422 



IMilSoNS 



and only twenty-three of these had been subdivided 

 MI as to enable the above classification to be carried 

 out. In liny nine of them the males were not 

 divided from the females (and in fact there was no 

 statutory injunction to this effect until 5 <!eo. IV. 

 chaps. 65 and 85). In 445 prisons there was no em- 

 ployment of any kind for the prisoners; in 100 of 

 the gaols overcrowding was excessive ; no less than 

 13,057 prisoners were crowded into the apace which, 

 according even to the moderate demands of those 

 days, was fit for only 8545. The prisons were in 

 many canen so ill-regulated that they became scenes 

 of abandoned wickedness. In 1835 and 1839 most 

 important legislative steps were taken. Further 

 rules of administration were laid down in the acts 

 paused in these years, and inspectors of prisons 

 were appointed to see that they were carried out. 

 By the latter act also the vital importance of a 

 suitable design and construction for gaols as an aid 

 to good prison management was recognised by the 

 creation of the office of Surveyor-general of Prisons 

 to advUe in these matters. 



Howard had advocated the complete separation 

 of prisoners by placing each of them in a cell alone, 

 and this was providedfor in the Penitentiary Act, 

 1778. The practice was adopted in a few county 



Srisons, and it was again enjoined together with 

 ally divine service and the absolute separation of 

 males from females in 5 Geo. IV. chaps. 65 and 85, 

 but the expense of building these ceils fortified a 

 prejudice against the 'solitary' system, which was 

 largely increased by the too thorough mode in 

 which it had been carried out in America. A com- 

 mission whirh was sent in 1834 to America to 

 inquire into the matter, however, reported entirely 

 in favour of the principle of separation if judi- 

 ciously carried out. Their recommendation was fol- 

 lowed in the construction of Pentonville Model 

 Prison in 1842, and the success of the system led 

 to an extensive reconstruction of county prisons on 

 the same plan, finally resulting in that system 

 being adopted to the exclusion of any other. 



Although some progress in other respects followed 

 the Acts of 1835 and 1839, there was still so much 

 imperfection and such want of uniformity in rules, 

 diet, labour, &c., that further reforms and stronger 

 p]'--sine on the local authorities in whom the 

 management of the prisons was vested was urgently 

 called for. These were provided by the Prison Act, 

 1865, which enacted a code of rules for all prisons, 

 and required that each male prisoner should be 

 provided with a separate cell. 



In 1878 a further and most important step was 

 taken by the transfer of the control and pecuniary 

 charge of all the local prisons to the government, 

 represented in each member of the United Kingdom 

 by a body of commissioners appointed by royal 

 warrant. This measure was justified by the im- 

 possibility of ensuring due uniformity in the treat- 

 ment of prisoners in all gaols so long as they 

 remained in the hands of so many independent 

 local authorities, by the great difficulties, amount- 

 ing to impossibility, in getting some of the local 

 authorities to provide proper prison buildings, and 

 by the unnecessary costliness which resulted from 

 the existence of so many small and independent 

 prisons ; for there were still no less than 1 13 of these 

 establishments in England and Wales, 57 in Scot- 

 land, and 38 (besides 95 bridewells) in Ireland. 

 The consolidation which has resulted from them 

 has made a very large saving in the cost of 

 prisons. There are now only .~>H local prison* in 

 Kngland and Wales, l.'i in 'Scotland, and 22 in 

 Ireland. In Scotland the geographical conditions 

 have led to the adoption of a system of licensed 

 cells under charge of the police' where prisoners 

 under sentence not exceeding fourteen days may 

 be retained. These are allowed in twenty-eight 



L' n 

 Tl 



tin 



places to avoid the necessity of sending such 

 irisoners long distances to serve a short sentence. 

 'lie population of these little prisons is for the 

 most part from one to two. In the years 1876- 

 77, the last in which the prisons were under the 

 local authorities, their cost in Kngland, exclu- 

 sive of new buildings and interest on loans, \-e. , 

 was 495,068; in 1889-90 it was 320,381 ; and 

 it has since fallen still further. The diminution 

 would have licen larger but that in various ways 

 the service has been improved. Roman Catholic 

 priests are now generally appointed and j>aid for 

 their services ; the clerical work formerly largely 

 done by prisoners is performed by pai(i clerks ; 

 attention is more generally paid to the schooling, 

 and more money expended on schoolmasters. 

 These acts have also ensured substantial uni- 

 formity of treatment throughout the United 

 Kingdom, l>ec.iuse all rules are now made by the 

 Secretary of State or Lord-lieutenant of Ireland. 



Prisoners before trial form a separate class in the 

 prisons, and are now subjected to no more incon- 

 venience than is necessary to ensure security and due 

 order and discipline in the prison. They may wear 

 their own clothes and supply their own diet ff they 

 choose, have full opportunities of receiving visits 

 from their friends and corresponding with them, 

 and are not obliged to perform any unaccustomed 

 or menial labour for themselves if they will pay for 

 assistance. 



Debtors also are kept apart from other prisoners. 

 The rules made in the Prisons Act, 1865, with 

 regard to this class of prisoner were no doubt framed 

 in view of the practice of imprisonment for debt 

 which had not then been abolished by law. But 

 the act subsequently passed in 1869 made it possible 

 to imprison only those debtors who refuse to pay 

 when they have the means, and as this is a species 

 of fraud they hardly deserve the consideration 

 which, under the rules, is accorded to them. They 

 are under no obligation to work, are allowed to 

 lounge about in association, may provide their own 

 clothing, bedding, and food, which may include 

 wine and beer, and are allowed more frequent 

 visits and letters from t heir friends than criminal 

 prisoners. 



The Prisons Act, 1865, also allowed the creation 

 of a class of misdemeanants of the first division, 

 who might be put in that class by the sentencing 

 court ; and the special sympathy accorded to sedi- 

 tion and seditious libel led to persons found guilty 

 of these crimes being, by the law of 1877, secured 

 in the privileges of this class. They are allowed a 

 specially furnished room, and may provide their 

 own clothing, bedding, and food, the services of an 

 assistant to clean their rooms, and, on payment, 

 ', full use of books, newspapers, &c., and certain 

 I privileges as to additional letters and visits at the 

 [ discretion of the visiting committee. They are not 

 i considered criminal prisoners. Doubts have some- 

 times been expressed whether the power of mak- 

 ing a distinction of this sort in the punishment 

 awarded to different offenders has been wisely 

 exercised. It would recommend itself to most 

 people that such an offender as a clergyman, who 

 is imprisoned for not conforming to the rubric, 

 should Miller little or no punishment beyond the 

 deprivation of liberty, but a fraudulent bankrupt, 

 or one who committed a criminal assault, or 

 who incited others to crime and violence, is not 

 necessarily a proper object for similar, consideration 

 on the ground of his social position being higher 

 than that of an ordinary typical criminal. 



To pass from these special i-la.--es to tl rdinary 



prisoners, the general rule is that nfter sentence 

 every prisoner is permitted to raise himself pro- 

 gressively by industry, combined with good con- 

 duct, through four stages, in each of which he gains 



