New-York daily tribune., 1844-03-09

Sir, as means Of deternng from crime. your pre-
sent system mas long been jeer and bveword
At that Visit, we were Informed by the agents
that 1ne per cent of the prisoners sent there dur
ing the last year, were then serving out their Sc
cond or their third term. What IS the inference
from this That your preSen: Prison system de
tiers from crime? If anv one has doubts on this
subject, let him refer 10 the daily intelligence fur
nishcd by The public press. No, sir; the VILLAIN
who makes up his mind TO rob his neighbor, makes
| up his accoUn; beforehand. He has been 10
State Pnson before, and. ike the villain to whom
nave already alluded, who was IN my employ.
tor sl,oUU he can afford to run the risk OF five
years term IN the State Prison at Auburn. Ii
the worst comes, and he is detected and sent
there, he knows that he viii be well fed and
cothed-bc the lnhabltant OF a comfortable man.
son, kept warm for him in winter, and nicely
cool III summer by the great thickness of its
wa!is-that he Will only have labor lust enough
to give him good appetite. In view OF all this,
he says, run but little hazard; will make the
experiment. And he, too, who wishes to glut his
revenge upon his neighbor, and stabs him to the
heart with the assassin's knife-he, too, will, by
the mawkish sensbility OF your Courts, be pro-
nounced innocent on the ground that he is ma.
MAC, or the law will be so tortured as to make
the crime only mansaughter and he is accord
Ingly sent 10 the State Prison.
But gentlemen have contended here that our
benevoIence is concerned in this busness-and
| that we are bound TO make these convicts COM
Portable. Sir such gentlemen show little know
ledge Of the philosophy of the human mind. Pc
nal statutes were never made with view TO the
| reformation of the transgrcsSo-. What SAYS the
great Lawglver of the Israel, whose acts are yet
the very sum OF human wisdom, when speaking
OF the reason for the lntcton OF the punishment
of Death 'lhat all the people may near and
fear and do SO no more lsrever." | will not cite
you to the teachings of history, and take you
through the classic walks OF Greece and Rome
No! | will appeal direct to the knowledge and
conscience OF every member on this floor. What
are the facts in the case Has not crime In
creased of late years, ten-old in aggravation and
amount? and does tins not prove that there is
something "rotten in Denmark
Sir, what do the mechanics propose--what do
they claim or expect as men mlngng IN your
society? They ask that you shall put these men
where they shall be compelled TO work as hard as
we do ourselves. And at good healthy business
too-for the gentleman from Clinton N1r. Hub
bell) says there are no healthier people than the
iron manufacturers. We ask that YOU shall put
the atrocious ielon who has waylaid his neghbor,
or entered upon his premises, committing his de-
predatons, at such hard labor as when he shall
come out Of prison, he shall have no disposition
TO commit further depredatlons upon your citizens,
but will go either where he play the villain
with more impunity, or suffer a less penalty.
The gentleman from Cayuga (Mr. HALL) has
spoken to of the cost of the two prisons already
erected | thank him for his kindness in draw
ing the attention of the committee to this subject.
Sir, the prison at Auburn has, IN my estimation,
cost the State nearer 5000, 900 than either $780,
900 or $5000Q0. You have built not a prison
there, but palace. The rogue, viewing its fine
exterior, will very naturally and Justly conclude
that the tcrrors within cannot be very great
And will you enlarge this prison Sir, 1t is not
dcbatabe question whether you will build or
not that is settled. tell these vigllant scnti-
nels Of the State Treasury that the money for
new prison must come out of 1t. There is alrea-
dy not spare cell in Auburn, and but very few
at Sing Sing. You must build, and our advice
is given you in this bill. Slr we arc not the vi
sonary schemers represented by gentlemen. Some
Of us have grown Old at Our business, and 1t may
perhaps be claimed that we have as much ntelIl-
gence and practical knowledge as some other gen.
temen, who were in their cradles long after we
had toiled at our trades. 1t comes with bad
grace from such gentlemen to charge the 100000
mechanics of your State as being vslonary--as
being stirred up by politicians and greedy specu-
lators. So large class OF your citizens scat
tered from the Lakes to the Ocean, stirred up by
such considerations Was ever more rdicu-
lous pretence set up Sir, it has been our own
impulse which has moved U.s. We have sus-
tanned ourselves long, and, unless our grievances
are redeemed, we shall seek our remedy through
the ballot boxes The mechanics, sir, are not the
vio!ators Of the law. How IS it that the broad
mantle of charity Is thrown over the ielon, the
burglar, the murderer and the atroclous villain,
and yet no sympathies excited for the honest
and industrious mechanics
How is this The present state OF feeling is
the result of the operations of the policy OF those
visionary men, who few years since, gave out
that they were about to reform all the convctS IN
N. Y. They had found Cathohcon for every
vice that infested society. But experience, Sir,
has proved all this to be mere fallacy. Scarcely
paper comes to you which is not frelghted with
accounts of rapes with murders, and with afro
cous crimes, until the community may well trem-
BILE. Our svmpathies should be called out, not
for the villains, who are stamped by the law with
infamy, but for those honest members Of society,
who have sunk some OF their natural rights IN
the bonds which hold together society, that the
laws of that society may protect them IN the en-
loyment ofthe rest. AS wise Legislators we are
bound to carry out the intent Of that original com
pact, and protect the men who have parted with
some of their natural rights IN order that they
NAV be guarded from villains. Sir, am DISCUS
ted by this sympathy for the poor vll!aln-the
poor murderer, and | am sorry It prevails SO e1-
tensvely.
The gentleman from Cayuga Or. HALL has
treated US with an array Of figures, to make out
the Indebtedness of the Treasury for the Prisons
at Auburn and Sing Sing. AS have remarked
before, the State has built palaces there, and 1t is