New-York tribune., 1867-09-06
xDyvopx nAuy TRIBUNE FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 1867

class These are successively reached by the
convict, according to the number OF MARKS ne
attains BY bad conduct also, he may laii
back TO a lower class. A prisoner sentehced
for five years, who reaches the exemplary
"cIassr may. in II months, be transferred 10
tbc third stage In the second aud third
stages a fixed and moderate gratuty, increasing
in rate as they advance toward liberation, Is
credited TO deserving men-to be paid over
to them when discharged. The con-
victs are also credited for extra labor
The third, or intermediate stage is but slightly
penal, and the convicts who are passing through
it enjoy almost as much freedom as iaoorlng
people in civil life. All surveillance Is with
drawn; they labor without an oyerseer lhey
are trusted to go errands through the country
and to work beyond the prison limits lhere
are no walls, and the number 0t officers Is TOO
small for physical restraint. The conVicts are
locked up at night, but not in solitary cells
There are two of these intermediate prisons,
| one in Dublin, where those employed as me-
| cbanics are brought together; the other at
Lusk. twelve miles from Dublin where they labor
! on farm At this latter establishment the
"prsoners work at reclaiming waste SOIL many
"acres of which they have Transformed into
"fne farm and garden land They shatter
"and remove the rocks, clear the bogs, under
"drain the SOIL &C., all working cheerfuliy
and orderly"
Now. what is the practical result of all this
One item is given in The Dublin Freeman OF
Dec. 26, 1866, as follows "The total number
"of convicted criminals in the Government
"Drisons on the 1st of January last was only
their number was 3,033.n Has lenity and in
diligence, coupled with strict discipline, IN
creased crimea During the thirteen years
throughout which the new system has been In
operation, crime appears to have diminished IN
the proportion of nearly four to ten; there
fore, to considerably less than half. But
there is another item, not less important,
which affords a clue to the effect actually
produced on the character by this system. Mr'
Organ, who has held the office Qor which he
is eminently qualifed) of prison lecturer or
teacher, ever since the system commenced, ana
who is now, also, inspector of released prisoners,
informed Mr. Hubbell that "the liberated con-
"yicts from the intermediate prisons have SO
"grown in favor as honest, sober, industrious
Servants that much of the time for several
"vears past, the demand for them has exceeded
"the supply, and orders are left for them to
abe sent as soon as they can be had" The
judgment of the public appears to be that
these liberated prisoners are more to be relied
on than the average of laborers outside.
We in this country are at a loss what to do
with our discharged conyicts. Employers are
not willing to hire them; and the poor wretches,
even when most honestly resolved to reform
their lives have often no alternative before
them but starvation or return to crime. Sir
Walter Crofton has solved knotty problem.
SO emnently reformatory is his system that,
under it, the difficulty is not to find employers,
but to supply the demand for ex-convicts to
be employed.
To initiate a change SO radical would require
a considerable expenditure of public money
The question is whether money can be spent
so as to bring richer return, even in dollars
and cents, to say nothing of the great interests
| of humanity.