The Press. — London, England, 1855-04-21 00:00:00

tuations, at the same time that, from the secrecy with which the government is con ducted, it is utterly impossible for such fluctuations to be guarded against or foreseen. In England the necessity of a loan becomes obvious to everyone long before the official comm unication to the Bank of England ren ders the declaration of it public; and when a loan is resorted to it is usually concluded iu such a fashion as to effect the least possible disturbance in the value of the several Stocks then existing. It would take a considerable period of the most desperate war England ever was engaged in to send the funds down twenty-seven per cent.: and yet this has been done in India within the last twelvemonth, though, excepting the Burmese affair, the most profound peace was universally reigning. It is clear that under such a system the capitalists of Europe will continue to steer clear of the public securities of India, while to those who have hitherto been considerable investers—the men of moderate means invest ing for an income—the uncertainty of the duration of the Stock will now act as a check against investment. To this class of men certainty of duration is the first object, and of that characteristic the Stock of India is by the late measures of Government entirely de• prived. There remain, then, only the native capitalists ; but to these such sudden and such violent fluctuations must be equally injurious, and they have, besides, of late found another objection to investment in the Government funds of India in the unscrupulous manner in which money so invested has been occa sionally confiscated without the slightest regard to law or equity in the proceeding. Those who are aware of the strict faith with which this country has acted during the pre sent war in reference to Russia may be astonished to learn that there are natives of India now in London who have been long endeavouring in vain to prevail on the Go vernment to perform the common act of justice involved in the payment to them of the dividends on the Stock they had standing in their names in the Company's funded debt at the time that their country was summarily, and we may add most unceremoniously, taken frum them. These are points which are surely deserving of consideration at the hands of the Legisla ture of England ; and we do hope that when the time shall arrive for a more searching inquiry into the condition of British India than it has yet been subjected to, an investiga tion into the system pursued by its present rulers in reference to the Company's funded debt will not be forgotten. PRISON DISCIPLINE. A PAMPHLET has been published by Captain MACHONOCHIE, formerly superintendent of Nor folk Island, explaining what he terms the " Mark " or " Task" system, by which convicts may be encouraged to steady habits and good behaviour by being made to comprehend that the duration of their imprisonment, with the penalties or indulgences attending it, depend very much on their own conduct. On questions of prison discipline Captain MACHONOOHIE is a practical authority. He writes with the weight derived from long study and experience, and the subject of his publi cation is now more than even important. It is undeniable that our present means of penal repression are a failure. Transportation is virtually, though not absolutely, at an end. Tickets-of-leave are a hazardous, and have proved hitherto an unsuccessful expedient. Juvenile reformatories may, probably will, do much ; yet even in the case of these it must be remembered that the results so loudly vaunted have been due rather to individuals than to the system. It does not follow that what (to take an example) Mr. TURNER has done at Red hill, or Mr. NASH at Westminster, can be effected with equal certainty of success by any teacher whom a board of magistrates may select as the recipient of a moderate salary for disagreeable duties. To the reti►r nation of young criminals, therefore, and to THE PRESS. the consequent diminution of crime, we may I look with hope indeed, hut not with overmuch 1 confidence. More than this, the old idea of punishment as a simply deterring process having to a great extent died out, and being replaced by the modern theory of moral cure, the severity of law has been perhaps too much relaxed. At present we are undergoing the inconveniences of a transition state between two systems. We have manifestly outgrown the old—to the new we have not become accustomed. The first problem to be solved is that of which Captain MACHONOCHIE attempts the solu tion—viz., how to make a prison really a place of moral correction and amendment. His objection to the existing management of such places is simple. He argues that the habits of discipline and obedience instilled are merely mechanical; that labour is performed on compulsion only, without interest or hope of reward, and therefore ill-performed ; that no custom of spontaneous exertion, no strength to resist present temptation, can or does exist under a system which has nothing to do with spontaneity, and which considers its point gained when it has not conquered, but banished temptation—in brief, that though a certain amount of taskwork may have been got through, and a fair external show of good con duct preserved through the agency of fear, during residence within the prison walls, yet at the expiration of his term the criminal leaves them unaltered, and just as ready as before to lapse into guilt. This view, we regret to say, we believe to be in the main correct. Exceptions occur, but in general the reformation of an adult offender is an event of which even philanthropists are not sanguine ; while " practical men," according to their tem perament, regard the attempts with ridicule or despair. What is the remedy? Let the ex- Governor of Norfolk Island reply. It is, stated in the simplest form, the detention of the pri soner for a period measured, not as now, by a fixed interval of time, but by the completion of a given quantity of task work, whereby the obstinate and the idle have before them a pleasing prospect of indefinite confinement, while the industrious and well-conducted may hope to release themselves at an earlier period than that calc•ilated on by the sentencing judge. It is not difficult to see the advantages of this method. The prisoner, under present regulations, is an apathetic, listless being, his limbs mechanically exercised, his mind sunk in torpor—having no more exciting occupation than that of counting the days to his release, and speculating on the use he shall make of his recovered freedom. Why should he work more than he can help? he will not be the gainer ; neither money, indulgence, nor earlier liberation, will repay his efforts : better be idle for nothing than labour for no►.hing. Hence affected ignorance, slackness, evasion of duty, feigned illness—all carried as far as is possible without actually incurring punish ment. On the other hand, the prisoner on the task system finds himself in circumstances where the amount and duration of suffering which he must undergo depend mainly on himself. The superiority of the one plan over the other is not doubtful. Indeed, the only objection which we ever heard raised to the principle of the Mark system, was from the lips of a most worthy and philanthropic gaol chap lain, who feared that under it the prisoner's mind would be kept in a state of too active ex citement and hope, and thereby become less impressible to spiritual admonitions. The idea was ingenious, but most persons will be disposed to regard the danger as imaginary. A more real difficulty is the following : How do you mean to proportion taskwork to the strength of the individual performing it? Is one man to be made to do a double share, be muse he seems physically stronger, or, from practice, has become more expert ? This is surely a premium, not only on weakness and awkwardness, but also on the simulation of these qualities. On the other hand, if equal proportions of labour be exacted from all, without reference to natural disparity of power, an injustice equally flagrant, though of an opposite character, is perpetrated at the ex pense of the feeble and unskilful. It is no auffteient reply to argue, that in the world out- SATURDAY, side the prison walls these last are exposed to suffer similarly. The laws of nature and of society, equitable on the whole, are inevitably unfair in their operation upon individuals. A prison is, or ought to be, a place of moral training, and he who enters it having, though against his will, become a mere passive instru ment in the hands of others, has the more right to demand that the justice which is en forced against him shall not be withheld where he has a right to claim it. Some compromise, then, seems necessary between the two incompatible principles of remuneration for labour done, in proportion simply to its amount, and remuneration gra duated according to the supposed powers of the workers. Captain MAOHONOCHIE overcomes the difficulty by a scheme somewhat complex, but of which the value appears to us to out weigh the inconvenience. He has several dis tinct columns in the mark-book,—one for " personal demeanour," one for " diligence,"— the governor or overlooker being, we presume, the judge in this case,—one for " effect pro duced," where the advantages of skill or strength come into play, and another which embodies the results of the chaplain's and schoolmaster's reports. Thus every kind of merit is recognised ; and au earlier period of liberation may be attained equally by superior proficiency in the employment assigned, by superior industry, though with comparatively small result, or by docility in general conduct. Similarly, marks may be lost by negligence or misconduct, or they may be bartered for cer tain permissible indulgences, such as improved diet, comforts, &c., so that the prisoner, within certain limits, may elect between a confine ment shorter but more vigorous, and one of longer duration but less severity. It is no light recommendation of this project that it was actually tried, and with success, among the doubly and trebly convicted felons of Norfolk Island—the very scum and refuse of humanity—on whom all attempts at recla mation or discipline, except the discipline of punishment, had been held vain and visionary. Captain MACHONOCHIE had to contend with much distrust—natural at the commencement of such an experiment—and some prejudice : he had the worst materials to work on, a short term of office, and limited authority ; yet all these obstacles were to a certain extent over come, and the Pandemonium of Australasia, if it did not wholly change its character, at least became, under his management, something leas lin mixedly evil than preceding governors had found and left it. IMPERIAL VISIT TO THE CRYSTAL PALACE; YESTERDAY morning, shortly after eleven o'clock, her Majesty and Prince Albert, and their illustrious guests, left Buckingham Palace for the Crystal Palace at Sydenham. The royal party travelled in an open landau. The Empress was seated beside the Queen; the Emperor and Prince Albert occupied the seat opposite. From the appearance of their Majesties, they seemed to have suffered very little from the fatigues of the previous day, and as they emerged from the Palace gates into the park, the aspect of the crowd appeared to add to the animated conversation that was going on between her Majesty and the Empress. On this occasion the royal party were attired in the ordinary costumes of private life. The carriage conveying the illustrious party was fol lowed by sixteen other open carriages, containing the royal suite. A small party of Carabineers, not above twenty, escorted the royal cortege as it drove through the park. It is understood that our imperial visitors will return to France vii Dover this day. The French sd miral, Viscount Chabannes, has his flag on board the Corse, steam-corvette, in Dover harbour. The screw ship-of•the•line Austerlitz is ordered off Dover, to attend the embarkation of the Emperor. The most attractive of the state apartments at Windsor, heretofore known as the "Waterloo Cham ber," is henceforth to be called the Picture Gallery, the name of "Waterloo" being erased from the xm ventional traditions of the castle. Respecting the Vienna negotiations, a despatch from that capital states that the eleventh conference was held on Thursday, and that a pacific solution is still probable. Lord John Rummell remains till Monday. The Emperor Alexander has granted an amnesty to a great number of personal ()convicted of poknical offences.