Evening journal., 1922-11-22
FEWER IN JAIL
AT This Time
Ccontinued From Flret rage)

l2.Tl1 for 296 chaln or foad gangs
in certain southern States, end 2l-
63s for 1919 city Institutions, while
the remaining l,O41 were women
committed by the courts 10 the care
OF other Institutions ga in NUM-
ber), mainly under the control or
religious or charitable organizations.
similar data were collected for July
1917. but the total for that date
does not include all prisoners in
chain or road gangs, nor women
committed by the courts 70 the care
Of institutions under the control OF
religious or charitable organizations.
Excluding these from the figures for
1922. the comparable totals for the
two years are; 1922. 151.172; 1917
l40,is6.
eThese figures include prisoners
awaiting trial and a few persons
held as witnesses. as well as prison
ers serving sentence. The returns
were obtained in response TO a cir
cular OF inquiry which the Bureau
OF Census mailed TO the various in
stitutions. as a preliminary TO the
complete decennial census Of prison
ers which will be taken in 1928.
Federal Prisoners Increase
THE number OF prisoners in Fed
eral penitentiaries increased from
S.Ols on July /. 1917. to 5,54O, on
July 1, 1922. During the same
period the number of inmates Of
state prisons increased from 71,442
to 1853. and of county jails, from
41.S7l to 442S3. while persons con-
fined in city penal institutions Cn
Guiding police stations) decreased In
number from 1855 to 21.6S5.
The data as 20 prisoners in Fed
eral and State penal institutions are
presumably complete and accurate
FOR both 1922 and 1917. The com
bined total OF persons in such in
stitutions increased from 74.460 in
1917 10 S4.213 in 1922. the rate OF
Increase being 13.1 per cent. The |
rate Of increase in Federal prison /
ers was S3.6 per cent; in State pris- |
oners. IO.1 per cent. The ratio Of
Federal prisoners per 100000 popu-
lation increased from in 1917 to
ST. in 1922, aud the corresponding
ratio for State prisoners increased
during the same period from 72.4
10 74.5.
mo state prison is maintained In
and for Georgia the state
figures, which include prisoners in
chain or road gangs, are not com
parable with those for other States
Os the remaining as States, % show
Increases in the ratio of State pris-
oners per 100 600 population and
2s show decreases. OF the % States
in which the ratio increased, 10
show relatively low ratios for 1917,
he average for the entire group of
2s States being 5s.6 per 100000;
while Of the 23 States in which the
ratio decreased. IS show relatively
high ratios for 1917. the average for
the entire group being 92.4 per
100000. In other words. the ratio
decreased in most OF the States in |
which II was relatively high in 1917
and increased in most of the States
in which 1t was reiatively low in
that year. For example; Pennsyl- !
vania's low ratio of 4l.6 In 1917 in |
creased to 56.2 in 1929, while In
dianas high ratio OF lis in 1917 de-
clined to 101.1 in 1922. The in
creases somewhat more than count
erbalanced the decreases. however.
and thereby raised the ratio for the
United States from 72.4 in 1917 to
74.5 in 1922.
County and City Decline
The only fair comparison between
the county and city figures for the
two years is that made with aver
ages based on the total numbers Of
institutions for which. reports were
received (including those reporting
no prisoners). For county institu-
tions the average number OF pris-
oners decreased from 16.2 in 1917
TO 14.7 in 1929, and for city institu-
tons IL fell from 101 in the earlier
year to 8 in the later. The number
OF empty county jails and other
county institutions decreased from
523. or 24.2 per cent Of the total for
which reports were received. in 1917
to $50. or 1873 per cent of the total.
in 1922. On the other hand. the
number OF city institutions report
Ing no prisoners increased from
1,1s9 or 49.7 per cent OF the total.
in 1917 to 1890. or 51.3 per cent OF
the total. in 1922"
NJ. s. Plummer. warden OF the
New Castle County Workhouse. to-
day, said the population of that in
was more than 36 per cent
lower In June Of this year than June
80. 1917. In June, 1917, the num-
Der of prisoners in the workhouse
was 53S and on June 80, 1922, the
of prisoners there was 841.
Drug addicts have shown a big
increase since 1917" said Warden
Plummer. I'VE wouldn't have 200
persons in the worlhouse If we
rould do away with the drug addlcts.
Very few ever come back 60 the
workhouse for drunkenness.
Delaware has less crime per cap
ita than any other State. statistics
show. The reason for this is that
criminals are punished more quick
~ and more effectively than in most
States. There is very little. il any.
protection for criminals I'm Della
ware. and In my opinion, Whining
ton is one of the cleanest cities OF
its size in the United States"
Warden Plummer said "A prison
ers had been received at the work
house this month, Of whom nine
were for drunkenness The latter
mum Der is unusually large, he said.
the usual number OF prisoners for
drunkenness being about three per
month