until the repetition of them is loathsome to those who have been
familiar with the subject. Principles are set forth as of present
validity, which have been long ago abandoned even by those who once
advocated them. The most ultra partisan opinions and doctrines are
revived, with such an air of sincerity and confidence, as leads us
to believe that the Rev. Commissioner never saw or heard of the
oft-repeated refutation of them. He refers to those whose minds are
steeped in prejudice, as the most reliable and responsible sources of
information; and perhaps we cannot better describe the document, as
a whole, than by saying that it is a synopsis of the reports of the
Boston Prison Discipline Society and Mr. Gray's book, prepared and
printed at the expense of the State of Missouri.
We owe it to ourselves to cite a passage or two from the report, to
serve as an indication of the qualities we have mentioned.
As to its rhetoric and logic let the following suffice:
The conviction forces itself upon my mind, that, if the numerous
weighty objections already given be correct--this (the separate)
system is not only wrong _per se_, but will soon be deserted by
its remaining followers. For if it be true, when alluding to it in
the least objectionable manner, that this system is only suited to
short sentences, as many of its friends and advocates aver, then,
"to all intents and purposes," it must soon be subject to one of
two consequences; either the penal code of the laws of the land
must be so altered as to suit the demand of the system, or the
system must be so altered as to fully come within the demands of
the law.
As to its facts let the following suffice:
Upon the separate and solitary principle, the prisoner--good,
bad, or indifferent as he may be, surrounded by his _Bible_, and
such other good books as are given him from time to time, remains
all alone in his cell, from the first of January to the last of
December, until his term of imprisonment expires; and is thus
left to his own reflections by day, and by night--unless paid an
occasional visit by some kind officer of the prison, or by the
chaplain. And hence it is, that in too many instances to justify
the means employed, _insanity_ precedes the work of reformation.
Were we to cite but a single passage from the report to include the
logic, the rhetoric, the philosophy, the facts, and the reliability of
the statements in a single view, it would be the following:
Upon my arrival in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, so soon as
I had visited the State prison at Charlestown, and the Boston new
jail, under the guidance of Hon. Louis Dwight, I was convinced
in my own mind that said jail, for the purposes for which it was
designed, was decidedly the _model prison of the age_.
The commissioner was so fortunate as not only to see "the model prison
of the age," but to obtain from the same source "a design of a model
prison for the State of Missouri;" and so comprehensive and clear
were the conceptions of the commissioner upon the view of these model
edifices and plans, that he made up his mind when he "first saw the
design," (and his views remained unchanged after his return,) "that it
has no superior either in the United States or in Europe."
Among the inexplicable mis-statements which we find scattered through
the report, we may cite the following:
As has been proven, beyond all successful contradiction, this
system (the congregate) is not only _more humane_, but it is also
_far less expensive_ than the separate system.
Nothing is more obvious than that from the very nature of the
discipline, the administration of a prison on the separate plan must be
the least expensive. The first cost of the structure will probably be
greater; but we have supposed it to be conceded on all hands, that a
prison on this plan once erected, the expenses of maintaining it were
much less than those of a congregate prison with equal accommodations.
While we admit that the first cost of a prison for convict-separation
is greater than that of a congregate prison, we must demur to the Rev.
Commissioner's broad assertion on this point:
"I speak not unadvisedly," he says, "when I assert, that the
erection of a prison for associate purposes, is not half so
expensive, as the erection of a prison for the separate and
solitary confinement of its inmates--all things considered."
The most zealous opposers of the separate system have not pushed this
objection to any such extreme, and to any considerate mind it carries
its refutation with it.
As an inducement to proceed on the plan submitted by the commissioner,
he assures the executive that "the prison once completed and properly
officered, unless in case of some unforeseen accident, will demand of
the State treasury nothing more for at least fifty years! And more
than that," he says, "after paying for itself during the first few
years of its existence, it will thenceforth yield annually a handsome
revenue to the State."
The cost of the Missouri "Model Prison" is set down at $250,000, and
as a sort of guaranty against any new expense for improvement in after
times, the commissioner has the assurance of one gentleman, (which
another promptly endorses,) that "the principles of the main building
are such as will last for one hundred years!" This gives a chance for a
long nap to our Boston friends.
We are not without hope that some of the good citizens of Missouri will
get a glimpse of this report of the Rev. Alexander L. Hamilton, and
will insist upon a more intelligent and impartial inquiry, before they
commit themselves, or suffer the Legislature to commit itself to so
large an expenditure, for an institution so permanent, and involving so
many interests of humanity and public economy.
ART. VIII.--A PHILANTHROPIC PERPLEXITY.
Will the publishers of the _Prison Journal_, or some one who has access
to its columns enlighten an honest inquirer after the path of duty? It
is presumed that the combined wisdom and philanthropy of the Prison
Society can furnish all needed direction in the case I have at heart
and in hand.
Of the grave and multiplied evils that spring from _street begging_,
I have no doubt. Indeed I have done all I could in a private way to
discountenance it. I have never encouraged a second call by a liberal
donation, and perhaps have sometimes seemed harsh and unfeeling. But
I am so well satisfied that it is the most inhuman thing we can do
for the honest poor, and that it favors the arts and schemes of the
dishonest, that I feel constrained to avoid every thing that should
look like countenancing it. My neighbor's gate and door are daily
besieged by women and children with boys and baskets, and they seldom
leave without some token of approval.
But I must hasten to a statement of my case. I was going to my place
of business on Saturday afternoon, after dining heartily and happily
upon a rare sirloin of beef, and saw a man on the door-steps of a house
in Washington Square. He was perhaps forty years old, (more or less)
rather shabbily dressed, with a dirty bundle under his arm, and some
indications of hard drinking about his face. I noticed that he tried
the handle of the door before he rang the bell, and was thus led to
no very favorable impression of his design. Stepping behind a flight
of steps, I noticed his movements as he went from door to door under
successive rebuffs. As soon as he came up to my standing place, I said
to him,
"Friend, do you know you are liable to be taken up for begging in the
street?"
"I war'nt begging. I only asked for a bit of bread and cold meat."
"Well, you will have a constable after you in a few minutes if you
don't stop that business."
He turned on his heel and went from me, and as my eye followed him, and
I remembered the well-furnished table from which I had just risen with
no very grateful heart, I felt reproached; and quickening my steps, I
followed and overtook him.
"Do you say you are hungry, friend?"
"Yes, I am."
"Do you live in town?"
"No, I came in town last night."
"Where from?"
"From Emmettsburg."
"Is that your home?"
"Yes, I served my time there."
"What is your business?"
"Shoemaking."
"Why did you leave Emmettsburg?"
"To get work."
"Well, you had better go to the Mayor's, at the corner of Fifth and
Chestnut Streets, and tell him you have no food, no home and no work."
Off he went, and I followed by another route, and reached one door
of the office, just as he entered at the other. Unfortunately the
Mayor was at dinner, and I could only tell my story to the officer in
attendance.
What shall be done with such a man? I asked.
"We can only send him down to Moyamensing for thirty days, or to
Blockley," was the reply.
Is that the only alternative--the prison, or the poor house, the latter
with 2,700 inmates, and the former so overstocked as to make it a
positive nuisance? Is it really so? There is work for one hundred men
at this moment, in removing ice from the gutters, making the side walks
passable, and the streets decent, and yet this able bodied vagrant must
be imposed upon the tax-paying public as a prisoner or a pauper!
As we left the office, we saw the Emmettsburg shoemaker ignobly
introduced to the ward room. I hope it will not be said that this is a
case not likely to occur often, for in that event, I shall feel obliged
to relate half a dozen other instances which have occurred within my
own observation, and the details of which are any thing but agreeable.
I am clear in the opinion, that there must be some needless and sad
defect in our municipal legislation or administration, if the power and
capacity to work is found twenty-four hours in succession, associated
with vagrancy and mendicity. Am I wrong in this opinion? And whether I
am or not, pray tell me how to treat street-beggars.
Miscellaneous Notices.
VAGRANT CHILDREN OF NEW YORK.--An organization has recently been
effected in the city of New York, under the title of the "_Children's
Aid Society_," the object of which is "to bring humane and kindly
influences to bear on homeless boys--to preach in various modes the
Gospel of Christ to the vagrant children of New York."
As an evidence of the need of some such agency, it is stated that
in one Ward alone (the eleventh) there were in 1852, out of 12,000
children between the ages of five and sixteen, only 7,000 who attended
school, and only 2,500 who went to Sunday-school, leaving 5,000 without
the common privileges of education, and about 9,000 destitute of public
religious influence!
The views of the founders of this charity are summarily presented in a
circular as follows:
A large multitude of children live in the city who cannot be
placed in asylums, and yet who are uncared for and ignorant and
vagrant. We propose to give to these work, and to bring them under
religious influences. A central office has been taken, and an
agent, (Charles L. Brace,) has been engaged to give his whole time
to efforts for relieving the wants of this class. As means shall
come in, it is designed to district the city, so that hereafter
every Ward may have its agent, who shall be a friend to the
vagrant child. "Boys' Sunday Meetings" have already been formed,
which we hope to see extended until every quarter has its place
of preaching to boys. With these we intend to connect "Industrial
Schools," where the great temptations to this class, arising from
want of work, may be removed, and where they can learn an honest
trade. Arrangements have been made with manufacturers, by which,
if we have the requisite funds to begin, _five hundred boys_, in
different localities, can be supplied with paying work. We hope
too, especially to be the means of draining the city of these
children, by communicating with farmers, manufacturers or families
in the country, who may have need of such for employment. When
homeless boys are found by our agents, we mean to get them homes in
the families of respectable, needy persons in the city, and to put
them into the way of an honest living.
It has been stated, in the public prints, that of 16,000 commitments
for crime to the prisons of New York during the year, at least
one-fourth were minors, and it is estimated that not less than 10,000
children in the city are daily suffering all the evils of vagrancy.
STREET BEGGING IN NEW YORK.--We have had occasion more than once to
refer, in terms of high commendation, to the New York City organization
for the relief of the poor, corresponding in its main features to
our Union Benevolent Association. We regret to notice very loud and
frequent complaints of the continuance and increase of street-begging,
notwithstanding the laudable exertions of the Society. A leading city
newspaper has said within a week or two, that upwards of a _half
million_ of dollars is annually spent by the authorities and various
societies, in the way of charity, "yet our streets are thronged with
beggars of all descriptions, and particularly the avenues and streets
up town, in almost any of which, upon an average you can see from
thirty to fifty going from house to house, to the excessive annoyance
of families, who are often abused and insulted by them, because you do
not meet their demands. In fact it has become a nuisance of the worst
magnitude."
There is much reason to apprehend that such nuisances must work their
own abatement. If our authorities were strong enough and independent
enough, to lay hold of the BOYS AND GIRLS who constitute the materials
from which street-beggars are manufactured, and compel them (as a
matter of public safety) to submit to the discipline of an educational
and industrial school, it would make a bright opening in the prospect.
Or, if every man, woman and child who is found begging in the street,
were transferred at once to some charitable institution, (if they
have infirmities which prevent them from labor,) or to some working
institution, (if they are able-bodied,) and there put to some wholesome
labor in exchange for their sustenance and clothing, we should not be
without hope. But we see no way of suppressing the evil, if neither of
these methods is feasible.
NEW YORK PRISON ASSOCIATION.--We have seen only newspaper reports of
the proceedings at the eighth anniversary of this active and very
useful Association. We understand that their condemnation of the
yoke and the shower, as modes of punishment, is very emphatic and
unqualified, and among the interesting facts which are drawn from their
report, we select the following:--
In the city of New York, since 1848, disorderly conduct (in almost
every instance the result of strong drink) has steadily increased
from 703 to 2,660, or 278 per cent.; intoxication has increased
about 75 per cent., and the two together from 5,579 to 11,280. By
a comparison of the prison statistics for the last five years, it
appears that crimes against property have increased only about 50
per cent.; but that crimes against the person have increased 129
per cent., or from 1,300 in 1843 to 2,920 in 1852.
The increase has been the greatest in the highest crimes. Thus we
find assaults to kill were 25 in 1848, and 39, 59, 61 and 75 in
1852, or three-fold. Manslaughter, in 1848, was 3, and then 4, 16,
11 in 1852, almost four-fold. Murder in 1848 was 9, and 9, 15, 21
and 56 in 1852, or more than six-fold.
Ninety per cent. of the whole number committed to this prison
during the past year, were intemperate! The returns of sixteen
State Prisons, for the year 1851, give us a grand total of 4,507
prisoners, 3,006 of whom were imprisoned for offences against
property, and 784 against the person.
It is stated that there is a greater number of cases of bigamy and
perjury in the State of New York, than in all the other fifteen
States; there being twenty-one cases of bigamy in New York, and
only fifteen in the other States; and seventeen cases of perjury to
three in all the other States.
The average period of confinement in Connecticut is six years,
seven months, twenty-nine days; and in the Eastern Penitentiary of
Pennsylvania it is only two years, six months and three days.
NEW YORK STATE PRISONS.--The report of the State Penitentiaries of
New York bear date December 1, and show that 129 more convicts were
in custody at that time than in December, 1851. Of 1843, the whole
number in confinement, 924 were at Sing Sing, 752 at Auburn and 167 at
Clinton. One hundred and forty-three pardons were granted, or about
1 in every 12 convictions! The expenses of all the prisons exceeded
the earnings by several thousands of dollars, showing the fallacy of
the argument so potent with most Legislatures, that by associating
prisoners in labor they become a source of profit, while separating
them involves great expense. The Clinton prison is going largely into
the iron business and wants more hands. We would respectfully suggest,
whether there are not many persons at large in New York, and some quite
considerable in importance and respectable in appearance, too, who
would find appropriate employment there.
There has been some increase in the frequency of punishments by the
yoke, the shower bath, the ball and chain, and solitude.
Of 613 commitments, two-thirds confessed intemperate habits. How many
of the rest were moderate drinkers does not appear. The average degree
of education in the convicts received is less than in some former
reports.
IDIOTS IN NEW YORK.--There are two thousand eight hundred idiots
in the State of New York. The report of the superintendent of the
Idiot Asylum, near Albany, contains the following interesting
passage:--"We have taught a child to walk when we had first to
awaken or cultivate a fear of falling, as an incentive to any
efforts on her part. We have awakened perceptions of sounds in
ears where the sense of hearing resided without the use of it. We
have developed perceptions of sight through eyes that had never
performed their appropriate office. We have been teaching children
to speak in every stage of articulation. Cases that three years
since only promised to be hopeless, helpless burdens to their
friends all their lives, have been elevated to the rank of happy,
useful members of society. In almost all cases, and with very few,
if any exceptions, those usually called idiots, under the age of
twelve or fifteen, may be so trained and instructed as to render
them useful to themselves, and fitted to learn some of the ordinary
trades, or to engage in agriculture. Their minds and souls can be
developed, so that they may become responsible beings, acquainted
with their relations to their Creator and a future state, and
their obligations to obey the laws and respect the rights of their
fellow-citizens. In all cases, we believe, for we have seen what
has been accomplished in apparently desperate cases, they can be
made cleanly and neat in their personal habits, and enabled to
enjoy the bounties of Providence and the Comforts of life, and to
cease being incumbrances and annoyances to the families in which
they reside."
BE BEFOREHAND WITH THE TEMPTER!--A friend tells us of a case in which
a young girl of considerable personal attraction, was rescued from
impending danger. Her mother was a widow with very scanty means of
support. This girl had a taste for, and some skill in music. Had been
at the public schools, and could read and write with facility, and was
indeed respectably educated for one in her station. Her mother had
determined to take boarders, and to give an air of gentility to her
house, she had also made arrangements to hire a piano. The introduction
of the class of boarders which the mother expected, would have exposed
the child to great danger. A Christian friend saw this, and by timely
and judicious efforts succeeded in securing for her a situation where
she would be protected and prepared for usefulness, and for gaining a
respectable livelihood.
How much more hopeful such simple preventive measures are, than those
which (though equally well meant) come later, and are at best but
remedial in their character.
NEW PENITENTIARY IN MASSACHUSETTS.--We notice in the proceedings of
the Legislature of Massachusetts that it is proposed to build a new
State Prison. It is but a year or two since the Charlestown prison was
greatly enlarged, so as to meet what was supposed to be the demand
for convict-accommodation. It is earnestly to be hoped, that if a new
prison should be erected in that State, the principle of separation
will be adopted. If the two systems could be once fairly tried in
the actual presence of the people of that ancient and intelligent
Commonwealth, we should have strong confidence that the groundless
prejudices against convict-separation would disappear, and that her
example would be set as effectually for the furtherance of correct
views on the important subject of prison discipline, as it has
heretofore been cited for the furtherance of misapprehension and error.
STATE PRISON AT CHARLESTOWN, MASS.--The earnings of the inmates
of the Charlestown State Prison, for the year ending September
30th, 1852, were $6,921.17 over expenses. Of the inmates, 313 are
Americans, 170 foreigners, 35 negroes and 12 mulattoes.
We have known a succession of annual reports of State prisons to be
published, in which the earnings of the convicts, over and above the
expenditures were quite "showy," but by and by came a change in the
administration, and a balance appears against the concern, sufficient
to swallow up all the previously reported excess of earnings. Each
report of a favorable year made its impression on the public mind, and
hundreds of thousands who were misled by it, will never see a notice
of the detection of the error,--to use no harsher term. We do not mean
to intimate that there is any reason to distrust the foregoing item,
but simply to admonish the reader that such statements are always to be
taken with many grains of allowance.
ILLINOIS PENITENTIARY.--We understand that this institution is leased
for a term of years to a person, who allows the State a certain sum for
the labor of the convicts, &c. The report before us embraces the years
1851 and 1852. On the first of January, 1851, the prison contained 170
convicts. Since that time 38 have died, 41 have been pardoned, 1 has
escaped, and 168 have been discharged by expiration of sentence--making
the whole number discharged within the past two years, 248. During
the same period, 295 have been received, and the whole number now in
confinement is 207. Fourteen only were born in the State of Illinois!
NEW STATE REFORM SCHOOL.--The Legislature of New Hampshire at its last
June session, received a report from a Board of Commissioners for the
establishment of a State Reform School, to be located in the town of
Concord, the cost not to exceed $35,000, and to be planned for the
accommodation of 300 boys, but finished at present for 120. An eligible
site has been obtained, and we hope soon to hear that the institution
is conferring wide and lasting benefits upon the community.