The Osceola times., 1879-11-29
ITALIAN PRISONS.
eon'i"rtabie Quarters and Considerate
Treatment for Criminal.


eomi"rtabie Quarters and Considerate
Treatment for Criminals
Cursed be the man." said an Italian
sitting beside me in the Court of Assize
the other day, who invented extenuot.
ing circumstance" and as | turned from
The speaker TO the male prisoner in the
dock, and contemplated his cool. self.
possessed demeanor under the worst ir.
retragable proofs Of his guilt, could not
help agreeing with my interluctor, who
had already iorseen the regulation YER
dict Of Italian juries, and the confidence
1t would inspire in the prisoner that his
neck at least was safe.
Even under the conditions of penial
se1ftude for life the convict has much TO
solace him. Come with me to the vast
prison Of Ciyiti Vecchia, and let Us see
how the prisoners there get through the
twelve hours. Though not so unexcep-
tionably clean and tidy as our great
county prisons, the "bagno, |" as tits called,
OF Ciyita Necchia is swept and garnish.
ed to degree undreamed of even in
middle-class Italian houses. The crimi-
mails mot including those who endure
solitary contnement) lead lives Of lux
ury-compared at least, with what q
majority of them have been accustomed
to. Certainly, their lot may be envied
by many heardsman or plowman of
the adjacent Campagna.
The obliging Superintendent viii con-
duct you into the workshop for litho-
| graphy, where every facility is afforded
| for perfecting ones self in the art. The
room is large and comodious, with two
handsome windows, and the walls are Of
a brilliant whitcness it does the yegood
TO contemplate. The iron gratings out.
side those windows are thoughtfully con-
cealed from the gaze of inmates by a
lovely arabesque of convolvulous, and
in the center Of this fragrant and eye
soothing arbora canary trills his thick
warbled notes from an elegant cage. And
for whom has this well-appointed litho-
graph-studio been reserved? For con-
victed forgers of bank notes! And these
promising votaries of realistic art, when
they proceed from labor to refreshment,
how do they fare? They have, at fixed
hours, their rations of rich warm soup
and their fresh rolls of bread, such as
millions of hard-working Italians taste
only on special occasions. But that is
not enough for them. Every prisoner can
spend from so to 80 centems n day in
the beitolino, a sort Of canteen where re-
freshments of nicer kind than those
recognized in the regulations, may be
had for money. Nay, if supplied by
friends outside, or II successful in gam
bling, they can lay out from one to three
francs on creature.comforts per diem.
On inquiring into the earnings Of the
prisoners, found that l50 ccntimes q
day was by no means an uncommon
wage, and Of these there arc so paid 10
the establishment, while 70 may be
spent as the Garner likes, and % are put
in the savings bank for him against the
day of his getting out. The average sum
each prisoner lays out upon himself in
the bettolino is 50 centimes per day-a
sum about equal TO that assigned for
their table expenses 10 inferior officers
in the army. And how superior is il
to the pay OF the soldiers of the line
the flower Of the Italian youth who are
every year called out TO serve with the
colors-who get no more than ten CEN
times or penny day.
Two of the greatest rufhans now i'm.
INJURED in Italian prisons are Agnoietti
and Giuseppe Luciano. Both are SEN
fenced TO penal seryitude for life, but
how do they pass their time? Agnoletti
till the other day was living in complete
idleness. varied by reading. He is now
the schoolmaster Of the prison and en-
lows n life Of comparative ease. As for
Luciani, the murderer of Sonzogno, he
finds life pretty comfortable with his
books and his writing materials in the
pleasant waters of the Gaeta. lie could
never bring himself TO wear the green
cap, the badge of the prisoners; he would
never don the waistcoat of the bagno,
and he would never put off his air of
"Gentleman Luciani." a recent visitor
Il the hulks Of San Stoiano found him q
dandy in dress. scrupulously careful OF
every detail Of the outer man, while his
hands, unlike those Of the hoiny.palmed
son Of toll, or Of others even OF his fell
low prisoners, were MS smooth and white
as when he used to gestulate with them
to Democratic audiences in Roman
cafes.
Such or similar is the lot Pistre Cardi-
nall evidently promises himself-should
he be convicted. But has not the lax
prison discipline on which he counts the
reverse of deterrent effect on criminals
like himself? and does 1t not (alone with
those "accursed extenuating circum-
stances" which Italians themselves de-
nounce)-does it not, | say, in some
measure explain the fact affirmed by the
Liberia that "therc arc more murders
every wear in one Italian Province than
in the whole United Kingdom Of Eng
land, Scotland aud Ireland"