New-York daily tribune., 1858-11-19

ls27 10 1896 81, III males and females were trays
ported 10 the colonies. In the next ten ycars,
from is,s7 to 1elG, 81 ,25s From ls47 10 iS56,
ll,979. In 1867, only iGl. The facility with
whch, in former times, the mother country yOt rid
q ia criminals led 10 gross abu-cs, and saally the
colonies refused to receive them. Two Lessons,
however, had been learned frca transportation:
First, that employment a Host pow srful agent
in reformation; and secondly, tat not. .iihstaneng
all the evils attendant on bad prisen discipline,
there was still large mpressibe class Of prisoners
who were willing to WORK when employ merit was
obtainable, who gave satisfaction tO their employ
ers, and who ultimately became useful aud indus
trious colonsts Why had We not solved the diff
culties Of the convict question: Simply because,
though experience had clearly proved tat there
are two classes Of offenders, the impressible and
the unimpressible We had failed 10 avail Ourselves
Of that knowledge had treated our criminals in
masses up to the termination of their inprisOn-
ment, had then discharged them to take their
chance or work their viii. When the colonies
refused 10 receive convcts any longer the same ex
pertinent was tried at home, with the same
result and for d simiisr reas0n-neglect to improve
the impressiblc class. Everybody knew how diff.
cult il was for a man discharged from prison to
obtain employment Bat what had been done in
the way Of supplying him with it Nothing.
No wonder, then, that we had signally failed.
The community objected to employ the criminal
when discharged, on the intelgible ground that,
although his conduct had been good under strict
surveillance and in the entire absence Of tempta-
ton, there was no guaranty that in free life it
would not be otherwise. To solve this dificulty,
criminals must be treated individually, not in the
map. They must be qualified to obtain employ.
ment and go trained that the public will have con-
fidence in them. They must be informed Of an
honest world of which they know little, and when
discharged must not be lost sight of. 1t is by
enlisting the mind of the criminal in his own re.
formation, that the difficulty may be cOmbatted;
but in the early stages of this treatment he must
be kept in position free from temptation to com.
nit crime. Capt Crofton summed up his ideas
thus: Labor is necessary to reformation. BY
classification and special training, cOnvicts can be
better prepared for employment. BY a system of
registration after discharge, We may deter from
crime and assist in reformation. By calling the
attention of the police to the uDimpressble offen-
ders, their incarceration will be rendered mere
certain and more heightened, and thus society will
be protected against them. Not only was this sys-
TEN plausible in theory, it had been tried with ex
cellent effect in ireland.
". Department Of Public Heauh, presided over
by the Earl of ShaftesbuIy. The fret paper
read was one by the Rev. Charles Kings
a.. c.nfand.I hat ola
tive municipal system was great hindcrance
to sanitary improvement In towns there was
scarcely local Board which was not full of men
with small, Independent means-builders attor-
neys and others, who thought themselves interested
in keeping things in statm quo, and who did so.
Unless dwellings, unfit for human habitation were
DESTROYED the poor would be forced into them just
as they We're obliged by their necessities TO pur-
chase unwholesome food. He advocated system |
of inspection upon all dwellings, with the precau.
tions necessary to guard against intrusions on do
mestic privacy, and the establishment! of staff Of
Government sanitary inspectors. In reply to this !
paper, Mr. Rawlinson said that Government in. /
reference would be tolerated, at least in the
country to the extent indicated. He thought if |
half dozen right.thnking people could be got to
improve their property, they would secure not
only good houses to the poor, but the advantage to
themselves of constant tenancy, leaving the bad
houses uDOccupied. This leayen once introduced, |
would speedily leaven the whole lump, and accom-.
plish the object aimed at without the necessity of
outside interference. Alderman Dover thought !
that the great matter was to spread knowledge Of |
sanitary science-to show the people that it was
not merely for their comfort and health, but for
their pecunary interest Also to adopt every posi-
bic sanitary improvement.
Another paper which attracted great attention
was one by Miss Florence Nightingale, on the |
health of hospitals. After many years experience !
in all countries and climates even qdmittng to the
full extent the great value of the hospital improve.
ments in recent years, she had been led to the
conclusion that much of the suffering and mortality
which now prevailed might be avoided. The de-
fects often consisted in the sites, but chiefly in
deficient ventilation and overcrowdng. There
were no two words about which there had been
more nonsense talked than contagion and infection.
Contagion had always resulted from the want of |
sanitary arrangements. 1t had been the ground |
work Of almost every false reasoning, and the ex-
cuse for the superstition of the quarantine law and
the general neglect of sanitary law. Perhaps no
word had ever done more harm, and it was |
striking proof of what mighty thing word was.
What did it mean 1t implied the communication |
of disease from person to person by contact. SUI.
fee it TO ssy that, in the ordinary sense Of the |
word, there was no such thing as contagon. Just
a.. - a - tk.ra
no suck Thing as inevitable infection, Infection |