Part 4

It remains for us now to bring into view the principal transactions of the last year or eighteen months, from which we think it will be evident that “The Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons,” is still alive to the interests of humanity connected with its sphere of action, as in its early days, and standing as a “watchman upon the walls,” both to detect abuses which may exist, and use efforts for their removal, and to avail itself of every opportunity which may present for furthering the progress of penal reform, not only within our own City and State, but also amongst our neighbors.

_Prison at Washington._—In 1860 we were informed that there was a proposition to erect a new prison at Washington City, and our Society immediately took action in relation to the subject, with a view to communicating with the authorities there, and urging upon them the importance of making their arrangements so as to adapt them to introducing the system of cellular separation. Circumstances, however, prevented this communication from being made, and we believe that no actual steps have yet been taken by them to carry out their proposition, and we have recently had accounts of a most deplorable state of things in their jail. Shocking as the account is, we can only appropriate space to introduce one short quotation, to wit, “In other portions of the building are narrow passages, five feet wide by twenty-five feet long, upon which open three cells. In each of these, only _ten_ feet long by _eight_ wide, _ten_ prisoners sleep, and during the day the whole _thirty_ have merely the liberty of moving through the twenty-five feet of crowded and fetid passage-way, without books, papers, work, or any mental distraction beyond the idle words of their companions.”

_New Prison in New Jersey._—Learning also that a proposition to erect a new Penitentiary in the eastern part of the State of New Jersey, was likely to be brought before their Legislature last winter, our Society adopted a memorial of a character very similar to that of the communication intended to have been forwarded to Washington, and appointed a committee to take charge of it. A part of this committee visited Trenton, and in a very satisfactory interview with the Governor, were assured of his cordial co-operation in promoting our views. The memorial was duly presented to the Legislature. No action, however, has yet been taken in reference to this important matter, and it is feared that the terrible calamity which has overtaken our beloved country will occasion its postponement.

_Proposed Change in Mode of Appointing Inspectors._—A movement having taken place in our State Legislature in the session of 1861, to take the appointment of the Inspectors of the Eastern Penitentiary from the Supreme Court, where it had been placed by law; our Society immediately forwarded a remonstrance against the proposed change. They apprehended that the motive to this was, at least in part, political partisanship, and whether so or not, the result, if successful, would almost inevitably be to drag our noble Penitentiary and its government into the arena of partisan politics, which would be a deplorable calamity. The change was not made.

_Law for shortening Sentences._—At a stated meeting of the Acting Committee, held October 18th, 1860, the following preamble and resolutions were introduced, and being unanimously adopted, were referred to a special Committee of five members, to take the subject into consideration, and make report thereon to a future meeting. To wit: “Whereas, the hope of reward is to the human mind one of the strongest incentives to good conduct; and as, in this enlightened age, such incentives are found to be more humanizing than punishment, which partaking of the character of vengeance begets its like, as a natural result, in the mind of its victim; and as under the present humane mode of treatment of another class of sufferers, kindness and consideration are found more effectual as remedial agents than chains and dungeons, which were formerly resorted to. And whereas the opportunity of doing overwork in the prisons of our city has been attended with advantage, by promoting the benefit of the prisoner, and contributing to the good order, as well as to the pecuniary profit of the Institutions, thus giving reasonable ground for believing that further service may be rendered to the cause of humanity, by taking another step in a like direction, it therefore becomes those interested in promoting the improvement of their kind, and in relieving the miseries of public prisons, to consider whether there be not a mode, by which those convicted of crime may be further encouraged in a course of good conduct, and confirmed in habits of morality and good order. Therefore—Resolved: That a Committee of —— be appointed to take into consideration, and report, whether some plan may not be suggested, by means of which the terms of sentences might be somewhat shortened, dependent on a continued course of good conduct of the prisoner; thus encouraging them in the practice, and perhaps establishing the habit of subordination and submission to those in authority, and to the laws of the community; and also to consider any other plan likely to produce the same effect, that may occur to them, or be presented for their consideration.”

At a stated meeting of the Acting Committee, held February 21st, 1861, the Committee appointed to take into consideration the foregoing Preamble and Resolution, made an elaborate and able report, signed by four of the members, of which the following is an abstract. They inform, that after first entering on the consideration of the subject, they concluded to ask a conference with the Inspectors of the Eastern Penitentiary, to ascertain their views in relation to the matter. That their application to the Board was referred to the Visiting Inspectors, with whom the desired interview was obtained, and the result was sufficiently encouraging to induce the Committee to give the subject further consideration. They subsequently concluded that it was expedient to adopt the principle of the Preamble and Resolution referred to them, and prepared a schedule of such apportionment of the time proposed to be deducted as appeared to them suitable; and they agreed to propose to the Society that an application should be made to the Legislature for the enactment of a law to carry the same into effect. This result was arrived at after much reflection on the subject, and inquiring into the results of the practical working of the system in five of the States of the Union, to wit: Massachusetts, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Ohio, where the plan had been several years in operation, and the testimony of the Inspectors and Wardens of the prisons where it prevailed was highly approbatory.

The Committee also, in the course of the consideration of the subject referred to them, applied to Judges Thomson, Allison, and Ludlow, of the Court of Quarter Sessions of this county; Ex-Judge King, largely experienced in criminal jurisprudence; Ex-Judge Lewis, of the Supreme Court, and Wm. B. Mann, District Attorney, asking their opinion in relation to the proposed measure. A written reply was received from each of them, expressing favorable views.

[As it is proposed to publish this Report, with the letters of the Judges and District Attorney, in an Appendix, in full, this synopsis is deemed sufficient for our present purpose.]

The Committee appended to their report the following Resolution:

“Resolved, That a Committee of five be appointed to apply to the Legislature for the passage of a law, in conformity with the recommendation set forth, with authority to proceed to Harrisburg, to endeavor to procure its enactment.”

They also appended thereto a schedule of the proposed deduction to be made for continued good conduct on the part of prisoners.

The time of the meeting at which the report was received being so occupied with other matters as not to allow of a full discussion of a subject of such importance, it was concluded to adjourn for one week, for this special purpose.

At the adjourned meeting, held February 28th, it was taken up and freely discussed; but without taking the question on its adoption, it was continued over to the next stated meeting, with an understanding that it should then have precedence of all other business. Accordingly, at this meeting, March 21, 1861, a full expression of the views of the members, in regard to the measure, took place. After which, the question was taken by yeas and nays, and resulted in its adoption by a decided majority. And at the next meeting, one of the members who had voted in the negative, asked and obtained leave to have his name recorded in the affirmative, on the ground that he had voted under a mistake. Thus, the final result was the adoption of this important measure, by more than two votes in the affirmative, against one in the negative. A memorial to the Legislature, asking for the passage of a law to carry out these views of the Society, was immediately adopted, and being duly signed by the President and Secretary, a portion of the Committee attended with it at Harrisburg, to represent the Society in making such explanations as might be called for, and urging its passage. This was accomplished in the Senate, about two weeks before the close of the Session, the bill sent up by the Society having been by each House first referred to the Judiciary Committee for examination and approval. Final action on it, in the House of Representatives, did not take place till near the close of the Session. The Act being passed, was approved by the Governor, and became a law on the first day of May last. It is intended to publish it in the Appendix hereto.

We understand that the Inspectors of our County Prison are acting under this law, and we trust its salutary influences will soon become apparent. At the Eastern Penitentiary we learn that no direct steps have been taken towards carrying it into effect, unless the fact of their having opened a book, in which cases of prisoners _sentenced since its passage for a term of over ten years_, are entered with a view to applying its provisions to them, may be viewed as such a step. They have declined acting, on several pleas, which we think untenable. One, that the Act is ambiguous and its true meaning not susceptible of interpretation. Another, that such a law is unconstitutional. But we submit whether this latter question should have been raised by them, when the same body of gentlemen about the time this Act was passed, that is, in their Annual Report issued in January 1861, recommended to the Legislature the adoption of the following provisions, embracing precisely the same legal and constitutional principles.

_First._—“That in all cases of first conviction for crime, of minors, the term of imprisonment shall be terminated by the Inspectors, with the consent of the president judge of the court in which said minor was sentenced, when in their opinion the punishment has produced its expected results.”

_Second._—“That in all cases of first conviction for crime, of persons between 21 and 25 years of age, the term of imprisonment shall in like manner be lessened, as a reward for good conduct, by the reduction of three days in every thirty, after the first twelve months of imprisonment.”

We, however, think that it would be illy worth our while on this occasion, to enter into an elaborate defence of the law, especially, as it is probable that measures will soon be taken to procure a judicial interpretation of it. We shall, therefore, dismiss the subject after merely putting ourselves right, in relation to some erroneous ex parte statements with regard to our Society, unnecessarily introduced into the recently published Special Report, in which the committee of the Inspectors undertake to discuss and condemn the law in question. First. In two or more instances, it is stated that the passage of the Law was procured by “members” of the Society; in one, the assertion is that “some _one or two of the Prison Society’s Committee_ caused the Act, under examination, to be enacted into a law.” The history of the whole business which we have just given, from the first introduction of the measure to the notice of the Acting Committee, till it became a Law of the State, abundantly proves that it was the _Society_ which was acting; sometimes, in its associated capacity, and sometimes, through its individual members, who were empowered to act for it. The _Society_ appeared at Harrisburg by a _delegation_, not in a _body_. Second. Certain paragraphs or passages are introduced into their Report, which are said to have been extracted from an article entitled, “Considerations respecting some recent legislation in Pennsylvania, originally written for the Journal of Prison Discipline, vol. 16, October 1861.” The extracts themselves present an erroneous view of the proceedings of the Society, but, we are willing, for the present, to let them pass. But the implication in the Report, that the Society or its Acting Committee, had cognizance of the article referred to, when offered for publication in their Journal, is calculated to make an erroneous impression. Neither the Society nor the Acting Committee had any responsibility, either for the acceptance of the part published, or for the rejection of the remainder. It never came under their notice, till after it was printed and circulated.

_Abuse of Power by Magistrates._—The corrupt and oppressive abuse of power by the Committing Magistrates is a great evil with which our Society has been battling almost from its origin, but without yet vanquishing it, as the report of the Prison Agent for the last year will abundantly prove. We have a committee under appointment in charge of the subject.

_Pardons._—The pardoning power, and the manner in which it is exercised, have also recently again claimed our attention.

_Tobacco._—The Inspectors of our County Prison have adopted a rule by which the use of tobacco has been entirely excluded from the prisoners confined there, unless it be in cases strictly medicinal. This rule has been in force for upwards of two and a half years, and the resident Physician, in each of his Annual Reports, has spoken in strong terms of its salutary results. Its use has not yet been prohibited by the Inspectors in the Eastern Penitentiary, though the quantity allowed to be furnished has been much reduced. Our Society has had under the care of a committee, the consideration of the propriety of memorializing the Inspectors in favor of adopting a similar rule to that in force in the County Prison, but no final conclusion has yet been arrived at, so far as to justify any official action. In the meantime, however, the visitors are encouraged to use moral suasion amongst those using it, to abandon the practice. It is very satisfactory to know that this course has been successful in several instances, and that the individuals have since expressed their conviction of the advantage of this change in their habits.

_Discontinuance of the Quarterly Journal._—The publication of the Prison Journal, which was commenced in 1845, as heretofore stated in regular course, was maintained at a heavy charge upon our funds, so that after payment of the other current expenses incident to conducting the Society, such as compensation to the Prison Agent, room-rent, slates, copy books and other stationery for the use of the prisoners, &c., the balance, to be appropriated to the relief of discharged prisoners, and other practical objects properly having claims on a “Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons,” was very small, and as appeared to many, insufficient. They doubted its being a legitimate appropriation of so large a portion of the income, and individual members frequently conversed together on the expediency of discontinuing the publication, the annual cost of which was about $550. In 1858 a resolution to discontinue it was introduced, and earnestly and largely discussed, but on a pledge given by those desirous of continuing the publication, that they would take such steps as would secure an ample addition to our annual income, it was agreed that it should not be suspended at that time. Efforts were made soon after, which resulted in an increase in the annual subscriptions for one or two years, but each year since, a number of our subscribers declined paying, and the calamitous war which has overtaken our country, has occasioned such a reduction of our means, both actual and prospective, as to make it evident that we must either suspend the publication, or suspend the appropriation, which was already much too small, for the relief of discharged prisoners. In this state of our affairs, many of the members could not hesitate a moment which alternative to choose, and therefore a resolution for its discontinuance, and the substitution of a full Annual Report was introduced and entered on the minutes, with notice by the mover that it would be called up for consideration at the meeting to be held three months after its introduction. At the meeting designated, it was accordingly taken up and extensively discussed in the “Acting Committee,” and a resolution referring it to the next stated meeting of the _Society_, with the recommendation that the measure should be there adopted, was passed by a large majority. Accordingly, after being freely discussed by the Society at that, and also an adjourned meeting, it was adopted in a modified form, by which the _Quarterly_ publication should be discontinued, and an _Annual_ Journal substituted for it, which should contain an Annual Report, and such essays or other matter as might be offered, and be deemed suitable by an Editorial Board, to be elected for the service.

Before leaving the subject of the discontinuance of our Quarterly Journal, it is proper to refer to its late editor, our fellow member, Frederick A. Packard, who took charge of it a few years after its commencement, and conducted the publication with marked ability from that time till its close. The Society is indebted to his pen for many valuable articles published in the Journal, and separately.

_Lunatics._—An evil of no small magnitude, in the consideration of which the Society has been earnestly engaged, is the practice which prevails of committing lunatics to our County Prison, some of whom have been convicted on criminal charges, and others “picked up in the streets, and committed for want of a better home,” as we are assured by the Prison Agent. An application, in which our Society is co-operating, is about to be made to the Legislature, which it is hoped may result in an arrangement being made which may relieve the prison of this class of its inmates.

_Prison Agent._—William J. Mullen, who has for several years been under appointment by the Inspectors of the County Prison, and also by our Society as “Prison Agent,” has been as indefatigable in the discharge of his duties during the past year as heretofore. His particular province is to take cognizance of, and inquire into all cases of alleged oppressive and illegal commitments to the County Prison; and in the course of his investigations he frequently procures conclusive evidence that individuals have been committed on charges which were utterly groundless, or at least frivolous and insufficient. From his interesting Annual Report, embracing the year 1861, just issued, we learn that he investigated 2,700 cases during the year, and with the co-operation of the constituted authorities, succeeded in liberating 1,182 of these from prison. He seems to have devoted his whole life and energies to this service, the duties of which he discharges with great fidelity.

_Prison Library._—The Library at the Penitentiary now contains about 2,900 volumes, of which about 680 are in the German and French languages. The selection has been made with a view to furnishing interesting and instructive reading, adapted to the various capacities and tastes of the prisoners; and it is satisfactory to be able to report that the books are extensively used. The number of volumes loaned during last year was about 20,000. When we remember that the average number in confinement during the year was not over 458, many of whom were very degraded and ignorant, and wholly unable to read when they entered, it becomes in our view, an interesting feature of our system of discipline, not only that the opportunity for mental exercise and enjoyment should be so freely presented, but that these poor creatures should feel the inclination to avail themselves of it so largely, whether it be for mere amusement or for instruction. There is also a smaller Library at the County Prison of a similar character.

_Number in the Penitentiary in 1861._—The entire number of prisoners in the Penitentiary during the year 1861, was 646. The largest number at any one time was 485, and the smallest 431. The state of health amongst them was generally good, and the per centage of mortality exceedingly small, there having been only two deaths.