PRISON DISCIPLINE.

Southland Times, Volume 2, Issue 103, 19 October 1863, Page 6 (Supplement)

PRISON DISCIPLINE.

(From the London Times.) The Lords' select committee on prison . discipline have presented a report , containing disclosures which will rather - astonish the public who take <it for granted that such establishments as gaols are ia. these days properly 1 conducted. The. word "imprsonment V means widely different things in different counties of England. In some gaols it implies separate imprisonment; in others the associated system prevails. In, some, the treadyrlieel iß ( the,ch^ef, and occasionally the.qnly, means of imposing labour on, the, , prisoners, in others the crank, in others picking oakum or stone breaking, in others industrial occupations prevail; in .one prison "self instruction" , is said* 'to be the main element of discipline, and labour is not only supposd to be productive of no good result, but every hour devoted to it is. treated as a relaxation or relief ,from the seclusion , of the cell. As for diet, the bread, potatoes," and meat green vary in different gaols from 100 ounces to 340 in a week. Ten hours in bed — in some coses more — is an absurd regulation. To com- ' plete the sketch of our punishments, the , governer of a county gaol says : " I have , seen apppularnovel-ina prisoner's cell" (not in tftatTgoyernor's prison). The com-. mittee v " have to express their dissent from many of the ruling principles which the official inspectors, and especially Mr. Perry' have laid down. The committee do not consider that themoralreformation of the offender tiolds' the primary place , in the prison system ; that mere indus- ' trial employment without wages is a sufficient puriishment for many crimes ; " that punishment in it self is morally prejudicial to the criminal and useless to ■ society, or that it is desirable to abolish ' both the crank and tread wheel as soon as. possible." ' The late , Sir J,. /ebb has put the case clearly enough, in ; his evidences—^ w The r deterring elements ; of punishment are hard labor, tiard fare, and a hard bed." ' The committee lay down as' principles that a system shou d 'be established' approaching 'as ..'nearly as '.•■•':* may be practicable to an uniformity cf ' labor, diet; and treatment in the various i gaols, and -that while industrial occnipa- "'' tibri should,*! in certain-stages, form a part i of prison discipline, the more strictly penal eleinentof that disciplineis the chief means ;| of exercising a deterrent influence, and ;! therefore ought not to be weakened as it j has been in some gaols, still less to be ' entirely withdrawn. More in detail, the committee recommended that the separate ■ * "system; which they consider must now - be accepted as the foundation of prison discipline,! be made obligatory upon all -prisons throughout the kingdom. It exercises both a reformatory and a de- ; terrent effect, and should be carried out even in chapel.' It can be accomplished even in gaols of the old construction. The tread wheel and the crank, of uniform construction as far as possible, should be rreseribed as the .principal elements of penal "discipline, with power to have recourse' to the shot drill; and for prisoners sentenced to -hard labour not less 'than eight hours a day at. the wheel ; or crank forlhe first three months of a j short s ntenee or the earlier -stages of,' imprisonment,and riot less than six hours a day during the next three months,; would le, as the committee consider, a safe and moderate standard. How far this may be subsequently carried on,i supplemented,, relaxed, or modified by. some other form of employment, must be ; left to thelocal authorities to determine ; ; but wht re industrial employment is given, \ not less, than nine hours a day should be j allotted to it. The question of the proper! diet .being still in dispute shotdd be: referred to a commission. During siiort j sentences, or the earlier stages of a kmg. \ confinement, no mattrass should be allowed, but only planks to sleep on. 7 . No ■■ evil -Jesuits from the use of the guard I bed in military prisons. School should be '. regarded as a boon, and under no circumstances a- substitute for labour, or the substance of penal discipline. The means employed for the reformation of offenders should always be accompanied bj due and effective punishment. -SirW. .' Crofton holds that moral reformation of character is greatly assisted by a pre- \ liminary course of stringent punishment. \ The large proportion of recommitments' Bhows the inefficiency of the existing system. Still, the majority of prisoners, are open to the influences of encourage- ; ment and reward, and the committee, recommend a progressive system, rising, from penal arid disciplinary labour to industrial occupation. They give their views of prison punishments, and side with the most experienced witnesses in attributing great value to corporal punishment as one form of disciplinary correction. They propose also a much more -efficient 'system "of. inspection of prisons, the eatablisbment of an obligatory code of ruleafor the government of gaols, and the amalgamation of the minor gaols with the larger prisons. Sixty-three prisons gave admittance in the entire year of M 62 to less than 25 prisoners; 2 7 prisons receiveclless than six prisoners, and some of them were absolutely tenantless. Some of * these gaols have been : repeatedly, condemned by the inspectors as altogether unfit for penal discipline.