St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-03-24
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PRISON REEORM-

LIE WeSG is taking The Iedu III Tue mdIGeT
OF prison reform. Last year Illinois passed
what is known as the habitual criminals act,
in which it is provided that man who has
been convicted of second penitentiary Of
Tense, shall be confined for the maximum
term provided by law for such offense. 1t
was intended by the authors of this law, that
for third offense the criminal should be
sentenced for life, but this was
changed by the legislature, making
fifteen years the penalty for a third
conviction and in this shape the matter re-
mains. The advantages of this system of
communicative penalties is expected to be that
criminals who have hitherto found the west
profitable field for residence and occupation,
will now either become permanent inmates
of the penitentiaries, or else will betake them
selves to some more eligible locality.
Ohio has just followed Illinois in a move
ment for prison reform, but the result is far
more sweeping and radical. 1t has provided
for the abolition of the contract system
which may or may not at the present stage
Of reformatorY movements, be benefit. The
most important provision is as to the dura-
tionlof punishments. For all felonies below
murder in the second degree, no fixed SEN
tence is provided. A conviction is to be fol-
lowed by sentencing the offender to the PEN
itentiary, where he must remain for at least
the minimum term fixed by law for such Of
lenses, and as much longer as may be deem
ed necessary by the board of management,
provided however, that his confinement
shall not exceed the maximum term fixed
by the legislature for the offense of which he
is guilty. The board of managers must be
composed of five persons of whom two at
least must be practical mechanics and no
more than three of whom shall be members
Of the same political party. They are to be
appointed by the governor and their terms
30 expire that there can be no such thing as
the removal of one board and the appoint
ment OF new one at the same time. There
are many other sweeping changes in this
Ohio law and the working of the system will
be watched with the liveliest interest,
especially the attempt to get on without the
contract feature now so common in the vari-
Gus states.
But the creation of the indeterminate SEN
tence is something concerning whose value
there can be no doubt. Under this pro-
vision of the law, there is no opportunity for
eccentric judges to manifest any sympathy
or exhibit any dislike towards criminal.
He must simply sentence the prisoner to the
penitentiary, which means that
the convict must remain in
confinement for at least the smallest
term provided by law and that he may stay
for the longest period. In fine It is to be
presumed that the duration of prisoners
stay after he has passed the minimum point
will depend on the number of his previous
convictions, his conduct while a prisoner and
the probabilities of his reformation. The
tendency Of modern reformers, who give at
tention to criminals is in the direction of
wholly indetermtnate sentences just as is
now the rule in regard to the treatment of
the insane. A person who is
found insane is not sent to
an asylum for period of
years; he is ordered into confinement until
he is cured. Something of the same sort
might be available for the treatment of habit
ual criminals; there is little or no chance of
theirreform and the proper thing to do with
them is to permanently separate them from
society. To some extent this is accomplished
by the Illinois and Ohio systems, although
both of these proceed on the assumption that
a limited period of confnementis better than
one which depends on the condition of the
convict. In the Ohio system
the ticket-of-leave feature is in
cluded and there is no reason to
doubt, in view of the English experience in
this direction, that it will be found of bene-
fit