The retiring president of the Connecticut Prison Association recently
wrote:
The past nine years have been years of progress. Five important steps
have been taken, which bear directly upon the treatment of the
criminal. Not one of these originated in Connecticut. We are not
roadmakers. We slowly adopt courses which have been to some extent
tried and proved efficient by others.
In 1901 was passed the indeterminate sentence law. Our late secretary
was an indefatigable worker for its passage. Coupled with the parole
law, the operation of the indeterminate sentence law promises much. It
marks a great innovation. Naturally it must work its way slowly and
must demonstrate its true worth to the community by years of
experimentation.
In 1901 was also passed a law calculated to protect the public from
the incorrigible, and deter such from continuance in crime. I refer to
the law which requires that the judge, in the case of a third-term
offender, shall make the maximum term of imprisonment thirty years. It
is a severe law. But no one need suffer from it. An incurable criminal
should not be allowed to imperil the interests of the public. If this
law were enacted and enforced throughout the land, the majority of
professional criminals and degenerates would soon be under constant
surveillance.
The probation law, passed in 1903, has rapidly come into favor. Its
operation has told its own story wherever it has had any chance at
all. It has proved especially advantageous in the management of
delinquent children.
In 1909 a law was passed, having for its end the prevention of the
line of criminals, which the laws of heredity might seem to guarantee.
The method employed is sterilization. There is much to be said for and
against this measure. There is much skepticism regarding it. Time will
demonstrate the wisdom or wickedness of such a law.
In 1909 decisive steps were taken for the establishment of a
reformatory. This move is of state-wide interest. We cannot see how we
have delayed so long. It is in the interest of young men. We hope much
from this institution. Since success depends largely upon the spirit
and ability of those in charge,—God give us men.
I have mentioned the chief measures enacted for the improvement of
penological conditions. There are many signs of promise that have not
yet found expression in legislation. Deep interest is taken in the
physical, mental and moral development of children. And a few are
coming to study the cold, hard facts, in the limelight of political
economy, as to the fruits, in insanity and crime, of the traffic in
intoxicants. Some day the good sense of the people will assert itself,
and the refuge of lies will be swept away, and the real situation will
be faced.
Our present jail system is being weighed in the balances and found
wanting. Many believe that state management of jails would be more
economical, and conducive to better results than are now obtained. A
state farm for the inebriate, with nourishing food, fresh air,
sunshine and moral influences, and hard work for a good long term,
would, it is believe, be a merciful solution of the distressing
rounder problem.
The Connecticut Prison Association was first organized as “The
Prisoners’ Friends Corporation,” Tuesday, March 9, 1875, at a general
meeting held in the lecture room of the Center Church, Hartford.
Its first president was Judge Heman H. Barbour of Hartford, and at his
death Rev. Dr. Joseph Cummings, president of Wesleyan College, was
chosen president.
December 8, 1876, a reorganization was affected under the name of “The
Connecticut Prison Association.”
Hon. Francis Wayland, dean of the Yale Law College, was then elected
president, and continued in that office until the time of his death,
January 9, 1904, more than twenty-seven years.
Rev. H. M. Thompson, D.D., of Hartford, served the association as
president from November 9, 1904, until October 27, 1910.
Mr. John C. Taylor was secretary of the association from March 9,
1875, until his death, October 4, 1909, more than thirty-four years.
The objects of the Connecticut Prison Association as expressed in the
constitution are: