The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1890-04-12

D e. SAT y KD.A ] J, Y APR T
l4their arm. They may work or not at
pleasure; but those who do not labor
lare separated from those who work:
4 These are granted one-half Of their
Iearnings, one tenth being reserved to
form fund for the poorer prisoners,
Iespecially at the time Of their discharge,
Il The only penal" rule is the obligation
OF silence during the work, meals,
school and PRAYER which regulation
| prevails in ali Italian schools and col
leges. .5. s;..5
| Like all errors Of excess. the attempt
to treat as common criminals Offenders
f(female as we'll as male) whom the cs,t'
munity knew not guilty OF any comlDs,n
crime, brought It's own defeat. TIE
agitator within the jail had more lfRn-
ence than when free, and that influence
I 1eaped into. wider power. with, every
contumely.' 1t used, indeed, to be said
that O' Councils incarceration brokuhis
political strength, but if that has any
color Of truth, and it has but little, it
was due IN part to the strictly legal and
tactic lines Of his agitation, according
to custom, as a state prisoner. Had an
attempt been made to
CLOTHE o.CONNELL IN TIE GARB OF
S-$a'ss5'55s 5. 4, CRIMINALS
apd 90 make him break stones or pick
oakum with thieves and burglars, would
there not have been an outburst Of in.
surTection, with a worlds good wishesf
The effect of treating the political prs
oners Of 1868 [the Fenians] as felons,
engendereo undying hatred, Nor can
any deterrent effect be discovered. On
the contrary, the attempt to level down
political prisoners only levels up the
common criminal, who would be little
'likely'to feel the ignominY Of q brand
whichhe had borne In common with
OsOoDnell. The sympathy Of the coun-
trY goes to those who appear to suffer,
ID their jails, the oppression Of ungen"
efous power: Thus vast numbers of
the population In Ireland. who looked
upon the Fenians with aversion before
thPirs lmpriso isonment, swept round In
active and indignant sym mpathy when
their felon eatment was revealed In!
tie case Of the present day prisoners
sa similar reYalsion Of feeling has taken
place among many who. have differed
from them. Add To this that the. At:
tempt to carry into effect an untenable
theory bas caused much strain in the
prison system, many irregularities,
lapses of discipline and contradictory
orders prisoners being at one time
punished for what at another was
sanctioned and some being permitted
to wear their own garments, while
others were punished by deprivation Of
exercise and diet for refusing to act
differently. A large proportion Of Irish
members of parliament. MANY clergy.
men and thousands Of others have been
imprisoned, but no moral blame resulted
10 the prisoners, who were, contrari-
wise, believed to have acquired titles to
PUBLIC CONSIDERATION AND REWARD,
. DR.. SigersOn. has received many
strong encomiums from distinguished
writer's, philanthrophists and others in
fterested ii the line of work followed in
the book. Mr.. James Bryce, author Of
s.The American Commonwealth" pro-
fessor ot civil law Id Oxford University.
and member Of the British parliament
for South Aberdeen, writing to Dr.
5Slgerson on his book, says: #
It IS certainly not easy to find salts
factory definition Of q political offense,
yet we all feel the difference between
the ordinary criminal and those whose
treatment you describe. Regarding the
methods followed Of late years in lre-
land, they are not only. cruel, they are
foolish and impolitic. They attempt to
sfly id the face Of the general sentiment
of mankind, which recognizes the wide
difference between crimes which are
always crimes and acts which, even IL
it is necessary to punish them, may he
the result Of mistaken views ofright,
and may hereafter be Judged very differ
emily from the way IN which we Judge
them now. The time never comes
when people venerate the memory Of 8
thief or 3 forger as We yenerate the
memories Of Sir Thomas Mooreor Alger-
non Sidney, political offenders on whom
the last penalty was inflicted with a
more general concurrence Of opinion
than exists nov. .=
History. She { Oh, I do like history
30 much. . Il ss .s III
. Indeedl What is YOUR favoriCep''
She he discov cry OF n orth Amer
,A,S.N