Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/17

 PRISONS AND PRISON DISCIPLINE trial ; the former is at Nuremberg, and has a capacity for 400 men. In Holland the judge may sentence to separate or associated impris- onment, but the former must not exceed two years. The three great cellular prisons are in Amsterdam, with 208 cells, Utrecht, 186, and Rotterdam, 344. Many of the local prisons are also on the separate plan. The congregate system was first adopted in the United States in the state prison of New York at Auburn. This, however, was not the origin of the sys- tem ; for it had been practised as early as 1703 at the prison of San Michele in Rome, .on the portals of which was inscribed: Pa- rum est improbos coercere posna nisi probos ef- ficias diseiplina ("It is useless to punish the bad without improving them by discipline"). An excellent prison of this kind was also opened at Ghent in 1775. Industrial labor, religious and scholastic education, abbreviation of sentence, participation in earnings, &c., were found by Howard in this prison when he visited it in 1775-'6, and again in 1781. But soon afterward the plan of conducting the prison was changed by the emperor Joseph II., and its reputation for excellence was lost. The construction of the Auburn prison was begun in 1816. The plan of idle seclusion in separate cells was at first adopted, and it was not till 1824 that the congregate system was fully established by Capt. Elam Lynde. Under this system the prisoners labor in association during the day, take their meals either togeth- er or in their cells, and attend religious exer- cises in a body. Strict silence is enjoined up- on the convicts. Communication may be held with the officers of the prison, and with visit- ors when permission is granted. The night is passed by the prisoners in solitary confinement in a small cell. It is asserted that this system is more economical than the separate, both be- cause the original cost of construction is much less in consequence of the cells being smaller, and because associated labor is attended with greater profit. It is also said to be better adapt- ed to the mental and bodily condition of the convict. It prevails extensively in Europe, and exclusively in the United States except in Phil- adelphia. The distinguishing features of the separate and congregate systems are united in the Irish convict or Crofton system, which was introduced by Sir "Walter Crofton into Ireland in 1854, where it has since prevailed with the most successful results ; and it has been accepted by many, and especially American penologists, as the best penal system yet de- vised. Its origin is attributed to Alexander Maconochie, who had expounded and advo- cated the fundamental principles of the system before putting them into practice in 1840 at the penal colony under his charge on Norfolk island. Maconochie was recalled in 1844, and the former system of cruelty was reestablished there. M. Bonneville de Marsangy of France Iso proposed and published as early as 1846 a plan of penitentiary treatment embodying the main features of this system. In perfecting a plan of penal treatment, Sir Walter Crofton had to deal with the three principles of sec- ondary punishment (i. e., by terminable im- prisonment) generally recognized by penolo- gists: 1, the deterrent principle, which by the application of pain is intended to impress the convict, as well as the community, with the belief that the profits of crime are overbal- anced by its losses, thus subduing by fear the desire of the criminal to do wrong; 2, the principle styled by Bentham that of " inca- pacitation," which is designed to render the culprit incapable of committing crime by re- moving him from society to the prison ; 3, the reformatory principle, by which the desire of the convict to do wrong is overcome. The union of these principles into one plan of treatment in order to attain the "twofold end of punishment, amendment and example," is the basis of the Crofton system. The term of imprisonment is divided into three stages, and is passed in three different prisons: Mount- joy prison in Dublin, which has a capacity for about 500 convicts ; Spike island, in the harbor of Queenstown, which will accommo- date 700; and Lusk, about 12 m. from Dub- lin, with accommodations for 100. The first stage continues eight or nine months in sepa- rate imprisonment in a cellular prison. The treatment here is made penal by a very re- duced dietary during the first four months, meat being entirely withheld, and by the ab- sence of interesting employment during the first three months, the convicts being occupied chiefly in picking oakum. Much time is spent in receiving religious and secular instruction, and each convict is taught the entire scope of the system of imprisonment he is under- going, and how much depends upon himself. The controlling feature of the second stage is the system of marks, by which the classifica- tion is governed and the abbreviation of the sentence determined. There are four classes in the second stage, and the time spent by a convict in each class is determined, within certain limits, by the number of marks gained. The maximum number to be attained is nine a month, three each for good conduct, attention to school duties, and industry at work. Skill is not rewarded by marks. The convict must gain 18 marks in the third class to pass to the second, 54 in the second for promotion to the first, and 108 in the first before entering the advanced class. Thus, as he can acquire only nine marks a month, he must spend at least 2 months in the first class, 6 in the sec- ond, and 12 in the first. The time passed in the advanced class depends upon the length of the sentence. It must be at least 13 months when the sentence is five years, 53 when it is 10, and 93 when it is 15 years. During the second stage the convicts are employed in as- sociation, chiefly on public works. They do not receive any portion of their earnings, but are allowed certain gratuities, which are re-