St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-01-12

younger and less hardened; and no mis-
sionary ever worked with more zeal and more
success.
The State Of Minnesota is maintaining .
system of compulsory education In crime In
every Jail in the state where there is more
than one prisoner. Young men arrested for
first offense, and filed with compunctions
and good resolutions, are laughed out Of
their scruples and inoculated with hatred for
society, resistance Of authority, and ire
for revenge for fancied wrongs. They go
into Jail novices; they come out fully init
ated into the mysteries and the methods of
crime.
The remedy for this public scandal is a
proper system of grading. Let the different
classes OF prisoners be kept entirely apart.
Our law provides that ''the sheriff shall keep
separate rooms for the sexes, except where
they are lawfully married. Yet not more
than twenty out of over fifty two jails here
have separate room for women. This lay
has been violated in at least FIVE countieI
during the past fifteen months. The Ramsey
county jail is kept in constant violation of
the law. Male and female prisoners can
readily converse, and incorrigible males are
locked up for punishment on the women's
side. The law provides that Juvenile pris-
oners shall be Kept, If the Jail will admit Of
it, in apartments separate from those con-
tanning more experienced and hardened
prisoners;" but very seldom is such separa-
ton maintained, even in jails having more
than one room.
This separation of the sexes and children,
which is all that our law plates, il
evidently not enough to prevent criminal
instruction in jails. In Hennepin county,
municipal and county prisoners are separ-
ated; but that is not enough. Shall we grade
according to the magnitude of the crime
charged! But an innocent man may be ac-
cused of murder and hardened villain may
be arrested for petit larceny. Shall we grade
on general appearance of the prisonersl
Warden j. A. Reed, probably one of the best
judges in the state, said some time ago:
THE more have to do with convicts the
less confidence 1 have in outward signs of
character. The most innocent looking man
is sometimes the greatest rascal, and vice
versa" The truth is that in our jails-es-
pecially the smaller ones-there are usually
as many grades of character as there are
prisoners, and
THE ONLY SAFE PLAN OF GRADING
is that which has n ow been practised for sew.
eral years with complete satisfaction in the
Boston Jail and the Richland county jail al
Mansfield, Ohio, namely the complete separ-
alton of every prisoner from every other dur
ing his detention. Popular prejudice is OPP
posed to solitary confinement, but with reas-
onably speedy trials, comfortable cells, good
reading matter, and frequent visits from the
officers andsother suitable persons, such tenn
porary confinement is not harsh. Innocent
prisoners will be thankful to be freed from
base associations. and guilty ones will be
benefited by an opportunity for quiet reAec-
ton. This plan prevents plotting and CO.
operation for escapes, as well as the forma-
ton of criminal acquaintance and the ma
turing OF plans for future depredations. II
has the approval of the most thorough stu
dents of the subject, and whatever objections
arise to it at first thought, it will, it is be-
lieved, yield to careful and candid study of
the subject especially if undertaken in con-
nection with the actual inspection of county
jails.
In conclusion Mr.. Hart says he had pro-
iected for his report series OF statistics
which should exhibit the character of their
population, causes of commitment, time of
detention, etc, also the cost of the iails of
the state, together with the cost of admins
tration and maintenance, and especially Of
fuel, but without clerical assistance he found
it impossible to do the work.