. From the disciplinary and penitentiary ])oiut of xiew, the giving of prison labor to contractors is condemned in Bavaria, even though the profit derived therefrom maj- be greater than if the adminis- tration carried it on. ■ The i)roportiou of prisoners who, on entering prison, are ignorant of a trade is 29 per cent. It is made a special ol)ject to impart a trade — and so to teach the art of self-help — to all j>risoners who have the necessary capabilities and whose terms of sentence are long enough to permit it. (3) In the i)risons of Prussia more than fifty diftereut trades are car- ried on by the men and ten by the women; a portion of the male pris- oners are also occupied in farm-work. The plan commonly adopted in the i)risous of utilizing the labor of the convicts is that of letting it to contractors; what work shall be given to contractors is settled by the administration. It has absolute control in the selection of prisoners for the performance of the work and over its execution. It is deemed important to have such a number and variety of trades that, in allotting prisoners their work, due regard may be had to their trades before admission and also to their capacity. Each particular branch of industrial labor is, by the regulations, given to one contractor; the system of "general contracts'' lias no existence in Prus- sia. The contracts are so made as to exclude all direct relation between the prisoner and the contractor. It is conceded that the state loses financially by this system, but is claimed that it simi)lities the adminis- tration. About /i per cent, of the inmates have knowledge of some trade on entry. As it is considered highly important for a prisoner during his imprisonmont to Icaiii how to lielp himself on his liberation, it is made a spj'ciiil object to teach hitn a trade, if he had not learned one before. In addition to scliool instruction and ai)prenticeshii) to a trade, he is bound, in order to learn tlie art of self-help, to keep himself strictly clean, take due e;ii<'. of his clothes, see to the cleanliness Of his cell and all utensils, and lo the ])i'o]>er oi'der of his bed. (1) Saxony, om- of Hk^ most industrial (;ountiies, i)roduces in her i)ris- ons almost all the, din'erent articles of industry and trade. 'J'he work is ]»artly given to contractors, avIio are entirely dependent on the adminis- tration of the ]>enitentiary, and is ]>artly managed by the latter itself on its own a(;count. The system of giving the work to contractors, who are in entire dependence on the administration, has the preference, be- cause, as it is thought, the oflieeis camiot be at the same time good PRISON LABOR GERMANY ITALY MEXICO, ETC. 71 tradesmen and good officers, and because the interests of the two would be opposed and conflictiug. The profits of the prisoners' worlc cover from about one-third to one-half of all the prison expenses. (5) Besides the necessary work done for the prison itself, there are carried on in the prisons of Wiirtemberg some fifteen to twenty different trades by the men, and eight or ten by the women. Both industrial sys- tems find place — that of letting the labor to contractors and that of directing it by the administration. The opinion is held that preference should be given to the one or the other, according to the nature of the work. More than half the prisoners, when received, have a knowledge of some trade. As far as possible, the prisoner is put at the same trade in l)rison at which he worked before, or he is taught some other, selected by himself, of those carried on in the prison. The same is true of those who had not learned a trade before their imprisonment. § 0. In the penitentiary system of Italy there is no labor bearing an exclusively penal character. It is sought to give to the industrial edu- cation of the prisoners the turn which seems best suited to them, and to impart the trade most easily mastered. Labor has no other aim in the Italian prisons than to overcome the natural propensity to idleness in the criminal, to accustom him to a life of activity and hardshix), and to giv^e him the means of obtaining an honorable livelihood. The industrial arts mostly practised in the penitentiaries are those of the shoemaker, carpenter, blacksmith, and weaver, and in the bagnios the prisoners are made agriculturists, laborers in the salt-deposits, and workers in cotton, hemp, &c. Until 1808, the industries of the prisons were managed by the administration. Since that time, as an experi- ment, the contract-system has been introduced into eleven prisons. The question, Which is the best of these two systems? is so compli- cated and difficult that the administration is unwilling to pronounce an opinion till it has made further trial of each. § 7. Penal labor does not exist in Mexico. The sentiment of the com- missioners who prepared the report for the congress is opposed to such labor, first, because it does not contribute to the moral improvement of the prisoners ; and, secondly, because, to render it effectual, it would be necessary to use actual violence, which always humiliates and de- grades those who suffer it. The contract-system is not found in the prisons of Mexico. It is considered very important that during their confinement prisoners should learn some trade that may enable them to earn their livelihood, as the chief reason why they relapse into crime is that, after they have served their time, they do not find any work ; and the want of this re- duces them to miserj^ and leads them to commit fresh offenses. § 8. In the penitentiary establishments of the Netherlands unpro- ductive or merely penal labor is unknown. Industrial labor, the only kind in use, is everywhere directed by the administration. But both systems of labor, the contract-system and the system by which the labor is utilized on account of the state, have place. Taking the whole country together, it is believed that about one in four will correctly represent the proportion of prisoners without a trade at the time of commitment. It is regarded as a matter of the highest importance to impart to prisoners during their incarceration the power of self-help, and this result is diligently sought by teaching them, to the utmost extent possible, some useful calling. § 9. Industrial labor alone is pursued in the prisons of Norway, and it is managed exclusively by the administration. Many prisoners learn 72 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. a trade while in prison. Eflort is made to train them to liabitvS of in- dustry, and it is constantly set before them that, of all the causes of crime, idleness is one of the most prolific. § 10. In Russia, a marked difference between different kinds of labor is beginning to show itself. Industrial work, which scarcely existed in. times past, is now making great i^rogress, owing to the advantages it offers to the prisoner, who sees that he can thereby best escape relapse. Penal labor alone cannot, it is held in liussia, have a beneficial influ- ence. This is clearly proved in Siberia, where the number of escapes is counted by thousands. An intense hatred of the authorities and a strong desire of vengeance are the result when penal is not accompanied by industrial labor, which latter is the sole means of reformation. Industrial labor has produced good results in Eussia oidy when let to contractors. It is now a question whether penal labor shall npt be let in the same way. It is held that the administration shou-ld not interfere with its direct duties by the care of commercial undertakings. A thoroughly organized bureau of statistics has but just been estab- lished by the ministry of justice. It is therefore impossible at present to give the exact proportion of prisoners who are without a trade when committed 5 but it is certainly more than one-half. To impart the knowledge of a trade to prisoner ignorant of such knowledge is a special point in the reforms now projected. To give him the power of self-help is regarded as of the very highest importance, since peniten- tiary science, in its whole scope and essence, is but a struggle against the tendency to relapse. § 11. There is no penal labor in the prisons of Sweden as contradis- tinguished from that which is industrial. In the associate i)risons for men, most of the prisoners are occupied in cutting granite for build- ings, for pavements, &c. In one prison a part of the inmates are en- gaged in cutting up pine-wood for matches, another part in making fine joiners' work. In still other prisons, linen and woolen cloths and blankets are manufactured, as well as all the garments and bedding for the prisoners and a part of the clothing for the army. The women are engaged in making textile fabrics, in all sorts of sewing and binding, in glove-m.iking, &c. In the cellular ymsons various kinds of laborare per- formed bj^ the men, such as tailoring, shoe-making, joiners' work, &c. ; and by the women, weaving, sewing, knitting stockings, &c. Kecently the manufacture of match-boxes has been their j)rincipal employment, industrial labor has the elfcct to give the prisoners habits of order and diligence, arul to render the violent more tractable. All the industrial labor in the associatet what is done for the prisons themselves. Nevertheless, the opinion is hehl that, to secure the best results in respect of moral reformation, all the industries should be under the direction and control of the ])ris()n admiiiistration its(^lf, and not tiiat of contractors. In Sweden the inhabitants of the towns form oidy 12 per cent, of the total pojMihition. Jn the country men aie cliietly farm-laborers or miners. Tiic conscciuciice is tiiat only a small ])roi)ortion of prisoners had leariKMl a tiMdc juior to their committal — not more, indeed, tlian 10 per cent. To jiut the prisoner in ])oss('ssi(m of a ti'ade, by which he may earn an iioncst Ii\ ing after his rch'ase, sp<^cial trade-masters, dur- ing recont years, hav(^ Ix'cn employed to give tlie nec(%ssary instructions in the cractised in the great prisons of Joliet (Illinois,) and Sing-Sing (New York,) the largest in the country. At the Auburn ])rison, agricultural tools are extensively manufactured ; in the (Jliio stato-i)rison nuiiiy convicts are employed as saddlers, wheel- wrights, and blacksmiths; in the cellular prison at Thiladelphia, (the eastern ])enitcntiary,) the ern])l()yments, being pursued in the cells, are maiidy sedentary, such as shoemaking, weaving, and the ligliter kinds of wood-work ; in Massac^husetts ornamental iron-work, brushmaking, shoemaking, and sewing by means of the sewing-imu^hine are common prison employnnuits. In tlio Maine state-prison, the warden, being a carriagcMMiikcr, has introdiKH'd that branch of industry; in the prison of Northern New ^'o^k, at Danncniora, a, grcMit iron min<>, furnishes ore, whi(;h is sinclte*!, Corgcd, and wrought into nails by the (convicts ; in the Mi(;hig;in state prison, at one time, tanning hiatinu- was largely prac- tised ; in the Detroit House of ction chair-making has been the PRISON LABOR UNITED STATEtS ENGLAND IRELAND. 75 thief industry. In fact, there is scarcely any mechanical occupation that has uot been carried on in some one or more of our prisons. In general, the labor of the convicts is hired by contractors at a fixed sum per dciy, and this varies from a few cents to something above a dollar a day, the highest contract wages being paid at the Massachusetts prison. In a few of the prisons, perhaps a tenth part of the whole number, the whole prison labor is managed by the prison administra- tion, and in nearly all vsome part of the labor is so managed, especially where the building or enlarging of the prison is going on. It requires great skill and business capacity in the head of a prison to manage its industries, and for this reason such management is extremely liable to failure. On the other hand, the contract system often introduces moral and financial corruption, injures discipline, and demoralizes the convicts. A few years ago the expenses of nearly all our state-prisons exceeded their earnings f but a change has been going on in this respect, and there is now fully a fourth part of them that earn more than they expend. Every one of the six ISTew England States reports a profit from its state- prison, ranging from $20,000 a year in Massachusetts to $1,200 in Connecticut ; and the excess of earnings over expenses in the six prisons (containing an average of some 1,100 convicts) was last year above $39,000. With a smaller number of convicts than this, Ohio shows an excess of earnings amounting to more than $40,000. Under skillful and honest management, all our state-prison convicts might perhaps earn their own support and $30 a year besides ; but two-thirds of them, and perhaps three-fourths, fall far short of this. In the eastern peniten- tiary, of Philadelphia, with about 600 convicts, the annual deficit, in- cluding oflBcers' salaries, is nearly $60,000, or $100 for each convict; in the three great prisons of New York it averages more than $50 for each convict; in Maryland it is about $30 for each convict, and so on. In the county and district prisons very few of the convicts support themselves by their labor, but the Boston House of Correction, the Rochester Peni- tentiary, the Albany Penitentiary and the Detroit House of Correction are self-sustaining, and the two last-named prisons earn each a consider- able surplus every year. The net cost of supporting all the prisons above their earnings must be nearly $3,000,000 a year for the whole country, since there are 38,000 prisoners, and the average annual cost of each one abo^se his earnings cannot well be less than $80. § 14. Penal labor, except so far as oakum-picking may belong to that category, is not used in the convict-prisons of England. It has for many years been an established principle in English convict-prisons to endeavor to instil into the convicts habits of industry, to develop their intelligence by employing them on industrial labor, and to facilitate their entering the ranks of honest industry on their discharge, by giv- ing them facilities for acquiring a knowledge of trades. These objects are fortunately conducive to another very desirable result, viz., that of making the prisons self-supporting in various degrees ; some of them doing an amount of labor the value of which more than covers the cost of their maintenance. The gross cost for maintaining the convict establishments in England during the financial year 1871 was £313,633, and in the same period the earnings of the convicts amounted to £228,244, or £22 19s. i^d. per head on the average number. The net cost of the prisons, after deduct- ing the value of the prisoners' labor, amounts only to £85,389, or £8 10*. per head. The contract system is not in existence in the English convict-prisons, the industries being managed wholly by the administration. 76 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. lu the county and borougb prisons, great prominence, as a rule, is given to penal labor, such as the tread-inill, crank, shot-drill, oakuni- picking, stone-breaking, &c. In a few, industrial labor is well organized, and its products go far towards defraying the ordinary expenses of the establishments; but in general the earnings of prison labor are exceed- ingly moderate. § lo. The labor-system in the Irish convict prisons is substantially the same as that in the English prisons of the same class, except that at the intermediate prison at Lusk, to which there is nothing corresponding in the English convict system, the men are mostly engaged in farm- work. CHAPTER VII. SANITARY CONDITION OF PRISONS. § 1. The system of drainage in the Austrian prisons leaves little to be desired. The water-supply is reported as always sufficient in quan- tity, and for the most part good in quality. In the southern provinces, during the hot season, as the water in many prisons is supplied from cisterns, it is not as good as might be wished. In such prisons a modi- cum of vinegar is sui)plied to the prisoners, to be mixed with the water. Most of the prisons are well ventilated. The cells are thoroughly cleansed and painted every year. The corridors are cleaned daily and the floors scrubbed with sand and water at least once a month. The cleansing and disinfecting of water-closets take place every day. Per- sonal cleanliness is rigorously exacted. The body linen is changed weekly and the bed linen monthly. The prisoners must take at least four baths a year. The collective prisons are furnished with portable water-closets ; the cellular have in each cell a fixed closet, which stands under a ventilator reaching to the roof. The dormitories and cells are lighted by gas or oil, mostly the latter. The heating of the-prisons is done partly by iron stoves, partly by hot air, with necessary precautions for keeping a sufficient quantity of moisture in the atmosphere. The bedsteads are generally of wood ; iu some cases, however, of iron. The bed is of straw, with pillow of the same or of African forest hair; two sheets, and one or two blankets, according to the season. The bed for the sick is the same, but the linen is finer, and it has a cotton cover- let. i«Iine hours are given to sleep. The remaining fifteen are divided thus: Keligious services, one and one-half hours; meals, exercise, and rest, two and one-half hours ; labor, ten and one-half to eleven hours ; at- teiMlance at school, (which is taken out of the hours for labor for those who frequent the lessons,) two hours. tSick ])risoners are placed in the iiifirniaiy or hospital, and cared for according to the doctor's orders by nurses taken from among the prisoners who show themselves worthy of such confidence; but tlios<^ prisoners who have only slight ailments are tr(!ated in tlieir rooms or cells. Insane prisoners are taken to the public Innatie, asylum. The diseases most fre- j)lied, and in the niajoriiy of prisons it is of good (jnality. All prisons built within the last forty years have been furnislied with an effeart with satisfactory results. The same is true as regards the ])ersonal cleanliness of the ])risoners. As regards the system ol" wat«'r-closets, preference is generally given to inodorous, portable vessels, with a reservoir outsiry general use, but by degrees they liave bt'cn rei)lac,ed l»y open bedsteads. Tiu' bed, complete, consists of ;i mattress and bolster, two sheets, one eoveilet of a coarse PRISON HYGIENE ITALY \i:T!IERLANDS NORWAY, ETC. 83 material, and one or two blankets, according to tlie temperature of the season. There is no general rule regarding the distribution of time. The hours of labor (including those of school) are ten in summer and nine in winter, and, of sleep, eight and a half in summer and nine in winter. The remainder of the time is at the disposal of the prisoner for meals, rest, study, and reading. A distinct part of the prison-building serves as an infirmary. In the cellular prisons, cells of double dimensions are appropriated to the sick. The medical service is couiined to a military surgeon wherever there is a garrison; to a civil p'lysician in localities where there is no garrison. The entire service is under the inspector-general of the medical service of the army, and is performed in a highly satisfactory manner. The most common diseases in the prisons, as outside, are diseases of the chest, especially phthisis. The average of the sick and of deaths it is not easy to give. It differs a good deal in different prisons, depending on local circumstances and the class or species of prison. The difference in the duration of punishments, which is by no means inconsiderable, exercises a great influence on the i)roportionate number of the sick and of deaths. § 0. A good system of drainage is reported for the Norwegian prisons. The water-supply is unlimited and of good quality. The ventilation of the prisons is reported good. Cleanliness, both of the i^risons and prisoners, is enforced to the utmost practicable extent. The larger prisons are lighted witli gas; the smaller with oil. In the penitentiary and most of the district-prisons the rooms are warmed by hot water; in the other district-prisons by stoves. In the penitentiary, hammocks are used ; in the other penal establishments, wooden bed-frames ; iu the district-prisons, both sorts. The bedding consists of mattress, pillow, sheets, and blankets. The working-time cannot legally exceed fourteen hours in summer and tea in winter. The actual time employed in labor is less, varying from twelve and a half hours, as the maximum, to ten, as the minimum. The hours of sleep are not stated in the report. Every penal establishment has its own physician. In the district-prison s^ medical assistance is given by the official physician of the district. § 10. In the new prison-constructions of Eussia, in spite of the diffi- culties offered by the climate, the greatest pains are taken to secure good and effective drainage. In the old prisons, everything connected with this subject is in a more or less barbarous state. The same thing is true as regards ventilation. The water-closets are generally primi- tive. Those used during the day are simply perforated planks above a pit more or less deep ; for use by night there are portable vessels oi wood. Efforts are now making to find a method which will unite economy, cleanliness, and pure air in a severe climate ; but the problem Is not easy of solution. The prisons are lighted almost everywhere by tallow candles. They are warmed, for the most part, by stoves. In ex- ceptional prisons the system of Amossoft' is employed. In this system tubes for conducting heat unite at a common subterranean furnace or fire-grate. Other systems have been also tried, but none has yet given a satisfactory solution of the difficulty as respects cheapness, climate, security, and other desirable advantages. In most prisons the prisoners have no bed. They sleep on planks, ranged side by side, and fixed on stools about three feet from the floor. The bed, in prisons where it is found, is the same as everywhere else : a mattress and bolster filled with straw, linen sheets, and a coarse cloth blanket. The large jirisons have hospitals in which the sick are treated, 84 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. and whicli are well kept. The more comuion diseases are scurvy and consumptiou. There is not a large proportion of sick prisoners. The same cannot be said of the number of deaths. This fact is explained by the kind of life that the prisoners lead before their imprisonment ; they had been too much addicted to alcoholic stimulants. § 11. The situation and drainage of the i^risons of Sweden leave little to be desired. It is quite common to build them on water-courses. The water for the prisoners' use is of good quality and the supply without stint. In the associated prisons there is no apparatus for ventilation ; in those on the cellular plan it is otherwise. The strictest cleanliness is enforced. The prisoner, on his admission, has a bath and receives clean clothes. He changes his linen weekly and his sheets every fort- night. Frequent bathing is required, especially in summer. Water- closets are variously constructed, but they are not completely satisfac- tory. Gas is exceptionally used for lighting, oil and petroleum being commonly employed for that purpose. The larger cellular prisons are beated by hot water ; the others, both cellular and associated, by open grates or stoves. The bedsteads are generally of iron in the associate prisons ; in the cellular, hammocks are used. The bedding does not difier materially from that supplied in the prisons of other European countries. In winter the hours for sleep are from 8 p. m. to G a. m. ; in summer from 9 p. m. to 5 a. m. Each morning and evening, half an hour is occupied in washing, in prayer, and in inspection by the officers. Half an hour is allowed for breakfast, the same for supper, and an hour for dinner. On Saturday work finishes at 4 o'clock. In winter those who labor in the oi)en air work as long as it is light. The prisoners in cells walk for half an hour each day in the court of the prison. They work at most ten hours per day ; the remainder of their time is spent in reading and receiving instruction. In the cellular prisons the sick are commonly attended to in their cells ; but they have a bed instead of the usual hammock. In serious cases, or in epidemics, the sick are transferred to a special room which is found in every cellular prison. In prisons on the associated system there are intirmaries with spacious and well-ventilated rooms, to which all prisoners are removed who, from sickness or wounds, are unable to work. Xo prisoner on the sick-list is allowed to remain in the work- rooms or in the common dormitories. The most common diseases are j)ulmonary consumption, aifcctions of the stomach and intestines, especially among prisoners wlio work in the oi)en air. During summer scurvy not unfre(]uently prevails. For live years the average of sick has been, in collective prisons, 4.4 per cent.; in cellular prisons, 4 per cent. In the same ])eriod the deaths were, in the collective prisonsj ."> I)er cent. ; in cellular prisons, li per cent. § 12. In the more recently constructed prisons of Switzerland and in those which have undergone extensive alterations, the sanitary appli- ances are sii(;h as the best exi^erience an. There isno gcMieral scale of ])ri son dietaries in the United States, and Irom tlu; diversities of climate ami i)r()duction Ihei-e could scarcely be on(! ; for wliat would be salutary at lioston might be otherwise at 2^cw Orleans or ("harleston. In the Western States fresh moat is much PRISON HYCilENE SWEDEN SWITZERLAND, ETC. 85 more freely used than on the sea-board ; but iu all our prisons uieat is much more common tlian in those of Europe, being generally given twice a day in the state-prisons. Another frequent article of food is Indian meal, made from maize, and served up in the form of " mush," (which is a kind of pudding,) or of "brown bread." This is little used in Europe, and is not to be highly recommended as a common article of diet. The ventilation and drainage of half the American prisons are reason- ably good; of the other half indifferent or bad ; in many instances very bad. Probably one-fonrth of all the prisons, and a larger proportion of the state-prisons and honses of correction, are kept scrupulously clean ; a great many, particularly among the county jails, are foul and filthy. Yet most of them are free from sickness, and the death-rate is not large. It cannot be given with any accuracy, however, for lack of care- ful statistics. Ln the" cellular prison of Philadelphia, dnring a period of forty-two years, there were 353 deaths in a total number of 0,4IG per- sons. As each person probably spent about three years in prison on an average, this would ,give a death-rate of 353 in 20,000, or 17.65 in a thousand, less than 2 per cent., which is not very great. Among an average number of 2,471 prisoners in Massachusetts in 186S, 41 died ; in 1S(]9 the average number was 3,043, and the deaths were 55; in 1870 these numbers were 2,971 and 58 ; in 1871, 3,145 and C8. In an aggre- gate average population of 11,630 this gives 19.35 for the annual death- rate per thousand in four years, which, all things considered, is less than in Penns^'lvania. § 14. The sanitary arrangements and condition of the English con- vict-prisons are reported as good. Xo epidemic or other diseases pre- vail in these establishments. They are kept iu a high state of cleanli- ness, and the medical officers are required to examine and report fre- quently on this point. The average death-rate for the last five years has been 1.37 per cent, for males and 1.45 for females. In regard, to the county and borough prisons the same report sub- stantially was presented to the congress by the government inspectors. § 15. The sanitary arrangements in the Irish convict-prisons are re- ported as excellent," and the condition of the prisons in this regard as altogether satisfactory. The diseases most prevalent are colds and mild febrile and puhnonary afi'ections. C H A P T E R V I I I . REFORMATORY RESULTS. § 1. Public punishment has two objects in Austria : the vindication of justice and the reformation of the criminal. The sad fact is ac- knowledged that the efibrts for the moral improvement of prisoners have not been'attended with good efiect. No proofs exist that prisoners are made better by their punishment. The proportion of those who relapsed and were re-convicted during the years i.S68-'70 was: Men, 59 per cent. ; women, 54 per cent. § 2. The execution of punishment in Belgium has in view the double aim of expiation and reformation ; the latter of these objects is steadily kept in view and earnestly sought by the administration. It is claimed to be in proof that in the cellular ]irisons the moral state of the prison- ers is, in "eneral, better at the time of their discharge than at that of 86 INTEKNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. their entrance. Those who manifest evil inclinations are lew in num- ber; nearly all have sensibly moditied the sentiments Avith wiiich they were animated at the time of their commitment. iStill it would seem that the good resolutions formed in prison yield, to a very great extent, to the temptations to which the liberated prisoners are afterward ex- posed in free life. Of the prisoners committed in 1872, 78 i)er cent, had been in prison before, and had fallen again after their discharge. The authors of the report made to the congress claim that this result can- not be charged to the cellular system, since nearly half the i^enitentiary establishments are still conducted on the congregate plan. § 3. The reformation of criminals is made a primary object of their treatment in Denmark, but though the convict generally leaves the prison with good intentions, yet his power of resistance often proves too weak to conquer temptation. § 4. The supreme aim of i^ublic i)unishment in France is deterrence, that is to say, the intimidation of criminals, and the repression of crime by that means. The moral regeneration of the convicts is considered as one of the means of action which the state can and ought to employ to diminish the danger of relapse, but not as the princii>al aim of the pen- itentiary system. In the case of piisoners sentenced to short terms of imprisonment it is difficult to obtain favorable reformatory results. On the contrary, the criminal so im])risoned is apt to become sensibly de- teriorated. In support of this view, the report states that in France the proportion of relapses is in inverse ratio to the duration of the pun- ishment. According to the last official report on criminal justice, of persons ]>rosecuted for crime, those previously convicted formed 42i per cent., and of misdemeanants, o7i per cent. § 5. The states of the German Empire reporting show the follov/ing condition of things: (1) Punishment is the primary aim of iminisoument in Baden, but it is intended to be so iniiicted as to make it contribute to the reformation of the imprisoned. Those who leave the prison are generally better than when they entered it. The proportion of tliose who return to a criminal course after release is 20 per cent. (2) In Bavaria, although reformation is looked upon as one great ob- ject of the prison system, the favorable results desii'ed are not, upon the whole, obtained. The ])r()})ortion of le-convictions is about 30 per cent. (3) The i)rincipal aim in Prussian prisons is to satisfy justice, and to make the ])risoners feel their i)unishment as an expiation of their crime. At tlie same time, all suitable means are emi)loyed to effect their moral reroi'imition. Ijfforts are made to give tlu'ni habits of order and work, and llicir minds are inllaenced by scholastic instruction, s[)iritual conso- lation, and moial i)re(;epts. Nevertheless, of prisoners sentenced to hard hil>or, tlic only class with respect to which n^liable statistics exist, GO to 70 per cent, in the whole kingdom are recidivists, that is, persons who. after their liberation, liave again fallen into crime. (4) III 8a.\ony reformation is made one of the chief objects of im- prisonment. The prisoners are in general better on leaving the prison than wlu'n they entered it. Their promises that they will live honestly ai'e, in most, «;as('s, not m.u'e em])t.y i)hrases ; and wIkmi some have failed in their imiposc, of amendment, the fault is mostly to be traced to existing gencial social <^vils. J'\)r su('C(\sslul warfan^ against these, liberated ])ris()neis are wajiting in energy. {~t) The j)rimary object of imi»risoMiiient in Wiirtemlx'rg is jjunish- mcMit ; yrt it is intended that the ])iinishm('nt shall be so a per cent. — are there on re- conviction. § G. The administration of the Italian prisons finds it a difficult task to decide the question whether its penitentiary system answers the end of reformin<»' the criminal, and whether on discharge the prisoner is morally better or worse. The relapses into crime scarcely exceed 18 per cent, on the whole body of criminals ; but, in 1871, of the criminals sentenced to an imprisonment of more than a year, 28 i)er cent, were recidivists. (Joncerninj^jthe number of re-convictions, a most important fact may be gathered from the registered statistics of the administra- tion relative to the time elapsing between the discharge and the com- mittal of fresli Clime. From these it is found that of recidivists sentenced to the bagnios, 27 per cent, relapse within the first year, 10 per cent, within the first tMo years, and 57 per cent, beyond that space of time. The re-convictions of those sentenced to the penitentiaries are 37 per cent, within the first year, 19 per cent, within two years, and 44 per cent, beyond that laj)se of time ; and among the femnles, 4G percent, within the first year, KJ })er cent, within two years, and 38 percent, be- yond that time. § 7. Deterrence has been considered in Mexico the primary aim of I>ublic punishment, thougli the moral reform of the criminal has not been lost sight of. So far, the prisoners leave their pi-ison-house in a worse state morally than when they entered it ; but it is believed that the changes recently made in the penal code will improve this state of things. § 8. The aim in the Xetherlands is to make the punishment contribute,, as tar as possible, to the reformation of prisoners. The proportion of recidivists given by the (admitted) iu^perfect statistics of the country is, for the general mass of jtrisons, 25 percent.; for the central (higher) prisons, 38 per cent. § 0. Protection of society by deterring from crime, that is, by intimi- dation, is regarded in Xorway as the primary end of prisons and im- prisonment ; but the reformation of the prisoners is also considered a chief jioint. Of the inmates of the penitentiary, about 39 per cent, are there on re-conviction. With regard to other prisons, no information is given in the report. Whether the i>risons have an improving or deteri- orating effect upon their inmates is a question declared to be difficult to answer in a satisfactory manner. § 10. In Russia, the declared aim of all penal legislation is the reforma- tion of the inmates of the prisons; but this aim is very far from having been attained. Indeed, the prisoners are admitted to be worse on their discharge than on their entry, since the liberated are a pest to the coun- try. It is impossible to state the proportion of recommitments, for the want of statistics. § 11. The information furnished by Sweden on this subject is given in the words of the report, as follows : The legislatioD, as well as tlie reform of prisons, initiated by Kin<; Oscar I, coiu- meuced in 1840. lu cousquencc, thirty-eight new cellular prisons were built in all the provinces of the kinj^dom. They have all aimed at the moral reformation of the pris- oners. But as all those who are sentenced to penal labor for more than two years are .imprisoned in the larije collective prisons with common dormitories for a large number of prisoners, and as they work altogether during the day for private contractors, their amendment has not been fully attained. On the other hand, the cellular prisons are regarded as not having corrupted the prisoners. Those who have been imprisoned only in cellular prisons liave not been greatly hindered by their imprisonment from finding employment in the neighborhood of their home. During the last five j-ears the numl)er of recidivists has risen on the average to 2S per cent. But since Sweden suf- fered from scarcity of food in 1866, 1867. and 1868, and conseipieutly it was difficult for men to iiiul work, an extraordinarv addition was made to the number of crimes against 88 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. property. Hence the percentage of recidivists, before ineutioued, is considerably above the normal average. § 12. For Switzerland, the exact words of the report are also given : The study of social questions, undertaken by numerous societies of public utility, and the reports presented in the meetings of the Swiss Society for the Reform of the Penal System and of Prison Discipline, have enlightened public opinion to such a degree that the legislative assemblies of most of the cantons are favorable to the propositions made with a view to the introdnction of penitentiary reform into all our prisons. On the other hand, public opinion declares itself in favor of expenditures designed to im- prove the condition of criminals only after the state has sujiplied the country with hos- pitals, insane-asylums, orphan-houses, schools, «S:c., that is to say, with all needful establishments dcisigned for the honest poor. In all the cantons where these institutions are found, the old theory of penal rein-ession, based on vengeance, has given place to more humane ideas, the responsibility resting on society as regards the causes of crimes is better understood, and the system introduced into most of the prisons has for its aim the reformation of the prisoners. It is true that the i^eual codes of many of the can- tons are based on punishment, intimidation, and expiation. But despite the text of the codes, which was often written jirior to the reform of the prisons, it is sought in the penitentiaries to employ agencies which may combine at once repression and refor- mation. While in some cantons (those of the two inferior groups) the principle of repression is alone admitted, we see the canton of Ziirich setting a good example by declaring, in its penal code, October, 1870, that the application of punishment ought positively to have for its object the reformation of the criminal. This princix)le, which, some day, will be applied in its whole length and breadth, dates only from yesterday. Hence we need not be surprised that the country is found in that transitional period when the principle of intimidation still struggles against the moral reform of crim- inals. The spirit of vengeance is not entirely extinguished ; it still shows itself when- ever anj' atrocious crime has just been committed. But the moment of indignation is transient, which shows that an immense progress has already been realized, and that , its development proceeds without cessation, in spite of occasional reactionary move- ments. The favorable results obtained in the moral reformation of prisoners subjected to the penitentiary rcgivte of the modern establishments incite the others to a revision of their penal codes. No doubt there are many criminals and correctionals in whose case the inlluence of the improved penitentiary system does not make itself felt. As, among the insane, there are incurable patients, so persons in whom the moral sense has been completely perverted suffer themselves to be impressed in a penitentiary only by the evil which they liud there, and show thomsodves iu9ensii>lc to the goo. Ill \rr.v i(',w of the prisons of the United States, tiikiiii;- tliose of all <;hisHes into a('(;oiint, is the r(!rorinatioii of criminals now made the primary ohject, and, as a matter of iaet, numbers of ])ris()ners leave the prison no better than they (Mitcred it. .Many are made worse rather than better; and this is i)arti(;iilarly the ease in the eonnty jails and with short sentadcn, tlie (|ualities avaria, the can- didates must have stiulied fhe ])rcscril)ed subjects in ])hilos()phy and .jurisprud(Mice, and piisscd tlu^ exandnation admilting them to act as Judges, (yandidates for fhe position ol" i)ljysiciaii, chaplain, or teacher must have completed the studies <'onnec,ted with their several i)rofes- sions and undergoin' satisfactoiy examinations. kSpecial schools do not rUlSOX OFFICKKS (JKRMANV llAf-V MKXHM), JHC. 9l exist for the ediu-ation micl traiiiiii,;;' of piisuii ollicer.s. Su(;li schools, it is heki, would be desirable, since miieh harm is done by i^iioraiice in the treatment of prisoners. (3) The report for I'russia holds that, besides personal integrity, sufficient ii'eneral and special knowledge, directors and superior oflicers should be gitted with true and keen observation, a delicate discernment of individual character, and ability to read the secret thoughts of prisoners. They should also be energetic and strict, and yet kind and entirely im- j)artial. l^'inally, they should possess some aduiinistrative capacity, and be, to a. certain extent, familiar with the technical part of the trades, and have some knowledge of farming. As regards the subalterns, good directors will make them useful ofticers if they possess thorough honesty, imperturbable coolness, unshakable firmness mixed with gentleness, ami a sufficient amount of intelligence and of moral asid religious instruc- tion. No special training-schools exist. It is thought exceedingly desirable that such schools should l)e established for the education of tlie inferior officers, whose instruction, gained at a jirimary school, is seldom wide enough to enable them to perfect their knowledge afterward sufticiently to do tiuything beyond routine work. (4) In Saxony the officers are appointed by the ministry of the interior. They are at first employed on trial, and are dismissed if found incompetent. Political iullueuce does not enter into cousideration. The (|ualiucatiou of the officers is on the average good. Separate schools for training officers do not exist. Most of the superior officers undergo, before their definitive appointment, a practical training in one of the penitentiaries. The higher the duties to be fulfilled becouie, and the more carefully the system of individual treatment is carried out, tho more a knowledge of these duties approaches to science, the niore nec- essary are the studies of pedagogy and psychology, and the more it becomes absolutely requisite to make special studies, in order to assist in attaining the highest efficiency in the administration. Just as no teacher can now be chosen, contrary to what was the case in times past, from men of another calling, but must be a nian who has received a thorough education in his special branch, so the officers of prisons will be required to have special training, and, therefore, in future, special schools will become a necessity. (5) In Wiirtemberg there are no special schools for the education of prison officers. The directors are usually men who have acted as magis- trates, and have been formerly engaged in judicial duties, although ability to act as a Judge is not indisi)ensable for gaining the office of a director. The keepers are mostly non-commissioned officers who have left the army. § 6. Prison officers in Italy are proposed by the local authorities anrl confirmed by a ministerial decree. In making choice of them, no weight is given to their political opinions, but only to their probity and zeal. As prison officers require special gifts ami knowledge, added to ui)right- ness and intelligence, faithfully to fulfill their trust, the administration has for some time entertained the idea of establishing preparatory schools, and is studying the best plan for their regulation. § 7. The only item furnished on this head by the Mexican report is to the effect that schools for the special education of prison officers do not exist in the republic. § 8. In the Netherlands, it is deemed to be necessary that the direct-^ ors and employes of |)risons be men of tried morality, intelligent, and gifted with tact and v.ith the knowledge necessary to inspire the respect 92 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. of the prisoners, even without the use of a severe discipline. This re- spect depends upon the spirit of justice, equity, and humanity which they exhibit in their relations with the prisoners. In the directors especially, there is needed a high degree of mental culture and an enlightened un- derstanding of their duties ; we might say, indeed, of their mission. A knowledge of the more important foreign languages is necessary, that they may be able to read and study the best writings on prison discip- line and to communicate with the foreign prisoners. It is admitted in the report that the nnijority of the directors and employes of the prisons do not possess these talents and qualities, a fact which is due chiefly to the circumstance that the salaries are too low, and that the service of the prison officers is, in general, too onerous, and held in too little esteem. As a consequence, young men of good family and education refuse to enter upon this career. There are no schools especially designed for the education of prison officers. The best school is thought to be a well-organized and well- governed prison, where are offered to the young employes the means of acquiring knowledge and developing their talents, by the reading and study of the best writings on the subject of prisons. § 1). The qualities deemed reciuisite in Xorway in the higher v)rison functionaries are a good education, probity, firmness of character, and special aptitude for their work. Tlie compensation at iiresent paid to functionaries of the lower grade is so small that no great claims can be made upon them. Sobriety, punctuality, firmness in action, a mastery of the more common branches of learning, and the knowledge of some trade are the qualifications most valued. There are no special training schools for prison officers, nor, considering the actual circumstances of the country, are such likely to be soon established. Xo opinion is ex- pressed in the report on the abstract question of their expediency'. § 10. Integrity, humanity, ])unctuality, and intelligence are held in llussia to be the essential qualities of a good jh'ison otticer. The greater part of the actual employes are far from possessing these qualifications to the extent to be desired. The ])rincii )al cause of this deficiency is the scanty recompense accorded them. There are no special schools for the edu- cation and training of i)rison otficers. The author of the report, Count Sollohub, sees no urgent need of such establishments, since, in his view, the essential character of this class of officials is rather moral than pedagogic. The practical part, he thinks, can be acipiired in some days. The count, however, thinks it d(^sirable that there be established in the administration of ])risons a system of gradual i)romotion, and thus of special service, in liarmony witli all the other bran(!hes of the public service. § 11. The qualifications deemed in .Sweden essential to a- good prison officer are a calm and even tenqier, a character humane and serious, a spirit austerely just, and the most exact order and ])uiictuality in the p(!rf<)rmancecial establishments for the instruction and education of this class of otficers. The need of such institutions mak<'S itself more and more felt by reason of the special knowledge and high moral tone recpiired in these officers. The opinion isexi)ressed that, whilcsiichspecial schools are wanting, i)ersonsrison. St ill, as <'\('n there they would a('quii<', oidy tlw. routine, and not the broad knowledge n«'cessary for the due fiillillment of su(;h fnnc- "tions as arc; recjuired of them, it is recommended in the rejjort that there be established a i)enit<'ntiary normal sehool. that is, an institution for • PRISON OFFICERS NORWAY RUSSIA SWEDEN, ETC. 93 the professioual educatioD of young- men who aspire to eiin)loymeiit in the penitentiary service. § 12. In Switzerland the greatest importance is attached to the choice of ofticers charged with the treatment of prisoners, since it is well un- derstood that prisons badly administered, instead of being hospitals for moral diseases, become rather nurseries of criminals. Several of the more recently constructed and better-organized penitentiaries are presided over by men eminently qualified for their i)osition, and they are aided by bands of intelligent employes, who contribute effectively to the mission which penitentiary education proposes to itself. Never- theless, complaint is made, on all sides, of the difficulty experienced in finding, for the corps of subordinate employes, men possessing the requi- site qualities and aptitudes. Schools designed for the special educa- tion of jirison officers do not exist in Switzerland. It is generally felt that such schools would render an excellent service, especially if a just and sound idea should be given in them of the nature and aim of peni- tentiary treatment. A school of this kind would have the immense advantage of preparing officers who, at present, acquire their experience at the expense of the institution. Normal schools for the employes might, it is thought, be organized in penitentiary establishments se- lected for that purpose, in which candidates might pursue a theoretical course, and might also be practically initiated into all the branches of the service. In a well-organized and ably managed i^enitentiary novices who possess the necessary aptitudes become in a short time entirely competent to the discharge of their functions. § 13. The bane of prison administration in the United States is insta- bility, resulting from the frequent change of officers, which is itself a consequence of the wide extent to which political influence enters as au element into their appointment. Some States have measurably escaped this influence, but they form rare exceptions to the general rule. But public opinion is becoming more enlightened on this subject ; and, in l)roportiou as it gains light and vigor, the tendency toward reform by the elimirKition of this malign iiower develops itself and becomes stronger day by day. Except as lowered through political influence, the average qualifications and efficiency of prison officers in America are as good as in other countries,* but the lack of an effective system of control and inspection often makes our prisons less creditable to their officers than the real merit of the latter deserves. There are no special training schools for prison officers in the United States, but veteran and experi- enced superintendents, like General Pilsbury, Mr. Brockway, and a few others that might be named, do, in the course of time, train a consider- able number of good officers. The clearest and most authoritative exposition of the state of public opinion among us as to the policy ot such institutions is contained in the seventh resolution adopted by the National Penitentiary Congress of Cincinnati, in these words : Special traiuing, as well as high qualities of head and heart, is required to make a good prison or reformatory officer. Then only will the administration of public punish- ment become scientific, uniform, and successful, when it is raised to the dignity of a. profession, and men ure specially trained for it, as they are for other pursuits. § 14. In the reports relative to the prisons of England and Ireland, little information is communicated on this subject. 94 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. CHAPTEK X. SENTENCES. § 1. It is held iu Austria that the tiequeut repetition of short seu- teuces is rather injurious than beneficial. They bhint the feelings of the l)risoner both as regards the punishment itself and the degradation con- nected with it, and their customary effect is to confirm him in crimi- nality. ]>y Austrian law, former conviction is looked upon as an aggra- vating circumstance, and the judge is obliged to give a severer sentence on re-conviction, even though the offense be of a ditlerent class. The disciplinary treatment of re-convicted persons is not, as a rule, made more severe than that to whicli tlu)se sentenced for a first offense are subjected. § 2. Kecidivists are move severely punished in Jielginm than persons committed for a first offense. Xothiug is said iu the Belgian report as to the good or bad effect of repeated short sentences, the reporters re- garding this as a question peculiar to the criminal legislation and practice of the United States; a view of the matter which the undersigned, with all due respect, believes to be erroneous. § 3. The criminal courts of ])enmar]<: giv<' short sentences for minor offenses. This increases the number of crimes, though not of criminals, the effect of the short sentences being that the so-called habitual crimi- nals, more frequently now than before the ])resent penal code was pro- mulgated, both enter and quit the prisons. § 4. The authors of the report submitted from France appear to be somewhat perplexed as to the meaning of the expression " minor offenses," used in the question. But whether to be understood in the sense of those trivial violations of law called "contraventions" in the French criminal code, or in the sense of misdemeanors of no great gravity, both of whicli classes of offense are visited in France with but trifling penal- ties, it is confessed that these penalties do not prevent a repetition, nor, indee«l, the frecpient rejtetitioii, of the acts against which tlK'y are di- rected. A relai)S(', winch, in the legal sense, is tlie commission after a penal sentence of a new criminal act, receives little favor from the French law. The circnmstance of a ])]ior conviction, and the greater perversity shown by a repetition of the olfense, seems, iu effect, to demand from the legis- hitor an increase of punisliment. Doubtless, neither theft nor homi- cide changes its nature bc^cause committed a second time; but a crime lias two elements, the substance ol" tlui act and the criminality of its author. Tlui legislator has thought it a duty to take both these circum- stances into <;onsid(aation in measuring the punishment. § 5. (1) Of the (lerman states, Baden answers that rejieated short senteiKU's for trivial offenses ]iroduce no good effect; and, therefore, the penal code of the emi)ire visits recidivists with punishments of a longer duiation. (L!) I'ja\aria ret ui lis a like respojisc. f'rcfpu'nt punishments for minor offens<'s lii'.vr no good inliuence ; either the ]irisoners beconnuMubittered, or the ])nnishni('nts, on account of their frequency, lose their effect. Mor«', it is bclicxcd, can be, done; in thes(5 cases by reproof and teaching than by i>unisiinicnt. lJccon\iction, esjx'cially for robbery, theft, and (he, concealment of stolen goods, is A'ciy heavily punished. (.'>) I'liissia repli(s in the same sense, both as reganls the inefficiency of repeated shoit inqiiisonnients and the necessity I'or increased severity of the punisliment on reconvicticur. .SENTKNCES (iEKMANY ITALY MEXICO, ETC. 95 (4) The answer of Saxouy is iu the following' words : The practice of courts of justice of passing sentences of short duration of iniprison- meut for slight otfouscs, and of repeating them in case of relapse, does not exist, be- cause the penal law of the German Empire, even for theft a third time, orders imprisou- ment in a penitentiary, provided there are no extenuating circumstances. What effect this practice will have in regard to increase or decrease of" criiru-s is yet problematical, and reciuires further satisfactory (ixperieuce. § 6. Recidivists, in Italy, always receive severer pnuishmeiit than offenders on first conviction. But the Italian criminal code does not regard as crimes the class of offenses known as ''contraventions;" lience persons guilty of them are not accounted recidivists in the legal sense, and judicial statistics take no notice of such infractions of law, whatever the numben' of times they may have been committed by the same person. The whole question of sentences is considered so important that the prison reform commission, recently created by royal decree, has thought tit to make it the subject of a special study. § 7. The commission which prepared the report to the congress for Mexico is of the opinion that evil consequences result from the fact that imprisonment is intlicted for slight offenses, even iu the case of a first transgression, especially if the offender be sent to an establishment where prisoners are kept in association. lieconviction receives the punishment which, the attenuating or aggravating circumstance of the case being considered, ought to be awarded to the otfeuse itself, with an increase of one-sixth, if this is less than the former, of one-fourth if it is of the same gravity, and of one- third if it is greater. If the offender has been pardoned for a previous oHense, and if it is not for the first time that he relapses into crime, the increase of punishment may be doubled. § 8. It is not thought iu the ^Netherlands that repeated sentences to short imprisonments produce any good effect upon the prisoner. A re- lapse may give occasion to an increase of the punishment in the ratio of one-third, when the first sentence was for more than a year's impris- onment; and in all cases it is a circumstance which may determine the judge to award the maximum of punishment allowed by the law. § 9. Norway answers tliat experience has not certainly determined what effect repeated short sentences have upon the criminal. A prior conviction increases the punishment to be inflicted by a subsequent sen- tence; but as regards the treatment of prisoners during their incarcera- Ition, all receive the same. § 10. The report for Eussia uses this strong language: "Not only do 'repeated short sentences produce no good effect, but they create criminals by profession." A subsequent offense has the eliect to increase the severity of the l)unishm.ent. § 11. Short imi)risonments for minor offenses are believed, in Sweden, to produce upon the prisoner an unfavorable rather than a favorable influence. The punishment of thieves is gradually increased on each subsequent conviction. A fourth sentence may inflict ten years of hard labor, and in very grave cases the sentence may even be for life. But the national parliament has recently determined to lower the scale of punishment for recidivists convicted of theft. § 12. The directors of the Swiss penitentiaries are nn;;nimous in re- garding repeated short sentences for minor offenses as a pernicious judicial practice which is followed without reflection. The sentiment of justice, as well as the moral reformation of the prisoner, requires that the repression be more serious and more adequately protracted in 96 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. the case of individuals who take on the habit of crime, and who threaten to make it the basis of their character. The effect of these short im- prisonments becomes worse on each successive conviction. The recidi- vists fall deeper and deeper, and the prison cannot lift them up. During the short stay they make in the x)euitentiary establishment, it is impos- sible to teach them a trade or even to make them apt at work. The recidivists sentenced correctionally have more or less lost the moral sense and self-respect. The influence of the penitentiary education cannot aft'ect the individual of this class who, on entering the establish- ment, counts the exact number of days which separate him from free- dom. Such prisoners undergo, more or less patiently, the restraint im- posed upon them ; they are indifferent, and little heed either the present or the future which awaits them. The existing codes in the several cantons denounce a severer punish- ment against prisoners convicted more than once. Some sentence them to the maximum of the punishment incurred ; others add to this pun- ishment its moiety, and even more, in excess of the maximum. Every sentence for an offense exceeding six months becomes an aggravating circumstance in the case of the person who, having suffered it, is pros- ecuted criminally. § 13. It is the practice of courts in the United States to give short sentences for minor offenses, and to repeat them often in the case of the same i)ersou. The effect of this here, as everywhere else, is and must be t-o increase crime, as our prisons are now managed. Such is the unani- mous opinion of all prison keepers, so far as known, in this country. § 14. The reports for England and Ireland are silent on this point. CHAPTEKXI. IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT. § 1. Imprisonment for debt was abolished in Austria by law May 4, 1808, and only a precantionary arrest can take place when the debtor, while the action is pending, is accused of an attempt to escape. Such an arrest is merely a deprivation of liberty, and the prisoner is allowed such advantages* as are consistent with simple arrest. I § 2. Debtors' jnisons still exist in Belgium, but they are empty. Cases of incarceration for debt have become very rare since the publication of the law of the 27th of July, 1871. The treatment to which imprisoned debtors are subjected is not the same as that applied to criminals. They occu])y s])ecial cells, have the ex(;lusive enjoyment of an exercise-yard, and may communicate with each othci', receive four visits a week from their relatives and fiom persons with whom they have business relations, and n)ay correspond i'reely with the outside world. § li. xso information is ailbrded on this point in the report for Denmark. § 4. In Eran(;e the law of the 22d of July, 18(57, put an end to im- jtrisonmciit for n^straint of the body exists no longer, o.x('A'\)t in matters criminal, correctional, and of sim[)le> ])olice. 'J'Ik! usage has Just Ixu^ii i-e-establishcd as regards the payment of moneys due to the Htat<;. in such cases the ])ul)lic minister is bound to take (;arc that [)ers()iis imj)iisony iesting., as well as able, that it is given, without condensation, in the words of the commission which prepared the report. The commissioners say : Among the most general causes of crime in our country are want of education iii the lower classes, abuse of intoxicating drinks, and poverty. Among the temporary and transitory causes which occasion the crimes and offenses committed in our coun- try, the commission thinks tliat the most active are the followmg : The prolongation of civil war, the impressment to obtain soldiers, the bad state of our prisons, the com- motion created in the religious faith of society by the innovations made in ecclesias- tical matters, the want of preventive police, and the bad administration of justice. Though all our statesmen and pbilantiiropists have of late become aware of the im- portance and convenience to tbe public of tbe establishment of the penitentiary sys- tem, the financial diftitulties, the little stability of our governmeuts, and the constant necessity in which we have been placed to defend our existence against the attempts of revolutionary bands— an object which has almost exclusively absorbed our atten- tion — have until now prevented the realization of this great social reform. Conse- quently, great criminals and petty offenders being indiscrimiaately mixed in our prisons, the contact, the association, and the example of the former have exercised a haneful influence on the latter ; and, generally, those who, having otfdnded against the law, are sent to our prisons and have remained some time in them, far from being reformed, leave the jail considerably worse than wheu they hrst passed under its gates. The improvement of our political state will also contribute to do away with, or at least to lessen, the bad effects of this cause ; and the reform of our prisons, directed first of all to the total separation of prisoners, must be, according to public opiuion, one of the first objects to which governuient ought to devote its acteutioa, as soon as we have put into practice the principle that authority cannot be relbrmed by any other means than the pacific action of the laws, and that in con.sequeuce people are no longer exclu- sively preoccupied with the care of their own preservation. 100 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. § 8. The cbief causes of crime in the Netherlands are stated to be the ■want of education, drunkenness, and the desire to make a figure beyond one's means and position. In the case of young prisoners, there may be mentioned, in addition, the influence, often pernicious, of a second marriage of their parents, which not unfrequently, by embittering the position of the children of the first marriage, deprives them of the salutary influence of family-life. § 9. Crime in Norway, being for the most part a violation of the rights- of property and assaults on the person, is traced mainly to laziness, drunk- enness, bad company, neglected education, and the want of good home- influences. § 10. In answering this question for Eussia, Count Sollohub says : The cause of crimes in my country arises from a certain oriental fatalism, wbicli enters profoundly into the character of the people. This fatalism, which is associated "with a profound religious faith, inspires frequently a singular indifference to life and death, to the enjoyments and privations of life, sometimes even to moral good and evil. The result is a spirit of indolence, which, however, is often roused by the temptation to drunkenness and the excitements occasioned by it. At the same time the count avers that the want of a general system of elementary education, abuses tolerated by a still defective adminis- tration, and a legislation which is not yet definitely settled, contribute in propagating lamentable disorders. He holds that, in the Eussian peni- tentiary system, the cause of criminality must be kept in view, just as^ the cause of disease should not be ignored when the ijhysician proceeds to treat his patient. § 11. The chief causes of crime in Sweden are the want of proper care in youth, bad company, evil examples, poverty, and the love of strong drink. An additional cause is that he who has once fallen into crime and been imprisoned for itis generally repelled and left without help in his efforts to gain an honest living. The re-admission of liberated prisoners into society is the more difficult, as by existing law every i^erson who has been sentenced for theft, forgery, murder, &c., is further sentenced to loss of civil rights for a time (at least five years) or for life. This covers him with infamy, and consequently excludes him from all the rights and advantages pertaining to honorable men. His civil degrada- tion is entered on his certificate of conduct. § 12. The question of the causes of crime is elaborately and ably treated in the report from Switzerland, a mere enumeration of which only can be given by the undersigned. These causes are said to be malign or defective education, abnormal family relations, sensualism, recklessness, drunkenness, and want of a trade or other regular business. §13. Tlie prevailing cliai-acter of crime in the United States is hard to define. In (lie South and West crimes of violence, in the North and East crimes of fraud are common, an prisons. The liberated juveniles of the department of the Seine are- placed under the patronage of a society which facilitates their admission to provisional liberty and aids them in acquiring a trade. No better planned, efficient, or successful organization of the kind exists in any part of the world. It is but fair to the i)enitentiary administration of France to say that this last statement is not contained in their report j the responsibility for it is assumed by the undersigned. § 5, Germany responds as follows : (1) In Eaden, the directors of the penitentiary establishments are required to enter, for this purpose, into correspondence with the authorities of the political administration some time before the libera- tion of each prisoner ; it is made the duty of these authorities to unite with the prisoners' aid societies and with the local authorities in j)i"0- vidiug for liberated prisoners. This measure is only of rec'ent date, and its results have not yet shown themselves to any great extent.. They cannot fail to be good. Prisoners' aid societies exjst in twenty-one out of fifty-nine districts.. The results are satisfactory. (2) To procure work for those liberated prisoners who are considered as improved, the administration in Ijavaria puts itself into communica- tion, while the i)risoner is still under their care, with honest employers, with benevolent societies, with the parish vestries, or with other author- ities. The ])risoner receives on liis dismissal, if necessary, clothes and traveling expenses from the funds of the prison. By these jueans i)ris- onerH are often i)reserved irom relapse. In every province of the country there exist liberated prisoners' aid Hocieties; these are, liowever, hampered in their activity by ignorance, and the little- interest Avhich exists in the mind of the public, in many j)lac('S, respeeting their objects. Hut tlu^ Municli Society, which has cxisth)ymeiit for 1,182 dischargwl prisoners, of whom 'Ml have relapsed, \\liile 805 condu(;t themselves well, and may be, consideii'd as refoinied. The objects of these societies are to receive into a relnge, l,li()s(i who are homeless, to try to i)rocurc them work', to give help — more especially in tin; shape of tools — and to- watch earefully tlie conduct of each tlischarged prisoner. LIBERATED PRISONERS GERMANY ITALY, ETC. 103 (3) In Prussia, the administrative antliorities of prisons use their best efforts to obtain protection and work for liberated prisoners. For this I)iirpose they communicate with the minister and authorities of the birth-phiee or residence of tlie prisoner, and, wherever they exist, with prisoners' aid societies. Owing- to the rehictance of masters and work- men to have rehatious with liberated prisoners, the efforts made to aid them have not been satisfactory in their results. Aid societies exist in many towns, bat they have neither a common organization nor a common center which unites them ; and many more are wanted to make them bear any just proportion to the extent of country. Their number is too small and their action too feeble suffi- ciently to realize the objects they have in view. The aim of these so- cieties is to give temporary shelter and work to liberated prisoners, either in asylums provided by the society or in the houses of j)rivate persons of honorable character. They seek in every possible way to maintain relations with their wards, in order to aid them with counsel or pecuniary gifts. (4) Saxony communicates no information on this point. (5) In Wiirtemberg there has been a patronage society for liberated jjrisoners, W'ith branches in the different districts of the kingdom. It has 3,000 members. It seeks to aid its wards by obtaining work for them, and by supplying them with tools, raw material for manufacture, clothes, bedding, &c. § 6. In Italy certain religious associations possess funds that may be used in aid of liberated prisoners ; an occasional patronage society exists in some of the cities. Such societies are what remain of institutions, more or less ancient, which were religiously preserved and even protected by the Italian government ; but there are none of any great importance, except at Milan, Turin, and Florence. The government has sought to extend institutions of this kind; but down to the present time, such institutions are too few in number and too liujited in means to justify a prediction as to whether they will take root in the social soil of Italy, and, if so, whether their rules should be preserved or modified in order that the best fruit for which they were founded may be obtained from them, § 7. The commissioners who prepared the report for Mexico state that as regards the federal district — the only part of the republic of which they have any positive information — committees of vigilance are being established, and to them, among others, belongs the duty of aiding dis- charged prisoners in finding work. § 8. The Netherlands government, as such, does not charge itself offi- cially with the care of liberated convicts ; but many directors of prisons take great pains to find work for them, and generally they have cause to congratulate themselves on the result of their efforts. The greater part of the directors, however, are reported as too indifferent to concern themselves much about the matter. The Netherlands Society for the Moral Amelioration of Prisoners has for its object, not only the visiting of prisoners, but also the manifesta- tion of an interest in their welfare after their discharge from prison. This society counts forty branches, scattered throughout the whole king- dom, and corresponding members in thirty-seven places where tJiere are no branches. To some of the branch societies are attached committees of ladies. As regards the prisoners, a variety of methods is employed to encourage and help them. They procure situations for them at serv- ice, place them in the merchant-marine, supply them with tools, obtain for them some little industry or business, provide them with the means of emigrating, &c. The results differ, as a matter of course ; but the 10-4 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. society accomplishes much, and often sees its efforts crowned with suc- cess. § 9. With a view of guarding released prisoners from relapse, efforts are made in Norway to procure work for them, to get positions for them as sail- ors, to aid them with tools, money, clothing, &c. At the same time, it is thought that too much assistance weakens their moral forces. There exist a few discharged j)risouers'aid societies, but they lack the means to do their work as extensively and efficiently as would be desirable. § 10. Hitherto little has been done in Eussia to aid discharged pris- oners in obtaining work. The first patronage society has just been offi- cially established in St. Petersburg. § 11. Prisoners' aid societies exist at present only in two provinces of Sweden. They aim at obtaining work for iirisoners in the houses of steady masters ; they also supply clothing, and sometimes make ad- vances in money on the prisoner's work. Occasionally those express- ing a desire have received aid to enable them to emigrate. Of late years it has been proposed to make greater efforts to give a more prac- tical direction to the labors of these societies. They have started out on the principle that if habits of order and cleanliness are obtained by the discipline of the prison, and the time of imprisonment is properly employed in the moral education of the prisoners and in giving them skill in industrial and agricultural labor, the societies can more gener- ally find them work immediately on their liberation. For prisoners for whom work is not at once obtained, it is proposed to establish agricul- tural colonies, where they may learn order in work and skill in certain branches of farming, so as thus afterward to be able more readily to earn an honest living. § 12. Patronage societies are organized in nearly ail the cantons of Switzerland. That in the canton of St. Gall was established in 1839, thirty-four years ago. It was made by law^ the duty of every prisoner, who ^Yas a native of St. Gall, or had his domicile there, to place himself for three months at least under the protection of the society. Where- ever patronage societies exist, thej^ aid discharged prisoners by their counsels, watch over their conduct, shield them from evil enticements, and purchase the clothing, tools, «&c., which may be needed by them. They endeavor to aid their beneficiaries by procuring work rather than by giving them assistance in money. But, in spite of all these efforts, the results do not correspond to the desires of tlie friends of prison reform. There is not sufficient unity in the organization of patronage. This is a great inconvenience, which the Swiss Society for Penitentiary Eelbrm is seeking to remove, by bringing into mutual relation all those persons Avlio, in the ditlerent cantons, occupy themselves with the patronage of lilx/ratcd ]uisoners. § l.'J. The work ofaidingliboi-atod prisoners, and thus seeking to prevent their return to crinio, is by no means as extensively or as thoroughly organized in the United States as it ought to be. Massachusetts lias an ofiieial agency for this purj)Ose, which has accomplished and is accom- ])liHliing an iinnienso amount of good. The New York Prison Associa- tion, the lMiihj(U'li>hia I'rison Society, the Calilbrnia Prison Commission, and tlie Maryland IMisonc^rs' Aid Association are the (bur most efficient organizations of this kind in the country. There are a few minor organ- izations in different I()(;alities, more or less useful ; but their work is, for the most ])art, rart of them are old castles or convents, which are ill-adapted to purposes of imprisonment. (3) The answer of Prussia is given in tlie words of the report, as follows : In maaj" respects tbe orgauizatiou of Prussian prisons may he considered perfect. Order especially characterizes the administration. The assiduoascare taken in regard to the prisoners in all respects and the eiforts made to give them work suited to their capacities are beyond reproach. The discipline, severe, yet just, is excellent. The instruction and religious exhortations are efficiently and carefully given. On the other hanit, our system has some grave defects which urgently demand tbe retnedy we are earnestly striving to tiud. Part of tbe prisons require complete rebuilding ; others need internal reconstruction ; a general rule enforcing the separation of prisoners at night is urgently required, and their isolation, both by day and night, ought to be more extensively applied. We need tbe application of cellular imprisonment in all cases of pre- liminary detention and of short sentences. We think this system also indispensable tor the objects aimed at m all pcmitentiary reclusion, and we consequently propose a pro- portional increase in tbe number of cells. We ought also to devise means for permitting tlie prisoners to work in tbe open air more than they do at present, and to etfect this change in such a nuinner that the new measure may serve as a preparatory step for the prisoner's return to liberty. It is moreover very requisite to care more for the preliminary training of the inferior ofGcera, to increase their number, and to give them facilities for passing, after a certain length of service in prisons, into other branches of the state-service. Lastly, to solve the difficulties which till now have obstructed elfective prison-reform in our country, wo must create a central organization which, would regulate prisons of every kind and have due regard to the interest of every nature connected with prison administration. § 5. Norway replies in a very general way, with no definite i)roposi- tion of interest to other nations, except that tavoring the establishment of separate prisons for women. § 0. iloilaiid says that the greatest delect in her penitentiary system is tliat tlierc, is no system, or, ratlier, that the two systems of associated and ccllulai- iinprisomiieut are applied without any uniform rule, and without placing tlieiii in a harmonious relation to each other. Hence there is a pictty gc'ueral agrcH'inent that a reform is nec(!ssary, and that it should have mainly twoobjects in view: a revision of the ])enal laws, whiich wonhl intro(hic(5 a more uniform and more harmonious system of imprisonmeni, ami a serious elfort to give greater dignity to the jSosi- tion ol" tiie directors and emi)lo.v(''s, aiul to open these olfices to men of a high ',r e(lu, moderate duration ; c, long duration. 6. The places of penal imprisonment of short duration are: a, jails (ies arrefs;) * T), houses of amendmeut.t 7. The places of penal detention of moderate duration are houses of correction. 8. The places of penal detention of long duration are convict-prisons, {maisons- deforce.)t 9. All prisons are divided, according to their localities, into : a, provincial ; Z», cen- tral. 10. The provincial prisons are: a, police prisons; I, houses of justice ; c, jails; d,. houses of amendment. 11. The central prisons are : a, houses of correction ; 6, convict-prisons. 12. The provincial prisons are considered, as regards revenue, unproductive. * We have nothing in this country corresponding to the prisons here called arrets They seem to answer most nearly to our county jails, particularly in that function of these latter whereby they become places of punishment for persons convicted of trivial offenses. But the main function of our jails is to serve as prisons of preliminary de- tention. With this explanation, I translate the term arrets by our word jail, as our language appears to afford no other. — E. C. W. + This is another class of prisons for which we have no equivalent. Both the thing aud its designation are wanting with us. The proper translation would be " houses of reformation," or " reformatory prisons ; " but, as will be seen, the term of imprison- ment in them is limited to three months and they are intended to act by intimidation, so that both the duration of the imprisonment aud the predominant agency to be em- ployed are against the idea oi reformation, properly so called. The only thing I could do, therefore, was to transfer, without translating, the original word amendment, and leave the reader to interpret it for himself. — E. C. W. t These correspond most nearly to our state-prisons and the English convict- prisons, being intended for prisoners guilty of the more heinous crimes. The expres- sion by which they are designated, maisons'de force, will be translated, in this version,. convict-prisons. — E. C. W. 108 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. 13. The central prisons are considered, as regards revenue, productive. 14. Besides the prisons above mentioned, there shall be established in the empire Tefuges and penitentiary colonies for juvenile prisoners. II. — OllGAXIZATIOX OF THE PlUSONS. 15. The reform and organization of the prisons of the empire shall be effected grad- iially, but all the kinds and gradations shall be established simultaneously in the dif- ferent provinces. 16. Imprisonments made by the police take place, in the districts, near the com- munal administrations; in the cities, near the police-stations and their sections. Oiservation. — The prisons may also serve for persons arrested by the administration. 17. Houses of justice for preliminary detention shall be established in the cities of the provinces and of the districts, and 'in other localities, if necessary. 18. Houses of justice shall be established, as far as possible, in connection with edi- fices devoted to judicial purposes. 19. Preliminary and penal prisons cannot be established in the same building. 20. Jails, {les arrets,) where punishment for light o&enses (contraventions) is under- gone, shall be established in all cities, and in other localities, if necessary. 21. Houses of amendment shall be established in all provincial and district cities where they are needed. 22. Houses of correction shall be established only in places where orders for the pro- ducts of industrial labor are likely to be received. 23. Convict-prisons shall be established in the neighborhood of coal-beds, stone quarries, salt-pits, and other localities suited to the organization of toilsome and pro- ductive industries for long terms of imprisonment. The punishment of " bard labor" (travaux forces) shall not be applied exclusively in countries outside the limits of Euro- pean Russia, (Siberia.) 24. In the central prisons the establishment of hospitals is obligatory. In other prisons, hospital treatment is to be provided as far as possible. 25. Baths and, if possible, hospitals for the prisoners shall be established within the inclosure of the i)risons, but separate from the main buildings. 26. The houses of justice and of amendment require two courts— one for the admin- istration, the other for the prisoners. 27. A third court for the work-shops is required in the central prisons. 28. Stores of wood, sheds for tools and farming implements, the cellars, the stables, shall be placed outside the prison inclosure, in the court devoted to the general affairs of the establishment. 29. Near the houses of justice, the jails, and the houses of amendment there shall be arranged small gardens, in which the prisoners can take exercise. 30. Near the central prisons there shall bo allotments of ground for cultivation : for houses of correction, not less than five acres per hundred i)risoners ; for convict prisons, not less than twenty-seven acres per hundred ])ri.soners. 31. All the persons employed in tlio houses of justice, the houses of amendment, and the central prisons, except the head of the establishment and the overseer-iu-chief, (male or female,) shall have their lodgings in the court devoted to the-general affairs of the establishment. 32. There shall be a space of ground not loss than twenty-three yards in width for a circular road around the central prisons. This principle is not obligatory for the other ])riHon3. III.— Discipline of the Prisons. A. — General regulations, 33. The discipline of all the i)risonH shall have for its base the three following prin- ciples : justice, gMardiaiislii|); nationality. 34. The system of discipline of all tlie prisons shall have in view: 1. For prisoners awaiting trial — a, tln-ir complete sei»aration, to pii!V(!nt all connivance ; h, the preven- tion of tiio asHociatioii of prisoners cliarg(5d witli olVcMises of different degrees of guilt; r, the enjoyment of ;ill inivilcgos and comforts not inconsistent with the course of jiisfice. 2. For iJiisoncrs nndcr Hcuteiice — <(, the just iiuiiishmont of the crimes of wJiicli tli(;y have bei'ii judicially declared guilty; h, the exercise of a guardianship, Avliich lias in view the destiny of the convicts after tlniir lil)eration. From this last c.onsiileration arise the essential exigencies and special aims of the Hystem : a, for jails, admonilion ; h, for liousos of amiMiduient, intimidation ; c, for houses of correctiou, piinixlnnrnt, comldned with a system of education, of industrial labor, and of preitaration of tiie prisoners for a return to society; d, for convict-prisons, thantinrinrnl, witli toilsome labor, having in view the ulterior colonization of tho convicts. REFOEMri — RUSSIA. 109 35. Churches are obligatory in all central prisons. In other classes of prisons chap- els only will be required. Images shall be iilacecl in all the rooms appropriated to prisoners. 36. There shall be special regulations for each kind of imprisonment. These regula- tions "will form a general code. ° Observation. — There shall be given, in addition, by a competent authority, personal instructions to each head of a prison. 37. Every prisoner shall be placed in the kind of prison named in the sentence of the court. . • 38. The provincial prisons may receive into the same building the two sexes under the same administration, but the parts of the prison appropriated to each sex must be- entirely separated from each other. 39. The central prisons, for each sex, must be separate and distinct establishments. 40. The system of association at night (and of beds on planks) is abolished. For the houses of justice and of amendment there shall be the system of complete separation between the prisoners ; for the central prisons, the system of separation, by night, in common dormitories.* 41. In the prisons of preliminary detention, labor is not obligatory; it is obligatory in all other classes of prisons. 4'2. All changes in the distribution or placing of prisoners during the day shall be effected, in the penal prisons, by the ringing of a bell. 43. There shall be, in all peual prisons, modes of encouragement, consisting of privi- leges granted to the prisoners. 44. There shall be, in all detention-prisons, a system of disciplinary punishments. Corporal punishment shall be permitted only in convict-prisons. In all other prisons, there shall be allowed only incarceration, more or less rigorous. 45. The masiuuim duration of imprisonment is fixed : a, for jails, at three months ; &, for houses of amendment, at one year and four months; c, for housQSof correction,, at one year to four j^ears ; d, for couvict-prisons, from six years to life. 46. In the cellular houses of amendment, the duration of imprisonment shall be re- duced by one-third. t 47. The mode of transferring prisoners will be made the object of a special regula- tion. B. — Special regulations. 1. For ]iolice-imprisonments : 48. The detention-houses in the communes and police-districts have, for their end, only to provide for the safe-keeping of persons awaiting examination. 49. Every person who has given occasion to a judicial prosecution shall be kept in separate confinement, wherever it is possible. 50. Preliminary police-imprisonments shall be conformed to existing laws. 2. For imprisonments in houses of justice: 51. Wherever it is possible, conveyance to houses of justice shall take place in cellular carriages. In cases where the prisoners are taken on foot, they shall have the right to w^ear a hood on the head. 52. Individuals confined in houses of justice shall be placed at first in receiving-cells,, from which they shall be taken, in rotation, to go through the formalities required by law, to be submitted to the inspection of the doctor, and to undergo the prescribed ablutions. .53. The prisoners have the right to keep their own clothing, unless it is worn out or too much soiled. In that case, they will be fiiruislied with clothing by the establish- ment, but of different color and cut from that prescribed for convicts. 54. Photographs of prisoners shall be taken, it it is considered necessary. 55. Every article found on the prisoner, except his clothing, his shoes, and his linen, together with his baptismal cross and marriage-ring, shall be talcen from him and kept in a place devoted to that purpose. A receipt shall be given to the prisoner for the money and eft'ects placed in this repository. 56. The cell of the prisoner must be, in its dimensions, not less than fifteen square * An apparent contradiction ; but the arrangement seems to be this : The dormitories are to be common, with small apartments, or cells, arranged round their walls, by which the separation is effected. — E. C. W. t Some members of the commission voted with the president. Count Sollohub, for a reduction of two-thirds. . . 110 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. arclhics,'^ acd must contain at least three cubic sagenes* of air. Special care must be given to tbe lighting and ventilation of the cell. i 57. It is permitted to prisoners to have their beds, furniture, books, and , writing- materials. 5S. Prisoners vrbo desire to work shall be encouraged therein. Three-fourths of their earnings, after deducting the cost of material, shall belong to the prisoner. The other fourth shall be deemed the revenue of the establishment, for the purchase of tools, materials, «&sc. , 59. The prisoners shall have the legal rations of the prison and shall receive half a pound of meat per day ; but they have the right to better diet, if they have the means of paying for it. 00. Prisoners have the right to smoke, but this privilege shall be witbdrawn from those who use fire imprudently. 61. The prisoners shall have the right to take exercise, but their head must be cov- ered with a hood, and they must walk five paces apart. 62. Interviews with relatives and visitors will be permitted only with the sanction of the counsel of the government, who v/ill arrange the conditions of these interviews. G'i. The chaplain of the prison is bound to visit each xu-isoner at least twice a week, and oftener if it is thought necessary. 64. The counsel of the prisoner shall have free admission to him at all times. 65. Persons sentenced by the court shall await the issue of their appeal, or the exe- cution of their sentence, in the cells where they were previously confined, but they shall be deprived of all the privileges before accorded to them. 3. For iails: 66. Punishment in jails shall be undergone in virtue of the imperial decree of the 4th July, 1666. I 4. For houses of amendment : 67. Sections 51, 52, and 62, relating to bouses of justice, shall be applied to the houses of amendment. 68. The prisoners shall wear the prescribed dress. 69. The prisoners can neither smoke nor make use of their money. 70. The prisoners will be required to work eight hours a day at task-work. Two- 1 birds of their earnings will belong to the establishment; the remaining third shall be placed to the credit of the jnisoner, but he will not be permitted to use it till after bis iil)erati()n. 71. Alf prisoners shall have the same rations. 72. Th(; dimensions of the cells shall not exceed fifteen square arehines. 73. Interviews with persons from outside shall not exceed one per month. The visits of the chaplain, the doctor, the officers, and of members of j)hilaTitliroi)ic societies, are not subject to this regulation. 74. Prisoners shall be permilted to work over and above their task and beyond Ihe hours i)rescribed. The amount of this- additional work shall be ]}laced to their credit. 75. Prisoners who shall have finished their terms shall be immediately liberated. 5. For houses of correction : 76. The term of imprisonment is from one year ^minimum) to four years, (maximum,) without romiffsion. 77. TJie prisoner confined in a house of correction shall undergo a preliminary cel- lular imprisonment, whose duration shall be fixed by the court. If tliis duration is not meiilioiied in tlie sentence, tlic prisoner shall be isolated only during the legal lerni. In l)oMi cases the administration has the right to reduce the period of comidete isolation to lh(! ininimum fixed by tlu' law.t 7H. The syslciti fur houses of (•(urcc) ion, in lis rigor, shall be that of work in associ- alion l>y «lay and (>f s(|)araiion )>y night. 79. Every person confined in .-i house of correction is bound to work ten hours a day witiiont rfceiving any part of his cariiiiigs. This hibor is employed in domestic serv- ice, laundry-work, and tillage. 'J'he prodiwt of this lahor is applied to the support of l,hf) [irison. 80. 'J'he dnralion of this labor may be reduced to four hours a day, if the prisoner oxprcHHCH a desiro to occupy himself during the other 8i.x. hours in mechanical labors ^ • An ardiine is a Russian measure of about tw o-thirds of a yard, and a sagrnc of about two yards and one-third. — E. C. W. f 'I'his ])aragraph was strongly confested. NevcrtlKilesH, the opinion that a i)e.riod of |)rclimiiji»iy isolation is unnecessary did not obtain a majority of votes. REFORMS RUSSIA. Ill Tvhich require no special knowledge. This is callerl "meclianical work," (travail mi- canique.) A third of his earnings when thus engaged goes to the workman; the other two-thirds are to the profit of tlie prison. 81. Those who do not desire to work ten hours a da>y at " rough " work, nor sis hours at "mechanical" work, may learn any trade they prefer, whicli requires an effort of will and a sustained study. This is called " professional work," {travail jyrofcssionel.) Those who are learning a trade receive no benefit from their labor, and, in addition to eight hours given daily to their apprenticeship, must spend two liours ou "rough" work. 82. As soon as a prisoner becomes master of a trade, he shall receive two-thirda of all he earns ; the remaining third is applied to the profit of the prison. 83. Any prisoner who already knows a trade on his arrival at the house of correc- tion shall receive one-half the earnings of his labor; the other half shall go to the profit of the establishment. 84. The foremen and apprentices of each trade constitute a distinct section. 85. The Y>ersons who supply constant orders to the sections are denominated cura- tors (curatenrs) of the sections. Observation. — The director of the pi'ison can have work done, in exceptional cases, conformably to the regulations mentioned above. 86. The rights and duties of the guardians (tuteurs) of the sections shall be regulated by law. 87. The curators of the sections shall settle weekly their accounts with the director •of the prison iu cash, and the sums due to the prisoners who have become master-work- men, for their labor, shall be inclosed in the portfolios of each section separately. These portfolios shall be kept in a s^iecial case, which is itself locked up in the strong box of the government. 88. The key of the case which contains the money of the prisoners shall be kept by the cashier, chosen by the sections. It shall be the duty of the cashier to be present at the weekly settlements between the curators of the sections and the sections themselves. 89. No prisoner may keep his own money, nor exact, under any pretext, what has been set to his account under the name of profit. He receives only a little book, in which is kept the account of the product of his labor for each week. 90. As an exceptional encouragement to industry and good conduct, one-fourth of their gains maj' be allowed to the sections for the purchase, through the agency of an inspector, of tea and any other authorized article. 91. Each section will choose a chief, who shall be responsible for the order of the section. 92. Each section shall be responsible for the escape of its foreman, and, in case of such escape, the said section shall forfeit its profits. 93. The monitor, the inspector of the prison, and the chief shall be resiionsible for the order of each section during the hours of work. 94. The movements of the prisoners will take place by couples, in military order, at the word of command and at the hours indicated. 95. A school shall be established in every house of correction. 96. The time spent in school shall be counted as time spent at "rough work," (travail <]romer.) 97. On Sundays and holidays, after mass, the chaplain and the professors attached, to the prison shall hold conferences with the prisoners ; these conferences shall relate to religion, sacred liistory, geography, and scientific subjects. 9.8. During the night the prisoners shall be confined in separate cell's, from which no one can go out without leave from the director of the prison. Silence is obligatory at night. The inspector is charged witk the duty of supervision. The dormitories must be kept lighted. 99. Interviews with relatives and strangers shall be permitted at the times indica- ted by the regulations. 100. When the term of the imprisonment ends, there shall be given, from the cash- box, to those liberated, the money earned by them, after which no interview shall be permitted them, under any pretext, with their former comrades. 6. For convict-prisons : 101. Convict-prisons shall be established for the imprisonment of all persons con- victed of felonies. 102. The convict, who shall have merited, by his Industry and good conduct, an abbre- viation of his imprisonment, may obtain it on the order of the administration of the prison, but not before he shall have undergone two-thirds of his punishment. 103. The prisoners who have not deserved an abbreviation of their sentences shall undergo in the convict-prison the entire punishment to which they shall have been sentenced. 104. Those prisoners who serve out- their whole time are called convicts ; those who have merited a shortening of their punishment receive the designation o£ improved. 105. In order to a transfer from the class of "convicts" to that of the " inqn-oved," 112 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. the prisoner, in addition to good conduct, must have earned a sum determined by the regulation. 106. In case of ill-conduct and indolence, the "improved" prisoner is again placed in the class of "convicts." 107. The prisoner, on his admission to the convict-prison, shall be isolated from fif- teen days to a month, according to the determination of the administration. 108. Tiie families 6f prisoners are not admitted into the convict-prisons. 109. The convict-prisons are adapted to hard labor. 110. The work is subdivided into "hard labor" and "prison-work." 111. The "hard labor" is performed by the convicts in chains, which must be made according to the legal model; the "prison-work" is done without chains. Observation. — The chains may be removed, even during the execution of" hard labor," by permission of the director, in testimony of his confidence. The chains shall be re-imposed on those who show themselves unworthy of this indulgence. 112. The convict-prisons should be established in localities which offer guarantee.? for hard labor, such labor constituting the punishment of the convicts. These guaran- tees are always necessary, and should be independent of accidents. 113. The convict-prisons shall be established only in localities aff'ording ready com- munisation, or offering facilities for the sale of the products of prison labor on the spot. 114. The industries for which the convict-prison is adapted may belong to the gov- ernment, or to a company or private person, if the latter can offer the requisite guar- antees. 115. The administration of the prison shall not interfere with the industries. 116. The convicts form only the motive-power of the industries. Ohservaiion. — Payment of the laborers shall be made at the times fixed by the con- tract and in cash. 117. The places where the labor is performed shall not be more than 3^ miles distant from the prison. 118. No convict can remain during the night outside of the prison inclosure. 119. The duration of hard labor shall be fixed at twelve hours per day in summer and ten in winter. 1'20. The administration of the prison reserves a certain number of prisoners to be employed, in rotation, in farm-labor, trades, and the domestic service of the prison, conformably to a special regulation. 121. Convict-labor may be of two categories : 1, obligatory, for a fixed number of hours per day ; 2, voluntary. 122. The product of obligatory labor belongs to the establishment. 123. The product of voluntary labor forms a personal income, which is paid to the prisoner on his liberation. 124. The prisoners may not engage in voluntary labor till they have finished their daily task of "hard labor" or "prison-labor." 125. The director of the prison, in conjunction with the directors of the industries, shall determine the tasks to be performed by the convicts. 126. The tasks allotted shall be performed by order of the administration. 127. The administration of the prison must see that the prisoners do the full quantity of work assigned. 128. The prisoner may engage in voluntary labor on account of the director of the industries, or at some mechanical occupation, as he shall elect. 129. Prisoners under short sentences shall receive higher pay for voluntary labor thau tliose sent<;nced to long terms. 130. During the Iu)nrs of labor, the prisoners shall be superintended by the inspect- ficH, and by tiie chiefs of sections, clidsen by tliemselves. Tiio work is to be performed under tlie direction of persons clnirged with tiiat fluty by the directors of the industries. 131. According to tlio nature of tiio work, the convicts may separate into sections, under jiledge, ofalistaining from all disorder. 132. The regulations for sections in houses of correction may bo adapted to couvict- prJHonerH. i:{3. One-fourth of the personal earnings of the convicts may be used in aiding their r«iniilies. 131. Hetween imiJrisoiunent in convict-prisons and the definitive establishment of tiie lii)eratcriHoncrs in a country named by the government, the convicts will pass into a teiniiorary CHtalilislinient under the form of an agricultural penitentiary colony, where tiiey may be pr<-pared Cor their fntnr*! alKxh'. 135. The penitentiary eoh)nies Nhall b(! cHtalilished in districts selected and set apart to lie, defmilivcly peojded liy liherated convict.s. Klf!. fliiniinalH who have passed into the class of the "improved" shall be trans- ferred to the j)enite,ntiary colony of the government, if tiiey have earned the autn nece.s- H.'iry to colonization. Those who have not earned the requisite sum must renraiu in prison till they have, without, however; passing the term fixed by their sentence. REFORMS SUGGESTED — SWITZERLAND UXITED STATES. 113 137. The convicts sent into the peniteutiaiy colonics of the government shall remain there till the date indicated by the sentence. Nevertheless, the term of the sentence luaj' be reduced by the authority of the colony. Criminals who have nnderjijone their entire sentence iu the convict-prison must still pass one j-ear in the colony of the goveninient. 138. Labor is obligatory in the penitentiary colonies. It must be performed accord- ing to the orders ai!il under the direction of tlie authorities of the crtlony. 139. Any person discharged from the penitentiary cohniy may choose, according to liis liking, the place of his definitive abode, but not without the limits or the frontier of the same country. 140. Prisoners sent to the colonies may be followed by their families. 141. The laws and regulations for the colonies shall be fixed by special decree. The princii)les relating to finance and to the mode of administration proposed by this projct, being based on local considerations, cannot, as a matter of course, be set forth iu the present writing. § 8. The Swiss report limits itself to a short resume of the reforms thou,iiht to be needed, as follows : 1. The uiiilication of the peual code, based ou the priiiciide of the moral reformatiou of prisoners. 2. The reforui of prisons for i^ersons awaiting trial. 3. The increase of the number of reformatories for juvenile delinquents and vicious bo^s, and also the reform of work-houses and houses of cor- rection for vagrants and idlers. 4. The erection of penitentiaries in cantons which have only the old- fashioned prisons, which are incapable of proper transformations. Two or more cantons, it is thought, might come to an agreement to establish a penitentiary in common, or they nsight make arrangements with a caiitou which already has one, or found other establishments to be used as intermediate prisons, agreeably to the progressive Crofton prison system. 5. The special education of prison officers and employes. 6. The reform of the disciplinary and educational regime of the peni- tentiaries, with a view to the moral regeneration of the prisoners. 7. The direction and supervision, not only of the administration of all the prisons, but also of preventive institutions, (such as public assist- ance, orphan-houses, agricultural colonies, retuges, patronage societies, &c.,) in the hands of special oflicers of the government. 8. The united action of the state and voluntary philanthropic societies and societies of ])ubiic utility. 9. Finally, the perfecting of all institutions whose aim is the preven- tion of crime, whether in the domain of education, social condition, &c., or that of police and of justice. § 9. The tendency of thought in the United States on the question of prison reform is toward the Crofton system, which, in proportion as it is understood, is, year by year, gaining friends and adherents. Xo State has yet introduced it fully, or even its main features; but it can hardly be many years before this will be done. No doubt some injustice has been done in the United States to the cellular system, but the intro- duction of the Crofton plan may permit us to use the more desirable features of that system. The great evil in our minor prisons and iu many of those of the higher grade is that there is no system at all, but a mixture of routine and caprice in the prison administration, from which good results can come only by hazard or by miracle. Particu- larly is this true in regard to female prisons, and in the whole United States there is scarcely a single good woman's prison. Considering the number and excellence of our reformatories for girls, this is the more astonishing. Eftbrts are making in several States to establish special prisons for women, which will no doubt prove successful in the end; and, in some, the day for this reform hastens. H. Ex. 185 8 114 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIAEY CONGEESS. CHAPTEE XV. JUV.ENILE REFOEMATORIES. Host of tlie sets of qnestions sent out did not, tlirougli a mischance in the office where they were jjiinted, contain any interrogatory rehitin^ to juvenile reformatories. This fact will account for the small number of countries which furnished the congress witli information on this most important branch of the work looking to the prevention of crime. § 1. In Denmark there are three educational establishments for neg- lected and misguided boys, with an aggregate of about one hundred and sixty inmates. Besides these, th^re is a society which undertakes to have children placed in families. The latter has worked with great suc- cess. § 2. Saxony has had, for above a generation, two reformatories for the education and reformation of children of both s<3xes, besides a house of correction for young persons aged from sixteen to twenty years. The industrial occupation in these houses is agriculture, but mechan- ical occupation for the Mants of the reformatory itself is not excluded. The adnjission of children takes phice mostly at the request of their relations, of societies, or of police authorities, who are asked to contribute a small sum of money. Children uj) to twelve years, and young persons up to eighteen years of age, are ])laced under this reformatory treatment. According to age, school-instruction, occupation in the field .and garden, and domestic work are the means of education. At tlie proi)er time, those promoted for good conduct are first sent into agricultural or domestic service, or apprenticed to tradesmen, under pro];)er supervision, by the authorities of the reformatory. Conditional libeiation must, as a rule, precede complete freedom. Well-disposed inmates of the reformatories, of the age of less than twelve years, are sent to board in carefully-chosen families, the reformatory paying for the board. Even these have to undergo a period of conditional lil)eration before attaining full freedom. The term of probation for children is at least two years ; that of young- people, one year. The results obtained in these reformatories, since 1S5(), have shown that su(;h as \Yere liberated after a ])robationaTy period, and who on account of rela])se were sent again into the penitentiary, amounted to oidy 7 per cent. Keformatories and houses of safety, (asylums.) established and supported by societies or by associations, endeavor to reform neglected childnni by giving them domestic disci- ])line and separate or pnl^lic schooling. They mostly keep the children till they are Jonrteen years of age. Unmanageable (;liildren are sent for further education to the above-mentioned scate reformatories. The num- ber admitted into the stale reformatories amounted, in the year 1871, to three hundred and f(uty-five children ami to thirty one young per- sons. Tlu; nund)er of inmates in asylums, «Sic., during the year 1871, is estinmtj'd to be about two hundr<'d. §;j. 'J'hc estal)lishm(Mits devoted to the (torrectional education of juve- nile d('lin(pienls in J^'ram-.e icceivc^ minors of sixlecMi years ami under, of both sexes. 1'liey ai'e divilic or private: public, when they lia\e been founded by the state, and the stale names and pays the directors and employes; and private when REFORMATORIES FRANCE ITALY SWITZERLAND, ETC. 115 tliey are fouiKled and directed by private persons, with the authoriza- tion of- the state. The correctional colonies receive: 1, youn^ prison- ers sentenced to an iin[)risonnieut of more than two years; 2, yonn^ prisoners from the ijcuitentiary colonies who have been dcxthired insub- ordinate. The correctional colonies are all jmblie establislunents. A similar classiiication has been established for young female prison- ers. They are received either in a correctional ward directed by the state, or into pemit«ntiary houses connected with religious establishments. Of penitentiary anted to ingraft farm and out-door labor into the indnstiial training (tfthe inmates. In 18.'>S, an a<;t was [lasst'd lor the establishment of a separate prison REFORMATORIES ENGLAND. 117 for offenders under the ai?e of sixteen, at Parkburst, in tbe Isle of Wifjht. Land was attaclied to this for cultivation by the inmates, and the dis- cipline was intended to he of a specially edueational and reformatory character. By a clause in this a(;t, the Queen was empowered to grant pardons to such young oifenortion of those received into them who turn out afterward honest and industrious, reformed from the criminal habits or weaned from the vagrant disorderly dispositions with which they were growing up to be dangerous in themselves and. instruments for corrupting others. The results are seen still more decisively in the diminution of the numbers of the younger classes of criminals and the lighter character of the crimes with which our juvenile oiienders are now more commonlj- convicted. In the year 1856, when the reformatory school system began to be in more active operation, the number of juvenile offenders [i. e., boys and girls under sixteen years old) comnutted to prison (for the twelve months ended September 2i>) was 13,9SL ; in 1S5S, when the systeiu had spread and taken root, the number sank to 7,022; and in 1870, m s))ite of the very large increase of our population, and especially of t\ui pojjulation of our larger towns, friuu which juvenile crime draws its m(jst numerous recruits, the number of young offoidcrs committed was but 1)/J08, tl)e number of adult commitments having advanced fron^ 00,7;")5, in 18i">(>, to 147,225, in 1870 — an inci'ease of aljove 50 per cent. Tliere is no doubt that the reformatory school system, laying hold on a)id j)lacing under loiig corrective discii)line and training the boys anc^ girls who had become familiar with ciime and adej)ts iu its piactice, not only in a jnajority of cases reformed the individual, but broke up those Hchooh of crime and vice which were becoming so formidable. The change in the type or character of the young offenders themselves, who are laid hold of by the system, is as remarkable as the falling otl'iii their numbers. The clever, ex]>erienced ))ickpocket, with his five or six satellites or apj)rentices, convicted, jterhaps, six or seven times, and laughing at the offers of jeju-ntance and the, opportunities of honest life ollered to liim, has tlis;i})|»e;iiline rather than of criminal training or of special criminal disposition. The results of the industrial schools so far tend in the same ilirec'tion, tlie (-xtinction, thatis, of the vagabonil and liall-thievish class they were originally designed to deal with, and llic substitution in its stead o4' merely poor and neglected chikheu, u Uiige propoitiou of whom might REFORMATOEIE.S ENGLAND. 119 be effectually cared for by a good system of day-feediug schools — schools ill which they might be kept throughout the day, so as to be taiieti out of the streets, and the oversight and traiuiug sup[)lied which the circumstances aud cmi)loyaieutsof their parents i>reveut them from receiving at home. The whole uuniber of young offenders committed to reformatory schools since the passing of the iirst reformatory schools act in 1854 amounted at the end of 1870 to 21,991 in Great Britain, and, of children sent to industrial schools, to 11,151. The reformatory schools act was amended by successive statutes in 1855 and 185G, and an industrial schools act was passed for England in 1857 and amended aud enlarged in 18()L By this last act industrial schools for botli England and Scothind were placed under the home office, and an allowance for the maintenance of the inmates from the treasury, similar to that given to reformatory schools, provided for. In 18G0 the reformatory and industrial schools acts, now in force, were passed, and the system uov/ in operation finally sanctioned and defined, similar but separate statutes being enacted for Ireland in 1858 and 1S()8. Under these acts, the number of reformatory schools in Great Britain bad increased by December 31, 1870, to 64, containing 5.133 actual in- mates, and that of industrial schools to 91, containing 8,280 inmates. Adding to those the numbers who were out on license or absent by de- sertion, &c.; the total number of young offenders under sentence of de- tention in reformatories was 0,502, and of children sent to industrial schools was 8,788. The distinction between reformatory and industrial schools is that the first are more directly for correction and the second for prevention. No boy or girl can be committed to a reformatory school unless con- victed of some positive offense, punishable by imprisonment or penal servitude, and sent in the first instance for not less than ten days to jail. They must be under sixteen years of age and above ten years, unless previously convicted or sentenced at a superior court. On the other hand, the industrial school is for destitute and vagrant children, found begging or wandering, without home or visible means of subsistence or proper guardianship. Such children must be under fourteen years old, and they are sent direct to the school, and do not pass through the jail. Oiiildreu uncontrollable by their parents can be sent to them on their parents' application, but for snch childreu the treasury allowance is limited to two shillings per week. Children under twelve years old, who are guilty of any petty offense, caii be also sent to them, instead of being committed to prison and a reformatory, at the magistrate's discretion. The allowance from the treasury for inmates of reformatories is six shillings per week ; for inmates of industrial schools above ten years old, five shillings; under ten years, three shillings. For the year 1870 the total amount of the treasury payments was £177,381, the total ex- penditure of the schools being £311,791. The fundamental principles on which the reformatory system is based are thus stated by Mr. Turner: 1. The iinioii of private and hencrolcnt agency with government super- vision and support. All the reformatory schools, and, with two exceptions, all the indus- trial schools now in operation, have been established and were at first materially sujiported by voluntary contributions. Many of them still derive a portion of their income from pri\ate sources, and all are man 120 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. aged by committees or individuals appointed by the subscribers and contributors by whom tbey were founded. The government interferes as little as possible with the ordinary su- perintendence, prescribing certain regulations as to the lodging, cloth- ing, and feeding of the inmates of the schools, and as to the instruction they receive and the discipline they are subjected to ; but leaving all the details of the management, the appointment of the officers, the admission of inmates, the expenditure, &c,, to the committee. The state may be said to contract on certain terms with the several insti- tutions for the work which it wants done, and so long as the work is fairly performed it exercises no further interference. Important advantages accrue from this arrangement. A far greater degree of freedom and elasticity is secured to the working of the sys- tem ; much of the merely n)e(ihanical routine which is inseparable from government establishments is dispensed with ; the schools are more thoroughly adapted to the ingling of ])ublic and private agejicy in the lelbrmatory system is the better and easier disposal of the inmates on tluMr disciiarge. W the scihools were a(]minisrered by the state, it is believe*! that they must inevitably take more or less of the ibrm and complexion of prisons, and thc^ boys and girls (b"s(';harged from them would \h', lookeriiuuj)le of the IJufjIis'h reformatory syfitem is tJie Kse of moral in prrfrrcnrc to phynicitl discipline. The institutions are organized and carried on ess(Mitially as fiohoolSy not liouses of conlinemcnt or (;orre(;tion, the greatest degree of per- sonal liberty ami ficcdom of a(;tion l)eing allowed that is comjiatible with real personal supervision anrovisions: it a!)olislies (jorjxn'al piinislnnent, substitutes lines in certain cases foi- lalxn-, and eini»owers the, government to introduce by degrees a reformatory ])rison discipline. Nearly every i)residen(;y and province of India has its own special jail code. That of JJengal provides for a system of rewards to be given to w<'ll-(;on(hic,t('d jtrisoners. There Ims also been established, for all India, a system of remission (►!' sentence in reward of good conduct. Jn the whole of Indiii therci was, in round numbers, in 1S70, a daily averagf'of rior to and during im})risonment, sentence, dietaries, state of health on admission and discharge, and the locality of imprisonment in its intiuence on sickness and mortality. Originally the chief occupation of prisoners in India was extramural, either in making imperial roads or in station-improvements. Subse- quently remunerative industrial labor was introduced, and each prisoner had a task assigned him equal in amount to that performed by a fairly skilled artisan of the same class. It is sought tomake it as much as possi- ble an instrument of reformation, which is accomplished by teaching- each convict some handicraft that will enable him to earn an honest liv- ing on his release, and by inculcating habits of industry that will coun- teract the idleness that is the proxiuuxte cause of much of the vice that leads to crime. Industrial labor is the basis of the Indian system, although Avithin the last two years out-door work has been revived, and large gangs of convicts are now employed on the canals; a system which, on moral grounds, njust be considered a retrograde measure. Prison dietaries in India have been arranged with a view to giving all that is really relonged by miseonduet. This stage is found t^o exer(!is(3 a most bene- ficial intbien(!e in subduing the ]»risoners, and pre|)aring them for the next. In the case of short-term men, it is highly deterrent. At the termination of tlu^ penal stage, prisoners are removed into the fiecondary or industrial hard-labor stage. Here the mark system begins. STATE OF PRISONS CEYLON JAMAICA. 125 Each convict is debited with a number of marks corresponding to the number of days in his sentence, minus the first stage. By industry and good conduct, he may earn nine marks per week, and this nuiximum continued will close his mark account at seven-ninths of the period, the remaining' two ninths being remitted. If he earn only eight marks weekly the reduction of time is only one-ninth. Breaches of discipline are rare. The punishments employed are for- feiture of marks, a return to the penal stage, and flogging, which latter, however, is never used except in cases of mutiny, and the number of lashes never exceeds twelv^e. The wholesome dread of a return to the penal stage is usually sufficient to stimulate the convicts to industry and obedience. In this stage, they are employed at such hard labor as they may be fitted for by their previous habits and occupation in life, the object being to make their labor as productive as possible. Eeligious instruction cannot possibly be general in a country settled by many races, professing a multitude of religious or superstitious creeds. At the large prisons, the ministers and native catechists of various mis- sionary bodies hold service on Sunday", but attendance on these minis- trations is optional with the prisoners. ]!S[ative school-masters also give instruction in the vernacular languages on each Sunday afternoon ; but, attendance at school being optional, few avail themselves of the offered instruction, the great majority preferring to spend the day in idleness. The third or upper stage is a privilege awarded only to the few. Prisoners who have served at; least two-thirds of their sentence, and who have, while in the industrial stage, distinguished themselves as good prisoners and skillful w^orkmen, are promoted to be prison consta- bles, their duties being to assist the subordinate officers in the mainte- nance of order and discipline in the prison. When em[)loyed on public works, they act in the capacity of foremen, being generally selected with a view to their fitness for such work. While holding this appoint- ment, they are credited with one rupee per month, which is paid to them on discharge from prison. § 3. Jamaica. — On the island of Jamaica there are four classes of pris- ons: 1st, the general penitentiary; IM, county jails; 3(1, district prisons; 4th, sliort-term prisons. To the first of these establishments are sent all convicts whose term of sentence exceeds twelve months and all soldiers and sailors condemned by court-martial. The labor is both penal and in- dustrial. The tread-mill is made slightly remunerative by being attached to a mill for grinding corn. Prisoners, when not at work on the tread- mill, are emjiloyed in quarrying and cutting stone, and as brick-makers, lime-burners, carpenters, coopers, masons, blacksmiths,, tinsmiths, tailors, shoe-makers, &c., under the instruction of competent tradesmen employed for that purpose, and supervised by an intelligent overseer of works from England. The convicts work in association, but in silence. The women are employed in the domestic work of the prison and in picking coir. The diet is designed to keep the prisoners in good health, but without pampering them. The cost per diem for each convict during the past year was a little more than 3^d. A clergyman of the church of England is employed as chaplain, but all prisoners are allowed to see the clergy of the denomination to which they may belong. The reward for good conduct, awarded to all prisoners except recidi- vists and those guilty o"f a peculiar class of crimes, is promotion to the "license-class," a position much coveted, and to which a convict is eligi- ble after having satisfactorily served half his time. This promotion carries with it a remission of one-fourth of the original sentence. 126 INTEENATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. The puuisbments employed in the case of males consist of degradation from the "license-class," solitary confinement on bread and water, and, in exceptional cases, the cat, which, however, is never administered except with the approbation of the governor of the island, to whom is sent a full statement of the case. The only pnnishmeiits for women are solitary confinement on bread and water and degradation from or de- nial of admittance to tlie license-class. This degradation, whether in the case of men or women, involves the loss of all the time earned by the prisoner through good conduct. So wholesome a dread is felt by the convicts of this penalty that it has not been found necessary to in- flict it in a solitary instance during the last two years. The county jails are used chieliy for the confinement of debtors and persons awaiting trial. They are employed as places of punishment only for misdemeanants. No labor is carried on. In the district prisons (five in number) are confined prisoners whose sentence does not exceed twelve months. The inmates are visited daily by a government medical officer, and by the insi)ector of prisons not less than once in three months. The magistrates of the parish also act as oflicial visitors, and have power to infiict punishment — /. e., to sentence to solitary confinement on bread and water. The nearest clergyman acts as chaplain on Sundays. The prisoners are confined in association wards, the only separation being that of the sexes. The short-term prisons (of which there are also five) are designed to supplement the district prisons, by obviating the necessity of sending petty criminals twenty or tliirty miles to undergo a sentence of a few days' duration, the whole of which was before their establishment some- times occiri)ied in making the journey. Prisoners may be received into these prisons for periods not exceeding sixty days. They are supervised by a sergeant of constabulary, whose wife acts as matron, and by a task- master. They are employed on the main roads breaking stones and picking coir. The inspector-general of prisons on the island, Mr. Shaw, in the paper submitte(l by him to the congress, of which this section is ai! ei)itome, calls attention to the very marked falling off in the number of crimes committed by women, the d(M'rease since ISdl having been 70 per cent. This reduction he attributes to the fact that, in 18()4, orders were given, to have the hair of women sentenced to hard labor cut close; immediately the decrease commenced. A negro woman i)ri/es nothing so highly as her hair, and it is a common practice for many of them to have their liair cut off before trial, ami kept for them until their release, when they fasten it on again. Those who are less provident sedulously seclude themselves until their hair has grown. .Mr. Sliaw says that after considerable exi)erience with prisoners, and having paid much attention to all that has been said and wiitten on the l)ractical)ility of deterring ])eo])I(^ IVom (trime, he is compelled to conless that he knows no i)reventi\'e measure so ellicacious as cutting olf the liair f)f negro women. § 1. Vii'lofid. — Ther(^ is lint one eonvict-pi'ison in Victoria-, whicih "s for mah's only. The oflicers ;ire iippointes and may earn ;i remission of a poition of their sentence by good (M)nduct. Those in the first class are kei)t in stiict separate, confinement, eating, workitig, and sleeping in their <;ellK; those in the second, third, and Ibnrth classes labor in asso- ciation, but are sei)arated by night; in tin- fifth and sixth classes they STATE OF PRISONS VICTORIA. 127 are employed on public works, recei\ in.^- rations of tea, sugar, and tobacco, besides bein.i;- allowed a jj^ratuity ainoiiiitiii^ to 2(1. a day in the fifth and (ul. ])er day in the sixth cUiss. The punishments emi)l()yed are solitary confinement and extension of the term of imprisonment. Itesort is never had to corporal punisliment. The prisoners do not wear the parti-colored dress, the effect of wliicli is believed to be merely de;4radin<4-. Tliere are four chaplains connected with the English, Koman Catho- lic, Wesleyan, and Presbyterian churches, each of whom holds one service every Sunday. A schoolmaster instructs all the prisoners in reading, writing, and arithmetic for one hour every day, and facilities are aftbrded for the study of grammar, geography, and the elementary mathematics. There is no strictly penal labor, nor is the prison labor let on contract. The chief kinds of work are quarrying, building, shoe-making, taik)ring, carpentering, weaving, and mat-making. The value of the labor per- formed has averaged during the last five years about $S5 per head, exclusive of work done for the prison itself The average annual cost per capita in excess of this sum, including food, clothing, and a propor- tionate share of the salaries, besides the estimated rent of the prison- property, has been about $12. Xo supervision is maintained over discharged prisoners, nor is any interest taken in their subsequent career. The county jails are divided into two classes, one class being under the charge of the penal department of the government, the other under the police; about six months in the former, in tlie latter a few days, is the average sentence. In none of the jails is there penal labor, and in the police jails there is no labor of any kind. The prisoners work in association, and the average annual net enrniugs per capita, exclusive of any portion allowed to the prisoner himself, have been during the lasc five years about $18. The shortness of the sentences (nearly one-half being for less than a month) prevents any permanently reformatory results. There are three reformatories in Victoria, two of which are wholly, and one partially, supported by the state. As far as practicable the children's parents are required to contribute to their support; but the amount received from this source is insignificant. The limits of age within which children are received are eight and fifteen. The boys are employed in tailoring, shoe-making, carpentery, sail- making, and seamanship. The girls perform the domestic work and are instructed in needle-work. The products of the inmates' labor are not sold, the work done being entirely for the use of the institution. In nearly every case the children obtain a situation or are sent to their parents. In the latter case they are no longer under the care of the institution. Wlien licensed to emi)loyers they are considered still under its control, and may be returned to it if not doing well. Prizes are given for proliciency in school and in labor, and early dis- charge to service for good conduct. Those who distinguish themselves in this i)articular are appointed monitors, captains of messes, &c. The punishments are extra drill, privation of food for short periods, and cor- poral punishment, not exceeding twelve stripes, on hand or breech. Eecord is made of the children's conduct while in the institution, and also after their discharge, as far as it can be ascertained. PART SECOND. WORK OF TEE CONGRESS. INTRODUCTORY. It is Cfbvious, on tue slightest reflection, tliat a body like the Congress of London, coming together from so many different countries and com- posed of members having little i^revious knowledge of one another, and ignorant especially of each other's o})inions on the questions which they had met to consider, would be ill-suited to intelligent, harmonious, and, above all, effective work, without some carefully prepared chart to guide them in their labors. Impressed with this idea, the national committee of the United States had embodied in its final circular letter, addressed to the national committees of other countries, a recouimen- dation that an international committee, to be composed of one or several members from each country which proposed to take part in the con- gress, should meet in London on the 24th of June, ten days in advance of the congress itself. Conformably to this recommendation, the pro- posed committee convened at the time and place named, and organized by choosing the undersigned as chairman and Edwin Pears, esq., as secretary, the latter gentleman to act as such throughout the sessions of the congress. Even the international committee found itself too unwieldy a body to do the work assigned it in a satisfactory manner, and designated a sub-committee, which it named an international ex- ecutive committee, consisting of one member from each country repre- sented in the general committee. Of this smaller body, G. W. Hast- ings, esq., of England, was made chairman. These bodies met usually on alternate days, though sometimes on the same day at different hours, the smaller piei)aring the business aiul reporting it to the larger for a broader ctMisideraticni and a final determination. The two committees thus labored assiduously at the work of arranging the programme of I)r<)ceedings, and all other matters of a preparatory kind, down to the very eve of the opening of the congress. IJefore dissolving itself, the larger comuiittee constituted the smaller a periuanent committee, to sit every morning for .the i)urpose of consid(unng any questions that miglit arise in the progress of the labors of the congress, and especiall}' to prei)are business for it from day to day. It also named the Kight Honor- able tlie ICarl of Carnarvon i)ermanent ])resident of the body, although, owing to the state of his lordsiiip's health, it was understood that he wouhl l)e al)l(; to preside; only at the first session, when he would deliver the opening a(hlress. Tlie arrangement resolved upon for securing a l)ie,si(bng officer throughout the continuance of the cougress was to s('le(;f a meinlK'r as viceprcsldcMt each eni<'ur-g(''n<''ral of Aneoiia, Italy. lie expressed himself as oi>posed to associaletl imi)risonment piior to con- vi»;tion, more especially in cases where there was reason to fear that a inisoner by sueli association might defeat < he ends of justice. J le thought if an alisc.bite «bity of the authorities to j)rovide isolation for such pris- oners under arrest as might desirt,' it ; and in no case should a man who TREATMENT OF TRISONERS BEFORE COKVICTIOX. 131 was still (leemed innocent be compelled to associate with others in a prison a,ti,'ainst liis will. It was, at best, a hard necessity that a man should be locked up in a jail l)efore he was convicted of any crime. The IJev. Mr. Collins, of Tremardale, Bodmin, tliought that the fre- quency of imprisonments before conviction niijiht be, and oiir>ht to be, largely reduced. The plan he suggested to effect tliis was that, in all cases at ])resent bailable, a system of personal bail should be substituted for a money bail. Instead of the existing arrangement, Ijy which a sum of money is forfeited on the prisoner's failure to answer his recognizance, he would make the forfeit, in case of his non-appearance a full day before that appointed for his trial, liability to the full penalty of the crime with which he stands charged. He thought that this would secure his attendance much more effectively than the present system of bail, since no sane man would expose himself to a certain and extreme pen- alty, when, by surrendering himself, he would have all the chances of escape which a trial olfers. Such a plan would have the advantage of placing the poor man, now often unable to obtain sureties, on a level with his richer neighbor. It would also tend to imbue the. public mind with the idea that imprisonment is in itself a punishment and a dis- grace; it would save nuiny an innocent man from an imprisonment not deserved; it was in strict accord with the maxim that every man was to be deemed innocent until proved guilty; it was an economical arrange- ment, as it vfould save the cost of the prisoner's sujiport, and humane, since it prevented the sundering of wives and families from their bread- winners. Mr. Stevens, of Belgium, said that in his country safe custody was regarded as the only object of ])reiimiuary detention, and hence all who were able were allowed to purchase small luxuries. Before trial, all pris- oners were well accommodated. Mr. Pownell, of England, said that the bench, with which he was con- nected, had anticii)ated this question. Every man being considered, iu law, to be innocent until jiroved guilty, it seemed that an undeserved stigma was inliicted upon a man by sending him to jail before convic- .tion. Hence a house of detention had been built for tlie reception of jtersons awaiting trial. The inmates were isolated, thus saving them from contamination and also from taunts flung' at them, after liberation or acquittal, of having been incarcerated in a felon's cell. Various priv- ileges were allowed them, such iis the purchasing of their own food, if their means were sufficient, daily visits from friends, unrestricted con- sultation with their legal adviser, &g. This plan, he believed, was more just than to brand with the prison mark an untried man. CHAPTER XYIII. THE PRISONER DURING HIS INCARCERATION'. § 1. Proper maximum of prisoners for any single prison. — The question "What ought to be the maximum number of prisoners or convicts de- tained in any prison?" was introduced before the congress by Mr. Ekert, of Germanj^ who said that during the many years through which he had been head of the prison at Bruchsal, this question had received much of his attention. He believed that live hundred should be made the maximum, and that the number should rather fall below 132 IXTERXATIONAL PEXITENTIARY COXGEESS. tliau exceed that figure. This proposition he urged ou the triple ground of security, justice to the prisouer, and liope of reformation. A larger number would, in his opinion, render individualization extremely diffi- cult, without which there can be no effective reformatory treatment of prisoners. Xor does an increased number of subordinates obviate the difficulty. The above view is in accordance with one of the fundamental principles of the Crofton prison system. The question of cost should not be made paramount, since where money considerations prevail, all reform too frequently comes to an end. He had arrived at his opinion after consultation with many competent authorities, whose belief coin- cided with that which had sprung up in his own mind after many years' experience as a prison officer and as president of the German Prison Society, in which latter capacity he had had an opportunity of obtaining information from all parts of the world on the operation of different prison systems. Sir John Bowring, of England, was of opinion that large prisons were preferable to small ones, not only on the ground of economy, but also as atibrding a wider scope for emulation and moral improvement. The larger the scale ou which labor is coiulucted, the more profitable are its returns, and he believed the same principle to hold true in the case of the operation of moral influences. Instrnction is most easily imparted in universities, and a clergyman is more likely to make an im- pression on a large congregation than on a small one. The elements of improvement and the tendencies to deterioration should be considered in the treatment of each prisouer, and the larger the scale on which such observations are made, the more valuable would be the results. 31. Vaucher-Cremieux, of Switzerland, agreed with Herr Ekert, while admitting that, for financial reasons, a large number might be desirable. The difficulties of supervision, however, particularly in cellular prisons, were greatly increased. He quoted M. Deinetz, director of the reforma- tory at 3Iettray, France, as holding that three or four hundred was a sufficient number for prisons of this class, and expressed his be- lief that in prisons conducted ou the congregate system one thousand should be the maximum. 31. Stevens, of Belgium, thought that the question of expense should be subordinated to that of reformation. Looking at the (juestion from that stand-point, he tiiought that in no prison should the number of convicts exceed five hundred, and in cellular prisons it should be even less. JJr. 3Iouat,late inspector-general of prisons in the province of Bengal, India, while agreeing with M. Stevens as to the superior importance of n-formation over economy, believed that excessive subdivision of jirisons might be jnstly opposed as too costly. He believed that individual treatment was entirely practicable in a prison containing one thousand inmates, if the staff of subordinates were large enough to attend to the details and to the treatment of each juisoner. This number had been miule the ]iia\iinum by law in India, in lS(»t, ])artly on financial grounds, and i)artly with a view to moral and dis('ii)liiiary treatment. 31. I'eteiseii, of Norway, iiad, in the i)rison of which he was the head, an average ol two hundred and t wenty-four convicts. He considered this number too snuill, l)elieving that huge i)risons could be more easily managed than small ones. With a small number of prisoners there waH a tenaiate system should, he thought, have between three hundn-d anility of moral classilication was one of the strongest argu- it)ents for the cellular system, under which ever}' i^risoner was a class by himself. Dr. 3Iar(juardsen, of Gernmny, member of the Reichstag, believed moial (;]assifi<'ati<)n to be im]»ossihh'. No doubt any system of classifi- cation was better than none at al!, but he believed the cellular system to be tlui true basis. .Air. Scijeant Gox, of iMigJaiid, was of opinion that there was a wide diffciciice, morally speaking, between the man who committed a crime ol' viohMice under sudden )»assi()n aiul the habitual thief. The former was IVcfjuently far nu)rc severely i)unished than the latter, although his otfense did not, of itself, indieat<^ great moral depravity. lie thought it monstious tliat the two should be treated i)recisely alike in jjiison. A classifiealioii which only recognized these two categories, wouhl be bet- tei' than none. Dr. JJiltinger, of Pennsylvania, ])()inted out that tlu^ necessity for classification of some sorij had always been re(;ognized — (hst, in the Hi'j)aralion of dilferent sex<'s and different ages, and afterward in the construction of jirisons for offenses of vaiious grades. He thought, with Mr. (Jox, that the man who had committed a. crinui in hot blood", or while into.\i<'ale(l, and the habitual criminal ought not to be treated PRISON MANAGEMENT AND LEGISLATION. lo5 alike in prison. The latter was liopcloss, crime being his profession ; while the former might be the victim of misfortnne. A sense of justice was essential to reform ; and if they were put on the same footing, the pick-i)ocket would despise justice, while the other would resent being made a felon. An employer knew the character of his men, and he be- lieved that a prison officer might judge of the moral character of his prisoners by the same standard, i. e., their actions. Colonel Katclilfe, of England, while admitting that classification was im])Ossible in prisons where the sentences were for a few weeks or months, thought it practicable in convict-prisons where the sentences were of long duration. Baron von Holtzendorff, of Prussia, said that M. d'Alinge's practical experience had refuted the allegation of impossibility. Isolation and the cellular system had arisen from the alleged impossibility of classifi- cation, but the progressive system involved classification, and the prob- lem had been solved by Germany and, to a certain extent, by Sir W. Oroftou's system. The mark system was a self acting method of classi- fication according to behavior. God alone could gauge the inner man, but the outer man could be tested by behavior and industry. If he played the hypocrite, he must be left to God. § 3. Prison management — how far to he regulated hy legislation. — The discussion on this question was opened by Mr. Stevens, of Belgium. He thought that prisons should be ])laced under the direction of a Cen- tral aut'jority. The regulations of the public administration should determine the prison administration, the mode of surveillance, and the moral and material treatment to be adopted in conformity with the law 5 but a certain latitude should be left to the {^xecutive authority, making obligatory, however, a due regard for the principles fixed l)y the law. When prison treatment is not regidated by law, this latitude is too large and extremely liable to abuse. Baron Mackay, of Holland, agreed with Mr. Stevens that the general principles of prison discipline should be laid down by legislation, but thought that, in view of the rapid advances made in this science, it would be unwise to attempt to prescribe details, which, when fixed by statute, could not be easily altered. Mr. Frederic Hill, of England, said that the plan suggested by Mr. Stevens had been adopted in Scotland. Under the Scotch system all details were left to the authorities in charge of the prison, who were thus enabled to make such changes, from time to time, as experience might suggest. He thought that tlie English system fettered the prison officials too much. There should, however, always be some one directly responsible to government for the working of the regulations adopted in each prison. Dr. JMouat said that the Indian system approximated to the Scotch. Minute rules should not be embodied in acts of Parliament, but left to experienced authorities, to be altered whenever it might become neces- sary. Baron von Holtzendorff said that the criminal code of Germany had formerly given oilly the names of different kinds of punishment, but the Eeichstag had asked the government to frame a rule defining each kind of imprisonment. In Germany, and especially in Prussia, all regula- tions for local prisons enumated from the government. There was, con- sequently, great uniformity, and no such diiference could exist as pre- vailed in England between jails and convict-prisons. Some prison governors had no confidence in any system but their own, and it was necessary to put some restraint on them. The question whether or not 136 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. corporal punisliment onglit to be inflicted slioiikl be determined by the lejiislatnre, and not left, as in Germany, to the discretion of tlie governor. The maximum and minimum of severity should also be laid down by law, but the application — the determining what degree of severity to inflict — should be left to the authorities. Mr. Beltrani-Scalin, of Italy, said that in that country, for a long time past, the law had laid down principles and left the mode of exe- cuting them to the authorities. Mr. Hastings, of England, objected to any attempt to obtain the benefit of a uniform system by sacrificing local action. He considered diversity of exj^eriment the only way of arriving at the best treatment. It was impossible to say what was the best system of prison admin- istration under all circumstances, in all countries, or even in all parts of the same country. The legislature should lay down certain broad principles, but within those limits entire liberty should be left to local administration. Under a stereotyped system, which fettered the ad- ministrators, its faults — and there would certainly be some — would be without hope of remedy ; whereas, by leaving room for experiment and diversity of action, a much better S3'stem would ultimately be reached. Mr. Berden, of B,elgium, said that in that country a special law, a modification of the Code Na])oleon, laid down the principles of prison administration, but left sufficient discretion to i)rison authorities to deal witli individuals as circumstances might dictate. Thus, although most of the prisons were being adapted to the cellular system, which system was favored by the legislature, prisoners who from ill-health or other causes were unfit for the cellular system were not subjected to it. § 4. Whether whipping should be employed as a discipAinary punishment. — ^Ir. Stevens was of oj)inion that it should not. Its tendency was to bru- talize the prisoner, and thus neutralize the reformatory intiuences that should be brought to bear upon him. He deprecated the use of physical y)unishnient of all kinds, believing that moral means were all-sufficient, if proi)er]y applied. The bastinado can never open the way to the heart. Such ]>nnisliinents, in the words of a French workman, afl'ect only the ])risoner's liide^ wliile degrading him to the level of the brute. In iJclginm, any prison olficial w ho liad resort to the lash would be promptly dismissed from his ])(>st. It should never be forgotten that imprisonment is but a severe, thongh benevolent, means to the accomplishment of the prisoner's rcfoiniation. Ivx'ixnienee has i)roved that good dis- cipline can be niaintaiiicd without frecjuent re(;ourse to i)unishments, and that many ])risoncrs arc led to obedience by the moderation and Justice disi)layed toward them by the administration. The idea that ])risoners can be governed only by severity ])roceeds upon the mistaUen belief that they are forever lost as regards an honest life. Su(!h a Ix'lief overlooks the relation subsisting between crime on the one sid(^ and ignorance and i)arental neglect on the other, and those whf) emph>y sm-h chastisement as leaves in the heart only sentiments of hatred and veng(Mi(;e may justly b(^ held responsible for the neglect of tliose moral and religious influences, which alone are able to lead men to obedience and dnty. Major l)n ( "ane, director of l-^nglish convict prisoners, beliexcd that prisoners were peisons whom disci|»line must rednce to a i)roper frame of mind. He believed it would l)e impossible, to i)r(^serv(^ disci|)line and jirotect the ol'ticeis — a lew men amid large bodies of ))risoners, many of tMibiilenI dispositions — without the fear of corporal punisliment. He li;i(l liiniself known prisoners to aeknoaledge, that, but for flogging they would not have become tractable and reformed characters. WHIPPING AS A DISCIPLINARY PUNISHMENT. 137 Dr. Mount said that in Indian prisons, owing: to their imperfect cou- strnction, the cane had been much more larjifely employed than the sugar extracted from it. Its inliictiou shoukl, in hisopinion, be restricted to cases where convicts were so degraded and brutalized that the lash alone would compel them to good behavior; but, wliile agreeing that moral means should be pushed to the utmost, he would still, in Jealouslj- guarded cases, retain the power, in the hope that this would render its exercise unnecessary. Mr. Shei)herd, for thirty years governor of the Watefield prison, Eng- land, with an averageof one thousand inmates, stated that during all that time no corporal punishment was inflicted there for prison oiienses. He doubted whether in cases where it was inflicted every other means had first been tried. He favored its entire abolition. Up to his resig- nation (six years ago) he had remarked that nearly every prisoner sub- jected to corporal punishment returned to the prison again. Dr. Marquardsen, of Bavaria, said that in his country corporal i>un- ishment had been abandoned several years ago, both as a means of pub- lic punishment and as an agency of prison discipline. The respect and obedience shown by prisoners had since greatly increased, breaches of discipline had diminished, and no prison authority desired a revival of the practice. The committee of the Keichstag, of which he had been a member, charged with the framing of a military code for Germany, had also set aside corporal punishment, so that not a blow could be struck in the whole empire. Dr. Frey, as the governor of a prison with many hundred inmates, said that in Austria the use of the lash was abolished in 18GG, ex))erience having shown that it was demoralizing. It deprived the prisoner of that self-esteem which formed the basis of his moral i?nprovement, and the strictest discipline might be maintained by other means. Dr. Guillaume, of Switzerland, said it was also being abolished in his country. Major Fnlford, governor of the jail in Staffordshire, England, said that he was required to be present at every infliction of corjjoral pun- ishment in his prison, and that he was invariably ill in consequence. Still, he believed it impossible to dispense with it in a prison where, as was the case with his, the prisoners were thoroughly degraded and vicious. There was a class of men who thought nothing of disgrace, but cared only for the stripes that they received. Mr, Wills, governor of Nottingham prison, England, agreed with Major Fnlford that flogging, though it should rarely be administered, was a useful power in reserve. Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, of Massachusetts, thought the only thing to be said for flogging was that it was a time-saving process. Reason would gain as much in time. She was sure that no brutally ill-treated woman would thank the prison ofiticials for sending her husband home more brutalized than before. She would never say to any prisoner, "You area brute?" Rather would she say, "You are God's ciiild ; do not dishonor His image, as I cannot, no matter what have been your faults, dishonor it in yon." Mr. Frederic Hill said that for seven years, while he was inspector of prisons in Scotland, no corporal inflictions were allowed, nor did he hear au}^ prison governor express a wish for the power to inflict such chas- tisement. Mr. Hastings, of England, was glad to say that it had not been found necessary to use the lash in the county i^risou of which he was a visit- lug justice. 138 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. Sir Walter Cioftoii said that EnjjHshuien ji^eiierally favored the reten- tion of the power of corporal pnnisliinent, in order that the necessity miglit never arise for its exercise. Prison ^^overnors had not tlie power of enforcing- discipline by this means, which could be eiujtloyed only on magisterial sanction. Its nse was very exceptional, and resort was never had to it, until every other resource had been exhausted. In conntries which had abolished Hogging in prison, other punishments "were emi)loyed, and if an nnobjectionable substitute could be found for England, he would be rejoiced to hear of it. Every magistrate and prison governor had a horror of it, but all clung to the necessity of re- taining the power to inflict it. General Pilsbury, of New York, said he was no advocate of corporal punishment. He knew from experience, how^ever, that all i)risoners could not be governed by moral suasion; a few require sevei'er disci- pline. He was convinced that no prison could be well and safely gov- erned, nnless ample power were vested in the chief officer to inflict special punishment, when called for, promptly, summarily, and, if need be, severely. He was of opinion, however, that this power should be given to the chief officer alone, and that not through the intervention of an advisory board. If prisoners knew that he i^ossessed sucli a pow- er, occasion for punishment would seldom arise j the knowledge would prove sufticieut of itself to enforce discipline. Br. Marquardsen, of Bavaria, thought that the actual experience of what had been accomj)lished without the power to inflict cori)oral pun- ishment furnished a stronger argument than the alleged maintenance of disci])line l^y the existence of ])ower which was seldom exercised. Such a method of reasoning he could not accept. § ~). Kinds and limits of instrvction suited, to tlte rcform(dorii treatment of prisoners. — Mr. Stevens, of Belgium, opened the discussion by saying that the means of moral influence should consist chiefly in education, wliich should be of a quadruple character: industrial, scholastic, moral, and religious. 1. Industrial education. — The object of this part of his education is to ]»rovide the prisoner with the mea;is of earning a livelihood on his dis- charge. Consequently, in the work-sh()])s, more care should be taken to teach him his trade thoroughly than to make his labor i>r()ductive. The ]»rimary object of labor, as an element of ])rison discipline, is to reform Die piisoner and aid him to lead a reformed life on his (lis(;harge ; hence it should be organized and conducted with a view rather to the future of flie pi isoiier tiian to its effect u])()n tlu^ tieasury. 2. tSeliolaslir instrvetion. — This shouhl comiuise reading, writing, arith- nu'tic, the elements of graniniar, history, geograi)]iy, geometry, and linear diawing, the latter esjx'cially in refeieiu-e to trades and useful arts. 'I'hc (act that i)ublic instiuction has received so great an exten- sion within the last few years renders it all the. more imi)ortant that a \ igoroiis impuls*^ he given to i)rimary instruction in prisons. Illiterate jtcrsons should be, the object of special care. .'{. Moral etliicaliou. — 'i'he teaclicr sliould, by special iiistruction in the school, incidcatc the perCormance of social duties. This instru(ttion should review I lie )irincii»al existing vices oi' society and den)onstrate their sad anarti('ular vice discussed at the preceding lesson, and should set forth as well its inherent/ beauty as the moral and mateiial ad\antages associated with its exercise. Other les- sons should be given on the most IVefiuent \iolalioiis of the ]»eiial code, t'S))ccially noting su(;h crimes as robbery, swindling, rape, assault, mur- PENITENTIARY EDUCATION ITS KINDS AND LIMITS. 139 der, &c. lu all moral instruction, an effort should be nja, subordinated moral and religions instruction, which he believed to be an unsound principle. He deplored the small attention which was paid to convict education in the prisous of the United King- dom. Mr. Merry, a Berkshire magistrate, deprecated the pursuit of indus- trial labor to the exclusion of a proper attention to education, maintain- ing that silent congregate labor left the head empty and the heart hard. Mr. McFarlane, of England, said that every care was taleen in the Irish prisons to provide, first, for religious and then for industrial and literary instruction. He was surj)rised to hear Mr. Tallack arraign the prisons of Ireland on the score of neglect in this particular. Dr. Varrentrap, of Germany, thought that secular should include physi- cal education, since the mental and moral equilibrium dej)euded so largely on the 2)lii/sique. He believed that no limit should be i)laced on secular instruction, and favored the task-system of labor as affording the pris- oner a. better opportunity for study. Miss Mary Carpenter, of England, thought that society was bound to cultivate tlie powers God had given to a prisoner, and so enaUie him the better to discharge his duties as a prisoner and a man, and the dilliculty attending the education of adults should form no obstacle. She regretted that government did not recognize this duty. Instruction shouhl be so imparted as to be in itself a pleasure, and its intiuence would then be most salutary, as tending to wean })risoners from the indulgence of their lower passions. Scholastic, moral, and religious instructions were closely allied, and should not be separated. § 0. Wlicther it is expedient in eertain cases to employ an imprisonment consisting in mere privation of liberty icithout ohligation to work. — Count de Eoresta, of Italy, thought that crimes of passion, not implying great moral p/erversity, should not be punished by ordinary imprisonment, but by simple tletention in a fortress or other secure ]>lace, without the prisoner being required to labor, and without association with those sentenced to ordinary imi)risonmeut. The natural distinction between crimes of jtassion and of reflection seemed to indicate the propriety of making a difference between the ])unishments awarded them. Crimes of the former category are frequently committed by persons v ho are young, well educated, and uncorrupted. For such prisoners he consid- ered the solitude of a cell, with forced labor, merely an aggravation of ^pitnishment, and not calculated to have a reformatory intlueuce. He believed that simple detention, with the privilege of reading, attending to their own afiairs, and seeing friends, was a sufficient punishment. AVhat descriptions of criminals should be treated in this manner should be determined by the penal code. Professor Wladrinoff, of Bussia, remarked that simple infractions of the law did not involve crimiualitv. He thought it should be left to the 140 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. jury to decide to which chiss a prisoner belonged, it being a matter involving personal liberty. Mr. Chandler, of Pennsylvania, said that tlie plan snggested by Count de Foresta was in most successful operation in Pennsylvania, and he believed that it might be made a success everywhere. Dr. Mouat dissented from this view. He had been connected with prisons in India where such a system had been applied, aud he believed it to be very corruptiug. Dr. Marquardsen said that the code adopted in Germany three years ago recognized the principle contended for by Count de Foresta. The distinction made there, however, was not between crime and crime, but between criminal and criminal, and it rested with the judge to decide whether the offender should be kept at hard labor or in eustodia honesta. The latter class of criminals were imprisoned in a fortress. Speaking for himself personally, he believed that, in general, persons guilty of minor offenses should not be left without labor. He believed that the law of Germany embodied the true principle on this subject. . Under its provisions, criminals were divided into hard-labor prisoners and such as were emploj'ed in the trades and professions to which they were accus- tomed. §7. Whether seniences for life are expedient. — Baron von Holtzendorff", of Prussia, in opening the discussion on this question, called attention to the very decided difference in the-view at present taken of the object to be attained by i^unishment and that which, as history discloses, was taken in the past. Salvation was now universally regarded as a primary end of correction, and this recognition of the principle that men ought to be reclaimed led to the agitation of the question under discussion. He did not, however, favor the abolition of life-sentences, if cajtital pun- ishment were expunged from the penal code; and he believed that all who favored the abolition of the latter measure must agree with him. Imprisonment for life must remain the substitute for one or two cen- turies at least. But such a punishment should, like all other punishments, contain the elements of ho[)e and fear: fear lest the term of imprison- ment be actually for life, and hope of release after ten or twelve years on satisfactory proof of reformation. Dr. Wines stated that, under the law of Missouri, a prisoner sentenced for life, who conducted himself with uniform propriety, became entitled to his liiterty after lifteen years in the state-prison. Dr. Mouat said that the same i»rincii)le! had been adopted in India. Hon. D, Haines, of New Jersey, said tliat his objection to lile-sentences lay in the fact tiiat they left no ho])e in the eonvie.t/s breast, without wliicli tliei'e (;ould be no reformation. I'^ven if hoi)e remained, it was t^)o uncertain and remote to lia\'e much inlluenceon the i)risomn\ -Mr. Stevens agreearon von noltzenl, fixed at six months, but had been increased, first to one year and then to two, and a further increase was favored. The term would proliably be extended to three years as soon as the number of cells was sulficient. Sir Walter Crotlon referred to experiments carefully made at Penton- villc, England, under the direction of Sir Joshua Jebb. formerly director of (;()nvi<'t-[»risons, tin; results of which showed that eighteen months was the longest possil)le i»eriod for which isolation could be safely main- tained. During the time when transportation was employed as a means of jtunislunent under the English law, the surgeons at the penal sta- tions in the colonies reported tiiat the condition of those men who had been kept in stiict cellular continement for a period of from two to two and a half years before being transported was particularly unsatisfac- tory. They were, found to have sutfered to some extent in their nnnds, and their wills were broken down. It was such reports as these that (;aused the reduction of t he term of cellular confinement to ninc^ months. « 10. Whclhrr or not imprisonment shonld he nniform in nidure, and dif- fer on h/ in hiif/th. — (!(.unt SoPohub, of K'ussia, in oi)ening the discus- HJon on this (|uestion, remarked that the ol)ject of a hospital was not to ke,<'p its [)atients, hut to send them out cured. In like manner, the ol)ject of a prison should be to combat the moral malady, and return PRISON LABOR PENAL AND INDUSTRIAL. 14.3 patients to society cured. As hospitals, moreover, endeavor to ^uard aiiuinsr a rela|)se into physical disease, so the prison authorities shoukl direct their efforts to ])revent a rehipso into tlie moral disease of crime. It should be considered in every case whether the offense was the result of perversity and a passion for crime, or of some sudden excitement or temptation. Different classes of criuiiuals, like differently-affected pa- tients, required various kinds of treatuient, and every precautionshould be taken against contagion, by which the disease mijiht be aggravated and a cure rendered more difficult. Each kind of prison should have a s})ecial aim ; a prison which attempted to effect two different objects would succeed in neither. There should be two classes of prisons: one for convicts whose characters evidenced moral perversity, the other for those whose offenses were the result of a sudden break-down of princi- l»le or of uncontrolled passion. This was the principle of division fol- lowed in liussia. Dr. Mouat admitted that it was desirable to make punislnneut pro- portionate to guilt, but feared that there was no moral barometer by which guilt could be strictly measured. Count de Foresta, of Italy, said there existed in that country and in France three classes of puinshment: sentences to sim])le imprisonment, to reclusion, and to hard labor. The first class could not exceed five years, except in the case of recidivists, whose term might be doubled. The prisoner was employed in industrial labor. Eeclusion had five years as a minimum and ten years as a maximum, and involved the loss of civil rights. Hard labor implied civic degradation and civil death, and persons sentenced to it for a term remained subject for their lives to police-supervision. Speaking for himself, he did not favor this system. He contended that there should be but one kind of sentence, the only difference being in length, and there should be different pris- ons with different disciplines for the various terms of imprisonment. Prisoners for three or four years should not be placed in the same buildings or treated in the same way as those sentenced for ten or fif- teen years. '§11. — Prison lahor — penal and industrial. — The question whether prison labor should be merely penal, or whether it should be industrial only, or whether there should be a mixture of both, was introduced by Mr. Frederic Hill, of England. Mr. Hill declared himself an earnest advocate of industrial, as opposed to purely lienal, labor, such as the crank, tread- mill, shot drill, &c. He recapitulated the main arguments for and against industrial labor in prisons. Its opponents, he said, based their hostility mainly on four grounds: 1, that it renders im- prisonuieut less irksome, and consequently less deterrent, than it should be; 2, that it is difficult to procure for prisoners such kinds of work as Avill be really remunerative; 3, that, however suited to long imprisonments, industrial labor is not adapted to short sentences; and, 4, that its introduction into prisons subjects the honest, free laborers outside to unfair competition. In reply to the first objection, Mr. Hill urged that irksonieuess is not the chief end of prison discipline. It neither prepares the prisoner for a life of honest industry himself nor eradicates motives to corrui)t others, while it is highly improbable that its deterrent effect on others would be at all commensurate with the evils it engenders in those who are brought under such a system — the irritation, resentment, obstinacy, and hardness which it unquestionably produces; besides which, the confinement of a prison and the other privations attendant upon a convict's life are in themselves sufliciently irksome. The only true test whether a prison has become attractive, is 144 IXTERXATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. to opeu wide its doors to all comers, witliout demanding?, as now, a qualification of crime. But altbougb, during a considerable part of Mr. HilFs service as prison-inspector in Scotland, free entrance was really given, altliougb no legal provision was made for tlie able-bodied poor, and altbougli industrial labor was required of all, tbe proportion of paupers to compulsory ])risoners was seldom more tban one to fifty. To tbe second objection, Mr. Hill opposed bis own experience iis in- spector in Scotland, where tbe main difiticulties be encountered lay in tbe shortness of tbe sentences and tbe indisposition and incapacity of prison governors and their subordinates for this special duty. The third argument Mr. Hill met by sbowing, first, that, even in cases of short imi)risonment, labor, productive in some degree at least, can always be provided; and, secondly, tbat when such punishments are but repetitions, often twenty or thirty times in succession, of the same penalty, the true remedy is not to render tbe system of discipline suitable to so absurd a practice, but, by a change in the law, to get rid of tbe practice itself. In answer to the allegation of injustice done to honest mechanics by introducing trades into prisons, Mr. Hill pointed out tbat from the ex- tremely small amount of manufacturing carried on at penal institutions the competition must uecessarilj- be very small ; and that from the caiiB that a public department would be likely to take to avoid precipitancy in selling below tbe market-rates, the danger to ordinary trade from prison labor would probably be less than from the same amount of free labor. Moreover, cheapness in price is an advantage to the greater number, so that, even granting tbat prison manufactures did sensibly'' atiect tbe permanent prices of articles, which he denied, such effect would be a good rather tban an evil. And, as a last consideration, he urged that every shilling saved to the public by prison earnings is a shilling added to tbat fund from which wages must be paid. Having thus noticed tbe arguments of tbe advocates of penal labor, Mr. Hill ]>roceede(l briefly to enumerate the grounds of his advocacy of the universal introduction of remunerative industrial labor into prisons. The following is a summary : 1. That to make labor useful ami i)rb- ductive in i)rison, as well as out of prison, is in accordance with nature ; tbat to strip it of these qualities is, if ilot absolutely unnatural, at least artificial ; a course demanding justification and proof of its l)ropri«'ty — a jtroof not given. 2. Tbat by means of useful and produc- tive labor much of tlie cost to society of tbe apprelieusion, trial, and imprisoniiient of <;riniinals may be repaid and soinetbing at least done toward indemnifying tbe jiersons wronged. 3. Tbat such eniph^yment, being ficc Ijom eveiytbing tbat is rej)nlsive and degrading, becomes associated in tbe i)ris()ner\s mind witb ])leusural)le tboughts, and tends to make bim look upon work as deseiving of respect. 4, 'JMiat by tbis kind of work a jirisoner, besides making tbe payments mentioned under tbe se(;ond licad, may help to sujtport Ids family and may i)r()vi(le afund Avitb wliic]i,at tLie end of liis continement, (iitber to i»ay tbe (;ost of emi- gration or to liave tlio means of making a. fresh and honest start in his own country. 5. Tbat [)risoners wbo bave been emi)loyed in useful and ])roilu(;tive work ari^, at tlu;ir liberation, much better armed against relapse into crime, as wellasmucb better i)re|)ai('d to obtain an honest li\ ing, tban tbose wbose lal»or lias l)eeii merely jienal, and tbat, in fact, tbe proportion snbse(|iiently doing well is niiieli larger, -Majftr i'liUbrd, go\criior of Slalford jail, lOnglaiid, contended that ]»iisons were not lelbrmatories, but, sboiild be a, terror to evil doers. Jle considered tbat penal lal)or was necessary in the case of "repeaters,'' PRISON LABOR PENAL AND INDUSTRIAL. 145 siuce the professional thief or drunkard was utterly insensible to high moral teaching*. He thought, however, that such otfenders should not be kept in a county jail, but sent to a convict establishment for a period long enough to eradicate his evil habits. General Pilsbury, of Albany, thought penal labor destitute of any reformatory element. He had always found in American prisons that the most successful institutions, in a reformatory point of view, were those where industrial labor was so managed as to produce a substan- tial income. Dr. Wines brought to the attention ot the congress the large indus- trial prison of Count Sollohub, at Moscow, the reformatory results of whose discipline were remarkable, only nine prisoners having returned during six years out of 2,100 discharged. At this prison, each convict was permitted to choose the trade he would learn, and, on mastering it, was allowed two-thirds of his earnings. So great a stimulus was this to industry that a man often became a skilled workman in two months. To this system the distinguished count attributed the surprising reform- atory results mentioned above. Mr. Hibbert, M. P., of England, said that an act of Parliament of 1SG5 provided that the visiting magistrates might, under the sanction of the home secretary, substitute other forms of hard labor for the tread-mill, crank, and shot-drill. In Salford prison, penal labor was required of all prisoners during the first three months of their sentence, after which they might be employed in carpet-weaving, cocoa-mat making, &c. Nor was the penal labor wholly unproductive, siuce the tread-mill, besides pumping water for prison uses, supplied motive-power for the industrial labor. The prison earnings last year defrayed all expenses except the salaries of officers. The sentences were, as a rule, too short to allow of industrial labor being successfully carried on ; out of (3,163 prisoners, 4,110 having been sent for terms less than a month, of whom 2,031 were sentenced for only seven days. Industrial labor being impossible under such sentences, he favored penal labor on the ground of its deterrent inflnence. Sir John Bowring vehemently condemned the tread-mill, and rejoiced that continental languages had no word for it. It should be called a work- waster or wind-raiser. It hardened the old jail-bird, leading him to associate labor' with non-productiveness, who well knew how to cast all the burden on the weaker or less experienced prisoners. Mr. Ploos van Amstel, of Holland, said that remunerative industrial labor was adopted in the Dutch prisons, a portion of the prisoners w^ages going to himself. He believed this system beneficial alike to the state and to the prisoner. Colonel Colvill, governor of Coldbath Fields prison, London, said that he had the largest tread-mill in England in his prison, six hundred men being employed on it at one time. He never knew a man improved by it. On the other hand, accidents frequently occurred; many had their legs and arms broken ; vejy recently a man undergoing a short sentence broke both his legs. It was, moreover, unfair, since the old hands could readily shift all the labor on their younger associates, who, especially if weak-chested, were sometimes injured for life. Mr. Stevens, of Belgium, protested against all labor the tendency of which was to brutalize the prisoner. Penal labor was unknown on the continent. Dr. Mouat said that during his experience in India he had found non-productive labor brutalizing. The tread-mill was tried at Calcutta, but caused many accidents and was abolished as cruel and unjust. H. Ex. 185 10 146 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. The anger and bitterness shown by prisoners on asceuding or descend- ing it had always made him feel that it was unchristian. To make prisoners miserable is not the true way to regenerate them. They must have an interest in their work, and be taught to apply it to useful pur- poses. The prisoners under his charge had, during the last five or six years of his administration, repaid by their labor 40 per cent, of the cost of their maintenancej thus relieving the tax-payers and preserving the convicts' self-respect. Dr. Frey, of Austria, said that in the Austrian prisons industrial labor prevailed. This alone would call forth the full working powers of the prisoner. CHAPTEE XIX. THE PRISONER AFTER HIS LIBERATION. § 1. Best mode of aidinfj dlsoliarged prisoners. — Mr. Murray Browne,, secretarj' of the Metropolitan Discharged Prisoners' Relief Society of London, opened the discussion with a paper showing the operation of the English system of aiding liberated prisoners. The thirty-four societies established for this purpose are all voluntary associations of benevolent persons. The majority, however, possess a semi-official character, from the fact that the gratuities allowed by law to the pris- oner on his discharge are, instead of being given to him dii-ectly, placed in the hands of a prisoners' aid society in trust, the society being re- ({uired to account for each sum so received, which varies in amount from a few shillings to £3. Tiie additional funds required by the socie- ties for the ])rosecution of their work are raised by voluntary contri- bution. These societies may be divided into two classes : those which 'assist men and those which assist women. Of the former, only two maintain homes or refuges. The most important of these is the Wakelield In- dustrial Home, where discharged prisoners are maintained as inmates, and kept at industrial work, often for a considerable time, until employ- ment can be procured for them elsewhere. Tills system has been tried in many other parts of England; but, although its success at AVakelield has been admirable, elsewhere it has failed, and a majority of the societies prefer another plan. They aim to find work for the i)risoner as soon as possible, to provide him with pecu- niary sui)port while waiting, and to aid him morally, by advice and assistance, as far as may be in their power. The most difficult part of their task is the finding of employment. Eor this purpose a paid agent — usually an old ])olice-officer — is emi)loyed, who is required to use great judgnuMit and ]>erseverance. It is found, in general, that the prisoner's best diance lies in a return to his own neighborhood, there to resume his former trade or occui)ation. Immigration is very seldom resorted to, rhi(!Hy on account of (expense. iMiiny lads are sent to sea in the mer- chant-scrvi(;(^ As a rule, the dilliculties in the way of obtaining situa- tions Ibr (lischarg(!res(!nted as most gratifying. Dr. (luillaunie, of Swit/.erhmd, tluaiglit that tlie assistaiu'e given to discliMrged prisoners should be both moral and industrial, and should be given both by the .stat«' and by voluntary so(;ieties. Nor should the iniporf:iTu*e of teaching prisoners a trade in ]irison bi* overlooked, since REHABILITATION OF PRISONERS. 149 this would be of material assistauce to them on discharge. Employ- . ment, too, should be provided for them as soon as possible, lest the prisoner, while wandering about in search of work, should lose his desire for it and once more fall into evil ways. ' The prevalent opinion in Switzerland was that the Crot'ton system best attained these desired objects. Mr. Bremner, of England, said that the experience of prisoners' aid societies in that country showed but little success in dealing- with female criminals, which he attributed in great measure to the fact that female visitors and agents were not employed. The aid furnished to the socie- ties by the state, too, was inadequate. So important did he consider the work of aiding discharged i^risoners that he believed that some plan of moral and material assistance should be embodied in the criminal legislation of a country, to become as definite a part of the general sys- tem as are the trial and imprisonment of the offender. § 2. Best means of securing the rehahiUtatlon of prisoners. — Mr. Stevens, of Belgium, said that the reliabilitation, to be complete, must be both moral and legal. The former was to be obtained bj" giving each prisoner instruction in the particular religion which he professed. The most perfect religious freedom is preserved in the Belgian i)risons, and he earne^stly contended for the same freedom in the prisons of all countries. The legal rehabilitation of the prisoner was to be effected, in his Judg- ment, b3' freeing him from all restrictions, save those to which honest men are subjected. To make the forfeiture of political rights consequent upon imprisonment was to hang a weight around the prisoner who was striving to regain his position. A special patronage might be awarded to convicts whose conduct was good during imprisonment, which should be exercised over women by women and over men by men. He did not favor police supervision of criminals, as practised on the continent, although the friendly supervision contemplated by the Crofton system met with his approval. Mr. Hastiugs, of England, said that by act of Parliament any bench of magistrates in charge of a jail might employ, in addition to the regu- lar Protestant chaplain, a Roman Catholic chaplaiu, and pay his salary out of the funds at their disposal. There was then a bill before Parlia- ment making the employment of such chaplains compulsory. Sir Walter Crofton said that in all the Irish prisons there were em- ployed, in addition to the chaplaiu belonging to the Church of England, Roman Catholic and Presbyterian chaplains. Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, of Boston, thought that in dealing with this question it should be borne in mind that, as Mr. Emerson had said of the death of his child, "perhaps the world, and not the infant, failed." Too frequently the " failure" was rather on the part of society than of the prisoner. Baron Mackay was not in favor of the rehabilitation of prisoners be- ing effected by a judicial decree. The most perfect religious freedom prevailed in the prisons of Holland and Germany. Mr. Baker, of England, salt) that the loss of character suffered by a prisoner in consequence of his incarceration was a wholesome and natural part of his punishment. He maintained that it should not be easy for a liberated convict to obtain attractive and remunerative situa- tions; he ought to begin his new career with alower kind of work, and rise to higher positions as he showed himself worthy. Supervision, as prac- tised in England, was a powerful instrument iu the rehabilitation of the prisoner ; it was very rare to find a man under supervision out of work. Dr. Wines enumerated the civil rights which, in most of the states of 150 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. the American Union, were forfeited by a conviction for felony, and ex- plained the '' commntation-laws " of bis country, under which a convict may shorten bis term by good conduct. In several of the states, be said, an irreproachable prison record wrought, of itself, a complete legal re- habilitation of the prisoner, restoring him at once to all his civil rights. Hon. Mr. Chandler, of Pennsylvania, stated that a conviction for fel- ony in that State did not work a forfeiture of any political rights. Sir John Pakington, of England, deprecated what he had conceived to be an implication on the part of Mr. Stevens that lioman Catholics were not allowed religious freedom in English prisons. He claimed that the English people were universally opposed to the ignoring of de- nominational differences among prisoners, and stated that as a member of Parliament he had supported the bill mentioned by Mr. Hastings, re- quiring county jail authorities to employ lioman Catholic chaplains.* § 3. Best mode of givinr/ remission of sentences and regulating conditional discJiarges. — Sir AValter Crofton said that remission of sentences and conditional liberation were now interwoven with the convict- system of the United Kingdom. The maximum remission to convicts sentenced to penal servitude was a fourth of their term, after deducting the nine mouths spent in solitary confinement. The title of a man to remission of sentence was determined by a system of marks, by which he advanced from class to class, until, according to his deserts as thus indicated, he ob- tained a partial or entire remission. This system, in eflFect, amounted to a partial substitution of labor-sentences for time-sentences. Sir Walter defended the system of public-works prisons at some length, saying that they were based on jirogressive classification, and pointing to the vindica- tion of the Irish system by a recent parliamentary investigating com- mittee, known as Lord Deven's commission. He regarded conditional liberation, combined with registration, as the only reliable mode of test- ing the value of prison training and of obtaining trustworthy criminal statistics, without which there can be little unity of action. He was of opinion tliat it was a great in-otection to society, since it surrounded the commission of crime with obstructions so formidable as to deter habitual offenders. Mr. Tallack, of England, in reply to Sir AValtcr's defense of the pub- lic-works ]nisons, defended the cellular system, as ai)proved by the con- gresses of Utrecht and Frankfort, i)ieventing companionship with evil and allowing abundant coinmunication with good. He call(>d attention to th(5 fact tliat a few months ago :i convict at Spike Island had mur- dered a f'ellow-]>risoner, and stat(>d that there had been repeated murders at I'ortland, Chatham, and other ])nl)lic-works ])risons. Mr. Stevens stated that in lielginm conditional liberation was arrived at in another way from tliat enij)loved in l^higlaiul. Pednction of time was allowed; but as sei)arate detention without i)ossibility of demorali- zation, andwitli intercourse with good counselors, was ])referred to con- gregate lal)or, the reduction depended not so much on a prisoners con- duct as on his having uinhM'goiM^ a- ]>eiiod of se])aration proportionate to the sentence. I'here werrison oHiccis to be in ccuinection with a [irison. ilaving seN'ct<'(l men of ordinaiy intelligence, command of t<;mi)er, i^c, they should be put into tiic training juison to learn their work, after which they should bo i»romoted aixording to merit, until, EDUCATION OF PRISON OFFICERS. 153 possibly, tliey readied the top. These remarks did not apply to the governors or wardens of prisons, who shonld i)ossess snperior qaalifica- tions, and be endowed with a kind heart, sound judgment, general knowl- edge, and good temper. In conclusion. Dr. Guillaume said that he might summarize his views on this topic in the resolution adopted by the Prison Congress of Cincinnati in 1870, viz : Special training, as well as high qualities of. head and heart, is required to make a good prison or reformatory officer. The administration of public puuislunent will not become scientihc, uniform, and successful until it is raised to the dignity of a profes- sion, and men are specially trained for it as they are for other pursuits. Major Du Cane, director of English convict-prisons, thought that l^rison officers, like physicians and soldiers, should learn their duty from actual experience. No preliminary instruction could be as valuable as seeing the supervision of skilled officials in actual practice. He believed that the tone of the English prison officials was all that it should be. A moderate amount of intelligence and education was required, and due care was taken to secure these qualifications, as well as iirmness, hon- esty, and good temper. It was expected of them to convince the pris- oners that society was not their euemy, but ouly wished to show them the way of well-doing. He believed that the prison officials in Eugland did their duty efficiently, and that when recruits entered such a body they entered the best school in which to learn their duties. Baron Mackay, of Holland, said that Dutch legislation discouraged technical education, believing that better material was found in a man with a general education than iu oue trained ad hoc. lu the cellular l)rison at Amsterdam (the largest in Holland) it^ had not been found, 'necessary to employ specially-trained officers. He agreed with Dr. Guillaume that training was desirable if it could be obtained within the prison-walls ; but he objected to a normal school outside the prison for the inculcation of theories. He favored the promotion of subalterns, so trained, as vacancies occufred in the prison staff. Sir Harry Yerney, M. P., while not doubting that persons taken from the intelligent classes might make good prison officers, was, neverthe- less, of the opinion that persons specially trained to the work would be more efficient. It had occurred to him. Why should not prison governors be selected from the subaltern officials? In England they were taken from the army and navy; but it might, perhaps, be better to advance prison officers. Many years ago, while visiting Dr. Wichern, at the Kauhe Hans, near Hamburg, he had seen there a number of young men being educated to take the place of officers in the prisons at Berlin. The idea struck him favorably at the time, and subsequent reiiection had confirmed him in his opinion. Mr.,Rathbone, of England, pointed out an objection to the promotion of subalterns to the highest offices, viz, that the salaries now given did not attract men of education to these posts. A governor needed quick perception of character and great firmness — qualities, in his opinion^ not specially cultivated by prison life. . Major Fulford, governor of Stafford jail, England, thought it would be absurd to have a normal school for subordinate officers. At his jail, such officers were always taken on probation, and, if found incompetent,, were dismissed. Dr. Mouat, of England, thought that, what the hospital and dissecting- room were to the surgeon, the prison was to officials. Intelligence and good moral character were indispensable, but it was in practical expe- rience that they mnst learn their work. As to prison governors, he thought that, other things being equal, men should be selected who 154 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. were geutlemen and men of etlycation in tlie broadest sense of the words. A prison was a moral hospital, which required a large amount of knowledge of mental phenomena, of religion, and education, and high aims in reclaiming the idle and vicious. Some special training was therefore advisable for both subordinate and superior officers. Dr. AVines said that M. Demetz, the founder of the reformatory at Mettray, was so convinced of the necessity of a special training for those intrusted with the care of criminal men and boys that he had es- tablished a preparatory school, and spent an entire year with his col- leagues in training twelve or fifteen young men as officers before he ad- mitted a single inmate. The school had been kept up ever since, with twenty-five to thirty young men constantly in attendance, having a three years' course of training, and M. Demetz was strongly of opinion that Mettray would not have succeeded without it. The success of this reformatory probably sui^passed that of any other institution iu the world, scarcely 5 i)er cent, of those who left it ever returning to a career of crime. § 2, Whether tmnsportatlon is admissible and expedient in punishment of crime. — Count de Foresta, of Italy, iu opening the discussion, said that transportation, as carried on iu France — transportation with com- pulsory labor in a colony — he approved of as the best, punishment for great criminals, believing that it answered perfectly the double object of all punishment, viz, the protection of society within the limits of justice, and the reformation or amendment of the convict. It protects society by casting out from its bosom the most dangerous criminals, avoiding the grave inconveuien£'-es of relapses, and deterring would-be criminals by the prospect of banishment from their country and family. It en- courages the convict b^' giving him a hope of becoming again useful to society and beginning a new life far from his old haunts, whither he may bring his family, or, if he have none, may found a new one. While thus ajiproving of the main features of the^ French, as distinguished from the English, system of transi)ortation, the cou)it pointed out the defects of the latter and criticised them sveerely. Mr. Pols, of Holland, thought that to send convicts to another coun- try was unfair. If sent to a new colony, the natives were doomed to extermination. If the convicts were colonized, their descendants would, as iu the English colonies, object to receive them, and the system would again have to be changed. Transi)ortation for any length of time was impracticable. Count Sollohub, of Ifussia, thouglit that transportation might be ben- eficial if a locality were selected which needed colonization and cultiva- tion and extiirnal aid for Hie develoinncnt of its resources. Afr. Hastings, of JOngland, remarked that to send convicts to an inhabited country was to wi'ong its citizens, whowouhl, when they were able, i-esist it. To send them to an uninhabited (M)untiy was merely to send 1 hem to a jnison ten thousand or twelve thousand miles off, far i-emoved fiom i)ul)lic su])ervision,.Ji system always liable to great abuse. Moreovei', tin? cost of the sui)])ortof tin; convict was as great or greater as atlioiiM', and the ex))ense()i' the voyage had to be iiumned in addition. Count de J<\»resta, in i"e|)Iy, said tiiat in^ totally disa])i)ro\'ed of trans- ]»ortati()n as foi-merly piaclised under the, I'higlish law. J le advocated sending convicts un<|er lifeor lifteen or twenty year senteiH;(\s to distant and, if ]>r)ssil»h'. iiiiiiilial)ited regions, with separation at night and <;om- ]>uIsory hiltor. When sneh cohinies ultimately refused to receive con- vi(;ts, (as tlie Australian colonies had,) it would Im' time enough to consider what shonhl I)e done. TRANSPORTATION LABOR WITHOUT IMPRISONMENT. 155 Baron von lloltzendoiff thou^lit that the experience of Enalaiid was strongly against transportation, but tbat.tbe question should be left open to the decision of countries that believed themselves to be placed under better conditions than England. §3. Whether short inqnisonments and the 7ion-i)aijmcnt of fines may he replaced by conqrulsory labor without privation of liberty. — Count de Fo- resta, of Italy, explained to the congress a jiian for effecting the end proposed in- the title of the present section. He pointed out the evils attendant npou the imposing of sentences too short to admit of instruc- tion or reformation, yet long enough to allow of the prisoner becoming morally corrupted. He believed that these evils niight be diminished, if not entirely removed, by substituting for imprisonment obligatory labor during the day, leaving the condemned free to return to their families in the evening, like ordinary laborers. Again, as regards the payment of fines, since labor is the poor man's capital, the count urged that it Avould be more logical lor society to re-imburse itself by means of his labor than to fling him into a cell, where he produced nothing. He ad- mitted that this i)lan would prove difficult in execution, but denied that it was impracticable, and instanced many ways in which the condemned might be employed. He thought the system could be made applicable, especially in localities where there were large barren tracts to be re- claimed, or roads to be constructed. Mr. Tallack, of England, remarked that the treatment of vagrants in that country was analogous to that proposed by Count de Foresta for petty offenders, which he approved, and would be glad to see adojited. It would prove beneficial to the offender himself in many instances, and the worst portion of the community would be deterred without breaking up homes antl ruining families. E,ev. Mr. Collins, of England, favored the plan proposed by Count de Foresta. He had seen the agony caused in a respectable family by its l)rincipal member being committed to prison and branded as a jail-l3ird. Imprisonment should be made an object of dread, by surrounding it with disgrace and resorting to it as seklom as possible. He had long had misgivings, as a magistrate, whether he had not helped men to become criminals, rather than deterred them, by the imperative way in which the law required him to substitute short imprisonments for fines. By sending men to prison for a mere trivial offense, the feeling of shame was broken down, whereas self-respect should be maintained. Mr. Stevens, of Belgium, thought that practically there would be found inconveniences in the system. Some prisoners were unaccustomed to manual labor. Again, how could employment be found for painters, musicians, &c. ' Work in public would lack the penal element neces- sary in prison discipline, even for trifling offenses, and there would be some danger in collecting a dangerous class of men together, without the X)rivation of liberty. He preferred to shut men up and subject them to moral influence. Sir John Bowring considered the plan entirely feasible, if the condition of individual offenders and the circumstances of the locality were taken into account. In an agricultural district the men might be employed in agriculture, while iu town they Avould be accustomed to various trades, which might be carried on by them. He once found a locksmith iu a solitary cell earning seven shillings a day. Baron Mackay, of Holland, regarded the proposal as chimerical. If • the condemned received less than his wonted compensation, the i)unish- ment fell more heavily on his family than on himself. If, on the other hand, he received full pay, the only change in his mode of life being 156 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. •working in one place instead of another, where would be the punish- ment ? It would be a punishment only for those unaccustomed to man- ual labor, to whom it would be an aggravation rather than an alleviation, while, in such cases, mere intellectual work, if allowed, would be too slight a punishment. Mr. Bremner, an English magistrate, thought the imposition of fines a very unequal punishment, and believed that, in case of inability to pay a fine, justice demanded some other alternative than imprisonment. Baron von Holtzendorlf would point to Prussia as a proof of the feasibilitj" of the scheme. For twenty years there had existed a lavr providing labor as a substitute for a tine in the case of offenses against the forest-laws and wood-stealing. § 4. The proper limits of the power of boards of prison managers as re- gards the administration of prisons. — M. Loyson, of France, said that,' in his country, there were regularly-appointed commissioners of super- vision, whose functions were carefully defined. Their special mission consisted in promoting the moral and religious reformation of the con- victs. The commissioners and the prison governors were entirely inde- Tiendent of each other. If the former perceived anything requiring correction, they notified the director, and, in case he refused to interfere, they might appeal to the prefect of the department or to the minister of the interior. Their services were entirely gratuitous, and they were generally chos(*i from the leading inhabitants of the district. He be- lieved that this system, as a whole, offered advantages which no other conld, since the daily visits of local commissioners were better than the occasional visits of inspectors. 31. Vaucher-Cremieux, of Switzerland, said that in that country the grand council of the canton appointed a commission, which was uncon- nected with the prison authorities and whicli might visit the prison at their discretion. They could point out defects and suggest remedies, but had no executive power. Colonel Ilatcliff, of England, said that the visiting justices in each count3^ saw that the law was properly administered, while the govern- ment sent down an inspector yearly to examine all the details of admin- istration. § 5. Whether the government of prisons should he placed in the hands of one supreme central author itg. — Mr. Hastings, of England, thought that the plan adopted in that country, of Iiaving the county jails entirely dis- tinct Irom the higher grade of itrisons — the former being under the con- trol of the lo(;al autliorities, the latter under that of the general govern- ment — was ]»referable to a uniform system, under which all penal institutions should be subject to one (HMitral authority. Such a system, whih; it would undoubtedly llav(^ its ad\'antages, would be apt to become Htereotyi»ed. J le doubted whether it could be authoritatively declared that any one system was so far su[)erior to all others that it ought to be enforc(Ml cvciywhere. A variety of details and an intercliange of opinions jind experiences would probably i)ave the way for a better system than any whi(;h (;ouid be theoretically devised. Mr. I'loos van Anistel said that in Holland the minister of justice was chief administrator of jnisoiis. A cliang(M)f ministry, which was not infrefpient, always involved tli<', ]>(»ssibility of changes in |)rison manage- ment. To secur(f ])eiiMaiien('e, he thought that a council of three or four nu'mbers sliould act with the minister. Local boards, nominated by the government, were (charged with the interior administration or supervision of the i)risons in every locality. Mr. Stevens, of Belgium, admitted that [nditical detjentralization had CENTRAL AUTHORITY PRISON STATISTICS. 157 its advantages, but questioned whether this was the case with adminis- trative decentralization. In Belgium, all prisons were under a uniform system. It" a local commission suggested an improvement, it was con- sidered by the central authority, and, if approved, was introduced in all prisons. Punishment as well as law surely ought to be uniform. Dr. Guillaume, of Switzerland, said that each of the twenty-five Swiss cantons had its own legislature and administration, thus preventing any uniformity. He believed, however, that a central authority (he would say the minister of the interior) should have the direction of prisons, refuges, and similar institutions having a preventive or other elfect on crime. Messrs. Carter and Baker, of England, warmly defended the English isystem of local management for local prisons. County magistrates, in their opinion, were better acquainted with the feelings of the people, and could therefore manage the jails better than a central authority. § 0. Iniernational prison statistics. — Mr, Beltraui-Scalia, of Italy, said that it was needless to show the utility of penitentiary statistics, which alone could furnish legislators with the elements necessary for a reform of the penal system, and which, moreover, "would furnish judges with valuable hints in the application of punishment. He deplored the want of success which had attended the recommendations and eftbrts put forth in this direction by the x)risou congresses of 1858 and 1803, and by the statistical congresses of 1857, 1860, and 1870. He thought that an interna- tional commission ought to be appointed, comprising representatives of the different countries, which would lay down the basis of international prison statistics, leaving each government free to determine the form and time of the ofidcial publications it considered useful. The statistical congress at the Hague, in 1870, had expressed a wish that the tables be prepared, not onlj^ in the language of the country, but also in French. He regarded the suggestion as a good one. Count Sollohub, of Russia, considered the suggestion of Mr. Beltrani- Scalia with regard to an international commission not only wise, but feasible. He felt sure no country would refuse to co-operate. Dr. Frey, of Austria, thought that a comparison between different countries would be attended with some diSiculty, though he hoped not insuperable. A different percentage, under different systems might be due to nationality, not to system. Thus, if the question arose how many persons suffered from lunacy' under isolated and how many under congre- gate imprisonment, the percentage of lunacy in the country should be considered. So with regard to the rate of mortality in prisons. Dr. Guillaume, of Switzerland, urged the importance of criminal statistics as a guide to prison-reformers. Minute information should be obtained of the criminal, so that the springs of crime might be ascer- tained and dried up. Professor Leone Levi, of England, proposed that an international com- mission be appointed by this congress to lay down the principles of a yearly statistical report on crime and prison discipline. Uniformity of nomenclature of crime was indispensable in order to ascertain its increase or decrease, ^\''hat was murdec in one country was not mur- der in another. A system should be devised that v/ould guard against ambiguity in this regard. § 7. The best means of repressinfj criminal capif-alists. — Mr. Edwin Hill, of England, began the discussion by reading a paper on this sub- ject. He thought that the public mind was at fault in not having, as ^et, grasped the important truth that crime on a large scale is a craft, so far organized as to require the co-operation of labor and capital for 158 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. its successful operatiou. These " criminal capitalists ''lie divided into four classes, viz : 1, the providers of homes for the predatory classes — i. e., owners of real property occupied by thieves ; 2, keepers of " ilash- houses," or establishments wherein thieves meet for purposes of carou- sal and to plot the crimes they intend to perpetrate ; 3, booty-mongers, or receivers of stolen property, called, in thieves' slang', " fences ;" and, 4, the inventors and manufacturers of burglarious implements. He believed and knew that so dependent were thieves upon these four classes of capitalists, if the supporting capital were withdrawn, thiev- ing, as a vocation, must cease. He instanced two distressing evils which, in such case, could not fail to be suppressed, viz, first, the birth and nurture of children so environed by criminality as to have, practi- cally*, no means of escape ; and, secondly, the street-corruption of honest men's children by evil associations and the enticement to pilfer now offered by tlie purchasers of petty pilferings. He admitted that organ- ized criminality would cease as entirely, could the mere operative thieves all be driven from the field, but urged that the want of success that has so far attended the vast efforts put forth and the enormous ex- pense incurred by society in seeking to effect this was an argument to try the i)lan that he had suggested, which he considered much more certain, far less expensive, and equally effectual. He pointed out what he considered to be numerous defects in the existing English law on this subject, and suggested changes for the purpose of, first, effectually deterring the owners of real property from suffering it to become a refuge for criminals; and, secondly, to render the conviction of receivers of stolen property more easy than it now is. He also urged the Justice of heavily mulcting all capital found aiding the operations of criminals to defray the enormous expense of police, prisons, &c. Mr. Serjeant Cox, of England, said that in that country ai law had been recently passed increasing the minimum quantity which a marine- store keeper or Junk-dealer was allowed to purchase, this class of deal- ers being usually encouragers of petty pilfering by purchasing the stolen bits of iron, old roi)e, and other articles purloined by children. The effect of this law had been to materially reduce the number of such crimes, and he believed if its i)rinciple were extended to other articles, and shoi)-keopers were prohibited purchasiug from children under a certain age any commodities whi(;h they were not likely to have acquired rightfully, and restrictions were ])laccd upon the hours during which marine-store dealers might be dealt with, very much good would proba- ])ly ensue. In tlu^ court over which he i)vesided he had made it a prin- 'i-^0HS. — Mrs. Chase, of Rhode Island, opened the discussion on this question by alluding to the eftbrts that have re- cently been made in several of the States in her country to secure the appointment of women on the boards of state-prison inspectors. She said that those who urged this measure based their claim primarily on the ground that it is the duty of women to share with men in the care, instruction, and reformation of criminals, and that they can best do so it empowered with the same authority. Criminal women especially need the sympathy and society of their own sex; and the women who are usually employed in the capacity of prison matrons are not, she thought, generally capable of comprehending the peculiar condition of these un- fortunates, which, on several accounts, is more deplorable than that of criminal men. Nor, in her opinion, was the evil remedied by volunteer visitation of prisons by women. While much may be accomplished through this means, still a woman who feels that she is so employed by permission only cannot fail to be greatly embarrassed ; and, if she call attention to any abuse, her criticism is regarded as unwarrantable inter- ference, and often leads to her exclusion. She also called attention to the softening influence that good women might reasonably be expected to exert over male criminals separated, in many cases, from their fami- lies and removed from all home associations. Again, the counsels of women in the boai-d of inspectors would be valuable in all matters per- taining to the domestic economy of prison. As a member of the legally-constituted board of female visitors of the Rhode Island state- prison, she knew tliat the attention of the inspectors was maiidy given to the men. As the chaii'man of the board of inspectors had said to her, "-We cannot go into the women's hospital, and we know nothing about it." This inattention, which she believed to be general throughout the country, she attributed to three causes: flrst, the comparatively small numbcrof women in ])rison made it seem less im])ortant that they should be looked after; secondly, good men regani a- fallen woman as so much worse than a fallen man that they involuntarily shrink from association with her ; and, thirdly, the ))ublic sentiment that regards fallen women as hopelessly lost follows them within the ])rison-walls, and the inspectors feel that tlicy cannot hold out to them the same hopes as to men. An inspector liad once said to lier, " AVe'don't know what to say to them." She believed that if there was anything to say to them, if in any way the ])atli to a life of virtue could be oixmumI to them, if the stone which an unjust ])nl)li<; senlinuiiit had laid over the grave of their respecta- bility could ])(', r()lleunctuality, and exactness, and a taste for knowledge, besides «Mial)ling the youth to earn his bread. To make education, how- ever, universal, it should be gratuitous and compulsory. Together with Hchool-trainiiig naturally comes discipline, invahmble to these street- wanarted to these children. It is not desirable, however, to attempt selfsupitorting industrial movements among them, but rather to fit tliem for any occupation l)y tea<-hing habits of industry, licligion is an indis]»ensal>Ie element iu any comliination of inlhiences designed PREVENTIVE AND REFORMATORY WORK. 163 to effect a saving work among these juvenile vagrants. Nothing else can strengthen them against the tide of evil influences in which they are placed. Mr. Brace further mentioned, as the final and best practical agency iu efforts in large towns for this class, the plan of "placing out," or emigration to country districts. This breaks up all the worst associ- ations about these unfortunate youths, takes them from their companions and haunts of vice, puts them where others will respect them if they respect themselves, gives them the best of all labors for " minds dis- eased" — labor on the soil — opens to them a chance of success and com- petency, and places them in the most useful class in every country, the tillers of the ground. Besides the advantages here indicated, this plan commends itself on the score of economy, the expense of "placing out" being a bagatelle compared to that of a public institution, such as an alms-house, asylum, or reformatory for an equal number. It relieves the community of paupers and future criminals, and destroys hereditary pauperism. Mr. Brace then gave an extended account of the formation and work of the New York Children's Aid Society, whose chief agency he stated to be "placing out "these children in country homes in the Western States, which has been, iu his opinion, an unmingled blessing, and the most economical charity ever devised. The number of children thus sent West since the formation of the society has been 22,000, of whom comparatively few drift back to the city. Miss Mary Carpenter, the manager and founder of the Eed Lodge Reformatory for Girls, Bristol, England, continued the discussion by the reading of a most valuable i^aper on " The Principles and Eesults of the English Beformatory and Certified Industrial Schools." The system on which these schools are conducted has been already so fully explained in Part First of this report, that but a brief resume ot the main points in the very interesting paper by Miss Carpenter will be attempted here. The difference between the two classes of institutions mentioned in the title of the paper lies in the fact that to the former may be committed for a certain number of years children guilty of any act punishable with not less than fourteen days' previous imprisonment, while the latter are intended for young persons in a state of procJivity to crime. Both classes of schools must be established by private benevolence, but must be inspected by some one appointed by the secretary of state, and if he certify them as fit and proper for the purpose, the state grants a fixed sum per capita for each child sentenced to the school as long as he re- mains an inmate. This allowance is smaller in the case of industrial schools. A number of small institutions have been found better than a few large central ones. In order that a home feeling may be inspired, each school should be adapted to receive only fifty or sixty inmates ; if any institutions contain a larger number, they are divided into several schools, each of which occupies a separate house. In the general training, industrial, and if possible, out-door employment occupies a prominent part, the girls being taught such occupations as will prepare them for domestic life. At least three hours daily are devoted to religious in- struction and the ordinary branches of education. Sufficient time is allowed for recreation and occasional innocent gratification. The food, clothing, and surroundings in reformatories are such as are adapted to working boys and girls, and conduce to their health and civilization, without giving them undue indulgence. The results of this system Miss Carpenter described as most encouraging. As an illustration, she men- tioned that, of seventy girls discharged from her own reformatory during four years, only one was reconvicted during that period, nine others were doubtful or uukuowu, and sixty were maintaining themselves re- 164 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. spectably, six of tliem having- been well married. But independent of any isolated facts or any statistics, Miss Carpenter stated that juvenile crime, as it existed twenty years ago, has been absolutely annihilated. At the outset of this reformatory work, young persons were frequently committed who had been in prison six or eight times \ at present, cases of even a second conviction are uncommon. So satisfactory have been its results, that children who have passed through a reformatory are sought for, even in preference to others, as being better prepared for work than ordinary children. And as a final result of the reformatory work thus described, Miss Carpenter stated that the public interest had been awakened in these outcast children, and that it is now well understood that, in this matter at least, sound political economy and true Christianity are not really at variance, and the heart and con-' science of the nation have been opened to bestow money and effort, as well as love and sympathy, to save these young ones. Mr. J. A. Foote, of Ohio, briefly noticed the success that had attended the work of the Ohio Reform School, and said that reformatory work was the romance of doing good. Mr.Yaucher-Cremieux,of Switzerland, thought that in the reformation of juvenile olienders the germ of crime was destroyed. He particularly favored agricultural colonies like Mettray, where, out of four thousand inmates, it was believed that There were scarcely a score who had not been completely regenerated. Mr. Hendrickson, of Wisconsin, described the school of which he is the superintendent, which is conducted on what is known as the family plan, and which had been remarkably successful. Mr. Howe, superintendent of the Ohio Reform Farm School, gave an interesting sketch of the organization, growth, and complete success of that institution. Mr. Bouruat, of France, said that in that country there were two classes of reformatories, called, respectively, penitentiary and correc- tional colonies. To the former were sent young offenders sentenced to less than two years' im])risonment, as well as orphans under sixteen who were judged not to have erred knowingly : to the latter were sent those sentenced for more than two years and those guilty of insubordi- nation in the i)enitentiary colonies. The cellular prison of La Petite Roquette, Paris, received minors under sixteen. If their conduct in the penitentiary was good, they were surrendered to the patronage so- ciety for liberated juveniles of the Seine, which apprenticed them to a trade. Tf their coiuluct gave satisfaction to their masters, they M^ere not interfered witli; if otherwise, they were sent back to the penitentiary. Mr. Maisliall, of I'^ngland, descril)ed the hoys' reformatory at Feltham and that tor gills at llampstead. In the former, boys were instructed in ])ra(;tical seamanshii>, and were often well received by captains when apjdyiiig for ))ositions on ship-boanl on discharge. At the latter, the inmates w«!re trained for domestic service, and situations were leadily o])taiTMMl tor them on liberation. At both, scholastic and religious edu- cations wei(! in)i)arted with assiduity and success. Sir T. Fowell Buxton, of I'higland, said that in that country it was seldom i)ossil)le to jediiei^ the averages retention of juvenile delinquents to less than twelve or eiglili-en months. ' The facilities for "[)lai!ingout" children, as described by Mr. Ilrace, weie not so g(>od in I'^nghuul as in America, owing to the greiiter density of the ])o))ulation. Mr. Bilker, ot I'vngliind, iis oneofthe i)ioneer foumleis of reformatory schools, recounted the diHicnlties that hiid attended their foiination. In J.sr><> Pailiament [»assed laws enabling reformatories to s[)ring u[) all PREVENTIVE AND EEFORMATORY WORK. 165' over the country, the result being that in four years the number of com- mitments of juveniles had been reduced from 14,000 to 8,000. Baron von Holtzendorff, of Prussia, said that comi^ulsory education was one of the preventive measures adopted in (xcrmany, and that, owing to this, such spectacles as met the eye in Loudou were never seen in Berlin. Children under twelve were not brought before a mag- istrate, but punished by the school-master. • Between the ages of twelve and eighteen, they might be seut to reformatories, which were generally under the management of private persons, aud where they might be detained until they reached the age of twenty. He was of opinion that the progressive treatment might be applied to juvenile delinquents. The prevailing opinion in Germany was that it was not sufficient merely to detain a child to the age of thirteen or fourteen at a public school, but that there should be a complementary course to the age of eighteen, and that boys and girls who had left school ought to be obliged to attend evening lectures twice a week. This was thought desirable be- cause the period he had mentioned was a very dangerous oue. Such a complementary course was believed to be of much importance, aud some such provision had been already made in Saxony. The subject was now occupjing the attention of the Prussian government. Dr. Guillaume, of Switzerland, thought education in infancy was the best preventive of crime, a predisposition to which he believed was sometimes hereditary. Xeglected children were not responsible for their moral infirmities. To place such children in charitable. Christian homes he considered better than sending them to reformatories. Since in Switzerland a sufficient number of such families could not be found, institutions to the number of seventy or eighty' had been established to care for these children. They were so organized as to resemble a family as much as possible. Xot more than 10 or 15 per cent, of the inmates turned out badly. The rest became good citizens in after-life, marry- ing and themselves founding new homes. Mr. Wills, of England, had .once seen gardens allotted to fifty of the best boys in a reformatory having two huudred inmates. The influence of this step had been very good. Eev. Mr. Crombleholme, of England, thought that the German prac- tice of having the school-master, rather than the magistrate, manage chil- dren under twelve, as described by Baron von Holtzendorff, was an excellent one. He also favored the complemental training mentioned, and thought that it was a short-sighted economy to allow considerations of expense to*intluence public action in this connection. Mr. Aspinall, of England, while estimating at its full value the good effected through the agency of reformatory, industrial, and public schools, and giving to the system of compulsory education its just due, still thought that all these measures should be supplemented by efforts to improve the homes from which the children came, and to elevate their parents. Here, he considered, was a broad field for Christian philan- thropy. Sir Walter Crofton thought the general feeling of the meeting, as his o^-n conviction certainly, was in favor of the family system. I)r. Marquardsen, of Bavaria, Dr. Guillaume, of Switzerland, and Eev. Mr. Coit, of Massachusetts, in reply to questions of Mrs. Meredith, stated the practice in their several countries in regard to the illegiti- mate children of female prisoners. In Bavaria aud Massachusetts they beconse wards of the state, and in Switzerland were taken care of by the local authorities. JVIr. Ford, of England, remarked that it was a singular fact that in 166 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. England the more criminal institutions — the reformatories — had remained stationary ten years f and these were now only sixty-four or sixty-five. But the least criminal class of institutions — the industrial schools — had more than doubled in number during the same period. In 1801 there were forty-one, and fifty had been established since. Thus it appeared that the latter were doing away with the necessity for the former. CHAPTEE XXII. PENITENTIARY SYSTEMS. § 1. The Irish convict system, as explained hy Sir Walter Crofton. — This system first endeavors to make the criminal feel that his punishment is not simply afflictive, but also reformatory. To stimulate him in his re- formation the element of hope is combined with the punitive element, and the system of classification shows him that his fate is in his own hands. This classification is the result of a system of marks awarded for intelligence, work, and zeal. They are not given as a reward for mere iuteligence, for the most criminal are often intellectually brightest, and would thus be most rewarded. The first thing aimed at is to give the criminal a liking for work, for generally idleness led him to crime. But work will give him no i)leasure unless he is remunerated for it. After a certain time ])assed in a cell, when strengthened and com- forted by the visits of the minister, he will live in common with other prisoners. During his treatment on the collective system, the change effected in his character can be appreciated, and he is rewarded by the distribution of marks. He is now arbiter of his own lot, and can only get into a higher class by diligence and zeal. Lastly, when he has given sufficient guarantees of good conduct, he passes into an intermediate prison, which is designed to test the work previously done, as the crucible tests gold. These intermediate prisons, in which the prisoners enjoy a semi-liberty, have produced excellent results. Those living in them conduct themselves as free workmen. Penal labor in all the Irish convict-prisons is prohiljited. This system has been proved a triumphant success. Its reformatory results are most encouraging, a consideration more than counter-balancing, even pe(;uniarily, the slightly increased ex- pense which it may involve. Time, however, is required for its reform- ing influences to operate; hence the minimum sentence has been fixed at five years. Prisoners who gain a remission of imprisonment receive a "ticket of license," liberating them conditionally. Escapes among prisoners so liberated are very rare, ])articnlarly since the institution of police siipcrvisio]), und«,'r whi(.'h system each liolder of a "ticket of lice?is(! " is recjiiired to report liis residenee and occupation to the police each montli. Jf sui'h a prisoner is again apprehended before the time for wliicli lie \v;is sentenced has expiied, he is sent back to tlie ])rison i'roni wliieli lie wah libeialed. In icply to a question, Sir "Walter stated that prisoners, on arriving at tlie intermediate prison, Avere treatcMl with res])e(;t and conlidenee, and that tlieir coinluct elsewhere Justified this treatment. As an illustration ol" this ])roi)osition, ho said that in a cer- tain prison some one of the ]>risoners was intrusted each week with the ex- ecution of errands out side the prison; in seven years oidy one had returned intoxicated. A ])risoner who has relapsed after passing througli the in- termediate ])rison is not allowed to return tliei'e again. Life-sentenced men, after ten years' cellular im])risonment witli hard labor, are impris- IRISH, ENGLISH, AND SCOTCH PRISON SYSTEMS. 167 oued commonly in a special prison, and after twenty years their fate is determined by the government. § 2, The Irish horoiujh and county prisons^ as explained hy Hon. C. F. Bourlce and others. — The management of tliese prisons is confined to boards of superintendence, composed each of twelve gentlemen of social position and influence in their respective counties, chosen by the, grand juries of the counties. At present there is little uniformity in the dis- cipline of these prisons, but at the last session of Parliament a bill was passed giving to the executive the power to make uniform rules and by- laws for their management. All prisoners, juvenile and adult, male and female, attend the prison schools daily, many of those advanced in life learning both to read and write during* their imprisonment. A medical officer is connected with each jail, who is required to visit each prisoner twice a week at least, and oftener if necessary, and who has the right to alter the diet or labor of any prisoner according- to his judgment. Each board of superintendence is empowered to appoint, and usually did appoint, three chaplains — one Episcopalian, one Eoman Catholic, and one Presbyterian. The great difficulty with which the prison managers have to contend is the number of short sentences, (very many being for only twenty-four hours,) which rather promote crime than check it. A majority of these sentences are inflicted on drunkards, who are wholly undeterred tbereby. It amounts practically merely to giving the prisoner a good bed for the night gratuitously, often au unwonted luxury, w^hich is, in many cases, enjoyed b^' the same prisoner at inter- vals of a week for more than one liundred times. Mr. Bourke thought that committing magistrates should be emi^owered to pass cumulative sentences* on such prisoners, and that more stringent enactments with reference to the sale of ardent spirits should be incorporated in the law. § 3. The English convict system, as explained hy Major C. F. Du Cane. — [The greater part of Major Du Cane's explanation, having been embodied in his answers to the interrogatories mentioned in Part First of this report, has been epitomized there, and need not be repeated.] Major Du Cane defended the ticket-of-license system as practised in England. In reply to questions propounded by members of the congress, he stated that life-sentenced i)risoners were usually conditionally liberated by the secretary of state after twenty years' cellar imprisonment. He did not consider the number of recidivists any evidence of the value of a prison system, hi 1870 more than 25 per cent, of those discharged from the English prisons had relapsed into crime, which was an increase of a little more than 2 per cent, over the preceding year. He said that his ideal would be to see 100 per cent, of recidivists, since this would show that it is always the same men who commit crime, and that the social pest was really limited and localized. Great attention is paid to the industrial training of the con- victs in the English prisons, 1,600 out of 2,200 apprenticed to some mechanical trade having learned it completely. A portion of the prison- er's earnings — not exceeding £3 — was allowed to him, the sum awarded varying according to his industry. The convict, however, w^as not allowed to send any portion of this money to his family ; but on his discharge it was given to a prisoners' aid society, if he requested their assistance and protection; otherwise, the police were requested to give it to him in small sums. Marks are given the prisoners as a reward for industry, and if the number earned is sufficient, they are promoted from class to class. If any convict feels dissatisfied, he may appeal to the governor, and from him to the director, from whose decision an appeal lies to the secretary of state. Appeals to the director are frequent; 168 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. but if the prisoner's statement of facts is false, be is liable to a disciplin- ary punishment. § 4. The English borough and county prisons, as explained by Captain Armytage, Dr. Mouat, and others. — Captain Ariuytage, of England, gave a detailed account of the Wakefield prison, of which he is the gov- ernor. The majority of the inmates were sentenced to from three to seven days' imprisonment, many of whom, discharged on Saturday, re- turned to the prison on the following Monday. The longest term of imprisonment in a county jail is two years for one offense. A majority of the prisoners were misdemeanants who owed their incarceration to intemperance. Penal labor was employed, but seldom except as a pun- ishment for breaches of discipline. Connected with this prison is the industrial home for discharged male prisoners, of which Mr. Browne had made mention. The cost per head in this establishment was 76-. 2d. per week. Some of the inmates' earnings amounted to £1 per week, their employment being mat-making, and light work of that sort. There is also a female home, in which the women are employed principally in washing, and are trained for domestic service, and there is a constant demand for them as servants. A well-assorted library is connected with the prison, to which the inmates have access. Perfect religious equal- ity prevails, both Eoman Catholic and Protestant chaplains being em- ployed. Archbishop Manning addressed the congress at length on the subject of religious freedom in prisons, pleading that the conscience of Eoman Catholic prisoners should be protected equally with that of Protestants. He earnestly hoped for the passage by Parliament of an act then before the body making the employment of Eoman Catholic chaplains compul- sory in every county jail. He stated that no salary would be asked for if objection were made on the ground of expense. The employment of chaplains of his faith was now simply permitted in the county jails, and there were one hundred and nine jails where none were employed. He wished to see it made everywhere obligatory in this class of prisons as it now is in the convict or government prisons. The remarks of the archbishop elicited general approval from the English members, Dr. Mouat observing that, if there was but one Eoman Catholic prisoner in the prison, his receiving religions instruction accord- ing to his faith ought to be a matter of right, and not of permission. § 5. The Scotch prison system, as explained by Mr. J. Alonclure. — There is but one general prison in Scotland. No male prisoners are sent here for terms longer than three years, those whose sentence exceeds this being transferred, after a probationary term of nine months, to public- works ])risons in l-^ngland. The system of discipline in the latter prisons is identical with that i)ursued at Perth. The county jails receive pris- oners sentenced for from twenty-four hours to nine months, although, owing to the limited accommodation at Perth, it is sometimes found necessary to retain in the comity and hoiough jails jirisoners sentenced lor a longer taid by the government. (>ivil and crimiiial debtors are confined in these jails as well, and are itllowed greiiter privileges. IMie diet varies jiecording to their sentence, de|»eii(iing iiik>m its duration, and wiietiier wilh or withont hard labor. Corjionil pMMislimeiit is not alhnved, ex(H'pt in the case of boys sen- tenced for jtelty orieiises, and is even then very seldom nsed. Penal hibor is einploye(l, A\ hicli in most, eiises is made ])r(»(lii(;tiv('. Xowhere in Seothind do th<' ejirnings of prisoners pay for half their maintenance. (Iratuities are given to weli-coniliictedaiid iiidnstrions prisoners on their discharge. Convicts discharged from the i)rison at I'erth all receive a BELGIAN, RUSSIAN, AND FRENCH PRISON SYSTEMS. 169 gratuity varying from 5s. to £i, according to their conduct and industry. To receive the latter sum, a prisoner must have had no demerit marks whatever. A portion of the money is given him when he leaves the prison. The remainder is paid in fortnightly installments, on his for- warding a certificate, signed by the police, that he is obtaining an honest livelihood. This police supervision works admirably, protecting those inclined to do well, and acting as a salutary check on those who are disposed to return to vicious courses. The superintendence of all the prisons of Scotland is confined to a central board at Edinburgh, under the direction of the home secretary. They superintend the col- lection of judicial and penitentiary statistics. One of their number visits the prison at Perth twice a mouth, sees each prisoner, hears com- plaints, and inspects the buildings, stores, &c. § G. The Belgian prison system, as explained hy Mr. Stevens. — The cel- lular system is strictly enforced in nearly all the Belgian prisons. Mr. Stevens claimed that it possesses two classes of advantages, i)ositive and negative. Among the former he enumerated, with other benefits, the opportunity it affords for the separate study and treatment of each prisoner, and adapting the discipline to the situation and needs of all the prisoners, thus securing the efficacy of the punishment. He con- sidered a variation in the treatment of moral disease as necessary as in that of physical disease. The cellular system also enables the prisoner to preserve the feeling of his dignity as a man and of his personal responsibility. The prevention of moral contagion, the sub- duing and calming influence of solitude, and the opportunity oifered for reflection and repentance were all, in Mr. Stevens's oi)inion, found in the cellular system. In a word, he considered that no s^'stem attained more directly or perfectly the various objects of punishment — repres- sion, expiation, prevention, and reformation. As the imsoner's reform progresses, cellular confinement becomes less and less irksome to him, until at last he would regard removal to a congregate prison as an in- tolerable punishment. In consequence of its repressive and reformatory efficacy, this system, Mr. Stevens claimed, allowed a diminution of the duration of imprisonment, thus greatly lessening expense. A want of sufficient cellular accommodation alone has prevented the introduction of this system into all the Belgian prisons, and this obstacle is being re- moved as rapidly as possible. Its results in that country have abun- dantly justified its adoption. The official returns prove that the average number of recidivists is 4.40 per cent, of those leaving cellular prisons, while it is G8.S0 jier cent, of those liberated from congregate prisons. Lastly, Mr. Stevens stated the remarkable fact that in Belgium the number of prisoners has decreased during the last six years from 7,000 to 4,000, a result which he attributed in part to the introduction of the cellular system. § 7. The Russian 2)rison system, projected hut not yet reduced to practice, as described hy Count SoUohuh. — Count Sollohub explained a complete system of penitentiary treatment, full of novel views and original ideas. Want of time prevented him from finishing his explanation, but he sub- mitted a pamphlet on the subject, which was distributed to the members of the congress. This has been translated and printed, as the reader will have observed, in Chapter XIY, Part First, of this report. § 8. The French j^^'ison system, as explained hy Mr. Berenger. — Great interest is taken at present in France in the subject of prison reform, and the National Assembly has appointed a commission to inquire into the condition of French prisons and suggest improvements. This com- mission deputized Mr. Berenger to attend the congress. He said that 170 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. tbe system uow followed presented three prominent characteristics : first, young criminals are imprisoned in reformatories ; secondly, help is given to the man who commits a first crime ; and, thirdlj^, an attempt is made to get rid of recidivists. It is in effecting the object last named that the greatest difficulty is apprehended. Being interrogated as to the state of public opinion in France as re- gards the cellular system, Mr. Berenger said he believed it was not un- popular. He avowed himself an advocate of that system. § 9. The Siciss i)rison system, as explained by Br. Guillaume. — After ^'ari- ous experiments, public opinion in Switzerland has become definitively settled in favor of the Crofton system. The details of its application are contained in Part First, and will be further illustrated in Part Fourth. § 10. The Italian prison system, as explained by Gonnt de Foresta. — There is at present no well-defined and uniform prison system in Italy. A commission, however, has been appointed by the King to prepare a code that shall attain this end. Of this commission both the Count de Foresta and Mr. Beltrani-Scalia were members. The preference of both these gentlemen was for the Crofton, or Irish, system; but this sentiment was not unanimous among the commission, which has not as yet come to any resolution. The count felt quite certain, however, that the cel- lular system would not be adopted, since it was believed to be ill-adapted to Italian character. At present prisoners were generally imprisoned collectively in galleys, [bagnes ;) they are chained; but those who dis- tinguish themselves by good conduct are placed in agricultural colonies on the islands. ♦ § 11. The German prison system as explained by Serr Ekert and I>r. Yarrentrap. — llerr Ekert, director of the cellular prison of Bruchsal, in Baden, summarized the provisons of the German x)enal code. Corporal punishment is abolished, cellular imprisonment and conditional libera- tion established, and police surveillance humanely conducted but firmly maintained. Separate imprisonment in Germany, when applied to Momen as well as to men, produced excellent results. Formerly in Baden the maximum duration of cellular imprisonment was ten years; the new German penal code has fixed it at only three years. Herr Ekert avowed himself an earnest supporter of the cellular system and concurred in all the conclusions of Mr. Stevens. In his own prison he has seen convicts live thirteen years in separate confinement without any inconvenience. He alleged that recidivists were very rare among tliose who had undergone this punishment for many years, and fur- nislied results tending to show that its infiuence on the moral and l)hysical health of the ])risoners was very beneficial. In reply to inter- rogatories ]\Ir. Ekert said that there were no criminal statistics in Ger- many, lie added that all jtrisoners except 1 per cent, could endure (;elhilar coiifin(unent for life without inconvenience. Ilaroii von Iloltzendorff congratulated llerr Ekert on the results ob- tained at IJruchsal, Init added iniinediately that, notwithstanding these results, lie liiiiiself osed to it, and that an executive committee sitting at JJeilin, under onci of llie city magistrates as ])resident, had unanimously decided to ai)ply the, cellnlar treatment incases of short imjuisonment, and the pi'ogressive system of Sir Walter ('rottoii when longei' sentences had to be nndergon*'. J)r. \'arrentrapp, of J-'ranklbrt, vigoronsly eontestej;stou, one of tlie most (eminent m(;n of tlie United States of America, and among tlie most zealous ]iione<',rs in the reform of tlie i)en:il and jtenitentiary system. Tiiis edition is preceded liy a liiograjiiiical sketch f»f Mr. J^ivingston l)y M. iNIignet, and a critical essay by M. Charles Lncas, a im'mber of tlie Institute of France, the friend and snccessorof Living- ston in Ills labors in behalf of penitentiary reform, nndertaken half a centnry ago. Livingston was a metiiber of the Institiitc, of rrance, (Academy of Moral and Political Sciences.) lie has found in the Old World as well as the New admirers and followers, lieccive, Mr. President, the assiuancc of my most distingnislnid sentiments. CIIAK'LLS VKIJtir:. McmfHV of llic Iiii^tihile. Arclibisliop Manning, who liatl intcndtMl to oiler some remarks on tho work tiiiis incscntcd lo the congress, but. forbore to do so lest he should occupy time that miglit be ncM'dc*! {\)v other jmrposes, subsenr thanks are, due tr» yon in chief for the International Prison ('ongrcHH, wliich has resnlteerfectible, and it is by the action of his sociability that his perfection is secured. Isolation is, therefore, a de- 174 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. ' nial of the necessary process for his perfection ; it is a violence done to bis nature ■which cannot be safely prolonged for any great length of time. Experience must in- fallibly confirm this philosophical demonstration, since the education of any being whatsoever is but the development of his nature. Penitentiary education must act ■with the certainty of enlightening and invigorating the intelligence of the convict, and not by exposing him to the peril of weakening and even of destroying that essential instrument of his regeneration. Cellular isolation, in effect, does not permit either the initiative, the eft'ort, or the probation, "without "which there can be neither morality nor moral reformation, (ni moralife ni moralisation.) M. Lucas discusses in his jiamphlet the proper number of prisoners to be admitted into any one penitentiary establishment, and arrives at the conclusion that four hun- dred is the maximum that can be treated effectively for their reformation. He grounds this belief on the consideration that only a moderate number of prisoners will permit that serious personal iutlaence "which, in order to their reformation, must be exercised upon them by the director and his co-laborers. He adds that, during his long admin- istrative career .as inspector of French prisons, he never ceased, but always in vain, to cry out against the agglomeration in the central prisons as creating an impossibility of penitentiary reform, and asks whether any one can suppose that, in those immense barracks of ten, twelve, fifteen huudred prisoners, the director can know them other- wise than by their numbers ? AVhere is the use, he says, of talking of penitentiary re- form^hen it is rendered impossible by such numbers of prisoners congregated in the same prison ? In short, M. Lucas finds the following to be the esseutml conditions of a reformatory prison discipline, namely : isolation at night, the rule of sileuce during the day, a maximum of four huudred prisoners in any one establishment, and pro- gressive classification. § 3. Propositions snhmittcd to the congress by the American delegation. — This series of propositious was offered some days previous to the final session, but is introduced at this point because it formed the basis, as will be seen under the next section, of the declaration of principles em- bodied in the final report of the executive committee and approved by unanimous vote of the congress. The propositions are as follows : 1. The treatment of criminals by society is for the protection of society. But, since such treatment is directed rather to the criminal than to the crime, its great object should be his moral regeneration. Hence it should be made a primary aim of prison discipline to reform the criminal, and not sim]ily to inflict upon him a certain amount of vindictive suffering. Tlie best guarantee of the public security iigainst a repetition of his crime is the re-establishnient ctf moral harmony in the soul of the criminal him- self — his new birth to a respect for the laws. 2. In tlie moral regeneration of the criminal, hope is a more powerful agent than fear; it should therefore be made an ever-present force in the minds of prisoners by a well-devised and skillfully-applied system of rewards for good conduct, industry, and attention to learning. iSuch rewards may bo a diminution of sentence, a participa- tion in earnings, a gradiuil withdrawal of restraint, and a constant enlargement of privilege, as these shall be severally earned by meritorious conduct. Rewards more than punishments are essential to every good penitentiary system. '.i. The {irogressive classification of prisoin^rs based on merit, and not on anymore arbi- trary i»rincii)le — as crime, age, A;c. — slif)ul(l be estaldished in all prisons designed for the treatunnit of convicted criminals. In this way the prisoner's dt'stiny during.his iucar- ct^ration should be placed, measurably, in his own hands ; ho must be put into circura- stancfs where he will lie able, througli Ills own exertions, to contiiuially better his condition. A regnlatehysica] force ;is may be; organized jiersnasion, to the utmost extent ])ossi!)le, should i)e, marh; totiike the place of coercive restraint, tlu! object being to mak(* ui>right and indnsti ions //v7-w(7i, rather thaii orderly and obedient prisoiicrK. Jtrute foice nuiy ni.-ike good iirison'-rs; moral training alone will make good eitizfus. To the latter of IlieHO ends fli<^ living sonl most In-, won; to the lurnn-r only the inert, and obedii^nt body. To compasH tiie, rel'orm.-tlion of criminals, the niililary 1yi>i' in prison manage- ment most ])('. abandoned, and a discipline by moial forces snlislitntcil in its place, 'i'lie oltjectH of military (Iisei|iliiie and prison (liscipline, being directly ojtposed to each othei", <;annot lie piWHiied liy the saino load. 'lins one is mc^ant to train men to act togetlier, the other to iirepare tliem to act separatidy. The one relies upon force, wliieli never y(!t createriHoiieiHliy providing tliem with work and encouraging theui to redeem theii' character aud regain their lost posit ion insociety. Tlie state has not discharged its whole «lnty to the criminal whiMi it has i>nnis!ied liim, nor (iven when it, has reformed him. Having lifted liim up, it has Hie fnrllirr duty to aid in holding liiiu iij). In vain shall av«i have given the convict an iuiprovril mind aud heart, in vain sliall we have inqiartcMl to him tin- capjicity fur indnstiial lahui- and tlu; will to ailvanije liiinsclf by wointed out tiiat the nundx'r of reconvictions was but an imper- fect test of any .system. Tlie question was, not what was the number of reconvictions, l)ut unr of average criminals, the i>ercent- age of reconvictions wo;:id naturally be less. INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY COMMISSION. 179 Governor Haiues, of the United States, said that he felfc honored by being asked to second the motion to adopt the report. He did so with great, pleasure. The propositions presented were comprehensive,, yet specific; broad in their generalizations, yet sufiicieutly minute for all practical purposes. They constituted an organic rule of action, which, while ap])licable to all countries, was susceptible of adjustment to the special ideas and circumstances of each. They might be termed a con- stitutional law, to be applied and enforced by particular enactments. He hoped that the motion to adopt the report v\'ould receive the unani- mous vote of the congress. Miss Carpenter said it was impossible to exaggerate the importance of this congress and its work. It inaugurated absolutely a new era in the history of civilization. The chairman would recollect that, when many years ago he presided over a committee on juvenile delinquency, it was most difficult to persuade the members of the committee and the public that even. children ought not to be severely punished for crimes, and their reformation was deemed quite a sec(^idary consideration. As a witness she was asked, " Do you not consider that children who have broken the law owe retribution to society '?" and her answer was, " Society owes retribution to them." She was proud of that answer. Its truth and justness have been substantially recognized by this congress. The president. Sir John Packingtou, before putting the questioi^, begged to remind the congress that the report before them was the unanimous re- port of an essentially representative committee, which consisted of one del- egate from each of the many nations represented ; the fact that, after many days' discussion by the congress of subjects of the deepest interest, as well as most complicated and difficult, such a committee had agreed unanimously upon a report of great breadth and comprehensiveness, claiming to represent the general sentiment of the congress on all the great questions considered and debated by it. This fact he considered one on which the body might well be congratulated as a satisfactory termination of its proceedings. Such unanimous agreement fairly jus- tified the conclusion that the discussions had not been in vain. A body of men, occupying the best possible position for knowing the sentiments of the congress, and perfectly competent to understand them, had unan- imously reported, as embodying those sentiments, a series of proposi- tions, enumerating great principles, which covered almost the whole field of penitentiary science and prison discipline. It was, therefore, a matter of satisfaction and thankfulness that the interesting debates had not been unproductive of good result. The motion on the adoption of the report was then put, and was agreed to without dissent. § 5. Creation of a permanent international peniientlary commission. — On the recommendation of the executive committee a permanent organ- ization, under the above designation, was created, charged with the duty of watching over the general interests of international prison re- form, but more especially with that of preparing formulas for the collec- tion of penitentiary statistics, and seeking to secure their adoption and use in all countries. This commission is composed of the following gen- tlemen : Dr. Wines, of the United States, president ; Mr. Beltrani-Sca- lia, of Italy, secretary; Mr. Loyson, of France; Baron von Holtzen- dorff, of Germany ; Count Sollohub, of Ilussia ; Mr. Hastings, of Eng- land; Dr. Frey, of Austria; Mr. Stevens, of Belgium; Mr. Pols, of Netherlands ; Dr. Guillaume, of Switzerland. It is understood that the first meeting of the commission will be held in Brnssels, Belgium, during the mouth of September, 1873.^ 180 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. § G. Dr. Wines reported from the international executive committee a resolution of thanks to its chairman, Mr. Hastings, and moved its adop- tion by the cong-ress. He said that the resolution had received the unani- mous and cordial approval of the committee, whose members all recog- nized their obligations to their chairman forthe dignity, courtesy, fairness, and ability with which he had presi«led over their deliberations. Although the cong'ress could not know, as his colleagues knew, the value of his^ services in the committee-room, yet he felt sure that the whole house would concur with the members of the committee in the vote of thanks now proposed. Archbishop Manning, in seconding the resolution, said that their thanks were due, not only to those who had come from all countries to the con- gress, but also to those who, being on the spot, had labored incessantly^ not simj>ly during the last three weeks, but for a long time past, in preparing for the congress. To them thanks were greatly due for their unwearied industry and close application, and, he must say, for the hai)py termination of the*congress. A member proposed to iuchide a vote of thanks to Mr. Pears, secre- tary of the congress. The chairman said he could not put these resolutions to the meeting without adding an expression of his own deep sense of the valuable and important assistance which the congress had received from Mr. Hastings and Mr. Pears, and his belief that, had it not been for the happy combina- tion of zeal and ability which had distinguished their exertions, the pro- ceedings of the congress would not have been so satisfactory as they had been. The resolution was carried unanimously. § 7. Mr. Aspinall, of England, proposed a vote of thanks to Dr. Mouat,. for the invaluable services he had rendered the congress in translating the many-tongued speeches which had been addressed to it. He had never met with a man who could translate every language into every other Avith such prom])tness, elegance, and force as Dr. Mouat, superadded to which the doctor had the great advantage of being thoroughh' ac- quainted with all the questions which came before the congress for dis- cussion. He felt sure that he need only name these things to call forth a cordial response from the nieeting. Baron ^lackay, of Holland, in seconding the proposition of Mr. As- pinall, took occasion also t(» njake recognition of the valuable assistance of Sir Walter Crofton and ^fajcu' DuCane. He rei;resented a foreign legis- lature which had not yet adoi)ted a system of prison discipline; there- ton*, lie had listened with great attention to all proposals, atul the arguments by which they had been supported, and he was sure that in his country the volume of transactions, which they would owe to the editorial care of Mr. I'ears, would be carefidly read and digested. Eng- land ana[)er on tlie subject which forms the title to the present (chapter. Civilized sentiment (he sjiys in substance) concedes that the protec- tioH of society is tlu^ msiin pnrjtos*' (tj" imprisonment ; but effective i)ro- tection rcipiircs one of two (ri)ndivions: the, reformation of the criminal or his eoTitinued detention. ITence relbrmation is th<' immediate object to be sought. Uut doubt exists in many minds whether prisoners gen- erally can be reformed, and e\'en lU'ison oflicers have little ho])e of this. The writer, liowever, believes that criminal law may be so relbrme«l iii its sjjirit and administration as to i)roduce a soothing and healing, instead of an irritating and (esteriiig, etV<'(!t upon prisoners, and restore a large projxMtion of them to society. The species of crime to which a person is addicted depends upon the eii'-umstauces which suri'oundhim,. PRISONERS AND THEIR REFORMATION. 183 or upon inherited tendencies, or both; but whether a man will commit crime at all depends, to a great degree, upon his constitutional charac- teristics. Since the welfare of society is the true measure of every man's i)er- sonal interest, it follows that a criminal act proves obliquity of some kind in the perpetrator — moral imbecility, incoherent meutal develop- ment, feebleness of will-power. Nor is this to be wondered at, since criminals are so commonly without systematic education, by which alone the moral, mental, and volitional powers can be rightly and effectively trained. All who have studied criminals closely must have observed the undeveloped, incongruous, ill-balanced state of their higher powers, and the consequent sway of the animal instincts. Mr. Brockway says that he has been constantly surprised at the blindness of prisoners to the moral quality of their conduct. This undeveloped state, this paralysis, as it were, of the moral faculties, though, no doubt, largely due to the want of proper early education, he nevertheless be- lieves to be often inherited from progenitors ; and he adduces very striking statistics in support of this belief. Now, if there is a common idiosyncracy among criminals, consisting in the activity of the grosser and more selfish impulses, and in the imbecility or absence of the moral, reflective, or volitional faculties, the writer asks, have we not found the right basis of a reformatory system, whose philosophy may be stated in the one word — cultivation f Mr. Brockway discusses at considerable length the comparative merits of the Philadelphia and Auburn systems of prison discipline, and, while giving his j)reference to the latter, arrives at the conclusion that no sys- tem of imprisonment can regularly produce reformed convicts so long as the present or any like system of sentences prevails. He believes that the true remedy lies in the substitution of indeterminate or reform- atory sentences in place Of mere time-sentences. His personal experi- ence, from recent legislation of his own State of Michigan, embodying a partial adoption of this principle, is altogether confirmatory of its truth and soundness, and demonstrates beyond contradiction the prac- ticability of its application. He found that it tended to cultivate in criminais a kindly feeling for the law and its executors; and its effect, he argues, must necessarily be to increase for society protection from crimiuals, either through this continued restraint or their reformation, the latter of which objects cannot fail to be essentially aided by enlist- ing the active co-operation of criminals in their own improvement. Mr. Brockway lays down the postulate that any change in the char- acter and life of criminals must be effected by one of two methods: in- timidation or education. Eestraint by intimidation does not go to the root of matters ; it touches only the surface, and must, therefore, be but momentary. Reformation, therefore, cannot be through intimidation ; it must of necessity be the result of such cultivation of the mind and heart as is required to give the criminal knowledge and appreciation of the beneficent design and friendly protection of law, to supply better thoughtsandimpulses, and to invest with authoritative control the mind's legitimate sovereign, the will. The educational effort in prisons, if made efficient for reformation, must be broadly and thoroughly organized; it must be such as to develop and strengthen, not only the mental, physi- cal, and industrial faculties of the prisoner, but also his moral and relig- ious nature. The effectual reformation of criminals requires : 1, a graduated series of peuitentiary establishments, embracing a phase of the separate sys- tem, of the congregate silent system, and of the congregate social sys- 184 INTERNATIONAL PENITE^TIAKy CONGRESS. tern; 2, centralized coutrol, with guardiau care of discharged prisouers; 3, the principle of indeterminate or reformatory sentences ; 4, indus- trial, scholastic, and religious education and cultuie; and, o, a better public sentiment on the whole penitentiary question and on that of the laboring classes in general. CHAPTEE XXIY. CUAIULATm: PUNISH^IENTS. A paper of high practical interest and value on this subject was con- tributed by Messrs. Clarke Aspinall, Edward Lawrence, and S. Grey Eathbone, on behalf of the Liverpool magistracy, England. They com- mence by reciting two resolutions unanimously passed by the magis- trates, January 17. 1S72, as follows : 1, that it is desirable that the cu- mulative principle be applied to the iiunishment of all classes of crimes and oftenses : and, 2, that it is further desirable that the visiting justices (corresponding to our boards of jnison managers) should be empowered to transfer well-conducted prisoners to homes for a short period prior to the termination of their sentences. These resolutions are followed by a table, showing the number of prisoners confined in the Liverpool borough-prison during the first six months of the official year 1870-71, •who had been committed fifteen times and more: Fifteen timps iiBd i Twenty times ,ThirtT times and under twenty. ; and under thirty. under forty. Females Forty times and under fifty Fifty times and Seventy times under seventy, i and upward. The authors of the paper are strongly of the opinion, in which all re- flecting persons must concur, tliat punishments should be gradually iu- crea.'^ed in severity, if offenses are often repeated. This opinion is based upon two grounds, viz : fir.st, because long sentences would be more forniiK*lf-control, and of earning such a character as may facilitate their CUMULATIVE PUNISHMENTS — TKEATMENT OF PRISONERS. 185 obtaining an honest living when discharged. Several homes for adult discharged prisoners (the authors of the paper say) have been es- tablished, and, if successful, more would no doubt be opened by volun- tary efibrt, and the expenses of adult prisoners would not be large, if the homes were well managed and placed in situations favorable for the profitable carrying on of the industries in which their iuniates were oc- cupied. The prisoners, knowing that if they did not work well, the managers of the homes would return them to the deprivations of a prison, would have a j^otent stimulus to real industry^ for it would of course be one of the conditions of the transfer of a prisoner to a home that, if he or she became idle, disorderly, or discontented, the prisoner should be returned to prison for the remainder of the sentence. The writers suggest that the homes should not be largely, if at all, subsidized from public funds. Their utility will depend much on the labor in them being of the genuine kind, which would render them to a great extent self-supporting, and all or most of the deficiency should be raised by the managers, as a guarantee that they are really interested in the work. It would be far better that the growth of such homes should be slow and gradual, as the fruit of satisfactory experience, than that they should be prematurely forced into existence in large numbers by such liberal public grants as have been given to reformatories and indus- trial schools. If the proposed amendments in the law were made, it is believed that the following results might be hoped for : 1. That the short sentences passed on young ofitenders would become much more deterrent, because they would be known to lead up to tbe really long sentences, which are unquestionably much feared by nearly all the criminal classes. 2. That under the influence of long detentions, when they became necessary, (particularly if part of the time were passed in well-regulated homes,) a certain proportion of the offenders would be reformed. 3. That the residuum of reckless incorrigibles would be detained in prison under a succession of long sentences instead of a succession of short sentences, from which the great advantage would arise that they would have fewer opportunities of committing crimes themselves and of training up others in bad ways, while the expense of their imprison- ment would not be materially, if at all, increased, since the labor of long-time prisoners can be made profitable to an extent quite impossi- ble in the case of short-time pris6ners. •4. That the power of the police to enforce order and decency in the streets could be supported by the magistracy far more efficiently than unlr will at once ])erceive that the principles of prison train- ing just sketched formed the basis of the system. kSo far as the prison (lisci[)line of the system is concerned, we have, then : 1. The stage of penal and stringent discipline. 2. The stage of asso<;iated labor, (with separate dormitories,) in whieli, Ity means of i»rogre,ssive classification governed by marks, the industrial improvement and self-control of the prisoner are both stimu- lated and t^^sted l)y the motive i)o\ver which is at work, viz, improve- ment in i)resent position and the opjiortunity of obtaining earlier libera- tion. It will be atonee realized that thus the crin)inal, within certain riiis needed tluire, himI has, tlierefctic, little more than a local interest. He closes his essay with the stateriienl tli;it the lirst report of the commissioners w\is . directed to the elaboration of the i)rinci])les of the organization of a j)rerentire police forcr^ and that the said report has serv«Ml very much CKIMES OF PASSION AND OF REFLECTION. 18,9 as a text-book for some of the imperfect organizations that exist, and that they have the material for a second report on the preventive action of a police when organized. It is much to be hoped that their second, report will not be long delayed. CHATTER XXy II. CRIMES OF PASSION AND CRIMES OF REFLECTION. Eev. Dr. Bittinger, of the United States, submitted a paper to the- congress treating of crime under the twofold aspect indicated by the title which forms the subject of the present chapter. The discussion, was one of great originality, sharp analysis, and, withal, of a highly prac- tical cast. The undersigned cannot but regret that an essay of such value should not have been given in full. But the respected editor of the Transactions, whose prerogative it was to decide upon questions of that nature, has inserted in his volume only a short abstract, and with that the undersigned must be satisfied. Dr. Bittinger's view, as ei^it- omized in the Transactions, is, in substance, as follows : Sin is the primal cause" of lawlessness, but it is not amenable to hu- man legislation until it finds expression in criminal acts. The two factors of crime are i)assion and reflection. The passions differ both in kind and degree : they are malign and non-malign. Eeflection differs only in degree. Crime is punishable, because it injures society. The character and degree of the iujuriousness of crime must determine the nature of our penal legislation ; and the possibility of diminishing crime and re- forming the criminal must determine the nature of our penal treatment.. The enormity of criminal acts is modified by their relation to the person of the victim as nearer or more remote. Thus murder, rape, mayhem, malicious mischief, arson, and robbery have a closeness of relation to the person corresponding" to the order in which they are named, and the same order marks the degree or intensity of guilt which attaches to the several acts. Another distinction tO be made, which has been already alluded to, is between crimes of passion thenjselves, namely, crimes of malign passion, as murder, and crimes of non-malign passion, as rape. Acts springing from malign feelings are always criminal, while those springing from the non-malign jiassions are criminal only in their ex- cess. The malign passions are in their nature objective, being always aimed at the ijerson, as murder, mayhem, malicious mischief. The non- malign passions are, in their nature, subjective, their aim being ever the gratification of one's self, and not harm to another. The former are personal, the latter impersonal. The punishment of crimes of passion is aimed at the quality of the passion, as malign or non-malign. The punishment of crimes of reflection is aimed at the degree of reflection, as involving more or less of intelligence and purpose. Personality, as being that which tends most to excite and intensify reflection, is, in general, the measure of the offense as regards its guilt : larceny of detached prop- erty, pocket-picking, burglary, robbery, rai)e. Tlie nearer the criminal gets to the person, the darker is the crime and the sterner should be the punishment. Crimes of passion are to crimes of reflection as 1 to 27. The most inveterate crimes of reflection are the following : Horse- stealing, burglary, robbery, forgery; and this is the order of their fre- quency as well as of their guilt. Of crimes of passion the orderis murder, 190 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. rape, felonious assault. Statistics sliow that grave crimes of passion do not tend to repetition," while crimes of reflection tend strongly in that direction. Hence, crimes of passion are few, of reflection many. For crimes of passion, i)reventive legislation is the remedy — 1. By imi)roving the condition of the poor and degraded through work, education, and moral instruction and culture. 2. By protecting all classes through laws against drunkenness, gamb- ling, and prostitution. ' Crimes of reflection demand repressive and deterrent legislation — such as a vigilant police, certain detection, and swift punishment. The penal treatment^f both these classes should be framed on justice, as opposed to vindictiveness. Criminals have rights which justice must respect. The moral character of the jailor is of prime importance. The jailor and the judge are equally the ministers of justice. The prisoner's sense of justice must be respected by those who are charged with ad- ministering punishment, or his punishment will neither deter nor re- form him. In dealing with i^rofessional criminals, justice may fitly be made to wear an aspect of severity, or at least of sternness ; in dealing with crimes of passion, there should be a leaning toward mercy. The victim of passion is to be i^itied ; the criminal of reflection is to be punished. The man who does criminal acts under a sudden assault of passion leaves room for hope, for cooler moments turn him against him- self and move him to repentance ; the man who deliberates and plans his crimes is comparatively hopeless, because coolness is the essence of his criminality. The one is overtaken by crime ; the other elects it. Criminals of passion have no accomplices, but often witnesses ; crimi- nals of reflection have accomplices, but seldom witnesses. The former rarely combine, and are without organization ; the latter form them- selves into communities, and organize for crime. These characteristic difierences between the two classes of crimi- nals demand a corresponding diflerence in criminal legislation and penal treatment. Ur. Bittinger in his essay explained why and wherein this diflerence of legislation and discipline, as applied to them, consisted. But the abstract in the Transactions ends at this point, and the under- signed is consequently unable to follow him further. CHAPTER XX VIII. JOHN HOWARD — Ills LIFE AND SERVICES. John Howard entered upon his career as a prison reformer in the year 177."{. It was therefore lit tiiat an international i)enitentiary congress, convened in I'ingland ninety-nine years after that rinfed Transa(!fions ; it is evident, therel'ore, that the brief extracts to which the undersigned feels constrained to limit himself can give but a meager if his book adapted it to its end, and nothing but its cumbrous size and cost prevented it from a still wider circulation. Such self-denial, sucli purity of purpose, such self-subsistent efforts as Howard's oould not but give an apostolic cliaracter to his reputation, disarm criticism, and almost place him and his work outside the common arena of judgment. It is not too much to say that his personal character, as exhil)ited in his work, was itself almost a now revelation of humanity ; and so moved and amazed England, that the suggestions and wishes of such a working saint uec(lc,d hardly any sujiport except its own sublime simplicity and nii])arallcle(l tii>n. Martyrs dying in the cause of religion tlie world had kirown, and soon faileil to reverence. ' But saints living through labors and dangers and sacri- fices Hindi as Howard encountered, to soften the lot of the most degraded and oi)probri- ourt class of human beings — felons and murderers, thieves and robbers — and that with- out regard to country, race, creed, color, and at no possible advantage to himself — at liis own risk and cost, and without any warrant or authority but his own will : this liad iriade an impnssidn on the English public which was uniiiue, complete, ami without deduction. And it is no wonder lliat Howard's woik, though its circulation was neces- sarily limited, Hhould, liy liie nid of citationH in the ])ublic press, have cnsitcd what ca;nc, aa near uh the condilicni of England then allowed, to a universal interest. The concliidiiig |»aragr;ipl.is of J)r. P)i'llows's address contain what may be calFcd ;it (nice a (•(Hiii);uison and a (contrast bet\ve<'n two of the most eniiiH'iit ;iiid iriiiaik;il)l(' iikmi of the eighteenth century, lie HJiys : There are two diaractcrs belonging to tin- last century who may be said in did'er- ent way8 to have left a stronger imjiression ou the world than any other two men of JOHN IIOWAKD S LIFE AXD SERVICES. 19d tlwMr time, wlio were not connected with, political, scientific, economic, or literary nlfairs; both Englishmen, both cosmopolites, and both originators of movements that have swept over the whole face of the earth, and drawn the admiration and Hymi)athy of anccessive generations to their respective uudertakiugs ; both men wiiose influence continues and increases, and who have taken their places among the ]>(^rmanent orna- ments and benefactors of their race : John Wesley and John Howard. Wesley the elder was born in 1703 and died in 1791. Howard was born in 1726 and died 171)6, one year only before bis great contemporary. They resembled each other even in person, both being men of light weight, spare, under-sized, and of ascetic and self-denying habits. 15oth were men unconformed to the world, and living habitually in view of another state of being; both intensely religious and Christian in faitli and temper; both eaten up with a zeal for the welfare of their fellow-creatui-es ; both self-subsistanish knight or the spirit of Sir Lancelot in solitary pursuit of the H(dy Grail. He collected facts Avith the zeal, the labor, and the patience of a modern Darwin, in S(ditary explorations in distant countries whose tongues he did not sjieak, and from the deepest dungeons, the most poisoned plague-spots, the dreariest aiul most hateful holes, in which the moral and social fungi, whose natural history he sought, were to be studied and described. Slow aud deliberate, cautious aud intent, he spared no H. Ex. 185 13 194 INTERXATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. paius, ho shnuued no dangers, he h^ft nntiirued no stoiie, he hurried to no conclusion ; he repeated his observations, examined and re-examined his facts; and then, without art, circumlocution, rhetoric, or self-display, mainly by the aid of others, laid them calmly before the little world who then read books, and left them to work their effects. Wesley was an organizer of the first order. He knew how to win, how to hold, and how to use other men. Solitary in plan and purpose, he was eminently social in method and co-operative in means. He builded as fast as he collected materials. It was no disembodied, uninstituted work, the diffusion of ideas as a spirit, that occupied his formative and shaping brain. He was a churchman in every fiber, and he aimed at visible, methodic ends — the great methodist, who swept thousands of the ablest and most earnest souls of his generation into the ranks of his cause, or- ganized them with an almost military drill, uuiformed them with precise opinions, balfered by I\I. V'issehers in liis hist«uieal e.ssiiy, information so honorable to his country and to oiH^ of its eminent citizens, tin*, undi-rsigned has deemed it lit and desir- able, to give in the present chapter a somewhat extended sunimary of its ("ontents. ."M. X'issclicrs ilivides his paper into scacu seel ions, or, as he names tliem, cliaptcrs, each trc.itiii;', of a spccia! department ol' his subject. THE PRISON OF GHENT. 195 The first section treats of the state of society in the Belgian provinces, near the middle of the eighteenth century, and of the imperfection of its repressive hiws. The author says that at this time the whole of Europe was desolated by the scourge of innumerable mendicants and vagrants, a scourge which the laws and customs rather encouraged than repressed. That enlightened and able Empress, Maria Theresa, moved by this state of things, sought to introduce remedial measures more eflective than those previously employed, A letter of Prince Charles of Lorrain, governor-general of the Austrian low countries, dated August 2, 1705, called the attention of the privy council to the abuses existing in the administr.ition of criminal justice, and particularly to the iuefficacy of the punishments of whipping, branding, and banish- ment for the repression of crimes. M. de Eierlant resumed the discus- sion of these questions in the session of the privy council of April 13, 1771. He denounced infamous and torturing punishments, and advo- cated, instead, the immediate establishment of houses of correction, de- claring that people without honor could not be restrained by the fear of infamy ; that neither the scaflbld, nor the scourge, nor the branding- iron could ever put an end to disorders which had their source in a dis- like of work, and that the only means of correcting the indolent and the idle was to compel them to labor. M. Visschers cites two state papers of the Empress Maria Theresa, honorable alike to her intelligence and her humanity, in which she recommends the gradual abolishment of capital punishment, except in cases of atrocious crime, and the estab- lishment of correctional prisons to take the place of these punishments. He mentions also another letter of Prince Charles of Lorraine, under date of May 11, 1772, pressing the work of building the prison at Ghent, agreeably to the plan of the Viscount Vilain, with separate cells for each prisoner, that it might serve as a model and an incitement to the other provinces. The second section touches briefly on the principal events in the life, as well as on the more important writings, of the founder of the house of correction of Ghent, the Viscount J. P. Vilain. Born at Ghent in the year 1712, this great man passed through all the gradations of public honor and responsibility in his native country, ever showing himself able, wise, and faithful, and closed a career, at once useful and illus- trious, in 1777, at the age of sixty-five years. His works were chiefly memoirs or essays on finance, economics, and penitentiary science, all of a practical character, all marked by broad common sense and a keen in- sight, and all intended to promote the highest interest and welfare of the state. Section third enters into the heart of the subject, giving a most inter- esting resume of the two memoirs of the Viscount Vilain, in 1771 and 1775, for the construction and internal arrangement of the house of cor- rection. The first presents the basis on which the new establishment was to be founded. The second is mainly taken up with setting forth the rules and regulations of the house. In the former the viscount maintains that mendicity and vagrancy are encouraged and fostered by the hospitals and alms-houses intended for their relief and prevention, and that they form the seed-plot and nursery of theft and robbery. Of 61,081 j)aupers then found in Flanders, exclusive of the cities, fully one- half were able-bodied mendicants, imposters, vagabonds, wandering from village to village and committing all sorts of spoliations upon the honest peoi»le of the country. He says that for such offenses there were no pun- ishments between fines and tortures, and asks why it would not be bet- ter to make of these sturdy beggers workmen useful to the public before 196 INTERNATIONAL PP:NITENTIARY CONGRESS. they became criminals. He then examines the question of cost, and concliules that the proposed house of correction would be an economic measure as compaied with the expenses of justice and the losses occa- sioned by the spoliators. The proposition received the assent of the states of Flanders and of the Empress Maria Theresa. It was determined, according to the recommendations of the viscount's report, that there should be a sepa- rate \Yard for able-bodied mendicants, a second for women, a third for laborers oirt of employment who desired work, and a fourth for the children of paupers. It was ordained, not only that there should be a separate establishnient for each of these classes, but that each indi- vidual should be confined separately at night. The first three wards, radiating from a common center, were erected in the year 1772-1773, and provisional regulations for the discipline were decreed in February, 1773; but the general opening did not take place till May, 1775. After two years' experience the Viscount Vilain presented to the states his second memoir, in 1775. The first was intended to i)repare for the creation of the establishment, the second to consolidate it. In it he remarks that the punishments inflicted on the bandits who caused the honest laborer to tremble — exile, whipping, branding — effected no im- provement in them, and were a remedy lor nothing. The offenders rather grew worse. He believed it would be preferable to change these jmnishmeuts to correctional imprisonment. There was, however, a ]>eril to which the new experiment was exposed, that might prove disastrous; it was that of having too great a number at the beginning. Provision was made against this danger by the resolution to receive only a limited number, and to increase it when the first comers should be relbrmed and inured to labor. The fourth section describes the plan and interior division of the house of correction of Ghent. The general plan was that of wings radiating from oiie center, five of wliich were completed in 1775 and the renuiining three not until 1827. The first wing on the left, as you enter, was alone at that time used as a prison for criminals. The secoiul was occuj^ied by able-bodied beggars, misdemeanants, and dis- orderly persons. Tiie third was aj)i)r()]>rialed to girls and women. The other two were destined to the reception of i)ersons in want of work and to the children of paupers received on fouiulations or scholarships. Each wing had four stories, with stairs and the necessary private entrances. The whole structure was surrounded by an inclosing wall. Each ])risom'r was confined in a separate (!ell at night. The crinunals' wing liad two liiiiuired and eighty-four cells, eacli seven feet long and five and a hall' wich'. They weie all of the same form and ])ro])ortions, and ail])rovided with the same fuinilurc, viz: a bed six and a half feet long and two and a half i'cvt wide, a ])ailliisse, a mattress, a i)illow, a ])air of sheets, and two blaid^cts in winter and oiu'- in sunuuer. They werroduction of a trial-piece, and that, in addition, they shall enjoy the rights of citizenship {bourge- oisie) without expense or formalities, in the towns where they shall be- come members of the trade-corporations,''' The author of the memoir i)laced his supreme reliance upon this mode of encouraging labor ; he sought to prevent crime by combating idle- ness. Private citizens had already announced their intention to found scholarships for the benefit of prisoners of this establishment ; and, with a view to insure its success, the great Queen Empress had exhorted the bishops, the abbots, the spiritual corporations — in a word, all her sub- jects — to lend their aid in a project so excellent and useful. In the fifth section M. Yisschers treats of the administration of the prison, its discipline, and the management of its industries. The ad- ministration was confided, under the general direction of the states of Flanders and the special protection of the Empress, to a college of gov- ernors, composed of three deputies of the assembly of the states, one jurist, two notables, and four merchants. The Viscount Vilain was made a member of the college. The police and discipline of the estab- lishment, and the reception, lodging, and conduct of the prisoners, were directed by officers who had under their orders various agents, and were themselves subject to the instructions of the dei)uties of the prov- ince. The management of the industries was confided to a director of manufactures, who had under him a number of foremen, and was him- self guided by the rules and resolutions of the college of governors. An accountant kept the books. A surgeon was attached to the house. A 198 *^ INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. cbaplaiu bad Lis residence iu the establisluiient. Tbe Viscount Vilaia says in his memoir : " Eeligiou is not neglected in the prison ; it is even made one of tbe objects of attention, and is never lost sight of. The change of manner, the quietness and submission of the prisoners, and their ex- emplary observance of tbe duties of piety assure us of the impression which has been nuide on the minds of many by pious exhortations and the word of God.'' No priscyier was received except upou previous notice, given at least forty-eight hours in advance, and on tbe production of an authentic copy of tbe sentence of tbe judge or of the decree of commutation of afflictive punishments to imprisonment. At first no convict was ad- mitted who was not able to work and to learn a trade. Tbe viscount gives formulas for keeping tbe registers relating to tbe general state of the prisoners, the trades at which they worked, and the product of their labor. A special register shoiced the amount helonfjivg to each 2)rhoner of his share of his earnings. Instructions, are set down for the management of tlie hospital and tbe care to be given to the sick. A regulation of the 20th March, 1773, decreed by tlje Empress, fixed everything relating to tbe maintenance of good order and discipline. Que of the articles of this decree deserves to be cited at length, as showing at once the progress of humanity and tbe impossibility of wholly escaping the influence of tbe ideas and usages of the times. Article 26 reads thus : As regards the police of tLe prisou, we reserve it for a separate regulation, but iu tlio mean time we declare that tbe directors, who sbail be placed over tbe police, will not be permitted to iullict upon any prisoner graver punishment than that of confinement for two days on bread and water ; and in case the offense merit a more severe correc- tion, they shall report it to the tirst meeting of the administrators, who, on their part, will be allowed to prescribe only correctional puuishmeuts, snclv as bein» tied for some hours to a post, to receive some hJoivs wilh a stick, which shall not exceed twenty-five, or of being confined for a moderate time in a ribbed prison— that is, on a floor with sharp edges, {duns nne prison a cotes, sur im plancher a aretes vives) — or for a few days in an ordinary jirison on bread and water. Article 27 also contains a remarkable provision, and one which must have been very sensibly felt by tbe prisoners when the time for their liberation came : Every prisoner who, by lesolution of the administrators, shall have been confined in a ribbed prison, shall remain, for each time that lie shall have be;m so punished, eight days in the prison beyond his term. (3n this the Viscount Vilain ])ei"tiiieut]y inquires whotber, conversely, justice does not also icquire tiiat tlu^ inisoncr who siiall bave strictly observed tbe ruU'S an- resentations of interested persons, wlio claimed that the prison labor offered an unjust competition with tree labor outside, and had abolished the system of labor introduced by the Viscount Vilain and practised with such excelkMit effect. In conse(iuence of this action of tiie Em- ])eror,the manufacture, so useful and tiouiishiiig,ha(l been refeien(;e for what lias become widcily known as the Oroftou prison system : rroj^ti'HHiv«i cliiHsiric'if i(in, with fjr.'Khinl amolioriitioii of Iho priHoncM-'H condiliioii uiiil iiiif^iiiriitatitiii of till! jicciiiiiury jnolils dcrivctl IVoiii lus labor, lias lud to the diHuovory PRISON OF GHENT DR. DESPINE's PAPER. 201 of a new and fruitful princiiile, cmnlation. On one side, tlie convict dreads the conse- quences of every fault against discipline wliich would degrade bini to a lower class ; and, on the other, he sees the means of gradually iiuprovitig his lot and hastening, per- chance, the moment of his liberation. In the class to which he belongs, he has seen such and such comrades in toil, who, in recompense for their good conduct and dili- gence, have been promoted to a higher class. He says to himself that it depends upon his own will, upon the steadfastness of his efforts, to arrive at the same result. Another consideration : We haveoltserved how nuich deeper is the impression made by the divine word upon the heart and mind of prisoners when they are associated in worship. The same advantage is found in associated scholastic instruction. But how great the dilierence for the convict, who must one day re-enter society, to have accjuired the knowledge of a trade and to have labored under the ordinary con- ditions of life! It is a labor spirited, active, sustained ; while, in the cell, after a so- journ too protracted, the convict knows only sadness, depression, and somnolence, and loses all energy, moral and physical. If, on his return to society, he must encounter the rough competitions of labor, if life itself has its asperities, will he be better pre- jjared for these by a long sequestration ? Shall freedom be given back to him without any tests to show whether he is able to bear it, or worthy to obtain it f Ought not soci- ety to exact guarantees sufficient, I will not say of his repentance, but of his good con- duct, and his ability to henceforth lead an honest life ? It is in view^ of the happy results promised by the system inaugurated in Ireland by Sir Walter Crofton, and now introduced, with moriHon managers, juison discipline associations, amlolher oigani/.ations iiavingin view, wholly or in |iait, the prouKiliiui of refoi'nis in this departnu-nt of sucial sciience, and of juocuring rej»reHentali\es to be scnti by them to lake i)art in tin; deliheratious of the congresH. Another of your dudes will be tliat of orgiini/.iMg, wherevisr you <'an, n;iliou;i.l com- mittees, who will take chargii of the ^vll(lle, l)usiiies.s of Mi.ikiugtlie rei|uisite pn^paia- tifUis for the congiess in the seveial countries for which tln-y may lie appointed, anrief memoianda sitting Ibrtli tiie present stall! of tlie jtrison ()uesfion in their r(;sp(ict.ive nationaliiies. PERSONAL INSPECTION OF IRISH PRISONS. 203 As far as England and France art^ concerned, thoir national committees should be cliarj^ed with the duty (it, as it is hoped, they are willinj^ to assume it) of correspond- ing with tile pro))er colonial authorities of their respective countries, and of securing rejjresentation from every colony suliject to their authority. An additional duty expected of you will bo that of conferring with x)rominent per- sons al)r(jad in regard, first, to the ])roper questions to come before tlie congri^ss for its consideration, and, secondly, the proper persons to be invited to prci)are papers upon the topics deemed most lit and necessary to be considered by the body. Tlie object here will he to prepare the way for and facilitate the formation of such a jjrogramme of proceedings as may be judged best adapted to the ends in view in the calling of such a congress as the one |)roposed. On the subjects above referred to, and such others as your own familiarity with (juestions and interests of this nature may suggest, you will naake the broadest inquiries and gather the largest amount of inforuiatiou practicable, and will report fully thereon ro the association on your return. HORATIO SEYMOUR, President of the Association. E. C. Wines, D.D., LL.D., Corrc>revions parts of the present report, except that which makes it the duty of the undersigned to visit, inspect, and examine, as far as circum- stances would permit, the penal and reformatory institutions of Europe. To this work he was prompted as well by his own inclination as hy the iustructious of. the president of the association. In obedience, then, to the dictates at once of choice and of duty, 1 personally examined, more or less closely, during my visits to Europe in 1871 and 1872, from (ifty to sixty of the institutions referred to in the above-cited letter. Of these I propose to give, not a detailed description, for that would require both time and sjiace not ut my command, but some passing notice, in the chapters of this fourth part of my report. CHAPTEE XXX. PERSONAL INSPECTION OF PRISONS AND REFORMATORIES IN IRELAND. § 1. Convict prisons of Ireland. — The penitentiary system, devised and carried into effect by Sir Walter Crofton in the convict-prisons of Ireland, has been so fully described in previous parts of this report, and has be- come in other ways so widely known, that I do not feel called upon to go into any detail upon the subject, and shall but briefly describe what 1 personally saw and heard during my visit to this now far-famed con- vict institution. Penal servitude in Ireland, sentence to which is never less than five years, is undergone in three different stages and at three separate and distinct establishments. The first of these establishments is at Moantjoy, a. suburb of Dublin, and consists of two prisons — male aud female ; the second is a public-works prison, on Spike Island, opposite Queenstown, at the southern extremity of Irelaml, and more than a hundred miles distant from Dublin ; the third is at Lusk, twelve miles from Dublin, and is what is called an intermediate ])risou. I spent a day at each of these establishments, accom[)anied throughout by one or the other of the two gentlemen composing the board of directors, viz, Mr. Murray or Captain Barlow — by the latter, however, everywhere, except at the male prison of Mountjoy. Every desirable attention was shown. 204 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIAEY CONGRESS. me, and every possible facility afforded for the most thorough ex- amiuation of every department of the convict service. I was per- mitted everywhere to converse freely with the convicts to any ex- tent I desired, and that without the presence of the director who accompanied me, or i\uy officer of the establishment; and I invited the confidence of the prisoners by the assurance that whatever they communicated would be regarded as strictly confidential, and should not, in any event, be reported to the authorities of the prison. Had I chosen to continue my investigations long enough I might, in this manner, have conversed with every inmate of every prison in the Irisli convict establishment. As it was, I improved my opportunity to the utmost that my time would permit in conversing with a greater or less number of cdnvicts in each of the three stages into which their iin}nisonment is divided. For a decade of years I had been a diligent stu(leut of the system, devouring everything I could get hold of on the subject. As far as books could teach it, it is scarcely an exaggeration to say that I kuew it by heart. And 1 had done what 1 could to make it known to my countrymen. In my annual reports as secretary of tue Prison Association of Kew York, in numerous short articles written for the daily and weekly press, in more extended essays published in the monthly and quarterly journals, in an exhaustive paper read before the American Social Science Association, in addresses made at public meetings in various parts of the country, and in private conversations without number, I had opened, explained, and com- mended this system in the clearest and strongest terms I could com- mand. I had echoed and re-echoed the opinion of Italy's greatest statesman, the late Count Cavour, that the fundamental principle of this system — progressive. classification based on merit, a progressive withdiawal of restrait and enlargement of privilege, as they should be earned and warranted by the prisoner's coiuluct, a gradual and almost impercei)tible melting of prison life into the freedom of ordinary society through a i)robationary stage of natural training — that this principle, applied in some form, whatever the system adopted may be, is "the only efficacious means of discountenancing vice and checking crime, by encouraging, through agencies purely philanthropic, the reform of the criminal, without, however, holding from him his just punishment." And now 1 solemnly declare that the impressions received from pub- lished descriptions of the system have been, in the main, (I will not say without some modifications and abatements,) contirmed by i)ersonal' inspection and study. in the two piisons at Mountjoy — first stage — I saw the prisoners con- fined in sejtaratc c<'Ils, where tijey were kc^pt on coarse and low diet, and cm](h)yfd at rougli and uninteresting hibor — oakum-[)ickingand the like. This is tlH", penal stage, and is intended, among other ends to be answ(>red by it, to make th<', ])rison('r fe(^l that the way of the transgressor is hard. Its maximum (hiration is niiu^ months, wliich \n;\y by good comhict be shorteniMl toeiglit. J>ut liope is even here early i)hinted in the prisoner's l)r<'ast. The utmost i)ains is taken to explain to the (jonvict, in the fullest and clearest manner, the (Mitiro course of iiis imprisonment, and all the a«lvantag«*s that will accrue to him, as he advances from stage to stage and class to class, from good conduct, industry, diligence in stud}", and att«Mition to his moral improvement. Not only are these things set bel'ori; each jniso'ier in his cell, but once a. w<'ek ther<^ is held u kind of (;ateclietieid exercise on the subject, in which tlic^ convicts are ♦luestioned as to tln^ e()mi)leteness and accuracy of theii' knowledge in, regaid to it. According to the answers given, all eirors are corrected and nil (leli(;iencies sni»prM'(I. Tiie eriect, «'V(mi in this ixMial stage, I PERSONAL INSPECTION OF IKISH PRISONS. 205 found to be hope, courage, clieerfuluess, and a patient waiting- for i)rom- ised ameliorations. Indeed, these ameliorations begin during the i)eriod of cellular separation, and early in it. At lirst the seclusion is absolute. After a while, the cell-door is thrown open a i)art of the day, then all day. This slight approach to society is felt to be a great alleviation, and is withdrawn for any mis(ronduct. From the first, the prisoners in this stage are together in chapel, school-room, and exercise-yard. Much attention is given to education and to moral and religious culture, wherein the "profiting" of the ]irisoners "appeareth unto all men," who have oi)portunity of observing it. The day passed at Spike Island, where the second stage of imijrison- meut under the Croftou system is passed, was one of great interest to ane. This may be properly designated as the reformatory stage, for it is here that the principle of progressive classification is applied and exerts all its force, having no existence in either the first or third stage. There are lour classes here, arranged in this order: third, second, first, and advanced or exemplary. Promotion is determined by marks, of which the convict can earn a maximum of nine per month, viz, three for general good conduct, three for industry, and three for school duties — not actual progress, but attention to lessons and the desire shown to im- prove. On his transfer from Mountjoy to Spike Island, the convict is l^laced in the third class ; 18 marks must be earned in order to his pro- motion from the third to the second class ; 54 for promotion from the second to the first ; and 108 for promotion from the first to the ad^'auced or exemplary class. Thus the minimum time in the third class is two mouths; in the second, six; and in the first, twelve. The time neces- sary to be ])assed in the advanced class before removal to Lusk is not a fixed period, but depends upon the length of the prisoner's sentence. With a five years' sentence, he must remain in this class fourteen months; with a fifteen years' sentence, he must remain five years and eight months; and with a sentence between these two extremes, a period varying with its length. I was surprised to learn that a majority of the convicts earn the maximum of marks, and of course secure their promotion from class to class, and finally their transfer to Lusk, within the minimum period. But hope has a quasi omnipotence. On the day of my visit to Spike Island, the number of prisoners was 705, distributed as follows: advanced class, 320; first class, 200; second class, 101 ; third class, 81. The motive to strive for promotion is not only powerful, but it is constant, and constantly increasing in strength. The progress toward liberation is the great motive-power; but there are manifold inducements to exertion, self-denial, self-con- quest, and self-control besides this. With every advance, there is a lifting of restraint, an enlargement of privilege, an increase of gratuity, distinctive badges, better food, improved dress, greater liberty of action. The great effort is to induce the prisoner to become the chief agent in his own reformation. The authorities seem to feel that unless this is done, nothing is done. The result, as I learned it from the lips of manj^ prisoners Avith whom I conversed — all separate and apart from their officers — is that the entire prison population, with few exceiitions, are putting forth constant and vigorous effort to secure their promotion within the ujinimum time; that Lusk is ever in their thought and on their tongue; and that the hope of attaining that coveted goal, and a respectable position as honest laborers beyond it, keeps up heart in them, and produces alacrity at work and a constant fiow of good spirits. Tile men are nearl^^ all employed on jmblic works — quarrying and dressing stone and building docks. Their work is conJ^equently in the 206 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. open air, and a bnsy set of fellows I found tliein. I never saw men either more industrious or more cheerful in their industry. They were doing quite as much as any free laborers outside would luiv^e dotie at the same kind of work, and a great deal more than the free laborers at that time employed on the island were doing. Still 1 would much rather have seen them at trades, with a free choice, among twenty or more, of which they would learn. Mr. Hays, the active and able governor, allows any and all prisoners to come to him in his oflSce at 6.30 a. m., with their burdens and griev- ances. From twelve to eighteen visit him in this way every day, and he allays their agitations and composes their difficulties. The effect, he informed me, is excellent. At 7 he holds a kind of court, at which the warders bring in their reports against any prisoners who may have been guilty, or who are by tliem regarded as having been guilty, of violating the prison rules. Of this class of cases he has some four or five every morning. He keeps a record of them in a book with the following- headings : J. Kegistered number of prisoner. 2. Name. 3. Date of report. 4. Nature of charge. . 5. By whom reported. 6. Summary of evidence. 7. Explanation offered by prisoner. 8. Decision of gov- ernor. 0. Date of decision. The punishments here are chiefly of a moral kind : loss of marks, for- feiture of gratuities, withdrawal of privileges, change of badge, degra- dation to a lower class, remanding to the cellular prison at Mountjoy^ to which may be added (as punishments occasionally employed) depri- vation of a meal, close confinement on bread and water, and even, in aggravated cases, the lasb, which, I trust, will soon be banished in ■scvcK la Hoecu lor urn . The day I passed at Lusk was a day of mingled wonder and delight. This is the intermediate prison, so called because it holds a middle ground between an imprisonment strictly penal and the enjoyment of full liberty. The aim of the intermediate prison is twofold : first, to test the reality of the convict's refornuition, his power of self-government, his ability to withstand temptation ; and, secondly, to train him for a considerable period — never less than six months — under natural condi- tions, and so to prei)are him for full freedom on discharge by the enjoy- ment of partial fieedom as a preliminary step. Accordingly, the impris- onment here is little more than moral. I had known thisi)aitof the Irish convict-system, as I had the others, from books. My expectations regarding it were high, but they were more than met. Indeed, 1 have never elsewhere seen anything to com- pare with the results shown here. The intermediate prison which for- merly existed at Smitlifiehl, in the outskirts of Dublin, has been given np, and all intermediate ])risoncrs are now sent to Lusk. The number, on the day of my visit, was fifty-seven ; the usual number is a little in excess of that figure. Farm-work is the only industry from which income is received, and the cash revenue from this source, over and above the value of the pro- iluctsusedin tiie eslal)lishment, amounts (at least such is my under- standing ot the matter) to al)ont *!<), <>()(», which makes tin; institution well-nigh self-supporting. 'JMie larm contains nearly 200 acres. Prior to the estahlishnient of the piison, this land was a common, wild and uncultivated. The whole, of it has now bec^n subdued, and brought under suceessfiil and profitable tillage. The valine of the land has in- creased under the labor of the ]>risoners, from lO.s'. to £5 per acre. There is a large animal hay-crop gathered; wheat, oats, and barley are grown in consideialtle (immtities, but the princii)al products PERSONAL INSPECTION OF IRISH PRISONS. 207 are potatoes, cabbages, turnips, celery, and other vegetables. It was the 14th of October when I was there, and the ])risoners were at work on various parts of the farm, digging esculents, hauling and spreading lime, and performing other kinds of farm-labor ; and a half dozen or more were engaged in the construction of a stone dwelling for the superintendent, in place of the iron hut which at that time served him for a residence. Everywhere they were as busy as bees, and, to all appearance, as happy. I never saw a brisker or more cheerful set of laborers. They accomplish fully as much work as an equal number of free hands. Indeed, the farmers of the neighborhood aver that they would be glad to get men who would work as well. For the most part they work in groups, and have a warder to overseer them, who is, however, at the same time, a fellow-laborer with them. But this is not always the case. Often they work alone, or in companies of tvYO or three, without any one in charge, on the most distant parts of the farm. As far as appears to the view, there is no more imprison- ment here than on any other farm. There are no walls, no bars, no bolts, no gratings, no apparent confinement of any kind. The doors of the iron tents which serve them as dormitories are locked at night, just as our own houses are when we retire. The only difference, as far as I could see, between this and any other large farm employing a great many hands, was that here a warder slept in a small room at the end of the large dormitory of the convicts. In the afternoon I walked about the farm, mingled freely with the convict laborers, and talked with quite a number of them entirely apart from the ofticers. Their uniform testimony, the truth of which was at- tested by their whole tone and bearing, was to this effect : That the hope held out to them of constantly bettering their condition by their own exertions was, throughout the whole course of their imprisonment, a powerful stimulus to good conduct, industry, and exactness in the dis- charge of all their duties; that the intermediate prison was the goal to- ward which they had been constantly aiming, the object of incessant desire and effort ; that at Lusk they never heard any ])lottiug of future crimes; that, on the contrary, all the talk of the men in that prison, when the time of their liberation was drawing nigh, was as to where they would go, what they would do, what wages they might be able to obtain, and how they could win honest bread and an honorable position; that a profane or obscene expression was scarcely ever heard there; and that if such a thing chanced to occur, as it sometimes did, it was instantly frowned down and put a stop to by the prisoners themselves. Yet thei'e is no restraint upon conversation at Lusk more than there is among the labor- ers on any large farm or other well-regulated industrial establishment. Lusk has now been nearly twenty years open for the reception and treat- ment of intermediate prisoners, with opportunities of evasion, such as no other prison in the world offers, and yet scarcely have a dozen at- tempts at escape been made. The whole vicinage was in terror at the announcement that a prison witliout walls or bolts was to be established on Lusk Common ; yet only one complaint, in all these years, has' been made against the prisoners who have found a home there. That hap- pened on thiswise: There is no chapel on Lusk farm, and the prisoners attend the parish church on Sunday in a body. On one occasion a pris- oner, in leaving the church at the close of the service, addressed a pass- ing remark to a young woinan at his side. There was no pretense that the word spoken was in itself an iminoper word. The coni[)laint was that he spoke to her. There is no (liacipihie at Lusk; no piuiishnieuts are administered there any more than on a farm or in a manufactHring establishment where free laborers are ein[(Ioyed. The prisoner was, 208 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. therefore, sent back to Mouutjoy, from wliicli, after a montli's " separate and solitary coutiiienient," lie was restored to his place on the i)risoii- farm, and neither before nor since has complaint been made by any human being against the inmates of the intermediate establishment, a fact, to my mind, truly marvelous. During my visit, the entire prison population was called in from their work to allow me to see them in their school, and especially to witness one of those competitive examinations, conducted by the prisoners them- selves, which became so marked a feature of the intermediate prisons under the late i\[r. Organ. As the men came in, there was nobody in the room but myself, not a single officer being present ; yet so quietly did each prisoner enter, go to his own desk or table, take out his book and commence his studies, that, if my eyes had been closed, I should scarcely have snpposed that a half dozen persons were in the room; certainly I could not have dreamed that nearly sixty men had entered. Isot a word was spoken ; not a disorderly or even playful act was done; nor was there the least confusion or noise of any sort. Tlie men were arrayed in two long rows on either side of the room, and, under the. superintendence of the school-master, the two sides put questions alter- nately to each other. The exercise was an interesting one, but less so than I had anticipated. It had somewhat the appearance of being, as we say, "cut and dried." Mr. Organ is dead, and his successor, in the lecture department, has not yet been found. Speaking of Mr. Organ, who, for a dozen years or more, held the double office of superin- tendent of discharged convicts and lecturer to the intermediate prisons of Lusk and Smitlifleld, I cannot close my brief account of the visit made in 1871 to the convict-prisons of Ireland without citing a few sen- tences trom one of the last reports, if not indeed the very last, made by him before his lamented death. lie says : Crime is fast disapi)eariii^AJ^ INSPECTION OP- PRISONS AND REFORMATORIES IN SWITZ- ERLAND. §1. The priHons of Sicifzerland. — I visited five penitentiaries in Swit- zerland, viz, at Geneva, Berne, Zurich, Lenzbourg, and Xeufchatel. The tendency of public opinion in this little republic is strongly in the direc- tion of the Crofton prison system in its fundamental principle — that of progressive classification,, with gradual withdrawal of restraint and enlargement of privilege, as these are earned by industry, good con- duct, and manifest and successful effort on the part of the prisoner toward self-conquest and self-control. However, the first two of the penitentiaries named above — those at Geneva and Berne — are quite an exception to this rule. 1 shall attempt no description of them further than to say that they appeared to me deficient in most of the essential qualitiies of good prisons. Each of them may be pronounced a discredit to the city which i)rovides no more suitable plan for the treatment of its criminals, to whatever extent they may have offended against the laws. If, as I hope, the next international prison reform congress shall be held in Switzerland, it will become these two ancient and renowned cities to bestir themselves in the erection and organization of prisons more worthy of themselves and their country, and more in harmony with the progressive spirit of the age in the matter of penitentiary discipline. On the other hand, the penitentiaries of Zurich, Lenzbourg, and Xeuf- chatel which I visited, and, as I was informed, those of St. Gall, Bille- ville, Tessin, an(i perhaps some others, are in a satisfactory condition. Into all of them, I think, has been introduced, in different degrees and with various modifications, the progressive Crofton penitentiary system. The penitentiary at Zuricli is under the care of Mr. Wegmann as di- rector, who is a most excclh'ut i)orson, Avith advanced ideas, thoroughly devot(*0; at the time of my visit ther(^ were 210. It is organized and conducterii«)ner and the risoii, vritli an averag'e of only eighty inmates^ from fifteen to twenty different industries are carried on, including shoemakingf, tailorinj^, carpentery, smithery, coopering, turning, lithog- raphy, watch-making, book-binding, basket-making, brush-making, gar- dening, &c. Every prisoner, not already master of a trade on his en- trance, is allowed free choice of any of those pursued in the prison. The foremen work with the prisoners precisely as a boss mechanic works with his apprentices. There are never more than four workmen in a shop, but others are often working at the same trade in cells, who are instructed and supervised by the same foreman. While he is attending to them, the prisoners in the common shop are left alone, but they are as diligent in his absence as when he is present. In a great work-shop, where the keeper is always on an elevated platform, with no other occu- pation than that of overseeing a number of men working in silence, it is impossible for him to give the good example of industrious labor himself. Such a system is believed by Dr. Guillaume to be as perni- cious for the prison employe as it is for the prisoners. For this reason he gives the preference to the system which approaches nearest to that of the free work-shop, and it is on this account also that thf law of .silence does not exist in the penitentiary of Xeufchjitel. The same usage is found in the penitentiary of Baleville, the rule of silence not being en- forced there. This relaxation is upon the ground (the director of that prison says) that the liberty of talking openly, ^\ithin fitting — that is to say, moderate — limits, makes the prisoners more frank and sin- cere, since it frees them from the necessity of resorting to devices for the purpose of communicating with each other. In the other Swiss penitentiary establishments the rule of silence exists. But Dr. (Tuillaume insists, and, indeed, it is well known to all conversant with the subject, that prisoners find a certain charm in breaking this rule, and that they succeed in doing so oidy too often. It is for that reason that he does not attempt its enforcement in his establishment. He holds that it is artificial, that it is consequentl}'^ irrational, and fur- ther that it is little adai)ted to the training process to which prisoners, if they are to be reformed, must be subjected after the penal stage. In his own i)rison, where the foreman (who is a prison officer) works with the convict laborers, and every one is bnsy, there is very little conver- sation, and what is said relates to the work. At the ten-minute recesses, at 10 and -i o'clock, conv(n-sation, directed and maintained within the limits of i)roi)riety and self-res[)ect by the foreman, is found, instead of being huilful, to liave an excellent elfect. Eor the most |)art it turns upon the subject of the last school-lesson, tlie mathematical problem given out to be solved, or the conference of Sunday, at which the, em- ployc'is, as well as tlie ])risoners, are re(piired to be present. The pres- <^n(;e of the foreman is considered by Dr. (hiilhiume necessary, in order that, through his moral ascendency, the conversation may not degen- erati; into grossness and obscenity. So far, on a three years' trial, the authorities have only had ocjcasion to congratulate themselves on the lesults of this system, which seems to be in accordance with the inward and essential nature of man. Labor in association is restricted to tlie prisoners in the middle and snperior classes, and is atrcorded to llifin. only wIkmi tiie accommodations and tlic kind of indnsti'y pf^rmit. Many icMnain in their cellseven after having Ix'cn pioiiioted to the. higluM' classes. The lack of suitable ;u'(;omino(iations prevents their introductif)n into the workshop, and de- ]irives of its greater freedom and ]>rivilege, many who have shown them- selves wortiiv of sneh indulgence. Such relative libertv Dr. (iiuillaume PENITENTIARY OF NEUCHATEL. 221 considers ii necessity in this stage of penitentiary discipline. This incon- venience woukl disappear if there were three prison buiklings— one for each class — in which the arrangements were adapted to the end in view, and to the necessities of each of these successive stages. The prisoners in passing from one establishment to another would seethe progress made toward their liberation. Under the same roof it is diiiicult to establish and to make sensible the distinction between the two higher x)eniten- tentiary classes. For this reason Dr. Guillaume is a partisan of the Crofton system in its strictness. As regards discipline, no corporal punishments are allowed. The punishment-cell and a diet of bread and water are authorized by law, but they are now never employed. Deprivation of work in an ordinary but empty cell is the severest disciplinary punishment at present in use. Ennui is found an effective means for conquering the most obsti- nate, especially if they have been treated with kindness and Justice. The punishment-cell, it has been found, often makes martyrs, and it is not well to make martyrs in a penitentiary any more than in politics and re- ligion. For an officer to lose his temper and speak with anger to a prisoner who has been guilty of a breach of discipline, is to approach the lower moral level of the prisoner himself, and to give him reason to believe that he has not deserved so rigorous a treatment. For this reason Dr. Guil- laume makes it a rule to treat prisoners as the insane are treated, whose ill-conduct never provokes the wrath of the physician, but rather his compassion. He makes them feel, by words calm and self-restrained, that he is pained to perceive that they do not know how to govern them- selves, and that they have not j'et attained that self-control, that mas- tery of their thoughts and acts, that dignity, in a word, which belong to men who respect themselves. This mode of treatment, employed with tact and a skillful adaptation to each i)risoner's special character, has shown itself effectual. It requires more patience, greater effort, and a longer time, than the expeditious punishments of the lash, the douche bath, the dungeon, and other similar inflictions; but the most recal- citrant yield to it in the end; and — -a material consideration — without any waste of the prisoner's inward moral forces, but rather a toning up and strengthening of his entire moral being. With a view of having a number of moral punishments, there have be\}n introduced into the penitentiary of Neufchatel a number of moral re- wards and encouragements. The withdrawal of these latter constitutes a punishment far more sensibly felt, and therefore far more efficacious, than the rigors of the old regime. It would be difficult, if not impos- sible, to enumerate all the rewards held out to win back the prisoners to virtue's paths, for they are often suggested by special tastes and desires, which take on an endless diversity of forms, tiome of them, however, may be named, which will serve to giv^e an idea of their variety. They are : 1. Promotion, speedy if deserved, from class to class. 2. The privilege of apprenticeship to an interesting trade, such as lith- ography, book-binding, or any other that may be preferred. 3. Increase of the proportion of earnings. 4. Permission to use a part of these in the purchase of books, popular illustrated journals, scientific and lit- ' erary, engravings to adorn their cells, and tools wherewith to occupy themselves in their own time. 5. Permission to wear a watch, or have a thermometer. G. Permission to wear their beard. 7. Permission to cultivate flowers and vegetables in the little garden of their exercise- yards, and, by consequence, to have flowers in their cells, and oil and vinegar for salad. 8. Permission to receive the visits of their relatives in the office of the director, and not in the prisoners" conversation-room. 222 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. 9. More frequeut leave to write letters to their friends. 10. Perinission to purchase articles of clothing, for example, cravats, to wear on Sun- day. (Under this head Dr. Guillaume expressed a hope that the time might come when the superior class should have, on Sunday, a special suit of clothes, including leather shoes — clogs only being now i^ermitted by the rules — thereby contributing not only to their comfort, but to their self-respect and personal dignity.) 11. Permission to learn to play on the zitliare, a small musical instrument, of thirty cords, making so little noise that it is scarcely heard in the adjoining cells. 12. The privilege oi" choosing books for themselves out of the prison library. 13. To draw, (especially to make mathematical drawings.) 14. To read the technical journals taken by the administration. 15. Admission to positions of trust ; for instance, in the distribution of meals, in the bureau, and in other services of the house, as temporary aids. IG. Permission to super- intend the apprenticeship of fellow-prisoners in the middle class. Long and noble as this catalogue is, a grave omission is observable in it. Abbreviation of the term of imprisonment is nof among the incen- tives held out to the prisoners of theNeufchatel penitentiary to (piicken their endeavors toward a better life. Yet nothing is so sweet to the human mind, nothing is so much coveted by it, as liberty ; and nothings therefore, presents so i^owerfal a motive to exertion as .the hope of shortening the period of captivity, if only for a few days ; how much more when the term is months, or even years. Dr. Guillaume is quite sensible of this, and hopes, as all must, that Switzerland will not have to wait long for this great step in prison reform. Among the encouragements there is also one (not set down in the above enumeration) which I cannot approve, and which will not be ap- proved by my countrymen ; but it is in accordance with European (continental) sentiment and usage. It is permission to occupy Sunday afternoon in small industries on their own account, such as embroidery, (broderie,) the coloring of engravings, the manufacture of little wooden baskets, ^c. This is contrary to American and English ideas of the sanctity of the Sabbath; and we think we draw our ideas from the word of God, which we regard as the ultimate standard of faith and morals. The withholding of the rewards and favors accorded to prisoners are the i)unishments employed when the private exhortations of the director prorisoners at their dilferent occui)ations. These were (piite various, and embracc^d lithograjthing, engraving, carving in wood, &c. "J'lie manner of Iiis interc(»iirs(; witli the prisoners pleased me exceedingly, marked ;is it was l)y a gentle and kindly si)irit, with CONVICT PRISONS AT BERLIN BRUCIISAL. 229 notLin,2f of official stiflfiiess. The visit was in all cases coiuiiieiiced by a IViendly greeting, and oa leaving the director bade each one adieu, with sometimes au added handshake. As we passed along he explained everything iu German, just as if I had understood a word of it! The prison I found kept in the neatest manner; the prisoners had a cheerful look ; every cell (for we peeped into many which we did not enter) seemed a little home of solitary industry; material wants were well provided for; and the director was evidently a favorite with the in- mates. Beyond this I cannot go. It was the shell only that I saw. Visiting prisons with no power of intercommunication is but a sorry and certainly a most unsatisfactory business. (&.) The convict-prison at Bruchsal. — This is the model cellular peniten- tiary of Germany, and the oldest, having been opened in 1848. Like the Moabeit, at Berlin, it is on the radiating plan with four wings. The number of cells is four hundred and eight. A model prison itself, it has a model director in Herr Ekert, whose administration combines, in ad- mirable proportions, justice with mercy, firmness with humanity, and breadth of scope with a minute attention to details. Most of the German states have three, many of them four, differ- ent kinds of public punishment. Punishment of the highest degree, awarded of course to the highest crimes, is condemnation to the zucht- halts, (house of correction.) Prisoners so sentenced lose their civil rights. The maximum sentence is for life; the minimum, two years. The second degree is termed arbeitshaus, (work-house.) Condemnation to this punishment varies from a few months to several years, but it does not extinguish municipal rights. As its names implies, it involves compulsory labor the same as the zuclithaus. The third degree is called gefcingness, (jail.) This sentence does not make labor obligatory, but allows " occupation in accordance with the social position and ability of the prisoner."' A fourth kind of punishment — it can hardly be named a degree — is termed festung, (imi)risonment iu a fortress.) It is a punish- ment awarded to gentlemen olienders ; mostly in cases of political crime or dueling. But I seem to hear the inquiry, What has all this to do with the peni- tentiary of Bruchsal ? Not much, perhaps, but at least this : Formerly the establishment at Bruchsal united in itself two prisons, the zucht haus and the arheitshaus. The i)risoners of each class were in nearly equal numbers, and, though nominally under different rules, were both subjected to the same system of absolute isolation. But the system of mixing the two classes has been abolished. None but the higher criminals are received at present, so that the penitentiary has become strictly a con- vict-prison. Although the system is intended to be rigorously cel- lular, there is a department of the prison, called the " auxiliary estab- lishment," where association is permitted to the following classes of prisoners: 1. Those who have been in cellular separation six years, unless they elect to remain in isolation. 2. Old men who have passed the age of seventy. 3. Prisoners adjudged not fit for cellular sei)ara- tion on account of the state of their health, bodily or mental. There were some twenty or thirty persons in the auxiliary establishment when I was at Bruchsal, out of a total of 384. In point of fact, not more than an average of nine per cent, are detained for periods exceediug four years. Though a zealous supporter of the separate system, Mr. Ekert states, in one of his reports, that after three years of cellular confine- ment the muscular fiber becomes remarkably Meakened, and that, after that, to require hard work would be tantamount to requiring au im- possibility. 230 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. Mr. Ekert conducted me through every part of his admirably arranged and admirably managed establishment, and explained the multiplied details of its organization and working. I cannot stay to repeat his statements at any length. The different occupations of the prisoners run up to eighteen or twenty. Every prisoner learns a trade, who was not master of one before his committal. To some extent the prisoner's own preference is consulted, but the great study is to give him a trade that will enable him to earn an honest living after his discharge. It may be stated here that while only three or four per cent, of the con- victs are wholly illiterate wbeu received, more than half had not learned a trade. They are encouraged and incited to diligence bj^ being allowed to share in the product of their toil. Two chaplains are employed, one for the Catholic, the other for the Protestant prisoners, who severally hold service twice on Sunday and once on Wednesday, besides doing abun- dant pastoral work in the cells. Two schoolmasters also devote their whole time to the work of scholastic instruction in the cells. An annual examination of the prison pupils takes place, (the interval is certainly too long,) at which premiums are distributed to the deserving, consisting of books, copies for drawing, tools, &c., &c. Upon the whole, the training, schooling, industrial employment, and religious care of the convicts ap- peared to me to be in a satisfactory condition. The superior officers meet every day in the office of the director for conference, when they make report of their respective observations for the last twenty-four hours, and take counsel together for the future. (c.) The convict-prison at Munich. — This penitentiary, placed a little outside of the city, was the scene of Councilor Obermaier's labors, who, however, long since — more than twenty years, I think — retired from it; but he still lives, a vigorous and honored octogenarian. I called at his residence in Munich, with the great infelicitj' of finding that he had gone to spend a month in the Bavarian Alps ; and so I missed seeing the man whom, of all others living, I should most desire to converse with, since Maconochie and Montesinos have both been called to their reward. Mr. Petersen, who was a delegate from the Bavarian government to the congress, accompanied me to the prison. We found (which was another disappointment) that Mr. Mess, also a Bavarian government delegate to the congress, who is the present director, had departed on leave only the day before. We were, however, courteously received by the sub-director and chaplain, the former of whom coiulucted us through the establishment, giving all needful explanations. The prison was originally' a monastery, and has been adapted to its ])res(^nt use. It is of great extent, but extremely irregular. Every part Avas found to be clean, sweet, and in good order. There are fifty-seven celis for s(q)arate iminisonment, all but two having occu])!ints the day I was there. Jicyond that the estal)lishment is on the congregate plan. The entire ca|)acity is for five hundred and fifty; there were four hun- dred and ninety-niiu} at the time of my visit. It is a convict-prison, {niaiHon deforce,) and none are admitted but those sentenced to hard labor, {fravav.rj'orcea.) In Obermaier's time, and since, sentences were jrom five years to life. Now the shortest are for one year. There were fifty-two life-])risoners. Most of those who have this sentence die in ])rison; few ever icci-ivc a i)anlon. (Jontrabimd traHH;, <'S]KM;iaIly in tobacico, is tin; offense oI'Lenest com- mitted. 'I'Ik; puiiishnients are reprimands, diminution of rations, ])ri- vation of peciilinn), eonlinenient in a cell, the «bingiu)n, and, in bad cases, irons. Cor[>oral punislunent has be(Mi abolished since 18(11. It CONVICT AND DETENTION PRISONS AT MUNICH. 231 ds gratifying to know tliat since its abolishment the number of offenses ;lias greatly diminished. Prior to its prohibition the prisoners — so it was reported to me — were in a constant state of irritation, and opea revolt was not infrequent. Since then nothing of the kind has occurred. The prisoners are tranquil and docile. School is held daily for two hours. There are six classes, and each class receives two hours' school- ing per week. Better would it be to double the dose. The branches taught are those common in primary schools, with a little chemistry and natural science superadded. The progress made is fair. As in Baden, the prisoners nearly all know how to read when com- mitted; but the greater part have not learned a trade. The industries liursued in the prison are many, including lithography, book-binding, shoemaking, spinning, weaving, painting, carpentry, &c., besides do- mestic labors and other work for the establishment, in which thirty- eight prisoners find employment. The net earnings in 1871 amounted to $11,977, which was considerably more than sufficient to meet a fourth of the expenses. The prisoners sleep as well as work in association. Obermaier had a strange liking for this system, and no doubt his extraordinary genius for controlling bad men and molding them to his will enabled him to overcome many of the evils inseparable from it. It is, however, in- herently and ineradicably vicious, and is now condemned by the com- mon judgment of the world. The prisoners take their dinner at 11 a. m., after which they are per- mitted to amuse themselves in the large courts or yards of the prison till 1 p. m. They are supervised by keepers during this hour and a half, but otherwise are quite unrestrained. Passing through the different courts, I observed that all were perfectly well-behaved. They conversed freely together and engaged in a variety of amusements, but without tumult, disorder, or anything approaching to nnseemly or excessive noise. I made special inquiry as to the influence of so unusual an indulgence, and the answer received was substantially as follows : At their prom- enade in the coUrts, the prisoners are allowed all possible liberty. They choose their company and their subjects of conversation as they see fit. This system, far from being attended with evil consequences, is found preferable to that which forbids all converse. Down to 1862, this prohi- bition had effect. But obedience to such a rule was found impossible to be enforced, and its infraction drew after it a multitude of punishments whose only effect was to harden even the better prisoners, and to paralyze the softening influences of the school and the church. Nevertheless, to guard against the evil which might be done by the worse to the better prisoners, the former are excluded from these collective recreations, and are required to take their exercise in separate yards, which is a quiet but powerful means of maintaining order and preventing excesses in the associated courts. § 3. Detention prison at Munich. — After inspecting the convict-prison, Mr. Petersen and myself made a short visit to the detention prison, in the city, for the confinement of persons awaiting trial or transfer after conviction and sentence. This is a new prison, opened two years ago. It is upon the cellular plan, as all prisons of this kind ought to be, with accommodations for fifty men and fifteen to twenty women. A very few receive short sentences to this prison, but they are quite exceptional cases. It is not intended as a punishing prison, but simply a prison for safe custody. Labor is not exacted, but such as have a trade are per- ■mitted to work at it as far as there is opportunity, and are entitled to 232 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. -whatever tliey earn. It is truly a model prison of its class. I was pleased ■with the director and particularly with his wife, whom I found intelli- gent, cultivated, amiable, and deeply interested in the future of the prisoners. § 3. Patronage of discharged prisoners in Bavaria. — The work of aiding discharged prisoners is admirably organized in this little kingdom. On leaving the detention prison, we drove to an asylum or refuge for lib- erated i^risouers, who, on discharge, have been recommended for aid by directors of prisons to the jiatronage society of Munich. It is a house, with gjirden attached, having accommodations for fourteen men and ten women, the two sexes occupying distinct jiarts of the establishment and being wholly separated from each other. A porter and his wife are in charge, by whom everything is kept in perfect cleanliness and order, thus giving the place an attractive and home-like air. It is simply a transi- tional home for the inmates, bridging over the chasm between the prison and steady work. While waiting for this latter, the ex-prisoners either busy themselves with odd jobs obtained in the city, or in working for the house — splitting wood, making shoes, cultivating the garden, &c. There were but three in the refnge when visited by me, and they were all employed on city jobs. Their average stay in the home is about twa ■weeks. I had the pleasure of attending one of the sessions of the committee of the patronage or aid society of Munich, and was greatly interested in the proceedings. The business was conducted with much animation, amid a generous tiow of Bavarian beer. The speeches were interpreted to me by a Dr. Strauss, and interested me greatly, particularly those on' a rather novel application, which created considerable merriment, asking'! for money to enable the applicant to get married. It will, I think, be worth while to go a little into detail on the organi- zation and work of the Munich society and the general question of patronage in Bavaria. The aid society of Munich was formed in 1860, having for its object the moral improvement and material well-being of liberated prisoners who are citizens of Munich. It makes no distinction in respect of ag^, sex, or religion, but gives special attention to young persons of both sexes. It has a capital, including the refnge before de- scribed, of 10,000 florins. Its receipts in 1871 were: subscribed and paid by members, 1,580 florins ; api)ropriation by the state, 750 florins; interest on cai)ital, balance from 1870, &c., 940 florins ; total, 3,270 florins. It has a membership of 1,550, composed of ladies as well as gentlemen. Each member must pay 30 kreutzers a year. Larger contributions are received from many, bnt they are free-gifts. The society holds only an annual meeting, but a committee consisting of forty-two members meets every Mon«lay night. The following is the order of business : 1. It de]i))erates on the reports sent from directors of prisons, giving infor- mation tliat such and such i)risoners are to be discharged, and also in re- lation to tiuiir character. 2. It considers and decides on the admission of thes<'. ])risoiier8 to ]iatronage. 3. It chooses from among the mem- bers of the society gnardians to take charge of sncii i)ris()iM'rs as are ac- cepted. 4. It (!on.siropriated by the society for his use, and, if there be a necessity, en- deavors to effect a reconciliation between him and his family. The results are scarcely such as would have been expected from so much labor and care. Of the 1,182 persons who have been received as wards of the society since 18G0, 377 have relapsed ; 1G2 have withdrawn themselves from all supervision ; 201 are doubtful ; 27 have died, and 352 have undergone a radical change, and become completely reformed iu principle and life. In the province of which Munich is the capital city there are twenty- five districts. Societies similar to that of Munich are found in the chief cities of thirteen of them, and steps have been taken to organize like associations in the other twelve. These local societies are iu all respects formed upon the model furnished by the society of Munich. Each is in- dependent, yet all have iu the committee at Munich, as it were, a cen- tral organ, which forms a bond of union between them, awakens mutual sympathies, makes them feel that they have common interests, and oc- casionally even advances funds, which are sometimes deficient iu country organizations. Bavaria embraces eight provinces — seven besides that of whicli Munich is the capital. The greater part of the chief cities of these have also their patronage societies, and very many of the small towns as well — some sixty in all ; so that, including those in the metropolitan: province, Bavaria, with a population scarcely, if at all, exceeding that of New York, has at least eighty prisoners' aid societies, all of them organized on the plan of that at Munich, even to the holding of weekly meetings on Monday night. The state encourages these associations with small grants of money for their work; but the most effective aid they have consists iu this, that, six weeks in advance of the liberation of a convict, every prison gives information of this fact and of his character to the association which takes charge of its prisoners. The chief obstacle encountered by these associations is the distrust of the public and the prejudices which it feels and shows against contact with liberated prisoners ; above all, when they have been thieves. To over- come these i>rejudices is one of the great duties which the aid societies impose upon themselves ; and they have been to a great degree suc- cessful, particularly in Munich. A month or six weeks before their liberation it is quite common for prisoners to write to the director of the prison a letter asking him to address in their favor a communication to the committee of such or such an aid society. In communicating such a request to a society, the director at the same time gives it all desirable information touching the conduct of the prisoner during the whole term of his imprisonment; on his occupation in prison ; on the change which his treatment has effected in him, if any ; or whether he has remained incorrigible. This petition is submitted to the decision of the committee at the first session after its reception. But, as the committee is composed of the most respect- able citizens of the locality, men thoughtful and prudent, they are un- able, ordinarily, to come to a definitive decision at their first meeting, especially as they are often ignorant of the social status of the prisoner and of his family. In cases where the committee desire to have more ample information, it charges one of its members with the special duty 234 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. of procnriug it. Eacli petitiou is registered, with a summary of all the information aftbrded iu it. That feature iu the constitution of the Bavarian aid societies by ■which a special guardian or protector is assigned to each liberated pris- oner who becomes their ward, with the duties already described, is par- ticularly worthy of notice. It is beyond all praise. I have already mentioned my presence at one of the sessions of the patronage society of jMunicb. A copy of the minutes of that session was kindly furnished me through my friend Mr. Petersen. As it can hardly fail to have interest for those who occupy themselves with penitentiary questions, and especially for the members of prison societies, I append a translation, despite a complimentary sentence or two of a personal character. Minutes of the session of 12ih August, 1872. President, Superior Commissioner Peekert. Mr. Petersen, prefect, presents Dr. Wines, of New York, president of the luteruatioual Penitentiary Congress of London. The president thinks it an occasion of congratulation to be favored Tpith the presence of a gentleman who has displayed an activity so great and so fruitful in useful results in respect of prison reform, and through whose agency the time cannot be far distant when the friends of our work, on both sides of the ocean, will lend to each other a mu- tual support by the intercommunication of their respective experiences. Dr. Wines returns thanks for the honor done him, and says that his visit to Bavaria is mainly for the purpose of studying the organization of patronage in this kingdom, and making personal observation of its workings. After tha reading of the minutes of the session of the 5th August, the president re- marks that Joseph Tamper, who is mentioned in them, is, in the opinion of medical men, too sick to remain under the care of the society. Thereupon, he is remitted to the charge of the philanthropic society. Several directors of prisons announce, l)y letter, tbe approaching liberation of : 1. John Miinch, potter, a workman in the manufactory of Rebdorf. After having been admitted, Mr. Auracher, member of the committee, is designated as his guardian. 2. Catherine Miiller, single woman and laundress, aged twenty-four years, a prisoner at Wasserbourg and a native of An, has the best of certificates. Accordingly she is ad- mitted, and Mr. Fr. Barthelmes, hor future guardian, promises to procure her work. 3. Mary Huber, aged twenty years, a prisoner at St. Georges, is admitted; and Mr. Ka- vizza is named as her guardian, in case she should need the aid of the association. 4, 5, and 6. Anna Mantel, petty thief; John Kaj)poller, an unmitigated gambler ; and John Frey, an incorrigible vagrant, are not admitted because of their antecedents. Louis Felser, printer, a ward of the society, asks sufficient money to defray the ex- pense of his registry, made necessary by his approaching marriage. Several members favored the granting of this request ; others ojjposed it. After a number of speeches, it is resolved that, before coming to a definitive decision, iuformatiou be obtained re- garding the character and antecedents of tiie betrothed. Mr. JJrucktraw, a resigned member of the society, is again received as an active mem- ber, and pays 4 florins '.iO krcutzors as a subscription. Riciiiand, a ward of tlie society, having conducted himself in an exemplary manner aa miller's hoy at J{aml)erg, is voted IS fi(;riiis traveling-money. Ward Dclinoro, to (;iiable Jiim to take a situation otfered, receives two shirts, three aprons, two rol>cs, and one l)l()iiso from the wardrol>e of the society. The 'IVcasurcr Kinliier will have for substitute, during the time of his vacation, Mr. •Comptroihir l{aiirhu;h(!r. After till! reading of the present minutes the president invites our honored visitor to kindly nflix liis signature as a souvenir of his presence among us. E. C. Wi.M>, Secretary of the National Prison Association of the United States. PEEKERT, Presideul. G A M J 'E RT, Seorctary. PRISONS OF ITALY. 235 CHAPTER XXXIV. PELSONAL INSPECTION OF PRISONS IN ITALY. § 1. The prison Belle Marate. — lu company with my friend Mr. Bel- trani-Scalia, the very intelligent, able, earnest (the better word would be enthusiatic) inspector-general of prisons in the kingdom of Italy, I paid a flying visit to the only prison in Florence, named as above. It was only a glance that could be given to it, and it is but the briefest word that can be said of it. It is not a convict prison, but may be described, not inaccurately perhaps, as a detention prison and house of correction combined. It is on the Auburn system — association in com- mon workshops by day, and complete separation by night. It has five hundred cells, and the number of inmates, September 22, 1871, was 376, of whom thirty were women. These latter are really in a distinct prison, for it is separated from the men's prison by a public street.. Two beautiful little girls I saw in this part of the establishment — bright as new-coined eagles — the children of convict women. My heart was pained and oppressed by the thought of how much that is vile and cor- rupting they must necessarily see and hear and learn there. The prison Delle Marate, though not a model, has good points. Labor seemed well organized, and among the industries, I noticed, was printing, which is one of the very best for prison inmates. Here was printed Mr. Beltrani-Scalia's Review of Penitentiary Science, a monthly journal of much spirit and ability, which is doing admirable service in Italy, and, to some extent, throughout Europe, in the work of X)rison reform. But this is a digression. The department of the prison that most gratified me was the school, which was attended by a hundred or more of the younger prisoners (in whose case, up to thirty- five, I think, attendance is obligatory) and as many of the older ones as chose. It is taught by the two chaplains, who give their whole time to religious and scholastic instruction. A very remarkable case of progress was brought to my notice, that of a lad who had been an inmate of the prison for only a month. At the time of entrance he did not know a letter of the alphabet; yet I heard him read, quite fluently, a page in a book as difficult, I should suppose, as what we call the Sec- ond Reader usually is. It is the most remarkable instance of rapid acquisition that ever came within my knowledge. § 2. The prisons of Rome. — There are four prisons in this city, includ- ing one for juvenile offenders. Two of these only did I visit, being ac- companied on my inspection by Mr. Cardon, supreme director, and by Mr. Beltrani-Scalia, inspector-general, of prisons. (a.) The prison Delle Terme. — This establishment is accommodated in a vast building, which was formerly a public granary, but has been altered to adapt it to the uses of a prison, and has been used as such for fifty years. As might be supposed, it is but ill-suited to the purpose, and is, in many ways, very inconvenient. There were four hundred prisoners, about forty of whom were women. Both sexes sleep in common dor- mitories, no doubt to their further contamination. The only industry practised by the men is weaving, at which the utmost they could earn was five or six cents a day. The ^vomen worked at lace-making, by which they earned four or five times as much as the men. (&.) The prison of San Michele. — This prison is historic. Howard vis- ited it nearly a hundred years ago, but it had a history before, most in- teresting and instructive. Howard found over the door of San Michele 236 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. this iuscriptioii: "Clemens XI, Pont. Max., perditis adolescentibus corrigendis instituendisqne, nt qui inertes oberaut, instruct!, reipublicse serviant. An. Sal. MDCCIV, Pon. IV." In English: Clement XI, Supreme Pontiff', [reared this prison] for the reformation and education of criminal youths, to the end that those who, when idle, were hurtful to the state, might, when better taught and trained, become useful to it. Intheycarof our Lord, 1704; ofthe Pontiff, the Ith. Within the prison, high up on a marble slab, inserted in the wall of the principal apart- ment, he found this — as he rightly says — " admirable sentence :" " Parum est improbos coercere pojua, nisi bonos efiflcias disciplina." In. English : It is of no use to restrain criminals by punishment, unless you reform them by discipline. In this sentence Howard found, as all right-thinking men must find, the true aim of all just prison treatment. In the center of the room was hung up the inscription, '' Silentium." So that, as would appear, the silent system of associated labor, com- bined with a reformatory discipline, was inaugurated at Rome in the very- beginning of the eighteenth century, that is, one hundred and sixty- nine years ago. One of the main agencies relied on to effect the de- sired reform of the prisoners was industrial labor and the training of them to the knowledge of a trade. Various handicrafts were taught and practised in the establishment, such as printing, book-binding, designing, smithery, carpentery, tailoring, shoemakiug, weaving^ dyeing,, and the like. Surely Pope Clement XI must be allowed a place among the most enlightened rulers and reformers that adorn the annals of our race. On some points, the world might still go to school to him with advantage. That such a doctrine should have been taught and such a practice maintained in the seat of the Papacy at a time when chains, dungeons, and toi:tures. were almost the only forms of public punish- ment in the rest of the world, is a marvel. Let honor be given where it is due. At the present time the prison appears to be of rather a mongrel sort — half cellular, half congregate. I found some four hundred pris- soners there, some of whom were working in cells, and others in common shops. § 3. The future of penitentiary reform in Italy. — While engaged, in 1871, in ray mission of organizing the congress of London, it was impos- sible to devote much time or to go at all out of a direct line from one capital to another (my business being chiefly with governments) to examine prisons. I went to nearly all that fell in my way, but to scarcely any that would require any divergence to reach them. For this reason I had no opportunity of seeing any of the more recently- constructed and better-organized prisons oF Italy, of which the number is con.sideral)k>. Still, I left Italy, after a very brief sojourn, (for the business of my mission was comi)let(Ml within twelve hours after my arrival,) with the best imi)ressions and tlie best hopes for her future, in. so far as the great inlcrest of ])rison reform is concerned. Mr. I^anza, j)riiiic minister, and at the same tinu^ minister of the interior, who, in virtue of this hitter oHice, is head of the prison administration; Mr. (Jardon, director; and Jnsi)e('tor Jleltrani, (1 had not the honor of be- coming personally a(;;iitnientN, in tliiee. dillei-ent localities, and forming, in ellect, three distinct s<-IiooIh of reCorm — two male and one female — though all under the Hanie head. The two for boys are at JJu.vsse!et fi'om cover to cover, and containing the record of his jiersoMal visits to prisoneis or their visits to him, in which are set down Hk; main facts in eaeli case. I cannot state thcnumber of cases in that rare book, ])nt am sure that it inns up into the thousands. § 5. 77/6' Ncl/icrhiiid.s M(tlr((i/. — This is oiu^ of the model n^formatories of ICurope, and is situated at Arnheim, near Zutiihen, distant five hours by rail from Amsfeidjim. It is on an estate/ nanu'd Itijsselt, formerly NETHEELANDS METTRAY. 243 the seat of a uoblemau; now an agricultural reformatory colony, founded twenty years ago by Mr. Suringar, mentioned in the preceding section, and designed for vagrant and vicious boys, not j'et criminal, but in im- minent peril of falling. It is a close imitation of the French Mettray, and is conducted on the strict family principle. There are ten houses for boys, each capable of accommodating fifteen. They are arranged on the two sides of a parallelogram, (five each side,) with the residence of the director at one end of the quadrangle, and the beautiful little church of the colouy at the other. In the rear of the director's resideuce are the workshops, school-house, &g. On either side of the quadrangle, but at con- siderable distance from the other buildings, are the picturesque res- idences of the sub-director and schoolmaster. A large and substantial farm-house, with all needful out-buildings, near but outside the main en- trance, completes the tout-ensemhle of edifices belonging to the estab- lishment. The spacious square itself, around which all these structures cluster, has the appearance of an elegant garden, in the center of which is a charming flower-plot. The effect, to an observer on passing the iron gate which forms the chief entrance to the colony, is very pleasing, the coup (V ceil' offering to his view what at first strikes him as a miniature paradise. 1 was the bearer of a letter of introduction from Mr. Suringar to Mr. Schlimmer, the director of the colouy, who has served in that ca- pacity from its origin, and has developed rare gifts and aptitudes for the place. The sub-director is a Mr. van Veen, who has occupied the post for only two years, during which time he has given indubitable proofs of special fitness for its duties. Mr. Schlimmer, knowing only German, committed me to the sub-director, who could speak French, and who conducted me through the establishment, explaining every part in the most satisfactory manner. i It has already been stated that the ten family houses are for fifteen boys each, and they were full, or nearly so, on the 7th of August, 1872. At the head of each household is placed a monitor, selected from among the larger boys, who acts as an nnder-officer during the day, and has sole charge of them at night. This system has been substituted for that of house-fathers — first, on economic grounds, and, second, because of the difhculty of finding suitable persons willing to serve the colony in that capacity. The interior of the family^houses is simple and com- modious, but they were not remarkable for cleanliness, and the estab- lishment seemed .to me to suffer sensibly from the lack of female care and influence. Each house has a dwelling-room, wash-room, and closet on the ground floor, and a dormitory above. The meals are prepared in a general kitchen, from which they are taken to the several houses, and each family breakfasts, dines, and sups by itself. The labor is chiefly farm and garden work, sixty-four acres constituting the farm. There is a kitchen garden of eight acres, and a smaller gar- den for fruits and flowers, with nursery, hot-beds, and conservatory, where the boys are taught and trained in all the mysteries of both the ruder and finer kinds of gardening. A considerable income is derived from the sale of flowers, as well in iiots as bouquets, and also from that of fruits, large and small. The occupations of the colony, additional to farming and gardening, are shoe-making, tailoring, carpentry, cabi- net-making, smithery, painting, varnishing, baking, and, I think, a few others. As far as possible — and it is found possible in most cases — the boys are permitted to choose the calling they will follow. There is even a normal school and a military school in the establishment, where those whose tastes incline them to teaching or military life acquire the techni 244 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. cal knowledge aud training' required for those professions. I was curious to know how many schoolmasters had been graduated from this seminary. The sub-director was unable to give the aggregate, but said that eight had gone out to be teachers during his two years' incumbency. One of these was on a visit to his former home when I was at Rijsselt. He was a stout, manly-looking youtb, and seemed greatly to enjoy this renewal of intercourse with his late comrades. He reported himself as " doing well," and as satisfied with his place and prospects. Only boys over nine and under fourteen are received ; on an average, they remain two years at the colony ; and their services, on discharge, are much sought after, -ll^ot more than two per cent., according to the best evidence — so Mr. van Yeen stated — ever become criminals. Most of them would no doubt have followed a life of crime but for their training here. How noble and — let us not forget to say to people who do not love taxes — how cheap a charity this is, cleiirly appears from the fact that seven hundred and twenty boys have been admitted to its benefits, and five hundred and seventy-one have gone forth from it, to add to the productive industry of the state, instead of being spoliators and destroyers of its wealth, and no less so of its virtue. The appearance and demeanor of these lads impressed me most ftivor- ably. One never would have guessed that they had been little Arabs of the street. Except a few low and repulsive iaces, the whole company ai)peared well-mannered, cheerful, respectable youths. Their manly bear- ing and quiet, orderly movements showed the care bestowed on their bodily training, and, by what I was told, their moral training bears a fair proportion to the physical. A profane or vulgar word (so I was assured) is seldom heard, even when the boys are by themselves. The officers have succeeded in forming a right public opinion among their elevcs, which acts with great force, and, as a consequence, have created an cs2)rit de corps which finds expression in such phrases as "We are the boys of Netherlands Mettray! We respect ourselves, and mean that others shall respect us." All the boys are well instructed in the several branches of a common- school education, and special attention is given to music. An hour is devoted daily to this branch by the whole school, not all at the same time, but in groups, according to their advancement. 1 was present at a class-exercise of this kind and observed how thorough and even scien- tific was the instruction given, and how intense the interest and delight of the boys in their work. Every Hunday, in the morning, the boys attend service in the parish <^hurch of the neighboring village; in the afternoon at the church in the colony. Other parts of the day, deducting what is given to suitable recreations and rest, are devoted to sacred song and various religious exercises. From 7 to 7.30 on each morning of the week-days a service of prayer is held in the church, which is conducted in turn by the director, sub-director, and schoolmaster, wlio reads a chapter and ac- <'omi)ani('s tlie reading with such comments as he sees fit, and all unite in singing a hymn, while on«>, of (lie boys i)lays the organ. Asa means ol' moral education mucli stress is laid on what is called tlu! "sentence system." It has long since been observed that a pithy saying, a i)i"()verb, a^ fable, even a single word that infolds a ])regnant meaning, often ])i()dnces a hai>j)y and lasting eflect upon the young mind, (.'harles Dickens, when on a visit to a. reibrmatory in Massacliu- SJ'tts, being called iij)oii for an address, said sim])ly: "Jioys, do all the good you can, aiid nialce no fuss about it." That curt, crisp sentence was better lur flic Itox > (liiiii v.onid li:i\e been an hour ol' sil vcr-tongued PRISON ADMINISTRATIONS IN FRANCE. 245' rhetoric. !So tlio coiuluctovs of the Netherlaiuls mettray have thought it good and helpful to make much use of such sentences as these, (some- times hanging them on the walls, sometimes giving them out to be learned by heart:) ''lie who seeks himself will not liud God." ''A I)oor nian'he, who has notliing but money." "He is a fool who lives poor to die rich." "Labor has a golden bottoai." "Care for the mo- ments, and these will care for the years." Whenever anything extraordinary takes place in a family, or when a boy makes himself notorious by his bad behavior, a sentence is applied. Thus, on the occasion of the death of one of the parents of a boy, a con- soling text or sentence is suspended on the wall of his dormitory. One day Ji boy was overheard using foul speech to a comrade. The seu- .tence, "It is better to be dumb than to use the tongue for filthy talk," was given to him, which he had to read to the company every morning for eight days. It had the desired effect. In a corner of the colony farm there is a secluded and beautiful little cemetery, where are interred the remains of tweuty-three (^olons. At the head of each grave is ])laced a little painted board, with the name, age, &c., of the lad wiio sleeps beneath, and the mound surmounting the grave is planted with flowers. Near the center of the cemetery stands a large, spreading tree, with its thick branches drooping to the earth, beneath which the remains of Mr. Suringar were to be interred. Already, while I pen these sentences, in less than six months from the time of my visit, the good man who founded this noble institution sleeps peacefnlly in his last, self-chosen resting-place. "The memory of the just is blessed." That of William H. Suringar \y\\\ be green and fresh in mau3^ a heart as long as the Xetherlauds Mettray continues its benign and beautii'ui work. CHAPTER X X X V II . PERSONAL INSPECTION OP PRISONS AND REFORMATORIES IN FRANCE. § 1. There are two distinct prison administrations in France — the pre - fecture of police and the ministry of the interior. The former has charge of the prisons of the department of the Seine, the latter of all the other penal establishments of France. Their jurisdictions and all their movements are as independent of each other as if they were on the two opposite sides of the English Chamiel. Mr. Lacourt is chief of the division of prisons for the department of the Seine, Paris; and Mr. Jail- lant, under the minister, of the division of prisons for the rest of France. 1 called upon both these gentlemen, and had a long interview with each, with a twofold aim — first, to gain information, and, secondly, to obtain the necessary authorizations to inspect the prisons within their respective jurisdictions. Tout le monde had spoken to me of Mr. Jaillant as a per- son of rare qualities and worth, and I found tout le momle quite right in its estimate. I was profoundly impressed with the breadth of his intel- lect, the largeness of his heart, and his thorough devotion to the cause of prison reform ; and the same impression was made upon me by his chief of bureau, Mr. Jules de Lamarque. Mr. Lacourt is also a noble specimen of humanity, a man of large intelligence and broad sympa- thies, and, like Mr. Jaillant, "well reported of" by his fellow-citizens. Mr. Jaillant kindly furnished me with a permit to visit prisons out of Paris, and Mr. Lacourt to inspect those within that city. His author- 246 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS. ization, wliicli I give as a matter of curiosity, is in these words: "The directors of prisons in the department of the Seine are authorized to admit into those establishments Mr. Wines, who has been delegated by the American Government to organize an international prison reform congress, together with any friends who may accompany him, and to afford him all the information he may desire. Mr. Wines is recom- mended in a very i^articular manner to the courtesies of the directors.'" I inspected all the jirisons of Paris; two central prisons, one male, the other female ; and two (outside of the capital) for the detention of per- sons awaiting trial, and for j)risoners convicted and sentenced for minor offenses. There are eight prisons in the city, viz : 1. The Grand-Depot of the Prefecture of Police ; the*Conciergerie ; IVfazasj Sainte-Pelagie; Saint- Lazare ; La Sante ; the Grande-Eoquette ; and the Petite-Eoquette. § 2. Before proceeding to any description of these establishments, how- ever brief, it seems proper, if not necessary, to give explanations of a few terms employed in the French criminal nomenclature, W'hich, before going abroad, had troubled me not a little for the reason that I was un- able to comprehend exactly what they meant. I refer to the words incuJjJcs, prt'venus^ and accuses. The equivalents of these words in English all designate persons charged with some offense ; but the exact distinction is difficult for us to grasp. Indeed, they convey to us no distinct meanings, because there is nothing in our judicial processes to corre- spond to them. The incMlpcs, then, are persons who, having been arrested either on a warrant or jiagranie deUcfo, (in the act of commit- ting a crime,) are conveyed, prior to a hearing, to some prison for safe- keeping until their examination takes place. The prcvenus and the detenus are inculpes, who have had their first hearing, and have been ordered by the committing magistrate {juge d' instruction) to be held for trial. But there is a difference between them. The detenus are pris- oners held for trial on a charge of misdemeanor, {delit ;) the accuses are I>risoners held for trial on a charge of felony, (crime.) The two classes are taken belbie different courts for trial — the detcmis before the tribunal of correctional justice, where the trial is by the judges alone; the accuses belbre the court of assizes, where they are tried by a jury. The account to be given of the prisons of Paris will be more intelligible ibr these slioi't explanations. § .'3. The Grand-Depot of the Vrt'/ecture of J'oliee. — This is a prison for persons who have been arrested by the police, but have not yet had their hearing before a committing magistrate, {incuJpes.) It is a vast ])ile in one of the courts of the prefecture, with a, capacity for 1,200 to 1,500 prisoners; but into it, I was told, are sometimes crowded 2,000. 1 may icniiuk, just jjcre, that the commitlal and e]>ot is twenty-ibnr hours; l)Ut Hudi is tlje, a(;enniidati()n of business and such the pressure ui)on tlie time, of tin; magistiates <;liai'ged with the ])i'eliniinary examinations, that piisoners are olten detained hero a week or more. In the male de[)artment tliereare some (ifty sejfaratt? cells for the better <;lass of pris- oners, and Ji somewhat h'ss number in the females waids, whose inmates, I GRAND DEPOT MAZAS. 247 was glad to observe, were altogether under the care of womeu. But the mass — and a seething mass it was of corrupt and corrupting humanity — were thrown i)ell inell together. If the problem had been to <5reate a sort of cosmo])olitan exchange, where the most dangerous vil- lains, drawn to Paris from all quarters, could meet, become acquainted wath each other, and lay plans for future crimes, the intent could not have been better carried out. A hundred desperadoes, or more, are there to be seen in a single vast apartment — the scum of all crafts, the shame and terror of the city. The flow inward and outward is without interruption. The coming and going never cease. The move- ment is like that of a shuttle, that incessantly shoots from side to side of the growing texture. Indolent, suspicious, cunning, lovers of dark- ness because of the villanies that are sheltered by it, they are little to be feared when sei^arated from each other. But here they are brought together by the law itself; they are kept in absolute idleness for days, or even weeks ; they become acquainted ; they organize ; they plan ; they know where to meet on the first moment of libert}^ The young thieves learn from the old ones. They are taught the good stroTcen to be made. They are instructed in the best modes of operating, from the picking of a pocket to the breaking into a house. They learn the whole theory of crime. They are told where to find the safest receivers and the worst haunts- And so the army of crime is recruited more steadily, £iS well as surely, than were the legions of Napoleon by the most relent- less conscriptions. The children are, it is true, separated from the adults ; but uot from each other. On the contrary, they are confined in associa- tion, without supervision, in an adjoining apartment, where, it may readily be believed, the precociously wicked will exercise the greatest influence. I saw there, in one of the exercising-yards, a most piteous sight — some fifty boys or more, from seven years old to fifteen, all huddled together like sheep in a pen, some of whom, from the sobs and blood and angry tones and fresh-torn garments, had been engaged in a fearful fight. In the women's ward, also, there is the same promiscuous association ; and, of course, the same effect of mutual contamination. The authorities aim to keep the lewd from the rest, but those most affected with this spirit, and therefore the most dangerous corrupters, are uot always known to the police. Of what evils may not such contact be the cause ? § 4. Mazas. — This i^rison is appropriated to the prevenus — that is to say, persons who have been placed by the examining and committing magistrates in the category of misdemeanants, and the trial of whose cases has been assigned to the tribunal of correctional justice. It is therefore a j^risou of preliminary detention mainly, though there are some prisoners here under sentence. It is a strictly cellular establish- ment, and may be said to be the gift of Pennsylvania to France. It is the chief fruit, oi' at least the most tangible, of the visit of de Beaumont and de Tocqueville to this country forty years ago. It belongs to the largest class of prisons, the number of cells being twelve hundred, and the mean ijopulation a little more than eleven hundred. I cannot un- dertake a complete description of this immense structure. Its exterior aspect is somber and gloomy to the last degree. Stretching its lofty walls of immense hewn stones on the side of the street opposite to the stiitiou of the railway of Lyons, it offers in its dismal appearance and its intense silence a striking contrast to the animation and bustle which surround it on all sides. The moment you are fairly within, the arrange- ment of the entire structure is apparent. The cellular system yields up its secret on the instant. A single glance tells the whole story. 248 INTERNATIONAL PENITENTIARY CONGRESS, There are six vast galleries, twelve and a half meters* liigli, tlireeand a balf wide, and eighty long. Six enormous passage ways, radiating from the rotunda, separate the wings from each other. It is majestic, cer- tainly, but cold and saddening as well. A staff of seventy officers, under the director, consisting of a deputy, seven sub-deputies, and sixty-two overseers, here accomplish, day and night, a wearisome service; for it is unceasing. Clothed in a blue tunic, on whose collar shines a silver star, and whose buttons have in the center an open eye, (symbolic of eternal vigilance,) surrounded by the words Prison de la iSeine, the overseer passes and repasses incessantly from end to end of the gallery intrusted to his custody. He looks through the little hole in the door of the cells, Htly named judas ; he stops if he hears any unusual sound; he sees everything, w\ithont being seen himself; turning me- chanically between his fingers the heav3' key which opens all the doors, he glides rather than walks, and at night wears list slip- pers, that he may pass more quietly. For the most part, he is au old soldier, formed to habits of strict discipline, and familiar with all the severities of the camp. To look at him, one w^ould say that he forms part of the prison itself. He is silent, like it ; he never smiles, and if he speaks, it is ever in a low tone. In passing through a vast cellular establishment like Mazas, one feels, unavoidably, as if he were in a sick-chamber. 'Tis au instinctive sensation, and not groundless, for moral, like bodily, lesions often x)artake of the character of morbid affections. By living constantly in the midst of prisoners, the keeper comes to look upon them as he does on other people ; he feels neither horror nor pity. He is polite and even gentle toward them, partly, i)erhaps, from a kind of indifference, but also because he i^ ad- vised to such a conduct. But he is no less prudent than polite, and in retiring from a cell he always goes backward. He sees that the regula- tions relating to the prisoners, which arc simple and easy to follow, are strictly carried out. At 5 o'clock in summer, and 6 in winter, the pris- oners are rung up by a bell in the rotunda. At the end of a half hour each prisoner must have his hainmo<'.k rolled up and attached to hooks in the wall, and his cell swept and put in order; the doors are then opened and the night-vessels removed; at the same time the water and bread for the day's consumi)tion are distributed. At 8 the morning soup is passed into each cell in a porringer; at 3 the evening meal is distributed ; at 8 the bell rings, and the i)risoner arranges his hammock, and makes his bed. This is the locking up. At 10 every light is put out, uidess a sj)ecial authorization is accorded by the director, who, in- deed, rarely r<^fuses it when asked. During the er man for eacii day ol' work 10 ccntiiiu's, e