The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1890-04-24
Prison Development.
Continued From First Page.)

(COntlnu0Q FROM F1rSC fage)
tails of punshments too shocking for man
to read. Human ingenuity has been ex-
hausted in the attempt to make punish
ment terrible, yet only since the days OF
Howard have we seen any real progress
made towards making the prisoner better.
L am sorry to be obliged to say that the
real criminal can neither be deferred by pun
ishment or love. He is diseased man, and
the only hope he has is that care and very
long time. longer than his life in this world,
will cleanse his moral system. This may
seem hard doctrine; still it seems to be borne
out by the records. This class is varously
estimated, and quite we'll known, but l
think comparison shows that it embraces
some 20 per cent of the prison population.
In this matter science has been OF great
help in pointing out the evils of heredity
AS the scripture says: 1.-The father ate
sour grapes and the chldren's teeth were
set on edge" Mr.. FrOude has pointed to
the tendency of crime in the latter years of
Caesars. and we see the red mist, the thirst
for blood. growing stronger and thicker
before the eyes of each until it eliminates
in Nero. a demon incarnate. Lady STAN
hope proudly pointed out the fact that that
dull gray eye of hers. which flashed so
strangely under excitement, came across
the gulf of three generations. 1t may be
terrible fact. We may also be 10th to &C
knowledge that the real criminal is in most
cases man who follows an instinct as
blindy as he would follow fate, or that he
would commit the crime though he saw the
possibility of viperS in his cell and the GER
tainty of arrest and occupation of that cell;
yet such seems to be the case. Indeed the
thirst for crime comes upon him as the
parOXySm of violence to the insane, or the
craving for drink to the dipsOmanic. This
| believe is what heredity teaches us of the
real condition of the criminal
Now, if the conditions are correctly
stated, what is the state to do? Can we
undertake to punish the criminal in any
true sense for his crime? In this matter
the state has less ability than we usually
suppose. When jury dSbelieveS to man
divorce for any cause should not be granted
you would scarcely expect them to act with
unbiased feelings in case involving di-
vOrce. If Judge holds the same conviction
with tenacious grip, no matter how high
minded he may be, his attitude during such
a trial will have salient influence on the
jury. l do not mean in this to accuse jury
men or Judges of dishonesty or ignorance or
blind prejudice, but the length of time nee
ceSSary to study the life of a man and all
its inheritances. that tangled mass OF evil
dence that must be unraveed, the liability
of the best man to mistake, all tend to
show that, at the best, the judgment of
man is very imperfect. The first thing
then l would have in ordinary cases is the
indefinite sentence. In this case the priS
oner sentenced without specification, and
the length of his sentence depends on his
conduct on his history as it is connected
with virtue or vice in the past, hereditary
tendencies. This method has been in vogue
since 1886 and is now tried in a limited
number of cases in New York and Ohio.
Another important move is the complete
separation of felOnS from offenders. A
feOn is a man who has been sentenced the
second or third time. The offender has
only been convicted once or twice. In
older times the prison furnished no labor,
and all ages and both sexes herded in COM
mon room. Boys listened to the exploits
narrated by murdeIerS, burglars explained
their methods to all who would listen.
Young women committed on suspicion of
some tritlng crime were thrown in with the
hardened wretches; despair led them to de-
bauchery. Vices were encouraged by the
jailers, and the jails became training schools
for crime. The separation of the classes
had marked influence in improving condi-
tons. although John Bright, in converse
ton with DR.. Dana, then of this city, at
tributed the improvement as much to edu-
cation, religion and general advancement
as to the changes in prison systems. An
other action regarding the class named as
offenders is the parole. A ticket of leave
is given the offender after a certain time,
and he is then set free. but obliged to re.
port to the police every month his where
abouts and his occupation. In this way
much has been done for those who are in
condition to receive help. In Elmira
the physical education is taken up and the
management are working to get good red
blood in the arteries of the convict, to give
his liver proper action and to provide
him with sound body. The account of
training is very graphic and seems strange