The Sun.
London, England, 1853-09-07 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER- 7, 1853.

COMFORTS OF PRISON.

A cursory inspection of the convict prisons might lead
any one to the conclusion that a prisoner is better fed,
clothed, and lodged, than many an honest man who is
struggling against the hardships that poverty entails
upon him. No one, however, will be prepared to argue
that, in this country, any convict, no matter what may
have been his crime, should be locked up for long periods,
and be deprived of what may be necessary for his health
and cleanliness. Still less would it be contended that,
in any sound system of discipline, the reformation of the
man should be disconnected from the punishment due to
crime. Under any circumstances, however, there is
another side to this picture of comforts afforded to a
prisoner. . .

The enforcement of cleanliness and regularity on the
resolute and reckless characters which form an average
prison population, is not only essential as a means of
reformation, but it may fairly be taken as a wholesome
and legitimate element of punishment.
In this double character all the attractive appearances
of cleanliness and good order in prisons may be safely
viewed. They are not the result of any undue desire
to administer to the comfort of a prisone but the
whole bearing of the daily routine by which they are
secured is calculated to thwart the natural tastes and
habits of most criminals, and to direct them into new
and improved channels.
During the earlier period of the process, they, doubt-
less, add indirectly to the punishment, but when a pri-
soner appreciates them as conducive to his comfort, he
is likely to profit by the instruction he has received.
The recruit does not enjoy either his days of drill, or
the enforced precision of military discipline ; but it soon
ceases to be irksome, and in after life he never loses the
advantages it has secured to him.
Mr. Frederick Hill, late Inspector of Prisons for
Scotland, alludes to the subject in his report for 1844.
Speaking of the general opinion that prisons are attrac-
tive, he says
"But let the visitor reflect that, first, as respects the
honest workman, the prisoner has entirely lost his free-
dom, and ceased to be his own master ; that he is not
only cut off from family and friends, but that, generally,
he is deprived of companionship altogether ; that he
must neither whistle, sing, nor shout ; that day after
day, and month after month, except at the intervals of
exercise, he is confined within the four walls of his little
cell, Sundays and holidays affording no relief, the very
changes of the season almost unknown to him—for all,
at least, that he can partake of their charms. Let him
think of this, and he will probably be of opinion that,
though the prisoners were fed on turtle, instead of
barley broth, and slept on down instead of straw, there
would still be few applicants, among the honest working
class, for permission to occupy their places.
" And let the visitor, further, make himself ac-
quainted with the habits of criminals, and with their
ideas of comfort and luxury, and he will probably come
to the conclusion that their distress must indeed be
severe, and such as to make their being at large dan-
gerous to all around them, before such persons would
voluntarily enter a prison.
" For what, owing generally to wretched training, are
the habits of criminals ? Idleness, late rising, indul-
gence in drinking, smoking, and gambling. And what
regard is paid to these habits, however strong they may
be, on entering,:a, Scottish prison ? Not the slightest.
However great a sluggard, he must rise, the very morn-
ing after his admission—even in the middle of the winter
—when the clock strikes six. Then, although he would
probably prefer remaining in his dirt to the trouble of
making himself clean, he must immediately wash himself,
and that thoroughly. So soon as that is done he must,
if he has been tried, begin a task of labour, with the
prospect of losing his dinner if he be sullen and refuse to
complete it. Should he ask for a companion lie will
at once be refused. Between times he may wish to
comfort himself with a pipe, or at least with a pinch of
snuff ; but no ! the rules inexorably and most properly
forbid all luxuries, especially such as foster habits of ex-
pense. At dinner he may ask at least for a little beer,
but he is again refused, and he finds that, however much
against his will, he has suddenly become a member of a
total abstinence society. As for opportunities of gam-
bling, he has neither anything to stake, nor any person
with whom to play.
" When it is considered how painful an effort is gener-
ally necessary to break through a single bad habit, it
may be judged how much a person, under such circum-
stances, must suffer ; and it will be seen that that which
is pleasing to the eye of the visitor, and excellent in it-
self, is often obtained with much though necessary pain ;
and the delusion will be dispelled that the prisons have
ceased to be places of punishment."
As regards diet, the reports of the Commissioners of
Pentonville, and all the experience which has been
gained in the administration as separate confinement,
lead to the conclusion that, during imprisonment, a
liberal diet is absolutely essential to the preservation of
health.

On public works it has been proved beyond doubt
that, without sufficient sustenance, the men cannot pos-
sibly perform the heavy work required of them, how-
ever willi and industrious they may be.
I adverted to this point in my fourth report :
" I would observe that, as regards prisoners in sepa-
rate confinement, the experience gained during the ex-
periment at Pentonville demonstrated beyond all dispute
that a liberal diet, not less in amount of nutritious qua-
lity than that which appears in the established scale, is
absolutely necessary to the preservation of health during
long periods of separate confinement. _

"-The experiment of a reduction in this amount was
tried at Wakefield, chiefly, I believe, with a view to
economy. The result of the diminished quantity, com-
bined with an average confinement somewhat exceeding
eighteen months, was very unfavourable, as exhibited in
the first prisoners sent to Portland, who were received
from Wakefield in a very low and depressed condition.
"As regards the diet of convicts employed upon
public works, it being an object that they should be
made to exert themselves to the utmost, it has been
found essential to give them such a diet as would support
their strength.

"The scale now established has been determined on
medical grounds, and on experience of the prejudicial
effects of a lower dietary both on the health and energy
of the men."

Having noticed the general subjects which I have
considered it desirable to bring under your lordship's
consideration, I will proceed briefly to review the state
of the separate convict prisons.

SERIOUS ROBBERY.—Yesterday a daring robbery was
committed at the White Hart public-house in Clifton-
street, Finsbury, by a gang of four well-dressed men,
who contrived to steal a cash-box containing nearly 601.
in gold and silver, besides valuable securities. Mr.
Chadwick, the police inspector, who proceeded to inves-
tigate
the case, immediately upon receiving information
of the robbery, ascertained that the fellows had been
Upwards of a week hanging about the house, spending
money freely at the bar and in the parlour, and making
themselveslllite familiar and agreeable customers while
YYesterd their opportunity to commit the depredation.
the imusZnaaonnia ing, as early as ten o'clock, they visited
chatting and d'it.Z.ot them stood in front of the bar,
parlour for the
while taking their
ostlng', while the others went to the
beransible purpose of writing a note
they rang the parlournhdell and
cigar. In a short time
Mrs. Catchpole, the lan-
lady, who was alone in ell,
to answer the call, was detainedar
at the time, proceeding
guests indulged in a sort of f some time while her
paying for their refreshment preiendly contention about
ture. Upon her return to the bPaarrastrY to their depar-
the two she had left there had in the e discovered that
off the cash-box, which stood upon a mtaebalTedirne carried
in
the
bar_
parlour. In it were 341. in gold, 141. in silvear ahe
for 201. drawn by Mr. Rivetts upon the London cheque
for
Westminster Bank, a cash-book, a housekeepinl and
and various documents. The police are on the alert°ltO
discover the robbers.
To ROME BY RAILWAY,—A concession has just been
granted by the Tuscan Government to Messrs. Gandell,
Brothers, of Paris, for a railway of 80 miles, from
Florence to Arezzo, the frontier town of Tuscany, next
to the Roman States. By its connection with the
Northern and Central lines it will open an uninterrupted
communication between the Northern States of Italy
and the Roman dominions ; and proposals have been
submitted to the Pope for its extension to Rome, a dis-
tance of about 200 miles.
PROPOSED CLOSING OF PUBLIC-HOUSES ON SUNDAYS.
—The number of petitions presented to the House of
Commons during the past session, praying for the pass-
ing of a law to close all public-houses on Sundays, and
to prohibit the sale on that day of intoxicating drinks,
amounted to 166, with 51,567 signatures.