Huntsville gazette., 1882-04-29
THE CRUELTY OF OUR CONVICT
SYSTEM.
Dr. >. Il. GastOn's Exposure and De-
nunciation Of Convict Treatment
i'm Alabama.

More than a hundred years ago How
ard il his work on "The State of the Pris-
ons in England and Wal 81 disclosed
wretchedness, misery and Injustice endur-
ed by the Convict. Tue picture Was ghast-
ly. but it was true. A cry of horror and
indignation was heard throughout the civ
ilized world. Guilty cuStodians shrank
from the disclosure of enormities commit
ed under their authority. Prison discip-
line became science passed upon sound
ethical and political principles.
Torture gave away to discipline, evin-
cling correct appreciation of the object
Of punishment, rigid, but temperate, hu-
man aud Just. A prescription Of all inter-
lectual and moral culture misery of soul
and body, and the ingenious cruelties of
ancient and modern torture, have no place
in this beneficient system. The peniten-
tury should be reformatory. When a
State becomes retaliatory. cruel and re :
vengeful in its punishments. civilization
stands weeping and aside. When State
fails to limit its punishment by proper
regard for the riGhts-the inalienable
rights-of humanity everywhere, by an
equitable Judgment with regard to the
power which society has over its members,
and by wise and impartial considera-
ton Of the kind. degree and tendency Of
the means Of discipline actually employed,
it becomes the duty of those interested in
the welfare of society to bring the matter
to the notice of the proper authorities and
insist strenuously on reform. There is a
right to punish, but there is an obligation
to protect. and this obligation is nowhere
more binding than in regard to the con-
vict. He is deprived of his liberty. His
mouth is sealed. He is stripped of the
rights of self defense so dear to every citi-
Zen. He ls naked before the pitiless JUS
tice of the law.
He has however some rights left him and
on the State devolves the responsibility of
protecting them. He may have placed
himself in the attitude of un enemy to So
ciety. but the State should not become his
enemy. She should in protecting
society, recognize the true object of pun
ishment-the prevention of crime; but she
should also recognize as means to that
end, the reformation of the criminal. Has
Alabama. been protector and friend to
her dependent children Of crime? Let the
sanitary condition of prisons. the disregard
Of the physical comfort, the state of moral
and intellectual culture and the mortuary
record of her convicts, answer this ques-
ton. do hesitate to say that, in all these
respects Alabama Is, to state it mildly, a
hundred years behind the civilization Of
the aga. The prison ethics of this State
seems to have no moral side to it. The
General Assembly. the county authorities
and some Of those who have discussed the
subject in the public press, have seemed
to think that the most successful manage
ment of convicts is that which brings the
lsrgest revenues into the treasures of the
counties and the State. If this be the doc
trins of the State and practically it is
so.-can it be expected that any thing bet
ter, that any other than selfish view will
be taken of the subject by those having im-
me iiate charge of the convict and his la
Dor? In discussing the Draconian code
P.utarch says that. ''for nearly ali crimes
th,re was the same penalty Of death