Chapter I: Part 1

VOL. XV. TERMS:—ONE DOLLAR A YEAR IN NO. 1.
ADVANCE.

THE
JOURNAL
OF
PRISON DISCIPLINE
AND
=Philanthropy.=

PUBLISHED QUARTERLY

UNDER THE DIRECTION OF “THE PHILADELPHIA SOCIETY FOR ALLEVIATING THE
MISERIES OF PUBLIC PRISONS,” INSTITUTED 1787.

JANUARY, 1860.

PHILADELPHIA:
E. C. & J. BIDDLE & CO.
1860.

PRINTED BY HENRY B. ASHMEAD.

CONTENTS OF NO. 1.

PAGE.
ART. I.— New Gaol for the City of Baltimore 1
II.— Texas Penitentiary 7
III.— Criminal Statistics of England and Wales for 1858 17
IV.— Reformation of Female Discharged Convicts 25
V.— Irish Convict Prisons 36

BRIEF NOTICES. Escapes and Pardons 40 Early Crime 43 Compromising with Rogues 45 Consumption of Intoxicating Drinks 46 Prisons and Prisoners in South Carolina ib. Annual Census of the Philadelphia County Prison 47 A Quarter’s Police Work in New York ib. Alabama State Prison ib. New York Prison Association 48 Deliberate Murder by a Boy under Nine Years of age ib. Distribution of Labor in Paris ib. New Jersey State Prison ib.

NEW JAIL FOR THE CITY OF BALTIMORE, MD. THOS. & JAS. M. DIXON,
ARCH’TS.
]

REFERENCE:

A, vestibule; B, rooms for the warden and his deputies; C, guard room;
D, cells; E, galleries; F, corridors; G, sink rooms; H, boiler
house; I, clerk’s office; J, gate keeper’s room; K, clerk’s
vestibule; L, entrance gateway; M, parlor; N, hall; O, passage; P,
dining room; Q, kitchen; R, store room; S, pantry; T, privies; U,
kitchen yard; V, office yard; Y, vestibule to warden’s residence.
]

NEW JAIL FOR THE CITY OF BALTIMORE.—VIEW OF WARDEN’S RESIDENCE, LODGE,
AND ENTRANCE GATEWAY.

_Thos. & Jas. M. Dixon, Arch’ts_
]

JOURNAL

OF

PRISON DISCIPLINE.

VOL. XV.—JANUARY, 1860.—NO. 1.

ART. I.—NEW GAOL FOR THE CITY OF BALTIMORE.

We hear with unfeigned pleasure of any improvement in the construction of city and county gaols. Convinced as we have been for many years, and by testimony from innumerable sources, that in most of them we shall find a fruitful soil for the production and growth of criminal purposes and habits, we can conceive of few objects of municipal oversight which demand earlier or closer attention. What the gaol does to make a bad man worse, the penitentiary cannot easily undo. If a thief or burglar or counterfeiter, while waiting for trial or sentence, serves a few weeks’ or months’ apprenticeship to one or more adepts in those branches in a gaol, he is a very unpromising subject of penitentiary discipline. He is, perhaps, rather braced against any influences which may be employed to change his course of life, and buoyed up with the anticipation of pursuing his criminal projects under more favorable circumstances, and with greater skill and success, upon the termination of his sentence.

So deep are our convictions of the immeasurable evils inflicted on the community by bad gaols, that we accept an attempt to improve them, in any respect, as a token of good. If a cell that was dirty yesterday is clean to-day—if the sexes are separated—if, instead of allowing prisoners to herd together day and night, they are separated by night—if for darkness, dampness and a pestilential atmosphere, the light and air have free access—if, in a word, there is some decent respect shown to the species represented in these suspected and perhaps fallen, degraded, and certainly discreditable specimens of it—we take courage.

Of course we are prepared to congratulate our fellow-citizens of Baltimore, on the completion of a new and imposing city gaol. And though we could have wished they had adopted the principle of individual separation—which we cannot but regard as indispensable under any system, both as the _duty_ of society and as the _right_ of the offender—still, a well-constructed, wholesome prison, properly governed, does credit to the wisdom and humanity of the public authorities, and will, in the end, prove altogether the most economical.

The following description of the gaol, illustrated as it is by the accompanying engravings, will give our readers the means of judging for themselves of the design and character of the new edifice:

The jail stands in close proximity to the penitentiary, and comprises
a centre building, and north and south wings.

There is a block of cells in each of the two wings, 15 cells in
length, 2 in width, and 5 stories in height, making 300 cells in the
two wings, for the confinement of prisoners.

These two wings are on what is known as the “Auburn plan,” being a
prison within a prison. The cells are surrounded by corridors formed
between the block of cells and the exterior walls.

The cells are 8 feet by 11 feet, and about 10 feet high, they are
built of bricks, with segment and arched ceilings, and brick floors;
each cell has an iron grated door and window opening into the
corridors. The corridors are 13 feet wide, and have floors of hard
flag stone on a level with the floors of the first story cells, they
are open from this floor to the top of the upper story cells.

All of the cells above the first story are reached by galleries and
staircases of iron. Each cell has a ventilating flue constructed in
the wall, with an opening into the lower part of the flue for the
reception of the prisoner’s night pail, to be closed with an iron
slide, and another opening near the top of the cell for ventilation,
which is also provided with an iron slide, by which it may be closed.
These flues all open into a large ventiduct constructed on the tops of
the blocks of cells, the vitiated air is taken from the cells through
these flues and airducts, by means of large ejecting ventilators,
placed on the roof and connected with the ventiducts.

Light and air is admitted in abundance by the large windows in the
exterior walls.

There are five sink rooms in each of the four corner towers, making
one sink room for each range of fifteen cells; the iron galleries are
continued across the corridors to the sink rooms, and each one is
fitted up with an enamelled iron hopper and trap, through which the
contents of the night pails are discharged into the soil pipes and
sewers; there is also an iron sink with a sufficient supply of water.
Each sink room has two windows for light and ventilation.

There is a tank in the upper story of each of the four towers to
insure a constant and adequate supply of water.

The guard room in the centre building is 57 feet 6 inches by 59 feet 6
inches, and about 38 feet high, and is separated from the wings by
heavy iron screens or gratings, to confine the prisoners to the
corridors and galleries of each wing at such times as they may be
allowed privileges outside of the cells; these screens are constructed
so as not to obstruct the view into the wings from the guard room. The
corridors, stairs and galleries of the wings all being in full view
from the guard room—the floor of which is on a level with the lower
gallery of the wings, and is formed of 144 plates of cast iron,
supported on rolled iron beams, so arranged as to form a bearing for
all the four sides of each plate, the beams being supported by nine
iron columns and the four side walls. The guard room is lighted by
three very large windows. The only entrance to either the north or
south wing is through the guard room.

The kitchen, in which all the cooking, baking, washing, &c. will be
done, is under the guard room and on a level with the first story of
cells, and is of the same size as the guard room, and 11 feet high.

The cooking and the heating water for the various purposes is all to
be done by steam, and the baking in two brick ovens. The kitchen is
lighted by three windows in the east side, two angle windows in the
west side, and 4 floor lights, taking the place of four of the iron
plates of the guard room floor.

There are two rooms in the front part of the centre building on a
level with the kitchen for the reception of prisoners, one on each
side of a vestibule through which they are entered—they are fitted up
with iron bath tubs, water closets, and a fumigating oven for the
purpose of cleansing the filthy before placing them in their cells.

The entrance to these reception rooms is under the landing of the
steps to the upper vestibule, and there is an iron staircase from the
lower to the upper vestibule, by which the prisoners are taken from
the reception rooms or lower entrance to the guard room and cells.

The two rooms in the front part of the centre building, on a level
with the guard room, are for the use of the warden and his deputies.

There are six rooms in the front part of the centre building for the
confinement of witnesses, or for privilege rooms, four of which are
about 20 feet square, and the other two about 15 feet square; these
rooms have private water closets, and are supplied with water, they
have high ceilings, are well ventilated, light, pleasant, and
cheerful; they are approached by private staircases in the two towers
of the front part of the centre building, and are connected with the
galleries of the north and south wings by a gallery on the west side
of the guard room.

There are three hospital rooms in the upper story of the front part of
the centre building, they have private water closets, bath tubs, with
warm and cold water, and shower, they can be reached from the cells of
the north and south wings by the gallery through the guard room and
iron staircases, and also from the stairs in the front towers; they
are well lighted and ventilated.

There is a water tank in the upper part of the centre building to
supply the kitchen, water closets, baths, wash basins, &c.

The chapel is in the upper part of the centre building over the guard
room. It will seat over 400 persons. There is an entrance to it from
each of the wings, and also from the front part of the centre
building. It is about 22 feet high, well lighted and ventilated, and
so planned that the prisoners can be separated into classes if deemed
desirable. The chapel floor is supported by two double lattice wrought
iron girders.

There are ventilating flues and ejecting ventilators constructed in
all parts of the centre building, and all of the windows and other
openings throughout, are made secure by wrought iron gratings. All the
floors are on iron beams and brick arches. The building is thoroughly
fire proof in all parts except the chapel and roof framing, and is
warmed by steam from two large boilers located in the boiler house on
the east side of the jail, and lighted at night by gas. There is a
thorough system of drainage from all of the waste pipes, soil pipes,
and rain water pipes, through brick drains and sewers to Jones’ Falls,
a stream running within about 200 feet of the jail.

The entrance gateway and lodge, the clerk’s office and the residence
for the warden, are on the south side of the jail lot, fronting on
Madison street. There are two chambers over the lodge and office on
the east side of the gateway. In the Warden’s residence, on the west
side of the gateway, there is a kitchen, dining room, parlor, five
chambers, and bath room, with hall passages, pantry, store rooms and
closets, and all other requisite appurtenances and conveniences for
the comfortable accommodation of a family. The yard for the warden’s
residence is separated from the jail yard by a stone wall and iron
gate.

The prisoners are received and discharged through the gates on Madison
street.

The exterior walls of the jail and other buildings are all of stone,
together with all the corbels, copings, quoins, chimney tops, &c. The
base, up to the second range of window sills, is of granite, cut and
set in large blocks. The walls above the base are of light blue stone,
laid in rubbled masonry, with splayed jambs and arches. The window
sills above the basement, and the quoins, corbels, copings and other
dressings are of marble. The roofs are of slate. The interior walls,
arches, &c., are all of brick.

The site is a good one, being easy of access from all parts of the
city, and convenient to the court house and penitentiary. There is
ample space on all sides for a free circulation of air. The lot has a
gentle ascent to the north and east, and a dry self-draining gravel
sub-soil. Its proximity to Jones’ Falls, and its elevation above the
water level, affords the best means of drainage.

In designing this prison and working out the various details of the
plan, we endeavored to carry out the following general principles,
viz:

1. Confinement of prisoners in separate cells, so far as deemed
desirable.

2. Separation into classes.

3. The cells so arranged that their doors and windows may have open
gratings, and yet so as that a prisoner cannot from his cell see into
any other cells or into any other part of the building except the
corridor opposite his own cell.

4. The corridors so arranged and located that prisoners can, with
convenience and safety, be allowed privileges in them.

5. Pleasant and convenient yet perfectly secure rooms, for the
confinement of witnesses, entirely separate from the other parts of
the prison.

6. No apartment for the confinement of a prisoner to be below the
surface of the ground.

7. An unobstructed view of the corridors, galleries and stairs from
the guard room.

8. Central location for the kitchen, the chapel and all other offices.

9. Convenient means of ingress and egress.

10. Such an arrangement of plan as would secure the greatest benefit
of sunshine on the exterior walls and into the corridors and rooms,
and admit of the free movements of the currents of air around and
throughout the building.

11. An abundant supply of water, properly distributed throughout all
parts of the prison, and a suitable number of bath tubs, water
closets, hoppers and sinks to promote cleanliness among the prisoners
and in the prison.

12. The sink rooms so located and arranged as to prevent their
contaminating the atmosphere of the prison.

13. Effectual means for warming, and a thorough system of ventilation,
and means for admitting an abundant supply of fresh air and light to
all parts of the building.

14. All parts of the building in which the prisoners are to be
confined to be thoroughly fire proof, and to be so secure as to
preclude all hope of escape therefrom.

15. Hospital rooms to be conveniently located in a quiet part of the
building.

16. The residence for the Warden’s family not to be in the jail, but
on the jail lot, and very convenient to the entrance to the jail.

17. Simplicity and economy, in plan and construction, so far as
consistent with the other essential requirements.

And finally to provide, by every possible means consistent with
security, a proper degree of economy and a salutary discipline for the
healthfulness, comfort and convenience of the prisoners; for while a
prison is a place of confinement for criminals or persons charged with
crime, and as such should be made so secure as to shut out all
reasonable hope of escape, that the proper ends of justice may be met,
yet humanity and indeed justice herself demands that the life and
health of the prisoners shall be carefully protected, and every
suitable means afforded them for repentance and moral improvement.

The architectural style of the building is castellated Gothic, and
presents in the durable stone of which the building is erected those
simple, yet bold, strong and massive features which convey the idea of
fitness—that basis of all proportion—which affords to us an emotion of
pleasure, or that feeling of satisfaction arising from the
contemplation of means properly adapted to their end, and possessing
those qualities of order and harmony which excite our admiration. Any
attempt at mere architectural display, by elaborate ornamentation or
expensive finish, would have been the work of supererogation.
Propriety and fitness forbid the use of elaborate embellishment.
Strength and security should be the most prominent features in the
design for a prison, that it may by its austere beauty wear a suitable
expression, and thus proclaim with truthfulness the purpose for which
it is designed.

The total cost of gaol, warden’s residence, heating, cooking, &c., is not far from $290,000.

ART. II.—TEXAS PENITENTIARY.

In March, 1848, the Legislature of Texas, in pursuance of a provision in the State Constitution, passed an act authorizing the Governor to appoint three Commissioners to select a location, and report the details, for the erection of a Penitentiary; the action of the Commissioners to be subject to the approval of the Governor. After careful and full consideration of the comparative advantages of the several sites offered, the town of Huntsville, the county seat of Walker county, was selected, and the selection approved.

Walker county lies just under the thirty-first degree of north latitude, and between the eighteenth and nineteenth degrees of longitude west from Washington; and the Trinity river forms its north-eastern boundary. Huntsville is very nearly the geographical centre of the county, and is about one hundred and twenty miles a little west of north from Galveston; and about one hundred and sixty miles north of west from Austin, the capital of the State. The town stands upon a low gravelly ridge, bare of trees, and with deep ravines upon three sides. Some few scattered houses, as well as Austin College and the Andrew Female College, are built upon corresponding ridges, which rise on the opposite sides of these ravines. There is no extended growth of heavy timber in the immediate vicinity of the town. The approach from the east for some five or six miles, is through a sandy region covered with a dense growth of scrub oak and underbrush. Upon the west and south the country is more open, gradually merging into the rolling prairies of Grimes and Washington counties. Small streams run through the ravines and find their way into the lesser branches of the Trinity and San Jacinto rivers; but the supply of water is irregular and the ravines are often dry. The situation is a healthy one, the air pure and bracing, and the climate favorable. The town is regularly incorporated, and has from sixteen hundred to seventeen hundred inhabitants.

Upon the eastern outskirt of the town, on both sides of the main road from the lower Red River country, are the buildings and grounds of the Penitentiary. The main buildings and enclosure are upon the southern side of the road, and extend back down the slope of the ravine, with a gradual and slight descent. Upon the opposite side of the road are the storehouse and warehouse: the storehouse, which includes under the same roof the offices and residence of the Financial Agent, is sixty feet front by fifty deep, and two stories high; the warehouse is about forty feet front by fifty deep, and two stories high. The two buildings are separated from each other by an open space of some two hundred feet front; the intervening ground, together with a considerable lot in the rear extending back of the storehouse and warehouse, is mostly under cultivation as a vegetable garden for the convicts. The warehouse is used for storing the wool and cotton for the factory. In the storehouse are kept the manufactured goods for sale. The front of the Penitentiary faces north, and extends a distance of some three hundred feet directly upon the road without any intervening fence or wall. The storehouse and warehouse are immediately opposite the respective extremities of the front, the main entrance of the Penitentiary in the centre, facing the open space above mentioned. The front elevation consists of a centre building some sixty feet front and three stories high, with two wings, each one hundred and twenty feet long and two stories high. The entire front presents one uniform extent of brick wall upon the same line for the whole distance, unbroken by any recesses or openings except the large, but plain, arched gateway in the centre and the rows of windows; and unrelieved by a single projection or attempt at ornamental or architectural display. The only thing to relieve the monotonous uniformity of the front is the additional story upon the centre building. The bricks of which all the Penitentiary buildings are built are made in the neighborhood, and are coarse and of a dingy red color.

At the main entrance, the large, solid, double leafed door, which mostly stands wide open in the day time, is stationed a guard, armed with a six-shooter in his belt, and a double-barreled shot-gun, loaded with buck-shot and ready capped, in his hands. An admission fee of twenty-five cents is charged for each visitor, and the amount received goes into the general accounts of the prison, and very nearly defrays the expense of the extra guard who is kept for the express purpose of waiting on visitors through the establishment. Any one, however, who has a higher motive than mere curiosity, and desires to examine the condition and management of the Penitentiary through an interest in the subject of prisons and prison discipline, and will make himself known to the Superintendent, will always be courteously received and every facility afforded for his inquiries and observations without charge. Passing through the archway, the visitor is admitted by the guard through the large grated iron gate which closes its inner end, into the yard of the prison. In the middle of the yard is a two story log-house, used now as the shoemaker’s shop, but built originally as a place of confinement for the convicts who were employed in the erection of the Penitentiary. The entire space enclosed within the limits of the prison walls is about three hundred feet square: the enclosure upon the northern side is formed by the front or main building; the southern side of the enclosure and the portions of the eastern and western sides adjacent thereto, are shut in by substantial brick walls; while the rest of the eastern and western sides is formed by ranges of buildings connected with the main edifice. Just within the prison wall upon the southern side of the yard is the factory, a substantial building of brick, two stories high and two hundred and seventy feet long by fifty deep. Both cotton and woolen goods, chiefly of the coarser kind in demand for plantation wear, are manufactured. The establishment of the factory was authorized by the Legislature at the session of 1853 and 1854, and an appropriation made for the erection of the building, and the purchase of the necessary machinery. Carding and spinning were commenced in June, 1856, and the first loom started late in July of the same year. Steam power is used to drive the machinery, and the factory has been kept steadily in operation from the time of its commencement, the number of looms having been gradually increased as the success of the undertaking developed itself. The machinery was all made in Massachusetts.

The results of the employment of convict labor in this department of manufactures, is regarded by the Directors and officers of the Penitentiary, as a decided pecuniary success; and the Osnaburgs and woolens made here bear a high reputation throughout the State, and are undoubtedly of most excellent quality and finish.

The centre building of the front is about forty feet deep, and is occupied for the offices and residence of the Superintendent and other prison officers, except the Financial Agent. The lower story is curtailed in room by the archway passing through its entire depth, and affording access for vehicles as well as persons to the prison yard. The wings are occupied entirely for cells: these are built in three tiers one above the other from the floor (which is but slightly raised from the level of the ground) to the roof. The tiers of cells are entirely separated from the exterior walls of the building by corridors about six feet wide, which are open from the floor to the roof of the buildings; access to the cells in the second and third tiers being had from narrow galleries reached by stairways, one at the end of each wing nearest the centre building. One of the buildings upon the western side of the square is also occupied for cells arranged in similar tiers. Each cell is eight feet long by five wide, and eight feet high. The door of each is a grating of cross-barred iron, and affords the only means of ventilation and the only access for light; and as the doors are but five feet high, with the bottom edge on a level with the floor, the ventilation is necessarily imperfect. All the air is introduced from the corridors, and the windows of the corridors which open to the outer air, are small in size and not very numerous. The corridors, however, are sufficiently lighted for all ordinary purposes, except perhaps on very dark days. The interior of the cells and the walls of the corridors are kept thoroughly whitewashed. There are no water closets in the cells, but each is furnished with a movable vessel. In addition to the cot with its bedding, each cell is provided with a small table and stool, and a few have some one or two other small articles of furniture. There is no uniformity of neatness or cleanliness in the cells, the care of each being entrusted to its occupant; and beyond a certain, not very high standard, no special attention to these matters is enforced.

The buildings upon the eastern and western sides of the prison yard, afford accommodations for the cook-house or kitchen, blacksmith and wagon shops, in addition to a range of cells. The meals are all served to the prisoners in the cells—breakfast before they leave in the morning, and supper after their return at night. For dinner they are mustered from their work at the ringing of the bell at noon, marched back to their cells, and after dinner conducted again to their work. The provisions are of good quality and well cooked. The rations per day of each convict are, a pound and a half of beef, or three quarters of a pound of mess pork or bacon, and a pound and a half of corn-meal. Sometimes mutton is furnished in place of the beef, and the fresh meat is given on alternate days. To each hundred rations there are allowed six pounds of sugar, five pounds of coffee, fourteen pounds of flour, three pounds of soap, sufficient salt, vinegar and pepper for seasoning, three gallons of molasses, eight quarts of beans or peas, and vegetables whenever they can be procured. _Each convict who chews tobacco has one half plug per week furnished him._

The floors and ceilings of the cells and the roofs of the prison buildings are of wood, and a few years since the prisoners occupying three cells one over the other, made their escape by cutting through the floors and roof, and so getting down upon the outside. Since that occurrence the prisoners have been searched regularly twice a-day—once when they return to their cells for dinner, and again at supper time.

There were one hundred and eighty-two convicts in the Penitentiary at the time of our first visit, and two others were brought in on the day of our second visit. One cannot but be struck with the number of Mexicans, easily distinguishable by their dark complexions; long, straight, jet-black hair, and piercing black eyes. A very large proportion of the convicts are imprisoned for horse stealing, the most common form of larceny in this State; and which is very severely punished, the sentences ranging as high as fifteen years. There were no negroes in the prison. But very few free negroes are met with in the State; and for the higher classes of offences for which a white man or free negro would be sent to the Penitentiary, a slave is hung. The outer clothing of the convicts consists of a round jacket and pantaloons of the goods manufactured in the Penitentiary, cotton in summer and woolen in winter, with black wool hats. The jacket and pantaloons are each one-half dark and the other half light colored—the dark half of the jacket and the light half of the pantaloons being on the same side of the body, and _vice versa_. Osnaburg shirts, brogans, and wool socks complete the dress, each article of which bears a number corresponding with the cell occupied by the wearer; the numbers upon the articles of outer clothing being large and conspicuous.

All convicts who can read are furnished with a copy of the Bible, the Mexicans with Bibles in the Spanish language. They are also permitted to read such other religious or moral works as the Chaplain may approve. They can have but little opportunity for reading except on Sundays, when they are confined in their cells all day, with the exception of the time of public worship. The Chaplain preaches regularly on the Sabbath twice a-day. There is no chapel or hall provided for assembling the convicts. The convicts are marched out of their cells, each bringing his stool with him, and ranged along the opposite sides of one of the long narrow corridors, in no very strict or regular order. The Chaplain stands about the middle of the corridor, while at each end are the guards fully armed; the Superintendent is also present.

By a special enactment of the Legislature, the front of the cell of any prisoner sentenced to solitary confinement for life, is painted black, and his name and sentence distinctly marked thereon. The object would seem to be to infuse a salutary dread into the minds of the other prisoners. Upon the only black-painted cell in the prison was the following inscription, in distinct white letters: _William Brown, aged twenty-four years, convicted for murder in Grimes County, spring term, 1858, for which he is now suffering solitary confinement for life_. Brown himself, however, was in fact at work in the factory with the other convicts! He entered the Penitentiary in May, 1859, and had been kept in close confinement in his cell, _without labor_, never being permitted to leave it for any purpose, until about the first of October, when his health was found to have suffered so much that, to preserve his life, he was, under a discretionary power vested in the Directors, released from the rigor of his sentence, and subjected to only the ordinary confinement of the prison. His health had since greatly improved. It is not to be wondered at that his health should decline under the strict enforcement of such a sentence. The cell in which he was confined was the same as to size, ventilation, and light as the rest; and being one of the lower tier of cells, the top of the doorway was some feet below the lower edge of the windows upon the opposite side of the corridor in the outside wall. He had even less chance for fresh air than if his cell had been in almost any other location. It is the sight and knowledge of such instances of solitary _unemployed_ confinement as this, and a wilful neglect or refusal to inform themselves upon, and recognize, the very wide distinction between the terms _separate_ and _solitary_, that renders many persons so violently prejudiced against, and opposed to the “Separate System.”

There were but three female convicts. One was undergoing a sentence for arson, and the other two had been convicted of murder. One of these latter occupied a cell immediately under one in which her husband was suffering imprisonment, as an accomplice of his wife in the crime for which she was sentenced. She had murdered her father, to get his money. The husband of the other woman had died, in prison, but a few weeks previous to our visit. He, too, had been convicted as an accomplice of his wife; the victim of their crime being a niece of the wife, who had excited her jealousy.

Each prisoner occupies his own separate cell at night and during meal-times. Among the prisoners was a boy of seventeen, who had been sent there for want of any better place for him: his offence was stabbing. In consequence of his youth, he was not subjected to the same strictness of discipline as the other convicts, and was allowed many privileges, occasionally even being allowed to sleep in the same cell with another convict. His opportunities of intercourse with the others must have been frequent, and the association will, in all probability, prove most disastrous in its consequences. His return to the Penitentiary, in the course of a few years at most, can be calculated on with reasonable certainty. Whatever disposition he may show, or whatever efforts he may make, upon his release, to lead a proper life,—all will be neutralized, almost inevitably, by the knowledge of the fact that he has been a convict in the penitentiary; and some of those who have been his fellow-convicts, of a more hardened experience in crime, will be constantly on the watch to lead him astray, and with an influence of great power.

The grades of punishment for refractory convicts are: 1st. Confinement in the dark cell. 2d. Confinement on bread and water. 3d. Confinement, and deprivation of tobacco. 4th. Irons, with or without confinement. 5th. Standing in the stocks. Flogging is also permitted, but only by special order of the Directors, to whom the Superintendent reports any case he may think deserving of that punishment, and the Directors decide on the expediency of the infliction. It cannot, however, in any case, exceed one hundred lashes, and is administered with a leather strap.

In case any of the prisoners escape, one of the guards has some two or three hounds trained to catch runaways, and used to track the fugitives. As some of the prisoners are employed outside the prison yard, about the storehouse and warehouse, and in the garden, the opportunity thus presented, for attempting an escape, is sometimes improved; and the dogs are then brought into use. Escape, however, is a matter of difficulty; and the attempt, even, is hazardous: for, in addition to the armed guard at the main entrance, the immediate vicinity of the prison premises is further watched and protected by armed guards, on duty constantly, in guard-houses a little distance from the walls, outside,—one at each corner, and one opposite the middle of each side, except the front.

Visitors are not allowed to hold any communication with the convicts, either by word or sign; nor are the master-workmen allowed to hold any conversation with them, except in giving necessary information or direction concerning their work. The master-workmen are also forbidden to converse, in the hearing of convicts, with other persons on matters foreign to their work. The convicts are also prohibited from holding any communication among themselves; but the impossibility of preventing this entirely, was manifest, and, indeed, was frankly admitted. The friends and relatives of any convict are permitted to see and converse with him, in the presence of the Superintendent, at his discretion.

The officers of the Penitentiary are,—a Superintendent, Financial Agent, and three Directors; all of whom are appointed by the Governor, for four years. In addition to these, the master-workmen, physician, chaplain, sergeant of the guard, and steward, are considered as officers of the prison, and all hold their appointments from the Directors. The salaries of the Superintendent and Financial Agent are $1,500 per annum, each; of the Directors, $250 each; of the Physician, $500; and of the Chaplain, $250.

The present Superintendent is Col. J. H. Murray, who has been in office some eighteen months. He is a gentleman of liberal and intelligent views, and feels the responsibilities of his office. To his courtesy and attention we were indebted for the opportunity of obtaining much of the foregoing information. The present Chaplain is a Presbyterian; but ministers of other denominations occasionally supply his place. Any convict who may wish is allowed to see a clergyman of his own particular denomination. The Directors are required to visit the Penitentiary at least twice in each month, and to report to the Legislature biennially.

A few words as to the County Prisons of Texas. The only opportunity which offered for visiting a county jail was at Brenham, Washington County. The jail building stands near the court house, a little off from the public square, in the centre of the town, and is without enclosure of any kind. It is a plain, two story building, about twenty-five feet square, built of a double thickness of hewed logs. A narrow corridor runs around the inside of the lower story, and surrounds the dungeon, which is the only room upon this story, and has walls of a triple thickness of logs. The entrance to the dungeon is through a heavy iron trap-door in the floor of the second story. The single door of the jail itself opens directly from the street into the corridor. The second story has but two apartments, which occupy its entire extent; and one of these is appropriated for female prisoners, when there are any. There was but one occupant, a man, at the time of our visit. A short time previous, a prisoner had been confined in the dungeon, awaiting his trial on a charge of murder, but had succeeded in making his escape, in which he must have had assistance from the outside. No jailer or other officer lives at the jail, nor is any special watch kept. The only furniture was a rude stool or two, and a few bed-clothes, laid upon the bare floor. There are no windows in the building, and a few narrow, horizontal openings in the log-walls, secured with iron bars, afford the only supplies of light and air; no shutters, sashes, or other means of closing these openings are provided. There is no provision made for warming the prison, and the cold must sometimes be severe, especially during the prevalence of the Northers. The jail is in charge of the Sheriff, and the food of the prisoners depends altogether upon his discretion. It is possible, that in Galveston, and perhaps in one or two other places, the County Prisons may be upon a better plan, but in none of them is the separate system in force. The prisoners, untried as well as convicts, have an almost unrestrained intercourse. From all that we could learn, it is to be feared that the jails of many of the Counties are even less comfortable than the one at Brenham. But very many things combine to render it peculiarly difficult to awaken the public mind of Texas to the necessity and importance of a careful consideration of the subject of Prison Discipline.

ART. III.—CRIMINAL STATISTICS OF ENGLAND AND WALES FOR 1858.

To the statesman and political economist, not less than to the Christian philanthropist, an inquiry into the sources and extent of crime, and the number, condition and previous history of criminals cannot be without interest. Scarcely a day passes in our chief cities, without the occurrence of some startling outrage upon the public peace, or on the person or property of the citizen. Scarcely a newspaper can be taken up, which does not contain a record more or less in detail of acts of violence and fraud. Why are they not prevented? What provokes their perpetration? How are the guilty parties punished, and what is the effect of their punishment on themselves or others?

In the absence (to our shame be it said) of reliable statistics on such subjects in our own country, we are compelled to resort to the elaborate and authentic reports made to the British government. And as the vicious dispositions and passions of men are the same there as here, and the temptations to crime, as well as crimes themselves and the methods of perpetrating them, do not materially differ in the two countries, we find great satisfaction and instruction in the information they furnish.

In our last number we gave an abstract of the criminal statistics of England and Wales for 1857. Since that time we have received the more full and complete returns for 1858. We do not propose to notice the same class of items to which our former article adverted, but to cull a few facts and results of general and universal interest, which were not then ascertained. The following table exhibits a significant class of facts.

┌───────────────┬───────────┬────────────┬───────────┬───────────┬───────────┐ │ CITIES AND │ │ Criminal │ │ │ │ │ TOWNS. │ │ Classes, │ Per Cent. │ │ Per Cent. │ │ │ │ including │ of │Prostitutes│ of │ │ │Population.│Prostitutes.│Population.│separately.│Population.│ ├───────────────┼───────────┼────────────┼───────────┼───────────┼───────────┤ │1. Metropolis │ │ │ │ │ │ │ of London and│ │ │ │ │ │ │ fifteen miles│ │ │ │ │ │ │ round, │ 2,545,000│ 14,294│ 1 in 178│ 7,104│ 1 in 354│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │2. Pleasure │ │ │ │ │ │ │ towns, as │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Bath, │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Brighton, │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Ramsgate, &c.│ 198,000│ 2,085│ 1 in 95│ 839│ 1 in 236│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │3. Eight towns │ │ │ │ │ │ │ depending on │ │ │ │ │ │ │ agricultural │ │ │ │ │ │ │ districts, │ 160,557│ 2,056│ 1 in 78│ 690│ 1 in 232│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │4. Ten │ │ │ │ │ │ │ commercial │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ports, │ │ │ │ │ │ │ including │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Liverpool, │ 905,820│ 9,674│ 1 in 93│ 5,346│ 1 in 169│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │5. Ten cotton │ │ │ │ │ │ │ and linen │ │ │ │ │ │ │ manufacturing│ │ │ │ │ │ │ towns, │ │ │ │ │ │ │ including │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Manchester │ │ │ │ │ │ │ and │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Stockport, │ 758,163│ 4,910│ 1 in 164│ 1,429│ 1 in 530│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │6. Six woolen │ │ │ │ │ │ │ and worsted │ │ │ │ │ │ │ manufacturing│ │ │ │ │ │ │ towns, │ 380,860│ 2,168│ 1 in 175│ 490│ 1 in 777│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │7. Small and │ │ │ │ │ │ │ mixed textile│ │ │ │ │ │ │ manufacturing│ │ │ │ │ │ │ towns, │ 263,984│ 2,329│ 1 in 113│ 611│ 1 in 432│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │8. Three │ │ │ │ │ │ │ hardware │ │ │ │ │ │ │ manufacturing│ │ │ │ │ │ │ towns, │ │ │ │ │ │ │ including │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Birmingham │ │ │ │ │ │ │ and │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Sheffield, │ 418,130│ 8,720│ 1 in 47│ 860│ 1 in 486│ └───────────────┴───────────┴────────────┴───────────┴───────────┴───────────┘

The reader cannot fail to be impressed by the singular disproportion in the number belonging to the criminal ranks, observed on comparing these different groups of towns, classed according to the predominant occupation or business of the inhabitants. There is no doubt that the incentives to a lawless life are much more numerous and powerful at certain times and places than at others. It would be easy to indicate probable causes for such discrepancies, and to trace their connection with particular phases of crime, but that is not relevant to our present purpose.

From the tabular view, it would seem that the criminal class is highest in the great seats of hardware manufacture; next in towns in rural districts; then in commercial ports; next in pleasure towns; then in towns employed in small textile manufactures; then in cotton manufacturing towns; next in woolen manufacturing towns; and last in the metropolis. But in the number of prostitutes the order is materially changed, the largest proportion being in the commercial ports, and the smallest in the woolen and worsted manufacturing towns,—the metropolis being considerably below the average.

There is a remarkable variation both in the general criminal classes, and in the specific crime of prostitution in different agricultural districts.

In the eastern agriculturing district the criminal per centage is 1 in 113— Prostitutes 1 in 1122 In the south and south-western 1 in 104 „ 1 in 1829 In the midland district 1 in 103 „ 1 in 1307

The present returns show that only the very small proportion of about one-fifth of the known criminal classes are in prison at any one time.

Of the parties proceeded against by indictment, nearly one-fourth were of “previous good character;” and of those proceeded against summarily, full one-half were of “previous good character,” and of both classes fourteen per cent. of both sexes were under sixteen!

Considering that until very recently, at least 4000 of the worst criminals were annually removed from the country by transportation, and that though a much more efficient police system has been in force, yet the number of commitments has not been sensibly increased, the inference is drawn that a better system of prevention prevails, and that better prison management has led to the absorption of a large number of discharged prisoners in honest employments.

There are in the country—

Houses for receiving stolen goods 3,122
Houses to which thieves and prostitutes resort, viz.:
Public houses 2,402
Beer shops 2,151
Coffee shops 386
Other suspected houses 2,157 7,096
Brothels and houses of ill fame 7,915
Tramps’ lodging houses 6,987
——————
Total houses of bad character 25,120

A curious comparison is given of crimes and arrests. The number of known crimes of a grave character against the person, and all violent offences against property (excluding offences dealt with summarily by magistrates) were 57,868.

Crimes. Arrests.
January, February and March 15,785 7,950
April, May and June 12,895 6,982
July, August and September 12,592 6,698
October, November and December 16,596 8,828
—————— ——————
Total 57,868 30,458

The greater prevalence of crime in the winter months is accounted for on the ground that employment is more scarce, and the prolonged hours of darkness afford greater opportunities to commit it. It is obvious that the return of crimes committed embraces but an inconsiderable portion of the overt criminal acts in the community. During the period covered by it, there were upwards of 40,000 known thieves and depredators, and 40,000 suspected persons at large. The former living by thieving must thieve to live, and it is “clear that a large amount of petty depredations occur, which, with every allowance for the large summary jurisdiction exercised in cases of theft, is not represented in the return, as well as many continued domestic thefts and frauds which are never detected, or never brought within the cognizance of the police.”

There is an item in the present report which suggests some inquiries that we should be inclined to pursue if we had space and time. The common impression is, that men do not _suddenly_ leave the path of honesty and become rogues as it were by a leap. There may be no overt act attracting the notice or exciting the suspicion of the most intimate associates, as a partner in business, a colleague in office, or a fellow workman or clerk; but nevertheless subsequent revelations usually show that the crooked path was entered cautiously, by reluctant and hesitating steps, and some distance trod before there was boldness enough to take the fatal step. We apprehend this impression is warranted,—perhaps it is confirmed, rather than weakened,—by the facts here disclosed. It is undoubtedly true that delinquencies of a positive and unequivocal character are often kept private, and the offending parties, after a brief interval, betake themselves again to evil courses; and when some act of gross turpitude is exposed, it is regarded as the first development of a depraved character, whereas in fact it is only the last of a long series of criminal acts. How far such concealment is justifiable, or to what extent it is the means of saving persons from an abandonment to a criminal life, we are not prepared to say. But cases are not rare in which a desire to save an individual from infamy, and perhaps a circle of friends from mortification, has induced confidence to be reposed where it was undeserved, and so has been the means of much deeper injury to much higher interests. Very few instances occur in which a grave offence is committed, especially against property, by parties who had never before been known to swerve from honesty.

The present report shows, that of 30,458 persons, 5,398 were of previous good character, and 7,886 were known to be of bad character. Out of 404,034 proceeded against summarily, 148,178 were of “previous good character,” and of 130,502 it was not known to be bad.

The Report of Coroner’s inquests for the year gives a total of 19,846, against 20,167 in 1857, and 22,221 in 1856. The diminution is ascribed to the fact that in 1856 the rule was established not to allow the expenses of inquests when it turned out that the death ensued from natural causes, and without any ground to suspect a criminal act or culpable neglect; and it is also alleged, that police officers are not disposed to give notice of cases that might properly fall under the Coroner’s investigation. There is, certainly, a singular uniformity in the operation of the causes that result in death by violence and accident. When we think of the changes in the condition of society—the fluctuations of business—and the excitements of passion, it seems scarcely credible that so comparatively slight a variation should occur in a succession of years; for example:—

┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────┬─────┬─────┬─────┐ │ │1858.│1857.│1856.│ ├───────────────────────────────────────────────────┼─────┼─────┼─────┤ │Murder │ 183│ 184│ 205│ │Manslaughter │ 197│ 187│ 271│ │Justifiable Homicide │ 4│ 6│ 6│ │Suicide, or Self-murder │1,275│1,349│1,314│ │Accidental Death │8,947│8,930│9,716│ │Injuries from causes unknown │ 764│ 237│ 424│ │Found dead │2,611│2,949│3,183│ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────┴─────┴─────┴─────┘

Only 1 difference in the murders of 1857 and 1858, only 10 in manslaughter, and only 17 in accidental deaths; and in suicides, only 35 difference between 1856 and 1857.

It is worthy of remark that, of the 19,846 inquests held, 5,517 were children seven years old or under, and 3,318 were aged or infirm persons over sixty; showing that 44½ per cent. were persons least able to protect themselves from accident or injury. The average cost of each inquest was $15 dollars.

The total number of convicts in custody during the year was 11,292, of whom 1,326 were women. Of the whole number, 110 died, 3 escaped, and only 36 were pardoned! The daily average, for the year, was 7,859, and the annual cost of each prisoner was $157.50, or about 42 cents per day. This sum is subject to a reduction to the extent of the value of their labor.

The Reformatory Schools have risen from 1 in 1854, to 47 in 1858; and the number of inmates, from 21 to 700. To these schools, the government allows $1.75 per week, for each inmate; and the Managers have authority to require a contribution from the parents, when able. From the former source $127,844 were received, and from parents $3,738; showing the cost of each inmate, under these items alone, to be $187 per annum; and the Report has no allusion to their labor as of any value. The average cost in any House of Refuge in the United States, with which we are acquainted, does not much exceed $100.

There is now an extension of the system of Reformatory Schools, which will doubtless prove of much value. The law authorizes a provisional commitment, to certified industrial schools, of children taken into custody on a charge of vagrancy,—after due inquiry into the condition of their parents, and of the circumstances of their arrest,—to be detained till fifteen years of age, unless suitable provision is made for their care and employment elsewhere. The present (1859) is the first year of its operation.

It is not easy even to approximate an estimate, in money, of the cost to which crime subjects a community. Sixty years ago, Colquhoun, in his work on the “Police of the Metropolis,” estimated the loss by depredation, in London alone, at ten millions of dollars; and the Watch-Committee of Liverpool, in an elaborate report in 1836, stated the loss in that borough, by depredation, at not less than three million five hundred thousand dollars, declaring that this was not exaggerated, but, on the contrary, much less than the actual amount. We suppose that in such an estimate are included, not only the property abstracted by theft and robbery, but also the fruits of the various species of frauds on the government and on public institutions, fraudulent bankruptcies, losses by incendiary fires, and various kinds of malicious mischief.