The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1906-05-17
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timers of only eight in Norway, nine in
the Netherlands, eleven in Sweden,
twelve each in Denmark and Switzer-
land, the percentage rises to nineteen
in Italy, twenty-five in Germany,
twenty-four in Spain, twenty-six each
in Austria-Hungary and Belgium,
thirty-seven in France, and forty-one
in the United Kingdoms. Russia,
Turkey, Greece and the Balkan states
are not enumerated.) Whether this
state of affairs is so very alarming, if
compared with conditions prevailing
in this country, the writer cannot say.
But he begs to point out that in all
those European countries, where the
police know the names, residence, and
all about each single inhabitant, the
commission of crime is almost equiv
alent to detection and speedy con-
viction, the penalties of the law are
bound to act as far greater deterrent
than in this country, where many
criminals are seldom. if ever, detected
and where, if detected, a great many
manage to. escape conviction
What holds good as deterrent for
first timers, should hold equally good
for second and more timers.
1t appears that the question as to
who is, and who is not, habitual
criminal, is not decided in Europe
merely by the number of times the
person has been in prison. A person
may have been in prison once for
criminal assault, once for perjury, and
twice for stealing. and then he may be
Econvicted Of homicfde, without com.
ing under the habitual criminal act
Only when person has committed
the same kind of crime three times. is
he to be considered habitual crimi-
nal, and then, in addition to the pen.
atty for his last crime, certain length
of time is added to his sentence. How
much that Is, does not appear in the
reports, so the writer surmises that il
is not, the same in the different coun.
tries.
The information about the treat
ment of prisoners is very meager. One
of the delegates mentions that severity
in sentence and in treatment while in
prison, does not seem to act deterrent
in the British Isles, where crimes in
crease much faster than on the Con.
tinent, tho the sentences and the
treatment in prison are much more
severe in England. The punishment
for all kinds of crime, perjury ex-
cepted, lis much lighter on the Cont
nent than in England or America,
But when a person is sentenced to a
certain term, he or she has to stay in
prison till that term expires, and no
allowance is made for good behavior.
But in England and one or two other
European countries lit is not stated in
which,. prisoners who have home
and family are sometimes allowed to
spend the last fourth of their sentence
on parole; under what conditions, is
not told.
The concensus of opinion of all dele
gates was, that the best results were
obtained in the solitary prisons (they
call it the Pennsylvania system in
Europe). 1T appears that these kinds
of prisons have been built in all parts
of Europe within the last thirty years,
and that they have proved very satis-
factory in every respect The conten-
ton made at the start by many people,
that solitary confinement was bound
to act detrimentally to the mental and
physical welfare of the incarcerated.
has been dlsproven by experience.
For all that, it seems that a person is
not sent to such a prison for q term
longer than five years, and it also
seems that, at least in one country,
solitary confinement is considered
twice as severe as common con-
fnement. For the director of q
large Austrian prison (Stein), where
they have both solitary and common
confinement, mentions expressly, that
all his men confined under the latter
system, are clamoring to be transferred
to the solitary branch; because the
time spent there counts double; so that