The Jeffersonian Democrat. [volume] (Chardon, Ohio) 1854-1865, 1864-03-25
Our Columbus Correspondence.

EDITOR DEMoCRAT:--A law has been en-.
acted by the present Legislature, which pro.
vides for the erection of an Asylum for in
sane convicts confined in tho Ohio Peni-
tcntary. Ten thousand dollars are appro-
priated for tho purpose. The building is TO
be of sufficient capacity to accommodate
twenty four such convicts. 1t is to be on
the Ponsentiary grounds, and to be bull;
under the direction of tho Warden and Di
rcctors of said Penitentiary.
The WaIdon, in his last annual report,
says: "Tbe number of insane have i'll.
creased from year to year, until there arc
row nineteen raving maniacs among tho
oonvcts Tho want of building for the
insane is becoming unbearablc. Courts
unavoidably send criminals here who are
made such by insanity that habits leading
to crime lead also TO this disease that
latent insanity in many remain dormant for
life, ready to be aroused by particular agen-
cies that the excitement Of arrest, trial
and conviction, followed BY separation from
friends, wives, children. associates, society
enforced silence, with other terrible con-
comitapts of prison-life arc such agencies F.;
that the facts above give ground to expect
what is found, viz insanity dsproportion-
ately prevalent among convicts, as compared
with society that to such attacks, followed
by lucid intervals, many persons aro liable I;
and that such facts seem to demonstrate tho
necessity of even prospective provisions for
such class.
"The want of such provisions hero serious.
ly affects humane discipline. A few instanc.
es will show this: lst Many, to appear
snce well, and at work by day, become fran
tic in tho night, tear clothes, bedding, ev.
orything in reach, to shreds, and become to
the last degree noisy such. if left in the
halIs disturb from two to five hundred men,
many OF whom cheer, laugh, shout, swear,
and rob all Of rest If taken to tho hospital,
are intolersblo to the sick. ID. The prison
cells are alike unsuitod for protrac,ed con.
Gnemont and proper treatment"
The Warden further says: "These are
only part of the reasons which compel me
to say that no want by which business here
is so much embarrassed equals the want of
proper building for the use of the insane" +"
In visiting tho Asylulns for tho Insane,
the Deaf and Dumb tho Blind and the Id.
otto, people both feel and express sympathy
for the inmates but how is it when visiting
the Penitentiary or one thing am sure
that, however much feeling may be felt for
tho convicts, but little is ever expressed.
They are generally looked upon as wicked
and vicious sot Of mon, enduring pun
isbment rightly meted out to them for
enormous crimes. While this is true to o
groat extent, we might; perhaps, by tracing
back their history. find, that, in many if not
in majority of cases, they were, in their
early boyhood deprived of maternal care
and parental advice, or ese their parents
have beon vicious and degraded; that they
were deprived almost entirely of educational
privileges, and oil of those influences which
come from the Common ard Sabbath
Schools that they have been neglected by
their friends and kindred, or else trained
up in course of vice, in comparison with
which utter neglect would be mercy; So.
cioty casts them out as worthless, and too
soon they learn to revenge themselves upon
society by disregard or reckless violation
of its laws. These thoughts are more i'm
pressvoly brought to our mind on viewing
tho young men-the youth-in our Peni-
tentiary. The severity of State Prison dis
ciplne is inflicted upon them, which only
hardeDs, when kindness might subdue. A
confinement in tho Penitentiary fixes upon
the young man stigma as indolibIe as tho
mark of infamy upon the brow of Cain. A
subsequent life Of rectitude cannot wholly
efface it. But, let society become, in truth.
the parent and protector of these youthful
offenders, whom crime has not yet hardened,
rather than their stern punisher lot care
ful, worthy teachers be provided for them,
whose attention shall be turned particularly
to their moral characters, and many whose
lives arc now passed in defiance of law.
and whose days arc ended in misery and
Disgrace might be trained up into worthy
and useful citizens. Can this be done more
effectually than by making greater provis-
ions at the Reform School for inmates, and
by sending boys there instead of sentencing
thom to the Penitentiary The woll-being
of the State, tho hopes of rising generations,
and every consideration of genuine philan-
thropy, in my view, require that this should
be done. w.
JACOB MEDART has been recognized to
answer before the grand jury of Jefferson
county, Kentucky, on a charge Of starry