Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-06-05

mate others who have not sunk to his de-
gree OF turpitude by mingling with them,
and daily instilling into them pernicious
ideas. Hence, if we are to have
PERFECT PRISON SYSTEM,
We ought to insist that there should be be-
tween this class of habitual criminals and
those who, in a weak moment, perhaps under
the influence of passion, or from their ina
bility to resist strong temptation, have
been placed within prison walls, a wide
separation, as far as personal contact IS
concerned, and a well-marked distinction
as TO infamy, as far as their reputation, on
their discharge, is a matter to be regarded.
As is now, every one who has served a SEN
tence in the State Prison is branded as a
convict" No matter how good his inten-
tons. or how determined he may be to lead
! a scrupulously honest and moral life, the
public draw little or no distinction between
/ him and the one who is ready to MAIN and
murder, if necessary, in his trade Of crime.
We may all say, in the most positive
| terms, that it is wrong to refuse helping
hand to him who has unfortunately made
one false step. We may say that if he de-
sires to live honestly he should receive
every encouragement. But business is con-
Quoted on selfish principles. and while we
may deplore in others their unchristan
| treatment of the discharged convict we are
apt ourselves to act. when our personal in
terests are concerned, in the same manner
Not because, in spirit of revenge, we de-
sire to mark him forever as an outcast and
prevent him from gaining foothold among
the reputable and law-abiding members of
the community, but because, with the most
philanthropic intentions, We are simply
afraid to trust him. That is all Perhaps
h..
But if there were three prisons in the State,
denominated, let US say, one, two and
three, man who had been imprisoned in
number one would not forever carry with
him the disgrace attached to one who had
been confined in number two or three
Now, the mere fact that he has been a cor
Wet is sufficient to prevent him from
SECURING EMPLOYMENT
In any position of trust The general pub
lie cannot know what his course in prison
has been. This is known only to his
keepers. But if he came from prison num-
Der one, TO which only certain class OF
offenders were sent, this fact would be
some evidence in support OF the opinion
that he was not a confirmed and debased
criminal. We know from experience that
thisresult would follow. Suppose that a boy
at Is years of age is sent to State Prison
He comes out a convict If, for the
same otfense, he is committed to a reform
or industrial school, the same disgrace
does not follow him through life. His
oifense in either case is the same. But the
public make distinction from the char
acter of the institution TO which he is sent.
This distinction would be made in the
same manner under a graded system of
prisons. The fact is that the public look
more to the character of the prison than
they do to the nature of the offense. when
fixing the reputation of an offender.
Then, again, assuming that the chief
duty of officers is to make the prison under
their charge a reformatory agency, its
power in this respect must be greatly
diminished by having to contend with the
bad influence of
REBELLIoUs PRISONERS
And habitUal criminals There is within
the prison Enclosure, as well as without,
public opinion. How powerful public
opinion is in the administration of the af-
fairs of government, we all know Some
one has said that the only king that we
have in this country is public opinion, and
the DEGREES of that king are memorable. So
in prison. If there is public opinion pre-
vailing in favor of discipline, obedience to
the rules, diligence, desire to excel, and
to the effect that crime is not only wrong
but Improbable, the work of reformation
is made comparatively easy. This public
opinion, if it may so be called, overcomes
the opposition of the weak and wavering.
1t is always at work, and defeats any indi-
yidual effort to change it. A new conner
feels 1t the moment he enters, and if
susceptible at all to better influence Yields
very speedily to it, notwithstanding hemay
at the outset have had a very strong incli-
nation to rebel. To secure this public
opinion in favor of sustaining the prison
authorities is one of the principal aims of
all prison officers. When prisoners are
graded, the vicious, if
PLACED BY THEMSELVES,
Have no opportunity to build upon an OPP
posite feeling. The first-termer is not COM
PEELED to decide whether he will Join forces
with those attempting to obey the rules or
those engaged in obstinate, though perhaps
concealed defiance. If it is possible to re-
form him at all, it is in place like this,
where everything is working in favor of
law and order. So far as the interests of
society are conserved by retaining from
the ranks of the law-breakers those who
can be reclaimed, and so far as the saving
of money by decreasing the number of the
criminal class, with of course decrease in
the aggregate cost of criminal prosecutions,
is involved, every argument is in favor of
graded system.
As to the maximum number of prisoners
that should be confined in any one prison,
there is naturally some contrarity of opin-
ion. Many place the number at four hun
dred, and but few place it at over six hun
dred. When the number exceeds six
hundred it is difficult
FOR ONE CORPS OF OFFICERS
To give to each prisoner the personal super
vision which he ought to receive, not only
for his own benefit but also for the benefit
of the prison, with respect to discipline and
the prevention of all possibilities for escape.
If this number be accepted as the proper
maximum, then in any State having
thousand prisoners there should be at least
two prisons, and if there are that number,
they should be distinct in character as to
the class of offenders which they respect
lively confne.
No attempt has been made, believe,
save in New York, to create prison sys-
TEN on this basis. In that State the
Elmira Reformatory is pursuing a method,
unique i'll its kind and regarded as an eX-
pertinent, yet that has won admiration and
approval from ali who have examined the
institution and have had an opportunity of
observing the practical results attained
Whether the indeterminate sentence sys-
tenn as there carried out would be practicable
in State like California for instance, is
problem that only actual experience can
demonstrate. The system ofgraded prisons
is called a problem, because it must be adj
mitted there are many weighty objections
to it. A prison at best is
A COSTLY INSTITUTION.
Some may uuder favorable ciTcil m stances
be made self-sustaining. But it is believed
that but few can show balance in their
favor where the system of contract labor is
not pursued. Wherever this has been
abolished, with perhaps one or two ex-
ceptions, it has required large outlay of
money from the State treasury TO pay the
expenses of maintenance over earnings. !
To increase the number of prisons would
necessarily increase the amount the tax
payer would have to pay for their support |
Each would require separate corps of
officers, to say nothing of the cost of
separate buildings. But still, in the ad- |
ADMINISTRATION of the Affairs of q Stale and