to the negligence of local authorities and the personal
disposition of jailers. As in other reform movements,
so in this, our own country has beet si progressive,
and Europe has willingly taken lessons from America. The reports mad- of our prison systems by the French visitors. VI i and De Focqueville I in 1834 I,
De Metz and Bloui I (in 1837), Dr. Juliers (sent fr
Prussia), and Mr. Crawford (from England), have cer- tainly contributed very largely to the present state of public opinion on the subject In 1834, inspectors were appointed to reporl annually on the state of English
and Scottish prisons — a measure which had been earlier adopted with reference to Ireland: and their reports may be consulted with ad van tag .
"The t> ndency lately has been to regulate prison dis- cipline with extreme care. The public sometimes com- plain that too much pains is bestowed on it— that crim- inals are not worthy of having clean, well -ventilated apartments, wholesome food, skilful medical attendance, industrial training, and education, as they now have in this country. There are many arguments in favor of criminals being so treated, and the objection- urged against Such treatment are held by those who are best acquainted with the subject to be invalid; lor it has never been maintained by any one that a course of crime has been commenced and pursued for the purpose of enjoying the advantages of imprisonment. Per- haps those who chiefly promoted the several promi- nent systems exported from them greater results, in the shape of the reformation of criminals, than have been obtained. If they have been disappointed in this, it can. at all events, be said thai any prison in the now recognised system is no longer like the older prisons, an institution in which the young criminals advance into the rank of proficients, and the old improve each other's skill by mutual communication. The system now re- ceived is that of separation, so far as it is practicable. Two other systems were tried- the silenl system and the solitary system. The former imposed l ntire silence among the prisoners even when assembled together; the latter endeavored to accomplish their complete iso- lation from sight of or communication with their race. By the separate system, the criminals are prohibited from communicating with each other: but they are vis- ited by persons whose intercourse is more likely to ele- vate than to debase— as chaplains, teachers, Scripture- readers, the superior officers of the prison, and those who have the external control over it." See Penitentiary",
The Prison Association in the Stale of New York is regarded as the most perfect organization of the kind
in the world. According to the annual report, the ob- jects of this society arc threefold: 1. Humane atten- tion to persons arrested, protecting them from legal sharpers, and securing their impartial trial. 2. Encour- agement and aid of discharged convicts. •"•. Careful Study of prison discipline, observation of the i crime, and inquiry as to the proper means of its preven- tion. The last is considered the most important of its objects. The statistics of tic work of the society dur- ing the quarter of a century just ended show the fol- lowing figures under the tirst object named above: 93,560 friendless persons visited in the detention pris- ons oi New York and Brooklyn, all of them counselled, and many of them assisted: 25,290 complaints carefully examine, I-. 6148 complaints withdrawn at the instance of the society as trivial, or founded on mistake or pas- sion: 7922 persons discharged by the courts on recom- mendation of the society, who were young, innocent, committed their offences under mitigating circumstan- ces, or were evidently penitent; a total of 133,9 in which relief of some kind has been offered by the as- sociation. During the last twenty-five years the assist- ance given to discharged com icts is summed up as fol- lows: 18,309 persons of this class aided with hoard. clothing, tools, railroad tickets. ,,r money ; 1 139 piw ided with permanent situations: a total of 22,448. Aid has also been extended to thousands of persons connected with the families of the prisoners, lor some years a
lew hundred dollars have been annually distributed on
New- year's -day among indigent families. By its act
of incorporation it is made the duty nl the Prison Asso- ciation to -visit, inspect and examine all the prisons of the Stati' of New York, and annually report to the Legislature their condition." In 1876 the fourth Na- tional Prison Reform Congress was held in N "i rb City, and very advanced ground was taken. I pecially interested in this subject will do well to consult the minutes of these proceedings, and the annual reports
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PRITHU
of the New York State Prison Association ; also those of the Boston Prison Discipline Society, an organization to which is due the introduction of religious exercises into American prisons, as well as the appointment of chap- lains. Prison congresses have been held in Europe since 1845. In 1872 an international congress was held in London, likewise in 1877.
While the principle of prison reform is universally recognised, it is found in practice to work with different results in different cases. This conies from the impos- sibility of having uniformity in the actual management of the prisons, personal tact and influence having much to do in the case. The prison at Columbus, 0., has the reputation of being one of the best in the country for this reason ; it enjoys superior supervision, and is wholly free from political interference. The movers in reform hope to achieve still better results in all the institutions. Their principal business is with the criminal after he is caught — to reform him, restore his manhood, and return him to society a new individual. The question how to prevent crime in the first instance is another and more important question. See the excellent article on Pris- ons and Prison Discipline in the Amer. Cyclop, xiv. (i. 17, and the literature there quoted. See also Revue Chretienne, Aug. 1873, art. i ; Robin, La Question Pen- itentiaire (Paris, 1873) ; Edinb. Rev. liv, 159 sq. ; Meth. Quar. Rev. July, 1873, art. v ; New-Engl. Jan. 1873, art. iv; Christian Union, May 31, 187G; New York Evening Post, 1878. (J. H. W.)