The Northern star, and farmers' and mechanics' advocate. [volume] (Warren, R.I.) 1830-1834, 1834-03-01

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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PRoVI-
DENCE PLANTATIONS.
In Gss>sai Assssahiy Isu- Session, A. d. 1884.
The Ccmmittes sppoin ted upos the sutyeos Of a
State Prison, Report,-In discllsrging the duty rs
signed them. two questions have presented them
selves Cor discusson.Is any alteration in the pen
al code Of the State necessary. fso, in the present
pscuniary situation Of the State, can an ehectuai
alteration be made
The only legitimate end Of human punishment,
Is tho prevention Of crime by reforming the dslin-
quept and by deterriug others from like courses.
IN this State, coporal .punishments, imprisonment
aud 6ns are the only means relied on to produce
his end.
The infection Of corporal punishments, such as
cropping, branding. whiPPiny. &C., has fallen into
dsuse. No court in the State imposes them except
in cases where the law is imperative and in such
cases. the General Assembly has seldom refused to
interfere, and commute them to fine or imprson-
msnt Would their iuficton reform the offender /!
lie il made 10 bear his person, indelibls marks
Of disgrace. A subsequent life Of perfect innocence
cannot oblterate them. No tears Of penitence can
blot them out. No change of residence will ena-
him to conceal them. What iuducement for ref
,orination il held out to him, when every hope Of
profting byit 10 thus destroyed and when the
, evidence Of his former guilt, always apparent,
wherever he is, must forbid his commingling will,
his fellow men, on any terms Of equality. Such
punishments are indeed relic Of barbarous age.
The inaction Of them, ut the present day, would
rather excite pity for the sufferer, than deestaton
Of his crime Hence a. we have seen the Gener-
al Assembly and the Courts Of law, have virtual
.ly abolished them. They have an existence in
the Statute books, alone, having been found by ex-
.psrience to possess no power to prevent crime by
reforming offenders and little If any by deterriDs
.others. .-.
The imposition OF pocunary fines. 10 frequently
resorted to. as punishment for certain Offences.
These sesm better adapted for the punishment Of
msdemeanors and breaches Of positive law, than
Of those offences involving moral turptude. But
in every case, the inAicton of them, looks like
setting price on Offences selling Of indulgen-
ces for breaches Of law. Besides this. they are
esnerslly imperative. The poverty Of the often
der, being in most cases, an insuperabie obStacio,
to the collection Of hne. The consequence Of
non payment, in all cases, is imprisonment from
which the convict can bs liberated, only by pay
ment Of the ne or by the interposition of the Gen
oral Assembly. In such cases it 10 questionable,
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 detriment, while the poor
man, for the want Of what was perhaps the mov-
ing cause of his crime, ID subjected to imPrson-
nsnt, and to Imprisonment too, not limited by the
general law Of the land; but emily by the will and
sons suffer any punishment by the imposition OF
6nes, that il must be conceded, that this mode Of
punishment is not very effective.
The punishment most frequently inflicted in
this State, is Imprisonment 1his is required by
Statute, to be in the county Jail, in the county
whero the offence was committed. In those jails
al the conyicts are confined without employment,
and without instruction Of any kind. The inter-
course between them is free and uninterrupted
l. this calculated to reform the prisoner! In the
absence Of all moral and religious instruction In
the absence Of that solitude and silence, which har
rows up the conscience by unbidden recollection Of
crime; and surrounded only with those, who like
himself, under the ban oflhs law ; what change
for the better be reasonably hoped for, In the
moral character Of any prisoner. The tendency OF
crime is downward, ito course 10 gradual, but always
downward, From such q state Of Imprisonment
then, ono would expect to find u common charac-
ter forming, among the inmates OF each jail,
and that common character approxlma-
ting in vsnsss to the character ofthe vlest prison.
o. there. Nor is such Imprisonment better calcu-
lated to prevent the repetition Of crime. Scarcely
Isession Of tho General Assembly occurs, at which
oonvets are not liberated who before had been Pc
itiopsrs for like clemency. Some are but just re-
leased bsfors they arc returned for new offences.
To others, such imprisonment Is no punishment ut
all They are comfortably fed and clothed at the
expense Of the State, and surrounded with the com
pany they prefer and above all, they are not o.
bliged to labor The annual expense to the State
Of supporting these convicts, is little short OF two
thousand dollars, exclusive Of those committed Tor
trial In addition to this, the expense Of their re-
convictions, and the expense Of attending to their
petitions to the General Assembly for release, form
No inconsderable item in the annual expenses Of
the State. This species Of punishment Is not only
expensive to tho State, buth is believed by your
committee, that its direct tendency 10 rather to in
srease than prevent crime.
For these rsasons mud others will readily sug-
gelt themselves. yoar committee are OF opinion,
That reform in the penal code OF the state, Is
necessary. In deciding in what that reform shall
consist, and ia what manner offences against the
law shall be punished, great assistance may be
derived from the experience Of other states Many
Df,hen have expended large sums in experiments
on this SUBJECT Systems Of punishment have been
Vdoplei in some, which they have been obliged TO
abandon almost as soon as reduced to pract'ce.-.
Othrs seemed to succeed AT first, but have found
afterwards TO bo worse than useless.
Among these as ths mos, prominent. were so''-
tary confinement without labor, and the peni'en-
,iary systen,, Us at first adopted. There can be III
to doubt, thlt such solitary Imprisonment Que o.
toe mos, severe plashrWnis that cnn be "nic'ed'
and thaait ha. powerful eiect IN producing l'
d,yiauaI reformation. but Va tie STATE ul new
YORK, whcfs tho experiment Mas u'cd, ~ ,'s stale
Prison nj Auburn, and IN ths State OF Maine, u ha'
bosn abandoned; having been found 10 be very
prsiqdssial 10 the heslih VI the prisoner.