The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-05-08
THE STATES PRISONS.
A Talk with an Ex-0fficial About Their Gov
ernment-ImpOrtant Suggestions.

Some alluson was made to the Indiana peni-
tentiaries in casual afterdinner conversation
at one of the leading hotels, Yesterday, and a
gentleman who has had much to do with the
public institutions of the State picked up the re
mark as a cue for expressing his opinion of the
manner in which the prisons are managed.
1T has always seemed very strange to me- he
said, that all prisoners, without exception,
when they are free, complain of abusive treat
ment in the penitentlaries l have never known
single convict who has not declared that greater
abuses existed than the public knew anything
about The State prisons of Indiana are doubt
less no worse than in other States, but they are
not what what they might be nor what they
ought to be-"
''How would you improve their condition."
II would let daylight shine through them. In
the present system of management there are
sure to be abuses. The trustees are as mere
putty in the hands of the warden, and they are
as much in his power by the influences that he
gains over them as the convict locked in his cell.
The trustees are selected upon political consid
erations solely, and have special qualifications
for supervising penal institution. They are
usually men susceptible to influences and the
they feel no disposition to find fault. The
abuses, however, are hidden from their view,
and as long as they see nothing they say
nothing and do nothing There is no public
officer, not eventhe Governor, who has the power
to make any investigation into their manage
ment and the Governor Of the State could not
even compel the warden to admit him inside the
institution. All visitors in public positions
treated with such courtesy, however that they
cannot help feeling the restraints of guest i'll
the house of his host. If you should visit either
OF our State prisons as newspaper correspond
emit you would be treated in such an obliging
manner that you would find yourself handicapped
by courtesy. If this should have no influence
over you there would be little that you
would be allowed to see. The prisoners
all say that they are given better food
and are treated better when the trustees
visitors are about than at other times. If
you ask them in their cells about their treatment
they will look all about them to see if any
one is near before making an answer They are
intmidated by the fear of punishment, and never
feel free to speak of their treatment until after
they are released. When Governor Porter as
sumed charge of the investigation at Michigan
City, it was without the invitation of the trus
tees and it was evident that his service was not
desired. The prisoner who gave the most i'm
portant testimony in behalf of the warden, after
the examination candestinely stated that the
whole of his testimony was false but that he did
not dare tell the truth"
How would you reform these abusesl"
There ought to be prison commission,
such as Governor Porter urged the General As.
sembly to appoint The trustees should be con-
tinued, but the commission should have super
visory power over both prisons. 1t should be al
lowed to institute investigations, recommend re-
forms and recommend pardons. In short, it
should be given the power to open the light Of
the public upon the institutions. And two mem
bers of this commission should be women Such
ladies as Mrs Coffin of Richmond, OF Mrs.
Thomas A Hendricks, could do moro to reform
the abuses of our penal institutions than any
dozen men. They are more acute observers.
They would be quicker to detect wrongs, and
they know better than men what should be re-
quired There are abuses, and there will be
abuses in our prisons until they are placed I'M
der the supervision of such commission"