704 



PRISON REFORM. 



for detention of witnesses and those awaiting 

 trial. In Austria, in Belgium, and in Italy, 

 the cellular system of imprisonment prevails, 

 but with considerable modification. In Russia 

 the newer prisons, under the intelligent direc- 

 tion of Count Sollubab, were built on the sepa- 

 rate-cell plan, with the intention of working 

 certain classes of prisoners together. Under 

 the present direction of M. Galkine-Wroskoi 

 an effort is being made to form a complete 

 system of such prisons for all classes of prison- 

 ers. The improvements in Russian prisons 

 and in the prison- stations of Siberia bas been 

 very marked during the past twenty-five years, 

 and the Government has shown a hearty de- 

 sire to effect a complete reform. In Spain, 

 through the efforts of Donna Concepoion 

 d'Arefial and her colaborers, there has been a 

 complete expose of the atrocious system of 

 contracting out the prisons. They have been 

 greatly improved, the congregate system pre- 

 vailing. In Italy the new prisons are among 

 the best in the world, and through the efforts 

 of Signor Beltrani - Scalia, late Director of 

 Prisons, a new model prison has been built on 

 the site of the ancient prison of Regina Coell, 

 which is in harmony with the latest develop- 

 ments of penological science. In Germany, in 

 Switzerland, in Denmark, and in Brazil, a 

 strong effort is made to carry out a progressive 

 and classified system. In the United States 

 prevails what is known as the Auburn system 

 cellular separation by night and on Sunday, 

 and association .during the working hours of 

 the day. The one exception to this is the 

 solitary-cellular system as shown at the Eas.t- 

 ern Penitentiary of Pennsylvania. Here the 

 prisoners are supposed to bo kept in complete 

 isolation, working in their cells, and never 

 leaving them until the term of their imprison- 

 ment expires. As there is a much larger num- 

 ber of prisoners in this prison than of cells, 

 the system can not be carried out perfectly ; 

 but this prison is generally regarded as typical 

 of the solitary- cellular plan. In the Southern 

 States, the peculiar conditions resulting from 

 the late war made the establishment of con- 

 vict-camps a necessity. There were no pris- 

 ons, and the States were too poor to build 

 prisons. Stockades were made, huts were 

 erected in the vicinity of mines, railroads, or 

 other similar works, and the convicts hired to 

 contractors, who virtually assumed complete 

 control of them. Very great abuses grew up 

 under this system, which have become known 

 through official reports and through investiga- 

 tions made by individuals. Several of the 

 Southern States are now building prisons, and 

 all of them are taking measures to remedy the 

 evils that have been pointed out. 



The United States Government has no prisons 

 of its own, with the exception of the Military 

 Prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. It has 

 several jails at its military posts, all of which 

 are in wretched condition. Those convicted 

 for offenses against the United States Govern- 



ment are sent to various State-prisons or coun- 

 ty penitentiaries where contracts have been 

 made for their care. This plan has been con- 

 demned by the National Prison Association, 

 and efforts have been unsuccessfully made to 

 establish one or more prisons for United States 

 prisoners. The agitation for a more unified 

 system of prisons in the United States has been 

 continuous, since 1885, and much has been ac- 

 complished in this direction through the efforts 

 of volunteer prison associations. 



Prison Associations^ Volunteer associations 

 for amelioration of the condition of prisoners, 

 for improvement of prison discipline, and for 

 assistance of discharged prisoners, have exer- 

 cised great influence in promoting prison re- 

 form. They exist in France, England, Ireland, 

 Scotland, Belguim, Spain, Germany, the United 

 States, and other countries. In several cases 

 they have been granted powers of inspection 

 and supervision by the Government, and have 

 thus become a part of the system for the care 

 of criminal and delinquent classes. The oldest 

 association of the kind in the United States, 

 and one of the oldest in the world, is the Penn- 

 sylvania Prison Society, organized as " The 

 Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miser- 

 ies of Public Prisons." It has recently cele- 

 brated its centennial. Similar organizations 

 have been long established in the older States, 

 notably in Massachusetts, Maryland, and New 

 York. In 1872, through the efforts of E. C. 

 Wines, then corresponding secretary of the 

 Prison Association of New York, the National 

 Prison Association of the United States was 

 organized. It was designed to harmonize all 

 the elements of prison reform in the country, 

 and was doing much in that direction when Dr. 

 AVines died in 1879. Before his death the Na- 

 tional Prison Association had brought about an 

 organization of the International Prison Com- 

 mission, made up of delegates from several of 

 the most important governments of the world. 

 This organization grew directly out of the In- 

 ternational Prison Congress at London in 1872. 

 It is the- body under which two International 

 Prison Congresses have since been held that of 

 Stockholm in 1878, and that of Rome in 1886. 

 It is now making arrangements for the fourth 

 Prison Congress, to be held in St. Petersburg, 

 Russia, in 1890. At the last Prison Congress, 

 at Rome, the members numbered 234, of whom 

 about one third were official delegates, ap- 

 pointed to represent their governments. The 

 National Prison Association of the United 

 States was reorganized at Saratoga in 1885, 

 with Rutherford B. Hayes, ex-President of the 

 United States, at its head. It has held con- 

 gresses in Saratoga, Detroit, Atlanta, and To- 

 ronto (Canada). These have been the largest 

 prison-reform meetings ever known, and have 

 done much to unify the various plans of prison 

 discipline in North America. The National 

 Prison Association is in full affiliation and cor- 

 respondence with the principal prison associa- 

 tions of the world, and valuable reports and 



