The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-09-07
ENGLISH PalsoN LEE.


Iron Discipline Universally the Rule and
Disorder Alutu. I UuNnnWn.
A comparison of the rules Of an Amer
lean prison with those Of an English prison
shows that the American prisoner has
many more comforts aud liberties. \ man
in an English prison Is almost ms dead to
the outer world as he would he In his
tomb Nothing in the way of food or read
ing matter can he sent in to him by his
friends. lie is never permitted to see
newspaper or n magazine. He can write
and receive letters only Mt long intervals
and from the time he enters the prison un
til he leave-it he is not permitted to speak
unless he Is addressed by prison officer.
A prisoner sentenced for Il term Of three
years or less may see visitor once In three
months in the presence Of u prison officer,
and he may write one letter. To men
whose terms are longer such privileges are
granted less frequently For the frat
month the prisoners bed consists of moth
ing but a broad board like n table top,
three or four inches above the floor OF th'
cell. He has no mattress, auE the bed
clothing consists of rug, u blanket, "A pill
low and two coarse sheets. At the end Of
a month if he has earned n sufficient mum
Der of good conduct marks, he has mat
tress three nights a week. Later he has
mattress five nights n week, and mt still
later STAGE, if his conduct has been uneX
ceptionable, he may have mattress every
night He has also in his cell "A bucket, a
water can, II tin washbOwl, "A towel, a soap
dish. saltccllur. wooden spoon and
tin plate He never has knife or fork,
and he has nothing to eat requiring the
use of these implements. He must get up
at 6 o'clock, and his breakfast Is brought
to him at half past l. He eats every meal
in his cell In the first stage of his i'm
prisonmeut he has only bread and water
for breakfast and for dinner - pintS Of
"stira bout IA gruellike mixture of uat-
meal and Indian meal. In the fourth and
best stage of bis Imprisonment he has n
pint of porridge with his bread for break
fast and a better dinner but even the
fourth stage bill of fare is never changed
throughout the year, There are no holiday
dinners nor an extra dish on Sundays, as
in some of our American prisons.
Not all the prisons have workshops at
tached to them, and where there is no
workshop a man who has n labor sentence
must go on a treadmill for , q hours in
the morning and for . "a in the afternoon.
In some prisons there is worse kind OF
labor than even the treadmill. 1t consists
of turning IA heavy weighted crank, which
serves no purpose whatever except to re
cord the numberO Of its own revolutions. \
days labor consists of from 5000 to 10,
600 revolutions. In other prisons the pris
oners are set to pumping water As this
serves some purpose, it is not so depress-
ing as the crank movement. The entire
system of discipline in English prisons is
military in its rigidity, and it is never re
Taxed There are no demonstrations of dis
content of delight or of contempt on the
part of the prisoners. Pandemouium Is
never reproduced, as it is in prisons in
some of the states The hooting and whis
Ting, the yelling and "cat calling in
which American prisoners sometimes in
dulge, are never even remotely initiated IN
an English prison. The English convict is
not by nature more respectful or orderly
than the American convict, but he knows
that disObedience will be Immediately pun
ished. He knows that the statutes Of par
lament have framed the conditions under
which he is to serve out his sentence, and
that the poweraud the system of the prison
are such that he must obey the rules OF
suffer the consequences. Escapes from Eng
lish prisons are 50 rare that they ASSUME
the character of marvels. Boston Herald