Newbern weekly progress., 1860-09-04
OUR PRISONS,

: After all effort for the prevention Of crime
we have criminals We boast OF religious
moral, and educational institutions: bnt in spite
I of religion. morality, and education, crime does
not diminish We find the need of police-oilicers,
magtstrat cs. courts, prisons, and the galows.
iSuS there are some things in our system of
! criminal iurisprudenc which dnand reform. Il
/ is necessary that the witness Of crime should
be compelled to give his testimony against the
criminal, and that he should be ~ hand for that
! purpose but is it necessary that he should pc
/ thrown into 4 common prison with the most de-
graded criminals, and kept there month after
month. while, perhaps, the criminal is as large
bail, and getting bis trial put OFT from term to
term 7 We have seen an innocent witness kept
! for whole Summer in the damp cells of filthy
Jail eaten ND with vermin and fed food unfit
Tor human being-not in Naples or Palermo but
in the State of New York. Surely, if witnesses
must be kept under restraint it should be with
every comfort consistent with their safety and
with the opport unity to labor, or some proper
! compensation FOR the loss of time. If it is for
the public interest that their testimony should be
forthcoming, thea let the public be just ennngh
to see that they 90 not lose more than their pro-
per proportion.
Again. why should possibly innocent man.
and one whom the law considers innocent, be
imprisoned with convicted teions, persons suf-
fering punishment for misdemeanors Every
prison however small ought TO have seperate de-.
paitnents for those who are kept for puni shment
| nd those whom man hath condemned We
have right t6 punish man who is merely &C
/ cused of crime. All we have right to rec uire
is that he shall be at hand, when wanted for bis
trai. ani any constraint or privation suffering
beyond what is necessary to secure that result.
is 40 Injustice,
And of those who have been convicted of crimes
! there ought to be some classification why
should place the man who in a moment
Of passion, intoxication, or temptation has com
mitted crime for which. he is truly sorry and
which 1t is not likely he will ever repeat by the.
side the hardened rutfian whose whole life has
been a warfare with society, and whose whole
being is saturated with the most hideous vices
Is snoh conPanionship with part of his sentence?
Has the State right to subject an unfortunate
man, whose impulses are mainly good to the pois-
on OF those evil communications which must cor
rupt.
New York has three state prisons, recesving
criminals from three portiens of the State If
all the convicts were divided into three classes,
and prison appropriated to each class, accord
ing to their characters and offences it might be
far better for them and the public
The judges of our higher courts would do we'll
we think. TO meet together during their summer
vacations, ard bring their united wisdom to besr
upon these subjects Some of our criminal law
yers, police officers, and prisonwardens might
contribute of their observations. Wise recconI-
mendations could be made to the legislatures,
both for the preveutation and punishment of
crime.
This is age of progress-which means that
we are in nothing perfect. Our whole social and
political system is full of unsuspected barbar1sm,
which will probably be the wonder of future ages,
and which we should be ashamed of if we knew
better, even gave them sufficient consdera.
TONY. Y. Murcuyy.