St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-03-26
PRISON CRUELTY.


Is it because prison wardens are al
ways hard-hearted men, or is it because
the criminal classes can not be gov
erned or disciplined without the exer-
'cise OF cruelty, that we hear so much
of the inhuman conduct of prison
officials? And yet, with all the
stories that are told concerning
these matters, the public. and even
the boards of charities, turn deaf
ear to them, and nothing like system
attic effort is ever made to determine
the truth or falsity of the rumorS. much
less to suppress the barbarous practices
of these prison officials. As a rule,
these stories of cruel treatment are re-
lated by released, convictS who are pop
ularly supposed not to be worthy of
credence. But there is nobody else to
tell them; for, if they are even true.
the wardens and prison officials are not
going to expose their own barbaritieS.
Now and then a legislative inyeStigat-
ing committee, or occasionally repre-
resentatiye of some board of corrections
and charities will go through the farce
of making an examination into the man
agement Of penal institutions. We de-
nominate it farce because their visits
are always heralded in advance: the
prison authorities are forwarned of
their coming, and of course every
thing is put in apple-pie order
for the official inspection. 1t very
often happens that the convicts are
drilled TO answer questions that are
likely to be propOunded to them by the
visitors; they are Instructed to say that
they have an abundance to eat, and of
the best quality; and it is very certain
that no extraordinary punishment will
be inflicted upon a convict during the
day that the official inspector is a guest
of the prison warden. AS a result, we
always get these roSeate reports Of the
superb management of these penal in
situations, and of the exceedingly hui
name conduct of the officials in their
treatment of prisoners.
We are not prepared to say that these
reports are not always true. But we do
say that the information they contain is
usually obtained under conditions that
make them as utterly unreliable as the
statements made by the released con-
victs. Our object in discussing this
matter at this time is to call the atten-
ton of the public to a statement made
i'll yesterdays GLOBE by the released
convict WALLACE BRIGHAM, and to
ask the legislature and those invested
with authority to inspect penal institu-
tionS to inquire into the truthfulnesS of
these statements, and to go at it in
way that the truth is likely to be OBJ
tanned. 1t will not do to rely simply on
the denialS that are sure to be made
by the wardens, nor even to take the
testimony of other cOnvicts; for they
testify under duress, and in dread of Sc
we're punishment if they state what is
apt to be displeasing to the prison Off
Gals. The way to obtain the truth, and
the only way, is through the agency of
a reliable detective system.
The eX-convict BRIGHAM says that
for slight ard unintentional violation
of the prison rules, in addition to i'm
prisonment Oh Dread-and-wat diet,
he was subjected to the torture of being
strung up by the wrists, with only his
toes touching the floor of the cell, for
five consecutive days: and but for the
intervention of the kind-hearted guard,
who took advantage of such times as
the deputy warden would not be around
to occasionally give him temporary re-
lief by relaxing the strain on his arms,
he would probably have been tortured
to death. 1t is inconceivable that such
monstrous barbarity could be practiced
nnder the sanction of law in this nine
teenth century. 1t is surely possible to
maintain prison discipline without re-
sorting to such excessive torture as the
wrist-swinging process. If it is not,
then it would be more creditable to this
civilization to abolish the prison system.
discharge the wardenS, and raZe the
prison buildings to the ground, rather
than to give legal countenance to forms
of barbarity that would have dishonored
the darkest ages of the worlds history.
We are not discussing this matter in a
vein of sickly sentimentality, nor with
any feeling of prejudice against any
particular Institution or any particular
prison official. We have no prejudice
or sentiment in the matter, except that
we believe the lowest and meanest of
COPS creatures are entitled to humane
treatment, especially when they lie
powerless in the hands of the law.
When a criminal is sent to the state
prison, he goes there under sentence of
confinement and hard labor for a speci-
fed term. There is nothing in the SEN
tence OF in the law to justify the infiic-
ton of bodily punishment, nor is the
warden in any way authorized to add to
the punishment imposed by the court.
Having called the attention of those
who are charged with the duty of prison
inspection to this matter, we ask in the
name of common humanity that an in
vestigation worthy of the name shall be
made, and that an effort be made to OBJ
tain the facts in the only reasonable
way that the truth can be arrived at.
THE FIGHT is ON.
The popular suspicion that the rela-
lions between President HARRISON and