Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1872-04-19

nine and ten years of age alike must disrobe them,
selves and IN full observation of their fellows and
officers, in state of utter nudity, enter the bath,
perform It's duty, aud partake its refreshment.-
We far from advocating any sentimental deli |
cacy but we do submit that there is scarcely any
prisoner, however callOus in the paths of crime,
from however low and degraded a sphere of social
life he may nave come, Lhilt at inns IgYulIe'u
exposure>at the bath-tub viii not feel its rud1ment-
al nature at least somewhat shocked But not all
the prisoners are hardened, not all from the lower
walks of life not all without much OF the refining
culture of our New England society. All life has
here its representatives young girls and maldens
are here tender, plastic sensitive, full of the mod
esty of nature, and il may be culture also; some |
tcith other crime than not habttudHy attending
the p1t1iC school, and the single question is, is it
proper, prudent reformatory, necessary for any
purpose that these should be compelled, promiscu-
ousfy in pablic nudity, to the bath. when outlay
of from five to ten dollars would afford them pro-
tecting shelter without in any way diminishing the
oversight and control of their keepers? 1t seems
to us very clear and admitting but single answer.
We therefore ask that the evil may be at once RENE
died and longer characterize any Suffolk prison.
g Brutality to GiTIs-H7fpptng Boys tcftt W0g-
Vhtps.-On the 18th of July the day previous to
the visit of the inspectors, of the girls in the
female department of this house had been severe
ly punished, and it became our painful duty to eX-
anime Lee ms ; i lie en- Va n
May, in stature a woman grown; it is said she had
been very troublesome girl. On this occasion
she was charged with open and direct dlsooedl-
fence of orders and insOlenCe of language; she
frankly admitted this ofense, and for 1t was pun
ished by the superintendent in person with a rat
tan about inch in diameter and twenty inches
long, over the shoulders and back of the neck-the
number of blows no one can report. The superin-
tendent says, Il struck her with all my might
she would not yield, sent for larger stick, and
then she held out her hand After this beating
and this submission she was committed to the cell
and the food of the solitary, where we found her on
the 3st day of July. Upon each shoulder the flesh
was disCOOred, bluebaCk in spots full as large as
the palm of the hand, and there were pefcctly evil
ident traces of blows upon her back and shoulders
She seems to US resoiute GIRL OF more than Or
binary strength of purpose and character; there
were unmistakable evidences also that her feelings
were quick to respond to appeals OF tenderness
and goodwill, as Eo doubt they are quick IN pas
/ sion.
son the 9Th of August we again visited tie in
stituton she was suffering the solitary, it being the
seventh day of her incarceration her shoulders
were still strongly discolOred; the Indications
of character were manifest; 1t appeared she had
been visited by the InatrOn daily with + BOD, and
by the physician, who seems by the rUlcS not to
be allowed to hold communication with any in
mates except in pursuance Of his medical duty.
! She stated she had not been spoken TO by any
officer of the establishment about her miScOn-
duct, her peniUence, her resolves or purposes, or
about anything connected with her imprlson-
ment, and to this extent her statements were
not denied. We repeated these statements to
the superintendent, who replied 10y this question
to the girl, Have you ever sent for me"' TO
which she answered, No, SIR and TO which he
! from the cell On the evening OF the 9th day Of
| August. the same day OF our second visit
| Speaking OF the corporcal punishment, the
! superintendent remarked, 'It was the seyerest
! fOgging ever had TO do In the course OF tbt
| investigation we were informed by this officer
! are sometimes inflicted with all ordinary wa g0n-
! whip by the superintendent i'll person."
! All this was going on while those human
itarianS were engaged i'll buying substitutes
| to 60 down and fight the cruel slaye-drigers
! of the South. 1t must have been in one Of
| these humane institutions that those boys
were educated who some time ago stoned
| d school-mistress TO death. Is it to save
their children from this Kind Of high civil
zation that the great crime of New England
! is so common For it IS unquestiOnably
true that moro human beings are destroyed
| before they come into existence there in the
! course OF five years than have been 50 de-
stroyed in the Southern States since the
I foundation of the Government. The ku-
Klux III North Carolina wait until their
victims reach manhood, and until they COM
nit crime and escape from punishment, be-
! fore they take them in hand but the New
England ku-KluX destroy the innocent
unborn. We all remember the horrible
! expose made by the bureau of statistics Of
that State two years ago, i'll regard to the
cruel and unhuman overWorking Of poor
little children III the factories. 1t was
announced i'll that report that children
under fifteen, and some under ten years OF
age were worked ":eleven hours day in
factories all over the State - and one over
seer testified that he had seen them go to
sleep while standing at their work, and
was compelled I" to sprinkle water in their
| faces to arouse them after having spoken
to them until hOarSe." According to the
census, there are in North Carolina 2I4,-
142 male citizens over tWenty-One years Of
age, and in Massachusetts, there are 312;-
10, and yet, Notwithstanding the superior
culture and refinement of the latter State,
and notwithstanding more than one third
Of the people of the former are of that class
recently held as slaves, the statistics show
that for every crime committed i'll North
Carolina there are more than three COM
mitted in Massachusetts.
There is hardly State of the North in
which there have not been bloOdshed and
riots. l have been told by citizen of a
great Northern city, within the past fort
night, that it was dangerous to walk upon
the streets of that city after sunset, and he
is corroborated by the newspapers. In one
judicial circuit of the State OF Indiana, ac-
cording to the statement Of the judge
therein presiding, there have been actually
more men murdered by mobs III the past
four years than have been killed by ku-
Klux in the whole State of North Carolina
from their organization to this day. And
yet no soldiers have been sent there.
In his charge to the grand jury touching
the murder of the Park family IL Clark
county, Indiana. and the hanging Of the
three negroes charged with the commission
of the murder, Judge Durham said:
"Within the last four years, in this judicial
| circuit, there have been thirteen men mv rdered
before these three. Five were hung upon the
beech trees below Seymour speak words
plainly; do not mince them-one of whom
was an orphan boy, just arrived at the age OF
maturity, left without mother, worse than faith
erless. think he was less than twenty-one -
He was one Of the victims OF that murder
Two more were hung i'll the courthouse yard
at BrownstOwn; four in the iail-yard in the
! very heart OF New Albany, one OF whom the
whole community now believe innocent
| mean the Youngest victim of the murder; two
! south OF Orleans, between there and Seymour.
l believe if you count them you will find they
number thirteen. Thirteen men hung by the
jUdiCially hanged in this State, i'll hIv opinion,
| since Indiana has been State
The men who hanged those three negroes
were said to have been disguised, and were,
therefore, Ku-KluX / suppose; but was
there anything i'll the social and political
condition of that State which could by pos
sibility eNtenuatc such crimes The edi.
tor of the New York Tribune seemed to
think there was; for i'll his paper OF De-
cember - last, in commenting upon this
case, he says:
''When lynchiuG becomes fashionable il is
fair to assume that the laws are not honestly
| executed and the courts arc not pure. Ii is
| because Judges were believed to be Corrupt Il nd
timId, prosecutors uniaithful. Jurors III COM
plicity with the criminals, that Indiana molrs
! took the privilege of punishment into their own
hands, anG whenever and wherever Justice is
similarly prostituted we shall have murder
| usurping the functions OF the law
[ emphasize the last two lines because
they contain the whole philosophy Of Ku-
Kluxism. The people of North Carolina
experienced for years that same prostitu-
tiCn of justice, and are now suffering from
! it. L3wless men in organized bands did
usurp tie functions of the law, because
justice was prostituted under the influence