Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-11-07


the gravest social problems, and ON both
tnese grounds worthy of the closest study
ana lreest discussion, cordially unit in
ealing national congress for confer
ehce on criminal punishment and relOr-
uatory treatment, to be held in the
autumn of 1870, in the city of CIncin-
natl" This call received 81 sigma
lures, classified as follows: % war
9ehs OF prisons, II uperntendents of
juvenile retormatOres, - mem bers of
prison and refOrmatOry boards, s members
OF boards of State charities, chaplalns
OF prisons and refornatOries and Is gem
eral pnllanthropists. In pursuance of
this call the first National Prison Con-
Rfess was held In Cincinnati on Oct. %,
loIO. Its most important action, perhaps,
was the appointment of a committee to
Jake steps for the organization of a per-
manent National Prison Association. The
ooJects OF the association as stated in the
resolution OF the Cincinnati Congress,
and aiterward in its charter and constitu-
ton, are as follows:
l. AmeiioratiOn Of the laws in relation
to public ofsnses and offenders, and
mode of procedure by which such laws
are enforced.
2. Improvement Of penal correctional
ana retormatOry institutions throughout
the country and the manage nent, govern
ment and discipline thereof, including
the appointment OF boards of control and
other officers,
o. Care of and procuring suitable and
renuneratlve employment for discharged
prisoners, and especially for such as may
or shall have given evidence of reforma-
tiou OF life.
great deal OF benefcent work for
prison reform had been done by indi-
vIduals and State and other societies in
the century next before the organization
OF this association. Surely there was
urgent need Tor such work. The facts as
to prisons and the treatment of prisoners
during and before that period are
strange, ,unaccountable and almost bevond
oeiief. They are 50 atfocious and forbid
ding that one cannot even attempt fully
TO state them before an intelligent
audience like this. Turn 80 the pages of
any volume of history or fiction in which
the author dares truthfully to expose the
miseries Of prison life in civilized coun-
tres during the period referred to, and
the thoughtful and fair minded will be at
no loss to discover one of the causes why
civilization aud christianity have moved
forward with such hating steps. Read
in McMaster's history OF the people of the
United States the state OF the prisons
only few years ago in very com munities
from which we get our faVOrite systems
OF popular education and you will turn
from that chapter of vile things with
lOathing words cannot express. Mark
Twain in his prince and Pauper," a
book which old and young find as fasci-
mating as Robinson Crusoe, gives u pic
ture OF the harsh and cruel times in Eng
land, reaching down almost to the
present century, when petty Offenses
were punished with death and
when all imprisonment was infinite
" worse than death. writer
in the North American Review of
July, 1889, IN very valuable arLicle o.
more than forty pages, describes the
prisons of Massachusetts,, Connecticut,
Pennsylvania and other States as they
were about sixty years agO, between 1920
and 1880. The details are too shocking to
be repeated. The results, he states. can
be gwen in a few sentences. He describes
prl Ons as ''abodes of horrible sin aud
filthy, squalid, unalleviated misery"
Again, he says "a prison was place
which scarcely any one visited except
an official on business.
The result WAS that the prison became
a secret place governed by its own laws,
or rather by its own precedt tnts. u
An abode of misery IN the midst Of an
enlightened city, in which no man not be-
longing to it had any knowledge of what
Thus il came to pass that every prison in
the land was hotbed Of crime. Murders,
thefts and robberies were devised
there day after day. Every human being
who came within the sphere of the influ-
ence of such a system became inevitably
more depraved. The very means for pre-
venting crime became in fact means not
only of multiplying 1t, but also OF render
ing 1t more cautious, more expert, more
. in nj do
fOrbear to extend these quota
tons. They afford an Indica-
tion--a very faint indication it
is true-of the deplorable condition of
prisons and prison discipline IN our cOun-
try and throughout the world when the
prison retormers and prison reform assO
Citations began their work. In America
the Importance Of this association was
recognized even before our Independence
was achieved. Before the organization
Of this national society, State and local
associations were formed. The inves'
tigati0n of prison abuses were Wig
orously pushed, and the publication
of the results discovered soon attracted
public attention. Great good was accom-
plished by these societies, but soon after
the civil war DR.. Il. G. Wines. fully in
formed Of the necessities and difficulties
of the situation, had the sagacity TO dis
COVER t0db Win lno vast CuA0BGb eueCleu
in the relations beJw cen the people OF the
States by amendments by the consttu-
tion, and perhaps still more by increa ed
facilities for intercourse, tnat 80 far
as the interests OF prison reform
are concerned the people Of all states are
indeed one people. The criminals OF New
York OF 10 day may next week ply their
vocation in Chicago or in Atlanta. The
people of each State are Interested IN the
prison systems Of every other State. A
bureau of information and statistics, re.
latlng to crime and prisons, at Washipg-
ton would be Of sufficient value to
the country as part of the De-
partment OF Justice. DR.. Wines,
wisely recognizing the new conditions IN
our country by reason OF the alterations
Of the organic law and improved means
of inter-communication, founded and
organized the National Prison Associa-
tion.
It has held successful and instructive
general meetings In Cincinnati, Balti-
more. Saratoga. 81. Louis and Detroit, and
special meetings In New York, Chicago
and other cities. Present ard taking part
in all the proceedings OF its meetings
have been most distinguished practical
experts who have control and manage
ment of the leading penal and reformatory
Institutions of our country. IL you name
the famous prisons and reformatories of
the United States and eminent specialists
NJ thpir hpad vnu will find Won have