The Sun.
London, England, 1817-09-19 00:00:00

Ni «' 11.," )LICE REPOR

.... • ,:
• , (Concluded from Vesterda;'s SttN.)
Yo decinte entering at present, eve7l if at any

time it was._ within liejr-province, into a trirrate iove-tiga-
Con orthe-various causes,whith,have'produced.thisahnetlng,
increase of juvenile deliotiptency: many or, these causesioay
be traced to the peculiar situation of. the country,- uts'l to, Ow'
existence of poverty and ;distress, unknovin perhaps at any
former period to the same extent. lint your Unetnittee
hope, that with the gradual removal of throe causes; their. la--
menta effect will cease. They however, 'feel it their duty'
to observe, that as long as arty.itteaws are lett untried, hy
which those wbo.aro;of authority in t state have- it io their
power to check, indirectly by educations m the v.:fa-cement
of religious oliset vances? the tendeircy which:the yeung sad
the ignorant have to fall into the snares am! :Olurenietits
which are spread around them by.ihc 4hilly and deFloing,
the delinquencies that are the result of such neglect are not
wholly to be set to the, aceount of.the offeudos ; and that,
till all the ways are exhausted by which the morals and man-
ners of a people can be reformed, the existence-, of tin aug-
mented state of mate, the severity a the .penal fa,r, awl
the frequency of capital punishment, are .evidences little
creditable to ttie system of which. such evils ate the result.
rn order, then, to remedy, if possible, some of these evils,
and more particularly those which result trout the deplorable
state. and waaagemeut of the dilfer,:n prisons of the 'intro-
polls, your, Committee have examined varitioi plans that
have been offered to their inspection, for the establishment
of a penitentiary, or place: .of separate confinement fur ju-
venile offenders ; and they are of opinion, that it is expe-
dient to coustruct a prison to he peculiarly set apart for that
purpose. They hare thought fit to pvinftwo plans of priSons
of this description in their appendix : both to have their se-
parate advantages; •but your Committee prefer that delivered
in by Mr. Bevans, t'llich seems to them to unite nearly all
the different arrangements which' have been generally ap-
proved, and which combines these aqvantages with the strict-
est economy. The whole cost for the construction of a build-
in.; capable of containing 400
.boys wilfamount at furthest to
24,0001. 'which sum they cannot' help contrasting with the
expense of ei Ming a penitentiary at Millbalik, which is esti-
mated to cost 350,0901. and, which is only intended to contain
SOO persons of both sexes.
Your Committee have examined notch evidence as to the
general management of the various penitentiary establish-
ments supported by,pri vale benevolence which' exist
..the
metropolis. '!'hey icier generally to the testitucny of those
best qualified t the !host ~trreet iiaorrhatitin as to these
places; and the concurrent oiiinion of ail I, favottrable to
measures such as.they think it their du!), to recommend.—

The Refuge for the liestitete, and the Philanthropic, have
fully answered the views-of their Charitable fotniders and be,
fattorS. They hare 'redeemed hundreds bons 'the-ruin and
misery into whicf!, tiny pltur4ed.; and it is with peculiar
satisfaction your f'_;:otantee have learnt, that the only check
to the further proir;,,‘•,: of this grt,tt v.ork is to be found in
the deficiency of the at present appropriated for that
purpose.- That deficiency it is die object of your Commit-
tee to tst,,tpty; and they feel convinced that the Govern-
ment cannot more econmnicaity'employ the fin of the pub-
lic, than its the cosistruction of places of penitentiary con-
finement.: •
Your Committee have inquired into the expences of the
maintenance of persons inn the. different penitentiary esta-.
blishments,-as well as the nombec of individuals they are
.calcul.sted to hold : the exception of that at Milbank,
they are all supported by voluntary contributions.
The Refuge for the 1./estitine, on the tab of May F.lst, con-
tained 40 males, and 60 fenial'es. The former cost annually
fur food-and clothing 2.31.175. and the latter. about. 281. lls.;
the differolQ; arises from a greater allowance of food ben;
given-to the koial.e,, who work extra limits. The success of
this society has heel' considerable; and it has been found that
about two thirds of the persons confined and employed there
have been reformed, and returned to habits of industry.
Your. Committee have also leaent that the applications
from persons of both sexes to enter into this establishment
•are most numerous,both from the criminal as well as the tic_
stittst poor ; and that if.tke funds of the institution were
greater, a much larger proportion of those persons would be

received.
The Philanthropic Society contains at present 41 girls a
160 boys, the children •of convicts, and those who are Cal
victs theMSe;tie:S the expellee per head, dividing the cost
the whole establishment by the nminiber of persons, is alio
351. per aotsurn. But your Committee observe, that the a
prentiees to the nitillber of 60 maintain themselves, havit
earned near 2,0001. last year, the principal expeoce being; i
Correa for the youilger part of the commouity. This install•
thin-hat fully answered the-views of its benevolent founders
By much the
.greater proportion of those who !rive beer
brought up turn out well, and fully warrant the remark 0
one 'of those who had deilated a little from the rules of. dis
cretion asid good " that Within its walls the -scieiet
taught them habits' which they could nut get rid of if-,the
would."
Your COmmittee wish to direct the attention of the public
to this .excellent institothiti; Which" is well deserving a snore
extended patronage, not only for the end which the establish-
went has in view, but also for the success which has attend-
ed its labours, ariiing iron the excellence of its regulations,
and the frugal manner in whith its funds are itdministered.
The Magdalen- 'Hospital contains 80 females : it has been
established from the year 1758, and has from that period to
the present day admitted about 4,591 persons, of whom
1,012 have been restored to their friends or plated in repo-
table "service ; 912 iliac been discharged at their owo request ;
556 for improper behaviour; and 85 ham e died while in 'the
hospital. Of 246 women who were discharged in the last 4
years, of every descriptite,, 157 are reformed ; 7.1 have re-
lapsed ; 4 are insane; i is dcail, :mil of 'lO the situation it not
-known; so that it may be estimated that two-thirtts,of the
women who cuter into:l his soeiety are permanently reclaim-
ed : the 'average age of tboge Unloaossitte females is front 17
to 18. They apply very young, some few at even 13 or 14,
hut gerierally from 15 to 25; some have been admitted there
of 12 scars of age.
The London Female Penitentiary con' sins 101) persons, at
an average expence per head of 431. Timis instimotimt has
!teen-established &mot 10 years; in that time 2,0.10 persons
hare petitioned to be admitted, and 5135 alone have been re-
ceived of whorn 265 have been reconciled to their friends
and placed out to serviee; l 8 have married; t 7 have beet)
discharged from various causes; 17 have eloped ; 66 left the
house at their own request, and 1,1 have died. Your Com-
mittee observe that the labour of the women of this latter in-
stitution Produced 6651., while that of the Magdalen was only
IE7L, daring last year.
The .General Penitentiary, Millhank, contained 52. males
and 7(; females, total 128, on the 22t1 May hest. The cost of
each prisoner as to limit is sixpence to •sevenpeace a day, or
.abotit 01. 2s. 6d., per annum'. Your Committee were in-
formed that the clothing amid maintenance of each piisoner
woo hl nut exceed 9.01. per animism. This establ;sionemit is of
so recent a date, as' out yet to furnish much' evidence of time
beneficial result of its regulations. But your .Cotoinitte. can-
riot restrain from inserting the following extract from the
jonrnal of the Chaplain, who states, thi'mt during, the ten or
twelve months that the pristsners have heed under his dins c-
hitin, he has observed a great alteration in their mantle, op--
peat-once, and character, and that. the practical advan-
tages of the system are far beyond his expeet;itioo. " Ihe
Chaplain feels much pleasnre closing his journal at the
expiration of the year, -with statin,g, -that the geueral CIA/-
duct of the prisonersduriti..: their conliiie,l,lli :In Ilse petty
tertiary has been most satisfact.,‘-y. Time repeotamiee Imo('
amendaient of Many of hunts i, visible; 'amid- there ;s every .
reason to preStutme, that out their leas-mg theptioom they
tt
heeonie honest aid industrious in.:umbers of soeii.t!-:
Your Committee are fully aware of time ee,,,nr, ~.11,1-1 the
Plan cf bnildinft, a It,NV prison email on the fiwinves
the country ; but they canton consider the cost entirely addi-
tiomil, or one of which, if the object he attained is ii, ought
into account, the pnbliecan have AO:: Ei'4ld to coniplitil. At
present the ebildreo comMitted to the diffe'rent prsoi,.-3. arc
maintained at the county or city charges. Amid your (Sun,
mittee du not propose to shift that. Cost Oil the pnidie.treau-
ry ; they have been informed by persolis who bays- taken pa;nc,
to obtain a' correct estinmate-as to the.expenceamf
/mince of prisoners, that on an average the cost at the Phi-
lauthropie, the Refuge for the Destitute, and the,totoirom