UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 SCHOOL OF LAW 
 LIBRARY
 
 PENOLOGICAL 
 
 AND 
 
 PREVENTIVE PRINCIPLES
 
 PENOLOGICAL 
 
 PREVENTIVE PRINCIPLES, 
 
 WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO 
 
 EUROPE AND AMERICA; 
 
 AND TO THE 
 
 DIMINUTION OF CRIME, PAUPERISM, AND INTEMPERANCE; 
 
 TO PRISONS AND THEIR SUBSTITUTES, HABITUAL 
 
 OFFENDERS, SENTENCES, NEGLECTED YOUTH, 
 
 EDUCATION, POLICE, STATISTICS, Etc. 
 
 WILLIAM TALLACK, 
 
 Secretary op the Howard Association, London. 
 
 Autlioi' of " DcfecU of Criminal AdminiHtration " (1872) ; '• Malta under 
 
 the Phcenicians, Kniglita, and English " (1861) ; '^Ilumanity and 
 
 Humanitarianism" (1871); Etc., Etc. 
 
 "The lessoning of tlie crime of a countrj' is an object worthy of the best thoughts 
 and the best efforts of oar best men."— General Brinkeruopf (U.S.A.) 
 
 " In order to deliver a countrj* from offences, supiircss, as far as possible, the 
 causes of corruption."— M. F. L. IIerbette (Prison Director, Franco.) 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PUBLISHED BY WERTHEIMER, LEA & CO., 
 
 circus place, LONDON WALL, E.C. 
 
 1889. 
 
 Prior 8.S-.
 
 I8s:9 
 
 I.ONDON : 
 PRINTEB BY AVERTIIKIMKE, LEA AND CO., 
 CIRCUS PLACK, LONDON AVALL.
 
 u. 
 
 h 
 
 CO 
 
 C7J 
 
 CO 
 
 1^ 
 
 TNSCEIBED, WITH ESTEEM, 
 TO 
 
 FRANCIS PEEK, 
 
 Of London, 
 
 AND 
 
 EDMUND STURGE, 
 
 Of Cluirlhury, 
 
 AS EEPEESENTING THE C03IMITTEE OF 
 THE HOWARD ASSOCIATIOX. 
 
 'J'ssais
 
 PEEFACE. 
 
 The familiar proverb "Who shall decide, when doctors 
 disagree ? " applies, with much force, to the complex 
 questions involved in the treatment and prevention of 
 Crime, and to the kindred difficulties in the diminution of 
 Vice and Pauperism. The writer of the following pages 
 has often had occasion to remember that proverb, when 
 listening to the varying experiences and divergent opinions 
 of practical men, whose prolonged official careers entitled 
 the views of each of them to respectful consideration. 
 And in many visits to Prisons, Reformatories, Workhouses, 
 and other public Institutions, at home and abroad, he 
 has observed a corresponding diversity in the modes of 
 management. But notwithstanding such differences, both 
 of opinion and of practice, there may be noticed a pre- 
 ponderance of experience in certain directions; and it is 
 the special design of this book to render aid in the recog- 
 nition of these converging lines and approximating con- 
 clusions. 
 
 Through the writer's position, as Secretary of the 
 Howard Association,-^ for more than twenty years, he 
 has been brought into connection, either personally or 
 by correspondence, not only with the officers of penal and 
 
 * The HowAKii Association was instituted, in London, in 18GG, 
 for the Promotion of the best Methods of the Treatment and Pre- 
 vention of Clime.
 
 viii Preface. 
 
 reformatory institutions, but also with many other authori- 
 ties, in regard to the questions here considered. 
 
 The numerous references which he has made to the 
 opinions of such persons, may be expected to possess 
 some interest for thoughtful and practical minds. 
 Amongst those from whom he has repeatedly derived 
 help and instruction, he may gratefully mention Mr. 
 T. LI. Barwick Baker, Mr. Frederick Hill, Mr. Ex-Sheriff 
 Watson, Sir Walter Crofton, Sir Joseph W. Pease, Bart., 
 M.P., Professor W. N. Hancock, Mr. Francis Peek, Mr. 
 Edmund Sturofe, Mr. G. R. Vicars, and others in Great 
 Britain, including many gentlemen in official positions, 
 whom, for obvious reasons, it is not expedient to refer to 
 by name ; M. Illing, Dr. Fohring, M. Ekert, Dr. Ashrott, 
 and M. von Holtzendorff, of Germany ; M. Petersen, of 
 Norway ; M. de Olivekrona, of Sweden ; M. Stuckenburg, 
 of Denmark ; M. Charles Lucas, M. Fernande Desportes, 
 and M. Yvernes, of France ; M. George Belinfante, of Hol- 
 land ; M. Beltrani Scalia, of Italy ; Dr. Guillaume, of 
 Switzerland ; M. J. Stevens, M. Berden, Baron Lettenhove, 
 and M. Prins, of Belgium; Dr. E. C. Wines, Dr. F. H. 
 Wines, Mr. W. M. F. Round, General Briukerhoff, Mr. J. W. 
 Leeds, Mr. Z. R. Brockway, Professor Francis Wayland, 
 Mr. Charles F. Coffin, Mr. G. F. Griffith, Mr. C. E. Felton, 
 Mr. C. D. Randall, and Mr. W. P. Letchworth, of the 
 United States ; besides many others, at home and abroad. 
 During the preparation and final revision of this book, the 
 writer has also received many useful suggestions and much 
 valuable assistance from his Wife. 
 
 As to Mr, Barwick Baker, in particular, again and again, 
 during the past quarter of a century, has the author, by
 
 Preface. ix 
 
 letter or by interview, sought counsel from that judicious 
 and practical observer, whose important services to the 
 community were so unostentatiously and perseveringly 
 rendered, throughout the course of his long life. 
 
 This book relates more to present and prospective re- 
 quirements, and to principles of permanent validity, than 
 to the history of systems and conditions nov/ out of 
 date. The author hopes that it will commend itself to 
 the approval of persons who are practically engaged in 
 efforts to diminish Crime, Vice, and Pauperism, for whose 
 help and service it is chiefly designed. He is not ac- 
 quainted with any other similar work which is so specially 
 devoted to the exposition of comprehensive and preventive 
 principles, as illustrated and supported by recent general 
 experiences, on both sides of the Atlantic. The writer may 
 further remark that he has earnestly endeavoured to exer- 
 cise impartiality, in his treatment of the various vexed 
 questions upon which he has entered. 
 
 He is quite aware that, on several points, he has 
 ventured to differ from the views entertained by some 
 persons of sincerely philanthropic intentions ; but in these 
 matters, the practical testimony of facts must constitute 
 the final ground of decision. 
 
 Perhaps the frequent reference made, in this book, to the 
 influence (jf Christianity, may ])e deemed irrelevant, by 
 certain readers. The validity, or otherwise, of such an 
 objection, depends upon the authority which, in matters 
 of Penology and general Philanthropy, is to be attriltuted 
 to the Gospel of the New Testament. This, in the opinion 
 of the most successful leaders of beiieflcent effort, including 
 John Howard and innumerable others, is not an incidental,
 
 X 'Preface. 
 
 or secondary, but a primary one. To that fundamental 
 principle, in particular, the writer has sought to render 
 humble homage. 
 
 The Committee of the Howard Association have en- 
 couraged the preparation and issue of this work ; but they 
 must not be considered responsible for all its conclusions. 
 Even these gentlemen have not always been able to arrive 
 at absolute unanimity, in reference to some subjects con- 
 nected with the treatment and prevention of crime. But 
 the author believes that most of the following pages will 
 meet wdth the approval of these, his esteemed friends and 
 colleagues. 
 
 Amjmt, 1888.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAl'TKR. PAGE. 
 
 I. — First Principles in Diminishing Crime, 
 
 Pauperism, &c. ...... 1 
 
 II. — Prison Systems generally Unsatisfactory. ,50 
 
 III. — Prison Separation and " Classification " . 107 
 
 IV. — Perpetual or Life Imprisonment . . 151 
 
 V. — Habitual Offenders, or " Eecidivistes " . 165 
 
 VI. — Prison Labour 198 
 
 VII. — Prison Officers 216 
 
 VIII. — Systematic Prison Visitation . . . 237 
 
 IX. — Aid to Discharged Prisoners . . . 259 
 
 X. — Sentences ....... 272 
 
 XL — Fines and Forced Labour .... 281 
 
 XII. — Corporal Punishment ..... 290 
 
 XIII. — Conditional Liberty, or Probation Sys- 
 tems, IN LIEU OF Imprisonment . . 299 
 
 XIV. — Criminal Statistics ..... 315 
 
 XV. — The Police ; especially in relation to 
 Pawnbrokers, Publicans, Prostitutes, 
 
 and the Prevention of Crime . . 326 
 
 XVI. — Neglected Youth and fJuvENiLE Delin- 
 quency ....... 349 
 
 XVII. — Conclusion 385 
 
 /
 
 PENOLOGICAL AND PREVENTIVE PRINCIPLES. 
 
 Chapter I. 
 
 PRINCIPLES ESSENTIAL IN DIMINISHING 
 CRIME AND PAUPERISM. 
 
 The First of these. 
 During many years of special attention to several social 
 questions, the writer has been increasingly impressed with 
 the importance of a few fundamental principles which are 
 too often inadequately regarded, if not decidedly neglected. 
 More particularly in connection with the efforts for the 
 prevention, or diminution of Crime and Pauperism, it is 
 observable that many persons, desirous of combating 
 these evils, are impeded in their endeavours, through the 
 absence of clear and definite bases of procedure. The 
 claims and counsels which beset the path of the reformer 
 are so various that, in the first place, constant vigilance is 
 needful that the proposed means of restricting social 
 
 MALADIES DO NOT BECOME ENCOURAGEMENTS OF THE VERY 
 evils to be REPRESSED. 
 
 That special condition of philanthropic success, the com- 
 bination of a hard head with a warm heart, is essential 
 for the discriminating selection of the right means for the 
 attainment of requisite objects, and for the continual 
 application of the rigid test oi final results. 
 
 Pauperism and this Principle. 
 Thus, in regard to Pauperism, general experience still 
 justifies a persevering reiteration of the simple but whole- 
 some truism that if money, or other relief, be given, uncon- 
 
 B 
 
 y
 
 2 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 ditionally, to mendicants or the needy, in such a way as to 
 obviate motives to self-help, or to prevent exertion, more 
 harm than good ensues, and the very spirit of pauperism is 
 further developed and strengthened. It has often hap- 
 pened that benevolently intentioned persons have rendered 
 themselves absolute nuisances to the parishes in which they 
 reside, by their profuse bestowment of alms upon all the 
 beggars who apply at their houses. They become attrac- 
 tive centres for laziness and imposture. Thus their neigh- 
 bours suffer greatly from the vice and drunkenness pro- 
 duced by these unwise almoners. Not such was the true 
 charity of St. Peter, who with strengthening help, and 
 with the animating words, " Rise up and walk," enabled 
 the lame man, at the gate of the Temple, thenceforth to 
 exert himself. He infused real power into him, and re- 
 moved the source of his impotence and inactivity. St. 
 Peter's miraculous gifts are no longer available ; but the 
 principle and the lesson inculcated, remain. With few 
 exceptions, habitual mendicants are vicious or criminal 
 impostors. Investigation proves this in nineteen cases out 
 of every twenty. But the public in general will not, or 
 cannot, take the trouble of such investigation. 
 
 Vagrants often impudently proclaim their detestation of 
 self-supporting industry. One of this tribe begged money 
 of a lady, "to save him from something he very much 
 dreaded." She gave him half-a-crown, and inquired, 
 " Now, my poor fellow, what have I saved you from ? " 
 The answer was scofEngly returned, "From being obliged 
 to go and work to-day." Another mendicant recently 
 made reply to an offer of occupation, " No ; not so long 
 as I can get twelve shillings a day and a skinful, by 
 begging ; it's only fools and horses that work." 
 
 Excessive Resort to Institutions. 
 Not only is there a danger of frustrating the desired 
 object by an unwise treatment of individual cases of men-
 
 First Principles in Diminishing Crime and Faiqjerism. 3 
 
 dicancy or distress, but a greater peril consists in the 
 wholesale discouragement of self-exertion on the part of 
 the destitute or indolent, as classes, by such mere impul- 
 sive relief, and by the relaxation of their natural responsi- 
 bilities, as parents, in regard to their offspring, by similar 
 spurious charity, producing really cruel injury on a larger 
 scale. 
 
 There are many well-meaning persons and societies, espe- 
 cially in London, New York, and other cities, who are 
 continually exclaiming, by their practice, " Look at these 
 thousands and myriads of neglected children and destitute 
 adults. Fellow Christians, build institutions for all these ; 
 pour out your money upon them more abundantly ; otier 
 them food, clothing, shelter, training, more willingly ; in- 
 vite and welcome them to share your generosity ! " To a 
 certain extent this liberality may be beneiicial, but if 
 carried out generally, it may become an influence working 
 incalculable mischief, both to its objects and to the com- 
 munity. Even under the guise of " Christianity " it may 
 foster a dishonest " Socialism," or selfishness. It weakens, 
 at its very source, the sense of parental responsibility. It 
 tends to remove the God-imposed duty of self-help and self- 
 development from the poor. It actually impoverishes them 
 by the very " gifts " thrust upon them ; and, like the widen- 
 ing circles upon a pond into which a stone has been thrown, 
 it extends its influence to surrounding myriads. The 
 numerous improvident, intemperate, and selfish persons 
 who will never do anything for themselves, which others 
 can be induced to do for them, are thus increased in 
 manifold degree. If professing Christians exclaim, " Bring 
 your children in thousands to us, and we will place them 
 in institutions at our expense, and relieve you of all re- 
 sponsibility ; " of course the thousands are forthcoming, 
 and tens of thousands more soon follow. Hence, we see 
 some of the rapidly increasing burdens upon the taxation 
 and the purses of Chnstendom, with a very dispropor- 
 
 b2
 
 4 Penological and Preventice Principles. 
 
 tionate benefit even to the ultimate objects desired. The 
 moral strengthening, or the development oi' personal ability 
 is the primary essential of genuine charity ; which being 
 neglected, or weakened, certain failure results. As an able 
 writer, Mr, L. Courtney, M.P., remarks, " The help which 
 makes people helpless is worse than no help at all." 
 
 For example, in 1875, a " Children's Law " was enacted 
 in New York, which authorised the magistrates to commit 
 destitute children to the various private or public institu- 
 tions of the district, and to order the payment of two 
 dollars a-week, for each child, out of the taxes. And what 
 was the actual result ? In January, 1887, the United States 
 "International Record " (edited by Dr. F. H. Wines), showed 
 that this measure had been followed by a vast increase of 
 such dependent children, far out of proportion to the in- 
 crease of the population. The number of these wards of the 
 State, rose in New York City, from about 8,000 in 1875 
 to nearly 14,000 in 1884. In 1887, there were about 
 18,000. So much for the mischievous effects of spurious 
 "charity," the institution craze, and the foolish under- 
 taking to remove from parents their natural responsibilities, 
 instead of enforcing their better fulfilment. Even in Great 
 Britain, it is a fact not to be necessarily assumed as satis- 
 factory, that the children in certified Industrial Schools 
 (not including those in " Reformatories ") have increased 
 m a quarter of a century from 480 in 1861, to 20,G68 in 
 188G. Their parents or friends have only paid about one 
 shilling in the pound, on the average, towards their sup- 
 port. 
 
 It is surprising that the great young Republic of the 
 New World has failed to profit by the social experience 
 in this respect, of the old Continent. In a well-written 
 exposition of the abuse of public Institutions, especially in 
 California, issued in 1887, by Mr. Edmond T. Dooley, 
 Superintendent of the Boys' and Girls' Aid Society, of that 
 State, he remarked : " The frreat cities of our Continent are
 
 First Principles in Biminishing Crime and Pauperism. 5 
 
 under the control of political ' bosses ' and their grog-shop 
 following. If we are not absolutely ruled by the criminal 
 classes, the character of our political and social life is cer- 
 tainly very much modified by the baser elements of our 
 people. Has not New York City alone suffered infinitely 
 more from its Tweeds and ' boodle aldermen ' than all that 
 the old Colonies ever endured from English oppression ? " 
 This impartial American testimony is very noteworthy. 
 Mr. Dooley also complained that, in California, the criminal 
 and corrupt element had hitherto successfully checked the 
 efforts put forth by the wiser minority of the people to 
 obtain legislative reforms designed to brino- about an cffec- 
 tive and economical mode of dealing with the pauperism 
 and crime which had so rapidly increased in that State. It 
 was shown that out of every 1,000 children supported in 
 Californian institutions, at the public expense, at least GOO 
 should be cared for by their own parents and relatives, and 
 further, that most of these establishments and also the 
 prisons, were still increasing and perpetuating the evils 
 they were ostensibly presumed to check. The consequence 
 had ensued that the ratio of State-supported " dependent " 
 children was more than twelve times greater in California 
 than in Michigan, in proportion to the respective popu- 
 lations of the two States. The criminality of the former 
 was also vastly greater than that of the latter. 
 
 For Michigan is a wiser State in reference to its treat- 
 ment of pauperism. It aims primarily at prevention, and 
 especially in regard to the young. It has taken under 
 State control the really destitute children, in limited 
 number, if free from crime and disease, in order to undergo 
 two educational processes ; firstly, a preparatory training 
 in a public school, at Coldwater, for rather less than one 
 year on the average ; and, secondly, in a subsequent distri- 
 bution amongst the farmers and cottagers all over the 
 State. This is, in fact, a general process of boarding-out, 
 or of systematically providing family instead of institu-
 
 G Penological and Preventive Princijjks. 
 
 tional life for actually destitute children. The State retains 
 its sole and absolute control over such young persons until 
 twenty-one years of age, and also provides for the over- 
 sight and visitation of each one placed out. The result is 
 that, during a recent period of years, the paupers in the 
 poor-houses of Michigan only increased 20 per cent., whilst 
 the general population increased 40 per cent. 
 
 Further it may be remarked, in this connection, that 
 there is occasionally to be noticed in Refuges and Asylums 
 for destitute children, a well-meant abundance of com- 
 forts, as in the dietary, furniture, pictures, and carpets. 
 But even these apparently reasonable indulgences are not 
 without their dangers. If too freely lavished, they tend to 
 encourage parental improvidence and neglect. Because it 
 is not real beneficence to render the condition of the 
 children of idle, dishonest, and profligate parents more 
 enviable than that of the offspring of the hard-working 
 and virtuous poor of the vicinity. The privileges of the 
 honest toilers should not be less than those of vicious 
 people. It is not benevolence, but wasteful mischief, which 
 so administers individual or public gifts, or institutions, as 
 to discourage industry and perpetuate indolence amongst 
 surrounding multitudes. The more that is given in such 
 a way, the more there will have to be given, as the evil is 
 increased. 
 
 And further, it is possible to inflict real injury upon the 
 poor children themselves, who may be crowded into the 
 artificial and dependent conditions of institutional, as 
 distinguished from healthy family life, or training in ordi- 
 nary separate self-exertion, with a more limited but a 
 more judicious measure of assistance from without, when 
 necessary. An American journal recently mentioned an 
 incident not unsuggestive on this point. A little girl 
 from a city home was invited to visit some friends in 
 the country. In their garden she was deligiited with a 
 tame robin, that was a great favourite with the family.
 
 First Principles in Diminishing Crime and Paiqjerism. 7 
 
 But the child's interest in the bird made her exclaim, 
 *' Poor little robin ! it has got no cage." She had no idea 
 of thoroughly happy bird-life, apart from a cage. Similarly 
 many good people appear to limit their views of juvenile 
 traininj: to mere institutional " cages.'' 
 
 The most liberally supported gratuitous Homes, Refor- 
 matories, Industrial Schools, Aid Societies, and Foundling 
 Hospitals, if too extensively provided, for the purpose of 
 taking neglected children off the hands of drunken, or 
 vicious, or improvident parents, may become the very 
 means of doing more harm than good, both to the children 
 and parents. For, b}^ the process of virtually rewarding 
 parental neglect, that vice is of course encouraged and 
 increased. Wherever practicable, the authorities should 
 rather punish such parents, by fining or imprisoning them, 
 or at least deprive them of all further control over their 
 offspring, so as to prevent any future injury to the 
 latter. 
 
 Spurious Charity, and at other People's 
 Expense. 
 
 One of the great perils of the age consists in the 
 tendenc}'" of universal, or almost universal, suffrage thus 
 to increase pauperisation. For when even the most im 
 provident or ignorant persons are in possession of votes ^ 
 for all municipal and political purposes, of course they do 
 not hesitate to use their share of power for ordering, so far 
 as opportunity arises, grants of money out of the pockets 
 of the industrious and steady portions of the community 
 for the excess of such apparently harmless objects as 
 free Schools, free Libraries, liberal Out-door Relief, free 
 Dinners, and the free compliance with all manner of 
 demands upon the purses of the tax and ratepayers. The 
 national and local burdens thus being saddled upon the
 
 8 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 respectable and thrifty classes, by the easy process of voting 
 away other people's money, are becoming so heavy that 
 they threaten to be intolerable at no distant date. The 
 municipal and other local public debts of Great Britain 
 already amount to nearly 200 million pounds. In England, 
 America, and France, such indebtedness is being increased 
 with appalling rapidity. Under the leadership of self- 
 seeking statesmen and demagogues, some legislatures have, 
 of late years, hastened to thrust the sceptre of popular 
 government and expenditure into the hands of the ignorant 
 and the incompetent. Tennyson, although too pessimist 
 in his lament over this folly, was by no means altogether 
 unwarranted in his sarcastic lines : — 
 
 " You that woo the voices, tell them old Experience is a fool ; 
 Teach your flattered kings that only those who cannot read can 
 
 rule ; 
 Tumble Nature heels o'er head, and, yelling with the yelling street, 
 Set the feet above the brain, and swear the brain is in the feet." 
 
 And in a similar connection, Mr. Percy Greg has sug- 
 gestively remarked, that " It is an essential condition of 
 good government, that the ruling classes should suffer, and 
 not gain, by an increase of taxation." Whereas, on the 
 contrary, the powers of the various boards, bodies, and 
 bands, elected by universal suffrage, are too often, and to 
 an alarmingly increasing extent, used to promote selfish 
 interests, directly or indirectly, and to the decided en- 
 couragement of pauperism and crime. Nor is it easy 
 to see, or devise, an effectual remedy, now, for this state of 
 things, beyond persevering efforts to warn and stimulate 
 the plundered classes, namely the provident and respect- 
 able, to utilise such means of self-protection as may 
 yet remain to them, in order at least to check, or delay, 
 these pernicious exactions, on the part of the selfish, the 
 unthrifty, and the idle. The latter are now seeking, in 
 some countries at least, to secure the lion's share of political 
 and municipal representation, without its just and necessary
 
 First Principles in Diminishing Crime and Pauperism. 9 
 
 responsibility of a share in taxation. It is, for example, 
 being urged by certain agitators in England, that all 
 incomes under £150 shall be free from all rates and taxes, 
 whilst at the same time the multitudinous class to be thus 
 privileged, are to exercise at will the power of indulging 
 in large grants of money at home, or plunging into wars 
 abroad, at the risk and expense of the other sections of the 
 community! Such a claim is most unjust, selfish and 
 tyrannical. 
 
 This Principle in Regard to the Essential Element 
 OF Non-attractiveness. 
 
 One of the most insidious, and at the same time, one 
 of the most unwise modes of dealing with poverty and 
 vagrancy, consists in the offer of relief, especially "out- 
 door relief," under any such terms as to render the con- 
 dition of the publicly-supported pauper an easier and 
 more enviable one than that of the honest toiler. The 
 argument is often raised, by ignorant speakers and writers, 
 " Inasmuch as a pauper, inside a workhouse, costs, on the 
 average, including the expense of the officers, and the 
 outlay on buildings, from ten to fifteen shillings a week, 
 or more, how much less burdensome to the connnunity it 
 would be, to allow such persons a payment of eight or ten 
 shillings at their own homes." This specious plea over- 
 looks the important fact that if relief could be generally 
 obtained, on too easy terms, without the needful restraints 
 and discipline of a non-attractive workhouse, the number 
 of applicants would speedily increase in a manifold pro- 
 portion. Or, for every thousand pounds now devoted to 
 the maintenance of the public poor, five or ten times as 
 much would be required from the rate-payers, in conse- 
 quence of such extended and easy outdoor relief. It is, 
 however, to be noted that in some instances, especially in 
 America, even workhouses themselves have been rendered 
 mischievously attractive to the lazy and improvident.
 
 10 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 It is a primary principle, for the diminution of Paupers 
 and Yagi-ants, that the board and lodging supplied to them 
 by the community, shall be less comfortable on the whole 
 than that of the ordinary labourer; and also that any 
 work which may be done by them, shall be paid for at a 
 decidedly lower rate than the average wages given by 
 employers in the neighbourhood. Such a course is a 
 simple practical essential. Any other plan is eventually 
 found to be a costly mistake. The wise provision of the 
 "House Test" of the modern English Poor Law, has chiefly 
 been based upon these lines ; after prolonged and most 
 extensive inquiry and experience. But it is a check which 
 interested agitators and ignorant sentimentalists persistently 
 oppose. 
 
 It has repeatedly occurred that when, in some season of 
 special industrial depression, multitudes of persons have 
 clamoured for relief, or for occupation on public works, and 
 have been responded to by the offer of help, under wise 
 conditions, and with due checks against laziness, the 
 number of applicants has at once wonderfully diminished. 
 In some of the largest towns in England, on such occasions, 
 the local authorities have strictly confined their relief to 
 offers of reception into the workhouse, with its discipline 
 of classification, restraint, cleanliness, temperance and early 
 rising. This condition, whilst furnishing a univer.sally 
 accessible refuge from starvation, has promptly sufiiced to 
 reduce the thousands of claimants to as many hundreds, or 
 even scores. Again, in other cases, the demands for 
 employment on public works have been granted, by find- 
 ing occupation at road-making, stone-breaking, and other 
 such industry, at a rate of wages sufficient to provide 
 absolutely necessary sustenance, but with decidedly less 
 than the average local pay for similar labour in the open 
 market. This prudent course has also been found very 
 efficacious in speedily reducing the ranks of the ostensible 
 seekers for work. Yet even the "House Test " is sometimes
 
 First Principles in Diminishing Crime and Paiipcrisfu. 11 
 
 found to be insufficiently deterrent to the class of applicants 
 for help, who are wilfully improvident, or drunken ; but 
 on the whole it has nevertheless worked very beneficially. 
 
 Vagrancy and this Principle. 
 
 As to the Vagrant class, in particular, it is necessary to 
 discriminate, as far as possible, between genuine workmen 
 travelling in search of employ, and idle vicious tramps ; but 
 it is often very difficult to distinguish between these two 
 classes. Yet much may be done in this direction by em- 
 ploying the police as relieving officers. All vagrants, who 
 can show that they are of honest and reputable character, 
 should be provided at workhouses or other suitable public 
 offices, with prompt relief in the form of bread, warmth, 
 and lodging, and without any imposition of task-work or 
 virtual penalty. But, on the other hand, those who are 
 evidently mere habitual beggars are best treated by being 
 sent to jail ; and not for too short terms. Professor 
 Wayland remarks, that in Connecticut, the vagrant class 
 have been treated with less leniency than is usually the 
 case in America. He adds, " This State sends its tramps 
 to prison, where they are dressed in convict garb, and work 
 as felons. Their sentences are from four to eight months. 
 The result has been phenomenally good." 
 
 But it is of special importance, everywhere to remember, 
 that for every hundred vagrants who resort to the Police 
 or Workhouse-wards for relief, nearly a thousand others 
 avoid these, and rely entirely on the too easy good nature 
 and gullibility of the public, especially of poor and solitary 
 women, whom they can frighten into almsgiving. A 
 veteran tramp, in Dorsetshire, remarked that, in his 
 twenty-one years' life of beggary, he had not visited relief- 
 wards twenty times. This is typical of the class. Thej 
 ^constitute a very heavy and costly tax upon the public, 
 and especially upon the industrious poor. People in
 
 12 Penologlcdl and Frevcntivc Principles. 
 
 general cannot and will not, and indeed ought not, wholly 
 to harden their hearts against applications for help from 
 the helpless. But if they become convinced that real 
 helplessness is effectually provided against by the autho- 
 rities and by the poor laws, then, and then only, there may 
 follow a material diminution of that indiscriminate voluntary 
 almsgiving which has always been the chief and most un- 
 conquerable source of vagrancy. It should be generally 
 known and felt that measures are effectually provided by 
 the local authorities everywhere for dealing promptly with 
 everi/ applicant for alms, by rendering necessary aid to the 
 honest and merely unfortunate wanderer, and by taking 
 into custody the wilfully lazy or habitual tramp. That 
 wisely practical philanthropist, the late Edward Denison, 
 M.P., after a most careful study of this subject, arrived at 
 this conclusion, that Mendicancy and Vagrancy can only 
 be diminished in proportion as the general community 
 become satisfied that systematic arrangements are every- 
 where organised for a promjjt supply to each applicant, 
 without exception, of such food or other help, or such 
 investio-ation, or such wholesome correction and penal dis- 
 posal, as he or she may require. 
 
 It is, however, noteworthy in this connection that the 
 extended efforts recently made in various parts of Germany 
 to deal with every case of vagrancy by the offer of some 
 mode of assistance have not appeared to render the sur- 
 rounding population much wiser than before in their pro- 
 cedure in regard to tramps and beggars, who still largely 
 victimise the public. In this particular, police stringency 
 is more reliable than popular Avisdom. 
 
 Some years ago, at Sydenham and Blackheath, near 
 London, a great diminution of beggars was effected, for a 
 considerable period, by a regular distribution of relief 
 tickets, accompanied by a rigorous enforcement of the law 
 against mendicancy. The unfortunate were promptly 
 helped ; the loafers were summarily punished. This course
 
 First Principles in Diminishing Crime and Pauperism. 13 
 
 was popular and successful. But after a time, some of the 
 local magistrates relaxed their strictness in carrjnng out 
 the law against the habitual beggars, and the public mani- 
 fested reluctance to appear as prosecutors or witnesses. 
 This being continued, the police became discouraged, and 
 the previously effectual local arrangement ceased to have 
 any special utility. But so long as the penal laws against 
 mendicants were enforced, much benefit resulted. 
 
 True "Giving" is not Taking Away. 
 The Scriptural injunction, "Give to him that asketh 
 thee," should always be interpreted and acted upon^ in 
 connection with common sense and with other Biblical 
 precepts, such as " Blessed is he that considereth the poor," 
 and " If any will not labour, neither should he eat." For 
 the indolence of mere inconsiderate alms, especially when 
 bestowed on an habitual applicant, does not really " give." 
 On the contrary, it tal^cs away his incentives to industry 
 and self-help. It is worse than useless; it inflicts cruel 
 injury, whereas true charity ever seeks to impart some 
 moral aid, some encouragement to exertion and elevation. 
 Private benevolence can always find abundant objects for 
 its exercise in the relief of the sick, the maimed, the 
 blind, the orphans and other similar legitimate claimants. 
 But the unknown, or the apparently professional mendi- 
 cants, arc best dealt with by official organisation in each 
 locahty. And it is a material aid to both the private and 
 the oflicial dealing with destitution, to adopt, as far as 
 possible, the principle also of the sub-division of districts, as 
 strongly recommended by Dr. Chalmers and others. 
 
 In France much good has been afforded by a large Chris- 
 tian organisation, founded by M. F. Ozanam, for the ex- 
 tension^ especially, of "I'aumone de la direction." The Home 
 Missions of the Unitarians in Boston, U.S., London, Liver- 
 pool, Manchester, and other cities, under the guidance of 
 "such excellent men as Dr. Tuckerman, the Rathbones, the
 
 ]4 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 Herfords, Mr. Corkran, and others, have exemplified much 
 practical wisdom. In Germany the system of a minutely 
 distributed and elaborately organised semi-official visita- 
 tion of the poor, as at Elberfeld, Hamburg, and other 
 cities, has had some very good effects, though decidedly 
 lacking in the ever-essential feature of a merciful non- 
 attractiveness in regard to the vicious, lazy, and thriftless- 
 In Germany, also, of late years, some diminution of 
 Pauperism and Vagrancy has resulted from the establish- 
 ment, by M. Von Bodelschwingh and many other philan- 
 thropists, of about a score of " Arbeiter-Colonien," or 
 Labour Colonies, and also of more than a thousand " Her- 
 BERGEN," or Shelters and Lodgings, for the discriminating 
 reception of wanderers and tramps. 
 
 The Christian Church and Christian work are, after all, 
 the greatest instruments of real charity, and comparatively 
 little can be done without them. The moral restraints, 
 the abiding and grateful love to the Redeemer, which are 
 afforded by Christianity, are the highest aids to beneficence. 
 When the Apostle, himself destitute of silver or gold, said 
 to the beggar, " In the name of Jesus Christ, of Nazareth, 
 rise up and walk," he manifested the best combination of 
 assistance, namely. Divine help, fellow-help, and stimulus 
 to self-help. It is always the largest charity which unites 
 the three. Our Saviour, who went about doing good, mainly 
 manifested His beneficence by such modes, and especially 
 by removing the hindrances to self-help, as by giving sight 
 to the blind, by healing the diseased, and by restoring the 
 cripples and the paralytic. Similarly, the best modern 
 charity enables the poor to "rise up," by removing the 
 degrading influences of insanitary conditions, overcrowded 
 dwellings, bad drainage, ignorance, and extreme tempta- 
 tions to intemperance and other vices. 
 
 Efficient help to a poor person consists in such modes of 
 benevolence as may be comparable to placing a staff in his 
 hand, rather than a crutch under his arm, to cause him to
 
 First Principles in Diminishing Crime and Pauperism. 15 
 
 lean idly on for external support. The Dutcli people, in 
 various ways, exemplify a willingness to hand a temporary 
 staff to the poor; but none are more judiciously jealous of 
 providing permanent " crutches " for this class. Hence, in 
 Holland, where the benevolence of the Churches is specially 
 facilitated by the State, pauperism has been more effec- 
 tually kept within bounds than perhaps in any other 
 country. 
 
 But there is no panacea for diminishing Pauperism. It 
 must be dealt with in a variety of ways, and with many 
 modes of patient adaptation of means to end. The Scrip- 
 tural motto, " Here a little and there a little," is eminently 
 characteristic of the process and its modes. Apparently 
 indirect means of diminishing pauperism are often incom- 
 parably more effectual than other forms of assistance. 
 They tend to relieve present necessities, and also to obviate 
 their recurrence. And this latter point is of immense 
 importance. For if it is desired to empty a cistern, where 
 there is a steady inflow, the cessation of that supply must 
 somehow be first effected. 
 
 Most instructive are the following words by a North- 
 amptonshire Rector, the Rev. W. Bury : — " The parson who 
 establishes a co-operative store in a country village has 
 done more for his parish than if he had spent all his living 
 in ' charity ' so-called. Good and pleasant cottages, at fair 
 and not fictitiously low rents, are more improving and 
 really helpful than miles of flannel and rivers of soup and 
 wine. Sanitary and Education Acts, properly administered, 
 advance the interests of the poor a thousandfold more than 
 the good intentions of ' pious founders,' however piously 
 carried out. There can be no manner of doubt that the 
 better administration of Poor Law relief, in the Union to 
 which I belong, by means of which the proportion of 
 paupers to population has been reduced from 1 in 12 to 
 1 in GO, has done more for the labourer in ten years' time 
 t]ian all the charities, coal clubs, doles and almsgiving
 
 16 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 "which have flowed for centuries from all the Halls and 
 Rectories within the district." 
 
 Prisons and the Operation of this Principle. 
 
 The same general principle of removing inducements to 
 evil from agencies ostensibly meant to prevent it, is also 
 eminently necessary in regard to Prisons. If their dis- 
 cipline is rendered lax and indulgent, then the objects pro- 
 posed are missed. Violence and fraud are encouraged, 
 evil-doers are not intimidated, and cruel injuries to the 
 weak and unprotected are abundantly occasioned through 
 a neglect of the severity necessary for repression. 
 
 Hence there is a certain sense in which some of those 
 prisons which are sometimes styled the " best " may be 
 really the worst, in so far as the main objects of imprison- 
 ment are concerned. For instance, it was remarked by an 
 officer of great observation, that the now abandoned prison- 
 farm of Lusk, near Dublin, was rendered so agreeable to 
 the inmates that, on the expiration of their terms, " they 
 almost had to be kicked out." The writer of this book 
 was once at Lusk, when a resident in the neighbourhood 
 spoke to him of the total absence of walls and high hedges, 
 and said, " The convicts are better off in there than they 
 would be outside, so they do not care to escape." Again, 
 some of the inmates of a greatly praised Refuge for 
 criminal women were found to be very unwilling to leave 
 it; and this was made a matter for boasting by the 
 Superintendent. Also at a female convict establishment 
 near London, and at the Indianapolis State prison for 
 women (which was considered to be a model establish- 
 ment of the kind in America), such remarks as these have 
 often been heard from the prisoners — " Yes, ma'am, I'm 
 very comfortable here ; very comfortable indeed. Quite 
 contented here." But ouo-ht it ever to be the case that 
 any criminal should feel perfectly contented with prison 
 life?
 
 First Principles in Diminishing Crime and Pauj^erisjn. 17 
 
 Failure especially ensues, if prisoners are associated in 
 pleasant but corrupting companionship, in their workshops, 
 or in mutually contaminating gangs in the open air. 
 Prison life being thus divested of most of its rigour, evil 
 is increased and perpetuated. Temptation is intensified. 
 Reformation is prevented. 
 
 A Second Essential. 
 
 A second important principle for diminishing pauperism 
 and crime is THE NECESSITY OF AVOIDING THE Divorce 
 OF Elements which should always be held in 
 Union. 
 
 Especially in relation to criminals, the threefold com- 
 bination of Prevention, Repression and Reformation, needs 
 to be maintained in unintermitting activity. 
 
 So far as the treatment of crime is concerned, there is 
 probably no country in the world which has so successfully 
 sought to secure this tri-unity as Great Britain, especially 
 of late years; although it is not for a moment to be 
 assumed that she has attained perfection. But she has set 
 an honourable example of efforts to prevent crime, by 
 greatly-increased popular Evangelisation on the part of all 
 the Churches, and especially by such extremely valuable 
 organisations as the London City Mission and many other 
 similar bodies ; also by elaborate systems of Education, 
 both denominational and secular, together with various 
 arrangements designed for the rescue and training of 
 neglected or vicious youth ; whilst, for Repression, she has 
 also done much to infuse a moderate but merciful severity 
 into her prison system. And for Reformation, she has, 
 both by State and private benevolence, encouraged the 
 supplementary, or rather complementary, operations of 
 Discharcred Prisoners' Aid Societies and of a vigilant and 
 wisely administered Supervision of conditionally-released 
 
 c
 
 18 Penological and Prcccntice FrincipUs. 
 
 convicts. As a consequence, there has been, of late 
 years, a marked diminution of various crimes in Great 
 Britain. 
 
 But in most countries one or another element of the 
 triad in question has been practically neglected. For 
 example, in the northern United States considerable and 
 partially-successful efforts, at least in certain localities, 
 have been made to prevent crime by extensive efforts at 
 popular evangelisation. Much good has thus resulted, but 
 the benefit would have been greatly increased if these 
 labours had had the collateral assistance of a more rigorous 
 repression of wilful and brutal offenders. But the latter 
 essential has, for the most part, been absent; In the 
 Southern States the crime of murder has been exceedingly 
 prevalent. The gallows and lynch-law have both been 
 called into requisition with frequency, but the main and 
 obvious element of prevention has been practically ignored, 
 inasmuch as the frequent carrying of arms, such as the 
 pistol and bowie-knife, by private persons, has been per- 
 mitted, or approved by popular custom. Italy and Spain 
 have had the same failure, as to the non-prevention of 
 murders, and from a similar cause. 
 
 In Belgium a uniform and largely efficient system of 
 cellular prison discipline has been established. Yet the 
 prevention of crime before imprisonment, and the oversight 
 of discharged prisoners, have both been, in too considerable 
 degree, neglected. Hence, an undue proportion of relapses 
 and re-convictions has resulted. Drunkenness also and 
 vice have been increased, until very recently, by their 
 excessive encouragement in that Kingdom. But it is 
 gratifying to find that some wise efforts at reform are now 
 being made by the Belgian people. 
 
 Holland, Switzerland, and Scandinavia have, like Great 
 Britain, though in less degree, devoted much attention to 
 the above triad, and with considerable success. Few other 
 nations have consistently cultivated these three elements
 
 First Principles in Diminishing Crime and Pauperism. 19 
 
 in active collateral development. Their systems rather 
 resemble unfinished and unroofed edifices. 
 
 Not only each of the above-named three essentials, but 
 especially the first in order, Prevention, needs to be 
 increasingly regarded. Attempts at Repression by 
 deterrence only, b}^ mere penalty or imprisonment, have 
 often received an exaggerated amount of reliance. An 
 efficient and vigilant Police establishment, together ^vith 
 like agencies, has done more, in Great Britain for example, 
 to check the horse-stealings, highway robberies, and other 
 numerous crimes formerly punished with death, than all 
 the gibbets and gallows of those times. 
 
 Similarly, as to Red Republicanism, Nihilism, and other 
 forms of anarchy, the wise freedom of Great Britain, 
 America, Holland and Scandinavia, has been much more 
 efficacious and preventive than the guillotine, or the 
 dungeons, of other lands. 
 
 Prevention, Repression, Reformation — these have ever to 
 be simultaneously maintained, and especially the first, in 
 active vigour and with comprehensive application. 
 
 As to PREVENTiON,^it has various departments, all requir- 
 ino- collateral vigilance. Such are the diminution of Litem- 
 perance, of Over-crowding, of Ignorance, of Idleness, and 
 of Ungodliness. How very limited must be the efficacy of 
 mere repression, or punishment, amongst the squalid 
 multitudes of over-crowded Naples, or the uneducated 
 masses and infidel or superstitious populations of large 
 districts in various countries ? The axe must be laid to 
 the roots of the tree of evil. The streams of vice must be 
 cleansed at their sources. The outbreaks of violence, or the 
 external manifestations of crime and sin, need to be checked 
 at the centres of vitality, and in the very inmost motives 
 of their activity. Otherwise failure is certain to ensue. 
 
 In proportion as any of these essential elements of safety 
 and progress are neglected, the whole social system suffers. 
 The strength of a chain is measured by that of each 
 
 C2
 
 20 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 separate link, or even o£ the weakest one. In like manner, 
 the absence of any one important reform or precaution, 
 mischievously restricts the good efforts already put forth 
 in other departments. The activity of each has to be 
 maintained, and the divorce of one from the other avoided. 
 Whilst the element of Repression, or Deterrence, is, in 
 its due place and proportion, an indispensable condition for 
 safety, it is of great importance to remember, in practice, 
 that it is a minor influence in comparison with Preven- 
 tion. Not only is the latter proverbially better than 
 cure, but it is also greatly superior to forcible repression. 
 And whilst it would be both untrue and unwise to assert 
 that " Force is no remedy " for social evils, it should only 
 be reo-arded as a minor and altogether subordinate auxi- 
 liary for their diminution. Yet one of the greatest hin- 
 drances to the deliverance of modern conmiunities from 
 two of the most pernicious maladies with which they are 
 plagued— namely, Prostitution and Intemperance — con- 
 sists in the greatly exaggerated estimate of the power of 
 mere force, as a means of prevention, which is entertained 
 by many philanthropic leaders of opinion. 
 
 Prostitution and Prevention. 
 
 It would appear that more than a few of the professed 
 advocates of public morality have the least faith in the 
 power of moral suasion, if one may judge by their clamour 
 for the enforcement of social virtue, mainly by the l^ielp of 
 Police, Penalties, and Prisons. As to prostitution, for 
 example, many persons seek to deal with it chiefly by 
 driving the unfortunate women " from pillar to post," and 
 by urging the police to keep them moving on, and to shut 
 up their lodgings. In Berlin this kind of policy has .been 
 carried out with special rigour. Thousands of wretched 
 girls have been locked up ; many of them have been re- 
 arrested repeatedly, and brothels have been suppressed by
 
 First Principles in Diminishing Crime and Pauperism. 21 
 
 the score. And with what result ? With this : that Berlin 
 remains one of the most immoral cities in Europe, — a place 
 where prostitution is, perhaps, more generally diffused 
 amongst the households, and scattered over the whole town 
 and suburbs, than almost anywhere else. And for the very 
 simple and sufficient reason that the causes and sources of 
 this vice have there been left comparatively untouched. 
 The more effectual work of dealing with these deep roots 
 of the evil, however, requires much patience and distribu- 
 tive individual labour— exertions which some denouncers 
 of vice find it easy and agreeable to shrink from or neglect. 
 It is as impossible for any police to suppress or extinguish 
 vice, by mere force, as it is for a quack doctor to cure 
 leprosy by covering the diseased limbs with sticking 
 plaister. 
 
 Even the good work of Asylums and Refuges does not 
 materially afiect the roots and sources of Prostitution. 
 These institutions may be multiplied indefinitely, whilst at 
 the same time the vast evil itself may be developing in a 
 greater ratio than ever. Again, it does not appear that any 
 diminution of sexual immorality has resulted in conse- 
 quence of the great expenditure of money and effort 
 devoted by some benevolent persons in recent years, in 
 England, in order to abolish the " Contagious Diseases 
 Act." The movement in question was a superficial and 
 not a radically preventive one. 
 
 The effectual means for the diminution of Prostitution 
 must be looked for only in the restriction of its chief 
 causes; namely in the discouragement of Intemperance, 
 which is in itself so fruitful a source of vice ; in the im- 
 provement of the dwellings of the poor— because over- 
 crowded tenements foster the grossest impurity and even 
 incest; in the extension of industrial training amongst 
 girls ; and in the reduction of the vast European standing 
 armies of mostly unmarried men, Avhose presence in towns 
 and barracks necessarily involves a fearful stimulus to
 
 22 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 female ruin and degradation; whilst, at the same time, 
 these armed hosts withdraw from millions of women their 
 natural protectors and bread-winners. In their tui'n, these 
 great armies can only be dispensed with, in proportion as 
 statesmen and the peoples are willing to devise means for 
 the more systematic application of International Law and 
 Arbitration to the settlement of disputes, rather than by 
 the sword or brute force. And yet further, Prostitution 
 needs for its prevention every possible extension of Reli- 
 gion, and of the inducements to purity and godliness 
 furnished by the hopes and fears of the Gospel of Christ 
 as preached in its reasonableness and attractiveness. To 
 render men and women indisposed to this and other forms 
 of evil, their hearts must be reached, by the love and 
 reverence of God, and by the " powers of the world to 
 come." And, in short, the work of promoting social purity 
 must always, and chiefly, be based upon a practical recog- 
 nition of the fundamental truth of that admirable motto 
 of the American theologian, Dr. Horace Bushxell :— 
 " The soul of all improvement is the improvement of the 
 soul." 
 
 IXTEMPERAXCE AND FORCE. 
 
 Similarly, as to the huge evil of Intemperance, mere force 
 is, and always must be, but a very partial and subordinate 
 means for its prevention. And so it has been found in con- 
 nection with the attempts at its restriction mainly by means 
 of total Legal Prohibition. In some of the United States 
 where this compulsory suppression of the Liquor Traffic 
 has been the chief aim and effort of well-intentioned philan- 
 throjiists, the result has been — firstly, that in many places 
 neither the public nor even the police can be relied upon 
 to enforce such a law ; and, secondl}', — and this is still more 
 noteworthy — that in proportion as literal enforcement has 
 been secured, there has been, in general, a collateral eva-
 
 First Principles in Diminishing Crime and Pauperism. 23 
 
 sion of the spirit of tlio law by tlic establishment of 
 a large and increasing number of private drinking 
 clubs. 
 
 In 1888, in the prohibition State of Rhode Island, the 
 " Providence Journal " published statistics showing that 
 there were then 125 more houses in that city for the sale 
 of liquor than under the previous law of license regula- 
 tion. And in the summer of 1887, a New York journal — 
 The Voice — edited in the interests of the prohibition party, 
 published, amongst other similar letters, a communication 
 from a teetotal lecturer, the Rev. Aloxzo F. Abbott, of 
 Poughkeepsie, N. Y., describing the disappointment and 
 disgust which he had felt, during a recent journey through 
 Maine, where he found a large amount of drunkenness 
 fostered by wide-spread and popular evasions of the " Pro- 
 hibitory Law." In one town in that State he observed 
 more than 200 private drinking clubs. These houses are 
 locally named " Reform Clubs," and Mr. Abbott stated that 
 they were very common in Vermont, New Hampshire, and 
 Maine, each of which States has a " Prohibitory Law." He 
 added these suggestive words : " If any Prohibitionist who 
 has been accustomed to look to the State of Maine as the 
 Mecca and perfection of Prohibitory legislation, should 
 visit that State and examine the condition of some of its 
 principal cities, he would be as painfully disappointed as 
 was the great German Reformer, on the occasion of his 
 famous visit to Rome. Instead of communities, in which 
 the use of intoxicating liquor, with its frightful effects, is 
 unknown, he would see quite as much drunkenness on the 
 streets, and find fully as many dramshops as he would in 
 other parts of the country." This, it is to be noted, 
 was a testimony borne in a leading Prohibitionist paper in 
 America. And it is but one amongst many others of similar 
 import. 
 
 Even the most eminent American Prohibitionist, General 
 Neal Dow, admitted in 1888, in a letter to the Independent
 
 24 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 newspaper (U.S.), that in Portland, Maine, there were some 
 fifty " low dens" for the sale of liquor. 
 
 And further, it is also complained, in America, in the 
 interest of Teetotalism, that the Prohibition movement has 
 seriously injured and delayed the progress of Temperance 
 by largely absorbing or even discouraging philanthropic 
 eneroies which otherwise might have been directed with 
 much more success to the practical diminution of drunken- 
 ness by means of moral suasion, and of efforts to supply 
 cheap and good non-alcoholic refreshments, and various 
 counter-attractions in place of the gin and whisky 
 shops. 
 
 In 1888 the English Foreign Office issued a report of 
 inquiries instituted at the British Embassy, at Washington, 
 U.S., in reference to the operation and effects of American 
 Prohibitory Legislation. The general conclusion arrived 
 at through these official investigations, was that Prohibi- 
 tion has decidedly failed to attain its proposed objects ; 
 whilst efforts for the restriction or regulation of the Liquor 
 Traffic by means of " High License " or very heavy taxa- 
 tion of the vendors had been comparatively successful. 
 
 It is not to be denied that, in a few towns and villages 
 in America and Europe, such as for example Pullman, near 
 Chicago, and Bessbrook in Ireland, where, through the 
 power of philanthropic landlords, or other exceptional 
 influence?, the sale of alcohol has been totally prevented, 
 very great good has resulted. And if circumstances, or 
 public opinion, more generally permitted this condition of 
 things, the ensuing benefits would be immense. Just as if 
 all men could be converted into saints, the consequences 
 would be unspeakably satisfactory. But human nature 
 being what it is, the communities in general, who are not 
 morally convinced of the value of teetotalism, will not 
 suffer themselves to be compelled by law to abstain ; and 
 if the attempt is made they will certainly devise means for 
 the efiectual evasion of such law. But when, on the other
 
 First Principles in Diminishing Crime and Pauperism. 25 
 
 hand, tliey become persuaded to disuse alcohol, there is 
 little or no necessity for prohibition. And even where 
 Prohibition has been secured for a time, or in part, it 
 always depends for its first success, and wholly for its 
 subsequent maintenance, upon the amount of moral suasion 
 independently exerted. Thus, in Kansas, where total 
 abstinence is widely popular, the prohibition of the Uquor 
 traffic appears to be also popular; and it is there excep- 
 tionally effective. 
 
 Moral Suasion, License Regulation, and Counter 
 Attractions. 
 
 It is then upon IMoral Suasion and License Regulation, 
 rather than total suppression, and also upon counter attrac- 
 tions, that the great work of diminishing drunkenness can 
 alone be safely based. The efficiency of Law and of Force 
 in relation to this question may be best secured by liniitiiig, 
 as far as may be popularhj possible, the number of public- 
 houses in proportion to the population ; in imposing a very 
 heavg taxation upon them ; in making all debts for retailed 
 liquor irrecoverable by lav ; in restricting licenses to the 
 actual vendors resident upon the premises, and not granting 
 them to the premises practically in perpetuity; and m 
 making it an offence severely punishable to sell liquors to 
 venj young p)Grsons. Tlie principle should be secured, of 
 "one man one license; " that is to say, no person should be 
 permitted to own or hold more than one house where 
 alcohol may be sold. It is through such reasonable and 
 comparatively practical means as these that the powers of 
 compulsion may be safely applied to restrain, as far as 
 can be popularlg done, the excessive supply of intoxicating 
 drinks. 
 
 The liquor traffic mainly depends upon the public rather 
 than the publicans. Until the former are persuaded and 
 willing to restrict their own use, or abuse, of alcohol, they
 
 2G Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 will certainly secure publicans to serve them. The latter 
 are then sure to be found ; i£ not in one way, then in 
 another. It is a truism that the demand must be primarily 
 influenced. Then the supply will be also modified. But 
 it is radically unwise to direct attention primarily to 
 the secondary agents, rather than to their masters, the 
 sovereign public. Norway, which was formerly one of the 
 most drunken countries in Europe, has of late years become 
 an exemplary temperate nation, or at least comparatively so. 
 The reason is that the sale of alcohol, and the proportion of 
 its A^endors, have been placed under the control of the 
 actual general wish of the population in each district. 
 
 In Great Britain, of late years, much progress in pro- 
 moting temperance has been made by the hapj)y combina- 
 tion of personal example, moral suasion, and an increasing 
 provision (especially upon a profitable and self-supporting 
 basis) of establishments for the sale of non-alcoholic 
 refreshments of good and attractive quality, as distin- 
 guished from the slops and rubbish which used to charac- 
 terise the commissariat department of many, if not most, 
 of the " Temperance Hotels." 
 
 But even in England, so far as mere Prohibitory Law 
 has been approximately called into action, it has already 
 developed a most pernicious form of evasion. For just in 
 proportion as legislation has attempted the intrinsically 
 excellent object of the prevention of the sale of alcohol, 
 during Sundays and after certain hours at night, there 
 have simultaneously started into existence thousands of 
 Private Drinking Clubs, where, without the regulations 
 and police supervision imposed upon ordinary inns, intoxi- 
 cating liquors may be indulged in without stint all day 
 and all night throughout the week. Some of these 
 " clubs " are quiet and orderly ; but unquestionably many 
 of them are pests to the neighbourhood. A Middlesex 
 magistrate recently described one of them as a " den of 
 thieves." There is nothing to prevent many of them from
 
 First Principles in Diminisliing Crime and Paupcri-^sm. 27 
 
 becoming the haunts of the vilest men and women. For 
 instance, at a certain Midland town, recently, a policeman 
 in plain clothes, as a private visitor to one of these houses, 
 witnessed in the back premises, a series of acts of the 
 grossest immorality. On the other hand, clubs where (as 
 in the case of a very successful and useful one for working- 
 Jews and Jewesses, in East London) the sale of alcoholic 
 liquors has been prohibited by the managers, have become 
 very helpful institutions to the happiness and prosperity of 
 the classes for whom they were established. 
 
 Mere legal Prohibition of the Liquor Traffic in its totality 
 tends to defeat its own object, through its encouragements 
 to political and personal dishonesty. And in this 
 way, as to political dishonesty. It has happened again 
 and again in America, that certain parties, or cliques, 
 have thus bargained with the Prohibitionists, " If you will 
 vote for our men, or for our place-hunters, we will vote 
 in turn for Prohibition." When such agreements have 
 been accepted, and some sort of Prohibition measure 
 carried, in consequence, by nominal " Law," the thousands 
 who voted, merely on party grounds, have, either willingly 
 or from sheer indifference, supported the wholesale evasion 
 and virtual nullification of the legislation in which they 
 had previously acquiesced. But such action always has 
 been, and always will be, fatal to the power of law. What 
 is likely to be the popular respect for, or obedience to 
 " Prohibition " law, when the very constables or police 
 appointed to enforce it, are known freely to indulge in 
 alcohol, and to carry about bottles of spirits with them ? 
 But this appears to be the case in various places in 
 America. Even Sir Wilfrid Lawson adduced, in Parlia- 
 ment, in 1888, as an illustration of innumerable other 
 American " Prohibitionists," a certain New Englander, 
 who, in answer to a question, replied, " Yes, I'm in favour 
 of the Maine Liquor Law; but I'm against its enforcement ! " 
 
 The danger of personal dishonesty, or at least of gross
 
 28 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 inconsistency, results from the tendency of Prohibitionists, 
 on both sides of the Atlantic, to enlist in their ranks, as 
 adherents, individuals who, without being abstainers them- 
 selves from alcohol, clamour for legal powers and penalties 
 to compel others to become such. Even the great 
 "United Kingdom Alliance for the Total Suppression of 
 the Liquor Traffic," receives into its membership people 
 who are not teetotallers, but who demand to be, by law, 
 permitted to prohibit others from drinking liquors which 
 they themselves enjoy and refuse to relinquish ! What can 
 be said for the consistency of such persons ? 
 
 In regard to all great moral Reforms, it needs to be 
 repeated : — Force is but a very subordinate remedy at the 
 best. The law is weak in comparison with the power of 
 the Churches, and the personal example and work of their 
 individual labourers, and a chief reliance on preventive 
 rather than repressive influences. The conditions of 
 advancement in all good movements must still, for the 
 most part, be characterised by the heart-reaching, and 
 often gradual, action of " the Kingdom and patience of 
 Jesus Christ," Empirics may point to other modes, but 
 this grand ancient basis of true progress must again and 
 again be returned to. To " overcome evil with good " must 
 always involve, for its chief lines of operation, a recourse 
 to moral and spiritual, rather than to physical, constraints 
 and restraints. 
 
 Hope and Fear. 
 
 A sacred precept ordains, " What God hath joined to- 
 gether let not man put asunder." This may further be 
 accepted in its relation to the necessity of arrangements, in 
 social and penal systems, for the simultaneous double 
 influence of hope and fear, of reward and punishment. 
 But how often, and how generally, have the elements of 
 hope and reward been neglected, whilst the powers of fear
 
 First Principles in Diminishing Crime and Pauperism. 29 
 
 and punishment, valuable as they are, have been too 
 exclusively relied on. Here, again, the avoidance of such 
 divorce needs strict practical regard. The penal systems of 
 Bentham, Maconochie, Barwick Baker, Crofton, Obermaier, 
 Rumford, Brockway, Brinkerhof and others, were by no 
 means perfect. But they attained a certain measure of 
 special success, in so far as they gave prominence to the 
 animating forces of reward and hope. In the old fable of 
 the contending wind and sunshine, the warm and genial 
 glow of the latter was found to be much more powerful 
 than the chill violence of the former. Yet, in their respec- 
 tive provinces, both sunshine and wind, as also rewards and 
 punishments, are each necessary. 
 
 State and Individual Action. 
 
 Another pair of co-ordinate activities which should not 
 be divorced, are those of central and local, of State and 
 individual, energy. There is a work for each, Avhich 
 neither, alone, can perform, but which is essential for the 
 community. The main function of the State is to protect 
 and facilitate individual well-doing. Beyond this, its inter- 
 ference is often mischievous. In view of the terrible wars, 
 persecutions, murders, jobbery and waste, which, in almost 
 every age, have characterized Governments, it is obvious 
 that State-action may be as potent for evil as for good. 
 Whereas the influences of religion and morality have, at all 
 periods, mainly flowed upon the world through individual 
 action; through the Prophet, the Preacher, the Philan- 
 thropist, the Author, the Philosopher, acting either one by 
 one, or in voluntaiy union, and more often effecting their 
 reforms in spite of the opposition of the State, than by its 
 encouragement. For example, in regard to improvements 
 in Prison Discipline in particular, the chief impulses have 
 originated, in noteworthy degree, with private individuals, 
 such as John Howard, Sarah Martin, Elizabeth Fry, Sir
 
 30 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 Fowell Buxton, Dr. Wichern, Thomas Eddy, Jeremy 
 Bentham, and many other good men and women, whose 
 influence has stimulated official and legislative activity. 
 
 There is a peculiar and almost inevitable tendency to 
 indolence and inertia in State functionaries as such, unless 
 stimulated by the constant vigilance and criticism of the 
 public and by private rivalry. The temptation is extreme, 
 on the part of Government officials in every land, j ust to 
 enjoy their honours and draw their salaries, with as little 
 exertion as possible, outside the easy beaten tracks and the 
 grooves of precedent. 
 
 On the other hand, the best intentioned efforts of indi- 
 vidual and merely local reformers, are apt to remain 
 imperfect, or unsystematic, for want of that regulating 
 assistance and encouragement, which it is in the special 
 power of the State, or central Government to furnish. 
 
 Individual effiarts must necessarily be slow and gradual 
 in their operation. Hence they are apt to be unduly 
 despised and under-estimated by the public, who, iu their 
 impatience, cry out for the more hasty action of Govern- 
 ments. But it has been repeatedly observed that as the 
 Lord Jesus Christ sent out His disciples, two and two, on 
 foot, to discharge their mission in humble perseverance, so, 
 in all subsequent ages, the great bulk and mass of philan- 
 thropic, or religious work, has had to be wrought out, in 
 similarly patient detail, and as at a footpace. Nevertheless, 
 great results have followed the aggregate of such efforts ; 
 works often comparable, in magnitude, to the vast coral 
 reefs, wrought, grain by grain, by the patient insects of 
 the deep. The powers of States and Governments are but 
 weak, for the accomplishment of those universally essential 
 moral reforms which require, for their success, the persistent 
 labour of individual effort and personal virtues. 
 
 Phvsical force can check, or temporarily restrain, various 
 forms of evil ; but sometimes at the cost of rendering them 
 still more intense and permanent. It is the force of gentle-
 
 First Principles in Diminishing Crime and Pauperism. 31 
 
 ness, of patience, of persuasion and of religion, which can 
 radically destroy wicked dispositions and feelings. But 
 this is by far the more arduous work. 
 
 A Third Great Principle. 
 Thirdly, AN ever vigilant hesitation as to the 
 
 ACCEPTANCE OF FASHIONABLE DOGMAS OR POPULAR CON- 
 CLUSIONS, IS REQUISITE. 
 
 The Vox populi is by no means necessarily, the Vox Dei, 
 in philanthropic and penal matters, any more than in 
 general politics. Sometimes it is the very reverse. Neither 
 are the ideas in favour amongst fashionable and influential 
 circles, therefore infallible. Nor does truth necessarily 
 dwell amongst majorities ; on the contrary, it is often to be 
 found on the side of unpopular minorities. 
 As Dante says : — 
 
 " Full often bends, 
 Current opinion in the false direction, 
 And then the feelings bind the intellect." 
 
 Modern experience has proved that republics and demo- 
 cratic majorities are just as ready as arbitrary kings, to 
 rush into foolish wars, or to insist upon unwise legislation, 
 to the detriment of the community. 
 
 The jocular monarch, Charles II. of England, is said to 
 have propounded, with apparent seriousness, before the 
 philosophers of the " Royal Society," the question, " AVhy 
 is it that a dead fish is heavier than a living one ? " Some 
 of the loyal sages, hastily assuming that a monarch's 
 dictum, even on science, must be true, adduced various 
 reasons which appeared to them to afford a solution of the 
 difficulty. At length a shrewder thinker quietly asked, 
 " But is it actually the case, your Majesty, that a dead fish 
 is the heavier ? " " Ah, my friend," replied the king, " now 
 you are on the right track." Similarly, both current
 
 32 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 popular assumptions, and also Ministerial or Parliamentary 
 Statements, and especially the statistical reports emanating 
 from Governments and State Departments, should ahvays 
 be critically examined, if the attainment of truth is desired; 
 for even these are often apt to mislead. 
 
 There are various widely accepted conclusions which 
 only need real investigation, in order to prove their un- 
 wisdom : as, for instance, the too generally supported 
 axiom that mere secular instruction mainly constitutes 
 Education. There is no doubt but that Education, in its 
 true meaning, as including especially the patient training 
 to habits, not only of study, but also of industry, of 
 morality, and of godliness, is a most essential and efficient 
 means of promoting the happiness of the people, and 
 preventing vice, crime and pauperism. But mere instruction 
 in reading, writing, arithmetic and so forth, if unaccom- 
 panied by due attention to the other constituent parts of 
 education, may develop the ignorant and comparatively 
 harmless idler, into the cunning and dangerous thief or 
 defrauder. It has been made a matter of complaint, by 
 some of the highest Police authorities in Great Britain, that 
 since the establishment of public compulsory "Board 
 School " teaching, there has been created a more dangerous 
 and unmanageable type of juvenile criminals than formerly. 
 It is, at the same time, admitted, that inasmuch as, in many 
 of these schools, the religious and moral elements have not 
 been lost sight off, a large measure of good has also 
 resulted. The statistics of German and American prisons 
 prove that a very general diffusion of secular instruction 
 amongst the populations, is found in connection with a 
 great increase in the number of offences and imprisonments. 
 " Knowledge is power " — but for evil, as well as for good. 
 The Devil and his instruments are characterised by 
 intelligence ; though it is utterly perverted in its objects.
 
 First Principles in Diminishing Crime and Pauperism. 33 
 
 Current Popular Errors as to Imprisonment, and 
 Prison Labour. 
 
 The subject of Prisons, also, is a matter on which pre- 
 valent official and popular conclusions require critical 
 examination. The special efficacy of prolonged Imprison- 
 ments, as a means of repressing crime, has been enormously- 
 over estimated, in most countries, and not least in England. 
 Yet it can be shown tliat more efficient means of diminishing 
 offences are to be found, in a combination of magisterial 
 and philanthropic activity, with a vigilant but merciful 
 Police Supervision. By such a course, the county of 
 Gloucester was able, in a period of forty years, to 
 abolish six out of its seven jails, and to reduce its 
 daily average of prisoners by a very large percentage. 
 Like results would follow similar modes of action, if adopted 
 in other localities. 
 
 Also, in connection with Prisons, the question of the 
 Remunerative Labour of their inmates is a subject of two 
 widely diffused popular fallacies, in opposite directions. 
 
 On the one hand, many persons object to teaching 
 prisoners trades and useful occupations, or to employing 
 them in profitable industry, on the ground that they are 
 thus placed in unfair competition with the honest workers 
 outside. But it is precisely because they have not already 
 competed, in the ranks of honest industry, that they have 
 become criminals. And until they are induced, or com- 
 pelled, thus to earn their livelihood, by labour, they will 
 remain a far heavier tax upon the public, than the very 
 worst forms of industrial competition could involve. The 
 respectable tax-payers have to support prisoners, like a 
 dead weight upon their shoulders, unless the latter are 
 obliged to earn their own living, as far as possible. And 
 further, unless they are discharged from incarceration under 
 circumstances which admit of a reasonable prospect of their 
 
 D
 
 34 Penological and Preventive Princij}les. 
 
 finding employment, they will again inflict injury and 
 expense upon the the virtuous portion of the community. 
 An idle prisoner, or criminal, is a very costly nuisance^ 
 An English convict lately remarked to a fellow-prisoner, 
 " I have been convicted seven times ; but I won't work. 
 By the last robbery I gained £450; and when I am dis- 
 charged, I will have another go at it." Hence the public 
 cannot afford to encourage such lazy villains in their idle- 
 ness and crime. And at most, the competition of prison 
 with free labour is almost infinitesimal. For the propor- 
 tion of prisoners to the free population is, happily, small in 
 all nations. In Great Britain there is not, on the average, 
 so much as one prisoner to every thousand of the outside 
 population. In a very few instances, where a majority of 
 the prisoners have been concentrated upon a single 
 industry, such as mat-making or shoemaking, some small 
 (though for the most part imaginary) inconvenience may 
 have been caused to a few free workers. But generally 
 speaking, the objection to profitable prison industry is 
 either unfounded, or "penny wise and pound foolish." 
 
 Of a similar nature, and in opposition to real economy, 
 is the other popular extreme of making the immediate 
 profitable results of prison labour the primary or exclusive 
 object to be aimed at. This has been especially observable 
 in some of the American States, where, in certain instances, 
 their prisons have been rendered entirely self-supporting. 
 Such a result is secured by leasing the criminals to con- 
 tractors and working them, either in out-door gangs, as 
 usuall}^ in the Southern States, or in crowded workshops, 
 as in the North. In both cases the corruption and evil 
 which are thus fostered tend to perpetuate vice, and to 
 render the jails themselves the very nurseries of further 
 crime. It has been remarked that, both in the United 
 States and in France, the jail workshops, with their 
 cheerful associated labour, tend to keep the prison popula- 
 tion permanently numerous, and, on the whole, decidedly
 
 First Pnncipks in Diminishing Crime and Pauperism. 35 
 
 on the increase. Whereas, the more deterrent, more refor- 
 matory, but more immediately costly conditions of cellular 
 separation, though less favourable to rapid profits from 
 labour, are yet far cheaper in the end, for they tend to 
 keep down the ultimate number of prisoners. It has been 
 well remarked that the main object of a prison is to be 
 emp)ty. And the most certain test of the efficiency of any 
 penal system is the ultimate continued diminution of 
 offences throughout the community. This is a far more reli- 
 able criterion than either the amount of prison earnings, 
 or even the percentage of prisoners known to be reclaimed. 
 
 The Principle of Justice— Divine and Hu:\rAN. 
 
 A further great essential principle is Justice — Justice 
 with the level scales ; the fair weighing of both sides of 
 every matter, and of the claims of each party. How often 
 is the sacred name of Justice applied to a one-sided severity, 
 or to a partial regard to one class of persons, wdiilst the 
 eyes are kept blind to the rights or circumstances of 
 another class ! For example, how disproportionately favour- 
 able is the Legislation of most countries to the assumed 
 Rights of Property, as compared with the laws in regard 
 to the collateral, and greater Moral Rights of the com- 
 munity, including the very poorest. Whilst much poverty 
 is self-created, a large proportion of it is the inevitable 
 result of social or hereditary causes, uncontrollable by the 
 sufferer. Sharp deterrence is just and necessary for wilful 
 offenders, and for the voluntarily lazy and improvident. 
 But discriminating merc}^ and fraternal help arc due to 
 our fellow-creatures under privation, and even under trans- 
 gression, in so far as their circumstances are occasioned by 
 the faults or misfortunes of others. In avoiding one 
 extreme, we must also seek to keep clear of the other. 
 
 Justice may briefly be defined as the " Golden Rule " in 
 practice, and as exercised, not only as regards individuals, 
 
 D 2
 
 36 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 but also nations. It is even a duty towards dumb animals, 
 which have been created by God, and both hence and 
 otherwise have claims upon human mercy and considera- 
 tion. But how much more important are the claims of 
 men themselves, however degraded, upon the mercy of 
 their fellows, inasmuch as they are all members of that 
 world of humanity so loved by God that He gave Himself 
 for it, through the Incarnation, in His only begotten Son. 
 In Christ, also, as the second and greater " Adam," we may 
 trustfully hope for an ultimately effectual just recognition 
 by God of that natural frailty and inherent indisposition to 
 self-denying duty, univcrsalhj inherited by mankind from 
 their first Parents. For, with all reverence, it may be 
 held that every man has claims upon God's justice, here or 
 hereafter, equally with those which the Divine rectitude 
 may have upon humanity. It has been wonderfully over- 
 looked or ignored by theologians, especially by such rigid 
 souls as Augustine, Calvin, and the Puritans, that inasmuch 
 as the so-called " Fall " in the First Adam has, by natural 
 inheritance, most materially influenced all men everywhere, 
 quite independently of their own choice or original volition, 
 therefore it may reasonably be hoped that the Divine justice 
 and love will ultimatelij render the blessings of salvation 
 through Christ, the Second Adam, equally universal. 
 
 One book of the Bible, the Epistle to the Romans, 
 specially describes the Divine justice or righteousness, as 
 promotive of human virtue ; more particularly in the second, 
 fifth, and eleventh chapters. From these and other portions 
 of Holy Scripture, we learn that God " will render to every 
 man according to his deeds," with a grandly overflowing 
 redundance of final blessing upon every humble effort for 
 good, and with a solemnly certain retribution for every evil 
 action. '• For ivhatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also 
 reap." As Ary Scheffer has so finely set forth in picture, 
 so, likewise, St. Paul describes Christ as both the intensely 
 sympathising Consoler and majestic Recompenser of the
 
 First Pn'iiapks in Diminish in ff Crime and Pauperism. 37 
 
 world. The most minute services of love, comparable to 
 the "cup of cold water," given in His name, will be 
 rewarded by Him most munificently. All virtuous 
 attempts will be also liberally regarded, in view of the 
 sincerity of their motive and independently of their 
 temporary or partial failure or attainment. 
 
 On the other hand, we may perhaps gather that every 
 drop of every cup of suffering and woe which (if not 
 followed by the sincerest repentance and by human expia- 
 tion so far as possible) any person has ever wilfully in- 
 flicted upon another, or even upon a dumb animal, will 
 have to be proportionately requited by God, but for 
 ultimately gracious purposes, both of personal restora- 
 tion and external example. Perhaps, and even pro- 
 bably, such horrible wretches as the Mediaeval Inquisitors, 
 the Duke of Alva, Henry the Eighth, Robespierre, and all 
 others who have deliberately plagued mankind with per- 
 secutions, aggressive wars, or other cruelties, may hereafter 
 have to endure a long continuance of retributive misery, 
 bearing a justly definite relation, in intensity and amount, 
 to all the agonies ever inflicted by themselves upon their 
 thousands of victims. In view of the right claims and 
 needed moral effect of justice, even the most merciful 
 ♦ hearts may dwell with deep satisfaction upon the prospect 
 of such a process, for such miscreants, if only it may be 
 made to subserve, in the end, a profound completeness of 
 purifying and elevating influence, resulting, after such age- 
 lasting, or " geonian " punishment, in absolutely perfect 
 repentance, contrition, reverence, humility and devotion, to 
 be then, and then only, followed by blessed experiences of 
 endless developments of righteousness and joy, with all 
 other and long previously purified beings, in the grand 
 beauty of Christ's immortal presence and Kingdom. 
 
 Thus all the awful threatenings of the Bible to the 
 wicked, as fairly interpreted, may be strictly enforced, 
 compatibly with the final and ineftal.ily glorious fulfilment
 
 38 Penological and Preventive Princqjles. 
 
 of all the promises and declarations of God's boundless 
 love. " For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall 
 all be made alive," happily, at last. So also may the 
 long ages of mysterious pain and sin, in the world's history, 
 be ultimately compensated and over-ruled for the im- 
 measurable blessing and eternal education of the race, as 
 a whole. 
 
 The originally current meanings of Scripture terms and 
 phraseology, together with the best instincts of the human 
 soul, the eloquent analogies of nature, and the noblest con- 
 ceptions of Divine goodness, all encourage such a trust, 
 which reconciles the most impressive justice with infinite 
 mercy, and which eminently tends to produce a practical 
 dread of sin and crime, whilst affording the most animating 
 encouragements to virtue and the most consoling hopes, 
 amidst present sorrows and perplexities. 
 
 Thus may God Himself ultimately overcome all evil with 
 good, and finally destroy it in the divinest way, by con- 
 verting every opposing soul into a profoundly reverent and 
 loving votary. And this, too, without any sacrifice of 
 equitable demand, without any confusion of right with 
 wrong, and without the slightest encouragement to indolent 
 neglect, or to presumptuous sin. Such, we may trust, will 
 be the final triumph and unlimited extent of the glorious 
 justice of the all-loving Father and Ruler of the Universe. 
 
 The educational and elevating developments of mankind 
 are carried on not so much by the discipline of force, even 
 Divine force, as by the moral persuasions and holy incite- 
 ments of personal goodness ; and we may expect the eternal 
 progress of the race to be administered on similar laws and 
 principles. 
 
 Of course, in view of the various conflicting interpreta- 
 tions of the Bible, even by the best of men, it does not become 
 anyone to dogmatize positively on this subject. There is 
 legitimate scope for much diversity of conclusion. Many 
 good men believe that the unrepentant wicked will be
 
 First Princi2)Ies in Bimimshing Crime and Pauperism. 39 
 
 raised again hereafter to be punished by annihilation. 
 And unquestionably, many Biblical declarations, relative 
 to their being " reserved " for final retribution, or for 
 everlasting " destruction " and *' death," afford grounds 
 for such an opinion. And our Saviour referred to God's 
 power even to " destroy " the soul itself. Nevertheless 
 the minimum of difficulty and the maximum of moral 
 suitability and of regard to the ultimate Divine glory, 
 appear to favour a hope of the final restoration, the eternal 
 happy development of every human being, in conjunction, 
 both with a most exact satisfaction for all evil, and with 
 an ultimately superabounding love and grace, through the 
 Risen Christ, for all, for ever. 
 
 In reference to present human dealings with offenders 
 against the laws and rights of the community, it is a 
 primary matter of justice that these shall be restrained 
 and discouraged from continuing in crime, by means of a 
 merciful severity, and by a- gradual cumulation of penalties 
 certain, but not too heavy. On the other hand, the general 
 circumstances and antecedents of the offender are, in fair- 
 ness to him, deserving of practical consideration ; as, for 
 example, whether he has been driven to crime by powerful 
 hereditary impulses and passions, in combination with 
 ignorance, privation, and neglect, especially parental and 
 social neglect. If the Law has also permitted such persons 
 to be subjected to excessive temptations, as, for example, 
 from a disproportionate abundance of licensed facilities for 
 drunkenness or other vice, the law-makers and the com- 
 munity are themselves partially responsible for the effects 
 thus produced. The writer, in visiting an English prison, 
 was struck with the remark of a veteran warder who 
 spoke of the heartless inconsiderateness of a large section of 
 the public towards the more unfortunate class of offenders. 
 He said, " People are apt to exclaim, on seeing, for instance, 
 a lad in jail, ' The young rascal ! he has wickedness im- 
 printed on his face ; it is a good thing to punish him sharply.' "
 
 40 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 " Well, perhaps so," the warder would remark, in reply to 
 such an observation ; " but let us remember that the lad 
 (like many of his class) is the son of parents, both of whom 
 were thieves and drunkards ; both of whom deserted him ; 
 that he had no home ; no early training in virtue ; that he 
 usually found a bed under arches, or on doorsteps, in holes 
 and corners of the city, until the police-cell, or the work- 
 house, or the prison received him into comparative luxury, 
 though accompanied by restraints hateful to his wild habits." 
 For such an one, justice demands a prolonged training to 
 self-supporting industry, if possible, at some expense to his 
 parents, if otherwise, at the cost of the State, which also 
 has, in some measure probably, neglected him or his pro- 
 genitors. 
 
 Again, as to the pauper ; he, too, may have fought the 
 battle of life against a heavy over-weight of disadvantage, 
 from miserable parentage, hereditary incapacity or disease, 
 or both ; and in a wretched home, perhaps a " hell upon 
 earth," with a bad example on the part of those around 
 him, as to intemperance and vice. If having the offer of 
 labour, he refuses it, then it is just to let him suffer, either 
 punishment, or sharp privation. But he should be enabled 
 to procure, somewhere and somehow, an opportunity of at 
 least escaping starvation. The English Poor Law, by its 
 offer of admission to the workhouse, secures this ; though 
 sometimes by granting it without first affording sufiicient 
 inducements to thrift and self-help. The Dutch and 
 German Agricultural " Colonies," and the Bremen work- 
 house, for furnishing occupations at low wages, afford 
 interesting modes of operation, though on a very limited 
 scale. Count Rumford's plan of compulsory industry, 
 for mendicants and paupers in Bavaria, was also a decidedly 
 successful and instructive experiment, illustrating the 
 needful combination of merciful justice with beneficent 
 deterrence for the idle or thriftless. 
 
 To how many criminals, in our own day, are applicable
 
 First Principles in Diminishing Crime and Pauperism. 41 
 
 the words recorded of the wretched Judean king, Ahaziah, 
 son of the cruel idolatress Athaliah, — " For his mother was 
 his counsellor to do wickedly," By natural constitution, a 
 mother's influence is pre-eminently powerful, whether for 
 good or for ill. Hence those who have had bad maternal 
 training are thereby entitled to a specially merciful regard 
 in the retril^ution, or correction, of their consequent mis- 
 deeds. An eminent writer, Cardinal Manning, has, in a 
 popular review, lately put forth a plea even for the 
 so-called, " worthless " members of the community, in so far 
 as their hereditary and unfortunate privations have con- 
 stituted them such. For in such degree, simple justice 
 actually entitles these to some measure of charitable con- 
 sideration and wise assistance, from the more favoured 
 sections of society. 
 
 How much of the vice and crime of Glasgow, Edinburgh, 
 and other crowded cities arises, almost by sheer irresistible 
 necessity, from the shocking crowding of whole families 
 into single rooms, or houses of a single room, — the sole scene 
 of birth, wedlock and death, feeding, living, and sleeping. 
 Yet near some of these cities, thousands of fair acres 
 are permanently kept waste, for the enjoyment of a few 
 sportsmen. Is not this a grave injustice towards men 
 and towards God ? When will Scotland, in particular, 
 rouse herself and deliver her poorest population from 
 such terril)le evils of criminal over-crowding and cruelly 
 locked land ? 
 
 The severity of penalty and the rigour of discipline 
 should be everywhere qualified by just consideration ; and 
 also by the fact that honour is due to all men, by reason 
 of the intrinsic worth of each soul gifted with a capa- 
 city for immortal life, and endless moral development. 
 Each acorn on a forest path, bears within it the poten- 
 tiality of a century-living oak. So the basest of men, 
 the most degraded of women, for all of whom Christ 
 has lived, died and risen, may, through the power of His
 
 42 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 Gospel, be purified into saintly excellence. Even the once 
 diabolical King Manasseh of Judah, ultimately became 
 prayerfully and practically repentant. From Mary Mag- 
 dalen, her seven possessing devils were effectually expelled 
 by the Holy Christ. So, through Divine Grace and patient 
 human effort, sinners of any guilt and dye may be led 
 to virtue. Even these can never be justly divested of a 
 certain claim to honour, on account of God's relation to 
 them and their potential immortal restoration. As Dr. W. 
 Ellery Channing has well remarked, "Christianity indeed 
 gives us a deeper, keener feeling of the guilt of mankind 
 than any other religion. But it does not speak of this as 
 indissolubly bound up with the soul, but as a temporary 
 stain which it calls us to wash away. Its greatest doctrine 
 is that the lost are recoverable, that the most fallen may 
 rise, and that there is no height of purity, power, felicity, 
 in the universe, to which the guiltiest mind, may not, 
 through penitence, attain." 
 
 Godliness the Chief Principle. 
 
 Beyond all other fundamental principles for the dimi- 
 nution or restoration of criminals, TRUE GODLINESS IS THE 
 STRONGEST. 
 
 The mighty powers of evil passions and the immense 
 inertia of indifference can only be effectually combated by 
 forces which are still more potent ; those of the love of (xod 
 in Christ, and the hopes and fears of eternity. The experi- 
 ence of the general history of humanity, shows that the 
 greatest success in the reclamation of lives from evil, has 
 been acliieved by this power of Divine love. 
 
 Yet much has been authoritatively promulgated in 
 Christ's name, which has been singularly opposed to His 
 example and precepts. He Himself laid down, for all time, 
 the simple but decisive test of true Christianity — " By this 
 shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love
 
 First Principles in Diminishing Crime and Pauperism. 43 
 
 one to another." And His Apostle showed the real fruits 
 and tests of His Holy Spirit to be " Love, joy, peace ; long- 
 suffering, gentleness, goodness ; faith, meekness, temper- 
 ance." 
 
 Further, it is of essential importance to all communities 
 and individuals, that the Divine declarations of what is a 
 truly just retribution or reward, in a future state should 
 be earnestly regarded. For these furnish a sustaining 
 encouragement to right doers, however unknown amongst 
 their fellow men, arising from the well grounded hope, that 
 there awaits them an eternity of joy and congenial activity 
 in the Heaven of Christ's personal presence ; in association 
 with the beloved relations and friends of a former life, and 
 with the good and wise of all ages ; in grand missions of 
 Divine beneficence, and in vast extensions of knowledge 
 and power. Such justly founded hopes of unending bless- 
 ings convey a powerful stimulus to patient obedience, and 
 to loyal service to God, by promoting the best interests of 
 His human and brute creation. 
 
 On the other hand, strong restraints from wrong-doing, 
 from ci'uelty, from indifference, from impurity, are to be 
 found in a sense of the necessity of having hereafter to 
 meet the judgment of a God of awful purity and power, 
 irresistibly hostile to deliberate transgression, though ready 
 to forgive all past sins on sincere repentance through 
 the law-honouring justification and affection-winning power 
 of Christ's most precious Blood. For through His own 
 incarnation and voluntary sacrifice " He tasted death 
 for every man," and thus for evermore rendered it con- 
 sistent even with immaculate Divine sanctity, to pardon 
 the sinner, on returning to God, who is at once a Being 
 of unfathomable mercy and of irreconcilable hatred of 
 evil. 
 
 Pre-eminently, God is Love. Love is the disposition, 
 both in the Deity and in man, which regards and encou- 
 rages the favourable features and the good capacities of
 
 44 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 others. The Lord beholds, in His poor human family — 
 even in the lowest and weakest of them — cajxicities of 
 infinite clerclopment, and the possibility of immortal life in 
 Christ. He knows thoroughly and sympathisingl}', that 
 the hereditarj'' tendencies of mankind to evil, and the 
 accumulated power of habit, operating through hundreds 
 of generations of frailty and ignorance, from the first 
 Adam's days to our own, impart a peculiar and vastly 
 additional value and interest to the faintest efforts of resist- 
 ance to such mightv antagonism. The struggles of a sin- 
 burdened soul after righteousness, even if only partially 
 successful at the time, may be more honourable and more 
 fruitful for the development of eternal goodness than the 
 perfect but easier obedience of possibly untempted angels. 
 And if the noblest feelings on earth are the self-sacrificing 
 love of a mother, and the pitying compassion of a father, 
 it was naturally and reasonably to be expected that God, 
 the great archetypal Father and Mother in one, would at 
 some time and in some manner, show forth to the very 
 uttermost, even in infinite degree, His own perfections, 
 also, of parental love. This necessarily involved a miracle of 
 condescension, which chose for its channel the vast descent 
 of the Incarnation — the measureless self-denial of God's 
 own Spirit in Christ, and upon the Cross — resulting in the 
 triumphs of His Resurrection and Ascension, to be followed 
 by His second Advent, as the visible King, and glory of 
 His redeemed Church. But He declares the certainty of 
 irresistible chastisements upon those beings, who, after 
 really fair opportunities of knowing His love and goodness, 
 shall have wilfully disobeyed or deliberately disregarded 
 His sovereign grace. 
 
 The temporary existence of evil is probably, and even 
 evidently, an essential condition for the final victories of 
 Divine Love, and for God's grand purposes of the moral 
 education of the human race throughout time and eternity. 
 If there was no evil to combat, where would be the scope
 
 First Pnncij)ks in Dunmishing Crime and Pauperism. 45 
 
 for moral growth, and where would be the possibility of 
 the development of righteous strength and overcoming 
 power ? Adam and Eve in a Paradise, continuously free 
 from temptation, must have remained mere adult babes 
 as to the real might and worth of goodness. 
 
 The Supreme declares Himself to be absolutely holy— a 
 Being of spotless and crystalline purity. He is irrecon- 
 cilably opposed to sin, whether in the smallest or greatest 
 degree. And He is eternally destructive of it. For " our 
 Ood is a consuming fire," and, as such, declares that He will 
 ultimately overcome every contrary influence. Christ is 
 promised to come again, in loving majesty to rule His 
 people. But His Advent was also prophesied to be as 
 " with refiner's fire and fuller's soap," — that is to say, most 
 searchingly and unsparingly corrective. 
 
 These motives of hope and fear towards God have a po- 
 tency over the Philanthropist, the Missionary, the Editor, 
 the Prison-Officer (whether principal or subordinate), over 
 the managers of the Poor-house, the Orphanage, the Hospital, 
 which no commands of mere earthly Monarchs or Govern- 
 ments can possess. All mortal powers and rulers will soon, 
 as shadows, pass away ; and meanwhile they can be easily 
 disobeyed and deceived. But the Eternal God sees every 
 action, however secret ; knows every motive and thought, 
 even the inmost; appreciates every humble kindness to 
 man or beast, and will finally reward and judge the whole 
 with unerring justice and irresistible power. 
 
 The smallest services of grateful love, and even the appa- 
 rently or temporarily unsuccessful efforts of His children, 
 will secure His ultimate recognition and reward. And, on 
 the other hand, every act of cruelty and of deliberate 
 wickedness, will as surely come up for remembrance here- 
 after, before the just judgment seat of Christ. For God 
 is indeed most mercifully just to the Christian, to the Jew, 
 to the Pagan. And through the infinite merits, and repre- 
 sentative or substitutionary sufferings of His own glorious
 
 46 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 Incarnation, whereby the majesty of the moral law, of 
 the Sovereign of the Universe, is adequately upheld, He 
 offers pardon for all repented sin, and abundantly bestows 
 the visitations of His Holy Spirit in the hearts of men, 
 and promises reward and final accej)tance to the virtuous 
 of all ages, even amongst those who have not enjoyed the 
 superior advantages of a preached Gospel, or of the Bible 
 revelations of His love. 
 
 Such certain first principles of the Divine claims — such 
 eternal grounds for hope, reverent affection, and fear — are 
 the truest foundations of civil society. They are mighty 
 where the transitory rulers of the world are weak ; and 
 they are infinitely more penetrating in their application, 
 and more far-reaching in their issues, than anything that 
 human legislation can devise. They are the great motives 
 furnished by the Gospel, which is the power of God unto 
 salvation, both for individuals and communities ; inasmuch 
 as it places men's souls in contact with the influences of 
 eternity, and of the Supreme goodness. 
 
 It was the characteristic contribution of Elizabeth Fey, 
 and her colleagues the BuxTONS, Gurnets, and others, to 
 modern prison reform, that they perseveringly urged the 
 extensive introduction of Scriptural hioicledge amongst the 
 inmates and officers of penal and reformatory establishments. 
 There still remains, not only in many such institutions, but 
 amongst large sections of the populations throughout the 
 world, an urgent need for more habitual regard to the 
 Inspired Message of God\s redeeming love to man — a gift 
 equally indispensable for the help of the virtuous and of 
 the offending elements of all human society. 
 
 M. TscHUDi, the Director of a Swiss Reformatory, has 
 well remarked, that "It is for want of the fear of the Lord 
 that criminals are what they are. And for this very reason 
 it is our bounden duty to instruct them in those religious 
 principles which have too often been withheld from them ; 
 for it is only in the sunshine of religion that good feelings
 
 First Principles in Diminishing Crime and Fauj^crism. 47 
 
 glow, and that the flowers of the Christian virtues unfold 
 themselves. ' Mere phrases ! ' exclaims the man of the 
 world. Very well. But let any one attempt the reform 
 of depraved persons, without having recourse to religious 
 influence, and it will be practically proved that the results 
 will be very unsatisfactory." 
 
 There is a striking passage in the Life of the Rev. JoHX 
 Clay, where he describes his own observations of the 
 impression sometimes produced by preaching the Gospel 
 judiciously to criminals. He says: "The preacher may 
 speak of heaven ; but those men cannot understand 
 him. They know of no happiness beyond gross, foul, 
 animal indulgence. The preacher may speak of hell ; and 
 they will wince. It would be terriljle if true. But is it 
 true ? They harden themselves and won't believe it. But 
 now let him preach Christ crucified ; and mark the eflfect 
 of his preaching, as, in vivid, strong words, he tells the 
 story of that Life and that Death, the story of that Friday 
 morning at Calvary. Watch those men's faces, brutalised 
 by years of selfishness and lust and gross ignorance. 
 Gleams of intelligence and better feeling pass athwart their 
 features. That strange, novel idea of God having actually 
 suffered, to save them from suffering, astounds and bewilders 
 them. Vaguely and dimly they begin to feel that they 
 ought, they must, they will, love this Jesus, who has so 
 loved them. They feel that they should like to do, to 
 suffer, something to prove their love. The old self-love is 
 shaken ; the new life from God is stirring within them ; 
 and when those men go back to their cells they kneel down, 
 and in their half-dumb, inarticulate fashion, gasp out a 
 prayer." (Life, p. 203.) 
 
 Scriptural religion is a chief principle of all social pro- 
 gress, both for the worse and the better elements of the 
 community, because it is most potent in producing the best 
 forms of citizenship. Yet some persons who profess a 
 regard for Science, at the same time manifest the strange
 
 48 Penological and Preventice Principles. 
 
 inconsistency of indifference to the claims of Christianity. 
 This neglect is radically unphilosophical and unscientific ; 
 because there is no department of Science which is more 
 verifiable by its outward and visible results than the 
 Christian System, in so far at least as its adherents prac- 
 tise, as well as profess, obedience to its precepts. It remains 
 to be the chief and surest basis of administrative wisdom 
 and of the safety and happiness of nations. 
 
 This is no mere dogmatic assertion. It is confirmed by 
 all historical experience. In proportion as the simple prin- 
 ciples of primitive and Scriptural religion have been prac- 
 tically exemplified by any communities, they have enjoyed 
 special, or at least, comparative exemption from crime and 
 pauperism. For example, in New England, under the 
 later and milder Puritan regime; in Pennsylvania, under 
 William Penn ; in Scotland, in so far as godly Presby- 
 terianism has regulated its parishes and its schools ; in the 
 Ban de la Roche, during Oberlin's pastorate ; in and around 
 the establishments of the Catholic " Christian Brothers," and 
 of the medieval " Brotherhoods of the Common Life " of 
 Holland ; in the elder Mennonite bodies in Holland, Ger- 
 many, and Russia ; in the Society of Friends, or Quakers, 
 " Plymouth Brethren," " Bible Christians," Baptists, and 
 other sects of Great Britain and America ; in the local 
 infiuence of very many of the clergy and faithful members 
 of the grand Anglican Church, especially in recent times ; 
 amongst evangelical Unitarians of the Channing school ; and 
 in certain districts or counties of peculiar religious earnest- 
 ness, as, for instance, Wales and Cornwall : — all these 
 and such as these, have afibrded genuinely scientific 
 verifications of the special efiicacy of Christian principle 
 amongst communities. 
 
 And, on the other hand, other abundant historic proofs 
 demonstrate that principles contrary to those of true 
 Christianity bring failure and ruin to nations and peoples. 
 The Atheistic basis of the French Revolution of 1789, and
 
 First Principles in Liminishinc) Crime and Paujocrism. 49 
 
 o£ the Paris Commune o£ 1871, were ever memorable illus- 
 trations of this. The great military systems of Europe, so 
 essentially anti-Christian in their influences, are afflicting 
 it with tremendous oppression. Similarly all political, 
 social, and even ostensibly philanthropic movements, which 
 disregard or ignore the primary element of godliness, are 
 manifestly doomed to deceive the hopes they may have 
 raised. What may be called " Radical " Reforms will 
 certainly bring disaster instead of blessing, unless they are 
 radically religious. Continental " Liberalism," if godless, 
 will necessarily result in the most illiberal and despotic 
 infringements of the natural and holiest Rights of Man. 
 And the intelligent party of German Progress ("Fort- 
 schritt") must inevitably tend to retrogression and dis- 
 appointment, unless its leaders render practical homage to 
 the mild but ultimately certain supremacy of Christian 
 principles. For the only true liberty and advancement 
 amongst nations must be ever and continuously based upon 
 the happy freedom resulting from the loving service of the 
 one and undivided, but tri-unely manifested, God and 
 Father of humanity.
 
 Chapter II. 
 
 PRISON SYSTEMS GENERALLY UNSATIS- 
 FACTORY. 
 
 A Vexed Question. 
 
 For more than a centiny, the question of what is the best 
 system of prison discipline, has been energetically discussed 
 on both sides of the Atlantic. Libraries of literature upon 
 the subject have been written. Governments and Parlia- 
 ments have set apart special Commissions and Committees, 
 times without number, for its investigation, either at 
 home or by foreign travel. Congresses and Conferences 
 have repeatedly been convened to arrive at decisions on 
 the matter. Various alternations and revolutions of opinion 
 have taken place, in regard to the respective merits and 
 demerits, of separation, or of association ; of penal and 
 remunerative industry in prisons ; and of countless details 
 afiecting the architecture, the administration, inspection, 
 and general routine of these establishments. Millions of 
 pounds have been spent in building up, altering, or pulling 
 down prisons, in accordance with these changes of opinion. 
 And although there is now, at least in Europe, a growing 
 feeling in favour of the absolute separation of prisoners 
 from one another, yet experienced observers still remain 
 divided in opinion as to the best modes of criminal 
 discipline. 
 
 LHtimately, after this century of wordy discussion, costly
 
 Prison Systems cjeneralhj Unsatisf actor ij. 51 
 
 construction and destruction, there is an increasing im- 
 pression, amongst experienced observers, that the efficacy 
 of even the best systems of imprisonment, has, all along, 
 been exceedingly over-estimated, and that their disadvan- 
 tages, both to the State and to the criminal, have been too 
 much lost sight of. 
 
 In several countries, some of the results of wise Police 
 Supervision and of Conditional Liberty and Liberation, are 
 pointing to the conclusion that there may be secured a 
 decidedly greater degree of deterrence and reformation 
 amongst offenders, with a minimum of imprisonment, 
 precisely because the longer terms of ordinary confinement 
 have, l)y their very nature, tended to habituate prisoners 
 to their lot, and to destroy, by producing indifference, both 
 their hopes and fears, as to the future. 
 
 British Prisons. 
 
 The British prisons are more calculated to exercise a 
 deterrent influence over their inmates than the penal 
 establishments of most other nations ; yet, in these, much 
 corrupting association continues, and it is found that a con- 
 siderable proportion of the prisoners re-enter their walls 
 dozens, and even scores of times in succession. In some 
 instances more than a hundred, and occasionally two, three, 
 or even four hundred arrests and imprisonments have 
 recently been undergone by individual offenders, in the 
 United Kingdom. Even the longer terms of penal servi- 
 tude, for robberies, burglaries and violent crimes, have been 
 followed in many cases by further reconvictions. 
 
 There are various reasons why these prolonged imprison- 
 ments must necessarily be of very limited efficiency. If pri- 
 soners are to be maintained in licalth, and enabled to work 
 usefully whilst in confinement, their condition must unavoid- 
 ably hQ rendered in some respects superior to that of the 
 honest labourer outside, especially as to food. For it is a well
 
 52 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 observed fact that prisoners require a better nourishment 
 to enable them to endure the ordinary restraints of incar- 
 ceration, at least for a continuance, than would be sufficient 
 to support the same persons in a state of liberty. If, on 
 the other hand, they are placed on the same dietary as the 
 poorest outside workers, they will, in many instances, pine 
 away and die. Hence the food, and to a considerable 
 extent, also, the clothing, general lodging and warming of 
 convicts, place them for months and years, in circumstances 
 which at any rate appear unjust to the industrious free 
 labourers. Nevertheless the latter are too apt to overlook 
 the important matter that the real punishment consists 
 mainly in the absence of vicious indulgences, amusement 
 and alcohol ; tosfether with a rigid enforcement of regular 
 hours and unpaid work. 
 
 As to the subject of prison dietary, in particular, it gives 
 rise to many difficulties, some of which are almost 
 inseparable from any system of detention. For example, 
 in the English convict establishments, under effi^rts to 
 distribute an equal and sufficient amount of food for all the 
 inmates, it has repeatedly been observed that scores of these 
 have been unable to eat all the rations supplied to them, 
 whilst, at the same time, many of their fellow-convicts have 
 been so sharp set by hunger as to devour with avidity, 
 frogs, slugs, snails, and various sorts of refuse. 
 
 The matter which requires most vigilance in connection 
 with English jail dietary, is the combination of a low 
 scale of food with hard penal labour during the first stages 
 of imprisonment. Either the one or the other, separately, 
 may be justifiable. But both in combination are dangerous, 
 and even tend to cruel and occasionally fatal injuries. 
 
 European Prisons in General. 
 
 In most of the Continental nations, earnest endeavours 
 have been made, of late years, to improve their prison
 
 Prison Sijstcms gcnemllij Unsatisfadonj. 53 
 
 systems. This has especially been the case in Holland, 
 Belgium, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and 
 Denmark, where there are peculiarly intelligent and well- 
 organized bodies of officials in this department ; also, but 
 in lesser degree, perhaps, in Italy, France and Austria. In 
 Sweden and Norway in particular, the noble exertions of 
 King Oscar I. have borne good fruit and have found many 
 imitators, as for example, in M. Almquist, M. de Olivekrona, 
 M. C. Smith, M. R. Petersen, M. Birch-Reichenwald, 
 M. Bang and others. But despite all efforts, many and 
 varied evils continue to characterize imprisonment generally 
 throughout Europe. 
 
 France. 
 
 In several of the above-named countries, the Govern- 
 ments have moved in advance of the people, in regard to 
 this subject. But in France it has been otherwise. There 
 the State authorities have been so greatly engrossed with 
 military and other matters, that they have unduly neglected 
 the protection of the community from crime. The excellent 
 " Prison Society of France " has, however, gathered to- 
 gether a noble band of private philanthropists, who have 
 strenuously advocated more progressive measures. Amongst 
 these and other penologists of that country, may be men- 
 tioned the names of M. Bonneville de Marsangy, Baron 
 D'Haussonville, M. Th. Roussel, M. Victor Hugo, 
 M. Fernande Desportes, M. Charles Lucas (a gentleman 
 wonderfully energetic, through many decades, and in spite 
 of his blindness), M. F. L. Herbette, M. Rirot, 
 M. Berenger, M. Le Courbe, M. Dufaure, M. E. Acollas, 
 M. Yvernes, M. Dareste, M. Lefebure, M. de Corny, 
 M. M. Bonjean, M. Bujon, M. Mercier, M. Chaix, 
 M. Riviere, M. Voisin, M. E. Mouton, M. Lacointa, 
 M. James Nattan, M. P. Vial, M. Robin, M. Arboux, 
 M. Reynaud, M. Dreyfus, M. Petit, M. Bailliere,
 
 54 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 M. Clairix, M. Bournat, M. Pages, M. G. Dubois, and 
 many others. But hitherto, the reforms desired by these 
 intelligent persons have been very inadequately conceded 
 by the Government. 
 
 A strong condemnation of the French, but especially of 
 the Parisian prisons, apjjeared in the " Peviie Generale,^' in 
 1885, written by M. Ives Guyot. He quoted the official 
 statistics, as showing that the number of habitual criminals 
 {recidivistefi) in that country, had alarmingly increased in 
 the past thirty years. He attributed this largely to the effect 
 of a degrading association of convicts, and to the comparative 
 absence of measures to prevent discharged prisoners from 
 relapsing into crime. He described in graphic colours, the 
 horrible crowding together of criminals, by day and night, 
 in some of the Paris jails ; young and old, the vilest and 
 the most venial offenders being shut up, often in idleness 
 and filth, and occasionally in darkness ; infecting each 
 other with vermin, with disease, and with the worst moral 
 corruptions. It was stated that spies are, at times, placed 
 amongst these prisoners, and rewarded by the police, for 
 promoting their re-arrest. 
 
 The well devised Law of 1875, providing for the cellular 
 separation of short-term offenders, (imprisoned for periods 
 up to one year in duration,) has, for the most part, remained 
 a dead letter. At any rate it has only, as yet, been adopted 
 in a comparatively few localities. And in general, France 
 has, as a nation, been too indifferent to the wise treatment 
 of her criminals. Hence she has practically fostered their 
 increase, as a viper brood, until her legislators, perplexed 
 almost to despair, have devised no better means of relief, 
 than that of consigning their inveterately criminal popula- 
 tion to distant Pacific Islands, either to rot, as in their 
 own corruption, there, or, through frequent escapes and re- 
 emigration, to plague the honest and law-abiding citizens 
 of adjacent British Colonies. Surely the intelligence of 
 *' la Grande Nation " ousfht to be able to attain a far better
 
 Prison Si/sfems gcncraUij Unsatisfadonj. 55 
 
 result than this, in reference to its neglected and criminal 
 classes ! 
 
 There was published, in London, in 1887, a description 
 by Prince KRAroxKiNE, of his own experiences in various 
 French prisons, the best of which he depicted as being very 
 bad, owing to the cruelty of petty officials ; the filth, and 
 the alternations of enforced idleness, or excessive labour. 
 Thus of some of the long-term military prisoners at Clair- 
 vaux, he remarks that in consequence of their bestial 
 vices in confinement, " their quarter has so bad a reputation 
 that the rains of brimstone, which destroyed the two 
 Biblical towns, are invoked upon it by the administration." 
 In one prison, an intractable but probably half -mad convict 
 was drenched with the hose from a fire engine, and left wet 
 in his cell, in frosty weather. At other prisons, the inmates 
 were kept at a peculiar kind of walking drill, with slight 
 intervals, during twelve hours, daily, for months, until they 
 were maddened by the torture of the protracted exercise ;. 
 their screams only brought them to dark cells and starva- 
 tion diet. At Lyons the prisoners were subjected to de- 
 morahzation and filth. Even the unfortunate lads, the 
 iucorrigibles from the agricultural or penitentiary "colo- 
 nies," who are sentenced to detention until the age of 21 
 years, become so debased in prison that " the warders and 
 the priests arc unanimous in saying that the only desire 
 which, day and night, haunts these young people, is that of 
 satisfying the most abject passions. In the dormitories, in 
 the church, in the yards, they are always perpetrating tlie 
 same shameful deeds." Elsewhere, even in the Palais de 
 Justice of Lyons, there were certain dark cells which were 
 used for the double purpose of privies and detention 
 chambers for newly arrested off'enders. The same observer 
 remarks that the wives and families of convicts, in France, 
 as elsewhere, often sufier greater punishment than their 
 male relatives, by reason of the prolonged poverty and 
 misery, involved in their being deprived of their bread-
 
 oQ Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 winners. Hence many of them are driven to prostitution 
 and robbery. 
 
 In 1887, the "French Prison Society" stated, in their care- 
 fully edited journal, or " Bulletin," that out of the 17,556 
 prisoners, confined in the smaller, or departmental, jails of 
 France, at a recent date, 6,888, or more than one-third, ^yere 
 kept idle and not set to any occupation. 
 
 Russia. 
 
 In the vast Empire of Russia, many of the prisons have 
 been described as frightful abysses of moral and physical 
 filth, of administrative cruelty to the inmates and especially 
 to the wretched women in them. 
 
 Many accounts of these prisons, written by exiles, have 
 lately appeared in the chief journals and magazines of 
 Europe and America, Probably there are some exaggera- 
 tions or misrepresentations, amongst these statements. But 
 inasmuch as they have been so persistent and so much in 
 unison, in their general assertions, it must be feared that 
 there is at least a terrible residuum of truth in them. 
 They complain, for instance, of the cells in some of the 
 prisons, as being places where the wretched inmates are 
 locked up for months or years, in absolute solitude, with 
 damp floors, and dripping walls ; being infested by rats, 
 deprived of labour and of books, and with insufficient light 
 to read ; the common decencies of life being withheld ; the 
 food provided being at times disgusting in its nature 
 and productive of disease and death ; the air also being 
 polluted with the continuous stench of a sewage tub, often 
 unemptied for days together ; the prisoners' covering by 
 day and night being very scanty and ragged, and abound- 
 ing in vermin ; whilst there is frequent exposure to intense 
 cold. To these inflictions are said to be sometimes added 
 severe floo^crings. 
 
 Some exceptionally apologetic descriptions of Russian 
 prisons have been published by one English visitor, Mr.
 
 Prison Systems generally Unsatisfactory. 57 
 
 Lansdell, who stated however that he was unacquainted 
 witli the language, and that, in a few months, he had glided 
 across that vast Empire, at express speed, as with the wings 
 of the wind. He also was favoured with the cautious 
 guidance of the imperial authorities during his very limited 
 observations. Hence it is no matter for surprise that his 
 statements differ extremely from those of other writers 
 on the subject, both natives and foreigners. Amongst 
 recent authorities who may be referred to on this question 
 is Mr. Edmund Noble, a traveller conversant with the 
 Russian language and people, who has given in his work, 
 " The Russian Revolt " (London : Longmans, 1885), a most 
 deplorable account of the prisons and the criminal treatment 
 in the Empire. He shows that Russian jails are even 
 worse than the British prisons were before Howard's time. 
 He quotes from various native authorities many shocking 
 incidents in the modern prison life of Russia and Siberia, 
 including cases where some of the prisoners were driven to 
 suicide, others to madness, and where women were violated 
 by their custodians. 
 
 Prixce Krapotkine, in his book " In Russian and French 
 Prisons " (London, 18S7), stated that, amongst the many 
 thousand persons annually sent to Siberia, the mortality is 
 enormous from cruelty and neglect. He quotes an official 
 admission of this, and adds, on the authority of the Russian 
 Laic Messenger, 1883, that of the several thousand young 
 females sent or taken to Siberia "no girl of 14, or less, 
 reaches the end of the journey without having been sub- 
 mitted to a gross offence." Such a statement as this how- 
 ever must be regarded as very extreme. But it may rest 
 on gome basis sufficiently repulsive in the amount of 
 fact. 
 
 Of course the Russian Government .systematically meets 
 such assertions with denials, or witli pleas of impotence to 
 prevent these occurrences ; and, very probably, some pro- 
 portion of the charges of cruelty are incorrect. But if even
 
 58 Fcnologkal and Preventive Pnnci])Ies. 
 
 half of tKem, or more, be regarded as unreliable, the residue 
 is very shocking. 
 
 One of the most impartial writers on this subject, Mr. 
 George Kennan, who has travelled extensively in Russia, 
 and has personally inspected many of the prisons, pub- 
 lished, in 1888, in the New York Cenfiir// Magazine, his 
 observations and conclusions thus obtained. They are 
 expressed in a very temperate and unsensational manner ; 
 but they confirm abundantly many of the terrible descrip- 
 tions of Russian prison administration previously given to 
 the world by such writers as Prince Krapotkine, " Stepniak," 
 and other exiles. He went to Siberia under a belief that 
 the current general complaints of abuses in Russian prisons 
 were incredible. But he reports (April, 1888) in the 
 Ccnfunj — " My views have been changed by an over- 
 whelming mass of evidence." Mr. Kennan, however, denies 
 the infliction of torture in Russia, and gives credit to some 
 of the Imperial officials for sincere efforts to reform their 
 prison system. 
 
 Can it be wondered at that Nihilism and conspiracy have 
 had great power in Russia, or that it has been sometimes 
 remarked that the Russian form of government is " des- 
 potism tempered by assassination " ? The absence of con- 
 stitutional checks, and of a free journalism, and the per- 
 sistent disregard of reasonable protests against official 
 cruelty and corruption, positively compel the people to 
 violent resistance and to secret combination against the 
 intolerable outrages perpetrated by State agents. 
 
 The Russians, as a people, have many virtues. They 
 are patient, industrious, persevering, and loyal. Many of 
 them have exhibited marvellous powers of self-sacrifice and 
 generosity. When they have real Christians for their 
 priests, or teachers, they become very religious. Several 
 of their recent Emperors, especially the first and second 
 Alexanders, were men of unquestionable philanthropy. 
 But the terrible assassination of Alexander II., and the
 
 Prison S[/sfcuis goicrallij TJmatkfaciorij. 59 
 
 murders of some of liis suLordiuates, were not so mucli the 
 acts of the visible instruments as the natural results of 
 those appalling official cruelties and outrages upon man, 
 woman, and child, which have been widely inflicted in the 
 very name of Law and order in various districts of the 
 Empire. Further, there has been no eftectual " safety- 
 valve " furnished by the Russian authorities for the reason- 
 able ventilation of real grievances. This is a primary 
 blunder in any State. 
 
 The Emperor Alexander I. once remarked to an English 
 visitor, " They call me an absolute monarch ; but I possess 
 comparatively little real power." This must necessarily 
 be the ease in regard to many matters in so vast a country, 
 whose inhabitants indeed express their own sense of the 
 fact by their common proverb, " God is in heaven and the 
 Emperor afar off." All despots must unavoidably be often 
 rendered the victims and tools of their own nominal sub- 
 ordinates. This must continue to be the case in Russia 
 until some form of constitutional government is secured, 
 together with various other reforms. IMeanwhile there 
 have been some Russians who have made earnest endea- 
 vours to at least diminish some of the evils which abound 
 in the prisons of the Empire. Amongst these may be 
 named M. Galkine-Wraskoy, M. Grotenfeld (of Finland), 
 Count SoLLOHUB, M. FoiNiTZKY, IVL Frisch, M. de Grot, M. 
 
 KOKOVTZEFF, M. MOLDENHAWER, PRINCESS OlDENBURG, M. 
 
 Paul Birvansky, M. Pobedonostzeff, M. Stehinsky, M. 
 miklaszewski, m. roukavitchnikoff, m. de nolcken, 
 M. A. Salomon, M. E. Michelet, and others. 
 
 One of these reformers, in particular, M. N. RouKAVlTCH- 
 NIKOFF, was a most remarkable and saintly man. He was 
 the inheritor of great wealth, being the son of the owner of 
 rich gold mines, but he sacrificed his personal ease and 
 worldly interests in order to become the resident manager 
 of a refuge or reformatory at Moscow for destitute and 
 neglected boys. It is remarked of him by M. Salomon (in
 
 60 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 the Transactions of the Prison Congress of Rome) that " The 
 considerable sums of money which his fortune enabled him 
 to devote to the support of that institution constituted but 
 a secondary form of beneficence in comparison with the 
 moral riches and influences which he diffused amongst these 
 poor children who had been led by bad examples in the 
 way of vice and crime.'" 
 
 The central authorities in Russia have immense difficul- 
 ties to contend with, and hence an}^ progress they may 
 be able to effect will be doubly praiseworthy. The 
 Imperial Government conveyed to the International Prison 
 Congress, held in Rome in 1885, an invitation to hold the 
 next similar (usually quinquennial) gathering at St. Peters- 
 burg. This at least indicated a desire for improvement, 
 and may be regarded as a harbinger of better days to come 
 in the general condition of prison and criminal discipline. 
 The work, however, is comparable to the cleansing of the 
 Augean stables, and will necessitate prolonged and extreme 
 exertion if it is to succeed. 
 
 It " goes without saying " that grievous abuses must exist 
 in Russian administration until press liberty is tolerated. 
 The blessed "white light" of a free journalism is ever 
 essential to expose, and at least partially hold in check, the 
 evils either of autocratic or of democratic despotism. But 
 the Russian press remains largely in bondage. Hence op- 
 pressions must follow, almost with mathematical certainty. 
 
 Other Countries. 
 
 In many of the prisons of Spain, Portugal, Turkey, 
 Egypt, and various other nations, the worst evils of pro- 
 miscuous association by day and by night, together with 
 more or less tyranny and corruption on the part of officials, 
 are too prevalent characteristics. In Spain, however, there 
 are dawnings of a better future, owing to the efforts put 
 forth by such earnest penal reformers as M. Lastres,
 
 Prison Systems generally Unsatisfactory. Gl 
 
 M. A. Y. Cornet, Madame C. Arexal, M. Silvela, Don E. 
 Castellote, and others. In the jails of MOROCCO things are 
 almost as bad as possible. Innocent and guilty are alike 
 condemned to fester together in filth and darkness, and 
 they are often left to the mercy of their friends and chance 
 visitors even for their food. Otherwise they may perish 
 of starvation. Mahometan rulers generally treat prisoners 
 abominably, though not much worse than is sometimes done 
 by certain professedly Christian Governments. 
 
 The great German people, wdio have led the world 
 onward in many ways, have also accomplished much for 
 the progress of Penology, especially under the guidance of 
 such men as Dr. Julius, M. Mittermaier, M. Roder, 
 Baron Holtzendorff, M. Illing, M. Streng, M. Krohne, 
 Von Jagemann, M. Sichart, Dr. von Liszt, M. Wahlberg 
 (Austria), M. Mittelstadt, Dr. Varrentrap, M. Sturs- 
 BERG, Dr. WiCHERN, M. FoHRiNG, M. Ekert, Dr. Bar, Dr. 
 Aschroth, M. Starke, M. d'Alinge, M. Fuchs, Dr. Hye 
 Glunek, M. Harke, M, Graeber, M. Eberty, M. Tauffer 
 (Austria), M. Wirth, and many others. Yet in 1886 it was 
 shown by an observant writer, M. Gutting, that in the 
 generality of the minor prisons of North Germany, the 
 absence of adequate separation had converted the daily 
 intercourse of the inmates into a constant succession of 
 thieves' conversaziones, and with most demoralising results 
 to the nation. 
 
 In 1888 it was further stated, in the peculiarly reliable 
 work of MM. Holtzendorff and Jagemann, " Handbuch des 
 Gefiingnisswesens," that more than 80 per cent., or 800 per 
 1,000, of the inmates of Prussian jails in 1885 had been 
 previously punished for other crimes or offences. (Vol. i., 
 p. 170.) The same book pleads for a revolution in the 
 German prison system, and exposes the extreme irregu- 
 larity and conflicting influences which characterize the 
 penal administration even of that most intelligent and 
 powerful Empire.
 
 62 Penological and Preventive Pnnciiiles. 
 
 Imprisonment at the Best. 
 
 The best modes of imprisonment in the most progressive 
 countries are necessarily attended by certain grave evils. 
 Even in the British and other prisons of the better descrip- 
 tion, and where the State maintains an array of religious 
 and moral instructors for the benefit of the inmates, each 
 jDrisoner knows that, whether comparatively idle or in- 
 dustrious, he will not be able, in general, to earn by his 
 labour more than a small sum of money to help him 
 on his discharge — merely enough to support him for a 
 few days or weeks, and not always even that. On the 
 other hand, he not unfrequently resolves to work as 
 little as possible, when set at liberty, for he knows that by 
 resuming his thievish habits he can supply himself in a 
 few hours with more money than months of honest hard 
 v/ork would bring him. 
 
 Whilst in prison he is apt to nourish a feeling of resent- 
 ment against the authorities and the community, a state of 
 mind very unfavourable to growth in virtue and morality. 
 In many cases — and especially if he belong to the less de- 
 praved class of offenders — he is worried by anxiety con- 
 cerning the interests and support of his family, who are 
 probably thrown upon charity for maintenance during his 
 incarceration. If, also, these relatives are — as is sometimes 
 the case — persons of respectable character, he is deprived of 
 their good influence, except through an occasional letter or 
 visit. And whilst he is temporarily placed out of the reach 
 of the temptations of former bad companions, he is also 
 separated from the needful discipline of ordinary life. He 
 listens to the sermons of the Chaplain, in praise of the 
 virtues of honesty and sobriety ; but inasmuch as he is no 
 longer in circumstances to exercise any practical self- 
 control against drunkenness or stealing, that which he 
 hears, or resolves, is peculiarly apt to be of an exceed-
 
 Prison Systems (jeno'cilhj TJjisatisfactorij. G3 
 
 ingly superficial and unreliable influence as to permanent 
 effect. 
 
 The adoption of cellular separation from evil (but not 
 from good) association during the shorter terms of confine- 
 ment, has been attended with marked advantages in prisons 
 in Great Britain, Holland, Belgium, Pennsylvania, and else- 
 where. But even in these cases it has not been in the 
 power of the authorities to obviate some of the grave evils 
 inseparable from any form of incarceration. The State, 
 as such, cannot make its officers in these or any other 
 prisons, religiously and morally competent for their func- 
 tions. The State often cannot secure the adequate amount 
 of instruction and good influence, either by oflficial or 
 voluntary helpers, for the reformation of prisoners. And 
 further, however useful cellular separation may be, as a 
 preventive of mischievous corruption from other criminals, 
 it does not afford a positive guarantee for improvement in 
 itself. It may prevent prisoners from getting worse (and 
 in most prisons, with association, they do get worse) 
 but it only makes them better, in so far as it is accompanied 
 by religious and secular instruction and industrial occupa- 
 tion. And even with all these, there will, of necessity, be 
 still lacking those tests and developing agencies of refor- 
 mation which are only afforded by the discipline of every- 
 day life and liberty. A prisoner in an association-jail is 
 like a man thrown amongst a group of lepers or plague- 
 stricken wretches. The inmate of a cellular prison is like 
 a child in leading-strings, or a birtl in a cage, with very im- 
 perfect or inadequate (pialification for free existence. The 
 chief function of the cell is deterrence, with the least danger 
 of further corrttjition. 
 
 For these and similar reasons it is the frequent if not the 
 general testimony of the most experienced prison officers, 
 that the actual reformation of an habitual prisoner, by 
 means of anij system of discipline, during incarceration, is a 
 rare occurrence. The Governor of a larire Enuiish convict
 
 G4 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 establishment remarked to the writer : " Our Chaplain is 
 a most painstaking minister, and he labours earnestly 
 amongst the men ; but where are the results ? If we had 
 a chaplain for every convict we could not reform these 
 criminals." Such an observation was far too pessimist 
 in its tone ; but, unfortunately, it resembled many utter- 
 ances of intelligent and observant custodians of habitual 
 offenders. On the other hand, it is an unquestionable 
 fact that occasionally there have been striking instances of 
 permanent reformation of character effected during impri- 
 sonment. But these are, admittedly, exceptions. 
 
 If imprisonment thus fails, in general, to secure reforma- 
 tion, it is only ethcacious, in a very limited degree, in regard 
 to deterrence. And it must be so, from its very nature and 
 from the necessary operation of the laws of habit upon the 
 human mind and constitution. 
 
 Repeatedly has the declaration been made by prison- 
 officers : " We have often noticed that when offenders — 
 especially the younger ones — first enter these walls, they 
 are overpowered by fear and apprehension. For a few days, 
 or even weeks, these feelings continue ; and then gradually 
 a change takes place. They begin to get accustomed to the 
 daily routine ; they are rallied by their companions, and 
 realise that, after all, a jail is not nearly so dreadful a 
 place as they had supposed it to be. On the contrarj', they 
 find that it furnishes them with some advantages which 
 they had never before enjoyed. Their fears are dispelled ; 
 and when their time of discharge arrives, they have become 
 not more, but less, in dread, than previously, of breaking 
 the law and meeting its penalties." Then, in such cases, it 
 is fairly a question whether the imprisonment has not done 
 more harm than good. For it is a most undesirable result 
 to remove the fear of law and the dread of penalty. 
 
 Where the imprisonment continues for very long periods, 
 a sullen apathy is the frequent if not general effect. Year 
 after year passing by, renders the prisoner less qualified
 
 Prison Systems (icncraUij JJnsatisfactorij. (jo 
 
 for freedom, and increasingly hardened in his sense of 
 hatred to authority and to mankind. The evil communi- 
 cations of his comrades tend to perpetuate and increase the 
 moral corruption of his heart. Almost the only voluntary 
 effort of any kind which he puts forth is, too often, the 
 cultivation of increasingly cunning endeavours to impose 
 upon the officers, to avoid punishments by a superficial 
 observance of routine regulations, and to practise as much 
 hypocrisy as possible. 
 
 The introduction, as in the British and various other 
 prisons, of the " good mark " system, followed by " con- 
 ditional LIBERATION " and the extension, as in some 
 American jails, of pardon after continued satisfactory 
 behaviour, are influences which, it must be admitted, have 
 materially modified and counteracted the deadening ten- 
 dencies of long imprisonment, by introducing some measure 
 of the stimulating effects of hope and reward. But even 
 these influences are of very limited power, in connection 
 with the disheartening tendencies of prolonged incar- 
 ceration. It is continually observed that the Avorst 
 criminals are apt to become, whilst in confinement, the 
 most plausibly obsequious and the most practically obedient, 
 from motives of self-interest. And, notwithstanding all 
 ameliorations, there is experienced an abundant proportion 
 of re-convictions and of relapses into crime, on the part of 
 offenders who have already undergone these protracted 
 imprisonments, and earned many _" good marks." They 
 have become, in fact, thoroughly habituated to the prison, 
 and thoroughly familiarised with its conditions. They have 
 practically realised the truth of the old saying that 
 " Familiarity breeds contempt." For surely, their frequent 
 returns to crime indicate a very genuine contempt, both of 
 the severest laws and of the longer terms of imprisonment. 
 
 " The Irish System " of the Past. 
 At intervals certain influential persons have considered
 
 €6 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 the desirability of devising some methods of punishment 
 ■which shall combine a due amount of deterrent impres- 
 sion with more reformatory training, and which shall be 
 at once less liable to the deadening and famiHarising 
 influences of routine and to the enfeebling paralysis 
 occasioned by a removal from all, or most of the moral 
 incitements of ordinary life. These were precisely the 
 objects sought to be achieved by the so-called " Irish 
 convict system" as it formerly existed. But it did 
 not, in its practical operation, materially differ from the 
 English convict system, after making allowance for the 
 exceptional facilities for Emigration from Ireland, and for 
 the especial influences of certain persons of superior ability 
 temporarily employed in the administration of the system ; 
 as, for example, the humane director, Sir Walter Crofton, 
 and the earnest agent for procuring employment for the 
 discharged convicts, Mr. James Orgax. Inasmuch, then, as 
 it did not differ from other penal systems, in so far as it 
 retained prolonged imprisonments and corrupting associa- 
 tion, it failed to secure exemption from the universally 
 accompanying evils of these arrangements. It was also 
 conclusively shown that the great diminution of convicts 
 which happened soon after the establishment of what was 
 popularly termed the " Irish " plan, was not at all peculiar 
 to the prisons that were administered upon that system. 
 
 For a remarkable and rapid diminution also took 
 place, simultaneously, in the numbers of the inmates 
 of the common or local jails in the counties and boroughs of 
 Ireland, where that special system was not at all practised, 
 and where, indeed, no change had taken place in the 
 previous routine of administration. The combined effect of 
 the passing away of the Irish Famine and the subsequent 
 vast emigration to America, at once tended to empty the 
 numerous jails where the Maconochie and Crofton system 
 had never been practised, and also the four or five estab- 
 lishments where it then existed. There w^as scarcely any
 
 Priso)) Si/atems gcncralli/ JInsatisf actor //. 67 
 
 virtual difference in the comparafive results, either of the 
 presence or absence, of that system, so far as the numbers 
 of Irish prisoners were affected. Indeed, during the 
 period in question, a similar diminution of the free popu- 
 lation of Ireland took place. The famine had caused 
 a rush of many of the starving people into all the 
 prisons, both convict and local. When it passed away, 
 their inmates again rapidly decreased. And further, it 
 is to be noted that after Sir Walter Crofton ceased to 
 direct the Irish convict prisons, they became worse 
 than those of Great Britain, rather than superior. Sir 
 W. Crofton wrote to the Prison Congress at Rome, in 
 1885 : " I wish it to be known at the Congress that I 
 have had nothing to do with the Irish prisons for many 
 years, and that I am entirely opposed to the system 
 pursued by the present Directors. The evil results of that 
 system are shown in the Report of the inquiry recently 
 made by the Royal Commission."'^ 
 
 The " Irish " plan, at its best, was no exception to the 
 general failure of all modes of congregate imprisonment. 
 Even the " intermediate " prison of the system, the open 
 farm at Lusk, near Dublin, did not, in any very special 
 way, prepare, for the ordinary conditions of free life, the 
 very small number of convicts (from 30 to 50) there 
 engaged in the cultivation of land and in quarrying. For 
 although they were not surrounded by walls, and although 
 they were occasionally sent into the village on errands, or 
 to attend church, yet, for practical purposes, they were as 
 completely shut in from the discipline and trials of ordinary 
 life as the inmates of other prisons. They were effectually 
 watched and guarded by means of officers, police, and tele- 
 graphs, and all of them being near the expiration of their 
 detention, any known misbehaviour would lead to the for- 
 
 '- Vide shocking evidence as to unnatural crime amongst Irish con- 
 riots, in " Report of Royal Commission on Penal Servitude Acts," 
 London. 1879, especially at pages 831-836. 
 
 f2
 
 '68 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 feiture of their money earnings, and would also involve an 
 extension of their punishment under more penal conditions. 
 Beyond all of which, the men were better fed and cared for 
 than thousands of the free peasantry outside. Grave charges 
 were made before the Royal Connnission, in 1879, against 
 the morals even of the selected convicts of Lusk. At the 
 end of 1887 the Government abandoned this distinctive relic 
 of the once unduly famed " Irish " convict system.* 
 
 Prison Mortality. 
 One of the various evils connected with prisons, is the 
 frequently observed tendenfcy of confinement to increase 
 the mortality amongst those subjected to it. Incarceration 
 is, at best, an unnatural condition. Two of the primary 
 conditions of health are the free access of air and sun>ihine. 
 But there is apt to be a special deficiency of these essentials 
 inside the high walls and narrow cells of most prisons. 
 The condition of the air, whetlier in cells, or in prison 
 workshops, is often so unhealthy, for want of adequate 
 ventilation, that although there are, of course, many excep- 
 tions, yet as a rule, prisons are peculiarly favourable to the 
 production of pulmonary disease. The mortality from this 
 one cause is, on the average, more than double that of the 
 general community. This has been noticed as a prevalent 
 feature of jails, in various lands and climates. The con- 
 stant breathing of the impure air, over and over again, 
 whether in separate cells, or associated wards, has a most 
 deleterious effect upon the lungs. (Pulmonary disease, even 
 in ordinary life, is most frequent where there is not a free 
 circulation of fresh air, both by day and by night.) It must 
 be further and especially remembered that much of the 
 unnatural mortality thus occasioned, finishes its deadly 
 work after the discharge of the prisoner, and so escapes 
 tabulation in connection with prison statistics. Even that 
 
 *'- The twenty-one convicts then remaining at Lusk were trans- 
 ferred, as a special class, to the Invalid Prison of Maryborough,
 
 Prison S//sf('nis genevalhj Unsatisfactory. G9 
 
 portion which is so tabulated, indicates a serious amount of 
 extra fataHty, which it is of importance to obviate, if it can 
 be done with suitable regard to the security of the commu- 
 nity. As to the mortality in some Indian jails and Southern 
 United States convict establishments, it has been appalling, 
 thus indicating criminal cruelty on the part of authorities. 
 
 Even in the English jails, where great care is taken of 
 the health of the inmates, it often happens that serious 
 physical injury is caused by comparatively brief imprison- 
 ments, especially in cases where persons, previously ac- 
 customed to wear flannels or chest-protectors have been 
 deprived of them, in accordance with either local or 
 general orders. Thus, in 1888, a representative of the 
 Fall Mall Gazette described his interview with a man 
 just liberated, after one month's detention in a Metro- 
 politan prison. He appeared " rather consumptive," and 
 had a " very bad cold." He explained the cause of this by 
 saying, " I am accustomed to wear a heavy chest-protector, 
 and they took it away. I applied to the doctor twice, but 
 it was no good ; and the cells were bitterly cold. The cold 
 has hit my chest." 
 
 Of course it may not unreasonably be pleaded that the 
 first and chief matter to be kept in view is not the health 
 of prisoners, but the security of the community and the 
 prevention of crime; and that, if a criminal subjects him- 
 self to peculiar evils and dangers in conse(|uence of his 
 offences, it is his own act. Further, it is essential for the 
 well-being of society that evil-doers shall either be re- 
 strained from their misdeeds, or absolutely prevented from 
 becoming nuisances to honest men. If the process involves, 
 through imprisonment, an exposure to special mortality, this 
 must be regarded as an adjunct and consequence of the 
 offender's own actions. He has mainly brought it upon 
 himself. All this has considerable weight of reason. 
 Nevertheless, it constitutes an additional ground for exa- 
 mination, whether the objects sought to be accomplished
 
 70 Fenological and Preventive Princijjles. 
 
 by long imprisonments, can, with equal efficacy, be effected 
 by other means. 
 
 Tkansportation and Pexal Labour in the Open. 
 
 In many countries the manifest evils of the constant 
 indoor labour of prisoners, and the tendency, imaginary or 
 partial, of such labour to come into competition with local 
 free industry, have led to attempts to employ criminals in 
 the cultivation of land, and in large parties or gangs, in the 
 open air. But here, again, other forms of grave inconve- 
 nience have, in most cases, presented themselves as being 
 almost inevitable consequences of such experiments. 
 
 Great Britain has had recourse to long penal detention 
 in establishments where the convicts were chiefly em- 
 ployed in the open air, both at home and abroad. In her 
 Australian Colonies, under the Transportation system, hun- 
 dreds of miles of roads were made by convict labour; 
 thousands of acres of wild land were reclaimed and culti- 
 vated ; bridges, wharves and buildings of excellent masonry 
 were constructed. Many useful public works were thus se- 
 cured. But this was done at an enormous moral and pecu- 
 niary cost, utterly disproportionate to the results obtained. 
 And whenever, or in so far as, this system was administered 
 with mercy, and tended to the restoration of the convicts 
 to the freedom and prosperity of ordinary life, it was also 
 found that such results produced a dangerous effect on the 
 home country, by diffusing amongst the criminal and 
 pauper classes an idea that transportation was a means of 
 attaining success and enjoyment. Hence, this naturally 
 became a strong inducement to crime. But on the other 
 hand, and far more generall}', the excessive severities of 
 the transportation system and the usual accompaniments of 
 the discipline of large bodies of the most violent offenders, 
 of both sexes, when removed from their country and from 
 efficient public oversight, repeatedly brought about the 
 most frightful consequences. The annals of Botany Bay,
 
 Prison Systems (jencralhj XJnsatisfadory. 71 
 
 Port Jackson, Norfolk Island, Macquarrie Harbour,* and 
 other Australian penal settlements, arc records of tyranny, 
 murder, suicide, executions, unnatural crime, blasphem}^ 
 and of perhaps some of the nearest approaches to pande- 
 monium ever seen on earth. The whipping-post and the 
 gallows were the characteristic and constant resources of 
 
 ■'- Australian Transportatiox. 
 
 Macquarrie Harbour was a British penal settlement in south- 
 west Tasmania. A missionary of the Society of Friends, G. W. 
 Walker, who visited it in 1832, stated that five-eighths of the deaths 
 there were caused by murders or accidents, and that even cannibalism 
 was an occasional feature of convict life, at that remote station,, 
 almost surrounded by the forests. He writes : — " We went into a 
 fissure of the rock, on the southern side, called ' Murderer's Cave,' in 
 consequence of the number of convicts who have been murdered 
 there. We were also shown the stains of blood that yet remained on 
 the floor of their large apartment, where a poor fellow-creature met 
 his fate very recently." In the convict burial-ground the inscription, 
 " murdered," was conspicuous by its frequency. Mr. Walker adds : — 
 " A considerable proportion of those murdered by their companions 
 are supposed to have been devoured by them ; for it is a horrid, but 
 undoubted fact, that on several occasions, when a party of men were 
 determined on taking to ' the bush,' some unsuspecting simple man 
 has been inveigled into the conspiracy, for the express purpose of 
 furnishing food." 
 
 The horrors of convict life in Norfolk Island were, perhaps, 
 worse than even those at Macquarrie Harbour. Captain Maconochie 
 introduced a temporary gleam of reform ; but reaction soon com- 
 menced, even under his well-meant efforts. The life of the convicts 
 during the voyage out to these settlements was also, in general, a 
 fearful time. Innumerable cruelties were committed in the holds of 
 the vessels by the prisoners. Scaldings, robbings, garottings, and 
 beatings were freely, and with general impunity to the perpetrators, 
 practised upon the weaker convicts. 
 
 During this Transportation period, there were amongst its adminis- 
 trators some exceptionally humane and aljlc persons, as, for example, 
 Governor Sir Wm. Denison, Surgeon-Superintendent Dr. Colin A. 
 Browning, and others. Their efforts for good were remarkably 
 efficacious within the reach of their own personal authority. But 
 the intrinsic rottenness of the system was too comprehensive to be 
 permanently, or generally, counteracted, even by the best of men.
 
 72 Penological and Preventive Princijjles. 
 
 the discipline. At length a crusade against these atrocities 
 was aroused, mainly through the labours of the apostolic 
 Bishop Willson, of Tasmania ; and outraged humanity, 
 both at home and in the colonies, indignantly compelled the 
 British Government to abandon a system where the worst 
 evils were found to be in existence — a system which 
 terminated amid lasting infamy. 
 
 On a small scale England has also tried the cultivation 
 of the land at home by some of her prisoners, as at Dart- 
 moor, where the authorities have farmed some hundreds 
 of acres around the penal establishment at Princetown. 
 But the results here, again, have been either seriously un- 
 satisfactory or ridiculously inadequate. Occasionally, the 
 convicts there have had to be shot down for yielding to 
 the undue temptations to escape, placed in their way by 
 labour on the open moorlands. And, in general, the scanty 
 crops and small-sized vegetables, produced after much costly 
 expendiiure, have been such as to cause the ridicule of 
 practical local agriculturists. Probably for every pound 
 of outlay there has resulted only a half-crown's worth of 
 production. 
 
 At Borstal Convict Prison, near Chatham, an experi- 
 ment hitherto unprecedented in the employment of prisoners 
 was for several years in operation. A narrow-gauge rail- 
 way, two miles in length, was constructed, for the exclusive 
 use of the prisoners, who were taken several times a day 
 to labour in the construction of forts at that distance from 
 the prison itself. But whether the forts or the labour 
 were worth all this outlay, may be fairly doubted. 
 
 French Transportation. 
 
 France has adopted penal agricultural occupation in 
 Cayenne, on a large scale, with the result of immense 
 mortality and enormous but wasted outlay. As to her 
 New Caledonian experiences the less said the better for 
 her reputation. The convicts from thence have been
 
 Prison Systems (jcncralhj TJnmtkf actor y, 73 
 
 continual sources of annoyance to the neighbouring free 
 communities of Australia. 
 
 In 1SS6 there was issued in Paris a book entitled, " Le 
 Bagne et la Colonisation Penale de la Nouvelle-Caledonie, 
 par un Temoin Oculaire." (Charles Bayle, publisher.) The 
 author was M. Leon Moncelon, an official delegate from 
 New Caledonia to the Government of the mother country. 
 His book is a vigorous protest against the almost incre- 
 dible abuses and corruptions which he describes as charac- 
 terising the whole system of transportation and penal 
 treatment in that island. He states that although, for 
 many years, France had increasingly consigned her refuse 
 criminality to New Caledonia, until at length she had more 
 than seven thousand convicts there, under the care of a 
 costly staff of officers, their labour, either for the colony or 
 for themselves, had scarcely been utilised, but on the 
 contrary, they had been permitted, as a body, to revel in 
 laziness, vice, and outrage. Even the simplest and most 
 necessary public works, such as the construction of bridges, 
 roads, buildings, and drains, had been scandalously neg- 
 lected. The streets and paths, close to the convict 
 quarters, had been allowed to remain in the condition of 
 open sewers. Under British management, transporta- 
 tion in Australia and Tasmania at least resulted in a 
 large amount of valuable and useful public work, espe- 
 cially bridges, road-making and building. But only a 
 trifling proportion of such serviceable labour has been 
 exacted by the French from their convicts in New Cale- 
 donia. In fact their mismanagement there has been, and 
 remains, a national scandal. 
 
 The most extraordinary laxity and license have been 
 granted to the worst of the off scouring of the mother country, 
 even to murderers and violators of the blackest dye. Im- 
 punity and indulgence have been allowed them, in place 
 of merited punishment of the severest kind. M. ]\Ioncelon 
 mentions the case of a convict sentenced to death three
 
 74 Penological and Preventive Princij)les. 
 
 times, for different crimes, but "who was thrice pardoned 
 and then liberated. In another instance, a female monster 
 who had killed her two children, was pardoned and per- 
 mitted to marry ; after which she murdered a third child. 
 Such are the wretches who, in New Caledonia, receive, 
 after a brief term of congregate imprisonment, free grants of 
 land, with tools, money, and a guaranteed maintenance for 
 two years and a-half, if needed, after their discharge from 
 their easy detention. They are also encouraged to marry 
 amongst themselves. 
 
 Thus murderers and murderesses, thieves and prostitutes, 
 are paired off, from time to time, with official and priestly 
 blessing. In 1884, one of these worthies, within forty- 
 eight hours of his marriage, attempted to cut off the head 
 of his bride, but was re-arrested amid his endeavours. 
 He however managed, after all, to escape into the bush, 
 where he set fire to some huts of the natives. The latter 
 often suffer terrible barbarities from the convicts. On the 
 whole, New Caledonia and the Isle of Pines appear to 
 approximate " hells upon earth." 
 
 Another witness, an Australian writer, Mr. JuLiAX 
 Tho:mas, in his work " Cannibals and Convicts " (London, 
 1886), remarks respecting French convicts in New Cale- 
 donia and the adjacent Islands : " At the 7:)e«iYtf; severs 
 arjricoles, where plots of land were given to ' good con- 
 duct' men, and wives allotted to them, there was, and is, a 
 condition of society as abominable as ever existed in the 
 Cities of the Plain. One cannot, to English readers, hint 
 at the infamies which are increasing." (p. 128.) 
 
 Secrecy and Prison Abuses, in General. 
 In every country of civilized Europe, the prison systems 
 have more or less tended to develop abuses. It may be 
 replied that such must obviously be the case, inasmuch as 
 human nature is essentially fallible ; and that every kind 
 of institution must necessarily, from the constitution of
 
 Prison Si/stems r)cncraU)j Unsatisfactory. 75 
 
 mundane affairs, be more or less defective. Of course, 
 prisons participate in this tendency ; but the point to be re- 
 garded is, that for various reasons, there has always been a 
 special liability to abuses in connection with these establish- 
 ments. This results mainly from the degree of secrecy 
 which must almost inevitahlij accompany the recesses of jail 
 life. In some countries, there is little, if any, regular in- 
 spection, even on the part of the central Government. In 
 other lands, where a good measure of such vigilance is 
 maintained over many of the prisons, it often happens that 
 some of these institutions, or certain of the departments 
 and arrangements connected with them, still elude due 
 control ; and thus gross neglect, or cruelty, takes place. 
 
 English Court House Detextiox. 
 
 One of the most striking illustrations of this tendency 
 was afforded, in 1887, by the issue of the official Report of 
 a Committee, appointed by the English Secretary of State 
 for the Home Department, to enquire into the condition of 
 the places of detention for untried prisoners in the Court 
 Houses, where Quarter Sessions and Assizes are held. 
 This Committee included one of the Judges (Sir A. 
 Wills), Colonel Sir E. F. Du Cane, Sir Eobert N. 
 EowLER, Bart., M.P., and two other gentlemen. Their 
 Report astonished the public and excited the indignant pro- 
 tests of the Press. 
 
 For it was shown that, after more than a century of 
 active legislation and philanthropic effort for the improve- 
 ment of criminal treatment, and after a vast expenditure 
 of money on Royal Commissions, Inspectors and Police, a 
 shocking series of abuses still prevailed in many of the 
 principal towns of the Kingdom, and under the eyes, pre- 
 sumably, of magisterial and corporate bodies, who had been 
 regarded as models of local administrative wisdom. But 
 the " dark places " around, or beneath them, even within a
 
 76 Penological and Prcirniice Principles. 
 
 few yards of their habitual presence, were, meanwhile, 
 literal " habitations of cruelty." 
 
 This Government Committee stated that onl}'' a few of 
 the 189 Court Houses of England and Wales, were in a 
 really satisfactory state ; whilst they added " Many are as 
 bad as they can well be. And it is not too much to say 
 of some of these, that, in them, nearly every requisite of 
 humanity and even of common decency is wanting." The 
 Committee recorded that in some Courts " the worst evils of 
 that promiscuous association, against which it has been a 
 primary object of modern prison-discipline to guard, must 
 be encountered for hours and even days together, by 
 children, women and men, who may be, and some of whom 
 are, innocent'' 
 
 In other places the persons awaiting trial were kept 
 separate, "but by means which appear to be capable of 
 amounting to positive torture," that is to say, by locking 
 them up in narrow cells, or rather cupboards, less than a 
 yard square ! Some of these were dark, damp and cold ; 
 others overheated with gas and very deficient in ventilation. 
 Many of them had no seats for the inmates, others only 
 seats of stone, or iron. 
 
 The Committee added, in regard to the separation of the 
 sexes, that " even this elementary requisite of decency and 
 good order is not always provided for." They continued : 
 " In some cases the offices of nature, if performed at all, 
 must be performed in the presence of from two to eight or 
 ten spectators, and the odours of the closet, or pail, must be 
 added to the products of the gas burner, and to the neces- 
 sary exhalations of humanity ! " Places characterized by 
 this shocking indecency were named. Of one of them 
 it was stated : " At the City Court where there are 
 sometimes four prisoners, there is an earth-closet for pri- 
 soners and warders. There is not so much as a screen 
 to isolate the person using it. At another place where five 
 are sometimes confined together, an earth closet in the
 
 Prison Systems (jcncraJhj TJnsatisf actor y. 77 
 
 middle of the cell, without any partition or screen, is the 
 accommodation." Elsewhere, in certain localities named, the 
 Committee report that " there is no water-closet, or privy, 
 or other accommodation of any sort." 
 
 In such places and under such conditions, for hours or 
 days, children and young women, many of them virtuous 
 and absolutely innocent, have been crowded together with 
 thieves, prostitutes, and all manner of vile characters. In 
 addition to this, during the transit from the jails to the 
 Court houses, or from prison to prison, many of these 
 persons, innocent and guilty alike, have been habitually 
 subjected to the company and insults of the vilest offenders. 
 
 The Home Office Committee were informed, by the 
 governor of a large jail, from which the prisoners have to 
 be taken a considerable distance to and from the court 
 in a non-cellular van, " that he thought any decent man 
 would gladly compound for that ride by a month's im- 
 prisonment." The report remarks that the miseries of vile 
 association, in the court-cells and waiting rooms, and on the 
 way to and from them, " must be, to a respectable man or 
 woman, mental or moral torture." And it is added, " What 
 are we to say as to its influence upon boys and girls I " 
 
 It is particularly to be remembered that this Committee 
 disclosed abuses which have gone on, for generations, in 
 places where many excellent and observant magistrates and 
 philanthropists have been i-csiding. Seeing that the gross 
 abuses laid bare in this official report, had long continued 
 uninterruptedly, up to 1887,* in England, with its unsur- 
 passed public freedom, private beneficence and newspaper 
 and official vigilance, what ground is there for surprise at 
 the existence of prison abominations in despotic Russia, 
 Morocco, or Turkey ? f 
 
 * Of course, the publication of the Report has caused material 
 improvements in these English Court Houses since 1887. 
 
 + In the London Christian, of June 17, 1887, Professor de Launay, 
 Ph.D. (whom the writer met in 1888), is quoted as stating that within 
 his own recollection, horrible secret murders Avere committed by the
 
 78 PenoJogkal and Preventive Prineip/es. 
 
 Wherever there are prison walls and wards, there is 
 almost inevitably involved a dangerous secrecy of administra- 
 tion, arising either from the absence of adequate inspection, 
 or from the frequent inertia and habitual optimism of the 
 officials concerned. Whilst the British Inspectors of 
 prisons were regularly visiting those establishments, the 
 Court Houses were exempt from their examination. But 
 meanwhile, even in the inspected prisons, from time to time, 
 circumstances have transpired which have given ground 
 for o-reat public dissatisfaction, and have awakened suspi- 
 cions as to further possible evils which may have continued 
 to be effectually concealed. 
 
 Dr. Wixes ox Dark Places. 
 
 The late Dr. E. C. Wines, of New York, who had probably 
 visited prisons more extensively than any other man in the 
 United States, and who was by no means a severe critic, 
 has well remarked in his great work on " The State of 
 Prisons," (Cambridge, U.S., 1880,) " The dark places of the 
 .earth are full of cruelty— and prisons are exceedingly dark 
 
 places in the sense of being screened from observation. 
 
 Their walls are as effectual in keeping critics out as in 
 keeping culprits in. The class of officials, who look upon 
 the inmates of their institutions as mere subjects for dis- 
 cipline and severity, have a thousand ways of evading any 
 real supervision, or any searching scrutiny." (page 623.) 
 There is, and always must be, a certain extent to which 
 these words are apphcable to every description of jails and 
 places of detention, whether comparatively bad or good, as 
 to their general aspects. 
 
 authorities of the " Holy " Inquisition at Rome. A personal friend of 
 his o-wn, M. Reze, thus disappeared, after being taken into ecclesias- 
 tical custody. Cardinal Mezzofanti is also quoted as having borne 
 testimony to awful secret assassinations in Rome, in the name 
 of religion, even in the nineteenth century, in certain dark places of 
 quasi "sacred " cruelty.
 
 Prison Sijstcms (jcncmlhj Unsatisfadorij. 79 
 
 Only certain approximate remedies can be secured in 
 reference to the dangers of abuse in prisons, especially in 
 those which are located in places remote from cities. It is, 
 however, of primary necessity that the work of Inspection 
 and the reception of Appeals, in regard to abuses, should 
 never be exclusively vested in the central authorities, or in 
 the actual administrators of the prison department. In 
 some way or other there should be provision for some In- 
 dependent Representatives of the local Press and of the 
 local respectable Population to have access, under reason- 
 able conditions, to the prisoners of every class. Very little 
 has, as yet, been permitted effectually, in this direction, in 
 any country. It should be practically recognised, as a fun- 
 damental axiom, that no executive department, and least 
 of all a largely secret one, can be safely entrusted with the 
 chief or sole exercise of inspection over its own sphere 
 of action. That should be placed, somewhere, clearly out- 
 side of its own influence. But how rarely and to how small 
 an extent has this been provided for, in regard to prisons 
 and their inmates, even in Great Britain. Hence, more 
 than a few prisoners have been seriously injured, and 
 subjected to injustice and oppression. 
 
 American Prison Abuses. 
 
 Whilst the prison systems of the Old World have been so 
 generally characterised by defect and failure, the experi- 
 ences of the great Transatlantic Republics, in this depart- 
 ment, have been, in some respects, even more unsatisfac- 
 tory. The populations of the American States have included 
 such a large infusion of the wildest elements from Europe, 
 that there has prevailed amongst them a far too general 
 sympathy with license and disorder, or at least a too 
 frequent reluctance to impose upon the vicious and the 
 violent those stern restraints, and that salutarily unplea- 
 sant discipline, which are absolutely necessary to protect 
 the honest and industrious classes from being made a prey
 
 80 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 of, and to shield from outrage and cruelty the virtue of 
 women and the innocent weakness of children. 
 
 Hence there has often been manifested in America, and 
 not least in the United States, that grandest and dominant 
 nation of the New World, a combination of mischievous 
 laxity and indifference in regard to offenders. Whilst the 
 infliction of direct physical cruelties upon prisoners has 
 been more zealously guarded against in some of these 
 democratic States than in European countries, the ex- 
 treme license often secured for criminals has resulted in 
 immense injury to the virtuous and orderly portions of 
 the community. 
 
 Popular Transatlantic sentiment, in reference to law- 
 breakers, has been represented by three sets of opinion. 
 First, and most extensively, an easy indifference or reck- 
 lessness, as to crime-prevention in general, and as to its re- 
 pression in particular, except by such means as involve the 
 cheapest temporary removal of absolutely insupportable 
 offenders. Secondly, maudlin sentimentality on the part 
 of many well-meaning persons, who have ignorantly sought 
 to improve upon the Divine wisdom, and upon the opera- 
 tion of the fundamental laws of moral discipline, by render- 
 ing the condition and treatment of evil-doers a positive 
 source of encouragement to themselves and of strong 
 temptation to those who are struggling to remain honest 
 and thrifty. There are few forms of cruelty ultimately 
 more fruitful in suffering than this action of certain quasi- 
 philanthropists, or religionists, who thus render more 
 smooth and easy the downward path of the thief, the 
 wilful vagrant, and the ruffian. The slothful and self- 
 flattering indulgence accorded by such persons under the 
 guise of a false " charity " and a spurious " piety," is 
 responsible for a large amount of terrible suftering in the 
 shape of murder, rape, robbery, and fraud, perpetrated 
 upon the best portions of the community by those whose 
 reformation and deterrence have been alike sacrificed to
 
 Prison Systems cjcneyalhj Unsatisfactory. 81 
 
 this cruel laxity. The United States have probably a 
 larger proportion of this spurious philanthropy than any 
 European nation. 
 
 Thirdly, there is in America a minority, and happily an 
 increasing one, who, with wisdom and true humanity, are 
 striving, by judiciously discriminative action, to deliver 
 their country from the evils of criminality. They have 
 been represented by such persons as the Hon. Edward 
 Livingston (Secretary of State); by the Pennsylvanian 
 prison-reformers, as Caleb Lownes, W. Bradford, Philip 
 C. Garrett, E. Townshexd, R. Vaux, J. J. Lytle, M. J. 
 Cassidy, J. J. Barclay, Dr. C. Wistar, Dr. Ourt, J. T. 
 Milligan, J. W. Leeds; and by such able exponents of 
 penological science as Professor Francis Wayland, and 
 the two Pillsburys, of Connecticut ; H. G. Grady of Geor- 
 gia; Charles F. Coffin, of Indiana; C. D. Randall, 
 C. V. R. Pond, Robert A. Pinkerton, Israel C. Jones, 
 W. Humphrey, E. H. Hickox, Henry W. Lord, J.Nichol- 
 son, of Michigan ; Thomas Eddy, Isaac T. Hopper, Isaac 
 V. Baker, C. D. Warner, C. D. Kellog, Dr. Fosgate, 
 Dr. LiEBER, Charles L. Brace, W. P. Letchworth, 
 W. M. F. Round, Dr. E. C. Wines, Hon. H. Seymour and 
 A. A. Brush, of New York ; Dr. F. H. Wines, Charles 
 E. Felton, G. Maclaughrey and J. W. Plummer, of 
 Illinois; F. B. Sanborn, G. W. Cable, G. Tuffts and 
 W. F. Spalding, of Massachusetts ; E. T. Dooley, Mr. 
 WooDWORTH, and E. R. Highton, of California ; General 
 Brinkerhoff, Ex-President Hayes, and Dr. A. G. Byers, 
 of Ohio ; A. O. Wright and A. E. Elmore, of Wisconsin ; 
 Nelson Yiall, and Samuel Austin, of Rhode Island; 
 G. S. Griffith, of Maryland ; F. S. Dodge, of New Hamp- 
 shire ; S. Allinson, of New Jersey; G. S. Bean and 
 W. Rice, of Maine; H. H. Hart and Dr. M. G. Dana, 
 of Minnesota ; Dr. P. D. Sims, of Tennessee ; and others 
 of the past and present, in various parts of the country. 
 These earnest workers have directed much attention to the 
 
 G
 
 82 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 means both of the prevention and repression of crime and 
 pauperism. Their aims have found special support, of a 
 collateral nature, from the advocates of Temperance, by 
 means mainly of moral suasion, as for example the late 
 John B. Gough, and also F. F. Elmendorf, and Andrew 
 Paxton of Chicago (the chief organisers of the very useful 
 Law and Order League, of the United States). 
 
 Such valuable bodies as the " National Prison Associa- 
 tion of the United States," the smaller local societies for 
 similar objects at New York, Philadelphia, and elsewhere, 
 the " United States Social Science Association," and also 
 the various " State Boards of Charities and Correction " 
 have rendered most important services in the direction of 
 penal reform, and constitute centres for the co-operation 
 of many of the best men and women in the country. 
 
 But there still remains to be accomplished a vast work 
 of education of the popular American mind in order to 
 bring general sentiment to a healthy condition in regard to 
 the prevention and treatment of crime. Powerful currents 
 of morbid feeling are still mischievously prevalent. That 
 this is the case, was afresh illustrated at the National 
 Prison Congress at Atlanta, Georgia, in 1886, a gathering 
 which was described as the largest assemblage of the kind 
 ever held in either Continent. Some excellent addresses 
 and papers were forthcoming on the occasion ; ^but there 
 ■was also so much morbid sentimentality propounded that 
 one of the chief speakers complained^that the Congress 
 " had gone off into the region of gush." A number of 
 foolish suggestions were made in favour'of continuing and 
 even increasing the practice of pampering [criminals in 
 prison. Dr. F. H. Wines wisely protestedj[against this 
 course, as having been already carried to a pernicious 
 extreme in various States. He remarked, " Thejfare in 
 some prisons is alarmingly good. At one jail he had found 
 that, for breakfast, the inmates had beefsteaks, hot bis- 
 cuits, butter, and, in general, a bill of fare that would do
 
 Prison Si/stcms (jcncndhj Uimdisfacfonj. 85 
 
 credit to an hotel. For dinner they often had pies, after a 
 full list of substantial ; and preserves were frequently- 
 given to the prisoners with their tea." 
 
 The dietary, even in that which may be regarded as the 
 best prison in the United States, the cellular State prison 
 at Philadelphia, must often be a subject of envy to the 
 poorest classes outside. A description of it, in Dr. F. H. 
 Wines' International Record, February, 1888, says, "The food 
 is most wholesome and substantial, consisting of mutton- 
 stews, baked pork and beans, vegetable soup, sauer-kraut 
 and ham ; and on Sundays excellently baked beef -pie." It 
 is also remarked that, in the same prison, " The men are 
 allowed every weekly newspaper puljlished," and that 
 " musical instruments of every description, excepting the 
 cornet and drum, are permitted, and every evening, from 
 six to nine o'clock, the prisoners make the night hideous 
 with their combinations of musical airs." They also have a 
 library of ten thousand volumes. This prison has 725 
 cells ; but in 1888 the number of inmates was more than 
 1,000, so that some cells contained more than one inmate. 
 The establishment is effectually guarded at night ; for it is 
 further added that " Twenty-three of the most tremendous 
 Siberian blood-hounds and bull-dogs howl and snap out, 
 night after night, tlieir horrible cries of warning, as they 
 run in and out between the blocks in their desperate 
 search for human blood." 
 
 Not long before the date of the Congress of Atlanta, an 
 observant English traveller, Mr. William Saunders (some- 
 time M.P.) recorded, after a visit to America, " The Eastern 
 United States are overrun by a set of sturdy beggars. It 
 is dangerous to walk after nightfall (in the city suburbs) 
 for these wild men. Throughout the country districts 
 tramps walk into houses, sit down unceremoniously, and 
 demand assistance, at the risk of the barn and haystacks 
 being fired. If, at length, a man is sent to prison, he finds 
 it a little paradise, where all his earthly wants are anti- 
 
 g2
 
 84 Penological and Preventive Princij)les. 
 
 cipated and his intellectual and spiritual aspirations duly 
 provided for. As for food, he gets the best the country- 
 can produce, served with such cleanliness and attention 
 as would cause any hotel to be crowded. When a friend 
 was driving me home, I remarked, ' How many ladies you 
 see driving in America ! ' ' Yes,' he said, ' you see a good 
 many, especially on this road, which leads to the gaol ; 
 they are constantly going there to visit their friends.' " Mr. 
 Saunders added — " Robbery is so easy in America that it 
 requires but little ability to succeed in that line ; and yet 
 great robbers are generally regarded as heroes. One of 
 these robbers, who, it was estimated, had ruined more 
 widows and orphans than any other scoundrel in New 
 York, was sentenced to five years' imprisonment. The 
 judge was so affected, on passing sentence, that he blub- 
 bered profusely ; and the whole court wept. The absurd 
 deo'ree of tenderness manifested towards criminals in the 
 States is the most serious feature in connection with the 
 subject of fraud." (" Through the Light Continent," p. 369.) 
 But such offenders as these pestiferous tramps and ruinous 
 villains, when occasionally caught, are pampered, at least 
 in many American jails, in the manner already described ! 
 
 A paper by a popular American author, Mr. C DUDLEY 
 Wakner, in the iVew Princeton Review, 1887, characterised 
 many of the United States' prisons as being "still bar- 
 barous in management," whilst others which are accounted 
 "model" jails, and as under specially humane manage- 
 ment, " soften the rigours of imprisonment by means of 
 entertaining lectures and readings, concerts, holidays, anni- 
 versary dinners, flowers and marks, for obedience to rules, 
 which shorten the term of confinement." But, the reviewer 
 significantly asks, in regard to the extreme indulgence of 
 the latter class of establishments, "Do these reformed 
 prisons reform ? " He shows that there is justification for 
 the views of a wise minority of the population, who hold 
 " that all this better lodo-ino: and better feedinoj of convicts
 
 Prison S//sfems generallij Unsatisf actor ij. 85 
 
 is nonsense, became it does not diminish the volume of crime" 
 Mr. Warner continues — " The American public mind has 
 not yet come to have any faith in the ' reforming ' influ- 
 ence of our ' improved prisons.' Why should it ? " He 
 further exposes the unwisdom of the course adopted, both 
 in the United States and Great Britain, of repeated short 
 sentences on habitual offenders, for whom, he says, "We 
 pay immense sums for a police to watch men and women, 
 perfectly well known to be criminals, lying in wait to rob 
 and murder ; and other immense sums to catch and try, 
 over and over again, these criminals, who are shut up for 
 short terms, well cared for, physically rehabilitated, and 
 then sent out to continue their prowling warfare against 
 society." 
 
 The extreme laxity extended to the criminal and vicious 
 classes, in the United States, is often accompanied by a 
 disregard to their moral reformation, which practically 
 results in much cruelty, especiall}^ in the larger convict 
 establishments of the South, wliich include a considerable 
 proportion of negroes and mulattoes. 
 
 "Leased Out" Convicts of the South. 
 
 In some of the Southern States a system has long been 
 adopted of "farming out" all, or most of the convicts, to 
 contractors, for labour in the open air, cliietiy on planta- 
 tions, or in the construction of railways and canals, or the 
 working of coal mines. These States virtually conclude — 
 " We will not burden ourselves with the outlay of a dollar 
 for the support of our rogues. They shall maintain them- 
 selves, at whatever cost to them, whether of life or limb, 
 ■ even if the result ruins them body and soul. And if they 
 are re-committed they shall be sent for a further long 
 period to re-undergo the same process. If they are worked 
 to death in conseqiience, let it be so. That is for them to
 
 ■^G Fenolorjkal and Frei-entive Principles. 
 
 calculate. It is no matter of ours. We are determined 
 to be rid of them ; and, whatever the criminals may suffer, 
 they shall not have our shoulders to bear them up, or our 
 purses to pay for their deeds." 
 
 Hence some of these States have been able entire/// to 
 dispense tvith any regular administration of convict prisons. 
 And they have, by leasing out all the convicts at so much 
 per head to private speculators and contractors, managed 
 repeatedly to obtain an absolute profit, or net revenue, 
 from the whole body of criminals. The system has the 
 merit of being cheap, at least in its immediate operation. 
 And in many instances it may have resulted in removing 
 habits of inveterate laziness. For these Southern States 
 have had little scruple as to the competition of their cri- 
 minals with free labour. One American prison governor 
 wisely remarked, " We put the house-breaker and the 
 robber, the sneak-thief and the pickpocket, into open com- 
 petition with honest men in the community around them. 
 We do this exactly. For it was their previous trying to 
 live l)y vice, without competing in the fields of productive 
 labour, which was just the essential cause of the crimes for 
 which they are sent here. We make a short end of that." 
 
 The Southern States generally make a speedy end of 
 this vicious exemption from that competitive productive 
 labour which is the divine ordinance for individual and 
 civil occupation. But then they do this also by means of 
 a most unwarrantable amount of cruelty, and by a neglect 
 of their own duties. 
 
 In 1884 and 1885, Mr. G. S. Griffith, the President of 
 the Maryland Discharged Prisoners' Aid Society, sent to 
 the English Howard Association, reports of visits made by 
 him to some of the Southern States, where the convicts 
 are leased out to contractors. He noticed that one per- 
 nicious tendency of this system is to encourage a merciless 
 prevalence of terribly long sentences. Even little children, 
 in the South, and of both sexes, are committed to this
 
 Prison Systems gcncralhj Unsatisfactory. 87 
 
 virtual slavery, for protracted terms ; often for the most 
 trivial offences. The reports alluded to, showed that out 
 of 1,243 convicts leased out in Georgia, 100 were boys 
 from 10 to 16 years of age; and 400 from 16 to 20 years. 
 In one convict establishment, two little boys were found 
 under sentence of five years for stealing a box of cigars. 
 They were in association with the most atrocious char- 
 acters. In these establishments, very inadequate attention 
 is paid to the separation even of the sexes. Many wretched 
 infants are born in them. Gross immorality is frequent, 
 both on the part of officers and convicts. At night, the 
 latter are shut up in strong stockades, guarded by blood- 
 hounds and by watchmen parading around w^ith revolvers, 
 which the}'' freely use with deadly effect, in cases of at- 
 tempts to escape. In the construction of railways, the 
 convicts are also lodged, at night, in stockades, or in wag- 
 gons, and are guarded by dogs and armed patrols. But the 
 mortality and the attempts to escape are alike excessive. 
 The reports already quoted, state that at one convict esta- 
 blishment, in North Carolina, during the preceding two 
 years, out of 1,966 convicts, 237 escaped ; 140 died ; and 9 
 were killed while trying to escape. 
 
 Subsequent experiences of the leasing-out system show 
 its continuing evil results. 
 
 The official State Report of convict disposal in Texas 
 (issued in 1887), for the two years 1885-1886, records, for 
 that period, the commitment of " a much larger number of 
 convicts than were ever before received in the same length 
 of time." There were 236 successful escapes from the con- 
 vict camps and gangs, in that State, during those two 
 years ; including one instance where two men " heavily 
 armed with Winchester rifles," arrived amongst a group of 
 prisoners whose guards were only armed with " shot guns," 
 and liberated 36, of whom 8 were not re-captured. In 
 another part of Texas, two other desperadoes managed to 
 release 14 convicts. The same oflficial report mentions that
 
 88 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 out of 221 deaths of prisoners, in the two years, " 18 were 
 killed outright." These and many similar statements, it 
 must be borne in mind, are made on official authority, and 
 may be regarded as being specially favourable representa- 
 tions of the real condition of American convict camps and 
 gangs. But what tragedies and cruelties, what scenes of 
 despair and misery, do they imply ! 
 
 The New York International Record of Prisons and 
 Charities, in 1887, describing the horrors of the Southern 
 States convict camps, remarks, " It is barbarous to confine 
 women in the same prison-pens with a horde of desperate 
 ruffians who respect nothing under heaven." The same 
 issue of that journal contained a memorial from some of 
 the ladies of Georgia addressed to their State Legislature, 
 in which they plead that " There can be no apology for a 
 system which places the lash and the musket in irrespon- 
 sible hands [that is, of any negro, or white man, whom the 
 contractors may choose to employ as overseer] ; which sub- 
 stitutes vicious criminals for guards ; which chains together 
 all grades of convicts ; which has neither mercy for child- 
 hood, nor protection for the sex of females ; where no 
 elevating tendencies are encouraged ; where few reforma- 
 tory influences are allowed ; and where brutal instincts are 
 given full play, provided the work of a brute is per- 
 formed." 
 
 As to Tennessee, in 1885, the Chairman of the State 
 Board of Health, Dr. P. D. Sims, issued an official report, 
 protesting against the terrible mortality amongst the con- 
 victs of that State. In one of its prisons the annual death 
 rate was 147 per 1,000 ! Dr. Sims records, amongst other 
 official declarations, " Before these figures, humanity stands 
 ao-hast, and our boasted civihzation must hide her face in 
 shame. We are appalled at their enormity. The once 
 proud State of Tennessee, chivalrous and public-spirited, 
 stands to-day before the world a self-convicted murderer." 
 These are not the words of a prejudiced foreigner, but the
 
 Prison Sj/sfems rjencrallij Unsatisfactory. 89 
 
 official assertions of one of the chief functionaries of the 
 State. 
 
 Such is the treatment of many thousands of prisoners, in 
 various States of the great American Union, in the last 
 quarter of the Nineteenth Century ! 
 
 American Local Jails. 
 
 Amongst the more than fifty millions of people in that 
 vigorous young nation, which has had the advantage of 
 observing all the successes and failures of penal experi- 
 ments in the older countries of the world, it appears that 
 not only the convict establishments, but the ordinary local 
 jails have been, and still are, with some favourable excep- 
 tions, failures, in view of the chief objects of imprisonment. 
 The most reliable statistics of the United States indicate a 
 more rapid increase of crimes and imprisonments, than of 
 the general population. And the most patriotic and best 
 informed of American citizens publicly deplore the scan- 
 dalous inefficiency of their smaller prisons. The Executive 
 Committee of the National Prison Association of the United 
 States, in their official report of the St. Louis Prison Con- 
 gress, issued not longer ago than 1874, signed by Dr. E. C. 
 Wines, as Secretary, used these remarkable and emphatic 
 words : — 
 
 " If, by some supernatural process, our two thousand 
 jails could be unroofed, and the scenes they conceal be thus 
 instantly exposed to our view, a shriek would go up from 
 this congress and this country, that would not only reach 
 every nook and corner of the land, but be heard, in Scrip- 
 ture phrase, ' to the very ends of the earth ' ! There might, 
 and would, be a few cheering spots, little oases scattered 
 here and there, in the wide desert of obscenity, profanity, 
 wretchedness, filth, enforced idleness, seething corruption, 
 and dreary moral desolation, that would, at all points, 
 meet the gaze and make every nerve quiver with horror."
 
 90 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 So much for the best American information on United 
 States jails, as recently as 1874. 
 
 About ten years later, in the North American Review, 
 for July, 1883, Mr. Z. R. Brockway, Governor of Elmira 
 State Penitentiary, New York, a man probably unsurpassed 
 in his experience of American prison management, declared 
 " The American jails of to-day are, with here and there an 
 exception, substantially what Howard, in the 18th century, 
 found English jails to be." 
 
 A similar general condemnation of American jails 
 appeared in the twelfth annual report of the Ohio Board 
 of State Charities, issued in 1888. That Board included 
 the Governor of that influential and highly advanced 
 State, together with General Brinkerhoff, Mr. W. H. Neff, 
 Mr. A. G. Byers, and other gentlemen. They report, " Of 
 all the public institutions in America, the county jails are 
 the most unsatisfactory ; and our Ohio jails are not an 
 exception to the rule. Compared with other States, we 
 have doubtless made more progress than any other ; but 
 we are still so far behind the best experience of the world, 
 that we have but very little to boast of. With less than 
 half-a-dozen exceptions, every jail in Ohio is a moral pest- 
 house and a school of crime!'' This in 1888, and in one of 
 the most advanced States ! 
 
 MOEE A:HERICAN TESTIMONIES AS TO NaTIOXAL NeGLECT. 
 
 In the New York International Record (1887), an intelli- 
 gent Californian, Mr. E. T. Dooley, of San Francisco, 
 described the very rudimentary condition of charitable and 
 penal administration, even in the great Pacific State. He 
 remarked, " We have been working, in California, in the 
 main, not merely on wrong theories, but really according to 
 no idea, other than that every social wrong demands an 
 institution as its remedy ! That there can be any science 
 behind any properly conducted charitable work, seems not
 
 Prison Systems (jcneralhj Unsatisfactory. 91 
 
 to have occurred to most of us. Our inclination has been 
 to look with suspicion at those who suggest the substitution 
 of principle for impulse, in dealing with the unfortunate. 
 As a consequence, we have been pursuing methods barren 
 of good results." The same writer continues, " Our county 
 jails, all over this coast, are pest-houses and breeding places 
 of crime, in which unfortunates are indiscriminately herded, 
 without regard to age, sex, offence, or sanitary law. The 
 City Prison of San Francisco can only be said to be better 
 than the Black Hole of Calcutta. The State prisons are 
 unwieldy establishments. There is in them no classification 
 of prisoners." He added statistics showing the excessive 
 development of pauperism and crime in California, in con- 
 sequence of what he terms its " legislation devoid of science 
 or sense," and its well-meant but practically mischievous 
 and most costly array of " institutions, huge, densely-packed 
 caravanseries." If this was a true picture of matters in 
 the splendid State of California, in 1887, more than a 
 century after John Howard's death, it is not to be wondered 
 at, if less progressive American States are in no better 
 condition. 
 
 Mr. Dooley's reference to the transatlantic necessity for 
 a scientific administration of charitable and penal insti- 
 tutions, by wise principle rather than by mere impulse, 
 is worthy of universal consideration. It also points to the 
 need which exists in the United States for more permanent 
 officials, and also for a leisured class of thoughtful and 
 independent social reformers. Constant change of oftice 
 and unintermitting apj)lication to money-making, foster 
 costly ignorance and blundering haste in legislation and 
 philanthropy. 
 
 At a Prison Congress held at St. Louis, in 188-i, 
 Mr. William M. F. Round, the intelligent secretary, at 
 that date, of the New York Prison Association, read a 
 paper condemnatory of the outrageous condition of the 
 county jails of the United States. He was supported in
 
 92 Penolorjival and Preventive Principles. 
 
 his statements by several of the most intelligent men at 
 the Congress, including the ex-Governor of the State of 
 Kentucky. Nevertheless, so unacceptable to the assembly 
 was this faithful picture, that a local journalist remarked, 
 " At the conclusion of his paper, Mr. Round was, no doubt, 
 the most unpopular man in the Congress." The public, in 
 America, desire that their institutions should only be de- 
 picted in roseate tints, however black the reality may be. 
 
 The worst of jail abuses have been introduced into, and 
 perpetuated in some of the youngest States of the Union. 
 For example, the official report, for 1884, of the State 
 Board of Minnesota, contained striking revelations of then 
 existing horrors in the jails of that State. The vilest men 
 and women were allowed free conversation in some of these. 
 The same report remarks : " Ramsay county jail has 
 swarmed with vei-min, bed-bugs infesting the cells, whilst 
 cockroaches over-run the prisoners' food. Goodline county 
 jail is a stinking cellar. Douglas county has two dun- 
 geons literally underground, like the coal cellars under city 
 pavements." And so on, in many other instances named. 
 The defective drainage of many of these prisons is horrible. 
 Vermin, darkness, and filth are common characteristics. 
 In Winona city jail, the basement was appropriated to 
 tramps. " Apparently the place had not been cleaned for a 
 long time." In another jail, " Five prisoners have escaped 
 through the ventilator, which still remains unprotected." 
 The tramps, however, enjoy the dirty lazy life in many of 
 these dens, because they have fire, good food, cards, tobacco 
 and whisky. But to the more respectable or still un- 
 hardened prisoner, such places and the horrible conversation 
 are means of torture. Dr. F. H. Wines, of Illinois, mentions 
 that in one of the prisons of that State, " a white man and 
 a black woman, taken up on the charge of adultery were 
 given the liberty of the entire jail ! " 
 
 In many American States, and even in Canada, inno- 
 cent witnesses of grave crimes are sometimes imprisoned
 
 Prison Systems generally TI satisfactory. 93 
 
 with the vilest criminals, in order to secure their testimony 
 at the trial of the latter ! The Minnesota Report, just 
 quoted (18S4) mentions the case of a man who was attack- 
 ed by foot-pads, robbed and beaten. He identified his 
 assailants, and caused their arrest. The robbers gave 
 bail and went free. But their victim, being a stranger, 
 could not give bail, and therefore was locked up in jail 
 as a witness ! In one recent year, 1886, in New York, 
 317 innocent witnesses of crime were imprisoned ! 
 
 America sends many missionaries to Asia and Africa. 
 But there is a vast field of labour, inadequately occupied 
 by Christian effort, hitherto, in many of her own States, for 
 the removal of these horrible prison atrocities. To these 
 jails in particular may be applied the words of King 
 Oscar I. of Sweden : " In truth, heathenism thrives much 
 better within prisons, than among distant tribes who are 
 still in a state of nature." 
 
 It must, however, be borne in mind that amonerst the 
 prison officers of the United States, there have been 
 very many excellent persons, such as a recently deceased 
 Director of a Pennsylvanian jail, concerning whom his 
 colleagues record that, " In the management of the prison, 
 his principle always was, in ruling over men, to rule in the 
 fear of God." Such an administrator will enable almost 
 any system to be worked for some good. 
 
 And it is in the higliest degree honorable to the United 
 States, that so many of these officers and also of the 
 visitors of prisons, have encouraged simple and hearty 
 religious exercises, and especially prayers amongst the 
 prisoners. For example, the Rev. G. H. HiCKOX, of 
 Michigan State Prison, Jackson, in a recent report wrote 
 " We are now in the fifth year of our prayer and conference 
 meetings ; and the spiritual interest of them has at 
 no time declined. Nor have any of the men, who have 
 attended those meetings and fully given themselves to the 
 Lord, as the Gospel requires, in confession of sin, in
 
 94 Penological and Preventive Princijjks. 
 
 prayer, in cross-bearing, in Christian work, fearing God 
 and not men, been returned to prison, after they have 
 been discharged." 
 
 The small body of persons in America practically 
 desirous of remedying the prevalent state of affairs in 
 their prisons, are securing considerable improvements. 
 But the unceasing changes of office-bearers, in every de- 
 partment of Government and administration in their 
 country, place immense difficulties in the way of obtaining 
 good influences over the prisoners, as a whole. In a few 
 of the large State Prisons in the North, a comparatively 
 permanent tenure of office has been secured for the chief 
 employes. The numerous " county jails " remain practi- 
 cally under the frequently changing direction of the local 
 "Sheriffs," men who obtain their well paid office by 
 means of their popularity as prominent political partizans, 
 however ignorant and incapable they may be as to the 
 management of prisoners. Mr. C. E. Feltox, of Chicago, 
 governor, for more than a quarter of a century, of large 
 prisons in America, reported in 1888, " The county jails, 
 in all parts of the country, continue to be footballs to be 
 kicked from party to party, as political power changes. 
 Office and patronage seem to be the only inspiring motives 
 in securing their control. With few exceptions, county 
 jails are abominations throughout the land." 
 
 Again the Wiscoxsix "State Board of Charities and 
 Prisons," in their Report for 1887, remark of their own 
 State — " An ordinary jail, with its disorder and idleness 
 and indiscriminate association with low people, is a great 
 punishment to any ordinarily decent man, and no punish- 
 ment whatever to a dirty loafer. In fact, in man// counties, 
 where the officers encourage it, for the sake of fees, the jails 
 are full of willing prisoners." (P. 9.) The same Pteport 
 shows however that some of the inmates of Wisconsin jails 
 prefer liberty, for it is mentioned that at La Crosse prison, 
 " two burglars escaped one Sunday, while a local minister
 
 Prison Si/stems gcncralJij TJmatkfadovij. 95 
 
 was preaching from the text, " Cast off thy shackles." The 
 escape was by one of the windows, which was reached by 
 men standing on one another's shoulders, three deep, the 
 top one sawing the bars and tying a rope made of blankets 
 to the window." (P. 113.) 
 
 Almost every mail brings statements of the various 
 abuses arising from congregate imprisonment, in America, 
 and also in part caused by the gross corruption and mal- 
 administration connected with the Sheriffs, as the nominees 
 of popular local politicians. 
 
 A peculiarly well-informed observer in Xew York 
 State wrote recently to the English Howard Association 
 as follows : — "Our jails at present are under full control of 
 the Sheriffs : and the Sheriff, in each county, is always or 
 nearly always, the leader of the dominant political faction. 
 He is paid by fees ; and in some counties these fees amount 
 to many thousand dollars a year, for each Sheriff. So you 
 will at once see that, in over sixty counties (in New York 
 state alone), the Shrievalty forms a powerful political 
 machine, with places that furnish a sufficient income to 
 make it worth the while of unscrupulous and greedy 
 politicians to spend money to get them." 
 
 The popular indifference to this condition of things, in 
 the United States, is amazing. Intelligent as the American 
 people are in some matters, certain sections of them appear 
 to be strikingly ignorant of the immense pecuniary waste 
 and increasing criminality thus so prevalent in their midst. 
 And too often these manifest perverted or ungrateful appre- 
 ciation of the labours of the penal reformers in their country. 
 
 Until a national change in the appointment and functions 
 of American Sheriffs and Justices takes place, there seems 
 to be little prospect of the needful radical improvement 
 in the thousands of ordinary local jails. It may, however, 
 be admitted that of late years, some of the worst scandals, 
 as to insanitary abuses and the non-separation of the sexes, 
 have been, in certain States, materially diminished. Several
 
 96 Penological and Preventive Princi2)les. 
 
 of the Prison Associations in America, especially those 
 of Ohio, Maryland, Illinois, New York, Massachusetts 
 and Pennsylvania, have been able to secure some progress 
 in the reform of these institutions. 
 
 It is to be particularly observed, that the chief officers 
 of the American State Prisons, as distinguished from those 
 of the local jails, include many very superior men and 
 women. This special class is not surpassed, if indeed 
 equalled, in Great Britain. 
 
 The democratic spirit of American republicanism com- 
 paratively rarely permits the infliction of determined 
 cruelty in these establishments ; at least in the Northern 
 States. Their evils consist rather in their corrupting 
 laxity, pernicious association, idleness and general ineffi- 
 cacy, both as to deterrence and reformation. But in the 
 Southern States, frequent cruelty is added to these other 
 evils. 
 
 The report of the Canadian Minister of Justice (Ottawa, 
 1884) contained the following emphatic and general retro- 
 spect of the mischiefs of jail association, by Mr. J. G. 
 MoYLAN, Inspector of Prisons for Canada. It applies 
 mainly to American and Colonial experiences, but unfor- 
 tunately would serve also as a verdict respecting many 
 European and other prisons, more than one hundred 
 years after John Howard's death : " Society has found, by 
 terrible experience, that her jail, or prison, or penitentiary 
 system, has too often turned out to be the largest factor, 
 and the most successful machine, in the fabrication of the 
 evil it was seeking to destroy." 
 
 It may be here remarked, that in the British Colonies, 
 and especially in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, 
 the local jails, although not equal to those of the mother 
 country in some respects, are, in general, far superior to the 
 similar class of prisons in the United States.
 
 Prison S>/stcms gcncraJhj Unsatisfactonj. 97 
 
 An Indiana Prison. 
 
 It is but fair to add that whilst the general system of 
 American jails is much inferior to that of the penal esta- 
 blishments of Europe, yet in some instances the United 
 States have shown that they can provide prisons where 
 the administration is of a high character. For example, 
 the Indiana State Prison for female convicts, at Indiana- 
 polis, was, at least when under the direction of the late 
 Mrs. Sarah Smith (a Quakeress), a remarkably well- 
 conducted institution. Scriptural instruction — the Chris- 
 tian example of carefully selected officers and industrial 
 training — were the chief influences here relied on. The 
 women's work consisted of sewing, washing, ironing, cane- 
 seating, and ordinary housework. Five hours were daily 
 devoted to such labour, and three hours to instruction. A 
 State Commission reported that most of these women turned 
 out well after being discharged ; that they became excel- 
 lent housekeepers, and that there were more applications 
 for them, on liberation, as domestic servants, than could be 
 met. Yet nearly all of them were, on entry, apparently 
 incorrigible and defiant. But whether the comforts and 
 special advantages thus enjoyed by women, previously the 
 most debased, and most violent and mischievous in the 
 State, were calculated to deter other offenders, or, on the 
 whole, to diminish external crime, is a matter for some 
 question. 
 
 In the report of that prison, issued 1884, the last one 
 prepared by Mrs. Smith (who then retired on the ground 
 of failing health, to the deep regret both of the prisoners 
 and of the State authorities), she mentioned, as an instance 
 of reclamation, the case of one of the worst girls in the 
 establishment, who, on the expiration of her imprisonment, 
 pleaded, " I don't want to go." However gratifying to a 
 kind officer, such an exclamation may have been, there is 
 
 H
 
 98 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 something in it which bears upon the subject of the general 
 repression and diminution of evil-doers in the surround- 
 ing population. The very pleasant treatment of these 
 women may also afford some modifying and collateral 
 reply to Mrs. Smith's question in the same report. She 
 asked : " What but the power of Divine Grace could have 
 subdued and restrained 250 of Indiana's lowest and most 
 degraded women, working together, often with unlocked 
 doors, and exercising on the open ground ? In ten years, 
 only one has attempted to run away whilst out for exercise." 
 It may be replied, with the profoundest reverence for 
 the work of Divine Grace, that it is, nevertheless, a very 
 natural and obvious fact that, for such a class of women, 
 a continuous and gratuitous supply of most comfortable 
 food and lodgings, very pleasant surroundings, and kind 
 friends, furnish in themselves a sufficient answer to the 
 above question, and without any need for reference to 
 higher influences. It is to be observed that, since Mrs. 
 Smith's decease, this prison has obtained some notoriety 
 for specially severe punishments. 
 
 The Elmira System, U.S.A. 
 
 At Elmira, N.Y., there is a widely praised " model " 
 prison, or adult reformatory, of nearly 800 inmates, on a 
 so-called "Indeterminate Sentence" plan, which presents 
 some noteworthy features, though apparently lacking, 
 hitherto, in the degree of rehgious training, which has been 
 so beneficial in some other prisons. Elmira only receives 
 male felons from sixteen to thirty years of age, on their first 
 conviction, whose sentences, with some exception, are for 
 not more than five years' detention, as the maximum. 
 There is a classification into three grades. On entry, each 
 prisoner is placed in the middle stage. If he does not earn 
 a sufficient number of good marks by his labour, conduct,
 
 Prison S//ste)US fjcnerallij Unsatisfaefor//. 99 
 
 and studies, he is put down into the lowest grade. But if 
 he obtains a good rank in marks, he is promoted, in six 
 months, to the highest one. If he remains for six months 
 in this, he may be hberated on parole for half a year; 
 but he can remove into another State, or elsewhere, out 
 of reach, if he chooses to do so. If his conduct during 
 that period is clearly known to be unsatisfactory, he is 
 re-called to prison for the remainder of his term, if he can 
 be arrested ; but if he has avoided misbehaviour whilst on 
 "parole " he is absolutely released from liability to undergo 
 the remainder of his sentence. 
 
 The prisoners at Ehnira are kept at labour for eight 
 hours daily. The educational, or rather collegiate training 
 of the inmates, is a most prominent feature. About a dozen 
 of the professors or teachers of colleges and schools in the 
 vicinity are engaged to instruct classes in the prison, and 
 to deliver lectures on various topics. The Governor states 
 that these include Writing, Drawing, Designing, German, 
 English and American History, Business Law, Arithmetic, 
 Physical Geography, Economics, Practical Ethics, Political 
 Science, &c. Very thorough examinations on these and 
 other subjects are periodically held, by means of compre- 
 hensive series of printed questions, and by oral questioning. 
 The amount of proficiency displayed tends to increase the 
 prisoner's " good marks " proportionately. There is, in the 
 prison, an " experimental school of industrial art " for 
 practice in the work of terra-cotta, encaustic tiling, model- 
 liner, and designing from nature, embossing in brass, mould- 
 ing metal pieces ornamentally, executing portraits in ham- 
 mered copper, and so forth. Some of the convicts are also 
 trained in telegraph-printing and shorthand. A paper 
 written by a prisoner in Elmira, on a cold snowy day in 
 January, 1888, compassionately alluded to the wretched 
 homes, almost visible from the walls of the establishment, 
 where ill-clad and ill-fed children and wives of unemployed 
 or weary men were crouching in tliu cold, and contrasted 
 
 H 2
 
 100 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 their lot with that of the convicts ; adding, " Here, at this 
 prison, 'tis the dinner-hour ; up from the great dining-hall 
 below rises the fragrant odour of good food, and the hum of 
 animated voices, with rippling laughter interspersed. The 
 food is hot, and sufficient as to quantity ; the apartments are 
 warmed with steam, and, after the short day is past, the 
 electric light brightens things for the long evenings ; long 
 but not dreary, for books are abundant." The convict 
 writer complacently inquires whether, with such a contrast 
 of reward, " Is godliness profitable ? " or the contrary ? 
 But he admits that, after all, liberty has charms. 
 
 The Directors at Elmira furnish a list of what is termed 
 by them a " Reformatory Library " of the " very best con- 
 temporary publications," amongst which they specify the 
 novels of Alexander Dumas, Eugene Sue, " Ouida," Bulwer, 
 Jules Verne, and others. There is a liberal supply of news- 
 papers and periodicals. Further, a newspaper named the 
 Summanj is edited, printed, and published every Sunday, 
 in the prison. 
 
 Before the prisoners are "paroled" it is in general 
 arranged, either by their own friends or by the corre- 
 spondents of the prison managers, that suitable situations 
 shall l»e secured for them. This is a very great additional 
 boon. 
 
 It is claimed that eighty per cent, of the Elmira men 
 thus become reformed. Even if it be so (and the matter is 
 open to question) such a result, however good in itself, is 
 quite compatible with an absolute increase of criminality 
 beino- produced amongst the outside community, by the 
 knowledge that the discipline of so large an establishment 
 furnishes so many advantages to the evil-doers, and is in 
 so small a degree calculated to deter. Nor is it to be re- 
 garded as a matter for unmixed satisfaction that a certain 
 small proportion of convicts discharged from Elmira have 
 voluntarily returned thither for shelter and support when 
 failing to find independent occupation. The Report in 1888,
 
 Prison Sijstems (jcncralhj TJnmtkfadovy. 101 
 
 stated that out of 1,722 prisoners " paroled " in the past 
 eleven years, 156 had been sent to other parts of America, 
 and that 25 had willingly returned to the prison for 
 re-admission. 
 
 The writer communicated his apprehensions as to the 
 undue laxity of the Elmira system, to the Governor or 
 Warden of that estaljlishment, Mr. Z. R. Brockway, who 
 replied in a very courteous letter vindicating the plan 
 adopted there. He wrote : " So-called indulgences are 
 freely used for their value, as promoting reformation, and 
 I hold that, in a Reformatory, any really reformative 
 agency may properly be introduced." 
 
 Now, with all due respect to this experienced officer, it 
 may be gravely doubted whether, for the class of persons 
 at Elmira, such a disproportionate weight should be 
 attached, as it may be feared is the case, to the effect of 
 the treatment adopted, upon the prisoners inside, as com- 
 pared with its influence upon the millions of persons 
 outside. For Mr. Brockway mentioned that the inmates 
 include criminals whose offences are of the gravest descrip- 
 tions, although receiving imprisonment for the first time. 
 They include burglars and even murderers ! Now can it 
 be just to any community that murderers, even of the 
 "second degree," should be merely sentenced to a maximum 
 of five years' detention, of which half or more may be 
 worked off by good behaviour in prison, whilst the other 
 half may be lightened by courses of collegiate lectures, 
 novel reading, artistic training and so forth ; and whilst, at 
 the same time, food, clothing, and shelter superior to that 
 of millions of virtuous persons are abundantly supplied ? 
 It is somewhat suggestive that the Official Report for 1888 
 records — "Since 1883 there has been a steady (jvowth. of the 
 annual average population here, from 495 in 1883 to 785 
 in 1887." 
 
 With much deference to Mr. Brockway and to some 
 American philanthropists, who have remonstrated with the
 
 102 Penological (uul Preventive PriiieijyJes. 
 
 writer on his views hereon, the latter cannot but consider 
 the indulgences at Elmira, for such classes at least as 
 burglars and murderers, to be a real cruelty to the lives, 
 limbs, and security of the millions of honest persons in the 
 community at large. Their security should be the first 
 consideration, and even the reformation of the individual 
 murderers and ruffians the second and subordinate one. 
 By all right means the reclamation of the prisoners in 
 custody should be attempted. But it needs to be remem- 
 bered that this is not the primciry object to be regarded. 
 
 The principle of " Indeterminate Sentences," if true to 
 their appellation, ought also to involve, as a most important 
 essential, some provision for an indefinite prolongation of 
 the custody of the unreformed or resolutely vicious cri- 
 minals. This is not the case at Elmira, where a five years' 
 period is, with perhaps some little exception, the maximum 
 term, on obtaining which the prisoner must be set at 
 liberty, however unfit he may be for rejoining the ranks of 
 freedom. It is hardly to be contended that this plan pos- 
 sesses the merits of the existing " Conditional Liberation " 
 System of Great Britain, which has its very important 
 adjunct of Police Supervision as some security against 
 mischief from the offender. (It may be here mentioned 
 that, in ] 888, further similar prisons on the " Indeterminate 
 plan " Avere in existence in various American States, as in 
 Ohio, Massachusetts, and elsewhere.) 
 
 When, more than fifty years ago, about 1835, the Bavarian 
 Government made some experiment of Indeterminate Sen- 
 tences, under the management of M. Obermaier, many 
 criminals were committed to prison without having any 
 fixed period prescribed for the duration of their detention. 
 The}^ might be retained for five, ten, or more years, until 
 their habits and dispositions appeared to be radically 
 reformed. 
 
 Since writino; the above, the author has received from 
 Mr. E. R. HiGHTON, State Commissioner of Prisons for
 
 Prison Sz/sfrms gencraUy Unsatisfactory. 103 
 
 California, a Report to the Governor of that State, strongly 
 condemning the Elmira system, after careful personal in- 
 vestigation. Mr. Highton also quotes another report, from 
 the physician of Elmira Prison, who says that in a recent 
 year, two murders were committed inside that institution, 
 and also that the inmates were characterised by " the pre- 
 valence of syphilis." But Mr. Highton speaks in the very 
 highest terms of Mr. Z. R. Brockway, the Governor. It is 
 the system only, which he decisively disapproves. 
 
 com.^ion doemitories ix european and other 
 Prisons. 
 
 Not only in a large proportion of the American jails, 
 but also in most of the prisons on the Continent of Europe, 
 there still continues the very objectionable feature of 
 common dormitories, where the prisoners have abundant 
 opportunity, at night, of corrupting association. The writer 
 has observed, in various Continental prisons, well managed 
 in some other respects, that the narrow beds, or " bunks," in 
 the dormitories, are so close together, that a space of about 
 five feet l^y five contains the ends of four of them. They are 
 thus so placed that each sleeper is only a few inches apart 
 from his neighbour at his side, and only about eighteen 
 inches lielow another neighbour lying immediately over- 
 head. About fifty beds may be thus crowded into a com- 
 paratively small chamber. Such nocturnal overcrowding 
 may be seen in some of the prisons, even in countries where 
 much attention is devoted by the authorities to certain 
 aspects of the discipline. This is a condition which cannot 
 but be very pernicious to the morals and future conduct of 
 the inmates. 
 
 Unfortunately the state of the donnitories in the dwell- 
 ings of many of these criminals, whilst in a condition of 
 freedom, especially in the overcrowded slums of large 
 cities, is almost as bad, if not worse ; but this is not a justi-
 
 104 Penological and Prcrmtivc Princ'qyles. 
 
 fication for a perpetuation of the evil in Government esta- 
 blishments, designed, at least professedly, to promote the 
 moral reformation of the inmates. 
 
 Yet the carrying out of the important, or rather the 
 essential principle, of salutary separation, from both phy- 
 sical and moral corruption, by day and by night, in prisons, 
 necessarily causes a heavy expenditure for the erection of 
 the buildings adapted to the object in view. And in such 
 proportion there is involved at least a temporary increase 
 of the burdens of the honest taxpayers. Both the obser- 
 vance and the neglect of due prison requirements involve 
 alternate inconveniences. 
 
 Revolts ix Ppjsoxs. 
 
 Perhaps few persons take much cognisance of the 
 serious evils indicated by the single fact that revolts and 
 savage assaults on officers are a frequent characteristic of 
 prisons, all over the world ; except in the comparatively 
 small number of them maintained on the strictly separate 
 system. There lies before the writer a very imperfect list 
 of such as have taken place Avithin a recent period of five 
 years, 1884-1888 ; but it furnishes more than forty instances 
 of these occurrences, some of which involved great loss of 
 life, and nearly all of them grave injuries to warders, or 
 prisoners, or both. 
 
 For example, in January, 1888, a revolt of Russian con- 
 victs took place in the Caucasus; in the suppression of 
 which many soldiers and prisoners were killed. In the 
 spring of the same year, 500 inmates of Beaulieu prison, in 
 France, mutinied, and two detachments of soldiers were 
 sent to reduce them to submission. The " Bulletin " of the 
 French Prison Society remarks, that within the year ending 
 April, 1888, eighteen revolts had occurred in the 17 central 
 prisons of France ! In April, 1888, also, a body of Mexican 
 convicts, at Calaya, set fire to a building where a IjuII fight
 
 Prison. Systems genemllij Unsatisfacfori/. 105 
 
 was going on. Such terrible confusion ensued, that 18 per- 
 sons were killed, 68 injured, and the prisoners escaped. In 
 March, 1888, even in one of the English jails, at Arniley, 
 Leeds, three prisoners being left in the same cell, one of 
 them killed another. In April, 1888, nineteen prisoners and 
 police were killed in a revolt at the prison of Damanhour, 
 in Egypt. 
 
 In 1887, at Revel prison, in Russia, 300 convicts mutinied. 
 Twenty of them were killed, and others wounded. A month 
 later, at Mountjoy prison, Dublin, some convicts desperately 
 assaulted a warder. In 1886, similar assaults occurred in 
 the convict prisons of Portsmouth and Portland, in England. 
 The same year, a revolt broke out in Montreal prison, 
 Canada. In quelling it, seventeen persons were shot, several 
 of them fatally. In 1886, a French convict ship was the 
 scene of a revolt which resulted in many injuries. The same 
 year, various other serious mutinies took place in French 
 penal establishments. In 1885, at Khokand prison, in 
 Russia, during a revolt, more than ten prisoners and officers 
 were killed. The same year, in a New South Wales prison, 
 a disturbance took place, resulting in a warder being shot 
 dead. In 1884, at another Australian prison, Pentridge, 
 near Melbourne, a disturbance took place, also with fcital 
 consequences. The same year, several disturbances and 
 assaults, at Dartmoor convict prison, England, attracted 
 considerable attention in the public press. In 1884, at 
 Mandalay, in Burmah, a revolt of many hundred prisoners 
 took place. This was suppressed by the stern process of a 
 regular massacre, durino^ which 200 lives were sacrificed. 
 The same year, a comparatively minor outbreak occurred 
 in Frankfort prison, U.S.A., when three convicts were killed 
 and others injured. 
 
 And it is to be remembered that man}^ disturbances and 
 serious assaults in prisons are carefully hushed up Ijy the 
 authorities of the various countries, who are most anxious 
 to prevent the publicity of such occurrences. Hence it may
 
 106 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 fairly be inferred that the events of this kind which come 
 to light, are but examples of a much larger number which 
 are successfully concealed ; or that, at least, these are but 
 the more flagrant cases, which cannot be hidden. 
 
 Even in Reformatories and Training Ships, the aggrega- 
 tion of young offenders frequently leads to evils of a less 
 tragic nature. The English and Scotch institutions of this 
 description have repeatedly, of recent years, been the scenes 
 of mutinies and incendiarisms. In 1886, at a French re- 
 formatory, a disturbance took place, and 37 boys escaped. 
 They were pursued by armed men, and shot at ! Two of 
 the poor young fellows were killed. One of the bodies was 
 found to have received 67 shots, of which five had entered 
 the heart. 
 
 A General Ixference. 
 
 On the whole, it is very obvious, even from the limited 
 survey here taken of the recent and present condition of 
 penal establishments in all parts of the world, that they 
 are, at best, very unsatisfactory and very incomplete insti- 
 tutions. They possess, when under good administration, a 
 certain amount of efficacy ; but this is so restricted by the 
 inevitable defects of every system of incarceration, that it 
 has become a most important problem for the statesman, 
 the jurist, the tax-payer, and the philanthropist, to consider 
 the practicability of greatly modifying many of the prac- 
 tices and principles which have hitherto been prevalent in 
 this department.
 
 Chapter III. 
 PRISON SEPARATIOX AND CLASSIFICATION. 
 
 The First Essential. 
 
 The separation of prisoners, from each other only, and for 
 duly limited periods, is a first essential of good discipline, 
 and an indispensable condition of success in penal treat- 
 ment, whether intended as deterrent or reformatory. It is 
 also the best, if not the only efficient basis for classification. 
 It is the safest and ultimately, though not immediately, the 
 cheapest arrangement for adoption in criminal institutions. 
 
 It should involve, and this is always necessary to be 
 borne in mind, the collateral condition, of the substitution 
 of good personal influences for bad ones, together w^ith con- 
 stant useful occupation of body and mind. Mere cellular 
 isolation should not be regarded as the sufficient condition 
 for right separation. It has been one of the most pernicious 
 and jiersistent hindrances to penal reform, in many nations, 
 that solitude has been so often considered as being identical 
 with scpnrdtion. The terms " solitary " system, " silent " 
 system, and " separate " system, have been, in the popular 
 mind, and even amongst many persons of general intelli- 
 gence, confounded, as being three expressions for the same 
 thing ; whereas they are each diflerent from the other. 
 Silence may exist with the association of numbers; and 
 effectual separation from evil association may be secured, 
 in conjunction with the daily companionship of suitable 
 persons. 
 
 The cell is most useful, and even indispensable, as a pre-
 
 108 Penological mid Prcrodivc Priiiciph's. 
 
 liminaiy condition of separation. But it is only one ele- 
 ment towards that end. When cellular imprisonment 
 becomes absolute solitude, it is, if unduly prolono-ed, a 
 serious evil, an unwarrantable cruelty, an outraoe on 
 humanity. Solitude is one thing : wise separation is 
 another. Continued isolation is unnatural, and ruinous to 
 mind and body. Whereas, separation from evil association 
 onl}^, is most beneficial to its subjects. 
 
 Varying Meanings of the Term " Separate System." 
 
 The persistent injury which is often inflicted upon certain 
 objects, by means of erroneous names, or objectionable 
 ideas, which have somehow become associated with them, 
 has long been illustrated in the history of what is usually 
 termed " The Cellular System " of Prison Discipline. 
 Ownng to various misrepresentations, on the part of oppo- 
 nents, and in hardly less degree, to confusion and ambiguity 
 on the side of its advocates, this name has too frequently 
 conveyed the idea of a prolonged isolation of prisoners, in 
 separate cells, without visitation, or companionship of any 
 kind. In some countries, and to a comparatively very small 
 extent, such a mode of treatment has been actually prac- 
 tised ; and, as might be expected, with disastrous results. 
 In several of the American States, formerly, and occasion- 
 ally in some European countries, prisoners have been con- 
 fined in separate cells, or dungeons, for years together, with 
 little or no occupation, and with no association with their 
 fellow-men, except the daily visit of a gaoler. Thus pining 
 between the dismal walls of their living tomb, their minds 
 have, in many instances, given way, and the}'' have become 
 idiotic, or mad, or have gradually wasted to death. Similar 
 results have ensued where, even under less rimd conditions, 
 it has been attempted to substitute life-long separate con- 
 finement, instead of capital punishment. In such cases, 
 many of the unfortunate objects of the experiment have
 
 Prison Separafioii and Classificntion. 109 
 
 not really Ijeen exempted from capital punishment, but 
 have undergone that penalty, under the more cruel condi- 
 tions of an execution prolonged over a period of years. 
 
 The fact is that the term " cellular system " or " sepa- 
 rate system " has often been applied to very different 
 modes of discipline. The name has represented a variable 
 condition rather than a fixed one. The " cellular system " 
 of one country, or of one period, may not be at all identical 
 with the so-called system of the same name, in another 
 country, or at another period. Thus the original cellular 
 treatment at Pentonville and Coldljath Fields Prisons, in 
 London, was much more rigid than that of Louvain and 
 other Belgian prisons; whilst the corresponding system in 
 New York State, during the term of its unfortunate expe- 
 rience there, was incomparably more severe than the Pen- 
 tonville plan. The treatment in certain Dutch, Danish, 
 Norwegian, and German cellular prisons has also under- 
 gone a series of modifications, in accordance with the expe- 
 riences of successive years. 
 
 Hence the advocates and opponents of cellular separa- 
 tion have often, if not in general, assumed for it an iden- 
 tity an<l continuity of character which it has never really 
 possessed. 
 
 Great impediments have been placed in the way of 
 prison-reform, in this direction, by extreme opinions and 
 hasty Conclusions. Thus certain observers, having noticed 
 the decided advantages of cellular separation for compara- 
 tively sliort periods, rushed to the unwarranted conclusion 
 that the same discipline might be safely and beneficially 
 extended over very lony sentences, or even life-long impri- 
 sonment ; an inference wholly unsupported by practical 
 experience, and contrary to the laws of human nature. These 
 extreme views, in support of the cellular system, have pro- 
 duced equally exaggerated objections to its moderate and 
 rightly conditioned adoption. And, on the whole, it is 
 perhaps difficult to determine whether this great funda-
 
 110 Penological and Prci-entivc Priiicq)les. 
 
 mental principle of all prison and penal reform, the separa- 
 tion of criminals from each other, has been most retarded 
 by its friends or by its foes. 
 
 Howard and Ducpetiaux urged by 
 Experience. 
 
 John Howard was awakened to the effects of prison 
 association by his own personal experience of its dis- 
 gusting evils, in a French jail, to which he had been 
 consigned — after his capture at sea by a privateer — during 
 a time of war between England and France. Thenceforth 
 he steadily advocated separation, industry and other condi- 
 tions of improved prison discipline. 
 
 In like manner M. Ducpetiaux, the eminent administrator 
 of penal reform in Belgium, was aroused to the necessities of 
 the subject by his own sufferings, as a political prisoner, 
 prior to the Belgian Revolution of 1830. Whilst in con- 
 finement, his feelings of decency and propriety were re- 
 volted by his enforced association with vile and filthy 
 companions. He became profoundly convinced, from his 
 own observation, that association renders imprisonment less 
 punitory to the worst class of criminals, and more so to the 
 less degraded. Just in proportion as a man is debased, he 
 will enjoy the companionship of corrupt comrades. And it 
 affords additional pleasure to the worst wretches in prison 
 to corrupt others, who may at first be less familiar with 
 evil than themselves. 
 
 After the Revolution of 1830, M. Ducpetiaux received 
 from King Leopold I. favours and rewards, as some compen- 
 sation for the imprisonment which his previous jDolitical 
 partisanship had brought upon him. The office of Director 
 of Prisons was ultimately conferred upon him. And thus, 
 by a curious turn of events, he was placed in a position to 
 give practical effect to the convictions which the mischief 
 of associated imprisonment had so deeply impressed upon
 
 Prison Sejxordion (nid Classification. Ill 
 
 his own mind. But before committing himself to a decided 
 and final plan of reorganisation, he instituted a further 
 series of observations and inquiries as to the effects of the 
 existing system. An overwhelming concurrence of testi- 
 mony confirmed him in his conclusion that the associated 
 plan was a welcome indulgence to the vile, a cruelty 
 to the novice in imprisonment, and a corrupting evil 
 to all. 
 
 From that time M. Ducpetiaux pursued a steady course 
 of prison reform in Belgium, which placed that country in 
 a leading position in this respect amongst the nations. Ho 
 received effectual co-operation from King Leopold I., the 
 wise monanch whom he so faithfully served, and also from 
 some able coadjutors, including, in particular, M. Stevens, 
 who for man}^ years was the Governor of the cellular 
 prison of Lou vain, and from M. Berden, and others. 
 
 The Belgian Cellular System. 
 
 MM. Ducpetiaux and Stevens proceeded gradually with 
 their reforms. They avoided the extremes and the undue 
 haste of certain American experiments, in this direction, 
 which had led to disappointment and disaster. They did 
 not attempt to subject to a cellular regime the prisoners 
 who were sentenced for very long periods, or for life. They 
 carefully watched the adaptability of the separate treat- 
 ment according: to the circumstances and conditions in- 
 volved. Whilst seeking the advantage of cellular impri- 
 sonment, they diligently endeavoured to balance its dangers 
 by means of the constant occupation, and the very frequent 
 daily visitation of every prisoner ; also by fostering in- 
 dustry and hope, and by pecuniary and other rewards. 
 
 The chaplains, schoolmasters, and warders, were required 
 to spend many hours a day in the cells with the prisoners, 
 and, by their frequent visits, to guard against separation 
 becoming isolation. Each inmate was permitted to take
 
 112 PenoJocjical and Preventive Principles. 
 
 exercise in a small separate yard, and might obtain certain 
 indulgences, such as tobacco, a garden plot, or permission 
 to keep a bird. With a share of the money earned by his 
 labour, the prisoner might purchase white bread, ■ cheese, 
 bacon, milk, paper, pens, and other extras. The unspent 
 portion of such earnings amounted to considerable sums, as 
 £5, £10, or £15, on discharge, according to the length of 
 time sj^ent in prison, and the amount of work done. But, 
 in general, the profit thus allotted to the worker bore a 
 minor proportion to the profit earned by him for the 
 establishment. The occupations were very various, such 
 as tailoring, weaving, printing, bookbinding, shoe-making, 
 metal work, watch-making, and carpentering. Skilled 
 trade-instructors were employed to teach some occupation 
 to the large majority of prisoners, who, in Belgium, as in 
 most other countries, are found to be ignorant and un- 
 skilled as to industry. 
 
 This steadily continued training was the more success- 
 ful inasmuch as the share of pecuniary earnings once 
 gained by the prisoner was not liable to forfeiture. Such 
 rewards should either be absolutely certain, or only for- 
 feited in accordance with some fixed scale, most carefully 
 arranged and administered Avith impartiality and merciful 
 consideration. The certainty of the Belgian prison re- 
 wards has constituted an important element in the success 
 of the national system. The prisoners have often sent a 
 portion of their earnings to their parents, wives, and 
 families. The moral and humanising tendency of this is 
 a matter of considerable importance. 
 
 One of the principal advantages of the cellular plan is 
 its very great ultimate economy to the State. The imme- 
 diate and first expense of the system, in the cell construc- 
 tion, is more costly than that of associated -prisons. But 
 the ultimate expense is very much less. For it has been 
 proved, by many years of experience, that comparatively 
 short periods, as of one or two years of cellular imprison-
 
 Prison Separatioji and Classification. 113 
 
 ment, arc more deterrent, as well as more reformator}", than 
 five or ten years of punishment in association. The 
 statistics of Belgian criminality are not so complete as 
 could be desired ; but it is known that a large per centage 
 of diminution, in the recommittals for crime, followed the 
 general adoption of the cellular system in that country. 
 The legislature and the people were so convinced on this 
 point, that they enacted a law greatly reducing the pre- 
 vious scale of duration of punishment. Thus sentences 
 of twenty years' confinement, under the congregate plan, 
 were reduced to less than ten years of cellular imprison- 
 ment ; other sentences were shortened in similar proportion, 
 so that nearly one-half of the former terms of detention 
 were dispensed with. The cost of maintenance having 
 been thus largely reduced, of course a great saving to the 
 country was effected. At the same time, the prisoners 
 were also, in so much shorter time, restored to their 
 families, and enabled to resume their support of them the 
 sooner. The prolonged and hardening dissolution of family 
 ties, occasioned by very long sentences, was largely obviated. 
 Valuable practical confirmation has also thus been given by 
 Belgium to the too generally neglected truth, that imprison- 
 ments are by no means efficacious merely in proportion to 
 their excessive prolongation. Such duration, beyond due 
 limits, rather tends to habituate the offender to penal con- 
 ditions and to remove from him his sense both of shame 
 and. of fear. 
 
 The maximum period of cellular confinement in Belgium 
 is, nominally, nine years ; but this is a mischievous ex- 
 treme. Much shorter periods suffice for the generality of 
 offenders. 
 
 Perfection is rarely or never attained, either by States, or 
 by individuals. Belgium was no exception to this general 
 principle. Her prison system was not completed. It 
 lacked two very important elements of a perfect system ; 
 namely, adequate arrangements for the beneficial visita- 
 
 I
 
 114 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 tion of prisons by judicious persons from outside ; and 
 especially the establishment of effective societies for the aid 
 of discharged prisoners. Perhaps the efforts of such peno- 
 logists as M. Prixs, Barox de Lettexhove, M. Thoxissex, 
 and other eminent Belgians may, ere long, secure the need- 
 ful progress in these directions. 
 
 It may, however, be here remarked that sometimes the 
 theory of cellular separation has not been so thoroughly 
 adhered to, in practice, as Belgians would have strangers 
 understand to be the case. Even at Louvain, the excessive 
 terms of nominally cellular separation have sometimes 
 been relaxed, by permitting the prisoners to enjoy oppor- 
 tunities of mutual intercourse. But after allowing for these 
 and other inconsistencies, honour is due to Belgium for the 
 measure of successful separation secured in her prisons, and 
 for the example afforded to other nations in thus attaining 
 a larger measure of deterrence and reformation, and at 
 about half the cost, as to both money and time, as com- 
 pared with previous systems. Recently there have been 
 manifested, in Belgium, some indications of retrograde 
 action, and of a tendency to forget, or depart from, the 
 wise counsels of M. Ducpetiaux. This is matter for 
 regret amongst foreign admirers of past progress in that 
 countr}'. 
 
 French Opixiox ox Separatiox. 
 
 An important French Commission of Inquiry on systems 
 of Prison Discipline, of which Barox de Haussoxville 
 was a principal member, reported in favour of cellular 
 separation for the great majority of short terms of imprison- 
 ment ; and the Government decided to adopt this system, 
 for at least all sentences up to one year's duration. But 
 the pecuniary embarrassments and great national debt of 
 France have tended to limit the outlay, on cellular prisons, 
 requisite to give full effect to this conclusion. As a result
 
 Prison Separation and Classification. 115 
 
 there has been a great increase in those offences which 
 would have been held in check, if separation had been 
 enforced, ev^en to the extent recommended by the Com- 
 mission. 
 
 Some intelligent French penologists have written instruc- 
 tively on this question. The admirable Keport on the 
 Stockholm Prison Congress of 1878, prepared by two 
 of the French delegates, M. Fernande Desportes, and 
 M. Lefebure, thus replied to the special objection against 
 the Separate System, commonly adduced by its opponents, 
 that it is opposed to the nature of man, as a social being : 
 " Society exercises both good and evil influences ; 
 and it cannot be denied that social forces tend, as 
 surely and directly, to produce crime as to encourage 
 virtue. How inefficient it is to withdraw men from a 
 position where they have only met with bad influences, but 
 where they might possibly have also found some good 
 associations, in order to plunge them into another position, 
 where, fi-om its restraints, its compulsion and its necessity, 
 they cannot possibly meet with other than detestable 
 comrades. You redouble the pestilential intensity of the 
 atmosphere which has already destroyed their moral 
 health, and then you hope to cure them ! What precaution 
 will you take against the inevitable contagion of vice, by 
 isolation merely during the night, their meals and their 
 exercise ? 
 
 " To some extent you will thus avoid extreme debase- 
 ments. But can you avoid, as soon as the prisoners re- 
 assemble, their criminal conversations, their boasting of 
 past misdeeds, and their savage anticipations in common ? 
 You reply, ' But the law of silence ! ' The law of silence is 
 indeed an inhuman and unnatural one. You bring men 
 together ; you allow them to communicate with the eye, 
 but you forbid them to converse with the tongue. And 
 then you believe that the intellectual separation, which you 
 thus vainly attempt to secure, is an easier, a more reason- 
 
 i2
 
 116 Penological and Prcccidive Principles. 
 
 able, and a more humane separation, than the corporal 
 separation against which you protest. And in the midst of 
 this deadly silence, what would be the social relations 
 w-hich you would maintain ? As if the exchange of ideas, 
 by the aid of language, was not an essential condition of 
 all society. — 
 
 "Permit, then, the cellular system to repress, by its 
 necessary circumstances, those social connections which 
 your own system cannot hinder, but only renders more 
 fatal. Permit it to enable the criminal to obtain the 
 opportunity of other social influences, which will produce 
 in his mind only salutary reflections and virtuous purposes. 
 It is not necessary to exclude him from all society ; but 
 only to transfer him from bad company to good. As M. 
 De ;Metz once remarked, ' I am willing that, if you please, 
 you may take the criminal out of his cell and place him 
 in the public square, provided only that you remove him 
 from evil doers ! '" (Report, p. GO.) 
 
 The Coxcextrated Criminality of Prisons. 
 
 To the above remarks it may be added, that the associ- 
 ated intercourse of prisoners is a concentrated form of evil. 
 Even in the worst conditions of free society, there is some 
 considerable admixture of persons who are more or less 
 respectable and virtuous ; but the jail population is ex- 
 clusively composed of oflfenders. 
 
 It has been proved again and again that no system of 
 supervision, however careful, can obviate the corrupting 
 tendencies of the association of criminals. The British 
 Convict Prison authorities have made strenuous endeavours, 
 both by the number and discipline of their officers, and by 
 attempts to classify their prisoners, to prevent the evil in 
 question, but with little success. The Royal Commissioners 
 on the Penal Servitude Acts, with Earl Kimberley as 
 Chairman, remarked in their Report in 1879 : —
 
 Prison Separation and Classification. 117 
 
 " Tlie evidence given by the great majority of witnesses, 
 whoni -we have called before us, and the statements of 
 convicts, of whom we have personally made inquiries in 
 our visits to the different prisons, have satisfied us that, in 
 spite of all the 2}recautions taken by the prison officers, com- 
 munications can, to a considerable extent, be carried on 
 between prisoners working in association." 
 
 If this is the case, under the utmost precautions, how 
 gross must he the evils under more common or ordinary 
 conditions of concentrated and who//// criminal association ! 
 
 American Neglect of Separation. 
 
 It is a remarkable circumstance that whereas the people 
 of the United States enjoy the reputation of being pecu- 
 liarly shrewd as to the pursuit of pecuniary profit, they 
 have manifested an almost universal disregard to the 
 economic and deterrent merits of the separation of pri- 
 soners from each other. They have, however, in one 
 respect been wiser than Europeans, in that they have more 
 generally compelled their criminals to maintain themselves 
 hy their labour during incarceration. They have practically 
 said to them, " You shall not rob your honest countrymen, 
 whilst in jail as you did when outside." But they have 
 largely nullified this partial wisdom by encouraging perni- 
 cious association in their prisons. The result has been that 
 crime has increased to a large extent, the cost of which 
 has very far exceeded the temporary saving effected by the 
 gains of congregate occupation in jails. 
 
 The Americans might ^vith advantage act upon the 
 emphatic words of their greatest Penologist, the Hon. 
 Edward Livingston, who, it is to be remembered, was one 
 of the few eminent authorities in the United States who 
 have decidedly condemned the general prison system of that 
 country. He thus shows the impossibility of adequate 
 classification except by cellular separation (" Criminal Code,"
 
 118 Penological and Preventive Princijiles. 
 
 page 309). "Every association of convicts that can be 
 formed will, in a greater or less degree, corrupt, but will 
 never reform those of which it is composed. And we are 
 brought to the irresistible conclusion that classification once 
 admitted to be useful, it is so in an inverse proportion to 
 the numbers of which each class is composed ; and it is not 
 perfect until we come to the point at which it loses its name 
 and nature in the complete separation of individuals. "We 
 come, then, to the conclusion that each convict is to be 
 separated from his fellows." Mr. Livingston here showed 
 his larger grasp of the question than even Dr. E. C. Wines, 
 or than perhaps any other American writer on criminal 
 treatment. These are golden words which might with 
 advantage be inscribed on every prison, especially in 
 America. 
 
 Both in America and in Europe certain opponents of the 
 cellular system have objected to it on the ground that it 
 involves too much of reactionary influence upon its subjects 
 when their confinement comes to an end. But these gentle- 
 men ignore the fact that the sudden discharge of a prisoner 
 from any kind of associated pi-ison to absolute liberty in- 
 volves, in most respects, as much reaction, or, to make a 
 frequent comparison, as great a " rebound of the spring " as 
 his release from a well-conducted cellular establishment. 
 In each case the measure of absolute liberty, immediately 
 entered upon, is similarly trying and tempting. And for 
 such sudden liberty, a previous prolonged association with 
 corrupting wretches, is the very reverse of preparation ; it 
 is the greatest disqualification. In reference to the plea, on 
 this ground, for the necessity of criminal association in 
 prisons, it was well remarked by one of the most expe- 
 rienced of observers, Mr. Henry May, formerly Governor 
 of the General Prison for Scotland, at Perth, that " You 
 may as well attempt to clean soiled linen by plunging it 
 into a tub of dirty water, as to seek to reform convicts 
 whilst associatino; them with convicts."
 
 Prison Separation and Classification. 119 
 
 Failure of the "Classification" of Prisoxers. 
 No classification whatever, except absolute separation from 
 other criminals, can ohciate the intrinsic evils of association. 
 That high authority on this question, the Rev. John Clay, 
 observes—" I believe it to be beyond human power safely to 
 classify prisoners. I dare not trust even six or eight pri- 
 soners in any class or association which leaves conversation 
 free." (Life, p. 283.) 
 
 Perhaps this statement might be slightly qualified, in 
 view of some exceptional experiences in a different direc- 
 tion ; and it would not be diiiicult to adduce some illustra- 
 tions of a comparatively harmless intercommunication of 
 selected prisoners, of the better sort, whilst engaged in 
 small parties, in agricultural or similar labours. But even 
 with the aid of the most careful attempts thus to classify 
 prisoners, their association will always be attended with 
 dangers of combination, or mischief of some kind. A 
 striking proof of this was afforded by the experience of 
 Captain Maconochie, at Norfolk Island. He regarded 
 cellular separation as being unnatural ; "as indeed it is ; 
 and as every form of imprisonment must necessarily be. 
 He also knew, by painful observation, the dangers and evils 
 of associating large numbers of convicts in gang labour. 
 He therefore devised a plan which he felt confident would 
 succeed ; inasmuch as it was designed to work with, nistead 
 of against, nature. This was to permit small groups of 
 selected prisoners, of only half a dozen in each company, 
 to live together, work together, and be mutually responsi- 
 ble for each other's good behaviour. In this way, he hoped 
 to bring into play those feelings of mutual forbearance, 
 good fellowship, sympathy and resistance to temptation, 
 which are to be found combined with healthful and favour- 
 able conditions of association in freedom. The desire was 
 a noble one. And if any man could have made it succeed, 
 Captain Maconochie was the one to do it. But even he
 
 120 Poiohglcal and Preventive Principles. 
 
 failed at this point. One of liis colleagues at Norfolk Island 
 prison, Dr. William B. Ullathorne, subsequently the 
 (Catholic) Bishop of Birmingham, remarks, " These private 
 associations (of five or six each) would tempt to plots 
 and conspiracies and give all facilities for their execution. 
 Theij led, in fact, to the outbreak in Norfolk Island ; 
 although the Catholic clergy warned Captain Maconochie 
 of the xevy men, and of the game of hypocrisy which they 
 were playing." (Essay on the Management of Criminals ; 
 by Dr. Ullathorne, p. 35.) Even Mrs. Fry also experienced 
 some very disappointing results, through her reliance upon 
 the imaginary efficacy of similar so-called " classification " 
 in prisons, by means of dividing their inmates into small 
 groups. 
 
 If the dangers of combination and revolt are almost 
 inevitable, even with such small groups of prisoners, how 
 much greater are the risks incurred by the association of 
 large gangs ! The repeated outbreaks in convict prisons, 
 and penal establishments, in all countries, illustrate this 
 danger. But the cellular system efiectually prevents re- 
 volts and checks insubordination. As the Governor of an 
 English cellular jail once remarked to the writer : " Our 
 prisoners are always separate ; and hence they never 
 become a power over us." 
 
 Separatiox and Physical and Mental Diseases. 
 
 Neither do epidemic diseases tend to become a power in 
 cellular prisons. Each cell is always ready to be converted 
 into a disinfecting hospital, in case of any infectious malady 
 attacking its inmates. Here, again, is a great and im- 
 portant merit of the system. 
 
 There is, however, one malady, that of Insanity, or a 
 tendency to it, which has often been attributed to this 
 system, as a special danger. And wherever the method 
 has been converted into mere isolation, this has been a very
 
 Prison Separation and Classification. 121 
 
 real danger ; as was notorious, for instance, in the experi- 
 ence of the New York State prison, at Auburn, in 1829, 
 when not only insanity, but suicide, death and utter pro- 
 stration, both physical and moral, resulted. But great exag- 
 gerations soon became current as to the general tendency 
 of cellular treatment in this direction. It was often 
 urged, and by persons who ought to have known the 
 facts better, that, at Pentonville Prison, in London, the 
 system was a total failure, on this account. The incorrect- 
 ness of these statements was authoritatively exposed by 
 the Kev. Mr. Burt, the Chaplain of that establishment, in 
 his work on the Separate System. He showed that, during 
 the period of complete separation of the prisoners, for 
 periods of eighteen to twenty-four months, at Pentonville, 
 from 1842 to 1848, their mental health was superior to 
 that of a later and less stringent discipline. He observes 
 " The insanity under the altered system has been eight 
 times greater than during the four preceding years, when 
 the original (cellular) system was in full operation."' But 
 the Pentonville System was always a defective one. Its 
 assumption of the term " model " prison was quite un- 
 warranted by facts. The rigours of separation were never, 
 in this prison, accompanied by those necessary and merci- 
 ful ameliorations, which other better conducted cellular 
 establishments, in various countries, have adopted. But, 
 incomplete as was the Pentonville plan, it was never so 
 mischievous to the minds of the prisoners, as has often 
 been represented. 
 
 At the present day, there is comparatively little danger 
 of insanity from the separation of ordinary offenders, in 
 the cellular prisons, because the lessons of the past have 
 awakened attention to the necessity for rational precau- 
 tions in this direction ; such as constant industry ; a supply 
 of books ; instruction by chaplains and schoolmasters ; care- 
 ful medical oversight ; and frec^uent visitation by the 
 officers and other persons.
 
 122 Tcnohcjkal and Prevent kc Principles. 
 
 Probably the chief danger which still exists in this 
 respect, is in the attempt to apply solitary confinement to 
 life sentences, or long terms. Such a combination is dan- 
 irerous and inhuman. Yet it has continued of late years, 
 to be exemplified in the treatment of a comparatively 
 few prisoners, in certain Russian and other prisons. In 
 Great Britain, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Austria, 
 and even in Belgium, the longer sentenced and life-term 
 prisoners, are placed in association. This is an almost un- 
 avoidable evil even in such cases, but it is less mischievous, 
 at least physically and mentally, than the total collapse 
 which would ensue from prolonged isolation. 
 
 Speaking generally, the statistics of modern cellular 
 prisons, in respect to insanity, do not compare unfavourably 
 with those of association establishments ; and in some cases, 
 the amount of insanity is now greater in the latter than 
 in the former. 
 
 Pioneers of the Separate SvsTEir. 
 
 In addition to the eminent Belgian developers of the 
 cellular treatment, its successful and rational application 
 has been especially promoted by four other gentlemen, 
 namely, M. W. H. Suringar, of Holland, Rev. John Clay, 
 and Bishop Ullathorne, of England, and M. Richard 
 Petersen, of Norway, These practical men have worked 
 out, in establishments more or less under their own oflScial 
 care, important problems connected with the question, in a 
 moderate and common-sense mode, very different from the 
 mere theories of inexperienced doctrinaires, or of extreme 
 partisans of the system. 
 
 W. H. Suringar. 
 
 William Henry Suringar, a man superior in some re- 
 spects even to John Howard, was, for about fifty years,
 
 Prison Sf2)arafto)i and Classification. 123 
 
 actively engaged, both as an officer of Government and 
 as a philanthropist, in the visitation and administration of 
 prisons and other institutions. He was Vice-President of 
 the Directors of Prisons at Amsterdam, and was intimately 
 acquainted with the other gaols of the kingdom. In con- 
 junction with his friends — M. Warnsinck, M. Nierstrasz, 
 and M. John S. Mollett— he founded, in 1828, " the Nether- 
 lands Society for the Moral Improvement of Prisoners." He 
 lived to sec it enter on its fiftieth year of useful operation. 
 In 1872, shortly before his decease, he recorded as the 
 result of half a century of special opportunities of observa- 
 tion at home and abroad : " I have become firmly convinced 
 that whatever experiment may be made in the classification 
 of prisoners, or in the use of all other means, the separate 
 system of our country, though decidedly not perfect, is the 
 best as compared with other systems ; and that it must be 
 adopted." 
 
 He also remarks that the Commissioners of the large 
 Dutch prison at Leeuwarden had made many attempts to 
 classify prisoners, in smaller or larger groups, and by a 
 union of cellular and congregate arrangements. They had 
 also instituted a careful study of foreign experiences by 
 means of deputations sent to observe and investigate the 
 prison discipline of other countries. M. Suringar adds, 
 " And what was the conclusion they arrived at ? With one 
 accord they decided in favour of separate confinement. All 
 the visitors and investigators came to the same conclusion ; 
 complete isolation of the prisoners from each other, but 
 with regular work, the use of books, scholastic instruction, 
 religious teaching, visits, and a daily enjoyment of the open 
 air." 
 
 Tliese latter adjuncts were always insisted upon, by M. 
 Suringar and his colleagues, as of indispensable importance. 
 And he is careful to add, " It is not the cell *7.s' such that 
 works the reclamation of its inmates. It is only the fittest 
 — the indispensable receptacle for containing the healing
 
 124 Penological and Prevcntico Principles. 
 
 potion. Religion must work the moral improvement of 
 the criminals ; religion, the essence of humanity." 
 
 M. Suringar and his Prison Society attached great im- 
 portance to the visitation of prisoners by judicious members 
 of their Association. The King of Holland granted these 
 good men permission freely to enter the prisons and com- 
 municate with the inmates. This plan became a character- 
 istic of the Dutch prisons, and rendered their system more 
 complete than the Belgian mode. The visitors acted as 
 unpaid schoolmasters, chaplains, librarians, and agents for 
 obtaining employment for the prisoners on their discharge. 
 These four functions, and especially the latter, are the 
 special modes in which such visitors may be of use in 
 prisons. For one or two paid chaplains or schoolmasters, 
 however excellent and active, can never be adequate for the 
 moral and intellectual requirements of hundreds of pri- 
 soners. Nor need there be any collision with the official 
 staff, or any interference with their duties and preroga- 
 tives. On the contrary, it has been repeatedly acknowledged 
 by the Governors and managers of prisons, that they have 
 found their labours in the maintenance of the discipline 
 materially aided and lightened by the influences of regular 
 visitors. Nor was it the case in the Dutch prisons that the 
 visitors were molested or injured. On the contrary, M. 
 Suringar, speaking on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the 
 Prison Society, said : " In these twenty-five years, no visitor 
 has had a hair of his head hurt." 
 
 M. Suringar and his associates obtained subscriptions 
 from the pulilic for the purchase of libraries of miscel- 
 laneous literature, including especially books likely to 
 interest the ignorant classes of prisoners, and to attract 
 them to a love of reading, and of the acquisition of 
 knowledge. For devotional literature a careful selection 
 was made to meet the respective tastes of the Protestant, 
 Roman Catholic and Jewish inmates of the prisons. There 
 being many Jews in Holland, in order to accommodate the
 
 Prison Separation and Classification. 125 
 
 religious scruples of this class, the authorities placed, as far 
 as possible, all their prisoners of that persuasion in one 
 jail. In every way the Dutch Society endeavoured to pro- 
 mote the success of religious instruction to criminals. They 
 raised funds to send ministers to prisons where the State 
 had not provided chaplains. They zealously encouraged 
 these good men. M. Suringar says : " The preaching was 
 not always in the desert. Prisoners have arrived in scores 
 who had never prayed. They have been taught how to 
 pray." But in order that such instruction should not be 
 wasted, the separate system was perseveringly urged. Again 
 he declares that where criminal association is permitted 
 " one dispenser of the good news of the Gospel, who stag's 
 for an hour or so, is thwarted by scores of permanent 
 teachers of evil." Such a prison becomes " an academy of 
 sin," and especially for the younger inmates. 
 
 M. Suringar attached particular value to the oversight 
 and aid of prisoners on their discharge ; a point strangely 
 neglected in Belgium. He and his colleagues instituted 
 regular arrangements for bringing the discharged prisoners 
 into communication with such of their relatives, friends, or 
 local ministers, as might probably be of service to them ; 
 and for endeavouring to remove them from the influences 
 of old acquaintances of the wrong sort. Clothes, tools, and 
 travelling expenses were provided for those who needed 
 them. Employers of labour were visited on behalf of those 
 anxious to find occupation. These and similar efforts were, 
 in a large proportion of instances, encouragingly successful, 
 though there were also cases of ftiilurc and ingratitude. 
 
 But even the failures were utilised. The Dutch Society 
 of Prison Visitors found another important function in 
 using its experiences with criminals in and out of prison, as 
 a means of impressing upon the public the necessity of pre- 
 ventive as well as restorative efforts. As M. Suringar 
 remarked, " It is better to educate the young than to 
 chastise the old. The new wine of instruction and virtue
 
 12G Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 must Idg put into new bottles." Hence the Society laboured 
 more earnestly to indoctrinate the public as to the value of 
 extending general education and institutions for the re- 
 clamation of young offenders. Nor were they unsuccessful 
 in these efforts. 
 
 The labours of these Prison Visitors were ultimately of 
 great effect upon the outside world as well as upon the 
 inmates of the prisons. But it was owing to their experi- 
 ences with, and knowledge of, the latter, that they became 
 animated and qualified the more effectually to influence the 
 former. This is a very important point to be borne in 
 mind, in connection with public interest, elsewhere, in such 
 matters. 
 
 Not until, in other countries generally, the Governments 
 encourage, to a greater extent than hitherto, the visitation 
 of prisoners by suitable volunteers from outside, will the 
 general public become interested, to the extent necessary, 
 in securing the best modes of the repression and prevention 
 of crime. "Out of sight, out of mind" is a proverb appli- 
 cable to prisoners. Until each community, by numerous 
 voluntary representatives, thus becomes, in an energising 
 manner, cognizant of its responsibilities in this direction, 
 and zealous for their fulfilment, inadequate progress will be 
 made towards the solution of the evils in question. 
 
 It was, then, the special contribution of M. Suringar and 
 his friends, to the cause of prison discipline, that thej^' 
 advocated, after the practical experience of many years, the 
 necessity of the separate system ; but under rational con- 
 ditions, and in connection with organised and comprehen- 
 sive arrangements for the regular visitation of prisoners by 
 judicious members of the community. Since M. Suringar's 
 decease, the progress of penal reform in Holland, has been 
 ably promoted by M. J. A. Jolles, M. Bellinechave, 
 M. E. Laurillard, M. Von Scheltema, M. George Belix- 
 FANTE, M. Pols, M. Ploos van Amstel, M. Moddermax, 
 Count Limburg Stirum, M. van Blohland, M. de S. 
 LOHMAN, and others.
 
 Prison Separation and Classification. 127 
 
 Rev. John Clay. 
 
 In Great Britain there had been much discussion of the 
 merits of the cellular system previous to, or simulta- 
 neously with, its adoption in Holland and Belgium. But 
 in the former, less decided results ensued than in the 
 latter, owing mainly to extreme views and practices, on 
 the part both of the supporters and opponents of the 
 system. The Magistrates of several counties, more parti- 
 cularly those of Middlesex, Sussex, and Berkshire, 
 tosrether with various individuals, such as the Duke of 
 Richmond, Sir George Paul, Bart., Rev. J. Kingsmill, 
 Rev. W. C. Osborne, Rev. J. Field, Mr. Crawford, Mr. 
 WiLLiA]\i Merry, Mr. Joseph Adshead, and others, perse- 
 veringly endeavoured, for many years, to extend the prac- 
 tical adoption of separate imprisonment in this country. 
 The Rev. John Clay, for many years Chaplain of the 
 Preston Gaol, was one of the comparatively few English- 
 men who took a broad and common-sense view of cellular 
 separation, whilst at the same time, he was one of its 
 decided advocates. But certain other persons brought 
 some ridicule upon this plan, by their apparent excess 
 of faith in the efficacy of merely shutting up prisoners 
 in solitude, with their Bibles, and without due precaution 
 against hypocrisy, idleness and ignorance. Mr. Clay, on 
 the other hand, valued the cell only as a necessary con- 
 dition to enable himself and others to influence the pri- 
 soner aright, without the certaintj^ of all their work being 
 at once undone by vicious association. His son and bio- 
 grapher remarks (in his Life, p. 197 ; London : Macmillan 
 & Co.) : " All that he asked from separation, was that it 
 should guarantee the prisoners from mutual corruption and 
 make them think. To cleanse and hallow the thought, when 
 once stirred up, he held to be his work, and not the system's. 
 But he shrank from the idea of ministering the Gospel
 
 128 Penological and Preventive Pri)icipks. 
 
 among men languid and listless with the dreary monotony 
 of the cell, or perhaps trembling on the verge of insanity." 
 
 Mr. Glay, nevertheless, insisted on cellular separation, as 
 far as possible, to prevent injury to that on which he most 
 relied — the influence of the Gospel. He devoted his chief 
 efforts to making his preaching impressive, loving, attrac- 
 tive, and effectual. He employed the service of song in the 
 prison chapel, and adorned it with a fine picture of the 
 Crucifixion, painted by himself. He was not a credulous or 
 gullible man, but, on the contrary, was shrewd and wide- 
 awake as to hypocritical pretensions to religion. He was a 
 man of the world, as well as a clergyman. He attached the 
 highest value to Christian influences, even upon the most 
 depraved. He revolted from the ignorant, brutal scepticism 
 of mere theorists, like that impulsive and growling cynic, 
 Thomas Carlyle, who ridiculed all efforts to reform a parcel 
 of " rogues and vagabonds." On the contrary, Mr. Clay said, 
 "I venture to afhrm, as a minister of Him who came 'to call 
 sinners to repentance ' that what is objected, in bar of our 
 sympathies, constitutes the strongest title to them. It is 
 because prisoners are careless or wilful wanderers from the 
 right way, that nothing should be left untried to reclaim 
 them." But when he observed the very great amount 
 of utter ignorance of reading, writing, and figures, and 
 even of the simplest truths of the Gospel, which then cha- 
 racterised so large a proportion of the prisoners, he felt 
 that it was at least a just debt, from society to these un- 
 taught wretches, to utilise to the utmost the opportunity 
 of their imprisonment, for giving them intellectual instruc- 
 tion, and awakening them to their responsibilities as 
 Christians and as parents and relatives. For his own 
 Christianity had taught him deepl}^ the worth of single 
 souls and the sacredness of individual lives. Even from a 
 civil and economical point of view, he held the reformation 
 of offenders to be of immense importance. He said, " A 
 thief costs the community £150 a year, while at liberty.
 
 Prison Separation and Classification, 129 
 
 Reformation is cheap, at any price." Hence, because the 
 separate system was essential to reformation, he regarded 
 it as being eminently cheaper and more economical than 
 the association of prisoners. He repeats, " Without separa- 
 tion and non-intercourse, a chaplain's efforts would be com- 
 paratively fruitless. But, on the other hand, separation 
 and silence, unrelieved by the benign influence of religion, 
 are worse than fruitless, positively injurious." 
 
 Bishop Ullathorne. 
 
 Here the Protestant chaplain was in unison with the 
 Catholic Bishop Ullathorne, whose long experience amongst 
 convicts in Australasia, led him to study penal discipline 
 very attentively. He has remarked that the first sentence 
 uttered by God to His intelligent creature, was — " It is 
 not good for man to be alone." Solitude as to men, must 
 involve communion with God ; or it becomes a source of 
 evil. For, as the wise prelate adds : " Apart from God, and 
 cast upon his individual resources, man is neither a light, 
 nor a fountain of supply, to himself. Even the old hermits 
 were admonished by the Church, that a solitary man is 
 either an angel or a devil. And even those hermits had 
 the liberty of the open desert before them, or occasionally 
 visited and worked for the poor, amid the dwellings of 
 men. The most rigid monastic discipline also, that of the 
 Carthusians, with its protracted solitude and silence, is 
 cheered by the little garden for each monk, and the 
 long chantings of the brethren in the choir." 
 
 The Roman Catholic Church has held that, if the monk 
 and the hermit need divine grace to rescue solitude from 
 being disastrous, still more necessary are good influences 
 for the isolated criminal. And on the partially cellular 
 prison of San Michele, at Rome, erected in 1703, by Pope 
 Clement XI., from the plans of his architect Carlo Fontana, 
 the necessity of combining the moral with the deterrent
 
 180 Penological and Preventive Princijjles. 
 
 conditions of separation, was permanently recorded, in the 
 motto, conspicuously inscribed over the prison, " Parum est 
 coercere improbos poena, nisi probos efficias disciplina." 
 (It is insufficient to restrain the wicked by punishment, 
 unless you render them virtuous by corrective discipline.) 
 This motto greatly impressed John Howard, when he 
 visited Rome. 
 
 It is important to notice this broad view, taken by the 
 Roman Church ; for she was a pioneer of prison reform. 
 Clement the Eleventh's prison became a model for a similar 
 one at Milan. The long ranges of cells, and even the 
 radiating arrangement of the wings and corridors, were 
 planned by the Roman architect and the Pontiff. Long 
 years later, they were imitated by Belgians at Ghent ; then 
 by Jeremy Bentham at Millbank, and also by some Ameri- 
 cans in the United States. Oftentimes the latter have been 
 credited with the origination of this system. Bishop Ulla- 
 thorne quotes M. Corbeer, who was sent as a Commissioner, 
 from the French Government, to examine and report on 
 Prisons, in 1839. He wrote — " I feel it a dut}^ to re-establish 
 the truth. The correctional system is Christian. It is 
 Catholic. It is no new system. It had its birth in the 
 monasteries ; and a Pope gave it its baptismal name when it 
 came into the world. America did not discover it. America 
 did not perfect it. She borrowed it from Ghent ; and Ghent 
 obtained it from Milan and Rome." It may, however, be 
 here remarked that this positive statement by M. Corbeer, 
 requires a certain degree of qualification. 
 
 Bishop Ullathoi-ne was profound in his analysis of what 
 is meant by a system being in accordance with, or contrary 
 to, human nature. He remarks that many modern advocates 
 of political and social reform, are admirable in inventing 
 expedients for regenerating human nature, if it were not 
 that the nature to be regenerated is missed out of the cal- 
 culation." ("Management of Criminals," p. 29.) That nature 
 he held to be a very weak and corrupt one, and to be raised
 
 Prison Separation and Classification. 131 
 
 only through that which he describes as " the awful mys- 
 tery o£ our Kedemption wrought through the innocent 
 sufferings of the Son of God, for the deliverance of man." 
 This, he adds, brings the sense of mercy and pity to the 
 human heart, even for the criminal and the outcast, and 
 tends to assert the power of the renovated moi-al sense, and 
 to direct legislators to the essential justice of repressing 
 crime, not in the spirit of vengeance, but with a fair 
 regard to all the circumstances of the offender. 
 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Fry. 
 
 Whilst the Catholic Bishop set forth a sound principle 
 of penal treatment, as consisting especially in a judicious 
 enforcement of separation from evil, the same fundamental 
 feature of disciplinary reform also commended itself to the 
 approval of that eminent Protestant lady, Mrs. Elizabeth Fry. 
 Her two Daughters remark, in their Biography of her, that 
 " Confinement tchich excluded from the vicious, hut allowed of 
 frequent intercourse with sober and well conducted persons, would 
 have been, in her vieiv, perfect." This admirably condensed 
 and comprehensively descriptive sentence exactly embodies, 
 it may be remarked in passing, the method of prison dis- 
 cipline perseveringly advocated by the Howard Associa- 
 tion of Great Britain. Thus the Annual Report of that 
 body, for 1886, records, " The Committee remain unshaken 
 in their conviction that the fundamental principle of all 
 prison efficiency consists in the utmost practicable amount of 
 separation from evil companionship, with the provision of 
 as many good influences, both by official and non-official 
 • visitation, as possible." 
 
 The horrible extremes of isolation exemplified in Mrs. 
 Fry's da}'-, in certain American and English jails, where pro- 
 longed cellular confinement, in semi-darkness, without in- 
 dustry, without adequate visitation, and without instruction 
 or other reformatory influences, was carried out with Itrutal 
 
 k2
 
 132 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 inhumanity, justly shocked her compassionate heart, and 
 led her to protest persistently against such a gross per- 
 version of the principle of separation. 
 
 It is important to observe that the rudimentary condition 
 of even British penal legislation, at that period, together 
 with the structural defects of the prisons themselves, greatly 
 impeded the progress in the reform of criminal treatment 
 which Mrs. Fry, and the influential group of philanthropists 
 who co-operated with her, such as the Buxtons, the 
 GuRNEYS, Dr. LusHiNGTON, WiLLiAM Allen, F.R.S., and 
 others, so earnestly strove to promote. Mrs. Fry's own 
 praiseworthy labours to reclaim prisoners, by means of the 
 Holy Scriptures and religious exhortation, were often 
 counteracted by the absence of the special assistance which 
 judicious separation would have afforded. Her first suc- 
 cesses in Newgate were based upon an approximation to 
 this principle. She induced the authorities to divide the 
 prisoners into small groups of ten or twelve, under the 
 oversight of monitors selected from their own number. 
 This secured certain advantages and a measure of progress ; 
 but, as was subsequently the case with Captain Maco- 
 nochie's similar experiments with convict groups, so under 
 these attempts at classification in Newgate, it was soon 
 observed that, even the limited amount of evil association 
 thus retained, was resulting in grave mischief, and con- 
 tributing effectual checks both to the reformation and 
 deterrence of the ofienders. The sacred volume, which 
 Mrs. Fry so highly honoured and valued, was afresh justi- 
 fied, even by the experience of these attempts at classifica- 
 tion in groups, as to the permanent truth of its precept, 
 " Evil communications corrupt good manners." Much more 
 satisfactory would have been the results under those wiser 
 conditions which Mrs. Fry desired to see in operation, but 
 which, owing to the imperfect development of prison disci- 
 pline in her day she did not witness on any adequate scale. 
 
 In some prisons the function of Scriptural instruction,
 
 Prison Separation and Classification. 133 
 
 specially advocated by Mrs. Fry, was entrusted to very 
 unsuitable officers. Thus at Millbank, at one period, 
 the Bible was used by hypocritical and licentious warders, 
 as a means of ostentatious imposition upon the authorities. 
 A recent official writer on prisons appears to have regarded 
 this as a proof of the failure of Scriptural instruction in 
 jails ! But this is a most unwarranted inference. 
 
 Mischievous Reactionary Influences. 
 
 In 1838 two of the most observant of English Prison 
 Inspectors — Messrs. Crawford and Whitworth Russell 
 — had issued a report condemning the plan even of silent 
 association in prisons, and decidedly recommending the cellu- 
 lar system. But subsequently the weight of public opinion 
 was mischievously influenced in a reactionary direction by 
 several writers, and especially by ignorant sneers at that 
 system on the part of that habitual cynic Thomas Carlyle, 
 and in still wider degree by the extensive publication of the 
 the superficial ideas derived by the more genial but easily 
 impressible Charles Dickens, during a brief visit to a 
 single American prison in Philadelphia, in 1842. He found 
 there, in a cell, a German, whose tears and representations 
 so affected him that the too credulous novelist subse- 
 quently made the incident a text for a general denun- 
 ciation of the separate system, irrespective of its right 
 administration and use. Dickens was long survived b}^ the 
 German prisoner, who lived on for forty-two years after 
 their interview, and, in 1884, once more revisited the 
 same Philadelphia prison, asking, as a lone and solitary 
 man, that he mirjht be allowed, as a o-rcat favour, to re-enter 
 it, as a final shelter and refuge, whose humane officers had 
 consoled him in previous years. Out of sheer pit3^ his 
 request was granted. He died there, as in an asylum, a few 
 weeks later. The fallacy of Dickens's impressions of this 
 man's treatment was thus demonstrated. But the effect on
 
 134 Fenologkal and Preventive Principles. 
 
 British and other public opinion had been very mischievous, 
 as tending to diffuse most erroneous ideas of the nature 
 and effects of ceHular separation. 
 
 Such widely spread reactionary views also influenced in 
 too considerable degree the executive authorities, and tended 
 to produce injurious relaxations of the wisely deterrent 
 and reformatory discipline, which was previously becoming 
 the basis of the County and Borough Jail system in 
 England. In the " public works " of the British and Irish 
 Convict Prisons the reaction was more decided, with the 
 exception (by no means unimportant however) of cellular 
 separation by night. 
 
 Partial British Homage to the Merit of Cellular 
 Separation. 
 
 The Eno-lish Prison Acts of 1863 and 1878 did indeed 
 maintain, as to the letter, a legal recognition of the supe- 
 riority of separation in local jails. And in so far as this 
 has been consistently carried out, or at least approximated, 
 which has been the case in many of these estabhshments, 
 great advantage has resulted to the community, an advan- 
 tao-e which would have been still more decided but for the 
 defective legislation which has permitted inveterate and 
 habitual misdemeanants to be subjected, for scores and 
 even hundreds of times in succession, to useless or posi- 
 tively pernicious incarcerations of a few days' or weeks' 
 duration. 
 
 It is to be observed that some of the chief inconveniences 
 and evils occasionally occurring in Enghsh Local Jails arise 
 from relaxations of the legally enacted principle of the 
 entire separation of their inmates. For instance, at Armley 
 (Leeds) Prison in 1888 one prisoner murdered another. 
 But how was this ? Because three prisoners were placed 
 in association in one cell. 
 
 As to the prisons of Scotland, the chief journals in that
 
 Prison Seimration and Classification. 135 
 
 country have recently published many complaints of their 
 undue costliness and excessive centralisation of manage- 
 ment. Not only did the Earl of Elgin protest in Parlia- 
 ment in 1888 against the increase of the cost of all Scotch 
 prisoners from £24 in 1877 to £30 10s. each in 1886 ; but 
 the Scotsman (Edinburgh) newspaper, in an able editorial, 
 pointed to the growing danger of associating young persons 
 with adult offenders, either in the jails or during the 
 journeys thither. 
 
 On the Convict " public works " the system of associated 
 labour has been general, and the results have been very 
 mischievous. It is, however, only fair to the chief autho- 
 rities of these establishments, and especially to such able 
 officials as Sir E. Du Cane, Sir Walter Croftox, Captain 
 W. H. Harvey, and others, to state that they have made 
 many earnest and not wholly unsuccessful endeavours to 
 check or counterbalance the natural tendency of the gang 
 labour l^y the aid of the " Progressive " or " Good Mark " 
 system of gradual amelioration of treatment, involving 
 encouragements of hope and of immediate and prospective 
 rewards, including especially the opportunity of earning the 
 remission of a considerable portion of the original sentence 
 by means of conditional release under certain arrangements 
 for periodic police supervision. 
 
 In 1880, the chief administrator of English Prisons, Sir 
 E. F. Du Cane, in a letter to the Secretary of the Howard 
 Association, respecting the Local Jails, Avrote as follows — 
 " The Separate System never was more uniformly and uni- 
 versally carried out than now, and never stood in higher 
 repute. All our [Local] prisons arc on the Separate System ; 
 and if any are torn down, a fate to which between fifty 
 and sixty have been consigned during the last eight years, 
 it is, so far as prison systems and management affect the 
 matter at all, a sign of the efficiency/ of the Separate Si/stem." 
 This was an important official testimony to the merits of 
 the principle thus eulogised. And the more generally it
 
 1 36 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 is practically recognised, in regard to all classes of prisons 
 and prisoners, the better will it be for communities and for 
 offenders. 
 
 British Convict Prisons. 
 
 In the British Convict Prisons, for long terms, the in- 
 mates have the opportunity afforded them of gradually 
 obtaining for themselves, by means of good behaviour and 
 industry, a remission of their original sentences, to the 
 extent of about one-fourth of the time for men and one- 
 third for women. Thus a man sentenced to twelve years' 
 imprisonment can earn his liberation in nine years (but 
 under police supervision for the remaining three), whilst a 
 female convict may liberate herself in eight years, with the 
 same original sentence. 
 
 In addition to this ultimate reward, the convicts may 
 earn a succession of more immediate privileges and amelio- 
 rations of their condition, by working themselves out of 
 the lower or more penal grades into the higher ones. The 
 first year of penal servitude forms a " probation " period, 
 of which about nine months are spent in cellular confine- 
 ment. If, during this year, 720 good marks have been 
 earned, the third class in associated labour is entered. The 
 convict remains in this for at least one year. But when he 
 has earned 2,920 marks he may pass up into the second 
 class for a third year. Another 2,920 marks will bring him 
 into the first or highest class, in which there is a further 
 sub-class ranked as " special," which carries a slight extra 
 remission of one week of the original sentence. 
 
 Eight good marks per day are the maximum attainable. 
 In the third class, convicts may earn one shilling a month, 
 with permission to receive one visit from their friends each 
 half year. In the second class one shilling and sixpence 
 per month may be earned, with the substitution of tea for 
 gruel, longer exercise on Sundays, and increased privileges
 
 Prison Separation and Classification. 137 
 
 of visits and correspondence. In the first class extended 
 advantages of the latter kind, with a further improvement 
 in dietary, more exercise on Sundays, and half-a-crown a 
 month, may be earned. There has recently been instituted 
 a special " Star Class," consisting exclusively of convicts 
 not previously sent to penal servitude. These enjoy some 
 particular privileges ; and they carry a red star on their 
 dress to distinguish them from other prisoners. 
 
 Convicts must, in general, have learned to read and write 
 before they can be admitted to the highest class. Different 
 dresses are worn in the respective classes. The adoption of 
 this " progressive system," it may be remarked, has led to 
 a large diminution of punishments in these prisons. And 
 this is a chief merit of the plan ; namely, its aid to the 
 officers and to the discipline. But it must always be 
 remembered that it affords little test of either the charac- 
 ter or the reformation of criminals. In fact the greatest 
 hypocrites and most cunning habitual rogues, may most 
 easily avail themselves of its advantages. Nevertheless, 
 and in spite of this, it is of great value. But the appendage 
 of supervision is also very essential. 
 
 In the Local (cellular) Jails of Great Britain, four stages 
 also may be passed through, in succession, by the longer- 
 sentenced prisoners, and a maximum of eight good marks 
 per day may be earned. In the first stage the prisoner 
 earns no money, has the hardest labour and the lowest 
 dietary, and sleeps at night on a plank bed, witliout a 
 mattress (but not without blankets). When he has obtained 
 224 good marks he may pass into the second grade, where 
 he may have a mattress five nights per week, with school 
 instruction and books. He may earn one shilling during 
 the whole stage, and may have special exercise on Sundays. 
 
 In the third stage (reached after earning 224 marks in 
 the previous one), the plank-bed is only enforced one 
 night a week ; one shilling and sixpence may l^e earned ; 
 and certain minor privileges. Another 224 marks will
 
 138 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 bring the prisoner to the highest or fourth stage, where 
 the plank-bed disappears and two shillings may be 
 earned ; but in certain cases of special good conduct, during 
 the longer terms, a maximum of £2 may be reached. 
 Increased privileges as to correspondence, reading, &c., are 
 also now permitted. The /om/ jails of Great Britain receive 
 prisoners for periods ranging from one day to two years, 
 the maximum. The convict prisons receive those sentenced 
 to terms of from five years, the minimum, up to the 
 remainder of life. 
 
 These regulations have hitherto applied in general, to 
 British and Irish prisons. The Irish convict prisons antici- 
 pated, by some years, and in certain respects, this progressive 
 system. But Captain Maconochie and the Bavarian prison 
 authorities had, at a still earlier period, adopted a similar 
 principle of grade-progression. The Irish convicts, in their 
 final stage, had also been specially disposed of, by Emigra- 
 tion to Great Britain and America, 
 
 France, Italy and the United States. 
 
 One of the most decided proofs of the efiiciency of the 
 separate system is to be found in the disastrous and costly 
 results of its absence, or general disuse, in Italy, France, and 
 the United States. In these three countries, the system has 
 not been popular. In each, the prisons are characterised by 
 a general association of the inmates by day, and, to a large 
 extent, even by night. In each, primary rather than sub- 
 ordinate importance has been attached to the immediate 
 pecuniary results of congregate jail labour ; and in each the 
 amount of such profits has often been very considerable. 
 But it is instructive to observe that in France, Italy, and 
 the United States, the amount and intensity of crime has 
 also of late years tended to increase, in a more rapid ratio 
 than the general population. 
 
 As to Italy, in particular, it is a matter for much surprise
 
 Prison Separation and Classification. 13[> 
 
 that the radical causes of criminality, especially those to be 
 found in prison association, legal uncertainty and laxity, 
 and popular ignorance, have not received more practical 
 attention from the penologists of that country, whose 
 ranks have included the eminent names of Beltrani 
 ScALiA Ca most indefatigable administrator of prisons), M. 
 Peri, M. P. S. Maxcixi, M. Pessina, M. L. Oxofrio, M. 
 LuccHiNi, M. P. Ellero, M. Canonico, M. Brusa, M. 
 LoMBROSO, and others. It might have been hoped that 
 the countrymen and successors of that excellent pioneer 
 of penal reform, M. Beccaria, would have more generally 
 appreciated, than they have done, the intrinsic importance 
 of reasonably enforced separation, in regard to criminal 
 discipline. 
 
 In France, murderers, violators, ruffians, habitual crimi- 
 nals, have become so overwhelmingly numerous and alarm- 
 ing, that the people and the legislature have been obliged 
 to devise some remedy for the enormous evil. This was 
 sought in the very questionable form of the " Recidiviste " 
 measure of 1885, for the wholesale exportation of criminals 
 to the Southern hemisphere. 
 
 In America much difficulty has also been experienced 
 from the increase of offijnders. And but for a considerable 
 regard to the reclamation of juvenile delinquents, and 
 to preventive influences of Temperance, the condition of 
 crime there would be much worse than is at present the 
 case. 
 
 The strength of the criminal class in the United States is 
 in no small degree to be attributed to the circumstance 
 that, in all the vast area of that country, there has been, for 
 many years, only one Prison, that of Philadelphia, main- 
 tained on the wholesome, necessary principle of Cellular 
 Separation. And even in that establishment, the system 
 is being relaxed, in spite of the decidedly favourable expe- 
 riences and results of its past enforcement there. 
 
 It is therefore not at all to be wondered at, that one of
 
 140 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 the shrewdest American social reformers — General Brin- 
 KERHOFF, of Ohio — was able to show, in 1885, that the tide 
 of crime in that country was rising with alarming rapidity. 
 In 1850 there was only one prisoner to every 3,241 of the 
 people in the United States. In 1860, there was one to 
 every 1,600. In 1870 it was one to every 1,021. In 1880 
 the proportion had risen to one prisoner for every 837 
 people. Such are the results, in part, of congregate im- 
 prisonment, and of a system in which the immediate earn- 
 incfs, and even the theoretical reformation of the indi- 
 vidual prisoner, are unduly preferred to a wholesome 
 deterrence for the protection of general society. 
 
 In 1888 the Chicago Tribune published a series of statis- 
 tics confirming the above conclusions. Thus it was there 
 shown that in the United States, in 1881, there were 1,265 
 murders and 605 suicides. In 1886 there 1,499 murders 
 and 914 suicides. In 1887 the numbers had further risen 
 to 2,335 murders and 1,387 suicides. 
 
 Cellular Coxstructiox. — M. Petersex. 
 
 Part of the opposition to the cellular system, in some 
 countries, has doubtless arisen from perversions and abuses 
 of it, and especially from the very defective architecture 
 of those prisons in which the colls have been constructed 
 either cruelly small or dark. There should be as much of 
 sunlight as possible, and a due regard to ventilation. In 
 some prisons, conducted on this system, these points are 
 well attended to ; but in others a very unwarrantable neg- 
 lect of them is manifest. M. Richard Petersen, the 
 humane Governor of a cellular prison at Christiania, in 
 Norway, has invited particular attention to the import- 
 ance of light and air in cells, as materially affecting the 
 success of the system. Some years ago he visited several
 
 Prison Separation and Classification. 141 
 
 Danish prisons,* where he was favourably impressed with 
 the size and light of the cells. His observations and in- 
 quiries, during these visits, led him to advocate similar 
 improvements In his own country, and with good effects. 
 He has repeatedly protested against the cruelty of " caging " 
 prisoners in cells too small and dark, a practice which, 
 as carried out in many prisons, has tended to involve the 
 whole system of separation in an indiscriminating condem- 
 nation by some writers. 
 
 M. Petersen, whilst urging a very decided adoption of 
 cellular separation for first-term and ordinary offenders, 
 has expressed doubts as to its suitability for such a class 
 as very ignorant, semi-savage Laplanders, for example. 
 These are hardly fit subjects for rigid cellular discipline. 
 A merciful discrimination must always be held applicable 
 to such cases. And the " falsehood of extremes," both in 
 theory and practice, needs to be carefully guarded against. 
 
 Cost and Economy of Cellular Separation. 
 
 Some English Prison Governors have noticed that, whilst 
 cellular confinement is more deterrent for criminals in 
 general, it is preferred by the special class of lazy habitual 
 thieves, who hate hard labour in the open air, beyond 
 every other mode of discipline. The warmth and easier 
 labour of the cell are more agreeable to these. On the 
 other hand, most convicts have been glad to quit the pre- 
 liminary cell-discipline, at Pentonville or elsewhere, for the 
 more genial and more lively association of the gangs in 
 the open air, which the indolent thief hates. Generally, 
 however, the cell is by far the more deterrent. 
 
 The construction of suitable cells, duly lighted, venti- 
 lated, and warmed, and not so small as to be mere cages, 
 
 ~ la Denmark, under the guidance of such enlightened officials 
 and penologists as M. Gous, M. Brunn, M. F. Stcckenberg, and 
 others, much progress has been made in the work of prison reform.
 
 142 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 constitutes, on the ground of expense, the chief practical 
 obstacle to the general adoption of the cellular system. 
 But it is to be remembered that the ultimate economy far 
 over-balances this first cost. No system is, in reality, so eheap. 
 For it tends, on the whole, more than any other, to keep 
 prisons comparatively empty, or at any rate to diminish 
 the general number of criminals. And this, rather than 
 immediate pecuniary saving, should be the main object of 
 all prison sj'stems. Ultimate efiiciency is ultimate economy. 
 
 This result is effected by means of the two-fold in- 
 fluences, which constitute the peculiar merits of separa- 
 tion. 
 
 Firstly, it positively discourages and diminishes crime, 
 by reason of its superior penal efficac}''. 
 
 Secondly, the separate system does not throw its subjects 
 back into corruption and deeper degradation, even when 
 in certain cases, and at the worst, it may fail to deter or 
 reform them in the degree hoped for. 
 
 But in general it has promoted both objects, more than 
 any other mode of treatment yet adopted. 
 
 Its reformatory capacity leaves much to be desired, 
 though even here it is far superior to associated im- 
 prisonment, which is radically injurious to reformation. 
 Imprisonment, of whatever character, is scarcely com- 
 patible with reformation, except in a preparatory and 
 initial degree. The elements of self-denial, of self-control, 
 of trust, of limited temptation, and of self-supporting in- 
 dustry, essential to reformation, demand a state of freedom 
 for their active exercise. 
 
 The utmost efficacy of any kind of imprisonment isv 
 very restricted ; but the cellular system may claim, 
 wherever rationally administered, to have most approxi- 
 mately attained to that limit. It is especially economical 
 in tending to keep down the numbers of the criminal 
 class so far as any imprisonment can do this ; though, 
 of course, preventive means, such as those calculated to
 
 Prison Sqjaration and Classification. 143 
 
 diminish intemperance and pauperism, must be chiefly 
 sought for, and relied on, for the attainment of this im- 
 portant end. 
 
 All imprisonment is, at best, an evil : but "".vhen short, 
 sharp, and certain, it is most effectual. This can only be 
 ensured Avith safety, with mercy and with the greatest 
 severity, simultaneously, by cellular separation. But a 
 succession of uniformly very brief sentences, even for petty 
 cases, is very mischievous. Gradual, but certain cumula- 
 tion is one of the first essentials of effectual repression, 
 so far as any imprisonment can repress. Such grada- 
 tions would be found to be incomparably more efficacious 
 than a repetition of short sentences on the one hand, or, 
 on the other, than an arbitrary and therefore uncertain 
 resort to extremes in sentences, whether by abrupt increase, 
 or other severity. 
 
 The minor and ordinary offences against society in 
 general, amounting to at least three-fourths of all the 
 transgressions committed, may be most advantageously 
 dealt with by means of short cellular separation, either in 
 its simple or gradually cumulative forms. The maximum 
 limit of cellular confinement, at any one infliction, even for 
 grave crimes, may be taken to be that already recognised 
 by the longest sentence in tlie common jails of Great 
 Britain and Sweden — namely, two years. 
 
 But even Great Britain has failed to provide the gra- 
 duated but certain cumulation of sentences, which, com- 
 bined with wise arrangements for conditional liberation 
 under supervision, would render two years an infliction com- 
 paratively seldom necessary ; whilst it would also secure 
 the shortest terms from being, as they have been hitherto, 
 lacking in the deterrent warning of more prolonged in- 
 flictions to follow, with certainty, each repetition of trans- 
 gression. 
 
 The writer was profoundly impressed by some remarks 
 made to him, on the occasion of a visit to the venerable
 
 144 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 M. SuRiNGAR, at Amsterdam, about a year before his de- 
 cease. He said, " I have spent nearly half a century in the 
 discharge of official duties connected with the repression of 
 crime. I have had constant and abundant opportunities 
 of observation and information on this question. I have 
 rooms in my house almost filled with the literature of the 
 subject. And I have arrived at the most decided conclu- 
 sion that the principle of the continued penal separation 
 of offenders, from each other, is the only one effectual for its 
 object. All other systems, however popular for a time, 
 and however they may be supported by influential names, 
 must, from their very nature and from their radical defects, 
 prove ultimate failures." 
 
 Since that time, the writer has conversed with many 
 other practical authorities and observers, and has visited 
 many prisons, in different countries, and read and thought 
 much upon the matter, and he is increasingly convinced 
 that M. SURINGAR was perfectly right in his conclusion. 
 And probably no man in either Europe or America was, on 
 the whole, more competent to form such an opinion than 
 that erentleman, whose breadth of mind and absence of 
 sentimentality were characteristic qualities which im- 
 parted additional weight to his extensive and prolonged 
 official experience. 
 
 On another occasion, the veteran chief officer of a large 
 prison in Yorkshire said to the writer : " As you ask me for 
 my opinion of what is the best plan for dealing with 
 prisoners, I will tell you the conclusion I have come to, 
 after a life-time of thought and observation. Our present 
 plan is far too indulgent, too costly, and too complex. We 
 should secure our object much more effectually by simpler 
 and shorter methods. I will engage that my own plan 
 would be a better one. It would seem to be a cruel one, for 
 a time ; but it would be the most merciful, in the long run, 
 both to the prisoners inside the jails and to the dangerous 
 classes outside. It would be this. Nothincr but entire
 
 Prison Separation and Classification. 145 
 
 separation; no association with other prisoners, and not 
 even any work. Absolute isolation, but never so long as 
 to produce insanity, or to permanently injure health ; yet 
 long enough to be very disagreeable, and to give a real hate 
 for jail life. This plan (added the officer) would be better 
 than our present system, which is neither on one principle 
 nor the other.'' This statement, however, was a too un- 
 qualified laudation of the merits of mere separation. 
 
 Final Results the Real Test. 
 
 It is a wide spread and obstinately-seated popular delu- 
 sion — prevalent amongst many influential and intelligent 
 persons — that mere kngth of detention is the chief penal and 
 preventive element. Whereas time tends to form habits 
 of adaptation, and to diminish the really penal and there- 
 fore deterrent effect of that severity which can only be 
 borne for comparatively short periods. It is rather the 
 continuously unpleasant memory of sharp but brief incarcera- 
 tions which tends to be effectual. 
 
 There have now been accumulated innumerable prece- 
 dents for the adoption of a better system than that of 
 either prolonged imprisonments, or frequently repeated 
 but ineffectual short ones. In thousands of cases,, espe- 
 cially in such of the English Local Jails as have rigor- 
 ously enforced cellular separation — the effect of a first 
 sentence to a few weeks or months of this punish- 
 ment — has proved a life-long cure of crime. Whereas in 
 scores of thousands of other cases, a few weeks of jail 
 association with villains and prostitutes, has ruined for 
 life young persons of both sexes, in Great Britain and other 
 countries. 
 
 Gloucester Pioneering. 
 One county of England— Gloucestershire — under the 
 prompting of that noble pioneer in various good v/orks, the
 
 146 Pcnolorjlcal and Preventive Principles. 
 
 late Mr. Thomas L. Barwick Baker, long proved tlie efficacy 
 of short and sharp preliminary chastisements, as opposed 
 to the costly and mischievous blunder of an indiscrimi- 
 nate application of prolonged imprisonment. The local 
 magistrates, for a number of years, generally adopted the 
 sj^stem of punishing ordinary felonies (with little distinc- 
 tion as to the amount stolen) with a rigid cellular impri- 
 sonment of a month or two, during which time the 
 impressions of jail life were fresh and disagreeable. A 
 second felony involved, according to circumstances, either 
 two months in jail, followed by two years' police super- 
 vision, or six months of the former and four years of the 
 latter. A third offence of similar nature, entailed penal 
 servitude for a term of years. Subsequent national legis- 
 lation, however, rendered the treatment too rapidly cumu- 
 lative. 
 
 Tlie Gloucestershire authorities also furnished facilities 
 for the employment of their discharged prisoners. They 
 constituted their local Superintendents of Police, the agents 
 for distributino: certain funds available for the assist- 
 ance of such persons. But they expected all discharged 
 prisoners to inform their employers of their antecedents. 
 If this was done the police did not further interfere. But 
 otherwise the information was given by the police, not hij 
 tlie suhordinate members of the force, but only by the chief 
 constable. Mr. Baker reported, after years of experience : 
 " The system works well. The Discharged Prisoners, in 
 whatever part of the county they may be, have a Superin- 
 tendent within reach, to whom they may apply to assist 
 them with money or work. All who are willing to work 
 find nearly constant employment ; and the money given 
 away is extremely small. The Chief Constable has not 
 once in six years found it necessary to inform an em- 
 plo3'er of the antecedents of any one engaged by him; 
 and necessarily, where the truth is known from the first 
 (from the employed person himself) no one is turned out of
 
 Prison Separation and Classification. 147 
 
 work in consequence of its being found out. The public 
 appear to appreciate the being fairly dealt with, and many- 
 are willing to take a discharged prisoner — with a full 
 knowledge of his character — who would have turned off 
 one who was found to have obtained work without stating 
 the truth." 
 
 In short, it was well and extensively proved by the 
 Gloucestershire people, that their discharged prisoners were 
 better off under this system, than otherwise. They were 
 not subject to the risk of losing their situations through 
 the treachery of others. They need not fear either the 
 further revelations of comrades or of policemen. The 
 police were felt to be their friends, and not their foes. 
 Their masters knew the worst of them, from the begin- 
 ning. And this knowledge, together with the police super- 
 vision, was a material help and mercy to the discharged 
 prisoner, who was thus, in the great majority of instances, 
 more effectually reformed and deterred, after his month or 
 two of short and sharp cellular imprisonment, than he 
 would otherwise be, by many years of costly, but perni- 
 cious, detention. 
 
 It is not to be wondered at that the safety of life and 
 limb in Gloucestershire, has been at least as great as else- 
 where, if not greater. That county has been able, with 
 advantage, to close six out of the seven prisons which 
 it had contained, and which were at one time so crowded 
 that it was feared more would have to be built. Other 
 localities have subsequently adopted the principle, with 
 OTcat advantage, and to the decided diminution of crime. 
 
 We should separate Deterrent from Restorative 
 Discipline. 
 
 The conclusion to which the prison and penal experiences 
 of all countries appear to lead, is that the special objects 
 of deterrence and of reformation, whilst each of essential 
 
 l2
 
 148 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 importance, cannot, with the greatest advantage, be simul- 
 taneously combined, except in very limited degree. An 
 offender who leaves a prison, after a short term, really 
 hating it and resolved never to re-enter its walls, is more 
 effectually dealt with, both as to reformation and deter- 
 rence, than one who may have been confined there for 
 years, but under such conditions that he returns thither 
 again and ag^ain. 
 
 Even where the offence committed is a grave one, the 
 same principle of sharp deterrence may be secured, by 
 dividing the sentence into several separate periods of short 
 terms, each of which is to be inflicted, if necessary, in suc- 
 cession; but of which only the first need be undergone, 
 provided its efficiency is proved by continued good con- 
 duct on the part of the offender, after his conditional re- 
 lease from that first term. Thus, for robbery, the offender 
 may be sentenced to one year's severe cellular imprison- 
 ment, of which three months may be rendered certain, 
 and the remission of the other portions made conditional 
 on his satisfactory behaviour, after his first discharge. He 
 should be made to feel that his imprisonment, under any 
 circumstances, will always be a real and most disagreeable 
 infliction. 
 
 But to attempt to combine such deterrent cellular dis- 
 cipline with a special training for self-supporting industry, 
 as required under the ordinary temptations of life, has not, 
 in general experience, been found practicable. Either the 
 deterrent elements tend to nullify the other training, or 
 the latter weakens the former. Both are good, both are 
 essential ; but they should be administered, for the most 
 part, separately and in succession. Just as a physician, in 
 prescribing for a patient, does not permit the simultaneous 
 action of depleting and of tonic medicines, where both are 
 needful ; but in their due order. 
 
 Many officers of prisons have declared, from their own 
 observation : " An habitual criminal effectually reformed.
 
 Prison Separation and Classification. 149 
 
 whilst in prison, is a very exceptional person. Such an one 
 is occasionally to be met with, but very rarely." Others 
 express their utter incredulity as to the prison reforma- 
 tion of such persons. In spite of sincere temporary im- 
 pressions, tears, and much emphatic profession, they are 
 sceptical as to ultimate practical results. Innumerable 
 prisoners, too, have indignantly asserted the impossibility 
 of their being won over to a love of self-supporting recti- 
 tude, whilst still being made to sufier the restraints of 
 penal discipline. Prisoners are apt to feel like the negro 
 slave, who said to a master who combined flogging with 
 religious harangues, " Massa ! if floggee, floggee ; and if 
 preachee, preachee ; but not floggee and preachee too ! " 
 
 Further, the conditions of self-control and of resist- 
 ance to the temptations of free life, which are essential to 
 reformatory discipline in its entirety, and also some of the 
 circumstances associated with the prolonged industrial 
 training inseparable from such a discipline, are incompatible 
 with due prison conditions, and with their needful penal 
 restraints. The two cannot be well combined. 
 
 Hence, the wise criminal discipline of the future may be 
 expected increasingly to separate what has hitherto been 
 unsuccessfully sought in union. Penal deterrence, so essen- 
 tial to tame the rufiian, and to warn the dangerous 
 elements in the community, must be rendered more penal 
 than hitherto, instead of less, by means of an intcnser, and 
 therefore necessarily shorter, application, of strict and 
 hated cellular separation. 
 
 This done, the function of the prison is at an end. Its 
 further influence, for the time, would be worse than 
 useless. 
 
 Then the process of restorative training for honest self- 
 support may follow. And this must be sought, not mainly 
 at the expense of the tax-payer, but by surrounding the 
 discharged prisoner with all possible inducements to 
 virtue and industry. Continued supervision, either by
 
 150 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 the police or by officially-authorized Societies or Com- 
 mittees — by either, or both, according to circumstances — 
 must be especially looked to, to promote the end in view. 
 The liability to a prompt recall to other brief terms of strict 
 cellular discipline, must hang over all habitual offenders — 
 even, in some cases, during the whole term of their lives. 
 
 Again and again (yet not too often), they may have 
 the option of trying an honest course. But a recall to the 
 utmost practicable severity, must be held in reserve. This 
 may not be invariably efficacious, but it will surely succeed 
 to a very large extent, and far beyond the extreme or 
 irregular systems of the past.
 
 Chapter IV. 
 PERPETUAL OR LIFE IMPRISONMENT. 
 
 Failure of Life Detention. 
 
 Experience proves that all long imprisonments tend, from 
 various causes, to defeat their own object, whether for 
 deterrence or reformation. The penal effect is necessarily 
 counteracted by the unavoidable extension of such com- 
 parative indulgences as are needed to maintain life and 
 health under such conditions of duration. These relaxa- 
 tions help to diminish the fear of punishment amongst 
 the criminally-disposed portion of the outside community ; 
 and may render the lot of the prisoner more favourable 
 than the gravity of his offence should permit. With the 
 lapse of years, also, the power of habit operates with an 
 effect injurious to the original purposes of detention. 
 
 But in the case of imprisonment for life there are added 
 to these objectionable features, further evils arising from 
 the absence of hope and the pressure of despondency. The 
 criminal who is sentenced for a very long, but definite, 
 term of incarceration, even if for fifteen or twenty years, 
 has at least a powerfully alleviating influence in the pros- 
 pect afforded by the hope of ultimate restoration to the 
 friendships and pleasures of free life. Whereas perpetual 
 imprisonment is accompanied by the darkness of despair, 
 at least as to this mortal existence. And as to matters of 
 still higher importance, and the preparation for a happy 
 eternity, it can hardly be seriously argued by any one
 
 152 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 really conversant with the unavoidable conditions of life- 
 imprisonment, that the perpetual association of its subjects 
 with other criminals, under a hopeless prolongation of the 
 worst influences, renders spiritual conversion probable. 
 Rather must it be a miracle under such circumstances. 
 
 IXCONSIDEKATE SaXCTION OF LiFE-ImPRISONMENT. 
 
 Almost the only possible justification for the horrors of 
 life imprisonment, is that it has been regarded as constitut- 
 ing a substitute for Capital Punishment, which many 
 persons consider to be a still greater evil. 
 
 For more than a quarter of a century the writer has 
 devoted special attention to this question of Capital 
 Punishment, and has been brouglit into much personal 
 intercourse and correspondence with others interested in 
 the subject, throughout the world. He has endeavoured 
 to examine, impartially and broadly, all that can fairly be 
 alleged for and against this infliction ; not merely from the 
 point of view of the reformation of murderers, but mainly 
 in regard to the security of the community at large. And, 
 on the whole, it appears that the great and inevitable diffi- 
 culties peculiar to this penalty have rendered its infliction 
 so universally irregular and unreliable that a more certain 
 but secondary punishment would, in general, be a safer 
 one for the protection of society. (This may, perhaps, be 
 considered apart from such very exceptional cases as 
 those of wholesale murderers, like the Chicago anarchists 
 of 1886, or other immeasurably atrocious enemies of the 
 human race and of all law and government.) Meanwhile 
 several impressions connected with this question have been 
 forcing themselves upon the writer's mind, which he deems 
 it his duty briefly to express. 
 
 In the first place, he has increasingly noticed, from 
 observation and inquiry, that very few, comparatively, of 
 the persons who advocate the abolition of capital punish-
 
 Perpetual or Life Imprisonment. 153 
 
 ment, have been able, or have taken the trouble, to 
 make themselves acquainted with the extreme practical 
 difficillties attendant upon the provision of an effectual 
 substitute for that penalty. Very few of them have ever 
 devoted their personal attention to the actual features of 
 prolonged imprisonment, even under the most merciful 
 forms of its existing administration. Some of the advo- 
 cates of that abolition have been remarkably ignorant of 
 matters connected with prisons or criminal treatment. It 
 is to be desired that those, as a class, who oppose capital 
 punishment, could have devoted much more serious and 
 practical consideration to the substitutes, proposed or 
 imagined, for that infliction, than has hitherto been given. 
 Especially should the real nature and evils of life-imprison- 
 ment be more studied and weighed. 
 
 The more this matter has been investigated by the 
 writer, the more has he become convinced that, in at least 
 a large proportion of instances, absolute life-imprisonment 
 is not so much a sul)stitute for capital punishment, as a 
 slower and more disadvantajjeous method of inflicting; it. 
 Cellular imprisonment for life is certainly a most cruel 
 mode of killing, by protracted torture. But this is seldom 
 resorted to, in modem times, even in the countries where 
 the great merits of short periods of separation for ordinary 
 offenders are partially recognized. Life-prisoners are, 
 almost everywhere, subjected to the milder system of 
 association, and with the ordinary conditions of labour and 
 general discipline undergone by other convicts. Unneces- 
 sary severity, towards this class, does not appear to be a 
 feature of the prison administration of most of tlie countries 
 of Christendom, apart from the duration of the sentence. 
 In the chief penal establishments of various nations, there 
 may be observed a certain number of murderers who, after 
 spending twenty, or even more years, continuously in 
 prison, still retain a good degree of health, both of body 
 and mind. The writer once noticed in the prison of
 
 154 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 Aggerhuus, near Christiania, in Norway, a murderer who 
 had ah'eady spent 37 years in prison, and who then ap- 
 peared little the worse in consequence. In another prison, 
 also in Christiania, he observed, at the same date, a mur- 
 deress who had undergone 24 years of her life-sentence. 
 She was working with apparent contentment. Three years 
 later, the w^riter referred to her, in a letter to the Governor 
 of Christiania prison, who in his reply remarked, " The 
 female prisoner, now 76 years of age, is in excellent health, 
 because she is of a quiet nature. But, on the contrary, one 
 of her two comrades and helpers in crime, died very soon 
 in prison ; wdiilst the other became lunatic, and was par- 
 doned, after the lapse of many years." At Ghent, in 
 Belgium, and at Leeuwarden, in Holland, murderers im- 
 prisoned for twenty and even thirty years, have come under 
 the author's observation, and have proved to him the fact 
 that it is by no means impracticable to carry out perpetual 
 imprisonment, in some instances, without destroying the 
 bodies and minds of its subjects. 
 
 Practical Testimonies of Cruelty of Life-Detention. 
 
 But with many others, the results are most disastrous to 
 mind and body ; unintentionally cruel, in fact. It would 
 perhaps be impossible to find any prisons conducted with 
 more mildness and mercy, than those of Sweden, under the 
 Oscars. Yet, a former Chief Director of these establish- 
 ments, M. Almquist, in a general report in 1885, prepared 
 for the Prison Congress at Rome, made the following 
 observations respecting his intercourse with the class of 
 convicts whose original sentences of death had been com- 
 muted to life-imprisonment, who had already suffered 
 upwards of twenty years' incarceration, and whose appli- 
 cations for liberation had repeatedly been refused : — " I 
 have found them in a condition of despair, and they asked 
 me, ' Why did you spare us from the infliction of death,
 
 Perpetual or Life Imprisonment. 155 
 
 only to keep iis here in association with the vilest 
 criminals ? You have buried us alive. The King's clem- 
 ency to us is no real mercy. On the contrary, it 'is the 
 severest aggravation of our punishment, to compel us to 
 drag out our lives, without a ray of the hope of mercy.' " 
 
 A still more remarkable official statement, and one which 
 deserves the most serious consideration by all advocates of 
 life-imprisonment, was afforded by the report of the 
 Directors of the State Prison of Wisconsin, contained in a 
 British Parliamentary paper, on " Homicidal Crime," (C. 
 2849, 1881). The State of Wisconsin, it may be noted, had 
 abolished capital punishment since 1853. And this is the 
 description of the effects of the substitute there adopted, 
 as given by the Directors : After protesting against what 
 they term " the indescribable horror and agon;/ incident to im- 
 prisonment for life" they add, " The condition of most of 
 our life-prisoners is deplorable in the last degree. Not a 
 few of them are hopelessly insane; but insanity, even, 
 brings them no surcease of sorrow. However wild their 
 delusions may be on other subjects, they never fail to ap- 
 preciate the fact that they are prisoners. Others, not yet 
 classed as insane, as year by year goes by, give only too 
 conclusive evidence that reason is becoming unsettled. The 
 terribleness of a life-sentence must be seen to be appreciated ; 
 seen, too, not for a day, or a week, but for a term of years. 
 Quite a number of young men have been committed to this 
 prison in recent years, under sentence for life. Past ex- 
 perience leads us to expect that some of them will become 
 insane in less than ten years ; and all of them, who live, in 
 less than twenty. Many of them will, doubtless, live much 
 longer than twenty years, strong and vigorous in body, 
 perhaps, but complete wrecks in mind. May it, therefore, 
 not be worthy of legislative consideration, whether life- 
 sentences should not be abolished, and loncj, but definite, 
 terms substituted ; and thus leave some faint glimmer of 
 hope for even the greatest criminals ? " (page 63.)
 
 156 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 This statement must, however, be regarded as a some- 
 what specially pessimistic and exceptionally unfavourable 
 picture of life-imprisonment. And further, there may, 
 perhaps, have been some unusual features in the Wis- 
 consin discipline, though it is stated to be " mild " in its 
 character ; and the dietary appears to have been a liberal 
 one. 
 
 British Testimonies. 
 
 In Great Britain also there has been noticed a decided 
 tendency to the destruction of bodily and mental health 
 amongst the longer-sentenced convicts. In their annual 
 Report for 1866 the Directors of Convict Prisons stated 
 that of this particular class " Nearly sixty-three per cent, 
 were confirmed invalids, many of them being paralysed 
 and bed-ridden." In 1878, the Chief Director of British 
 Prisons— Sir E. F. Du Cane— said before the Royal Com- 
 mission on the Penal Servitude Acts, "I myself do not 
 think much of life sentences at all. I would rather have 
 a long fixed term. I think all the effect on the public 
 outside would be gained by a shorter period." Before the 
 same Commission, a similar condemnation of life sentences 
 was uttered by the then chief Director of Irish Convict 
 Prisons, Captain Barlow, who said, " My own individual 
 feeling is this : I would be reluctant to keep a man in 
 prison for his life ; but if they are to be kept all their 
 life, the latter part of the sentence ought to be something 
 like the treatment in a Lunatic Asylum— comparative 
 freedom and relaxation of rule." 
 
 It may here be remarked that even the condition 
 of those murderers who have been consigned to some 
 Lunatic Asylums, calls for the introduction of further 
 improvements in those establishments. For example, one of 
 the better managed amongst Criminal Lunatic Asylums is 
 that of DuNDRUM, near Dublin. But the Irish Government 
 Commissioners reported in their " Blue-book " of 1885, on
 
 Perpetual or Life Imprisonment. 157 
 
 this institution, that, during the year, they had been " ap- 
 prehensive of dangerous results from an accumulation of 
 prisoners, fully three-fifths of whom had been charged with 
 murder, some of them being quite sane, and many though 
 peculiar in their conduct and language, still intelligent, 
 meditating schemes of escape ; whilst others, whose offences 
 were less flagrant, coalesced with them — all yearning after 
 freedom, and impressed with the belief that, do as they 
 might, being inmates of a lunatic asylum, they would 
 be irresponsible for their acts." (" Lunatic Asylums," 
 Ireland, 1885. Thirty-fourth Report. Dublin; page 10.) 
 This is a very suggestive official statement, from several 
 points of view. It is at least indisputable that persons 
 thus officially declared to be " quite sane " should no 
 longer be detained in a Criminal Lunatic Asylum. 
 
 As to criminal lunatics, however, better oversight than 
 that reported from Dundrum is secured in some other 
 similar institutions ; but at a heavy cost for the neces- 
 sary super-abundance of precautionary arrangements. 
 For example, the official returns of Broadmoor, in Berk- 
 shire (for English Criminal Lunatics), show that one 
 warder is employed for every six inmates, whilst at the 
 Scotch Prison for Insane Criminals, at Perth, the propor- 
 tion is still greater, or nearly one to five ! The author 
 in recently visiting Broadmoor, was much impressed by 
 the apparent cheerfulness, comfort, and excellent manage- 
 ment of the inmates in that beautifully-situated, very large 
 and very costly establishment. Under the able superin- 
 tendence of Dr. NiCHOLSOX and his colleagues, it has be- 
 come a model of its kind.'-' 
 
 ^ Broadmoor. — From the opening of Broadmoor Criminal Luna- 
 tic Asylum, in 18G3, to the end of 1885, twenty-two years, it received 
 1650 patients, 7G8 of whom liad committed or attempted homicide. 
 All the patients, though exceedingly well cared for, entertain some 
 hope of ultimate release. In 1887 Parliament voted £3G,549 for one 
 year's cost of Broadmoor. This, for 500 patient?, represents more 
 than £70 for each !
 
 158 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 Gravity of the Alternative. 
 
 The writer may here refer to the case of a young man 
 who belonged to a respectable class of society, but who, 
 under circumstances of special excitement and provoca- 
 tion, had committed a murder, for which he was sentenced 
 to death. His father came to London, seeking to procure 
 a commutation of the sentence. In the course of his 
 efforts in this direction he called upon the writer to ask 
 for information on certain points. Amongst other matters 
 he was anxious to learn something of the ordinary condi- 
 tions of convict life. When he was enabled to picture to 
 himself somethino- of the nature of the circumstances in 
 which his unfortunate son would still be placed, if spared 
 from the gallows— merely to spend the remainder of his 
 life in constant association with the vilest and most atro- 
 cious criminals — the poor father bent down his head in 
 prolonged silence, feeling perplexity as to the grave di- 
 lemma presented, and being dubious whether, after all, the 
 infliction of death, before his son's mind had further under- 
 gone years of pollution and despair, might not be the less 
 cruel alternative. 
 
 The nature of such an alternative has been too generally 
 overlooked by many philanthropists interested in abolishing 
 Capital Punishment, but comparatively indifferent or igno- 
 rant in regard to its substitutes. The writer once remarked 
 to a member of the English Parliament (since deceased), 
 who took an active part in the public advocacy of this 
 abolition, that in his opinion the reform of convict prison 
 discipline was a needful preparation for the discontinuance 
 of the death penalty. But that gentleman took a precisely 
 opposite view and said, " No, I regard the abolition of 
 Capital Punishment as the basis of criminal discipline 
 reform." This conclusion, which is opposed to that of the 
 most experienced observers, has been, it may be feared, a 
 too frequent one. And its tendency has been to delay the
 
 Fcrpctual or Life Imprisonmenf. 159 
 
 attainment and practicability of the very object desired — 
 the ultimate safe disuse of the death penalty. 
 
 Sir Waltee Croftox, after long experience with Irish 
 convicts, stated, before the Capital Punishment Royal 
 Commission of 1865, that, in his view, the due consideration 
 of the question of abolishing Capital Punishment " entirely 
 depends upon our having, in our secondary punishments, 
 an effective substitute provided." He was prepared to 
 approve the abolition of the death penalty, if special 
 prisons and a special discipline could be appropriated 
 t(j the murderers. And with such arrangements he 
 believed life sentences could be properly carried into 
 effect. Other authorities, however, were not so assured on 
 this point. 
 
 Italian Life Imprisonment. 
 
 The country which has probably had the largest expe- 
 rience of life sentences, as to mere number, is Italy, where, 
 during recent years several thousand prisoners, under this 
 category, have been undergoing their detention, generally in 
 association with other convicts. In 1884 the Naples corre- 
 spondent of the London Daili/ Neus described,in that journal, 
 a recent visit which he had made to the Ponzo Islands, near 
 that city, where, at St. Stephano, many hundred life- 
 sentenced prisoners, chiefly murderers, were located. One 
 of the inmates had connnitted twenty-one murders, besides 
 robberies and other crimes ! Other similar desperadoes 
 were also in the company. The visitor remarked as 
 follows : — " The chatter, the din of the chains, the confused 
 hum of 800 voices, the forbidding countenances, are inde- 
 scribable. It was a very pandemonium. The Director told 
 me that though he would have guards at the door, if I 
 wished to enter a cell, it was not quite safe to trust myself 
 amongst the convicts. Sentences of punishment for life 
 are carried out to the letter in Italy ; therefore the criminal 
 has no hope of improvement, nor fear of rendering his
 
 160 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 position more terrible ; and murders have repeatedly 
 occurred within the prison." 
 
 The Italians have manifested an extreme regard for the 
 lives of atrocious assassins, but sometimes, also, as extreme 
 a disregard for those of respectable citizens. In their 
 hatred for one form of capital punishment, they have 
 merely substituted for it another and a worse mode of 
 inflicting it, by such life-imprisonment as that descriljcd 
 above. 
 
 Injury to the Soul. 
 
 Too many of the opponents of death-punishment seem to 
 forget that it does not merely consist in the immediate 
 operation of the guillotine, the bullet, or the gallows. 
 This may be mercy itself, compared with the prolonged 
 injury inflicted upon the spiritual and mental powers, 
 extended over many years, by means of the hopeless misery 
 of the solitary cell, on the one hand,, or by the corruptions 
 of filthy and blaspheming convict gangs on the other. A 
 process thus continued may ultimately be as real an execu- 
 tion of death, but by slow operation, as the more visible 
 and instantaneous deprivation of life. Nor, on the impor- 
 tant plea of a better preparation for eternity, can much, if 
 anything at all, be claimed in favour of permanent vile 
 association with the refuse of mankind, as compared with 
 a prompt ushering into the presence of God, who is the 
 perfection of both mercy and justice, in His judgment of 
 the past, present, and future actualities and possibilities of 
 the lives of all. This has often been little regarded by 
 some of the best-intentioned persons. 
 
 Of life-imprisonment, it may conclusively be pronounced, 
 very bad is even the best form of it. 
 
 Years of inquiry and observation have increasingly 
 pressed this conviction upon the writer ; and he earnestly 
 hopes that both the opponents and the advocates of capital 
 punishment will devote a more comprehensive attention
 
 Perpetual or Life Iiiiprisonnient. 161 
 
 tlian lias hitherto been given, towards ascertaining the 
 most effectual means of diminishing the causes of the 
 crime of murder, and of devising less objectionable 
 methods of dealing with its perpetrators, than either the 
 universally uncertain penalty of death at the hands of the 
 executioner, or the horrible mode of punishment which has 
 for the most part, and in most countries, been substituted, 
 by the infliction of imprisonment for life. 
 
 Impossibility of enforcing Capital Punishment 
 in general. 
 
 Nearly half of the persons sentenced to death in Great 
 Britain have, for many years, received commutations of 
 that sentence, and have been consigned to nominally 
 perpetual imprisonment. In France, Austria, Germany, 
 Russia, and the United States, more than three-fourths of 
 the murderers ultimately escape the infliction of death. 
 This world-wide impossibility of carrying capital punish- 
 ment into effect, with even a moderate degree of 
 certainty, constitutes a principal reason for objecting to 
 it. Such a general and intrinsic defect is fatal to its 
 claim to efficiency. It may therefore be compared to a 
 woman without virtue, or a soldier without courage. 
 
 Precedents for Twenty Years' Maximum. 
 
 The British Government has l)ecn compelled materially 
 to relax, not only the certainty of execution in regard to 
 capital sentences, but also the full enforcement of the life 
 imprisonment nominally substituted. At least this has 
 been the case in a considerable degree. It has been the 
 practice of the authorities to bring under special official 
 revision the case of each life-prisoner, on the expiration of 
 a certain number of years of detention. Formerly this 
 period was twelve years, but it has since been extended to 
 
 m
 
 162 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 twenty. After undergoing this amount of detention, many 
 murderers have been set at liberty, under certain conditions 
 or precautions. And it does not appear that any serious 
 inconvenience has resulted. Thus the utter hopelessness of 
 real life-imprisonment has been partially obviated. 
 
 In Portugal, also, the term of twenty years has long 
 been adopted as the legal maximum of imprisonment, as 
 distinguished from banishment to Africa. That country'" 
 lias by disuse abolished capital punishment since 1843, and 
 by statute since 1867 ; and it has been stated by various 
 competent observers, that murders have not subsequently 
 increased ; although this has been questioned by others. 
 
 Certainly the period of twenty years, thus legally adopted 
 for most of the worst criminals in Portugal, and practically 
 favoured in Great Britain, has much to recommend it, as a 
 suitable maximum of detention, even for criminals guilty 
 of murder, rape, or treason. It may almost be said to be 
 the only reasonable alternative to capital punishment, if 
 it be admitted that life-imprisonment is merely a method 
 of slow execution. 
 
 Its adoption by definite sentence, and with a provision 
 in general against any further commutation, would extend 
 at least the hope of ultimate freedom to almost every 
 subject of it, the exceptions being very few. It would 
 furnish a basis for an easier administration of prison dis- 
 cipline and authority than with absolute perpetuity of 
 durance. Although it may be here remarked in passing, 
 that so far as the enforcement of obedience is concerned, 
 life-prisoners are, as a class, found to be as amenable to it 
 as others, if not more so. Nor has general experience con- 
 firmed the fears of those who object to the abolition of 
 capital punishment on the ground of its endangering the lives 
 of the officers administering life-imprisonment. This danger 
 exists in the concentrated mass of murderous villainry 
 in certain Italian prisons. But in the better managed 
 penal establishments of Great Britain, Holland, Belgium,
 
 Perpetual or Life Impn'sonmciif. 163 
 
 Sweden, Norway, Germany, and other countries, the murder 
 of an officer by a life-sentenced prisoner is a circumstance 
 of the very rarest occurrence. It is, in fact, remarkable by 
 its habitual absence. Special inflictions, or deprivations, are 
 always influential with any class of prisoners, and indeed 
 more so, in some respects, with those detained for long 
 terms than with others. 
 
 But a fixed limit of twenty years would greatly aid the 
 discipline of its subjects. And what is of more importance, 
 so far as the public are concerned, it would, in most cases, 
 avail to practically incapacitate, or effectually deter the 
 persons who pass through it from any repetition of their 
 crime. The mere natural operation of age, decay and 
 disease, would tend towards this result ; and not only so, 
 but it would, in a considerable proportion of cases, render 
 the limit of twenty years a virtual sentence in perpetuity 
 by the intervention of death. But meanwhile the elements 
 of hope and other desirable influences would be largely 
 pr-esent notwithstanding. 
 
 Under the wisest and best system of criminal legislation, 
 even twenty years' detention would be only necessary for 
 a small minority of offenders, such as murderers and a few 
 others. If carried out under duly adapted and reasonable 
 conditions, the character of the dietary and other allow- 
 ances to the criminals of this class might usefully be made 
 dependent, at least in some degree, upon their own industry 
 and exertions. In many instances, if not in all, the convict 
 might be required, or enabled, to contribute materially 
 towards the cost of his detention, and occasionally perhaps 
 be allowed to earn something for his family, or for his own 
 future sustenance in the event of his surviving the twenty 
 years. 
 
 The establishments to be specially appropriated to this 
 class, should, by means of an extensive area, admit of exer- 
 cise, gardening, and agricultural or other labour, to a degree 
 which "prisons," in the ordinary sense, have not generally 
 
 ivr 2
 
 164 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 rendered available hitherto. Of course, various modifica- 
 tions of the principle of a fixed maximum limit might be 
 practicable. Some might suggest twenty-five years as 
 the utmost period, allowing five of these to be " worked 
 off"," or remitted, in reward for "good marks." But, on 
 the whole, twenty is probably] a better maximum than 
 any other number of years, and one less open to objections, 
 either as to undue prolongation, or too short limitation. 
 
 The re-infliction of brief terms of cellular solitude, 
 during the twenty years, would be a constantly available and 
 very powerful adjunct, as a reserve power, for the punish- 
 ment of misbehaviour and the maintenance of discipline. 
 
 In the case of murderers, at least, their liberation, 
 after this detention of twenty years, might be accom- 
 panied by certain conditions as to future residence and 
 supervision. It may here be remarked, however, that 
 murderers, as a class, are not the most degraded or most 
 hopeless of criminals. In many instances, their one terrible 
 crime has been an entirely exceptional manifestation of 
 passion or rage, called forth by some tremendous temptation. 
 
 Neither the above, nor any other plan whatever, would 
 be free from some practical difficulties ; but, especially in 
 view of the precedent of British experience with more than 
 40 per cent, of the convicted murderers, it is very desirable 
 to adopt, more systematically and completely, some such 
 arrangement, instead of the greater evils hitherto attendant 
 both on life-imprisonment and on the inevitably irregular 
 penalty of death. 
 
 Society would then be more efiectually protected from 
 murder and from similar crimes, because their punishment 
 would be much more certain and general than heretofore. 
 The claims of the criminal, to a just mercy, would also be 
 met more largely and more humanely ; whilst the grasp of 
 the law would be strengthened, instead of relaxed."^ 
 
 * The Author may, perhaps, issue a small work on the special 
 subject of Capital Punishment.
 
 Chapter V. 
 HABITUAL OFFENDERS, OR " RECIDIVISTES." 
 
 Various Experiments. 
 
 The measures which have hitherto been adopted with 
 Habitual Criminals * whether in Europe or America, may 
 be regarded rather as experimental than absolutely suc- 
 cessful. For nowhere has there yet been carried out, in 
 the treatment of this class, any system characterized by 
 adequate regularity, certainty, and discrimination. Even 
 in England, which has taken and maintained a leading 
 position in this matter, the mode of cumulating sentences 
 has been extremely irregular and arbitrary ; whilst, also, 
 there has been a general practical disregard of the very 
 important distinction existing between wilfully brutal 
 ruffians, and the other class of habitual offenders who are 
 weak and indolent, rather than violent or cruel. These 
 require and deserve different modes of treatment. 
 
 In numberless instances, periods of penal servitude of 
 excessive length and costliness, have, for a few petty thefts, 
 been needlessly inflicted upon poor, weak creatures ; whilst 
 many atrocious criminals, guilty of revolting cruelty, have 
 been visited with less severe penalties. Further, through 
 the absence of a moderatel}^ certain and systematic cumu- 
 lation of detention for repeated breaches of the laws, many 
 of each class have been tempted into permanent careers of 
 crime. 
 
 * Styled '* Recidivistes " in Fiance, and " Revolvers '' in America.
 
 IGG Penological and Prevcrdive Principles. 
 
 Certain but Very Gradual Cumulation. 
 
 It is the opinion of a number of experienced prison 
 officers, that a much more general repression of crime than 
 has hitherto been obtained, would be secured merely by 
 the adoption of a more certain gradation of cellular con- 
 finement for the repetition of transgressions. It is already 
 found to be a fact, that a single brief imprisonment, 
 on the sejxirate system, effects a life-long deterrence in 
 regard to many offenders. Hence, first imprisonments 
 should, as a rule, be of very short duration ; the object 
 being rather an attempt to prevent further crime, than to 
 impose abruptly heavy inflictions for the sake of mere 
 theories of vengeance. The first punishment should be just 
 sufficient to create an abiding disagreeable impression of a 
 deterrent nature. It should not be so long as to have 
 habituated its subject to prison life, or to have removed or 
 relaxed that wholesome dread of incarceration which it is 
 so needful to maintain. 
 
 Legislators should avoid mere temper, or unpractical 
 anger, and should manifest a wisely efficacious patience, by 
 a course of moderate, but certahily cumulative repression. 
 "Whenever a first brief imprisonment has failed to secure 
 its object, it should never be repeated. The same ground 
 should never be gone over again. Every subsequent con- 
 viction should involve some definite increase of detention. 
 It is of comparatively minor consequence if the amount o£ 
 additional penalty is but small, so long as it is certain to be 
 greater than any one previously undergone by the same 
 individual. It can hardly be too often repeated or recog- 
 nized, that the main element in the repression of crime is 
 not severity, but certainty — real, absolute certainty. And, 
 in order to render this the more practicable, it must involve 
 moderation and patient gradation. 
 
 For petty offences, a steady progress of one month, two 
 months, three months, and so on — gradual but certain —
 
 SaUtual Offenders or " Becidkistes." 167 
 
 with really penal conditions of cellular separation and hard 
 labour, would be much more efficacious than the custom 
 (which does not deserve the appellation either of a plan or 
 a system) hitherto so widely prevalent, of either piling on 
 absurdly hurried additions of long years of detention for 
 the repetition of a few petty thefts, or otherwise merely 
 inflicting upon case-hardened individuals, dozens and scores 
 of, to them, contemptible sentences of a few days or weeks. 
 The alternative, hitherto, has been either this Scylla or 
 that Charybdis, each of which is alike very inefficacious, 
 as shown by constant failure. 
 
 Even for the peculiarly difficult class of habitual 
 DRUNKEN MISDEMEANANTS the coursc of a very gradual but 
 sure increase of detention will be found very influentiah 
 Some striking instances of success have been noticed when, 
 in certain cases, the principle of a moderate progression of 
 sentences has been applied to such persons. 
 
 This sure but very gradual cumulation of cellular impri- 
 sonment will alone, and without any provision for further 
 industrial training, or police supervision, suffice for the 
 effectual reclamation and deterrence of many offenders who, 
 under existing irregularities of treatment, become habitual 
 criminals. This is the conclusion decisively arrived at by 
 practical observers. But what Government, or nation, has 
 hitherto adopted it, on any complete or persevering scale ? 
 Not a si)i{j/e one. 
 
 Criminals should not be regarded as belonging to the 
 habitual class, until they have undergone several, at least, 
 of the iirst stages of such a moderate but certain cumu- 
 lation of penalty. In most cases the patience and majesty 
 of the law might fairly afibrd them from three to si.x. oppor- 
 tunities of this kind. Tliis course wouhl greatly restrict 
 the number of persons to be further and finally dealt with. 
 But after from three to six trials of the operation of impri- 
 sonments, the aggregate of which need not have exceeded 
 one year's duration, for petty offences, the cumulation
 
 168 Penological and Preientive Principles. 
 
 should assume another character. Then it should involve, 
 in addition to longer imprisonment, a subsequent training 
 for from one year to several years, either in a penal factory, 
 or in the cultivation of land. The weakness of character 
 evinced by any offenders for whom this treatment had been 
 found needful, requires also some continuance of super- 
 vision after their liberation, as at present practised. But 
 this, again, should not be immoderately prolonged. 
 
 Opinions respecting Supervision. 
 
 There exists on this point considerable difference of view 
 amongst judges, magistrates, and prison-officers, who may, 
 on either side, be regarded as competent to form some 
 opinion. The writer once received, almost simultaneously, 
 two letters, one from a most experienced magistrate, and 
 the other from a veteran prison governor, conveying oppo- 
 site views on this question of supervision, at least as now 
 practised in Great Britain. And often many similar diver- 
 gencies of opinion in regard to it have been noticed. Yet, 
 on careful examination and comparison of these views, it 
 will l)e found that they do not differ so much as at first 
 sight would appear to be the case. They generally admit 
 the value and even necessity of some kind of supervision 
 for some classes of discharged prisoners, but they differ as to 
 its nature and extent. 
 
 Some of them decidedly object to its exercise by the 
 Police, whilst approving it when entrusted to the opera- 
 tion of Discharged Prisoners' Aid Societies, or to private 
 ''■ patrons " of judicious character. Others, again, who still 
 recognise the value of supervision, whilst exercised by the 
 police, denounce as needlessly cruel and even mischievous, 
 the protracted terms, such as five or seven years of surveil- 
 lance, to which many criminals are sentenced under exist- 
 ing law. In this matter, as in most other things, the best 
 procedure will probably be found to consist in a medium
 
 Eahitual Offenders or " Recidivistes." 169 
 
 course, or partial combination of the different views ex- 
 pressed by thoughtful and experienced observers. 
 
 Some of the possible disadvantages of police supervision 
 have already been obviated, in England at least, by con- 
 fining its delicate and confidential functions, as much as 
 possible, to the chief or superior authorities amongst the 
 force, and by strictly prohiljiting the subordinate or less 
 intelligent members of that body from taking any part 
 in the relations between discharged convicts and their 
 employers. The co-operation of private benevolence — 
 especially in connection with Discharged Prisoners' Aid 
 Societies, and " Prison Gate Missions," has also been very 
 advantageously united with the action of the police. 
 
 Pernicious or Cruel Extremes. 
 
 The question of the period of time over which the super- 
 vision of a discharged habitual criminal should extend, 
 is one which deserves more attention than it has hitherto 
 received. It is probable that, at least so far as the police 
 are concerned, a duration of one or two years' surveillance 
 would, in most cases, be Ijetter than the more protracted 
 terms of five or seven years ; though, of course, special pro- 
 Ion o-ations would still be needful in various exceptional 
 instances. 
 
 There should not be a too general or indiscriminate 
 resort to police supervision. It should be strictly confined 
 to habitual, as separate from incidental oflfenders, two 
 classes requiring very different treatment. Further, the 
 extreme periods of imprisonment, and subsequent super- 
 vision, imposed in Great Britain upon the weaker and less 
 dangerous class of habitual pilferers, as distinguished from 
 
 *P()LICK SCPKRVISION.— A sentence o£ "Supervision" in Great 
 Britain requires its subject to report himself, in person, to the police 
 once a month ; and also to notify promptly to them every change of 
 residence. Failure of compliance with these and some other con- 
 ditions involves re-imprisonment.
 
 170 Fcnohrjical and Prevcntke Princijoles. 
 
 violent ruffians, constitute a national scandal. There are 
 many hundreds of such unwisely treated persons in the 
 British convict prisons. The followino- are a few recent 
 instances (letters being substituted for the names of the 
 culprits) : — 
 
 " A.," after two minor committals to a local jail, was con- 
 victed for stealing money, and sentenced to seven years' 
 penal servitude, followed by seven years' police supervision. 
 After all this he was re-convicted for stealing three shillings, 
 and sentenced to another seven years' imprisonment, fol- 
 lowed by a further seven years' supervision. 
 
 " B.," a weak-minded man, who had been once sent to 
 jail for a minor offence, was, for stealing a shirt, sentenced 
 to five years' imprisonment and five years' supervision. 
 
 " C," for stealing a garden fork, w^as sentenced to ten 
 years' imprisonment and five years' supervision. He had 
 already, for stealing a rabbit-gin, had seven years' im- 
 prisonment and two years' supervision. The circumstance 
 of his having undergone four minor committals to jail 
 previously, does not justify the preposterous harshness of 
 the subsequent seventeen years' detention, wdth seven years' 
 further supervision for tw^o such trifling thefts. There is 
 a monstrous disproportion and cruelty in such gigantic out- 
 bursts of passion on the part of legal " Justice " so-called. 
 
 " D.," after some brief punishment in a jail, was sentenced, 
 for stealing a cup, to five years' imprisonment and seven 
 years' supervision ; another disproportionate and unjust 
 infliction ! 
 
 " E.," who there is reason to believe was actually insane, 
 w^as sentenced, for stealing a coat, to five years' imprison- 
 ment and five years more of supervision. He had had 
 several convictions to jail for other petty thefts. 
 
 " F." furnishes a special illustration of the gross in- 
 equalities and anomalies which so often characterize 
 English sentences. For stealing a piece of canvas, he 
 was sentenced to twelve years' penal servitude, to be
 
 Habitual Offenders or " Rccidivistes." 171 
 
 followed by seven years' supervision. He had already 
 undergone six minor detentions in jail and three sentences 
 of penal servitude, amounting to twenty-two years, and 
 including one of ten years for stealing a shovel. So that 
 this poor weak creature has been committed to thirty-four 
 years' of imprisonment, with seven years' supervision, 
 all for petty thefts; whilst few of the most atrocious 
 ruffians, violators, or burglars, of England, have had half 
 such an amount of punishment meted out to them ! 
 
 " G.," for stealing some water-cresses and shell-fish, was 
 sentenced to eight years' imprisonment and seven years' 
 supervision. He had already had, for stealing a hamper 
 of potatoes, seven years' imprisonment and seven years' 
 supervision. And before that, he had had sixteen minor 
 convictions. But, here again, the very petty nature of 
 most of the thefts committed by him indicate that a little 
 common sense might have dealt with him far more promptly 
 and effectually than by all this protracted and costly series 
 of inflictions. 
 
 " H." is another of the failures of the present " system." 
 He had ten incarcerations in jail ; followed by five years' 
 imprisonment and five years' supervision for stealing boots. 
 
 " J." was sent to penal servitude for his first ofience 
 (embezzlement). He then continued honest for sixteen 
 3'ears, when, for stealing some candles, he was sentenced to 
 seven years' imprisonment and seven years' supervision ! 
 Surely the sixteen years' interval constituted a claim for 
 more mercy, and for a mild and moderate penalt}^ 
 
 "K.," after two minor committals, was sentenced, for 
 stealing some herrings and other food, to five years' im- 
 prisonment, follow^ed by seven -yoavs supervision. 
 
 " L." w^as sentenced, for stealing a few shillings, to eight 
 years' imprisonment and seven j^cars' supervision. 
 
 "M.," for petty theft, after previous convictions, was 
 sentenced to ten years' imprisonment and seven years' 
 supervision.
 
 172 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 " N.," after five petty committals to jail, was sentenced, 
 for stealing six shillings, to seven years' imprisonment. 
 The same year in which he was liberated from the latter 
 term, he stole a pair of boots, which offence brought down 
 upon him ten years' imprisonment and seven years' super- 
 vision. 
 
 " O." has received, for stealing clothes, a sentence of ten 
 years' imprisonment and seven years' supervision. He 
 had previously had seven years' imprisonment for stealing 
 a coat. 
 
 Very many similar illustrations might be adduced in 
 proof of the unwisdom and defective condition of even the 
 English system of dealing with offenders ; for the above are 
 but typical instances out of long lists of the sentences 
 recently passed in British courts of " Justice." 
 
 Is it any matter for surprise, that thieves have, of late, 
 manifested an increasing disposition to carry pistols and 
 shoot the police, or any one likely to cause their arrest ? 
 Are not murderous assaults the natural and almost neces- 
 sary consequence of such shocking sentences as some of the 
 above ? For if the perpetrators of petty thefts find, by 
 experience, that they incur punishments of from ten to 
 twenty years' duration for stealing a few water-cresses, 
 herrings, fowls, or boots, why should they not risk a violent 
 self-defence against the police or others, inasmuch as their 
 punishment, in case of arrest, can hardly be worse than 
 that inflicted hitherto for comparatively harmless delin- 
 quencies ? The Law itself unwisely teaches them that 
 atrocious crimes do not, in general, receive more vindictive 
 retaliation, and very often not nearly so much as little 
 thefts committed to satisfy their hunger, or clothe their 
 nakedness. Hence the extremely rapid and severe cumu- 
 lation of long imprisonments, for petty offences, has been, 
 and is, carried to such an extent, as to have become a 
 positive temptation to dangerous crimes of brutality. 
 
 At the autumn assizes, in 1887, an instructive example
 
 Hahitual Offenders or '•' JRcciJivlstes." 173 
 
 of the diversity of procedure, amongst English Judges, was 
 afforded by the contrast between the action of two of these 
 dicfnitaries, durinfj the same week. One of them sentenced 
 an old woman to seven years' penal servitude for stealing 
 an article of underclothing ; and also imposed five years' 
 penal servitude on a man who had fraudulently obtained a 
 shilling. A day or two later, at York, Lord Chief Justice 
 Coleridge had before him a woman who had already 
 undergone ten years' punishment for stealing a door-mat. 
 and was now charged with the theft of a piece of linen. 
 The Chief Justice sentenced her to three weeks' hard 
 labour, and remarked, very wisely, " I do not know what 
 is to become of punishment. If people are to be sent to 
 ten years' servitude for stealing a door-mat, what is to 
 become of them for half -killing their wives ? " 
 
 It is to be noted that the heaviest sentences for minor 
 offences are not, in general, imposed by the superior 
 or more intelligent class of Judges, but chiefly by the pro- 
 vincial or rural Magistrates and Chairmen of Quarter 
 Sessions. For example, out of a list of 720 recent sentences 
 to penal servitude, 240 were passed by the Judges, and only 
 nine of these were accompanied by subsequent supervision. 
 Whereas, out of the remaining 480 sentences passed at 
 the lower courts (•' the Sessions,") 209 involved supervision. 
 Hence, the higher tribunals ordered this addition to less 
 than four per cent, of their sentences ; but the lower courts 
 adopted it in 43 per cent, of cases. That is to say, the 
 local Magistrates impose long periods of supervision, to an 
 extent eleven times greater than that deemed needful by the 
 Judges, the highest rank of legal administrators. 
 
 It has been pleaded, in justification of this special pre- 
 ference, by the lower Courts, for protracted supervision, 
 that their members are personally better acquainted with 
 the requirements of local offenders. It is alleged that the 
 Judges know very little of the actual circumstances of the 
 criminal classes, and that their previous training has only
 
 174 Penological and Prcvcnfive Principles. 
 
 been a forensic and literary one. A magisterial correspon- 
 dent of the writer remarks on this point : " Most of the 
 Judges, when first called to the bar, held a few criminal 
 briefs, drawn by a solicitor, not to show the culprit's 
 previous habits or temptations, or causes of crime, or his 
 thoughts or feelings, but simply to prove that he did the 
 act. Has any one of them, in his life, had any talk with a 
 prisoner, or with any labourer ? Does any one of them know 
 anything of the opinions or feelings of the criminal class, 
 or how to affect them ? " For such reasons as these, some 
 of the local Magistrates argue that they are much better 
 furnished than the Judges with that actual knowledge of 
 the offending classes and of all their circumstances, which 
 is requisite for guidance, in the imposition of sentences, 
 within the wide limits of discretion, often permitted by 
 the law. 
 
 And, unquestionably, this argument possesses some 
 weight. But after due allowance for it, and for other 
 adducible pleas, it is also undeniable that the numerous 
 sentences of from a dozen to twenty years' aggregation of 
 imprisonment and supervision, for a few repeated thefts — 
 as of herrings, chickens, or boots — constitute a most dispro- 
 portionate, unmerciful, and even crime-producing procedure. 
 
 A great change is therefore needful, at least in England, 
 in regard to habitual offenders of the less dangerous 
 class — those characterised rather by excessive laziness 
 and by propensities to pilfer, but not evincing violent or 
 ruffianly inclinations. These require a certain, but more 
 gradually cumulative, infliction than hitherto, of cellular 
 imprisonment. And for the proportion of them, probably 
 not a large one, for whom this will be insufficient, some 
 more protracted discipline of a reformatory and industrial 
 character will be further efficacious. But neither such 
 training, nor the police supervision — which may be either 
 its sequel or its substitute, according to circumstances- 
 should be characterised by excessive length of duration.
 
 Eahitual Offenders or " Recidivistesr 175 
 
 The whole process should be sufficient for its purpose, but 
 not extended so far as mercilessly to crush out hope, or put 
 the community to great expense, for a few peccadilloes ; or 
 positively to furnish temptations to crimes of brutality. 
 
 Brutal Criminals. 
 
 But if there has been an excessive irregularity and 
 severity in the punishment of habitual pilferers, there has 
 also been a general lack of adequate stringency in regard 
 to the more dangerous class of criminals, whose misdeeds 
 partake of the nature of cruelty or violent outrage. These 
 have so often been treated with such strange laxity, both 
 in England and America, that it has become a proverbial 
 expression that crimes against the person are visited with 
 far less severity than offences against propert}''. The 
 murderous ruffian, the ravisher and the burglar, have, in 
 innumerable instances, received a milder punishment than 
 persons arrested for the stealing of a few trifling articles 
 of food or clothing;'. 
 
 Even a single act of cruel or violent crime indicates a 
 dangerous disposition which should not be trifled with. 
 The first perpetration, by any person, of such outrages as 
 arson, wounding, rape, gross fraud, or wilful cruelty, should 
 involve severe punishment. The sentences sometimes, but 
 by no means regularly, awarded, in Great Britain, for these 
 crimes, of from five to ten years' detention, can hardly be 
 deemed excessive, so far as the deserts of their perpetrators 
 are concerned. But there is also the question whether, in 
 some of these cases, it is necessary to burden the honest 
 tax-payers for the support of ruffians, for such extended 
 periods. By the infliction of from six months to two years 
 of cellular separation, combined, in certain cases, with a 
 series of whippings — not brutal, flesh-mangling floggings, 
 but sharp, skin-stinging whippings — these criminals would 
 be made to suffer a punishment which would far exceed, in 
 intensity and in disagrccableness to themselves, the five,
 
 176 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 seven, ten, or more years of comparatively lax and social 
 penal servitude now awarded to some of them. The 
 results would, in all probability, be effectually and per- 
 manently deterrent for the majority of such offenders. 
 
 Prompt and rapid cumulation is requisite for repeated 
 offences of a nolent nature. Any repetition of such acts, 
 after a previous punishment, indicates a gross and perilous 
 perversity of character. For a third, or further, similar 
 crime of violence by the same person, a detention of from 
 ten to twent}'- years should be enforced. 
 
 There has been, on both sides of the Atlantic, a frequent 
 expression of opinion, by many prison officers and penolo- 
 gists, that Habitual Offenders, or Recidivistes, of the violent 
 class, should, after two or three perpetrations of such 
 crime, be imprisoned for life and never again be suffered 
 to prey upon society. One of the ablest of Amei'ican 
 penologists. Professor FRA^'CIS Waylaxd, of Yale College, 
 issued, in 1886, an essay entitled " The Incorric/ible" in 
 which he strongly urged this course, and in which he 
 referred to the numerous horrible atrocities committed by 
 criminals who had previously undergone various periods, 
 longer or shorter, of congregate imprisonment, and who, 
 also, in many instances, had had such terms of detention 
 shortened by remissions for presumed " reformation," or 
 " good behaviour," on the mere ground of that obedience 
 to prison regulations in which the most practised villains 
 are apt to be the most exemplary, so long as it is their 
 interest to obtain, thereby, any relaxation of their penalty 
 or discipline. So many murders, rapes, arsons and bur- 
 glaries have been perpetrated in America by these 
 "reformed" criminals, that Professor Wayland suggests, 
 in the interests of the community, that the only safe 
 course is, on a third conviction, to shut them up for life 
 in a penal institution. 
 
 Further, he deprecates, for this class, any reliance upon 
 police supervision ; it being insufficient. In the United
 
 Eahitual Offenders or " Beci'divi'stes" 177 
 
 States this surveillance is certainly very imperfectly organ- 
 ised, and perhaps, under their circumstances, almost un- 
 attainable there, to any sufficiently effective extent. 
 
 Professor Wayland says, " If it be argued that police 
 supervision, after release, would avert the danger, I answer 
 that it is far more easy, wise, and safe, to exercise it within 
 prison walls. The authorities of a hospital might, with 
 just as much show of reason, release a small-pox patient 
 in the most contagious period of that dreaded disease, and 
 then provide that while the dangerous symptoms continued 
 he should remain under supervision. I believe that there 
 is but one cure for this great and growing evil, and that 
 this is to be found in the imprisonment for life, of the 
 criminal once pronounced incorrigible." He adds, " We 
 shall do no practical injustice to the criminal, if we provide 
 that a third conviction for such felony should establish 
 his status as incorrigible." 
 
 There is much weight in this objection to permitting 
 dangerous habitual criminals, of this particular class, to be 
 at liberty, even under supervision ; and on the whole, for 
 such ruffians and such morally inveterate desperadoes as 
 some of them are, it would be the better and safer plan to 
 have recourse to prolonged detention in institutions 
 specially adapted for the purpose, as on islands, for 
 example, or in places where escape would be very difficult, 
 but where, at the same time, considerable space would be 
 availaltle for agriculture and other industry. 
 
 To a large extent this system of long detention for vio- 
 lent criminals has already been carried out, in England, in 
 the form of Penal Servitude. For such persons it is almost 
 impossible to devise a course of treatment free from grave 
 difficulties and disadvantages. But the existing British 
 plan, although requiring important modifications, is one of 
 the best yet adopted for this particular class. 
 
 The writer ventures to differ from those authorities, such 
 as Professor Wayland and others, who advocate a sentence 
 
 N
 
 178 Powlogical and Preventive Principles. 
 
 of absolute life imprisonment for all desperate felons who 
 have been convicted a third time. For inflictions of deten- 
 tion, really for life, tend in practice to become a slow 
 form of the death penalty, and hence may be more cruel, 
 in the aggregate, than the immediate operation of the 
 gallows, or the guillotine. The w^riter believes that even 
 for violent criminals, it will be, on the whole, more 
 advantageous to all parties concerned, that definite sen- 
 tences of long confinement should be passed, rather than 
 of perpetual imprisonment. But the gradation of sen- 
 tences should be certain, instead of uncertain and irre- 
 gular, as it is now. No sentence should ever be repeated 
 a second time. Every successive infliction should mark a 
 fixed advance upon the preceding one. Hence sentences 
 on desperadoes should proceed on some such scale of 
 increase, as, for example, four, six, eight, ten years, in suc- 
 cession ; having regard more to the number of repetitions 
 of brutal crime than to the character of each act. 
 
 A ruflian, knowing that the certainty of such a moderate 
 scale of prolonged confinements awaited him, would be far 
 more deterred than heretofore. The above series of four 
 definite sentences would ultimately involve, to most, if not 
 all of the worst characters, a lifetime of secure detention. 
 After two or three terms of such protracted discipline they 
 would, in general, have become incapacitated for further 
 mischief ; meanwhile they would have had always before 
 them a ray of hope, useful alike for their oAvn moral 
 development and for facilitating the duties and permanent 
 safety of the officers in charge. No country in the world 
 appears as yet to have practically carried out a moderate, 
 certain, regular gradation, such as is here advocated, for 
 this particular class. 
 
 Class Prisons. 
 
 And not only should the sentences be graded, but also, 
 where the best of all classification, that of individualization
 
 Habitual Offenders or " jRccidivistcs." 179 
 
 in the cell, is not yet secured, some advantage may accom- 
 pany the adoption of distinct prisons and discipline for each 
 class of re-convictions. The convicts committed for the 
 shorter terms should not be placed in the same establish- 
 ment, or under the same regime, as those sentenced for the 
 longer periods. 
 
 It has been one of the mischievous defects of the Bri-- 
 tish convict prisons, that, until very lately, they inter- 
 mingled all classes of criminals in the same establishments. 
 Latterly some improvement has been introduced in this 
 direction. Many of the re-committed convicts have been 
 kept permanently apart from those undergoing a first sen- 
 tence. With re-convicted desperadoes, under a certain and 
 regularly cumulative system of sentences, a material part of 
 the efficacy of their treatment, both as to deterrence and of 
 security, would consist in their orderly distribution into 
 prisons specially adapted for each stage of re-committal. 
 This would, at least in some degree, facilitate the dis- 
 criminative management of such peculiarly difficult sub- 
 jects. 
 
 Throughout the terms of custody they should have op- 
 portunities, as at present in the convict prisons of various 
 nations, of securing for themselves successive ameliorations 
 of their treatment by " good marks." The cell or the whip 
 might still furnish the ultimate resorts for special chastise- 
 ment. As far as practicable, personal industry should be 
 rendered (as outside, under the ordinary conditions of life) 
 a basis of self support. For the skill acquired under long 
 detentions would, in many cases, enable such prisoners to 
 exercise very profitable industries of various kinds. They 
 should, of course, as often hitherto, be permitted the 
 stimulus of some present and prospective share of the 
 results or value of their labour. 
 
 There is good reason to conclude that, on the adoption 
 of such a regular system as is here advocated, the first 
 stages would generally suffice for their object, and tliat 
 
 X 2
 
 180 Penological and Prcvcntice Principles. 
 
 comparatively a small residuum of "intractablcs" or "in- 
 corrigibles " would remain to be dealt with, under the 
 admittedly difficult problems of the final and most pro- 
 tracted terms. Indeed, this result has been partially at- 
 tained already in Great Britain, in so far as the plan 
 here described has been approximated to. 
 
 But, throughout, for every description of habitual 
 offenders, whether of the less dangerous, or the desperado 
 class, the main element of repression must always consist 
 in the certainty of a moderate gradation of restraint. Such 
 certainty is the indispensable and primary condition of 
 success. 
 
 Abnormal Cases. 
 There are some exceptional cases of extremely brutal 
 and morally insane offenders, for whom a more prompt 
 cumulation of sentences to seven, ten, or twelve years' 
 detention may be necessary. For there are, in every coun- 
 try, individuals who are so utterly bereft of either the will 
 or the power to control their violent passions, that prac- 
 tically they are as dangerous to the community as mad- 
 men. Such persons may indeed be regarded as morally 
 mad — a species of insanity more mischievous to mankind 
 than various forms of mental alienation which the laws 
 regard as qualifying for an asylum. A very observant 
 French author — Dr. Prosper Despixes — has collected, 
 chiefly from the experiences of the French criminal courts 
 and prisons, a long arra^- of illustrations, showing that the 
 perpetrators of the most atrocious and cruel crimes are, 
 in general, specially characterised by an absence of re- 
 morse, and by a cold insensibility both in regard to the 
 sufferings of others and to their own depravity. They 
 seem to be " past feeling," as to the moral sense. Exhor- 
 tation, persuasion, threats, kindness, severity, each and 
 all appear to have little or no effect upon them. They 
 are almost out of the reach of either ordinary or special
 
 Eahitual Offenders or " ricckUvistcs." 181 
 
 influences. And hence, for the safety of the piihlic, there 
 seems to he only one effectual mean« of dealing with them, 
 namely, to place them under very prolonged restraint, not 
 so much with a hop3 of altering their condition, as of 
 simply keeping them out of the way of inflicting grave 
 injuries upon the community. They are, in fact, an 
 abnormal class, and must be dealt with accordingly. 
 
 An Eno-lish writer, Mrs. Lynn Lynton, remarks of such 
 miserable beings : " Every warder and governor of a jail 
 has had experience of the intractable prisoner, — the man or 
 woman whom no reasoning can convince, no kindness soften, 
 whom no influence of any kind can sway, and with whom 
 even self-interest is inoperative. It is a creature with the 
 speech and form of humanity, but with the fierce instincts 
 of a wild beast — the malevolent passions of a demon. 
 Were it not over-mastered and controlled, it would commit 
 murder with no more moral consciousness of the heinous- 
 ness of its crime than a boa-constrictor has when it swal- 
 lows a rabbit, or than a tiger feels when it strikes down 
 an antelope. Yet the creature is not intellectually mad. 
 Crafty and clever, it sets the authorities at defiance, and 
 bamboozles the chaplain, the magistrates, the police. In- 
 docile, treacherous, stony-hearted, lying, this creature is yet 
 not mad. ' Mad doctors ' come from London and examine 
 and report : ' Not a trace of intellectual insanity ; a case of 
 pure perversion ; physical condition sound ; ' and so on. 
 And yet, pace the experts, that creature and all its like arc 
 mad, morally, if not intellectually." And such persons 
 positively enjoy a subtle and protracted antagonism to the 
 officers of the law. 
 
 These intractable beings are at once pitiable and revolt- 
 ing. For their own very pitilessness and incapacity for 
 remorse, are, in themselves, such a terrible privation — 
 especially if hereditary — that they may Avell claim the 
 wise pity of every considerate and Christian observer. At 
 the same time, a merciful regard to the community do-
 
 182 Penological and Prevcntirc Principles. 
 
 mands that sucli dangerous persons shall be placed under 
 prolonged and secure restraint. Their actions should be 
 reo-arded by the law as a decisive proof and test of their 
 madness. And the}^ should, at least equally with the 
 intellectually " insane," be secluded in institutions adapted 
 to their special condition, as is already the case with some 
 of a similar category ; the inmates of such criminal lunatic 
 asylums as Broadmoor, in England, or Dundrum, in Ireland. 
 And, if released, their subsequent supervision should be 
 life-long, and specially vigilant. 
 
 Failure of Irrf.gular Punishment. 
 
 In reference to a certain section of habitual criminals, 
 the extreme irregularity of the sentences hitherto imposed 
 has had the effect of encouraging a reckless love of adven- 
 ture, and a willingness to incur the chances, as Avell as the 
 risks of justice. Some desperadoes have no other ambi- 
 tion than that of a morbid criminality. Professor Way land 
 mentions one of this class who exclaimed, " I would rather 
 die with a burglar's jemmy in my hand, than be the pos- 
 sessor of the finest property in America." The keen excite- 
 ments of the defiance, or evasion of the law, furnish to 
 such ruffians a morbid pleasure so strong as to render 
 them regardless of consequences. Hence, the utmost cer- 
 tainty of cumulation is a merciful necessity for them. 
 
 But hitherto the absence of a requisite regularity of 
 system, even in England, has failed to restrain many 
 amongst each of the two divisions of habitual offenders, 
 whom more thoroufjhlv oraranised methods would have 
 effectually controlled. An experienced authority has re- 
 marked : " At least three-fourths of those who are at pre- 
 sent in penal servitude, could be more mercifully and at 
 the same time more effectually dealt with. It is a sad 
 fact that a very considerable portion of those who have
 
 Sahitual Offenders or '' JRccidivistes." 183 
 
 suffered penal servitude, look upon a convict prison as 
 their natural home, and are scarcely at liberty more than 
 a few months before they again incur a similar punish- 
 ment. All that they apparently care for, is to have good 
 food, dry clothes, and a fairly comfortable bed, all of 
 which they enjoy in a convict prison. Nothing can more 
 clearly prove the non-deterrent character of that punish- 
 ment." 
 
 Instances of British Failure with Convicts. 
 
 The above observations are abundantly confirmed by the 
 official records of the procedure of criminal courts. For 
 instance, a few specimens, out of a large array of recent 
 cases, show the following very speedy returns to their old 
 companionship in the prisons. 
 
 "P." is a convict who was discharged from penal servi- 
 tude in July of a certain year. The next month he was 
 re-convicted for five years. Being liberated, he was again 
 committed the following year to penal servitude. But by 
 " good behaviour," in the prison sense of the word, he 
 obtained a remission before the expiration of his sentence. 
 A month later, his license had to be revoked, and he was 
 taken back to prison to undergo his full term. The month 
 after his lil)cration he was again rc-conunitted. 
 
 " Q.," after several imprisonments, was liberated, " on 
 license " from penal servitude, in January'. The next year 
 his license was " revoked." In March of the following year 
 his sentence expired. In October of the same year he was 
 re-committed for another crime. In about six years he 
 was ajrain liberated on license. In seven months he was 
 re-committed for ten years. After nine years' detention he 
 was once more released on license. In six months he was 
 re-committed for a further crime. 
 
 " R." was released from penal servitude, on license, in 
 December. Next mouth he was re-committed for ten years.
 
 18-i Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 The year after the expiry of that period he was again im- 
 prisoned, and, after nearly six years' further penal servi- 
 tude, was again licensed out ; but in ten months his license 
 was revoked. He then served out the remainder of his 
 sentence. Within a year of its termination he was again in 
 prison. 
 
 " S." was discharged from a convict prison in August, 
 The following December he was re-committed. After nearly 
 five years' detention he left the prison, in October. A 
 month later he was re-convicted, and underwent another 
 seven years of penal servitude, which expired in March. 
 In September of the same j^ear he was again sent to a 
 convict prison, but by " good conduct " he earned some 
 remission, and was liberated after about six years, in the 
 month of June. In Novemljer he was again re-committed 
 for another crime. 
 
 Countless instances of a similar character can be ad- 
 duced, showing the failure of the extreme and irregular 
 cumulation of sentences. By the adoption of a wiser, more 
 moderate and more certain plan of procedure, a material 
 diminution in the number of habitual and intractable 
 criminals would ensue. 
 
 Progressive REFORii. 
 
 The measure of progress already made in Great Britain 
 towards a regularly increasing stringency in dealing with 
 habitual offenders has been followed by encouraging re- 
 sults. This movement commenced in Gloucestershire, and 
 has since been adopted in many other English counties. 
 Its operation has tended to reduce crime throughout the 
 country. For it is noteworthy that the indictable offences 
 to which this principle has been partially applied, decreased 
 in England and Wales, in twelve years, from 17,578 (in 
 1870), to 14,938 (in 1882), and in Gloucestershire alone this 
 class of crime decreased from 221 to 154. Whereas, during
 
 Habitual Offenders or " Recidivistcs:' 185 
 
 the same period, the other offences not so treated, namely, 
 those disposed of b}^ " summary conviction," increased, in 
 England and Wales, from 526,809 to C82,90G. Much greater 
 progress may therefore be reasonably expected when a still 
 more regular and complete system is adopted. 
 
 Characteristics of the Chronic Thief Class. 
 
 And there is another matter to be borne in mind, which 
 is intimately connected both with justice and expediency. 
 This consists in the Gfeneral character and antecedents of 
 habitual offenders, as a class peculiarly pervaded by here- 
 ditary moral weakness. They are, by natvire as well as 
 by habit, very irresolute, and easily tempted. To very 
 many of them, society owes a special debt, of sustaining 
 their attempts at amendment, and efficiently encouraging 
 their good resolutions, by means of a kindly supervision 
 and control. This just claim has been too often over- 
 looked by legislation, and even by many philanthro- 
 pists. 
 
 Mr. Percy Neame, a Chief Superintendent of discharged 
 convicts in London, informed the writer that his experi- 
 ence of this class had especially shown him their inherent 
 laziness and indifference to moral elevation. He estimated 
 the number of the " residuum " of habitual offenders and 
 vicious loafers, in London alone, at nearly one hundred 
 thousand. They cluster chiefly in "nests," or certain low 
 streets and " rookeries," known to the police. They can 
 easily supply all their wants by theft, at which they are 
 adepts. One of them remarked to Mr. Neame, " I can rob 
 ninety-nine pockets out of every hundred safely," that is 
 without detection. If labour is offered them, they will not 
 undertake it for any ordinary wages. They are content 
 with their condition; they raise no "bitter cry," and only 
 laugh at the philantliropists and legislators who desire to 
 elevate or reclaim them. They prefer to remain as they
 
 ISG Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 are ; they can exist on a few pence per day, and often do 
 so. The product of one easy theft will maintain them for 
 weeks, or months, in their fascinating idleness. A little 
 fish, bread, or porridge, is sufficient for many of them. 
 They are not very drunken, as a class, but incorrigibly lazy. 
 Work is the one thing they most abhor ; they are often 
 too indolent even to wash themselves ; they prefer to be 
 filthy ; their verj^ skin, in many instances, almost ceases to 
 perform its functions. Nearly all the discharge from some 
 of their bodies is by the bowels ; and if compulsorily washed, 
 such people become sick. They neither know nor care for 
 God. During their spells of imprisonment they are stupidly 
 indifferent to the chaplains, and doze through their ser- 
 mons ; and they are often allowed to do so, for peace 
 sake. 
 
 Many of them come out of their lairs at night, and 
 j)rowl about like wild beasts. They watch for opportu- 
 nities of theft ; they crowd to conflagrations, or riots. 
 Most of them are very ignorant ; but the more danger- 
 ous of them are those who have been educated. Educa- 
 tion tends, in general, to prevent crime ; yet it renders a 
 minority of this class more potent for mischief. If seven 
 out of every ten young persons are prevented, by instruc- 
 tion, from becoming criminals, the other three may thereby 
 be rendered more shrewdly mischievous. Mr. Neame 
 stated that the worst thieves are those who have previ- 
 ously had a training in Keformatories and Board Schools, 
 and that the most depraved girls and women are amongst 
 the more educated ones. He and other official observers 
 •would confine popular charitable and " Board School " 
 education strictly to the " three R's," or Reading, Writing, 
 and Arithmetic, with the Bible ; and nothing more. But 
 the Bible is just the essential element which is too often 
 excluded from popular or State education, and from some 
 Board Schools. The Jewish mob cried out " Not this 
 man, but Barabbas ! " Subsequently and similarly, the vox
 
 Sahitual Offenders or " Recklivistcs." 187 
 
 popnll has frequently been far other than the vox Dei, 
 and has often neglected the Divine messages of eternal 
 salvation. 
 
 " Adult Reformatories." 
 
 In 1868 Mr. Barwick Baker suggested a system of 
 "Adult Reformatories," with special reference to their 
 suital:)ility for habitual offenders of the less violent and less 
 atrocious description. He drew attention to the marked 
 success which had already attended the system of partially 
 indeterminate sentences and progressive liberation, in the 
 case of the lads committed to ordinary juvenile reforma- 
 tories. Their inmates were usually sentenced to five years' 
 detention on a second conviction. They first underwent a 
 short imprisonment of about a month or less, by way of a 
 preliminary penal discipline. This was followed by two or 
 three years of farm labour, under strict oversight ; after 
 which thej'" were placed out in situations, for the remainder 
 of their terms of sentence, and permitted to earn their own 
 living, but under certain conditions of supervision and 
 liability to be returned to the reformatory. 
 
 It was at first regarded as a chimerical or Utopian idea 
 to propose to retain disorderly lads at labour in open 
 fields, and in buildhigs not surrounded by any high walls. 
 Nevertheless the experiment was carried out with remark- 
 able success. The attempts to escape from such institu- 
 tions were very few in number. Mr. Baker therefore 
 urged that the same principle should be tried with certain 
 classes of older offenders, who should be sentenced, espe- 
 cially in the case of habitual thieves, to a term of years of 
 '•' liability to imprisonment," to include a preliminary 
 period in an "Adult lleformatory." 
 
 But their chief punishment and discipline should consist 
 in prolonged vigilance and supervision after their liberation, 
 and whilst maintaining themselves by their own labour,
 
 188 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 and not being' supported at the cost of the honest taxpayers. 
 They might also be required to pay, out of their earnings, 
 a small sum of from sixpence to a shilling per week, or about 
 the amount of their " beer money," during all their term of 
 liability to imprisonment, as a salutary reminder and proof 
 of their indel)tedness to the community, and as some return 
 to the State for the expense of their supervision. 
 
 The offender being thus steadily kept in check, but not 
 inside a prison, would be an abiding visible witness for the 
 disadvantage of evil courses. But where confined in jail, 
 he is out of sight, and in a great degree out of mind, so 
 far as his comrades are concerned. To make prisons self- 
 supporting is desirable, but most difficult, and with few 
 exceptions almost impossible. But to render the culprit 
 self-supporting, whilst still under the restraint of an 
 authoritative vigilance, is thoroughly practicable, and would 
 tend to the best interests, both of himself and the public. 
 
 In having recourse to a reformatory industrial training 
 for certain habitual (pettj^) offenders (adults), after the 
 preliminary stage of rigorous cellular imprisonment, v/hich 
 should always be the first infliction following each re-arrest, 
 Mr. Baker suo-g-ested that 100 acres should be enclosed, not 
 with a high and costly wall of masonry, but simply with 
 a rough two-railed fence, with larch thinnings or poles, 
 eight or ten feet high, nailed upright and close together. 
 He remarked to the writer of this book, in a letter dated 
 March 8tli, 1886, the last year of his very valuable life, " If 
 I learned nothing else at Eton, I learned that a weak fence 
 is less passable than a strong one. A wall round a back 
 yard, with a very old rotten wooden paling at the top of it, 
 was utterly impassable. But one rough night the wind, 
 perhaps a little aided, blew it all down. A handsome new 
 strong fence, covered with spikes and tenter-hooks, was 
 then put up, and was easily negotiable. Within a simple 
 fence fifty men might till the ground, whilst fifty more 
 might be employed in workshops, under somewhat less
 
 Ilahifual Offeudcrs or " Rccidividcs" 189 
 
 stringent conditions than in a regular prison. But," added 
 Mr. Baker, " you must find means to make them unwilling 
 to get out," especially hj their being impressed with the 
 probabilities and unpleasant results of recapture, after 
 attempting to escape. 
 
 In the earlier days of his own Reformatory, at Hard- 
 wicke, he had several " desperate young blackguards " 
 whom he, in several ways, prevented from escaj)ing. One 
 of the lads had a chain put round his anlde, with a 28 lbs. 
 weight at the other end ; so tethered he could work, but 
 could not run off. Another had his spade attached to 
 his wrist by a chahi and padlock. This was too awk- 
 ward a companion to elope with. Other boys had a patch 
 of hair, about the size of half-a-crown, cut away above 
 their ears. Thus marked they would be easily recognised 
 as runaways. They did not like the idea of '•' liberty to be 
 hunted." Various kindred devices could be rendered avail- 
 able for the easier detention, or re-arrest, of this class of 
 persons, in similar training establishments for adults. 
 
 The State of Ohio, U.S., in 1885, adopted, to some 
 extent, Mr. Baker's suggestion, and enacted a law providing 
 that thenceforth the sentences of all offenders, except 
 murderers and re-convicted criminals, should, at the dis- 
 cretion of the Managers of Prisons, allow prisoners, after 
 servinof a minimum period of detention, to be liberated 
 " on parole," but with liabilit}^ to be recalled to jail at once 
 in case of any misbehaviour, or if unemploj-ed. This law 
 is reported to have worked satisfactorily, so far as it has 
 been tried. 
 
 Advantages of Supervision. 
 
 In regard to a moderate, l)ut not excessively prolonged, 
 supervision of discharged liabitual offenders, Mr. Baker 
 further remarked — " For myself I have no blind confidence 
 in prison-effected reformation, and I should like to keep a 
 watch for a loner time on those who have gone wrong. I
 
 190 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 believe that such a watch is a more wholesome kind of 
 punishment, as well as being far cheaper than an imprison- 
 ment. I am aware that some tender-hearted gentlemen 
 will talk of the hardship of suspecting a man who has 
 indeed stolen, but has since ' expiated his oiFence,' as it 
 was once absurdly called, by an imprisonment. I have 
 had much to do with criminals, and I know well that there 
 is scarcely any time when a man requires a friendly watch 
 so much as when he is just turned out of prison. Of all 
 means of jmnisJwienf , or prevention, I consider surveillance 
 is the most valuable. As a punishment it is so slight, that 
 it may be continued for a long period. If twelve months 
 of surveillance be equally disliked with one month of im- 
 prisonment, the one will keep a man out of mischief for 
 one month, the other for twelve. The jail more or less 
 unfits a man for hard labour ; work under license especially 
 accustoms him to it. No Judge can tell how much each 
 prisoner will suffer in the time allotted to him. One 
 man will suffer acutely from that which another will 
 hardly feel. But surveillance has this peculiar quality, 
 that it adapts itself to the requirements of all." 
 
 It must, however, be always provided that the surveil- 
 lance shall be friendly, as well as strict ; that it shall be 
 vigilance for the interests of the former offender, and by no 
 means exclusively for his relapses or failures. It must be 
 a means to hold him vp. 
 
 The more often a man has been in prison, the more 
 likely he is to return thither. This is abundantly proved 
 by experience. Statistics show that the first brief term 
 of imprisonment, in cellular jails, is the most successful in 
 general ; inasmuch as four-fifths of the persons who have 
 undergone a first incarceration, separated from others^ 
 avoid prisons ever after ; but nearly one-half of the number 
 who have been twice imj^risoned, at least in association, 
 have to be further re-committed. Nearly three-fourths 
 of those who have been thrice in custody, return for a
 
 Habitual Offenders or " Beeidivisies." 191 
 
 fourth time, or oftencr. Hence the more habitual that 
 any crime has become to any persons, the greater the 
 necessity for maintaining some special supervision over 
 them. 
 
 Licensing Out to Employers. 
 
 In many of the Reformatories for Juvenile Offenders, 
 both in England and elsewhere, the practice has been 
 ariopted, with much advantage, of licensing out these 
 young persons to private employers, under certain needful 
 conditions as to supervision, payment and discipline. The 
 State is thus relieved of a portion of their maintenance, 
 whilst they are placed under a favourable but gradual pre- 
 paration for a full restoration to the privileges of liberty. 
 A similar principle might perhaps be beneficially adopted 
 with certain classes of adult petty offenders, who, from the 
 power of their evil habits, require a prolonged surveillance 
 when outside the walls of prisons. In some American 
 States, it is the practice to allow many of the criminals to 
 exchange their imprisonment for the service of private 
 employers, chiefly on the ground of immediate economy 
 to the taxpayer. But, with a few exceptions, there does 
 not appear to have been, as yet, a sufficient preparation or 
 security for such a step, there. 
 
 Criminal "Colonisation" iMrRACTicABLE. 
 
 Whilst the provision of occupation, of a reformatory 
 character, on land, or in a factory, is an excellent arrange- 
 ment for a reri/ limited number of habitual offenders, who 
 have reached a certain stage of a regularly graded system 
 of discipline, and who still remain under the grasp of the 
 authorities, and in entire control by their officers, it docs 
 not at all follow that such a mode of giving employment is 
 suitable, either for criminals in general, or for those dis- 
 charged from custody. On the contrary there are grave
 
 102 Powlogical and Preventive Principles. 
 
 objections, both on grounds of practicability and of 
 expediency, to any wholesale provision of labour, by the 
 State, for any class of persons, but especially for those who 
 are, or have been, criminals. It would be one of the surest 
 methods of encouraging evil. 
 
 Yet, from time to time, certain well-meaning, but un- 
 reflecting or misinformed philanthropists, have suggested 
 the adoption of such a course, on a large or indiscriminate 
 scale, either on waste lands at home, or by means of emi- 
 gration. Independently of other objections to such schemes, 
 the following points should be considered : the comparatively 
 small profits to be derived from agriculture ; the few in- 
 ducements which it holds out to the criminal classes ; the 
 jealousy and competition of local farmers and free labourers ; 
 and the difficulties of controlling large bodies of men work- 
 ing on open spaces. And as to emigration, for such a class, 
 where is the colony, or nation, that will noio permit, to any 
 considerable extent, if at all, the regular importation of the 
 criminal refuse of other lands ? This point, alone, is con- 
 clusive against schemes for the general emigration of dis- 
 charged prisoners, even where such persons might be willing 
 to go abroad. 
 
 But if there were not such insuperable objections to these 
 schemes, on the ground of their impracticability, there is a 
 more serious moral difficulty. To supply evil-doers, on a 
 wholesale scale, with special facilities for obtaining employ- 
 ment and remuneration, whilst honest men find it hard to 
 obtain a living, is fraught with the grave social danger that 
 it may tend to render crime attractive and to place a pre- 
 mium upon dishonesty. 
 
 Not only was this result mischievously experienced in 
 England, during the period when convicts were sent to 
 colonise the wealth-producing lands of Australia, but it is 
 still operating disastrously, in connection with the extensive 
 deportation of French recidivistes to New Caledonia, or 
 other pleasant islands of the South Pacific. The Paris
 
 Habitual Offenders or " Recidivisfes." 193 
 
 special correspondent of the London Baili/ Telegraph, in 
 1887, wrote as follows : — " New Caledonia is the criminal's 
 paradise. The cases are not infrequent in which prisoners 
 actually stab their turnkeys, with a view to being con- 
 demned for the crime and then transferred from Clairvaux 
 and other French convict establishments, to their Utopia of 
 ' La Nouvelle/ as they call it." The same writer then 
 refers to various instances of notorious French ruffians who, 
 after transportation to New Caledonia, have, in process of 
 time, been either liberated, or placed in pleasant surround- 
 ings. He adds: "Little wonder that criminals should prefer 
 the colony to the hard and monotonous life of a prison, and 
 that they should sometimes try to qualify themselves for 
 admission to its attractions by deliberate acts of savagery." 
 
 And, in like manner, there can be no reasonable doubt 
 but that if there was possible any resumption, by Great 
 Britain, on an extensive scale, of home or foreign depor- 
 tation, or colonisation for criminals or discharged prisoners, 
 under conditions obviously advantageous to themselves, 
 this course would again tempt many others into crime, 
 not only from the predatory but also from the hitherto 
 honest portion of the community ; and it would further 
 create an immense amount of jealousy and active discontent 
 amongst respectable struggling toilers. 
 
 Indeed, even under the existing limited scale of opera- 
 tions carried on by Discharged Prisoners' Aid Societies, 
 it is found that some of the greatest difficulties of ob- 
 taining occupation for such persons (necessary as this is to 
 a certain extent) arise from the vigilant jealousy of the 
 free working classes, who are apt to think it a hardship 
 and an injustice that any criminals should be specially 
 helped to find patrons and employers, whilst respectable 
 men are left to seek work for themselves, or fail and sink 
 in the attempt. 
 
 And, undoubtedly, there would be reasonable ground for 
 such dissatisfaction, if the assistance complained of were 
 

 
 194 Penological and Preventive Princijjlefi. 
 
 extended on too wide a scale, or divested of its present 
 unpleasant conditions of supervision. Hence it is indis- 
 pensably necessary and just that some strict restraints 
 should be placed upon habitual offenders, all along their 
 course, and even during the periods of their partial liberty. 
 For the path of the transgressor should never be rendered 
 so advantageous as to be attractive to others. Least of all, 
 should law and authority render it such. 
 
 In Italy, since 1865, there has been tried a curious 
 experiment in criminal " colonization," under the name of 
 "Compulsory Residence" (or "Domicilio Coatto "). Some 
 thousands of vicious and idle men and women have been 
 deported to several of the islands near the Peninsula, 
 where they have been compulsorily detained, with a view 
 to their partial self-support by labour. But the attempt 
 has proved a costly failure. 
 
 Systematic Organization of Supervision. 
 
 In some countries, as for example in Great Britain, the 
 adoption of a more regular and certain system of dealing 
 with Habitual Criminals, would necessarily involve a preli- 
 minary modification of the existing arrangements, or legisla- 
 tion, in regard to the special department of Police Super- 
 vision. But in any case, and in every land, the successful 
 application of duly graded sentences and of conditional 
 liberation, under supervision, must largely depend upon the 
 degree of organization of central and local action, for the 
 adequate registration of convictions and for the recognition 
 of habitual offenders, and also for a due cognizance of their 
 location and movements, 
 
 A special staff' of officers is needful for these objects. 
 Considerable progress has been made, in London in parti- 
 cular, in this form of departmental organization, by the 
 authorities charged with the supervision and registration 
 of habitual criminals. But there is need for a more prompt
 
 Habitual Offenders, or " BccidiiHsfes." 195 
 
 and complete interchange of information l3etween the 
 Metropolitan and Provincial officers, in regard to the con- 
 stantly changing movements of the members of the class 
 in question. 
 
 The greater co-operation of the local Magistrates and 
 Patronage Societies may be very advantageously secured, 
 by the police and prison authorities, for this object. It has 
 been suggested that in each district, the magistrates should 
 appoint a small committee to look over periodically, with 
 the chief of police, the list of persons under supervision 
 in their neighbourhood. In case of any of those under 
 conditional liberty, removing to another district, this 
 change of residence should be notified to the authorities in 
 the Metropolis, and by the latter promptly sent down to 
 the locality into which such new visitors have just arrived. 
 By such a complete interchange of observations and registers, 
 on the part of both local and central authorities, every 
 change of residence by conditionally liberated offenders 
 should be ascertained, recorded, and circulated, throughout 
 the whole period of the vigilance imposed upon them. In 
 so far as any system of supervision lacks this provision, 
 it is defective in an important element. 
 
 The practice of placing some of the conditionally liberated 
 criminals under the sj^stematic supervisionof private patrons, 
 has been adopted with considerable success at Neufchatel, 
 in Switzerland. The intelligent governor of the prison in 
 that place, Dr. Guillaume, has introduced this plan, together 
 with other carefully designed efforts to reform offenders. 
 When released provisionally, they arc required to present 
 themselves every week before a patron, who also receives 
 regular reports of their behaviour from their enq:)loyers, 
 and transmits these to the authorities, as a guide in deter- 
 mining the period of each offender's absolute liberation 
 
 o2
 
 196 Penological ana Preventive Principles. 
 
 The Idextificatiox of Habitual Crdiixals. 
 
 As a subsidiary assistance to the identification of 
 discharged prisoners, the systematic adoption of photogra- 
 phic portraiture has been very useful in various countries. 
 But it is only partially effectual, in consequence of the 
 astonishing ingenuity of habitual criminals in disguising 
 or changing their personal appearance and dress. 
 
 On the Continent and in America, of late years, much aid 
 to the identification of criminals has been derived from the 
 adoption of M. Adolphe Bertillox's " anthropometric " 
 system of measurement of certain bone dimensions of the 
 human body, "which, in the adult, remain comparatively 
 unchangeable; such as the length and width of the head, at 
 particular parts of it ; the length of the left foot, the left 
 fore-arm, and of the little and middle fingers of the left 
 hand ; the length of the trunk of the body, taken when 
 seated ; the full stretch of the arms, and the total height 
 of the body. Of course such measurements must not be 
 relied upon to the exclusion of other ordinary marks and 
 features of individuality. 
 
 In addition to the use of Photography and the record 
 of bone dimensions, several experienced observers, inclu- 
 ding, for example, CoLOXEL Fraser, for many years Chief 
 of the City of London Police, have suggested certain modes 
 of privately tattooing habitual criminals, as a useful help 
 to their being re-arrested, in case of escape, or of non- 
 compliance with imposed conditions ; two or three small 
 marks indelibly imprinted on the leg, or between the toes, 
 would serve as a life-long indication, to intelligent authori- 
 ties, that the subject of them had been an inmate of a 
 certain prison, on application to the managers of which, 
 information respecting some of his antecedents might be 
 obtained and verified. Such marks would often be more 
 reliable than photographs, which may sometimes be mis- 
 leading, owing to the effects of time on their subjects. In
 
 Halilnal Offenders, or " Becidivistcs." 197 
 
 the Criminal Museum of the London Police, there was a 
 series of sixty photographs of one German girl, taken 
 at many places and periods, hut so varying from each 
 other that it was difficult to helieve that such exceedingly 
 different aspects could ever be assumed by the same indi- 
 vidual. But such was the fact. 
 
 Where marking is adopted, each successive conviction for 
 serious crime might involve the impress of an additional 
 sisrn. A man marked with two such indications would 
 probably take great pains to avoid a third. The pre- 
 vention of a crime by so simple a process would be a 
 mercy, both to the individual and to the public. But the 
 marks should not be on any part of the body ordinarily 
 exposed to view. 
 
 Again — Moderation with Certainty. 
 
 In reviewing the general modes of dealing with habitual 
 offenders here described or suggested, it may probably be 
 objected by some that the proposed cumulation of sentences 
 is too gradual and too slow, and tliat it should adhere more 
 closely to the existing lines of British criminal procedure. 
 But having regard to the various aspects and results of our 
 penal experiences in this country, surely there is much 
 reason to conclude that the existing applications of cumu- 
 lation are in many instances needlessly severe, and at 
 times cruelly unjust; at any rate, when inflicted for a 
 few petty thefts. The main element in repression is cer- 
 tainfi/. And this is more attainable under a very moderate 
 and very gradual sj^stem of cumulative penalties than 
 otherwise. Further, the latter plan is applicable to all 
 classes of offences, whether Misdemeanours or Crimes. 
 And on the whole, it is most in harmony with the require- 
 ments of mercy and expediency ; of economy and efficiency; 
 of deterrence and reclamation.
 
 Chapter VI. 
 PRISON LABOUR. 
 
 Regard Mainly the Test of Final Results. 
 
 The subject of penal labour should be mainly considered 
 in reference to the chief end contemplated by criminal 
 systems, and also in connection with the purposes of 
 different prisons, and of successive stages of treatment. 
 Through a neglect of this necessary discrimination, serious 
 mistakes and grave injuries, both as to prisoners and 
 communities, have frequently resulted. And the descrip- 
 tion of labour which may be eminently suited to minor 
 offenders, or to the discipline of specially reformatory 
 institutions, may be mischievous if adopted for those 
 violent and outrageous criminals for whom a deterrent or 
 sternly repressive treatment is, at least for a time, needful. 
 
 It often occurs, that through the pursuit of delusive 
 ideas of " economy," in regard to prison labour, great waste 
 and loss are incurred. It has been repeatedly forgotten, in 
 practice, that the most truly economical form of criminal 
 treatment, is that which eventually reduces the number of 
 offenders to a minimum. It is this final result, this ultimate 
 proportion of crime, which constitutes at once the test, and 
 the real guide, as to the best selection of criminal labour, 
 and, indeed, as to all other matters bearing upon penal 
 discipline and prevention. 
 
 In some countries, notably France, Italy, and the United 
 States, where this final test has been largely overlooked, 
 and where the merely immediate profit of prison labour
 
 Prison Lahour. 199 
 
 has been unduly regarded, there has been a far larger 
 concurrent increase of general crime than in other nations, 
 such as Great Britain, where the influence of the deterrent 
 element has also been taken into view, as a material part 
 of the real question of economy. The official " Report of 
 the NeAv York State Prisons," issued in 188G, declared (at 
 page 39) : " The percentage of criminal population in the 
 United States is excessive, in comparison with some other 
 countries. It very much exceeds that of England and 
 Wales. In the United States there are more than three 
 times as many convicts, in proportion, as in the former 
 country." Yet no community has been so apparently 
 successful as New York and some other American States, 
 in regard to the amount of immediate profit obtained from 
 prison labour. 
 
 The principle of justice to the honest worker, and to the 
 non-criminal pauper, should always have some consideration 
 in th(? selection of occupation for offenders. The writer 
 has visited a large town in North Europe, in one part of 
 which he found the aged and unfortunate inmates of the 
 workhouse, toiling at very heavy mangling and other hard 
 labour; whilst the criminals, in an adjoining jail, M^crc 
 occupied with exceedingly light and easy forms of industry, 
 such as working wnth scissors, gum, and paste, in the fabri- 
 cation of stationery, ornaments, and fancy goods. In many 
 of the Continental prisons, similarly light occupation, more 
 suitable for poor, honest girls, is distributed, for months 
 or years together, to atrocious criminals. This ought not 
 to be. It is doubly unjust, both to the prisoners and to 
 various classes outside. It is also injurious to the com- 
 munity as a whole. 
 
 Distinctively Penal Labour. 
 
 The specially penal and deterrent stages of criminal 
 treatment may require labour which would bo injurious oi"
 
 200 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 useless in other stages, or for a prolonged period ; and vice 
 versa. 
 
 In certain eases, a few hours, days, or even weeks of 
 cellular solitude, without any labour at all, may be a wise 
 discipline ; and one calculated to produce, in an idle 
 offender, a salutary desire for work as an alleviation of 
 confinement. But a prolongation of such inaction would 
 be unwise and cruel. Again, some forms of merely penal 
 work, of little if any pecuniary value, may also be effica- 
 cious, but only for short periods. The writer on one 
 occasion observed, on the treadwheel of an English prison, 
 a gang of refractory vagrants who had riotously refused 
 to pick oakum. They were accordingly sent to jail for a 
 week or two, where they had some hours daily on the 
 wheel, in addition to their previous oakum task, and with 
 cellular solitude at night. This process was found to have 
 a wholesome effect in that and similar cases. But to pro- 
 long either the treadwheel or the oakum-picking for con- 
 siderable periods, would be mischievous ; though for brief 
 initial stages of discipline, or for an occasional impressive 
 reminder of reserve power, such modes of penal occupation 
 may be of service. 
 
 Skilled Labour. 
 
 The teaching of a skilled trade to criminals, especially 
 when young, is, for many of them, a very desirable thing. 
 But an ordinary prison is not always the best place for 
 imparting such a training. It is, however, to be noted that 
 comparatively very few skilled artisans find their way into 
 prisons, either in Europe or America. It is the wilfully or 
 the unfortunately ignorant and unskilled who constitute the 
 majority of their inmates. 
 
 And as, also, the larger number of offenders are only 
 detained for short terms, it is often practically impossible 
 to furnish the knowledge of a trade to them. Years of
 
 Prison Labour. 201 
 
 patient training arc usually needed for such a process, and 
 that, too, under circumstances some of which are almost, if 
 not quite, incompatible with the essential conditions of 
 imprisonment. Hence the industries practicable in most of 
 the ordinary jails, are such as require little skill and few 
 tools, as for example, mat and basket making, net work, 
 rough weaving or spinning, brush making, marble polishing, 
 the sorting and sifting of various mixed matters, digging, 
 washing, cleaning and the simpler foi'ms of masonry, stone - 
 cutting, shoe making, tailoring and carpentry. In some 
 Continental prisons, the industries, especially for women, 
 include embroidery, machine sewing, and the making of 
 toys, cigars, artificial flowers, portfolios, etc. 
 
 Only in connection with long imprisonments, can skilled 
 trades be effectually imparted. But long detentions are, 
 at best, a mode of punishment which it is to bo hoped may 
 be of more and more limited application, as nations become 
 wiser and more practical in their methods of preventing 
 crime and of reforming offenders. But in so far as this 
 extension of imprisonment continues, it is important to 
 make the labour of those subjected to it as valuable to the 
 State as can suitably be done. And this end may be accom- 
 plished better by various forms of skilled industry than 
 otherwise. This problem has claimed considerable atten- 
 tion in most civilised countries of late years. In some of 
 the European and American convict prisons many of the 
 inmates have been brought from a state of previous igno- 
 rance to a skill and dexterity, which have subsequently 
 enabled them to ijain an honest and comfortable livelihood. 
 Forty, fifty, or more different forms of occupation are 
 carried on in these various establishments. Some of the 
 products of their inmates are masterpieces of their kind- 
 The specimens of work occasionally exhibited in London 
 from the British convict prisons, and the handsome assort- 
 ment of articles displayed in the Labour Exhibitions at 
 such prison Congresses as those of Stockholm and Rome,
 
 202 Penological and Preventive Princij^Ies. 
 
 have elicited surprise and admiration from many visitors. 
 In a few places, special shops have been opened for the 
 exclusive sale of articles of prison manufacture. A very 
 interesting one was noticed by the writer at Christiania, 
 where the clothing, carving, furniture, fishing apparatus, 
 ornaments, and miscellaneous goods, showed remarkable care 
 and skill on the part of the local prisoners and their officers. 
 It is to be noted that, in general, the skilled labour in 
 the Continental prisons is superior in quality, execution, 
 and comparative quantity to the work produced in British 
 convict establishments, owing to the excessive " red- 
 tapeism" which prevails in the latter, and also to the 
 comparative ignorance or indifference, in this regard, often 
 manifested both by the superior and subordinate officers. 
 An intelligent ex-convict stated in the London Evening 
 JVeus, in 1887, that many of the so-called "Instructors" on 
 the " Public Works " of the penal establishments are 
 slovenly and incompetent. He says : " An officer is told to 
 take thirty men, and pull a wall down. The next week he 
 has to build it up again. There is no plan, no brain, no 
 object, except to kill time. Millions of cubic feet of good 
 stone I have seen broken up and carted away for rubbish. 
 All this would be charged as ' money earned ! ' " He con- 
 tinues, "I seldom knew a job completed without having to 
 be done over again. For the mere purpose of showing his 
 authority, an ' instructor,' who never instructed, and never 
 was capable of instructing anybody, would compel another 
 officer to remove a wall, or, after an excavation had been 
 made, and a huge mound of earth or stone had been moved 
 to one place, the ' Jack-in-office ' would have it carried 
 elsewhere. All this useless labour was charged to the 
 public. In the so-called ' artizans' shop ' the same system 
 was carried on." Such statements have often been made 
 by I ex-convicts and by visitors to the British prisons. 
 After allowing for possible exaggeration, there is probably 
 too much truth in them.
 
 Prison Labour. 203 
 
 Some of the chief American prisons have developed in- 
 dustry of an immediately profitable nature, to a larger and 
 more systematic extent than elsewhere. For example, in 
 1884, the three State Prisons of New York, at Sing Sing, 
 Clinton, and Auburn, earned, in cash, more than ten thou- 
 sand dollars (£2,000) in excess of their cost and manage- 
 ment. This was the result of the sale of the prisoners' 
 labour to contractors, who employed them in the manufac- 
 ture of clothing, boots and shoes. Similarly one of the Penn- 
 sylvanian prisons (at Allegheny) was, for years, a fully self- 
 supporting establishment, by chair-making. In general, in 
 American State prisons (as distinguished from the county or 
 local jails) the " Contract System," in one form or another, 
 has found favour ; though of late years, during a period of 
 industrial and commercial depression, it has called forth 
 much hostility from certain trades, or trades-unions, some 
 of whom have been successful in their active opposition 
 to it. 
 
 Prison Labour for the State. 
 
 There are several modes of disposing of convict labour. 
 They are as follows : 
 
 Firstly, Labour for the State. This plan, which is 
 adopted in all the British convict prisons, has ha<l a very 
 limited acceptance in America. For whilst it possesses the 
 important advantage of retaining the prisoners under the 
 entire control of their own officers, it is seldom attended by 
 pecuniar}" profit ; and, in general, it results in heavy loss. 
 Further, the nominal value of such labour is apt to be 
 exceedingly delusive ; as, for example, in the estimates 
 usually placed in the Home Office Reports upon the 
 work done by English convicts. There are also special 
 facilities for official corruption and negligence, almost in- 
 separable from this system. It is the source of some of 
 the most objectionable features of British convict discipline
 
 204 Penological and Prcvcntire Principles. 
 
 and disposal. It was tried, for a time, in New York State, 
 but a Superintendent of Prisons there — Mr. Isaac V. Baker 
 — in his Report for 1886, referred to it as having proved a 
 lamentable failure, in every sense. In Ohio, in 1884, the 
 Legislature abolished the contract system, and adopted the 
 plan of exclusively employing the convicts on State ac- 
 count, as in printing and the manufacture of hardware and 
 woollen goods. But less than a year's experience of this 
 arrangement was so costly and unsatisfactory, that it was 
 relinquished in favour of " piece-work " labour, for sale to 
 private or public bidders. In Great Britain the convict 
 labour for the State has been chiefly directed to the con- 
 struction of fortifications, docks, harbours, and buildings ; 
 the cultivation of land, the manufacture of uniforms, 
 clothing, boots, etc., for the army, navy, police, and 
 prison officers ; together with printing and binding, for 
 certain departments of the Government. Doubtless a por- 
 tion of this work is of genuine value. But much of it 
 has certainly been wasted. Each British convict costs 
 about £35 per annum. The authorities claim that his 
 work is worth two-thirds of this sum. But whether this 
 is the case or not, and however it may be asserted, contra- 
 dicted, or explained, the simple net result to the tax-payer 
 remains, year after year, that whatever may be the nominal 
 estimate put upon the convicts' labour, the sum of £35 
 each, in cash, is demanded and required for them by their 
 custodians. This is surely more than rogues ought to cost 
 honest men. Some of the so-called " valuations " of the 
 labour of English convicts, though gravely published in 
 " Blue-books," are of an almost incredibly absurd character. 
 If the industiy was of much practical value to the rate- 
 payers, the latter would feel it, in a substantial reduction 
 from the £85 actually exacted. But, as a matter of fact, 
 they have to pay this sum continuously, whatever may be 
 the official appraisement of the convicts' labour. However, 
 this plan is the easiest one for the officials to administer,
 
 Prison Labour. 205 
 
 and therein consists most of its merit, in their eyes. From 
 the point of view of their own ease and present interest, 
 they are warranted in continuing it, especially so long 
 as that very patient or indifferent creature, the average 
 British tax-payer, submits to the burden thus imposed. 
 
 Leasing or Hiring Out Convicts. 
 
 Secondl}^ at the opposite extreme from the above system, 
 is the mode of " leasing out " convicts to persons who 
 entirely relieve the State of their cost and custody. This 
 abominable system — for such it is— has for years been 
 carried out in Georgia, Texas, Florida, Mississippi, Ar- 
 kansas, Louisiana, Alabama, and elsewhere in America. 
 The leaseholders take the whole charge of the convicts, 
 and, in some States, re-sell their labour to railway com- 
 panies, mining proprietors, and other large employers. The 
 unfortunate wretches, thus leased out, are located from 
 time to time in stockades or camps. The pistol, the lash, and 
 the bloodhound are freely used to enforce discipline and to 
 discourage escapes. Disease and death make terrible havoc 
 in the convict ranks, which include many unfortunate chil- 
 dren. The rate of mortality is enormous in such cases, as 
 for example, eight per cent, or eighty deaths out of the 
 thousand per annum. The permanent ruin to the health 
 and faculties of the survivors is most melancholy. In 
 1880, the Superintendent of the Texas convicts reported 
 that out of one hundred ^vho had been pardoned by the 
 Governor, more than a quarter were children from ten to 
 sixteen years of age ; and nearly another quarter " were 
 hopelessly diseased, blind, crippled, or demented." Murder, 
 rape, blasphemy, unnatural crime, and every form of vice, 
 prevail amongst these gangs. 
 
 The " leasing out " is attended l)y so many evils, and is 
 so disgraceful to the States adopting it, that there are at 
 leno-th some indications of its gradual relin(j[uishment. But
 
 206 Penological and Preventive Princij^les. 
 
 for the present it still has an extensive and disastrous adop- 
 tion in the South. 
 
 The Contract System. 
 
 Thirdly, there is the common " Contract System," by 
 which, whilst the convicts are retained inside a prison, 
 their labour is (for a certain sum of money paid to the 
 State) placed at the disposal of a contractor, who is allowed 
 to make his own rules as to time, occupation, and task- 
 work, or at least with little, if any, restriction in these 
 matters on the part of the authorities. This system is also 
 chiefly an American one, and has been largely adopted in the 
 Northern States. It often tends to sacrifice the discipline 
 of the prisons to the interests of the contractors ; but it is 
 not accompanied by the cruelties of the Southern " Leasing 
 out " system. Yet it is not wholly free from cruelty. For 
 under it, there is a great inducement to over-work prisoners 
 and to disregard the necessities of the weak or sickly ones. 
 It also offers the contractors much temptation ta bribe the 
 prison officers, and to favour the stronger and more dexter- 
 ous criminals, even when morally worse than the weaker 
 or less skilful ones. It frequently throws the prisoners 
 into too close communication with persons from outside, as 
 messengers and others. But it has often resulted in large ■ 
 profits to the State ; and it must be admitted that it has 
 trained many thousands of men to habits of self-supporting 
 industry. 
 
 More Limited Contract Arrangement. 
 
 Fourthly, there is another mode of contract labour which 
 is subject to more rigid conditions, in the interests of the 
 discipline and for the protection of both prisoners and 
 officers. Under this system, the time and skill of the 
 prisoners are let out, for a certain sum, to contractors, who
 
 Prison Labour. 207 
 
 are strictly limited as to the conditions of labour and as to 
 the introduction of assistants and trade instructors from 
 outside, or any special interference with that degree of 
 discipline and regularity which the authorities may deem 
 essential for the main objects of imprisonment. This plan 
 of limited contracts is extensively adopted in the larger 
 prisons of the European Continent; and occasionally in 
 America. It differs rather in degree, than in essence, from 
 the laxer system, previously described. And when the 
 regulations are judiciously framed and firmly insisted upon, 
 it is attended by marked advantages, both to the State and 
 to the convicts. Also, it introduces, for the benefit of 
 those prisoners who are willing to learn a trade, a class of 
 practical instructors, much superior, as such, to the warders, 
 who are usually devoid of special industrial knowledge and 
 skill. 
 
 "The Piece Price Plan." 
 
 Fifthly, there is a further variety of the Contract 
 System, which, in the United States, is usually termed the 
 "Piece Price Plan." It enables the authorities to retain full 
 control over the discipline and occupation of the prisoners, 
 whilst disposing of the products of their labour to a 
 contractor. But the latter agrees to buy from the prison 
 authorities, only those articles which they may choose to 
 supply him with, and which must be finished to a certain 
 standard of perfection ; and he only takes such quantities 
 of them as may accord with his own convenience and the 
 state of the markets. This places the prison managers 
 under great pecuniary disadvantage, as compared with the 
 .other and more common contract systems, under which the 
 contractor pays a fixed price, per head, for all the labour of 
 the prisoners, for a term of years, irrespective of changes 
 in the outside markets. 
 
 On the whole, it appears that so long as large prison 
 workshops, and extensive congregate industry in jails, are
 
 208 PcnoJofjlcal and Preventive Principles. 
 
 to be maintained, less evil and greater advantage will 
 result from the moderately limited contract system, as long 
 carried on in certain American States as, for example, in 
 Illinois, and in many European prisons, than from either 
 the "Piece Price," or the comparatively unconditional 
 contract plans. The experience of the chief Continental 
 nations confirms this conclusion. 
 
 Competition of Pkisox avith Free Labour. 
 
 Both in America and Europe, but especially in the 
 former, much difficulty has at times arisen, in connection 
 with prison labour, owing to its real or imaginary intluence 
 upon the interests of the honest artisan outside. In the 
 United States, opposition has been vigorously raised against 
 remunerative prison industry of any kind. But it is to be 
 observed that the only reasonable ground for such hostility 
 has been furnished by the prisons in which large quantities 
 of one or two particular classes of goods have been 
 manufactured, especially by the aid of powerful machinery ; 
 thus causing a disproportionate concentration of criminal 
 labour. 
 
 Some years ago, when most of the work in the English 
 jails was concentrated upon the single occuj)ation of 
 Mat-making, there arose a strong protest from the out- 
 side workers engaged in that handicraft. And there was a 
 certain amount of justification for their plea. The Govern- 
 ment then took measures for diminishing the proportion of 
 this particular industry in their prisons, and in consequence 
 the complaints of the free workers almost disappeared. In 
 France and Germany some similar difficulty has occurred 
 in connection with other trades ; but the French autho- 
 rities have also endeavoured to conciliate the outside 
 workers by arrangements with the chief local represen- 
 tatives of certain trades, whereby the prices put upon the 
 products of prison-labour are, to some extent, regulated by
 
 Prison Labour. 209 
 
 mutual agreement. But this is not always an easy matter 
 to secure in practice, inasmuch as the nominal prices of 
 goods may be materially modified by "discounts," or by 
 some private understanding between buyers and sellers. 
 And the lowering of prices of prison products, even to a 
 small extent, may possibly affect the general markets over 
 a comparatively wide area. 
 
 It is important to bear in mind that the labour of crimi- 
 nals is, as a rule, less skilful than that of free men. It 
 must necessarily be so, and in a large degree. And, as a 
 matter of fact, the more thoroughly the competing influ- 
 ence of prisons, as to free labour, is examined into, the 
 more plainly does it become manifest that it is, and must 
 continue to be, of very inconsiderable proportion. 
 
 Any injury to free industry, arising from prison com- 
 petition is, at the worst, a very limited inconvenience. 
 It need never occur, to any noteworthy extent, with but 
 a moderate distribution of criminal labour over a variety 
 of industries. This is obvious, when it is remembered 
 that, even in the countries where prisoners are most 
 numerous, they form a very small proportion, in compari- 
 son with the free population. In England there are less 
 than one thousand prisoners, on a daily average, to every 
 million of the population. Taking this as an approximate 
 general rate, it is obvious that the thousandth part of any 
 community, distributed over a number of occupations, 
 cannot constitute a serious industrial competition. Tliis is 
 still more evident when it is remembered that out of every 
 thousand prisoners, the women form a considerable number, 
 whilst many convicts, of both sexes, are very ignorant and 
 unskilled; and a certain proportion are invalids, or unable 
 to do any work. 
 
 So that the utmost amount of the rivalry of prison-labour 
 with free industry is very limited, very exceptional, and 
 very local ; and from general circumstances it can hardly 
 ever be otherwise. There are but few spontaneous complaints 
 
 P
 
 210 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 raised hj ordinary free workers, as to any such compe- 
 tition. The outcry which has been made has mostly 
 originated with noisy professional agitators, who either 
 do not know, or wilfully ignore, the real insignificance of 
 the influence which they denounce. 
 
 Every Prisoner has a Right of Competition. 
 
 But there is another important aspect of this question, 
 often disregarded. Every prisoner has a rigid to a fair 
 share of competition with free labour. He had a right to 
 it before he became a prisoner ; and, when in jail, the tax- 
 payers who support him, have additional claims upon his 
 labour. And further, considering the previous neglected 
 training of many criminals, it is due to them that they 
 should be instructed in some means of livelihood, if possible, 
 Avhen they come under detention. It is those unjust tyrants, 
 the selfish demagogues, that are so apt to be the worst of 
 all despots, who deny or oppose these natural and mode- 
 rate rights of prisoners and of their tax-paying sup- 
 porters. 
 
 The}' have of late years found allies in other unpatriotic 
 agitators and in "Socialists," whose selfishness has been 
 repeatedly manifested, as, for example, at a Dutch Con- 
 ference, in 1887, in violent denunciation of the free labour 
 of poor women and children outside prisons. It is hateful 
 hypocrisy which thus loudly vaunts the " rights of man," 
 as against the thrifty and prosperous sections of society, 
 whilst, at the same time, it even begrudges to poor women 
 and children the primary right to the fruits of their own 
 toil ! It is a strange thing that, after years of this 
 demao'oofic clamour about the " riMits of man," it is still 
 necessary to urge tenaciously the claim of every man 
 and woman, whether in freedom or in captivity, to earn a 
 livelihood, and thus to compete with his or her fellow- 
 creatures.
 
 Prisoji Labour. 211 
 
 A curious illustration of tlie inconsistency of some 
 persons is afforded hy the fact that whereas, in Great 
 Britain, almost the only trade affected by prison industry 
 has been that of mat-making, it is this particular handicraft 
 that American trades-unionists have approved for jail- 
 occupation ! A report on prison industry, issued by the 
 "Bureau of Labour" of the State of Michigan, in 1887, 
 mentioned that a committee from the great trades union, 
 named the " Knights of Labour," visited a Pennsylvanian 
 prison to inquire into the crafts taught. When they found 
 that mat-making was a principal industry there, "they 
 went away perfectly satisfied," and said that the manager 
 " had struck the right thing." How indignant the British 
 trade union of Matmakers must have felt, if they had 
 been present to hear this verdict. 
 
 In several American States, sectional trade tyranny has 
 occasionally succeeded in compelling the authorities to 
 keep the prisoners in idleness. The results have been their 
 demoralisation, with great additional cost to the taxpayers. 
 The Governor of Trenton prison, New Jersey, in 1883, most 
 earnestly protested against the folly and cruelty of thus 
 stopping the labour of the inmates, in the assumed and 
 imaginary interests of a few politicians outside. He 
 remarks " Only those acquainted with prison management, 
 and who have repeatedly heard the piteous appeals of 
 convicts, deprived of work, to be restored to the same, can 
 form some idea of the terror of the punishment inflicted by 
 the State upon its convicts, in keeping them in idleness, 
 confined to their cells ; and how the maintenance of dis- 
 cipline and the enforcement of the rules for health and 
 cleanliness are made almost impossible, under such a state 
 of affairs." Another prison governor reports, as a result 
 of enforced idleness in his establishment, impaired 
 health, disobedience, discontent and general recklessness. 
 In 1888 many of the convicts at Sing Sing prison. New 
 York, were compelled to be idle, at the dictation of selfish 
 
 p2
 
 212 Penolofjical and Preventive Principles. 
 
 but influential trades-unionists, who succeeded in obtaining 
 unwise and timorous interference by the State Legislature 
 with the prison administration. 
 
 Some of the anti-prison-labour agitators deprecate the 
 absolute idleness of prisoners, and suggest their being 
 employed in cultivating the ground, or on fortifications, etc. 
 But these alternatives are not always practicable ; and 
 where they are resorted to, they almost invariably result 
 in heavy loss to the community and are of little use to the 
 criminal, as a training for an honest livelihood, instead 
 of his easy and profitable thefts. For every penny which 
 such substitutes may enable a few outside workers to 
 gain, many shillings or pounds must, in consequence, be 
 imposed upon the general taxpayers. 
 
 Machinery in Prisons. 
 
 It has been largely against the employment of machinery 
 in prisons that the outcry, in regard to " competition," has 
 been raised. And this is a principal point to be noticed. 
 For there is some reasonable force in this objection ; though 
 not nearly so much as has sometimes been urged. It was 
 recently observed, by the governor of one of the largest 
 prison factories in America, that " the goods manufactured 
 by us bear about the same proportion to the whole amount 
 made, that one drop of water, in Lake Michigan, would to 
 the whole amount of water in that lake." 
 
 Yet it is obvious that the employment of hundreds of 
 prisoners, may, with the aid of machinery, produce, in 
 certain localities, a marked influence on some occupations. 
 And whilst each of these criminals has a positive natural 
 right to compete with others, whether on behalf of himself, 
 or his family, to say nothing of the taxpayer, yet, for the 
 sake of conciliation, it may be desirable to abandon this 
 special adjunct to jail labour, and to restrict the latter 
 wholly to hand-work.
 
 Prison Labour. 213 
 
 Hand Labour, with Cellular Separation, the best 
 Solution of this Question. 
 
 The valuable Report of the Michigan "Bureau of La- 
 bour," of 1887, already quoted, records some instructive 
 remarks hy the veteran Governor of the Philadelphia 
 State Prison, Mr. Cassidy, who said that all the prisoners 
 in that institution, about one thousand, were employed at 
 hand-labour, in making shoes, hosiery, mats, chairs, and 
 cigars ; no steam-power being used. He considered such 
 manual labour far superior, in its educational and training 
 efficacy, to ordinary machine-work, " which furnishes neither 
 brains nor muscle, the inventor of the machine providing 
 all the necessary thought required." The inmates of that 
 prison are taught to produce articles finished throughout by 
 themselves. The exercise of some intelligence on their 
 part is thus secured ; and, in general, they are much better 
 enabled to earn a livelihood afterwards than if they had 
 been confined to some single process of machine-work, or 
 to the making of one portion of an article, whilst having 
 nothing to do with its other parts, or with its completion. 
 Further, in that prison, most of the inmates are confined 
 to their cells, or otherwise separated from the others, both 
 by day and night. The aggregate advantages of the plan 
 there pursued are, that the prisoners are helped to reform, 
 or at least are not depraved by evil association; their 
 competition with outside craftsmen is reduced to a minimum, 
 by hand-labour, without steam-aid; their intelligence is 
 exercised l)y the avoidance of that subdivision of occu- 
 pation which converts men themselves into mere machines, 
 or parts of machines ; and they ol)tain a better price for 
 their work. Mr. Cassidy also remarks : " All prison officers 
 should be mechanics ; and only employed regularly after 
 a test of their capacity as such." 
 
 In the Philadelphia prison the industry and good be-
 
 214 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 haviour of the inmates are carefully stimulated. Every 
 prisoner is required to perform a moderate minimum-task 
 daily, based upon the estimate of the work which may 
 reasonably be accomplished in six hours ; but which is found, 
 in practice, to be equal to aljout three hours of free labour. 
 On the completion of the six hours' task, no prisoner is 
 obliged to do more for that day. But if he chooses to con- 
 tinue his exertions for several hours longer, he is credited 
 with one-half of the profits of such extra performance, or 
 "overtime." The money is not given to him until his 
 discharge ; but it may be, with his permission, sent to his 
 family or relations. In addition to this, every prisoner 
 there, may, by general good behaviour, earn a remission of 
 one month off the first year of his sentence, and two months 
 oflf each subsequent year. Beyond certain privileges of 
 visitation and correspondence, no immediate rewards are 
 obtained in this institution. The local authorities do not 
 believe in the discharge of their prisoners on parole, or 
 under supervision by the police. Mr. Cassidy observes., 
 " Under that system, the worst professional criminals reap 
 all the benefit." The Philadelphia prisoners are not allowed 
 to be visited by mere idle sight-seers. This is a laudable 
 departure from the custom, existing in most American 
 jails. A strictly limited contract system enables many 
 of the products of the labour in that prison to be sold to a 
 local firm of merchants. 
 
 On the whole, it is to be noted that nearly all the diffi- 
 culties which have occasionally arisen in connection with the 
 alleged, or partially real, competition of prison with free 
 labour, have resulted from the congregate, as distinguished 
 from the separate system, and from the use of rfMchinery. 
 The associated inmates of large penal establishments, 
 especially when aided by steam and water power, can 
 manufacture articles of various kinds, to an incomparably 
 greater extent than the tenants of solitary cells. 
 
 The manual labour and separate discipline in the latter
 
 Prison Labour. 215 
 
 may be rendered more helpful to the prisoner, both tech- 
 nically and morally, whilst his competition with the outside 
 worker is infinitesimal and perfectly legitimate. Whereas 
 the crowded workshops of non-cellular prisons may inter- 
 fere perceptibly with local free industry; whilst at the 
 same time their demoralising influences habitually tend to 
 increase the total number of criminals requiring restraint, 
 and so to involve the tax-payers in an ultimate expenditure 
 far exceeding the apparent immediate profit resulting from 
 the organisation of associated penal industry, and the aid 
 of powerful machinery. 
 
 Thus the prison labour question, for its bestsolution, brino-s 
 us back again to the advantages of the Separate System. 
 No associated prison industrij, no cornqoting gangs, no steam 
 power. With these simple conditions, the competition will 
 always be an inconspicuous minimum; even where the 
 " Contract System " is retained, as it may be, with some 
 advantage, under the reasonable conditions requisite to 
 protect and maintain the discipline.
 
 Chapter VII. 
 PRISON OFFICERS. 
 
 Difficulty of Obtaining Well-Qualified 
 Custodians. 
 
 One of the numerous reasons for adopting, as far as 
 possible, other means than imprisonment, for the repression 
 of crime, consists in the great difficulty of selecting or train- 
 ing' suitable custodians and instructors of criminals. A 
 Government, or a State, cannot readily obtain or constitute 
 a class of persons combining the qualifications needful for 
 efficiency in this direction. Their most essential charac- 
 teristics—those of a moral and religious nature — are pre- 
 cisely those respecting which a State Department is apt to 
 be peculiarly unable, or even unwilling, to exercise discri- 
 mination. And yet the appointment of proper ofiicers is 
 one of the most important matters connected with any 
 penal system. 
 
 Mr. Frederick Hill, who was for many years an effi- 
 cient Inspector of British Prisons, remarks in his work on 
 " Crime " : " Of such supreme importance do I regard the 
 appointment of good officers that I should expect better 
 results, in one of the worst built prisons, where no system 
 of discipline was prescribed, but where there was an earnest 
 and able governor, unfettered in his choice of subordinates, 
 than in the best constructed building, and under the most 
 carefully devised plans of management, but where there was 
 an incompetent head with ill-qualified assistants." 
 
 Colonel Sir E. F. Du Cane observes that " The import-
 
 Prison Officers. 217 
 
 ance of selecting good officers for prison duties cannot be 
 over-rated. The officer who has charge of prisoners has such 
 power, for good or evil, over his fellow men, that I do not 
 think there are many positions more responsible than that 
 which he occupies. Xor, on the whole, are there, I think, 
 many in Avhich the officer is exposed to more temptation 
 to neglect his duty or abuse his trust." 
 
 There is a special difficulty in procuring suitable men for 
 the lower grades of prison service. It is by no means easy 
 to train an efficient body of w^arders. Yet these are the 
 class of officers who come chiefly into daily contact with 
 the prisoners — sometimes almost exclusively so— -and upon 
 whom mainly depends the nature of the influence which 
 can be brought to bear upon those under their care. 
 
 The Rev. J. Clay observed in a letter to a nobleman, in 
 reference to the discovery of the existence of unnatural 
 crime, then extensively prevalent in a large British convict 
 prison : — " The evidence now laid before your Lordship 
 could only be given by convicts. The higher the rank of 
 the official, the more ignorant he is kept of the true 
 nature and extent of such evils as these papers describe. 
 As the inquiry descends — beginning with the governor 
 and ending with the ' guard ' — it is met, in the first in- 
 stance, by the conscientious disavowal of all knowledge of 
 the abuses charged ; and, in the last, by interested endea- 
 vours to conceal the real and appalling truth." These 
 remarks confirm the often experienced fact that the Direc- 
 tors and Governors of prisons may easily and frequently 
 be the last persons to be made acquainted with occurrences 
 taking place within a few yards of them, and in the 
 daily routine of the establishments with which the}" are 
 presumed to be perfectly cognisant. They may be, in 
 great degree, excluded from the sphere of influence in 
 which their subordinates are concerned. Hence it is the 
 more necessary that the latter class of officers shall be 
 as carefully selected and as well-trained as possible. Yet
 
 218 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 both the selection and the training are peculiarly diflS- 
 eult. 
 
 For, in the first place, it is not easy to meet with 
 warders competent to discipline and handle large bodies 
 of prisoners. It has been found in the experience of most 
 countries that discharged soldiers possess this particular 
 qualification in a degree superior to ordinary civilians. 
 But then, on the other hand, the previous lives of soldiers, 
 with their too frequently loose views of morality, and their 
 by no means i-are indulgence in swearing and intemperance, 
 render them less suitable than selected civilians, to exert 
 the necessary good influences required in a prison. "When 
 old soldiers are employed in prison administration thej 
 should constitute a minority of the staff. Civilian common- 
 sense should be largely called into requisition in the 
 management of criminals. 
 
 The very discipline also which is needful to manage 
 large bodies of associated prisoners is, in some respects, 
 counteractive of reformatory influences. It was remarked 
 by Captain Macoxochie : " In the management of our jails 
 we at present attach too much importance to mere submis- 
 sion and obedience. We make the discipline in them mili- 
 tary, overlooking a distinction, to which too much import- 
 ance cannot be attached, between the objects of military 
 and of improved penal discipline. The ultimate purpose of 
 military discipline is to train men to act together, but that 
 of penal discipline is to prepare them advantageously to 
 separcde. The objects being thus opposite, the processes 
 should equally differ." But neither Captain Maconochie 
 nor any one else could, with safety, dispense with an 
 approximately military discipline, or with the necessity of 
 attaching special importance to " mere submission and obe- 
 dience," so long as prisoners were congregated in masses. 
 Here, again, is indicated one of the many merits of the 
 Cellular System, its superiority for disciplinary facilities 
 over the associated plan.
 
 Prison Officers. 219 
 
 But under any system of imprisonment, the selection of 
 efficient officers must be very difficult, even in cases where 
 the chief authorities are honestly desirous to appoint good 
 men, rather than to indulge in favouritism, or political or 
 personal partisanship, which has often been a feature of 
 the prison and other administration of most countries. A 
 certain large penal establishment in Holland was very 
 badly managed for a long period. An intelligent Dutch- 
 man remarked, respecting it, to the writer, " Our authorities 
 at the Hague used to appoint, as governors, old colonels, 
 men who liked the pay, but did not love the work." Con- 
 sequently that prison continued in such an unsatisfactory 
 state that at length some influential persons requested that 
 an officer nominated by themselves should bo appointed. 
 This was demurred to ; whereupon the memorialists threat- 
 ened to take a certain course, the apprehension of which in- 
 duced the Minister of Justice to comply with their demands, 
 and to appoint an efficient governor. The results were 
 speedily effectual for good. A better influence promptly 
 animated both the subordinate officers and the prisoners. 
 Governments constantly require such vigilance and influence 
 on the part of private individuals, the Press and societies. 
 
 Even under the British Government there is, down to 
 the present date (1888) a great defect in the prison admi- 
 nistration, arising from the absence of adequate arrange- 
 ments for a wiser selection of the superior officers, 
 especially the Governors. Far too much of the power of 
 appointment is left to mere personal favouritism. And there 
 is a too exclusive resort to military men for such positions. 
 The previous training of some of these is in certain respects 
 such as partially to disqualify them for the management 
 of ofienders. 
 
 Misused Official Influence. 
 
 Fearful have been the moral and physical injuries, in 
 some instances, inflicted upon prisoners by their officers.
 
 220 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 'For example, a few years ago it was discovered that the 
 most shocking profligacy prevailed between the female 
 prisoners and the male -warders of the chief penal establish- 
 ment of one of the leading Northern States in America. 
 And unfortunately such occurrences have not been rare. 
 
 Even the Chaplains, the religious guides and lights of 
 prisons, have sometimes been sources of evil instead of 
 o-ood. In going over a prison of North Europe the writer 
 was told by the schoolmaster, " Our Lutheran chaplain 
 allows men to live and die here with very little regard to 
 them. He does not care for their souls." How terrible must 
 be the future responsibility of such a person when sum- 
 moned to meet the retributive judgment of God, and when, 
 in the light of eternity, the awful retrospect of irrevocably 
 lost opportunities for good, and of a worse than wasted 
 life, may rest upon the unhappy spirit. 
 
 Crime and Sin. 
 
 Every prison officer, and indeed the general community, 
 may profitably consider that whilst, for temporal interests, 
 it is necessary to punish criminals, both for their own sake 
 and for that of others, yet in relation to God and " the 
 powers of the world to come " there is comparatively little, 
 if any, difterence between Crime and Sin ; even as to those 
 ordinary and constant states, or acts of sin, which it would 
 be altogether inexpedient to visit with any human punish- 
 ment. The most eminent personages, those specially 
 honoured upon earth, are often quite as criminal in God's 
 sio-ht, as the lowest and vilest offenders against human law. 
 For instance, a few years ago, one of the English Judges, 
 whilst staying at a Midland county town for the Assizes, 
 met with his death in a brothel. This offender against 
 God thus passed into the presence of the Supreme 
 with a weight of responsibility and culpability ex- 
 ceeding that of many poor ignorant creatures whom he
 
 Frison Officers. 221 
 
 had condemned to imprisonment. Yet it was only as by 
 a mere physical accident that his moral depravity and 
 unfitness for his post became known to the world. Pro- 
 bably many similar or worse offenders still exercise high 
 authority in various lands. Hence prisoners and criminals 
 as such, are not to be considered as being at all more hope- 
 less, or even more culpable, than multitudes of persons 
 whom respectable and even religious society honours. 
 Crime is a temporary and human distinction. Sin, whether 
 it be punishable crime or moral disobedience, is the chief 
 matter in regard to all wrong, whether private or public ; 
 for it is dishonour to God, and involves eternal conse- 
 quences and interests. 
 
 That ornament of the Church of England, Richard 
 
 Hooker, usually surnamed " The Judicious," in a few 
 
 weighty words, thus sets forth (in his " Ecclesiastical 
 
 Polity ") this truth, so essential for universal acceptation, 
 
 and especially for those who have to punish and reform 
 
 criminals. He says, " If Ave did not commit the sins which, 
 
 daily and hourly, in deed, word, or thought, we do commit, 
 
 yet in the 'good' things we do, how many defects are there 
 
 intermingled ? Let the holiest and best thing we do be 
 
 considered. We are never better affected unto God than 
 
 when we pray. Yet when we pray, how are our affections 
 
 many times distracted ? How little reverence do we show 
 
 unto the grand majesty of God unto whom we speak ? 
 
 How little remorse of our own offences, how little taste of 
 
 the sweet influence of His tender mercies, do we feel ? 
 
 Are we not as unwilling, many times, to begin, and as glad 
 
 to make an end, as if, in saying, ' Call upon Me ' He had 
 
 set us a very burdensome task ? The best things we do 
 
 have somewhat in them to be pardoned. Our continual 
 
 suit to God is, and must be, to bear with our infirmities and 
 
 pardon our offences." That pardon can only be obtained 
 
 as a result and most precious purchase of God's self- 
 
 denj'ing vindication of His own Moral Law in Christ.
 
 222 Pcnohgical and Preventive Principles. 
 
 " For through this Man (or manifestation of the Highest) 
 is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins." Through 
 Him only is that costly and indispensable privilege attain- 
 able. The words of the great Anglican writer refer to 
 that fear of God wdiich is not only " the beginning of 
 Avisdom" to all men, but is necessary to influence cri- 
 minals, and equally so the persons placed over them. For 
 very brief, and very little, comparatively, is the power of 
 earthly sovereigns or authorities, either to punish or reward 
 their officers and subordinates. But the Divine power, of 
 reward and of punishment, endures for ever. The crystal- 
 line sanctity of God and His unapproachable majesty, 
 except through Christ, the Mediator and Propitiation, 
 demand a life-long, loving reverence. It is such con- 
 siderations as these which must ever be the most power- 
 ful incitements to duty and to a good example, on the 
 part of all who are engaged in the control of criminals 
 and prisoners ; as, indeed, amongst reflecting minds 
 everywhere, and in all conditions of society. The prince, 
 the pontiff, the prelate, the peer, the prisoner, and 
 the pauper, stand upon the same humble level before 
 God. 
 
 Good Influences over Warders. 
 
 If the chief officers of prisons, as the Governors, Chap- 
 lains, and Surgeons, are conscientious and intelligent men, 
 they will generally be able to exert a powerful influence 
 in guiding the Warders and other subordinates to efficiency 
 in the discharge of their duties. For, practically, it is 
 only in connection with actual prison service that the 
 needful qualifications can be gained. Yet the best skill 
 and ability in this direction require some more systematic 
 modes of development than have usually been adopted. 
 In a few of the chief prisons of various countries, Lectures 
 and Classes have been instituted for the improvement of
 
 Prison Officers. 223 
 
 the lower officers ; and in some instances they are assembled 
 once a week, or oftener, for conference with their superiors. 
 But, in general, an important desideratum, in the reform 
 of prisons, consists in the necessity for a more practical 
 regard for the intellectual, physical, and moral needs of 
 those members of the staff who are most frequently and 
 habitually brought into contact with the criminals. 
 
 In Italy, Switzerland, and elsewhere, special Training 
 Schools for warders have been instituted ; but, apparentl}', 
 not with very marked advantage. Just as swimming can 
 only be learnt in water, so efficiency in the management 
 of prisoners can only be acquired in jails themselves. 
 But much may be done in this direction by the adoption 
 of a more just gradation of rank and duty ; by making 
 pay and promotion more strictly dependent upon proved 
 efficiency ; and, in short, by holding out more general induce- 
 ments, than hitherto, to intelligent and hearty fidelity in 
 the discharge of official service. 
 
 The duties of the Warders are so arduous, so trying to 
 the temper, and their hours of service are usually so pro- 
 longed, that it is urgently requisite to provide them with 
 more aid towards a conscientious, lively interest in their 
 work. 
 
 They should not be discouraged and harassed (as has 
 not unfrequently been the case) by too numerous and 
 comparatively heavy Fines for very trifling acts of negli- 
 gence. The best prison administrators are able to dispense 
 with much resort to such impositions. 
 
 The services, in particular, of the Chaplain and School- 
 master may be rendered very useful to the warders. These 
 important functionaries can thus often exert a more prac- 
 tical influence for good upon the prisoners indirectly, by 
 elevating the character and minds of the subordinate 
 officers, than by tlieir apparently more direct labours. At 
 any rate it should be recognised, in every penal establish- 
 ment, that failure in some of the main objects must neces-
 
 224 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 sarily result, unless the warders are regularly furnished 
 with due educational and moral helps towards the discharge 
 of their very difficult duties. They should be stimulated 
 by lectures and brief addresses, to take an intelligent 
 interest in such subjects as Sanitation, Temperance, Thrift, 
 Kindness to Animals, the principles and history of Prison 
 Discipline and Penology, and generally in matters connected 
 with the special occupations, or industry, of the inmates of 
 their own prison. 
 
 In such efforts as the above, the talents and benevolence 
 of the prison Surgeons may be advantageously utilised. 
 Even under the difficulties and horrors of the old trans- 
 portation system, a surgeon-superintendent of convict 
 ships, Dr. Colin Browning exercised a marvellous in- 
 fluence for good. He reformed many of his prisoners by 
 means of his earnest Gospel addresses ; his administration 
 of temperance pledges ; his classes for teaching reading and 
 writing; his fervent prayers and his general Christian 
 example. One of the memorable sayings of that most 
 excellent man may be here quoted, as conveying a truth 
 important for all prison officers everywhere to bear in 
 mind, viz. : — " We hear much of various systems of prison 
 discipline, as the separate, the silent, and the congregate 
 systems ; but unless the Christian system be brought to 
 bear with Divine power on the understanding and con- 
 sciences of criminals, every other system, professedly con- 
 templating their reformation, must prove an utter failure. 
 We willingly concede to various modes of prison discipline 
 their just measure of importance; but to expect that human 
 machinery, however perfect, can take the place of God's own 
 prescribed method of reformation, involves not only ignorant 
 presumption but practical infidelity." 
 
 Libraries and Reading Rooms for the officers, as well 
 as for the prisoners, should form a feature of every jail. 
 And of course some reasonable opportunities for their 
 use should be provided in the schedule of hours of
 
 Prison Officers. 225 
 
 duty and recreation. The assistance of persons of leisure 
 and culture, in the neighbourhood, might often be success- 
 fully invited for the delivery of lectures and addresses 
 to the officers. Probably in most districts there are 
 well-qualified gentlemen who would gladly help, in this 
 way, if asked to do so. Facilities should also be encouraged 
 for the enjoyment of music, athletic sports, and swimming, 
 by the subordinates, where practicable. 
 
 The Holidays, Pay and opportunities of Promotion-, 
 should be granted on a scale of reasonable liberality ; and, 
 in short, the general welfare and improvement, especially 
 of the lower officials, should be a prominent part of the 
 arrangements of every penal establishment. 
 
 One material element in the maintenance of a healthy 
 moral feeling and hearty interest in their duties, on the 
 part of the warders, must consist in their being permitted 
 some means of communication with the Government, from 
 time to time, through an independent channel, separate 
 from their own superior officers, as, for example, through 
 one or more members of the Legislature, or of a local 
 Municipality. 
 
 The Chaplaixs. 
 The chaplains, in particular, should be men feeling 
 deeply the responsibilities of their position in regard to all 
 the custodians of the prisoners. They should especially 
 seek to impress upon these a sense of the importance of 
 eternity, in reference to their own accountability to God, 
 and as to the souls of those placed under them. The words 
 and example of the officers either tend towards the salva- 
 tion, or the moral injury of the prisoners. The former 
 result will afford happy retrospects hereafter and the 
 approbation of Christ. But the latter course will involve 
 painful remorse and condemnation, when the present 
 opportunities of faithful performance of duty, as in the all- 
 seeing eye of God, shall have irrecoverably passed away.
 
 226 Penological and Preventive Principles, 
 
 Both the subordinate and the superior officers (as indeed 
 the managers of all institutions), may profitably ponder the 
 question once asked by a prison chaplain — " Will you be 
 content to replace such a treasure, as a human being, in its 
 former position, with nothing gained, during the whole 
 time you have had it in charge ? " From every officer (as 
 from every master, parent, or caretaker of others) Christ, 
 the omnipotent Final Disposer, may demand, " What did 
 you do wath the souls committed to your control; the 
 establishments, or households, over whom you ruled ? Did 
 you bring them to Me, or did you neglect them, or even 
 lead them away from Me ? " For, of course, some such 
 requirement will be hereafter made by the Divine 
 Judge, of every prison official, as of all other men and 
 women. And it is well to remember that God's autho- 
 rity is paramount over all administrators, whether of 
 l^risons, communities, or kingdoms. No orders or regula- 
 tions, whether of a Government or a State Department, 
 can release any one from His claims, as the Supreme 
 Sovereign, All earthly monarchs and authorities are 
 comparatively ephemeral influences, whose powers cease 
 when their bodies pass to their dust. But God, Christ, the 
 Holy Spirit, lives and reigns for ever, and wnll make 
 absolute requirement of duty — a just and thoroughly fair 
 exaction, but a permanently sovereign one — and with a 
 gracious reward of His own eternal love, for the humble 
 and obedient. 
 
 If, through the persuasions of chaplains, or by any other 
 means, earnest considerations, in regard to the inalienable 
 and certain responsibility of every person to God, can be 
 really brought home to prison officials of all grades, then 
 the most powerful and permanent of good influences will 
 be exercised upon them ; and the happiest results may be 
 looked for, as to the prisoners. One of the best examples 
 of effectual personal influence being brought to bear, from 
 ■outside, upon prison officers, both superior and subordinate,
 
 Prison Officers. 227 
 
 was afforded by that wonderfully devoted and faithful 
 minister of Christ, the late Dr. R. W. WiLLSON, Catholic 
 Bishop of Tasmania, who, in spite of excessive obstacles, 
 accomplished more than any one else in mitigating the 
 horrors of Australian Transportation, and in promoting the 
 ultimate abolition of that system. His labours amongst 
 criminals, lunatics, and their officials, were singularly per- 
 suasive and successful.* 
 
 But in prisons, as in the outside world, persons pro- 
 foundly affected by eternal things are only likely to form 
 a minority. Nevertheless, every practicable means should 
 be encouraged to extend the operation of these higher in- 
 fluences. 
 
 Official Unions. — "The Brotherhood of St. John." 
 Sometimes the mutual co-operation and voluntary or- 
 ganisation of prison officers, for their own moral and 
 material benefit, may be advantageously effected. A 
 striking example of such a union has long been furnished 
 by the history of the still-existing Brotherhood, originally 
 founded by Dr. Wichern,. in connection with the reforma- 
 tory and other schools of the " Rauhe Haus," at the Horn, 
 near Hamburg. With this was subsequently affiliated a 
 similar fraternity, having its centre at the St. John's In- 
 stitution, near Berlin. These were formed into an exten- 
 sive Guild, governed by a Directorate. The members of the 
 Brotherhood are admitted, between the ages of twenty and 
 thirty, to a three years' training in one of the establish- 
 ments, where they receive instruction in the practical care 
 of the young and of the poor ; also in various branches 
 of sacred and secular knowledge. Each member must 
 furnish certificates of good character, and of ability for 
 self-support, by some skilled industry or trade ; and fur- 
 ther, must have sufficient money to pay for preliminary 
 
 ■■■' Vide his biography, by Bishop Ullathornc. London : Burns and 
 Gates, 1887, 
 
 q2
 
 228 Penological and Preventive Princijiles. 
 
 expenses, for travelling, books, and clothing. Each, also, 
 must ao-ree to place himself entirely at the disposal of the 
 Directorate of the Guild, in regard to location and oc- 
 cupation, after undergoing the required training. Most of 
 the Brothers are distributed amongst the various depart- 
 ments of the " Inner Mission " of the German Evangelical 
 Churches, as Town Missionaries, Bible Readers, and in 
 work connected with Hospitals, Poorhouses, Schools, Prisons, 
 and Refuges. The fraternity has been a most interesting 
 and successful experiment. Its government is a combina- 
 tion of patriarchal authority with voluntary submission to 
 rules. The Directors require the Brethren to relinquish 
 their personal liberty, to a certain extent, in the interests of 
 the Guild and of its philanthropic aims. But, in return, 
 there are accorded various valuable privileges. Every 
 Brother becomes a member of a beneficent union. When 
 his duties at one place are completed, the Directors provide 
 or seek for another situation for him. There is a common 
 fund available for his assistance in case of illness and old 
 ao-e. The widows and orphans of the Brothers also receive 
 some support. Periodical social meetings of the Guild are 
 arranged for, so far as practicable ; and when separated 
 from each other, the names and circumstances of each 
 member are kept in mutually sympathetic remembrance, 
 by means of a systematic interchange of correspondence 
 and information ; and also by the practice of prayers for 
 one another. Thus a beautiful family feeling is maintained, 
 and a permanent provision of friendship and help is secured, 
 for all the Brothers, wherever situated, whether at home 
 or abroad. 
 
 Only a minor proportion of them have entered the prison 
 service, or about seven per cent, of the whole Guild. But 
 this number has furnished a sprinkling of a most superior 
 class of warders and other officials for the German jails. 
 It was at the special invitation of King Frederick Wil- 
 liam IV. of Prussia that Dr. Wichern and his colleagues
 
 Prison Officers. 229 
 
 undertook to render this assistance to the Government. 
 That monarch then constituted Wichern a Privy Coun- 
 cillor and a chief Inspector of Prisons. He was thus 
 enabled materially to promote the harmonious collateral 
 action of the respective authorities of the Guild and of 
 the Prisons. Objection was raised, in one or more influ- 
 ential quarters, to the introduction of the Brothers into 
 the penal service, as threatening to impair the central 
 authority of the State. But, so far as resorted to, this 
 measure has been very beneficial. It has tended to 
 modify, in a desirable direction, the otherwise excessively 
 military character of the officialism, too prevalent in Ger- 
 man, as in most other European prisons. It has also intro- 
 duced something of that element of individual religious 
 freedom which is everywhere essential. And, in short, 
 the partial resort to the services of the "Brothers of St. 
 John," for the German jails, has worked so well that it is 
 to be desired that a much larger proportion of the Guild 
 than seven'per cent, had been received into this department 
 of the State. 
 
 The experiment is also an instructive one for other 
 nations. It shows the advantage, on the one hand, of at 
 least mingling with the ordinary military element of penal 
 officialism, a selected band of Christian men, specially 
 trained for the religious, educational, and industrial 
 guidance of others. It points to the utility of Unions, 
 or Guilds, amongst prison officers generally, for their own 
 moral, social, and pecuniary benefit. Such organisations 
 need [in no way prejudice, or unduly interfere with, their 
 relations to the higher authorities; but, on the contrary, 
 they may, as was the case in Prussia, be rendered decidedly 
 helpful to the discipline and general administration. 
 
 In England, in 18S1, through the eflbrts of the Kev. 
 J. W. Horsley, an association was established, named " The 
 Guild of St. Paul axd St. Silas," the chief objects of 
 which are regular and frecjucnt prayers for prisoners and
 
 230 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 their officers, together with efforts to obtain employment 
 for discharged prisoners. 
 
 German Combixatiox of Official Power with Freedoji. 
 
 It is to be remarked, in connection with this subject, 
 that Germany, although pre-eminent in its military or- 
 ganisation, has encouraged, amongst its prison officers of 
 all grades, an intelligent freedom of mutual discussion 
 and co-operation, hardly equalled in any other European 
 country. For many years, annual or other periodical 
 gatherings of prison officials have been held in the chief 
 cities of Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria, Wurtemberg, Hanover, 
 and Baden, for the discussion of matters afFectincr their 
 particular profession and the various departments of penal 
 treatment and prevention, and also for social recreation. 
 By this means, these German officers have become cha- 
 racterised by a more intelligent interest in their duties, 
 than the similar functionaries in most other countries- 
 They appear to be, in so far, decidedly superior to the 
 average of British prison officials. This result has been 
 further promoted by the establishment of voluntary Asso- 
 ciations for the study of penal questions, in several of the 
 chief cities, such as Hamburg, Dusseldorf, and Frankfort, 
 and by the maintenance of several Journals and Maga- 
 zines specially devoted to this department. In England 
 some similar periodicals have hitherto failed to obtain 
 the needful support from the public, or from the authori- 
 ties. 
 
 But in Germany, and to some extent in Austria also, the 
 officials and the supreme Government have actively en- 
 couraged both the literary and the verbal discussion of 
 penal questions by their subordinates. The intelligent and 
 lively interest thus manifested by the Germans, in matters 
 relating to crime and prisons, has contrasted favourably 
 with the comparatively mechanical routine which has too
 
 Prison Officers. 231 
 
 generally prevailed amongst the managers and subordinate 
 officers of English penal establishments. Amongst these an 
 excessive sternness has been too frequent. Whilst a certain 
 degree of reserve has its disciplinary use, yet its excess 
 tends to be ruinous to those moral and religious influences 
 which every one in authority is called by God to exercise. 
 Men and even beasts are repelled by undue reserve. At 
 the Zoolofjical Gardens, in London, it was noticed that one 
 of the attendants was greatly disliked by the animals, some 
 of which endeavoured to injure him. Yet it did not appear 
 that he was cruel to them ; he was simply and habitually 
 silent ; he scarcely ever spoke to them. Most creatures 
 like to be talked to in pleasant tones, even though not 
 understanding the words. And as regards human 1:>eings, 
 excessive reserve is hateful, and renders a man disagreeable 
 and of little use to his fellows, whether superior or sub- 
 ordinate. The Germans, with less of this defect than the 
 English, have been, both as to their military and their 
 prison discipline, at least the equals of the latter, if not 
 indeed decidedly in advance of them, in their powers of 
 authority. Familiarity is a mischievous extreme, but much 
 reserve is an evil in an opposite direction. The best 
 efficiency avoids both. It is however only fair to the sub- 
 ordinate officers of British convict prisons to observe that 
 for some of their defects they have been less to blame than 
 the rigid l)ondage to minute prescription forced upon them 
 by the central authorities, and maintained by frequent 
 fines or other exactions. 
 
 Superior Officers and their Opportunities. — 
 Jerry McCauley. 
 
 The influence of the superior officers in the administration 
 both of prisons and of the police, may sometimes be exerted 
 with immense power for the tenq^oral and eternal good, 
 both of their subordinates and of offenders. Many of the
 
 232 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 latter do not furnish a very hopeful field for such en- 
 deavours. Indeed some of them appear to be almost 
 irreclaimable. The good seed sown amongst them may be 
 as that cast upon rocks, or on thorns. But, here and there, 
 there will be some growth ; and occasionally the fruit will 
 be even sixty, or a hundredfold. For the resources of 
 Divine Grace are infinite. 
 
 A most remarkable proof of this was afforded in the 
 case of a well-known criminal, the late Jerry McAuley. 
 He was born in Ireland in 1839, but was taken to New 
 York during his childhood. Having a bad example at 
 home he became an habitual thief and a ringleader amongst 
 a number of criminals, men and women, of the lowest 
 character. At length he was committed to the convict 
 prison at Sing Sing, where he manifested some little 
 appearance of religious impression under the exhortations 
 of a discharged prisoner named Gardiner, who, having 
 become a reformed character, was occasionally permitted 
 access to the jail for reading the Scriptures and prayer 
 with the inmates. No decided change in Jerry McAuley 
 was yet visible. But at a later period, in 1862, the 
 " Warden," or Governor of Sing Sing, adopted the plan of 
 setting apart a few hours every week for private inter- 
 views with his prisoners, and especially with the object of 
 giving them good advice under more favourable circum- 
 stances than during their association with the others. At 
 one of these interviews a convict, named Jones, asked per- 
 mission to teach a fellow prisoner to read. This was 
 granted under certain conditions. Some time afterwards 
 the same Jones petitioned that a few of the convicts might 
 be allowed to meet for prayer, with the approval and pre- 
 sence of the chaplain. This also was sanctioned, and, com- 
 mencing with an attendance of four, the gathering gradually 
 increased to the number of about fifty prisoners. Amongst 
 those who obtained leave to join in these meetings was 
 Jerry McAuley, who had previously been specially urged to 
 
 fc>
 
 Prison Officers. 233. 
 
 amendment by the governor, in several private interviews. 
 He had hitherto been exceedingly morose and depressed 
 almost to despair ; but, through the personal sympathy of 
 the o'overnor and one or two others, and beinoj cheered 
 by the hopes and comforts of the Gospel of Christ, he 
 at length showed indications of sincere repentance and 
 good resolve. 
 
 And these never passed away. For although, after 
 leaving Sing Sing, he at first relapsed into evil courses, 
 and more than once, yet he did not relinquish the ordinary 
 means of grace ; and these ultimately gained a complete 
 mastery over him. His soul was won for Christ. And 
 now he felt called to prove his gratitude to the Lord, by 
 endeavouring to rescue other poor creatures from evil and 
 misery. His earnestness and evident sincerity gained him 
 the friendship of a shrewd but benevolent banker of New 
 York, Mr. A. S. Hatch, who showed his confidence in 
 Jerry hj making him the caretaker of a private yacht, in 
 which position he manifested fidelity and trustworthiness. 
 But the impulse to rescue others from degradation resting 
 with abiding pressure on his soul, he obtained Mr. Hatch's 
 help in this direction also, and was enabled to open a 
 mission-hall in Water Street, in one of the lowest slums of 
 New York. Here he was wonderfully successful in gather- 
 ing for Christian worship many of the most depraved and 
 hopeless men and women of the city. His notorious ante- 
 cedents, together with the evident change in his character, 
 and his humble, straightforward, genuinely sympathetic 
 plea<.lings for souls, were the means of arousing the atten- 
 tion and permanently improving the lives of hundreds of 
 outcasts. There were abundant proofs of the genuine 
 nature of these results. Jerry himself had been too deeply 
 experienced in the ways of imposture to be easily beguiled 
 by mere hypocritical professions. But he loved the people, 
 in view of their immortal capacities, and of Christ's love 
 to them. It is recorded that " his perseverance was in-
 
 234 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 domitable, and his faith in Christ boundless. His absolute 
 confidence was infectious." His preaching was lively and 
 natural. He believed in the efficacy of united prayer. 
 Like Whitfield, Wesley, and Spurgeon, he relied especially 
 on this influence. He encouraged another means of help, 
 which, in every age, has been much blessed by God, — the 
 practice of hearty and melodious Christian song. Hence 
 his mission-hall became so attractive and crowded that his 
 friends furnished him with funds to open a larger one, 
 named " Cremorne," in another similar slum. For sixteen 
 years he laboured with extraordinary zeal and blessing 
 until his death, in 1884, at the age of forty-five years. 
 His funeral was one of the largest ever witnessed in New 
 York, and was attended by many whom he had been the 
 means of rescuing from temporal and future misery. He 
 passed to his rest, having accomplished a grand life work, 
 and having earned an abiding record, such as any monarch 
 might envy. For of him it may be truly said, as of 
 Barnabas of old, that by his fidelity and devotion, " Much 
 people was added to the Lord." And what epitaph, or 
 record, can be nobler than this ? 
 
 A principal point to be here observed, is the distinct 
 connection between Jerry McAuley's reclamation and the 
 faithful labours of the governor and chaplain of Sing 
 Sing prison, for the religious development of the cri- 
 minals placed under their care. These efforts had also 
 other important results ; Jerry McAuley was by no means 
 the only man then permanently reclaimed to honesty and 
 a godly life, by the encouragement of religion in that esta- 
 blishment. Many of its inmates were practically changed 
 into useful citizens, by the earnest conversations of the 
 chief officers, and by the responses of Divine Grace to 
 the petitions put up in the weekly prayer meetings held 
 in the prison. 
 
 It was stated, by the New York Observer, that Dr. E. C. 
 Wines, the eminent founder of the " National Prison Asso-
 
 Prison Officers. 235 
 
 ciation " o£ the United States, was mainly induced to enter 
 upon that important department of public service, in conse- 
 quence of the deep interest in criminal reform awakened 
 by a visit to the governor of Sing Sing, and to the prayer- 
 meetings in his prison. But the life and labours of Jerry 
 McAuley, alone, constituted a thousandfold success, even if 
 all efforts to reform other Sing Sing convicts had failed. 
 And, from time to time, other individual successes will 
 continue to compensate and to counterbalance, in every 
 country, the numerous or general instances in which such 
 good endeavours may have appeared fruitless. To the 
 prison officer who, by faithfulness to his opportunities of 
 usefulness, seeks for eternal reward (and God judges rather 
 as to motives than results), the inspired words are peculiarly 
 encourao-ing : " In the morning sow thy seed, and in the 
 eveninf' withhold not thy hand : for thou knowest not 
 whether shall prosper, this or that ; or whether they both 
 shall be alike good." (Eccles. xi.) 
 
 Good Lay Influence. 
 
 A layman, whether a prison official, a policeman, or in 
 any other position, may exercise as much good influence as 
 a clergyman, or priest. And, indeed, the non-professional 
 and spontaneous character of lay efforts, for Christ, often 
 imparts to them even a greater power than that possessed 
 by the regular minister of the Gospel. The example and 
 words of a truly Christian prison officer, policeman, com- 
 mercial traveller, tradesman, domestic servant, sailor, work- 
 ing man, or any other lay person, young or old, are often 
 regarded, by those around them, witli an interest much 
 superior to that awakened by ordinary ministerial effort. 
 The Governor of an English prison informed the writer 
 that before he came to that establishment he had desired 
 larger opportunities of Christian usefulness than he had 
 hitherto possessed. He found the prison afforded him the
 
 236 Penological and Preventim Principles. 
 
 wished-for scope, for it became to him a virtual pas- 
 torate. He long exercised a kindly paternal care over the 
 officers and the prisoners, and also over many of the 
 latter, after their discharge. He was firm and humane ; 
 he exacted diligence and strict obedience ; he habitually 
 prayed for his prisoners and for himself. Many -were the 
 grateful acknowledgments of abiding benefits derived from 
 his influence, which he received from the subjects of his 
 former care. Nor was he by any means a solitary instance 
 of such honourable fidelity to the Highest, on the part of 
 prison governors. Many of these laymen, and at times their 
 subordinate officers also, have found opportunities for the 
 effectual exercise of genuinely pastoral labours, which have 
 afforded to them profound satisfaction, and which also, it 
 may confidently be believed, will redound hereafter to their 
 rich reward. 
 
 But, regarding men as they are, in the general, and in 
 view also of the merely secular motives, often of a low cha- 
 racter — which are so apt to characterise human govern- 
 ments and their whole system of patronage and appoint- 
 ments — it is hardly to be expected that the proportion of 
 prison officers, distinguished by such exemplary goodness 
 and efficiency, will be other than a minority. Too many 
 State authorities seem to care but little for the religious 
 and eternal interests of those whom they select for office, 
 whether in prisons, or in other departments of the public 
 service. 
 
 Hence, we are once more brought back to the conclusion 
 to which so manj'- investigations and observations lead us, 
 that prison administration tends, for the most part, to 
 be of such an essentially defective character, that the 
 best economy of preventive and repressive effort, must 
 be that which reduces incarceration to the lowest extent 
 compatible with public security, and which seeks its 
 objects chiefly through influences to be applied outside the 
 walls of jails, rather than within them.
 
 Chapter VIIL 
 ON SYSTEMATIC PRISON VISITATION* 
 
 Visitors and Chaplains. 
 
 During the earlier years of modern prison reform, the 
 advantages resulting from visits to jails, by judicious 
 persons unconnected with the official staff of those estab- 
 lishments, were so generally acknowledged that they 
 actually led, in considerable degree, to subsequent obstacles 
 to their own continuance and extension. For the labours 
 of such excellent visitors as John Howard, Mrs. Fry, 
 Sarah Martin, with others in England, and of M. Suringar 
 with his colleagues in Holland, and of the Philadel- 
 phia and other visiting committees in America, produced 
 such a favourable appreciation of their practical value 
 in the reclamation of offenders, that the authorities, in 
 various countries, were, in consequence, induced to appoint 
 special chaplains for prisons. It was presumed that if so 
 much good had been effected by the occasional visits of 
 benevolent individuals, much more advantage would be 
 secured by the regular services of permanent resident 
 chaplains, or moral instructors, selected by the Government 
 and paid to devote all their time to the duties of their 
 office. But then, at least too generally, f olloAved the further 
 
 ^- The nucleus of this chapter was originally prepared for the 
 International Prison Congress of Rome, in 1885, at the request 
 of " The International Congress Commission."
 
 238 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 result that the chaplains and the other authorities dis- 
 couraged the continuance of volunteer visitation. 
 
 There can be no doubt but that this appointment of 
 regular chaplains has been very beneficial to prisoners in 
 a large number of instances. Nor is it desirable that there 
 should be any abandonment of the plan. In Great Britain 
 and Ireland, in Sweden, Norway, Germany, and Belgium, 
 praiseworthy and systematic arrangements are made for 
 the supply of at least one chaplain to every jail. In many 
 of the prisons of these countries there are also resident 
 schoolmasters. 
 
 Nevertheless, the spontaneous character of volunteer 
 visitation is a favourable feature in the eyes of prisoners, 
 who view with some suspicion everything connected with 
 officialism and State authority. The chaplain, together 
 with every other regular officer, is, to a considerable extent, 
 inseparable, in the minds of prisoners, from the ideas con- 
 nected with the punitory and judicial attributes of the 
 Government. There is also a constantly lurking appre- 
 hension that the functions of espionage cannot be altogether 
 separated from the duties of every regular official. In- 
 deed, even in the case of voluntary visitors, if any ground 
 is afforded for a similar suspicion, their influence and use- 
 fulness are at once greatly diminished, if not wholly 
 destroyed. This was the secret of the failure of the earlier 
 " Patronage Society " in Belgium. It is one of the very 
 first essentials for the success of prison visitation, that its 
 objects shall have no reasonable grounds for suspicion, or 
 for fear, that their confidential communications may be 
 made use of, to their own detriment. 
 
 And there is another reason for supplementing the ser- 
 vices of the regular staff" by such visitors. This consists 
 in the universally observed fact that all permanently ap- 
 pointed and paid officials have a tendency to settle down, 
 with too much persistency, into narrow grooves of uni- 
 formity. They manifest a frequent disposition to shrink
 
 Systematic Prison Visitation. 239 
 
 from the trouble which any change, or progress, however 
 desirable, involves. They are apt to become somewhat 
 " fossilised," and to reverence old habits at the expense of 
 needful modifications, called for by changing circumstances 
 and environments. In short, every atmosphere of undiluted 
 officialism almost necessarily requires ventilation from time 
 to time, by the freshening effect of external influences. 
 This applies especially to prison administration. 
 
 Mrs. Fry records her observations of the vulgarising and 
 lowering influence exerted upon the minds and moral 
 feelings of the female ofiicers, by a too exclusive association 
 with the offenders placed under their care. She noticed 
 that the occasional, or rather the frequent, visits of ladies 
 of education and refinement, were very useful, by reason of 
 their influence upon these officers, as well as upon the 
 prisoners themselves. This remark applies, in considerable 
 deo-ree to all the subordinate functionaries, whether men 
 or women. They, as well as their prisoners, need frequent 
 contact with persons of high moral and intellectual 
 development. It is almost impossible for an i)idividiial 
 chaplain or schoolmaster to accomplish what is needful, in 
 these and other respects. The chaplain of a large English 
 prison for men writes to the Howard Association : — " I 
 wish I could have two or three gentlemen here to work 
 under me. I could get them to-morrow, if permitted by 
 the authorities. What can I do, single-handed, with the 
 thousands of cases passing through this prison every year?" 
 Many other officers could echo these words. In some large 
 British prisons, the intercourse of the chaplain with each 
 convict merely averages a few minutes of each week or 
 fortnight. 
 
 Official Prejudice. 
 
 There are immense forces of prejudice and apprehension 
 in the minds of many of the authorities, which tend to
 
 240 Penological and Frcvcntive Principles. 
 
 obstruct and delay the volunteer assistance, so earnestly 
 desired by the chaplain just quoted. How great and how 
 wide-spread are such apprehensions, may be partly inferred 
 from the very circumstance that the Council of the Inter- 
 national Prison Congress at Rome thought it expedient to 
 propound the subject in the form of a question, "Is it 
 desirable to permit and encourage visits to prisoners, by 
 persons who are members of patronage societies or bene- 
 volent associations, but unconnected with the administra- 
 tion ? " 
 
 The fact of this query being gravely raised, as an open 
 and dubious question, late in the Nineteenth Century, indi- 
 cates how little opportunity had yet been permitted in 
 Europe for the satisfactory solution of the subject, and 
 also how much the favourable experiences of volunteer 
 visitation, in the days before the general appointment of 
 resident chaplains, had subsequently been forgotten by 
 the modern generation of administrators. It also points 
 to the need for some fresh notice of the scattered efforts 
 in the same direction which, in various countries, but on a 
 very limited scale, have continued to be put forth. 
 
 Philadelphia Visitors. 
 
 It is chiefly in some of the Northern States of the Ame- 
 rican Union, that both the successes and the failures of 
 volunteer visitation have been observable of late years; 
 because in that country, more than in any other, the autho- 
 rities have opened the prisons to the influences of bene- 
 volent persons from outside. Yet, even there, it is by no 
 means easy to measure the benefits of this system ; inasmuch 
 as all moral results are peculiarly difficult to estimate. 
 
 The oldest and most systematic body of volunteer prison 
 visitors in the United States, if not in the world, is the 
 "Philadelphia Prison Society." It was founded in 
 1787, and has been incorporated by the State Legislature.
 
 Sijstematic Prison Visitation. 241 
 
 It consists of about fifty regular visitors ; and, on the 
 average, they visit more than 350 prisoners each month. 
 In a recent Memorial to the Legislature, the Committee 
 remark : " For one hundred years, the members of this 
 Society have rendered personal, constant and gratuitous 
 care to the prisoners of fully one-half of this State, visit- 
 ing them continuously in their cells, giving them wise 
 counsel, urfjinfj reformation, and encourag^incj and aidingr 
 them by every means in their power." They add that 
 they have often been rewarded by improvements in the 
 moral state of the offenders, not only while in confinement, 
 but after discharge : and that some of them have risen to 
 honourable positions in the community. They further ob- 
 serve that theirs is " a work wiiich saves not only the lives 
 and characters of human beings, but thousands of dollars to 
 the treasury of the State ; and at the same time gives 
 greater protection to the community and exalts the standing 
 of the commonwealth." 
 
 Penns3dvania alone, amongst American States, has re- 
 tained, though in a relaxed degree, the Cellular System> 
 and has endeavoured, in the chief prison in Philadelphia, 
 to secure the separation of prisoners from the corrupting 
 eftects of association with their fellow-criminals. At the 
 same time, an unnatural and pernicious solitude has been 
 guarded against. And it is especially by means of the con- 
 stant visits of the many members of the local Prison Society 
 that the success of this modified and ameliorated system 
 has been maintained. The Committee speak of it as " The 
 vSeparate System of our State, the system whereby re-com- 
 mitments are lessened, and the opportunities for reforma- 
 tion increased." The visitors carefully cultivate harmonious 
 relations with the resident officers, and earnestly seek to 
 avoid interference or collision with them. They work well 
 together. Even as to the prisoners, the reception of visits 
 is not compulsory. Each is allowed the exercise of his 
 own choice, as to being visited or not; and also if he o1;»jects 
 
 R
 
 242 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 to any particular visitor, his feelings on that point are 
 respected. A recent instance is mentioned of a prisoner 
 there, who, on being first accosted by some of the Com- 
 mittee, replied, " Have you any whisky ? That is all I 
 want." But by means of subsequent ofiers of books and 
 of seeds and plants for his little plot of garden -ground, his 
 reluctance was overcome and he willingly accepted the 
 good offices of the visitors. 
 
 Both the governor and the resident chaplain (or " moral 
 instructor ") of the Philadelphia State prison, testify in 
 their reports to the value of these volunteer services. It is 
 mentioned by the Prison Commissioners of an adjoining 
 State, New Jersey, that an experiment made some years 
 ago to introduce, in that district, the separate system of 
 imprisonment, resulted in failure, mainly and especially 
 because no collateral 2jrovision was instituted for securing 
 the visits of suitable persons, outside the regular ofiicial 
 staff. 
 
 The essential separation from evil should never degene- 
 rate into unnatural solitude. KiNG Oscar I., of Sweden, 
 well observed that, " The solitary cell ought to be inacces- 
 sible to the outer world, but not to the admonishing and 
 instructing voice of the philanthropist. ' I was in prison, 
 and ye visited Me,' say the Scriptures. May the heavenly 
 doctrine not be lost, but manifest itself in action." 
 
 Other American Visitation. 
 
 In some of the American prisons, the aid of volunteer 
 visitors is the almost exclusive means for diminishing the 
 ignorance of the inmates. 
 
 At Baltimore, prison visitation has been erroneously 
 stated to have failed, owing to sectarian jealousies and 
 mutual interferences on the part of the ministers of the 
 various denominations, who were permitted free access to 
 the inmates. But recent inquiries have proved that, on the
 
 Sijstcmatic Priso)i Visitation. 243 
 
 conV-'ary, the visits have been very useful, and warmly 
 approved by the authorities. In the Western States of 
 Indiana, Iowa, and Illinois, the members of the " Hicksite " 
 section of the Society of Friends have taken a prominent, 
 and almost invariably successful, part in the work of prison 
 visitation in their respective districts. A governor of Iowa 
 State Prison has reported that, " Very important moral aid 
 has been rendered, from time to time, by many godly men 
 and women of the ' Hicksite ' Friends' sect, who have spent 
 hours and days here, ministering to the moral welfare of 
 the prisoners. The effect of these visits was so unquestion- 
 ably beneficial to the convicts, that I should be remiss, if I 
 failed to make formal mention of them, as examples of 
 Samaritan goodness which others may well emulate. If 
 these good people fully realised the beneficent influence 
 their visits and ministrations made upon the convicts, the 
 reflection would constitute a reward so ample as to leave 
 little else to be desired." But it is to be noted that " the 
 Friends," as a body, cultivate, in their ministrations, the 
 elements of spiritual encouragement, and inculcate the uni- 
 vei'sal love of God to man, and the grace of the Divine 
 Spirit as offered to each individual heart. They also 
 scrupulously avoid anere terrorizing attempts to proselytise, 
 and usually confine themselves to the simplest principles of 
 religion. 
 
 The ultimate good effects of such influences have been 
 proved in many instances. The governor of a prison in 
 New England stated, at a public conference, that he knew 
 sixty-four criminal men who had been induced, by lady 
 visitors, to lead altered lives, and some of them had died 
 rejoicing in the hope of everlasting life. He added, that 
 he " felt prepared to lose his arm, if necessary, in defence 
 of the work of lady visitors in prisons." 
 
 Yet, in regard to some American prisons, it is also to be 
 observed that a gross want of care is manifest. In many 
 jails almost indiscriminate access to the inmates by out- 
 
 R 2
 
 244 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 siders is permitted. In some of them, the prisoners are 
 subjected to the idle observation and curiosity of any 
 strano-ers who choose to pay a small fee to the jailer or 
 sheriff. Whilst marked benefit arises in the prisons where 
 visitation from the outside is subjected to discriminating 
 regulations, there can be no doubt but that great mischief, 
 both to the inmates and to the community, ensues from 
 the reckless license often permitted in America in this 
 •matter. 
 
 France and "the Christian Brothers." 
 
 Amongst European nations, there is a general te ndency 
 on the part of the authorities, to restrict the voluntary 
 visitation of prisoners to the smallest possible limits. 
 Beyond occasional visits from their nearest relations, the 
 prisoners are, for the most part, separated from all social 
 influences but those of the prison itself In France, a very 
 limited and partial relaxation of this exclusiveness has been 
 permitted of late years in regard to certain gentlemen of 
 good position who have had access to the Protestant pri- 
 soners. The effect of this permission, so far as extended, 
 has been very beneficial, and has been encouraged by the 
 officials. It is matter for deep regret that the recent 
 tendency of the Legislature and Government of France 
 has been directed in opposition to religious and moral 
 influences of any definite character, whether Catholic or 
 Protestant, and whether proposed for the inmates of 
 prisons, schools, or charitable institutions generally. 
 Grievous has been the injury inflicted upon that great 
 nation by the disastrous influence of infidel statesmen 
 and agitators. In consequence, the ranks of criminalit}^, 
 ruffianism, and pauperism, have been greatly increased. 
 
 If a wiser spirit hail prevailed amongst these rulers 
 of France, they would have profited by the experience 
 already derived from a most successful and interesting
 
 Systematic Prison Visitation. 245 
 
 attempt which was commenced in that country in 1841, 
 with a view to enhst the voluntary services of rehgious 
 and philanthropic persons, for the reformatory discipline 
 of prisoners, and for the relief of the arduous duties of the 
 paid officers. This remarkable and memorable experinient, 
 which extended over a period of seven years, consisted in 
 the employment of the members of the Catholic order of 
 lay teachers, named " The Christian Brothers," not only 
 as instructors, but as general custodians and managers of 
 thousands of the worst convicts, both adult and juvenile, 
 in four large prisons. These " Brothers," it may be re- 
 marked, derive their foundation, as an order, from the 
 saintly Jean Baptists de la Salle, Canon of Rheims, in 
 the seventeenth century, who sacrificed his private pro- 
 perty, his official emoluments, and his ecclesiastical position, 
 in order to devote his life to the training of young men 
 for the gratuitous secular and religious instruction of 
 children, especially those of the poorest class. He wasi so 
 anxious to guard the members of his Order from tempta- 
 tions to quit their avocation through self-interest, or for 
 the service of the more prosperous portions of the com- 
 munity, that he instituted rules forbidding any of the 
 Brothers to enter the priesthood, or even to learn, or teach, 
 the Latin language. All tlieir services were to be gra- 
 tuitously rendered. The discipline of their Order prescribes 
 for each Brother four hours' daily devotion, six and a-half 
 hours' teaching, and two hours' private study. The lives 
 of these good men are profoundly benevolent, prayerful, 
 and Scriptural. Their Regulations order that " they shall 
 always carry about with them a copy of the New Testa- 
 ment, and shall pass no day without reading a portion of 
 it, in faith and veneration for the Divine words which it 
 contains. They shall regard it as their primary and prin- 
 cipal Rule." 
 
 The great success and popularity of these " Brothers," 
 as teachers of vouth, suggested to the authorities of
 
 '24G Penolorjical and Prcrenfive Principles. 
 
 Nismes in 1841, the idea that they might be similarly- 
 helpful in the service of the local prison, where brutal 
 warders and an iron military discipline had produced a 
 general condition of insubordination and fierceness amongst 
 the convicts of all ages. The Minister of the Interior, at 
 Paris, after careful inquiry and much hesitation, at length 
 entrusted the Brothers with the care of the younger pri- 
 soners at Nismes. So marked an improvement in the 
 discipline promptly resulted, that in 1842 the whole 1,200 
 convicts in that establishment were placed under the 
 manao-ement of the Or<ler. What followed is thus described 
 (in the interesting book, entitled, " The Christian Brothers, 
 their Origin and Work," by R. F. Wilson ; London : Kegan 
 Paul &5 Co.) — "In the course of two months the whole 
 character of the prison was altered. Instead of being 
 guarded by men of fierce and threatening aspect, who were 
 never without their swords and who ruled by fear alone, 
 addressing them in words of contempt, intermingled with 
 oaths and imprecations, the convicts found themselves 
 Avatched over by unarmed men, who, with no means what- 
 ever of defence, moved fearlessly among them, always 
 gentle and quiet in manner, speaking to them words of 
 kindness, and encouraging them to resignation and hope. 
 The sight of these men, who came and buried themselves 
 in the prison, with the one purpose of being of use to them, 
 and who, for no human interest, but simply for the love of 
 'God, gave themselves up, of their own free will, to such a 
 bard and revolting task, first astounded them, then made 
 them think, and kindled a feeling of gratitude in their 
 hearts. They heard of God, of His mercy, of a life to come, 
 of restoration through repentance, of the hopes, even in 
 this world, attendant on a ncAV life of well-doing; and the 
 power of the religion of Christ triumphed over those 
 hardened natures." 
 
 The experiment at Nismes was so satisfactory that, after 
 three years' observation of its results, the Government en-
 
 Si/stematic Prison Visitation. 247 
 
 trusted the Brothers with the care also of the great central 
 prison of Fontevrault, which contained 1,200 adult convicts 
 and 200 boys. Forty-eight Brothers were sent there. Other 
 prisons were subsequently placed under their management, 
 and with excellent eftect. But the Ke volution of 1848 burst 
 like a storm over France, and, amongst other destructive 
 consequences, it put an end to the prison labours of the 
 " Christian Brothers," This was not by the direct request 
 of the Government, 1:)ut in consequence of changes in the 
 prison administration, which the " Brothers " could not 
 conscientiously approve or support. They therefore, in 
 September, 1848, withdrew from their prison service, and 
 returned to their ordinary educational work, amongst the 
 children of the poorer classes. But even the Revolutionary 
 Government officially expressed gratitude for " the devotion 
 which the Brothers had shown, and the services which they 
 had rendered in the prisons." The Superior of their Order, 
 Frere Philippe, also received a letter from the Minister of 
 the Interior, stating that he could never forget the " re- 
 markal)le improvement " which had resulted at Nismes 
 prison in particular, from " the careful and just superin- 
 tendence of the Brothers," and " the example of their own 
 devotion and their wise counsels and pious exhortations." 
 
 This eminently successful experiment furnishes, in itself, 
 a sufficient proof of the importance and practical )ility of 
 the visitation and control, of even the worst classes of cri- 
 minals, in prison, by judicious and benevolent volunteer 
 agents, especially when forming apart of a carefully-organ- 
 ised scheme of service. The Roman Catholic Church ex- 
 cels in its orderly organisation ; and hence has ensued some 
 of its special success in prison visitation, in France, Ireland, 
 Belgium, the United States, and elsewhere. But tlie chief 
 element, in these good effiicts, has undoubtedly consisted in 
 the prominence w^hich, through all the ages, and notwith- 
 standing the revolting cruelties of the Inquisition, and the 
 frequent evils resulting from unnatural clerical celibacy,
 
 248 Penological and Prcvcntke Pn'ncqjks. 
 
 that great Church has given, Ijoth in its public and private 
 ministrations, to the amazing love and sublimely-conde- 
 scending self-denial of the Most High, in the Incarnation 
 and Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the grandest 
 power for the regeneration of humanity, not merely for 
 criminals, but for every class of every community. 
 
 India. 
 
 In certain districts of British India there exists a system 
 of prison inspection which possesses certain advantages^ 
 and which much resembles the existing, but too often 
 nominal, functions of English " Visiting Justices." About 
 ten or twelve persons of respectability are designated, by 
 the authorities in the neighbourhood of each jail, to act as 
 independent unpaid visitors. They are selected from the 
 principal inhabitants, chiefly Europeans, and include, es- 
 pecially, medical men and magistrates. They enter the 
 prisons whenever they choose, and their services are valued 
 by the resident officers of those establishments, who look 
 upon them as friendly advisers and colleagues, rather than 
 as spies, or as exercising undue interference. The Governor 
 of one of the largest Indian prisons, remarked to the 
 writer : " If I want anything done for the prison by the 
 local Government, it occasionally happens that, in the first 
 place, I mention it to one of these visitors, and suggest to 
 him to make a formal report, or application, in its favour. 
 He can thus, at times, obtain for me what I could not 
 procure by my own unaided request, from the chief autho- 
 rities." These gentlemen, however, are rather Insjjcctors 
 than visifors having any special purpose of instruction or 
 personal influence. 
 
 Australia. 
 
 In some of the Australasian colonies, especially in South 
 Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland,
 
 Systematic Prison Visitation. 249- 
 
 much good has resulted from certain experiments in the 
 volunteer visitation of prisoners. Some instructive re- 
 marks upon this point were made before the Queensland 
 Government Commission on Prisons, by Mr. J. F. Horsley, 
 of the Prison Gate Mission,, in 1887. He said : " There is a 
 terrible antipathy to preachers and parsons amongst the 
 criminal population. They will not listen to a man because 
 he is a parson. Yet they are open to a layman's influence, 
 if he will deal kindly and straightly with them." He also 
 remarked : " I look upon reclamation as being better car- 
 ried out by personal influence than by preaching. I have 
 been twenty years in the ministry ; and since I gave it up, 
 I have had more influence by personal intercourse, than I 
 had in doing pulpit work. For instance, Dr. Singleton, 
 who has been a visitor in jails for fifty-five years, is al- 
 lowed to go through the prisons and talk to the prisoners, 
 and his influence is marvellous. We want men to go to 
 the jails, not to hold service and go out again, but men 
 who, without interfering with the prison discipline at all, 
 can have conversation with the prisoners, with the confi- 
 dence of the Governor ; so that they can go into the cells 
 without the Chaplain putting up his back about it." 
 
 When asked by a Commissioner, " But is not such a 
 manan exceedingly rare gem ? " Mr. Horsley replied, 
 " It is because they have no opportunities. I have been 
 surprised at the help we received in our work in Mel- 
 bourne ; and great numbers also came forward, from whom 
 we did not expect assistance, to give employment to these 
 men. The help that we received surprised me." (Report, 
 p. 73.) 
 
 English Prison Visitation. 
 
 In England, voluntary visitation to prisoners was, at a 
 very recent period, discouraged, and almost prohibited. 
 There is now, however, becoming manifest, on the part of
 
 250 Penological and Preventive Princijjles. 
 
 the chief authorities, a rather more favourable regard to 
 it. A noteworthy instance of the value of such visitation 
 has been furnished by Miss Felicia Skene, of Oxford, 
 whose weekly visits to the women in prison, in that city, 
 were so beneficial to the discipline of the establishment, 
 that, on the assumption of the control of all the prisons by 
 the Government Commissioners, in 1878, the Governor of 
 the jail, and the Protestant chaplains, with the approval of 
 the Catholic priest also, united in petitioning for continued 
 permission for this lady's very useful visits. After much 
 questioning and hesitation, the Commissioners accorded 
 their sanction. But Miss Skene made it an indispensable 
 condition of her own assent that she should be allowed to see 
 each prisoner alone. For, as she has observed, prisoners will 
 not, in general, speak freely and confidentially in the pre- 
 sence of a third person. Much of her effort has been 
 directed to obtaining employment for the women, on their 
 discharge from jail. By means of extreme perseverance 
 and most praiseworthy kindness, she was enabled to obtain 
 situations, or occupation, for sixty of these, during three 
 years. This was accomplished by her individual efforts, 
 and in the absence, at that time, of any local society for 
 aiding prisoners on their discharge. 
 
 Similarly valuable results have attended the voluntary 
 visits of Mr. Thomas Wright, of Manchester, Mrs. Mere- 
 dith, of Wandsworth, Miss Antrobus, of Kensington, and 
 some other good persons, whose labours amongst prisoners 
 were often gratefully acknowledged by their officers, and 
 who were the means of reclaiming and restoring many poor 
 wanderers from the paths of crime and misery. The au- 
 thorities of the prisons of Norwich, Worcester, and several 
 other British jails, have recently encouraged, with excel- 
 lent effect, the visits of judicious Ladies to the female 
 inmates. 
 
 A Secretary of State for the Home Department (Sir W. 
 V. Harcourt) on being adch-essed on the desirability of further
 
 Systematic Prison Visitation. 251 
 
 encouragement to such volunteer visitation, replied :—" We 
 have the local Magistrates, who are already authorised to 
 visit prisons. These are sufficient ; or, if not, they ought to 
 be so." These words expressed the prevalent but fallacious 
 idea, which has so strongly influenced the British official 
 mind in reofard to this subject. It is felt — and so far 
 rightly — that the ranks of the magistracy contain so many 
 gentlemen of special intelligence and sound judgment that 
 they would be competent to aflbrd adequate assistance in 
 supplementing the oversight of prisoners by the resident 
 officers. But the accompanying fallacy consists in the vir- 
 tual inference that because the magistracy have the needful 
 power they all possess the inclination to avail themselves 
 of their opportunities, in this direction, and to the requisite 
 extent. 
 
 Further, the actual conditions of magisterial visitation to 
 prisons, preclude many of the necessarj^ results. A small 
 connnittee of the magistrates, in every district, is set apart 
 under the designation of "Visiting Justices" for each 
 " LOCAL JAIL." Two or three of this body usually proceed 
 to the prison about once a month. They remain there an 
 hour or two, on such occasions, ask a few questions of the 
 officers and inmates, walk round the galleries, accost a few 
 prisoners in their cells, or at work, authorise the infliction 
 of any special punishment (such as flogging) which may be 
 awaiting their sanction, make a brief record of their visit, 
 and then take leave of the establishment until the following 
 month. 
 
 In general, scarcely any other visitation of the British 
 " Local Jails " by the magistracy takes place. For although 
 a large number of gentlemen are, by reason of their holding 
 this office, permitted access to the prisons, yet, as a matter 
 of fact, they rarely avail themselves of the opportunity. 
 For they feel a not altogether unreasonal)le hesitation to 
 appear to interfere, in any degree, with the functions of the 
 small l:)ody of " Visiting Justices " specially designated and
 
 252 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 deputed as such. The writer, in visiting one of the county 
 jails not long ago, ^yas informed, " You are the first person, 
 except the Visiting Justices, who has been allowed to go 
 over this prison during the past two years." This exem- 
 plifies the excessive and dangerous secrecy of British prison 
 administration, even at the present day. 
 
 A brief visitation of the CoxviCT prisons also takes 
 place, from time to time, by means of the unpaid '•' Visitors" 
 (two or three to each establishment) nominated by the 
 Secretary of State, in accordance with the recommenda- 
 tions of the Royal Commission on the Penal Servitude 
 Acts (1879). 
 
 It is of great importance to note that, in both classes of 
 English prisons, therefore, the existing visitation, by 
 authorised but semi-official persons from outside, is an 
 Inspection, on behalf of the Government, with the almost 
 exclusive object of affording a check against abuses in the 
 management of their establishments. This class of visitors, 
 whose services, as such, are certainly of decided value, can 
 hardly be said to exercise, or apparently even to desire to 
 exercise, the further important function of bringing moral 
 and beneficial personal influences to bear upon the prisoners 
 themselves. Their visits also can scarcel}' be termed volun- 
 tary, in tlie strictest sense of the word, inasmuch as their 
 office imposes, or at least implies, a certain obligation to 
 represent the Government. They are, indeed, non-nsirlent 
 officers of the prison, though with exceedingly limited 
 powers. And, as such, they are rather inspectors than visi- 
 tors. They do not appear to regard the moral elevation of 
 the prisoners as specially, if at all, coming within the scope 
 of their functions. 
 
 Hearty Personal Interest Essential. 
 
 No class of visitation, originating exclusively or mainly, 
 in merely official duty, can exert the influence which
 
 Systematic Prison Visitation. 253 
 
 attends the efforts of really spontaneous benevolence. And 
 it is most desirable to seek out and encourage those persons 
 — generally few in number — who, in any locality, may 
 possess this qualification, combined with due prudence. 
 The venerable M. Surixgar observed, in reference to this 
 heartfelt interest, " Whatever may be wished and done for 
 prisoners, without the aid of religion, their reclamation is 
 utterly chimerical. They must be saved by the religion of 
 the heart — by a life in God. Religion throws its lucid 
 beams on the three awful mysteries, of birth, life and 
 death. But the dispenser of the light, whether he be 
 clergyman, schoolmaster or visitor, must be internally 
 lighted and warmed himself. He who does his work 
 from a cold feeling of official duty only, he who has not 
 his heart and soul in it, will never become a friend to 
 the prisoners. The prisoner feels that his words do not 
 proceed from the heart." 
 
 Now it is not in the power of any Government to give 
 its officers these necessary feelings. Nor can any rank or 
 position secure them. Efficient prison visitors do not be- 
 come such, by any state command or appointment. They 
 must be sought out, or accepted, if suitable, when they, 
 offer themselves. And if, on experience, they are found to 
 possess the great gift of power over the hearts and lives of 
 criminals, they should receive due encouragement and 
 honour at the hands of the authorities. 
 
 Common Sense Indispensable. 
 
 But the discrimination of the necessar}^ qualifications for 
 such visitors needs, like most other matters, the exercise of 
 connnon sense and the establishment of some plan of syste- 
 matic and orderly procedure. It will be found that the 
 failures of prison visitors have chiefly arisen from the 
 absence of these. In some cases, very unsuitable persons, 
 with little^or no knowledge of human nature, have been
 
 254 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 admitted. For instance, a certain lady was permitted to 
 have an interview with a female in an English jail. Imme- 
 diately on her departure, the prisoner, who had usually 
 been tolerably well-behaved, became excited in the highest 
 degree, reduced herself to a state of nudity, and broke out 
 into wild vociferations and frantic motions. On inquiry it 
 was discovered that the foolish lady had been terrify- 
 ing her with threats of eternal torment for her sinful 
 life. 
 
 Again, a gentleman succeeded, by talking of "hell- 
 fire," in so thoroughly exasperating a prisoner, that 
 the latter seized him, and exclaiming, " I have hell enough 
 here already, without your bringing me more of it," was 
 about to administer summary violence, when the officials, 
 roused by the noise, came to the rescue of the visitor. 
 
 Another unsuitable and gullible person, who was per- 
 mitted to converse with the inmates of a German prison, 
 presently hastened into the Governor's office, with both 
 hands raised above his head, exclaiming excitedly, " Oh, 
 Governor, this prison is full of poor innocent men. They 
 all tell me they are innocent ! " Such injudicious ladies 
 and gentlemen, however well-meaning, should never be 
 admitted into prisons. But the question may be raised, " If 
 volunteer visitors are to be admitted at all, how are such 
 unsuitable persons to be excluded ? " The answer is ob- 
 vious. By the exercise of a little careful discrimination 
 and enquiry beforehand, as to their real qualifications and 
 experiences. A similar care is, however, still more essential 
 in regard to the selection of prison Chaplains and School- 
 masters, some of whom have at times manifested as great 
 a deficiency of common sense, as the most inexperienced of 
 non-professional visitors. 
 
 Further, the volunteer intercourse with prisoners, should 
 be made a matter of gradual devclopmeni, both as to dura- 
 tion and the topics of conversation permitted. When the 
 experience and qualifications of the visitor become more
 
 Systematic Prison Visitation. 255 
 
 clearly ascertained, then the opportunities of visitatio]i 
 may be extended. 
 
 Definite Aims. 
 
 A chief and most important element of success in this 
 matter, is to have definite aims and subjects arranged 
 for. Mere spasmodic, vague, or aimless visits should not 
 be permitted. There must be order and system. If the 
 special object is religious instruction, some particular por- 
 tion of the Bible, or other good book, or some selected 
 hymns, should be the basis of the interviews. If secular 
 education, then some course of lessons in reading, arith- 
 metic, writing, or other useful knowledge. If general 
 morals, then some regular lectures on Temperance, or 
 Kindness to Animals, or Thrift, or other duties. 
 
 The most successful prison visitation is that which is 
 regular in its arrangements, and definite in its aims. And 
 amongst these objects, the ultimate career and disposal of 
 the prisoners, on the termination of their sentences, should 
 be prominently kept in view, especially when the time 
 of liberation approaches. 
 
 " Prison Gate Missions " and Aid Societies. 
 
 The help of the prisoners, after discharge, forms, of 
 course, the special function of those " Patronage " or " Aid 
 Societies " which are, happily, becoming more numerous 
 in most countries of Christendom. But the useful service 
 of formins; an efficient connection between these Societies 
 and the objects of their care, may be facilitated by more 
 freely extending permission for the preliminary visitation 
 of the latter before their discharge. Some of these Asso- 
 ciations have taken the name of " Prison Gate Missions," 
 because ,they make arrangements to meet the prisoners at 
 the gates of the jail, on liberation, and then and there to 
 invite them to a breakfast, and endeavour to enlist their
 
 256 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 goodwill on the side of virtue and temperance. In the 
 case of one peculiarly successful Prison Gate Mission, 
 that of " St. Giles," in London, one or two of the principal 
 agents have been permitted regularly to enter the jails a 
 few minutes before the discharge of the prisoners, so as 
 to secure the opportunity of offering them immediate 
 assistance on quitting the walls. Many thousands of 
 criminals have thus been helped by that particular Mis- 
 sion, and hundreds of reformed lives have resulted from 
 the labours of its Agents. Some of the Judges and chief 
 authorities of the Departments of the Prisons and Police 
 have borne repeated and willing testimony to the practical 
 value of the services rendered by the agents of such Mis- 
 sions. Persons like these, who manifest so much wise 
 beneficence, might surely be trusted with a more frequent 
 and less restricted access to prisoners, during their confine- 
 ment. 
 
 Lay Agents. 
 
 Candour requires the remark that there is an extensive 
 concurrence of opinion amongst intelligent observers, that 
 judicious laij persons, as a class, are at least as suitable 
 for dealing with criminals, either in or out of prison, 
 as professional clergymen, priests, and ministers. For 
 it is an unquestionable fact that brief sympathizing con- 
 versations, especially by virtuous and benevolent persons, 
 are at least as useful to prisoners (and indeed, generally, to 
 all other people) as set sermons and pulpit addresses. 
 Most prisoners, at any I'ate in Great Britain, have too 
 much of the latter and too little of the former. It is per- 
 haps an almost universal tendency to overrate the efficacy 
 of regular sermons upon mankind, as compared with self- 
 convincing personal example, the educational development 
 of good actions, and the influence of free and easy conver- 
 sational sympathy. A shrewd clergyman has remarked 
 that his own class, especially, are too apt to assume that
 
 Si/ntematic Prison Visitation. 257 
 
 men can be " pulled up to heaven by their ears," merely 
 or mainly. Hence lay religious influence may be as im- 
 portant as clerical, both in prisons and in the world in 
 general. Pulpit voices are too apt to soar above the head 
 and heart. 
 
 It is a noteworthy circumstance, which should never be 
 lost sight of, that no class of visitors to prisoners have been 
 more practically useful than those of their own grade in 
 life — as hard-working men and women. Such an one was 
 Sarah Martix, the young dressmaker of Yarmouth, who, 
 whilst working long hours daily, for very scanty wages, 
 fulfilled, for twenty-three years, the duties of chaplain, 
 schoolmistress, friend, almoner, and guardian, to the in- 
 mates of the local jail. Such an one, also, was Thomas 
 Wright, of Manchester, who, for many years, was a work- 
 man, on v/eekly wages, in an engineer's establishment in 
 that city. During seventeen years of this period he was 
 able to assist 941 discharged prisoners to go abroad, or to 
 obtain employment at home. The officers of the local 
 prisons repeatudl}" bore emphatic testimony to the great 
 value of his services amongst their inmates. The British 
 Government offered him an appointment of £800 a-year, as 
 Travelling Inspector of Prisons. But this tempting offer 
 he promptly declined, believing that it would not increase 
 his usefulness, but, on the contrary, diminish it ; as he felt 
 assured that he would thus lose much of the influence 
 which, as a voluntary and disinterested agent, he had 
 obtained over the hearts and lives of so many criminals. 
 And no one has been more successful, amoncrst recent 
 visitors to prisoners in England, than Williaji "Wheatley, 
 a working gold-beater, of London, who has largely achieved 
 for "the St. Giles' Mission" its honourable pre-eminence in 
 this department of eftbrt.
 
 258 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 Beneficial Regularity. 
 
 In proportion as visitors to prisons are to succeed 
 in their work, it may again be remarked that it is of 
 special importance for them to adopt definite aims and re- 
 gular courses of instruction, in dealing with the inmates. 
 A local committee might, in some cases, assist them to lay 
 down such regular lines of action, and might also from time 
 to time take cognizance of their due attention to these 
 systematic arrangements. Such a committee may be very 
 useful for some visitors, but may be unnecessary for others, 
 and occasionally might even prove a hindrance to persons 
 of proved ability. 
 
 But under a few judicious conditions of arrangement, 
 there is ample reason to conclude, from past and present 
 experiences, that a great extension of useful influence 
 upon prisoners will be secured, in proportion as the ser- 
 vices of competent visitors are more generally encouraged 
 in penal establishments. And further, the extension of 
 such visitation is not merely a desirability, but a posi- 
 tive necessity, if effectual progress is to be • secured in that 
 separation of prisoners from mutually contaminating in- 
 fluences, which is the absolutely indispensable condition 
 of any system of prison discipline which shall be the 
 most wisely beneficial for purposes of reformation and 
 deterrence, and also, ultimately, the most economical for 
 the State.
 
 Chapter IX. 
 THE AID OF DISCHARGED PRISONERS. 
 
 Double Object to be Kept in View. 
 
 The chief objects to be steadily kept in view, in any efforts 
 to assist discharged prisoners, should be such modes of 
 help as may combine the best interests both of themselves 
 and of the community. This will primarily involve two 
 things : firstly, that the direct aid to this class of persons 
 shall consist mainly in endeavours to obtain employment 
 for them, or to stimulate them to self-supporting industry ; 
 and secondly, that those at least who have been imprisoned 
 more than once, shall not be allowed to enter situations, 
 especially those involving considerable responsibility, with- 
 out their employers being made fully conscious, from the 
 first, of their antecedents. This course has been found 
 to be, on the whole, the most advantageous to all parties 
 concerned. 
 
 On the one hand, it is unjust to the community that 
 persons previously habituated to dishonesty, and not yet 
 proved to be reformed from past frailties, should, uncon- 
 sciously to their employers, be placed in positions where 
 valuable property would be entrusted to their care ; or that 
 individuals whose lives had, before imprisonment, been 
 characterised by vice and profligacy, should be permitted 
 to enter families or households, without the heads of such 
 establishments being made aware of the necessity of some 
 
 s 2
 
 260 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 special care, in regard to these new-comers. The neglect 
 of such a precaution would be sure to lead, in many cases, 
 to irresistible temptation and cruel injuries. 
 
 It is a mercy that discharged prisoners, other than first 
 offenders, shall be defended from such probabilities of 
 further mischief to themselves and others. And, it is espe- 
 cially a kindness to these persons that they shall be, from 
 the outset, relieved from all anxiety on the ground of 
 betrayals by former fellow prisoners, or by the police. 
 Their position, on obtaining situations where their ante- 
 cedents are clearly understood hy their employers, will be 
 secure from the harassing apprehensions and fears which, 
 in so many instances, have grievously perpetuated the 
 sufferino's of this class. The knowledo^e of a former 
 offender's career will, of course, in many instances, render 
 it difficult for him, or her, to obtain situations of trust ; 
 but then it may be justly considered that these persons 
 should not be placed in such positions until they have, 
 by a steady course of perseverance, given proof of their 
 fitness to occupy important posts and to be treated with 
 full confidence. 
 
 Some of the less responsible descriptions of occupation 
 are often found to be available for discharged prisoners, 
 whose antecedents are, in a judicious manner, made known 
 to their employers. It has, indeed, been repeatedly observed 
 in practice, that some persons decidedly prefer to have 
 servants of this class ; because their circumstances furnish 
 some special guarantees for good behaviour. They are 
 anxious to regain a favourable character ; they therefore 
 strive to do their best. They are aware that their em- 
 ployers already know the worst about them, and therefore 
 they are not under temptations to hypocrisy or deceit. 
 Rather a lower than a higher standard of merit is tacitly 
 assumed for their attainment. Hence their position is 
 somewhat easier than it might otherwise be. The eyes 
 of the chief police authorities (at any rate in England) are
 
 Aid of Discharged Prisoners. 261 
 
 upon them, for a beneficent and not a malignant purpose. 
 They are thus relieved from fear of the subordinate mem- 
 bers of the force, whilst their masters feel that, in the 
 privately-exercised supervision maintained in regard to 
 these persons, either by the chiefs of the police, or by 
 the agents of a Discharged Prisoners' Aid Society, or by 
 some other delegated local authority, there is afforded a 
 consideriible protection against dangers arising from dis- 
 honesty. 
 
 Such a system is a combination of mercy and justice. 
 This was proved, under the plan formerly adopted by Sir 
 Walter Crofton and his agent, Mr. James Organ, in dealing 
 with the Ijetter class of Irish convicts on their discharge. 
 The circumstance that their antecedents were, from the 
 first, made known to their masters, and that a kindly 
 oversight was still exercised in regard to them by the 
 authorities, facilitated the procuring of occupation for a 
 large number of them. It may here be noted that since 
 Sir Walter Crofton left Ireland, that part of the United 
 Kingdom has l)een marked by a comparative absence of 
 effort on behalf of discharged prisoners. 
 
 Union of Voluntary and Official Action. 
 
 A union of voluntary and official action is very desirable, 
 if not indeed essential, in organising eff'orts for the 
 assistance of discharged prisoners. If the arrangements 
 are exclusively retained in the hands of the prison or 
 police authorities, a certain amoimt of suspicion or reserve 
 is liable to exist on both sides. Where, as in Great Britain 
 especially, the co-operation of private individuals and 
 philantliropists, or societies, has been encouraged by the 
 Government, excellent results have been obtained. Much 
 of the recent diminution in certain classes of crime, in 
 this country, is attributed, by competent observers, to this 
 combination of effort.
 
 262 Penological and Preventive Princijiles. 
 
 There were, in 1888, about seventy Discharged 
 Prisoners' Aid Societies in England and Wales ; or rather 
 more than the number of prisons. 
 
 Amongst English persons who have specially exerted 
 themselves on behalf of Discharged Prisoners and of Asso- 
 ciations promotive of their reclamation, or of kindred 
 objects, may be named the Duke of WESTillNSTER, the 
 Earls Shaftesbury, Derby, Carnarvox, Russell, 
 Chichester, Lichfield, and Carlisle, Lord Aberdare, 
 Lord Cross; Mr. T. Ll. Murray Browxe, Mr. Wm. 
 Bayne Eaxkex, Mr. T. B. L. Baker, Colonel Howard 
 Vincent, M.P., Mr. John Walter, M.P., Mr. John P. 
 Thomasson, M.P., Mr. Percy Neame, Sir Walter 
 Crofton, the families of the Buxtons, Hanburys, 
 GuRXEYS, Barclays, Carpexters, Hills, Chaxces, 
 Fowlers, Verxeys, Asplaxds, Luptoxs, Peases, Reckitts, 
 Peckovers, Backhouses, Right Hon. Stephex Lushixg- 
 tox, Mr. Peter Bedford, Mr. W. Wheatley, Mr. G. 
 Hattox, Mrs. SusAXXAH Meredith and Miss Lloyd of 
 Wandsworth, Mr. W. Patersox, and Mrs. M. White, of 
 Glasgow, Captain Christie, and Mr. J. E. Doyey (Edin- 
 burgh), Miss F. Skexe, Mr. A. J. Maddisox, Captain W. 
 T. Harvey, Bishop R. W. Willsox, Rev. G. Merrick, 
 Rev. J. AV. HoRSLEY, Rev. James Nugext, Sir J. Eardley- 
 Wilmot, Bart., M.P., Sir W. Vixcext, Mr. Johx E. Wilsox, 
 J.P., Mr. H. Maxtox, J.P., and Mr. A. Albright (Birming- 
 ham), Captain G. Armytage, Major F. H. XooT, Mr. L. T. 
 Cave, Mr. Johx Baily (Plymouth), Mr. Johx Rylaxds, 
 J.P. (Manchester), Mr. Johx Horximax, Mr. F. D. Mocatta, 
 Mr. Joseph Huxtley, Mr. Sheppard (Wakefield), Mr. 
 Oakeley (Taunton), Rev. T. H. Cole (Lewes), Rev. M. F. 
 Friexd, and many others. 
 
 The Government distributes annually about £4,000 
 amongst the English Discharged Prisoners' Aid Socie- 
 ties, but on the condition that an amount, equal or ap- 
 proximate to the sum granted in each case, shall also
 
 Aid of Discharrjed Prisoners. 263 
 
 be contributed by local private beneficence. This is a 
 material stimulus to unofficial charity. 
 
 There is thus, in this country, an exemplary union of the 
 official and the non-official elements, in the management or 
 distribution of the money available for the aid of discharged 
 prisoners. In most cases, the governor and chaplain of the 
 jail, with several of the neighbouring magistrates, clergy, 
 and other benevolent individuals, constitute the working 
 nucleus of any local society for this object. They usually, 
 but not alwaj's, employ a special Agent to devote either a 
 part or the whole of his time to visiting the discharged 
 prisoners individually, and to endeavour to obtain lodg- 
 ings and employment for them, and to disburse, on their 
 account, in the purchase of tools, clothes, or in travelling 
 expenses, the portion of money which has been allotted 
 to them. 
 
 The Agents. 
 
 The careful selection of Agents, where any such are em- 
 ployed, is a matter of great importance. Many of these 
 officers are exemplary and earnest in the fulfilment of their 
 duties. But occasionally, comj)laints have been heard of 
 collusion between them and the discharged prisoners, and 
 of their mutually spending the money-grants in drink. 
 Such abuses, however, appear to be exceptional. Neverthe- 
 less, some vigilance against these and similar practices, is 
 always necessary. Both paid and unpaid agency have, re- 
 spectively, some particular advantages and disadvantages. 
 Unpaid service is often the best and most genuinely 
 effectual, but it also sometimes involves an undesirable 
 irregularity and independence of action. On the other 
 hand, a paid agent is more amenaljlc to rules and order, 
 and his responsibility can be more certainly and promptly 
 enforced. 
 
 One of the chief desiderata of existing systems of aid 
 to discharged prisoners, consists in the need for more
 
 264 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 systematic communication between the agents, and for the 
 exchange of information respecting applicants and cases 
 removing from one district into another. Better arrange- 
 ments in this direction will probably be introduced gra- 
 dually. 
 
 A Feeble Folk. 
 
 It is not in general advisable to pay money direct into 
 the hands of prisoners on their release, but rather to pro- 
 vide for its right outlay on their behalf. It has repeatedly 
 been observed that money given to prisoners, on leaving 
 jail, has been immediately spent in drunken revelry and 
 licentious company. There has, however, been a too cha- 
 racteristic tendency on the part of some Aid Societies to 
 attach undue importance to the mere process of doling out 
 the instalments of the earnings or grants. This, after all, 
 is a very minor matter, as compared with the service to be 
 rendered by persevering kindly oversight (" faumonc de 
 In direction"), and especially by endeavours to obtain for 
 each liberated prisoner some one friend and judicious 
 adviser. 
 
 Discharged prisoners are a peculiarly " feeble folk." The 
 difficulties and temptations which beset them are powerful, 
 whilst their own strength is very small. Hence, they 
 specially require the kindly vigilance and wise help of the 
 societies and individuals who devote themselves to this 
 useful work. In some large towns in Great Britain there 
 are philanthropic committees and agents who regularly 
 visit the Police Courts, in order to become acquainted with 
 offenders, and to render them assistance, whether convicted 
 or not. In some instances these good persons have formed 
 themselves into " Police and Prison-gate Missions," and by 
 their sj'stematic and kindly care of discharged prisoners, 
 have constituted some of the most effectual of " Aid 
 Societies."
 
 Aid of Discharged Prisoners. 2G5 
 
 Objections Raised. 
 
 The various efforts so diligently put forth of late years, 
 ill Great Britain, for the aid of discharged prisoners, have 
 materially contributed to reduce the number of criminals. 
 But, like most other forms of beneficence, this good work 
 is sometimes — and indeed often — made a subject of censure 
 by ignorant persons, who raise the objection that when all 
 the needs of honest poor men are provided for, then it 
 will be the proper time to help the rogues, but not before. 
 
 Now, in the first place, it may be noticed that the people 
 who raise these objections are generally such as never bestir 
 themselves to help others, whether honest men or offenders ; 
 and, secondly, discharged prisoners are a class who abso- 
 lutely reijuire aid, on grounds both of mercy to themselves 
 and of the self-interest of the community. For if a criminal 
 is not effectually rescued from his evil ways, and if he is 
 not enabled to earn an honest livelihood, he will certainly 
 return to his former courses. And few things are more 
 costly to a nation than crime. Criminals, if unreformed, 
 will soon involve the taxpaj^ers in a disagreeable compul- 
 sory expenditure — often of hundreds of pounds — for each 
 offender's detection, re-arrest, and punishment. Also the 
 depredations and losses occasioned by a single thief, or 
 burglar, are often enormous. And so many hundred thou- 
 sand pounds are annually required for Prisons and Police, 
 that the reformation of a prisoner, or the prevention of 
 a crime, is one of the cheapest developments of social 
 wisdom, and one of the most genuine operations of poli- 
 tical fCdllO))})/. 
 
 And not the less is it a work of mercy. For a large pro- 
 portion of criminals are more to be pitied than blamed, when 
 all their antecedents of hereditary frailty, parental neglect, 
 ignorance, poverty, and privation, are fairly weighed and 
 examined. The Son of God declared that He " came not 
 to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance," and that
 
 266 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 " there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, 
 more than over ninety and nine just persons that need 
 no repentance." His parables also, of the Lost Sheep, 
 the Lost Piece of Silver, and the Prodigal Son, are 
 fraught with permanent insti^uction to individuals and 
 communities, in regard to this subject. A Continental 
 penologist has even propounded the motto : " To know all, 
 will lead to the pardon of all." (" Tout connaitre, cest tout 
 parclonncr.''^) 
 
 In proportion as, in the interests of the public, the plan 
 is adopted of requiring that the antecedents of discharged 
 habitual prisoners shall be made known to their employers, 
 either by themselves or by some other persons, the difficulty 
 of their procuring some kind of occupation may be thereby 
 materially augmented. And hence the systematic carrying 
 out of this practice involves, in common justice, an addi- 
 tional obligation, on the part of the authorities and of the 
 benevolent, to make efforts to secure employment for 
 such persons. Their lot is, at the best, a most arduous 
 and discouraging one; and when their difficulties are 
 further increased — though rightly so — by stripping otf the 
 protection of concealment from them, it is but fair to make 
 them some compensation, by providing effectual assistance 
 in other ways. Indeed, it becomes the bounden duty of 
 Governments and communities to do so. 
 
 Temporary Homes for Discharged Prisoners. 
 
 In a few places it has been found useful to establish 
 special temporary Homes for discharged prisoners, where 
 they may obtain cheap lodgings, or a little work, whilst 
 looking out for permanent occupation. But experiments 
 in this direction require great care, and most of them 
 appear to have resulted in failure. There have long existed 
 two Refuges of this kind, at Wakefield, in Yorkshire, 
 where a small number of men and women are per-
 
 Aid of Discharged Prisoners. 267 
 
 mitted to find employment, chiefly in mat-making, an<l 
 laundry, and needlework, for a few weeks or months after 
 their discharge from prison. The results have been tole- 
 rably satisfactory; but it is to be noted that only an 
 average of about twenty or thirty persons, at a time, have 
 been inmates of each of these homes, whilst the annual 
 number discharged from the local jail has amounted to 
 several hundreds. At Lewes, in Sussex, and at Reading, 
 similar but smaller Homes were instituted. The one at 
 Lewes consisted of two cottages, a workroom, and a large 
 garden, and was supplied with a few beds, some books, 
 cooking utensils, and a stock of tools for carpentry, shoe- 
 making, and gardening. The local prison Chaplain re- 
 marked of this little establishment, " Since the opening, 
 many a man, destitute and ill-clad, on leaving prison, has 
 ear.ned for himself a decent suit of clothes and a few 
 shillings to start with, and has expressed his rough gTati- 
 tude for the assistance thus afforded him. Others about 
 to emigrate, or proceeding to sea, have lodged there, 
 awaiting, under friendly supervision, and removed from 
 many temptations, the sailing of their ship, and being 
 thereby tested as to their worthiness of this kind of pro- 
 vision." 
 
 Another Home, and one of the best of its kind, was insti- 
 tuted by the St. Giles Christian Mission, in London. Its 
 chief use has been to provide lodgings, and a few meals, 
 to<J-ether with oversight and advice, for discharged pri- 
 soners, during that peculiarly difficult and perilous period, 
 the first fortnight or month after leaving jail. And this 
 is the principal use of such homes. But to furnish their 
 inmates with permanent labour is undesirable ; not only on 
 account of the cost, but more especially because it is very 
 objectionable to retain discharged prisoners together, even 
 in small groups. They should, as soon as possible, be dis- 
 persed, and helped to scatter themselves over the industrial 
 world. When supplied with work, even of a temporary
 
 268 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 kind, in the homes, they are too apt to relax their endea- 
 vours to obtain other and more satisfactory employment. 
 But the chief danger arises from their association. Hence, 
 some of such temporary homes have proved failures. The 
 great fundamental principle, of the separation of offen- 
 ders from each other, is again applicable here. And it also 
 applies to the reclamation of Fallen Women. The em- 
 ployment of a motherly person to deal with these, one by 
 one, and help them to find occupation, separately, has 
 various superior advantages over the best attempts to 
 classify these females in Refuges and Penitentiaries. A 
 Birmingham philanthropist who adopted this individualis- 
 ing method with fallen women, was rewarded with an 
 unusual measure of success, in his Christian endeavours 
 in this line. 
 
 Similarly, the most effectual plan for the disposal of 
 discharged prisoners has consisted in their being at once 
 dealt with individually; and in their being facilitated in 
 starting on their own separate courses of self-support, and, 
 as much as practicable, at a distance from their former 
 associates in evil, but under some friendly supervision. In 
 fact, the principal help, and the chief need of a discharged 
 prisoner, consists not so much in pecuniary aid, as in find- 
 ing a friend and a continuing sympathising adviser or 
 referee, for him or her. Many magistrates, clergymen, and 
 private persons, have rendered much kind assistance in 
 this work, in many localities. 
 
 The Churches and Discharged Prisoners. 
 
 The Christian Church might advantageously furnish 
 more help, in this direction, than has heretofore been 
 the case. In England, the Established Church, the Roman 
 Catholics, the Unitarians, and the Society of Friends, have 
 been more exemplary in this matter than the other deno- 
 minations. The early Wesleyans devoted considerable
 
 Aid of Discharged Prisoners. 269 
 
 attention to religious efforts amongst prisoners and crimi- 
 nals; but their successors, and most other Nonconformist 
 bodies, have scarcely followed that good example, or at 
 least, not in any noteworthy degree.* The Established 
 Church appears hitherto to have taken the most promi- 
 nent and honourable position, in this important branch 
 of Christian charity, in this country. 
 
 Restorative Ixfluexces Outside the Prison. 
 
 It is after his discharge from prison, that an offender 
 can be best enabled to practise those social duties, and to 
 exercise that self- control, which are essential for a healthy, 
 moral life. These cannot, in general, be effectually deve- 
 loped in prisons, either in the solitude of the cell, or amid 
 the concentrated villainry and temptations of the convict 
 gang. Some writers — including even such excellent men 
 as Captain Maconochie, Dr. E. C. Wines, and some able 
 Continental penologists — have argued that there may be 
 created, inside jails, " a contagion of good, as well as a con- 
 tagion of evil." But the "contagion of good," which may 
 undoubtedly exist in a certain small degree, even in prison 
 life, is over-balanced by the exceptional amount of evil, in 
 a community in which the ordinary proportion of virtuous 
 persons does not exist. The benevolent advocates of re- 
 formatory experiments, by the operation of association 
 in jail, on the ground of its being more of a " natural 
 system " than cellular separation, strangely forget that, 
 in the really natural conditions of society, there is a 
 large admixture of helpful and elevating influences, on the 
 part of the better section — the many good members of the 
 
 *-' It is pleasant to record that, very recently, the revival of Wes- 
 leyan zeal, by such fervent and intelligent leaders as Hugh Price 
 Hughes and Edw.vud S.Mrni, in London, and by Mr. Ch.\mpness, 
 in Lancasliire, his led to some renewed 3Itthodist attention to the 
 criminal class.
 
 270 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 community. But the prison gangs are destitute of this 'pro- 
 portion. Hence they are jmt as unnatural as the solitary 
 cell, and are ver}^ much more mischievous. 
 
 Of course, in a world where sin and temptation exist, 
 every one, whether a prisoner or a freeman, must neces- 
 sarily be subjected to certain moral dangers ; but it 
 does not therefore follow that these perils should be 
 simultaneously concentrated, as is the case in prison 
 wards. To excuse or defend association in prisons, on 
 such a ground, is to imitate the lazy waiter at a res- 
 taurant, who, having handed a dirty plate to a visitor, 
 and being remonstrated with for it, pleaded the excuse : 
 " Well, sir, you know the proverb, that ' every man must 
 eat a peck of dirt in his lifetime.' " The visitor smartly 
 replied, " Yes, but not all at once, you filthy fellow ; not 
 all at once." In prison, the evil influences are gathered in 
 and concentrated "all at once." 
 
 But after the discharge from jail, when the offender 
 emerges into the naturally mixed good and evil associa- 
 tion of free life, where there is, at any rate, a considerable 
 preponderance of decency, humanity, and honesty, then 
 the needful conditions are available for the development 
 of a wholesome reformation ; especially if there be simul- 
 taneously afforded the guiding counsel and helping hand 
 of wisely benevolent members of Patronage or Aid So- 
 cieties, or of sympathetic private individuals. 
 
 At this stage, the services of such bodies and of the 
 Christian Church, are most timely and valuable. But 
 they should combine firmness with kindness, and be so 
 adjusted as to strengthen rather than enervate. They 
 should encourage the repentant transgressor, but not with 
 such unconditional or undue assistance, as reasonably to 
 provoke the jealousy of the honest toiler, or to render the 
 treatment of reclaimed criminals a source of envy and 
 temptation to those around them. 
 
 It may be remembered that even the best Aid Socie-
 
 Aid of Discharged Prisoners. 271 
 
 ties do not deal with, or even reach, a considerable 
 proportion of the persons discharged from prison. Some 
 of the latter have friends who are well able to care for 
 them. Others prefer to lean upon their own resources, 
 or ability for self-help. And many, it is to be feared, are 
 indifferent to any efforts to replace them in the paths 
 of rectitude. These may be termed "the residuum" — 
 those who will not work, and who prefer dishonesty 
 and crime. The writer once asked the most successful 
 of all helpers of English discharged prisoners, how he 
 and his colleagues acted in reference to this latter class. 
 The reply was : " We drop them, as we would a hot 
 potato." This is certainly a very simple process, and one 
 which relieves such helpers, of any further trouble in the 
 matter. Yet, it may be added, that just in proportion as 
 an Aid Society, or other similar organization, has to 
 " drop " the subjects most in need of reforming influences, 
 in so far it fails in its own functions. An active worker 
 in this field of charity, the Rev. C. Goldney, Chaplain of 
 Stafford jail, has well remarked : " It is not the business 
 of a Prisoners' Aid Society to shrink from an attempt to 
 do good, because it is difficult. If you deliberately refuse 
 to help a man on this ground, it is as good as to tell him 
 to go again and steal ; which seems a sad thing to do." 
 
 Hitherto, to a considerable extent. Discharged Prisoners' 
 Aid Societies have failed with this "residuum," the invete- 
 rate or habitual class of criminals. Such offenders must 
 rather be dealt with by means of gradually, but certainly 
 cumulative sentences, and by subsequent police super- 
 vision. It is, however, to be noted that this failure with 
 such subjects, points to the special importance of all efforts 
 to secure the reclamation of those delinquents who have 
 only undergone a single imprisonment. For, in the first 
 stage of crime, many such persons may be effectually 
 reformed, who, if they are left unaided, will ultimately 
 swell the ranks of the more intractalilc residuum.
 
 Chapter X. 
 SENTENCES. 
 
 The Objlect to be Studied. 
 
 It is to be desired that, in regard to Sentences, there may- 
 be, in future, a more intelligent and practical consideration, 
 than in the past, of the precise end sought to be accom- 
 plished by them. Mr. Barwick Baker, shortly before his 
 decease, wrote to the author, on this point : " Who can say 
 whether a sentence is too long or too short ? Before we 
 can decide, we must settle what is the object in sentencing ; 
 I say, the diminution of aime is the object ; but no Judges, and 
 few Chairmen of Quarter Sessions, agree with me in this. 
 All hold that the true purpose is to give an amount of 
 punishment equal to the guilt of the offender ; and as there 
 is no measure for the punishment, one man suifering three 
 times as much as another, from the same infliction, or for 
 the guilt, each is sure his own sentence is right, and we 
 have ' Quot judices, tot sententice! No one can give, or does 
 give, a test of what these should be." 
 
 There are few things in which so much careful adapta- 
 tion of means to end is requisite, as in this matter. The 
 time or duration of punishment is not the only element 
 of importance to be considered. But it has usually received 
 a too exclusive regard, irrespective of the varying demands 
 and conditions of criminal discipline.
 
 Soi fences. 273 
 
 Independent Agents of Punishment. 
 
 There has been, for the most part, too little connection, or 
 relation, between the functions of the authorities who pre- 
 scribe the sentences and of those who carry them into 
 execution. It may be remembered that it is always in the 
 power of the latter to modify, very materially, the original 
 intent of the former. An imprisonment of one year may 
 be rendered, by one set of custodians, as really penal, as 
 double or treble the same period under the care of another 
 body of officers. It has sometimes happened that criminals, 
 sent to certain prisons with the express intention of being 
 there more leniently treated, have actually found them- 
 selves under a severer discipline than they would have ex- 
 perienced in the establishments to which a more rigorous 
 purpose would have consigned them. 
 
 The almost necessarily hasty manner in which criminals 
 are often disposed of, at their trials in court — at least in 
 England, as distinguished from Scotland* — largely precludes 
 an adequate regard to their real character and require- 
 ments. Apparently conclusive evidence, as to the commis- 
 
 * ScoTLAXD has long enjoyed some great advantages, as compared 
 with English procedure against criminals, especially in two respects. 
 Firstly, in the opportunity, afforded to juries, of returning verdicts of 
 " Not prove)/," in cases where there is reason to hope for further 
 evidence, and where it is desired to retain the power of re-arresting 
 rogues, already put on trial, if occasion should arise. Secondly, the 
 admirable arrangements both for officially initiating prosecutions 
 and for eliciting much important information, in a simple, sensible 
 manner, by means of the functionaries styled " Procurators Fiscal." 
 The English law, by its excessive technicalities, affords thieves, bur- 
 glars, and other offenders, numerous chances of eluding the grasp of 
 justice. There are so many of these defects in legal definition and 
 procedure, that the late Sir JoUN Holker, when pleading, in Parlia- 
 ment, for a Codification of the Criminal L.\w, said, " We desire 
 to make a clean snrep of all this ruhhish.''^ But this was still a 
 desideratum in 1888. 
 
 T
 
 27-i Penological and Preventive Priueipks. 
 
 sion of the crime with which a prisoner is charged, may 
 wholly fail to reveal some very material circumstances 
 afFectins: the action itself, and the motives and antecedents 
 of the offender. There is reason to fear that, even in Eng- 
 land, actually innocent persons are more often convicted 
 than is generally supposed. It occasionally comes to light 
 that long periods of penal servitude have been undergone 
 by such wrongly-accused individuals. And when once con- 
 signed to a convict prison, it is a matter of the estremest 
 difficulty for these to procure any effectual attention to 
 their cases. They are almost " buried alive," so far as 
 help is concerned. This is a grave evil, which awaits a 
 remedy in some way. 
 
 Again, the disproportion between the apparatus for ar- 
 riving at a verdict, and the comparative disregard to the 
 operation of the consequent sentence, has often been very 
 great. 
 
 An able writer in the Conihill Magazine, in 1863, made 
 some noteworthy remarks upon the sentences which often 
 follow trials where immense pains have been taken, in 
 regard to the elaboration of evidence. For the sentence 
 is to the trial, what the bullet is to the powder. The 
 writer alluded to, says : " A pack of hounds and a number 
 of men, dogs, and horses, will spend hours in hunt- 
 ing a fox which, when caught, is abandoned to the dogs 
 without an observation. So the criminal, when fairly 
 run down, is sentenced by the judge, and turned over to 
 another set of authorities, utterly unconnected with and 
 unrelated to him, who act upon different principles, and 
 constantly pull different ways. It is just like a doctor, 
 who, after spending all the morning in finding out that his 
 patient was consumptive, should politely show him the 
 door, saying, as he did so, ' Go and spend £25 in drugs, at 
 such a chemist's.' It is just as easy to say nine, as to say 
 six, months ; to say seven years' penal servitude, as to say 
 five ; and the question which of the two is to be said, has
 
 Sentences. 275 
 
 to be settled in a very short time, often without consulta- 
 tion, advice, or guidance of any description. Yet the sentence 
 is the gist of the proceeding. Unless it is what it ought to- 
 be, the counsel, the witnesses, the jury, and the summing- 
 up, to say nothing of the sheriff, with his coach, javelin men, 
 and trumpeters, are a mere hrufian fidnwn. They might as 
 well have stayed at home, but for the credit of the thing." 
 
 Chance Sentences. 
 
 Sir E. F. Du Cane has shown by official statistics, that 
 the graver sentences of long duration, upon English con- 
 victs, have been, to a very great extent, a matter of 
 apparent chance, or at least that a sort of stereotyped 
 conventional fashion has largely prevailed, with the 
 Judges, in this matter. They have glided into a customary 
 groove, marked by certain favourite periods, especially 
 five, seven, ten, and fourteen years, whereas the circum- 
 stances of the crimes to which these sentences have been 
 so easily and habitually attached, represent no such ratio. 
 Just as, in the eighteenth century, almost every crime was 
 punished by the gibbet, with the brutally uniform addition 
 " without benefit of clergy," so, subsequently, with a pain- 
 ful disregard of the real proportion of facts, the English 
 Judges have re-echoed their five, seven, and ten year.s" 
 sentences, in a manner somewhat resembling the childish 
 jingle of " ding dong bell ; ding dong bell." 
 
 In proof of this. Sir E. F. Du Cane quoted official 
 returns showing that, in a recent period, the average number 
 of prisoners under sentences of five years, was 2,043; but. 
 of those for six years only 43. There was an average of 
 4,703 for seven years, and of only SGCi for eight years ; 
 1,898 for ten years, and none at all for eleven years. It is 
 evident that, in point of fact, there can have been no real 
 necessity for this preponderance of the five, seven, and teu 
 years over the six, eight, and eleven. Why, for example, 
 
 T 2
 
 270 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 should a sentence of seven years be at all more frequent 
 than one of six or eight? , Hence, great cruelty and in- 
 justice may often have been perpetrated upon unfortunate 
 wretches, through this habit on the part of Judges, in yield- 
 ing to the influence of an extensive idolatry of fanciful 
 precedent, or even, unconsciously, to a mere numerical 
 jingle. 
 
 In America a similarly unintelligent irregularity often 
 characterises sentences. At the Toronto Prison Congress, 
 in 1887, Mr. Z. R. Brockway, of Elmira, remarked that on 
 one occasion, when he heard a judge sentence five felons to 
 five very different terms of imprisonment, he inquired the 
 reason of such a strange disparity of treatment under the 
 circumstances. The judge was astonished at the question, 
 felt very puzzled, and exclaimed, " Oh, ask me something 
 easier. I don't know." 
 
 Several of the Judges have publicly acknowledged the 
 injustice which has too often characterised sentences, and 
 their tendency towards opposite extremes, of cruel severity 
 or of injurious leniency. And latterly some of them have 
 manifested a laudable disj)osition to exercise more discri- 
 mination in this regard. 
 
 Advantages of Conference and Reflection. 
 
 The existing inequalities of sentences might often be 
 obviated by more systematic arrangements for a moderate 
 interval between the verdict of a jury and the decision of 
 the judge or magistrate. It occasionally happens, alread}^, 
 that such an authority remarks in Court, " I will take 
 time to consider what the sentence shall be, in this case." 
 The more regular adoption of this wise practice, thus 
 affording opportunities for reflection and conference with 
 other judges or magistrates, might, with much advantage, 
 be resorted to. There are also needed, in England at least, 
 various minor reforms in the conduct of trials, which 
 
 i
 
 Sentences. 277 
 
 would facilitate just conclusions as to sentences. For 
 example, the forms of Indictment are often far too com- 
 plex, verbose, and obscure. And further, the person 
 accused should he furnished with a copy of his indict- 
 ment at least ten days or a fortnight before trial, as in 
 Scotland. It is very unfair to a prisoner to withhold a 
 copy of his indictment from him, as has often been done, 
 until immediately previous to the trial. Such matters 
 as these may materially affect Ijoth the defence and the 
 sentences. 
 
 Rrstraixt not Necessarily Detention. 
 
 Sentences, in general, should determine a definite time, 
 or a gradation of periods, during which their suVtjects 
 should be retained under the power and within the reach 
 of the authorities, for either penal or reformatory purposes. 
 But this should not necessarily, or even generally, involve 
 the infliction of imprisonment throughout the entire term 
 prescribed. It should secure Uahility to imprisonment ; 
 but the extent of the actual incarceration^ and the nature 
 and period of subsequent relaxed conditions of detention, 
 or of strictly conditional liberation, should, within such 
 period, be more largely left to the discretion of the officers 
 charged with the custody of tlie offenders. 
 
 Sentences of Liability to Imprisonment. 
 
 Without any sweeping modification of the existing 
 letter of the English law, and without materially inter- 
 fering with the prerogatives of Judges on the one hand, 
 or entrusting any dangerous punitory powers to the 
 administrators of prisons, a much-needed reform may 
 be generally secured, so far as the Statute Book is 
 concerned, by changing, in each case, the expression
 
 278 Penological and Preventive Pnnci2)Ies. 
 
 " imprisonment " into " liability to imprisonment," or by 
 enacting that " imprisonment " shall henceforth be deemed 
 to signify such liability. 
 
 This would simply render the sentences pronounced, the 
 maximum inflictions of penal control, without unduly limit- 
 ing the mode of treatment during that restraint. It would 
 lie carrying out more fully the precedent and principle 
 already adopted, with much advantage, in English juris- 
 prudence, in the case of the " Conditional Liberation " 
 of convicts. The executive authorities in charge of 
 criminals would thus be afforded the needful means of 
 discrimination, justly demanded by the different circum- 
 stances of each prisoner and by his behaviour and progress 
 during his preliminary training and subsequent conditional 
 liberty under supervision. Several of the American 
 States have modified their laws in this direction. The 
 English " Peobatiox of First Offexders Act," passed 
 in 1887, constituted an important and decided recognition 
 of this principle. 
 
 Spanish and other Experiments. 
 
 Long antecedently, either to the establishment of Ame- 
 rican '■ Indeterminate Sentence " Prisons, or of English 
 " Conditional Liberation," the principle involved was 
 partially adopted, and with success, at Valencia in Spain, 
 and in Wurtemberg and Bavaria in Germany. Subse- 
 quently it found able advocates in Captain Maconochie, 
 Sir Walter Crofton, Baron F. Von Holtzendorft; Mr. 
 Frederick Hill, Mr. Z. K. Brockway, M. Bonneville de 
 Marsangy, and other penologists, in various countries. 
 
 In the year 1835, Colonel Montesinos, being appointed 
 Governor of Valencia prison, then containing 1,2.50 in- 
 mates, put in operation an old provision (previously 
 dormant or neglected) of the Spanish Law, by which a 
 prisoner could be enabled to shorten his period of incar-
 
 Sentences. 279 
 
 ceration, by good behaviour. The experiment was carried 
 out during fifteen years, at the end of which the re- 
 convictions had sunk from more than 50 per cent, to less 
 than 10 per cent., whilst crime throughout that district 
 had greatly diminished. The prison became a self- 
 supporting establishment, through the variety and en- 
 couragement of industry there carried on, and the stimulus 
 afforded to the workers, by giving them a considerable 
 share of the profits. 
 
 A revised Criminal Code for all Spain was instituted by 
 the Legislature, in which the exceptional clauses, which 
 Montesinos had made such good use of, were omitted. No 
 virtually indeterminate sentences were thenceforth allowed. 
 This legal blunder at once struck the death-ljlow to a 
 previously successful system. The elements of hope and 
 reward were eliminated from it, and in consequence, of 
 course, the plan collapsed. Despair, outrage, and increased 
 criminality, again became characteristics of prison life in 
 Valencia. 
 
 Age and Sex as Modifying Sentences. 
 
 A French magistrate, M. Eugene Mouton, has justly 
 remarked, in his interesting work, entitled " Le Devoir de 
 Punir" (Paris, 1887), that a systematic modification of 
 sentences should be made, in regard to age and sex. He 
 proposes that all legal penalties should be subject to a 
 reduction of one-fourth of their amount, for women, and 
 one-half for persons under sixteen, or over sixty years of 
 ao-e ; also that these three classes should be exempted from 
 every form of corporal punishment. With some exception 
 as to the latter pi-oposition, there is much to lie said in 
 favour of these suggestions, in consideration of various 
 physical infirmities and temptations of the three divisions 
 in question.
 
 280 Penological and Preccntive Principles. 
 
 Certainty of Gradation : Elasticity of Adaptation. 
 
 In conclusion, it may be briefly and comprehensively 
 observed, that the chief essential, in every system of sen- 
 tences, is that they should ^he very gradually, but certainly 
 cumulative, in their prescription of the maximum periods 
 of legal control, whilst at the same time they should be 
 very elastic in permitting the needful modifications of 
 individual treatment throughout those periods.
 
 Chapter XI. 
 
 FINES AND FORCED LABOUR, AS SUBSTITUTES 
 FOR IMPRISONMENT. 
 
 Advantages of Equitable Fining. 
 
 As a substitute for imprisonment, in certain cases, the 
 infliction of Fines possesses several advantages. It obliges 
 the offending person to make compensation to the State, 
 or injured party, entirely at his own expense, and not at 
 that of the honest tax-payer. Nor does its operation pre- 
 clude its subject from continuing his ordinary exertions 
 for the maintenance of himself and family. The chief 
 objection to this mode of punishment, as now inflicted, 
 consists in its arbitrary nature, by reason of the penalty 
 being a definite sum of money, to be imposed irrespectively 
 of the pecuniary position of the offender. Hence the rich 
 and poor are often inequitably dealt with in this matter, 
 precisely because of the nominal equality of the imposition. 
 A more just and efficient principle might be found in 
 taking as a standard, for at any rate certain classes of 
 fines, the amount of a man's income, as indicated by his 
 salary, wages, or ordinary assessment for taxation and 
 local rates. Thus, if instead of fining rich and poor alike, 
 so many pounds or dollars, the punishment consisted of 
 so many days' income, or so much percentage on the regular 
 taxation, a principal objection which has hitlicrto applied 
 to this form of penalty would, in great degree, be removed. 
 There would be some diflSculty, at first, in ascertaining, for
 
 282 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 finable purposes, a man's income or taxation. But certain 
 leo-al facilities and arrangements for registering at least 
 the taxable status or assessment of the persons in each 
 district, might perhaps be made fairly available. 
 
 It is desirable, under modern conditions of society, that 
 a more general resort should be had to this mode of punish- 
 ment, than to imprisonment. The British Legislature has 
 already considerably extended its operation, by the " Sum- 
 mary Jurisdiction Act," of 1879. 
 
 The enforcement of Restitution, made under ordinary 
 conditions of life, as sanctioned by Mosaic and Saxon laws, 
 and by Apostolic precept, is, to some extent, contained in 
 the principle of fines. 
 
 In New Zealand, the British Government systematic- 
 ally, and with much advantage, adopted this course, in the 
 treatment of offenders amongst the Maori aborigines. It 
 was specially inexpedient to imprison those warlike and 
 freedom-loving people. In cases of theft, they were there- 
 fore required to pay, either to the injured party or to the 
 local authorities, four times the value of the articles stolen ; 
 the same standard of restitution adopted by the publican 
 Zaccheeus, in the Gospel. In various instances, the chiefs 
 of the tribes to which these thieves belonged, promptly 
 paid all or part of the fines. And this had the useful 
 eftect of securing an increased exercise of tribal influence 
 in favour of honesty. 
 
 Fixes are some of the best " Labour Sentences." 
 
 Under a systematic scale of application, and for certain 
 offenders, fines constitute the most practicable mode of 
 carrying into effect the ideas underlying the schemes of 
 "Labour Sentences" recommended by Dr. Paley, Arch- 
 bishop Whately, Captain Maconochie, Mr. C. Pearson, and 
 others ; whilst the serious difficulties, inevitable with any 
 attempt to enforce such sentences during imprisonment, are
 
 Fines and Forced Labour. 283 
 
 thus obviated. The application of just measurement to 
 labour tasks and piece-work, whilst in detention, is a mat- 
 ter of perplexity and sometimes of impossibility. Even in 
 reference to the simpler forms of exertion, such as agricul- 
 tural occupation, it is difficult to impose a uniform and fair 
 standard of measurement. For instance, if a number of 
 men are required to dig so many square yards of land per 
 day, it will continually happen that some of them will 
 have to deal with more tenacious, more stony, or otherwise 
 more intractable ground than others. Also, as to such 
 operations as cleaning, watching, serving, repairing, and so 
 forth, the application of the principle of piece-work is im- 
 possible, except under conditions of mere arbitrary valua- 
 tion. The same objections already apply, in some degree, 
 to the apportionment of " good marks " for prison labour 
 and conduct. This plan works tolerably well in some 
 British and other prisons ; yet it is, at the same time, 
 a very imperfect one, and is attended by certain dangers 
 and objectionable modes of operation. 
 
 The exaction of a portion of the money-earnings, 
 under the competition and valuation of actual life, is a 
 more generally available basis than imprisonment, for esti- 
 mating both the punishable capacity of a man, and also his 
 powers of restitution to an injured community, or to ag- 
 grieved individuals. Whether the offender be a ploughman, 
 a mason, a shopkeeper, a servant, or a physician, the scale 
 of his ordinary earnings, or assessment, may furnish a fair 
 foundation for estimating an amount of punishment which 
 shall l)e really penal, but free from the demoralisation of 
 the concentrated felonry of prison life. There can be little 
 if any doubt, that to this mode of penalty, in conjuncticm 
 with a vigilant police supervision, a resort might much 
 more generally Ije made than hitherto, with advantages 
 moral and economical, deterrent and reformatorj-, not 
 possessed, in nearly the same degree, by imprisonment.
 
 284 Penological and Preventive Princijjlcs. 
 
 In Harmony with Natural Conditions. 
 
 Punishment by fining has the important recommendation 
 of being in harmony with nature. For the subject of it is 
 retained under the conditions of family and social life, 
 and under those salutary influences which are, for the most 
 part, exerted by wives, mothers, and daughters, but which 
 are precluded by incarceration. 
 
 The adoption of fines, on any extensive scale, should in- 
 clude arrangements for their payment, at any rate by the 
 poor, in weekly or monthly instalments, extending over a 
 considerable period, so as to allow the offender to work out 
 his imposition at such a rate as may be reasonably prac- 
 ticable. The English " Summary Jurisdiction Act " con- 
 tains some wise and humane provisions in regard to this 
 point. 
 
 The Ef^^icacy of Fines Exiiaxced by the Alternative 
 OF THE Cell. 
 
 As a stimulus to continued exertion for the payment of 
 fines, it is necessary to hold in reserve the alternative of a 
 prompt infliction of rigorous cellular imprisonment. Much 
 indeed of their efficacy depends upon their being regarded 
 as a desirable substitute for confinement. And unless the 
 latter be known to be a really disagreeable infliction, it will 
 be chosen in preference, in many instances. Cases have 
 often occurred, in England, where persons arrested for the 
 non-payment of fines, or of small debts, have deliberately 
 allowed themselves to be sent to jail, even when able to 
 pay immediately. The reason was that they confidently 
 reckoned upon the pleasant and jovial companionship with 
 other debtors, to be enjoyed in the common wards usually 
 allotted to this class of prisoners. A veteran Governor of 
 a jail informed the writer that he had adopted an effectual 
 scheme to disappoint such expectations. He imposed, as
 
 Fines and Forced Labour. 285 
 
 far as possible, unpleasant conditions of restraint and strict 
 separation. Consequently, in a day or two after entrance, 
 the debtors were almost certain to exclaim, " I have had 
 enough of this ; I'll pay. Let me out." In instance after 
 instance, the money was promptly paid in that prison, after 
 a little profitable isolation and meditation. 
 
 But in other prisons, where less wise measures are 
 adopted with this class of offenders, they willingly allow 
 the authorities to substitute, instead of cash payment, an 
 easy detention in the association wards, at the cost of the 
 taxpayers. In one such case, a man who was brought to jail 
 for the non-payment of a small sum, was found to have in 
 his pockets five times the amount of the debt. But he 
 loved his money more than he feared the lax restraints of 
 association in confinement, without work. All such persons 
 should simply have the alternative of paying their fines 
 whilst in a state of liberty, or, as an equivalent, serving a 
 duly limited term of rigid solitary imprisonment. It is in- 
 dispensable that the latter must be salutarily penal. 
 
 8EXTENCES OF COMPULSORY SeLF-MAINTENAXCE. 
 
 In connection with this subject, it may be remembered 
 that there is another practicable form of exaction some- 
 what akin to a fine, which consists in the imposition of a 
 sentence of compulsory self -maintenance for some consider- 
 able period, under restrictions not altogether of the nature 
 of imprisonment. It is a mode of treatment possessing 
 peculiar merits for vagaljonds, beggars and petty thieves, 
 and it is for these classes that it has occasionally been 
 adopted. 
 
 Nearly two hundred years ago, under more summary 
 powers than are now possessed by the local magistracy, 
 many of the idle rogues of Berkshire were compelled to 
 maintain themselves by their labour in a factory at Reading, 
 locally named " the Oracle," whence originated the popular
 
 286 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 proverb of " working the oracle." A somewhat similar, but 
 more regularly organised experiment, was carried on for 
 many years at Munich, by that wonderful statesman and 
 reformer, Count Rumford. Availing himself of the ample 
 powers conferred upon him by the Bavarian Government, 
 he ordered all mendicants to be put under arrest, and 
 placed in establishments rather of the nature of factories 
 than prisons, where they were provided with the means of 
 performing some labour partially profitable to themselves 
 and to the State. There they were detained for such time as 
 was sufficient to form habits of industry, or at least to make 
 some wholesome impressions upon them. Vagrancy was 
 by this means generally repressed in Bavaria, for a long- 
 period. The success of Count Rumford's plan depended 
 mainly upon the determination with which it was carried 
 out, and the power of inflicting wholesome unpleasantness 
 held in reserve. And it is also of importance to notice that 
 he carefully sought to place his enforced factory labour 
 upon a sound economical basis, of entire or approximate 
 self-support. 
 
 Holland has for more than half a century adopted a 
 system of compulsory self-exertion for certain classes of 
 misdemeanants, especially obstinate idlers and mendicants. 
 Many square miles of heath-land were appropriated to the 
 formation of Pauper and Beggar " Colonies," where both 
 agricultural and handicraft labour were provided for 
 the persons there located. The management of these 
 settlements was for many years exclusively in the hands 
 of a private Society, and the funds necessary to sup- 
 plement the earnings of the labourers were provided by 
 voluntary contributions. Much assistance was furnished 
 to the better-disposed portion of the " colonists ; " such as 
 grants of food, tools, seeds and other means of livelihood. A 
 number of them were thus permanently rescued from their 
 previously helpless condition. But the considerable re- 
 siduum of lazy and intractable subjects were always a
 
 Fines and Forced Labour. 287 
 
 great difficulty in these establishments. Ultimately the 
 stronger hand of the State had to be invoked, and whilst 
 one portion of the " Colonies " has continued, as before, 
 under private administration, the other was taken over by 
 the Government, in order that the reserve powers of official 
 authority might be imposed upon the more vicious and 
 obstinate class deported to these heathdands. Certain 
 forms of continuous labour and restraint, which require 
 partial confinement within walls, have rendered necessary 
 the erection and maintenance of buildings adapted to those 
 purposes, in addition to the agricultural establishments. 
 
 In proportion as the ever-essential element of some sort 
 of penal discipline was relaxed, the beggars and rogues of the 
 " Colonies " were not effectually held in check. And on the 
 whole, too much laxity has characterised these settlement?. 
 In a report sent from Holland to the English Local Govern- 
 ment Board, by an Inspector deputed to visit that country, 
 he mentions the case of a sturdy vagabond, who for steal- 
 ing wood, was sent to a beggar " colony." After a time he 
 returned to his home, but appeared less inclined than ever 
 to exert himself. He informed his burgomaster that he 
 had been so happy under the " kind gentlemen " to whom 
 he had been sent, that, but for the separation from his wife, 
 he would never have come home again. The magis- 
 trate remarked, " I did not venture again to reward liim 
 in such a manner for stealing faggots." Another lazy 
 fellow, strong and able to earn good wages, became so de- 
 moralised by too lax indulgence at one of the " colonies " 
 where he had enjoyed " good times," that, after a brief stay 
 at home, he packed up his household goods and started off 
 to seek readmission to his old quarters. Whenever such 
 results as these occur, it may safely be concluded that 
 the mode of treatment adopted has had the radical 'le- 
 fect of defeating its own object. In 1S86 the Dutch 
 Minister of Justice stated that out of 2,749 beggars and 
 rogues recently sent to these nominally "penal" colonics
 
 288 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 (at Ommerschaxs and Veenhuizen) only 540 were un- 
 dero-oino; their first committal thither. All the remainder 
 were recommitted persons, including many who had been 
 in these establishments seven or eight times, for one 
 year or more. Hence it is obvious that the discipline 
 and treatment have largely failed, by reason of undue 
 laxity. Such will always be the result of any system 
 of dealing with crime and pauperism, which tends to make 
 them attractive, and which does not afford some effectual 
 reason why they should be decidedly shrunk from, by the 
 ill-disposed or the lazy. 
 
 Hence the importance of enforcing some deterrent " test " 
 or semi-imprisonment, as a necessary condition of assist- 
 ance to Vagrants and wilfully idle Paupers. This plan has 
 been adopted in the English Casual Wards and " Union- 
 houses." In proportion as this course, with its involved 
 labour, has been insisted upon, pauperism has been wonder- 
 fully held in check. It has been especially valuable, as 
 furnishing a means of discriminating between the idle and 
 the helpless, in times of depressed trade or prolonged 
 inclement weather, when multitudes of industrious persons 
 have been thrown out of employment for a season. On 
 such occasions, there are always to be found numbers of 
 men who never have worked, and never intend to, but 
 who thrust themselves amongst the genuine and deserv- 
 ing sufferers, and raise the common cry, "We have no 
 wcrk to do;" and, in an under-tone, "We want no work 
 to do." The offer of hard labour, as the only condition of 
 relief, acts as a magician's wand, in rapidly reducing the 
 dimensions of such mingled crowds, from gigantic to dwarf- 
 like proportions. When this test is firmly enforced, the 
 hypocrites and idlers, who usually form the great majority 
 of sucli bodies, speedily disappear, or indignantly refuse 
 the work placed before them. In 1887 the writer, in 
 visiting the special " Test House " for casual paupers at 
 Birmingham, was informed by the manager, that on one
 
 JRnes and Forced Labour. 289 
 
 occasion during the previous winter a party of more than 
 100 men appHed to the Mayor of that town for assistance. 
 He gave them all tickets for labour at stone-breaking, or 
 oakum-picking, in the " Test House." The result was that 
 scarcely any out of the whole lot made use of those tickets. 
 Their demand for employment was thus shown to be 
 insincere. 
 
 In Germany, in the " Aebeiter Colonien," or Labour 
 Colonies, which, it is to be observed, are not places of 
 compulsory industry, it is nevertheless found expedient 
 to adopt stringent rules and carefully devised methods 
 for the discipline of the inmates. Continuous work is 
 exacted as a condition of securing the advantages offered 
 by these institutions. Idlers are rejected or handed over 
 to the police. But to the really willing and industrious 
 labourer or artizan these establishments afford valuable 
 and timely a.ssistance.
 
 Chapter XII. 
 CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. 
 
 Diversity of Opixion. 
 
 Much has been argued for and against the use of Corporal 
 Punishment, by the infliction of Flogging, or Whipping. 
 The authority of Solomon, and of other ancient writers, 
 has been invoked in favour of this means of correction, 
 whilst many instances of failure and of increased perversity 
 have been adduced in counter objection. And certainly 
 the opponents of flogging apjDcar to be so far justified in 
 their position, whilst they object to a brutal or general 
 infliction of this punishment ; when, for example (as often 
 occurred in military floggings), the flesh of the sufferer 
 was so lacerated that the surface of the body became a 
 mass of bleeding wounds. Such a spectacle is brutalising 
 to all parties concerned. It is savage and wicked, and is 
 calculated to quench any remaining spark of self-respect, 
 or hope, in the person so punished. Further, it tends to 
 produce cruel and criminal dispositions, in those who have 
 to take part in its administration. Such an infliction is, 
 in short, barbaric torture, rather than just chastisement. 
 
 The frequent and habitual resort to flogging, as a punish- 
 ment, has been a failure, and has always proved incom- 
 petency on the part of the authorities. Its subjects have 
 then become reckless and irreclaimable. 
 
 Two Missionaries of the Society of Friends, James 
 Backhouse and George W. Walker, who visited the
 
 Covporcd Punishment. 291 
 
 Australian penal colonies in 1834, when flogging- was in 
 constant and abundant use by the authorities, recorded — 
 " Most prisoners have a dread of flagellation till they have 
 once suffered the punishment ; after this the generahty 
 of them exhibit a decided deterioration of character."' 
 This statement agrees with the remark of the Author of 
 " Six Years in the Convict Prisons of England," who says, 
 " You will never find a man doing much good after being 
 flogged. It may make him quiet under authority, but it 
 ensures the very opposite when he is free." Mr. Sheppaiid, 
 who was for thirty years Governor of Wakefield Prison,, 
 one of the largest in England, stated that during all that 
 period it was not found necessary to flog any prisoner 
 there. He added " It is never necessary, when other right 
 means are tried." Even in Tasmania, where flogging had 
 long been in frequent or rather constant use as a means of 
 convict discipline, there came a period of excellent govern- 
 ment, under Sir William Denison, of whom it is recorded 
 by his wise counsellor and friend. Bishop Willson, that 
 " for some years previous to his departure from the island; 
 not one convict had been subjected to the odious lash." 
 
 This question of flogging is one respecting which there 
 is a peculiar diversity of opinion amongst practical men, of 
 similar experience and humanity. And especially in reo-ard 
 to it, the old proverb may be quoted — " Who shall dccitle 
 when doctors disagree ? " Still, this diflerencc of view 
 willl)e found, on examination, to be not quite so perplexing 
 as at first sight may appear to be the case; for there is 
 flogging and flogging. And some persons who most deci- 
 dedly object to the brutal form of its administration, where 
 the flesh is mangled or the body disfigured, do not enter- 
 tain an invincible repugnance to the comparatively mild 
 and only occasional, or exceptional, infliction of such 
 whipping as merely produces transient but stinging, paia 
 on cruel offenders who are insensible to reasonaltle per- 
 suasion. 
 
 u 2
 
 292 Penological and Prcrcntice Principles. 
 
 As to the utility of this description of punishment, in cer- 
 tain cases, there is an extensive concurrence of view amongst 
 men whose acquaintance with the criminal classes is based 
 upon long and close observation. Many prison officers are 
 able to adduce instances where ferocious and otherwise in- 
 tractable men have been subdued by a whipping ; or even 
 by the knowledge of its being available, as a reserve power 
 to be certainly inflicted, if called for. It is reasonably 
 argued by such experienced authorities, that they have 
 found this castigation, when inflicted as a rare and excep- 
 tional resort, a peculiarly merciful penalty, as obviating a 
 much greater, though less impressive, aggregate of punish- 
 ment, b}^ prolonged imprisonment, or special privations. 
 
 The Mercy of Moderate Corporal Punishment. 
 
 And indeed the chief defence of corporal punishment, of 
 a moderate description, consists in its mercifulness, both 
 direct and indirect, especially when inflicted upon the par- 
 ticular class of cruel and brutal men who are apt to de- 
 spise other influences, and from whom it is necessary that 
 their ordinary victims, weak women and tender children, 
 shall be more effectually protected. For example, a wretch 
 was recently brought before an English court, for having 
 so habitually beaten his wife upon the face, that she had 
 been disfigured with " black eyes," in consecjuence, twenty- 
 seven times ! Another flung his little child violently 
 ao-ainst the ceiling;. Another, because his youno- brother, 
 twelve years of age, refused to go out and beg for him, 
 stripped the boy naked, lashed him to a chair for fifteen 
 hours, and struck him with a strap and buckle thirty-four 
 times. Another horrible ruffiau committed outrages, on 
 various occasions, upon twenty-two little girls, whom he 
 had enticed into lonely places by offers of sweetmeats. 
 Other men have kicked their wives and children with their 
 hobnailed boots until they have broken their bones, or
 
 Corporal PunisJtmcnt. 293 
 
 have (iisfif^ured them for hfe ; others have assaulted in- 
 offensive persons -witli crow-bars and knives, or gouged 
 out their eyes ; others have scattered death and misery 
 amongst peaceable citizens, by means of dynamite or similar 
 explosives. 
 
 In 1887, the London "Society for the Prevention of 
 Cruelty to Children" reported several hundred cases of gross 
 forms of cruelty to children which had, during the past 
 year alone, come under its cognisance. These included 
 such atrocities as torturing a blind girl with a red-hot 
 poker ; beating the deaf and dumb for their want of intel- 
 ligence ; immersing a dying boy in a tub of cold water for 
 nearly an hour, " to get this dying done " ; breaking a girl's 
 arm with a broomstick, then setting her to scrub the floor 
 with her broken arm folded to her breast, and whipping 
 her for being so long about it ; hanging a naked boy, with 
 tied hands, from a hook in the ceilino- and then florro-inu- 
 him ; and scores of similar cruelties. 
 
 These are the sort of outracjes, and their number is 
 legion, constantly committed by a class of wretches who 
 are at once the most cruel and the most cowardly of the 
 community ; creatures compared with whom the ordinary 
 thief is a paragon of virtue. 
 
 Such despicable miscreants are more eflfectually cowed, 
 and more promptly held in check, by smart corporal 
 punishment than by other modes of restraint. It is ab- 
 surd to talk aljout " degrading " them by this infliction. 
 They have already degraded themselves to the uttermost. 
 Any process of treatment which either checks their crimes, 
 or brings them to some sense of wholesome fear or shame, 
 is at once an elevation and a mercy. Even floggings of 
 the old sort, are inflictions which thei/, at least, would 
 have no right to deem unjust. But, for other considera- 
 tions, that description of punishment is not to be advo- 
 cated. To these inhuman foes of their own kind, the ad- 
 ministration of a moderate but stinging castigation with
 
 294 Penological and Preventive Princiiyles. 
 
 rods or a whip, on the bare back, for a reasonable number of 
 times, at intervals, according to the enormity of the offence, 
 is a much more dreaded, and therefore a more effectual, 
 punishment, than months or j'-ears of mere imprisonment, 
 with the encouracnng association of other wretches, and 
 xrnder comparatively comfortable conditions of food, lodging, 
 and indulgence, and all at the cost of honest tax-payers. 
 
 It must be remembered, too, that many of this particular 
 class liave already done despite to a vast amount of kind- 
 ness and patient forbearance, on the part of too-loving 
 relatives, as mothers and wives. They have become deaf to 
 remonstrance, and hardened to ordinary persuasives. Pro- 
 fessor Hexry Rogers remarked many years ago, in the 
 Edinburgh Rcvietc, in reference to such persons : " Too many 
 of them have deliberately advanced along their career of 
 crime, in one perpetual outrage on all the best and holiest 
 impulses of humanity ; in contempt of that passionate 
 domestic love which outlives the worth of its object, and 
 the dictates of reason itself ; in spite of infinite sacrifices 
 and never-wearied forgiveness ; in spite of the spectacle of 
 comprehensive and all unutterable misery, caused by their 
 perseverance in evil. To suppose that such natures as these 
 are to be subdued by lenienc}', is to hope that rocks will 
 melt in the sun." 
 
 It is for such a class of criminals, those characterised by 
 the most hateful of all crimes, cruelty, that corporal punish- 
 ment is here advocated. 
 
 Ancient Wisdom. 
 
 Our forefathers were not so bereft of wisdom, in 
 recrard to their treatment of such offenders, as it has 
 become of late years the fashion to represent. They often 
 proved, by experience, the efficacy of the very brief, very 
 sharp, and very cheap infliction of a whi]3ping, in such 
 cases as have been mentioned. They believed the old
 
 Corporal Punishment. 295 
 
 Book was not in the wrong when it prescribed " a rod for 
 the fool's back;"' at any rate for the cruel class of fools. 
 
 For some trivial transgressors, our ancestors used the 
 " Stocks." And here, again, it is fairly open to question 
 whether the cause of mercy has been served, by sub- 
 stituting the prison for that short and simple mode of 
 warning. Is it not a harsher thing to inflict the life-long 
 stigma of " gaol-bird " for certain petty offences, together 
 with the involved withdrawal from family support for 
 weeks or months, rather than to place such persons upon 
 the " stool of repentance," with legs in the " stocks " for an 
 hour or two, amid the not always or altogether unsym- 
 pathising, if somewhat rough, criticisms of their neigh- 
 bours ; and then to have wholly done with the affair, so 
 far as the interference of authority is concerned ? 
 
 Public opinion is apt to vibrate from one extreme to the 
 opposite, and from one folly to another. Hence, as soon 
 as men began to perceive the brutality of such inflictions 
 as the rack, the knout, the thumb-screw, or the pillory, 
 they rushed to an opposite mode of dealing with of- 
 fenders, and, under the delusion that all corporal punish- 
 ment was wrong, proceeded to substitute prolonged, costly, 
 ilemoralising, and hardening imj)risonments, which ulti- 
 mately were in most cases more cruel, to spirit, mind, 
 body, and estate, than, at any rate, the more moderate 
 modes of short and sharp castigation, which had previously 
 been in vogue. 
 
 Man}^ imprisonments have permanently ruined men, 
 and thereby cruelly punished their innocent families 
 also; when, by the simpler and common-sense method of 
 our forefathers, much of this miscliief might have been 
 immediately nipped in the bud, at the cost of a few pence 
 in money and a few hours in time.
 
 296 Penological and Prevcntlcc Principles. 
 
 Prevention better than Castigation. 
 
 Yet it is to be especially observed that the wisdom of 
 our ancestors would have been attended by better results, 
 if they had also directed more intelligent attention to the 
 prevention of offences. They relied too exclusively upon 
 their rough and ready, though often shrewd, means of 
 repression. The most important of all preventive means, 
 Temperance, was very greatly overlooked by them. A 
 gross and general practical disregard of the mischiefs of 
 alcoholic indulgence, as the chief of all causes of cruelty 
 and brutality, prevailed amongst them. Even now, the 
 public conscience is but very insufficiently awakened to 
 this material point. For it is unquestionable that, in 
 most countries, the worst sufferings inflicted upon women, 
 children, and dumb animals, are perpetrated under the 
 influence of intoxicating drink ; for this is the peculiar 
 provocative of both cruelty and lust. There are compara- 
 tively very few murders, outrages, or brutalities, committed 
 amongst professedly Christian nations, by abstainers from 
 alcohol. Most crimes must be and are attributable to In- 
 temperance. And herein, most emphatically, the old maxim 
 must ever hold true, that " Prevention is better than cure." 
 Corporal punishment has a certain amount of efficacy, 
 for the restraint of brutalities ; yet for many of this par- 
 ticular class of offences, it is seldom or never used. But the 
 suppression or prevention of intemperance is incalculably 
 more efficacious in this direction. 
 
 The Treadwheel, Piank-Bed, Etc. 
 
 It is mainly as one of the several superior substitutes 
 for imprisonment, that corporal punishment for a certain 
 class of offenders is to be justified. But so-me modifications 
 of it have also been combined with incarceration, in various
 
 Corporal Punishment. 297 
 
 countries, and especially in England, where the treadwheel, 
 the crank, the shot-drill (the latter now abolished) and the 
 plank-bed, have been introduced as features of jail-life. 
 Here again, much diversity of opinion, amongst persons of 
 similar experience and authority, has resulted, in regard to 
 the merits or demerits of these supplementary penalties. 
 
 If imprisonment, in the strict sense of the word, was 
 limited, as most of it ought to be, to the single or suc- 
 cessive infliction of comparatively brief, but thoroughly 
 penal terms of cellular confinement, there would be no 
 need or justification for such adjuncts. But whilst the 
 almost universal alleviations of modern prison life, neces- 
 sitated by unduly prolonged detention, and by associated 
 labour, are retained, there will be a constant danger tlmt 
 such conditions of existence will become a positive attrac- 
 tion to lazy and reckless offenders, or will at least fail to 
 hold out a repellent or deterrent aspect to the criminal 
 and the ruffian, unless some decidedly disagreeable elements 
 are added. 
 
 Even in presence of these inflictions, there have l)een 
 numerous cases in which persons have deliberately com- 
 mitted offences, in order to qualify themselves for the 
 advantages held out by the dietary, the warmth, the 
 clothing, the quiet, and other comforts of prison life. Often, 
 also, has some violent or lazy loafer exclaimed to a 
 mao-istrate : " Send me to iail, rather than to the work- 
 house." And it is obvious that such instances would Ik- 
 incomparably more frequent, but for some measure of 
 repulsivenuss, such as the tread-wheel and the plank-l)cd. 
 
 Yet each of these is open to some objection, on tlie 
 ground of ineciuality of treatment. The habitual prisoner, 
 or sturdy rogue, suffers far less from them than the more 
 delicate or less accustomed offender. As to the plank-licd, 
 it is not so unrcasonal)le for the criminal, in view of the 
 circumstance that thousands of honest workmen, in every 
 community, and also many soldiers and sailors in their
 
 298 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 country's service, have often to rest, at night, on boards, or 
 on the ground. 
 
 It may, however, be reasonably argued that such addi- 
 tions to imprisonment should not be simultaneoushj com- 
 bined, as is often the case at present, with a very low 
 diet and hard labour. Neither should they be enforced 
 upon persons convicted for the first time, for minor offences. 
 Cellular discipline is sufficient for such. In England there 
 are several humane exemptions from these inflictions pro- 
 vided for, as in favour of the youngest and oldest prisoners ; 
 women also are rightly excused from such adjuncts to 
 imprisonment. 
 
 The retention of the above, or similar penal features, is 
 now almost confined to the English jails, in which, also, 
 more of the cellular system prevails than in most other 
 countries. In America, both these features are generally 
 absent from prisons ; as also is the case in the Continental 
 nations, with partial exceptions. (In some American pri- 
 sons, however, cruelties are occasionally inflicted ; such as 
 hanging up prisoners by their wrists for many hours or 
 days, as counteractive to the disorder produced by the 
 association of criminals.) It is not altogether unsug- 
 tfestive to remember that whilst, in the United States, 
 crimes, especially of the more serious descriptions, have, of 
 recent years, been increasing at a rapid and alarming rate, 
 and much in advance of the growth of the popula- 
 tion, various classes of offences in England have been 
 diminishing. The moderately penal adjuncts of detention, 
 in conjunction with increased separation, have obviously 
 tended to empty, or even to close, many British jails. And 
 this is a final result of a practically merciful nature to all 
 parties concerned.
 
 Chapter XIII. 
 
 CONDITIONAL LIBERTY AND PROBATION 
 SYSTEMS, IN LIEU OF IMPRISONMENT. 
 
 Juvenile and other Exemptions from Imprisonment. 
 
 The evils inseparable from every system of imprisonment, 
 either for younger or older offenders, have obtained such 
 practical attention in Massachusetts, in particular, that 
 its Legislature has, during recent years, enacted pro- 
 \dsions for an extensive substitution of " Probation," or con- 
 ditional liberty, instead of incarceration. This principle 
 was first adopted there, with children and young persons, 
 and being found successful with them, it was extended to 
 adults with satisfactory results. The importance of the 
 subject renders appropriate a brief notice of these experi- 
 ences. 
 
 From 184G to 18G6, Massachusetts had established a 
 series of Reformatories or Industrial Schools, instead of 
 prisons, for criminal and neglected children. These institu- 
 tions proved to be useful. But, good as they were, they 
 also involved (as in Great Britain and elsewhere) some 
 danger of collateral disadvantage, such as, for example, a 
 risk of relieving vicious parents of their natural obligations, 
 and of pauperising them and their children, at the expense 
 of the honest tax-payer ; and, further, of training young 
 persons, in large masses, in ignorance of many of the lessons 
 to be imparted only by family life. 
 
 Hence, in 18G9 and 1870, the Legislature, with a view to
 
 300 PenoIo(jical and Preventive Principles. 
 
 more preventive effort, committed the general care of 
 juvenile offenders to a special " State Agency," whose 
 mode of operation is as follows. Every complaint against 
 a boy or girl, under the age of seventeen, must, before 
 being brought into any Court, be laid in writing before a 
 State Agent, or one of his assistants, for investigation. 
 When the case comes into Court (and portions of the time 
 in Courts are exclusively devoted to such juvenile cases) 
 the Agent, or Sub- Agent, attends personally to act for the 
 State, as watcher, counsel, advocate, or prosecutor, accord- 
 ing as the circumstances require. If the complaint is 
 a first charge against the accused, and for a light offence, 
 nothing follows but a simple admonition, or the passing of 
 a suspended sentence ; a small fine for costs, being, however 
 enforced, if practicable, on the parents of the child, wdiere 
 the latter is not an orphan. 
 
 If there appears to be a prospect that the child will need 
 some further restraint or influence than its existing care- 
 takers seem likely to exercise, the Agent requests {and 
 usually obtains from the Court) a sentence of " Probation " 
 for a given time, he undertaking (for the State) to bring 
 up the young offender again, if needful, and meanwhile to 
 watch over him or her, and devise ro.easures for his or her 
 benefit. Such sentence of Probation formally places the 
 child under the oversight of the State Agent ; but he or she 
 may still continue at home. The term is renewed when 
 needful. 
 
 In cases where there is reason to apprehend an utter 
 absence of suitable home care or restraint, for the child 
 complained of, the Agent is authorised by the Court to 
 take it away, for the State, and to put it entirely at the 
 disposal of the Massachusetts " Board of Health, Lunacy 
 and Charity." This body usually places its younger wards 
 in private families, on the BOARDING-OUT SYSTEM, under due 
 official conditions, and with regular supervision. This plan 
 is almost always tried, before having recourse to a Kcfor-
 
 Conditional Liberty, or Probation Si/stems. 301 
 
 matorv School. But the latter is used where boardino--out 
 appears insufficient in disciplinary influence. Finally, 
 where the subject of this care proves intractable, then, 
 as a last means of control, a prison is resorted to. But 
 comparatively few children are consigned to jail, in 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 Only about one-fifth of the wards of the State are sent 
 into other homes than their own, or into institutions of 
 any kind ; and only one-ninth to the State School and 
 Reformatories. It may here be noted, however, that these 
 institutions are unduly expensive in their management. 
 Thus the official reports of Massachusetts, for 1888, show 
 that the juvenile inmates of two of the Reformatory 
 Schools, at We.stborough and Lancaster, cost 250 dollars, or 
 about £50 each, per annum. This is worse than in Old 
 England. Nearly one-third of all the children convicted 
 in the State, are put on probation. About one in twenty 
 is committed, by formal surrender, to the " State Board of 
 Health, Lunacy and Charity." This Board, as already 
 mentioned, chiefly disposes of the children by placino- them 
 out, in carefully selected homes, under the regular super- 
 vision of a few paid, and numerous unpaid, but officially 
 appointed, visitors. These recently included, for the over- 
 sight of girls in particular, about a hundred Ladies, each 
 acting under the authority of a warrant from the Chairman 
 of the Board. Their services are most valuable. The 
 volunteer visitors, in subordination to the paid State 
 Agency, find suitable homes for the children (and there 
 are many such available) and then, by their oversio-ht, 
 increase the efficiency of the influence of these homes. 
 
 Both the moral and economical results of this system are 
 advantageous. The number of children in the Reformatory 
 Schools has greatly diminished. The chief part of this eco- 
 nomy, by prevention and reformation, results from keepino- 
 the children out of the " institutions " of all kinds, and 
 securing their better oversight, either in their own homes
 
 302 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 or in adopted ones. A State Report says : " Almost all 
 juvenile offenders are to be found without homes, or health- 
 ful home influences. Rarely does one come from a good 
 family." 
 
 The Principle Applicable Elsewhere. 
 
 The principle of the Massachusetts mode of dealing with 
 juvenile offenders, and with their parents, may be adopted 
 in other countries, without involving the use of precisely 
 the same means. Thus, instead of appointing a series of 
 additional officers throughout any district, as State Juve- 
 nile Agents, the services of existing functionaries may be 
 effectually utiKsed. One Magistrate in each locality might 
 be requested, by the Government, to devote his sole atten- 
 tion to juvenile offenders. And in each place, this Magis- 
 trate should have one or more policemen, or one or more 
 volunteer helpers, placed under his orders, with the object 
 of watching over the cases of any criminal or neglected 
 children in the locality, specially requiring authoritative 
 influence. The chief purpose would be, in the first place, 
 to give the parents or relatives of the said children such 
 oversight or guidance, as might enable them to discharge 
 their responsibilities aright, and to avoid the necessity for 
 further compulsion. But, persuasion failing, fines or other 
 forcible influences would have to be used. If these proved 
 insufficient, the Magistrate should be empowered to have 
 recourse, at his discretion, and according to the circum- 
 stances of each child, to Boarding out, or Emigration, or a 
 Reformatory, or, as a last resort only, to Imprisonment. 
 But, as in Massachusetts, it should be the first aim to pro- 
 mote the toluntarij efficiency of the parents ; the second, to 
 prefer selected and supervised Family training (by Board- 
 ing out, or Emigration), to the costly and congregate life of 
 large Institutions ; and the third, to use such Institutions 
 in preference to the Prison, so far as requisite. The " Pro-
 
 Conditional Liherfy, or Prohation Systems. 303 
 
 bation of First Offenders Act," 1887, may facilitate the 
 
 adoption, in England, of a similar course, at least in a cer- 
 tain degree. 
 
 Massachusetts Adult "Probation." 
 
 There are two descriptions of conditional liberty, or pro- 
 bation, applical)le alike to juveniles or adults ; and both of 
 which are had recourse to, in Massachusetts, for each of 
 the two classes. There is, firstly, Conditional Liberation, 
 after undergoing a sentence of detention in a prison or 
 reformatory. This is no novelty, having long ago been 
 adopted in Bavaria, Great Britain, and elsewhere. And 
 secondly, there is Conditional Liberty, not necessarily ac- 
 companied by any detention at all. It is to be remembered 
 that the principle of conditional liberty (as distinguished 
 from conditional liberation) had long been practically re- 
 cognised in England under the forms of Bail, or personal 
 Recogxisaxces ; and in the " binding oyer " of certain 
 quarrelsome or offensive persons to " keep the peace " 
 towards their fellow-subjects, for a given period, as an 
 alternative to imprisonment. 
 
 The law of Massachusetts, in 1880, instituted as a special 
 class, " Probation Officers " for Adults, to be appointed 
 by the respective Municipalities. It was then enacted, in 
 regard to each of such functionaries, as follows : " He shall, 
 in the execution of his official duties, have the powers of 
 Police officers, and may be a member of the police force of 
 his city or town." " Such Probation Officer shall carefully 
 inquire into the character and offence of every person ar- 
 rested for crime, for the purpose of ascertaining whether 
 the accused may reasonably be expected to reform without 
 punishment ; and shall keep a full record of the result of 
 his investigation. The Officer, if then satisfied that the 
 best interests of the public and of the accused would bo 
 subserved by placing him upon Probation, shall recommend
 
 304 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 the same to the Court trying the case ; and the Court may 
 permit the accused to be placed upon Probation, upon such 
 terms as it may deem best, having regard to his reforma- 
 tion." 
 
 " When the Probation Officer considers it advisable for 
 any person placed on probation to be sent out of the State, 
 the local authorities may make the necessary appropriation 
 for the purpose, to be expended by him, under the direction 
 of the superintendent of police." 
 
 " The Probation Officer shall, as far as practicable, visit 
 the offenders placed on probation by the Court at his sug- 
 gestion, and render such assistance and encouragement as 
 will tend to prevent their again offi^nding. Any person 
 placed upon probation, upon his recommendation, may be 
 re-arrested by him, upon approval of the superintendent of 
 police, without further warrant, and again brought before 
 the Court ; and the Court may thereupon proceed to sen- 
 tence, or may make any other lawful disposition of the 
 case. It shall be the special duty of every Probation 
 Officer to inform the Court, as far as possible, whether 
 a person on trial has previously been convicted of any 
 crime." 
 
 The above are the principal clauses of the Massachusetts 
 Law of 1880, permitting the experiment of Adult Probation, 
 and which at once went into operation. It may be ob- 
 served that it is permissive in its nature, and entrusts large 
 powers of discrimination and decision, both to the Courts 
 and to the Probation and Police Officers. Such must 
 necessarily be the case, from the very nature of probation. 
 
 The Secretary of the Massachusetts Commissioners of 
 Prisons informs the writer that " The success of the (adult) 
 probation work is unquestionable." He adds " It is the 
 ' ticket-of -leave system ' simplified to suit the circumstances. 
 Most of those here released, on such probation, are drunkards, 
 or night-walkers (prostitutes) ; and the results have been- 
 gratifvino."
 
 Conditional Libert i/, or Probation Si/stans. 305 
 
 The Report of one district, South Boston, for 1888, shows 
 that, out of 244 persons liberated on probation during the 
 past year, 137 had been arrested for drunkenness, 25 for 
 assaults, 18 for simple larceny, 13 for disturbing the peace. 
 Some of the cases indicate curious survivals of old Puritan 
 rigour ; as, for " playing ball on the Lord's day," and being 
 " present at a game of cards on the Lord's day." 
 
 In the same district, during that year, nearly 2,000 inter- 
 views took place between the oflBcers and those under 
 their charge. The number of teetotal pledges administered 
 to the latter was 230. Hence nearly all of the 244 took 
 the pledge. Doubtless many of these engagements were 
 merely nominal, or ephemeral ; but a very useful effect 
 resulted to others. The Agent reported : " About 95 per 
 cent, of persons under my care, during the past year, have 
 done well, and have been discharged from Court, after beins; 
 under my charge from term to terra." Thirteen had 
 to be surrendered to the Court for sentence, being found 
 incorrigible. 
 
 The same year's Report, for another Boston district, 
 (Roxbury) returned 329 cases as disposed of during the 
 twelvemonth ; of whom 165 were for drunkenness, 58 for 
 larceny, and 12 were described as "stubborn children." 
 No teetotal pledges are reported amongst these. Forty-six 
 of the cases " did not improve, and were surrendered." 
 
 In a third district, Suffolk County, out of 809 cases 
 disposed of during 1887, 31 were surrendered for sentence, 
 and 12 more " ran away to escape surrender and sentence ; " 
 30G took the pledge. Employment was found for 44. 
 Above £10,000 was furnished in bail, and more than £200 
 paid in Court fees, on final discharge from probation. 
 
 In a previous Report, Mr. Edwaed H. Savage, the 
 Agent for the Suffolk County (Boston) district, remarks: 
 " Intemperance is one of the obstacles to reformation that 
 the probation officer has to meet. In fact it is the greatest 
 incentive to crime." He admits that whilst some of the 
 
 X
 
 306 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 pledges taken by the " probated " persons are regarded 
 as " a j)assing joke ;" others are followed " often with the 
 most salutary result." He adds that almost all the cases 
 where the probation failed, and where the persons had to 
 .surrender for sentence to imprisonment, were in con- 
 sequence of breaking the pledge, and so becoming incor- 
 xigible ; but " where they have been enabled to keep their 
 pledges, they have done well, in the way of reformation." 
 In the case of young prostitutes placed on probation, 53 
 in Suffolk County, were sent to their friends or homes in 
 the country, in 1887. Of these, 6 returned to Boston, and 
 were sentenced. 
 
 These Boston agents display far more wisdom in their 
 estimate of the assistance furnished to human frailty by 
 the Total Abstinence pledge, than is evinced in the official 
 Beport, for 1888, of the much-eulogised "model " prison of 
 Elmira, N.Y. At page 48, under the head of " Practical 
 Ethics," the convicts in that institution are thus exhorted : 
 " Let us not confuse the virtue and strength of Temperance, 
 Tvith the vicious weakness of Total Abstinence ! " In view 
 of the extreme moral weakness of the criminal class espe- 
 cially, it is a matter for astonishment and deep regret, 
 that such a statement should have been thus authori- 
 tatively put forth, as a part of the specially " reformatory " 
 teaching of the prisoners of New York State, including 
 thieves, burglars, ravishers, and murderers. And in the 
 same Report, it is recorded that out of all the convicts 
 received at Elmira, 57 per cent, appeared to possess " abso- 
 lutely no moral sense ;" and another 25 per cent, had 
 *' possibly some ;" whilst 38 per cent, were found to have 
 " clearly traced drunken ancestry." Yet such a class, of 
 all men, are gravely taught that Teetotalism is " a vicious 
 icenkness " ! ! 
 
 Mr. Savage reports that one of the best practical con- 
 sequences of the Massachusetts Proliation System, is the 
 -stimulus which it affords to the relatives of the offend-
 
 I 
 
 Conditional Liberty, or Probation Si/stcms. 307 
 
 ing parties, to seek emploj^ment for them, and to exercise 
 some effectual influence and vigilance on their behalf. 
 He remarks : " The best success has been secured by- 
 making it a condition with their friends that employ- 
 ment be provided for the persons probated, before they 
 are bailed and set at liberty." The fees paid on liberation 
 are stated to be nearly sufficient to cover the expenses 
 incurred in carrying out the system. 
 
 In one of the Reports, an Agent relates an incident which 
 is not without instruction. He, one day, received a sharp 
 lecture from a wealthy and influential Bostonian, who was 
 indignant with what he regarded as the undue laxity of 
 the State towards offenders on probation. He said : " I 
 would have every one of them punished, to the extremity 
 of the law." But some time afterwards, this gentleman 
 came to the officer, in great grief, to implore aid on behalf 
 of his son, a youth of eighteen, who had got into trouble 
 by embezzling money from his employers. On investiga- 
 tion, it was found that the lad's previous character had 
 been good, and that he had fallen under great temptation. 
 The Agent reported favourably to the Court respecting 
 him, and he was placed on one year's probation, to obviate 
 the disgrace of imprisonment. He afterwards returned to 
 liis former employers, who eventually took him into part- 
 nership. His father, meeting the Agent subsequently in 
 the street, grasped his hand, and exclaimed with emotion, 
 " My son is safe ; I was wrong." The same Agent remarks : 
 " I have learned to believe that none are so good that they 
 may not err ; and none so bad that they cannot reform." 
 
 Women and Probation. 
 
 The class of " unfortunate girls," or prostitutes, often 
 derive effectual benefit from the " probation " system, by 
 reason of the opportunities which it affords for inducing 
 them to return to their friends, or to enter some suitable 
 
 X 2
 
 308 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 shelter. The Massachusetts Laws are nominally severe 
 against certain forms of unchastity, in both sexes alike ; 
 but there, as all over the world, the women generally have 
 to bear the brunt, both of the shame and the punishment. 
 The men usually secure impunity. A Probation Report for 
 1884, mentions a girl, with whom six different men, in one 
 evening, had been observed to go off, for an immoral 
 purpose. But it adds, " Six to one. Who ever saw one of 
 such men in the prisoners' dock, as an accomplice ? Who 
 ever saw one of this class of men on the witness-stand, in 
 his own defence ? " 
 
 For female criminals, in prison, the Massachusetts Laws 
 permit a special form of probation, or conditional libera- 
 tion. The State Board of Commissioners are authorised 
 to bind out in domestic or other service, for the conclud- 
 ing unexpired portion of their terms of imprisonment, such 
 women as they consider suitable to be thus liberated, on 
 condition of good behaviour. Failing this condition, the 
 licences are revoked, and all the original sentence is carried 
 into effect. Such remissions usually amount to about one- 
 third of the full terms of sentence. The great majority of 
 these women are reported to behave well, and to furnish 
 no occasion for re-imposition of penalty. But it is noticed 
 that longer powers of sentence and of subsequent control, 
 are still needed for the female criminals, as a class. 
 
 The Old British " Ticket-of-Leave " Imposture. 
 
 It is important to observe that, although one of the 
 Massachusetts Agents compares probation to a " ticket-of- 
 leave " plan, yet neither that, nor the present English 
 system of Conditional Liberation, under supervision, is at 
 all identical with the original mischievous "ticket-of- 
 leave " practice, as adopted for British convicts, under SiR 
 Joshua Jebb. That officer discharged his prisoners by 
 wholesale, with the form of " Tickets," but without the all-
 
 Conditional Lihertij, or Probation Si/sfems. 309 
 
 important elements of adequate supervision and inquiry. 
 The men were simply released with wild recklessness. The 
 results were just what might be expected, and occasioned 
 an outburst of robbery, burglary, violence, and other 
 crimes, until the very name of " Tick et-of- Leave" became 
 deservedly offensive to the public. Unfortunately, too, the 
 memory of that blunder has ever since constituted a chief 
 obstacle to the progress of any system of " conditional 
 liberation" or " probation" on each side of the Atlantic. But 
 both Massachusetts and Great Britain have since been able 
 to remove some of this popular misapprehension, by more 
 cautious experiments. 
 
 The Howard Association and " Probation." 
 
 The Committee of the Howard Association in London, 
 in 1881, issued a paper, drawing British attention to the 
 advantages of the Massachusetts Probation system, espe- 
 cially for Juvenile Offenders. As the plan was then almost 
 unknown in Great Britain, the Home Secretary had that 
 document reprinted in a Parliamentary Paper. Subse- 
 quently, Mr. Sturge, of Birmingham, drew attention to it, 
 in his evidence before the Royal Commission on Reforma- 
 tories ; and still later, Mr. Howard Vincent, M.P., ex- 
 pounded the system in an interesting manner at a meeting 
 of the Social Science Congress. Subsequently, he intro- 
 duced a Bill into the House of Commons with tlie object of 
 securing the legislative sanction of an English " probation " 
 system for misdemeanants, somewhat similar to the Massa- 
 chusetts mode. This measure passed in 1887, and is 
 therefore now a part of the English Statute Law. It is 
 entitled " The Probation of First Offenders' Act." 
 
 A Belgian Experiment of Conditional Liberty. 
 There may be just mentioned, in connection with this 
 subject, a curious experiment, which is stated to have been
 
 310 Penological and Preventive Princijiles. 
 
 recently introduced, at least locally, in Belgium, with refer- 
 ence to drunkards. In a certain district, when a man is 
 found drunk, he is taken home by a policeman. The next 
 day the same functionary waits upon the offender with a 
 broom, and gives him the option of two hours' public 
 sweeping the streets, or of severer penal measures. This 
 course is reported to have proved very efficacious, in so far 
 as it has been resorted to.'^ 
 
 The Londok "City Custom of Apprentices." 
 
 The New England "Probation System" was not, however, 
 altogether a novelty. It had, in j)ai't, been exemplified in 
 the Capital of the Mother Country, for centuries previously, 
 in a form established by the wisdom of our forefathers, 
 and known as '' The City Custom of Apprentices." By 
 this " Custom," which still has the force and sanction of 
 Law, the semi-private Court of the Chamberlain of London, 
 at the Guildhall, exercises a controlling power over all 
 apprentices in " the City " properly so-called. This tribunal 
 affords a prompt, cheap, and excellent mode of dealing 
 with their delinquencies, except such as may be of a graver 
 nature ; and it is much valued by the citizens. A master, 
 having a ground of complaint against an apprentice, can 
 obtain, for the nominal fee of one shilling, a summons for 
 him to appear before the Chamberlain, who quietly and 
 impartially investigates the case, and gives such advice or 
 warning to the parties concerned, whether apprentice or 
 master, as often suffices to prevent further trouble. But 
 where the misbehaviour, or obstinacy, of the youth, appears 
 to call for something more stringent, he is sent, for about 
 
 ■'■ Eemitted First Sentences. — In 1888 Belgium, mainly through 
 the influence of M. Lejeune, Minister of Justice, adopted a Law, 
 authorizing Judges to leave in abeyance the infliction of imprison- 
 ment, in all cases oi^first conviction for misdemeanours ("delits") as. 
 distinguished from grave crime.
 
 Conditional Libert i/, or Proljcition S'jdems. 311 
 
 a fortnight, to a private " Bridewell," belonging to the Muni- 
 cipality, specially appropriated to the detention of these 
 young persons. 
 
 Several days of quiet reflection usually suffice to accom- 
 plish the desired end, and, on the apprentice expressing 
 regret, or apology, for the past, and promising amendment 
 for the future, he is, in most cases, liljerated by the 
 Chamberlain without further infliction. This mode of 
 treatment involves no pubhc trial, is not reported in the 
 newspapers, is not attended by demoralising contact with 
 criminals, and is, in short, a valuable form of "probation'' 
 and a substitute for ordinary imprisonment. 
 
 It also affords a means of indirectly helping the appren- 
 tices, when needful, by Ijringing the influence of a duly 
 constituted authority to bear upon such masters as may 
 require counsel, or reprimand, in regard to their treatment 
 of those under their care ; for in many cases of complaint 
 against the youths, the real cause of difficulty is the em- 
 ployer's neglect of his own duty. And although the City 
 Chamberlain cannot place the masters in detention, he can 
 often exercise an effectual personal influence upon them, by 
 his representations and persuasions. 
 
 It is a privilege which the City Apprentices (about 3,000 
 in number in 188S) and their Masters, feel to be one of the 
 special advantages belonging to the time-honoured Cor- 
 poration of London. When, in 1882, the Parliamentary 
 and other adversaries of the City's privileges, threatened to 
 abolish this ancient "Custom," an influentially signed 
 Memorial was presented to the Home Secretary by the 
 Citizens, praying that tlie}- and their apprentices might not 
 be deprived of this wliok^some and merciful inheritance 
 from the past. 
 
 There is also an important lesson which the " City 
 Custom " tends to convey, and this is the practical jility of 
 dealing with many juvenile delinquents effectuall}*, in a 
 very short time, even in a very few days or a week or two.
 
 312 Penological and Preventive Principhs. 
 
 by adopting wise and kind measures for inducing reflection 
 and good resolutions ; and also by interposing, on their 
 behalf, with those persons who should be their guides and 
 protectors. It is in the latter respect, perhaps, that the 
 Massachusetts plan needs some strengthening ; for even it 
 is not sufficiently stringent, in certain respects, so far as 
 the parents of youth are concerned. And any extension 
 of it to other countries may, with advantage, be accom- 
 panied b}' a more prominent enforcement of the responsi- 
 bilities of parents and relatives. Whenever children or 
 youths have to be brought under legal supervision, their 
 naturcil caretakers should also be involved in the process 
 as long as needful. They should be either persuaded, or 
 compelled, to a better performance, in future, of those duties 
 which they have neglected in the past. This point 
 requires more practical attention than it has hitherto 
 obtained, either generally in America, or in Great Britain. 
 
 It is further to be observed that the experiences of the 
 " City Custom of Apprentices," and of Massachusetts 
 ''■ Probation," alike furnish good ground for believing that 
 the long and codhj detention of juvenile offenders, in 
 Keformatories and Industrial Schools, might, at least in 
 many instances, be safely dispensed with, through the 
 adoption of some form of probation or supervision, useful 
 alike to the young people themselves and to their parents 
 or friends, and in no wise so expensive as the Institutional 
 plan of disposal. 
 
 Probation by British Legislation. 
 
 Of recent years, the public mind in England has been 
 awakening, in some degree at least, to the advantages 
 of inflicting other modes of punishment than imprison- 
 ment. This impression has already led to the enactment 
 of two important Acts of Parliament, namely, the 
 " Summary Jurisdiction Act " of 1879, and " the Probation
 
 Conditional Lihertij, or Probation Systems. 313 
 
 of First Offenders Act," 1887. The former of these, 
 although more indirect in its action than the latter, essen- 
 tially embodies the principle of Probation, or Conditional 
 Liberty', instead of imprisonment, in numerous instances. 
 For this measure not only increased the powers of magis- 
 trates, already existing under the Juvenile Offenders Act 
 of 1847, to dismiss young persons, on admonition, and 
 without imprisonment, in certain cases, but also permitted 
 the substitution of Fines instead of detention, for various 
 offences under the Acts relating to poaching, vagrancy, 
 public health, and even some felony. The previous scale 
 of sentences for several crimes, was also reduced by this 
 Act. And it obviated many imprisonments of poor persons, 
 ))y authorising the fines to be paid gradually, by instal- 
 ments. In these and certain other respects, the Summary 
 Jurisdiction Act was a very valualjle measure of penal 
 reform. 
 
 The "Probation of First Offenders Act," 1887, eff'ected 
 further progress in a similar direction. Its chief provisions 
 are as follows: — 
 
 " In any case in which a person is convicted of larceny, 
 or false pretences, or any other offence punishable with not 
 more than two years' imprisonment, before any Court, and 
 no previous conviction is proved against him, if it appears 
 to the Court before whom he is so convicted, that, regard 
 being had to the youth, character, and antecedents of the 
 offender, to the trivial nature of the offence, and to any 
 extenuating circumstances under which the offence was 
 committed, it is expedient that the offender be released on 
 probation of good conduct, the Court may, instead of sen- 
 tencing him at once to any punishment, direct that he be 
 released on his entering into a recognizance, with or with- 
 out sureties, and during such period as the Court may 
 <lirect, to appear and receive judgment when called upon, 
 and in the meantime to keep the peace and be of o-ood 
 behaviour.
 
 314 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 " The Court may, if it thinks fit, direct that the offender 
 shall pay the costs of the prosecution, or some portion of 
 the same, within such period and by such instalments as 
 may be directed by the Court." 
 
 These two Acts, together with the collateral measures 
 for the committal of delinquent and neglected youth to 
 Reformatories and Industrial Schools, have already mate- 
 rially contributed toward that diminution both of prisoners 
 and of jails, in Great Britain, which is a gratifying feature 
 of the age. Especially satisfactory is the approximate aban- 
 donment of the imprisonment of children, in this country, 
 of late years. In proportion as the jail has been less used 
 than at a former period, it has been proved that other 
 ways of disposing of oflTenders, at once less costly and less 
 degrading, have been found practically advantageous. May 
 this lesson be profitably pondered. And may it lead to 
 further advances in the adoption of more economic, more 
 reformatory, and more effectually preventive modes of deal- 
 ing also with adult transgressors against the laws, than by 
 an excessive resort, as in the past, to either the solitary 
 cell, or the corrupting convict gang.
 
 Chapter XIV. 
 CRIMINAL STATISTICS. 
 
 Statistics of Crime axd Prisons. 
 
 As respects the statistics of Crime and Prisons, it may 
 be observed that the measure of imj^erfection, which is 
 more or less inherent to all matters pertaining to humanity, 
 is apt to be somewhat specially characteristic of this class 
 of figures. 
 
 Many years ago, a friend of the writer, Mr. Joseph John 
 Fox, F.S.S., of Stoke ISTewington, read before a meetino- of 
 the British Association, a paper on the necessity/ of loiifor- 
 mitt/ of basis for statistical calculations. This principle is one 
 of great importance ; but it is very apt to be disregarded. 
 This neglect involves much practical difSculty in various 
 directions. 
 
 Thus, in reference to Crime, it is to be noticed that the 
 legal definitions, and therefore the statistical tabulations 
 of " Murder," " Burglary," " Forgery," &e., not only vary 
 considerably in different countries at any one period, but 
 have also undergone consecutive changes in each parti- 
 cular nation. Hence, for example, if a statistician makes a 
 collection of the English official returns, in regard to the 
 number of burglaries, or forgeries, committed during suc- 
 cessive decades, in this country only, it will be found, on 
 careful examination, that owing to the progress of legisla- 
 tion during the later periods, certain new forms of these
 
 316 Penological and Preventice Principles. 
 
 crimes have become included under the categories in ques- 
 tion ; or, otherwise, certain old forms have been excluded 
 from them. 
 
 Or if it is attempted to compare the statistics even of 
 Murder, in different countries, it will be found difficult, if 
 not impossible, to ascertain how far the respective figures 
 include, or exclude, cases of manslaughter and general 
 homicide, as distinguished from deliberately " wilful " or 
 premeditated " murder." The legislation of the principal 
 States of Europe and America differs so considerably, in 
 regard to such points, that, at the best, only approximate 
 accuracy can be secured in any calculations or inferences, 
 based even upon the official penal statistics of these coun- 
 tries, as compared with one another, or as generally sum- 
 marised. 
 
 Further, the departmental organisations for the collec- 
 tion and determination of statistics, in the respective 
 nations, vary so much, in reference to their efficiency, as to 
 import additional elements of imperfection and perplexity 
 into the matter. Nor is there much reason to conclude that 
 under the existing circumstances of States, a satisfactory 
 avoidance of these difficulties is likely to be arrived at, 
 at any early period. Hence the whole question of Inter- 
 national Statistics, especially in regard to penal matters, 
 must be regarded as essentially defective, and of merely 
 elementary development, from the point of view of mathe- 
 matical accuracy. 
 
 And yet, essential as is this numerical accuracy, it only 
 forms one portion of the materials requisite for arriving 
 at a uniform basis of statistics. An elaborate machinery 
 for the collection of figures and enumerations may be per- 
 forming its duty, with a fair degree of completeness, 
 within its own province, and all the while, it may be con- 
 veying a very erroneous final impression as to the real 
 condition of affairs, for want of collateral and qualifying 
 information on other connected matters.
 
 Criminal Statistics. 817 
 
 For example, the statistical returns of various districts of 
 the British Metropolis indicated, to a certain student, a spe- 
 cial mortality in several parishes. So far as the figures were 
 concerned, this indication was perfectly correct. Never- 
 theless the impression, at first naturally received, was 
 altogether and most properly modified by the subsequent 
 discovery that these apparently very unhealthy districts 
 contained large hospitals, or infirmaries, where patients, in 
 dangerous stages of illness and injury, were collected from 
 the surrounding parts, and the deaths of many of whom 
 gave an exceptional character to the local mortality in ques- 
 tion. Again, there was a very healthy place in Cornwall, 
 in which, during a certain year, only four deaths were re- 
 corded. One of these was by public execution. It would, 
 therefore, be perfectly correct, so far as mere mathema- 
 tical accuracy is concerned, to remark that twenty-five 
 per cent, of the deaths, there, in one year, took place at 
 the hands of the hangman. But, at the same time, such 
 a statement would tend to convey an impression unjust 
 to the people of that virtuous and orderly locality, in 
 which the criminal then executed was probably so ex- 
 ceptional, as such, that it is doubtful if any other indi- 
 vidual, from there, had been hanged for half a century or 
 more. 
 
 The above are extreme illustrations of the possible 
 dangers of reliance, upon mathematically accurate statis- 
 tics. But some such danger often, if not indeed always, 
 exists in this department ; and it is intensified by the pre- 
 valent deficiency, even of the single element of numerical 
 accuracy of registration. 
 
 In consequence of these almost unavoidable features of 
 statistical defect throughout the world, more or less, it is 
 needful that Penologists, everywhere, should not attach 
 too much importance to mere numerical returns. For it 
 may be fairly concluded that, in view of the actual cir- 
 cumstances of the collection and condition of International
 
 318 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 Criminal Returns, their general value is much over- 
 estimated in many quarters. Some Penologists, it is true, 
 are hoping great things from a further development of 
 this class of Statistics. But there seems to be very little 
 real ground for an expectation of early or considerable 
 l^enefit arising in this direction. 
 
 It would have been advantageous for some nations, as for 
 example France, if portions of the large sums of money and 
 of the great amount of time, lono; devoted to the collection 
 of minute numerical details, in reference to prisons, police, 
 and arrests, had been appropriated rather to the study and 
 exposition of a few simple principles, to be practically 
 regarded in the treatment and prevention of crime. 
 
 Prison officials, even in Great Britain, have often made 
 complaints of the excessive and undue demand, on the 
 part of their own Government, for numerical returns of 
 all manner of insignificant items. This may involve a 
 mischievous abstraction of time and attention from far 
 more important matters. Prison Surgeons, for example, have 
 repeatedly had to devote many hours to the filling up of 
 departmental schedules with petty particulars of personal 
 duty and observation, to the great detriment of their 
 patients, who have suffered from the loss of time, and 
 from the wearying distractions thus imposed upon their 
 medical caretakers. And it is specially to be noted that 
 such minute requirement, of the registration of details, is 
 perfectly compatible with the grossest waste, both of time 
 and money ; and in fact it may constantl}^ facilitate the 
 misappropriation of both. This is notably the case in 
 certain great departments of some Governments, and, in 
 particular, in their Military and Naval administration, 
 where pence and farthings are accounted for, with mar- 
 vellous minuteness of detail, whilst, at the same time, Par- 
 liaments and Cabinets may be bamboozled or hoodwinked, 
 and the taxpayers cheated and robbed, to the extent of many 
 million pounds sterling.
 
 Criminal Statistics. 319 
 
 Penal departments do not afford scope for such whole- 
 sale malversation ; but they suffer grievously, in their minor 
 measure, by the frequent waste of official time and atten- 
 tion, on a worse than useless excess of statistical require- 
 ments. The author has heard such remarks as the fol- 
 lowing, from prison Governors : " What an amount of time 
 our clerks have been occupied in making up figures on 
 petty details, for successive Departmental or Parliamentary 
 Returns, many of which have, after all, never been applied 
 to any practical use ; so that the trouble and cost were j ust 
 thrown away ! " 
 
 Government Departments are apt to manifest undue 
 favour to such excessive statistical registration, for two 
 reasons ; firstly, because it gives easy routine -work to 
 many officials ; and, secondly, because it affords a great 
 show of attention to duty, and at the same time often fur- 
 nishes a convenient excuse for indefinitely postponing more 
 laborious, but more essential, performances for the public 
 welfare. 
 
 A very serious defect in the criminal and other official 
 statistics, even of some of the chief nations, is that they 
 are not seldom characterised by culpable omissions. Where 
 there is not the positive surjgestio falsi, there is sometimes 
 to be found, and not always in a small measure, the sup- 
 pressio vcri. In some ostentatious volumes of Departmental 
 Returns, the careful Penologist may look in vain for im- 
 portant information which he ought to find there, but 
 which is studiously withheld ; whilst at the same time, 
 a tedious minuteness, in comparatively trivial matters, 
 is thrust upon the reader, to the extent of many pages of 
 fififures. The class of numerical statements, sometimes 
 known as " cooked accounts," is not such a rarity as 
 it ought to be, in Returns issued officially to Parliaments 
 and the public, And where, when, or how, may we hope 
 for a generally effectual remedy for this ? 
 
 In reference to the question of Criminal Statistics, the
 
 320 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 highest officials are themselves liable to be misled and then 
 unconsciously to mislead the community. This tendency 
 has perhaps been exemplified, of late years, in connec- 
 tion with some popular estimates of the diminution of 
 crimes and offences in Great Britain. On the one hand, it 
 is obvious that the number of prisoners, and also that of 
 several serious crimes, has markedly fallen off. But on 
 the other hand, it may be observed that the totality of 
 offences committed has been largely in excess of the number 
 of offenders imprisoned. 
 
 A nobleman who has had a long and active participation 
 in the oversight of prisons and reformatories, and in efforts 
 for the assistance of discharged prisoners, the Earl of 
 Lichfield, made some observations on this point at Stafford 
 in 1885. He said — " Having carefully investigated the 
 subject, I am not prepared to accept the statements I see 
 so frequently made, by persons in authority, as to the 
 decrease of crime in the country generally. My own in- 
 vestigations into this matter have led me to a very different 
 conclusion, and that is, that instead of crime being on the 
 decrease, it is on the increase." He then quoted, from 
 the Reports of the Prison Commissioners, some state- 
 ments showing that there had been a remarkable diminu- 
 tion in the daily average of prisoners in England and 
 "Wales. This was, so far, quite true. But the Earl con- 
 tinued — " Admitting, as I do, that the figures in the Reports 
 are correct, yet the result shown is to be accounted for, 
 solely and entirely, by the ver^'- short sentences which are 
 now passed, and by the additional fact, that somewhere 
 about a third of the whole number convicted are not sent to 
 prison at all. I find, taking the whole number of con- 
 victions in the year ISGl, and comparing it with 1883, 
 that in 1861 there were 165,000 persons fned for offences 
 against the law, and in 1883 there were 431,000 so fined." 
 Again the Earl quoted the Prison Reports, as recording, in 
 particular, a diminution in the number of female prisoners.
 
 Criminal Statistics. 321 
 
 This also was correct. But he added — '• The total con- 
 victions of females in England and Wales, in 1849, were 
 25,84G, and in 1883 they were 47,862. There has been a 
 large increase in every description of offences which re- 
 present dishonesty ; and I think I should be able to show, 
 if time permitted, that in many of the serious offences 
 there is considerable increase." 
 
 Lord Lichfield went on to refer to the great decrease in 
 the number of young persons under sixteen sent to prison 
 since 1850, He remarked — "Since 1879 there is no record, 
 in our judicial returns, of the number of such juvenile pri- 
 soners who are convicted." And further, " If you take the 
 number of jDersons who are now fined or whipped, instead 
 of being sent to prison at all, you will find that the number 
 of juveniles sent to prison does not in any way rej^resent 
 the juvenile crime of the country. Take, for instance, this 
 fact alone ; look at the number that, instead of beino^ sent 
 to prison, are now sent to Lidustrial Schools. Yet these 
 numbers do not appear in the Prison Returns ; just as all 
 those who are fined and whipped do not appear. The total 
 number of persons, of all ages, fined for larceny, in the 
 last year, was no less than ten thousand." 
 
 In regard to certain serious crimes, such as Murder 
 and Suicide, the Earl was statistically justified in his con- 
 clusions. For whereas, in 1870, there were fifteen persons 
 sentenced to death in England and Wales, and six executed, 
 there were, in 1886, thirty-five sentenced to death, and 
 nineteen executed. In 1870 there were 1,517 suicides, and 
 2,222 in 1886. It must, however, be thankfully admitted 
 that some other grave crimes have materially diminished, of 
 late years, in the United Kingdom. 
 
 Tn further partial confirmation of Lord Lichfield's 
 general statement, it is shown, in the ofticial Report of 
 H.M. Inspector of Reformatory and Industrial Schools, 
 issued 1887, that the number of boys and girls sent to 
 Reformatories in Great Britain has risen from 3,276 in 
 
 Y
 
 322 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 1859, to G,272 in 1886 ; and that the number in certified 
 Industrial Schools has shown the enormous increase from 
 480 in 1861, to 20,668 in 1886. The same report states that 
 the number of adult offenders, over sixteen years of age, in 
 England and Wales, committed for trial, together with 
 those convicted summarily, has risen from 103,843, in 
 1861, to 165,952, in 1886 ; whilst in Scotland the similar 
 committals of adults rose from 17,366, in 1881, to 44,647 in 
 1886 (a very heavy increase it may be observed) ; but the 
 committals of Scotch juveniles fell from 1,212, in 1861, to 
 936, in 1886. 
 
 In 1886 another intelligent observer — Canon Gregory, 
 of London — published a paper containing a series of facts 
 and statistics pointing to the same conclusions arrived at 
 by Lord Lichfield. The Canon summarised his investiga- 
 tions by remarking, " It is clear from what has been said 
 that there has been no decrease in the number of crimes 
 committed, or of smaller offences, during the past fourteen 
 years ; though there has been a remarkable diminution in 
 the number of criminals captured by the police, and pos- 
 sibly a great addition to the stringency with which lesser 
 offenders have been brought to justice." 
 
 The above statements by the Earl and the Canon, afford 
 interesting illustrations of the equivocal character, or am- 
 biguous adaptability, of official statistics, whether at home 
 or abroad. For these views are in marked contradiction to 
 assertions of a very different and optimistic character, as 
 to English crime, constantly and confidently repeated by 
 other inffuential men, and popularly accepted by intelligent 
 authorities and the community at large. Yet there is much 
 to be adduced in support of each contending opinion. 
 Many minor offences have undoubtedly increased in Eng- 
 land of late years. Some serious crimes have unquestion- 
 ably decreased. And imprisonment has, with advantage, 
 been often obviated, by the use of other means of dealing 
 w^ith delinquents.
 
 Criminal Stafidics. 323 
 
 In 1887 another curious proof was given of the am- 
 biguity of ordinary official statistics, as guides to peno- 
 logical conclusions. Two of the chiefs of prison depart- 
 ments in Germany, each of whom enjoyed special facilities 
 for a thorough acquaintance with all the statistical re- 
 sources of the Empire, engaged in a spirited controversy 
 in regard to the question of the increase of crime in 
 their own country. One of the two gentlemen argued 
 that crimes had, of late years, very rapidly and gene- 
 rally increased. The other as decidedly controverted 
 and opposed this conclusion. But both confidently re- 
 ferred to the testimony furnished by their own national 
 statistics. 
 
 There has recently come under the writer's cognizance, a 
 copy of the valuable and comprehensive work, by Professor 
 F. von Holtzendorff and Dr. E. von Jagemann, entitled 
 " Handbuch des Gefangnisswesens " (Hamburg, J. F. 
 Richter, 1888). It is interesting to find that in the section 
 devoted to Statistics, contributed by Dr. E. Mischler, of 
 Vienna, some of the conclusions expressed above, on this 
 topic, had also been arrived at by that observer, who re- 
 marks (at page Q^, vol. i.) : " It may even be said that in 
 consequence of differences of legislation, the difficulties of 
 an international comparison of statistics are, to a certain 
 extent, insuperable." This opinion will probably be en- 
 dorsed by most other students of this subject, in proportion 
 as they take a comprehensive survey of its various aspects 
 and of the manifold ways in which even official statistics 
 may be prepared, presented, and interpreted. 
 
 The collection and instructive publication of such figures, 
 in so far as they are attainable, speciall}- demand a combi- 
 nation of independent reliability with thorough intelligence 
 of the subject. The same qualifications are indeed essential 
 for all who issue Government Reports. Hence the peculiai- 
 value which usually appertains to the investigations and 
 reconnncndations of Royal Commissions and Parlia- 
 
 Y 2
 
 324 Penolorjical and Preventive Principles. 
 
 MEN'TARY COMMITTEES, as distinguished from the docu- 
 ments issued by the Permanent Heads of Departments, 
 who are personally interested in the diffusion of state- 
 ments favourable to their own administration or to 
 that of their subordinates. 
 
 And, perhaps, in no class of Reports, whether statistical 
 or otherwise, is independent research more necessary than 
 in reference to Prisons. When Lord Cross was Home 
 Secretary, he sanctioned the appointment of a Royal Com- 
 mission on the Penal Servitude Acts, whose procedure and 
 Report were equally characterised by this feature. It 
 included men of such integrity and impartiality as 
 Lord Knutsford, Mr. John G. Talbot, M.P., and Mr. 
 Samuel Whitbread, M.P. These gentlemen personally 
 visited the most distant convict prisons of the kingdom, 
 and also took the evidence of some of the prisoners them- 
 selves. 
 
 A still more complete and thorough investigation, of 
 the same nature, was that undertaken, by order of the 
 Government of QUEENSLAND, on the motion of the Legis- 
 lature of that colony, in 1887. The Governor in Council 
 appointed, as Commissioners for this work, Mr. William 
 KiNNAiRD Rose, barrister, and Mr. W. E. P. Okeden, Immi- 
 gi^ation Agent ; and most admirably did they accomplish 
 their task. They not only visited the prisons and police- 
 cells of that large Colony, and examined, as witnesses, 
 magistrates, officers and others, but they afforded every 
 prisoner an opportunity of complaint. Hundreds of con- 
 victs and prisoners were actually examined by them, and 
 thei revidence published. This was a very exemplary pro- 
 cedure. For although, as a rule, it is too frequent for 
 prisoners to tell falsehoods, yet where a large number of 
 them, in different prisons, are separately examined, there is 
 aure to be elicited much which furnishes matter for reliable 
 inference. The Queensland Report is a model of its kind, 
 and probably unsurpassed, as such, by any ever issued
 
 Criminal Statistics. 325 
 
 in the mother country, or elsewhere. Its authors 
 illustrated, in their mode of investigation and of final 
 arrangement of collected information, the characteristic 
 features which should mark similar issues, whether of 
 statistical returns, or other descriptions of official reports.
 
 Chapter XV. 
 
 THE POLICE 
 
 Especially in Relation to Pawnbrokers, Publicans, 
 Prostitutes and the Prevention of Crime. 
 
 The Police More Influential than Prison 
 Authorities. 
 
 Not only has there been manifested, in most nations, a 
 too prevalent tendency to over-estimate the general efficacy 
 of imprisonment, but also and especially, a disposition to 
 form an exaggerated idea of its influence, in comparison 
 with that of the Police. The latter have been too exclu- 
 sively regarded as mere instruments of arrest and of detec- 
 tion ; or as a body of men whose chief function consists in 
 being the outside servants of the prison authorities. 
 
 In reality, the position and powers of a wisely organised 
 police force are much more efficacious and comprehensive 
 in their operation than those of the other class. The 
 officers of prisons have, for their special duty, the infliction 
 of punishment, and, to a certain minor extent, the applica- 
 tion of reformatory efforts, in regard to those persons 
 placed under their charge. But such constitute only a 
 very small proportion of the community. Whereas the 
 police are more or less brought into contact with the great 
 body of the population ; and if rightly directed and trained, 
 they have unlimited opportunities, both for the exercise of 
 preventive influences in regard to crime, and for the pro- 
 motion of various modes of social improvement. 
 
 I
 
 The Police. .327 
 
 Yet in most countries, hitherto, the splendid possibilities 
 and powers of a beneficently organised Police, have been 
 largely ignored, or very inadequately regarded. For 
 example, throughout the greater portion of the European 
 Continent, the governing authorities appear to have had 
 little idea of making their police anything but a mere 
 agency for the purposes of political or criminal espionage 
 and arrest. The detection, rather than the prevention, of 
 offences, has been too exclusively constituted the function 
 of these officers. But this is a grave mistake. 
 
 For in proportion as such a one-sided course is adopted, 
 it becomes the interest of the police to abstain from 
 influences and exertions which might, by destroying or 
 obviating criminality, at the same time deprive themselves 
 of the opportunities of earning reward and promotion. 
 The motive and principle resemble those of the cunning 
 rat-catcher, when paid in proportion to the number 
 of animals which he secures in his snares, and who there- 
 fore, takes, also, effectual measures that the supply of such 
 creatures shall never fail, or be reduced in such a degree as 
 to put an end to his own occupation. But when his 
 services are utilised in a more intelligent manner, by his 
 employers, and when he is remunerated in proportion to 
 the success of his endeavours in keeping places altogethei 
 and permanently clear of the vermin, it is observable that 
 he manifests resources of skilful efficiency, which appeared 
 to be beyond his power, so long as he was paid only for 
 the capture, rather than for the continuous absence of the 
 rats, as tested by the discontinuance of their depredations. 
 
 Absence of Crime, a Chief Test of Police 
 Efficiency. 
 
 Similarly, a decisive test of the success of the Police 
 system of any country, is the general comparative amount 
 of its crime. This is not to be chiefly measured by the
 
 328 Penological and Prctentice Principles. 
 
 number of criminals arrested, but by the known and felt 
 absence of violence, theft, and vice. Certain countries, or 
 districts, could be named, where there is a notorious pre- 
 valence of serious crimes, whose perpetrators remain, in 
 many instances, undiscovered and unpunished. This indi- 
 cates a double inefficiency of the local authorities. They 
 are, in such places, comparatively impotent, both for pre- 
 vention and for detection. Whereas the characteristic of 
 able police administration, is skill in loth directions. But 
 the prevention requires much more ability than the detec- 
 tion. And hence it is found, as a matter of fact, that the 
 Police who are best trained in preventive efficiency are 
 also the most skilful in detective ingenuitj^ 
 
 Comparative Failure of the Parisian Police 
 System. 
 
 For instance, in London, there is more attention directed 
 by the police authorities than by those of Paris, to the 
 development of preventive skill amongst their men, and, 
 in consequence, the same intelligence qualifies them for 
 a similar superiority as detectives. In both cities there 
 are many grave crimes, including murders, committed, 
 whose perpetrators escape arrest. But this failure ap- 
 pears, in general, to characterise the French much more 
 than the English police administration. The London and 
 other bodies of police in Great Britain have, however, much 
 scope for further improvement in this direction. Li 1888 
 several murderers and burglars in England either escaped 
 detection altogether, or were at least able for a con- 
 siderable interval to elude apprehension. Thus the man 
 charged with killing a Avarder inside Manchester Jail 
 defied, for three weeks, all the efforts of all the police 
 to recapture him. And it may here be noted that on the 
 average less than half of the indictable offences com- 
 mitted annually in England are followed by the arrest of
 
 The Police. 329 
 
 the perpetrators. For example, in 188G, there were re- 
 ported (in the "Judicial Statistics" for Enc,dand and Wales) 
 44,925 indictable offences, resulting in only 19,285 appre- 
 hensions and 10,G86 convictions. 
 
 There is ^no other place in the world where more strenu- 
 ous and sustained efforts have been made, than in Paris, to 
 elaborate a perfect system of merely detective organization. 
 The utmost finesse and secrecy have been studied; the 
 most cunning accents, educated and uneducated, have been 
 selected ; the constant use of the most ingenious dissfuises 
 has been encouraged and secured ; summary powers of 
 arrest, and liberal pecuniary resources, have been placed in 
 the hands of these officials. So that the Parisian police 
 system has been ostentatiously held up, in some quarters, 
 as a piece of executive machinery worthy of the admiration 
 of the world. But, with all this marvellous elaboration, it 
 has resembled a beautiful piece of clockwork, lacking in 
 its cldef function, that of keeping time. For, on examining 
 the Paris police by the decisive test of their efficiency, it is 
 obvious that no superiority whatever is manifest over the 
 police of most other countries ; but, on the contrary, there is 
 not nearly an equality with the quiet vigour and repressive 
 vigilance of the custodians of public order in some other 
 places, as, for example, in London, and perhaps in Berlin. 
 The murders, robberies, and other evils of Paris, which 
 take place without detection, or punishment, are notorious 
 throughout Europe. Hence the Parisian police have not 
 been successful, so far as the principal tests and objects 
 of such a body are concerned. The criminality of their 
 city is swarming over^ even into the Southern Hemisphere. 
 
 The English policeman is generally credited with less 
 acumen than his Parisian brother, and is often made 
 the subject of good-humoured satire, on the boards of 
 theatres or in the prints of the comic press ; but, on the 
 whole, he fairly bears the test of comparative, practical 
 efficiency. The inhabitants of London and other British
 
 330 Penohrjical and Preventicc Principles. 
 
 cities enjoy a much greater security from violence, both 
 by night and by day, than their French neighbours. 
 The intrinsic failure of the Parisian police force, in par- 
 ticular, has of late years been graphically exposed and 
 conclusively proved, by several of its own chief adminis- 
 trators. 
 
 Distinctively Military Police are the Less 
 Intelligent. 
 
 The comparative efficiency and popularity of the British 
 police are in a great degree to be attributed to the progress 
 already made, in efforts on the part of their chief officers, 
 to develop amongst their men the faculty of individual 
 thoughtfulness and general practical ajDtitude. They are 
 encouraged to use their own wits, and to think for them- 
 selves. This they are the better qualified for, inasmuch as 
 they have not, for the most part, been subjected to previous 
 military training. It must, however, be acknowledged 
 that much more of this intelligence is still to be desired, 
 even on the part of the Metropolitan police. 
 
 One of the chief and most successful of British Police 
 Authorities has remarked to the writer, — " Soldiers, iit. 
 (/eiieral, make the worst police, precisely because they have 
 usually been trained not to think for themselves, but simply 
 to obey commands implicitly. If you order an old soldier 
 to perambulate a certain street, he will just ' cover the 
 ground,' and do nothing more. He simply goes where he is 
 told to go, and sees what he is told to look at, but is apt to 
 direct his attention to nothing beside, and to allow all else 
 to elude his observation ; because he has always been taught 
 to do nothing but to obey orders in a mere mechanical spirit." 
 The same officer added, " If one of my men asks me to give 
 him precise directions for the detection of a certain crime, I 
 know that he is not adequately skilful. I expect him to 
 think out and to devise, for himself, the best means of detec-
 
 The Police. 331 
 
 tion, in accordance with the special circumstances of each 
 particular case. But unless he has been trained, or accus- 
 tomed, to think for himself, he is incompetent for such 
 mental exertion." And hcucc it is that mere military police, 
 in Paris and in many other Continental cities, fail in 
 the highest functions of a first-class organisation. Their 
 antecedents, as a body, have not only not qualified them for 
 the lively, independent exercise of their own intellects, in 
 the double work of detection and prevention, but have 
 positively unfitted them for such important services. In 
 other words, the very foundation of military efficiency is 
 one of the chief sources of incompetency, as respects the 
 highest of police functions. This important truth is, how- 
 ever, greatly disregarded by many authorities, both in 
 reference to the police and to prison officials. 
 
 The American Police. 
 
 In the United States, the civilian, as distinguished from 
 the military element, prevails largely amongst the police. 
 Nevertheless, the American police are by no means 
 equal in efficiency to the British ; but for other reasons 
 than in the case of the French. In certain cities of the 
 United States, a considerable amount of successful repres- 
 sion is secured, but in others — including some of the 
 largest towns — the police obtain their appointments chiefly 
 through their political friends ; and they often appear to 
 devote their energies to the party interests of their parti- 
 cular wards and districts, rather than to the public protec- 
 tion. Further, the frequent changes of Government, and 
 of all, or nearly all, official appointments, in the United 
 States, exercise a very mischievous influence upon the 
 police, as upon every other description of local and national 
 control. New York city has, however, set a good example 
 by securing a longer and more certain tenure of office for 
 its police, and has also permitted more power of organi.sa-
 
 8o2 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 tion and discipline to the chiefs of the force. Under 
 several able leaders, these have, of late years, achieved a 
 high reputation for efficiency. But some of them are open 
 to the reproach of not unfrequent brutality, in the too 
 free use of their clubs or batons. 
 
 For various reasons, many of the United States police 
 are less amenable to discipline, more accessible to bribery, 
 and possess fewer motives for a faithful discharge of their 
 duties, than the similar class in Great Britain. Hence, they 
 cannot be depended upon, for certain services of their 
 profession, which are ably fulfilled by the police in some 
 other lands. For example, they are amongst the least suc- 
 cessful as detectives, with some exception as to New York 
 and perhaps a few other places. This is proved by the 
 necessity which has arisen, in various American cities, for 
 the establishment of private detective agencies, conducted 
 on the basis of pecuniary expectation, and, in fact, forming 
 a distinct business. If an American has suffered some im- 
 portant depredation, he is apt to have recourse to one of 
 these private agencies, in preference to the official police, 
 for help to discover the perpetrator, and bring him to 
 justice. But for such assistance, he must pay liberally, in 
 addition to his tax for the regular police. 
 
 And it is for such reasons, that the Americans them- 
 selves admit that they cannot carry out, in their couutrj^ 
 that effective measure of the Conditional Liberation of 
 Habitual Offenders, under regular supervision, which so 
 largely depends, for its success, upon a well-organised and 
 thoroughly disciplined police administration, characterised 
 at once by humane consideration and repressive vigi- 
 lance. 
 
 Efficiency of the British Police. 
 
 It is no undue boast, on the part of Englishmen, to assert 
 that, notwithstanding some decided defects, the police of 
 their own country are amongst the most efficient in the
 
 The Police. 833 
 
 world, and are indeed probably unequalled. One reason iov 
 this high position is that the central and municipal autho- 
 rities in Great Britain have, at an)' rate of late years, 
 chosen for their chief Directors, or Commissioners of Police, 
 gentlemen of high qualifications, and have not permitted 
 the elements of political partizanship to usurp a prominent 
 influence in this selection, in comparison, at least, with the 
 extent to which such inducements have operated in regard 
 to some other appointments. It is true that these able 
 chiefs have, in general, had a military training ; but then 
 this has been of a very different nature from that of the 
 comparatively uneducated private soldiers. The former 
 have been men of much intellectual development, through 
 collegiate or university advantages, and have thus been 
 accustomed to think and act for themselves. Some of the 
 foremost amongst them have been, and are, men of piety 
 and morality. They have l>een in sympathy with the 
 people, and have insisted upon their subordinates cultivat- 
 ing this spirit. The British police, as a body, are therefore 
 popular. And herein consists much of their power. An 
 experienced Director of the Police said to the writer — 
 " We are ' in touch ' with the people. Otherwise we could 
 not get on at all ; or, at any rate, we could not maintain 
 order with anything like our present numbers." 
 
 This remark does not apply so much to the police of 
 Ireland, where they are more distinctly military. And it 
 is precisely because the Irish police are such, that they are 
 at once less efficient for detection and prevention, and also 
 less respected by the population, than is the case in Great 
 Britain. 
 
 Moral Functions of the British Police. 
 
 The attainment of success, in the eminently important 
 service of preventing or diminishing crime, imperatively 
 demands the cultivation of moral qualities and human
 
 834 Ptnoiogical and Preventive Principles. 
 
 sympathies, in addition to detective intelligence. And in 
 this department, also, many of the British Police are exem- 
 plary. They have approximated the honourable standard, 
 described by the late Mr. Barwick Baker, in the following 
 words : — " The Police should be not a separate body antago- 
 nistic to the people, but more citizens than police ; respected 
 and valued by their fellow-subjects, and specially fitted to 
 keep a friendly watch on liberated prisoners." 
 
 Many of the English Police, both in the superior and 
 subordinate ranks, are to be numbered amongst the prac- 
 tical philanthropists of the nation. They are kind to the 
 children and dumb animals, and courteously helpful to the 
 citizens, in the streets. And they may fairly be credited 
 with some share in securing that marked diminution 
 of serious crime which has taken place in Great Britain 
 of late years. It is to be particularly noted that this 
 decrease has been contemporaneous with a .sj)ecial 
 development of more intelligent and humanely directed 
 Police activity, in the supervision and assistance of con- 
 ditionally liberated convicts, and in other definite endea- 
 vours of a preventive tendency. 
 
 Police Efficiency Limited by Lax Legislatiox as to 
 Alcohol and Receivers of Stolen Goods. 
 
 Much more might be effected by this useful class of men, 
 both at home and aliroad, if their powers were not unduly 
 limited by the excessive facilities for drunkenness and 
 for general vice and crime, afforded by certain laws and 
 customs, the evil influences of which are doubly pesti- 
 ferous to a country. These not only tend to demoralize 
 the populace, but they become special means of temptation 
 to the police themselves. For it must always be remem- 
 bered that the latter are necessarily exposed, in the dis- 
 charge of their functions, to peculiar and strong tempta- 
 tions. When exhausted or thirsty, by day or by night,
 
 The Police. 335 
 
 the liquor-seller, the brothel-keeper, and the harlot, can 
 often ply them Avith inducements to neglect their duties, 
 or to acquiescence in illegal acts, sometimes too power- 
 ful to be resisted. To diminish these dangers, further 
 legal, municipal and popular control over the establish- 
 ments for the sale of intoxicating liquors is imperatively 
 needed. 
 
 There is also a form of evil, in Great Britain especially, 
 to which legislation and public attention have not been 
 adequately directed, and in regard to which the interests 
 of the community demand that more power should be 
 given to the police, or at least to the Superintendents, and 
 more intelligent officers amongst them. This is a most 
 fertile root of crime, and consists in the insufficient con- 
 trol over the Receivers of Stolen Goods and similar 
 " Crime Capitalists." It has been repeatedly observed 
 that if there were no receivers or dealers in stolen pro- 
 perty, there would be very few thieves. There are, amongst 
 the pawnbrokers, many respectable persons who afford 
 considerable assistance to the police in the detection of 
 crime, but there is also amongst them, a minority of a 
 very different character. And the business of even the 
 best class of pawnbrokers, for want of more stringent 
 regulations, may render them unconscious instruments of 
 facilitating crime. There has also arisen, of late years, a 
 body of men who advertise for large or small consign- 
 ments of goods from distant places, for which prompt 
 payment is promised and no questions are to be asked. 
 This mode of doing business places great temptations in 
 the way of dishonest servants, workmen, and others. It 
 also aids the operations of "The Long Firm," a name 
 given to individuals or groups, who, whilst pretending 
 to be legitimate merchants, are in reality base thieves, 
 often on a wdiolesale scale, inasmuch as they obtain, by 
 reo-ular order, goods f (U- which they have no intention what- 
 ever of paying, but which, through the help of other dis-
 
 33G Poiolofjical and Frcccntkc Principles. 
 
 honest traders and receivers, they promptly turn into cash, 
 at a very cheap rate, and at a good profit (having incurred 
 no expense for the same), and then disappear, or become 
 bankrupt, or in various ways manage to elude the grasp 
 of the law. Very extensive injury is thus inflicted upon 
 the public, and cruel wrong done to many respectable 
 dealers. But hitherto, when any attempt has been made, 
 in England at least, to impose an effectual check upon 
 such dishonesty, some of the off'enders, or their agents, have 
 been able to mystify the public, and frustrate the needful 
 legislative changes. They have pointed to the danger of 
 increased police power, and have pleaded that only a minor 
 portion of their business is connected with fraud. And, 
 like the young woman who excused her having an ille- 
 gitimate baby, because it was " so small," so by raising a 
 somewhat similar plea, some of this class have succeeded 
 in averting that vigorous repression of their operations 
 which is essential. There can be no doubt but that a 
 vast amount of property is annually stolen with im- 
 punity, in every country ; and somehow it finds purchasers. 
 Individual thieves are often apprehended, but it is a rare 
 event to see one of the wholesale receivers convicted. Yet 
 these are incomparalh/ more dangerous, more intelligent, 
 and more culpable, than the open thieves and robbers. 
 In reo-ard to this, as to other public evils, the sources and 
 roots of the mischief should be mainly dealt with. But, 
 with some exceptions, this has not yet been the case. 
 
 It ought not to be an insuperable difficulty, in England, 
 to secure measures for destroying the confidence between 
 thieves and the cunning receivers of their plunder, the men 
 who have their secret melting furnaces in readiness to 
 promptly convert stolen gold, silver, and jewellery into a 
 condition beyond the power of identification by its legiti- 
 mate claimants. It has been suggested that special induce- 
 ments, through a reduction of sentence or of punishment, 
 should be held out to thieves to furnish such information
 
 The Police. 337 
 
 (often only known to themselves) as might tend to bring 
 to justice the chief agents and abettors of crime, these 
 more wicked dealers in plunder. The Police are at pre- 
 sent continually obliged, through defect of the law in this 
 direction, to refrain from arresting persons whom they 
 have good reason to consider the most dangerous and 
 effective sources both of local and distant crime. It was 
 stated by Mr. M. D. Hill, that for one such person 
 punished, five thousand have escaped. 
 
 Supervision of Pawxbrokers and Receivers of 
 Stolen Goods. 
 
 Various means of supervising the operation of pawn- 
 brokers, in particular, have been suggested by experienced 
 observers, as, for instance, by Mr. Edwin Hill, of London, 
 Ml-. Farndale, a police superintendent of Birmingham, 
 and others. It has been proposed that the chief officers 
 of Police, in the various localities, or a special l")ody selected 
 by them, should have increased powers of entry and 
 search on the premises of all pawnbrokers, and suspected 
 receivers of stolen goods ; and that they should have fa- 
 cilities afforded for the examination of their books, and 
 should make these parties responsible for the sale of any 
 articles described by the police as stolen ; also that the 
 Police authorities should have liberty to advertise or cir- 
 culate lists of presumed members of " Long Firms," or 
 other receivers, without any liability to prosecutions or 
 actions for libel, for any reasonable step taken in this and 
 similar directions. And, further, it is suggested that pawn- 
 brokers shall receive a percentage, through the Police, on 
 the value of all stolen property recovered by their assist- 
 ance. In certain localities, something has been done, in 
 regard to the adoption of this last-named practice. The 
 limitation of pawnbroking operations to certain houjs of 
 
 z
 
 338 Penological and Prevent ive Principles. 
 
 the day, and the prohibition of receiving goods, for pawn, 
 from children, might be of service to the community. 
 
 It is also to be desired in England that the Police or 
 Magisterial authorities should be furnished with greater 
 powers for the initiation of Prosecutions. This too gene- 
 rally devolves upon private persons, to the great injury of 
 the public interests. 
 
 Some such measures as these are generally necessary for 
 the welfare of every community. And, if enacted by law, 
 they will greatly influence the efficiencj^ of the Police and 
 their ability to promote the public security. 
 
 Higher Grade Police Functions. 
 
 In reference not only to the control over the receivers 
 of stolen goods, but also, and especially, in regard to the 
 supervision of conditionally discharged convicts and ha- 
 bitual criminals, it is to the more intelligent and the more 
 morally capable members of the Police Force that resort 
 must be had for efficiency and success. Otherwise failure 
 will ensue. 
 
 For, as in ordinary society, so also there are " black 
 sheep " amongst every large body of Police, men who are 
 peculiarly weak to resist temptations, inducements, and 
 blandishments, or who love to indulge malicious and cruel 
 dispositions, by the exercise of oi^pression, through a per- 
 version of their official position. It is of the utmost im- 
 portance for the chiefs of the Police to exercise constant 
 vigilance, lest such a class of persons become entrusted 
 with duties which they will prostitute and pervert, to the 
 dishonour and unpopularity of the whole Force. Thus, in 
 the earlier days of the supervision of discharged prisoners 
 in England, there were frequent complaints of police 
 tyranny, through the betrayal of the antecedents of 
 former ofienders, who had succeeded, after leaving jail, in 
 obtaining employment, and were leading honest lives.
 
 The Police. 339 
 
 Probably these complaints on the part of the public were 
 exaggerated ; but at any rate they were so frequent and 
 continuous, as to constitute a reasonable ground for anxiety 
 and suspicion as to the abuse of their office by some police- 
 men. But of later years, this yery important work, of the 
 superyision of conditionally liberated criminals, has been 
 placed in the hands of the superior officers, and of a 
 Special Department, and not entrusted to the rank and file 
 indiscriminately. In consequence, the complaints, formerly 
 so frequent, haye largeh* disappeared ; and eyen the dis- 
 charged prisoners themselyes feel, and haye often testified, 
 that they haye found, amongst the Police, some of their 
 best helpers in obtaining employment, and in endeayours 
 to encourage them in honest courses. 
 
 It is of still greater importance that the lower ranks of 
 police should be most carefully superyised and restricted 
 in their powers of control or arrest, in regard to Pros- 
 titutes. For it is in connection with these and with 
 the moneyed frequenters and keepers of Brothels, that in 
 England, and eyerywhere else, the Police haye usually been 
 specially weak and unreliable. 
 
 Moral Aid to the Police. 
 
 Yet it is to be remembered that no inconsiderable amount 
 of Rescue Work has l)een, and is, aehieyed by the British 
 Police among.st those usually termed the criminal classes, 
 neglected children, and tempted youth of both sexes. 
 But for the chief qualification and motiye power for 
 these various functions of the higher order, and of pre- 
 yentiye efficiency in particular, the organisation of this 
 body of officials requires all the assistance which admini- 
 stratiye wisdom and voluntary moral and relio-ious in- 
 fluences can furnish. In Great Britain, at any rate, these 
 aids are being increasingly .supplied, partly- throuo-h the 
 effi)rts of philanthropic individuals amongst the public, 
 
 z2
 
 340 Penological and Prcvirntice Principles. 
 
 partly by the principal authorities, and partly, also, by the 
 self-help and independent exertions of the Police them- 
 selves. 
 
 Some of the Bishops, Clergy, and other Ministers of the 
 Gospel have begun to interest themselves in the religious 
 welfare of the Police. Many Bible classes have been 
 recently established amongst the Force, in Great Britain ; 
 also a number of singing classes. Some progress has been 
 made in the establishment of Libraries and Readings Rooms 
 amongst them. It is, however, very important that much 
 more should be done in these and similar directions. 
 Efforts to institute Orphanages, for the children of deceased 
 members of the Force, have also had some successful develop- 
 ment. 
 
 The Police and Temperance, 
 
 A number of " Temperance Unions " have been formed 
 amongst the London and Provincial Police, and have been 
 joined by some of the principal officers. A fine example of 
 the latter was the late Mr. John Robinson, Detective 
 Superintendent of the Birmingham Police, an able and 
 universally respected man, and a practical Christian. In 
 one period of five years, he induced one hundred and thirty- 
 seven policemen to sign the Total Abstinence pledge. Many 
 members of the force, with their wives and families, were 
 largely indebted to his influence for the happiness of their 
 lives and homes. 
 
 Some excellent remarks on the importance of Temperance 
 amongst the Police, were made at a meeting at the Mansion 
 House, London, in ISSo, by Mr. James Monro, one of the 
 principal Commissioners of the Metropolitan Police. He 
 said — " We, as Commissioners, have at times a very painful 
 experience in dealing with cases of intemperance amongst 
 the men. No task is more painful than to deal with those 
 cases. I can assure you that to myself, and I have no
 
 The Police. 341 
 
 doubt to my colleagues also, it is a matter of deep personal 
 grief, to see fine men, old and young, brought up before us 
 and obliged to be dismissed the service, on account of their 
 having yielded to this terrible temptation — dismissed the 
 service, I say, because it is held, not only by the Com- 
 missioners of Police, but by the public, that any man who 
 persistently and habitually yields to such a temptation, 
 cannot adequately fullil the responsibilities of office which 
 the public had put upon him. Both by day and by night, 
 the duties of the Police are extremely arduous and difficult. 
 
 " I must not lose sight of a special temptation which is 
 caused, not by the work that the Policemen have to do, 
 but by the action of others. I think most of you will bear 
 me out in saying that there are not many 2:»laces in London 
 where a Policeman cannot get his beer, pretty well all the 
 year round, for nothing. This is very much more insidious 
 ami dangerous than the temptation which is affi^rded by 
 the performance of hard work, because yielding to it means 
 the omission to perform duty, shutting a man's eyes and 
 holding his tongue. I do not say with reference to what, 
 but I have no doubt that you all know perfectly well what 
 I mean. 
 
 " Well, when I talk of these temptations, I do not, for a 
 moment, mean to palliate, as it were, the yielding to them 
 because they are great. As Englishmen and as English 
 policemen, I should say to you, resist them ; fight against 
 them ; overcome them ; and if, l;>y joining this Union, and 
 by Total Abstinence, you do overcome this evil, then I am 
 perfectly certain you will be better policemen and better 
 men." 
 
 In America also, the temptations put in the way of Police 
 by drinksellers are very great. Dr. H(^ward Crosby states 
 that the Chief of Police, in one city in the United States, 
 earned some thousand pounds sterling annually " by his 
 carefulness in leaving the license-law breakers alone." It 
 is further stated by Rev. JosiAH Strong, Secretar}' U.S.
 
 342 Penological and Prcrvntive Principles. 
 
 Evangelical Alliance, that iu New York the liquor vendors 
 collectively possess such power, through bribery of some of 
 the Police officials, that, in certain cases, punishment is 
 secured not for the violator of license laws, but for the 
 conscientious subordinate of the Police who may venture 
 to arrest such a one. 
 
 In order to extend Temperance, whether amongst police- 
 men or the general community, a principal condition of 
 success is the contrivance and adoption of such details 
 of arrangement, as render the desired object readilij prac- 
 ticahle, and prevent its becoming too difficult of attainment. 
 Thus the movement in favour of j)opular sobriety amongst 
 the general community, has of late years made very consi- 
 derable progress, chiefly through the opening of numerous 
 self-supporting establishments for the sale of cheap and 
 good substitutes for intoxicating liquor ; or otherwise, for 
 the provision of light, warmth, books, music and recreation, 
 as attractive rivals to the tavern or gin-palace. Compara- 
 tively little advance was made in the Temperance cause, 
 until these facilities for its more general observance were 
 secured. 
 
 And, in like manner, if the Police authorities sincerely 
 wish to encourage sobriety amongst their men, and to 
 protect them from the very severe temptations to which 
 they are subjected, it is absolutely necessary for them also 
 to institute such detailed arrangements in connection with 
 the stations, lodgings, and duties of their men, as shall bring 
 the desired object within their reach, easily and generally. 
 Hot tea, coffee or cocoa, should be provided at all Police- 
 stations, for the men during the night and early morn- 
 ing; and they should be allowed to fortify themselves 
 with non-intoxicating beverages during prolonged hours 
 of duty. Soldiers and sailors have, in many instances, 
 been greatly assisted and cheered by having such refresh- 
 ments served out to them in the early mornings, and also 
 just before going on guard at night.
 
 The Police. 343 
 
 Need for more Definite Encouragement of 
 Preventive Efficiency. 
 
 In Great Britain especially, the discipline of the Police is 
 aided by a clearly defined gradation of punishments and 
 rewards, fines and gifts. There would, however, be ad- 
 vantages derivable from a larger resort than hitherto, even 
 in this country, and still more so in other lands, to the 
 principle of encouragement by pecuniary remuneration, or 
 promotion, for special zeal and success in the Prevention of 
 crime, and in help rendered to the public Health, Tempe- 
 rance and Morality. The protection of Dumb Animals from 
 cruelty should also, in every nation, constitute a duty in 
 the cordial discharge of which the Police should be intel- 
 ligently prompted and assisted. In this respect also, the 
 British Police manifest much exemplary zeal. And here, 
 too, their efficiency has been in a great degree stimulated 
 by the influence of philanthropic individuals and Associa- 
 tions. 
 
 Police Self-Help. 
 
 The relifrious and moral interests of the Police, in Great 
 Britain and Ireland, have, of late years, been materially 
 promoted by the formation of a voluntary organization 
 named the " Christian Police Association." Its annual 
 meetings are attended by a considerable number of Metro- 
 politan and Provincial delegates ; and, in connection with 
 it, there is issued a useful monthly journal, entitled " On 
 and Off Duty," which is exclusively devoted to subjects 
 bearing upon the welfare of the Police. Some persons of 
 wealth and influence have given their support to the Asso- 
 ciation, and it is to be hoped that many more such will 
 follow their good example.
 
 Sli Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 Need of Public Co-operation. 
 
 In every country and town the efficiency of the Police 
 greatly depends upon the interest taken in them by the 
 general community, and upon the wise vigilance exercised 
 in reo-ard to them, by the People and the Press. In several 
 cases, where there has been a temporary exertion of special 
 Police efforts in the direction of Temperance, Sanitation, 
 or Kindness to Animals, it has been observed that these 
 endeavours were intimately connected with the stimulus 
 furnished by certain local Philanthropists, Editors, or Asso- 
 ciations ; and that, when these relaxed their diligence, the 
 Police also relapsed into comparative inertness. 
 
 The Police, the Public, and the Press, are three colla- 
 teral and mutual influences, neither of which can become 
 inactive without loss to all parties concerned. In Great 
 Britain there is an increasing development of this beneficial 
 and truly patriotic union. 
 
 Vigilance over the Police, as well as by Them, 
 Indispensable. 
 
 In the interests both of the Police and of the public, the 
 latter should be well protected, by the law, against any 
 abuse of authority, or needless violence, on the part of the 
 former. This is largely the case in Great Britain, where 
 the Police are legally punishable for such transgressions 
 of duty as the unnecessary use of their truncheons, or 
 for making wrongful arrests, or for perjury, drunkenness 
 and other offences. But, in some other countries, they are 
 practically permitted to become instruments of oppres- 
 sion and even of brutaHty. This is a very unwise policy 
 on the part of the chief authorities, for it tends to destroy 
 the popular sympathy with the law and with its agents, 
 and deprives the Police of that support and respect, on the
 
 The Folivr. 345 
 
 part of the puljlic, which are of such material service for 
 the facilitation of their duties. 
 
 Public Women, Public Houses and the Police. 
 
 It is particularly noteworthy that when the general 
 popularity of the British, and especially that of the 
 Metropolitan Police, has been interrupted, the cause 
 of dissatisfaction has usually been connected with some 
 abuse of the relations between the Police and Prostitutes ; 
 although their official connection with the Drivers of 
 Vehicles also gives rise to occasional charges of harsh 
 interference. 
 
 But it is with res^ard to public women and public 
 houses that Police failures, or corruption, chiefly and most 
 often arise ; because here the men themselves are most 
 open to temptation and bribery, through the strong induce- 
 ments of appetite. Even in the cities where the Police are 
 most efficient, as in London and Berlin, they are never 
 reliahk — never safe, as the sole or chief protectors of society 
 from the evils of prostitution ; whether as to its degrad- 
 ing vice, or its constantly connected robbery and violence. 
 The Police are always under special— sometimes almost 
 irresistible — temptations, to levy lilackmail on the frail 
 sisterhood, either in money or in compliance with evil. 
 
 Even in regard to the comparatively exemplary Police of 
 the British Metropolis, there arose, in the summer of 1887, 
 a great outcry, on the ground of their alleged connivance 
 with the most brazen-faced hahitue'cs of the pavement, 
 whilst respectable and modest poor girls were not always 
 free from molestation or insult ly the Police themselves. 
 It was simultaneously complained, in Parliament, and in 
 The Times newspaper, the Saturday Review, and other lead- 
 ing journals, tliat it was a matter of notoriety that the 
 " blackmailing " of prostitutes and of brothel-keepers was 
 being practised, to no inconsiderable extent, in London and
 
 346 Pcnologlccil ami Preventive Principles. 
 
 elsewhere. Such charges are, from their very nature, pecu- 
 liarly difficult of proof; but the circumstance that they were 
 re-echoed from many different quarters afforded, in itself, a 
 grave indication of the extreme danger of private and 
 public demoralization Avhich always, and everywhere, and 
 even under the best of ordinary organizations, must exist, 
 wherever the suppression or regulation of Prostitution is 
 chiefly entrusted to the Police. In 1888, the Metropolitan 
 authorities stated that, as the result of an inquiry made, by 
 the Police themselves, into the morality of their own class, 
 it was to be concluded that they had not deserved the 
 recent blame for collusion with prostitutes. Hereupon 
 The Times and other journals, whilst partially accepting 
 this self-exculpation, took occasion suggestively to remark 
 that, nevertheless, if the members of the Force were so free 
 from blame in this respect, as their superiors took them to 
 be, they would indeed be " moral miracles." 
 
 The employment of " Police Matrons " has of late 
 years been found advantageous, in some localities, for the 
 care of females under arrest. Perhaps, to a certain extent, 
 the oversight and control of prostitutes might be subserved 
 by the appointment of very carefully selected police uvmeii, 
 with functions limited to that department. 
 
 Utility of " Watch Com.^iittees " over the Police. 
 
 Neither Prostitution nor Drunkenness can be effectually 
 put down by the Police, or by mere legal Prohibition. The 
 experiences of Paris, Berlin, Brussels, and other cities 
 where the " Police des Moeurs " have been glaring failures, 
 and sources of rank demoralisation, prove this, as to the 
 former vice. And the wide-spread and irrepressible eva- 
 sion of the " Maine Law," or of " Total Prohibition," in the 
 United States, as distinct from the wholesome effect of 
 the rigorous restriction and regulation of Liquor Licenses, 
 conclusively demonstrates it as to the other. Nevertheless,
 
 The Police. 347 
 
 in each case, certain checks, or powers of control b}' the 
 Police, are very needful. But, in view of the ordinary- 
 human frailty and special temptations of these officials, it 
 is essential to public morality that some independent or 
 collateral authority should be instituted, both for the 
 assistance and for the control of the Police themselves, in 
 reference to these special tempters, before whom they so 
 often fall prostrate — the public woman an^l the public- 
 house keeper. 
 
 Here, again, the Metropolitan experience of 1887 was 
 very suggestive. In London the authority of the Chiefs of 
 Police is comparatively autocratic. It is slightly influenced 
 by the Home Secretary in the '' Metropolitan District," and 
 by a small Committee of Aldermen in " the City " proper ; 
 but generally these collateral elements of control are of 
 very limited activity. The Civic supervision, however, 
 appears to have been more satisfactory and effectual than 
 that supposed to be specially exerted by the Home Office, 
 in the wider " Metropolitan District." But in many of the 
 provincial towns there are vigilant and efficient bodies, 
 appointed by the local Municipalities and named " Watch 
 Committees." Their function is to guide and watch the 
 guardians of public security. Most valuable, in many 
 places, is this independent check and support. And it has 
 often prevented the police from getting themselves, and 
 others, into grave difficulties. If, in the Metropolis also, 
 such " Watch Committees " had been an active and potent 
 reality, the Police authorities might have been spared some 
 humljling experiences of failure and obloquy ; whilst the 
 public morals and safety would have been still more mate- 
 rially promoted tlian hitherto. 
 
 The highest Police efficiency, in every department, but 
 especially in reference to Morals, is essentially dependent 
 upon the measure of collateral control possessed, and of 
 vigilance exercised, by the local Municipalities, or County 
 Councils, or similar Boards, and by the Press. And it
 
 348 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 is to be particularly remembered, in this connection, 
 that the importance of the Police, as a body, will continue 
 to increase, in proportion as, in various countries, con- 
 ditional liberty, instead of imprisonment, and conditional 
 liberation, after a certain measure of detention, become 
 more and more resorted to, as means of effectually dealing 
 with offenders, rather than by an undue use of the jail, 
 with its numerous disadvantaojes.
 
 Chapter XVI. 
 
 NEGLECTED YOUTH AND JUVENILE DELIN 
 QUENCY. 
 
 Enfoecement of Parental Responsibility. 
 
 It is recorded of a boy, named John Scott, that having 
 been caught trespassing and stealing apples, his father was 
 summoned before a magistrate and ordered to make com- 
 pensation to the aggrieved person. This was done ; but 
 Mr. Scott also chastised his son, and looked more carefully 
 after him for the future. That lad afterwards became 
 Lord High Chancellor Eldon ; but had he been punished 
 by imprisonment, and his father allowed, with impunity, to 
 neglect his responsibilities, the results might have been 
 very different. This incident was rightly regarded by an 
 able penologist, Mr. Alexander Thomson, as being a sug- 
 gestive one, in reference to the fundamental principle which 
 should regulate the treatment of youthful offenders. So 
 far as practicable, correction should be secured by enforcing 
 parental responsibilities, and by bringing good influences 
 to bear upon the homes. If these objects cannot be effec- 
 tually secured, then only should other measures be adopted. 
 Nature begins with the home and the parent. So should 
 law and philanthropy. Well would it have been for innu- 
 merable parents and children, if the wholesome principle, 
 adopted in reference to Lord Eldon's father, had been more 
 generally regarded. But, unhappily, the unwise and cruel 
 practice of imprisoning young children, and of almost ex- 
 clusively making them, instead of their parents, responsible
 
 350 Penological and Prcvt'niive Principles. 
 
 to the law for their oftences, became too frequent, especially 
 after the introduction of certain improvements into the 
 jails of modern times. 
 
 Reformatories and Industrial Schools. 
 
 Gradually, a partial sense of the folly and injustice of 
 this course, led some good men to labour, with much 
 ultimate success, for the establishment of Reformatories 
 and Industrial Schools. They had widely observed that 
 not only are adult criminals very difficult of reformation, 
 but that association with them tends to render the recla- 
 mation of young offenders almost as hopeless. Whereas, 
 by wholly separating at least the one class from the other, 
 they found that the probability of rescuing the young, in- 
 creased in a direct proportion to the early stage at which 
 they commenced these wise efforts. 
 
 Both the pioneers and the subsequent supporters of this 
 excellent movement have rendered most important services 
 to the world. They have included, for example, such ho- 
 noured names as those of Captain Brenton, Mr. Barwick 
 Baker, Mr. Joseph Sturge, Mr. Matthew D. Hill, Miss 
 Mary Carpenter, Mr. Russell Scott, Mr. Thomas Beggs, 
 Mr. George W. Hastings (M.P.), Mr. Sheriff Watson, of 
 Aberdeen, Mr. Matthew Dunlop, Mr. R. Hanbury (M.P.), 
 Mr. A. 0. Charles, Mr. Adderley (M.P., afterwards 
 Lord Norton), Lord Stanley (Earl Derby), Sir S. North- 
 cote (Lord Iddesleigh), The Earl of Shaftesbury, Mr. 
 Alexander Thomson, of Banchory, Sir U. K. Shuttle- 
 worth, Bart. ; Dr. Guthrie ; Mr. E. Macharg and Mr. W:n. 
 Mitchell, of Glasgow, Rev. Sydney Turner, Mr. Henry 
 Rogers (of Delahay Street, S.W.), Mr. Charles Lucas, 
 M. Demetz, M. F. Desportes, M. Robin and M. Roussell, 
 of France ; Dr. Wichern, M. FOhring, and ]^I. Harke, of 
 Germany ; M. de Olivekrona and M. Wieselgren, of 
 Sweden ; Mr. C. L. Brace and Mr. C. D. Randall, U.S.A. ;
 
 Necjlected Youth and Jiiirni/r DcJinqumoj. 851 
 
 M. SuRiNGAR, of Holland ; M. F. Stuckexberg, of Denmark ; 
 M. FucHS, Baden, and many others. Two of the above- 
 named gentlemen, in particular, Mr. G. W. Hastings, M.R, 
 the enercjetic orrjaniser of Social Science Congresses in 
 En;:Tland during many years, and his friend, Mr. T. B. L. 
 Baker, have greatly promoted improvements in the treat- 
 ment both of adult and juvenile criminals in this country. 
 
 The success of the class of institutions thus introduced 
 for training criminal and neglected youth, and as substi- 
 tutes for the prison, has been marked and decided. Large 
 has been the consequent measure, both of prevention and 
 cure. But, as time has gone on, there has also been mani- 
 fested in this, as in so many other matters, a tendency to 
 proceed to a mischievous extreme, and to develop what 
 has been, not inaptly, termed an " institution craze." 
 
 Abuse of Training Institutions. 
 
 It is right and necessary that orphans, or utterly friend- 
 less and destitute children, whether virtuous or delinquent, 
 should be cared for, at the cost of the State, or of the 
 charitable ; but in certain countries, and especially in Great 
 Britain and some of the United States, much more than 
 this has been done. Wilfully idle, drunken and improvident 
 parents, have been, in thousands, relieved of their natural 
 responsibilities. 
 
 Numerous establishments, some of great extent, have 
 been erected and maintained, at a heavy cost to the honest 
 and industrious portion of the community, in which pauper, 
 criminal, and neglected youth have been received, with a 
 facility and almost with an open welcome, which has prac- 
 tically put a premium upon parental vice and carelessness. 
 These children of the deliberately improvident, or criminal 
 members of the population, have often been loaded with 
 comforts and advantages, far superior to those possessed, 
 by the offspring of the honest working man. Indeed, the
 
 352 Penological and Freceniive Principles. 
 
 latter has been taxed for the support of the former. This 
 folly has been perpetrated on a large scale. A shrewd 
 observer, holding high office under the British Govern- 
 ment, remarked to the writer that, in his view, it has 
 constituted one of the most mischievous and most exten- 
 sive perversions of originally well-meant philanthropy and 
 legislation. 
 
 So far as Great Britain is concerned, a three-fold mistake 
 has been committed in this matter. 
 
 Firstly, the responsibility of the parent has been largely 
 disregarded, or not enforced. Official statistics show that, 
 on the average, only about a shilling in the pound, or one- 
 twentieth of the cost of the children, in English Reforma- 
 tories and Industrial Schools, has been obtained from their 
 parents or friends. Neither is their responsibility, in 
 general, brought home to them in other ways, as by punish- 
 ment. 
 
 Secondly, the multitudes of young persons thus taken 
 over by the State, have often been crowded together, with- 
 out due classification, and with a demoralising mixture of 
 those of tender years with older and vicious youths. Hence 
 the numerous outbreaks, riots, and incendiarisms, which 
 have taken place in Reformatories and Training Ships. 
 More than a few of these have, at one time or another, 
 been set on fire by their inmates. Hence, also, the frequent 
 complaints, by prison officers, that some of the worst 
 convicts are those who have been trained in such insti- 
 tutions. 
 
 It has often been practically forgotten that the mischiefs 
 arising from evil association may be as potently active in 
 " Reformatories " as in Prisons. And a want of care, in this 
 respect, has certainly been attended by serious results to 
 the inmates of many such institutions, and has lessened the 
 popular estimate of their efficacy, as places for advantageous 
 training. For example, at the Liverpool Assizes, in 1886, 
 thirteen youths were arraigned before Justice Grantham,
 
 Neglected Youth and Juvenile Belinquenc//. 353 
 
 for a mutiny on board a reformatory ship, durino- which 
 outbreak one of the officers was dangerously wounded. The 
 Judge sentenced one of these lads to penal servitude for 
 five years, and others to hard labour for twelve months. 
 In passing sentence, he remarked that " There was a mutiny 
 of a very serious character on board the same ' Refor- 
 matory' four 3'ears ago, in which the shij^ was burnt to 
 the water's edge ; nor was that the first time that a similar 
 attempt had been made on iDoard the ship, and they now 
 had a serious outbreak, in which one person was nearly 
 murdered. For the last four or five years the ship must, of 
 necessity, have been a school for crime, to all those brought 
 into contact with those lads. Could they imagine anything 
 more certain to create mischief amongst boys than to 
 take the thirteen lads, just as they stood, and place them 
 for five years in contact with 192 other lads, with nothing 
 to prevent their leavening the w^hole mass ?" A few days 
 later, another Judge made a protest against the mischiefs 
 arising from a want of classification in Reformatories. 
 In Scotland, several incendiary fires at Reformatory and 
 Industrial Schools have also excited grave anxiety as to 
 the danger of allowing young children to come under the 
 influence of depraved ringleaders in such establishments. 
 A Welsh Hio-h Sheriflf has characterised some of the larcje 
 " Training Ships " as " mischievous floating prisons, of one 
 large cell." The chaplain of one of the largest and best 
 manaired of Reformatories, near London, \\T.-ote, in 1884, to 
 the Secretary of the Howard Association : " The evils 
 resulting from a promiscuous intercourse of the elder and 
 younger boys in Reformatories can hardly be described in 
 words. The corruption to which I allude is the root of 
 almost every outljreak of insubordination, incendiarism, 
 and so forth, of which we so frequently hear, in connection 
 with Reformatories. You will be doing good service to the 
 State, by continuing to draw the attention of the public to 
 this most important subject." 
 
 A A
 
 J51 
 
 Penolorjical and Preventive Pi'inrip/es. 
 
 The officers of some of these Institutions have earnestly 
 endeavoured to combat these dangers ; but wherever there 
 is an insufficient practical regard to the necessity for strict 
 classification, as to age and numbers, the utility of such 
 establishments will be impaired. 
 
 Thirdly, it is to be noted, as a special blunder, that after 
 spending large sums of public money upon the Refor- 
 matory and Industrial Schools of Great Britain, and after 
 employing able and painstaking instructors to furnish a 
 course of training, of several years' duration, a considerable 
 proportion of the young people have been sent back to 
 their parents, who have often proved to be their worst 
 enemies. These fathers and mothers have repeatedly un- 
 done all the good and costly work achieved in the schools, 
 and have urged the boys to theft and the girls to prostitu- 
 tion. By a perversity of sentimental folly, the imaginary 
 so-called " rights " of such parents have been allowed to 
 sacrifice the real rights of their ehildren, and to ruin the 
 latter, for life, in body and soul. For example, at the large 
 Industrial School for Middlesex, at Feltham, it has been 
 found that the relapses into beggary, or crime, amongst the 
 former inmates, who have been claimed by their parents, 
 have been three times more numerous than those amongst 
 the orphans and other lads whom the managers have been 
 able to place out in situations away from their relatives 
 and old companions. The mother of a Feltham scholar, 
 being remonstrated with for lieguiling her lad away from 
 some good honest occupation, replied : " What is the use of 
 children, if you do not get something out of them ? " 
 
 The reports of the various Societies for the Prevention of 
 Cruelty to Children,"^ furnish abundant and most painful 
 demonstration of the utter unsuitability of a certain class 
 of parents to be ever again entrusted with any control 
 whatever over their offspring, when the State has once had 
 
 * These bodies, under the excellent leadership of Rev. Benjamin 
 Waugh, Miss Hesda Stretton, and others, are doing useful service.
 
 Neglected YoutJi ainJ Jin-einle DeJinqiienci/. 3oo 
 
 occasion to interpose for the custody of tlie latter. The 
 writer recently saw a bo}' in a prison-cell who had been 
 convicted of theft, perpetrated at the instigation of his 
 mother, who used to turn him out on the streets, and 
 give him a strapping if he returned empty-handed. Such 
 parents are sadly too numerous. Whilst this chapter was 
 being written, a small boy, in an English town, was 
 arrested by the police for attempting to commit suicide. 
 It appeared that he and his two young sisters had been 
 habitually beaten, half-starved, and otherwise ill-treated, 
 by a drunken father. The sapient local magistrates con- 
 tented themselves with merely reprimanding the parent ; 
 but ordered the lioy to be sent for 3'ears to an Industrial 
 School, at the public expense ! 
 
 The Honorary Secretar}^ of the York Industrial School, 
 Mr. F. J. MuxBY, wrote in 1885 : "As matters stand, these 
 schools not only may, but too frequently do, provide a pre- 
 mium on negligence and unfaithfulness, in parents of the 
 most depraved character ; and magistrates, in the hope of 
 promoting the welfare of the rising generation, by rescuing 
 the children, cannot, in man}^ instances, avoid doing wrong 
 to the present generation of exemplary rate-paying 
 parents." He adds, rightly, with regard to the reckless 
 fathers of many of the children sent to these schools, that, 
 instead of being virtuall}^ encouraged hy the State to get 
 rid of their responsibilities, as hitherto, they "deserve im- 
 prisonment, with hard labour ; and, until they experience 
 this, the work of Industrial Schools will continue to be 
 fatally marred. The restoration, to such people, of the 
 control of their children, after discharge from the schools, 
 at the age of sixteen, was a fatal mistake, and we see no 
 need for it, at any age." 
 
 A similar experience is being reached in the British 
 Colonies. For instance, in 1888, Mr. J. B. Mather, the 
 assiduous Honorary Secretary of the State Training School 
 for Boys, at Hobart, in Tasmania, issued a report of that 
 
 A A 2
 
 356 Pcuolorjicdl and P re re i/ fire Principles. 
 
 institution, in Avliich a protest was made against worth- 
 less parents " who, as soon as they find their children are 
 doing well and earning money, strive to get hold of them, 
 so that they may have the advantage of their earnings, 
 apparently regardless of any other consideration." The 
 Report regrets that the Tasmanian Government has been 
 prevented from securing the total control of all State-sup- 
 ported children, until they attain the age of twenty-one. 
 
 Such grievous hlunders as these have materially limited 
 the usefulness of English Reformatories and Industrial 
 Schools, though, happily, in spite of them all, these institu- 
 tions have been a great improvement upon the old plan 
 of committing delinquent children and youths to prison, 
 amongst adult criminals of all classes. 
 
 The French are, in regard to this particular, somewhat 
 wiser than their British neighbours have hitherto been. 
 For, in France, those parents whose wilful neglect, or bad 
 conduct, causes their children to be taken charge of by the 
 State, are thereby, very properly, deemed to have forfeited 
 all rights and control over their offspring ; and permanently 
 so. They may not even visit them — in the State institu- 
 tions for such young wards — unless their character is so 
 far improved as to entitle them to this limited indul- 
 gence. 
 
 A Noteworthy Distinction. 
 
 It is important to bear in mind the distinction exist- 
 ino- between the Eno-lish " Reformatories " and " Indus- 
 trial Schools." The former are for such youths — chiefly 
 the elder ones— as have actually committed felony or 
 other crime, and who have usually undergone a brief 
 preliminary imprisonment. Whereas the Industrial Schools 
 are for the reception of the younger class of offenders 
 — mostly those under twelve years of age — who have not 
 been imprisoned ; and also for the rescue and protec- 
 tion of children under fourteen years, who have not yet
 
 Neglected Youth and Juvenile Delinquenci/. 357 
 
 been guilty of any legal offence, but who, from their 
 circumstances and surroundings, are in special danger of 
 being ruined, unless promptly prevented Ijy the interposi- 
 tion of the State and local philanthropy. On the whole, it 
 may be briefly assumed that " Reformatories " are for crimi- 
 nal youths, whilst " Industrial Schools " are for non-criminal 
 children. In the latter, the detention has hitherto ceased at 
 the age of fifteen or sixteen, but, in Reformatories, the 
 inmates have been received up to the age of sixteen, and 
 detained for from two to five years thereafter. 
 
 There appears to be a general agreement of opinion, 
 amongst those persons who have devoted most attention 
 to the subject, that it is a cruelty and folly to imprison 
 children under the age of twelve or thirteen years. But as 
 to young persons above that age, there is a great diver- 
 sity of view ; though the preponderance seems to be against 
 any actual imprisonment until the age of fifteen or sixteen 
 has been attained. So strono; and so general a feelino- 
 against the incarceration of young children, even as a 
 preliminary measure before sending them to a Reformatory, 
 has of late years grown up in Great Britain, that, in very 
 many cases, magistrates have preferred to discharge young- 
 delinquents, rather than become parties to afhxing upon 
 them the stigma of imprisonment. Hence the Inspector of 
 Reformatories and other authorities have urged legislative 
 modification of the long-existing requirement in this respect. 
 
 It was wisely remarked by the late Mr. Charles Wilson, 
 of Sunderland, who devoted much labour to the care of 
 neglected youth : " There are many degrees of criminality ; 
 and Reformatory Schools, where a stronger discipline is 
 usually enforced, are especially adapted for the older and 
 more hardened ; as it is not desirable to mix them with 
 the younger and less criminal." The same writer added : 
 " We must bear in mind that we have in our midst, numbers 
 of children, experienced thieves, both boys and girls, who 
 are regular pilferers." Hence he expresses a decided
 
 358 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 opinion that short terms of detention, such as two years, 
 in Reformatory or Industrial Schools, are not long enough 
 for the formation of the requisite good habits in these ; and 
 he quoted the Rev. Sydney Turner, as having held a similar 
 view. This conclusion may he taken as a correct one, at 
 least in reference to a certain proportion of children, whom it 
 may be absolutely necessary to send to such institutions. 
 
 Both in England and in the Colonies, many youths are 
 comparative veterans in crime and vice. Thus in Aus- 
 tralia much of the crime in cities is committed by lads, 
 locally termed " larrikixs." Respecting these, it was 
 stated, in 18S7, by Mr. P. PixxocK, a magistrate of Bris- 
 bane, Queensland: ''In one year there were 157 cases of 
 young men, mostly under the age of twenty-one, few being 
 above that age, who were brought before my Court, and 
 who were stated by the police, to be living on the prosti- 
 tution of women." Many Australian authorities attri- 
 bute this " larrikinism " chiefly to parental neglect, or 
 cruelty, or positively vicious training. As to young girls, 
 Mr. Pinnock added : " There are facts which I dare not tell. 
 We have to protect girls from their fathers ; sisters from 
 their brothers. It is something horrible." 
 
 The London Spectator, in 1888, suggested that for the 
 class of turbulent lads who give so much trouble in England 
 and abroad, more facilities and inducements should be pro- 
 vided, for the application and exhaustion of their exu- 
 berant physical energies, by means of numerous public 
 GYMNASIUMS. Prizes for skill in athletic spoiiis are useful 
 inducements to such a class to devote their time to harm- 
 less muscular training. Even in many of the better dis- 
 posed among these, the animal development so predominates 
 over the mental and spiritual, that they resemble the 
 American youth who shrunk from the idea of a Puritan 
 " Heaven," saying : " Whatever could I do there i unia^s 
 they could employ me in some good hard work, such as 
 hoisting up one of them Pearl Gates, or the like."
 
 Neglected Youth and Juvenile Delinquoicij. 359 
 
 Where parental responsibility can be enforced, the train- 
 ing of children at home is incomparably better than the 
 pauperizing system of throwing the burden of them wholly 
 or mainly on the State. Many a vicious or idle parent, 
 who now^ complacently permits his offspring to be thus 
 maintained at the expense of his hard-working neigh- 
 bours, and even eagerly endeavours that such shall be the 
 case, would promptly bestir himself, if obliged to perform 
 a certain amount of labour for the State, or to undergo a 
 term of cellular confinement for the neglect of his natural 
 duties. The imposition of adequate fines, or of such chas- 
 tisement as the above, in failure of payment for the insti- 
 tutional training, would often secure a lively and whole- 
 some determination to take more efficient care of children, 
 previously and voluntarily left in the way of temptation. 
 At any rate, very much more of this desirable kind of result 
 than has hitherto been the case in Great Britain and in the 
 United States, might easily be thus secured. Where fines 
 and imprisonments fail to effect the desired aim, then the 
 taking over of the children by the State should reasonably 
 involve the forfeiture of all further parental control over 
 their offspring, in the best interests of the young persons 
 themselves. To regard, at public cost, the " rights " of such 
 parents, is pernicious sentimentality. 
 
 In several American States, this absolute forfeiture of 
 control by the parents is very beneficently enforced, in 
 regard to the class of children who come under the cate- 
 gory of public wards. In Michigan these are sent, in the 
 first place, to undergo a preparatory training of nearly a 
 year in a large industrial school of grouped homes. They 
 are then distributed, but still under regular supervision, 
 amongst the farmers and other householders, who gladly 
 receive them without payment, and adopt them into 
 their famihes. This is, in fact, the " boardixg out" 
 system, which has long worked w^ell elsewhere in Ame- 
 rica, and in Australia and Great Britain. It has found
 
 360 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 able advocates and exponents in Mr. C. D. Eaxdall, Mr. 
 Letchworth, Mr. G. S. Griffith, and others in the former 
 country; and in Lord Craxbrook, Sir Charles E. Tre- 
 VELYAX, Bart, Mrs. Nassau W. Sexior , Mr. Francis Peek, 
 Mr. George Greig, Professor W. N. Hancock, Mr. Her- 
 FORD, Miss Preusser, Mr. DEsterre Parker, Colonel 
 Grant, Mrs. M. J. (Catlin) Davidson, Miss Pigott, Miss 
 Akers, Mr, J. L. Motion, Miss Joanna M. Hill, Miss 
 Florence D. Hill, Miss Mason, Mrs. D. Archer, Miss 
 W. Hall, and others in Great Britain. 
 
 The practice of " boarding out," or " licensing out " such 
 young persons, is an excellent method of disposing of 
 them. Some of the best managed Reformatories in Great 
 Britain have resorted to it largely. Thus boys who have 
 been sentenced to five years' detention in a Reformatory 
 have, in many instances, after about two years' training, 
 been placed out, " on license," amongst the neighbour- 
 ing artisans or farmers. In Scotland especially, this 
 wnse practice has been much favoured by Reformatory 
 managers. It tends materially to diminish and modify 
 the costliness of the institutions. Such conditional libera- 
 tion, or duly supervised boarding out, might, with advan- 
 tage, be made a far more prominent mode of dealing with 
 juvenile offenders everj'where. 
 
 Help of Youths after Leaving Institutions. 
 
 In reference to the extension of some further care over 
 the young persons who have ceased to be inmates of 
 Reformatories, Industrial Schools, Pauper Schools, or 
 similar institutions, it may be appropriate to mention the 
 benefits which have attended a practice long adopted at 
 M. Wichern's establishment at the "Rauhe Haus," near 
 Hamburg. When any of the children who are being- 
 trained, approach the time when their stay there must 
 come to an end, their instructors endeavour to secure, for
 
 Neglected Youth and Juvenile Delinquenc;/. 361 
 
 each one, a patron or special friend in the neighbour- 
 hood, who may be willing to make some endeavour to 
 obtain employment for his young ward, or at least to 
 render him, or her, some little help and kindly oversight, 
 after finally leaving the schools. Much willingness to under- 
 take such good offices has been shown by the respectable 
 inhabitants of Hamburg and its vicinit}^ and many young- 
 lives have thus been effectually aided and guided to happy 
 and useful careers. Nor has the benefit been one-sided. 
 The exercise of this benevolent friendship has been very 
 helpful to the patrons themselves. The cultivation of a 
 similar principle might, with great advantage, be adopted 
 for the assistance of many young persons, on their leaving 
 institutions where they have received an education and 
 oversight which it is very desirable should not wholly or 
 abruptly cease with their departure from such places. Not 
 merely juvenile offenders, not only friendless and pauper 
 children, but all classes of young persons beginning the 
 Ijattle of life, may Ije greatly benefited by some such 
 arrangement, wherever practicable. The ancient, but un- 
 fortunately too generally merely nominal, ofiice of " God- 
 father" and "Godmother," was wisely intended to meet 
 this need. In London and elsewhere, of late years, some 
 excellent efforts in this direction have been put forth, on 
 behalf both of youths and girls reiiuiring sympathy and 
 friendship amid their loneliness and temptations ; as for ex- 
 ample by "the M.A.B.Y.S.," or "Metropolitan Association 
 FOR Befriending Young Servants," and " The Girls' 
 Friendly Society " ; also by the '• Church of England 
 Society for Providing Homes for Waifs and Strays" 
 which has boarded out, emigrated, or otherwise trained and 
 .started in life, some thousands of poor boys and girls. The 
 Anglican Church has taken an honourable leadership in 
 this class of effort.
 
 IG2 PenoIoyic((I and Preventive Principles. 
 
 Juvenile Emigration and " Boarding Out." 
 
 In connection with this subject there may be added a 
 few words on the Emigration of young persons, whether 
 of those who have been in reformatories, or those of a 
 pauper or neglected chiss. In Great Britain, considerable 
 attention has recently been directed to this method of 
 permanently facilitating the interests of these wards of the 
 State or of philanthropy. Thousands of them have been 
 sent to Canada and the United States, through the efforts 
 of various benevolent persons and societies. It has been 
 found that although there is an increasing jealousy, in the 
 United States and Canada, against any form of pauper emi- 
 gration from Europe, there is much readiness, on the part 
 of farmers and householders there, to receive partially- 
 trained children and employ them in industrial occupation. 
 This arises from the comparatively high value of labour 
 in those younger and less crowded countries. But in any 
 arrangement for the systematic emigration of the young, it 
 is important to secure two things. Firstly, they should 
 have a preliminary training, for about a year, before being 
 sent abroad, and secondly, some effectual means should 
 be taken, for their due supervision and visitation, in their 
 new homes. Otherwise, serious abuses may arise ; as has 
 indeed sometimes happened, both in regard to children 
 sent from Great Britain, and also as to some of those 
 mio-rated from the crowded American cities of the Atlantic 
 sea-board to the Western States. The need for the train- 
 ing does not so much apply to those who have been 
 inmates of Industrial, or similar Schools, but rather to 
 the young paupers from Workhouses, or waifs and strays 
 from the street. The necessity for very careful selection 
 and visitation of the homes, applies to every class of 
 young persons thus sent abroad, or to distant localities. 
 It is a matter of essential justice to the inhabitants of the
 
 Neglected Youth and Juvenile BeUnqueney. 363 
 
 countries where such young emigrants may settle, that 
 they should be placed out under such arrangements, or 
 after such training, as to secure them from becoming 
 nuisances to those around them. Some of the American 
 people are becoming very jealous as to this danger. And 
 not without reason. 
 
 It is too generally forgotten that the disadvantages 
 arising from a want of oversight, or supervision, are far 
 greater in the case of children brought up in the slums of 
 cities, or even in the wards of workhouses, than in regard 
 to those from rural homes, selected with reasonable care, 
 either in Great Britain or the Colonies. The pestiferous 
 life in the slums, with the too general promiscuous crowd- 
 ing of both sexes in one room and one Ijed ; the by no 
 means infrequent cruelties and demoralisation in Work- 
 houses and Pauper Schools ; and the occasional revolts 
 and incendiarisms in the best Reformatories and Industrial 
 Schools ; all these things demonstrate the far greater 
 dangers of the congregate than of the individual training 
 of delinquent or destitute youth. 
 
 Mild Corporal Punishment. 
 
 The English law, in certain cases of juvenile offences, 
 permits the infliction of a few strokes with a birch rod, 
 instead of other punishment ; and he must be a bold man 
 who will dare to deny that it may be more merciful, in 
 ^•arious instances, to impose such a short and mild infliction, 
 rather than to have recourse to incarceration in a jail, 
 or even to a long and costly detention in a " Pteformatory " 
 or " Industrial School." Some of the most liumane and 
 experienced authorities have advocated the first of these 
 alternatives. For example, in a letter addressed to the 
 writer, as Secretary of the Howard Association, an ex-Lord 
 Chancellor, Lord Selborne, expressed his opinion, de- 
 liberately and long-entertained, as to the wisdom and
 
 3G4 Penolofjical and Preventive Priticiples. 
 
 humanity of a moderate corporal punishment for children, 
 rather than sending them to prison." He added, " I do not 
 think it follows that, in cases proper for a Reformatory 
 School, it would be better to use corporal chastisement, than 
 to send a child to such a school. I suppose that a child 
 would not be sent to such a school, unless the frequent 
 repetition of offences proved the inefficacy of other means 
 of correction ; or unless the child were neglected at home 
 and exposed to degrading and demoralising influences. 
 In such cases, if the School is conducted as it ought to 
 be, so as to be free from the demoralising tendencies of a 
 prison, it may be the very saving of a boy to send him 
 there." 
 
 Lord Selborne, in this letter, precisely indicates the 
 principle which should alone authorise recourse to a long 
 and costly detention of a child in a public institution — 
 " unless the frequent repetition of offences proved the 
 inefiicacy of other means of correction." But, in a great 
 proportion of instances, these " other means " are left 
 untried, both as to the children and their relatives. Vast 
 burdens have been unnecessarily and injuriously imposed 
 upon tax-payers and the benevolent, for the maintenance 
 of children, when methods incomparably cheaper, more 
 simple, more prompt and more finally effectual, might, and 
 should have been, adopted. 
 
 Experience has proved this, over and over again. For 
 example, the Town Clerk of an English borough, of more 
 than 12,000 inhabitants, lately wrote to a public journal, 
 " It has been our rule, for five and thirty years, that no 
 boy and no girl under fifteen years, shall go from our 
 Town Hall to prison." The substitute, at least for 
 boys, was a birching. In case of repetition or obstinacy, 
 another birching has been given ; in one instance three 
 whippings were inflicted with a couple of days' interval 
 between each. It is added, " The result is that we have 
 not a known juvenile thief in the place. Thieving is
 
 Neglected Yoiifli and Jnvenile Delinqueiici/. 365 
 
 unpopular and contemptible, in the 63^68 of the boys who 
 do not ^vant to be birched, but who prol)ably might not 
 object to become heroes of ' penny dreadful ' depredatory 
 adventures." 
 
 A correspondent of the London " Reformatory Journal " 
 remarks as follows : " Reasonable, temperate, solemnly ad- 
 ministered, exceptional bodily correction, seems to me, after 
 many years' study, the most merciful punishment for young 
 children. To deprive them of food is to impede their 
 growth ; to put them into solitary confinement is a terrible 
 mental blow ; and to quote incessantly our Saviour's ex- 
 ample, or to chatter about ' the love of Jesus,' tends to 
 degrade, by undue familiarity, the holiest form of teaching. 
 Observation in schools will convince any one that the 
 usually substituted punishments are more likely to be both 
 unjust and excessive. The sending a child into confinement, 
 or making it stand upon its legs for thirty or even sixty 
 minutes, is more dangerous in this respect, and the pain — 
 sometimes amounting to torture — of the latter punishment, 
 is inconsistent with the ol^jection to corporal punishment. 
 The infliction of a hundred lines of verse, to be learnt by 
 heart, may be mentally far more injurious to a little boy, 
 than a sharp and short swishing." 
 
 All corporal punishment, whether for children or adults, 
 should be free from cruelty, and not administered under 
 sudden impulse, but after deliberation. An additional 
 means of impressiveness, and also a provision against 
 undue severity, in inflictions of this nature, may be aflbrdcd 
 by regulations insisting upon the presence of some inde- 
 pendent witness, or local authority. The chastisement of 
 children by blows on the head, or "boxes" on the ear, is 
 altogether objectionable. Serious injury has resulted from 
 these, in may instances. Whenever corporal punishment 
 is to be inflicted, some rules or arrangements are requisite, 
 to prevent its becoming a mere result of passion, or other 
 incapacity on the part of those who impose it.
 
 366 Powlofjical and Prevodivc Principles. 
 
 It must especially be remembered that many of the 
 children who have been sent to prisons, or reformatories, 
 have previously undergone tmich corporal punishment, but 
 of the wrong sort, from their parents or other relatives. It 
 has been the infliction of mere passionate blows, and often 
 wholly without just cause. This course is worse than use- 
 less. The efficacy of corporal punishment, whether for 
 adult or juvenile offenders, depends upon its strict justice 
 and its ensured deliberateness. It should, as a rule, never 
 be inflicted on the spur of the moment, or without consul- 
 tation with one or more judicious persons. It is because 
 these precautions have so generally been neglected, that 
 corporal punishment has so much fallen into disrepute, 
 and its possibilities of usefulness have been lost sight of, 
 on account of its abuse. 
 
 Brief Solitary Confinement. 
 
 Those who still object to the infliction of an}^ corporal 
 punishment whatever, may perhaps approve the substitute, 
 both for that chastisement and for imprisonment, which 
 has been advocated by a Middlesex magistrate — Mr. W. 
 Knox Wigram — who. in his " Justice's Notebook," pro- 
 tests against affixing the jail stigma upon either boys or 
 girls, and also objects to an excessive resort to Industrial 
 Schools. He says ; " It would be an immense boon if there 
 were some legitimate way of ordering a boy or girl to be 
 locked up, in solitude, for twenty-four hours," either at a 
 police-station, or at some other place, perhaps still more 
 suitable. He adds, " There would be no romance about it ; 
 nothing heroic, no prison experiences to boast of. The 
 ' obstreperous ' boy or board-school truant, locked up alone 
 for twenty-four hours or so, with nothing in the world to 
 do, bread and water in extreme moderation, and a plank for 
 the night, would have tasted punishment in its purest 
 form. He would understand that he had been treated as a
 
 Neglected Youih and JnrenUe Delinquency. 367 
 
 child. He would not have liked the treatment, nor the 
 beino; delivered at his father's door next morning — like 
 a parcel — with one shilling- to pay." This is a sugges- • 
 tion, worthy of consideration. It might ohviate, with 
 advantage, much prolonged and costly detention in prisons 
 and reformatories. A somewhat similar plan was tried, 
 with success, for many years, with refractory French lads, 
 1)y M. Demetz, in a special house in his establishment of 
 Mettray, near Tours. 
 
 How incomparably more suitable is the mode suggested 
 by Mr. Wigram, for many young offenders, than the exist- 
 ing sj^'stem too often adopted in England. For example, — 
 the case of a little girl of twelve years old was mentioned 
 in Parliament, in 1888. For a theft of a piece of meat, 
 of the value of lOd., she was imprisoned ten days in 
 Norwich jail, and further committed for five years to a 
 Reformatory. This was the child's first offence. Mr. 
 C. Bradlaugh, M.P., very properly called the attention 
 of the Home Secretary to the matter ; Ijut that functionary 
 approved of this sentence. 
 
 It should constantl}^ be borne in mind that the faults of 
 the parents are the chief causes of juvenile delinquencies of 
 all descriptions. Hence, the former should have the larger 
 share of punishment and of executive pressure. A whip- 
 ping, or a short imprisonment, would more often do good to 
 a vicious father, and through him benefit his family, than 
 sending the latter, at the public expense, to training insti- 
 tutions for a long period. Many worthless parents send 
 out their young children to beg for them, or to sell matches, 
 or papers, in order to o])tain money to be spent in drunken- 
 ness and vice. Such wretched children are thus often 
 driven into crime. For tlie}' are beaten or cruelly ill- 
 treated, if they come home empty-handed. Hence, every- 
 where, very young children should be prohibited by law 
 from vending anything in the streets. And parents, send- 
 ing out such, should be punished.
 
 368 FcnohgkaJ and Frei-odkc Principles. 
 
 Aberdeen Day Feeding Schools. 
 
 Amongst the various experiments which, at different 
 times and places, have been entered upon, for the rescue 
 of very poor children in danger of becoming offenders, one 
 of the most successful "was the system of the Day Feeding 
 Schools, adopted at Aberdeen, in 1841, chiefly through the 
 efforts of the benevolent Sheriff, Mr. William Watson. 
 That city and its vicinity had become greatly plagued by 
 juvenile mendicancy and crime. But a remarkable and 
 permanent improvement speedily took place, after the es- 
 tablishment of these schools, which were conducted upon 
 a simple and inexpensive basis. 
 
 The children of the poorest and lowest class (and, it must 
 be noted, of this class onh') were admitted, free of cost to 
 the parents, the expenses l:ieing furnished partl}^ by volun- 
 tary subscriptions and partly by municipal or other local 
 grants. Four hours of lessons, five hours of manual indus- 
 try, and three good meals, constituted each daj^'s routine ; 
 with the exception of Wednesdays and Saturdays, when 
 half-holidays were given. The attendance was wholly 
 voluntary, at any rate during fourteen years ; but subse- 
 quently a few children, of a special class, were sent by 
 official order. But, generally, the free meals constituted 
 effectual inducements to punctuality and regularity of 
 attendance. The children came at seven o'clock in the 
 summer, and eight in the winter. After an hour's instruc- 
 tion, those present at the opening received a sufficient 
 breakfast of milk-porridge. After an interval for play, 
 they re-assembled for work, from ten till two o'clock. 
 Then followed dinner, of plain, nutritious food, such as 
 broth, soup, bread, and potatoes. From three to four, 
 work was resumed. Then followed three hours of recre- 
 ation, till seven, when a supper of milk-porridge was 
 given. After this, ensued prayers and Bible reading ; an<l 
 at eifjht o'clock the children were sent to their homes.
 
 NcgJrded Youth (oul Juvenile BcHnqucncn. 3G9 
 
 The participation in each meal was made strictly con- 
 ditional on a punctual attendance at the preceding lesson, 
 or work. Thus a child who did not come in time for the 
 forenoon school, would forfeit his dinner. If he missed 
 the afternoon gathering, he would lose his supper. 
 
 The instruction given was of a simple and practical 
 nature (" the three R's "), Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, 
 Avith some Geography and oliject lessons. Each day's pro- 
 ceedings began and ended with prayer, Bible readino-, 
 and a little singing. A loving faith in God and Christ 
 was carefully inculcated, and constituted a most valuable 
 feature in the method, and one which honourably dis- 
 tinguished it from certain more ambitious schemes sub- 
 sequently carried out on both sides of the Atlantic. The 
 simple manual industry was also a prominent element 
 which some later systems might with advantage have 
 adopted. The boys were taught shoemaking, tailoring, 
 carpentry, box-making, and other useful handicrafts, (as 
 in the common or " Slojd " schools of Sweden and some 
 other countries). The girls were employed in knitting, 
 sewing, box-making, etc. The main object, wisely kept in 
 view, in regard to this manual training, was not so much 
 the amount of immediate pecuniary earnings, as the forma- 
 tion of habits of dexterity and the skilful use of tools and 
 materials. The average prolit, on these branches of school 
 industry, was about twenty-five shillings a year, for each 
 child. This amount was appropriated towards defraying 
 the cost of the food and training, which altogether averao-ed 
 about £6 10s. per annum. Hence the net expense (after 
 deducting the children's earnings) was just five guineas a 
 year, for each. 
 
 This was a much cheaper course than the subsequent 
 development of costly institutions, " District Pauper 
 Schools," "Board Schools," with elaborate .systems, which 
 have by no means surpassed, if indeed at all approxi- 
 mated, in efficiency, the simple plan, devised and so 
 
 B B
 
 370 Pciiolofjical and Prcrci/fiir Priiuiploa. 
 
 long successfully carried out, by those shrewd Aberdeen 
 philanthropists, who had their reward in a most material 
 diminution of local pauperism, mendicancy, and crime. 
 In another Scotch city — Glasgow — it was complained in 
 1888, by the N. B. Daily Mail, that the erection of only six 
 of the many Board Schools in that place had cost the rate- 
 payers £174,000 ; that twenty-four of the teachers' salaries 
 were not less than £400 each, and several were £500 ; and 
 that the indebtedness of the local School Board in fourteen 
 years had nearly reached the enormous sum of £800,000 ! — 
 {3IaiI, March 17, 1888.) 
 
 " Day Feeding Schools " have subsequently been esta- 
 blished in various other towns of Great Britain, but perhaps 
 never with such complete and successful organization as at 
 Aberdeen, where the industrial, partially self-supporting, 
 and decidedly religious training, was carefully combined 
 with judicious elementary instruction, strictly limited to 
 that which was necessary to render the children useful and 
 contented in their ordinary sphere of life. 
 
 One or two other features in the Aberdeen schools 
 deserve notice. They did not provide clothes for the 
 children (with some exceptions) nor lodgings. In so far, 
 they insisted on the discharge of the responsibilities of the 
 parents and friends of the scholars. For some of the most 
 destitute, however, a little special provision was made in 
 hese respects, but only as exceptional cases. 
 
 Grave doubts were at first entertained, by some persons, 
 lest the good work accomplished in the schools, by day, 
 might be undone by the parents and friends, on the 
 children's nightly return home. And perhaps, in a few 
 instances, such an effect may have been observable. But, 
 in general, it was otherwise. A writer on these schools, 
 Mr. Alexander Thomson, of Banchory, stated, in 1857, 
 " The result of above fifteen years' trial proves that the 
 cases where evil has resulted from the children returning 
 home are very rare, while, on the other hand, there have
 
 Ncfjlectcd Youth and Juvenile DeU)iqucnei/. 371 
 
 been most cheering instances of sul:)stantia] o^ood havino- 
 ensued from the cliildren carryino- home the school lessons 
 to the other members of the family." The steady perse- 
 vering work of daily training prevailed, in the long run, 
 for the welfare of the pupils, as a whole. In some other 
 Scotch cities, a considerable controversy was for years sus- 
 tained, as to the desirability, or otherwise, of permitting 
 children, in schools of a similar character, to continue under 
 their parents' roof at night. The writer, in visiting Aber- 
 deen, Edinburgh, and Glasgow, more than thirty years 
 after the establishment of the first Da}- Feeding Schools 
 at the former place, found that there still existed some 
 difference of opinion on this point; but persons of long 
 and special observation informed him that, on the whole, 
 the views of Mr. Sheriff Watson, in this and other direc- 
 tions, had been confirmed by general experience. For 
 instance, the master of a large Industrial School at Edin- 
 burgh mentioned that so long as he was able to retain his 
 authority and control over the boys, whilst in school, he 
 found it quite safe, so far as their interests were for the 
 most part concerned, to allow them frequent or regular 
 opportunities of going amongst their friends, even in the 
 worst parts of the city. 
 
 But, then, it is to be particularly^ noted that, at Aberdeen 
 and also in the case at Edinburgh, just mentioned, the chil- 
 dren remained under general control, and no abrupt change 
 took place, as between themselves and their homes. They 
 M-ere not, as in the English Reformatory and Industrial 
 Schools, maintained as costly boarders, independent — or 
 nearly so — of parental support, and then, on discharge, 
 suddenly and completely returned to their homes, uncondi- 
 tionally, after a long and entire separation. 
 
 The Aberdeen system carefully cherished and insisted 
 upon the exercise of parental responsibility, at least to the 
 extent of providing lodging and clothes for their offspring 
 during the whole time of their training. And herein it 
 
 B B 2
 
 372 Pvnolo(jk(d and Prcvcniicc Pn'jicipks. 
 
 differed fundamentally from large barrack-like institutions, 
 or " hospitals " (in the old Scotch sense of the word). The 
 tendency of those establishments is to relieve parents, or 
 nearly so, of all their responsibilities ; which is a mis- 
 chievous and unwise course for all parties concerned. 
 
 In a letter addressed, in 1887, to the Howard Association 
 by Mr, P. Esslemoxt, M.P., of Aberdeen^ he remarked : 
 *'The Day Feeding School system in Aberdeen, instituted 
 by Sheriti' Watson, is still in existence, and has been tried 
 by experience, and proved to be sound and singularly 
 successful. It combines help to the poor, icithouf hrcaldnfj 
 up tJie Divine institution of famih/ life, that tie which binds 
 humanity together." 
 
 But numerous large establishments of our da}" tend to 
 break up family ties, to disqualify for home duties ; and if 
 they withdraw their inmates from certain forms of demo- 
 ralization, they expose them to others. Also they often 
 partially obviate the necessity for self-exertion, which is so 
 essential and fundamental an element in training. Both in 
 the case of day schools, and all classes of institutions for 
 children who may be likely to fall into crime, or who have 
 actually committed offences, the pecuniary responsibility 
 of the parents should always be enforced as far as possible, 
 or else some other mode of compelling a sense of their 
 duty — by means of punishment for neglect — should be 
 substituted. It should either be the one or the other 
 course. If not, pauperisation and various serious mischiefs 
 will result. 
 
 In those cases where the Aberdeen children were orphans, 
 or the offspring of persons really unable to care for them, 
 it was recommended that they should be boarded-out, in the 
 cottages of the virtuous poor. How far such a course was 
 adopted with the attenders of those schools is not known 
 to the writer. But it is worth noting that, in Scotland 
 generally, the class of pauper orphans and certain other 
 destitute children, are now almost entirely dealt with by
 
 Neglected Youth and Juvenilo Delinqtienoj. .373 
 
 this mode of arrangement. They are distriljutetl under 
 careful siqyervision, amongst the homes of the more respect- 
 able labouring classes, Avhere, at a total cost of about ten 
 guineas per annum, usually, they are maintained, sent to a 
 day-school, and generally trained amid ordinary home 
 influences. This plan has, for a long period, ^vorked 
 exceedingly well. The Scotch have not favoured the 
 expensive " District Pauper Schools " of the English type, 
 where the inmates, on the average, cost more than double, 
 as compared with the Boarding-out system, whilst not 
 possessing some of the moral and industrial advantages of 
 the latter plan. An essential condition of the success of 
 boarding-out must always consist in a due provision for the 
 regular and efficient supervision of the children and of their 
 temporary homes. In Scotland (and indeed in more than 
 a few instances in England also) it has often been found 
 that a strong and permanent attachment has been deve- 
 loped between the foster-parents and their young wards. 
 Boarding-out was, however, merely an incidental adjunct 
 to the Aberdeen Schools. It is thus alluded to here ; l)ut 
 not as being necessarily connected with such schools. 
 
 The religious element formed a primarj^ and exemplary 
 characteristic at Aberdeen, both on week-days and on 
 Sundays. On the Sabbath, the children came to the school- 
 rooms at half-past eight for morning devotions, and then 
 had breakfast. Worship, still on the premises, followed, 
 and then dinner. In the afternoon they were allowed to 
 go home to their parents, and with them, or others, to 
 attend a regular church. At five o'clock they returned to 
 the school, for catechetical instruction and for supper ; 
 after which they again went home. Possibly the amount 
 of relio^ious teachino; mav have l)een carried to an excess 
 in Aberdeen, as in some other schools in Scotland. But it 
 is not to be reasonably douV>ted that on tlie whole, the 
 Scotch attachment to early Christian training has been a 
 vast blessing to the nation. Some recent forms of merely
 
 374 Penological and Preventive Principle. 
 
 secular and undenominational training have tended to very 
 objectionable developments. They have too often become 
 socialistic or communistic, in their economic tendencies ; 
 and godless, or demoralising, in their insufficiently guarded 
 impartation of mere head knowledge. 
 
 Denominatioxal Education. 
 
 If parents of various creeds, or of no creed at all, are 
 practically obliged, by the State to send their children to 
 " Common " or " Board " schools, promiscuously, grave and 
 often unmanageable obstacles are furnished, to the desir- 
 able communication of religious truth. Of course, it may 
 be replied that these schools are for common instruction ; 
 and that religious teaching should be imparted in another 
 place and at other times. Hapj)ily this can be done, and 
 often it is done ; though probably not nearly to the ex- 
 tent which would result from a more general adoption of 
 denominational schools. But quite apart from this, there 
 are elements of training, distinct from mere teaching, 
 which the absence of homogeneous and harmonious 
 denominational education materially influences, in the 
 wrong direction. And it is very important that the young 
 should,, in their schools, have the frequent presence of 
 members and ministers of their own Church, with a con- 
 tinuous regard to that religious fellowship which is best 
 and most easily secured where there is no interruption by 
 rival sects, or jealous critics, of different views. For it is 
 a melancholy fact that many of the opponents of denomi- 
 national education are avowed enemies of all religion. 
 Thus, a Continental orator recently urged the suppression 
 of all religious instruction, from the curiiculurn of schools 
 and universities, precisely on the ground that "By this 
 means we shall secure, that religious instruction will be 
 confined to the family circle ; and as, in most families, there 
 is little time to pa?/ attention to it, religion tvill, h)j degrees, dis-
 
 Neglected Youth and JuvcnUc DeUnqiiency. 375 
 
 a2)2Jea)' compldeJijr ( Vide a striking article in the Bnhlin 
 Revieic, for Januar}-, 1S88.) 
 
 The compulsory companionship of piously trained chil- 
 dren with the often indecent offspring of persons caring 
 nothing for any religious truth, and living in the disregard 
 of social proprieties, is a gross violation of the fundamental 
 rights of every Christian child and parent. And the 
 despotic disregard of such rights, which is a too general 
 feature of modern times, has certainly tended, in many in- 
 stances, to produce evil and immorality amongst the rising 
 generation. So profoundly conscious of this fact are many 
 parents, especially amongst the Church of England, the 
 Roman Catholics, and the Society of Friends* on both 
 sides of the Atlantic, that, at the cost of ticofold payment 
 for education (that is to say, of compulsory taxation for 
 school-rates, with voluntary provision for denominational 
 training), they have maintained schools where their own 
 children may be preserved from the mischievous conta- 
 mination of promiscuous association with infidel or grossly 
 vicious families. But the practical obligation to pay such 
 a price for the enjoyment of a natural right, is a harsh 
 form of democratic or communistic tyranny. A similar 
 principle too often legally steals from the laborious or 
 thrifty tax-payer, the cost of all manner of educational 
 luxuries and advanced studies in " Common " and " Board " 
 schools, which do not reasonably come within the limits 
 of TiQce.ssdixy '' elementary" education, and some of which, 
 indeed, arc positively mischievous to the industrial pro- 
 spects and interests of the poorest children; whilst, on 
 the other hand, many thriving tradesmen and professional 
 
 * The few thousand " Friends " in Eastern Pennsylvania very 
 recently expended £6<».000 upon improvements and building for one of 
 their own denominational schools. But in addition to this, they must 
 pay the ordinary public school taxes, and thus, at double expense, 
 train up many poor children to become rivals in business and in 
 mechanical competition with their own families.
 
 37C Penologivnl and Preventive Priiicijj/es. 
 
 men send their offspring to these schools where, for a 
 few pence weekly, they obtain intellectual advantages for 
 which other people are unjustly compelled to pay. 
 
 The Aberdeen schools avoided such infringements of 
 public and private rights. They recognised at once the 
 duties and privileges of the parent, the child, and the com- 
 munity. They honoured both God and man. The Atheist 
 may talk of the " rights of man " ; but all historic expe- 
 rience proves that in proportion as the sovereign claims of 
 God are disregarded, woe results to the dearest rights of 
 man and of woman also. Most wisely did the German 
 Emperor, Frederick III., declare, at the outset of his brief 
 reign, in 1888 : " We must avoid creating dangers by partial 
 education.""^ But eminently dangerous to the State and 
 to the scholar, is any mode of popular education which 
 tends, either directly to ignore religious instruction, or 
 indirectly to render it difficult, or inconvenient. 
 
 Industrial Training. 
 
 There is yet another important principle which the 
 Aberdeen schools eminently upheld — the preciousness of 
 the right of every poor child to be guarded from ob- 
 stacles to the development of his own industrial energies 
 and instruction. They fostered habits of self-supporting 
 labour. And these form an element in education in- 
 comparably more valuable than some of the so-called 
 " hio-her " branches of mere intellectual information. 
 
 *Germ.\ny and Thrift. — In 1888 Germany also initiated wise 
 legislation, for the further encouragement of thrifty self-support and 
 for the consequent diminution of Pauperism, through a compulsory 
 measure, making some provision for -worlving men and women who 
 become incapacitated by age or illness. This consists of Pensions of 
 £6 each when invalided, and of iiO each on attaining old age. One- 
 third of the needful funds are to be furnished by the State ; one-third 
 by the employers of labour ; and the remaining third by the workers 
 themselves, in weekly contributions.
 
 Neglected Youtit mid Juvenile Delinquenc)/. 377 
 
 The dexterous use of the hand is a pi'iceless treasure 
 to a poor child, and to innumerable adults also. The 
 Aberdeen schools devoted to that special training the 
 majorit}' of the hours of each week-day's programme, 
 throughout the course. Similar arrano-ements now exist 
 in man}" of the elementary schools in Holland, Germany, 
 Sweden and elsewhere. For example, at Gothenburg, a 
 proficiency in the use of tools and in manual skill 
 is ettectually encouraged in the schools for the poorest 
 children, by pecuniary and other inducements. That city, 
 owing to the intelligent philanthrop}" of Mr. S. A. Hed- 
 LUND and others, has had remarkable success in several 
 very interesting social experiments. It is in great degree 
 owing to the wide extension of elementary technical in- 
 struction amongst the juvenile population of Germany and 
 some other nations, that the young persons who emigrate 
 from these countries to England are so often and so 
 generally able to compete successfully with British 
 labour. For hitherto there has been a o^ross neglect, in 
 Great Britain, of that industrial training of children 
 which, on the Continent, has been so well provided, espe- 
 cially in the evening or " Continuation " schools for the 
 elder pupils. 
 
 Yet, in some countries, and especially in America, there 
 is a strong modern movement to discourage and diminish 
 juvenile skill and self-support. The testimony of prison 
 governors, on both sides of the Atlantic, is emphatic as to 
 the moral and social mischiefs, and to the crime and 
 misery, produced amongst multitudes of young people, in 
 consequence of the tyrannical interference of some Trades 
 Unions with the good old-fashioned system of Apprentice- 
 .ship. Many of the very men who most loudly denounce 
 the tyranny of monarchies, or of " effete aristocracies," are 
 themselves cruel despots to thousands of unfortunate chil- 
 dren, out of whose mouths they virtuallv are stealino: the 
 bread by unjust rules, enfoiced by violent combinatious —
 
 378 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 " boycottings " or strikes — against employers, \vho would 
 otherwise make provision for the prolonged and necessary 
 training of youth in skilled industry. 
 
 Let us just take one testimony out of many, and it shall 
 be from that land of modern " liberty " — the United States. 
 A recent report of the Eastern State Prison of Penn- 
 sylvania, issued in 1886, shows that considerably more 
 than three-quarters of the male inmates never learned a 
 trade. It says (at page 15), " The number is almost pheno- 
 menal, which is here 3'early registered, of those prisoners 
 who have never learned a trade. To this the list of ' idle,' 
 on arrest, is cumulative testimony of the danger of the 
 ijijnorance of handicraft skilled knowledge." The same 
 Report contained an instructive table of all the prisoners, 
 for each of the past ten years, including 1,069 male youths 
 of twenty-one years of age and under. Of these, 993 were 
 unapprenticed, or, roundly, nine-tenths. But 864 had 
 attended schools. 
 
 It must be Ijorne in mind that, in America, the standard 
 of intellectual instruction at the common schools is high. 
 This is especially the case in Pennsylvania. The Report 
 just quoted continues : '" The yearly taxation for the sup- 
 port of Puljlic Schools is enormous. This expenditure is 
 marked by the establishment of institutions in which a 
 very high grade of instruction can be obtained. The 
 children of parents and those supported by guardians, who 
 are fully able to educate their children at private schools, 
 are sent to these public institutions." Of course they are ; 
 because of the despotism of the system of compulsory un- 
 denominational schools, "which only gives parents the option 
 of double educational payments, or of cheap socialistic and 
 pauperising privileges of knowledge. The Report further 
 advocates the establishment of Technical Schools. To a 
 certain extent such schools are very beneficial. But was 
 not the good old system of Apprenticeship a more gene- 
 rally available and more thorough and independent form of
 
 Neglected Youth and Juvenile Delinquenci/. 379 
 
 technical school ? It comLined advantages of prolonged, 
 patient training, in detail, continuous practice in dexterity, 
 and a responsible moral oversight by the master, which are 
 not, and cannot be, equally afforded by the best of modern 
 technical schools. 
 
 Not only are multitudes of children and youths — espe- 
 cially of the poorer class — being forced into idleness and 
 crime by the cruel despotism which obstructs apprentice- 
 ship ; but also the community is suffering greatly, in conse- 
 quence, by the increasing difficulty of finding good work- 
 men. The public have to undergo the costly nuisance of 
 thousands of bungling, untrained, but pretentious artisans, 
 whose incompetency produces innumerable inconveniences 
 and .sometimes grave disasters. 
 
 The Action of Trades' Unions. 
 
 The writer desires to avoid any mere prejudice against 
 Trades' Unions. He is fully aware that, like most other 
 human institutions, they include a mixture of good and 
 evil. They furnish the working-man with a means — 
 perfectly legitimate and right, wdthin due limits — of bank- 
 ing his labour, just as the capitalist can bank his money. 
 These Unions also exercise a large extent of praisew-orthy 
 charity and mutual help to their numerous members. 
 They have saved vast sums to the ratepayers. They 
 have raised justifiable barriers against the extortions of 
 avaricious selfishness. Their leaders have manifested, on 
 botli sides of the Atlantic, a wise foresight of the great 
 advantao-es which Arbitration furnishes for the solution 
 of di.sputes, whether as between individuals, classes, or 
 nations. These and other good features have characterised 
 Trades' Unions. But, nevertheless, their despotic interfer- 
 ence with Apprenticeship has been, and is, an extensive 
 cruelty, especially to the young and the poor. It has pro- 
 bably been brought about by the pressure of the " tail " 
 upon the " head " of the Union management, and by the
 
 380 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 section of lazy, drunken, or incompetent men, who have 
 envied the skill and the just earnings of industrious youth. 
 But the practical outcome of such selfish envy is a tyrannj^ 
 which, it may be hoped, both the better spirit amongst the 
 Unionists, and also the public action of communities may 
 ultimately find means to put a stop to. Otherwise, in- 
 calculable ruin to myriads of the young people of Europe 
 and America will continue to result. This question is inti- 
 mately connected with juvenile crime and its prevention. 
 
 Limitation of Hours of Labour. 
 
 Undoubtedly multitudes of young persons, of both sexes, 
 are, in our own day, driven into vice and pauperism, and 
 into disease and death, by the excessive strain and exhaus- 
 tion resulting from prolonged hours of labour, from early 
 morning till late at night, in crowded shops, offices or fac- 
 tories. Thus many of them become incapacitated for 
 taking any profitable interest in intellectual improvement 
 or religious truths. They become also, in consequence, the 
 easy prey of the tempter. Hence one of the most useful 
 forms of service to God and to man, on the part of phi- 
 lanthropists, and especially of the employers of juvenile 
 labour, consists in etibrts to restrict, within reasonable 
 limits, the hours of occupation, and to promote those con- 
 ditions of sanitation, harmless amusement and moral pro- 
 tection, which are essential for the physical and spiritual 
 salvation of the young. 
 
 Intemperance and the Young. 
 
 But there is another influence which is of primary im- 
 portance. What is the origin, in innumerable instances, of 
 the wretchedness of those homes which it is a calamity for 
 any child to be born into ? It is Intemperance. And what 
 is the main source of that poverty which causes so many
 
 Neglected Youth and Jurcnilc DeJiuqucnc;/. 381 
 
 children to be either neglected, or driven to dishonesty and 
 evil courses ? Again, it is unquestionably Intemperance 
 Hence, those means which have, by world-wide experience 
 proved most efiectual for the diminution of this prolific 
 root of other evils, are also chief remedies against the 
 crimes and oft'ences, both of juveniles and adults. 
 
 Hence also, the leaders of the great Temperaxce Move- 
 ment may justly be regarded as being prominent amongst 
 the penal reformers of the age. In this connection are 
 many honourable names of individuals and organised 
 bodies : as, for example, those of some (but as yet far too 
 few^) of the chief dignitaries of the Anglican, Roman, and 
 other Churches, such as Dr. Temple, Bishop of London, 
 Cardinal Manning, Bishop Wilberforce (of Newcastle), 
 Canon Farrar, Canon Wilberforce, Father Mathew ; 
 also, the workers in such religious associations as the 
 " Church of England Temperance Society " and the 
 Catholic " League of the Cross ; " certain Members of the 
 Legislature, who have used their influence in this direc- 
 tion with faithful perseverance : as, for example, the late Mr. 
 Samuel Morley, M.P. ; Sir Wilfrid Lawson, Bart., M.P. ; 
 Mr. William S. Caine, M.P. ; Mr. William Fowler, M.P. ; 
 Mr. Samuel Smith, M.P., and others ; various large em- 
 ployers of labour, such as the late Sir Titus Salt, Bart. ; 
 the Richardsons, of Bessbrook ; the Peases, of Darling- 
 ton ; the Cadburys and Tangyes, of Birmingham ; and 
 the Palmers, of Reading ; and various active associations, 
 such as the " National Temperance League," so earnestly 
 supported by the late Mr. Saimuel Bowly, Mr. Joseph 
 Eaton, and their colleagues and successors ; the similar 
 Scotch and Irish Leagues ; many of the labourers in the 
 " United Kingdom Alliance," the " Good Templars' 
 Society," and several other kindred bodies, at home and 
 abroad ; as, for example, the admirably-devised " Help- 
 Myself Societies," instituted by Mr. William Isaac 
 Palmer and his friends ; to say nothing of innumerable
 
 382 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 excellent men and women -vvlio have lal>oured individually, 
 or in union with others, for the promotion of Temperance. 
 
 Of late years the Ladies have increasingly lent their 
 very powerful support to this movement : as, for example, 
 the members of the " British Women's Temperance Asso- 
 ciation," under Mrs. Bright Lucas and her colleagues; 
 and the vast and most efficiently-organised "Women's 
 Christian Te:mperance Union" of the United States, 
 under the presidency of Miss Frances E. Willard. 
 A few lady members of the British aristocracy have 
 also graced, with their active participation, the cause of 
 Temperance: as, for instance, the DucHESS of Rutland, 
 Lady Cowper-Temple, and Lady E. Biddulph. 
 
 Of the particular modes of securing an exemption from 
 intemperance, there is none so simple or so certain as 
 habitual abstinence from alcohol. Ver}' few are the 
 prisoners or the paupers who have cultivated such ab- 
 stemiousness. Rare, indeed, must Ije a teetotal Ijrothel. 
 Very few, also, are the neglected or criminal youth whose 
 homes have been continuously characterised by this prac- 
 tical form of virtue — teetotalism. Therefore, the zealous 
 inculcation and extension of Abstinence, as a principal 
 counteractive of crime and poverty, is of even greater 
 importance than improvements in the systems of prisons, 
 of reformatory and industrial schools, or of work-houses 
 and poor laws. 
 
 It has been declared, with pardonable enthusiasm, by 
 Canon Wilberforce, that " Total Abstinence has the power 
 of prolonging more lives than all the doctors ; of saving 
 more money than all the savings-banks ; and of preventing 
 more crime than all the police." 
 
 Another eloquent philanthropist, the Rev. Dr. F. W. 
 Farrar, has graphically set forth the manifold sufferings 
 and sins which, through intemperance, ruin legions of 
 young persons. He traces much of the criminal neglect of 
 children, by their parents, to the fact that the latter sur-
 
 Neglected Yoxtli and Juvenile Belinqucncij. 383 
 
 round themselves with '• the reek of gin and the sounds of 
 blasphemy." He shows that a large proportion of the so- 
 called " accidents " which break the tender limbs, or crush 
 out the lives, of thousands of little ones, are caused by 
 drunken fathers, drunken mothers, drunken drivers, or 
 drunken workmen ; and that the other cruelties — the 
 scaldings, overlayings, beatings, and even deliberately 
 deadlj^ injuries, which torment so many of the young — 
 have the same general origin. So, also, the multitude.? of 
 children plagued with congenital disease and " every form 
 of constitutional corruption : rickets, hip complaint, bone 
 disorder, cancer." Hence, Dr. Farrar earnestly appeals to 
 all Christians to prove their faith and fealty to their Lord, 
 by making every effort in their power, l>y example, hy 
 influence, by action, to rescue and protect from this awful 
 source of crime and agony, the multitudes of " little 
 children, like those into whose rosy, innocent faces you 
 look at home ; little children for whom Christ died ; little 
 chililren of whom He said : ' Inasmuch as ye have done it 
 unto one of the least of these, ye have done it unto Me.' " 
 
 Where, as is too often witnessed, the presence of merely 
 nominal Christians is notoriously associated with a special 
 encouragement of prostitution and drunkenness, this ab- 
 sence of morality must also neccssarilj' prove a corre- 
 sponding absence of religion. Probably no Mahommedan 
 land furnishes such shocking spectacles of the ruin and 
 misery of child life, through drunken parents, as may be 
 extensively witnessed in highly-professing Glasgow and 
 some other British cities. When this parental degradation 
 is on the mother's side, it involves the worst forms of 
 cruelty and misery to the young, from their infancy on- 
 ward. Mr. William Mitchell, Vice-Chairman of the 
 Glasgow School Board, has feelingly depicted the innnense 
 amount of juvenile suftering and criminality thus occa- 
 .sioned. He remarks : " Is there a sight on earth more sad, 
 is there a sound on earth more pitiful, than the wail of a
 
 3S4 F'ciwlo'jical and Preventive Prineiplen. 
 
 tender infant in the arms of an intoxicated mother ? " He 
 speaks of children maimed and injured for life, by kicks 
 from drunken fathers, or falls from the arms of drunken 
 mothers. Such injuries are abundantly numerous. And 
 he adds : " If there is a heart-rending sorrovv^ on earth, it is 
 when a decent, honest man, father of several line children, 
 is constrained to declare that his life is embittered, his 
 children neglected, his circumstances impoverished, and his 
 spirit crushed, owing to the intemperance of his wife, the 
 mother of his children. Far, far more common is this 
 than is generally supposed." Vast, indeed, is the mis- 
 chievous fruitage, both of juvenile suffering and crimi- 
 nality, produced by drunken parents.^ Hence, it is of 
 pressing importance that practical Christianity may be 
 more widely and earnestly manifested than heretofore, in 
 the examples of personal temperance and consistent efforts 
 to extend sobriety, especially in the interests, religious and 
 physical, of the rising generation. 
 
 * Satanic Malignity. — The Biblical expression, " the cup of 
 devils," is but too applicable to that excessive indulgence in alcohol 
 ■which causes so many crimes and cruelties. These are amongst those 
 " w-orks of the devil" which it is an essential duty of Christian 
 " good soldiership " to combat, -with life-long, prayerful determina- 
 tion. All such mundane miseries are outward and visible signs of 
 the real, though mysterious, existence of Satan's personality, as tbe 
 most malignant, and at present very powerful, adversary of our race, 
 of whom the Lord Jesus declared that •' he was a murderer from the 
 beginning,"' and he is so still. The Holy Spirit is to " convince tbe 
 world of sin" especially by revealing it as the constant and character- 
 istic operation of this invisible, subtle, but bitterly cruel, deceiver, 
 rather than as a merely human weakness. For sin itself is a synonym 
 for Satanic agency, whether by means of active impulses to disobs^y 
 God, or by seductive temptations, or lethargic and blinding influences 
 upon the soul. The general command to " resist the devil," there- 
 fore, includes an obligation of vigorous opposition to intemperance, 
 as well as to the other evils and vices to which that baleful enemy 
 stimulates mankind.
 
 Chapter XYII. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 It may now be appropriate, Ijriefly to reiterate and 
 supplement certain conclusions which this book is designed 
 to advocate. This is the more expedient, from the circum- 
 stance, that some of these will be found to differ from 
 views advocated in several recent American and Con- 
 tinental works, of considerable interest and value, whose 
 authors appear to rely mainly, for the progress of penal 
 reform, upon the ba&is of classified association, as distinct 
 from the entire separation of prisoners from each other. 
 The writers referred to, might also, with advantage, have 
 given more prominence than they have done, to the pre- 
 ventive and restorative efficacy of Religion, Temperance, 
 and similar influences, in the domain both of Penology and 
 Philanthropy. 
 
 Hence, and for various additional reasons, the issue of 
 the present volume may be timely and useful, as an endea- 
 vour, amongst other objects, to commend afresh to the con- 
 sideration of the public, the merits of that principle, which 
 it was a chief aim of John Howard's labours to promul- 
 gate. This was so highly appreciated by some of his con- 
 temporaries, that, for example, the Magistrates of Lancashire 
 placed on the foundation-stone of the prison, erected in 
 Manchester, during his lifetime, the following words, "That 
 there may remain to posterity a monument of the affection 
 and gratitude of this County, to that most excellent person 
 who hath so fully proved the wisdom and humanity of the 
 
 C C
 
 386 Te)ioh(jk-al and Prevent ice Principles. 
 
 separate and solitarj- confinement of offenders, this Prison is 
 inscribed with the name of John Howard." 
 
 Subsequently, both in Great Britain and elsewhere, some 
 influential ^men have made strenuous and too successful 
 efforts to weaken public confidence in this great jDrinciple. 
 And, inasmuch as the larger portion of every community 
 have neither the leisure nor the inclination to investigate 
 such matters thoroughly, a mischievous apathy has been, 
 and indeed continues to be, too prevalent, in regard to this 
 necessity for the effectual separation of imprisoned criminals 
 from one another. Hence, in some countries, and especially 
 in America, a disastrous reaction of opinion and practice, 
 in regard to it, has taken place. Nevertheless, its advo- 
 cates can appeal for support, to the testimony of most 
 abundant experience and of most competent authorities. 
 
 That eminent observer, King Oscar of Sweden, made 
 this emphatic declaration, in his book, of deservedly world- 
 wide renown, '- On Punishments and Prisons " (Stockholm, 
 1840) : — "Enlightened men, who have carefully studied the 
 theory of the administration of prisons, as also those who 
 have attentively followed it, practically agree as to the 
 inapplicability of the idea of even classified association, 
 with its unavoidable disadvantages. In the work of MM. 
 Beaumont and Tocqueville, on the 'Penitentiary System 
 in the United States,' to which" (continues King Oscar), 
 "I shall often refer, it is said, 'The impossibility of devis- 
 ing a true classification of convicted criminals, is proved, 
 with such mathematical certainty, that it ought to consti- 
 tute the starting-point for all reform, with regard to the 
 administration of prisons.' " In another part of his book, 
 the royal writer again speaks of " the unhappy idea of 
 classified association and its dreadful results." 
 
 In the English convict prisons, in recent years, some 
 attempts at partial classification have been made ; but, as 
 was to have been expected, these have proved very inade- 
 quate to check the operation of mutual corruption amongst 
 
 I
 
 ConcIiiHion. 387 
 
 the prisoners. An intelligent man, who had been an 
 inmate of three of these establishments, said to the writer, 
 not long ago : — " My convict life was a hell upon earth, 
 through vile prisoners and spiteful warders. I complained 
 of my associates and begged repeatedly for a cell, apart 
 from them. This was refused, and I was told, ' That asso- 
 ciation, is a part of your punishment 1 ' " But punishment, 
 if just, will never be thus essentially debasing. 
 
 Whilst it is needful to avoid unduly pessimist or merely 
 insular views of the penal systems of the world, and whilst 
 it must be acknowledged that many of the existing prisons, 
 in various nations, are at least models of cleanliness and 
 order, and that more than a few of them also contain 
 amongst their officers a considerable proportion of men and 
 women of conscientious and humane dispositions, never- 
 theless attentive observers of these institutions will find 
 very much to warrant the conclusion that there is a heavy 
 preponderance of failure and of defect inseparable from 
 imprisonment, even when organised under the best forms 
 of classification hitherto attainable, but especially under 
 the more common prevalence of promiscuous criminal 
 association. 
 
 Facts are more eloquent than words. The penal ex- 
 periences of all nations ma}- be confidently appealed to, in 
 this regard. What was the consequence of the practical 
 adoption of the classified association of British convicts, 
 under its most careful and limited form, as administered by 
 that humane pioneer of the " progressive system," Captain 
 Maconochie ? Disastrous failure. What have been the nut 
 results of the association still prevalent in the majority of 
 the prisons of France, that grand nation whose people arc 
 so ingenious and energetic ? The answer is given by them- 
 selves, in the almost despairing legislation embodied in the 
 " Re'cidiviste " Law, for the extension of penal deportation 
 to the Southern Hemisphere, as a means to remove the 
 superabundance of home criminality to other regions. And 
 
 c c 2
 
 388 Fenological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 in the French Senate, in 1888, M. Berenger specially attri- 
 buted to the corrupting influences of prison association in 
 France, even in spite o£ efforts at "classification," the 
 melancholy result that the total number of imprisonments 
 in that country had increased threefold in half a century, 
 that is to say, from 41,000 in 1836 to 127,000 in 1888 ; and 
 that in the same period the number of reconvicted cri- 
 minals (recidivistes) had increased from 81 per cent, to 
 48 per cent, in regard to the class of the more serious 
 offences, and from 28 to 43 per cent, in the minor descrip- 
 tions. The Minister of the Interior, in reply, virtually 
 admitted the validity of M. Berenger's argument in favour 
 of cellular separation. Again, what has accompanied the 
 all but universal adoption of congregate imprisonment, 
 both classified and unclassified, in the United States of 
 America ? A steady increase in the proportion of crime to 
 population and a shocking development of corruption, in 
 the county jails especially. If we turn to Italj^ the land 
 which has furnished some of the most eminent and honour- 
 able leaders of penal reform, from Beccaria to Beltrani 
 •Scalia, and whose Government has given such cordial and 
 generous co-operation to the promoters of International 
 Prison Congresses, we find the existence of a more mis- 
 chievous activity of the predatory and homicidal classes 
 than in almost any other country, and a large prison popu- 
 lation gathered into great gangs of mutually contaminating 
 villainry. Even in might}^ and learned Germany, with 
 the most powerfully organised Government in the world, 
 and with many able administrators, the prisons are still, 
 in a large degree, schools of crime, as is sadly but honestly 
 acknowledged by such high authorities as MM. Holtzen- 
 dorff", Jao;emann, Aschrott, and others. There was once a 
 small band of wisely radical reformers of penal and social 
 abuses in Germany, including King Frederick William IV. 
 of Prussia and his trusty advisers. Dr. Julius and Dr. 
 Wichern. These saw the primary importance of Religion
 
 Conclusion. 389 
 
 as a preventive and restorative influence, and also of the 
 effectual separation of prisoners, as both a deterrent and a 
 morally antiseptic essential ; Ijut even these eminent men 
 met with such passive apath}^ or active opposition, from 
 their fellow-countrymen, that comparatively little of their 
 desired improvements were ultimately secured. Germany 
 has paid a heavy penalty for this disregard. 
 
 In 1888 there came from far-off Australia yet another 
 striking confirmation of the views here expressed. In the 
 preceding year the Commissioners, appointed by the Queens- 
 land Government to inquire into the condition of prisons 
 in that Colony, issued their Report. In it they state (at 
 page 14), " The associated system has been condemned on 
 all hands. The evils attending it, as disclosed in the course 
 of our investigations, are too great to permit of its being 
 safely continued. It leads to insul>ordination, to con- 
 spiracies, to discontent, to vices of the most revolting- 
 nature ; it increases the cost of administration; it prevents 
 the possibility of reformation on the part of the convicts ; 
 it contaminates persons not wholly bad ; in short, as was 
 tersely put by a shrewd observer, it manufactures crimi- 
 nals." The Commissioners added some shocking particulars 
 as to recent occurrences amongst male prisoners, in associa- 
 tion, in that Colony. And in regard to the females, it is 
 reported : " We confess we were hardly prepared for the 
 terrible revelations made to us, as to what is possible in 
 the associated wards, or cells. Apart from the vile prac- 
 tices and the awful language which are indulged in, there 
 can be no doubt that improper influences are brought to 
 bear on less hardened females, to aljandon themselves to a 
 career of immoralit}' and crime, when they shall have 
 obtained their freedom." (Report, page 50.) This dreadful 
 condition of things shows the officially admitted results 
 of associated imprisonment, in one of the youngest and 
 most intelligent of the British Colonies. 
 
 Hence those Penologists, who entertain the most doci<led
 
 390 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 objections to such a mode of criminal disposal, may abun- 
 dantly' justify their position, by an appeal to its general 
 practical results. And, on the other hand, the countries 
 where, as in England with its cellular Local Jails, or in 
 Holland and Belgium, with their similarly organized 
 central prisons, the separation of offenders from each other 
 is best secured, or at least approximated to, these are also 
 the nations where criminals are most effectually held in 
 check. 
 
 But it is important to bear in mind that the very partial 
 adoption, hitherto, of the Separate System, has but imper- 
 fectly manifested the efficiencj* of its ultimate tendencies 
 and capacities. For this principle, when wisely adminis- 
 tered, should involve, to an extent nowhere yet secured, a 
 concurrent re-arrangement of sextexces. Under its exten- 
 sion, imprisonments will be, more generally and uniformly, 
 short but sharp, more really penal, but more mercifully 
 deterrent and reformatory ; whilst free from many of the 
 moral and economic objections attendant on longer and 
 laxer detentions. 
 
 So far, then, as Prison discipline is concerned, the present 
 work decidedly advocates the Separate System, but as 
 administered on the moderate and judicious lines advocated 
 by Suringar, Ducpetiaux, and others mentioned in the pre- 
 ceding pages. 
 
 But the exposition of Prison Discipline is only one 
 department of Penological Science. Therefore it is another 
 object of this work to show that prisons, in general, have 
 been unduly and excessively resorted to, as means for the 
 repression of crime, and that their efficacy, as such, has been 
 immensely exaggerated, in comparison with other prac- 
 ticable methods of dealino- with offenders. 
 
 Wise penal and preventive Leglslatiox is also of vast 
 importance. And in reference to this department, the 
 writer has invited further attention to the necessity for the 
 enactment of laws securing, more systematically than here-
 
 Conclusion. 391 
 
 tofore, a reasonable cumulation of penalties, whilst 
 permitting considerable elasticity to the functions of the 
 officers upon whom devolves the duty of carrying these 
 into execution. The element of certainty is of immense 
 importance in penology ; but, to secure it, there must of 
 necessity be great patience and moderation in the grada- 
 tion and cumulation of the sentences. 
 
 Progress in this department will, as it has been here 
 uro-ed, be o-reatly promoted by an increased resort to judi- 
 ciously administered substitutes for imprisonment, in- 
 cluding conditional liberty or probation ; sentences of 
 liability to detention, but not necessarily involving that 
 infliction; fines, and moderate corporal chastisements, as 
 merciful and economical alternatives, in lieu of prolonged 
 incarceration. In these matters, the present writer has 
 united in the views approved by an increasing proportion 
 of penologists. 
 
 In o-iving special prominence to the department of Pre- 
 ventive influences, the author has had to range himself 
 with a minority of writers on penal matters. For although 
 it is universally admitted that " Prevention is better than 
 cure," yet when we turn from the mere verbal acknow- 
 ledgment, to the measure of practical adoption of this 
 great principle, and when we peruse the majority of the 
 Laws and Regulations emanating from the rulers and legis- 
 lators of nations, and study the Reports of their executive 
 officers, and even many, or most, of the standard works on 
 Penology, it may justly be deemed matter for grave reflec- 
 tion and surprise, that comparatively so little prominence 
 has been given, in these authoritative expositions, to the 
 simple but powerfully preventive and restorative agencies 
 of Religion and Morality, including, in particular, under 
 the latter head, the wise encouragement of Temperance, 
 Chastity, and Thrift, and of such systems of general 
 popular Education, as involve the training of children, 
 both to self-supporting industry, and amid those harmo-
 
 392 Penological and Prevent ive Principles. 
 
 nious influences o£ piety which are fostered mainly by 
 Dexomixatioxal Schools, -svhere the pupils are surrounded 
 by arrangements and persons, adapted simultaneously to 
 guard their liberty of conscience, and to prevent their 
 faith from being needlessly assailed by jarring criticisms, 
 or by infidel or immoral contamination. 
 
 It is to such constructive and preventive influences that 
 the present volume is designed to ofier special homage 
 and advocac}'. For the strongest motives to morality and 
 the most powerful counteractives of vice, are to be found 
 in those simple but mighty truths which bring home to 
 the hearts of men a sense of the redeeming compassion 
 and eternal majesty of God. The world's experiences, Itoth 
 negative and positive, have abundantly justified the wisdom 
 of John Howard's favourite motto, " Spes mea ix Christo ;" 
 as expressing the great fact that the surest hope for social 
 progress, and for deliverance from crime and miser}', is to 
 be found in connection with the blessings of the Christian 
 religion. 
 
 The Cross, the Chief Basis for ]\[oral Restraixt axd 
 Deterrexce. 
 
 Howard, as one of the world's most eminent penologists 
 and most practical philanthropists, adopted a thoroughly 
 scientific basis, both for his Penology and his Philanthropy, 
 when he placed his chief expectation on the only abiding 
 foundation, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the great hope for in- 
 dividual and collective humanity. This great " Corner-stone " 
 has far too frequently been disregarded by Politicians, 
 Statesmen, and Social Reformers ; and in consequence, their 
 schemes and arrangements have often failed. 
 
 The best operations of civil Government and the most 
 eflfectual means of preventing oti'ences, restoring the erring, 
 and promoting the happiest developments of social oj-gauiza- 
 tion, must be, it is generally admitted, inseparably and
 
 Conclmion. 393 
 
 specially connected with a reverence for Law and Order, 
 and with a wise comljination of the influences of Fear and 
 Hope, of Reward and Penalty. 
 
 But it is precisely and pre-eminently in the Gospel of 
 Christ, that we find these powerful principles most autho- 
 ritatively embodied and exemphfied. For it reveals, with 
 a clearness elsewhere unequalled, the absolute sovereignty 
 of the perfect Moral Law of God ; inasmuch as the vin- 
 dication of the majestic inviolability of this, constituted 
 the necessity for the atoning sufferings of the Redeemer, 
 as the Incarnate Justice and Love of the Highest, " mag- 
 nifying that Law and making it honourable." 
 
 Even the laws of human monarchs and States require 
 to be maintained with unrelaxed power and sanction. If 
 they can be set at nought, or transgressed with impunity, 
 the authority of the ruler and the security of the people 
 alike suffer. Much more, then, may we conclude that the 
 Supreme Creator will not permit any of His Moral Laws 
 to be broken or disregarded, without some effectual mani- 
 festation of majestic vindication. We see already, that 
 in the case of His physical ordinances in outward Nature, 
 any infractions of them are certainly and universally 
 followed by penalty, or by proofs of their absolute domi- 
 nion, in some form or other. 
 
 Neither in Nature, nor in Grace, does God pardon un- 
 conditionally the transgres.sion of His laws, or permit their 
 authority to be in the slightest degree impaired. 
 
 Some powerful motives to morality and virtue arc 
 afforded by that which has been termed " the religion of 
 nature," through a contemplation of the impressive uni- 
 formity of the mighty forces of the physical creation, 
 wherein, from the earliest ages of organic life and develop- 
 ment, the Almighty has been revealing " His eternal power 
 and Godhead." But never has there been any manifesta- 
 tion of the majesty of Divine law, so awful in its character, 
 or of such tendency, in proportion as it is appreciated, to
 
 394 Penological and Preventive Pri)icijjks. 
 
 produce efficient reverence and righteous fear amongst 
 mankind, as the revelation embodied in the Cross of Christ. 
 It is at once the most encouragingly attractive influence to 
 the good, and the most alarmingly deterrent declaration 
 of peril to the evil-doer, at any period visibly given forth. 
 It abidingly proclaims the existence, in the Almighty, of 
 certain attributes of permanent awfulness, which hold col- 
 lateral influence with His compassion and love. It proves 
 for evermore, that, " it is a fearful thing to fall into the 
 hands of the living God," as irreverent and unrepentant 
 transgressors. 
 
 The Holy Scriptures declare that " God, sending His 
 own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, con- 
 demned sin, in the flesh." This self-sacrifice of the Highest, 
 in the Person* of Christ, rendered it compatible with the 
 sovereignty of His own law of perfect sanctity, to pardon 
 all humbly repentant sinners, even to the very uttermost ; 
 and so to afford, them honourable access to Himself, in peace, 
 and to the blessed influences of His own Spirit of immacu- 
 late purity. But the awful Sacrifice which thus combined 
 the sublimest inflexibility of regnant majesty with an im- 
 measureable tenderness of righteously paternal compassion, 
 constitutes also a terrible forecast of irresistible chastise- 
 ment impending over those who wilfully reject the hum- 
 blino- but gracious terms of acceptance and shelter, thus 
 ofl'ered to them in the Gospel. The Epistle to the Hebrews 
 predicts the " much sorer punishment " which must be 
 undergone Ijy those presumptuous souls who practically 
 
 * "Person." — Professor Max Miiller and other writers have well 
 shown that the original theological meaning of " Person " (from 
 persona, a mask) did not imply separate individuality, but only a 
 special or collateral manifestation of the One, undivided and unchang- 
 ing identity, of the Eternal God. We must not regard Christ as a 
 Being other than the Deity,i selected as an innocent creature to 
 bear penalty. No ! The Highest vindicated in His otvn incarnate 
 Person, the majesty of His own Law.
 
 Conclusion. 395 
 
 "count the Blood of the Covenant, wherewith they were 
 sanctified, an unholy thing, and do despite unto the Spirit 
 of grace." And it is very significant that the Apostle 
 Peter, who writes so much respecting the sufferings of 
 Christ, points to these as furnishing, not only a special 
 cause of reverence on the part of good men, but also a 
 sure and certain ground of terror to the wicked. He ex- 
 horts : " Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear ; 
 forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with 
 corruptible things, but with the precious blood of Christ." 
 And he further adduces the solemn thought, that if even 
 the righteous are only granted pardon and safety, in con- 
 sideration of the Redeemer's law-honouring sufferings, 
 " where shall the ungodly and the (unrepentant) sinner 
 appear?" The future punishment of such is thus pro- 
 claimed to be alarmingly certain, on the ground of God's 
 manifestation of trul}' merciful justice, with the absolute 
 inviolability of His moral ordinances. 
 
 For " the Reign of Law " is universally manifest. Not 
 only is it everywhere witnessed by physical science, that 
 great handmaid of religion, and humble servant of the 
 Almighty ; but it evidently pervades the realm of spiritual 
 and even of supernatural influences. It holds its sway in 
 the grand regions of Miracle ami Prayer, as reverently 
 perceptive souls have clearly seen. And the Holy Scrip- 
 tures themselves have their truest and most unassailable 
 interpretation, when read in the light of God's ordinary 
 laws of gradual, mental, moral, and personal development, 
 which He does not set aside, or dishonour, even when 
 qualifying His servants for the functions of Prophecy and 
 Inspiration. 
 
 Perhaps one of the chief and most widely prevalent ob- 
 stacles to the extension of a world-wide, willing reverence 
 for this Divine government, has been furnished by the 
 promulgation of extreme and unscriptural dogmas, in re- 
 lation to a presumed " endless torment " of the wicked, as
 
 396 Penological fnid Preventive Principles. 
 
 distinguished from a fair and reasonable interpretation of 
 the whole scope and spirit of the New Testament, respect- 
 ing '■ everlasting punishment " in its original, literal sense 
 of " feonian," or " age-lasting " chastisement, for finally re- 
 storative and beneficent purposes ; and as it is also ex- 
 pressed by the plain, unquestionable meaning of " damna- 
 tion," as derived from the Latin word damnum, signify- 
 ing loss, or diminislied advantage, ov forfeited privilege, after 
 a full and just judgment of all the circumstances of offend- 
 ing beings. 
 
 Only the worst of human miscreants would, if it were 
 possible, deliberately roast alive, for a few hours, an 
 offending dog, cat, or even tiger. How, then, is it credible 
 that the God and Father of infinite justice and love, will 
 torture any of His poor human family, to say nothing of 
 the great majority of them, in agonizing flames of fire, for 
 ever and ever ? This awful dogma has generally and in- 
 creasingly failed, as a popular deterrent and restraint from 
 evil. It has even suggested an object for the most common 
 and contemptuous forms of swearing and scoffing, amongst 
 the worst classes of mankind. It has revolted the hearts 
 and consciences of the best men and women ; and, as 
 authoritatively promulgated by some churches, it has 
 driven multitudes of the most earnest and thoughtful per- 
 sons into infidelity. 
 
 But, in particular, it has produced most mischievous and 
 demoralising influences, by leading to reactionar}' views in 
 the opposite extreme. For it has urged myriads to the 
 false conclusion that, because God is too merciful to punish, 
 in such infinitely disproportionate degree, the results of 
 naturally inherited infirmity, operative as only through 
 " one inch of time " ; therefore. He must also be so lax in 
 His moral administration, and so indifferent to His supreme 
 honour and dignity, as Sovereign Lawgiver of the L"ni- 
 verse, as not to visit with an adequately repressive and 
 effectively restorative chastisement, the conscious violation
 
 Conchiaion. 397 
 
 of His ordinances, and the irreverent disregard of His 
 Divine Majesty. 
 
 Hence, for example, the ultra-Calvinism of New England 
 has promoted, in the same region, a pernicious activity of 
 an extreme and one-sided " Universalism," which ignores 
 both the inviolability of God's law an<:l its indispensable 
 vindication, through the incarnation and self-sacrifice of 
 the Highest in Christ, as His own condescending mani- 
 festation, in this world of humanity. This system of 
 moral negation encourages vicious laxity and irreverence. 
 
 But very different is the salutary and awe-inspiring- 
 tendency of that Scriptural Universalism which, whilst it 
 diffuses a glow of well-grounded hope over our views of 
 the ultimate destiny of all the dead and all the living, is 
 accompanied by the solemnising influence of a full recog- 
 nition of God's visible law of just retribution and reason- 
 able enforcement of human responsibility, here or hereafter. 
 This conclusion does not discourage philanthropic or re- 
 ligious efforts. On the contrary, it tends to stimulate 
 activity in the home and foreign Mission field, and in 
 public and private Evangelisation, by its collateral and 
 imj^lied recognition of the claims of Christ's love upon 
 grateful, volitional effort of every kind. And further, it is 
 in harmony with, and fostered by, the other evidences of 
 the comprehensiveness and continuity of Divine law, which 
 lead us to infer that, as in all the past, so in all the future, 
 He will work out His beneficent purposes, of the moral and 
 spiritual elevation of the human race, mainly by the 
 gradual, patient, soul- winning influences of loving instru- 
 mentality, developing, by means of humble, prayerful 
 activity, blessings both to the agents and objects, of such 
 intelligent service. The past teachings, both of history 
 and of revelation, confirm us in this conclusion, that it is 
 by such willing and gentle, moral ministry, that the Most 
 High is likely, for the most part, evermore to carry on 
 His soul-elevating work ; and 011I3' under very exceptional
 
 398 Penological and Prevcntice Principles. 
 
 circumstances, by means of startling interpositions of super- 
 natural force, or by the sudden development of overpower- 
 ing crises. As in the Geological Ages, it is very gradual 
 change which has been the prevalent rule, and disturbing 
 cataclysms the temporary exceptions ; so, by analogy, 
 in the realms of grace, the love-attracting, mild and 
 patient influences of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy 
 Spirit, are the powers to be chiefly looked to, for the ever- 
 lasting moral development of souls. " Not by might, 
 neither by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of 
 Hosts." 
 
 The earlier Christian Fathers, as Clement of Alexandria, 
 Origen, and even Athanasius, during the purer ages of 
 Primitive Catholicity, as distinguished from the periods 
 of the subsequent innovations, of rigid Augustinian 
 Romanism, and narrow Calvinism and Puritanism, were 
 characterised by a far more genial, just, and hopeful 
 faith, as to the destinj" of mankind, than their successors 
 in the councils of the church. Augustine of Hippo, 
 who is so specially responsible for the general and 
 authoritative diffusion of the dogma of " eternal torment," 
 exemplified, in his own conduct, its hardening and de- 
 moralising tendency ; as, for instance, in his cruel and 
 vicious abandonment of the affectionate mother of his 
 child, his virtual wife, in the Divine sight. But later on, 
 when the heart of the priesthood became, in a large de- 
 gree, petrified by these rigid teachings, as to the general 
 and final reprobation of mankind, and when the clergy, 
 as a body, became more or less indurated in feeling, through 
 the operation of their own enforced disobedience to the 
 natural and Divine law of marriage, these perversions of 
 doctrine and practice cumulated in the awful Inquisition 
 and its extreme blasphemies against Christ. It was 
 no mere poetic licence which prompted Sir Walter Scott, 
 for example, to depict, in " Marmion," the mode of death 
 inflicted, by a brutalised sacerdotalism, upon poor Constance 
 
 I
 
 Conclusion. 399 
 
 at Holy Isle. For, to this day, especially in various 
 parts of the European Continent, remain the sickening- 
 signs and incontrovertible evidences of the revolting cruel- 
 ties long inflicted, upon myriads of the very best of men 
 and women, by the special teachers of the dogma of eternal 
 torment. They sought, as far as practicable, to illustrate 
 and initiate its agonies, in their own secret chambers, sub- 
 terranean dungeons, and shambles of human butchery. 
 
 Still and abundant^', the traveller meets with visible 
 evidences of the immeasurable agony, which, for long ages, 
 characterised the priestly administration of the rack, the 
 stake, the red-hot pincers, the wallings up and buryings 
 alive, the scaldings to death, the mutilations, the impale- 
 ments of the innocent upon sharp spikes and knives in 
 dark, deep pits, or between the crushing arms of "the 
 Virgin's embrace," in those hideous dens of appalling wick- 
 edness. The black dungeon, with depth beneath depth, in 
 many feudal castles, tends to produce a shudder in the 
 observer. The torture chambers of mediaeval civilian a<lmi- 
 nistration, as still to be seen at Nuremberg, reveal worse 
 proofs of cruelty. But the most appalling and most numer- 
 ous evidences of penal or persecuting atrocity, are asso- 
 ciated with the ecclesiastical Inquisitions of Spain and Italy. 
 These, especially, tended to brutalise the prison administra- 
 tion of Europe for centuries; and indeed their indirect 
 influence is still visible in some of the establishments, insti- 
 tutions, and practices, connected with the world's Penology, 
 down to the present moment. It would need but brief time 
 to demonstrate that these horrors of the Inquisition, and of 
 ancient secret Imprisonment, were amongst the logical con- 
 .sequences of the dogma of " eternal torment," united with 
 the assumption of the right of persecution for diflerences of 
 religious opinion. For the same influences were manifest 
 in Protestant professors of the same belief ; as in Henry 
 the Eighth, in whose reign G0,000 persons were executed ; 
 and in many Calvinists and Puritans, in so far as their com-
 
 400 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 paratively limited powers of authority enabled them to act 
 similarly. Thus Calvin, himself, promoted the burning of 
 Servetus ; Puritans hanged Quakers in New England ; 
 Scotch bigots of the iconoclastic Knoxian era, and later, 
 manifested such a hard and persecuting spirit, as to lead 
 Milton to declare that "New Presbyter is but old priest 
 writ large"; and that grimly pious Calvinistic leader, Dr. 
 Cotton Mather, superintended the execution, in one day, of 
 five unfortunate wretches charged with witchcraft. But 
 all such professed Christianity was diametrically opposed 
 to the example and teaching of the Divine Founder of the 
 Church. 
 
 In our more enlightened age, perhaps the strongest dis- 
 proof of the dogma of " eternal torment " is afforded by the 
 lives of those very persons, as a class, who most emphatically 
 profess to believe it. For these, as with one voice, nullify 
 and contradict in action, their own profession. They enjoy 
 life and prosperity as cheerfully as any other persons, 
 and participate, with as keen a zest as any, in the comforts, 
 luxuries, and festivities of existence. They happily marry, 
 and beget large families ; whilst some of the most pro- 
 minent amongst their number, achieve a notoriety even as 
 pulpit-jesters. But such easy, joyous existence is utterly 
 incompatible with any genuine belief in the general con- 
 signment of mankind to hopelessly unending burnings. 
 None who really held that dogma, could live in criminal 
 disregard of all the souls in such tremendous peril. Yet 
 only at rare intervals, has the world seen some honest and 
 approximately consistent advocate of that view, whose life 
 confirmed his opinion ; as, for instance, such zealous souls as 
 Brainerd, Carey, and Martyn, quitting life's ease and rest, 
 to agonise, till the last breath, for the salvation of a 
 world, whose Divine Disposer, even these good men 
 virtually held, to be less merciful than themselves. 
 
 This dogma is now increasingly rejected, by the churches, 
 and especially denied, in practice, by its own professors.
 
 Conclusion, 401 
 
 It has flao-rantly failed to become an effectual moral 
 restraint, either from sin against God, or from crime 
 against man. On the contrary, it has led millions to blas- 
 pheme the former and thousands to torment the latter.* 
 
 * Missions and Morals. — Some devoted Missionaries have reite- 
 rated the precept that unless the eternal torment of the heathen 
 be accepted as an article of belief, the most powerful stimulus to 
 Evangelistic effort will be missed. And others have, on this very 
 ground, charged with cruelty the holders of the "• larger hope." But 
 such statements are made at the expense of the Divine glory and 
 justice. A Quaker Missionary. Stephen Grellet, being in the vicinity 
 of a great battle whilst the action was going on, felt an agony of 
 anxiety in regard to the future destiny of so many poor soldiers thus 
 being hurried into the presence of God. Whilst prayerfuUy exercised 
 on their behalf, a question, which the good man received as of Divine 
 suggestion, came with sudden power and restful comfort into his 
 soul — " Is My compassion less than thine ? " At the World's Mission 
 Confess, held in London, in June, 1888, eloquent appeals were 
 based on the assumption that innumerable thousands of millions of 
 men have utterly " gone to perdition, "for lack of missionary zeal and 
 funds. But the best and sufficient basis of such effort rather consists 
 in grateful love to Christ, leading to blessed co-operation with His 
 permanent law of the gradual development of spiritual life, through 
 instrumental but willing means. It is a glorious work to hasten 
 His Kingdom, to extend His sway, to co-operate with and humbly 
 contribute to consummate His loving purposes, with a devotion which 
 brings rich reivdrds to the labourers. 
 
 There is ample incitement to Christian Missions, furnished by the 
 obvious miseries inseparable, even in this life, from all creeds destitute 
 of Gospel light and love. For example, there are the immeasurable 
 sufferings and degradation of women, everywhere accompanying Poly- 
 gamy, even amongst the comparatively intelligent votaries of Islam and 
 Buddhism. Before Carey came to India, 1.400 widows were annually 
 burned, or buried alive, in Bengal alone. And still, the young Hindoo 
 wives and widows suffer great cruelties, as a direct consequence of their 
 Pagan system. Buddha has been styled " the Light of Asia ! " But 
 how dim and mournful must be the " light " of his followers, when 
 their best and highest hope, for the Future, offers them nothing better 
 than the laborious ultimate attainment of a joyless " Xirvana," or 
 virtual annihilation ! 
 
 And again, as to Morals, "nhilst certain future retribution is to be 
 
 D D
 
 402 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 Far otherwise is the holy tendency of the preaching of 
 the Cross of Christ, as the great basis for fear, on the 
 part of wilful sinners. For that Cross proclaims the certain 
 and inevitable, but truly just vindication, of God's un- 
 compromising Moral Law, either through pardon to the 
 sincerely repentant transgressor, in consideration of the 
 boundless merits and preciousness of Christ's sacrihce of 
 Himself, or by its contemplation and appreciation, through 
 the discipline of chastisement upon the persistently dis- 
 obedient, which, it may be believed, will be unsparingly 
 continued, with all needful measure of duration and in- 
 tensit3% until heartfelt submission and permanent develop- 
 ments of contrition are effectually secured in their sub- 
 jects. This is a conclusion which derives support, both 
 from reason and from Holy Scripture. It is increasingly 
 finding salutary access to the hearts of men, and it may 
 be expected to become a more and more powerful restraint 
 from evil, throughout the world. 
 
 Christ the Hope of the World for Virtue and 
 Happiness. 
 
 But not only is the Cross of Christ the truest ground of 
 wholesome fear, amongst individuals and communities ; it 
 also furnishes the brightest and surest source of hope and 
 virtuous encouragement to our race. For it conveys the 
 proof of the infinite love .to man, shown by the God of 
 immaculate holiness. The Incarnation was (as the poet 
 
 dreaded and proclaimed, for sins of Impurity, for example, yet im- 
 pressive restraints may be derived from a consideration of the present 
 actual results of licentiousness, and the awful injuries which it often 
 inflicts both upon the innocent and the guilty. The Lancet and other 
 medical authorities have recorded shocking instances in which, even tea 
 or twenty years after a husband's early sin, in this direction, the con- 
 sequences of that transgression have, by means of the terribly enduring 
 influences of syphilitic infection, cruelly wrecked the health, ruined the 
 bodies, and desolated the lives, of the innocent wife and children.
 
 Coiiciiision. 403 
 
 Hawker, of Morwenstow, has concisely expressed it) that 
 exceeding gift of Divine Grace : — 
 
 " Where woke to breath and beauty, God's own birth, 
 For men to sec Him bt/." 
 
 The previous revelations of the Highest, whether in out- 
 ward nature, or by comparatively vague spiritual im- 
 pressions, had neither adequately manifested the depths of 
 sacred sympathy existing in the Supreme Father, nor 
 awakened in men's hearts a vivid sense of humble but 
 filial relationship to Him. As Macaulay has remarked, 
 " God, the uncreated, the incomprehensible, the invisible, 
 attracted few worshippers. A philosopher might admire 
 so noble a conception ; but the crowd turned away in dis- 
 gust, from words which presented no image to their minds. 
 It was before Deity embodied in a human form, walking 
 among men, partaking of their infirmities, leaning on their 
 bosoms, weeping over their graves, slumbering in the 
 manger, bleeding on the Cross, that the prejudices of the 
 Synagogue, and the doubts of the Academy, and the pride 
 of the Portico, and the swords of thirty Legions, were 
 humbled in the dust." 
 
 And this "express Image" of the Divine Personality, 
 once revealed, is never to be withdrawn from manifest 
 existence. As the all-victorious Redeemer, He lives on, 
 for ever, in His risen " spiritual Body," whence He irradi- 
 ates, by the vitalising energies and individualising visita- 
 tions of His Holy Spirit, the hearts of His believing 
 children, one by one, thus granting to their souls the 
 inestimably precious gift of separate, loving recognition. 
 Even the old Pagans craved and earnestly sought such 
 private and distinguishing links between themselves, their 
 homes, and " the Immortal Gods." Hence their " Lares and 
 Penates," their " Household Deities." Such aspiration was 
 a measure of the natural desire, which springs up, in 
 every earnest heart, for an abiding communion, special
 
 404 Penological and Prcvcntire Principles. 
 
 to itself, with the Divine and Everlasting Father of 
 Humanity. And He, having honoured in His own incar- 
 nate Person, the claims of His awful majesty of Supreme 
 Sovereignty, then opened, freely and without limit, the 
 measureless resources of His love to men, not only col- 
 lectively, but separately. Hence, from the Holy Risen 
 Christ flow forth, for ever, the blessed emanations of the 
 Eternal Spirit, shining into each heart and bringing there 
 also the growing impress of His Image, with His light and 
 sunshine of celestial fire. This priceless gift of the indivi- 
 dualizing manifestation of Christ, spiritually, brings into each 
 soul, singly, a treasure, as of home sweetness, which shall 
 never experience the bereavement of the beloved object. It 
 kindles a glow as of a paternal and private fireside, which 
 shall never be quenched. And it tends, by similar links, 
 with the beloved souls of kindred and of others, to reunite, 
 in indissoluble brotherhood, the members of the one " whole 
 family in Heaven and in Earth." 
 
 But to individuals and to the race, these unspeakable 
 blessings are communicated, as is God's way generally, by 
 gradual development. This is to be prepared for, and 
 patiently wrought out, in the first place, by the calling 
 and training; of the Christian Church and its elect 
 members, even that body of chosen and disciplined souls, 
 to whom, in every age, the Holy Spirit has granted special 
 visitations and peculiar privileges, not for any private 
 merit or selfish interest, but for present or ultimate service 
 to their fellow-creatures. For Divine Election is a great 
 and blessed historic fact, although Calvinistic "Reproba- 
 tion " is a pernicious delusion. 
 
 The Incarnation of Christ manifests God's justice and 
 fairness, in taking into full consideration not only the 
 demands of His own Law of spotless sanctity, but also 
 the natural claims, upon His compassion, of every human 
 being, as inheriting, from the First Adam, inevitable ten- 
 dencies either to actual sinfulness or to moral disinclination 
 
 I
 
 ConrhisiG)!. 405 
 
 and weakness, in consequence of which men are universally 
 born, as on to an inclined plane, and not placed in a 
 position where it is, from the first, possible for them to 
 make an unbiassed choice of virtue, or to tread the path 
 of right with equal facility with that of evil. The Apostle 
 Paul, in whose thirteen inspired Epistles there is not a 
 single reference to " eternal torment," again and again 
 declares, and even five times in one chapter, that Christ 
 the Second Adam, shall " much more " than make ultimate 
 " restitution of all things," not only to the few, the Churcli 
 of the First-born, to whom distinctive favours have been 
 given for the subsequent benefit of others, but also finally 
 to " the many " universally. For, as he again records, 
 Christ is "the Saviour of all men; specialhj of those that 
 believe." And we may trustfully expect, for all, everlasting 
 developments of " the manifold wisdom of God, according 
 to fho eternal purpose, which he purposed in Christ Jesus 
 our Lord." (Eph. iii. 11.) 
 
 John Howard was but one of myriads to whom a 
 hope centred in Christ has been the great sustaining 
 power of life, and the chiefly animating impulse of bene- 
 ficent action. A similar hope has generally characterised 
 the good men and women who have been the chief instru- 
 ments in efibrts for the diminution of Crime, Sin, Poverty, 
 Slavery, and Wretchedness ; such as the Suringars, Buxtons, 
 and Wicherns ; the Clarksons and Wilberforces ; the Borro- 
 meos, Fenelons, and Vincents de Paul ; the Andrew Keeds, 
 George Peabodys, and Samuel Morleys, of the world. 
 These, and innumerable others, of noble efforts and aims, 
 have, for the most part, based their lives upon definitely 
 Christian principles and hopes. A recent writer, " ]VIark 
 Rutherford," has well observed : " Jesus was the first who 
 ever cared for the people — for the poor, the ignorant, the 
 fools, the weak-minded, the slaves. The Greeks and 
 Romans thought nothing of these." And the history of 
 true Christianity has been the history of rm/ Philanthropy.
 
 40G Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 Hope in Christ is the soul of Philanthropy and of indivi- 
 dual, national, administrative and penal amelioration. It is 
 the o-reat stimulus to beneficent effort, whether in Social 
 Reforms at home, or Missionary Evangelization abroad ; be- 
 cause it involves the promise of the highest rewards — those 
 of Christ's everlasting love and 2'>^cunar favours — to the 
 persons who, in whatever sphere of life or action, become 
 His willing instruments, in His own great work of the per- 
 manent education and moral development of the human 
 race. This, we may infer from past and present experi- 
 ences and analogies, will 1)e always carried on, chiefly 
 by His servants ; of each of whom, however humble, 
 it may still, for gracious purposes, be declared, "The 
 Lord hath need of him." For God's modes and laws 
 of operation everywhere appear to be persistent. And 
 as He has, in general, wrought out His dispensations 
 amongst humanity, by prayerfully dependent instruments 
 and reverently volitional agents, so may it probably 
 continue, through the unending Future. To this prin- 
 ciple, so stimulative of useful and happy activity, seem 
 applicable the familiar words, "As it was in the begin- 
 ning, is now, and ever shall be." 
 
 Hope in Christ is as sunshine to the race and to the 
 individual. But to what similar hope, light, or power, can 
 the unscientific Agnostic, or the vaguely credulous Posi- 
 tivist, point mankind ? These turn us but to blanks or 
 failures in the present, and to dense clouds in the future ; 
 to no effectively victorious influence over evil, and to no 
 animating relief from despair and gloom. But the Chris- 
 tian is furnished with the grandly scientific basis of innu- 
 merable historic verifications and personal experiences of 
 the fruitful power of the love of the Lord Jesus, in mould- 
 ing the best lives and in overcoming, throughout the 
 world, obstacles otherwise insuperable. Even in modern 
 mis.sionary successes alone, as for example, in China, 
 Burmah, India, Africa and elsewhere, the initial triumphs
 
 Conclusion. 407 
 
 of Christianity, through the labours of a very few and 
 very feeble instruments, prayerfully leaning on God's 
 Spirit, have effected results in the reclamation of criminal, 
 vicious, and miserable lives, and in developments of social 
 progress and civilization, as marvellous as any miracles re- 
 corded of old time, and as demonstrable, in point of fact, 
 as any matters of physical or mathematical science. 
 
 This great spiritual force ever advances to victor}*. It 
 was never more widely diffused, or more hopefully active, 
 than it is to-day. The present, more than any preceding 
 century, is " the Age of Saints," notwithstanding various 
 and vigorous collateral operations of evil — operations, it is 
 to be noted, which are in large degree being overruled, 
 even already, for benevolent ends, through the moral 
 discipline for which a certain antagonism and contrast 
 appear to be essential concomitants. Hardly one, if 
 any, of the departments of the Christian Church, has 
 any reasonable ground for regarding its human Fathers 
 and Founders as having been better, or more privileged, 
 than its existing members. To all Churches and to every 
 Christian, the Lord still proclaims, as hopefully as to the 
 Jewish remnant in the days of Haggai, and indeed, in- 
 comparably more so now, " My Spirit remaineth amongst 
 you." The voice of the Pessimist, or of the Agnostic, is 
 the cry of the blind. Christianity is manifestly destined 
 to magnificently progressive developments, throughout the 
 boundless ages. 
 
 John Howard had lieen trained in that Calvinistic or 
 Puritan theology, which, whilst it bears a noble testimony 
 to the Majesty of the Divine Sovereignty and Foreknow- 
 ledge, and to the great fact of moral Election, yet grievously 
 ignores, or misrepresents, the highest of God's attributes. 
 His Love, His true Justice, and His sympathizing Father- 
 hood. Howard's measure of hope was sufficient to animate 
 him to a large service for humanity. But more of spiritual 
 sunshine and of happy geniality might have brightened
 
 408 Penological and Preventive Principles. 
 
 both his own life and that of his poor son, if they had 
 been educated in that " larger hope " of the final universal 
 triumph of God's redeeming love, which many of the best 
 Christians have entertained, as, for example, such emi- 
 nently holy men as Origen, William Law, Pastor Oberlin 
 of the Ban de la Koche, Thomas Erskine of Linlathen, and 
 an increasing multitude in our own day. 
 
 And have we any reason, even for limiting this God- 
 glorifying hope, to our own race, or world ? As Dr. Chalmers 
 and others have reminded us. Astronomical Science fur- 
 nishes some suggestive indications to spiritual faith. The 
 expanses of undefined but manifestly luminous Nebulge, 
 in the heavens above us, aftbrd intimations of vast ex- 
 tensions of Light, Life, and Law, beyond the resolving 
 reach of the most powerful telescopes. And, by analogy, 
 the historic and present certainties of Divine Grace, in 
 Christ, offer also some appreciable support to a trust that, 
 throug-hout the countless orbs of the LTniverse, both visible 
 and invisible, the sanctifying love of the Eternal Father, in 
 the unchanging identity of His omnipresent Spirit, may 
 hold sublime sway. 
 
 Whether this beneficent moral dominion may there select 
 for its channels, further Incarnations of the undivided Per- 
 sonality of the One God, to be manifested, either simul- 
 taneously or successively, in the millions of w^orlds sepa- 
 rately, we have at present no certainty of knowledge. 
 But we have much more than a basis of mere conjectural 
 supposition, for indulging the animating hope that the 
 boundless heights, depths, and breadths of the Divine 
 Glory, may ultimately include dispensations and everlast- 
 ing developments, of righteousness and happiness, for every 
 intelligent being, throughout the illimitable Creation.
 
 409 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Adult Probation, 303, 312. 
 
 Adult Reformatories. 187. 
 
 Agnostics, 49, 40(;. 407. 
 
 American County Jails, 89, 90, 91. 244. 
 
 388. 
 American Crime. 140, 199. 
 American Leased Convicts. 85. 205. 
 American Penal Laxity, 79, 82. 84. 
 
 91, 117, 298. 
 American Police, 331, 341. 
 American Prison Societies, 89, 240. 
 American Progress, 81, 93, 96, 97, 231. 
 
 237, 240, 243, 299, 303, 359. 375. 382. 
 American '' Prohibition," 23. 
 American Sheriffs, 95. 
 American State Prisons, 90, 97. 203. 
 
 21], 213. 231. 
 Animals, Kindness to, 3fi, 43, 255. 344. 
 Appeals, 79, 274. 
 Apprenticeship, 310, 378. 
 Arbitration, International, 22, 379. 
 Australasia, 70, 72, 96, 105, 249. 282, 
 
 291,324, 355, 358, 389. 
 Austria, 5?, 61. 
 
 Bail, 303. 
 
 Baker, Barwick, 29, 146, 187. 189, 262, 
 
 272, 3.50, 351. 
 Belgium, 18, 110, 125, 238, 309, 310. 
 
 390. 
 Berlin, 20. 
 Bertillon, M., 190. 
 
 Board Schools, Costly, 370. 
 
 " Boarding Out." 5, 300. 359, 360, 362, 
 
 373. 
 Borstal, 72. 
 Boston. .305, 
 
 BrinkerhofE, General. 29.90, 105, 140. 
 British Convict Prisons, 51, 72, 105, 
 
 135, 136, 161, 170, 183, 202, 204. 219, 
 
 2.52, 387. 
 British Local Jails, 69. 134, 137, 219, 
 
 249, 390. 
 British Police, 333. 
 British Progress. 15. 17, 26. 33, 51, 
 
 63. 65. 135. 169. 184. 312, 332, 340, 
 
 347, 3.50, 381. 
 Broadmoor, 157, 182. 
 Brockway, Z. R., 29, 90, 101, 103, 
 
 276. 
 Brotherhood of St. John. 227. 
 Browning, Dr. Colin, 71. 224. 
 Brutal Criminals. 175, 180. 
 Buxtons. The. 30. 46. 132. 262. 405. 
 
 California. 4. 90. 
 Canada. 96, 1()5. 
 Capital Punishment, 18. 19, 152. 158, 
 
 161. 164. 
 Carlyle, T., 128. 
 Catholics, Roman, 41, 129. 245. 247, 
 
 268.375, 381,398. 
 Cellular System, .50, 63, 107, 108, 115, 
 
 118, 120, 127, 1.30, 135, 142, 144, 166, 
 
 213, 218, 284, 386.
 
 410 
 
 IXDEX. 
 
 Centralisation, 29, 31. 
 
 Certainty, 143, 166. 182, 197. 280, 391. 
 
 Chance Sentences, 27.5. 
 
 Channing. Dr.. 42. 
 
 Charity, Real and Spurious. 2, 3, 7, 
 
 13, 11. 
 Children and Temperance, 383. 
 Children, Cruelty to. 293, 383. 
 Children in Prison, 357, 364, 366. 
 Christ, The Lord Jesus, 14. 30, 36, 43, 
 44, 47. 131. 222. 248, 265, 392, 394, 
 402, 404. 
 " Christian Brothers," 244, 245. 
 " Christian System," the, 224. 
 Churches in general, 17, 48, 268, 270. 
 Church of England, 48, 262, 268, 340, 
 
 3G0. 361. 375,381. 
 Classification of Prisoners, 117, 119, 
 
 127, 134, 178, 279, 353, 386. 
 Clay, Rev. John, 47, 119, 127, 217. 
 Clubs, Drinking, 26. 
 Codification. 273. 
 '•Colonies" for Criminals, 191, 194, 
 
 286, 289. 
 "Colonies" for Paupers, Vagrants. 
 
 &c., 14. 40. 286. 289. 
 Competitive Industry, 33, 86, 208, 210, 
 
 213. 
 Compulsory Residence, 194. 
 Compulsory Thrift and Insurance, 
 
 285, 376. 
 Concentrated Criminality of Prisons, 
 
 116, 269. 
 Conditional Liberation, 168, 189, 191. 
 Conditional Liberty, 277, 285, 303. 
 Contracts. 206. 215. 
 Convicts. British, 72. 105. 135, 136, 
 
 170, 183. 219. 
 Corporal Punishment, 290, 292, 363. 
 Court Houses (English), 75. 
 Crime and Sin, 220, 384. 
 Crime Capitalists, 334, 337. 
 Crime-producing Punishments, 34, 
 55, 64, 74, 77, 85, 90, 103, 116, 165, 
 170, 183, 275, 308, 353. 
 
 Crofton, Sir W., 29, 66, 67, 135, 159, 
 
 261, 262, 278. 
 Cruelty, 37, 43, 45, 293, 396, 399. 
 Cumulation of Sentences, 143. 166, 
 
 176, 391. 
 Current Delusions, 31. 33. 
 " Custom of Apprentices " (London), 
 
 310. 
 
 '• Dark Places," 74, 76, 78, 217, 242. 
 
 Dartmoor, 72, 105. 
 
 Day Feeding Schools, 368. 
 
 Denisons, The, 12. 71, 291. 
 
 Denmark, 141. 
 
 Denominational Education, 374. 376, 
 
 392. 
 Desportes, Fernande, 53. 115. 350. 
 Deterrence Indispensable, 20, 84. 147, 
 
 284,287, 292, 296,390, .392. 
 Dickens, Charles, 133. 
 Differing Authorities. 290, 320. 
 Discharged Prisoners, 146, 257, 259, 
 
 264. 
 Discharged Prisoners' Aid Societies, 
 
 193, 255, 261, 263, 267, 271. 
 Dooley, E. T., 4, 90. 
 Dormitories, Common, 103. 
 Drunkards, Habitual, 167. 
 Du Cane, Sir E., 75, 135, 146. 156, 
 
 275. 
 Ducpetiaux, M., 110. 
 Dundrum Asylum, 156. 
 Dutch Prison Society, 123. 
 
 Education, 32, 186, 368, 374, 376. 
 Elasticity, 230. 
 Elmira, 98, 306. 
 Emigration, 362. 
 English Court House Abuses, 75. 
 Essential Principles, 1. 
 Extreme Systems, 107, 109, 127, 129, 
 131, 141, 153, 169, 183, 298, 351.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 411 
 
 Fallen Women, 268, 307. 
 
 Fear of G-od. 42, 46, 373, 392. 
 
 Final Results, Test of, 1-4, 16, 21, 26, 
 
 33. 48. 80, 84, 142, 143, 198, 259, 
 
 288. 298. 327. 
 Fines, 281. 
 
 •' First Offenders Act," 312. 
 First Sentences Remitted. 309, 313. 
 Force, 22, 28, 397. 
 France, 13, 53, 72. 106. 114, 139. ISO, 
 
 192. 196, 244, 279, 367, 387. 
 French Police, 328. 
 French Prison Society, 53, 56, 115. 
 •' Friends, the Society of," 46, 48, 97, 
 
 243. 262. 268. 290. 375, 381, 401. 
 Fry, Mrs.. 29, 46, 120. 131, 237. 239. 
 
 Germany, 14, 20, 61, 227, 230, 289, 
 
 360, 376, 388. 
 Glasgow, 350. 370, 384. 
 Gloucestershire, 33, 145. 
 Godliness, 42, 373. 
 Gradation, wise, 39, 143, 148, 16G, 167, 
 
 176. 178. 197, 280. 
 Guillaume. Dr.. 195. 
 
 Habitual Offenders, 165, 185, 194. 
 
 Hastings, G. W. (M.P.), 351. 
 
 Hill, Family, 216, 278, 337, 350, 360. 
 
 Holker, Sir John, 273. 
 
 Holland. 14, 63, 123, 126,219, 286,390. 
 
 Holtzendorff, Baron, 61, 278, 323. 
 
 Hope and Reward, 28, 43, 392, 402, 408. 
 
 Horsley, J. W., 229, 262. 
 
 House Test. 10, 288. 
 
 Howard Association. 9.G, 95. 131. 135, 
 
 239, 309. 353, 363, 372. 
 Howard, John, 29, 90, 96, 110. 122, 
 
 130, 237. 385, 386, 392, 405, 407. 
 
 Identification of Criminals, 196. 
 
 Imprisonment. Prolonged, 151, 177, 
 
 295. 
 Incorrigibles, 176, 180, 271. 
 Independent Vigilance, 30, 31, 79, 
 
 252, 274, 324, 344, 346. 
 Indeterminate Sentences, 98, 102. 
 India, 248. 
 
 Indianapolis Prison, 97. 
 Indirect Influences, 15. 
 Indiscriminate Almsgiving, 1. 
 Industrial Schools, 4, 355, 356, 376. 
 Initiation of Prosecutions, 2/3, 338. 
 Inquisition, the, 37, 78, 399. 
 Insanity, 120, 137, 180. 
 Inspection Independent, essential. 31, 
 
 74, 78, 252, 324. 
 "Institution Craze," 2, 7, 351, 367. 
 Intemperance, 22, 167, 296, 380, 384. 
 Inveterate Misdemeanants, 166. 
 Ireland, 67. 138, 157, 261. 
 '•Irish System," 16, 65, 138. 
 Italy, 138, 159. 194, 223, 388. 
 
 Jails, English Local, 105, 134, 137, 
 
 219, 249, 251, 390. 
 Jails, United States, 89, 91, 244, 388. 
 Judges, 173. 275. 
 Justice, Divine and Human, 35, 39, 
 
 266. 405. 
 Juvenile Offenders, 39, 300. 
 
 Kennan, G.. 58 
 Krapotkine. Prince, 55, 57. 
 
 Labour Sentences, 282. 
 
 Ladies, Good Efforts of, 243, 250. 361, 
 
 382. 
 Law to be vindicated, 392, 395. 
 Laws. Defects of, 39, 273. 
 Lay Influence. 235, 243, 250, 256. 
 Legislation. 273. 390. 
 Liabilit\- to Imprisonment, 277.
 
 412 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Liberation, Conditional. 51. 100. 130. 
 
 148, 1G4, IGl), 177, 187, 191, 194, 308. 
 Liberty, Conditional, 277, 285, 300, 
 
 303. 312. 
 Licensing Out. 191, 205. 
 Lichfield, Earl of, 262, 321. 
 Life Imprisonment, 151. 155. 159. 177. 
 Liquor Licenses, 25, 39. 
 Livingstone, Hon. E.. 117. 
 London, City of, 310, 328, 347. 361. 
 Lusk. Convict Farm. 16, 67, 68. 
 
 Macaulay, Lord, 403. 
 
 McCauley, Jerry, 231. 
 
 Maconochie, Captain, 71, 119. 218, 269, 
 
 278. 282. 387. 
 Macquarrie Harbour. 71. 
 Magisterial Sentences, 173. 
 Magistrates, 195, 251. 
 Maine. 23. 
 
 Manning, Cardinal. 41, 381. 
 Mark System, 65, 136, 282. 283. 
 Martin, Sarah, 29, 237, 257. 
 Massachusetts Probation Systems. 299. 
 
 303. 
 Mat-making in Prisons, 34. 211. 
 Mendicancy, 2, 10, 11, 288. 
 Meredith, Mrs., 250, 262. 
 Methodists, 268, 269. 
 Michigan. 5, 211. 
 
 Misdemeanants, Habitual. 167. 197. 
 Missions and Morals, 401. 
 Mit3hell. William. 384. 
 Moderation, Essential, 145, 197, 253, 
 
 298. 
 Moral Suasion, 22, 28, 82. 
 Morley. Samuel, M.P., 381, 405. 
 Morocco, 61. 
 Murder, 316. 
 
 Names of Penologists, Philanthro- 
 pists, &c., 29, 53, 59, 61, 81. 82, 114, 
 122, 126, 127, 132, 135, 139. 141, 262, 
 269, 350, 354, 360, 381, 382. 
 
 Natural Conditions, 284. 
 Xeame. Percy, 185, 262. 
 Necessary Non-attractiveness, 9. 
 New Caledonia. 54, 72, 193. 
 New Jersey, 242 
 New York. 4, 5, 199, 233. 
 New Zealand, 282. 
 Norway, 26, 53. 140. 154. 
 
 Obermaier. 102. 
 
 OfiBcial Favouritism, 219. 
 
 Official Humanity, 52, 93, 135, 146, 
 
 224, 228. 230, 234, 262, 276, 282, 201, 
 
 324, 333, 340, 387. 
 Official Prejudice, 239. 
 Officials, 29. 31. 45. 216, 222. 338. 
 Official Statistics, 204, 315, 319. 
 Ohio, 90, 189. 
 
 Oscar I., King. 53. 93, 242, 38G. 
 Overcrowding, 19, 41. 
 Ozanam, M. F., 13, 264. 
 
 Parental Responsibility, 349. 354. 359. 
 
 367. 
 Patience. 30, 167, 197. 
 Patrons of Youth, 360. 
 Pauperism, 1, 7, 9, 15, 40, 285, 288, 376. 
 Pawnbrokers, 335, 337. 
 Penal Labour, 199, 296. 
 Pennsylvania, 81, 133, 139, 203, 213, 
 
 237, 240, 375, 378. 
 Pentonville, 121, 141. 
 Petersen. Richard, 122, 140. 
 Philanthropy, real, 1, 13, 30, 45, SO, 
 
 384. 405. 
 Plank Bed, 297. 
 
 Police, 19. 21. 326. 330, 333. 338. 
 Police Supervision. 33, 146. 168, 169, 
 
 189. 194, 260. 
 Ponzo Islands (Italy), 159. 
 Popular Delusions, 7, 31, 33. 
 Popular Fallacies, 3, 8, 31, 33. 49, 80, 
 
 208, 272, 397.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 418 
 
 Portugal. Ifil. 
 
 Positivists, 400. 
 
 Prayer, 93. 407. 
 
 Press, Value of the Public. 4:>, 70, 
 
 344.347. 
 Prevention, 19, 296, 300, 343, 391. 
 Principle, Essential, 1, 22, 107. 
 Prison Abuses, 71, 74. 104, 15.;, 202, 
 
 20.3,217. 
 Prison Chaplains. 220. 223, 22.5, 233. 
 
 245. 
 Prison Congresses, GO, 82, 91. 237, 
 
 240. 
 Prison Corruption. 17, 74, 85, 103, 
 
 387, 389. 
 Prison Dietary, 52. 298. 
 Prison Dormitories, 103. 
 Prison Gate Missions, 255, 262. 
 Prison Governors, 216, 231, 236. 
 Prison Inspection, 79, 252, 324. 
 Prison Instructors, 99, 223, 255. 
 Prison Laxity, 16, 80, 84. 
 Prison Mortality, 68, 87, 121. 
 Prison Labour. 33, 70, 198, 202, 208, 
 
 210. 213. 
 Prison Reformation, 64, 84. 93, 97, 
 
 176, 189, 224,231,245, 256. 
 Prison Revolts, 104. 
 Prison Secrecy, 74, 76. 78. 93, 105, 217, 
 
 242. 
 Prison Separation. 50. 63, 107, 127, 
 
 129, 135, 142, 178, 213, 218, 242, 
 
 284, 386. 
 Prison Surgeons. 224, 318. 
 Prison Visitation, 125. 237, 243, 249, 
 
 253, 258. 
 Prison Warders. 218. 222, 225, 239. 
 Probation Systems, 278, 299, 309, 
 
 312. 
 Prohibitory Legislation, 23. 
 Prosecution, Modes of, 273. 277. 333. 
 Prostitution. 20, 268. 307, 345. 
 Publicans, 25,311.345. 
 
 Queensland, 249, 324. 358. 
 
 Radical Reforms, 19. 21, 23, 48. 296. 
 
 Receivei's of Stolen Goods, 335, 337. 
 
 •• Recidivistes."' 271. 
 
 Recognition of Criminals, 196. 
 
 Reformation of Criminals, 85, 128, 
 147, 149, 224. 
 
 Reformatory Schools, 106, 187, 191, 
 350. 352. 356. 363, 367. 
 
 Refuges. G. 21, 266. 
 
 Residuum. 271. 
 
 Responsibility. Universal, 29. 45, 220, 
 226, 235. 249. 
 
 Reward and Retribution, 3G, 45, 282, 
 394. 
 I Rights of Individuals and Communi- 
 I ties, 8. 39. 210, 281, 3.54, 375, 377, 
 I 330. 
 
 : Rogers, Henry, 294. 
 I Round, W. M. F., 91. 
 
 Royal Commissioners, 67, 159, 324. 
 
 Rumford. Count, 29, 40, 286. 
 
 Russia, 56. 104. 
 
 Satanic Malignity, 384. 
 I Schools at Aberdeen, 368. 
 I Science. Real, serves Religion, 48, 
 j 403. 
 
 Scotland. 41. 273, 277, 3.50, 368, 370, 
 334. 
 I Scriptures. The Holy, 46, 395. 
 I Selborne, Lord, 363, 
 I Sentences, 1G5. 166, 170, 178, 183, 272, 
 1 275, 282. 
 
 I Separate System, 108, 215, 366. 
 i "Silent System.'" 115. 
 
 Skene, Miss. 250. 
 
 Sources of Evil. 21, 334. 
 
 Spain. G], 278, 
 
 Spirit. The Holy. 44.46, 213.384, 394, 
 396. 403, 404, 407. 
 
 Statistics. 204. 315. 
 
 Steam Power in Prisons, 212. 
 
 Stocks. 295.
 
 4U 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ISO, 
 
 253, 
 
 Substitutes for Imprisonment. 33, 106, 
 
 187, lyO, 277. 281, 282. 285. 295, 299, 
 
 302,309,310,312,391. 
 Supervision of Offenders, 33, 1(3S 
 
 194. 
 Suringar, W. H., 122. 144. 237. 
 
 405. 
 Sweden, 53, 154, 369, S77. 3SG. 
 Switzerland, 195, 223. 
 
 Tasmania. 71, 355. 
 
 Technical Instruction. 369. 376, 378. 
 
 Temperance, 22. 25. 82. 340, 380, 385. 
 
 391. 
 Thomson, Alexander. 349, 350. 
 Thrift, 376. 391. 
 •• Tickets of Leave," 308. 
 Tortures, 399. 
 
 Total Abstinence. 82, 305. 340, 381. 
 Trades Unions. 211, 377. 379. 
 •• Training Ships."' 106. 353. 
 Transportation System. 70, 72. 192, 
 
 291. 
 Treadwheel, 200, 296. 
 Twenty Years' Limit. 161. 
 
 Ullathorne, Bishop. 120. 129. 227. 
 Tnchastity, 41. 358, 402. 
 Uniformity of Statistical Basis, 315. 
 Union of Influences. 29. 
 
 Unitarians. 13. 42. 262, 268. 
 Unnatural Crime. 67, 217. 
 
 Vagrants, 2, 10, 11, 288. 
 
 Vigilance, Essential, 30, 79. 252. 274. 
 
 324, 344. 
 Vincent, Howard, M.P., 262. 309. 
 Vindication of Law, 43, 164, 166, 175, 
 
 182, 392, 395. 
 Visiting Justices. 251. 
 
 Warner, C. D., 84. 
 
 '■ Watch Committees," 346. 
 
 Wayland, Francis, 11, 176, 182. 
 
 Wheatley, W.. 257, 262. 
 
 Whipping. 292. 
 
 Wichern. Dr., 30, 227, 350, 360, 388. 
 
 405. 
 Wigram, W. Knox, 366. 
 Willson. Bishop, 72,* 227, 262. 
 Wines, Dr. E. C, 78, 89, 118, 234, 269. 
 Wines, Dr. F. H., 82, 92. 
 Wisconsin, 155. 
 
 Witnesses (innocent) imprisoned. 93. 
 Women in Prison, 16, 97, 239, 279, 307. 
 Wright, Thomas, 250, 257. 
 
 Youth and Kindly Supervision, 360. 
 Youth, Neglected. 349, 357. 
 
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