Tonopah bonanza. [volume] (Butler City [i.e. Butler], Nev.) 1901-1909, 1907-09-07
lRINf FIGURES
: SHOW Up BADLY
HUNDRED THOUSAND
HELD IN PRISONS IN
AMERICA.

A,rpau OIL CON"
.oial report on prisoners and
. u,,a delinquents in institutions.
Investigation was planned by DR..
Y nd p. Falkner, formerly expert
no a.I.l agent, who is responsible for
Y method pursued and the scope OF
w ,.oniry. Upon his resignation
,@ The service the work was carri-
= under the direction of John
y expert special agent.
= mis- report two classes of sta
.s are presented. The first class
,'s,s with the prisoners and juvenile
~,s,nouents who were confined in in
.s,ntions on June 80, 1904, and the
,s.ond with those who were commit
n airing the year 1904. The pre-
'.a,otion of figures for the commit
..n,. during the year is a marked
lmnroyement over the methods of
,.rmor censuses, when statistics were
.or only for the persons in institu-
,,0rs on a fixed date. AS many per-
.,no serve long sentences, the insti-
,ntiopal population on a given day
,0,ludes many committed in former
...,s and some even who have fig
,,od in former censuses. Statistics
Il this class, therefore, are not par
,,.n,.rly accurate as a reflection OF
.Jsting conditions, since they are
,ovtly determined by the conditions
4 former years. Statistics for the
commitments during the year, on the
other hand, are not influenced by th'
conditions of former years but ma!
10 regarded as a statistic measure o
me use that is being made of insti
mtions for criminals and as a fairl.
,ecurate Indication of the classes 0
he population from which the Grim
mails are drawn. The figures for tn
prisoners enumerated on June 80
1904. are of value, however, sine
they furnish a basis for comparison
With previous %censuses.
INCREASE NEARLY $4,000.
Exclusive of the juvenile delir
Ouents in special institutions for tina
class, and exclusive of persons in
uisoned for the non-payment G
fines, 81,772 sane persons at leas
five years OF age we're serving SCI
fences in civil prisons on June 81
1904. Out OF every million person
IN the estimated population of thu
date. 1905 were prisoners. On Jun
1891. the tota! number of pri
Gers was only 66.Sa3. but the nun
Der in each million of the populate
vas 1867.
The fact that the ratio of prisone.
to population has decreased shou'
not be regarded, however, as indica
Ing a diminishing tendency towal
crime. The 14-year period betweC
the censuses has been marked by Il
establishment of probation and p
role systems, by a movement again
The use OF short prison sentences f
minor offenses, and by the introdu
ton Of other forms of lenieney.
a result many minor offenders w
would have been sent to prison
1890 escaped that penalty in the lat
Years of the period, and thus I
ratio of prisoners to population h
decreased, Whether crime has al
decreased cannot be determined fro
The figures.
FEMALE PRISONERS DECREAS
ING.
Possibly the greater leniency in
present treatment of the criminal
iects the female offenders more tn
NE male, for the proportion of v
men among prisoners has constan
decreased. The decrease between Is
and 1904 is common to all sections
the country
Colored persons were more co
mon among the prisoners on June
lsVa, than they we're on June
1870 In 1904 the percentage
VOiofed was 1926. while in 1890
was SO.4. This increase in the p
pOrtlon of colored prisoners is sho
all the geographic divisions of
Vountry ercept the south Atlantic &
Ne western. 1t was particularly
V0ie IN the north central states, /
VT cent of the prisoners enumera
1917 were colored as contras
with EOS per cent in 1904.
FEWER FOREIGN BORN.
me foreign born whites, UNI
Volored, appear to be of deere
Is Importance among the prison
1870 the immigrant class forr
30 per cent of all white prison
Known nativity, but by 1904
T,'Ventage had decreased to 2
ae native white, on the other hs
NV an increased proportion. 70
80 per cent of the total II
OF white prisoners in 1904
sS lis per cent in 1890.
anse' moreover, is not confne,
One section of the country, b,
nioh TO all. Even the north