The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1851-05-30
NEW ORLEANS:
FRIDAY MORNING, MAY 80, 1851.


Since the days of the civilized ages, it has been
great feature in human action to prevent crime
among mankind; and consequently any thing cal.
cnated to elicit light upon criminals and prisons is
always eagerly sought after. Since the commence.
ment of the Penieniiary system Of punishment in
Alabama, in the year 1912, about nine wears ago
there has been four hundred and fourteen convicts
committed Tor various crimes, hut mostly for lar.
ceny; sxty-fve of whom are natives of the differ.
ent foreign conntrles-more than ne-haif are ma.
tives of lreland-twelve of them are married and
have children in the United States. Three hun.
dred and forty nine are natives Of the United States
"a larger number are natives Of Georgia Than any
other one State, and but few native Alabamans
one hundred and thrly-twO have wife and chill.
dren-twenty-six have wife but no children-five
of them have two wives each, and one has three
two have children and wife living. Twenty.
five convicts have two hundred and twenty.sx
children, averaging little over nine to each one
one has seventeen. There has been four women
committed since the system went into operation
one for going into a jail and dressing brother in
female clothes, SO as to aid him in his escaping from,
jail-One for incesi-one for the murder of her hus
| band, and one for destroying her own child-two
of them were married and two unmarried
There has been thirty-six deaths in the insttu
died-in lS43, four died-in 1874, five-in AS,
fve--in 46, three-in al, six--n '48, four-in 49.
| four-in 80, two, and two have died since the
first day of January, 1851. This is certainly
very small number of deaths, when it will be re-
collected that, as a gene raj thing the most de.
bauched men, with broken and worn out constitu.
tons, affords mostly the convcts. Chronic diarr.
hoea has been the disease with which most of them
have died. This disease prevailed in a more VIC.
lent type in 1S47, ESQ we have been informed by
the physcian,) than during any year previous to
that time. Nine,y.eight have been pardoned out
| by the different Executives of the State Governor
| Chapman using the pardonng power more fire..
quent during his two years of administration than
any other Executive for the same length of time
and one hundred and twenty have served out theiI
| sentences and been discharged There are nov
one hundred and sixty in the Penitentiary, abou,
| one half of whom have been sentenced from Mo
bile and, in fact, ii it was for the crimes COM
mitted in Mobile, the Penienary would be rather
slim in the way Of numbers-one hundred anC
sixty is larger number than has ever been in the
Peniientiary at any one time since it has been If
operation. The average age Of the convicts is 3:
years-the Oldest is u years and the Youngest il
l6-and it is a fact, that Of the one hundred ane
sixty now in the prison, the use of liquor, and tn,
habit of getting drunk, has been the cause drecil,
or indirectly, OF the committing Of over two-ihrds
Major Graham, who leased the Penitentiary from
the State for six years, from the 10th day of May
1876, giving the State $500 per year. and who's
lease expires on the 10th day of May, 1882 has tn
control and direction of the labor Of the convicts
and, consequently, it is not the business of the In
spectors to look into the pecunary affairs or opera
tons of the institution But, from the fact that III
convicts are generally kept steady at work, we ca
not think otherwise than but the institution
making money. There are quite number of con
vlcts now in prison, that were under long ser
fences, and have been there some time, and, cor
sequently, are good wofkmen, which enables Ii
institution to furnish the very best kind of work
every variety. The number at the dfferel
branches of business is about as follows, SO far
| we enabled to ascertain: