Wells, England, an interesting discussion took place on the subject
of the punishment and reformation of juvenile offenders. The
subject was brought before the Court by the reading of a circular,
in which the magistrates were called upon to adopt a memorial to
the Marquis of Lansdowne on this important subject. Mr. Lloyd Baker
said he had had the subject under his consideration for the last
fifteen years, and he laid before the Court statistics referring to
the criminal career of a number of youths at that moment confined
in the Gloucester County Prison, showing that they had been, most
of them, previously convicted once or twice; that this kind of
punishment, instead of having a moral effect upon them, appeared
only to have hardened them in crime by their coming in contact with
other bad adult characters, and that their trial and imprisonment
had cost the county from $75 to $100 a-piece. His argument was in
favor of an entirely new system of juvenile reformation. He was
followed by other magistrates, who spoke of the course imposed
upon them, to sentence mere children to confinement in a prison,
as a most unsatisfactory one. There was no moral effect in such
punishments, but, on the contrary, the effect was to break down
the first barrier to crime, and it was found that the shame of
imprisonment was overcome. One of them expressed an opinion that
what was wanted was a public receptacle for offenders of this class
who were not properly "prisoners," but unfortunate individuals
who, by neglect of their parents, had been led into error. He did
not see why it should not be made compulsory upon such parents
who so neglected their offspring as to lead them to crime, to
contribute towards their support in such an establishment, in the
same manner as a runaway parent was called upon to contribute to
the support of his family. The discussion ended in the adoption
of a memorial, which was signed by all the magistrates present,
expressing their conviction, that the present mode of treating
and disposing of juvenile offenders was most inefficient and
unsatisfactory.
SINGULAR AVOCATION AND MODE OF LIFE IN LONDON.--In a case of
assault brought before a police-court, a most extraordinary
character appeared as a witness. The man is by profession a
thorough subterranean rat-catcher, for the supply of those who
keep sporting dogs. One-half of his life is spent in quest of prey
from the whole range of the sewerage of London. Furnished with a
bull's eye lantern, a good-sized folding trap, and a short rake,
he enters the main sewer, at the foot of Blackfriar's Bridge, and
pursues his dangerous avocation, waist-deep in mud and filth of
every description. The sewers literally swarm with rats, which he
catches by hand, and places them in his cage as easy as if they
were young kittens. His underground journeys extend for miles. He
has been under Newgate, and along Cheapside to the Mansion House.
He has traversed from Holborn to Islington, closely inspecting all
the passages that enter the grand sewer of the mighty metropolis.
On one occasion, an obstruction occurred to a drain at the foot of
Holborn Hill. Terms were speedily agreed upon, and our subterranean
explorer started off to the foot of Blackfriar's Bridge, and in
half an hour his voice was heard down the gully-hole; he speedily
cleared away the obstruction, and received his reward, thus saving
the expense of breaking up the roadway. It is not, however, to the
rats alone that he pays his attention; he frequently falls in with
a rich prize, particularly in the City sewers. On one occasion he
found a silk purse, containing gold and silver; on another a gold
watch and seals, numbers of silver spoons, rings and other articles
of value. He has been three times attacked with the typhus fever,
but rapidly recovered on each occasion.
DEATH FROM SEPARATION!--A London paper tells us, that Mr. Bedford,
the coroner for Westminster, held an inquest lately in Millbank
Penitentiary, touching the death of Thomas Wilkinson, a convict,
aged nineteen years, a clothdresser, who was found one Sunday
morning lying dead and bleeding on the floor of his cell, having
cut his throat with a razor which was given him to shave, _during
the momentary absence of the warder in charge_. From the question
of convict prison discipline having recently been slightly agitated
in the public journals, the separate system was inquired into by
the coroner, who asked Dr. Baily if he could throw any light on
the case, to guide the jury as to the cause of the act. Dr. Baily
thought that it was brooding over the length of his sentence, and
stated further that, during eighteen years, in that prison, from
1824 to 1842, with an average of 454 prisoners, only three had
committed suicide, but then their sentences were only two, three or
four years. Again, in the ten years as a convict prison, from 1843
to 1853, there had been thirteen suicides. So that he thought it
was more the length of the sentences than the separate confinement,
although he must own that the latter would accelerate or aggravate
any disease which might be on a prisoner, and also tend to suicide,
by giving them an opportunity when they would be brooding over
a long prospect of imprisonment. The jury returned a verdict to
the effect that the deceased destroyed himself during a state of
temporary insanity, _brought on by the separate system_!
We have put a few words in italics to mark the absurdity of such
a verdict. (1.) No evidence of insanity is stated, except that
which the fatal act furnishes. (2.) As favorable an opportunity is
offered, during half of every twenty-four hours in a congregate, as
in a separate prison. (3.) If it is brooding over an unusually long
sentence that produces suicidal insanity, the verdict should be, that
the deceased destroyed himself during a state of temporary insanity,
brought on by a mistake of the law or of its administrators!
MURDERS IN PHILADELPHIA.--It is our painful duty to record three
deliberate and atrocious murders committed within the bounds of the
city of Philadelphia since our last issue.
The first was committed in broad day, in one of the most frequented
parts of the city, upon a man in his own store, and was attended with
circumstances of ferocity rarely equalled. The perpetrator of the deed
has not been discovered.
The second was the wanton butchery of an unoffending man, apparently
without any motive, except the indulgence of a blood-thirsty
malevolence.
The third was committed upon two unprotected females, and with a
ferocity of which we should hope few human beings are susceptible, even
in their most savage state. The only apparent motive for the cruel and
dastardly deed was a pittance of money. How far the wretched monster on
whom the guilt of this double murder has been fixed by the law and the
testimony, may have been implicated in other deeds of blood ascribed to
him by popular rumor, it is not for us to say, but we suppose there is
no doubt that he was not long since a convict in the State Penitentiary
at Sing Sing, N. Y., and was pardoned by the Executive of that State!
How much of his term of punishment was abridged by this interposition
of extraordinary clemency, we are not informed; but if the full
execution of his sentence would have carried the period of his
confinement beyond the 10th of March, 1853, it is clear that the
abridgment of it opened the way for the terrible deed which we have
now recorded. And are we not justified in holding the pardoning power
responsible, _in foro conscientiæ_, at least, for the consequences of
taking a convict out of the hands of the ministers of justice, while
he is undergoing wholesome discipline by their order, and sending him
back into the community as one whose punishment was greater than he
deserved? Who knows but that an ill-judged interposition of Executive
power may sometimes breed a contempt for public authority, and
stimulate a reckless convict to more audacious violations of law!
MISSOURI INSANE ASYLUM.--This institution is located in Fulton. It was
opened a year since, and has received 70 patients. There are 460 acres
of land attached to it, 30 of which are under culture. Dr. T. R. H.
Smith is the principal physician.
MISSOURI PENITENTIARY.--On the 20th of December there were 232 convicts
in custody, of whom 146 were from the county of St. Louis. Of the
countries of their nativity, Ireland furnishes the largest number, and
Germany the next largest. Of the States of the Union, Pennsylvania
furnishes the largest number. We are happy to learn that the physician
is a decided advocate of convict-separation.
IT IS SAID,
(AND WE PRESUME ON GOOD AUTHORITY,)
1.--THAT, on the 12th of November last, notice was given in the British
House of Commons of a bill for the codification of the criminal laws.
2.--THAT, in the Massachusetts Legislature, the Committee on Prisons
have reported against allowing the families of convicts a portion of
their earnings.
3.--THAT, the London Society for improving the condition of the Insane,
have offered a premium of twenty guineas for the best essay that shall
be presented, showing the progressive changes since Pinel's time in
the moral management of the Insane, and the various contrivances to
dispense with mechanical restraints.
4.--THAT, the Emperor of France has decided, that out of ten millions
of francs appropriated to the improvement of the lodging-houses of the
laboring classes, three millions shall be put at the disposal of the
Minister of the Interior to procure plans!
5.--THAT, the inmates of the Cincinnati House of Refuge are 235, and
that the number of juvenile culprits at large is fearfully increasing.
6.--THAT, the three State prisons of New York, (containing 1783
convicts, of whom only 80 are females,) will require a considerable sum
beyond their earnings for their support, viz.: for the Auburn prison,
$14,000; for the Sing Sing Prison, $7,000; for the Clinton Prison,
$27,000. Yet the Clinton Prison is not regarded as an unsuccessful
experiment!
We hope this important fact will be known to the Missouri Legislature
before they determine to adopt the congregate system, on the ground of
its economy. "As a general thing," says the report of a commissioner of
Missouri on that subject, "the prisons employing this" (the associate
system) "support themselves." It is wise to look before we leap.
7.--THAT, very favorable commencement has been made in the
establishment of an institution in or near Philadelphia, for the
instruction of idiots and feeble-minded children.
8.--THAT, the Deaf and Dumb Asylum at Jacksonville, Ill., admitted
during its last term 100 pupils, 94 of whom were from within the State.
The whole number of mutes in the State is estimated at 500.
9.--THAT, the Illinois Asylum for the Blind has in it 25 pupils. The
whole number of the blind in the State is estimated at only 60. A
building is nearly ready for their accommodation.
10.--THAT, the Illinois State Lunatic Asylum admitted during the year
138 patients, of whom 38 were restored to sanity, 50 were discharged,
and 82 remain under treatment.
11.--THAT, the rite of confirmation, as observed in the Established
Church of England, was lately administered by the Bishop of Manchester
to 28 prisoners in the gaol in that town, varying in age from 14 to 55
years. The whole scene is represented as having been very impressive.
12.--THAT, the number of idiots in the State of New York is not less
than 2,800, of whom one-fourth are under 14 years of age. There are 42
pupils in the State institution for idiots, 30 of whom are supported
by the State. The trustees recommend the purchase of a building having
accommodations for 100 pupils, of whom 64, (eight from each judicial
district,) it is proposed to support at the expense of the State; and
the remaining 36, by friends. The estimated cost of a suitable building
is $20,000; and the annual appropriation necessary to maintain the
establishment will be $10,000.
13.--THAT, a new organization of the police of New York contemplates
the total release of the policemen from all political influence, as it
provides that they shall hold their offices during good behavior, and
shall only be removed for neglect of duty or the violation of police
regulations. That the Chief of Police shall be appointed by the Mayor,
with the approval of the Board of Aldermen, and not the Common Council,
as has been the law hitherto; that every policeman appointed must be
a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the ward for which
he has been nominated. He must also present to the Mayor, with his
certificate of nomination, another, signed by twenty-five reputable
citizens, two-thirds of whom must reside in the ward at the time of
signing the certificate, certifying that they have been personally
acquainted with him five years last past, and that during that time
he has borne a good character for honesty, morality and sobriety. He
must also present to the Mayor a certificate from the Chief of Police,
certifying that the said applicant can read with ease, and write
legibly the English language, that he well understands the first four
rules of arithmetic, and that he is a proper person to appoint to said
office.
These rules if faithfully observed, would probably exclude some of the
present incumbents in most of our cities.
14.--THAT, the whole number of convicts in the Illinois Penitentiary
is 227, and the whole expense of conveying convicts from the counties
in the State to the penitentiary, is $14,990.05! The Governor thinks
it unwise to have a very large number of convicts congregated in one
prison, and he submits to the consideration of the Legislature, whether
the public interest in regard to this subject would not be better
subserved by building another penitentiary, to be located at some
eligible point in the northern part of the State.
We hope one of them, at least, will be established on the Pennsylvania
system.
15.--THAT, a little ragged urchin, begging in the streets of Detroit,
was asked by the lady of the house (where his baskets had been well
replenished,) if his parents were living? "Only dad, marm," said the
boy. "Then you've enough in your basket now, to feed the family for
some time," said the lady. "Oh! no I haven't neither," said the lad,
"for dad and me keeps five boarders; he does the housework, and I does
the market'n."
16.--THAT, a new edifice for the New York Deaf and Dumb Institution is
to be built, the present location having been rendered ineligible for
such a purpose, by the opening of new thoroughfares. The site selected
is in the vicinity of Fort Washington, near the line of the Hudson
River Rail-road, and the cost of the site and building is estimated at
$120,000.
17.--THAT, on the 1st day of January the population of the New
York City Almshouse was 5557; out-of-door paupers, 1332; total,
6909--sufficient to stock a large village.
18.--THAT, the practice prevails among certain of the magistrates of
the county of Philadelphia, (names not given,) of committing to the
county prison persons known to be guiltless of any offence to justify
their commitments--that such persons are sometimes retained in prison
for weeks, and it is added, that this reprehensible system puts the
county to an increased expense, merely to place costs in the pockets of
the committing magistrates.
19.--THAT, instruction on the Phonetic plan has been given with much
success in several of the penal institutions abroad, among which are
the Preston House of Correction and the Glasgow Bridewell.
20.--THAT, not a single case has yet been known of a convict's losing
his reason as a necessary and natural consequence of being separated
from other convicts.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.
We have to express our thanks to various friends for their thoughtful
kindness in forwarding us copies of reports, and among them are the
following:
Annual reports of the Officers of the New Jersey State Lunatic Asylum
for 1852.
Twentieth Annual Report of the State Lunatic Hospital at Worcester,
Mass. for 1852.
Report of the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane for the year 1852.
Tenth Annual Report of the State Lunatic Asylum of the State of New
York, 1852.
Annual Report of the State Lunatic Asylum at Harrisburg, Penn.
Twenty-Fourth Annual Report of the Inspectors of the Eastern State
Penitentiary of Pennsylvania, 1852.
Report of the Inspectors of the Western State Penitentiary of
Pennsylvania for 1852.
Sixteenth Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania
Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, 1852.
Twentieth Annual Report of the Managers of the Pennsylvania Institution
for the Instruction of the Blind for 1852.
Report of the State Prison of New Jersey for 1852.
Sixth Annual Report of the Trustees of the State Reform School at
Westborough, Mass.
Twenty-Seventh Annual Report of the Board of Managers of the Prison
Discipline Society of Boston, 1851-2.
Act of Incorporation, By-Laws, &c., of New York Juvenile Asylum.
Twenty-Eighth Annual Report of the Managers of the Society for the
Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents of New York, 1852.
Annual Report of Board of Managers of Philadelphia Charity Schools,
1852.
Report of Managers of the Magdalen Society for 1852.
Annual Report of the Managers of the Boston Asylum and Farm School for
1852.
Eight Report of the Baltimore Manual Labor School for Indigent Boys for
1852.
Report of Commissioners on the State Reform School of Pennsylvania.
* * * * *
PREMIUM FOR AN ESSAY ON JUVENILE DELINQUENCY.--At a meeting of
the Board of Managers of the House of Refuge, Philadelphia, the
following preamble and resolution were adopted, viz:
_Whereas_, The increase of Juvenile Delinquency in all the
large cities of our country, has claimed the attention of
philanthropists; and _whereas_, the Board of Managers of the House
of Refuge, Philadelphia, are desirous that errors in modes of
training the young, and other causes co-operating to produce the
evil referred to, may be presented in such a form as to claim the
serious consideration of parents and guardians throughout the land;
therefore,
_Resolved_, That the Board of Managers do offer a premium of one
hundred dollars for the best essay, and fifty dollars for that
next in order of merit, to be awarded by a committee of literary
gentlemen: _Provided_, that such essays shall not exceed fifty
octavo pages in length, and shall be contributed before the
first day of July, A. D. 1853; and whether successful or not in
competition, shall be at the absolute disposal of the Board of
Managers.
In accordance with the above preamble and resolution, the premiums
therein named are now offered, without restriction as to the
residence of competitors.
The Rt. Rev. Alonzo Potter, Frederick A. Packard, Esq., and Stephen
Colwell, Esq., have consented to act as the Committee, to examine
and adjudge as to the merits of the Essays offered in competition.
Competitors for the above named premiums, will please address
their manuscripts to "John Biddle, No. 6 South Fifth Street,
Philadelphia;" and send therewith, their names and places of
residence, under sealed envelopes.
As the object of the Board of Managers of the House of Refuge in
offering the above-named premiums, is mainly to call the attention
of parents and guardians to errors in the prevalent modes of
training the young--a subject which should claim the attention of
every reader--the undersigned would call the attention of editors
of newspapers generally, throughout the United States, to this
advertisement, and ask the favor of an insertion of it, or of the
more important parts of it, in the columns of their papers.
By order of the Board of Managers of the House of Refuge.
THOS. P. COPE, President of H. of R.
JOHN BIDDLE, Secretary of H. of R.
_Philadelphia, Feb. 17, 1853._
{ Third page of cover. }
_From the Episcopal Recorder._
This periodical gives a large amount of information on Prison
Discipline, and cannot fail to interest such as grieve over the
sufferings occasioned by crime, and regard the imprisoned criminal
as still belonging to our common humanity, and needing the
commiseration of the wise and good.
_From the Public Ledger._
We have received the October number of the Pennsylvania Journal of
Prison Discipline and Philanthropy, published under the direction
of the Philadelphia Society for alleviating the Miseries of Public
Prisons. It is stored with interesting matter.
_From the Presbyterian._
We have been reading with great interest the Pennsylvania Journal
of Prison Discipline and Philanthropy.
AN INQUIRY
INTO THE ALLEGED TENDENCY OF THE SEPARATION OF CONVICTS, ONE FROM THE
OTHER, TO PRODUCE DISEASE AND DERANGEMENT.
BY A CITIZEN OF PENNSYLVANIA. _Philadelphia_: E. C. & J. Biddle. 1849.
It is, as might possibly be anticipated from the residence of the
author, an elaborate and ardent defence of the separate system of
confinement. The charge of its peculiar tendency to induce disease and
insanity, is altogether denied, and the testimony of the successive
physicians to the Eastern State Penitentiary, during a term of nearly
twenty years, goes very satisfactorily to warrant the denial.
The author is not, however, inclined to rest at this, but carries the
war into the enemies' camp. The chapter entitled Medical Practice,
in a Congregate Prison, is calculated to attract attention, from the
positions laid down in it, and their startling illustrations, deduced
from the well known case of Abner Rogers. It is not the time or the
place for us to enter on this warmly controverted subject, and we
have noticed the work only on account of its bearing on the subject
of insanity, and as forming a part of its literature.--_Am. Journal
of Insanity, published by the Superintendent of the New York Lunatic
Asylum, July, 1850._
So far as the leading controversy, in regard to the rival systems of
prison discipline, is concerned, it seems to us to cover the entire
ground with singular ability.--_Princeton Review._
☞ A few copies of this pamphlet are still on hand, and may be had on
application to the publishers, corner of Fifth and Minor streets, or to
any member of the Acting Committee.
OFFICERS FOR 1852-3.
PRESIDENT--James J. Barclay.
VICE-PRESIDENTS--Townsend Sharpless, Charles B. Trego.
TREASURER--Edward Yarnall.
SECRETARIES AND COMMITTEE OF CORRESPONDENCE--
William Parker Foulke, Edward Townsend.
COUNSELLORS.
Job R. Tyson, Garrick Mallery.
ACTING COMMITTEE.
James J. Barclay, Townsend Sharpless, Charles B. Trego, Edward Yarnall,
William Parker Foulke, Edward Townsend, Job R. Tyson, Garrick Mallery,
F. A. Packard, Jeremiah Hacker, William Shippen, Charles Ellis, A. T.
Chur, Morris Wickersham, M. W. Baldwin, Mark Balderston, Joshua L.
Baily, Thomas Latimer, Josh. T. Jeanes, John M. Wetherill, Horatio C.
Wood, John Lippincott, John J. Lytle, Henry M. Zollickoffer, William S.
Perot, Benjamin J. Crew, Isaac G. Turner, William U. Ditzler.
☞ Quarterly Meeting of the Society, 2nd second day (Monday) of January,
April, July and October.
INSPECTORS OF THE STATE PENITENTIARY FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF
PENNSYLVANIA.
John Bacon, Richard Vaux, Hugh Campbell, Singleton A. Mercer, Andrew
Miller.
WARDEN--John S. Halloway.
RESIDENT PHYSICIAN--D. W. Lassiter, M. D.
MORAL INSTRUCTOR--Thomas Larcombe.
CLERK--William Marriott.
TEACHER--George Neff.
VISITING COMMITTEE OF THE EASTERN PENITENTIARY.
Townsend Sharpless, Edward Townsend, James J. Barclay, A. Theodore
Chur, Joshua J. Jeanes, Matthias W. Baldwin, Joshua L. Baily, John
Lippincott, John J. Lytle, Horatio C. Wood, Isaac G. Turner, Benjamin
J. Crew.
INSPECTORS AND OFFICERS OF THE PHILADELPHIA COUNTY PRISON.
PRESIDENT.--Jesse R. Burden, M. D.,
TREASURER.--T. C. Bunting. M. D.,
SECRETARY.--E. A. Penniman,
Edward C. Dale, Samuel Palmer, Robert O'Neill, Hugh O'Donnell, Thomas
E. Crowell, Godfrey Metzger, Charles T. Jones, Joseph K. Howell, Joshua
S. Fletcher, William Elliott, Samuel McManemy, John T. Smith.
SUPERINTENDENT.--Anthony Freed.
DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENTS.--William B. Perkins, John Mirkil.
CLERK.--Wm. J. Crans.
MATRON.--E. McDaniel.
PHYSICIAN.--Dr. J. C. Wall.
MORAL INSTRUCTOR.--Rev. Wm. Alexander.
ASSISTANT KEEPERS--C. Stagers, William Sharp, H. C. Snyder, Alexander
Campbell, F. Laird, J. B. Haines, A. Morrison, Alexander Burden, J.
Watt, G. Kirkpatrick, William McGrath.
VISITING COMMITTEE ON THE COUNTY PRISON.
William S. Perot, Dr. William Shippen, Jeremiah Hacker, H. M.
Zollickoffer, Thomas Latimer, Paul T. Jones, Morris S. Wickersham, John
M. Wetherill, Charles Ellis, B. B. Comegys, William U. Ditzler.
Transcribers' Notes.
Italics are rendered between underscores; e.g. _Princeton Review._.
Small caps are rendered in ALL CAPS.
A paragraph, which was split between the second page of the cover and
the third page of the cover (inside front and inside back), was joined
together on the second page.
The beginning of the third page of the cover was marked with a notation
between curly brackets ({ Third page of cover. }).
The table in Article IV was split into two tables to better fit on the
page.
The following table shows changes made by the transcriber. Page# refers
to the ordinal number of the printed page for this issue. Page 2 is the
inside front cover. Page 8 is the eighth page in this issue (which was
numbered 58 for the year). Page 20 is the twentieth page in this issue
(which was numbered 70), and so on. Page 60 is the outside back cover.