The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-01-20
PENAL SETTLEMENTS.
Where prisoners Who Are Deported
DO for Life.

Where prisoners Who Are Deportec
Go For Life.
France. Spain, Portugal, Russia all>:
Furkey are teday the only European
countries which transport their crilii-
mails, and there are signs that this form
of punishment will not he continued
much longer by civilized nations. Rus
STA has already diminished the number
Of effenses FOR which Siberia is the
penalty.
France has two penal settlements,
one the island Of New Caledonia. which
lies northeast of Australia, the other in
French 6uiana. Ealedonias or lie Nou,
has often been described as a sort of
inferno. As a matter of fact. it is the
best managed convict island in the
world. The climate is not bad. and the
eonvicts gan gain by good conduct
pleasures and privileges unheard Of in
British prisons.
Convicts form the working classes OF
the island. fhey stroll about unshac
Killed. and unguarded. They can smoke
cigarettes and buy Il little wine. The
gineers and stokerS and can earn about
fvepence day.
The birch and the cat -olnine- tails are
unknown in the island the punishment
being the scacbot.s. or black cell. \
few hours Or days in this living tomb
is usually enough for any of them.
however refractory. They come out
II
nothing compared with sentence of
five years in the scachot." with only
one hour of light in each thirty days,
Cayenne is very different. The eli
mate is about us bad as bad can be-
The work is principally masonry and
clearing land. In case of mutiny hoses
are ready charged with scaldng water
The least infringement of the rigid dis
cipline is visited with cruel punish
ment One of the commOneSt Is to re-
duce man to one meal day. and
that nothing but bread and water
Death follows any attack on warder.
whether injury is inflicted or not. The
The most horrible of the penal col
onies in existence at present are I'M
dOubtediy those of Spain at Ceuta and
Fernando Pc. The latter place is an
island in the blight of Biata The aver
age temperature all the year round is
nearly so degrees, and the heat is 4
damp kind. most trying to Europeans.
The horrors which Cuban patriots I'M
derwent in Fernando Pc are not to be
matched in Siberia itself Three out
of five died before they had been there
two years.
Oddly enough. Portugal manages
these matters much better than does
Spain. She sends most of her con-
yicts to Goa, on the coast of India. or
to her East African possessions. Her
system resembles that of New Gale
| donna, but is less strict. In fact. Por
tuguese eonyicts do very little hard Ia
Dor. They are allowed almost com
plete liberty so long as they do not
leave the limits of the settlement to
which they are assigned. At MoZam-
bique you may see government officials
playing billiards with convicts of good
birth
When Turkish political prisoner IS
sentenced to be deported to Tripoli or
to the Euphrates. his friends bid him
farewell. They know that they will
never see him again alive and i'll all
probability never hear of him again
| unless enormous sums are forthcom-
ing to bride scores of different officials.
In fact. the only difference between Il
death sentence in Turkey and one of
transportation is that the former is
more rapid and mercful. The govern
ment prefers the latter. because it is
less public Now and then. however.
news leaks through-of poor Midhab
Pasha. for instance. it Is known that
near Bagdad his brutal guards beat
out his brains with the butt ends of
their rifies.-London Answers