The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1877-03-17
MAsAeEnHsr OF THE PxxITEN-
TIARY.

-
investigation of the question, "How can
the prisoners who are placed under our
charge be made to earn their own board
and clothes, and thus relieve the tax
psyer of the burden of their support"
To gain information upon this subject,
they have read exhaustive essays upon
prison management; they travelled all the
way to Illinois, which State has self
sustaining penItentisry, to investigate
the system in vogue there, and in every
way known to them they have posted
themselves up on, what seemed to them,
the important question. We be.
lieve the upshot of the investigation
has been the adoption, by our suthori-
ties, of the Illinois plan, so far as 1t
seemed to be applicable to our situation
The directors resolved to erect workshops
and supply machinery, and then furnish
machinery and convict labor to con-
tractors for tho carrying on of such
manufacturing as seemed to be suitable
and profitable.
There is one thing, it seems to US, that
ought to take precedence Of even the i'm
portsnt question of expenses, and that Is
the reformation Of the criminal. The
savage idea, born of the period of
the wheel and fsggot, that the
purpose of punitive measures
was simply to wresk revenge
on the wrong-doer, has given way to the
conviction that the proper purpose to be
subserved is the protection of society
against the criminal classes. 1t has
finally been concluded among nearly
every civilized people that the proper
method to secure this end is to reform
the criminal where possible; but IN all
cases to combine retornstory with purely
punitive measures. How TO reach this
end is question which various nations
are endeavoring 10 solve in various wsyt.
In general there are two systems-the
congregate and the solitary.
The congregste is the one adopted in
this State. Not only do sll the prisoners
the old offenders and the young ones
the murderer and the inexperienced
thief-the brazen criminal who is serving
his second, third or sixth term, and the
Young man confined for his first lapse
not only do they work together, butthey
march together, eat together, lounge in
the corridors together, and virtually
sleep together. That is to say, there lie
o grsdstion whatever. This is our un-
derstanding of the system now in vogue
at Moundsville, as observed by US on a
recent visit. The prison can, however,
be made a graded one, as there Is
ample room in the building for the
purpose. All that is neces-
ssry is to arrange the men
in classes according to their quality and
the probabilities Of their information,
B. this system of classification the pris-
onsr is given to understand that the
character of much of the time which he
spends in confinement depends uron
himself. He is made to feel that his
punishment is not simply affective, but
also reformatory. This classification
depends upon marks given for intelli'
gence, work and zeal. He is at first
placed in solitary confinement where h
is taught to have liking for work, and
where he is frequently visited BY the
chaplain or teacher. When he has learned
TO like work, and seems in the right
frame of mind, he is permitted to live in
common with other prisoners of good
behavior. He is now closely watched
and his good conduct Is recorded with
marks. He can now, ifhe will, graduate
into a higher class. In Ireland whore
thi. 8, stem has been brought TO its high
est perfection, its results are said to be
most admirable; that convicts who have
passed through the intermediate prison
and have been discharged, rarely or never
return.
A system, a little different from this,
prevails in the Eastera district prison of
| Pennsylvania. 1t is more like the Bel
gium system of separate confinement.
The prison inspectors assert OF this pris-
on in their forty sixth annual report, that
the individual treatment system OF
prison discipline lie superior to other sys-
TENS" because OF its excellent results,
and because it is philosophicslly so;" ss
inferred from the experience Of forty-slx
years, from observations and deductions.
1t seems to be the fact that there is 8
smaller per csntage of re-commitments
under the Pennsy lvania system, than un-
der the system of any other prison in
America.
While prison may be self-sustsining
if it is not also reiormstory, the expense
of pursuing and trying criminals, and
the cost of their depredatioss upon th'
public, really costs the taxpayer mo''
than he saves BY not being taxed to sup
port the penitentiary.
Mr.. HAYES and the Republicans il
this matter of the Presidency are mucl
like the rich American matchmaking
mother and daughter abroad on mstri
mon,al thoughts intent-they are NOR
ANXIOUS about getting some sorto
of a title than about he sort Of title they