The Press., 1893-03-16
THE STATE PRISON.
From Report of the Directors.

From Report of the Directors.
 It is not generally believed that crime is decreasing in Connecticut. Indeed, those most competent to form an opinion on the subject assert that it is incl easing. Yet the prison records show that the num- Der of prisoners on the 1st day of January, 1892, was precisely what it was on the 1st of January, 1879, while the population of the state had grown by more than one hundred and fifty thousand. The old prison being reasonably deemed inade- quate to provide for the naturally expect ed increase of prisoners and being justly condemned by reason of it's unsanitary conditions, an appropriation was made by the legislature for a new cell block. This structure, begun in 1886 and completed in 1889, furnishes, with those cells in the old prison which were suffered to remain, suitable apartments for 450 inmates. Four hundred cells-those in the new block are models for their combination of con- plete security with admirable provision for light, heat and ventilation. The hos pital and chapel accommodations are not surpassed by those of any prison in the United States.
 And yet at the date of this report the number of prisoners is only 277, less than were confined on the 30th of September, 1884.
 Under these circumstances it may not be unreasonable or impertinent to ask | what has become of the residue of crim- inals guilty of grave offenses, who have been convicted and sentenced in our crim- inal courts A glance at the condition of our jails may furnish us with partial an swer to this inquiry. It will be found that while the prison population has been stationary, or, considering the gain in the | census of the state, actually diminishing, the population of the jails, notably in the principal counties, has increased so rap idly and materially as to greatly embarrass the county officials and create a demand for extensive additions to the cell room. | In some cases and at some times during recent years, the number of jail inmates has been we'll nigh double the number for which the building was designed, com polling the resort, on 8 very large scale, to that most pernicious practice, known as doubling up." Moreover, it must be conceded that 8 considerable proportion of these prisoners are not sent to jail for mere misdemeanors. This will appear from the following illustrative cases, wh oh might be multiplied almost indefinitely. | A well-known penologist in a neighbor- ing state has recently commented, with no indications of approval, on the following criminal items, which he qotes from single issue of the Hartford Courant: 1 The criminal court resumed business yesterday morning and took up the cases of Edward Garland and James Allen. . Each pleaded guilty to second count on principal charge of burglary, and Garland was sentenced to jail for nine months and Allen for two months.
 -"William Jett pleaded guilty to statu- tory burglary and was sentenced to six months in jail.
 "Joseph Scott, charged with stealing from the person, pleaded guilty to a third offence of theft and was sent to jail for I four months.
 "John Doyle pleaded not guilty to the theft of a watch, was tried, found guilty by the jury, and sentenced to jail for three months and fined $5 and costs"
 In one of our smaller counties a man
 was, a few months since, sentenced to five years in jail for an aggravated assault with intent to commit rape. Not long ago, two "hoodlums," both notorious toughs, though less than twenty years old, convicted in the superior court of an outrageous assault upon a woman, were sentenced to eighteen months in jail, the Judge remarking that they ought not to be exposed to the demoralizing influences of a prison. It may well be doubted whether this excellent magistrate has ever by actual observation compared the in- terior life of the jail and the prison. The real truth is, that if those who are yearly convicted of serious crimes against person and property were sentenced to state
 prison for periods adequate to their crimes,
 in compliance with the intent and spirits
 of our statutes, the prison would be made
 self-supporting, the proposed additions to our county jails would be unnecessary
 and, what is of vastly higher importance,
 the convicts would be placed under condi- tions much more favorable to genuine reformation than can possibly be found within the walls of the best managed jail in this or any other commonwealth. I
 THE UNEARNED INCREMENT.