Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/480

* PBISON LABOR. 412 PRISONS. PRISON LABOR. Labur done by convicts or misdemeanants in prison. See Convict Labor. PRISONS (OF., Pr. prison, from Lat. prcnsio, seizure, trcmi j)rendere, prchcndcre, to seize, tal-ic, from pnc-, before -|- -hendere, Uk. xai'Sdi'eii', chan- dunciii, to seize; connected with (iotli. bi-r/itan, to find, OHG. firgez^an, Ger. rcr(jcsscii, to forget, AS. ffitan, Eng. get). Prisons liave been used from antiquity as places of detention or seclu- sion, but only in modern times as places of punishment for crime. Of the former class were the famous Tower of London, the Bastille of Paris, the BicCtre. the Seven Towers of Constan- tinople, and the Castle of Spielberg; in Austria. In the sixteenth century workhouses were erected in England, and also on the Continent, to which vagrants were committed: London (1550), Am- sterdam (158.S), Nuremberg (l.iSS). There was at first little classification, and conditions were bad. Gradually, however, improvements were introduced. The rules and regulations necessary to the sheltering and employment of vagrants developed into prison discipline, while the neces- sity for classification led to the development of prison architecture. Imprisonment under the new conditions came to be viewed in a diff'erent light, and thus became a recognized punishment for crime. Prisons were first looked upon as a possible means of reformalion in 1704, when Pope Clement XI. establislicd the Hospital of Saint Michael at Rome. This was not strictly a prison, but in the criminal wards the plan was intro- duced of having separate cells at night with work in common by day, silence being main- tained. This plan is the basis of what is now known in America as the Auburn plan. A prison which l)ecame tlie architectural prison model for Western ICurope and America was constructed at Ghent in 177.'?. The cells were in blocks, tier U]ion tier, radiating from a ceutral octagon. The corridors were thus against the outer walls. This probably suggested the form of the Eastern Penitentiary at Philadelphia, in which, however, the corridors were placed in the centre of the blocks of cells, as at Saint Michael's. These plans, which make the entrance to each cell visible from the central room, have been adopted in many later prisons. Beccaria (q.v.), in his great treatise on Crimes and Piiiiishments (1704), protested efl'ectively against barbarous punishments, and John itoward (<].v.), who spent sixteen years in visiting the prisons of Europe, was able to effect radical changes in the prison regime of England. Two plans were henceforth followed. In one the prisoners are separated. They eat, work, and sleep in their cells apart from all other inmates. This is theoretically the policy of the Eastern Peniten- tiary of Pennsylvania and that adopted in Eu- rope. By the other plan, the men have separate cells, but work, and often dine, together. This is the common plan in America. In either case much of the corrupting influence attendant upon the intermingling of prisoners is to a large ex- tent avoided. Early prison conditions in Amer- ica were exceedingly bad. At Simsbury, Conn., an abandoned copper mine was used as a State prison from 1773 to 1827. Reform began with the building of the Eastern Peuitentiary at Philadelphia in 1817 and the Auburn State Prison of Xew York (181G), which became the models for American prisons. Between the two systems fierce rivalry arose, but after many trials the Au|nirn idan has been generally adopted. With the introduction of stea]ii licat, electric lights, and modern sanitary conveniences, prisons have been greatly improved. About the prisons are usually high walls on which giuirds are stationed, while the electric lights make undetected escape over the walls by night ex- tremely difficult. Prison management and discipline have not kept pace with mechanical improvements. The old forms of torture and barbarous punishment have, however, disappeared, while escapes are relatively infrequent. In the larger institutions there is great reluctance to tolerate idleness, which is always found to be demoralizing in the extreme. The question as to the proper occujia- tion of the convict, however, is difficult of'solu- tion. (See Convict Labor.) Ineflicient man- agement often destroys many of the good influ- ences which modern penology demands shall sur- round the prisoner. Trained men are more and more neede<l both for efficient financial manage- ment and for wise discipline. Places of imprisonment in the United States include 'lock-ups,' jajls, and prisons proper. In each town or city are local 'lock-ups,' 'calabooses,' or 'police stations' for the detention of arrested persons pending immediate trial before the magistrates. Persons convicted of misdemeanors are confined in the county jails or houses of correction. Presumptive felons, bound over to the grand jury, are kept in the county jails pending trial, and then, if sentenced, are confined in the State penitentiaries. United States pris- oners are usually kept in State institutions, as the general Government maintains only a few prisons. As a rule, county jails are breeding- places of crime. The houses of correction are i better managed. Few coimty jails provide work for prisoners. In some of the States the prison , system is not yet well worke<l out. These in- stitutions are for adults. There are also re- ' formatories (q-v.) for younger delinquents. ■ There is a general feeling that local jails should be given up, and that all prisoners should be' under State control, as in England, where the general Government assumed control of all , prisons in 1878. The question of prison reform has received much attention in America as well as in Europe. The National Prison Congress, the National Con- ference of Charities and Correction, as well as local organizations, have had great influence in the past in liringing about improvements. The meetings of the International Prison Congress (q.v.) have been of great value. Consult: Internalional Prison Congress, Prisons and Re- formatories at Home and Abroad (London, 1872) ; Wines, State of Prisons in the CiviU:::ed World (Cambridge, 1880), a very use- ful compendium of facts; id.. Punishment and Reformation (New York, 1895), an his- torical sketch of the rise of the penitentiary .system; Barrows, Prison St/stems of the United States (Washington, inOO) ; and id.. The Refor- matory Si/stem in the United States (ib., 1900). See Criminology; Convict Labor; Juvenile Offenders; Penology; Punishment; Reform- atories.