The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-07-15
DO Our Prisons PunIshf


very hard to get violators Of the law into
prison; and. again. having got them there
It is very difficult TO keep them there
for the terms for which they are SEN
fenced. If the prisoner has money, friends
lat court" or political influence. or.
better, the three combined, he stands a
good chance Of getting off with mini
mum of performance under even a maxi
mum of sentence to prison. But assuming
that such governors as Altgeld, and such
things pardoRs for political purposes
were unknown, are the prisons of this
country conducted on a system that makes
Imprisonment really a punishment? It is
a pretty well-known fact that each win
ter numbers Of tramps make it their bust
ness to get into JAIL where they stay
during the cold season, and from whence
they emerge in the spring, to prey upon
the industrious portion of the community.
The question of whether or not our
prisons really punish-that is. generally
speaking-is answered in the negative by
the Rev. d. Granville Lewis, chaplain to
her Britannia majesty's prison at Shep-
ton Mailet, Somersetshire, England who
has been making a tour of examination
Of some Of the principal prisons in this
country. Among other prisons he has Wis
tied the Tombs in New York. the Cook
county penitentiary in Chicago and the
Eastern penitentiary at Philadelphia
From his observations he thinks the jail
bird in America has a mighty pleasant
time. The Eastern penitentiary struck
him as being "grahd home for the I'M
employed" On the walls Of some of the
cells he saw book racks filled with books,
and pictures, and on the floors were car
pets, and on the hunks were comfortable
beds. while comfortable chairs were con-
venent. The occupants of such cells were
of the class that had been prosperous on
the outside. For the less prosperous there
were sundry conveniences, including good,
soft beds In English prisons the pris-
oner sentenced for two years has to
sleep for the first month on a bunk Of
planks. During the second month he may
have mattress three nights a week, and
it is not until the third month, even if he
behaves we'll, that he can have the unin-
terrupted nightly luxury of a prison bed.
In the American prisons the prisoners
have almost uninterrupted communlca-
ton with each other. In English prisons
they may speak to nobody except one of
the jail officials. In America visitors are
allowed to converse with prisoners almost
at will. In England it is a very difficult
matter for stranger to see a prisoner.
In America there is noticeable lack of
discipline about, the prisons, except for
the famous lock-step which Mr.. Lewis
pronounces a famous fraud, inasmuch as
when one prisoner has his hand upon the
shoulder of another in front of him he
can communicate in whispers at pleasure.
In England the prisonkeepers are almost
invariably chosen from men who have
served either in the army or the navy.
hence are good disciplinarians. In New
York vendors Of fruit and cakes go into
the prisons and sell their wares to the In
mates, who chew tobacco, and smoke,
and spit upon the floors. Such things
are unheard of in English prisons. These
are only few of the points that the Wis
itor observed, and which convinced him
that in this country as a rule the great
prisons are made far too comfortable to
make confinement IN them serve as de-
terrent against future criminal acts.
rather unique organization has re-
Gently heen formed ct KINGSTON N V