Part 6

In conclusion, your Committee may state that they have desired to possess themselves of such practical information as might be within their reach, and have taken some pains to do so; all of which has but confirmed their favorable feeling. Much of what has been thus obtained, is the result of the experience of prison officers in other States. But still further to satisfy themselves, one of their number had interviews with two officers of long standing in one of our own prisons, both of whom warmly commended the plan proposed, and desired to see it carried out. If the proposed change be adopted, your Committee are encouraged to believe, not only that the character of the prisoners may be improved, but that, in time, the number of applications for pardon may be materially diminished.

And finally, they are reminded, from high authority, that a persecutor of the righteous, on his way to Damascus, was suddenly converted; and that a touch of the Saviour’s garment healed an otherwise incurable disease. While instances are on the same record, of others who, having committed grievous offences, were, on repentance, graciously forgiven, and through faithfulness made instruments for good in the hand of their heavenly Master; so among these unfortunates there may be some who, through the influence of divine grace, may yet prove as brands plucked from the burning.

TOWNSEND SHARPLESS, CHARLES ELLIS, CHAS. C. LATHROP, ISAAC BARTON.

_Philadelphia, 2d Mo. 20th, 1861._

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LETTERS FROM THE JUDGES IN FAVOR OF THE MEASURE.

PHILADELPHIA, _March 18, 1861_.

DEAR SIR—I rejoice to learn from your letter of to-day, that the Prison Society of our city have under consideration the propriety of petitioning the Legislature for an act enabling those convicted of crime, by a continued course of good conduct, to diminish their sentences a few days in each month. The hope of reward, and the fear of punishment, furnish the incentives to good conduct. All systems of religion are founded on these incentives, and they influence all human action. Their application to the imprisoned convict is nothing more than the application of a well-tested principle to a more difficult case to that to which it is ordinarily applied, and I have no doubt that the policy will be productive of beneficial results. There are many cases, I admit, where reformation is entirely hopeless—long experience in the administration of justice forces me to make this admission. But in all cases where there is any hope of reformation, the system proposed must, in my opinion, produce beneficial results. I regret that I am pressed for time so that I cannot say more at present, than to add to what I have already said, the expression of the hope that the proposed policy may be sanctioned by the Society and by the Legislature under judicious regulations to be prescribed by law.

Your’s very truly, ELLIS LEWIS.

PHILADELPHIA, _March 20, 1861_.

DEAR SIR—The proposition to reduce monthly a portion of the sentences of such convicts as conduct themselves with uniform propriety, is one that meets my hearty concurrence; it is equally recommended by the strongest consideration of policy and humanity. It is the very best system of pardons which could be devised, since under it the remission of the sentence of the law against the offender is not the result of unjust favoritism or mistaken sympathy, but the fair reward of a meritorious effort on the part of the convict to amend his conduct. Such a system would be in entire harmony with our penal code, the primary object of which is to reform the offender, and all effort in that direction should be encouraged and rewarded.

Respect’y your ob’t. servant, EDW’D. KING.

PHILADELPHIA, _March 21, 1861_.

DEAR SIR—I am disposed to regard very favorably the proposition to modify the extent of criminal sentences, by allowing the good behaviour of the convict to work a reduction of the time of his imprisonment. We all know that the hope of reward is a great incentive to human conduct, and that it will produce its natural effects even in the cell of a prison. The experience which has been obtained of such a method of reducing sentences in several of the States where it has been practically tested, seems to favor its adoption; and upon general principles it appears to offer a method of meliorating the severity of punishment, without affecting its desired results. I should be pleased if the views expressed by you could be carried out by proper legislation.

Very truly your’s, OSWALD THOMPSON.

PHILADELPHIA, _March 21, 1861_.

DEAR SIR—I wrote to you a short note yesterday, upon the subject of our late interview, and entrusted it to one of the officers of the Court for delivery. I am surprised that it did not reach you. I repeat now, in substance, its contents. The plan suggested, of giving to persons convicted and sentenced for crime, the power of shortening their term of imprisonment, I think an admirable one; and one which, I confess, had not suggested itself to my mind before its presentation by you. One thus confined will feel that something is left to him after the prison doors have closed upon him, for which he may strive. Something he can do by which he will be personally benefited—that _all_ is not hopeless; and as an inducement to good behavior, self-control, and the foundation of habits to which, in many instances, he was before a stranger, will not be without its present and future benefit to him. I think the experiment well worthy of a trial. It promises, in my judgment, beneficial results, not only to the prisoner but to society, and if it should not answer the expectations of its friends, it can at any time be abandoned.

J. S. ALLISON.

WEST PHILADELPHIA.

DEAR SIR—Your note of 19th inst. has received attentive consideration, and although I cannot, at this time, give to you my reasons for the conclusions to which I have arrived, yet I can give you these conclusions, as follows, viz.: As a matter of experiment the act might be passed, subject to the following restrictions:

1st. That the time specified shall not exceed _three_ days in any one month.

2d. That it shall only apply to cases of first conviction.

3d. That it shall expire by its own limitation, in say two or three years, unless experience demands its re-enactment.

4th. That the act shall in no wise be considered as the beginning of a system which has for its objects the enactment of a series of laws intended in practical operations to discharge every prisoner when supposed to be, or when he is in fact, reformed.

Your’s truly, _March 20, 1861._ JAS. R. LUDLOW.

PHILADELPHIA, _March 20, 1861_.

MR DEAR SIR—I highly approve of the enacting of a law to enable those convicted of crime to diminish their sentence by a continued course of good conduct. Towards the close of prisoners’ terms the authorities are often beset with applications to shorten it, and if the prisoner knew that it was in his power to do it, the authorities would be released from such application, and the prisoner, by adherence to good conduct, would form habits of subordination and virtue that would go far towards protecting him from perpetration of crime when released.

I should be in favor of extending the premium so as to reach one-eighth of the term, starting with two or three days the first month, and increasing as the prisoner improved. The plan is admirable, and in my opinion should be put in immediate practice.

Your’s very truly, WM. B. MANN, _Dist. Att’y._

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THE LAW.

_An Act relative to Prison Discipline._

SECTION 1.—_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by authority of the same_, That from and after the passage of this Act, it shall be the duty of the wardens and superintendents of the several penitentiaries and prisons of this Commonwealth in which criminals are confined, who have been convicted and sentenced by any court of justice of this State to undergo an imprisonment of more than six months, to keep a book, in which shall be entered the name of each person so confined, and a record of every infraction or violation by him or her of the printed and published rules of such penitentiary or prison, with the punishment (if any) inflicted on account thereof, which said book shall be laid before the inspectors at their regular stated meetings, for examination and approval.

SECTION 2.—That every prisoner or convict sentenced as aforesaid, who shall have no such infraction or violation of the said rules recorded against him or her during any month of the first year of his or her imprisonment, shall be entitled to a deduction from the term of his or her sentence of one day for the first month, of two additional days for the second month, and of three additional days for the third and each of the remaining months of the said first year of imprisonment, and shall also be entitled for continued good conduct during the second year, to a similar deduction of four days for each month during which he or she shall not have violated the rules aforesaid, and to a deduction of one additional day per month for each succeeding year until the expiration of the tenth year, and to an additional deduction of two days per month during each year of the remainder thereof: _Provided_, That it shall be lawful for the inspectors of said penitentiaries or prisons, if any such convicts or persons shall wilfully infringe or violate any of said rules or regulations, or offend in any other way, to strike off the whole or any part of the deduction which may have been obtained previous to the date of such offence.

SECTION 3.—That the said inspectors shall have full power and authority to discharge the said criminals whenever they shall have served out the term of their sentence, less the number of days to which they are entitled under the provisions of this act.

SECTION 4.—That the said inspectors shall direct the warden or superintendent to give to each prisoner, who may in consequence of good conduct be discharged at an earlier period than he would otherwise have been entitled to, a certificate thereof, stating therein the number of days that have been deducted from his original sentence for good conduct.

_Approved_ the first day of May, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.

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MEMBERS.

Ashhurst, Lewis R. Armstrong, William Anderson, V. William Atmore, Frederick B. Brown, John A. Brown, Frederick Brown, Moses Brown, Thomas Wistar Brown, Abraham C. Brown, N. B. Brown, Benneville D. Brown, Mary D. Bell, John M. D., Biddle, William Biddle, John Barton, Isaac Burgin, George II., M. D. Bohlen, John Binney, Horace Jr. Bayard, James Beesley, T. E., M. D. Beesley, B. Wistar Bowen, William E. Bettle, Samuel Bettle, William Baldwin, Matthias W. Barcroft, Stacy B. Bailey, Joshua L. Baily, Joel J. Burr, William H. Boardman, H. A. Branson, Samuel Bunting, Jacob T. Bacon, Richard W. Bacon, Josiah Brock, Jonathan Barclay, Andrew C. Brooke, Stephen H. Brooks, Henry Baines, Edward Budd, Thomas A. Bispham, Samuel Broadbent, S. Brant, Josiah Bringhurst, George Beaux, John Adolph Collins, Issac Cope, Alfred Cope, Herman Cope, M. C. Cope, Henry Cope, Francis R. Cope, Thomas P. Colwell, Stephen Caldwell, James E. Caldwell, William Warner Cresson, John C. Claghorn, John W. Chandler, Joseph R. Carter, John Campbell, James R. Comegys, B. B. Childs, George W. Child, H. T., M .D. Caley, Samuel Cooper, Joseph B. Chance, Jeremiah C. Coates, Benjamin Chamberlain, Lloyd Conrad, James M. Cook, Jay Corlies, Samuel Fisher Clark, Robert C. Collier, Daniel L. Comly, Franklin A. Demmé, Charles R. Ducachet, Henry W. Dawson, Mordecai L. Dorsey, William Dutilh, E. G. Ditzler, William U. Dreer, Ferdinand J. Dickinson, Mahlon H. Dickinson, John M. Davis, R. C. Derbyshire, Alexander J. Derbyshire, John Donnel, Robert Dennis, William H. Duane, William Earp, Thomas Evans, Charles M. D. Evans, William Jr. Evans, Robert E. Evans, J. Wistar Erringer, J. L. Edwards, William L. Ellison, John B. Emlen, Samuel Eyre, Edward E. Eyre, William Erety, George Farnum, John Fraley, Frederick Foulke, William P. Fullerton, Alex. Farr, John C. Frazier, John F. Ford, William Ford, John M. Furness, William H. French, William H. Field, Charles J. Fox, Henry C. Franciscus, Albert H. Funk, Charles W. Garrett, Thomas C. Greeves, James R. Gilpin, John F. Grigg, John Gummere, Charles J. Gardner, Richard, M. D. Hunt, Uriah Hockley, John Holloway, John S. Husband, Thomas J. Hughes, Joseph B. Homer, Henry Homer, Benjamin Hancock, Samuel P. Holman, D. Shepherd Hand, James C. Hazeltine, John Hastings, Matthew Hollinshead, Benjamin M. Huston, Samuel Hacker, Morris Hurley, Aaron A. Harbert, Charles Heiskell, Coulson Ingersoll, Joseph R. Ingram, William Iungerich, Lewis Jeanes, Joshua T. Jones, Isaac C. Jones, Jacob P. Jones, Isaac T. Jones, William D. Jones, Justus P. Jones, William Pennel Janney, Benjamin S. Jr. Jackson, Charles C. Johnson, Israel H. Johnson, Ellwood Johnston, Robert S. Justice, Philip S. Kimber, Thomas Kaighn, James E. Kane, Thomas L. Kean, Joseph Kelly, William D. Kelly, Henry H. Kintzing, William F. Kneedler, J. S. Knorr, G. Frederick Klapp, Joseph, M. D. Kitchen, James, M. D. Ketcham, John Knight, Edward C. Kidderlin, William J. Kester, John Jr. Kinsey, William Latimer, Thomas Lambert, John Lovering, Joseph S. Lovering, Joseph S. Jr. Lewis, Henry Jr. Lewis, Edward Lippincott, John Lippincott, Joshua Lytle, John J. Longstreth, J. Cooke Ludwig, William C. Landell, Washington J. Laing, Henry M. Lesley, Robert Lathrop, Charles C. Lynch, William Luther, R. Morris. McCall, Peter Meredith, Wm. M. Myers, John B. Morris, Isaac P. Massey, Robt. V. Maris, John M. Morris, Charles M. Morris, Wistar Morris, Caspar, M. D. Morris, Anthony P. Morris, Elliston P. Montgomery, Richard R. Mercer, Singleton A. Mullen, William J. Megarge, Charles Martin, William Martin, Abraham McAllister, John Jr. McAllister, John A. McAllister, William Y. MacAdam, William R. McAllister, F. H. Marsh, Benjamin V. Morton, Samuel C. Merrill, William O. B. Morrell, R. B. Mellor, Thomas Mitcheson, M. J. Norris, Samuel Neall, Daniel Newal, William Needles, William N. Nesmith, Alfred Nicholson, William Newman, C. L. Ormsby, Henry Orne, Benjamin Packard, Frederick A. Purves, William Parrish, William D. Parrish, Joseph, M. D. Poulson, Charles A. Perot, William S. Perot, Francis Perot, Charles P. Perot, T. Morris Patterson, Joseph Patterson, William C. Patterson, Morris Potter, Alonzo, D. D. Price, Eli K. Price, Richard Perkins, Samuel H. Pearsall, Robert Pitfield, Benjamin H. Pearson, William H. Peters, James Peterson, Lawrence Potts, Joseph Parry, Samuel Palmer, Charles Richardson, Richard Richardson, William H. Robins, Thomas Robins, John Jr. Ritter, Abraham Jr. Rasin, Warner M. Read, W. H. J. Robb, Charles Rehn, William L. Rutter, Clement S. Roberts, Algernon S. Ridgway, Thomas Rice, John Rudman, William C. Robinson, Thomas A. Randolph, Philip P. Rowland, A. G. Richards, George K. Smedley, Nathan Shippen, William, M. D. Scull, David Schaffer, William L. Scattergood, Joseph Shannon, Ellwood Sharpless, William P. Simons, George W. Stokes, Samuel E. Shoemaker, Benjamin H. Speakman, Thomas H. Starr, F. Ratchford Smith, William H. Saunders, McPherson Stokes, Edward D. Sloan, Samuel Smith, Joseph P. Stone, James N. Simes, Samuel Stuart, George H. Stewart, William P. Townsend, Edward Taylor, Franklin Taylor, John D. Taylor, George W. Trewendt, Theodore Tredick, B. T. Thomas, John Taber, George Troubat, Raymond, M. D. Thompson, John J. Troutman, George M. Thornley, Joseph H. Thissell, H. N. Van Pelt, Peter Vaux, George Wharton, Thomas F. Wood, Horatio C. Wood, Richard Jr. Welsh, William Welsh, Samuel Welsh, John Wetherill, John M. Williamson, Passmore White, John J. Wainright, William Wright, Samuel Wright, Isaac Willets, Jeremiah Wiegand, John Wilstach, William P. Williamson, Peter Warner, Redwood F. Walton, Coates Williams, Jacob T. Whilldin, Alexander Zell, T. Ellwood

LIFE MEMBERS.

_On payment of twenty dollars and upwards._

Barclay, James J. Bache, Franklin, M. D. Bonsall, Edward H. Besson, Charles A. Cope, Caleb Ellis, Charles Fotteral, Stephen G. Hacker, Jeremiah Horton, John Hollingsworth, Thomas G. Knight, Reeve L. Leaming, J. Fisher Love, Alfred H. Longstreth, William W. Marshall, Richard M. Ogden, John M. Perot, Joseph Parrish, Dillwyn Powers, Thomas H. Potter, Thomas Perkins, Samuel H. Sharpless, Townsend Sharpless, Charles L. Sharpless, Samuel J. Steedman, Miss Rosa Turnpenny, Joseph C. Townsend, Samuel Whelen, E. S. Willits, A. A. Weightman, William Williams, Henry J. Yarnall, Charles Yarnall, Benjamin H.

CONSTITUTION

OF THE

Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons.

When we consider that the obligations of benevolence which are founded on the precepts and examples of the Author of Christianity, are not cancelled by the follies or crimes of our fellow-creatures; and when we reflect upon the miseries which penury, hunger, cold, unnecessary severity, unwholesome apartments, and guilt, (the usual attendants of prisons,) involve with them, it becomes us to extend our compassion to that part of mankind, who are the subjects of those miseries. By the aid of humanity, their undue and illegal sufferings may be prevented; the links which should bind the whole family of mankind together, under all circumstances, be preserved unbroken; and such degrees and modes of punishment maybe discovered and suggested, as may, instead of continuing habits of vice, become the means of restoring our fellow-creatures to virtue and happiness. From a conviction of the truth and obligation of these principles, the subscribers have associated themselves under the title of “THE PHILADELPHIA SOCIETY FOR ALLEVIATING THE MISERIES OF PUBLIC PRISONS.”

For effecting these purposes, they have adopted the following CONSTITUTION.

ARTICLE I.

The Officers of the Society shall consist of a President, two Vice-Presidents, two Secretaries, a Treasurer, two Counsellors, and an acting Committee; all of whom shall be chosen at the stated meeting to be held in the first month (January) of each year, and shall continue in office until their successors are elected; but in case an election from any cause shall not be then held, it shall be the duty of the President to call a special meeting of the Society within thirty days, for the purpose of holding such election, of which at least three days’ notice shall be given.

ARTICLE II.

The President shall preside in all meetings, and subscribe all public acts of the Society. He may call special meetings whenever he may deem it expedient; and shall do so when requested in writing by five members. In his absence, one of the Vice-Presidents may act in his place.

ARTICLE III.

The Secretaries shall keep fair records of the proceedings of the Society, and shall conduct its correspondence.

ARTICLE IV.

The Treasurer shall keep the moneys and securities, and pay all orders of the Society or of the Acting Committee, signed by the presiding officer and Secretary; and shall present a statement of the condition of the finances of the Society at each stated meeting thereof.

All bequests, donations and life subscriptions, shall be safely invested; only the income thereof to be applied to the current expenses of the Society.

ARTICLE V.

The Acting Committee shall consist of the officers of the Society, ex-officio, and forty-four other members. They shall visit the prison at least twice a month, inquire into the circumstances of the prisoners, and report such abuses as they shall discover, to the proper officers appointed to remedy them. They shall examine the influence of confinement on the morals of the prisoners. They shall keep regular minutes of their proceedings, which shall be submitted at every stated meeting of the Society; and shall be authorized to fill vacancies occurring in their own body, whether arising from death, or removal from the city; or from inability or neglect to visit the prisons in accordance with their regulations. They shall also have the sole power of electing new members.

ARTICLE VI.

Candidates for membership may be proposed at any meeting of the Society or of the Acting Committee; but no election shall take place within ten days after such nomination. Each member shall pay an annual contribution of two dollars; but the payment of twenty dollars at any one time shall constitute a life membership.

ARTICLE VII.

Honorary members may be elected at such times as the Society may deem expedient.

ARTICLE VIII.

The Society shall hold stated meetings on the _fourth_ fifth-day (Thursday) in the months called January, April, July and October, of whom seven shall constitute a quorum.

ARTICLE IX.

No alterations of the Constitution shall be made, unless the same shall have been proposed at a stated meeting of the Society held not less than a month previous to the adoption of such alterations. All questions shall be decided where there is a division, by a majority of votes; in those where the Society is equally divided, the presiding officer shall have the casting vote.

OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY.

PRESIDENT,—JAMES J. BARCLAY.

VICE-PRESIDENTS, {TOWNSEND SHARPLESS, {DR. WILLIAM SHIPPEN.

TREASURER,—EDWARD H. BONSALL.

SECRETARIES, {JOHN J. LYTLE, {EDWARD TOWNSEND.

COUNSELLORS, {HENRY J. WILLIAMS, {SAMUEL H. PERKINS.

_Members of the Acting Committee._

Charles Ellis, W. S. Perot, Thomas Latimer, John M. Wetherill, Samuel Caley, Abram C. Brown, Benjamin H. Pitfield, Isaac Barton, James E. Kaighn, Alfred H. Love, Jeremiah Willits, William H. Burr, Jacob T. Bunting, John C. Farr, George Taber, William J. Kiderlen, Mahlon H. Dickinson, William Ingram, James Peters, Robert E. Evans, Albert H. Franciscus, William R. MacAdam, Charles Palmer, Charles P. Perot, Charles C. Lathrop, Thomas A. Robinson, Samuel Emlen, William Dorsey, Abram Martin, R. B. Morrell, John Adolph Beaux, Dr. Wm. Armstrong, F. B. Atmore, Wm. Nicholson, Charles W. Funk, Philip P. Randolph, Joseph R. Chandler, Samuel Townsend, A. G. Roland, Coulson Heiskell, Benj. H. Shoemaker, C. L. Newman.

_Visiting Committee on the Eastern Penitentiary._

Townsend Sharpless, Edward H. Bonsall, John J. Lytle, Edward Townsend, Samuel Caley, Abram C. Brown, Isaac Barton, James E. Kaighn, Alfred H. Love, Jeremiah Willits, William H. Burr, George Taber, William L. J. Kiderlen, Mahlon H. Dickinson, James Peters, Robert E. Evans, Albert H. Franciscus, William R. MacAdam, Charles Palmer, Samuel Emlen, William Dorsey, Robert B. Morrell, Frederick B. Atmore, William Nicholson, Charles W. Funk, Samuel Townsend, Albert G. Roland, Benj. H. Shoemaker.

_Visiting Committee on County Prison._