LOUVAIN, THE KEFORMATORY PRISON AT. 



497 



THE REFORMATORY PRISON AT. 



Louvain is a city of Belgium, fifteen miles 

 northeast of Brussels. The management of its 

 reformatory prison is based on the principle 

 that even in the most corrupt man there is a 

 germ of good sentiments and feeling, the de- 

 velopment of which can be secured by making 

 the prison a place of repentance and amend- 

 ment. The first condition required for this 

 end is the separation of the prisoner from bad 

 counsels and bad examples. This introduces 

 the cell system. But in the erection of the 

 building at Louvain the results of experience 

 were kept in view. It was believed that the 

 numerous cases of madness and suicide in cell- 

 prisons were not caused by the system of sep- 

 arate confinement in itself, but by the bad ap- 

 plication of it. Thus, on adopting the form of 

 a star in the construction of the building (an 

 arrangement found most convenient for watch- 

 fulness), it was determined to change entirely 

 the material and moral treatment of the pris- 

 oners. The cells are airy and well lighted. 

 Water is brought to them in abundance by a 

 pipe with a stop, which is opened at pleasure 

 within, but which is controlled by a key on the 

 exterior. There is a similar arrangement for 

 the gas-jet, and by a special contrivance it can 

 be made to furnish the heat required for the 

 prisoner's trade. A wash-stand, water-closet 

 hermetically closed, several book-shelves, a ta- 

 ble, a chair, and a folding-bed, compose the fur- 

 niture. There are also the tools or machines ne- 

 cessary for the prisoner to prosecute some work. 

 Here are seen tailors, shoemakers, saddlers, 

 bookbinders, carpenters, locksmiths, etc. Some 

 of the prisoners are bakers ; others scullions, 

 or head cooks. The cookery of the latter is 

 not very nutritious, but it is not unwholesome. 

 The bread is better than that of the French ; 

 in the other articles of food there is no com- 

 parison. In the French prisons, the inmates 

 receive during the week only soup, and on 

 Sunday a little meat, while at Louvain they 

 have bread in the morning, soup at noon, vege- 

 tables at night, and meat twice a week. 



The prisoners have also the liberty to buy 

 "knick-knacks" with a little of the money 

 'which they earn; the rest is kept for them 

 until the expiration of their sentences. These 

 sums are comparatively large ; for in this prison 

 most of the clothing and equipments of the Bel- 

 gian army are made, and the Government pays 

 as good wages as to the free workmen. 



When any kinds of work were to be done 

 which required the labor of many persons to- 

 gether, it was found very troublesome to main- 

 tain the rule of separation. At first it was 

 decided never to suffer two convicts to labor 

 VOL. xxm. 32 A 



together, except under the special watch of a 

 guard who should prevent any communication 

 between them. But this proved insufficient. 

 The problem was solved under the principle 

 upon which the establishment was founded. It 

 was indispensable to protect the convict, on 

 his going out of prison, against disagreeable 

 recognition by his old fellow-prisoners. It has 

 been said that the first requisite for the en- 

 couragement of a repentant criminal to per- 

 severe in his reformed life, was to prevent his 

 disgrace from being cast upon him, if possible. 

 Thus, upon the arrival of the convict at' the 

 prison, he is taken to the director, to whom he 

 tells, in confidence, his name ; in exchange he 

 receives a number, by which only he is hence- 

 forth known. He then goes to the dressing- 

 room, and after undergoing the changes required 

 by the rules, he puts on a large bonnet which 

 conceals his features, and has only the two 

 openings for the eyes. He never goes from his 

 cell, or receives any person there, without con- 

 cealing his countenance in this manner. Thus 

 he continues, or believes that he continues, en- 

 tirely unknown. 



One very forcible objection to the cell sys- 

 tem is the mute state in which the convicts 

 are kept. Absolute silence is a very severe 

 chastisement ; it often causes madness, and, in 

 any case, it is not in itself an agent of improve- 

 ment. That danger has been avoided at Lou- 

 vain. If the convicts can not converse among 

 themselves, they are in constant connection 

 with their guards and with the overseers, who 

 come and go continually. Besides, they are 

 visited every day by the' director or his assist- 

 ant, or the distributors of food, the clergy, or 

 rabbi. Twice a week, and sometimes oftener, 

 they have a long visit from the teacher. All 

 the prisoners are obliged to go to school. There 

 is an amphitheatre where the pupils can see 

 the professor, but can not see one another. 

 They are really separated by a door, which 

 each one closes as he reaches his place. Lest 

 they might be recognized by the voice, all 

 questions are forbidden during the lesson ; but 

 the instructor afterward goes to each cell to 

 assure himself that his explanations have been 

 understood. Thus, in a novel manner, the mo- 

 notony of the imprisonment is broken. 



Again, the kind of labor imposed on the 

 convicts is their safeguard against hypochon- 

 dria. In other prisons labor is repulsive, as 

 nearly all is done by machinery. At Louvain 

 the labors require a certain mental application, 

 and therein the convicts find a real relief. This 

 organization also enables a convict to fit him- 

 self to obtain a livelihood if he came to the 

 prison without having learned a trade ; or to 

 make a change if he does not wish afterward 

 to resume his old trade. The results of this 

 system are excellent, if we can believe the sta- 

 tistics of the first twenty years that the prison 

 has been in operation. The cases of suicide or 

 madness are not more numerous, for the popu- 

 lation, than in the cities of Belgium, though 



