Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-08-27

PAYERS will be greater than for sometime past. The
prison at Folsom will remain unproductiye for some
| time. The State must also enter upon the era OF
manufacturing on its Cwn account, and the equip
ment in the way uf tools, machinery and buildings
will require large expenditures OF money. Conf
parsons, to be determinate OF facts, must be made
| between things similarly circumstanced. The dis
similarity of condition and the introduction Of r-
regular and disturbing factors as between admins
| trations OF the same prison, or between penal
institutions OF different States, DESTROYS the parai-
les OF comparison, that the exhibits prove little
| or nothing, and hence are OF small value as guides
| to correct conclusions.
| The Character OF the state Prisons of
California and Their Influence in Sup.
pressing Crime.
| The third article in your letter of instruction
| reads as follows
'Third-About forty prisoners per month are
discharged from the prisons to mingle again in the
| community. What is their influence upon society
Does the statistics OF the prison show hat its iniu
ence has been of reformatory nature, and does it
compare favorably with other penal institutions in
| sister States
The State Prison at San Quentin was established
| by accident, rather than design In its primary
history it located by parties having leases from
the State to maintain its inmates. BY the terms OF
these leases the contractors agreed 10 keep the con-
lets in confinement and support them for stipu-
| lated sum, to be paid monthly. The contractors
were entitled to the labor of the prisoners. Find.
| ing this labor might be proftably employed in the
l
| clay for this purpose at Point San Quentin, that
locality finally fixed upon as the location OF the
| prison. The pr, sent walls at San Quentin and the
| old stone. cell building were built by General
Estelle during the existence CT OF these leases.
| The inclosure was made as measure OF economy
| IN guarding the prisoners from escape. The penal
system established was not determined by legisa ion.
| The 81 stem, such as 1t was grew out OF the
necessities Of the lessee. The Courts sentenced the
offenders to term of hard labor in the State Prison,
an the Sheriff, armed with commitment, delivered
| his prisoner to the lessee at San Quentin. When
| once the ga te had closed upon the convict the law
| CAV. itself no further concern in the case. The
lessee-who by legislative enactment became the
| Warden or Governor OF the prison-eXercised full
control over the conduct of the prisoner for the
term OF his sentence. His food and clothing, his
punishments and rewards were all under the unre-
strcted control Of the lessee. During the continu-
auce of this lease system the prisoners worked
by day in the brick yards and confined, rather
''corraled," within the walls by night. military
guard occupying positions commanding the brick
yards with enforced submis zion to restraint
The principal object sought was to make the con-
tract profitable The convicts were hired, persuaded
| or forced to work, each demanded. The
vets congregated in large cells for safe keeping
by night, and worked in gangs under overseers by
day. Their social intercourse entirely free from
all restriction. No badge insignia of any kind
| distinguished the dress of the convicts When not
engaged il labor the convict was master OF his own
| actions. He amused himself by engaging with his
| fellow. prisoners in games Of sport or chance.
This was the mold in which the system obtain
ing to day was cast. Nearly all these rudimentary
features are still plainly traceable. The old guard
line and cannon remain without change OF position,
while the penal system although having undergone
some notifications, still remains congregate and
social As a means Of punishment for crime, I'M
| prisonment at San Quentin presents but single
element, wit, restraint Of personal liberty. The
wal inc'oss a social convict world with riva ries
zeal usi,s feuds and friendships all its own. But
his world is not in any sense remote from the
world without. The guard line or the wall may
bound the limit OF his free action, but the world
comes to him in he visits OF friends the gossip of
the latest conner in correspondence, in the daily
prints in the direct indirect social relation with
the officers and guards, or from the social atmo-
sphere OF the family where he, OF his fellows
serve as domestic. There is no broken or sus
pended bond of sympathy between the California
convict ard the great body polite outside the
prison. Through all his senses the convict lives in
the free world without and finds wholesome food,
good clothing, comfortable shelter, light labor,
humane TT atment, and congenial companionshp
within. There is no banlshment, 70 isolation, and
the restriction upon the D rty OF Tree locomo
| ton, no Imprisonment Communication with the
world unbroken, the convict has not lost his inter
est in influence upon society at large. convict
at San Quentin Giraffe the Goodwin bill and di
rected the policy OF the State in its passage.
convict st Fol on under the signature OF his War
den ans xeIcd an editorial in public journal on
editorial criticism upon prison management. These
incidents are cited not because they are deemed
enormities in themselves but because they are
lected from many Ia kind as opponents OF the sys
| TEN. When the novice in crime or youthful Of
fender enters upon term Of imprisonment IN
either OF the State Prisons, he is in reduced to
intimate association with the entire convict and eX
convict word. Forever thereafter these convicts
win claim fellowship with him. For the full term OF
his sentence he will have unrestricted social relation
with convicted cTim s. For the full term OF his
incarceration he will live in moral and int lecual
atmosphere created by the blended feeling thought,
aspiration and desire OF his fellow convicts. This
dominant atmosphere will mold his mind deyeop
and sebion his
remind us that in each month forty OF these con-
vets delivered from Imprisonment after the com
pleton Of longer or shorter terms OF penal servi'
tude We find nothing in the existing system
affordng the slightest encouragement to hope for
the better after life of these men. Looking back
into the life from which they have emerged, we
cannojpoint to the formative forces which would
afford even reasonable probability that these men
are restored to society improved. To all who have
had observation of the system testiying before us
we appealed for information as TO the existing in
fuences calculated to subdue or modify the Grim
inal propenses OF offenders against the law. Aside
from the restraining influence the fear Of punish
ment may exercise, no claim 20 the existence OF any
reform atory tendencies was set up From the very
beginning of his term OF sentence the cony1cts life
is merged and blended with the general social and
industrial lie of the prison. He is assigned cell
with fellow convict or placed IN room with a
score more prisoners. II he has acquired any
special skill as an artisan or mechanic that fact
determines fr. M the first his employment. His
immediate advancement TO the position OF a trusty
vii! depend upon h capacity to be useful to the
prison administration. Ii before his sentence he
was q bookkeeper, clerical position in some OF
the departments will be found for him. II he
possesses skill he will be assigned to duty in
the brick yard cons ruction force. IL practicable
he will he employed IN some OF the workshops
under contractor, and thus he Will be fully
launched upon his prison career.
The penal system OF this State has existed with
out material change for thirty years Each ADMIN
istration has sought by the adoption of economic
devices 10 make record in the direction OF improve
ment In its essential characteristics the system has
remained unchanged. A congregation of 200 con-
yicts mngling in unrestricted social intercourse.
cannot fail to energize all the criminal attributes OF
the mind Living in this common atmosphere Of
disgrace, all senstiveness to the degradation OF
crime is soon blunted and destroyed. This open,
common knowledge Of each others crimes and
indentity is the greatest obstacle TO the reorma-
ton OF the criminals confined in our prisons. In
fact the realized strength OF associated numbers con-
firms the convicts opinion in his equal respectable
ity with other men. In his opinion he does not
stand in need of any reform, he resents all efforts
at his reformation as the rankest phariseeism.
But this open Knowledge OF the convict and en-
consict class pursues him into all his after life He
will be the prey of his prison associates should he
attempt to rise above them. The deeply int resting
and instructing testimony of Captain !. W. Lees,
concerning the effect Of this introduction to the
criminal class upon the future life OF the Ncouvct.
constitutes the strongest indictment against the
isting sys ever presented. Under the conditions
surrounding the convict 10 this State, the line of
the least resistance
to the criminal classes, AID abandon the struggle
toward better life as hopeless. We directed cur
inquiry to the ascertainment Of facts bearing upon
the question Of the subsequent lives, history and
character Of the prisoners discharged from San
Quentin. and beg leave TO present briefly resume
OF the evidence elected. Hon. Robert Ferrall, who
for many years has been the presiding Judge OF
criminal Court in the city OF San Francisco, testified
that many ex conYcts from the prisons OF this State
had been tried for second, third aud fourth of
lenses in his Court. That in all such cases the
character OF the crime and the circumstance attend
ing its commission as developed on the trial, in'
varsbly exhibited an abandoned c. minal tendency,
and ripe scholarship IN crime, on the part OF the
prisoner at the bar.
Judge freedom, Of the Twelfth Department SUI
peror Court of san Francisco, testified that he had
presided the trials of eoncs charged with the
murders of fellow eonvicts, committed in the pris1n;
that in the proceedings before him Every large
number of convict witnesses were examined. 1t
was Necessary to the proper development oil the