jigB KANSAS UNIVERSITY QUARTERLY/ 



P. W^ Blackmak, Esq., Lawrence, Kansas: • ' . • . 



( f ;Dear Sm :^— Yours of the 21st. There is a mistaken impression abroad 

 ab9utthe possibility of ascertaining from prisoners the truth on any subject. 

 They are liars, in common with the remainder of the race not in prison. Per- 

 haps more apparently so, but nevertheless they, are not in this respect more 

 untruthful than witnesses called to the stand in courts, witnesses who- have 

 never been and, probably, never will be in prison. My observation is, in the 

 liTift;, investigations of my prison administration, had during long years of it, 

 that the statements of prisoners before the several commissions were as truthful 

 as are the statements of witnesses heard at trials outside. 



The real difficulty in ascertaining the truth in the examination of prisoners is 

 not very much more difficult than to ascertain the truth of any other common 

 class of witnesses. It goes without saying that the examination of witnesses 

 heeds to be naade by a competent, pains-taking examiner, before whom it is 

 usually easily determined whether the witness is lying, prevaricating or making 

 substantially a truthful statement. Moreover, it is possible by clues ascertained 

 in the course of the examination from statements made by the prisoner, — names, 

 dates, etc., to verify or disprove the accuracy of the statement he makes on his 

 fexamination. There are some cases, not very many, where no clue can be had 

 br, dates or names ascertained. These, however, constitute such a small per- 

 centage of the prisoners examined, that it constitutes a class scarcely worth 

 considering in this connection. 



' The particular purpose of inquiring into the early and antecedent history of 

 the prisoners committed to this Reformatory during the last fifteen years has 

 been to ascertain the character of the defects of the man himself, with a view to 

 map out and conduct a course of treatment calculated to cure such defects or 

 build up counteracting impulses and habitudes, as well as to determine the 

 pause of the defects observed. It has been abundantly demonstrated bj' our 

 experience here that the record made on the date of the prisoner's admission, 

 which is an abstract of the examination held by the General Superintendent, is 

 substantially accurate.^accurate in all the essentials required to determine the 

 real character of the man. I am sure, if it was deemed important to go back 

 one or two generations for hereditary influences, we might ascertain enough 

 from the prisoner on his examination to enable further inqviiry outside which, 

 together with the statements of the prisoner, would form very reliable data. 

 ' ' I am, dear sir, 



;,-j ■'• , Very respectfully yours, 



r J • Z. R. Brockway, Oen. Sicpt. 



. The following table shows something of Mr. Brockway's method of 

 classification as the result of his investigations :* 



BIOGRAPHICAL STATISTICS OF INMATES. 



i' ; 1. Relating to their Parentage (Hereditary.) 



'Insanity or epilepsy in ancestry 499 or 13.7 per cent. 



DRUNKENESS (in Aficestry). 



Glearly traced 1,408 or 38. 7 per cent. 



Doubtful 403 or 1 1. 1 



Temperate i;825 or 50.2 



* See Annual Report of the Board of Managers of the Elmlra "Reformatory, 1889. 



