The Rhode-Island Republican. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1809-1841, 1834-02-26
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PRO-
VIDENCE PLANTATIONS.

The Committee appointed upon tho sub
iect of States Prison, Report-ln dlscharg-
ing the duty assigned them, two questions
have presented themselves for discussion. -
Is any alteration in the penal code OF the
State necessary. if so, in The present pccun
iary situation ofthc State can an efectual
alteration be made?
The only legitimate end Of human pun
ishment is the prevention OF crime by re
forming the delinquent: and by deterrlng
others from like courses in this State, cor
poral punish,nents, Imprisonment and fine
are the only means relied on to produce this
end,
The inhicton Of corporal punshmen's,
such as cropping, branding, whipping, &c,
has fallen into dsuse. No court in the
State imposes them except in cases where
the law is imperative; ind in such cases,
the General Assembly has seldom refused to
interfere, and commute them to fine and i'm.
prisonment. Wond their infliction reform
the offendcr3 He is made TO bear on his
person. indchble marks Of disgrace. sub
sequent life of perfect innocence cannot OBJ
literate them. No tears Of penitence can
blot them out No change Of residence will
enable him TO conceal them. What induce
ment for reformation is held on, to him,
when every hope of profitng by it is thus
destroyed and when the evidence OF his
! former guilt, always apparent, wherever ne
is, must forbid his commngling with his fel
low men, on any terms of equality. Such
punishment are indeed relic of barbar.
Gus age. The inhiction of them, at the pre-
sent day, would rather excite pity for the
sufferer, than detestaton Of his crime
Hence as we have seen, the General Assem-.
bly, and the courts Of law, have virtually a.
bolished them. They have an existence in
the Statute books alone, having been found
by experienue to posses no power to prevent
crime by reforming offenders, and little, If
any, by deterring others.
The imposition of pecuniary fines, is fre'
quen,ly resorted to, as punishment for Ger
tain offences. These seem better adapted
for the punishment Of misdemeanors and
breaches of positive law, than of those often
ces involving moral turpitude. But in every
case, the !nhction of them, looks like set
ting price on otfences,-a selling of ndul
gences for breaches of law. Besides this,
they are generally imperative. The power
ty Of the offender, being in most cases, an
insuperable obstacle, to the collection Of q
fine. The consequence OF non payment, in
all cases, is Imprisonment; from which the
convict can be liberated, only by payment of
the fine, or by the interposition of the Gene
raj Assembly, la such cases it is question:
BILE, whether the reverence Of the convict for
the laws OF his country is increased when
he sees the wealthy man punished, by taking
from him what he can part with, without dc
triment, while the poor man, for the want OF
what was perhaps the moving cause Of his
crime, is subjected to Imprisonment, and TO
\ mi v>nt tnI hxt n
law Of the land bu. on.; 5y The will end
pleasure Of the General Assembly. So few
persons suffer any punishment by the impo
sition Of fines, that It must be conceded, that
this mode of punishment is not very effect
i've.
The punishment most frequently inflicted
in this State, is Imprisonment. This is re.
quired by statute, to be in tho county Jail, in
the county where the offence was committed
10 those jails all the convicts are confined
without employ ment, and without instruction
of any kind. The intercourse between them
is free and uninterrupted. Is this calculat-
ed to reform the prisoner2 In the absence
Of all moral and religious instruc ton in the
absence of that solitude and silence, which
harrows up the conscience by unbdden re
collection of crime and surrounded only
with those, who like himself, under tho bar
Of the law what change for the better car
be reasonably hoped for, in the moral char.
acter of any prisoner. The tendency o.
crime is downward, its course is gradual
but always downward. From such a state
of Imprisonment then, one would expect to
J find common character forming among the
inmates of each jail, and that common char
acter approximating in vileness TO the char.
acter Of the vilest prisoner there. Nor is
such Imprisonment better calculated To- pre-.
vent the repetition of crime. Scarcely a
session Of the General Assembly occurs, at
which conyicts are not liberated, who before
had been petitioners for like clcmency.--
Some are but just released, before they arc
returned for new offences. To others such
Imprisonment is no punishment at all. They
are comfortably fed and clothed at the ex-
pense Of the state, and surrounded with tho
company they prefer and above oil, they
are not obliged to labor. The annual sx.
! pense 10 the State Of supportlpv those con.