St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1898-01-21
INDIA'S CONVICT SYSTEM.

INDIA'S CONVICT SYSTEM.
Prisoners Begin their Term as Slaves and are
Advanced as Fitted Until They Become Free
but Without Civil Rights.
Colonel Temple, in an address at the
Garrison sports at Port Blair in he An
amans, group OF islands in the Bay of
Bengal, penal settlement for criminals,
speaking on the occasion of releasing 400
convicts, gave an interesting account of
midas convict system, says the English
man. From the best estimates at hand,
says Colonel Temple, we may take it
that the permanent convict strength of
the Port Blair settlement may be placed
at about 10000, Of whom about 800
are women, and the rule is that only life
convicts are sent from India, and life and
term convicts from Burmah. The people
we receive, therefore, are the murderers
who have for some reason escaped the
death penalty and the perpetrators of
the most heinous offences against the
person and property, the men of brutal
violence, the higewaymen, the robbers,
the habitual thieves and receivers of
stolen goods, the worst Of the swindlers,
forgers, cheats, coiners and such like; in
fact, the most uDrestrained temperaments
OF continent. The convict comes
to us a creature who, by his life or his
acts. has shown himself to be so unified
for human society that he has been cast
out oft Tor life or for long term Of
years. Receiving him thus we first sub.
ject him Tor six months to most severe
discipline hard. rigid. uncompromising.
We teach him what it is like to be forced
to bend his uncontrolled nature to an
iron yoke Of a regime, not of hard toll,
but Of soul-crushing monotony.
From the stern cellular jail he is next
transferred to one of the association jails
to the comparative blessing OF hard
labor in company with others, but still
under strict discipline. He works and
feeds with Others in gangs, and there is
certain variety in the tasks demanded,
but he still sleeps in his separate cell.
Here he stays Tor a year and half
and then tor the next three years he is a
slave. as that word is ordinarily UNDER
stood-locked up with the other slaves in
the barracks by night. but working in
the open air at any kind Of task that the
needs of the settlement may require of
him, according to his capacity-an un-
paid, unrewarded laborer, but well-led
housed, clothed and cared for, and always
under watch and guard. During the
following three years he is still labor
ing convict, but the severity of his life is
eased down little for him. He is now
eligible Tor the petty posts of supervision
and for the less irksome and less slavelike
forms OF labor, and he gets a little-a
very little-allowanc to buy few small
luxuries or to place in the savings bank
against his future necessities. Having
thus served ten long probationary years,
he becomes eligible, If he has the ca pacity,
to take a ticket.of leave and become
what is locally known as self.supporter.
The convict is now in sense free. !"
He earns his living in his own chosen
way; he lives in village in his own
house; he farms little land; he keeps
cattle; he can move about unmatched !;
he can send Tor his wife and children, or,
the more frequent course, he can marry a
convict woman who under her own reg
ulations is eligible Tor marriage; he can
thus become paterfnmilias, with little
hoard of his own earning, and differing
outwardly in no way from the ordinary
villager or properly conducted member OF
human society. In reality. however, he
differs so greatly that he misses all those
things that free" men prize so highly.
He has no civil rights under the ordinary
law, and all the affairs OF his life are
dealt with by the executive authority !;
he must live where he is told and gen.
erallv conduct his lie as he is told; he
may move about beyond his village and
his fields by permission only; he cannot
leave the settlement; he may not be idle
convict labor. In this state he remains
ten or fifteen years. according to the
crimes that have sent him there, until the
happy day comes when the order for alb
solute release is placed in his hands and
he goes free as other men.
AS in the other portions of his life in
transportation, even in the condition of
selfsupport, the convict passes through
two distinct stages. In the first stage
he is assisted in the beginning with
house, food and tools, and then by ex-
emption from rent, taxes, fees and other
cesses payable by the free toward the
common benefit. In the second stage he
receives no assistance whatever, but
finds the whole of his means OF livelihood
and is charged with every public pay
ment which would be exacted from him
IN his own country.
The women are dealt with on the same
lines, but more gently, as becomes the
gentler sex. For the first three years the
convict woman works in the female Jail
as mere slave, fed, housed, clothed and
cared for. Then for two years she is
treated to the same sort of easing down
from severity as is granted to the men,
and after total of five years she is eli
gible for marriage and domestic service.
Assuming that she marries, she joins her
husband in his village, where she leads
the ordinary life OF an Indian woman,
but subject to the same disabilities as her
tassand, until she has completed fifteen
years IT transportation, when she may
60 Tree with him, wheresoever he may GO.