ing, floors, and every thing were pervaded by this sickly odor. After examination he concluded it proceeded from the soap, and gave up the use of cheap soap and of his own soap, and used oil soap instead. The result is perfect cleanliness throughout the building. Dr. Bartholow, in his paper, stated that one of the first effects of sewer-gas was a depression of spirits: that is the case in these asylums where that odor prevails; and therefore this trivial thing is worthy of consideration in the cure of insanity.

AFTERNOON SESSION.

WEDNESDAY, May 22, 1878.

The Conference re-assembled at three o'clock, Dr. Hoyt in the chair. Mr. Henry W. Lord called attention to the fact that the Conference had thus far proceeded without a permanent chairman; and he nominated Hon. G. S. Robinson, of the State Board of Charities of Illinois, for permanent chairman, who was elected unanimously. On assuming the chair, Mr. Robinson said,

"I sincerely thank you for the honor conferred upon me. I am aware that the objects for which we have met are of vital interest, not only to the unfortunate, but also and especially to the fortunate. I believe, from what I have witnessed in this session, you have the good of the unfortunate truly at heart. I trust, therefore, that the action of this Conference will be such as to do credit, not only to the head, but also to the heart. Trusting the sessions may be harmonious in the future, as in the past, I will now proceed to business."

Mr. Letchworth of New York presented the last report of the State Charities Aid Association of New York, an organization having its centre in New York City. He stated that its object was to disseminate information concerning charities, and to reform existing abuses. Through the efforts of this association, a trainingschool for nurses was established in New York, which had done a great benevolent work, and had introduced a new system in the care of hospital patients. It was a voluntary association, assisting the State Board of Charities; its managers being chiefly ladies, whose charitable work, Mr. Letchworth thought, was generally better done than that of the other sex.

Mr. Lord moved, and it was voted, that the calling of the next

session of the Conference be left to the discretion of the president and secretaries of this Conference. The reports from the Committee on Penal and Prison Discipline were then taken up.

REPORTS ON PENAL AND PRISON DISCIPLINE.

I. THE DISCIPLINE OF COUNTY JAILS.

BY JOSEPH PERKINS, ESQ., OF CLEVELAND, 0.

In the management of jails, the principle of separate confinement, although accepted by the more experienced officers of such institutions, seems to make slow progress in practical adoption. In a few of the largest jails of the large cities, and perhaps in an equal number of smaller county jails, the practice of separating prisoners is uniformly or systematically enforced. But the almost universal practice is still to allow the prisoners, old, young, experienced and first offenders, boys, debauched and debauching villains, to spend a large part of each day in mutual instructions in crime. Abundant time is thus afforded for rehearsing vile and demoralizing stories of personal adventures; and, strangest of all, in planning schemes of jail-breaking and escapes, often including the maiming or murdering of the very officers by whose leniency, indifference, or ignorance, this school of crime is permitted. It seems hardly needful to add testimony in favor of the principle of separation, and doubtless is not in this assembly; but that it may be enforced whenever spoken of, so as to convince the credulous, and arouse the indifferent, a few quotations from the highest authorities on this subject are given. In a very carefully prepared report on "Prison Reform in the United States," adopted by a conference of the most experienced prison keepers and observers at Newport, R.I., in August, 1877, the county jail is referred to as follows:

"The system of county jails in the United States is a disgrace to our' civilization. It is hopelessly bad, and must remain so, as long as it exists under its present form.

"De Tocqueville, half a century ago, pronounced our county jails 'the worst prisons he had ever seen;' and there has been little marked improvement since.

"The moral atmosphere of these prisons is foul: no fouler exists.

"The effect of such promiscuous association is to increase the number of criminals, and to develop and intensify their criminality.

"Thus the country has, in its county jails, about two thousand schools of vice, all supplied with expert and zealous professors.

"Our county-jail system can not be improved, but must be reconstructed, revolutionized."

In New York, the Committee on Prisons, of the Constitutional Convention of 1867, reported that "there is no one of the sources of crime, which is more operative in the multiplication of thieves and burglars, than the common jails of the State, as at present organized."

The Board of State Charities of Ohio, in its second report, testifies that

"Ohio is to-day supporting, at public expense, as base seminaries of crime as are to be found in any civilized community."

The Illinois Commissioners of Public Charities, in their report for 1872, say,

"It is this association in idleness which is the curse and condemnation of our present jail system. Every jail is a school of vice. More than a hundred such schools are maintained in Illinois, at public expense."

The Board of State Charities of Ohio, in its last report, referring to the separation of prisoners in jails, says,

"It is said that separate confinement is cruel; and, under the influence of such clamor, officers hesitate to adopt and enforce it, even where jails are constructed for the purpose. But what outrage is so inexcusable as turning a young man, or woman, or boy, into the halls of a jail, knowing, as we do, that the result must necessarily be, with rarely an exception, the destruction of character and hope of reformation? In a brief separate confinement, there is hope that a person, especially if charged with a first offence, may come to himself, and resolve on amendment of life. No good citizen, choosing for his own child, would hesitate to ask for separate confinement, rather than run the hazard of the vile associations of a common jail. We can have no radical reformation of our jails, without such separation of the inmate."

Mr. John M. Clark, Sheriff of the County of Suffolk, Mass., and by virtue of his office, keeper of the county jail, is probably the most experienced jailer in the United States, having been in charge of his jail for twenty-two years, with an average of 224 prisoners, and an aggregate of 110,000. In a letter to a member of the Board of State Charities of Ohio, he thus remarks upon this subject

"I should expect hell upon earth here if prisoners were allowed to be loose, and associate within the jail, and friends allowed to visit freely, and bring what they pleased. The association of criminals, or of persons held

charged with crime, is an open temptation for the committal of more crime. 'Evil communications corrupt good manners.' It would seem to me to be a positive duty to keep all persons held as criminals, or for trial on criminal charge, from opportunity to form each other's acquaintance, so far as possible, while in jail."

Mr. Clark adds, in regard to his practice,

"The shortest time of confinement is less than one day; the longest, two years. The prisoners are all confined in separate cells, except when there are more prisoners than rooms for each, when they are doubled as necessity requires."

This, however, is a rare exception.

This line of testimony could be extended almost indefinitely; but, notwithstanding the universal condemnation of the congregate system, the enforcement of separate confinement makes, practically, very slow progress. Probably not a dozen jails in the United States to-day practically enforce separation.

In most of the jails, the building is so planned and constructed as to make a convenient and healthful separation well-nigh impossi

And the first essential thing to induce a general or persistent separation is a radical change in the construction, especially of the small county-jail buildings. It is cruel to confine a prisoner in most of our jails at all, and especially so, in the dark, unhealthy caves called cells. Manifestly, the essential requisites of a jail, for separate confinement, are, abundance of light, direct influence of the sun, pure air, reasonable size of cells, and a construction of the building that will enable the prisoners to be placed in and removed from their cells without the recognition of their fellowprisoners.

The first decided advance in this direction was made by the Board of State Charities, of the State of Ohio, when they published their plan for county jails, in 1868. The distinguishing feature of this jail plan is the central corridor, between the line of cells. The rear doors of the cells, all opening into this central corridor, are solid, with no opening except a small bull's-eye, covered with a shield, movable only by the keeper, from the outside, to enable him to observe safely, or secretly when necessary, the action of the prisoners within. All the movements of the prisoners are through these solid doors, and along this central corridor; thus avoiding entirely the sight or observance of one prisoner by another, and enabling each prisoner to remain unknown to all his fellow-prisoners, if he desires it.

This arrangement carries the front of the cells well out to the outer walls of the prison; and these fronts should be constructed largely of open lattice-work, and facing each cell a window in the outer wall should be formed. This secures, if proper ventilation is adopted, abundance of light, sun, and good air, which are the first requisites of healthful confinement. With this arrangement, of course, all the constantly improving appliances for safety and convenience may be incorporated. But without the central corridor, no plan has yet been proposed which will permit one essential feature of separate confinement, - ingress and egress without the observation, and therefore the after-recognition, of the community of prisoners.

This general plan has been found practical; and nearly all the new jails in Ohio have adopted, more or less, the features of the central corridor plan. The adoption of this plan makes separation of jail-prisoners possible; the first requisite in the introduction of a greatly-needed reform. Then, with efforts which will gradually educate and enlighten public sentiment so as to induce the proper authorities to make the necessary rules for separation, and which will sustain and compel the average jailer to enforce the rules, a new era may be hoped for which will wipe out one of the foulest and most heathenish blots on our prison system.

Objections are made by the country jailer, that separation is "troublesome; " but experience has shown that it is the only method by which prisoners can be controlled, and insubordination, destruction of prison property, and planning for escape and mutiny, prevented. And, when all these considerations are well weighed, the system by which trouble may be avoided will be found to be only the uniform, persistent separation of prisoners. All jail deliveries are planned in the common hall of the prison. Remove this, and the cause of a large majority of the riots, dangerous combinations, and well-planned escapes is removed.

It is objected to as "expensive:" prisoners cannot be used so freely to clean up the jail; and then it is expensive to carry separate meals to each cell. This may be true; but the price charged by the jailers of Ohio, the only data of this kind at hand (averaging fifty cents per day), is more than the cost of boarding, nursing, and clothing the inmates of the insane hospitals or the veterans of the Soldiers' Home. Surely the jailers can afford board, with at least one eye to the good of the prisoner and the safety of the public, if it does lessen a trifle the profit of this perquisite.