The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1911-10-12

think it far superior Is The English
idea. The nearest approach to the
/ UNDERSTANDINGS sentence Is what is
called the suppl mentary sentence.
and that works III exactly the oppo-
site direction. If man is SEN
fenced to say ten years in England
for q crime, and the board of pris-
ons, appointed by the secretary of
state. is Of the mind that he would
be dangerous person to turn loose
upon society, he is given a supple
mental sentence At p arkhurst pris-
on, on the Isle of Wight, they are
building place where all prisoners
serving supplemental sentence will
be sent. But, on the other hand
there is no chance for a man to get
out of prison after serving time as
he can here under the indeterminate
sentence system
1t can be easily seen by the fore
going that the inmates Of our own
prison and those in other American
prisons where the indeterminate
sentence and parole laws are in
effect, are far better off than their
brethren in the prisons of England,
where, as Rev. Smith says, there is
no such system, and where no
thought is given to the reformation
of the men.
The remainder of the article deals
with convict labor, the classes Of
prisoners, the menue and the de-
crease of crime in England.
Speaking Of convict labor; Rev.
Smith says that in English prisons a
long time inmate is unable to learn
trade as he does in many of our
state institutions. His work is either
for himself, the army or the navy.
There are no machines in the prls-
ons there, practically all the work
being done by hand. Also, there is
no idea of making convict labor a
source of revenue to the govern
ment.
Upon being released a prisoner
is entirely dependent upon the gen.
crosby of the prison board and So
ciety formed outside, for the relief
Of prisoners, for financial aid, and
he gets just what they think he
should receive and no more.
THE heads of English prisons
are for the most ex-army and navy
men," says Rev. Smith, and are in
many ways far more cruel than any
of the Wardens of our state pris-
ons."
In speaking of the classes Of pris-
oners, or grades, he says:
In the English prison there are
four classes Of convicts. A man
starts in the first class. He is given
SO many marks day for his good
behavior. When he has attained a
certain number Of marks he goes in
to the second grade, and SO on till
he reaches the highest grade. Here
there are only three grades, and the
usual rule is that prisoner starts in
the second grade. Thus, if he is a
well behaved man, he advances to
the third grade. and if he insists on
breaking prison rules he goes back
to the first grade. and the prison
stripes"
Every prisoner no matter where
he is, gets the same fare," saws he,
! as the prison board makes out the
menue for all the prisons in Great
Britain"
According to Rev. Smith, statis-
tics show a decrease in crime in
England, which, adds the Pioneer
Press, IS far from being the case
in this country. But says Rev.
Smith in conclusion, / do not be-
lieve the prison system is response
BILE for the apparent decrease in
crime. The English idea is not to
rectify or reform. It Is simply to
punish the offense, and detain the
offender so that he will not break
the law again.