oned? We cannot turn aside to the discussion' of this question here; suffice it to say, the present system of contracts, necessitating the introduction of instructors and overseers, having no authority in the institution, and no interest other than a pecuniary one, has by no means solved the problem. Much care as to the physical suitability of each individual to the labor assigned him, should be observed, as the life and health of persons deprived of liberty, is a trust which may not lightly be set aside. Too much importance can not be attached to the teaching of useful trades and occupations, as in many instances the inability to do good work is the origin of criminal practices.

There is no question of more grave importance, in the management of an institution which aims at the reformation of its inmates, than that of the administration of punishments for misdemeanors, infringement of rules, etc. A mature and unbiased judgment, together with a kind but unyielding firmness, are essentials in the character of a person into whose hands this task falls. As a rule, the warden or superintendent is the one who alone should have authority to direct this part of the discipline. He should, however, have a trusty officer, upon whom he can rely to carry out his orders in this regard, as it is usually exasperating to a prisoner, when in a perturbed and rebellious state of mind, to come in contact with the one who directs the punishment, which for the time seems so grievous to him.

Any punishment which fails to induce real penitence in the person upon whom it is inflicted, fails to- accom-# plish aught but an outward observance of a form of justice. No self-control will be gained for future need, and the individual usually becomes stolid and vindictive under it. Unjust punishment has the same effect, hence the great importance of employing officers who have themselves learned self-control, and who will conscientiously report all who deserve punishment, but who will allow no personal feeling of dislike or malice to affect their action in the matter.

It is not the severity of a punishment so much as the certainty of it, which acts as a deterrent. A regular code of punishments should be established in every penal institution, subject of course to modification in special cases. Very excellent results have been obtained at the " Massachusetts Reformatory Prison for Women," by the "cumulative plan," i. e., beginning: with a light punishment, and increasing its extent in a definite ratio, with each successive offense. In most cases simple isolation in a lighted room (or cell) with regular employment, and the usual amount of food, was effectual, the prisoner being told how long the isolation would continue and that with the next offense the length of time would be increased. This plan rigidly carried out, will, we believe, make the dark cell, with a diet of bread and water, seldom needed; it does not injure the health, as occasional exercise in the yard can be given, if necessary, and it does not prevent labor, as work of some kind can always be provided for those in isolation.

The subject of classification of prisoners, though one which presents formidable difficulties, is of great importance in connection with prison discipline. Two m ethods have been advocated: I. Classification according to crime. II. Separation, by division into grades, each prisoner entering the lowest, or next to the lowest grade (according to the crime for which he is committed), from which he has the power to rise by continuous good behavior to the highest. The first method insures the separation of those committed for high crimes from those sentenced for minor offenses, which is an important issue; it, however, not unfrequently happens that the worst centres of moral contagion are found in the class last named; furthermore it interferes with the system of promotion for good behavior, so valuable in its results. The second mode separates those committed for "high crimes" from others only during the time spent in the lowest grade (such alone being entered there). It, however, eventually separates the evil-disposed from those who do well, as the former seldom reach the higher grades.

In order that promotions may be justly and regularly made, a system of conduct marking needs to be established; this serves also as a kind of moral mirror in which each inmate sees himself reflected as it were, and it thus acts as a stimulus to good conduct. It also renders the system of "commutation of sentence for good behavior," so universally adopted at the present time, a more just reward of merit than it otherwise could be. Prisoners even more than any other class of human beings, need "a hope set before them," an object for which they will voluntarily strive, and no stimulus has yet been found so healthful as the desire for promotion, and the power to shorten the time to be spent in prison. It

Elaces the future of each individual to some extent in is own hands. Neither object can be attained without earnest effort, long continued; and successful effort means an increase of self-control and self-government, in fact, vn exercise of the best powers of the mind in the right direction. The privileges allowed to those who reach the highest grade tend to arouse in them a true self-respect which helps to fit them for a return to the world outside of prison bars.

To carry out either system of classification in the best manner, a prison building needs to be constructed with this especial object in view, but in any building some modification of the plan can be adopted, which will add much to the well-being of its inmates.

The fact that so large a proportion of the population of our penal institutions (more especially jails, houses of correction and prisons for women), a*re illiterate, naturally leads us to conclude that limited means of mental entertainment are productive of evil habits and associations. The ability to read and write, and the privileges of study, possess a power to interest and satisfy natural cravings of the human mind; they likewise give a dignity and self-respect to the possessor which nothing else can do; hence the importance of the introduction of school privileges into all institutions intended to be reformatory in character. Young and middle-aged prisoners usually grasp such opportunities with eagerness, and it is not uncommon for the unlearned man or woman of fifty, to manifest an earnestness and determination in learning, which too seldom characterizes the more youthful scholar.

Instructive and pleasing entertainments occasionally given, are important adjuncts of prison discipline — anything, in fact, which breaks the monotony of a life necessarily so uneventful, is healthful and productive of good results.

While it evidently is the duty of a christian people to surround the weak and wicked with every helpful influence which can be devised, let us not for a moment indulge in a sentimental hope that kind treatment, cleanly surroundings and the reposing of confidence in such unworthy objects will of itself elevate and change their evil natures. Prison life must be made laborious, exacting, constraining, and the prisoner, while not encouraged to look backward into the depths from which he is emerging, must not forget that "the way of the transgressor is hard." Give him years of such training and we may, with some reason, hope that he will come forth thanking God that his eyes are at last freed from their blindness, and his soul's fetters are unloosed.

Poughkeepsie, New York, August, 1883/

POST PENITENTIARY TREATMENT OF CRIMINALS.

BY GEN. R. BRINKERHOFF.

In dealing with the criminal classes, legislation concerns itself almost entirely with penalties and punishment. "Thou shalt not" is the beginning, and the penitentiary is the ending of its consideration and action. This has been the rule in all ages, and in all nations, and so continues to the present hour. So far as legislation is concerned (and legislation is simply the dominant thought of a community or a nation), punishment is the antidote and cure-all for crime. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, life for life.

Under the Christian dispensation, in the light of the teachings of Him who came into the world for the express purpose of .announcing "a more excellent way" than the law of retaliation, it is exceedingly strange that nations professing the Christian name have not learned that something more than punishment is needed in dealing with the criminal classes, In short, is it not time for legislators to know and remember that punishment without cure is of little value, and that prevention is better than punishment and cure combined. This fact, so palpable to any one who will give earnest attention to the subject, does not seem to have received practical application to any large extent until the present century, and even now its recognition by legislators is the exception rather than the rule. In our own country thisis especially the case, and to our shame it must be said we are far behind the best experience of- the age in dealing with criminal classes. Our jails remain substantially what they were fifty years ago when DeTocqueville pronounced them "the worst prisons in the civilized world/' and are nurseries of crime rather than its correctors. Our penitentiaries, with a few exceptions, are simply punishing places, and, as a rule, result in making men worse instead of better.

It is true we have accomplished a good deal in the way of prevention by our common schools and Sabbath schools, and something in the way of cure by reform schools, but in the way of cure of adult criminals, with the exception of the Reformatory Prison at Elmira, New York, and the Prison for Women at Sherborn, Mass., we have done substantially nothing.

In Europe, the system of progressive classification, or Crofton system, as it is usually called, is now rapidly becoming universal, and, doubtless before the close of the present century, such prisons as now prevail in this country will be considered simply relics of a barbarous age

It is true, in recent years we have had a good deal of agitation about our prisons, but as a rule it has been an ill-considered clamor for the abolition of the system of contract labor, regardless of consequences, and apparently utterly oblivious of the fact that it has been 'demonstrated, .with all the certainty of a mathematical proposition, that to abolish contract labor without the substitution of the Crofton system, or at least, without the substitution of an administration purely non-political, and specially trained to the work, can only result in enormous evils to the state, and without any valuable compensating good, either to the convicts inside, or to the laborers outside.

That the system of contract labor has great and inherent evils is evident to every intelligent student of the subject, but what to substitute in its place is one of the most perplexing problems in the whole science of penology. Personally, I am in favor of its abolition, and I believe it can be done successfully, provided all the requisite accessories ca*n accompany its substitute; but without these accessories, and substantially the whole of them, I am in favor of the retention, in some form, of the contract system.

At present, however, the object I have in view has no special reference to prison labor, or even to the Crofton system except so far only as it pertains to the treatment of criminals, subsequent to their discharge from the. walls of the prison. My subject, therefore, is entitled the post-penitentiary treatment of criminals.

THE CROFTON SYSTEM.

The Crofton system proper grades its prisoners into three .or more classes. At Elmira these classes are all in the same prison. In Ireland they are in three separate prisons, located a,t a distance from each other. In its best form the prisoners are not sentenced for a definite period of time, but are sent to prison as patients are sent to the hospital, to be cured, and not to be discharged until they are cured. The duration of confinement, therefore, is entirely dependent upon the prisoner himself. At Elmira he starts in the second class, and he can go up or down just as he will.. By a sytemof marking, his position is accurately and constantly located. A certain number of good marks, and a certain, period of good