Litchfield enquirer., 1876-03-09
asa4sa<.r. er
WHOLE NO. 2597.

write letter to his friends, and receivea visit from them: after which, SO long as he remains in the third class, he can write and receive visits only once in five months. His gratuity, during his stay in this class, is onlya penny Q week. When hs is promoted to the second class, he gets gratuity of two pence a week with the privilege of writing and receiving a visit every four months. Prisoners in the first-clasA receive three pence a week during the first six months, and four pence the second six months, with the privilege of writing letters and receiving visits every. three months. The advanced classes get 6 Qratuity of nine pence O week, and can write to their friends and receive letters from them every two months and Oftener, should special occasion arise for such indulgence. Some of them, also members of the first class, are admitted to special employments, such. as trades; fa- tigue duty, etc., instead of the course, heavy work of quarrying stone and build ing docks. The prisoners in the advanced class are allowed the further privilege, on every Sunday, of associating together on the prison grounds, during two hours, for exercise and conversatiOn--an indulgence which is very highly prized by them. | w. What do you find to be the inAu- ence upon the prisoners of the privileges and indulgences thus accorded to them? |, H. They are great stimulus to good conduct and industry.
 W. This Irish system of yours has third stage believe, which is passed on great farm at Lusk Common, near Dub. lin, where the imprisonment is little more 1 than moral?
 I Fl. Yes; we have such a stage.
 w. Can the whole body of your prison CTS earn transfer from Spike Island to Lusk?
 H. No, not at all; there are certain classes excepted.
 w. Which are they? -.. | H. The ife-sentenced men are not, as Q matter of course. eligible; to Lusk; nei. ther are the re convicted prisoners, who have once enjoyed the privilege of the in- termediate stage. Ther are also some l others who are ineligible, such as agrarian prisoners -men who have committed crimes of violence upon their landlords, and the like. No prisoner can become entitled to transfer to Lusk till he has been in the advanced class thirteen con- secutive months, and only fve-year men can do it in that time.
 W. What is the special object of the in- ,termediate stage?
 | H. It has a two fold object; First, to 1 test the extent of the reformatory action of the two preceding stages; and second, to serve as preparation for full freedom by means of more natural training than would be possible in the others.
 W. What proportion of your prisoners earn their promotion from class to class within the minimum period H. could not state exactly, without consulting tho record, but feel confident that it is considerably more than one- half. sI- 1.s. n. .
 w.. What is the shortest time in which a prisoner can reach the intermediate stage at Lusk |? |. | H. Every prisoner must pass eight months in cellular confinement at Mount l joy; two months, at least, in the third class at Spike Island; six months in the second class; twelve months in the fist class; and thirteen months in the 0dvanc. ed; making in all, forty-one months, or l three years and five months. This is the mlnlmum period, which may be more or less prolonged by failure to gain the maximum of marks. or prisoner may fail utterly to getto Lusk, by failing to earn at all the requlsrte number of nasrks
 W. Which do you find to act as the most powerful stimulant to good beha1- | ior-the privileges earned by the prison CTS as they pass from class to class, or the more distant price of an ultimate transfer l to Lusk
 H. The latter, I think, as there seems to be no motive so effective as an, abbre- viation of sentence. Liberty is what prisoners most desire, and strive to gain. It seems to be to them, as to all others, the sweetest of all possessions; and hence, when prisoners have attained the ad- vanced class, and Lusk looms up in the near distance, 1t becomes an object of the | greatest attraction and ambition to them, and the desire to gain it acts with extreme force. % a.l
 w. What proportion of your prisoners are in the advanced class
 H. More than half at the present time; and that is the usual proportion W. How long must prisoner remain at Lusk before he becomes entitled to his ticket of leave
 H. He must be there at least six months. | Our sentences and their communication are arranged in this manner: The shortest sentence is for five years, and from that to l fifteen and for life. I have already said that forty-one months must be passed at Mountjoy and Spike Island before the best behaved prisoner can be transferred to Lusk. Six months must be passed there, which makes the whole tune requir- ed to earn ticket of license forty seven months; so that year and Q month of communication may be gained by prisoner 1 whose conduct is unexceptionable throughout. For this period he receives ticket of license, and IS, thereupon, con- ditIonally discharged; but he ia obliged to report himself to the police of his dis trict once month. If he goes on we'll and appears to be earning an honest iv- ing, he is not molested; but wrong doing, or even 8 failure to show that he has the means of an honest livelihood, in case his behavior is such as to give rise to suspic. ion, entails forfeiture of his license, and he is returned to prison to serve out, not simply the remainder of his sentence, but the entire time of hls commutation; so that, if he is within month of his full dis charge when his license is cancelled, he has to come back,to Spike Island and serve out the whole thirteen months of his com mutation. .,... .
 W. What conmutation may be earned I by prisoners sentenced to more than five years of penal servitude2 -aas s.so "a. H. Prisoners with 8 sentence of six years may shorten their terms by one year | ana four months; those with sentence of seven years, by one year and seven I months; with sentence of eight. yea,s, by one year and ten months; with,a sent ence oftwelve years, by two years and ten months, and with sentence of fifteen years, by three years and seven months. W. What disciplinary punishment do you employ '". 7.
 H. The tight to fog in extreme case' is reserved, but it is very seldom aised. Beyond that, a ration of bread and water for three days at most, forfeiture fpart of the naTkks already earned, and degrada- tion to lOweS class. =s2 4tsa@ E'1 l. --
 w. What educational advantages are afforded to your prisOners?. ae,.-sf .r. H. We have two schoolmasters, who have finished the labofs of the day All attend who need instruction The D. is- on schools are under the care of the Ma tional Board of Education, who inspect