The Portland daily press., 1871-02-13
Terms $500 per annuns, in oa,,on.a

does not admit of doubt. The practical o,,os-
tion is, how the public can perform this dutv
of supplying labor to those it has confined,
without incurring an intolerable expense.
We hardly believe that this is possible under
our present system; at least the best results
ned n,e not clearly attainable until we change cur
mode OF confinement,
,,, REMEDY.
estah,;sh Joutloh OF the difficulty is found in the
hor' hsniuent pai1 OF district prisons. like the AL
other chanGas h1 y, anu the adoption of some
In Massachusetts, where for r
thls subject has attracted great attention IsS,5 s
received careful investigation, stbese d,s,rio,
prisons nave recently been created ~
Inc Albany Penitentary, where most oe
the prisoners were sentenced for a form of
six months or less, has netted more thon
twenty-five hundred dollars per wear above i,s
expenses, partly derived however, from hoard
Of United States prisoners. The Detroit
House OF Correction, without this source Of
profit, makes as good financial exhibit.
showing that it is possible to make available
the labor of persons sconfined in institutions
below the grades of States Prisons. The
House of Correction lin Detroit is supplied
with its labor from all the counties in Michi.
gan, and is not merely local. The excess of
earnings over expenses at Albany it 1868, was
SIO,23o, and, we believe, more than that in
lSIO, and the same is true of Detroit.
Inc present appears to us the most favora.
pie time Tor the Inauguration OF this policy in
MAINE, though our distance from LARGE mar
ket, and other circumstances, would probably
prevent SO satifactory a pecuniary result as
mas been reached in Albany and Detroit. FL
nancial success, though exceedingly desirable.
and demonstrabIy attainable, is not our chic,
IN n fryrn in. ALL 4
tion. we are influenced still more by the be-
ilef we entertain, in common with those who
nave made much more extended and care
1ui enquiry into the condition and wants of
criminals, that labor is the true reformatorv
agent; or, at least, that without it other aeen
cles will be comparatively unayaipg. II is
certain that it cannot proftably be introduced.
nor with its best moral effect, into our pres.
ent county jails, with their small number of
inmates VI polh sexes, all ages and every
grade of crime. What we wonld suggest is
that the large edi6ces at Bangor. Angusta
Portland and Auburn be used as district pris-
ons, to which criminals sentenced for short
terms be sent from various parts of the State
su6Jectlng them to as little Transportation as
may be consistent with more important con-
siderations, yet not confning ourselves rigid
ly to territorial lines, but having regard rather
to the moral characteristics OF the convicts
than to their places of nativity or residence.
Thus the men may be classified, their work
rendered more systematic and profitable, and
their moral condition more likely to be i'm
proved. With this end in view, the power of
removing men from one Jail to another should
be lodged in competent hands, to be exercised
whenever moral or other considerations mi.ht
make it advisable. If fifth district iaii be
called for, the one at Machias is new, and
could be used for the purpose.
OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED.
The only obstacle our proposition is likely
10 encounter must arise from local ioalousy
and from the fact that criminal costs are now
paid by the counties where convictions are
had. 1t is our belief that the whole admins
tration and expense of our criminal procedure
ought to be matter of State control; nor do
we believe that counties will be generally so
extremely anxious to retain their law-break-
ersiwithin their own limits if it can be made
reasonably to appear that they can be confin.
ed at less expense, with more pecuniary pro-
ut to the State and moral advantage to them.
selves, in some other locality; but this is a
matter that can be easily so arranged as TO
prevent, at least, any additional burden 10 the
taxpayers, though we repeat that true econo-
my consists in the adoption of such measures
as shall have the best permanent moral effect
which may or may not be those that are tenn
porarily the cheapest. In this instance. how
ever, it is highly probable that the best course
Will be the least expensive. 1t would certain.
ly seem that the convicts of Piscataquis Coun-
ty could be much more economically kept at
Bangor and those of Oxford County at Au-
buan than they could be at Dover and Paris =,
ifthey can find employment at the larger
places and are to remain idle at the latter.
MoDUs oPERANDI,
The same sum now allowed for the support
ofa prisoner might be charged to each county
for each man it commits and it be credited in
offset with the avails OF his laher, paving only
the difference This labor be not self-snpport-
ing, and applying the surplus, where theie is
any, to aid in the care of those who are not
seli-sustainnig. From the best information we
can obtain we are led to the conclusion that
the sum usually allowed for board of county
prisoners is rather higher than is absolutely
necessary for the purpose. The expense Of
mere board at Thomaston 1.-THE same for
which our County Commissioners are autho-
rlzed to allow, and many do allow, So co per
week., is barely dollar week. Evidently
men can be boarded cheaper where the sun
Plies can be furnished and cons sumed in large
quantities and near large markets, than they
can II the same number OF persons are scat
tered over a large area and supplies for each
section are to be independently purchased. If
1T be thought, then, that the sum fixed by the
County Commissioners for prisoners board is
larger than ought to be charged to the codn-
ties in the event of the establishment OF dis
trict prisons, the more exact method of keep
ing precise account of the cost of each
prisoners support and of his earnings might
be adopted, and would certainly be the more
just course. Then the aggregate of earnings
ana expenses of each county's prisoners
would hx the balance TO be paid to or received
from the district prison.
The Commissioners dwell with deserved
emphasis on the need of a House of Refuge
exclusively for women, ,ohateuer the erpense
may be, showing how the vicious of the two
sexes corrupt each other while more or less
intimately associated in our iconnty iaHs.
They dwell with shame upon the fact that
nearly score of years have been suffered to
elapse since refuge was provided for vicious
boys without any provision being made for
vagrant lsirls. They suggest that if it is
thought best on economical grounds build
ing might be erected with two wings entirely Y
separated from each other in which the Grim
lnal women and girls might be accommodated.
The Commissioners discourage the idea of
enlarsing the reform school at Westbroolz TO
accommodate additional numbers. "F..mil,"
houses should rather be erected at Cape Eliz-
abeth or elsewhere to which the bows misht
be transferred as reward for good behaviour,
or school-ship might be purchased.
1t is suggested with great propriety that
parents whose neglect of their offspring has
resulted in their moral deterioration should
be required to contribute to them support in
the public institutions.
The fact that eighty eight per csni. OF the
prisoners confined at Thomaston were of in .
temperate habits before their incarceration so
impresses the minds of the Commissioners
that they insist that no punishment short OF
Imprisonment and pecuniary liability for all
damage done by their victims is adequate to
the offense committed by rum-selers.
Those who are inclined to see in the report
too plain tendency toward a morbid senti-
mentalism-a nauseating humanitarianism-
will be surprised at the complaint of the CON.
missioncrs that too much leniency is shown
to crime, and that sentences are too short
quoting with as much approval as Monies.
quieu himself the maxim of Beccaria that
the efficacy of punishment depends upon "ils
certainty" They make good their position.
too, by showing the folly of keeping criminals
under duress only long enough 20 sharpen
their appettes for vice by enforced abstinence
Jails become schools of vice under the short
l,,l