Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1890-07-18
RUSSIAN PRISONS.
How the Penal Institution of the slave
Conducted.

How the Penal Institution of the Slave is |
Conducted.
Referring to the proposed international ]
congress of prison reform, writer of the |
FuridetcheSkig NieStni *. apparently |
man familiar with the subject, published |
an article depicting Russian prisons and |
their management in very dark colorS |
His statements must be taken into con-
sideration the more seriously since places !
of rention, as they are mildly termed.
have greater social significance than
prisons have anywhere in the western
countries. Russian police and the ju-
dietary authorities freely use their power
to arrest persons, and statistical reports
show that proceedings are instituted
against more than 80 per cent of the per
sons thus arrested. The population of
pSiSonS includes large proportion of peo-
pie who are neither criminals, nor even
suspects. These are persons retained for
conveyance under military guard from
one place to another for various causes.
To this category belong persons expelled
from the capitals of the empire or from
other large cities for having no deS-
lgnated occupation and herein are in
Guided laborers and even mechanics who
have been out of employment for certain
length of time The ruling authorities
cf villeges and small communities often
expel from their places persons of I'M
proper character, whose only impropre-
ety in many instance consists in dis
pleasing a parsonage of authority or an
official of the lowest grade Here also be-
long the masses of people conveyed from
one place to another simply because they
cannot identify themselves by official
documents, and their failing to produce
their passports is mostly due to the neg
hgence of the authorities of their reSpec-
tive places OF nativity. who did not send
them out in the right time. Finally, there
are the families of soldiers serving at a
distance from their native HON eS, and the
families of eXileS, who desire to follow
their husbands and father All these
masses of people which are conveyed UNI
der military guard from one one place to
another are prison inmates until the con-
vey is ready for them and stationed in
prisons on their haultS on the road. They
are treated like all other prisoners and
become the associates and sometimes the
prey of criminals of the worst description.
Those criminals make them spend their
nights on the wet aud cold floor and i'm
pose other sutferings on them. In prisons
where the accommodations is not sufficient
ly ample they cannot lie down at all. and
must get a few seconds of rest and oblivi-
on leaning one against the shoulder OF
the other. standing up the whole night
after wearisome day of travel. Neither
sex nor age is respected Old men and
women are beaten and made cruel sport
of; young persons are harrased and abused
in the vilest manner This is the reason
why we read so often in the papers
that a number of prisoners have
committed suicide without apparent
cause or that lot of women have been
transported to their distant homes be
cause they had no passports. y and on ar
irving home that their testimonial. had
been forwarded to them while they were
| ON the road