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ENGLISH  PRISONS  TO-DAY 


ENGLISH  PRISONS  TO-DAY: 

BEING  THE  REPORT  OF  THE 
PRISON  SYSTEM  ENQUIRY  COM- 
MITTEE. EDITED  BY  STEPHEN 
HOBHOUSE,  M.A.,AND  A.  FENNER 
BROCKWAY 


LONGMANS.  GREEN  AND  CO.,  39 
PATERNOSTER  ROW,  LONDON, 
NEW  YORK  AND  BOMBAY.   1922. 


\ 


FOREWORD 


The  Prison  System  Enquiry  Committee  was  established  in  January, 
1919,  by  the  Executive  of  the  Labour  Research  Department,  v/ho 
considered  that  the  moment  was  opportune  for  a  detailed  investigation 
of  the  working  and  effects  of  the  English  Prison  System.  There 
had  been  no  systematic  enquiry  since  the  Prisons  Departmental 
Committee  of  1894-5,  and  an  exceptional  fund  of  evidence  was  avail- 
able in  the  prison  experiences  of  a  large  number  of  men  and  women 
able  to  observe  and  to  record  their  observations,  who  had  been 
imprisoned  as  suffragists,  or  anti-militarists,  or  for  other  political 
offences.  There  seemed  to  be,  at  the  time,  no  prospect  of  any 
Government  enquiry.  Moreover,  it  was  felt  that  a  less  official  form 
of  investigation  would  have  considerable  advantages,  as  being  entirely 
untrammelled  by  departmental  associations  and  calculated  to  bring 
new  points  of  view  to  bear  upon  the  problem. 

The  Committee  was  from  the  first  representative  of  the  various 
schools  of  political  thought,  and  it  included  in  its  membership  civil 
administrators,  magistrates,  retired  prison  ofBcials,  experienced  penal 
reformers,  doctors,  and  lawyers,  besides  a  number  of  ex-prisoners. 
From  January,  1921,  it  has  been  unconnected  with  the  Labour 
Research  Department  and  has  had  its  own  establishment. 

The  object  of  the  Enquiry  has  been  the  discovery  of  the  facts,  and 
not  the  preparation  of  pioposals  of  reform.  Before  that  can  be 
done  effectively  the  operation  of  the  present  system  and  its  results 
must  be  carefully  examined  and  precisely  set  forth,  and  it  is  to  this 
preparatory  task  that  we  have  devoted  ourselves.  All  that  this 
Report  claims  to  be  is  a  description  (as  accurate  and  complete  as 
conditions  have  allov»'ed)  of  the  English  Pi'ison  System  as  it  is 
actually  working  to-day,  accompanied  by  a  study,  based  upon  our 
evidence,  of  its  physical,  mental,  and  moral  effects  upon  those  who 
are  subjected  to  it.  Nevertheless,  at  the  end  of  the  chapters  in 
Part  I.  of  the  Report  we  have  tabled  the  principal  defects  revealed 


Ti  ENGLISH  PRISONS  TO-DAY 

by  our  investigation ;  and  in  our  concluding  chapter  we  have  indicated 
briefly  what,  in  our  view,  must  he  the  broad  principles  of  any 
adequate  scheme  of  reform. 

The  Enquiry  has  had  to  face  the  initial  difficulty  of  the  secrecy 
which  surrounds  the  prison  system.  It  is  practically  impossible  for 
the  public  to  obtain  entrance  to  prisons  or  knowledge  of  what  goes 
on  inside  them.  The  Piison  Commission  itself  is  one  of  the  most 
secluded  of  Government  Departments.  The  Commissioners  publish 
annual  reports,  but  (more  especially  since  1915)  the  information 
provided  is  scanty,  whilst  the  published  code  of  prison  rules  gives 
little  indication  of  the  actualities  of  the  prison  regime.  The  only 
really  informative  official  publications  are  the  Standing  Orders 
relating  to  Local  and  Convict  prisons  and  Borstal  institutions.  They 
regulate  almost  every  detail  of  prison  life ;  in  the  case  of  Local  prisons 
alone  they  number  nearly  1,500.  But  these  volumes  are  issued 
secretly  and  are  carefully  guarded. 

At  the  commencement  of  its  investigation,  Sir  Sydney  Olivier, 
K.C.M.G.,  C.B.,  the  chairman  of  the  Committee,  approached  the 
Home  Office  and  asked  whether  the  Committee  could  be  supplied  with 
a  copy  of  the  Standing  Orders.  Sir  Edward  Troup,  the  Under- 
Secretary  of  State  for  the  Home  Department,  replied  that  he  had 
spoken  to  Sir  E.  Euggles-Brise,  the  chairman  of  the  Prison 
Commissioners,  who  thought  that  "it  would  not  be  desirable"  to  put 
the  volume  in  question  into  the  hands  of  the  Committee.  Sir  E. 
Troup  stated,  however,  that  the  secretary  to  the  Prison  Com- 
missioners "would  be  glad  to  explain  some,  at  any  rate,  of  the  points 
in  which  you  are  interested  and  might  be  able  to  let  you  have  copies 
of  some  of  the  Orders." 

Accordingly,  a  preliminary  series  of  points  was  drawn  up  as  to 
which  we  desired  information,  and  Sir  Sydney  Olivier  personally 
took  this  memorandum  to  the  Home  Office.  Mr.  A.  J.  Wall,  the 
secretary  of  the  Prison  Commissioners,  gave  Sir  Sydney  verbal 
answers  to  certain  of  the  questions,  but  said  that  others  would 
require  further  reference.  Sir  Sydney  left  the  memorandum  with 
Mr.  "Wall,  understanding  he  would  confii-m  the  answers  given 
verbally  and  supplement  them,  so  far  as  possible,  with  the  informa- 
tion desired.  A  few  days  afterwards,  however.  Sir  Sydney  received 
an  official  letter  from  Mr.  Wall  (dated  December  31st,  1919)  stating 
curtly  that  the  Commissioners  could  not  furnish  private  individuals 
with  detailed  information  of  the  kind  required.  Some  further  efforts 
were  made  by  the  chairman  of  the  Committee ;  but  the  Commissioners 
adhered  to  their  i-efusal. 

This  avenue  of  information  being  closed,  we  approached  members 
of    the    prison    staff   directly,    either    submitting   to    them    written 


FOREWORD  vii 

questionnaires  upon  matters  about  which  we  required  information, 
or  seeking  their  consent  to  be  interviewed.  It  was  only  after  we  had 
gathered  a  great  deal  of  evidence  that  the  Home  Office  issued  the 
following  instruction  to  the  governors  of  Local  and  Convict 
prisons  :  — 

Prison  Commission, 
Home  Office, 

London,  S.W.I, 

13th  May,  1930. 
It  has  been  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Commissioners/Directors 
that  a  circular  proceeding  from  the  secretary  of  a  Prison  System  Enquiry 
Committee,  containing  many  interrogations  as  to  the  internal  administra- 
tion of  prisons,  is  being  addressed  to  certain  of  their  officers,  medical 
officers,  chaplains,  etc.,  with  the  object  of  eliciting  their  views,  under 
promise  of  secrecy,  on  divers  matters  with  a  view  to  eventual  publication. 
Governors  will  inform  officers  to  whom  such  queries  are  addressed  that 
the  Commissioners /Directors  deprecate  this  method  of  seekin::  information 
from  a  public  department  as  strongly  as.  they  are  grateful  to  learn,  it 
has  been  deprecated  by  many  to  whom  the  circular  has  been  addressed. 
It  is,  of  course,  well  known  that  Statutory  Rules  and  Standing  Orders 
forbid  the  communication,  without  authority,  of  matters  relating  to  the 
department  for  the  purpose  of  public  use,  and  governors  will  inform  all 
those  to  whom  such  circulars  have  been  or  may  be  addressed  that  either 
no  reply  will  be  sent  or  the  writer  will  be  told  that  any  application  for 
information  on  such  matters  must  be  addressed  to  the  Prison  Com- 
missioners/Directors,  Home   Office,  Whitehall. 

A.  J.   W^\LL,   Secretary. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  in  this  circular  the  Prison  Commissioners 
deprecated  our  method  of  seeking  information,  and  ad\'i3ed  the 
members  of  the  prison  service  to  reply  that  any  information  on  such 
matters  must  be  addressed  to  themselves  at  \Yhitehall.  They  did 
not  say  that  such  an  application  had  already  been  made  and  that  the 
information  had  been  refused. 

As  the  result  of  our  questionnaires  and  interviews,  evidence  was 
obtained  from  50  prison  officials — Anglican  chaplains,  Eoman 
CathoUc  priests,  visiting  ministers,  medical  officers,  and  warders  of 
different  grades.  To  this  official  testimony  we  were  able  to  add 
evidence  from  34  agents  of  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid  Societies  and 
other  persons  having  supervision  of,  and  intimacy  with,  ex-prisoners, 
from  22  visiting  magistrates,  and  from  290  ex-prisonere.  Among  the 
ex-prisoners  were  a  large  number  of  men  and  women  who  had  been 
sentenced  to  imprisonment  (mostly  for  terms  of  hard  labour)  for 
political  offences,  but  it  included  also  a  number  of  ex-prisoners  com- 
mitted for  criminal  offences  who  had  had  experience  of  both  Local 
and  Convict  prisons. 

This  personal  evidence  has  been  analysed  with  great  care.  It  has 
been  further  checked  and  supplemented  by  a  detailed  examination  of 


viii  EXGLISH  PBISONS  TO-DAY 

the  reports  of  the  Prison  Commissioners  for  tlie  last  25  years,  as  well 
as  other  official  publications  and  such  unofficial  literature  upon  the 
subject  as  exists.  Later  on  in  the  course  of  the  Enquiry  we  had  the 
good  fortune  to  obtain  a  copy  of  the  official  volume  containing  the 
Bules  and  Standing  Orders  for  Local  prisons  (1911  edition),  and 
this  has  been  extensively  quoted  in  our  Report.  We  have  also  had 
before  us  the  abridged  editions  of  the  Standing  Orders  officially 
issued  for  warders,  both  at  the  Local  and  Convict  prisons,  which 
include  the  amendments  made  up  to  the  year  1913 ;  and  the  Prison 
Commissioners'  Reports  have  from  time  to  time  also  contained  a  few 
selected  new  or  amended  Orders. 

From  these  various  sources  we  believe  that  we  have  been  able  to 
collect  substantially  accurate  information  about  every  phase  of  the 
prison  system.  If  in  any  case  the  Standing  Order  quoted  or  referred 
to  has  been  amended  without  our  knowledge  before  the  writing  of  this 
book,  the  secrecy  of  the  Commissioners  must  be  held  responsible  for 
the  error. 

When  the  mass  of  collected  information  had  been  sifted  and 
compared,  the  Report  was  prepared  under  our  editorship,  and  in 
consultation  with  the  Executive  Committee,  consisting  of  eighteen 
members  of  the  General  Committee  of  the  Enquiry.  Much  of  the 
evidence  relates  to  the  war  years,  1914  to  1919,  which  were  marked 
in  prison  by  certain  temporary  modifications  of  the  treatment.  We 
ourselves  spent  considerable  periods  in  prison  during  these  years 
(one  for  over  12  months  and  the  other  for  28  months),  and  we  have, 
of  course,  written  with  that  experience  in  mind.  But  we  have  taken 
some  trouble  to  make  our  description  correspond  with  the  actual  facts 
of  the  present  day  (i.e.,  the  winter  of  1921)  by  taking  note  of  the 
comparatively  slight  changes  in  the  routine  that  have  been  introduced 
since  1919,  as  indicated  both  by  the  Reports  of  the  Commissioners 
and  by  the  evidence  of  prison  officers  and  of  prisoners  released  as 
recently  as  the  summer  of  1921,  as  well  as  through  statements 
elicited  from  the  Home  Secretary  by  questions  in  Parliament.  The 
body  of  our  book  was,  of  course,  written  before  the  Report  of  the 
Prison  Commissioners  for  1920-21  was  pubHshed  in  November  last, 
but  we  have  attempted  to  include  the  latest  statistics  from  that  report 
and  to  mention  the  changes  therein  announced. 

A  large  part  of  the  book  was  written  by  ourselves,  but  we  have 
had  the  co-operation  of  a  number  of  experts  on  different  aspects  of 
the  subject.  We  must  especially  mention  Sir  Sydney  Olivier, 
K.C.M.G.,  the  chairman  of  the  Committee,  who  has  had  long  official 
experience  in  various  departments  of  the  State,  including  the  duties 
of  revising  judicial  sentences  and  of  serving  as  a  prison  visitor  and 
as  a  pubUc  officer  responsible  for  the  supervision  of  prison  admini- 


FOBEWORD  iK 

stration;  Miss  Margery  Fry,  J. P.,  and  Mr.  Cecil  Leeson,  the 
secretaries  of  the  Howard  League  for  Penal  Eeform  ;  the  Rev.  W.  D. 
Morrison.  LL.D.,  the  author  of  books  on  the  treatment  of  crime,  and 
formerly  in  the  prison  service;  Dr.  Ernest  Jones.  M.D.,  B.S., 
M.E.C.P.,  D.P.H.,  the  author  of  well-known  works  on  psychology; 
Mr.  C.  A.  Mace,  M.A.,  of  Queen's  College,  Cambridge,  who  has 
been  chiefly  responsible,  as  a  competent  psychologist,  for  Part  II. 
of  this  work;  Captain  Arthur  St.  John,  from  1907  to  1919  hon. 
secretary  of  the  Penal  Reform  League,  who  has  contributed  the 
Appendix  on  American  experiments;  Dr.  George  W.  Kirchwey,  the 
president  of  the  American  Prison  Association,  who  has  revised  this 
Appendix  in  the  Ught  of  the  latest  developments;  Mr.  George  Ives, 
the  author  of  "A  History  of  Penal  Methods'';  Mr.  R.  F.  Budden, 
B.A..  who  has  been  responsible  for  the  statistical  Tables;  Mr.  Lowes 
Dickinson,  ^LA.,  Fellow  of  King's  College,  Cambridge,  and  Mr. 
Laurence  Housman,  whose  literary  experience  has  been  of  much 
assistance;  Mr.  Ben  Spoor,  M.P.,  and  Mr.  Tom  Myers,  M.P.,  who 
put  a  number  of  questions  to  the  Home  Secretary  at  our  request; 
Mr.  W.  H.  Thompson  and  Mr.  \V.  A.  Evill,  who  provided  us  with 
much  legal  information;  Mr.  Norman  Penney,  who  read  the  proofs; 
and  Mr.  T.  Edmund  Harvey  and  Mr.  Clifford  Allen,  who  also  helped 
in  proof  reading  and  other  ways.  In  addition  to  these,  we  wish  to 
acknowledge  the  help  of  Mr.  H.  Goitein,  Mr.  A.  Creech  Jones,  and 
Mr.  J.  Wray  in  preparing  and  revising  the  material  for  various 
chapters,  and  of  Miss  E.  TuUoch,  Miss  V.  Wentworth,  and  Miss 
M.  Louis,  as  well  as  of  the  Labour  Research  Department,  for 
secretarial  assistance. 

It  is  also  our  duty  to  record  here  the  gratitude  of  the  Committee 
and  of  the  editors  to  the  many  friends  and  sympathisers  whose 
financial  assistance  has  rendered  possible  the  holding  of  the  Enquiry 
and  the  publication  of  the  present  volume. 

A  volume  entitled  "English  Prisons  Under  Local  Government," 
being  a  history  of  English  prison  administration  to  1877,  with  a 
continuation  bringing  the  story  to  1895,  by  Sidney  and  Beatrice 
Webb,  with  a  preface  on  the  theory  of  punishment  by  G.  Bernard 
Shaw,  is  published  simultaneously  with  this  work,  and  the  two  books 
should  be  read  together  for  a  right  understanding  of  the  growth  of 
the  prison  system.  We  wish  to  record  our  indebtedness  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Webb  for  the  benefit  of  their  experience  at  many  points  in  the 
conduct  of  the  Enquiiy  and  in  the  preparation  of  this  Report. 

In  conclusion,  we  may  express  our  hope  that  the  present  work 
will  lead  to  greatly  enlarged  knowledge  among  the  public  of  the  facts 
of  prison  life,  and  that  it  will  assist  in  bringing  about  the  fundamental 


X  ENGLISH   PRISONS   TO-DAY 

changes  which  will  be  required,  in  order  to  substitute  for  the  existing 
punitive  system  methods  based  on  principles  of  curative  and 
educational  treatment. 


Dccemher  nth,  1921. 


Stephen  Hobhouse. 
A.  Fexker  Brock  way. 


THE    NEW    CHAIEMAN    OF    THE    COMMISSIONERS 

"Whilst  this  book  was  in  the  press,  Sir  E.  Euggles-Brise  retired 
from  the  chairmanship  of  the  Prison  Commissioners  and  was 
succeeded  by  Mr.  M.  L.  Waller,  who  has  served  as  a  Commissioner 
since  1910.  We  have  thought  it  best  to  leave  unamended  the  many 
references  to  Sir  E.  Euggles-Brise  in  his  capacity  of  chairman,  as 
our  account  relates  to  the  prison  system  under  the  administration 
for  which  he  was  chiefly  responsible.  It  is  only  fair  to  Mr.  Waller, 
however,  to  state  that  evidence  is  now  reaching  us  from  a  number  of 
different  quarters  which  suggests  that  he  is  entering  upon  his  duties 
with  some  reforming  zeal  and  with  a  mind  receptive  to  new  ideas. 
Already  some  minor  reforms  have  been  introduced;  they  have  been 
noted  as  far  as  possible  in  the  following  pages. 

We  trust  that  the  Prison  Commission,  under  its  new  chairman, 
will  speedily  proceed  from  these  minor  changes  to  really  fundamental 
reforms. 


Note   on  Certain  References   in  the  Footnotes 


P.O.  Report  =  Annual  Report  of  the  Prison  Commis- 
sioners for   England  and   Wales. 

S.O.  =One  of  the  Standing  Orders  issued  privately  by 
the  Commissioners  for  the  Prison  Service. 

For  fuller  descriptions  of  other  authorities,  to  which 
reference  is  made  in  the  footnotes,  the  reader  is 
directed  to  the  List  of  Authorities  given  on 
pp.  704-706. 


CONTENTS 


Part  I — The  Prison  System 


CHAPTER  I.— The  Prison  Population. 

The  Number  of  Prisoners — The  Offences  Committed — The  Prison  Population 
Analysed — Accidental  Criminals  (Malicious  Violence — Lust — Misfortune) — 
Habitual  Criminals  (Lapses  —  Professionals  —  Vagrants)  —  Weak-minded 
Criminals — The   Location  of  English  Prisons. 

Appekdix. — The  Statistics  of  Crime  and  Imprisonment.  Their  Signifi- 
cance and  Limitations — The  War  and  After.  (Tables. — The  Movement  of 
Crime — The  Classification  of  Crime — The  Classification  of  Criminals — Fines 
and  Imprisonment — Prisoners  on  Remand — Age  and  Sex — The  Occupation 
of   Prisoners — The   Education  of   Prisoners — Length   of   Sentence). 

pages  3-41. 

CHAPTER  II. — The  Preliminaries  to  Imprisonment. 

The  Courts  and  Their  Functions  (Courts  of  Assize — Courts  of  Quarter 
Sessions — Courts  of  Summary  Jurisdiction) — The  Principles  of  Punishment 
in  English  Law — Appeals  (From  Magistrates — From  Quarter  Sessions  and 
Assizes) — Police  Cells — Alternatives  to  Imprisonment  (Fines — Probation — 
Restitution — Borstal — Preventive  Detention — The   Birmingham  Experiment). 

pages  42-53. 

CHAPTER  III. — The  Machinery  of  the  Prison  System. 

The  Development  of  the  System — The  Prison  Acts — The  Prison  Commission 
and  the  Home  Office — The  Inspection  of  Prisons — The  Annual  Reports — 
Rules  and  Standing  Orders — The  Secrecy  of  the  System — The  Obstacles  to 
Reform — The  Lack  of  Investigation  and  Experiment. 

The  Principal  Defects. 

pages  54-72. 

CHAPTER  IV.— The  Aims   of  the  System. 

The  Policy  of  the  Prison  Commission  up  to  1898 — The  Present  Commis- 
sioners' Theory  —  Retribution,  Deterrence  and  "Reformation"  —  The 
Reformative  Factors  of  the  Regime — How  Far  Prisoners  are  Regarded  as 
Amenable  to  Reformation — The    "Individualisation"  of  Punishment. 

Note  :    "The  English  Prison  System." 

The  Principal  Defects. 


CHAPTER  v.— The  Prison  Buildings. 
The  General  Plan— The   Halls— The  Cells— The  Grounds. 
The  Principal  Defects. 


pages  73-85. 


pages  86-92. 


xii  ENGLISH  PRISONS  TO-DAY 

CHAPTER  VI.— The  Routine. 
Reception  —  The  Contents  of  the  Cell  —  The  Daily  Routine  —  The  "Hard 
Labour"    Regime — Some    Breaks    in    the    Monotony— The    Prison    Sunday — 
The  System  of    Progressive  Stages — Discharge. 

The  Principal  Defects. 

Appendix. — The  Prisoner's  Ignorance  of  "Privileges." 

page.<!  93-108. 

CHAPTER  Vn.— Prison  Labour. 

The  Three  Categories  of  Labour — The  Absence  of  Industrial  Training — 
The  Penal  View  of  Labour — The  Workshops — The  Absence  of  Open-air  Work 
— The  Supervision  of  Prison  Labour— The  Problem  of  Payment. 

Note  :  Unauthorised  Crafts  in  the  Cell. 

The  Principal  Defects. 

Appendices. — 1.  The  Payment  of  Wages  to  Pbisoners. 

2.  The  Value  of  Prison  Labour  and  the  Cost  of  Prisons 

pages  109-125. 

CHAPTER  VIII.— Diet  and  Hygiene. 

Diet— Dress — Exercise — Personal  Cleanliness — The  Prison  Laundry — The 
Condition  of  the  Cells — Sanitation. 

The  Principal  Defects. 

pages  126-148. 

CHAPTER  IX.— Education. 

The    Educational    Standard    of    Prisoners — The    Educational    Scheme    until 

1919 — The   Present  Educational  Scheme — The  Teaching  Staff — Education  in 

Convict    Prisons — Unsuitability  of    the  Elementary   Education   Scheme — The 

Theory  of  the  Provisions  for  Further  Education — Reasons  for  Their  Complete 

Failure — Prisoners'    Efforts   at   Self-Culture — The    Inadequacy    of   the    1919 

Reforms. 

Note  :  Adult  Education. 

The  Principal  Defects. 

pages  149-170. 

CHAPTER  X.— Recreation. 
Lectures   in    Convict    and   Local    Prisons— Concerts —Debates — News   of   the 
Week — Prison   Libraries — Illiterate  Prisoners. 

The  Principal  Defects. 

pages  171-184. 

CHAPTER  XI. — Chaplains,  Relioious  Services,  and  Visitation. 

The  Official  Chaplains— The  Chaplains'  Duties— The  Cell  Visits— The  Chapel 
Services — The  Handicaps  of  the  Chaplain — The  Roman  Catholic  Priests — 
Visiting  Ministers  —  Other  Visitors  to  Pri.«oners  —  The  Lady  Visitors  — 
Visitation  of  Male  Prisoners. 

The  Principal  Defects. 

Appendix. — A  Roman  Catholic  Priest  on  the  Prison  System. 

pages  185-2C5. 


CONTENTS  xiil 


CHAPTEE  XII.— Letters  and  Visits. 

icy  of   1 
'isits  Ta 

The  Principal  Defects. 


The    Infrequency  of   Letters — The    Censorship   of    Letters — The    Conditions 
under  which  Visits  Take  Place. 

pages  206-213. 


CHAPTER  XIIL — Cl.\ssification  in  Local  Prisons. 

Cla.«sification  in  Theory  and  in  Practice — The  Second  Division — The  First 
Division — Political  Prisoners  :  The  "Churchill  Rule" — The  Star  Class — 
Debtors. 

The  Principal  Defects. 

pages  214-230 

CHAPTER  XIV.— Punishments. 

Prison  Offences  and  their  Punishment — The  Number  of  Punishments — The 
Trial  Before  the  Governor — Dietary  Punishment — Corporal  Punishment — 
The  Restraint  of  Violent  Prisoners. 

The  Principal  Defects. 

pages  231-245. 

CHAPTER  XV.— Executions. 

The  Treatment  of  Condemned  Men — The  Effect  upon  the  Prison  Population. 

A  Principal  Defect. 

pages  246-260. 

CHAPTER    XVI. 
The  Health  of  Prisoners  and  the  Medical  Staff. 

The  Health  of  Prisoner*  on  Reception — Effect  of  Imprisonment  upon  Health 
(Deaths  in  Prison)  —  The  Medical  Staff  —  The  Medical  Officers  and  the 
Prisoners — The  Extent  of  Malingering — The  Adequacy  of  the  Medical  Staff. 

The  Principal  Defects. 

pages  251-262. 

CHAPTER  XVII.— The  Treatment  of  the  Sick. 

Treatment  of  Specific  Complaints  —  (Eyes,  Teeth  and  Skin  —  Consumptive 
Cases — Venereal  Diseases — Forcible  Feeding — Surgical  Operations,  etc.) — 
The  Prison  Hospital  —  Solitary  Confinement  —  The  Hospital  Staff  —  The 
Hospital  Diet — Absence  of  Hospital   Treatment  in  Small  Prisons. 

Note  :  A  Medical  Opinion  of  a  Prison  Hospital. 

The  Principal  Defects. 

Appendices. — 1.  Report  of  Two  Cases  of  Death  in  Prison,  .Tanuary 

3rd   and   4th,    1919,    prepared   by    a   Grocp   of   Fellow- 
Prisoners. 

2.  Life  in  a  Prison  Hospital. 

pages  253-233. 


Xiv  ENGLISH  PRISONS  TODAY 

CHAPTER  XVIII.— The  Mentally  Deficient. 
The    Number    of    Mentally    Deficient    Prisoners — The    Treatment    of     the 
Mentally  Deficient — The  Observation  Cells — The  Insane. 

The  Principal  Defects. 

Appendix. — In  an  Obskkvation  Cell. 

pages  284-294. 

CHAPTER  XIX. — Juvenile  Adult  Prisoners. 

The  Number  of  Juvenile  Adults — The  Modified  Borstal  System — The 
Contamination  of  Juvenile  Adults. 

Note  :  Special  Treatment  of  Prisoners  under  25  years  of  Age. 

The  Principal  Defects. 

pages  295-304. 

CHAPTER  XX.— Unconvicted   Prisoners. 

The  Number  of  Unconvicted  Prisoners — The  Conditions  of  Imprisonment — 
The  Effect  upon  Young  Prisoners — Appellants. 

The  Principal  Defects. 

Appendix. — Notes  of  a  \Vo:.i.\n  Remand  Prisoner. 

pages  305-315. 

CHAPTER  XXI.— Penal    Servitude. 

The  Convict  Population — Classification — Distinctive  Features  of  the  Convict 
Regime — Convict  Labour  and  Industrial  Training — The  Routine  at  Convict 
Prisons — The  System  of  Progressive  Stages — The  Long  Sentence  Division 
(Life  Sentence  Men) — Juvenile  Adult  Convicts — The  Invalid  Convicfe 
Prison. 

Note  :  New  Recreation  Scheme  for  Convicts. 

The  Principal  Defects. 

pages  316-335. 

CHAPTER   XXII.— Women  Prisoners. 

The    Population    of   Women's    Prisons   (Cruelty  to   Children — Abortion    and 

Infanticide — Prostitutes — The    Unconvicted — Juvenile    Adults) — The   Regime 

— The  Diet  —  The  Silence  Rule  and  Other  Features  —  Babies  in  Prison  — 

Convict  Women. 

Note  :  The  Law  regarding  Prostitution. 

The  Principal   Defects. 

Appendix. — A  Case  of  Remand  for  Medical  Examin.'VTIOn. 

pages  336-352. 

CHAPTER  XXIII. — General  Characteristics  of  the  Routine. 
The  Suppression  of  Personality — The  Apologia  of  the  Chairman  of  the  Prison 
Commission — The  Rule  of  Silence — A  Survey  of  the  Routine — The  Failure  to 
Reform — The  Cry  from  the  Prison  Cell. 

The  Principal  Defects. 

pages  353-361. 


ENGLISH  PRISONS  TO-DAY 

Part  II — The  Effects  of  the  System 


CHAPTER  I. — The  Problem  and  the  Evidence. 

The  Conflicting  Views  of  the  Effects  —  Evidence  from  Official  Sources  — 
Evidence  from  Unofficial  Sources — The  Value  of  the  Political  Offender's 
Evidence — Evidence   from  Persons  Familiar   with   Discharged    Prisoners. 

Note  :  The  Use  of  the  Word  "Reform." 

pages  476-484. 

CHAPTEE  II. — Ad.\ptation  to  the  System. 

The  "Sensitive"  and  "Hardened"  Types  of  Prisoners  —  The  Process  of 
Adaptation. 

pages  485-487. 

CHAPTER  III.— Political  Offenders. 

Mental  Effects  in  the  First  Stage  :  Excitation — The  Second  Stage  :  "Making 
the  Best  of  It"  —  The  Third  Stage  :  Deterioration  —  The  Fourth  Stage  : 
Apathy — Some  Personal  Descriptions — Outstanding  Features  of  the  Mental 
Degeneration — The  Effects  Upon  Moral  Character. 

Note  :  The  Beneficial  Effects  of  Imprisonment. 

pages  488-500. 

CHAPTER   IV. — Ordinary  First  Offenders. 

The  Making  of  the  "Criminal  Type" — Mental  Reactions  of  the  Prisoner  : 
The  Hardening  Process — The  Theory  of  "the  Short  and  Sharp  Lesson" — 
The  First  Shock  and  the  Subsequent  Adaptation — E.xaggerated  Emotionalism 
Among  Prisoners — The  Deterioration  of  Moral  Character  :  The  Loss  of  Self- 
Respect — The  Experiences  Following  Relea.se — The  Mental  Condition  of  the 
Discharged  Prisoner. 

Note  :  Probation   in  America. 

pages  501-517. 

CHAPTER  v.— Reconvicted  Prisoners. 

The  Petty  Recidivist  —  The  Recidivist  Convict  —  The  Mental  and  Moral 
Deterioration  of  Convicts — Official   Admissions  of  Deterioration. 

Appendix.  —  The  Statistics  of  Recidivism  (Tables  :  Proportion  of 
Convictions  of  Previous  Offenders  to  the  Total  Number  of  Convictions- 
Criminal   Recidivists   Tried  on   Indictment   Only). 

pages  518  533 

CH.\PTER  VI. — Insanity  Among  Prisoners. 

The  Extent  of  Insanity  —  The  Effect  of  the  Length  of  Sentence  —  The 
Development  of  Insanity. 

Appendix. — Tables  of  Prison  Insanity  (The  Ratio  of  Insanity  to  Prison 
Population — The  Period  Elapsing  Between  Reception  and  Certification— The 
Relation  Between  Insanity  and  Length  of  Sentence — The  Ratio  of  Insanity 
in  Prisons  During  and  Since  the  War). 

pages  534  549. 


CONTENTS  XV 

CHAPTEE  XXIV.— The  Prison  Staff. 

The  Governors  —  The  Duties  of  the  Governors  —  The  Influence  of  the 
Governors  —  The  Subordinate  Staff  —  The  Duties  of  the  Warders  —  Their 
Relations  with  the  Prisoners — Espionage  within  the  Prison  Staff — Other 
Classes  of  Warders — The  Secrecy  of  the  Service— The  Wardresses — The 
Fitness  of  the   Staff. 

Note  :   An  Officer's  View  of  the  Prison  Service. 

The  Principal  Defects. 

Appendix. — The  Conditions  and  Pay  of  the  Prison  Service. 

pages  362-388. 


CHAPTER  XXV.— The  Visiting  Justices. 

The  Visiting  Committees  for  Local  Prisons — Their  Judicial  Powers — Their 
Contact  with  Unconvicted  Prisoners  and  other  Special  Classes — The  Hearing 
of  Complaints — Prisoners  Unfit  for  the  Discipline — The  Visiting  Committees 
and  the  Commissioners — The  Boards  of  Visitors  to  Convict  Prisons— The 
Limitations  of  the  Boards. 

The  Principal  Defects. 

Appendix. — PETiTioNa. 

pages  389-409. 


CHAPTER  XXVI.— The  Borstal  System. 

Borstal  Institutions  (The  Statutory  Ba.sis  and  the  Standing  Orders — The 
Borstal  Population  —  The  Buildings  —  The  Staff  —  The  Regime— Industri..^ 
Training) — The  Borstal  Association  (The  Results)— Borstal  Treatment  of  Girl 
Offenders  (The  Regime — The  Results). 

Note  :  Reforms  at  Borstal. 

The  Principal  Defects. 

pages  410-440. 


CHAPTER  XXVII.— Preventive  Detention. 

The  Inauguration  of  the  Experiment — Camp  Hill  Prison  and  its  Regime — 
A  Visitor's  Impressions — The  Parole  Lines  and  the  Disciplinary  Grade — Tho 
Governor,  the  Staff,  and  the  Advisory  Board — The  Drawbacks  of  tho 
System — The  New  Method  of  Licence — Tlie  Results  of  Preventive 
Detention  as  compared  with  Penal  Servitude — The  Habitual  Criminal  and 
Possibilities  of  Reform — The  Proposed  Extension  of  the  System. 

Tho  Principal  Defects. 

pages  441-466. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII.— The  Care  of  Discharged  Prisoners. 

The    Aid    of    Discharged     "Local"    Prisonerg— The    Licensing    and    Aid    of 
Dischai'ged  Convicts. 

pages  467-474. 


CONTENTS  xvii 

CHAPTER  VII. — Suicide  and  Attempted  Suicide. 

The  Ratio  of  Suicide  to  the  Prison  Population — The  Age  Incidence  of  Suicide 
—The   Greater    Frequency   of    Suicides   Among   Criminals   of   Passion— The 
Greater   Frequency    of    Suicides    in   the    Early    Period    of    Imprisonment — 
Suicide  and  the  Environmental  Influence  of  Prison  Life. 
ArrENDix. — Table  of  Suicides  in  Prison  During  and  Since  the  War. 

pages  550-560. 

CHAPTER  VIII. — Specific  Causes  of  Deterior.\tiox. 
The  System   as  a   Whole — The  Silence  Rule — The   Experiment  of  "Talking 
Exercise"  —  Separate  Confinement  —  Prison  Discipline  —  Absence  of  Self- 
Espression  in  Occupations. 

pages  561-579. 

CHAPTER  IX.— General  Conclusions. 

Physical  Pain  Replaced  by  Mental — Effects  on  "Sensitive"  and  "Hardened" 
Types — Insanity,  Suicide,  and  Mental  Deterioration — Specific  and  General 
Causes  of  Deterioration. 

AprENDix. — The  Effects  of  Imprisonment  upon  the  Sexual  Life. 

pages  580-589. 


Concluding  Chapter 


Society  and  the  Offender 
The  Need  to  Revise  Our  Penal  Theory — The  Directions  of  Reform. 

-A.  Note  by  the  Chairman  of  the  Enquiry. 

pages  590-598. 


Appendices 


I. — Specimens  of  Evidence. 

A  Church  of  England  Chaplain  —  A  Free  Church  Visiting  Minister  —  A 
Medical  Officer — A  Warder — An  Agent  of  a  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid 
Society — A  Criminal  Convict — A  "Lifer" — ^A  Preventive  Detention  Prisoner 
— A  Political  Prisoner — The  Mental  Effects  of  Imprisonment. 

pages  600-650. 

II. — Some  American  Experiments. 

The  Reformatory  Movement  (The  Indeterminate  Sentence — Factors  of  the 
Discipline  —  Schools  —  Books  and  Magazines — News — Recreation — Music — 
Chaplains— Food— Conversation — Letters,  Visits,  etc. — Dres-s — Buildings  and 
Hygiene— Punishments  and  Rewards — The  Illinois  Progressive  Merits  System 


xviii  ENGLISH   PRISOXS  TO-DAY 

— Wardens'  Experiments)— Convict  Road  Camps  and  Farms— The  "Honor 
System"  —  Corporate  Responsibility  of  Prisoners  —  Mr.  Mott  Osborne's 
Experiments — The   Entry  of  Science — Prison   Industries — Conchision. 

pages  661-599. 

III. — Report  and  Recommendations  or  the  Indian  Jails 
Committee  after  Investigating  English    and  American 

Prisons. 
The    Silence   Rule — Cellular   Confinement — Recreation — The   Staff — Labour — 
Mental    Defectives — Unconvicted    Prisoners — Indeterminate   Sentence. 

pages  700-703. 

IV. — List  of   Principal  Authorities. 
Official   Publications — Reports    of  Associations — General   Literature. 

pagei  704-706. 


Index 


pages  707-728. 


Illustrations 


Two  Wings  of  Wakefield  Prison  -      -      -      .  page  87 

Wakefield   Prison    Hospital   and  an    Exercise 

Groitnd page  87 

Two  Views  of  the  Interior  of  a  Prison  Cell  page  95 

Two    Views    of   the    Interior    of   a    Hall    at 

Dartmoor  Prison page  321 


PART   I 


THE  PRISON   SYSTEM 

Chapter  1.— THE  PRISON  POPULATION. 

2.— THE  PRELIMINARIES  TO  IMPRISONMENT. 

3.— THE  MACHINERY  OF  THE  PRISON  SYSTEM. 

4.— THE  AIMS   OF  THE  SYSTEM. 

5.— THE   PRISON    BUILDINGS. 

6.— THE   ROUTINE. 

7.— PRISON    LABOUR. 

8.— DIET   AND   HYGIENE. 

9.— EDUCATION 
10.— RECREATION. 
11.— CHAPLAINS,  RELIGIOUS    SERVICES,   AND 

VISITATION. 
12.— LETTERS  AND  VISITS. 
13.— CLASSIFICATION   IN   LOCAL   PRISONS. 
14.— PUNISHMENTS. 
15.— EXECUTIONS. 
16.— THE  HEALTH   OF  PRISONERS  AND  THE 

MEDICAL  STAFF. 
17.— THE   TREATMENT  OF  THE  SICK. 
18.— THE   MENTALLY   DEFICIENT. 
19.-JUVENILE   ADULT    PRISONERS. 
20.— UNCONVICTED  PRISONERS. 
21.— PENAL  SERVITUDE. 
22.— WOMEN   PRISONERS. 
23.— THE    GENERAL    CHARACTERISTICS    OF    THE 

ROUTINE. 
24.— THE   PRISON   STAFF. 
25.— THE  VISITING  JUSTICES. 
26.— THE   BORSTAL   SYSTEM. 
27— PREVENTIVE    DETENTION. 
28.— THE   CARE  OF  DISCHARGED  PRISONERS. 


CHAPTER   I 


THE    PEISON    POPULATION 

In  order  to  judge  our  Prison  system  rightly  it  is  necessary  to  know 
what  kind  of  people  become  prisoners.  Unless  the  men  and  women 
who  experience  the  conditions  detailed  in  the  following  chapters  are 
constantly  present  to  the  reader's  mind  as  live  human  beings,  the 
purpose  of  our  report  must  largely  fail. 

How  many  persons  go  to  prison?  For  what  length  of  sentence? 
For  what  offences  ?  What  kind  of  persons  ?  These  are  some  of  the 
questions  we  shall  try  to  answer  in  this  chapter. 

The  Number  of  Pbisoners. 

It  is  good  to  be  able  to  say  at  the  outset  that  our  prison  population 
is  st-eadily  diminishing.  In  1876-77,  when  prison  administration 
was  first  centralised,  the  daily  average  population  in  Local  prisons' 
was,  broadly,  20,000.  In  1913-14  (the  year  before  the  war)  it  was 
14,300.  In  1918-19  (the  last  war  year)  it  was  7,000.  In  1920-21 
it  was  8,400.  The  great  drop  between  1914  and  1918  was  due 
principally  to  war  conditions — to  full  employment,  to  liquor  restric- 
tions, and  to  the  inclusion  of  a  large  proportion  of  the  male  population 
in  the  army ;  but  the  post-war  figures  for  1920-21  show  comparatively 
little  increase.  The  maintenance  of  the  low  figure  is  probably  in 
part  due  to  the  retention  of  some  of  the  war-time  liquor  restrictions, 
but  other  and  more  permanent  factors  have  contributed. 

The  figures  we  have  given  relate  to  Local  prisons  only,  but  the 
returns  of  offenders  sentenced  to  penal  servitude  in  Convict  prisons 
show  a  similar  and  continuing  decrease.  The  daily  average  popula- 
tion in  Convict  prisons  in  1876-77  was,  broadly,  10,000,  as  compared 
with  2,700  in  1913-14;  1,200  in  1918-19;  and  1,400  in  1920-21. 
These,  added  to  the  figures  for  Local  prisons,  make  a  total  average 
daily  prison  population  of  approximately  30,000  in  1876-77,  as 
compared  with  17,000  in  1913-14;  8,200  in  1918-19;  and  9,800  in 
1920-21.  The  prison  population  last  year  was,  therefore,  consider- 
ably less  than  one-third  what  it  was  40  years  ago.  If  we  compare 
the  number  of  admissions  to  prison  in  recent  years,  the  decrease  is 
even  more  striking,  as  the  following  Table  shows:  — 

'  There  are  two  types  of  prison — <»)  Conrict  prisons,  for  those  sentenced  to  penal 
serritude,  the  minunnm  t«rm  of  which  is  three  ;earj,  and  fb)  Local  prisons,  for  all  others, 
the   maximam  term  being  two  years. 


THE   PRISON   POPULATION 


<f 


Annual  Admissions  to  Prison.* 

Local  prisons.          Convict  prisons.  Total. 

1913-14          150,308        ...        808        ...  161,116 

1918-19          27,625        ...        454        ...  28,079 

1920-21           48,588         ...         492         ...  49,080 

The  proportion  of  prisoners  to  the  general  population  is  shown 
in  the  following  Table:  — 

Ratio  of  Prisoners  per  100,000  of  the  Population. 

Five  years  ended  1903  -4  512.3 

1908-9  540.3 

„       1913-14  437.5 

,,       1918-19  ...         ...  157.4 

Year  1919-20  98.4 

Year  1920-21  116.7 

The  low  ratio  for  the  five  years  ending  1918-19  represents  the 
abnormal  period  of  the  war. 

These  figures  include  both  men  and  women.  It  is  important, 
however,  to  divide  the  sexes,  because  they  represent  very  different 
problems.     The  figures  for  women  only  are  as  follows:  — 

Daily  Average  of  Women  Prisoners. 

Local  prisons.         Convict  prisons.  Total. 

1913-14  2,236         ...  95         ...  2,331 

1918-19  1,322        ...  83        ...  1,405 

1920-21  1,159         ...  76         ...  1,235 

It  will  be  noted  that  women  prisoners  number  about  14  per  cent. 
of  the  total,  and  that  the  decrease  in  women  prisoners  corresponds 
to  the  general  decrease. 

The  average  length  of  the  sentences  served  in  Local  prisons  is 
about  five  weeks;  in  Convict  prisons,  about  four  years  and  ten  weeks. 
The  average  length  of  sentences  in  Local  prisons  has  very  slightly 
increased  since  1900;  in  Convict  prisons  it  has  decreased  by  one- 
year.*  Of  the  48,588  persons  committed  to  Local  prisons  in 
1920-21,  no  fewer  than  11,950  were  sentenced  to  two  weeks  or  less; 
5,190  of  these  were  sentenced  to  one  week  or  less. 

The  Offences  Committed. 
The  question,  .'.'E<w-  what. of ences  do  people  go  to  prison?"  may 
be  answered  under  different  categoriesT  "Talking  the  records  of  a 
period  of  years  and  classifying  them  under  the  three  several  heads 

(1)  serious  (murder,  wounding,  sexual  offences,  burglary  and  fraud), 

(2)  petty  (including  drunkenness),   and  (3)  oSences  against  regula- 
tions, we  get  approximately  17  per  cent,  serious,  73  per  cent,  petty, 

2  3*8    Table,    p.    27.    Conrt    Martial    prisoners    and    debtor*    are    included    in    the    figure? 
giren  abore. 
»  See  Table,  p.  41.    Cp.  also  Footnote  1.  p.  93  and  p.   316. 


%4M^  ^Ch-J^' 


THE    OFFEXCES    COMMITTED 

and  10  per  cent,    against  regulations.*     Classified  under  the  three- 
heads  (1)  against  the  person,   (2)  against  property,  and   (3)  other 
offences,  the  returns  show  approximately  8  per  cent,  against  the 
person,  18.5  per  cent,   against  property,   and  73.6  per  cent,  other 
offences.     Of  the  last,  about  nine-tenths  are  convictions  for  drunken-  / 
ness  and  vagrancy.     About  two-thirds  of  the  offences  against   the^ 
person  are  non-indictable  assaults,  often  occasioned  by  drink.* 

A  more  detailed  and  informative  classification  is  shown  in  the 
following  Table,  where  offences  are  divided  according  to  motive. 
These  belong  to  1913  (the  last  normal  year  before  the  war),  but  are 
approximately  true  of  any  year,  the  percentage  vaiying  but  little.* 

Classification  According  to  Motive.'' 

Male  Prisoners.  Female  Prisoners. 

Malicious  Offences  ...         10  per  cent.  ...  7  per  cent. 

Agst.  Person  8  per  cent.      Agst.  Person  6  per  cent. 

Agst.  Property  2  per  cent.  Agst.  Property  1  per  cent. 

Sexual  Offences    ...         ...  2  per  cent. 

Acquisitive  Offences 

Drunkenness 

Vagrancy 

Other  Criminal  Offences 


25  per  cent. 

10  per  cent. 

45  per  cent. 

4  per  cent. 


9  per  cent. 


22  per  cent. 
35  per  cent. 
20  per  cent. 
1  per  cent. 
Offences  against  Regulations      10  per  cent. 

The  sex  variations  have  considerable  significance.  The  general 
field  of  female  criminality  is,  indeed,  remarkably  small  compared 
with  that  of  men,  drunkenness  and  sexual  offences  (and  the  relation 
between  the  two  is,  of  course,  close)  accounting  for  no  less  than  70 
per  cent,  of  their  convictions. 

An  extraordinarily  large  percentage  both  of  men  and  women  go  to 
prison  in  default  of  paying  a  fine:  in  1913  it  was  50.2  per  cent,  in 
the  case  of  men  and  69  per  cent,  in  the  case  of  women.'  Since 
1915,  owing  largely  to  the  operation  of  the  Criminal  Justice 
Administration  Act,  the  percentage  has  been  steadily  falling,  and  in 
1920-21  it  stood  at  30  per  cent.,  taking  men  and  women  together. 
But  even  so,  it  means  that  nearly  a  third  of  the  prison  population  are 
there  through  faihng  to  pay  a  fine.' 

A  later  chapter  describes  the  conditions  under  which  remanded 
persons  are  confined;  and  their  approximation  to  those  of  an 
ordinary  prison  is  a  very  grave  matter,  especially  when  we 
consider  the  high  percentage  of  those  sent  to  prison  on  remand, 

•  S«e  Table,  p.  29. 
'  See  Table,   p.  30. 

•The  Prison  Commifsioners  in  their  report  for  1913-14  point  out  that  no  less  than 
Jo-16ths  of  the  indictable  oBences  are  larcenies  and  acta  of  diabonesty,  that  is,  offences 
against   property. 

'  See   Table,  p.   32. 

•  See  Table,  p.  55. 

•  See  Table,  p.  36. 


6  THE   PRISON   POPULATION 

whom  the  magistrates  subsequently  find  it  unnecessary  to  sentence/* 
In  1920-21  no  less  than  10,300  persons  came  within  this  category, 
and  the  Prison  Commissioners  point  out  that,  while  the  general 
admissions  into  prison  have  fallen  by  62  per  cent,  since  1913-14, 
this  figure  only  represents  a  fall  of  about  18  per  cent."  In  1919  no 
less  than  55  per  cent,  of  those  sent  to  prison  on  remand  were  released 
unsentenced,  the  number  of  cases  being  22,701.  During  the  years 
1905  to  1913  (we  exclude  the  abnormal  war  years)  the  percentage 
varied  from  42  to  48  and  the  actual  number  of  cases  from  34,721 
to  39,481.'^ 

The  Prison  Population  Analysed. 

We  now  approach  the  more  difficult  question,  "What  kind  of 
persons  go  to  prison?"  We  take  in  the  first  place  the  simple 
category  of  age.  The  following  Tables  give  the  ages  of  prisoners  in 
the  years  1905,  1913,  and  1920-21":  — 

Age  and  Sex  of  Prisoners. 


Males. 

1905 
1913 
1920-21 

Under  16         16-21 

1,010    16,028 

15       6,646 

6      4,211 

21-30 

40,196 

26,294 

9,936 

30-40 

39,314 
30,574 

7,840 

40-50 

27,121 

22,206 

5,904 

50-60 

12,789 

10,530 

3,035 

60  &  over 

12,218 
9,234 
1,937 

1905 
1913 
1920-21 

Females 
35 

2,265 
844 
743 

11,523 
6,331 
3,118 

15,945 

11,500 

3,357 

11,193 
9,569 

2,507 

4,310 

3,709 

970 

2,173 

1,476 

348 

If  these  figures 
results : — 

be  given  in  percentages, 

they  show  the  following 

Males. 

1905 
1913 
1920-21 

Under  16 

.68 
.01 

.02 

16-21 

10.78 

6.30 

12.81 

21-30 

27.04 
24.93 
30.23 

30-40 

26.44 
28.98 

23.85 

40-50 

18.24 
21.05 
17.96 

50-60 

8.60 
9.98 
9.23 

60  &  over 

8.22 

8.75- 
5.89 

1905 
1913 
1920-21 

Females 
.08 

4.77 
2.52 
6.73 

24.29 
18.94 

28.23 

33.61 
34.40 
30.4 

23.59 
28.62 

22.7 

9.08 
11.10 

8.87 

4.58 
4.42 
3.11 

The  fall  in  the  number  of  prisoners  under  16  is  due  to  the  Child- 
ren's Act,  1908.  A  part  of  the  fall  in  the  number  of  prisoners 
between  16  and  21  is  due  to  the  Probation  of  Offenders  Act,  1907, 
and  to  the  introduction  of  the  Borstal  System  in  1909. 

»•  See  p.   305. 

»»  P.O.  Report,   1920-21,  p.  11. 

»2  See  Table,   p.   37. 

"  See  Table,  p.   38. 


THE  PRISON   POPULATION   ANALYSED  7 

The  following  Table  indicates  the  proportion  of  prisoners  drawn 
from  the  different  classes  of  occupation.  The  percentages  for  1913 
may  be  taken  as  typical :  — 

The  Occupations  of  Prisoners.^* 

Labourers,   etc.         -       -       -       -  60.6 

Mechanics           13.1 

Factory  Workers      -       -       -       -  6.2 

Shopkeepers  and   Dealers     -       -  4.8 

Army  and  Navy       ...       -  3.1 

Prostitutes                 -       -       -       -  2.8 

Domestic    Servants         -       -       -  2.3 

Shop-workers  and  clerks       -       -  2.3 

Professional      -         .       .       .       .  .4 

Foremen,   etc.           -       -       -       -  .1 

No  Occupation          ....  5.3 

The  term  "labourer"  is  probably  used  to  cover  all  unskilled  and 
semi-skilled  workers. 

From  the  Tables  illustrating  the  educational  standard  of  prisoners  '* 
it  will  be  seen  that  in  1913  96.5  per  cent,  of  prisoners  could  not 
write  "well"  and  that  13  per  cent,  were  illiterates.  From  this  and 
the  Occupational  Table  given  above  one  fact  becomes  clear :  prisoners 
are  drawn  very  largely  from  the  poorest  and  least  educated  class. 
This  conclusion  is  borne  out  by  all  who  have  had  contact  with  the 
prison  population. 

"Prisons  are  largely  peopled  by  the  very  poor,  the  very  ignorant, 
the  physical  and  mental  weaklings,  the  unemployable,  and  the 
unskilled,  to  say  nothing  of  the  drunkards,"  said  Dr.  Smalley  in  his 
report  as  Medical  Inspector  of  Prisons  in  1909."  "An  examination 
would  show  that  poverty  and  destitution  play  much  greater  parts 
in  the  causation  of  crime  than  is  generally  believed,"  asserts  Dr. 
James  Devon,  a  member  of  the  Board  of  the  Scottish  Prisons 
Commission  and  previously  medical  officer  at  Glasgow  prison.  We 
quote  the  following  passage  from  the  paper  which  he  contributed 
to  the  National  Conference  on  the  Prevention  of  Destitution,  June 
1912:  — 

My  personal  view  is  that  poverty  and  destitution  are  at  the  root  of 
most  offences  against  the  law.  Everybody  can  see  that  a  man  may  bo 
tempted  to  steal  if  he  is  destitute,  but  those  who  have  never  felt  the 
pinch  of  poverty,  combined  with  the  absence  of  friendly  aid,  can  hardly 
imagine  how  men  are  embittered  and  goaded  into  acts  of  brutality ; 
how  they  are  tempted  to  seize  desperately  on  every  chance  of  even 
momentary  forgetfulness  of  their  fate;  how  continually  they  have  to 
dodge  rules  and  laws  that  never  incommode  their  more  fortunate 
neighbours ;  how  hopeless  they  become,  and  how  broken  in  spirit ;  how 

>*  See  Table,  p.   39.    A   large  nnmber   of  ofiencea  in  th»  army    amd  nary   are,   ol  course, 
dealt  with   under   military    and  naral    discipline. 
'»  See  Table,   p.  40,  jummari»ed  on  p.   150. 
"  P.C.  Report,  1908-9,  p.   55. 


8  THE  PRISON  POPULATION 

easy  it  is  for  them  to  drift  into  courses  condemned  by  those  whose  life 
is  brighter  and  whose  opportunities  are  greater." 

In  his  book,  "  The  Criminal  and  the  Community,"  Dr.  Devon 
emphasises  that  it  is  particularly  the  overcrowding  of  the  poor  in 
large  towns  that  causes  crime.  He  points  out  that  the  discomfort, 
irritabihty,  and  other  mental  conditions  which  result  from  over- 
crowding lead  to  crimes  against  the  person  just  as  hunger  and  want 
lead  to  crimes  against  property."  In  their  report  for  1920-21,  the 
Prison  Commissioners  emphasise  the  relation  between  unemploy- 
ment and  crime.  Experience  has  shown,  they  say,  "that  when  the 
Board  of  Trade  percentage  of  unemployment  reached  its  highest 
figures,  the  prison  population  invariably  rose  accordingly;  and  that 
in  time  of  industrial  prosperity  the  fewest  prisoners  were  received." 
They  explain  the  comparatively  small  increase  in  the  number  of 
prisoners  during  the  trade  depression  of  1920-21  as  due  "principally 
to  the  effect  of  unemployment  pay,  which  has  prevented  acute 
distress."  " 

It  is  sometimes  argued  that  the  majority  of  those  in  prison  for 
theft  are  habitual  offenders,  and  that  only  a  comparatively  few 
ofiences  against  property  are  due  to  destitution.  "  This  is  to  lose 
sight  of  the  fact  that  nobody  is  a  habitual  offender  at  first,"  is  Dr. 
Devon's  comment.  "The  starting  point  of  the  career  of  many 
habitual  criminals  was  their  destitution.  It  threw  them  into 
conditions  favourable — I  might  almost  say  compelling — to  the  com- 
mission of  crime,  and  their  first  criminal  act  in  its  result  shut  the 
door  against  their  return  to  honest  and  suitable  employment. "  "  In 
his  work  on  "Eecidivism,"  Dr.  J.  F.  Sutherland  places  "slumdom" 
as  the  principal  factor  in  the  making  of  habitual  offenders.^' 

The  Italian  criminologist,  Lombroso,  popularised  the  view  that 
there  is  a  criminal  type:  "That  hterally  from  top  to  toe  in  every 
organ  and  structure  of  his  body,  from  the  quality  of  his  hair,  at  one 
extreme,  to  the  deformity  of  his  feet  at  the  other,  the  criminal  is 
beset  with  definite  morbid  and  physical  stigmata.""  Hardly  any 
competent  criminologist  now  holds  this  view.  Most  of  those  with  ' 
experience  of  prison  populations  denied  it  from  the  first,  and  the 
matter  was,  we  think,  put  beyond  doubt  by  the  publication  of  Dr. 
Goring's  "The  English  Convict."  Dr.  Goring  examined  3,000  con- 
victs at  Dartmoor,  Portland,  Parkhurst,  and  Borstal  prisons.*'  His 
investigation  proves  decisively  that  Lombroso's  theory  is  not  justified 
by  the  facts,  and  that  "the  physical  and  mental  constitution  of  both 

1'  Report  ol  the  Proceedings  of  the  Crime  and  Inebriety  Section  of  the  National  Conference 
on  the  Preyention  of  Destitution,   1912,  p.   21. 

"  Op.  cit.,  pp.  79-82. 

i»  P.O.   Report,  1920-21.  p.  6. 

»•  Report  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Crime  and  Inebriety  Section  of  the  National  Conference 
on  the  Prevention  of  Destitution,  1912,  p.  22. 

a>  Op.  cit.   (1908),  p.  59. 

sj  "The  English   Convict,"  p.  13. 

3*  Borstal  was  not  then  a  Reformatory. 


ACCIDENTAL    CRIMINALS  9 

criminal  and  law-abiding  persons  of  the  same  age,  stature,   class, 
and  intelligence,  are  identical."" 

At  the  same  time,  as  we  should  expect  from  the  fact  that  "prisons 
are  largely  peopled  by  the  very  poor,  the  very  ignorant,  the  physical 
and  mental  weakUngs,"  Dr.  Goring's  evidence  conclusively  shows 
that  criminals  as  a  body  suffer  abnormally  from  defective  physique 
and  defective  mental  capacity.  "In  every  class  and  occupation  of 
life,"  states  Dr.  Goring,  "it  is  the  feeble-minded,  and  the  inferior 
forms  of  physique — the  less  mentally  and  physically  able  persons — 
which  tend  to  be  selected  for  a  criminal  career. "  " 

The  prison  population  has  been  classified  in  many  different  ways. 
The  classification  made  by  Dr.  Smalley  in  his  "Prison  Hospital 
Nursing"  seems  to  us  to  be  as  valuable  as  any,  although,  as  we  shall 
point  out,  there  are  certain  omissions.  He  divides  criminals  into 
four  classes — (1)  Accidental  Criminals,  (2)  Habitual  Criminals,  (3) 
Weak-minded  Criminals,  and  (4)  Insane  Criminals."  The  inclusion 
of  the  fourth  class  is  only  technically  correct,  legal  and  moral 
responsibility  being  absent;  and  since  "criminal  lunatics"  are  not 
now  detained  in  prisons,  we  can  dismiss  it  from  our  consideration 
here.     The  three  other  classes  we  shall  proceed  to  describe. 

Accidental  Criminals. 
The  accidental  criminals  include  those  who  have  been  guilty  of 
(i)  crimes  of  malicious  violence,  such  as  assaults,  manslaughter, 
and  murder,  (ii)  crimes  of  lust,  or  (iii)  one  of  the  many  offences 
against  property  for  which  misfortune  or  some  exceptional  temptation 
is  responsible. 

Malicious  Violence. — "A  stout,  strong,  healthy,  thick-set  indivi- 
dual, if  anything  rather  below  the  average  stature  of  his  class. "  This 
is  Dr.  Goring's  portrait  of  a  person  prone  to  criminal  violence. 
Such  offenders  are  generally  characterised  by  a  degree  of  strength 
and  of  constitutional  soundness  considerably  above  the  average  of 
other  criminals,  and  of  the  law-abiding  community."'  They  have 
qmck  and  ungovernable  forms  of  temper,  are  obstinate,  and  are 
also  differentiated  from  other  types  of  convicts  by  increased  suicidal 
tendency  and  by  an  augmented  proclivity  to  be  eventually  certified 
insane."  Prisoners  who  come  in  this  group  are  probably  not  more 
than  five  per  cent,  of  the  whole. 

Lust. — Criminals  of  lust  are  divided  by  Dr.  Smalley  into 
three    types — (a)    the    leisured    sexualist,    (b)    the    committer    of 

**  "The  English  ConTict,  p.  370. 

"  "The  English  Conrict,"  p.  261.  Dr.  Goring  concluded  that  "relatirely  crime  is  only 
to  a  trifling  extent  the  prodoct  of  social  inequalities,  adrerse  enrironments,  or  other 
manitestation;  ol  what  may  be  comprehenairely  termed  the  force  of  circumstances,"  but 
on  this  point  he  has  been  Tigorously,  and  we  think  successfully,  assailed,  especially  bi 
Sir  Bryan  Donkin,  M.D. 

"Op.  cit.    (1902),  pp.  217—222. 

"  "The  English  Convict,"  p.   200. 

»»  Ibid,  p.    245. 

B2 


10  THE   PRISON   POPULATION 

some  gross  act  of  bestiality,  and  (c)  the  committer  of  outrage  upon  a 
child.  The  second  is  often  of  weak  intellect  and  a  "low,  coarse- 
minded  being,  ill-educated,  ill-favoured  in  appearance,  living  more 
often  than  not  in  a  country  district,  who  satisfies  his  desire  by  some 
gross  act  of  bestiahty."  The  third  type  frequently,  commits  the 
crime  when  inflamed  by  drink,  and  is,  says  Dr.  Smalley,  more  nearly 
allied  to  the  insane  class.  Those  guilty  of  indecently  exposing  the 
person  are  usually  chronic  alcoholics,  though  occasionally  they  are 
in  the  early  stages  of  insanity  or  suffer  from  epilepsy. 

An  ex-prisoner  gives  the  following  description  of  prisoners  of  these 
classes  with  whom  he  came  into  contact :  — 

I. 

W was  an  extraordinarily   fine-looking  old  man   of   sixty,    erect, 

tall,  with  a  leonine  head  and  white  beard.  He  was  serving  a  term  of 
two  years  for  criminal  assault — his  second  sentence  for  a  similar  offence. 
He  was  very  emotional  and  sometimes  broke  down  in  tears.  Except 
that  he  had  a  fierce  temper,  he  seemed  normal.  He  had  courage  and 
generosity,  risking  severe  punishment  and  loss  of  the  best  job  in  the 
prison  to  bring  me  papers  daily.  His  crime  seemed  to  be  the  result  of 
an  abnormal  and  uncontrollable  passion. 

II. 

T was  the  landing  cleaner,   fifty  or  thereabouts,  a  slouching,  ugly 

figure,  ill-featured,  and  always  smiling  childishly,  obviously  weak- 
minded.  His  offence  was  an  act  of  ghastly  bestiality.  He  did  his 
routine  duties  well  and  was  strikingly  honest — for  instance,  he  would 
never  take  bread  from  another  prisoner's  cell.  He  finished  a  sentence 
of  nine  months  and  was  back  again  in  three  weeks  with  an  eighteen 
months'  sentence  for  the  same  offence.  He  was  obviously  a  mental  case 
and  ought  to  have  been  segregated  under  decent  conditions. 

In  the  case  of  men,  sexual  offenders  only  number  2  per  cent. 
The  high  percentage  of  women  in  this  category — 25  per  cent. — ^is  due 
to  offences  connected  with  prostitution.  Special  attention  is  given 
to  this  subject  in  the  chapter  dealing  with  women  prisoners. '' 

Misfortune. — A    very   large    proportion  of  the  prison  population 
comes  within  the  third  group  of  accidental  criminals — the  criminals 
of  special  temptation.   "As  a  class,"  says  Dr.  Smalley,  "they  present 
no  indication  of  diseased  or  defective  mental  organisation;  time  and 
opportunity  count  much  in  the  production  of  the  crime.     Possibly 
in  the  case  of  many  who  take  special  credit  to  themselves  for  not 
having  departed  from  the  paths  of  rectitude,  it  is  only  owing  to  their  i 
being  more  happily  circumstanced  and  without  adequate  temptation."  i 
It  is  difficult  to  select  cases  to  illustrate  this  type  of  prisoner ;  the  i 
group  is  so  comprehensive.     The  following  example  may  be  given 
from  the  evidence  of  an  ex-prisoner:  — 

I. 

A  man  came  next  door  to  me  once  for  three  months'  hard  labour, 
convicted  of  receiving  stolen  property.  His  coming  in  had  kept  others 
out.  He  had  never  known  prison  before,  and  the  effect  on  his  mind 
was  terrible.     He  cried  every  day  for  almost  a  fortnight.     He  had  left 

2»  See   pp.   338-40. 


HABITUAL  CRIMINALS  11 

a  wife  and  six  children  outside  and  was  unable  to  get  into  touch  with 
them.  He  told  me  afterwards  that  it  was  a  few  words  of  sympathy 
and  cheer  from  myself  which  had  kept  him  from  taking  his  life. 

A  visitor  to  a  prison  gives  these  instances  :  — 

II. 

A  piteous  case  of  an  ex-soldier,  4  years'  service,  wounded  repeatedly. 
Nine  wounds  in  his  back  (the  warder  stated),  left  hand  entirely  useless, 
terrible  stammer,  seemed  a  mere  wreck  of  a  man.  Said  he  had  only 
stolen  because  he  was  hungry  (three  months — doing  first  month 
"separate").  On  leaving  cell  I  said  to  the  warder,  "He  doesn't  seem 
the  kind  of  case  who  ought  to  be  here."  "No,"  said  the  warder,  "he 
ought  not  to  be  here.     There's  a  many  gets  here  that  never  ought  to." 

III. 
A   young    man,    sensitive-looking    and   with   a    terrible   expression   of 
misery.      In  for  deserting  his  wife  and  children  and  going  off  to  Scotland 
with  another  woman.     He  looked  broken. 

From  the  notes  of  a  witness  who  has  had  a  wide  experience  of 
women's  prisons,  we  give  the  following  examples:  — 

IV. 
Talked  to  a  gipsy  woman  with  a  baby  nine  weeks  old.  Sentence,  six 
months  for  fortune-telling.  Matron  encourages  her  to  be  out  in  the 
exercise  ground  as  much  as  possible,  but  felt  it  an  abominable  thing  to 
condemn  a  baby  to  pass  the  first  six  months  of  its  life  in  prison.  The 
woman  has  six  children.     The  father  is  doing  his  best  for  the  other  five. 

V. 

One  family  of  three  all  in  prison.  Charge,  concealment  of  birth. 
Parents  took  the  child  away  from  the  girl  and  did  away  with  it.  Seemed 
hard  that  the  girl  should  be  there  at  all. 

VI. 
A  girl  of  21.     Was  taken  up  by  an  American  officer,  got  nsed  to  free 

spending  with  him.  When  he  left  her,  went  as  maid  into  a  nursing 
home  where  she  stole  £19  from  a  patient  whilst  the  latter  was  under 
an  anaesthetic.  She  was  remanded  several  times  and  allowed  bail.  When 
she  found  that  imprisonment  was  certain  she  swallowed  a  bottle  of 
poison.  This  was  three  days  before  I  saw  her,  and  she  was  still  weak 
and  ill,  though  pulling  through.  She  was  evidently  in  a  nearly  desperate 
condition  when  brought  in.  The  matron  said,  "Wasn't  it  a  silly 
thing  to  do?"  The  girl  said,  "Well,  I  shan't  do  it  again,"  and  laughed, 
but  added  that  she  didn't  know  that  it  wouldn't  have  been  better  if 
she'd  died.  I  tried  to  cheer  her  up  a  little,  and  we  talked  of  the  proud 
and  pompous  prison  cat  who  comes  and  looks  in  at  her  through  the  bars. 
She  was  a  rather  sweet-looking  girl,  probably  a  little  slippery  and  weak, 
but  not  the  least  what  one  thinks  of  as  a  criminal  type. 

We  have  already  shown  how  frequently  crime  is  committed  under 
conditions  of  destitution  and  hunger.  This  is  often  the  case  with 
persons  of  weak  will  and  resisting  power,  and  the  danger  is  always 
great  that  the  accidental  offender  will  become  the  habitual  offender. 

Habitual  Criminals. 
It  is  difficult  to  calculate  the  proportion  of  prisoners  in  the  second 
main  class  of  prisoners,  that  of  the  habitual  offenders,  owing  to  tlia 


IJ  THE   PRISON   POPULATION 

inadequacy  of  the  statistics  provided  by  the  authorities.  The  figures 
given  are  those  of  convictions;  no  attempt  is  made  to  show  the 
actual  number  of  different  individuals  involved.  If,  for  instance, 
any  person  is  convicted  three  times  during  one  year,  he  counts  in 
the  official  Tables  as  three  convicted  persons.  Nevertheless,  the 
Tables  v^^hich  we  give  on  pages  532  and  533  are  very  significant  in 
their  indication  of  the  large  number  of  prisoners  who  are  "habituals. " 

Eeturns  given  in  the  Prison  Commissioners'  Eeport  for  1920-21 
show  that  during  the  year  no  less  than  54.4  per  cent,  of  the  male 
prisoners  and  73.3  of  the  women  prisoners  had  been  previously 
sentenced,  that  27.53  of  them  (taking  men  and  women  together)  had 
been  sentenced  at  least  five  times,  that  19.71  had  been  sentenced 
at  least  six  times,  that  12.73  had  been  sentenced  at  least  eleven 
times,  and  that  2.61  had  been  sentenced  at  least  21  times.""  As 
four  convictions  qualify  a  man  for  becoming  a  "habitual"  offender," 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  convictions  of  this  class  compose  about  one- 
third  of  the  total. 

Dr.  Smalley  divides  "habituals"  into  three  groups — (i)  lapses 
from  the  accidental  class,  (ii)  professional  criminals,  and  (iii) 
vagrants. 

Lapses. — ^The  accidental  criminal  who  becomes  an  habitual  does 
not  choose  a  life  of  law-breaking,  like  the  professional  thief, 
but  has  drifted  into  it.  He  has  no  positive  motive  of  wrong-doing, 
but  lacks  sufficient  incentive  towards  right-doing.  By  his  experience 
both  outside  and  inside  prison  he  becomes  a  much  deteriorated 
person.     The  following  is  an  example  of  this  class,  and  is  typical :  — 

S vras  an  old  man  of  about  eighty  years  of  age  who  had  been  half 

his  life  in  prison.  He  was  as  typical  an  old  gaol-bird  as  one  could  meet 
anywhere.  He  was  a  violent  critic  of  the  Government;  but  chiefly  it 
seemed  because  the  price  of  beer  had  gone  up.  Whatever  it  cost  he  was 
determined  to  have  it  when  he  got  out.  He  had  a  grand  idea  that  he 
was  being  diddled  by  the  prison  authorities  out  of  one  or  two  days' 
remission,  and  although  the  warder  explained  to  him  time  after  time 
that  it  was  all  right,  he  insisted  upon  seeing  the  Visiting  Magistrates 
about  it.  On  this  topic  he  harped  day  after  day.  That  his  long  and 
repeated  imprisonments  had  not  made  him  reconciled  to  the  life  was 
further  explained  by  the  very  emphatic  way  in  which  he  once  remarked, 
"The  devil  lives  inside  this  prison."  From  the  cleaner's  point  of  view, 
also,  he  was  a  difficult  customer,  as  he  was   always  spitting  about  the 

place.     If  any  man  was  an  "incorrigible  rogue"  I  should  say  S was. 

They  kept  him  in  hospital  because  he  was  an  old  man  and  probably 
put  him  down  officially  as  suffering  from  senile  decay.  He  limped  about 
with  a  stick,  although  the  chaplain  told  me  that  when  released  from 
prison  he  walked  away  with  the  greatest  ease  !  He  was  always 
grumbling,  and  there  was  a  general  feeling  of  relief  in  hospital  at  his 
discharge. 

Was  such  a  man  entirely  bad?     Well,  let  me  record  this.     He  kept 

»•  Op.  cit.,  p.  8. 

»» i.e.,  according  to  the  Pretention  of  Crime  Act   (19Q8),  quoted  on  p.  441. 


HABITUAL   CRIMINALS  It 

asking  me  how  long  a  sentence  I  had  got  and  wanted  to  know  what  for. 
I  told  him  "two  years."  "Two  years!" — he  kept  saying  it  to  himself 
with  indignation,  and  asked  me  several  times,  to  make  sure  it  was  not 
a  mistake.  He  had  been  a  bottom  dog  long  enough  to  feel  indignation 
at  a  harsh  sentence  on  a  fellow  creature. 

There  are  reports  in  the  newspapers  almost  daily  of  cases  of  con- 
stantly repeated  imprisonments.  One  or  two  instances  may  be 
cited.  The  Times  of  July  21st,  1920,  gave  the  case  of  a  burglar 
of  67  who  had  been  convicted  28  times  and  had  spent  49  years  in 
prison.  The  same  issue  recorded  the  case  of  a  man  of  39  who  had 
been  in  prison  for  some  portion  of  every  year  since  1897.  In  the 
Press  of  September  29th,  1921,  the  death  was  reported  at  Parkhurst 
prison  of  a  convict  aged  81,  who  had  spent  nearly  70  years  in 
prison.  The  annual  report  of  the  Penal  Eeform  League  for  1920 
told  of  a  woman  of  79  who  had  spent  50  years  and  five  months  in 
prison.  One  of  our  witnesses  speaks  of  a  woman  serving  her  200th 
sentence. 

The  youthfulness  of  many  habitual  offenders  when  they  com- 
mence their  careers  of  crime  needs  emphasis.  In  his  report  for 
1912-1913,  the  Governor  of  Camp  Hill  Preventive  Detention  prison 
stated  that  no  less  than  20  per  cent,  of  the  prisoners — all  of  whom 
had  been  sent  there  as  "habitual  criminals" — were  under  30  years 
of  age  when  so  sentenced,  and  that  50  per  cent,  were  under  40.  He 
stresses  the  accidental  nature  of  their  criminal  career.  "These 
men  make  promises  of  reform  which  they  really  mean  at  the  time, 
and  if  regular  work  could  be  found  for  them,  well  away  from  their 
old  haunts  and  bad  companions,  and  a  judicious  supervision  kept 
over  them,  I  believe  that  a  fair  proportion  might  in  time  become 
respectable  citizens." 

""cnminals  accept  prison  as  an  inevitable  part  of  their  careers, 
and  almost  invariably  settle  down  and  make  the  best  of  it. 
They  are  the  best  behaved  prisoners,  rarely  giving  warders  occasion 
to  punish  them  and  generally  earning  the  full  remission  obtainable. 
"They  know  they  have  been  running  risks,"  says  an  ex-prisoner, 
"and  philosophically  conclude  they  have  been  unlucky.  Their  only 
grievance  is  that  they  are  aware  of  so  many  people  outside,  worse 
than  themselves,  perhaps,  who  ought  to  be  in." 

Professional  thieves  often  come  from  comfortable  positions  and 
are  frequently  men  of  some  education.  The  following  interesting 
character  sketch  of  perhaps  a  rather  exceptionally  good  type  is  con- 
tributed by  an  ex-political  prisoner:  — 

W ,  the  hospital  cleaner,  was  serving  his  third  or  fourth  sentence 

— one  of  18  months — for  larceny.  He  told  me  he  had  been  a  bank 
clerk  and  a  railway  clerk,  and  had  found  his  jobs  monotonous  and 
grinding.  He  came  from  a  "respectable"  family  and  was  evidently, 
from  his  whole  style  and  manner,  a  person  of  good  breeding.  His  speech 
was  that  of  an  educated  man ;  his  knowledge  of  the  world  was  large. 


14  THE  PRISON   POPULATION 

He  told  me  that  hia  family  could  never  make  him  out,  how  the  rest 
of  them  were  doing  well,  and  he  was  always  the  black  sheep ;  but  he 
said  that  he  was  perfectly  happy  and  enjoyed  the  life  he  lived  outside. 
He  calculated  that  since  "living  on  his  wits"  he  had  had  five  years  out- 
side for  one  in  prison,  and  that  the  game  was  worth  the  candle.  He 
realised,  however,  that  now  he  would  get  a  heavier  sentence  each  time 
and  that  next  time  he  would  get  three  years.  This  was  too  much,  and 
not  infrequently  he  talked  as  if  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  turn  over 
a  new  leaf — not  that  he  for  a  moment  admitted  that  he  had  done  any- 
thing wrong,  but  from  policy. 

Inside  prison,  any  way,  he  was  an  admirable  person,  and  in  the  half- 
year  I  worked  with  him,  he  and  I  never  had  a  cross  word.  If  we  started 
together  to  scrub  the  downstairs  passage,  he  being  the  faster  worker 
(and  he  scrubbed  till  the  sweat  was  running  down  his  face)  would  never 
stop  when  he  got  half-way,  but  would  go  on  till  he  met  me.  He  practically 
ran  the  hospital,  arranging  baths,  putting  on  dressings,  and  in  every 
way  showing  himself  a  handy  man,  a  conscientious  worker,  and  an 
efficient  organiser. 

The  two  warders  trusted  him  absolutely  as  to  the  serving  of  meals  and 
in  all  other  ways ;  and  he  never  betrayed  that  trust.  In  religion  he 
would  call  himself  an  atheist.  He  looked  upon  the  clergy,  and  in 
particular  the  regular  prison  chaplains,  with  some  contempt,  as  men 
paid  to  do  a  soft  job.  Yet  he  was  somewhat  superstitious.  He  told 
me  how  largely  thieves  believe  in  a  kind  of  Destiny ;  he  said  he  usually 
had  a  kind  of  premonition  as  to  when  he  was  going  to  be  arrested,  and 
other  men  had  the  same.  For  all  the  difference  between  us  in  tempera- 
ment and  outlook,  I  genuinely  took  to  the  man,  and  when  we  parted  on 
his  release  it  was  with  a  handgrip  that  denoted  strong,  sincere  feeling. 

Dr.  Smalley  points  out  that  all  professionals  are  not  of  this  well- 
behaved  type.  "Sometimes  they  are  reckless  and  insubordinate,  lay 
plots  to  escape,  with  the  expenditure  of  much  labour  and  great  in- 
genuity. They  are  familiar  with  the  prison  routine,  keen  to  seize 
any  advantage  they  can,  and  utilise  any  small  lapse  of  duty  on  the 
part  of  an  officer  to  gain  a  hold  upon  him,  and,  by  threats  of  betray- 
ing him  to  the  higher  prison  authorities,  to  obtain  surreptitious 
privileges.  Some  again  are  lazy  and  will  resort  to  any  subterfuge 
to  evade  work — malinger  illness  or  insanity." 

Another  type  of  professional  criminal  is  revealed  in  the  following 
note  in  the  evidence  of  the  woman  witness  from  whom  we  have 
already  quoted:  — 

A  most  impressive  middle-aged  woman,  who  assured  me  that  the  book 
she  was  reading  was  an  excellent  translation  from  Victor  Hugo,  but 
considerably  abridged.  She  is  an  officer's  daughter  with  a  long  career 
of  shabby  crimes  behind  her,  including  the  ruin  of  several  boys.  She 
was  in  for  selling  the  plate  of  a  furnished  house  she  had  taken.  She 
does  not  do  associated  work  as  "she  prefers  to  be  alone"  ! 

Vagrants. — The  third  group  of  habituals  is  composed  of  vagrants. 
In  1913,  20  per  cent,  of  the  prison  population  were  vagrants. 
During  the  war  they  practically  disappeared.  Since  the  war  they 
have  begun  to  re-appear,  but  in  1920-21  they  still  numbered  less 
than  six  per  cent,   of  the  prison  population.     An  examination  at 


WEAK-MINDED  CRIMINALS.        ^  15 

Gloucester  prison  in  1919  showed  that  41  per  cent,  of  the  prisoners 
of  this  class  were  habitual  vagrants  and  mendicants,  that  31  per 
cent,  were  casual  vagrants,  unwilling  or  unfit  for  work,  that  11  per 
cent,  were  old  and  infirm,  and  that  17  per  cent,  were  bona  fide 
working  men  seeking  work. 

The  habitual  vagrants  are  often  weak-minded,  and  are  generally 
lazy  and  dirty.  When  oakum-picking  was  the  usual  task  given  to 
short  sentence  prisoners  many  vagrants  would  not  do  it,  preferring 
punishment.  Frequently  vagrants  were  sent  to  prison  for  refusing 
to  do  the  allotted  task  in  the  workhouse,  and  sometimes  apparently 
they  continued  to  refuse  in  prison,  but  the  Governor  of  Eeading 
prison  reported  in  1911  that  "out  of  95  men  committed  to  this  prison 
for  refusing  to  work  in  the  Union  during  the  past  year,  I  cannot 
recall  a  single  case  of  any  such  men  failing  to  complete  their  allotted 
task  in  prison." 

There  are  a  number  of  vagrants  who  deliberately  seek  imprison- 
ment during  the  winter  months ;  sometimes  a  man  and  his  wife  both 
endeavour  to  get  sentenced  for  similar  periods.  On  this  point  an 
ex-prisoner  says :  — 

It  is  generally  the  homeless  vagrants  who  resort  to  this  mode  of  life 
during  the  winter  months  when  the  barns  and  hedges  are  too  cold  and 
damp  to  sleep  in  and  no  land  work  is  to  be  found.  A  warder  said  to  me 
on  this  point,  "They  come  in  to  fatten  up  during  the  winter — and  have 
not  such  a  bad  time  neither.  Why,  judging  by  the  condition  in  which 
they  come  here,  they  never  had  a  wash  the  six  or  eight  months  through. 
Here  they  get  a  room  to  themselves,  clean  bed  linen  and  underwear,  a 
bath  every  week,  good  food — and  library  books  !  They  generally  know 
which  prisons  to  come  to  and  we  generally  get  more  or  less  the  same  lot 
over  and  over  again.  When  their  time's  up  they  go  out  to  where  they 
decided  beforehand  to  meet,  and  if  one  is  out  before  the  other,  he  or  she 
waits  until  they  can  start  off  together.  They  do  odd  jobs  through  the 
spring,  summer,  and  autumn  on  the  land,  fruit  picking  and  so  on,  until 
they  have  a  flare  up — 'merry  feast' — if  they  have  enough  money — and 
then  they  come  'in'  again  for  the  winter." 

Weak-minded  Criminals. 

Dr.  Smalley's  third  class  is  composed  of  the  weak-minded.  A 
large  proportion  of  the  vagrants  are  weak-minded  and  epileptics. 
In  his  annual  report  for  1910,  the  medical  officer  for  Pentonville 
prison,  writing  of  vagrants  suffering  from  traumatic  epilepsy,  says 
"the  sufferers  are  all  men  who  have  been  actually  employed  in  useful 
work,  and  many  of  them  are  manied  and  have  children  depending 
on  them.  Through  circumstances  over  which  they  have  not  any 
control,  they  find  themselves  cut  off  from  all  chance  of  obtaining 
regular,  or  indeed  any  employment,  and  so  drift  on  into  this  helpless 
and  hopeless  position." 

How  many  prisoners  are  weak-minded  it  would  be  difficult  to 
estimate,  but  the  proportion  is  certainly  large.  Dr.  Goring  estimated 
that  between  ten  and  twenty  per  cent,  of  criminals  are  mentally 
defective,  and  Sir  Bryan  Donkin,  the  hon.  medical  adviser  to  the 


1«  THE   PRISON   POPULATION 

Board  of  Directors  of  Convict  Prisons,  has  put  the  proportion  at  the 
higher  of  these  two  figures.  The  Mental  Deficiency  Act,  which 
began  to  operate  in  1913,  gave  the  authorities  the  power  to  remove 
congenital  cases  from  prison,  but  since  the  Act  has  only  been 
partially  apphed  and  such  cases  are  only  30  per  cent,  of  the  whole, 
the  number  of  mentally  defective  persons  who  remain  in  prisons  is 
still  large. 

In  his  annual  report  for  1904-5,  Dr.  Smalley  gave  considerable 
attention  to  this  question  of  the  feeble-minded  prisoner.  Although 
16  years  have  passed,  what  he  wrote  is  applicable  to  present  condi- 
tions, except  that  it  is  possible  that  the  prisoner,  "S.D.,"  whose 
case  he  cites,  might  have  been  removed  as  a  congenital  defective. 
We  quote  some  passages  from  his  remarks :  — 

The  offencea  committed  by  these  feeble-minded  persons  are  for  the 
most  part  of  a  trivial  character,  such  as  begging,  drunkenness,  petty 
stealing,  sleeping  out,  etc.,  but  although  the  less  grave  forms  of  crime 
predominate,  there  is  a  potentiality  in  the  feeble-minded  class  for  crime 
of  a  serious  character.  This  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  many  of  these 
persons  are  eventually  sentenced  to  penal  servitude  for  rape,  arson, 
carnally  knowing,  shooting  with  intent,  manslaughter,  and  murder,  who 
have  previously  had  several  short  sentences  for  minor  offences.  The 
bulk  of  them  are  recidivists,  and  there  Beems  a  tendency  for  their 
offences  to  increase  in  heinousness  as  time  goes  on,  until  advanced  old 
age  ia  reached  and  they  become  unfit  to  engage  in  active  crime.     .     .     . 

As  a  forcible  instance  of  this  class  of  person  I  would  mention  the  case 
of  S.D.,  a  man  who,  without  much  real  vice,  is  a  habitual  offender, 
whose  crimes  have  increased  in  heinousness  and  who,  not  certifiably 
insane,  is  certainly  not  a  suitable  person  to  be  at  large.  His  criminal 
career  commenced  when  he  was  about  14  years  of  age.  From  1880  to 
1889  he  had  18  convictions,  varying  from  a  few  weeks  to  12  months, 
mostly  for  stealing.  In  1892  he  was  sentenced  to  10  years'  penal  servi- 
tude for  rape.  Released  from  this  sentence,  he  had  nine  summary 
convictions  for  vagrancy  and  for  failing  to  report  himself  to  the  police, 
and  at  present  is  undergoing  penal  servitude  for  arson  (stack  firing).  He 
has  no  delusions  and  knows  quite  well  right  from  wrong,  but  he  is  of 
limited  intelligence,  and  his  memory  is  poor ;  he  can  only  read  words  of 
one  syllable,  and  cannot  write  at  all,  and  although  he  has  had  opportuni- 
ties in  prison  he  has  learnt  very  little  indeed.  He  is  usually  quiet, 
tractable,  and  cheerful  in  prison,  will  work  fairly  well,  under  the  super- 
vision of  persons  who  understand  him,  but  does  not  get  on  well  when 
under  ordinary  penal  discipline.  Thus  for  25  years  he  has  been 
maintained,  for  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the  time,  by  the  State,  and 
in  the  brief  intervals  has  probably  lived  on  individuals  of  the  community, 
in  addition  to  the  harm,  misery,  and  the  cost  of  his  depredations.  He 
is  now  only  about  39  years  of  age,  and,  unless  his  mental  condition  gets 
worse,  so  as  to  admit  of  his  being  certified  and  kept  in  a  lunatic  asylum, 
there  are  probably  still  many  years  of  crime  before  him.'^ 

From  the  evidence  of  a  woman  visitor  to  prisons  we  give  the 
following  particulars  of  some  weak-minded  prisoners:  — 

"  P.O.  Report,  1904-5,   pp.  59-40. 


WEAK-MINDED  CRIMINALS.  17 

I. 

Alice  went  down  to  the  Court  with  the  expreseed  intention  of  cheeking 
the  magistrates.  Alice  is  often  in  for  drunkenness.  She  is  a  girl  about 
23,  and  has  a  very  bad  character.  A  bright,  pretty  girl,  but  quite  un- 
manageable sometimes,  very  hysterical  and  subject  to  fits  of  ungovernable 
rage,  when  she  throws  things  at  people  and  cares  for  no  one.  She  has 
turns  when  she  screams  and  shouta  and  whistles  and  sings  and  bangs  on 
her  door.  Then  she  is  sent  to  the  punishment  cell  or  put  in  the  strait 
jacket  till  she  promises  to  behave. 

Her  great  passion  is  for  babies  and  children.  Last  time  she  had  an 
unmanageable  fit,  the  matron  went  to  her  and  said,  "If  you'll  promise 
to  be  good,  I'll  show  you  a  little  baby."  The  girl  promised,  and  Alice 
was  taken  to  see  and  hold  a  prison  baby  and  was  quite  good  all  day.  If 
she  may  take  any  toddlers  who  are  in  with  their  mothers  round  the 
exercise  ground  in  the  morning,  she  is  quite  quiet  and  good.  The  matron 
and  doctor  think  she  would  never  get  into  a  fury  with  children  and 
ought  to  be  with  them.  She  says  she  will  have  a  baby  of  her  own  as 
soon  as  she  can  get  it. 

In  a  cell  padded  with  mats  sat  a  poor  epileptic,  so  plainly  mentally 
deficient  that  it  seemed  absurd  that  she  should  be  trying  to  read  "  The 
Chaplain  of  the  Fleet."  I  held  out  my  hand  for  the  book.  She  took 
my  hand,  shook  it  in  a  characteristically  silly  way,  and  said  brightly 
that  she  felt  a  "lot  better  to-day." 

III. 
A  little  mentally  deficient,  middle-aged  woman,  in  for  neglecting  her 
children.     The  seventh  was  in  prison  with  her,  a  mite  who  only  weighed 
61bs.  when  it  came  in. 

The  medical  officer  of  Lancaster  prison  gave  the  following 
examples  of  mentally  deficient  prisoners  in  his  report  for  1910. 
Similar  cases  could  be  cited  to-day:  — 

IV. 

A  woman,  aged  28,  unmarried,  for  neglecting  her  infant  child, 
sentence  9  months ;  other  children  she  has  had  have  died.  Has  a  record 
of  54  convictions  for  drunkenness,  theft,  neglect,  etc.,  no  place  of  abode, 
no  friends.  y 

A  man,  aged  48,  sentence  one  month  for  sleeping  out.,  etc.  :  10 
convictions  for  begging,  etc.  Died  in  prison  hospital,  worn  out  by 
exposure  and  semi-starvation. 

VI. 

A  man,  aged  probably  60,  had  no  definite  idea  of  his  age  or  birth- 
place.    43  convictions,  no  friends,  wanders  about  the  country. 

VII. 
A  woman,  married,  aged  43,  drunkenness,  one  month,  14  convictions, 
is  alcoholic,  suffers   from  loss  of  memory. 

"All  this  is  very  pathetic,"  adds  the  medical  officer,  "and  certainly 
calls  for  some  other  method  of  dealing  with  these  unfortunate  people 
than  that  of  constantly  sending  them  to  prison."  With  that  view 
every  reader  will  concur. 

No  place  is  found  in  Dr.  Smalley's  classification  for  prisoners 
committed  for  drunkenness,  perhaps  because  their  stay  in  prison 
is  generally  very  short.     Thirty-five  per  cent,  of  the  men  and  45  per 


18  THE   PRISON   POPULATION 

cent,  of  the  women  prisoners  are  sentenced  for  this  offence,  how- 
ever, and  the  frequency  with  which  they  return  makes  them  an 
important  part  of  the  prison  population.  They  are  mostly  from  the 
poorer  classes  of  society.  This  is  natural,  as  drunkenness  is  not 
directly  punishable  by  imprisonment,  but  only  by  a  fine  with 
imprisonment  in  default.  Hence  it  is  only  the  poor  who  go  to  prison 
for  over-drinking,  whilst  they  also  lack  the  facilities  of  the  rich  to 
hide  the  results  of  the  habit.  Heavy  drinking  is,  of  course,  a  cause 
of  many  of  the  other  offences  for  which  people  are  committed  to 
prison.  Nor  does  Dr.  Smalley  make  mention  of  prisoners  found 
guilty  of  "Offences  against  Eegulations, "  although  they  number  10 
per  cent,  of  the  prison  population.  Most  of  them  are  accidental 
criminals,  infringements  of  the  Education  Act  accounting  for  a 
large  number. 

We  have  now  broadly  described  the  population  of  our  prisons. 
Many  of  those  who  are  in  prison  have  no  doubt  sinned  against  their 
light;  a  proportion  of  them  have  deliberately  adopted  a  dishonest 
course  of  life  as  their  means  of  livelihood;  but  for  the  most  part 
they  are  victims  of  vicious  social  surroundings  and  poverty — a 
wretched  collection  of  human  beings,  physically  weak,  under- 
nourished, mentally  undeveloped,  lacking  in  will  power,  the  out- 
casts of  our  civilisation.  Let  the  fact  be  borne  in  mind  throughout 
these  pages  that  if  those  whose  lot  is  described  have  sinned  against 
Society,  Society  hae  in  the  fii'st  place  sinned  grieviously  against 
them. 

The  Location  of  English  Peisons. 

The  male  Convict  prisons  are  stationed  at  Dartmoor,  Maidstone > 
and  Parkhurst,  and  the  women  convicts  are  confined  at  Liverpool. 
The  Local  prisons  number  40,  and  are  to  be  found  at  the 
following  places :  Bedford,  Birmingham,  Bristol,  Brixton,  Canter- 
bury, CardiS,  Carlisle,  Carmarthen,  Carnarvon,  Dorchester, 
Durham,  Exeter,  Gloucester,  Holloway  (women  only),  Hull, 
Ipswich,  Leeds,  Leicester,  Lincoln,  Liverpool,  Maidstone,  Man- 
chester, Newcastle-on-Tyne,  Northallerton,  Northampton,  Norwich, 
Nottingham,  Oxford,  Pentonville,  Plymouth,  Portsmouth,  Preston, ' 
Shepton  Mallet,  Shrewsbury,  Swansea,  Usk,  Wandsworth,  Win- 
chester, Worcester,  and  Wormwood  Scrubbs." 

The  Preventive  Detention  prison  (for  men  only)  is  at  Camp  Hill 
(Isle    of   Wight),    and   there    are   Borstal   institutions   for  boys   at 
Borstal,  Feltham,   and  Portland  (until  recently  a  Convict  prison),   [ 
and  for  girls  at  Aylesbury.  I 

In  the  following  chapters  an  attempt  is  made  to  make  clear  what  I 
these  places  signify  to  the  prisoners  who  are  confined  in  them,  to 
the  staff  who  administer  them,  and,  not  least,  to  the  society  which  ] 
they  are  supposed  to  protect. 

>>  The  number  of  Locul  prisons  fell  from  113  in  1876  to  56  in  1914.    It  was  announced    I 
whilst   this   book  was    in  the   Press   that  the  Commissioners   intend   to  close  the  prisons   at    t 
Northampton,      Carlisle,      Canterbury,      CarnarTon,      Carmarthen,      tJsk,      Worcester,       and 
Northallerton. 


THE  PRISON  POPULATION  1» 

Appendix  to  Chapter  One. 
THE    STATISTICS   OF    CEIME    AND   IMPRISONMENT. 

TheIB    SlGNrFICANCE   AND    LIMITATIONS. 

In  the  accompanying  Tables  we  have  gathered  together  some  of  the 
available  statistics  relevant  to  the  subject  of  this  work.  The  Tables  deal 
with  the  movements  of  crime,  the  classification  of  crime  and  criminals,  fines 
and  imprisonment,  prisoners  on  remand,  the  age  and  sex  of  prisoners,  the 
occupation  of  prisoners,  the  education  of  prisoners,  and  the  length  of  the 
sentences  imposed.  The  intention  of  this  not«  is  to  make  a  few  comments 
apon  the  Tables  with  a  view  to  making  their  significance  and  limitations 
understood.* 

Tables  A  and  B  deal  with  the  movement  of  crime.  There  are,  in  the 
published  statistics,  four  Tables  bearing  upon  this  subject,  but  none  of  them 
gives  a  really  accurate  view  of  the  increase  or  decrease  of  crime.  A  Table 
is  given  of  crimes  reported  to  the  police  as  having  been  committed,  but  it 
only  professes  to  deal  with  indictable  offences  (i.e.,  the  more  serious  ones),* 
and,  even  so,  provides  no  clue.  Many  offences  never  reach  the  ears  of  the 
police,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  many  are  reported  upon  insufficient  or  con- 
flicting evidence.  A  Table  of  convictions  is  given,  but  this  inevitably  under- 
estimates crime,  since  many  crimes  are  never  brought  to  trial,  and  many 
more  fail  to  secure  conviction  through  lack  of  sufficient  evidence.  A  Table 
of  commitments  to  prison  is  given,  but  this,  again,  can  afford  no  indication 
as  to  the  total  amount  of  crime.  The  degree  to  which  magistrates  enforce 
the  law,  the  increased  use  of  fines  and  probation  orders,  and  legal  changes 
in  the  treatment  of  certain  types  of  offenders,  render  these  returns  almost 
useless.  Lastly,  there  is  a  Table  of  trials,  which  has  two  evident  deficiencies 
— (1)  in  respect  of  the  crimes  which  are  never  brought  to  trial,  and  (2)  in 
respect  of  the  trials  which  result  in  acquittals.  But  since  these  deficiencies 
tend  in  opposite  directions  and  so  partially  cancel  one  another,  this  Table 
may  be  taken  as  giving  the  fairest  view  of  the  movement  of  crime,  and  we 
have  accordingly  utilised  it  here  in  Table  B. 

There  are,  however,  some  general  defects  which  are  common  to  all 
criminal  statistics,  and  which  must  be  borne  in  mind  when  we  come  to 
consider  the  significance  of  Tables  A  and  B.     The  chief  defects  are  four  : — 

(1)  In  the  totals  of  crimes,  etc.,  no  attempt  is  made  to  distinguish  the 
actual  number  of  different  individuals  involved.  Thus,  if  any  person  be 
convicted  three  times  during  any  year  he  counts  in  the  Tables  for  three 
convicted  persons.  This  confusion  is  serious.  The  Prison  Commissioners 
have  usually  ignored  this,  but  in  their  report  for  1913-14  they  indicated,  for 
the  first  time,'  that  out  of  the  total  number  of  commitments  to  prison 
(103,010  males  and  33,414  females),  19  per  cent,  of  the  females  and  32  per 
cent,  of  the  males  were  committed  more  than  once  during  the  year  :  that  is 
to  say,  the  103,010  males  represent  not  more  than  83,344  persons  and  the 
33,414  females  not  more  than  22,699  persons.  Indeed,  since  many  prisoners 
are  committed  more  than  twice  a  year,  the  accurate  numbers  will  even  be 
smaller  stHl. 

(2)  Any  variation  in  the  efficiency  of  the  police  will  result  in  an  increase 
or  decrease  of  the  returns,  although  the  actual  volume  of  crime  may  not  vary. 

•  For  &  Jfoto  oa  the  Statistics  of  RecidiTism,  see  pp.  528-33. 
'  See  list  o{  indictable  and  non-indictabla  offence*  on  p.  31. 
»P.C.  Report,  1913-14,  p.  6. 


20  TEE   PRISON  POPULATION 

(3)  Any  variation  on  the  part  of  the  public  in  reporting  oiienceB  and  in 
prosecuting  will  have  a  similar  effect. 

(4)  The  effect  of  all  Summary  Jurisdiction  Acts,  extending  the  powers  of 
Police  Courts,  has  been  to  show  an  increase  in  the  offences  concerned.  Police 
Courts  offer  much  prompter  facilities  in  applying  the  law,  and  experience 
shows  that  people  will  not  take  the  trouble  to  prosecute,  or  even  to  inform 
the  police,  if  their  time  is  to  be  occupied  by  prolonged  attendances  at  the 
higher  Criminal  Court  and  possibly  journeys  to  the  nearest  Assize  town. 

It  will  be  noticed  from  Table  B  that  indictable  and  non-indictable  offences 
move  independently.  Many  of  the  latter  are  trivial,  and  the  increase  shown 
since  1857  can  be  accounted  for  by  the  greater  number  of  bye-laws  and 
regulations  rather  than  by  any  increase  in  petty  criminality.  It  will  be 
observed,  for  instance,  that  there  was  a  strong  upward  tendency  in  the 
figures  for  the  two  years  1912  and  1913,  but  the  light  nature  of  the  offences 
responsible  for  the  increase  may  be  judged  by  the  fact  that  the  number  of 
commitments  to  prison,  as  will  be  seen  from  Table  C,  actually  decreased 
during  the  same  period.  The  main  increases  of  late  pre-war  years  were  under 
the  following  heads  : — Offences  against  the  Highway  Act  (due  to  the  growth 
of  road  traffic),  Betting  and  Gaming  (since  the  Street  Betting  Act  of  1906), 
Sunday  Trading  and  Vagrancy.  Trials  for  Drunkenness  and  Assaults  (these 
usually  move  together).  Offences  against  the  Education  Acts,  and  Poaching 
have  decreased.  Despite  the  absolute  increase  in  the  number  of  trials  for 
non-indictable  offences,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  proportion  of  these  offences 
to  the  population  was  about  the  same  in  1913  as  in  1857. 

When  we  turn  to  the  volume  of  indictable  offences  (which  include  all  the 
serious  forms  of  crime),  we  see  that  the  number  of  trials  remains  almost 
constant  right  up  to  the  beginning  of  this  century,  when  a  rather  alarming 
increase  set  in.  There  has  been  much  speculation  as  to  the  origin  of  this 
increase.  In  the  first  few  years  of  this  century  the  operation  of  the  Summary 
Jurisdiction  Act  of  1899  was  no  doubt  partly  responsible,  but  apart  from 
this  the  cause  is  obscure.  There  are  signs  that  the  wave  was  being  checked, 
in  spite  of  the  jump  in  1912;  the  advent  of  the  war  prevents  us  from 
determining  this  with  certainty,  but  the  figures  of  commitments  to  prison 
eince  the  war  indicate  that  the  decrease  in  crime  has  on  the  whole  continued. 
As  far  as  the  statistics  allow  us  to  judge,  the  wave  was  almost  entirely 
the  work  of  recidivists.* 

From  Tables  C,  D,  E,  and  F,  we  notice  that  the  female  prison  population, 
which  varies  from  about  one-third  to  one-quarter  of  the  male  population, 
has  almost  continuously  decreased  since  1905,  although  the  male  population 
has  fluctuated  considerably.  Another  point  worth  noting  is  that  in  1908 
and  1909  the  number  of  men  committed  to  prison  was  10,000  above  the  years 
immediately  preceding  and  following  these  two  years ;  1908  was  a  bad  trade 
year  (1909  was  rather  better),  and  this  causal  factor  is  reflected  in  the  larger 
figures  for  vagrancy  and  acquisitive  crimes  recorded  in  Table  F. 

The  decrease  in  commitments  to  prison  during  the  last  decade  must  not 
be  accepted  as  denoting  an  equivalent  decrea.se  in  crime.  It  is  due  in  great 
part  to  (1)  the  exclusion  of  young  offenders  from  prison  by  the  Children's 
Act  of  1908 ;  (2)  the  Criminal  Justice  Administration  Act,  1914,  which 
provided,  inter  alia,  for  the  granting  of  more  time  to  pay  fines;  and  (3) 
the  widening  of  the  provision  for  probation. 

Tables  G  and  H  are  the  most  illuminating  of  the  series,  so  far  as  the  nature 

•*  See  pp.  528-29. 


THE  STATISTICS  OF  CRIME  Jl 

of  the  crimes  which  lead  to  imprisonment  is  concerned.  Commencing  with 
the  first  classification,  we  see  that  imprisonments  for  malicions  crimes,  both 
amongst  men  and  women,  have  decreased,  though  very  irregularly.  The 
crimes  against  the  person  are  mostly  assaults,  probably  due  to  drink ;  as  we 
have  previously  remarked,  the  two  columns  follow  one  another  fairly 
appro-ximately.  Malicious  crimes  against  property  are  few  in  number,  and 
move  somewhat  arbitrarily.  The  great  increase  in  male  sexual  offender.** 
is  entirely  due  to  a  provision  of  the  Children's  Act  of  1908,  which  made  it 
possible  for  cases  of  indecent  assault  on  young  persons  to  be  tried  summarily. 
The  female  sexual  column  is  the  Table  of  prostitution — other  sexual  offences 
among  women  are  very  rare.  About  two-thirds  of  these  commitments  are 
in  default  of  paying  a  fine. 

The  column  of  drunkenness  is  the  only  one  in  which  the  males  and  females 
move  together.  It  is  popularly  supposed  that  drunkenness  and  larcenies 
move  in  opposition  to  one  another,  good  trade  years  producing  more  drunken- 
ness and  few  larcenies,  and  vice  versa.  This  does  not  appear  here,  though 
the  operation  of  fines  may  obscure  the  facts.* 

Many  offences  in  connection  with  the  Vagrancy  Acts  have  been  classified 
in  the  column  devoted  to  acquisitive  crimes,  e.g.,  frequenting,  being  in 
possession  of  pick-locks,  and  living  on  the  earnings  of  prostitutes ;  the 
remainder,  such  as  begging  and  sleeping  out,  are  included  under  Vagrancy, 
together  with  offences  against  the  Poor  Laws.  About  half  of  these  last 
offences  are  committed  by  paupers  in  the  workhouses  and  the  increase  in 
their  number  during  the  first  five  years  of  the  century  was  put  down  by 
some  authorities  as  due  to  the  fact  that  the  amelioration  of  prison  discipline 
made  prison  life  easier  than  workhouse  life.  The  increase  was  checked, 
however,  from  1905  onwards ;  the  large  decrease  in  1913  followed  the  intro- 
duction of  the  Way-Leave  System.  The  other  half  of  the  Poor  Law  offences 
consists  mainly  of   neglect  to  maintain  one's  family. 

"Other  Criminal  Offences"  are  mostly  cruelty  to  animals  and  offences  under 
the  Prevention  of  Crimes  Act.  Women  are  rarely  convicted  for  cruelty  to 
animals,  although  the  number  of  women  sentenced  for  cruelty  to  children  is 
high.  "Offences  against  Regulations"  are  chiefly  offences  against  Police 
Regulations,  the  Education  Acts,  and  the  Highway  Act.  Practically  all  are 
in  default  of  paying  a  fine. 

The  next  group  of  Tables  refers  to  fines  and  imprisonment.  Tables  K  and 
L  show  that  the  numbers  of  men  sent  to  prison  with  and  without  fines 
respectively  are  almost  equal ;  in  the  case  of  women,  twice  as  many  enter 
prison  with  the  option  of  a  fine  as  without. 

It  is  only  fair,  however,  to  compare  the  number  of  those  imprisoned  in 
default  of  a  fine  with  the  number  of  fines  imposed,  and  this  is  done  in  Table 
M.  The  gradual  increase  in  the  percentage  from  1899-1909  has  never  been 
satisfactorily  explained.  It  should  be  mentioned  that  in  many  cases,  such  as 
brothel-keeping  and  bad  cases  of  adulteration,  magistrates  are  bound  to  give 
the  option  of  a  fine,  though  often  they  would  rather  imprison  the  offenders 
straight  away.  They  therefore  sometimes  adopt  the  course  of  imposing  very 
large  fines  in  the  expectation  that  such  offenders  may  be  unable  to  pay. 
This  may  be  a  partial  explanation  of  the  increased  percentage. 

The  available  figures  relating  to  prisoners  on  remand  are  not  very  full, 
but  they  reveal  the  disgraceful  fact,  emphasised  elsewhere,  that  more  than 
half  of  those  remanded  to  prison,  or  committed  to  trial  without  bail,  are  not 
sent  to  prison  in  the  end.'     Not  only  that,  but  50  per  cent,  of  thosa  who  do 

*  See  pp.  17-18. 

•  See  pp.  5-6  «nd  305-6. 


22  THE   PRISON  POPULATION 

return,  according  to  Table  L,  are  sent  to  prison  in  default  of  paying  a  fine. 
We  should  like  to  give  a  Table  recording  the  number  of  persons  admitted 
to  bail,  but  the  statistics  are  quite  inadequate,  onjy  referring  to  those  com- 
mitted for  trial. 

The  classification  of  the  age  and  sex  of  prisoners  (Table  0)  shows  the  marked 
difference  between  the  sexes  very  clearly;  the  difference  is  so  great  that  it 
is  best  to  consider  them  separately.  In  one  respect,  however,  they  are  alike. 
The  returns  for  both  males  and  females  reflect  the  influence  of  the  Children's 
Act  in  the  great  reduction  in  the  number  of  prisoners  under  16  years  of  age. 

In  the  case  of  the  males  there  are  two  high  waves  :  one  in  1904  and  1905 
and  the  other  in  1908  and  1909.  The  first  is  spread  over  all  ages  above  21 ; 
the  second  is  not  shared  in  by  those  over  60,  though  there  is  no  very  obvious 
means  of  accounting  for  this.  The  decline  in  the  number  of  males  from  21 
to  30  in  the  last  few  years  is  more  rapid  than  in  the  case  of  the  older  men, 
but  this  is  probably  due  to  the  greater  proportion  of  first  offenders  and  the 
more  lenient  methods  of  dealing  with  such. 

Amongst  the  women  we  find  only  one  wave,  culminating  in  1903,  after 
which  the  decline  is  practically  continuous.  The  fluctuations  in  the  various 
ages  are  far  more  erratic  than  amongst  the  males  and  do  not  bear  any  relation 
whatever  to  one  another. 

In  Table  P  returns  will  be  found  giving  the  previous  occupations  of 
prisoners.  Little  is  to  be  gained  by  comparing  years ;  the  numbers  vary  from 
year  to  year  within  fairly  narrow  limits  and  without  any  conceivable  law. 
The  proportions  for  1913,  given  in  the  chapter  to  which  this  note  is  appended,^ 
may  be  taken  as  representing  any  year. 

This  Table  is  necessarily  an  approximate  one.  The  evidence  is  obtained 
in  many  cases  from  the  prisoners  themselves,  and  their  veracity  is  not  always 
unimpeachable.  It  would  be  valuable  if,  in  the  published  statistics,  offences 
were  differentiated  according  to  the  occupation  of   the  offender. 

The  Education  Table  (Q)  is  more  interesting.  The  proportion  of  illiterates 
is  greater  amongst  women  than  men.  The  great  increase  in  the  women  of 
superior  education  in  1911  is  no  doubt  due  to  the  activities  of  the  women 
suffragists.  The  proportion  of  illiterates  of  both  sexes  declines  rapidly  and 
continuously,  except  for  a  lapse  amongst  women  in  1913.  This  may  be  partly 
accounted  for  by  an  improvement  in  the  attainments  of  the  general  com- 
munity, but  such  a  change  would  hardly  have  such  rapid  effects.  Possibly 
many  were  young  offenders  who  are  now  kept  out  of  prison. 

The  Table  R,  comparing  the  average  length  of  sentences,  is  noteworthy 
as  showing  a  continuous  decrease  in  the  length  of  penal  servitude  sentences 
and  an  increased  length  in  sentences  of  simple  imprisonment.  The  increase 
in  the  length  of  imprisonment  sentences  is  accompanied  till  1905  by  an 
increase  in  the  number  of  sentences,  mainly  sentences  of  three  months.  Since 
then  the  number  has  decreased,  and  the  increased  length  probably  means 
a  tendency  to  do  away  with  shorter  sentences,  and  deal  with  trivial  offences 
and  first  offenders  more  by  fines  and  probation.  There  has  also  been  an 
increased  number  of  long  sentences  under  the  Borstal  System. 

The  War  and  After. 
The  published  statistics  were  much  cut  down  during  the  war,   and  most 
of  the  useful  Tables  omitted,  so  that,    apart  from  anything  else,  we  have 
no  reliable  basis  for  comparison.     But,  in  any  case,  the  immense  alteration 

'  See  p.  7. 


THE  STATISTICS  OF  CRIME  2S 

in  the  habits  and  conditions  of  life  would  vitiate  any  comparison  with  the 
pre-war  figures.     Some   of   the   facts,  however,   are  interesting. 

Table  A  seems  to  shew  that  the  volume  of  Indictable  Offences  has 
remained  about  the  same.  We  shall  see  later  how  far  this  is  true.  The 
Non-Indictable  Offences,  however,  showed  a  marked  decrease  during  the  war ; 
the  year  1916,  of  course,  marks  the  entrance  of  D.O.R.A.,  and  the  number 
of  fresh  offences  created  thereby.  In  1919  we  see  the  beginning  of  the 
inevitable  reaction,  but  it  is  a  matter  for  some  congratulation  that  this  is 
not  observable  amongst  the  Indictable  Offences. 

Tables  E  and  F  show  in  a  very  marked  degree  the  influence  of  the  war 
in  totally  upsetting  the  relative  proportions  of  the  different  categories  of 
crime.  Of  more  interest,  however,  are  the  actual  numbers.  In  the  first 
place,  we  must  note  the  enormous  reduction  in  the  total  number  of  com- 
mittals to  prison — from  139,060  in  1913  to  19,965  in  1918,  while  there  is  only 
a  small  increase  in  the  first  post-war  year.  As  we  shall  see,  at  least  50,000 
of  this  must  be  put  down  to  the  Criminal  Justice  Administration  Act  of 
1914,  which  allowed  time  for  fines  to  be  paid ;  about  25,000  or  so  are  to  be 
attributed  probably  to  the  effect  of  employment  and  high  wages,  w^hich 
enabled  more  fines  to  be  paid.     The  rest  represent  a  real  decrease  in  crime. 

The  first  column  in  Table  E  shows  that  the  number  of  committals  for 
serious  (i.e.,  indictable)  offences  dropped  suddenly  to  a  level  figure  round 
about  12,000,  in  spite  of  the  impression  given,  as  noted  above,  by  Table  A. 
The  drop  in  the  second  column,  which  conditions  the  alteration  in  the 
various  percentages,  represents  a  real  decrease  in  both  larcenies  and  drunken- 
ness— the  latter  doubtless  being  connected  with  the  liquor  restrictions. 
This  decrease  in  drunkenness  is  also  reflected  in  the  third  column  of  Table 
F,  while  the  corresponding  decrease  in  assaults  (these  two  invariably  move 
together)  is  shown  in  the  first  column.  The  correspondence  between  the 
second  column  in  F  and  the  first  in  E  is,  of  course,  perfectly  natural ;  the 
huge  majority  of  serious  offences  are  against  property. 

The  war  statistics  are  quite  inadequate  to  enable  us  to  compile  Tables  G 
and  H,  and  we  are  thrown  beck  upon  isolated  remarks  of  the  Prison  Com- 
missioners. Sir  E.  Ruggles-Brise  pointed  out  in  the  Commissioners'  Report, 
1918-19,'  that  war  conditions  may  be  said  to  have  assisted  this  decrease  in 
three  ways — (1)  restrictions  on  the  consumption  of  intoxicants ;  (2)  continuous 
employment ;  and  (3)  the  absorption  in  military  service  of  habitual  offenders. 
With  regard  to  the  first  it  may  be  mentioned  that,  under  normal  conditions, 
higher  wages  and  convictions  for  drunkenness  go  together ;  during  the  war 
they  did  not.  With  regard  to  the  second,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  tramps 
disappeared  entirely  in  the  last  years  of  the  war ;  but  they  have  re-appeared 
to  some  extent  since  the  Armistice. 

Since  the  Armistice  there  has  been,  as  might  have  been  expected,  an  increase 
in  crime,  but  it  is  by  no  means  so  large  as  might  have  been  anticipated. 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  number  of  prisoners  (excluding  court  martial 
prisoners  and  debtors)  increased  from  25,376  in  1918-19  to  43,267  in  1920-21 ; 
but  the  latter  figure  is  less  than  one-third  of  the  number  of  prisoners  in 
1913-14,  and,  as  the  Prison  Commissioners  remark,  "so  small  an  increase 
in  a  year  in  which  there  has  been  much  unemployment  and  industrial  unrest 
must  be  regarded  as  noteworthy,  constituting,  as  it  does,  a  departure  from 
the  experience  of   fox-mer   years."  '       The   prison  authorities,   we  are    told, 

»  Op.  cit.  p.  33. 

♦P.C.  Report,    1920-21,   p.  5. 


14  THE   PRISON  POPULATION 

"are  unanimous  in  ascribing  so  small  an  increase  during  this  exceptional 
year  principally  to  the  effect  of  unemployment  pay,  which  has  prevented 
acute  distress."  '" 

Table  K  shows  the  result  of  the  Act  of  1914  in  allowing  time  to  pay  fines ; 
the  extraordinary  figures  speak  for  themselvea.  We  see  that  there  was  a 
reduction  of  imprisonments  with  the  option  of  fines  from  75,152  in  1913  to 
5,264  in  1918-19. 

The  next  interesting  Table  is  0 ;  and  here  we  can  estimate  the  third  of  the 
effects  of  the  war  mentioned  above— the  absorption  of  habitual  offenders  in 
military  service.  As  regards  males,  the  most  arresting  point  that  arises  is 
that  the  reduction  of  crime  is  almost  as  well  marked  in  the  case  of  men 
over  military  age  as  in  that  of  younger  men ;  the  increase  since  the  Armistice 
shows  the  same  feature.  Exactly  the  same  movements  are  shown  amongst 
females  of  30  and  upwards,  but  females  of  16 — 21  moved  the  opposite  way. 
This  is  the  only  category  of  offenders  which  increased  during  the  war,  and 
it  is  entirely  due  to  prostitution.  Since  the  Armistice  it  has  dropped,  and 
the  figures  for  1920-21  are  the  lowest  on  record. 

Table  R  also  seems  to  have  been  affected  by  the  war,  though  it  is  not 
quite  apparent  how  this  has  come  about.  Part  of  the  increase  in  the  length 
of  imprisonment  sentences  is  due  to  the  influence  of  the  Act  of  1914  in  doing 
away  with  short  sentences. 

As  regards  Recidivism,  no  statistics  are  available.  The  Prison  Com- 
missioners in  1916  reported  that  there  were  fewer  first  offenders,  but  more 
convictions  per  year  per  man.  In  1920,  however,  they  noticed  an  opposite 
tendency,  and  stated  that  recidivists  were  becoming  fewer.  It  remains  to 
be  seen  which  of  these  tendencies  will  prevail. 

An  unexpected  fact  has  been  the  large  proportion  of  fir.st  offenders  amongst 
the  demobilised  men.  In  1919-20,  6,461  demobilised  men  were  received  on 
conviction,  of  whom  3,411  (33  per  cent.)  were  first  offenders.  Only  1,388 
{22  per  cent.)  could  be  called  habituals.  There  were  9,580  ex-soldiers  com- 
mitted to  prison  in  1920-21 :  but  we  are  not  told  how  many  of  the  18,000 
first  offenders  were  drawn  from  these.  The  governors  of  various  prisons 
record  the  emergence  since  the  war  of  a  "new  .stamp  of  offender."  The 
governor  of  Durham  prison  says  that  "men  and  women  of  respectable  ante- 
cedents and  parentage,  in  regular  employment,  and  in  no  respects  associated 
•with  the  criminal  class,  are  taking  to  serious  crime  (embezzlement,  fraud,  , 
false  pretences,  housebreaking,  and  robbery)  with  astounding  facility."  He 
thinks  that  the  fall  in  wages,  rather  than  a  spirit  of  lawlessness  acquired 
during  the  war,  is  responsible.  The  governor  of  Wandsworth  prison  states 
that  "the  experience  and  knowledge  gained  in  the  army  of  motor-mechanics 
has  led  to  a  large  increase  in  garage-breaking  and  motor-thieving."  This 
type  of  offender  "is  usually  intelligent  and  of  fairly  good  education."  The 
governor  of  Shrewsbury  prison  reports  the  coming  of  many  men  "whom  in 
years  before  the  war  it  would  be  quite  the  exception  to  receive,  e.g.,  railway 
guards  and  engine  drivers,  men  with  excellent  records  of  long  service,  and 
in  receipt  of  a  high  rate  of  pay."  '* 

It  is  far  too  early  yet  to  say  what  the  new  norm  in  Criminal  Statistics  will 
be;  but  there  is  every  reason  to  hope  that  it  will  be  considerably  lower 
than  the  old  norm.  Conditions  of  life  are  still  unsettled,  however,  and  one 
cannot  forecast  developments  with  certainty. 

'•  Ibid,  p.   6. 
"  Ibid,  p.  9. 


THE  MOVEMENT   OF  CRIME 


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S8 


THE  PRISON  POPULATION 


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THE  PRISON   POPULATION  »i 

THE    CLASSIFICATION    OF    CKIMINALS. 


The  crimes  and  offences  included  under  the  different  heads  in  the 
two  following  Tables  are : — 

Malicious,  Against  Person  :  Indictable  Offences. — Murder,  Attempts  and 
threats  to  murder.  Manslaughter,  Wounding,  Endangering  lives  at  sea 
and  railway  passengers.  Assault,  Intimidation,  Cruelty  to  children. 
Child-stealing. 

Non-Indictable  Offences. — Assault,   Intimidation,   Cruelty  to  children. 

Malicious,  Against  Property  :  Indictable  Offences. — Arson,  Setting  fire  to 
crops,  etc..  Killing  and  maiming  cattle.  Malicious  use  of  explosives. 
Destroying  ships,  railways,  trees,  and  shrubs,  etc. 

Non-Indictable  Offence. — Malicious  Damage. 

Sexual  :  Indictable  Offences. — Unnatural  vice,  Attempts  to  commit  same. 
Indecency  with  males.  Rape,  Indecent  assaults,  Defilement  of  girls. 
Incest,  Abduction,  Bigamy,   Indecent  exposure. 

Non-Indictable  Offences. — Prostitution,   Indecent  exposure. 

Acquisitive  :  Indictable  Offences.  —  Procuration,  Sacrilege,  Burglary, 
Housebreaking,  Shopbreaking,  Attempts  to  break  into  houses,  shops,  etc.. 
Entering  with  intent  to  commit  felony.  Possession  of  housebreaking 
tools,  etc..  Robbery,  Extortion  by  threats.  All  kinds  of  larceny.  Embezzle- 
ment, Obtaining  by  false  pretences.  Frauds,  Falsifying  accounts. 
Receiving  stolen  goods,  Offences  in  bankruptcy,  forgery  and  uttering. 
Coining,   Piracy  and  slave-trade.   Poaching,   Brothel-keeping,  etc. 

Non-Indictable  Offences. — Adulteration,  Brothel-keeping,  Offences 
against  Fishery  and  Game  Laws,  Intoxicating  Liquor  Laws  (Selling  to 
persons  drunk.  Illegal  sale  of  drink.  Selling  to  children).  Labour  Laws 
(Breach  of  Contract,  Offences  under  Special  Trades  Acts),  Offences 
against  Pawnbrokers'  Act,  Unlawful  possession,  Stealing,  Vagrancy 
Acts  (Possessing  picklocks,  Found  on  enclosed  premises.  Frequenting, 
Living  on  prostitutes). 

Drunkenness  :    Indictable    Offence. — Habitual    drunkenness. 

N on- Indictable   Offences. — Drunkenness,   Habituals  obtaining  drink. 

Vagrancy  :  N on- Indictable  Offences. — Vagrancy  Acts  (Begging,  Sleeping 
out,  Gaming,  etc.).  Offences  under  Poor  Laws. 

Other  Criminal  Offences  :  Indictable  Offences. — Abandoning  children. 
Procuring  abortion.  Concealing  of  birth.  Offences  against  the  State, 
Offences  against  Public  Justice,  Blasphemy,   Libel,  Suicide,  etc. 

N on- Indictable  Offences. — Cruelty  to  animals.  Indecent  advertisements. 
Prevention  of  Crimea  Acts,  Intoxicating  Liquor  Laws  (Offences  against 
Public  Order). 


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THE   PBISON  POPULATION 


FINES  AND   IMPEISONMENT. 


K     Table  Showing  Imprisonment  With  and  Without  the 
Option  of  a  Fine. 


Year 

Without  Option 

With  Option 

In  Default 
of  Sureties 

Total  of 
Imprisonments 

1900 

67,169 

78,345 

20 

145,534 

1901 

75,227 

86,536 

113 

161,876 

1902 

78,202 

91,638 

82 

169,922 

190;? 

84,081 

103,412 

48 

187,541 

1904 

89,501 

107,625 

210 

197,336 

1905 

88,617 

100,361 

155 

195,133 

1906 

85,075 

97,382 

188 

182,645 

1907 

80,936 

92,379 

184 

173,499 

1908 

87,803 

95,477 

166 

183,446 

1909 

88,910 

92,699 

86 

181,695 

1910 

81,114 

85,366 

111 

166,591 

1911 

77,051 

81,047 

139 

158,237 

1912 

73,305 

81,699 

224 

155,198       i 

1913 

61,975 

75,152 

341 

137,468       ! 

Time          Time  not 

1 
J 

Allowed        Allowed 

m 

1914-15 

48,576 

1,526     52,462 

324 

102,888  m 

1915-16 

35,229 

3,615     19,085 

251 

58,180 

1916-17 

26,767 

2,286     13,380 

546 

42,979 

1917-18 

22,886 

1,093       7,401 

370 

31,750     - 

1918-19 

19,430 

536       4,728 

342 

25,036 

1919-20 

24,691 

635       8,668 

285 

34,279 

1920-21 

29,330 

1,165     12,239 

251 

42,985 

The  returns  for  the  years  1914-21  are  taken  from  the  Prison  Commissioners' 
Reports. 


i 


FINES  AND  IMPBISONMENT 


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36 


THE  PRISON  POPULATION 


M    Table  showing  Number  of  Committals  in  Default  of 
Payment  of  a  Fine. 


No.  of  Cases  in 

No.  of  these  who 

Year 

•which  a  Fine 

went  to  prison 

Per  Centage 

was  Imposed 

in  Default 

1893 

422,369 

79,836 

18-90 

1894 

444,459 

81,349 

18-30 

1895 

443,595 

74,703 

16-84 

1896 

475,962 

78,743 

16-54 

1897 

501,520 

78,521 

15.66 

1898 

545,283 

84,031 

15-41 

1899 

563,378 

83,855 

14-88 

1900 

531,843 

78,345 

14-73 

1901 

548,292 

86,536 

15-78 

19C2 

540,108 

91,638 

16-93 

1903 

551,232 

103,412 

18-76 

1904 

550,560 

107,645 

19-55 

1905 

535,208 

106,361 

19-87 

1906 

512,598 

97,382 

19-00 

1907 

498,401 

92,379 

18-54 

1908 

488,569 

95,477 

19-54 

1909 

460,015 

92,699 

20-15 

1910 

440,006 

85,366 

19-40 

1911 

446,657 

81,047 

18-15 

1912 

477,132 

81,669 

17-12 

1913 

602,659 

75,152 

14-95 

The  figures  have  not  been  published  since  1913. 


PBISOyERS  ox  REMAND 


87 


PRISONERS    ON    REMAND. 


N     Table  Showing  Prisoners  on  Remand  and  the  Number 
Returning  to  Prison. 


Total  Remands 

Number  of 

1 

j  Number  who 

Year 

and  Committals 

such  Persons 

1        '*' 

did  not 

% 

for  Trial 

Convicted  and 

Return  to 

■without  Bail 

sent  to  Prison 

Prison 

1900 

34,765 

16,522 

48 

18,243 

62 

1901 

35,446 

1        17,069 

48 

18,377 

52 

1902 

34,843 

17,543 

i     50 

17,300 

50 

1«03 

33,764 

19,099 

67 

14,665 

43 

1904 

35,000 

1       20,148 

58 

14,852 

42 

1905 

36,326 

1       20,184 

56 

16,142 

44 

190fi 

35,673 

;       20,751 

58 

14,922 

42 

1907 

37,557 

21,034 

55 

16,523 

45 

1908 

39,481 

21,717 

55     1 

17,764 

45 

1909 

38,937 

21,363 

55     i 

17,573 

45 

1910 

39,245           i 

20,893 

53     ! 

18,372 

47 

1911 

37,017 

19,551 

53     1 

17,466 

47 

1912 

37,113 

20,587 

55     i 

16,526 

45 

1913 

34,721 

18,059 

62     ! 

16,662 

48 

1914 

31,539 

15,838 

50     j 

15,701 

60 

1915 

23,792 

9,729 

41     1 

14,063 

59 

1916 

21,786 

8,833 

40 

12,953 

60 

1917 

21,623 

8,815 

41 

13,818 

59 

1918 

21,319 

8,912 

42     j 

12,407 

58 

1919> 

2-2,701 

10,327 

45     1 

12,374 

55 

1  The   last  year  for   vbich  figcres   are  available. 


88 


THE   PRISON  POPULATION 


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40 


THE   PRISON  POPULATION 


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LENGTH   OF  SENTENCE 


41 


LENGTH    OF    SENTENCE. 


Table  Showing  the  Average  Length  of   Sentences 
(excluding  Court -Martial  Sentences.) 


Year 

1 
PENAL   SERVITUDE          | 

SIMPLE  IMPRISONMENT 

(ending 

3l8t 

March) 

Number  of 

Average  Length 

Number  of 

Average  Length 

Sentences 

in  years 

Sentences 

in  months 

1900 

753 

5-2 

152,086 

1-04 

1901 

725 

5-1 

147,299 

1-09 

1902 

887 

4-8 

165,379 

1-08 

1903 

1,100 

4-8 

175,235 

1-12 

1904 

1,016 

4-8 

188,884 

1-09 

1905 

929 

4-8 

197,023 

1-06 

1906 

1,019 

4-9 

194,059 

1-09 

1907 

1,021 

4-5 

177,336 

1-16 

1908 

1,173 

4-4 

175,401 

1-25 

1909 

1,150 

4-2 

183,721 

1-27 

1910 

1,108 

4-3 

178,542 

1-26 

1911 

916 

4-2 

166,230 

1-26 

1912 

863 

4-3 

157,461 

1-28 

1913 

871 

41 

149,422 

1-32 

1914 

797 

4-2 

135,041 

1-33 

1915 

591 

4-3 

102,889 

1-29 

1916 

351 

4-6 

1        58,180 

1-68' 

1917 

401 

4-7 

i        42,819 

1-99 

1918 

359 

4-6 

31,750 

2-51 

1919 

340 

4-75 

25.036 

2-91 

1920 

457 

3-8 

i        34,279 

2-70 

1921 

482 

4-5 

1        42,785 

2-29 

>  The  flgurM  3inct  1915  are  of  neeessity  approiimationa,  «nd  probably  represent  a   slight 
«T«r-estiinat«.    They  art  calculated  from  retaras  giTen  in  tho  Prison  Commissioners'  Reports. 


C2 


CHAPTER   II 


THE   PEELIMINARIES   TO   IMPRISONMENT 

The  Prison  Commissioners  in  their  report  for  1899  wrote  that 
"  the  close  necessary  relation  between  the  administration  of  justice 
and  a  knowledge  of  prison  discipline  is  becoming  every  day  more 
manifest;  and  it  cannot  be  expected  that  there  can  be  a  satisfactory 
administration  of  justice,  when  there  is  not  a  correlative  acquaint- 
ance with  the  exact  method  followed  in  the  execution  of  the? 
sentence."  * 

This  statement,  together  with  its  converse,  is  still  true.  Some 
knowledge  of  the  administration  of  justice  is  as  necessary  for 
an  intelligent  approach  to  the  problems  of  the  prison  system,  as 
knowledge  of  the  latter  is  necessary  for  the  due  administration  of 
justice.  In  this  chapter,  therefore,  we  shall  attempt  to  give  a  very 
brief  description  of  the  powers  and  the  practices  of  the  criminal 
courts. 

The  Courts  and  Their  Functions. 

In  England  and  "Wales  the  courts  can  be  divided  into  three  groups, 
viz.  (1)  Courts  of  Assize,  (2)  Courts  of  Quarter  Sessions,  and  (3) 
Courts  of  Summary  Jurisdiction. 

Courts  of  Assize.     The  Courts  of  Assize  have  complete  jurisdic- 
tion over  all  indictable  offences.^     They  are  presided  over  by  a  High 
Court   Judge  or   (when  there  is  pressure    on  judicial  time)  by   a 
Commissioner  of  Assize.     A  judge  travels  to  different  parts  of  the 
country,  and  the  prisoners  are  tried  before  him  and  a  jury.     The- 
cases  have  all  been  the  subject  of  a  preliminary  examination  andi 
investigation  before  a  Court  of  Summary  Jurisdiction,'  which  has' 
the  power  to  dismiss  the  charge  on  the  ground  that  there  is   nor 
evidence  upon  which  to  send  the  offender  for  trial  or  that  no  jury 
would  be  likely  to  convict  on  the  evidence. 

The  Central  Criminal  Court  which  sits  at  the  Old  Bailey  in 
London  is  a  Court  of  Assize  with  a  jurisdiction  in  London,  Middle- 
sex,   and  parts  of    Surrey,   Kent,   Essex  and  Hertford.        In  this 

1  P.C.  Eeport,  1898-9,  p.  7. 

*  As  in  Courts  of  Assize  and  Quarter  Sessions  the  procedure  is  by  indictment,  the  oHences, 
tried  by  these  Courts  are  called  "Indictable  OHences."  All  the  ancient  Common  Law' 
OHences  are  indictable,  and  so  are  all  statutory  oHences  unless  the  statute  expressly  provides 
some  other  mode  of  trial.    A  list  of  indictable  and  non-indictable  oHences  is  given  on  p.  31.j 

'  In  theory  the  Grand  Jury  may  (except  in  certain  cases)  "present  a  Bill"  (i.e.,  send  for; 
trial  before  a  judge  and  petty  jury)  on  evidence  laid  before  it  for  the  first  time,  but  in 
practice  the  procedure  is  as  stated  here. 


THE  COURTS  AND   THEIR    FUNCTIONS  43 

instance  there  are  generally  four  trials  proceeding  in  diSerenb 
Courts,  presided  over  by  the  Recorder,  the  Common  Sergeant,  the 
Commissioner,  and  in  the  case  of  more  serious  charges,  by  a 
High  Court  Judge.  Sometimes,  when  there  is  a  very  heavy  list  and 
there  are  long  cases  to  be  heard,  two  High  Court  Judges  sit  at  the 
same  time. 

Courts  of  Quarter  Sessions.  The  Courts  of  Quarter  Sessions  are 
held  in  the  different  counties  and  all  County  Justices  are  entitled 
to  sit  on  the  bench.  In  the  County  Sessions  the  chairman  is  elected 
by  the  Justices  from  among  themselves.  Borough  Sessions  are 
presided  over  by  the  Recorder,  who  is  a  barrister  appointed  by  the 
Home  Office.  The  trial  is  before  him  and  a  jury.  The  London 
Sessions  have  a  salaried  chairman  and  deputy  chairman,  who  must 
be  barristers.  As  in  the  case  of  the  Courts  of  Assize,  a  Court  of 
Summary  Jurisdiction  investigates  the  charge  in  the  first  instance. 
Some  of  the  more  serious  crimes  (e.g.,  murder,  attempted  murder, 
rape,  arson,  perjury,  etc.)  are  not  triable  at  Sessions  but  only  at 
Assizes. 

Courts  of  Summary  Jurisdiction.  In  country  districts,  the 
Courts  of  Summary  Jurisdiction  are  composed  of  lay  (unpaid) 
magistrates  with  a  chairman  appointed  by  the  bench,  and  in  almost 
all  cases  at  least  two  lay  magistrates  must  be  present.  In  some 
of  the  larger  towns  a  stipendiary  magistrate  is  appointed  with  the 
same  powers  as  two  lay  magistrates. 

Courts  of  Summary  Jurisdiction  have  large  powers  to  dispose  of 
all  cases  of  non-indictable  offences*  such  as  drunkenness,  adultera- 
tion of  food,  cruelty  to  animals,  common  assault,  betting,  brothel- 
keeping,  prostitution,  etc.,  and  in  certain  cases,  such  as  larceny  of 
goods  of  not  greater  value  than  £20,  the  obtaining  of  goods  by  false 
pretences,  and  indecent  assaults  on  children,  they  may  dispose  of 
indictable  offences,  if  the  defendant  consent. 

As  a  rule,  a  Court  of  Summary  Jurisdiction  cannot  impose  a 
severer  penalty  than  three  months'  imprisonment  with  hard  labour, 
although  in  a  few  cases,  such  as  living  on  the  earnings  of  a 
prostitute,  aggravated  assaults  on  women,  or  assaults  on  constables 
in  the  execution  of  their  duty,  the  maximum  is  six  months.  With 
the  consent  of  the  defendant,  these  Courts  can  also  try  certain  other 
eases,  such  as  cruelty  to  children,  which  are  punishable  with  more 
than  three  months'  imprisonment,  the  maximum  rising  in  the  case 
of  an  ex-convict  charged  under  the  Prevention  of  Crimes  Act  to 
twelve  months.  They  have  the  power  to  try  "  children  "  and 
"  young  persons  "  for  all  offences  other  than  homicide,  if  the 
parents,  in  the  former  case,  do  not  object,  and  if  the  defendant,  in 
the  latter  case,  consent. 

Although  Courts  of   Summary   Jurisdiction  have   no  power  to 

*  See  list  of  soch  offences  on  v.  31. 


44  THE    PRELIMINARIES    TO    IMPRISONMENT 

inflict  long  sentences,  the  powers  of  the  bench  are  of  great  import- 
ance, both  because  of  the  very  large  number  of  cases  tried  and  be- 
cause the  majority  of  those  who  commit  serious  crimes  begin  their 
criminal  career  in  these  courts.  These  two  facts  require  particular 
emphasis  in  view  of  the  preponderance  of  lay  magistrates. 

The  actual  conditions  in  a  Court  of  Summary  Jurisdiction— or 
Police  Court,  as  it  is  popularly  known — vary  greatly  according  to 
the  temperaments,  tempers,  and  experience  of  the  local  magistrates 
and  the  attitude  of  the  police.  The  resultant  impossibility  of 
standardising  the  conduct  of  the  court  makes  reform  difficult. 

Defendants  brought  before  the  Court  have  either  been  arrested 
(with  or  without  a  warrant)  or  have  been  served  with  a  summons. 
In  the  provinces  a  summons  is  usually  issued  on  application 
to  the  Magistrates'  Clerk  and  is  signed  by  a  magistrate.  In  London 
a  personal  application  to  the  magistrate  must  be  made.  This  latter 
is  the  better  practice.  Provincial  magistrates  generally  sign 
summonses  without  any  knowledge  of  the  complaint.  They  ought 
at  least  to  exercise  their  power  to  see  that  summonses  are  only 
granted  in  proper  cases. 

In  order  to  issue  a  warrant  for  arrest  an  application  must  be  made 
to  a  magistrate.  If  it  be  granted,  the  police  arrest  the  defendant 
and  he  is  detained  in  custody  pending  the  hearing  of  the  charge.  In 
many  cases  a  warrant  is  issued  where  a  summons  would  fully  serve 
the  purpose.  If  a  remand  be  ordered  at  the  trial,  the  defendant  is 
sometimes  released  pending  the  hearing  on  his  own  recognisances, 
but  generally  he  must  provide  bail  in  order  to  be  at  liberty.  Far 
too  frequently  bail  is  refused." 

In  Courts  presided  over  by  lay  magistrates  there  is  a  clerk  who 
is  usually  a  solicitor.  Some  courts  are  under  the  almost  complete 
domination  of  the  clerk.  This  is  due  partly  to  his  special  know- 
ledge and  experience,  and  partly  to  the  fact  that  the  magistrates  sit 
by  rota.  They  are  thus  only  on  the  bench  at  intervals,  while  the 
clerk  sits  continuously  and  often  plays  a  decisive  part  in  the  pro- 
ceedings. An  experienced  solicitor  gives  this  description  of  the 
course  that  is  frequently  followed:  — 

The  defendant  is  charged  with  an  offence.  Usually  the  police  give 
evidence.  A  police  witness  states  in  the  customary  automatic  fashion 
what  he  has  to  say.  The  clerk  raps  out  at  the  defendant,  "  Any 
que.stions  to  ask  the  officer?"  The  defendant  starts  to  make  a  state- 
ment, bat  is  told  he  must  ask  questions  only.  Often  he  cannot  fram* 
a  question. 

After  the  evidence  for  the  prosecution,  the  clerk  says  "Do  you  wish 
to  make  a  .'statement,  or  give  evidence  on  oath?"  Sometimes  a  few 
scrappy  sentences  are  uttered.  Often  nothing  is  said.  The  clerk 
consults  with  the  magistrates,  and  the  chairman  of  the  bench  says, 
"  Ten  shillings,"  "  14  days,"  "  3  months  "  or  whatever  may  be  the 
penalty.  A  police  officer  touches  the  defendant  on  the  shoulder  and 
number  ten  is  in  the  dock  almost  before  number  nine  has  left. 

»  Cp.  p.  305-6. 


THE  COURTS  AXD   THEIR    FUNCTIONS  45 

The  proceedings  are  sometimes  fairer  than  this,  but  in  many 
cases  all  the  forces  of  authority  are  brought  to  bear  against 
the  miserable  being  whom  the  police  have  brought  before  the 
Court.  As  a  general  rule  the  police  evidence  is  accepted  much 
too  readily.  The  fact  that  recently  when  a  defendant  in  a  principal 
London  Police  Court  said  he  was  doing  nothing,  the  magistrate 
thought  it  proper  to  reply,  "  Then  what  do  you  suppose  the  police- 
man has  brought  you  here  for?"  is  an  indication  of  the  reliance 
which  is  placed  upon  the  poUce  statements.  A  man  is  supposed 
to  be  innocent  until  he  be  proved  guilty,  but  in  practice  a  police 
prosecution  usually  means  a  conviction. 

In  many  courts,  too,  the  cases  are  tried  far  too  hurriedly.  Some- 
times forty  or  fifty  cases  are  disposed  of  in  two  hours.  In  that 
time  it  is  quite  impossible  for  a  msigistrate  to  give  the  cases  the 
conscientious  attention  and  consideration  they  require,  "  In  my 
opinion,"  remarks  a  solicitor  with  an  extensive  knowledge  of  the 
courts,  "  convictions  would  not  be  recorded  in  many  cases  if  more 
care  were  taken  by  the  magistrates  to  see  that  all  cases  were 
judicially  tried  and  that  the  evidence  for  the  prosecution  was 
examined  with  as  much  suspicion  as  that  to  which  the  evidence  for 
the  defence  is  subjected."     This  witness  adds:  — 

The  most  tragic  eight  in  our  police  courts  is  that  of  the  habitual 
criminal.  Some  miserable  wretch  is  charged  with  being  drunk  or  some 
poor  woman  is  charged  with  soliciting.  There  is  no  doubt  about  the 
offence.  The  magistrate  asks,  "Has  he  (or  she)  been  here  before?" 
"Yes,  sir,"  answers  the  police  officer;  "fifty-three  times."  "Twenty 
shillings  or  fourteen  days,"  orders  the  magistrate — and  the  prisoner  is 
taken  away  to  spend  a  fortnight  in  prison  with  the  certainty  that  within 
a  few  days  of  his  release  he  will  be  back  again.  A  more  futile  proceed- 
ing could  scarcely  be  imagined. 

The  administration  of  justice  which  can  only  find  this  method  of 
dealing  with  such  human  derelicts  condemns  its  authors  and  agents 
far  more  severely  than  it  condemns  its  victims;  haste,  prejudice,  and 
lack  of  imagination  or  humanity  are  its  main  characteristics,  as  any- 
one who  will  spend  a  few  hours  on  a  Monday  morning  in  a  police 
court  in  a  poor  district  will  soon  discover. 

These  criticisms  of  the  conduct  of  Courts  of  Summary  Jurisdic- 
tion apply  also  in  some  measure  to  Courts  of  Assize  and  Quarter 
Sessions,  but  not  by  any  means  to  the  same  extent;  for  here  the 
defendant  is  usually  represented  by  a  barrister,  the  presiding  judge 
is  more  experienced,  and  there  is  a  jury.  In  the  case  of  judges, 
however,  ignorance  of  the  realities  of  the  prison  regime  is  general. 

The  duties  of  a  Judge  of  Assize  are  rendered  more  difficult  by  his 
inability  to  postpone  cases  for  further  diagnosis  and  investigation, 
as  it  is  most  unUkely  that  he  w^ll  be  presiding  at  the  next  assizes. 
At  the  London  Sessions  postponement  is  possible,  and  sometimes 
this  course  is  usefully  adopted;  but  the  enquiries  are  usually  made 
by  the  police  who  lack  the  qualifications  for  the  kind  of  investigation 


46  THE    PRELIMINARIES    TO   IMPRISONMENT 

which  is  often  necessary.  Nevertheless,  Courts  in  continuous 
session  can  give  much  more  careful  consideration  than  others  to  the 
circumstances  and  needs  of  the  prisoner. 

The  Pbinciples  of  Punishment  in  English  Law. 

When  the  magistrates  have  decided  to  convict  a  prisoner  they 
must  decide  the  appropriate  treatment  of  the  offence.  Unfortunately 
this  does  not  appear  to  be  a  serious  problem  to  the  average  bench. 
What  is  involved  in  the  decision  is  often  inadequately  realised  and 
the  official  assurance  "  he  will  be  well  looked  after  in  prison  "  too 
readily  accepted.  Few  magistrates  know  anything  about  prison 
and  prison  treatment;  and  many  neglect  to  use  the  powers  which 
they  possess  of  making  decisions  other  than  the  imposition  of 
sentences  of  imprisonment. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  no  one  should  be  permitted  to  sentence 
others  to  imprisonment  who  has  not  experienced  imprisonment  him- 
self. This  may  appear  a  fantastic  proposal,  but  all  magistrates  should 
certainly  exercise  their  rights  to  visit  prisons  and  to  talk  privately 
with  the  prisoners,  without  the  presence  of  a  warder.  The  per- 
functory tour  through  prison  buildings  which  Visiting  Magistrates 
generally  make,  is  practically  worthless.* 

The  principles  of  English  law  as  to  punishment  are  set  out  in 
Lord  Halsbury's  "  Laws  of  England  "  in  the  following  terms:  — 

The  policy  of  the  law  is  as  regards  most  crimes  to  fix  a  maximum 
penalty  which  is  only  intended  for  the  worst  cases  and  to  leave  to  the 
discretion  of  the  judge  to  determine  to  what  extent  in  a  particular 
case  the  punishment  awarded  should  approach  to  or  recede  from  the 
maximum  limit.     .     .     . 

The  object  of  punishment  is  the  prevention  of  crime,  and  every 
punishment  should  have  a  double  effect,  namely  to  prevent  the  person 
who  has  committed  a  crime  from  repeating  the  act  or  omission,  and  to 
prevent  other  members  of  the  community  from  committing  similar 
crimes. 

The  Court  in  fixing  the  punishment  for  any  particular  crime  will 
take  into  consideration  the  nature  of  the  offence,  the  circumstances  in 
which  it  was  committed,  the  degree  of  deliberation  shown  by  the 
offender,  the  provocation  which  he  has  received,  if  tlie  crime  is  one  of 
violence,  the  antecedents  of  the  pri.=!oner  up  to  the  time  of  his  sentence, 
his  age  and  character^  and,  except  in  the  case  of  habitual  criminals,  any 
recommendation  to  mercy  which  the  jury  may  have  made.' 

This  statement  represents  an  advance  on  earlier  views,  but,  as  is 
often  the  case,  the  theory  and  practice  are  by  no  means  identical. 
Until  comparatively  recently,  the  actual  practice  was  generally  to 
measure  the  penalty  entirely  by  the  crime  committed,  irrespective  of 
extenuating  circumstances,  previous  good  character,  extreme  youth, 

«  Cp.   pp.    594-8. 

f  Op.   cit.   (1909),  Vol.  ix.,  pp.  425  and  427. 


APPEALS  47 

*tc.,  the  sole  exception  being  in  the  case  of  insanity.  This  principle 
has  in  many  respects  been  modified  by  the  Probation  of  Offenders 
Act,  the  Summary  Jurisdiction  Act,  and  the  Children's  Act,  and  at 
the  present  time  there  is  practically  no  fixed  penalty.  The  discretion 
given  to  the  Courts  is  enormously  wide,  and  the  character  and 
severity  of  a  sentence  depend  to  a  large  degree  upon  the  tempera- 
ments and  idiosyncrasies  of  individual  magistrates.  Some  judges 
beheve  in  flogging,  for  instance,  others  do  not.  Some  judges  are 
particularly  opposed  to  aliens,  others  place  the  sanctity  of  property 
before  that  of  persons. 

Courts  still  show  too  great  a  tendency  to  measure  out  the  punish- 
ment in  a  crude  relation  to  the  offence,  and  allow  much  too  little 
for  the  fact  that  many  prisoners  are  more  the  victims  of  society 
than  offenders  against  it.  The  shock  of  appearing  in  Court  would 
often  be  sufficiently  deterrent  to  a  first  offender  without  sentence. 
When  one  considers  the  ordeal  of  a  person  who  for  the  first  time 
finds  himself  in  the  hands  of  the  law,  the  shock  of  arrest,  the 
publicity  and  shame  usually  associated  with  police  court  proceedings, 
it  is  evident  that  little  if  anything  more  is  required  in  the  average 
case  than  a  few  words  of  advice  or  warning. 

Murder  is  now  the  only  offence  with  a  fixed  sentence;  if  the 
verdict  be  manslaughter  the  sentence  may  be  anything  from  a  few 
<]ays  to  penal  servitude  for  life."  The  creation  of  the  Court  of 
Criminal  Appeal  has  done  something  to  prevent  excessive  sentences. 
In  that  Court  there  is  an  encouraging  tendency  to  consider  the 
circumstances  of  the  prisoner  and  not  merely  the  crime  he  has 
committed. 

Appeals. 

From  Magistrates.  A  person  who  pleads  not  guilty,  but  is  found 
guilty  by  a  Court  of  Summary  Jurisdiction,  may  appeal  to  the  next 
Quarter  Sessions.  The  appeal  is  a  re-hearing — the  onus  of  proof 
resting  (or  being  supposed  to  rest)  on  the  prosecution.  In  the 
provinces  there  can  be  no  appeal,  even  against  the  sentence,  if  the 
defendant  pleaded  guilty,  but  in  London  an  appeal  may  generally  be 
made  to  Quarter  Sessions  against  the  conviction  and  sentence,  despite 
a  plea  of  guilty.* 

The  expense  of  an  appeal  is  considerable  and  for  the  average 
defendant  is  practically  out  of  the  question.  In  the  first  instance, 
sureties  must  be  found  for  the  cost  of  the  appeal;  also  at  many 
sessions  the  defendant  has  to  pay  his  own  costs  even  when  success- 

•  The  Criminal  Justice  Administration  Act,  1914  (Section  13,  i)  prorides  that  "no 
TCrson  shall  be  sentenced  to  imprisonment  by  a  Court  of  Summary  Jurisdiction  for  a 
period  of  less  than  fire  days";  but  if  an  offender  be  fined  and  only  pay  part  of  the  fine, 
le  may  be  sent  to  prison  for  less  than  fire  days  in  default  of  the  unpaid  portion. 
Prisoners  may  be  sentenced  to  detention  in  police  cells  for  four  days  or  less,  but  this  is 
not  done   in  London. 

*  Metropolitan  Police  Courts  Act,  1839,  Section  50.  The  right  of  appeal  is  restricted  to 
cases   where  a  fine  of   more  than   £3  or  imprisonment   for  more   than  a  month    has    been 

imposed. 


48  THE    PRELIMINARIES    TO   IMPRISONMENT 

ful."  Further,  in  London,  it  is  actually  the  case  that,  when  the 
defendant  has  pleaded  guilty  and  has  lodged  an  appeal  on  the  ground 
of  an  excessive  sentence,  even  though  he  succeed  in  gaining  a 
modification  of  the  sentence,  e.g.,  the  substitution  or  alternative  of  a 
fine,  he  is  still  ordered  to  pay  not  only  his  own  costs  but  those  of 
the  Crown.  It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  to  appeal  is  a  ingbt 
Umited  almost  entirely  to  the  rich. 

From  Quarter  Sess'ons  and  Assizes.  Prior  to  1907  there  was  no 
appeal  from  Quarter  Sessions  or  Assizes,  except  on  points  of  law, 
hut  by  the  Criminal  Appeal  Act  there  is  now  a  right  of  appeal  to 
the  Court  of  Criminal  Appeal  constituted  by  the  Act. 

Police   Cells. 

A  preliminary  to  imprisonment  to  which  attention  must  be  given 
is  the  period  of  confinement  in  the  cells  at  police  stations.  A 
prisoner  may  be  kept  in  a  police  cell  when  awaiting  trial,  between 
one  appearance  in  Court  and  another,  whilst  awaiting  removal  to 
prison,  or  in  fulfilment  of  a  sentence  of  detention  for  four  days  or 
less. 

The  cells  are  usually  small  and  excessively  bare  places,  containing  i 

only  a  long  wooden  seat,  used  as  a  bed,   and  an  open  w.c,  some-  i 

times    flushed  from  outside  only      The  evidence  of  our  witnesses  j 

shows  that  the  conditions  vary,  but  complaints  of  bad  ventilation,  1 

lack  of  warmth,  and  insufficient  and  dirty  blankets  are  very  frequent,  t 
The  criticism  is  also  made  that  prisoners  have  no  information  as 

to  their  riehts  regarding  such  things  as  visitation  and  the  provision  | 

of  books  and  papers  and  meals,  and  that  the  police  take  advantage  j 
of  the  prisoner's  position  to  extort  tips. 

In  the  case  of  women  prisoners,   serious  complaint  is  made  that  j 
male  police  are  in  attendance.     As  long  ago  as  February  13,  1913,    ; 
Mr.  McKenna  (who  was  then  Home  Secretai-y)  stated  in  the  House  I 
of  Commons  that  "  a  male  warder  is  never  in  charge  of  female  cells,  -  j 
a  matron  being  always  in  attendance  when  women  are  detained,"    ] 
and  that  "the  matron  personally  looks  after  the  female  cells,  attends  ■ 
to  the  needs  of  female  prisoners,  and  always  accompanies  the  officer 
in  charge  of  the  station  when  he  visits  the  cells."     This  was  a  very 
misleading  description  of  what    actually    occurs.        At  most  police 
stations  there  is  only  one  "matron,"  often  the  woman  who  cleans 
the  place.     She  is  not  in  fact  "in  charge"  of  the  women  prisoners 
at  all — the  constables  are  responsible — and  even  if   she  were,  she   j 
could  not  be  on  duty  for  all  the  24  hours.     "We  give  details  of  two 
recent  cases  which  indicate  some  of  the  disagreeable  features  of  the 
present  practice.     The  first  case  occurred  in  June,  1920:  — 

'"  An  experienced  solicitor  says:  "If  a  defendant  appeals  against  a  conTiction  by  a 
Magistrate  and  wins  his  appeal,  the  conviction  being  quashed,  he  is  very  seldom  allowed 
any  costs  airainst  the  Crown  or  the  Police  who  are  the  nominal  prosecutorg.  Thit  it  a 
t'leat   hardship." 


ALTERNATIVES    TO    IMPRISONMEXT  49 

A  woman  (afterwards  acquitted)  was  kept  in  a  police  cell  from  Tuesday 
till  the  following  Sunday.  During  the  whole  of  this  time  she  waa 
obliged  to  sleep  on  a  plank  bed  or  shelf,  without  either  mattress  or 
piUow.  There  was  no  chair  or  other  article  of  furniture  in  the  cell 
beyond  this  plank  ;  the  only  sanitary  utensil  provided  for  use  at  night 
wa*  an  ordinary  bucket.  In  the  day-time  the  sergeant's  wife  brought 
her  meals,  and  when  rung  for  took  her  to  the  lavatory.  At  night  she* 
waa  in  the  sole  charge  of  the  police  constable,  who  looked  at  intervals 
into  the  cell  through  the  spy-hole.  Once  a  day  she  was  allowed  out  to 
wash  herself,  but  during  the  whole  time  she  could  not  undress.  She 
was  unable  to  obtain  the  sanitary  towels  which  she  required,  though 
the  sergeant's  wife  in  kindness  gave  her  two  old  pieces  of  table-cloth. 

The  second  case  occurred  in  September,  1920:  — 

A  girl  of  sixteen  was  charged  with  breaking  conditions  of  probation. 
She  waa  confined  in  a  police  cell  from  eight  o'clock  on  Saturday  evening 
until  ten  o'clock  on  Monday  morning.  She  was  open  to  observation  by 
male  police  officers  during  the  whole  time,  and  was  only  attended  by  a 
woman  once  each  morning  when  she  was  given  an  opportunity  to  wash. 
She  had  to  use  the  w.c.  in  the  cell,  despite  the  possibility  of  a  constable 
appearing  at  any  moment.  She  states  that  a  constable  unlocked  the  door 
and  came  into  the  cell  during  the  night  and  spoke  familiarly  to  her. 
She  was  too  frightened  to  lie  down  on  the  plank  bed  and  sat  up  all  night. 

It  is  obvious  that  women  ought  to  be  placed  permanently  in  charge 
of  women  prisoners  at  police  stations  as  they  are  in  prisons.  It  is 
scandalous  that  the  existing  practice  should  have  been  permitted  un- 
challenged so  long. 

Alternatives    to    Imprisonment. 

It  will  be  generally  accepted  that  a  person  should  not  be  sent  to 
prison  if  the  case  can  be  otherwise  dealt  with.  Merely  from  the 
economic  standpoint,  a  man  or  woman  in  prison  is  a  bad  investment, 
a  fact  which  the  authorities  now  appreciate,  and  in  the  Home  Ofl&ce 
circulars  magistrates  have  more  than  once  been  asked  to  consider 
the  alternatives  to  imprisonment.  In  passing,  it  may  be  urged  that 
circulars  of  this  character  should  be  brought  to  the  notice  of  each 
magistrate  and  not  sent  merely  to  the  Clei-k  of  the  Court.  At 
present  magistrates  are  often  ignorant  of  their  contents. 

Fines.  It  is  common  in  Police  Courts  to  impose  a  fine  with 
imprisonment  as  an  alternative.  Repeated  advice  to  magistrates  to 
give  defendants  time  to  pay  fines  was  so  constantly  ignored  that  in 
1914  a  provision  was  included  in  the  Criminal  Jurisdiction  Act 
prohibiting  the  use  of  a  warrant  of  commitment  unless  (1)  a  person 
with  ability  to  pay  declined  to  do  so,  or  unless  (2)  on  being 
questioned  he  expressed  no  desire  for  time  to  pay  or  failed  to  satisfy 
the  Court  that  he  had  a  fixed  place  of  abode  in  the  district,  or  unless 
(3)  there  were  other  special  reasons.  The  time  allowed  must  be 
not  less  than  seven  days.  If  the  fine  be  not  paid  in  the  time 
prescribed,  the  Court  may  extend  it. 


50  THE    PRELIMINARIES    TO    IMPRISONMENT 

This  provision  is  applied  in  a  very  casual  manner  and  the  limita- 
tions are  serious.  In  their  report  for  1920-21  the  Prison  Com- 
missioners point  out  that  of  the  13,404  prisoners  received  in  default 
of  fine,  no  less  than  12,239  had  not  been  allowed  time  to  pay  before 
committal  to  prison.  "The  fact,"  they  proceed,  "that  5,088  or  38 
•per  cent,  of  those  committed  in  default  paid  their  fine,  either  wholly 
or  in  part,  soon  after  reception  into  prison  is  suggestive  that  hard- 
ship may  be  imposed  by  the  condition  ....  that  the  offender  'must 
satisfy  the  Court  that  he  has  a  fixed  abode  within  the  jurisdiction' 
before  time  can  be  allowed  in  which  to  pay  the  fine."  "  The  Prison 
Commissioners  have  persistently  protested  against  the  sending  to 
prison  of  offenders  who  have  been  given  the  alternative  of  a  fine,  and 
the  proportion  of  such  convictions  has  fallen  in  recent  years."  All 
those  with  knowledge  of  the  facts  agree  that  far  more  opportunities 
for  the  payment  of  fines  should  be  provided,  and  the  present  pro- 
visions made  more  operative. 

The  giving  of  time  for  fine-paying  is  unpopular  with  some  Court 
officials  owing  to  the  trouble  involved;  and  since  some  Courts  are 
largely  in  the  hands  of  the  clerks,  their  objection  is  often  a  serious 
hindrance  to  the  grant  of  adequate  opportunities.  A  more  valid 
objection  is  the  burden  which  the  infliction  of  a  fine  frequently  places 
upon  the  family  of  the  defendant,  who,  avoiding  inconveniences 
himself,  relies  upon  his  relatives  to  keep  him  out  of  prison. 

The  Act  of  1914  also  gives  magistrates  power  to  place  a  young 
offender  between  sixteen  and  twenty-one  under  "supervision"  until 
a  fine  is  paid.     Insufficient  advantage  is  taken  of  this  provision. 

Probation.  The  Probation  of  Offenders  Act,  1907,  represented  a 
very  great  advance  in  the  treatment  of  law-breakers.  By  this  Acfc 
the  Courts  are  empowered,  despite  the  fact  that  an  offence  has  been 
committed,  to  discharge  prisoners  either  absolutely  or  conditionally. 
Where  a  Court  is  of  opinion  that,  "  having  regard  to  the  character, 
antecedents,  age,  health  or  mental  condition  of  the  person  charged 
or  to  the  trivial  nature  of  the  offence,  or  to  the  extenuating' 
circumstances  under  which  the  offence  was  committed,"  it  is  in- 
expedient to  inflict  any  punishment,  or  expedient  to  release  the 
offender  on  probation,  it  may  without  proceeding  to  conviction 
either  dismiss  the  charge  or  discharge  the  offender  conditionally  on 
his  entering  into  a  recognisance  to  be  of  good  behaviour.  The 
conditions  may  place  the  offender  under  the  supervision  of  a  pro- 
bation officer  or  other  person,  and  may  apply  also  to  residence, 
abstention  from  intoxicating  liquors,  or  any  other  matters  which  are 
calculated  to  prevent  a  repetition  of  the  offence.  The  Act  also 
provides  special  Probation  Officers  for  children. 

Under  these  wide  discretionary  powers  a  magistrate  need  never 
send  a  first,  or  indeed  any,  offender  to  prison.     Unfortunately,  tho 

"P.O.    Report,    1920-21,   p.    10. 

'2  See  Tables  on  pp.  34,  35,  and  36. 


ALTERNATIVES   TO   IMPRISONMENT  51 

Act  has  been  made  far  less  operative  than  it  deserves.  In  1912, 
the  Home  Secretary  felt  it  necessary  to  state  in  a  circular  to 
magistrates  that  "  many  minor  offenders  are  still  committed  to 
prison  for  offences  for  which  imprisonment  appears  to  be  an  in- 
appropriate and  sometimes  a  hannful  form  of  punishment,  and  he 
fears  that  Courts  of  Summary  Jurisdiction  do  not  always  fully  realise 
the  wide  powers  given  them  by  statute  to  deal  with  minor  offenders 
without  having  recourse  to  imprisonment. ' '  That  this  should  be 
the  case  is  lamentable.  The  opportunities  provided  by  the  1907 
Act  might  save  hundreds  of  offenders  from  the  fatal  disgrace  of 
imprisonment  without  in  any  way  prejudicing  the  interests  oi 
society." 

Restitution.  The  Act  of  1907  also  applied  another  new  principle 
of  great  possibilities — that  of  restitution.  It  gave  the  Courts  the 
power,  in  addition  to  making  Probation  Orders,  to  levy  damages 
upon  offenders  (not  exceeding  in  the  case  of  a  Court  of  Summary 
Jurisdiction  the  sum  of  £10).  Practically  no  advantage  has  been 
taken  of  this  power. 

By  the  Prevention  of  Crime  Act,  1908,  another  innovation  was 
made  in  our  criminal  system.  The  object  and  provisions  of  the  Act 
were,  on  the  one  hand,  for  the  reformation  of  young  offenders, 
under  what  is  now  known  as  the  Borstal  System,  and,  on  the  other, 
for  the  segregation  of  habitual  criminals  over  a  longer  period  under 
Preventive  Detention.  As  both  systems  are  described  later,  we 
need  only  here  explain  briefly  with  what  classes  they  deal.'* 

Borstal.  Any  offender  either  convicted  on  indictment  of  an  indict- 
able offence  or  summarily  convicted  of  an  offence  punishable  by  one 
month  or  upwards  without  the  option  of  a  fine,  may  be  sent  to  a 
Borstal  institution  either  by  a  judge  or  by  Quarter  Sessions,  there 
to  be  dealt  with  under  the  Act,  provided  that 

(1)  It  appear  to  the  Court  that  the  offender  is  not  less  than  16 
nor  more  than  21  years  of  age. 

(2)  It  be  proved  that  the  offender  (if  summarily  convicted)  has  been 
previously  convicted  or  that  he  has  previously  committed  a  breach 
of  a  Probation  Order,  and 

(3)  It  appear  that,  owing  to  his  criminal  habits  or  tendencies  or 
association  with  bad  characters,  it  is  expedient  that  he  should  be 
detained  for  instruction  and  discipline. 

The  Court  may,  after  enquiring  into  the  circumstances  of  the  case, 
sentence  the  offender  to  detention  in  a  Borstal  Institution  for  not 
more  than  three  and  not  less  than  two  years.       Magistrates  have 

"  Sir  Robert  Wallace,  K.C.,  Chairman  of  the  London  Sessions,  stated  on  July  22nd,  1920, 
*h»t  it  had  been  found  at  the  London  Sessions  that  ont  ol  every  100  priEoners  on  probation. 
96  never  returned  to  a  life  of  crime. 

'*Cp.  Chapters   26   and  27  of  bhis  Part. 


62  THE    PRELIMINARIES    TO   IMPRISONMENT 

powers  under  the  Act  to  make  enquiries  as  to  the  offender  and  the 
Prison  Commissioners  may  submit  a  report." 

Preventive  Detention.  Any  adult  prisoner  charged  with  a  felony 
or  certain  misdemeanours  may  also  be  charged  with  being,  under  the 
terms  of  the  Act,  a  "habitual  criminal."  "  It  must  then  be  proved 
(1)  that  since  attaining  the  age  of  16  years  he  has  at  least  three 
times  previously  been  convicted  of  ciime,  and  (2)  that  he  is  leading 
persistently  a  dishonest  or  criminal  life;  or  (3)  that  he  has  been 
previously  found  to  be  a  habitual  criminal.  If  found  guilty  of  the 
crime,  he  may  be  sentenced  to  penal  servitude;  if  also  found  to  be 
a  "habitual  criminal,"  he  may  receive  a  further  sentence  of 
Preventive  Detention  to  commence  on  the  expiration  of  the  other. 
A  penal  servitude  sentence  of  at  least  three  years  is  a  necessary 
preliminary  to  Preventive  Detention,  of  which  five  and  ten  years 
are  respectively  the  minimum  and  maximum  terms.  These  terms 
are,  however,  in  most  cases  greatly  reduced  by  the  wide  extension 
under  this  Act  of  conditional  release. 

The  Birmingham  Experiment.  At  Birmingham  a  serious  attempt 
has  been  made  by  the  local  magistrates  to  prevent  the  committal 
(especially  in  mental  cases)  of  persons  unfit  for  prison  life.  The 
medical  officer  of  the  prison,  who  is  an  expert,  appointed  at  the 
magistrates'  request,  watches  all  cases  on  remand;  and  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  doctor  to  report  on  other  adjourned  cases  out  of  custody 
has  also  been  approved  by  the  city  authorities. 

Under  this  provision  any  charged  person  exhibiting  mental 
instability,  or  abnormality,  or  repeatedly  committing  the  same 
offence,  is,  upon  sufficient  evidence,  remanded  by  the  Court  for 
enquiry.  When  suitable,  baU  is  allowed  on  the  charged  person's 
voluntarily  undertaking  to  submit  himself  to  the  Court  doctor.  In 
other  cases,  he  is  remanded  to  a  special  place  of  detention  in  the 
prison  for  medical  observation.  If  the  Court,  when  the  case  is 
recalled,  decide  to  convict,  the  medical  officer  of  the  prison  or  the' 
Court  doctor  gives  evidence.  Upon  this  evidence  the  order  of  the 
Court  is  made.  Imprisonment  is  only  resorted  to  when  the  Court 
considers  that  "  a  period  of  detention  under  medical  supervision  is 
the  proper  method  of  dealing  with  the  case."  A  person  so 
sentenced  may  be  committed  to  a  part  of  the  prison  set  aside  for 
treatment  of  special  cases. 

A  large  number  of  persons  unfit  for  prison  conditions  have  been 
saved  from  imprisonment  by  this  procedure.  "  Investigation  has 
shown  that  the  criminal  is  to  a  large  extent  defective  mentally  and 
physically,"  says  the  committee  responsible  for  the  inauguration  of 
this  scheme,    "  and  proper  medical    advice    may    in    many   cases 

15  Prevention  o!  Crime  Act,  1908,  Part  1.,  Section  1,  and  Criminal  Justice  Administration 
Act,  1910,  Section  10. 
»•  Prevention  ol  Crime  Act,   1908,  Part  11.,  Section  10. 


ALTERNATIVES    TO    IMPRISONMENT  5S 

remedy  his  defect  and  make  him  a  decent  member  of  society."  The 
committee  adds  that  "physical  defects  in  many  cases  are  respon- 
sible for  crime";  and  that  "in  practically  every  one"  of  the  cases 
referred  to  the  prison  doctor  "  some  defect  in  the  offender  has  been 
found,"  so  that  his  report  has  in  each  case  enabled  the  Justices  to 
deal  more  satisfactorily  with  the  offender. 

During  the  year  ending  August  31st,  1920,  151  offenders  were 
thus  treated  by  the  medical  officer  of  Birmingham  prison.  Of  these, 
39  (or  less  than  26  per  cent.)  were  subsequently  sentenced  to 
imprisonment  ("these  are  in  a  sense  our  failures,"  says  the  medical 
officer),  16  were  placed  on  probation,  59  were  dismissed  or  adjourned. 
15  were  found  insane,  and  14  were  dealt  with  under  the  Mental 
Deficiency  Act."  The  magistrates  of  the  Bradford  Bench  have 
adopted  a  similar  scheme. 

This  chapter  cannot  be  closed  without  emphasising  the  helplesa- 
ness  of  many  prisoners,  particularly  in  pohce  courts.  The  poorer  a 
prisoner  is  the  less  chance  he  has  of  receiving  justice.  No  expense 
is  spared  as  a  rule  in  the  prosecution,  but  beyond  the  totally  in- 
adequate Poor  Prisoners'  Defence  Act"  (which  only  applies  to 
prisoners  tried  at  a  Court  of  Assize  or  a  Court-  of  Quarter  Sessions), 
no  provision  whatever  is  made  for  the  defence  of  a  poor  prisoner. 

It  is  presumed  that  all  are  equal  before  the  law.  This  is  an  amiable 
fiction.  Magistrates  may  do  a  little  to  make  the  presumption  of 
equality  a  reality ;  in  so  far  as  they  attempt  it  they  assist  in 
making  our  criminal  administration  respected ;  in  so  far  as  they 
do  not,  they  perpetuate  conditions  which  in  many  respects  fall 
administratively  far  behind  the  more  recent  provisions  of  the  law  for 
the  modification  of  our  penal  code. 

"  Dr.  Hamblin  Smith,  the  medical  officer  at  Birmingham  prison,  in  his  report  for  1919-20, 
makes  the  following  reference  to  the  progress  of  the  scheme:— "The  scheme  i5  oa 
the  mo(t  enlightened  lines  of  modern  criminology,  and  one  has  great  hopes  of  its  extension. 
Any  attempt  to  work  such  a  scheme  in  a  perfunctory  manner  coald  be  only  a  failure,  and 
would  bring  the  scheme  into  contempt.  The  scheme  cannot  yet  be  said  to  be  in  full  working 
order.  An  essential  element  is  the  proTision  of  special  remand  department:  in  the  prison, 
and  these  are  not  yet  complete.  But  some  success  may  be  claimed  already.  .  .  .  Indeed. 
I  would  claim  that  the  establishment  of  such  a  department  will  proTe,  in  the  long  run, 
the  best  inrestment  a  community  could  make,  for  uninrestigated  criminals  are  the  moat 
expensire  luxuries.  The  complete  logical  working  out  of  such  a  scheme  would  requir« 
alterations  in  the  present  law."  No  report  is  given  ol  the  achene  in  the  Commisaioners' 
report  for  1920-21. 

'»  The  most  helpless  prisoners  are  not  able  to  take  adrantage  of  this  Act,  owing  to  inability 
to  make  the   requisite  statement  or  to  disclose  any  defence. 


CHAPTER  III 


THE    MACHINEEY    OF    THE    PRISON     SYSTEM 
The  Development  of  the  System 

The  terms  machinery  and  system,  however  convenient  for  descrip- 
tive purposes,  are  as  a  rule  somewhat  too  cold  and  mechanical  in 
their  associations  to  be  happily  applied  to  methods  of  organising 
human  beings.  But,  if  the  reader  of  this  book  has  either  been  him- 
self an  inmate  of  an  English  prison  or  had  an  opportunity  of  looking 
into  the  unpublished  and  jealously  guarded  volume  of  Standing 
Orders  which  regulate  almost  every  detail  of  the  daily  lives  of 
prisoners  and  their  oC&cers,  he  will  acknowledge,  we  think,  that  the 
two  terms  in  question  are  particularly  well  suited  to  describe  the 
elaborate,  centralised,  and  rigid  manner  in  which  the  administration 
of  our  English  prisons  is  conducted. 

The  steps  by  which  the  present  administration  of  this  system  has 
been  evolved  can  be  described  in  a  few  paragraphs.* 

The  eighteenth  century  and  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  saw 
the   abolition   in  this   country,    by    progressive    stages,    of  mutila- 
tion, the  stocks,  the  pillory,  and  of  transportation  or  banishment, 
and  the  restriction  within  narrow  limits  of  the  death  penalty  and 
flogging.     Within  the  same  period  the  principle  had  been  established 
that  imprisonment  should  mean  not  merely  compulsory  detention,- 
y  as  had  previously  been  the  case  (at  least  in  theory),  but  detention 
/   combined  with  servile  labour  and  other  punitive  conditions.     There- 
1    fore,  for  the  last  seventy  years,   at  least,  "prison"  (in  its  modern 
/  sense)  and  the  imposition  of  a  fine  have  been  almost  the  sole  penalties 
^.  adjudged  to  law-breakers ;  and  in  the  very  large  proportion  of  cases  of 
those  who  cannot  — or  will  not — pay,   the  sentence  of  a  fine  has 
t   brought  imprisonment  by  default. 

By  the  end  of  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  prisons 
had  come  to  be  divided  into  two  distinct  classes — Convict  prisons, 
containing  tjne. offenders  committed  for  thejaoger  sentences,  known. 
as  penal  servitude,  and  I^aTprlsons,  for  those  senteneed  for  shorter 

>  For  a  detailed  description  of  this  evolution  the  reader  is  referred  to  "English  Prison* 
under  Local  Government."  by  Sidney  and  Beatrice  Webb  (Longmans,  Green),  published 
simultaneously  with   this  volume. 


THE  PRISON  ACTS  55 

terms.  The  former  class  were  from  the  first  (i.e.,  after  the  dis- 
""cOTitinuance  of  transportation)  under  the  direct  control  of  the  Central 
Government;  and  up  to  1877  the  external  history  of  Local  prisons 
centres  round  a  series  of  attempts  on  the  part  of  Whitehall  to  get  an 
increasing  measure  of  control  over  the  management  of  these  prisons 
also.  During  this  period  the  management  of  the  Local  prisons 
(apart  from  a  few  anomalous  "franchise  prisons")  was  vested  in 
the  County  Justices  of  the  Peace  "in  Sessions  assembled"  and  iu 
the  members  of  certain  municipal  corporations.  In  the  Prison  Act 
of  the  year  1865  an  elaborate  code  of  rides  for  the  governance  of 
prisons  was  set  out  and  made  binding  on  all  these  prison  authorities, 
the  actual  administration  of  the  gaols  being  still  left  in  their 
hands;  but  in  a  large  number  of  instances  these  regulations  were 
not  effectively  observed,  and  for  various  reasons  the  Central  Govern- 
ment found  itself  without  the  requisite  power  to  enforce  their 
observance. 

^  ,  TgE  Prison  Act s  . 
The  Government  accordingly  aecMe5"  to  assume  not  only  the 
control  but  the  direct  administration  of  the  Local  prisons.  This  was 
dong,b;^^^the  Prison  Ag^j;>LJ.877,  which  vested  the  legal  estate  of  these 
pnsonsmThe  TlSwIy  constituted^Board  of  Commissioners,  who  were 
to  administer  them  under  the  authority  of  the  Secretary  of  State"fl5f 
Honie.  Affairs,  New  Commissioners  were  to  be,  and  still  are, 
appointed  on  the  recommendation  of  the  Home  Secretary,  who  also 
appoints  the  chairman.  Their  number  must  not  at  any  one  time 
exceed  five.  Compensation  was  paid  to  the  local  authorities,  and  an 
attempt  was  made  to  retain  their  interest  and  co-operation  by  the 
institution  of  Visiting  Committees  of  Justices,  to  whom  considerable 
responsibilities  and  powers  were  assigned.  As  will  be  indicated  in 
a  later  chapter,^  this  attempt  has  largely  proved  to  be  a  failure,  and 
since  1877  the  administration  of  prisons  has  been  almost  completely 
.-jcent-rftlised,  aUke  in  large  matters  of  policy  and  in  the  smallest 
-dfitaJls  of  routine. 

The  declared  objects  of  the  change  from  local  to  centralised 
administration  were  two;  first,  the  apphcation  to  all  prisons  of  a 
uniform  system  of  punishment  (calculated,  it  was  hoped,  to  repress 
crime)  on  the  lines  of  the  code  contained  in  the  1865  Act';  and 
secondly,  greater  economy  in  public  expenditure,  secured  more 
particularly  by  a  large  reduction  in  the  number  of  prisons.*  These 
two  objects  were  apparently  achieved  by  the  operation  of  the  1877 
Act.  The  changes  were  not,  however,  by  any  means  entirely 
beneficial.  On  this  point  the  evidence  may  be  quoted  of  two  com- 
petent authorities  who  had  made  a  special  study  of  the  subject. 

=•  Op.  Chapter  25  of  this  Part. 

»  The  Departmental  Committee  of  1895  stated  that  the  main  principles  of  prison  treat- 
ment had  been  laid  down  by  the  Act  of  1865  and  that  they  had  not  been  altered  or 
Drought   into   question   np   to  1894.     (Report  of   Committee,  p.   2,   sect.    11.) 

■•There  were  113  Local  prisons  in  1877;  in  1885  there  were  59  only.  The  two  objects 
are  as  stated  by  Sir  Edmund  Du  Cane,  who  administered  and  largely  influenced  the 
Iraming  of  the    Act.     (See  his   "Punishment  of  Crime,"    p     99  ) 


56  THE    MACHINERY    OF    THE    PRISON    SYSTEM 

The  Eev.  W.  D.  Morrison,  himself  at  that  time  a  Prison  Chaplain 
of  long  experience,  wrote  in  1894  :  — 

It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the  Local  prison  administration  in  operation 
before  1878  had  its  faults  and  undoubtedly  required  radical  alterations. 
But  it  had  its  virtues,  too.  Prisons  can  never  be  successfully  admini- 
stered without  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  prison  population,  and  an 
intimate  acquaintance  with  the  prison  staff.  Both  of  these  requisitea 
the  county  magistrate*  possessed,  and  as  a  result  prisoners  were  never 
mechanised  into  mere  pieces  on  a  chess-board,  and  the  prison  staff  was 
never  rendered  impotent  as  a  reformative  agency  by  a  smouldering  spirit 
of  disaffection.  In  fact,  the  old  Local  prison  administration  was  a 
system  which  kept  the  ruling  classes  in  touch  with  social  miseries  in 
their  acutest  form.  Local  power  created  local  interest  and  a  sense  of 
local  responsibility.* 

The  Departmental  Committee  on  Prisons,  in  their  1895  Report, 
described  the  conditions  obtaining  before  1878  in  the  following 
words :  — 

The  best  prisons  under  the  former  regime,  while  comparing  satis- 
factorily in  point  of  order  and  discipline  with  the  prisons  of  to-day, 
were  managed  on  lines  in  all  probability  more  likely  to  produce  a  healthy 
moral  effect  of  a  permanent  kind  on  the  prisoners.  But  in  other  cases 
the  management  was  unsatisfactory.  Taking  the  prisons  generally  there 
was  no  settled  and  uniform  principle  of  treatment ;  the  Act  of  1865, 
which  constituted  the  Prison  Code,  and  which  it  was  intended  should  be 
adopted  and  administered  in  all  prisons  alike,  in  many  prisons  was 
imperfectly  carried  out ;  and  the  resulting  inequalities  as  between  one 
prison  and  another  led  to  a  very  considerable  amount  of  mischief  and 
inconvenience.' 

The  centralised  system  set  up  by  the  1877  Act  continued  un- 
changed until  the  next  Prison  Act,  which  was  not  passed  until  1898. 
The  reforms  then  made  were  the  result  of  a  persistent  agitation  in 
the  Press  and  on  the  platform,  which  led  to  the  appointment  in 
1894  by  Mr.  Asquith,  as  Home  Secretary,  of  a  Departmental  Com- 
mittee on  Prisons,  under  the  chairmanship  of  Mr.  Herbert  Gladstone 
(now  Lord  Gladstone).  The  recommendations  made  by  this  Com- 
mittee in  their  Report  of  1895,  whether  relating  to  the  treatment  of 
prisoners  or  to  the  machinery  of  administration,  were,  however, 
as  will  appear  in  the  sequel,  only  very  partially  adopted  as  the  result 
of  the  1898  Prison  Act.  This  Act,  with  the  rules  from  time  to  time 
made  under  it,  and  the  1877  Act  (the  greater  part  of  which  has  been 
left  unmodified)  still  govern  the  treatment  of  all  prisoners  and  pre- 
scribe the  duties  of  those  in  charge  of  them. 

The  Prison  Act  of  1898,  unlike  that  of  1877,  dealt  with  Convict 
establishments  as  well  as  with  Local  prisons.  The  first  Convict 
prisons  (at  Millbank  and  Pentonville)  had  been  under  special  unpaid 
Committees  responsible  to  Whitehall  only.       When  Portland  and 

'  "Are  our  Prisons  a  Failure?"  by  the  Rev.  W.  D.  Morriion  in  the  "Fortnightly  Review," 
1894,   Vol.   LV.,  p.  461. 

«  Report  of  1895  Committee,  v.  6,  sect.  23. 


THE   PHI  SOX   ACTS  57 

Dartmo'vr  were  in  process  of  construction  in  1850,  the  control  and 
administration  of  penal  servitude  prisoners  was  vested  in  a  Chairman 
and  Board  of  Directors  of  Convict  prisons.  In  1877,  though  there 
is  nothing  in  the  Act  to  indicate  it,  the  persons  who  held  the  ofiQce  of 
Directors  of  Convict  prisons  were  selected  to  be  Commissioners  of 
Local  prisons,  and  this  union  of  the  two  functions  in  the  same 
persons  remained  the  practice  until  1898,  when  the  new  Act  specific- 
ally provided  that  the  Prison  Commissioners  should  be  by  virtue  of 
their  ofiSce  Directors  of  Convict  prisons.  Since  1896  the  Annual 
Reports  on  the  two  classes  of  prisons  have  been  combined.  Down 
to  the  1898  Act  the  control  of  the  Central  Government  over  Convict 
prisons  had  been  complete  and  unquahfied.  But  in  this  Act  an 
attempt  was  made,  following  on  the  report^  of  the  Departmental 
Committee,  to  introduce  local  supervision  by  providing  for  the 
appointment,  by  the  Home  Secretary,  of  a  Board  of  Visitors  for  each 
Convict  prison.  Owing  to  their  restricted  powers  and  also  perhaps 
to  their  narrow  standpoint,  these  bodies  of  local  magistrates  have 
proved  even  less  effective  as  critics  and  initiators  of  reforms  than 
the  older  institution  of  the  visiting  justices  of  Local  prisons.' 

The  chief  importance  of  the  1898  Prison  Act  lay  in  the  incentive 
which  its  provisions  gave  to  the  framing  for  both  Local  and  Convict 
I  prisons  of  a  new  code  of  rules  embodying  some  at  any  rate  of  the 
I  reforms  advocated  by  the  Departmental  Committee  of  1895.  Under 
it  the  Home  Secretary  (acting  presumably  on  the  advice  of  the  Com- 
I  missioners)  may  make  rules  of  any  kind  for  the  administration  of 
!  prisons  and  the  treatment  of  prisoners,  subject  only  to  the  following 
i  restrictions :  — 

(1)  The  rules  must  have  "regard  to  the  sex,  age,  health,  industry, 
and  conduct  of  the  prisoners,"  and  must  provide  for  ameliorations 

1  for  the  benefit  of    less  criminal  classes  of    prisoners  to    be  styled 

1  "offenders  of  the  first"  and  "of  the  second  division"  respectively. 

I  The  rules  may  only  authorise  the  infliction  of  corporal  punishment 

in  certain  strictly  defined  cases ;  and  they  may  enable  a  prisoner  to 

earn  remission  of  a  portion  of  his  sentence  by  special  industry  and 

good  conduct. 

(2)  The  rules  must,  before  coming  into  force,  lie  before  each  House 
;  of  Parhament  for  thirty  days,    and  cannot  be   brought  into  force, 

without  a  new  draft,  should  either  House  present  an  address  against 
them. 

In  accordance  with  these  provisions,  complete  new  codes  of  rules 
were  drawn  up  and  brought  into  force  in  April,  1899.  These  codes, 
as  interpreted  and  expanded  by  the  unpublished  standing  orders, 
have  been  but  slightly  amended  and,  allowing  for  the  establishment 
of  the  Borstal  and  Preventive  Detention  systems,  remain  the  basis 

-ee   pp    402-7. 


58  THE    MACHINERY    OF    THE    PRISON    SYSTEM 

of  prison  treatment  to-day."  It  does  not  appear  that  either  House 
of  Parhament  has  ever  taken  the  trouble  to  debate,  far  less  to  present 
an  address  against,  any  of  the  rules  made  under  the  1898  Act  either 
in  1899  or  more  recently. 

In  addition  to  Local  and  Convict  prisons,  other  kinds  of  penal 
institutions  have  been  established  under  various  statutes.  These 
comprise  the  State  Criminal  Lunatic  Asylum,  the  State  Inebriate 
Reformatories  created  under  the  Inebriate  Act  of  1898,  and  the  Pre- 
ventive Det-ention  Prison  and  Borstal  Institutions  established  under 
the  Prevention  of  Crime  Act,  of  1908.  With  the  exception  of  the 
Criminal  Lunatic  Asylum  (now  under  the  Board  of  Control),'  all 
these  institutions  are  under  the  direct  administration  of  the  Prison 
Commissioners,  subject  only  to  the  authority  of  the  Home  Secretary 
and  to  the  co-operation  of  certain  committees  to  whom  is  delegated 
work  connected  with  the  supervision,  discharge,  or  after-care  of  the 
inmates. 

The  Prison  Commission  and  the  Home  Office. 

We  can  now  survey  the  centralised  machinery  of  government  of 
English  prisons.  The  Secretary  of  State  for  Home  Affairs  is  the 
responsible  head  of  the  Prison  system.  The  Prison  Acts,  in  fact, 
provide  that  many  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Commissioners  shall 
have  the  express  sanction  of  the  Home  Secretary;  for  instance,  in 
the  making  of  rules  for  prisons  and  prisoners,  it  is  the  Home  Secre- 
tary who  is  personally  responsible.  But  in  practice  most  of  the 
day  to  day  administration  is  done  by  the  Prison  Commissioners, 
either  under  that  title  or  in  their  capacity  of  Directors  of  Convict 
prisons.  The  Home  Secretary  is  not  only  one  of  the  principal 
members  of  the  Cabinet,  but  he  is  as  heavily  weighted  with  diverse 
functions  as  any  Minister  of  the  Crown.  Unless,  therefore,  hefi 
take  some  special  interest  in  prisons  and  their  reform  (as  was  the 
case  with  Mr.  Winston  Churchill  during  his  brief  Secretaryship  'ml 
1910  and  1911),  he  is  unlikely  to  interfere  with  the  proposals  orf 
policy  of  the  Commissioners — an  apathy  on  his  part  which  isi 
encouraged  by  the  still  greater  apathy  of  the  public  at  large.  ■.■. 

It  is  true  that  Parliament  has  an  opportunity  of  discussing  prison'i 
administration  every  year  on  the  estimates.     But  this  opportunity  \a\ 
seldom  taken,  and  the  debates  when  they  have  taken  place  have  been 
of  a  perfunctory  character.     Almost  the  only  occasions  on  which  the 


•  The  only  important  alterations  in  the  published  Rules  have  been  lor  Local  prisons:— 
(1)  the  introduction  ol  new  dietaries  in  1901,  (2)  the  extension  ol  remission  of  sentences 
to  all  prisoners  with  more  than  a  month's  sentence  in  1907,  (3)  the  special  treatment 
introduced  lor  juvenile  adults  in  1909,  and  (4)  the  "Churchill"  Rule  for  non-crimina 
prisoners  in  1910;  and  as  regards  the  dietaries,  classification,  separate  confinement,  anc 
long-sentence  privileges   for   Convicts    (in   1901,    1905,   191J.,  and   1915). 

It  is  significant  that  all  the  (uncancelled)  published  rules  made  under  the  1898  Ar 
since  April,  1899,  up  to  January,  1921,  are  contained  in  a  small  eight-page  leaile 
("Rules  for  the  Government  of  Local  and  Convict  Prisons,"  printed  in  January,  1921) 
There  have  been  a   multitude   of  new    (unpublished)   Standing  Orders.     (See  p.   64.) 

'  The  Board  of  Control  has  been  the  central  authority  for  Lunacy  and  Mental  Deflcienc 
eince   3  914. 


THE  PRISON  COMMISSION  AND  THE  HOME  OFFICE        59 

House  of  Commons  has  seriously  considered  the  subject  of  imprison- 
ment during  the  last  twenty-five  years  have  been  in  connection  with 
the  1908  Prevention  of  Crime  Act,  the  1914  Criminal  Justice 
Administration  Act,  and  in  special  regard  to  the  treatment  of  women 
suffragists,  conscientious  objectors,  and  other  political  prisoners.  As 
already  mentioned,  there  have  been  no  debates  in  regard  to  the  new 
prison  rules  that  have  been  laid  before  the  House  from  time  to  time. 
And  since  the  Prison  Act  of  1898  there  has  been  no  Eoyal  Com- 
mission or  Departmental  Committee  appointed  by  any  Government 
to  enquire  into  the  condition  of  English  prisons,  with  the  sole  excep- 
tion of  quite  a  minor  Enquiry  which  was  held  in  1910-11  on  the 
supply  of  books  to  prisoners.  This  neglect  of  the  subject  appears 
to  be  a  measure  of  the  amount  of  interest  taken  by  the  public  in 
criminal  prisoners,  more  than  of  any  defects  in  the  forms  of  parlia- 
mentary procedure. 

Apart  from  the  personal  control  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  there 
remains  the  question  as  to  how  far  the  permanent  heads  of  the  Home 
Office  have  a  say  in  prison  administration ;  for  in  practice,  of  course, 
the  approval  of  the  Home  Secretary  implies  at  any  rate  a  formal 
ratification  by  someone  in  the  department  who  acts  as  his  adviser. 
On  this  matter  no  authoritative  information  is  available,  but  it 
appears  to  be  the  case  that  the  approval  of  the  Home  Office  staff  is 
given,  in  the  vast  majority  of  instances,  as  a  matter  of  course,  not 
only  to  any  published  regulations,  but  even  to  minor  alterations  pro- 
posed by  the  Commissioners  in  the  unpublished  Standing  Orders. 

The  Prison  Commissioners  are  a  body  corporate,  having  a  common 
seal,  and  a  power  to  hold  land,  the  legal  estate  of  the  prisons  being 
vested  in  them.  They  appoint  the  "subordinate  officers"  in  every 
prison.  This  term  '*  includes  all  prison  officers  with  the  exception 
of  the  governor  (including  deputy  governor),  chaplain,  visiting 
minister,  medical  officer,  and  matron,  who  are  appointed,  as  are  also 
the  inspectors  of  prisons,  by  the  Home  Secretary.  It  may,  however, 
be  assumed  that  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases,  it  is  the  Commissioners 
who  nominate  the  higher  prison  staff  and  recommend  their  promotion 
and  dismissal. 

In  respect  of  Convict  prisons  the  Commissioners  have  large  and 
direct  powers  of  punishing  prisoners,  subject  only  to  the  approval 
of  the  Home  Secretary  as  regards  sentences  of  flogging,  and  subject 
to  their  option  to  delegate  the  exercise  of  these  powers  in  any  par- 
ticular case  to  the  Board  of  Visitors.  They  may  take  evidence  on 
oath  and  act  as  if  they  were  the  Justices  of  the  Peace  for  the  county 
in  which  the  Convict  prison  is  situated.  In  Local  prisons  the 
general  award  of  punishments,  together  with  a  few  other  executive 
functions  of  a  minor  character  (apart,  of  course,  from  those  within 
the  Governor's  discretion),  has  been  delegated  under  the  1899  Rules 
to  the  Visiting  Committees  of  Magistrates.     These  Committees  have 

"  See  Prison  Act.  1898,  Sect.  14. 


60  THE    MACHINERY    OF    THE    PRISON    SYSTEM 

also,  in  theory,  under  the  Prison  Eules,  the  opportunity  of  acting 
as  a  check  upon  the  administration  of  the  Commissioners  as  bodies 
of  independent  critics  who  are  empowered  to  report  direct  to  the 
Home  Secretary,  as  well  as  to  the  Commissioners.  In  point  of  fact, 
as  is  more  fully  set  out  in  a  later  chapter,"  they  have  not  exercised 
«!uch  a  function  to  any  appreciable  extent. 

One  remarkable  circumstance  must  here  be  mentioned,  which  has 
possibly  done  almost  as  much  as  the  character  of  the  law  itself  to 
secure  for  the  Prison  Commissioners  a  commanding  and  unbroken 
supremacy  over  the  administration  of  the  service.  Although  the 
Commission  has  now  been  in  the  place  of  authority  for  about  forty- 
three  years,  there  have  been  during  the  whole  of  this  period  only 
two  chairmen  to  guide  its  policy  and  to  preside  over  its  executive 
acts.  Not  only  so,  but  both  of  these  chairmen  have  apparently 
been  dominating  personalities,  and  circumstances  have  contributed 
to  make  their  rule  even  more  absolute  than  might  otherwise  have  been 
the  case.  In  the  first  place,  they  have  not  been  elected  by  their 
colleagues  on  the  Commission,  but,  as  the  law  provides,  by  the  Home 
Secretary;  and  the  body  over  which  the  chairman  presides  is  one 
of  only  three  or  at  most  four  members,  besides  himself,  and  of 
members  whose  tenure  of  office  has  been  short  compared  to  his  own. 

Further,  we  understand,  it  has  been  the  practice  for  only  the 
chairman,  and  not  the  whole  Commission,  to  have  the  ear  of  the 
Home  Secretary.  The  first  chairman.  Sir  Edmund  Du  Cane,  had 
already  had  long  experience  as  the  leading  Director  of  Convict 
prisons  and  as  Inspector  General  of  Military  prisons  when  he  took 
up  office  in  1878.  From  that  date  up  to  his  retirement  in  1895  he 
held  a  commanding,  indeed,  probably  an  autocratic  position.  Before 
1895  effective  meetings  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners,  who  were 
supposed  to  act  with  the  chairman,  appear  rarely  to  have  been 
held  except  for  the  consideration  of  prison  appointments."  Sir 
Edmund  Du  Cane  was  on  his  retirement  in  1895  succeeded  as  chair- 
man by  Mr.  (now  Sir)  Evelyn  Euggles-Brise,  who  had  been  on  tha 
Commission  since  1891,  and  remained  its  chairman  until  the  close  of 
1921,  a  period  of  26  years.  During  that  period  the  three  (or  at  times 
four)  other  places  on  the  Commission  have  been  filled  by 
twelve  different  gentlemen."  These  Commissioners  have,  witla 
scarcely  any  exception,  been  selected  from  three  quarters  only — 
the  higher  administrative  staff  of  the  Home  Office,  the  prison 
governors,  and  the  prison  medical  officers."       The  chairman's  in- 

"  Cp.  pp.  389-90   and  599-402. 

"  Dep.  Committee  Report,  p.  42,  Sect.  119,  and  Sir  E.  R.  Brise's  Evidence  thereto.  Cp. 
Dn  Cane,   "Punishment  of  Crime,"  p.   186. 

J»  In  reply  to  the  suggestion,  in  the  House  of  Commons  on  June  22nd.  1921,  that  a 
woman  should  be  appointed  as  Prison  Commissioner,  the  representative  ol  the  Home  Office 
urged  that  "the  work  ol  the  Prison  Commissioners  is  too  heavy  to  make  it  possible  t^ 
replace  any  ot  them  by  a  vfoman  without  administrative  experience  of  prison*." 

'<  The    suggestion  that  one  Commissioner    should   always  be  a   medical   man  was  madp 
the  1895  Committee  but   was  not   acted  upon  until  1898,  as  the   Commissioners   previously 
objected   to   it.     (See    their   Observations,   Cmd.    7995,    3  896,   p.    17). 


THE   INSPECTION   OF    PRISONS  61 

fluence  and  policy  appear  to  have  dominated  the  management  and 
development  of  the  system." 

The  Inspection  of  Prisons. 

The  Commissioners  are  assisted  by  a  secretary  and  three  inspec- 
tors, as  well  as  by  a  medical  inspector,  a  chaplain  inspector,  and  a 
woman  inspector.'"  These  inspectors,  though  appointed  by  the  Home 
Secretary,  are  under  the  control  of  the  Commissioners.  They  spend 
part  of  each  month  at  headquarters,  and  the  remainder  in  inspections ; 
it  has  been  the  rule  that  each  prison  should  be  visited  by  an  inspector 
every  other  month.  Their  annual  reports  (usually  quite  brief  docu- 
ments, except  in  the  case  of  the  medical  inspector)  are  made  not  to 
the  Home  Secretary  but  to  the  Commissioners,  and  are  subject  to 
their  censorship  before  publication.  This  fact  is  all  the  more 
surprising  seeing  that  the  1895  Departmental  Committee  expressed 
the  view  that  the  intention  of  the  Act  of  1877  was  that  the  Prison 
Inspectors  "should  be  independent  altogether  of  the  Commissioners, 
and  act  directly  on  behalf  of  the  Secretary  of  State."  They  com- 
mented on  the  actual  position  of  the  inspectors,  and  suggested  that 
the  inspectors  might  report  direct  to  the  Home  Secretary,  and  that 
independent  annual  reports  from  them  should  be  laid  before 
Parliament." 

The  Commissioners  were,  however,  able  to  make  out  a  case  that 
the  only  independent  authority  contemplated  by  the  1877  Act  was 
the  Visiting  Committees  of  Magistrates,  and  that  the  Act  "made  the 
,  inspectors  part  of  the  administrative  machinery,  to  be  in  fact  the 
eyes  and  ears  of  the  Commissioners."  As  to  the  suggestion  that  the 
inspectors  should  report  direct  to  the  Home  Secretary,  they 
solemnly  asserted  that  "to  appoint  an  intermediate  authority  between 
the  Secretary  of  State  and  the  Commissioners  who  aid  him  under  the 
,Act,  would  be  the  introduction  of  a  starthng  and  novel  principle, 
iwould  degrade  the  Commissioners,  and  seriously  impair  their  dignity 
'and  prestige,  and  weaken  their  administration.""  Since  this  protest 
:no  attempt  appears  to  have  been  made  to  secure  a  more  free  and 
independent  inspection  of  the  prisons. 

In  1895  the  Departmental  Committee  reported  that  "while  the 
inspection  (of  the  prisons)  has  been  carried  out  with  a  zeal  and 
success  testified  to  by  many  witnesses,  it  has  necessarily  assumed 
a  somewhat  formal  and  routine  character."     If  one  may  judge  from 

I  "  Cp-  r-  "74  and  the  extracts  from  the  writing?  of  Sir  E.  Ruggles-Bri»e  given  in  Chapter 
{4.  Sir  E.  Rnggles-Brise  has  written  an  apologia  of  his  administration  under  the  title  "The 
lEnglish  Prison  System."    See  pp.    84  and  554-59. 

j   »•  The  chairman's  salary  is  £1,800  a  year,  and  that  of  the  other  Commissioners    £1,000 

>  year.    The   secretary    is   paid   £740    a    year:    the    inspectors,    from    £600    to   £800;    the 

Bedical   inspector,    £740;   and  the   woman  inspector,  £400.    The   appointment   of  a  woman 

"ctor    was     recommended    by    the    1895    Departmental    Committee.    The    Commissioner* 

"ted   to    it,   and   the   appointment   was    only    actually   made   in    1907-8.   possibly   as    an 

eet    fruit   of    the   Suffrage    agitation.     (See   the   Statement    of    the   Commissioners,   Cmd. 

O,   1898,  p.  19). 

>ee  1895  Dep.   Committee  Report,   p.  41,  Sect.  115   and  116. 

Obseryations  ol  Commissioners    (Cmd.  7995),   1896,   fp.  51-2. 


62  THE    MACHINERY    OF    THE    PRISON    SYSTEM 

evidence  that  we  have  taken  and  from  the  uninteresting  nature  of 
their  reports,  "formal  and  routine"  is  still  the  dominant  characteristic 
of  the  duties  performed  by  the  three  inspectors."  It  is  true  that 
prisoners  are  invited  to  make  complaints  to  the  inspectors,  their  cell 
door  being  thrown  open  for  a  moment  while  this  official  passes  by. 
But  in  many  cases  the  visit  is  so  rapid  and  unexpected  that  the 
opportunity  is  lost  from  want  of  presence  of  mind.  On  the  other 
hand,  some  ex-prisoners  have  told  us  that  they  got  redress  from  the 
inspectors  more  readily  than  from  the  Visiting  Magistrates,  although 
the  latter  should  be  the  more  independent  authority." 

The  evidence  suggests  that  a  well-equipped  and  independent 
inspectorate  reporting  directly  to  the  Home  Secretary — the  reports  i 
being  automatically  presented  to  Parliament  without  alteration — ! 
might  produce  a  body  of  valuable  conclusions  about  the  effect  of  the  I 
prescribed  forms  of  discipline  and  treatment,  thus  laying  the  founda- ; 
tion  for  a  progressive  series  of  improvement  in  the  regime. 

The  inspectors,  in  their  annual  reports,  frequently  state  that  they; 
have  "separately  and  conjointly"  held  enquiries  at  different  prisons 
into  questions  referred  to  them  by  the  Commissioners,  to  whom  theyi 
have  afterwards  submitted  special  reports.     These  enquiries  are  ini 
no  way  public;  and  the  department's  policy  of  secrecy  has  led  toi 
the  extraordinary  assumption  that  no  enquiry  or  investigation  intoi 
prison  administration  can  be  permitted  by  any  other  persons  th-^" 
those  forming  part  of  the  administration  itself.     The  result  is  tl 
when  grave  allegations  have  been  made  that  the  Prison  Comnii-- 
sioners'  own  regulations  have  not  been  observed,   and  that  cruelty 
and  oppression  have  taken  place,  or  when  particular  penal  metb 
have  been  seriously  impugned,  no  other  steps  have  been  taken 
successive  Home  Secretaries  (except  on  a  few  rare  occasions,  e.g.,j 
when  exceptional  political  prisoners  were  involved)  than  to  obtair; 
the  judgment,   after  an  entirely   official  investigation  conducted  irj 
secret,  of  officers  belonging  to  the  very  administration  concerned  : 
and  on  these  judgments,  the  Prison  Commissioners  and  the  Homfj 
Secretary  have   arrived  at  conclusions,  of    which    only  a  discree'i 
abstract  is  communicated  to  the  House  of  Commons  or  the  public 

The  Annual  Eepoets. 
Every  summer  the  Commissioners  draw  up  a  report  addressed  ' 
the  Home  Secretary  in  respect  of  the  year  ended  on  the  previous  3  i 

>»  The  reports  of  the  woman  inspector  and  the  medical   inspector  are   much  more  oriiji-  ; 
and  suggestire. 

2"  Thus  one  man  with  experience  of  six  different  prisons    (during  1916  to  1919)   writ 
"Inspectors  seem  to  hare  rery  little  power  of   initiatire,   or  eTen  of  interpretation,  gene: 
advising  one  to  appeal  to  the  Commissioners,  but   they  act  as  a  Rood  deterrent  to  GoTer; 
of  a  too  encroaching  tendency,  who  could  otherwise  flout  both  Whitehall  and  their  prigoi. 
I    had   always    full   opportunity   of   speaking   to  Inspectors." 

Another    ex-prisoner,    who    had    been   in    fire   prisons    during    the   same   period,   makes    ' 
following    statement: — "It    is    only    by    dogged     determination    that      prisoners      benefit 
complaints.    The  only   punishment  meted   out  to  me,  if  I   may  call  it  by  such  a  name, 
the   deduction   of    two    remission    marks    for    non-fulfilment    of   my    task,    this    being    due 
illness.    After    placing    the    matter    before    the    task-master,    chief     (warder),     gorernor, 
doctors,  and  risiting  magistrates,  I  finally  interriewed  the  inspector  of  prisons  and  got  ll 
restored." 


THE  ANNUAL  REPORTS  63 

of  March.     During  the  years  preceding  1915  this  consisted  of  the 
f oUovsring  parts  :  — 

(1)  A  general  report  upon  the  condition  of  the  Local  and  Convict 
prisons  and  of  the  other  institutions  under  the  Commissioners'  control. 

(2)  Reports  by  the  various  Inspectors,  the  Surveyor  of  Works,  and 
the  Comptroller  of  Accounts. 

(3)  A  number  of  Appendices  containing  statistical  Tables  and  other 
information  in  regard  to  prisons,  prisoners,  finance,  prisoners'  aid 
societies,  etc. 

(4)  "Extracts"  from  the  reports  by  the  governor,  chaplain,  and  medical 
officer  of  each  prison  and  other  institution. 

During  the  war  the  pubhcation  of  most  of  the  Tables,  and  of  the 
reports  of  the  inspectors  and  superior  prison  oflScers  was  discontinued 
on  grounds  of  economy.     But  this  pubhcation  has  not  since  been 
resumed,  and  the  annual  report  for  1920-21,   which  was  issued  in 
November  last,  is  a  thin  volume  of  46  pages,  containing  only  the 
general  report   of  the  Commissioners,   some  particulars  relating  to 
the  prison  staff,  and  half-a-dozen  statistical  Tables  required  by  the 
provisions  of  the  Prison  Acts. 
j      It  is,  however,   doubtful  how  far  the  pre-war    reports    of    the 
i  governors,    chaplains,    and    medical    ofificers,    as    well    as    of    the 
j  inspectors,  had  much  value  as  independent  evidence  of  the  results 
i  of  contemporary  prison   administration.       They  are,   as  passed   for 
i  publication,  for  the  most  part  formal  and  uninteresting;  it  is  only 
j  very  rarely  indeed  that  any  criticism  of  the  official  regime  appears 
j  in  them.     One  of  our  witnesses,  who  had  been  between  1908  and 
1918  a  chaplain  in  both  Local  and  Convict     prisons,     states    that 
1  governors'  and  chaplains'  reports  are  carefully  censored  by  the  Com- 
missioners and  not  usually  pubhshed  in  full.     His  own  experience, 
•  he  says,   indicated  that  the  Commissioners  would  not  publish  any 
i  portions  of  the  report  from  a  governor  or  chaplain  with  which  they 
j  disagreed.     Another  chaplain  of  a  large  Local  prison  tells  us  that, 
I  when  he  first  entered  the  service  he  used  frequently  to  include  in 
i  his  reports  to  the  Commissioners  both  criticisms  and  recommenda- 
,  tions,  but  that  he  ceased  to  do  so  after  some  years,  seeing  that  they 
were  not  published,  and  that  no  attention  appeared  to  be  given  to 
■them. 

I  A  medical  officer  of  long  and  recent  experience  informs  us  that 
j  criticisms  and  suggestions  made  by  prison  doctors  are  seldom 
published,  the  result  being  that  most  medical  officers  content  them- 
! selves  with  making  a  very  dry  and  barren  report.  A  governor  states 
jthat  he  has  "lots  of  plans,"  which  he  inserts  in  his  annual  reports, 
|but  that  nothing  gets  done.*^  This  evidence  inevitably  raises  the 
'suspicion  that  a  similar  censorship  may  have  been  exercised  from 
time  to  time  over  the  reports  of  the  inspectors  of  prisons. 

■  *\^*  .'*  *  noticeable  fact  that  when  gorernorj,  or  other  superior  officers  are  rernrted  as 
'criticising  any  feature  ol  the  system,  the  particular  criticism  is  nearly  always  to  be  found 
lin  sBTeral  reports  from  different  oflScers.  The  Commissionerg  then  make  nse  of  these 
Icriticisms  to  push  a  particular  object,  which  commends  itself  to  them.  This  strongly 
liuggesls  that  in  such  cases  the  criticisms  hare  been  inrited  by  the  Commissioners  themseires. 


64  THE     MACHIXERY    OF    THE    PBISOX    SYSTEM 

Rules  and  Standing  Orders. 
The  procedure,  according  to  which  statutory  rules  affecting  the 
treatment  of  prisoners  have  to  be  pubUshed  and  laid  before  Parlia- 
ment for  thirty  days,  has  been  already  described.  But  the  general 
public  do  not  realise  that  the  published  rules  form  a  very  small  part 
of  the  huge  array  of  instructions  which  regulate,  down  to  the  smallest 
detail,  the  daily  routine  of  the  prisons,  a  routine  which  tends  to  be 
quite  uniform  throughout  the  Prison  System.  The  published  rules 
are  only  supplementary  to  these  Standing  Orders,  as  they  are  called ; 
in  the  case  of  Local  prisons  there  were  313  published  rules  i 
in  1911,  but  as  many  as  1,441  Standing  Orders,  some  of  them  i 
of  great  length.  The  Standing  Orders  prescribe,  for  instance, 
besides  the  precise  daily  and  weekly  time  table,  the  exact  objects  i 
(from  personal  clothing  to  books  and  cell  furniture)  allott-ed  to  each 
prisoner,  and  the  principles  to  be  followed  by  the  governor  in  censor- 
ing his  letters;  they  dictate  the  exact  procedure  according  to  which 
he  is  to  be  periodically  searched  for  the  discovery  of  unauthorised 
possessions,  and  the  extent  to  which  he  is  to  be  denuded  of  belong- 
ings when  punished  with  "close  confinement";  and  they  fix  the 
authorised  "means  of  restraint,"  the  treatment  of  mentally  defective 
and  suicidal  cases,  and  the  long  list  of  possible  breaches  of  discipline 
for  which  a  prison  warder  is  liable  to  punishment  by  fining  or 
degradation. 

The  Secrecy  of  the  System. 
It  is  obvious  that  such  Standing  Orders  affect  the  life  and  welfare 
of  the  prisoner  and  the  prison  officer  as  vitally  as  do  the  published 
Statutory  Rules.     Yet  they  are  not  published,  and  their  communica- 1 
tion  to  anyone  outside  the  prison  service  is  most  jealously  and  in{ 
most    cases    effectively    guarded."       Further,    all    prison    officers, 
whether  warders  or  of  a  higher  category,  are  pledged,  as  a  condition 
of  retaining  their  posts  and  their  prospects  of  a  pension,  to  secrecy. 
The  following  Rule  applies  to  warders:  — 

(1)  An  officer  shall   not  make    any   unauthorised    communication  con- 
cerning the  prison  or  prisoners  to  any  person  whatever,    and  shall  not 
without  authority  communicate  to  the  public  Press  information  derive  • 
from  official  sources  or  connected  with  his  duties  or  the  prison,  and  a- 
such  communication  by  an  officer  without  authority  will  be  regarded 

a  breach  of  confidence  and  will  render  him  liable  to  dismissal. 

(2)  An  officer   shall   not  publish  a    book   on    matters   relating  to   t: 
prison  department  without  the  sanction  of  the  Secretary  of  State. 

As  regards  the  higher  officers,  a  circular  letter  was  sent  rou; 
during  1920  to  prison  governors,  alluding  especially  to  the  publica 

22  The  1895  Committee,  besides  suggesting  that  the  inspectors  of  prisons  should  report 
independently  to  the  Home  Secretary  and  to  Parliament,  also  recommended  that  the 
"standing  orders  issued  by  the  Prisons'  Board,  and  circular  letters  embodying  general: 
regulations,  should  be  printed  in  the  annual  report  of  the  Prisons'  Board  and  laid  beforf; 
Parliament"  (1895  Departmental  Committee  Report,  p.  43,  Sect.  121).  Except  for  the 
Tery  occasional  publication  of  one  or  two  selected  standing  orders  in  an  appendix  to  the 
Annuai   Report,   no  attention  has    been  paid   to  this    recommendation. 


THE    OBSTACLES    TO   REFORM  65 

lion  of  the  views,  on  the  internal  administration  of  prisons,  of  chap- 
lains and  medical  officers,  and  stating  that  "it  is  well  known  that 
Statutory  Rules  and  Standing  Orders  forbid  the  communication  with- 
out authority  of  matters  relating  to  the  department  for  the  purpose 
of  public  use."  " 

The  Obstacles  to  Reform. 

How  far,  we  may  ask,  has  this  all-embracing  secrecy  and 
suppression  of  possible  criticism  and  interference,  been  counter- 
balanced by  constructive  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  administrators 
themselves?  The  writer  of  a  small  volume,  published  in  1911, 
which  may  be  regarded  as  a  kind  of  semi-official  apologia  for  our 
prison  system,'*  therein  stated  that  the  Commissioners,  far  from 
being  hidebound  by  red-tape  and  tradition  are  "reformers  of  the 
keenest  and  most  intrepid  kind,"  and  proceeded  to  assert  fearlessly 
that  "all  that  has  been  done,  including  the  gi'eat  reforms  in  the 
treatment  of  the  juvenile  adult  prisoners  at  Borstal  and  elsewhere, 
;  has  been  directly  initiated  by  the  Commissioners  themselves,  and 
j  in  no  single  instance  forced  upon  them  by  opinion  and  pressure  from 
! without. "  This  statement  appears  to  us  to  be  somewhat  exaggerated 
and  unfair  to  the  1895  Departmental  Committee,  who  definitely 
.adumbrated  in  their  report  the  experiments  afterwards  made  in 
•connection  with  the  Borstal  system"  and  the  Preventive  Detention 
jof  habituals ;  while  the  only  other  notable  reforms  that  are  observable 
iin  the  last  twenty  years  seem  to  have  owed  their  initiation  to  the 
'active  mind  of  Mr.  Winston  Churchill,  whose  plea  for  justice  to 
the  criminal  at  the  end  of  his  speech  on  the  Prison  vote  in  July, 
1910,  stands  out  as  the  noblest  official  utterance  of  the  kind  in  our 
generation." 

But  a  tribute  must,  notwithstanding,  be  paid  to  the  Commissioners 

^nd  their  chairman,  for  the  fact  that  they  have,  if  very  slowly  and 

icautiously,  persisted,  in  spite  of  the  apathy  of  Parliament  and  public 

"■  inion,  in  developing  the  reforms  that  had  been  suggested  to  them 

the  Departmental  Committee.       They  have  not  stereotyped  their 

pwn  rigid  methods,   as   could   fairly   be  said  of  their  predecessors 

oefore  1894.     To  them  is  due  a  considerable  share  of  the  credit  for 

!:he  improvements  (especially  as  regards  facilities  for  the  payment  of 

pnes)  effected  by  the  Criminal  Justice  Administration  Act  of  1914. 

and    we    cannot    overlook    the    assertions    of    the    writer    already 

;unted — assertions     corroborated     to    us     in    the    course    of    our 

|uiry  by  some  (though  denied  by  others)  of  our  witnesses  who 

e    had    personal    dealings    with    the    Commissioners — that    the 

This  circular  is  giren   in   the  Foreword  to  this  volume. 

Our  Prisons,"  by  Arthur  Paterson  (p.  8).  At  any  rate,  the  writer  received  moat 
Mional  privileges  lor  investigation,  and  his  articles  (first  published  in  "The  Times") 
-ed  the  blessing  of  the  Commissioners  in  their  Report  lor   1909-10   (pp.  24-5). 

>ir  E.  Da  Cane  thought  the  proposal  of  the  Committee  to  establish  a  penal  reformatory 
•x)d  idea."     (Dep.  Committee  B«port,  1895,  p.  30,  and  Evidence,  p.  370.) 
-    Parliamentary   Debates    (House   of  Commons),    July   20th,   1910. 


M  THE    MACHINERY    OF    THE    PRISON    SYSTEM 

Commissioners  are  "instinct  with  life  and  energy,"  that  they  "lode 
upon  their  progress  as  simply  a  foundation  on  which  to  build  more 
and   more,"  and  that   "no  reformers  outside  have  more  plans  in 

their  heads  for  improving  prison  administration than 

the  of&cials  within  the  department."'' 

And  here  we  touch  the  first  and  most  disastrous  defect  of  the 
present   administration.        The    Commissioners   have  been   far  too 
dependent  upon  their  own  ideas.     The  complete  centralisation  of  the 
administration  in  their  own  hands,   the  failure  to  appoint   prison 
governors  with  the  ability  and  the  freedom  to  experiment  in  new 
methods    of    management,     the  want  of  any  effective  independent 
inspection,  the  veil  of  secrecy  secured  by  the  denial  to  their  staff  of 
the  right  of  published  criticism,  by  the  restrictions  that  confine  the 
visitation  of  prisoners  to  a  few  individuals  selected  by  themselves, 
and  by  the  failure  to  publish  the  Standing  Orders,  these  things  have 
in    effect   deprived  the  Commissioners  of   the  two  most    effect" 
sources  of  inspiration  and  reform,  namely  an  inside  experience  ti 
has  enthusiasm  and  initiative,  and  an  outside  enthusiasm  that  is  ba. 
on  correct  knowledge. 

The  way  in  which  the  administrative  methods  of  the  Com- 
missioners have  prevented  the  growth  of  a  reforming  initiative' 
among  members  of  their  staff  is  illustrated  by  the  following  extract; 
from,  evidence  given  to  us  by  a  chaplain  of  nine  years'  standing:  — 

The  government  of  prisons  is  very  centralised,  and  control  is  practicallj- 
continuous  by  the  Commissioners.  Direct  instructions  are  constantly 
being  sent  to  prisons  by  memoranda,  telephone,  etc.,  and  governors  tendi 
to  rely  more  and  more  on  the  Prison  Commission  and  are  constantly 
referring  matters  there.  Direct  orders  are  sometimes  given  one  month 
and  reversed  shortly  afterwards.  The  Commissioners  govern  through, 
the  governor.  ■ 

And  matters  are  made  worse  by  the  apparent  inability  of  t 
Chairman  of  the  Commissioners,  in  whose  personal  control  tive 
government  of  the  system  resides,  to  pay  any  but  the  rarest  visits 
to  particular  prisons.  Apart  from  communications  sent  from  White- 
hall by  post  or  wire,  no  close  personal  touch  has  in  effect  beeOi 
maintained  between  the  Commissioners  and  the  realities  of  prisoni 
life;  but  no  autocratic  regime  can  expect  to  obtain  good  results, 
without  an  intimate  and  sympathetic  touch  with  the  objects  and 
instruments  of  its  administration. 

It  was  pointed  out  in  1895  by  the  Departmental  Committee! 
(quoting  the  words  of  an  Under-Secretary  of  State  for  the  Home 
Office)  that  the  Prison  Commissioners  had  none  of  the  advantageii 
possessed  by  the  officials  who  administer,  for  instance,  the  Mine? 
or  the  Factories  Acts,  where  all  classes  of  persons  interested  are  both! 

i 

2'  Paterson,  "Our  Prisons,"  p.  8. 


THE    OBSTACLES   TO   REFORM  87 

ready  and  able  to  direct  attention  to  defects  and  suggest  improve- 
ments. The  Commissioners  learnt  nothing  from  prisoners,  and 
little  more  from  warders;  and  the  superior  officers,  so  it  was 
contended,  are  deterred  by  the  autocratic  character  of  the  adminis- 
tration from  making  useful  recommendations.  For  this  reason,  and 
because,  as  the  committee  had  already  stated,  "experience  shows 
that  in  almost  every  society  or  organisation  the  most  effective 
changes  come  from  outside  influences,"  suggestions  for  reform 
"must  usually  come  from  philanthropists,  who  have  excellent 
motives,  but  no  knowledge  of  the  full  working  of  the  prison 
machinery  which  they  propose  to  amend."" 

Here  we  touch  the  other  great  drawback  of  the  Department's 
pohcy.  The  Commissioners  have  chosen  to  ignore  the  suggestions 
of  outside  reformers,  and  they  have  felt  justified  in  doing  so  because 
the  outside  enthusiasm  has  not  as  a  rule  beer  grounded  on  sufficient 
knowledge,  and  because  also,  again  owung  to  the  general  ignorance 
of  the  truth  in  regard  to  the  inside  of  prisons,  there  has  been  no 
ciently  widespread  enthusiasm  for  reform.  No  powerful 
itation  for  penal  or  for  any  other  reforms  can  be  aroused  without 
a  knowledge  of  the  existing  evils  and  defects. 

I'or  this  want  of  knowledge  the  public  themselves  are  in  the  first 
instance  to  blame.  Though  there  have  indeed  been  indications 
e.g.  in  the  way  "habituals"  return  again  and  again  to  prison)  that 
ething  was  wrong  with  the  system,  they  have  acquiesced  in  their 
orance  of  it  and  have  not  demanded  that  the  veil  of  secrecy  should 
torn  aside,  and  the  true  facts  b'^  investigated  by  competent 
rsons.  "Knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  to  you,"  is  a  maxim  that 
is  true  not  only  of  the  spiritual  life.  If  there  had  been  persistent 
knocking  at  the  prison  gates  both  in  and  outside  Parliament,  an 
sntrance  would  have  been  ere  now  effected  and  the  gloomy  secrets 
>f  the  prison  house  would  have  been  revealed. 

But  the  officials  at  Whitehall  must,   of  course,   share  with  the 
onblic  the  blame  for  the  absence  of  a  well  informed  enthusiasm  for 
:tter  penal  treatment,  inasmuch  as  it  has  been  their  policy,  as 
tiave  already    shown,    to  prevent  the  public  from  having  any 
r  iependent  knowledge  of  prison  matters  and  to  assume  a  constant 
-faction  with  the  methods  of  discipline  and  treatment  in  use  at 
given  time."    ^o  unfortunate  has  been  the  official  fear  of  inter- 
nee from  those  whom  they  have  recently  styled  the  "advocates 
o-called  prison  reform"!'" 

395  Departmental  Committee  Report:— Sect.    118,  p.  42,   and  Sect.   123,  p.    44;   also 
nee,  p.  395.    We  have  Tentured  to  bring  together  passages  from  two   different  sections 

,  f   the    Report,   as   their   juxtaposition    appears    to  elucidate   the   argument,    without   doing 

jiolence  to  the  meaning  of  the  Report. 

=  '  *ir   Godfrey   Lushington,    the    Under-Secretary    already    quoted,    told    the    Departmental 

ittee  that,    when   a  philanthropist   proposed   a  reform,  it  is  apt,  however  beneficial  it 

e.  to  be  rejected  by  the  Commissioners,  as  "unnecessary,  inconvenient,  extravagant,  or 

-..^:;ipatible  with  discipline."    Later  on,   when   "public  feeling  becomes   stronger  and  better 

.Qfurmed,"   the  Home   Secretary   or    some  Parliamentary  Committee  might    decide   that   th* 

'"'^?L  "^^^  notwithstanding  good   enough  to  be  adopted.    Dep.   Committee  Evidence,   1895, 

"  P.O.  Report,   1918-19,  p.  6. 


68  THE    MACHINERY    OF    THE    PRISON    SYSTEM 

The  Lack  op  Investigation  and  Experiment. 

Nor  can  it  be  shown  that,  within  the  administration  itself,  there 
has  been  adequate  provision  for  psychological  research.  One  of 
the  most  important  needs  of  our  time,  in  the  field  of  education,  and 
in  that  of  social  and  international  justice,  is  a  theory  of  punishment; 
which  will  fit  the  facts  of  human  psychology  and  ethics  and  preserve  | 
us  from  the  pitfalls  into  which  indignation  with  human  error  is  too' 
apt  to  lead  us.  For  the  construction  of  an  adequate  theory  of, 
punishment  we  need,  among  other  things,  a  gre'^t  body  of  careful, 
investigation  into  the  mental  and  moral  effects  of  penally  inflicted! 
suffering,  of  different  kinds  and  under  different  conditions.  The' 
difficulty  is  to  isolate  the  effects  of  such  penal  treatment  from  effects  i 
proceeding  from  other  circumstances  of  the  man's  environment,  i 
Such  isolation  can  be  far  more  effectively  secured  under  prison; 
conditions  than  almost  anywhere  else,  for  in  prison  the  penal  treat-  j , 
ment  has,  as  a  rule,  been  made  to  cover  a  very  great  part  of  thej 
prisoner's  whole  environment. 

A  central  authority,  which  has  been  applying  a  system  of  treat- 1 
ment,  penal,  deterrent,  and  reformative,  to  each  and  every  detail  ofi 
the  lives  of  prisoners  of  every  type,  has  had  an  unrivalled  opportunity! 
for  elucidating  the  mental  and  moral  reactions  of  human  nature  tojj 
punishment,   and   so  laying  the  foundations   for  a    true  theory  of! 
punishment.     This  the  English  Prison  Commission  has  neglected | 
to  do.     The  only  published  scientific  investigation  that  has  up  to  thei 
present  been  carried  out  under  its  auspices   has  been  that  of  Dr.;' 
Charles    Goring    upon    convicts     at    certain     prisons;     but    that; 
investigation,  valuable  as  its  results    are    as    regards    some    of    the 
general  characteristics  of  criminals,  dealt  scarcely  at   all  with  the 
effects  of  punishment  and  prison  treatment  upon  their  mental  and 
moral  life."     Faced  with  the  awkward  and  tennble  fact  of  recidivism,! 
i.e.,  the  great  tendency  among  convicted  prisoners  to  commit  offences 
which  bring  them  back    into    prison    again    and    again,    the    Com- 
missioners have  made  but  little  use  of  their  large  opportunities  for' 
discovering,  by  bold  experiment  and    sympathetic    study    of    their 
charges,  whether  different   systems  of  treatment  would  check  this 
tendency."     Their  cautious  experiments  at  the  Borstal  Institutions 
and  at  Camp  Hill — for  youthful  and  hardened  offenders  respectively} 
— are  only  at  last  beginning  to  throw  a  partial  light  on  this  question. 
An  investigation  of  the  causes  of   crime  and  of   the  response  ol 
abnormal  offenders   to  treatment  less   repressive   than  that  of  the; 
fixed  prison  routine  is  now  being  carried  on  with  praiseworthy  care-j 
fulness,  in  connection  with  Birmingham  prison;  but  it  was  the  Ion' 


»'  See  Note  11  on  p.  479.  No  true  psychological  investigation  of  English  prisoner 
has  yet  been  published;  though,  according  to  the  Commissioners'  Report  for  1919-20  (p.  22) 
one  is  now  being  carried  out  at  the  Borstal  Institutions.  As  to  previous  enquiries  into  thi| 
mentality  of  prisoners,  see  Note  12  on  p.   480. 

32  Even   their   Statistics  of   Recidivism    are  most  inadequate  as    a  means  of  measuring  it   i 
«ztent  and  nature.    See  pp.  19  and  528. 


THE    LACK    OF   INVESTIGATION    AND    EXPERIMENT       69 

magistrates  and  not  the  Prison   Commissioners  who  initiated  this 
experiment." 

And  if  the  Prison  Commission  have  done  little  to  encourage  the 
individual  investigator  to  give  sympathetic  study  to  the  prisoner  and 
his  response  to  the  prison  environment,  they  have  done  equally  little 
to  concentrate  and  increase  the  store  of  collective  wisdom  by  pro- 
moting the  organisation  of  frequent  conferences  among  their  own 
staff  and  other  persons  associated  with  prisoners.  Between  1877  and 
1885  there  were  annual  conferences  of  Visiting  Magistrates  from  thf 
different  Local  prisons; "  after  1885  these  gatherings  lapsed  and  have 
not  since  been  renewed.  Yet  the  1895  Departmental  Committee 
emphasised  very  forcibly  the  need  that  more  should  be  attempted  in 
this  direction.  In  their  Report  they  pointed  out  how  in  the 
administration  of  the  Mines  and  the  Factories  Acts  and  also  in  the 
Education  Department  the  ofi&cials  meet  annually,  to  the  great 
advantage  of  the  service,  for  the  discussion  of  important  questions. 
jThey  then  go  on  to  say :  — 

We  think  that  it  is  most  essential  that  similar  conferences  shonid  be 
held  in  London  on  matters  connected  with  prisons.  Prison  officials, 
managers  of  reformatories,  officers  of  prisoners'  aid  societies,  and 
representatives  of  visiting  committees  should  assemble  annually,  either 
collectively  or  in  such  sections  as  might  be  found  most  convenient,  in 
order  to  compare  experiences  and  to  discuss  the  working  of  methods  of 
treatment  which  to  some  extent  might  be  experimental.  In  this  way 
the  Commissioners  would  be  brought  into  beneficial  contact  with  all 
classes  of  officials  directly  concerned  in  prison  affairs ;  the  Secretary 
of  State  would  be  kept  informed  of  the  general  currents  of  thought  on 
prison  treatment  as  well  as  of  the  practical  working  of  the  prison 
administration  ;  and  thus  the  high  responsible  authorities  would  be  in 
a  far  better  position  than  at  present  to  arrive  at  decisions,  and  to  take 
any  action  which  they  might  think  desirable.'* 

In  spite  of  the  recommendation  of  the  Committee,  no  conferences 
»f  the  kind  have  been  held,  with  the  exception  of  one  or  two  confined 
jo  the  Association  of  Lady  Visitors  to  Prisons  and  of  the  conferences 
■{f  the  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid  Societies;"  but  these  last  named 
iodies  have  not  been  considered  as  having  anything  to  say  upon  the 
ireatment  given  within  prison  walls. 

i  In  other  countries  conferences  of  the  prison  staff  and  oflBcials  are 
jrequently  held ;  in  the  United  States,  in  particular,  by  this  method 
ind  by  the  wide  powers  of  experiment  and  investigation  vested  in 
he  staff,  a  flood  of  light  is  being  poured  upon  the  psychology  of 
jrisoners  and  the  possibility  of  rehabilitating  "incorrigibles."  It 
-  a  pity  that  England  should  lag  behind  owing  to  the  inertness  of 
ae  central  authority  or  to  its  jealousy  of  any  interference  with  its 

'"»  pp.  52  and  53. 

'bserrations  ol   CommiBsioners    (Cmd.    7995),   1896,  p.   17. 

■  395  Dep.  Committee  Report,  p.  44. 

The   Annual  Conference   of   these    Societies   is   nsnall;   attended    by   officials    from   some 
?  prisons,  at  their  own  expense. 


70  THE    MACHINERY    OF    THE    PRISON    SYSTEM 

own  ideas  of  administration.  There  is  reason,  however,  to  think 
that  the  Commissioners  may  now  be  ready  to  change  their  pohcy  in 
these  respects.  The  newly  formed  "Eepresentative  Board  for 
Superior  Officers"  of  prisons  may  prove  a  useful  instrument  of 
reform,  if  it  is  prepared  for  the  unprejudiced  discussion  of  methods  ; 
of  prison  treatment  and  does  not  merely  concern  itself  with  questions  { 
affecting  the  staff  alone." 

To   sum   up.       However  great   may  have  been  the   advantages  ' 
derived  from  the  substitution,  since  1878,  of  a  centralised  national 
administration  of  prisons  for  the  multiplicity  of  local  administrations 
which  existed  prior  to  that   date,    the  national  administration  has 
suffered,  and  is  still  suffering,  from  certain  grave  defects.       These 
defects  and  the  failure  to  discover  any  effective  remedy   for  them 
appear  to  be  largely  due  to  the  administrative  system  itself.     The ; 
usual,  and  to  some  extent  unavoidable  characteristics  of  administra-  i 
tion  by  a  hierarchical  bureaucracy  appear  to  have  been  intensified  by  i 
the  assumption,  which  has  marked  the  whole  history  of  the  Prison; 
Commission,  that  a  high  degree  of  national  uniformity  was  the  most  i 
essential  feature  of  their  system.     Now,  whatever  there  may  be  toj 
be  said  in  favour  of  uniformity,  it  has  the  drawback  of  excluding; 
experiment,  increasing  the  difficulty  of  innovation,  and  discouraging 
initiative  and  suggestion  among  the  staff.     In  view  of  the  extremely  \ ; 
provisional  character  of  all  our  knowledge   about    the    effects    ofj^ 
imprisonment,  and  the  very  tentative  nature  of  our  conclusions,  it 
would  be  hard  to  exaggerate  the  disadvantages  of  the  rigidity  which 
this  desire  for  uniformity  has  produced. 

The  thick  fog  of  official  secrecy  in  which  the  prison  administration 
has  been,  and  still  is,  enveloped,  is  open  to  very  serious  objection. 
Whether  this  policy  of  strenuously  enforced  secrecy  has  been  adopted 
as  a  means  of  maintaining  uniformity,  by  preventing  the  spread  of 
such  minor  deviations  as  cannot  fail  to  occur  in  particular  cases ;  or 
whether,  as  it  is  sometimes  alleged,  the  secrecy  is  supposed  to 
prevent  inconvenient  complaints  and  demands,  or  to  check  possible: 
developments  of  insubordination,  among  prisoners  or  staffs;  or^ 
whether,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  merely  a  matter  of  official  protection 
against  Press  or  Parliamentary  criticism,  the  ignorance  in  which  the 
public  is  kept  leads  to  grave  evils.  When  we  consider  the  various 
penal  experiments  made  in  other  countries  and  the  enormous 
advances  of  recent  psychology,  we  can  scarcely  doubt  that,  but  foii 
this  policy  of  secrecy,  combined  with  the  tradition  of  rigid 
uniformity  and  the  centralisation  of  the  administration,  there  would 
have  been  ere  now  a  complete  recasting  of  our  repressive  and  un- 
educational  system  of  prison  discipline,  or  at  any  rate  a  great 
modification  of  it  along  the  lines  of  the  significant  experiments  made 
by  the  Commissioners  themselves  at  the  Borstal  and  Preventive 
Detention  institutions. 

As  things  are,  our  prison  system  still  embodies  a  considerabl* 

»'  See    p.   385. 


THE   LACK    OP  INVESTIGATION    AND    EXPERIMENT       71 

number  of  the  defects,  which  were  attacked,  though  in  too  tentative 
and  cautious  a  manner,  by  the  Government  (Dommittee  of  twenty - 
five  years  ago,  to  which  we  have  so  often  referred.  The  Committee 
(if  wc  may  make  one  final  quotation  from  their  Eeport),  after  express- 
ing the  opinion  that  theoretically  the  arrangement  of  the  prisons 
administration  is  an  excellent  one,  being  "elaborately  designed  to 
ensure  the  proper  treatment  of  prisoners,  the  maintenance  of 
discipline,  the  order  and  cleanliness  of  all  prisons,"  go  on  to  state 
that  they  have  found,  however, 

that  in  practice  some  of  the  different  branches  of  the  organisation 
only  fulfil  their  duties  imperfectly.  The  Visiting  Committees  not 
unfrequently  do  little,  for  reasons  already  noticed.  The  prisoners'  aid 
societies  are  isolated  bodies,  some  excellent,  some  satisfactory,  some 
almost  useless,  some  practically  non-existent.^*  The  Secretary  of  State 
has  great  powers ;  but  it  is  obviously  impossible  for  him  to  follow  the 
details  of  prison  management  without  neglecting  other  duties  of  equal 
or  greater  responsibility.  Necessarily  he  can  only  deal  with  those 
matters  which  are  specially  referred  to  him  by  the  Commissioners  or 
which  are  brought  to  his  notice  in  some  other  way.  The  government  of 
prisons  has  therefore  been  practically  in  the  hands  of  the  Commissioners. 
It  has  been  frequently  said,  and  we  have  found  that  the  conduct  of 
prison  affairs  has  in  many  respects  been  too  unbending,  and  has  run 
in  grooves  too  narrow  for  the  application  of  higher  forms  of  discipline 
and  treatment  which  we  think  are  required.^' 

The  reader  must  be  left  to  judge  from  the  remainder  of  this  bo<^ 
to  what  degree  the  same  faults  of  a  "too  unbending  conduct  of 
prison  affairs,"  of  an  administration  "running  in  too  nairow 
grooves,"  and  of  a  failure  to  apply  "higher  forms  of  disciphne  and 
treatment"  are  present  in  English  prisons  of  to-day,  as  it  is  generally 
agreed,  even  by  the  present  Commissioners,"  that  such  defects  were 
present  in  those  of  the  last  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century. 


"This  description  of  the  Aid  Societies  is  not  now  correct;  but  the  Aid  Societies  hare  no 
iS»y   in  prison  management. 

"  1894-5   Departmental   Committee    Eeport,    p.   42. 

*'  PC.  Eeport,  1918-19,  p.  7,  quoted  on  p.  74. 


72  THE  MACHINERY  OF  THE  PRISON  SYSTEM 


SOME     OF     THE     PRINCIPAL     DEFECTS     INDICATED    IN     Tl, 
PRECEDING    CHAPTER. 


1. — The   Prison   Commission   is   both   autocratic   and    irresponsible.     It 
theoretically   under   the  control  of    the  Home   Secretary,  but  in  practice 
largely  independent  of  him.     Parliament  exerts  little  influence  upon  it,  aii 
there  is  an  almost  entire  absence  of   influence  from   the  local  areas,  whici. 
are  only  represented  by  committees  of  visiting  magistrates. 

2. — The  officials  of  the  Prison  Commission  hold  their  posts  for  long  perioii 
unchallenged.  The  Commissioners  are  selected  from  restricted  circles.  Thes 
lack  personal  touch  with  the  prisoners. 

3. — There  is  an  absence  of  any  independent  inspection  of  prisons  and  of 
independent  enquiries  into  special  complaints  and  occurrences.  Such  enquiries 
as  the  Commissioners  hold  are  secret. 

4.— The  general  policy  of  the  Prison  Commission  has  been  to  throw  a  veil 
of'  secrecy  over  the  prisons.  The  Standing  Orders  are  not  published.  Visits 
to  prisons  are  discouraged.  The  staff  are  forbidden  to  criticise  or  to  divulge 
the  details  of  the  prison  treatment. 

5. — The  annual  reports  of  the  governors,  chaplains,  and  medical  officers, 
when  published  at  all,  are  liable  to  censorship  by  the  Commissioners.  The 
inspectors'   reports  are  formal  and  restricted  in  scope. 

6. — There  are  no  conferences  of  prison  officials  and  experts  on  the  subject 
of  penal  methods  and  prison  treatment.  There  is  very  little  research  among 
prison  officials   into  the  problems  of  penology. 

7. — Owing  to  these  defects,  the  Commissioners  have  remained  too 
dependent  on  their  own  limited  and  uniform  conception  of  prison  discipline : 
they  have  been  deprived  of  the  practical  enthusiasm  of  an  experienced  staff 
enjoying  opportunities  of  initiative,  as  well  as  of  the  stimulus  exerted  by 
a  powerful  and  correctly  informed  reforming  movement  among  the  outside 
public. 


CHAPTER   IV 


THE    AIMS    OF   THE    SYSTEM 
The  Policy  of  the  Prison  Commission  up  to  1898 

Before  considering  the  principles  and  purposes  of  English  twentieth 
century  prison  administration,  it  is  desirable  to  cast  a  brief  glance 
'backward  over  the  earlier  policy  of  the  Prison  Commission.  For 
the  new  rules  introduced  under  the  1893  Prison  Act  did  not  constitute 
iinything  approaching  to  a  revolution  in  the  regime  (as  was  the  case, 
"or  instance,  with  the  Adult  Reformatory  System  in  America),  but 
A'ere  rather  a  development,  on  less  repressive  lines,  of  the  older 
,:4yst«m  of  discipline,  which  is  intimately  associated  with  the  name 
,)f  Sir  Edmund  Du  Cane,  chairman  of  the  Prison  Commissioners  -^  . 
Irom  their  creation  in  1877  until  1895.  l^f^^'^J^^ 

\  The  Prison  Acts  of  1865  and  1877,  and  the  code  of  rules  in  force  ^  /  %- 
|inder  them,  do  not  contain  any  direct  statement  of  penal  principles,  <-(fy  Jh^ 
jhcugh,  as  Dr.  R.  F.  Qi,^inton  writes,  "anyone  who  reads  the  Prison   '  dt— 

ivct  of  1865  will  see  that,  intKe  view  of  the  legislators  of  that  time,  ^^'SJI/a 
he  primary  and  essential  object  of  a  sentence  was- that.it.  should  be  '"'^-^C^ 
:enal  and  deterrent;  and  even  the  Prison  Act  of  1877  still  embodied 
lieTpenal  theory,  although  it  provided  for  more  reformatory  methods 
han  hitherto  had  been  in  practice.'"  But  the  two  Acts  themselves 
[id  not  specifically  acknowledge  the  reformative  principle,  as  does, 
br  instance,  the  Prevention  of  Crime  Act  of  1908.' 

Sir  Edmund  Du  Cane,  who  controlled  the  administration  of  the 
vo  Acts,  described  their  object  as  that  of  "promoting  uniformity, 
.:onomy,  and  improved  administration,"  and  "that  which  is  the 
lain  purpose  of  all,  the  repression  of  crime."  In  the  attainment 
'  this  object  he  claimed  (in  1885)  "complete  success."*  In  Du 
ane's  book,  from  which  this  quotation  is  drawn,  there  are  various 
jissages,  which  may  be  taken  as  authoritative  statements  of  the 
jinciples  on  which  his  administration  of  the  prisons  rested.  For 
jstance,  he  states  that  "the  employment  of  prisoners  may  be  made 

Knduce  to  any  or  all  of  three  objects — firstly,  to  create  a  deterrent 


'J".   Qainton,   "Crime    and    Criminals,"   p.    45. 


'^rt  I.  of  this  Act  is  described  as  dealing  with  the  rclorraation  of  vcung  offendera; 
«i  Section  13  of  Part  II.  speaks  of  "reformatire  influences"  for  habitual  criminals.  As  to 
'1   use  of   the   term   "reform,"  see  Note,  p.   484. 

J®'  ^Q^  Cane,  "The  Pnnishment   and  Prerention  of  Crime"   (1885),   p.   109,   Cp.  aUo 

D2 


74  THE  AIMS  OF  THE  SYSTEM 

effect  on  the  prisoner  himself  and  on  the  criminal  class;  secondly, 
to  produce  a  reformatory  effect  on  the  prisoner  himself ;  and  thirdly, 
to  recoup,  as  far  as  possible,  the  cost  of  maintaining  the  prison."* 
In  other  passages  the  object  of  economy  in  administration  is 
stressed  more  than  that  of  "reformation"  in  the  prisoner,  penal  deter- 
rence being  always  kept  in  the  first  place."  And  the  character  of  the 
reformation  contemplated  may  be  gauged  by  the  following  statement 
made  in  the  Commissioners'  1885  Eeport  in  reference  to  the  "pro- 
gressive stage  system"  of  privileges  and  rewards: — "The  moral 
education  effected  by  this  system  (which  is,  of  course,  far  more 
important  than  literary  education)  is  testified  by  the  most  remarkable ! 
diminution  in  the  necessity  for  the  application  of  the  usual  punish-: 
ments  for  prison  offences,"  *  i.e.,  reformation  meant  mainly  outwardi 
conformity  with  the  rigid  prison  rules.  I 

In  the  words  of  the  present  Commissioners,  as  given  in  the  1919' 
Report,  "when  uniformity  of  treatment  had  been  established  by; 
the  Prison  Act,  1877,  it  was  believed  that  a  system  of  strict  order 
and  discipline  would,  by  its  equal,  methodical,  and  well-organised; 
application  to  all,  gradually  crush  resistance  to  law  by  its  deterrent' 
effect."'  Sir  E.  Du  Cane,  to  whose  policy  this  quotation  clearly' 
refers,  retired  from  the  Board  of  Commissioners  in  1895,  and  '' 
Departmental  Committee  on  Prisons,  which  reported  in  the  sa; 
year,  led  up  to  the  changes  introduced  by  the  Prison  Act  of  1898. 

The  Present  Commissioners'  Theory. 

During  the  whole  period  which  was  opened  by  the  last  nameci 
Act,  the  government  of  English  prisons  has  again  been  under  tht 
direction  of  a  single  vigorous  mind.     This  circumstance  has  made  i' 
easy  to  discover,  up  to  a  certain  point,  the  character  of  the  purpose!: 
and  the  principles  which  have  guided  the  administration  of  the  Prison 
System  since  1898.'     Though  these  principles  are  not,  as  we  shal 
see,  clearly  worked  out  in  their  application  to  detail,   and  thoug! 
one  could  wish  for  a  greater  amount  of  definiteness  and  of  consistenc; 
in   their    expression,    yet    they    are    expressed,    with   considerabl 
emphasis  and  frequency,   in  the  Commissioners'  Annual  Eeports 
fi'om  1898  up  to,  at  any  rate,  1914.     It  is  interesting  to  find  certain 
leading  ideas  set  forth  in  the  papers  written  by  the  chairman  of  thj 
Commissioners  in  connection  with  the  International  Prison  Congres 

"  Op.   cit.,  p.    170.    Cp.   ibid.,  pp.    1-2,   6-7,  and   189-190. 

•  Compare,  for  instance,  the  great  emphasis  laid  upon  the  reduced  cost  of  prin 
administration  in  Op.  cit.  pp.  98-104,  and  in  the  Summary  contained  in  the  P.C.  Repoi' 
1893-94,  pp.  16-19.  The  principle  of  economy  in  administration,  especially  as  regar 
the  prison  staff,  is  hardly,  if  at  all,  dwelt  upon  in  the  Commissioners'  Reports  of  the  U 
twenty  years,  but  it  has  undoubtedly  affected  the  character  of  the  discipline,  to  t!  I 
prejudice  of  the  prisoner.  Sea  the  discussion  of  this  question  in  regard  to  the  pririlcc 
of  prisoners  on  pp.   106-7. 

•  P.C.    Report,   1885,  Sect.  49. 
'  P.C.    Report,   1918-19,   p.  7. 

•  The  Prison  Rules  published  in  April,  1899,  remain,  with  but  tew  changes,   the  basis 
prison  treatment  to-day.    See  Footnote  8,  p.  58. 


RETRIBTjTION,    deterrence  and  "REFORMATION        75 

of  1900  *  reappearing  from  time  to  time  in  aimost  the  same  words  in 
these  Annual  Reports. 

Eetribution,  Deterrence  and  "Reformation." 

"The  purpose  for  which  prisons  exist,"  the  Commissioners  have 
stated  more  than  once  in  recent  years,  ''is  the  due  punishment  p|-. 
fully  responsible  persons."'*     And,  as  will  Be  seen  by  later  q\iota- ■ 
"Hb'ns,   they  regard  punishment  (or  the  penal  system)  as  involving' 
three  factors — xetrituition^  4eterrence»  and  reformation.     By  retribu-; 
_tion  is  apparently  meant  "the  making  of  the  relationship  of  sin  ta 
suffering  as  real,  and  as  actual,  and  as  exact  as  it  is  possible  to  be 
made," — as  a  kind  of  moral  "compensation  for  injury  wrought 
The  second  factor-::::^£tgjrxfiiice — merges,  in  their  minds,  with  the  idea 
of  prevention,  or  isolation,  as  when,  for  instance,  commitment 
prison  is  mentioned  as  being  required  "either  as  an  expiation  of  thd^ 
offence,  or  for  the  due  protection  of  the  community  from  acts  of 
lawlessness.""     "Rpfopnatinn  is  defined  as  the  "effort  to  restore  ay 
man  to  society  as  a  better  and  wiser  man  and  a  good  citizen. "  "       / 

The  Commissioners  have  also  made  it  clear  that  their  continual 
endeavour  has  been  to  "preserve  the  balance  between  the  three 
factors  of  punishment.""  "Our  constant  effort,"  they  stated  in 
1912,  "is  to  hold  the  balance  between  what  is  necessary  as  punish- 
ment and  for  the  due  execution  of  the  sentence  from  a  penal  and 
deterrent  point  of  view,  and  what  can  be  conceded,  consistently  with 
this,  in  the  way  of  humanising  and  reforming  influences.""  And 
again,  as  recently  as  1919,  after  stating  (as  already  quoted)  that 
deterrence  was  the  chief  principle  of  the  central  administration  before 
1894,  they  went  on  to  say  that  "since  that  day  the  problem  haa 
been,  more  and  more,  how  to  reconcile  the  due  punishment  of  crime 
with  the  reformation  of  the  offender."  " 

The  clearest  exposition  of  their  principles  and,  in  particular,  of 
how  this  balance  is,  in  their  view,  to  be  preserved,  is  to  be  found  in 
the  Annual  Report  of  1913  Here,  aft.er  asserting  that  "the  purpose 
of  the  penal  system  cannot  be  better  defined  than  by  the  old-fashioned 
formula,  which  provides  that  it  shall  be  retributory,  deterrent,  and 
reformatory,"  they  proceed  to  state  that,  if  this  formula  be  correct, 
"the  important  thing  is — as  to  the  order  of  precedence  of  the  three 
attributes." 

»  Beport  on  the  Proceedings  of  the  Fifth  and  Sixth  Int«rn&tion&l  Penitentiary  Congreesea 
by  Sir  E.  Ruggles-Brise  (1901,  Cmd.  573). 

••P.O.  Report,    1912-1913.  p.  31,  Cp.    P.O.  Keport,  1908-9,    p.   26. 

•>  Report   on  the  Sixth  International  Congress,  pp.    Ill   and    116. 

'^P.C.  Report,  1912-13,  p.  11.  See  Note  on  p.  484  as  regards  the  use  of  the 
term  "reformation"  in  this  Tolnme. 

"  P.O.  Report,   1912-13.  p.  23. 

»*  Report  on  Proceedings  of  the  1910  (Waihington)  International  Penitentiary  Congrts* 
(1911,  Cmd.  5593).  p.  75. 

«»  P.O.  Report,  1911-12,  p.  27. 

"  P.C    Report,   1918-19,  p.    7. 


^  iufi 


76  THE  AIMS  OF  THE  SYSTEM 

If  by  "retributory"  is  meant  not  the  vulgar  and  exploded  instinct  of 
vengeance  or  personal  revenge,  but  the  determination  of  the  human 
consciousness  that  the  system  of  rights  shall  be  maintained,  and  Uiat 
he  who  offends  against  it  shall  be  punished,  and  that  the  punishment 
shall  be  of  such  a  nature  as  to  deter  him  and  others  from  anti-social  acts  : 
if  by  "reformatory"  is  meant  the  accepted  axiom  of  modern  penology 
that  a  prisoner  has  reversionary  rights  of  humanity,  and  that  these  must 
be  respected  consistently  with  the  due  execution  of  the  law,  and  that 
no  effort  must  be  spared  to  restore  that  man  to  society  as  a  better  and 
a  wiser  man  and  a  good  citizen — any  inversion  of  these  factors  of  punish- 
ment would  be  fatal ;  but  among  loose  thinkers  and  loose  writers  the 
impression  seems  to  be  gaining  ground  that  this  historic  order  of  the 
factors  of  punishment  should  be  inverted,  and  that  the  object  of  punish- 
ment shall  be  altogether  reformatory,  as  little  as  possible  deterrent,  and 
not  at  all  retributory." 

The  substance  of  the  above  passage,  with  its  insistence  tliat 
retributory  punishment  and  not  reformation  or  reinstatement  is  the 
primary  purpose  of  imprisonment,  is  also  to  be  found  in  the  speech 
made  by  the  chairman  of  the  Commissioners,  as  president-elect,  in 
1910,  to  the  International  Prison  Congress  at  Washington."  It  is 
in  antithesis  to  the  view  which  has  been  accepted  for  some  decades 
by  the  leading  American  prison  administrators — a  view  which 
apparently  dominated  the  first  International  Prison  Congress  of  1872. 
when  one  of  the  final  recommendations  of  the  Executive  Committee 
ran  as  follows  :  — 

Recognising,  as  the  fundamental   fact,   that  the  protection  of  society 

is  the  object  for  which  penal  codes  exist,  we  believe  that  this  protection 

is  not  only  consistent  with,  but  absolutely  demands   the  enunciation  of 

the  principle  that  the  moral  regeneration  of  the  prisoner  should  be   the 

primary  aim  of  prison  discipline.^* 

It  is  clear  then  that  this  view  was  not  the  official  English  view  in 

1913.       Since  that  date  the  Commissioners  have  made  no  definite 

pronouncement  on   this  all  important  subject."     But  we  find  the 

present  Home  Secretary  telling  a  deputation  that  saw  him  in  March, 

1918,  on  the  subject  of  prison  reform,  that  "the  basis  of  our  criminal 

procedure  is  not,  as  so  many  speakers  have  said,  to    improve    the 

prisoner;  the  very  root  basis  of  it  is  to  prevent  people  committing 

crime."  "     We  wonder  if  the  Home  Secretary  would  be  prepared  to 

subscribe  to  the  doctrine  of  the  learned  author  of  the  "History  of 

English  Criminal  Law,"  who  asserts  that  "the  criminal  law  proceeds 

upon  the  principle  that  it  is  morally  right  to  hate  criminals,  and  it 

confirms  and   justifies  that  sentiment  by  inflicting  upon   criminala 

punishments  which  express  it"?" 

It  is  not  easy  to  find  out  from  the  copious  reports  of  the  Prison 
Commissioners  exactly  how  they  have  applied  to  the  actual  condi- 

"P.C.  Report,   1912-13.   pp.   22-23. 
'»  Report   of  the   1910  Congress,    p.   72. 

"Quoted    on    p.    16    of    a    report    of   the   London    International    Prison   Congress    (18721. 
published  by  the  Howard   Association. 
20  But  see  the  Note  to  this   Chapter  on  "The  English  Prison   System,"  p.   84. 
>»  Penal  Reform  League  Record,   1919,    p.   50. 
22  Sir  J.  F.  Stephen,  "History   of  Criminal  Law  in  Enjland"   (1883),   Vol.  II.,  p.  81. 


/^w 


HETRIBUTIOX,    DETERRESCE  AND  "REFORMATIO^''        77  ^ 

tions  of  piison  treatment  their  principle  that  imprisonment  should 
combine  a  larger  portion  of  retributory  punishment  with  a  smaller^  ,  j^ 
portion  of  reformation  or  lehabilitation.  C',,JC^(/¥^ 

"The  principle  of  the  English  system,"  wrote  the  chairman  in\        \ 
1900,  "is  to  deter  by  an  exact,  though  not  a  severe,  discipline,  in-/       /y 
culcating  habits  of  obedience  and  order,  and  at  the  same  time  to^w   ^"^ 
sceiorm.  by   labour,   education    and  religious   ministration.""     This  \ 
statement  is  repeated  in  substance  in  several  of  the  Commissioners'  ^ 
Annual  Reports.     The  1898    Report  describes  the   system  as   one 
"which  properly   relies  on  a  quiet   and  unostentatious  method  of 
orderly  government,  i.e.,  on  discipline,     ....     which  simply 
insists  on  order  and  obedience  and  cleanliness   and  industry,  as  a 
primary   and  essential  condition   of  imprisonment.""       The  1912 
Report  speaks  of 

the  policy  of  the  department,  having  for  its  object,  con.sistently  with  an 
exact  and  orderly  control,  and  the  maintenance  of  a  high  standard  of 
discipline,  the  introduction  of  a  system  of  rational,  productive,  and  well- 
regulated  labour  ....  and  the  earnest  desire  that  every  man  and 
woman  shall  profit  while  in  custody,  rot  only  from  those  lessons  which 
can  be  learned  from  order  and  discipline,  and  the  habit  of  obedience 
and  industry,  but  from  the  moral  and  spiritual  influences,  which  can 
be  brought  to  bear  by  the  exhortations  of  ministers  of  religion     .     .     .'* 

A  little  later  on  in  the  same  Report  the  Commissioners  are  some- 
what more  specific  as  to  the  precise  features  of  the  regime  which 
they  regard  as  distinctively  punitive. 

The  penalty  of  crime  is  in  the  dishonouring  circumstances,  which  must 
accompany  loss  of  liberty ;  in  the  deprivation  of  what  liberty  permits  in 
the  way  of  indulgence  and  self-gratification  ;  in  compulsory  labour ;  in 
the  loss  of  self-respect.  Nothing  can  add  to  the  fietrissure  which  these 
things   involve.^' 

This  is  the  most  detailed  statement  that  has  been  vouchsafed  to 
us,  though  it  would  be  possible  to  quote  isolated  utterances  which 
indicate  that  the  "strict  separation"  and  "onerous  tasks"  of  the 
first  stage  of  "hard  labour"  and  "penal  servitude,"*^  the  enforced 
silence,''  the  restriction  of  visits,"  and  other  features,  are  all  re- 
garded as  })elonging  to  the  punitive  and  deterrent  rather  than  to  the 
reformative  factor. 

*'  Report   of  the  Proceedings   of    the   Brussels   Congress,    p.    135. 

»«P.C.  Report,  1897-8,   p.  7. 

»s  and  "  P.O.  Report,  1911-12,  p.  27. 

"  P.O.  Report,  1911-12.  pp.  11  and  55,  Cp.  also  Report  of  1894-5  Departmental 
Committee,  p.  20,  Sect.  52.  In  the  Commissioners'  Report  for  1909-10  (p.  15),  the. nine 
months'  period  of  separate  confinement  for  convicts  is  said  to  have  been  altered,  "having 
regard  to  its  penal  value  only,"  the  original  idea  as  to  its  reformatory  effects  having  been 
abandoned. 

Sir  E.  R.  Brise,  in  1900,  wrote  of  cellular  confinement  as  being  "valuable  as  a  deterrent 
in  the  early  stage  of  imprisonment,  but  the  unnatural  condition  ol  life  operates  against  its 
value  as  a  moralising  or  improving  system."  (Report  of  1900  International  Congress, 
p.  70;  and  compare  also  ibid,  p.  136.) 

*»  "In  the  interests  both  of  the  public  and  of  the  prisoner,  prison  should  not  be  a  place 
of  cheerful  conversation,  but  one  where  it  is  constantly  brought  home  to  the  offender  that 
the  way  ol  the  transgressor  is  hard."  Recommendation  of  Sir  A.  Cardew  and  Mr.  Mitchell- 
Innes,  Inspector  of  English  Prisons,  on  p.  Ill  of  Report  of  Indian  Jails  Committee,  1919-20. 

"Report   of  the  Brussels   International  Prison  Congress    (1900),  p.   128. 


78  THE  AIMS  OF  THE  SYSTEM 

It  should  be  observed  that  the  punitive  features  of  imprisonment 
serve,  in  general,  a  double  purpose.  They  visit  the  offender  with 
retribution ;  and  they  are  intended  to  deter,  as  far  as  possible,  both 
the  offender  himself  and  other  potential  offenders  from  violations  of 
the  law. 

The  Eefoemative  Factors  of  the  Regime. 

Although  one  might  well  wish  for  some  clearer  enunciation,  it  may 
at  any  rate  be  gathered  fiom  such  passages  as  we  have  quoted  that 
the  exact  discipline  of  prison,  with  its  different  characteristics,  of 
which  some  are  enumerated  in  the  last  paragraph,  is  chiefly  intended 
to  express  the  retributive  and  deterrent  factors  of  the  treatment.  It 
is  true  that  certain  of  these  component  parts  of  the  discipline  are 
regarded  as  having  in  them  something  also  of  the  "reformative" 
element.  This  is  the  case,  for  instance,  with  the  enforced  labour," 
and  the  habit  of  obedience."  The  initial  period  of  one  month's 
separate  confinement  in  the  cell  for  hard  labour  prisoners  is  also 
justified,  in  certain  cases,  as  being  beneficial,  as  a  kind  of  quarantine, 
to  quiet  a  man  down  and  to  ensure  his  personal  cleanliness,  before 
he  goes  to  work  in  association  with  others."  The  denial,  too,  to  all 
prisoners  of  the  right  of  open  communication  one  with  another  by 
word  or  hand  is  considered  as  being  not  only  punitive  but  reforma- 
tive in  a  negative  kind  of  way,  as  it  is  intended  (however  ineffectually) 
to  prevent  the  moral  contamination  of  the  less  corrupt  by  the  more 
corrupt,  as  well  as  to  safeguard  against  conspiracy  for  harmful  ends." 

And  as  regards  the  whole  regime  we  find  the  Commissioners  in 
their  Report  for  1913-14  quoting  with  approval  a  prison  chaplain 
who  emphasises  the  human,  educational,  and  hygienic  nature  of  the 
system,  as  he  regards  it,  and  writes  (m  words  which  we  fear  many 
prisoners  would  feel  to  be  a  bitter  travesty  of  the  actual  facts)  of  the 
"honest  attempt  (which)  is  being  made  to  carry  out  the  gospel  pre- 
cepts of  righteousness  and  humanity  in  the  prison  administration."" 
But  these  passages  scarcely  affect  the  general  rule  that  the  discipline 
is  primarily  considered  as  punitive,  and  only  reformative,  if  at  all, 
to  a  very  shght  extent. 

In  another  chapter  is  described  the  system  of  progressive  stages, 
.iccording  to  which  certain  "privileges'  (which  would  appear  to  most 
people  to  be  elementary  human  rights)  are  step  by  step  accorded  to 
prisoners,  provided  they  show  good  behaviour  and  industry,  i.e.,  are 
not  detected  in  any  breach  of  the  rules.  Similarly,  the  remission 
of  a   fraction  of  the  sentence  may  be  earned  by  good   behaviour. 

*•  Cp.  P.O.  Report,  1912-13,  p.  47;  where  the  Comptroller  of  Prison  Industries  writes  of 
its  being  the  first  aim  of  modern  treatment  "to  educate  and  train  inmates  in  habits  of 
industry  and  self-reliance." 

s>  P.O.   Report,  1911-12,  p.  27,  quoted  above. 

52  Cp.  Dr.  R.  F.  Quinton,  "Crime  and  Criminals"    (1910),  p.  236. 

"  "Memorandum  on  English  Prison  System,"  Sect.  20,  p.  527  of  Report  of  Indian  Jail» 
Committee,   1919-20. 

»■•  P.C.  Report,   1913-14,  p.   8. 


THE   REFORMATIVE    FACTORS    OF    THE   REGIME  79 

These  alleviations  have,  of  course,  as  the  Commissioners  inform 
us,  a  good  effect  upon  the  outward  conduct  of  the  prisoners.  Thus 
in  1903  they  emphasise  the  principle  that  "discipline  in  prison  is 
better  maintained  by  hope  than  by  fear,"  and  state  that  "the  greater 
privileges  accorded  to  prisoners  are  bearing  their  fruit  in  the  shape 
of  better  discipline,  greater  industry,  and  contentment.""  Similar 
effects  in  the  way  of  making  the  prisoners  less  discontented  are 
ascribed  to  the  privileges  introduced  in  1905  for  long-sentence  con- 
victs whose  outward  behaviour  is  good.'"  But  while  the  Commis- 
sioners have  refrained  from  contending  that  these  results  of  the 
"discipline"  betoken  anything  in  the  nature  of  moral  regeneration," 
they  have  not  in  their  reports  of  recent  years  admitted  (as  did  their 
predecessors  25  years  ago)  that  "the  worst  criminals  are  very 
often  the  best-conducted  prisoners,""  and  that  therefore  good  con- 
duct and  freedom  from  punishment  in  prison  bears  no  relation  to 
good  citizenship  outside — a  fact  of  very  general  observation  which 
many  prison  administrators  find  it  convenient  to  forget. 

It  is  doubtless  owing  to  a  tacit  recognition  of  the  negative  effects 
upon  the  prisoner  of  the  chief  features  of  the  "discipline"  that  the 
Commissioners,  in  their  reports  of  recent  years,  usually  indicate  the 
reformative  element  of  imprisonment  as  residing,  not  in  the  discipline 
at  all,  but  rather  in  "all  those  reclaiming  influences,  which  form 
the  burden  of  a  chaplain's  work."*' 

The  chaplain  is  almost  the  only  official  who  has  no  disoipUnary 
duties,  and  it  is  his  business  to  "use  his  best  endeavours  to  promote 
the  reformation  of  the  prisoners  under  his  spiritual  charge."*"  His 
visits  and  exhortations,  in  conjunction  wth  the  chapel  services,  the 
library,  the  lectures  and  addresses,  and  the  co-operation  of  other 
visitors  (rare  as  both  lectures  and  visits  have  usually  been  in  the 
past),  are  said  to  "form  a  great  moral  force  which  is  operating  in  our 
prisons,  with  the  single-minded  view  and  ambition  of  uplifting  those 
who  have  fallen  from  the  ranks  of  honest  life  and  industry. "  *'  Some 
of  the  chaplains  themselves  in  their  reports  ascribe  the  moral  re- 
generation of  their  charges  to  the  influences  that  they  have  been  able, 
by  these  methods,  to  exert  upon  them  whilst  in  prison." 

»5  P.O.  Report,  1902-3,  p.  27.  Cp.  Sir  E.  R.  Brise's  Report  of  1900  Congress,  p.  155; 
snd  A.  Paterson,  "Our  Prisons"  (1911) :  "Incitement  to  well-doing,  rather  than  pnnishnent 
lor  ill-doing,  has  become  the  dominant  note  in  prison  management"   (p.  11). 

s«P.C.  Report,   1905-6,  pp.  24-5. 

*'  Contrast  the  Summary  of  the  Pre-1898  policy  given   on  pp.  73  and  74  above. 

"  Obserration  of  Prison  Commissioners  on  1895  Committee's   Report,  1896,  Sect.  Vlll.d. 

5'  P.C.  Report,  1903-4,  p.  31. 

"I  Prison   Rules,  1899,  No.  52. 

*'  P.C.  Report,  1908-9,  p.   25. 

*=  See  Note  6  on  p.  478  and  pp.   499-500. 

It  is  worthy  of  mention  that  considerable  stress  is  laid  upon  the  reformative  asi>ect  of 
imprisonment  (without  any  direct  mention  of  the  punitive  factor)  in  the  Rules  and  Orders 
drawn  np  for  the  guidance  ol  the  warders.  Compare,  for  instance.  Rule  108,  which  is 
quoted  in  Note  25,  p.  572.  But  the  force  of  this  and  other  somewhat  similar  injunctions 
is  taken  awav,  even  on  paper,  and  much  more  in  practice,  by  other  rules  which  govern  the 
relationship  of  warder  to  prisoner. 

The  majority  of  the  warders  who  gave  evidence  to  this  Enquiry  were  insistent  that  the 
first  object  of  the  system  was  punitive,  and  that  the  reformative  element  was  quite  in 
the  background. 


80  THE  AIMS  OF  THE  SYSTEM 

How  FAR  Prisoners  are  Eeqarded  as  Amenable  to  Eeformation. 
But  indications  in  their  reports,  though  mostly  of  a  negative  kind, 
clearly  suggest  that  the  Commissioners  have  at  heart  been  fur 
from  satisfied  with  the  capacity  of  the  ordinary  prison  and  of  the 
chaplain's  department  to  regenerate  effectively  any  class  of  prisoners. 
(We  are  not  dealing  here  with  the  Borstal  or  Preventive  Detention 
systems,  both  of  which  are  now  quite  definitely  intended  to  be 
primarily  reformative  in  effect.  Hitherto  only  a  small  minority  of 
youthful  and  professional  offenders  respectively  have  come  under 
these    more     humanising     regimes).  In    the     first    place    the 

Commissioners  constantly  emphasise  the  futility  from  the  re- 
formative (and  often  indeed  also  from  the  deterrent)  standpoint 
of  quite  shor-t  sentences,  for  young  persons  especially,  but 
also  for  adults.  "Unnecessary  commitment  to  prison,"  they 
wrote  in  1912,  "we  believe  to  be  one  of  the  most  urgent 
of    social    problems     .     .  the    question    of    prison    reform, 

if  numbers  are  taken  as  a  test,  being  how  to  deal  effectively  with  the 
mass  of  persons  coming  to  prison  under  short  sentences  of  a  month 
or  less.""  In  1913  they  deplored  the  short  sentences  for  older 
prisoners  and  spoke  sorrowfully  of  the  "thousands  of  young  persons 
of  both  sexes  now  graduating  to  the  later  stages  of  incurable  re- 
cidivism under  the  futile  system  of  recommitment  for  petty 
offences.""  Such  sentences,  they  had  written  in  their  1907 
Report,  only  "familiarise  with  what  ought  to  be  the  great  mysterv 
and  dread  of  the  interior  of  a  prison,  and  do  not  admit  of  sufficient 
time  for  the  application  of  any  useful  reformatory  influence."" 
Perhaps  the  clearest  pronouncement  upon  this  theme  is  to  be  found 
in  Sir  E.  R.  Brise's  contribution  to  the  1910  Congress,  from  which 
we  have  already  quoted  :  — 

A  succession  of  short  sentences,  it  may  be  for  trivial  offences,  unde^ 
the  ordinary  prison  regime,  as  devised  for  adult  prisoners,  has  a  tendency 
rather  to  accentuate  than  to  arrest  the  habit  of  crime.  They  are  costly 
to  the  state  and  prejudicial  to  the  individual,  and  an  almost  certain 
prelude   to  his  complete  and  irretrievable  downfall." 

In  the  case  of  young  persons  up  to  21  years  of  age,  the  Com- 
missioners have,  since  1898,  faithfully  and  consistently  urged  that 
commitment  to  the  ordinary  prison  is  a  fatal  expedient.  We  find 
them  working  for  and  welcoming  the  provisions  of  the  Criminal 
Justice  Administration  Act  of  1914,  which,  by  facilitating  the  pay- 
ment of  fines,  was  "calculated  to  be  of  far-reaching  effect  in  saving 
thousands  of  young  persons  from  the  stigma  of  imprisonment";*'^ 
just  as  in  3909  they  expressed  intense  satisfaction  that,  under  the 

<»  P.O.  Report.   1911-12,   p.   8,   Section.*   12  and   13. 

In  the  year  1920-21,  out  of  42,785  persons  received  into  Local  prisons,  no  less  than 
25,376  had  sentences  of  not  more  than  five  weeks.     (Cp.  Footnote,  p.  93.) 

**  P.O.  Report,  1912-13,  p.   9. 

■"iP.C.  Report,  1906-7,  p.  14.  Cp.  also  P.O.  Report,  1900-1,  p.  13,  and  P.O.  Report, 
1910-11    (Part  II.),  p.  81. 

■"  Report   on   Washington   Prison    Congress,    p.    37. 

«'P.C.    Report,   1913-14,  p.    15. 


PBISOXEBS    AMENABLE     TO    REFOBMATIOX  81 

provisions  of  the  Children's  Act,  no  boy  or  girl  under  16  could,  except 
in  extraordinary  circumstances,  be  sent  to  prison." 

Equally  consistently,  though  for  a  different  reason,  the  Coramis- 
Bioners  have  urged  that  prison  is  not  the  place  for  the  mentally 
deficient;  they  cannot  be  reformed  or  cured  in  prison,  which  is  a 
place  intended  for  "fully  responsible  persons,  sane  in  body  and  in 
mind.""  Neither  can  the  inebriate  be  cured  or  reformed  by 
imprisonment."  The  tramp  or  vagrant  is  in  a  different  category  from 
the  two  pathological  types  which  we  have  just  mentioned,  and  yet 
the  Commissioners  are  equally  clear  that  their  prisons  are  not  in- 
stitutions adapted  either  to  reform  or  to  deter  him.  "The  diminution 
of  this  (vagrant)  class,"  they  wrote  in  1903,  "is  not,  in  our  opinion, 
likely  to  follow  from  any  alteration  of  prison  regime"  (in  the  direction 
of  making  it  more  punitive)."  Again  in  1910,  vagrants  "come  to 
prison  under  successively  short  sentences,  with  no  advantage  to  the 
community  or  to  themselves."" 

Similarly  in  the  case  of  the  adult  professional  or  habitual  criminals 
who  form  a  most  important  part  of  the  prison  population,  it  is 
admitted  that  ordinary  prisons  fail  almost  entirely  to  be  places  of 
reformation.  The  saying  of  the  French  sociologist,  Gabriel  Tarde, 
"la  criminalit6  se  localise  en  devenant  une  carriere,"  is  quoted  at 
least  five  times  in  reports  issued  by  the  Commissioners  since  1898 
to  account  for  the  dreadful  phenomenon  of  recidivism,**  i.e., 
recidivism  is  explained  as  being  "a  narrowing  of  the  area  of  crime," 
a  tendency  to  confine  it  to  a  "residuum"  or  "substratum  of  incor- 
rigible offenders — of  men  who  make  crime  a  profession;  against 
whom  the  most  elaborate  penal  code  and  the  best  administered  prison 
system  is  powerless.""  These  are  the  men,  upon  some  of  whom 
the  novel  methods  of  the  Preventive  Detention  regime  ai'e  now  being 
tried,  and  in  the  chapter  dealing  with  that  promising  experiment 
there  have  been  collected  some  other  statements  of  the  Commis- 
sioners emphasising  their  view  as  to  the  hopeless  character  of  this 
class,"  as  it  was,  before  the  effect  of  a  more  humanising  treatment 
had  been  actually  tried. 

We  have  negative  evidence,  too,  that  prison  is  not  expected  to 
reform  habitual  criminals,  in  another  favourite  "fundamental  prin- 
ciple" of  the  Commissioners'  policy,  viz.,  that  "wp  to  a  certain  age 

•"P.C.   Report.   1908-9,   p.  21. 

■•»  P.C.    Report,    1912-15,   p.  31.    Cp.   PC.  Report,    1908-9,   p.   26,   and  other  passages. 

*•  P.C.  Report,   1908-9,  p.  26. 

"  P.C.  Report,  1902-3,  p.  14.  Cp.  P.C.  Report,  1908-9.  p.  10.  where  this  opinion  i? 
?aid  to  bo  shared  by  "eTery  tbonghtfal  and  experienced  prison  o£Beial"  whoso  Tiew  was 
known. 

■-■^  PC.  Report,  1909-10,  p.  8. 

■'  In  the  Commissioners'  Reports  for  1898,   1911    (p.   8).  and  1913;   and  twice  in  reports 

ntributed  by  the  Chairman  to   the  1900  International  Congress    (pp.  107  and  141).    The 

uotation   is  from   Tarde's   "Philosophic   Pgnale"    (1912  translation),   p.  384. 
'♦  Report    of    1900    International    Congress,    r-     107.    The    alternative     explanation    that 

■v-idiTism   is    the  effect  of    "a  system    conducted   by    hamane   men   on   hnmane    principles" 

'  dismissed  as  "not  reasonable"!    Ihid,   p.   141. 

55  See  pp.   462  and   463. 


IM 


83  THE  AIMS  OF  THE  SYSTEM 

every  criminal,  not  mentally  defective,  is  potentially  a  good  citizen, 
and  it  is  the  duty  of  the  State  at  least  to  try  and  effect  a  cure,  and  not 
to  class  the  offender  offhand,  without  experiment,  with  the  adult 
'professional'  criminal.""  The  "certain  age,"  it  is  made  clear  in 
other  passages,  is  twenty-one ;  those  over  twenty-one  are  described 
as  having  "passed  beyond  the  age  at  which  they  can  be  expected  to 
be  responsive  to  Borstal  methods.""  For  the  recidivist  or  habitual 
over  twenty-one  prison  is  not  a  place  of  reformation  or  even  of  deter- 
rence, but  rather  one  of  retributory  punishment  or  of  temporary 
isolation  from  the  community — indeed,  in  one  passage  the  chairman 
of  the  Commissioners  describes  prisons  as  "having  lost  their  power 
of  deterrence  and  become  nothing  else  than  costly  shelterhouses, 
where  the  energies  of  a  certain  number  of  lawless  bandits  may  be 
recruited  for  new  enterprises  against  the  goods  and  chattels  of 
defenceless  and  unoffending  citizens."" 

It  is  therefore  abundantly  clear,  on  the  express  admission  of  the 
ofi&cial  reports,  that  the  ordinary  regime  of  the  Local  or  Convict 
prison,  as  in  force  with  but  few  changes  during  the  last  twenty 
years,  is  not  expected  to  have  any  reformative  influence,  that  is, 
any  beneficent  mental  and  moral  effect,  upon  a  large  proportion  of 
the  prison  population — none  upon  the  feeble-minded,  or  the  in- 
ebriate, or  the  tramp,  the  short  sentence  prisoner  in  general,  the 
young  person  up  to  the  age  of  twenty -one,  or  the  professional  or 
habitual  of  any  age.  Nor,  we  imagine,  is  it  ofi&cially  presumed  to 
have  any  reformative  influence  upon  the  political  offender — the  con- 
scientious objector  or  the  revolutionary.  All  these  classes,  while 
in  prison  are  effectively  isolated  from  the  community,  cut  off  from 
their  ordinary  occupations,  and  maintained  at  the  public  expense; 
but,  as  far  as  the  official  literature  goes,  there  is  little  evidence  of 
any  beneficent  effects  that  prison  has  or  is  intended  to  have  upon 
them." 

The  extent  of  the  reformative  influence,  which  the  Commissioners 
have,  as  we  have  seen,  emphasised  as  one  of  the  great  features  of  the 
system,  has  thus  been  narrowed  down  to  only  a  comparatively  small 
section  of  prisoners,  practically  to  adult  first  offenders  of  what  is 
termed  the  "accidental"  type  of  criminal — or  in  other  words  to  the 
"star"  class  in  Local  and  Convict  prisons.  How  far  this  class  has 
been  effectively  reformed  or  deterred  is  discussed  later  in  this  book." 

=6  P.O.  Report,  1907-8,  p.  13.  Cp.  P.C.  Report.  1904,  p.  19,  and  the  Report  of  the 
1900  International  Congress,  p.  103,  and  Report  of  the  1910  International  Congress,  p.  36. 

«'  PC.  Report,  1912,   p.   12. 

28  Report   of  the  Sixth    International   Congress    (1900),   p.    107. 

='■•  There  are  occasional  suggestions  in  recent  official  literature  that  the  character  of 
the  prison  regime  is  unimportant  and  that  the  responsibility  for  "reformation"  rcsti  entirely 
or  almost  entirely  with  the  After-care  agencies.  See  P.C.  Report,  1906,  p.  38,  quoted  on 
p.  478,   and  cp.  P.C.   Report,    1919,   p.   o3. 

»•  See  p.  226  and  pp.  501-13. 


THE  AIMS  OF  THE  SYSTEM  83 

The  "Ixdividualisation"  of  Punishment. 

The  chairman  of  the  Commissioners  in  his  speech  as  president- 
elect to  the  Washington  Prison  Congress  in  1910,  put  in  a  powerful 
plea  for  greater  "individualisation  of  punishment." 

"In  all  the  prison  systems  of  the  world,"  he  said,  "that  will  be  the  beat 
where  the  arrangements  admit  of  the  greatest  individual  attention  being 
given  to  each  individual  case.  ...  I  mean  that  each  man  convicted 
of  crime  is  to  be  regarded  as  an  individual,  as  a  separate  entity  or 
morality,  who,  by  the  application  of  influences,  of  discipline,  labour, 
education,  moral  and  religious,  backed  up  on  discharge  by  a  well-organised 
system  of  patronage,  is  capable  of  reinstatement  in  civic  life.*^ 

As  is,  we  think,  sufficiently  shown  in  other  parts  of  this  book, 
English  prisons  have  not  reached  any  high  standard  of  such  in- 
dividualisation ;  as  much  is  indeed  occasionally  admitted  by  the 
Commissioners.  This  deficiency  is  certainly  not  altogether,  nor 
perhaps  even  chiefly,  their  fault,  since  it  is  not  they  but  the  Courts 
who  decide  which  persons  shall  be  entrusted  to  their  charge.  As 
their  medical  inspector  wrote  in  1909,  "The  clearing  out  from  our 
prisons  of  the  drunkard,  the  tramp,  and  the  imbecile,  will  materially 
assist  this  development  by  allowing  prisons  to  be  used  exclusively 
for  the  treatment  of  the  criminal,  and  will  thus  facilitate  the  exten- 
sion of  those  methods  of  individualisation,  of  the  value  of  which  the 
success  of  the  Borstal  system  is  likely  to  be  so  conspicuous  a  proof. "" 
And  the  chairman  of  the  Commissioners  went  further  than  this  in 
ithe  paper  read  to  the  1910  International  Congress,  in  which  he  wrote 
;that  "ordinary  detention  in  prison,  and  especially  where  the  popula- 
Ition  is  large,  as  in  the  prisons  of  the  metropolis,  cannot,  even  with 
I  the  greatest  care  and  the  best  possible  arrangements,  allow  of  that 
i  specialisation  and  individual  attention  which  is  essential  if  a  real 
impression  is  to  be  made  on  the  younger  criminals."  " 


All  the  passages  from  the  utterances  of  the  Commissioners,  which 
have  been  quoted  in  this  chapter,  have  with  one  exception  been  taken 
from  their  pre-war  reports.     Since  1914  the  much  less  bulky  reports 
I  that  have  been  issued  have  almost  entirely  omitted  mention  of  the 
,  imderlying  principles  or  effects  of  ordinary  imprisonment — as  opposed 
jto  Borstal   and   Preventive   Detention.     It   seems   possible,    if   not 
]  probable,  that  the  upheaval  of  ideas  caused  by  the  war  and  the  extra- 
!  ordinary  results  which  are  apparently  being  obtained  as  regards  the 
reinstatement  of  so-called  incorrigibles  under  the  Preventive  Deten- 
tion system  are  leading  the  authorities  to  revise  their  views  as  regards 
the  scope  and  relationship  of  the  reformatory  and  punitive  factors 
of  imprisonment.     Perhaps  the  Commissioners  are  by  now   facing 

••  S«port  of   1910    (Washington)    International   Prison  Congress,   pp.   73-4. 

•*  P.C.  Heport,  1908-9,  p.  36.    Cp.  also  Dr.  R.  F.  Qninton,  "Crime  and  Criminals"    (1910), 
pp.  236-8,  117-18,  and  his   "Modern  Prison  Curriculum"    (1911),   pp.  236-38. 

"  Eeport  of   1910    iWashington)    International  Prison   Congress,  p.   37. 


84  THE  AIMS  OF  THE  SYSTEM 

the  question,  whether  it  is  possible  to  combine  reformative  and 
punitive  elements  at  all  in  one  system  of  prison  treatment,  withcwit 
almost  all  that  is  reformative  or  curative  being  neutralised  by  the 
punitive  elements. 


Note  on  "The  English  Prison  System. 


Since  thiss  chapter  was  prepared,  "The  English  Prison  System,"  by  Sir 
Evelyn  Ruggles-Brise,  has  appeared  in  print.  (It  was  written,  the  authw 
informs  us,  in  1915,  though  the  statistics  have  been  brought  up  to  date). 
Very  little  fresh  light  is  thrown  in  this  volume  by  the  Chairman  of  the  Prison 
Commission  upon  the  confused  aims  of  the  system  as  we  have  tried  to 
interpret  them  in  the  foregoing  chapter.  It  is  still  maintained  that  prison 
is  a  place  of  punishment ;  that  "the  primary  and  fundamental  purpose  of 
punishment,  say  what  we  will,  must  remain  in  its  essence  retributory  and 
deterrent"  ;  that  this  must  involve  "the  assertion  of  the  system  of  rights 
by  pain  or  penalty — not  pain  in  the  physical  sense,  but  pain  that  comes  from 
degradation  and  the  loss  of  self-respect" — and  that  all  that  the  reformatory 
features  of  the  prison  system  can  do  is  to  "try  and  mitigate  this  inevitable 
incident  of  all  punishment." — pp.  viii,  and  1-4.  We  deal  with  some  aspect* 
of  Sir  E.  Ruggles-Brise's  book  in  Chapter  XXIII.  of  this  Part. 


THE  AIMS  OF  THE  SYSTEM  85 


THE    PRINCIPAL    DEFECTS    INDICATED    IN    THE    PRECEDING 

CHAPTER. 


The  persistence  in  the  principles  of  prison  treatment  of  retributory  and 
deterrent  factors,  to  the  exclusion  of  truly  preventive  and  educational 
principles,  such  as  are  suggested  in  the  concluding  chapter  of  this  book. 
(See  "Society  and  tlie  Offender,"  pp.  590-98). 


CHAPTER  V 


¥ 


THE    PEISON    BUILDINGS 
The  General  Plan 

We  now  pass  on  to  describe  the  actual  conditions  of  prison  life. 
It  is  necessary  to  begin  with  the  buildings,  so  that  the  surroundings 
of  the  prisoner  may  be  realised.  "It  appears,"  wrote  Major  H.  S. 
Rogers,  the  Surveyor  of  Prisons,  in  1910,  "that  a  prevaihng  idea  on 
prison  construction  was  to  provide  heavy  massive  and  gloomy 
structures,  giving  an  impression  of  donjons,  bars,  and  chains;  small, 
heavily  barred  windows,  with  obscure  glass,  dark  passages,  etc."' 
Since  most  English  prisons  were  constructed  before  the  prison  system 
was  unified  under  the  control  of  the  Prison  Commissioners,  it  would 
not  be  fair  to  lay  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  present  authorities  all 
the  responsibility  for  their  grim,  ugly,  forbidding  appearance.  ,  But 
^rim,  ugly,  and  forbidding  they  certainly  are,  and  few  prisoners  who 
,  approach  them  for  the  first  time  do  so  without  a  sense  of  hopeless- 
ness and  terror. 

High  walls,  heavy  iron  gates,  castellated  towers,  huge  blocks 
with  rows  of  small  and  strongly -barred  windows — these  are  some  of 
the  features  which  strike  chill  into  the  heart.  When  one  has  gone 
through  the  two  gateways  at  the  entrance  of  the  prison, — the  first 
must  always  'be  securely  locked  before  the  second  is  opened — this 
impression  is  somewhat  reUeved,  in  some  cases,  by  beds  of  flowers, 
and  green  lawns,  and  perhaps,  a  group  of  attractive  buildings.  At 
Wormwood  Scrubs  prison,  for  instance,  the  heavy  gateway  once 
passed,  the  entrance  might  be  that  to  a  college.  The  gravel  drive 
encircles  a  well-kept  lawn  bordered  by  red  geraniums.  In  the 
back-ground  is  a  big  chapel  built  in  grey  stone  in  the  Norman  style. 
Leading  to  it,  in  front  and  to  the  right,  are  passages  lined  with 
stone  arches,  like  the  cloisters  of  some  monastery.  Other  prisons 
have  similarly  pleasing  entrances.  But  after  passing  from  the 
gateway  to  the  entrance  hall,  colour  and  beauty  are  rarely  seen  until 
the  term  of  imprisonment  ends.  In  most  cases  the  prison  itself  is 
unrelieved  drabness. 

»  In    a  paper   prepared    for    the    International    Penitentiary   Congress,    Washington,    1910 
(Aotes  dn  Ck)ngre8,   1913,    Vol.   V.,  pp.    101—148). 


TWO    WINGS     OF    WAKEFIELD    PRISON    (UADIAL    SYSTEM). 


WAKEFIELD     PRISON     HOSPITAL     AND    AN     EXERCISE     GROUND. 


To  face  p.  87. 


THE  PRISON  BUILDINGS  87 

The  Halls. 

Prisons  are  constructed  on  two  systems — the  radial  system, 
exemplified  in  Pentonville  prf^on,  'and  tlie'T)Tock  system  exemplified 
in  Wormwood  Scrubs.  In  the  former,  the  halls  containing  the 
cells  radiate  from  a  large  central  tower.  In  the  latter,  the  halls 
are  separate  and  parallel. 

The  former  system  has  the  advantage  of  concentration,  enabling 
the  wings  to  be  supervised  easily  from  thci  "centre"  and  facilitating 
service  and  communication  On  the  other  hand,  as  Major  Rogers 
points  out,  it  has  serious  disadvantages.  It  is  impossible,  for 
instance,  with  the  radial  system,  to  site  the  wings  so  as  to  obtain 
direct  sunlight  on  all  cell  windows  during  a  portion  of  the  day,  and 
the  angles  between  the  buildings  cannot  be  searched  by  the  sun; 
consequently  there  is  stagnation  of  air.  There  is  the  further 
objection  that  owing  to  the  close  proximity  of  the  cells  in  the 
adjoining  wings,  "a  number  of  cell  windows  on  one  side  of  the 
angle  must  have  obscure  glass,  and  also,  to  prevent  commimication 
by  shouting,  such  cells  cannot  have  windows  to  open  unless 
screened."  One  of  our  ex-prisoner  witnesses  points  out  in  this 
connection  that  these  cells  particularly  need  all  the  light  they  can 
obtain  since  "under  the  best  of  circumstances  they  would  be  dark 
as,  by  reason  of  their  situation,  the  light  is  considerably  cut  off." 

The  main  disadvantage  of  the  block  system  is  its  costliness  and 
the  absence  of  concentration.  In  the  case  of  large  prisons,  how- 
ever, the  latter,  Major  Ecgers  insists,  is  not  a  serious  drawback  in 
relation  to  discipline,  since  when  the  halls  are  long  and  high, 
supervision  from  one  centre  is  impossible  even  under  the  radial 
syptem.  On  the  other  hand,  the  block  system  has  important 
advantages.  It  enables  the  halls  to  be  built  running  north  to 
scath,  thus  allowing  the  sun  to  enter  all  the  cells  for  a  portion 
of  the  day  at  least;  and  the  stagnant  air  angles  are  avoided.  An 
ex-prisoner  who  was  loc'-ted  in  a  sunless  cell  for  nine  months, 
suggests  how  important  from  the  prisoner's  point  of  view  is  the 
first  of  these  considerations  "  I  spent  a  summer  in  prison,"  he 
says,  "yet,  except  for  forty  minutes'  exercise,  I  scarcely  saw  the 
sun.  My  cell  was  in  a  basement  and  was  dark  and  chilly  even  in 
bnlliant  sunlit  weather.  The  yard  upon  which  the  window  looked 
was  largely  in  shadow  and  our  workshop  was  sunless,  too.  When 
I  c^me  in  from  exercise  each  day  my  heart  sank  with  the  feeling 
of  entering  a  dungeon.  The  absence  of  light  and  colour  and 
warmth  depressed  me  terribly" 

The  halls  in  both  the  radial  and  block  systems  are  similar.  They 
are  long  and  narrow,  the  cells  being  arranged,  on  the  ground  floor, 
on  either  side  of  a  16  foot  corridor.  The  halls  vary  from  two 
storeys  high  in  the  small  prisons  to  five  storeys  high  in  the  large 
prisons.  The  upper  cells  open  on  narrow  galleries,  leaving  a  space 
down  the  centre.     Across  this  space,  on  the  level  of  the  first  floor. 


om 


/ 


88  THE   PRISON   BUILDINGS  \ 

wire  netting  is  stretched  to  catch  prisoners  should  they  attempt  to 
commit  suicide  by  throwing  themselves  from  an  upper  storey. 


The  cells  in  Local  prisons  are  as  a  rule  almost  precisely  thirteen 
Jeet  by  seven,  by  uiAe  high.'  (In  Convict  prisons,  where  the  cells 
have  not,  until  quite  recently,  been  used  for  labour,  they  usually  are 
abou^  tejpLififiLjiy^eX£iL-by  nine).  The  ceilings  and  a  large  part  of 
Tfie  walls  are  lime-washed,  but  there  is  a  dado  of  dull  brown  of  about 
four  feet  deep.  The  outer  wall  is  cement  plastered,  in  order  that  any 
tampering  with  it  for  the  purpose  of  escape  may  be  quickly  dis- 
covered. In  the  wall,  near  the  door,  is  a  gas-box,  enclosed  by 
wh'te  rippled  glass,  nine  inches  square.  The  gas-jet  is  lit  from 
outside  the  cell.     In  a  few  prisons  electric  light  is  used. 

Our  ex-prisoner  witnesses  frequently  complain  of  the  poor  light, 
both  during  the   day  and   in  the  evening.       They  assert  that  the 

dimness  makes  both  v/orking  and  reading  difficult.    "At pri.son, " 

says  one,  '_^&oHift  of  the  north  cells  are  so  dark  that  I  had  to  work 
.for  a  good  part  of  the  d-^.y  standing  on  my  stool  at  the  window." 
Several  of  these  witnesses  state  that  their  sight  has  been  injui-ed  by 
the  strain.  The  lighting,  has,  however,  been  improved  during 
recent  years.     Formerly  one  gas-jet  served  to  light  two  cells. 

The  windows  in  the  cells  vary  in  size  from  14  to  21 
panes,  each  about  eight  inches  by  four.  With  a  few  exceptions,  the 
A^indows  are  now  made  of  clear  glass,  and  one  at  least  of  these 
small  panes  is  made  to  open;  in  most  cases,  two  open.  Judging 
from  the  view  of  Major  Eogers,  the  prison  authorities  only 
reluctaiitly  insert^efl  panes  which  open.  He  records  the  fact  that 
direct  access  to  the  outer  air  has  been  advocated  for  both  moral 
and  hygienic  reasons,  but  says  that  "as  regards  the  latter  a  good 
c^eal  of  nonsense  is  talked,  for  in  a  cell  with  a  proper  and  efficient 
system  of  flue  ventilation,  the  opening  is  more  likely  to  interfere 
with,  than  to  assist,  a  constant  change  of  air."  But  he  pathetically 
adds  that  "in  prison  work  outside  opinions  of  faddists  and  others 
have  to  be  reckoned  with."  Major  Eogers  finds  consolation,  how- 
evei,  in  the  fact  that  open  panes  enable  the  prisoner  to  clean  the 
outside  of  the  windows.' 

The  object  of  the  surveyors  in  their  heating  and  ventilating 
arrangements  is  to  keep  the  cell  temperature  at  about  60  degrees  F.  in 
winter  and  to  ensure  that  a  current  always  passes  through  the  cells. 
Our  ex-prisoner  witnesses  all  ridicule  the  suggestion  that  such  a 
eat  is  maintained.  One  of  them  who  occupied  a  cell  in  which  the 
landing  thermometer  was  placed  states  that  day  after  day  the 
1  temperature  registered  was  below  50  degrees.     An  ex-convict  says 

2  Celh  vary  somewhat  according  to  the  date  of  constmotioa  of  th»  prisons,  etc.  For 
detailed  description   ol   the   ceU,    see    np-    95—97. 


3  Op.   cit.,  p.   135. 


^^^v; 


THE  CELLS 

"■"t  ija_tb£  winter  the  thermometer  during  several  nights  regis^ftd 
Iggjsees.  Many  ex-prisoners  say  that  they  could  only^eep 
w'lemselves  warm  by  putting  their  blankets  and  rugs  round  them, 
and  by  tramping  up  and  down  the  cell.  Evidence  of  this  character 
comes  not  from  one  prison,  but  from  prisons  in  all  parts  of  the 
country. 

The  system  for  heating  and  ventilation  is  for  warm  air  to  enter  the 
cell  thiough  a  grating  high  in  the  wall  and  to  traverse  the  cell 
diagonally  to  an  extract  grating  at  the  foot  of  the  opposite  wall. 
Theoretically,  this  system  may  be  admirable,  but  actually  the  cells 
are  stufly  on  still  days  and  draughty  on  windy  days.  Many  of  our 
ex -prisoner  witnesses  complain  that  in  the  mornings  they  were 
heavy  and  dizzy  with  the  closeness  of  the  atmosphere,  and  several 
of  our  warder  witnesses  speak  of  the  foul  air  which  meets  them 
when  they  open  the  doors.  Often  the  cuiTent  of  air  is  imperceptible. 
"It  was  long  before  I  could  determine  which  was  the  intake  and 
which  the  outlet  ventilator,"  an  ex-prisoner  remarks." 

The  cell  floors  are  sometimes  made  of  stone  flags,  sometimes  of 
tiles,  of  slate,  of  asphalte,  of  concrete,  of  wooden  planks  or  of  wood 
blocks.  The  stone,  tile,  slate  and  concrete  floors  are  very  cold. 
The  asphalte  floors  are  warmer ;  but  the  appearance  is  not  pleasing. 
Wooden  planks  are  apt  to  harbour  vermin  and  they  smell  badly 
when  constantly  sluiced  with  water.  The  best  flooring  is  un- 
doubtedly wooden  blocks;  most  of  the  hospital  cells  have  such 
floors. 

i      In  addition   to   the  ordinary  cell,   there  are  many  varieties   for 

I  special  purposes,  e.g.,  the  Hospital  Cell,  the  Special  Cell,  the  Silent 

Cell,  the  Padded  Cell,   the  Observation  Cell,  the  Matted  Cell,  the 

;  Tubercular  Cell,   and  the  Condemned  Cell.     Reference  is  made  to 

these  different  types  of  cells  in  subsequent  chapters.  .:>^,  .*'  /•;' 

On  each  landing  there  is  a  sanitary  annexe,  occupying  the  widtk^ 
of  a  cell.  If  the  hall  be  large  a  sanitary  annexe  is  placed  on  eitheri 
.side.  In  each  annexe  there  is  a  w.c.  and  a  slop  sink  with  taps/ 
The  e  annexes  are  open  to  the  hall,  and  Major  Rogers  admits  thai^ 
("certain  objections"  can  be  made  regarding  them.  _One  obvious  > 
! objection  is  that  the  tap  from  which  drinking  water  is  obtained  is. 
over  the  sink  in  which  chambers  are  washed  out,  and  both  opeja-j 
tions  are  done  at  the  same  lime. 

Prison  halls  almost  invariably  have  basements,  so  that  the 
windows  of  the  lowest  cells  are  frequently  beneath  the  level  of  thp 
; ground.  Major  Rogers  explains  this  by  the  style  of  architecture 
of  The  nineteenth  century,  but,  in  at  least  one  prison,  a  basement 
landing  has  been  inserted  in  recent  years.  Majy  ,pf.  ^h^^,  hnifli  / 
ments   are  dark   and  depressing  places,  but  tEe  prison  authorities  ^^j^^^"^ 

*  .Standing  Orders   insist  that   prisoners   shall    be    instructed   to  open   the  ventilator   when  / 

leaving  their  eellf,   and    that  "on  nnlocking   the   prison   in   the   morning,   all   sliding   sashes,  ' 

etc.,"  shall   be   opened    "and   remain    open   daring    slop    and    pot   emptying."    We   hare    not 
tosnd  any  ex-prisoner   who  ever   knew   these    orders   to  be    enlorced. 


.  1//)^  CjtM^ 


90  THE  PRISON  BUILDINGS 

have  Hone  a  good  deal  to  improve  the  hghting  of  the  cells  by  digging 
a  broad  trench  outside  the  windows. 

There  is  a  special  Eeception  Hall,  containing  baths  and  cells 
which  are  little  larger  than  telephone  boxes.  They  are  used  by 
prisoners  only  on  the  days  of  reception  and  discharge.  The  other 
principal  prison  buildings  are  the  workshops  and  the  hospital.* 

The  Gbounds, 

The  walls  surrounding  many  prisons  are  from  20  to  25  feet 
high,  but  in  the  case  of  the  more  modern  prisons  they  are  rarely 
mare  than  16  or  18  feet.  The  higher  walls  "shut  out  the  light  and 
air,  and  are  very  costly  to  build  and  maintain."  Major  Eogers 
points  out  that  the  16  foot  wall  is  as  effective  in  preventing  escapes 
as  tbe  20  feet  wall,  since  it  cannot  be  reached  by  a  man  standing 
on  another's  shoulders,  and,  if  a  pole  or  rope  or  a  ladder  be  used, 
the  second  presents  little  more  difficulty  of  scaling  than  the  first. 
As  a  precaution  against  escapes,  however,  a  Standing  Order*  pro- 
hibits the  placing  of  plants  or  shrubs  against  the  boundary  walls  of 
prisons ;  much  valuable  space  for  fruit  growing  is  thus  wasted. 

Except  where  there  are  grounds  connected  with  the  prison  at  the 
back,  there  is  only  one  entrance  The  second  entrance,  where 
there  is  one,  is  not  always  double,  like  the  front,  and  less  care  is 
taken  in  regard  to  it,  as  Mr.  De  Valera  and  his  colleagues  found 
when  they  escaped  from  Lincoln  Prison  in  1918.  No  building  is 
allowed  within  20  ft.  of  the  prison  wall  and  there  is  a  patrol  path 
round  the  exterior.  Where  there  are  prison  grounds  outside  the 
main  wall,  they  are  sometimes  suri-ounded  by  an  additional  eight 
foot  wall,  with  barbed  wire  above;  sometimes  only  by  barbed  wire. 

Escapes  from  prison  are  very  rare,  and  even  when  prisoners 
succeed  in  getting  away  they  are  almost  invariably  captured  later. 
Formerly,  says  Major  Eogers,  the  custom  was  to  obtain  security  of 
prisoners  "by  the  provision  of  very  high  walls,  excessively  heavy 
bars  and  bolts,  etc.,  to  all  openings  in  all  buildings,  and  by  the  use- 
of  massive  walls  throughout.  Experience  has  shown  that  if 
prisoners  outside  their  cells  are  left  to  themselves,  walls,  bars,  and 
bolts  will  not  hold  some  of  them  and  recently  the  tendency  has 
been  to  rely  on  observation  by  the  staff  more  and  more,  and  to  assist 
the  staff  a  clear  view  of  the  exterior  and  interior  of  buildings  should 
be  aimed  at  by  the  avoidance  of  angles  and  hidden  nooks."' 

It  is  difficult  to  convey  an  impression  of  the  hope-destroying,  for- 
bidding aspect  of  prison  buildings.  They  embody  architecturally 
the  repressive  charactenstics  of  tbe  prison  system.  Many  of  our 
witnesses,  drawn  from  both  officials  and  ex-prisoners,  express  the 

4  See  pp.  115  and  269-70  and  277. 

•  No.  824. 

»  Op  cit.,  p.  108. 


TEE  GROUNDS  91 

view  that  the  only  reform  to  which  the  buildings  can  be  usefully 
subjected  is  dynamite,  and  the  suggestion  is  not  extreme.  Within 
the  walls  and  halls  of  the  present  institutions  it  would  be  difficult 
for  any  educative,  reformative,  and  kindly  influences  to  operate. 
They  seem  absolutely  aliei  to  the  best  qualities  of  the  human  mind 
and  spirit.  As  Dr.  Healy  says  in  "The  Individual  Delinquent":' 
"The  highest  exponent  of  treatment  en  masse  is  the  prison  building 
v.'here — even  if  the  aim  be  not  to  depress  all  consciousness  to 
a  bare,  vacuous  level — such  largely  is  the  eSect.  No  better  illustra- 
tion of  the  childishness  of  our  effort-,  to  ameliorate  criminalistic 
conditions  can  be  found  taan  the  planning  of  buildings  which  does 
not  first  and  foremost  take  into  account  the  conditions  and 
possibilities  of  mental  life." 

"Neither  milk-white  rose,   nor  red 
May  bloom  in  prison  air; 
The  shard,  the  pebble,  and  the  flint 
Are  what  they  give  us  there  : 
For  flowers  have  been  known  to  hear 
A  common  man's  despair. 

"The  vilest  deeds  like  poison  weeds 
Bloom  well  in  prison  air ; 
It  is  only  what  is  good  in  man 
That  wastes  and  withers  there. 
Pale  anguish  keeps  the  heavy  gate. 
And  the  warder  is  Despair."  * 


•Op.  cit.   (1914),  p.   170. 

•  Oscar  Wilde:  "The  Ballad    ol  Readimg   Gaol." 


92  THE  PRISON  BUILDINGS 


SOME     OF     THE    PRINCIPAL     DEFECTS     INDICATED    IN     THE 
PRECEDING     CHAPTER. 


1. — The  architecture  is  depressing  and  inhuman. 

2. — There  is  a  marked  absence  of  colour  and  beauty  both  within  and 
■without  the  buildings.  The  grounds  accessible  to  prisoners  are  generally 
bare  and  frequently  without  flowers  and  shrubs. 

3. — The  cells  are  often  dark^  particularly  in  the  basements  and  in  the 
angles  of  the  halls  in  the  radial  system.     ]Many  of  the  cells  are  sunless. 

4. — Frequently  the  cells  are  badly  ventilated.  Only  two  small  window 
panes  open  at  the  most. 

5. — The  heating  and  lighting  arrangements  for  the  cells  are  often 
inadequate. 


CHAPTER  VI 


THE    ROUTINE 

Imprisonment  in  the  Third  Division,  for  some  period  not  exceeding 
six  months,  with  or  without  hard  labour  (and  "hard  labour"  does 
not  entail  any  large  differences  of  treatment),  is  by  far  the  com- 
monest form  of  "prison"  awarded  by  the  Courts.  A  description  of 
the  first  four  or  five  months  of  the  third  division  prisoner's  life  will 
cover  the  case  of  a  vast  majority  of  convicted  prisoners.'     The  regime 

1  prescribed  by  the  Rules  and  Standing  Orders  for  the  third  division 
offender  forms  the  basis  of  treatment  for  all  the  different  classes 

!  confined  in  a  Local  prison,  with  the  exception  to  some  extent  of 

■"prisoners  awaiting  trial"  and  of  the  rare  "offenders  of  the  first 
division."  Even  convicts  usually  serve  the  first  stage  of  penal 
servitude  in  what  are  practically  the  "third  division"  conditions  of 
a  Local  prison,  and  when  they  proceed  to  the  convict  prison  the 
variations  in  the  routine  are  not  many.'  This  uniformity  of  treat- 
ment for  practically  all  classes  of  prisoners  is  in  flagrant  contradic- 

|tion  with  that  "individualisation  of    punishment,"  which  is  the  ideal 

^of  the  chairman  of  the  Prison  Commissioners.* 

I  "We  propose  then  to  outline  in  a  brief  but  comprehensive  manner 
jthe  chief  outward  features  of  the  environment  of  a  short  sentence 
Iprisoner,  and  of  the  third  division  (with  or  without  "hard  labour") 

I 

1  •  According  to  the  figures  published  by  the  Prison  Commissioners  in  their  latest  report, 
I  out  of  a  total  of  49,712  prisoners  "received  under  sentence"  during  the  year  ended  31st 
March,  1921,  at  least  41,286  were  classified  as  offenders  of  the  third  division  (with  or 
without  hard  labour).  There  were  5,204  persons  in  the  category  of  "debtors";  while  the 
numbers  sent  to  penal  servitude  and  to  Borstal  institutions  were  only  492  and  632 
respectively.  (See  the  1920-21  Report  of  the  Commissioners,  pp.  3  and  40).  The  classifica- 
tion given  is  not  quite  clear.  There  were  also  388  "Court  Martial"  prisoners,  of  whom 
the  majority  were  probably  classified  as  Third  Division.  The  prevailing  sentence  is  a  short 
one— for,  during  1920-21,  out  of  42,785  offenders  sentenced  to  simple  imprisonment  by 
the  "Ordinary  Courts"  (i.e.,  excluding  Court-Martial  prisoners),  no  less  than  40,085  were 
sentenced  to  terms  of  six  months  or  under,  all  sentences  of  over  one  month  being,  more- 
iover.  remitted  in  the  event  of  good  conduct  to  the  extent  of  one-sixth  of  their  duration. 
In  the  case  of  25,376  of  these  offenders,  imprisonment  lasted  for  a>  period  ranging  between 
lone  day   and   five  weeks.     (See   Appendix   No.    4    to  the   1920-21    Report). 

j   *Op.  pp.  319—325. 

*  Cp.  p.  85  and  pp.  355  and  555. 


94  THE  ROUTINE 

in  particular,  during  (say)  the  first  week  of  his  sentence,  with  a 
summary  of  the  alterations  that  take  place  in  it  in  the  weeks  succeed- 
ing. A  fuller  and  more  critical  description  of  many  of  these  features 
will  be  found  in  later  chapters.*  This  plan  will  entail  the  necessity 
of  some  little  repetition,  but  its  adoption  appears  to  be  necessary, 
in  order  to  give  the  reader  a  clear  and  connected  picture  of  the 
prisoner's  life — a  picture  unencumbered  by  a  multiplicity  of  criticism 
and  detail.* 

Eeception. 

The  history  of  our  prisoner  necessarily  begins  at  the  Criminal 
Court.  The  magistrate  has  pronounced  the  sentence;  the  inter- 
mediate stay  in  the  police  cell  is  at  an  end;  the  "Black  Maria"  van 
— or  perhaps  it  is  merely  an  escort  of  one  vigilant  policeman — has 
discharged  the  convicted  offender  at  the  prison  gate.  The  gate 
closes  sternly  upon  him,  and  the  outside  world  knows  him  no  more. 

The  place  of  transition  into  the  prison  world  is  known  by  the  not 
unfriendly  name  of  "Eeception."  After  a  short  stay  in  the  porter's 
lodge,  and  the  formal  entry  of  his  name  in  the  "Body -receipt"  book,' 
the  offender  is  locked  up  in  one  of  the  "Reception"  cells  or  cubicles 
(which  sometimes  bear  dirty  traces  of  previous  occupants)  until  the 
warder  in  charge  has  leisure  to  attend  to  him.  The  isolation  from 
life  outside,  already  begun,  is  now  completed  by  an  enforced  separa- 
tion from  his  clothing  and  other  personal  belongings.  His  property 
rights  are  to  be  in  abeyance  for  the  time  of  his  detention,  but 
scrupulous  provision  is  made  for  their  reappearance  after  his  release ; 
an  elaborate  inventory  is  drawn  up  of  every  article  of  clothing,  as 
well  as  of  the  contents  of  his  pockets,  purse,  and  any  other  receptacle 
in  his  possession  (these  are  tied  together  and  put  away  in  the 
store).  He  must  strip  himself  to  the  skin,  abandoning  as  a  rule 
every  belonging.  The  only  possible  exceptions  are  his  spectacles, 
false  teeth,  or  any  surgical  appliance  of  which  the  medical  officer 
may  specifically  approve.' 

In  this  nude  condition  he  is  examined  medically,  should  the  doctor. 
be  in  attendance.  He  is  also  examined  "for  the  discovery  of  any 
scars  and  distinctive  marks  or  peculiarities  which  will  assist  in 
identification."*     After  this  he  is  ushered  into  a  kind  of  loose  box 

*  The  present  chapter,  though  written  primarily  in  relation  to  men  prisoners,  applie» 
almost  equally  to  the  women,  the  differences  in  the  regime  for  the  latter  being  only  few, 
as    explained   in   Chapter    22. 

5  Much  of  the  evidence,  on  which  this  and  other  chapters  are  based,  is  necessarily 
drawn  from  the  actual  experience  of  the  writers  themselves  and  of  many  other  witnesaea 
during  the  war  years  1914  to  1919,  years  marked  in  prison  by  certain  temporary  modifica- 
tions occasioned  by  the  reduction  of  the  staff,  the  shortness  of  food  stuffs,  and  the  need 
lor  war  work.  But  the  writers  have  taken  some  trouble  to  make  the  description  correspond 
to  the  actual  facts  of  the  present  day  (the  winter  of  1921),  by  taking  note  of  the 
(comparatively   slight)    changes    in   the   routine   that  have   been   introduced    since   1919. 

«  "The  officer  in  charge  will  obtain  a  receipt  for  the  bodies  of  the  prisoners."    (S.O.   175). 

'  A  married  woman  is  allowed  to  retain  her  wedding  ring.  Women  may  also  wear  their 
own    hair   combs,   provided    they   are   clean    and   suitable.     (S.O.    202.) 

8  S  O  19  and  20.  The  orders  direct  that  this  examination  and  the  searching  chould 
not  be  made  in  the  presence  of  another  prisoner;  but  this  rule  has  not  always  been 
followed  according  to  our  witnesses.  Offenders  ol  the  first  division,  of  the  second  ai^'^'o^ 
if  not  previously  convicted,  and  offenders  sentenced  to  less  than  a  month,  are  exemptea 
from    the   examination   for   "distinctive  marks." 


To  face  p.  95 


THE   CONTENTS    OF    THE  CELL  95 

which  contains  the  reception  bath.  His  plunge  into  its  regulation 
nine  inches  of  warm  water  cleanses  him,  we  may  hope,  from  the  last 
vestiges  of  external  contamination  still  adhering  from  his  previous 
environment;  in  the  case  of  some  prisoners,  at  any  rate,  the  bath 
is  by  no  means  an  undesirable  precaution.  By  the  bath  side  he 
finds  a  towel  and  a  makeshift  assortment  of  prison  clothing,  collected 
by  the  prisoner  who  works  as  "cleaner"  in  reception,  with  little 
regard  in  many  cases  for  height  or  girth.  The  complete  outfit  (for 
a  man)  consists  of  a  prison  uniform  (collarless  coat,  waistcoat  and 
buckled  trousers)  stamped  with  the  broad  arrow,  along  with  a  cap 
of  the  same  material,  heavy  shoes,  socks,  cotton  shirt,  a  coarse 
handkerchief,  pants  and  flannel  vest.  The  sentenced  offender  is 
now  a  fully  equipped  prisoner,  or  at  least  he  will  be  so  as  soon  as 
he  has  been  presented  with  a  Bible  and  prayer  book,  a  pair  of  sheets, 
a  pillow  slip,  a  small  towel,  and  a  brush  and  comb,  which  form  his 
only  articles  of  equipment  other  than  those  which  are  inseparable 
from  the  cell. 

Before  he  leaves  reception  the  prisoner  is  supposed  to  have  several 
other  interviews  (though  these  may  be  postponed  until  the  following 
day)  besides  that  with  the  prison  doctor.  The  chaplain  enquires  as 
to  the  prisoner's  religion,  whether  he  is  "Church  of  England,"  and, 
if  not,  whether  he  wishes  to  attend  the  Church  services.  The  school- 
master asks  about  his  education,  and  presents  him  with  a  single 
''educational"  book  and  possibly  a  school  primer,  which  will  have 
to  serve,  together  with  his  Bible  and  a  regulation  "devotional  book," 
ias  his  only  mental  food  for  the  next  four  weeks.*  The  governor  or 
chief  warder  informs  him  that  all  conversation  is  forbidden  and  that 
he  will  be  punished  if  he  does  not  precisely  obey  all  prison  rules 
including  those  on  his  printed  card,  with  its  formidable  list  of  possible 
offences.  He  is  also  probably  given  some  instructions  as  to  the 
cleaning  and  arrangement  of  his  cell,  and  told  that  all  applications 
jto  see  the  governor,  chaplain  or  doctor  must  be  made  without  fail 
first  thing  in  the  morning.  But,  as  often  as  not,  many  of  his  duties 
(as  well  as  most  of  his  rights)  are  left  for  the  prisoner  himself  to 
discover,  in  the  course  of  more  or  less  painful  experience. 

The  Conten'ts  of  the  Cell. 

The  warder  unlocks  the  door  leading  into  the  great  hall  of  the 
prison,  and,  with  his  bunch  of  jangling  keys  at  hand,  accompanies 
the  new  inmate  to  the  cell  destined  for  his  home.  Here  his  name 
itself  becomes  lost,  and  he  assimilates  himself  to  the  cell  by  buttoning 
on  to  his  coat  the  unsightly  yellow  badge,  inscribed  with  some  such 
^evice  as  "A. 3. 21"  or  "C.2.8,"  which  has  been  hanging  over  the 
door  of  the  empty  cell."  The  warder  sees  that  the  cell  water-can 
has   been    replenished    and   that    the    cleaning    materials    are    not 

I   •  We  belieTe,   howcTer,  that  now,  in  some  prisons   at   any  rate,   there  is   a  change   of  the 
padncationaV  book  at  the  end  of  the  first  tortnight. 

I   "A.  3,  21,  for  insUnce,  means  the  twenty-first  cell  on  the  third  Landing   of  Hall   "A." 


(/JUa 


THE  ROUTINE 


exhausted.     The  door  is  banged  and  double  locked,  and  the  prisoner 
is  left  alone  with  his  thoughts. 

/^The  cage  in  which  he  now  finds  himself  is  a  stern  and  bare  little 
]  room,  of  which  the  measurements  are  as  a  rule  seven  i'eetJby-thirteen 

]   and  nine  feet  high."     Its  furniture  consists  of  a  wooden  table  (either 

^  movable  or" fixed),  a  small  stool  without  a  back,  and  a  bed-board. 
The  window  is  so  high  up  that  it  is  necessary  to  stand  on  the  stool 
to  look  out  of  it,  and  this,  to  make  matters  worse,  may  be  regarded 
as  a  punishable  offence.  It  consists  of  two  or  three  rows  of  small 
panes,  of  which,  at  the  most,  two  panes  (each  about  eight  inches 
by  four)  can  be  opened  by  sliding  them  aside  along  a  groove.  The 
little  light  and  view  of  the  sky  and  of  the  prison  walls  that  the  window 
can  afford  to  the  cell  occupant  is  considerably  diminished  by  several 
heavy  iron  bars  that  are  fixed  across  it  outside.''  The  massive  iron 
door,  thickly  studded  with  bolts  and  screws,  has  no  handle  inside, 
but  is  provided  with  a  small  glass  "spy-hole"  for  observation  pur- 
poses. A  more  or  less  inadequate  ventilating  and  heating  system  is^ 
provided;  and  incandescent  gas  (behind  a  pane  of  frosted  glass)  on 
electric  light  is  available,  though  it  is  often  not  lit  before  darkness! 
has  already  set  in.  The  cell  is,  as  a  rule,  whitewashed  once  a  year,  j 
the  lower  portion  of  the  walls  being  colour-washed.  This  process! 
does  not  usually  hide  a  collection  of  pathetic  and  in  some  cases  j 
objectionable  inscriptions  that  are  scratched  upon  the  walls  fromj 
tyne  to  time. 

\     The  most  conspicuous  object  of  the  cell  is  the  bed-board,  consisting; 

^of  two  or  three  planks  fixed  on  a  low  support,  and  measuring  about! 

(_JjyNo  feet  six  inches  by  six  feet.  This  leans  against  the  wall  in  the; 
day-time,  accompanied  by  a  hard  stuffed  pillow  in  its  white  case.! 
The  sheets,  blankets,  and  mattress  that  make  up  the  bed  (often ; 
inadequately)  are  in  some  prisons  slung  over  the  top  of  the  bed-board; 
during  the  day,  in  others  they  have  to  be  rolled  up  tightly  in  a  neat 
but  most  unhygienic  roll  that  stands  in  one  corner  under  the  window. ; 
In  this  corner,  too,  is  the  little  shelf,  on  which  have  to  be  crowded! 
the  most  precious  objects  of  the  cell — the  white  glaze  pint  pot,  thei 
salt  jar,  the  knife  and  spoon,  the  brush  and  comb,  and  perhaps  a 
tooth  brush,  a  small  allowance  of  soap  and  sanitary  paper,  the  slate  j 
and  slate  pencil,  the  religious  and  library  books,  and,  after  the; 
expiration  of  eight  weeks,  a  little  wooden  rack  to  hold  the  monthly' 
letters  from  home  and  possibly  three  or  four  photographs  of  relatives. 
Besides  this  shelf  and  its  contents,  the  only  authorised  adornment! 
of  the  walls  is  a  collection  of  printed  cards  that  hang  upon  a  nail.  I 
One  of  these  cards  contains  Church  prayers  and  formulae;  another! 
threatens  the  prisoner  with  punishment  for  improper  behaviour  or! 
for  carrying  out,  except  by  special  authority,  a  number  of  activiti'^i 

"Cells,  of  course,  vary  somewhat  according  to  the  date  of  construction  of  the  prison, 
etc.  j 

>»  The  windows  in  the  most  modern  cells  are  without  the  bars,  owing  to  the  fact  that 
sashes  can  now  be  cast  in   manganese  steel,  which  even  the  heaviest  blow  will  not  break. 


THE  DAILY  ROUTINE  97 

that  would  be  quite  innocent  in  normal  life.     A  third  explains  the 
"system  of  progressive  stages." 

On  the  floor,  opposite  the  cell  door,  are  arranged  in  symmetrical 
position  a  metal  water  can,  covered  by  an  enamel  plate,  an  earthen- 
w-are  "chamber"  with  its  metal  top,  and  a  small  tin  basin."  These 
utensils  are  flanked  by  a  brush  and  pan,  a  scrubber,  some  cleaning 
rags,  and  a  little  box  containing  brickdust  and  whitening.  At  the 
side  hangs  a  small  towel  and  a  dishcloth.  There  is  also  a  bell  handle 
(for  use  in  very  special  emergencies),  the  pulHng  of  which  raises  an 
indicator  outside  the  door  that  remains  extended  until  the  warder 
(often  after  an  interval  of  many  minutes)  comes  to  the  cell.  To 
these  items  we  have  only  to  add  the  prisoner  himself  and  the 
materials  and  implements  for  his  sewing  or  other  work.  The 
enumeration  of  the  contents  of  the  prison  cell  will  then,  we  think, 
be  complete."  And  these  contents  are,  generally  speaking,  identical 
for  every  cell  in  England,  the  arrangement  of  them  being  subject  to 
only  slight  variations  within  certain  Umits  of  choice  allowed  to  the 
{authorities  of  each  prison." 

The  Daily  Eoutine. 

I  "It  is  now  4-30  in  the  afternoon,"  the  chairman  of  the  Prison 
pommission  is  reported  as  saying  to  the  general  secretary  of  the  New 
j^ork  Prison  Association  in  the  summer  of  1911,  "and  I  know  that 
just  now,  at  every  Local  and  Convict  prison  in  England,  the  same 
things  in  general  are  being  done,  and  that  in  general  they  are  being 
pone  in  the  same  way.""  At  that  date  a  precise  uniformity  of 
rime  Table  was,  along  with  other  uniformities,  one  of  the  features 
?f  the  system.  This  uniformity  has,  since  1919,  been  somewhat 
Mtered,  owing  to  the  concession  of  an  eight-hour  day  to  the  warders. 
I^ow  the  Time  Tables  for  the  different  prisons  may  differ  slightly 
pne  from  another,  being  fixed  in  each  case  after  consultation  with 
jhe  governor  and  warders."     But  the  differences  are  not  suflScient 

0  prevent  the  account  here  given  from  being  a  substantially  accurate 
)icture  of  the  daily  routine  in  all  the  Local  prisons  of  England  and 
iVales. 

'*  Enamel   water-canj    and   basins   are   now,   we   andeistand,    being    snbstitated   for    metal 

BM. 

•*  Ontside  each  cell  door  hangs  a  board,  which  is  dirided  into  flye  compartments.  In 
liese  Tarious  cards  relating  to  the  prisoner  are  put.  These  cards  indicate  his  name  and 
ifence  (hidden  on  the  rererse  side),  his  prison  number,  the  length  of  liis  sentence,  his 
ccupation,  the  particular  tools  he  has  in  his  cell,  his  sectarian  belief,  or  lack  of  it,  and 
ie  earliest  and  latest  dates  on  which  his  sentence  may  expire.  The  lower  half  of  this 
oard  is  occupied  by  a  sheet  npon  which  the  marks  that  "he  has  earned  by  his  industry  are 
scorded.  If  a  man  be  sick  or  reported  to  the  goTernor,  or  has  a  library  catalogue;  these 
kcts  are  also  indicated  by  cards  pat  on  the  board  by  the  warder.    In  short,  on  this  board 

1  the  prisoner's  biography,  kept  continually  up  to  date. 

"  We  understand  that  the  Commissioners  offer  as  many  as  six  different  styles  of  cell 
rrangement,  out  of  which   the  Gorernor  may  choose  one  for  use   in  the  prison. 

'•"The  Treatment  of  the  Offender,"  being  the  67th  Annual  Eenort  of  the  Prison  As3»- 
-Mon   of   New   York    (1911-1912),   p.    151. 

Owin?   to   the   limitation   in   the   number    cf   the   staff,   the    eight-hour   day   for    warders 
resulted  in    less   time  being   spent  by   pri.soners   in   associated  labour   and   consequently 
■>•  confinement   to  the  celU.    This  is  a  great   hardship.    Cp.   pp.  322  and  378. 

E 


W  THE  ROUTINE 

The  rising  bell  rings  about  6-30  a.m.  The  prisoner  must  rise 
at  once,  so  as  to  put  on  his  trousers  and  shoes,  wash  his  hands  and 
face  in  the  small  basin,  roll  or  fold  up  his  bedding  and  poHsh  or 
sweep  his  floor  by  ten  minutes  to  seven,  when  he  is  supposed  to  be- 
gin his  task  of  "  cellular  "  labour — usually  the  sewing  of  post-office 
bags.  A  few  minutes  previous  to  this  the  warder  has  unlocked  his 
door,  so  that  he  can  put  out  his  "  slops  "  to  be  emptied  by  the 
prison  "cleaner"  and  his  water-can  to  be  refilled;  or  else  he  takes 
them  to  the  sanitary  "recess"  himself.  If  he  has  any  complaint 
or  request  to  make  to  cell  warder  or  governor,  to  chaplain  or  doctor, 
he  must  look  sharp  and  give  in  liis  name  now,  before  the  warder  has 
relocked  the  door  and  passed  on  to  the  next  cell.  This  is  his  only 
recognised  opportunity." 

For  about  an  hour  the  prisoner  is  expected  to  work  at  his  stitching 
or  other  task,  and  then  the  door  opens  again  and  his  pint  pot  is 
hurriedly  filled  with  the  porridge  which,  with  six  ounces  of  bread, 
forms  his  breakfast.  Once,  twice  or  three  times  a  week,  according 
to  the  nature  of  the  cell  floor,  a  bucket  of  water  (cold  water  usually); 
is  put  inside,  and  he  must  spend  his  after  breakfast  leisure  in  scrub-j 
bing  the  floor.  Every  day,  too,  either  before  or  after  breakfast,  he 
must  scrupulously  polish  up  his  tins,  and  arrange  them,  empty; 
(save  for  the  water  can)  against  the  wall,  as  already  indicated.' 
About  nine  o'clock  the  bell  rings  for  chapel.  The  doors  are  rapidly,' 
unlocked  and  the  prisoners  emerge  from  their  cells,  and  under  the! 
eyes  of  watchful  warders,  prompt  to  arrest  any  attempt  at  talking,! 
they  pass  "at  cell  distance,"  along  the  landings  into  the  Church  ot 
England  Chapel.  Here  they  have  a  service  lasting  from  fifteen  ta 
twenty  minutes,  and  an  opportunity  at  last  of  using  their  tongues  J 
as  they  join  in  the  hymn  or  prayers.  Another  march  back  to  th^ 
cell,  and  then  the  doors  are  opened  for  "exercise,"  unless,  as  id 
sometimes  the  case,  it  has  taken  place  before  breakfast. 

It  is  laid  down  that  every  prisoner  "when  employed  in  cellular  o; 
indoor  work,  shall,  when  practicable,  be  permitted  to  take  exercistj 
in  the  open  air  for  an  hour. "  "  If  the  weather  is  very  wet,  the  exerj 
cise  may  be  taken  inside  the  prison,  round  and  round  the  various  eel; 
landings,  or  it  may,  as  often  happened  during  the  war,  be  omitteo 
altogether.  To  the  man  confined  during  all  the  rest  of  the  day  t( 
cell  or  workshop,  this  brief  spell  in  the  open  air  should  be  refreshim 
indeed.  He  fills  his  lungs,  he  sees  the  faces  of  others,  he  is  undei 
the  freedom  of  the  sky;  he  has  sometimes  vegetables  and  eveil 
flower-beds  to  look  at  besides  the  stern  buildings  of  the  prison  an(| 
its  encircling  walls.  But  the  sense  of  freedom  is  to  a  very  large  exj 
tent  spoilt  by  the  character  of  the  exercise  imposed — a  monotonouj 
and  uninterrupted  perambulation  in  single  file  round  and  round  t\v 

'«  On  some  prisoners  the  nervous  strain  entailed  by  this  rule,  and  the  fear  of  for^ettirl 
it,  is  consideratile;  when  the  door  is  first  opened  in  the  morning,  the  man  has  been  i; 
solitary   confinoment   for    at    least   14   hours. 

i»  Resnlation   45.    During   the  war,  this  hour  waa  reduced,   owing  to  shortage  ol  staff 
45  or   40  minutes. 


THE  DAILY  ROUTINE  99 

(or  sometimes  three)  concentric  tracks,  under  the  orders  and  vigilant 
gaze  of  the  warders,  stationed  on  raised  platforms,  so  as  to  detect  all 
attempts  at  conversation  and  to  regulate  the  distances  between  the 
trampers.  And  the  prisoner  is  supposed  (more  particularly  if  he  is 
working  in  his  cell  during  the  day)  to  rob  himself  of  a  portion  of  his 
short  recreation  by  watching  for  an  empty  closet  and  falling  out  for 
the  performance  therein  of  his  daily  function. 

About  a  quarter  past  ten  "Lead  in"  is  sounded  by  one  of  the 
senior  warders,  and  there  is  a  general  march  back  to  the  cells.  It  is 
a  rule  that  every  man  after  entering  his  cell  must  close  his  door, 
which  locks  automatically  upon  him.  Here,  if  he  is  in  the  first 
month  of  "hard  labour,"  he  sits  until  noon  at  his  solitary  task, 
stitching  mail  bags  (the  most  usual  occupation)  or  coal  sacks,  or 
possibly  picking  oakum.  Otherwise  he  lines  up  in  the  hall  with 
the  others,  to  be  marched  off  to  a  workshop  for  a  spell  of  work  in 
"silent  association"  under  the  strict  supervision  of  a  warder.  During 
the  course  of  the  morning  the  governor  rapidly  passes  round  the 
prison  on  his  daily  inspection ;  but  it  is  most  exceptional  for  him  to 
speak  to  a  prisoner,  apart  perhaps  from  a  formal  "All  right?"  unless 
there  is  something  obviously  at  fault. ^* 

At  noon  the  dinner  trays  appear,   and  the  warders,  with  two  or 
i  three  prisoner  assistants,  rush  round  the  prison  hurriedly  opening 
j  and  closing  the  cell  doors,  so  as  to  thrust  in  the  double  tin  containing 
!  the  chief  meal  of  the  day.     About   foiiiy  minutes  are   allowed  for 
I  dinner,  and  then  the  prisoner  (if  in  his  first  month  of  "hard  labour") 
is  expected  to  resume  his  solitary  cell-labour  until  supper  time.     If 
jhe  is  "on  association"  he  may  continue  his   mid-day  pause  until 
j  half-past  one,  when  he  is  allowed  out  again  for  a  second  and  longer 
spell  of  workshop  labour  until  about  4-15  p.m.     Once  this  is  over, 
ithe  only  other  incident  of  the  day  is  the  brief  opening  of  the  door 
some  ten  minutes  later,  when  an  allowance  of  cocoa  and  bread,  with 
two  or  sometimes  three  ounces  of  some  relish  is  handed  in  to  him 
for  supper.         The   door   closes,    and,    except   under   most    extra- 
ordinary circumstances,   such  as  the  rare  visit  of   the  chaplain,  it 
•cannot  be  expected  to  open  again  for  over  fourteen  hours — imtil, 
about  seven  next  morning,  the  warder  breaks   in  once  more   upon 
the  lonely  man  with  the  dreary  order:  "Slops  outside." 

At  least  two  hours  of  the  four  that  now  elapse  between  supper 
and  bed-time  "  are  supposed  to  be  spent  in  labour,  so  as  to  complete 
the  full  number  of  prescribed  hours."  In  practice,  however,  there 
8  a  certain  fixed  daily  task  (e.g.,  so  many  bags  or  sacks)  allotted, 
md  the  man  who  is  expert  and  diligent  enough  to  complete  his  task 
3y  supper-time  can,  in  some  prisons  at  any  rate,  spend  most  of  the 

*•  See   a   description  of    this   Inspection,  pp.  365  and  366. 

*'  Until  recently     there  were  only  three  hours,  as   "lights  out"  and  rising  were  both  fixed 
j.n    hour   earlier    (8    p.m.    and   5.30   a.m.) 

H.'*"**"  •'°'"''  per  diem  (exclusive  of  meah,  etc.)  lor  male  prisoners  at  hard  labour  durins 
|ne  first  month.  Nearly  nine  hours  for  other  prisoner.',  who  are  "on  asjociation."  See 
•esulations  39  k  40  and  the  8.0.  quoted  on  p.  112  of  the  P.C   Report  for   1911-12. 


100  THE  ROUTINE 

evening  hours  in  reading  his  Bible  or  other  book,  in  pacing  round 
his  cell,  writing  rhymes  or  blasphemies  upon  his  slate,  or  occupying 
his  vacancy  in  any  other  of  the  very  limited,  means  that  a  cell 
affords.  Outside  "the  prison  wards  are  bare  and  silent,  and  dark 
except  for  a  beam  of  light  at  every  cell  lamphole.  They  are  un- 
frequented, save  for  the  night-warder,  who  moves  in  felt  slippers, 
and  peers  in  at  the  cell  spyhole  as  he  works  his  way  up  the  long 
landings  from  cell  to  cell.  From  the  inside  of  the  cell  one  hears 
nothing  of  him  except  a  click  of  the  spyhole  shutter  and  the  dry 
dragging  sound  of  the  slippers.""  In  this  way  the  caged  man  is 
never  certain  of  privacy ;  and  he  is  always  hable  to  be  threatened  by 
a  harsh  voice  with  punishment  next  day  if,  for  instance,  he  is  not 
working  (even  though  his  task  be  completed)  during  the  prescribed 
hours,  or  if  he  has  taken  down  his  bed  before  the  final  bell  rings, 
or  is  suspected  of  communicating  with  his  neighbour  by  standing! 
on  his  stool  at  the  window  "  or  rapping  on  the  wall.  I 

At  nine  o'clock  the  bell  rings  for  "Lights  out";  the  gas  is  soon 
extinguished  by  the  patrol  warder,  and  the  prisoner  is  left  for  nine! 
and  a  half  hours  to  sleep  or  dream  or  fret  away  the  night  on  hisi 
narrow  bed-board,  until  once  again  he  starts  on  his  dreary  round! 
of  morning  tasks.  \ 

The  preceding  paragraphs  give  a  pretty  exact  description  of  the! 
routine  which  repeats  itself  day  after  day,  with  the  sole  exceptiorj 
of  Sundays,"  in  the  experience  of  every  "offender  of  the  thirdj 
division"  (whether  a  "first  offender"  or  not),  unless  he  be  fortunatti 
enough  to  have  one  of  the  very  limited  forms  of  labour,  such  afl 
gardening,  or  "cleaning,"  which  gives  him  a  variety  of  tasks  ir 
different  parts  of  the  buildings  and  grounds. 

The  "Hard  Labour"  Eeqime. 

The  differences  between  the  sentence  "with  hard  labour"  and  thai 
without  it  are  concentrated  in  the  first  month.  The  hard  labou 
sentence  carries  with  it  the  additional  penalties  of  (1)  a  plank  bedi 
that  is  to  say,  deprivation  of  the  mattress  for  the  initial  fourteei 
days,"  (2)  "strict  separation"  in  the  cell,  and  no  work  in  "associa 
tion"  for  the  first  four  weeks,  and  (3)  during  the  same  period  ;i 
slightly  longer  day's  work — ten  hours  instead  of  8 J  hours.     Thesj 

'»  Our  quotation  is  from  an  ex-prisoner;  E.  W.  Mason:  "Made  Free  in  Prison"  {191Si 
p.   158.  j 

'*  In  at  least  one  instance  we  know  of  prisoners  being  punished  for  this  offence,  whe 
listening   eagerly  for  the  distant  sounds   of  Carol-singers  at   Christmas  time.    See  p.   232. 

'*  On  Saturday  afternoons  the  prisoner  has  to  work  alone  in  his  cell,  instead  of  in  tt 
shop.  Since  March,  1921,  we  understand,  as  some  compensation  for  this,  an  addition; 
period  of  exercise  has  been  introduced  on  Saturdays  in  some  prisons,  lor  certain  classil 
of   prisoners,   particularly    the   young   prisoners. 

J«  The  effect  of  the  plank  bed  on  prisoners  varies,  of  course,  greatly.  We  quote,  wit!i 
out  comment  the  view  of  a  Prison  Governor  on  this  matter:— "In  my  opinion,  reports  (i-; 
for  punishment)  would  further  diraini.sh,  if  all  male  prisoners  were  supplied  with  • 
mattress;  idleness  during  the  first  week  or  two  of  a  man's  sentence  is  the  principal  oftenc, 
and  I  believe  it  arises  largely  from  want  of  rest  at  night,  when  on  a  plank  bed."  (P-"! 
Report,   1902-3,  p.  460.) 


J 


SOME   BREAKS    IN    THE   MONOTONY  101 

differences  do  not  apply  to  women,  who  have  their  mattress  and 
their  association  from  the  first,  whether  sentenced  to  "hard  labour" 
or  not.  Nor  do  women  now  pick  oakum.  After  the  first  month 
there  is  no  practical  difference  between  the  "hard  labour"  prisoner 
and  the  other  third  division  offenders — a  fact,  as  has  been  pointed 
out,  that  is  often  unknown  or  forgotten  by  the  magistrates  and 
judges  who  award  sentences. 

"Strict  separation,"  as  applied  during  the  first  month  of  "hard 
labour,"  means,  in  practice,  that  a  man  is  locked  up  alone  in  his  cell 
on  each  week-day  for  nearly  twenty-three  hours  out  of  the  twenty- 
four;  the  cell  door  being  opened  during  that  period  only  nine  times 
at  most,  viz.,  once  for  an  hour's  exercise,  once  for  twenty  minutes' 
;  chapel,  three  times  for  the  admission  of  meals,  once,  (or  twice)  for 
emptying  "slops,"  once  for  the  governor's  formal  inspection,  and 
once,  when  the  instructor  comes  to  take  away  the  work  done,  and 
to  bring  fresh  materials.       When  it  is  realised  that  none  of  these 
breaks  afford  any  opportunity   for  conversation,    the    demorahsing 
monotony  of  such  an  existence  should  not  need  emphasising.     On 
'  the  other  hand,  the  advantages  of  "associated"  over  solitary  labour 
i  are  not  as  great  as  might  be  supposed,  at  any  rate  under  a  warder 
i  who  secures  observance  of  the  enforced  silence.     It  may  indeed  be 
I  a  relief  to  see  one's  fellows  and  to  move  about  from  one's  cell  to  the 
'  workshop  and  back  again;  but  some  persons,  notwithstanding,  prefer 
I  the  privacy  of  their  cell  to  being  always  under  the  eye  of  an  officer, 
among  men  with  whom  every  form   of  intercourse  is  rigidly  for- 
bidden. 

[  Some  Breaks  in  the  Monotony. 

j  The  rigid  daily  routine,  which  has  been  described,  is  modified 
■slightly,  but  only  slightly,  in  two  different  ways;  first,  by  certain 
j  periodic  incidents  which  are  liable  to  occur  during  every  week  of  the 
sentence;  and  secondly,  by  what  is  known  as  the  "System  of  Pro- 
igressive  Stages." 

In  default  of  other  exciting  events,  the  weekly  bath  and  the  weekly 
i change  of  "washing"  often  loom  largely  above  the  horizon  of  a 
[prisoner's  life.  To  men  who  are  not  afraid  of  warm  water  the 
'excursion  to  the  prison  bath  is  a  comforting  and  enjoyable  incident, 
though  enjoyment  is  in  many  cases  a  good  deal  spoilt  by  the  short- 
■ness  of  the  time  allowed.  And  once  a  week  a  change  of  shirt, 
handkerchief,  socks,  and  towel  is  thrust  into  each  man's  cell;  the 
vest  and  pants  being  changed  every  fortnight.  The  third  division 
prisoner  has  no  private  "kit";  but  all  these  articles  circulate  in- 
discriminately throughout  the  prison.  This  unhygienic  practice  (for 
the  V*  ashing  of  underclothing  is  often  quite  inadequate)  has  some 
'cMnpensations,  in  that  it  affords  an  element  of  exciting  speculation 
'as  to  the  possible  size  and  good  condition  of  the  garments  which 
chance  allots  to  each  individual  prisoner.  A  more  unpleasant 
break  in  the  usual  monotony  (occurring  sometimes  once  a  fortnight, 


102 


THE  ROUTINE 


sometimes  rather  less  often)  is  the  "surprise"  search  by  two 
officers  of  the  prisoner's  cell  and  person  for  the  detection  of 
"prohibited  articles,"  i.e.,  anything  whatever  which  is  not  included 
in  the  official  dress  and  equipment.  The  clothing  of  prisoners  is 
similarly  searched  when  they  return  from  labour  in  the  prison 
grounds.  Contraband  articles  are  often  found,  but  experienced 
prisoners  can  generally  evade  discovery. 

The  periodic  visit  of  the  chaplain  ought  to  be  a  much  more 
important  event  than  those  which  we  have  just  mentioned,  and  it 
is  doubtless  welcomed  by  almost  every  prisoner  as  an  opportunity 
for  a  little  general  conversation  with  a  fellow-man,  if  for  nothing 
more.  Unfortunately,  however,  owing  to  want  of  time  and  tlie 
large  number  of  men  under  his  charge,  the  chaplain's  visits  to  the 
ordinary  prisoner*'  are  usually  short  and  infrequent.  A  man  would 
be  exceptionally  lucky  if  he  had  a  ten  minutes'  visit  every  two  or 
three  weeks ;  and  what  is  such  a  short  period  to  one  who  is  otherwise 
officially  condemned  to  perpetual  silence?  There  are,  it  is  true, 
the  surreptitious  whisperings  to  fellow  prisoners.  And  there  may 
occasionally  be  an  opportunity  for  a  few  friendly  words  with  a 
warder;  but,  if  so,  this  is  in  spite  of  the  regulations,  which  provide 
that  "an  officer  shall  not  speak  to  a  prisoner  unnecessarily"  and 
"shall  not  allow  any  familiarity  on  the  part  of  a  prisoner  towards 
himself  or  any  other  officer.  "  " 

"Were  they  more  frequent,  addresses  given  by  well-equipped 
lecturers  would  be  to  many  perhaps  the  greatest  relaxation  of  prison 
life.  Until  recently,  however,  there  were  practically  no  prisons 
where  the  adult  male  prisoner  could  attend  a  lecture  more  often  than 
once  in  three  months.  Now,  however,  we  believe  that  it  has  been 
found  possible  in  a  few  prisons  to  arrange  for  an  hour's  lecture  for 
most  prisoners  once  a  month,  or  even  once'  a  fortnight. 


>■/ 


The  Prison  Sunday. 

"We  have  so  far  omitted  to  deal  with  the  Prison  Sunday;  but  un-' 
fortunately  that  day  usually  affords  no  compensation  at  all  for  the 
monotony  of  the  rest  of  the  week.  Saturday  night  lasts  for  ten 
hours — for  the  Sunday  bell  rings  later,  about  7  o'clock. 
There  is  no  Sunday  "workshop,"  nothing  but  meals,  chapel,  and 
exercise — the  dreary  exercise  on  the  circular  track. 

All  prisoners,  except  the  few  employed  on  such  a  task  as  cooking, 
spend  the  whole  of  the  week-end  from  noon  on  Saturday  until 
exercise  on  Monday  in  the  solitude  of  their  cells,  with  the  exception 
of  two  Church  of  England  services  lasting  about  an  hour  each,  and 
a  bare  thirty  minutes'  "exercise"  allowed    on    Sunday    morning." 


2'  i.e.,  apart  from  those  who  are  sick,  or  under  panishment,  or  being,  e.g.,  prepared  lor 
confirmation. 

3«  Regulation    114. 

3»  Since  March,  1921,  an  additional  period  of  exercise  has  been  introduced  on  Sunday* 
in  some  prisons,   for  certain  classes   of  prisoners,  particularly   the  younger  prisoners. 


r\sY. 


TEE    SYSTEM    OF    PBOGRESSIVE    STAGES     ff  f  yn^      ^ 


i  ^ 


They  are  allowed,  if  they  wish,  to  work  in  their  cells  at  their  weekly 
task,  and  this  option,  owing  to  the  excessive  monotony  of  the  day, . 
is  welcomed  by  many  prisoners.  Attendance  at  chapel  services  is 
optional  (that  is  to  say,  a  man  must  either  go  to  all  chapels  or  none 
at  all);  here  again  it  is  probably  the  fact  that  Sunday  would  other- 
wise be  a  day  of  unbroken  solitary  confinement  that  causes  the  great 
majority  of  men  to  attend  the  church,  jservices.  Prisoners  have  no 
Sunday  exercise  during  the  first  month  of  their  sentence,  unless  they  ' 
have  elected  to  be  absent  from  all  chapels.  Men  who  are  content 
to  laze,  or  who  can  take  sufficient  interest  in  the  few  books  which 
have  been  allotted  to  them,  doubtless  look  forward  to  their  weekly 
"day  of  rest";  but  to  others  Sunday  is,  as  we  have  had  it  described 
by  many  prisoners,  as  well  as  by  warders  and  chaplains,  the  "worst 
day  in  the  week." 

The  System  of  Progressive  Stages. 

The  remaining  variations  of  the  routine,  which  characterises  the 
first  month  of  every  sentence  in  the  third  division,  arise  from  the 
"System  of  Progressive  Stages."  The  object  of  this  device  is  best 
described  in  the  words  of  Sir  Edmund  Du  Cane,  the  Commissioner 
under  whose  regime  it  was  introduced'":  — 

The  principle  on  which  this  system  is  founded  is  that  of  setting  before 
prisoners  the  advantages  of  good  conduct  and  industry,  by  enabling  them 
to  gain  certain  privileges  or  modifications  of  the  penal  character  of  the 
sentence  by  the  exertion  of  these  qualities.  Commencing  with  severe 
penal  labour — hard  fare  and  a  hard  bed — the  prisoner  can  gradually 
advance  to  more  intere.sting  employment,  somewhat  more  material  com- 
fort, full  use  of  library  books,  the  privilege  of  communication  by  letter 
and  word  with  his  friends ;  finally  the  advantage  of  a  moderate  sum  of 
money  to  start  again  on  his  discharge  '*....  His  daily  progress 
towards  these  objects  is  recorded  by  the  award  of  marks^  and  any  failure 
in  industry  or  conduct  is  in  the  same  way  visited  on  him  by  forfeiture 
of  marks,  and  consequent  postponement  or  diminution  of  the  prescribed 
privileges.'^ 

Reserving  punishments  for  later  treatment,  we  will  assume  that 
the  prisoner  consistently  succeeds  in  gaining  the  full  number  of  56 
marks  obtainable  for  his  task  of  labour  and  for  good  conduct  under 
the  stage  system;  the  amount  of  the  task  appears  to  vary  in  an  in- 
equitable way,  but  the  majority  of  prisoners  get  full  marks  without 

'•  The  Stage  and  Mark  system  was  adopted  by  the  ConTict  Prison  Directors  under  the 
Penal  SerTitude  Act  of  1857,  having  been  first  introduced  in  Australasia  by  Governor 
Maconochie,  of  Norfolk  Island.  The  privileges  that  could  be  gained  in  Sir  E.  Du  Cane's 
day  were  somewhat  less  extensive  than  those  of  to-day,  but  the  system  with  its  four  stages 
has  remained  substantially  the  same  since  its  introduction  in  1878.  (See  the  Report  of 
the  P.C,  1878,  Appendix   12.) 

"  The  right  of  a  well-conducted  prisoner  to  his  gratuity  has  now  been  abolished,  but 
•n  the  other  hand,  since  1907,  if  his  sentence  is  over  one  month,  he  has  been  able  to 
«»rn  a  remission  of  one-sixth  of  its   duration. 

'^  Sir  E.  Du  Cane:  "Punishment  and  Prevention  of  Crime"  (1885).  p.  77.  It  may  be 
observed  that  the  present  progressive  variations  of  the  treatment  are  tiased  partly  on  the 
principle  that  a  sharp  lesson  or  shock  must  be  administered  to  all  offenders  at  the 
beginning  of  their  sentence,  and  in  the  case  of  the  very  numerous  prisoners,  who  have  very 
short  sentences   (i.e.,  of  a  month  or  less),  throughout  their  sentence.    (See  pp.   503-7.) 


104  THE  ROUTINE 

much  difficulty.  With  this  assumption  each  of  the  first  three  stages 
will  last  four  weeks  successively.  The  ix>utine  of  the  first 
stage  has  been  already  described.  "When  the  prisoner  receives 
the  stripe  on  his  arm,  which  marks  his  entrance  into  the  second  stage, 
he  will,  if  he  has  a  "hard  labour"  sentence,  start  on  associated  labour 
in  the  workshop  or  elsewhere;  if  he  is  illiterate,  or  almost  so  (but 
not  otherwise),  he  will  be  eligible  for  short  periods  of  school  instruc- 
tion; he  will  secure  half-an-hour's  exercise  on  Sunday;  he  may 
keep  in  his  cell  if  he  makes  special  application,  four  photographs 
of  relatives  or  friends;  and  he  will  have  issued  to  him,  with  a  limited 
opportunity  for  choice,  one  work  of  fiction,  which  may  be  changed 
weekly,  together  with  a  fresh  "educational  book,"  of  which  a  fort- 
nightly change  at  most  is  allowed  him.  Entrance  into  the  third 
Btage  (after  eight  weeks  from  conviction)  is  marked  by  the  addition 
pf  a  second  library  book  to  the  weekly  allowance,  as  well  as  by  the 
first  opportunity  for  communicating  with  family  or  friends.  A  visit 
of  twenty  minutes'  duration  is  allowed,  and  the  prisoner  may  write 
a  letter  and  receive  a  reply  to  it.  A  second  letter  and  reply  may  be 
obtained  in  lieu  of  the  visit. 

The  fourth  stage  is  reached  by  the  well-conducted  prisoner  at  the 
end  of  twelve  weeks,  and  with  it  he  obtains  all  the  privileges  that 
can  be  gained  as  a  matter  of  right  in  a  Local  prison,  even  for  a  man 
with  a  two  years'  sentence."  The  only  thing  (apart  from  the  addi- 
tional stripe)  that  distinguishes  this  stage  from  the  previous  one  is 
that  six  weeks  subsequently  to  the  first  letter  and  first  visit,  a  second 
letter  and  second  visit  are  allowed.  Thereafter  these  letters  and 
visits  become  obtainable  at  the  end  of  each  succeeding  four  weeks. 
In  this  final  stage  the  visits  may  last  for  half-an-hour.  All 
letters  and  replies  are  subject  to  censorship.  Visits  take  place  in 
the  presence  or  neighbourhood  of  a  warder,  and  all  contact  between 
the  visitor  and  the  prisoner  is  prevented  by  a  wire  netting  or  by  two 
rows  of  bars  with  a  space  between.  (We  understand  that  arrange- 
ments are  now  being  made  to  enable  prisoners  to  see  visitors  without 
these  barriers). 

We  have  now,  we  believe,  described  with  fair  completeness  all  the 
outstanding  features  in  the  life  of  the  well-conducted  "local" 
prisoner,  whether  he  remains  in  the  prison  for  three  or  for  twenty 
months.  That  it  should  be  possible  to  describe  the  external  features 
of  his  life  so  completely  in  a  few  pages  is  evidence  of  the  extent  to 
which  imprisonment  has  been  reduced  to  a  regulated  and  uniform 
standard. 

"The  paralysing  immobility  of  a  life,  every  circumstance  of  which 
is  regulated  after  an  unchangeable  pattern,  so  that  we  eat  and  drink 
and  lie  down  and  pray,  or  kneel  at  least  for  prayer,  according  to  the 

"  A   prisoner  who    remains   after    six   months    may   now    possibly   be  allowed   a  note  bcok 
and   pencil   "lor  purposes  of  special  stndy,"  and  he  may  get  one  of   the  coteted  "red  band 
occupations,  e.g.,   in    the  library   or   the  garden. 


DISCHARGE  105 

inflexible  laws  of  an  iron  formula :  this  immobile  quality  that  makes 
each  dreadful  day  in  the  very  minutest  detail  like  its  brother  .  .  ." " 
— this  feature  at  any  rate  of  Oscar  Wilde's  powerful  indictment  of 
the  prison  regime  remains,  in  spite  of  recent  improvements,  almost 
as  true  to-day  as  when  "De  Profundis"  was  written  a  quarter  of  a 
centurj'  ago. 

Discharge. 

Every  prisoner,  whose  sentence  exceeds  a  calendar  month,  ig 
released  when  five-sixths  of  his  sentence  has  expired,  unless  he  has, 
by  idleness  or  bad  conduct,  forfeited  the  whole  or  a  part  of  his 
remission.**  And  even  the  most  idle  or  rebellious  prisoner  reaches 
at  length  the  day  of  his  discharge,  which  cannot,  except  in  cases  of 
insanity  or  dangerous  illness,  be  postponed  beyond  the  date  fixed  by 
the  law.  On  the  day  before  the  discharge  he  is  examined  by  the 
doctor,  and  admonished  by  the  chaplain  and  possibly  by  the  governor. 
By  means  of  a  card  that  has  been  hanging  in  his  cell  he  has  already 
been  made  aware  that  he  is  entitled  to  apply  to  the  Discharged 
Prisoners'  Aid  Society;  and  he  has  probably  been  interviewed  by 
the  representative  of  the  Society,  in  case  he  wishes  for  assistance 
in  securing  employment,  lodging,  or  temporary  maintenance. 

On  the  eventful  morning  of  his  discharge  the  prisoner  does  not 
emerge  with  the  rest  for  exercise  or  chapel,  but  is  brought  down  to 
the  "Reception"  cells,  and  there  once  more  puts  on  his  own  clothing 
and  receives  back  any  money  or  personal  property  which  he  had 
with  him  on  admission.  Then  he  is  ushered  forth  again  into 
the  world  outside  the  prison  gates  alone,  or  to  be  met,  it  may  be  by 
his  own  relations  or  friends,  or  possibly  by  the  Agent  of  the  Aid 
Society.  Where  he  is  unable  to  reach  his  destination  on  foot  by 
midday,  he  may  be  given  a  railway  warrant  to  his  home  or  to  the 
place  of  his  conviction,  "whichever  is  nearest."** 


»<  Wilde:    "De    Profundis"   P-   22. 

"This  15  the  actual  practice,  under  Rule  37  (A),  which  runs  as  loUows: — A  conTicted 
prisoner  sentenced  to  imprisonment,  whether  by  one  sentence  or  cnmnlatire  sentences 
for  a  period  exceeding  one  calendar  month,  shall  be  eligible,  by  special  industry  and  good 
conduct,  to  earn  a  remission  of  a  portion  of  the  imprisonment  not  exceeding  one-sixth  of 
the  who!e  sentence. 

This  Rule,  in  its  present  form,  was  introduced  in  1907.  Up  to  1899,  prisoners  in  Local 
prisons  always  had  to  serre  their  full  sentence.  The  introduction  and  extension  of  th» 
conditional  remission  of  sentence  were  welcomed  by  Prison  Gorernors,  who  frequently 
asserted  in  their  Reports  that  it  wa;  a  powerful  incentire  to  industry  and  ?ood  conduct. 
It  should  be  obserred  that  in  Local  prisons  the  discharge  before  the  expiration  of  the 
actual  sentence  is  not  accompanied,  as  is  the  case  with  conricts,  by  any  restrictions  (as 
regards  reporting   to    the   police,  etc.)    after  release. 

"  S.O.  117  (1911),  which  adds,  howerer,  "In  the  case  of  prisoners  of  the  ragrant  class, 
whose  object  may  be  to  continue  their  journey  at  the  public  expense,  the  GoTernor  may 
withhold  the  fare  altogether,  or,  if  he  thinks  fit,  gire  a  warrant  to  the  place  of  con- 
Tiction." 

Where  a  prisoner's  fare  is  paid,  it  is  usual  for  a  warder  in  plain  clothes  to  accompany 
him   to  the  railway   station. 


106  THE  ROUTINE 


SOME    OF     THE     PRINCIPAL    DEFECTS     INDICATED     IN     THE 
PRECEDING    CHAPTER. 


1. — The   rigid    and    monotonous   uniformity;    the   obtrusive    and    military- 
discipline. 

2. — The  suppression  of  choice  and  personality,  the  treatment  of  men  and 
women  merely  as  bodies  ;  the  absence  of  individualisation. 

3. — The  atmosphere  of  distrust  and  deceit. 
4. — The  depressing  "bareness"  of  the  solitary  cell. 
5. — The  17  to  23  hours  of  daily  solitude. 
6. — The  constant  lack  of  privacy, 
7. — The  rule  of  perpetual  silence. 

8. — The  neglect  to  inform  a  prisoner  of  his  "privileges." 
9. — The   transformation,   under   the    Stage   system,    of   elementary    right* 
into  rewards. 


THE  BOUTINE  107 

Appendix  to  Chapter  Six. 

THE  PRISONER'S  IGNORANCE  OF  "PRIVILEGES." 


One  of  the  most  frequent  complaints  made  by  ex-prisoners  ia  the  ignorance 
in  which  they  are  kept  of  the  "privileges"  to  which  they  are  entitled.  Often 
they  speak  of  this  feature  of  their  experiences  with  intense  bitterness,  due 
no  doubt  to  the  fact  that  the  prison  routine  is  so  monotonous  and  prison 
existence  so  bare  that  any  relief  becomes  a  matter  of  great  importance. 

The  cards  which  hang  on  the  cell  wall  contain  a  long  list  of  prohibitions, 
but,  except  for  the  minimum  "rewards"  connected  with  the  Progressive 
Stage  System,  little  information  is  given  of  the  few  obtainable  variations 
of  the  rigid  regime,  and  even  when  such  information  is  given  it  is  sometimes 
so  worded  that  its  significance  is  not  clear. 

The  first  rule  on  the  cell  card  is  the  command  :  "Prisoners  shall  preserve 
silence."  Many  prisoners  at  first  interpret  this  as  meaning  that  they  must 
never  address,  not  merely  their  fellow-prisoners,  but  the  officers,  and  con- 
sequently refrain  from  consulting  them  about  matters  of  the  routine  which 
often  cause  them  much  anxiety  during  the  early  days  of  their  sentence. 
"When  I  entered  prison,"  says  one  ex-prisoner,  "I  endured  much  unnecessary 
misery  because  I  thought  I  should  be  reprimanded  if  I  asked  the  warder 
about  things  which  I  did  not  understand."  One  of  the  early  anxieties  of 
prisoners  is  their  inability  to  complete  the  regulation  "task"  at  their  work. 
They  are  rarely  told  that  the  Standing  Orders  insist  that  the  instructor  shall 
give  them  a  proper  opportunity  to  become  proficient  before  expecting  the 
full  "task." 

One  of  the  early  "privileges"  unrealised  by  most  prisoners,  owing  to  the 
obscure  wording  of  the  Library  Books  Card,  is  the  possibility  of  obtaining 
books  of  moral  or  religious  instruction  and  "schoolbooks,"  in  addition  to 
the  "education  book,"  allowed  during  the  first  mouth.  Nor  do  many 
prisoners  know  that  they  may  change  their  "education  book"  after  a  fort- 
night, whilst  almost  all  are  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  they  can  have  it 
changed  by  application  to  the  chaplain  if  it  is  unsuitable  or  if  they  specially 
desire  some  other  educational  work.  Another  little  known  "privilege"  in 
connection  with  books  is  the  possibility  of  obtaining  books  from  outside  the 
prison  if  friends  are  ready  to  give  them  to  the  prison  library. 

Turning  to  matters  of  cleanliness  and  sanitation,  prisoners  have  often  been 
left  ignorant  of  the  possibility  of  obtaining  a  toothbrush,  whilst  the  fact 
that  they  can  borrow  a  pair  of  nail  scissors  from  the  landing  officer  is  scarcely 
ever  known.  Many  prisoners  at  first  are  also  unaware  that  by  ringing  the 
cell  bell  they  can  obtain  permission  to  go  to  the  w.c. 

One  of  the  cruellest  features  of  imprisonment  is  the  isolation  from  home 
and  relatives,  yet  prisoners  are  often  not  informed  even  of  little  relaxations 
which  ease  this  hardship.  There  is  a  Standing  Order,  for  instance,  which 
permits  prisoners  to  have  four  photographs  of  relatives  in  their  cells  when 
they  have  completed  a  month  of  their  sentence  ;  it  is  very  rarely  that  they 
are  informed  of  this  officially.  If  they  learn  of  the  "privilege,"  it  is  gener- 
ally through  illicit  conversation  with  other  prisoners.  More  serious,  some- 
times, is  the  prisoners'  ignorance  of  the  fact  that  they  can  obtain  permission 
to  write  special  letters  on  urgent  domestic  or  business  matters,  whilst  the 


108  THE  ROUTINE 

printed  instructions  which  hang  on  the  wall  do  not  even  acquaint  a  prisoner 
that  he  is  allowed  to  receive  and  write  a  letter  in  lieu  of  a  visit. 

Another  "privilege"  unknown  to  prisoners  is  their  right  to  make  any 
complaint  or  application  to  a  Visiting  Magistrate  privately.  Even  the  fact 
that  they  may  see  a  minister  of  their  own  religious  denomination  in  private 
is  not  known  to  many.  Least  known  of  all  the  "privileges,"  perhaps,  is 
the  power  which  the  Standing  Orders  give  to  governors  to  permit  prisoners 
who  have  served  12  months  in  prison  to  converse  at  exercise. 

The  failure  to  acquaint  prisoners  with  their  "privileges"  is  no  doubt 
lai'gely  due  to  a  reluctance  on  the  jiai  t  of  the  officials  to  make  any  modifica- 
tions of  the  routine  which  demand  extra  thought  and  effort.  They  run  ia 
the  groove  so  constantly  that  they  can  with  difficulty  get  out  of  it.  But  the 
suppression  of  prisoners'  "privileges"  is  also  undoubtedly  due  to  shortness 
of  staff  owing  to  motives  of  economy.  Every  little  relaxation  requires  per- 
sonal attention  and  supervision  on  the  part  of  some  officer  (and  generally 
more  than  one),  with  the  result  that  such  changes  in  the  customary  routine 
are  restricted  to  the  minimum.  So  long  as  the  present  system  of  discipline 
persists,  this  tendency  would  seem  inevitable,  but,  even  so,  prisoners  have 
just  as  much  right  to  be  informed  of  their  "privileges"  as  of  their  punish- 
ments, and  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  why  a  card  of  things  permissible 
should  not  hang  side  by  side  with  the  card  of  things  prohibited. 


/ 

CHAPTER  VII 


tj 


A^u-^ul 


PRISON   LABOUE 

Pbisok^  jnduatries  are^unsatisfactory  from  almost  every  point,  of 
view.-    They  are  of  the  most  elementary  character  and  are  performed 
in  a  crude,  amatemish  way.     Only  in  a  very  few  instances  are  they  ' 
of  any  educational  value  to  the  prisoner,  whilst  they  are  a  serious 
economic  loss  to  the  nation.     The  "instructors"  are  rarely  trained 
men,  and  efficient  machinery  and  equipment    are    almost    entirely 
lacking-        The  workshops  are  frequently  poor,   and  the  prisoners/ ,        Z 
"work  under  conditions  which  give  them  little  interest  in  their  labours  /;^i*^^ 
and  no  incentive  to  do  well.  -^  ^^ 

The  Three  C.\tegories  of  Labour. 
The  oflficial  statistics  divide  the  employment  in  Local  prisons  into 
three  main  categories  :  Manufactures,  building,  and  domestic  service. 

Those  engaged  in  domestic  service  comprise  cooks,'  gardeners, 
stokers,  laundry  workers  (women  when  available),  hospital  orderlies, 
and  "cleaners, "  as  the  prisoners  are  called  who  are  engaged  in  clean- 
ing the  halls,  distributing  the  food,  and  otherwise  assisting  the 
oflScers.  The  "cleaners,"  despite  the  disagreeable  nature  of  some  of 
their  duties,  are  considered  among  the  most  favoured  of  prisoners, 
since  they  have  a  greater  sense  of  liberty  than  those  who  are  confined 
to  the  workshop,  they  are  frequently  able  to  seciure  for  themselves 
any  surplus  food,  and,  by  their  constant  contact  with  the  landing 
officer,  they  often  succeed  in  breaking  through  his  ofiicial  reserve 
and  in  gaining  a  more  or  less  favoured  position.  The  work  of 
"cleaner"  in  the  Reception  Hall  is  particularly  prized,  since, 
despite  every  precaution  that  may  be  taken,  it  provides  obvious 
opportunities  for  securing  tobacco,  newspapers,  and  other  forbidden 
articles  from  the  outside  world. 

Officers  generally  select  their  "cleaners"  from  among  the 
"habituals"  on  account  of  the  fact  that  they  "know  the  ropes." 
"The  man  who  adopts  crime  as  his  vocation  is  by  no  means  a  use- 
less person  in  prison,"  remarks  Dr.  R.  F.  Quinton.  "It  is  to  him 
chiefly  that  prisons  are  indebted  for  that  shining  cleanliness  which 
characterises  them.     He  scrubs  the  floors,  polishes  the  iron  work, 

>  Some  ex-prisoner  witnesses  romplain  that  although  the  prisoners  who  are  employed  in 
the  kitchen  work  all  Satnrda;  afternoon  and  en  Sundays,  they  have  the  same 
cell  "tasks"  as   other  prisoners,  and  consequently  are  compelled  to  work  seven  days  a  week. 


110  PRISON  LABOUR 

and  is  ready  and  expert  at  all  the  hundred  and  one  jobs  which 
ordinarily  devolve  on  the  housemaid.  ...  All  these  duties  he 
performs  with  readiness  and  alacrity  under  the  supervision  of  his 
officers,  who,  for  the  most  part,  prefer  an  old  hand  for  these 
purposes."*  One  of  our  ex-prisoner  witnesses  gives  particulars  of 
a  case  where  a  landing  officer  keeps  the  position  of  "cleaner"  open 
for  a  certain  habitual  prisoner  whenever  he  is  discharged,  knowing 
that  he  is  certain  to  return  within  a  short  time.' 

The  category  of  Building  has  reference  only  to  the  premises  them- 
selves, and  ordinarily  accounts  for  few  men,  but  during  1920-21 
a  large  number  of  prisoners  were  employed  on  a  housing  scheme 
for  officers'  quarters,  the  daily  average  of  such  workers  being  324. 
Practically  all  prison  alterations  and  repairs  are  done  by  prison 
labour,  and  sometimes  quite  ambitious  schemes,  such  as  the  erection 
of  the  fine  chapel  at  Wormwood  Scrubbs,  are  carried  out. 

Under  the  remaining  heading  of  Manufactures  we  find  the 
following  trades  represented  in  the  1920-21  returns:  — 

Bakers 62  Nose   bag   makers    -       -       -  185 

Basketmakers      -      -       -      -  51  Oakum  pickers          -      -       -  156 

Bedmakers 201  Pickers   and    sorters       -       -  228 

Bookbinders        .       .      .       .  59  Sackmakers         -       .       .      .  50 

Brush  and  mopmakers  -      -  42  Sailmakers          .       .       .      .  5 

Carpenters          .       .       .      .  41  Ship  fender  makers  -       -       -  167 

Dressmakers        .      .      .      .  3  Shoemakers         ....  143 

Glovemakers        ....  15  Smiths  and  fitters     ...  82 

Knitters  and  repairs      -      -  235  Stonebreakers     ....  4 

Labourers 17  Tailors           214 

Mailbag  makers       ...  2736  Twine  and  ropemakers   -      -  36 

Matmakers          ....  92  Washers 51 

Moulders 331  Weavers 170 

Needleworkers  and  repairs  409  Woodchoppers    ....  118 

Except  for  a  little  pea  sorting,  etc.,  done  under  contract  locally, 
all  this  work  is  done  for  Government  Departments. 

The  Absence  of  Industri.m.,  Training. 

The  Comptroller  of  Industries,  who  is  charged  with  the  superin- 
tendence of  all  prison  industries,  claimed  in  his  report  for  1909  that 
"it  may  be  truly  said  that  many  (prisoners)  carry  away  with  them 
on  release  a  cognizance  of  some  trade  or  craft  likely  to  prove  invalu- 
able to  such  as  seek  an  honest  livelihood  ....  we  are  doing  our 
utmost  to  carry  out  the  wishes  of  the  legislature  by  using  industrial 
training  as  a  leading  factor  in  the  reclamation  of  the  criminal  class." 
The  evidence  we  have  received  has  entirely  failed  to  justify  this 
claim.     Instead,  the  statements  of  our  witnesses  indicate  the  present 

»  "Crime   and    Criminals"    (1910),    p.    92. 

•  S.O.  257  reads :  "The  domestic  serTice  of  the  prison,  cleaning,  etc.,  should  be  performed 
by  prisoners  under  short  sentences,  who  have  no  knowledge  of,  or  in  whose  case  time  will 
not  permit  of  instruction  in,  industries  requiring  skill.  When  other  classes  of  prisoner* 
are  available,  those  known  to  be  old  offenders  should  not  be  so  employed."  Of  all  Standing 
Orders  this  is   probably  ob5erTed  the  least. 


i 


THE  ABSENCE  OF  INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING  111 

truth  of  the  assertion  of  the  Departmental  Committee  on  Scottish 
Prisons  (1900)  which  remarked,  after  investigating  conditions  in  both 
Enghsh  and  Scottish  prisons,  that  "no  one  ranks  very  high  the 
educative  or  reformatory  influence  of  prison  labour." 

In  the  case  of  Juvenile  Adults  (between  16  and  21),  a  definite, 
though  inadequate,  attempt  is  made  to  impart  some  industrial 
training,  but  no  serious  effort  is  made  to  train  other  prisoners  in 
skilled  industrial  processes.  It  is  true  that  a  Regulation  insists  that 
"the  trades  and  industries  taught  and  carried  on  shall,  if  practicable, 
be  such  as  shall  fit  the  prisoner  to  earn  his  livehhood  on  his  release." 
It  is  true  that  a  Standing  Order  demands  that  "the  longer  sentences 
shall  be  concentrated  exclusively  on  such  industries  as  require 
training  and  technical  skill,"  and  that  the  governor  shall  have 
regard  to  "such  benefit  as  a  prisoner  might  derive  on  discharge  from 
training  and  employment  at  any  particular  industry."  It  is  true, 
also,  that  the  claim  is  made  that  in  recent  years  even  the  short, 
sentence  prisoners  have  been  trained.* 

But  our  evidence  conclusively  proves  that  neither  the  rules  nor 
the  claims  of  the  Commissioners  are  of  much  value  in  actual 
experience. 

To  a  number  of  witnesses  we  have  put  this  definite  question : 
"Have  you  known  any  cases  of  men  who  have  learned  a  trade  in 
prison  sufficiently  to  earn  their  living  at  it  outside?"  Of  forty-three 
warders,  chaplains  and  agents  of  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid  Societies, 
only  three  are  able  to  quote  instances  of  prisoners  who  have  learned 
a  trade  in  a  Local  prison.* 

"I  have  never  heard  of  a  prisoner  learning  a  trade  in  a  Local 
prison  so  as  to  get  a  living  at  it,"  says  the  agent  of  a  Dischargefl 
Prisoners'  Aid  Society,  "and  what  is  more  I  have  never  heard  of 
anyone  else  who  has  heard  of  such  a  person  either."  "There's 
nothing  to  learn  here  that  a  man  can  use  after  he  goes  out,"  says  a 
warder  at  a  large  prison,  "except  sometimes  he  will  pick  up  enough 
matmaking  to  allow  him  to  go  round  putting  new  edges  to  mats." 
"I  haven't  heard  of  anyone  getting  his  living  by  a  trade  learned  in 
a  Local  prison,"  says  another  warder,  "with  the  exception  of  one 
or  two  who  were  taught  basket  making  and  repairing." 

The  last  remarks  will  enable  the  reader  to  understand,  perhaps, 
what  the  Prison  Commissioners  mean  when  they  say  prisoners  are 
taught  trades.  They  mean  that  they  are  employed  on  comparatively 
simple  processes   like   mat-making,    or    basket-making,    or   mailbag 

*  "Since  the  war  started,"  wrote  the  Commissioners  in  their  Report  for  1917-18,  "it 
has  been  the  practice  to  teach  trades  to  habitual  offenders  undergoing  short  sentences. 
Progress  was  slow  at  first,  but  each  time  these  prisoners  returned  to  prison  they  became 
more  efficient,  with  the  gratifying  result  that  since  1913-14  the  number  of  inmates  on 
low  grade  industries  has  fallen  from  19  to  2  per  cent."  The  Comptroller  of  Industries 
stated  that  this  was  being  done  as  long  ago  as  1899,  but  the  practice  does  not  seem  to 
*  been  maintained.  The  low  grade  industries  are  picking  oakum,  nnslranding  cotton, 
nnravelling   wool,   breaking   stones,    etc. 

.,J^  ^-*'oo''^^*i"„l*"'''^'^*  ^°^  learning  trades  provided  in  Contict  prisons  are  described  on 
VV-  o22  and  o23. 


112  PRISON  LABOUR 

Bewing  or  laundry  work.  No  trades  demanding  any  degree  of  skill 
are  taught  in  Local  prisons'  and  such  trades  as  are  taught  are  only 
half-taught.  "The  quality  of  work,"  says  another  warder,  "is  nob 
such  as  would  fit  anyone  for  work  outside."  ' 

There  is  a  special  class  of  prison  officers  described  as  "instructors" 
whose  duty  it  is  to  teach  and  supervise  prison  industries.  It  is 
clear  from  our  evidence  that  many,  if  not  most,  of  these  officers  have 
themselves  received  no  training  in  the  industries  in  which  they  give 
instruction,  but  have  "picked  it  up"  in  the  course  of  their  duties  in 
prison.  None  of  the  "instructors"  who  have  given  evidence  had 
had  any  training.     We  give  some  typical  instances. — 

A.  Assistant  instructor  in  tailoring.  Had  never  learned  the  trade. 
Only  picked  it  up  in  prison. 

B.  Instructor  in  brush  making — scrubbing  brushes,  broom-heada,  grate 
brushes,  hair  brushes, — but  when  he  left  the  prison  service  he  found 
that  he  had  not  the  qualifications  to  obtain  work  as  a  brush  maker. 

C.  Instructor  in  mat  making,  brush  making,  sack  making,  tailoring, 
knitting,  and  the  making  of  mail  bags,  hammocks,  gloves,  and  sea- 
men's bags  Had  never  learned  any  of  these  trades,  and  admitted 
that  he  would  not  be  able  to  earn  his  living  at  them  outside  prison. 

D.  Instructor  in  mail  bag  and  hammock  making  for  eight  years,  but 
admitted   that  skilled   prisoners  had  often  instructed  him. 

E.  Trade  instructor  for  ten  years,  but  had  had  no  training. 

"It  is  seldom  that  an  experienced  and  highly  ti'ained  instructor  is 
found  in  a  prison,"  says  one  warder.  "Indeed,  it  frequently 
happens  that  men  who  have  had  no  experience  except  service  in  the 
regular  forces  are  instructors  and  men  with  knowledge  of  a  trade  are 
employed  in  disciplinary  work."  Another  warder  complains  that 
appointment  as  an  instructor  depends  upon  favouritism. 

We  recognise  that  the  prison  authorities  are  faced  by  serious 
difficulties  in  approaching  this  question  of  industrial  training  and  in 
the  organisation  of  the  prison  industries  generally.  The  prison 
population  is  below  the  normal  scale,  physically  and  mentally,  and 
is  largely  unskilled  industi'ially,  and  prisoners  rarely  serve  sentences 
sufficiently  long  to  enable  them  to  learn  a  trade  requiring  much 
practice  or  skill.  No  one  will  blame  the  authorities  for  failing  to 
transform  all  prisoners  into  skilled  workmen.  The  solid  ground 
for  criticism  of  prison  labour,  as  revealed  in  our  evidence,  is  to  be 
found  in  the  fact,  not  that  it  fails  to  train  prisoners  sufficiently  to 
earn  a  livelihood  as  skilled  artisans,  but  that  it  hopelessly  fails  to 
train  them  in  any  effective  degree  whatsoever,  or  even  to  encourage 

•  Very  ocrasionally  prisoners  skilled  in  some  cralt  are  able  to  work  at  their  craft.  "A 
prisoner  skilled  in  woodcarving,"  says  the  Governor  ot  Preston  Prison  (Annual  Report, 
1904)   "has  carved  a  magnificent  oak  eagle  lectern  and  several  other  things  for  the  chapel." 

'  More  than  one  ex-prisoner  states  that  he  learned  more  from  skilled  fellow  prisoners 
than  from  the  instructors.  "I  got  to  know  quite  a  lot  about  carjicntry."  says  one.  "because 
I  worked  with  a  prisoner  who  was  a  skilled  carpenter.  If  I  had  only  received  the  in- 
Ktrnctions   given   me  by   the  officer,    I   shouldn't  have   i)rogressed   much." 


THE   PENAL    VIEW    OF   LABOUR  113 

in  them  any  aptitude  for  work.  This  failure  is  due  to  the  character 
of  the  work  and  the  conditions  under  which  it  is  done.  These  we 
will  proceed  to  describe. 

The  Pen.\l  View  of  Labour. 

The  Commissioners  are  supposed  to  have  thrown  over  the  penal 
"view  of  labour  (except  during  the  early  stages  of  impi-isonment),  as 
long  ago  as  1896,  but  the  punitive  element  still  characterises  practic- 
ally all  prison  work.  There  are  many  monotonous  processes 
performed  by  hand  which  would  be  performed  by  machinery  in  any 
up-to-date  factoiy.  This  is  partly  due,  no  doubt,  to  the  difficulty  of 
providing  sufficient  work  for  rapid  manufacture,  and  of  running  well 
equipped  workshops  by  the  low-conditioned  and  constantly  changing 
prison  population ;  but  it  is  certainly  due  also  (despite  all  theoretical 
repudiations)  to  the  punitive  conception  of  the  work,  and  to  the 
system  of  silence  and  separation  which  could  not  possibly  be  fitted 
in  with  any  remunerative  forai  of  co-operative  production. 

Work  is  regarded  not  as  a  means  to  an  end,  emphatically  not  as 
a  craft,  but  as  a  prescribed  task  to  be  fulfilled  as  part  of  the  punish- 
ment  of  imprisonment.       More  than  one  prisoner  describes  how,     ^       ^ 
when  the  supply  of  canvas  had  given  out,  completed  mail  bags  were  J  rfU^^ 
deliberately  taken  to  pieces  so  that  the  tasks  might  be  forthcomingr\ 
"There  is  little  wonder,"  remarks  one  ex-prisoner,  "that  the  man/     ,    j/-^ 
who  makes,   unmakes,   and  remakes  the  eternal  mail  bags  should>  '^^^^ 
decide  that  what  is  known  as  'honest  work'  is  an  abominable  fraud.'"/ 

This  same  attitude  towards  work  on  the  part  of  the  authorities  is 
revealed  in  other  quotations  from  the  evidence  of  ex-prisoners. 
"CJoal,"  says  one,  "is  deposited  on  one  side  of  the  prison  for  no  ''  , 
other  reason  than  to  provide  fetching  and  carrying  for  some  of  the 
prisoners."  "In  my  experience,"  says  a  second  witness,  "the  coal 
and  coke  had  to  be  carried  a  considerable  distance  in  buckets,  whilst  i  JHB 
wheelbarrows  capable  of  holding  three  times  the  quantity  were  ("^^M^H 
locked  up  in  the  adjoining  building."  "The  work  in  the  wood- 
yard,"  says  another  ex-prisoner,  "was  a  ridiculous  waste  of  energy. 
How  quickly  it  could  have  been  done  in  a  saw  mill ! "  "The  prisoners 
supplied  the  dri^ang  power  to  all  the  machinery  in  the  weaving 
shed,"  says  a  third.  "I  am  a  cotton  weaver,  and  assert  confidently 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  learn  to  weave  on  such  machines." 
Wiiting  of  the  same  machines  another  ex-prisoner  says:  "One  man 
by  means  of  a  power  loom  could  weave  as  much  in  one  day  as  the 
whole  shed,  comprising  22  looms,  could  do  in  a  full  week."  "All 
processes  of  mail  bag  work  could  be  done  better  and  more  cheaply 
by  machinery,"  says  another  witness.  Similar  statements  have 
been  made  to  us  again  and  again. 

So  far  as  the  work  given  to  Har4  Labour  prisoners  during  the 
early  stages  of  their  imprisonment  is  concerned,  it  was  stated  by 
the  Prison  Commissioners  in  1896  to  be  deliberately  penal.     They 


114  PRISON  LABOUR 

remarked  that  in  their  opinion  it  was  "of  the  highest  importance 
that  penal  labour  of  a  deterrent  nature  should  accompany  the  early 
stages  of  imprisonment."  The  Departmental  Committee  of  1896 
quoted  a  statement  by  Sir  E.  Du  Cane,  then  Chairman  of  the  Com- 
missioners, to  the  effect  that  the  punishment  of  "hard,  dull,  useless, 
uninteresting,  monotonous  labour"  is  necessary,  although  he  added 
that  "there  is  a  limit  to  the  time  during  which  a  prisoner  can  be 
advantageously  subjected  to  it,  for  it  is  decidedly  brutalising  in  its 
effect. ' ' 

The  fact  is  that  though  the  treadwheel  and  crank  have  gone — often 
they  were  purely  penal  contrivances  without  productive  capacity — 
many  of  the  tasks  at  present  imposed  during  the  first  month  retain 
their  vices.  Oakum  picking  is  still  sometimes  enforced;'  and  little 
more  can  be  said  in  defence  of  oakum  picking  than  of  the  treadwheel. 
"Beyond  keeping  unskilled  labourers  from  idleness,"  remarked  the 
Comptroller  of  Industries  in  his  report  for  1904,  "there  is  no  redeem- 
ing feature  about  oakum-picking.  On  the  contrary,  the  work  is  of 
a  low  grade,  second  only  to  the  obsolete  treadwheel;  the  task  is  at 
all  times  difficult  to  enforce;  and  the  oakum,  even  when  well  picked, 
seldom  commands  a  ready  sale. ' '  * 

The  picking  of  horsehair,  the  sorting  of  cotton,  the  teasing  of 
cocoanut  fibre,  and  similar  processes  upon  which  prisoners  are 
commonly  employed  at  first  are  not  so  hard  and  painful  as 
oakum  picking,  but  they  are  almost  as  wasteful.  They  are 
done  laboriously  by  hand  because  they  are  considered  suitable 
for  cellular  labour,  because  they  can  be  learned  easily  by  short 
sentence  prisoners,  and,  presumably,  because  their  monotony  gives 
them  the  desired  penal  quality.  No  prisoner  doing  this  work  would 
be  encouraged  in  habits  of  industry.  Instead,  he  would  be 
encouraged  in  habits  of  shirking.  The  effect  of  attempting  to  make 
prison  labour  "deterrent"  with  a  view  to  inculcating  a  distaste  for 
prison  is  to  make  labour  itself  distasteful. 

In  criticising  the  character  of  the  manual  labour  enforced  in 
prison,  we  do  not  forget  that  much  modern  factory  work  is  both  ' 
monotonous  and  degrading  too,  and  that  from  an  educative  point 
of  view  hand  work  which  allows  some  initiative  and  expression  is 
far  more  valuable  than  tending  to  machines.  Our  criticism  is  that 
prison  hand-work  permits  neither  of  these  things.  It  merely  compels 
prisoners  to  do  mechanical  work  by  hand,  in  a  word,  to  become 
inefficient  machines.^" 

•  S.O.   250  limits    oakum-picking,    "unless   otherwise    ordered,"    to   the   first   14   days   of  »  j 

sentence  ol  hard   labour    and  states   that  "it  is  not  desirable  when  more  suitable  forms  of  [ 

labour   are   available."    Oakum-picking    is   recommended,   however,    for    prisoners  who  cannot  j 
be    trusted    with    tools.    The   number   of   pickers    in    1920-1    was    156. 

»  "The  work    is    monotonous   and   often   painful  to  those   unaccustomed   to   it,   making   tht    | 
fingers    cracked    and    raw." — Governor    Pentonville    Prison,     Annual    Report,    1904.  j 

i"  Kven   in    hand-weaving    the    slightest   variation    from    the   prescribed    pattern    or   stripes    [ 
is   prohibited;    yet,    despite    this,    an    officer    says   that   men   employed   in   this    rather    more 
interesting  work  are  much  more  manageable  than   those   employed  on  mail  bags.    See   Note 
at  the  end   of   this  chapter,   "Unauthorised  Crafts   in   the   Cell." 


TEE  ABSENCE    OF    OPEN-AIR    WORK  115  \ 

The    penal  character   of    prison    labour    is    emphasised    by    the  I 

imposition  of  a  "task"  which  has  to  be  performed  every  day  by  all 
prisoners  certified  as  fit  to  do  it  by  the  medical  officer.  The  "task" 
works  out  very  unevenly  for  different  prisoners  and  for  different 
forms  of  labour,  and  is  the  cause  of  much  anxiety  to  some  prisoners, 
although  others,  after  a  little  experience,  perform  it  easily.  Marks 
are  awarded  by  the  instructor  according  to  the  degree  of  industry 
shown  by  the  prisoner.  Eight,  seven,  or  six  marks  may  be  earned 
daily,  but  in  practice,  so  long  as  the  prisoner  works  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  instructor,  eight  marks  are  given." 

The  Workshops. 
The  prison  workshops  can  rarely  be  described  as  model  establish- 
ments.    In  many  cases  the  old  treadwheel  buildings  were  converted 
into  workshops,  with  not  very  satisfactory  results.     Generally  they) 
are  dull,  ill-lit,  uninviting  places,  such  as  only  third  rate  industrial 
firms  would  be  satisfied  with.     In  a  few  prisons  more  modern  v\"ork-s^ 
shops   have  been  erected,   but  neglect  is  common.       One  witness 
describes  how  the  roof  of  a  twine-shed  at  a  certain  prison  was  so 
badly  in  need  of  repair  that  water  flowed  in  whenever  there  was  rairi'. 
In     other    prisons    the    workshops     are     described    as    "cheap," 
"cramped,"  and  "poor."     The  women's  sewing  room  of  one  prison 
18*  stated  to  be  "very  low."     In  many  prisons  there  are  either  no 
workshops  or  only  one  or  two,  so  that  the  prisoners  have  to  work 
in  association  on  the  basement  landings.     Often  these  landings  are 
quite  inadequately  lit  for  such  work  as  sewing,  and  in  winter  they 
are  draughty  and  cold. 

The  Absence  of  Open-air  Work. 

The  best  form  of  work  for  prisoners  is  undoubtedly  not  manual 
or  mechanical  labour  done  in  cell  or  workshop,  but  open  air  employ- 
ment on  the  land;  yet  of  the  daily  average  of  "effective"  workers 
in  prison  during  1920-21,  only  118  (or  1.68  per  cent.)  were  employed 
in  gardens  or  on  the  land.  The  Departmental  Committee  of  1895 
stated  that  "it  is  agreed  by  all  medical  experts  and  prison  officials 
that  no  kind  of  employment  is  more  useful,"  "  but  pointed  out  that 
"most  prisons  are,  unfortunately  situated  in  large  towns  and 
populous  places"  and  therefore  provide  little  opportunity  for  open- 
air  work.     The  committee  recommended  that  "the  160  acres  within 

"Prisoners  who  are  sick  in  hospital  are  only  credited  with  six  marks  a  day  in  the 
first  instance,  but  the  governor  has  power,  on  the  recommendation  of  the  medical  officer, 
to  allot  additional  marks,  and  the  full  eight  are  almost  invariably  given.  No  marks  ae 
given  for  conduct,  but  they  can  be  forfeited  by  misconduct.  A  prisoner  must  earn  224 
marks  in  each  stage,  until  he  reach  the  fourth  stage,  in  which  he  completes  his  sentence. 
A  prisoner  who  earns  full  marks  has  one-sixth  of  his  sentence  remitted.  (See  j).  105). 
Previous  to  March,  1917,  prisoners  were  given  a  little  extra  diet — in  one  prison  a 
pint  of  cocoa,  in  another  a  piece  of  bread  and  a  pint  of  cocoa,  in  another  a  piece  of  bread 
and  cheese,  in  another  a  pint  of  tea— for  doing  55  per  cent,  above  the  "task."  For  24  feet 
of  canvas  sewing,  for  instance,  such  rewards  would  be  given.    Was  there  ever  such  sweating? 

"  Our  evidence  entirely  corroborates  this  statement.  Some  of  our  warder  witnesses 
»tate  that  prisoners,  particularly  agricultural  workers,  ask  for  land  work,  on  the  ground 
that  (we  auote  from  an  officer)  "sewing  softens  them  so  much  that  afterwards  they  are 
incapable  of  doing  a  day's  work  and  can't  keep  a  job." 


116  PRISON  LABOUR 

prison  walls"  should  be  used  as  far  as  possible  for  gardening 
purposes,  and  they  stated  that  they  saw  "no  reason  why  prison 
yards,  especially  the  portion  set  aside  for  women,  should  not  be  made 
less  ugly  by  the  cultivation  of  flowers  and  shrubs."  In  the  case 
of  prisons  in  agricultural  districts,  they  recommended  that  "it  would 
be  desirable  whenever  possible  to  acquire  land  adjoining  such  prisons 
for  the  purpose  of  labour." 

The  Prison  Commissioners  in  commenting  upon  these  recommend- 
ations pointed  out  in  their  report  for  1905-06  that  only  70  acres  could 
possibly  be  used  for  cultivation  by  prisoners  and  that  59  acres  of 
these  were  actually  so  used.  The  governors  of  prisons,  they 
said,  had  been  instructed  to  bring  the  remainder  into  cultivation 
"wherever  possible."  Our  evidence  makes  it  clear  that  the  area 
of  land  available  for  the  employment  of  prisoners  remains  compara- 
tively small.  In  some  of  the  prisons  there  are  still  no  vegetable 
gardens,  even  in  country  districts.  This  is  deplorable,  for  such  work 
is  both  healthy,  reformative,  and  easily  learned.  The  experience  of 
the  allotments  adopted  so  extensively  during  the  war  showed  the 
possibility  of  acquiring  skill  in  gardening  work  in  a  comparatively 
short  time,  and  that  a  remarkable  liking  for  it  can  be  developed  in 
most  people. 

Moreover,  open-air  work,  as  American  experience  has  proved, 
possesses  greater  possibilities  of  efficiency  than  other  forms 
of    prison     labour.  In     1905    the    Commissioner     of    Labour 

(U.S.A.)  published  a  report  comparing  the  value  of  prison 
and  free  labour.  It  proved  that  in  farming,  prison  labour  had  75 
per  cent,  of  the  efficiency  of  free  labour,  99  per  cent,  in  road  work, 
and  107  per  cent,  in  lumbering,  remarkable  results  in  view  of  the 
character  of  the  prison  population.  In  indoor  occupations  the 
efi&ciency  standard  was  much  lower — ranging  from  60  per  cent,  in 
boot  and  shoe  manufacturing  to  45  per  cent,  in  the  manufacture  of 
chairs,  tables,  etc.  These  returns  re-enforce  from  the  point  of  view 
of  economy  the  acknowledged  advantages  of  outdoor  work  from  the 
point  of  view  of  health.  Lumbering  is  not  an  extensive  English 
industry,  road  work  may  be  thought  undesirable;  but  there  is  no 
reason  why  the  employment  of  prisoners  on  farming  should  not  be 
extended  widely." 

The  Supervision  of  Prison  Labour. 

It  is  the  general  rule  in  the  case  of  all  labour  performed  outside 
the  cell  that  an  officer  should  be  on  the  spot  to  keep  a  vigilant  watch 

"  An  interesting  statement  on  the  outdoor  work  done  by  prisonerg  in  New  Zealand  was 
made  by  Sir  Robert  Stout,  the  Chief  Justice  of  New  Zealand,  in  an  interriew  with  a 
repre.sentatiTe  of  the  "Manchester  Guardian,"  on  January  6,  1921.  "As  far  as  possible," 
he  said,  "prisoners  are  set  to  outdoor  work,  farming,  tree  planting,  and  so  on.  They  have 
farms  in  sexeral  districts,  one  of  2,000  acres.  About  fifty-seven  million  trees  have  been 
planted  by  prisoners.  The  outside  work  is  of  enormous  benefit  to  the  men.  Their 
appetites  and  their  weight  increase.  They  work  well,  harder  than  ordinary  men.  Very 
few  have  to  be  punished  for  slacking.  They  know  that  their  conduct  is  watched,  and  that 
if  the  Prison  Board  sees  fit  they  will  be  released  and  work  found  for  them.  Their  prison 
life  trains  them   to  work   well,   and   people  are  always   willing   to  employ   them." 


THE    PROBLEM    OF    PAYMENT  117 

over  even'  movement  of  the  prisoner.  Thus  the  work  is  done  in  a 
atmosphere  of  restriction  and  suspicion  fatal  to  the  creation  of  any 
high  view  of  the  dignity  or  social  worth  of  labour,  and  a  serious 
waste  of  time  and  energy  occurs.  The  gardening  gang,  for  instance, 
has  to  move  as  if  they  were  roped  together.  Whenever  one  man 
has  the  smallest  job  in  another  part  of  the  garden,  e.g.  emptying 
out  some  weeds  or  fetching  some  vegetables  for  replanting,  the  whole 
party  has  to  down  tools  and  accompany  him;  otherwise,  the  warder 
in  charge  would  be  temporarily  out  of  sight  or  hearing  of  one  portion 
or  other  of  his  gang.     The  whole  effect  is  ridiculous  in  the  extreme. 

There  is  one  exception  to  this  rule  of  close  supervision.  For 
many  years  it  has  been  the  practice  in  Convict  prisons  to  permit  a 
few  "trustworthy"  prisoners,  denoted  by  red  collars,  to  be  employed 
away  from  immediate  supervision.  In  1910  this  system  was 
introduced  into  Local  prisons,  the  prisoners  concerned  being 
denoted  by  red  bands  on  the  sleeves  of  their  jackets.  The  governors 
of  prisons  and  the  Prison  Commissioners  have  been  unanimous  in 
their  praise  of  the  red  band  system,  not  merely  on  the  practical 
grounds  of  economising  the  employment  of  warders  and  enabling 
odd  jobs  to  be  executed  promptly,  but  "for  its  moral  effect  in  show- 
ing prisoners  that  if  they  behave  well  they  will  be  trusted."'* 

It  ought  to  be  pointed  out,  however,  that  a  mere  handful  of 
prisoners  enjoy  this  privilege — not  more  than  two  in  small  prisons 
and  six  in  large  prisons.  The  red  band  prisoners  are  most  frequently 
employed  in  the  librarj-,  in  the  garden,  or  as  carpenters  and  fitters. 

The  Problem  of  Payment. 

Before  1877,  in  certain  English  prisons,  when  under  the  control  of 
the  local  justices,  prisoners  were  paid  regular  wages  for  their  work; 
amounting,  e.g.,  at  Preston  and  Southwell  prisons,  to  50  per  cent, 
of  the  profits  accruing  to  the  prison  by  their  labour."  Since  prisons 
have  been  under  the  Home  Office,  wages  have  not  been  paid  to 
prisoners,  but  until  1913  it  was  the  custom  to  pay  them  a  small 
gratuity.  The  gratuity  was  never  regarded  as  a  payment  for  work 
done,  however,  and  was  abolished  in  that  year  as  ineffective 
both  as  "a  means  of  charity"  and  "as  a  means  of  securing 
the  good  conduct  of  the  prisoners.""  We  find  a  large  body 
of  opinion  among  our  witnesses  in  favour  of  the  payment  of 
wages."  The  superior  prison  officials  are  not,  on  the  whole, 
favourable,  but  one  governor  at  least  would  welcome  a  wage 
system.      "At   present,"  he   says,    "it   is  the  wives   and   children 

"  P.O.  Report,  1910-11,  p.  24. 

^L^««  "English  Prisons  Under  Local  Go»ernment,"  by  Sidnev  and  Beatrice  Webb,  Chapter 
vm.    (b).  and   "The  English  Prison  System,"  by  Sir  E.   Enggles-Brise,    p.    155. 

"Nothing  was  paid  to  a  prisoner  in  the  first  stage;  Is.  for  28  davs  in  the  se'-ond  stage- 
11.  Od.  in  the  third  stage;   and  2s.  for  each   28   days   in  the   fourth  stage. 

"  See  the  Appendix  to  thii  Chapter  for  instances  of  the  parment  of  wages   to  prisoners  in 
oUier  countries. 


118  PS  I  SON  LABOUR 

left  outside  prison  who  are  punished  most."  An  ex-prisoner  who 
has  for  many  years  been  prominently  active  in  the  Labour  movement 
says:  — 

The  payment  of  wages  would  entirely  change  the  industrial  problem  in 
prison.  Its  first  result  would  be  to  give  dignity  and  value  to  the  work 
in  the  minds  of  the  prisoners ;  their  daily  labour  would  no  longer  be 
merely  a  "task."  Secondly,  it  would  enable  the  prisoners  to  contribute 
towards  the  maintenance  of  their  wires  and  families  whilst  they  were 
in  prison.  Thi."?  would  not  merely  relieve  the  terrible  anxiety  from 
which  many  prisoners  suffer ;  it  would  save  the  breaking  up  of  homes 
and  prevent  many  domestic  estrangements  and  tragedies. 

But  beyond  this,  if  prisoners  were  paid  the  standard  rate  of  wages, 
a  reasonable  sum  having  been  deducted  for  the  cost  of  maintenance,  the 
necessity  for  restricting  prison  industries  to  such  as  do  not  involve 
"competition  with  any  particular  trade  or  industry"  (Prison  Act,  1877) 
would  disappear,  at  any  rate  from  the  Trade  Unionists'  point  of  view. 
Under  such  circumstances  I  see  no  reason  why  Trade  Union  officials 
should  not  be  permitted  to  enter  prisons  to  make  sure  that  no  under- 
cutting of  wages  occurred. 

This  last  point  is  of  great  importance.  The  restriction  upon 
industries  quoted  by  this  witness  is  a  main  factor  in  preventing  the 
efficient  organisation  of  work  in  prison.  The  Departmental  Com- 
mittee of  1895  instanced  the  case  of  mat  making  which  had  "to  a 
large  extent  been  given  up  owing  to  outside  agitation  against 
competition  of  prisoners  with  free  labour."  The  Committee 
examined  two  representatives  of  the  Parliamentary  Committee  of 
the  Trades  Union  Congress  and  the  following  paragraph  in  the 
report  is  devoted  to  their  evidence:  — 

These  gentlemen  gave  very  fair  and  impartial  evidence.  They  admitted 
that  industrial  labour  was  morally  and  physically  beneficial  to  the 
prisoners,  and  agreed  that  it  ought  to  be  found.  They  urged  that  direct 
competition  with  outside  labour  should  not  be  allowed  at  "cutting  prices." 
Taking  their  evidence  as  a  whole,  we  gather  that  they  approve  of 
industrial  training  of  prisoners ;  and  bearing  in  mind  that  the  products 
of  prison  labour  go  to  reduce  the  costs  of  prisons,  they  have  no  objection 
to  the  sale  of  prison  goods  pi'ovided  that  (a)  they  are  not  sold  below  the 
market  price  for  the  district  or  standard  price  elsewhere ;  (b)  every 
consideration  is  shown  to  the  special  circumstances  of  the  particular 
industries  to  avoid  all  undue  interference  with  the  wages  and  employment 
of  free  labour. 

For  our  part  we  are  unable  to  understand  how  the  restriction  of 
prison  industries  to  work  for  Government  departments  surmounts 
the  objection  to  "competition  with  free  labour."  If  the  Home 
Office  publications  were  not  printed  at  Maidstone  Convict  prison, 
they  would  be,  printed  at  the  standard  rates  by  free  labour.  Similarly 
with  the  mail  bags  for  the  Post  Office  and  the  ships'  fenders  for 
the  Admiralty  which  are  made  in  prisons  throughout  the  country. 
"The  fact  Trade  Unionists  must  bear  in  mind,"  remarks  the  witness 
from  whom  we  have  quoted  above,  "is  that  all  useful  work  done  in 
prison  is  necessarily  competitive  with  free  labour.       It   is  no  use 


UNAUTHORISED    CRAFTS    IN    THE    CELL  11» 

restricting  prison  labour.       The  right  course  is  to  demand  that  it 
should  be  done  under  Trade  Union  conditions."  " 

"Prison  labour  is  slave  labour,  which  is  notoriously  inefi&cient 
and  always  will  be  so,"  remarks  Mr.  T.  M.  Osborne,  the  American 
prison  reformer.  Slavery  is  the  right  description.  The  work  is 
compulsory,  the  worker  has  no  choice  of  trade,  he  has  no  voice  in 
the  conditions  of  his  labour,  and  he  receives  no  wage.  If  it  be  said 
that  freedom  in  these  respects  cannot  be  expected  in  prison,  the 
reply  must  necessarily  be:  "Then  you  must  not  expect  labour  under 
the  dishonourable  conditions  of  prison  to  fit  a  man  for  honourable 
labour  outside."  Prison  labour,  at  least  under  existing  conditions, 
cannot  possibly  teach  a  man  either  the  dignity  of  work,  self-reliance, 
or  responsibility  to  others. 

•«  It  is  fairly  clear  that  the  outside  agitation  against  prison  competition  has  largely 
been  inspired  by  those  interested  in  the  one  exceptional  industry  of  tnat-making.  When  ths 
agitation  took  place,  mat-making  was  one  of  the  smallest  of  British  industries,  mora 
persons  being  employed  at  it  inside  prison  than  »utside. 


Note  on  Unauthorised  Crafts  in  the  Cell. 


A.S  a  contrast  to  the  lack  of  interest  with  which  prison  work  is  frequently 
regarded,  we  quote  from  the  evidence  of  two  witnesses  who  succeeded  in 
secretly  doing  decorative  needlework  and  weaving  whilst  confined  to  their 
cells  (in  the  year  1918)  for  refusing  to  conform  to  prison  rules. 

The  first  says  : — "My  evenings,  after  the  risk  of  being  disturbed  by  the 
entry  of  warders  had  ceased,  were  occupied  with  my  decorative  needlework. 
I  am  a  natural  'fidget,'  yet  I  have  been  so  engrossed  in  my  work,  either  draw- 
ing the  designs  or  carrying  them  out  in  needlework  on  canvas,  that  I  have 
sat  from  five  o'clock,  immediately  after  supper,  till  the  bedtime  bell  was  rung 
at  eight  o'clock,  without  once  moving  from  my  stool.  I  am  quite  sure  that 
these  little  pieces  of  work  have  been  the  means  of  preserving  my  reason. 
My  materials  were  all  obtained  from  what  is  supplied  for  making  various 
kinds  of  Post  Office  bags.  I  had  the  ordinary  stout  machine  thread  in  black, 
white,  browrf,  and  red,  and  for  yellow  I  used  the  flax  that  is  used  for  sewing 
buckles  and  straps  on  satchels.  Small  pieces  of  canvas  of  various  kinds  were 
also  quite  easy  to  obtain,  and  these  I  used  as  a  base  for  my  work." 

The  other  ex-prisoner  says  : — "So  soon  as  I  developed  the  possibilities  of 
the  situation  so  far  as  to  obtain  materials  for  weaving,  I  began  to  experience 
days  of  such  complete  absorption  that  time  was  no  w^eariness  whatever,  and 
I  lost  all  sense  of  confinement  completely.  I  had  lengths  of  different  coloured 
threads  passed  under  my  door  and  placed  in  my  potatoes,  etc.,  by  cleaners, 
and  with  an  empty  reel  and  some  wooden  bread  skewers  I  invented  a  loom 
which  embodied  (though  I  say  it)  two  or  three  really  new  principles.  Having 
some  weakness  for  design  (I  am  a  designer  of  fabrics  by  trade),  I  was  able 
to  proceed  with  the  business  apace.  Weaving  was  new  to  me,  and,  like  all 
that  kind  of  work,  fascinated  me  extremely." 

If  it  be  possible  for  prisoners  to  do  such  intricate  work  under  such  circum- 
stances against  the  rules  of  the  authorities,  what  might  not  be  done  if  hobbies 
and  crafts  were  encouraged?     (See  also  pp.  162-65.) 


120  PR  I  SOX  LABOUR 


SOME    OF     THE     PRINCIPAL     DEFECTS     INDICATED    IN     THE 
PRECEDING    CHAPTER. 


1. — The  punitive  conception  degrades  prison  labour.  The  work  is  un- 
necessarily crude  and  monotonous  and  does  not  inculcate  habits  of  industry. 
There  is  practically  no  up-to-date  machinery. 

2. — There  is  scarcely  any  choice  of  labour. 

3. — The  daily  "task"  is  not  proportioned  to  the  capacity  of  the  individual. 

4. — No  wages  are  paid  to  prisoners. 

5. — The  minute  disciplinary  supervision  of  the  working  parties  is  degrading 
and  wasteful. 

6. — There  is  an  absence  of  industrial  training  of  prisoners  sufficient  to 
enable  them  to  earn  a  living  outside. 

7. — The  trade    instructors   are   usually  themselves   untrained. 

8. — The  prison  workshops  are  often   ill-lit  and  unsuitable. 

9. — The  number  of  prisoners  employed  in  agriculture  or  open-air  work 
is  very  small. 


PHI  SON  LABOUR  121 

Appendices  to  Chapter  Seven. 

I.— THE    PAYMENT   OF   WAGES   TO    PEISONERS. 


In  many  countries  "wages  are  now  paid  to  prisoners.  In  New  Zealand,  for 
instance,  a  prisoner  who  has  passed  out  of  the  probation  grade  and  has  served 
three  months  of  his  sentence  is  qualified  to  earn  wages.  The  wages  are  divided 
into  two  parts — "payment  to  prisoners  for  industry  combined  with  good 
conduct,"  and  "payment  of  daily  wages  to  prisoners  for  the  support  of 
dependents."  Both  payments  are  carefully  graduated  according  to  a  system 
of  marks,  combined  with  an  extra  remuneration  for  skilled  labour ;  but  whilst 
it  appears  that  all  prisoners  become  in  course  of  time  able  by  good  conduct 
to  earn  the  former  payment,  the  latter  is  only  accorded  to  able-bodied  male 
prisoners  with  proved  dependents^  and  under  certain  conditions  to  female 
prisoners  with  dependents.  The  maximum  credited,  except  in  the  case  of 
overtime,  under  the  first  head  is  9d.  a  day  to  unskilled  and  ll^d.  to  skilled 
workers.  No  provision  is  made  for  spending  earnings  whilst  in  prison ;  the 
money  is  credited  to  the  prisoner  against  the  time  of  his  release.  Under  the 
head  of  daily  wages  for  the  support  of  dependents,  sums  which  apparently 
vary  between  5/-  and  6/9  a  day  can  be  paid  over  to  a  prisoner's 
dependents.  In  arriving  at  the  exact  sum,  skill,  length  of  service,  and  the 
ordinary  labour  rates  of  pay  are  taken  into  account,  and  a  deduction  is  made 
for  the  cost  of  maintaining  and  supervising  the  prisoner. 

In  France  the  payment  of  wages  is  limited  to  prisoners  serving  sentences 
of  more  than  12  months.  Contractors  organise  the  workshops,  supply  the 
materials,  the  tools,  and  the  foremen,  and  pay  fixed  wages,  stated  to  be 
somewhat  less  than  the  district  rate  owing  to  the  inferiority  of  prison  labour. 
A  part  of  the  wage  (pecule  reserve)  is  handed  to  the  prisoner  on  his  discharge, 
the  rest  (pecule  disponible)  may  be  spent  at  the  canteen.  The  work  includes 
the  making  of  brooms,  brushes,  wooden  shoes,  and,  in  the  case  of  women, 
men's  shirts. 

We  take  the  following  review  of  the  practice  in  American  prisons  from  the 
report  of  the  Indian  Jails  Committee,  1921  (p.  146)  : — 

In  some  States,  such  as  New  York,  the  gratuity  takes  the  form  of  a 
percentage  on  the  estimated  value  of  the  prisoner's  work.  In  other 
States,  e.g.,  Indiana,  each  prisoner  employed  under  the  contract  system 
is  allotted  a  regular  amount  of  work  to  do,  but  for  any  out-turn  produced 
in  excess  of  that  task  he  receives  payment  at  a  scheduled  rate.  This  rate 
represents  the  full  value  of  the  extra  work  done  and  thus  amounts  to  a 
wage  for  all  work  in  excess  of  the  fixed  task,  and  may  be  quite  a  sub- 
stantial sum,  as  much  as  30  dollars  a  month.  In  other  States,  again, 
such  as  Minnesota,  the  practice  has  been  adopted  of  paying  the  prisoner 
regular  wages  ranging  from  15  cents  up  to  over  a  dollar  a  day  for  all 
work  done.  The  wages  belong  to  the  prisoner,  who  is  allowed  either  to 
remit  them  to  his  family  or  to  let  them  mount  up  for  his  own  benefit 
at  release.  The  warden  of  one  prison  which  did  business  in  1918  to  the 
value  of  over  2^  millions  of  dollars  stated  that  they  had  paid  over 
seventy-five  thousand  dollars  in  that  year  in  wages  to  prisoners.  He 
added,  "As  far  as  discipline  is  concerned,  we  have  had  very  little  trouble, 
the  men  being  so  busy  and  so  profitably  employed  that  they  do  not 
bother  with  infraction  of  rules  to  any  extent."  We  found  indications 
of  a  growing  opinion  in  America  in  favour  of  giving  prisoners  substantial 


122  PEISON  LABOUR 

remuneration  for  their  work.  Amongst  other  reasons  it  is  strongly 
supported  as  helping  a  prisoner  to  provide  for  his  family  while  he  is  in 
prison.  It  is  also  held  to  be  at  once  remunerative  to  the  State  and 
reformatory  in  respect  of  the  prisoner.  At  the  institutions  we  visited 
the  prison  officials  were  strongly  in  favour  of  the  principle,  and  it 
certainly  seemed  to  us  that  where  the  prisoners  were  recieiving  a  reward 
in  proportion  to  their  out-turn  they  were  working  with  a  cheerfulness 
and  interest  very  different  from  the  slackness  and  listlessness  we  noticed 
where  this  stimulus  was  absent. 

The  Indian  Jails  Committee  itself,  whilst  repudiating  "all  claim  or  right" 
on  the  part  of  a  prisoner  to  gratuities  or  wages,  thinks  "it  may  still  be  wise 
to  furnish  him  with  some  motive  for  industry  more  effective  than  the  fear 
of  punishment  and  more  immediately  operative  than  the  hope  of  expediting 
his  release  by  remission.  It  is  generally  agreed  that  greater  reliance  can  be 
placed  on  rewards  than  on  punishments  and  that  punishments  are 
particularly  inefficacious  in  stimulating  men  to  industry."  It,  there- 
fore, recommends  "that  every  prisoner  on  tasked  labour  should  be 
allowed  a  money  gratuity  for  any  out-turn  done  in  excess  of  the  fixed 
task  in  proportion  to  the  excess  turned  out,"  the  gratuity  to  be  the  prisoner's 
own  property.  It  is  suggested  that  it  should  be  "open  to  the  prisoner  to 
exchange  the  whole  or  any  part  of  his  gratuity  for  remission,  if  he  wishes 
to  do  so,"  and  that  he  should  be  allowed  to  remit  it  to  his  family  or  to  spend 
half  of  it  on  comforts. 

A  Commission  of  jurists  and  scientists,  presided  over  by  Professor  Enrico 
Ferri,  appointed  by  the  Italian  Government  in  1919,  has  reported  in  favour 
of  paying  and  organising  prison  labour  along  lines  of  free  labour.  "The 
criminals  will  have  pay  and  hours  identical  with  those  obtaining  under  Trade 
Union  rules.  Not  all  their  pay,  however,  will  go  to  them.  One- third  will 
be  devoted  to  the  person  for  having  injured  whom  the  delinquent  is  in  prison; 
one-third  to  the  State  for  the  maintenance  of  the  offender;  and  the  other 
third  to  the  prisoner  himself  or  his  family."  " 


i»  The    particulars    ol    the    Italian    Commission's    report    are    taken    from    a    summary 
"The    Observer,"   January   23rd,    1921. 


VALUE   OF   PRISON    LABOUR  12S 

il.— THE   VALUE   OF   PRISON    LABOUR    AND    THE 
COST   OF   PRISONS. 


The  wastefulness  of  prison  labour  is  shown  by  the  returns  the  Prison  Com- 
missioners publish  as  to  its  value.  In  1920-21  the  "average  annual  earnings" 
per  prisoner  were  £44  2s.  9d.,  that  is  less  than  18s.  a  week,  or  about  83. 
a  week  pre-war  value ;  and  this  was  a  very  high  figure  compared  with  previous 
years.  In  1878,  when  the  Local  prisons  were  taken  over  by  the  Government, 
the  average  earnings  were  £5  18s.  per  annum.  They  had  advanced  to 
£9  18s.  9d.  by  1904  and  to  £13  2s.  by  1908. 

These  figures  (except  those  for  1920-21,  which  are  given  in  the  Prison 
Commissioners'  Report)  are  reproduced  from  Sir  E.  Ruggles-Brise's  "The 
English  Prison  System,"  ^^  but  they  have  little  comparative  value.  In  1898 
the  method  of  estimating  the  value  of  prison  labour  was  entirely  changed, 
"per  diem"  rates  giving  place  to  "per  article"  rates.  Therefore  it  is  obviously 
worthless  to  compare  the  figure  for  1878  with  the  present  figure. 

The  estimated  value  of  prison  labour  is  now  based,  according  to  the  Home 
Secretary,  "on  a  comparison  of  the  value  of  each  article  made  in  prison,  with 
the  value  of  a  similar  article  outside."  "'  We  presume  this  means  that  an 
article  of  prison  manufacture  is  valued  by  the  market  price  of  a  similar 
article  made  outside  prison,  but  how  frequently  the  valuation  is  made  is  not 
clear.  The  Home  Office  gave  figures  in  a  letter  addressed  to  Mr.  Ben  Spoor, 
M.P.,  on  June  3,  1920,  which  suggest  that  the  assessment  so  far  as  mail-bags 
are  concerned  was  fairly  accurate  in  1915-1916.  During  that  year  the  trade 
quoted  from  9d.  to  Is.  for  sewing  bags,  and  the  latter  figure  was  the  estimate 
of  the  Commissioners.  Again,  a  Dundee  firm  asked  95d.  for  sewing  a 
hessian  bag,  including  cost  of  cord  and  sewings  (then  about  lid.)  and 
establishment  expenses,  which  compared  reasonably  with  6d.  estimated  by 
the  Commissioners  for  labour  value  only.  During  1920-21  a  rough  attempt 
was  made  to  re-estimate  the  value  of  prison  labour  according  to  the  advance 
in  wages  outside  prison.  "Information  was  obtained  from  the  Board  of 
Trade,"  say  the  Prison  Commissioners,  "as  to  the  average  earnings  under 
various  trades  in  different  years,  and  the  percentage  of  advance  has  been 
!  applied  to  the  rates  hitherto  in  force  for  the  valuation  of  prison  labour."  " 
This  change  is  responsible  for  the  much  higher  figures  given  in  1920-21,  but 
their  reliability  is  extremely  doubtful  as  the  valuation  of  prison  labour  is 
now  made  on  a  basis  combining  two  distinct  principles ;  that  is  to  say,  upon 
;  the  per  article  rate  hitherto  taken  have  been  superimposed  amounts  propor- 
:  tionate  to  the  recent  increases  in  wages.  This  combinaion  is  clearly  unsound, 
as  wages  and  prices  do  not  change  in  exact  proportions.  Moreover,  the 
!  value  of  prison  labour  cannot  properly  be  compared  with  labour  outside,  as 
the  latter  is  applied  to  up-to-date  means  of  production.  In  the  case  of  the 
hessian  bag  mentioned  above,  for  instance,  the  Dundee  firm  estimated  the 
;  price  on  the  basis  of  machine  sewing,  whilst  all  sewing  is  done  by  hand  in 
^  prison.  Consequently,  if  the  bag  was  rightly  valued  in  1915-16,  it  would  be 
greatly  over-valued  now,  as  there  has  been  added  to  it  the  increased  wage 
rate  of  wastefuUy  applied  labour. 

"Op.  cit.,  pp.  139  and  140. 

="  Letter  to  Mr.   W.  Lunn,   M.P.,  Febmary  23rd,   1921. 

"  P.C.  Report,   1920-21,  p.   17. 


124  PRISON  LABOUR 

It  is  of  interest  to  give  the  estimated  average  value  of  the  labour  per  man 
in  some  representative  prison  occupations.     The  figures  are  for  1920-21 "  :— 

£    s.   d.  £    s.  d. 


Bakers 

-      95  12 

0 

Oakum  Pickers 

9  10  10 

Bookbinders 

-    117    6 

2 

Pickers  and   Sorters    - 

14    5 

Building   Workers 

-      60  17 

8 

Ship  fender  makers 

26    9    8 

Carpenters 

-      29  14 

2 

Shoemakers 

52  17    8 

Gardeners 

-      50  12 

6 

Tailors        -       -      -      . 

49  13    5 

Knitters      ... 

--      20  15 

0 

Weavers     .       -      .       . 

20  15    7 

Mailbag  makers 

-      40    6 

8 

Wood  choppers 

18    4    0 

Matmakers 

-      23    8 

4 

In  estimating  the  cost  of  the  prison  administration,  a  deduction  is  made 
for  the  "value  of  labour  exclusive  of  employment  in  the  service  of  the  several 
[prison]  establishments."  In  1920-21  this  sum  was  put  at  £210,436  for  Local 
prisons,  £51,211  for  Convict  prisons,  £3,068  for  Preventive  Detention  prisons, 
and  £33,563  for  Borstal  Institutions,  giving  a  total  of  £298,278.^*  If  prison 
labour  were  organised  efficiently,  there  is  no  reason  why  a  very  large  part 
of  the  cost  of  prisons  should  not  be  met  by  the  value  of  the  articles  produced. 

As  we  have  indicated  in  the  foregoing  chapter,  prison  labour  in  America 
often  yields  a  remarkably  substantial  revenue.  In  this  connection  it  is  worth 
referring  to  a  paper  read  to  the  Prison  Association  of  New  York  in  1911, 
by  Mr.  O.  F.  Lewis,  its  general  secretary,  on  returning  from  an  investigation 
of  English  and  European  prisons.  "The  American  who  is  familiar  with  the 
great  industrial  development  of  many  of  our  prisons  will  feel  that  the 
English  prisons  are  securing  a  small  output  indeed  for  the  number  of  men 
they  have,"  he  says.  He  suggests  that  the  Prison  Commissioners  do  not 
want  the  financial  return  to  shape  the  administration  (a  laudable  attitude, 
were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  their  opposition  to  improved  industrial  organisa- 
tion is  based  on  their  opposition  to  co-operative  effort  by  the  prisoners),  and 
emphasises  the  drawback  of  separate  confinement  from  the  point  of  view  of 
output. 

The  Cost  of  Prisons. 

It  will  be  convenient  to  include  here  some  figures  regarding  the  cost  of  the 
prison  administration.  The  Table  given  on  the  next  page  is  taken  from  the. 
Commissioners'  Report  for  1920-21." 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  cost  of  "superintendence  and  staff"  per  inmate 
is  nearly  three  times  that  of  maintenance,  and  two-thirds  that  of  the  total 
cost.  The  cost  per  inmate  has  risen  extraordinarily.  In  1913-14  it  was 
£27  14s.  lid.  (including  State  Inebriate  Reformatories),  as  compared  with 
£93  13s.  lOd.  in  1920-21. 

The  total  cost  of  the  prison  administration  and  upkeep  in  1920-21  (includ- 
ing the  Preventive  Detention  prison  and  Borstal  Institutions)  was  £1.165,188. 
If  this  vast  sum  were  doing  something  to  lessen  the  volume  of  crime,  it  would 
be  worth  while.  If,  however,  as  the  facts  indicate,  imprisonment  helps  to 
make  criminals,  this  expenditure  is  not  only  colossal  waste,  it  is  positively 
injurious  to  the  community. 

2S  Calculated   Irom   the  returns   given  on  pp.   34-57  oJ   P.C.  Beport,   1920-21. 
2<  P.C.   Report,  Appendix  7,  Table  A,  p.  42. 
2i  P.C.  Report,   Appendix  7,  Table  B,  p. 43. 


ANNUAL   AVERAGE    CHARGE    PER    INMATE 


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CHAPTER  VIII 


DIET   AND    HYGIENE 

-.^DlET 

The  question  whether  the  scale  and  quahty  of  prison  diet  should 
form  part  of  the  punishment  has  long  agitated  the  xesponsible 
authorities.  In  1843  an  enlightened  Home  Secretary,  Sir  J. 
Graham,  declared  that  "diet  ought  on  no  account  to  be  made  an 
instrument  of  punishment";  but,  since  local  administration  was 
then  in  operation,  he  had  no  power  to  enforce  his  view.  The  local 
justices  often  acted  on  the  theory  that  the  diet  should  properly  be 
part  of  the  punishment,  and  in  1863  they  were  supported  by  a  declara- 
tion of  the  Committee  of  the  House  of  Lords  on  prison  discipline 
to  the  effect  that  a  "diet  may  be  made  a  j.ust  and  useful  element  of 
penal  diacipline."  Following  on  the  report  of  this  committee,  Dr. 
Guy  was  appointed  to  enquire  into  the  dietary  systems,  and,  when 
he  sought  official  guidance  as  to  whether  he  should  follow  Sir  J. 
Graham's  dictum  or  that  of  the  Lords'  Committee,  he  received  the 
somewhat  inconclusive  answer  that  the  diet  ought  not  to  be  an 
instrument  of  punishment  "by  injury  to  health." 

A  committee  which  framed  new  prison  dietaries  in  1878  applied 
the  principle  that  "the  shorter  the  sentence  is,  the  more  strongly 
should  the  penal  element  be  manifested  in  the  diet, ' '  with  the  result 
that,  when  a  further  committee  considered  this  subject  twenty  years 
later,  it  found  that  the  short  sentence  diets  had  been  "inadequate."  ' 
The  Home  Secretary  accordingly  abolished  them  and  substituted  a 
new  commencing  dietary  for  seven  days.  This  committee  in  recom- 
mending the  new  diet  expressed  disagreement  with  the  principle  that 
short  sentence  diets  should  contain  a  penal  element;  but,  "having 
regard  to  the  grave  dangers  which  would,  in  their  opinion,  accrue 
should  the  lowest  scale  be  unduly  attractive,"  they  provided  for  it 
to  "consist  of  the  plainest  food,  unattractive,  but  good  and  whole- 
some, jtnd  adequate  in  amount  and  kind  to  maintain  health  and 
str«f^gth."' 

What  the  committee  of  1898  considered  adequate  may  be  judged 
from     the    following     scale': — For     breakfast,   8  ozs.     of     bread 

1  P.O.   Report,  1899,  p.  21. 
I  Ibid. 

>  Known  as    "A"   Diet   in  the  Rules   for    Dietaries    established   in   1901.      They   remained 
anchanged  up  to  1917. 


DIET  127 

and  one  pint  of  gruel;  for  dinner,  8  ozs.  of  bread  and  one  pint  of 
porridge  (or  8  ozs.  of  potatoes  or  suet  pudding);  for  supper,  8  ozs. 
of  bread  and  one  pint  of  gruel.  Readers  with  more  imagination  than 
this  committee  will  hardly  be  surprised  to  learn  of  the  constant 
complaint  of  ex-prisoners  that,  except  when  asleep,  they  were  never 
without  the  feeling  of  hunger  during  the  seven  days  of  this  diet. 
Complaint  of  inadequacy  is  also  repeatedly  made  by  ex-prisoners 
regarding  "B"  diet,  upon  which,  after  the  seven  days,  they  completed 
their  first  four  months'  imprisonment.  This  was  followed  by  "C" 
diet,  which,  although  open  to  other  criticism,  was  generally  found 
sufficient  in  quantity.* 

This  system  of  diets  continued  in  Local  prisons  until  1917,  after 
which  the  exigencies  of  the  war  necessitated  a  number  of  alterations. 
For  a  period  of  nine  months  the  scale  was  wretchedly  inadequate,  but 
in  1918  a  diet  was  introduced  which  was  in  many  respects  an  improve- 
ment upon  that  of  pre-war  days ;  the  low  diet  of  the  first  week  was 
abolished,  a  pint  of  hot  cocoa  was  provided  at  supper  (prisoners  never 
had  a  hot  drink  in  the  pre-war  diet  until  they  had  served  four 
months),  and  the  items  generally  were  more  appetising  and  varied. 
This  diet,  which  is,  we  understand,  still  experimental,  has  remained, 
and  consists  of  the  following  items:  — 

Breakfast. 
Daily — 1  pint  porridge  and  6  ozs.  white  bread. 

DiNNEtt. 

Daily — 1  lb.  potatoes  and  3  ozs.  white  bread. 

In  addition — 
Monday  and  Thursday — 3  ozs.  bacon,  3  ozs.  beans,  and  3  ozs.  vegetables 

(usually  carrots). 
Tuesday — 4  ozs.  boiled  beef,  1  pint  broth,  and  3  ozs.  suet  pudding. 

Wedn'iday  and  Saturday — ^21  ozs.  soup,  composed  of  minced  meat,  split 
peas,   rice  or  pearl  barley. 
j  Friday — 6  ozs.  fish  and  3  ozs.  suet  pudding. 

I  Sunday — 3  ozs.  preserved  meat  and  3  ozs.  rice  pudding  (sweetened). 

SVPPER. 

i  Daily — 1  pint  cocoa. 

]  In  addition — 

Monday  and  Thursday — 8  ozs.  white  bread,  1  oz.  margarine,  and  1  oz. 
cheese. 

Tuesday,  Friday,  and  Saturday — 6  ozs.  bread,  1  oz.  bacon,  and  2  ozs. 
beans. 

'  Wednesday   and   Sunday — Same   as   Tuesday,    with   1   oz.    margarine 

added. 

*  Experience  apparently  conrinced  the  inspectors  of  ijrifons  that  the  penal  principle  for 
dietary  is  nnsound,  lor  in  their  1902  report  they  say,  "It  has  been  suggested  that  the 
.improTed  food  and  treatment  now  accorded  to  prisoners  may  hare  the  effect  of  lessening 
the  deterrent  influence  of  imprisonment,  but  we  hare  no  fear  that  these  changes  will 
.increase  our  prison  population;  a  man  will  not  willingly  sacrifice  his  freedom  for  a  few 
additional  ounces  of  food." 


128  DIET  AND  HYGIENE 

The  printed  store  list  includes  the  following  vegetables,  which  an 
frequently  given  in  the  hospital  diet  and  are  sometimes  allowed  as 
gubstdtutes  for  a  part  of  the  potatoes  in  the  ordinary  diet : — Cabbage 
carrots,  leeks,  onions,  parsnips,  and  turnips.  These  vegetables  ar< 
always  greatly  appreciated  by  the  prisoners,  but  in  town  prisons 
they  are  rarely  provided.  Vegetable  gardens  are  frequently  attache( 
to  prisons  in  the  country,  and  greater  variety  is  possible. 

Even  with  the  present  improved  diet,  every  ex-prisoner  who  hai 
I  given  evidence  states  that  the  effect  was  bad  in  some  respect  or  other 
|Fifty  complain  of  general  debility,  31  of  chronic  indigestion,  14  o 
[frequent  diarrhoea,  10  of  skin  rash,  and  nine  of  constant  constipation. 
The  medical  ofl&cers,  on  the  other  hand,  seem  mostly  satisfied 
One  advocates  "more  green  vegetable  food  and  not  so  much  starchj 
food."  A  diet  speciahst  criticises  the  diet  principally  on  the  groun( 
that  it  is  excessively  starchy  and  lacking  in  green  stuffs.  An  excesi 
of  starch,  he  says,  forms  "an  over-stimulating  and  over-heating  food 
which  gives  an  apparent  well-being  for  a  time,  but  the  permanen 
effect  of  which  is  bad.  It  maintains  body- weight,  but  has  very  un 
favourable  effects  in  other  directions." 

The  diet  in  Convict  prisons  has  also  improved  greatly  in  recen 
years.  An  ex-convict  who  served  a  life-sentence  tells  us  that  in  th( 
early  nineties  the  food  was  so  unsatisfying  that  "one  could  havi 
eaten,  for  a  week  and  never  been  satisfied."  It  was  a  common  prac 
tice,  he  says,  for  men  to  drink  out  of  oil-cans  and  to  chew  rags 
Before  the  war  there  were  varying  diets  at  Convict  prisons,  worker 
on  the  farms  and  in  the  quarries  receiving  extra ;  but  now  all  convicts 
except  those  under  medical  attention,  are  given  a  uniform  diet,  com 
posed  of  the  following :  — 

Breakfast. — One  pint  tea,  one  pint  porridge,  six  ozs.  bread,  witl 
i  or  Jf  oz.  margarine. 

Dinner. — First  course,  potatoes,  with  peas  or  beans,  and  either  bacoi 
or  meat  soup,  or  hot  meat,  or  corned  beef,  or  fish.  Second  course,  sue 
pudding  mixed  with  treacle,  or  sweetened  rice,  etc.     Seven  ozs.  bread 

Supper. — One  pint  cocoa,  nine  ozs.  bread,  1^  ozs.  bacon  or  cheese. 

An  officer  states  that  the  improved  diet  has  made  a  great  difference 
"There  is  now  very  little  waste  of  the  food,  and  complaints  are  few,' 
he  says.  "The  diminution  of  grumbling  and  of  talk  about  the  food  i 
a  great  advantage." 

No  one  will  claim  that  the  manner  in  which  the  food  is  distribute< 
to  the  prisoners  tends  to  have  a  civilising  influence  upon  them 
There  is  an  entire  absence  of  those  social  elements  which  wi 
associate  with  meal-times,  and  which  serve  so  effectively  to  develo] 

s  It  is  a  common  belief  among  prisoners  that  the  food  ia  regularly  drugged  for  th 
purpose  of  depressing  their  spirits  to  acceptance  of  the  discipline,  quietening  the  sexna 
instincts,  and  relaxing  the  bowels.  It  is  clear  from  our  evidence,  however,  that  ther 
is  no  foundation  for  tliis  belief.  Both  warders  and  medical  officers  declare  it  to  be  a  mjth 
See  p.  586. 


DIET  129 

a  sense  of  human  fellowship  and  the  cultivation  of  character.  The 
rations,  apportioned  in  the  kitchen,  are  placed  in  tins,  and  then 
distributed  to  the  prisoners  in  the  solitude  of  their  cells.  The 
prisoner's  door  is  opened  about  ten  inches,  the  tins  are  thrust  on  to 
his  table,  and  the  door  slammed  to  again.  The  whole  process  is 
impersonal  and  inhuman,  a  mere  matter  of  providing  the  prisoners' 
bodies  with  sufficient  food  to  keep  them  going.  This  is  not  a  criticism 
of  the  operators,  for  obviously  the  more  rapidly  they  distribute  the 
food  the  hotter  and  more  appetising  it  will  be.  It  is  the  system 
itself  which  is  at  fault. 

If  prisoners  have  complaint  to  make  as  to  the  quality  or  quantity 
of  the  food  it  must  be  made  at  once.  Most  prisoners  accept  what- 
ever is  given  them,  many  being  of  the  spiritless,  easily  driven  type 
that  never  complains  about  anything,  others  disliking  to  complain 
about  such  a  thing  as  food,  others  quite  unaware  as  to  what  rights 
they  possess,  others  hesitating  until  it  is  too  late,  and  many  others 
refraining  from  complaint  because  they  know  that  it  will  involve  un- 
popularity with  the  warders  and  because  their  card  of  rules 
threatens  them  with  punishment  for  "frivolous  and  groundless  com- 
plaints." "Old  hands,"  of  the  more  courageous  type,  however, 
make  a  habit  of  examining  their  rations  immediately,  and,  if  anything 
be  wrong,  they  hastily  ring  their  bells  before  the  officer  has  proceeded 
far  down  the  landing.  If  the  complaint  be  of  under-weight,  the 
:  prisoner  is  allowed  to  see  the  ration  weighed,  and  any  deficiency  is 
i  made  up;  if  it  be  of  the  quality,  the  matter  is  referred  to  the  chief 
i  warder. 

I     Our  evidence  shows  that  under-weight  is  very  frequent.     In  one 
i  prison  a  number  of  political  prisoners  ingeniously  constructed  scales 
out  of  their  work-tools,  which  resulted  in  a  stream  of  applications 
every  meal-time  for  rations  to  be  weighed,  and  invariably  the  com- 
plaints were  justified.      One  of  these  men  had  the  hardihood  to  ask 
Ifor  his  food  to  be  weighed  twenty-six  times  in  three  weeks.     The 
I  outcome  of  this  persistent  protest  was  that  the  officers  in  the  kitchen 
were   given    instructions    specially   to  weigh    the   rations    of   these 
•  prisoners  before  distribution ;   but  there  is  no  ground  for  thinking 
that  any  greater  care  was  taken  over  the  rations  of  other  prisoners. 
j     Similarly,  the  food  is  often  of  poor  quality,  the  flour  musty,  the 
I  porridge    thin    (or    thickened    with    mice-droppings),    the    potatoes 
'diseased,  the  meat  leathery  or  bad.       At  one   prison  in    1919    the 
potatoes  were  uneatable  for  three  months.     At  another  "the  oatmeal 
iwas  contaminated  with  rat  excreta,"  and,  in  consequence  of  protest 
I  by  political  prisoners,  was  officially  condemned.     But  we  are  assured 
that  when  the  "politicals"  were  released  "the    old    oatmeal    was 
brought  out  again  and  was  eaten  by  the  ordinary  prisoners." 

We  do  not  wish  to  suggest  that  food  is  objectionable  in  this 
manner  as  a  general  rule.  In  some  prisons  scrupulous  care  appears 
;to  be  taken.  But  complaints  of  this  kind  are  sufficiently  frequent 
Ito  demand  notice  and  emphasis. 

Our  ex-prisoner  witnesses  also  very  frequently  state  that  the  tins 
\  m  which  the  food  is  served  are  dirty.     No  less  than  seventy-seven 

F 


130  DIET  AND  HYGIENE 

witnesses  make  this  complaint.  A  deputation  from  the  Penal 
Reform  League  which  waited  on  the  Prison  Commissioners  in  1920, 
suggested  that  the  rust  which  gathers  in  the  tins  might  be  obviated 
if  they  were  bowl-shaped,  and  the  Commissioners  promised  that  the 
tins  should  be  made  in  this  form  in  the  future.  We  are  glad  to 
learn  that  during  1921  earthenware  utensils  were  introduced  at  one 
large  prison. 

Diet  bulks  veiy  largely  in  the  minds  of  most  prisoners.  This  is 
no  doubt  in  great  part  due  to  the  monotony  of  prison  existence, 
which  tends  to  cause  an  exaggerated  emphasis  to  be  laid  upon  meals. 
But  the  inadequacy  and  monotony  of  the  diet  has  certainly  also 
been  responsible  for  the  constant  thought  of  food.  One  witness  tells 
liow  prisoners  employed  on  an  outside  works  party  picked  up 
bits  of  cabbage  stumps  and  carrots  "to  eke  out  the  prison  rations,'* 
and  how  one  was  discovered  and  consequently  punished.  Prisoners 
employed  in  the  workshops  complained  to  him  that  they  could  not 
eat  nails  or  wood.  "The  worst  of  this  shop,"  said  one,  "is  that 
never  by  any  chance  does  anything  we  can  eat  get  into  it. "  Another 
witness  records  that  during  the  period  of  short  war  rations  prisoners 
ate  the  grease  which  they  used  in  the  making  of  ropes. 

One  of  the  dietary  problems  arising  from  the  imprisonment  of 
political  offenders  is  the  frequent  demand  for  a  strictly  vegetarian 
diet.  This  was  provided  for  women  suffrage  prisoners  at  request, 
but  had  apparently  fallen  into  disuse  by  the  time  of  the  war,  for  the 
"politicals"  of  this  period  only  obtained  it  after  much  difficulty  and 
delay.  Several  vegetarians  refused  all  food  containing  animal 
matter,  and,  in  spite  of  the  sufferings  which  it  entailed,  subsisted 
for  many  months  on  the  inadequate  amount  of  bread,  potatoes,  and 
porridge  contained  in  the  ordinaiy  diet.  The  vegetarian  diet  is  still 
permitted,  but  ordinary  prisoners  very  rarely  apply  for  it.' 

Dress. 

All  convicted  prisoners  wear  a  uniform.  The  prison  authorities 
deny  that  it  is  "intended  or  designed  as  a  garb  of  shame,"  but, 
crudely  cut,  untidy,  ill-fitting,  and  sprinkled  with  broad  arrows,  it 
emphatically  gives  that  impression.  On  the  jacket  hangs  an  ugly 
yellow  disc,  bearing  the  prisoner's  number. 

The  colour  of  the  cloth  varies  with  the  classification  of  the  prisoner. 
For  the  ordinary  male  prisoner  it  is  drab,  for  the  second  division 

«  The   Vegetarian   Diet   is    as   follows:— 

Breakfast.    Daily— 6    ozs.    bread,   1    pint  porridge,   ^4   oz.    margarine. 

Dinner.    Daily — 6    ozs.    bread,    16    ozs.    potatoes. 

Sunday.  Rice  pudding  as  follows— IVi  ozs.  rice,  1  oz.  milk,  Vs  oz.  sugar,  or  1  or.  jam 
to  each  portion. 

Monday    and   Thursday.    6    ozs.   beans    or   peas,    1    oz.    cheese. 
*  Taesday    and    Friday.    Flour   pudding    as    follows:- 2   ozs.    flour,    14    oz.    margarino,    1   ot. 
jam   to  each  portion. 

Wednesday  and  Saturday.  Vegetable  Soup  as  follows:— 2  ozs.  fresh  vegetables,  2  OM- 
pearl  barley  or  split  peas,   Va  oz.  onion,  l-6th  oz.  flour  to  each   portion,    loz.  cheese. 

Supper.  Daily— 6  ozg.  bread,  \i  oz.  margarine,  1  pint  cocoa,  1  02.  cheese,  4  <)•• 
potatoes. 


DRESS  131 

prisoner  brown,  for  debtors  and  "remand"  prisoners  blue,  for  court 
martial  prisoners  dark  grey.  The  cap,  usually  worn  indoors  and 
out,  is  made  of  a  similar  stuff.  The  brown  dress  and  apron  and 
white  cap  of  the  women  prisoners  give  a  rather  neater  and  happier 
impression,  but  many  women  find  even  this  uniform  very  distasteful. 
The  first  division  and  remand  prisoners  may  wear  their  own  clothing 
if  they  desire,  and  if  it  be  clean  and  decent,  but  the  number  disc 
must  be  worn. 

In  1889  a  committee  appointed  by  the  Government  to  advise 
about  prison  dress '  gave  the  following  points  in  favour  of  a  prison 
uniform :  — 

(1)  It  is  a  safeguard  against  the  introduction  of  infectious  disease. 

(2)  It  is  easily  washed  and  repaired. 

(3)  It  is  a  safeguard  against  escape. 

(4)  It  is  a  means  of  classification. 

(5)  It  is  a  check  upon  the  secretion  of  prohibited  articles. 

(6)  It  saves  private  clothing  from  wear  and  tear. 

I  In  opposition  to  these  considerations,  some  ex-prisoners  strongly 
'  urge  that  identical  uniforms  involve  a  suppression  of  personality, 
,  and  suggest  that,  even  if  prisoners  must  have  different  or  additional 

clothing  to  their  own,  there  is  no  reason  why  some  variety  of  style 

should  not  be  permitted. 

j      A  prison  uniform  was   first  advocated  in  this  country  by  John 

!  Howard,   for  reasons  of  humanity.       At  that  time  most  prisoners 

i  were   in    a  wretchedly   miserable    condition,  and   those    who   were 

•  penniless     and     unable    to    pay     "garnish"     on    admission    were 

1  forced   to   surrender   some   of  their   apparel,    however  scanty.     An 

Act  of  1779  directed  that  prison   clothing   should  be  adopted,   but 

it  is  clear  from  certain  prison  rules  of  this  period  that  John  Howard's 

humane  considerations  did  not  guide  the  minds  of  the  authorities. 

1  For  instance,  one  of  the  rules  of  the  Gloucester  Penitentiary  House, 

'  1785  (quoted  by  Major  Arthur  Griffiths  in  a  historical  appendix  to 

■  the  report  of  the  committee  of  1889)  reads:    "Offenders    shall    be 

clothed  in  a  coarse  and  uniform  apparel  with  certain  marks  or  badges 

affixed  to  the  same,  as  well  to  humiliate  the  wearer  as  to  facilitate 

discovery  in  case  of  escape." 

I  Prisoners  are  still  "clothed  in  a  coarse  and  uniform  apparel  with 
1  certain  marks  or  badges  affixed  to  the  same,"  and,  despite  the 
denials  of  the  authorities,  they  certainly  serve  not  only  to  "facilitate 
discovery  in  case  of  escape"  but  to  "humiliate  the  wearer"  as  well. 
Again  and  again  our  ex-prisoner  witnesses  protest  against  the  degrad- 
ing effect  of  the  prison  uniform.  "After  I  put  on  the  prison  clothes, " 
says  one,  "I  had  a  difficulty  to  retain  my  self-respect.  The  ugliness 
of  them,  the  dirty  colour  and  the  patches  in  the  coat  and  trousers. 
I  the  arrows  denoting  my  criminality,  the  disc  bearing  the  number  of 

'  Departmental    Committee   of   Inquiry   as    to    Rnles   concerning    wearing   ol   Prison   Dress, 
«te.,  1889. 


132  DIET  AND  HYGIENE 

my  cell — all  had  a  degrading  effect,  making  me  feel  less  a  man  and 
more  an  outcast."  Warders  speak  similarly.  "The  prison  garb  is 
an  unnecessary  degradation,"  says  one.  "It  is  very  humiliating," 
says  another.  "This  is  especially  true  of  first  offenders.  To 
habitual  criminals  the  broad  arrows  mean  nothing." 

A  male  prisoner's  clothing  consists  of  jacket  (buttoning  tight  up 
to  the  neck),  waistcoat,  trousers,  shirt,  flannel  vest,  cotton  or  flannel 
drawers,  socks,  and  shoes;  a  woman  prisoner's  of  jacket,  skirt, 
apron,  cap,  calico  or  flannel  shift,  stays,  flannel  petticoat,  calico  or 
flannel  drawers,  stockings,  shoes  and  nightgown.  Calico  under- 
clothing is  given  to  all  prisoners  except  those  who  arrive  wearing 
flannel,  but  flannels  are  obtainable  by  any  prisoner  on  application  to 
the  medical  officer,  although,  as  in  the  case  of  most  "privileges," 
few  are  aware  of  this  right.  In  addition,  prisoners  may  wear  a  short 
cape,  descending  to  the  waist  (if  in  hospital,  a  long  overcoat)  when 
at  exercise  or  at  work  in  the  open  on  rainy  or  extremely  cold  days.* 

Male  prisoners  in  Local  prisons  are  never  supplied  with  sleeping 
garments,  nor  are  women  prisoners  serving  sentences  of  less  than 
fourteen  days.  Our  ex-prisoner  witnesses  constantly  complain  of 
this.  "It  w^as  most  objectionable,"  says  one,  "sleeping  in  a  shirt 
which  had  become  damp  and  hot  owing  to  exertions  at  work  during 
the  day."  A  woman  prisoner  serving  more  than  fourteen  days  is 
generally  provided  with  a  nightdress,  although  the  Standing  Orders 
read  that  it  is  only  to  be  issued  "where  the  privilege  is  not  likely 
to  be  abused  or  where  the  prisoner  has  been  accustomed  to  wear  it 
in  free  life." ' 

Some  ex-prisoners  complain  of  the  insufficiency  of  the  clothing, 
in  cold  weather.  "The  capes  were  of  little  use,"  says  one.  "They 
were  small  and  often  could  not  be  done  up  owing  to  the  buttons 
being  off.  In  the  cells  we  got  bitterly  cold.  I  used  to  wrap  myself 
up  in  blankets."  j 

The  dilapidated  condition  of  the  clothing  provided,  par-  j 
ticularly  the  socks  and  underwear,  is  a  repeated  complaint.  One. ! 
ex-prisoner  says:  "If  the  memory  of  everything  else  iri  connection  i 
with  my  prison  experiences  grows  dim,  my  recollection  of  the 
clothing,  underclothing  particularly,  I  was  compelled  to  endure  in  | 
prison  will  vividly  remain.  I  am  well  aware  that  it  would  easily  be  ! 
possible  to  show  to  any  person  or  committee  underclothing  which 
would  appear  quite  good,  but,  in  the  main,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  \ 
saying  that  they  constitute  a  positive  scandal :  socks  or  stockings  I 
which  may  be  a  collection  of  holes  held  together  by  threads  of  wool  j 
or  worsted,  outer  shirts  that  look  more  like  a  collection  of  dirty  \ 
dusters  stitched  together  anyhow,  pants  that  hang  in  strips  and  have  \ 
to  be  tied  round  the  leg,  if  there  happens  to  be  a  string  or  tape  to  i 

i 

»  Women  prisoners  are  permitted  to  retain  these  rapes  in  their  cells  as  an  additional 
wrap.    They    find  them    a  great  boon  in   cold  weather.  j 

9  Appendix  15   to  S.O.,  p.  462. 


DRESS  133 

tie  them  with."     This  experience  is  clearly  not  general,  but  it  is 
sufficiently  common  to  call  for  attention. 

The  clothing  is  often  repaired  in  the  crudest  way.  It  is  done  "as 
far  as  possible  with  old  material,"  and  (we  quote  the  Standing 
Order")  "the  serviceable  parts  of  condemned  garments,  sheets, 
blankets,  etc.,  will  be  reserved  for  this  purpose.  .  .  .  The  tops 
of  condemned  stockings  and  socks  will,  when  practicable,  be  un- 
ravelled and  the  material  used  again."  Sometimes  this  material  is 
not  of  a  very  promising  character,  and,  when  the  generally  inexpert 
hands  of  the  prisoners  who  do  the  repairs  are  applied  to  it,  the  results 
cannot  be  expected  to  be  very  satisfactory. 

Little  is  done  to  induce  prisoners  to  pay  regard  to  tidiness :  the 
dress,  so  wretched  in  character,  is  in  itself  no  incentive,  and  attempts 
to  encourage  neatness  and  care  are  seldom  made.  The  rules  for 
Scottish  prisons  (1854)  require  the  matron  to  instruct  women 
prisoners  in  domestic  matters  and  to  "encourage  them  to  put  their 
own  clothes  into  a  good  state  of  repair  before  they  leave  the  prison" ; 
but  nothing  of  this  kind  is  done  in  Enghsh  prisons."  Indeed,  one 
of  oxrc  warder  witnesses  laid  particular  stress  upon  "the  careless 
way  in  which  the  private  clothes  of  prisoners  are  tied  up  and  put 
away."  They  are  often  spoiled,  he  says,  "and  the  underclothing 
is  not  washed  unless  a  special  request  is  made.""  One  of  our 
witnesses  quotes  a  case  where  a  prisoner  was  refused  permission 
to  repair  his  personal  clothing  before  discharge. 

Practically  all  that  has  been  written  above  applies  to  the  clothing 
provided    for    convict    prisoners.       The    uniform    is    slovenly    and 

1  humiliating.  The  underclothing  is  often  dilapidated  and  ill-washed. 
There  is  no  encouragement  of  neatness  in  dress.     But  there  are  one 

;  or  two  ameliorations  which  deserve  mention. 

From  September  to  April  convicts  are  provided  with  cloth 
I  leggings  and  a  warm  "cardigan"  or  "sweater,"  which  may  be  worn 
'either  under  or  over  the  shirt.  They  also  have  working  "slops" 
.'  or  overalls  (made  of  a  kind  of  waterproof  jute),  marked  with  red 
stripes  on  deep  blue,  with  the  broad  arrow  superimposed — hideous 
things,  but  serviceable.  Each  convict  has  his  own  kit  of  underwear, 
I  and  an  extra  shirt  is  given  to  wear  at  night.  At  one  Convict  prison, 
I  at  least,  slippers  are  provided  for  use  in  the  cell. 

I  There  is  a  general  complaint  by  our  ex-prisoner  witnesses  that  the 
:  bedclothes  provided  are  inadequate.  The  medical  officer  is  permitted 
!  to  allow  a  third  blanket  "during  severe  winter  weather"  and  generally 
'  does  so,  but  the  blankets  are  usually  thin  and  the  cells  are  cold,  so 
that  it  is  the  universal  custom  for  prisoners  to  utilise  mail-bngs  and 
'  stuffs  provided  for  their  work  as  extra  covering  for  their  beds.     The 

HO.   1545. 

I     ''^*  hear    (December.  1921)    that  instructions  have  now  been   issued  that   prisoners  are 
I  to  be  permitted  to  repair   their  own   clothes  and  boots  preparatory  to  release. 
-  In  certain  prisons   the  private  underclothing   of  prisoners    is   washed. 


^T'^:^ 


134  DIET  AND  HYGIENE 

prisoner  whose  work  does  not  provide  him  with  such  materials  is 
always  an  object  of  pity. 

Exercise. 
To  most  prisoners  "exercise"  is  the  most  welcome  hour  of  the 
day.     That  it  should  be  so  considered  illustrates  the  monotony  of 
the  general  routine,  for  anything  more  dull  and  dreary  than  prison 
"exercise"  it  would  be  difficult  to  imagine. 

The  scene  itself  ia  depressing;  prison  walls  and  prison  buildings 
are  the  surroundings.  A  series  of  circular  concrete  tracks,  about 
four  feet  wide,  with  vegetables  (sometimes  grass)  growing  between; 
four  large  stone  blocks,  equidistant  on  the  edge  of  the  outermost 
circle;  and  a  very  conspicuous  row  of  four  or  five  w.c.'s,  wretched- 
looking  places  with  half -doors  like  cattle-pens :  such  is  the  typical 
"exercise"  yard.  Sometimes  it  is  better,  with  flower-beds  and  green 
shrubs  " ;  sometimes  worse — a  bare  surface  of  asphalte  or  gravel  with' 
I  not  even  a  blade  of  grass." 

\  The  "exercise"  is  as  dreary  as  the  scene.  "Warders  stand  on 
duty  on  the  stone  blocks,  to  prevent  talking  and  to  give  permission 
to  the  prisoners  to  "fall  out"  to  visit  the  w.c.'s."  ("Exercise"  is 
the  official  occasion  for  this  necessity;  there  is  generally  a  queue 
of  prisoners  awaiting  their  turn).  The  prisoners  walk  round  the 
tracks  in  single  file,  five  feet  apart ;  the  old  and  slow-moving  in  the 
inmost  circle,  the  young  and  quicker  on  the  outside.  The  former 
is  sometimes  not  more  than  twelve  feet  in  diameter;  and  shuffling 
round  this  is  all  the  exercise  the  old  folk  have.  In  wintry  weather 
the  officers  will  sometimes  permit  those  on  the  outer  "ring"  to  run 
if  they  desire  to  do  so.  Lame  prisoners  are  allowed  to  take  what 
exercise  they  are  capable  of  on  a  side  track  outside  the  circles. 

A  good  deal  of  conversation  generally  takes  place  at  "exercise" 
despite  the  vigilance  of  the  warders.  Prisoners  soon  learn  the  art 
of  speaking  to  the  man  in  front  or  behind  without  moving  the  head 
and  with  little  movement  of  the  lips.  It  is  only  possible  to  say  a- ! 
few  words  before  coming  within  earshot  of  an  officer,  but  in  the  | 
course  of  an  hour  devoted  to  "exercise"  a  good  deal  can  be  said. 
It  is  the  custom  of  prisoners  to  endeavour  to  "fall  in"  next  to  their 
chums,  but  the  warders  prevent  this  whenever  possible. 

Many  prisoners,  however,  become  too  dulled  by  the  prison  routine 

1 

1'  A  large  nximber  oJ  ex-prisoner  witnesses  speak  of  the  inspiration  receiTed  from  these  | 
rare  patches  of  colour,  and  deplore  the  fact  that  they  are  not  to  b«  seen  more  frequently  i 
in  prison.  i 

i-«  "For  three  months,"  states  one  witness,  "I  exercised  in  a  stone-paved  yard,  surrounded 
by  the  ugly  prison  buildings  on  all  sides.  For  about  three  feet  one  could,  by  walking  on 
tip-toe,  just  catch  a  glimpse  of  some  trees  outside  the  prison:  that  piece  of  ground  cams 
to  be  considered  a  sacred  spot  by  many  of  us.  After  some  heary  rain,  a  few  sprigs  of 
grass— a  deep,  rich  green— sprang  up  between  two  of  the  stone  flags.  How  we  treasured 
them!  When,  one  morning,  after  a  visit  from  the  'Garden  Party,"  we  found  that  the  grass 
had  been  carefully  dug  out,  I  could  not  keep  the  tears  from  coming  to  my  eyes,  and  for  I 
many  days   I  went   about    with  a  sense  oi  acute  loss." 

'5  In  some  prisons    the  warders   on    duty   walk  round  a   concrete  track    between   those  on 
which   the  prisoners   walk,  and  in  the   opposite  direction. 


PERSONAL  CLEANLINESS  135 

^o  desire  or  4t>  dare  interchange  of  speech  or  glance.  "They  tramp 
rou53',"fe'ay"s"one  o^  our"\\'ilrii?B5e«^**left7'"Tl^ht,  left,  right, — ^the 
seventy  paces  of  the  ring,  with  their  eyes  fixed  on  the  ground  or 
staring  blindly  at  the  man's  back  in  front  of  them.  It  is  like  a 
funeral  procession  of  dead  souls." 

By  the  end  of  the  hour  most  of  the  men  have  had  enough.  They 
are  wearied  by  the  monotony  of  the  thing;  they  are  tired  out  physic- 
ally. The  order  comes  from  the  hall-door,  "Send  them  in,"  and 
mechanically  they  return  to  cell  and  workshop.  Those  who  are 
employed  outside  are  often  called  away  soon  after  "exercise"  has 
begun,  their  work  being  apparently  considered  a  sufficient  substitute. 
In  summer  time  a  certain  number  of  prisoners  exercise  before 
breakfast.  On  wet  days  it  is  the  usual  custom  for  prisoners  to  take 
exercise  round  the  interior  of  the  halls,  although  in  one  large  prison, 
at  least,  "exercise"  has  been  omitted  altogether  if  the  weather  does 
not  pei-mit  it  outside.  In  one  or  two  prisons  the  governors  divide  the 
"exercise"  period  into  two  parts,  half-an-hour  in  the  morning  and 
half-an-hour  in  the  afternoon.  Prisoners  speak  appreciatively  of 
this  innovation  as  an  additional  break  in  the  monotony  of  the  routine. 

Prisoners  usually  find  Saturday  afternoons  and  Sundays  the  most 
difficult  period  of  their  imprisonment,  and  the  monotony  is  increased 
in  the  case  of  the  first  stage  prisoners  by  the  absence  of  "exercise." 
Many  of  our  ex-prisoner  witnesses  strongly  urge  that  Sunday./ 
"exercise"  should  be  extended  to  all  prisoners.  "The  First  Stage 
men  need  it  most,"  says  one  witness,  "since  they  are  confined  to 
their  cells  even  for  their  work  throughout  the  week."  Other  ex- 
prisoners  urge  that  additional  "exercises"  should  be  arranged  for 
Saturday  and  Sunday  afternoons.  We  understand  that  the  Prison 
Commissioners  have  now  introduced  second  exercises  on  Saturday 
and  Sunday  for  certain  classes  of  prisoners  in  certain  prisons :  the 
obstacle  to  a  general  extension  is  said  to  be  insufficiency  of  staff. 

The  Departmental  Committee  of  1895  recommended  that  "the 
simpler  forms  of  gymnastic  exercises"  should  be  introduced,  and 
that  they  might  "take  the  place  to  a  considerable  extent  of  the 
monotonous  walking."  So  far  as  we  can  discover,  this  recom- 
mendation has  not  been  put  into  effect,  despite  the  fact  that  more 
than  one  governor  has  advocated  the  same  change  and  that  the 
opinion  of  the  medical  officers  is  apparently  unanimous  that  instruc- 
tion in  physical  drill  for  juvenile  adults  has  most  beneficial  physical 
and  moral  results. 

Personal  Cle.^nlixess. 

"A  prisoner  shall  be  requii'ed  to  keep  himself  clean  and  decent  in 
his  person,"  reads  Rule  33,  but  our  evidence  indicates  that  only  in 
the  most  extreme  cases  is  anything  done  to  ensure  cleanliness  and 
decency. 

"During  the  three  years  I  was  in  prison,"  states  one  witness,  "I 
never  heard  a  prisoner  reprimanded  for  uncleanliness,  although  men 


136  DIET  AND  HYGIENE 

were  often  obviously  dirty,  and  boasted  of  the  fact  that,  in  order  to 
^retain  the  polish  of  their  bowls,  they  refrained  from  washing. 
*^here  were  other  men,  too,  who  disliked  water  and  soap,  and  used 
as  little  as  possible  even  at  the  weekly  bath."  Another  witness  tells 
how  he  was  discussing  with  a  prisoner  the  advantages  of  working 
in  the  kitchen.  "You  get  a  bath  twice  a  week,  don't  you?"  he 
asked.  "Yes,"  replied  the  second  prisoner,  "but,  then,  you  needn't 
get  into  the  water  if  you  don't  want  to." 

Visitors  to  the  prisons  are  always  impressed  by  the  cleanliness  of 
the  halls  and  cells.  The  stone  floors  are  scrubbed  clean  every  morn- 
ing; the  metal  rails  along  the  corridors  shine  brilliantly,  the  tin 
utensils  in  the  cells  glisten  with  almost  dazzling  effect  as  the  light 
strikes  them.  The  impression  left  is  that  whatever  may  be  said  in 
criticism  of  prisons,  they  must  be  very  educative  toward  cleanliness. 

Yet  ex-prisoners  again  and  again  assert  that  the  cleanliness  of  the 
prison  is  only  obtained  at  the  expense  of  the  cleanliness  of  the 
prisoner.  The  reasons  for  this  we  shall  explain.  If  we  seem  to 
our  readers  to  go  into  unnecessary  and  offensive  details,  we  would 
point  out  that  their  importance  lies  in  the  cumulative  effect,  which 
is  indicative  of  the  callous  and  inhuman  way  in  which  prisoners  are 
treated  generally.  Even  if  prisoners  are  sometimes  too  degraded 
to  be  concerned  about  these  defects,  to  leave  them  undisturbed  in 
their  dirty  habits  is  clearly  wrong. 

The  washing  basins  in  many  prisons  are  still  made  of  tin  which 
has  to  be  highly  polished."  "The  prison  recipe  for  cleaning  these 
utensils,"  says  one  ex-prisoner,  "is  to  wet  it  all  over,  rub  it  over 
with  soap,  polish  it  with  bath  brick,  and  finish  it  off  with  whitening. 
What  the  prisoner  is  supposed  to  wash  his  hands  in,  after  he  has 
performed  these  various  processes,  I  do  not  know.  If  he  uses  his 
basin,  the  polish  all  goes  and  his  labour  has  been  in  vain."  "If 
your  tin  was  clean,  you  were  dirty,"  remarks  another  ex-prisoner. 
"The  compulsion  to  keep  the  tins  bright  discourages  the  use  of 
them,"  says  a  third.  Some  prisoners  apparently  dispense  with 
washing.     Others  resort  to  the  use  of  alternative  utensils. 

"I  washed  each  morning  in  my  enamel  dinner  plate  to  save  dirty- 
ing my  wash-tin,"  states  one  ex-prisoner,  and  a  number  give 
similar  evidence.  "One  of  the  first  bits  of  advice  I  got  on  entering 
prison,"  says  another  witness,  "was  to  use  the  earthenware  chamber 
for  washing,  in  order  to  save  dirtying  the  tin  basin.  This  was 
commonly  done.  I  was  also  told  to  use  my  prayer-card  for  a  lid 
to  my  chamber  in  order  not  to  spoil  the  polish  of  the  tin  lid.  I 
found  that  many  of  the  cards  on  the  cell  walls  had  dirty  circles  on 
them,  showing  that  they  had  been  used  for  this  purpose."  A 
warder  of  long  experience  asserts  that  prisoners  often  throw  their 
urine  out  of  the  window  and  then  wash  in  the  chamber,  and  that 
they  even  throw  out  the  solid  excrement,  wrapped  in  paper  and  rags, 

i«  Enamel  basins  are  now  b^ing  inlrodnred  in  some  prisons,  but  the  tin  chamber  lids 
remain. 


PERSONAL   CLEANLINESS  137 

in  order  to  avoid  dirtying  the  chamber.  An  ex-prisoner  gives 
corroborative  evidence.  "For  eight  months,"  he  says,  "I  was 
turned  out  alone  in  a  small  yard  for  exercise.  Two  or  three  times 
a  week  I  used  to  find  human  excrement  lying  about,  tied  up  in  rags 
with  twine."  " 

It  used  to  be  the  custom  to  supply  tin  chambers  as  well  as  tin 
water-cans  and  washing  basins,  and  in  some  prisons  they  are  still 
used  to  a  hmited  degree.  This  led  to  the  same  rags  being  used  for 
cleaning  the  chambers  and  the  other  utensils,  and  the  chambers 
themselves  were  almost  always  in  a  disgusting  condition,  despite  the 
efforts  of  warders  to  secure  constant  polishing.  The  tin  water- 
cans  are  now  being  replaced  by  enamel  ones,  the  Commissioners 
having  apparently  realised  the  difi&culty  of  keeping  the  cans  highly 
polished,  and  preventing  the  water  which  they  contain  (for  which 
there  is  no  other  receptacle)  from  becoming  dirty  in  the  process. 
In  many  prisons  only  one  opportunity  of  changing  the  water  is 
given  daily,  and  there  are  frequent  complaints  that  it  becomes 
undrinkably  dusty. 

Eepeated  complaint  is  also  made  that  the  basins  supplied  for 
washing  are  not  big  enough  for  serviceable  use.  "Washing  had  to 
be  a  mere  cat's  lick,"  says  one  ex-prisoner,  "owing  to  limitations 
in  the  size  of  the  bowl  and  the  amount  of  water."  In  some  prisons 
the  washing-basins  are  only  about  ten  inches  in  diameter  at  the  top, 
six  inches  at  the  bottom,  and  very  shallow.  There  is  a  second  type 
of  basin  which  is  larger.  Ex-prisoners  frequently  complain  of  the 
meagre  allowance  of  soap,  of  the  small  towel,  and  of  the  inadequate 
supply  of  toilet  paper.  Other  complaints  are  of  the  bad-smelling 
brushes  supplied  for  scrubbing  the  floor  and  furniture  of  the  cells, 
and  of  the  dirty  floor-cloths. 

J  .No  attempt  is  made  to  encourage  decency  in  personal  appearance. 
The  use  of  razors  is  forbidden,  except  in  the  case  of  those  awaiting 
trial  and  of  offenders  of  the  First  Division.  Clipping  is  substituted 
for  shaving;  the  Standing  Orders  say  that  "the  hair,  beard,  and 
moustache"  must  be  cut  once  a  fortnight,  hut  it  is  sgldom-that  a 
prisoner  receives  such  attention  more  than  once  a  month,. and  some 
Qf  our  witnesses  speak  of  having  to  wait  three  months.  The  result 
IS  that  male  prisoners  always  appear  dirty  and  with  grotesque, 
shaggy,  half-grown  beards. 

Our  evidence  suggests  that  this  negligence  is  often  serious  in  its 
lemoralising  effects.  A  warder  at  a  penal  servitude  prison,  for 
nstance,  says  that  a  convict  recently  told  him  that  his  unshaven 
cace  made  him  feel  "as  if  he  did  not  care  if  he  ever  washed  his  face 
'>r   brushed  his  hair  again."       An  ex-prisoner  gives   evidence   as 

An  ex^conrict  giTcs  similar  eTidence  regarding  Conrict  prisons.  He  says:  "I  hay 
nnwn  men  who  rery  seldom  used  their  bowl  for  washing,  in  order  to  aroid  the  task  of 
leaning  the  bowl.  I  hare  known  one  or  two  men  who  on  this  account  would  ncTer  nse  it. 
^'hey  gaTc  their  bowl  a  bit  of  a  polish  np  once  a  week  for  the  inspection,  but  they  did 
nothing  more  with  it.  One  weekly  bath  in  the  bath-house,  where  there  waa  no  cleaning-up 
iit«rwards,  sufficed  them!" 
!  F  2 


138  DIET  AND  HYGIENE 

follows:  "I  was  a  bit  of  a  swell  before  I  went  to  prison,  always 
being  very  particular  about  shaving  cleanly  and  regularly.  But  I 
soon  became  accustomed  to  having  a  dirty-looking,  bristly  face,  and 
since  I  came  out  of  prison  I  have  had  quite  a  struggle  to  recover  my 
old  habits." 

The  official  reason  for  the  prohibition  of  the  use  of  razors  is  the 
danger  that  they  may  be  used  for  the  purposes  of  suicide  or  assault, 
but  the  absurd  fact  is  that  tools  are  commonly  supplied  to  prisoners 
which  could  be  used  for  either  purpose  just  as  effectively.  For 
example,  knives  are  provided  for  leather  work  and  other  processes 
which  can  be  sharpened  to  such  a  degree  that  prisoners  often  use 
them  as  razors  with  most  satisfactory  results." 

Before  1899  prisoners  in  Local  prisons  had  their  hair  cut  -close, 
as  penal  servitude  prisoners  still  do,  but  now  a  moderate  length  is 
allowed."  Women  prisoners  only  have  their  hair  cut  on  the  written 
instructions  of  the  medical  officer,  endorsed  by  the  governor. 

Prisoners  are  supplied  with  a  hair  brush  and  comb  on  reception. 
They  are  permitted  to  wash  their  hair  brushes  (and  tea-cloths !)  at  I 
their  weekly  baths,  but  for    this    purpose    no    additional    water    is  : 
allowed.     There  is  a  Standing  Order  that  a  pair  of  nail  scissors  shall  i 
be  kept  by  the  officer  in  charge  of  each  landing  to  be  lent  to  prisoners  j 
on   application ;   but  it   is  clear   from  our   evidence  that  very   few 
prisoners  know  that  they  are  obtainable.       Many  ex-prisoners  who  I 
have  served  the  maximum  sentence  of  two  years  never  learned  of 
this  "privilege."     Those  who  do  not  have  scissors  for  the  purpose 
of  their  work  commonly  keep  their  nails  short  by  biting  them. 

The  possibility  of  obtaining  tooth-brushes  is  more  widely  known, 
but  prisoners  frequently  only  learn  of  it  by  illicit  conversation  among 
themselves,   and  not  through    any  official  channel.       Even    after  i 
application  is  made  for  a  tooth  brush,   the  prisoner  usually  has  to  i 
wait  for  a  week  or  ten  days  before  receiving  it,  and  often  longer,  j 
Some  ex-prisoners   complain  of  the   absence  of  a  looking-glass  in j 
the  cell.     The  polished  washing  bowl  is  almost  universally  used  as  j 
^a  substitute. 
^      By  most  prisoners  the  weekly  bath  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  few  | 
]bright  incidents  in  the  routine,  although  there  are  some,  as  already  j 
-/mentioned,  who  dislike  it.     Until  1911  the  baths  were  fortnightly H 
Ithen  they  were  made  weekly.       The   majority  of   our  ex-prisoner 
/witnesses  speak  appreciatively  of   the  conditions  under  which  the  ! 

IS  The  habitual   criminals   under   preTentire  detention  at  Camp  Hill   are   permitted   safety  | 
razors,   and  fears   of  suicide  or  assault  have  proved  groundless.    The  chaplain   at  Camp   Hill  I 
stated   in  hi?   report  for   1911-12   that  "permission  to  grow   the  hair   to  a  moderate  length 
and  the  possibility  of  having  a  cleanly  shaved  chin  are  instances  of  what  might  be  permitted 
without   weakening   discipline   and  yet    encourage   the   growth   of   self-respect." 

>'  The  prisoner  who  serves  as  "prison  barber"  (rarely  has  he  had  any  experience  of 
barbering  outside  prison;  hair-dressing  appears  to  be  a  law-abiding  profession)  passes  from 
hall  to  workshop  and  workshop  to  exercise  yard  in  pursuance  of  his  duties.  He  is  generally 
placed  right  under  the  warder's  eye,  but  nevertheless  "by  working  close  to  his  client's  ear 
and  keeping  up  an  incessant  whisper,  without  as  much  as  a  lip  movement"  (we  quote 
from  a  statement  by  a  "prison  barber"),  he  usually  manages  to  serve  as  an  eflectire 
circulator  of  prison  news. 


:.-p'J 


THE  PRISOX  LAUNDRY        ■   W  ^  139 

bath  is  taken,  but  there  are  many  complaints  regarding  important 
details.  Insufficiency  of  time  is  one;  about  fifteen  minutes  is 
allowed  from  the  time  of  entering  the  bath  house  to  the  time  of 
leaving,  but  delay  is  often  caused  by  the  emptying  and  filhng. 
When  the  number  of  bathers  is  not  large,  however,  additional  time 
is  generally  allowed. 

Several  ex-prisoners  state  that  no  distinct  Jbath  is  reserved  for 
venereal  ana  other  medical  casee.  One  records  that  when  he 
^raiplained  of  this  to  the  warder  who  assisted  the  medical  ofl&cer, 
"he  assured  me  that  the  baths  were  scrubbed  out  after  these  men."> 
In  most  prisons  special  baths  are  provided  for  those  suffering  from 
contagious  diseases,  the  doors  being  marked  with  red  crosses.         -v 

A  third  complaint  arises  from  the  fact  that  in  most  of  the  large 
prisons  the  bath-house  is  a  separate  building.  In  winter-time  this 
involves  passing  from  a  hot  bath  and  steaming  atmosphere  into  the 
cold  air,  with  frequent  halts  whilst  doors  are  locked  and  unlocked. 
Many  ex-prisoners  state  that  this  was  a  cause  of  colds  and  chills. 

The  Prison  Laundry. 

The    complaint    constantly    recurs    that    the    underclothing    of 

prisoners  is  irregularly  supplied  and  badly  washed."       "In , " 

says  one  ex-prisoner,  "I  could  not  get  clean  flannels  for  three  weeks, 
and  found  myself  seething  with  lice  at  the  end  of  that  time."  For 
the  irregularity,  a  temporary  shortage  of  staS  may  have  been 
responsible,  but  it  is  evident  that  the  causes  of  the  unsatisfactory 
washing  are  more  permanent.  No  less  than  fifty-nine  ex-prisoners 
speak  of  the  dirty  clothes  supplied,  in  contrast  with  six  who  state 
that  the  clothes  were  clean.  "Many  times,"  says  one  ex-prisoner, 
"I  preferred  to  wear  the  underclothes  I  had  on  a  whole  month 
longer  rather  than  change  into  those  given  me  as  clean."  "I 
frequently  had  to  refuse  'clean'  clothes  because  they  were   dirtier 

than  those  I  had  on,"  says  another.     "At I  was  given  a  'clean' 

j  pair  of  cotton  drawers  having  very  obvious  traces  of  having  been 
worn  by  a  man  suffering  from  piles."  An  ex-prisoner  who  was 
employed  in  the  laundry  of  a  large  prison  gives  the  following 
description  of  the  conditions  there  :  — 

Prisoners  engaged  in  scrubbing  clothes  are  allowed  only  a  certain 
amount  of  soft  soap.  The  quantity  is  carefully  weighed  out  and  is 
generally  inadequate.  Men  are  expected  to  work  at  such  a  speed  that 
the  articles  are  not  thoroughly  cleansed. 

The  handkerchiefs  are  first  soaked  in  water  drawn  from  the  hot  water 
tap,  but  the  water  is  often  not  very  hot.  They  are  then  scrubbed,  a 
mild  carbolic  soap  being  used  ;  then  rinsed,  treated  in  a  centrifugal  dry- 
ing machine,  and  finally  dried  in  a  chamber  heated  to  100°  F.,  a  tempera- 
ture not  sufficiently  high  to  kill  germs.  I  saw  no  special  precautions 
being  taken  with  the  handkerchiefs  during  an  epidemic  of  influenza 
which  caused   associated  labour   and  chapel  to  be  suspended  for   eight 

-•  The  S.O.   proTide  that  cotton   shirts,   calico   drawers,  handkerchiefs,  and  stockings  shall 
be  washed  weekly,  and  flannel  Tests   and   drawers    fortnightly   (214). 


140  DIET  AND  HYGIENE 

•weeks.        It   was    frequently    evident    on    inspection    that   the    "clean" 
handkerchiefs  had  not  been  thoroughly  scrubbed. 

The  flannels  (pants  and  undervests)  were  washed  in  machines  which 
did  not  do  their  work  efficiently,  and  then  the  neck  and  belt  were  lightly 
scrubbed.  I  found  them  literally  saturated  with  dirt,  even  after  they 
were  supposed  to  have  been  washed.  This  was  evidenced  by  the  change 
of  colour  which  occurred,  when,  acting  contrary  to  instructions,  I 
thoroughly  scrubbed  one  or  two. 

One  of  our  warder  witnesses  explains  the  inadequate  washing  by 
the  fact  that  it  is  done  by  "careless  or  inexpert  prisoners,"  but  it  is 
evident  from  the  statement  given  above  that  the  washing  arrange- 
ments themselves  are  also  open  to  criticism. 

A  number  of  witnesses  complain  that  the  underclothing  worn  by 
prisoners  with  skin  disease  is  not  properly  separated.  "Prisoners 
suffeiing  from  skin  disease  have  their  clothing  washed  separately," 
says  an  ex-prisoner  who  worked  in  the  laundry,  "but  the  trouble  is 
that  when  these  clothes  are  taken  from  the  water  the  other  prisoners' 
clothes  are  washed  in  the  same  water;  this  reduces  the  separation 
to  a  farce.  This  applies  to  all  hospital  clothing,  too."  A  Standing 
Order  (214)  prescribes  that  "trousers  which  have  been  worn  by  a 
prisoner  three  months  will  be  washed  before  they  are  issued  to 
another."  By  far  the  greater  number  of  prisoners  are  sentenced  to 
terms  of  less  than  three  months.  The  consequence  is  that  one  pair 
of  trousers  passes  constantly  to  a  succession  of  short  term  prisoners 
without  being  washed. 

The  most  frequent  complaint  regarding  the  bedding  is  that  the 
blankets  are  dirty.  They  are  supposed  to  be  washed  once  a  year, 
bat  a  number  of  ex-prisoners  state  that  much  longer  periods  have 
elapsed  in  their  experience  without  a  clean  blanket  being  provided. 
The  blankets  are  used  indiscriminately  by  a  succession  of  prisoners, 
and  are  often  stained  and  soiled.  Complaints  regarding  the  sheets 
are  fewer.  They  are  supposed  to  be  changed  once  every  four  weeks, 
and  the  pillow-slips  once  a  fortnight.  There  are  occasional  com- 
plaints of  verminous  mattresses,  and,  more  often,  of  the  presence  of- 
bugs  in  the  bed-boards.  "Insects  gather  between  the  cross-boards," 
says  one  ex-prisoner,  "and  multiply  to  a  great  extent  in  the  summer  ! 
time,  no  matter  how  clean  one  may  scrub  the  bed-board  each  week.  ] 

The  bedding  is  aired  by  being  hung  in  the  hall  outside  the  cell  j 
door  for  an  hour  before  breakfast  once  a  week ;  a  stupid  proceeding.  \ 
The  air  at  that  time  is  often  evil-smelling,  following  the  emptying 
of  the  night's  slops  and  there  is  dampness  and  dust  from  the  floor- 
scrubbing  and  the  collecting  of  mail  bags,  etc.,  which  are  proceeding. 
Why  should  not  the  bedding  be  hung  either  in  the  open-air  or  in  a 
clean  and  well-ventilated  hall  for  the  best  part  of  a  day  ? 

The  Condition  of  the  Cells. 
Complaints  are  sometimes  made  that  the  cells  into  which  prisoners 
are  put  temporarily,  such  as  the  reception  and  punishment  cells. 


THE    CONDITION    OF    THE    CELLS  141 

are  dirty.  The  reception  cells  are  little  more  than  boxes,  and 
are  occupied  during  the  day  only.  A  succession  of  prisoners  passes 
through  these  cells,  and  some  of  them  leave  vermin  behind.  More 
serious  are  the  effects  in  those  prisons  where  the  first  night  is  spent 
in  the  reception  hall.  At  one  large  prison,  at  least,  the  medical 
oflicer  does  not  examine  the  "receptions"  until  the  following  morn- 
ing, and  a  promiscuous  succession  of  prisoners,  many  dirty,  some 
diseased,  use  the  same  cells  and  bedding.  As  a  consequence  both 
are  frequently  filthy. 

The  punishment  cells  similarly  have  a  succession  of  occupants, 
although  the  danger  due  to  lack  of  medical  examination  is  not 
present  in  their  case.  One  passage  from  our  evidence  on  this  matter 
reads  as  follows  :  — 

When  I  first  went  into  a  punishment  cell  the  walls  were  very  dirty. 
I  asked  to  be  allowed  to  scrub  them  down,  but  the  warder  said  this 
was  not  allowed  on  No.  1  Diet.  The  cell  had  apparently  been  used  by 
a  man  whose  nose  was  bleeding.  There  was  blood  deposited  all  round 
the  walls.  I  pointed  this  out  to  the  warder,  a  very  considerate  man, 
but  he  said  it  was  against  the  rules  to  allow  me  to  wash  it. 

\Vhen  the  doctor  came  round  I  called  his  attention  to  the  state  of  the 
cell.  I  suggested  that  for  reasons  of  hygiene  it  would  be  as  well  if  I 
were  allowed  to  wash  the  walls.  The  water  did  not  come  that  day. 
I  then  called  in  the  deputy  governor,  and  put  to  him  that  the  rule 
should  be  set  aside.  He  agreed  to  let  me  have  the  water,  but  it  did 
not  come  until  I  had  once  more  spoken  to  the  warder. 

A  number  of  ex-prisoners  speak  of  the  dust  and  dirt  and  smell 
caused  by  the  work  they  were  required  to  do  in  their  cells.     "My 
;  cell  task  was  picking  horsehair,"  says  one,  "and  the  fine  dust  made 
my  mouth  and  throat  quite  dry  and  entered  my  lungs.       The  dust 
;  soon  gathered  on  the  walls  and  floor  of  the  cell  and  every  article  in 
■  it — the  table,   the  shelves,  the  books,  the  mug,    plate,   knife,   and 
I  spoon — so  that  one  could  write  with  the  finger  upon  it.     It  must 
'have  been  unhealthy."       Similar  complaint  is  made   of  the  dust 
I  caused  by  the  picking  of  cocoanut  fibre — although  it  is  not  so  dis- 
agreeable as  horsehair,^' — and  by  the  making  and  repairing  of  mail 
bags.       "Some  of   the  bags  are  made  of  Hessian,"   says  one  ex- 
prisoner,   "a  material  from  which  a  great  quantity  of  fine  dust  is 
given  off,  and  this  is  continually  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  cell.     One 
'  may  be  sweeping  all  day  and  never  be  able  to  get  entirely  free  from 
dust,  and  any  dust  swept  up  has  to  be  kept  in  the  cell  throughout 
I  the  day  and  night — dust  pans  are  only  emptied  at  breakfast  time." 
!  Strong  complaint  is  made  of  the  dirtiness  of  old  mail  bags   upon 
I  which  repair  work  is  necessary,  of  the  smell  of  the  material  of  some 
jof  the  bags,"  and  as  to  the  space  they  occupy  in  the  cells.     "My 
job  was  to  put  two  patches  upon  large  parcel-post  bags,"  says  one 

*'  A   SO.     (259)    r*ad« :    "Hair    and    coroannt    fibre   shall    not   be   picked   in   cells."    It    ii 
jclear  from  our  evidence  that  this  Order  is  sometimes   not  obterTed. 

I  '*  1°  8t  least  one  prison,  mailbags  returned  for  repair  are  fumigated  before  work  is 
oegnn   ni>on  them. 


142  DIET  AND  HYGIEXE 

ex-prisoner,  "and  often  I  had  thirty  of  these  in  my  cell  all  day  and 
night.     They  occupied  a  considerable  part  of  the  air  space." 

Much  work  is  necessarily  dirty  and  disagreeable,  but  obviously 
such  work  ought  not  to  be  done  in  a  small  cell  in  which  the  prisoner 
is  often  confined  for  23  out  of  the  24  hours. 

Sanitation. 

On  no  aspect  of  prison  life  is  there  greater  divergence  of  view 
between  official  and  non-official  witnesses  than  that  of  sanitary 
conditions.  The  medical  officers  are  practically  unanimous  that 
they  are  satisfactory ;  the  ex -prisoners  who  gave  evidence  are  almost 
as  agreed  that  they  are  unsatisfactory.  The  following  are  the  chief 
grounds  of  complaint :  — 

(1)  Prisoners  who  for  various  reasons  (including  sickness — even 
diarrhoea  cases)  are  confined  to  their  cells,  find  great  difficulty  in 
getting  permission  to  visit  the  w.c.  The  cell  bell  is  rung  in  vain, 
and  when  the  warders  respond  they  often  bully  the  prisoner  into 
acquiescence  of  the  use  of  the  cell  chamber. 

(2)  The  method  of  collecting  slops  from  door  to  door  in  an  open  bucket 
is  felt  to  be  disgusting  especially  since  the  utensils  sometimes  get 
changed    and  are  frequently  improperly  cleaned. 

(3)  Inadequate  segregation  of  men  with  infectious  diseases,  particularly 
venereal  diseases,  makes  other  prisoners  reluctant  to  use  the  w.c.'g 
at   "exercise,"  etc.,   especially  if  they  are  not  kept  clean. 

(4)  Outside  w.c.'s  are  semi-public,  and  are  very  draughty  in  cold 
weather. 

(5)  There  is  frequent  shortage  of  toilet  paper,  and  ill-fitting  lids  of 
chambers  are  common. 

The  rigid  discipline  of  the  prison  system  is  bound  to  cause  con-| 
siderable  difficulties  in  the  matter  of  allowing  prisoners  freedom  tci 
attend  to  the  normal  calls  of  nature.  Water-closets  are  provided 
adjoining  the  "exercise"  ground  and  the  workshops;  and  on  each 

ail  landing  there  is  one  closet  to  every  twenty  cells  or  more.     Bui 

these  last  closets  are  seldom  used,  save  for  emptying  \:tensils,  for, 

in  the  words   of  the   Surveyor  of  English  Prisons,  "endeavour  if 

made  to  induce  prisoners  to  stool  at  exercise  and  in  the  shops,  anc 

avoid  using  the  w^.c.  's  in  the  wings  or  their  cell  utensils. "     Owind 

o  poor  health  and  irregularity  of  motions  caused  by  the  unnatura; 
confinement,  the  nervous  strain  of  imprisonment,  sedentary  occupa 
tion,  and  the  "sloppy"  nature  of  the  diet,  a  considerable  number  o: 
prisoners  are  unable  to  comply  with  this  desire  of  the  authorities 
In  their  case  the  cell  chamber  has  as  a  rule  to  be  used  to  relievf 
the  bowels. 

How  large  is  the  number  of  prisoners  inconvenienced  in  thi: 
disagreeable  way  is  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  as  many  as  fifty-eigh. 
ex-prisoners  state  that  they  suffered  materially  from  the  sanitar; 
arrangements.     Of  193  ex-prisoners  whom  we   asked   whether  ai 


SANITATION  14S 

improvement  of  facilities  to  visit  the  w.c.  is  needed,  171  answered 
affirmatively,  and  most  of  them  with  considerable  emphasis.  Other 
unofficial  witnesses  take  the  same  view.  For  instance,  an  agent 
of  a  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid  Society,  speaking  from  many  years 
experience,  says  that  one  of  the  most  frequent  complaints  of  ex- 
prisoners  is  the  lack  of  facilities  for  performing  natural  functions. 
"Much  pain  is  endured  as  a  result,"  he  says. 

Mr.  A.  J.  Wall,  the  Secretary  of  the  Prison  Commission,  stated 
in  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Howard  Association  (May  14, 
1917)  that  "a  prisoner  is  allowed,  on  ringing  his  bell,  either  to  use 
the  closet,  or  empty  his  cell  chamber,  if  it  had  been  used,  between 
6  a.m.  and  10  p.m.  In  the  event  of  his  having  to  use  the  cell 
chamber  at  night  between  10  p.m.  and  6  a.m.,  he  empties  it  on 
unlocking  after  6  a.m.  in  the  morning."  If  the  Prison  Com- 
missioners' orders  were  to  this  effect,  they  were  everywhere  ignored. 
No  ex -prisoner  or  warder  who  has  given  evidence  regarding  prison 
conditions  up  to  the  year  1919  reveals  knowledge  of  the  practice  of 
permitting  prisoners  to  leave  their  cells  after  supper  (4.30  p.m.) 
for  the  purpose  of  visiting  the  w.c.  or  of  emptying  the  chamber. 
The  only  prisoners  who  were  permitted  to  visit  the  w.c.  after  supper 
were  those  who  were  specially  employed  in  association  in  order  to 
perform  urgently  required  war  work,  and  even  they  were  confined 
to  the  cells  after  8  p.m. 

The  best  comment  upon  the  Prison  Commission's  letter  is 
provided  in  the  evidence  of  ex-prisoners.  When  asked  what  he 
considered  to  be  "the  worst  feature  of  prison  life,"  an  ex-prisoner 
answers,  "having  to  ask  for,  and  perhaps  be  denied,  the  use  of  the 
w.c."  Another  ex-prisoner  tells  how  he  once  rang  thirteen  times 
without  answer.  A  newcomer  to  prison  describes  his  experiences 
thus: — 

I  asked  the  warder  if  the  piece  of  iron  behind  the  door  waa  the  bell 
handle  to  be  uaed  in  case  I  should  need  to  use  the  lavatory.  His  reply 
was  as  follows  :  "Do  you  think  we  have  got  nothing  else  to  do  but  to 
run  about  and  wait  upon  you  ;  you  must  go  when  it  is  convenient ;  it  is 
only  a  habit.  You  will  have  'exercise'  every  morning  and  then  is  the 
time."  With  this  he  slammed  the  door.  The  next  day  I  wanted  to 
evacuate,  so  I  asked  the  same  warder  on  his  visit  in  the  afternoon 
whether  I  could  go  to  the  lavatory.  The  answer  was  curt  :  "Ask  at  a 
proper  time,  it  is  not  convenient  now."     With  this  he  abruptly  left  me. 

You  will  readily  believe  that  I  was  in  great  pain  the  remainder  of 
that  day  and  night,  and  through  the  restraint  I  was  forced  to  practise, 
my  bowels  refused  to  perform  their  normal  functions  for  several  days. 
In  the  course  of  work  I  was  told  by  another  prisoner  that  I  was  supposed 
to  use  the  ut-ensil  in  the  cell  for  that  purpose.  Something  ought  to  be 
done  in  the  way  of  a  remedy  as  the  idea  of  remaining  in  the  cell  with 
bad  ventilation  and  human  excrement  is  revolting  to  any  decent  humaa 
being. 

"If  a  prisoner  needs  to  visit  the  w.c,"  says  a  woman  ex-prisoner, 
"she  may  ring  for  hours  without  attracting  attention." 


144  DIET  AND  HYGIENE 

Apart  from  the  lack  of  opportunities  to  visit  the  w.c.  during  the 
day,  the  time  spent  in  the  cell  at  night  sometimes  means  that  the 
chamber  is  not  sufficiently  large  even  for  ordinary  requirements. 
"There  are  thirteen  hours  of  the  day  during  which  the  chamber  may 
not  be  emptied,"  says  one  ex-prisoner.  "The  wet  food  makes  the 
prisoner  pass  an  enormous  quantity  of  urine,  with  the  consequence 
that  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  he  finds  the  utensil  supplied  to  be  not 
large  enough.  So  he  is  driven  to  use  his  wash-bowl."  Our 
evidence  suggests  that  this  witness  exaggerated  the  frequency  of 
the  occurrence,  but  it  is  certainly  not  rare. 

We  believe  that  since  1919  there  have  been  certain  improvements 
in  the  facilities  provided  for  prisoners  to  visit  the  w.c.  "A  good 
deal  of  unpleasantness  was  caused  through  the  revelations  of  the 
conscientious  objectors,"  states  a  warder,  "and  men  are  now  allowed 
to  empty  their  chambers  more  frequently,  though  the  opportunities 
are  still  insufficient."  A  medical  officer,  who  admits  that  the 
arrangements  have  been  bad  in  the  past,  says  he  has  had  no  com- 
plaints for  some  time,  adding,  "we  used  to  have  complaints 
frequently."  Prisoners  are  now  stated  to  be  permitted  to  attend 
the  w.c.  during  breakfast  and  dinner  and  after  supper  until  8  p.m. 
A  night  commode  is  also  kept  on  each  landing  and  is  available  for 
men  suffering  from  diarrhoea.  Before  these  arrangements  were  put 
into  operation,  it  was  urged  that  the  right  to  visit  the  w.c.  would 
be  abused.  After  a  year's  experience  of  the  new  system  a  warder 
states,  however,  that  "cases  are  very  isolated."" 

Two  methods  are  employed  of  emptying  cell  slops.  In  some 
prisons,  the  prisoners  themselves  carry  their  chambers  to  the  recess 
and  empty  and  wash  them.  In  other  prisons,  the  chambers  are 
placed  outside  the  cell  doors,  and  the  cleaners  empty  their  contents 
into  a  big  pail,  afterwards  rinsing  them  in  a  smaller  bucket."*  j 

The  first  method  is  much  preferable,  although  in  some  instances 
a  large  number  of  prisoners  have  to  wash  their  chambers  in  the  same 
bucket,  and  in  others  the  chambers  are  emptied  and  the  cans  contain-  - 
ing  the  drinking  water  filled  in  immediate  succession  at  one  sink. 
We  quote  from  the  evidence  of  ex-prisoners  to  illustrate  the  insani-   ; 
tary  nature  of  both  practices  : —  { 

"At  — ;—  ,"  says  one  ex-prisoner,  "the  arrangement  for  cleaning  the  i 

earthenware   chamber  was  most  unsatisfactory — a  pail  of   water  at  the  ! 

Bide  of  the  w.c.  to  dip  it  in  after  emptying.     The  water  in  the  pail  was  ; 
very  nasty.     An  ill-tempered  officer  would  not  allow  a  man  to  rinse  his 
chamber  with  running  water  at  the  sink." 

i 

"3  The  improvements   have  not  been  carried    out   at  all   prisons.    A  witness  released  from  \ 

a  large  prison   in   January,   1921,    says    that  in   practice   there  was    no  possibility  o!  being  i 

let  out  of  your  cell  to  visit  the  w.c.  at  breakfast   or  dinner   or  in  the  evening.    The   patrol  | 
warders  would  not  answer  the  bells,    at    any  rate,   on   any  landing    higher  than  the  ground 

floor.  ; 

^*  An  "instruction"  for  the  guidance  of  ward  officers  reads:  "On  no  account  is  the  chamber  j 

to  be   emptied  into  this  pail  if   it  contains  excrement"    (S.O.    210),  but  our  evidence  ghow«  i 
that   this  is  often   done. 


SANITATION  146 

"At  ,"   says  another  ex-prisoner,    "twenty  or  thirty   men   would 

Btand  in  a  queue  outside  the  recess,  some  carrying  chambers  which  had 
been  used  for  evacuation  purposes,  other  carrying  their  cans  for  drinking 
water.  Both  would  use  the  same  sink,  and  often  the  sink  would  smell 
badly  from  previous  use  when  we  went  to  get  the  drinking  water." 

The  second  method  is  condemned  in  the  strongest  terms  by  all 
who  have  had  experience  of  it.  "The  stench  was  horrible  at  6  a.m. " 
says  one  ex-prisoner,  "when  all  the  waste  was  put  outside  the  cell 
doors  to  be  collected  up.  It  was  also  impossible  to  keep  the  pots 
clean,  not  having  access  to  the  taps. "  "Many  times  I  got  a  chamber 
in  my  cell  for  the  next  twenty-four  hours  streaked  in  and  out  with 
excreta,"  says  another  prisoner,  "and  a  water-can  in  a  filthy 
condition." 

A  third  ex-prisoner  describes  what  happens  thus :  — 

First  thing  each  morning  the  warder  opened  your  cell  door,  calling 
out  "slops,  water  can,  dust  out."  Then  some  other  prisoner  rushed 
round  and  emptied  them,  and  as  you  were  only  allowed  to  put  them 
out  once  a  day,  you  may  imagine  the  state  of  the  chamber  in  many 
instances.  The  man  emptied  the  slops  first  and,  well,  he  couldn't  help 
getting  his  fingers  in  the  contents  whatever  it  was.  Then  he  rushed 
round  with  two  or  three  water  cans  at  a  time,  and  I  have  got  my  water 
can  back  on  several  occasions  with  the  handle  and  edge  of  the  can 
marked  with  excreta.  The  old-time  prisoners  see  that  their  mates  have 
a  well-cleaned  can  and  put  the  filthy  ones  down  for  those  who  don't 
complain. 

More  than  one  ex-prisoner  complains  that  on  wet  days  "exercise" 
took  place  in  the  hall  simultaneously  with  the  emptying  of  the  slops. 
"At  that  hour,"  says  one  of  these  witnesses,  "there  would  be  a 
chamber  at  every  door  which  two  or  three  prisoners  would  be  empty- 
ing. Sometimes  the  stench  would  be  awful.  It  was  in  this 
atmosphere  that  we  marched  round."  The  complaint  is  also 
frequently  made  that  on  Sunday  mornings  the  collection  of  slops 
proceeded  whilst  open  dixies  full  of  porridge  for  breakfast  stood 
near  at  hand  on  the  landings. 

Some  of  the  warders  urge  that  the  officers  suffer  equally  from  the 
bad  sanitary  arrangements.  "It  is  a  horrible  task  opening  the  doors 
in  the  morning, "  remarks  one.  "The  real  sufferers  are  the  warders," 
says  another,  "who  have  to  stand  by  when  the  cells  are  opened 
and  the  chambers  emptied  without  any  chance  of  seeking  fresher 
air. ' ' 

The  half-doors  to  the  w.c.'s,  leaving  a  space  of  about  one  foot  at 
the  bottom  and  only  rising  to  the  level  of  the  waist,  are  objectionable 
both  from  the  point  of  view  of  draughtiness  and  lack  of  privacy. 
The  w.c's  in  the  "exercise"  yards  in  winter  time  are  bitterly  cold. 
In  one  prison  at  least,  where  the  w.c.'s  face  a  wall,  no  doors  are 
provided  at  all.  Objection  to  the  lack  of  privacy  is  urged  particularly 
by  women  ex-prisoners.  "The  half-doors  on  the  lavatory  are  most 
I  indecent,"  says  one  woman  witness,  "especially  when,  as  was  the 


146  DIET  AND  HYGIENE 

case  during  one  month  of  the  time  I  was  confined  in  'F'  wing,  work- 
men were  being  employed  on  the  landing  opposite."  The  nervous- 
ness caused  by  the  feeling  "that  one  is  on  exhibition  when  making 
use  of  the  closet  [to  quote  the  words  of  another  witness] ,  aggravates 
the  constipation  from  which  so  many  prisoners  suffer. ' ' " 

If  there  be  one  place  more  than  another  in  prison  where  the 
enforcement  of  cleanliness  and  decency  might  have  been  expected,  i% 
ia  in  the  hospital,  but  our  evidence  shows  that  the  sanitary  arrange- 
ments in  prison  hospitals  are  very  inadequate.  The  following  is 
from  the  statement  of  an  ex-prisoner:  — 

In  hospital  no  provision  was  made  in  the  cell  for  washing  plates 
or  mugs,  and  it  was  the  cu.'!tom  for  prisoners  to  take  them  to  the  recess 
when  they  were  allowed  out  of  their  cells  to  empty  their  slops.  In 
the  recess  there  was  a  w.c,  a  very  small  sink  used  exclusively  by  the 
cleaner,  and  a  bath.  The  bath  was  used  for  the  washing  of  plates  and 
mugs,  porridge  dixies — and  chambers.  I  have  frequently  seen  a 
prisoner  washing  out  his  chamber  at  one  end  of  the  bath,  whilst  a 
second  prisoner  washed  his  plate  and  mug  at  the  other  end.  This  was 
a  daily  occurrence. 

Other  prisoners  have  made  similar  statements,  so  the  practice  is 
obviously  not  exceptional  but  a  recognised  custom. 

There  are  also  many  complaints  as  to  the  infrequency  of  baths 
in  hospital.  , 

In hospital  I  did  not  get  a  bath  during  the  whole  of  the  5^  weeks 

I  was  there.     Twice  applied.     Both  times   told  I  would  get  one  in  my 

turn.  -r-r 

In  the  hospital  at there  was  no  systematic  arrangement  for  baths. 

I   got  one  weekly  by  particularly   requesting   the   principal    warder ;   he 
allowed  me  to  bathe  during  the  dinner  hour  and   permitted  me  to  use 
a  special   bath  on  another  landing.     But  the  other  prisoners  had  to  use 
the  bath  in  which  the  chambers  were  washed  out — on  the  rare  occasion*  ; 
that  they  got  a  bath  at  all.     Some  of  the  men  told  me  that  they  went  a  ' 
month  without  a  bath,  and  that,  if  they  didn't  want  one,  no  one  insisted  j 
upon  it. 

Such  systematic  neglect  is  without  excuse.  ' , 

The  bad  sanitary  arrangements  in  prison  are  made  worse  by  ' 
frequent  carelessness.  "The  porridge  or  'skilly'  handle,"  states  a| 
woman  ex-prisoner,  "was  left  for  the  night  with  the  round  closet  I 
brush  used  for  cleaning  the  pan  of  the  w.c.  in  a  pail  used  for  the  same  i 
purpose."  The  following  are  the  ironical  remarks  of  another  ex-  \ 
prisoner :  —  ! 

It  was  always  a  source  of  cynical  amusement  to  me  that  on  my  prison  I 
library  card  should  be  the  title  of  a  book,  usually  supplied  to  prisoners  i 
shortly  before  their  discharge — "A  Healthy  Home  and  How  to  Keep 
It."  As  after  many  months  I  had  not  seen  the  book,  I  one  day  felt- 
inspired  to  enquire  of  my  landing  officer  whether  it  recommended  that ! 
salt  should  be  kept  in  an  open  canvas  bag  in  the  w.c.   "recess."  | 

*»  A  witness  says :  "Once  when  visiting  a  rrison  hospital  with  other  members  of  the  \ 
Grand  Jury  I  was  struck  with  the  open  and  oHensive  exposure  ol  an  unfortunate  prisoner 
found  in  these  circumstances.    And  the  State  punishes  what  it  calls  indecency!" 


SANITATION  147 

A  Standing  Order"  insists  that  all  w.c.'s  shall  be  inspected  by 
officers  daily,  but  it  is  clear  that  this  rule  is  frequently  carried  out 
in  a  most  perfunctory  manner,  and  sometimes  not  at  all.  One  ex- 
prisoner  states :  — 

At    there   we  earth   closets.       The   pails    in   the   •w.c.    where    I 

exercised     were  sometimes  not  emptied  for  ten  or  14  days,  and   many 
times  I  had  to  complain  because  they  were  so  disgustingly  fulL 

These  last  cases  are  the  results  of  negligent  administration  rather 
than  of  the  bad  system,  but  enough  has  been  written  to  make  clear 
that  many  features  of  the  recognised  prison  routine  are  hkely  to 
discourage  prisoners  from  leading  regular,  healthy,  and  decent  lives. 
The  numerous  defects  mentioned  in  this  chapter  are  not  only  bad 
in  themselves ;  they  are  significant  of  the  careless  attitude  towards 
prisoners  involved  in  the  existing  regime.*'  As  we  shall  proceed  to 
show,  this  disregard  of  physical  needs  is  accompanied  by  a  still  more 
serious  disregard  of  the  prisoners'  mental  and  spiritual  needs. 

»S.O.  332. 

*'  An  ex-prisoner  writer :  "One  ol  the  most  raluable  things  prison  diacipline  coald  achiere 
lor  many  prisoners  woald  be  the  inctilcation  of  cleanly  habits.  Incidentally,  a  very  strict 
'eleicing  parade'  for  the  inspection  each  day  of  the  decency  of  prisoners  would  meet  the 
desire  of  those  who  consider  that  prison  treatment  should  be  penal,  as  a  large  part  of  the 
praon  population  dislike  so*p  and  water   and   cleanliness   generally." 


148  DIET  AND  HYGIENE 

SOME    OF     THE     PRINCIPAL     DEFECTS     INDICATED    IN     THE 
PRECEDING    CHAPTER. 

Diet. 

1. — Diet  is  inadequate  for  some  prisoners,  and  is  excessively  starchy  and 
lacking  in  green  stuffs. 

2. — The  meals  lose  all  social  value  owing  to  the  separate  confinement  of 
the  prisoners  and  the  mechanical  distribution  of  the  food. 

3. — There  is  an  inadequate  opportunity  for  complaint  by  prisoners.  Under- 
weight, badness,  and  dirtiness  are  frequent.  The  food  tins  are  unsuitably 
made  and  are  consequently  often  rusty  and  dirty.  (Earthenware  utensils 
are  now  provided  at  one  prison). 

Dress. 

4. — The  uniform  is  ugly,  ill-fitting,  and  humiliating. 

5. — No  sleeping  garment  is  provided,  except  for  women  prisoners  with 
sentences  of  at  least  14  days. 

6. — The  clothing  is  frequently  dilapidated,  particularly  the  socks  and 
underwear.       Little  is  done  to   inculcate  tidiness  in  prisoners. 

7. — Owing  to  the  cold  buildings,  the  clothing  is  inadequate  in  winter. 

8. — The  bed-clothes  are  inadequate  in  winter. 

Exercise. 

9.  — The  monotony  and  the  rigidly  enforced  silence  and  discipline  of  the 
* 'exercise"  destroy  most  of  its  value. 

10. — The  "exercise"  grounds  are  generally  depressing,  and  are  frequently 
unadorned  with   flowers  or  shrubs. 

Cleanliness. 

11. — The  provision  of  tin  utensils  in  the  cells  encourages  uncleanliness  to 
avoid  the  necessary  polishing  after  use.  (Some  of  the  tin  utensils  are  now 
being  replaced  by  enamel  ones). 

12. — The  occasional  clipping  of  the  beard  is  an  inadequate  substitute  for 
shaving  and  encourages  carelessness  as  to  personal  appearance. 

13. — Underclothing  is  often  supplied  irregularly  and  is  frequently  badly 
washed.  The  laundry  arrangements  are  often  unsatisfactory.  Except  in 
Convict  prisons,  prisoners  do  not  have   separate  kits   of  underclothing. 

14. — The  arrangements  for  separating  the  underclothing  of  prisoners 
suffering  from  skin  diseases  are  inadequate. 

15. — The  arrangements  for  cleaning  reception  cells  and  punishment  cells 
are  often  inadequate. 

Sanitation. 

16.— Prisoners  confined  to  their  cells  have  great  difficulty  in  visiting  the 
w.c's. 

17. The  method    of    collecting   the    slops   from   door  to    door   in   an   open 

bucket  is  obnoxious.  Generally,  slops  are  emptied  and  drinking  water 
obtained  simultaneously  from  one  sink.  In  some  prison  hospitals,  chambers 
are  emptied  and  plates  and  cups  washed  in  one  bath  or  sink  simultaneously. 

18. Men  with  skin  diseases,  particularly  venereal  diseases,  sometimes  ui*e 

the  same  w.c.  as  other  prisoners. 

19.— There  is  a  lack  of  privacy  in  the  w.c's. 


CHAPTER  IX 


EDUCATION 

The  Educational  Standabd  of  Pkisoners 

"Prisoners,"  wrote  the  Commissioners  in  1896,  "are  largely 
recruited  from  a  class  which,  even  now,  is  hardly  touched  by  the 
Education  Acts,  and  even  if  an  elementary  education  has  been  given, 
lapse  of  time  and  the  habits  of  life  have  effaced  all  memory  of  it."' 

This  generalisation  is,  unfortunately,  still  to  a  considerable  extent 
true  to-day,  if  we  accept  the  rough  estimates  submitted  by  the  prison 
authorities.'  Though  the  percentage  of  illiterates  among  convicted 
prisoners  decreased  from  21  per  cent,  in  1896  to  13.3  per  cent. — 
18,491  illiterates  in  all — in  1913  (the  last  year  for  which  returns 
have  been  published),  the  proportion  of  those  unable  to  read  and 
write  "well"  *  remained  almost  stationary,  comprising  in  1913  as 
many  as  96.5  per  cent,  of  the  total  number  convict-ed  annually,  as 
against  97.7  per  cent,  in  1896.  After  over  forty  years  of  compulsory 
education  these  figures  are  as  distressing  as  they  are  unexpected. 

The  Table  given  on  the  next  page  shows  the  estimated  educational 
standards  of  prisoners  on  reception  in  the  years  selected.*  The  un- 
satisfactory results  (as  shown  particularly  in  column  6)  are  to  a  great 
extent  confirmed  by  the  official  Prisoners'  Libraries  Committee  of 
1910.  The  report  of  this  Committee  states  that  "the  days  when  the 
bulk  of  prisoners  were  quite  ignorant  and  illiterate  are  past"  ;  but  that 
"among  local  prisoners  it  is  the  exception  to  find  persons  of  any 
substantial  degree  of  education,"  and  that  "in  the  smaller  Local 
prisons  they  are  almost  unknown."*     Several  chaplains  have  given 

'  Obserrations    of  Prison    Commissioners,  1896,  p.   8. 

'  The  1896  Prisoners'  Education  Committee  gsTe  (p.  6)  the  following  warning  in  regard 
to  statistics  of  prison  education: — "In  examining  these  statistics,  howerer,  it  must  be  noted 
that  the  precise  degree  of  education  is  not  estimated  upon  a  thorough  examination,  as  the 
educational  staH  only  examines  those  whom  the  sentence  and  age  limits  render  eligible 
for  instruction,  the  general  ma=s  of  prisoners  being  classified  principally  on  their  own 
statements  on  reception."  We  beliere  that  a  similar  statement  is  still  true  to-day,  bat  it 
IS  probable  that  the  arerage  prisoner  would  be  more  likely  to  orer-estimate  his  attainments 
th&a  to  understate  them. 

*  i.e..  at  least  as  well  as  children  in  Standard  V.  of  the  elementary  schools— the  standard 
through  which  the  child   of  arerage  ability  passes  between  the   ages   of  11  and   12. 

*  See  fuller  Table  Q,   on   p.  40. 

*  Report  of  Prisoners"    Libraries  Committee,  1911,    pp.  6  and  7. 


150 


EDUCATION 


even  more  decided  evidence,  one  of  the  most  experienced  asserting 
that  the  majority  of  prisoners  have  forgotten  most  of  what  they 
learnt  at  school.* 


Year 

Total  Number 

Per  Centage  of  the  Total  Number  of  Pri«oner$  returned  at  being 

of  Prisoner* 

in  each  State  of  Instruction 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

(7) 

(8) 

(9) 

Illiterate 

Read  and 

Moderate 

Not  above 

Read  and 

Superior 

Instruction 

Write 

Proficiency 

Standard 

Write 

Instruction 

not 

imperfectly 

in  Reading 

IV 

well. 

ascer- 

Standards 
I  and  11 

and 
Writing. 

Standards 
III  and  IV 

(including 
Illiterate) 

i.e. 
Total  of 
columna 
3.  4  and  5 

Standards 
V  to  VII 

tained 

1870 

157,223 

38-8 

62-6 

96-4 

3-2 

•2 

278 

1896 

149,002 

20-9 

76-8 

97-7 

2-0 

•03 

154 

1905 

196,168 

17-1 

76-8 

93-9 

5-0 

•02 

1,591 

19U9 

182.216 

14-8 

41-0      38-7 

94-5 

5-4 

•02 

541 

1913 

139,060 

13-3 

44-5      38-7 

.  96-5 

3-1 

•02 

90 

The   totals   include  convicts   who  began  their   .sentences  in  Local   prisons. 
Before    the  year   1907,  Standards   I.   and   II.   were  not  distinguished   Irom  Standards   III. 
and  IV.    No  returns  have  been  published  since  those   lor  1913. 

The  figures  which  we  have  extracted  for  the  preceding  Table  are 
to  be  found  in  the  Judicial  Statistics,  and  have  not,  in  the  recent 
pre-war  years,  been  divulged  in  the  Annual  Eeports  of  the  Prison 
Commissioners,  These  reports  convey  the  impression  that  only  a 
very  small  proportion  of  prisoners — some  six  per  cent. — have  been 
receiving  elementary  (or  indeed,  any)  education  whilst  in  prison, 
and  the  ordinary  reader  would  probably  infer  that  most  of  the 
remainder  had  advanced  beyond  the  need  of  it.  This  the  Table 
completely  disproves;  and  the  small  proportion  is  due,  as  we  shall 
presently  show,  to  rules  restricting  education  to  only  a  small 
minority  of  those  who  need  it. 

The  Educational  Scheme  Until  1919. 
The  scheme  of  education  in  force  up  to  1919  originated  from  the 
report  of  a  small  Departmental  Committee  on  the  "Educational  and 
Moral  Instruction  of  Prisoners  in  Local  and  Convict  Prisons," 
appointed  in  1896,  with  a  Prison  Commissioner  as  Chairman,  and  a 
Governor  as  Secretary.'  The  1895  Departmental  Committee  on 
Prisons  had  recommended,  without  going  into  detail,  the  estabUsh- 
ment  of  class  teaching  and  the  "extension  of  tuition  to  the  prisoners 
generally  who,  it  might  be  considered,  would  be  the  better  for  it.'" 

6  Incidentally,  these  figures  and  statements  raise  the  question  as  to  how  far  the  general 
*duU  populations  of  those  districts  (chiefly  slum  areas)  from  which  the  bulk  of  our 
prisoners  are  recruited,  have  dropped  below  the  very  moderate  Standards  IV.  and  V.  since 
they  left  school.    There  appears  to  be  no  existing  method  of  testing  the  matter  statistically. 

'  Report  of  Prisoners'  Education  Committee,   1896    (C.   8154). 

»  Departmental   Committee   on  Prisons,   1895,   Sect.    74. 


THE    EDUCATIONAL    SCHEME    UNTIL    1919  161 

These  generous  reoommendations  the  official  Committee  of  1896  did 
not  uphold,  though  they  made  various  suggestions  for  improvements 
in  existing  arrangements. 

In  1897  the  Prison  Commissioners  partially  carried  out  these 
suggestions  in  a  new  scheme,  applicable  to  all  Local  prisons.  The 
educational  aim  which  is  supposed  to  govern  this  scheme  is  set 
forth  in  the  following  words: — 

The  objects  of  the  new  scheme  are  to  bring  the  educational  require- 
ments into  conformity  with  that  prevailing  in  the  public  elementary 
schools  by  the  adoption  of  the  first  three  standards  of  the  day  school 
code,  our  object  being  to  provide  such  simple  and  elementary  education 
as  will  suffice  to  enable  an  illiterate  or  imperfectly  educated  prisoner  to 
obtain,  during  his  imprisonment,  such  instruction  as  will  enable  him  at 
least  to  read  and  write  easily,  and  to  conduct  simple  calculations  in 
money,  likely  to  be  of  service  to  him  on  discharge,  for  the  purpose  of 
the  ordinary  operations  of  his  every  day  life.' 

This  very  moderate  aim  was,  and  still  is,  considered  to  have  been 
attained  when  the  prisoner,  on  a  test  examination,  supervised  by  the 
chaplain,  is  able  to  pass  out  of  Standard  III.  of  the  Elementary 
School  Code,  in  each  of  the  "three  R's"  which  it  comprises.  This 
standard  may  be  regarded  as  roughly  equivalent  to  that  through 
which  the  Elementary  School  child  of  average  abiUty  passes  between 
the  ages  of  nine  and  ten.  The  Commissioners  decided  that  in  a 
Local  prison  nobody  over  the  age  of  forty  should  have  instruction. 
In  so  deciding  they  were  largely  influenced  by  the  view  of  prison 
officials  who  thought  forty  a  good  limit  and  that  it  "worked  well."  '* 

The  Commissioners  have  frequently  complained  in  their  reports 
of  the  short  time  available;  but  they  themselves  made  the  task  of 
the  schoolmasters  in  this  respect  much  harder  by  insisting  upon  the 
principle  that  the  first  month  (sometimes,  therefore,  the  whole)  of 
every  sentence  should  be  passed  in  strict  "separate"  confinement 
and  under  other  particularly  rigorous  and  punitive  conditions,  which 
exclude  education.  It  was  made  a  rule  (it  is  still  operative  for  "hard 
labour"  prisoners)  that  no  education  be  imparted  to  any  prisoner 
during  the  first  four  weeks  (i.e.,  the  first  stage)  of  his  or  her  sentence, 
on  the  grounds  that  "the  first  class  hard  labour  undergone  by 
prisoners  during  the  first  month  should  not  be  interfered  with"  and 
that  "education  should  be  looked  upon  as  a  privilege"  to  be  obtained 
by  a  month's  obedience  and  industry." 

Education  having  thus  been  cut  out  from  the  first  month,  its 
further  limitation  to  prisoners  under  sentence  of  at  least  three 
months  followed  almost  naturally ;  for  with  the  usual  remission  of  a 
sixth  part  of  his  sentence,  even  a  three  months'  prisoner  would, 

•  S«e  P.C.  Report,  1896-7,  p.   18,  and  elsewhere. 
"Prisoners'  Education  Committee    (1896),  p.  8. 
"Prisoners'  Education  Committee   (1896),  pp.  6  and  8. 


188  EDUCATION 

under  this  rule,  receive  little  more  than  six  weeks'  instruction,  while 
a  two  months'  offender  would  not  get  more  than  three  weeks. 
Instruction  for  such  short  periods  was  not  thought  to  be  worth  while. 
Prison  education  was  accordingly  restricted,  as  a  general  rule, 
to  well  conducted  prisoners  under  40  with  sentences  of  three  months 
and  over,  who  had  not  passed  out  of  Standard  III.,  and  to  them  it 
was  only  given  from  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  week  of  their 
sentence.  It  is  true  that  a  Standing  Order  gave  the  chaplain  a 
discretion  (besides  that  of  refusing  instruction  to  those  otherwise 
eligible)  to  "admit  other  offenders,  in  whose  cases  there  is  reason 
to  believe  that  good  results  will  follow  from  their  being  made  subject 
to  educational  influences. ' ' "  But  the  statistics  show  that  this 
discretionary  power  was  seldom  exercised." 

The  one  change  between  1897-8,  when  the  scheme  was  introduced, 
and  September,  1919,  occurred  in  1906-7,  when  class  teaching  was 
substituted  for  that  given  to  each  prisoner  separately  in  his  cell. 
Also,  until  1910  the  unfortunate  students  were  only  allowed  to  write 
on  slates ;  but  then,  it  appears,  pens,  ink  and  paper  were  given  them.'* 
The  time  devoted  to  this  class  teaching  was  limited  to  two  hours  on 
two  days  or  one  hour  on  four  days  each  week,  and  was  taken  from  the 
time  otherwise  spent  in  labour.'"  The  only  subjects  were,  and  are, 
reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic,  up  to  simple  calculations  in  money ; 
but  "the  chaplain  is  earnestly  requested  to  see  that  the  examination 
for  passing  out  of  Standard  III.  (the  final  Standard)  is  strict"  and 
that  a  prisoner  is  not  exempted  from  instruction  until  he  has  shown 
himself  able  to  conduct  with  ease  these  three  elementary  operations.'* 

The  history  of  the  change  from  teaching  in  cells  to  associated 
classes  is  instructive.  The  Departmental  Committee  of  1895  were 
not  in  favour  of  class  teaching,  mainly  because  with  their  traditional 
horror  of  "contamination,"  they  did  not  want  to  interfere  with  the 
separate  system  then  in  force.  The  majority  of  chaplains,  they 
asserted,  much  preferred  the  cellular  system."  Cellular  teaching 
accordingly  continued  in  force  until  1906-7  when  the  Commissioners, 
suddenly  decided  to  institute  teaching  in  association  in  all  the  Local 
prisons. 

This  step  was  no  doubt  due  to  the  apparently  successful  results  of 
the  gradual  introduction  of  associated  labour  about  the  year  1900. 
The  outcome  was  similar;  no  evil  results  of  class  teaching  were 
reported  to  the  Commissioners.  The  Chaplain  Inspector,  reviewing 
the  past  years  in  1915,  declared  that  "the  experiment  of  teaching  of 

"  S.O.   356. 

"  The  Instruction  Tables   published   in  (he  Commissioners'   Report   for   the   rears    190S   to 
1914  inrlusiTe,  classify  a  small  number   ol  prisoners    (615   out  of    8,800  under  instruction 
in  1915-14)  as  being  in  Standard  IV.  on  reception,  and  yet  as  passing  the  same  examination    j 
*"ont   ol   Standard    III."   as  the  remainder.    The  Chaplain   Inspector's    reports   indnde   tho«» 
prisoners  as  "under  Standard  IV.,"  so  that  the  Table  appears  to  be  misleading. 

"P.O.   Report,   1910-11,   p.  45,  and   see  Du  Cane,  "Punishment  of  Crime,"  p.   82. 

•'  A  minimum  of  four  hours  a  week  is  required  by  the  statutory  rule  69. 

"  S.O.  360    (1919),   based  on  the   old  S.O.  359. 

"  1896    Prisoners'   Education   Committee,    p.    7. 


THE  PRESENT   EDUCATIONAL  SCHEME  ISS 

prisoners  in  association  instead  of  in  separate  cells  has  proved 
completely  successful.  The  general  results  are  better,  and  the  time 
of  the  schoolmasters  is  economised."" 

In  the  report  for  1908  we  are  told  that  a  majority  of  the  chaplains 
greatly  preferred  the  teaching  in  association  to  the  former  cellular 
system,  having  been  entirely  converted  by  the  experiment.''  Here  is 
an  interesting  case,  where  an  antiquated  feature  of  imprisonment 
was  maintained  in  force  for  many  years,  merely  because  the  ofiScials 
had  made  no  trial  of  any  different  method. 

The  Present  Educational  Scheme. 
During  the  war,  the  education  of  prisoners  was  entirely,  or  almost 
entirely,  discontinued,  except,  to  some  extent,  in  the  case  of  juvenile 
:adults.  In  1919  teaching  was  re-introduced,  and  a  new  educational 
ischeme  and  syllabus  was  circulated  to  all  prisons  in  September  of 
.that  year,  "after  consultation  with  the  Board  of  Education."'" 

This  new  scheme  proves  on  examination  to  be  merely  a  recasting 
|of  the  one  in  force  before  the  war.  Under  that  scheme,  we  have 
peen,  teaching  was  restricted  to  those  prisoners  under  40  years  of 
bge,  with  sentences  of  three  months  and  over,  who  had  not  passed 
out  of  Standard  III.,  and  was  only  given  from  the  beginning  of  the 
Sfth  week  of  their  sentence  and  for  one  hour  on  four  days  of  the 
JA^eek.  The  existing  scheme  retains  the  same  provisions  as  to  the 
jElementary  School  Standards,*'  but  restricts  teaching  to  those  under 
■fee  age  of  25  years ;  such  prisoners,  provided  their  sentence  is  over 
pne  month,  receive  instruction  for  one  hour  on  five  days  of  the  week 
excluding  Saturdays  and  Sundays)  from  the  beginning  of  their 
l-entence,  except  in  the  case  of  Hard  Labour  prisoners,  who,  as 
pefore,  get  no  teaching  while  in  separate  confinement,  i,e.,  for  the 
'irct  four  weeks." 

For  Juvenile  Adult  prisoners  (those  between  16  and  21)  the  new 
[^cheme  allows  the  same  hours  of  instruction  from  the  date  of  con- 
Hction  to  all  not  above  Standard  III.  serving  a  sentence  of  14  days 
Ind  over.  It  is  only  the  comparatively  few  selected  Juvenile  Adults, 
'yith  sentences  of  three  months  or  more,  sent  to  the  four  prisons 
tnown  as  "Collecting  Depots""  Vr-ho  "may  be  permitted  to  extend 
lieir  education  until  they  can  pass  out  of  Standard  V."     Otherwise, 

'  P.C.   Report,   1914-15,   p.   34. 
l'*  We  are  sorry   to  see,   howerer,  that  the  chairman  of  the  Commissioners,   in   his  recent 
'     pok,  suggests   a   reversion,    in   certain   cases,   to    cellular    teaching.    Sir  E.   B.    Brise,   "The 
jngUsh  Prison  System"    (1921),   p.    127. 

p*  This  was.    we  understand,  the  first   time  that  the   Board  of   Education  have  even  been 
''ke«1  to  adTise   the  Commissioners. 

In  the  1919  scheme  the  term  "Grade"  is  substituted  for  "Standard."  It  seems,  howev^-r, 
rable  to  retain  "Standard,"  to  aToid  confusion,  as  this  is  the  popular  term  still 
;se  in  the  schools. 

He  recognise,  of  course,  that  willinpness  to  behave  should  be  a  necessary  condition 
=  :iiii5sion  to  class-teaching.  But  many  "hard  labour"  prisoners  would  behaTe  as  well 
•hose  without  hard  labour. 

There  were  only,  in  1920-21,  524  of  this  category  out  of  a  total  of  4,217  male  juTenile 
ts  serving  sentences  in  Ix>cal  prisons  in  that  year.  (Home  Secretary's  reply  to  question 
May  3rd,   1921).    The  "depots"  are  Bedford,  Bristol,  Durham,  and  Liverpool  prisons. 


184  EDUCATION 

all  qualified  prisoners,  over  and  under  21  alike,  get  their  instructioi 
under  the  same  provisions.  And  not  only  is  the  same  Elementar] 
School  Standard  still  retained  as  a  final  test,  but  no  appreciabl( 
advance  in  objective  has  been  made.  The  object  of  Education  ii 
Prison  is  expressed  in  the  1919  scheme  in  language  which  is  practic 
ally  identical  with  that  used  in  the  1896  scheme,  and  indeed  in  th( 
Commissioners'  Eeports  on  the  subject,  as  long  ago  as  1878.  Ii 
all  these  years  no  appreciable  advance  in  objective  has  been  made 
Prison  education  still  aims  at  "affording  every  young  prisoner  th( 
opportunity  of  learning  to  read  and  writ©  easily  and  to  conduc 
simple  calculatiQ43s  in  the  money  and  other  tables."" 

It  is,  of  course,  encouraging  that  the  hours  of  instruction  hav( 
been  slightly  increased  (although  the  awful  monotony  of  the  week 
end  is  still  left  untouched)  and  that  the  restrictions  as  regards  thi 
qualifying  length  of  sentence  and  the  date  when  teaching  begini 
have  been  diminished.  It  is  very  deplorable,  however,  that  n( 
definite  provisions  are  made  for  the  instruction  of  men  and  womer 
over  the  age  of  24,  i.e.,  of  the  large  majority  of  the  prisoners.  Thii 
restriction  is  all  the  more  surprising  seeing  that  a  considerable 
number  of  prisoners  of  this  age  evidently  benefited  by  the  instructioi 
given  in  past  years.  Even  among  those  over  40  there  must  always 
be  some  who  have  a  genuine  desire  to  be  taught;  it  is  cruel  and  un 
wise  to  debar  anyone,  however  old,  from  the  opportunity  of  learning 
to  read  and  write."  The  new  scheme  like  the  old  provides, 
it  is  true,  for  a  discretionary  power  on  the  part  of  the  chaplair 
to  include  as  pupils,  exceptionally,  those  over  th©  age  of  25.  But 
it  is  unlikely,  in  view  of  the  pressure  on  the  chaplain's  time  anc 
thought,  and  th©  difficulty  in  obtaining  exceptions  in  prison  routine 
that  much  advantage  will  be  taken  of  this  provision.  i 

"The  experience  of  past  years,"  we  are  informed,  "has  satisfiec' 
the  Commissioners  that  the  best  policy  is  to  concentrate  attentior 
on  the  younger  prisoners,  say  under  25  years  of  age.""  In  thi 
absence  of  further  explanation  we  can  only  suppose  that  the  principal 
motive  for  the  reduction  in  the  age  limit  is  economy,  the  fundi 
available  being  only  sufficient  to  pay  the  salaries  of  a  small  numbe 
of  poorly  qualified  and  part-time  teachers,  regard  being  had  to  th 
fact  that,  for  disciplinary  and  other  reasons,  classes  are  limited  t« 
20  prisoners  at  most. 

The  Teaching  Staff. 

The  teaching  of  prisoners  is  in  the  hands  of  an  officer,  who  enjoy 
the  title  of  "Clerk  and  Schoolmaster  Warder,"  a  class  instituted  il 
1895  to  meet  the  need  particularly  of  the  smaller  prisons,  where  ii 
was  more  economical  to  have  one  officer  to  perform  both  clerical  an 
scholastic  work."'     These  officers  are  selected  from  the  general  bod 

»*S.0.  359. 
28  Cp.  Note  on  p.  169. 

-*  This    explanation,    giTen    in    the    1919   scheme,    is    repeated,    without    addition,    in    ■ 
K.   Rnggles-Brise's   "English  Prison   System"    (1921),  p.   126. 
a'  P.O.       Dort.  1897-8,  p.  24. 


THE    TEACHIXG    STAFF  155 

of  warders  and  have  to  pass  a  qualifying  examination  conducted  by 
the  Civil  Service  Commission."  The  examination  is  of  a  very 
elementary  type,  the  only  subjects  being  Reading,  Writing  from 
Dictation,  English  Composition,  Copying  Manuscript,  Arithmetic, 
Digesting  Returns  into  Summaries,  and  Book-keeping;  it  is  a  test 
of  ability  to  do  clerk's  work,  not  of  competence  as  a  teacher. 

The  chaplain,  who  may  himself  have  no  scholastic  aptitude,  is 
supposed  to  give  the  new  schoolmaster-warder,  "careful  personal 
instruction,  and  direction  as  to  the  mode  of  teaching  prisoners"  for 
a  period  of  six  months,  at  the  end  of  which  probationary  period  a 
permanent  appointment  is  made.  A  schoolmaster's  pay  is  shghtly 
in  advance  of  that  of  the  ordinary  warder,  and  he  is  not  required 
:to  wear  a  uniform."'  He  is  supposed  to  be  employed  entirely  on 
clerical  and  scholastic  work  and  as  prison  librarian,  with  no  disciplin- 
ary duties.  It  is  obvious  that  a  very  poor  standard  of  teaching 
abihty  is  all  that  can  be  expected  from  schoolmasters  appointed 
upon  these  slender  qualifications."  Indeed,  the  incompetence  of 
imost  of  them  is  recognised,  we  believe,  by  many  chaplains.  At  the 
;3anie  time,  our  evidence  indicates  that  their  moral  influence  upon 
the  younger  prisoners  especially  is  good,  compared  with  that  of  the 
jiverage  warder. 

j  The  teaching  of  the  few  women  prisoners  who  are  eligible  is  at 
most  prisons  in  even  poorer  hands.  Regular  "Schoolmistresses" 
only  exist  at  three  prisons  (Holloway,  Liverpool,  and  Manchester).*' 
Elsewhere  an  ordinary  wardress  undertakes  the  schooling  in  her 
[spare  time  under  the  chaplain's  supervision. 

j  Of  the  value  of  the  class-teaching  imparted  the  public  have  no 
means  of  judging  apart  from  the  meagre  information  given  in  the 
Commissioners'  Reports.  There  is  no  inspection  by  any  independent 
luthority,  and  in  fact  none  at  all  that  is  worthy  of  the  name.  From 
;1905  to  1914  the  annual  reports  of  the  Commissioners  contained  a 
cabular  statement  showing  the  progress  during  the  year  of  those 
lander  instruction.  Thus  during  1907-8  we  are  informed  that,  out 
pf  13,407  prisoners  who  were  being  taught,  5,407  passed  through 
yae  standard  (beyond  the  degree  of  attainment  at  which  they 
started);  3,180  through  two;  1,163  through  three;  and  221  through 
''our  standards.  In  1913-14,  out  of  8,800  under  instruction,  only 
jt,147  made  progress  to  the  extent  of  one  standard  or  more.  This 
ig  falling  off  in  the  proportion  probably  indicates  a  raising  of  the 


"  Until  recently  the  examination  was  by  an  Inspector  of  the  Board  of  Education,  who 
iwrely  had  to  certify  that  the  candidates  had  sufficient  proficiency  in  reading,  writing, 
'ind  arithmetic  to  qualify  them  to  pass  a  test  about  equal  to  Standard  V.  of  tb«  old 
Uementary  school  course. 

;  "  Plain  clothes  were  recommended  by  the  1896  Prisoners'  Education  Committee  "as  a 
neans    of  increasing  the   respect    of  prisoners   for  the   teacher,"  since  the  Committee  found 

hat  the  schoolmasters  were  unanimously  against  the  wearing  of  tho  discipline  officer'* 
iniform. 

'  _^'  At  one  at  least  of  the  four  "Collecting  Depot?"  for  jurenile  adults  the  instruction  is 
u'tren,  we  beliere,  by  a  qualified  certificated  teacher,  who  comes  in  from  the  outside;  bat 
'bia  IS  quite  the  exception. 

"  They    are    selected    after    a    Tery    elementary    examination   conducted    by    the    Board    of 

-ducation. 


156  EDUCATION 

standards  of  examination,  for,  as  the  Chaplain  Inspector  points  out, 
the  whole  value  of  the  figures  depends  upon  the  strictness  of  the 
passing-out  examinations  conducted  by  the  various  chaplains." 

Prison  education  is,  of  course,  gravely  handicapped  by  the  short- 
ness of  a  majority  of  the  sentences.  Juvenile  Adults,  however,  as 
has  already  been  mentioned,  now  receive  instruction  from  the  date 
of  their  conviction,  provided  their  sentence  is  one  of  at  least  fourteen 
days;  while  in  certain  prisons  (where  some  of  those  with  sentences 
of  at  least  three  months  are  congregated)  these  young  persons  may 
extend  their  education  until  they  can  pass  out  of  Standard  V.  of  the 
Elementary  School.  We  may  not  unreasonably  assume  that  the 
same  provisions  might  with  advantage  be  applied  by  the  prison 
authorities,  if  only  the  funds  were  available,  to  prisoners  of  any  age, 
who  were  willing  to  receive  education. 

From  the  returns,  which  we  have  quoted  on  page  150,  we  can 
estimate  that  about  95  per  cent,  of  the  prison  population  are  unable 
to  read  and  write  "well,"  i.e.,  to  pass  out  of  Standard  IV. ;  and  of 
this  95  per  cent,  less  than  one-fifth  have  sentences  of  less  than 
14  days.  Assuming  that  (say)  another  three-tenths  of  them  are 
ineligible  from  infirmity,  unwillingness,  or  other  causes,  we  an'iye 
at  the  conclusion  that,  on  the  Commissioners'  own  standard  as  applied 
to  Juvenile  Adults,  at  least  48  per  cent,  of  the  total  prison  popula- 
tion might  reasonably  be  accorded  definite  instruction  as  far  as 
Standard  V.  in  prison.  In  point  of  fact,  only  5,481  prisoners  or 
about  12.5  per  cent,  of  the  men  and  women  received  into  Local 
prisons  were  given  instruction  (and  no  higher  than  Standard  ITI.I 
during  the  year  ended  31st  March,  1921." 

Education  in  Convict  Prisons. 

Convict  prisons  ought  to  provide  a  greater  scope  for  education, 
than  the  short  sentence  prisons.  This  was  recognised  partially  even' 
under  Sir  Edmund  Du  Cane's  stern  regime.  But  the  educational 
system  for  convicts  is  one  of  the  few  features  of  prison  whiohi 
actually  changed  for  the  worse,  in  some  important  respects,  as  a 
result  of  the  new  rules  framed  under  the  1898  Prison  Act.  Up  to' 
that  time,  it  was  the  practice  for  each  convict  under  instruction  toi 
receive  a  lesson  (in  class,  as  had  always  been  the  case  in  those 
prisons)  of  half  an  hour's  duration  once  a  week,  between  five  and 
six  p.m.  The  time  in  class  was  very  scanty,  but  it  was 
supplemented  by  private  study,  and  the  lesson  was  given  bji 
a  properly  "certificated"  teacher  (one  of  a  "highly  intelligent  andi 
valuable  class  of  prison  officers")  and,  most  important  of  all,  the 
education  was  continued  up  to  Standard  VI.  of  the  Elementary 
School  Code."     There  was  no  prescribed  limit  as  to  age  or  lengtl: 

"  P.O.  Report,   1907-8,  p.  37. 

"  The    percentage    receiving    instruction    under    the    older    scheme,    in    the    year    1913-1'j 
was   6.4  of  the  total  number   of  prisoners  received  into  Local  prisons  during  the  year.         i 

^*  Report  of  Prisoners'  Education  Committee,   1896,  pp.   10  and   11. 


EDUCATION    IN    CONVICT   PRISONS  157 

d{  sentence.       In   1895  out  of  1,065  convicts   at  Portland  prison, 
266  or  about  25  per  cent,  were  receiving  instruction." 

In  1900,  as  the  result  of  the  recommendations  of  the  official 
'Prisoners'  Education  Committee,"  a  new  scheme  was  introduced. 
Under  it  convicts  who  had  not  passed  Standard  III.  (and  only  these) 
vere  placed  under  instruction  from  the  first  for  one  hour  daily 
'taken  from  the  time  allotted  to  labour).  If,  at  the  end  of  six 
■nonths,  the  convict  had  not  passed  Standard  I.,  his  name  was 
iable  to  be  removed  from  the  instruction  list.  In  any  case, 
education  was  no  longer  continued  up  to  Standard  VI.,  but  only 
lip  to  Standard  III."  As  a  result  of  this  change,  certificated 
«ach6r3  have,  we  understand,  gradually  disappeared  from  Convict 
orisons,  tlieir  place  being  taken  by  the  "Clerk  and  Schoolmaster 
vVarder"  with  only  the  slender  qualifications  already  mentioned. 

In  the  years  intervening  between  1900  and  1914  convicts  had  at 
iny  rate  some  advantages  as  regards  education  over  the  short 
,ientenc«  prisoner,  inasmuch  as  (a)  the  hours  of  instruction  were 
homewhat  longer,  (b)  there  was  no  age  limit  of  40  fixed  for  eligibility, 
'•nd  (c)  the  instruction  began  at  the  beginning  of  the  sentence,  there 
l»eing  no  short  sentence  disquaUfication.  But,  in  other  respects, 
hough  in  the  case  of  convicts  the  need  for  education  was  much 
greater,  its  character  and  conditions  were,  generally  speaking, 
iimilar  to  those  of  Local  prison  education. 

I  This  similarity  was  still  further  increased  by  the  new  Education 
i5cheme  of  September,  1919.  Under  this  scheme  the  three 
llistinguishing  features  just  mentioned  have  all  disappeared;  the 
j.ge  limit  of  25  is  introduced  for  the  convict  as  well,  he  also  has 
ive  hours  instruction  weekly,  while  Standard  III.  remains  the  limit 
10  which  he  is  taken  (except  for  the  Juvenile  Adult  Convicts  who  are 
laken  up  to  Standard  V.)  On  paper,  at  any  rate,  the  scheme  is 
lientical  in  all  material  features  for  Local  prisoners  and  for  convicts, 
buch  an  assimilation  we  regard  as  unexplainably  wrong ;  first 
ecause  the  problem  of  the  ever  shifting  short-sentence  prisoner  is 
ere  absent,  and  secondly  because  the  convict,  with  never  less  than 
stay  of  two  years  and  three  months  to  look  forward  to,  has  all  the 
later  need  of  intellectual  pursuits  as  a  means  to  healthy  interests, 
rved  faculties,  and  intellectual  development."     During  1920-21, 

bid.  Appendix  V. 

the  S.O.  quoted  on  p.  119  of  the  P.O.  Keport,  1900-1901. 

e    hare   shown    that,    were    it   not   for    the    restrictions    imna«ed,    the    Tast   mnjority   of 
prisoners   would    hare   been    eligible    for   elementary    instruction.    In    ConTict   prisons 
lere  has   been   no   restriction   as   regards    length   of   sentence,   nor    (up    to   1919)    as    to   age. 
ad   yet     the    proportion     of    convict.?    returned    during    the     pre-war    years    as    eligible    for 
strcction   up   to   Standard    III.    is,   by   comparison,    remarkably   small.    Thus    in    1913-14, 
It  ol  a  total  of  1.054  new  conricts,  only  122  or  11.5  per  cent,  were  returned  as  eligible  for 
Jtruction,   only    14   ol    thwe  being   illiterate.     (P.O.    Report    1915-14,    p.    78).       Unless   s 
rtain    number    of     men     have    been    considered    ineligible     from    advanced    age    or    mental 
flrmity,  this  small   proportion  can  only   be  explained   by   the  existence  of  a   much  higher 
andard    of    education    among    prisoners    sentenced    to    penal    servitude    than    is    the    case 
T)2   those   who   serve    their   terma    in    Local   prisons.    As    the   majority   of   convicts    have 
d   a    previous    term    or    terms   in    these    prisons,    the   explanation    may   be   in    part    that 
have    already    reached    the    prescribed    standard    by    instruction    received    during    an 
■  er  sentence. 


158  EDUCATION 

178  convicts,  out  of  a  daily  average  population  of  1,435,  were  statec 
to  have  been  receiving  education  up  to  Standard  III.** 

Unsuitability  of  the  Elementary  Education  Scheme. 
Quite  apart  from  the  special  drawbacks  peculiar  to  the  prisot 
system,  the  value  of  the  education  actually  given  within  the  ne\\ 
limits  is  for  two  reasons  unnecessarily  restricted.  In  the  firsl 
place,  it  is  deplorable  that  teaching  of  a  more  than  usually  difficull 
nature  should  be  entrusted  to  men  who,  as  a  rule,  have  no  skill  ir 
teaching  and  are  often  only  slightly  better  educated  than  the  bact 
ward  scholars  themselves.  Secondly,  the  methods  laid  down  foi 
instruction  are  most  unsatisfactory.  It  is  ridiculous  (we  quote  a 
competent  witness  with  some  experience  of  prison  education)  "tc 
organise  the  work  in  Grades  or  Standards —  a  system  which  (though 
now  somewhat  obsolete  in  Public  Elementary  Schools)  was  designed 
for  young  children  with  a  definite  number  of  years  for  educatior 
before  them."^*  Such  a  plan  is  quite  unsuited  to  adults  or  adoles- 
cents. Much  more  individual  teaching  is  required,  and  instruction 
should  not  be  confined  to  the  "3  R's."  The  best  criticism  that  can 
be  made  upon  the  present  scheme  of  prison  education  is  afforded 
by  the  admirable  directions  for  the  instruction  of  backward  recruits 
(a  class  of  pupils  not  very  unlike  those  under  the  care  of  the  Prison 
Commissioners)  issued  in  the  official  handbook  by  the  General  Stafl 
of  the  War  Office. 

"Careful  individual  instruction,"  so  it  is  advised  by  the  War  Office 
handbook,  "is  the  best  means  of  developing  the  intelligence.  Special 
classes  should  be  arranged  for  the  most  backward,  but  it  should  be  borne 
in  mind  that  because  a  man  required  instruction  in  reading  and  writing  if 
does  not  follow  that  his  interest  in  such  subjects  as  Citizenship  and 
History  is  any  the  less  or  that  he  is  incapable  of  profiting  froit 
instruction  in  them.  Such  men  should,  as  far  as  possible,  be  made  t< 
feel  that  the  education  they  are  receiving  is  education  in  general  subjects! 
and  that  the  rudimentary  instruction  which  has  to  be  given  them  i.' 
only  an  accidental  accompaniment  to  assist  them  in  other  subjects.  Ever 
if  for  a  time  they  have  something  of  a  struggle  to  keep  pace,  they  wjl| 
be  only  the  more  encouraged  to  go  on  with  the  rudiments  by  beinj; 
introduced  at  once  to  the  ideas  for  which  the  rudiments  are  wortl 
acquiring."*"  i 

Some  of  the  prison  chaplains,  we  are  informed,  realise  that  thesf 
are  the  kind  of  educational  ideals  that  ought  to  inspire  the  prisoi 
administration  and  that  the  teaching  at  present  accorded  t< 
illiterate  and  backward  prisoners  is  almost  valueless  as  a  method  o| 
education.     That  it  has  value  for  recreational  purposes,  we  do  noj 


3B  Home  Secretary  in   reply  to  Mr.   T.   Myers,  M.P.,  November   10th,   1921. 

"  The  Prison  scheme  of  1919  is  based,  in  an  uncritical  and  very  abbreviated  form,  npo 
the  Board  of  Education's  handbook  "Suggestions  for  Teachers  in  Elementary  Schools, 
(Revised  Edition,   1918.   H.M.   Stationery    Office). 

The  Board  of  Education's  "Suggestions,"  it  cannot  be  too  strongly  emphasised,  w 
written  with  a  view  to  the  in-^t  ruction  of  children  under  14.  Yet  the  Prison  Educatic; 
Scheme  makes  use  of  them,  without  in  any  way  modifying  them,  to  meet  the  requir 
ments  of    adult  pupils. 

<«  "Educational   Training."    War   Office:    1920.    Part    1,   p.   v^O. 


PROVISIONS    FOR    FURTHER   EDUCATION  159 

deny ;  poor  though  it  be  it  affords  a  welcome  break  to  the  perpetual 
monotony  of  silence  and  solitude  of  prison  life. 

The  Theory  of  the  Provisions  for  Further  Education. 
The  vast  majority  of  prisoners,  we  have  seen,  are  persons  who 
have  not  even  reached  the  very  moderate  standard  regarded  as  fairly 
satisfactory  for  a  child  of  eleven  or  twelve;  and  for  these  backward 
scholars  the  Commissioners  have  thought  it  worth  while  to  provide 
the  needed  elementary  education  in  the  extremely  limited  proportion 
of  about  6  per  cent,  only.*'  It  is  hardly  surprising,  therefore, 
that  they  should  have  made  no  provision  at  all  for  the  instruction 
of  the  small  proportion  of  prisoners  who  are  able  to  read  and  write 
and  do  sums  with  comparative  ease,  and  that  the  only  "educational" 
larrangement  available  for  them,  as  a  rule,  should  be  in  the  form  of 
books  for  private  reading. 

I  The  Departmental  Committee  of  1895  made  no  specific  recom- 
imendations  as  to  education  other  than  elementary,  though  they 
advocated  "the  extension  of  tuition  to  the  prisoners  generally,  who, 
ft  might  be  considered,  would  be  the  better  for  it.""  The  question 
was  further  considered  by  the  Departmental  Prisoners'  Education 
Committee  of  1896  (of  which  three  out  of  five  members  were  prison 
officials).  This  Committee  was  not  favourable  to  anything  beyond 
!i  shght  extension  of  the  facilities  for  the  most  elementary  form  of 
jjducation.     Their  recommendation  was  as   follows:  — 

While  we  are  strongly  in  favour  of  every  encouragement  and 
opportunity  being  given  to  prisoners  to  improve  themselves  by  individual 
effort,  vre  are  of  opinion  that  it  is  not  advisable  to  carry  elementary 
instruction  in  prisons  further  than  the  average  standard  laid  down  as 
being  necessary  outside  the  prison  walls,  and  we  think  that  when  a 
prisoner  has  passed  the  Fourth  Standard  in  the  three  subjects,  reading, 
writing,  arithmetic,  he  should  be  exempted  from  further  schooling 
attendance.  He  should,  however  be  permitted  to  have  in  his  cell  works 
of  a  higher  educational  standard  than  the  fourth,  subject  to  the  approval 
of  the  chaplain.*' 

is  View  was  adopted  by  the  Prison  Commissioners  in  framing  the 
'lew  educational  scheme  for  Local  prisons,  introduced  in  1897, 
vhich  provided  that  "such  as  have  passed  Standard  III.  will  be 
;:iven  educational  books  in  their  cells  and  be  encouraged  to  work  at 
hem  in  their  leisure  time,  e.g.,  during  meal  hours  and  after  com- 
)leting  the  day's  task."" 

Reasons  for  Their  Complete  Failure. 

This  provision  represents  the  total  amount  of  education  that  has 

peen  available  in  theory    for  the  fairly  literate  inmate  of  a  Local 

prison,   at  any  rate  up  to  1919, — no  instruction,  but  opportunities 

'or  self -education  with  a  certain  amount  of  encouragement.        In 

"i.e.,  np  to  1914.    For  1920-21   the  proportion  is    stated   to  be  12.5   per  cent. 
Report   of   Departmental  Committee   on  Prisons    (1895),   Section  74,  p.   26. 
i^risoners'  Education  Committee,    1896,  p.   8. 
*  P.O.  Report,  1878,  p.  155. 


160  EDUCATION 

actual   practice    the   provision    has,    our   evidence   indicates,    beer 
extremely  unsubstantial,  principally  for  the  following  reasons:  — 

1.  It  is  difficult  for  the  prisoner  to  secure  the  books  required.  Ir 
the  first  place,  according  to  the  "Stage  System,"  he  is  usuallj 
limited,  at  any  rate  during  the  first  two  months,  to  a  single 
"educational"  book  which  can  be  changed  only  once  a  fortnight 
and  even  afterwards  he  can  only  with  difficulty  secure  suitable  oi 
sufficient  books  for  study.  There  has  existed,  it  is  true,  an  un 
published  rule,  allowing  him,  on  special  permission,  books  suppliec 
by  his  friends,  on  condition  that  after  use  they  become  part  of  th< 
prison  library.  But  most  prisoners  are  not  informed  of  this  rul( 
(normally  only  hearing  of  it  by  chance  from  another  prisoner),  o) 
they  may  not  have  friends  able  to  supply  them,  or  permission  maj 
be  refused,  if  the  book  is  thought  unsuitable  by  the  Commissioners.* 
Hence  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases  a  man  must  depend  for  his 
materials  for  study  on  the  resources  of  the  prison  library. 

Prison  Libraries  vary  greatly.  Most,  we  believe,  contain  a  certair 
number  of  historical  and  scientific  works,  of  technical  manuals  anc 
a  few  foreign  language  books.  But  even  though  in  the  last  fe^^ 
years  there  has  been  more  adequate  provision  (due  partly  to  pur 
chases  and  gifts  of  books,  and  partly  to  the  smaller  number  o: 
prisoners)  many  hbraries  have  certainly  been  inadequate  to  suppl] 
industrious  prisoners  with  what  they  require.  The  prisoner  \\ 
further  hampered  by  the  rule  which  limits  to  four  the  number  o 
educational  and  "library"  books  (i.e.,  fiction,  etc.)  which  he  ma} 
keep  in  his  cell ;  and,  in  some  prisons,  by  the  inefficient  machinen 
for  exchanging  and  allotting  books  in  advance.  The  following 
evidence  of  an  educated  prisoner  (with  expei-ience  of  three  differen 
prisons  during  1916  and  1917)  indicates  the  drawbacks  of  thi 
system,  with  specific  reference  to  the  attempted  study  of  a  foreigi 
language,  such  as  Italian  and  French. 

Even  supposing  that  the  libraries  were  richer  than  they  are  now 
under  the  present  system  a  prisoner,  after  waiting  a  long  time,  migh 
possibly  get  a  foreign  text  or  a  dictionary  or  a  grammar  separately 
Another  member  of  the  trio  might  appear  perhaps  six  weeks  or  eve 
three  months  later.  He  could  not  get  them  together  without  e.xtreml 
difficulty  and  long  sacrifice  of  other  reading  matter.  Now  obviously  , 
schoolmaster  worthy  of  the  name  ought  to  be  empowered  to  enablj 
everybody  who  really  wished  to  study  a  language  to  have  a  text,  j 
grammar,  and  a  dictionary  simultaneously,  as  his  educational  or  .scho< 
book,  and  to  continue  to  receive  two  other  volumes  of  fiction  or  gener.' 
literature  as  in  the  ordinary  course. 

Another  witness  with  experience   of  three  prisons  extending  ove 
more  than  two  years  says  (and  this  is  typical): —  { 

*5  "The  Commissioners  (who  themsplres  deal  with  all  these  applications)  usually  act. 'I 
the  principle  that  permi.s.iion  should  only  be  giren  for  books  of  a  special  or  technic 
nature.  .  .  .  which  the  prisoner  can  show  to  be  of  use  to  him  for  maintaining  and  i 
creasing  his  knowledge  of  his  trade  or  some  kindred  purpose."  Prison  Libraries'  Coramitt 
Report,  1911,  p.  25. 


I  SEASONS  FOR  FAILURE  161 

One  could  not  do  any  consecutive  reading.  We  might  ask  for  a  book 
and  it  might  not  come  round  for  three  or  four  weeks. 

2.  A  second  great  difficulty  has  been  the  absence  of  writing 
materials  for  note-taking  and  exercises.  It  is  true  that  every  prisoner 
has  a  slate  pencil  and  a  slate  (the  former  sometimes  broken,  and  the 
btter  often  scored  with  the  engravings  of  a  predecessor)."  But,  as 
almost  any  adult  will  find  if  he  makes  the  experiment,  a  slate  is  a 
very  inadequate  substitute  for  pencil  and  paper;  moreover,  the 
prisoner  needs  them  as  an  emotional  outlet  against  silence  and  re- 
pression, as  well  as  for  notices  to  the  librarian  or  warder. 
i  Of  the  official  prison  chaplains  who  have  given  us  evidence  on  this 
*?ubject  as  many  as  ten  are  in  favour  of  a  greater  provision  of 
jivriting  facilities.  One  of  them,  with  over  twenty-six  years'  prison 
l^xperience,  instances  the  case  of  a  rather  desperate  character  who 
•iffered  to  do  three  times  the  normal  task  of  hard  labour  if  allowed 
f^en  and  paper  to  write.  The  Commissioners  refused  permission, 
ind  a  prisoner  of  hopelessly  bad  conduct  was  the  result.  Another 
shaplain  declares  that  "the  slate  is  a  barbarous  provision  for  adults," 
md  mentions  one  prisoner,  able  to  write  poetry  of  sufficiently  good 
ijuality  for  one  of  his  pieces  to  be  included  in  the  prison  hymn-book, 
yho  was  naturally  "much  hampered  by  having  only  a  slate."  A 
Ihird  suggests  that  prisoners  "might  be  taught  to  take  deeper 
jnterest  in  the  books  they  read,  if  they  were  encouraged  to  write 
ssays  on  them." 

From  many  complaints  by  ex-prisoners  on  this  subject,  we  give 
he  following  as  typical:  — 

The  lack  of  mean.^  to  write — one  hasn't  the  heart  to  do  much  on  one's 
slate — made  systematic  study  very  difficult.  This  lack  is  a  very 
grievous  one.  One  kept  thinking  round  in  a  circle,  instead  of  getting 
any  "forrarder." 

mother  writes  that  his  great  longing  for  constructive  work  only 
ound  outlet  on  the  rare  occasions  of  his  letters  to  his  family. 
Several  ex-prisoner  witnesses  have  even  singled  out  the  lack  of 
mting  materials  as  the  worst  feature  of  prison  life.*' 

3.  But  apart  from  the  deficiencies  of  reading  and  writing  materials, 
tie  circumstances  of  the  prisoner's  condition  are  seldom  conducive 
>  study.  In  another  chapter  we  shall  show  how  the  rigidity  and 
uUness  of  the  regime  tend  to  impair  the  intellectual  powers,  to 
iscourage  initiative  and  to  produce  apathy.  Without  the  stimulus 
f  companionship,  of  conversational  discussion,  and  of  class  teach- 
ig,  the  average  prisoner  finds  it  very  hard  to  apply  himself  to 
jstained  study  behind  a  locked  door.  He  has  not  the  "vocation" 
r  the  spiritual  resources  of  the  cloistered  ascetic,  and  few  ascetics 
ave  condemned  themselves  to  perpetual  silence  for  months  at  a  time. 

*il<?R**   "^"^^  ^"^^^   introduced   as   part    of   the   cell    iurniture   by   the   educational   scheme 

"Cp.  the  instance  given  on  p.  575  of  the  disastrous  results  of  withholding  composing 
atenalg  from  a  musician. 


162  EDUCATION 

In  some  cases  prisoners  have  only  too  much  leisure  for  reading 
especially  during  the  week-ends,"  but  in  others,  where  excessive  task 
have  been  fixed,  or  evening  labour  is  rigidly  enforced,  even  afte 
the  task  is  completed,  there  is  insufficient  time  available  for  study 
It  was  all  very  well  for  the  Commissioners  to  speak  of  "study  durin, 
meal  hours."  Some  men's  constitutions  do  not  allow  of  brain  wori 
close  on  a  clogging  and  starchy  meal ;  there  is  also  the  chance  tha 
much  of  the  meal-hour  has  to  be  occupied  in  cell-scrubbing,  polishing 
or  other  domestic  occupations. 

4.  Lastly  there  is  very  little  evidence  of  that  "encouragement"  o 
prisoners  in  self-education  suggested  by  the  Standing  Orders.  W( 
have  heard  of  no  coaching  or  advice  being  given  by  schoolmaste 
warders  to  those  prisoners  who  pass  out  of  their  hands  on  the  attain 
ment  of  Standard  IV.  The  chaplain  is  required  by  the  Standinj 
Orders  "in  the  course  of  his  cellular  visitations  to  make  it  hii 
regular  practice  to  interest  himself  and  offer  advice  upon  eacl 
prisoner's  reading. ' '  "  But  the  chaplain's  visits  are  too  brief  and  rar< 
(hardly  ever  more  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour  monthly)  to  make  sucl 
"regular  practice"  anything  but  a  formality.  He  has  too  little  tim( 
available  for  anything  besides  his  routine  duties.  It  is  needless  t( 
emphasise  how  little  real  help  can  come  to  a  lonely  and  bewilderec 
man  from  occasional  visits  like  these.  The  encouragement  of  self 
education  is  not  such  a  simple  matter,  even  when  a  man  is  free, 
much  less  when  he  is  an  offender  living  under  repression. 

There  may,  of  course,  be  exceptional  cases  where  a  chaplain, 
concentrating  on  some  particular  prisoner,  has  given  him  guidancf 
through  a  course  of  study.  And,  apart  from  literary  pursuits, 
gifted  prisoners  have  sometimes  been  allowed  to  employ  their  talentj 
in  a  way  that  is  both  educational  and  constructive,  as  for  instana 
in  the  decoration  of  the  chapel  or  the  planning  out  of  a  bird's  ey<. 
view  of  the  prison.  We  know  of  a  Catholic  priest  who  gets  hii, 
women  prisoners  to  do  drawings  in  pen  and  ink.  But  these  an; 
rare  oases  in  the  barren  desert  of  prison  culture.  ! 

Prisoners'  Efforts  at  Self-Culture. 
The  present  writer  may  perhaps  be  pardoned  for  illustrating  fron 
his  own  experience  in  a  provincial  prison  some  of  the  obstacles  \t\ 
effective  study.  It  was  not  until  after  the  end  of  his  first  imprison! 
ment  (lasting  four  months)  that  he  learned  from  a  fellow-prisone' 
the  rule  by  which  a  few  books  might  on  occasion  be  presented  to  th 
prison  library  for  the  use  of  a  particular  prisoner.  He  wanted  tj 
devote  himself  during  his  second  sentence  (one  of  two  years  harj 
labour)  to  the  study  of  the  text  of  the  Greek  Testament,  and  ha- 

<s  The  official  Prison  Libraries  Committee  of  1910  estimated  that  the  time  available  fi; 
reading  averaged  about  two  hours  on  a  weekday  in  a  Local  prison,  besides  five  to  8' 
houri.  on  Sundays.  This  was  probably  an  over-statement,  though  some  men  in^  sod 
prii^ons  have  had  more  than  this.  Now  that  lights  out  is  at  9  instead  of  at  8  o'clocj 
most  prisoners    perhaps    have  three    hours    available  for   daily   study. 

«3  S.O.  372.  ' 


PRISONERS'    EFFORTS    AT    SELF-CULTURE  163 

(therefore  asked  his  relatives  to  send  the  chaplain  a  copy  of  this 
book,  of  which  he  might  have  the  use.  This  was  done;  soon  after- 
wards, during  the  usual  two  long  months  of  isolation  from  all  visits 
and  letters,  he  was  informed  by  the  chaplain  (who  was  most  kind 
in  the  whole  matter)  that  the  volume  had  been  received,  and  that 
he  had  written  to  the  Prison  Commissioners  for  permission  to  add  it 
to  the  library.  But  a  week  or  two  later  the  chaplain  opened  the 
cell  door  agair  and,  with  evident  and  somewhat  shamefaced  reluct- 
ance, informed  the  expectant  prisoner  that  the  Commissioners  had 
written  saying  that  they  could  not  authorise  the  admission  of  the 
Greek  Testament  to  the  prison  library,  on  the  ground  that  such  a 
book  was  not  likely  to  assist  the  prisoner  in  his  subsequent  career. 
,This  information  received  in  the  depressing  solitude  of  prison 
i{the  prisoner  was  suffering  from  chronic  ill-health),  left  him 
jin  a  sufi&ciently  tragic  state  of  disappointment. 

i  If  the  writer  had  been  the  average  prisoner,  without  friends  be- 
jlonging  to  the  governing  class  and  able  to  exert  pressure  on  White- 
jhall,  that  would  have  been  the  last  of  his  cherished  study.  But 
puch  friends  he  happened  to  have,  and  accordingly  six  weeks  later 
nhe  volume  reached  his  cell,  where  it  remained  during  the  rest  of 
lis  imprisonment. 

The  concentrated  study  of  it  in  leisure  intervals,  extending  over 
leveral  months,  led  the  prisoner  to  conclusions  as  to  the  interpreta- 
ion  of  certain  passages  which  appeared  to  him  both  interesting  and 
lew."  These  he  had  to  record  upon  his  slate,  which  soon  became 
ull  to  overflowing.  When  writing  his  monthly  letter  to  his  family, 
jie  occasionally  transcribed  some  of  these  notes,  but  naturally  did 
bot  care  thus  to  occupy  much  of  the  precious  three  pages  allowed, 
jie  had,  therefore,  to  rely  on  other  expedients ;  and  being  unable  to 
rust  a  memory  impaired  by  prison  conditions,  he  pricked  his  notes 
vith  a  needle  in  the  margins  of  the  hymn  book,  which,  since  it  was 
tot  prison  property,  he  hoped  to  retain  at  the  conclusion  of  his 
entence.  Other  notes  he  copied  briefly  on  the  margin  of  each 
Qonthly  letter  received  from  home,  when  pen  and  ink  were  allowed 
lim  for  the  purpose  of  answering  it.  These  letters  (fortunately  not 
mpounded,  as  they  might  have  been,  when  the  writer  left  prison), 
nabled  him  to  work  up  his  notes  into  articles  which  appeared  in 
heological  and  other  periodicals,  and  thus  (contrary  to  the 
xpectations  of  the  Commissioners)  assisted  his  career  by  bringing  in 
loney  when  it  was  needed ! 

There  have  been  many  other  recent  cases  where  perfectly  harm- 
J9S  compositions  of  some  interest  and  value  have  been  surreptitiously 
reduced  and  smuggled  out  of  prison.     Some  prisoners  secrete  bits 

!*•  He  was  during  most  of  thi?!  time  employed  upon  garden  work  under  exceptionally 
jvourable  conditions,  so  that  his  natnral  powers  were  kept  comparatively  fresh.  Later 
I  •  ^^^^  ^^  resumed  the  usual  occupation  of  sewing  mail  bags,  his  powers  of  study 
'moled,  and  he  read  little  but  works  of  fiction.  No  assistance  in  study  was  offered  by 
|ie  chaplain,  who,  though  doubtless  willing  enough,  had  too  many  duties  to  find  time 
:r  snch   indiTidual   attention. 


164  EDUCATION 

of  pencil;  a  few  have  even  improvised  inkpots  of  soap  or  cobbler's 
wax.  Spare  pieces  of  sanitaiy  paper  serve  as  notebooks  or  carry 
illicit  communications  to  fellow  prisoners.  In  nine  prisons  at  least 
during  the  war  political  prisoners  succeeded,  in  defiance  of  all  the 
regulations,  in  circulating  among  themselves  minute  newspapers 
containing  occasional  articles  of  some  literary  merit.  In  all  these 
instances  the  prisoners  concerned  exposed  themselves  to  the  possi- 
bility of  serious  punishment,  usually  involving  terms  of  bread  and 
water  and  solitary  confinement,  if  detected;  and  every  now  and  then 
such  severe  punishment  fell  upon  them. 

Prisoners,  we  submit,  should  not  be  driven  to  these  awkward  and 
surreptitious  expedients  in  order  to  help  forward  their  studies  and 
to  satisfy  their  desire  for  self-expression.  And  how  many  must 
have  failed,  for  one  reason  or  another,  to  make  use  of  these  un- 
recognised methods,  to  the  detriment  of  their  mental  health  and  of 
their  capacity  for  living  intelligently  after  their  release  ! 

The  upshot  of  the  matter  is  that,  under  the  system,  or  want  of 
system  obtaining  in  Local  prisons,  at  any  rate  up  to  the  new  educa- 
tional  scheme  of  September,  1919,  there  has  been,  with  the  exception 
of  very  few  prisoners,  nothing  worth  calling  education  for  those 
who  have  passed  beyond  the  elementary  Standard  III.  The  official 
Prison  Libraries'  Committee  of  1910  assert  that  "instances  of  sub- 
stantial progress  made  by  the  use  of  the  trade  manuals  (in  the  library) 
are  numerous,"  mentioning  the  case  of  a  man,  self-taught  in  French, 
book-keeping,  and  shorthand.  But  they  bring  no  evidence  to  sup- 
port their  general  assertion,  and  the  considerations  which  we  have 
mentioned  disincline  us  to  believe  that  it  is  based  on  anything  but 
an  unsubstantial  deduction  from  one  or  two  rare  instances  of 
exceptional  prisoners. 

Of  the  urgent  need  and  of  the  ample  opportunities  for  education 
in  prison  (except  for  those  under  very  short  sentences)  there  is 
abundant  evidence.  The  best  witnesses  are  the  extraordinarily! 
ingenious  and  pathetic  objects,  expressive  of  the  baulked  ai-tistici 
and  creative  instincts,  which  prisoners  have  surreptitiously  produced) 
during  their  long  hours  of  solitude.  The  variety  of  these  produc-, 
tions  is  amazing, — elaborate  designs  scratched  on  slates  oil 
even  on  a  lajer  of  whitening  transferred  to  the  slate,  tastefulb'i 
embroidered  handkerchiefs,  Christmas  and  birthday  cards  painted^ 
with  artificially  made  colours,  printing  type  cut  in  wood  and  lead.: 
pieces  of  rag  twisted  into  fancy  devices,  flimsy  objects  made  froir 
ra veilings  of  blankets,  more  solid  ones  from  soap  or  cobbler's  was 
with  intricate  inlaid  patterns  of  coloured  thread,  tooth-picks,  dice 
etc.,  carved  out  of  a  bone  tooth  brush,  wooden  toys,  small  wooder 
frames  for  photographs,  even  a  beautiful  little  set  of  chessmen 
black  and  yellow,  composed  of  cobbler's  wax."  j 

51  See  also  the  description   of  the  embroidery  and  weaving  on  p.  119,  and  of   other  eel 
occupations  on  vi>-  576-79. 


THE   INADEQUACY    OF   TEE    1919    REFOBMS  165 

In  a  few  cases,  these  artistic  treasures  have  been  smuggled  out 
by  the  prisoner,  or  perhaps  given  to  a  waixier  in  recognition  of  some 
substantial  act  of  kindness.  But  the  prison  authorities  have  usually 
seized  them,  verj'  possibly  rewarding  with  stem  punishment  the 
temerity  of  the  artist."  We  have  ourselves  seen  and  admired  some 
lof  these  productions  and  confess  to  a  feeling  of  awe  and  veneration 
at  the  thought  of  the  tremulous  emotion  with  which  they  were  pieced 
together  and  of  the  tender  care  which  hid  them  away  from  the  sight 
of  the  prison  officers. 

A  number  of  chaplains  and  others  of  the  higher  prison  staff  whom 
I  we  have  consulted  are  decidedly  in  favour  of  greatly  extending  the 
educational  facilities,  particularly  by  allowing  prisoners  to  practise 
isome  craft  especially  during  the  long  black  hours  of  Saturday  and 
I  Sunday.  Thus  one  chaplain  (with  experience  of  convict  as  well  as 
JLocal  prisoners)  writes  as  follows:  — 

To  the  extent  to  which  prisoners  are  now  allowed  to  decorate  their 
cells  with  picture-cards— to  that  extent  there  is  gain  in  mental  content- 
ment, in  evoking  finer  feelings  or  keeping  alive  affection. 

Provision  might  well  be  made  for  prisoners  to  express  themselves  in 
wood  or  leather  or  other  materials ;  much  clever  and  happy  work  would 
be  done,  which  would  keep  them  from  harmful  thinking,  feeling  or 
acting  in  loneliness.  I  think  outside  educationist-s  might  be  admitted 
to  train  and  educate  individuals  during  those  long  hours  of  solitude, 
just  as  outside  chaplaims  go  round  in  such  hours  and  converse  and 
instruct  religiously. 

A  high  prison  ofiBcial  of  long  experience  has  told  us  that  he  would 
give  facihties  for  such  occupations  as  water  colour  sketching  so  long 
as  no  tools  were  used  which  might  facilitate  assaults,  escapes,  and 
©uicides.  Something  of  the  kind  is  actually  being  done  at  Camp 
iHill  Preventive  Detention  Prison.*' 

The  In.\dequacy  of  the  1919  Reforms. 
We  have  so  far  been  dealing  primarily     with     the     educational 
ponditions  obtaining  for  post-Standard  III  Local  prisoner's  prior  to 
he  year  1919-20.     It  remains  to  enquire  how  far  the  educational 
scheme  introduced  in  September,  1919,  has  affected  them. 
The  only  relevant  portion  of  this  scheme  runs  as  follows:  — 

Prisoners  who  have  passed  out  of  Grade  III.  will  be  given  school 
books  in  their  cells  and  encouraged  to  work  at  them  in  their  leisure 
time.  They,  and  all  prisoners  desirous  of  improving  their  knowledge, 
will  be  encouraged  to  prosecute  their  .studies,  and  the  chaplain  and 
schoolmaster  will  assist  them  by  personal  guidance  and  instruction. 

There  is  also  a  new  regulation,  according  to  which  an  exercise 
X)ok  and  a  pencil  may,  with  the  governor's  concurrence,  be  issued 

0  anjf  prisoner  who  has  been  at  least  six  months  in  prison. 

These  two  rules  represent  the  only  advances  made,  in  respect  of 
'further"  education,  since  the  1897  scheme  (with  the  exception  of 

.  "  I"  on«  prison   at  any    rate,   we   are   informed,    these  secret  crafts    arc   not    discouraged. 
jhcicgh  the    objects    are  confiscated   when    the  prisoner   leares. 

1  ''  See  p.  446. 


F' 


166  EDUCATION 

the  increased  lectures  for  Juvenile  Adults) ;  and  the  first  of  them  is 
merely  a  somewhat  more  emphatic  repetition  of  one  of  the  provisions 
of  that  scheme.  We  have  little  evidence  as  to  how  far  cellular 
instruction  is  in  fact  now  given  by  the  chaplains  and  schoolmasters 
to  those  who  have  passed  Standard  (Grade)  III.  As  far  as  the 
chaplain  is  concerned,  it  appears  in  the  highest  degree  unlikely,  as 
we  have  already  indicated,  that  he  has,  as  a  rule,  adequate  time  to 
spare  for  this.     What  evidence  we  have  supports  this  view. 

The  supply  of  notebooks  and  pencils  as  aids  to  study  would  go  a 
considerable  way  towards  remedying  one  of  the  most  serious 
deficiencies  to  which  we  have  drawn  attention.  But  there  is  reason 
to  fear  that  extremely  few  prisoners  receive  them.  The  concession 
is  restricted  to  the  small  minority  of  prisoners  who  have  served  at 
least  six  months  and  to  these  "subject  to  good  behaviour 
and  provided  that  the  governor  and  chaplain  are  satisfied  that  a 
proper  use  will  be  made  of  them  for  the  purposes  of  study  and  not 
for  journalistic  purposes."  "  And  the  only  study  allowed  is  that  of 
"some  particular  subject,  the  knowledge  of  which  is  likely  to  benefit 
them  on  their  discharge,"  i,e.,  presumably  from  the  standpoint  of 
earning  their  living."  Writing  materials  would  apparently  be  refused 
to  a  man  who  wanted  them  merely  to  prevent  mental  deterioration. 

The  chaplain  of  one  of  the  largest  prisons  states  that  the  officials 
are  very  suspicious  and  oppose  this  reform,  because  it  means  more 
inspection  and  more  work,  although  he  adds  that  the  Juvenile  Adults 
make  very  good  use  of  similar  writing  materials  and  very  rarely 
abuse  the  privilege.  There  is  altogether  a  want  of  positive  evidence 
to  show  that  the  educational  scheme  in  force  since  1919  for  Local 
prisons  has  materially  improved  the  possibilities  of  education  for  those 
comparatively  few  prisoners  who  have  passed  beyond  the  elementary 
Standard  III. 

We  are  glad,   however,   to  have  private  information    of   a   very 

recent  experiment,  in  one  prison  only,  which  may  have  far-reaching 

results.     Three  skilled  volunteers  have  been  allowed  to  hold  classes 

in  embroidery  and  basket  work  on  three  aft-ernoons  a  week  for  the 

unconvicted  women  prisoners  and  also  the  convicted  women  who  are 

in  the  hospital  cells.     The  door  is  not  locked  and  as  a  rule  no  ward-i 

ress  is  present.     During  the  summer  the  class  has  been  held  outj 

of  doors.       Ihe  results   of  the  work  are  very  creditable,    and  thei 

effect  on  the  women  is  said  to  be  excellent.        One  of  the  women, 

teachers  writes: —  j 

The  work  is  greatly  appreciated  by  the  women.     It  not  only  aftordaj 

a  real  interest  for   them  in  their  spare  time,   but  the  fact  that  we  arej 

people  coming  in  to  them  from  outside,  and  are  in  no   way  connected! 

»*  Reply  to  Mr.  B.  Spoor,  M.P.,  March,  1920.  It  has  also  been  stated  that  those  prisoner); 
to  whom  writing  materials  are  allowed  are  permitted  to  have  books  sent  to  them  by  theiil 
friends  to  a  much  greater  extent  than  was  the  case  under  the  older  rules,  and  that  thest 
books,  as  well  as  the  note  books,  may  be  retained  by  them  on  their  discharge. 

55  In  at  least  one  prison  during  the  war  a  third  division  political  prisoner  obtaiopf 
leave  to  take  an  hour  out  of  associated  labour  in  order  to  recover  his  speed  in  shorthand 
so  as  to  be  able  to  continue  earning  his  living  as  a  newspaper  reporter.  This  is  ' 
precedent    that    might  well  be   followed. 


THE    INADEQUACY    OF    THE    1919    REFORMS  167 

with   prison  life  as  they   know  it,  undoubtedly  counts  with  them  even 

more,    and   has   made   possible   their  attitude  of   freedom    and   courage 

towards  the  lessons. 
Some  of  the  girls  on  remand  here  have  taken  work  with  them,  when 

they  go  for    trial,   and  have   done   a  good   deal,   while  waiting    in  the 

police  court  cells. 
We  understand  that  the  Visiting  Justices  contemplate  making  a 
^rant  of  money  for  the  expenses  of  this  admirable  scheme ;  and  that 
.here  is  good  prospect  of  the  classes  being  opened  to  convicted  women 
prisoners,  apart  from  hospital  cases.  If  successful  in  this  prison, 
■ihere  seems  to  be  no  reason  why  the  scheme  should  not  be  extended 
iio  all  the  other  prisons,  as  soon  as  volunteer  teachers  are  forth- 
homing." 

j  Evidence  as  to  the  conditions  of  "further  education"  in  Convict 
{jrisons"  is  lacking.  Outwardly  they  are  the  same  for  convicts 
\.%  for  Local  prisoners  under  the  1919  Education  Scheme.  Cell 
^itudy,  with  the  supposed  assistance  of  the  overworked  chaplain 
ind  schoolmaster-clerk  (and  the  use  in  special  cases  of  notebook  and 
iDoncil  after  a  prisoner  has  served  six  months),  is  the  rule. 
j  This  last  concession,  under  conditions  similar  to  those  obtaining 
in  Local  prisons  under  the  1919  scheme,  has  been  made  an  occasional 
privilege  in  Convict  prisons  for  some  years  past.  The  subjects 
pisually  allowing  of  a  notebook  are  shorthand,  algebra,  electrical 
engineering,  tailoring,  and  a  foreign  language.  In  a  few  special 
;*ases  a  convict  has  been  allowed  to  have  drawing  instruments  in  his 
jell.  ^Ye  have  evidence  of  several  well-educated  convicts  who  have 
peen  refused  notebooks  and  pencils,  ostensibly  on  the  ground  that 
;he  subject  w^hich  they  wished  to  study  was  not  one  likely  to  be  of 
'ise  to  them  in  earning  a  hvelihood  subsequently."' 

In  conclusion,  we  may  trace  the  highly  unsatisfactory  state  of 
prison  education  to  the  following  main  causes :  — 
[  In  the  first  place,  the  maintenance  of  the  punitive  and  deterrent 
jactor  as  the  primar)'  principle  of  the  system  has  fatally  hampered 
educational  progress.  In  the  days  of  Sir  Edmund  Du  Cane  the 
^rison  Commission  set  itself  definitely  against  the  experiment, 
nstituted  (with  very  httle  success,  it  is  true)  in  some  of  the  county 
jrisons  before  1878,  of  making  literary  education  an  instrument  for 
ehabihtating  offenders."     This  bias  still  survives.     It  has  prevented, 

*•  In  two  ol  the  Scottish  prison;,  weekly  Brabazon  classes  for  women  prisoners  are  held, 
rith  good  results  to  which  the  officials  testify  warmly. 

•'  Cp.  pp.  322  and  325  for  industrial  training  of  conricts. 

*•  In  1910-11  a  new  departure  in  Conyict  education  was  made,  though  we  can  find  no 
irice  that  it  has  been  followed  up.  "Three  men,"  the  goTernor  at  Maidstone  reported  in 
;hat  year,  "have  just  commenced  courses  under  the  tuition  of  the  International  Corres- 
'^mdence  School,  the  courses  being  Marine  Engineering,  Building  Construction  and 
jiechanical   Engineering." 

I  ^'Compare,  for  instance,  the  annual  report  of  the  Commissioners  for  1885  (Sections  59  and 
1*7);  "The  deterrent  and  reformatory  efiect  of  a  sentence  shonld  not  be  sacrificed  in  order 
ihat  a  prison  may  be  made  a  place  of  literary  education";  and  the  ridicule  cast  by  Sir 
K.  Du  Cane  on  Reading  prison  under  the  administration  of  the  County  Justices  {Du  Cane's 
'Punishment  and  Prevention  of  Crime,"  1885,  p.  57) :  and  also  p.  79— "it  would  be  bad 
iMiUcy  to  diminish  the  deterrent  influence  or  penal  discipline  in  favour  of  those  who 
•re   ignorant."    Before    1878,    prison    education  seems  to  have  meant  little  more  than  being 

aught  to  read  the  Bible  and  other  religious  books. 


168  EDUCATION 

until  within  the  last  two  years,  any  education  being  given  to  prisoners 
during  the  first  month  of  their  sentence,  as  it  still  does  in  the  case 
of  "Hard  Labour"  prisoners  and  those  sentenced  to  one  month  only. 
It  has  in  other  cases  unduly  restricted  the  hours  available  for  educa- 
tion, and  has  hampered  the  possible  progress  of  the  scholar  in  diverse 
ways. 

Secondly,  injury  has  been  done  to  education  by  the  rigid  adherence 
to  the  rule  prohibiting  one  prisoner  from  communicating  with  another 
— a  rule  partly  punitive  in  intention  and  partly  based  on  the  fear  of 
contamination  and  collusion."  So  long  as  this  rule  is  maintained  as 
an  essential  part  of  the  discipline,  the  free  supply  of  writing  mateiials 
to  prisoners  will  be  impossible.  It  is  too  much  to  expect  men  who 
are  prohibited  from  conversation  with  their  fellows  not  to  use  their 
pencil  for  sending  them  occasional  notes ;  and  this  cannot  be  pre- 
vented if  they  have  a  pencil  in  their  possession  for  study  purposes. 

Thirdly,  there  is  the  over-ruling  motive  of  economy.  This  has 
affected  both  the  extent  and  quality  of  the  education  given.  The 
very  poor  qualifications  of  the  teaching  staff  and  the  deficiency  in 
books  and  equipment,  on  the  one  hand;  on  the  other,  all  the  restric- 
tions of  the  benefits  of  education  in  regard  to  age,  standard  and  terras 
of  sentences,  which  we  have  detailed  in  this  chapter — these  very 
serious  defects  are  at  least  primarily  due  to  the  Government's  con- 
stant disinclination  to  allot  larger  sums  for  the  instruction  of  the 
most  despised  portion  of  the  community."  "Whether  this,  and  other 
like  forms  of  public  economy  relating  to  national  education  and  prison 
administration,  are  wise  from  any  large  and  long-sighted  standpoint 
of  policy,  is  a  question  which,  to  say  the  least,  is  gravely  open  to 
doubt." 

Finally,  the  absence  of  any  inspection  of  the  educational  arrange- 
m.ents  in  prisons  by  an  independent  authority  (such  as  the  Board 
of  Education)  is  a  serious  disadvantage.  Until  provision  is  made 
for  adequate  inspection  and  criticism,  prison  education  must  remain i 
a  veiled  problem,  hidden  by  the  satisfaction  of  the  Commissioners! 
with  their  own  arrangements  and  by  the  gloom  of  official  secrecy: 
that  covers  every  part  of  the  prison  administration. 

'» Compare  the  remarks  ol  the  Home  Secretary  in  1918  (to  a  deputation  arranged  by 
the  Penal  Reform  I>eague)  on  this  subject.  "I  am  bound  to  say  that  some  of  the  rule* 
and  standing  Orders  with  regard  to  books  and  writing  materials  are  antiquated  .  .  .  . 
However,  I  know  there  are  practical  difficulties  of  supervision  and  that  kind  of  thing  .  .  . 
For  example,  you  do  not  want  to  have  men,  under  the  pretence  of  writing,  concocting,  »s 
often  does  happen  in  prisons,  crimes,  when  two  or  three  happen  to  be  out  again  together."| 
(Penal   Reform    League  Record,    1919,  p.    51).  j 

"'It  is  hardly  necessary  to  bring  evidence  in  support  of  this  assertion.  We  find  it  for 
instance  in  the  report  of  the  Official  Prisoners'  Education  Committee  of  1896,  e.g.,  P.8/ 
Section  29,  as  regards  the  reasons  against  educating  prisoners  with  sentences  of  less  that 
three  months;  and  in  the  reply  of  the  Home  Secretary  in  1918,  to  the  Penal  Reform  Leagnf 
deputation  ("I  do  not  believe  you  would  depreciate  by  education  the  preventive  effect  ot 
punishment.  But  there  are  practical  difficulties.  It  would  involve  more  staff,  more  money 
and  we  have  to  tackle  the  Treasury").  P.R.L.  Record,  1919,  p.  51.  No  separate  accouni 
is  kept  of  the   expenditure  on   education  in   prison. 

<i2  Another  difficulty  from  the  administration  standpoint  is,  of  course,  the  shortness  o: 
the  majority  ol  the  sentences;  but  lor  this  the  prison  authorities  are  not  in  any  w»] 
responsible. 


EDUCATION  169 

A  Note  on  Adult  Education. 


In  the  1918  year  book  of  the  Workers'  Educational  Association  (p.  263)  we 
read  :  "The  ages  of  the  students  range  mainly  from  25  to  40  years,  though 
quite  10  per  cent,  of  each  year's  membership  have  been  between  40  and  50 
years  of  age."  The  reference  is  to  the  Association's  summer  school,  but  the 
Secretary  writes  that  it  is  generally  true  of  their  students,  adding  that  a  very 
considerable  proportion  of  them  verge  on  50  years  of  age.  The  following 
notes  on  the  possibilities  of  adult  education  have  been  supplied  to  us  by  a 
university  graduate,  who  has  taken  a  leading  part  in  the  movement  for  adult 
education  among  artisans  and  labourers  : — 

(i)    The  idea  that  men  do  not  respond  to  education  after  20-25  is  an  error. 

»Much  intellectual  growth  takes  place  after  25,  particularly  in  the 
working  classes. 
)  The  idea  that  lack  of  previous  education  is  an  insurmountable  obstacle 
to  advanced  education  of  a  humane  kind  is  also  an  error. 
What  is  true  is  (a)  that  most  men  lack  the  special  preparatory 
knowledge  necessary  to  certain  branches  of  knowledge  (e.g.,  weak 
mathematics  may  prevent  advanced  scientific  work),  and  (b)  that 
mental  machinery — power  of  clear  expression,  etc. — gets  out  of  gear 
between  14  and  18,  and  therefore  men  seem  to  the  unskilled  observer 
to  be  stupid. 

The  fact  is  that  the  growth  of  interest  and  of  general  ideas  goes  on 
long  after  formal  mental  discipline  has  ceased.  These  can  nearly 
always  be  appealed  to  once  they  are  discovered.  When  they  are 
discovered,  practice  very  soon  restores  the  power  of  expression  in 
most  cases,  though  not  in  all.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  very  backward- 
ness of  the  latter  causes  the  first  years  of  adult  education  to  give 
"increasing  returns,"  which  astonish  the  teacher.  I  have  seen 
apparently  stupid  men  acquire  the  art  of  expressing  themselves  well 
on  paper  in  a  winter. 

(iii)  Adults  cannot  be  taken  through  a  preconceived  course.  Education 
must  start  from  their  predominant  interests,  and  teaching  must  be 
related  to  these,  especially  at  first.  Hence  the  teacher  must  get  to 
understand  them,  and  it  is  even  more  important  for  him  to  know 
his  pupils   than  to  know  his  subject. 

)  The  change  in  character  which  education  under  the  right  conditions 
can  produce  among  adults  is  amazing.  When  a  man  discovers  that 
he  is  really  learning  to  understand  big  questions,  he  gets  a  new  self- 
respect  and  hopefulness.  The  mental  growth  is  nearly  always  a 
moral  growth  as  well. 

)  No  one  is  hopeless,  because  everyone  has  some  avenue  into  his  mind. 
If  the  teacher  does  not  find  it,  he  is  the  wrong  man.  One  must  always 
assume  that  the  student  has  a  tender  spot  somewhere  which  education 
can  discover. 


I 


(vi)   Men  learn   most  easily  in  groups,   because   they  educate   each  other, 
and  can  stand  up  to  the  teacher. 


02 


170  EDUCATION 


SOME    OF    THE    PRINCIPAL     DEFECTS    INDICATED    IN     THE 
PRECEDING    CHAPTER. 


1. — Education  is  seriously  hampered  by  the  punitive  principles  of  the 
discipline  and  the  silence  rule. 

2. — Too  little  money    is  spent   on   education.        There  is   no   independent 

inspection. 

3.— Prisoners  of  26  years  and  upwards  are  generally  denied  education,  as 
are  also  those  over  21  years,  \yho  have  passed  out  of  the  elementary  Standard 
III.  Instruction  is  in  any  case  only  given  in  the  three  "R's"  and  only  for 
five  hours  weekly,  and  it  is  not  given  to  those  whose  sentence  is  a  month  or 
less,  nor  to  hard-labour  prisoners  during  the  first  month.  In  the  case  of 
those  under  21,  it  is  only  given  up  to  Standard  V.  when  the  sentences  are 
three  months  or  over. 

4. — The  prison  education  scheme,  though  applied  to  persons  between  the 
ages  of  16  and  25,  is  crudely  based  on  a  system  drawn  up  for  children  under 
14. 

5. — Despite  the  greater  possibilities  for  education  in  the  Convict  prisons, 
education  is  similarly  restricted  (except  in  the  case  of  juvenile  adults)  to 
those  under  25  years  and  under  Standard  IV.,  to  five  hours  weekly,  and  to 
the  three  "R's." 

6. — The  teachers  are  not  trained  and  are  generally  incompetent,  the 
qualifying  examination  for  the  "Clerk  and  Schoolmaster"  grade  of  warder 
being  very  elementary. 

7. — No  provision  is  made  for  further  education,  except  in  study  under 
solitary  and  depressing  conditions  by  means  of  an  inadequate  supply  of, 
library  books.  Prisoners  are  not  allowed  writing  materials  (except  slate ' 
and  pencil)  for  the  purpose  of  study,  except  in  a  few  special  cases  when  six  I 
months  have  been  served.  i 

8. — The  chaplain  is  too  overburdened  with  work  to  assist  prisoners  iB 
further  education.  , 

9. — There  is  no  provision  for  the  learning  of  a  craft  or  the  practice  ofi 
a  hobby. 


CHAPTER  X 


EECEEATION 
Lectures  in  Convict  and  Local  Prisons 

'.t  is  impossible  to  consider  prison  lectures  as  part  and  parcel  of 
ty  educational  system.  They  have  hitherto  been  too  rare,  or  too 
sconnected  in  their  subject  matter.     They  must  be  treated  as  more 

the  nature  of  recreation. 

In  the  early  period  of  the  penal  servitude  system,  lectures  were 
not  unknown  in  Convict  prisons,  where  the  Directors  experimentally 
introduced  them;  and  at  Woking,  the  "Invalid  Convict  prison"  of 
the  time,  over  200  convicts  voluntarily  attended  to  hear  such  men 
as  the  Christian  Socialist  writers,  F.  D.  Maurice,  Thomas  Hughes, 
and  others.  But  when  the  punitive  side  of  the  system  came  to  be 
more  emphasised  after  the  Royal  Commission  of  1863,  this  admir- 
able experiment  was  discontinued,  and  we  hear  no  more  of  lectures 
either  in  Local  or  Convict  prisons  until  the  era  of  the  Departmental 
Committee  of  1S94-5. 

It  is  somewhat  surprising  that  this  liberal -minded  committee  made 
:.o  specific  recommendation  as  regards  lectures  in  their  report.  The 
smaller  and  more  ofi&cial  Departmental  Committee  of  1896,  having 
been  specially  directed  to  report  on  the  subject,  emphasised  the 
objections  advanced  by  many  chaplains  and  other  prison  officials; 
in  particular,  "the  necessarily  penal  nature  of  imprisonment  and 
the  ever  present  danger  of  injudicious  relaxation  of  discipline,"  to- 
gether with  "the  terrible  evils  resulting  from  the  injudicious 
association  of  prisoners."  Owing  to  these  considerations  and  to  the 
material  and  practical  difficulties  involved,  a  very  large  proportion 
even  of  those  witnesses  who  were  favourable  to  the  introduction  of 
lectures,  "gave  their  assent  almost  grudgingly,  qualifying  it  by 
many  conditions."'  Nevertheless,  the  Departmental  Committee 
recommended  that  lectures  should  be  introduced  as  an  experiment 

'  e.g.,   the  Bishop   of   Newcastle,    as   ex-prison   chaplain,   said    that   "prisons   are   not  quite 
the  placet  to  be  made    extremely    attractire." 


172  RECREATION 

in  a  few  prisons,  Local  and  Convict,  and  suggested  very  sensibly 
that  subjects  of  a  historical  or  biographical  nature  would  be  prefer- 
able to  abstract  themes  such  as  thrift  or  temperance.^ 

The  experiment,  tried  in  both  classes  of  prisons,  was  a  remarkable 
success,  in  spite  of  the  gloomy  prophecies  of  the  officials.  We  read 
in  the  report  of  the  Commissioners  for  1901  that  "lectures  on  moral 
subjects  are  given  by  chaplains  and  educated  laymen,  and  there  is 
a  general  testimony  to  the  good  effect  of  this  new  departure."  And 
in  the  same  passage  the  claim  was  made  that  "a  wide  effect  had 
been  given  to  the  recommendation  .  .  .  that  lectures  and 
addresses  should  be  organised  in  such  a  way  as  not  to  interfere  with 
the  necessary  deterrence  of  prison  discipline."' 

Notwithstanding  this  statement  of  the  Commissioners,  it  is  quite 
evident  that  the  introduction  of  lectures  into  the  prisons  was  a  very 
slow  process,  mainly  because  it  was  dependent  upon  uncertain 
voluntary  effort,  which,  unfortunately,  was  neither  readily  forth- 
coming nor  effectively  organised.  This  was  most  marked  in  the 
case  of  the  Convict  prisons,  doubtless  owing  to  their  more  isolated 
position.  Yet  for  convicts,  with  their  long  sentences,  these 
diversions  were  required  most.  Accordingly,  in  1909-10,  Mr. 
Winston  Churchill,  when  Home  Secretary,  approached  the  Treasury 
for  a  small  grant  to  establish  a  paid  system  of  lectures  and  musical 
entertainments  in  Convict  prisons  only.  The  Commissioners  agreed 
that  this  innovation  might  be  introduced  "to  relieve  the  monotony 
of  penal  servitude,  without  prejudice  to  good  order  and  discipline," 
and  in  the  next  year  (1910-11)  definite  arrangements  were  made  for 
two  lectures  and  two  musical  entertainments  at  each  Convict  prison 
in  the  year."  Against  these  innovations  no  bad  effects,  so  far  as  we 
can  discover,  have  been  alleged,  and  they  have  apparently  been 
continued  as  regular  quarterly  events  (with  some  interruptions, 
owing  to  the  unusual  circumstances  of  the  war).  Governors  and 
chaplains  have  frequently  testified  to  the  benefit  they  have  been  to 
the  prisoners. 

The  general  introduction  of  lectures  into  the  Local  prisons  was 
almost  equally  slow,  even  for  women  and  juvenile  adults,  who  for 
a  number  of  years  alone  benefited  in  the  majority  of  prisons. 

As  regards  the  women,  a  regular  provision  of  lectures  by  lady 
visitors  on  secular  subjects  (health,  nursing,  and  sanitation)  was 
inaugurated  in  Holloway  prison  in  1904  "with  perfect  success,"  the 
privilege  of  attending  being  confined  to  "selected  cases."  A  year 
later  a  similar  lecture  scheme  had  been  adopted  in  24  women's 
prisons.  During  1909-10,  257  lectures  were  given  in  the  43  prisons 
containing  women.' 

2  Prisoners'   Education  Committee  Report   (1896),  p.  13. 
»  P.O.   Report,    1900-1,  p.   21. 

*  See  PC.  Report.  1909-10,  p.  20,  and  1910-11,  p.  17. 
»  P.C.  Report,  1909-10,  p.  54. 


LECTURES  173 

ll  During  these  years  the  provision  of  lectures  to  the  juvenUe  adults 
was  also  extended,  so  that,  in  1909-10,  1,133  lectures  were  given 
to  this  class  in  the  56  Local  prisons  then  existing. 

1:  The  male  adult  prisoners  in  Local  prisons  largely  outnumber  the 
women  and  juvenile  adults  taken  together.  But  it  was  not  until 
a  year  or  two  before  the  war  that  the  men,  in  any  considerable 
numbers,  had  an  opportunity  of  attending  a  lecture.  Thus,  in  the 
year  1909-10,  the  Chaplain  Inspector  informs  us  that  the  total 
number  of  lectuies  given  to  the  general  body  of  prisoners  in  the  60 
idifierent  prisons  was  51 — less  than  one  per  prison. 

1}  In  1911-12  the  Chaplain  Inspector  stated  that  the  lectures  given 
to  the  general  body  of  prisoners  were  infrequent,  and  that  he  "had, 
therefore,  during  his  recent  visits,  conveyed  to  the  prison  chaplains 
the  desire  of  the  Commissioners  that  a  monthly  lecture  of  this  kind, 
pn  secular  subjects,  should  (as  at  Euthin  prison)  be  arranged  for, 
If   possible."'        Unfortunately,   this  laudable    desire   for  monthly 

Iectures,  owing,  we  imagine,  to  the  want  of  local  initiative,  failed  in 
ts  object,  and  instead,  by  1913-14  at  any  rate,  arrangements  were 
o  have  been  made  for  the  general  body  of  prisoners  to  have  four 
lectures  a  year.'  During  the  war  even  this  plan  broke  down,  owing 
fo  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  lecturers  and  to  concentration  of 
prisoners  upon  war- work,  and  lectures  ceased  in  most  prisons  for  the 
ime  being. 

In  the  period  which  has  elapsed  since  the  end  of  the  war,  the 
Ilomniissioners  have,  we  understand,  done  something  to  encourage 
he  introduction  of  regular  and  frequent  lectures  in  all  Local  prisons. 
But  no  grant  has  been  instituted  towards  the  provision  of  paid 
ecturers  in  Local  prisons.  The  organisation  of  interesting  lectures 
s,  therefore,  dependent  upon  the  initiative  and  energy  of  either  the 
asiting  committees  of  justices,  or  the  chaplain  and  governor,  or  of  a 
ombination  of  these.  The  results,  naturally,  are  very  variable. 
Ne  have  evidence  that,  in  the  case  of  a  considerable  proportion  of 
he  visiting  committees  nothing  at  all  is  done,  the  matter  being  left 
Q  the  hands  of  the  chaplain.  The  chaplain,  in  his  turn,  is  often 
landicapped  by  not  having,  or  not  choosing  to  have,  the  necessary 
eisure,  and  by  not  knowing  where  to  secure  suitable  volunteers  to 
leliver  the  lectures. 

As  an  indication,  however,  of  what  is  being  done  in  some  prisons, 
give  two  instances  that  have  come  under  our  notice. 

At  Birmingham  prison  a  quarterly  lecture  is  now  given  to  the 
i^hole  body  of  prisoners  (attendance  about  440);  a  monthly  one  by 

lady  visitor,  or  other  lecturer  to  the  girls  and  women  (about 
0);  and  a  fortnightly  one  to  the  juvenile  adults  and  a  few 
ther  men  under  25  (attendance  from  50  to  60).  The  visiting  justices 
lave  themselves  been  among  the  lecturers,   and  the  subjects  have 

•  P.C.  Report,    1911-12,   p.   44. 

■  P.C.  Report,   1915-14,   Chaplain  Inspector's  report,    p.   59. 


174  RECBEATION 

ranged  from  "Open  Windows"  and  "Pawn-shops"  to  "Napoleon" 
and  "Customs  of  the  Orient."  (Sacred  concerts  are  also  given  in 
the  chapel  on  Sunday  afternoons  about  four  times  a  year.) 

At  Pentonville  a  system  of  weekly  lectures  has  been  in  regular 
operation  since  November,  1919,  for  all  juvenile  adults,  while  men 
of  the  "Star"  class  and  other  first  offenders  have  been  allowed  to 
join  in  debates,  an  extraordinary  innovation,  which  we  shall  presently 
describe.  Among  the  subjects  treated  at  the  lectures  we  find 
"Butterflies,"  by  an  artisan  nature-lover;  "Life  in  a  Coal  Mine," 
by  an  ex-miner;  "Three  American  Presidents,"  by  a  college  pro- 
fessor; and  "Enemies  of  Human  Life,"  by  a  medical  man. 

The  lectures  have  usually  been  held  on  Friday  evening  from  5-30 
to  6-30.  One  of  the  lecturers  has  written  to  us  as  follows  with 
particular  reference  to  an  address  (illustrated  with  slides)  on 
"Characters  from  Dickens":  — 

My  audience  numbered  49,  plus  four  to  six  warders.  They  were  the 
most  appreciative  audience  I  ever  recollect  speaking  to.  How  heartily 
they  laughed  in  response  to  Dickens'  humour  ! — while  the  hush  that 
accompanied  the  stories  of  pathos  was  such  that  it  could  be  felt.* 

The  Prison  Commissioners  have  publicly  stated  that,  if  suitable 
arrangements  as  to  accommodation,  etc.,  can  be  made,  the  lectures 
may  be  opened  to  all  prisoners,  and  that,  while  general  discussion 
is  not  permitted,  questions  may  be  put  at  the  chaplain's  discretion.* 
This  is  often  done  with  great  success.  We  understand,  however, 
that,  in  practice,  the  number  of  lectures  is  very  seriously  restricted 
owing  to  the  refusal  of  the  Prison  Commissioners  to  incur  the  ex- 
pense of  keeping  warders  on  overtime  for  more  than  one  evening  a 
week.  This  may  mean  that,  where  a  weekly  lecture  is  given  to 
juvenile  adults,  the  adult  prisoners  may  only  be  able  to  attend  a 
lecture  once  a  month  or  even  once  a  quarter.  A  practical  difificulty 
also  arises  where  the  chaplain  objects  to  the  use  of  the  chapel  for; 
secular  lectures,  the  chapel  being  often  the  only  room  of  sufficient j 
size  available.  '  ! 

Most  of  the  chaplains  whom  we  have  consulted  are  in  favour  of' 
an  increase  in  the  number  of  lectures,  particularly  during  thei 
monotony  of  Saturday  afternoon,  and  (in  some  cases)  also  on  Sundayj 
evenings.  If  interesting  and  suitable  subjects  are  chosen  therej 
seems  to  be  no  reason  why  all  prisoners,  who  are  able  to  behave: 
themselves  during  the  lecture,  should  not  be  given  a  chance  of  attend-j 
ing  at  least  once  a  week  In  any  case,  there  is,  even  under  thej 
present  restricted  regime,  a  great  opening  available  for  service  tcj 
prisoners  by  gifted  men  and  women  able  to  bring  light  and  cheei; 
into  their  restricted  lives.  It  is  true  that  few  people  are  ever  lectureOj 
into  a  change  of  life,  but  anything  that  keeps  a  man  from  the  morbic'; 
brooding  that  is  characteristic  of  prison  cannot  fail  to  do  good. 

*  Compare  the  accounts  of  the  emotional  response  of  a  prison  audience  giyen  on  pp.  50t!-S 
0  Reply  to   Mr.   Spoor,    M.P.,   March,   1920.  { 


CONCERTS  AND  DEBATES  175 

Concerts. 

In  addition  to  lectures,  occasional  musical  entertainments,  both 
sacred  and  secular,  have  been  allowed  and  encouraged  in  the  prisons, 
at  any  rate  since  1910.  The  almost  unanimous  verdict  of  the  prison 
authorities  is  that  these  concerts  do  good.  "The  good  effect  is 
evident,"  reported  one  chaplain  in  1912,  "the  prisoners  are  touched 
by  the  music  itself  and  by  the  interest  taken  in  them  by  strangers."  '* 
What  evidence  we  have  from  ex-prisoners  is  to  the  same  eSect. 
Concerts  are  dependent  on  the  enlistment  of  local  volunteers — 
orchestras,  choirs,  bands  or  individual  amateurs,  by  the  chaplain  or 
visiting  committee  of  each  prison.  For  obvious  reasons  it  is  easier 
to  secure  such  volunteers  in  the  winter,  and  especially  at  the  Christ- 
las  season,  than  in  the  summer."  The  prisoners  have  not  yet  been 
lowed  to  organise  their  own  musical  entertainments,  as  is  frequent 
some  American  prisons,"  and  as  has  been  tried  with  success  at 
16  Preventive  Detention  prison  at  Camp  Hill. 
In  their  report  for  1920-21,  the  Commissioners  announce  that  it 
proposed  shortly  to  introduce  recreation  classes,  for  reading, 
citations,  lectures,  discussions,  music,  etc.,  in  male  Convict 
isons.  By  good  conduct  convicts  will  be  able  to  participate  in 
»se  classes  after  serving  two  years  of  their  sentence." 

Debates. 

In  their  report  for  1919-1920  the  Prison  Commissioners  announced 
a  novel  departure,  so  far  as  the  English  prison  system  is  concerned, 
in  the  formation  of  debating  classes  at  Pentonville,  Wandsworth, 
and  Maidstone  prisons.  They  quoted  the  chaplain  of  Pentonville 
as  describing  the  experiment  as  "an  unqualified  success,"  and  as 
declaring  that  he  "cannot  conceive  of  any  more  humanising 
influence,"  and  the  chaplain  of  Wandsworth  as  commending  a  class 
which  gives  opportunity  for  self-expression,  stimulating  mental 
activity,  and  disseminating  useful  information. 

Prisoners  speak  with  great  appreciation  of  the  debates.  "I  can 
assure  you,"  says  one  ex-prisoner  witness,  "that  as  soon  as  one 
debate  was  over  I  was  looking  forward  to  the  next,  as  the  debates 
and  the  concerts  were  the  only  break  in  the  frightful  monotony  of 
prison  life."  The  prisoners  are  in  general  given  a  free  choice  of 
subject.  Among  the  topics  debated  have  been  "Women's  Work," 
"Are  Men  Better  for  the  War?"  "Trades  Unionism,"  "Prohibi- 
tion," "Will  and  Fate,"  and  "The  Divorce  Bill." 

At  the  Wandsworth  debates  no  warders  are  in  attendance;  at 
Pentonville  two  or  three  warders  sit  at  the  back  of  the  room,  but  a 

"o  P.O.   Report.   1911-12.  p.  28. 

"  At  one  prison,  at  least,  the  cnstom  is  followed  of  permitting  friends  of  those  taking 
part  in  the  concert  to  watch  the  proceedings  from  an  oTerlooking  gallerv.  The  prisoners 
mttorly  resent  the  curiosity  of  the  risitors.  "They  pointed  at  us  and  strained  their 
Becks  to  see  us  as  though  we  were  wild   animals,"   says  one  ex-prisoner. 

"  See  p.  658. 

"  See  pp.  553  and  534. 


176  RECREATION 

prisoner  states  that  they  never  interfere  and  that  conversation  is 
permitted.  "The  behaviour  of  the  prisoners  has  been  excellent," 
says  a  visiting  magistrate  of  Pentonville  prison,  "and  the  present- 
of  the  warders  is  hardly  necessary."  The  debates  last  two  hours; 
the  chaplain  generally  presides ;  the  speeches  of  the  two  openers  are 
of  ten  minutes'  duration,  those  of  other  speakers  of  five  minutes; 
a  prisoner  acts  as  minute  secretary.  "The  chaplain  adopted  a 
splendid  attitude,"  remarks  one  of  our  ex -prisoner  witnesses.  "He 
insisted  that  we  wei'e  free  men  for  the  time  being."  Occasionally 
one  of  the  prisoners  gives  a  "lecturette"  instead  of  opening  a  debate, 
the  other  prisoners  participating  in  the  proceedings  later  with 
criticism  and  comment.  One  evening  a  London  editor,  imprisoned 
on  a  political  charge,  gave  an  address  on  "The  Press."  Other  sub- 
jects treated  by  prisoners  have  been  "Pig  Breeding,"  and  "Fishing 
in  Labrador." 

"The  debates  have  made  a  tremendous  improvement  in  the  mental 
lives  of  prisoners,"  declares  an  ex-prisoner.  "They  have  given  a 
fresh  and  living  interest  to  prison  existence.  Whenever  they  get 
a  chance,  prisoners  go  on  arguing  with  each  other  about  the  subject 
of  the  last  debate  or  discuss  the  prospects  of  the  next  one."  The 
prisoners  who  take  leading  parts  in  the  debates  are  permitted 
to  have  a  pencil  and  paper  to  prepare  their  speeches.  The  pencil 
must  be  returned  on  the  following  morning,  but  the  notes  for  the 
speech  may  be  kept.     This  privilege  is  also  greatly  appreciated. 

An  incident  occurred  in  connection  with  the  debates  at  Pentonville 
which  deserves  record  as  an  instance  of  the  loyalty  and  unselfishness 
which  so  often  characterise  prisoners  in  their  dealings  with  one 
another.  "At  first,"  an  ex-prisoner  informs  us,  "the  debates  were 
confined  to  'Stars'  and  second  division  men.  The  chaplain  told  them 
that  he  had  v/ritten  to  the  Commissioners  asking  that  another  debate 
should  be  allowed  on  another  evening  in  the  week  for  the  other 
prisoners.  The  Commissioners  replied  that  they  could  not  allow  a 
second  evening  in  the  week,  but  that  they  did  not  object  to  the  debates 
being  extended  to  the  other  classes  of  prisoners.  On  hearing  this 
the  'Stars'  themselves  proposed  that  their  own  debate  should  be  held 
only  once  a  fortnight,  and  that  the  hard  labour  and  other  third 
division  prisoners  should  have  a  debate  the  alternate  week.  This 
was  agreed  to." 

The  "Stars'  "  debate  is  attended  by  about  100  prisoners.  The 
attendance  at  the  second  debate  reaches  200,  which  represents  the 
limit  of  the  accommodation. 

The  debates  are  of  great  value  in  themselves ;  but  they  also  have 
a  wider  significance  which  may  not  have  been  wholly  realised. 
"The  men  are  trusted,"  remarked  tlie  Chaplain-Inspector  in  an  inter- 
view given  to  a  Press  representative,  "and,  being  trusted,  they  act 
up  to  it."     Therein  lies  the  deeper  value  of  this  experiment;  it  has 


NEWS  OF  THE   WEEK  177 

made  a  breach  in  the  walls  of  suspicion  and  suppression  which  form 
the  citadel  of  the  prison  system." 

News  of  the  Week. 

The  absence  of  newspapers  is  one  of  the  most  noticeable  of  prison 
deprivations.  The  traditional  attitude  of  the  prison  authorities  has 
been  that  news  of  the  outside  world  must  be  kept  from  prisoners, 
but  during  recent  years  there  lias  been  a  welcome  modification. 
In  their  report  for  1915  the  Prison  Commissioners  stated  that 
"in  consideration  of  the  special  efforts  made  by  prisoners" 
on  war- work  it  had  been  decided  that  they  should  once  a  week  "be 
made  acquainted  with  the  progress  of  the  naval  and  military  opera- 
tions." In  the  1919-1920  report  the  Commissioners  added  that  they 
had  informed  governors  that  they  had  been  "greatly  impressed  by 
the  humanising  effect  in  prisons  of  the  weekly  war  address,  and  that 
they  saw  no  objection  to  the  continuance  of  the  practice,  which 
reacted  favourably  on  the  temper  and  attitude  of  prisoners  towards 
authority,  as  showing  that  the  authorities  did  not  desire  to  exclude 
them,  though  prisoners,  from  all  news  of  the  outer  world."  The 
conscious  philanthropy  of  this  sentence  indicates  that  the  authorities 
still  hold  that  prisoners  have  no  right  to  "expect  news  of  the  outer 
U'orld." 

!  Our  ex-prisoner  witnesses  state  that  in  some  prisons  the  present 
►veekly  recital  of  news  takes  about  15  minutes.  In  one  prison,  at 
east,  not  only  are  events  of  general  political  and  social  importance 
recounted,  but  "all  the  football  results,  and  any  important  boxing 
lews."  This  is  a  startling  departure  fi'om  the  attitude  which 
Hgorously  excluded  such  news  from  letters  to  prisoners  and  from 
ihe  conversation  at  visits,  on  the  ground  that  it  would  encourage 
'netting  and  gossip  with  the  prison  officers. 

The  chaplain  at  Newcastle,  writing  of  the  news  as  given  out  in 
jiis  prison,  says  "it  is  eagerly  awaited  and  seems  to  have  met  a  real 
ieed.  It  gives  prisoners  something  to  think  over  outside  their  own 
"jiarrow  range  of  thought,  and  keeps  interest  alive.  I  believe  that 
Inything  which  creates  healthy  interest  fortifies  prisoners  against 
he  temptation  to  a  life  of  crime.  Lack  of  imagination  and  the 
Ibsence  of  healthy  interests  are  very  noticeable  amongst  prisoners. "  '* 

The  provision  of  news  has  an  important  social  effect  upon  the  after 
Je  of  prisoners,  in  addition  to  the  broadening  of  their  interests  in 
mson.     It  is  the  frequent  testimony  of  the   agents  of  Discharged 

e  object  of  these  eHorts  (lectures  and  debates)  is  not  merely  educational, "  says 
Ruggles-Brise  ("The  English  Prison  System."  pp.  128  and  129).  "Experience  has 
lown  that  they  have  a  psychological  effect,  which  is  even  of  greater  importance  and 
line.  They  provide  healthy  food  for  thought  during  many  solitary  hours,  and  so  tend 
I  preTcnt  morbid  introspection,  brooding  oyer  wrongs  or  worrying  about  family  affairs; 
ley  break  the  unavoidable  monotony  of  institution  life,  and  provide  a  mental  stimulus 
hich  is  of  the  utmost  value.  But  more  than  this,  the  mere  fact  that  a  prisoner  is 
sted,  if  only  for  a  short  time,  to  control  himself  without  the  restraint  of  authority,  is 
rnmense  value  in  building  up  that  self-respect,  without  which   restoration  is  impossible." 

P.O.  Report,   1919-20,  p.   28. 


178  BECRHjATION 

Prisoners'  Aid  Societies  that  ex-prisoners  have  been  at  a  serious  dis- 
advantage on  returning  to  normal  life  owing  to  their  lack  of  knowledge 
of  public  events.  A  Salvation  Army  officer  says  that  loss  of  contact 
with  the  outside  world  makes  ex-prisoners  "mentally  petrified"  \\hen 
they  resume  ordinary  life.  "My  ignorance  of  well-known  events 
often  landed  me  in  awkward  situations  and  nearly  revealed  to  my 
workmates   that  I  was  a  'gaol-bird,'  "  says  an  ex-prisoner. 

For  this  reason  many  of  our  witnesses — prison  officers,  chaplains, 
agents  of  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid  Societies,  and  others — urge  that 
prisoners  should  be  permitted  to  see  newspapers.'*  One  warder  sug- 
gests that  a  prisoners'  paper  should  be  published  giving  a  resume 
of  the  week's  news.  This  is,  in  fact,  done  in  Ireland,  where  ia 
1910  the  Prison  Board  began  to  issue  "an  illustrated  weekly  publica- 
tion containing  news  of  the  main  current  events  of  the  world"  for 
circulation  amongst  "well-conducted  prisoners  of  long  sentences 
some  time  before  their  release."  The  Board  justified  the  starting 
of  the  paper  on  the  ground  that  "keeping  prisoners  of  long  sentences 
without  any  knowledge  of  current  events  leads  to  mental  apathy  and 
depression,  and  places  them  at  a  disadvantage  on  release."'' 


Prison  Libraries. 

Tf  prisoners  have  any  appreciation  of  reading,  the  books  provide 
by  the  library  are  their  best  prison  friends.     In  the  romance  of  a 
novel,  or  an  exciting  story  of  adventure,  or  in  the  concentration  of 
attempted  study,  the  prisoner  for  a  time  may  forget  his  surroundings 
and  find  solace  from  the  tyranny  of  prison  discipline. 

Almost  all  prisoners  who  are  not  illiterate  read  books  with  avidity. 
The  Departmental  Committee  on  the  Supply  of  Books  to  Prisoners 
(appointed  by  Mr.  Winston  Churchill  in  1910)"  found  that  "manyi 
prisoners  never  read  at  any  other  time  than  during  their  terms  of  i 
imprisonment."  A  governor  tells  us  that  prisoners  read  books  asj 
a  narcotic.  "It  takes  the  edge  off  the  discipline."  A  prison  officer i 
says  that  nearly  all  prisoners  prize  their  books.  j 

There  are  some  prisoners,  however,  so  a  Jewish  Eabbi  informs  us, 
who,  although  able  to  read,  have  not  acquired  the  reading  habit; 
sufficiently  to  practise  it  even  in  prison.  A  woman  prisoner  tells  j 
us  that  many  of  the  women  prefer  sewing  to  reading.  But  thf^-^'^ 
are  the  exceptions.  Generally  speaking,  our  witnesses  assure 
that  prisoners  read  as  much  as  they  possibly  can.  The  Chapiaui, 
Inspector  (in  his  report  for  1902-1903)  quoted  a  prisoner  whcj 
described  the  library  as  "the  one  bright  fight  of  his  cell  fife." 

16  We  cannot  forego  quoting  a  contrary  opinion  expressed  by  a  Roman  Catholic  priest 
"Prison  is  and  .should  be,"  he  says,  "a  place  of  punishment,  and  not  the  vestibule  oi  ■ 
Free  Library  and  Reading   Room." 

J'  Report  of  Irish  Prisons'  Board,  1910-11,  p.  10.    Compare  also  the  practice  in  Amer, 
prisons,   p.  657. 

18  Report  of  Departmental  Committee  on  Supply  of  Books  to  Prisoners.     (Cmd.  5589,  19 


PRISOX  LIBRARIES  179 

During  the  first  month  of  their  imprisonment,  prisoners  in  the 
third  division  are  only  permitted  one  "educational"  book  (which  may 
be  changed  after  the  first  fortnight),  and  possibly  a  "school  book,' 
in  addition  to  a  Bible,  Prayer  Book,  and  hymnal,  and  a  devotional 
book.  The  Bible,  Prayer  Book,  and  hymnal  are  officially  considered 
a  part  of  the  furniture  of  every  prisoner's  cell."  "School  Books" 
are  usually  either  elementary  arithmetic  instnictors,  grammars, 
spelling  books,  or  badly  printed  dictionaries.  Such  books  are  not 
given  to  prisoners  except  by  request,  and  few  prisoners  realise  that 
they  have  power  to  obtain  them.  The  "educational"  book  allowed 
may  be  of  a  practically  worthless  character,  or  it  may  be  a  really 
valuable  work.  A  prisoner  is  given  one  of  these  books  on  reception, 
and  what  he  receives  is  generally  a  matter  of  sheer  luck.  Most 
prisoners  never  think  of  challenging  what  they  are  given,  but  if 
apphcation  be  made  to  see  the  chaplain  a  good  book  can  generally 
be  obtained.  In  any  case,  the  books  allotted  to  the  prisoner's  first 
month  are  normally  quite  insufficient  to  maintain  his  interest  during 
the  long  hours  of  loneliness.'"  This  is  the  more  important  as 
about  80  per  cent,  of  all  prisoners  receive  sentences  of  one  month 
and  under  and  thus  never  become  entitled  to  works  of  fiction. 

After  the  first  month,  third  division  prisoners  who  have  earned 
their  full  marks  are  permitted  one  "library"  book,  that  is,  a  novel  or 
other  work  of  fiction,  and  after  two  months,  two  "library"  books. 
Prisoners  in  the  second  and  first  division  are  allowed  two  "library"' 
books  from  the  first.  Library  books  may  be  changed  every  week. 
During  the  last  month  of  their  sentence  prisoners  are  given  "A 
Happy  Home  and  How  to  Keep  It,"  a  small  book  of  elementary 
instruction  regarding  hygiene. 

When  prisoners  are  in  hospital  the  chaplain  is  permitted  to  alla%v 
them  extra  books,  but  we  have  no  evidence  that  this  is  often  done, 
despite  the  fact  that  most  hospital  patients  are  kept  in  separate  con- 
finement. It  seems  frequently  to  be  an  unofficial  custom,  however, 
for  a  reserve  supply  of  books  to  be  kept  by  the  hospital  cleaners. 
The  following  quotation  from  our  evidence  will  illustrate  this 
practice:  — 

In  the  cupboard  of  the  hospital  kitchen  30  or  40  books  were  hidden, 
and  additional  books  were  obtainable  from  the  cleaner  if  one  got  on  the 
right  side  of  him.  The  hospital  warders  knew  of  this  practice  and 
tolerated  it  so  long  as  the  extra  books  were  not  in  evidence  when  the 
governor  or  chief  warder  came  round.  There  were  no  "searches"  in 
hospital,  so  it  was  safe  to  put  the  contraband  books  behind  the  heating- 
pipes. 

•*  Prisoners  who  describe  themselyes  as  members  of  the  Church  of  England  are  usually 
giTen  either  "The  Narrow  Way"  or  "The  Traveller's  Guide"  as  a  devotional  book.  Non- 
conformists   are  permitted   "Pilgrim's   Progress";   while   Jewish   prisoners    have   a  devotional 

I    book   of   their    own   faith. 

I  Roman  Catholic  prisoners  have  either  a  Catechism  or  "Think  Well  on't"  as  a  devotional 
book.    Instead  of  the  Prayer  Book  they  receive  "The  Garden  of  the   Soul." 

J        *'A    woman    Visiting    Magistrate    has.    for    instance,    informed    us    of    a    woman    doing    her 
j    first  month,   whose   only  book  beyond   the  devotional   one»  was    a   small   shilling  volume   on 
i    the  "English  Constitution."    "  "It's   not  very  interesting,'    she  said,   'and    it'«  old  now,   it's 
not   even   up  to  date.'  " 


180  RECBEATION 

Whilst  many  sick  prisoners  seem  to  participate  in  this  unofficial 
distribution  of  books,  the  frequency  with  which  the  complaint  of  lack 
of  books  appears  in  the  evidence  given  by  those  who  have  been  con- 
fined in  a  prison  hospital  shows  that  the  practice  is  by  no  means 
general. 

In  the  larger  prisons  the  educational  books  include  some  good 
histories,  biographies,  and  works  of  philosophy  and  science,  political 
social  and  physical.  In  smaller  prisons  the  choice  of  books  is  much 
more  restricted,  and  in  both  large  and  small  prisons  it  is  often  diffi- 
cult for  a  prisoner  to  get  a  good  work.  Many  of  the  educational 
books  are  not  merely  elementary  (such  are  necessary  for  the  majority 
of  prisoners),  but  are  of  poor  quality  and  obsolete.^' 

From  the  point  of  view  of  the  ordinary  prisoner  there  is  little 
ground  for  complaint  as  to  the  character  of  the  books  provided."  One 
of  our  witnesses,  a  librarian  officer  at  a  large  prison,  states  that  Miss 
Braddon,  Mrs.  Henry  ^\^ood,  and  Charles  Garvice  are  the  favourite 
authors,  and  that  Charles  Dickens  is  the  only  standard  author  who 
challenges  them.  Scott,  he  says,  is  distinctly  out  of  favour;  among 
the  modern  writers  the  works  of  Arnold  Bennett,  George 
Birmingham,  Hall  Caine,  and  Thomas  Hardy  are  most  in  demand. 
This  witness  adds  that  about  one-sixth  of  the  men  who  want  books 
ask  for  works  by  well-known  authors,  and  that  many  of  them  would 
rather  read  good  books  a  second  time  than  accept  books  written  by 
indifferent  authors.  An  ex-prisoner  who  worked  in  the  library  states 
that  the  great  majority  of  prisoners,  after  becoming  entitled  to 
"library"  books,  never  trouble  to  change  their  "educational"  books. 

A  large  body  of  prisoners — the  majority,  probably — prefer  bound 
volumes  of  magazines  to  books,  despite  the  fact  that,  on  account  of 
its  size,  one  magazine  counts  as  equal  to  two  library  books."  So 
popular  are  the  magazines  that  at  a  certain  prison  where  Eoman 

21  The  Standing  Orders  for  1911  (No.  379)  direct  that  "practically  all  kinds  of  boiks  other 
than  fiction"  may  be  given  as  educational  books.  In  exceptional  cases  the  chaplain  is  even 
authorised  to  issue  a  "standard  work  of  fiction"  in  this  category,  but  we  have  never  heard 
of  any  chaplain  doing  so.  Until  recently  educational  books  hare,  as  a  rule,  been  changed 
once  a  month,   but   now  we   understand    they   are  changed  every   fortnight. 

-2  We  have  seen  a  copy  of  the  catalogue  at  one  of  the  largest  prisons,  and  among  the 
books  in  the  educational  section  we  find  Bacon's  Essays,  Boswell's  "Life  of  Johnson," 
John  Bright's  Speeches,  Plato's  "Republic,"  Prescott's  "Conquest  of  Mexico,"  John  Morley's 
"Burke,"  Gibbon's  "Rome,"  and  works  by  Carlyle,  Darwin,  Defoe,  Emerson,  Macaulay, 
Montaigne,  Mazzini,  and   Ruskin. 

Among  the  "library"  books  represented  are  works  by  George  Eliot,  Jane  Austen,  George 
Borrow,  Charlotte  Bronte,  Charles  Dickens,  Sir  W.  Scott,  W.  M.  Thackeray,  H.  G.  Wells, 
Mrs.  Gaskell,  Rudyard  Kipling,  J.  M.  Barrie,  and  R.  L.  Stevenson.  The  majority  of  the 
books  are  by  such  writers  as  Miss  Braddon,  who  is  represented  by  43  works,  Wilkie 
Collins,  Fenimore  Cooper,  Rider  Ha?Kard.  and  Mrs.  ITenry  Wood.  Books  of  poetry  are 
few  in  number,  but  they  are  good.  Among  the  authors  in  this  section  are  Robert  Burns, 
Cowper,  Dryden,  Longfellow,  Milton,  Shakespeare,  Spenser,  Tennyson,  and  Thomas  Moore. 
Few  prison   libraries  are,    of  course,   as   good  as  this. 

-'  The  magazines  provided  include  "Chambers'  Journal"  and  "The  Cornhill."  The 
Committee  of  1910  discussed  whether  literary  and  political  reviews  of  the  type  of  the 
"Nineteenth  Century,"  the  "Saturday  Review,"  the  "Spectator,"  and  even  "T.P.'s  Weekly" 
might  not  be  introduced.  It  recommended  that  bound  volumes  containing  issues  of  such 
publications  for  three  months  should  be  provided  in  the  larger  prisons,  taking  the  view 
that  only  good  could  come  "from  admitting  information  as  to  the  principal  events  of  the 
outer  world  and  the  opinion  of  educated  writers  upon  them."  Our  evidence  indicates, 
however,  that  this  reasonable  recommendation  has  only  been  put  into  force  in  a  very 
meagre  way,   if    at  all. 


PRISON  LIBRARIES  181 

Catholics  and  adherents  of  the  Church  of  England  had  separate 
libraries,  the  priest  found  that  the  reason  why  a  number  of  Roman 
Cathohc  prisoners  wanted  to  become  Protestants  was  that  the  Church 
of  England  libraiy  contained  the  "Strand  Magazine"  !  The  Depart- 
mental Committee  of  1910  were  anxious  not  to  encourage  prisoners 
to  read  magazines  and  recommended  that  the  proportion  of  magazines 
to  books,  which  had  been  one-third,  should  be  reduced.  They 
eipressed  the  fear  that  the  preference  for  the  bound  magazine  arose 
from  a  desultory  habit  of  mind,  which  found  difficulty  in  sustaining 
attention  on  "a  single  story  of  any  length."  Their  fear  was  doubt- 
less justified.  In  addition  to  the  untrained  state  of  mind  which 
many  prisoners  bring  to  prison,  the  experience  of  prison  itself  is  apt 
to  destroy  a  capacity  for  sustained  reading  even  in  the  most  orderly 
land  disciplined  mind. 

'  As  might  be  expected,  criticisms  regarding  the  prison  libraries 
come  almost  exclusively  from  educated  prisoners.  Complaints  are 
j)articularly  strong  in  the  case  of  those  who  have  been  confined  in 
small  prisons.  In  the  libraries  attached  to  such  prisons  only  a  very 
fev7  good  books  are  to  be  found,  and,  if  an  educated  man  serve  a 
long  sentence  in  a  small  prison,  the  limitation  of  reading  is  felt  very 
keenly.  The  Departmental  Committee  of  1910  suggested  that  books 
might  be  borrowed  from  large  prisons  in  such  a  case,  but  we  have 
never  heard  of  this  being  done.  The  governor  of  a  small  prison 
agrees  that  the  libraries  are  "often  stocked  badly  and  with  poor 
books." 

Many  educated  prisoners  find  that,  even  during  the  second  and 
f-ucceeding  months,  when  two  fresh  books  may  be  issued  to  them 
weekly,  they  have  not  nearly  enough  reading  material  to  occupy 
bhem  when  their  task  is  finished,  and  especially  during  the  long 
.veek-ends  of  solitary  confinement.  The  results  in  many  cases  are 
iiisastrous.  It  is  a  pity  that  more  books  cannot  be  issued  to  them 
at  a  time,  or  that  the  books  are  not  changed  twice  a  week,  as  was 
[•ocommended  by  the  1896  Departmental  Committee  on  the  Educa- 
vional  and  Moral  Instruction  of  Prisoners." 

The  criticism  is  frequently  made  that  prisoners  often  have  no  voice 
n  the  selection  of  their  books.  Prisoners  are  supposed  to  consult 
|i  catalogue  obtainable  fi'om  the  warder  on  each  landing,  and  to  write 
\tn  their  slates  the  numbers  of  four  books  which  they  require.  The 
'ibrary  officer  is  then  expected  to  note  these  numbers,  and  to  supply 
jhem  as  soon  as  the  books  are  available.  In  some  prisons  this  system 
jvorks  satisfactorily."  In  others  the  system  is  scarcely  put  into 
operation  at  all.  "I  passed  through  a  sentence  of  three  months' 
mprisonment  without  knowing  that  there  was  such  a  thing  as  a 

-*  B«port  of  Committee,  p.  13.  It  was  also  stated  that  at  that  time  the  changine  of 
odks  twice  a  week  had  recently  been  introduced  and  was  working  well  at  Portland 
ionTict  prison.    Apparently   it  has  not   been  adopted  elsewhere. 

I  **  Experience   baa   shown   that   in    large  prisons    it   is    necessary   to  hare  more    than   foar 
^Mks  noted. 


182  .  BECBEATION 

library  catalogue,"  says  an  ex-political  prisoner.  "The  result  was 
that  I  had  a  series  of  trashy  books  which  were  simply  not  worth 
reading,  the  only  exception  being  one  novel  by  Lord  Lytton. "  "The 
books  were  given  out  as  oranges  would  be  at  a  children's  party," 

says  another  ex-prisoner." 

Each  year  the  chaplain  is  required  to  forward  to  the  Prison  Com- 
missioners, with  the  concurrence  of  the  governor  and  visiting 
committee,  a  list  of  books  which  he  desii'es  for  the  prison  library. 
But  the  books  in  his  list  must,  as  a  rule,  be  confined  to  a  catalogue 
which  is  supplied  by  the  Commissioners.  The  chaplain's  list  is 
examined  by  the  Chaplain  Inspector  and  finally  authorised  by  the 
Commissioners.^'  New  books  are  provided  by  an  annual  grant  at  the 
rate  of  1/6  per  head  of  the  average  population  of  the  prison.  One 
chaplain  states  that  this  sum  is  quite  inadequate  in  view  of  the  heavy 
prices  of  books  at  the  present  time." 

Illiter.\te  Prisoners. 
As  we  have  already  indicated,  11  per  cent,  of  the  male  prisoners 
and  19  per  cent,  of  the  female  prisoners  are  illiterate.^'  For  them, 
scrap  books  are  provided,  composed  of  illustrations  cut  out  from  the 
obsolete  books.  These  are  of  little  value,  and  the  monotonous 
existence  of  the  prisoner  who  cannot  read  must  be  very  hard  to  bear. 
"The  man  in  the  cell  above  me  could  not  read,"  says  an  ex-prisoner 
witness,  "and  during  the  first  month  of  his  imprisonment  he  spent 
hours  every  day  tramping  up  and  down  his  cell — five  steps,  then  a 
turn,  again  and  again.  The  worst  time  was  Saturday  and  Sunday, 
when  he  used  to  walk  the  cell  for  hours  on  end.  Books  enabled  one 
to  forget  prison  for  a  time,  but  this  man  was  always  like  a  caged 
beast."  Some  illiterates  endeavour  to  keep  their  lack  of  schooling 
from  the  knowledge  of  their  fellow  prisoners,  and  regularly  ask  for 
library  books.  One  ex-prisoner  mentions  that  not  infrequently  they 
ask  for  Shakespeare  and  even  for  foreign  works. 

The  Departmental  Committee  of    1910   suggested  that  pictorial 
magazines,  catalogues,  and  puzzles  might  be  provided  for  illiterates.' 
So  far  as  our  evidence  goes,  little  response  has  been  made  to  this 
suggestion,  although  at  one  prison,  at  least,  illiterates  have  recently  i 
(at  the  schoolmaster's  suggestion)  been  provided  with  jig-saw  puzzles  | 

I 

2"  A  librarian  officer  who  gave  evidence  to  our  Committee,  sugcested  that  many  of  the  i 
difficulties  in  connection  with  the  distribution  of  books  might  be  overcome  il  prisoners 
went  to  the  library  instead  of  the  librarian  going  to  the  prisoners.  The  librarian  frequently 
goes  round  with  the  books  when  the  prisoners  are  out  of  their  cells,  so  that  they  are  not 
able  to  make  any  choice,  if  the  books  they  have  noted  are  not  available.  At  one  large 
prison  this  difficulty  is  obviated  by  the  practice  of  making  the  distribution  during  the 
dinner  hour. 

2'  The  chaplain  may,  after  consulting  the  governor,  excise  from  a  book  any  matter  which 
he  considers  objectionable,  and  in  magazines  particularly,  whole  pages  are  often  cut  out 
or  covered  over.  Descriptions  of  expert  burglaries,  stories  like  the  exploits  of  "Raffle* 
and   criticisms   of   the   prison   system,   are    among    the   items   censored. 

2s  About  20  per  cent,  of  the  prison  library  is  condemned  each  year  as  beyond  repsir. 
although  the  Chaplain  Inspector  (in  his  report  for  1902-1905)  remarks  that  it  is  r»re 
that  books  receive  rough  treatment.  The  books  are  rebound,  as  long  as  it  is  possible,  m 
a  rather  crude  way  by  the  prisoners  who  work  in  the  library. 

29  Or  were  so  in   1913.    See  pp.   149  and   150. 


ILLITERATE  PRISONERS  188 

as  a  recreation.  The  committee  recorded  that  reading  aloud  to 
illiterates  had  been  tried  and  had  failed,  but  in  view  of  the  success 
of  prison  lectures  we  do  not  understand  why  this  should  necessarily 
be  the  case. 

The  foregoing  paragraphs  may  be  taken  as  applying  generally  to 
the  distribution  of  books  in  Convict  prisons,  with  the  following 
modifications.  While  in  Local  prisons  the  number  of  books  issued 
is  graded  at  first  in  accordance  with  the  system  of  progressive  stages, 
I  the  convict  remains  entitled  throughout  his  sentence  (except,  of 
I  course,  when  under  punishment)  to  the  same  number  of  books,  viz., 
'-    r  books,  of  which  no  more  than  two  may  be  fiction."     There  is  a 

_,er  demand  in  Convict  prisons  for  "educational"  books,  e.g.,  good 
,iiistorical  or  philosophical  authors,  in  preference  to  novels. 

For  obvious  reasons  the  need  of  good  library  arrangements  is  of 
:i  greater  importance  in  the  case  of  convicts  than  it  is  for  short 
-,  wience  prisoners.  "The  library,"  Jabez  Balfour  wrote,  "is  the 
most  successful  factor  in  promoting  the  physical,  mental,  and 
spiritual  well-being  of  the  unhappy  men  who  are  congregated  in 
Convict  prisons.  As  regards  myself,  I  beheve  that  I  owe,  under 
Providence,  the  retention  of  my  reason,  and  with  it  the  preservation 
of  my  life,  during  the  ten  years  and  more  that  I  was  a  convict, 
entirely  to  the  books  which  were  at  once  my  consolation,  my 
instructors,   and  my  friends.""' 

"  The  Prison  Commissioners  publish  in  their  report  for  1920-21  new  Standing  Orders 
relating  to  the  progressive  stage  system  lor  convicts,  which  permit  convicts  additional  books 
when  they  reach  the  "superior"  stage,  at  the  discretion  of  the  chaplain.   See  pp.  333  and  534. 

»» Jabez  Balfour,   "My  Prison  Life,"  p.  231. 


184 


RECREATION 


SOME     OF     THE     PRINCIPAL     DEFECTS     INDICATED    IN     THE 
PRECEDING    CHAPTER. 


1. — In  most  prisons  there  are  many  prisoners  (especially  the  adult  "hard 
labour"  prisoners)  who  have  only  very  rare  opportunities  of  attending  a 
lecture,  or  any  other  recreative  gathering. 

2. — There  is  insufficient  access  to  news  of  outside  events. 

3. — Some  of  the  libraries  are  badly  stocked ;  and,  in  the  case  of  well- 
educated  prisoners,  the  system  of  allotting  books  is  often  unsatisfactory. 

4. — The  quantity  of  reading  material  supplied  is  often  gravely  insufficient, 
especially  during  the  first  month  in  a  Local  prison. 


CHAPTER  XI 


CHAPLAINS,    RELIGIOUS    SERVICES,    AND    VISITATION 

The  Official  Chaplains 

;  Under  the  provisions  of  the  Prison  Acts  it  is  required  that  to  every 
prison  there  shall  be  appointed  "a  chaplain,  being  a  clergyman  of 
the  Established  Church."'  In  an  earlier  chapter  we  have  pointed 
,out  that,  according  to  the  present  system,  the  task  of  promoting  the 
{"reformation"  of  the  prisoner  is  entrusted  to  the  chaplain.*  What 
then  are  the  chaplain's  powers  and  duties,  how  does  he  exercise 
them,  and  what  impression  does  he  make  on  the  prisoner  thereby? 

In  answering  these  questions  it  should  be  realised  at  the  outset 
jthat  all  the  work  of  the  chaplain  has  to  be  done  under  Regulation 
57  of  the  Prison  Rules,  which  requires  that — 

the  chaplain  shall  conform  to  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  prison, 
and  shall  not  interfere  with  the  working  of  them  as  regards  the  safe 
custody,  discipline,  and  labour  of  the  prisoners,  but  shall  support  the 
governor  in  the  maintenance  thereof.* 

Chaplains  are  also  forbidden  to  communicate  to  the  Press,  without 
special  authority,  information  derived  from  official  sources,  or  to 
jpublish  any  article  or  book  relating  to  prisons  or  prisoners,  unless  the 
{sanction  of  the  Commissioners  has  been  previously  obtained.  They 
imay  not  even  communicate  with  the  friends  of  a  prisoner  without 
^he  governor's  sanction. 

j  Every  chaplain  is  therefore  willingly  or  unwillingly  obliged  to 
perform  his  duties  as  a  supporter  of  the  authorities.  He  starts  with 
las  definitely  designed  a  check  upon  his  initiative  as  does  the  warder, 
with  this  difference — that  while  the  warder  is  admittedly  an  instru- 
ment in  the  repressive  regime  of  prison  discipline,  the  chaplain's 
irelationship  to  the  prisoners  tends  in  an  opposite  direction  to  that 
discipUne.  For  example,  the  warder  is  prohibited  from  speaking 
familiarly  with  the  prisoner  and  is  obliged  to  enforce  at  all  times 
the  rule  against  conversation,  whilst  it  is  the  duty  of  the  chaplain 
ito  have  conversation  with  the  prisoner  and  to  become  friendly  with 
jhim. 
I 

j    '  1865  Prison  Act,  Section  10. 
»  See  p.  79. 
•  Rnles  for  Local  prisons,   1899,    Section  57. 


I 


186    CHAPLAINS,   RELIGIOUS  SERVICES,  AND   VISITATION 

He  is  further  allowed  to  give  expression  to  truths  which  of  them- 
selves throw  a  sharp  light  upon  the  ethics  of  prison  conditions.  One 
ex-prisoner,  for  instance,  comments:  — 

All  Christian  services  and  all  Christian  teaching  in  prison  strike  one 
with  a  sense  of  futility  because  the  whole  atmosphere  of  the  prison  life 
is  a  denial  of  Christianity.  The  forgiveness  and  love  of  God,  etc.,  are 
meaningless  terms  to  a  man  viho  has  never  known  forgiveness  and  love 
from  men,  and  is  in  prison  because  men  refused  to  give  them  to  him. 

That  this  sharp  contrast  between  Christian  teaching  and  the  treat- 
ment of  prisoners  is  the  most  serious  of  all  handicaps  upon  the  work 
of  chaplains  is,  in  our  view,   obvious.     As  Thomas  Mott  Osborne 
/has  expressed.it: — "The  religious    appeal,   to  be  really .. effective, 
\  must  be  based  upon  a  treatment  of  the  prisoner  somewhat  in  accord- 
y  ance  with  the  precepts  of  religion.     Preaching  a  religion  of  brotherly 
love  to  convicts  while  you  are  treating  them  upon  a  basis  of  hatred 
is  a  discouraging  performance."* 

The  civil  control  of  the  chaplains  does  not  only  begin  after  their 
appointment.  The  responsibihty  for  their  appointment  itself  is 
vested  in  the  hands  of  the  Secretary  of  State ;  notice  of  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  chaplain  being  afterwards  transmitted  through  the 
Commissioners  to  the  bishop  of  the  diocese  in  which  the  prison  is 
situate;  from  the  bishop  a  licence  has  to  be  obtained  before  he  can 
officiate.  The  chaplain's  position  is  in  consequence  dependent  upon 
the  goodwill  of  two  authorities,  for  he  may  be  removed  by  the 
Commissioners,  or  the  bishop  may  withdraw  his  licence  at  any 
moment. 

The  general  supervision  of  all  the  chaplains  is  entrusted  to  a  clergy- 
man, entirely  responsible  to  the  Prison  Commissioners,  who  has  the 
title  of  Chaplain  Inspector.*     This  official  spends  his  time  in  visiting  j 
the  prisons,  and  in  the  pre-war  years  his  annual  report  used  to  be  < 
printed  with  that  of  the  Commissioners.     He  has  no  doubt  also  great 
influence  in  nominating  clergymen  for  the  office  of  chaplain.* 

The  arrangements  for  the  chaplaincies  are  of  two  kinds.'     In  some 
— usually  the  larger  prisons — full-time  chaplains  are  employed,  who  , 
have  no  paid  duties  except  under  the  Commissioners.     This  is  the  ' 
case  in  the  Convict  prisons  and  in  17  of  the  Local  prisons.       In  j 
the  remainder  of  the  Local  prisons  the  chaplains  are  parish  priests,  ' 

*  "Within   Prison   Walls"    (1913),  r-    324. 

*  From  1896  until  about  1903  there  was  a  "Visiting  Chaplain"  with  much  the  aim*  ' 
dnties  as  the  present  Chaplain  Inspector.  We  believe  that  the  holders  of  these  offices  haw  ! 
all    hitherto   been   prison   chaplains,    previous    to    their    appointment. 

*  Cp.  P.C.  Report,  1907-8,  p.  38,  where  the  Chaplain  Inspector  states  that  he  has  been  ; 
instructed  by  the  Commissioners  not  to  "present  for  the  office  ol  prison  chaplain"  anyone  ■ 
who  has  not  a  special  fitness   for  the  post. 

'  Chaplains  are  paid  salaries  varying  from  £100  a  year  (part-time)  to  £450.  The  salaries  •' 
of  whole-time  Roman  Catholic  priests  vary  from  £200  to  £400.  Part-time  Roman  CatTiolic  | 
priests  receive  from  £10  to  £150.  Full-time  chaplains  and  priests  are  granted,  in  addition.  ' 
a  house  or  an  allowance  in  lieu.  Nonconformist  ministers  are  paid  on  a  capitation  rate  of  ' 
40s.  a  head,  which  diminishes  as  the  numbers  grow  to  one  of  5s.  per  head  per  annum,  y 
(Eeply  of  Home  Secretary   to   Mr.  T.  Myers,  M.P.,  October   31st,   1921).  jj 


THE    CHAPLAINS'    DUTIES  :    THE    CELL     VISITS  187 

vho  combine  the  two  ofi&ces  and  are  allowed  to  have  the  assistance 
t)f  one  or  more  curates  in  their  prison  work.* 

The  Chaplains'  Duties:  the  Cell  Visits. 
While  the  activities  of  the  chaplains  tend  to  be  restricted  by  their 
lependence  upon  official  control  and  by  the  repressive  character  of  , 
he  regime,  they   are,  as  a  rule,  impeded  in  addition  by  the  very^. 
raried  character  of  the  duties  laid  upon  them.       .f  hese  duties  (a»--., 
lummarised  by  the  Chaplain  Inspector  in  1911)  include  fTie  conduct    ^ 
)£  chapel  services,  interviews  .with-  «ll -^jiisoners  on  reception  and 
lischarge,  cell  visits,  supervision  of  secular  instruction,  guidance  of  \ 
ady    visitors,    arrangements    of    lectures,    missions,    and    musical    | 
services,  Bible  and  religious  classes,  and  a  shai'e  in  the  Prisoners'  Aid   ' 
Society's  work.     Beyond  this  the  chaplain  has  further  allotted  to  him 
Ihe  charge  of  reading  prayers  daily  to  any  sick  who  may  be  in  hospital, 
!he  admonishing  of  those  under  punishment,  and  the  general  super- 
asion   of   library    arrangements;    while,    on    the    occasion    of    an 
Execution,  he  has  to  attend  the  condemned  man  and  officiate  at  the 
■ragic  ceremony  itself.     Last,  but  not  least,   he  has  to  satisfy  the 
justomary  demands  of  a  central  authority  in  the  way  of  completing 
ill!  kinds  of  forms  and  returns. 

j  It  is  hard,  therefore,  to  put  any  precise  limit  to  what  may  be 
Required  of  the  chaplain  in  the  performance  of  his  round  of  responsi- 
biUties.  Indeed,  on  the  second  head  alone — his  obligation  to  inter- 
new  all  prisoners  on  reception  and  discharge — the  work,  if  properly 
^.arried  out,  may  be  considered  in  many  instances  a  very  exacting 
jask.     As  Dr.  Quinton  expresses  it:  — 

[  Only  those  who  are  conversant  with  the  ordinary  routine  of  a   Local 

prison  can  appreciate  the  difficulties  under  which  chaplains  deal  with 
short-sentence  offendei's.  In  large  prisons  they  arrive  in  shoals — a  recep- 
tion of  a  hundred  a  day  being  nothing  unusual — and  they  go  out  in  shoals 
also,  so  that  the  prison  becomes  a  thoroughfare.  A  very  short  interview 
with  each  incomer  and  outgoer  under  these  circumstances  obviously  makes 
a  large  draft  on  the  time  available  for  their  work  under  the  routine  of 
the  establishment.' 

frVhen  we  read  in  the  Chaplain  Inspector's  retrospect  in  1915  that 
'the  system  of  visiting  is  vastly  improved.  Admissions  and  dis- 
charges are  no  longer  admonished  in  a  body  on  parade,  but  interviewed 
Separately,"  we  may  well  ask  whether  the  chaplains  who  were 
'equired  to  carry  out  this  improvement  were  given  the  additional 
Assistance  necessary.  We  have  no  evidence  that  this  was  the  case. 
i  We  have  taken  some  trouble,  by  enquiries  from  trustworthy  ex- 
prisoners   as   well   as  from   chaplains   themselves,   to  discover  the 

I  •  This  plan  has  certain  obvious  advantages,  which  have  appealed  so  strongly  to  the 
jlcottish  Prison  Commissioners  that  in  the  prisons  of  that  country  there  are,  we  nnder- 
tand,  now  no  resident  chaplains.  All  chaplains  are  ministers  with  local  duties.  They 
^re  re-appointed  each  year  and  allowed  to  remain  in  oCBce  only  for  a  comparatively  short 
enn.  They  are  paid  according  to  the  number  of  hours  a  week  they  undertake  to  spend  in 
ihe  prison.  "Often,"  we  are  told,  "the  particular  chaplain  cannot  afford  all  the  hours 
lie  undertakes  and  has  to  find  a  substitute,  and  that  brings  in  another  man,  which  is 
ton<idered  an  extra  advantage  and  safeguard." 
'  "Modern   Prison   Curriculum"    (1912),   p.    139. 


188     CHAPLAINS,   RELIGIOUS  SERVICES,  AND  VISITATION 

average  frequency  and  duration  of  the  ordinary  cell  visit  as  dis- 
tinguished from  that  made  on  admission  and  on  discharge.  We 
understand  that  the  official  requirement,  at  any  rate  for  Local 
prisons,  is  that  every  prisoner  should  be  visited  at  least  once  a  month. 
And  on  the  whole  it  appears  that  a  monthly  visit  lasting  for  some 
three  or  four  minutes  is  what  the  average  prisoner  may  expect  as 
his  share  of  the  chaplain's  time  and  attention. 

One  chaplain,  indeed,  has  told  us  that  \mder  the  rules  for  cell 
visits,  and  dividing  the  amount  of  time  available  for  visiting  by  the 
number  of  prisoners  to  visit,  he  is  hmited  to  an  average  of  four 
minut'es  for  each  man  once  in  two  months.  Where,  as  in  moat 
cases,  the  monthly  visit  is  paid,  it  may  be  as  much  as  five  minutes 
on  the  average,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  it  may  be  reduced  to  a  few 
seconds.  Several  prisoners  with  experience  of  more  than  one  prison 
have  described  to  us  the  pastoral  visit  as  consisting  of  the  unlocking 
of  the  door,  of  an  abrupt  question  such  as  "Got  your  books  all 
right?"  and  an  equally  abrupt  bang  of  the  door." 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  no  doubt  exceptional  cases  of  men, 
for  whom  the  compassion  or  spiritual  interest  of  the  chaplain  is 
aroused,  so  that  he  may  feel  it  essential,  even  to  the  neglect  of  his 
other  duties,  to  give  them  a  full  half-hour  once  a  week  or  even  longer. 
One  chaplain  informs  us  that  he  sometimes  calls  for  a  couple  of 
prisoners,  and  interviews  them  in  his  room  for  an  hour  or  so,  the 
time  being  credited  as  equivalent  to  labour. 

As  regards  the  value  of  this  cell  visitation,  those  who  have  only 
a  flying  question  put  to  them,  and  a  banged  door,  can  hardly  be 
said  to  have  been  visited  at  all,  though,  especially  during  the  first 
month  of  separate  confinement  accorded  to  men  prisoners,  even  the 
slight  draught  and  disturbance  created  by  this  almost  simultaneous  ; 
entrance  and  exit  no  doubt  serve  as  a  welcome  break  to  the  prisoner's  ; 
monotony.     And  even  where  the  overworked  clergyman  manages  to  j 
find  time  to  visit  a  prisoner  for,  say,  ten  or  even  twenty  minutes  j 
during  the  month,  it  is  not  to  be  expected,  except  in  the  rarest  of  | 
cases,  that  his  influence  upon  the  man's  character  can  be  a  powerful 
one,  or  counterbalance  in  any  effective  way  the  repressive  influences  i 
of  the  discipline.     It  is  clear  that  in  the  great  majority  of  cases  itj 
is  not  the  chaplain  who  is  to  blame  for  the  briefness  and  the  rarity ! 
of  his  cell  visits.     The  blame  rests  primarily  upon  the  authorities; 

i 

1"  The   following  statements  of  chaplains  are  taken  from  the  annual   reports  of  the  Prison  i 
Commissioners: —  ' 

All  conyicts  have  been  seen  on  reception  and  discharge,  and  the  sick  and  those  under  | 
punishment  have  been  seen  daily.  They  have  been  regularly,  systematically,  and  diligentlj 
visited  in  their  cells.  In  addition  to  those  who  have  made  ap])lication  to  see  me,  they 
have  been  seen  once  in  six  weeks  by  the  assistant-chaplain  or  myself.  I  do  not  considei 
that  it  is  possible  or  necessary  that  they  should  be  visited  more  frequently  than  this 
otherwise  visiting  would  degenerate  into  an  unseemly  rush  to  see  how  many  could  b< 
seen  in  the  time,  which  in  a  Convict  prison  is  very  limited.— (Portland  Prison  Chaplain 
in    1915-14,  p.   125). 

Cellular  visitation  is  carried  out  at  this  prison  on  a  system  by  which  every  man  receiver 
a  visit  at  least  once  in  six  weeks.  "Star"  and  second  division  men  are  seen  once  a  montr 
— 5om«  of  them   more  frequently.— (Pentonville  Prison  Chaplain,  in    1915-14,   p.  69). 


TEE    CHAPEI   SERVICES  •^===^^--''^'  189 

jvho  have  laid  the  burden  of  visitation  upon  one  man  with  far  too 
nuch  to  do." 

:    The  other  instrument  of  "refonnation"  ".available  to  the  chaplain 
"  *^e  religious  service  in  the  chapel.     In  Local  prisons  this  is  held 

.  during  the  week  for  about  twenty  minutes  every  morning 
iccording  to  the  forms  of  the  Church  of  England ;"  in  Convict  prisons 
here  is,  as  a  rule,  only  one  such  service,  of  longer  duration,  on  one 
veek-day.'*  On  Sundays  there  are, in  all  prisons  two  services  of 
ibout  an  hour~e¥cK.' "  Two" sermons  must  be  preached  by  the  chap- 

.  his  deputy,  or  a  substitute,  on  Sundays;  and  at  least  one 
.__:es3  is  given  during  the  week.  There  is  usually  a  weekly  "choir 
aractice"  of  the  hymns.  The  sernces  are  as  a  rule  attended  not 
|)nly  by  prisoners  registered  as  Church  of  England,  but  by  most  of 
'he  others  who  are  not  Eoman  Catholics  or  Jews.  If  a  prisoner 
lesires  to  attend  chapel  at  all,  he  is  bound  to  attend  always. 

In  one  or  two  instances  the  prison  chapels  are  places  of  real  beauty, 
'»ut  generally  they  are  hideously  ugly.  Frequently  ornate  decoration 
iias  been  attempted  by  amateur  hands — perhaps  by  prisoners — ■ 
vith  disastrous  results.  "I  came  to  the  conclusion,"  says  one  wit- 
jiess,  "that  the  windows  in  our  chapel  were  painted  by  an  ex -prisoner 
vho  had  made  the  best  of  his  opportunity  to  have  his  revenge  upon 

ihe  authorities!"     Another  ex-prisoner  says,  "The  chapel  at  ■ 

jv'as  like  a  cheaply-decorated  showman's  booth."     In  many  cases 

ihe  chapel  furniture  is  similarly  crude.     "The  pulpit  at was  a 

iarge  square  clumsily-constructed  erection  adapted  more  for  an 
motion  room  than  for  a  place  of  religious  ministration,"  says  another 
vitness. 

I  In  the  conducting  of  chapel  services  the  scope  of  the  chaplain's 
personality  is  undoubtedly  in  some  sense   greater  than  during  his  ■'V- 
mrried  cell  visits.     Here^  if  he  is  a  man  predisposed  to  wide  ^Y^^'f  p /l-tO // 
i)athy  and  understanding  of  human  nature,  it  is  possible  for  him  to'     "■ 
jxpress  some  at  least  of  the  fundamental  elements  in  the  realm  of 
Spiritual  reahty  in  a  less  crudely    personal   and   a  more    leisurely  ,t^^ 

letting  than  any  such  reference  might  have  or  be  supposed  to  have 
n  the  cell.     Our  evidence  points,  however,   on  the  whole,   to  th«< 
onclusion  that  the  devotional  life  in  chapel  sufiers  almost  as  severely 
he  personal  interviews  from  the  fact  that  those  who  conduct  the 

;-'The  rules  further  require  a  daily  risit  from  the  chaplain  to  all  prisoners  who  are 
ither  sick.  i.e..  in  hospital,  or  under  punishment.  We  hare  not  space  to  deal  with  theso 
equirements.  It  is,  howsTer,  pretty  clear  that  the  pressure  upon  his  time  makes  it  usually 
tnpossible  for  the  chaplain  to  gire  adequate  attention  to  the?e  two  classes  cl  prisoners, 
fhis  is  particularly  unfortunate,  as  the  sick  are  frequently,  like  those  under  punishment, 
1    solitary    confinement    and    they    are    not    entitled    to    additional    visits    from    friends    or 

'  yes. 

-^ee  Note  on  page   484   as  to   the  use  cf  this  term. 

In  a  few  Local  prisons,  where  the  Roman  Catholics  hare  to  use  the  same  chapel  as 
Vnglicans,    prisoners   can   only   attend   service   on   alternate   days. 

l^efore  1914   convicts  also   had   a  daily  service.    "This,"  the  Home  Office  asserts,  "was 

-ed  on  representations  made  by  chaplains  of  Convict  prison.',  supported  by  the 
ain  inspector,  that  a  better  spiritual  res.ult  would  be  likely  to  follow  from  one  longer 
e,  with  an   address,   on  one  week-day   only,   and  experience  has  justified  the  change. — 

wer  given  by  Mr.  Sbortt  to  Mr.  Myers,  in  the  House  of  Commons,  on  July  7th,   1921). 


190    CHAPLAINS,   RELIGIOUS  SERVICES,  AND   VISITATION 

services  are  recognised  as  part  of  the  prison  regime,  and  therefore 
";  as  incapable  of  yielding  the  intended  fruits  of  love,  joy,  and  peace. 
The  Commissioners  have  styled  the  reclaiming  influences  of  the 
chaplain  "the  essential  complement  of  the  sterner  side  of  prison 
life."  To  most  prisoners  unhappily  that  so-called  sterner  side  has 
neutralised  if  not  poisoned  its  complement ;  even  in  chapel  the  stern- 
ness is  only  too  obvious,  not  only  as  a  mental  background,  but  in 
the  obtrusive  presence  and  occasional  actions  of  the  warders,  who 
are  seated  amongst  the  prisoners  so  as  to  be  able  to  observe  theii 
least  movements." 

Constant  reference  is  made  to  this  feature  in  the  mass  of  evidence 
that  we  have  received  from  ex-prisoners  as  regards  the  character 
of  the  chapel  services.  Thus  one  ex-prisoner  (with  experience  in 
six  prisons)  writes:  — 

So  long  as  the  silence  regulation  is  maintained,  so  long  will  the  warden 
be  required  to  sit  on  high  chairs,  so  as  to  overlook  the  prisoners,  and 
command  them  to  "kneel  up,  there  !"  when  anyone  adopts  a  too 
devotional  attitude  during  prayers,  lest  he  should  be  bowing  his  liead 
to  talk  to  his  neighbour. 

From  one  of  the  northern  prisons  we  get  the  following:  — 

It  is  a  rule  that  during  prayers  a  prisoner  must  sit  with  his  back 
absolutely  straight.  It  is  an  awful  sight  to  see  a  warder  step  over  from 
one  form  to  another  to  a  boy,  who  has  broken  down  in  tears,  and  get 
hold  of  his  shirt  collar  and  pull  him  straight. 

Such  incidents  make  it  natural  that,  to  some  at  least  of  the  prisoners, 
chapel  should  appear  an  evil  farce,  as  described  in  somewhat  bitter 
language  by  another  writer:  — 

One  goes  to  the  service,  in  a  way,  as  to  but  one  more  prison  occupation, 
which  is  presided  over  by  a  prison  official  in  the  person  of  the  chaplain, 
with  the  governor  as  the  personification  of  a  system  which  endeavours 
to  crush  the  personality  and  the  good  in  a  man  and  salves  its  conscience 
by  two  or  three  weekly  services. 

A  former  inmate  of  a  large  women's  prison  writes  to  us  as  follows  :  — 
Somehow  Sunday  is  the  worst  day  in  prison.  From  the  first  moment 
when  one  awakens  one  feels  far  more  strongly  than  on  week-days  th( 
nervous  tension  of  the  place.  There  is  no  work,  and  an  ominous  husl 
seems  to  hang  over  the  prison.  After  breakfast,  time  drags  on  inter  j 
minably  till  the  bell  sounds  for  chapel.  .  .  .  What  a  travesty  c); 
religion  !  To  see  these  unfortunates  under  close  surveillance  of  officers 
supposed   to   be    worshipping   their   Creator,    in   reality   making   furtiv( 

15  P.O.    Report,    1903-4,   p.   31.  \ 

>6  There  are  fortunately  indications  that  the  authorities  are  feeling  their  way  toward 
the  remoTal  of  the  warders  from  chapel.  We  know  of  one  prison,  where  lectures  are  gi^e'i 
to  a  body  of  from  50  to  80  juvenile  adults,  with  no  one  but  the  lecturer  and  chaplaii: 
present,  yet  good  order  and  attention  prevails.  At  one  at  least  of  the  London  prisons 
where  debates  are  now  held,  no  warders  are  present  at  those  gatherings.  Compare  al?  ■ 
the   practice   at   the  preventive   detention   prison    (see    p.    449). 

Further,  the  1919  Prison  Education  Scheme  contains  the  instruction  (in  regard  both  t  j 
Local  and  to  Convict  prisons):  "Except  under  unusual  circumstances,  a  discipline  office 
need    not  be   detailed   to  attend    school."     (S.O.    358). 


THE    CHAPEL   SERVICES  191 


i  efforts,  generally  doomed  to  frustration,  to  satisfy  their  natoral  cravings 
'       for  human  intercourse.     .     .     . 

But  from  some  ex-prisoners  comes  evidence  that  the  chapel  services 
Id  serve  a  useful  purpose,  particularly  owing  to  the  relief  occasioned 
Dy  breaking  the  silence  in  singing ;  and  also,  though  the  evidence  of 
'his  is  more  rare,  in  a  real  religious  sense.  A  witness  from  five 
jrisons  states :  — 

'  I  think  that  the  chief  value  of  the  services  lies  in  (1)  communal  singing, 

and  (2)  the  spaciousness  of  the  hall  where  the  service  is  held.  The  sense 
of  space  was  a  very  real  pleasure  to  me.  The  religious  value  of  the 
-ervices  was  nil. 

Chat  the  singing  in  chapel  is  not  altogether  in  accord  with  its  motive 
S  borne  out  by  an  ex-prisoner,  who  states  that  it  is  not  uncommon 
•0  hear  around  one,  mingling  with  the  strains  of  the  hymn  or  the 
folemn  responses  of  the  Litany,  and  chanted  forth  under  cover  of 
jhe  appropriate  cadences,  such  unexpected  refrains  as  "  'Eard  from 
he  o-old  woman  lately,  Bill  ?"  or  "  'Ow  are  you  going  on  for  grub  ?" 
pf  this  we  have  had  other  evidence  also. 

Our  final  citation  from  an  ex-prisoner  is  of  a  kind  that  one  would 
ike  to  meet  with  more  often :  — 

The  Church  of  England  services  are  one  of  the  three  things  (the  others 
are  books  and  the  flower  beds)  which  made  imprisonment  bearable.  Our 
chaplain  was  capable  of  making  .some  of  us  at  least  feel  the  joy  of 
Christianity.  He  always  conducted  services  with  a  kind,  joyous,  personal 
touch. 

The  possibilities  open  to  a  clergyman  of  sympathetic  imagination, 
jven  under  the  present  regime,  are  thus  described  by  the  agent  of  a 
'risoners'  Aid  Society  with  many  years'  experience:  — 

Chaplains  have  a  magnificent  opportunity,  and  many  of  them  don't 
know  how  to  use  it.  Preaching  at  these  poor  people  is  futile.  Prisoners 
are  the  keenest  of  critics  and  they  know  when  there  is  something  human 
in  the  pulpit.  ...  I  have  seen  overwhelming  evidence  that  men  may 
be  influenced  by  the  right  type  of  men  in  the  pulpit ;  and  I  have  been 
in  prisons  where  the  ministrations  of  the  chaplain  were  a  by-word.  .  .  . 
Generally  speaking,  however — and  I  know  quite  a  lot  of  prison  chaplains — 
their  work  is  worse  than  useless. 

We  have  questioned  a  number  of  warders  as  to  the  services,  and 
ive  found  amongst  them  almost  complete  agreement  that  their  value 

small,  except  as  "breaks  in  the  monotonous  solitude,"  and  in  the 
plief  afforded  by  the  singing.  One  warder  thinks  that  if  prisoners 
ere  offered  the  choice  of  attending  services  or  having  extra  exercise 

e.,  the  monotonous  exercise  of  the  circular  track),  the  attendance 
ould  fall  immensely,  w^hile  another  suggests  that  chaplains  would 
'  '^f  much  greater  value,  if  attendance  at  the  services  were  made 
•itary. 


192    CHAPLAINS,  RELIGIOUS  SERVICES,  AND   VISITATION 

Of  all  people,  the  Chaplain  Inspector  has  the  best  opportunit" 
of  making  a  survey  of  the  outward  character,  at  any  rate,  of  th 
services  in  the  40  to  50  prisons  which  it  has  been  his  duty  to  visit 
Eeading  through  the  Chaplain  Inspector's  reports  to  the  Prison  Com 
missioners  during  the  ten  or  fifteen  years  ending  in  1915,*'  one  ii 
impressed  by  his  extraordinary  and  apparently  undimmed  satisfac 
tion  with  all  the  arrangements  made  for  the  prisoners'  religioui 
needs  and  with  the  way  in  which  the  chaplains  are  carrying  out  thai: 
duties.  The  conduct  of  the  services,  the  demeanour  of  the  prisoners 
the  system  of  visitation  in  the  cells,  the  educational  and  library 
arrangements,  the  work  of  the  Aid  Societies — everything  is  "entirely' 
or  "generally  satisfactory."  There  is  practically  no  criticism;  a' 
any  rate,  none  is  published.  The  following  are  typical  allusions  t( 
the  character  of  the  chapel  services :  — 

Prisoners  are  devout  in  manner,  hearty  in  responses  .  .  .  anc 
apparently  deeply  interested  in  the  religious  worship  provided  for  them.'' 

Services  are  short,  simple  and  devout.  .  .  .  Altogether  it  may  b« 
doubted  whether  the  spiritual  needs  of  any  section  of  the  community  arc 
better  cared  for  than  those  of  the  prison  population  to-day." 

Everywhere  I  have  found  the  demeanour  of  prisoners  orderly  and 
attentive ;  and  in  most  prisons  there  is  unmistakeable  evidence  of  interest 
and   appreciation.^" 


As  far  as  it  is  possible  to  ascertain,  whether  from  printed  reports 
•  or  private  enquiries,  the  satisfaction  of  the  Chaplain  Inspector  with 
the  chapel  services  is  shared  by  a  large  proportion  of  the  officiali 
/;haplains.''  Many  of  them,  for  instance,  appear  to  be  ignorant  oi 
the  bad  effect  produced  on  the  prisoners  by  the  assertive  presence 
of  warders. 

To  sum  up,  whatever  moral  or  religious  value  the  Church  liturgj 
and  the  pulpit  address  may  have  to  the  jree  man  and  woman,  ii 
seems  to  us  certain  that  their  value  in  prison  is  bound  to  b(L 
diminished^  first,  by  the  compulsion  and  the  discipline  which  accora 
pany  them,  and  secondly,  when  they  form  absolutely  the  onb( 
authorised  breaks  upon  the  silence  and  solitude  of  the  week,  an(: 
are  consequently  appreciated,  in  the  first  instance  at  any  rate,  simpl;; 


' '  None   has  been  published  since. 

J8  P.O.    Report,   1906-7. 

10  P.O.   Report,   1908-9. 

=0  P.O.  Report,  1911-12,  p.  44.  The  Official  Prisoners'  Education  Committee  of  189 
(p.  12),  when  remarking  on  the  universally  attested  good  behaviour  oJ  prisoners  in  chape 
expressed  the  view  that  "though  the  pleasure  which  they  find  in  the  services  may  ni 
always  be  strictly  devotional,  the  mere  habit  of  reverence,  inculcated  by  constant  attendanc 
cannot  but  be  a  distinct  gain."  We  wonder  ourselves  whether  compulsory  religion  of  th 
kind   is   not  more  calculated   to   produce  the   hypocrite    or  the  scoffer.  j,-| 

2' It  is  among  the  chaplains  of  Convict  prisons  that  we  delect  most  signs  of  niisgivin!'; 
as  regards  the  services.  The  chaplain  at  Parkhnrst  prison,  for  instance,  has  stated  j1 
one  of  his  reports  that  "ordinary  sermons  are  useless  in  an  establishment  of  this  kintj 
The  'atmosphere'  is  unusual  and  unless  it  be  carefully  analysed  it  is  useless  to  hope  I* 
successfully  dissipate  its  most  dangerous  constituents."— (P.O.  Report,  1912-13,  Part  Iu| 
p.   125). 


THE    HANDICAPS    OF    THE    CHAPLAIN  193 

5r  that  reason  and  for  the  opportunity  of  some  degree  of  unauthorised 
ammunication  with  other  prisoners." 

Of  one  existing  defect,  at  any  rate,  we  are  glad,  to  say  very  many 
f  the  prison  chaplains  are  conscious,  and  that  is  of  the  deplorable 
lonotony  that  now  characterises  the  prison  Sunday  as  a  whole  (as 
'ell  as  Saturday  afternoon),  making  it  "the  worst  day  in  the  week. " 
'hey  would  be  glad  of  means  to  alleviate  this  evil  and  would  doubt- 
'ss  endorse,  to  judge  from  our  evidence,  in  whole  or  in  part,  the 
allowing  statement  made  to  us  by  the  same  Aid  Society  agent  whom 
e  have  already  quoted  in  this  chapter:  — 

The  week-end  is  one  of  the  most  depressing  and  irritating  parts  of  the 

sentence.     Except  for  attendance  at  chapel  on  Sunday  for  a  short  time, 

prisoners  are  quite  alone,  often  with  books  they  have  read  and  re-read, 

i     or  books  they  do  not  like,  or  books  that  are  quite  unsuitable  but  were 

I     the  most  easily  available  to  the  library  officer.     Only  a  comparatively  few 

^     are  visited  by  the  chaplain  during  that  period,  and  many  of  them  would 

much  prefer  to  work  hard  rather  than  be  subjected  to  these  long  hours 

'     of    stifling  loneliness.     This    enforced   solitary   period   is   the   parent  of 

I     floured   temperaments  and   explosive   moods.       They   get   things    in    the 

i     wrong  perspective  and  there   is  no  one  to  put  them  right.     Often  men 

become  slaves  to  their  passions,  stirred  by  unclean  thoughts.     Under  an 

enlightened   regime,   week-ends   might  be  made  to  contribute  in  a  most 

valuable  way  to  the  recovery  of  the  prisoners. 

The  Handicaps  of  the  Chaplain. 
It  is  not  our  intention  to  discuss  here  the  chaplain's  work  in 
pnnection  with  the  after  care  of  his  prisoners;  he  is  always 
losely  connected  with  the  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid  Society,  and 
!d  doubt  in  many  cases  puts  in  much  exacting  and  devoted  service 
;)th  in  collecting  funds  for  the  Society  and  attempting  to  restart 
jc-prisoners  in  useful  occupations."  But  one  unfortunate  aspect  of 
48  connection  and  of  the  chaplain's  power  generally  of  dispensing 
iivileges  must  be  mentioned,  as  we  have  had  much  evidence  of  it. 

I  An  ex-convict,  who  has  made  good  after  serving  three  sentences 
f  penal  servitude,  gives  evidence  to  us  as  follows:  — 

j        Another   vice    which  terms  of   imprisonment   force   upon   most  of  the 

men    is   that    of    hypocrisy.        Prison   religion,    for    instance,    is    chiefly 

I     hypocrisy  in  order  to  curry  favour  with  the  chaplain  and  get  privileges 

j    from   him.     The  men  who  take  the  sacrament  in  chapel  are   often   the 

meanest  bea.sts  in  prison.-* 

p  We  may  note  here  that,  allowing  for  these  considerations,  some  ol  the  most  welcome 
!d  eHectire  addresses  heard  in  the  prison  chapel  are  given  by  preachers  coming  in  from 
Itside. 

In   most  years,   bishops    are  reported   as  having  preached    in  prison.     (In   1910-11   we  are 
lormed  by  the  chaplain  inspector  that  a^   many  as  "21  of  our  bishops"   did  so).    At   the 
jne  time  it   is   regrettable    that   these  visitors    have    not  taken   more  trouble   to  ascertain 
d  make  public   the   crying   evils   ol   the  system. 
■      -   pp.   469-70. 

■    transcribe    this    last    sentence   with    some   hesitation;    it    is    confirmed    by    at    least 

her  ex-convict  and  to  some    extent   at  least    by    the  chaplain  of  Dartmoor   prison   in 

who    stated    that    "in    spite    of    the    fact    that    numerous    prisoners    are    apparently 

■1  us   to   take    the   Sacrament,    I   can   detect   scarcely    any    signs    of   spiritual   life." — P.O. 

.    rt,  1900,  Part  II.,   p.   551 

H 


194     CHAPLAINS,   RELIGIOUS  SERVICES,  AND   VISITATION 

Another  convict  wrote  from  prison  to  his  sister  (in  the  year  1901 
that 

unless  a  man  leads  a  Christian  life  while  in  prison  and  repents,  tak 
the  Communion,  and  attends  Bible  Class,  and  the  chaplain  thinks  he 
a  reformed  man,  the  chaplain  might  not  recommend  him  to  the  (Aii 
Society.  Of  course,  a  lot  of  prisoners  are  really  sincere,  but  some  cs 
act  anything  from  Hamlet  to  the  second  gravedigger  to  gain  their  ov 
ends. 

Other  ex-prisoners  have  made  similar  statements  to  us.  Warder 
evidence  is  to  the  same  effect.  "The  chaplain  is  just  a  blind,"  or 
warder  says,  "an  excuse  to  get  a  few  shillings,  a  particular  bool 
and  BO  on."  A  Salvation  Army  officer,  who  has  visited  prison  f( 
20  years,  has  given  us  his  view  that  "the  official  chaplain  is  coi 
sidered  by  the  men  not  as  a  spiritual  adviser,  but  merely  as  a  He! 
Agency.  His  connection  with  the  prisoners  is  a  materialistic  oi 
almost  entirely."  Finally,  a  magistrate  of  long  experience  of  e: 
prisoners  asserts  that  "a  man  finds  out  that,  if  he  keeps  good  frienc 
with  the  chaplain  and  Aid  Society  agent  and  appears  very  humb 
and  penitent,  he  gets  far  better  treatment." 

We  have  no  wish  to  insist  that  this  aspect  of  the  matter  is  the  on! 
one;  but  we  are  afraid  that  statements  of  this  kind  somewhat  di 
credit  the  reference  in  the  official  reports  to  frequent  cases 
"reformation.""  Our  present  prisons  are  more  calculated  to  pr 
duce  hypocrisy  than  penitence,  and  chaplains,  we  fear,  are  oft( 
deceived."  j 

Enough  has  perhaps  been  said  in  the  earlier  portion  of  this  chapt 
to  show  what  scant  opportunities  for  really  fruitful  work  are  afford  i 
by  the  interviews  with  the  prisoner  on  coming  in  and  going  o\, 
together  with  the  intervening  cell  visitation  (if  any).  We  m' 
attribute  this  in  part  to  the  exterior  limitations  imposed,  and  part' 
also  to  the  psychological  difficulties  inherent  in  the  situation,  whii 
vary  no  doubt  from  cell  to  cell.  And  yet  upon  the  chaplain  devohs 
the  most  subtle  and  important  of  tasks.  One  political  prisoij: 
(confined  successively  in  four  prisons)  has  put  the  need  in  the  foUoj- 
ing  simple  way:  — 

The  Church  of  England  chaplains  (so  far  as  my  experience  goes)  |e 
very  obliging  and  take  a  certain  amount  of  interest  in  the  prisonij' 
reading,  but  as  to  speaking  for  the  interests  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  I  hie 
had  no  such  communion  with  them,  eager  and  willing  though  I  wafk) 
have  it.  j 

Another  ex-prisoner  writes  from  a  somewhat  different  staji- 
point :  —  ! 

Failing  the  presence  of  a  psychological  expert,  one's  chaplain  ia  M 
only  person  in  prison  whose  duty  it  is  to  find  out  anything  about  oi'l 

as  See  p.  79.  i 

**  This  question  is  further  discussed  in  Part  II.  See  especially  Note  on  p.  484  M 
Note,  pp.  498-500. 


THE   HANDICAPS    OF    THE    CHAPLAIN  195 

state  of  mind.  He  should,  therefore,  be  given  much  greater  powers 
not  only  in  supplying  books,  etc.,  but  of  advising  concerning  a  man's 
work  and  everything  else  likely  to  affect  his  mental  condition. 

This  plea  for  a  greater  freedom  in  the  performance  of  their  service 
to  the  prisoner  does  not  emanate  from  one  class  of  witnesses  alone. 
We  have  reason  to  believe  that  it  is  a  need  felt,  if  not  expressed,  by 
a  number  of  the  chaplains  themselves.  Some  of  the  best  of  these 
have  informed  us  how  their  efforts  to  improve  the  conditions  of  the 
prisoners  on  more  humane  and  educational  lines  have  been  hampered 
by  one  or  another  of  the  higher  authorities.  It  is  somewhat 
surprising,  indeed,  that  in  scarcely  any  instance  has  a  chaplain 
resigned  his  office  expressly  for  the  purpose  of  disclosing  the  baneful 
effects  of  the  prison  regime.  On  the  other  hand,  the  lack  of  inde- 
pendence and  the  hindrances  imposed  upon  the  work  of  befriending 
the  prisoner  are  doubtless  chiefly  responsible  for  the  generally 
admitted  failure  to  attract  the  finest  type  of  Anglican  clergyman  into 
the  prison  service.^' 

:  Here  and  there,  indeed,  we  have  evidence  of  noble  clergy  who  are 
wrestling  with  an  almost  impossible  situation  and  doing  their 
Master's  work  in  shepherding  their  unhappy  charges.  But  we  could 
multiply  indefinitely  quotations  from  our  evidence  indicating  that 
the  majority  of  prison  chaplains  have  not  hitherto  been  of  sufficient 
calibre  to  accomplish  this  heroic  task.  As  one  warder  of  long 
service  has  stated  to  us:  — 

Chaplains  nearly  always  end  by  surrendering  to  the  inevitable.  They 
find  it  very  difficult  to  stand  up  against  the  requirements  of  officialdom, 
the  obstacles  placed  in  their  way,  the  regime  itself.  There  are  formid- 
able limitations  to  their  work,  and  those  chaplains  who  came  with  ideas 
and  an  honest  desire  to  do  good  slowly  but  surely  assume  the  role  cf 
tficial." 

:  Our  conclusions  are  that  under  the  present  system  chaplains  are 
!far  too  much  under  the  control  of  the  Commissioners,  far  too  deeply 
involved  in  officialism ;  that  they  have  as  a  rule,  a  great  deal  too 
many  duties  to  perform,  too  many  prisoners  to  visit,  too  many  forms 
to  fill  in,  too  much  routine  and  secular  work;  and  lastly,  that  their 
Christian  work  is  hampered  almost  fatally  by  the  repressive  and 
thoroughly  unchristian  character  of  the  system,  in  which  they,  like 
the  prisoners  and  warders,  are  involved.  Until  these  defects  begin 
jto  be  removed,  as  we  hope  will  be  the  case  in  the  near  future,  the 

I  •*  One  chaplain  ascribes  this  failure  chiefly  to  the  facts  that  they  are  not  appointed 
jtM  mre  in  practice  the  Roman  Catholic  chaplains)  by  the  bishop,  and  that  they  have  too 
many  secular  duties  in  prison.  Another  chaplain  states  that  large  numbers  ol  the  existing 
-haplains  are  wholly  unsuitable,  because  "good  men — except  in  rare  instances — cannot  bo 
obtained  at  Home  OflSce  pay." 

I  "  We  add  jnst  two  more  representative  quotations.  This  from  an  ex-prisoner  who  has 
known  three  different  prisons :— "Prison  chaplains  have  a  tremendous  opportunity.  A  good 
nan  is  very  much  appreciated  by  the  prisoners;  but  unfortunately  the  average  chaplain 
IS  regarded  as  a  joke,  as  one  of  the  prison  staff  (and  therefore  a  natural  enemy)  who  is 
:lever  enough  (so  they  think)  to  stick  to  a  'soft  job'  by  talking  hypocrisy."  And  a  warder 
of  28  years'  service  asserts:  "The  chaplain  is  now  just  a  part  of  the  establishment.  The 
Old  lags'  know  his  weak  points;  the  new  prisoners  are  too  reticent  to  an  official.  Chaplains 
should  come  in  from    outside,  not   as  officials." 


196     CHAPLAINS,   RELIGIOUS  SERVICES,  AND   VISITATION    ^ 

authorities  cannot  expect  to  secure  for  the  outcasts  of  society  th 
spiritual  friends  and  brothers  whom  many  of  them  sorely  need." 

EoMAN  Catholic  Priests. 

The  Charter  of  religious  liberty  for  the  English  prisoner  runs  h 
follows :  — 

If  any  prisoner  who  is  of  a  religious  persuasion  different  from  tha 
of  the  Established  Church  specially  so  requests,  the  governor  shal 
permit  a  minister  of  that  persuasion  to  visit  him  at  proper  and  reason 
able  times,  under  regulations  approved  by  the  Commissioners.  Th 
governor  shall  cause  such  prisoners  to  be  made  acquainted  with  thi 
privilege  on  their  admission.^" 

The  large  majority  of  those  prisoners  who  avail  themselves  of  thi 
liberty  of  choice  (and  choice  is  the  rarest  thing  possible  in  prison 
are  Eoman  Catholics.  In  1906  (it  is  unlikely  that  the  proportion 
have  altered  much  since)  out  of  every  twenty  prisoners,  approxi 
mately  fifteen  were  registered  as  Church  of  England,  four  vver 
Roman  Catholic  and  one  only  belonged  to  some  other  denomina 
tion.'' 

The  Eoman  Catholic  Church  possesses  an  exceptionally  favourei 
status  in  our  prisons.  Its  chaplains  are  not  appointed  by  th 
Commissioners,  but  by  the  bishop  of  the  diocese,  whose  nominatio 
is  approved  by  the  Commissioners.  Except  in  a  few  of  the  larges 
prisons  they  are  not  full-time  officials,  but  visiting  or  parish  priest? 
with  other  outside  duties."  For  this  reason  Eoman  Catholic  chap 
lains  enjoy  an  independence  unknown  to  their  Anglican  coUeaguej 
at  the  prison ;  their  time  (except  perhaps  in  the  case  of  the  few  fulj 
time  chaplains)  is  not  filled  up  with  routine  work;  nor  are  thej 
regarded  as  officials  in  the  same  way  as  are  the  Anglican  chaplain? 

2'  We  add  a  brief  mention  of  one  or  two  other  matters  affecting  this  chapter,  whii 
cannot   be   more   fully   treated: — 

(i)  In  the  la^t  few  years  the  Commissioners  have  experimentally  allowed  evangelis 
belonging  to  the  Church  Army  to  take  the  place  of  assistant  chaplains  in  certs 
prisons.  It  seems  possible  that  this  may  be  an  important  development,  leading  i 
some  cases  to  the  substitution   of   these  preachers  for  the  usual  type  of  chaplain.       | 

(ii)    Religious    "Missions"    are    occasionally    held   by    the   Church   Army    and    other    bodi<; 

They   may  extend   over   four   week-days,   with    daily    services,   the   attendance   at   whij 

is    strictly   voluntary.  I 

(iii)  Bible    classes    are   occasionally   held    by    the   chaplain   for   those   desirous   of   attendir 

and   confirmation  classes   for  any  prisoner  who  is  to  be  confirmed  by  the  bishop.       ' 

The  portions  of  the  chaplain's  department  which  fall  under  the  heads  of  Library  a 
Education   have   been  considered  in   a   previous  chapter. 

»»  Local    prison    rules    (1899),    Section    59.    Cp.     also    Section    47    (4). 

31  Acrordin?  to  the  Parliamentary  Return  made  in  March,  1906,  out  of  21.580  inmat 
of  the  61  Local  and  Convict  prisons  then  open  in  England  and  Wales,  as  many  as  16,01 
were  returned  as  "Church  of  England,"  4,397  were  Roman  Catholics,  leaving  only  1,0': 
who  professed  other  kinds  of  religion  or  none  at  all.  (Of  the?.e  1,094,  257  were  Je'l 
while   22    returned    themselves    as    Atheists    and   26    as    "No   religion.")  J 

The  great  preponderance  of  "Church  of  England"  prisoners  is  largely  due  to  tl| 
denomination  being  established  as  a  national  institution.  Only  a  very  few  of  such  prisoni 
are  members  o?  the  Church  of  England,  in  the  sense  of  being  communicants  or  ev; 
attenders    in    ordinary    life.  | 

'2  The  Local  and  Convict  prisons  all  have  part-time  Roman  Catholic  Chaplains,  exc<| 
those   at   Wormwood    Scrubbs,    Liverpool,    Manchester    and    Dartmoor. 


VISITING  MIXISTI:BS  197 

A  priest,  who  was  Roman  Catholic  chaplain  for  six  years  at  a 
Midland  prison — a  man  whose  sympathies  were  strongly  on  the  side 
of  the  prisoners — has  informed  us  that  he  was  not  interfered  with 
in  his  ministrations  either  by  the  Commissioners  or  the  governor. 
He  held  services  on  weekdays  and  Sundays,  and  had  access  to  his 
prisoners  at  all  times,  with  keys  to  their  cells.  None  of  the  other 
Roman  Catholic  chaplains,  whom  we  have  consulted,  have  com- 
plained of  their  ministrations  being  seriously  hampered  by  the 
Commissioners'  regulations. 

From  the  abo^  e  considerations  and  other  evidence,  we  conclude 
that  Roman  Catholic  prisoners  are  likely  to  get  friendship  and 
spiritual  comfort  to  an  extent  which  is  unknown  to  most  other 
prisoners.  But  for  them  also  the  punitive  regime  remains,  cover- 
ing the  greater  part  of  their  prison  life ;  and  some  at  least  of  their 
chaplains  are  not  sufficiently  enlightened,  as  their  evidence  to  us 
.testifies,  to  have  any  insight  into  the  injurious  and  unnecessary 
jcharacter  of  that  regime. 

Visiting  Ministers. 
Turning  to  the  visiting  ministers  of  the  various  Free  Church 
denominations  (of  which  the  Wesleyan  Methodists  are  the  most 
important  for  prison  purposes),  we  find  that  though  they  are  usually 
as  free  as  the  Roman  Catholic  priests  from  the  stigma  of  officialism, 
yet  they  may  be  seriously  hampered  in  their  spiritual  work  by  want 
of  sufficient  access  to  the  prisoners,  and  of  opportunities  for  holding 
united  worship." 

!  We  have  received  complaints  both  from  Nonconformist  prisoners 
and  from  visiting  ministers,  that  "there  is  nothing  like  religious 
equality  in  prison."  In  the  first  place,  though  a  service  or  fellow- 
;ship  meeting  is  permitted  where  the  number  of  prisoners  attending 
is  in  excess  of  eight  or  ten,  it  may  not  in  any  case  be  held  on  Sunday, 
jnor  as  a  rule  moie  often  than  once  a  fortnight.  Contrast  this  with 
'the  daily  and  Sunday  services  of  the  Anglicans !  Secondly,  it  is, 
|we  believe,  exceptional  for  a  visiting  Nonconformist  minister  (other 
'than  a  Wesley  an)  to  be  allowed  a  key,  so  that  he  may  have  free  and 
private  access  to  the  cells;  nor,  indeed,  is  he,  as  a  rule,  allowed  to 
pay  his  cell  visits  on  more  than  one  short  afternoon  each  week. 
These  restrictions  detract  very  largely  from  the  good  that  an  earnest 
minister  could  otherwise  do.  Not  only  is  the  time  for  prayer  and 
conversation  cut  short,  but  the  absence  of  a  key  means  or  may  mean 
that  the  invaluable  blessing  of  a  sense  of  privacy  is  lost,  owing  to  the 
presence,  real  or  suspected,  of  the  escorting  warder  outside  the  open 
jcell  door." 

"  We  hare  no  intention  of  making  any  comparison  here  between  the  respectire  virtOM 
oJ  Anglican  and  Nonconformist  (or  Roman  Catholic)  chaplains.  When  General  Booth 
asked  for  the  prisons  to  be  handed  over  to  the  Salvation  Army's  spiritual  care,  many  "Army" 
iofficers  with  a  knowledge  of  prisons  thanked  God  that  the  request  was  not  granted,  leat 
[they  should  themselres   become    prison    officials,  with   all   the  drawbacks   incidental   thereto. 

'*  Owing  to  the  small  number  of  Nonconformists,  such  prisoners  usually  hare  the  advantage 
joJ  more  frequent  visits  than  "Church  of  England"  men.  A  Wesleyan  minister  writes  to 
.n«:  "Probably  every  Wesleyan  prisoner  is  seen  once  a  fortnight,  perhaps  for  ten  minute*. 
Uttle  enough.    Every   day    would    not   be   too   much." 


198    CHAPLAINS,  BELIGIOUS  SERVICES,  AND   VISITATION 

Prison  ministers  receive  from  the  Government  a  small  capitatior 
grant  (starting  at  about  £2  per  prisoner  per  annum  for  the  first  fiv< 
prisoners).  They  are  under  similar  restrictions  to  the  chaplains, 
as  regards  the  prohibition  of  communications  with  the  friends  of  a 
prisoner,  or  to  the  press  or  public. 

In  the  case  of  the  smaller  denominations,  it  is  difficult  for  a 
prisoner,  unless  he  has  active  friends  outside,  to  secure  the  greai 
privilege  of  a  minister  of  his  own  persuasion.  He  is  apt,  for  the 
convenience  of  the  prison  authorities,  to  be  pressed  into  accepting 
the  ministrations  of  the  Established  Church,  or  of  the  Wesleyaii 
minister."  Until  recently  it  was  impossible  for  a  man  professing 
an  "ethical"  or  "agnostic"  philosophy  to  have  any  visitor  at  all; 
but  now,  it  is  stated  by  the  authorities,  "a  prisoner  who  declares 
himself  to  be  of  no  religious  persuasion  may  be  visited,  for  the 
purposes  of  moral  assistance  or  guidance,  by  some  person  of  repute 
approved  by  the  Prison  Commissioners  for  the  purpose.""  W( 
know  of  political  offenders  who  have  been  able,  with  some  difficulty 
to  obtain  this  privilege ;  but  we  have  no  information  as  to  how  far  ill 
has  been  obtainable  by  other  prisoners."  ' 

Other  Visitors  to  Prisoners.  i 

The  Departmental  Committee  of  1894-5,  when  discussing  th<| 
difficulties  inherent  in  any  effort  to  bring  "reformatory  influences "j 
to  bear  upon  prisoners,  came  to  the  following  conclusions: —         \ 

Without  an  excessive  and  impossible  increase  in  the  number  of  highej 
prison  officials  adequate  individual  attention  to  prisoners  could  not  bl 
given.  But  the  warders  could  be  trained  to  do  some  of  this  work,  ami 
under  proper  rules  and  regulations  outside  helpers  could  be  brought  iij 
to  supplement  the  work  of  the  prison  staff.  Ordinary  amateurs,  as 
rule,  would  be  worse  than  useless.  There  are,  however,  many  men  am 
women  in  every  centre  of  population,  who^  by  training  and  temperament 
are  amply  competent   to  render  valuable  assistance.^* 

*'■  We  understand   that    any   Nonconformist   may    attend  the  Wesleyan    serrices,    but    thti 
many  do  not  know  of  this  privilege.  ; 

'6  Answer  giyen  by  Sir  J.  Baird   to  Mr.   Myers  in    the  House   of  Commons,  on  July  7tl 
1921. 

"The  following  details    may  also   be   of  interest: — 

(i)  The  work  of  the  Salvation  Army  in  the  prisons  (i.e.,  not  including  "After-Care'l 
extends,  we  understand,  to  (a)  pastoral  visits  to  prisoners  who  either  belong  to  tlj 
"Army"  or  make  a  special  request  to  the  governor  to  see  a  Salvationist,  (b)  intervievj 
with  prisoners  who  desire  assistance  from  the  "Army"  alter  discharge,  and  (c)  tlj 
holding    (very   occasionally)    of  musical   or   mission   services.  i 

(ii)  Jewish  prisoners  are  exempted  from  labour  on  Sabbaths  and  the  five  principj 
festivals.  A  Jewish  visiting  minister  informs  us  that  he  has  come  across  quite  I 
number  of  Jews  who  gave  their  religion  as  Church  of  England  so  as  to  avoid  haviti 
solitary   confinement    on    Saturday    as    well   as   on    Sunday.  I 

(iii)  During  the  recent  war  there  were  for  the  first  time  sufficient  "Quaker"  prisoners  ■; 
allow  of  religious  meetings  being  held  on  the  basis  of  free  silence  as  practised  li 
the  Socicly  of  Tnends.  At  the;-e  meetintis  the  prisonprs  (or  some  of  therl 
usually  took  more  part  in  extempore  prayer  and  preaching  than  the  visiting  ministi 
himself.  It  is  conceivable  that  the  orderly  character  and  good  results  of  this  innovatuj 
had  some  influence  with  the  authorities  in  opening  the  way  for  the  recent  introduotit 
of   free   debates   in   certain   prisons.  j 

»8  Report   of   1895   Committee,   p.   9. 


THE  LADY  VISITORS  199 

This  cautious  recommendation  can  only  be  said  to  have  been  carried 
out  in  regard  to  the  female  section  of  the  prison  population,  and 
there  only  to  a  very  limited  extent. 

The  Lady  Visitors. 

In  women's  prisons  access  is  allowed  to  a  certain  number  of  Lady 
Visitors,  who  visit  the  prison  regularly.  Each  woman,  if  she  so 
desires,  is  allotted  to  a  visitor,  who  is  supposed  to  give  personal  help 
and  advice.  All  Lady  Visitors  are  appointed  by  the  Prison  Com- 
missioners, with  the  concurrence  of  the  Visiting  Committee,  and  of 
the  governor  and  chaplain  of  the  prison.  They  are  required  "to 
work  under  the  guidance  of  the  chaplain,  co-operating  with  him,  and 
seeing  such  prisoners  as  may  be  arranged  for  in  their  cells  or  in  a 
room.""  They  thus  have  a  very  definite  official  status;  and  the 
limitation  of  their  numbers  is  rigidly  secured  to  the  central  authority. 
I  During  the  year  1913-14,  we  are  informed,  "over  200  ladies  of 
various  denominations,  received  the  sanction  of  the  Commissioners 
to  visit  in  female  prisons ;  2,893  visits  were  made,  and  28,076 
separate  interviews  with  the  women  held  during  the  year. ' '  "  These 
figures  are  not,  however,  so  imposing  as  they  might  at  first  sight 
appear.  They  indicate  that  each  Lady  visited  on  the  average  about 
once  a  month,  and  had  about  ten  short  interviews  during  each  visit. 
As  there  were  39  female  prisons,  each  prison  on  the  average 
had  about  five  or  six  Lady  Visitors.  Further,  37,523  women  were 
received  in  Local  prisons  during  the  year.  How  many  of  these,  we 
may  ask,  got  more  than  one  of  the  28,076  separate  interviews  with 
\z  visitor  during  her  sentence?  Clearly  the  visitation  of  women 
prisoners  is  not  overdone.^* 

'  Apart  from  the  rarity  of  the  visits  in  many  cases,  it  is  obvious 
that  the  value  o.^  the  arrangements  depends,  not  quite,  but  almost 
entirely,  on  the  personality  of  the  Visitor  herself,  and  on  her  willing- 
ness to  give  good  work  rather  than  good  words.  The  Visitor  is 
inevitably  something  of  an  official.  She  is  handicapped  (far  more, 
usually  than  she  knows)  by  the  fact  that  no  prisoner  is  able  to  be  her 
'  normal  self,  and  under  the  existing  system  it  is  almost  impossible  for 
the  right  human  relationships  to  exist.  But  the  mere  fact  of  discuss- 
ing troubles  wdth  a  friendly  person  from  outside  is  often  a  relief  to 
the  prisoner  and  a  certain  amount  of  good  work  is  certainly 
accomplished. 

On  the  practical  side  of  obtaining  employment  on  discharge  much 
help  is  given  bv  Lady  Visitors.  In  Holloway,  besides  the  four 
i  Visitors  for  the  whole  prison,  one  Visitor  is  specially  appointed  for 
'the  girls  under  the  "modified  Borstal"  treatment,  and  she  devotes 
much  time  to  them.     There  is  also  a  Lady  Missioner.     The  Lady 

i     »»8.0.  155    (1911). 

!     "P.O.  Report,  1915-14,  p.   40. 

.    ^'PreTious   to   1895    the  Commissioners    were   much    less  in   favonr   of  Lady   Visitors.    In 

1894,   ont    of    54   prisons   receiving    women,    25   prisons    had   no   visitors.    Sir   E.    Da    Cano 

suggested  in  his  book  that   the  visits  of  Elizabeth  Fry  and  her  friends  ceased  to  be  useful 

80   soon    as   the  regular  authorities    in  the  prison  had  been  stimulated  to  do  their  duty." 

—  (  The  Punishment  of  Crime,"   p.  48). 


200     CHAPLAINS,   RELIGIOUS  SERVICES,  AND   VISITATION 

Visitors  in  iSolloway  have  been  instrumental    in    obtaining    some 
recent  reforms." 

Visitation  of  Male  Prisoneks. 
In  the  male  prisons  there  is,  as  a  rule,  nobody  corresponding  to 
the  Lady  Visitor,  whose  existence  is  probably  chiefly  due  to  the  fact; 
that  the  chaplain  is  of  the  opposite  sex  to  the  inmates  of  female; 
prisons."  It  is  true  that  one  or  two  exceptional  individuals,  oi 
commanding  personality  and  influence  for  good,  (such  as  the  late' 
Thomas  Holmes,  Secretary  of  the  Howard  Association)  have  beeui 
sufficiently  trusted  by  the  Commissioners  to  be  allowed  a  free  hand: 
in  visiting  prisoners.  But  in  the  ordinary  way,  the  male  prisonei: 
(whether  a  convict  or  a  "local")  receives  no  visits  except  (a)  the 
rare  periodic  visit  from  relative  or  friend,  (b)  the  visit  from  thc: 
chaplain  or  prison  minister,  and  possibly  (c)  a  visit  from  the  agent, 
of  the  local  Prisoners'  Aid  Society,  or  from  a  representative  of  thi 
Salvation  Army,  with  a  view  to  assisting  him  to  find  employment 
on  his  discharge. 

The  value  of  the  last  class  of  visits  is  no  doubt  considerable  fron:. 
the  point  of  view  of  After  Care;**  but  it  can  hardly  be  expected  t(i 
have  any  lasting  influence  upon  the  character  of  the  prisoner,  if  onlji 
because  each  prisoner  receives  as  a  rule  no  more  than  a  single  visit 
to  discuss  his  future  occupation,  towards  the  close  of  his  sentence! 
But  there  are  exceptions  to  this  generalisation,  as  in  the  case  of  th<i 
Aid  Society  agent  who  informs  us:  — 

I  quickly  discovered  that  I  could  not  do  my  work  well  unless  I  ha<| 

access  to  prisoners  long  before  their  discharge,  without  an  officer  beinji 

present,  and  I  so  far  carried  my  point  that  cell  and  pass-keys  were  give)} 

to  me,   so  that  I  could  visit  prisoners  at  any  time. 

Such  a  practice  has  hitherto  been  of  rare  occurrence.     It  is,  how| 

ever,  encouraging  to  note  that  the  Chaplain  Inspector  is  approvingl; 

quoted  by  the  Prison  Commissioners  in  their  1920  Eeport,  as  being  \ 

strongly  of  opinion  that  an  (Aid  Society)  agent  ought  to  visit  the  prise 

daily    to    see    not    only    prisoners     due    for    discharge,    but     also    th 

receptions,  in  order  that  he  may  begin  his  contact  with  probable  client, 

right  from  the   beginning  of  the  sentence,   and  in  the  case  of  the   u'r 

convicted,   even   before  that    time.     By  this  means  the   agent   could  b 

in   close  touch  with  the  prisoner,  and   in  the  case  of   one  remanded  fj 

committed  for  trial,  he  might  be  of  great  use  to  him  in  Court.^'  j 

This  excellent  official  suggestion,  if  it  could  be  extended  (as  seem! 
to  be  contemplated)  beyond  the  Society  agents,  may  open  the  dec 
to  the  establishment  in  our  prisons  of  lay  visitors,  who  would  ac 
as  "prisoners'  friends,"  and  perform  many  beneficent  services,  sucl; 
as  the  chaplain,  under  present  conditions,  is  unable  to  supplyj 
Many  of  our  witnesses,  ex-prisoners  and  others,   have  emphasise«i 

*^  See  also  the  account  of  the  educational  work  now  being  attempted  in  one  prisoi, 
pp.   166-67. 

*'  Tt  may  be  noted  that  in  the  case  of  at  least  one  reliKiouB  body  (the  Society  of  Frienc 
or  Quakers)  a  woman  has  been  accepted  by  the  Commissioners  as  »  visiting  minister  (; 
prisoners    of  her   own  sex    and    denomination. 

**  See  Chapter  28  of   this  Part. 

«4  P.C.    Report,    1919-20.   pp.    28-29.    Op.   pp.   469   and   470. 


VISITATION    OF    MALE    PRISONERS  201 

bhe  need  of  such  persons.  Most  of  the  agents  of  the  Aid  Societies, 
whom  we  have  approached,  are  in  favour  of  "much  more  approved 
dsitation,"  provided  sufficient  care  is  exercised  in  the  selection  of 
dsitors;  and  some  of  the  chaplains  concur  in  this,  though  there  are 
other  chaplains,  who  want  the  work  left  to  themselves,  and  (in  the 
words  of  one  of  them)  object  to  "letting  well-meaning  amateurs  from 
outside  dabble."  One  high  prison  official  is  in  favour  of  the  men 
prisoners  being  visited  by  a  Lady  Visitor.  "With  the  right  woman, " 
he  says,  "it  would  be  a  tremendous  help.  The  influence  of  a 
woman  is  refining,  and  in  the  case  of  married  prisoners  and  boys 
her  work  might  be  of  immense  value."**  At  least  one  governor  is 
quoted  in  the  Commissioners'  annual  volumes  as  recommending  the 
visitation  of  men  prisoners  on  similar  lines  to  that  authorised  in  the 
case  of  the  women.*' 

The  great  lack  of  unofficial  prison  visitors  is  doubtless  largely  due 
to  dislike  by  the  Central  Authority  of  any  interference  in  its  own 
absolute  control  over  the  prison  regime  and  to  its  dread  of  any 
ireform  which  would  throw  the  prisons  and  their  repressive  arrange- 
ments open  to  the  inspection  of  the  inconvenient  philanthropist  ;*'  it 
has  also  been  felt  that  the  punitive  element  of  the  treatment  might 
be  seriously  impaired  if  a  prisoner  had  frequent  visits  from 
sympathetic  outsiders.** 

But  the  largest  share  of  the  blame  for  the  desolate  and  friendless 
position  of  most  prisoners  must,  we  think,  be  laid  at  the  doors  of 
:;he  intelligent  public,  and  of  the  Christian  Churches  in  particular, 
who  have  shown  no  insistent  desire  to  befriend  the  prisoners  and 
captives,  for  whom  they  sometimes  offer  up  prayer.  One  of  the  very 
"ew  volunteers,  who  has  been  allowed  to  visit  prisoners  before  their 
;lischarge  as  the  "honorary  agent"  of  an  Aid  Society,  writes  to  us 
«  follows:  — 

The  first  thing  that  struck  me  when  applying  for  permission  to  visit 
prisons  and  prisoners,  was  the  surprise  that  such  an  application 
evidently  caused  ;  and  when  after  much  correspondence  I  was  at  last 
pat  into  touch  with  the  Aid  Society  and  eventually  interviewed,  I  was 
made  to  feel  how  extremely  rare  such  an  application  was,  and  how 
remarkably  "good"  it  was  of  m^  to  think  of  visiting  prisoners  for  no 
apparent  reason.  And  yet,  one  would  imagine  that  anyone  who  had 
come  into  contact  with  any  sort  of  Christianity,  or  who  had  merely  read 
the  New  Testament  would  have  taken  some  note  of  the  words  "I  was 
^^■kk  and  in  prison,  and  ye  visited  Me  not." 

^J^^^  haTe  been  informed  that  in  one  prison  Sisters  oJ  Mercy  were  for  a  long  whils 
Tlowed  to  Tisit  the  juveniles  and  jnTenile  adult  prisoners  on  Saturdays  in  order  to  gire 
|iem  religions   instruction    (in   groups). 

i"e.g..  P.G.  Report.  1900,  p.  204.  But  the  3  894-5  Departmental  Committee  found  that 
je  general  opinion  of  prison  ofiBcials  "appeared  adverse  to  Lady  Visitors,  unless  specially 
nalifled   and  selected   with   great   care."     (Report:   p.    14.) 

*'  Contrast  the  wise  attitude  taken  up  in  the  Report  of  the  Indian  Jails  Committee, 
j>19-20  (Vol.  1,  p.  259),  where  the  practice  of  encouraging  non-official  visitors  to  Indian 
|i!ons  is  commended. 

'•  "If  the  door  were  opened   too   wide,  and  visits   (i.e..  to  prisoners   by  Aid   Society  agents) 
■lowed  indiscriminately,  one  of   the  principal  ends  of  the  punishment  would   be   defeated." 
•per   on  "Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid  Societies."  by  Sir   E.  Ruggles-Brise,   in  Report  of  the 
■national   Prison  Congresses,   1895  and    1900,  p.    128. 

H2 


202  CHAPLAINS,   RELIGIOUS  SERVICES,  AND   VISITATION 

SOME    OF     THE     PRINCIPAL     DEFECTS     INDICATED    IN     THE 
PRECEDING    CHAPTER. 


Church  of  England  Chaplains. 

1. — The  contrast  between  prison  treatment  and  the  ethics  of  Christianity 
seriously  and  constantly  handicaps  the  chaplain  in  his  religious  work. 

2. — The  chaplain  is  appointed  by  the  Home  Secretary  and  is  under  the 
control  of  the  Prison  Commissioners.  His  official  position  and  the  numerous 
and  varied  duties  he  has  to  perform  in  connection  with  the  administration 
of  the  prison  detract  from  his  influence  and  encourage  hypocrisy  in  th« 
prisoner.  ^M 

3. — The  conditions  of  service  do  not  usually  attract  the  best  type  ol 
clergyman. 

4. — The  chaplain  is  overburdened  with  work.  He  has  little  time  for  tht 
proper  visitation  of  prisoners.  A  visit  of  about  five  minutes  once  a  montl 
is  almost  useless. 

5. — In  addition  to  the  incongruity  of  officially  holding  Christian  service 
as  a  part  of  the  prison  routine,  their  value  is  impaired  by  the  obtrusion  o: 
the  disciplinary  element,  particularly  the  prominent  posts  of  observatioij 
occupied  by  the  warders. 

6. — Sunday,  owing  to  the  excessive  confinement,  is  to  many  prisoners  th 
■worst  day  in  the  week. 

Visiting  Ministers. 
7. — Owing  to  the  favoured   position   of   the   Established  Church,  there 
no  true  religious  equality  in  prison. 

8. — There  is  no  Nonconformist  service  on  Sundays,  and  rarely  is  one  he); 
more  than  once  a  fortnight.  j 

9. — Nonconformist  ministers  (other  than  Wesleyans)  are  rarely  allows 
to  have  cell  keys  and  all  their  cell  visitation  is  generally  restricted  to  oi; 
afternoon  a  week  at  the  most. 

Other  Visitors. 

10. — It  is  quite  exceptional  for  an  adult  male  prisoner  to  have  the  bene; 
of  a  visit  from  anyone  except  the  official  chaplain  or  visiting  minister ;  apaj 
from  a  single  interview  with  an  After-care  agent. 


CHAPLAINS,  RELIGIOUS  SERVICES,  AND   VISITATION  203 

Appendix  to  Chapter  Eleven. 

A  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  PRIEST  ON  THE  PRISON  SYSTEM. 


[The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  replies  sent  (among  a  number  of  others 
from  chaplains)  to  the  secretaries  of  the  Enquiry  in  response  to  a  list  of 
questions,  by  a  priest  who  had  been  for  some  years  chaplain  at  one  of  the 
smaller  prisons.     The  italics  represent  the  words  underlined  by  the  writer. 

It  will  be  observed  that  this  chaplain  is  in  favour  of  more  educational 
facilities,  but  is  otherwise,  apparently,  quite  satisfied  with  the  existing 
regime.  We  give  the  statement  without  comment,  as  an  illustration  of  the 
views  of  a  certain  type  of  official,  who  is  not  uncommonly  to  be  found  in 
the  prison  service,  and  much  more  among  the  superior  officers,  we  think, 
than  among  the  warders.  The  answers  sufficiently  indicate  the  questions  put, 
but  the  full  questionnaire  will  be  found  on  pp.  601-3.] 

I  consider  that  laws  are  made  for  the  protection  of  the  individuals  of 
society.  Laws  thus  made  are  then,  in  the  first  place,  deterrent,  and  in  the 
ttcond  place,  reformative. 

Under  English  justice  everyone  is  innocent  till  proved  guilty,  and  only 
then  when  proved  guilty  do  the  prison  regulations  affect  the  individual,  and 
ihesf  regulations  necessarily  then  should  be  primarily  deterrent  and 
I  secondarily   reformative. 

1.  I  would   not  prefer  local  administration. 

2.  The  authorities  have  a  clear  idea  of  the  deterrent  and  reformative 
elements  in  the  present  discipline. 

Yes.  I  consider  it  is  reformative  to  some  extent.  But  if  not,  then  it  is 
due.,  not  to  wrong  personnel  nor  to  bad  regulations,  but  to  the  fault  of  the 
.individual  offender  against  the  law. 

3.  I  am  not  prepared  to  advocate  free  association  among  prisoners. 

]  The  present  degree  of  association  is  of  real  value  to  subjects  amenable  to 
reformation. 

;  The  rule  of  silence,  as  now  practised,  is  beneficial  to  subjects  amenable  to 
reformation — to  others  it  is  necessary  punishment. 

I  do  not  think  it  is  good  to  give  opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  Christian 
and  social  virtues  one  towards  another. 

Men  are  not  injured  morally  by  loss  of  self-respect  involved,  e.g.,  in  being 
called  by  number ;  in  the  convict  dress,  etc.  Their  self-respect  is  lost  when 
they  transgress  the  laws,  and  the  sinking  of  personality,  etc.,  would  be  a 
help  to  subjects  willing  to  reform. 

4.  I  think  the  first  month  of  solitary  confinement  is  of  value  both  in  a 
deterrent  and  reformative  direction. 

i  To  those  amenable  to  reform  the  opportunity  for  reflection  promotes  peni- 
tence and  desire  for  a  better  life — to  others  it  most  likely  acts  as  a  deterrent, 
and  may  possibly  break  the  spirit  of  the  prisoner,  thus  making  him  more 
amenable  to  prison  discipline. 

I  5.  I  think  it  wise  to  encourage  reform  as  in  present  Borstal  and  Preventive 
I  Detention  experiments. 

j  I  do  not  think  we  want  a  complete  recasting  of  the  present  regime,  and  I 
ido  not  think  it  wise  to  give  liberty  to  religious  or  other  bodies  to  experiment. 


204  CHAPLAINS,   RELIGIOUS  SEBVICES,  AND    VISITATION 

6.  Prison  regime  is  not  responsible  for  the  great  number  of  recidivists, 
but  more  likely  surroundings  outside  the  prison. 

7.  I  do  not  remember  any  cases  of  a  trade  learnt  in  prison  being  such 
as  to  enable  one  to  earn  his  living  outside. 

8.  I  do  not  agree  that  greatest  need  is  further  classification  and  more 
individualised  treatment. 

9.  I  do  not  think  that  many  are  now  left  in  prison  who  ought  to  be  treated 
in  an  institution  for  mentally  defective. 

10.  "Modified  Borstal"  system  of  treating  juvenile  adults  is  successful  in 
giving  a  chance  of  starting  afresh. 

11.  I  do  not  think  that  opportunities  of  communication  between  the 
prisoner  and  his  family  should  be  increased. 

12  I  have  found  sincere  repentance  for  past  faults  almost  general  among 
first  offenders,  but  rarely  among  previously  convicted  prisoners. 

13.  I  have  not  come  across  cases  who  have  received  serious  damage  (a)  to 
their  physical  health,  or  (b)  to  their  mentality,  owing  to  the  condition  of 
their  imprisonment. 

14      The  effect  of  confinement  on  a  prisoner's  mind  is  not  necessarily  bad, 
nor  does  it  concentrate  thoughts  on  crime,  except  in  cases  difficult  of  reforma- 
tion ;  nor  does  it  concentrate  his  mind  on  sexual  things,  except  in  cases  so  J 
inclined. 

15.  I  quite  agree  that  most  prisoners  find  Saturday  afternoons  aad 
Sundays  exceedingly  monotonous. 

Sundays  might  be  much  more  effectively  utilised  for  true  educational  and 
reformative  purposes. 

Chaplains  might  classify  prisoners  into  different  groups,  according  to| 
educational  facilities  or  the  capacities  of  the  prisoners ;  and  their  education! 
or  reformation  might  be  attempted  by  the  chaplain  with  the  co-operation 
of   warders   and  the   help    of   efficient  outside  visitors,   as   suggested    undeij 

answer  to  Question  21.  i 

I 

16.  I  have  observed  the  effect  of  restraint  and  isolation  on  their  menta! 
life ;  in  cases  of  subjects  amenable  to  reformation  it  is  generally  good.  Ir; 
refractory  cases  this  restraint,  etc.,  is  only  a  deterrent.  But  no  markec 
psychological  change  is  noticeable  in  prisoners. 

17  Literature  plays  its  part  only  according  to  the  former  inclinationr 
of  prisoners.  According  to  their  former  inclinations  it  is  one  of  the  chielj 
factors  of  mental  health.     Many  but  not  most  prisoners  appreciate  books. 

18.     Greater  facilities  could  be  given  for  education,  as  suggested  in  answer 
to  Questions  15  and  21. 

19  More  facilities  should  not  be  given  for  creative  activity,  nor  greate, 
provision  for  writing  facilities.  ' 

20  My  religious  ministrations  have  never  been  hampered  by  unreasonabi 
rules  and  restrictions. 

I   would  net  like  the  discipline  by  warders  to  be   less  prominent   durin 
services. 


A    PBIEST   ON    THE   SYSTEM  205 

21.  It  is  not  a  good  thing  to  leave  the  personal  reformative  side  of  the 
treatment  to  the  chaplain  only.     The  co-operation  of  warders  and  of  efficient 

"outside  visitors  is  desirable,  as  referred  to  in  answers  to  Questions  15  and  18. 
Governors  co-operate  willingly  and  effectively  in  this  work  by  personal  con- 
tact and  knowledge  of  prisoners. 

22.  I  do  710^  think  the  ground  of  many  prison  practices  and  restrictions 
iB  the  wish  to  save  time  and  trouble  and  to  keep  down  the  numbers  of  the 
•taff. 

23.  I  consider  the  practice  of  putting  men  in  "observation  cells"  a  good 
one,  and  do  not  know  of  any  bad  results  from  this  practice. 

24.  Arrangements  for  "after-care"  of  prisoners  are  good  and  adequate. 

In  my  experience,  societies  are  able  to  find  work  for  all  ex-prisoners  who 
are  willing  to  accept  their  help. 

This  letter  is  in  reply  to  the  list  of  "Questions  for  con*ideration"  which 
you  forwarded,  and  is  answered  in  rotation. 


CHAPTER  XII 


LETTEES    AND    VISITS 

The  Infrequency  of  Letters 

A  prisoner  in  the  third  division  is  not  permitted  to  write  a  letter 
for  eight  weeks  after  the  commencement  of  his  sentence/  and  to 
secure  even  this  "privilege"  he  must  earn  full  marks  at  his  work 
and  have  a  clean  record  so  far  as  punishments  are  concerned. 
Following  that  he  may  receive  a  letter  after  six  weeks,  and  after- 
wards every  four  weeks  throughout  his  sentence.'  Visits  are 
allowed  at  similar  intervals;  if  a  prisoner  does  not  have  a  visit,  he 
may  write  and  receive  an  additional  letter,  instead.' 

Many  ex-prisoners  describe  the  long  intervals  between  letters,  and 
particularly  the  initial  eight  weeks'  wait,  as  the  most  cruel  feature 
of  imprisonment.  "I  entered  prison  recently -married,"  says  one 
prisoner,  who  served  a  life-sentence.  "Three  years  after,  I  heard 
that  my  wife  was  going  wrong.  I  wrote,  but  was  obliged  to  wait 
three  months — as  was  the  rule  when  I  began  my  sentence — before  1 
could  write  again.  The  time  was  one  of  great  anxiety.  She 
eventually  threw  me  over  for  another  man,  but  I  believe  if  I  had 
been  allowed  more  contact  with  her,  I  might  have  had  her  yet." 

"The  long  silence  and  the  absence  of  news  from  home — especially 
to  the  man  whose  home  is  poor  and  whose  wife  is  struggling,"  says 
a  warder,  "often  depresses  a  prisoner  almost  to  madness."  "The 
mental  agony  of  those  who  think  anything  about  home  would  b6 
very  largely  reduced,"  says  the  agent  of  a  Discharged  Prisoners' 
Aid  Society,  "if  letters  were  allowed  once  a  fortnight." 

In  the  report  of  his  visit  to  America  in  1910  in  connection  with  , 
the  eighth  International  Penitentiary  Congress,  the  Chairman  of  the  i 

1  Prisoners    are    permitted    to    send    a    formal    notification    ol    their    imprisonment    to   one  j 
friend    "if   the   goTemor    is   satisfied   that   the   prisoner's   friends   are   not   aware  that   he  i» 
under  sentence,  or  in  what  prison  be  is  confined,  and  that  it  is  desirable  that  the;  should  | 
be  informed."  j 

*  Prisoners  committed  on  default  of  payment  of  a  fine,  or  for  debt,  may  send  a  letter 
with  the  object  of  procuring  release  at  any  reasonable  time.  All  prisoners  may  be  per- 
mitted a  special  letter  on  the  occasion  of  the  death  of  a  relatire,  or  on  urgent  business 
matters,  or  with  the  object  of  securing  employment  on  release,  but  most  governors  are  ' 
strict  in  the  interpretation  which  they  place  on  these  words  and  allow  special  letters 
very  rarely.  The  governor  may  at  any  time  communicate  to  a  prisoner  "any  matter  of 
importance."  j 

'  For  rules  allowing  more  frequent  letters  and  visits  in  the  case  of  certain  other  classes  of  j 
pri-joners,  see  pp.  218,  221,  224,  227,  299-300,  and  307-9.  The  even  less  frequent  letters 
and  visits  allowed   to  convicts   are   referred  to  in  pp.  325-6   and   334. 


THE   INFREQUENCY   OF   LETTERS  207 

Prison  Commissioners  for  Scotland  records  that  in  American 
prisons  "much  more  frequent  letters  from  relatives  are  allowed 
than  with  us."  One  American  governor,  he  adds,  said  he  thought 
the  British  system  "absolutely  cruel."*  Our  ex-prisoner  witnesses 
are,  needless  to  say,  unanimously  of  the  same  opinion,  and  a  large 
majority  of  the  official  witnesses  take  the  same  view. 

"Much  more   frequent  letters   should  be  permitted,"   says   the 

priest  at  one  prison.     "Family  affection  is,  as  a  rule,  the  one  link 

one  has  to  work  on,  and  if  more  communication  could  be  kept  up 

with  home  the  men  would  have  some  hope."     "Frequent  letters,  ' 

says  a  Nonconformist  visiting  minister,   "would  help  to  keep  the 

prisoner  alive  to  his  social  and  family  duties."     "The  influence  of 

relatives  and    friends  from  outside   has  a  beneficial    effect    on    a 

;  prisoner,"  says  a  warder,  "and  helps  a  man    in    those    hours    of 

soHtude  of  which  a  prisoner  has  far  too   many."       "Letters  are 

^  humanising,"    says   a  Wesleyan   minist^er   at  a   large    prison;    "to 

I  deny  them  is  a  cruel  and  hardening  punishment." 

j  On  the  rare  occasions  upon  which  the  present  infrequency  cf 
j  letters  is  justified  by  our  witnesses  the  grounds  are  three.  One  or 
;  two    officials    defend    isolation    from    relatives    as    a    punishment.* 

Several  point  out  that  more  letters  would  involve  an  addition  to  the 

staff  in  order  that  the  necessary  censorship  could  be  carried  out. 
,  One  priest  says  that  the  fewer  the  letters  from  home  the  better,  since 

"parental  weakness,  if  not  criminality,  is  often  responsible  for  the 
I  crimes  of  the  children."  The  following  statement  by  an  ex-prisoner, 
1  submitted  to  us  quite  independently,  happens  to  deal  with  all  three 

points : — 

The  withholding  of  letters  is  a  pnnishment  not  only  to  the  prisoner 
but  to  his  dear  ones.  It  would  be  difficult  to  say  who  suffers  the  more 
— the  man  in  his  cell,  cut  off  from  home  for  eight  weeks,  full  of 
remorse,  anxious  as  to  how  his  family  is  getting  on,  worrying,  perhaps, 
over  a  wife  or  a  child  who  is  ill ;  or  the  woman  at  home,  grieving  over 
the  man  in  disgrace,  wondering  what  has  become  of  him,  asking  herself 
again   and   again    if    his    health    can   stand    it.        Moreover,    the   more 

,  criminal   a  man  is,   and    therefore,   presumably,   the   more  deserving  of 

I  punishment,    the    less   likely   is   he    to   feel    this   deprivation   of   letters. 

It  is  upon  the  least  criminal  type  of  prisoner  that  the  punishment  falls 
most  heavily. 

If  we  pass  from  the  point  of  view  of  punishment  to  the  point  of  view 
of  reform,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  in  the  great  majority  of  cases 
letters  from  home  have  a  softening  and  humanising  effect.  If  any 
letter  is  bad  in  its  influence,  the  governor  always  has  the  power  to 
stop  it. 
The  objection  that  more   letters  mean  more  censors  surely  ought  not 

I  to  stand  in  the  way.     If   letters  would   help  to  unmake   criminals  the 

I  extra  censors  would  be  cheap. 

*0p.  cit.    (Cmd.  564),   1911,    p.   19. 

•Bee   Report   of   Brussels    International    Prison   Congress    (1900),    p.    128.       (Quoted   oa 
p.   201.) 


208  LETTEIiS  AND  VISITS 

The  Censorship  of  Letters. 
Both  the  outgoing  and  incoming  letters  are  read  by  the  officials 
and  are  liable  to  be  censored.  The  prisoner  is  informed  on  one  of 
his  cell  cards  that  he  must  not  write  about  his  treatment  in  prison, 
but  as  a  matter  of  fact  allusions  to  prison  routine  are  permitted 
by  Standing  Orders  unless  they  are  made  in  the  way  of  complaint.' 
In  many  cases  tJie  effect  of  the  rule  prohibiting  complaints  gives  the 
recipient  of  the  letter  a  quite  wrong  impression  of  the  conditions  and 
feehngs  of  the  writer.  "I  should  just  like  to  write  you  a  letter  in 
which  I  could  insert  black  as  well  as  white,"  a  convict  once  wrote 
in  a  letter,  "I'd  turn  this  show  upside  down."  But  even  these 
words  were  deleted. 

An  ex-prisoner  says  on  this  point:  — 

Many  prisoners  receive  replies  from  their  friends  saying  that  tlify 
are  pleased  to  have  such  cheerful  letters.  The  prisoner  either  smiles 
grimly  or  curses  vigorously  when  he  reads  this.  It  is  practically 
impossible  for  a  prisoner  to  write  anything  but  a  cheerful  letter.  If 
he  complains  of  anything,  what  he  writes  is  immediately  deleted.  On 
this  account  it  is  practically  impossible  to  ascertain  the  true  feelings 
of  a  man  in  prison. 

Allegations  of  ill-health  are  permitted  "if  they  contain  no  complaints 
of  medical  or  prison  treatment,"  but  letters  containing  such  allega- 
tions must  be  accompanied  by  "a  short  statement  of  the  prisoner's 
real  state  of  health  signed  by  the  medical  officer."  ' 

On  the  first  page  of  the  official  note-paper  upon  which  prisoners 
write  to  their  friends,  a  printed  notice  appears  to  this  effect:  — 

The  permission  to  write  and  receive  letters  is  given  to  prisoners  for  j 

the    purpose    of    enabling   them    to   keep    up    a    connection    with   their  . 

respectable   friends  and  not  that  they  may  be  kept  informed  of  public  i 

events.  | 

Nevertheless,  the  Standing  Orders  state  that  "news  of  public  events  j 
is  not  necessarily  to  be  treated  as  objectionable,"  and  instruct  the; 
governors  to  consider  whether  it  can  be  put  to  improper  uses.  | 
"News  of  passing  interest,  such  as  shipwrecks,  accidents,  etc.,  of  I 
even  political  events  are  as  a  rule  quite  unobjectionable,"  but  j 
accounts  of  racing,  football,  pugilism,  etc.,  are  open  to  doubt  as ; 
"possible  subjects  of  betting  amongst  prisoners  or  of  attempts  at  | 
famihar  conversations  with  officers. ' '  The  application  of  this  rule  | 
varies  greatly.  In  some  prisons  news  of  public  events  is  permitted 
fairly  freely;  in  others,  the  censorship  is  rigorously  applied  to  all 
news  relating  to  other  than  domestic  affairs.  For  instance,  the  j 
following  passage  was  deleted  from  a  letter  sent  to  Dartmoor  Prison  j 
in  1904:—  \ 

One  of  our  eld  favourites,  Dan  Leno,  is  dead  and  it  was  a  splendid  | 

funeral.     I   think  all  the  musical  artists  were   present,  and  the  flowers  j 

•  "Complaints    of  prison   treatment    should   be   deleted.  .  .  .    But    mere   allusions   to   priion 

routine    may    be   quite   admissible.    As   to   these  there  can  be  no   hard    and   last   rule,   DU» 

governors  are   advised   to  use  their    discretion   in   a   liberal  spirit."     (S.O.   591).  ] 

'  (S.O.    591). 


THE    CENSORSHIP   OF   LETTERS  209 

were  splendid.     The  Lord  Mayor's  Show  waa  a  good  old-fashioned  one 
this  year. 
What  harm  is  there  in  a  passage  like  this  ? 

News  of  the  conviction  of  other  prisoners  is  deleted  unless  the 
persons  concerned  are  relatives  of  the  prisoners. 

When  there  is  objectionable  matter  in  an  out-going  letter,  the 
prisoner  is  given  an  opportunity  to  re-write  it  in  the  first  instance. 
An  "inward  letter"  containing  objectionable  matter,  "too  long  for 
deletion,"  is  returned  to  the  sender  for  re-writing,  but  "when  the 
objectionable  matter  consists  of  one  or  more  short  sentences,"  it  is 
copied  into  the  "Erasure  Book."  Matter  deleted  from  out-going 
letters  is  similarly  placed  on  record  in  the  prison  books. 

The  process  of  censorship  often  involves  delay,  and  one  of  our 
ex-prisoner  witnesses  complains  of  the  anxiety  this  occasions:  — 

When  there  is  matter  in  one's  letter  which  it  is  thought  necessary  to 
refer  to  the  governor  or  the  Home  Office,  one  is  (so  far  as  my  experience 
goes)  not  informed  unless  the  decision  is  to  delete  or  suppress. 

The  result  m  that  there  is  great  delay  in  the  dispatch  of  the  letter 
and  consequently  in  the  reply,  with  the  result  that  one  wonders  anxiously 
what  may  have  happened  to  the  person  to  whom  the  letter  is  sent.  For 
example,  when  I  was  in  prison  a  letter  which  I  wrote  was  held  up  for 
ten  days  without  my  knowing,  and  I  became  very  concerned  as  to  my 
wife's  health.  Not  receiving  my  letter  when  she  expected  it,  she  became 
concerned  about  me,  too. 

This  may  seem  a  trivial  matter,  but  to  a  prisoner  eagerly  anticipat- 
ing a  letter  from  home  after  two  months'  silence,  and  left  in  separate 
confinement  for  many  hours  daily,  to  brood  over  the  delay  and  to 
work  his  mind  irto  a  fever  of  anxiety  over  its  possible  meaning,  it 
is  a  cause  of  very  real  suffering.  This  witness  indicates  that  the 
deletions  made  in  his  letters  were  afterwards  mentioned  to  him,  but 
our  evidence  shows  that  in  many  cases  they  are  not  mentioned  to 
the  prisoners  concerned. 

Complaints  by  ex-prisoners  of  censorship  of  letters  are  many  and 

bitter.     "I  know  hundreds  of  cases,"  writes  an  ex-convict,  "where 

prisoners'  letters  were  half  blotted  out  or  stopped  altogether."     A 

1  common  occasion  of  deletion  is  the  making  of  a  request  to  relatives 

to  petition  the  Home  Secretary  for  commutation  of  sentence  or  re- 

;  lease.       The  Standing  Order  on  this  point  does  not  justify  these 

1  deletions.     "It  is  not  desirable,"  it  reads,  "to  encourage  prisoners 

;  to  request  their  friends  to  petition  the  Secretary  of  State  on  their 

I  behalf,   but  a  letter  written  with  this  purpose  should  not  be   dis- 

I  allowed."'     That  many  such  letters  are  in  fact  disallowed  we  have 

convincing  evidence. 

To    supplement    the    periodical    letters,    prison    chaplains     are 

;  permitted,  in  the  case  of  juvenile  adult  prisoners,  to  write  to  the 

1  local  agent  of  tha  National  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to 

Children,  who  may  visit  the  relatives  of  the  prisoner  and  report  on 

'  (S.O.    591) 


210  LETTERS  AND  VISITS 

his  visit  to  the  chaplain.  The  chaplain  may  then  pass  on  to  the 
prisoner  what  he  has  heard.  In  the  case  of  ordinary  prisoners,  the 
chaplain  may  not  communicate  with  their  relatives  without  the 
permission  of  the  governor.  Since  1909  Lady  Visitors  have  been 
permitted  to  communicate  with  a  woman  prisoner's  friends  "where 
it  is  clearly  for  the  benefit  of  the  prisoner. ' '  The  governor  or  chap- 
lain  must  always  be  consulted. 

The  lack  of  facilities  to  communicate  with  the  outside  world  leads 
to  a  good  deal  of  illicit  correspondence  through  prison  of&cers  and 
by  other  means.  Prisoners'  friends  are  informed  on  official  note- 
paper  that  "persons  attempting  to  clandestinely  communicate  with, 
or  to  introduce  any  article  to  or  for  prisoners,  are  liable  to  be  severely 
punished."  Nevertheless,  considerable  "trafficking"  of  this  char- 
acter occurs,  and  from  time  to  time  prison  officers  are  dismissed  for 
engaging  in  it. 

The  Conditions  Under  Which  Visits  Take  Place. 

Visits  are  permitted  at  similar  intervals  to  letters,'  and  all  that 
has  been  written  in  criticism  of  the  infrequency  of  letters  applies 
equally  to  visits.  There  is,  likewise,  a  censorship  of  the  conversa- 
tion at  the  visits  similar  to  the  censorship  of  letters,  whilst  the 
conditions  under  which  the  visits  take  place  form  one  of  the  most 
humiliating  features  of  prison  life. 

The  number  of  visitors  is  limited  to  three.  Each  visitor  is  required 
to  give  his  name  and  address  and  relationship  to  the  prisoner.  Per- 
sons who  have  served  sentences  in  prison  are  not  admitted  unless 
they  be  near  relatives.  An  ex-prisoner  complains  that  he  found  it 
very  difficult  to  get  permission  to  have  a  visit  from  a  gentleman  who 
was  interested  in  him  without  being  personally  known  to  him. 
"Every  petty  objection  was  raised,"  he  says.  Children,  other  than 
infants  in  arms,  are  not  admitted  to  visit  prisoners  except  in  the  case 
of  political  offenders.  The  first  visit  is  limited  to  twenty  minutes. 
Subsequent  visits  may  last  half-an-hour.  I 

Visits  take  place  ordinarily  under  one  of  two  arrangements, 
described  in  prison  parlance  as  the  "meat-safe"  and  the  "cage""! 
respectively.  The  former  consists  of  two  small  compartments  ' 
similar  to  telephone  boxes,  partitioned  from  each  other  by  two  \ 
screens  of  thick  wire  gauze  about  a  foot  apart.  The  visitors  stand  j 
in  one  box,  the  prisoner  with  an  officer  behind  him  to  "censor"  the  j 
conversation,  in  the  other.  The  wire  gauze  so  darkens  everything '] 
seen  through  it  that  no  clear  impression  can  be  obtained  of  the  i 
persons  in  the  opposite  box.  "When  my  wife  visited  me,"  saysj 
an  ex-prisoner,  "I  was  entirely  unable  to  recognise  what  I  after-! 
wards  found  to  be  an  excellent  photograph  of  our  child." 

'  The  governor  may  allow  a  prisoner  to  receive  a  special  visit  if  arrangements  respecting  ; 
his  private  affairs  could  not  be  completed  before  conviction,  and  on  other  very  exceptional 
grounds.  The  Visiting  Magistrates  have  the  rovirer  to  allow  an  extra  visit,  but  generally : 
leave  the  decision  to  the  governor.  Two  magistrates  who  have  given  evidence  cite  cues  j 
■where  they  have  granted  permission  for  a  special  visit  despite  the  previous  refusal  of  the  ( 
governor.  ' 

'<>  We   hear   (December,   1921)    that  the  "cage"  is  no  longer  to  be  used  for   visits. 


THE  CONDITIONS  UNDER  WHICH  VISITS  TAKE  PLACE     211 

The  second  arrangement  is  a  most  literal  example  of  the  truth  of 
the  analogy  which  continually  comes  to  one's  mind  when  writing 
of  prisoners — the  analogy  of  caged  animals.  A  room  is  divided  by 
two  parallel  rows  of  bars  reaching  from  floor  to  ceiling,  into  two 
bare  cages  with  a  corridor  between.  The  prisoner  stands  in  one 
cage,  the  visitors  in  the  other,  and  the  ofi&cer  sits  in  the  corridor 
dividing  them. 

"I  shall  never  thoroughly  get  over  the  shock  which  I  had  when  I  saw 
my  husband  through  the  bars,"  says  the  wife  of  an  ex-prisoner.  "It 
makes  me  ill  now  to  think  of  it.  He  stood  pressing  forward  through 
the  bars,  clasping  them  tightly,  his  face  dirty  and  unshaved,  his  eyes 
distraught,  his  body  clothed  in  a  rough  ill-fitting  way.  Just  for  % 
moment  I  felt  that  I  was  looking  through  the  dim  light  at  some  fierce, 
uncouth  animal  at  the  Zoo.  Then  I  forgot  his  looks.  The  only  thing 
that  mattered  was  that  it  was  he.  But  after  I  left  him  the  cruelty  of 
the  thing  was  a  bitter  persistent  memory." 

The  humiliation  of  visits  under  these  conditions  is  felt  so  acutely 
both  by  prisoners  and  visitors  that  often  they  prefer  to  do  without 
them  and  take  advantage  of  the  rule  allowing  an  exchange  of  letters 
I  instead.     "I  had  one  visit  from  my  wife  and  boy  during  17  months, " 
'  says  an  ex-prisoner,  "They  were  in  one  cage  and  I  was  in  another, 
i  with  a  warder  between  us.     The  visit  lasted  half-an-hour  and  was 
!  80  painful  to  all  of  us  that  I  never  had  another."     An  ex-convict 
I  states  that  a  number  of  men  refused  to  have  visits  because  of  the 
humihation  of  the  "wild   beast  cage."        "Many  men  (myself  in- 
cluded) discouraged  visits,"  says  another  ex-prisoner.        "The  full 
degradation  of  one's  condition  and  the  full  brutality  of  the  system 
were  most  apparent  in  this  period  of  barred  and  baffled  communion 
■  with  the  outer  world.     It  tended  to  leave  one  in  a  state  of  hysteria 
!  or  else   suppressed  fury,    and  generally  shattered  and  restless  for 
I  many  days."     "The  conditions  under  which  the  visits  take  place 
represent  the  old  idea  of  seeing  how  much  punishment  and  degrada- 
tion  the  authorities  can   pile  on,"  says   a  Roman  Catholic  priest. 
"I  know  a  lot  of  men  who  refuse  visits  on  the  ground  that  they 
cannot  stand  the  humiliation." 

Another  factor  making  against  visits  is  the  expense  of  travelling. 
This  is  particularly  the  case  at  the  Convict  prisons  which  are  situated 
in  isolated  parts  of  the  country  and  often  long  distances  from  the 
J  home  of  the  prisoner.  We  are  informed  that  only  about  five  per  cent. 
of  the  convicts  at  Dartmoor  have  visits  Dislike  of  the  visiting 
arrangements  and  "a  growing  feeling  that  more  can  be  accomplished 
in  a  long  letter  than  in  a  flying  visit"  (we  quote  a  Dartmoor  official), 
are  partly  responsible  for  the  infrequency,  but  the  economic  reason 
is  undoubtedly  mostly  so.  Some  of  our  witnesses,  including  one 
high  official,  have  strongly  urged  that  the  relatives  of  prisoners 
should  periodically  be  provided  with  free  railway  passes. 

In    special    circumstances,    governors    are    permitted    to    allow 
prisoners   to  have  visits  in  an  ordinary  room.       In  this  case  the 


212  LETTEBS  AND  VISITS 

prisoner  sits  at  one  end  of  a  table  and  the  visitors  at  the  other,  with 
the  officer  midway."  The  prisoner  is  required  to  keep  both  his  hands 
on  the  table  "so  that  the  officer  may  see  that  the  prisoner  does  not 
receive  anything."  Some  of  our  ex-prisoner  witnesses  say  that  they 
preferred  the  "meat-safe"  system  of  visits  to  the  open-room  system, 
because,  under  the  former  conditions,  they  could  often  speak  without 
being  overheard,  one  officer  frequently  having  to  supervise  several 
visits  in  neighbouring  boxes.  The  range  of  conversation  permitted 
by  officers  varies  greatly.  Some  do  not  permit  the  prisoner  to  make 
any  reference  to  what  occurs  in  prison  nor  the  visitor  to  give  any 
account  of  public  affairs. 

In  cases  reported  by  the  medical  officer  to  be  seriously  ill,  visits 
are  permitted  in  the  hospital,  an  officer  being  in  attendance,  of  course. 
If  a  prisoner  be  critically  ill,  relatives  are  allowed  to  visit  hira 
frequently. 

It  is  the  custom  in  many  American  prisons  to  permit  prisoners 
to  visit  dying  or  infirm  relatives  on  parole.  In  Scotland,  also,  per- 
mission is  often  given  for  a  prisoner  to  attend  the  death-bed  or 
funeral  of  a  relative,  though  under  escort,  but  in  England  this 
humane  practice  has  not  been  so  generally  followed.  During  the 
war  a  few  political  offenders  were  given  72  hours  leave  on  parole 
either  to  visit  relatives  critically  ill  or  to  attend  funerals,  and  in  at 
least  one  instance  since  the  war  the  same  "privilege"  has  been 
granted  to  a  political  offender.  More  than  one  of  our  witnesses  urge 
that  this  practice  should  be  extended  to  all  offenders.  "The  Scottish 
custom  of  sending  an  officer  in  plain  clothes  with  the  prisoner  might 
be  followed  where  thought  necessary,"  suggests  a  chaplain. 

The  full  importance  of  this  whole  question  of  visits  may  not  be 
appreciated  on  a  first  consideration."  It  is  not  simply  a  matter  ot 
human  kindness;  it  is  definitely  a  matter  of  saving  prisoners  from 
mental  and  moral  deterioration.  "The  visit  of  a  wife  or  a  mother 
or  a  sweetheart  had  a  wonderfully  refining  and  beautifying  in- 
fluence," writes  an  ex-prisoner.  "Prison  conditions  are  hard  and 
harsh  and  sordid.  The  mental  atmosphere  is  lowering  and  the 
isolation  is  dangerous  to  moral  character.  Into  the  midst  of  all  this ; 
came  the  shining,  loving  face  of  a  pure  woman.  It  lifted  one  right  | 
up  again."  ! 

It  is  as  short-sighted  as  it  is  inhuman  to  permit  such  influences  j 
to  operate  so  rarely.  "The  best  influence  to  which  the  prisoner 
might  be  submitted,"  wrote  Prince  Kropotkin,  of  Eussian  and  French! 
prisons,  "the  only  one  which  might  bring  a  ray  of  light,  a  softer  j 
element  into  his  life — the  intercourse  with  his  relatives  and  children! 
— is  systematically  excluded.""  The  same  might  still  be  written, j 
alas !  of  EngUsh  prisons  to-day.  ■ 

•1  One  goTernor  sometimes  permitted  a  chaplain  or  the  agent  of  the  Discharged  Prisoner, 
Aid  Society  to  be   in   attendance  at  a  visit  in  place  ol  a  prison   officer. 

12  See  pp.  198-201  for  the  Tisitation  of  prisoners  by  other  persons  than  their  family  anc 
friends. 

»»  "In   Russian    and    French    Prisons"    (1887),    p.    320. 


LETTERS   AND  VISITS  213 


SOME    OF     THE     PRINCIPAL     DEFECTS     INDICATED    IN     THE 
PRECEDING    CHAPTER. 


Letters. 

1. — Letters  are  allowed  to  be  received  and  written  too  infrequently,  the 
initial  delay  of  two  months  in  the  case  of  third  division  prisoners  being 
particularly  cruel. 

I     2. — The  range  of  censorship  in  the  case  of  incoming  and  outgoing  letters  is 
nnnecessarily  extensive. 

3. — When  incoming  letters  are  returned  to  be  re-writt«n,  the  prisoners  are 
inot  informed.     Much  anxiety  is  occasioned  by  the  unexplained  delay. 

i 

Visits. 
4. — Visits  are  allowed  too  infrequently,  and  they  are  too  short. 

5. — The  subjects  to  which  reference  in  conversation  is  allowed  are  un- 
necessarily restricted. 

1     6. — The  conditions  under  which  the  visits  take  place,  either  in  the  "meat- 
'safe"  or  "cage,"  are  degrading. 

7. — The  long  distances  from  the  homes  of  the  prisoners  and  the  consequent 
expense  of  travelling  often  prevent  visits  taking  place. 

8. — Ordinary  prisoners  are  debarred  from  visiting  a  dying  relative  or 
I  attending  the  funeral,  however  close  the  tie  between  them. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


CLASSIFICATION    IN    LOCAL    PEISONS 

Classification    in   Theory   and   in    Practice 

Classification  has  become  a  commonplace  of  prison  theory,  but 
has  not  yet  been  satisfactorily  applied.  There  have  been  both  divided 
authority  and  inconsistency  of  method. 

When  the  prison  administration  was  centralised  in  1877,  the 
Home  Secretary  was  given  power  to  place  particular  classes  of 
prisoners  in  particular  prisons  or  parts  of  prisons,  but  the  Depart- 
mental Committee  of  1895  found  that  this  provision  had  been  "very 
sparingly  used."^  An  effort  had  been  made  to  keep  first  offenders 
and  juveniles  apart  from  habituals,  but  the  Committee  reported  that 
no  adequate  attempt  had  been  made  "to  secure  a  sound  system  of 
classification  in  Local  prisons."  In  Convict  prisons,  prisoners 
clearly  not  of  the  habitual  type  had  been  separated  into  a  Star  class* 
since  1879,  and  one  of  the  results  of  the  Committee's  recommenda- 
tions was  that  a  similar  classification  was  introduced  in  Local  prisons 
in  1896-97,  with  the  object  of  securing  "the  separation  of  such 
prisoners  from  those  who  are  versed  in  crime  and  of  corrupt  habits." 

This  was  the  first  important  attempt  at  classification  in  Local 
prisons.  Two  years  later,  under  the  Prison  Act  of  1898,  a  more 
ambitious  scheme  was  introduced,  but  the  responsibility  was  in 
this  instance  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  judge  or  magistrate 
who  convicted  the  prisoner.  He  was  given  the  power  to  direct 
that  prisoners  should  be  treated  as  offenders  either  of  the 
first  or  second  division,  in  all  cases  where  there  "is  evidence 
of  good  character  over  a  considerable  period  of  time,  and  when  it 
is  clear  that  exceptional  temptation  or  special  provocation  has  led 
to  a  merely  temporary  deviation  from  the  paths  of  honesty,  or  to 
an  act  of  violence  not  in  consonance  with  the  natural  disposition  of 
the  defendant." 

'  Report    of    1895    Committee,    p.     28.    The    sexes    had    been    separated,    and    also    penal 
servitude   prisoners    from   the    short   sentence    prisoners    in   Local    prisons. 
'  So  called  because   bhey  wore  red  cloth  stars   on  their  caps  and  tunics. 
»  P.O.  Report,   1896-7,  pp.    13  and    141. 


CLASSIFICATION  IN  THEORY  AND  IN  PRACTICE         215 

Both  the  framers  of  this  Act  and  the  Prison  Commissioners  hoped 
that  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  very  large  number  of  persons 
annually  convicted  to  prison  in  default  of  payment  of  a  fine  would 
be  allotted  by  the  Courts  to  the  second  division.  "The  second 
division,"  the  Commissioners  wrote  in  1903,  "was  intended  to  meet 
the  case  of  persons  guilty  of  offences  not  implying  great  moral 
depravity,  and  to  a  large  extent  the  cases  of  persons  committed  to 
prison  in  default  of  paying  a  fine  where  the  antecedents  were  respect- 
able."* In  this  hope,  however,  they  were  almost  completely  dis- 
appointed.* The  creation  of  the  second  division  made  no  appreciable 
difference. 

The  Prison  Commissioners  also  anticipated  that  the  introduction 
of  these  new  divisions  would  mean  the  automatic  disappearance  of 
the  Star  class,  but  in  this  they  were  disappointed,  too.  The  judges 
and  magistrates  not  only  made  very  little  use  of  their  new  powers ; 
when  they  did  take  advantage  of  them  they  placed  many  men  in  the 

,  second  division  who  would  not  have  been  considered  fit  to  belong 
to  the  Stars.  Consequently  the  Star  class  was  continued  among 
third  division  prisoners,  in  addition  to  the  second  and  first  division 

i  classifications. 

The  failure  of  the  courts  to  classify  prisoners  led  the  Prison  Com- 
missioners to  suggest  in  their  report  for  1910-11  that  the  responsi- 
I  bility  should  be  left  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  administrative  staff 
;  of  the  prisons.  This  proposal  the  Home  Secretary  did  not  accept, 
I  but  the  Criminal  Jurisdiction  Act,  1914,  gave  the  visiting  magistrates 
1  of  prisons  the  power  to  place  prisoners  in  the  second  division  in  the 
I  absence  of  any  direction  by  the  Court.  They  have  taken  httle  advan- 
tage of  this  provision. 

The  object  of  the  creation  of  the  first  division  was  to  give  separate 
I  treatment  to  "first-class  misdemeanants,"  but,  again,  the  courts 
i  almost  entirely  ignored  their  powers,  with  the  result  that  Mr. 
I  "Winston  Churchill  found  it  necessary  to  table  a  new  rule  in  1910 
^  enabling  the  "privileges"  of  the  first  division  to  be  extended  to 
i  prisoners  in  the  second  and  third  divisions  who  had  been  convicted 
j  for  offences  "not  involving  dishonesty,  cruelty,  indecency,  or 
i  serious  violence."  This  rule  was  applied  for  a  time  to  women 
j  suffrage  prisoners,  but  has  been  used  even  less  than  the  classifica- 
!  tions  which  were  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  courts. 

These   are   not  the  only  classifications.       On  the  official  prison 

"muster  ticket,"  prisoners  with  hard  labour,  court  martial  prisoners, 

debtors,    and  penal  servitude  prisoners  are  mentioned  in   addition, 

and  this  list  curiously  omits  the  juvenile  adults  and  juveniles.*     The 

I  conditions  under  which  these  different  classes  of  prisoners  are  con- 

*  P.O.  Report,   1903,   p.   25. 
»P.C.  Report,  1911,  p.    23. 

*  To  complete  the  list,  unconTicted  prisoners  and  appellants  must  be  added;  and  there 
are  the  rarious  classes  ol  convicts  in  penal  servitude  prisons.  See  pp.  295-304,  305-13. 
and  317-35. 


216  CLASSIFICATION   IN  LOCAL   PRISONS 

fined  are  described  later.     Here  our  intention  is  to  consider  how  far    I 
the  classifications  succeed  as  a  whole. 

The  verdict  of  our  witnesses,  both  officials  and  ex-prisoners,  is 
practically  unanimous  that  the  attempt  to  separate  the  various  classes 
has  failed.  "I  was  supposed  to  be  kept  apart  from  other  prisoners," 
writes  an  ex-political  prisoner,  "but  during  the  28  months  I  was  in 
prison  I  not  merely  became  acquainted  with,  but  got  to  know  well, 
prisoners  of  every  class — juveniles,  juvenile  adults,  Stars,  debtors, 
remands,  second  division  prisoners,  habituals,  and  internees.  I  even 
spoke  to  women  prisoners.  The  only  class  of  prisoner  I  didn't  con- 
verse with  was  the  first  division,  and  that  for  the  simple  reason  that 
there  was  never  one  in  the  building  1"  "All  the  classes  could  easily 
communicate  with  each  other — by  stealth,  of  course,"  remarks  % 
witness  who  served  a  long  sentence  for  a  criminal  offence.  "Such 
illicit  communication  is  possible  under  any  conditions,  between  land- 
ings, between  wings,  between  the  prison  and  the  hospital,  and  even 
between  different  prisons.  I  sent  messages  to  men  I  knew  in  another 
prison  by  means  of  'transfers,'  and  got  messages  back." 

A  warder  ridicules  the  idea  that  the  separation  can  be  effective 
so  long  as  the  different  classes  are  housed  on  the  same  landing,  or 
in  the  same  building,  or  go  to  the  same  workshops,  whilst  a  governor 
admits  that  contact  must  occur  so  long  as  the  various  classes  are 
accommodated  in  the  same  prison.  "It  would  be  best  to  classify  them 
in  separate  buildings,"  he  says,  "but  that  would  cost  too  much.  As 
it  is,  there  is  undoubtedly  a  good  deal  of  contamination  of  youthful 
offenders  by  hardened  criminals." 

We  do  not  mean  to  suggest  that  such  separation  as  there  is  does 
nothing  to  prevent  contamination.  We  think  it  is  indisputable  that 
the  existence  of  the  Star  and  juvenile  adult  classes  has  sheltered 
to  a  certain  degree  first  and  young  offenders  from  some  of  the  corrupt- 
ing influences  of  habitual  criminals,  ineffective  though  the  separation 
has  been.  But  this  only  represents  the  negative  object  of  classifica- 
tion: appropriate  treatment  for  the  different  types  of  criminals  is  the- 
positive  and  more  important  object.  This  aim  the  prison  authorities 
have  to  all  intents  and  purposes  ignored.  As  for  individual  treat- 
ment, the  goal  of  classification,  it  is  not  even  dimly  hinted  at  under 
present  conditions. 

The  majority  of  our  official  witnesses  take  the  view  that,  whilst 
the  present  classification  has  failed,  further  classification  and  more 
distinct  separation  would  succeed.  They  argue  from  the  point  of 
view  both  of  the  prevention  of  contamination  and  of  the  treatment 
of  the  prisoner.  But  most  of  those  possessing  experience  of  prisons 
recognise  the  difficulties.  "You  want  a  separate  class  for  almost 
every  prisoner  and  to  know  each  as  a  man,"  is  the  conclusion  of  a 
warder  of  more  than  twenty  years'  experience.  "This  means  up- 
setting the  whole  system  from  top  to  bottom." 

That    some   classification    is    necessary   no  one   doubts ;    mental 


CLASSIFICATION  IN  THEORY  AND  IN   PB  ACT  ICE         217 

'deficients  need  separate  treatment,  inebriates  need  separate  treat- 
ment, j'oung  persons  in  their  formative  years  should  be  protected 
from  unreheved  contact  with  criminals.  But  when  these  distinct 
types  have  been  separated  and  appropriately  treated,  and  when 
everything  has  been  done  by  probation  and  similar  means  to  keep 
as  many  people  as  possible  out  of  prison  altogether  (including  the 
whole  of  the  Star  class),  the  fundamental  difficulty  will  remain. 
I  On  what  principle  is  classification  to  proceed?  Is  the  number 
of  offences  to  be  the  test?  Many  prisoners  with  a  clean  official 
record  have  lived  worse  lives  and  have  a  worse  influence  than 
hardened  criminals.  Is  character  to  be  the  test?  It  is  impossible 
for  either  a  magistrate  or  a  governor  to  judge  a  prisoner's  character.' 
"It  is  possible  to  read  a  prisoner's  record,  but  not  to  read  his  mind, 
'disposition,  or  moral  character,"  remark  Mr.  Mitchell  Innes, 
Inspector  of  English  Prisons,  and  Sir  Alex.  Cardew,  of  the  Madras 
Executive  Council,  in  the  report  of  the  Indian  Jails  Committee, 
,1921.  "No  classification  can  detect  the  future  habitual  in  the 
present  first  offender,  unless  indeed  the  prisoner  is  clearly  defective, 
and,  even  then,  temporary'  mental  differences  exist.'" 

;  Moreover,  from  the  point  of  view  of  treatment,  that  is  of  fitting 
^prisoners  for  ordinary  life,  it  is  doubtful  whether  specialised  segrega- 
tion is  of  value  beyond  a  certain  point.  Unless  special  treatment 
idemauding  separation  be  necessary,  the  limitation  of  association  to 
(persons  of  the  same  peculiar  or  degraded  type  may  be  positively 
harmful ;  certainly  it  is  not  likely  to  encourage  in  the  offender  the 
recovery  of  a  decent  mode  of  conduct  among  normal  people.  A 
witness  who  has  given  his  mind  to  this  subject  for  many  years, 
urges  that  the  best  classifiers  would  be,  under  freer  conditions,  not 
ijudges  or  governors,  but  the  prisoners  themselves. 

"The  first  step,  it  seems  to  me,"  he  says,  "is  to  establish  confidence, 
eo-operation,  and  a  sense  of  individual  and  collective  responsibility 
amongst  the  prisoners.  Then  they  may  begin  to  find  out  that  certain 
individuals  amongst  themselves  can't  or  won't  play  the  game,  and  some 
of  these  may  turn  out  to  be  defectives,  who  would  be  better  cared  for 
elsewhere.  Others  may  prove  to  be  individuals  with  an  evil  influence 
which  they  don't  feel  able  to  cope  with.  Here  the  medico-psychologist 
might  come  in  and  help." 

I  A  prison  warder  puts  forward  a  similar  view.  "I  would  not 
Separate  men  into  classes  so  much,"  he  says,  "but  I  would  allow 
them  to  choose  their  own  friends." 

j  The  whole  problem  is  admittedly  complex.  Certainly  all  attempts 
^o  classify  have  so  far  failed.  Perhaps  the  prisoners  at  Sing  Sing 
prison.  New  York,  pointed  the  way  to  the  solution  when,  under  Mr. 
Mott  Osborne's  system  of  corporate  responsibility,   they   took  the 

'"Who  15  to  do  it?"  asks  a  high  r''ison  oflRcial.  "The  poTernor?  My  experience  isi 
ibat  ii  a  bo;  is  good-looking  he  is  pat  into  the  Star  das;.  It  is  not  a  matter  of  the  crime 
or  of  character,  but  ol  looks  and  smartness.    A  psychological   expert?    Very  difl&cult!" 

•  Op.  cit.,  p.  112. 


218  CLASSIFICATION   IN  LOCAL  PRISONS 

course  anticipated  by  the  witness  whose  evidence  we  have  quoted 
above  and  asked  for  the  help  of  the  doctors  when  they  found  certain 
defectives  among  their  number  who  did  not  respond  to  the  appeals 
of  mutual  welfare  and  responsibility. 

This  view  does  not  involve  the  sacrifice  of  individual  treatment. 
To  discover,  as  far  as  possible,  how  each  prisoner  came  to  commit 
the  offence,  what  were  the  contributing  conditions — economic, 
domestic,  industrial,  physical,  mental  and  moral — and  to  prescribe 
treatment  best  suited  to  his  particular  needs,  such  individualisation 
must  undoubtedly  be  the  path  of  any  real  progress.  The  most  hope- 
ful advance  in  English  penal  methods  is  the  experiment  along  these 
lines  now  proceeding  at  Birmingham." 

The  Second  Division. 

The  original  purpose  of  the  second  division,  as  created  by  the 
Prison  Act  of  1898  and  the  Eules  made  under  it,  has  already  been 
stated.  The  "privileges"  attached  to  this  division,  differentiating 
the  treatment  from  the  usual  prison  regime  already  described,  are 
comprised  under  the  following  heads":  — 

1.  The  prisoner  is,  as  far  as  possible,  kept  apart  from  other  classes , 
of  prisoners.  i 

2.  The  governor  may,  on  application,  release  the  prisoner  from' 
the  obligation  to  take  a  bath  on  entering  the  prison.  j 

3.  The  prisoner  may,  on  application,  receive  a  pint  of  tea  in  lieu! 
of  porridge  for  breakfast. 

4.  The  prisoner  cannot  be  compelled  to  clean  any  part  of  thei 
prison  except  his  own  cell  and  utensils."  I 

6.  The  prisoner's  clothes  are  of  a  different  colour  (for  men,  choco-i 
late,  instead  of  ugly  drab;  for  women,  grey-green,  instead  of! 
brown). 

6.  The  prisoner  is  not  compelled  to  sleep  on  a  bare  board,  withoutj 
mattress,  for  the  first  fourteen  days  of  his  sentence  (as  is  9t\ 
male  hard  labour  prisoner). 

7.  The  prisoner  can  be  employed  on  work  of  an  industrial  or 
manufacturing  nature  only. 

8.  The  prisoner  is  allowed  a  visit  and  a  letter,  in  and  out,  every 
four  weeks,  instead  of  having  to  wait  eight  weeks  for  the  first: 
and  six  weeks  for  the  second.  The  greater  fi^equency  of  visits! 
is  counterbalanced  by  the  fact  that  they  are  uniformly  of  1*| 


»  Cp.  pp.  52  and  53.  ! 

10  See  Sections  232-242  of  the  1899  Rules  for  Local  prisons,  and  Sections  1-3  of  the  190:j 

Rules  for  Dietaries.  I 

11  This  rule  is  not  always  observed.    An  ex-prisoner  of  the  second  division  writes:  "I  wsi 

compelled   to    clean    part   of   the    iirison   and   so  were   other   second   division   men.    They  di' 

scrubbing,   etc.,    in  the   early  morning  just  as  much  as  the  third  division  men." 


THE  SECOND  DIVISION  219 

minutes'  duration,  instead  of  the  30  minutes  allowed  to  third 
division  prisoners  after  the  first  visit. 

9.  In  other  respects  offenders  of  the  second  division  are  subject  to 
the  general  prison  rules,  i.e.,  the  rules  which  apply  to  third 
division  prisoners. 

Besides  the  above  "privileges,"  laid  down  by  the  published  regu- 
lations, there  appear  to  be  two  others  of  some  importance,  which 
apply  in  practice  to  second  division  offenders.  It  is  usual  to  supply 
them  JTOTYi  the  first  with  two  books,  one  "educational"  and  one  of 
a  brighter  kind  (the  latter  changed  weekly),  instead  of  their  having 
to  exist  for  the  first  four  weeks  on  a  solitary  "educational"  book  uf 
possibly  a  very  indifferent  nature.  And  they  sometimes  have  the 
great  hygienic  advantage  of  retaining  the  same  "kits"  of  under- 
clothing (or  rather  two  interchangeable  kits)  throughout  their  sen- 
tences, instead  of  interchanging  garments  promiscuously  with  their 
companions." 

1  It  will  be  seen  that  the  only  differences  of  any  real  importance 
between  offenders  of  the  second  and  third  divisions  are  (1)  the  separa- 
tion from  close  contact  with  the  (presumably)  most  objectionable 
prisoners;"  (2)  during  the  first  few  days  an  extra  book  or  two,  and  a 
mattress;  and  (3)  a  visit  and  letter  after  the  first  four,  instead  of 
after  the  first  eight  weeks. 

i  Apart  from  these  points,  prison  conditions  are  the  same  for  both 
divisions.  The  second  division  offender,  hke  his  brother  in  the 
division  below,  assumes,  when  he  enters  "reception,"  an  ill-fitting 
garb  sprinkled  with  broad  arrows,  and  leaves  behind  him  every 
vestige  of  his  property  and  of  his  connections  with  the  world  out- 
side. He  is,  like  him,  continually  either  under  lock  and  key  or 
under  the  watchful  eye  of  the  warder.  He  has  the  same  bare  dismal 
cell,  the  same  monotonous  diet,  the  same  extreme  paucity  of  books 
and  writing  materials.  He  is  subject  to  the  same  rigid  daily  routine 
— ^the  mechanical  perambulation  on  the  exercise  ground,  the  silent 
occupation  in  the  workshop,  the  14  hours  of  unbroken  soUtude 
within  cell  walls.  He  has  to  suffer  from  the  same  objectionable 
sanitary  arrangements.  He  has  no  greater  opportunities  of  associa- 
tion with  the  chaplain  or  other  members  of  the  staff.  He  endures 
the  same  regime  of  enforced  silence — or  of  surreptitious  conversa- 
tion; he  is  liable  to  the  same  punishments  if  he  is  caught  talking 
with  his  neighbour  or  trying  to  do  him  some  little  service. 
■  In  two  respects,  indeed,  the  second  division  prisoner  may  be 
actually  worse  off  than  the  third  division  prisoner.  He  may  find 
''  mseif  the  only,   or  almost  the  only,  prisoner  of  his  class  in  the 


"A  woman  ei-prisoner  of  the  second  dirision  informs  ns  that  this  "privilege"  was  not 
.ztecded  to  her,  and  more  than  one  male  witness  who  had  experienced  second  dirision 
treatment  gives  similar  evidence. 

err^^^o^S*'^*'^'''"  ^^  second  and  third  division  prisoners  is  often  lax.  One  witness  whn 
^An  »„  V  J  ''^  "^  *  second  division  prisoner  in  a  large  prison  says  that  "second  division 
I  Ti.ir^  '^/''l  '^'ebed.  attended  chapel,  and  took  their  hatha  in  association  with  thiid 

nvision  men  of  the  Star  class." 


220  CLASSIFICATION   IN  LOCAL   PBISONS 

gaol."     He  is  then  deprived,  owing  to  his  segregation  from  the  rest 
of  the  prison,    of   those   occasional   opportunities  for  unrecognised 
communication  with  his   fellows,  which  to  many,  if  not    to    most  ■ 
prisoners,  prevent  the  torturing  monotony  and  unnatural  silence  of  j 
the  routine  from  becoming  quite  intolerable.  [ 

The  second  disadvantage  is  also  a  consequence  of  the  limited  size ;' 
of  this  class.  Since  they  must  be  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  '• 
prisoners,  it  is  necessary  to  restrict  the  work  of  second  division 
prisoners  to  a  very  narrow  field,  and  many  of  the  more  desirable 
employments  are  placed  outside  their  reach.  One  warder  considers 
that  this  drawback  makes  the  second  division,  despite  its  relaxations, 
less  advantageous  than  the  third. 

How  small  is  the  number  of  second  division  prisoners  may  be 
judged  from  the  fact  that  whilst  in  the  fifteen  years  ending  1914  (the 
last  for  which  figures  are  obtainable)  the  number  of  second  division; 
prisoners  fluctuated  between  1,475  and  2,455  for  the  year,  the! 
receptions  varied  between  136,309  and  197,941.  The  question  of 
second  division  treatment  is,  therefore,  a  comparatively  unimportant 
issue.  And  in  view  of  the  slight  difference  between  the  two  types i 
of  treatment,  it  would,  it  appears  to  us,  have  remained  comparatively! 
unimportant,  even  if  the  desires  of  the  Commissioners  had  been 
realised  and  the  great  mass  of  "quasi-criminal"  persons  "of  respect- 
able antecedents"  had  been  consigned  to  it  by  the  courts. 

The  First  Division. 

The  numbers  in  this  division,  also  instituted  by  the  Prison  Act  o) 
1898,  are  extremely  small;  the  annual  totals  for  England  and  Walet 
fluctuated  between  16  and  65  during  the  years  1900-11  inclusive 
except  for  1906-7,  when  they  were  swollen  to  the  figure  of  160  bj 
committals  in  connection  v/ith  the  Woman  Suffrage  agitation.' 
One  measure,  the  Vaccination  Act  of  1898,  expressly  prescribes  firsM 
division  treatment  for  persons  convicted  under  it.  But  th(] 
statistical  Tables  indicate  that  the  commonest  offence  for  which  th(l 
Courts  assign  persons  to  the  first  division  is  non-compliance  witl 
the  Elementary  Education  Acts. 

The  "privileges"  to  which  the  first  division  prisoner  is  entitle(j 
under  the  regulations,  are,  in  comparison  with  third  division,  ver; 
considerable,  and  may  be  summarised  as  follows: —  j 

Like  the  man  in  the  second  division,  he  is  supposed  to  be  kep 
apart  from  other  classes  of  prisoners.  Beyond  this  he  has,  or  ma:j 
have,  if  he  has  the  means  to  pay  for  them,  peculiar  advantage! 
which  are  shared  by  no  other  class  of  inmate,    except  the  uncon; 

i"  This  is  admitted  by  the  Commissioners,  who  wrote  in  their  report  for  1906  o(  tt 
embarrassment  occasioned  bv  the  small  number  of  prisoners  placed  in  the  second  dirifi.' 
"the  nnmber  being  so  few  that  it  is  not  possible  to  work  them  in  assoeiation,  thus  lendeni 
abortiTe   the   object  of  classification." 

i»  P.O.   Report,   1911,   p.   23. 


THE  FIRST  DIVISION  221 

victed  prisoner  awaiting  trial.  (The  rules  for  "trial  prisoners"  are 
:o  a  very  large  extent  verbally  identical  with  the  first  division  rules ; 
Dut,  as  indicated  elsewhere,  most  trial  prisoners,  owing  to  their 
ooverty,  are  unable  to  secure  these  "privileges").  Thus  he 
nay  wear  his  own  clothing.  He  may  have  "such  books, 
aewspapers,  or  other  means  of  occupation"  as  are  not  considered  to 
DC  "objectionable"  by  the  authorities.  He  may  be  visited  once  a 
"ortnight  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  by  three  friends  and  may  write 
4nd  receive  one  letter  in  each  fortnight;  for  special  reasons  the 
Visiting  Committee  may  ^increase  this  allowance  of  letters  and 
raits.  Further,  he  is  not  required  to  work  and  "may  be  permitted, 
if  practicable,  to  follow  his  trade  or  profession,"  receiving  the  whole 
>f  his  earnings,  if  he  is  not  maintained  at  the  expense  of  the  prison. 
If  he  has  the  requisite  means,  he  may  arrange  to  have  his  own  food 
Supplied  and  even  have  a  limited  quantity  of  beer  or  wine,  "subject 
jO  such  restrictions  as  may  be  necessary  to  prevent  luxury  or 
vaste."  Finally,  the  Visiting  Committee  may,  "if,  having  regard 
\0  his  ordinary  habits  and  conditions  of  life,  they  think  such  special 
brovision  should  be  made,"  permit  the  first  division  prisoner  (1)  to 
fwcupy  at  the  rent  of  2/6  weekly  a  superior  and  specially  furnished 
room  or  cell,  (2)  to  have  the  use  of  private  furniture  and  utensils 
suitable  to  his  ordinary  habits,  and  (3)  to  have  at  the  charge  of  6d.  a 
lay,  the  help  of  another  prisoner,  "relieving  him  from  the  perform- 
ance of  any  unaccustomed  tasks,"  such  as,  e.g.,  the  cleaning  of  his 
•ell  and  the  washing  up  of  his  crockery." 

Though  the  regulations  are  silent  on  these  points,  first  division 
)risoners  are  apparently  sometimes  allowed  an  hour's  open-air 
kercise  in  the  afternoon,  as  well  as  in  the  morning,  with  the 
lipportunities  of  unrestricted  conversation  with  some  other  first 
Uvision  inmate  of  the  same  sex,  should  any  such  be  found  in  the 
Prison — a  rare  occurrence.  In  most  cases,  too,  a  visiting  minister 
M  the  prisoner's  own  denomination  is  allowed  free  access  to  him  for 
it  least  an  hour  each  week. 

The  first  division  offenders  are  the  aristocrats  of  the  prison  world, 
^he  rules  affecting  them  have  a  class  flavour  about  them,  and  are 
'^ndently  intended  to  apply  to  persons  of  some  means,  who  are  in 
he  habit  of  keeping  servants.  A  poor  man,  who  had  no  trade  by 
yhich  he  could  earn  in  prison,  would  hardly  be  better  off  in  the  first 
|han  in  the  second  division,  except  that  he  could  have  his  own 
flothes  and  books,  and  enjoy  a  visit  and  letter  fortnightly  instead  of 
'nonthly.''  But  almost  all  first  division  prisoners  have  doubtless  the 
ns  to  take  full  advantage  of  the  privileges  allowed.'*     They  have 

'*  See  sections  213-231  of  the  Rules  for  Local  prisons.  Two  ex-prisoners  of  the  first 
linsion  complain  strongly  that  they  were  never  made  aware  ol  the  details  ol  these 
iprinleges,"  e.g.,  the  cost  of  the  special  cell. 

I  "  Two  of  onr  witnesses  who  hare  undergone  first  division  treatment  state  that  they  were 
jermitted  to  have  flowers  sent  by  friends.  In  one  case  this  was  only  allowed  alter  much 
ressure. 

'•ne  witness,   however,  who  has  had  first  division   experience,    says,   "I   had  neither  the 
e   nor   means   to    pay   for    comfortable   board   and    lodging,  so   shivered   in   an   arctic   cell 
••    turned   with    loathing    from    the    food    offered    me." 


222  CLASSIFICATION   IN  LOCAL  PRISONS 

however,  to  forego  the  use  of  tobacco  and,  unless  they  can  show  that 
"writing"  of  some  kind  is  their  profession,  they  have  no  opportunity 
for  recording  their  thoughts  on  paper  beyond  the  fortnightly  letter. 

These  may  be  serious  deprivations,  and,  in  any  case,  the  essence 
of  the  punishment  of  first  division  prisoners  is  in  the  denial  of  almost 
all  freedom  to  communicate  with  their  fellows  and  in  their  perpetual 
confinement  within  their  cells  or  other  parts  of  the  prison  precincts. 
Apart  from  these  severe  restrictions  upon  their  movements,  first 
division  prisoners  are  not  subject  to  anything  in  the  nature  of 
"discipline"  or  "treatment."  They  have  merely  to  undergo  a 
rather  rigid  form  of  internment,  the  severity  of  which  doubtless 
varies  very  much  in  accordance  with  the  dispositions  of  the  officers 
who  administer  it. 

The  object  of  this  internment  is  presumably  either  to  deter  such 
offenders,  and  others  also,  from  repetition  of  their  offences,  or  else 
to  isolate  them  temporarily  from  society,  inasmuch  as  their  liberty 
of  action  is  regarded  by  the  Government  as  being  dangerous  to  itself 
and  to  the  community. 

Political  Prisoners:  The  "Churchill  Eule." 

Political  oSences  on  the  part  of  British  subjects  are  not  recognised] 
as  such  by  our  laws.  The  provisions  in  regard  to  such  offences  inj 
the  Extradition  Act  of  1870  relate  solely  to  foreigners  who  are! 
charged  with  offences  committed  against  foreign  Governments.! 
When  the  1898  Prison  Act  was  framed,  it  was  doubtless  intended: 
that  political  offenders  "having  regard  to  the  nature  of  the  offenctj 
and  the  antecedents  of  the  offender"  should  be  consigned  by  the! 
Courts  to  treatment  in  either  the  first  or  second  division,  but,  as  W6: 
have  seen,  this  differential  treatment  was  very  sparingly  accordecj 
by  the  Courts.  Recognising  the  iniquity  of  treating  political 
prisoners  as  ordinary  criminals  in  the  third  division,  Mr.  Winstorj 
Churchill,  when  Home  Secretary,  introduced  a  New  Rule  (numbereci 
243 A),  in  order,  as  he  said,  to  mitigate  the  more  degrading  conditionfj 
of  prison  treatment  for  offenders  whose  crimes  do  not  imply  "mora 
turpitude."  Or,  in  the  words  of  the  Commissioners'  Report  foi 
1911-12,  "the  purpose  of  the  new  rule  1 

was  to  mitigate  the  disgrace,  and  discomfort,  and  the  stigma  of  imprison' 
ment  in  cases  where  the  offence  and  the  character  and  antecedents  of  th; 
offender  do  not  call  for  a  full  and  rigorous  application  of  penalty."        ' 

Rule  243A  came  into  force  in  July,  1910,  and  runs  as  follows: —  ; 

In  the  case  of   any   offender  of  the    second   or  third    division  whos| 
previous  character  is  good,  and  who  has  been  convicted  of,  or  committel 
to  prison  for,  an  offence  not  involving  dishonesty,  cruelty,  indecency,  f 
serious  violence,  the  Prison  Commissioners  may  allow  such  ameliorati' 
of  the  conditions  prescribed  in  the  foregoing  rules  as  the  Secretary  i 


POLITICAL  PRISONEBS  :   THE   "  CHURCHILL  RULE  "       223 

State  may  approve  in  respect  of  the  wearing  of  prison  clothing, 
bathing,  hair-cutting,  cleaning  of  cells,  employment,  exercise,  books  and 
otherwise. 

Provided  that  no  such  amelioration  shall  be  greater  than  that  granted 
under  the  rules  for  offenders  of  the  first  division. 

This  rule  was  introduced  to  meet  the  case  of  the  prisoners  con- 
ict^d  for  their  part  in  the  Woman  Suffrage  movement.  During 
910-12,  508  prisoners  are  stated  to  have  been  dealt  with  in  accord- 
nce  with  its  provisions.  The  rule  was  also  applied  in  a  rather  less 
enerous  way  between  December,  1917,  and  April,  1919,  to 
onscientious  objectors  to  military  service,  who  had  served  twelve 
aonths  in  the  third  division ;  but  the  benefit  of  it  was  not  usually 
iven  to  offenders  against  the  Defence  of  the  Eealm  Act,  nor  was  it 
xtended  to  the  Communists  imprisoned  during  1920-21.  The  rule  is 
learly  capable  of  application  to  any  political  offender  not  guilty  of 
erious  fraud  or  violence,  or  indeed  to  anyone  who  may  be  irr  prisoned 
or  the  breach  of  a  police  or  governmental  regulation ;  but,  except  for 
he  two  classes  mentioned,  it  has  remained  practically  a  dead  letter, 
"he  Home  Secretary  says  that  ' '  neither  prisoners  whose  offences  are 
ue  to  political  motives,  nor  any  other  class  of  prisoners  are 
ntitled  to  claim  the  benefit"  of  the  rule  and  that  "each  case  or 
lass  of  cases  is  judged  on  its  merits.""  The  rare  application  of 
he  rule  suggests  that  a  strong  pubUc  agitation  is  the  only  kind  of 
j merit"  which  secures  favourable  judgment. 

'  The  general  effect  of  the  rule  is  to  give  a  selection  of  the  first 
ivision  privileges  to  third  division  (or  in  some  cases  to  second 
ivision)  prisoners.  The  particular  selection  is  governed  by  the 
standing  Orders  which  the  Home  Office  and  the  Prison  Com- 
lissioners  may  agree  to  be  sufficient  and  appropriate  to  the  cases 
nder  consideration.  In  the  case,  for  instance,  of  conscientious 
ibjectors  of  more  than  a  year's  standing,  the  only  relaxations  of 
bird  division  treatment  allowed  were  as  follows:  — 

(1)  Instead  of  the  one  silent  and  regulated  exercise,  two  periods 
of  exercise  were  conceded  daily,  at  which  men  could  walk  and 
talk  in  twos  and  threes,  choosing  their  own  companions  each 
time. 

I  (2)  Books  might  be  sent  to  them  from  the  outside  so  long  as  they 
i        were  not  of  an  "objectionable"  character.       These  might  be 

changed  weekly,   but  only  four  books  were  permitted  in  the 

cell  at  one  time. 

I  (3)  Men  might  wear  their  own  clothing,  or  supplement  the  prison 
clothing  by  additional  garments  of  their  own.  (This  provision 
was  acceptable,  owing  to  the  need  of  extra  warmth  in  the  cells. 
Overcoats  and  gloves  were  the  items  of  personal  clothing 
usually  added  to  the  prison  kit.) 

'^'  Reply  to  Mr.    T.   Myers.    M.P.,    February   23rd,    1921. 


224  CLASSIFICATION   IN  LOCAL   PRISONS 

(4)  Men  might  write  and  receive  a  shorter  letter  every  fortnight, 
in  lieu  of  a  longer  one  once  in  four  weeks.  The  monthlj' 
visits  were  to  be  held  in  a  "private"  room  (with  a  wanlpr"! 
instead  of  on  either  side  of  double  bars  or  gratings. 

(5)  Another  prisoner  might  be  set,  on  payment  of  a  small  charge, 
to  clean  the  privileged  prisoner's  cell  and  utensils.  (It  is 
doubtful  whether  any  conscientious  objector  availed  himself 
of  this  "privilege.") 

(6)  A  very  limited  amount  of  choice  was  allowed  as  regards  the 
kind  of  prison  labour  assigned  to  the  prisoner. 

Experience  has  gone  to  show  that  the  first  two  of  the  above 
relaxations  were  much  valued  in  most  cases,  the  third  in  some  cases, 
while  the  last  three,  or  at  any  rate  the  last  two,  were  of  trifling 
importance. 

The  Standing  Order  introduced  in  1910,  for  the  sake  of  the 
Woman  Suffrage  prisoners,  included  all  the  above  privileges,  but 
was  of  a  somewhat  wider  nature,  as  it  allowed  a  weekly  parcel  of 
food  weighing  not  more  than  eleven  pounds  to  be  sent  into  each 
prisoner,  and  to  be  kept  in  her  cell  in  the  daytime.  It  also  provided 
that  these  prisoners  should  be  specially  searched  only  by  an  officer 
appointed  for  the  purpose ;  and  that  they  should  only  be  employed 
on  the  lighter  forms  of  labour. 

Even  thus  the  status  under  Eule  243A,  as  hitherto  interpreted, 
falls  much  short  of  full  first  division  treatment,  under  which  fort- 
nightly visits  and  daily  supplies  of  food  are  allowed,  the  use  of  a 
special  cell  and  furniture  is  conceded,  together  with  permission  to 
follow  one's  own  trade  or  profession,  and  the  admission  of  news- 
papers and  books  bearing  on  current  events,  as  well  as  "other  means 
of  occupation." 

It  is  doubtful  how  far  such  ameliorations  of  the  prison  regime  as 
have  been  allowed  under  the  "Churchill  Eule"  sufficiently  alter  the 
character  of  prison  life,  so  as  either  to  remove  its  supposed  deterrent 
value  or  to  give  it  a  reformative   virtue.     It  must  in  any  case 
remembered  that  where  these  privileges  are  only  granted  to  a  sni..^ 
proportion  of  the  prison  inmates,   they  tend  to  create,  by  way  "■ 
contrast,  a  greater  sense  of  privation  among  the  others,  who  fail 
understand  why  they  also  cannot  share  in  them." 

The  Star  Class. 

Prisoners  in  the  Star   class  are  defined  by   Standing   Orders 
those  "who,  after  full  enquiry,  are  found  to  have  not  been  previoi;> 
convicted,  and  are  not  habitually  criminal."     The  object  of  the  cla- 

20  "Prisoners  of  one   class  would  be  extremely  jealous  ol  any  litUe  privileges  which  in, 
be    granted   to   prisoners    of    another    class.,"    says    an    ex-nrisoner,    "tlie    feeling   of   injust 
being    apparently   quite    free    from    any   consideration    as    to   the    relative   merits   of   the   Iw  i 
classes,  or  the  magnitude  of  the  crimes  they  had  committed,     Both  were  unlucky  folk  again.*  j 
whom  society  had  a  grudge,   and   it   was  unfair  that  one  section  of  the  unfortunates  shouli: 
be  treated  better   than  another." 


THE  STAR  CLASS  225 

he  Orders  proceed,  "is  to  secure  the  separation  of  such  prisoners 
rom  those  who  are  versed  in  crime  and  of  corrupt  habits. ' ' 

The  Star  system,  as  already  recorded,  was  started  in  Local 
•rifaons  in  1896-1897  following  a  recommendation  by  the  Depart- 
mental Committee  of  1895.  In  commenting  upon  this  recom- 
lendation  in  their  1895-1896  report,  the  Prison  Commissioners 
rgued  that  the  efficiency  of  the  Star  class  system  in  Convict 
'risons  had  depended  upon  (a)  time  for  enquiry,  and  (b)  "facility  of 
ransfer,"  and  drew  attention  to  the  fact  that  75  per  cent,  of  the 
risoners  in  Local  prisons"  were  sentenced  on  an  average  to  about 
v\'o  weeks'  imprisonment,  and  also  to  the  difficulties  of  organising 
rison  labour  so  as  to  segregate  the  Stars. 

The  method  of  selecting  Star  prisoners  is  as  follows :  — The 
olice  representatives  at  the  Court  are  asked  to  furnish  a  report  on 
he  "character  and  antecedents"  of  prisoners  who  have  not  been 
reviously  convicted,  whose  previous  offence  has  been  of  a  trivial 
haracter  or  who  have  been  committed  "several  years  before." 
Vhere  no  information  is  procurable,  the  governor  uses  his  discretion, 
nd  doubtful  cases  are  submitted  to  the  Eegistrar  of  Habitual 
Criminals  with  a  description  form  and  the  finger  impressions.  The 
33ults  of  this  enquiry  are  submitted  to  the  Visiting  Magistrates,  who 
re  supposed  to  give  their  formal  decision  in  the  matter.'* 

The  Standing  Orders  expressly  say  that  inclusion  within  the  Star 
lass  "does  not  confer  any  privileges  or  differential  treatment." 
ps  purpose  is  purely  segregation.  Star  prisoners  must  be  located 
a  cells  "where  they  cannot  come  in  contact  with  prisoners  of  other 

asses,"  and  must  sit  in  chapel  and  take  exercise  separately. 

The  actual  operation  of  the  Star  system  is  criticised  in  three 
pirticulars  by  our  witnesses.  In  the  first  place,  the  Star  class  has 
vo  distinct  disadvantages.  It  is  the  custom  of  officers  to  treat  Star 
risoners  with  greater  severity  than  habituals  (the  latter  become  an 
pcepted  part  of  the  institution),  and  the  rule  of  segregation  hmits 
|ie  range  of  industries  to  which  they  may  be  put.  For  these  reasons 
iany  prisoners  prefer  not  to  be  placed  in  the  Star  class. 

Secondly,  before  first  offenders  are  placed  in  the  Star  class  they 
;equently  mingle  wdth  habituals  whilst  on  remand,  and  in  many 
risons  it  is  the  custom  to  class  them  among  the  habituals  after 
f.ntence  whilst  their  claim  not  to  have  been  previously  convicted  is 
ivestigated.  The  Standing  Orders  say  that  "during  enquiry  the 
Hsoner  will  be  kept  apart  from  other  prisoners,"  but  our  evidence 
liows  that   in  many  cases  this  is  not   done.        On   this  point  an 

j^perienced  warder  says  :  — 

It  is  during  the  first  few  days  that  it  is  most  important  to  keep  first 
offenders  from  being  associated  with  those  who  are  "prison-hardened," 
but  under  the  present  arrangements  it  takes  a  week  or  so  to  ascertain 

'  The  nnmber  of   prisoners  serving   very   short  sentences   has  decreased  considerably.    The 
;2rage  length  of  sentence  in  Local  prisons  is  now  about  five  weeks.    See   p.  4. 
^Cp.  P.O.   Report,    1896-7,  p.    141. 

I 


226  CLASSIFICATION  IN  LOCAL  PRISONS 

whether  a  man  should  be  treated  as  a  Star  prisoner,  and,  by  the  time  he 
is  placed  with  the  Star  class,  the  harm  has  been  done  and  he  hat 
acclimatised  himself  to  the  prison  and  the  surroundings.  Whilst  or 
remand,  too,  the  first  offender  mixes,  often  to  his  disadvantage,  with  tht 
habitual. 

The  third  ground  of  criticism  has  already  been  emphasised — tht 
inadequacy  of  the  segregation  when,  in  due  course,  it  is  supposec 
to  be  enforced.  "The  Star  class  are  not  strictly  separated,"  con 
tinues  this  witness.  "They  are  employed  in  the  domestic  servia 
of  the  prison,  in  the  bath  house,  at  chapel  cleaning,  etc.,  and  thi 
constantly  brings  them  in  contact  with  other  prisoners. ' '  Evideno 
to  this  effect  is  general. 

Despite  these  defects,  our  witnesses  on  the  whole  take  the  vie\ 
that  the  placing  of  first  offenders  in  a  separate  class  is  of  some  valu 
in  preventing  contamination.     The  first  returns  of  the  Prison  CoiD; 
missioners  suggested  that  this  classification  was  highly  justified,  bi; 
year  by  year  the  percentages  of  Stars  given  by  the  Commissioner  i 
as  returning  to  prison  have  mounted  up,  rising  between  1897  an; 
1910  from  4.9  to  9.2,  in  the  case  of  men,  and  from  7.0  to  14.4,  ii 
the  case  of  women.**       Even  from  these  figures,  it  is  clear  (aft(i 
allowing  for  the  rise  that  would  be  expected  to  occur  over  the  greatt  I 
period  of  years)  that  the  early  hopes  of  the  Star  system  have  imj 
been  realised,  and  further  considerations  confirm  this  conclusion, 
is  most  unlikely  that  the  Commissioners'  returns  can  be  accepted  fj 
complete.     They  are  based,  in  the  first  instance,  upon  the  statemenj 
of  the  prisoners  themselves,  who  would  naturally  be  anxious  not 
disclose  previous  convictions.     The  figures  for  all  prisons  have  n 
been  given  since  1910,  but  in  1911  the  Prison  Commissioners  pu 
lished  returns  relating  to  one  prison — Stafford — which  showed  th 
no  less  than  33.6  per  cent,  of  the  first  offenders — the  great  majori 
of  whom  would  be  Stars — received  during  the  five  years  ending 
1904,   returned  to  the  prison  between  the  years  1900  and  1910  ■ 
The  difference  between  these  figures  and  those  given  previously  1| 
the  Commissioners  for  the  whole  of  the  country  cannot  be  reconcile  j 
and,  moreover,  as  the  Commissioners  admit,  the  Stafford  returj 
were  incomplete,  since  they  make  no  allowance  for  first  offenders  w 
subsequently   found  their  way  into  other  prisons.       This  contrti 
strongly  supports  the  view  that  the  Commissioners'  figures  are  ij 
too  favourable.     The   Stafford  returns,  it  should  be  noted  furtb! 
only  relate  to  a  period  of  ten  years.     The  number  of  Stars,  who  '< 
the  course  of  their  life  eventually  return  to  prison,  is  probably  wl 
over  the  33.6  per  cent,  shown  by  the  Stafford  figures. 

Nor  can  the  undoubted  fact  that  many  Star  prisoners  succeed! 
remaining  out  of  prison  subsequently  be  taken  as  evidence  of  eitl,^ 
the  deterrent  or  the  reformative  value  of  the  prison  system  \ 
general,  or  of  the  Star  system  in  particular.     Many  first  offend? 

2»  P.O.    Report,    1897-8,   p.    18   and  P.O.   Report,    1909-10,   p.    22. 
a*  P.O.  Report,  1910-11,   pp.   18-20. 


DEBTORS  227 

re  entirely  accidental  criminals,  imprisoned  for  an  offence  which 
hey  would  never  be  likely  to  repeat.  Others  are  effectively  pulled 
p  by  the  shock  of  the  disgrace  of  conviction,  quite  apart  from 
irison  treatment.  Still  others  are  kept  out  of  further  misconduct  by 
he  care  of  relatives  and  friends.  These  factors  are  enough  in  them- 
elves  to  account  for  almost  every  case  of  a  prisoner  who  avoids 
illing  into  the  clutches  of  the  law  a  second  time. 

Debtors. 
.  The  number  of  persons  imprisoned  as  debtors  during  1920-21  was 
,204.     In  1918-19  it  was   1,830,  and  in  1913-14,   14,138.       The 
ecrease  since  1914  is  approximately  proportionate  to  the  fall  in  the 
umber  of  prisoners  generally. 

The  conditions  under  which  debtors "  are  imprisoned  are  very 
■jnilar  to  those  which  apply  to  other  prisoners.  The  "privileges" 
'hich  they  enjoy  may  be  summarised  as  follows:  — 

(1)  A  debtor  may  wear  his  own  clothing  if  fit  for  use,**  and  may 
have  his  own  hair  brush  and  comb  "and  any  other  article  of 
toilet"  permitted  by  the  governor. 

I  (2)  He  may  from  the  first  have  two  library  books  a  week,  as  well 
as  educational  and  religious  books,  and  may  have  "one  of  his 
own  books  (if  unobjectionable),  in  lieu  of  a  Ubrary  book." 

j  (3)  He   may  work,  where  practicable,   at  his  own  trade  or  pro- 

■  fession.  Otherwise,  he  is  employed  at  a  prison  industry  and 
paid  not  more  than  2/6  a  week  for  his  work  if  he  perform  the 
task." 

I  (4)  He  is  permitted  to  converse  with  a  prisoner  of  the  same  class 

i       when  at  exercise. 

I  (6)  He  has  two  exercises  daily. 

j  (6)  He  is  allowed  one  visit  (of  15  minutes)  and  one  letter  each 

I       week. 

I  Except  for  these  relaxations,  debtors  are  treated  exactly  as  are 

nsoners  convicted  of  criminal  offences. 

.  Before  the  rules  of  1899,  prisoners  of  the  debtor  class  were 
flowed  various  indulgences,  such  as  a  common  room  for  daily 
^sociation,  freedom  from  compulsory  work,  and  the  receiving  of 
fcals  (beer  and  wine  were  allowed)  from  outside.  The  Depart- 
lental  Committee  of  1895  described  this  class  as  "very  unsatisfac- 

f  Debtors  are  committed  to  prison  on  the  theory  that  a  person  who  fails  to  pay  a  debt 
j»en  ordered  to  do  so  by  a  competent  court,  "haying  the  means  to  pay,"  commits  an  act 
;  contempt.  "Any  persons  imprisoned  for  default  in  payment  of  a  debt,  including  a  ciril 
jbt  recoverable  summarily  or  in  default,  or  in  lien  of  distress  to  satisfy  a  sum  of  money 
judged  to  be  paid  by  order  of  a  Court  of  Summary  Jurisdiction,  when  the  imprisonment 
to  be  without  hard  labour,"  are  classed  as  debtors.  The  following  remark  by  the 
iTemor  of  Worcester  prison  in  his  annual  report  for  1909  is  of  interest: — "I  find  that 
I  great  proportion  of  the  debtors  are  rictims  cf  the  'tally-man' — an  indiridual  who  cajoles 
p  wires  into  purchasing  unnecessary  articles  on  a  system  of  weekly  payments — frequently 
e  husbands  know  nothing  of  these  transactions  until  the  judgment  summons  is  served 
irsonally   upon   them." 

l'*  The  prison  uniform  for  debtors  is  blue,  similar  to  that  of  the  anconricted  prisoners. 
-'  For  non-fulfilment  of  the  "task"  the  debtor  is  liable  to  punishment. 


228  CLASSIFICATION   IN  LOCAL  PRISONS 


I 


tory,"  declared  that  "there  seems  to  be  no  sufficient  reason  why  thej 
should  be  more  favourably  treated  than  other  prisoners,"  anc 
recommended  that  "they  should  be  made  to  work  to  a  reasonable  il 
not  penal  extent."^' 

The  Prison  Commissioners,  commenting  upon  this  expression  oi 
view  in  their  report  for  1895-1896,  went  considerably  further  ir 
urging  the  stiffening  of  the  conditions  of  debtor  prisoners. 

"We  are  strongly  of  opinion,"  they  said,  "  that  the  effect  of  the 
privileges  they  now  enjoy  is  demoralising,  and  is  a  disadvantage  in  the 
administration  of  the  prisons,  and,  further,  that  judging  by  the  frequent 
return  of  the  debtor  class,  we  unhesitatingly  say  that  imprisonment  ir 
these  cases  is  not  deterrent.  We,  therefore,  recommend  that  all  classes 
of  debtors  and  surety  prisoners  should,  as  regards  employment,  be  treated 
in  the  same  way  as  prisoners  sentenced  to  simple  imprisonment,  i.e. 
without  hard  labour." 

The  Government  did  not  go  as  far  as  the  Commissioners  desired, 
but  by  the  1899  rules,  which  were  made  under  the  1898  Prison; 
Act,  the  conditions  of  imprisonment  for  debt  were  made  to  approacl 
far  more  closely  to  the  conditions  of  imprisonment  for  crime.  Th( 
Commissioners  anticipated  a  considerable  reduction  in  the  numben 
of  debtors  as  the  result  of  this  change,  and  in  the  following  yea 
they  reported  a  decrease  of  600.  But  in  their  report  for  1902-1901 
they  were  compelled  to  note  the  "considerable  rise  in  the  number  o 
prisoners  committed  for  debt,  the  numbers  being  16,312  as  compare* 
with  14,039  the  previous  year,"  and  proceeded  to  say  that  so  far  th, 
expectation  of  a  smaller  number  of  debtors  coming  to  prison  i! 
consequence  of  the  more  rigorous  treatment  authorised  by  the  Act  c 
1898  had  not  been  fulfilled.  An  examination  of  the  figures  suggest. 
that  the  rise  and  fall  in  the  number  of  debtors  depend  much  moi 
upon  the  conditions  of  trade  and  employment  and  other  extern! 
conditions  than  upon  any  changes  made  in  the  prison  treatment  (j 
debtors.  { 

If  the  Standing  Orders  were  interpreted  strictly,  the  position  (j 
the  debtor  would,  in  certain  respects,   be  considerably  worse  thai 
that  of  the  ordinary  prisoner.     They  lay  down  that  cellular  confinv 
ment  "will  be    the  general   practice,   exception   only  being   mac 
where  association  is  practicable  under  supervision."^*       Apparent 
association  under   supervision  generally  is  practicable,     since    cj 
witnesses  both  from  large  and  small  prisons  report  that  advantai; 
is  frequently  taken  of  the  further  clause  that  debtors  shall  be  ehgib 
for  employment  outside  the  cell — cleaning,  painting,  odd  jobs,  et 
— provided   that  they    are  not  brought  into  immediate   and    clo 
contact  with  ordinary  criminal  prisoners." 

A  debtor  confined  in  a  small  prison  is  often  the  only  prisoner 
his  class,  and,  consequently,  has  both  to  work  and  exercise  in  iscl? 

2*  1895   Departmental  Committee  Report,  p.   33.  j 

as  S.O.    1041.  t 

'"A   part   ol  S.O.    1041   reads:   "A   debtor  who   has  no  criminal   antecedents    will   not 
aBsociated  with  one  who  has  been  prerionsly  conricted  ol  crime." 


DEBTORS  229 

ion.  sometimes  completing  the  whole  of  his  sentence  under  condi- 
ions  of  separate  confinement.  "One  wretched  debtor,"  remarks  a 
/itness,  describing  a  visit  to  a  small  provincial  prison,  "was  enjoy- 
ig  the  privilege  of  exercising  alone,  on  a  barred-in  square  of  asphalt. 
I  think  company — even  under  supervision — would  have  been 
'referable." 

Debtors  may  secure  release  at  any  time  on  the  payment  of  the 
mount  which  is  owing,  and  on  payment  of  a  portion  of  the  amount 
an  secure  a  proportionate  remission  of  the  sentence.  They  are 
ermitted  additional  letters  and  visits  for  the  bona  fide  purpose  of 
bcuring  the  payment  of  the  debt.  The  maximum  terra  of  imprison- 
;ient  for  an  ordinary  "debtor"  is  42  days,  but  21  or  28  days  is  a 
iiore  usual  sentence. 


230  CLASSIFICATION   IN  LOCAL  PRISONS 


SOME    OF    THE    PRINCIPAL     DEFECTS    INDICATED    IN     THE 
PRECEDING    CHAPTER. 


1. — Putting  aside  the  question,  whether  under  a  different  system  the 
isolation  of  the  different  classes  of  prisoners  would  be  necessary,  the  existing 
classification  is  neither  effective  in  preventing  "contamination,"  nor  utilised 
for  the  purpose  of   securing  appropriate  and   individual  treatment. 

2. — With  the  exception  of  the  few  first  division  offenders,  the  treatment 
of  the  existing  classes  is  governed  by  the  same  repressive  and  demoralising 
principles  that  characterise  the  regime  of  the  third  division  hard-labour 
prisoners. 


4      yv 


ll^ 


r 


CHAPTER   XIV 


PUNISHMENTS 

Prison  Offences  and  Their  Punishment 

Prisoners  who  do  not  keep  the  prison  regulations  are  Uable  to 
lunishment,  and,  since  the  regulations  are  of  such  a  character  that 
io  one  can  possibly  keep  them,  prisoners  never  feel  immune  from 
'unishment.  Not  only  is  obviously  improper  behaviour,  such  as 
iolence  to  a  fellow  prisoner,  idleness,  indecency,  or  irreverence  in 
hapel  liable  to  punishment,  but  if  a  prisoner  speak  he  may  be 
unished;  if  he  whistle  or  sing  or  make  any  "unnecessary"  noise"; 
■  he  nod  his  head,  or  smile,  or  raise  his  cap  to  another  prisoner; 
'  the  tins  in  his  cell  are  not  polished  to  the  pleasing  of  the  landing 
flficer;  if  he  leave  his  "appointed  location"  without  permission; 
*  he  have  a  pencil  or  other  forbidden  article  in  his  cell ;  if  he  give  to, 
r"  receive  from,  any  other  prisoner  "any  article  whatsoever  without 
eave";  or  even  if  he  attempt  to  do  any  of  these  things,  he  becomes 
uilty  of  an  offence,  for  which  an  officer  can  report  him  to  the 
ovemor,  and  the  governor  sentence  him  to  close  confinement,  loss 
I  remission  marks,  and  a  period  of  punishment  diet.  "It  seemed 
y  me,"  wrote  Jabez  Balfour,  "that  my  one  chance  of  safety  was  to 
D  nothing  at  all,  and  that  if  I  succeeded  in  such  a  task  I  should 
3  considered  a  well-conducted  and  industrious  prisoner."  ' 

The  degree  to  which  a  prisoner's  life  is  hedged  about  by 
e  possibility  of  punishment  is  illustrated  by  the  following  "crimes" 
jmmitted  by  some  of  our  witnesses :  — 

Offenci.  Punishmint. 

Tins  unpolished  One    day   No.    1    diet;*   on©   week 

separate  confinement,  one  day  re- 
mission lost,  and  letter  and  visit 
postponed  a  week. 

Leaving    place    to    visit     lavatory    One  week  separate  confinement,  one 
without  permission  day  remission  lost,  and  letter  and 

visit  postponed  a  week. 

Singing  Three    days    No.   1    diet,    14   days 

separate  confinement,  two  days 
remission  lost,  and  letter  and  visit 
postponed  14  days. 

"My  Prison   Life,"    p.   263. 

Since  1918,  No.  1  diet  has  consisted  of  12  ozs.  bread,  8  ozs.  potatoes,  and  water  per 
<T,  and  No.  2  diet  ol  12  ozs.  bread,  two  pints  porridge,  and  8  ozs.  potatoes.    See  pp.  238-39. 


282 


PUNISHMENTS 


Offence. 


Talking 


Non-perfoimance  of  "task"  ("I 
could  not  perform  full  'task,' 
was  new  to  the  work") 

Whistling  on  exercise 


Lending  a  book  to  fellow  prisoner 


Raising  hat  on  account  of  heat 
("charged  with  signalling  to  an- 
other prisoner") 

Trying  to  look  through  window  at 
Christmas  singers 


Talking  in  bathroom 


Possessing  a  pencil 


Accepting  two  ozs.  of  bread  from 
fellow   prisoner 

"Complaining  to  officer  who  had 
wrongfully  reported  another 
prisoner  for  talking  and  for  stat- 
ing that  I  was  the  guilty  man" 

Having  pen  concealed  in  cell 


Giving  another  prisoner  a  piece  of 
bread 


Saying     "Good      Morning"     to     a 
prisoner 


Punishment. 

Two  days  No.  1  diet,  one  week 
separate  confinement,  one  day  re- 
mission lost,  and  letter  and  visit 
postponed  a  week. 

Two  days  No.  1  diet,  one  week 
separate  confinement,  one  day  re- 
mission lost,  and  letter  and  visit 
postponed  a  week. 

Three  days  close  confinement,  one 
week  separate  confinement,  one 
day  remission  lost,  and  letter  and 
visit  postponed  a  week. 

One  week  separate  confinement,  one 
day  remission  lost,  and  letter  and 
visit  postponed  a  week. 

One  week  separate  confinement,  one  j 
day  remission  lost,  and  letter  and  | 
visit  postponed  a  week.  | 

One  day  No.  1  diet,  one  week  i 
separate  confinement,  one  day  re-  i 
mission  lost,  and  letter  and  visit  ; 
postponed  a  week.  j 

Fourteen  days  separate  confinement,  j 
two    days     remission    lost,     and 
letter  and  visit  postponed  a  week. 

One  week  separate  confinement,  i 
three  days  remission  lost,  and  : 
letter  and  visit  postponed  a  week. 

One  week  separate  confinement,  one  ■ 
day  remission  lost,  and  letter  and 
visit  postponed  a  week.  | 

One  week  separate  confinement,  two' 
days  remission  lost,  and  letter  j 
and  visit  postponed  a  week. 

Three  days  No.  1  diet,  14  days; 
separate  confinement,  three  days! 
remission    lost,    and    letter    and: 

visit  postponed  14  days.  j 

i 

One   day    No.    1   diet,   seven   day.-j 

separate  confinement,   three  days, 

remission    lost,    and    letter    antij 

visit  postponed  a  week.  j 

Three  days  No.  1  diet,  one  weekj 
separate  confinement,  one  dav 
remission  lost,  and  letter  anci 
visit  postponed    a  week. 


PRISON    OFFENCES    AND    THEIR    PUNISHMENT  238 

OiTiNCE.  Punishment. 

Pricking  holes  in  toilet  paper  ("to  Fourteen  days  separate  confinement, 

indicate  numbers  of  library  books  two  days  remission  lost,  and  letter 

desired,   in    case  they  should   be  and  visit  postponed  14  days, 
rubbed  off  slate") 

Making  notes  from  Green's  History  One  day  No.  1  diet,  one  week 
on  Christmas  Card  with  black  separate  confinement,  one  day  re- 
chalk  mission  lost,  and  letter  and  visit 

postponed  a  week. 

Singing  carols  on  Christmas  Day        Three   days    No.    1    diet,    14    days 

separate  confinement,  three  days 
remission  lost,  and  letter  and 
visit  postponed  14  days. 

The  above  cases  all  occurred  in  Local  prisons.  We  are  able  to 
supplement  them  by  instances  in  Contact  prisons  taken  from  letters 
written  by  men  undergoing  penal  servitude.*  In  one  of  these  letters 
we  read  "the  reason  why  I  got  punished  is  for  giving  a  loaf  of  bread 
away.  I  got  too  much  and  could  not  eat  it,  so  I  gave  this  loaf  away, 
and  the  officer  saw  me  give  it  to  the  other  man,  then  he  reported 
me."  Another  convict,  a  Star  man,  wrote  "you  would  not  believe 
what  a  man  has  got  to  put  up  with  here.  The  other  day  I  was 
whistling  to  myself,  anyone  half-a-yard  away  from  me  could  not 
hear  me.  Yet  I  got  reported  for  it  and  lost  a  month's  class  and 
42  marks.  .  .  •"  (a  sentence  afterwards  reduced).  Another  case 
:  is  of  a  man  who  on  the  morning  of  his  reception  greeted  a  companion 
in  misfortune  with  the  words,  "Good  morning,  Jack."  For  this 
crime  he  was  punished  with  two  days  bread  and  water  diet.  We 
i quote  three  further  extracts:  — 

I. 
I  have  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  30  remission  marks  through  being 
caught   with   a   needle   and   thread.     These    are   prohibited    articles.     I 
only  had  them  for  the  very  harmless  purpose  of  sewing  on  buttons  when 
required. 

II. 
I  accidentally  caught  my  breeks  on  a  nail  and  made  a  large  rent  in 
them  whilst  at  work,  and  having  a  few  days  previously  accidentally  made 
a  small  tear  in  the  same  breeches  .  .  .  'twas  thought  I  had  wilfully 
torn  them.  .  .  .  (The  governor)  put  back  my  day  another  six  and 
I  lost  all  privileges  for  a  month.  Being  quit«  innocent  of  any  wilful- 
ness or  even  carelessness,  and  a  warder  having  seen  and  testified  that 
the  large  rent  was  the  result  of  an  accident,  I  naturally  felt  it  rather 
hard  lines  and  waa  a  little  disheartened. 

III. 
A  prisoner  asked   me  a  civil  question  concerning   a  tune  book.     We 
are  both  in  the  choir,  and  I   gave  him  a  civil  answer.     The  ofiicer  in 
charge  saw  us  and  reported  us,  made  an  exaggeration  of  the  case,  with 
1        the  result  that  I  lost  a  few  days  remission  and  some  stage. 

A  large  number  of  such  instances  might  be  quoted. 

I    *  A*  fmct  that  the  writers  of  the  letters  knew  th»t  they  wer«  liable  to  censorahip  makes 
'  the  reliability  of  theii  itatementc  probable. 

12 


284  PUNISHMENTS 

If  prison  ofl&cers  always  reported  prisoners  when  they  observed 
them  breaking  the  regulations,  practically  every  prisoner  would  be 
reported  in  the  course  of  a  week.  Broadly  speaking,  ofi&cers  do  not 
report  prisoners  for  talking,  for  instance,  unless  they  have  broken 
the  silence  rule  fairly  persistently,  and  in  most  instances  they  give 
warning.*  The  officers  themselves,  however,  are  liable  to  punish- 
ment by  fine  if  they  do  not  report  prisoners  for  breaches  of  discipline, 
and  sometimes  the  proximity  of  a  superior  officer  compels  a  warder 
to  place  a  prisoner  on  report.  Many  warders  complain  bitterly  of 
the  unfairness  of  their  position  in  being  expected  to  enforce  rules 
which  cannot  be  enforced. 

This  fact  that  the  rules  are  of  such  a  character  that  they  cannot 
be  rigidly  enforced,  and  yet  are  enforceable  at  any  moment,  places 
a  power  in  the  hands  of  the  officials  which  is  open  to  serious  abuse. 
If  an  officer  become  prejudiced  against  a  particular  prisoner,  it  is 
always  open  to  him  to  find  occasions  for  reporting  him,  and  more 
than  one  of  our  ex-prisoner  witnesses  complain  that  officers  have 
made  a  "dead  set"  against  certain  men.  Many  of  our  officer  wit- 
nesses agree  that  in  certain  exceptional  cases  this  abuse  arises. 

A  few  ex-prisoners  also  complain  that  certain  warders  have  sought 
to  find  occasions  for  reporting  in  order  to  obtain  the  good  opinion  of 
the  governor  with  a  view  to  promotion.  Most  of  our  officer  witnesses 
deny,  however,  that  governors  expect  reports  or  that  promotion 
depends  upon  them.  They  agree  that  there  was  a  time  when  this 
was  the  case,  but,  as  a  rule,  they  say  it  is  not  so  now.  Exceptions, 
however,  remain.  "In  my  prison,"  says  one  officer,  "many  men 
are  unjustly  reported.  The  governor  expects  reports — and,  of 
course,  they  have  to  be  made."  Another  warder  remarks,  "Young 
officers,  like  police  (and  some  never  grow  old  in  this  respect)  allow 
personal  feeling  and  ambition  to  prompt  many  of  their  reports." 

It  is  a  very  usual  custom  for  the  charges  against  prisoners  to  be 
exaggerated.  "One  New  Year's  Eve,"  says  an  ex-prisoner,  "I 
rapped  on  the  wall  to  my  neighbour  at  midnight.  I  was  caught  and 
reported;  I  was  rendered  almost  speechless  next  morning  by  the 
charge  brought  against  me.  It  included  not  only  knocking  the  wall, 
but  shouting,  banging  my  utensils,  and  generally  making  a  disturb- 
ance likely  to  upset  the  discipline  of  the  prison ! ' '  One  officer  states 
that  it  is  almost  always  the  rule  to  exaggerate  the  case  against  the 
prisoner,  and  he  admits  that  officers  go  out  of  their  way  to  support 
each  other  when  giving  evidence.  "^ 

The  Numbeb  of  Punishments. 
The  number  of  punishments  imposed  is  steadily  decreasing.     The  , 
Prison  Commissioners  attribute  the  diminution  to  "the  policy  ■   •  •  \ 
of  increasing  the  rewards  and  encouragement  in  the  case  of  well- 

*  There    are    exceptions.       One    ex-prisoner    writes:    "Our    officer    demanded    the    strictest 
observance   of    the  silence  rule.    The   consequence    of    this   severe   repression   of    the   natural  , 
use  of  speech  was  a  very  ugly  temper  among  the  men.    Had  he  been   on  duty  permanently 
an  explosion   would   have  be«n  inevitable." 


THE    TRIAL    BEFORE    THE    GOVERNOR 


335 


behaved  and  industrious  prisoners. ' '  *  "We  should  ourselves  attribute 
the  decrease  to  the  less  rigid  prison  routine  and  the  less  hard  enforce- 
ment of  prison  discipline.  The  amelioration  which  has  taken  place 
in  prison  conditions  during  recent  years  has  been  considerable,  as 
will  be  seen  from  the  descriptions  given  elsewhere,  while  the  general 
tendency  towards  leniency  in  enforcing  discipline  is  attested  by 
almost  all  our  witnesses  of  long  experience. 

The  decrease  in  the   number  of   punishments  is  shown  in  the 
following  Tables  based  on  the  returns  of  the  Prison  Commissioners : 


age  of  Prisoners  Punished  in 

Local  Prisons 

1913-14         

12.8 

1917-18         

7.6 

1918-19         

7.1 

1919-20         

6.0 

1920-21         

4.9 

Particulars  of  Prisoners  Punished  in  Convict  Prisons. 


Total 

Total 

Number 

Total  Male 

Percentage 

in 

Offences 

included 

Convicts 

Punished 

Custody 

for  Violence 

Punished 

Average  for  5  years 

ended  1906-7 

4,296 

4,225 

686 

1,607 

37-4 

91                        19 

„       1911-12 

4,211  !  2,961 

619 

1,211 

28-7 

M                          9' 

„       1916-17 

3,455 

1,675 

391 

802 

23-3 

For  year  1917-18      . 

.. 

2,194 

1,106 

196 

498 

22-7 

,,        1918-19      . 

.. 

1,987 

833 

187 

439 

22-1 

1919-20      . 

.. 

3,056 

1,453 

317 

663 

21-7 

1920-21      . 



2,958 

1,095 

165 

658 

22-2 

The  Prison  Commissioners  classify  prison  offences  under  four 
heads — violence,  escapes  and  attempted  escapes,  idleness,  and  "other 
breaches  of  the  regulations."  In  1920-21,  26  cases  of  violence 
occurred  in  Local  prisons  (women  were  responsible  for  seven),  seven 
escapes  or  attempts  (all  men),  631  cases  of  idleness  (women  27),  and 
4,587  other  breaches  of  the  regulations,  most  of  which  would  be  in- 
fringements of  the  silence  rule.  In  Convict  prisons  there  were  161 
cases  of  violence  (of  which  four  were  women),  three  attempted 
escapes,  69  idleness  (one  woman),  and  858  "other  breaches"  (15 
women).  Eighty-seven  of  the  cases  of  violence  occurred  at  the  in- 
valid prison  at  Parkhurst,  where  there  are  many  mental  patients. 

The  Trial  Before  the  Governor. 
Several  ex-prisoners  declare  that  the  ordeal  of  awaiting  trial  and 
of  the  trial  itself  is  a  greater  strain  than  the  punishment.     One  of 
these  witnesses  says  :  — 


5  P.O.  Report,  1906-7,  p.   27. 


236  _  PUNISHMENTS 

I  could  never  sleep  when  I  anticipated  being  reported.  I  had  no  f« 
of  the  actual  punishment,  yet  the  thought  of  what  I  had  to  go  throi 
so  upset  me  that  my  mind  went  over  the  prospects  of  the  morrow  aga 
and  again.  ''^ 

Another  witness  who  was  located  in  proximity  to  juvenile  ad 
prisoners  states  that  he  heard  them  sobbing  for  hours  when  they 
were  sent  back  to  their  cells  on  report,  yet  they  frequently  went 
through  the  punishment  itself  light-heartedly.  i 

The  trial  before  the  governor  is  certainly  calculated  to  tax  the  | 
nerves  of  the  prisoner  unless  he  be  thoroughly  hardened  to  such  \ 
proceedings.  The  door  through  which  he  enters  the  orderly  room  \ 
opens  on  to  a  narrow  dock  cut  off  from  the  rest  of  the  room  by  a  \ 
high  iron  railing.  In  this  dock  stands  the  principal  warder  of  the  I 
prisoner's  hall.  The  governor  is  seated  at  a  table  with  his  clerk  | 
standing  to  the  left  of  him,  the  deputy  governor  or  chief  warder  '. 
standing  behind  him,  and  the  "Eeports  and  Applications"  officer  i 
near  by.  In  the  centre  of  the  room  is  the  officer  making  the  charge. 
The  tone  of  the  proceedings  is  as  formidable  as  is  the  scene. 

The  charge  is  read  out,  the  officer  gives  his  evidence  in  a  sing- 
song voice,  the  governor,  or  his  clerk,  noting  it  in  his  book.     The 
prisoner  is  then  asked  whether  he  has  anything  to  say.     In  the  great  j 
majority  of  cases  the  prisoner  neither  attempts  to  deny  the  charge  ! 
nor   to   excuse   his   conduct.       The   governor   then   reads   out   the  j 
sentence,  writes  down  the  particulars  in  his  "Offences  and  Punish-  ! 
ments"   book,    and  the  prisoner  is   hustled   away  to  undergo  the 
punishment  awarded.' 

The  governor  is  permitted  to  sentence  a  prisoner  to  No.  1  punish- 
ment diet  for  three  days,  No.  2  punishment  diet  for  21  days,  to  close 
confinement  for  three  days,  to  reduction  in  stage  for  14  days,  to  for- 
feiture of  remission  of  sentence  by  14  days,  and,  in  the  case  of 
idleness  or  refusal  to  work,  to  deprivation  of  mattress  for  three  days. 
If  a  prisoner  be  charged  with  a  serious  or  repeated  offence  ' '  for  which 
the  punishment  the  governor  is  authorised  to  inflict  is  deemed  in- 
sufficient," the  governor  is  instructed  to  report  the  matter  to  a 
member  of  the  visiting  committee'  (or  a  director,  in  the  case  of 
Convict  prisons).  The  committee  (or  director)  has  the  power  to  remit 
a  portion  of  any  punishment  ordered  if  the  prisoner  express  contrition 
and  if  the  governor  "has  good  reason  to  believe  that  the  effect  of  the 
punishment  already  undergone  has  been  such  that  he  is  not  likely  to 
repeat  his  offence. "  ' 

No  prisoner  may  be  placed  on  punishment  unless  certified  fit  by 
the  medical  officer.  The  form  which  he  is  required  to  fill  in  is  as 
follows :  — 


•  The  goTernor  is  reanired  to  make  a  brief  statement  of  the  case  in   his   book,  including  j 
the  eTidence  of  the  officer  and  any  defence  made  by  the  prisoner.    Erery  Saturday  the  pages   ' 
used   during   the   week   must   be  detached   and   forwarded   to   the  Prison   Commissioners,    by 
■whom    they   are  afterwards    returned,    being   then  pasted  in    a  guard    book  and   retained   at 
the  prison.    The  governor  must  giTe  his  reasons  for  dealing  leniently  with  any  prisoner. 

'  See   pp.    391-3. 

»  8.O.   459. 


THE    TRIAL    BEFORE    THE    GOVERNOR 


287 


.193. 


1    HEREBY    CERTIFY    that    I    have    this    day    examined    Reg.     No. 

and  find  him  capable  of  undergoing  the  several  descriptions  of  punishments 

'at  specified  below;  also  that  he  is  for  restraint  of 

Handcuffs,  Leg  Chains,  Cross  Irons  or  Body  Belt  and  Canvas  Dress. 


Description  of  Punishment. 

Rehjvbks. 

Close 

Scale  of  Diet!          Corporal 

{especially  as  regards 
mental  state.) 

CJonflnement 

1 

No.l 

No.  2    Cat  o'  Nine  Birch 

Tails       i  Rod 

1 

i 

1     * 

« 

«                * 

*Here  insert  "fit"  or  "unfit." 


Medical    Officer. 

In  at  least  one  prison,  despite  this  elaborate  certificate,  a  reliable 
iwitness  informs  us  that  the  medical  officer  did  not  take  the  trouble  to 
jexamine  prisoners  reported  for  punishment.     He  says:  — 

Whilst  I  was  at  I  was  sentenced  to  one  period  of  three  days  No. 

1  diet,  with  close  confinement,  to  one  period  of  nine  days  No.  1  diet, 
with  close  confinement,  and  three  periods  of  15  days  No.  1  diet,  with 
close  confinement.  Two  M.O.'s  visited  the  prison,  but  neither  of  them 
ever  examined  me.  They  used  to  ask  if  I  was  all  right,  and  when  I 
answered  "Yes,  so  far  as  I  know,"  they  did  not  worry  themselves  further. 

!  It  is  not  necessary  to  stress  the  gravity  of  the  laxity  and  neglect 
■•which  this  statement  reveals. 

j  Prisoners  placed  on  punishment  used  to  be  confined  in  entirely 
dark  cells.  The  Prison  Act  of  1877  diminished  the  power  to  confine 
prisoners  in  these  cells,  and  after  the  report  of  the  Eoyal  Commission 
on  the  Irish  prisons  in  1884,  which  strongly  condemned  them,  the 
use  of  entirely  dark  cells  was  discontinued. 

j  Prisoners  frequently  undergo  their  period  of  punishment  in  their 
own  cells.  In  other  cases  a  landing  of  ordinary  cells  is  set  apart 
for  punishment  purposes.'  When  a  prisoner  is  ordered  close  confine- 
ment" or  punishment  diet,  all  articles  are  removed  from  his  cell 
except  his  stool,  his  chamber,  his  Bible,  and  an  educational  book  of 

!  •  In  at  least  one  prison  the  cells  on  the  runishment  landing  have  glazed  windows,  and 
ta«T*  are  no  opening  panes. 

'"  In  December,  1921,  the  Prison  Commissioners  instmcted  governors  to  permit  prisoners 
sentenced   to   cellular  confinement,    or   other   pnnishment,  an  hoar's  exercise   daily. 


238  PUNISHMENTS 

the  severest  kind."  At  8  p.m.  the  prisoner  on  punishment  is  permitted 
to  take  his  bed-board,  mattress,  and  bedclothes  into  the  cell  for  the 
night,  but  they  are  removed  again  first  thing  in  the  morning.  If  a 
prisoner  on  punishment  be  removed  to  hospital,  the  time  spent  in 
hospital  counts  as  part  of  the  sentence  awarded.  If,  however,  it  is 
subsequently  found  that  he  has  been  malingering  and  the  medical 
officer  certifies  that  such  is  the  case,  a  fresh  punishment  is  imposed 
for  this  offence  in  addition  to  the  balance  of  the  first  punishment. 
If  a  prisoner  commit  a  further  offence  while  undergoing  punishment 
he  is  tried  again  immediately  he  has  completed  his  period  of  close 
confinement.  If  he  be  on  No.  1  diet  he  cannot  be  awarded  a  second 
period  of  that  diet,  but  No.  1  diet  may  be  substituted  for  No.  2 
diet,  or  No.  2  may  be  awarded  so  as  to  overlap  with  No.  1. 

Dietary  Punishment. 

There  are  two  diets  utihsed  for  purposes  of  punishment.  No.  1 
diet  consisted,  from  1901  until  1918,  of  lib.  of  bread  per  diem,  with 
water.  In  1918,  in  accordance  with  war-time  regulations,  only  12 
ounces  of  bread  were  allowed,  eight  ounces  of  potatoes  being  given 
additionally.     No.  2  diet,  before  1918,  was  made  up  as  follows:  — 

Breakfast. — Bread,  8  ozs. 

Dinner. — Porridge,  1  pint;  Potatoes,  8  ozs. ;  Bread,  8  ozs 

Supper. — Bread,  8  ozs. 

In  1918  the  bread  was  reduced  to  12  ozs.,  and  one  pint  of  porridg« 
given  additionally.     These  punishment  diets  still  remain  in  force. 

The  "bread  and  water"  diet  may  not  be  given  for  more  than  threi 
days.  If  No.  1  be  ordered  for  a  longer  period,  "the  bread  and  water'  j 
diet  must  be  alternated  with  the  ordinary  diet  every  three  days.  No , 
1  diet  may  not  be  ordered  for  a  period  of  more  than  15  days,  ancj 
"no  prisoner  who  has  been  upon  this  diet  shall  be  again  placed  upon 
it  for  a  fresh  offence  until  an  interval  has  elapsed  equal  to  the  perioc! 
passed  by  the  prisoner  on  No.  1  diet."  This  rule  is  interpreted  aii 
meaning  that  the  number  of  days  actually  spent  on  "bread  anci 
water"  diet  must  elapse  before  the  punishment  is  renewed.  Thui 
if  15  days  No.  1  diet  be  ordered,  nine  days  must  pass  before  punish 
ment  recur.  i 

No  task  of  labour  is  enforceable  when  a  prisoner  is  on  "bread  anci 
water"  diet,  but  the  prisoner  may  "be  allowed  the  option  of  perform 
ing  suitable  labour  in  the  cell."  The  work  provided  is  frequently 
oakum  picking."  j 

11  Although  the  chaplain  is  instructed  by  a  Standing  Order  (353)  to  use  great  care  i; 
selecting  such  books,  always  recollecting  that  a  man  under  punishment  must  not  be  allowej 
any  book  that  does  not  (a)  convey  instruction,  and  (b)  reciuire  effort  to  master  its  content!  I 
a  broad  interpretation  to  this  phrase  is  frequently  given.  One  ex-prisoner,  for  instancf 
was  allowed  Boswell's  "Life  ol  Johnson,"  another  any  educational  book  in  the  library,  -j 
third  witness,  however,  says  that  the  chaplain  in  his  case  was  doubtful  about  allowing  hii 
the  "Meditations   of  Marcus  Aurelius."  { 

"  Cp.  p.   114. 


CORPORAL    PUNISHMENT  239 

Arost  of  the  prison  medical  officers  apparently  think  that 
re  is  no  need  to  modify  the  practice  of  imposing  dietary 
punishments.  One  of  them,  however,  strongly  objects  to  such 
punishments.  "The  only  punishment  should  be  the  deprivation  of 
privileges,"  he  urges.  "More  privileges  should  be  gainable  which 
could  be  taken  away  if  necessary."  This  doctor  points  out  that 
punishments  are  administered  even  in  asylums,  but  they  take  the 
form,  not  of  the  deprivation  of  food,  but  the  deprivation  of  such 
"privileges"  as  tobacco  or  attendance  at  an  entertainment  or  dance. 

The  Departmental  (Committee  of  1895  recommended  that  "No.  1 
diet  punishment  should  be  inflicted  with  great  care,"  especially 
urging  the  need  for  precaution  in  the  case  of  women.  "Undoubtedly 
it  tends  to  lower  the  system,"  their  report  proceeds,  "and  this  in 
itself  is  most  undesirable. "  "  The  Prison  Commissioners  subsequently 
summarised  the  Committee's  recommendation  upon  this  point  in 
these  words:  "No.  1  dietary  punishment  to  be  inflicted  only  when 
no  other  sufficient  substitute  is  to  be  found,  such  as  loss  of  privi- 
leges";  and  declared,  "We  have  systematically  enjoined  on  governors 
our  view  on  this  question,  which  entirely  coincides  with  the  recom- 
mendation."  **  Our  evidence  does  not  suggest  that  governors  have 
been  greatly  impressed  by  the  Commissioners'  communication  to  this 
effect.  "A  sentence  of  bread  and  water  diet  is  almost  inevitable  for 
the  most  tri^-ial  offence  subsequent  to  being  reported  for  the  first 
time,"  remarks  one  ex-prisoner  \\'itness,  and  all  other  witnesses 
support  his  view. 

Dr.  E.  F.  Quinton  asserts  that  dietary  punishment  is  often  found 
to  be  the  only  way,  short  of  the  inffiction  of  corporal  punishment,  of 
appealing  to  the  feelings  of  an  idle  or  insubordinate  person ;  for  there 
are  prisoners  who  light-heartedly  submit  to  loss  of  remission  marks, 
loss  of  stage  privileges,  loss  of  gratuity,  or  even  to  cellular  confine- 
ment, if  their  diet  is  not  reduced."  A  warder  of  long  experience 
declares,  on  the  other  hand,  that  "diet  punishment  with  old  lags  is 
not  a  severe  form  of  punishment — ^they  say  they  lie  flat  on  their  backs 
and  do  not  feel  the  hunger  very  much.""  Other  prisoners,  he 
acknowledges,  suffer  intensely.  About  a  third  of  our  prison  officer 
witnesses  urge  that  punishment  by  diet  reduction  should  be  abohshed. 

Corporal  Punishment. 
Corporal  punishment  can  only  be  inflicted  upon  prisoners  con- 
Ticted  of  felony  or  sentenced  to  penal  servitude  or  hard  labour  who 
are  foimd  guilty  of  mutiny  or  incitement  to  mutiny  or  of  gross 

»»  1895  Departmental  Committee  Report,  p.  16. 

»♦  Obserrations   ol   the    Commissioners,   1896    (C.7995),  p.   2. 

'*  "Crime  and   Criminals,"  p.   27. 

■•  This    is    borno  ont    by   the  personal   experience  of   a    witness.    "Dnring  four  months   at 

prison,"  he  says,  "I  was  sentenced  to  three  days,  nine   days,   and  three  periods  of   15 

days  on  No.  1  punishment  diet.  At  the  beginning,  when  I  felt  the  hunger  most,  I  spent 
much  time  lying  on  the  floor,  my  head  propped  up  on  a  book.  I  found  that  by  this  means 
the  pain  became  much  less  acute.  During  the  second  period  of  punishment — that  ol  nine 
days — I  found  that  inacUon  of  this  kind  was  unnecessary.  I  had  become  used  to  the  low 
diet.  At  the  end  ol  my  third  period  ol  15  days  the  medical  (^cer  forbade  further  dietary 
PTinishment." 


240  PUNISHMENTS 

personal  violence  to  any  officer  or  servant  of  the  prison."  Ordinarily, 
at  least  three  members  of  the  visiting  committee  (two  of  whom  must 
be  justices)  must  be  present  when  the  sentence  is  passed,  but  the 
Secretary  of  State  may  appoint  a  Metropolitan  PoUce  Magistrate 
or  Stipendiary  to  take  their  place.  The  sentence  must  be  confirmed 
by  the  Secretary  of  State." 

The  medical  officer  is  required  not  only  to  certify  the  prisoner  as  fit 
to  undergo  the  punishment  beforehand,  but  to  attend  the  flogging 
and  "give  such  orders  for  preventing  injury  to  health  as  he  may 
deem  necessary."  Apparently,  however,  he  only  intervenes  when 
vitality  is  dangerously  lowered.  When  there  is  any  record  of  pre- 
vious mental  defect  in  a  prisoner  "recommended"  for  corporal 
punishment,  the  special  attention  of  the  Prison  CJommissioners  must 
be  called  to  it." 

The  instrument  used  in  inflicting  corporal  punishment  upon  a 
prisoner  over  18  years  of  age  is  either  a  cat-o'-nine-tails  or  a  birch 
rod;  in  the  case  of  a  prisoner  under  18  the  cat-o'-nine-tails  must 
not  be  used.  Thirty-six  lashes  or  strokes  may  be  given  to  a  prisoner 
over  18,  eighteen  to  a  prisoner  under  18. 

The  flogging  is  attended  by  the  governor,  the  medical  officer,  the 
chief  warder,  and  a  hospital  warder,  whose  duty  it  is  to  give  the 
prisoner  brandy  in  the  event  of  faintness.  The  warder  who  carries 
out  the  punishment  is  invisible  to  the  prisoner,  so  that  he  may  be 
ignorant  whose  hand  is  responsible  for  the  blows.  The  neck  and 
kidneys  of  the  prisoner  are  protected  from  injury  by  leather  straps, 
and  after  the  flogging  he  is  generally  taken  to  the  hospital  and 
nursed  until  he  is  normal  again." 

The  following  description  of  flogging  by  cat-o'-nine-tails,  though 
written  half-a-century  ago,  is,  we  believe,  approximately  accurate 
to-day :  — 

The  prisoner  is  fastened  to  a  triangle,  or  to  an  apparatus  somewhat 
resembling  the  stocks,  so  that  he  can  move  neither  hand  nor  foot.  His 
back  is  bare,  the  man  who  wields  the  "cat"  shakes  out  its  nine  thongs, 
raises  it  aloft  with  both  hands,  and  deals  the  criminal  the  first  blow- 
across  the  shoulders.  A  red  streak  appears  on  the  whit*  skin.  Again 
the  thongs  are  shaken  out,  again  the  hands  rise,  again  the  whips  are 
brought  down  with  full  force,  and  the  streak  on  the  skin  grows  redder 
and  broader.  A  turnkey  gives  out  the  number  as  each  stroke  falls,  and 
the  silence  is  only  broken  by  his  voice,  the  descent  of  each  successive 
blow,  and  by  the  cries  or  groans  of  the  sufferer.*'     .... 

I'ln  addition,  when  a  Court  of  Assize  or  Quarter  Sessions  sentences  a  prisoner  to  corporal 
punishment,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  governor  of  the  prison  who  has  had  the  custody  of  thft 
prisoner  during  his  trial  to  carry  out  such  sentence  by  a  prison  officer,  unless  instruction* 
to  the  contrary  are  given  by  the  Court. 

»«  Prison  Act,  1898,  Section  5. 

i>  When  a  prisoner  reported  for  an  offenc*  punishable  by  corporal  punishment  is  within 
a  few  days  of  his  release  and  time  will  not  admit  of  the  necessary  formalities,  particulars 
are  required  to  be  forwarded  to  the  Commissioners  with  a  view  to  a  prosecution  in  a 
Court  of  Law. 

20  Formerly  he  would  be  put  in   chains  or  sent  to  work  the  next  day. 

3>  A  gorernor  declares  that  he  prefers  to  witness  an  ezeoution  rather  than  a  flogging. 


COBPOBAL  PUNISHMENT  241 

It  is  far  from  an  agreeable  task  to  watch  the  face  and  figure  of  the 
flogger  as  he  executes  the  sentence,  and  few  would  deny  that  the  moral 
effect  upon  Atm  must  be  as  great  as  upon  the  criminal  whom  it  is  his 
duty  to  whip.  The  State,  when  it  sanctions  the  use  of  the  lash,  causes 
a  human  being  to  do  just  such  an  act  of  violence  as  it  desires  to  check. ^" 

Dr.  Devon  has  strongly  emphasised  this  last  aspect  of  corporal 
punishment.  "Will  the  man  you  employ  [to  flog  the  prisoner]  not 
be  a  brute  also?  .  .  .  Does  your  official  imprimatur  remove 
the  brutahty  of  his  act?  ...  If  not,  one  result  would  seem  to 
be  that  at  the  end  you  have  two  brutes  among  you  instead  of  one.  * '  " 
The  majority  of  prison  officers  look  with  abhorrence  upon  the  duty 
of  flogging,  but  to  judge  from  our  evidence,  many  of  them  consider 
that  corporal  punishment  is  necessary  as  a  deterrent  to  assaults. 
"God  help  the  warders  if  corporal  punishment  were  abolished,"  a 
governor  exclaims.  One  warder  urges,  however,  that  if  prison 
disciphne  were  more  humane,  such  a  deterrent  would  be  unneces- 
sary. "The  repression  of  the  prison  system,"  he  says,  "provokes 
outbursts  of  temper  resulting  in  assault. "  "  A  principal  v^arder  illus- 
trates the  truth  of  this  statement  from  his  own  experience:  — 

"When  I  was  a  young  man,"  he  says,  "a  convict  only  had  to  shake 
his  head  to  be  brought  before  the  governor.  All  that  is  a  thing  of  the 
past.  The  result  is  that  convicts  do  not  feel  the  strain  so  much  and 
there  are  not  the  violent  outbursts  which  come  from  unnatural  repression. 
In  the  old  days  the  assaults  usually  took  place  in  chapel,  where  the 
warder  was  likely  to  be  taken  unawares." 

A  serious  objection  to  corporal  punishment  is  the  eSect  of  a 
Bogging  upon  the  prisoners  as  a  whole,  from  whom,  sometimes,  the 
shrieks  of  the  victim  cannot  be  kept.  "The  knowledge  that  one  of 
their  number  is  to  be  flogged  not  only  creates  a  state  of  unrest  among 
the  men, "  says  one  officer,  "but  it  seems  to  appeal  to  an  ugly  temper 
.n  them.  Fear  may  prevent  further  assaults,  but  every  officer  finds 
that  the  temper  of  the  men  is  more  difficult  and  that  the  tone  of 
jihe  place  is  lowered." 

I  The  number  of  prisoners  subjected  to  corporal  punishment  has 
^atly  decreased  during  recent  years,  as  the  following  Table 
ndicates :  — 

Number  of  Annual  Floggings. 

Local  prisons.  Convict  prisons. 


Average  for  five  years 

ended 

1901-2 

32 

12 

>>                  ») 

» 

1906-7 

23 

12 

"                  " 

>> 

1911-12 

19 

9 

L     " 

>> 

1916-17 

8 

5 

Hn   the  year  ending 

1917-18 

1 

— 

»>                      ;> 

>> 

1918-19      .. 

3 

— 

>>                      i> 

» 
>> 

1919-20 
1920-21 

2 
1 

4 

,  »*L.  O.  Pike,  "History  of   Crime  in   England"    (1876),   Vol.  II.,  p.  576. 
a»  "The  Criminal   and  the  Commnnity,"  p.    171. 
i  •*  Op.  pp.  509-10  and  564. 


i 


242  PUNISHMENTS 

The  decrease  in  the  number  of  prisoners  sentenced  to  corpora 
punishment  followed  the  Prison  Act  of  1898,  which  greatl] 
diminished  the  offences  punishable  by  flogging.  During  the  foui 
years  previous  to  the  passing  of  the  Act  the  number  of  inflictions  o] 
corporal  punishment  in  Local  prisons  was  301.  During  the  faui 
years  immediately  following  its  enactment  the  numbel-  was  92.  "Ii 
was  considered  by  some  at  the  time,"  remarked  the  Prison  Commis' 
sioners  in  their  report  for  1902-3,  "that  the  removal  of  this  powerfu 
deterrent  would  adversely  affect  the  discipline  of  prisons  and  rendei 
it  less  easy  to  maintain.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  comparing 
the  four  years  following  the  Prison  Act,  1898,  with  the  four  yean 
preceding  it,  the  yearly  average  number  of  offences  against  prisor 
discipline  had  decreased  from  147  to  131  per  1,000  of  prisoners.""' 

Nevertheless,  some  visiting  committees  represented  to  the  Home 
Secretary  that  there  had  been  difficulty  in  dealing  with  serious 
offences  other  than  mutiny  and  violence  owing  to  the  restrictioii 
of  corporal  punishment.  The  Prison  Commissioners,  "after  careful 
examination,"  were  not  satisfied  that  this  allegation  could  be  main- 
tained. In  the  first  place,  apart  from  the  general  improvement  in 
discipline  as  revealed  by  the  above  figures,  they  were  able  to  show 
that  there  had  been  "a  most  notable  rise"  in  the  number  of  the  very 
offences  for  which  corporal  punishment  was  still  inflicted,  "from 
which  it  may  be  inferred,"  they  proceeded,  "that  corporal  punish- 
ment is  not  the  only,  or  even  a  sure  deterrent,  against  the  commis- 
sion of  serious  offences  against  discipline."  The  Commissionen 
remarked  finally  that  they  beUeved  that  the  "limitation  of  corp<^rii 
punishment     .     .     .     has  been  justified  by  its  results." 

The  fall  in  the  number  of  cases  of  corporal  punishment  canno, 
be  accounted  for,  however,  solely  by  the  restriction  under  the  189^1 
Prison  Act.       Between  1901-2  and  1920-21  the  number  fell  fron 
25   to  one  in   the  case   of   Local  prisons,    and   from   21   to  nonii 
in  Convict  prisons.     Two  governors  put  the  decrease  down  to  th 
fact  that  criminals  are  now  of  a  better  type  than  formerly.     Anothei 
governor  thinks  "the  better  type  of  warder  has  most  to  do  with  it:'; 
But  most  of  our  witnesses  take  a  similar  view  to  that  quoted  abov 
from  the  evidence  of  a  principal  warder — that,  apart  from  the  189 
Act,  the  easing  of  discipline  has   been  chiefly  responsible  for  thi 
decline. 

Eestraint  op  Violent  Prisoners.  | 

There  are  six  means  of  restraint  authorised  for  use  in  prisoi 
They  are  "to  be  used  only  as  a  measure  of  restraint,  and  not  as 
punishment,"  "  but  in  actual  practice  we  fear  that  insufficient  attei 
tion  is  paid  to  this  distinction.  Three  of  these  appliances — the  loofj 
jacket,  the  canvas  waistcoat  and  trousers  (a  canvas  frock  in  the  cai 
of  women),  and  ankle  straps  may  only  be  used  on  the  recommend 
tion  of  the  medical    officer.     Two — body  belt  and  handcuffs — can  ! 

2»  Op  cit.  p.  24. 
2»  S.O.   446. 


RESTRAINT  OF  VIOLENT  PRISONERS  S4S 

iused  on  the  instruction  of  either  the  governor  or  medical  ofl&cer. 
The  canvas  suit  (or  dress)  to  be  worn  by  prisoners  who 
destroy  their  clothing  can  be  used  apparently  on  the  order 
of  the  governor  alone.  All  cases  of  restraint  must  be 
reported  to  a  member  of  the  visiting  committee  forthwith,  and  hand- 
cuffs may  not  be  used  for  a  longer  period  than  24  hours  without  the 
oz'der  of  a  member  of  the  visiting  committee.  During  1920-21,  18 
male  and  four  female  prisoners  were  put  in  irons  or  handcuffs  in 
Local  prisons,  and  28  male  prisoners  were  similarly  treated  in  Con- 
vict prisons.     Of  these  28,  as  many  as  22  were  at  the  invalid  prison 

I  at  Parkhurst. 

'  Despite  the  fact  that  Rule  92  says  that  "no  prisoner  shall  be  put 
;in  irons  or  under  mechanical  restraint  as  a  punishment,"  our 
'evidence  suggests  that  the  strait  jacket  is  often  used  for  this  pur- 
pose and  in  such  a  way  as  to  involve  much  unnecessary  pain.  The 
j  following  statement  is  made  by  a  trustworthy  ex-prisoner  witness :  — 

During  the  time  I  was  in  the  hospital  I  occasionally  saw  prisoners 
brought  over  from  the  main  prison,  generally  with  a  black  eye  or  their 
face  disfigured  in  some  sort  of  way.     The  prisoners  who  fed  them  said 

they   were   perfectly   sane.       If   Dr.    thought  that    any    man   was 

malingering  he  would  put  them  in  the  padded  cell.  In  fact,  he  oft€n 
used  to  shout,  "Put  him  in  the  pad,  that'll  cure  him." 

I  A  prisoner  named  F and  I  carried  a  man  on  a  stretcher  from  E. 

Hall.  He  looked  very  ill,  and  was  shaking  and  trembling  all  over. 
The  warders  said  he  was  "swanking,"  i.e.,  shamming.  We  put  him  in 
the  "pad,"  and  he  was  kept  there  for  two  or  three  days.  It  was  his 
first  time  in  prison,  therefore  he  wouldn't  be  an  expert  in  "swanking." 

On  another  occasion   a  Canadian  soldier  named  F had  attempted 

suicide,  and  was  placed  under  observation.  He  was  confined  in  the 
padded    cell   and   was  also  put   in  a  strait  jacket.     On  the   evening  of 

March  30th,  1918,  about  5-30,  F wanted  to  use  the  lavatory.     The 

principal  warder   asked  me  to   unbutton   his  trousers.     The  jacket  was 
j        strapped  so  tight  that  I  could  hardly  get  my  hand  up  to  it.     While  doing 

I        my  best  to  unbutton  the   trousers,    F called  out   to  me,   "You  are 

hurting  my   arm."     The  principal    warder    shouted,    "Break    his   b 

arm,  the   Canadian." 

After  having  returned  from  the  lavatory  he  was  put  into  the  "pad" 
again,  trussed  up  like  a  chicken,  and  was  moaning  and  crying,  and 
seemed  to  suffer  great  pain.     About  6-30,  the  R.C.  priest,  who  happened 

to  be   in  the  hospital  and   whom  F had   complained  to,  asked   the 

principal  warder  to  loosen  the  jacket  a  little  (not  to  take  it  off).  The 
principal  warder  replied,  "He  is  all  right,  he  is  only  'swanking.'  " 
Wen,  whether  he  was  "swanking"  or  not,  the  other  prisoners  were 
unable  to  sleep  for  the  groans  and  crying  during  the  night. 

When  D ,  a  prisoner,  called  to  the  night  nurse  and  asked  him  to 

unloosen  the  jacket  he  would  not  do  so,  and,  as  I  am  led  to  believe, 
could   not   do   so,    as   a    junior   officer    cannot   undo   what    his    superior 

has    done.     As    F 'a    cries    continued    throughout    the    night,    other 

prisoners  complained,  especially  another  Canadian,  but  his  language  I 
will  not  repeat  here. 


344  PUNISHMENTS 

During   the   following    morning,    March   31st,    I    discovered   that   the 

jacket  had  been  taken  off  F .     When   the  medical  officer  put  in  an 

appearance,  D ,  who  had  been  principal  spokesman,  was  summoned  to 

his  room  and  "told  off." 

We  have  similar  evidence  from  several  ex-prisoners. 

In  Convict  prisons  restraining  irons — i.e.  chains  locked  at  the  i 
waist  and  ankles — are  fastened  upon  men  who  have  attempted  to  I 
escape  or  who  have  committed  assault.  They  can  be  used  on  the  ' 
order  of  a  director  for  a  period  up  to  six  months ;  an  ex-convict 
assures  us,  however,  that  they  are  not  very  efifective  in  preventing  , 
movement.  These  prisoners  are  further  distinguished  by  a  grotesque  I 
parti-coloured  uniform  of  drab  and  black,  in  the  case  of  those  guilty  ' 
of  assault,  and  of  yellow  and  black,  if  they  have  attempted  escape. 

"Silent"  cells  are  provided  for  noisy  prisoners.  "Not  in-  ; 
frequently,"  records  Major  Eogers,  the  Surveyor  of  Prisons,  "old  i 
prisoners,  either  from  devilment,  temper,  or  irresponsibility,  com- 
mence shouting  and  making  a  disturbance  in  the  cells  at  night."  | 
Other  prisoners  raise  their  voices  in  protest,  with  the  result  that  ^ 
"the  prison  block  is  not  what  it  ought  to  be. "  Major  Eogers  states  !■ 
that  experience  has  shown  that  such  men,  if  placed  in  cells  where  | 
they  know  they  cannot  be  heard,  soon  give  up  shouting,  and,  to  meet  \ 
this  need,  two  or  three  "Silent"  cells  have  been  built  in  the  largest  | 
prisons  outside  the  halls.  Where,  as  in  most  prisons,  the  "Silent"  | 
cells  are  placed  in  the  basements  of  the  ordinary  halls,  they  are,  « 
despite  the  double  doors,  "practically  useless  for  silencing  men 
determined  to  make  a  row."  " 

"Special"  cells  with  padded  walls  and  extra  strong  fixtures  are  I 
also  provided  "in  which  violent  prisoners  may  be  placed  for  their  ; 
own  security  or  that  of  others."  These  cells  may  not  be  used; 
without  the  authority  of  the  medical  officer,  and  the  Prison  Cora-  i 
missioners  explained  when  they  were  introduced  (1899)  that  their  i 
use  "is  restricted  to  the  time  and  occasion  when  they  are  necessary  i 
for  the  prevention  of  violence  of  prisoners,  and  we  have  forbidden  i 
their  use  for  penal  purposes." 


3'  Paper    prepared    for    International    Penitentiary    Congtross,    Washington,    1910.    (Actei 
du  Oongris,  Vol.  V..  pp.  123-4). 


PUNISHMENTS  245 


SOME    OF    THE     PRINCIPAL     DEFECTS     INDICATED    IN     THE 
PRECEDING    CHAPTER. 


1. — The  severe  discipline,  finding  expression  in  a  multiplicity  of  rules 
,vhich   cannot  possibly  be  kept,  makes  liability  to  punishment  constant. 

1  2. — The  fact  that  rules  cannot  be  rigidly  enforced,  and  yet  are  enforceable 
.t  any  moment,  gives  officers  the  power  to  victimise  prisoners  capriciously 

3. — It  is  the  custom  of  some  officers  to  exaggerate  the  charges  against 
•risoners,   and  they  support  each  other  in  giving  evidence. 

4. — The  trials  of  prisoners  for  prison  offences,  before  the  governors  and  the 
isiting  justices,  are   unduly  intimidating. 

S — Medical  officers  sometimes  certify  prisoners  as  fit  for  punishment 
/ithout  examination. 

6. — Punishment  by  lowering  the  diet   is  dangerous  to  health. 

7. — Many  prison  offences  are  the  result  of  nervous  exasperation.  In  such 
isea,  to  impose  close  confinement  as  a  punishment  tends  to  aggravate  tha 
aose  of  the  outbreak. 

1 8. — The  infliction  of  corporal  punishment  has  a  demoralising  effect  upon 
ae  whole  prison  population  and  is  degrading  to  the  officer  who  performs 
Se  duty  of  flogging. 

9- — "Means  of  restraint"  are  sometimei  used  for  punitive  purposes. 


CHAPTER  XV 


EXECUTIONS 

The  Treatment  of  Condemned  Men 

Prisoners  who  are  charged  with  murder  are  generally  kept  in  the 
prison  hospital  before  the  trial,  often  in  dormitories  with  other; 
prisoners.  After  sentence  of  death  has  been  passed,  they  are  con-i 
fined  in  special  cells  about  three  times  the  size  of  the  ordinary  cell; 
If  in  good  health  they  are  placed  in  the  "condemned  cell"  in  thd 
ordinary  part  of  the  prison,  if  in  poor  health,  in  a  similar  cell  irj 
hospital.  On  the  morning  of  the  execution  the  condemned  man  if! 
removed  to  a  cell  within  a  few  yards  of  the  gallows'  shed.  It  is  hertj 
that  the  last  interview  with  the  chaplain  takes  place. 

Efforts  are  made  strictly  to  segregate  prisoners  condemned  to  bf 
hanged,  and,  so  far  as  speech  and  ordinary  means  of  communicatioij 
are  concerned,  with  success,  after  the  sentence  of  death  is  passed! 
But  in  many  cases  the  "condemned  cell"  is  located  among  tm 
ordinary  cells,  and  the  presence  of  the  condemned  man  in  their  midsi 
is  very  real  to  the  other  prisoners.^  One  ex-prisoner  witness,  speak: 
ing  of  a  man  condemned  to  death  for  the  murder  of  his  wife,  statel 
that  he  was  kept  for  three  weeks  in  a  "condemned  cell"  at  th 
"centre"  end  of  the  hall  occupied  by  the  juvenile  adults.  Thii 
meant  that  practically  every  prisoner  passed  the  cell  during  the  coursj 
of  the  day.  ; 

Two  officers  remain  with  the  condemned  man  night  and  day.  Thi| 
extraordinary  surveillance  has  as  its  chief  object  the  maintenanci 
of  the  majesty  of  the  law  by  preventing  the  suicide  of  its  victim.  0| 
the  material  side,  however,  some  efforts  are  made  to  make  the  lafl 
days  of  the  condemned  man  as  comfortable  as  the  conditions  wi 
allow.  Extra  diet  is  sometimes  given,  and  the  cell  is  furnished  wit 
a  bed,  and  three  exercises  are  allowed  daily.  One  witness  tells  ho^ 
a  box  of  dominoes  was  provided  for  a  "condemned  man"  who  aske 

1  Major    Rogers,    the    Suryeyor   of    Prisons,    stated   in   a   paper   read   at   the   Internationj 
Prison     Congress,    Washington,    1910,    that     "great    care    is    exercised    in    the    selection 
the   position   of   the   cell    so    that   the    execution   shed    can   be    reached   without   haTing 
traverse  a  long  distance,  or  descend  sters,  or  come  under  view  of  other  cell  windows."     (Act| 
du    Congres,   Vol.   V.,    p.    130).    If  that   be   the    case,   the   authorities,   as   what  ^follows  wl 
make  clear,  are  not  always  to   be   congratulated   on  the  results  of  their  "care." 


THE    TREATMENT    OF   CONDEMNED   MEN  247 

to  be  allowed  "a  game. "  *  No  one  may  visit  a  prisoner  who  has  been 
sentenced  to  death  except  with  the  special  consent  of  a  member  of 
the  visiting  committee  or  of  the  Prison  Commissioners.  Visits  take 
place  in  the  "caged"  visiting  cells  in  the  presence  of  two  warders. 
The  chaplain,  the  medical  officer,  and  the  governor  see  the  prisoner 
daily. 

Our  evidence  differs  as  to  the  relationship  which  exists  between 
the  "condemned  man"  and  the  warders  in  charge  of  him.  No 
doubt  the  relationship  varies.  By  ex-prisoners  the  assertion  is 
frequently  made  that  the  warders  are  callous,  but  prison  officials 
assert  that  the  officers  are  good  companions  to  the  condemned  man, 
and  one  prison  warder  states  that  he  has  known  cases  where  the 
murderer  has  thanked  the  warders  for  their  cheerful  words.  Dr. 
Devon  records  that  the  warders  almost  always  report  that  the  con- 
demned man  was  "not  such  a  bad  fellow." 

The  varying  attitude  of  prison  officials  towards  men  sentenced 
to  death  is  suggested  in  the  following  statement  by  an  ex-prisoner :  — 

Warders  in  conversation  told  me  how  they  disliked  the  job  of  having 
care  of  a  condemned  man  after  sentence  and  prior  to  his  execution,  and 
what  a  nervous  strain  it  was.  One  of  them  told  me  that  the  condemned 
men  (three)  put  under  his  care  had  been  quite  ordinary  decent  fellows, 
better  than  the  average  prisoner.  He  told  me  this  story  of  a  negro, 
who  had  repented  of  his  crime  and  had  surrendered  to  the  police.  The 
prison  chaplain  came  to  see  him  daily,  but  he  was  cruelly  inhuman  and 
unsympathetic.  He  used  to  order  the  negro  to  kneel  down,  "gabble 
off"  some  prayers,  curtly  ask  if  he  had  anything  to  say,  and  then  depart. 
After  some  days  the  negro  declined  to  accept  his  ministrations.  Then 
the  chaplain  left  for  a  week's  vacation  and  a  visiting  curate  came.  His 
actions  were  entirely  different.  He  was  brotherly  and  humane  and  quite 
melted  the  negro,  addressing  him  by  his  Christian  name.  By  the  day 
of  the  execution   the  prison    chaplain  had   returned.     Immediately  the 

I         man  was  dead  the  chaplain  turned  to  the  warder  and  said,   "Well,   we 

I         have  got  rid  of  a  rare  rascal  there." 

"I  could  restrain  myself  no  longer,"  said  the  warder  to  me.  "I  told 
him  I  thought  the  negro  was  a  gentleman  and  that  in  a  moment  of 
passion  he  had  done  what  many  of  us  might  do.  I  told  him  that  he 
had  given  himself  up  and  that  his  behaviour  showed  that  he  was  really 

j         penitent.       And  I   told  him   that  I  thought  he  had  treated  the  negro 

I         scandalously." 

The  Effect  Upon  the  Prison  Population. 
I      Evidence  of  the  bad  effect  of  executions  upon  both  the  staff  and  the 
'other  prisoners  is  unanimous.       "It  upsets  everyone,"  remarks  a 
I  governor,  and  a  chief  warder  and  a  medical  officer  emphasise  its  bad 
j  effect  upon  the  warders  particularly. 

j     The    following    statement    by    an    ex-prisoner    illustrates    this 
I  demoralising  effect  of  an  execution  upon  the  prison  population :  — 


*  One  warder  describes  how  a  condemned  man  in  his  charge  pleaded  to  be  allowed  a 
bntton.  "We  let  him  hare  one,"  he  proceeds,  "and  we  soon  realised  what  he  wanted  it 
for.    He  played   shoTe-halfpenny   continually   till   his    execution," 


248  EXECUTIONS 

I  left  Pentonville  prison  in  July,  1916,  two  or  three  days  before  tha 
execution  of  Roger  Casement.  There  was  intense  nervous  excitement  ^^ 
in  the  prison.  The  chief  topic  of  conversation  among  the  prisoners  was 
the  forthcoming  execution.  Would  Casement  be  reprieved?  Could  you 
see  him  go  out  to  exercise?  The  whereabouts  of  his  cell,  the  attendance 
of  warders  day  and  night,  the  food  he  got,  the  whereabouts  of  the  hang- 
ing shed,  particulars  of  the  cleaning  of  the  shed  by  a  prisoner,  the 
programme  on  the  day  of  the  execution,  the  details  of  the  hanging — all 
these  were  eagerly  discussed  whenever  an  opportunity  of  conversation 
occurred — and  in  the  workshop  they  were  many.  The  execution  was 
obviously  a  topic  of  frequent  discussion  among  the  officers,  too.  Some- 
times they  joked  about  it  before  the  prisoners. 

I  was  in prison  at  the  time  of  the  execution  of  a  man  named , 

who  had  murdered  his  wife  and  baby.  He  was  detained  in  hospital  for 
several  weeks  before  trial,  and  was  a  subject  of  excited  interest  among 
the  prisoners. 

As  the  day  of  the  execution  approached — it  became  generally  known 
about  a  week  before  the  date — the  excitement  of  both  prisoners  and 
warders  rose.  Prisoners  mounted  to  their  windows  at  every  meal-time 
when  the  condemned  man  went  out  to  exercise  under  the  close  escort  of 
two  warders.  He  could  be  seen  from  two  wings  of  the  ordinary  prison 
and  from  one  hospital  wing.  In  the  evenings  the  juvenile  adults  worked 
on  the  landing  of  the  hall  in  which  my  cell  was  located.  I  could  hear 
whispered  conversation  about  the  details  of  the  murder  and  of  the 
hanging. 

' '  I  have  never  seen  anyone  who  had  anything  to  do  with  the  death 
penalty  who  was  not  the  worse  for  it,"  declares  Dr.  Devon.  "As 
for  the  doctor,  who  must  be  in  attendance,  it  is  an  outrage  on  all  his 
professional  as  well  as  his  personal  feelings.  .  .  .  There  has 
never  (for  very  many  years)  been  any  pretence  that  the  executioner's 
occupation  is  not  a  degrading  one."' 

The  cruelty  of  the  death  sentence  in  its  eSect  upon  prison  officers 
is  movingly  expressed  in  a  conversation  which  an  ex-prisoner 
records  in  the  following  statement :  — 

A  principal  warder  told  me  what  a  strain  it  was  to  have  to  attend 
executions  of  men  who  had  been  under  his  charge  for  many  weeks,  men- 
whom  he  had  got  to  know  well  and  sometimes  almost  to  love.  "For 
many  nights  before  and  after  an  execution  I  cannot  sleep,"  he  said. 
"Before  it  comes,  every  time  I  see  the  man  or  think  of  him  the  thought 
of  what  I  shall  have  to  do  at  the  execution  strikes  me.  I  see  him 
hanging  there,  whilst  I  hastily  undo  the  buttons  of  his  jacket  and  pull 
open  his  shirt  for  the  doctor  to  listen  to  his  heart.  After  it  has  taken 
place,  I  cannot  shake  the  memory  of  the  scene  from  me.  You  see,  I 
have  sometimes  been  in  daily  contact  with  the  man  a  month  or  more, 
and  often  he  has  bared  his  soul  to  me.  Many  of  these  men  have  occupied 
quite  a  warm  place  in  my  heart." 

In  some  prisons,  at  least,  the  "condemned  cell"  is  stationed  at  a 
long  distance  from  the  gallows'  shed,  and  the  wretched  man  has  to 
pass,  on  the  morning  of  the  execution,  before  the  eyes  of  many  of 

»  "The  Criminal  and  the   Community,"   pp.   169-171. 


THE   EFFECT   UPON   THE   PRISON   POPULATION  249 

he  other  prisoners.     Upon  this  point  the  following  quotation  from 
he  evidence  of  an  ex-prisoner  is  emphatic:  — 

On  the  day  of  the  execution  I  was  in  close  confinement  under  punish- 
ment, but  I  was  aware  of  a  curious  nervous  tension  in  the  prison. 
Prisoners  were  kept  in  their  cells  until  about  11  o'clock.  At  about  eight 
I  heard  the  door  of  the  "condemned  cell"  unlocked  and  the  prisoner  taken 
through  the  hall  in  which  I  was.  He  was  then  taken  down  the  side 
of  a  yard  under  the  full  view  of  two  wings,  to  the  special  cell,  where 
he  spends  the  last  hour  with  the  chaplain.  This  is  within  a  few  yards 
of  the  hanging  shed  and  is  situated  within  the  view  of  three  wings 
(F.H.I.)  of  the  prison.  Afterwards  I  heard  other  prisoners  talking  of 
these  proceedings  in  great  detail. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  argue  whether  the  death  penalty  is  ever 
ustifiable,  but  it  is  within  our  province  to  urge  that  no  man  con- 
temned to  death  should  be  hanged  in  a  prison.  An  execution  in- 
ivitably  brutalises  the  already  unhealthy  atmosphere  of  prison  and 
eacts  most  disastrously  upon  both  officials  and  prisoners. 

The  Capital  Punishment  Act  of  1868  requires  that  the  sheriff 
;harged  with  the  execution,  and  the  governor,  chaplain,  and  medical 
>fficer  shall  be  present  at  the  hanging.  They  are  generally  accom- 
)anied  by  one  of  the  principal  warders,  one  of  the  hospital  ofl&cers, 
knd  the  two  officers  who  have  been  in  charge  of  the  condemned  man, 
n  addition  to  the  executioner  and  his  assistant.  The  Capital  Punish- 
nent  Act  contains  a  clause  allowing  any  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  the 
urisdiction  to  which  the  prisoner  belongs  and  "such  relatives  of  the 
)risoner  or  other  persons  as  it  seems  to  the  sheriff  or  the  visiting 
ustices  of  the  prison  proper  to  admit"  to  be  present  at  the  execution, 
rhis  clause  is  rarely,  if  ever,  put  into  operation,  although  on  one 
•ecent  occasion  two  Press  men  were  permitted  to  attend  an  execution. 

The  number  of  persons  hanged  in  1919-20  was  13.  The  average 
lumber  of  hangings  annually  during  the  five  years,  1909  to  1914 
we  omit  the  exceptional  war  years)  was  15.6.  During  that  period 
i2  persons  were  hanged  despite  recommendations  to  mercy  by  the 
ury.  Women  found  guilty  of  murder  are  almost  invariably  re- 
)rieved,  serving  a  sentence  of  penal  servitude  instead;  but  a  woman 
vas  hanged  in  1907. 


250  EXECUTIONS 


A    PRINCIPAL    DEFECT    INDICATED    IN    THE    PRECEDING 

CHAPTER. 


Leaving  aside  the  question  of  the  justifiability  and  expediency  of  capital' 
punishment,  an  execution  has  a  demoralising  effect  upon  the  whole  prison 
population,  is  degrading  to  every  official  concerned,  and  certainly  ought 
not  to  take  place  in  a  prison. 


CHAPTER  XYI 


THE    HEALTH    OF    PEISONERS   AND    THE 
MEDICAL   STAFF 

Health  of  Prisoners  on  Eeception 

The  Departmental  Committee  of  1895  reported  that  "the  average 
prisoner  in  height,  weight,  strength,  and  mental  condition  is 
markedly  below  the  average  of  the  outside  population,"  and  all 
subsequent  evidence  has  borne  out  this  view.  The  late  Dr.  Charles 
Goring,  whilst  pro\Ting  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  criminal  type, 
shows  also  that  the  average  criminal  is  less  healthy,  physically  and 
mentally,  than  the  law-abiding  citizen.  He  found  that,  except  in 
the  case  of  criminals  convicted  of  fraud,  "the  mean  stature  and 
weight  of  the  criminal  is  from  one  to  two  inches,  and  from  three  to 
T^lbs.  less  than  the  corresponding  stature  and  weight  of  the  non- 
criminal pubhc."  * 

Dr.  Goring 's  investigation  was  concerned  primarily  with  convict 
prisoners,  but  his  comparative  statistics  of  the  physique  of  convicts 
and  of  the  occupants  of  Local  prisons  show  that  they  approximate 
closely,  and  his  conclusions  are  generally  endorsed  by  Local  prison 
authorities.  "The  intellectual  and  moral  inferiority  which  charac- 
terises so  large  a  section  of  the  criminal  class,"  reported  Dr.  Smalley, 
late  Medical  Inspector  of  Prisons,  in  1908,  "is  associated  with  a 
physical  inferiority  of  at  least  as  pronounced  a  degree."  "Out  of 
706  prisoners  who  were  received  into  the  hospital,  239  were  admitted 
on  their  reception  into  prison,"  wrote  the  medical  ofl&cer  of  Penton- 
ville  prison  in  1912,  "and  189  of  these  remained  in  the  hospital 
during  the  whole  of  their  imprisonment,  which  indicates  the  large 
number  of  prisoners  received  suffering  from  physical  and  mental 
disease." 

»  "The  English  ConTict,"  1913,  p.  194. 


252       THE  HEALTH   OF  PRISONERS  AND  THE  MEDICAL  STAFF 

Effect  of  Imprisonment  upon  Health. 
The  prison  population  being  thus  below  the  standard  of  health 
on  entering,  how  is  it  affected  by  imprisonment?  If  we  took  the 
number  of  "sick"  prisoners  treated  outside  hospital,  together  with 
the  hospital  inmates,  we  should  conclude  that  prisons  are  disease- 
ridden.  In  1920-21  the  daily  average  of  such  prisoners  was  1204, 
which  was  14.35  per  cent,  of  the  total  average  daily  population. 
But  the  fact  is  that  a  great  proportion  of  those  who  report  sick  suffer 
from  quite  minor  complaints — constipation,  headaches,  stomach 
disorders,  coughs,  cuts,  etc. — which  would  ordinarily  receive  simple 
domestic  treatment,  but  which  in  prison  can  only  be  treated  by 
application  to  the  medical  officer. * 

The  prison  test  of  health  is  bodily  weight.  So  long  as  the  monthly 
returns  do  not  show  loss  of  weight  a  prisoner  is  assumed  to  be 
healthy.  The  medical  officers  apparently  all  consider  this  test  to 
be  satisfactory.  One  of  them,  however,  qualifies  his  approval  with 
these  remarks :  — 

The  body-weight  test  is  sufficiently  satisfactory  for  judging  the 
general  health  of  large  bodies  of  people,  but  it  is  an  unsatisfactory  test 
for  the  individual.  I  mean  this  :  if  you  have  a  large  body  of  people 
and  their  weights  drop,  you  can  be  certain  there  is  something  wrong. 
If  their  weights  remain  normal  you  can  be  fairly  sure  that  their  physical 
condition  is  normal.  Indeed,  it  is  difficult  to  think  of  another  general  i 
test.  But  an  individual  may  be  all  the  better  for  losing  weight  and  ail 
the  worse  despite  gaining  weight. 

If  greater  individual  attention  were  paid  to  the  health  of  prisoners 
than  our  evidence  proves  to  be  the  case,  there  would  be  less  ground  j 
for  criticism  of  the  bodily  weight  test.  i 

The  ofi&cial  view  of  the  effect  of  imprisonment  upon  health,  bothi 
physical  and  mental,  is  that  it  improves.  As  long  ago  as  1894,  | 
when  conditions  were  less  good,  the  Prison  Commissioners  in  their i 
annual  report  claimed  that  "residence  in  prison  in  England  and  I 
Wales  is  favourable  to  the  maintenance  of  health  and  strength.'!] 
"Physical  health  nearly  always  improves,"  a  governor  declares.] 
"Any  mental  weakness  generally  improves.  Discipline,  absence  of: 
excitement,  of  drink,  of  excitement  of  the  opposite  sex,  has  a  tran-j 
quillising  effect."  "My  experience  is  that  prison  is  a  sort  of  'restj 
home'  for  many,  and  that  the  improvement  in  health  is  usually  very' 
marked,"  says  a  medical  officer,  and  he  is  supported  by  a  number 
of  his  colleagues. 

On  the  other  hand,  some  of  the  medical  ofl&cers  do  not  share  this 
view.  One  states  that  in  some  cases  prisoners  suffer  mentally; 
another  that  the  effects  of  imprisonment  are  harmful  both  physically 
and  mentally  in  the  case  of  long  sentences;  another  that  prisoners 

2  An  experienced  nurse,  commenting  upon  this  practice,  suggests  that  the  time  of  the 
doctors  could  be  freed  for  more  responsible  duties  which  are  at  present  neglected  if  a  sister  l 
or  a  trained  male  nurse  were  authorised  to  deal  with  these  minor  complainta,  "just  as  » 
matron   deals   with  them  in  a  boys'  school." 


EFFECT   OF   IMPRISONMENT   UPON    HEALTH  253 

suffer  in  health  "to  some  slight  extent";  another  that  "they  do  not 
tend  towards  improvement." 

Dr.  Goring 's  general  conclusion  upon  the  matter  was  that  neither 
physique  nor  mentality  is  apparently  affected,  but  that  in  certain 
respects  rariations  occur.  Mortality  from  accidents  and  infectious 
diseases  he  found  to  be  less  than  the  general  population  standard; 
from  suicide  and  surgical  operations  very  much  more;  from  tuber- 
sulosis  about  the  average.*  These  conclusions,  it  should  be  noted, 
were  reached  on  evidence  derived  from  Convict  prisons,  where  the 
diet  is  fuller  than  at  Local  prisons.  Dr.  Goring 's  only  test  of  physical 
health  was  body -weight. 

In  contrast  with  Dr.  Goring 's  conclusions,  our  evidence  impres- 
jsively  denotes  the  bad  effect  of  imprisonment  upon  health.  Seventy 
!Df  our  ex-prisoner  witnesses  state  that  imprisonment  caused  general 
debility,  35  state  that  it  seriously  affected  their  nervous  system,  29 
state  that  their  digestion  suffered,  16  state  that  their  eyes  suffered,* 
.and  10  that  their  lungs  suffered.  These  are  the  principal  prejudicial 
'.effects  reported,  but  many  others  are  mentioned. 

;  Certain  considerations,  however,  tend  to  qualify  this  testimony. 
Most  of  these  witnesses  were  imprisoned  during  the  war,  when  the 
diet  was  most  seriously  reduced.  Many  of  them  were  hitherto 
jiccustomed  to  conditions  of  comparative  comfort.  Most  of  them 
|3erved  long  terms,  and  some,  indeed,  owing  to  repeated  convictions, 
more  than  the  maximum  two  years  permitted  by  law,  with  practic- 
jiUy  no  respite. 

I  "With  these  points  considered,  on  the  evidence  before  us,  our  con- 
Islusion  is  that  most  prisoners  on  short  sentence  improve  in  physique, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  so  many  of  them  are  in  a  low  condition  of 
aealth  on  arrival,  although  in  some  cases  the  strain  of  even  short 
'sentences  has  a  damaging  effect.  In  the  case  of  those  who  serve 
long  sentences,  in  Local  prisons  particularly,  they  generally  become 
^^eriously  weakened,  suffer  severely  from  nerve  strain,  with  loss  of 
physical  energy  to  a  very  marked  degree,  while  any  flesh  gained  is 
iauffy  and  flabby  in  condition.  The  mental  effects  are  dealt  with  in 
j later  chapters. 

Deaths  in  Prison. — The  authorities  are  always  anxious  to  prevent 
ieaths  occurring  in  prison.  One  of  the  rules  reads  that  "whenever 
:he  medical  ofi&cer  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  life  of  any  prisoner  will 
je  endangered  by  his  continuance  in  prison,  or  that  any  sick 
Dnsoner  will  not  survive  his  sentence,  or  is  totally  and  permanently 
anfit  for  prison  discipline,  he  shall  state  the  opinion,  and  the  grounds 
thereof,  in  writing  to  the  governor,  who  shall  duly  forward  the  same 
I 

;   *  "The  English  Convict,"  pp.   228   and   229. 

;  *  As  described  elsewhere,  the  lights  in  some  cells  are  very  defective,  and  reading  and 
liewing   are  a  aerions  strain  upon   the  eyesight. 


254       THE  HEALTH  OF  PRISONERS  AND  THE  MEDICAL  STAFF 

to  the  Commissioners."  The  result  is  abnost  invariably  an  order 
for  the  release  of  the  prisoner,  if  suitable  conditions  can  be  found 
for  him  outside  prison.  Indeed,  prisoners  are  sometimes  released 
when  it  would  be  more  humane  to  keep  them  in  prison.  The 
coroner  at  an  inquest  held  in  Shrewsbury  prison  on  January  18th, 
1918,  remarked  that  "the  last  sick  man  who  was  discharged  died 
on  the  steps  and  another  died  in  a  railway  train."  A  coroner's 
inquest  must  be  held  on  every  death  that  occurs  in  prison. 

In  his  annual  report  for  1898-99,  Dr.  Smalley  explained  how  it  is 
that  some  deaths  occur  in  prison  despite  the  efforts  of  the  authorities 
to  avoid  them.  The  prisoner  may  have  no  friends  or  relatives,  or, 
if  he  has,  he  may  not  wish  to  throw  himself  upon  them.  The  friends 
may  be  unable  or  unwilling  to  be  burdened.  Eelease  must  also  be 
recommended  with  great  judgment.  "If  the  case  is  one  considered 
suitable  for  release,  there  must  be  some  guarantee  that  the  position 
of  the  prisoner  is  not  rendered  worse  by  such  release  than  by  remain- 
ing in  the  prison.  All  this  takes  time,  when  perhaps  there  is  Httle 
to  spare. ' '  Further,  the  patient  may  become  critically  ill  suddenly, 
so  that  removal  might  jeopardise  his  life. 

The  policy  of  releasing  prisoners  suffering  from  fatal  maladies 
makes  the  death-rate  of  prisons  comparatively  low.  The  following 
are  the  Local  prison  figures  for  1912-14,  the  three  years  preceding 
the  abnormal  period  of  the  war,  and  for  1919-20  and  1920-21:  — 


Deaths  other 

Per  thousand  of 

than  hangings 

the  prisoners 

and  suicides. 

received. 

1911-12 

97 

.50 

1912-13 

70 

.38 

1913-14 

93 

.55 

1919-20 

31 

.98 

1920-21 

43 

• _    1 J    t  n 

1.14 

•_     -\  r\c\r\   c\t        _•  _!„ 

The  deaths  in  Convict  prisons  numbered  12  in  1920-21,  giving  £ 
death-rate  from  natural  causes  of  8  per  1,000  of  the  daily  average' 
population.     In  1919-20  the  rate  was  7.6. 

The  large  proportion  of  deaths  in  prison  which  occur  shortly  after 
reception  demands  particular  notice.  So  long  ago  as  1885,  Sii 
"William  Harcourt,  then  Home  Secretary,  issued  a  circular  to  the 
courts  urging  that  "it  is  desirable  that  every  care  should  be  taken  td 
prevent  persons  afSicted  with  fatal  disorders  from  being  sent  td 
prison,  which  are  places  of  penal  discipline,  and  which  cannot  servti 
their  proper  purpose  when  the  prisoners  are  received  in  a  dying  state,! 
or  in  such  a  condition  that  they  have  to  spend  the  whole  of  theii! 
term  in  the  prison  hospital."  The  practice,  however,  persists,  anc, 
a  large  number  of  people  seriously  ill  continue  to  be  sent  to  prison.| 
The  medical  statistics  for  the  years  1911  to  1914  (the  statistics  have 


THE  MEDICAL  STAFF  255 

jeen  omitted  since)  show  that  in  Local  prisons  the  number  who  died 
vithin  three  weeks  of  entering  were: — 

1911-1912         43 

1912-1913         30 

1913-1914         40 

The  Medical  Staff. 

In  1898  the  rule  was  made  that  one  of  the  fire  Prison  Commis- 
iioners  and  Directors  of  Convict  prisons  must  be  a  medical  man,* 
md  Sir  H.  Bryan  Donkin,  M.D.,  was  appointed.  Resigning 
n  1909,  he  retains  his  voice  on  the  Board  of  Directors  of  Convict 
)risons  as  honorary  "medical  adviser."  The  present  medical 
nember  of  the  Commission  is  Dr.  Dyer,  who  served  previously  both 
is  a  medical  officer  and  inspector  of  prisons.  Whilst  satisfied  with 
he  present  medical  representative  on  the  Prison  Commission,  some 
nedical  officers  urge  that  the  appointment  should  be  made  electively 
)y  all  members  of  the  prison  medical  service,  the  criticism  being 
requent  that  the  Commissioners  take  little  notice  of  their  recom- 
nendations. 

Promotion  is  now  a  matter  of  time,  until  recently  it  was  a  matter 
)f  the  prison  population.  "The  result  was  we  had  no  incentive  to 
•educe  the  prison  population,"  remarks  one  medical  officer  frankly. 
'Indeed,  the  incentive  was  in  the  opposite  direction.  The  more 
)risons  and  prisoners  there  were,  the  more  jobs  and  the  greater  the 
'.hances  of  promotion.  Therefore,  we  were  not  inchned  to  welcome 
nethods  which  made  for  less  prisoners."* 

There  is  a  Medical  Inspector  of  Prisons,  and  it  is  his  duty  to  visit 
hem  periodically,  taking  particular  note  of  the  sanitary  arrange- 
nents,  the  food  supply,  the  details  of  the  hospital  regime,  and  the 
nedical  attention  generally.  Most  witnesses  agree  that  these 
nspections  are  hurried  and  superficial,  but  occasionally  they  result 
n  improvements  being  inaugurated. 

Each  prison  has  at  least  one  medical  officer  specially  responsible 
or  the  health  of  its  inmates,  with  the  exception  of  Camp  Hill  Pre- 
'entive  Detention  prison,  which  utihses  the  services  of  the  doctors 
.ttached  to  the  neighbouring  Convict  prison  at  Parkhurst,  and  the 
vomen's  convict  section  of  Liverpool  prison  and  the  men's  convict 
ection  of  Maidstone  prison,  which  share  the  staS  of  the  Local 
)rison.  There  are  three  medical  officers  at  Brixton,  Holloway, 
jiverpool,  and  Parkhurst  prisons,  and  two  at  Manchester,  Penton- 
ille,  and  Wormwood  Scrubbs  prisons.  At  31  of  the  smaller  prisons 
'Uly  part-time  medical  officers  are  employed. 

»  See  p.  60,  Footnote  14. 

•  One  medical  officer  strongly  urges  that  the  prison  medical  service  should  be  taken  over 
y  the  Ministry  of  Health  and  associated  with  the  asylum  serrice.  "An  exchange  of  work 
nd  posts  between  these  two  services,"  he  says,  "would  be  adrantageous  and  welcome." 
he  scale  of  remuneration  for  medical  officers  has  recently  been  considerably  advanced, 
lass  1  is  now  from  £450  to  £700,  Class  2  from  £225  to  £500.  Bonus  and  housing 
icommodation  are  in  addition.  One  medical  officer  declares  that  even  these  improvements 
•ave  the  scale  worse  than  that  paid  in  the  army  and  navy.  The  hours  of  work  appear  to 
3  reasonable,   and  no  complaint   is    made   of  the   lack  of   freedom. 


256       THE  HEALTH   OF  PRISONERS  AND  THE  MEDICAL   STAFF 

The  views  of  both  medical  officers  and  prisoners  on  the  advantages; 
and  disadvantages  of  part-time  service  vary.  Some  medical  officers: 
are  in  favour  of  part-time  employment.  "It  is  advantageous,", 
says  one,  "to  have  work  outside,  otherwise  one  may  become 
narrowed."  Some  think  full-time  employment  better,  but  they  do 
not  consider  that  small  prisons  provide  sufficient  duties.  One! 
medical  officer  states  his  opinion  thus: —  ' 

Prison  duties  cannot  be  carried  out  properly  by  a  half-time  M.O.  It 
is  impossible  for  a  half-time  man  to  make  an  adequate  inquiry  into  the 
mental  condition  of  prisoners.  That  would  require  more  time  than  a 
half-time  man  could  be  asked  or  expected  to  give. 

In  the  case  of  the  ex -prisoners,  some  take  the  view  that  the  part- 
time  medical  officers  are  more  hurried  and  superficial,  others  that 
they  are  more  humane  and  less  subject  to  the  hardening  effects  dg 
the  prison  regime.  \ 

The  medical  officer  is  the  most  powerful  official  in  a  prison.     "01 
all  the  officers,"  says  Dr.  James  Devon,  "he  has  the  freest  hand." 
The  medical  officer  can  order  prisoners  increased  or  special  diets  i 
can  exempt  them  from  doing  full  "task,"  can  apportion  them  special 
work,  including  work  in  the  open  air,  can  secure  additional  exerciw 
for  them,  can  prohibit  dietary  punishment  or  cellular  confinement 
can    remove   them   at   any   time    to    hospital,    can   place   them   ii 
dormitories  or  observation  cells  or  padded  cells,  and  can  order  theni 
to  be  put  in  strait  jackets;  can  recommend  surgical  treatment  out 
side  the  prison;  can,  with  a  fellow -doctor,  certify  them  insane,  am' 
with  the  concurrence  of  a  visiting  magistrate  have  them  removed  t(j 
an  asylum ;  and  finally,  can  recommend  their  release.     It  will  be  seerj- 
at  once  that  a  great  deal  depends  on  the  attitude  and  capacity  o 
the  medical  officers.* 

The  Medical  Officers  and  the  Prisoners. 
In  the  evidence  we  have  received  as  to  the  character  and  efficier^^ 
of  medical  treatment  in  prison,  the  work  is  sometimes  praised,  n; 
often    severely    censured.     The    following    statement    made    by 
prisoner  who  had  served   sentences  of  hard  labour  in  five  prit' 
reflects    the    opinions    of    many    others,    both    appreciative    am 
condemnatory :  —  I 

I  was   in  prison  only   10  days  and  saw  the  medical   officer  bu! 

once,    being    discharged   unexpectedly.     He   examined   me    with   greate 
care  than   I  ever  experienced    afterwards  on  entering  prison,   soundin: 
my  lungs  and  heart  and  asking  a  number  of  questions  about  my  medica! 
history.     He  impressed  me  as  a  man  who  knew  his  work  and  perfomn 
it  conscientiously. 

At  ,  the  medical  examination  on  reception  was  very  perfunctorvi 

and  on  the  three  or  four  occasions  on  which  I  had  to  see  the  medica, 
officers,  they  struck   me  as  doing  their  work  rapidly  and  mechanically 

t  "The  Criminal  and   the  Community,"   p.  218. 

s  Any   improper   exercise   ol   his   powers   renders    a    medical    officer   liable   to  an   action 
common  law. 


MEDICAL  OFFICERS  AND  PRISONERS  257 

without  much  care.  For  almost  every  ailment  one  or  two  stock  closes 
of  medicine  were  given.  An  example  of  this  was  a  case  of  a  Scottish 
lad  who  asked  for  more  food  in  view  of  the  fact  that  he  was  doing 
heavy  gardening  work.  The  medical  officer,  not  understanding  his  pro- 
nunciation, ordered  him  the  customary  dose  of  medicine,  which  the  boy 
at  once  drank  off,  so  taken  aback  was  he  by  the  lightning  decision  of  the 
doctor  ! 

Despite  the  fact  that  medical  officers  are  permitted  (so  I  understand) 
considerable  liberty,  the  doctors  at  this  prison  seemed  to  me  to  do  every- 
thing, according  to  routine.  At  the  same  time,  whilst  curt,  they  were 
always  civil  to  me. 

At  ,  the  assistant  medical  officer  was  both  uncivil  and  curt.     His 

language  was  frequently  almost  as  bad  as  anything  I  ever  heard  in 
prison,  either  from  officers  or  prisoners.  He  seemed  to  look  upon  every 
prisoner  as  a  scoundrel  or  a  shirker,  and  to  consider  that  every  applica- 
tion for  medical  treatment  was  a  cloak  for  malingering.  His  brutal 
attitude  caused  him  to  be  hated  throughout  the  prison,  and  many 
prisoners  refused  to  make  any  application  owing  to  fear  of  him.  Like 
many  men  of  this  type,  his  brutality  was  a  covering  for  cowardice.  On 
the  rare  occasions  when  prisoners  "stood  up"  to  him,  and  told  him  that 
he  ought  to  be  civil  or  threatened  to  report  him,  he  changed  his  tone  at 
once.  In  one  instance  of  which  I  have  first-hand  evidence,  after  leaving 
a  prisoner  in  his  cell  unattended,  with  an  open  expression  of  view  that 
he  was  malingering,  this  doctor  was  suddenly  summoned  to  the  cell  and 
found  the  occupant  to  be  dangerously  ill  with  appendicitis.  The 
prisoner  (a  reliable  man)  told  me  afterwards  that  the  doctor's  fear  that 
he  might  die  and  the  lack  of  medical  attention  consequently  be  exposed, 
was  almost  pathetic. 

The  senior  medical  officer  at  this  prison  was  civil,  but  officially  distant 
and  cursory  in  his  duties.     His  examination  on  reception  did  not  occupy 

more  than  twenty  seconds,  and  during  the  two  months  I  was  at  ,  I 

was  never  examined  again,  nor,  except  on  discharge,  even  asked  if  I  were 
"all  right." 

At    prison    the   medical   attention  was   far    more   thorough   and 

efficient.  During  the  eighteen  months  I  was  there,  two  doctors  were  in 
charge  successively,  and  both  of  them  were  most  conscientious  in  fulfilling 
their  duties.  They  went  the  round  of  the  prison  once  a  week,  and^  while 
they  did  little  more  than  pass  the  cell  doors,  if  any  complaints  were 
voiced,  they  immediately  made  an  examination.  When  a  prisoner  was 
in  separate  confinement,  they  generally  examined  him  once  a  week,  and 
their  examinations  were  always  careful. 

When  a  prisoner  was  run  down  or  suffered  from  loss  of  weight,  he 
was  readily  transferred  to  hospital,  and  in  hospital  the  medical  officers 
paid  detailed  attention  to  the  patients.  They  were  reserved  in  their 
attitude  towards  prisoners,  but  I  do  not  think  any  doctor  could  have 
been  more  attentive. 

At  ,  the  medical   attention  was  disgracefully  bad.     It  is  a  small 

prison,  and  the  hospital  is  only  opened  when  prisoners  are  exceptionally 
ill.  The  medical  officer  was  employed  part-time  only,  and  although  I 
had  a  period  of  three  months'  bread  and  water  there  and  eight  months* 
separate  confinement,  I  was  only  examined  once,  and  that  when  I  was 
suffering  somewhat   acutely  from   intercostal   neuritis.     The  doctor  was 

K 


258       THE  HEALTH   OF  PRISONERS  AND  THE  MEDICAL  STAl 

kindly  to  me  personally,  but  my  experience  suggested  that  he  was  n 
competent  at  his  job,  and  information  given  to  me  by  others  strong 
bore  out  this  view. 

In  a  questionnaire  which  we  sent  out  to  218  ex-prisoners  who  h£ 
served  terms  of  imprisonment  in  Local  prisons,  there  was  include 
a  request  for  an  expression  of  opinion  on  the  medical  attention.     Tl 
replies  may  be  summarised  as  follows :  — 

Poor  or  hurried  ...         ...         ...         78 

Inhuman  ...  ...  ...         38 

Suspicious  of  Malingering         ...         18 
Good  or  fairly  good        ...  ...         29 

The  proportion  of  adverse  criticism  is  even  more  pronounced  tha 
these  figures  suggest,  owing  to  the  fact  that  in  almost  every  cas 
the  expressions  of  satisfaction  referred  to  two  particular  medics 
officers. 

The  following  are  typical  quotations  from  this  body  of  evidence  :- 

I. 

The  three  doctors  with  whom  I  came  in  contact  appeared  to  be  carefi 
and  conscientious,  though  one  of  them  had  sometimes  a  roughness  < 
speech  and  impatience  of  manner  which  I  know  some  of  those  whom  1 
treated  felt  rather  keenly.  I 

II.  \ 

Reluctant  to  put  men  in  hospital.  Entire  lack  of  sympathy.  Eveij 
prisoner,  unless  life  is  obviously  in  danger,  is  treated  as  a  malingerel 
The  manner  of  all  doctors  I  have  met  in  prison  is  a  disgrace  to  tl' 
profession  and  markedly  in  contrast  with  the  manner  of  doctors  outsidl 

III.  I 

M.O.   at  was  the  most  objectionable  man   in  the  prison  servic; 

and  one  never  went  near  him  unless  one  could  help  it.  When  one  di 
one  got  no  attention  nor  attempt  at  diagnosis.  .  .  .  There  is  an  i; 
evitable  absence  of  trust.     For  example,   I  have   been  under  speciaiisi 

for  eczema,  but   when   I  stated  this  fact  to  the  M.O.   at  ,   with' 

request  to  be  given  work  elsewhere  than  in  a  laundry,  he  stated  that  | 
my  story  was  true  I  ought  not  to  be  in  a  laundry,  but  he  would  take-jj 
action  as  I  might  be  telling  a  lie.  ! 

IV. 
Hurried,   callous,   and  insulting.       Although  suffering  from   neuralgi 
with  abscess,  I  was  afraid  to  see  the  doctor. 

V.  I 

Medical  attention  is  a  disgrace.  One  is  treated  just  like  an  animal  !| 
the  M.O.  Half  a  dozen  stock  medicines  supply  the  remedies  for  ai 
disease,  with  very  few  exceptions. 

VI. 

One  immediately  beneficial  reform  would  be  the  discharge  of  alm(| 
all  the  present  staff  of  M.O's,  who  are  almost  without  exception  of  t 
worst  "institution  official"  type.  In  all  my  experience  of  six  prisonsj 
only  met  with  one  M.O.  who  treated  prisoners  with  anything  approac; 
ing  the  sympathy  and  consideration  they  would  give  to  patients  outsid 


THE    EXTENT    OF   MALINGERING  259 

The  above  evidence  has  been  provided  by  political  prisoners,  but 
it  is  borne  out  by  the  evidence  which  has  reached  us  from  ex- 
prisoners  of  a  more  usual  type  and  from  other  officials  in  the  service. 
An  officer  of  20  years'  experience,  for  instance,  when  asked  whether 
be  had  known  governors  or  medical  officers  who  had  had  a  good  in- 
fluence on  prisoners,  repHed,  "Yes,  in  the  case  of  governors;  no,  in 
:he  case  of  doctors.""  There  is  much  to  suggest  that  many 
medical  officers  are  even  more  cursory  and  contemptuous  in  their 
treatment  of  ordinary  prisoners  than  in  the  case  of  poUtical  prisoners 
iS'ho,  it  should  be  remembered,  often  have  many  inconveniently 
influential  friends  outside  prison.  Particulars  have  been  given  us  of 
1  woman  who  died  of  cancer  very  shortly  after  being  censured  by  the 
nedical  officer  for  expecting  treatment  "as  though  she  was  in  a 
convalescent  home."  Another  prisoner  who  was  always  said  by 
:he  medical  officer  to  be  shamming,  was  found  to  be  in  a  most  critical 
condition  when  taken  to  a  hospital  after  release. 

1  The  Extent  of  Malingebixg. 

j  That  much  malingering  occurs  cannot  be  doubted.  Mr.  Tighe 
Hopkins  "  quotes  a  description  by  Dr.  Tennyson  Patmore  of  how 
16  "cured"  a  convict  sent  from  another  prison  to  \Yormwood 
5crubbs,  as  suffering  from  "grave  epileptic  fits."  The  patient  was 
jut  to  bed,  and  Dr.  Patmore  solemrJy  remarked  in  his  hearing  that 
^here  was  no  "medical  treatment  available  for  such  a  case  save  a 
arotracted  course  of  very  low  diet."  In  less  than  a  week  the  man 
oronounced  himself  "entirely  cured"  and  never  to  the  end  of  his 
sentence  had  he  another  epileptic  fit ! 

Dr.  E.  F.  Quinton,  of  Holloway  prison,  argues  that  criminals  are 
*bnormally  insensitive  to  pain.     He  writes:  — 

I  have,  for  instance,  frequently  laid  open  acutely  inflamed  abscesses, 

hich  to  an    ordinary   patient,   with  a    normal   nervous  system,   would 

^ause  intense  pain,  and  fished  out  such  foreign  substances  as  bits  of  thread 

I      and  wire,  which  had  been  purposely  inserted  in  the  flesh  by  the  convicts 

J      themselves,  without  apparently  causing  any  real  suffering.     In  the  case 

of  one  prisoner  who  had  acute   inflammation  in   both  eyes   that  lasted 

,      several  days,  and  was  of  a  suspicious  character,  I  stumbled  accidentally 

on  the  exciting  cause.     The  patient  was  constantly  tampering  with  some 

part  of  his  body  and  was  an  adept  at  shirking  work.     He  deliberately 

drank  the   lotion   supplied   for   his   eyes,   and    I   was  summoned   hastily 

to   find  him   ill  with  unpleasant   symptoms.     I   discovered   in  each  eye 

tncked  in  under  the  lid,  a  small  piece  of  spring  steel  which  he  had  no 

time  to  remove  when  his  symptoms  came  on.     He  admitted  afterwards 

that  he  had  been  in  the  habit  of  "wearing"  them  in  his  eyes  for  a  couple 

of  days  so  as  to  get  ready  for  the  doctor." 

I  •  ConricU  from  Portland  and  Dartmoor,  however,  report  satisfactory  attention  from  the 
ijedical  officers,  althongh  more  than  once  a  phrase  such  as  "They  shared  the  hardness  of 
he  prison  staff"  is  added.  A  woman  convict,  who  served  her  sentence  at  Aylesbury,  gives 
'n  opposite  view:  "Very  nnsympathetic.  Only  concerned  in  seeing  how  mach  you  can 
|t»nd  without  dying." 

j"  "Wards  of  the  State"   (1913),  p.   228. 
''  "The  Modern   Prison  Cnrriculnm,"   pp.    107-8. 


260       THE  HEALTH  OF  PRISONERS  AND  THE  MEDICAL  STAFF 

The  fact  of  malingering  is  sometimes  cited  as  a  proof  of  the  innate! 
dishonesty  of  prisoners.  It  might  rather  be  regarded  as  evidence  ofj 
the  intolerable  nature  of  the  conditions  from  which  they  desire  to! 
escape.  Certainly,  when  prisoners  are  prepared  to  inflict  upon  them-, 
selves  pain  of  the  severe  character  described  above,  it  goes  to  prove 
that  the  treatment  to  which  they  are  being  subjected  is  beyond 
endurance. 

We  must  add,  however,  that  we  have  ourselves  received  nc 
evidence  of  malingering  of  this  extreme  kind.  One  witness  in  thfi 
course  of  a  careful  analysis  of  the  malingering  now  practised  ir 
prisons,  says:  — 

My  experience  leads  me  to  take  the  view  that  the  ofRcial  suspicioi 
of  malingering  is  much  exaggerated.  Hospital  conditions  are  littlt: 
better  than  ordinary  prison  conditions,  frequently  they  are  worse,  .•;( 
prisoners  generally  now  have  no  object  in  getting  into  hospital. 

There  are  exceptions.  Discipline  in  hospital  is  generally  relaxe< 
somewhat.  Where  dormitories  are  used,  hospital  treatment  is  certainl;' 
better,  and  sometimes  prisoners  will  risk  a  period  of  separate  confinej 
ment  in  the  hope  of  eventually  getting  the  job  of  "hospital  cleaner"-! 
one  of  the  best  jobs  in  the  prison.  These  are  all  incentives  t 
malingering. 

Sometimes,  too,  a  prisoner  will  dislike  his  work  or  the  officer  in  charg 
of  his  party,  and  will  try  to  get  into  hospital  to  escape  one  or  thi 
other.  Sometimes  a  prisoner  will  have  a  pal  in  hospital  whom  he  want 
to  join.  I 

Two  prisoners  often  arrange  to  put  down  for  the  M.O.  on  the  sam| 
morning  in  order  to  get  an  opportunity  of  meeting  and  conversatioj 
whilst  waiting  outside  the  doctor's  room.  Sometimes  one  would  heaj 
a  prisoner  whisper  to  a  pal  as  two  separate  working  parties  passed  eacj 
other  :  "Report  sick  to-morrow."  ! 

There  are  times  when  the  strain  of  the  discipline,  the  constant  supe! 
vision,  the  work,  and  the  diet  of  ordinary  prison  conditions  becoirj 
unbearable.  Then  the  comparative  comfort  of  the  hospital  cell,  tV 
relaxation  of  the  ever  present  eyes  of  the  warders,  the  rest  from  worli 
and  the  possibilities  of  a  larger  diet  encourage  one  to  put  down  for  tl 
M.O.  in  the  hope  of  getting  a  short  respite.  -  ; 

Finally,  from  desperation  of  the  sheer  monotony  of  prison  life,  oil 
sometimes  puts  down  for  the  M.O.,  the  governor,  the  chaplain,  or  an 
one  else  with  the  idea  of  a  little  relief  from  the  ordinary  routine.  Wht. 
locked  in  one's  cell,  to  hear  a  warder  come  along  the  corridor  and  op(| 
another  cell  door  makes  one  feel  quite  jealous — even  if  the  prisoner  ' 
only  to  be  taken  to  the  doctor's  room.  These  trifling  breaches  in  t 
rigid  time-table  of  prison  existence  are  quite  red-letter  occasions. 

Whilst,  however,  some  malingering  is  admittedly  practised,  it  ■ 
not  excuse  the  serious  medical  neglect  which  our  evidence  indie, 
sometimes  occurs. 

The  Adequacy  of  the  Medical  Staff. 
Among  the   points  raised   by  the  evidence  from   which  we  h^i 
quoted  earlier  in  this   chapter,   is  the  alleged  hurried  character 
examinations   and    treatment.        The  majority   of   medical    offic 


THE    ADEQUACY    OF    THE   MEDICAL   STAFF  261 

apparently  consider  that  the  facihties   for  treatment  are  sufi&cient. 

y  of  them  assert  that  prisoners  are  regularly  examined  and  that 

have  every  possible  attention. 

Upon  these  replies  we  must  make  the  comment  that  only  in  an 

insignificant  number  of  cases  have  ex-prisoners  borne  out  the  view 

that  adequate  medical  attention  is  given,   and  in  no  single  instance 

have  they  suggested  that  a  periodical  examination  of  prisoners  is 

made."     One  witness  who  has  undergone  terms  of  imprisonment  in 

three  London  and  two  provincial  prisons  says:  — 

I  was  always  examined  on  reception,  generally  in  a  very  hurried  way. 
When  reported   for   punishment   I   was  sometimes  examined ;   on   many 

occasions  I  was   merely  asked  if   I   was  all  right.     At  ,  the  M.O. 

used  to  come  round  the  landing  once  a  week  and  ask  if  we  were  all 
right.  Once  when  I  was  rather  seriously  ill  I  had  a  thorough  examina- 
tion, and  perhaps  on  three  or  four  other  occasions  I  was  given  a  hasty 
examination  owing  to  special  circumstances,  such  as  a  letter  of  enquiry 
from  influential  friends.  But  there  was  no  regular  examination,  and 
unless  a  prisoner  took  the  initiative  in  applying  for  treatment  or  com- 
plaining sick  when  the  M.O.  came  round  (and  one  needs  to  screw  oneself 
up  to  do  this  as  imprisonment  curiously  destroys  self-reliance)  any 
malady,  unless  very  obvious,  would  certainly  go  unattended. 

jCareful  consideration  of  our  evidence  points  to  the  conclusion  that 

jthe  present  medical  staS   ought  to  be   large   enough  to  treat  the 

jordinary  physical  ailments   of  the  prison  population,   even  to  the 

iextent  of  a  periodical  examination  of  every  prisoner,  taking  a  certain 

-  '"-ber  each  day.     Certainly  it  would  be  large  enough  if  it  were 

lemented  by  trained  nurses.     But  clearly,  with  only  the  present 

.,  psychological  study  and  treatment  of  the  individual  is  quite 

ossible ;  and  more  and  more  it  is  being  realised  that  such  treat- 

jinent  is  what  a  large  number  of  prisoners  need." 

j    With  the  exception  of  Birmingham  prison,  the  mental  treatment 

|of  prisoners  seems  to  be  almost  entirely  neglected.     We  beheve  we 

(are  correct  in  stating  that  none  of    the  medical    ofi&cers,  even  at 

jBrixton  or  Holloway  prisons,  to  which  hundreds  of  cases  are  sent 

for  mental  obser^-ation,  or  at  Parkhurst  prison,  the  prison  to  which 

;physically  and  mentally  weak  convicts  are  sent,  have  any   special 

jqualifications  for  the  diagnosis  or  treatment  of  mental  cases."     Sir 

jE.  Euggles-Brise  states  that  all  medical  officers  are  required  to  have 

j"a  practical  knowledge  of  insanity";'*  but  the  phrase  appears  to 

jsignify  httle. 

1    "  At   some  rri?ons   the   women   prisoners   are    eiamined   weekly    lor   indications   of  "itch" 
|ar  for  dirty  heads. 

"  In  the  year  1913  (the  last  normal  year  lor  which  figures  are  obtainable)  there  was 
one  medical  officer  lor  499  prisoners  at  Birmingham,  one  for  495  at  Dnrham,  one  for  477 
at  Leeds,  one  for  637  at  Wakefield,  two  for  1,146  at  Wandsworth,  and  two  for  1,365  at 
Wormwood  Scmbbs. 

'*  Yet  20  years  ago  Sir  E.  Raggles  Brise  referred  to  "the  growing  belief,  fostered  by 
the  derelopments  of  anthropological  science,  that  criminality  is  largely  the  effect  of  mental 
[Causes;  and  that.  conseQuently.  a  prison  doctor  must  be  qualified,  not  only  to  deal  with 
physical  disease,  but  also  to  note  and  detect  the  symptoms,  mental  or  nerrous,  which  may 
iinTalidate  the  full  responsibility  of  conduct."  (Report  of  Brussels  International  Penitentiary 
Congress,  1900,  p.  61.) 

-=  "The  English  Prison  System,"  p.   185. 


262      THE  HEALTH  OF  PRISONERS  AND  THE  MEDICAL  STAFF 


SOME    OF     THE     PRINCIPAL     DEFECTS     INDICATED    IN     THE 
PRECEDING    CHAPTER. 


1. — Prisoners  who  serve  long  sentences  generally  become  seriously  weakened, 
and  suffer  severely  from  nerve  strain.  \ 

2. — Medical  officers  of  good  calibre  are  rarely  attracted  to  the  prison; 
service.  The  medical  attention  is  frequently  hurried  and  callous,  and: 
suspicion  of  malingering  is  very  prevalent.  ; 

3. — The  medical  staff  is  not  large  enough  to  enable  individual  psychological i 
study  and  treatment  to  be  undertaken.  Nor  is  it,  as  a  general  rule,! 
competent  for  such  duties. 


CHAPTER  XVII 


THE    TREATMENT    OF    THE    SICK 

Phe  medical  officer  usually  sees  prisoners  in  his  room.  In  certain 
prisons,  however,  the  practice  is  for  him  to  visit  the  prisoners  in 
"jheir  cells,  accompanied  by  a  hospital  officer  and  a  prisoner  carrying 
i  medicine  tray.  The  latter  method  has  the  advantage  of  not  neces- 
sitating prolonged  standing  in  the  corridor  on  the  part  of  the 
ipplicants.  Frequently  the  prisoners  have  to  stand  in  a  row  outside 
:he  doctor's  door  for  half-an-hour  or  even  an  hour.  If  they  are  weak 
;his  is  a  great  strain,  and  in  the  winter  the  corridors  are  often  cold. 
The  evidence  we  have  received  from  ex -prisoners  as  to  the  cruelty 
>f  this  practice  is  considerable.  The  following  quotations  are 
pypical:  — 
'  I. 

W.  was  so  ill  that  he  leaned  up  against  the  wall  whilst  awaiting  the 
doctor.     We   were  kept  standing   for   40  minutes.     He   was  bullied  for 
I       resting   against   the  wall,    by  a  warder,  who  said    "Are    you  having  a 
sleep?"  etc.     W.   was  then  seriously  ill.     [W.  died  five  days  later.] 

II. 

Applicants  are  kept  standing  a  long  time,  with  the  result  that  a  man 
rear  to  me  fainted  one  day. 

III. 

Sometimes  I   got  quite  dizzy,   owing  to  having  to  stand  such  a  long 
time  when  I  was  in  a  weak  condition.     It  was  often  more  than  an  hour. 

IV. 

Twice  when  I  was  waiting  for  the  doctor,  men  near  me  vomited  badly. 

We  have  received  frequent  complaints  as  to  the  limited  oppor- 
;unity  prisoners  have  of  applying  to  see  the  doctor.  Applications 
^ave  to  be  made  to  the  warder  when  the  cell  door  is  first  opened  in 
she  morning.  Prison  officers  have  instructions  to  summon  the 
oiedical  officer  when  patients  need  attention,  but  our  evidence  proves 
ihat  much  unnecessary  suffering  is  undergone  because  of  the  diffi- 
culty prisoners  have  in  approaching  the  medical  officer.  It  also  in- 
iicates  that  there  is  some  necessity  to  accelerate  the  medical 
ittention  after  the  doctor  has  seen  the  prisoner. 


264  THE   TREATMENT    OF    THE    SICK 

Treatment  of  Specific  Complaints.  | 

Eyes,  Teeth,  and  Skin. — Practically  no  attention  is  paid  to  eye-; 
sight.  If  a  prisoner  cannot  see  to  do  his  work  or  has  pains  in  his 
eyes,  the  custom  is  to  give  him  a  drawerful  of  glasses  and  tell  him 
to  select  the  ones  which  suit  him  best.  Persistence,  however,  will 
sometimes  secure  that  the  eyes  are  tested,  and  one  witness  records 
that  the  medical  officer  obtained  from  the  Home  Office  permission 
for  him  to  be  taken  to  an  oculist.  In  this  case  the  prison  authorities 
paid  the  oculist's  fee,  but  the  prisoner  was  required  to  pay  for  thei 
new  glasses.  i 

The  care  of  the  teeth  is  almost  entirely  neglected.  No  attempt; 
is  made  to  get  prisoners  to  clean  their  teeth.  One  ex-prisoner  states, 
that  "the  present  remedy  for  all  dental  trouble  is  extraction,  and; 
extraction  by  untrained  warders  with  clumsy  instruments."  This 
statement  appears  to  be  approximately  true  so  far  as  Local  prisonsj 
are  concerned.  If  prisoners  are  sufficiently  importunate,  the  servicesj 
of  an  outside  dentist  can  be  obtained,  the  prisoner  paying  the  cost.| 
In  the  case  of  convict  prisoners,  where  longer  sentences  are  served,! 
the  prison  authorities  pay  more  attention  to  dental  needs,  and 
dentists  visit  the  prison  at  the  public  expense.  i 

Skin  complaints  are  common  in  prison,  due  no  doubt  to  the  absence] 
of  green  stuffs  in  the  diet,  the  confined  existence,  lack  of  exercise.j 
lack  of  cleanliness — both  personal  and  general,  and  also,  in  somtl 
small  degree,  to  contagion.  As  typical  of  the  unsatisfactory  treatj 
ment  of  these  complaints,  we  quote  the  following  statement  from  at 
ex -prisoner :  — 

After  I  had  been  in  prison  a  few  months  I  was  troubled  with  ai 
itching  sensation,  on  the  hands.  The  symptoms  became  more  serious  anci 
I  decided  to  go  to  the  doctor.  He  merely  told  me  to  go  back  to  my, 
cell.  Soon  a  warder  came  for  me  and  told  me  to  pack  up  as  I  waij 
going  to  an  "itch  cell."  Two  cells  are  set  aside  for  the  treatment  o:' 
this  disease.  I  had  to  leave  all  my  possessions  outside  the  cell  ancj 
Btrip  off  all  my  clothes  and  throw  them  outside  ;  then  I  had  to  put  oij 
an  old  shirt  and  get  into  bed  between  dirty  blankets,  there  being  m 
sheets.  ' 

Then  a  warder  came  with  a  prisoner  who  painted  my  body  almosi 
completely  with  a  yellow  liquid,  although  the  disease  had  affected  onK 
my  hands.  I  then  got  back  into  bed  and  the  paint  slowly  dried.  Dinne| 
was  eventually  brought  and  placed  on  the  table,  which  was  out  of  m; 
reach.  I  had  previously  examined  the  utensils  in  the  cell;  the  kniff 
was  red  with  rust;  the  plate  was  filthy.  I  was  now  expected  to  ge: 
up,  attired  only  in  a  damp  shirt,  and  serve  myself  with  dinner  and  i\ 
wash  my  utensils.     I  lay   in  bed  and  dinner  was  taken  away. 

First  thing  next  morning  the  warder  came  and  said,  "Empty  you 
pot."  As  this  meant  going  out  into  the  hall,  I  refused  to  do  it  untij 
my  clothes  were  brought.  When  I  had  performed  the  task  I  got  bac: 
into  bed  again. 

A  little  later  the  doctor  inspected  me  and  ordered  me  another  coat  o 
paint,   which  was   administered    that  morning.     On   the   following   (tb; 


TREATMENT    OF    SPECIFIC    COMPLAINTS  265 

third)  morning,  I  was  again  visited  by  the  M.O.  and  was  afterwards 
taken  to  hospital  for  a  bath  and  given  a  change  of  underclothing.  Before 
I  left  the  "itch  cell'  I  heard  a  man  being  put  into  the  next  cell  to  be 
treated  for  itch,  as  I  gathered  from  the  conversation  between  prisoner 
and  warder. 

I  experienced  the  symptoms  of  itch  for  some  weeks  afterwards,  but 
these  slowly  died  away.  Yet  even  admitting  the  efficiency  of  the 
medical  treatment,  I  contend  that  it  should  have  been  administered  in 
hospital,  and  not  under  conditions  so  like  those  of  punishment. 

Two  other  ex -prisoners  give  very  similar  evidence. 

Consum-ptive  Cases. — The  prison  treatment  of  cases  of  phthisis 
has  greatly  improved  within  recent  years.  In  his  annual  report  for 
1899,  Dr.  Smalley  stated  that  the  segregation  of  tubercular  prisoners 
"is  ver}-  easy  to  say,  but  not  so  easy  to  carry  out."  The  next  year, 
however,  he  reported  a  beginning  in  segregation,  and  a  series  of 
elementary  regulations  were  tabled  for  the  treatment  of  phthisical 
cases.  In  1901  it  was  decided  to  construct  specially  airy  cells  for 
tubercular  prisoners,  but  it  was  only  in  1913  that  the  Comptroller  of 
Accounts  reported  "considerable  progress."  The  cells  include  iron 
bedsteads,  oak  chairs,  smooth  cornerless  walls  and  extra  ventilation. 

Dr.  Smalley 's  1907  report  on  the  operation  of  the  regulations 
relating  to  tubercular  prisoners  (based  on  Convict  prisons  only), 
gives  the  average  tubercular  death-rate  (1898-1902)  as  2.00  per 
thousand.  In  1903-7  it  became  1.17,  a  decrease  coinciding  with  the 
introduction  of  the  new  regulations  and  an  improved  standard  of 
diet,  with  an  increase  of  fatty  elements. 

Dr.  Smalley  gives  a  comparative  Table,  showing  the  deaths  of 
convicts  from  phthisis  to  be  well  under  those  of  the  general  male 
population,  and  of  certain  occupational  classes  outside,  but  apart 
from  the  fact  that  the  systematic  release  of  dying  prisoners  makes 
the  comparison  valueless,  it  is  no  testimonial  to  the  prison  authori- 
ties that  their  own  statistics  compare  favourably  with  those  produced 
outside  by  bad  housing  and  other  adverse  conditions.  There  is  no 
reason  why  prison  conditions  should  not  be  made  definitely 
preventive. 

Venereal  Diseases. — In  connection  with  the  Eoyal  Commission  to 
enquire  into  the  prevalence  of  venereal  disease,  the  medical  officers 
of  all  Local  prisons  were  asked  during  the  six  months,  November  1st, 
.1913,  to  April  30th,  1914,  to  report  to  the  Prison  Commissioners  the 
•number  of  cases  of  manifest  venereal  disease  received  each  month. 
The  returns  may  be  tabled  as  follows  :  — 

Males.     Percentage.     Females.  Percentage. 
Suffering  from  gonorrhoea  488  .7  106  .62 

Suffering  from  syphilis  ...       1,011         1.58  233  1.36 

Dr.  Smalley  (1913-14)  points  out  that  only  those  cases  in  which 
there  were  manifest  symptoms  were  reported ;  the  Wassermann  test 
was  not  applied.     All  these  cases,  he  states,  were  placed  on  active 


266  THE   TREATMENT    OF    THE    SICK 

treatment,  but,  owing  to  the  short  sentences  of  many,  "a  cure  can-  \ 
not  always  be  effected,  and  the  returns  indicated  that  about  half  of  i 
those  received  into  prison  suffering  from  venereal  disease  are  still  I 
in  an  infectious  condition  when  discharged." 

The  results  of  examination  in  three  prisons  for  evidence  indicating ' 
that  the  inmates  had  suffered  from  syphilis  showed  299  (or  17.04; 
per  cent.)  male  convicts,  out  of  a  total  of  1,755,  as  presenting  signs; 
of  venereal  disease.  Among  100  female  convicts,  six  had  a  history 
of  syphilis,  but,  adds  Dr.  Smalley,  the  same  steps  for  examination^ 
as  were  taken  in  the  case  of  male  convicts  were  not  feasible  in  the! 
case  of  females,  and  the  percentage  may  therefore  be  placed  as  muchj 
higher  than  six.  f 

The  medical  officers  seem  for  the  most  part  to  be  content  withj 
the  provisions  for  treating  and  isolating  cases  of  venereal  disease.! 
Only  one  considered  the  facilities  inadequate.  But  from  ex-} 
prisoners  complaints  of  laxity  in  isolation  are  frequent.  We  quotet 
some: —  > 

I. 

Isolation  lax.  Sheets  round  the  w.c.  and  on  the  floor  when  V.D.  casesi 
used  them  for  syringing,  were  mixed  with  the  other  prisoners'  sheets! 
when  sent  to  be  washed.  The  V.D.  cases  were  kept  in  the  prison  andl 
isolated  there,  but  came  over  to  hospital  for  syringing  frequently.  ! 

II. 

At  ,   all   the   hospital   cases   exercised   together  and  the    venerea! 

disease  and  other  patients  used  common  w.c's. 

III. 

The  prisoners  suffering  from  venereal  disease  have  special  tins,  bui 
they  are  collected  in  the  same  tray  as  the  others,  and  the  tins  are  al 
taken  to  the  kitchen  and  washed  in  the  same  water.  The  men  whij 
collect  the  tins  are  in  some  cases  suffering  from  the  same  malady.  Tb! 
V.D.  prisoners  use  the  same  w.c,  etc.,  as  the  other  prisoners,  and  arj 
allowed  to  do  orderly  work  in  the  ward.  \ 

IV. 

Whilst  I  was  in  hospital  acting  as  an  orderly,  a  man  had  to  be  treatei, 
who  had  been  infected  with  venereal  disease  through  being  cut  on  th 
chin  by  the  clippers  used  for  shaving.  Following  this,  the  M.O.  gav 
instructions  that  the  clippers  should  be  dipped  in  disinfectants  befor 
use  in  every  case. 

V. 

During  the  greater  part  of  the  time   I   was  at  the  men  sufferin] 

from  venereal  diseases  were  not  kept  isolated.  They  used  the  same  batfc! 
and  lavatories  as  the  rest  of  us,  and  their  work  and  tools  were  mixed  u 
indiscriminately  with  those  that  others  had  been  using.  After  a  time,  ai 
a  result  of  vigorous  protests  by  the  other  prisoners,  a  separate  bath  wa 
put  aside  for  the  use  of  infected  men  and  they  were  put  in  cells  in  ' 
separate  hall,  but  even  then  the  isolation  was  not  complete.  No  adequat 
medical  attention  was  given,  however,  and  finally  four  Colonial  soldieri 


TREATMENT    OF    SPECIFIC    COMPLAINTS  267 

who  were  infected,  hunger  struck  for  several  days  in  order  to  draw 
attention  to  their  condition  and  to  get  transferred  to  another  prison 
where  proper  treatment  would  be  given.  One  of  them,  a  New  Zealander, 
said  he  was  determined  that  he  would  not  go  back  to  his  wife  until  he 
was  cured,  and  he  had  been  kept  in  prison  over  a  year  without  any 
proper  treatment. 

Some  of  the  laxity  revealed  in  this  evidence  may  have  been  due 

to  war  conditions.       Even  so,  it  was  inexcusable';  nor  can  shortage 

of  staff   be  urged  as   an  excuse  in  every  case.        The   following 

^*^atement,  for  instance,  is    made  by  an    officer  about  the  present 

mgements  at  a  Convict  prison:  — 

Venereal  cases  have  special  tins,  knives^  and  forks,  also  special  kits 
of  underclothing,  but  their  tins  and  underclothing  are  washed  in  the 
same  place  as  the  others.  There  is  a  w.c.  for  these  "special  cases,"  but 
it  is  not  properly  used  by  them.  Men  will  not  go  to  it  as  they  are  afraid 
of  being  marked  out  from  among  the  rest,  and  they  are  not  compelled 
to  do  so.  The  present  precautions  are  useless.  The  only  way  to  prevent 
infection  would  be  to  absolutely  isolate  all  the  venereal  cases  in  a 
separate  part  of  the  prison. 

Forcible  Feeding. — Artificial  feeding  is  not  infrequently  resorted 
to  in  prison.  Some  of  the  evidence  which  we  have  received  regard- 
ing it  is  very  disturbing.  We  give  as  an  example  extracts  from  the 
statement  of  one  of  ten  political  prisoners  artificially  fed  in  a  northern 
prison  during  February,  1919  :  — 

While  we  were  being  forcibly  fed  on  the  morning  of  Wednesday, 
February  17th,  the  doctor  used  the  same  feeding  tube  in  the  nose  of 
each  man.  Some  of  the  men  were  suffering  from  nasal  catarrh.  Each 
one  protested  to  the  governor  against  the  use  of  the  same  tube.  The 
operation  caused  much  loss  of  blood,  each  prisoner  being  supplied  down 
the  nose.  The  doctor  used  such  violence  to  me  that  he  drew  a  handful 
of  hair  from  my  head. 

Feeding  through  the  nose  continued  until  February  23rd.  The  hunger 
strikers  having  lost  much  blood,  complained  to  the  governor,  and  have 
since  been  fed  through  the  mouth.  On  one  occasion  while  being  fed 
through  the  nose  the  doctor  placed  the  tube  in  a  position  which 
obstructed  the  food.  When  the  obstruction  occurred,  the  doctor  had 
left  the  prison  wing  and  had  to  be  called  back  to  insert  the  tube  afresh, 
as  I  was  in  a  very  serious  condition  owing  to  the  tube  resting  on  the 
windpipe.  The  doctor  inserted  the  tube  again,  which  was  so  big  that 
the  milk  still  refused  to  run.  He  was  obliged  to  fix  a  smaller  tube 
which  had  already  been  put  in  another  prisoner's  nose.  I  complained 
to  the  governor  and  have  since  then  been  fed  through  the  mouth.  The 
language  of  the  doctor  was  most  foul.  .  .  . 

^Ye  should  be  reluctant  to  publish  a  statement  of  this  kind  were  it 
not  corroborated  by  the  other  prisoners  who  underwent  forcible  feed- 
ing at  the  hands  of  this  doctor. 

On  March  14th,  1918,  W.  E.  Burns,  a  poHtical  prisoner,  died 
in  Hull  prison.  At  the  inquest  on  March  21st,  1918,  the  jury 
returned  a  verdict  that  he  died  from  "pneumonia,  consequent  upon 


288  THE   TREATMENT    OF    THE    SICK 

the  inhalation  of  some  fluid  food  during  the  forcible  feeding."  The 
jury  held  that  no  blame  whatever  was  attributable  to  the  doctor,  but 
the  evidence  suggested  some  fault  in  the  tube  used  for  the  operation. 
During  the  proceedings  the  following  questions  were  put  to  the 
medical  officer:  — 

The  Foreman  :  Did  you  e.xamine  the  man  before  you  forcibly  fed  him 
to  see  whether  he  had  pneumonia  on  him  or  not? 

A  :   No,  I  just  examined.     He  had  not  got  any  sign  of  pneumonia. 

Mr.  Owen  (for  the  relatives  of  the  deceased)  :  The  forcible  feeding 
brought  the  pneumonia  on? 

A  :   It  did. 

Mr.  Owen  :  And  it  killed  him  ? 

A  :  Yes. 

Later,  this  question  was  put  regarding  the  tube :  — 

Mr.    Owen  :   I   put  it  to  you — I  am  not  trying  to  impute  blame— the 
fact  is  that  if  it  had  been  longer  the  breathing  in  would  not  have  affected 
the  food  passing? 
A  :  No. 

A  second  medical  man,  Dr.  Pigeon,  gave  it  as  his  view  that  the  tube 
was  "a  little  too  flexible." 

We  do  not  wish  to  convey  the  impression  that  prisoners  who 
refuse  to  take  food  are  as  a  rule  carelessly  treated  when  resort  is  had 
to  the  operation  of  forcible  feeding,  but,  in,  view  of  the  evidence,  the 
verdict  of  the  jury  in  this  case  might  have  the  effect  of  encouraging 
a  most  undesirable  sense  of  immunity  among  medical  of&cers.  Our 
evidence  suggests  that  they  often  regard  forcible  feeding  very  lightly, 
and  we  think  it  well  to  point  out  that  other  medical  men  take  a  very ' 
different  view.  Quite  apart  from  accidents  like  that  in  the  Hull  case 
many  medical  men  hold  that  the  effects  of  forcible  feeding  are  often 
grave.* 

Surgical  Operations,  etc. — The  Criminal  Justice  Administration 
Act,  1914,  included  a  clause  authorising  the  Home  Secretary  to 
permit  a  pi'isoner  who  is  suffering  from  a  disease  which  cannot  be 
properly  treated  in  prison,  or  who  requires  an  operation  which  cannot  ' 
properly  be  performed  in  prison,  to  be  taken  to  a  hospital  or  other 
siiitable  place.  Whilst  absent  from  the  prison,  the  prisoner  is 
deemed  to  be  in  legal  custody.  No  operation  can  be  performed  with- 
out his  consent. 

The  Prison  Commissioners  in  their  report  for  1919-1920  describe 
this  as  a  most  useful  provision,  "enabling  skilled  operative  and  other 

'  A  medical  man  who  has  himself  been  a  prison  doctor  makes  the  following  comment 
npon  the  Hnll  case:— "It  is  absolutely  scandalous  that  any  food  should  get  into  the  bronchial 
tubes  or  lung  or  even  the  larynx.  The  tube  often  catches  at  the  top  and  may  get  into  the 
top  part  of  the  larynx,  but  in  that  case  only  about  six  inches  has  gone  in,  and  if  the  milk 
is  poured  in  then  it  would  certainly  go  into  the  larynx,  bronchial  tubes,  and  lungs.  But 
the  tube  should  be  passed  18  inches,  and  this  is  known  by  a  mark  or  piece  of  cotton  on 
the  tube;  then  if  the  person  is  breathing  comfortably  the  milk  is  poured  in,  and  eren  it 
he  coughs  it  cannot  go  into  the  bronchial  tubes  unless  about  10  inches  of  the  tube  comes 
out  first,  when  of  course  the  milk  should  be  stopped.  Mr.  Owen  should  have  said:  'If  the 
tube  had  been  passed  further  in  (i.e.,  into  the  stomach),  then  the  coughing  could  not  have 
induced   inspiration   of    food   into  the  lungs.'  " 


THE  PRISON  HOSPITAL  269 

treatment  to  be  given  in  all  cases  in  which  it  could  not  be  secured 
in  prison  except  at  very  great  expense."  "With  rare  exceptions," 
they  say,  "the  practice  has  not  been  abused  by  prisoners  absconding 
while  in  hospital."  In  1920-21,  54  prisoners  were  removed  to 
hospital  under  this  provision.     Of  these,  eight  died. 

The  necessity  for  more  suitable  conditions  for  the  performance  of 
operations  was  conclusively  shown  by  Dr.  Goring.  Commenting 
upon  the  fact  that  the  death-rate  from  intestinal  obstruction  and 
peritonitis  is  24  per  1,000  in  prison,  as  against  nine  per  1,000  in 
the  general  population,  he  explained  the  high  prison  mortality  thus : 
*' These  bodily  conditions,  including  strangulated  hernia,  involve  in 
every  case  the  performance  of  a  major  surgical  operation,  the  results 
of  which,  in  prison  hospitals,  could  not  be  expected  to  attain  the 
high  level  of  success  obtained  in  general  hospitals."^  In  addition 
to  the  absence  of  proper  facihties  for  the  operation,  success  is 
probably  prejudiced  by  late  diagnosis.  From  what  has  been  written 
above  it  is  e\ident  that  a  patient  may  lie  unattended  for  some  hours 
before  the  necessary  steps  are  taken. 

The  Prison  Hospital:    Solitary  Confinement. 

The  daily  average  number  of  prisoners  in  hospital  during  1920-21 
was  375 — 266  males  and  109  females.  The  proportion  to  the 
general  prison  population  was  3.7  per  cent,  in  the  case  of  males  and 
9.4  per  cent,  in  the  case  of  females.  In  1919-20  the  proportions 
were  4.5  per  cent,  and  9.1  per  cent,  respectively. 

We  print  as  an  appendix  to  this  chapter  an  account  of  life  in  a 
prison  hospital.  The  feature  of  this  description  which  will  immedi- 
ately impress  the  reader  who  is  not  familiar  with  prison  conditions 
will  be  the  solitary  confinement  to  which  the  writer  was  subjected. 
That  anyone  suffering  from  illness  or  accident  should  be  kept  in 
solitary  confinement,  except  on  account  of  dangerous  mental  derange- 
ment, will,  we  believe,  strike  every  ordinarily  humane  person  as 
monstrous.  The  longest  term  of  separate  confinement  which  a 
prisoner  undergoes  outside  hospital  is  one  month.  But  it  is  the 
custom  in  hospital  to  keep  a  prisoner  in  separate  confinement  for 
much  longer  periods,  and  generally  without  any  additional  provision 
of  books  and  with  the  absence  of  any  work  to  occupy  his  mind.' 

The  following  extracts  from  our  evidence  illustrate  the  cruelty  of 
this  system :  — 

*  "The  English   Convict,"  p.   224. 

•  S.O.  288  reads:  "Prisoners  who  are  under  medical  treatment  in  cell  or  in  hospital  bti* 
»re  not  confined  to  bed  shall  be  giren  light  employment  il  they  «o  desire  and  ii  the  medical 
officer  sees  no  objection."  But  the  staff  do  not  like  work  to  be  done  in  hospital,  and  a 
prisoner  rarely  knows  that  it  is  permitted.  The  medical  officer  of  Wakefield  prison  in  his 
report  for  the  year  1912-13  acknowledges  that  "in  regard  to  those  patients  whose  cases 
demand  a  long  period  of  detention  in  hospital,  there  is  necessarily  a  great  deal  of  monotony 
in  iheir  lires,  arising  from  the  lack  of  occupation  and  amusement,"  and  records  that  "at 
the  suggestion  of  the  Commissioners,"  he  has  introduced  the  use  of  frame  knitting  maciiines 
by  patients  in  his  cells.  "It  has  served  in  some  instances,"  he  says,  "to  afford  a  healthy 
stunnlns  otherwise  entirely  wanting.  In  one  weak-minded  case,  notably,  it  has  given  the 
"*''6ii'  a  new  interest  in  life,  with  beneficial  effects  on  mind  and  body."  This  is  the  only 
rel«r«nce  to  this   experiment    we  have   seen.    What   happened  to    it? 


270  THE   TREATMENT    OF    THE    SICK 

I. 

There  was   one   old  man,   sixty    years   of   age,    suffering    from   acute, 
rheumatism.     He  served  the  whole  of  his  eighteen  months'   sentence  in 
hospital,  and   during  the  six    weeks   that  I   was  there  he  was  confined 
to  his  bed  in  his  cell  the  whole  time.     There  was  a  second  old  man  of : 
seventy  years  of  age  who  served  a  twelve  months'  sentence  in  a  hospital  i' 
cell,  and  there   was  a  tubercular  patient  (afterwards  removed  to  die  in  'i 
Woolwich  hospital)  who  remained  all  day  in  an  ordinary  hospital  cell — % 
although  in  his  case  the  door  of  the  cell  was  left  open.     Anyone  with  ai 
little  imagination  will  appreciate  what  physical  and  mental  torture  such 
treatment  involves. 

II. 

I  was  in  hospital  six  months.  The  single  cell  confinement  was  worse 
than  in  the  prison  cells.  It  was  more  quiet  and  we  were  locked  in  all 
day.     It  nearly  drove  me  mad.  i; 

III. 

The  cell  system  in  prison  hospitals  is  bad.  It  shuts  up  a  man  n; 
than  the  ordinary  prison  routine.  After  the  serving  of  supper  at  4  p.m., . 
a  man  is  left  entirely  till  about  5.45  a.m.  next  morning.  Men  may  j 
die  between  those  hours ;  a  sudden  attack,  relapse,  or  fit  may  take  place,  i 
and  no  one  at  hand  to  help.  The  mental  effect  of  the  cell  confinement ' 
drives  some  men  nearly  mad. 

IV. 

I  cannot  imagine  any  punishment  much  worse  than  being  in  a  pi  i 
hospital. 

^-  .  1 

I  was  in  hospital   eight  weeks  owing   to  heart  trouble   following  the  I 

shock  due  to  my  imprisonment.     I  was  kept  in  separate  confinement  the 

whole   time.      The   mental   effect   was   terrible   and    indescribable.     The  | 

absence  of    anything   to  do  became   unbearable,   and   I  asked   for  some 

sewing  and  was  given  some  caps  to  do.     The  conditions  were  such  that  j 

it  was  only  after  I  had  been  in  the  hospital  a  month,  or  five  weeks  that  j 

I  came  to  know  I  was  in  hospital  at  all.     {From  a  woman   ex-prisoner).  \ 

Medical  officers  generally  advocate  the  extension  of  the  dormitory  j 
system  and  the  restriction  of  cellular  treatment.  "Dormitories  | 
are  unquestionably  better  than  cells,"  one  remarks.  "They  ought  j 
to  be  extended  as  fully  as  possible,  but  it  is  a  question  of  the  cost."- 1 

The  objection  most    frequently  raised    to  the  proposal    that  the  j 
dormitory  system  should  be  extended  is  the  danger  of  contamination.  : 
Upon  this    point   the   English   Departmental   Committee   of    1895   j 
reported :  "Our  inquiry  has  led  us  to  believe  that  the  evils  attributed  | 
to  contamination  have  been  exaggerated  so  far  as  male  criminals  are  | 
concerned,"    whilst   the    Scottish   Departmental   Committee    (1900) 
recorded  that  the  prison  officials  denied  that  association  in  hospital, 
so  far  as  it  is  practised,  results  in  contamination.     The  advocates  of 
the  dormitory   system  agree,  of  course,  that  there   must  be  stric*^ 
supervision. 

The  Hospital  Staff. 
The  official  manual  for  members  of  the  Prison  Hospital  Staff  lias  : 
been  "Prison  Hospital  Nursing,"  a  book  of  360  pages,  "published  by  j 
authority"  in  1902  and  written  by  Sir  Herbert  Smalley,  M.D.,  the  j. 


THE    HOSPITAL    STAFF  271 

late  medical  member  of  the  Prison  Commission.  The  tone  of  the 
book  is  on  the  whole  sympathetic  and  human,  although  the  dis- 
ciphnary  aspect  of  the  officer's  duties  often  finds  expression.  The 
following  passage  describes  what  should  be  the  general  attitude  of 
the  hospital  warders:  — 

Disabuse  your  mind  of  the  idea  that  the  prison  is  a  den  of  iniquity, 
the  warder  a  surly  guardian,  and  that,  because  you  have  only  criminals 
to  deal  with,  they  do  not  require  the  same  skill,  care  and  attention  when 
ill,  as  is  deemed  requisite  for  those  more  happily  situated.  Enough 
for  you  to  remember  that,  though  probably  more  frail  morally,  and 
perhaps  also  mentally  and  physically,  than  those  met  with  outside  the 
prison  wall,  yet  they  are  as  capable  of  being  influenced  by  care,  gentle- 
ness, and  upright  conduct  as  most  other  human  beings.  Who  can  tell 
what  good  may  be  done  by  a  kind  action  and  a  good  example,  when  a 
stubborn  nature  is  softened  by  the  levelling  hand  of  illness  ?  * 

These  are  excellent  sentiments.  Unfortunately,  however,  the 
Prison  Commission  does  not  apply  them,  nor  allow  its  officials  to 
apply  them. 

Dr.  Smalley  says  that  criminals  when  ill  require  the  same  "skill, 
care  and  attention"  as  those  more  happily  situated.  Our  evidence, 
from  which  we  quote  later,  proves  that  the  Prison  Commissioners 
markedly  fail  to  provide  skilled  attention  for  the  patients  in  prison 
hospitals,  and  that  the  hospitals  staffs  are  quite  inadequate  to  give 
the  "care  and  attention"  which  those  in  their  charge  require.  Nor 
is  it  of  much  avail  to  urge  hospital  officers  to  be  "kind"  when  they 
are  prohibited  by  the  prison  rules  and  Standing  Orders  from  any 
human  relationship  with  prisoners.  Equally  with  the  disciplinary 
officers,  they  are  not  permitted  to  be  friendly  or  familiar  with 
prisoners,  and  are  liable  to  reprimand  for  breaches  of  this  rule.*  In 
actual  practice,  discipline  is  generally  less  strict  in  hospital  than  in 
other  parts  of  the  prison,  but  this  relaxation  is  unofficial  and  is  due, 
not  to  any  modification  of  rules,  but  to  the  partial  detachment  from 
the  eye  of  authority  which  the  hospital  enjoys.  On  the  occasion  of 
the  regular  visits  from  the  governor,  deputy  governor,  or  chief 
"■^rder,  the  discipline  is  as  rigid  as  elsewhere.* 

In  a  reply  given  by  Mr.  W.  Brace,  M.P.,  then  Under-Secretary  for 
the  Home  Department,  to  a  question   by  Lord  Henry  Cavendish 

*  Op.  cit.,  p.  14. 

*  Miss  Beatrice  Kent  (Royal  British  Nurses'  Association),  on  the  occasion  of  a  deputation 
to  him,  March,  1918,  gave  the  Home  Secretary  the  following  account  of  a  conversation 
between  the  governor  of  HoUoway  prison  and  a  nurse  on  the  hospital  staff:— The  governor 
»ent  for  this  particular  nurse,  and  he  said,  "I  hear  yon  talk  to  the  prisoners." — "Yes,  Sir, 
I  do,  I  certainly  talk  to  the  prisoners." — "You  are  not  to  talk  to  the  prisoners,  it  is  not 
your  business  to  talk  to  the  prisoners:  you  are  here  to  nurse  and  nurse  only."  She  is  a 
woman  of  some  spirit,  and  she  said,  "What,  is  it  treasonable  to  talk  to  a  prisoner?" — "No, 
I  do  not  say  it  is  treasonable,  but  you  are  not  to  do  it,  you  are  not  here  to  talk  to  prisoners." 

*  Searches  rarely  take  place  in  the  prison  hospital,  but  one  witness  describes  how  officers 
from  the  discipline  staff  were  sent  to  perform  this  duty  and  cites  a  case  when  a  consumptive 
man  was  stripped  and  searched  with  no  hospital  warder  present.  "It  is  not  a  common 
occurrence,"  he  says,  "taking  place  only  when  there  is  suspicion  of  contraband  articles, 
but  it  is  objectionable  on  many  grounds.  Surely  the  health  of  prisoners  should  be  put 
before  the  object  of  finding  bits  of  tobacco?  And  surely,  if  a  search  is  necessary  at  all. 
it  should  be  carried  out  by  the  hospital  warders?  The  hospital  staff  not  unnaturally 
resents  this   procedure." 


272  THE   TREATMENT   OF   THE   SICK 

Bentinck,  November  6th,  1918,  the  arrangements  for  staffing  prison 
hospitals  were  described  as  follows :  — 

I 
At  the  male  prisons  shown  on  the  attached  list '  there  are  hospital  " 
officers  most  of  whom  had  previous  service  in  the  Royal  Army  Medical 
Corps,  or  as  sick  berth  stewards  in  the  Royal  Navy.  Before  being 
appointed  as  hospital  officers  in  the  prison  service,  they  underwent  a 
special  training  for  at  least  two  months  in  prison  hospital  duty  at  a 
large  prison  hospital  and  were  reported  as  efficient  and  satijsfactory. 
They  do  not  wear  a  distinctive  uniform.  They  are  wholly  employed 
in  hospital  duty,  unless  the  number  of  hospital  patients  falls  so  that 
there  would  not  be  sufficient  duty  for  them,  in  which  case  they  would 
be  employed  on  some  discipline  duty. 

In  the  male  prisons  in  which  there  is  no  hospital  staff  the  average 
number  of  sick  requiring  special  nursing  is  so  low  that  the  whole-time 
services  of  a  nurse  would  not  be  justified.  In  such  prisons  where  the 
need  for  a  nurse  arises,  the  governor  is  authorised  to  engage  an  outside 
nurse  or  nurses,  or,  if  this  is  not  possible,  nurses  would  be  sent  from  , 
some  other  prison.  j 

As  regards  the  female  prisoners,  all  female  officers  go  through  at 
least  one  month's  training  at  the  training  school  in  simple  hospital  | 
duties.  Many  of  the  female  officers  have  had  previous  experience  of  i 
nursing,  and  the  governors  of  the  various  prisons  consider  this  previoua 
experience  when  selecting  officers  to  act  as  nurses.  At  the  larger  ' 
prisons  many  have  been  employed  as  hospital  officers  for  years  and  are  ; 
reported  to  be  quite  efficient.     They  do  not  wear  any  distinctive  uniform.  , 

In  all  but  a  few  prisons,  the  number  of  hospital  patients  is  so  small,  j 
averaging  less  than  one,  that  the  employment  of  a  whole-time  nurse  is 
not  called  for.  If  a  case  calls  for  special  nursing,  which  in  the  l 
opinion  of  the  medical  officer  could  not  be  carried  out  by  one  of  the 
staff,  the  governor  is  authorised  to  engage  an  outside  nurse  or  nurses. 
Further  the  Commissioners  are  now  arranging  for  all  the  female  officers 
to  undergo  six  months'  training  in  hospital  duties  at  the  training  school. 

i 

At  the  first  glance,  perhaps,  the  arrangements  outlined  in  these  ' 
statements  may  seem  satisfactory.  More  detailed  consideration  and  i 
the  evidence  of  experience  prove  that  they  are  very  unsatisfactory.- ! 
The  fact  is  that  the  number  of  hospital  officers  is  quite  inadequate  ; 
and  that  they  are  trained  in  a  most  amateurish  way. 

Most  of  the  male  hospital  officers,  we  are  informed,  have  "had  j 
service  in  the  R.A.M.C,  or  as  sick  berth  stewards  in  the  Royal  i 
Navy."     It  will  be  noted  that  it  is  not  claimed  that  all  the  male 
hospital  officers  have  had  such  experience;  those  who  have  not  had 
it  enter  upon  their  duties  with  no  more  experience  than  two  months'  | 
training  in  a  prison  hospital.     Nor  is  it  claimed  that  the  members  \ 
of  the  hospital  staff  who  have  served  in  the  R.A.M.C.  belonged  to 
the  "nursing  section";  and  the  elementary  duties  of  the  privates  in 

T  Prisons  where  hospital  officers  are  employed:— Aylesbury  (1),  Birmineham  (2),  Borstal 
(1),  Leeds  (3),  Lirerpool  (5),  Maidstone  (3),  Manchester  (5),  Newcastle  (1),  Parkhurst  (2), 
Pentonville  (5),  Portland  (9),  Preston  (1),  Shrewsbury  (1),  Wandsworth  (6),  Winchester 
(1),  Wormwood   Scrubbs   (6).    In  addition,  27  hospital  officers  are  serving  with  the  colours. 


THE    HOSPITAL    STAFF  278 

the  general  duty  section  of  the  R.A.M.C.  are  well  known.  Even 
when  serving  in  wards,  they  are  not  expected  to  do  more  than  light 
fires,  clean  stoves,  sweep  floors,  carry  refuse,  scrub  tins,  etc.,  etc. 

To  be  satisfied  with  giving  men  who  act  as  the  responsible  staff 
under  the  medical  officer,  without  the  guidance  or  instruction  of  any 
fully-trained  nurses,  merely  two  months'  training  in  the  narrow 
school  of  a  prison  hospital  impresses  us  as  scandalous.'  "The  male 
officers  do  not  get  much  training,"  admits  one  medical  officer. 
"The  tests  which  they  have  to  pass  at  the  end  of  the  two  months 
are  very  simple."  It  is  not  necessary  to  suggest  that  every  officer 
employed  in  the  prison  hospital  should  be  a  skilled  nurse,  but  that 
a  proportion  of  them  should  be  thoroughly  trained  for  hospital  work 
would  seem  to  us  a  moderate  demand  to  make. 

We  are  glad  to  record,  however,  that  during  1919  the  Prison  Com- 
missioners began  to  employ  five  fully-trained  nursing  sisters  in  the 
hospital  attached  to  Holloway  (women's)  prison.  An  account  of 
their  work  appeared  in  the  "British  Journal  of  Nursing"  (October 
18th,  1919).     It  is  from  this  account  we  quote :  — 

One  sister  devotes  her  time  to  the  venereal  cases,  and  it  is  the  duty 
of  a  second  to  observe  mental  defectives  and  report  the  result  of  her 
observations  to  the  medical  officer,  a  third  deals  with  the  surgery  cases, 
the  fourth  devotes  herself  to  midwifery,  and  the  fifth  has  charge  of  the 
skin  cases,  from  which  it  would  appear,  as  this  Journal  has  always 
pleaded,  that   there  is  a  great  scope  for  the  services  of  trained  nurses 

1         in  our  prisons.       Their  work  might  be  usefully  extended  to  preventive 

I         nursing   amongst  all  the  prisoners.' 

There  is  now  a  Hospital  Lady  Superintendent  at  Holloway  prison, 
!  and  an  Advisory  Board,  with  the  Medical  Commissioner  as  chairman, 
land  "including  medical,  nursing,  and  lay  representatives"  has  been 
]  established  with  the  object  of  "placing  the  hospital  staff  on  a  more 
I  satisfactory  basis.""  But  even  the  Lady  Superintendent  is  not  a 
trained  nurse. 

The  view  of  the  medical  officers  is,  so  far  as  we  can  judge, 
predominantly  against  the  regular  employment  of  women  nurses  in 
the  hospitals  of  male  prisons,  but  one  doctor  has  expressed  the 
opinion  that  it  would  be  a  good  thing  to  employ  nurses  on  the  same 
looting  as  nursing  sisters  in  the  army:  — 

There  should  certainly  be  trained  nurses,  but  if  you  had  women  nurses 
in  a  male  hospital  you  would  have  to  have  some  system  like  the  army 
system  :  women  of  education  who  would  be  of  a  different  status  from 
the  ordinary  officers  and  who  would  associate  with  the  M.O.  and  with 


I  •rttem 


e  Departmental  Committee  on  Scottish  Prisons  (1900),  after  reviewing  the  English 
•Titem  ol  training,  expressed  the  Tiew  that  "it  is  donbtlul  if  two  months  is  suflBciently  long 
»  period  of  training,"  and   suggested  that  it  should  be  sir  months. 

•  The   Royal    British    Nurses'   Association,   of   which   the   "British   Journal   ol   Nursing"   ia 
the  organ,  strongly  urges  that  trained  women  nurses  should  be  employed  in  aJl  prisons. 
'*  P.O.  Report,    1920-21,  p.   20. 


274  THE   TREATMENT    OF    THE    SICK 

the  governor.  That  would  work.  It  would  be  an  excellent  plan.  But 
the  women  would  have  to  stand  in  the  same  relation  to  the  officers  as 
Army  Sisters  to  the  R.A.M.C.  men. 

This  would  seem  to  be  an  eminently  reasonable  proposal.  Under 
the  present  regulations  a  woman  nurse  may  be  called  in  to  attend 
a  serious  male  case;  but  only  very  rarely  is  this  done. 

But  even  if  a  proportion  of  the  hospital  attendants  were  fully- 
trained  nurses,  it  is  quite  clear  that  the  number  of  hospital  officers 
is  utterly  inadequate.  Reference  to  Mr.  Brace's  list  of  prisons 
where  hospital  officers  are  employed  shows  that  they  number  20  out 
of  the  64  prisons  and  Borstal  Institutions."  In  many  smaller  prisons 
there  has  been  no  officer  with  any  hospital  training,  and  only  in 
cases  of  extreme  gravity  are  nurses  called  in  from  outside.  In  the 
larger  prisons  the  staff  is  frequently  insufficient  to  allow  a  hospital 
officer  always  to  be  in  attendance. 

The  evidence  of  the  inadequacy  of  the  hospital  staff  is  indisputable. 
The  insufficient  provision  of  night  nurses  may  be  taken  as  an 
example.  The  official  manual  for  the  prison  hospital  staff  lays 
particular  stress  upon  the  necessity  of  having  alert  and  efficient 
hospital  attendance  during  the  night.  How  far  this  necessity  is 
recognised  may  be  judged  by  the  following  item  of  evidence  from  a 
prisoner: —  I 

The  two  hospital  warders  possessed  a  little  medical  knowledge,  but  at 
night  the  hospital  was  in  the  sole  charge  of  a  night  watchman  (agedj 
approximately  60)  who  had  no  idea  whatever  of  nursing  or  rendering  | 
any  medical  assistance  in  case  of  need.  He  had  a  key  of  the  cells  in  I 
a  sealed  case  which  he  must  not  use  except  in  case  of  dire  extremity.  It] 
often  happened  that  prisoners  in  the  cells  might  have  to  take  medicinesl 
at  intervals  during  the  night.  In  these  cases  the  night  watchman  would: 
go  to  the  bars  of  the  gates  at  the  stated  times  and  hold  the  medicine! 
through  to  the  prisoners  in  a  spoon.  The  prisoner  (and  this  happened| 
in  cases  where  he  had  a  "temperature")  had  consequently  to  get  out  ofj 
bed  and  walk  across  the  cold  floor  to  the  gate  to  receive  the  medicine. 
The  danger  of  catching  a  chill  in  doing  so  is  obvious. 

I 
The  hospital  to  which  reference  is  made  by  this  prisoner  is  attachedj 
to  a  comparatively  small  prison.  We  have  similar  evidence  about! 
a  hospital  attached  to  one  of  the  largest  prisons: —  j 

At  night  the  ordinary  discipline  warders  were  on  duty  in  the  hospital. 
In  case  of  serious  illness  there  was  no  one  with  knowledge  or  experienc( 
to  attend  to  the  patients'  needs.  I  write  "patients."  I  never  heardi 
the  word  used  in   hospital.     Its  associations  are  far  too  human. 

The  Hospital  Diet.  : 

The  normal  hospital  diet  is  of  a  better  quality  than  the  prison  diet 

"  In  calculating  the  number  of  prisons  and  Borstal  institutions,  where  there  are  a  pn 
and  a  Borstal  Institution  in  one  place,   we   have  counted  them  as  one  institution  onl.v. 


THE  PRISON  HOSPITAL  275 

but  is  rather  less  in  quantity."  The  dinner  is  made  more  appetising 
by  the  inclusion  of  four  ounces  of  vegetables  in  addition  to  potatoes, 
generally  greens,  carrots,  parsnips,  or  turnips.  Frequently  the 
medical  officer  orders  an  extra  pint  of  porridge  for  breakfast,  and 
since  the  supply  of  porridge  for  hospital  is  as  a  rule  plentiful,  and 
large  bowls  are  provided,  the  ration  in  fact  is  often  a  quart.  For 
special  cases  a  pudding  diet  is  given;  for  other  cases,  a  low  diet. 
The  medical  officer  has  the  power  to  order  special  diets  as  the  needs 
of  any  patient  may  require.'^ 


Absence  of  Hospital  Treatmext  in  Small  Prisons. 

The    information    available    regarding    the    absence    of    hospital 

j  treatment  in  small  prisons  reveals  a  most  serious  state  of  affairs. 

"The  conditions  of  medical  treatment  in  small  prisons  are  very  bad 

indeed,"  states  one  medical  officer  of  long  prison  experience.     "The 

hospitals  are  scarcely  ever  opened.     There  are  no  hospital  officers, 

I  or  perhaps  only  one." 

I  The  practice  in  small  prisons  is  to  employ  a  half-time  medical 
!  officer,  and  prisoners  are  only  removed  to  hospital  when  they  are  in 
I  a  serious  condition.  Otherwise  they  remain  in  their  cells,  in  which 
i  a  bed  is  sometimes  placed.  We  quote  a  description  by  an  ex- 
j  prisoner :  — 

In  February,  1919,  I  was  on  the  sick  list  for  14  days  for  influenza. 
There  was  a  hospital  in  the  prison,  but  it  was  not  used  whilst  I  was 
there.  I  was  given  no  proper  nursing.  I  had  a  high  temperature  for 
several  days.  It  was  only  with  difficulty  and  delay  that  I  was  able  to 
get  warm  water  for  a  wash,  or  an  extra  blanket.  Ordinary  food  was 
given  me  after  the  doctor's  first  visit,  although  he  said  I  was  too  ill 
j  to  be  allowed  to  walk  to  another  cell,  and  afterwards  put  me  on  milk 
diet. 

The  ordinary  cleaner  cleaned  out  my  cell  and  made  my  bed — I  was 
given  a  bed — but  there  was  no  proper  nursing  and  no  one  seemed 
particularly  responsible.  If  I  had  not  known  how  I  ought  to  have  been 
nursed,  and  asked  and  insisted  on  the  necessary  things  being  done,  I 
might  have  had  a  very  bad  time.  Medical  treatment  and  attention 
seemed  of  a  very  off-hand  character  and  gave  one  the  impression  that 
there  was  no  one  in  prison  who  minded  very  much  if  you  lived  or  died. 

'-The  normal  diet  is  as  follows: — Breakfast:  Breafl.  8  ozs.;  tea,  1  pint,  containing  l-6th 
i  oz.  tea,  ^  oz.  sugar,  and  2  ozs.  milk.  Dinner:  Meat  5  ozs.  (cooked);  potatoes,  8  ozs. ; 
I  Tegetables,  4  oz?.;  bread,  6  ozs.;  salt,  >4  oz.  Supper:  Bread,  8  ozs.;  tea,  1  pint. 
,  For  some  cases  the  "Pudding  Diet"  is  given: — Breakfast:  White  bread,  6  ozs.;  milk,  1  pint. 
■  Dinner:  Rice  pudding,  containing  2  ozs.  rice,  1  egg,  and  10  ozs.  milk;  or  batter  pudding, 
;  containing  5  ozs.  flour,  1   egg,  and  10  ozs.  milk;  or  custard  pudding,  containing  1  egg  and 

10  ozs.  milk.    Supper:  White  bread,  6   ozs.;  milk,  1  pint. 
I     For  certain  cqses  the  "low  diet"  is  given:— Breakfast :  Bread,  6  ozs.;  tea,  1  pint  (ingredients 
'  M   in   ordinarj    diet).    Dinner:    Cornflour,   containing    1    oz.   cornflour,    1    pint   milk,    1    oz. 
I  sugar,   to  produce  one  pint.    Supper:  Bread,  6  ozs.;   t^a,  1   pint. 

I      "  Our    evidence    points    to   the   fact    that    the    hospital    cleaners    take    advantage    of    the 
exceptional  diets  ordered  by  the  medical  oflScers  for  special  patients  to  retain  choice  portions 

1  for   themselves.    One  witness  says:— "At  it   used   to    be  the   recognised   custom   lor   the 

;  cleaners   to  take   all  the  cream  off   the  milk  which  came  for  patients.    Similarly,  when   the 
I  medical  officer    ordered   special   diets,    the  cleaners   generally   helped   themselves   to   a   slight 
portion  before  it   reached  the  patient." 


276 


THE   TREATMENT    OF    THE    SICK 


A  comparison  of  the  medical  care  given  in  large  and  small  prisons 
is  possible  by  means  of  the  following  Table  which  gives  the  propor- 
tion of  admissions  to  hospital  to  the  total  admissions  to  prison  for 
the  last  three  years  for  which  statistics  are  published:  — 

Large  Prisons  (Daily  Average  above  1,000). 


1911-12. 

1912-13. 

1913-14. 

Manchester 

1  in  11 

Iinl4 

Iinl4 

Wandsworth 

1  in  13 

1  in  15 

linll 

Brixton 

linl4 

1  in  15 

1  in  15 

Liverpool 

linl5 

1  in  16 

lin  15 

Wormwood  Scrubbs    .. 

1  in  16 

linl6 

linl4 

Pentonville 

lin22 

1  in  26 

1  in  24 

Average 

linl5 

linl7 

1  in  15 

Small  Prisons  (Daily  Average  between  100  and 

200). 

1911-12. 

1912-13. 

1913-14. 

Norwich 

Iin42 

1  in  227 

1  in  189 

Nottingham 

lin59 

1  in  44 

1  in  45 

Worcester 

lin70 

lin85 

1  in  126 

Lancaster 

lin73 

1  in  113 

lin  75 

Bristol 

lin99 

1  in  62 

lin  78 

Warwick 

1  in  104 

lin79 

lin  81 

Lewes 

1  in  125 

1  in  101 

1  in  95 

Exeter               

1  in  206 

1  in  134 

lin  94 

Beading 

1  in  238 

1  in  364 

1  in  961 

Northampton     ... 

1  in  260 

1  in  205 

1  in  227 

Usk        

1  in  298 

1  in  1413 

1  in  185 

Portsmouth 

1  in  320 

1  in  537 

1  in  439 

Northallerton    ... 

1  in  554 

1  in  470 

1  in  484 

Swansea 

1  in  945 

1  in  363 

1  in  118^ 

Shrewsbury          No  adn 

lission  to  hospital 

1  in  659 

1  in  646 

Average 

1  in  242 

1  in  324 

1  in  327 

If  it  is  found  necessary,  in  the  case  of  the  larger  prisons,  to  admiii 
to  hospital  one  in  every  15  prisoners,  the  medical  attention  whiclj 
only  gives  hospital  treatment  to  one  in  every  325  prisoners  in  thti 
case  of  the  small  prisons,  is  obviously  grossly  inadequate.  These 
figures  indicate  a  particularly  glaring  instance  of  the  pursuit  o 
economy  at  the  expense  of  injury  to  the  health  and  life  of  th« 
prisoners. 

What  a  prison  hospital  might  be  is  suggested  by  the  evidence  o 
one  witness  who  describes  hospital  conditions  under  the  influence  o 
a  medical  officer  who  avoided  the  use  of  cells  as  far  as  possible,  anc 
made  the  conditions  in  the  dormitories  approximate  to  those  of  ai 
ordinary  hospital.  The  highest  tribute  is  paid  to  this  doctor  by  ever 
ex -prisoner  who  has  been  under  his  charge:  — 


A  MEDICAL  OPINION  277 

The  medical  officer  of  prison  is  quite  the  most  hamane  doctor  I 

have  met  in  prison ;  and  the  hospital  was  conducted  on  almost  ideal 
lines.  The  rules  of  the  prison  were  relaxed  to  such  an  extent  that  it 
was  difficult  for  me  to  realise  that  I  was  not  in  an  ordinary  hospital 
ward.  The  maximum  of  cleanliness,  fresh  air,  and  general  curative 
influence  seemed  to  be  the  natural  order  of  things.  The  relaxation  of 
prison  discipline  was  quite  against  the  official  rules  and  regulations,  and 
was  entirely  owing  to  the  character  of  the  M.O. 

There  is  nothing  in  our  evidence  to  suggest  that  the  humane  treat - 
nent  given  at  this  particular  prison  was  not  justified  by  the  results, 
indeed,  it  is  the  recurring  testimony  of  those  who  experienced  it  that 
hey  obtained  new  hope  from  the  care  and  consideration  shown  to 
hem. 


A  Mediccd  Opinion  of  a  Prison  Hospital. 


It  will  perhaps  be  well  to  give  here  a  description  of  a  prison  hospital 
vritten  by  a  medical  man  after  a  visit.  It  corroborates  what  has  been 
irritten  above,  particularly  as  regards  the  cellular  confinement  of  prison 
patients  : — 

I  "Many  cases  were  treated  in  the  cells.  The  temperature  charts  were  on  the 
•ell  doors,  one  showing  a  temperature  of  102  degrees.  The  treatment  of  single 
patients,  with  fever,  with  little  attention  at  day  and  none  at  night,  in  the 
onfined  cells  common  in  prison  establishments,  should  be  unhesitatingly 
ondemned.  The  whole  hospital  arrangements  seemed  to  me  to  be  far  from 
|Ven  moderately  acceptable. 

j  "There  was  a  small  operating  theatre,  moderately  well-equipped,  but  in 
eed  of  modernising.  The  sterilising  room  next  to  the  operating  theatre  was 
|ot  very  neatly  kept,  and  we  were  informed  that  salvarsan  or  allied  substances 
>ere  prepared  there  by  the  medical  officers  for  administration.  It  is  almost 
needless  to  remark  that,  in  deference  to  the  current  ideas  of  surgical  asepsis, 
sterilising  room  should  be  kept  scrupulously  clean,  and  that  the  proper 
lace  for  the  preparation  of  salvarsan  or  any  of  the  anti-syphilitic  remedies 
)or  administration  should  be  in  the  pharmacy." 

i  There  are  occasional  complaints  by  ex-prisoners  as  to  the  situation  of  the 
ospitals.  "At  Maidstone  the  hospital  cells  are  close  to  the  workshops.  The 
oise  is  very  trying  for  some,"  states  one  witness.  "One  of  the  defects  of 
^eeds  hospital  was  its  sunlessness,"  says  another.  "The  cells  face  north-east 
;y  east."  Another  ex-prisoner  complains  that  the  exercise  ground  is  as 
uninspiring"  as  that  of  the  prison,  and  many  of  our  witnesses  comment  upon 
he  absence  of  beauty.  In  most  prison  hospitals  flowers  are  never  to  be  seen. 
The  absence  of  flowers  is  a  strange  feature,"  says  one  ex-prisoner.  "They 
re  not  to  be  seen  even  in  the  ward." 


278  THE   T  BE  AT  ME  NT    OF   THE   SICK 


SOME    OF     THE     PRINCIPAL     DEFECTS     INDICATED    IN     THE! 
PRECEDING    CHAPTER. 


1. — Prisoners  who   are  weak  through  illness  often  have  to  stand  for  long 
periods  whilst  waiting  for  the  medical  officer. 

2. — Opportunity  to  apply  to  see  the  medical  officer  is  restricted  to  the  first 
opening  of  the  cell  door  in  the  morning.  I 

3. — In  the  Local  prisons  the  care  of  the  eyes  and  teeth  is  neglected,  an(^ 
skin  diseases  are  inexcusably  common. 

4. — The  segregation  of  venereal  disease  cases  is  lax. 

5. — Artificial   feeding  is  often  enforced   with  insufficient   care. 

6. — Patients   in  prison    hospitals   are  frequently  kept   in   solitary  confinej 
ment,  sometimes  for  very  long  periods.  • 


7. — The  rules  of  discipline  are  not  officially  relaxed  in  hospital. 


8. — The  hospital  staff  is  inadequate  and,  except  at  HoUoway  prison,  ther<| 
are  no  properly  trained  nurses.  Even  at  Holloway,  the  superintendent  - 
the  hospital  is  untrained. 

9. — The  hospitals  in  small  prisons  are  only  opened  rarely.  In  thestj 
prisons,  prisoners  who  are  ill  are  generally  left  in  ordinary  cells.  1 


THE   TREATMENT    OF   THE   SICK  279 

.-i,.pendices  to  Chapter  Seventeen. 


I.— REPORT  OF  TWO  CASES  OF  DEATH  IN  PRISON, 

JANUARY  3rd  AND  4th,    1919,   PREPARED  BY  A  GROUP 
OF   FELLOW-PRISONERS. 

I. 

W had  been  declining  in  energy  and  vitality  for  some  time.     Friday, 

December  20th,  at  12  noon,  F ,  a  prisoner  on  B3  landing,  was  ordered  to 

distribute  clean  linen.  Noticing  that  the  canvas  bag  in  which  the  clean 
linen  was  packed  was  damp,  he  drew  the  landing  officer's  attention  to  it 
and  was  informed  that  the  linen  had  only  just  been  packed  in  the  bag.  He 
distributed  the  linen,  warning  each  man — "Take  care,  the  washing  is  damp." 
The  linen  to  be  changed   included   flannel   vest,   pants,   cotton  shirt,  socks, 

handkerchief.     F noticed  that   all  the   linen   was  damp,    and  some  wet 

through.     At  1-30  three  men  asked  to  have  linen  changed,  owing  to  dampness 

(G.K.K.).     Later  in  the   day,  W said  to  B ,   "I  believe  I  have  put 

on  a  damp  shirt.     I  wish  I  had  changed  mine  like  the  others." 

Tuesday,  December  24th. — At  factory  in  morning  W showed  signs  of 

chill,  and  P advised  him  to  report  sick.     In  the  afternoon  W went, 

with  seven  other  men,  to  bath.     On  trying  water,  three  men,  W ,  F , 

and   M -V  decided  to   refrain   from  bathing  owing  to  coldness   of  w'ater. 

■  Having  tested  temperature  with  thermometer,  officer  in  charge  gave  them 
permission  to  do  so.     This  necessitated   sitting  in  a   damp,  cold  atmosphere 

for  25  minutes^  while  other  men  bathed.     Same  afternoon  another  man  (B ) 

noticed    that   W looked   unwell.     On  questioning  him  he  answered,    "I 

am  cold." 

Wednesday,  December  25th. — W was  feeling  better  and  told  P so. 

I        Thursday,    December  26th. — Again  unwell,  and   asked  F and   P 

I    whether  if  he   reported  and  was  detained  he  would  be  prevented   having  a 
[    visit  he   was  expecting.     He  was  assured   it  would   not,  and  then  said,   "I 
would  not  like  my  wife  to  have  a  fruitless  journey  all  this  way." 

Friday,  December  27th. — Had  not  reported.     Told  L in  the  morning 

that  he  had  the  worst  cold  he  had  ever  had  ;  it  was  cutting  his  chest  in  two. 
Had  the  expected   visit  in  the  afternoon.     Same  afternoon  was  particularly 

noticed  by  C and  P to  be  decidedly  unwell.     F states  that  during 

December  24th — 27th  W could  not  read  or  sleep,  and  had  to  pace  the 

cell  to  keep  warm. 

Saturday,   December  28th. — Reported  to  see   doctor  at  6  a.m.       At  7-15 
\   attended  usual   Saturday  chapel  service.     At  close  of  the    ser\'ice  it  is  the 

role  for  all  prisoners  to  stand  while  chaplain  passes  to  vestry.     W was 

noticed  by  F (at  side)  and  B (immediately  behind)  to  be  quite  unable 

to  rise  at  the  moment.     8-45  a.m.  went  to  exercise.     At  9-0,  W was  called 

away,  in  company  with  other  applicants,  by  hospital  officer  to  wait  for  doctor. 

The  waiting  takes  place  in  assembly   haU — the  men  standing  close  to  the 

wall.     W having  leaned  against  the  wall  was  ordered  to  get  away  from 

the  wall.  Some  minutes  after  he  approached  officer  in  charge  of  the  hall 
and  asked  if  he  might  be  allowed  to  sit  down  while  waiting.  Permission  was 
granted,  and  he  sat  on  stool  in  adjacent  cell.  This  incident  was  noticed 
by  L ,  F ,  H ,  E ,  and  P .     Doctor  arrived  at  9-30.     (The 


280  THE   TREATMENT    OF    THE    SICK 

waiting   is  usually  of   about  half-an-hour's  duration).       The  hospital  officer 

having  previously  taken  temperature^  doctor  saw  W in  the  same  condition 

sitting.  No  examination  (i.e.,  testing  of  lungs  with  stethoscope,  etc.)  was 
made ;  the  doctor  asked  a  question  or  two,  then  ordered  him  to  cell  and  into 
bed  (prison  term,  "Detained  24  hours,  bed  down")  ;  three  doses  of  medicine, 

no  change  of  food.     At  12-0  F was  sent  to  change  W 's  cup,  the  first 

having  been  broken.     He  rendered   a  little  assistance,  placed  food  close  to 

bed,  etc.     At  1-30  F again  sent   to  empty   W 's  slops.     He  noticed 

that  breakfast   and    dinner  were    practically   untouched.     F asked    if  he 

would  like  his  books  and  was  told  he  was  unable  to  read. 

Sunday,   December  29th. — At  9-30  a.m.  doctor  saw  W in  bed.       At 

about  2-0  p.m.   W was  ordered  to  rise,  fully  dress,  and  pack  necessary 

articles  in  preparation  for  transfer  to  hospital.     After  nearly  an  hour  he  was 

taken  with  five  others  (F ,  A ,  F ,  B ,  E )  to  hospital.    They 

were  walked  in  the  open  air,  on  a  cold,  damp  day,  a  distance  of  about  150 
yards.  After  being  weighed,  all  were  sent  to  bed  in  hospital  cells.  At  4-0 
o'clock  tea  served,  ordinary  prison  diet,  and  an  additional  pint  of  milk  (first 

alteration  in  diet).     F was  placed  in  next  cell  to  W ,  and  says  that 

during  the  night  he  was  very  restless  and  troubled  with  violent  and  incessant 
fits  of  coughing. 

Monday,  December  30th. — At  6  a.m.   all  men  were  ordered   by  hospital 

officer,  T ,  to  rise,  empty  slops,  make  beds,  and  sweep  out  cell.     On  way 

to  empty  slops,  F noticed  W ,  in  shirt  and  pants,  attempting  to  make 

bed,  but  really  leaning  over  and  supporting  himself  upon  it.  In  morning 
doctor  made  the  one  visit  of  the  day.  Apparently  in  no  case  did  he  make 
an  examination ;   simply  ordered    to  keep    men    in  bed,   pudding   diet,   and 

quinine.     This   was  the  first  radical   and  beneficial  change  in  diet.     W ■ 

steadily  got   worse  during  day.     At  night  F again  heard  him  coughing 

violently.  Several  times  the  officer  on  night  duty  came  to  cell  and  called 
through  closed  door,  "Are  you  all  right?" 

Tuesday,   December   31st. — Consultation  of  the   two  doctors  on  W 's 

case,  and  examination.     After  dinner,  removed,  with  three  others,  to  hospital 

ward.     Here  F ,  who  supplied  most  of  the  foregoing  information  as  to 

treatment  in  hospital,  lost  sight  of  the  case,  being  himself  confined  to  cell 
as  a  mild  case. 

During  the  period  December  27th  to  30th,  W was  able  to  eat  scarcely 

any  food.  Complete  relaxation  of  discipline  in  ward.  An  ordinary  prison 
officer  was  placed  in  charge  during  day.  Hospital  officer  T was  trans- 
ferred to  night  duty,   and  remained  in  ward  through   night.     Two  convict 

cases    (one,    M ,    being   fortunately    a   qualified   chemist)   were    given   as 

assistants.  Brandy,  oranges,  Oxo,  etc.,  were  supplied  from  now.  In  after- 
noon W evidently  regarded  as  seriously  ill,  his  wife  being  sent  for. 

Wednesday,   January  1st,  1919. — In  afternoon  two  cylinders  of   oxygen 

were  obtained   locally  and  administered,  it  appears,  by  M (the  convict 

chemist).  The  cylinders  were  faulty,  only  enough  for  a  few  minutes'  supply, 
as  was  evident  from  officer's  annoyance.     Doctor  was  not  present.     Witnesses 

K ,  H ,  F .     Doctor  was  evidently  notified  by  telephone  of  failure ; 

but  it  was  not  until  over  24  hours  later,  that  is  almost  certainly  on  the 
morning  of  Friday,  January  3rd,  that  an  attempt  to  repair  failure  by  renewal 
of    supply    took   place.     Two   further    cylinders    were   brought   and    oxygen 

administered.     Doctor  again  absent.     W 's  condition  was  then  hopeless. 

Death  occurred  at  12-30  p.m. 


i 


BEPORT    ON    TWO    DEATHS  281 

II. 

B was  ailing  and  weak  for  at  least  12  months  before  death.     He  was 

regarded  as  being  among  the  weakest  physically  among  us.  During  summer 
1918  (about  July)  he  reported  sick  one  day.  After  seeing  doctor  he  was 
told  to  fall  in  and  return  to  work.  He  protested  that  he  was  quite  unequal 
to  work,  and  was  told  that  the  doctor  had  not  excused  him.  He  maintained 
that  he  was  unable  to  work,  and  was  finally  sent  back  to  cell. 
I  A  day  or  two  after  he  was  taken  to  hospital  suffering  from  gastritis.  After 
a  week  in  hospital  (on  pudding  diet)  he  was  discharged,  presumably  cured, 
and  returned  at  once  to  ordinary  prison  diet.  Was  put  on  light  work  as  he 
was  still  unwell  (but  not  by  advice  of  doctor^  simply  the  humanity  of  officer). 
After  that  he  continually  looked  weak  and  ill,  and  on  several  occasions  was 
asked  by  various  men  if  he  felt  ill.  He  told  several  that  he  was  often  unable 
to  digest  food. 

j     Satttkday,   December  28th. — He  reported   sick,  received  same  treatment 
as  W .     No  examination,  sent  to  bed,  and  three  doses. 

Sunday,  December  29th. — B dressed  and  saw  doctor  in  hall,  after- 
wards went  back  to  bed ;  2  o'clock,  told  to  prepare  for  hospital.  Same 
treatment  as  W rest  of  day. 

Monday,  December  30th. — Same  as  W .     From  28th  to  30th  ate  little 

food. 

Thtjrsday,   January  2nd. — B became   delirious,   jumping  out  of   bed 

and  walking  about  ward.     It  was  found  necessary  to  have  two  cases  (F , 

G ),  who  were  recovering,  to  keep  him  in  bed. 

Friday,  January  3rd. — Oxygen  administered  and  probably  did  some  good, 
life  being  prolonged  a  little,  but  on  Saturday,  January  4th,  death  occurred 
shortly  after  3  p.m. 


282  THE   TBEATMENT    OF   THE   SICK 

II.— LIFE    IN    A    PEISON    HOSPITAL 


The  following  vivid  description  of  a  prisoner's  life  in  hospital  has  be^ 
given  us  by  an  ex-political  prisoner  : — 

Sometimes  during  the  vreeks  of  my  solitary  confinement  I  had  thought  that 
it  might  be  a  pleasant  thing  to  fall  ill,  for  then  I  would  be  taken  to  the 
hospital ;  and  there  I  might  be  put  with  other  men,  to  whom  I  could  talk ; 
and  there  I  might  have  better  food  and  not  always  be  so  hungry ;  and, 
perchance  (so  little  did  I  yet  know  of  prison)  there  might  even  be  a  nurse 
or  a  matron.  But  such  dreams  were  quickly  to  be  dispelled,  when  on  account 
of  a  broken  wrist  I  did  enter  the  desired  retreat. 

My  arm  having  been  set  and  put  in  splints,  I  was,  to  my  amazement, 
locked  up  alone  in  a  cell ;  and  there  in  a  solitude  broken  for  but  an  hour  a 
day,  I  was  to  remain  for  eight  weeks.  The  cell  was  better,  it  is  true,  than 
the  cells  in  the  prison  itself.  It  was  slightly  larger ;  the  windows,  although 
stoutly  defended  with  iron  bars,  let  in  a  little  more  fresh  air ;  and  the  walls 
were  not  whitewashed,  but  painted  a  restful  green.  Moreover,  instead  of  a 
plank  to  sleep  on,  I  had  a  bed. 

For  several  days  I  had  to  remain  in  bed,  in  great  pain  and  with  no  solace 
of  any  kind.  Prisoners,  even  when  in  hospital,  may  only  see  visitors  and 
write  and  receive  a  letter  at  rare  intervals,  and  for  some  weeks  yet  I  would 
not  be  entitled  to  such  privileges.  The  doctor  visited  me  daily ;  each  morn- 
ing the  governor  made  his  lightning  inspection,  and  the  chaplain  opened  my 
door  for  a  second  to  ask  if  I  were  "all  right"  ;  two  orderlies,  prisoners  "doing 
time"  for  forgery  came  for  a  few  minutes  after  breakfast  to  sweep  the 
wooden  floor  of  my  cell ;  and  thrice  every  twenty-four  hours  a  warder  brought 
me  my  scanty  meals.  Such  were  the  only  breaks  in  the  monotony  of  those 
first  few  interminable  days — days  that  wore  down  at  length  to  wakeful  and 

still  more  interminable  nights I  was  unable  even  to  read.       I  had 

broken  my  eyeglasses;  and,  full  as  was  my  cup  of  misfortune,   the  loss  of  | 

my  glasses  was,  perhaps,  the  bitterest  drop  of  all.  | 

******  { 

Fortunately,  however,  a  sense  of  the  ridiculous  did  not  wholly  forsake  me. 
On  my  second  day  in  hospital,  while  I  was  feeling  sick  with  pain,  yet  hungry  [ 
through  weakness,  a  warder  brought  in  my  dinner  and  set  it  silently  on  the  j 
small  wooden  table  beside  my  bed.     The  dinner  consisted  of  two  herrings  • 
on  a  plate  full  of  vegetables,  and  the  problem  that  now  faced  me  was  how 
with  one  hand   (for  the  other   was   powerless)   to  balance   the  plate,   while 
with  a   spoon,   the  only  implement  allowed,   I   broke  open   the  hardest  fish  ; 
that  ever  swam  the  seas  !       At  each  new  attack  on    the      herrings,     fresh 
quantities  of  vegetables   fell  over  the  plate  on   to  the  bedclothes ;  until  at  j 
length  on  plate  and  counterpane  there  was  such  an  inextricable  mess  that 
I  had   to  abandon   the  fight   for  my   meal,  and,  tickled  irresistibly  by  the 
stupidity  of  the  situation,   to  laugh  and  laugh  aloud.     I   had  little  dinner  j 
that  day ;  but  perhaps  the  laughter  did  me  more  good.  I 

****** 

On  the  fourth  day  I  was  able  to  rise  from  bed,  and  to  fall  in  with  the  i 
ordinary  hospital  routine.  This  began  each  morning  at  5.30,  when  prisoners! 
were  awakened  by  a  bell.  By  six  o'clock  they  were  supposed  to  be  washed 
and  dressed  ;  but  being  one-handed  I  was  unable  to  wash  properly  and  was 
never  offered  any  assistance.  Breakfast  was  served  at  7 ;  and  at  8,  when 
the  warders  returned  from  their  own  meal,  the  two  orderlies  came  in,  under  j 


LIFE  IN  A   PRISON  HOSPITAL  283 

apervision,  to  clean  my  cell.  At  about  9,  prayers  for  the  hospital  patients 
¥ere  held  daily  and  lasted  for  upwards  of  15  minutes.  At  11,  there  came 
'exercise"  for  three  parts  of  an  hour,  followed  by  dinner  at  noon.  Supper, 
,he  only  other  event  of  the  day,  was  served  at  4.30  and  the  bell  for  bed 
lounded  at  8.  No  work — except  a  little  occasional  cleaning — was  offered 
,wen  to  those  patients  capable  of  doing  it ;  and  the  regulations  admitted  of 
io  increase  in  the  number  of  books. 


"Get  ready  for  prayers/'  said  a  warder  opening  my  door  promptly  at  the 
jame  hour  each  morning.  And  I  would  wander  out  of  my  cell  into  the 
:orridor,  into  which  other  prisoners  in  varying  stages  of  infirmity  and  sick- 
aess,  would  be  moving  slowly.  Forming  into  single  file,  this  strange  little 
procession  of  derelict  men — numbering  as  a  rule  between  ten  and  twenty 
and  all  wearing  the  grotesque  garb  of  shame — would  limp  and  slouch  along 
to  a  large  room,  in  which  the  chaplain  would  already  be  seated  at  a 
harmonium 

The  prisoners  all  enjoyed  prayers ;  not  because  they  cared  a  jot  for  any- 
thing the  chaplain  said,  but  because  prayers  made  a  break  in  the  maddening 
monotony  of  their  lives,  and  because  they  had  an  opportunity  for  illicit 
^Ik. 

At  the  appointed  time  each  morning  the  same  little  procession  shuffled  out 
for  "exercise."  The  hospital  "exercise"  ground  differed  slightly  from  the 
other  "exercise"  yards  in  the  prison.  There  were,  of  course,  the  two  narrow 
rings  on  which  the  prisoners  walked  in  single  file  ;  but  around  and  between 
the  rings  were  grass  plots  and  flower-beds,  whilst  four  seats  were  provided  for 
those  too  infirm  or  weary  to  walk  for  the  full  time  prescribed.  Those 
patients  who  could  sustain  a  good  pace  kept  to  one  ring,  the  other  being 
reserved  for  those  too  ill  or  too  old  to  do  more  than  totter  along.  Some  of 
the  prisoners  walked  with  a  certain  swinging  defiance  in  their  gait ;  but  there 
were  other  men  with  hollow  eyes  and  sunken  cheeks  to  whom  every  move- 
ment was  an  effort,  while  one  old  man  was  quite  blind  and  was  led  out  to  a 
seat,  where  he  sat  during  the  whole  period.  ...  I  saw  nothing,  of  course, 
of  those  hospital  inmates  who  were  too  ill  to  attend  prayers  or  join  the 
1  "exercise"  party,  but  on  two  occasions  I  heard  a  fellow-prisoner  go  mad. 
In  each  case  the  unfortunate  man  was  left  to  rave  violently  in  his  cell  through 
several  days  and  nights  before  being  taken  away — presumably  to  an  asylum. 
•       ••••* 

There  were  two  great  events  in  the  week  for  me.  One  was  the  visit  of 
the  Nonconformist  minister  from  the  outside  world,  who  spent  a  short  time 
with  me  each  Friday.  The  minister  was  the  only  person,  apart  from  the 
prison  staff,  who  was  ever  allowed  to  enter  my  cell.  The  other  event  was 
the  mid-weekly  change  of  books. 

In  due  course  my  glasses  were  mended  and  reading  became  for  me  again 
the  one  possible  spur  for  the  leaden-footed  hours.  .  .  .  Thus  the  dark  and 
weary  days  wore  by.  There  are  things  that  words  will  not  describe  ;  and 
the  life  of  some  of  the  patients  in  our  prison  hospitals,  languishing  through 
weeks  and  months  of  isolation, 

"Hid  from  the  light  of  every  fair, 
Holy,  and  clean,  and  human  thing. 
Till  silence  stabs  them  like  a  sword," 
ia  among  them.     .     .     . 


CHAPTER  XYIII 


THE    MENTALLY    DEFICIENT  i 

The  Number  of  Mentally  Deficient  Prisoners. 

Dr.  Charles  Goring  estimated  the  proportion  of  mentally  defective; 
criminals  as  certainly  not  less  than  10  per  cent.,  and  probably  not! 
greater  than  20  per  cent.'  The  lower  estimate  was  based  upon  the; 
official  prison  returns,  which  Dr.  Goring  regarded  as  very  incomplete.  \ 
Sir  Bryan  Donkin,  the  Medical  Adviser  to  the  Directors  of  Convict  | 
prisons,  allows  10  to  15  per  cent,  as  the  proved  proportion  of  the! 
definitely  weak-minded,  but  considers  the  true  maximum  probably j 
higher;  the  "demonstrably  mentally  defective"  he  estimates  at  201 
per  cent.*  Both  Sir  Bryan  Donkin 's  and  Dr.  Goring 's  estimates 
were  made  when  the  Mental  Deficiency  Act  was  less  operative,  but, 
as  we  show  later,  the  Act  has  had  little  effect  upon  the  prison 
population. 

In  the  Criminal  Lunatics  Act  of  1884  the  principle  was  laid  down  I 
that  modifications  in  prison  treatment  should  be  made  in  the  case  of: 
prisoners  "who  appear  to  be  from  imbecility  of  mind  unfit  for  thai 
same  penal  discipline  as  other  prisoners."  The  Prison  Commis- 
sioners were  for  a  time  content  to  give  discretion  to  the  medical  j 
officers  "to  deal  individually  with  each  case  on  its  merits,"  and  it 
was  not  until  1900  that  special  rules  were  drawn  up  for  the  treatment i 
of  mentally  defective  prisoners.  These  rules  provide  for  prisoners 
who  are  suspected  of  mental  deficiency  being  placed  under  observa- 
tion in  special  cells,  or  wards,  and  for  modification  of  the  general 
treatment  as  regards  employment,  diet,  breaches  of  discipline,  and 
punishment. 

A  record  kept  of  the  number  of  prisoners  coming  within  the  scope; 
of  these  rules  shows  them  to  be  about  400  every  year.  After  1912,! 
all  cases  of  "well-marked"  mental  deficiency  were  included,  not 
merely  those  unfit  for  discipline.  The  result  was  that  the  number 
jumped  to  932  in  1913  and  843  in  1914.  A  high  prison  official  has 
made  the  interesting  statement  that  governors  have  opposed  doctors 

»  "The  English  Conyict,"  pp.  254  and  255. 

a  "The  Feeble-Minded  Criminal,"  quoted   on  p.   254  of  "The  EnglL«h  Oonvict." 


THE   TREATMENT    OF    THE  MENTALLY    DEFICIENT      285 

certifying  criminals  as  mentally  defective,  since  it  means  that  they 
are  unable  to  punish  them  for  breaches  of  discipline. 

In  1908  a  Eoyal  Commission  on  the  Feeble-Minded  was  appointed, 
and  from  its  recommendations  developed  the  Mental  Deficiency  Act, 
which  came  into  operation  in  1913.  The  Act  gave  the  Home  Secre- 
tary the  power  to  transfer  any  prisoner  certified  by  two  medical 
practitioners  to  be  mentally  deficient  from  birth  or  early  age  to  an 
institution  for  mental  defectives.  Dr.  Smalley,  the  late  Medical 
Commissioner,  estimated,  however,  that  only  30  per  cent,  of  the 
mental  defectives  in  prison  would  come  within  the  scope  of  the  Act, 
and,  reviewing  its  terms,  he  somewhat  despairingly  declared  "it  will 
be  a  long  time  before  the  desired  ehmination  from  prison  of  all  per- 
sons mentally  affected  will  be  attained." 

Experience  has  justified  his  pessimism.  The  war  made  the 
operation  of  the  Act  ineffective,  owing  to  the  unwilhngness  of  the 
local  authorities  to  spend  money  and  to  the  commandeering  of  the 
State  institution  for  mental  defectives  which  had  been  erected  near 
Liverpool;  and  even  so  recently  as  1919-20  less  than  half  (54  out 
of  120)  of  those  certified  to  be  within  the  scope  of  the  Act  were 
actually  transferred  to  the  institutions  provided  for  them.  In  1920- 
21,  104  prisoners  were  certified,  and  orders  were  made  for  their 
removal  in  the  case  of  62. 

On  March  31st,  1919,  the  Prison  Commissioners  classified  the 
inmates  of  Local  prisons  who  showed  obvious  signs  of  mental  defect 
or  weakness  of  mind.     The  returns  are  tabulated  as  follows  :  — 

Mal&s.  Females. 

Certifiable    under    M.D.    Act      61  16 

Mentally  Deficient  but   "insuflaciently   marked 

to  make  them  certifiable"     ...         ...         ...  46  33 

Weak-minded   but  not  due  to  early  defect  ...         108  35 

These  figures,  which,  of  course,  only  include  a  fraction  of  the  15  or 
20  per  cent,  estimate  of  Drs.  Goring  and  Donkin,*  demonstrate  that 
of  299  persons  in  prison  who  were  "in  the  opinion  of  the  medical 
officers  likely  to  repeat  their  offences  or  indulge  in  criminal  acts  as 
a  result  of  their  mental  condition,"  no  less  than  222  were  outside 
the  scope  of  the  Mental  Deficiency  Act.  Moreover,  there  would 
certaunly  be  a  still  larger  proportion  of  uncertifiable  defectives  among 
those  whom  this  cursory  survey  did  not  reveal.  It  will  be  seen, 
therefore,  that  despite  all  that  has  been  written  regarding  the  un- 
suitabihty  of  prison  conditions  for  such  persons,  approximately 
two-thirds  of  the  mental  defectives  who  are  sent  to  prison  are  still 
legally  condemned  to  remain  there. 

The  Treatment  of  the  Mext.\llt  Deficient. 

A  picture  of  the  existence  which  mentally  deficient  prisoners  lead 
is  given  in  the  following  statement  by  an  ex-prisoner :  — 

•  As  to  the  incompleteness  of  the  figures,  see  p.  480   (iootnoto  12)   and  pp.  518-19. 


286  THE  MENTALLY  DEFICIENT 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  hospital  was  crowded,  I  was  transferred^ 
to  the  landing  in  a  hall  used  for  the  mentally  deficient.  The  landing 
was  known  in  prison  parlance  as  "Rotten  Row."  This  was  the  most 
distressing  period  of  my  imprisonment.  To  walk  down  the  hall  and 
pass  several  cells  with  the  doors  replaced  by  iron  railings,  like  a  cage 
at  the  Zoo,  and  to  see  behind  them  men  whose  reason  was  impaired, 
perhaps  muttering  to  themselves,  or  making  grimaces,  or  walking  the 
cell  or  lying  on  the  floor  shouting  and  singing,  was  more  than  one's 
reason  could  bear  without  acute  depression.  Sometimes  one  would  be 
awakened  in  the  night  by  the  shrieking  of  a  prisoner,  and  twice  there 
was  a  terrible  racket  owing  to  a  prisoner  smashing  his  windows  and 
utensils;  on  these  occasions  most  of  the  occupants  of  the  landing  seemed 
to  join  in  the  din  by  shouting  and  banging  their  doors,  and  ringing 
their  bells.  One  day  a  boy  of  21  was  brought  to  the  padded  cell  at  the 
end  of  the  hall.  He  had  been  employed  in  the  kitchen  and  had  tried 
to  throw  himself  into  the  boiler.  For  four  nights  and  days  he  scarcely 
ceased  shouting,  so  that  at  last  one  felt  that  something  was  missing 
when  he  was  quiet.  He  used  to  tear  to  pieces  the  cardboard  plates! 
given  him  for  his  meals  and  he  tore  his  clothes  to  threads.  After  about; 
a  week  he  was  removed  to  an  asylum.  { 

I  exercised  with  the  occupants  of  this  landing,  and  it  was  a  tragic] 
sight.  There  was  one  man  who  was  a  picture  of  abject  misery.  He 
never  took  his  eyes  from  off  the  ground  and  stood  facing  the  wall,  only, 
shuffling  to  and  fro  a  few  feet  despite  the  intense  cold  of  wintry  winds.! 
When  the  warder  spoke  to  him  he  looked  blankly  into  his  face,  and  h«j 
had  always  to  be  led  out  to  exercise  and  in  again.  Another  mani 
appeared  to  be  60  years  of  age.  I  was  told  he  was  only  39.  He  used! 
to  spend  the  whole  of  exercise-time  racing  up  and  down  a  path  about 
ten  yards  long,  waving  his  head  from  side  to  side,  and  talking  to  him-: 
self  with  great  earnestness.  He  had  the  mind  of  a  simple  child,  and| 
was  unable  to  do  anything  for  himself.  For  instance,  he  would  start; 
out  for  the  lavatory  the  other  side  of  the  exercise  ground,  but  before ; 
he  had  got  half  way,  he  would  walk  in  a  different  direction  and  lose  all 
sense  of  his  whereabouts  and  the  object  with  which  he  had  set  out. 

It  amazed  me  to  find  such  people  in  prison.  The  magistrates  whc 
sent  them  to  prison  appear  to  me  to  be  guilty  of  crimes  much  greateil 
than  many  of  those  which  they  judge  from  day  to  day.  { 

Generally  the  quarters  provided  for  mentally  deficient  prisoners  irj 
Local  prisons  are  a  part  of  the  prison  buildings  and  are  as  bare  and! 
ugly  as  the  rest;  but  at  Birmingham  the  feeble-minded  are  accom' 
modated  in  a  separate  building,  with  separate  entrances  and  S| 
separate  garden  for  exercise,  and  the  walls  are  decorated  withj 
brightly -coloured  pictures.*  Some  description  of  the  exceptional 
arrangements  made  at  Parkhurst  prison,  where  mentally  deficient] 
convicts  are  congregated,  will  be  found  in  a  later  chapter. 

The  Observation  Cells.  I 

There  are  four  kinds  of  observation  cells  used  for  mental  defectives  j 

The  first  is  like  an  ordinary  cell,  but  has  an  iron  railing  gate  insteac 

of  a  door.     The  second  is  an  ordinary  hospital  cell  with  a  spy-holti 

■•  This  is   in   connection  with   the  special  investigation  of  unconvicted  prisoners  describe< 
on   pp.    52-55. 


THE    OBSERVATION    CELLS  287 

in  the  ceiling.  The  third  has  coir  matting  on  the  floor  and  about 
seven  feet  up  the  walls;  above  the  door,  also  padded,  is  a  trap-door, 
with  bars  to  protect  the  observing  officer  from  assault.  The  fourth 
is  a  padded  cell  thickly  upholstered  with  cushions ;  the  ceiling,  some 
12  feet  high,  has  a  skylight,  and  there  are  several  spy-holes;  there 
are  no  utensils  for  drinking  or  convenience,  only  a  drain  in  the  centre. 

The  first  and  second  types  of  observation  cell  are  used  for  elemen- 
tary mental  cases ;  the  first  particularly  for  prisoners  addicted  to  self - 
abuse.  The  third  type  is  used  for  prisoners  subject  to  epileptic  or 
other  fits  or  inclined  to  violence.  The  fourth  is  only  used  for  very 
violent  prisoners.  In  some  prisons  the  observation  cells  are  located 
in  the  hospital,  but  in  many  they  occupy  a  landing  in  the  ordinary 
prison  buildings,  a  bad  arrangement  both  for  the  cases  and  for  the 
ordinary  prisoners. 

i  The  warder  in  charge  of  the  observation  ward  is  instructed  to 
■observe  the  prisoners  regularly  and  to  enter  in  a  book  how  they 
spend  their  time.  The  occupants  of  the  padded  cell  are  supposed  to 
be  observed  at  least  every  half-hour.  One  of  our  warder  witnesses 
iasserts  that  the  succeeding  warders  in  charge  of  the  observation  cells 
nearly  always  repeat  the  record  of  the  first,  and  that  this  duty  is 
often  performed  very  carelessly. 

Having  received  some  very  disquieting  evidence  both  from  ex- 
prisoners  and  warders  as  to  the  use  to  which  observation  cells  are 
iput,  and  their  disastrous  effects  on  those  confined  in  them,  we 
■questioned  a  number  of  medical  officers  and  chaplains  as  to  their 
value.  Almost  without  exception  they  replied  that  the  observation 
cells  are  necessary  and  well-adapted  for  their  purpose,  and  that  if 
properly  used  they  do  not  endanger  mental  stability.  The  contrary 
view  of  warders  and  ex-prisoners  is  almost  as  unanimous.  One 
warder,  whilst  acknowledging  that  the  cells  with  iron  railing  gates 
are  sometimes  effective  in  checking  the  habits  of  a  man  addicted 
;to  self -abuse,  strongly  criticises  the  arrangement  by  which  prisoners 
in  these  cells  are  placed  next  door  to  one  another  in  a  promiscuous 
way.  "The  proximity  of  the  prisoners  leads  to  the  demoralisation 
of  the  innocent  by  the  viciously  confirmed,"  he  says.  He  also 
points  out  that  the  warders  placed  in  charge  of  observation  wards 
are  entirely  without  training  for  their  work.  Another  warder,  after 
endorsing  the  remarks  of  this  witness,  adds  that  he  fears  that 
observation  cells  are  sometimes  used  as  a  method  of  punishment.  A 
third  describes  observation  cells  as  "torture  chambers."  A  fourth 
urges  that  observation  cases  should  be  placed  in  a  hospital  ward. 
"They  only  get  worse  caged  up  like  animals  for  months."  A  fifth 
says  that  the  effect  of  leaving  observation  cases  in  open-door  cells 
lin  the  prison  is  that  the  other  prisoners  jeer  at  them  as  they  pass  by, 
jinaking  them  worse.  They  ought  to  be  removed  to  hospital.* 
I 

'^  i^*  other  hand,  some  warders  declare  that  the  open-door  obserration  cells  are 
preferred  to  the  ordinary  cells  by  many  prisoners.  One  remarks  that  he  had  known  a  man 
t)eg  to  be  put  in  an  observation  cell  in  aider  to  break  the  monotony  of  the  »eparate  con&ne- 
nient  with  a  closed  door. 


288  THE  MENTALLY  DEFICIENT 

In  an  appendix  will  be  found  a  remarkable  description  of  the  ex- 
periences of  a  prisoner  who  was  confined  in  a  cell  in  an  observation 
hall.  We  give  here  two  statements  from  ex -prisoners ;  the  first  is 
made  by  an  ex-prisoner  who  was  himself  confined  in  an  observation 
cell  for  nearly  12  months : — 

From  what  I  have  seen  and  experienced  I  can  say  that  the  system  of 
observation  has  the  effect  of  intensifying  the  mental  condition  and  driving 
the  prisoner  to  further  distraction.  Especially  is  this  so  in  the  case 
of  men  considered  to  be  becoming  affected  mentally  by  imprisonment. 
The  observation  cell  is  the  first  step,  the  padded  cell  the  second,  and  \ 
the  asylum  the  third.  I 

This  was  so  in  the  case  of  R —  F — .  A  very  important  point  to  my  j 
mind  is  that  the  attention  of  the  governor  had  to  be  called  to  this  man  by 
his  fellow  prisoners  before  he  received  any  consideration  whatever,  and 
while  he  was  still  in  an  ordinary  cell.  A  man  can  b©  gradually  develop- 
ing into  a  tragic  mental  state,  and  pass  unnoticed.  The  chaplain  may 
pay  his  periodical  visits,  and  understand  the  case  not  in  the  least,  and 
the  walk  round  weekly  of  the  doctor  La  generally — well,  just  a  walk  ; 
round.  j 

This  man  F —  had  been  heard  talking  to  himself  a  great  deal,  some- 
times at  day  time,  other  times  at  night,  and  to  look  at  his  eyes  there  j 
seemed  to  be  something  wrong.  When  attention  was  called  to  him,  after 
being  watched  more  carefully  in  his  own  cell,  he  was  placed  in  an 
observation  cell — next  to  ray  own,  in  fact.  Hitherto  he  had  not  been 
noisy,  and  spoke  more  or  less  in  ordinary  tones.  But  after  two  daysi 
"under  observation,"  shouting  was  more  predominant  than  speaking ^ 
and  signs  of  distraction  were  evident.  After  four  or  five  days  he  wa»! 
raving,  and  he  was  transferred  to  the  padded  cell  in  the  middle  of  the! 
night,  when  he  became  intensely  excited  and  destructive.  I  knew  he| 
was  being  watched,  for  I  could  see  the  warder  sometimes,  just  at  the! 
side  of  the  doorway.  j 

Later  on  a  soldier  was  placed  in  an  observation  cell  near  me,  on. 
similar  grounds.  At  first  he  could  not  be  restrained  from  singing  loudly,; 
and  walking  about  his  cell  in  an  excited  way.  Observation  turned  the' 
singing  into  loud  shouting,  door  banging,  destruction,  abuse  to  warders,- 
to  whom  he  had  shown  no  signs  of  ill-feeling  before,  and  after  a  fewl 
days  the  padded  cell  was  his  lot,  and  we  knew  where  he  would  be  taken. 
a  little  later  on.  } 

The  second  statement  we  give  is  an  account  of  the  development  olj 

a  negro  prisoner  towards  insanity :  — 

Darkey  was  a  negro  who  had  been  sent  to  prison  for  assaulting  »r| 
old  woman.  From  the  moment  of  his  entry  he  seemed  dazed  anc' 
crushed ;  the  cold  cells  and  wintry  weather  combined  with  the  solitsrj 
confinement,  completed  his  undoing,  for  he  rapidly  developed  symptomij 
which  caused  the  doctor  to  place  him  in  a  gated  cell  for  "observation. 'j 
At  first  he  was  allowed  cell  furniture;  utensils,  bedding,  slate,  pictum 
book  (for  he  could  not  read),  but  he  was  deprived  of  these  some  day. 
later,  either  because  of  a  "crime"  or  the  development  of  dangerouj 
symptoms,  and  was  also  "taken  off  work."  Having  nothing  to  do,  h 
sat  hour  after  hour  dazed,  shivering,  and  gibbering,  nought  to  take  hi; 
thoughts  away  from  himself  or  interest  him  in  the  slightest  degree.  Hi 
became   worse,   was    removed  to   a  mat   cell,   and   given    a  blanket  fo 


THE    OBSERVATION    CELLS  289 

additional  warmth.  He  was  not  allowed  to  leave  his  cell,  to  which  he 
took  a  deep  dislike,  for  several  officers  had  to  force  him  back  the  first 
time  he  went  out.  All  his  slops  were  carried  away  by  another  prisoner 
escorted  by  a   warder. 

I  was  taskmaster's  assistant  and  had  ample  opportunity  for  going 
about  the  prison  unescorted  and  was  thus  able  to  observe  the  unfortunate 
men  under  observation  as  I  passed  their  cells.  The  negro  especially 
attracted  my  attention ;  huddled  in  a  corner  of  his  cell,  silent,  crushed 
,  and  with  a  vacant  gaze.  Shut  up,  like  an  animal  in  a  box,  fed  at  fixed 
\  intervals,  peered  at  every  half -hour;  thus  he  was  whilst  his  sanity 
rott«d. 

Several  times  I  saw  him  standing  in  the  centre  of  his  cell  gazing 
vacantly  at  a  divested  garment  or  part  of  his  naked  body.  I  tapped  at 
his  door  to  attract  his  attention,  but  he  was  too  obsessed  to  notice  me. 
Then  he  would  look  around  with  vacant,  staring  eyes,  which  had  an 
expression  of   unutterable  defeat. 

Darkey  became  worse,  his  clothes  were  taken  from  him  and  bedding 
given  to  him  to  induce  him  to  sleep.  The  officers  said  Darkey  would 
soon  be  off  his  "nut." 

Some  time  later  I  peered  in  at  the  negro  again.  Despite  the  cold  he 
was  standing  in  the  centre  of  his  cell,  naked.  He  had  daubed  himself 
all  over  with  his  breakfast  porridge  and  would  from  time  to  time  regard 
various  parts  of  his  porridge-painted  body.     The  sight  sickened  me. 

The  negro  became  worse  daily.  It  seemed  as  though  I  watched  him 
lor  ages,  but  time  seems  long  in  prison. 

I  passed  his  cell  one  afternoon  when  the  landing  officer  was  collecting 
dinner-tins.  The  negro,  who  was  under  some  bedding  at  the  far  end 
of  the  cell,  beckoned  the  warder  towards  him.  The  latter,  a  kindly 
disposed  man,  complied  with  the  request,  when  suddenly  he  was  clutched 
desperately  round  the  legs  by  Darkey  ....  At  length  two  officers 
hastened  up — and  they  immediately  set  about  freeing  their  fellow  warder 
by  shaking  off  the  negro,  perhaps  not  roughly,  but  none  too  kindly, 
I  fear. 
Next  day  I  passed  Darkey's  cell.  It  was  empty, 
bhese  statements  could  be  supplemented  by  similar  evidence  from 
nany  other  ex-prisoners.  One  witness  who  says  that  he  nearly  lost 
lis  reason  in  prison  describes  how,  "when  one  is  going  mad  through 
he  soUtude  and  silence,  to  be  put  under  observation  and  given  more 
>f  the  sohtude  and  silence  is  like  the  last  straw."  A  third  tells  of  a 
)risoner  who  was  deaf  and  dumb.  "He  went  out  of  his  mind,  was 
iept  in  a  strong  cell  for  a  whole  week  without  exercise,  and  got  into 
-n  awful  condition,  losing  control  of  all  his  faculties.  He  was 
ifterwards  removed  to  an  asylum."* 

!  The  influence  of  imprisonment  in  encouraging  attempts  at  suicide 
s  discussed  in  another  section  of  this  report.  In  the  Standing 
Orders  it  is  pointed  out  that  the  tendency  to  commit  suicide  is  greatest 
curing  the  first  week  of  imprisonment  and  among  first  offenders,  and 

'  The  hnmiliation  of  the  obserTation  cell  seems  peculiarly  cmel  in  the  case  of  prisoners 
barged  with  attempted  suicide.  To  their  already  desperate  condition  is  added  the  shock 
nd  degradation  of  finding   themselves   in  prison   and   the   unspeakable    misery   of   being   in 

cage.  The  prison  authorities  are  not  to  be  condemned  for  this.  They  hare  not  the  stafl 
ir  careful  attention  and  unostentatious  watching  and  would  be  severely  blamed  if  the 
risoner  succeeded   in  killing  himself  in   prison.    It  is  the  Home  Office  which  is  at  fault. 

li 


290  THE  MENTALLY  DEFICIENT 


I 


that  precautions  are  therefore  especially  necessary  in  such  cases. 
Instructions  are  given  that  a  prisoner  with  suicidal  tendencies  shall 
be  watched  with  "much  care"  and  that  he  shall  be  deprived  "of  any 
facihties  for  hanging  or  strangling  himself." 

The  Insane. 
A  prisoner  who  is  found  to  be  insane  is  sent  either  to  a  county 
asylum  or  to  a  criminal  lunatic  asylum.  The  only  circumstances 
under  which  an  insane  person  is  kept  in  a  Local  prison  is  where  the 
sentence  is  less  than  a  month  and  the  case  is  not  urgent;  then  the 
transference  to  a  county  asylum  takes  place  at  the  end  of  the  sen- 
tence. The  decision  whether  a  prisoner  should  be  sent  to  a  county 
asylum  or  a  criminal  lunatic  asylum  depends  both  upon  the  gravity 
of  the  offence  and  the  nature  of  the  disease. 

During  1920-21,  85  prisoners  were  certified  insane  and  removed 
to  asylums.  Since  1908,  1604  prisoners  have  been  certified  insane, 
the  highest  number  being  reached  in  1912,  when  156  were  certified. 
These  figures  do  not  include  those  found  insane  on  indictment,  nor 
the  small  number  of  cases  whose  sentences  were  too  short  to  allow 
certification. 

One  of  the  prison  rules  reads:  "Where  the  medical  officer  con- 
siders it  necessary  to  apply  any  painful  test  to  a  prisoner  to  detect 
malingering  or  otherwise,  the  test  shall  only  be  applied  by  authority 
of  an  order  from  the  visiting  committee  or  a  commissioner."  The 
nature  of  these  "painful  tests"  may  be  judged  from  the  following' 
description  of  an  apparatus  at  Dartmoor  to  test  whether  a  convict; 
is  shamming  lunacy: —  i 

Suppose  a  telephone  box  constructed  of  iron  bars,  and  enclosed   in  s' 
huge  glass  coffin.       Within  the   bars  is  just  room  for  a  man  standing 
upright,  who  can  be  easily  viewed  from  all  directions  through  the  ban 
and  glass.     A  warder's  explanation  of  this  apparatus  is   as  follows  :  A\ 
convict   apparently  becomes  insane  and  is  suspected  of  shamming.     Hr 
is  removed  to  hospital,  stripped,  and  placed  in  the  cage,  which  is  guardecj 
by  a  warder  and  inspected  by  the  doctor.     Above  the  convict's  (supposec' 
lunatic's)   head  is  an  ordinary  shower  bath  apparatus,  which   is  turnec 
on,  and  left  on  if  need  be  for  15  minutes  (but  not  for  more).     Now  thi 
psychology   of  that  test   is  as  follows  :     If  the  man  is  only  shammin( 
madness,  he  will  of  course  know  why  he  has  been  removed  to  hospital 
He  will  understand  that  he  is  supposed  to  be  a  lunatic,  and,  having  n<j 
other  explanation  for  the  shower  bath  without  end,  will  suppose  that  i 
is  the   hospital   treatment  for  his  condition.       Consequently,   when  thr 
torture  becomes  unbearable,  as  is  likely  in  less  than  five  minutes  {in  viev! 
of  the  temperature  of  Dartmoor  water,  plus  iron  bars)  he  will  confess  t< 
the  doctor  that  he  is  shamming  and  so  escape  further  treatment.  ! 

But  the  man  who  is  genuinely  mad  having  no  such  internal  key  to  thi 
situation— no  consciousness  of  pretence — will  stand  or  collapse  under  th'. 
15  minutes  shower  bath  without  confession.  The  correctness  of  th 
psychology  is  only  less  admirable  than  the  perfect  adaptation  of  mean- 
to  an  end. 
We  are  glad  to  record  that,  so  far  as  our  evidence  reveals,  thi' 
diabolical  test  has  only  once  been  used  since  1901. 


TEE  MENTALLY  DEFICIENT  291 


SOME    OF     THE     PRINCIPAL     DEFECTS     INDICATED    IN     THE 
PRECEDING    CHAPTER. 


1. — Two-thirds    of    the     mental    defectives    sent    to    prison    are    legally 
condemned  to  remain  there. 

2. — The  prison   discipline  generally,    and  the  "observation   cell"   arrange- 
ments in  particular,  are  calculated  to  drive  some  persons  to  insanity. 


292  THE  MENTALLY  DEFICIENT 

Appendix  to  Chapter  Eighteen. 

IN    AN    OBSEEVATION    CELL. 


[The  following  extracts  are  taken  from  an  unpublished  account  of  tiis 
experiences,  written  by  an  ex-prisoner  who  is  stone  deaf.  He  served  a 
sentence  of  some  months  in  the  third  division  in  the  year  1912  for  an  offence 
involving  neither  violence  nor  immorality.  We  consider  it  right  to  say  that 
we  have  not  verified  this  statement,  but  we  think  that  the  sincerity  of  the 
author  is  obvious.] 

After   I  had  been  in  hospital  for  some   months,   the  chief  doctor  left  for 
another  prison.     Before  he  left  I  was  brought  before  him  and  examined,  and 
seeing  that  my  sight  was  worse,  and  also  that  my  general  health  was  much  : 
impaired,  he  directed  that   I  was  to  be  allowed  to  remain  in   the  ward. 

Soon  after  his  departure,  however,  I  was  again  placed  in  the  ordinary  part 
of  the  prison  by  the  deputy,  who  was  now  acting  as  chief  doctor.  I  protested  i 
to  the  governor,  but  as  he  was  unable  to  interfere  I  again  petitioned  the  Home  i 
Secretary,  I  being  then  in  such  a  state  of  health  as  to  render  me  quite  unfit ! 
for  the  ordinary  prison  life,  with  its  nerve-racking  routine  and  rough  food.  ' 
In  my  petition  I  gave  a  brief  statement  of  my  case,  setting  forth  the  con-  i 
fiistently  harsh  and  unfair  manner  in  which  I  had  been  treated  by  the  deputy  j 
medical  officer  from  the  day  of  reception. 

As  a  consequence  he  had  me  brought  before  him.  He  appeared  to  be  in  ' 
a  violent  rage,  and,  after  asking  several  quite  irrelevant  questions  about  j 
matters  he  must  have  been  perfectly  well  acquainted  with,  gave  an  order  j 
for  me  to  be  located  in  what  was  called  C.  Hall.  j 

"Abandon  all  hope  ye  who  enter  here."     Dante's  famous  inscription  might  | 
well  have  been   written   over  the  portals  of  this  building.       Though  I  had  \ 
never  been  inside  an  asylum  or  similar  institution,  I  quickly  recognised  the 
character  of  the  place  to  which  I  had  now  been  brought.  | 

I  have  no  doubt  that  many  sane  men  placed  in  such  a  position  would  have  i 
stormed  and  raved.  I  did  neither.  As  I  called  to  mind  all  the  stories  I ! 
had  heard,  and  what  I  had  read  concerning  the  conduct  of  such  establish- 1 
ments,  I  recognised  the  worse  than  futility  of  violence.  Therefore,  I  calmly 
seated  myself  on  the  little  wooden  stool  and  awaited  developments,  occupying 
myself  meanwhile  with  a  book  I  found  on  one  of  the  shelves.  Every  few  , 
minutes  an  officer  would  look  through  the  spy-hole  in  the  door,  doubtless ; 
expecting  to  find  me  in  a  state  of  panic.  During  the  whole  of  the  night  a  j 
flaring  gas  jet  was  kept  burning,  rendering  sleep  impossible.  ' 

Soon  after  the  grey  light  of  morning  broke,   the   door  was    opened.       I 
contented  myself  with  quietly  preferring  a  request  to  be  allowed  to  see  the 
governor.        I    was   advised   to   consult   the   medical  officer   instead,   but   I  \ 
persisted  in  my  application.     I  then  wrote  a  brief  request  on  my  slate  that 
either  the  hospitals  I  had  attended  or  the  specialists  I  was  under  should  be 
communicated  with  concerning  my  mental  condition.     This  I  handed  to  the 
governor  on  his   usual  morning   visit,   at  the  same  time  submitting  that  as 
he  knew  the  facts  of  the  case  it  must  be  manifest  to  him  that  I  was  being, 
treated   in   a    way  obviously   prejudicial    to    my   health,   and,   therefore,  as , 
governor  of  the  prison,  he  had  it  in  his  power  to  intervene,  even  against  the 
doctor. 


/;V   .4.V    OBSERVATION    CELL  295 

He  carefully  read  what  I  had  written,  and  said  that,  whilst  he  had  no 
)ower  to  do  anything  himself,  he  would  put  me  down  to  see  the  Visiting 
,'ommittee,  and  I  could  also  petition  the  Home  Secretary. 

Two  days  passed,  during  which  I  maintained  an  outwardly  calm  demeanour, 
hough  the  strain  of  knowing  that  one  was  in  such  a  place  was  terrible. 
5ome  of  the  scenes  I  witnessed  whilst  in  this  hall  were  calculated  to  try  the 
lerves  of  the  strongest.  Several  of  the  inmates  had  fits,  and  would  fall 
lown  whilst  in  the  exercise  yard — the  most  dreary  and  depressing  spot 
maginable,  surrounded  by  high  brick  walls.  Others  were  simply  wrecks  of 
lumanity,  the  dull  pallor  of  whose  faces  and  apathetic  look  betokened  the 
ibsence  of  mind  within.  Yet  others  there  were  whose  flushed  cheeks  and 
juick,  restless  step,  told  that  theirs  was  suffering  of  a  different  nature. 
Some  perhaps,  driven  over  the  border  line  of  sanity  by  the  injustice  and 
orutality  of  our  laws,  or  wrongs  of  some  other  kind — wrongs  which  call  to 
leaven  for  vengeance  but  which  can  never  be  righted  in  this  world — the 
:onstant  brooding  over  which  had  adversely  affected  the  reason.  There  are 
nany  such  men  in  our  prisons. 

Whilst  passing  along  the  corridor  to  and  from  exercise  I  noticed  men  whose 
:ell  doors  had  been  left  open  for  the  purpose  of  observation,  aimlessly 
wandering  about  inside.  A  glance  at  their  faces  was  sufficient  in  most 
:ases  to  show  that  with  them  hope  and  reason  had  alike  fled.  There  was  one 
old  man  in  particular,  whose  peculiar  little  shuffling  walk  to  and  fro,  to  and 
fro,  across  the  narrow  limits  of  his  cell  recalled  to  my  mind  some  caged 
animal  I  had  seen  in  captivity.  Once  he  stopped  for  a  moment  and  looked 
in  my  direction  with  vacant,  unseeing  eyes  from  which  the  last  spark  of 
light  must  have  long  since  died.  The  mind  had  gone.  Where  was  the  soul! 
I  wondered.  It  should  be  apparent  that  on  the  score  of  humanity  alone, 
if  on  no  other  grounds,  such  cases  should  not  be  kept  in  a  prison  at  all.  .  .  . 

Upon  returning  to  my  cell  after  the  first  day's  exercise  I  felt  so  depressed 
that  I  feared,  should  I  be  kept  long  in  such  surroundings,  I  might  easily  share 
the  fate  of  the  poor  helpless  creatures  I  had  seen.  I  remembered  having 
read  that  even  doctors  hesitate  to  take  up  this  branch  of  medicine,  constant 
association  with  the  insane  being  apt  to  have  an  unfavourable  influence  upon 
the  health  of  the  most  robust.  The  effect  can  therefore  readily  be  imagined 
m  the  case  of  one  whose  bodily  powers  had  been  weakened  by  illness  or 
disease  of  any  kind. 

There  seemed  something  in  the  psychical  atmosphere  of  the  place  which 
hung  about  it  like  a  pall,  creating  an  indescribable  feeling  of  sorrow  and 
despair.  All  that  was  most  sad,  all  that  makes  life  appear  darkest  and 
most  drear  was  there,  weighing  down  the  spirits  with  a  sense  of  grief  and 
loss  unutterable.  .   .  . 

As  thoughts  such  as  these  passed  through  my  mind  I  placed  myself  in 
God's  hands  praying — as  I  never  prayed  before — that  whatever  else  He  in 
His  wisdom  might  decree  I  was  to  suffer,  that  in  His  mercy  I  might  be  taken 
from  a  world  which  for  many  years  owing  to  my  infirmity  had  shown  little 
to  attract  or  allure.  A  great  peace  then  filled  my  soul,  and  I  seemed  to 
know  that  my  prayer  was  answered  and  that  my  stay  in  my  present  situation 
would  not  be  of  much  longer  duration 

I  On  the  third  morning  I  was  visited  by  the  doctor,  who,  I  had  strong 
reasons  for  supposing,  had  been  interviewed  by  the  governor  on  my  case  ;  so 
I  made  no  direct  appeal  to  him  save  to  point  out  how  prejudicial  my  present 
position  was  to  my  general  health,  and  in  particular  to  my  sight,  the  light 


394  THE  MENTALLY  DEFICIENT 

from  the  narrow  window  (smaller  even  than  those  in  the  prison)  not  beinj 
sufficient  to  read  or  write  by  except  with  extreme  difficulty.  He  saic 
nothing  in  reply,  but  within  a  few  minutes  of  his  departure  an  officer  arrivec 
who  informed  me  that  I  was  to  go  back  to  hospital.  It  can  be  bettei 
imagined  than  described  with  what  feelings  of  relief  I  received  this 
intelligence. 

For  many  a  day  after — and  even  now  at  times  in  dreams — I  have  beer 
haunted  by  the  visions  of  what  I  had  seen  in  this  place,  which  seemed  U 
touch  the  lowest  depths  of  human  misery  and  degradation ;  and  it  is  the 
misery  of  what  I  have  witnessed,  and  the  uneasy  conviction  that  some  fellow- 
creature  may  be  suffering  under  circumstances  similar  to  my  own,  that  has 
led  me  to  speak  of  things  over  which  it  might  otherwise  have  been  well  tc 
draw  a  veil. 


CHAPTER   XIX 


JUVENILE    ADULT    PEISONEES 

The  Number  of  Juvenile  Adults 

We  have  before  us  a  record  of  the  prisoners  under  21  years  of  age 
sent  to  a  northern  prison  during  the  year  1907.  The  list  includes 
11  boys  of  15,  and  two  of  14;  the  offences  are  almost  invariably 
either  gaming,  obstruction  of  the  highway,  or  some  petty  theft. 
For  instance,  the  two  lads  of  14  are  recorded  as  having  been  found 
guilty  of  gaming,  playing  football  in  the  highway,  and  street  trading, 
in  the  one  case,  and  of  stealing  a  pair  of  boots  in  the  other.  The 
sentences  for  both  were  "seven  days,"  in  default  of  paying  fines  of 
17/6  and  15/-  respectively.' 

Happily  the  imprisonment  of  boys  and  girls  under  16  years  of 
age  is  now  a  very  rare  occurrence.  Before  1909  they  were  some- 
times sent  to  prison  at  even  younger  ages  than  those  instanced  above ; 
the  Commissioners'  Eeport  for  1908-9  records,  for  instance,  that  four 
children  under  12  had  been  received  that  year.  The  Children  Act 
of  1908,  however,  absolutely  prohibited  children  under  14  being 
committed  to  prison,  either  on  conviction  or  under  trial,  and  the 
sentencing  of  young  persons  between  14  and  16  was  disallowed 
unless  "the  court  certifies  that  the  young  person  is  of  so  unruly  a 
character  that  he  cannot  be  detained  in  a  place  of  detention"  or 
"that  he  is  of  so  depraved  a  character  that  he  is  not  a  fit  person 
to  be  so  detained."  ^ 

The  effect  of  this  amendment  of  the  law  is  shown  in  the  following 
Table:  — 

The  Number  of  Prisoners  Under  Sixteen. 

Males.                       Females.  Total. 

1908-9                 ...           515           ...           14           ...  529 

1910-11'               ...            32           ...            2           ...  34 

1913-14                 ...             12           ...          —           ...  12 

1920-21                ...              6           ...          —           ...  6 

*  It  is  worth  recording  the  "family  history"  of  the  second  of  these  prisoners  as  illustrative 
of  the  kind  of  conditions  among  which  so  many  "criminals"  grow  up: — "Parents  both  liTing. 
Father  has  no  regular  work.  Gets  drunk  Tery  often.  Also  mother.  Has  a  poor  home.  Has 
nerer  done  any   work  and  none  to  go  to  on  discharge." 

'Children  Act,  1908.  Section  102  (3).  In  no  case  may  an  oHender  under  16  be 
••ntenced  to  penal   serTitude.    Ibid  Section   102    (2). 

'  The  first  complete  year  during   which  the  Chi'.dren  Act  was  operatire. 


296  JUVENILE  ADULT  PRISONERS 

Prisoners  under  16  are  known  in  prison  parlance  as  "juveniles." 
They  are  treated  very  similarly  to  the  "juvenile  adults" — those  be- 
tween 16  and  21 ;  they  need  not,  therefore,  be  dealt  with  separately 
here.  It  may  be  recorded,  however,  that  our  evidence  suggests  that 
juveniles  are  sometimes  sent  to  prison  for  very  inadequate  reasons. 
Thus  a  witness  describes  how  on  January  10th,  1920,  a  little  gipsy 
girl  of  14,  who  had  been  arrested  on  a  charge  of  stealing  was  trans- 
ferred to  prison.*  merely  for  having  broken  a  window  at  night  at  the 
Eemand  Home.  "The  sound  of  her  sobbing  in  her  cell  at  night  was 
most  pitiful,"  adds  this  witness.  The  injustice  was  the  greater  in 
this  case  because  the  girl  was  eventually  acquitted. 

A  second  instance :  One  of  the  writers  of  this  book  came  in 
contact  when  in  prison  with  a  bugler  of  15  sentenced  to  one  month's 
imprisonment  for  stealing  a  bicycle,  on  the  ground  that  he  was  too 
unruly  to  detain  elsewhere.  He  was  a  most  promising  type  of  boy, 
adventurous,  but  certainly  not  criminal  or  dangerous.  The  court 
sent  him  to  prison  under  the  exception  permitted  by  the  Children 
Act  because  he  had  escaped  from  the  police  station.  "But," 
as  he  remarked,  "what  soldier  wouldn't  have  done  it?  They  put  me 
in  a  yard  to  exercise  alone,  and  the  wall  wasn't  six  feet  high.  Of 
course,  I  was  over  in  a  jiffy. "  Later  we  shall  make  further  reference 
to  this  boy,  which  will  show  how  disastrous  the  imprisonment  of 
juveniles  may  be." 

There  are  no  restrictions  upon  the  sending  of  young  persons 
between  16  and  21  to  prison;  they  may  be  sentenced  to  any  term 
from  five  days  to  life,  and  at  the  present  time  there  are  juvenile 
adults  serving  life  sentences  at  Dartmoor. 

The  following  Table  shows  the  number  of  juvenile  adults 
imprisoned  in  1901-2,  in  the  year  immediately  before  the  war,  and  in 
1920-21. 

The  Number  of  Juvenile  Adults  in  Prison. 

Males.                        Females.  Total. 

1901-2             ...         13,342         ...         2,200         ...  15,542 

1913-14           ...           6,320         ...            858         ...  7,178 

1920-21           ...           4,217         ...            743         ...  4,960 

A  very  large  number  of  juvenile  adults  are  sentenced  to  short 
terms  for  trivial  offences;  in  1920-21,  for  instance,  1831  boys  and 
"the  great  majority"  of  the  girls  were  sentenced  to  terms  of  one 
month  or  less.**  And  despite  the  Criminal  Jurisdiction  Act,  1914, 
which  empowers  the  court  to  place  young  offenders  under  super- 
vision until  the  fine  be  paid,  a  large  number  are  still  sent  to  prison 

*  Under  Section  97   (2)   of  the  Children  Act. 

5  "Unruly"  or  "depraved"  boys  and  girls  between  14  and  16  sentenced  to  terms  in  certified  I 
schools  may  also  be  detained  in   prison    (Children  Act,  Section  63)  until  a   school  is  found 
for   them.    As   ten-elevenths    of   these  institutions   are  under   private  management    (although 
almost  entirely  supported  by  public  money),  and  as   there   is  no  obligation   on  the  managers 
to  accept   a  particular   child,   there   is    sometimes   considerable  delay. 

«  P.C.   Report,   1920-21,  p.   12 


paid  Fine 

were  not 

Total. 

after 

allowed  time 

reception. 

to  pay  Fine 

191 

...       52 

...        132 

86 

...       23 

59 

208 

...       61 

...       153 

162 

...       51 

...       Ill 

THE    NUMBER    OF  JUVENILE   ADULTS  S9T 

in  default  of  paying  a  fine,  as  the   following  Table  given  by  the 
Comniissioners  in  their  Eeport  for  1920-21  reveals:  — 

Number  of  •Juvenile  Adult  Male  Prisoners  Committed  for  One 
Month  or  Less  in  Default  of  Payment  of  Fine,  etc. 

Number  who  Number  who 

Sentence. 

1  month  and  over  3  weeks 
3  weeks  and  over  2  weeks 

2  weeks  and  over  1  week 
[  1  week  or  less 

Total       ...       647  187  455 

It  is  the  general  view  that  punishment  of  trivial  offences  by  the 

I  imposition  of  short  sentences  is   particularly  futile  in  the  case   of 

i  young  offenders.     In  their  Eeport   for  1920-21  the  Commissioners 

I  urged  that  "there  is  marked  evidence  of  the  need  for  the  effective 

'  operation  of  Section  1  (3)  of  the  Act  of  1914,  whereby  'supervision' 

may  be  exercised  over  lads  until  the  fine  imposed  by  the  Court  is 

forthcoming."     They  pointed  out  that  "whilst  under  the  facilities 

afforded  by  the  Act  of   1914  for  the  payment  of  fines,  adult  male 

prisoners  committed  in  default  of  payment  this  year  had  decreased 

by  82  per  cent,   since  1913-14,   in  the  case   of  lads  of   16-21   the 

decrease  has  been  only  71  per  cent."  '     No  less  than  455  boys  were 

,  received  during  the  year  with  sentences  of  one  month  or  less  who 

had  not  been  allowed  time  in  which  to  pay  their  fine,  and,  as  the 

■  above   Table    shows,    a    considerable   number   of   these    paid   after 

reception  into  prison.     It  is  disgraceful  that  lads  should  be  sent  to 

j  prison  unnecessarily  in  this  manner. 

Forty-two    per    cent,   of   the  male  juvenile  adults  received  into 

J  prisons  during  1920-21  had  been  sentenced  previously.     Twenty-two 

per  cent,  had  been  sentenced  once  before;  four  per  cent,  more  than 

four  times.     Sixty  per  cent,  of  these  lads  were  convicted  of  offences 

against  property.       Of  the  girls,   about  43  per  cent,  had  not  been 

,  previously  convicted.     Thirty-four  per  cent,  of  them  were  convicted 

I  of  larceny,  etc.,  and  26  per  cent,  of  indecency,  etc. 

i  The  poor  physique  of  J.A.'s  (as  the  members  of  this  class  are 
i  called)  is  a  constant  cause  of  comment  by  both  officials  and  ex- 
I  prisoners. 

"There  were  80  or  so  J.A.'s  in  our  prison,"  writes  an  ex-political 
prisoner.  "They  were  the  puniest  set  of  boys  I  have  ever  set  eyes  on. 
Had  I  not  known  that  the  class  was  limited  to  those  above  16,  I  should 
have  said  that  many  of  them  were  not  more  than  12,  some  not  mors 
than  10.     One  little  fellow  was  so  diminutive  that  I   wouldn't  take  an 

■  P.O.  Report,  1S20-21,  p.   13. 

L2 


298  JUVENILE  ADULT  PRISONERS 

officer's  word  for  his  age — I  sought  an  opportunity  to  ask  him  personally. 
'Sixteen  and  a  half,'  he  replied,  although,  as  he  looked  up,  his  baby  face 
seemed  that  of  a  child  in  an  infant  class.  The  majority  of  these  boya 
were  obviously  under-nourished  and  stunted,  the  product  of  the  worrt 
conditions  of  poverty." 

In  1908  Dr.  Smalley  prepared  a  table  comparing  the  height  and 
weight  of  juvenile  prisoners  with  young  persons  of  the  same  age 
(1)  in  the  general  population,  (2)  among  artisans  in  towns,  and 
(3)  among  the  labouring  classes  in  the  country.  We  reproduce  the 
particulars  for  the  ages  16  and  20: — 

Comparison  of  Average  Height  of  Juvenile  Adult  Prisoners  with 


.^•A,^^^,.^.,     y^j      „,^^ 

•-'""""'  ■'•'y^' 

Labouring 

J.A. 

General 

Artisans 

Classes 

Age 

Prisoners. 

Population. 

(Towns). 

(Country). 

16        .. 

62.26  ins. 

64.31  ins. 

62.85  ins. 

63.62  ins. 

20        .. 

64.94  ins. 

67.52  ins. 

66.50  ins. 

66.93  ins. 

Comparison  of  Average  Weight  of  Juvenile  Adult  Prisoners  with 

Free  Population  of  the  Same  Aqe. 

Labouring 

J.A.  General  Artisans  Classes 

Age  Prisoners.  Population.  (Towns).  (Country). 

16       ...       111.1  lbs.  119.0  lbs.  112.2  lbs.  117.2  lbs. 

20        ...       130.6  lbs.  143.3  lbs.  136.4  lbs.  144.3  lbs. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  average  J.A.  prisoner  of  16  is  more  than 
two  inches  shorter  than  the  average  boy  or  girl  of  the  same  age, 
and  nearly  eight  lbs.  less  in  weight,  and  that  at  20  he  is  more  than 
2|  inches  shorter  and  nearly  13  lbs.  lighter. 

The  Modified  Borstal  System. 
Since  1906  juvenile  adults  serving  terms  of  imprisonment  in  Local 
prisons  have,  in  increasing  numbers,  been  subjected  to  what  is  known 
as  the  "Modified  Borstal  System."  In  the  Prison  Commissioners" 
report  for  1907-8  its  object  is  described  as  being  "to  adopt,  as  far  as 
length  of  sentence  would  permit,  the  principle  of  the  Borstal  System 
for  all  offenders,  16-21,  committed  to  prison.'"  These  methods 
are  officially  summarised  in  the  following  way  :  — 

1.  Segregation  from  the  adult  prisoner. 

2.  Close   individual    attention   and   observation   with   a   view   to 
arresting  the  criminal  habit,  by — 

(a)  discipline ; 

(b)  sustained  work; 

(c)  physical  and  mental  training; 

(d)  careful  disposal  on  discharge. 

«  Op    cit.  p.   12. 


THE   MODIFIED   BOBSTAL   SYSTEM  299 

'Suitable  cases"*  with  sentences  of  three  months  and  over  are  trans- 
"erred  to  a  Collecting  Depot  (an  unpromising  name)  at  the  prisons 
it  Bedford,  Bristol,  Durham  or  Liverpool,  and  (for  girls)  at 
Manchester,  where  a  number  of  modifications  of  the  ordinary  prison 
'^gime  are  made.  It  is  necessary  to  emphasise,  however,  that  only 
ibout  one-eighth  of  the  juvenile  adult  prisoners  enjoy  these 
idvantages.  In  1920-21,  for  instance,  only  524  of  the  4,217  male 
)risoners  under  21  years  of  age  went  to  one  of  the  four  special 
Drisons. 

On  arriving  at  the  Collecting  Depot,  the  J. A.  enters  the  "Ordinary 
jrade, "  which  is  little  different  from  ordinary  imprisonment,  except 
hat  he  has  drill  before  breakfast  daily,  associated  labour  from  the 
Cutset,  educational  classes,  and  a  weekly  lecture.  After  he  has 
parned  150  merit  marks,  obtainable  in  six  weeks  by  "good  conduct 
ind  industry"  on  the  award  of  the  Borstal  Committee, ^°  he  enters 
^he  special  stage.     In  this  stage  the  rules  allow:  — 

j   1.  Conversational  exercise  on  Sundays. 

I  2.  Meals  in  association  (if  practicable). 

3.  Recreation,  if  practicable,  on  Saturday  afternoons  and  evenings. 

I  4.  Monthly  letters  and  visits. 

j  5.  A  good  conduct  stripe  of  red  to  be  worn  by  the  J. A.  on  the  left 
arm  after  he  has  passed  a  month  in  the  special  grade  with 
exemplary  conduct,  entitling  him  to  a  special  gratuity  of  6d. 
for  each  completed  month,  so  long  as  he  is  allowed  to  retain 
the  good  conduct  stripe.  This  special  gratuity  may  be  sent 
home,  or  he  may  reserve  it  to  be  expended  for  his  benefit  on 
his  discharge.     (The  total  must  not  exceed  £2.) 

A  juvenile  adult  in  the  special  stage  is  also  permitted  to  have  an 
fon  bedstead,  a  strip  of  carpet,  and  a  looking-glass  in  his  cell,  as 
K'ell  as  photographs  and  other  little  ornaments  received  from  home. 
\Ieals  have  so  far  been  given  in  association  at  only  two  of  the 
-I  ollecting  Depots — Bedford  and  Durham.  "At  the  other  two, 
iBristol  and  Liverpool,  this  has  not  hitherto  been  done,"  says  the 
Home  Secretary,  "owing  to  the  want  of  suitable  accommodation,  a 
jlifl&culty  which  it  is  hoped  will  be  overcome."" 
.  "When  a  prisoner  between  16  and  21  sentenced  to  less  than  three 
inonths  happens,  owing  to  the  locality  of  his  ofience,  to  be  com- 

itted  to  one  of  the   Collecting  Dep6ts,  he  is   treated  under  the 


'  '  S.O.  1065  (21  reads:  "It  will  be  for  the  discretion  of  the  governor  and  chaplain,  having 
egard  to  age  and  character,  to  decide  as  to  treatment,  under  juvenile  adult,  or  ordinary 
dnlt,  rules,  of  prisoners  known  to  have  been  subject  to  the  juvenile  adult  system  under  a 
ormer  sentence.  Prima  facie,  where  good  influences  brought  to  bear  under  a  former  sentence 
lave  had  no  result,  it  would  hardly  seem  worth  while  again  to  allow  such  a  case  to  benefit 
y  snch  preferential  treatment  as  the  scheme  admits;  but  there  may  be  circumstances  which 
'oald  justify  another  chance  being  given,  and,  as  to  this,  the  authorities  on  the  spot 
iiust  be  the  judges." 
'"  Consisting  of  the  governor,  the  chaplain,  and  "voluntary  workers,  either  members  of 
he  visiting  committee  or  local  residents  co-opted  for  the  purpose."  The  committee  makes 
ts  award  on  a  report  by  the  officer  in  charge  of  the  working  party  to  which  the  prisoner 
elongt. 

'^  Reply  to  Mr.  T.  Myers,    M.P.,  November  10th,    1921. 


300  JUVENILE  ADULT  PRISONERS 

Modified  Borstal  Eules.  Otherwise,  he  is  subject  to  the  ordinary 
prison  routine,  except  that,  if  practicable,  he  receives  daily  drill  ind 
two  exercises  on  Saturdays  and  Sundays,  and  is  allowed  visits  and 
letters  every  six  weeks.  A  juvenile  adult  with  a  sentence  of  three 
months  or  more  who  is  not  transferred  to  a  Collecting  Depot  is 
treated  similarly,  but,  after  serving  three  months,  is  permitted 
letters  and  visits  every  four  weeks. 

A  further  "privilege"  which  juvenile  adults  enjoy  is  exemption 
from  clothing  marked  with  the  broad  arrow.  The  boys  wear 
corduroy  knickerbockers  and  brown  tunics,  with  black  collars  and 
cuffs  for  the  ordinary  stage  and  red  collars  and  cuffs  for  the  special 
stage.  The  girls  are  distinguished  by  aprons :  check  in  the  ordinary 
stage  and  white  in  the  special. 

The  Statutory  Eules  mention  "instruction  in  useful  industries" 
and  "education"  as  two  matters  of  special  treatment  in  the  case  of 
juvenile  adults.  For  those  with  very  short  sentences,  instruction  in 
any  trade  is,  of  course,  impossible,  and  it  is  not  attempted;  and, 
even  in  the  case  of  those  with  longer  sentences,  the  time  is  too  short 
to  learn  a  trade  adequately,  whilst  the  instructors  rarely  are  trained i 
men,  and  the  conditions  of  the  work  and  the  equipment  are  often 
very  unsatisfactory."  To  some  extent,  however,  gardening,  car' 
pentry,  blacksmithing,  cobbling,  building,  and  cooking  are  taught  j 
Indeed,  so  far  as  this  last  is  concerned,  the  governor  of  Bristol  prisor; 
reports  in  1912  that  "one  juvenile  adult  on  discharge  successfulhj 
passed  a  cooking  examination  with  honours,  and  another  passeci 
very  satisfactorily."  j 

Many,  if  not  most,  J.A.'s  attend  school  for  five  hours  a  week,  buj 
the  teaching,  as  we  have  shown  in  an  earlier  chapter,  is  of  a  verj 
elementary  standard.'"  Trained  teachers  from  outside  are  stated  t(: 
be  employed  now  at  the  four  Collecting  Dep6ts  to  conduct  continual 
tion  classes  in  the  evenings ;  otherwise  "School-master  warders"  giv^ 
the  instruction.  j 

At  each  prison  there  is  supposed  to  be  a  Borstal  Committee  '*  fo 
the  special  care  and  supervision  of  all  prisoners  coming  within  th 
Modified  Borstal  system.  The  committee,  in  addition  to  the  dut 
of  awarding  "merit  marks"  (generally  a  mere  formality),  has  th 
responsibility  of  arranging  the  weekly  lectures  and  addresses  and  c 
making  provision  for  each  juvenile  adult  prisoner  on  discharge. 
How  far  the  work  of  these  committees  succeeds  in  this  latter  respeci 
depends  largely  upon  their  'personnel.  At  Bristol  the  committee  ij 
apparently  very  successful  owing  to  the  enthusiasm  of  its  honorari 
agent,  who  is  constantly  visiting  the  boys.  This  particular  conj 
mittee  claims  that  it  almost  invariably  finds  work  for  its  charges. 


"  See  pp.  110-112  and   115-117. 
"  See  pp.   153  and   154. 
>*  See  footnote    10  on   previous    page. 
"See  p.  471. 


JUVENILE  ADULT  PRISONERS  301 

The  Contamination  of  Juvenile  Adults. 
The  first  prescription  laid  down  for  the  treatment  of  juvenile 
,dults  is  separation  from  the  adult  prisoners.  Opinion  is  practically 
inanimous,  however,  that  segregation  is  not  effected.  The  Indian 
ails  Committee,  after  an  investigation  in  England,  says  that 
egregation  "in  practice  may  not  amount  to  much  more  than  the 
loUection  of  the  adolescents  into  a  separate  gang,  working  on  a 
■eparate  patch  of  the  garden,  or  to  their  employment  at  the  further 
^nd  of  the  workroom  in  which  adult   prisoners   are  employed,  and 

0  their  sleeping  in  a  separate  wing  of  the  prison  or  at  least  on  a 
iiSerent  storey  from  the  rest.""  We  know  that  more  than  one 
governor  takes  the  view  that  Borstal  treatment  cannot  be  properly 
riven  in  prison  owing  to  the  presence  of  adult  criminals.  An  ex- 
;haplain  in  the  course  of  his  evidence  says  "the  boys  cannot  be 
;hut  away  from  the  older  men;  they  work  in  close  proximity  to 
jhem."  "Some  communication  cannot  fail  to  pass  between  the 
r.A.'s  and  the  ordinary  prisoners,"  says  a  warder. 

'  Ex-prisoners  give  numerous  instances  of  contact  between  J.A.'s 
md  adult  criminals.  One  says,  "The  boys  were  in  a  wing  with 
she  other  prisoners  and  worked  in  a  factory  with  them."  "The 
separation  was  lax,"  says  another.  "The  J.A.'s  were  kept  apart 
by  a  canvas  screen  in  the  workshop,  but  they  talked  through  it 
;reely."  "You  can  always  hear  the  boys  talking  to  the  men  through 
iheir  windows,"  states  a  third.  "The  boys  were  kept  on  one  land- 
ng,  the  men  above  them."  A  fourth  reports  overhearing  a 
Conversation  between  an  "old  lag"  and  a  boy  in  some  such  terms 
is  these :  — 

"Say,  kid,  whafre  you  in  for?" 

"Pinchin'  a  bike." 

"When   do  you  get  out?" 

1  "Tuesday  week." 

"I  shall  be  out  two  days  later.     You're  just  the  kind  of  boy  I  want  for 
j       a  job.     Meet  me  at  such  and  such  a  place  and  time." 

•■this  evidence  is  in  keeping  with  that  of  a  high  official  who  states 
^hat  "the  old  hands  often  try  to  get  hold  of  the  young  prisoners  on 
lischarge."  In  consequence  of  this  danger,  the  governors  of  some 
prisons  release  juvenile  adults  at  different  times  from  other  prisoners 
And  send  them  home  on  different  trains. 

I  In  this  connection  we  venture  to  quote  a  passage  from  what  one 
|)f  the  writers  of  this  book  has  written  elsewhere."  It  has  reference 
o  the  bugler  boy  mentioned  before :  — 

Whilst  I  was  in  Lincoln  prison  a  boy  of  fifteen  was  placed  in  the  next 

cell.     He  was  a  bugler  in  the  army,  a  smart  bright  boy,  and  generous. 

He  was  sentenced  to  one  month's  hard  labour  for  stealing  a  bicycle. 
I  asked  him  why  he  did  it.     "I  don't  know,"  he  replied.       "I  saw  a 

bike  standing  outside  a  shop,  I  had  a  sudden  desire  to  jump  on  it,  and 

'•Report  of  the  Indian  Jails  Committee,  1921  (Cmd.  1303),  p.  495.  One  o!  the 
nembers  of  the  committee  responsible  tor  this  statement  was  Mr.  Mitchell-Innes,  aa 
inspector   of  English  prisons. 

"  A  Fenner  Brockway,  "Prisons  as  Crime  Factories"    (International  Bookshops,  Ltd.,  2d.). 


302  JUVENILE  ADULT  PRISONERS 

before  I  knew  what  I  was  doing  I  was  riding  off  full  speed.  I  was 
caught  almost  at  once."  Obviously  the  boyish  impulse  of  a  lad  bubbling 
over  with  the  love  of  adventure,  and,  if  you  will,  the  spirit  of  mischief, 
but  assuredly  not   a   vicious  or   criminal  type. 

I  quickly  taught  this  lad  the  Morse  Code,  and  we  rapped  out  long 
conversations  through  the  wall.  I  found  that  he  was  a  great  reader, 
that  he  was  anxious  to  learn,  that  he  was  really  ambitious  to  get  on.  It 
became  indisputably  clear  to  me  that  in  sympathetic  surroundings  and 
with  proper  training  he  could  become  both  an  able  craftsman  and  a 
good  citizen. 

There   was   another  prisoner  with  whom  I  came  into  close  contact  in 
Lincoln  gaol.     He  was  found  guilty   of  a  crime  which  I  will  not  par- 
ticularise.    He  was  a  vicious,  demoralised  wretch,  whose  whole  thought ; 
seemed  limited  to  what  was  filthy  and  foul.  ' 

The  lad  finished  his  month  and  went  out,  vowing  to  me  that  he  would 
never  enter  such  a  place  again.     The  other  prisoner  went  out  the  same 
day.     Three  weeks  later  he  was  back.     And  only  a  week  more  had  gone  i 
by  when  the  bugler   returned.     ...  j 

Will  it  be  the  boy's  fate  to  come  back  again  and  again,  to  spend  his ! 
life  in  prison  ?  One  hopes  not,  but  I  soon  found  that  he  had  caught  I 
"the  prison  habit."  He  was  deteriorating  visibly  from  day  to  day. 
Already  he  was  behaving  like  an  old  hand.  And  a  scene  I  witnessed  j 
one  evening  from  my  cell  window  showed  that  the  contamination  had 
gone  far.  | 

The  supper  bell  had  tolled  and  the  prisoners  were  coming  out  of  the! 
wood-shed,  single  file.  There  were  only  twenty  of  them,  14  of  the  "old  j 
crocks"  followed  by  six  boys.  The  figures  and  faces  of  the  old  men; 
seemed  to  be  a  denial  of  all  that  is  divine  in  man.  There  was  insanity; 
there,  there  was  inebriety,  there  was  sexual  viciousness.  These  outrages  j 
upon  the  image  of  God  were  the  finished  articles  made  by  personal  weak- 1 
ness,  bad  social  conditions,  and,  not  least,  our  crime-making  prisons.      | 

Behind  them  came  the  boys,  with  figures  and  faces  marred,  yet  notj 
hopeless.  There  was  weakmindedness  there,  there  was  hot  temper, 
there  was  dare-devilry.  But  there  was  no  wickedness  so  deeply  rooted 
that  right  surroundings  and  right  influence  might  not  have  eradicated 
it. 

I  looked  again  more  closely.  The  last  of  the  old  men  was  the| 
degraded  wretch.  The  first  of  the  boys  was  my  bugler.  And  they' 
were  conversing  familiarly  together  in  a  way  that  made  me  shudder. 

The  beginning  and  the  end  of  the  tragedy."  j 

The  higher  prison  officials  often  claim  that  juvenile  adult  prisoners! 
generally  benefit  physically,  mentally,  and  morally  by  a  long  ternij 
under  the  Modified  Borstal  system.  That  those  who  have  previously] 
been  the  victims  of  under-nourishment  and  overcrowding  sometimeej 
benefit  to  some  degree  physically  we  do  not  doubt,  but  the  evidence  j 
from  other  quarters  leads  us  to  the  definite  view  that  the  majority, 
of  juvenile  adult  prisoners  suffer  far  more  mentally  and  morally  than 

! 

IS  Evidence  of  this  nature  must  not  be  accepted  as  implying  the  necessity  lor  a  stricteij 
enlorcement  of  the  Silence  Rule.  Under  existing  conditions,  contamination  would  occur: 
however  rigorously  the  authorities  attempted  to  apply  it.  The  remedy  lies  in  othe. 
directions.    See  pp.  569-70. 


PRISONERS    UNDER    TWENTY-FIVE  SOS 

they  gain.  "I  would  rather  see  my  boy  dead  than  in  prison,"  re- 
marks a  warder.  "Having  come  once,"  says  another,  "most  of  them 
come  again  and  again  for  the  rest  of  their  lives."  "This  is 
an  age,"  says  the  Indian  Jails  Committee,  referring  to  the  adoles- 
cence of  juvenile  adults,  "at  which  development,  both  physical  and 
mental,  is  still  rapidly  proceeding  in  the  normal  individual  and  at 
which  the  character  is  still  plastic  and  peculiarly  open  to  extraneous 
influence,  whether  good  or  bad."  After  reading  what  we  have 
written,  can  anyone  doubt  that,  despite  all  the  earnest  endeavours 
of  Borstal  Committees  and  prison  chaplains,  "the  extraneous  in- 
fluence" of  prisons  upon  adolescent  youths  and  girls  is  overwhelm- 
ingly bad? 


Note  on  Special  Treatment  of  Prisoners  under  Twenty-Five 
Years  of  Age. 


Following  the  year  1909  an  attempt  was  made  to  deal  specially  with  a 
certain  number  of  such  male  offenders  between  the  ages  of  21  and  25  as 
might  be  expected  to  profit  by  it.  The  Modified  Borstal  system  was  not 
applied,  but  strict  discipline  and  hard  work  were  accompanied  by  individual 
attention  on  the  part  of  the  governor  and  chaplain  and  special  aid  on 
discharge. 

Selected  prisoners  were  transferred  from  Liverpool,  Manchester,  and 
Preston  prisons  to  Lancaster,  where  "the  orders  were  that  they  should  be 
kept  in  strict  discipline,  employed  at  hard  and  continuous  labour,  and  that 
they  should  be  the  subject  of  special  individual  interest  of  the  governor 
and  chaplain,  as  well  as  of  any  unofficial  person  connected  with  the  visiting 
committee  or  otherwise."  "  Special  attention  was  also  given  to  their  aid 
on  discharge.  The  governor  was  satisfied  that  the  success  of  the  experiment 
justified  its  extension.  "He  was  able  to  furnish  instances  of  young  pro- 
fessional burglars  and  thieves,  who,  as  a  result  of  the  individual  effort  made, 
have  now  abandoned  a  criminal  career."*" 

The  Prison  Commissioners  commented  :  "It  is  nearly  certain  that  under 
the  existing  prison  system  these  lads,  without  exception,  condemned  to  suc- 
cessive short  sentences  of  imprisonment,  especially  in  great  prisons  like 
Manchester  and  Liverpool,  where  from  necessity  the  same  individual 
attention  cannot  be  given  as  in  smaller  prisons  and  in  selected  classes,  would 
have  drifted  irretrievably  down  the  incline  to  a  professional  criminal 
career."''  Yet  the  experiment  at  Lancaster  was  dropped  the  following 
year  and  has  not  been  recommenced. 

The  Prison  Commissioners  state  in  their  annual  report  for  1919-20  that 
56  young  women  up  to  the  age  of  25  years  had  during  that  year  been  brought 
within  the  scope  of  the   Modified  Borstal  system. 


"  P.C.  Report,   1912-13,   p.   13. 
"  Ibid,  p.   13. 
"Ibid,  p.  13. 


804  JUVENILE  ADULT  PRISONERS 


SOME     OF     THE     PRINCIPAL     DEFECTS     INDICATED    IN     THE 
PRECEDING    CHAPTER. 


1. — Juvenile  and  juvenile  adult  prisoners  suffer  from  the  same  repressive 
regime,  in  its  general  aspects,  as  other  prboners.  The  relaxations  are 
Blight. 

2. — The  provision  of  recreation  and  meals  in  association  for  juvenile  adults 
in  the  special  stage,  is  optional. 

3. — Juvenile  adults  receive  inadequate  industrial  education  and  training. 
(See  summary  of  defects  following  chapters  7  and  9). 

4. — The  segregation  of  juvenile  adult  offenders  is  incomplete. 

5. — It  is  impossible  to  give  proper  treatment  on  Borstal  lines  inside  prisons. 


CHAPTER  XX 


UNCONVICTED  PRISONERS 

The  Number  of  Unconvicted  Prisoners 

Unconvicted  prisoners  are  of  two  classes — those  who  have  been 
refused  bail  or  who  have  been  unable  to  secure  the  necessary  securi- 
ties on  the  adjournment  of  a  trial,  and  those  who  are  awaiting  trial 
by  a  higher  court/  The  refusal  of  bail  is  a  judicial  question,  but  it 
is  important  to  emphasise  that  a  very  large  percentage  of  those  who 
are  sent  to  prison  on  remand  are  afterwards  either  discharged  as 
not  guilty,  or  are  fined,  placed  on  probation,  or  given  some  minor 
sentence  which  does  not  bring  them  back  to  prison.  The  figures 
given  in  the  Table  on  page  37  reveal  that  55  per  cent,  of  those  who 
are  sent  to  prison  on  remand  do  not  return  to  prison.  In  1920-21, 
10,300  unconvicted  prisoners  were  not  received  again  into  prison. 
There  are  no  returns  to  show  what  happened  to  them  generally,  but 
the  Prison  Commissioners  give  particulars  of  142  such  prisoners 
committed  to  one  prison,  which  show  that  46  were  under  21  years 
of  age  and  44  between  21  and  30.  On  returning  to  Court,  89  were 
bound  over,  34  were  discharged,  8  fined,  and  7  sent  to  homes, 
asylums,  etc.^  It  is  deplorable  that  any  of  these  persons  ever  entered 
prison,  since  it  was  subsequently  adjudged  to  be  the  wrong  place 
for  them. 

'  Often  the  period  spent  in  prison  on  remand  is  considerable.  There 
are  no  recent  statistics  available,  but  in  1913,  of  the  unconvicted 
prisoners  afterwards  acquitted,  no  less  than  382  spent  four  weeks 
or  more  in  prison,  and  no  less  than  165  eight  weeks  or  more.  In 
1912,  1,659  unconvicted  prisoners  were  subsequently  acquitted.  Of 
these :  — 

575  were  detained  in  prison  under  4  weeks. 
154  were  detained  in  prison  from  4  to  8  weeks. 
77  were  detained  in  prison  from  8  to  12  weeks. 
40  were  detained  in  prison  from  12  to  16  weeks. 

L9  were  detained  in  prison  for  more  than  16  weeks, 
y  one  accused  person  in  five  is  granted  baU,  yet  of  those  who 
are  granted  it  only  one  in  1,000  absconds.* 

j  *  Sometimes,  under  exceptional  legislation,  political  prisoners  hare  been  confined  in 
priaon  lor  an  indefinite  period   without  baring  teen  connoted. 

»P.C.   Report,  1920-21,  p.    11. 

I  •  In  France  imprisonment  undergone  before  or  during  trial  is  deducted  in  full  from  the 
Pwiod  to  which  the  prisoner  is  sentenced.  In  the  Philippines,  except  in  the  case  of 
recidirists,  every  day  on  remand  counts  as  half  a  day  of  the  subsequent  sentence.  In 
England  the  period  spent  on  remand  does  not  in  any  way  count  as  part  of  the  subsequent 
{Sentence.  The  Indian  Jails  Committee,  1921,  recommends  the  adoption  of  the  Philippines' 
jiystem   (Report,  p.  247). 


306  UNCONVICTED  PRISONERS 

The  majority  of  persons  imprisoned  "on  remand"  are  probably 
sent  to  prison  because  magistrates  generally  concur  unquestioningly 
in  police  opposition  to  the  granting  of  bail.  But  other  reasons  some- 
times actuate  the  Bench.  In  chapter  twenty-two  special  attention 
is  given  to  the  practice  of  some  magistrates  in  placing  prosti- 
tutes on  remand  for  medical  reasons.  Whatever  may  be  thought 
of  the  motive  expressed  in  this  course,  we  think  that  the  dangerous 
confusion  of  principle  involved  in  such  a  use  of  the  power  to  remand 
persons  in  custody  will  be  generally  recognised.  In  addition  to  this, 
a  practice  has  grown  up  of  remanding  prisoners,  about  whose  guilt 
there  is  no  reasonable  doubt,  as  a  punishment  milder  in  form  than 
that  of  imprisonment,  in  that  it  is  free  from  the  stigma  of  a  con- 
viction. In  a  considerable  number  of  cases  these  prisoners  must 
really  be  regarded  as  people  who,  though  by  a  mild  subterfuge  they 
are  still  innocent  of  crime  in  the  eye  of  the  law,  are  in  fact  adjudged 
guilty  of  the  offence  with  which  they  are  charged,  and  are  practically, 
though  not  technically,  being  punished  for  it.* 

A  very  large  number  of  prisoners  are  placed  on  remand  in  order 
that  their  mental  condition  may  be  observed.  In  1901,  Dr.  Smalley 
said,  in  his  annual  report :  "It  is,  I  think,  an  open  question  whether 
prison  should  be  made  the  receiving  house  of  lunatics  or  quasi- 
lunatics,  or  whether  the  prison  staff  should  be  called  upon  to  perform 
this  public  duty."  By  the  year  1909,  Dr.  Smalley  had  apparently 
become  converted  to  the  use  of  prisons  for  this  purpose,  for  he  points 
out  that  "it  is  undoubtedly  a  result  of  the  care  taken  in  investigating 
the  medical  state  of  individuals  charged  with  such  offences  (graver 
homicidal  offences)  that  the  number  of  prisoners  certified  insane 
after  sentence  is  much  lower  in  crimes  of  violence  against  the  person 
than  in  any  other  category  of  indictable  crime."  It  is  undoubtedly 
an  advantage  to  have  the  mental  conditions  of  prisoners  investigated 
before  sentence,  but  more  than  one  of  our  witnesses  urges  that 
prisons  are  not  the  right  places  for  such  investigation,  and  that  the 
services  of  experts  should  be  secured  for  this  purpose.  Except  at  j 
Birmingham  prison,  mental  experts  are  apparently  nowhere 
employed  in  these  duties.'  If  a  prisoner  be  mentally  unsound,  or  i 
even  if  there  be  a  suspicion  that  he  is,  he  ought  never  to  enter  prison,  j 

Whatever  be  the  reason  for  sending  a  person  to  prison  on  remand,  j 
the  bad  effect  is  undoubted.  The  stigma  attaching  to  the  prisoner  { 
in  the  popular  mind  is  in  actual  fact  little  less  because  of  the  absence  ! 
of  a  formal  conviction.'     All  the  other  evils  of  the  short  sentence — j 

*  Thus  one  witness  instances  a  case  where  a  boj  and  girl  were  accnsed  of  stealing  some  | 
milk  together.  Both  were  remanded  for  a  week,  the  girl  being  sent  to  a  remand  home.  On  j 
the  way  thither  she  tried  to  esnape  irom  her  escort.  When  they  came  before  the  Court 
the  second  time,  the  boy  was  discharged  and  the  girl  was  told  that  if  she  had  not  tried  ! 
to  run  away  she  would  hare  been  discharged,  too;  as  it  waa,  she  must  be  remanded  to  ; 
Holloway  prison  for   a  week.  I 

^  We  belieTe  that  the  Bradford  magistrates  now  also  employ  a  mental  specialist  to  report  . 
upon  remanded  cases.  For  an  account  of  the  Birmingham  mental  inrestigations,  see  pp.  I 
52  and  53. 

«  "The  great  harm  of  sending  nnconyicted  persons  to  prison,"  says  a  witness  who  has  had  j 
experience  of  the  police   serrice  as  well  as   of  prison  conditions,   "is  that,  eren  if  acquitted, 
they  hare  the  prison  taint  upon  them,  and  they   also  lose  the   fear  of   prison." 


THE   CONDITIONS   OF   IMPRISONMENT  307 

the  familiarity  with  prison,  the  loss  of  situation,  the  possible  shock 
to  the  ner\'ous  system  or  the  damage  to  health  in  other  ways,  the 
inevitable  contact  with  a  degraded  type  of  person,  and  the  repressive, 
inhuman  regime — all  of  these  are  present. 

The  Conditions  of  Imprisonment. 

Unconvicted  prisoners  are  not  supposed  to  be  confined  under  penal 
conditions.  The  Prison  Act  of  1877  (39th  Section)  declares  ex- 
plicitly that  they  are  persons  "in  law  presumably  innocent"  who 
are  detained  "for  safe  custody  only,"  and  directs  the  drawing-up 
of  special  rules  framed  so  as  to  make  their  confinement  "as  little 
as  possible  oppressive."  The  Departmental  Committee  of  1895 
made  the  comment,  "We  cannot  think  that  this  provision  has  been 
carried  out  adequately,"  '  and,  despite  the  improvements  which  have 
resulted  from  the  recommendations  of  that  committee,  we  are  com- 
pelled to  reach  the  same  conclusion.  More  than  one  witness  who 
has  experienced  prison  conditions,  both  on  remand  and  when  under- 
going hard  labour,  declares  that,  after  the  first  month  of  separate 
confinement  is  passed,  he  prefers  the  latter.  Eemand  prisoners, 
with  a  few  exceptions,  are  kept  permanently  in  separate  confine- 
ment, and  sometimes  the  period  on  remand  is  as  long  as  three,  four, 
or  even  six  months.* 

The  "privileges"  which  unconvicted  prisoners  may  enjoy  are 
facihties  for  (1)  daily  visits ;  (2)  correspondence ;  (3)  receiving  books 
and  newspapers;  (4)  obtamlng  food  from  outside;  (5)  wearing  their 
own  clothes ;  (6)  using  their  private  bedding ;  (7)  earning  a  small 
wage  by  their  labour;  (8)  two  exercises  daily  (in  the  case  of  those 
who  are  on  remand  for  a  month  or  more) ;  and  (9)  shaving  and  hair- 
cutting.  If  desired,  an  unconvicted  prisoner  may  also  have,  with 
the  permission  of  the  visiting  magistrates  (who  must,  however, 
"have  regard  to  his  ordinary  habits  and  conditions  of  life"),  "a 
private  room"  '  with  bed,  washing-stand,  rug,  and  commode,  on  the 
payment  of  2/6  per  week,  and  the  service  of  a  prisoner  to  clean 
and  tidy  it  at  the  additional  charge  of  3/6  (of  which  the  prisoner 
may  get  1/2)."  The  governor  of  the  prison  is  instructed  by  Standing 
Orders  to  call  the  attention  of  the  visiting  magistrates  to  cases  where 
any  further  modification  of  the  prison  routine  would  be  desirable, 
but  apparently  the  governors  exercise  the  right  very  rarely."  In 
any  case  there  is  the  objection  that  the  limitation  of  these  "privi- 
leges" to  a  few — those  in  whose  case  they  are  consistent  with  their 

"  Report   of  Departmental    Committee,    1895.   p.   33. 

•  The  daily  Press  ol  June  14th,  1921,  reported  an  inquest  on  the  body  of  a  boy  o!  16 
who  had  hanged  himself  in  his  cell  at  Winchester  prison  whilst  on  remand.  Ha  had  been 
in  prison  since  April  2nd.  In  a  message  to  his  mother  left  on  his  slate  he  wrote:  "I 
wn  sorry  it  has  come  to  this,  bat  I  cannot  stand  prison  life  any  longer."  Tlie  goTernor 
of  the  prison  said  that  the  long  interral  often  left  between  commitment  and  trial  is  very 
bad,  and  stated  that  he  knew  of  one  young  man  who  had  to  wait  six  months  for  trial. 

'  The  "priTate  room"  is  an  ordinary  prison  cell  with  the  additional  articles  of  furniture 
mentioned. 

'  See  Rules    185-212  for  Ixical  prisons,   1899. 
Op.  p.  393. 


808  UNCONVICTED  PRISONERS 

"ordinary  habits  and  conditions  of  life" — serves  to  retain  within  the 
prison  walls  the  class  differences  which  exist  outside. 

Apart  from  the  strain  occasioned  by  the  separate  confinement,  the 
most  frequent  complaint  by  unconvicted  prisoners  is  the  hampering 
effect  of  the  conditions  of  custody  upon  the  preparation  of  their 
defence.  The  Eules  and  Standing  Orders  suggest  that  everything 
possible"  is  done  to  enable  unconvicted  prisoners  to  secure  legal  advice 
and  the  attendance  of  witnesses,  and  to  prepare  their  defence  gener- 
ally. On  the  wall  of  the  cell  a  card  hangs  giving  particulars  as  to 
how  legal  aid  can  be  obtained  at  the  public  expense  by  poor  persons. 
Prisoners  not  receiving  legal  aid  are  informed  that  they  will  be 
afforded  every  facility  in  writing  to  friends  to  procure  the  attend- 
ance of  witnesses,  and  that,  if  they  desire  it,  the  police  will  do  their 
best  to  the  same  end.  Unconvicted  prisoners  are  permitted  to  write 
confidential  letters  to  their  solicitors  and  to  receive  confidential  letters 
from  them,  and  "for  purposes  of  defence"  they  may  be  examined 
by  a  private  doctor.  In  addition,  if  an  unconvicted  prisoner  "out 
of  health"  desire  the  attendance  of  his  "usual  medical  attendant'' 
the  visiting  magistrates  may  permit  it,  the  prisoner,  of  course, 
bearing  the  expense. 

Despite  these  opportunities,  however,  the  conditions  of  confine- 
ment necessarily  prevent  prisoners  on  remand  from  preparing  their 
cases  with  the  thoroughness  and  detail  possible  to  a  person  on  bail. 
Mr.  Arthur  Paterson  "  says  of  remand  prisoners  that  "most  are  there 
[in  prison]  because  it  would  be  highly  undesirable  in  the  interests 
of  justice  that  they  should  be  at  large  and  able  to  fake  evidence  or 
destroy  it."  Eegarded  in  this  suspicious  light,  it  is  inevitable  that 
prisoners  on  remand  should  be  somewhat  restricted  in  their  efforts 
to  clear  themselves.  Mr.  Paterson  adds,  for  instance,  that  the 
interviews  and  identity  of  "legal  advisers"  have  to  be  closely 
watched."  The  conversation  between  solicitor  and  prisoner  is 
supposed  not  to  be  overheard,  but  a  warder  is  stationed  beyond  a 
glass  door  so  that  he  may  observe  the  proceedings. 

All  correspondence  other  than  that  with  the  solicitor  is  read  by 
the  prison  authorities,  and  one  witness  asserts  that  any  incriminat- 
ing statements  made  in  it  are  communicated  to  the  prosecution. 
So  far  as  the  Standing  Orders  are  concerned  the  governor  of  the 
prison  is  only  authorised  to  communicate  the  contents  of  letters  in 
the  case  of  a  person  awaiting  trial  on  a  charge  of  murder.  In  these 
cases  he  is  authorised  carefully  to  examine  all  letters  written  or 
received  and  to  forward  any  to  the  Commissioners  which,  in  his 
opinion,  "throw  any  light  on  the  circumstances  of  the  case."  '* 

Visits  of  15  minutes'  duration  are  permitted  to  take  place  every 

>*  "Onr  Prisons,"  p.  43. 
"  Ibid,  p.   43. 

J*  S.O.   964.    A  solicitor  informs  ns  that  even  in  the  case  of  letters  to  solicitors  they  are 
frequently  read  and  inscribed  with   the   initials  of  the  governor. 


THE    CONDITIONS   OF   IMPBISONMENT  309 

afternoon,  except  on  Saturdays  and  Sundays."  They  may  take 
place,  like  the  visits  of  the  solicitor,  "within  sight  but  not  in  the 
hearing  of  the  officer."  The  visitors  are  not  allowed  to  approach 
the  prisoners,"  and,  except  with  the  permission  of  the  visiting 
magistrates,  must  not  number  more  than  two.  The  postage  of 
letters  is  debited  to  the  prisoners.  If  they  have  no  money,  letters 
are  sent  unstamped,  but  the  governor  is  permitted,  where  advisable, 
to  pay  postage. 

No  restriction  is  placed  upon  the  receiving  of  newspapers  and 
books,  so  long  as  they  are  not  of  "immoral  or  of  objectionable 
character."  Unconvicted  prisoners  not  receiving  books  and  news- 
papers from  outside  are  entitled  to  two  library  books  a  week  from 
the  prison  store,  as  well  as  religious  and  educational  books. 

The  only  limitation  regarding  food  is  that  intoxicating  liquors 
shall  be  restricted  to  one  pint  of  "malt  liquor,  fermented  liquor,  or 
cider,"  or  half-a-pint  of  wine  in  24  hours  and  that  meals  must  not 
be  luxurious  or  wasteful.  Unconvicted  prisoners  are  permitted  to 
wear  their  own  clothing  if  it  is  not  "insufficient  or  unfit  for  use." 
Many  of  them  do  so. 

Prisoners  awaiting  trial  for  a  month  or  upwards  are  allowed  to 
work  either  at  their  own  trade  "when  this  is  practicable"  or  at 
prison  industries.  All  unconvicted  prisoners  who  elect  to  work  are 
credited  with  payment,  after  deductions  have  been  made  at  the  rate 
of  6d.  per  diem  for  maintenance,  and  of  id.  per  diem  for  tools, 
when  such  are  used.  It  is  very  rare  that  unconvicted  prisoners  are 
able  to  work  at  anything  else  than  a  prison  industry,  and,  since  they 
do  not,  as  a  rule,  work  in  association,  almost  all  are  employed  at 
mail-bag  making  or  other  sewing  work  which  can  be  performed  in 
the  cell.  When  employed  on  prison  industries  they  are  not  per- 
mitted to  earn  more  than  5/-  per  week  after  deductions,  unless,  in 
any  special  case,  the  Prison  Commissioners  agree,  on  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  governor,  to  a  larger  payment.  These  earnings 
may  be  expended  by  the  prisoner  for  the  benefit  of  his  family,  ou 
legal  expenses,  or  in  the  purchase  of  books  and  newspapers.  If  a 
prisoner  be  found  guilty,  any  unexpended  balance  of  his  earnings 
is  retained  for  payment  to  him  as  a  gratuity  on  discharge,  or,  at 
the  discretion  of  the  Aid  Society  and  with  the  consent  of 
the  prisoner,  is  expended  for  the  benefit  of  his  family.  Work  is 
not  compulsory  for  unconvicted  prisoners,  but  most  of  them  prefer 
to  do  something  rather  than  remain  idle. 

Unconvicted  prisoners  found  guilty  of  breaking  prison  regulations 
in  any  way  (e.g.,  smoking)  are  liable  to  dietary  punishment  in  the 
same  way  as  ordinary  prisoners.  They  are  not  permitted  to  speak, 
although  the  Departmental  Committee  of  1895  recommended  that 
they  should  be   allowed  to  communicate  with  one  another  in  the 

"  In   "any    special    case   lor   special   reasons,"    the   Tisiting   magistrates   may   "prolong   the 
period  ot  the  visit."    Rule  207   (3). 

'*  A  governor's  explanation  of  this  is  that  poison  might  be  passed  from  one  to  the  other. 
What  of  the  food  sent  in? 


810  UNCONVICTED  PRISONERS 

presence  of  warders."  The  cells  occupied  by  unconvicted  prisoners 
are  ordinary  prison  cells.  Brixton  prison,  which,  except  for  debtors, 
is  exclusively  for  unconvicted  prisoners,  is  of  the  usual  type. 
"Why,"  asks  one  of  our  witnesses  "if  these  prisoners  are  confined 
for  safe  custody  only,  and  if  their  confinement  is  to  be  as  little  as 
possible  oppressive,  should  not  accommodation  be  provided  for  such 
prisoners  entirely  unlike  and  unassociated  with  prison?""  Un- 
convicted prisoners  in  the  great  majority  of  cases  sleep  on  the 
ordinary  bed-boards,  although  in  one  hall  at  Brixton  bedsteads  have 
been  introduced. 

When  all  the  "privileges"  which  unconvicted  prisoners  enjoy 
have  been  taken  into  account,  it  will  be  seen  that  they  undergo  much 
the  same  treatment  as  the  convicted.  In  many  other  respects  the 
treatment  is  identical ;  the  penal  discipline,  the  imposition  of  silence 
and  the  degradation  of  personality  are  the  same.  Indeed,  the 
regime  is  so  similar  that  most  prison  officers  show  no  difference  in 
their  attitude  towards  the  two  classes  of  prisoners.  In  one  import- 
ant respect  conditions  are  definitely  worse,  namely,  the  enforcement 
of  separate  confinement.  In  a  further  respect,  also,  unconvicted 
prisoners  frequently  suffer  compared  with  convicted  prisoners;  the 
chaplains  and  the  lady  visitors  have  not  the  same  standing  in  the 
case  of  a  prisoner  on  remand  as  in  the  case  of  a  convicted  prisoner. 
His  or  her  "welfare"  is  still  technically  the  concern  of  the  Police 
Court  Missionary,  who  can  hardly  be  expected  to  add  to  his 
arduous  duties  by  becoming  a  prison  visitor.  Thus  it  often  happens 
that  less  steps  can  be  taken  to  help  a  prisoner  on  leaving  prison  after 
remand  than  after  imprisonment. 

It  seems  to  us  outrageous  that  prisoners  who  are  unconvicted  of 
crime  and  who,  as  the  book  of  "Instructions  for  Prison  Officers" 
points  out,  are  "in  law  presumably  innocent"  should  be  treated  in 
the  severe  way  which  is  now  the  rule.  "His  detention  is  only 
justifiable  on  the  ground  that  he  might  fail  to  appear  at  Court  for 
trial,"  says  Dr.  Devon. ^'  "That  being  so,  he  ought  not  to  require 
permission  from  any  committee  or  official  before  he  is  allowed  to 
feed,  clothe,  and  amuse  himself;  and  he  should  only  be  prevented 
from  doing  so  if  his  act  is  detrimental  to  his  own  health  or  that  of 
the  other  inmates  of  the  prison.  .  .  .  On  no  account  is  he  per- 
mitted to  smoke.  This  is  a  curious  restriction,  and  there  is  not  thel 
faintest  show  of  reason  for  its  exercise.  The  proper  attitude  towards 
the  untried  prisoner  is  not  that  implied  in  the  question,  'Why  should 
he  be  allowed  to  do  this?'  The  question  ought  always  to  be,  'Why 
should  he  not  be  allowed  to  do  what  he  wishes?'  and  this  would  be 

"Report  of  the  Departmental  Committee,  1895,  Sections  88  and  125,  X  (7).  The  Prison 
Commissioners  objected;   and  this  recommendation   was  never   put  into  force. 

>*  Some  years  ago  the  authorities  introduced  a  much  better  window,  with  a  large  opening 
pane,  in  one  of  the  halls  at  Brixton,  but  when,  six  or  seven  years  later,  another  block  wm 
built,  they  reverted  to  the  old  pattern.  The  reason  given  was  that  some  attempts  at  escape 
had  been  made,  but  one  of  our  witnesses  points  out  that  the  danger  could  have  been  avoided 
by  dividing   the  large  window  into  two  rianes. 

"  "The  Criminal  and  the  Community,"  p.   253. 


THE    EFFECT    UPON    YOUNG    PRISONERS  311 

the  question  if  the  theory  that  presumes  an  untried  prisoner's 
innocence  were  put  into  practice." 

The  Effect  Upon  Young  Prisoners. 
The  worst  feature  of  the  practice  of  sending  unconvicted  persons 
:o  prison  is  the  effect  upon  the  young.  Mr.  Clarke  Hall,  the 
aiagistrate,  has  laid  special  stress  on  the  folly,  and  worse,  of  com- 
mitting girls  charged  with  small  offences  such  as  "insulting 
Deha\iour"  to  prison  on  remand.  The  difficulty  is  that  in  many 
3f  these  cases  the  girl  has  run  away  from  home  and  is  living  among 
Dad  companions,  with  the  consequence  that  at  the  time  she  is 
:harged  there  is  no  opportunity  to  get  into  touch  with  her  parents. 
\s  a  rule  "homes"  will  not  take  these  girls  without  several  days' 
ix>tice  and  without  a  medical  examination.  Two  have  been  fouiid 
[n  London,  however,  willing  to  accept  girls  straight  from  the  Courts, 
md  the  practice  now  is  at  one  Court,  at  least,  to  give  suitable  girls 
ihe  option  to  go  to  one  of  these  places  instead  of  to  Holloway.  In 
^very  case,  we  believe,  the  offer  of  the  "home"  has  been  accepted.'" 
'  The  following  statement  embodying  particulars  given  by  A. P., 
Ivho  spent  seven  days  on  remand  in  an  observation  ward  of  a  prison 
bospital,  illustrates  the  dangers  in  the  case  of  girls:  — 

A.  P.  was  only  17  years  of  age  and  was  charged  with  breaking  her 
conditions  of  probation,  following  a  sentence  for  stealing  a  bicycle.  She 
was  afterwards  again  placed  on  probation.  She  was  placed  in  a  ward 
in  the  hospital  for  observation. 

The  cases  in  the  ward  where  she  was  placed  included  women  charged 
with  child-murder,  manslaughter,  bigamy,  soliciting,  stealing  and 
neglect  of  children.  She  was  the  youngest,  and  all  the  other  women 
were  more  than  20  years  of  age.  The  wardresses  (except  one)  permitted 
conversation  freely.  The  conversation  of  some  of  the  women  was  very 
bad,  and  one  described  to  A. P.  how  she  used  to  steal  from  men  with 
whom  she  "got  off"  every  day.  One  of  these  women  asked  A.P.  to  go 
and  live  with  her  when  she  got  out  of  prison,  and  another  impressed  on 
her  how  easy  it  was  to  get  a  good  living  by  stealing,  and  how  rarely 
one  got  caught.  The  wardresses  conversed  with  the  women  prisoners, 
but  A.P.  did  not  hear  any  of  them  endeavouring  to  get  them  to  lead 
I     "  better  lives."' 

I  The  danger  of  sending  young  persons  to  prison  on  remand  is 
further  illustrated  in  the  following  statement  made  by  a  witness  who 
ppent  three  months  in  a  hall  occupied  by  unconvicted  prisoners :  — 

The   most   noticeable   difference   between    the   remand   hall   and   other 
'       halls  was  the  laxity  of   discipline   in  the  former.     During  every   meal- 
time  the    remand   prisoners   talked    freely   to   each   other   through   the 

-"It  is  clear  that  the  success  of  this  plan  depends  entirely  upon  the  management  of  the 
'home."  In  the  case  of  one  of  them,  not  only  has  no  girl  erer  attempted  to  abscond, 
;>lthoagh  complete  freedom  oJ  egress  is  given,  but  many  girls  sent  to  it  hare,  on  returning 
o  Court_,  begged  to  be  allowed  to  go  back.  One  of  our  witnesses  urges  that  such  a  home 
Is  not  only  of  immense  help  to  the  girl,  but  of  great  assistance  to  the  Court,  since  intimate 
istociation  with  the  girl  enables  those  in  charge  to  make  Taluable  suggestions  as  to  the 
pest  course  for  her  future.  At  present  the  cost  of  these  homes  depends  upon  yoluntary 
POTtribntions.  One  witness,  a  woman  magistrate,  who  has  paid  particular  attention  to  this 
!ioe  of  the  penal  problem,  urges  that  the  Government  should  at  least  contribute  a  sura 
|3qnal  to  the  •ost  of  the  girl's  detention  in  Holloway. 

As    we    point    out    elsewhere,    an    attempt   to    impose    silence    is    no   safeguard    against 
contamination.    See  pp.   562-70  for  a  discussion  of  this  question. 


812  UNCONVICTED  PRISONERS 

windows,  and  rarely  did  we  have  a  visit  from  the  warder  or  were  they  i 
stopped  talking.  The  remand  prisoners  included  boys  between  16  and  ' 
20  years  of  age,  petty  offenders,  bigamists  and   murderers.  ' 

The  most  serious  criticism  I  would  make  is  that  the  boys  were  obliged 
to  listen  to  the  most  foul  and  vicious  conversation.  A  man  charged 
with  manslaughter,  who  occupied  a  cell  near  mine,  described  in  horrible 
language  how  he  had  killed  with  the  butt  end  of  his  rifle  (he  was  a 
soldier)  a  policeman  who  had  come  to  arrest  him  for  bigamy.  His 
conversation  expressed  the  beastliest  view  of  women  and  utter  callous- 
ness about  human  life.  He  discussed  quite  calmly  what  his  sentence 
would  be,  prophesying  five  years,  which  proved  right.  Filthy  talk 
about  women  was  common,  and  I  felt  wretched  about  a  young  drummer 
boy  who  was  in  the  next  cell  to  me  and  who  used  to  stand  at  hia 
window  listening  to  it  all. 

A  fellow  prisoner  on  the  other  side  of  the  hall  told  me  that  similar  i 
conversation  occurred  there,  and  this  was  particularly  bad  because  the 
remand  hall  was  at  right  angles  to  one  of  the  women's  halls,  and  women 
prisoners  used  to  stand  at  their  windows  and  join  in.  One  of  the  men 
prisoners  of  a  particularly  bad  type  made  an  appointment  with  one  of 
the  women  to  meet  him  outside.  | 

A  Statutory  Rule "  insists  that  unconvicted  prisoners  should  be  ! 
kept  apart  from  convicted  prisoners  and  that  they  should  be  kept 
out  of  their  view.  It  is  practically  impossible  to  carry  out  tlus 
instruction  in  any  English  prison.  So  long  as  prisoners  awaiting  ; 
trial  are  sent  to  prison,  they  will  suffer,  in  some  degree  at  least,  ! 
from  the  deteriorating  physical,  mental,  and  moral  influences  and  ! 
effects  of  the  prison  system. 

Appellants.  \ 

A  prisoner  who   appeals  against  his  sentence   to   the  Court  of  ' 
Criminal   Appeal,  established  under  the  1907  Act,  is  treated  with  ' 
exceptional  severity  pending  the  hearing  of  the  appeal.     He  spends  ; 
the  whole  period  in  separate  confinement,  that  is,  he  is  confined  to  ! 
his  cell  for  nearly  23  out  of  24  hours;  and  he  does  not  enjoy  the  ; 
privileges  relating  to  clothes,  books,  newspapers,   food,  and  visits  \ 
which  prisoners  on  remand  enjoy.     His  treatment,  in  fact,  is,  except 
in  two  respects,    identical  with  the  first  and  severest  month  of  a 
hard  labour  prisoner;  the  modifications  are,  first  that  he  is  entitled 
to  have  access  to  his  legal  adviser,  and  second,  that  if  the  appeal  be  , 
successful,  he  is  paid  for  his  work.     If  the  appeal  be  unsuccessful,  i 
the  period  spent  awaiting  the  hearing  is  not  counted  as  part  of  the 
sentence  imposed,  unless  the  Court  specially  directs  that  it  shall  be  i 
so;  but  in  the  case  of  a  prisoner  sentenced  to  penal  servitude,  "the  j 
period   passed  as  an  appellant  will  count   as  part  of  the  period  of  | 
separate    confinement."     We  do   not  understand  on   what  ground 
appellants  are  treated  with  this  severity,    since  it  is  still  an  open  ■ 
question  whether  they  will  be  found  innocent  or  guilty,  and  since, 
even  if  they  be  found  guilty,  the  time  spent  in  prison  pending  the 
hearing  is  not  calculated  in  whatever  sentence  is  imposed. 

2»  Rule  189. 


UNCONVICTED  PRISONERS  313 


SOME     OF     THE     PRINCIPAL     DEFECTS     INDICATED     IN     THE 
PRECEDING    CHAPTER. 


j  1. — The  conditions  of  imprisonment  for  those  on  remand,  although  "in 
law  presumably  innocent"  and  detained  "for  safe  custody  only,"  are 
in  most  respects  similar  to  those  for  convicted  prisoners.  Many  of  the 
"privileges"  are  not  within  the  reach  of  the  poor.  The  same  warders  apply 
the  same  repressive  routine  to  convicted  and  unconvicted  alike. 

2. — Prisoners  on  remand  are  kept  in  separate  confinement,  sometimes  for 
long  periods. 

!  3. — They  are  considerably  hampered  in  preparing  their  defence  as  compared 
jwith  those  admitted  to  bail. 

I  4. — The  injustice  is  much  increased  by  the  fact  that  about  half  of  those 
remanded  to  prison  are  subsequently  either  acquitted  or  adjudged  suited 
for  some  other  treatment  than  imprisonment. 

Appellants. 

5. — A  prisoner  who  appeals  against  his  sentence  to  the  Court  of  Criminal 
Appeal  is  kept  in  separate  confinement  and  does  not  enjoy  eren  the 
'privileges"  extended  to  remand  prisoners. 


314  UNCONVICTED  PRISONERS 

Appendix  to  Chapter  Twenty. 


NOTES    OF    A    WOMAN   EEMAND    PEISONEE.       || 


Miss  X  was  arrested  at  Marylebone  without  a  warrant  on  September  3rd, 
1919.  Taken  in  a  ta.xi  to  Walton  Street  Police  Station.  There  had  read 
out  to  her  the  charge  of  stealing  goods  by  means  of  a  trick.  Finger  prints 
taken.  Was  left  for  an  hour  in  a  cell  with  a  woman  who  searched  her  and 
took  away  her  bag.     No  woman  on  spot  at  first ;  man  took  finger  prints. 

Had  a  cup  of  tea — sent  out  for;  wardress  told  her  to  give  policeman  1/- 
for  fetching  it,  which  she  did.  She  had  ordered  some  bovril  and  given 
money  (1/-)  for  it.  It  did  not  come  before  she  left;  1/-  not  returned.  Taken 
in  a  taxi  to  Westminster  Police  Station.  Kept  for  some  time  in  a  cell ; 
no  complaint  of  treatment,  but  no  woman  there  again  at  first. 

Remanded  for  a  week  on  request  of  prosecuting  counsel.  She  had  no 
lawyer.  Taken  in  prison  van  (wardress  very  nice  and  sympathetic  to  all 
the  prisoners)  to  Holloway. 

Got  to  Holloway.  Met  by  a  wardress.  Asked  "how  long  she  was  there 
for";  replied  "just  for  the  night."  Wardress  looked  at  paper  and  said, 
"That's  not  true,  you  are  here  for  a  week."  Answered  quite  nicely  that 
she  was  going  to  be  bailed  out  to-morrow.  Wardress  said  she  had  heard 
that  tale  before,  and  told  X  not  to  answer  back.  Put  in  a  cell  till  called 
out  into  the  receiving  office,  and  told  to  undress.  There  were  a  lot  of  people 
in  the  room.     Had  to  undress  there — sheet  not  given  till  X  was  stripped. 

Nurse  said  she  must  examine  Miss  X's  head,  and  said  it  was  not  clean,  j 
X  said  she  knew  it  was.  Nurse  said  she  must  have  her  head  washed.  X  i 
insisted  that  this  should  not  be  done,  and  was  sent  to  her  bath.  Prison  i 
clothes  sent  in ;  she  protested,  but  they  insisted  on  the  ground  that  her : 
head  was  not  clean.  Stockings,  one  with  no  toes,  one  with  no  heel ;  clothes 
fairly  clean.  j 

Another  woman,  a  wardress,  examined  head,  could  see  nothing.  First  i 
said,  "Oh,  it's  probably  run  away,  there  aren't  many."  Other  said,  "You 
want  good  eyesight  for  nitty  heads."  X  explained  that  she  went  weekly' 
to  a   good  hairdresser,  and  they   desisted. 

X   was  shut  up  in  a  cell.     She  said,   "Will  you  order  a  special  room;  1 
have  money  to  pay  for  it."     (Police  had  told  her  that  this  was   possible)! 
Wardress  said,  "You  cannot  have  it  now,  you  can  have  it  to-morrow  night.' j 
She   then   explained  that   she  had  had  no  food  all  day,  and  would  like  U\ 
order    dinner,   as  the   police   had  told   her   she  might.     Wardress   (another! 
said  it  was  impossible  to  have  in  a  meal  that  night.     One  of  the  prisoner;  ^ 
said    if    X   wanted   breakfast    she   must   order    it   that   night.     X   asked   ;' 
wardress  about  it,  who  said,  "Well,  order  it  when  you  get  up  in  the  mom 
ing."     She  was   brought  her  ordinary  prison   supper,   which  she  was  quit 
unable  to  eat,  in  the  ordinary  prison  tin ;  cocoa,  a  lump  of  bread  with  lumi 
of  margarine  in  middle,  no  knife  or  plate. 

Doctor  (a  man)  then  examined  her  in  another  room,  chest  sounded,  aske 
about  V.D.  She  was  then  taken  to  a  larger  building  and  put  in  a  cell  up, 
stairs.     Ordinary  plank  bed,  prison  mattress  and  bed-clothes,  no  nightdree' 


I 


NOTES   OF    WOMAN   ON   REMAND  SIS 

given.     X  was  allowed  to  visit  w.c.  before  going  to  bed,  bat  wardress  kept 
on  calling  to  her  to  hurry  all  the  time. 

Next  morning  was  awake  when  bell  rang,  got  up  and  dressed ;  wardress 
showed  her  how  to  roll  up  sheets  round  a  slate,  etc.  Cell  was  clean,  with 
exception  of  chamber,  which  smelt  badly.  The  first  thing  she  did  was  to 
order  a  breakfast  from  outside.  Wardress  (not  the  same  as  previous  night) 
eaid  she  could  not  have  it  as  she  had  not  ordered  it  the  night  before.  Break- 
fast given  consisted  of  greasy  porridge,  tea  highly  sweetened.  She  took 
nothing. 

Told  to  scrub  out  cell,  floor,  table,  bed-board  and  chair.  When  X  asked 
wardress  how  the  brickdust  was  to  be  used,  the  wardress  first  seen  passed, 
and  said,  "She  knows  well  enough  how  to  do  it,  only  she  won't."  Second 
wardress  said,  in  a  very  unpleasant  way,  "At  least,  if  you  don't  know  how 
to  do  it  yourself,  you've  got  servants  and  you've  seen  how  they  do  it." 

X  was  then  taken  up  to  a  room  labelled  "dirty  heads/'  where  was  a  very 
inice  nurse.  She  talked  kindly  and  looked  at  head  quite  inoffensively,  and 
without  directly  contradicting  other  officials,  made  it  clear  that  nothing 
was  amiss. 

After  dinner,  X's  father  arrived  to  bail  her  out.  She  was  pat  into  another 
cell,  made  to  undress  entirely,  and  then  given  back  her  own  clothing  and 
relesised. 


CHAPTER  XXI 


PENAL   SERVITUDE  ; 

♦ 

The    Convict    Population  "f^ 

<*' 

The  minimum  sentence  for  prisoners  confined  in  the  Convict 
prisons  (at  Maidstone,  Dartmoor,  Liverpool  and  Parkhurst') 
is  three  years  penal  servitude.*  Penal  servitude  is  imposed  for  the 
most  serious  offences  or  for  repeated  crime,  but  it  must  not,  there- 
fore, be  assumed  that  the  prison  population  at  Convict  prisons  is  of 
a  more  degraded  and  depressed  type  than  that  at  Local  prisons. 
Indeed,  our  evidence  suggests  that  the  opposite  is  the  case.  "Penal 
servitude  men  tend  to  be  the  artists  in  crime  now,"  says  one  high 
official.  "They  are  of  a  much  better  type  in  many  ways  than  Local 
prisoners — in  large  part  they  are  clever  artisans." 

The  great  majority  of  penal  servitude  sentences  are  for  not  more 
than  five  years.  In  1920-21,  of  the  492  prisoners  sentenced,  444 
were  for  five  years  or  less.  About  two-thirds  (314)  received  the 
minimum  sentence  of  three  years.  Eleven  prisoners  were  sentenced 
for  life,  one  for  20  years,  two  for  15  years,  eleven  for  10  years,  six 
for  8  years,  fourteen  for  7  years,  and  three  for  6  years. 

The  proportions  are  fairly  constant,  but  since  1913-14  the  daily 
average  of  penal  servitude  prisoners  has,  like  that  of  Local  prisoners, 
decreased  nearly  one  half;  from  2704  to  1435.  Compared  with  the 
fall  in  the  number  of  convictions  to  simple  imprisonment,  the  drop 
in  convictions  to  Convict  prisons  has,  however,  been  comparatively 
small;  whilst  sentences  to  simple  imprisonment  have  fallen  from 
150,308  to  48,588,  the  fall  in  penal  servitude  sentences  has  only 
been  from  797  to  492.  One  cause  of  the  difference  is  the  fact  that 
the  Criminal  Justice  Administration  Act,  1914,  has  not  affected 
the  population  of  Convict  prisons. 

The  number  of  women  convicts  is  small.     In  1913-14  the  daily 
average  was  95,  in  1920-21  it  was  76.     The  number  of  convictions  , 
was  45  in  1913-14,  and  20  in  1920-21.  | 

The  last  returns  enabling  us  to  judge  the  nature  of  the  offences  } 
for  which  convicts  are  sentenced  refer  to  1913-14.     The  proportion  I 

>  The  prison   for  "Star"  conricts  is  attached  to  the  Local   prison  at   Maidstone.    Portland 
prison  has  recently  been  converted  into  a  Borstal  institution  for  boys.    Women  conTicts  occupy  ^ 
a    part    of    Lirerpool    Local   prison.    Conyicts    not   fit   to   perform   hard    labour   are  sent  te  j 
Parkhurst. 

'  This  is  reduced  by  good  conduct  to  two  years  and  three  months,  followed  by  nine  monthi 
of    liberty  under    the  restrictions   of   the  "licence."    See  pp.   472-474. 


CLASSIFICATION  317 

Df  crimes  against  property  was  73  per  cent.,  35  per  cent  were 
iccompanied  by  violence.  Of  the  740  males  convicted,  146  were 
'ound  guilty  of  simple  larceny,  226  of  burglary  and  shop  and  house- 
)reaking,  98  of  forgery  and  obtaining  property  by  false  pretences, 
md  128  of  crimes  against  the  person.  Among  women  31  were  for 
;rimes  against  property,  and  14  for  crimes  against  the  person. 

;  Dr.  Goring  found  that  the  age  when  the  criminal  careers  of 
•-onvicts  begin  is,  on  an  average,  19  years.'  The  1913-14  returns 
;ive  the  following  particulars  of  the  ages  of  penal  servitude  prisoners 
vhen  convicted  of  the  offences  for  which  they  were  then  undergoing 
mprisonment :  — 

I      Under  21.     From  21  to  30.      30-40.      40-50.        50-60.        60  &  over. 
'  52  837  887        501         232  157 

2  p.c.  31  p.c.     33  p.c.    19  p.c.     9  p.c.         6  p.c. 

It  will  be  seen  from  these  figures  that  no  less  than  33  per 
ent.  were  under  30  years  of  age  when  sentenced  to  penal  servitude. 
\.n  ex-convict  who  served  a  sentence  at  Maidstone,  remarks  that 
fthe  youthfulness  of  most  murderers  and  assaulters  was  striking, 
;ut  forgers  and  defrauders,  etc.,  were  not  normally  young." 

Recidivism  is  the  outstanding  feature  of  the  population  of  Convict 
risons,  as  the  following  analysis  of  the  careers  of  the  men  under- 
bing  penal  servitude  on  March  31st,  1914,  reveals.  Of  the  total 
',568,  no  less  than  1,124,  or  44  per  cent,  had  previously  been 
entenced  to  penal  servitude;  544  once,  327  twice,  131  thrice,  84 
3ur  times,  34  five  times,  and  4  six  times  and  over.  If  we  include 
pnviction  to  Local  prisons,  we  find  that  only  415,  or  16  per  cent. 
ad  never  been  previously  convicted,  and  that  743  had  been  con- 
icted  from  6  to  10  times,  568  from  11  to  20  times,  and  235  above 
[)  times. 

Classification. 

Conviets  are  classified  into  three  groups,  the  Star,  the  Inter- 
lediate,  and  the  Eecidivist.  Until  1903-4  there  were  only  the  two 
asses,  the  Star  and  the  Recidivist, — but  in  that  year  the  Com- 
iissioners,  responding  to  suggestions  which  had  been  made  for  some 
Bars  in  the  reports  of  the  Prison  Inspectors,  created  the  Inter- 
lediate  class  for  the  "large  body  on  the  borderland  between  those 
iot  previously  convicted  of  crime  (i.e.  the  Stars)  and  those  who  have 
jade  crime  a  profession  (i.e.,  the  Recidivists.)" 

I  In  1913-14  the  convict  population  was  divided  into  1636  recidi- 
■sts,  515  intermediates,  and  288  stars.  Prisoners  who  have  served 
revious  sentences  for  trivial  offences  may  be  included  in  the  Star 
ass,  but  the  regulations  exclude  men  guilty  of  receiving  stolen 
xxis  and  of  certain  sexual  offences.     The  exclusion  does  not  appear 

'  In  1911  the  chaplain  at  Parkhnrst  prison  tabled  particulars  of  the  ages  of  1,000 
lOTicts  when  first  sentenced;  44  per  cent,  were  20  years  or  under,  and  73  per  cent,  were 
p  years  or  under.     (P.C.  Eeport,  1911-12,   Part  2,  p.    191.) 


318  PENAL  SERVITUDE 

to  be  strictly  carried  out."  "The  whole  possible  catalogue  of  sexual 
offences,"  says  an  ex-convict,  "seem  to  be  represented  at  Maid- 
stone Convict  prison,  which  is  reserved  for  Stars." 

It  has  been  the  custom  to  send  the  male  intermediates  and 
recidivists  who  are  fit  for  hard  labour,  to  Dartmoor  or  Portland.' 
When  the  intermediate  class  was  first  introduced,  separation  from 
the  recidivists  was,  we  are  assured  by  a  warder,  "practically  com- 
plete," but  in  recent  years  the  two  classes  seem  to  have  been  freely 
mixed.  "There  have  not  been  sufficient  men  to  make  effective 
separation  possible,"  says  a  responsible  official.  "Certain  work 
has  had  to  be  done,  and  there  have  not  been  sufficient  men  of  one 
class  to  do  it  alone." 

The  Prison  Commissioners  claimed  in  1905-6  that  experience  had 
shown  "the  value  of  instituting  the  intermediate  class,"  but  many 
of  our  witnesses  are  sceptical  as  to  its  worth.  "Many  of  the 
recidivists  are  better  than  the  intermediates,"  says  an  officer.  "The 
officials  who  make  the  selection  are  not  at  all  accurate  as  judges  of 
character."  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  generally  agreed  that  there  is 
a  marked  distinction  between  recidivists  and  the  "accidental" 
criminals,  who  form  the  bulk  of  the  Star  class.  "The  latter," 
says  a  prison  officer,  "are  more  reformable,  but  the  former  make 
the  best  prisoners,  taking  the  life  philosophically  as  part  of  the 
game." 

The  only  big  difference  in  the  treatment  of  the  three  classes  is  the 
longer  period  of  initial  "separate  confinement"  to  which  recidivists  i 
are  liable.     The  discipline  at  Maidstone  is,   we  believe,   less  strict  I 
than  has  usually  been  the  case  at  Dartmoor  and  Portland,  and  the  i 
intermediates  are  trusted  a  little  more  than  the  recidivists  and  given 
rather  less  supervision.       But  the  treatment  after  the   first  three 
months  is  practically  identical,  and  although  promotion  is  obtainable  ; 
from  one  class  to  another  (and  degradation  enforceable),   the  men  I 
are  said  to  be  usually  indifferent  to  any  change.  j 

Promotions  from  the  Intermediate  to  the  Star  class  are  occasionally  i 
made,  and  degradations  rarely  occur.  One  ex-convict  states  that ; 
during  the  three  years  he  was  at  Maidstone  "there  were  two  or  i 
three  degradations  for  violent  behaviour  and  one  merely  for  repeated , 
infraction  of  the  silence  rule."  The  classes  are  distinguished  in; 
outward  appearance  by  particular  marks  upon  the  uniforms;  the 
stars,  like  the  same  class  in  the  Local  prisons,  wear  red  stars  on 
their  caps  and  sleeves,  and  the  intermediates  red  chevrons. 

»  "In  the  case  of  prisoners  sentenced  to  penal  gerTitude,"  says  Mr.  N.  G.  Mitchell-Innes,  I 
Inspector  of  English  Prisons,  in  a  memorandum  prepared  for  the  Indian  Jails  Committee. 
1919-1920,  "the  governor  of  the  'Local'  prison  in  which  he  is  lodged  on  reception  sends  | 
out  printed  forms  of  enquiry  to  the  police  and  to  any  respectable  friends.  These,  wheo 
completed,  are  forwarded  to  headquarters  with  the  conTict's  'dossier,'  which  contains  a  '.*''?"'; 
of  his  age,  a  newspaper  cutting  of  his  trial,  and  a  statement  of  any  previous  convictiorj 
incurred  by  him,  etc.,  etc.  From  a  study  of  these  a  decision  is  come  to,  as  to  whether  tW; 
eonvict  shall  be  placed  in  the  'Star,'  the  'Intermediate,'  or  the   'Recidivist'  class." 

'  Portland    prison    having    been     transformed    into    a     Borstal    institution,     most    of    thi 
Recidivists  and   Intermediates  are  now  congregated   at   Dartmoor. 


H 


PENAL  SERVITUDE  819 

Distinctive  Features  of  the  Convict  Regime. 
The  principles  upon  which  the  regime  in  penal  servitude  prisons  is 
ased  are  the  same  as  those  underlying  the  Local  prison  system,  and 
lost  of  the  Standing  Orders  issued  for  the  regulation  of  the  routine 
re  identical  for  both.  As  in  Local  prisons,  the  system  is  founded 
n  silence,  separation,  slave  labour,  and  slave  morality.  We  shall 
nly  describe  here  the  features  of  the  routine  which  are  different 
-om  those  which  have  already  been  detailed. 

A  man  sentenced  to  penal  servitude  is  sent,  in  the  first  instance, 
i)  the  nearest  Local  prison  to  serve  a  preliminary  period  of  solitary 
Dnfinement.  Before  1899  the  length  of  this  period  was  nine 
months;  in  that  year  it  was  reduced  to  six  months;  in  1905,  on  the 
^classification  of  convicts,  the  period  was  varied  with  the  class  of 
he  prisoner,  the  stars  being  required  to  serve  three  months' 
iseparate,"  the  intermediat^es  six  months',  and  the  recidivists  nine 
jonths;  finally,  in  1911,  Mr.  Churchill  reduced  the  period  to  three 
lonths  for  recidivists  and  one  month  for  stars  and  intermediates. 

Instructions  issued  in  1911  made  the  periods  of  separate 
Dnfinement  "subject  to  such  exceptions  as  administrative  necessity 
r  convenience  may  demand,"  and  in  actual  practice  the  periods 
^  largely  determined  by  considerations  of  convenient  transference. 
Ihus  if  a  star  convict  has  served  a  month's  separate  confinement 
nd  there  are  other  convicts  in  the  same  prison,  they  are  all  removed 
i>gether,  irrespective  of  the  time  they  have  been  there.'  A  warder 
t  one  of  the  penal  servitude  prisons  informs  us  that  some  of  the 
pnvicts  come  "aft^r  only  having  done  a  few  days  in  Local  prisons" 
?en  though  they  be  recidivists.  They  begin  work  in  association 
nmediately  on  arriving  at  the  Convict  prison. 

The  period  of  separate  confinement  was  originally  adopted 
[entirely  with  regard  to  its  reformative  value,"  but  in  recent  years 
s  penal  and  deterrent  aspect  has  been  most  stressed.  The  fact 
lat  the  regulation  period  is  now  frequently  ignored  suggests  that 
lis  justification  is  in  turn  being  abandoned.  A  superior  officer  at 
he  of  the  Convict  prisons  urges  that  a  few  days  separate  confine- 
jent  is  advisable  "to  enable  the  man  to  face  the  blow  of  the 
^ntence  just  like  when  you've  lost  a  relative  and  want  to  be  alone" ; 
therwise  he  disapproves  of  it  entirely.  The  trend  of  opinion  is 
tearly  in  this  direction. 

:  Convicts,  especially  star  convicts,  are  supposed  to  be  kept 
sparate  from  other  prisoners  whilst  in  Local  prisons,  but  this  rule 
:  often  disregarded.  We  are  informed,  for  instance,  that  the  con- 
vcts  at  two  of  the  largest  prisons  exercise  with  the  local  prisoners, 
pd  that  in  one  prison  at  least,  they  work  together.  The  life  of  the 
pnvict  in  the  Local  prison  is  identical  with  that  of  a  hard  labour 
jfisoner,  except  that  he  is  not  required  to  sleep  without  a  mattress, 

I' The  conyicts  are  transferred  in  prison  dress  and  are  strongly  chained  together  with 
rist^nlfs  and  chains.    Not  more  than  ten  njen  may  be  transferred  at  once. 


320  PENAL  SERVITUDE 

is  permitted  a  visit  of  20  minutes  and  to  write  and  receive  a  letter 
during  the  first  week,  has  an  exercise  on  Sunday  from  the  first,  and 
an  additional  exercise  on  Saturday,  and  sometimes  is  allowed  a 
second  educational  book.  The  regulations  require  that  special 
attention  shall  be  paid  by  the  chaplain  during  this  period  to  educa- 
tional and  religious  instruction,  but  we  have  no  evidence  that  the 
overworked  chaplain  has,  as  a  rule,  time  for  anything  but  a  brief 
visit  or  two.  Unlike  the  local  prisoner  the  convict  is  permitted  to 
send  to  a  friend  any  money  or  property  which  he  may  have  on  his 
person  on  reception.  His  hair  is  cropped  close  before  he  is  trans- 
ferred to  the  Convict  prison. 

It  is  a  common  remark  among  prisoners  who  have  undergone  the 
regime  of  both  Local  and  Convict  prisons,  that  they  would  rather 
do  three  years  in  a  Convict  prison  than  two  in  a  Local,  but  the  rules 
are  very  similar  and  the  ameliorations  few.  The  early  months  of 
the  sentence  are  particularly  hard  to  bear.  Convict  prisons  are  cut 
off  from  the  outside  world  to  a  greater  extent  even  than  Local 
prisons — incomings  and  outgoings  are  less  frequent,  and  the  prisons 
are  situated  in  more  isolated  places — whilst  the  long  sentences  to  be 
served  make  the  prospect  of  release  seem  far  distant.  Except  at 
Maidstone,  the  discipline  within  the  prison  buildings  is  strict,  and 
the  newcomer  takes  some  time  to  learn  in  what  directions  relief  may 
safely  be  sought  from  the  rigid  routine.  "The  first  three  months 
which  I  spent  at  Dartmoor,"  says  a  "lifer,"  "seemed  as  long  as  any  j 
year   which  followed."  ; 

The  silence  rule  is  enforceable  in  Convict  as  in  Local  prisons  and  | 
its  effects  (which  we  shall  discuss  later)  are  equally  demoralising, 
but    the    nature    of    much    of    the    work    done    makes    observance 
impossible,   and  in  the  farming   parties   at   Dartmoor,   conversation 
about  the  work,  at  least,  occurs  with  little  restriction.     It  is  probably 
the  chance  of  open-air  work,  with  its  interest,  variety  and  reality, 
which  makes  prisoners  prefer  Convict  to  Local  prisons.     "The  men 
about  the   farm  might  have  been  farm  labourers,   except  for  their 
clothes,"  say  a  visitor  to  Dartmoor.       "They  were  all  cheerful." 
Another  visitor  remarks  that  it  was  interesting  to  see  how  the  warders'  i 
children,    coming  for  milk,   ran  among  the  convicts  at  Dartmoor.  , 
Compared  with  the  monotonous  labour  of  Local  prisons  such  em-  - 
ployment  must  be  of  almost  exhilarating  interest. 

Convict  Laboue  and  Industrial  Training. 

In  the  past  most  convicts  were  employed  in  quarrying,  building,  i 
or  other  heavy  open-air  labour.  Now,  a  very  large  proportion  of| 
the  men  are  employed  in  workshops.  The  work  at  Maidstone  is 
mostly  of  a  light,  industrial  nature,  printing  being  an  important  j 
factor;  at  Parkhurst  the  employment  is  mostly  farming  and  market  j 
gardening,  suitable  for  the  less  strong  prisoners ;  40  per  cent,  of  the 
convicts  at  Dartmoor  were  employed  before  the  war,  in  manufactures! 


^       ^~         T 


S       ^ 


.C 


To  Jacc  p.  321 


I 


CONVICT    LABOUR    AND    INDUSTRIAL     TRAINING        821 


'>r  prison  use,  such  as  basket  making,  carpentering,  knitting,  mail- 
ig  making,  shoe  making,  tailoring,  smithing,  or  twine  and  rope 
laking;  and  at  Portland  the  tailoring,  moulding,  smithing  and 
sting  shops  gave  work  for  about  30  per  cent,  of  the  prisoners, 
carrying  was  done  at  Dartmoor  as  well  as  Portland  before  the  war 
-the  New  Scotland  Yard  is  built  of  Dartmoor  stone — but  in  recent 
2ars  all  the  attention  of  the  open-air  workers  has  been  given  to 
tending  cattle,  cropping,   and  reclaiming  land. 

"Men  go  out  in  working  parties  to  distances  of  two  miles,"  states  a 
witneas.  "Large  areas  of  moorland  are  being  reclaimed.  The  site  is 
high  for  wheat  and  the  summer  short  for  root  crops,  but  oats  are  largely 
grown.  The  principal  business  is  stock  raising  and  dairy  farming  for 
the  prison  and  the  officers.  No  produce  is  sold  except  at  the  yearly 
sale  of  stock,  which  last  year  realised  £4,000.  The  stock,  both  cattle 
and  horses,  is  very  carefully  bred.  All  the  warders'  houses,  as  well  as 
the  prison  itself,  are  repaired  by  the  convicts,  and  the  roads  for  a 
considerable  distance  from  the  prison  are  also  kept  up  by  convict 
,    labour." 

I  The  stock  reared  at  Dartmoor  and  Parkhurst  is  of  a  high  standard, 

hd  the  cattle  have  won  several  prizes  at  agricultural  shows.     Sir 

'asil  Thomson,  who  is  an  ex-governor  of  Dartmoor  prison,  says:  — 

'Generally,  convicts   are    always  kind  to  animals,  and  I   cannot  recall 

a  single   instance  of  cruelty.     The  care  of  animals  on  the  farm   seems 

to  bring  with  it  a  sense  of  responsibility  and  self-respect  quite  out  of 

proportion    with  the    effect  that   such  duties   have  on  free  men.       The 

convict  will   devote  himself  heart  and  soul  to  nursing  and  grooming  an 

animal  for  the  show  ring,  and  will  swell  with  pride  when  he  learns  that 

his  charge   has  carried  off  the   first  prize.' 

I  The  prisoners  at  Dartmoor  are  not  allowed  to  work  on  the  farm 
fitil  the  last  period  of  their  sentences;  otherwise  some  choice  is 
prmitted,  subject  to  the  proviso  that  "the  interests  of  the  prison 
pive  to  be  considered  before  the  desires  of  the  prisoners."'  To 
ive  the  men  a  voice  in  choosing  their  employment  keeps  them, 
fcntented,  says  an  official,  and  helps  to  get  tolerably  good  work  from 
lem. 

"Personally,   I  would   like  to  see  them  having  still  more  choice,"  he 

proceeds,    "If  they    cannot    get  the   work  they  want,  they   'go  sick'    or 

malinger,  and   they  usually   get  their  way  in  the  end.     Sometimes   men 

will  get  up  a  fight  between  one  another  in  order  to  force  the  governor 

to    shift    them.       For    instance,    one    man    in    a    shop    was    refused    a 

change  of  work.     He  got  up  a  row  with  another  man  and  threatened  to 

'bash  him.'     The   governor  punished  him  by  putting  him  on  bread  and 

j     water — but  he  got  shifted  !     Another  man,   a  farm  labourer,   could  not 

get  the  governor  to  shift  him  from  the  kitchen.     He  refused  to  work, 

j     got   punished  and    was    sent  back  again  to  the  kitchen.     But   again   he 

'     refused  to  work  and  this  time  he  got  shifted.     You  cannot  make  a  man 

work  if  he  doesn't  mind  punishment,  and  it  would  be  better  to  consider 

his  wishes   in  the  first  instance." 

[•"The  Story   of  Dartmoor  Prison"    (1907),  p.    265-6. 

I*  Mr.  MitchelMnnes,  Inspector  o*  English  Prisons,  in  memorandum  to  Indian  JaUa 
pmmittee  Report,  p.  525,   para.  13. 

M 


822  PENAL  SERVITUDE 

The  labour  advantages  of  Convict  prisons  have  been  considerably 
reduced  since  1919  owing  to  the  introduction  of  cellular  labour. 
Before  this,  no  cellular  work  was  done  in  Convict  prisons,  the  men 
being  employed  for  a  full  eight  hours  either  in  the  workshops  or  on 
the  land.  As  a  result  of  the  introduction  of  the  eight- hour  day  for 
officers,  however,  work  in  association  has  been  reduced  in  order  to 
lessen  the  amount  of  supervision  required,  and  convicts  are  now 
employed  making  mail-bags  in  their  cells  in  the  evening. 

The  practice  of  selecting  trusted  men  to  do  work  without 
supervision  was  adopted  in  Convict  prisons  before  Local  prisons, 
and  at  Dartmoor  there  are  from  30  to  40  "red-collar"  men 
employed  in  farming,  as  well  as  others,  who  work  about  the  prison 
as  gas-fitters,  carpenters,  etc.  The  "red-collar"  men  are  supposed 
to  be  chosen  because  of  their  good  character,  but  as  we  have  befwe 
observed,  a  man  with  a  good  prison  character  is  not  necessarily  a 
trustworthy  person,  and  a  warder  of  experience  tells  us  that  soma 
of  these  privileged  prisoners  are  of  a  very  "artful"  type,  accustomed 
not  so  much  to  keep  prison  rules  as  to  avoid  discovery  in  breaking 
them. 

The  longer  terms  served  in  Convict  prisons  make  trade  instruction 
more  possible,  and  theoretically,  at  any  rate,  the  prison  authorities 
recognise  this.  The  Commissioners  instruct  the  governors  to  make 
arrangements  for  the  technical  instruction  of  all  classes  of  prisoner8, 
the  time  spent  thereon  to  be  proportionate  to  the  length  of  the 
sentence.  It  is  particularly  provided  that  men  in  the  Special  Grade 
(the  last  before  release)  shall  have  every  opportunity  to  make 
themselves  proficient  so  as  to  give  them  the  chance  of  employment 
on  discharge,  and  as  far  as  possible  they  are  to  be  employed  at  theii 
trade  or  at  any  trade  of  which  they  have  some  knowledge  and  which 
they  declare  to  be  their  wish  and  intention  to  follow  on  release] 
"The  object,"  say  the  Commissioners,  "  is,  that  all  convicts  shal; 
have  special  regard  bestowed  upon  them  so  that  we  may  fee.l 
satisfied  that  no  prisoner  is  discharged  from  our  Convict  priso' 
without  some  definite  care  and  thought  being  given  to  afford  th 
[sic]  opportunities  for  leading  an  honest  life." 

Our  evidence  makes  it  clear,  however,  that,  whilst  the  absenc>' 
industrial  training  is  not  so  marked  as  in  the  case  of  Local  priso 
little  advantage  is  taken  of  the  opportunity  to  teach  trades,  and  : 
Commissioners'  instructions  are   flagrantly   ignored.     The  sevei' 
criticisms   in    this   respect   come     from     Maidstone    prison.        I 
prisoners  who  were  employed  at  shoemaking,  tailoring,  and  print: 
respectively  agree  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  learn  any  of  th' 
trades   at  Maidstone.        An  ex-convict    who  is  a  printer  by    tr: 
states  that  the  instructors  in  the  printing  room  were  incompetei 
and   that  the  work  was  not   taken  seriously  either  by  officers 
prisoners.     "It  is  generally  believed  by  the  men,"  he  adds,  "V- 
the  work  done  is   destined  to  be  burned.       They  will  often  t 
advantage  of  foolish   instructions  to   spoil   a  lot  of   material,  o: 


THE   ROUTINE    AT    CONVICT    PRISONS  323 

filing  attention  to  the  mistake   towards  the  end  of  the  job — not 
use  they  are  a  particularly  bad  lot,  but  because  they  despise  the 
i  over  them  and  the  useless  work  they  do. "    The  only  trade  which 
ar  evidence  suggests  can  be  learned  at  Maidstone  is  bookbinding. 
An  ex-convict  who  served  a  term  of  three  years  at  Portland  says 
as  a   rule  the  warder  instructors,  with  the  exception  of  the 
makers,  are  not  skilled  enough  to  teach   a  trade.     "The  only 
to  learn  a  trade,"  he  says,  "is  to  pick  it  up  from  an  efficient 
aciesman  among  the  prisoners,   if  you  are  lucky  enough  to  get  in 
ouch  with  one.     Then,  if  you  stick  to  him,  you  can  learn  a  trade." 
-     witness    himself    learned     plumbing    by    this    means.       A 
:er"    gives    similar    evidence    about    Dartmoor,    but    complains 
lat  "when  working  with  a  man  who  knows  the  trade  better  than 
neself,  it  is  punishable  to  ask  him  advice."     Both  these  witnesses 
that  the  warders  themselves  often  learn  from  skilled  prisoners. 
.  jents  of  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid  Societies  inform  us  that  they 
known  convicts  w^ho  have  learned  shoemaking,  tailoring,   and 
innwork  sufficiently  to  earn  a  livelihood  outside.     This  is  in  keeping 
Hth  further  evidence  from  ex-prisoners,  who  agree  that  skill  in  these 
-3  and  callings  can  be  acquired  at  Dartmoor  and  Portland.     One 
ess  stat-es,  for  instance,  that  he  can  now  earn  his  living  as  a 
iilled  shoemaker  as   a  result  of  his  experience  at  Portland.     He 
ad  a  good  instructor,  learned  to  do  really  good  work,  was  able  to 
i3  many  up-to-date  trade  manuals  as  he  wanted  to  study  in  his 
...  and,  although  not  allowed  a  pencil,  he  was  able  to  trace  out 
16  patterns  in  the  shop.     He  expresses  the  view  that  any  man  who 
■ies  to  learn  either  shoemaking  or  tailoring  can  do  so,   and  adds 
lat  he  knows  a  man  who  served  ten  years  penal  servitude  and  is 
earning  his  living  as  a  tailor's  cutter,    owing   to  his  prison 
-ience  in  making  warders'  uniforms. 
We  do  not  understand  why  the  skilled  training  which  has  been 
;ven  in  shoe  making  and  tailoring  at  Portland  and  Dartmoor  should 
ot  be  given  in  all  the  trades  carried  on  in  all  the  Convict  prisons. 

The  Routixe  at  Convict  Prisons. 
The  daily  routine  of  the  Convict  prisons  is  in  almost  every  respect 
fentical  with  that  of  Local  prisons,  except  that  only  one  chapel 
ervice  is  held  during  the  week  in  addition  to  the  Sunday  services, 
bd  two  "exercises"  take  place  daily.  At  Maidstone  both  the 
ionvict  and  Local  sides  of  the  prison  are  worked,  broadly  speak- 
Ig,  to  one  time,  and  are  managed  by  one  staff.  At  the  other 
Ionvict  prisons  there  used  to  be  some  variation,  owing  largely  to 
lie  longer  time  spent  by  convicts  in  the  workshops  and  in  open-air 
lork,  but  the  introduction  of  cellular  labour  in  the  evenings  has 
liused  the  time-tables  to  be  revised  on  the  lines  of  the  Local 
risons."       Under  present  arrangements  the  prisoners  are  locked 

"•The  daily  time-table  at  Dartmoor  is  (or  was  recently)  as  follows: — 6-30  a.m.  rising  bell; 
0  a.m.  breaklast;  8-15  a.m.  exercise  for  half-an-honr  for  closeting;  9-0  a.m.-ll-40  a.m. 
bonr;  12-15  p.m.  dinner;  1-50  p.m.-2  p.m.  exercise:  2-0  p.m.-4-20  p.m.  labour:  4-30  p.m.- 
0  p.m.   supper;  5-0   p.m.  work  and   reading  in  cells;   9-0  p.m.   lights  out. 


324  PENAL  SERVITUDE 

in  their  cells  at  4.30  p.m.  and  the  door  is  not  opened  again 
until  7  o'clock  the  following  morning — a  period  of  14^  hours.  This 
continuous  confinement  is  bad  in  the  case  of  local  prisoners,  but  its 
dangers  and  cruelty  are  greatly  increased  in  the  case  of  prisoners 
who  are  serving  sentences  of  from  three  to  fifteen  years.  Convicts 
now  pass  at  least  17^  hours  out  of  the  24  hours  of  the  day 
in  solitary  confinement.  It  is  important  to  emphasise  this,  as  an 
impression  has  been  created  that  convicts  spend  a  large  proportion  of 
their  time  in  the  open-air.  The  introduction  of  outside  labour  in 
the  evenings  would  be  possible  if  the  staff  were  increased. 

It  is  officially  admitted  that  the  repressive  regime  is  responsible 
for  a  great  loss  of  time  and  labour.  "The  men,"  wrote  an  Inspector 
of  Prisons  in  1918-19,  "are  supposed  to  work  nine  hours  a  day  [this 
has  since  been  reduced],  but  in  a  'Convict'  prison  the  constant 
parading,  searching,  marching  to  and  from  work,  distribution  and 
collection  of  tools,  etc.,  take  up  an  unfortunately  large  portion  of 
the  working  day."  " 

liie  cell  in  which  the  convict  is  condemned  to  pass  about  18  outj 
of  every  24  hours  does  not  differ  in  any  essential  respects  from  the| 
Local  prison  cell,  with  the  important  exception  that  it  is,  as  a  rule,: 
rather  smaller.  The  equipment  only  differs  in  the  bed.  At  onei 
time  convicts  slept  on  mattresses  in  hammocks,  but  these  have! 
now  disappeared.  Iron  bedsteads  have  been  provided  at  Parkj 
hurst,  and  at  Maidstone  and  Dartmoor  the  men  sleep  on  planlj 
beds  with  coir  mattresses.  A  little  more  freedom  from  the  strict! 
minimum  of  contents  catalogued  in  the  regulations  is  apparentlji 
given.  The  provision  of  technical  books  adds  to  the  prisoners! 
library;  the  number  of  photographs  kept  in  the  cell  is  only  limitec! 
by  the  governor's  discretion;  and  cases  are  actually  on  record  when 
flowers  have  been  permitted  in  the  cell.  At  one  time  it  was  th<i 
custom  of  the  governor  at  Maidstone  to  present  bunches  of  primroseii 
and  lavender  to  every  prisoner  twice  a  year,  whilst  at  Parkhursj 
flowers  are  now  to  be  seen  decorating  the  cells  of  the  sick. 

A  stricter  watch  is  kept  on  convicts  to  prevent  them  secro 
prohibited  articles.  About  once  a  month  they  are  subjected  to  . 
"dry-bath"  search,  the  indignity  of  which  is  bitterly  complained  cj 
by  ex-convicts.  They  are  made  to  stand,  one  at  a  time,  in  a  disusej 
bath,  wearing  only  a  shirt,  while  two  officers  feel  down  their  bodiej 
and  examine  their  clothing.  "When  the  prisoner  is  stripped  to  th 
shirt,  which  is  to  be  quite  open  in  the  front,"  reads  the  Standin| 
Order,  "he  will  be  required  to  hold  his  arms  up  and  to  stand  wit| 
his  legs  apart.""  One  ex-prisoner  describes  this  proceeding  as  th 
most  humiliating  and  degrading  of  his  prison  experiences. 

Much  more  elaborate  precautions  are  taken  in  the  Convict  prisori 
(other  than  Maidstone)  to  prevent  the  escape  of  prisoners.     This  '.\ 

11  Mr.  Mitchell-Innes,  Inspector  of   English  Prisons,  in  memorandum   to  Report  of  Indiij 
Jails  Committee,  p.  525,  para.  13. 

"S.O.  8   (4). 


THE    SYSTEM    OF    PROGRESSIVE    STAGES  325 

partly  due,  no  doubt,  to  the  greater  likelihood  of  attempts  at  escape 
being  made  among  "confirmed"  criminals  who  have  long  sentences 
to  serve,  but  the  principal  reason  is  the  greater  opportunities  of  escape 
given  by  the  employment  of  convicts  in  scattered  parties  outside  the 
prison  walls.  A  witness,  speaking  of  Dartmoor,  says  that  attempts 
at  escape  are  frequent.  "A  man  will  suddenly  drop  his  tools  and 
run,"  he  says.  "It  is  as  though  something  took  possession  of  him. 
The  warders  shout  to  him,  he  comes  to  his  senses,  and  walks  back. 
There  is  very  rarely  need  to  fire."  A  similar  view  is  expressed  by 
Mr.  A.  Paterson.  "They  seldom  do  it  by  dehberat«  plan,"  he 
writes,  "in  most  cases  it  is  the  result  of  a  sudden  uncontrollable 
impulse  to  cut  and  run.  One  man  did  this  though  he  had  only  six 
weeks  to  serve  to  finish  his  sentence. ' '  " 

To  succeed  in  escaping  is  practically  impossible.  Only  one  con- 
vict, we  are  assured,  has  ever  got  away  from  Dartmoor  without  being 
captured,  and  he  is  thought  to  have  perished  in  the  bogs.  Every 
working  squad  carries  a  small  portable  telephone  like  the  army  field 
telephone.  Two  mounted  patrols  accompany  the  working  parties 
across  the  moor,  and  a  guard  armed  with  a  rifle  remains  constantly 
with  each  party.  At  Parkhurst  there  are  no  mounted  patrols,  but 
armed  guards,  bearing  staff  cutlasses  and  loaded  revolvers,  are 
stationed  at  points  outside  the  prison  night  and  day.'* 

Until  recently  it  was  the  custom  of  the  officers  at  Dartmoor  and 
Portland  to  carry  truncheons  loose  in  the  hand  as  a  protection  against 
assault,  but  this  is  no  longer  done;  they  are  carried  inside  the  dress 
as  in  Local  prisons.  "The  practice  of  habitually  carrying  the 
truncheon  in  the  hand."  says  an  officer  at  Dartmoor."  was  introduced 
in  1002  by  Governor  Basil  Thomson  owing  to  an  assault  on  a  warder 
in  the  chapel.  It  has  been  abandoned  since  the  re-opening  of  the 
prison  in  1919.  I  consider  the  practice  was  a  kind  of  terrorism," 
this  witness  adds,  "and  that  its  effects  were  bad;  it  provoked 
assaults."  Prison  breakers  and  violent  prisoners  may  have  chains 
put  on  them,  but  the  occasions  for  this  are  rare." 

The  System  of  Progressive  Stages. 

I  There  is  a  system  of  progressive  stages  in  Convict  prisons  based 
upon  the  same  principles  as  the  corresponding  Local  prison  system.'* 
A  year's  full  marks  must  be  gained  before  a  convict  can  pass  from 
one  stage  to  another.  The  one  meagre  privilege  attached  to  the 
second  stage  is  the  choice  of  a  pint  of  tea  and  two  ounces  of  bread 
in  lieu  of  the  gruel  or  porridge  provided  for  breakfast.  Letters  and 
visits  are  only  permitted  once  every  120  days  in  the  first  and  second 

"  "Onr  Prisons."  p.  22. 

'*The  law  only  allows  escaping  "felcns"  fnot  "misdemeanants")  to  be  fired  npon  at 
the  risk  of  killing,  if  there  be  no  other  means  cl  captare.  The  consaqnence  is  that  "mia- 
oemeaaants"   are  not  employed  ontfide    the  prison  wall&. 

I    "See  p.  244. 

i    "  See  pp.  105-5. 


326  PENAL  SERVITUDE 

stages;  in  the  third  stage  the  intervals  for  letters  and  visits  are  re 
duced  to  90  days,  and  in  the  fourth  stage  to  60  days.  As  a  rule 
visits  are  of  20  minutes  duration,  but  when  a  convict  enters  th( 
fourth  stage  they  may  be  of  30  minutes.  The  most  noteworthy 
prison  privilege  to  be  gained  under  this  system  is  "talking  exercise,' 
which  is  permitted  once  a  week  to  convicts  in  the  fourth  stage 
Good  prison  conduct  and  the  gaining  of  full  marks  secures  a  remit 
tance  of  one-quarter  of  the  sentence  in  the  case  of  men,  and  of  one 
third  in  the  case  of  women.  If  he  secure  this  or  any  lesse: 
remittance  he  is  released  "on  licence,"  but  remains  until  the  actua 
conclusion  of  his  sentence  under  the  supervision  either  of  the  polic( 
or  of  the  Central  Association  for  Discharged  Convicts  or  of  some  othe: 
Prisoners'  Aid  Society."  In  the  case  of  any  breach  of  the  condition! 
of  the  licence,  it  is  revoked,  and  the  convict  returns  to  serve  the  res 
of  his  sentence  in  prison. 

The  advantages  provided  by  the  progressive  stage  system  will  n( 
doubt  seem  to  our  readers  to  be  so  small  as  to  be  practically  \^(orth 
less,  and  they  are,  in  fact,  niggardly  to  the  degree  of  cruelty.  Tha 
they  are  effective  at  all  in  stimulating  to  "industry  and  good  conduct' 
is  the  severest  comment  upon  the  narrow  and  monotonous  existent 
to  which  convicts  are  condemned.  We  are  glad  to  see  from  thi 
1920-21  report  of  the  Prison  Commissioners  that  it  is  intended  t< 
give  much  fuller  "privileges"  after  the  second  year  has  been  comi 
pleted.  We  reproduce  the  new  Standing  Orders  at  the  end  of  thii 
chapter. 

In  addition  to  the  four  ordinary  stages  of  the  Progressive  Systerl 
there  is  a  special  stage  which  can  be  entered  by  three-year  stars  at  tb' 
end  of  two  years,  by  four-year  stars  at  the  end  of  two  years  and  nic; 
months,  by  five-year  stars  and  by  intermediates  at  the  end  of  thrc 
years  and  six  months,  and  by  six-year  convicts  of  all  classes  at  the  enj 
of  four  years.  Convicts  serving  more  than  six  years  may  enter  tl' 
special  stage  12  months  before  the  date  of  their  discharge. 

The  special  stage  gives  the  benefits  of  the  ordinary  fourth  stag- 
together  with  some  further  privileges.     A  special  remission  of  or 
week  (!)  is  given  to  men  who  are  in  the  stage  for  six  months  or  mar: 
and  of  three  days  for  those  in  it  for  less  than  six  months.     Specii 
stage  convicts  wear  a  distinct  uniform,  their  hair  is  allowed  to  gro, 
when  they   are  within   three  months  of  their  discharge,   and  th<i 
are  eligible  for  "special  employments  of  trust" — that  is  "red  collar' 
duty.      Letters   and   visits   are  permitted   at   intervals   of   60   da 
in  the  case  of  special  stage  convicts  who  are  serving  sentences 
less  than  six  years,  and  at  intervals  of  30  days  in  the  case  of  the 
serving  six  years  or  more.  I 

Our  ex-convict  witnesses  all  speak  of  the  relief  afforded  f 
the  talking  exercise.  "We  looked  forward  to  it  all  the  week,"  sa.i 
one.     The  prison  officials  agree  that  this  relaxation  of  the  silen^ 

»'  See  pp.  472-474. 


THE   LONG   SENTENCE   DIVISION  327 

rule  has  had  good  results.  "It  seems  to  work  well,"  says  a  superior 
officer  at  one  of  the  Convict  prisons,  "and  it  might  be  extended." 
Language  of  an  obscene,  blasphemous,  and  objectionable  character  is 
liable  to  be  reported,  and  the  governor  has  a  right  to  withhold  the 
privilege  from  any  prisoner  guilty  of  abusing  it,  but  such  action  is 
rarely  necessary.  At  Maidstone  and  Dartmoor  the  convicts  are 
allowed  to  select  their  partners,  but  at  Portland  this  was  not 
permitted.  "Criminals  would  become  pals,  and  would  plan  crime 
together  if  we  allowed  that,"  remarks  an  official,  "it  would  never 
do";  but  an  ex-convict  who  served  his  sentence  at  Portland  t-ells 
us  that,  although  selection  was  not  officially  authorised,  it  took  place. 
"If  a  man  wanted  to  walk  with  another,"  he  says,  "he  gave  him  the 
tip  during  the  week  and  they  fell  in  together  on  exercise  parade."  '* 
Outside  all  these  stages  are  the  convicts  whose  licences  have  been 
revoked  or  forfeited  and  who  return  to  prison  to  serve  what  is  termed 
the  "remanet."  They  are  kept  apart  in  a  special  class,  are  allowed 
a  visit  and  letter  during  the  first  week,  and  thereafter  at  intervals  of 
120  days.  They  become  eligible  for  a  fresh  licence  at  the  end  of 
three-fourths  of  the  uncompleted  term  of  imprisonment. 

The  Long  Sentence  Division." 

So  far  we  have  been  dealing  with  convicts  in  the  ordinary 
division.  In  1905  a  Long  Sentence  Division  was  created  for  selected 
convicts  sentenced  for  ten  years  or  more ;  ten  years  later  the  division 
was  extended  to  include  men  sentenced  for  eight  years  or  more. 
Such  convicts  are  eligible  when  they  have  served  a  term  of  five 
years,  but  something  more  than  good  prison  conduct  and  industry 
are  necessary  to  secure  admission.  The  directors  of  Convict 
prisons  consider  each  case,  and  take  into  account  the  offence, 
character,  and  history  of  the  prisoner.  The  number  of  prisoners 
belonging  to  the  division  is  small;  in  1913,  it  was  80;  in  1914,  84. 
They  comprise  about  80  per  cent,  of  those  whose  sentences  qualify 
them  to  ent«r. 

Until  1905,  long  sentence  convicts  marked  time  between  the 
fourth  year  and  a  year  before  their  discharge  on  licence.  The  Com- 
missioners discovered  that  some  greater  stimulus  to  industry  and 
good  conduct  was  required  "than  can  be  derived  from  the  fear  oi 
losing  privileges  earned  in  the  earlier  stages,"  and  stated   that  it 

was  "the  opinion  of  those  most  able  to  judge that  the  full 

deterrent  effect  of  a  sentence  of  penal  servitude  is  exhausted  when 
a  man  has  been  about  seven  years  in  prison. "  "  For  this  reason  they 
established  the  long  sentence  division  where  the  treatment  would 
be  "sensibly  ameliorated." 

Convicts  in  this  division  are  separated  from  the  rest,  wear  a 
special  uniform  of  light  grey,  have  a  talking  exercise  daily,  and  are 

*•  For  a   farther   consideration   ol   this    "talking   exercise"    see  pp.   566-69 

>»8ee    the   Rules    for    the   GoTernment    of   Local    and   ConTict    Prisons    (1921),    includin* 

I   Knies  dated  May,  1915,  and  January,   1905. 

I       *•  P.O.  Report.  1903-4,  p.  16. 


828  PENAL  SERVITUDE 

allowed  to  earn  a  small  gratuity  of  Id.  per  day,  which  can  be  ex- 
pended on  certain  "comforts"  such  as  biscuits,  pickles,  jams,  sugar, 
fruits,  and  potted  meats.  Should  the  gratuities  not  be  expended  in 
full,  they  are  handed  to  the  officials  of  the  Central  Association  for 
the  benefit  of  the  prisoner  aft^er  discharge,  but  this  rarely  occurs, 
the  convicts  preferring  to  spend  the  full  amount  themselves.  Our 
evidence  contains  frequent  reference  to  the  generosity  of  long 
sentence  division  convicts  towards  their  fellow  prisoners  who  are 
outside  the  scope  of  these  privileges.  We  have  been  told  of  one 
convict  who  made  it  his  practice  to  distribute,  at  his  own  risk,  to 
other  prisoners,  five  pennies'  worth  of  food  made  up  in  little  packets, 
out  of  every  half-a-crown's  worth  of  "comforts"  he  purchased. 
The  following  statement  from  an  ex-convict  is  worth  quoting:  — 

A  convict   in  the  long  sentence  division  receiving  little  extras  had  a 

friend,  B ,  who  was   in  the  lower  division.     The  long  sentence  man 

shared  all  his  extras  with  B ,  and  would  have  been  quite  miserable 

if  his  friend  hadn't  got  his  half.     "I  don't  care  if  they  take  them  from 

me  altogether,"  he  said,  "but  so  long  as  I've  got  anything,  B shall' 

have  his  bit."     This   "passing"  meant  some  risk,  of  course;  an  orange 

for  instance,  might  pass  through  a  dozen  hands  before  it  reached  B , 

but  it  would  get  there.     I  myself  have  carried  an  orange  for  B all' 

round  the  prison  before  finding  a  chance  of  passing  it  any  further.  Had 
the  practice  been  discovered  all  those  who  took  part  would  have  been 
punished,  and  the  extras  would  have  been  stopped.  i 

There  is  much  complaint  among  long  sentence  prisoners  that  thej 
increase  in  prices  has  greatly  reduced  the  value  of  their  smaL 
gratuity.  In  April,  1919,  nine  of  the  long  sentence  men  at  Maid; 
stone  petitioned  the  Home  Secretary  for  an  increase  in  the  allowanc(i 
to  meet  the  greater  cost  of  "comforts,"  but  the  request  was  refused 
The  Home  Secretary  at  the  same  time  declined  to  include  tobacw 
among  the  purchasable  articles,  afterwards  defending  his  refusal  iij 
the  House  of  Commons  on  the  ground  of  "the  impossibility  o; 
separating  a  small  group  of  convicts  from  the  rest.""  But,  as  wil 
be  seen  from  page  334,  it  is  now  proposed  to  allow  convicts  in  thi 
new  "special"  stage  to  have  tobacco. 

According  to  the  rules  of  1905,  the  long  sentence  prisoners  ma- 
te given  their  meals  in  association,  but  nowhere  is  this  done.  Prisoi: 
officers,  both  of  the  superior  and  subordinate  staffs,  tell  us  that  thii 
men  do  not  want  to  have  the  rule  applied.  "When  this  rule  wa! 
first  introduced,"  says  one  officer,  "there  were  about  20  loni 
sentence  men  in  Dartmoor,  but  hardly  any  of  these  wanted  meals  iij 

2'  An  oflBcer  at  a  convict  prison  says  that  convicts  find  the  unsatisfied  craving  ff| 
tobacco  one  of  the  hardest  things  to  bear.  Another  officer  says  that  the  want  of  tobacc; 
keeps  the  men  in  a  constant  state  of  discontent  and  leads  to  much  "trafficking."  A 
ex-convict  describes  "twist"  tobacco  as  the  coinage  of  convict  prison  life.  "One  ma 
wanting  something  from  another  will  be  heard  to  remark,  'I'll  give  you  two  inches.'  Ti 
man  who  can  command  tobacco  can  command  anything  except  liberty.  You  want  goo 
fitting  clothes  ?  A  man  in  the  tailor's  shop  will  fit  you  up  for  a  'couple  of  inches.'  Yo 
want  clean  laundry?  There's  a  man  in  the  wash-house  will  see  you  right  'for  a  chew; 
You  fancy  an  orange?  There's  a  man  in  the  long-sentence  division  who  will  sell  yo 
oranges  or  other  comforts  at  the  rate  of  'seven  inches'   for  3d.  worth   of  goods." 


THE    LONG-SENTENCE    DIVISION  329 

association  when  consulted."  An  ex-convict  at  Maidstone,  on  the 
other  hand,  states  that  long  sentence  men  at  that  prison  frequently 
petitioned  to  be  allowed  meals  in  association  and  that  the  majority 
to  whom  he  spoke  would  have  welcomed  it.  One  superior  ofl&cer 
declares  that  the  warders  would  not  be  prepared  to  supervise  meals 
in  association  owing  to  the  danger  of  attack  from  the  men  whilst  in 
possession  of  knives  and  forks.  Another  superior  officer  ridicules 
this. 

The  opinion  is  unanimous  that  such  privileges  as  are  enjoyed  by 
the  long  sentence  convicts  have  a  salutary  eiiect  from  the  point  of 
view  of  prison  discipline.  These  prisoners,  say  the  Commissioners 
in  their  report  for  1933-14,  "are  convicts  who  could  be  trusted  not 
to  abuse  any  relaxation  of  discipline  when  removed  from  direct 
'supervision."^'  Somewhat  later,  the  Commissioners  stated  that 
'the  relaxed  discipline  had  "no  doubt  gone  far  to  relieve  the 
oppression  and  discontent  which  were  formerly  noticeable  as  the 
result  of  a  long  and  monotonous  sentence,  unrelieved  by  change  of 
treatment  and  uninspired  by  the  prospect  of  rising  to  a  higher 
grade."  "' 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  long  sentence  division  has  been 
appreciated.  Few  convicts  forfeit  its  privileges  by  breach  of  rules. 
The  slender  resources  of  the  convict's  life  make  him  very  anxious 
to  avail  himself,  even  at  some  cost,  of  every  slight  amelioration  that 
ican  be  gained.  The  restricted  comforts  of  the  canteen,  the  privilege 
of  talking,  and  the  more  frequent  letters  and  visits,  are  trifling 
modifications  of  the  regime  of  harsh  servitude,  but  they  are  too 
j valuable  to  the  convict  to  be  thrown  away." 

I  The  Life-Sentence  Men. — A  large  number  of  the  long-sentence 
I  convicts  are  men  undergoing  life  sentences  for  murder.  Their 
treatment  is  precisely  that  of  the  other  convicts,  with  whom  they 
ilive  and  work  side  by  side.  At  the  commencement  of  their  sentences 
these  men  are  warned  not  to  entertain  any  expectation  of  release 
until  they  have  completed  20  years,  but  in  actual  practice  most 
"lifers"  are  released  when  they  have  completed  12  to  15  years. 
'"Lifers"  are  generally  agreed  to  be  among  the  better  types  of  men 
iin  Convict  prisons.  "The  best  prisoners  I  have  known,"  remarks 
an  officer,  "have  been  murderers."  A  witness  with  close  personal 
knowledge  of  some  of  these  men  regards  it  as  urgent  that  the  con- 
ditions should  be  altered  under  which  men  sentenced  to  death  have 
to  wait  two  or  three  weeks  before  the  reprieve  comes.  To  spend 
daj's  in  the  expectation  of  probable  execution,  watched  by  two  warders 
day  and  night  in  every  act,  is,  he  says,  "an  ordeal  which  tends  to 
reduce  them  to  pitiful  wrecks  of  humanity  for  the  remainder  of  their 
.days. ' ' 

j   **V.C.  Report,  1913-14,  p.   13. 

I    »»P.C.   Report,   1916-17,  p.  16. 

!PrI^essi^°s\a^e  S^^tem"*    °'    ^'^    Chapter    on    important    proposed    modifications    in    the 

'i  M2 


330  PENAL  SERVITUDE 

Juvenile    Adult    Convicts. 

Prisoners  who  are  under  21  years  of  age  when  sentenced  to  penal 
servitude  are  placed  in  a  special  juvenile  adult  class,  and  they 
remain  in  this  class  for  the  duration  of  the  sentence,  however  long 
it  may  be.  Some  members  of  the  class  are  over  30  years  of  age. 
Juvenile  adult  convicts  serve  their  sentences  at  Dartmoor,  and  have 
special  privileges  of  association  and  recreation  besides  the  elemen- 
tary education,  which  they  may  receive,  for  five  hours  a  week, 
provided  they  are  sufl&ciently  ill-educated  to  be  unable  to  pass 
out  of  Standard  III.  The  assistant  chaplain  then  at  Dartmoor  ob- 
tained permission  from  the  Commissioners  in  1910  to  conduct  an 
extension  school  in  the  evenings,  at  first  twice  a  week,  and  later  four 
times.  Trade  manuals  were  studied,  drawing  and  designing  were 
taught,  lessons  in  first-aid  were  conducted  by  the  deputy  medical 
officer,  and  talks  were  given  on  moral  questions.  The  boys,  so  the 
chaplain  responsible  for  the  scheme  informs  us,  showed  great  im- 
provement in  knowledge  and  mental  capacity,  were  less  morbid, 
and  revealed  a  greater  sense  of  moral  responsibility.  "Free  talk  was 
always  encouraged,"  he  says,  "and  it  was  this  that  helped  the  lads 
so  much.  "We  gave  them  healthy  interests  to  think  and  talk  about 
and  so  avoided  the  whisperings  of  crime  and  sex.  "We  put  their 
more  or  less  on  their  honour  not  to  use  the  privilege  granted  in  j| 
way  likely  to  deteriorate  them,  and  usually  they  rose  to  thtj 
occasion."  j 

The  chaplain  responsible  for  this  scheme  left  Dartmoor  in  1911 
and  it  was  not  fully  continued,  but  the  juvenile  adults  still  enjoy  9, 
any  rate  some  of  the  privileges  begun  during  the  experiment 
They  are  permitted  pencils  and  paper  in  their  cells  for  the  purpo8e<| 
of  study,  and  even  water  colours. 


The  Invalid  Convict  Prison. 
Convicts  certified  by  a  prison  medical  officer  as  unfit  for  har 
labour  are  sent  to  Parkhurst  prison  in  the  Isle  of  "Wight.  Many  c 
these  men  are  by  no  means  invalids,  but  the  Parkhurst  populatio 
includes  all  the  diseased,  mentally  deficient,  imbecUe,  and  age; 
convicts.     It  is  the  infirmary  of  the  convict  establishments.  j 

The  fall  in  the  general  convict  population  has  not  been  reflecte' 
by  a  fall  in  the  numbers  at  Parkhurst.  There  were  780  prisoneij 
there  in  1920,  and  the  full  complement  is  only  20  more.  Tbj 
explanation  probably  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  army  did  not  draw  oi 
the  Parkhurst  population  to  the  same  degree  as  it  did  the  more  abl*,- 
bodied  convicts. 

All  classes  of  convicts  go  to  Parkhurst — stars,  intermediates  ar 
recidivists, — but  the  separation  is  not  strict.  The  stars  work  at  ori 
end  of  the  workshop  partitioned  from  the  rest,  but  the  intermediat4; 
and  recidivists  mingle  fairly  freely.     Prison  discipline  is  maintaim 


THE    INVALID   CONVICT    PRISON  tSl 

— indeed,  the  discipline  is  strict,  but  it  is  relieved  by  certain  amelior- 
ations which  make  the  existence  somewhat  less  oppressive  than  at 
the  other  Convict  prisons. 

By    a    recent    and    not-e worthy    innovation,    for    instance,    after 
the  stars  have  served  a  year,  and  after  the  prisoners  of  the  other 
classes  have  served  two  years,  they  enjoy  recreation  in  association 
on  certain  evenings.       During  the  summer  they  are  permitted  to 
walk,  sit,  or  read,  in  the  garden.     During  the  winter  they  play  chess 
and  other  indoor  games  and   hold  debates,   over   which   a  convict 
presides.     "We  understand  that  it  is  the  intention  of  the  governor 
to  convert  a  storehouse  into  a  kind  of  club,  where  it  will  be  possible 
for  the  prisoners   to  have  their  games    and  debates,    and  to  hear 
j  lectures,  both  from  men  in  their  own  ranks,  and  from  visitors." 
j     There  are  three  medical  officers  at  Parkhurst;  this  number  seems 
to  us  inadequate.     These  officers  not  only  have  to  attend   to  the 
needs  of  the  700-800  convicts  in  the  prison,  including  a  large  pro- 
portion of  physically  and  mentally  diseased;  they  are  responsible, 
in  addition,   for  the  health  of  the  population  of  the   neighbouring 
Preventive  Detention  Institution  at  Camp  Hill,  and  for  that  of  the 
members  of  the  staff  of  both  establishments  and  of  their  families. 
The  necessary   individual  attention  must   be  absolutely  impossible 
:  in  view  of  the  detailed  duties  which  prison  medical  officers  are  asked 
jto  perform. 

1  Our  evidence  indicates  that  many  of  the  shortcomings  in  the 
general  medical  care  of  prisoners  are  evident  at  Parkhurst.  An 
experienced  witness  thus  describes  the  prison  hospital:  — 

An  old-fashioned  gloomy  block,  ill-adapted  to  its  use,  neither  better 
nor  worse  than  most  prison  hospitals.  There  are  two  wards,  each  con- 
taining ten  or  twelve  beds.  The  cells  are  ordinary  prison  cells,  with 
observation  doors.  One  part  of  the  hospital  has  a  good  exercise  ground, 
j  in  which  the  men  walk  or  sit  about  as  they  please.  It  is  a  cheerful 
I  garden  and  grass  place.  The  other  wing,  however,  is  served  by  a  large, 
dismal,  asphalted  space,  in  which  the  men  wander  or  sit  disconsolately. 
This  wing  is  just  an  ordinary  prison  block  of  the  old  type,  with  only 
the  poorest  kind  of  window,  two  rows  of  tiny  panes. 

All  convicts  suspected  of  being  weak-minded  are  sent  to  Park- 
hurst. They  are  kept  under  observation  and,  if  found  insane,  are 
sent  to  Broadmoor  criminal  lunatic  asylum ;  if  mentally  deficient  or 
feeble-minded  only,  they  are  retained  at  Parkhurst.  They  are 
segregated  and  are  given  special  treatment,  described  as  follows  by 
Dr.  Smalley  in  his  report  for  1912-13. 

Their  dietary,  employment,  and  general  supervision  are  the  subject 
of  special  consideration,  the  aim  generally  being,  whilst  maintaining 
order,  to  attain  this  with  a  minimum  of  rigid  discipline  and  without 
the  strait  waistcoat. 

:  More  than  one-third  of  the  mentally  deficient  convicts  at  Park- 
hurst are  unfit  for  ordinary  labour.     They  are  provided  with  Hght 

j  "^t  seems  probable  that  these  relaxations  are  intended  to  correspond  with  the  new 
lettadlng  Orders   reproduced  in  a  Note  at  the  end   of  this  Chapter. 


332  PENAL  SERVITUDE 

outdoor  employment,  such  as  market  gardening,  road  sweeping,  and 
coir  picking.  Quiet  conversation  is  permitted  at  work,  but  punish- 
ment may  be  given  for  loud  talking,  laughing,  or  gossipping.  Tliose 
who  are  not  fit  for  outdoor  employment  are  said  to  be  confined  to 
their  cells  all  day,  except  for  two  periods  of  exercise.  If  this  be 
80,  a  great  cruelty  is  being  practised  upon  the  most  unfortunate  of 
this  unfortunate  class. 

Special  emphasis  must  be  laid  upon  the  fact  that,  despite  the 
concentration  of  the  mentally  defective  convicts  at  Parkhurst,  none 
of  the  medical  officers  of  that  prison  is  a  mental  specialist.  When 
mental  examinations  are  required,  the  honorary  medical  member  of 
the  Board  of  Directors  of  Convict  prisons  pays  a  special  visit  to 
the  prison.  The  Prison  Commissioners  have  appointed  a  mental 
specialist  to  deal  individually  with  the  remand  cases  at  Birmingham 
prison.  It  ought  not  to  be  necessary  to  urge  that  at  least  one 
specialist  is  required  to  treat  the  mental  cases  at  Parkhurst. 

A  special  class  of  aged  convicts  was  established  at  Parkhurst  in 

1910-1911  "with  a  view  of  suppressing  unnecessary  and  purposeless 

suffering.  "'°     All  convicts  over  67  years  of  age,  together  with  those 

who  have  not   reached   that  age  but  who  by   reason  of  premature 

senility  are  unfit  for  prison  discipline,  are  placed  in  this  class.     They, 

are  given  light  work,  and  as  the  following  description  by  one  of  ouri 

witnesses    makes    clear,    enjoy    many    relaxations    from   the    usual 

regime.  i 

The   aged  convicts  have  a  large,  light,    association  room,    with  tables! 

and  chairs.     No  daily  newspapers  are   allowed,  but  ntagazines   like  th.; 

"Strand,"  the  "Grand,"  and  journals  like   the   "Church  Family   Newsi 

paper"  are  permitted.     A  door  of  this  room  leads  out  into  a  little  garden} 

brilliant  with    flowers,   where    the   old    men  sit  in  the    sun.     They   ma}; 

talk,  and  although  they  have  mail-bags  to  sew,  no  work  is  insisted  upon; 

They  quarrel  occasionally,  but  not  much.  j 

These  prison  veterans  are  pathetic  figures.  Many  of  them  havij 
nowhere  to  go  when  they  leave  prison;  some  of  them  have  n(| 
relatives,  the  relatives  of  others  are  ashamed  of  them.  It  is  not 
to  be  wondered  at,  therefore,  that  they  are  often  reluctant  to  leave 
and  that  some  of  them  deliberately  commit  crimes  in  order  to  return 

As  we  have  indicated,  the  conditions  of  convict  life  are  ameliorate*! 
in  certain  respects  for  the  sick  and  the  aged,  for  the  young,  for  th; 
long-sentence  prisoners  in  their  later  years.  Nevertheless,  if  w, 
were  to  describe  the  regime  at  the  Convict  prisons  as  punitive  slaverl 
rather  than  as  penal  servitude,  a  more  accurate  impression  of  itj 
character  would  be  given.  "The  real  atmosphere  of  Dartmoor,  si 
far  as  the  men  responsible  for  its  well-being  and  discipline  are  cor, 
cerned,"  says  Mr.  A.  Paterson,  in  a  graphic  if  exaggerated  phrasf' 
"is  that  of  a  handful  of  v,-hites  on  the  American  frontier  among  tej 
times  their  number  of  Apache  Indians.     'We  stand  on  a  volcano'  a{ 

2«  P.C.  Report,  1910-11,   p.  43. 


NEW  RECREATION  SCHEME  FOR  CONVICTS  3S3 

officer  said  to  the  writer  in  a  matter  of  fact  tone.  'If  our  convicts 
here  had  opportunity  to  combine  and  would  trust  one  another,  the 
place  would  be  wrecked  in  an  hour.'  " ''  That  may  be  one  side 
of  the  picture.  The  real  atmosphere  of  Dartmoor,  so  far  as 
the  prisoners  are  concerned,  is  that  of  slaves  denied  the  most 
elementary  rights  of  human  nature,  working  without  wages,  under 
the  supervision  of  task-masters,  for  one  quarter  of  the  day,  and  con- 
fined in  narrow  comfortless  cells  for  the  rest  of  the  twenty-four  hours, 
with  the  oppressive  sense  of  an  iron  discipline  always  present,  and 
with  the  threat  of  still  severer  punishment  always  lurking  in  the  back- 
ground. Such  is  the  lot  of  many  human  beings  for  three,  for  five, 
for  ten,  for  fifteen  years,  and  in  some  cases  twenty  years.  Have 
we  the  right  to  expect  that  they  should  come  through  it  better  fitted 
to  lead  the  life  of  an  honourable  citizen"? 


A  Note  on  the  New  Recreation  Scheme  for  Convicts. 


In  their  report  for  1920-21,  the  Prison  Commissioners  give  new  Standing 
I  Orders  "relating  to  certain  proposed  modifications  in  the  treatment  of  made 
j  prisoners  undergoing  penal  servitude."  They  say  that  they  "have  come  to 
i  the  opinion,  as  a  result  of  careful  observation,  and  of  certain  experiments 
'  which  have  been  made,  that  much  of  the  rigour  incidental  to  penal  servitude 
j  can,  without  danger,  be  modified,"  and  they  declare  that  "experience  has 
clearly  shown  that,  with  the  hearty  cc-operation  of  the  governor  and  all 
;  members  of  the  staff,  greater  latitude  may  safely  be  conceded  to  convicts 
:  as  a  body."  These  statements  may  be  held  to  justify  the  hope  that  the 
j  Commissioners  intend  to  transform  penal  servitude  on  the  lines  of  the 
!  preventive  detention  system,  although  the  modifications  which  the  new 
i  Standing  Orders  inaugurate  are   much   less  ambitious  than  that. 

I      The  new  Standing  Orders  are  as  follow  : — 

There  will  be  four  stages  of  Penal  Servitude  for  male  convicts,  viz. 
"Ordinary,"   "Probation,"   "Sup«rior,"  and   "Special." 

When  a  convict  has  earned  4,380  marks,  representing  two  years  of 
his  sentence,  with  good  conduct  and  industry,  he  may,  at  the  discretion 
of  the  governor,  pass  into  the  "Probation"  stage,  when,  if  the  governor 
so  decides,  he  may  be  brought  out  of  the  cells  in  the  evening  on  certain 
days  in  the  week,  and  may  be  admitted  to  take  part  in  readings,  recita- 
tions, lectures,  etc.,  as  organised  for  the   "Superior"  stage. 

After  one  year  (2,920  marks)  in  the  "Probation"  stage,  he  may  be 
admitted  to  the  full  privileges  of  the  "Superior"  stage,  namely,  dress 
and  trousers  of  different  pattern,  shaving  and  hair  cutting,  looking- 
glass,  and  wash-stand.  These  privileges  may,  however,  be  accorded  to 
the  "Star"  class  after  six  months  (1,460  marks)  in  the  "Probation" 
stage. 

Recreation  classes  may  be  formed  on  two  or  three  evenings  a  week. 
Readings,  recitations,  lectures,  discussions,  music  may  be  arranged. 
Games  such  as  chess,  draughts,  and  dominoes  may  be  allowed.  During 
the  summer  months  advantage  may  be  taken  of  the  fine  weather  to  walk 
or  sit  in  the  grounds  of  the  prison  gardens. 

*' "Onr  Prisons,"  p.  21. 


334  PENAL  SERVITUDE 

Prisoners  in  the  "Superior"  stage  will  be  encouraged  to  contribute, 
by  their  own  efforts,  to  the  formation  of  clubs,  or  otherwise,  for  the 
organisation  of  debates  and  discussions  on  prescribed  subjects ;  or  they 
may  co-operate  with  the  officers  of  the  prison  in  organising  musical 
entertainments.  If  such  clubs  are  instituted,  careful  rules,  will  be  drawn 
up  and  records  kept. 

A  convict  admitted  to  the  "Superior"  stage  may,  with  exemplary 
conduct,  earn  a  special  remission  of  three  days  if  in  the  stage  for  any 
period  less  than  six  months,  and  of  seven  days  if  in  the  stage  for  any 
period  of  six  months  or  over. 

When  a  convict  has  served  four  years  of  his  sentence  (11,680  marks) 
with  exemplary  conduct,  he  will  pass  into  the  "Special"  stage.  When 
in  that  stage  he  will  be  subject  to  the  rules  laid  down  for  the  "Long 
Sentence"   Division,   and  Standing  Orders  178  to  181. 

In  addition,  a  convict  in  the  "Special"  stage  may  be  allowed  to  pur- 
chase a  weekly  journal  or  newspaper,  and  pipes  and  tobacco.  A  small 
bag  will  be  provided  in  which  each  convict  will  keep  his  smoking 
materials.  Smoking  will  be  allowed  during  the  dinner  hour,  and  for 
those  entitled  to  association  in  the  evening  after  supper.  Any  convict 
who  abuses  this  privilege  will  forfeit  permission  to  purchase  tobacco  i 
and  to  smoke  for  such  time  as  the  governor  considers  necessary.  Chewing 
will  not   be  allowed.  j 

A  convict  will  be  allowed  to  receive  a  visit  of  30  minutes*  duration,  j 
and  to  write  and  receive  a  letter  as  follows  during  sentence  : —  ! 

(a)  During  the  first  week  of  his  sentence. 

(b)  After  earning  the  first  960  marks.  I 

(c)  Afterwards,  and  until  he  reaches  the  "Superior"  stage,  for  every  | 
720  marks  earned. 

(d)  Whilst  in  the  "Superior"  stage,   for  every  480  marks  earned.      | 

(e)  Whilst  in  the  "Special"  stage,  for  every  240  marks  earned.  ! 
(/)    On  reception  from  a  Local  prison  a  convict  will  be  allowed  t« 

write  and  receive  a  letter,  which  shall  not  be  counted  as  a  stage  j 
letter. 
Thirty  minutes  will  be  the  usual  time  allotted  for  visits  through  all  [ 
stages,  unless,   in  any   case,  the  Governor  should  consider  an  extension 
desirable.  '  1 

In  addition  to  the   usual  religious  and  educational  books,  two  library  j 
books  will  be  allowed   per  week  until  the  "Superior"  stage  is  reached, 
when    the  number   allowed   will  be   at   the   discretion   of   the    chaplain, ! 
having  regard  to  the  particular  needs  and  requirements  of  the  convict,  j 
Convicts  will  be  allowed  exercise  in  the  open  air  on  Sunday  as  follows  : 
"Ordinary"  and  "Probation"  stages      ...       One  period. 

"Superior"   stage        .-       Two  periods. 

"Special"    stage  Three  periods. 

The  weakness  of  these  new  rules  is  that  they  do  not,  as  far  as  we  are  | 
informed^  fipply  to  women  convicts  and  that,  in  the  case  of  men,  they  do : 
not  come  into  force  until  convicts  have  served  two  years  ;  much  mental  and 
moral  damage  may  be  done  by  the  repressive  regime  during  that  time.  We; 
trust  that  these  modifications  will  represent  only  a  beginning  in  a  policy  i 
of  complete  departure  from  the  inhuman  severity  of  the  penal  servitude 
system. 


PENAL  SERVITUDE  335 


SOME     OF     THE     PRINCIPAL     DEFECTS     INDICATED     IN     THE 
PRECEDING    CHAPTER. 


1. — Most  of  the  defects  previously  noted  apply  to  Convict  prisons  equally 
with  Local  prisons.  The  oppression  of  the  routine  is  felt  more  severely 
because  of  the  greater  length  of  the  sentence. 

2. — The  recidivist  is  liable  to  be  kept  in  separate  confinement  for  the  first 
tbree  months  of  his  sentence. 

3. — The  severity  of  penal  servitude  has  been  increased  since  1919  owing 
to  the  increased  cellular  confinement,  resulting  from  the  introduction  of  the 
eight  hour  working  day  for  officers.     Cellular  labour  has  been  introduced. 

4. — Despite  the  greater  scope  given  by  the  length  of  the  sentence,  there 
is  no  efficient  industrial  training,  except  in  shoemaking,  tailoring,  and  farm 
•work  at  Dartmoor. 

5. — The  "privileges"  for  ordinary  convicts,  as  regards  letters,  visits,  etc., 
are  cruelly  inadequate.  Even  in  the  case  of  the  long  sentence  division, 
(entered  aft-er  five  years),  they  remain  but  trifling  modifications  of  the  regime. 
(More  extensive  privileges,  after  two  years,  are  now  proposed  under  new- 
Standing  Orders.) 

6. — The  medical  staff  at  the  invalid  Convict  prison  (Parkhurst)  is  in- 
adequate. There  is  no  mental  specialist,  despite  the  fact  that  all  mentally 
defective  convicts  are  sent  to  this   prison. 


CHAPTER  XXII 


WOMEN    PEISONEES 

The  variations  in  regime  between  men's  and  women's  prisons 
are  slightly  in  favour  of  the  latter ;  but  there  is  no  radical  difference. 
The  same  repressive  system,  the  same  idea  of  punishment,  with 
almost  no  thought  of  cure,  runs  through  both  systems.  The  waste- 
fulness, the  failure  to  individualise,  the  lack  of  serious  training,  and 
the  cruelty  which  comes  from  looking  upon  people  merely  as  bodies 
mstead  of  as  personalities  are  found  in  both.  In  both  there  are  the 
small,  nameless  humiliations,  the  inevitable  abuses,  or  a  too-absolute 
power,  and  the  infringements  of  rules  to  the  prisoners'  disadvantage. 
If  we  do  not  stress  these  points  here,  it  is  because  they  have  been 
fully  dealt  with  in  other  chapters,  not  because  they  are  absent  from 
women's  prisons.* 

The  Population  of  Women's  Prisons. 

In  the  appendix  to  our  chapter  on  the  Prison  Population'  we 
print  Tables  giving  the  prison  numbers  for  both  sexes,  with  the 
offences  for  which  they  were  convicted.  They  show  that  the  average 
daily  number  of  women  prisoners  in  Local  and  Convict  prisons  in 
the  year  1920-21  was  1,235,  of  whom  76  were  in  the  Convict  prisons. 
The  daily  averages  in  1913-14  (we  omit  the  exceptional  war  years) 
were:  Local  prisons,  2,236;  Convict  prisons,  95.  In  1918-19  the 
figures  were  1,322  and  83 ;  in  1919-20  they  were  1,219  and  82.  The 
fall  in  the  number  of  women  prisoners  has  led  to  the  closing  of 
many  of  the  women's  sides  of  the  prisons.  In  1913-14  there  were 
44.     Now  there  are  30,  and  the  closing  of  six  more  is  foreshadowed. 

The  most  frequent  offence  is  "Drunkenness  with  aggravation," 
for  which  in  1913-14  (the  last  normal  year  represented  in  the 
statistics)  the  number  of  women  committed  was  12,459.  Prostitu- 
tion came  next  (7,952),  then  "Offences  against  public  regulations" 
(2,827),  "Simple  drunkenness"  (2,681),  "Simple  larceny"  (2,154), 
and  assaults  (1,164). 

The  crimes  for  which  more  women  than  men  were  sentenced  to 
imprisonment  in  1913-14  were  "keeping  brothels  and  disorderly 
houses"  (men,  116;  women,  396),  "concealment  of  birth  (men,  2; 
women,  25),  "procuring  abortion"  (men,  4;  women,  14),  and 
"habitual  drunkenness"  (men,  — ;  women,  4).  Of  persons  sen- 
tenced for  "cruelty  to  or  neglect  of  children,"  769  were  women  a^ 
against  1,058  men. 

>  See  p.   151    for  dress;   p.    155    for  education;   pp.    166   and   167   for  crafts'   classes;   pp. 
198-200  for  lady  visitors;  and  pp.  378-381   for  wardresses. 

«  See  pp.   27-33. 


THE    POPULATION    OF     WOMEX'S    PRISONS  337 

Cruelty  to  Children. — Women  imprisoned  for  cruelty  to  children 
are  sometimes  highly-strung  people  whose  nerves  and  tempers  have 
given  way  under  the  accumulated  strain  of  repeated  child-bearing 
and  crowded  miserable  housing.  They  are  also  often  people  of 
extreme  stupidity  and  ignorance,  whose  cruelty  is  not  so  much 
deliberate  as  the  result  of  utter  neglect,  ignorance,  and  bad  condi- 
tions. Under  the  present  penal  system  no  real  effort  is  made  to 
give  such  women  any  training  in  home  duties.  The  children  who 
come  in  with  them  are  usually  but  not  always  cared  for  by  ward- 
resses. One  witness  notes  the  curious  fact  that  these  women  are 
often  particularly  jealous  and  mistrustful  of  those  who  have  charge 
of  their  babies. 

Abortion  and  Infantiaide . — An  interesting  light  is  thrown  upon  the 
psychology  of  women  convicted  of  procuring  abortion  by  the  state- 
ment of  more  than  one  experienced  ofi&cial  that  some  of  these  women 
persuade  themselves  that  they  are  doing  a  kindness  to  their  clients. 
''The  poor  women  come  to  us  in  such  distress,  and  we  do  what  we 
can  to  help  them."  It  is  not  by  any  means  always  a  question  of 
gain.  "It's  not  as  if  I'd  done  it  for  money,"  said  one  ex-convict, 
who  admitted  the  gravity  of  the  fault,  but  pleaded  her  entire  ignor- 
ance of  the  law  and  the  innocence  of  her  intention,  and  argued  that 
three  years  was  too  hard  a  sentence  for  a  first  offence.  Some  women, 
however,  practise  it  as  a  regular  trade  with  full  knowledge  of  their 
position.  If  the  risks  of  the  profession  are  gi'eat,  the  profits  are 
said  to  be  correspondingly  large. 

Amongst  the  other  grave  offences  found  amongst  women,  murder 
[and  attempted  murder  claim  attention.     The  crimes  of  this  group, 
so  far  as  women  are  concerned,  are  principally  cases  of  infanticide. 
Upon  a  crude  a  priori  judgment  this   might  seem   the  most  "un- 
natural" of  crimes,  and  it  might  be  supposed  that  the  women  guilty 
of  it  were  of  a  specially  low  type.     Such  a  judgment  would  be  quite 
I  wide  of  the  fact.     The  view  of  prison  officials  seems  to  be  that  they 
iare  ss  a  type  in  reality  very  superior  to  the  ordinai'v  criminal,  and 
that  at  the  time  when  they  commit  the  act  they  are  often  beside  them- 
selves from  financial  anxiety,  shame,  loneliness,  and  the  fear  of  being 
cast  off  by  their  families.     When  in  addition  we  consider  the  factor 
of  mental  instability,  frequent  at  the  time  of  childbirth,   it  is  not 
diflficult  to  understand  why  those  committed  for  infanticide  are  often 
first  offenders,    women   under    normal    circumstances   far  removed 
from  any   "criminal  type."       In  these  cases  sentence  of  death  is 
generally  passed  and  afterwards  commuted  to  imprisonment  for  life, 
but  in  practice  the  time  served  is  usually  three  or  four  years. 
j     During  the  last  16  years  57  women  have  been  sentenced  to  death, 
I  of  whom  only  one  was  executed  (in  1907).       It  is  not  sufficiently 
realised  what  cruelty  is  involved  in  putting  a  v.oman,  often  a  mere 
girl,  through  all  the  mental  agony  of  li\'ing  for  days  under  a  sentence 
of  death,  which  is  real  to  her,  though  reprieve  is  an  almost  foregone 
I  conclusion  to  the  authorities.     "When  have  I  got  to  die?"  was,  a 


338  WOMEN  PBISONERS 

prison  official  tells  us,  the  cry  of  a  young  woman  recently  on  being 
brought  back  to  the  condemned  cell  after  receiving  sentence  of 
death,  and  the  kindliest  of  officials  dare  not  forestall  the  prerogative 
of  mercy  by  holding  out  any  assurance  that  the  sentence  will  not  be 
executed.  An  extreme  instance  of  belated  action  on  the  part  of  the 
authorities  is  given  in  the  following  evidence  of  a  witness :  — 

Death  sentence  was  passed  on over  three  years  ago.     The  reprieve 

did  not  come  till  the  woman  had  been  weighed  to  see  what  drop  was 
needed  and  till  within  two  days  of  the  execution  being  carried  out.  I 
believe  the  gallows  was  prepared.  Matron  was  absolutely  ill  with 
suspense,  and  the  feeling  among  the  officers  and  the  other  prisoners — 
not  to  mention  the  poor  thing  herself — was  intense.  It  was  nothing 
short  of  torture. 

Prostitutes. — Of  the  figures  of  non-indictable  offences  the  most 
significant  in  their  bearing  upon  women's  prisons  are  those  connected 
with  prostitution.'  The  figures  of  imprisonment  under  the  head 
"sexual,"  given  on  pages  32  and  33,  by  no  means  cover  all  the 
offences  against  morals.  Under  the  heading  "Offences  against  Police 
Eegulations"  come  a  large  number  of  other  misdemeanours  of  this 
character,  making  up  altogether  a  formidable  part  of  the  women's 
crime  of  the  country.* 

The  treatment  of  such  offences  is  the  outstanding  problem  of 
women's  prisons.  There  is  a  remarkable  unanimity  amongst  those 
qualified  to  judge,  that  the  present  plan  is  completely  useless.  The: 
women  themselves  regard  a  certain  amount  of  imprisonment  as  one  I 
of  the  risks  of  their  trade.  They  know  by  experience  that  a  pleaj 
of  guilty  will  get  them  off  more  easily  than  a  declaration  of  innocence.! 
Arrests  can  be  made  on  the  very  slightest  evidence,  and  as  their | 
whole  lives  are  spent  in  the  power  of  the  police  they  know  it  will  bei 
better  for  them  not  to  make  difficulties  and  subsequent  enemies.  It, 
is  not  necessary  that  the  person  solicited  should  either  make  the| 
charge  or  appear  to  give  evidence.  The  evidence  of  two  polic€| 
constables  is  sufficient.  In  point  of  fact  the  evidence  of  one  isi 
sometimes  taken.  - 1 

From  the  very  nature  of  the  case  this  practice  opens  the  dooi! 
wide  to  corruption  of  more  than  one  kind.  It  is  difficult  to  gel 
direct  independent  evidence  of  such  corruption,  as  the  transaction  is  i 
of  course,  immediately  known  only  to  one  or  other  of  the  partiefj 
concerned,  but  we  find  it  impossible  to  disregard  the  concurren; 
evidence  of  numbers  of  people  who  are  occupied  in  work  amongs^ 
women  and  girls  that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  blackmail  on  the  part  oj 
the  police,  and  bribery  on  the  part  of  the  women,  not  only  happeij 
but  happen  frequently.  The  police  are  often  to  be  "squared,'! 
either  by  cash  payment  or  in  other  obvious  ways.     An  ex-policemai 

'  The  several  methods  by  which  a  prostitute  may  be  sent  to  prison  are  set  out  in  a 
at  the  end  ol   this  Chapter. 

*  An  ex-prisoner  gives  evidence  as  follows  regarding  the  attitude  ol  other  prisoners  toward, 
prostitutes:— "There     is     a    certain    amount     ol    condemnation    of    and    superiority    felt   b, 
prisoners   sentenced    for   theft,    etc.,   against   those  convicted   of   immorality.    'I   might  be 
thief,  but  I'm  not  like  her,"  is  a  typical  remark." 


THE    POPULATION    OF    WOMEN'S    PRISONS  339 

discussing  the  point,  says,  "It  is  very  hard  to  get  a  woman  con- 
victed as  a  prostitute  the  first  time,  but  when  once  she  has  been 
convicted  you  can  get  her  sentenced  again  as  easy  as  that" — with  a 
snap  of  his  fingers. 

But  there  is  another  serious  aspect  to  these  committals.  Imprison- 
ment, while  retaining  its  penal  character,  has  come  to  be  looked  on 
as  an  opportunity  for  imposing  medical  treatment  for  venereal 
disease — partly  perhaps,  for  the  sufferer's  own  sake,  but  chiefly  in 
the  interests  of  public  health.  Within  the  last  few  years  prison 
authorities  have  awakened  to  the  need  of  such  treatment.  In  the 
larger  prisons  arrangements  are  now  made  for  it  to  be  given — in 
Holloway,  by  a  recently  appointed  sta2  of  one  woman  doctor  with 
five  trained  nurses ;  in  most  Local  prisons  under  the  prison  medical 
officer  (a  man)  with  the  assistance  of  a  wardress  (who  has  occasion- 
ally received  a  little  ad  hoc  training).  Sometimes  a  trained  nurse 
from  outside  comes  in  to  give  it,  or  the  patients  are  conveyed  to  the 
local  infirmary  for  inoculation. 

In  practice  the  treatment  thus  given  sometimes  encourages  the 
magistrates  in  sending  women  to  prison  who  would  otherwise  be 
released  on  bail,  fined,  or  discharged.  Our  prisons  are  not  hospitals, 
whatever  they  ought  to  be;  and  nothing  but  confusion  can  arise 
from  straining  the  powers  of  the  law  to  procure  a  compulsory  medical 
treatment  which  the  law  itself  does  not  authorise. 

Nor  is  this  practice  more  satisfactory  as  seen  from  the  medical 
side.  The  ordinary  sentence  for  prostitution  is  far  too  short  for  any 
effectual  treatment.  All  the  evidence  goes  to  show  that  even  those 
women  who  serve  their  full  sentence  go  out  but  little  improved  in 
health,  and  soon  return  worse  than  before.  Many  do  not  serve  the 
full  sentence.  Their  fines  are  frequently  paid,  and  the  prison 
authorities  have  no  choice  but  to  liberate  the  prisoner,  even  though, 
as  sometimes  happens,  the  fine  is  paid  at  nine  o'clock  at  night  by  a 
man  who  meets  the  girl  at  the  prison  gat«. 

The  recognition  of  the  futility  of  short  sentences  has  led  to  a 
deplorable  custom.  Some  magistrates,  instead  of  passing  sentence 
on  a  woman  suffering  from  V.D.,  remand  her  from  week  to  week 
for  treatment ' — a  grave  evasion  of  the  safeguards  of  personal  liberty. 

There  is  another  aspect  of  the  medical  treatment  of  w^omen  of 
which  mention  must  be  made.  It  seems  clear  that  the  treatment 
and  isolation  of  venereal  disease  cases  is  improving,  and  that  the 
exposures  made  by  suffragists  and  special  war-time  prisoners,  have 
caused  more  attention  to  be  paid  to  the  matter.  But  the  attention 
is  accompanied  by  dangers.  The  assumption  that  a  prisoner  is  likely 
to  be  suffering  in  this  way  is  humiliating  to  a  self-respecting  woman, 
and  though  in  theory  she  is  not  obliged  to  submit  to  a  searching 

^  See  Appendix  to  this   chapter,  pp.  351-2. 


340  WOMEN  PRISONERS 

medical  examination,  in  practice  she  sometimes  dare  not,  or  does  not 
realise  that  she  can,  refuse  it.  That  some  examination  is  sometimes 
necessary  we  do  not  of  course  deny,  but  it  should  be  with  the 
prisoner's  consent,  and  never  become  a  matter  of  the  ordinary  prison 
routine. 

The  Unconvicted. — The  number  of  unconvicted  women  sent  to 
prison  (i.e.,  on  remand  or  committed  for  trial)  for  the  year  1919  (the 
last  for  which  figures  are  available)  was  4,511.  Of  these,  1,622 
were  subsequently  sentenced  to  various  terms  of  imprisonment, 
whilst  the  remaining  2,889  were  either  acquitted  or  were  dealt  with 
after  their  trial  in  some  other  way  than  by  imprisonment  (fine, 
probation,  etc.) 

In  themselves  these  figures  make  a  powerful  argument  for  the 
extended  use  of  bail.*^  But  it  is  not  safe  to  explain  them  exclusively 
by  an  over-reluctance  on  the  part  of  the  magistrates  to  give  bail  to 
women  for  reasons  of  safe  custody.  In  many  courts  it  is  the  general 
rule  to  refuse  bail  to  women  charged  with  solicitation.  A  police- 
woman, writing  after  18  months'  experience  of  one  court,  says:  "I 
only  remember  one  case  in  which  a  woman  charged  as  a  common 
prostitute  was  allowed  bail,  and  that  was  the  occasion  on  which  I 
charged  a  man  and  %voman  together  with  indecent  behaviour.  The 
man  asked  for  bail  as  soon  as  he  was  charged,  and  both  were  allowed 
bail." 

There  are  cases  where  the  sending  of  women  to  prison  on  remand 
results  in  very  serious  consequences.  It  is  by  no  means  uncommon 
for  a  woman  in  an  advanced  stage  of  pregnancy  to  be  refused  bail. 
The  story  of  Ellen  Sullivan,  which  received  considerable  publicity 
in  January,  1919,  may  be  briefly  summarised  here. 

This  girl  of  17,  was  charged  in  a  London  police  court  with  using  , 
insulting  language  in  a  public  place.  She  was  declared  to  be  preg-  i 
nant,  and  her  mother  offered  bail  and  begged  to  be  allowed  to  take-  i 
her  home.  Bail  was  refused  because  the  magistrate  could  see  no  i 
reason  for  granting  it.  He  said  she  would  be  well  cared  for  in  the  | 
prison.  The  police  had  already  accepted  her  recognisances  for  £2  i 
and  allowed  her  to  return  home  pending  her  appearance  in  Court.  I 
She  had  thus  proved  herself  trustworthy.  Subsequently,  Ellen  \ 
Sullivan,  in  a  cell  of  the  prison  remand  hospital,  gave  birth  to  a  6^  ^ 
months'  child,  which  died  almost  immediately.  She  herself  died  ;i 
few  hours  later — according  to  the  doctor's  report,   of  diabetes. 

A  similar  case  occurred  in  February,  1920,  when  a  pregnant  woman  j 
was  sent  by  train  from  Hendon  to  Holloway,  with  a  considerable  j 
distance  to  walk  at  both  ends,  and  gave  birth  to  her  child  the  same  : 
night.     Such  facts  need  no  comment. 

*  See  pp.  305  and  306. 


THE  BEGIME  $41 

Juvenile  Adults. — The  deplorable  results  of  sending  "juvenile 
adults"  and  other  young  people  to  prison  on  short  sentences  for 
small  offences  are  dealt  with  elsewhere,  but  the  special  effect  upon 
the  after-career  of  girls  may  be  illustrated  by  the  following  instances. 
An  ex-prisoner  writes:  — 

One  girl  who  cleaned  my  cell  and  who  was  in  for  soliciting  told  me 
that  she  was  going  to  help  a  very  young,  pretty,  little  girl  who  was  in 
a  cell  near,  and  was  convicted,  I  think,  for  theft.  "Poor  girl,  she  knows 
no  one  in  London,  but  as  I  shall  be  out  first  I  have  arranged  to  meet  her 
at  the  prison  door,  and  will  put  her  in  the  way  of  getting  a  living." 

The  second  instance  is  supplied  by  a  Woman  Police  Officer:  — 

A    young    woman   (aged   21)    at  was   sent  for   one  month's    hard 

labour  on  a  charge  of  stealing.  She  had  appropriated  to  her  own  use  8s. 
which  she  had  collected  from  customers  on  her  milk  round.  When  she 
came  out  of  prison  she  began  at  once  to  be  a  good  deal  on  the  streets  at 
night,  in  company  with  well-known  women,  and  with  many  different 
men.  I  talked  to  her  one  night  and  pointed  out  that  the  policemen  had 
their  eye  on  her,  and  very  soon  her  character  would  be  gone.  She  told 
me,  with  great  vehemence,  that  she  did  not  care,  that  now  she  had  been 
in  prison  she  did  not  care  what  became  of  her — she  had  no  character. 
Until  the  time  of  her  conviction  and  sentence,  she  had  been,  I  believe, 
quite  straight. 

The  Regime. 
'  The  most  important  difference  in  the  routine  treatment  of  men 
and  women  prisoners  is  that  the  month's  separate  confinement  with 
which  the  men's  hard  labour  sentence  begins  is  omitted  for  women. 
Since  the  year  1909,  all  women  prisoners  upon  conviction  have,  in 
theory,  been  put  at  once  to  associated  work.  Prison  officers,  who 
have  been  questioned,  are  definite  in  their  view  that  the  morale  of 
the  women  is  greatly  benefited  by  this  regulation.  When  questioned 
in  Parliament,  the  only  explanation  the  Home  Secretary  could  give 
of  this  discrimination  in  favour  of  women  was  that  "it  has  always 
been  the  practice  in  English  prisons  to  enforce  sentences  of  hard 
labour  less  severely  in  the  case  of  women  than  in  the  case  of  men." 
The  fact  that  the  women  are  reported  as  being  "more  manageable" 
in  consequence  of  associated  labour  is,  in  the  view  of  experienced 
witnesses,  a  strong  argument  for  the  abolition  of  separate  confine- 
ment for  men. 

Unfortunately,  it  sometimes  happens  that  through  shortness  of 
staff  the  women  are  deprived  of  their  association.  "Reception," 
involving  a  complicated  routine  and  sometimes  a  considerable  time 
spent  in  the  cleansing  of  dirty  newcomers,  may  occupy  the  wardress 
who  should  supervise  the  women's  work.  It  is  particularly  to  be 
deplored  that  this  sometimes  happens  on  a  Saturday,  adding  a  further 
burden  of  lonely  hours  to  the  solitude  of  the  week-end. 

The  work  done  in  women's  Local  prisons  consists  of  laundry  work, 
sewing  (by  hand  and  machine),  knitting  and  repairing  socks,  making 
post-office  bags,   cleaning   the  prison  and   the   officers*  quarters  or 


842 


WOMEN  PRISONEBS 


rooms,  distributing  food,  carrying  coal,  etc.  Occasional  outdoor 
jobs  (such  as  cutting  grass,  clearing  drains  or  weeding)  are  given^ 
generally  to  tubercular  or  mentally  defective  prisoners. 

In  Holloway  prison,  cooking  must  be  added  to  the  above  list.  In 
prisons  which  contain  both  men  and  women  prisoners  it  is  customary 
for  the  cooking  to  be  done  on  the  men's  side  and  the  food  sent  over 
on  hand-trolleys  to  the  women's,  an  arrangement  which  does  not 
conduce  to  its  being  served  hot.  One  ex-convict  who  had  been  moved 
from  Aylesbury  (where  only  women  were  confined),  says,  "I'd  hardly 
one  hot  dinner  all  the  time  I  was  at  Liverpool.  In  Aylesbury  the 
dinners  were  always  boiling  hot." 

The  statistics  of  employment  given  by  the  Commissioners  in  their 
reports  since  the  beginning  of  the  war  do  not  show  a  classification 
according  to  sex.  To  illustrate  the  nature  of  the  work  upon  which 
women  prisoners  are  engaged  we  give  the  following  report  of  women's 
occupations  from  the  report  of  1913-14.' 


Daily  Average  of  Women  Prisoners  engaged  in  various 
Employments,  in  Local  and  Convict  Prisons. 


Bakers 

4 

Bedmakers 

...       47 

Bookbinders 

2 

Cotton  teasers 

8 

Dressmakers 

...       25 

Knitters 

...     303 

Knitters'  repairs 

...       78 

Mail-bag  makers 

...       61 

Needleworkers 

...     471 

Needle  workers'  repairs 

...       96 

Net    makers 

...       26 

Sail  makers 

5 

Tailors 

...       18 

Twine  and  rope  makers 

...       11 

Farm   work 

5 

Painters 

3 

Whitewashers 

4 

Cleaners   and  jobbers 

...     246 

Cooks 

...       26 

Gardeners 

...       29 

Hospital   orderlies 

...       20 

Stokers 

...       27 

"Washers 

...     475 

1,980' 

'  In  very  few  prisons  is  there  any  range  of  employment,  nor  is  there  in  practice  mach 
real  option. 

*  This  total  does  not  tally  exactly  with  the  totals  given  in  the  1913-14  P.C.  Report, 
owing   to  an   error  of  addition  in   column   8,  p.   109,  in   that  report. 


THE  REGIME  343 

There  was  a  daily  average  of  456  women  not  employed.  It  is 
very  much  to  be  regretted  that  so  few  women  are  engaged  on 
systematic  out-door  work.' 

The  laundry  usually  washes  for  both  sides  of  the  prison ;  the 
female  officers'  clothes  are  also  washed  there,  and,  at  Holloway, 
towels,  dusters  and  cloths  for  Government  offices.  The  laundry 
exemplifies  one  of  the  chief  problems  of  prison  labour,  viz.,  its 
fluctuating  quantity.  The  outside  work  and  the  washing  for  the 
men's  side  do  not  diminish  when  few  women  happen  to  be  "in," 
and  a  very  real  difficulty  sometimes  arises  in  getting  through  the 
work;  it  even  sometimes  happens  that  when  there  are  so  few 
women  the  laundry  is  temporarily  handed  over  to  the  men.  Its  is 
no  uncommon  thing  to  hear  the  officials  speak  highly  of  the  way  the 
women  rise  to  the  demands  of  extra  hard  work.  The  "reaUty"  of 
'the  work — the  fact  that  it  has  to  be  done — tends  to  produce  a  feeling 
of  co-operation  between  officials  and  prisoners,  and,  in  spite  of  the 
pressure  which  it  sometimes  entails,  redeems  this  occupation  from 
the  dreary  aimlessness  of  so  much  prison  labour.  The  "habituals" 
are  said  to  prefer  the  laundry,  with  its  free-er  discipline  and  oppor- 
tunities for  talking,  to  other  forms  of  associated  work.  The  laundries 
differ  considerably  as  to  ventilation,  space,  and  convenience. 

j  The  sewing  varies  from  mail  bags  to  uniforms.  In  one  prison 
quite  a  good  class  of  work,  the  making  of  the  wardresses'  dresses,  is 
done.  For  work  of  this  sort  sewing  machines  are  provided,  but  an 
enormous  amount  of  needlework,  including  the  prison  clothes 
for  men  and  women  and  the  hemming  of  cloths  and  towels,  is  done 
by  hand.  Sewing  by  hand,  unless  of  the  very  finest  sort,  is  not  an 
occupation  at  which  a  reasonable  living  can  now  be  gained,  and  is 
therefore  of  little  value  from  the  point  of  view  of  training  with  a 
view  to  self-support. 

In  many  prisons  the  facilities  for  association  at  needlework  are 
very  faulty.  Too  often  when  a  room  is  provided  it  is  not  well  lit. 
In  the  smaller  prisons  the  ground  floor  corridor  of  the  block  is  often 
the  only  place  where  the  w^omen  can  sit  and  work.  The  block  is 
usiially  three  stories  high,  lit  by  a  top  sky-light,  and  the  iron 
galleries  of  the  two  top  floors  darken  the  bottom  floor,  which  is  there- 
fore a  very  unsuitable  place  for  such  an  occupation.  One  questions 
whether  the  authorities  have  realised  how  extremely  trying  to  the 
sight  sewing  in  a  bad  light  can  be.  An  ex-convict  woman  reports 
that  complaints  of  eye-strain  are  very  frequent.  In  one  prison  (a 
sohtary  instance,  we  believe)  the  women  are  allowed  in  summer  to 
sit  and  sew  on  the  grass  in  the  yard,  which  is  brightened  by  a  few 
flower  beds. 

'  J'.'s  worth  quoting  in  this  connection  from  the  report  of  the  superintendent  of  Aylesbnry 
Inebriate  Eeformatory  for  1906.  He  says  that  women  employed  on  garden  work  improTe 
both  in  health  and  temper.  "It  is  an  extremely  rare  occurrence,"  he  adds,  "for  a  garden 
*°''**''  to  be  reported  for  an  offence  against  discipline.  I  am  strongly  of  opinion  that 
?S™?°''  employment  is  the  most  satisfactory  form  of  work  for  these  women."  (P.C.  Report. 
1905-6,  pp.  578   and  579. 


344  WOMEN  PRISONERS 

Sewing  is  given  out  to  be  done  in  cells  as  well  as  in  association. 
Thus  one  woman  employed  in  the  kitchen  all  day  reports  having 
12  mail  bags  weekly  for  sewing  in  her  cell.  Of  course  no  work 
is  required  to  be  done  on  Sunday,  but  instructions  are  given  that 
the  sewing  is  to  be  left  in  the  cell  so  that  a  woman  who  wishes  may 
occupy  herself  with  it,  a  considerable  boon  to  sonie  prisoners  in 
mitigating  the  dreariness  of  that  most  dreary  day. 

Diet. 

The  diet  of  women  prisoners  scarcely  differs  in  its  constituents 
(except  for  the  addition  of  tea)  from  that  of  the  men.  It  is  con- 
siderably improved  since  1916,  when  for  two  out  of  the  three  daily 
meals  nothing  but  dry  bread  with  tea  (in  lieu  of  porridge)  or  cocoa 
was  given.  Somewhat  smaller  quantities  of  bread,  porridge,  potatoes, 
rice,  and  pulse  are  served  out  to  female  prisoners  than  to  men.  There 
are  slight  local  variations  in  diet ;  prisons  with  gardens,  for  instance, 
are  able  to  give  better  and  more  varied  fresh  vegetables.  The  quality 
of  the  food  varies.  The  general  opinion  is  that  the  cocoa  and  bread 
are  of  very  good  quality,  but  that  the  bacon  and  fish  are  often  almost 
uneatable. 

Women  on  some  classes  of  work  receive  extra  for  breakfast; 
pregnant  women  now  receive  some  increase  of  diet;  and  a  small 
addition  to  rations  is  made  in  the  case  of  convict  prisoners.  We 
have  evidence  that  these  latter,  in  for  long  terms,  find  the  diet  very 
unsatisfactory  and  monotonous.  The  change  from  the  more  varied 
and  better  general  diet  at  Aylesbury,  where  a  "lettuce  or  a  bit  of 
fresh  onion  to  our  tea"  could  sometimes  be  enjoyed,  has  been  acutely 
felt  by  the  convicts  who  have  been  removed  to  Liverpool. 

The  interval  of  over  14  hours  (from  4-30  p.m.  to  6-45  a.m.)  between 
the  last  meal  at  night  and  the  first  in  the  morning  appears  to  be  felt 
even  more  acutely  by  the  women  prisoners  than  by  the  men. 

The  Silence  Rule  and  Other  Features. 
The  application  of  the  silence  rule  is  not  uniform.  On  the  whola 
it  is  probably  less  severely  enforced  in  female  prisons  than  in 
male,  though  this  is  not  always  the  case.  Some  women  officers  at 
least  would  welcome  the  abolition  of  the  rule.  So  long  as  it  exists, 
even  if  tacitly  modified,  they  feel  it  is  something  the  breach  of  which 
might  be  brought  up  against  them.     Others  are  favourable  to  it. 

The  following  may  probably  be  taken  as  fairly  typical  of  the 
women  officers'  opinion  on  the  matter:  — 

Silence  is  a  prison  rule  and  should  therefore  be  kept.  Ours  being 
such  a  large  prison  it  cannot  be  kept,  as  I  believe  it  can  be  in  a  small 
prison.  Therefore,  with  the  rule  as  it  is,  it  is  not  a  fair  rule  for 
either  prisoner  or  officer.  Certainly  abolishing  the  rule  might  be  the 
means  of  contaminating  an  otherwise  clean  mind  with  bad  thoughts.  H 
the  classes  and  work-rooms  were  on  a  smaller  scale  and  the  officer  able 
to  hear  any  and  all  conversation  going  on,  it  would  then  certainly  have 
to  be  "clean"  and  perhaps  could  be  made  very   helpful. 


THE    SILENCE    BULE    AND    OTHER    FEATURES  345 

The  psychological  results  of  imprisonment  are  probably  not  very 
different  with  women  from  what  they  are  with  men.'"  It  is  possible, 
as  one  ex-prisoner  suggests,  that  women  feel  the  deprivation  of 
ncwmal  conversation,  the  one  relaxation  in  life  for  some  of  them, 
even  more  than  men  do,  and  their  anxiety  at  being  separated  from 
their  children  is  probably  more  poignant.  The  gipsy  mother 
imprisoned  for  fortune-telling,  who  has  left  a  caravan  full  of  young 
children  with  no  woman  to  care  for  them ;  the  mother  who  has  left 
a  sick  boy  at  home  and  can  have  no  news  of  him  for  two  months ;  the 
housewife  who  hears  in  prison  that  her  husband  has  taken  to  drink 
in  her  absence,  that  the  children  have  been  scattered  and  the  home 
sold  up — these  are  merely  instances  which  enable  us  to  fill  in,  in 
imagination,  the  cruel  anxiety  which  occupies  so  many  of  the  minutes 
of  the  18  hours'  solitude. 

I  Our  evidence  indicates  that  little  attention  is  paid  to  the  special 
needs  of  women  during  their  monthly  periods.  "^Yomen  ought  to 
ibe  allowed  to  he  down  in  the  afternoon  during  that  week  if  they  feel 
the  need  of  it,"  urges  an  ex-prisoner.  "At  present  they  are  not 
permitted  to  put  down  their  beds  by  day."  The  complaint  is  also 
made  that  proper  privacy  is  not  afforded.  We  take  the  following 
statement  from  the  speech  of  an  ex-prisoner  at  a  conference  arranged 
jby  the  Penal  Reform  League  in  June,  1917:  — 

I  Owing  to  prison  negligence  I  became  ill  and  only  left  my  cell  for  foar 

hours'  exercise  on  four  different  days — during  the  whole  of  my  sentence. 
My  cell  was,  therefore,  my  dining-room,  my  bedroom,  my  bathroom,  and 
my  water-closet,  and  I  was  always  just  in  my  nightdress.  I  must,  of 
course,  leave  a  good  deal  to  your  imagination,  but  can  you  realise  what 
it  meant  when  the  male  governor,  male  deputy-governor,  male  doctors, 
male  chaplains,  male  visiting  magistrates,  male  inspector,  all  apparently 
have  the  right  to  plunge  into  your  cell-bedroom  without  the  slightest 
warning,  or  even  knocking,  or  even  asking  your  permission !  The 
wardress  certainly  unlocks  the  cell  for  these  men,  her  superiors ;  but  as 
you  seldom  hear  their  approach,  and  practice  has  made  her  a  lightning- 
speed  key-fitter,  a  prisoner  may  be  caught  in  the  most  embarrassing 
situations.  I  do  not  want  to  labour  the  point,  but  I  say  that  there  is 
not  one  woman  in  this  audience — whether  single  or  married — who  would 
like  to  think  that  any  strange  man  could  burst  into  her  bedroom  in 
that  way. 

One  of  the  medical  officers  at  HoUoway  prison  is  now  a  woman. 
We  see  no  reason  why  this  prison  should  not  be  exclusively  staffed 
jby  women,  from  the  governor  downwards. 

j  As  a  rule  the  medical  officers  of  prisons  do  not  appear  to  be 
encouraged  to  use  their  position  with  a  view  to  research  into  the 
immensely  important  bearing  of  physical  conditions  upon  crime.  In 
view  of  the  fact  that  the  emotions  are  so  profoundly  affected  by  the 
sex  instinct,  it  might  reasonably  be  supposed  that  the  incidence  of 
crime,  particularly  of  those  forms  of  it  which  are  more  directly 
:  associated  with  emotional  instability,  would  vary  with  the  condition 

Poi  the  general  mental  and    moral  efiecta   of  imprisonment,   see  Part  II. 


846  WOMEN  PRISONERS 

of  the  sexual  life.  It  should  be  a  comparatively  simple  matter  to 
elucidate  some  of  the  efiects  of  this  element  in  the  causation  of  crime 
in  women  owing  to  the  definite  monthly  cycle  of  the  sexual  life. 

A  considerable  number  of  women  when  admitted  to  Local  prisons 
are  pregnant.  It  is  even  said  that  in  some  cases,  where  the  prison 
doctor  has  a  specially  good  reputation,  women  commit  small  crimes 
in  order  to  be  in  prison  for  their  confinement — a  severe  reflection 
upon  the  conditions  outside  prison !  It  is  the  practice  in  Scotland 
(but  not  in  England)  to  send  women  out  to  a  hospital  for  the  birth  of 
the  child,  requiring  them  to  return  afterwards  to  complete  their  sen- 
tence. In  England  it  is  the  general  rule  in  the  case  of  sentences 
which  have  not  long  to  run  for  the  doctor  to  report  the  case  and 
obtain  the  woman's  discharge  before  her  baby  is  bom.  But  even 
so,  a  considerable  number  of  babies  are  actually  born  in  prison. 

Babies  in  Prison. 
No  official  figures  of  births  in  prisons  are  issued.     It  is  now  the 
custom  when  a  child  is  born  in  prison  to  enter  the  address  on  its 

birth  certificate  as  No Street,  thus  avoiding  the  slur  of  an 

official  statement  of  its  place  of  birth.     This  pious  fraud  may  have 
its  uses  in  later  life,  but  probably  the  child  itself  knows  well  enough 
where  it  was  born.     In  this  connection  there  exists  a  curious  legend 
that  any  child  bom  in  prison  has  a  right  to  a  farthing  a  day  from  ; 
the  Government  for  the  rest  of  its  life.     For  this,  of  course,  there  j 
is  no  foundation.     Nevertheless,  from  time  to  time  claims  for  arrears  i 
reach  the  Prison  Commission. 

For  her  confinement  the  mother  i3  placed  in  the  prison  hospital,  j 
probably  in  a  ward.  Afterwards  the  child  shares  her  cell,  with  all  | 
its  limitations  of  space  and  ventilation.  One  prison  has  a  double  j 
cell  for  mother  and  baby,  but  it  is  so  dark  and  gloomy  that  little  is  ; 
gained.  The  mother  is  not  allowed  to  make  or  bring  into  the  prison  i 
clothes  for  her  child;  these  are  provided  by  the  authorities. 

Convicted  mothers  with  young  children  are  allowed  to  bring  their 
babies  into   prison  with    them.       The  following  rules  govern  the  i 
reception  of  children  in  prison  : —  j 

When  a  child  is  received  into  prison  with  its  mother,  under  the  order 
of  the  committing  magistratea,  gach  child  shall  not  be  taken  from  its! 
molher  until  the  medical  officer  certifies  that  it  is  in  a  fit  condition  to , 
be  removed.  When  the  child  has  attained  the  age  of  12  months  the] 
medical  officer  will  report  if  he  considers  it  desirable  that  it  should  be 
detained  for  any  longer  period.  Before  discharging  any  such  child  the| 
governor  will  ascertain  from  the  relatives  whether  they  are  willing  and ; 
able  to  receive  it,  and,  in  the  event  of  their  being  unable,  will  report! 
the  case  to  the  Commissioners  for  decision  whether  the  child  shall  bei 
retained  for  a  further  period,  or  sent  to  the  workhouse.  If  the  child; 
be  not  retained  in  prison,  it  will  be  sent  to  the  workhouse  of  the  Union  inj 
which  the  mother  was  apprehended,  previous  communication  with  the 
workhouse   authorities  having  been  made  by  the  governor." 

11  3.0.  102. 


||  CONVICT   WOMEN  847 

A  crib,  cot  or  craflle  will  be  issued  to  every  female  prisoner  with  a 
baby.  Each  such  prisoner  will  be  told  that  she  is  to  use  this  for  the 
baby  at  night,  and  will  be  warned  that,  if  she  disobeys  the  order  she 
will  render  herself  liable  to  report  and  will  be  held  responsible  in  the 
event  of  any  accident  occurring.'* 

In  practice,  the  12  months'  limit  is  sometimes  extended,  and  we 
have  heard  of  a  boy  of  three,  whose  mother  and  grandmother  were 
both  in  the  same  prison,  who  ran  all  about  the  place  and  stopping 
at  a  cell  door  would  knock  and  call,  "You  all  right,  granny  ?"  Where 
there  are  several  children  in  at  the  same  time  they  are  placed  in  the 
care  of  a  wardress,  and  generally  spend  much  of  their  time  out  of 
doors.  Some  prisons  have  special  rooms  for  them.  Until  recently 
the  children  in  these  "creches"  have  been  entirely  tended  by 
wardresses,  but  at  Holloway  prison  the  mothers  are  now  expected 
to  bathe  their  own  children. 

There  is   no  doubt  that  much  kindness  is   shown  to  these  little 

'children;  they  are  well  looked  after,  have  good  food,  and  are  kept 

!  clean.     The  advantages  to  the  mother  of  their  presence  in  the  prison 

are  obvious;  and  into  the  cold  existence  of  the  other  women,  too, 

the  children  bring  a  touch  of   something  human.        The  crowing 

of  a  baby  breaks  the  silence,  a  scrap  of  ribbon  on  its  sleeve  makes  a 

touch  of  unwonted  colour,  and  to  many  women  the  mere  sight  of  a 

child  is  a  relief.     A  case  has  been  instanced  to  us  of  a  girl,  probably 

abnormal,  whose  violent  temper  occasionally  involves  such  penalties 

as  the  strait  jacket  and  the  punishment  cell,  but  who  can  be  calmed 

j  completely  by  the  company  of  a  little  child."     It  is,   however,  a 

question,  in   the  light  of  recent  discoveries   as   to  the   effect  very 

early  environment  and  unconscious  memory  hare  on  the  formation 

of  character,  whether,  for  their  own  sake,  children  ought  to  be  left  in 

prison,  however  remedial  their  influence  upon  others  may  be. 

Convict    Women. 

All  women  convicts  are  at  present  confined  in  Walton  Prison, 
Liverpool.  They  occupy  the  innermost  block  of  the  women's  prison. 
This  block  is  in  such  proximity  to  the  men's  remand  block  that  the 
language  of  the  men,  often  bad  and  indecent,  is  distinctly  heard,  and 

'  conversation   passes    between   the    prisoners   confined    in   the    two 

I  sections. 

j  We  believe  that  the  accommodation  of  the  convict  women  at 
I  Liverpool  prison  is  supposed  to  be  only  temporary.  On  this  point  a 
I  visiting  magistrate  says :  "For  long  sentence  prisoners  such  as  these 
I  it  would  be  very  desirable  if  one  of  the  smaller  country  prisons  at 
j  present  empty  could  be  used.  It  crowds  the  Local  women  badly, 
I  and  the  convicts'  lives  are  more  wretched  than  they  need  be  from  the 
\  cramped  and  dismal  nature  of  their  surroundings." 

I       "8.0.  105. 
"  See  p.  17. 


848  WOMEN  PRISONERS 

The  women  convicts  have  a  good  workroom  for  needlework,  and  a 
fair  laundry,  which  they  share  with  the  local  prisoners.  The  con- 
victs do  the  staff  washing,  their  own,  and  all  the  ironing;  the  locals 
do  the  rest.  The  convicts  also  cook  for  the  women  officers  and  do 
the  housework  of  their  quarters. 

The  convict  women  have  some  "privileges"  denied  to  the  shorter 
term  prisoners.  They  have  from  the  beginning  a  bedstead  and 
mattress,  a  square  of  mat  and  a  chair,  and  are  allowed  Christmas 
cards,  picture  postcards,  photographs,  etc.  In  the  cells  of  Eoman 
Catholics  a  crucifix  may  be  seen ;  a  small  table-cloth  and  a  vase  of 
flowers  in  others.  A  looking-glass  is  allowed  after  the  first  nine 
months.  They  are  fortunate  in  having  a  lecture  by  a  visitor  every 
Wednesday,  and  a  choir  practice  or  concert  with  outside  performers 
on  Saturdays.  They  have  "associated  exercise"  after  nine  months, 
but  no  other  recreation  or  classes.  They  are  not  searched  as  part 
of  the  ordinary  routine,  though  every  few  weeks  a  "surprise"  search 
is  made.  (This  is  always  resorted  to  when  thefts  of  food,  etc.,  are 
suspected). 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  long-sentence  women  feel  acutely  the 
conditions  of  their  imprisonment.  They  frequently  complain  of 
hunger,  and  the  food  is  too  little  varied  for  prolonged  periods,  even 
when  sufficient  in  quantity.  Moreover,  the  length  of  confinement 
in  cells  is  very  hard  to  bear.  The  actual  occasions  on  which  they  are 
out  of  the  cells  for  work,  exercise,  and  chapel,  last  from  8.30  a.m. 
to  11.45  a.m.  and  from  1.30  p.m.  to  3.45  p.m.  This  means  18 
hours  out  of  the  24  in  solitude.  One  woman,  when  asked  how  she 
stood  this  confinement  over  a  period  of  several  years,  replied:  "Ifc 
is  very  hard  to  avoid  bitter  thoughts  of  them  that  sent  you  here." 

Associated  exercise  gives  opportunities  for  talking.  Comparisons 
of  sentences  and  crimes  are  a  staple  of  conversation,  and  the  in- 
equality of  punishment  adds  a  sense  of  injustice  to  their  lot. 
Religion  is  occasionally  discussed.  "You  don't  hardly  know  what 
to  think  of  religion;  inside,  there  doesn't  seem  like  as  if  there  could 
be  a  proper  God,  with  so  much  hardness  and  injustice."  It  is  note-- 
worthy  that  a  number  of  ex-convict  women  subscribe  a  penny  a 
week  to  provide  flowers  for  the  prison  chapel. 

Women  convicts  are  favoured  in  being  allowed  remission  of  one- 
third  of  their  sentence  as  a  reward  for  industry  and  good  conduct, 
as  compared  with  one-quarter  allowed  to  men  convicts.  W^omen 
sentenced  to  long  terms  also  still  receive  a  daily  gratuity.  Moreover, 
a  well-behaved  woman  convict  with  a  sentence  of  five  years  or  more 
may  be  permitt-ed  to  spend  the  last  nine  months  of  her  period  of 
imprisonment  in  an  "approved  refuge"  or  home,  so  that  the  time 
actually  spent  in  prison  by  a  woman  sentenced  to  five  years'  penal 
servitude  may  not  be  more  than  31  months.'*  These  women  come 
under  the  care  of  the  Central  Association  for  the  Aid  of  Discharged 
Convicts,  whose  assistance  oft-en  proves  of  the  greatest  value. 

'*  Rules  for  Convict  Prisons,   1899,  Nos.   33   and  34. 


WOMEN  PRISONERS  349 

A  Note  on  the  Law  Regarding  Prostitution. 


Under  the  Towns  Police  Clauses  Act,  1847,  any  "common  prostitute  cr 
night-walker  loitering  and  importuning  passengers  for  the  purpose  of  prostitu- 
tion" is  liable  to  a  penalty  of  40/-  or  to  imprisonment  for  14  days  if  the 
offence  be  to  the  obstruction,  annoyance,  or  danger  of  the  residents  or 
passengers  in  any  street.  The  Act  is  (or  is  supposed  to  be)  restricted  to 
offences  in  cases  of  "obstruction,  annoyance,  or  danger." 

The  Vagrancy  Act,  1824,  deals  with  every  common  prostitute  wandering 
in  the  public  streets  or  public  highway  or  in  any  place  of  public  resort  and 
behaving  in  a  riotous  or  indecent  manner.  Under  this  Act  a  woman 
merely  accosting  a  man  commits  no  offence.  For  a  first  offence  the  defendant 
is  deemed  to  be  an  idle  and  disorderly  person,  and  may  be  imprisoned  on 
the  order  of  one  justice  for  14  days,  or  on  the  order  of  two  justices  for  one 
calendar  month,  or  fined  not  exceeding  £5.  For  second  offences  under  the 
Act  more  severe  penalties  may  be  inflicted. 

Under  the  Metropolitan  Police  Act,  which  applies  within  the  Metropolitan 
Police  District,  "every  common  prostitute  or  night-walker  loitering  or  being 
in  any  thoroughfare  or  public  place  for  the  purpose  of  prostitution  or  solicita- 
tion to  the  annoyance  of  the  inhabitants  or  passengers"  is  liable  to  a  penalty 
not  exceeding  40/-  or  one  month's  imprisonment.  This  is  a  similar  offence 
to  that  under  the  Towns  Police  Clauses  Act. 

Prostitutes  are  often  bound  over  in  sureties  to  be  of  good  behaviour.  Legal 
janthorities  are  not  agreed  as  to  all  the  offences  for  which  this  surety  may  be 
required.  The  power  is  traced  to  a  Statute  of  Edward  III.'s  reign.  The 
statute  has  been  so  extended  that  it  has  become  difficult  to  define  how  far 
it  shall  extend  and  where  it  shall  stop.  The  authorities  state  that  "sureties 
may  be  required  from  ....  night-walkers ;  and  in  general,  whatever 
act  is  of  itself  a  misbehaviour  is  sufficient  cause  to  bind  over  such  an  offender." 
The  Court  may  order  the  offender  in  default  of  compliance  with  the  order 
to  be  imprisoned  for  a  period  of  six  months  by  a  petty  sessional  Court  (two 
play  magistrates  or  a  stipendiary),  or  for  14  days  otherwise. 

The  amount  of  the  surety  is  in  the  discretion  of  the  Court,  having  regard 
ito'the  rank  of  the  parties  and  the  circumstances  of  the  case.  Amounts  are 
^ften  demanded  which  are  placed  deliberately  beyond  the  credit  of  the  woman 
concerned,  and  thus  a  large  number  are  actually  sent  to  prison  under  this 
provision.  A  very  frequent  term  is  six  weeks,  which  is  a  longer  sentence 
than  can  be  given  under  the  other  Acts  above-mentioned. 


350  WOMEN  PRISONERS 


SOME     OF     THE    PRINCIPAL     DEFECTS    INDICATED    IN    THE 
PRECEDING    CHAPTER. 


1. — Nearly  all  the  defects  previously  noted  apply  to  women  prisoner! 
equally  with  men  prisoners. 

2. — It  is  not  made  sufficiently  clear  that  the  special  examination  of  women 
prisoners  for  the  symptoms  of  venereal  disease  is  not  compulsory. 

3. — Little  attention  is  paid  to  the  special  physical  needs  of  women. 

4. — There  is  insufficient  privacy.  The  doors  of  the  women's  cells  may  at 
any  moment  be  opened  to  admit  male  officials. 

5. — There  is  a  woman  inspector  of  prisons,  and  a  woman  doctor  and  hospital 
superintendent  at  Holloway  prison,  but  otherwise  the  superior  prison  staff  is 
entirely  composed  of  men. 

6. — The  cells  in  which  women  with  infants  are  detained  are  too  small. 
Little  training  in  the  care  of  children  is  given. 


WOMEN  PRISONERS  Ml 

Appendix  to  Chapter  Twenty-Two. 

CASE    OF    EEMAND    FOR    MEDICAL    EXAMINATION 


On   April  9th    (Easter  Monday),   1917,   at  about   10-30  p.m.,   Mrs.    E 

W .   aged  20,  and  Miss   E K ,   aged  19,  were  arrested  at  H 

Barracks  Railway  Station  on  a  charge  of  "using  insulting  words  or 
behaviour,"  etc.     They  were  taken  to  the  police   station  and   later  released 

■  on  bail  for  the  night.     Next  day  (Tuesday)  they  were  charged  before  Mr.  H. 

H ,  chairman  of  the  B Police  Court.     He  remanded  them  for  a  week 

to  HoUoway  prison   for  the  express  purpose  of   medical  examination,    bail 

j  being  refused. 

I  They  were  received  at  the  prison  on  Tuesday,  April  10th,  had  the  asual 
bath  and  saw  the  prison  doctor,  who  made  the  customary  examination, 
which  merely  consists  of  sounding  the  chest  and  asking  a  few  questions.     On 

,  Thursday,  April  12th,  they  were  sent  for  by  the  doctor  and  underwent  a 
complete  medical   examination,  including  an  examination  of  the  vagina. 

The  same  night  (Thursday)   they  were  released   on  bail   and   re-appeared 
;  at  the  B Police  Court  on  Tuesday,  April  17th,  for  the  remanded  enquiry. 

The  secretary  of  the  Association  for  Moral  and  Social  Hygiene  saw  Mrs. 

i  W (the  elder  of  the  two  women   charged)   on  April  25th,  and  received 

:  the  following  statement  from  her  : — 

I  am  20.     My  husband  is  a  soldier.     I  have  never  been  in  any  trouble 

before.       There   was   a   party   of   us    coming    from   a   dance    at   B . 

my  mother-in-law,   with  a  child  of  four.  Miss  K (the  other  woman 

arrested),  and  myself.  My  sister-in-law  had  gone  home  in  a  trap,  and 
taken  my  baby  with  her.     My   mother-in-law   was  getting   the  tickets. 

There  was  a  lot  of  noise  and  a  crowd  of  people,  and  suddenly  K and 

I  were  taken  by  a  policeman.  My  mother-in-law  came  along  and  pro- 
tested, but  was  told  that  she  would  be  taken  too  if  she  were  not  quiet. 

We  were  released  on  bail  that  night  and  got  home  about  12-30  a.m. 
dead  beat.  Next  day  (Tuesday)  we  were  charged  at  the  police  court 
and  remanded  to  Holloway.  I  am  feeding  my  baby  at  the  breast  and 
I  did  not  see  him  from  the  Tuesday  morning  till  late  on  Thursday  night. 
My  brother-in-law  kept  trying  to  get  us  out  on  bail,  but  the  solicitor 
was  told  at  the  Court  that  we  must  first  be  medically  examined,  and 
that  bail  would  depend  on  the  result  of  the  medical  examination. 

On  Thursday  (April  12th),  after  we  had  been  in  prison  two  days,  we 
were  sent  to  the  doctor  and  were  both  stripped  of  everything  except  our 

chemises.       My  friend    (K )   was   examined   first,   and    I  found   her 

crying.     The  nurse  said,   "K is  all  right."     Then  I  was  told  to  lie 

down  on  my  side  and  take  off  my  chemise.  The  doctor  and  the  nurse 
examined  me,  and  the  nurse  called  the  doctor's  attention  to  where  I  had 
been  torn  when  my  baby  was  born. 

'  Mrs.     W ,     in     answer     to     questions,     stated     that     the     examination 

was  a  vaginal  examination,  but  she  thought  no  instrument  was  used.  She 
said  that  she  was  so  upset  and  crying  that  she  could  not  be  sure  if  the  doctor 

j  ti«ed  anything  but  his  hands. 


352  WOMEN  PRISONERS 

Both  the  doctor  and  the  nurse  were  quite  kind  and  gentle.  I  did  no< 
know  that  I  could  refuse  to  be  examined  and  did  not  know  exactlj 
what  they  were  going  to  do  to  me.  I  understood  I  could  not  get  out 
on  bail  until  I  had  been  examined,  and  I  wanted  to  get  back  to  my  baby. 
After  the  examination  was  over  I  was  told  it  was  all  right,  and  we 
were  released  later  in  the  day.  If  I  thought  I  would  have  to  go  all 
through  this  sort  of  thing  again  I  would  rather  do  myself  in. 

On  the  Tuesday  following,   April  17th,  the  two  women  answered  to  their 

bail.       The  following  account  of  the  proceedings  is  taken  from  the  "M 

Chronicle,"  of  April  21st  : — 

.     .     .     Twice   during  the    hearing  the   chairman   intimated   that  the 

Bench  would  deal  with  the  accused  by  cautioning  them,  but  Mr.  W 

F ,  who  defended,  said  that  he  wanted  more  than  that,  for  he  wanted 

justice,  and  declared  that  the  last  had  not  been  heard  of  the  matter, 
whatever  might  happen.  He  insisted  that  there  was  an  apology  due  to 
these  young  women,  for  although  there  was  no  doubt  a  disturbance  at 
the  station,  the  police  had  made  a  mistake  in  arresting  his  clients,  who 
were  in  no  way  concerned.  But  there  was  something  else,  which  had  to 
do  with  the  extraordinary  action  taken  by  the  Bench  at  the  first  hearing, 
in  ordering  these  respectable  girls  to  be  subjected  to  the  indignity  of  a 
medical  examination  by  the  prison  doctor.  There  was  no  legislation  to 
warrant  such  a  course,  and  he  held  that  the  Bench  had  no  authority  to 
make  such  an  order.  He  repeated  that  to  subject  respectable  young 
women  to  such  treatment  on  the  evidence  before  the  Bench  was  wrong, ' 
and  some  reparation  was  due  to  them  for  the  indignity  they  had  suffered,  i 

The  chairman  held  that  the  evidence  given  at  the  first  hearing  was  I 
such  as  to  lead  the  Bench  to  regard  the  accused  as  of  disorderly  character,  i 
and  that  it  was  in  the  public  interest  that  they  should  be  medically  j 
examined  whilst  under  remand.  That  sort  of  thing  had  been  done  before  i 
and  would  be  done  again.  However,  the  case  had  been  thrashed  out,! 
and  the  accused  would  be  discharged. 

Apart  from  the  flagrant  injustice  and  disgraceful  indignity  to  which  these] 
women  were  subjected,  this  case  is  of  interest  as  indicating  that  the  Bench i 
of   magistrates  and   the  clerk  of  the  Court  were  under  the  impression  thati 
they  had  a  perfect  right  to  order  the  medical  examination  for  venereal  disease! 
of    women   charged    with    street    offences.        The   two   women   were    sent  tol 
HoUoway   prison   with    definite  instructions  from  the  magistrates  that  they 
were  to  be  examined  for  venereal  disease,  bail  being  refused  until  the  result^ 
of  the   examination  was  known.     They   had  two  medical  examinations,  onej 
the   ordinary    routine   sounding    of    the    chest,    etc.,    and,   two   days   later,  aj 
complete  internal  and  external  examination  for  venereal  disease.     Both  irere 
on  remand,   and,    being   unconvicted  prisoners,    were  entitled  to  the  fuUes* 
protection  of  the  law. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 


t^o^^ 


'HE   GENERAL   CHAEACTERISTICS   OF   THE   ROUTINE 

The  Suppression  of  Personality 

T  will   be  clear  to  those  who   have  read  the  preceding  chapterss 
lat    the    dominant    characteristic    of    the    prison    routine    is    its/ 
oppression  of  personality.     "From  the  time  he  enters  prison  to/ 
^"^  day  of  his  release  the  criminal  is  as  nearly  as  possible  dehuman-l 
,  '  writes  ah  ex-prisoner;  "he  is  a  mere  unit,  with  a  distinguish- j 
!g  number;  except  in  his  cell   he  is   never  beyond   the  eye  of  a) 
'arder,  and  even  there  he  may  be  silently  observed  through  a  spy- 
ole  in  the  door.     His  every  action  is  treated  as  a  mere  mechanical 
recess,  and  human  motives,  one  might  suppose,    are  deemed  not 
D  animate  him.     He  is  never  trusted,  but  always  regarded  as   a 
otential  wrong-doer." 

"Human  dog-kennels"  is  the  description  which  another  ex- 
risoner  gives  of  prison. 

"Men  are  animalised  here,"  he  proceeds.  "The  governor  is  responsible 
to  the  State  to  keep  the  bodies  of  the  men  it  sends  him  for  the  period 
stated.  I  have  seen  the  book  marked  'Body  Receipt  Book.'  As  soon 
as  we  enter,  that  is  what  we  are — a  mere  body.  ...  It  took  me  some 
time  to  find  a  fitting  condemnation  of  this  well-run  machine — clean  and 
regular,  but  it  is  that  we  are  treated  as  bodies  without  souls.  To  keep 
our  bodies  safe  we  are  counted  over  30  times  a  day — in  and  out,  in  and 
out.  You  must  not  do  a  thing  without  permission.  Get  up  when  told, 
empty  slops  when  told,  scrub  floors  when  told,  exercise  in  a  certain 
way  as  told,  stop  when  told.  Every  movement  must  be  done  as  ordered, 
nothing  must  be  done  without  permission,  from  six  in  the  morning  till 
eight  at  night,  when  you  are  at  last  allowed  to  make  your  own  bed  and  ^ 
get  into  it."  -^ 

The  cold,  inhuman  mechanism  of  prison  existence  has  probably 
ever  been  more  eloquently  expressed  than  by  Michael  Davitt  in  his 
''ell-known  letter  to  the  "Daily  Chronicle"  on  the  question  of  the 
icidivist :  — 

All  individuality  is  mercilessly  suppressed  in  the  prisoner.  No 
prisoner  is  allowed  to  do  anything  except  with  the  permission  and  within 
sight  of  a  warder.  He  is  the  object  of  constant  and  ceaseless  vigilance 
from  .sentence  to  liberation.  He  is  closely  watched  when  at  prayers  in 
chapel.  He  is  under  the  warder's  eye  while  in  his  cell,  and  is  never 
|or  a  second  lost  sight  of  when  at  work. 

N 


364     THE  GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS   OF  THE  ROUTINE 

He  is  made  to  feel  in  every  particular  of  his  routine  life  of  silenc* 
and  labour  that  he  is  treated,  not  as  a  man,  but  as  a  mere  disciplined 
human  automaton.  To  possess  a  wiU  or  attempt  to  exercise  it  even  ir 
some  praiseworthy  or  harmless  manner — as,  for  instance,  to  share  a 
piece  of  bread  with  a  more  hungry  fellow  unfortunate — is  to  commii 
a  breach  of  prison  rules.  The  human  will  must  be  left  outside  of  the 
prison  gates,  where  it  is  to  be  picked  up  again,  five,  seven  or  15  years 
afterwards,  and  refitted  to  the  mental  conditions  which  penal  servitude 
has  created  in  the  animalised  machine  which  is  discharged  from 
custody.' 

In  all  essential  respects  this  is  as  arccurate  a  description  of  prisor 
life  to-day  as  when  it  was  written. 

In  its  regardlessness  for  the  individual  the  prison  system  is,  c 
course,  akin  to  the  army  system,  and  frequently  in  our  evidencf 
protest  is  raised  against  the  "militarism"  of  the  routine.  "Th< 
autocratic  methods  of  militarism  are  resented  very  keenly  by  thi 
prisoners,"  says  a  witness  who  has  had  14  years'  experience  as  th( 
agent  of  a  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid  Society.  "The  army-liki: 
discipline  represses  all  the  finer  instincts  of  the  prisoner,  and  hii 
sees  himself  developing  into  an  automatic  machine.  The  whoL' 
regime  is  devoid  of  soul,  of  tenderness,  of  mercy,  of  sympathy." 
Dr.  Devon  makes  the  same  point:  — 

Prisons  are  run  more  on  a  military  than  on  a  civic  model.  Th( 
civilian  and  the  soldier  have  a  different  conception  of  discipline.  I| 
industrial  and  commercial  life  a  man  is  required  to  develop  a  sense  cj 
initiative;  to  act  on  his  own  judgment.  He  dare  not  do  this  in  prisol 
except  at  considerable  risk.  Prisoner  or  official,  if  he  wants  an  urj 
troubled  time,  he  will  get  it  best  by  putting  his  personal  reKponsibilitiei 
on  the  shoulders  of  some  other  body,  suppressing  his  judgment,  ani 
doing  what  he  is  told.* 

The  Apologia  of  the  Chairman  of  the  Prison  Commission. 
In  a  recent  book,  entitled  "The  Enghsh  Prison  System,"  whici 
may  be  taken  as  its  official  apologia.  Sir  Evelyn  Euggles-Bris; 
describes  "the  individualisation  of  the  offender"  as  "the  aim  ani 
purpose  of  the  modern  penal  system  in  all  civilised  countries,"  atii 
urges  that  "patient  observation  of  every  human  being  while  in  tl! 
custody  of  the  State  for  an  infraction  of  its  laws"  will  prove  (togetht; 
with  After-care  and  Prevention)  the  chief  factor  in  the  solutic! 
of  the  criminal  problem.'  The  chairman  of  the  Commissioneij 
is  at  great  pains  to  show  that  the  prison  authorities  have  for  mar} 
years  been  seeking  to  find  what  Mr.  Winston  Churchill  omj 
termed  the  "treasure  that  is  the  heart  of  every  man,"  but  in  tlj 
light  of  our  own  experience  and  the  mass  of  evidence  that  has  befj 
placed  at  our  disposal  we  are  bound  to  remark,  first,  that  were  f; 
the  modifications  of  the  prison  rc^gime  which  Sir  E.  Ruggles-Bri^ 
cites  operative,  they  would  make  little  difference  to  its  dehumaniBiil 

1  Quoted  on   p.   263   of  Tighe  Hopkins'   "Wards  of   the  State."  i 

2  Report  of    Proceedings  of  National  Conference  on  Prevention    of  Destitution    (Crime  « 
Inebriety),   1912,  p.    27.  ' 

s  Op.  cit.  pp.  14  and  16-17. 


>X/'/<^  K^ 


i 


THE   RVLE    OF    SILENCE 


355       \ 


nature,  and,  secondly,  that,  as  a  matter  of  actual  fact,  the  impressions 
which  he  gives  of  the  alleged  ameliorations  of  the  rigid  routine  are 
seriously  misleading. 

The  Eule  of  Silence. 
The  most  manifestly  dehumanising  prison  rule,  is  .that  whrcli 
demands  silence  on  the  part  of  prisoners.  It  is  a  tribute  to  the 
"eSectiveness  of  the  criticism  of  this  rule  that  Sir  E.  Ruggles-Brise 
attempts  to  prove  that  no  such  thing  exists.*  He  points  out  that 
previously  to  1898  the  order  ran,  "The  governor  shall  enforce  the 
observance  of  silence  throughout  the  prison,"  whilst  now  the  rule 
is  as  follows  :  — 

The  governor  shall,  subject  to  the  provisions  of  these  rules,  prevent 
all  intercourse  or  communication  between  the  prisoners,  so  far  as  the 
conduct  of  the  business  of  the  prison  or  the  labour  of  the  prisoners  will 
permit,  and  shall  take  care  that  all  intercourse  or  communication  between 
them  shall  be  conducted  in  such  manner  only  as  he  may  direct.  But 
the  privilege  of  talking  may  be  given  after  a  certain  period  as  a  reward 
for  good  conduct  on  certain  days,  for  a  limited  time,  and  under  reason- 
able supervision,  to  such  long-sentenced  prisoners  as  have  conducted 
themselves  well,  and  who  desire  the  privilege  and  are  not  deemed  nn- 
suitable  for  it. 

"Conformably  to  this  rule,"  proceeds  the  Chairman  of  the  Prison 

Commissioners,  "a  prisoner  who  desires  this  privilege  (and  many  do 

not  desire  it)  and  is  not  unsuitable  for  it,  may,  on  Sundays,  after  a 

i  certain  period  of  sentence,  walk  and  converse  with  another  prisoner, 

provided  that  such  prisoner  is  of  the  same  class,  and  that,  in  the 

opinion  of  the  governor,  the  association  is  not  likely  to  be  injurious. 

Female  prisoners  and  invaUds  in  hospital  are  allowed  a  large  latitude 

in  this  respect.     The  object  of  the  regulations  is  not  to  impose  a 

;  strict  'law   of   silence,'   which  is   reasonably    deemed   'unnatural,' 

but  to  prevent  harmful  and  profitless  gossip,  and  inter-communica- 

!  tion  between  prisoners,  which  is  not  only  dangerous  from  the  point 

I  of  view  of  order  and  discipline,  but  as  furnishing  a  fertile  source  of 

I  corruption." 

Similarly,  the   secretary  to  the  Prison   Commission,  Mr.    A.    J. 
Wall,    writing   to  the    Howard    League    (March    31,    1921)    says: 
t  "It  is  only  persistence  in  unauthorised    gossiping    and    profitless 
'  chatter  which  would  bring  a  prisoner  under  punishment." 

We  are  confident  that  the  vast  majority  of  prisoners  and  prison 
officers  alike  would  ridicule  these  official  attempts  to  belittle  the 
!  reality  of  the  silence  rule,  although,  as  we  indicate  later,*  it  has 
I  been  found  impossible  to  enforce  it  at  all  times.  The  first  rule  on  the 
j  prisoner's  card  is,  "Prisoners  shall  preserve  silence,"  whilst  the 
'  prison  officers  have  recently  been  getting  into  trouble  for  permitting 
I  a  certain  amount  of  conversation  at  Dartmoor.  Commenting  upon 
!  this  fact,  an  officer  writes  in  the  "Prison  Officers'  Magazine"  (April, 
1921),  as  follows:  — 

*  Ibid,  pp.  7  and  8. 

■*  See  pp.   562-70,  where   the  Silence  Rule  is   fnlly  discnssed. 


356     THE  GENERAL   CHARACTERISTICS   OF  THE  ROUTINE 

It  i8  obvious  to  anyone  not  a  fool,  or  lacking  in  prison  experience,  that 
any  attempt  to  rigidly  impose  a  strict  observance  of  these  instructions 
(such  as  we  have  witnessed  here),  must,  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases, 
automatically  impose  a  law  of  silence  on  prisoners,  there  being  little  or 
no  necessity  for  intercourse  or  communication  re  the  business  of  the 
prison. 

The  reference  by  Sir  E.  Ruggles-Brise  to  conversation  at  exercise 
on  Sundays  is  grossly  misleading.     Such  conversation  is  permitted 
to  convicts  when  serving  the  last  year  before  release;  that  is  all. 
It  is  true  that  there  is  an  instruction  permitting  conversation  at  exer- 
cise once  a  week  to  the  small  minority  of  prisoners  in  Local  prisons 
who  have  served   12  months,  but  not  one  prisoner  in  a  thousand 
knows  of  this  provision  and,  except  for  certain  political  offenders,  we 
believe  we  are  right  in  saying  that  it  has  not  been  put  into  operation 
since  1907.    So  far  from  the  silence  rule  merely  prohibiting  'harmful 
and    profitless    gossip,"    every    prisoner    could    give    instances   of  ; 
punishments    being    imposed    for    entirely    innocent    and    natural 
remarks;  whilst  reference  to  the  "Punishment  Book"  would  show  j 
that  the  "Law  of  Silence"  has  by  no  means  been  set  aside  even  ia  j 
women's  prisons.     A  decisive  refutation  of   Sir  E.  Euggles-Brise's 
attempt  to  deny  the  reality  of  the  silence  rule  is  provided  in  a  section  ! 
of  the  report  of  the  Indian  Jails  Committee,  published  over  the  name  ' 
of  Mr.  Mitchell-Innes,  one  of  the  inspectors  of  English  prisons.     He  ! 
admits  that  "in  practice  talking  cannot  always  be  prevented,"  but 
"it  (the  English  System)  forbids  conversation  at  all  times.""  i 

A   SUBVEY  OF  THE  RoUTINE. 

But,  as  we  have  tried  to  show  in  what  has  gone  before,  the  i 
silence  rule  is  only  characteristic  of  the  whole  system.  Self-respect  j 
is  systematically  destroyed  and  self-expression  prevented  in  every  j 
phase  of  prison  existence.  The  buildings  in  their  ugliness  and  their  j 
monotony  have  a  deadening  and  repressive  effect.  The  labour  is  j 
mostly  mechanical  and  largely  wasteful,  and  every  indication  of  | 
craftsmanship  or  creative  ability  is  suppressed.  The  meals  are  \ 
distributed  through  momentarily  opened  doors  as  though  the  I 
prisoners  were  caged  animals.  The  sanitary  arrangements  are  \ 
degrading  and  filthy,  and  the  dress  is  hideous,  slovenly,  and 
humiliating.  Education  is  limited  to  the  most  elementary  standard  \ 
and  is  denied  to  those  above  25  years  of  age.  To  the  vast  majority  of  j 
prisoners  recreation  is  totally  unknown,  and  lectures  and  music  are  ( 
only  very  rarely  available.  A  letter  may  not  be  written  to  (or  received  i 
from)  home  until  two  months  of  the  sentence  have  been  served,  and  i 
the  conditions  under  which  the  visits  take  place  are  so  humiliating  I 
that  many  prisoners  prefer  not  to  have  them.  The  religious  • 
ministration  is  almost  valueless  because  of  the  conditions  under 
which  it  is  offered,  and  the  classification  of  prisoners  is  crude  and  \ 
ineffective.     Punishments   involving  a  starvation  diet,  solitary  con-; 

finement,   the  postponement  of  letters  and  visits,  and  the  loss  ofj'; 

I 

*  Indian  Jails   Committee  Report   (Cmd.   1303),  p.   106. 


j^rt^Hi^^bS.  w 


THE   FAILURE  TO    KEF  OHM  357 

remission,  are  imposed  for  innocent  and  kindly  speech  or  even  for  acts 
of  unselfishness,  and  the  health  of  prisoners  is  constantly  neglected 
under  the  suspicion  of  malingering.  Such  are  the  methods  in  which 
those  responsible  for  the  prison  system  have  sought  to  find  the 
"treasure  that  is  the  heart  of  every  man." 

The  Failure  to  Eefobm. 

Perhaps  in  no  respect  does  Sir  E.  Ruggles-Brisie 's  book  more 
completely  misrepresent  the  actuaUties  of  prison  experience  than  in 
its  passages  referring  to  "the  reforming  influences  of  religion." 
For  instance,  one  reads:  — 

It  is  not  only  by  the  call  of  the  Chapel  services,  with  the  hymns  and  •. 
simple  prayers,  but  by  the  regular  visitation  of  each  in  their  cells,  that 
this  spark  (of  life  and  regeneration)  latent,  but  not  quite  extinguished, 
may  rekindle.  Do  not  let  us  undervalue  the  quiet,  patient,  and  un- 
wearying task  of  those  who  minister  spiritually  to  those  in  bondage 
in  prison  cells.  The  door  is  wide  open  to  all  creeds  and  denominations 
who  seek  to  enter  in ;  and  not  only  to  ministers  of  religion,  but  to  lay 
visitors  and  missionaries  who  find  their  prompting  to  this  work  by 
their  desire  to  realise  the  holy  precept,  "I  was  in  prison  and  you  visited 
me."  ' 

iWe  ask  our  readers  to  refer  back  to  our  chapter  on  "Chaplains, 

■  Religious  Services,  and  Visitation,"  to  judge  how  different  is  the 
experience  of  prisoners  from  what  one  would  gather  itom.  reading 
the  above.  The  truth  is  that  the  chapel  services  are  almost  worth- 
less from  the  rehgious  point  of  view  because  of  their  prominent 
disciplinary  features,  whilst  spiritual  ministration  "to  those  in 
bondage  in  prison  cells"  is  necessarily  limited  to  about  five  minutes 
.per  prisoner  per  month  on  account  of  the  way  in  which  the  chaplains 
are  overweighted  v.'ith  other  official  duties.  Their  official  status  also* 
ihas  the  effect  of  destroying  the  influence  of  the  chaplains  among  the 
iprisoners  since  they  inevitably  and  fatally  identify  them  with  the 
iprison  administration. 

I  One  is  amazed  that  Christian  virtues  can  be  expected  to  develop 
junder  the  un-Christian  conditions  of  prison  existence.  To  take  one 
Ifeature  only,  a  demorahsing  animosity  and  suspicion  permeates  the 
iatmosphere.  "You  don't  go  anywhere  or  do  anything  without  a 
jwarder  watching  you,"  says  an  ex-prisoner.  "Distrust  on  the  part 
jof  the  officers  and  deception  on  the  part  of  the  prisoners  determine 
[the  moral  tone  of  prison  existence,"  says  another  ex-prisoner;  in 
|this  sentence  the  twofold  effect  of  the  discipline  is  summed  up.  The 
jf utility  of  such  methods  is  frequently  illustrated  in  our  evidence.  We 
buote  two  instances  from  the  statement  of  an  ex-prisoner:  — 

D.T.  (a  professional  burglar^  told  me  that,  when  serving  out  the  meals, 

^I (the  officer)  watched  him  so  closely  and  suspiciously  that  it  stirred 

up  the  devil  in  him  to  want  to  get  his  own  back.     At  one  point,  perhaps, 
there   was  a  bread   (or   something  similar)  over,   which    M did   not 

"  Op.  cit.  pp.  5-6.    Cp.  pp.   187-9  and    197-201    above. 


358     THE  GENERAL   CHARACTERISTICS   OF  THE  ROUTINE 

notice.     D.T.   told   me  of   the   delight  with  which   he  felt  he  had   out- 
witted M '3  vigilance  when  he  managed  to  secure  it. 

A  further  incident  illustrates  the  comparative  morality  produced  by 
trust  and  suspicion.     The  Norwegian  lad  who  was  cleaner  on  landing  A3 

for  some  time  told  one  of  us  that  when  M was  serving  and  adopting 

this   suspicious  attitude,  he  would  always  diddle  him  if   he  could.     On 

the  other  hand,  when  J ,   who  trusted  him,    was  serving,  he  would 

never  take  advantage. 

Sir  E.  Euggles-Brise  lays  great  emphasis  upon  the  reformative 
influence  of  lectures,  concerts,  Bible  classes,  debates,  and  "many- 
other  ways  in  which  their  humanity  is  respected."  He  mentions 
the  following:  — 

The  brightening  of  the  daily  Chapel  service,  with  arrangements  for 
choirs,  singers,  and  instrumentalists  taking  part  in  the  services ;  weekly 
missions  in  prisons ;  the  delivery  of  moral  and  religious  addresses  by 
lay  persona  or  members  of  religious  bodies  of  any  denomination ;  weekly 
classes,  for  which  prisoners  can  be  taken  from  labour,  and  where  they 
may  discuss  among  themselves  selected  subjects  .  .  .  Lectures,  with 
or  without  magic  lantern,  may  be  arranged  on  lay  or  sacred  subjects, 
calculated  to  elevate  and  instruct  prisoners^  and  containing  an  undoubted 
moral  purpose  and   value.* 

One  would  imagine  that   such  recreative  occasions   are  common 

fet'-tures  in  prison  life.     Actually  they  are  extremely  rare.     At  the 

time  of  writing  there  are  still  only  a  few  prisons,  we  believe,  where 

all    male    adults    can    attend   a    lecture    more    than   once   in   three 

months,   and  the  visits  of  "choirs,  singers,  and  instrumentalists," 

are  in  practice  restricted  to  three  or  four  a  year,  whilst  the  weekly 

discussion  classes  are  so  far  only  held  at  Pentonville,  Wandsworth, 

and   Maidstone    prisons.'"      Sir   E.    Euggles-Brise   mentions   that 

"the  value  of  such  influences  is  manifested  in  a  wonderful  degree 

by  the  reference  made  to  them  in  letters  from  prisoners  to  their 

homes    and    friends."'"      Such    enthusiastic    references    are   madei 

because  they  are  considered  red-letter  occasions,  oases  of  colour  inj 

the  drab  desert  of  the  prison  regime.  I 

The  same  tendency  to  make  the  exceptional  the  rule  is  apparenfc; 

in   Sir   E.   Ruggles-Brise's  references   to  the  educational  work  in; 

prisons.     The  elementary  education,  he  says,  "forms  only  a  small 

part  of  the    moral  influences  which  we  seek  to  bring  to   bear  ini 

prisons."  I 

"The  prison  libraries,"  he  proceeds,  "are  stocked  with  suitable  bookf 

both  of  technical  instruction  and  of  general  literature,  and  prisoners  art 

encouraged  to  make  full  use  of  them  under  the  guidance  of  chaplains  and! 

schoolmasters.     Notebooks  and  pencils  are  provided  for  those  who  wisbj 

either  to  make  a  special  study  of  some  particular  subject,  or  to  maintair' 

knowledge  which  they  previously  possessed ;  and  if  the  necessary  bookf; 

are   not    in  the   library,   permission   can   be    obtained   for    them    to   b( 

•  supplied  by  the  prisoner  or  his  friends."  " 

» Ibid,  p.  8. 
»  See  pp.    173-7. 
I*  Op.   cit.   p.    6. 
»'  Ibid.   p.   127-8.^ 

f 


THE    CRT    FROM    THE    PRISON    bELL      XjJ^*^T^ 

Bere  ^ain.  the  imprp.ssion  giyeaJa  p.^tremely  misleading.  Except 
ji  the  case  of  the  largest  prisons,  tke  libraries  are  -uot-w«U  -atockfid, 
iud-even  in^Jthose  it  is  oftreoLtUfficult  to  geL the  books  re(iuired."  The 
chaplains  and  schoolmasters  (both  OTerworked  in  other  respects)  do 
practically  nothing  to  guide  the  prisoners'  reading,  whilst  notebooks 
ind  pencils  (as  Sir  E.  Ruggles-Brise  acknowledges  elsewhere)  are 
^nly  provided  to  prisoners  who  have  completed  a  sentence  of  six 
months,  an  insignificant  minority,  and  the  conditions  governing  their 
use  limit  the  number  enjoying  this  "privilege"  still  further." 

We  feel  compelled  to  warn  students  of  the  English  prison  system 
that  this  kind  of  half-truth  is  scattered  freely  through  Sir  E.  Ruggles- 
Brise 's  book.'*  In  his  preface  he  tells  how  at  the  Brussels  Inter- 
national Prisons  Congress,  1900,  the  head  of  the  Russian  prisons 
asked  him  what  was  the  minimum  sentence  of  "hard  labour," 
thinking  it  was  comparable  to  the  "katorga"  of  his  own  country. 
"When  I  explained  that  it  might  be  inflicted  for  one  day  only," 
3ays  Sir  E.  Ruggles-Brise,  "he  turned  to  his  secretary  with  a  smile, 
saying.  'How  little  do  we  understand  the  English  system!'  "  If 
Sir  E.  Ruggles-Brise  attempted  to  give  enlightenment  in  the  manner 
->i  his  book,  we  are  afraid  the  Russian  went  away  still  understanding 
the  Enghsh  prison  system  very  httle,  for,  although  this  volume  was 
Driginally  planned  to  impart  information  to  the  prison  experts  of  other 
countries,  we  must  say  emphatically  that  no-one  can  obtain  from  it 
an  accurate  picture  of  present-day  conditions  in  English  prisons.  -'     / 

The  Cry  from  the  Prison  Cell.  -  V  '^  ,  , 

.  "JPortland  as  I  knew  it  was  a  heart-breaking,  soul-enslaving, 
brain-destroying  hell  upon  earth,"  says  Jabez  Balfour  ";  and  so  both 
Convict  and  Local  prisons  might  still  be  described.  "The  prison 
3ystem  is  vindictive  and  not  Christian,"  remarks  a  chaplain.  "What 
humanity  is  in  the  administrators  escapes  them  despite  and  nofe 
because  of  the  system.  Human  sympathy  and  kindness  often  are 
manifested  by  governors  and  warders,  but  the  system  facilitates  the 
men  inchned  to  brutality  and  tyranny."  In  his  "Society  and 
Prisons,"  Mr.  Mott  Osborne,  from  a  somewhat  different  standpoint, 
sums  up  the  whole  matter  thus  :  — 

The  prison  system  endeavours  to  make  men  industrions  by  driving 
them  to  work ;  to  make  them  virtuous  by  removing  temptation ;  to  make 
them  respect  the  law  by  forcing  them  to  obey  the  edicts  of  an  autocrat ; 
to  make  them  far-sighted  by  allowing  them  no  chance  to  exercise  fore- 
sight ;  to  give  them  individual  initiative  by  treating  them  in  large  groups  ; 
in  short,  to  prepare  them  again  for  society  by  placing  them  in  condition* 
as  unlike  real  society  as  they  could  well  be  made." 

I  "See  pp.  181   and  182. 
I  •*  See  pp.  165  and  166. 

'*  ^*  further  instance  may  be  given.  Describing  the  "priTileges"  enjoyed  by  conTicts  in 
'■.he  Long  Sentence  Division,  Sir  E.  Ruggles-Brise  says  (p.  41)  :  "The  rules  provide  for  meaU 
n  association,  and  for  conversation  at  exercise  and  meals."  The  rules  do  so  provide — bat 
;hey  are  not  put  into  operation.  Nowhere  do  convicts  have  meals  in  association  or  is 
Jonversation  at  meals  permitted. 

i»  "My   Prison   Life,"  p.   67-8. 

"  Op  cit.  p.  153. 


360    THE  GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS   OF  THE  ROUTINE 

His  diagnosis  is  masterly,  and  to  it  we  will  only  add :  The  prison 
system  endeavours  to  make  men  human  by  suppressing  every  human 
attribute  and  by  reducing  them  to  the  level  of  machines.  From  a 
thousand  cells  there  still  rises  the  cry  uttered  in  the  "Ballad  of 
Reading  Gaol":  — 

And  never  a  human  voice   comes   near 

To  speak   a  gentle  word ; 
And  the  eye  that  watches  through  the  door 

Is   pitiless   and  hard ; 
And,  by  all  forgot,  we  rot  and  rot, 
With  soul  and  body  marred. 

And  thus  we  rust  Life's  iron  chain, 

Degraded  and   alone, 
And  some  men  curse,  and  some  men  weep, 

And  some  men  make  no  moan ; 
But  God's  eternal   Laws  are   kind, 

And  break  the  heart  of  stone." 


1'  Oscar  Wilde.    Op.  cit.   (1898),  p.  29. 


THE  GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS   OF  THE  ROUTINE    361 


SOxME     OF     THE     PRINCIPAL     DEFECTS     INDICATED     IN     THE 
PRECEDING   CHAPTER. 


See  the  summary  at  the  end  of  Chapter  VI.,  "The  Routine,"  p.  108. 


N2 


CHAPTER   XXIV 


THE  PEISON  STAFF 
It  will  be  clear  to  those  who  have  followed  what  has  been  written 
that  even  if  the  officers  who  operate  the  prison  system  were  people 
of  the  highest  type  they  would  be  able  to  do  little  to  humanise 
it.  By  a  kindly  bearing  they  may  do  something  to  soften  its 
harshness.  By  breaches  of  the  rule  which  forbids  familiarity  with 
prisoners,  they  may  do  something  to  encourage  their  charges  to 
keep  from  despair  and  to  resolve  to  refrain  from  crime  in  future. 
But  the  essential  inhumanity  of  the  system  remains. 

At  the  same  time,  any  hard  and  unsympathetic  attitude  on  the  part : 
of  the  officers,  supplementing  the  inhumanity  of  the  system,  | 
accentuates  its  cruelty  greatly.  "Little  things  make  a  world  j 
of  difference  in  the  crushing  monotony  and  isolation  of  prison  life,"! 
writes  an  ex-prisoner.  "A  smile  and  a  cheery  word  from  thei 
officer  in  the  morning  will  bring  sunshine  all  day.  A  bullying  or| 
sarcastic  word  will  make  one  despond  and  despair."  j 

The  question  of  the  personnel  of  the  prison  staff  is  also  of  vital! 
importance  from  the  point  of  view  of  any  change  in  the  prison  | 
system.  Many  students  consider  it  the  heart  of  the  problem.  Iti 
is  necessary,  therefore,  that  we  should  attempt  to  give  some' 
estimate  of  the  quality  of  the  men  and  women  engaged  in  the: 
prison  administration.  | 

It  has  been  thought  most  convenient  to  describe  the  duties  of  thcj 
chaplains  and  the  medical  officers  in  earlier  chapters  dealing  withi 
religious  influences  and  the  health  of  prisoners.'  Here  we; 
shall  consider  the  duties  and  qualifications  of  the  governors  and  th«| 
subordinate  staff. 

The  Governors. 

The  governors  are  appointed  by  the  Home  Secretary.  Th<' 
subordinate  officers  are  appointed  by  the  Prison  Commissioners.*  Or; 
what  principles  the  selection  of  governors  is  made  it  would  be  diffi; 
cult  to  say.  No  particular  qualifications  are  demanded  by  law,  am 
the  frequency  with  which  retired  mihtary  and  naval  officers  anj 
appointed  indicate  that  disciplinary  capacity  is  primarily  considered! 
Some  of  the  appointments  suggest  that  the  influence  of  highly-place<| 
persons  has  been  effective.  Of  the  54  prison  governors,  26  hav'! 
served  with  the  regular  forces.' 

1  See  pp.   185-9  and   194-7,   and  pp.   255-9  and  260-1.  j 

2  See  p.  59.  j 
3The  Home  Secretary    (Mr.  E.   Shortt),  in  reply  to  Mr.  Ben  Spoor,  February  23rd,  192. 

The  number  do«g  not  include  five   goternor*  who  joined  the  forces  temporarily  during  ti 
war. 


THE  GOVERNORS  368 

The  military  characteristics  of  prison  governors  are  a   constant 
theme   of  criticism  among  those  of  our  witnesses  who  have  given 
thought  to  reformative  possibihties.     A  witness  who  has  occupied 
a  high  place  in  connection  with  the  prison  system  declares  that  "no 
progress  can  be  made  in  prison  reform  until  the  type  of  man  pre- 
dominant in  the  system  is  changed.     Hitherto,  superficial,  middle- 
aged  ex -army  men  have  been  the  general  rule  among  commissioners, 
governors  and  warders — men  who  win  external  order  and  submission, 
•  it  without  knowledge  of  human   nature."     We  should  say  that 
is    generalisation    is    particularly    applicable    to    the    governors, 
rjparently  little  or  no  attention  is  paid  to  educational  or  psychological 
alifications.     "Governors  should  be  expert  psychologists,"  urges 
medical    officer.       "Governors    should   be   of   the   type   of   man 
.  epresented  by  our  best  headmasters, "  urges  a  chaplain.    "Governors 
should  be  acquainted  with  the  different  theories  of  penology,  and 
with  the  general  practice  of  the  dominions  or  of  foreign  countries," 
urges  a  visiting  magistrate.     "He  should   have   knowledge  of  the 
experiments     in    dealing    with    convicted     criminals     or     juvenile 
delinquents  at  home  and  abroad."     The  qualifications  of  both  the 
educationalist  and  the  psychologist  would  no  doubt  be  present  in  the 
model  prison  governor;  it   is  certainly  inexcusable  that   governors 
:Ould  be  so  ignorant  of  their  subject.* 

Exactly  half  of  the  present  governors  have  been  promoted  from  the 
subordinate  prison  staff.*  Unfortunately  the  military  features  of 
the  prison  system  develop  an  almost  exclusively  disciplinary  type 
not  less  surely  than  the  army  or  navy,  and,  in  addition,  the  promoted 
governors  are  stated  sometimes  to  have  other  undesirable  charac- 
teristics. A  chaplain  describes  them  as  "toadies  to  those  above 
and  bullies  to  those  below."  A  high  oflBcial,  with  a  long  record  of 
service,  states  his  experiences  as  follows:  — 

If  yon  have  a  man  who  has  been  in  the  service  his  entire  life  and 
worked  his  way  up,  he  imagines  that  he  is  a  sort  of  snperman,  and  has 
no  sympathy  with  such  degraded  creatures  as  prisoners.  Thus  the 
reformative  side  is  lost  sight  of.  Besides,  a  man  who  has  never  been 
out  of  the  prison  service  can  have  no  idea  of  human  influences. 

'The  Departmental  Committee  of  1895  said:  "Military  and  naral  training  nndonbtedly 
deTclcps  capacities  for  organisation  and  maintenance  of  discipline,  bnt  we  do  not  coniider 
it  to  be  by  any  means  essential  to  the  qualifications  of  a  prison  goTernor."     (Report,  p.   36.) 

The  following  extract  is  taken  from  the  "Report  ot  the  Indian  Jails  Committee,  1919- 
1920":— "In  order  that  these  objects  (the  prerention  of  further  crime  and  the  restoration 
xA  the  criminal  lo  society  as  a  reformed  character)  may  be  achieved,  it  is,  in  the  firit 
place,  essential  that  the  care  of  criminals  should  be  entrusted  to  men  who  hare  receircd 
an  adeQuate  training  in  penological  methods.  The  day  is  passed  when  it  can  be  supposed 
that  anyone  is  fit  to  manage  a  prison,  just  as  it  is  no  longer  imagined  that  anyone  can 
teach   in  a  school."     (p.   53). 

The  Committee  recommends  that  before  any  person  is  appointed  superintendent  of  a 
prison  he  should  undergo  a  period  of  training  in  gaol  management  and  of  study  of  the 
principles  of  penal  science,  that  he  should  hare  six  months'  training  in  a  central  gaol, 
including  a  careful  study  of  "such  standard  works  of  penology  as  may  be  prescribed,"  and 
that  superintendents  should  be  given  "study  leave"  to  study  jails  and  connected  queetionc 
in  Europe  or   the  U.S.A.     (pp.  46-7). 

*  In  addition,  two  had  previous  experience  as  medical  officers  and  one  in  an  unstated 
capacity  in  the  Colonial  Prison  Service. —  (Home  Secretary,  House  of  Commons,  February 
23rd,  1921).  No  doubt  some  governors  previously  held  posts  as  depnty-governori— the 
latter    belong   to  the    superior   staff. 


3«4  THE  PRISON  STAFF 

If  it  be  true  that  promoted  governors  are  particularly  unsym- 
pathetic and  autocratic,  the  explanation  probably  lies  in  the  fact 
that  an  officer  who  secures  the  highest  promotion  in  such  a  rigid 
system  is  likely  to  be  of  an  officious  and  hard  type."  "Neither  re- 
tired soldiers  nor  promoted  warders  are  the  people  to  make  good 
governors,"  is  the  conclusion  of  a  visiting  magistrate,  who  has  been 
chairman  of  Quarter  Sessions  for  over  30  years.  "They  think  too 
much  of  their  own  authority  and  importance. ' ' 

It  is  impossible,  of  course,  to  draw  a  picture  of  a  prison  governor 
which  would  be  true  in  all  cases.  They  vary  from  the  governor  of 
a  certain  prison  who  is  described  by  a  witness  of  wide  experience  and 
penetrating  insight  as  "most  keen;  had  thought  of  a  good  many 
reforms  for  himself  and  was  quite  open-minded;  took  a  personal 
interest  in  each  prisoner,"  to  the  governor  who  is  stated  by  the 
same  witness  to  be  "well-intentioned,  but  abnormally  stupid, 
entirely  without  ideas."  Generally,  we  should  say  that  governors 
are  men  of  limited  knowledge,  disciplinarians,  lacking  in  imagination, 
sceptical  about  new  proposals,  but  conscientious  and  just.  The 
typical  prisoner's  view  of  governors  is  probably  reflected  (if  some- 
what rhetorically)  in  the  words  of  the  witness  who  speaks  of  them  as 
"distant  gods  who  deal  out  punishments  and  privileges,  stride 
majestically  past  the  cell  door  on  tours  of  Ughtning  inspection,  and 
sit  in  lofty  aloofness  in  the  chapel."  Sometimes,  however,  ex- 
prisoners  speak  appreciatively  of  them.  "The  governors  were  very 
good,"  says  an  ex-convict  who  had  served  a  life  sentence.  "They 
sometimes  talked  kindly  to  me.  At  the  beginning  I  was  very 
nervous  and  the  governor  helped  me  a  good  deal."  In  contrast  with 
this  it  is  necessary  to  quote  the  view  of  another  "lifer,"  a  view 
which  is  probably  more  common :  — 

The  governors  are  simply  military  men  who  have  little  thought  for 
the  welfare  of  the  prisoners.  Discipline  is  their  god,  and  they  enforce 
its  worship  rigorously.  They  are  overbearing  and  inconsiderate, 
impervious  to  prisoner  and  warder  alike, — men  utterly  opposed  to  reform 
in  its  good  sense.  I  have  known  only  one  good  one  out  of  eight  or  nine. 
He  was  a  Christian  gentleman.  Only  this  one  ever  conversed  with  me; 
to  others  I  was  a  number^  a  name,  a  dog,  anything  but  a  human  being.' 

The  almost  exclusively  disciplinarian  attitude  of  governors  is 
illustrated  in  their  outlook  on  the  present  prison  system.  One 
governor  assures  us  that  the  British  system  is  "the  finest  in  the 
world  and  as  near  perfection  as  any  system  can  possibly  be." 
Another  tells  us  that  the  maintenance  of  discipline  must  be  the  first 

"  The  S.O.'s  say  that  "the  discipline  staff,  from  the  stovernor  downwards,  will  perform  such 
part  of  the  clerical  work  as  reasonably  falls  within  their  ordinary  duties,  and  ability  to  d» 
8o  will  always  be  considered  in  making  promotions  and  appointments."  This  necessity  for 
clerical  ability  explains  how  it  is  that  most  promoted  goTernors  are  drawn  from  the 
"Clerk  and  Schoolmaster"  class.  Recently  a  number  of  ciril  service  clerks  connected  with 
the  prison  system  have  been  made  governors.  This  has  aroused  considerable  criticism 
among   prison   officers,  who   complain   that    they  have  no  knowledge  of  discipline  duties. 

'  Compare  the  statement  of  the  agent  of  a  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid  Society,  who 
says  that  at  the  interviews  with  prisoners  one  particular  governor  "was  always  courteoue 
and  to  some  extent  sympathetic.  He  made  the  proceedings  mach  more  hamaa  than  they 
would   have  been   without   him." 


THE  DUTIES    OF   THE    GOVERNORS  365 

concern  and  that  when  a  man  returns  to  prison  it  is  a  proof  that 
the  system  is  not  severe  enough.  "Keep  people  out  of  prison," 
he  says,  "but  when  they  come,  give  them  'hell.'  Then  they'll 
keep  away." 

The  Duties  of  the  Governors. 
The  prison  governor  is  responsible  for  the  security  of  the  prisoners 
and  for  the  maintenance  of  prison  discipline.  The  importance 
attached  to  this  responsibility  may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  he 
is  not  permitted  to  be  absent  from  the  prison  for  a  night  without 
the  consent  of  the  Prison  Commissioners.  His  first  duty  in  the 
morning  is  to  attend  chapel  and  from  a  seat  which  overlooks  the 
whole  building  observe  that  discipline  is  duly  maintained.  He  then 
aits  in  the  orderly  room,  hears  the  "applications,"  adjudicates  upon 
the  "reports,"  and  conveys  the  cont-ents  of  ofi&cial  and  other  per- 
missible communications  to  the  prisoners  concerned.' 

An  inspection  of  the  prison  follows.  The  governor  is  supposed 
to  inspect  daily  the  "wards,  cells,  yards,  and  divisions  of  the  prison, 
also  the  bakehouse,  kitchen,  and  workshops,"  and  the  hospital  in 
addition.  It  is  obvious  that  in  large  prisons  these  duties  can  only 
be  performed  in  the  most  perfunctory  way.  In  most  instances  the 
practice  is  for  the  governor  to  pass  round  the  landings  of  one  hall 
i  a  day,  glancing  into  the  cells  as  he  passes,  and  to  walk  through  the 
■workshop  and  yards  in  a  similarly  remote  manner.  The  rule  says 
that  he  shall  as  far  as  practicable  "see  every  prisoner  once  at  least 
in  24  hours,"  and  "visit  daily  all  prisoners  while  employed  at  labour, 
and  see  that  they  are  industrious."  In  actual  fact,  the  contact 
with  the  prisoners  frequently  appears  to  be  quite  incidental  to  tlie 
inspection  of  the  premises.  A  visit  to  the  prisoners  on  punishment 
and  in  the  hospital  is  never  omitted,  but  even  here  it  is  in  most 
cases  little  more  than  a  matter  of  form.  The  morning's  duties  are 
concluded  by  an  examination  (generally  cursory)  of  the  food  in  the 
kitchen. 

The  following  account  of  the  governor's  round  of  inspection  in  a 
large  prison,  which  we  beheve  to  be  substantially  accurate,  indicates 
the  formality  of  the  proceedings:  — 

It  would  be    quite  impossible  for   any  man   of  ordinary  presence   of 

mind  to  make  any   answer  beyond  "Yes,  sir,"  to  the  perfunctory    "all 

right?"   shouted  at  him  obliquely  as  the  governor  passes  his  cell  door. 

Sometimes  the  governor  may  pause  to  tell  a  man  he  is  not  standing  in 

the   exact  place  for   this  lightning   inspection.     Now  and  then   a  plate 

may   be  out  of   its    appointed  position.        Of  one  man  he  will  enquire 

whether  the  spectacles  he   is  wearing  are   his  own   or  the  prison's,    or 

some  such  detail,   but  of  any    real  contact   with  the  prisoners  there    is 

absolutely   none.     The  inspection  of   the  hospital  wards  is  a  shade  less 

perfunctory. 

The  inspection  of  the  smaller  prisons  is  often  more  leisurely  and 

human.     Sometimes  a  pause  is  made  to   speak  a  few  words  to  a 

prisoner  about  his  books,  or  his  task,  or  the  length  of  the  sentence 

Where  there  is  a  women's  side  to  a  prison,  this  procedure  is  gone  through  a  second  time. 


366  THE  PRISON  STAFF 

still  to  be  served.  Sometimes  the  governor  will  show  some  interest 
in  what  is  being  done  in  the  workshop.  Sometimes  he  will  stay  and 
chat  for  half-a-minute  with  an  interesting  prisoner  in  the  hospital. 
In  the  larger  prisons  the  governor  appears  rarely  to  have  time  to 
break  his  rapid  round  in  this  way.' 

Owing  to  the  machine-like  regime,  the  size  of  a  prison  has,  how- 
ever, less  influence  upon  the  relation  of  the  governor  to  the  prisoners 
than  might  be  expected.  It  is  generally  admitted  by  our  witnesses 
that  if  the  human  factor  were  introduced  into  the  treatment  of 
prisoners  through  scope  being  allowed  for  the  initiative  and  personal 
influence  of  the  head  officials,  some  of  the  prisons  would  be  impossibly 
large.  As  it  is,  this  consideration  only  applies  very  partially,  and 
where  there  is  a  strict  governor  or  chief  warder  in  a  small  prison,  he 
can  more  directly  enforce  the  severe  routine  authorised  by  the  rules 
and  regulations.  On  the  other  hand,  the  more  easy-going  habits  of 
country  districts  sometimes  invade  even  the  prisons  and  cause  a 
softening  of  the  discipline.'* 

The  Influence  of  the  Governors. 

Although  the  activities  of  the  governor  are  closely  limited,  his 
general  attitude  has  a  distinct  influence  upon  all  the  prison  life. 
If  he  be  at  all  sympathetic  in  his  manner  towards  prisoners,  the 
subordinate  ofi&cers  will  be  likely  to  adopt  a  similar  bearing.  If 
he  be  a  stern  disciplinarian,  the  same  attitude  will  find  expression 
in  the  rest  of  the  staff.  Easy-going  governors  are  preferred  not 
only  by  the  prisoners  but  by  the  officers,  because  a  strict  governor 
means  that  the  deputy-governor,  chief  warder,  and  the  principal 
warders,  will  in  turn  keep  a  strict  watch  upon  the  officers  below  them. 
In  addition  to  their  personal  influence,"  governors  have  the  option 
of  putting  certain  orders  into  operation.  Sometimes,  we  fear,  their 
decision  is  reached  upon  considerations  of  the  additional  work  in- 
volved. An  official  of  a  large  prison  complains,  for  instance,  that 
games  for  juvenile  adult  prisoners  were  not  introduced  for  a  long  . 
time  because  the  governor  would  not  take  the  trouble  to  make  the 
necessary  arrangements.  Many  small  alleviations  of  prison  life, 
such  as  lectures,  concerts,  and  the  use  of  pencil  and  paper,  lie 
within  the  power  of  the  governor  to  permit,  discourage,  or  prohibit.'* 

'  The  governor  will  sometimes  pay  a  surprise  visit  of  inspection  during  the  afternoon, 
and  the  rules  require  him,  at  least  once  a  week,  to  "go  through  every  part  of  the  prison 
at  an   uncertain   hour    of  the  night."     (Rule  130). 

'"  other  differences  between  large  and  small  prisons  may  be  recorded  here.  The  chaplains 
and  doctors  in  small  prison.^  are  only  part-time  officials :  some  ex-prisoners  say  that  thi» 
means  that  their  work  is  rushed,  others  that  they  are  less  subject  to  the  dehumanising 
characteristics  of  the  regime.  The  medical  treatment  is  much  less  adequate  in  small 
prisons,  the  hosjiital  is  rarely  opened,  the  library  is  generally  poor,  and  there  is  little  variety 
of  work.  On  the  other  hand,  the  fact  that  most  of  the  small  prisons  are  in  country  places 
means  that  there  is  more  open-air  work  and  the  food  (generally  better  cooked  and  served 
hotter)   is   varied  by  contributions  from   the  vegetable    garden. 

1'  Some  instanops  have  come  to  our  knowledge  where  governors  have  tried  to  secure  t' 
correction  of  harsh  sentences  or  suspected  miscarriages  of  justice  by  representations  to  tn 
Home  Office.    Sometimes  these  have  been  successful,   but   not  always. 

'-  Governors  are  invited  to  offer  to  the  Commissioners  at  any  time  suggestion.'  for  t.. 
improvement  or  advantage  of  the  prison  service. 


THE   SUBORDINATE  STAFF  367 

The  office  of  deputy -governor  was  very  unpopular  among  the 
subordinate  staff  and  has  been  abolished,  but  the  name  remains 
commonly  in  use,  and  the  "fifth  class  governors"  who  are  now 
appointed  under  the  governor  in  the  case  of  the  larger  prisons,  per- 
form much  the  same  duties."  The  deputy-governors  were  instructed 
particularly  to  observe  the  behaviour  of  the  subordinate  staff  and  to 
report  any  neglect  or  misconduct  on  their  part — sufficient  explanation 
of  their  unpopularity  They  also  relieve  the  governors  of  many  of 
their  duties,  such  as  the  reading  of  letters  to  and  from  prisoners. 
They  are  of  much  the  same  type  as  the  governors,  though  generally 
younger,  and  the  complaint  is  frequent,  both  on  the  part  of  ex- 
prisoners  and  officers,  that  they  are  excessively  officious. 

The  Subordinate  Staff. 

The  hub  of  the  prison  is  the  chief  warder.  It  is  he  who  deals 
with  all  the  details  of  discipHne,  the  division  of  duties  among  the 
staff,  and  the  location  and  employment  of  the  prisoners.  The  chief 
warder  generally  reflects  the  attitude  of  the  governor,  but  sometimes 
his  influence  is  felt  independently.  Instances  have  been  reported 
to  us  where  the  coming  of  a  strict  chief  warder  has  entirely  altered 
the  discipline  of  the  prison,  despite  the  fact  that  there  has  been  no 
change  in  the  governor. 

Below  the  chief  warder  are  the  principal  warders.  Each  hall  in 
the  prison  has  a  principal  warder,  and  in  large  prisons  a  principal 
warder  is  stationed  at  the  "centre"  to  regulate  the  comings  and 
goings  of  prisoners  from  the  cells  to  the  workshops,  and  to  see  that 
the  time-table  generally  is  maintained.  The  duties  of  the  principal 
warders  are  largely  supervisory.  They  are  responsible  for  con- 
formity to  the  prison  regulations  in  their  respective  halls;  they 
must  periodically  examine  the  cells  to  see  that  the  ward  officer  is 
insisting  upon  proper  order  and  cleanliness,  and  must  check  the 
progressive  stage  cards  to  see  that  the  marks  are  being  entered 
correctly.  All  applications  on  the  part  of  prisoners  to  see  the 
governor,  the  medical  officer,  and  the  chaplain  pass  through  the 
hands  of  the  principal  warder  of  the  hall.'* 

The  other  grades  of  prison  officers  are: — Civil  service  clerks, 
clerks  and  schoolmasters,  artisan  warders,  engineers,  foremen  of 
works,  pharmacists,  and  warders.  In  the  case  of  women's  prisons, 
a  lady  superintendent  or  matron  assists  the  governor,  and  below 
her  are  the  chief  wardress,  principal  wardresses,  and  wardresses. 
Of  these,  it  is  only  necessary  to  describe  in  any  detail  the  duties 
and  characteristics  of  the  warders  and  wardresses. 

A  few  years  ago  advertisements  of  vacancies  in  the  prison  service 
used  to  be  published,  but  now  more  applications  are  received  than 
vacancies  occur.       When  an  applicant  writes  to  the  Prison  Com- 

*"  Fifth-clais  goTernors  serTe  on  the  staffs  of  Parkhnrst,  Liyerpool,  Manchester,  Pentonrille, 
Wandsworth,    Wormwood    Scrnbbs    (2),    Brixton,   Maidstone,    and   Dartmoor. 

'*  In  large  prisons  the  cook  or  baker,  and  sometimes  a  works  officer,  is  a  principal  warder. 


868  THE  PRISON  STAFF 

missioners  he  is  sent  a  most  elaborate  form  to  fill  in.  Among  other 
things,  he  is  asked  to  give  the  names  and  addresses  of  his  previous 
employers,  of  his  schoolmaster,  and  of  further  references,  such  as 
ministers  of  religion.  Special  questions  are  asked  about  military 
and  naval  service.  All  officers  are  required  to  be  men  of  "good 
moral  principles  and  of  unblemished  character."  If  the  rephes 
I^rove  satisfactory  the  applicant  is  "noted"  until  there  be  a  vacancy; 
then  he  is  ordered  to  proceed  to  the  nearest  prison,  where,  before 
the  appointment  is  finally  made,  he  is  required  to  pass  educational 
and  medical  tests — the  former  very  elementary,  the  latter  thorough. 
The  educational  test  includes  the  three  E's  only,  and  is  not  much 
above  fourth-standard  capacity. '° 

The  same  predilection  for  ex-army  or  ex-navy  men  is  apparent  in 
the  appointment  of  the  subordinate  officers  as  in  the  case  of  governors. 
In  the  report  of  the  Departmental  Committee  of  1895,  the  state- 
ment is  made  that  of  the  1,959  subordinate  officers  in  Local  and 
Convict  prisons,  987  had  had  military  or  naval  service."  When 
questioned  in  the  House  of  Commons  on  February  23rd,  1921,  the 
Home  Secretary  (Mr.  E.  Shortt)  was  unable  to  give  the  present 
proportion  of  officers  who  have  been  members  of  the  regular  forces, 
but  stated  that  "a  large  proportion  of  prison  officers  have  had 
previous  military  or  naval  service."  The  Committee  of  1895 
considered  the  question  whether  military  or  naval  service  gave  "the 
qualifications  necessary  to  secure  a  moral  influence  over  prisoners," 
and  came  to  the  conclusion  that  ' '  under  the  present  system  in  regard 
to  warders  there  is  not  any  appreciable  difference"  in  the  merits  of 
ex-service  and  civilian  warders.'^ 

Upon  this  our  evidence  varies,  with  the  balance  against  the  ex- 
army  officer.  An  experienced  official  criticises  the  appointment  of 
warders  who  have  had  only  army  or  navy  experience  on  the  ground 
that  such  men  know  little  of  the  conditions  from  which  the  prisoners 
come  and  to  which  they  go.  "A  retired  sergeant  does  not  make  a 
good  warder,"  says  this  witness.  "Experts  of  character  are 
wanted."  A  witness  who  has  14  years'  experience  as  an  agent  of. 
a  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid  Society  is  very  much  opposed  to  ex- 
army  warders,  describing  them  as  "nigger-drivers."  On  the  whole 
we  are  inclined  to  agree  with  the  ex-prisoner  who  says:  — 

I  doubt  whether  a  line  could  be  drawn  between  officers  from  the 
army  and  other  officers.  Many  of  the  former  no  doubt  had  the  drill- 
sergeant  manner  before  they  joined  the  prison  service,  but  even  if  the 
latter  entered  innocent  of  it,  prison  conditions  would  soon  make  them 
masters  of  it.  I  should  say  that  if  a  line  is  to  be  drawn  at  all  it  is 
between  the  discipline  officers  and  the  instructors,  and  it  is  largely  a 
matter  of  the  duties  which  they  have  to  perform  in  prison. 

Our  evidence  regarding  the  character  of  the  officers  appointed  to 
the  subordinate  staff  differs  very  widely ;  one  might  expect  this  since 
they  are  a  large  body  of  men,  and  our  witnesses  have  known  them 

•'  Candidates  with  a  Clasis    2   army   certificate  are   exempt   from  examination, 
le  Op  cit.  p.  36. 
>'  Op.  cit.   p.    36. 


THE   SU  BOBBIN  ATE    STAFF  869 

not  as  a  whole  but  in  exclusive  groups.       "When  I  first  entered 
prison  I  thought  prison  officers  were  brutes  of  men  without  excep- 
tion,"  remarks   one   ex-prisoner  witness.     "After   I   had   been   in 
prison  some  time  I  found  that  the  bullying  manner  was  in  most 
cases  superficial.     One  or  two  officers  with  whom  I  came  in  contact 
were  of  a  very  high  type.     Most  of  them  were  ordinary  men,  some 
hardened  by  the  system  they  have  to  apply,  but  kind  underneath. 
A  few  of  them   were  really  brutal."     A   visiting   magistrate  says 
that  "the  average  officer  is  of  a  rough  type  without  any  enthusiasm 
for  bettering  his  charges."     An  ex-prisoner  who  has  served  a  life 
sentence   declares  that  most  warders    are  "hard-hearted,   ignorant 
men  of  the  old  army  type."     On  the  other  hand,  other  ex-prisoners 
:  who  have  served  terms  sufficiently  long  to  get  to  know  the  officers 
well,  constantly  speak  highly  of  them  and  declare  that  their  seeming 
'  harshness  is  only   a  reflection   of  the  system   which  they  have  to 
i  administer."       From  warders  themselves  we  have  evidence  of  the 
1  deteriorating  effect  of  the  system.     "It  is  the  biggest  fight  out," 
I  one  prison  officer  states,   "to  keep  oneself  from  becoming  an  awful 
bully."     Another  says:  — 

Doubtless  you  think  warders  are  brutes,  and,  speaking  generally,  they 
are.  The  reason  is  that  when  a  person  becomes  a  warder  he  loses  or 
tends  to  lose  his  personality.  He  is  merely  a  victim  of  the  general 
surroundings  in  which  he  is  placed. 

It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  many  officers  who  at  first  feel  keenly 
I  about  the  futihty  and  barbarity  of  the  system,  become  resigned  to 
j  it  in  time."  A  chaplain  tells  us  that  "it  usually  happens  that  zealous 
I  men,  after  three  months'  experience  of  prison  work,  lose  all  heart 
i  and  become  quite  indifferent.  Some  of  the  best  men  leave."  At 
I  the  same  time,  whilst  most  warders  seem  to  agree  that  the  system 
I  fails  to  reform  men,  as  their  saying,  "once  a  lag  always  a  lag," 
i  testifies,  few  probably  have  any  ideas  as  to  an  alternative,  and  many 
I  of  them  consider  tliat  the  present  system  is  justified  for  punitive 

and  segregative  purposes.       Indeed,  many  of  them  complain  that 

prison  life  is  too  easy  to  act  as  a  deterrent. 

Before  being  placed  on  the  permanent  staff,  prison  warders  usually 
j  attend  a  training  school  for  foiur  months,  after  which  they  serve  a 
j  further  term  of  probation  for  eight  months."  The  first  "school"  was 
j  established  at  Chelmsford  prison  in  1896.     The  following  year  other 

schools   were   opened    for   warders    at   Hull    and    for  wardresses  at 
I  Wormwood  Scrubbs   (afterwards   transferred  to  Holloway  prison). 

An  jllnstration  of  the  effect  of  the  prison  system  upon  the  character  of  warders  is  their 
~.inon  practice  of  sarcasm.    "If  yon  don't  stop  talking,  you'll  hare  the  pleasure  of  talking 
*o  the  governor  in  the  morning"  is  a  typical  remark.    In  the  case  of  sensitive  prisoners  who 
■re  feeling  the   harshness  of   the  system  acutely  this   sarcasm  cuts  very  sharply. 

•*  We  shall  deal  later  with  the  conditions  which  prevent  prison  officers,  however  sympathetic 
they  may  be  from  doing  much  openly  to  help  prisoners  towards  better  things.  It  is  significant 
that  the  "Prison  Officers'  Magazine,"  which  prints  communications  every  month  from 
officials  at  most  of  the  prisons,  practically  never  has  any  item  written  in  the  interests  of 
the  prisoner  or  expressing  his  standpoint.  On  the  other  hand,  see  the  Note  at  the  end  of 
this  Chapter  instancing  the  case  of  a  sympathetic  officer. 

At  any  moment    officers  who   fail  to  carry  out  their  duties  properly   may   be  placed  on 
;cial   probation  by   order   of   the  Commissioner*. 


370  THE  PRISON  STAFF 

During  the  war  the  training  schools  were  suspended,  but  in  1919  a 
school  for  warders  was  re-opened  at  Hull  and  for  wardresses  at 
Manchester. 

Apparently  the  majority  of  warders  pass  through  the  schools,  but 
in  certain  cases  they  are  posted  direct  to  the  prison  to  which  they 
are  assigned  and  learn  their  duties  there.  According  to  Standing 
Orders,  the  training  at  the  schools  is  both  theoretical  and  practical. 
The  practical  side  covers  all  the  details  of  discipline  and  routine. 
The  theoretical  training  is  supposed  to  be  given  by  means  of  lectures 
by  the  governor,  chaplains,  and  others  on  discipline,  "humanity 
in  the  treatment  of  piisoners,"  "employment  of  prisoners — work  as 
a  factor  in  the  reformation  of  the  criminal,"  the  "exercise  of  moral 
influence  on  prisoners,"  and  "the  awarding  of  marks  for 
industry.""  This  sounds  very  impressive,  but  practically  without 
exception  the  warders  who  have  given  evidence  take  the  view  that 
the  training  schools  are  of  no  value  from  the  moral  and  humane 
point  of  view.  One  officer,  however,  states  that  whilst  he  was  under 
training  it  was  drummed  into  his  head  that  it  was  "not  his  business 
to  avenge  the  crime  but  to  reform  the  man."  Except  in  this 
solitary  case,  they  state  that  they  gained  no  moral  benefit  from  the 
training. 

Most  of  these  witnesses  agree  that  the  training  was  of  value  in 
giving  a  knowledge  of  the  rules  and  methods,  but  even  in  this  respect 
a  number  complain  that,  since  details  vary  in  different  prisons,  much 
of  what  they  learned  had  to  be  unlearned.  Sometimes  it  is  argued 
that  prison  duties  can  be  taught  just  as  effectively  at  the  prison  to 
which  the  officer  is  permanently  posted,  but  one  experienced  officer 
strongly  urges  that  a  training  school  under  a  sympathetic  governor 
with  modern  ideas  might  be  very  useful  in  preparing  warders  for 
their  duties.  When  officers  go  direct  to  a  prison  they  are  taught 
the  routine  under  the  supervision  of  experienced  warders,  but  they 
do  not  receive  lectures  on  the  theoretical  side.  Such  instruction  is 
supposed  to  be  given  them  in  the  shape  of  advice  and  explanation 
and  by  frequent  catechism. 

At  the  end  of  the  four  months  period  of  instruction  the  probation-  ! 
ers  are  set  a  short  paper  of  questions  on  prison  duties.     The  replies  j 
are  forwarded  to  the  Commissioners  with  reports  from  the  governor  i 
and    other  officials.     The    governor   must  recommend  whether  the 
officer  should  be  posted  to  fill  a  vacancy,    placed  on  an  extended  { 
period  of  instruction,  or  be  rejected.     The  great  majority  of  officers 
appear  to  pass  the  examination  easily,  but  a  principal  warder  who 
was  stationed  at  one  of  the  training  schools  assures  us  that  the  train- 
ing "needed  some  getting  through"  owing  to  the  complexity  of  the 
rules. 

All  members  of  the  subordinate  staff  pass  through  this  period  of 
training  and  probation.  Those  who  undertake  special  duties  some- 
times receive  further  training  afterwards.     Officers  who  are  posted 

21  S.O.  603 


THE    DUTIES    OF    THE    WAEDERS  371 

:o  be  in  charge  of  kitchens  and  bakehouses,  for  instances,  go  to  a 
?chool  of  cookery  at  Wormwood  Scrubbs  prison  for  three  months, 
[t  is  claimed  that  they  become  much  more  efficient  by  so  doing. 

The  Duties  of  the  Warders. 
,1 
I    Officers  are  supposed  to  be  acquainted  with   all   the  Rules  and 

Standing  Orders  relating  to  their  duties,  and  are  provided  with  a  book 
>f  "Instructions  for  Officers  of  Local  prisons"  (115  pp.,  small  type). 
The  book  is  described  as  a  "code  of  instructions  for  the  guidance  of 
subordinate  officers,"  but  consists  of  extracts  only,  and  the  preface 
oiakes  it  clear  that  the  "officers  are  bound  to  make  themselves  fully 
icquainted  with  all  rules  and  orders" —  a  formidable  task, — "and 
:aDnot  plead  ignorance  of  any  of  them."  The  preface  to  the  com- 
plete volume  says  that  "officers  are  expected  to  interpret  these  orders 
-easonably  and  intelligently  with  due  regard  for  the  interests  of  the 
service,"  but,  in  fact,  the  rigidity  of  the  prison  system  allows  little 
.-com  for  either  reason  or  initiative.  Upon  this  our  warder  witnesses 
kre  practically  unanimous.  "Every  action  is  regulated,"  says  one. 
['Our  life  is  clock-work,"  says  another.  "Initiative  is  dangerous 
to  one's  future  progress,"  says  a  third.  "It  is  the  last  thing 
Kvanted,"  remarks  still  another.  "It's  a  good  machine  the  Com- 
missioners want." 

I  The  duties  of  prison  officers,  as  what  has  gone  before  will  have 
ted  readers  to  expect,  are  practically  restricted  to  repressive  vigilance. 
They  consist  almost  entirely  of  locking  and  unlocking  doors  and 
gates,  keeping  an  alert  watch  over  the  prisoners  to  see  that  they  do 
Bot  talk  or  commit  some  other  breach  of  the  rigid  rules,  counting 
^.hem  periodically  in  order  to  make  sure  that  none  has  escaped, 
5aper\nsing  them  at  exercise  to  prevent  them  walking  within  five 
paces  of  each  other,  keeping  an  eye  on  them  at  chapel  to  prevent 
|?landestine  communication,  standing  over  them  in  the  workshop 
With  the  same  object,  spying  upon  them  in  their  cells  through 
the  httle  eye-hole  provided  for  that  purpose,  examining  the  equip- 
ment of  the  cells  to  ensure  that  every  article  is  put  in  its  right  place 
and  is  clean,  searching  their  persons  to  try  to  discover  prohibited 
articles,  accompanying  them  when  they  are  visited  by  their  friends 
m  wder  to  prevent  complaints  being  uttered  regarding  their  treat - 
pnent;  and  so  on,  and  so  on."  "To  do  nothing  but  stand  over  the 
prisoners  and  spy  upon  them  is  thoroughly  demoralising,"  declares 
a  warder;  "it  is  disastrous  to  both  prisoners  and  warders." 

Their  Relations  with  the  Prisoners. 
The  prison  Rules  prohibit  the  warders  from  speaking  unnecessarily 
the  prisoners  or  being  familiar  with  them.     It  is  true  that  one 
I  the  rules  instructs  officers  "to  treat  the  prisoners  with  kindness 

**  Officers  perforin  all  their  dnties  under  a  semi-military  discipline.  They  are  paraded 
and  inspected  by  the  gOTernor  or  other  responsible  officer  three  times  a  day.  The  purpose 
*'  "?e  inspection  is  to  see  that  they  are  punctnal  in  attendance,  are  properly  drested, 
»nd  in  erery  respect  fit  for  duty.  (3.O.  696).  Communications  from  the  Prison  Commis- 
sioners and  orders   from  the    governor  are   read  to  the  assembled  officers  at   these  parades. 


372  THE  PRISON  STAFF 

and  humanity,"  but  it  proceeds  to  urge  that  they  must  be  "firm  in 
maintaining  order  and  discipline,"  and  "enforcing  complete  observ- 
ance  of  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  prison."*'  Most  officers 
apparently  regard  the  injunction  to  be  kind  as  a  pious  fraud,  intended 
to  reassure  the  public  rather  than  to  find  expression  in  their  conduct. 
They  state  that  if  they  speak  to  prisoners  except  as  a  matter  of 
discipline,  or  even  if  they  show  in  the  expression  of  their  faces  or 
in  their  bearing  kindness  towards  them,  they  are  liable  to  a  charge 
of  being  familiar  with  them.  "We  are  assured,  for  instance,  that  to! 
laugh  in  the  presence  of  prisoners  may  be  regarded,  as  an  offence,     j 

We  find  that  such  restrictions  are  much  resented  by  prison  officers  | 
and  that  many  of  them  say  that  were  they  allowed  to  try  to  assist 
th«  prisoners  they  would  be  able  to  influence  them  towards  better; 
lives.  "Over  and  over  again,"  says  an  ex-prisoner,  "warders  havei 
complained  to  me  in  words  like  these  :  'If  they  gave  us  some  discretion! 
we  could  pull  them  round.  We  get  to  know  them.'  "  One  of  our 
warder- witnesses  complains  rather  bitterly  that  "to  give  prisoners  aj 
helping  hand  is  to  encourage  the  rebuff  from  a  superior  officer — 'thati 
is  the  parson's  work;  the  chaplain  is  here  for  that  purpose.'  Many; 
a  prisoner  might  be  given  an  uplift,  or  sound  or  good  advice  in  thei 
early  days  of  his  imprisonment,"  he  says,  "but  we  are  liable  toi 
punishment  if  we  attempt  to  help."  "Boys  often  communicatej 
with  the  warders  with  very  good  effect,"  says  a  priest.  "Thei 
warders  could  help  the  prisoners  more  than  anyone  else  if  they  were 
allowed  to  do  so  and  were  always  of  the  right  type." 

Of  course,  in  practice  it  is  absolutely  impossible  to  maintain  a 
rule  which  prohibits  speech  between  officers  and  prisoners,  and  the; 
landing  warders  are  generally  on  familiar  termsc  with  those  of  theirj 
prisoners  whose  sentences  are  fairly  long.  In  some  cases  the: 
influence  of  the  warders  is  not  good.  We  have  evidence  from  ex-j 
prisoners  who  state  that  the  language  and  subjects  of  conversation | 
of  the  officers  were  worse  than  those  of  the  prisoners.  But  on  thej 
whole  we  should  say  that  the  influence  of  warders  is  probably  I 
beneficial,  and  we  have  evidence  of  a  number  of  instances  where,; 
despite   the    rules,    warders    have   helped    prisoners    considerably. °'| 

=  ■'  Rule  108  (dating  from  1899).  "The  great  object  of  reclaiming  the  criminal,"  thel 
rule  proceeds,  "should  always  be  kept  in  view  by  all  officers,  and  they  should  strive  toi 
acquire  a  moral  influence  over  the  prisoners  by  performing  their  duties  conscientiously! 
but  without  harshness.  They  should  especially  try  to  raise  the  prisonerB'  minds  to  a, 
proper  feeling  of  moral  obligation  by  the  example  of  their  own  uniform  regard  to  trutbi 
and  integrity,   even   in  the  smallest   matters."  j 

2*  Capt.D'Aeth,  governor  of  Parkhurst,  speaking  at  a  dinner  given  to  Sir  K.  Ruggles-l 
Brise,  June  24th,  1921,  said  that  25  years  ago  the  average  convict  was  a  fiend  and  aj 
great  many  officers  were  brutes.  Now  matters  were  entirely  altered.  The  convicts  felt; 
that  the  officers  were  their  friends;  the  younger  of  them  regarded  them  almost  as  elder 
brothers.  On  Easter  Bank  Holiday  the  officers  at  Parkhurst  gave  up  the  half-holiday  and, 
with  their  friends,  gave  an  excellent  concert  to  the  convicts  in  order  to  relieve  the  monotonyi 
of  their  lives.  On  Empire  Day  there  were  sports  for  the  officers,  their  families,  and  their 
friends,  and  the  day  before  the  event  one  of  the  convicts  came  to  him,  as  representing  a 
body  of  200,  and  said  they  wanted  to  forego  their  usual  recreation  in  the  evening  in  ordeii 
that  no  officer  might  be  deprived  of   their  pleasure.  ; 

Conditions  at  Parkhurst  (the  Convict  invalid  prison)  are  not  at  all  typical  (see  PP< 
350-52),  but  this  passage  illustrates  the  good  fellowship  which  can  exist  between  prisoners 
and  officers   when   the   sterner    discipline   is   relaxed. 


THEIR    RELATIONS    WITH    THE    PRISONERS  373 

Nevertheless,  it  would  undoubtedly  be  necessary  to  select  officers 
with  greater  regard  to  their  influence  upon  prisoners  if  perfect  free- 
dom were  permitted  between  them  and  those  in  their  charge.  "I 
should  like  to  ehminate  the  warder  who  is  unfit  to  influence  towards 
good,  and  then  give  the  suitable  men  every  freedom  to  influence  the 
prisoners,"  says  a  superior  officer  at  a  large  prison. 

A  governor  argues  against  allowing  warders  to  assist  in  the 
reformative  side  of  prison  life  on  the  ground  that  it  would  lead  to 
"collusion  with  the  prisoners  and  the  introduction  of  contraband 
and  trafficking.""  As  a  comment  upon  this  we  may  quote  the 
following  passage  from  the  e\'idence  of  an  ex-prisoner  who  has  given 
considerable  thought  to  the  subject:  — 

It  is  doubtful  whether  any  more  trafficking  would  occur  if  warders 
were  allowed  to  speak  freely.  Warders  and  prisoners  now  have  frequent 
opportunities  of  conversing  together  without  being  overheard,  and, 
despite  the  rules,  they  do  so.  Men  who  are  prepared  to  traffick  are 
not  likely  to  be  deterred  by  a  rule  prohibiting  speech.  Further  than 
this,  under  a  sensible  prison  system,  the  prisoners  would  not  be  denied 
the  harmless  needs  which  are  now  the  subject  of  trafficking — letters  from 
and  to  friends,  tobacco,  palatable  food,  and  newspapers.  Even  then  I 
suppose  the  authorities  might  fear  collusion  in  more  serious  matters, 
such  as  the  provision  of  intoxicating  liquors  and  assi-stance  in  escaping. 
As  for  this,  it  ought  to  be  comparatively  easy  to  restrict  the  personnel 
of  the  prison  staff  to  men  and  women  who  would  realise  the  wrong  of 
collusion  in  such  extreme  matters.  After  all,  the  nurses  in  hospitals 
outside  prisons  are  trusted  to  talk  familiarly  with  the  patients,  although 
they  are  doubtless  frequently  offered  bribes  to  break  the  rules  by  bring- 
ing in  alcohol  for  them. 

I  The  rules  against  trafficking  are  very  strict  and  dismissal  is  the 
nvariable  result  of  discovery.''*  Despite  this,  both  in  Local  and 
vonvict  prisons  a  few  officers  are  to  be  found  who  are  prepared  to 
isk  dismissal  for  the  bribes  which  the  friends  of  prisoners  give  them 
>r  providing  tobacco,  letters,  newspapers  and  food.  Another  form 
f  trafficking  sometimes  carried  on  is  the  making  by  skilled 
prisoners  of  articles  for  the  personal  use  of  officers.  We  have 
vidence  that  at  two  prisons  small  domestic  articles  such  as  wood- 
work boxes  and  brackets  were  made  for  officers  by  carpenters  among 
he  prisoners,  and  that  at  another  prison  suits  of  clothes  were  actually 
lade  by  tailors. 

Whilst  the  duties  of  warders  are  primarily  disciplinary,  they  are 
ot  allowed  themselves  to  inffict  any  privation  or  punishment.  Rule 
12  emphasises   particularly   that    an   officer  "shall   not    strike    a 

*•  ^*fBcking  is  the  t«nn  employed    for  any   illicit   serTice  rendered  by  officer  to  prisoner 
priioner  to   officer  lor  a   monetary    or    other  consideration. 

<**  Aa  officer  will  not  be  allowed  to  remain  in  the  service.  S.O.  684  reads,  "il  the  Com- 
iissioners  are  satisfied,  after  fnll  enquiry,  that  he  has  betrayed  the  confidence  placed  in 
in  by  making  any  unauthorised  communications  concerning  the  prison  to  the  friends  of 
^"■p'*-"  Rule  121  says  that  "if  an  officer,  contrary  to  orders,  brings  in  or  carries  out. 
eaaeaToars  to  bring  in  or  carry  out,  or  knowingly  allows  to  be  brought  in  or  carried 
t,  to  or  for  any  prisoner,  any  money,  clothing,  proTisions,  tobacco,  letters,  papers,  or 
ncr  articles  whatsoeTer,  he  shall  be  forthwith  suspended  from  his  office  by  the  goTernor 
the  prison,  who  shall  report  the  oSenoe  to  the  Commissioners." 


1 


374  THE  PRISON  STAFF 


prisoner  unless  compelled  to  do  so  in  self-defence."  It  is  clear  from 
our  evidence,  however,  that  when  there  is  no  third  person  present 
officers  occasionally  use  the  small  truncheon  which  they  carry  in 
their  pockets  to  chastise  a  prisoner.  Further,  on  occasions  when 
violence  on  the  part  of  a  prisoner  might  be  held  to  justify  some  use 
of  the  truncheon,  our  evidence  suggests  that  sometimes  it  is  much 
too  freely  used. 

The  Departmental  Committee  of  1895  reported  that  it  was  satisfied 
that  cases  of  gross  ill-treatment  by  warders  were  very  few  and  "that 
the  harshness  which  is  frequently  imputed  to  the  warders  ought  to 
be  attributed  rather  to  the  compulsory  enforcement  of  minute  regula- 
tions than  to  any  want  of  humanity  on  the  part  of  the  men  them- 
selves."^' We  concur  entirely  in  this  view,  but  it  would  not  be 
right  to  omit  to  say  that  evidence  of  a  few  cases  of  cruelty  has  been 
given  by  trustworthy  witnesses.  We  give  the  following  as 
examples: —  j 

T.  (a  recalcitrant  prisoner)  was  pulled  along  the  landing  by  his  feel; 
and  dragged  down  the  iron  stairs  on  his  back.  We  raised  a  protest  and 
30  of  us  went  back  to  our  cells  in  indignation.  One  officer  apologisec; 
the  same  evening.  ^^  i 

A  very  bad  case  of  ill-treatment  occurred  at on  October  14th,  1918! 

A  penal  servitude  prisoner  was  ordered  to  return  to  his  cell  froir 
associated  labour.  He  returned  to  the  cell  door,  but  refused  to  enter j 
and  at  the  same  time  began  to  argue  with  the  warder  on  duty  at  thi! 
centre.  Upon  still  refusing  to  enter  his  cell,  this  warder  collected  thrc^ 
more  of  the  prison  staff,  who  got  into  line  and  went  towards  the  prisoner; 
To  get  him  in  his  cell,  all  that  was  required  was  to  push  him  in,  as  h; 
stood  at  the  entrance.  A  warder,  however,  attacked  him  with  hi 
truncheon,  knocking  him  senseless  to  the  ground.  He  was  then  draggeci 
along  the  landing,  and  upon  regaining  consciousness  was  again  knockei 
senseless.  He  was  then  dragged  down  two  flights  of  steps  into  th; 
punishment  cells,  where  he  was  again  attacked  by  the  warders  witj 
truncheons.  ' 

Of  this  latter  case  we  have  received  corroborative  evidence  froci 
a  second  prisoner  who  witnessed  it.  A  more  frequent  kind  of  cruelt  j 
by  prison  officials  is  illustrated  in  the  following  case: —  i 

III.  i 

I  saw  the  acting  chief  warder  order  and  hustle  a  feeble  old  prisonf! 
in  the  most  brutal  fashion.  It  was  pitiful  to  see  so  old  and  helpless  j 
person  being  pushed  and  yelled  at  so  coarsely. 

If  a  prisoner  break  the  silence  rule,  it  is  the  recognised  custoij 
for  the  officer  to  warn  him  on  the  first  occasion.  If  the  offence  q 
repeated,  the  warder  is  supposed  to  report  him  without  any  furth(j 
indulgence.  In  the  case  of  other  breaches  of  the  regulations,  til 
offence  must  be  reported  without  warning.  "An  officer  shall  n<j 
fail,  under  any  pretence  whatever,"  reads  one  of  the  Eules,  "to  mal' 
an  immediate  report  to  the  governor,  or  through  his  superior  office^ 
of  any   misconduct  or  wilful  disobedience  of  orders."     In   actu:j 

*'  Report  ol  the  Departmental   Committee,    1895,   p.   36. 


ESPIONAGE    WITHIN    THE    PRISON    STAFF  375 

practice  most  officers  "wink"  at  minor  infringements  of  the  rules, 

80  long  as  they  are  not  too  frequent  or  flagrant,  but  there  are  some 

officers  who,  so  far  as  is  possible,  insist  upon  the  discipline  required 

by  the  regulations.     Experience  has  shown  that,    if  prisoners  are 

constantly  under  the  charge  of  a  strict  officer,  the  tension  resulting 

from  the  strict  observance  of  the  rigid  discipline,   and  particularly 

from  the  enforced  silence,  generally  results,  sooner  or  later,  in  the 

'  development  of  an  ugly  spirit  and  in  more  serious  acts  of  defiance. 

'   Complaint  is  often  made  by  ex-prisoners  that  some  officers  "take 

•  spite  against"  certain  prisoners  and  report  them  unjustly.       The 

!  impossibility  of  any  prisoner  obeying  the  prison  rules  gives  an  officer 

'  who  has  such  a  prejudice  ample  opportunity  for  giving  expression 

I  to  it."     An  ex-governor  acknowledges  that  reports  are  made  from 

[  these  motives  sometimes,  and  adds  frankly,   "You  have  to  take  a 

'  warder's  word  and  part,  even  when  you  are  sure  that  the  fault  is 

}  his." 

Espionage  ^YITHIN  the  Prison  Staff. 

We  have  already  recorded  that  it  is  one  of  the  duties  of  the  superior 

;  officers  to  see  that  officers  of  the  lower  grades  carry  out  their  duties, 

I  and  to  report  them  to  the  governor  when  they  fail  to  do  so.     This 

I  practice  leads  to  a  most  unwholesome  atmosphere  of  fear  permeating 

the  prison  staff. ^'     Repression  operates   downwards  from  governor 

to  prisoner;  the  governor  is  apt  to  bully  the  chief  warder,  the  chief 

warder  the  principal   warders,   the   principal   warders  the  warders, 

the  warders  the  prisoners.     Each  vents  his  feelings  upon  the  man 

below. 

Sometimes  principal  warders  descend  to  much  resented  methods 
of  espionage  to  ascertain  whether  proper  discipline  is  being  main- 
tained. A  few  years  ago  the  system  of  reporting  and  fining  of  warders 
was  used  to  persecute  officers  who  were  foremost  in  asserting  their 
rights,  and  particularly  those  who  were  known  to  be  connected  with 
the  Prison  Officers'  Federation.  We  have  been  told,  for  instance, 
of  one  officer  who  was  driven  out  of  the  service  by  the  frequent  fines 
to  which  he  was  subjected.  This  kind  of  tyranny  has  been  much 
modified,  largely  as  the  result  of  the  activities  of  the  Federation, 
but  even  in  recent  years  a  humiliating  espionage  has  remained," 
although  the  power  to  impose  fines  has  now  been  taken  out 
of- the  hands  of  governors  and  reserved  for  the  Prison  Commissioners. 

"  We  have  also  eridence  which  suggests  that  if  a  prisoner  make  a  complaint  regarding 
an  ofBcer,  the  latter  will  sometimes  get  a  fellow  officer  to  bring  a  report  against  him  at 
the  first  opportunity. 

*'  The  manner  in  which  the  officers  "bow  and  scrape"  to  the  governors,  chief  warders. 
»nd  even  principal  warders  in  some  cases  is  most  hnmiliating.  "At  ,"  says  an  ex- 
prisoner,  "there  was  a  self-important  governor  and  a  tyrannical  principal  warder,  who 
practically  ran  the  show.  The  warders'  servile  manner  in  relation  to  them  was  positively 
sickening."    A  warder   speaks   of   the  "degrading"  habit   of  many  officers  in  this  respect. 

'•  The  following  instance  of  the  reporting  of  an  officer  is  taken  from  the  "Prison  Officers' 
Magazine,"  May,  1920:— "Recently  an  old  officer  was  reported  (by  order  of  one  of  the 
Ugher  officers)  for  permitting  two  prisoners  to  talk  whilst  the  party  was  marching  from 
labonr.  This  officer  had  31  men  in  his  party,  comprising  a  good  number  of  cripples  and 
infirm  old  men.  The  distance  from  the  leading  to  the  end  files  was  approximately  40 
yards.  The  position  of  the  officer  is  in  the  rear  of  his  party;  possibly  the  two  men  who 
were  talking  were  amongst  the  leading  files.  Was  it  possible  for  the  officer  to  hear  these 
men  talking  at  such   a  distance?" 


STff  THE  PRISON  STAFF 

Thirty -two  breaches  of  regulations  are  tabled  in  the  Standing  Orders 
for  which  officers  are  hable  to  punishment.  For  "minor  neglects 
of  duty"  they  are  "admonished"  by  the  governor,  for  "graver 
neglects  of  duty"  they  are  "reprimanded,"  and  for  "very  grave 
or  repeated  acts  of  omission  or  commission"  they  are  "severely 
reprimanded."  Six  "admonitions"  or  four  "reprimands"  or  two 
"severe  reprimands"  within  a  year  entail  report  to  the  Commis- 
sioners, who  may  either  place  the  officer  on  probation,  order  the 
forfeiture  of  the  usual  increment  in  salary,  or  advise  the  Home 
Secretary  to  dismiss  him.  For  grave  offences  an  officer  may  be 
reported  to  the  Commissioners  in  the  first  instance  and  fined  or 
punished  by  them  in  one  of  the  above  ways.''^ 

The  kind  of  offence  which  until  recently  led  to  the  fining  of  an 
officer  may  be  suggested  by  two  instances.     The  first  is  of  a  warder 
who  rewarded  a  prisoner  for  cleaning  out  a  verminous  cell  by  giving 
him  a  little  extra  cocoa  from  some  which  was  to  spare.       He  was 
fined  two  shillings.     The  second  is  the  case  of  a  warder  who  neglected 
to  change  the  cards  in  some  cells  which  had  been  vacated  by  Eomao 
Catholics  and   occupied  by  Anglicans.     He  was  fined  one  shilling. 
The  nature  of  the   espionage  sometimes  practised  is  illustrated  in 
the  following  evidence  from  a  warder  in  one  of  the  largest  prisons  :  — 
There   is  only  one  principal   warder   of  whom    we  have  the  right   to 
complain,  but  his  methods  are  abominably  mean.     He  creeps  about  the 
place  like  a  cat,   in  order  to  discover  officers  either  breaking  any  rulea 
themselves,   or  permitting  prisoners   to  break  them.        There  is  a   long 
workshop   here,   and   it    is   the  custom    for  a  principal   warder   to  pass 
through  it  from  one  end  to  the  other  twice  a  day.     This  official,  how- 
ever, does   not  go  directly  through,    but  attempts  to   surprise  us.     One 
time  I  just  caught  him  in  a  little  lobby  in  the  centre  of  the  work-shop, 
which  he  had  entered  by  an  unused  door.     He  stood  there  in  the  shadow 
for  some  time  hoping  that  he  might  catch  some  of  the  prisoners  talking, 
but  I  silenced  my  men  and  sent  one  of  the  prisoners  to  the  other  end 
of  the  hall  to  warn  the  officer  there.     That  is  one  of  the  effects  of  this 
kind    of   spying— to    unite  the  lower  grade    officers   with   the  prisoners 
against   the  superior  officers.     It  makes  the  collusion  it  is  supposed  to- 
stop. 
More  disturbing  stUl  to  the  esprit  de  corps  of  the  prison  staff  is  the 
custom  which  used   to  exist,   and  which  some  officers   assert   still 
exists,  of  one  officer  secretly  reporting  a  fellow  officer  of  the  same 
grade.     The  Standing  Orders  insist  that   "an  officer  who  may  be 
aware   of    any   irregularity   or   other   circumstance   which  may  be 
injurious  to  the  order  of  discipline  in  relation  to  the  prison  ®r  to  any 
officer  or  prisoner  shall  not  fail  to  make  report  thereof  without  delay 
to  the  governor  or  his  superior  officer. ' '  "    We  believe  that  it  is  now 
the  case  that  officers  must  be  fully  informed  of  the  charges  brought 
against   them,    but   some   witnesses   state   that   occasionally   verbal 
charges  are  accepted  in  addition  to  the  written  charge,  and, 

31  P.O.  Report,    1920-21,  p.   44. 
"  S.O.   655. 


that 


OTEER    CLASSES   OF    WARDERS  877 

these  verbal  charges  influence  the  verdict.  Undoubtedly,  however, 
there  is  much  less  ground  for  complaining  of  "secret  reports"  than 
was  the  case  a  few  years  ago. 

Other  Classes  of  Warders. 
In  addition  to  the  discipline  staff,  there  are  the  trade  instructors. 
Their  duty  is  to  teach  prisoners  their  work,   and  to  see   that  the 
;  proper  "task"  is  performed.     The  instructors  are  obliged  to  report 
prisoners  for  breaches    of  discipline  in  the  same  way  as  the  dis- 
ciplinary officers,  but  the  disciplinary  side  of  their  work  is  relieved 
I  by  their  other  duties,  and  it  is  generally  agreed  among  our  ex-prisoner 
witnesses  that  the  instructors  appear  to  be  more  humane  men  than 
'-'  purely  disciplinary  officers." 

Another   special  class  of  officers  is  composed   of  the  cooks   and 
I  bakers  who  supervise  the  work  in  the  kitchen  and  bakehouse.     They, 
i  too,  are  responsible  for  maintaining  discipline,  but  the  fact  that  they 
j  have  necessarily  to  participate  to  some  degree  in  the  work  usually 
!  establishes   a   more   personal   relationship    between    them    and   the 
i  prisoners  in  their  charge.     It  is  one  of  the  jokes  in  all  prisons  that 
prisoners  employed  in  the  kitchen  or  the  bakehouse  rapidly  become 
plump.     No  doubt   a   certain    amount  of  pilfering  by   prisoners  is 
winked  at,  but  the  officers  must  take  care  to  keep  it  within  reason- 
able bounds,  because,  except  for  a  small  margin  for  waste,  they  are 
only  allowed  supplies  sufficient  to  meet  the  rations  and  are  respon- 
sible for  any  shortage."     We  cannot  omit  to  state  that  from  more 
than  one  source  we  have  received  evidence  that  on  some  occasions, 
no  doubt  rare,  the  officers  engaged  in  the  kitchens  and  bakehouses 
have  themselves  been  guilty  of  tampering  with  the  supplies. 

The  class  of  "Clerks  and  Schoolmasters"  is  appointed  from  the 
disciplinary  officers  in  the  manner  we  have  already  described  in  our 
chapter  on  Education."  A  fourth  special  class  are  the  works  and 
artisan  officers.  The  Prison  Commissioners  make  a  point  of  bring- 
ing into  the  service  a  certain  proportion  of  men  who  are  able  to  do 
the  little  mechanical  and  engineering  duties  necessary  in  a  large 
establishment.  These  officers  are  generally  assisted  by  one  or  two 
prisoners,  generally  "red  hand  men,"  for  whose  conduct  they  are 
responsible,  but  their  disciphnary  duties  are  slight.  The  officers 
belonging  to  the  hospital  staff  are  dealt  with  in  our  chapter  on 
the  treatment  of  the  sick." 

The  Secrecy  of  the  Service. 
Prison  officers  are  strictly  prohibited  from  informing  the  public 
as  to  what  occurs  inside  prisons  or  from   acquainting  the  outside 
world  as  to  the  facts  about  the  prison  system.     Every  prison  official, 

•*  As  to  how  far   the   trade   instructors   are  qualified   technically,   see  p.   112. 
f*»!f^T^.  "'""^  '"^   *  '"^®  prison  writes:  "H   the  magistrates  come  along  and  find   a  bit  too 
♦       ill  '°   trooble;   and    if  the  steward  comes    along  and   finds   a  bit   too  heavy,   I'm  in 

wonbJe  again.    They  say   I'm   robbing  the  prisoners,   and  he  says  I'm    robbing   him." 

"pp.   154-155. 

"  pp.   270-274. 


»78  THE  PS  I  SON  STAFF 


I 


for  instance,  who  has  given  evidence  for  this  Enquiry  has  risked  dis- 
missal and  imprisonment.  One  of  the  Statutory  Eules  prohibits 
an  officer  from  making  "any  unauthorised  communication  concerning 
the  prison  or  prisoners  to  any  person  whatever, ' '  or  from  communi- 
cating with  the  Press  or  writing  a  book  about  prison  matters."  This 
rule  means  that  a  prison  officer  who  through  his  iexperience  has 
come  to  feel  acutely  the  futility  and  cruelty  of  the  prison  system 
is  absolutely  barred  from  giving  expression  to  his  views.  There  is 
no  opportunity  for  such  criticism  within  the  service,  and  he  is  pro- 
hibited from  voicing  it  outside.  Much  of  the  evidence  which  has 
been  given  us,  despite  this  rule,  by  prison  officers  pix>ves  how  useful 
to  the  State  the  contribution  of  their  views  on  the  prison  system 
might  often  be.  In  addition  to  this  Statutory  Eule,  prison  officers 
are  subject  to  the  Officials'  Secrets  Act,  which  renders  them  liable 
to  a  term  of  imprisonment  up  to  two  years  for  making  unauthorised 
communications  to  any  persons  regarding  the  internal  conditions  of 
a  prison.** 

The  improvements  in  conditions  which  prison  officers  have  secured 
during  recent  years  have  in  many  ways  reacted  advantageously  on 
the  prisoners.  A  better  type  of  warder  has  been  attracted  to  the 
service,  whilst  the  shorter  working  hours  and  the  less  harsh 
discipline  have  meant  less  nervous  strain  and  better  tempers.  But 
in  one  serious  respect  better  conditions  for  the  officers  have  resulted 
in  worse  conditions  for  the  prisoners.  The  introduction  of  the 
eight  hours'  working  day  for  officers  has  involved  a  revision  of  the 
prison  time-table,  with  the  result  (owing  to  shortage  of  staff  due  to 
motives  of  economy)  that  the  prisoners  have  considerably  more 
cellular  confinement.  In  the  case  of  Convict  prisons  this  has 
meant  the  introduction  of  cellular  labour,  and  prisoners  both  in 
Convict  and  Local  prisons  now  spend  more  than  17  out  of  the  24  | 
hours  in  separate  confinement.  It  is  a  matter  of  urgent  necessity  j 
that  new  arrangements  should  be  made. 

The  Wardresses.  - ; 

In  most  respects  the  considerations  which  apply  to  the  staff  of ! 
male  prisons  are  equally  true  of  the  staff  of  women's  prisons."  But  j 
a  few  special  points  must  be  noted: —  i 

(1)  The  retiring  age  of  55  (the  same  as  for  male  officers)  is  felt  to  j 
be  too  late  for  this  work.  Many  wardresses  would  welcome  the; 
possibility  of  retiring  with  a  proportionately  smaller  pension  at  anj 
earlier  age,  whilst  they  still  have  energy  to  take  up  some  employment  j 
elsewhere.  It  is  probably  true  that  very  few  women  can  keep  tillj 
65  the  freshness  and  serenity  essential  for  the  best  performance  of  a  j 

I 

»'  Rule  116.  ! 

'«  S.O.  711  declares  it  to  be  "nnbecoraing"  for  prison  offiners  "to  take  a  prominent  part  j 
in  polemical  discussions  with  regard  to  the  public  conduct  of  ministers  or  in  party  poUtJM;  | 
or   to   attack    the  Judiciary  or  the   Executive  in  meetings   or  in  the  Press." 

3' Cp.  what  follows  with  the  Appendix  on  pp.  385-88  dealing  with  the  general  conditions  I 
of  (errice  of  male  officers. 


TEE    WARDBESSES  379 

wardress's  duties."  The  perpetual  responsibility  under  very  de- 
pressing circumstances  is  as  bad  for  the  officers'  nerves  as  the 
exercise  of  arbitrary  povi^er  too  often  is  for  their  characters. 

(2)  In  the  smaller  women's  prisons  there  are  as  a  rule  no  separate 
officers'  quarters.  The  wardresses  generally  have  a  mess-room — 
jometimes  a  small  and  none  too  cheerful  apartment — supplemented 
by  a  kitchen.  Their  bedrooms  are  scattered  up  and  down  the  prison 
itself,  and  often  at  a  considerable  distance  from  the  bathroom  re- 
served for  the  staff.  The  bedrooms  are  in  themselves  fairly  good, 
Dut  the  discomfort  of  such  an  arrangement  is  obvious.  The  staff, 
except  when  they  are  absolutely  "out,"  cannot  in  their  off  duty 
aours  get  any  change  from  the  prison  atmosphere.  At  night  they  are 
•iable  to  be  called  up ;  if  they  have  the  early  morning  off  duty,  their 
-est  is  disturbed  by  the  clanging  of  unlocking  doors,  the  ringing  of 
oells,  and  the  painfully  familiar  noises  of  the  day's  routine. 
The  warder  gets  home  to  his  house  and  family  and  becomes  an 
ordinary  citizen  when  his  work  is  over;  the  wardress  has  her  meals 
;n  the  prison  and  has  no  family  life  to  refresh  her.  As  she  has 
^er  quarters  inside,  she  receives  no  extra  payment  for  sleepmg 
'n,  with  its  attendant  responsibility,  except  when  she  is  caused 
'considerable  inconvenience." 

I  The  warder  off  duty  comes  and  goes  as  he  wills.  The  wardress 
paust  obtain  special  permission  to  be  out  after  10  at  night.  This 
special  permission  involves  a  request  to  the  matron  to  sit  up  to  open 
"jhe  gate  for  her,  and  in  many  cases  the  officers  hesitate  to  give 
trouble.  The  effect  of  such  regulations  is  considerably  to  limit 
sheir  freedom  in  making  evening  engagements,  although,  as  they 
aay,  it  refreshes  their  minds  to  get  a  real  change,  and  therefore 
benefits  their  vt'ork. 

i  It  is  not  unnatural,  too,  that  they  feel  a  difficulty  in  asking 
'visitors  to  see  them  when  they  have  so  little  facility  for  receiving 
•hem.  Thus  a  wardress  who  is  sent  to  a  town  where  she  is  unknown 
inds  it  difficult  to  make  friends.  Consequently  their  lives  are  often 
onely,  and  the  prospect  of  continuing  to  live  under  such  conventual 
jniles  until  55  disheartens  even  keen  workers. 

I  We  need  hardly  point  out  that  all  this  reacts  on  the  prisoners. 
The  wardress  is  more  constantly  in  prison  than  all  save  the  most 
labitual  of  criminals,  and  the  nature  of  her  work  is  such  that 
jhange,  recreation  and  friendship  are  essential  to  her.  The  condi- 
ions  are  undoubtedly  worse  in  the  small  prisons,  but  the  problem 
)f  recruiting  the  right  women  and  of  their  proper  treatment  exists 
or  all  prisons  alike.  There  is  a  consensus  of  opinion  amongst  prison 
>fficials  that  it  is  becoming  increasingly  difficult  to  get  a  good  class 
!)f  recruits  for  wardresses'  work.  The  fact  that  the  class  of 
applicants  is  declining  for  women  officers,  although  improving  for 
nen,  whilst   probably  partly   attributable  to  the   opening  of  other 

*°  "They   are    worn  out   long  before  that,"   aajs   an  ex-wardre33. 


380  THE  PRISON  STAFF  '. 

occupations,   seems  to  have  a  real  connection  with  the   conditions 
referred  to  above. 

(3)  The  following  statement  gives  the  impressions  of  an  ex-prisoner' 
regarding  the  work  and  character  of  wardresses: —  ; 

The  average  prison  wardress  seems  to  belong  to  a  semi-educated, 
respectable  and  conscientious  section  of  the  community,  and  she  has  all 
the  limitations  and  defects  of  her  class  as  well  as  its  good  points.  There: 
are,  of  course,  a  few  bright  exceptions,  but  on  the  whole  I  should  saj 
that  the  chief  characteristics  of  the  ordinary  wardress  are  narrowness, 
lack  of  sympathy  or  imagination,  self-righteousness,  combined  with  a 
strict  sense  of  duty  and  discipline,  and  a  conscientiousness  in  regard  tc 
detail  which  could  be  turned  to  great  account  in  work  of  a  different  and 
more  socially  useful  character.  The  badness  of  the  conditions  undei 
which  she  works  often  induces  in  her  a  sense  of  resentment  which  tendi 
towards  harshness  towards  the  prisoner.  It  is  not  unusual  to  hear  hei 
complain  that  although  she,  at  least,  has  kept  herself  "respectable,' 
the  prisoners  have  an  easier  time  !  The  rather  petty  mind,  which,  from 
her  lack  of  real  education  and  her  narrow  environment,  she  so  ofter; 
brings  to  her  task,  is  nearly  always  adversely  affected  by  the  powei 
over  others  which  her  position  gives  her,  and  she  is  apt  to  become  more 
and  more  hectoring,  fussy,  and  callous  as  the  years  go  by,  and  as  the 
deadly  monotony  of  the  system,  to  which  she  is  subjected  even  morr 
completely  and  continuously  than  the  prisoners  themselves,  graduallj! 
crushes  out  her  individuality  and  her  humanity.  j 

Then  again  she  is  nearly  always  haunted  by  the  fear  of  losing  her  job  | 
which  she  seems  to  regard  as  offering  greater  security  than  she  would, 
get  in  other  kinds  of  work,  and  when  she  has  done  several  years  oi' 
service  her  desire  for  advancement  subordinates  her  still  more  to  th( 
system,  and  her  fear  of  losing  her  pension  turns  her  into  something 
little  better  than  a  slave. 

On  either  side  of  this  average  type  there  is  another  class  of  wardress 
the  exceedingly  kind  and  the  exceptionally  brutal.  To  deal  with  tht 
former  first,  it  is  amazing  what  an  effect  she  has  even  within  the  narro\^| 
limits  of  a  rigid  system.  With  all  the  dreariness  of  prison  buildingii 
and  pettifogging  rules  to  militate  against  her,  she  yet  manages  to  brinf 
a  ray  of  sunshine  into  the  lives  of  those  under  her  charge.  But  again 
the  system  conquers.  The  exceptionally  kind  wardress  rarely  remain; 
long.  She  is  dismissed  or  she  leaves  because  she  cannot  stand  it.'"  Very 
rarely  does  she  get  advancement  or  rise  to  a  position  of  power — almos 
every  kind  of  humane  action  she  can  perform  is  against  the  rules,  andi 
unless  she  becomes  as  deceitful  and  furtive  as  most  of  the  women  in  heij 
charge,  she  will  almost  inevitably  be  found  out  and  punished.  ! 

That  the  last  type  of  wardress,  she  who  has  become  brutalised  b} 
her  work  and  is  now  utterly  callous,  is  still  quite  in  the  minority  Bay:i 
a  great  deal  for  the  inherent  goodness  of  human  nature.  When  omj 
thinks  of  the  effect  on  a  narrow,  undeveloped  personality  of  the  conj 
tinual  effort,  under  the  dreariest  possible  circumstances,  to  rule  by  fea, 
and  to  watch  with  ever-ready  vigilance  a  number  of  human  being?, 
many   of  them  mentally  defective  or  physically  diseased,  and  most  o: 

■*'  The  following  eyidence   is  in  point:— "I  was  told   by  a  girl  in  who  was  congtantl' 

in  and  out  of   prison  that  "the  only  nice   wardress   there'   had  been  sent   away  because  sh', 

talked  to  the  prisoners  and  made  them  laugh.    This  was  confirmed  by  .  the  lady  vigitoi 

who    said    that    this    partioular    wardress    had    been    dismissed   because   she    talked   to  to 
prisoners." 


THE    FITNESS    OF    THE    STAFF  381 

whom  she  has  been  taught  to  regard  as  wicked  and  degraded,  one 
marvels  that  any  of  the  officers  remain  humane.  That  she  herself  is 
subject  to  a  rigid  discipline  and  is  always  under  strict  surveillance  is 
an  additional  strain  on  the  nerves  of  the  officer,  and  one  can  hardly 
blame  her  if  she  becomes  hardened.  Nevertheless,  the  evil  that  can  be 
done  by  a  brutal  or  spiteful  wardress  among  prisoners,  the  weakest  of 
whom  are  completely  in  her  power,   is  incalculable. 

'o  this  we  may  add  the  views  of  a  former  wardress  :  — 

The  rule  is  a  rigid  silence,  except  for  instructing  the  prisoner ;  and  the 

wardress,  not  being  allowed  to  show   interest  or  feeling,  does  not  show 

any ;  and  as  time  goes  on  that  indifference  deepens ;  hence  the  idea  which 

is  so  general  that  she  is  inhuman,  whereas  she  is  just  an  ordinary  person 

I     working  under  conditions  that  do  not  allow  of  her  showing  the  human 

I     side,  however,  much  she  wishes.     She  therefore  misses  from  the  first  the 

I     opportunity   of    an  understanding  with  those  under  her  charge,   to  the 

j     disadvantage  of  both.     I   think   in   no   other  institution  is  this   rule  or 

I     system    expected — workhouse,    hospital    or    asylum.        If    one    enters    a 

i     hospital  the  nurse  makes  you  feel  at  once  that  you  are  in  her  charge, 

and  that  you  are  quite  all  right,  just  a  common  understanding.     Why 

not  the  same  with  prison?     So  many  difficulties  could  be  bridged  and 

a  great  start  made  for  a  more  pleasant  round  of  duties  for  the  wardress 

and  benefit  to  the  prisoner  while  serving  her  term,   and   perhaps  some 

lasting  good  by  a  little  praise  and  encouragement,  for  the  wardress  is 

essentially  always  with  the  prisoner  and  she  can  see  and  know  the  good 

in  her  charge,  if  she  cares,  and  she  could  do  this  muchi  more  if  she  were 

encouraged. 

The  Fitness  of  the  Staff. 
Before  concluding  this  chapter  we  should  like  to  repeat  that  any- 
^ing  which  we  have  written  in  criticism  of  the  character  and 
Ititude  of  the  officials  has  been  expressed  with  a  keen  realisation 
(  the  difficulties  of  their  duties  and  the  severe  conditions  of  their 
lork.  The  case  could  scarcely  be  stated  better  than  in  the  following 
jiview  of  the  status  and  the  task  of  prison  officers  which  an  ex- 
risoner  has  contributed:  — 

I        The   warder's  main  duty  is   policing,    locking   and  unlocking,    spying 
and  searching,  and   standing  idle  in  the  midst  of  prisoners  at  work  or 
on  exercise  to  prevent  them  talking  or  communicating.     This  seems  to 
entirely  wrong.     The   chief   duties   of  an  officer  should  be  to  teach 
es,  to  supervise  work  and  to   co-optrate   in   it,  to  engage   in  social 
rcourse  with  the  prisoners,   to  take  meals   with  them,   and   to  give 
ice  as  regards  reading,  etc."*"     So  long  as  the  present  bad  system  is 
Maintained,   more  warders  are  wanted.     The  neglect  of,   and  occasional 
cruelty  to,  the  prisoners  is  often  the  result  of  hurry  and  strain  of  temper. 
There   should    be    absolute    trust    in   the   officers, — no    spying,    no   secret 
reports,  no  fines  and  punishments.     There  should  be  encouragement  of 
the  missionary  spirit,   for  surely  this  is  the  most  honourable  of  all  the 
professions,  the  "mending  of  men."     All  punitive  rules  and  the  prohibi- 
tion of  intercourse  should  be  dropped.     At  present  there  is  an  atmosphere 
of  fear  and  deceit  among  warders  owing  to  the  harsh  discipline  to  which 
they  are  subjected,  but  there  is  little  corruption.     They  frequently  break 
the  rules  through  kindness  of  heart. 

A  warder  urges  that  "it  would  be  much  better  if  we  worked  by  the  men   as  foremen." 


882  THE  PRISON  STAFF 

Our  general  conclusion  is  that  whilst  the  prison  staff  is  a  grea 
deal  better  than  the  prison  system,  it  would  not  be  good  enough  t( 
administer  a  system  which  had  as  its  first  object  the  education  o 
prisoners  and  the  development  of  their  characters.  "We  all  wan 
clearing  out,  bag  and  baggage,"  says  a  warder,  "and  more  intel 
lectual  and  moral  men  substituted." 

"The  attitude  of  the  warders  and  of  the  medical  officers  and  tb 
governor,"  states  a  medical  officer,  "is  one  of  superiority  and  firmnes 
with  punitive  feeling ;  it  is  therefore  cold  and  indifferent  with  a  suspicioi 
that  anyone  complaining  is  shamming.  I  'caught'  this  feeling  almost  a 
once  on  entering  the  prison  in  an  official  capacity,  and  definitely  had  V 
pull  myself  up  and  say  to  myself,  'But  these  are  human  beings.'  Thei 
if  I  tended  to  leniency  and  consideration  the  warder  would  'advise'  me 
I  have  been  shocked  when  the  matron  has  talked  to  women  prisoner 
as  though  they  were  worse  than  dogs.  You  may  possibly  get  somi 
regulations  improved,  yet  so  long  as  the  personnel  regard  the  prisoner, 
as  so  much  'scum  of  the  earth'  put  there  to  be  jolly  well  punished, 
cannot  see  that  they  are  likely  to  act  otherwise  than  harshly." 

"The  right  person  for  such  work  is  one  who  regards  it  as  vocationa 
rather  than  as  occupational,"  says  a  chaplain.  "Such  men  migh 
be  trusted  not  to  abuse  freedom.  The  present  type  of  warder  hardl; 
could  be  tnjsted."  A  prominent  official  connected  with  the  priso! 
system  urges  that  the  officers  should  be  trained  as  efficiently  ai 
schoolmasters  and  should  have  the  same  status.  "The  prison  officei 
of  to-day,"  remarked  Professor  Vamberey,  of  Buda-Pesth,  at  th 
International  Prison  Congress  at  Washington,  1910,  "is  about  aj 
well-fitted  for  the  treatment  of  criminality  as  a  hospital  nurse  of  ! 
century  ago  was  fitted  for  the  treatment  of  disease."  We  shoulj 
say  that  this  remark  is  as  true  at  the  present  time  as  it  was  whej 
uttered.  j 

It  is  quite  obvious  that  with  a  new  system  there  must  be  : 
new  prison  staff  and  a  new  method  of  appointing  it.  "If  the  desii 
of  the  Stat-e  is  to  reform  the  criminal,"  urges  a  warder  who  has  ha 
20  years'  experience  in  the  service,  "prisons  should  be  hospitaij 
for  the  soul,  and,  like  hospitals  for  the  body,  we  ought  to  find  ot'i 
best  physicians  for  the  work." 


An  Officer's  View  of  the  Prison  Service. 


The  following  statement  from  a  visiting  minister  is  worth  producing  M  | 
ilhistrates  the  state  of  mind  in  which  some  officers  join  the  service  and  thf 
subsequent  attitude  : — 

"One  day  I  met  Principal  Warder  in  civilian  clothes.     He  told  r 

that  he  was  leaving  to  take  up  chief  warder's  duties  elsewhere,  and  that 
was  not  sorry  to  leave where  he  had  not  been  at  all  comfortable.     It  w 


AN   OFFICER'S   VIEW    OF  THE  SERVICE  38S 

too  efficient,  too  machine-like  altogether.  I  asked  if  all  prisons  were  not 
subject  to  that  criticism.  He  said  he  thought  it  differed  in  degree.  I  asked  : 
'Will  you  t«ll  me  what  made  you,  with  your  outlook  on  your  fellow-men, 
become  a  warder?' 

"He  replied,  'I  saw  men  and  boys  being  eent  to  prison  for  doing  things 
that  were  really  far  more  the  fault  of  their  upbringing  or  surroundings  than 
their  own,  coming  back  no  better  in  any  way,  and  I  thought  if  somebody 
inside  really  took  an  interest  in  them  and  could  find  out  why  they  had  gone 
wrong,  and  help  and  advise  them  when  they  were  tender  about  it,  it  might 
make  all  the  difference.     So  I  got  inside  to  try.' 

"  'Well,  how  did  it  work?' 

"  'Knowing  what  yon  do  of  prisons,  you'll  say  I  was  soft  to  try,  but  I  did 
— hard.  I  found  for  the  most  part  I  was,  by  my  uniform,  suspect  and  could 
do  no  good,  but  in  just  a  few  cases  I  did  get  through.  Then  one  man  had 
no  more  sense  than  to  write  and  thank  me  for  what  I'd  done,  and  he  addressed 
the  letter  to  me  at  the  prison.  It  was  opened,  and  I  was  carpeted  at  once 
before  the  governor,  and  asked  what  the  letter  meant.  I  was  younger  then 
and  a  bit  flurried,  and  the  governor  went  for  me.  "Understand  once  and  for 
iall,"  he  said,  "that  the  prisoners  have  no  business  even  to  know  the  names 
of  the  warders,  and  no  personal  conversations  of  this  kind  can  be  allowed 
ifor  a  moment.  Let  this  be  a  warning" — and  more  to  that  effect.  I  had  to 
give  it  up.     It  nearly  broke  me.'  " 


384  THE  PRISON  STAFF 

SOME     OF    THE     PRINCIPAL     DEFECTS    INDICATED    IN     THE 
PRECEDING  CHAPTER. 


1. — The   governors  are   selected  primarily    as  disciplinarians.     They   have 
little  or  no  knowledge  of  education,  psychology,  or  other  penal  systems. 
2. — Governors  have  little  personal  contact  with   the  prisoners. 

3. — Optional  orders  are  sometimes  not  put  into  operation  by  governors  on 
account  of  the  trouble  involved. 

4. — Governors  are  permitted  to  use  little  initiative  in  the  treatment  of 
prisoners. 

5. — The  officers  of  the  subordinate  staff  are  also  selected  primarily  as 
disciplinarians.  A  large  proportion  of  them  have  little  previous  experience 
outside  the  anny  and  navy.     The  educational  test  is  very  elementary. 

6. — The  training  of  the  subordinate  staff  is  of  little  moral  value. 

7. — The  officers  are  allowed  no  initiative  and  their  duties  are  practically 
restricted  to  repressive  vigilance. 

8. — The  officers  are  not  allowed  to  exert  an  influence  for  good  upon  the 
prisoners  by  conversation  or  sympathetic  contact. 

9. — The  impossibility  of  anyone  obeying  all  the  multifarious  and  un- 
natural prison  rules  gives  officers  with  a  prejudice  against  any  prisoner 
ample  opportunity  to  report  him.  Governors  almost  invariably  accept  the 
evidence  of   a  warder  against  that  of  a   prisoner. 

10. — The  shortening  of  the  prison  officers'  working  day  to  eight  hours  has  j 
resulted,  owing  to  shortage  of  staff  due  to  motives  of  economy,  in  prisoners  i 
being  confined  for  longer  periods  in  their  cells. 

11. — The  liability   of   officers  to  be    reported   by    their  superiors,   for  in-  J 
fringing  the   regulations,   sometimes  leads  to  the  practice  of  a  disagreeable 
espionage  and  to  an  atmosphere  of    fear,   suspicion,    and  deceit  permeating 
the  prison  personnel. 

12. — The  wages  and  pensions  given  to  prison  officers  are  below  those  of  | 
the  police  service.  Their  Representative  Board  is  not  sufficiently  independent  i 
and  its  activities  exclude  matters  relating  to  discipline  and  the  treatment . 
of   prisoners.     {See  Appendix).  ! 

13. — The  quarters  in  which  prison  officers   are  compelled  to  live  are  fre-j 
quently    crowded   and    inconvenient,    and   sometimes   insanitary.        Bachelor 
officers  may  be  required  to  live  within  the  prison  itself.     (See  Appendix). 

14. — Prison  officers  are  not  permitted  to  make  public  the  evils  of  the 
prison  system  as  known  in  their  experience. 

15. — The  retiring  age  of  55  is  too  late,  certainly  in  the  case  of  wardresses. 

16. — In  the  smaller  women's  prisons  the  wardresses  have  to  live  within 
the   prison,   under  very   depressing  conditions. 

17. — The  disagreeable  and  confined  conditions  of  the  service,  the  want 
of  trust  and  responsibility,  and  the  unconstructive  character  of  the  discipline  j 
which  they  have  to  enforce  discourage  men  and  women  who  have  a  real| 
vocation  for  the  work,  from  entering,  or  remaining  in,  the  prison  serviee. 


THE  PRISON  STAFF  385 

ppendix  to  Chapter  Twenty-Four. 

HE  CONDITIONS  AND   PAY  OP  THE  PRISON  SERVICE 


As  we  have  already  indicated,  there  have  been  considerable  improvements 
uring  recent  years  in  the  conditions  of  work  and  in  the  payment  of  prison 
Seers.  The  improvements  synchronised  with  the  growth  of  the  Prison 
fficers'  Federation,  and  were  accelerated  by  the  amalgamation  of  that  body 
ith  the  Police  Union  in  1918.  When,  however,  the  latter  organisation 
klled  a  strike  in  1919,  only  seventy  or  eighty  prison  officers  responded,' 
id  since  its  break-up  they  have  had  no  independent  organisation,  relying 
oon  the  machinery  set  up  in  1919  for  the  election  of  a  Representative 
card  for  subordinate  officers.  Latterly  warders  have  been  complaining 
lat  the  authorities  have  begun  to  "put  on  the  screw"  again,  but  the  exist- 
ice  of  "The  Prison  Officers'  Magazine,"  as  independent  as  ever,  has  enabled 

strong  assertion  of  rights  to  be  maintained. 

The  Representative  Board  is  the  application  of  Whitleyism  to  the  prison 
rvice.  Officers  below  the  rank  of  chief  warder  select  one  of  their  prison 
aff  to  serve  on  a  district  panel.'  There  are  eight  panels,  each  of  which 
acts,  from  its  own  members,  representatives  on  the  Board  in  the  proportion 

one  member  to  every  hundred  officers.  The  clerks  and  schoolmasters  and 
s  works  officers  are  separately  represented.  The  Board  meets  not  less  than 
ilf-yearly  and  has  the  power  to  send  deputations  to  the  fPrison  Commia- 
mers.     The  Commissioners  define  the  Board  as  an   "instrument  and  means 

personal  communication  in  all  matters  affecting  the  conditions  of  service 
tween  the  Commissioners  and  the  discipline  staff  at  prisons."     The  scope 

the  Board  is  very  limited  and  excludes  matters  relating  to  discipline  or  tha 
aatment  of  prisoners. 

The  Representative  Board  is  criticised  within  the  prison  service  principally 
■  three  grounds.  First,  it  is  asserted  that  it  is  too  official  and  that  the 
.fluence  of  the  Commissioners  is  dominant.     Second,  the  power  of  the  Board 

considered  to  be  slight  because  the  prison  officers,  now  without  an  inde- 
jndent  Union,  are  isolated  from  the  Labour  movement.  Third,  it  is  urged 
tet  the  scope  of  the  Board's  activities  should  be  extended  to  include  matters 
^  discipline  and  prison  treatment. 

Un  their  report  for  1919-1920  the  Commissioners  also  announced  the  estab- 
Ihment  of  a  Representative  Board  for  superior  officers.  Apparently  the 
t^cussions  have  been  largely  restricted  to  conditions  of  employment  and 
%  salaries  paid.  A  medical  officer  states  that  the  Board  is  dominated  by 
fvemors  of  the  military  type  and  that  any  criticism  of  the  Commissioners' 
^W8  regarding  treatment  would  make   the   critic  a  "marked   man."' 

jThe  prison  officers  are  demanding  that  their  status  and  pay  should  be 
I'sed  to  the  standard  of  the  police  service.  The  Home  Office  has  so  far 
(plined  to  accept  this  claim,  but  in  their  report  for  1920-21  the  Prison 
timmissioners  say  that,  "while  an  exact  analogy  (between  the  prison  and 
liice  services)  cannot  be  maintained,  there  is  a  sufficient  analogy  to  justify 
a)ractically  analogous  rate  of  pay,  especially  in  the  lower  ranks."  For  our 
Fft  we  cannot  see  how  the  prison  officers'  claim  can  be  resisted.     To  guard 

They  were  mostly  at  Wormwood  Scrubbs  prison  and   were  dismissed  from  the  service 
P.C.  Heport,  1918-19.   Appendix   2. 
Op.  P.C.  Report,   1919-20,   p  .31. 

O 


386  THE   CONDITIONS   OF   THE   PRISON    SERVICE 

the  law-breaker  and  to  influence  him  towards  better  things*  is  certainl 
as  responsible  a  task  as  to  find  the  law-breaker,  and  the  strain  upon  th 
prison  officers  is  far  more  constant  than  in  the  case  of  policemen.  The  priso 
authorities  acknowledge  that  improved  conditions  are  already  attracting 
better  type  of  man  to  the  service.  If  the  status  and  pay  of  prison  officei 
were  advanced  to  those  of  the  police,  a  still  further  improvement  might  b 
expected.' 

In  the  month  of  March,  1921,  the  payment  of  the  subordinate  officei 
(including  bonus)  varied  from  £3  6s.  S^d.  a  week  in  the  cases  of  first  yea 
warders  to  £7  15s.  ^d.  in  the  cases  of  first  class  chief  warders  in  their  la? 
years.'  The  war  bonus,  which  is  about  two- thirds  of  the  present  wage,  i 
subject  to  change  with  the  cost  of  living.  In  addition  to  this  monetar 
payment  officers  are  provided  with  quarters  or  allowances  in  lieu  thereoi 
The  wages  of  officers  are  increased  by  small,  annual  increments  "contingen 
upon  continuous  good  conduct  and  efficiency."  '  Promotion  depends  largel 
upon  seniority,  but  the  authorities  point  out  that  "to  lay  down  that  th 
strict  rule  of  seniority  should  be  followed  would  be  highly  inexpedient. 
The  claim  of  seniority  is  therefore  tempered  by  the  reports  which  the  officers 
superiors  make  "as  to  their  qualifications  and  their  conduct  in  the  perfonr 
ance  of  their  duties."  Since  1919  prison  officers  have  had  a  48-hour  workin 
week. 

Prison  officers  are  permitted  to  retire  at  55  years  of  age  and  must  do  £ 
at  60  years.  They  are  entitled  to  superannuation  allowances,  which  var 
according  to  the  length  of  service  and  to  the  status  of  the  officer.  A  prii 
cipal  warder,  retiring  at  55  after  25  years'  service,  receives  an  allowance  c 
£89  Is.  Od.  a  year.  If  he  retire  at  60  he  receives  £94  Is.  Od.  a  year, 
chief  warder  (class  3),  retiring  after  30  years'  service,  receives  £98  198.  Oi 
a  year.  If  an  officer  be  compelled  to  retire  from  the  prison  service  (\ 
medical  grounds  prior  to  the  retiring  age,  he  is  paid  a  pension  proportional 
to  the  length  of  service. 

The  superannuation  allowance  has  the  effect  of  keeping  officers  within  t) 
service  and  of  making  them  amenable  to  the  discipline  enforced,  howev 
distasteful  the  duties  are  felt  to  be.     Officers  come  to  regard  the  superannn 

*  As  we  hare  shown,  this  is  ofHcially  included  among  the  officers'  duties,  although  tl| 
hare  little  opportunity    within    the   regulations    to   carry   it  out.  ! 

5  A  Committee  appointed  to  enquire  into  the  "conditions  of  service  and  snperannnatioj 
of  prison  officers  reported  in  1919  against  granting  warders  the  police  scale  of  penBio| 
or  their  widows  police  widows'  pensions,  on  the  ground  that  policemen  have  more  dangerti 
duties,  have  more  night  duty,  and  are  more  exposed  to  the  inclemency  of  the  weath 
One  member  of  the  committee  attached  a  note  to  the  report  disavowing  the  view  that  "t, 
differences  between  the  two  services  necessarily  justify  a  higher  pension  scale  for  i' 
police,"  adding,  "many  men  would  prefer  the  police  service  to  the  prison  service,  »P 
from  any  superiority  of  pension  conditions."  The  (act  that  in  another  part  of  their  repi! 
quoted  on  the  next  page,  the  committee  say  that  the  mental  strain  imposed  by  the  duU 
of  prison  officers  distinguish  the  warder  class  from  all  other  civil  servants,  suggests  t' 
the  disadvantages    of  the   police  service   are  at  least   outweighed  in  other   directions. 

*  The  weekly  wages  paid  to  subordinate  officers  (including  bonus)  in  December,  19 
were  as  follows : — 

Male  Staff.— Warders,  from  £3  6s.  8%d.  to  £4  13s.  4d.;  principal  warders,  ft 
£4  16s.  6d.  to  £5  9s.  4d.;  chief  warders,  from  £5  15s.  8Vid.  to  £7  15s.  4i^d.;  and  ole 
and  schoolmasters,    from  £4   Os.  6d.  to  £5  7s.  SVid. 

Female  Staff.— Wardresses,  from  £2  15s.  2%d.  to  £4  Os.  6d. :  principal  wardresses,  fi* 
ie4  2s.  IMid.  to  £4  6s.  lid.;  matrons,  from  £4  8s.  6d.  to  £5  4s.  6d.;  chief  wardres,. 
from  £5  7s.  SMjd.  to  £5  14s.  l%d.;  and  lady  superintendents,  from  £6  5s.  4d.  !> 
£7   8s.   l%d. 

Small  additional  allowances  are  paid  to  warders  performing  special  duties,  e.g..  the  ho8p|| 
officers,  the  instructors,  and  the  cooks  and  bakers.  Special  allowances  are  also  given 
exceptional  duties,  e.g.,  2s.  6d.  is  paid  to  an  officer  who  inflicts  corporal  punishment  u  » 
an  adult.  Is.  to  an  officer  who  inflicts  corporal  punishment  upon  a  boy,  3s.  to  an  oflf 
who  assists  at  a  post-mortem  examination,  and  3d.  to  an  officer  taking  finger-pr* 
(maximum,    £15    a   year), 

'  S.O.  615. 


THE  PRISON  STAFF  387 

tion  as  equivalent  to  a  sum  deposited  in  the  bank,  and  only  on  very  powerful 
grounds  are  they  prepared  to  sacrifice  it.  For  similar  reasons  they  are 
disinclined  to  show  an  independent  attitude  towards  the  authorities  or  to 
risk  dismissal  for  infringements  of  discipline. 

All  members  of  the  prison  staff  are  required  to  live  in  quarters,  or,  if 
accommodation  cannot  be  found,  within  a  certain  distance  of  the  prison. 
The  governor's,  chaplain's,  medical  officer's,  and  steward's  houses  are  usually 
on  either  side  of  the  entrance  gates.  The  gatekeeper  sometimes  has  his 
quarters  between  the  inner  and  out«r  gates,  and  occasionally  a  few  other 
oflBcers  are  quartered  in  turrets  of  the  prison  wall.  This  last  kind  of  accom- 
modation is  frequently  disgracefully  overcrowded  and  inconvenient.  The 
general  quarters  are  in  most  instances  built  close  to  the  prison  wall,  some- 
times actually  against  it.  They  are  often  wretched  habitations.  "It  would 
appear,"  wrote  Major  Rogers,  the  surveyor  of  prisons,  in  1910,  "that  fre- 
quently no  thought  was  taken  as  to  what  point  of  the  compass  was  faced, 
and  some  have  all  living-rooms  facing  directly  north."  Often  the  windows 
r-ctnally  look  into  the  prison.  "Such  sites  do  not  lend  themselves  to  the 
provision  of  an  ideal  residence  for  the  present  generation,"  proceeded  Major 
Rogers,  "and,  if  it  is  added  that  frequently  the  interior  arrangements  were 
sacrificed  to  the  architectural  treatment  in  order  to  provide  an  exterior  in 
seeping  with  the  elaborate  castellated  or  crenelated  fa<?ade  of  the  entrance, 
jtc.,  one  receives  thought  as  to  what  to  avoid."  So,  no  doubt,  the  prison 
:)fficers  think  !  The  officers  in  certain  prisons  are  quartered  in  self-contained 
cottages,  but  often  the  "barrack  system"  remains.  An  officer-witness  com- 
plains bitterly  of  this  latter  system  and  of  the  condition  of  the  older  quarters. 
''They  are  without  baths,"  he  says,  "and  the  sanitary  conditions  are  bad."* 
Bachelor  officers  may  be  required  to  reside  actually  within  the  prison  itself, 
md  to  consider  themselves  "on  guard."  In  such  cases  they  receive  the 
illowance  given   in   lieu  of  quarters. 

1  The  mental  strain  under  which  prison  officers  work — the  strain  of  the 
iiscipline  which  is  imposed  upon  them  from  above,  and  also  the  discipline 
;vhich  they  themselves  have  to  impose  upon  the  prisoners — is  very  disturbing 
0  their  health,  both  physical  and  mental.  We  have  no  statistics  upon  the 
hoint,  but  more  than  one  witness  of  the  officer  class  insists  that  a  quite 
Uceptionally  large  number  of  prison  warders  become  mentally  unstable  and 
^ven  in.«ane.  In  this  connection  it  is  worth  quoting  the  following  passage 
-rem  the  report  of  the  Prison  Officers*  Superannuation  Committee,  issued  in 
919  :— 

A  much  higher  standard  of  physical  efficiency  is  required  of  him 
throughout  the  whole  of  his  career  than  is  requisite  in  the  case  of  civil 
servants  generally,  and  in  the  second  place,  and  it  is  even  more  important, 
the  daily  contact  with  the  criminal  classes  and  the  continuous  and 
intensive  watchfulness  which  is  required,  impose  a  mental  strain  upon 
him  which  few  men  are  able  to  bear  unimpaired  beyond  55  years  of  age. 
These  conditions  distinguish  the  warder  class,  in  our  opinion,  from  all 
other  civil  servants  ....  We  are  satisfied  that  retirements  on 
the  ground  of   ill-health  are  abnormally  numerous.' 


WiOw 


Good  honees  are  now  being  bnilt  lor  the  staff  at  Camp  Hill  prison,  for  the  male  staff 
It  Holloway,  and  at  some  other  prisons.  In  fome  cases  the  houses  built  for  governors  are 
oth  gloomy  and  inconvenient. 

p.  cit.   (Cmd.  313),  p.   4. 


383  THE   CONDITIONS   OF   THE  PRISON    SERVICE 

Prison  officers  and  their  families  receive  medical  treatment  free  of  charge 
from  the  prison  doctor."  If  an  officer  be  absent  ill  for  more  than  one  month, 
the  Standing  Order  says  that  "he  will  be  removed  from  the  pay  of  the 
establishment,  unless  special  authority  is  given  by  the  Commissioners  to  the 
contrary."  In  practice  such  authority  is  almost  invariably  given,  and  full 
pay  is  continued  for  two,  three,  and  sometimes  six  months.  Then  if  there 
is  hope  of  recovery,  half  pay  is  given. 


1"  S.O.'s   746-751.    This   does   not   include    confinements. 


CHAPTER  XXV 


THE  VISITING  JUSTICES 

The  highly  centralised  management  of  English  prisons,  is,  in 
heory,  at  any  rate,  somewhat  tempered  by  the  existence  of  bodies 
)f  visiting  magistrates  having  certain  limited  powers  of  administra- 
ion  and  inspection. 

This  institution,  as  has  been  already  stated  in  our  third  chapter, 
akes  two  distinct  forms, — the  Visiting  Committees  of  Justices, 
vppointed  under  the  Prison  Act  of  1877  for  the  Local  prisons  then 
aken  over  by  the  Central  Authority ;  and  the  Boards  of  Visitors  for 
he  five  Convict  prisons,  constituted  by  the  1898  Prison  Act. 

The  Visiting  Committees  for  Local  Prisons. 

Before  the  control  of  the  Prisons  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
iVhitehall  Commissioners  by  the  Act  of  1877,  the  authority 
esponsible  for  each  prison  was  usually  the  body  of  Justices 
or  the  locality.  The  1877  Act,  while  taking  away  the  real  manage- 
nent  of  the  prisons  from  the  local  Justices,  attempted  to  retain  their 
o-operation  by  instituting  visiting  committees.  These  consist  of 
nagistrates  appointed  annually,  in  the  case  of  a  county  by  quarter 
essions,  and  of  a  borough  (with  the  special  exception  of  Worcester 
City)  by  the  Borough  Justices.*  Up  to  the  present  year  the  com- 
nittees  have  been  composed,  we  believe,  exclusively  of  men ;  although 
^ne  of  the  recommendations  of  the  1895  Departmental  Committee 
m  Prisons  was  that  women  should  be  appointed  to  sit  with  the 
ustices  for  the  purposes  of  dealing  with  the  women  prisoners.  Now 
hat  women  have  been  admitted  to  the  Bench,  it  appears  very 
iesirable  that  they  should  be  adequately  represented  on  the  visiting 
iommittee  of  those  prisons  where  women  are  detained.  In  the 
jase  of  some  committees,  this  need  has  already  been  met. 

The  functions  of  the  Visiting  Magistrates  were  originally  laid  down 
|a  rules  framed  by  the  Home  Secretary  in  1878.  In  1895,  however, 
he  Departmental  Committee  reported  that,  for  various  reasons,  the 
l^isiting  committees  "had  for  the  most  part  acquiesced  in  the 
lupremacy  of  Central  Administration,  had  discharged  their  duties 
lerfunctorily,  and  had  not  exercised  the  very  considerable  functions 

*flee  Section  13  ol  the  Prison  Act,  1877,  and  Section  275  ol  the  1899  Enles  for  Local 
ntoni.    The  appointments  are   usually  made  in  Jannary. 


390  THE  VISITING  JUSTICES 

laid  upon  them  by  the  (Prison)  Act."  '  The  magistrates  apparently 
felt  that  the  new  system  only  allowed  them  shadowy  and  valueless 
responsibilities  and  ceased  as  a  rule  to  take  interest  in  the  prisons. 
In  consequence  of  this  an  attempt  was  made  by  the  Home 
Ofl&ce  in  1899  to  stimulate  new  local  interest  and  co-opera- 
tion by  increasing  the  functions  of  the  committees.  The  changes 
made,  however,  did  not  add  nearly  so  much  to  the  responsi- 
bilities of  the  justices  as  was  recommended  by  the  1895  com- 
mittee, who  would,  for  instance,  have  given  them  the  power  to 
nominate  the  prison  chaplain  and  to  determine  in  the  first  instance 
the  kind  of  labour  to  which  prisoners  should  be  put.*  The  present 
functions  of  the  committees  are  regulated  in  great  detail  by  Part 
VIII.  of  the  Code  of  Eules  for  Local  Prisons  made  under  the  1898 
Prison  Act  in  April,  1899.  Before  describing  these  functions,  it  is 
desirable  to  mention  that  Section  15  of  the  1877  Act  provides  that 
any  Justice  having  jurisdiction  either  in  the  locality  of  the  prison 
or  "in  the  place  where  the  offence  in  respect  of  which  any  prisoner 
may  be  confined  in  prison  was  committed,"  may,  when  he  thinks 
fit,  inspect  the  prison  and  the  prisoners,  and  record  his  observations 
for  the  notice  of  the  visiting  committee.  In  doing  so  he  is  allowed 
to  speak  to  any  prisoner  in  reference  to  his  prison  treatment  or  to 
any  complaint  the  prisoner  may  have  to  make. 

We  have  evidence  of  one  great  city  where  "all  the  magistrates  are 
from  time  to  time  invited  to  visit  the  prison ;  and  the  members  of  the 
visiting  committee  welcome  this  as  a  means  of  making  the  sentences 
awarded  by  such  justices  intelligible  to  those  who  have  to  award 
them."  Nor  is  there  any  reason  to  suppose  that  most  visiting 
committees  would,  in  principle,  resent  occasional  visits  of  their 
fellow  magistrates  to  their  prison.  But  the  undoubted  fact  remains 
that  such  visits  are  in  most  districts  very  unusual  and  that  there  is 
widespread  ignorance  among  magistrates  of  their  rights  in  this 
respect.  One  visiting  magistrate  has  stated  to  us  that  the  Prison 
Commissioners  do  not  desire  that  the  visitation  of  prisons  by  ordinary 
magistrates  should  become  customary.  Whether  this  be  so  or  not; 
it  is  apparently  the  case  that  no  circular  has  been  issued  to 
magistrates  from  the  Home  Office  informing  them  of  their  rights  in 
this  respect  or  urging  them  to  take  advantage  of  them. 

Another  regulation,  which,  in  view  of  the  want  of  publicity  in 
the  prison  administration,  deserves  to  be  better  known,  allows  a 
visiting  magistrate  to  take  a  companion  with  him  on  his  visit  to  the 
prison,  provided  he  first  introduces  him  to  the  governor.* 

The  visiting  committee  are  required  to  meet  at  the  prison  once  in 
every  month,  unless  they  state  their  opinion  that  eight  times  in  the 
year  is  sufficiently  often.     The  prison  must  be  visited  once  a  week 

*  1895  Departmental  Committee  Report,   p.  7. 

3  1895  Departmental  Committee  Report,  pp.  40-41,  and  Observations  of  the  Commissiuucij 
thereon   (1896),  pp.  13-16. 

*  S.O.  No.   850.    "He   (the  governor)   will  permit  any  person  to  view  the  prison,  who  may 
be  introduced    by    a  member   of   the   visiting   committee." 


THEIR  JUDICIAL  POWERS  391 

Dy  one  or  more  members,  unless  they  resolve  that  fortnightly  visits 
ire  sufficient.  The  committee  must  make  an  annual  report  to  the 
Home  Secretary,  in  addition  to  special  reports  on  any  matters  which, 
;n  their  opinion,  require  attention. 

Their  Judicial  Powers. 
The  most  important  of  the  committee's  functions  are  its  judicial 
DOwers.  The  prison  governor  is  only  competent  to  deal  with  minor 
offences  on  the  part  of  the  prisoners,  and  may  only  inflict  a  limited 
amount  of  punishment,  covering  a  period  of  not  more  than  three 
days  for  the  severest  forms.*  Cases,  for  instance,  of  violence  to 
persons  or  property,  of  attempted  escape,  or  of  grossly  abusive 
language  must  be  referred  by  the  governor  to  the  visiting  committee 
pr  to  one  of  them.  Such  member  or  members  have  power  to  hold  an 
inquiry,  and,  if  thought  desirable,  to  award  punishment  to  a  degree 
not  more  severe  than  any  of  the  following  sentences,  which  may, 
however,  be  combined: — 14  days'  "close  confinement";  15  days' 
bread  and  water  diet  for  periods  of  three  days,  alternating  with  periods 
of  three  days'  ordinary  diet ;  forfeiture  of  the  "stage"  privileges  or  of 
remission  of  sentence  for  28  days.  In  cases  of  mutiny  or  of  violence 
to  an  officer  the  committee  (three  members  at  least  being  present) 
have  power  to  award  corporal  punishment  (either  with  the  birch  or 
:he  "cat")  up  to  36  lashes,  but  it  is  only  inflicted  provided  the 
Home  Office  specifically  confirms  their  award.  No  prisoner  may 
be  kept  in  irons  or  under  mechanical  restraint  for  more  than  24  hours 
Without  an  order  from  one  of  the  visiting  committee, 
i  The  following  account  of  the  procedure,  when  an  offender  is  tried 
before  the  visiting  committee,  has  been  given  by  a  political  prisoner 
who  had  several  such  trials.'  We  believe  it  to  be  in  harmony  with 
the  facts. 

Ordinarily  a  trial  by  visiting  magistrates  is  rapid  and  formal.  Some- 
times only  one  magistrate  is  present.  Before  entering  the  room  the 
prisoner's  person  is  searched  in  case  he  has  any  implement  of  attack 
upon  him.  The  officer  bringing  the  charge  is  usually  required  to  take 
the  oath,  and  any  subsequent  witness  is  required  to  do  so  also.  The 
prisoner  has  no  opportunity  of  reading  a  written  statement  of  the 
evidence  supporting  the  charge.  But  he  is  permitted  to  make  a  state- 
ment in  reply  to  the  charge  and  he  is  sometimes  asked  whether  he  has 
any  questions  to  put  to  the  witnesses  and  to  those  who  bring  the  charge 
against  him.  The  proceedings  are  not  unlike  those  in  an  ordinary  Court 
of  Law. 

On  one  occasion  my  trial  by  the  visiting  magistrates  happened  to 
synchronise  with  the  annual  meeting  of  the  visiting  committee,  and  I  had 
an  extraordinarily  impressive  trial.  The  charge  was  the  publication  and 
circulation  of  a  manuscript  newspaper.  Nine  magistrates  were  present, 
evidence  was  given  in  great  detail,  and  I  was  permitted  to  cross-examine 
the  witnesses,  including  the  governor.  A  number  of  the  magistrates 
were  impatient  with  the  fair  treatment  accorded  me,  but  the  chairman 
insisted   upon  an  impartial  trial. 

*8ee  p.    236. 

•  Compare  the   account  of  a  Trial  before  the  Gorernor,  p.  235-6. 


892  THE  VISITING  JUSTICES 

The  general  view  of  prisoners  is  that  visiting  magistrates  always  take 
the  governor's  view,  an  opinion  borne  out  by  my  own  experience  in  the 
trial  to  which  I  have  just  referred, — when,  a  dispute,  having  arisen 
between  the  governor  and  myself,  a  majority  of  the  magistrates  (against 
the  view  of  the  chairman)  held  that  it  was  unnecessary  to  investigate 
the  matter  further,  since  the  governor  was  to  be  believed  before  aj 
prisoner !  j 

We    believe    that   most   visiting    magistrates    consider    that   the' 
arrangements  in  use  for  the  trial  and  sentence  of  a  prisoner  accused 
of  breaking  the  rules  are  quite  satisfactory  and  calculated  to  ensure 
a  just  verdict.     Some  of  them,  however,  feel  that  the  influence  of' 
the  governor's  views  is  too  prominent.     One  magistrate  writes: — | 
"The    prison    governor    dominates    the    committee.     I    think    the: 
hearing  should  be  conducted  without  the  presence  of  the  governor.": 
Another  from  a  different  prison  urges,  for  the  same  reason,  that  at 
least  two  magistrates  should  always  be  present  to  award  the  punish- 
ment.    "It  takes  a  very  strong  man  to  go  against  those  in  authority, 
but  it  is  not  nearly  so  difi&cult  a  matter  for  two."       One  of  our 
witnesses,  who  is  chairman  of  quarter  sessions,   as  well  as  an  ex-! 
perienced  visiting  magistrate,   gives  it  as  his  strong  conviction  thati 
it  is  the  exception  for  a  prisoner  to  get  a  really  fair  trial.  i 

Several  magistrates  have  also  pointed  out  to  us  that  the  accused! 
prisoner  is  in  an  unfair  position  compared  with  the  warder,  orj 
warders,  on  whose  report  he  is  usually  charged.  Thus  one  magistrate, 
writes  : — "There  is  a  difficulty  in  that  the  prisoner's  offence  is  often: 
supported  by  several  warders,  whilst  he  is  alone  in  his  defence,  or; 
at  least  generally  so."  Another  admits  that  "the  weakness  of  thei 
arrangement  from  the  prisoner's  point  of  view  is  the  difficulty  of! 
getting  confirmatory  evidence  from  other  prisoners,  and  I  do  not  seel 
how  this  difficulty  is  to  be  got  over."  A  third  magistrate  points  I 
out  that  "the  warders  are  able  to  collate  their  evidence  outside,"  and 
suggests  that  "this  might  be  partially  obviated,  if  they  were  not; 
allowed  to  leave  the  room  after  giving  evidence."  i 

These  admissions  could  easily  be  corroborated  from  the  evidence! 
of  ex-prisoners,  whose  experience  has  taught  them  to  what  extent; 
the  average  prisoner,  dazed  and  isolated  by  the  rule  of  silence  I 
and  separation,  is  at  the  mercy  of  the  warders,  and  how  possible! 
it  is  for  a  warder,  under  the  strain  of  his  disciplinary  duties,  to  get 
a  grievance  against  a  "troublesome"  prisoner;  and  how,  too,  the 
esfrit  de  corps  among  the  prison  officers  tends  to  induce  them  to 
back  each  other  up. 

The  execution  of  the  committee's  award  is  left  in  the  hands  of 
the  governor  and  his  subordinates.'     We  have  already,  in  a  previous: 

'  But  the  visiting  committee,  if  they  exercise  their  powers  improperly,  are  liable  to  be 
Tisited  with  damages.  This  actually  happened  in  1909  at  Manchester  prison,  where  a 
refractory  prisoner  who  refused  to  leave  his  cell  was,  on  the  order  of  the  committee,  dislodged 
by  the  use  of  the  hose-pipe,  with  the  result  that  the  committee  were  held  liable  for  damagee 
at   the  Manchester  County  Court. 


CONTACT    WITH    UNCONVICTED    PRISONERS  39S 

chapter,   described  the  character  and   some   of  the  effects    of  the 
different  kinds  of  punishments.' 

Their  Contact  with  Unconvicted  Prisoners 
AND  Other  Special  Classes. 
Apart  from  the  refractory  prisoner,  the  class  of  prisoners  whose 
condition  appears  (according  to  the  printed  rules)  to  be  most  vitally 
iffect-ed  by  the  action  of  the  visiting  committee  is  that  of-  the  un- 
convicted, i.e.,  those  who  are  supposed  to  be  committed  to  prison, 
lot  for  punishment,  but  for  "safe  custody"  only  until  the  date  of 
^heir  trial.'  In  this  case  the  committee  may,  without  any  reference 
3f  the  matter  to  the  Commissioners,  permit  the  occupation  of  a 
specially  furnished  room  or  cell,  the  use  of  the  prisoner's  private 
'urniture  and  utensils,  the  appointment  of  another  prisoner  to  do 
pleaning,  etc.,  for  him,  the  attendance  of  his  private  physician,  and, 
^n  general,  the  "dispensing  with  any  practice,  which,  in  the  opinion 
\A  the  governor,  is  clearly  unnecessary."  These  rules  appear  to 
Indicate  that,  in  the  case  at  least  of  persons  of  sufficient  private 
iTieans  to  be  able  to  take  advantage  of  them,  the  comfort  and  health 
of  prisoners  awaiting  trial  may  depend  largely  on  the  decision  of  the 
Visiting  committee. 

'  The  committee  have  very  similar  powers  in  regard  to  the  treatment 
j)f  offenders  of  the  first  division ;  but  this  class  of  prisoner  is  so  small 
|hat  the  details  do  not  merit  special  mention  here." 
j  Most  of  the  magistrates  who  have  given  evidence  to  us  state  that 
ihey  have  dealt  generously  with  any  applications  for  relaxation  of 
'he  rules  that  have  been  received  from  unconvicted  or  first  division 
Prisoners,  and  that  their  decisions  in  these  cases  are  unfettered  by 
my  directions  of  the  Commissioners.  But  such  applications  from 
mcon\'icted  prisoners  appear  to  be  very  few ;  and  it  seems  probable 
hat  many  of  these  prisoners  are  not  aware  of  the  extent  of  their 
jights  in  these  respects;  while  the  justices,  in  some  cases,  share 
[he  prisoners'  ignorance  and  in  other  cases  have  no  wish  to  dispel  it. 
^  The  treatment  of  prisoners  in  the  second  and  third  divisions  is 
legulated  with  great  minuteness  and  uniformity  by  the  Commis- 
sioners' Eules  and  Standing  Orders ;  and  the  ways  in  which  the  judg- 
Inents  of  the  visiting  committee  can  affect  the  prisoner's  life  are  not 
aumerous,  so  long  as  he  is  not  himself  reported  for  breach  of  rules 
br  has  no  reason  for  complaining  that  the  rules  have  not  been 
pbserved  by  the  prison  staff.  The  committee  may,  it  is  true,  in  case 
)f  urgency,  allow  him  an  additional  letter  or  visit ;"  they  may  dis- 
)ense  with  his  attendance  at  chapel  and  permit  him,  on  adequate 
■rounds,  to  change  his  religion.     Demands  for  additional  books  for 

•  8e«  Chapter   14. 

•  See  Part  2  of  the  Rules  lor  Local  prisons,  especially  Eules  189,  190,  202,  and  203, 
!-nd  pp.  307-8. 

'•8«e  p.  221. 

'*  The  members  of  some  visiting  committees  state  that  the  governor  has  dealt  with  all 
r  most  of  such  applications,  though  the  governor's  powers  in  this  respect  are  considerably 
Mtncted  under  the  rules. 

02 


394  THE   VISITING  JUSTICES 

the  prisoners'  library  are  supposed  to  pass  through  them  on  the  way 
from  the  chaplain  to  the  Commissioners,  and  they  may,  if  they 
choose,  organise  lectures  and  addresses  "directed  to  the  moral 
improvement  of  the  prisoners."  But,  in  practice,  these  matters  are 
usually  left  to  the  chaplain.  Out  of  ten  different  visiting  committees, 
whose  members  gave  evidence  on  this  point,  nine  were  taking  no 
part  in  the  arrangements  for  lectures.  In  the  case  of  the  remaining 
committee,  regular  lectures  have  been  given  for  some  years  past  under 
the  supervision  of  the  committee  and  in  some  cases  by  members  of 
it,  and  we  believe  that  they  have  been  much  appreciated. 

The  approval  of  a  member  of  the  visiting  committee  is  required 
under  the  Eules  and  Standing  Orders  in  respect  of  the  decision  as  to 
the  fitness  of  a  first  offender  for  the  "Star"  class."  If  no  direction 
is  given  by  the  Court  as  to  the  division  in  which  an  offender  is  to 
be  placed,  a  member  of  the  committee  may  assign  him  to  the  second 
(instead  of  the  third)  division,  unless  he  is  likely  to  exercise  a  bad 
influence  on  first  offenders."  And  when  any  unfortunate  prisoner 
is  considered  to  be  insane,  the  presence  and  signature  of  two  visiting 
justices,  assisted  by  two  legally  qualified  medical  practitioners,  is 
necessary  to  certify  him  for  removal  to  a  lunatic  asylum." 

The  Heabinq  of  Complaints. 

In  the  case  of  the  ordinary  prisoner  who  is  not  guilty  of  serious 
breaches  of  the  rules,  contact  with  the  visiting  committee  is,  in 
practice,  almost  wholly  limited  to  the  occasions  of  periodic  peram- 
bulation of  the  prison  by  one  or  more  of  the  magistrates,  with  the 
primary  object  of  giving  prisoners  an  opportunity  of  making 
complaints. 

Complaints  (other  than  those  of  a  medical  nature)  may  be  made 
either  to  the  governor,  or  to  the  visiting  committee,  or  to  an  inspector  \ 
of  prisons,"  or  to  a  Commissioner  (though  in  Local  prisons  there  is 
practically  no  opportunity  of  seeing  one),  or,  in  the  last  instance,  j 
in  the  form  of  a  written  petition  to  the  Home  Secretary."     In  most ' 
prisons  it  is  customary  to  address  complaints,  in  the  first  instance 
at  any  rate,  to  the  governor;  but  in  some  prisons,  where  for  one 
reason  or  another  the  magistrates  are  regarded  as  more  sympathetic  ■ 
authorities  than  the  governor,  most  complaints  appear  to  be  made  i 
direct  to  them. 

If  a  man  wishes  to  see  the  governor  by  reason  of  any  request  or 
complaint,  he  must  not  fail  to  apply  to  the  warder  first  thing  in  the : 
morning  when  his  cell  door  is  unlocked.  Any  apphcation  made  later! 
in  the  day  will  be  unavaihng.  Complaints  to  the  governor  have  j 
usually  to  be  made  to  him  in  his  office  in  presence  of  a  chief  or! 

1*  Cp.  p.   225. 

1'  Criminal   Justice  Administration   Act,   1914,   Section   16    (2)    and    (3). 

1*  Criminal  Lunatics'  Act,   1884,  Section   2. 

1*  Cp.  p.   62,  and  Note   20  on  that  page. 

»•  See  Appendix  to  this  Chapter,  pp.  408-9. 


THE   HEARING   OF   COMPLAINTS  S9< 

principal  warder.  And  in  some  prisons  the  objectionable  practice 
prevails  by  which  a  prisoner  is  cross-examined,  and  possibly  in- 
timidated, by  the  chief  warder,  before  he  is  allowed  to  see  the 
governor,  this  being  done  in  order  to  stop  unnecessary  demands 
upon  the  governor's  time.  This  is  an  additional  reason  why  some 
prisoners  prefer  to  approach  a  visiting  magistrate  directly. 

We  have  received  a  great  quantity  of  evidence,  as  regards  the 
value  of  the  opportunities  for  making  legitimate  complaints  to  the 
visiting  magistrates,  from  prisoners  with  experience  in  many  different 
English  prisons.  While  some  have  no  fault  to  find  with  the 
conditions  (possibly  because  they  did  not  desire  to  make  complaints), 
the  majority  assert  that  the  facihties  were  of  little  value  to  the 
prisoners,  for  one  or  more  of  the  following  reasons:  — 

(1)  The  appearances  of  the  visiting  magistrates  are  usually  made 
without  any  warning ;  the  cell  door  is  suddenly  thrown  open  and  the 
magistrate  is  apt  to  pass  by  it  very  rapidly,  or  the  pause  at  the 
entrance  to  the  workshop  is  only  for  a  very  brief  moment.  Hence 
many  cherished  complaints  are  never  made,  for  the  prisoner,  so  long 
silent  by  compulsion,  is  often  too  dazed  to  speak  them  out  sufficiently 
quickly. 

Thus  one  witness  writes:  "The  magistrates  appear  so  suddenly 
and  pass  so  quickly  that  only  those  who  are  very  ready  of  speech 
are  able  to  lodge  complaints."  Another  says:  "The  visits  are  un- 
expected and  unprepared  for."  A  woman  ex-prisoner  writes:  "The 
magistrates  frequently  passed  the  cell  without  stopping  to  speak." 
And  another  complains  of  the  "great  tendency  to  depression  and 
torpor  resulting  even  in  being  unable  to  make  complaints  properly 
at  the  official  time  allowed." 

It  is  true  that  there  is  a  printed  rule,  which  hangs  in  most  if 
not  in  all  cells,  to  the  effect  that  "Any  prisoner  wishing  to  see  a 
member  of  the  visiting  committee  shall  be  allowed  to  do  so  on  the 
occasion  of  his  next  occurring  visit  to  the  prison";  and  we  believe 
that  as  a  rule  apphcation  to  see  the  magistrate  may  be  made  on 
any  morning.  But  many  prisoners  are  either  not  aware  of  this  last 
possibihty,  or  else,  owing  to  the  inertia  engendered  by  prison,  it 
escapes  their  attention;  hence  these  provisions  often  do  not  detract 
from  the  bewildering  unexpectedness  that  we  have  just  described. 

(2)  The  visiting  magistrate  is  invariably  accompanied  in  his  tour 
of  the  prison  by  a  warder,  occasionally  also  by  the  governor.  The 
prisoner  has,  as  a  rule,  no  opportunity  of  speaking  to  him  in  private. 
The  presence  of  an  official  tends  to  prejudice  the  magistrate  and  also 
to  silence  the  prisoner.  In  the  words  of  a  warder  who  gave 
evidence  to  this  enquiry: — "The  usual  visiting  magistrate  does  not 
understand — he  has  no  knowledge  of  prison  life — he  is  unable  to 
do  much  and  has  very  little  power.  His  visits  are  practically  use- 
less from  the  point  of  view  of  the  prisoner ;  he  takes  what  the  warder 


m  THE  VISITING  JUSTICES 

tells  him  and  shirks  looking  into  the  facts  himself;  and  if  the 
prisoner  has  complaints,  there  is  always  the  danger  of  victimisa- 
tion (i.e.,  from  the  aggrieved  warder)." 

_  An  ex-prisoner  writes  :  "A  not  ungrounded  fear  of  petty  victimisa- 
tion deters  most  prisoners  from  making  complaints."  Another:  "A 
complaint-maker  would  be  a  marked  man,  so  one  suffers  in  silence." 
A  third  asserts:  "If  one  couldn't  square  one's  own  officers,  it  was 
no  use  bothering  to  complain  to  these  people. ' '  A  visiting  magistrate 
writes  to  us,  "A  prisoner's  word  (alone)  will  never  prevail  against  an 
officer's. "  A  member  of  another  visiting  committee  writes  :  "I  have 
never  known  the  prison  governor's  decision  upset.  There  is  seldom 
any  sympathy  shown  to  the  prisoner.  I  consider  the  governor  should 
not  be  present  when  complaints  by  prisoners  are  settled." 

It  is  expressly  provided  by  Section  14  of  the  1877  Prison  Act  that 
members  of  a  visiting  committee  may,  if  asked  by  a  prisoner,  hear 
his  complaint  privately.  But  apart  from  the  practice  of  a  few 
exceptional  magistrates,  these  private  interviews  are  not  common. 
"We  beheve  this  to  be  due,  not  so  much  to  the  disinclination  of 
magistrates  to  grant  them,  as  to  the  ignorance  on  the  part  of  prisoners 
that  they  have  this  statutory  privilege.  A  member  of  a  visiting 
committee  of  a  large  London  prison  writes  to  us  on  this  point  as 
follows :  — 

The  warder  naturally  likes  to  be  present  to  hear  the  complaint. 
The  difficulty  might  be  met  by  a  regulation "  stating  clearly  the 
prisoner's  right  to  a  private  interview  with  the  visiting  justice,  in  the 
first  instance;  afterwards,  if  the  justice  considered  the  complaint  re- 
quired investigation,  the  prison  authorities  should  be  made  aware  of  it. 
Of  course  there  is  the  danger  of  assault,  particularly  from  prisoners 
requiring  special  treatment  for  breaches  of  discipline,  but  the  warder 
could  stay  outside  the  door  of  the  cell,  which  need  not  be  absolutely 
closed. 

We  have  received  particulars  from  magistrates  of  several  typical 
cases,  which  show  how  unvnlling  prisoners  are  to  voice  quite  genuine 
grievances  in  the  presence  of  a  prison  officer.  The  following  account 
from  the  evidence  of  a  magistrate  visiting  another  London  prison  is 
illuminating  as  regards  the  attitude  of  mind  of  many  prisoners. 

The  visiting  magistrate  does  not  spend  a  sufficiently  long  time  in  the 
prison,  nor  does  he  give  sufficient  attention  to  complaints,  to  find  out 
what  is  at  the  bottom  of  them.  I  never  would  see  a  prisoner  in  the 
presence  of  a  warder.  I  admit  that  this  is  exceptional.  Thus  I 
remember  going  to  one  man  who  was  very  discontented,  and  after 
pushing  to  the  cell  door,  I  asked  him  what  was  the  matter.  He  would 
give  no  answer,  but  I  told  him  that  I  should  not  leave  until  he  did 
give  me  an  answer.  He  said  that  everyone  was  against  him — the  governor, 
the  medical  officer,  the  chaplain,  the  magistrates,  and  the  warders.  I 
asked  him  whether  he  thought  I  was  against  him.  He  replied,  "Yes." 
I  pointed  out  that  I  had  nothing  to  gain  from  my  visits  to  the  prison  • 

"  i.e.,   presumably  incorporated  in   the  printed    notice    hung  up  in   each   cell. 


THE   HEARING   OF   COMPLAINTS  397 

I  was  not  paid  anything,  not  even  my  railway  expenses.  That  seemed 
to  surprise  and  impress  him,  and  he  then  told  me  that  his  food  was 
being  tampered  with.  I  told  him  to  put  it  outside  his  door  as  soon  as 
it  was  given  him,  and  to  ask  to  see  the  doctor.  He  said  that  would  be 
no  good.  But  on  the  next  occasion  I  took  pains  to  visit  him  at  dinner- 
time, and  I  found  that  his  food  was  bad.  I  immediately  ordered  the 
warders  to  take  it  back  and  to  see  that  he  was  given  decent  food  in  the 
future." 

(3)  It  appears  probable,  as  was  suggested  to  us  by  a  chaplain  of 
long  experience,  that  "the  continuity  of  the  visiting  committee  with 
the  law"  [the  committee  is  invariably  composed  of  magistrates]  is 
one  of  the  reasons  why  prisoners  so  often  have  such  little  confidence 
in  it. 

I      In  any  case  it  is  difficult  to  resist  the  conclusion,  which  is  forced 
upon  us  by  the  evidence  of  many  ex-prisoners,  that  the  attitude  of 
the  majority  of  visiting  magistrates  towards  prisoners  is  an  unsympa- 
thetic one,   and  that  they  often  assume  in  advance  that  there  can 
'  be  no  possible  ground  of  complaint  on  the  prisoner's  part.     This  is 
'  due,  no  doubt,  to  an  unconscious  but  natural  prejudice  against  the 
;  "criminal,"  and  to  a  want  of  sympathetic  imagination  of  his  position. 
One  could  wish  that  some  of  these  magistrates  would  follow  the 
example  of  Thomas  Mott  Osborne  and  others  in  America,  and  them- 
selves try  a  sample  of  a  week  in  a  prison  cell.     In  part.,  also,  the 
i  magistrate's  want  of  serious  attention  arises  from  the  fact  that  a 
j  considerable  proportion  of  the  complaints   a<;tually   made  are  of  a 
!  trivial  or  of  an  irrelevant  nature,  as  regards,  e.g.,  the  length  of  the 
sentence  awarded  by  the  Court  or  the  disposal  of  a  man's  property  by 
■  the  police.     One  magistrate  went  so  far  as  to  inform  us  that,  in  his 
i  opinion,  "19  out  of  every  20  complaints  were  fictitious."       If  this 
•  statement  were  in   any  degree   true,    it    would    only   indicate    the 
;  irritating  nature  of  the  prison  regime.     No  doubt  some  complaints 
S  arise  from  the  desire  of  the  prisoner  merely  to  vary  the  intolerable 
monotony  of  the  routine. 

One  member  of  a  provincial  visiting  committee  writes  to  us,  that, 
in  his  experience,  "not  much  sympathy  is  shown  to  the  prisoners; 
when  their  applications  are  refused,  it  might  be  done  in  a  way 
which  would  not  leave  such  a  bitter  feeling." 

The  difficulties  indicated  in  the  preceding  paragraphs  are  perhaps 
:  overcome  in  many  cases  by  the  astute  professional  criminal — "the 
[old  lag" — whose  long  experience  of  prison  has  made  him  very 
I  knowing  as  regards  his  prison  "rights"  and  the  best  means  of 
I  obtaining  them.  But  there  is  good  reason  to  think  that  they  apply 
j  to  most  first  offenders,  to  poHtical  offenders  and  to  many  casual  and 

petty  recidivists.  The  majority  of  prisoners,  having  no  bond  of 
!  association  with  one  another,  are  comparatively  helpless  in  securing 

their  rights  under  the  prison  rules. 

,      '•  The  reader  is  reminded  that  prison  conditions  impart  almost  inevitably   an  exaggerated 
importance  to  the  question  of  food.    See   p.    130. 


398  THE   VISITING  JUSTICES 

(4)  The  limited  powers  of  the  visiting  committees  furnish  yet 
another  reason  why  complaints  made  to  them  are  of  little  value. 
The  magistrates  have  authority  to  redress  only  those  injustices  which 
offend  the  letter  of  the  prison  rules,  as  administered  by  the  Com- 
missioners and  their  ofl&cers.  It  is,  however,  the  spirit  and  the 
character  of  the  rules  themselves,  which  constitute  the  real  injustice 
under  which  every  prisoner  labours,  even  in  the  best  managed  of 
existing  English  prisons.  So  it  is  useless,  for  instance,  to  complain 
to  a  magistrate,  as  has  been  done  before  now,  that  the  "silence  rule" 
inculcates  every  form  of  deceit  and  artfulness,  and  should  therefora 
be  relaxed. 

Prisoners  Unfit  for  the  Discipline. 

The  above  statements  are  qualified  by  the  existence,  in  the 
published  regulations,  of  the  following  provision  (Eule  293): 
"They  (i.e.,  the  visiting  committee)  shall  attend  to  any  report 
which  they  receive  as  to  the  mind  or  body  of  any  prisoner  being 
likely  to  be  injured  by  the  discipline  or  treatment  to  which  he  is 
subjected,  and  shall  communicate  their  opinion  to  the  Commissioners. 
If  the  case  is  urgent,  they  shall  give  such  directions  thereon  as  they 
deem  expedient,  communicating  the  same  to  the  Commissioners."" 

Unfortunately,   this  rule  appears  to  be  almost    absolutely     dis- 
regarded.    In  fact,  it  is  probable,  as  one  visiting  magistrate  suggests, 
that  very  few  members  of  visiting  committees  are  aware  of  its  exist- 
ence.    "We  have  been  informed  by  the  members  of  seven  out  of  nine 
committees,  who  have  given  evidence  on  this  point,  that  they  know 
of  no  instance  in  which  Eule  293  has  been  used.     Such  cases  of 
injury  to  health  would   only  be   noticed   and  dealt  with,  it  would 
appear,  by  the  medical  officer;  and  he  would  not  be  likely  to  report 
them  to  the  magistrates.^"     At  one  prison  the  rule  is  stated  to  have 
been  used  "with  good  effect"  in  the  adoption  of  the  pathetically  in- 
adequate expedient  of  allowing  a  prisoner  to  have  his  cell  door  left 
open  at  times,    so  that  the  solitary  confinement  might   not   be  so. 
severely  felt.     In  one  case,   however,   the   visiting   committee  has  j 
taken   advantage  of  this  rule   with  the  best  possible  results.       A 
prisoner  was  being  tried  by  the  committee  for  a  breach  of  discipline,   j 
when,    from  the  evidence  given,  there  was  no  apparent  motive  or  I 
reason  for  the  offences  with  which  he  was  charged.     The  accused  ; 
had  been  under  the  observation  of  the  ordinary  medical  officer  of  the 
prison,  and  was  reported  as  fit  to  undergo  punishment.     Not  being  I 
himself  satisfied  that  this  was  so,  or  that  the  man  was  responsible  for 

1'  statutory  Rules   tor  Local  prisons   (1899),  p.  56.    The  rule  corresponds  with  the  state-  I 

ment   made  by  the  Home   Secretary  of  the  day  in  1879  that  it  was  part  of  the  duty  of  »  j 

visiting   committee    "to    see   that   the  discipline    and    general    rules   themselves   were  not  in  j 
any  respect  more  severe  than  was  absolutely  necessary   for  duly  carrying  out  the  punishment 

awarded,"   and  that  any  report  to   this  effect  would  be  "brought  expressly  to  the  notice  of  . 

the  Secretary  of    State  at   once."     (Quoted  on   p.  39  of  the  1895   Departmental  Committee  | 

Report).  I 

2»  It   is   to   be  noted    that    petitions   to  the   Home   Secretary,   "in   reference    to  complaint!  I 

of  illness  or  medical  treatment,"  are  forwarded  to  the  Commissioners   without  a  preliminMy  ■ 

reference  to   the  visiting   committee,  as   in  the   case  of  other   petitions.     (S.O.  418.)  ] 


VISITING    COMMITTEES   AND    COMMISSIONERS  399 

his  actions,  and  after  consultation  with  the  governor  and  chief 
warder,  the  visiting  justice  adjourned  the  case  for  still  further 
observation.  This  took  place,  and  revealed  that  the  accused  was 
suffering  from  shell  shock,  which  resulted  in  intermittent  periods  of 
mental  irresponsibility.  After  some  weeks'  obser\'ation,  the  insanity 
so  developed  as  to  necessitate  the  man's  removal  to  the  asylum. 
This  incident  led,  among  other  things,  to  the  initiation  of  the  highly 
important  experiment  in  mental  observation  and  treatment  at 
Birmingham  already  described." 

"We  can  infer  from  what  has  happened  at  Birmingham  that  this 
Rule  293  might  be  a  most  valuable  instrument  for  effecting  changes 
in  the  prison  regime,  both  in  individual  cases  and  for  prisoners  as  a 
whole,  if  apphed  by  a  visiting  committee  who  were  convinced  of 
jthe  need  of  such  change. 

Apart  from  the  provisions  of  this  rule,  there  is  one  other  species  of 
decisive  action  which  the  committee  are  authorised  to  take  "in  case 
of  urgent  necessity,"  viz.,  "they  may  suspend  any  ofi&cer  of  th© 
prison  until  the  decision  of  the  Commissioners  is  made  known."" 
We  have  been  informed  of  one  case  of  such  suspension,  arising  out 
'of  the  assault  of  a  warder  upon  a  juvenile  prisoner.  The  Com- 
Imissioners  upheld  the  magistrate's  action. 

The  Visiting  Committees  axd  the  Commissioners. 
The  remaining  functions  of  the  visiting  committee  are  of  a  purely 
advisory  and  inspectorial  character.  Thus  the  quality  (but  not  the 
character  or  quantity)  of  the  diet,  the  condition  of  the  buildings,  the 
operation  of  the  Prisoners'  Aid  Society,"  the  suitability  of  the  prison 
industries,  the  prison  accounts,  are  all  subject  to  their  inspection, 
but  they  cannot  do  more  in  regard  to  these  matters  than  report  their 
criticisms  or  suggestions  to  Whitehall,  so  as  to  expose  abuses  and  to 
"co-operate"  as  the  regulation  directs,  "with  the  Commissioners 
in  securing  the  efficiency  of  the  service." 

How  far  even  this  hmited  co-operation, — for  it  in  no  case  amounts 
to  a  share  in  the  administration — exists  except  on  paper  is  a  question 
upon  which  our  evidence  is  conflicting.  Thus  the  chairman  of  a. 
more  than  usually  active  visiting  committee  states  that  "the  Prison 
Commissioners  give  careful  attention  to  any  request  or  recommenda- 
tion of  the  committee ;  and  they  frequently  refer  special  matters  for 
enquiry  and  advice."  On  the  other  hand  a  magistrate  visiting  one 
of  the  largest  of  our  prisons  gives  as  his  opinion  that  "the  Com- 
missioners do  not  pay  serious  attention  to  recommendations  of  the 
committee.  I  have  never  heard  of  their  referring  any  special  point 
^^  the   committee.       They  work  with  the   governor,  who  is   their 

-■  See  pp.  52-53. 
"Rnle  288. 

*•  But  in  one  or  two  prisons   at   least  members  oi  the  risiting  committee   do  active   work 
••  members   also  ol  the  Aid  Society. 


400  THE  VISITING  JUSTICES 

servant,  and  seek  to  reduce  outside  intervention  to  a  minimum."  A 
zealous  member  of  a  third  committee  states  as  his  experience,  that 
the  "Commissioners  are  rather  a  dead  letter,  neither  helping  nor 
hindering  in  the  work. " 

On  the  whole  the  evidence  in  our- possession  points  to  the  con- 
clusion that,  in  those  few  cases  where  the  visiting  committee  have 
views  of  their  own,  which  they  are  prepared  to  press,  the  Com- 
missioners do  pay  some  attention  to  their  recommendations ;  while, 
in  other  cases  and  more  particularly  where  the  governor  is  a  master- 
ful character,  the  committee  remain  in  the  background  and  restrict 
themselves  almost  entirely  to  their  investigation  of  complaints  and 
offences  of  individual  prisoners.  The  strong  position  which  the 
governor  holds  as  compared  with  the  committee  is  explained  in  a 
memorandum  submitted  by  a  visiting  magistrate,  from  which  we  take 
the  following  extract :  — 

One  of  the  most  striking  characteristics  of  prison  administration  is 
the  tendency  for  all  power  to  drift  or  to  be  manoenvred  into  the  hands 
of  the  governor.  Governors  are  inclined  to  dislike  the  visiting 
magistrates,  or  at  least  their  functions,  however  politely  the  dislike  is 
concealed,  and  to  endeavour  to  the  utmost  of  their  ability  to  minimise 
their  usefulness.  .  .  .  Smoothnesa  of  administration  is  the  ideal,  and 
innovation  or  suggested  improvements  are  disliked.  Hence  it  is  very 
difficult  for  the  visiting  magistrates  to  bring  about  any  improvement  in 
the  prison  system.  Quietly,  but  deliberately,  the  permanent  officials 
seek  to  limit  the  work  of  the  magistrates  merely  to  the  punishment  of 
offenders  against  discipline  and  to  the  investigation  of  complaints 
against  warders.  Neither  the  governor,  medical  officer,  nor  chaplain 
would  consult  the  visiting  committee  or  any  of  its  members,  unless 
absolutely  obliged  to  do  so  by  the  regulations.  ...  It  is  but  little  use 
giving  permissive  powers  to  visiting  committees.  The  governor,  medical 
officer  and  chaplain  should  be  required  to  bring  all  important  matters 
for  their  consideration  and  approval."** 

In  some  cases  the  governor's  power  to  get  his  way  appears  to  be 
further  enhanced  by  the  fact  that,  according  to  the  regulations,  most 
of  the  functions  of  the  visiting  committee  can  be  exercised  by  one 
magistrate  acting  alone.  Though  most  of  the  visiting  magistrates 
whom  we  have  consulted  do  not  consider  this  provision  objection- 
able, one  of  them  has  asserted  to  us  that  "if  a  visiting  magistrate 
takes  a  line  against  the  officials'  evidence,  he  will  most  likely  not 
be  applied  to  again,  but  another  magistrate  will  be  called  upon." 

A  further  reason  for  the  ineffectiveness  of  the  committees  and 
particularly  for  their  inability  to  act  as  a  check  upon  prison  officials 
is,  we  are  afraid,  the  ignorance  of  their  powers  and  functions  which 
characterises  many  of  the  members.  The  Statutory  Eules  are  not 
known  as  they  should  be.  This  is  testified  to  us,  not  only  by  ex- 
prisoners,  but  by  visiting  magistrates   themselves.        One  of  them 

2*  Another  witness,  however,  states    that,   in   the   case  of  a  chaplain,   and  possibly  also  ol 
a  medical  officer,  there  is  often  difficulty  in  securing  effective  access  to  the  committee. 


VISITISG    COMMITTEES   AND    COMMISSIONERS  401 

states  that  "most  magistrates  take  the  view  that  they  have  scarcely 
any  powers.  When  any  question  comes  up,  the  governor 
says,  'That  is  for  the  Commissioners,'  and  not  knowing  their  powers 
the  committee  acquiesce."  Another  writes  that  "no  doubt  many 
prisoners  know  their  rights  better  than  some  of  the  visiting  justices," 
and  recommends  the  preparation  of  a  "short  list  of  their  duties  and 
powers,  to  be  handed  to  each  visiting  justice  on  his  appointment." 

The  successful  work  done  by  one  exceptional  visiting  committee — 
success  vouched  for  by  ex -prisoners,  who  have  described  the  prison 
in  question  as  more  humane  than  any  other — is  ascribed  by  one  of 
its  most  active  members  to  the  following  reasons: — First,  to  the 
good  fortune  of  having  humane  governors  with  whom  to  work ; 
secondly,  to  the  careful  selection  of  the  visiting  justices  recommended 
to  the  sessions  for  appointment;  and  thirdly,  to  constant  personal 
attention  and  visits  by  the  chairman  independent  of  the  visits  of  the 
other  members  of  the  committee. 

There  are  doubtless  other  visiting  committees  which  have  dis- 
charged their  allotted  duties  in  a  conscientious  way.  But  the  fact 
remains,  that,  during  the  forty  odd  years  of  their  existence,  no  great 
contribution  to  the  science  of  prison  treatment,  with  the  possible 
exception  of  the  present  Birmingham  experiment,"  has  been  made  at 
the  instance  of  these  committees  of  magistrates."  This  is  partly, 
jHO  doubt,  due  to  the  character  of  their  personnel,  and  partly  also  to 
jtheir  relationship  to  the  powerful  Government  department  which 
i administers  the  prisons.  If  the  prisons,  like  the  lunatic  asylums 
iand  the  schools,  were  locally  administered,  with  inspection  by  a 
'central  department,  the  position  would  be  entirely  altered.  But 
Iso  long  as  the  administration  remains  in  the  hands  of  a  Government 
department,  experience  indicates  that  it  is  almost  useless  to  rely, 
for  competent  and  independent  inspection,  upon  the  local  authorities, 
lor  upon  visits  from  the  lay  public.  The  weight  of  ofl&cial  authority 
is  so  great,  the  power  and  prestige  of  the  Government  department 
^80  influential,  and  the  task  of  critical  inspection  and  complaint  so 
lunthankful,  that  no  eSective  outside  supervision  will  be  thereby 
Icontinuously  secured. 

!  Probably  the  only  course  available,  where  administration  is  by  a 
Government  department,  would  be  to  separate  administration  from 
inspection ;  to  leave  the  entire  responsibility  for  administration  in  the 
jhands  of  one  department,  under  its  own  head;  but  to  make  it  the 
jduty  of  entirely  separate  departments,  with  no  power  of  giving  orders, 
ito  conduct  independent  inspections, — combining  this  with  the 
duties  of  research  into  the  subject  matter,  of  collecting  comparative 
information  as  to  what  is  done  elsewhere,    and    of    keeping    the 

"See  pp.  52,  53.   398,  and   399. 

2«  Compare,  on  the  other  hand,  the  instance  given  on  p.  242,  as  regards  the 
japparently  misleading  allegations  of  certain  Tisiting  committees  a»  to  the  effects  ol  restricting 
teorporal  punishment. 


402  THE   VISITING  JUSTICES 

legislature  and  the  public  continuously  informed  as  to  the  deficiencies 
and  the  possibilities  of  the  administration." 

But,  after  all,  so  long  as  a  penal  system  continues  to  exist,  the 
one  essential,  far  more  important  than  considerations  of  machinery, 
or  even  of  expert  knowledge,  lies  in  the  human  factor,  in  the 
possession  by  administrators  and  inspectors  alike  of  that  superlative 
virtue  of  syvipathetic  imagination,  that  faculty  of  believing  in  the 
treasure  hidden  in  every  criminal's  heart  and  of  looking  at  prison 
conditions  through  his  eyes  :  the  one  essential  for  the  administrator 
lies  in  his  being  able  to  repeat  in  all  sincerity  and  humility  the 
inspired  sentiment  of  the  Roman  dramatist:  "Homo  sum:  humani 
nihil  a  me  alienum  puto." 


The    Boards    of    Visitors    to    Convict    Prisons. 

The  boards  of  visitors  for  the  five  Convict  prisons  owe  their  origin 
to  the  recommendations  of  the  1895  Departmental  Committee  on 
Prisons.  Up  to  and  at  that  date,  though  certain  provisions  had  been 
made  for  the  occasional  introduction  of  magistrates  and  visitors, 
there  was  in  practice,  on  the  Commissioners'  own  showing,"  no 
co-operation  of  any  independent  body  with  their  own  direct  manage- 
ment of  these  institutions,  in  their  capacity  of  Directors  of  Convict 
prisons.  The  Departmental  Committee  took  exception  to  this  partly 
because  of  the  amount  of  the  directors'  time  absorbed  by  their 
monthly  visits  to  the  prisons,  and  also  in  view  of  the  absolute  judicial 
powers  over  prisoners  which  were  so  vested  in  the  director.  "From 
him  there  is  no  appeal  except  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  and,  should 
there  be  a  complaint  or  an  appeal  from  his  judgment,  he  is  an  inter- 
mediary authority  in  his  own  case."  "  They  therefore  recommended 
that  "a  different  tribunal"  should  be  set  up,  and  "that  an  arrange- 
ment might  be  made  for  regular  visits  by  a  judicial  functionary  for 
the  purpose  of  investigating  ordinary  complaints  and  imposing 
punishment."  To  this  suggestion  the  Commissioners  objected, 
insisting  that,  "in  the  interests  of  discipline  and  order  they  would 
be  unwilling  to  introduce  a  new  element  into  the  government  of 
Convict  prisons,  believing  that  it  might  seriously  hamper  the  ad- 
ministration and  not  effect  greater  justice  to  criminals."^"  They  j 
were  ready,  however,  to  agree  to  the  co-operation  of  a  body  of  in-  j 
dependent  visitors,  provided  the  directors  retained  their  existing 
measure  of  control,  i.e.,  a  control  which  was  in  practice,  absolute,  i 
The  result  was  a  compromise,  carried  out  under  Section  3  of  the  | 
1898  Prison  Act,  which  enacts  that  "the   Secretary  of  State  shall  i 

27  For  instance,  the  Board  of  Education  might  be  made  responsible  for  the  inspection  i 
and  criticism  of  the  prisoners'  educational  occupations,  and  the  Ministry  of  Health  might  I 
inspect  and  report   upon   the   health  and  medical  care   of  prisoners. 

28  Observations  on  the  Recommendations  of  the  Departmental  Committee  (C.  7995),  1896,  j 
pp.  34-36. 

29  Departmental  Committee  Report,  1895,  p.   43. 
3»  Observations,   etc.    (C.   7995),    1896,   p.    35. 


THE   BOARDS   OF    VISITORS    TO   CONVICT    PRISONS        403 

»ppoint  for  every  Convict  prison  a  board  of  visitors,  of  whom  not 
ess  than  two  shall  be  justices  of  the  peace,  with  such  powers  and 
iuties  as  may  be  prescribed  by  the  prison  rules."  These  rules  are 
ncluded  in  the  code  of  regulations  pubhshed  in  April,  1899 ;  and  no 
3ubUshed  alteration  of  them  has  been  made  since  that  date."  They 
u:e  short  and  can  be  briefly  summarised  as  follows:  — 

The  board  of  visitors  for  each  prison  is  appointed  by  the  Home 
Secretary,  for  terms  of  three  years.  At  least  one  member  of  the 
X)ard  is  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  prison  in  each  month.  They  are  to  "co- 
)perate  with  the  directors  in  promoting  the  efficient  working  of  the 
orison,"  to  make  enquiries  as  required  by  the  directors  or  the  Home 
Secretary,  and  to  submit  periodic  reports  to  both  these  authorities, 
rhey  are  to  inspect  the  food  and  the  books  of  the  prison.  They  may 
n  the  case  of  urgency  allow  a  prisoner  an  additional  letter  or  visit, 
ind  they  are  requested  to  interest  themselves  in  the  classification  of 
prisoners  (which  is,  however,  settled  by  the  directors)  and  in  the 
urrangements  made  for  their  assistance  after  release. 
I  They  must  investigate  any  complaint  made  by  a  prisoner,  report- 
ng  their  opinion,  if  necessary,  to  the  directors.  In  so  doing  they 
nay,  if  they  desire,  have  a  private  interview  with  any  prisoner  "out 
if  sight  and  hearing  of  prison  officers,"  and  they  may  have  free 
kccess  to  all  parts  of  the  prison.  They  must  report  any  abuse 
iiscovered  and  may,  in  case  of  urgency,  temporarily  suspend  a  prison 
officer. 

I  Finally,  in  regard  to  judicial  functions,  they  are  limited  to  the 
l^ljudication  "on  such  prison  offences  as  may  be  referred  to  them 
by  the  directors."  With  this  determining  proviso,  their  judicial 
)0wers  are  considerable,  as  it  is  laid  down  that  "the  board  of  visitors 
or  one  of  them,  shall  for  the  purpose  of  punishment,  have  all  the 
lx)wers  of  a  director,"  including  the  power,  subject  to  confirmation 
|>f  the  Secretary  of  State,  to  award  corporal  punishment  with  the 
i)irch  rod  or  the  "cat,"  to  the  extent  of  36  lashes.  This  penalty  is 
jeserved,  as  in  the  Local  prisons,  for  mutiny  or  violence  to  an  officer ; 
put  the  visitors  may  also  inffict  the  continuous  wearing  of  leg  chains 
ind  the  parti-coloured  dress,  for  as  long  as  six  months,  upon  men 
guilty  of  an  assault  or  attempted  escape.  For  other  misdemeanours, 
iuch  as  grossly  abusive  language,  or  breaking  windows,  or  "any 
jerious  or  repeated  offence  for  which  the  punishment  the  governor  is 
mthorised  to  inflict  is  deemed  insufficient,"  the  visitors  may  order 
iietary  and  other  punishments  precisely  similar  to  those  placed  in 
■he  hands  of  the  visiting  committees  of  Local  prisons,  except  that  the 
punishments  may  be  for  longer  terms,  e.g.,  they  may  adjudge 
peparate  confinement  for  six  months  and  forfeiture  of  the  whole  of 
t  convict's  remission.'^ 

This  summary  represents  the  sum  total  of  the  duties  allocated  to 
he  visiting  boards,  "the   slender   privileges  and  duties   cautiously 

"  Rules  176-190,   142    and  75-80  of   the  1899   Rules  lor  Conrict  prisons. 
"  Rules  75-78   lor  CJonTict  prisons. 


404  THE  VISITING  JUSTICES 

confided  to  such  functionaries  by  the  Home  Office,"  as  a  member  of 
one  of  the  boards  has  called  them."  Compared  with  those  of  the 
corresponding  visiting  committees  for  Local  prisons,  their  powers 
and  functions  are  small,  except  in  the  one  matter  of  the  investiga- 
tion of  prisoners'  complaints.  In  particular,  while  the  Local  prison 
magistrates  have  the  duty  to  adjudicate  on  all  the  more  serious 
offences  on  the  part  of  prisoners,  the  Convict  prison  boards  may 
only  do  so  when  the  directors  choose  to  refer  offences  to  them. 

The  Limitations  of  the  Boaeds. 

It  is  evident  that  the  Commissioners  (in  their  capacity  as 
Directors),  who  doubtless  settled  the  form  of  the  governing  rules, 
have  not  desired  the  intrusion  upon  their  tight  control  of  penal 
servitude  of  any  independent  body  with  a  mind  of  its  own.  They 
have  therefore  succeeded  in  restricting  the  executive  functions  of 
the  visiting  board  to  such  matters  as  they  may  deem  it  safe  to  refer 
to  them  without  running  the  risk  of  a  conflict  of  opinion.  The 
public  has  no  means  of  knowing  how  far  the  adjudication  on  prison 
offences  has  actually  been  referred  to  the  visitors,  or  how  far  they 
have  backed  up  the  complaints  of  prisoners  against  the  views  of  the 
directors.  Such  evidence  of  ex-prisoners  as  is  available  makes  it 
appear  probable  that  the  local  justices — landowners  and  other 
gentlemen  of  the  same  class  " — composing  the  boards  are  men  whose 
point  of  view,  in  regard  to  the  treatment  of  convicts,  is  very  similar 
to  that  of  the  directors;  indeed,  probably  in  most  cases,  of  the  two 
bodies,  it  is  the  directors  who  may  be  supposed  to  have,  if  anything,! 
somewhat  more  of  the  gift  of  sympathetic  imagination  into  the; 
convict's  state  of  mind.  Consequently  it  seems  probable  that  there 
is  little  friction  or  disagreement  between  them  and  the  visiting  boards. 
At  any  rate,  in  their  report  of  1904-5,  after  some  five  years'  working: 
of  the  new  arrangement,  we  find  the  Commissioners  expressing  their 
satisfaction  that,  through  "the  presence  at  each  Convict  prison  of  ai 
body  of  independent  gentlemen,  unconnected  with  the  official  i 
authority,  but  working  harmoniously  with  it,"  a  ready  means  61 
appeal  had  been  afforded  to  any  dissatisfied  convict  and  a  system 
established  for  the  independent  investigation  of  any  matter  on  which 
the  Home  Secretary  may  require  an  impartial  opinion." 

The  most  fundamental  grounds  for  complaint  on  the  part  of  con- 
victs are  those  directed  against  the  officially  prescribed  discipline  ol' 
penal  servitude — and,  with  the  discipline,  the  visiting  board,  liketh(| 
visiting  committees  for  Local  prisons,  have  no  power  to  deal;"| 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  monotonous  rigours  of  that  system  I 
acting  on  the  irritated  mentality  of  the  convict,  produce  many  trivia  I 

33  Sir   William   Collins,   in    a   pamphlet    published   in    1903. 

'*  "Selected  for   their   large   purse   or   broad   acres,"   says    a    Local  prison  magistrate  Witlj 
some  knowledge  of  the  Convict  prison  Tisitors. 

35  See   1904-5    P.O.    Report    (p.    26). 

'*  In  the  case  of  Convict  prisons  there  is  no  provision  similar  to  Rule  293  for  Loca 
prisons,  which  suggests  that  a  visiting  committee  may  have  the  discipline  altered  in  to 
case  of  a   man  whose  mind  or  body  is   suffering   injury.  { 


THE  LIMITATIONS    OF   THE    BOARDS  405 

>r  unfounded  complaints.  Besides,  there  is  the  general  tradition 
hat  few  convicts  can  be  trusted  to  speak  the  truth;  while  a 
;overnor's  or  warder's  account  of  the  matter  is  regarded  as  presum- 
,bly  a  reliable  one.  And  there  is,  too,  the  fear  of  the  convict  who 
las  a  genuine  complaint  against  a  warder,  that  he  may  be  aubse- 
uently  victimised  by  him.  For  all  these  reasons  it  would  require 
'.len  unusually  gifted  with  imaginative  sympathy  to  be  able  to  render 
ustice  to  the  convict's  standpoint,  or  to  sift  the  really  genuine  com- 
■laints  from  those  which  are  more  trivial.  The  difficulty  is  still 
urther  aggravated  in  the  case  of  the  large  majority  of  convicts,  who 
pring  from  working  class  origin,  by  the  fact  that  there  are  no  or 
Imost  no  representatives  of  their  own  class  among  those  who  sit 
fi  judgment  upon  them. 

'  Evidence  derived  from  male  ex-convicts  as  well  as  from  prison 
Wders  tends  to  confirm  this  view."  We  have  not  heard  from  such 
ntnesses  of  any  attempts  on  the  part  of  visitors  to  cultivate  a  close 
cquaintance  or  friendship  with  prisoners  as  fellow  human  beings  in 
istress.  In  the  matter  of  complaints  and  adjudications  there  is  a 
isneral  impression  that  they  take  their  cue  from  the  prison  governor, 
bd  are  therefore  useless.  "The  magistrates  seem  to  be  wholly 
ependent  upon  the  governor  for  guidance  regarding  procedure, 
onsequently  they  are  his  puppets,"  writes  one  ex-prisoner, 
nother  states:  "An  appeal  to  visiting  magistrates  was  usually  a 
iaste  of  time.  They  are  completely  dominated  by  the  governor, 
jrisoners  go  before  them,  not  to  get  redress,  but  to  make  a  row." 
1  third  ex-convict  has  told  us:  "All  complaints  taken  to  authorities 
igher  than  the  governor  passed  through  his  hands,  and  the  prisoner's 
ord  was  never  taken.  I  was  forcibly  ejected  for  demanding  the 
^ht  to  defend  myself  when  brought  to  trial  for  breaking  the  rules. ' ' 
!  life-sentence  man  states  that  "if  you  dared  to  complain  as  to  your 
jod  or  anything  else,  the  general  effect  was  for  the  prison  officials 
i  make  it  harder  for  you  afterwards. "  It  is  to  be  feared  that  the 
larder  who  told  one  of  our  witnesses,  "You  know,  when  you  com- 
jain,  the  people  are  persuaded  you  are  a  nuisance, ' '  was  making 
I  generalisation  that  was  not  far  from  the  truth. 

I  The  general  rule  for  interviews  with  a  Visitor  would  appear  to 
t)  that  they  take  place  in  the  presence  of  the  governor,  his  clerk, 
jid  at  least  one  warder.  Very  few  Visitors  to  the  prisons  for  male 
fnvicts,  as  far  as  we  can  discover,  ever  take  advantage  of  the  express 
tovision  of  the  rules,  by  which  they  are  invited  to  see  prisoners 
either  in  their  cells  or  in  a  room  out  of  sight  and  hearing  of  prison 
ocers.""  Prisoners  do  not  seem  to  be  aware  of  this  provision. 
W  is  it,  perhaps,  every  magistrate  who  would  care  to  be  closetted 
^ne  with  a  strongly-built  convict,  whose  tendency  to  violence  may 

L  __  . 

This  and  the  following  paragraphs  are   not    intended  to  refer  to  the  prison   for  women 
•jiTictt,   where   the   circamstances  appear  to  be  mor*  faroarable. 

I*  Role  142  f5)  for  Conrict  prisons.  The  proTJsion  is  not  actaally  in  the  Statute,  as  it  is 
lithe  case  of  Local  prisons. 


406  THE    VISITING    JUSTICES 

be  aggravated  by  the  irritation  of  the  prison  discipUne.  This  sug- 
gestion was  made  to  us  by  a  visiting  magistrate  himself,  and  we 
repeat  it  only  to  indicate  the  troublesome  eventualities  that  have  to 
be  faced  in  carrying  out  this  laudable  proviso  for  private  interviews. 
The  first  chairman  of  the  Directors  and  Commissioners  took  strong 
exception  to  this  proviso,  on  the  ground  that  such  interviews  v/ould 
put  "the  character  and  positions  of  the  officers  complained  of  at  the 
mercy  of  persons  of  lost  character,  with  every  motive  to  discredit 
their  authority  and  weaken  their  position.""  This  account  of  the 
matter  indicates,  as  might  be  expected,  far  too  much  confidence  in 
the  inclination  of  the  magistrate  to  sympathise  with  the  prisoner's 
standpoint,  and  far  too  little  understanding  of  the  disinclination  of 
the  less  hardened  prisoner  to  make  his  complaints  in  the  presence 
of  men  who  are  necessarily  in  the  position  of  task-masters  over  him, 
with  power  to  make  his  life  miserable  in  many  ways,  small  and  great. 

"Whether  the  fault  lie  chiefly  with  the  system  or  rather  with  the 
personnel  of  the  visiting  boards,  there  is,  then,  a  widely  spread 
feeling  among  convicts  that  it  is  of  little  use  to  expect  redress  from 
the  Visitors,  that  their  powers  are  not  substantial,  that  their  view? 
and  decisions  are  influenced  unduly  by  the  governor,  and  that  the 
real  power  resides  with  the  Directors  and  the  Home  Office,  who, 
again,  are  too  much  inclined  to  take  the  governor's  point  of  view. 
This  means  that,  even  under  the  present  rigid  and  centralised  admin- 
istration, the  character  of  the  governor  is  of  great  importance,  and  itJ 
implies,  of  course,  that,  in  the  somewhat  exceptional  cases  where| 
the  governor  is  a  man  of  wide  human  sympathies  who  takes  the: 
trouble  to  seek  for  an  intimate  knowledge  of  his  charges,  the  defects 
of  the  visiting  board,  as  at  present  constituted,  will  be  of  compara- 
tively little  consequence.  As  it  is,  we  are  unable  to  attribute  anyj 
serious  importance  as  wise  and  impartial  critics,  to  these  "bodies 
of  independent  gentlemen,"  who,  knowing  penal  servitude  at  clo8€| 
quarters,  have  acquiesced  in  it  for  over  twenty  years  without  any 
substantial  protest. 


»•  Sir  E.  Dn  Cane,  "Punishment  and  PreTention  of  Crime,"   p.  72. 


THE  VISITING  JUSTICES  407 


SOME     OF    THE     PRINCIPAL    DEFECTS    INDICATED     IN     THE 
PRECEDING    CHAPTER. 


1. — Many  visiting  justices  are  ignorant  of  their  functions  and  powers. 

2. — The  fact  that  they  are  magistrates,  and  thus  identified  with  the  judicial 
administration  which  has  awarded  sentence,  tends  to  produce  a  want  of 
confidence  between  them  and  the  prisoners. 

3. — Visits  of  the  visiting  justices  are  usually  hurried  and  the  inspection 
is  generally  superficial.  Most  prisoners  (except  the  old  "lags")  are  unable 
to  collect  their  thoughts  in  time  to  frame  a  complaint  before  the  visiting 
justice  has  passed  on.  The  presence  of  a  prison  official  prevents  prisoners 
from  making  their  complaints  privately,  as  they  have  a  right  to  do  under 
the  Prison  Acts. 

4. — The  governors  frequently  have  a  dominating  influence  over  the  trials 
of  prisoners  for  prison  offences. 

5. — A  prisoner  accused  of  a  prison  offence  has  no  opportunity  to  collect 
evidence.  The  warders  are  able  to  collaborate  in  giving  evidence  against 
a  prisoner. 

6. — Visiting  justices  rarely  organise  lectures  for  prisoners  or  pay  attention 
to  their  physical  and  mental  health.     (Prison  Rule  293). 

j  7. — The  powers  of  visiting  committees  are  too  much  confined  to  securing  the 
'   observance  of  a  minute  code  of  Rules,  and  too  limited  in  other  respects  to 

encourage  a  sense  of  responsibility  in  their  members.  It  is  too  much  to 
I   expect  such  bodies  to  give  effective  criticism  and  inspection   in  the  face  of 

a  powerful  central  authority. 

8. — Magistrates  other  than  the  members  of  the  visiting  committee  make 
little  use  of  their  right  to  visit  prisoners. 

Thb  Boards  of  Visitohs  to  Convict  Prisons. 

!  9. — The  duties  of  the  boards  of  visitors  to  Convict  prisons  are  even  more 
'  restricted  than  those  of  the  visiting  committees  for  Local  prisons. 

10. — The  members  of  the  boards  are  mostly  of  the  land-owning  claas  and 
i  oat  of  touch  with  the  conditions  from  which  most  convicts  come. 

I  11. — Points  2,  3,  4  and  7  above,  relating  to  visiting  justices,  apply  equally 
I  to  the  visitors  at  Convict  prisons. 


408  THE  VISITING  JUSTICES 

Appendix  to  Chapter  Twenty-Five. 

PETITIONS 


Inasmuch  as  the  subject  of  the  prisoner's  right  of  complaint  is  necessarily 
dealt  with  at  some  length  in  the  foregoing  chapter,  it  is  convenient  to  add 
here,  rather  than  elsewhere,  a  brief  note  on  the  specific  right  to  petition  the 
Home  Secretary. 

Prisoners  are  supposed  to  have  the  right  to  petition  the  Home  Secretary 
at  any  time  either  on  matters  of  complaint  or  in  order  to  ask  reconsideratioa 
of  the  length  of  their  sentences.'     A  good  deal  of  advantage  is  taken  of  this 
right,  but  very  rarely  are  the  petitions  of   any  real  effect.     Prison  officials 
regard  petitions  simply  as   safety  valves  for  the  relief  of   grievances  which 
might  otherwise  find  more   disagreeable   expression^   whilst    the    "old  lags" 
always  ridicule  them  as  not  being  worth  the  paper  they  are  written  on.     "I 
never  knew  a  petition  make  any  difference,"  says  an  officer  of  fifteen  years' 
experience  ;  whilst  a  convict  wrote  from  Dartmoor  in  1908,  "There's  thousands 
goes  from  here,  or  supposed  to  go,  but  it's  all  one  tale — not  sufficient  grounds. 
Yon  might  as  well  petition  the   moon."     "I   suppose  the  office  boys  of  the  ; 
Home  Office  have  some  fun  reading  it,"  remarked  another  Dartmoor  convict  I 
in  the  course  of  a  letter  written  in  1911,  referring  to  a  petition  he  had  sent;  ; 
"they  sent  the  usual  stereotyped  answer."  j 

The  printed  answer  which  ninety-nine  out  of  a  hundred  petitions  receive  | 

gives  the  impression  that  they  are  dealt  with  in  an  excessively  formal  manner,  i 

Two  instances  of  the  mechanical  treatment  of  petitions  may  be  given.     The  \ 

first  is  that  of  nine  convicts  at  Maidstone  prison  who  petitioned  the  Home  i 

Secretary  on  August  4th,  1919,  for  an  increase  in  the  gratuity  of  Id.  a  day  I 

to  compensate  for  the  increases  at  the  canteen  and  for  concessions  on  the  lines  i 

of   those  granted   at  the  Preventive  Detention  prison.     Three  are  known  to  ' 

have  received  replies ;  one  after  17  weeks,  one  after  24  weeks,  and  one  after  : 

25   weeks."       All   the  replies  read  :   "The   Secretary  of   State,    after  giving 

careful  consideration  to  your  petition,  cannot  see  his  way  clear  to  grant  your  j 

request."  ' 

We  give  the  second  instance  in  the  words  of  the  ex-priaoner  concerned  : —  j 

I   petitioned  the  Home  Secretary  about  half-a-dozen  times  on  various  | 

matters.     On  every  occasion  except  one  I  received  the  sterotyped  reply  ; 

refusing  the  request. 

The  one  exception  arose  out  of  the  "relaxations"  allowed  to  conscien-  i 
tious  objectors  who  had  served  12  months.  They  were  stated  by  the  ', 
governor  to  involve  a  reduction  in  the  time  of  visits  from  30  to  15 1 
minutes.  I  petitioned  for  the  retention  of  the  longer  time.  A  week  later  I 
the  governor  sent  for  me,  stated  that  he  had  heard  from  the  Commis- ; 
sioners  that  the  visit  was  to  be  30  minutes,  and  added  that  he  presumed  | 
I  would  therefore  wish  to  withdraw  the  petition.     Apparently  everything  • 

1  But  a  petition  mnst  not  be  sent  if  a  former  petition  has  not  been  answered.  Since  | 
several  weeks  often  elapse  before  a  reply  i»  received,  this  rule  sometimes  involres  hardships,  j 
One  witness  from  a  Local  prison  instances  a  case  where  a  reply  was  not  received  for  three  i 
months,  and  a  further  petition  was  not  allowed  during  that  period.  At  Convict  prisons 
it  seems  to  be  a  general  practice  only   to  allow  one  petition  every  three   months. 

2  The  governor  is  required  to  call  the  special  attention  of  the  Commissioners  to  a  petition 
from  a  prisoner  charged  with  murder  or  under  sentence  of  death,  or  a  petition  referring 
to  early  legal  proceedings.     (S.O.   411).    This  is   reassuring. 


PETITIONS  409 

must  be  done  io  prevent  a  petition  being  sent  which  would  require  some- 
thing other  than  the  formal  reply  ! 

On  another  occasion  the  application  was  that  vegetarians  might  be 
allowed  an  extra  ration  of  margarine  in  lieu  of  meat.  A  few  days  after 
receiving  the  inevitable  refusal  the  additional  margarine  was  given. 

The  principal  warder,  who  hands  the  petition  form  to  the  prisoner  for 
filling  in,  is  instructed  to  read  to  him  the  rule  requiring  that  "temperate 
and  respectful  language"  should  be  used.  The  prisoner  is  also  told  that 
complaints  of  ill-treatment  and  charges  against  officials  must  be  fully  stated, 
"it  being  understood  that  such  will  be  investigated,  and  if  proved  to  be 
untrue  will  render  the  petitioner  liable  to  punishment."  The  governor  is 
authorised  to  suppress  any  petition  containing  "improper  and  abusive 
language,"  but  prisoners  must  be  given  an  opportunity  of  re- writing  petitions, 
and  all  suppressed  petitions  must  be  forwarded  to  the  Prison  Commissioners. 
This  is  a  right  safeguard  against  any  suspicion  of  suppressing  proper 
complaints. 

When  a  complaint  refers  to  matters  with  which  the  visiting  committee  can 
deal  (such  include  diet,  employment,  library  books,  exercise,  letters  and  visits, 
and  punishment),  the  prisoner  must  in  the  first  instance  lay  it  before  the 
committee,  but  if  unsatisfied  with  its  decision,  he  may  proceed  to  petition 
the  Home  Secretary.  Under  these  circumstances  the  governor  sends  a  report 
with  the  petition,  prepared  by  himself  or  the  officer  concerned.*  Complaints 
of  illness  or  medical  treatment  are  required  to  be  forwarded  to  the  Home 
Secretary   without  reference  to  the  visiting  committee. 

Frivolous  complaints  are  punishable  under  the  rules,  and,  indeed,  the 
subjects  of  some  petitions  are,  of  course,  very  trivial  when  judged  by  stan- 
dards outside  prison.  But  the  fact  should  not  be  lost  sight  of  that  the  little 
details  in  the  life  of  a  prisoner  inevitably  loom  large,  and  that  his  perspective 
is  distorted  by  his  isolation  and  the  narrowness  of  his  existence,  which  pro- 
vides few  interests  and  no  variety  in  experience.  Little  deprivations  in  a 
life  that  is  already  impoverished  to  an  extreme  degree,  petty  annoyances  in  a 
life  that  is  already  a  constant  strain  on  the  nervous  system,  small  privileges 
meaning  much  in  a  life  that  is  denied  the  most  elementary  human  rights — 
these  are  things  to  which  the  minds  of  the  prisoners  turn  over  and  over  again, 
and  which  naturally  find  expression  in  petitions. 

One  rather  serious  result  of  this  state  of  things  is  that,  amid  the  mass  of 
trivial  complaints,  or  complaints  which  cannot  be  remedied  without  altering 
the  system,  petitions  dealing  with  matters  which  even  the  Commissioners 
would  regard  as  serious  tend  to  get  overlooked. 

Complaints  and  requests  are  oft«n  sources  of  much  trouble  to  the  prisoners 
who  make  them.  If  an  officer's  action  is  criticised,  or  a  right  that  is  being 
withheld  is  insisted  upon,  the  prisoner  is  frequently  made  to  suffer  by  a 
persecuting  enforcement  of  discipline.  Altogether,  the  right  to  petition  appears 
to  have  little  more  than  a  paper  value.  The  delays  in  answering  exasperate 
the  prisoners  and  intensify  their  bitterness.  They  come  to  feel  that  it  is 
impossible  to  get  their  grievances  righted,  or  to  obtain  any  consideration  for 
their  requests.  They  learn  to  look  upon  the  whole  process  as  an  elaborate 
fraud.  Nowhere  is  there  less  faith  in  the  justice  of  the  authorities  than  in 
prison.     The  bad  effect  of  this  upon  the  prisoner's  after-life  will  be  obvious. 

'  It  is  obvionsly  nnfair  to  the  rrisoner  that  the  governor  or  other  ofiBcer  shoald  be  able 
to  discredit  his  statements  in  a  secret  report  to  which  he   has   no  opportunity  ol   replying. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 


THE   BORSTAL   SYSTEM 

The  Borstal  System  is  an  attempt  by  the  State,  acting  through  the 
Prison  Commission,  to  reclaim  those  who,  between  the  ages  of  16 
and  21,  offend  against  the  law.  It  differs  from  certified  industrial 
and  reformatory  schools  in  that  they  admit  children  under  16  only, 
and  are  almost  all  (198  schools  out  of  220)  under  private  management. 

The  Borstal  System  was  designed  to  deal  not  with  "the  youthful 
offender  .  .  .  who  may  have  lapsed  into  some  petty  ori 
occasional  delinquency,"  but  "the  young  hooligan  advanced  in  crime,! 
perhaps  with  many  previous  convictions,  and  who  appeared  to  be| 
inevitably  doomed  to  a  life  of  habitual  crime."  '  Its  aim,  as  stated! 
by  Sir  E.  Euggles-Brise,  is  to  check  the  criminal  tendency  by{ 
"the  individualisation  of  the  prisoner,  mentally,  morally,  and! 
physically."'  The  object  is  avowedly  reformatory,  a  welcome^ 
advance  upon  the  principles  on  which  the  prison  system  is  based.; 

The  System  falls  naturally  into  two  parts: — (1)  Borstalj 
Institutions,  wherein  "young  offenders,  whilst  detained,  may  be  given! 
such  industrial  training  and  other  instruction,  and  be  subject  to  such 
disciplinary  and  moral  influences  as  will  conduce  to  their  reformationj 
and  the  prevention  of  crime";*  and  (2)  the  Borstal  Association,  al 
quasi-official  body,  subsidised  by  the  Treasury,*  which  receives  or! 
release,  and  is  responsible  for  the  after-care  of  every  boy  and  girl  whc 
has  been  under  the  full  Borstal  treatment.* 


Borstal  Institutionb. 

The  chief  lines  of  the  Borstal  System  were  laid  down  in  the  Repor| 
of  the  Departmental  Committee  on  Prisons,  in  1895.  The  Committed 
recommended  the  establishment  of  "a  half-way  house  between  thtj 
prison  and  the  reformatory  ...  a  penal  reformatory  undeii 
Government  management,"  for  offenders  under  the  age  of  23,  wh{| 
might  be  committed  "for  periods  of  not  less  than  one  year  and  u) 
to  three  years,  with   a  system  of  licences   graduated  according  ti 

1  and  2  Sir  E.  Ruggles-Brise,  "The  English  Prison  System"   (1921),  pp.  92  and  95. 
'  PrcTention  of  Crime  Act,  P.l,  4  (1). 

*  Prevention   ol  Grime   Act,  P.l,    8. 

*  The    Borstal   Association    does   not    supervise   offenders   released   after   "Modified   B 
treatment.    See  p.   300. 


BORSTAL  INSTITUTIONS  411 

sentences."  The  institution  "would  have  penal  and  ooercive  sides 
.     .  .     but  it  should  be  amply  provided  with  a  staff  capable  of 

giving  sound  education,  training  the  inmates  in  various  kinds  of 
industrial  work,  and  quahfied  generally  to  exercise  the  best  and 
healthiest  kind  of  moral  influence  .  special   arrangemenis 

ought    to    be    made    for    receiving    and    helping    the    inmates    on 
discharge."* 
Experiments  embodying   some  of     these  recommendations    w^-e 
un  by  the  Prison  Commissioners  at  various  prisons  from  1899- 

J,   but,   until   1909,   these    experiments  were   undertaken    as    a 

matter  of  internal  arrangement  under  the  ordinary  prison  regulations 

framed   by   the    Secretary  of   State   under  the    Prison   Act,    1898, 

modified  as  far  as  might  be  to  meet  the  altered  circumstances.     In 

""    S,  by  the  passing  of  the  Prevention  of  Crime  Act,  the  Borstal 

:em  was  adopted  as  part  of  the  penal  system  of  the  country,' 

n^  its  name  from  the  village  of  Borstal,  where  it  superseded  the 

;.\'ict  prison. 

The  Statutory  Basis  and  the  Standing  Orders. — Borstal  Institu- 
tions are  now  governed  by  the  Prevention  of  Crime  Act,  1908, 
Part   I.,    as   amended    by    Sections    10    and    11    of   the    Criminal 

jJustice  Administration  Act,  1914. 

;     To  be  eligible  for  Borstal  treatment  an  offender  must  be  over  16 

•  and  under  21  years  of  age,  and 

(1)  Convicted  on  indictment  of  an  offence  for  which  h©  is  Uable  to  b« 
sentenced  to  penal  servitude  or  imprisonment ;  or 

(2)  Summarily  convicted  (and  remanded  to  Quarter  Sessions)  of  an 
offence  for  which  the  Court  hais  power  to  impose  a  sentence  of 
imprisonment  for  one  month  or  upwards  without  the  option  of  a  fine, 
and  previously  convicted  of  an  offence,  or  guilty  of  breaking  the 
terms  of  a  Probation  Order ; ' 

of  criminal  habits  or  tendencies,  or  the  associate  of  persons  of 
.  character.     Before  passing  sentence,  the  Court  (of  Assize  or 
Quarter  Sessions) 

shall  consider  any  report  or  representations  which  may  be  made  to  it 
by  or  on  behalf  of  the  Prison  Commissioners  as  to  the  suitability  of  the 
case  for  treatment  in  a  Borstal  Institution,  and  shall  be  satisfied  that 
the  character,  state  of  health,  and  mental  condition  of  the  offender 
....  are  such  that  the  offender  is  likely  to  profit  by  such  instruction 
and  discipline * 

The  minimum  period  of  detention  in  a  Borstal  Institution  is  two 
lyears,  the  maximum  three  years.       But  male  offenders  may  be  re- 
-ed  on  licence  after  six  months'  detention,  females  after  three 
■ihs,  and  licensing  is  freely  adopted. 

•eport  of  the  Departmentml  Committee  on  Prisons,  1895,  pp.  30-31    (Cd.  7702). 
^^rtt&l  Asaoci»tioD  Ra>ort  for  1910.  p.  5. 
riminal  Justice  Admimstr«tion   Act,   1914,  Section  10   (1). 

rerention  of  Crime  Act,  1908,  Part  I.,  Section  1,  and  Criminal  Justice  Administration 
1914,  Section  10.    Cp.  p.  51. 


412  THE  BORSTAL  SYSTEM 

The  age-category,  16  to  21  years,  is  generally  accepted  as  service- 
able, but  there  is  much  to  be  said  against  separate  systems  for 
offenders  below  and  above  16.  The  problem  of  the  juvenile-adult 
offender  can  never  be  divorced  from  the  general  problem  of  juvenile 
delinquency  because  the  dominant  feature  of  both  is  the  training- for- 
labour  factor.  Vocational  training  is  rendered  nugatory,  both  at 
Borstal  Institutions  and  certified  Reformatory  Schools,  because  the 
latter  cannot  keep  lads  after  they  are  19,  and  the  former  cannot  take 
them  till  they  are  16.  The  period  during  which  vocational  training 
should  be  acquired  is  thus  split  up  by  the  two  sets  of  institutions, 
the  result  being  that  in  neither  is  it  possible  thoroughly  to  teach  any 
inmate  a  trade,  even  though  he  be  sentenced  to  the  maximum  tenn 
of  detention.  The  "youthful  offender"  of  14-16  and  the  "juvenile- 
adult  offender"  of  16-21  are  spoken  of  and  treated  by  the  authorities 
too  much  as  though  no  connection  existed  between  them,  whereas 
the  fact  is  that  they  are  two  parts  of  one  problem,  and  often  enough 
one  individual  figures  in  turn  under  both  denominations.  This 
must  be  so  until  the  authorities  see  the  wisdom  of  merging  Borstal! 
work  into  that  of  the  Reformatory  Schools  Department  to  which, 
being  in  theory  more  educational  than  penal,  it  properly  belongs. 

The  age  limit  is  also  to  be  criticised  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
unreliability  of  the  chronological  measurement  of  physical  and| 
mental  development ;  and  the  fact  that  Section  1  (2)  of  the  Prevention! 
of  Crime  Act  empowers  the  authorities  under  Statutory  Rule  to  gc; 
beyond  the  usual  maximum  of  21  years  and  enables  them  to  apply! 
Borstal  treatment  to  offenders  under  23,  suggests  that  this  is  becom-| 
ing  recognised  in  theory.  The  age  measurement  is  particularly  un-| 
reliable  in  the  case  of  an  offender.  A  Borstal  medical  officer  says,! 
for  instance,  that  "fully  20  per  cent,  of  the  cases  brought  to  Borstall 
are  border-line  defectives,  the  average  mental  year  of  whom  is  13-1^; 
years."  In  some  American  institutions  having  similar  aims  tci 
Borstal,  the  maximum  age  of  committal  is  30,  but  there  use  is  made 
of  psychological  examination,  as  yet  unknown  to  the  Borstal  System' 
which  clings  to  the  older  view  that  conduct  and  responsibility  an] 
chiefly  conditioned  by  physical  development.  i 

The  proviso  that  "the  character,  state  of  health,  and  mental  conj 
dition"  must  be  "such  that  the  offender  is  likely  to  profit  by  such 
instruction  and  discipline.  ..."  often  debars  just  the  offender?' 
whose  chief  needs  are  regular  vocational  training  and  the  disciplim 
it  affords.  Although  physical  defect  is  recognised  by  the  Prisoi! 
Commissioners  as  a  contributory  factor  to  crime,  there  is  in  practic<| 
no  place  in  the  Borstal  System  for  the  crippled  offender,  none  fo)j 
those  suffering  from  tuberculosis,  epilepsy,  or  defective  hearts,      j 

The  quahfications  for  treatment  in  a  Borstal  Institution  so  far  ai 
physique  is  concerned  are  covered  by  a  Home  Office  Memorandun 
(332404/7,  Nov.  25,  1919)  which  says  that  whilst  "it  is  not  necessar:; 
that  he"  (the  offender)  "should  be  fit  for  heavy  manual  labour,' 


THE    STANDING    ORDERS  413 

he  must  not  be  suffering  from  active  tubercular  disease  or  other  conditions 
likely  to  incapacitate  him  during  training  or  on  discharge ;  or  from 
physical  or  mental  defects  which  are  likely  to  render  him  unemployable  on 
discharge.  The  following  minor  defects  are  no  longer  held  to  exclude 
from  Borstal  treatment,  however^  unless  accompanied  by  some  exceptional 
complications  : — flat  feet ;  pigeon  chest ;  slight  rupture,  which  can  be 
remedied  by  a  well-fitting  truss ;  defective  sight,  if  it  can  be  corrected  by 
suitable  glasses,  loss  of  an  eye,  loss  or  paralysis  of  a  limb,  or  deformity 
of  joints ;  slight  deafness ;  spare  physique ;  slight  curvature  of  spine ; 
affections  of  the  heart,  well  compensated  and  not  of  a  serious  nature ; 
slight  varicose  veins ;  deformities  due  to  old  tubercular  disease  which 
has  been  arrested  and  which  does  not  appear  likely  to  become  active 
again. 

i  This  list  goes  but  a  little  way  to  cover  the  defects  presented  by 
■  offenders.  It  is  the  more  serious  disabilities  that  breed  the  conditions 
in  which  oSences  occur.  Moreover,  although  paralysis  and  loss  of 
a  limb  are  theoretically  excluded  from  the  disqualifying  defects,  we 
have  knowledge  of  cases  where  these  defects  have  excluded  the 
offenders.  So  long  as  these  omissions  continue,  the  Borstal 
System  must  be  held  to  be  evading  the  major  part  of  the  problem, 
for  it  is  not  usually  the  youth  of  good  physique  and  sound  mind 
who  becomes  the  recidivist,  nor  even  the  slightly  defective. 

i  In  addition  to  satisfying  the  authorities  that  the  offenders  are 
between  the  ages  of  16  and  21  on  committal  for  trial  and  that  they 
are  of  good  physique  and  health  and  non-epileptic,  their  records 
must  show  that  they  are  not  so  bad  that  they  will  contaminate,  nor 
so  good  that  they  will  be  contaminated  by,  other  Borstal  inmates. 
The  latter  class  comprises  offenders  who  "might  suffer  more  by 
association  with  recidivists  and  hooligans  than  they  would  gain  by 
the  special  training";"  the  former,  "lads  who  in  a  Reformatory 
School,  or  on  a  previous  committal  to  a  Borstal  Institution,  have 
had  a  chance  of  reform  and  have  failed  to  profit  by  it."  " 

!  From  published  statistics,  it  is  difi&cult  to  test  the  insight  with 
'which  the  Standing  Orders  here  quoted  are  applied.  It  is  within 
our  knowledge,  however,  that  the  tendency  is  to  consider  conunittal 
to  Borstal  as  an  act  of  punishment  little  different  in  essence  from  a 
sentence  of  imprisonment.  Normally,  only  half  the  inmates  of 
'Borstal  have  ever  been  in  prison  (except  on  remand);  the  other  half 
consists  of  offenders  who  have  relapsed  on  probation  or  during  or 
after  detention  in  a  Certified  School."  The  fact  that  Borstal  is  for 
many  administrative  purposes  scheduled  as  a  prison,  and  controlled 
,by  the  Prison  Commissioners,  undoubtedly  restrains  magistrates 
from  remanding  offenders  to  Sessions  with  a  view  to  Borstal. 
This  is  especially  true  where  the  offender  is  only  just  over 
16 — the   maximum    age    for   committal    to   a   Reformatory    School 

"9.0.  1052   (b). 
>'  Ibid   1052   (b). 

"  Of  every  15  lads  committed  to  Borstal,  14  were  committed  for  dishonesty;   of   erery  13 
Cirls,  11  were  coiiimitted  for  dishonesty. 


414  THE  BORSTAL  SYSTEM 

— and  it  often  appears  that  the  difference  of  a  few  months  in 
age  decides  whether  an  offender  shall  go  to  a  Reformatory  for  three 
years  or  to  ordinary  imprisonment  for  a  few  weeks.  Rightly  oi 
wrongly,  Borstal  does  not  so  often  figure  in  the  magistrates'  mind  as 
the  appropriate  treatment  for  lads  over  16  as  the  Reformatory  School 
does  for  lads  under  16.  This  circumstance  should  be  remembered 
when  the  results  of  the  Borstal  System  are  considered. 

The  Standing  Orders  relating  to  Borstal  are  drafted  so  as  to  give 
room  for  some  elasticity  in  interpretation.  The  case  of  ex- 
Reformatory  lads  and  Borstal  is  an  example.     The  Orders  read:  — 

As  a  rule,  the  ex-Reformatory  boy,  who  is  the  failure  of  the  Reform- 
atory School  system,  is  the  worst  and  least  hopeful  sort  of  prisoner,  and 
the  sending  of  such  cases  to  a  Borstal  Institution  would  be  much  to  b« 
deprecated.  There  have,  however,  been  occasional  exceptions  to  thii 
rule,  where  the  prisoner  is  known  to  have  done  well  after  discharge 
from  the  Reformatory  and  to  have  relapsed  under  the  pressure  of  ex 
ceptional  circumstances ;  and  when  the  demeanour  in  prison  of  such  ar: 
offender  is  hopeful,  and  his  history  since  leaving  the  Reformatorj 
School  is  not  known  to  be  bad,  it  would  be  desirable  to  make  inquiry  o'.\ 
the  authorities  of  the  school  in  order  to  ascertain  whether  his  behavioui| 
there  or  on  discharge  has  been  such  as  to  justify  a  further  trial  in  f\ 
Borstal    Institution."  i 

Though,  as  stated,  this  extract  indicates  that  a  certain  discretior; 
is  left  to  the  Local  prison  authorities,  it  also  shows,  in  our  view; 
a  totally  wrong  attitude  of  mind  in  selecting  cases  for  Borstal  treat; 
ment.  Borstal  represents,  with  Preventive  Detention,  the  only  side: 
of  the  prison  system  that  is  avowedly  reformatory  in  aim,  and  th(| 
more  the  records  of  lads  show  they  have  need  of  such  treatment,  thtj 
greater  is  the  community's  need  that  they  should  receive  it.  Neithe! 
is  it  for  the  Prison  Commissioners  to  say  whether  a  lad's  record  is  to<j 
bad  for  reformation :  that  is  decided  by  his  age,  the  maximum  oi 
which  was  fixed  low  by  Statute  because,  as  Sir  E.  Ruggles-Brise  saysi 
"up  to  a  certain  age,  every  criminal  may  be  regarded  as  potentially  :| 
good  citizen  ..."  and  "it  is  the  duty  of  the  State  at  least  to  try  t< 
effect  a  cure. "  "  Standing  Order  1052  (h)  betrays  the  same  outlook: 
It  directs  enquiry  as  to  whether  the  offender  "deserves  a  trial  in  ;j 
Borstal  Institution,  and  would  he  likely  to  respond  to  it." 

Most  offenders  sent  to  Borstal  Institutions  are  at  first  detained  fol 
some  time  in  Local  prisons  from  one  or  more  of  three  causes :  — 

(1)  Because  the  Courts  competent  to  commit  to  Borstal  are  thj 
Courts  of  Quarter  Sessions  or  Assize,  and  the  interval  betweeij 
the  proceedings  of  the  police  court  and  the  Court  of  Quarter 
Sessions  or  Assize  is  in  the  great  majority  of  cases  spent  b;j 
the  offender  on  remand  in  prison.  } 

IS  8.O.    1052    (d). 

>*  Sir   E.  Rnpglei-Briae,   "The  English  Prison   System,"  p.   87. 


THE    BORSTAL    POPULATION  415 

(2)  Some  juvenile-adult  offenders  sentenced  to  ordinary  imprison- 
ment are  transferred  from  prisons  to  Borstal  Institutions, 
under  Section  10  (3)  of  the  Criminal  Justice  Administration 
Act,  1914. 

(3)  The  interval  between  committal  to  Borstal  by  the  Court  of 
Quarter  Sessions  and  the  offender's  actual  removal  thereto  is 
spent  in  prison. 

The  following  instructions  govern  the  detention  in  Local  prisons 
of  prospective  Borstal  inmates:  — 

As  soon  as  any  person  is  sentenced  to  detention  in  a  Borstal  Institution, 
arrangements  shall  be  made  for  his  removal  thither,  and  until  such 
arrangements  can  be  made,  he  will  be  specially  located  and  segregated 
in  the  prison  of  the  district  wherein  he  was  committed,  and  be  subject  to 
the  prison  rules  for  offenders  sentenced  to  imprisonment  without  hard  lab- 
our ;  provided  that  where,  owing  to  lack  of  accommodation  in  the  Borstal 
Institution,  immediate  arrangements  cannot  be  made  for  the  removal  of 
any  person  so  sentenced  to  any  Borstal  Institution,  the  Prison  Com- 
missioners may  temporarily  locate  such  person  in  a  prison  where  training 
similar  to  that  given  in  Borstal  Institutions  is  being  given  to  a  class  of 
juvenile-adult  prisoners ;  and  any  person  so  located  shall  not  be  allowed 
to  associate  with  any  prisoners  except  members  of  the  juvenile-adult 
class,  and  shall  be  removed  to  a  Borstal  Institution  as  soon  as  accommoda- 
tion is  available.'* 

Whenever  the  period  between  the  committal  and  the  trial  exceeds  14 
days,  such  prisoners  will  attend  school  and  be  drilled  with  other  juvenile- 
adults,  care  being  taken  to  keep  them  apart  from  convicted  prisoners. 
For  the  purpose  of  drill  they  should  stand  at  the  back  of  the  squad  and 

not  mi.x  with  it." 

It  is  clearly  undesirable  that  the  period  of  reformative  treatment 
at  Borstal  should  be  generally  preceded  by  detention  amongst  adult 
I  offenders  in  ordinary  prisons.     While  giving  full  value  to  the  efforts 
'  made  to  separate  the  two  classes,   our  evidence  is  conclusive  that, 
\  no  matter  how  strict  the  regulations,   complete  separation  is   im- 
possible so  long  as  juvenile-adults  and   adults  are  detained  in  the 
I  same  prison  buildings."  It  is  asserted  by  some  of  our  warder  witnesses 
!  that  this  period  of  waiting  in  prison  is  often  the  beginning  of  a  life- 
'  time  of  crime.     At  any  rate,  it  is  the  worst  possible  way  to  create 
in  the  Borstal   boy  the   frame  of  mind  that  will   be   receptive   of 
reformatory  influences. 

The  Borstal  Population. — Committals  to  Borstal  Institutions  for 
the  year  ended  March  31,  1921,  numbered  568  males  and  73  females, 
Mid  "during  recent  years  the  annual  committals  .  .  .  have  averaged 
nearly  600  for  males  and  180  for  females."  "     The  average  age  of 

"  Statutory  Rules  and  Orders  771    (1910). 
"S.O.  1053. 
"See  pp.   301   and  502. 
'Sir  E.  Euggles-Brise,  "The   EngliEh  Prison  System,"  p.  94. 


416  THE  BORSTAL  SYSTEM 

the  boys  received  during  the  year  was  17  years  11  months,  and  of 
the  girls,  18  years  5  months. 

Although,  as  has  been  already  shown,  offenders  presenting  grave 
physical  defects  are  ineligible  for  Borstal  treatment,  "the  majority  of 
the  boys  who  are  sent  to  Borstal  are  considerably  below  the  average 
of  their  class  in  physique  .  .  .  some  inches  shorter  and  smaller. '"* 
Often  an  important  predisposing  factor  to  delinquency  is  "physical 
weakness,  which  makes  hard  work  sometimes  intolerably  hard,  and 
gives  to  easier  ways  of  life  an  irresistible  lure.""  On  the  other 
hand,  apparently,  inmates  respond  to  the  invigorating  life  at  Borstal. 
There  is  stated  to  be  very  little  sickness. 

Mentally  defective  offenders  appear  to  be  admitted  to  Borstal  more 
freely  than  those  physically  defective.  A  Borstal  medical  officer 
says  boys  get  to  Borstal  because  of  "mental  inability  to  earn  an 
honest  living,"  and  a  Borstal  ex-chaplain  says  he  was  "with  very 
few  exceptions  struck  by  the  very  low  mental  standard."  Girls 
undergoing  Borstal  treatment  are  reported  as  generally  "over- 
excitable,  and  lacking  in  self-control,"  many  among  the  observation 
cases  having  to  be  sent  to  homes  for  the  mentally  defective. 
Abnormal  girls  form  20  per  cent,  of  the  inmates,  but  most  of  them' 
are  not  bad  enough  to  be  certified  as  mentally  deficient  under  the  Act.j 

Even  when  Borstal  inmates  are  certified  as  mentally  deficient,! 
great  difficulty  is  experienced  in  finding  institutions  for  them,  "with! 
the  result,"  say  the  Commissioners  in  their  report  for  1920-21,1 
"that  some  have  to  be  retained  for  many  months  after  the  certificate! 
of  mental  defect  has  been  given."  Accordingly,  certified  cases  are! 
now  congregated  at  one  Borstal  institution  and  "segregated  fromi 
the  ordinary  inmates  under  such  modified  regime  as  their  mental 
condition  calls  for.""  During  1920-21,  six  boys  and  three  girls' 
were  certified  under  the  Mental  Deficiency  Act.  j 

The  low  mentality  of  Borstal  inmates  is  reflected  in  their  educs-i 
tional  attainments.  The  Borstal  Association  reports  that  "the! 
majority  of  the  boys  are  of  the  second  or  third  standard  at  school,.! 
and  of  the  girls  we  learn  that  there  is  a  high  percentage  of  illiterates.} 

Of  336  boys  committed  to  Borstal  before  the  war,  and  discharged 
in  1914-16,  49  were  "first  offenders,"  the  remainder — 287 — had  67r 
previous  convictions,  or  roughly  five  convictions  for  every  two  lads| 
The  average  number  of  previous  convictions  of  the  boys  received 
during  1920-21  was  sHghtly  over  two;  177  boys  had  been  convictec 
three  or  more  times.  Many  of  these  convictions  would  be  for  byej 
law  offences — shouting  newspapers,  "jostling"  railway  passengeri 
in  order  to  carry  their  bags,  trespassing  on  railway  stations,  and  8(1 
on — offences  incidental  to  street -trading  by  which  a  great  number  o| 
lads  come  into  conflict  with  the  police,  and  so  compile  for  themselveil 

>'  Borstal  Association  Report,  1910,  p.  11. 
s»  Borstal  Association  Report,  1915,  p.  16. 
31  P.O.    Report,   1920-21,   p.   19. 


THE  BORSTAL   POPULATION  417 

police  records.     The  late  Mr.  C.  E.  B.  Russell,  of  the  Reformatory 
Schools  Department,  stated:  — 

Delinquency  on  the    part    of    such    youths   usually  takes  one   of    the 
following  forms  : — 

1.  Purely  venial  offences  against  local  bye-laws,  such  as  loafing,  street 
obstruction,  and  the  like. 

2.  Acts  of  vagrancy,  principally  sleeping  out  and  begging. 

3.  Petty  theft,  which  as  time  goes  by,  and  the  youth  fails  in  one  way 
or  another  to  come  under  the  influence  of  institutional  or  reforma- 
tive treatment,  almost  invariably  leads  to  more  daring  and  serious 
crime. 

It  must  never  be  forgotten  in  dealing  with  the  more  serious  acts  of 
juvenile  delinquency  that  very  frequently  the  acts  themselves  are  thq 
illegitimate  expression  of  perfectly  natural  impulses,  and  I  have  little 
I  doubt  that  the  want  of  adequate  playing  fields  and  opportunities  for 
healthy  recreation  has  very  much  to  do  with  many  cases  of  petty  theft 
which  are  really  the  outcome  of  a  certain  spirit  of  daring  and  adventure, 
which  in  a  crowded  slum    cannot  in  any  way  find  adequate  expression.''' 

I  The  Borstal  Association  repeatedly  endorses  the  view  that  a  spirit 
:>f  adventure  is  at  the  bottom  of  a  great  number  of  cases  of  youthful 
ielinquency. 

Economic  factors  have  a  peculiar  bearing  on  adolescent  lawless- 
ess,  both  in  relation  to  the  offender  and  to  his  home  conditions. 
The  two  cases  are  excellently  put  by  the  Borstal  Association:  — 

The  period  [between  the  ages  of  16  and  21]  marks  the  time  when 
mental  control  has  weakened,  when  a  boy's  wages  no  longer  satisfy,  and 
a  man's  wages  cannot  be  claimed,  when  the  strong  boy  feels  restless  and 
the  weak  boy  hopeless ;  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  great  majority 
f  confirmed  criminals  date  their  downfall  from  acts  of  outlawry  during 
•hese  years." 

Boys  and  girls  who  come  to  Borstal  Institutions  have  been  brought  up 

in  very  poor  surroundings,  shut  off  from  the  wholesome  amusements  and 

occupations  of  spare  time  which  are  available  to  more  fortunate  children. 

The  street  has  been  their  playground,  and  the  nearest  open  space  being 

I^Hnr  away,   the   house  has   been    crowded,    the    gutter   thronged ;  parents 
^^^ving  in  such  places  who  would  protect  their  children  from  a  compendious 
'     knowledge  of  evil  and  a  low  local  standard  of  behaviour,  would  have  to 
J     take  them  up  in  a  balloon.-* 

I^Be  Borstal  Association  also  reports  that  of  Borstal  boys,  only  half 

'?OTe  from  "good"  homes;  of  girls,  less  than  half."       Many  lads, 

inown  to  the  writer  before  being  sent  to  Borstal,  had  neither  friends 

pr  home.     When  they  had  the  sixpence,  they  slept  in  a  common 

^ging  house;  when  not,  they  "slept  rough"  (i.e.,  slept  out  under 

"Paper  at  the   National  Conference  on  the  PreTention  of  Destitntion,  1912   (Crime  and 

lebriety  Section),  p.   4. 

f'  Borstal  Association  Annual  Report,    1910,   p.  5. 

*  Borstal   Association   Annual   Report,    1920,   p.   2. 

^  Borstal   Association  Annual  Report,  1916. 

P 


418  THE  BORSTAL  SYSTEM 

arches,  in  canal  boats,  etc.)  Some  had  never  had  regular  work  : 
their  Uves,  and  they  could  not  have  taken  it  if  offered,  because  th( 
lacked  money  for  food  and  lodging  until  they  drew  their  wages. 
The  above  statements,  however,  should  not  be  taken  as  applyit 
to  all  Borstal  boys.  A  fair  proportion  of  them  are. neither  mental! 
nor  morally  incapable,  nor  chronically  destitute,  but  are  lads  of  stror 
character  struggling  to  grow  in  conditions  that  cramp,  in  rebellic 
against  restrictions  that  choke  the  life  in  them.  They  are  of  th 
stuff  that  will  lead  its  fellows,  though  themselves  lacking  directioi 
This  view  is  confirmed  by  a  Borstal  Committee,  which  says 
"They  do  not  necessarily  belong  to  the  criminal  classes  .  .  .  "  ar 
"are  not  of  the  'street  arab'  or  submerged  tenth  class.""  It 
not  the  "submerged  tenth"  that  revolts. 

From  the  foregoing  it  will  be  seen  that  the  inmates  of  Borsti 
Institutions  are  of  diverse  physique,  mentality,  and  character.  Thai 
is  urgent  need  for  the  separation  of  violent  and  mentally  sub-norm! 
offenders  from  other  inmates.  Although  the  former  constitute  onl 
about  30  per  cent,  of  the  total,  so  long  as  they  are  kept  with  moi 
tractable  offenders,  the  present  gaol-like  precautions  will  continue,  k 
the  standard  of  control  is  decided  by  them.  If  these  were  segregatec 
in  addition  to  the  certified  cases,  the  authorities  would  be  able  1 
deal  with  the  remainder  on  educational,  and  much  less  penal,  linei 
On  this  point,  the  Borstal  Association  says:  — 

When  mental  deficients  have  been  eliminated,  Borstal  Institutio:! 
should  be  able  to  give  a  good  account  of  all  but  a  very  few  of  the 
young  charges.^' 

The  Buildings. — The  Borstal  Institutions  are  four  in  number,  ij 
which  one,  at  Aylesbury,  has  accommodation  for  200  girls,  and  thr<( 
— at  Borstal,  Feltham,  and  Portland  (Weymouth  Institutj 
— are  for  boys.  Accommodation  for  boys  is  at  present  in  the  neigj 
bourhood  of  1,800,  but  during  the  year  ended  March  31,  1921,  tlj 
daily  average  of  juvenile  adults  detained  in  all  the  Institutions  wj 
1,097,  of  whom  191  were  girls.  The  buildings  occupy  healthy  sitej 
and,  on  the  whole,  are  well  adapted  for  their  purpose;  much  of  t-f 
fabric,  indeed,  has  been  specially  erected,  and  building  work  is  nc^ 
proceeding.  These  last  statements  do  not  apply  to  Portland  (to  [ 
known  in  future  as  the  Weymouth  Institute),  which  was  transform ( 
from  a  Convict  prison  into  a  Borstal  institution  during  the  snmroj' 
of  1921,  and  which  is  absolutely  unsuitable  for  Borstal  purpos<i 
Commenting  upon  this  change,  a  visitor  to  a  Borstal  institutik 
says :  "The  Home  Office,  in  blind  obedience  to  the  call  for  econorrj. 
has  committed  a  very  serious  breach  of  trust  in  using  Portland  If 
a  Borstal  institution.  It  is  a  cheap  way  out  of  the  difficulty."  "^^ 
understand  that  lads  are  being  sent  to  Borstal  who,  when  convictfl 
had  been  away  from  home  influence  for  a  long  time,  either  in  t^ 

2«  Quoted    in  P.O.   Report,   1914,    p.    17. 
2'  Borstal  Association  Report,   1920,  p.  5 


THE  BUILDINGS  419 

army,  at  sea,  or  in  certified  schools.  The  reformative  value  of  the 
place  and  of  the  discipline  enforced  there  may  be  judged  from  the 
fact  that  within  a  few  months  of  the  opening  of  the  Weymouth 
Institute  one  boy  committed  suicide,  another  attempted  suicide,  and 
a  succession  of  attempts  at  escape  occurred. 

The  buildings  at  Borstal  are  divided  into  a  right  and  left  wing, 
each  under  the  supervision  of  a  deputy-governor,  who  acts  as  house- 
master. Some  lads,  known  as  N.C.O.'s  (see  description  below), 
sleep  in  a  dormitory — large  and  airy ;  the  others  have  separate  cells, 
or  "rooms"  as  they  are  called,  measuring  10  x  10  x  8.  The  late 
governor  of  Borstal  not  infrequently  received  applications  for  permis- 
sion to  remain  in  the  cells,  owing  to  the  desire  which  existed  to 
possess  a  private  room.  The  dormitory  system  has,  after  a  trial, 
I  been  abandoned  at  the  Borstal  Institution  in  Scotland. 

The  flooring  of  the  cells  is  made  of  parquet  wood.  There  is  a 
'  large  window,  unbarred,  but  with  small  panes  and  iron  frame.  The 
:  bed  consists  of  a  wooden  board  set  on  infolding  legs,  a  fibre  mat- 
tress, flock  pillow,  three  blankets,  and  counterpane ;  nightshirts  are 
I  provided.  The  boys  may  keep  photos  of  relatives  up  to  twelve  in 
j  number,  and  trifles  of  decoration.  At  equal  distances  along  the  hall 
j  a  room  is  allotted  to  an  N.C.O.,  who  makes  himself  more  or  less 

I  responsible  for  the  number  of  boys  allotted  to  him. 

I 

j  N.C.O.'s  are  inmates  whose  conduct  has  placed  them  in  the 
highest  grade,  and  on  whom  is  placed  some   responsibility.     They 

!  have  a  separate  dining  room,  made  homelike  by  a  dresser  and  pic- 
tures,  and    have   the  privilege  of    managing  everything  for  them- 

!  selves,  even  selecting  their  own  committee.    The  usual  warder  is  re- 

,  placed  by  a  kindly  and  cheery  matron,  but   a  male  officer  patrols 

i  during  the  night  in  a  corridor  outside  their  dormitory  observing  the 
boys  through  barred  slots  in  the  wall  and  corner  windows  of  glass 
at  the  end  of  the  corridor. 

In  addition,  the  Borstal  Institutions  comprise  work-shops,  class- 
rooms, dispensary  and  other  offices,  and  farm  and  gardens,  which 
will  be  considered  later. 

The  institution  at  Borstal  showed  last  year  a  daily  average  of 
407  lads.  This  number  is  far  too  large.  The  reformatory  element 
can  never  be  made  a  matter  of  machinery  or  regulations,  nor  of  any- 
thing other  than  personal  influence  and  direct  human  contact. 
Esprit  de  corps  can  never  be  very  strong  because  the  better  boys, 
from  whom  it  would  naturally  come,  are  discharged  on  licence  earliest. 
Thus  Borstal  must  rely  chiefly  on  the  personal  influence  of  its 
head,  and  this  requires  that  the  head  must  not  be  set  a  task  too 
lai^e  to  manage.  As  Sir  Evelyn  Euggles-Brise  rightly  says: — "It 
is  the  personal  influence  of  the  superintending  staff,  from  the  gover- 

r  downwards,  which  is  the  thing  that  matters.""     In  our  view, 

"The  English  Prison  System,"  p.  S9. 


420  THE  BORSTAL  SYSTEM 

such  an  institution  as  Borstal  purports  to  be  should  be  limited,  at 
the  most,  to  200  boys  or  girls,  who  might  be  divided  into  four 
"houses"  of  50  each. 

The  Staff. — The  staff  consists  of  governor,  deputy-governors  or 
tutors,  instructors,  warders,  and  the  officers  usual  to  an  institution — 
doctor,  nurse,  matron,  steward,  etc.     Sir  B.  Euggles-Brise  says:  — 

The   "Tutors"   are   a   special   feature  of   the   lastitutions.      They   are 
in   a  sense  house-masters,   or  masters   of   sections   or  wings  of    inmates. 
They  are  selected    for  their  special  qualifications  for  dealing  with  lads 
of  this  age  and    character,  each  of   whom   it   is  their   duty  to  "indivi- 
dualise,"  i.e.,   to   observe  closely.     They  have  an  important  position  in 
the   establishment,  having   the    rank    and    status    of    deputy   governors. 
They  constitute  a  sort  of  advisory  council  to  the  governor,  advising  as 
to  claim  and  fitness  to  pass  from  one  grade  to  another.     They  are,  at  the  i 
same  time,  the  friend   and  counsellor  of  the  inmate,    and  the  adjutant 
to  the  governor  in  maintaining  a  strict  discipline,  and  a  due  observance ! 
of  order  and   method   in    every  particular.      They   are   also,    under  the  I 
presidency  of  the  chaplain,    the  educational  authority  of   the  establish- 
ment,    being    responsible    for    the    method     both    of    elementary    and 

advanced  teaching. ''° 

i 
When,  in  1914,  it  was  sought  to  widen  the  scope  of  Borstal  In- 
stitutions   under    the    Criminal    Justice    Administration    Bill,    Mr. 
McKenna,  the  Home  Secretary,  said:  — 

We  do  not  intend  the  Borstal  Institutions  to  be  anything  like  a 
prison,  and  as  we  develop  the  management  of  the  Borstal  Institutions, 
I  can  assure  the  House  that  they  will  be  more  and  more  removed  from 
anything  in  the  nature  of  a  prison,  and  become  more  and  more  purely 
reformative    and   training   institutions.'" 

It  is  instructive  to  compare  this  statement  with  the  facts.  Mr.  J. 
Ellis,  superintendent  of  the  Hayes  Reformatory,  a  man  particularly! 
well-equipped  to  form  a  judgment  of  reformatory  work,  visited' 
Borstal  about  the  beginning  of  1921.     He  says:  — 

A  warder  admits  the  visitor.  .  .  To  be  met  by  a  warder  is  at  first: 
a  shock.  To  see  warders  almost  as  numerous  as  inmates  emphasises  the, 
shock.  Wherever  one  goes,  in  classroom,  shop,  recreation  ground  or 
refectory,  their  ubiquity  is  apparent.  One  wonders  whether  it  is  reallyl 
essential  to  impress  upon  the  youths  the  fact  that,  despite  the  professionj 
of  modification  of  the  regime  of  an  ordinary  jail,  in  respect  to  dis-j 
cipline  they  have  to  be  as  carefully  shadowed  as  any  hardened' 
criminal.  .  .  In  cases  of  emergency  the  uniform  does  not  assist  the, 
man,  but  it  must  be  detested  by  the  youths,  who  regard  the  wearers! 
as  their  natural  enemies.^'  j 

This  criticism  is  echoed  by  every  witness  we  have  consulted,  andj 
we  are  able  to  confirm  it  from  a  personal  observation.     Moreover,  itj 

39  "The  EnglUh  Prison   System,"   p.   98. 

30  Report    of  Parliamentary  Proceedings,   House   ol  Commons,   April   15th,    1914. 

»i  "Certified   Schools  Gazette,"    March,    1921. 


THE  STAFF  421 

is  ofi&cially  confirmed  by  a  "Memorandum  on  the  English  Prison 
System,"  written  by  Mr.  Norman  G.  Mitchell-Innes,  an  inspector  of 
Enghsh  prisons,  pubHshed  with  the  Indian  Jails  Committee  Re- 
port (1921).     Mr.  Mitchell-Innes  says:  — 

A  Borstal  Institution  may  be  regarded  as  a  prison  for  jouths  who  have 
made  considerable  acquaintance  with  crime,  into  which  such  features  of 
reformatory  schools  as  can  be  suitably  utilised  are  introduced.*' 

It  is  impossible  to  explain  this  away  by  saying  that  the  warders 
at   Borstal    constitute    a    special    class,    selected    because    of    their 
suitability   for  the  work.       In    1919,  we  were  told   that   fifty  per 
cent,  of  the  Borstal  warders  had  been  trained  in  prison ;  later,  when 
it  was  proposed  to  convert  Dartmoor  prison  from  a  convict  settle- 
ment to  a  Borstal  Institution,   the  Prison   Commissioners   invited 
prison  officers  to  apply  for  transfer  there,  and  still  more  recently 
we  learn  that  almost  the  whole  staff  of  warders  at  Portland  Prison, 
despite  their  training  to  deal  with  convicts,  have  been  retained  as 
Borstal  warders.     Thus,  although  Parliamentary  sanction  to  Borstal 
i  institutions  was  given  on  the  assurance  that  they  were  not  to  be 
i  "anything  like  a  prison,"  but  "more  and  more  removed  from  any- 
!  thing  in  the  nature  of  a  prison,"  the  facts  are  that  now,  seven  years 
'  after  these  words  were  spoken,  not  only  have  they  many  leading 
features  in  common  with  prisons,  but  so  far,  at  least,  as  the  per- 
I  sonnel  is  concerned,  are  actually  growing  less  like  anything  else. 

I     The  truth  is  that  two  irreconcilable   principles  of  treatment  are 

i  being  applied  to  Borstal  institutions — the  educative  and  the  military. 

iThe  employment  of  "tutors"  is  on  the  lines  of  the  public  school 

;  routine,  and  in  much  of  the  regime  one  is  conscious  of  an  effort  to 

get  away  from  the  military  method,  so  characteristic  of  the  prison 

system,  to  the  educative  method.     But  military  discipline  remains 

dominant.     Side  by  side  with  the  tutors,  and  more  numerous  and 

1  evident,  are  the  warders,  whose  duty  it  is  to  impose  the  army  system 

!of  drill   and  discipline.     It  is   self -discipline   that  the  Borstal  boy 

needs  most,  and  the  army  (and  prison)  system  of  mechanical  obedi- 

■ience  entirely  fails  to  engender  it.     Moreover,  the  life  of  continual 

I  parading  and  drill  is   fatal  to  proper  training  for  work;   and  it  is 

imperative  that  the  Borstal  boy   should  acquire  the  habit  of  work 

I  if  he  is  to  live  a  useful  hfe  after  discharge.     On  this  point  it  is  worth 

.quoting  from  the  evidence  of  a  Borstal  visitor:  — 

The    staff    question   is  the  crux   of   the   whole  problem.     Here   is   the 

J real  weakness  of  Borstal  institutions  at  present,  and  in  its  improvement 

^Hhlies   the   main   reform.     The   tutors  represent  a  very   hopeful  irruption 

^^^ffrom   outside.        They   are    not    promoted    from   the    prison   staffs,   but 

genuinely  "tutors,"  specially  chosen  for  the  job.     Their  work  has  been 

difficult,  planted  as  they  are  in  the  midst  of  a  military  personnel,  but 

they  have  "made  good"  and  more  than  justified  their  existence. 

;  The  main  trouble  lies   in  the   fact  that  the  governors,   chief  warders, 

^^^Kand  warders  are  mostly  ex-regular   soldiers,  and  their  very  partial  ex- 

^*bp.  cit.    Appendix  li.,  p  531    iCmd.  13031, 


422  THE  BORSTAL  SYSTEM 

perience  of  life  and  their  management  of  men  colours  their  whole 
administration.  Transform  the  staff,  pursue  the  experiment  of  non- 
service  tutors,  and  you  will  get  a   real  Borstal. 

Mr.  William  Edwards,  the  chairman  of  the  Portland  magistrates, 
has  put  the  issue  admirably  in  the  following  words :  — 

If  the  aim  of  a  Borstal  institution  is  restraint  and  punishment,  it 
should  be  administered  on  Convict  prison  lines,  but  if  its  aim  is  the  re- 
formation and  redemption  of  boys,  it  should  be  purely  educational  in  its 
whole  character  and  purpose.  The  conduct  of  the  institutions  should  be 
entirely  changed. 

Boys  of  the  class  who  are  sent  to  Borstal  institutions  can  only  be 
reformed  by  the  personal  touch  of  trained  educationists  with  educated 
and  sympathetic  minds.  How  can  the  prison  warder  of  the  old  system 
be  expected  to  bring  these  qualities  to  bear  upon  the  youths  under  their 
charge?  This  is  no  task  for  the  ordinary  prison  governor  and  prison 
warders,  yet  these  are  just  the  men  who  are  appointed. 

Patience,  devotion,  idealism,  and  the  highest  mental  and  spiritual 
qualities  are  needed  by  those  who  seek  to  save  boys  of  this  character. 
How  can  success  be  hoped  for  unless  one  is  willing  to  study  the  difficult 
psychology  of  adolescence?  Here  is  the  most  difficult  material  which 
reformers  could  have  to  work  with.  An  iron  discipline  is  an  easy  thing 
to  obtain.  The  difficult  thing  is  to  save  a  boy  from  his  past  and  to 
turn  him  into  a  decent,  law-abiding  citizen. 

I  would  have  schoolmasters  of  long  experience  appointed  to  these  I 
institutions,  instead  of  the  old  type  of  prison  warder,  trained  in  thej 
traditions  of  the  old  regime  of  a  penal  settlement.  There  are  such  men 
to  be  found  in  plenty  in  the  teaching  profession,  and  particularly  I  have 
in  mind  the  type  of  teacher  who  is  called  to  train  lads  in  the  roughest 
parts  of  the  East  End  of  London.  The  suitability  of  appointing  military 
officers  to  the  governorship  of  these  institutions  might  also  be  reviewed 
with  profit. ^^ 

Mr.  Edwards  urges  that  Borstal  institutions  should  be  transferred 
from  the  control  of  the  Home  Office  to  that  of  the  Ministry  ofj 
Education. 

The  Rigime. — The  Borstal  boys  rise  at  5.40  a.m.,  drill  from  6.15J 
to  6.45,  and  then  have  breakfast,  chapel  is  at  7.30,  work  begins  at 
8  and  continues  until  dinner  at  noon.     Work  recommences  at  1  p.m. 
tea  is  at   5,  and  evening  school,   a  "silent  hour,"    and  recreatior 
follow  until  locking-up  time  at  8.30. 

The  life  of  the  Borstal  inmate  varies  according  to  hisi 
"grade,"  which  is  determined  partly  by  length  of  detention,  am 
partly  by  conduct  in  the  institution.  There  are  four  grades,  viz. 
penal,  ordinary,  intermediate,  and  special,  the  privileges  they  carrj 
being  progressive.  On  arrival  the  lad  is  placed  in  the  Ordinan; 
Grade.  This  is  a  time  of  discipline,  drill,  gymnasium  instructioi' 
and  hard  work,  its  object  being  to  improve  physique  and  instil  habit  j 

I 

33  "Daily    News,"  November   14th,   1921. 


THE  REGIME  423 

,of  obedience.     Boys  in  this  stage  do  the  domestic  work  of  the  insti- 
tution. 

Promotion  to  the  Intermediate  Grade  can  be  gained  by  twelve  weeks 
of  exemplary  behaviour.  During  this  second  period,  which  lasts 
six  months  (or  less  if  good  progress  is  made),  the  boy  chooses  or 
has  chosen  for  him  the  industry  to  which  he  is  to  go  on  dis- 
charge. He  also  attends  school  on  three  mornings  a  week  for  three 
hours  each  morning,  and  drill  and  physical  training  continue.  The 
Intermediate  Grade  also  brings  certain  "privileges,"  such  as 
association  for  games  and  meals,  and  permission  to  receive  visits  and 
letters.  The  next  stage  is  probationary  for  admission  to  the  Special 
Grade,  the  members  of  which  work  in  association  without  super- 
vision, have  outdoor  games  on  Saturday  afternoons,  and  earn  "badge 
imoney,"  which  may  either  be  spent  by  them  on  approved  objects 
jw  sent  to  relatives. 

A  boy  may  be  promoted  to  the  Special  Grade  after  five  months 
exemplary  conduct.  "The  system  is  to  trust  every  lad  in  a  'blue 
dress'  "  (a  blue  uniform  is  distinctive  of  the  Special  Grade)  "until 
he  shows  that  he  is  not  worthy  of  trust.  Then,  of  course,  he  is  re- 
jduced.""  All  the  parties  working  outside  the  institution  are  com- 
posed of  blue  dress  boys.  They  are  frequently  sent  to  do  their  work 
by  themselves,  and  on  errands  and  visits  in  the  neighbourhood.  An 
inmate  who  behaves  badly  may  be  placed  in  the  Penal  Grade,  where 
he  is  employed  in  separation,  on  laborious  work,  earns  no  gratuity, 
I  wears  prison  dress,  and  forfeits  the  privileges  of  letters  and  visits. 
j  Much  thought  has  been  spent  in  devising  the  system  of  grades. 
'Nevertheless,  the  "exemplary  behaviour"  which  leads  to  the 
;Special  Grade  is  sometimes  only  exemplary  institutional  behaviour, 
the  characteristic  of  which  is  rather  implicit  obedience  than  initia- 
tive and  self-reliance.  Mr.  Ellis,  from  whom  we  have  already 
quoted,  says  that  during  his  visit  to  Borstal  he  interviewed  two  old 
boys  from  his  own  school : 

Both  were  "blues,"  and  described  as  good  boys  who  never  give  any 
trouble.  I  quite  believe  it.  They  never  gave  trouble  at  Hayes.  They 
were  docile  creature.s  and  willing  plodders.  But  both  were  certified  men- 
tally defective.  They  lost  all  self-control  as  soon  as  they  were  released  on 
licence.  They  had  been  recalled  and  given  several  chances.  No  place  in 
the  Certified  Mental  Institution  could  be  found  for  them.  History  will 
doubtlessly  repeat  itself  in  a  little  while,  and  Borsstal  will  be  credited 
with  two  more  failures.  It  was  obvious  to  me  that  there  are  several  such 
youths  at  Borstal.  .  .  My  belief  is  that  the  lads  are  so  protected  from 
the  possibility  of  wrong-doing  that  as  soon  as  the  stringency  of  super- 
vision is  released  in  the  slightest  degree,  as  soon  as  the  restraint  is  re- 
moved, there  is  a  violent  reaction,  and  it  is  probably  due  to  this  as 
much  as  to  any  other  cause  that  so  many  failures  have  to  be  recorded.'^ 
On  reaching  the  Special  Grade,  every  boy  receives  £1.  After 
I  three  months  in  it  he  receives  a  further  5s.,  after  the  second  three 

I     **  Borstal  Association  Report,  1910,  p.  8. 
!     »*  "Certified  Schools  Gazette,"  March,    1921. 


424  THE  BORSTAL  SYSTEM 

months  7s.  6d.,  and  for  suceeding  periods  of  three  months  lOs. 
This  money  is  usually  kept  by  the  institution  until  he  leaves,  when 
it  is  handed  to  him,  but  if  the  boy  desires  to  use  it  for  books  of  a 
studious  nature,  such  as  trade  text-books,  he  may  do  so. 
The  late  governor  at  Borstal  has  suggested  that  a  "tuck  shop" 
should  be  instituted  at  which  boys  should  be  allowed  to  spend  3 
certain  proportion  of  their  money,  and  that  smoking  should  be 
allowed,  say  once  a  week. 

When  first  admitted  the  boy  is  allowed  to  send  and  receive  only  on« 
lettrcr  every  three  months.  When  he  is  promoted  to  the  Specia! 
Grade  the  letters  become  more  frequent  until  he  may  receive  anc 
send  one  every  week.  Visits  are  allowed  at  similar  intervals.  This 
is  not  so  advantageous  as  it  would  seem,  however,  as  most  of  \,\n 
parents  live  too  far  away  and  are  too  poor  to  take  advantage  of  thd 
"privilege."  \ 

For  an  ordinary  breach  of  rules,  a  boy  is  simply  reduced  in  grade  I 
thus  losing  marks  and  the  "privileges"  they  carry,  and  postponin^j 
the  date  of  his  release.  If  the  boy  works  and  behaves  well,  the  marksi 
may  be  returned.  In  more  serious  cases  the  boys  may  be  deprived) 
for  14  days  or  less,  of  everything  which  constitutes  a  luxury,  suclj 
as  jam  at  tea-time  and  marmalade  at  breakfast."  In  the  Penaj 
Grade,  boys  may,  as  a  punishment,  receive  so  many  days  stonij 
breaking  or  grinding;  the  maximum  period  in  the  penal  gradi 
is  two  months.  As  in  the  case  of  convicts,  corporal  punishment  i 
allowed  for  two  offences  only,  viz.  :  assaulting  a  warder,  and  in 
citement  to  mutiny. 

The  punishment  cells  are  as  large  as  the  ordinary  cells.  The  be< 
is  built  on  the  floor,  and  the  door  is  barred.  In  violent  cases,  wherj 
a  boy  is  likely  to  do  harm  either  to  himself  or  to  a  warder,  a  belt  i! 
used  consisting  of  a  padded  leather  band  which  passes  round  thj 
body  tightly  and  fastens  at  the  back.  At  each  side  is  attached  1 
handcufi  which  keeps  the  boy's  arms  bent  and  helpless.  At  meaj 
times  one  hand  is  released;  the  feet  are  not  bound.  The  use  of  thi< 
"jacket"  is  subject  to  carefully  guarded  restrictions  and  an  immediat, 
report  to  a  superior  officer.  For  very  violent  cases  a  special  padde<i 
cell  is  provided.  j 

Although  the  Borstal  Association  records  its  behef  that  "punish! 
ment,  as  such,  stunts  development,"^'  officers  of  the  Borstal  Ir: 
stitutions  appear  to  take  an  opposite  view.  It  has  been  suggested  b^ 
one  Borstal  governor  that  boys  should,  in  addition  to  the  punishmerij 
awarded,  forfeit  the  time  spent  in  the  punishment  block  from  thi 
period  of  sentence  served.  The  officials,  when  interviewed,  weri 
unanimously  in  favour  of  corporal  punishment. 

I 

S6  The  Home  Secretary,  in  a  statement  in  the  Press  on  December  24th,  1921,  said:  'j 
have  stopped  close  confinement  and  punishments  which  would  involve  insuflBcient  food 
Previously,  bread   and  water   diet   could  be   inflicted,   as    in  prisons.  j 

S'  Borstal   Association  Report,   1910,    p   .10. 


THE  REGIME  425 

Borstal  desires  that  its  inmates  shall  "possess  a  certain  modest 
standard  of  education""  on  discharge.  The  proficiency  aimed  at 
is  "practically  represented  by  Grade  [Standard]  III.  of  the  national 
code,""  and  the  Boi-stal  Association  tells  us  (this  even  before  the 
war)  that  the  period  of  educational  training  "may  even  be 
eliminated  altogether,  if  the  boy  does  not  require  such  education."" 
The  hours  given  to  education  have  increased,  however,  from 
five  per  week  in  1910  to  nine  (three  hours  on  three  mornings  a 
week)  at  the  present  time.  One  is  not  surprised  to  learn  that  the 
bigger  boys  of  19  to  21  greatly  resent  being  sent  to  school ;  that  they 

,  are  unequal  to  third  standard  work  indicates  a  resentment  of  some 
standing.  Workshop  arithmetic  is  taught  when  necessary,  and 
classes  in  geography  and  civics,  and  lectures  are  given  four  evenings 

1  a  week.     There  are  special  classes  for  backward  lads  and  there  is 

i  a  library  of  text-books  on  technical  subjects,  foreign  grammars, 
travel,  biography,  etc.  The  schoolroom  is  large  and  well-ventilated, 
but  Mr.  Ellis,  of  the  Hayes  Reformatory,  reports  that  "the  trained 

IstaS  is  totally  inadequate  for  the  needs  of  so  many  lads."*' 

I  The  Departmental  Committee  of  1910  on  the  supply  of  books 
; wrote:  "At  Borstal  we  found  that  her  (Mrs.  Henrj'  Wood's)  pre- 
eminence was  just  maintained  against  the  competition  of  Dickens, 
Clark  Russell,  Henty,  Fenimore  Cooper,  Charles  Reade,  Conan 
Doyle  and  Marryat."  A  Borstal  ex-chaplain  says  that  the  boys 
"liked  books  because  they  partly  relieved  monotony,  but  I  don't 
think  anything  like  enough  was  made  of  the  opportunity  to  cultivate 
a  decent  literary  taste.  They  were  too  often  doled  out  books  that  can 
only  be  called  'sloppy'  or  'goody-goody'." 

I  The  gymnasium  is  under  the  care  of  a  special  instructor.  It 
; possesses  the  usual  gymnastic  apparatus,  and  each  boy  has  his  own 
gym.  kit,  which  he  keeps  in  a  pigeon  hole  in  the  lobby  outside. 
Great  attention  is  given  to  "brain  work,"  i.e.,  exercises  which  neces- 
sitate the  boy  keeping  his  attention  fixed  and  his  brain  alert.  Boys, 
when  inspected,  showed  a  very  mixed  ability  to  carry  out  instruc- 
tions, the  dull  and  alert  drilling  together.  It  would  probably  be 
better  if  they  were  divided  into  grades,  so  that  each  boy  could  be 
given  work  his  brain  could  grasp  rather  than  flounder  hopelessly  at 
imuch  he  cannot  grasp. 

I  During  the  time  allotted  to  recreation,  the  N.C.O.'s  are  taken 
through  special  tables  of  exercise,  and  taught  to  command  and  drill 
other  boys.  Each  evening  after  the  educational  hour  games 
are  allowed,  including  parlour  games,  cards  (of  the  snap 
variety),  chess,  dominoes,  draughts,  etc.  Books  may  be  read,  and 
the  boys  are  allowed  to  write  diaries,  which  they  may  take  out  on 

••Borstal  Association  Report,   1914,  p.   7. 

"  Instrnctions    for    carrying    out    the    Regulations    under    the    Prevention    of    Crime    Act. 
1908,  10  {11. 

*•  Borstal  Association  Report,   1914,  p.  8. 

"  "Certified  SchooU  Gazette,"  March,   1921,  p.   83. 

P2 


426  THE  BORSTAL  SYSTEM 

their  discharge  if  they  wish.  Football  is  taught  and  encouraged,  and 
sometimes  the  Borstal  team  plays  away.  Boxing  is  also  permitted 
and  contests  arranged  within  the  institution.  A  stage  has  been 
erected,  the  boys  having  painted  scenery  and  constructed  a  drop 
curtain,  footlights,  etc.  Lantern  lectures  are  given  on  Saturday 
nights,  and  outside  concert  parties  give  performances.  Certain  of 
the  boys  are  allowed  to  go  without  a  warder  for  country  walks, 
visiting,  etc. 

The  boys  generally  say  they  have  enough  food,  but  it  is  difi&cult 
to  know  how  far  their  statements  in  this,  as  in  other  respects,  are 
influenced  by  the  fact  that  an  officer  of  the  institution  is  generally 
present  when  they  are  questioned.  One  lad  said  "the  food  is  good, 
but  not  like  I  am  used  to  at  home."  He  received  enough,  "but  at 
times  I  could  eat  more. " 

Industrial  Training. —  There  is  a  general  impression  that  Borstal 
Institutions  "teach  trades" — an  impression  as  common  amongst  the 
judges  and  recorders  who  sentence  offenders  to  Borstal  treatment, 
as  it  is  amongst  laymen.  On  October  20,  1919,  for  instance,  the 
Lord  Chief  Justice,  after  disposing  of  a  number  of  appeals,  four  of 
which  were  by  youthful  offenders  sentenced  to  Borstal  treatment,  , 
said :  I 

In  the    opinion  of   the    Court,   the  sentence  of   these   lads  to   Borstal  ! 
treatment  was  in  their  best  interests,  os  it  afforded  them  an  opportunity  i 
of  acquiring  a  trade,  and  so  enabled  them  to  earn  an  honest  living.  .  .  i 
Further,    the    Court   was   clearly   of   opinion    that    the    three   years'   sen- 
tence. .  .  .   was  the  right  term,  because  that  period  allowed  the  lads  pro- 
perly to   learn    a  trade  and  be   in   a  position  afterwards  to  earn   their 
own  living.*'  ; 

This  widesprea^l  misunderstanding  doubtless  arose  from  the  speech 
made  by  Mr.  McKenna  on  the  Criminal  Justice  Administration  Bill, ; 
in  the  course  of  which  he  said  "Our  object  is  to  provide  a  place 
where  the  offender  will  he  taught  an  industry."  *'  Extracts  fromi 
this  speech,  including  this  sentence,  have  been  repeatedly  reprinted j 
in  the  reports  of  the  Borstal  Association.  In  fact,  in  the  same  re- 
port (that  for  1919),  one  finds  Mr.  McKenna  saying  (on  p.  6)  that 
Borstal  teaches  an  industry  and  the  Association  saying  (on  p.  3)  that 
"Borstal  does  not  pretend  to  teach  a  trade"  ! 

One  feels  that  in  this  respect  there  has  been  an  element  present, 
in  advertising  Borstal  treatment  for  which  "false  pretences"  isj 
hardly  too  strong  a  term.  The  Home  Office  has  known  for  eleven! 
years  that  Borstal  does  not  do  what  the  judicial  authorities  who  sen-| 
tence  offenders  to  detention  imagine  it  does.  Other  misunderstandings 
on  the  part  of  the  authorities  are  promptly  corrected  by  official  cir- 
cular; but  this  very  grave  error  still  goes  uncorrected,  and  many 

*'  "The   Times,"    October    21st,    1919.    We   are  informed    that  Tery    few    judges   hafe  ereij 
Tisited  any  of  the   Borstal  Institutions.  j 

<3  Parliamentary  Debates,    April    15th,   1914. 


INDUSTRIAL  TBAINING  427 

unfortunate  lads  are  detained  needlessly  at  Borstal  in  consequence. 
A  comparison  of  Mr.  McKenna's  speech  on  the  objects  of  Borstal " 
with  the  facts  of  Borstal  treatment  shows  that  the  salient  conditions 
on  which  the  consent  of  Parliament  was  obtained  to  the  clauses 
affecting  Borstal  in  the  Criminal  Justice  Administration  Act,  1914, 
have  not  been  fulfilled. 

Borstal  does  not  "teach  trades";  but  it  has  a  profound  faith  in 
the  therapeutic  value  of  hard  work.  ImpUcit  in  the  system  is  the 
belief  that  by  keeping  a  lad  fully  employed  throughout  a  full  work- 
ing day  he  will  contract  the  "habit"  of  work,  keep  it  aft^r  he  re- 
gains his  freedom,  and  so  cease  from  offending  against  the  law.  If 
it  were  possible  to  ensure  that  there  existed  in  the  community  a  con- 
stant demand  for  work,  and  that  the  lads  were  discharged  suffi- 
ciently skilled  to  meet  the  demand,  something  might  be  said  for  this 
aspect  of  the  Borstal  System.  Apart,  however,  from  the  fact  that 
there  is  no  such  certainty  of  employment.  Borstal  does  not — indeed 
cannot — give  saleable  skill  in  the  time  the  lads  stay  there.  For, 
though  they  are  committed  for  from  two  to  three  years,  the  better 
behaved  the  lad,  the  earlier  he  is  discharged  on  licence.  Here  is 
a  diflBculty  that  can  never  be  overcome  so  long  as  Borstal  retains  its 
present  quasi-penal  character:  it  would  be  clearly  unfair  to  keep 
the  boys  in  a  penal  institution  for  the  time  needed  to  acquire  a  trade. 

I  Granted  that  Borstal  cannot  teach  a  trade,  how  far  does  it  go  in 
'teaching  its  inmates  "so  much  of  a  trade  as  the  length  of  his  deten- 
tion permits"?" 

I  The  daily  time-table  allows  7  hours  35  minutes  for  labour,  which 
Icompares  favourably  with  the  hours  worked  by  a  skilled  artisan,  and 
even  when  the  hour's  drill  and  parade  is  added,  cannot  be  regarded 
las  excessive.  The  occupations  followed  are  bricklaying,  carpentry, 
[painting,  smith's  work,  shoemaking,  gardening,  farming,  sea-cook- 
iing,  Army  instruction,  laundry  and  domestic  work  in  the  institution. 
Every  boy  on  admission  is  put  into  the  laundry  until  it  is  decided 
Jat  which  trade  he  shall  work.  The  laundry  is  airy,  light,  and  well- 
ventilated,  and  in  it  all  the  washing  of  the  institution  is  done.  It 
lis  fitted  with  patent  driers,  washing  and  mangling  machines,  and 
jtanks.  An  electric  washer  has  been  recently  installed.  Lads  stay 
n  the  laundry  from  a  few  weeks  to  three  months,  seldom  longer, 
fihe  period  being  decided  by  the  speed  with  which  vacancies  occur  in 
phe  trades  they  desire  to  follow. 

j  The  trade  instructors,  are,  on  the  whole,  competent  men,  but  they 
jiave  little  opportunity  of  doing  their  work  well.  They  are  given  too 
Inany  "pupils,"  and  not  enough  tools.  The  lesson-schemes  are  well 
ihought  out,  but  they  are  not  carried  out.  The  dominant  anxiety 
jn  every  shop  is  not  to  see  that  each  boy  is  taught  "so  much  of  a 
rade  as  the  length  of  his   detention  permits,"   but   to  meet   the 

'*  Parliamentary   Debates,   House   ol  Commons,    April    15th,    1914. 

-ir  Evelyn  Rnggles-Brise,  quoted  by  the  Borstal  Association,  Annual  Report,  1914,  p.  6. 


428  THE  BORSTAL  SYSTEM 

"orders"  for  goods  required  by  the  institution.  Indeed,  it  is  no  ex- 
aggeration to  say  that  Borstal  is  not  primarily  a  reformatory  insti- 
tution at  all ;  it  is  a  colony  where  incompetent  young  workers  supply 
as  best  they  can,  under  competent  direction,  the  needs  of  the  insti- 
tution, largely  irrespective  of  their  own  needs. 

Borstal  is  "starved" — starved  of  instructors  (but  not  of  warders) 
and  starved  of  machinery.  In  the  bootmaking  shop  there  is  not  a 
single  item  of  machinery.  Every  boot  is  hand-made,  and  the  coars- 
est possible  kind  at  that.  The  significance  of  this  is  seen  when  it 
is  remembered  that,  except  for  a  few  special  kinds  of  boots — surgicai 
and  theatrical  boots,  and  the  like — the  demand  for  any  but  the 
highest  class  of  hand-made  boot  has  little  or  no  commercial  existence. 
Mr.  Ellis  says:  — 

a  lad  who  spends  two  years  in  this  (the  bootmaking)  shop  would  scarcely 
be  fit  to  take  on  a  repairer's  job  in  a  remote  country  village.  For  the 
greater  part  of  his  time  he  will  be  intensifying  his  handicap  in  the  com- 
mercial world.  .  .  If  boot-making  must  be  taught  at  Borstal,  it  should 
be  on  the  proper  factory  principles,  so  that  a  youth  would  go  to  any 
manufacturer  as  clicker,  laster,  finisher,  and  so  on.  If  the  lads  of  poor 
mentality  must  remain  at  Borstal,  for  them  boot-repairing  upon  up-to- 
date  principles  would  be  an  excellent  form  of  vocational  training."" 

The  chief  work  in  this  shop  consists  of  making  and  repairing: 
the  boys'  own  boots  for  use  whilst  in  the  institution.  The  institution i 
boots  look  heavy  and  uncomfortable,  but  experience  of  similarly! 
heavy  army  boots  suggests  they  may  be  comfortable  enough,  oncej 
the  wearer  becomes  used  to  them.  The  bootmaking  shop  is  large  i 
and  airy,  and  the  instructors  appear  capable  of  doing  good  work  with ' 
their  charges,  if  they  were  given  reasonable  conditions. 

The  external  conditions  under  which  tailoring  is  done  are  also 
good.  The  shop  is  light,  well-ventilated,  and  heated  by  radiators,' 
but,  as  the  bootmaking  shop  contains  not  a  single  machine  for: 
making  boots,  so  the  tailor's  shop  contains  not  a  yard  of  cloth  !j 
Gingham  and  rough  corduroy  are  the  materials  worked  with"  Mr.' 
Ellis,  above  quoted,  saw  working  in  the  tailor's  shop  a  lad  whom  he 
knew  before  his  committal  to  Borstal  as 

capable  of  making  trousers,  waistcoats  and  even  coats,  doomed  toj 
slavery  which  would  have  reconciled  Hood's  sempstress  to  her  "stitch  j 
stitch,  stitch."  The  coarsest  corduroy  and  gingham  are  not  exactly  tht 
materials  from  which  one  can  extract  altruistic  views  of  life.  .  .  .  Tht| 
lads  wear  their  "cords"  and  a  coarse  overall.  The  making  of  suclj 
appeared  to  be  the  whole  duty  of  the  tailors.  Not  a  lad  would  be  fittecj 
for  employment  in  any  clothing  manufacturer's  establishment  in  thi.'; 
or  any  other  civilised  country  in  virtue  of  the  vocational  training  giver 
him  at  Borstal. 

*•  "Certified  Schools  Gazette,"   March,   1921,  p.   80. 

*'  When    a    boy   is    about    to   be   discharged    "he    is!    .    .    .    measured    for   clothes   by 
outfitter    of    the  Association."— Borstal  Association  Report,   1914,    p.   9. 


INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING  429 

The  buildings  at  Borstal  are  being  extended  by  the  boys'  labour, 
and  this  fact  must  be  allowed  for  in  estimating  the  value  of  the  in- 
struction in  woodwork.  Nevertheless,  the  Borstal  Institution  should 
exist  to  train  Borstal  boys,  not  they  to  build  Borstal  institutions. 
The  trainer  in  woodwork  has  no  opportunity  of  exercising  the  gifts 
he  quite  certainly  possesses.  He  is  just  the  skilled  workman,  doing 
the  more  difficult  jobs,  and  the  lads  around  him,  nominally  his 
pupils,  really  are  his  labourers,  doing  what  they  can  to  help  him 
fill  orders  to  time.     But  "some  of  the  lads,"  says  Mr.  ElUs 

are  working  independently,  and  doing  really  good  work  at  window- 
sills,  sashes,  boxes,  etc.  This  looks  like  evidence  of  sound  training 
until  a  chance  question  reveals  the  fact  that  these  lads  were  at  the  trade 
before  they  came  to  Borstal.  Others  present  in  the  shop  were  still 
planing,  as  they  had  been  from  the  beginning.  If  three  or  four  good 
joiners  were  engaged,  and  each  were  given  five  or  six  apprentices,  under 
the  co-ordinating  influences  of  the  present  instructor,  all  the  work  of  the 
institutions  and  the  new  buildings  would  be  accomplished,  and  the 
value  of  the  training  greatly  enhanced.  There  would  be  some  "life"  in 
the  shop. 

[f  the  shoemaking  shop  lacks  machinery,  its  deficiency  is  more 
^  in  made  up  by  the  engineering  workshop,  which  is  simply  packed 
with  machinery — most  of  it  never  used. 

The  shop  is  of  excellent  proportions,  splendidly  equipped.  The  in- 
structor produced  his  register  and  list  of  "lectures."  It  is  merest  charity 
to  pass  them  over  and  write  no  more.  .   .   . 

The  fact  is  the  instructor  is  set  even  a  more  difficult  task  than  any 
of  his  colleagues.  The  institution  needs  are  so  many  that  it  would  be 
humanly  impossible  for  him  to  carry  through  any  systematic  course  of 
instruction.  The  result  is  that  there  is  a  very  spasmodic  attempt  to 
carry  through  a  .«;eries  of  graduated  exercises,  which  apparently  begin 
nowhere  and  end  nowhere.  He  has  to  supervise  and  teach  a  large  number 
of  lads,  far  too  many,  even  if  they  were  working  as  an  unified  class. 
But  the  degree  of  attainment  is  so  diversified  that  collective  teaching 
cannot  be  given.  The  lads  generally  are  engaged,  when  engaged  at  all, 
upon  ordinary  repairs.   .   .  . 

Another  lad  was  very  successfully  making  horse-shoes — a  piece  of 
specialisation  which  will  stand  him  in  good  stead  if  he  takes  up  far- 
rier's work.  He  had  worked  at  the  job  for  some  time.  In  this  depart- 
ment there  is  need  for  four  or  five  highly-qualified  instructors  who 
would  specialise,  e.g.,  upon  turnery,  whitesmiths'  and  blacksmiths'  work. 
Each  instructor  could  take  seven  or  eight  apprentices  and  incidentally 
still  do  all  the  necessary  work  of  the  institution** 

The  smithy  is  a  large  shop  with  glass  roof.  The  horses  of  the 
inst'.tution  are  shod  here,  and  the  structure  of  the  horse's  hoof  was 
showi<  by  diagrams  on  the  blackboard. 

The  cookhouse  at  Borstal  is  important  from  the  fact  that  many 
Borstal  lads  are  sent  to  sea  as  cooks.    The  room  is  large  and  contains 

*'  J.   Ellis,   "Certified   Schools   Gazette,"   March,    1921,   p.    83. 


480  THE  BORSTAL  SYSTEM 


I 


steam  boilers,  ovens,  and  bread  store,  and  a  galley-stove  has  been 
installed."  Each  day  samples  of  "superior"  dishes — rice  mould, 
stewed  steak  with  mashed  potato  edge,  pancakes — are  cooked  for 
instructional  purposes,  being  afterwards  consumed  by  the  lads 
possessing  the  best  records.  Boys  from  each  mess  table  bring  in 
the  food  from  the  cookhouse.  At  meals  there  is  little  or  no  oppor- 
tunity taken  of  inculcating  table  conduct,  and  a  valuable  educational 
opportunity  is  thereby  missed. 

The  farm  at  Borstal  ought  to  be  one  of  the  best  features  of  the 
work,  but  digging  is  not  farming,  neither  is  picking  out  stones  from 
the  soil,  though  these  appeared  to  be  the  main  occupations  of  the 
lads  when  we  saw  them.  We  cannot  help  thinking  that  Borstal  does 
not  sufficiently  realise  the  peculiar  advantages  presented  by  farm- 
work.  We  are  informed  that  the  period  of  detention  is  long  enough 
to  permit  the  lads  to  receive  a  serviceable  agricultural  training,  and 
this,  combined  with  the  fact  that  many  of  the  lads  are  mentally  of 
low  grade  and  incapable  of  developing  sufficient  skill  at  any  handi- 
craft, forms  an  additional  reason  for  giving  them  such  a  training. 
This  would  involve  installing  much  more  agricultural  machinery 
than  Borstal  now  possesses,  and  also  more  cattle.  There  are  a  few 
horses,  cows  and  pigs  at  Borstal,  and  a  small  dairy,  but,  if  the  land 
were  properly  farmed,  more  horses  or,  perhaps  preferably,  tractors, 
would  be  requii-ed.  We  observed  that  boys  worked  in  rain  unless 
very  heavy  (when  they  are  given  work  indoors),  in  their  ordinary 
clothes.  It  should  be  arranged  that  some  sort  of  overcoat  or  light 
mackintosh  be  provided. 

Nothing  made  in  the  institution  is  sold  outside,  and  the  only  article 
produced  by  the  boys,  but  not  consumed  or  used  by  them,  is  the 
bread  for  the  officers'  mess. 


The  Borstal  Association.  I 

The  Borstal  Association  is  an  integral  part  of  the  Borstal  System.. ! 
The  Association  is  the  outgrowth  of  "a  small  society,  known  as  the  I 
London  Prison  Visitors'  Association,  which  was  formed  to  visit  lads 
in  the  London  prisons;  and  later  in  the  prison  at  Borstal.       The 
procedure  was  to  visit  Borstal  by  roster  each  month,  and  interview  ; 
the  cases  about  to  be  discharged  in  the  following  month,   so  that  I 
the  best  arrangements  might  be  made.     Out  of  this  small  body  of  ^ 
visitors  sprang  the  Borstal  Association.     .     .     .      Among  them  (the 
visitors)  were  two  young  barristers,  living  in  chambers,  who  placed  I 
their  time  and  their  rooms  at  our  disposal.     They  were  Mr.  Haldane  ; 
Porter  and  Mr.  (now  Sir  Wemyss)  Grant-Wilson,  the  first  and  the  I 
second  Honorary  Directors  of  the  Association."" 

*'  Also.  "If  a   lad   expresses  a  desire  to  go  to  sea,   he  is  in'tructed  in  steering,  knotting,  j 
lashing,    etc.,   before  he  goes."— Borstal   Association  Report,    1910,  p.   8.  t 

^o  Sir  E.   Ruggles-Brise,  "The  English  Prison  System,"   p.  92. 


THE  BORSTAL  ASSOCIATION  481 

The  Borstal  Association  was  founded  by  Sir  Evelyn  Ruggles- 
Brise,  and  is  the  society  contemplated  by  Section  8  of  the  Preven- 
tion of  Crime  Act,  1908,  which  provides  that:  — 

Where  a  society  has  undertaken  the  duty  of  assisting  or  supervising 
persons  discharged  from  a  Borstal  Institution,  either  absolutely  or  on 
licence,  there  may  be  paid  to  the  Society,  out  of  money  provided  by 
Parliament,  towards  the  expenses  of  the  Society  incurred  in  connection 
with  the  persons  so  discharged  such  sums  on  such  conditions  as  the 
Secretary  of  State,  with  the  approval  of  the  Treasury,  may  recommend. 

The  expenses   of  the   Borstal  Association  are  met    by  Treasury' 

grants  and  voluntary  subscriptions  in  the  proportion  of  a  £2  grant 

for  every  £1  voluntarily  subscribed. 

The   Borstal  Association  undertakes  the  after-care  of  every  boy 

I  and  girl  discharged  from  a  Borstal  Institution.*^     It  is  the  authority 

j  responsible  to  the  Secretary  of  State  for  the  enforcement  of  the  con- 

I  ditions  of  the  licence  under  which  boys  are  released  from  Borstal 

Institutions.  It  also  undertakes  to  find  work  and,  if  necessary,  a 
,  new  home  for  all  boys  who  have  attained  the  Special  Grade  whilst 
!  in  the  Institution.       The   Association  is  different   from   any  other 

Society  interested  in  the  welfare  of  offenders,  in  that  it  is  national 

and  not  local  in  character,  and  it  undertakes  much  more  than  the 
\  ordinary  voluntary  society,  which  can  refuse  any  case  or  drop  it  if 
1  it  so  desire. 

The  Association  first  comes  into  touch  with  the  boy  on  his  recep- 
'  tion  at  a  Borstal  Institution,  when  his  ofl&cial  record  is  forwarded  to 
,  its  officers  by  the  authorities  and  a  full  note  made  of  its  con- 
:  tents.  In  many  cases  correspondence  begins  forthwith  with  the 
i  boy's  relations  or  with  persons  interested,  or  with  possible  employers. 

His  home  is  visited  and  a  careful  note  made  of  any  circumstances 
;  hkely  to  affect  his  future  prospects.  At  any  time  during  detention 
I  a  boy  can  apply  to  see  the  representatives  of  the  Association  on  their 
I  visits  to  the  Institution,  and  can  have  a  private  conversation  with 
'  them  on  matters  affecting  his  future.  Three  months  before  dis- 
\  charge  he  is  privately  seen  at  the  Institution  by  a  representative  of 

the  Association  (who  has  before  him  the  opinions  of  the  discipline 
(Officers  and  medical  officer),  and  the  boy's  hopes  and  prospects  are 
\  gone  into.  As  the  outcome  of  this  visit  arrangements  are  made  for 
I  the  disposal  of  the  boy  on  release. 

i  Boys  may  be  released  on  licence,"  on  the  recommendation  of  the 
i  governor  after  six  months'  detention;  girls  after  three  months.  The 
:  most  frequent  period  of  detention  is  about  20  months  for  boys  and 
I  30  months  for  girls. 

I  The  ex-Borstal  youth  remains  under  licence  for  one  year  longer 
I  than  the  unexpired  portion  of  his  sentence.     Thus  a  lad  sentenced 

]••  A«  a  matter  ol  literary  conyenience  we  shall  in  what  follows  refer  only  to  boys,  except 
'wImb  the  treatment  of  girls  is  different. 

I     **  "Under  the  sapervision  of  the  Prison  Commissioners"   f  Prevention  of  Crime  Act,  1908, 
Sections  5  and  6,  and  Criminal  Justice  Administration  Act,  1914,  Section  11   (2)1,  acting 
j  thiODgh   the   Borstal  Asaociation. 


43S  THE  BORSTAL  SYSTEM  aj 

to  three  years'  detention,  and  licensed  after  20  months,  would  re- 
main under  supervision  for  two  years  and  four  months.  The  con- 
ditions of  licence  are  that :  — 

1.  The  licensee  shall  proceed  to  15,  Buckingham  Street,  Strand,  W.C., 
(the  headquarters  of  the  Borstal  Association),  and  shall  not,  with- 
out the  consent  of  the  secretary  or  person  under  whose  charge  he  has 
been  placed,  remove  from  that  place  or  such  other  place  as  may  be 
named  by  the  society  or  person. 

2.  He  shall  obey  such  instructions  as  he  shall  receive  with  regard  to 
punctual  and  regular  attendance  at  employment  or  otherwise ;  he 
shall  report  himself  periodically,  either  personally  or  by  letter,  if 
required  to  do  so ;  he  shall  not  change  his  address  without  permission. 

3  He  shall  abstain  from  any  violation  of  the  law,  shall  not  associate 
with  persons  of  bad  character,  and  shall  lead  a  sober  and  industrious 
life  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Borstal  Association. 

If  the  licensee  fails  to  fulfil  these  conditions  the  licence  may  be 
revoked  and  he  may  be  taken  back  for  further  "training."  The 
maximum  period  for  which  the  licensee  may  be  detained  on  recall 
is  one  year,  and  "he  may  be  so  detained  notwithstanding  that  the 
period  of  supervision  has  expired."" 

The  Borstal  Association  says":  — 

This  licence  should  not  be  confused  with  the  licence  which  control* 
an  ex-convict ;  the  Borstal  boy  is  not  brought  into  contact  with  the 
police  in  any  way ;  his  licence  simply  attaches  him  to  friendly  super- 
visors and  provides  a  stimulus  to  the  formation  of  regular  habits,  for 
if  his  conduct  is  unsatisfactory,  he  may  be  arrested  and  taken  back 
for  further  training. 

On  the  morning  of  his  release  he  is  brought  by  an  officer  of  the 
Institution  (in  plain  clothes)  to  the  office  of  the  Association.  His 
relations  with  the  Association  are  clearly  explained  to  him;  its 
desire  to  help  him  to  live  honestly  and  to  prosper ;  its  duty  to  report 
him  for  re-arrest  if  he  fails  to  lead  a  sober  and  industrious  life.  He 
is  invited  to  write  fully  and  frequently ;  he  is  warned  against  talking 
about  his  past;  against  expecting  too  much  to  begin  with,  or  being' 
contented  with  too  little  progress  later  on ;  and  is  advised  to  apply  to 
the  nearest  Associate  or  to  the  nearest  police  station  if  through  any 
sudden  mishap  he  finds  himself  stranded  and  unable  immediately 
to  communicate  with  the  office ;  the  police,  at  the  request  of  the 
Secretary  of  State,  communicate  at  once  with  the  Association  if  any 
boy  so  applies  to  them. 

He  is  then  sent  on  to  his  home  or  to  the  lodgings  which  have  been  j 
found  for  him,  where  he  is  received  by  the  Associate  in  that  district,  j 
who  has  been  duly  notified  of  his  coming.  If  the  home  conditions  | 
are  unsatisfactory,  or  there  is  danger  from  old  companions,  a  home  j 

•"  Criminal   Justice   Administration   Act,    1914,   Section    11    (3).    Thus   a    lad   returned   to 
Borstal  when  his  licence  had   only  six  months  to   run  might  be  kept  lor   six   months   alter  | 
it  had  exrired.  j 

s*  Borstal   Association  Annual  Report,    1914,   p.   8. 


THE  RESULTS  433 

and  employment  are  found  in  a  new  district."  He  is  provided  with 
working  clothes  and  tools;  work  is  found  for  him,  and,  if  necessary, 
money  is  provided  to  meet  expenses  of  board  and  lodging  until  he  is 
self-supporting.  The  local  Associate  thereafter  exercises  a  close, 
friendly  supervision,  seeing  that  the  boy  is  regular  at  his  work,  and, 
if  possible,  connecting  him  with  a  club  or  other  means  of  spending 
his  spare  time  healthily  and  honestly." 

The  Borstal  Institution  reports  that  during  the  year  ended  March 
31,  1920,  390  boys  and  48  girls  were  released  to  the  care  of  the 
Borstal  Association,  and  work  was  found  for  about  three-quarters 
of  this  number;  in  some  instances  many  openings  were  obtained  in 
succession  for  the  same  boy.  The  provision  of  work  is  one  of  the 
most  difficult  tasks  for  the  Borstal  Association:  — 

To  find  work  at  all  for  a  boy  without  character  is  difficult.  .  .  .  There 
are  comparatively  few  jobs  in  which  the  absence  of  a  character  does  not 
matter.  Then  the  boy's  previous  experience  of  regular  work  is  some- 
times slight,  or  has  been  gained  wholly  at  the  institution,  where  working 
hours,  supply  of  material,  and  speed  of  work  are  regulated  by  other  than 

commercial  considerations.*' 

I 

I  In  its  1921  Report  the  Borstal  Association  says  that  through  its 
;  voluntary  Associates  it  was  responsible  for  the  supervision  of  about 

1,000  boys  and  girls,  and,  through  its  London  office  staff,  of  about 

250  in  the  London  area." 
The  actual  supervisors  of  the  Borstal  Association  are  voluntary 

workers  of  all  ranks  and  conditions  in  life.  Many  of  them  are 
i known  to  the  writer,  and  though  they  vary  in  experience,  zeal  and 
I  opportunity,  on  the  whole  he  is  convinced  that  they  endeavour  to  do 

their  work  kindly,  tactfully,  and  in  the  spirit  contemplated  when 

the  Borstal  Association  was  formed. 

Results. — The  results  of  Borstal  treatment  share  the  same  disabiUty 
;as  the  results  of  any  other  kind  of  penal  treatment,  i.e.,  the  successes 
are  seldom  heard  of,  but  the  failures,  by  their  subsequent  appear- 
iances  in  Court  for  further  offences,  have  the  opportunity  of 
'advertising  their  failure.  Thus  it  is  that  Court  and  gaol  officials, 
with  only  the  failures'  records  before  them,  are  apt  to  generalise  on 
biassed  data.  Many  prison  warders,  for  instance,  say  that  Borstal 
lis  a  place  for  the  manufacture  of  criminals,  and  a  policeman  records 
'his  conviction  that  "when  young  persons  are  sent  to  Borstal  they 
■almost  always  turn  out  to  be  convicts  later  on." 

To  judge  Borstal  results,  pre-war  figures  are  probably  a  safer 
guide  than  those  compiled  later.  An  analysis  published  by  the 
'Borstal  Association  in  1915,"  showed  that — 

Borstal  Association   Report,   1916,   p.    5. 

'    ••Borstal  Association  Report,  1915,  p.  12. 

I    "Borstal  Association  Report,  1915,  p.  11. 

"Borstal  Association  Report,   1921,   p.  6. 

Borstal  Association  Report,  1915,  p.   14. 


4S4  THE  BORSTAL  SYSTEM 

(a)  of  1,454  boys  discharged  between  August  1909,  and  March  31st, 
1914,  940  (64  per  cent.)  have  not  been  reported  as  re-convicted,  and 
were  satisfactory   when   last  heard   of ; 

(b)  122  (8.4  per  cent.)  were  unsatisfactory  when  last  heard  of,  but  had 
not  been  reported  as  re-convicted  ; 

(c)  392  (27  per  cent.)  had  been  reported  as  re-convicted. 

In  the  absence  of  data  showing  the  arrangements  made  by  the 
poUce  for  acquainting  the  Borstal  Association  with  the  re-conviction 
of  ex-Borstal  inmates,  the  phrase  "has  not  been  reported  as  re- 
convicted" cannot  be  taken  as  synonymous  with  "has  not  been 
re-convicted."  "Satisfactory  when  last  heard  of"  should  be  read  in 
conjunction  with  statements  of  the  difficulty  Borstal  Association 
Associates  often  find  in  keeping  track  of  the  lads.  "It  is  impossible 
to  keep  in  touch  with  some  of  these  lads.  Many  have  no  home,  and 
if  they  wander  off  from  their  lodgings  there  is  no  one  with  whom  to 
communicate. " '"'  This  difficulty  is  specially  pronounced  in  regard! 
to  lads  sent  to  sea — no  small  proportion  of  the  whole.  i 

In  1915,  when  the  above  figures  were  compiled,  all  these  1,454  j 
boys  had  been  at  liberty  at  least  12  months.  Details  by  years  are  as  | 
follows":  — 

Boya  discharged  during  Not 

the  year  ending  re-convicted. 

March  31,   1910 64.6 

„       „     1911 67.0 

,,       ,,     1912 65.9 

,,       ,,     1913 73.6 

,,       ,,     1914" 83.2 

Of  discharges  for  the  two  years  ended  March  31,  1915,  the  per-  j 
centages   of  those  doing  well  at  the   time   the  Borstal  Association 
Reports  were  compiled  (when  the  lads  would  have  been  at  liberty 
from  four  years  to  16  months)  vary  according  to  age  on  committal 
as  follows  : —  Average." 

Sent  when  under    17 82.72 

Between    17   and    18 83.97 

18  and   19 80.18 

19  and   20 75.74 

20  and   21 68.23 

The  percentage  of  success  with  lads  committed  to  Borstal  when 

over  20  years  old  appears  to  have  dropped  from  68.23  in  1914-15  to 
45  in  1919.  In  their  report  for  the  latter  year,  the  Prison  (Com- 
missioners say : 

«o  Borstal   Association   Report,   1914,    p.    17. 

61  Borstal  Association   Report,  1915,  p.   14. 

"  During  the  war  the  Nary  or  Army  absorbed  by  far  the  ttreater  proportion  of  Uds 
discharged,  when,  whateyer  their  conduct,  it  would  seldom  result  in  re-conrlBtion  by  • 
civil   court.    Post-war  figures  are  too    scanty   to  rely  upon. 

«'  See  Borstal  Association  Reports,  1914  (p.  17)  and  1915  (p.  131.  This  column  repre- 
sents  the   average  of  figures  given  in  the  two   reports. 


BORSTAL    T  BE  AT  ME  NT  OF  GIBL  OFFENDERS  435 

As  might  be  expected,  more  malleable  material  is  foand  among  the 
younger  element  of  the  population.  There  is  a  marked  preponderance  of 
successes  among  those  who  were  under  17  years  of  age  on  conviction. 
The  figures  of  success  drop  steadily  as  the  age  of  committal  increases. 
Of  those  sent  to  Borstal  at  over  20  years  of  age,  only  45  per  cent,  have 
responded  to  the  efforts  made  for  their  reclamation  from  a  criminal  career. 

It  is  interesting  to  compare  this  statement  with  paragraph  16  of 
the  Prison  Commissioners'  1920  Eeport,  where  it  is  claimed  for  the 
system  of  Preventive  Detention  (confined  to  "habitual  criminals  of 
the  most  persistent  type")  that  no  less  than  61  per  cent,  of  these 
men  are  still,  after  at  least  four  years,  doing  well,"  or  even  with 
the  later  statement  of  Mr.  A.  Andrews,  J. P.,  Chairman  of  the 
Camp  Hill  (Preventive  Detention)  Advisory  Committee,  that  52  per 
cent,  of  convicts  have  done  well  after  Preventive  Detention.**  The 
[Comparison  should  not  be  stressed  unduly,  and  we  know  frc«n  ex- 
perience some  of  the  difi&culties  involved  in  straightening  up  the 
wayward  youth  of  20.  But  when  the  Borstal  System  can  claim  only 
45  per  cent,  of  success  with  youths  of  this  age,  while  the  Preventive 
Detention  System  claims  from  52  to  61  per  cent,  of  success  from 
men  whose  criminal  habit  is  fixed,  habitual,  and  persistent,  we 
consider  that  the  Prison  Commissioners  should  be  far  from  satisfied 
with  the  results  of  their  Borstal  experiment. 


Borstal  Treatment  of  Girl  Offenders. 

I  The  treatment  of  female  oSenders  at  the  Borstal  Institution  at 
Aylesbury  follows  closely  that  of  males  at  Borstal  and  elsewhere. 
There  is  some  difference  in  the  character  of  offences,  property 
offences  being  rather  fewer  with  girls  than  boys.  Of  45  girls  dis- 
charged during  1919  from  the  Borstal  Institution  at  Aylesbury, 
38  were  sentenced  for  stealing  clothing,  jewellery  and  money,  two 
ior  attempting  suicide,  one  for  administering  poison,  one  for 
malicious  wounding,  one  for  concealment  of  birth,  one  for  attempted 
child  murder,  and  one  for  arson.  Twenty-two  of  these  45  girls 
same  from  homes  reported  as  "respectable,"  nine  from  "poor" 
homes,  eight  from  homes  of  "doubtful  moral  character."  Six 
girls  were  homeless. 

,  The  girls'  Borstal  Institution  is  established  in  the  former  prison  at 
A.ylesbury,  to  which  is  added  the  building  previously  used  for  the 
?emale  Inebriate  Eeformatory.  This  latter  is  very  well  adapted 
lor  its  purpose.  It  is  used  for  the  girls  who  have  reached  the 
opecial  Grade.  Each  girl  has  a  small  but  cheerful  and  well-warmed 
"oom  of  her  own,  nicely  furnished,  with  a  mirror.  She  may  decorate 
t  with  flowers,  plants,  photographs,  etc.  There  are  also  good 
lining  rooms.  The  lower  grades  are  lodged  in  the  old  prison  build- 
ngs,  a  much  less  satisfactory  arrangement.        The  cells  have  beds 

"  P.O.   Report.    1919-20.    See   fuller   figures   given   en   pp.    459-462. 

'*  In  a  speech  at  the   Annual  Meeting  of  the  Howard  League,   June  3rd,   1921. 


436  THE  BORSTAL  SYSTEM 

and  mats,  and  as  the  girls  progress  in  grade  they  are  allowed  photo- 
graphs ;  but  the  prison  corridors  have  to  be  used  for  the  associat-ed 
meals  of  the  girls  in  the  probationary  grade,  for  which  they  are  by 
no  means  well  fitted.  This  prison  accommodation,  and  the  large 
number  of  girls — a  daily  average  of  191  for  the  year  1920-21 — are 
great  disadvantages  in  dealing  with  girls  of  the  "difficult"  type. 

But  granted  these  things,  one  must  go  on  to  admit  gladly 
that  a  great  advance  is  being  made  on  ordinary  prison  methods  in  the 
treatment  of  girls  at  this  institution.  Perhaps  the  greatest  advance 
of  all  is  marked  by  the  fact  that  there  is  a  consciousness  of  experi- 
ment about  it,  for  too  often  one  feels  that  "it  has  always  been  the 
rule"  is  a  final  answer  to  any  comment  upon  penal  administration. 
Eules  have  changed  quickly  at  Aylesbury  in  recent  years,  and  the 
authorities  are  the  first  to  acknowledge  that  finality  is  never  likely 
to  be  reached. 

The  most  welcome  contrast  to  prison  discipline  greets  the  visitor 
on  arrival.  The  great  gates  stand  open  all  day,  and  except  for  one 
"observation"  block,  the  same  is  true  of  the  other  doors.  Girls! 
in  the  highest  stage  may  go  to  the  town,  two  together,  to  spend! 
their  earnings,  and  the  authorities  are  able  to  say  that  this  policy j 
of  trust,  introduced  during  the  office  of  the  last  governor,  has  not! 
been  abused.  i 

The  Rigime. — The  day's  work  for  Borstal  girls  begins  at  6.30, 
when  the  girls  rise,  clean  their  rooms  and  drill.  By  7.45  breakfast| 
is  over  and  work  begins,  ceasing  at  11.45.  Between  12  and  12.30| 
the  Special  Grade  dines,  the  Ordinary  Grade  drills,  the  latter  dining! 
at  12.30.  Afternoon  work  lasts  from  1.25  to  4.45.  Tea  is  at  5,' 
chapel  5.30,  and  between  6  and  7  there  is  school  and  "recreative! 
work."  An  hour's  general  recreation  begins  at  7,  the  girls  return-, 
ing  to  their  rooms  at  8.  Thus,  work  for  Borstal  girls  occupies  7 
hours  20  minutes,  as  compared  with  7  hours  35  minutes  for  Borstali 
boys.  j 

The  girls  are  taught  "farming,  market  and  flower  gardening,' 
needlework,  machine  knitting,  laundry  work,  baking,  cooking  andj 
domestic  economy"  (the  last  phrase  probably  covers  such  miscel- 
laneous occupations  as  stoking  and  dish-washing).  Unlike  the  plarj 
adopted  in  the  case  of  the  boys,  the  custom  is  for  each  girl  to  gcj- 
round  all  the  occupations  in  turn,  usually  staying  at  each  for  atl 
least  six  weeks,  unless  she  be  proficient  sooner;  then  she  specialisef! 
on  the  one  she  wishes  to  work  at  on  discharge.  Some  difficulty  ifi 
experienced  in  getting  employment  for  Borstal-trained  land  girls. 

Girls  who  cannot  pass  Standard  III.  have  one  hour's  teaching  f[ 
day;  other  girls  one  hour  a  week  and  an  hour's  "preparation"  orj 
five  days.  This  is  completely  inadequate.  Longer  hours  of  schoo' 
and  a  wider  and  more  stimulating  curriculum  should  certainly  b<i 
introduced,  if  the  Institution  is  to  have  full  educational  value;  aj 
present  the  teaching  too  much  repeats  that  of  the  elementary  school. 


BORSTAL   TREATMENT  OF  GIRL  OFFENDERS  437 

iFor  the  two  highest  grades  there  is  a  troop  of  Girl  Guides.  A 
system  of  electing  monitors  is  said  to  have  failed  because  the  girls 
always  elected  the  very  worst  characters,  but  probably  sufficient 
time  was  not  allowed  for  the  experiment  to  develop.  Drill  and 
gymnastic  classes  are  held  for  girls  as  for  boys ;  each  having  her 
own  "gym.  kit."  The  physique  of  the  girls,  after  they  have  been 
in  the  institution  some  time,  compares  very  favourably  with  that  of 

, women  prisoners.     Seen  in  their  "gym."  dress  they  might  pass  for 

(Secondary  school  girls. 

The  evening  recreation  of  the  Probationary  and  Special  Grade 
girls  takes  the  form  of  dancing,  lectures,  and  games.  The  girls 
also  organise  entertainments,  the  "specials"  sometimes  entertain- 
ing the  other  grades.  There  are  outdoor  games  and,  for  the  higher 
grade  girls,  "talking  exercise,"  which  is  taken  strolling  about  the 
exercise  yard,  and  not  marching  round  in  the  usual  prison  manner. 
The  inmates  in  the  lower  grades  do  not  have  associated  meals, 
i Their  treatment  altogether  approaches  more  closely  to  that  of 
ordinary  prison  discipline. 

i  Dress. — The  girls  wear  print  dresses,  of  different  colour  according 
to  their  grade:  greenish  grey  for  the  Ordinary  Grade;  blue-striped 
I  for  the  Probationary;  red,  white,  and  black  striped,  with  red  collar, 
'for  the  Special  Grade.  Small  white  caps  are  worn  indoors  and  sun 
j bonnets  in  the  garden.  Suitable  clothing  is  provided  for  out-of-door 
jwork.  Altogether  the  dress  is  not  at  all  unbecoming.  Each  girl  is 
responsible  for  the  washing,  but  not  the  ironing,  of  her  own  clothes. 

Liberty  Kit. — Unlike  the  boys.  Borstal  girls  make  their  own 
.'■"liberty  outfits."  These  comprise  blouses  of  various  materials  and 
patterns,  a  black  dress  and  underlinen.  An  overcoat  and  boots  are 
provided  by  the  Borstal  Association.  Girls  going  into  domestic 
service  are  provided  with  different  clothing  from  that  issued  to  girls 
proceeding  to  factory  work.     A  suit-case  is  given  to  some. 

Staff. — A  woman  governor  has  recently  been  appointed  at  Ayles- 
bury. An  effort  is  made  to  select  a  staff  with  special  aptitude  for 
;thi3  difficult  work,  but  there  still  seems  to  be  room  for  the  inclusion 
of  more  women  whose  experience  of  the  best  methods  of  education 
has  been  gained  altogether  outside  the  prison  system. 

Hospital. — There  are  a  woman  doctor  and  two  trained  nurses  at 

Aylesbury,    but  there  is  little  sickness.        The  hospital  wards  are 

airy  and  cheerful.     Girls  unwell  in  cells  have  the  cell  doors  open. 

A  dentist   attends,    and  a   large  number  of   girls   have  treatment. 

[There  is  a  creche  for  the  babies. 


Punishments. — The  Commissioners'  Report  for  last  year  shows 
ia  startling  rise  in  the  number  of  punishments  recorded  at  Aylesbury. 
The  following  are  the    figures  since  1917-18:  — 


438 


THE  BORSTAL  SYSTEM 


1917-18 
1918-19 
1919-20 
1920-21 


Irons 
or 
handcuffs. 


5 
33 


Close  confine- 
ment in 
ordinary 
cells. 
80 
38 
66 
74 


Dietary 
punishment. 
85 

45         . 
144 
183 


Total 
prisoners 
during 

year. 

304 
319 
293 
269 


These  last  figures  must  no  doubt  be  read  in  connection  with  para-  \ 
graphs  64-65  of  the  Eeport,  where  the  Commissioners  refer  to  the  ! 
fact  that,  owing  to  lack  of  accommodation  in  institutions  for  mental  \ 
defectives,  some  certified  cases  have  had  to  be  detained  for  many 
months  in  Borstal  Institutes,  resulting  in  "much  administrative 
inconvenience,"  owing  to  their  effect  on  other  inmates.  But  no  i 
explanation  can  do  away  with  the  fact  that  during  the  year  hand-  : 
cuffs  were  more  frequently  used  upon  the  269  girls  at  Aylesbury  ; 
than  upon  the  2,288  men  in  Convict  prisons.  The  effect  of  this  | 
upon  a  body  of  young  women,  many  of  whom  are  hysterical  and  | 
unstable  in  temperament,  cannot  fail  to  be  harmful  in  the  extreme. 


1916—37 
1918—56 
1919—27 
1920—47 


40 
95 

48 

85 


Results. — The  successes  with  Borstal  girls  have  been  fewer  than 
with  Borstal  boys.  Figures  relating  to  girls  were  published  by  the 
Borstal  Association  in  1915.  They  showed  that  between  January, 
1910  (when  girls  began  to  be  discharged  from  Borstal  treatment) 
and  March  31,  1914,  132  girls  were  released.  At  the  time  the 
figures  were  compiled,  all  these  girls  had  been  at  liberty  for  at  least 
a  year.     Of  these:  — 

(o)     75  (56.8  per  cent.)  had  not  then  been  reported  as  re-convicted  and 
were  satisfactory  when  last   heard   of ; 

{b)     (12.9  per  cent.)  were  unsatisfactory   when  last   heard  of,  but  had 
not  been   reported  as  re-convicted  ;  ! 

(c)     35  (26.5  per  cent.)  had  been  reported  as  re-convicted. 

t         {d)     Two  girls  had  died,   and   three  were  sent  to   asylums. 

That  is  to  say  that  of  127  girls  who  had  been  at  liberty  from  12 
months  to  five  years,  69.7  per  cent,  had  not  been  reported  as  re- 
convicted. 

Eesults  published  year  by  year  by  the  Borstal  Association  show  , 
that  in: —  | 

1914 — 15  out  of  45  girls  discharged  were  doing  well  on  licence. 
1915—28       ,.     41 


RESULTS    AMONG    GIRL    OFFENDERS  439 

\  In  forming  an  opinion  on  the  value  of  these  figures  it  should  be 
remembered  that  they  cover  at  most  one  year  of  freedom.  It  is 
impossible  to  say,  for  instance,  how  many  of  the  15  girls  reported 
as  doing  well  when  released  in  1914,  are  doing  well  now. 

One  of  the  chief  cares  of  the  Borstal  Association  in  regard  to 
girls  is  to  prevent  them  reverting  to  street  walking  for  a  living. 
This  proved  not  so  difficult  during  the  war,  when  it  was  possible  to 
earn  good  wages  honestly,  and  many  young  prostitutes  took  the 
opportunity  then  offered  of  making  a  niche  for  themselves  within 
decent  society.  But  in  normal  times,  when  wages  are  much  lower, 
imany  of  these  girls  prefer  "easy  money"  and  the  petty  excitements 
of  the  streets. 

i  Some  idea  of  the  occupations  which  the  girls  take  up  after  dis- 
charge can  be  gained  by  the  figures  for  the  year  1917-18 — the  last 
for  which  these  details  are  published.  During  that  year  95  girls 
were  discharged,  of  whom  36  went  to  domestic  service,  two  to  dress- 
aiaking,  seven  to  hospital  work,  two  to  clerical  work,  six  to  laundries. 
11  to  munitions,  20  to  other  factory  work,  two  to  market  gardening, 
ind  seven  to  their  own  homes.  It  is  also  repo'led  that  (with  the 
i^onsent  of  the  Borstal  Association)  several  licensed  Borstal  girls 
■have  married. 


Reforms  at  Borstal. 


Whilst  this  Report  is  in  the  Press,  we  hear  that  considerable  reforms  have 
(been  carried  out  at  the  Borstal  Institutions,  in  part  due,  no  doubt,  to  the 
iippointment  of  Mr.  Alec  Paterson  as  a  Prison  Commissioner  with  special 
relation  to  Borstal. 


440  THE  BORSTAL  SYSTEM 


i 


SOME    OF    THE     PRINCIPAL     DEFECTS     INDICATED    IN     THl 
PRECEDING    CHAPTER. 


1. — The  penal  element   is  still  too  dominant  at  the  Borstal  institutions. 

2. — They  are  under  the  Prison  Commission  instead  of  in  the  Reformatory 
Schools  Department.  This  prevents  the  problem  of  juvenile  and  adolescent 
delinquency  being  treated  as  a  whole,  and  does  not  enable  proper  industrial 
training  to  be  given  extending  from  school  age  to  adult  age. 

3. — The  age  limit  of  over  16  and  under  21  is  also  unsatisfactory,  because 
physical  and  mental  development  cannot  be  measured  chronologically. 

4. — Those  who  need  educative  treatment  most — the  more  serious  cases  nf 
physical  deficiency  and  moral  depravity —  are  excluded  from  Borstal. 

5. — Young  persons  sentenced  to  Borstal  are  detained  in  prison  pending 
their  removal  to  Borstal  institutions,  and  are  liable  to  suffer  the  bad  effects 
common  to  short-sentence  prisoners. 

6. — The  mentally  sub-normal  (apart  from  those  actually  "certified")  are 
given  the  same  treatment  as  other  offenders. 

7. — The  institution  at  Borstal  is  too  large  to  allow  the  personal  influence 
of  the  head  to  be  felt  by  the  boys. 

8. — The  military  and  disciplinary  element  is  too  obtrusive,  particularly 
as  expressed  in  the  large  numbers  of  warders  on  duty.  It  is  indefensible 
that  the  vast  majority  of  the  personnel  should  be  prison  warders  trained 
to  administer  the  repressive  regime  of  penal  servitude  and  imprisonment. 

9. — Borstal   institutions  share    many  of   the   defects    of   prisons,   e.g.,  the 
system  of   progressive   grades   tends  to  encourage    "exemplary    institutional  j 
behaviour"  rather  than  to   develop  good  character;  letters  and  visits  in  the 
early  stages  are  too  infrequent. 

10. — Education  is  only  given  up  to  Standard  III.,  and  the  educational 
staff  is  inadequate. 

11. — Allowing  for  the  fact  that  the  period  of  detention  is  too  short  to 
permit  a  trade  to  be  taught  thoroughly,  proper  advantage  is  not  taken  of  ■ 
such  possibilities  as  there  are  of  giving  industrial  training.  The  chief  j 
anxiety  is  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  institution  for  goods  and  service,  j 
rather  than  to  instruct  the  boys.  The  instructors  are  too  few,  the  machinery  i 
is  poor,  and  proper  materials  are  lacking.     Farm  work  is  not  efficiently  taugb* 


CHAPTER  XXVII 


PEEVENTIVE    DETENTION 

Preventive  detention  is  so  recent  an  addition  to  our  penal  arrange- 
ments, and  its  success  has  been  so    strongly    emphasised    in    the 
Eeports   of    the    Prison    Commissioners  that   it    may   be   taken   as 
^  representing    the    latest    development    in    the    official    attitude    of 
'  mind  towards  the  problem   of  penal   reform.       It  has  not,   in  its 
operation,  to  face  the  drawback  of  antiquated  or  inadequate  accom- 
;  modation ;  and  it  has  to  quite  a  considerable  extent  shaken  itself  free 
I  from  old  and  unhappy  precedents  of  discipline.        A  special  prison 
and  specially  designed  rules  have  been  provided  to  give  the  experi- 
ment a  full  chance  of  "making  good."     It  is,  to  a  great  degree,  new 
j  wine  in  a  new  bottle ;  only  the  vineyard  from  which  it  draws  its  raw 
'material  is  old. 

The  In.^uguration  of  the  Experiment 

Preventive  detention  was  instituted  under  the  following  provisions 
of  the  Prevention  of  Crime  Act  (1908),  which  came  into  operation 
lin  August,  1909. 

When  any  person  has  been  sentenced  to  penal  servitude  (i.e.,  for 
three  years  imprisonment  at  leasst),  he  may  be  sentenced  to  a  period  of 
preventive  detention  following  that  of  penal  servitude,  provided  that  a 
jury  has  found  on  evidence — 

(a)  that  since  attaining  the  age  of  16  years  he  has  at  least  three  times 
previously  been  convicted  of  crime,  and  that  he  is  leading  per- 
sistently a  dishonest  or  criminal  life  :  or 

(6)  that  he  has  already  been  found  to  be  a  habitual  criminal  and  has 
been  sentenced  to  preventive  detention  ;  and   provided  also 

(c)  that  the  consent  of  the  Director  of  Public  Prosecutions  has  been 
obtained  to  this  charge  being  made ;  and 

{d)  that  doe  notice  has  been  given  to  the  Court  and  to  the  offender 
specifying  the  grounds  upon  which  the  charge  is  founded. 

The  sentence  must  be  for  a  period  not  exceeding  10  nor  less  than  five 

^ears,   and   persons   undergoing  preventive  detention  must  be  subjected 

such  disciplinary  and  reformative  treatment  and  be  employed  on  such 

mrk  as  may  be  best  fitted  to  make  them  able  and  willing  to  earn   an 

bonest  livelihood  on  discharge. 

The  Secretary  of  State  may,  at  any  time,  discharge  on  licence  a  person 
indergoing  preventive  detention,  and  that  licence  may  be  revoked  at  any 
lime  if   the  person  escapes  from  supervision  or  commits  any  breach  of 
ie  conditions  of  the  licence.' 

ted   Ircm    the    1920   Rerort    of   the   Central   Association   for   the   Aid    of   Discharged 


442  PREVENTIVE  DETENTION 

The  words  "it  is  expedient  for  the  protection  of  the  public  that 
the  offender  should  be  kept  in  detention,"  in  Section  10  of  the  Act, 
perhaps  indicate  its  fundamental  purpose.'  The  class  of  "habitual 
criminal"  with  whom  the  Act  was  intended  to  deal  was  not  thoae 
persons  "to  a  large  extent  mentally  deficient  who  were  a  nuisance 
rather  than  a  danger  to  society,"  but  the  hardened  or  professional 
criminals — "the  men  with  an  object,  sound  in  mind — so  far  as  a 
criminal  could  be  sound  in  mind —  and  in  body,  competent,  often 
highly  skilled,  and  who  deliberately,  with  their  eyes  open,  preferred 
a  life  of  crime,  and  knew  all  the  tricks,  and  turns  and  manoeuvres 
necessary  for  that  life."' 

The  idea  of  preventive  detention  was  borrowed  partly  from  th© 
American  Penal  Reformatory  System  and  partly  from  the  Irish 
institution  of  Intermediate  Prisons,  which  were  established  about 
1856  by  Sir  Walter  Crofton,  as  a  preparatory  stage  for  convicts  who 
were  approaching  their  discharge."  The  genesis  of  the  present 
scheme  may  be  found  in  the  following  paragraph  of  the  recom- 
mendations with  regard  to  Habitual  Offenders  made  by  the  Depart- 
mental Committee  on  Prisons  in  1895*:  — 

To  punish  them  [i.e.,  the  "habituals"]  for  the  particular  offence  in  i 
■which  they  are  detected  is  almost  useless ;  witnesses  were  almost  | 
unanimous  in  approving  of  some  kind  of  cumulative  sentence ;  the  real  j 
offence  is  the  wilful  persistence  in  the  deliberately  acquired  habit  of  j 
crime.  We  venture  to  offer  the  opinion  formed  during  this  enquiry 
that  a  new  form  of  sentence  should  be  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  ! 
judges  by  which  these  offenders  might  be  segregated  for  long  periods  ; 
of  detention  during  which  they  would  not  be  treated  with  the  severity  j 
of  first-class  hard  labour  or  penal  servitude,  but  would  be  forced  to  j 
work  under  less  onerous  conditions.  As  loss  of  liberty  would  to  them  | 
prove  eventually  the  chief  deterrent,  so,  by  their  being  removed  from  j 
the  opportunity  of  doing  wrong  the  community  would  gain.  With 
regard  to  the  locality  of  such  institutions,  we  suggest  that  sites  oni 
estuaries  or  other  places  where  there  is  ample  scope  for  land  reclamation  I 
would  be  most  suitable  for  consideration.  | 

This  recommendation  was,  after  some  hesitation,  taken  up  by  the 
Prison  Commissioners,  and  in  the  year  1901-2  they  submitted  toj 
the  Home  Secretary  a  detailed  scheme  to  give  effect  to  it."  When 
Lord  Gladstone,  who  had  been  Chairman  of  the  Prisons  Committee; 
whose  recommendation  has  been  quoted,  was  Home  Secretary  ioj 
1908,  the  scheme  of  the  Commissioners  was  embodied  in  the  Pre-| 
vention  of  Crime  Bill  which  became  law  in  the  same  year.  The 
resulting  Act  is  thus  described  in  the  Report  of  the  Prison  Com 
missioners  for  1909  :  — 

'  Or  that  of  Part  2  ot  the  Act.    Part  1  deals  with  the  "Reformation  of  Yonng  Oflend 
and   inaugurated    the   Borstal    system. 

'  Lord  Gladstone,  quoted  in  the  Memorandum  to  the  Rules  made  for  Preventive  Detentiot; 
in    April.    1911. 

*  The  last  Irish  Intermediate  Prison,  at  Lusk,  was  closed   after  the  Royal  Commission  oi: 
Irish  Prisons  of   1885. 

*  Report  of  1895  Committee,  Sect.   85,  p.  31. 
«  P.C.  Report,   1901-2.  p.    9. 


THE    INAUGURATION   OF    THE    EXPERIMENT  443 

It  gives  power,  under  certain  restrictions  and  safeguards,  to  declare 
a  man  who  has  been  leading  persistently  a  dishonest  and  criminal  life 
to  be  a  habitual  criminal,  and  where  a  person  is  so  proved,  a  subsidiary 
-sentence  may  be  passe^  ordering  that  on  the  determination  of  the  sen- 
tence of  penal  servitude  (not  less  than  three  years)  he  may  be  kept  for 
a  further  period  not  exceeding  10  or  less  than  five  years  in  a  state  of 
"preventive   detention." 

The  limitation  of  the  period  to  10  years  was  arrived  at  after  much 
discussion  in  Parliament,  but  the  desire  of  some,  which  appeared  to  be 
that  an  enemy  of  society  should  be  detained  for  an  indeterminate  period, 
subject  only  to  conditional  release  on  satisfactory  evidence  of  a  reformed 
character,  yielded  to  a  strong  opinion  held  by  others  that  an  unlimited 
period  of  detention  was  objectionable  both  in  principle  and  in  fact ;  that 
it  invested  the  official  authority  with  too  arbitrary  a  power,  as  in  practice 
it  would  depend  upon  the  dictum  of  the  official  authority  whether  a 
man  could,  with  safety,  be  released  or  not.  The  present  limitation  of  10 
years  was  therefore  arrived  at  as  a  compromise  between  two  contending 
sections  of  thought,  there  being  a  general  agreement  that  something 
sterner  and  stronger  than  what  the  present  system  of  penal  servitude 
affords  was  called  for  in  the  case  of  the  persistently  criminal  man  who, 
in  spite  of  repeated  convictions  under  the  ordinary  law,  still  continued 
i      his  depredations  on   society' 

!  The  above  account  appears  to  be  a  fair  statement  of  the  chief 
)oints  at  issue,  if  it  be  understood  that  "something  sterner  and 
•tronger"  than  penal  servitude  had  reference  not  to  the  conditions 
^f  treatment  during  detention  but  to  the  longer  period  of  segregation. 

Although  the  Prevention  of  Crime  Act  became  law  in  August,  1909, 
here  was  no  need  to  open  a  prison  for  preventive  detention 
)risoners  until  March,  1912,  when  the  first  men  so  sentenced  were 
ompleting  their  three  years  of  penal  servitude  (as  reduced  by  the 
isual  regulations  governing  remission  of  sentence). 

Hitherto  it  has  been  the  tendency  of  judges,  in  a  large  majority 
[f  cases,  to  give  the  minimum  sentence  allowed  by  the  law — three 
■ears  of  penal  servitude  followed  by  five  years  of  preventive  deten- 
ion — a  fact  which  seems  to  indicate  that  those  who  administer  the 
aw  regard  it  as  a  very  severe  form  of  sentence  to  be  used  with 
;aoderation  and  caution.'  This  is  further  indicated  by  the  greater 
>roportionate  fall  in  the  number  of  preventive  detention  sentences 
.8  compared  with  the  fall  in  the  number  of  committals  to  penal 
iervitude."  During  1920-21  out  of  482  persons  sentenced  to  penal 
•ervitude  only  44  received  preventive  detention  as  well,  and  in 
:919-20  the  corresponding  number  was  23  out  of  457 ;  during 
[911-12  and  1912-13,  out  of  863  and  871  persons  in  the  respective 
i 

'  P.O.  Report,   1908-9,  p.   23. 

*P^  o'  397  men  received  into  the  preventiTe  detention  prison  between  March.  1912, 
°^  ™.°^*''>  1916,  no  less  than  353  men  receired  sentences  of  three  years  penal  serritods 
nd  i>iH  men  sentences  of  five  years  prerentiye  detention.  Since  the  Act  came  in'o 
deration  621  persons  hare  been  sentenced  to  preventiye  detention  (P.O.  Report,  1920-21, 
•   13). 

'  U  :»  alleged,  however,  that  another  reascn  for  the  decrease  in  preventire  detention 
;*""•    ''*••  }^^   legal    difficulty   in   apiilying   the   definition   of    "habitual    criminal"    to   kha 

?*••   of    Darticul&r     mpn 


r 


444  PREVENTIVE  DETENTION 

years  sentenced  to  penal  servitude,  64  and  65  respectively  received! 
preventive  detention.  In  this  connection  it  is  surprising  to  learn  the! 
somewhat  discreditable  fact  that,  up  to  the  summer  of  1920  at  any; 
rate,  no  judge  had  visited  the  Preventive  Detention  prison  since  itsj 
opening  in  1912." 


Camp  Hill  Prison  and  its  Regime.  j 

There  is  only  one  Preventive  Detention  prison,  Camp  Hill  (fori 
men  only)  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  adjoining  Parkhurst  Convict  prison. 
The  number  of  women  sentenced  by  the  Courts  to  this  form  oij 
imprisonment  has  from  the  first  been  insignificant.  There  havel 
never  been,  at  any  time,  more  than  five  or  six  women  in  preventive, 
detention.  During  1920-21  there  was  only  one  such  woman,  foi 
whom  provision  was  made  in  connection  with  the  Women's  Convict 
prison  at  Liverpool. 

The  preventive  detention  system  cannot  be  considered  apart  from 
the  dwelling  which  has  been  provided  for  it,  or  indeed  frow 
the  present  a-dministration  of  its  rules,  depending  so  markedly  upon 
personality  and  an  outlook  which  is  new  among  prison  authorities. 

Camp  Hill  prison  was  opened  in  March,  1912.  The  greatest 
daily  average  number  of  prisoners  in  any  one  year  was  271  in  1915- 
16.  For  1920-21  the  daily  average  number  was  only  75."  There  is| 
now  accommodation  for  over  300  men.  The  special  advantages  oil 
the  prison  are  at  present,  therefore,  to  a  very  great  extent,  wasted 
while  the  average  expense  per  inmate  has  been  raised  to  a  point,  al 
which  it  may  form  a  dangerous  weapon  in  the  hands  of  a  hostiU 
critic.'^ 

Though  Camp  Hill  is  a  prison  in  a  very  real  sense,  its  buildings, 
both  without  and  within,  are  described  as  less,  forbidding  and  mon 
open  and  cheerful  than  those  of  any  other  English  prison.  The  rec 
roofs  and  the  flower  beds  contribute  to  this  eSect,  and  also  the  ex 
ceptional  group  or  cottage  system  of  cells.  There  are  six  of  thes< 
cell  blocks,  each  of  them  having  two  stories  only,  and  each  storej' 
containing  25  cells  and  the  common  room  used  for  meals  and  fo: 
association. 

The  modified  rules  governing  the  preventive  detention  regime  a' 
Camp  Hill  and  differentiating  its  routine  and  discipline  from  the 
ordinary  conditions  of  penal  servitude  are  as  follows:  — 

The  prisoners  are  divided  into  three  Grades, — Ordinary,  Special 
and  Disciplinary. 

The  Disciplinary  Grade  is,  as  explained  below,  for  ill-conductet 
prisoners,  being  practically  a  reversion  to  the  conditions  of  pena 
servitude.     In  the  usual  course  men  start  in  the   Ordinary  Gradt; 

10  Report   of  the  Central   Association   lor  ex-Convicts,   1920,  p.   6. 

"These  numbers   include    some  sick  men   accommodated   in  Parkhurst   prison   hospital,     i 
"The   average   charge  per   inmate    is    given    as    £334   Is.   Id.   for   the    year    1920-21,   » 
against   £129   6b.    8d.   per   inmate    lor   CcEvict   prisons. 


CAMP    HILL    PRISOiY    AXD    ITS    REGIME  445 

nd  are  eligible  at  once  to  earn  by  their  work  at  one  of  the  prison 
idustries  a  gratuity  up  to  a  maximum  amount  of  three-pence  per 
ay  or  one  and  sixpence  per  week.  Half  of  this  small  sum  a  prisoner 
lay  spend  at  the  canteen;  he  may  also,  if  he  chooses,  send  a 
ortion  of  it  to  his  family  or  accumulate  it  for  use  after  his  discharge, 
he  gratuities,  as  well  as  the  other  privileges,  may  be  forfeited  at 
oy  time  by  misconduct,  and,  as  the  prisoner  has  no  legal  claim  on 
is  accumulated  earnings,  they  are,  on  his  discharge,  handed  over, 
ot  to  him,  but  to  the  Association  under  whose  supervision  he  is 
laced.  The  knowledge  of  this  provision  has  tended  to  discourage 
16  practice  of  saving  a  proportion  of  the  gratuities. '* 
The  prison  canteen,  for  the  sale  of  food,  a  fixed  amount  of  tobacco 
ad  other  articles  at  prices  fixed  by  the  authorities,  is  open  (once  a 
leek)  equally  to  prisoners  of  the  Ordinarj^  and  Special  Grades ;  the 
)st  of  the  articles  purchased  is  charged  against  the  gratuities  that 
been  earned. 

.>m  the  canteen  privileges  of  the  first  six  months  the  eyes  of 

prisoner  are  directed  forwards  to  a  progressive  series  of  new 

Its,  which  are  obtainable  by   certificates  of  good  conduct  and 

-:ry.       After  every  six  months  he  is  eligible  for  one  of  these 

■rtiucat-es;  four  of  them  give  title  of  admission  to  the  Special  Grade. 

fith   each  certificate    a  prisoner  receives    a  good  conduct  stripe, 

i.rrying  important    new  privileges   and  a  special  gratuity    of   five 

illings. 

sociation,  games,  newspapers,  more  tobacco,   more  letters  and 
-,  a  garden  allotment  and  a  consequent  increase  to  his  gratuity, 
emi -liberty  of  a  Parole  Cabin — these    are    the    prizes    to    be 
iccessively  won. 

The  steps  in  the  progress  of   a  well-conducted  prisoner  towards 

:aaximum  privileges  obtainable  may  be  summed  up  as  follows. 

■  six  months  he  has  meals  in  association;  after  12  months  he 

enjoy  associated  evening  recreations;  18  months  brings  him  an 

■-.anent   with   its   healthy   interests    and   the   solid   profits    of   its 

loduce ;  and  two  years  transfers  him  to  the  Special  Grade  with  its 

^'tional  letters  and  visits,  an  increased  tobacco  ration,  the  provision 

.  daily  paper  (instead  of  a  weekly),  permission  to  take  part  in 

iised  discussions  and  music,  and  other  smaller  privileges.     The 

and   greatest   of   all   the   privileges    (assuming    a   man   is    not 

fcviously  discharged)  is  admission  to  the  "Parole  Lines." 

jln  the  allotment,  the  happy  possessor  of  three  six-monthly 
^ificates  may  grow  garden  produce  which  is  purchased,  so  far  as 
ijssible,  for  use  in  the  prison  at  market  rates,  and  the  proceeds 
(Edited  to  him.  Half  of  these  proceeds  may  be  expended  by  the 
jisoner,  so  long  as  the  total  amount  spent  does  not  exceed  four 
killings  a  week. 


W»  are.  however,   informed  that  it   is  a  rnle  of  the  Central   Association    for   ex -Convicts 
^nd  over  the  amount  of  gratuity  saved  to  be  expended  by  the  men;  and  that  in  future 
'^'ill  be  taken  to  see  that  this  is  understood  at  Camp  Kill. 


446  PREVENTIVE  DETENTION 

The  maximum  gratuity  of  3d.  per  day  is  ridiculously  smal 
Though  full  maintenance  is,  of  course,  given,  such  a  sum  cannot  i 
any  sense  be  considered  a  wage,  even  when  increased  by  the  sa 
of  garden  produce.  Out  of  this  small  income  a  man  has  to  get  h 
additional  "comforts"  from  the  canteen,  he  has  to  buy  seeds  ar 
plants  and  manure  for  his  allotment;  and,  if  he  wants  to  occup 
himself  with  a  hobby  during  the  lonely  hours  in  his  cell,  he  mui 
also  buy  out  of  it  the  necessary  paints  or  other  materials.  Sue 
things  are  not  allowed  to  be  sent  in  from  outside ;  nor  are  prisonei 
officially  permitted  to  lend  or  give  them  to  each  other — though  \v 
understand  that  such  acts  of  generosity  do  in  fact  take  place.  Thej 
prohibitions  strike  us  as  unreasonable.  There  is  no  doubt,  als( 
that  the  substitution,  in  place  of  the  miserable  "gratuity,"  of  a 
adequate  wage  (subject  to  a  deduction  for  maintenance)  woul 
add  greatly  to  the  men's  self-respect.  It  would  also  certainl 
increase  the  value  of  their  work,  and  add  very  considerabl 
to  the  number  of  men  (now  apparently  quite  a  small  one)  wh 
practise  crafts  in  their  cell,  as  well  as  to  the  number  of  those  wl: 
contribute  to  the  needs  of  their  families.  The  Camp  Hill  chaplaii 
in  his  1914  Eeport,  wrote  of  "the  readiness  with  which  the  me 
desire  to  remit  their  accumulated  balances  to  their  relatives  ar 
friends  in  distress"  as  evidence  that  "the  last  spark  of  goodness 
had  not  "been  extinguished  in  any  one  of  them."  But  in  anoth< 
Report  we  read  that  the  large  majority  "have  spent  at  the  cantet 
to  the  uttermost  farthing" — not  a  surprising  habit  for  men 
receipt  of  an  income  of  Is.  6d.  weekly ! 

The  leisure  time  which  has  to  be  spent  in  the  solitude  of  the  cf 
may  be  occupied  by  the  practice  of  some  craft, — drawing,  paintin 
and  even  the  construction  of  engineering  models.  This  is  ! 
tremendous  boon,  and  it  is  a  pity  that  more  men  cannot  be  enabLj 
or  induced  to  avail  themselves  of  it.  An  ex-prisoner  has  told  ! 
how  much  the  use  of  paints  and  trigonometrical  instruments  mea! 
to  him  in  relief  from  tedium  and  strain.  j 

For  reading  material  each  man  is  provided,  out  of  the  prisi, 
library,  with  three  novels  and  two  educational  books — the  nov(: 
being  changeable  weekly,  and  the  educational  books  once  in  fO| 
weeks.  He  may  also  purchase  eight  books  out  of  his  gratuity  duri  j 
his  term,  or  more  than  eight  if  he  presents  the  balance  to  the  librai 
before  his  discharge.  i 

We  are  informed  that  so  far  only  two  official  lectures  or  conce'i 
a  year  have  been  provided.  This  is,  of  course,  far  too  few.  T| 
experiment  of  allowing  the  prisoners  to  organise  a  concert  of  th[ 
own  has  been  tried  successfully;  and  there  seems  to  be  !► 
reason  why  this  practice  also  should  not  be  much  more  freque^ 
The  present  governor  is  in  favour  of  introducing  cinematograi 
entertainments,   as  having  an  educative  value.  j 

The  association  rooms  are  pretty  well  supplied  with  newspape^ 
as  well  as  with  indoor  games,  such  as  chess,  draughts,  and  domino.t 


1 


-4     VISITOR'S    IMPRESSIONS  447 

And  here,  too,  the  men  smoke.  In  spite  of  the  reputed  characters 
of  the  assembled  men,  there  are  no  reports  of  disorder.  Nor  has 
betting  or  gambling  been  discovered,  though  it  seems  to  us  too  much 
to  suppose  that  none  exists.  It  does  not  appear  that  the  men  in- 
dulge to  any  extent  in  obscene  or  criminal  talk,  and  the  authorities, 
we  understand,  take  the  view  that  the  extended  liberty  of  speech  has 
tended  to  diminish  rather  than  encourage  this  evil.  (Men  may  talk 
at  labour  as  well  as  during  recreation).  Outdoor  games  have  so  far 
not  been  allowed.  Their  introduction,  for  those  able  to  take  part, 
would  be  a  most  valuable  and  healthy  outlet  for  the  energies  of  the 
men  and  their  capacity  for  co-operation. 

;  The  trades  in  which  prisoners  are  engaged  and  receive  instruction 
'include  engineering,  bookbinding,  tailoring,  and  shoemaking;  there  is, 

-  'des,  agricultural  work  and  land  reclamation.  Outdoor  work  is 
n  by  preference,  and  jobs  are  said  to  be  changed  when  the  labour 
-coming  monotonous. 

An  ex-prisoner,  who  has  since  earned  a  good  living  as  a  plumber, 
has  informed  us  that  the  instruction  given,  at  any  rate  in  smithing 
or  fitting,  was  in  his  time  not  satisfactory — "unless  you  had  the 
good  luck  to  work  alongside  of  another  prisoner  who  was  already  a 
competent  tradesman."  On  the  other  hand,  some  of  the  warders, 
though  not  technically  trained,  appear  to  be  real  craftsmen.  And  the 
agent  of  a  Prisoners'  Aid  Society  in  the  midlands,  who  has  given 
evidence  to  us,  reports  that  he  has  two  men  who  are  in  engineering 
work  apparently  due  to  knowledge  gained  during  a  sentence  of 
preventive  detention.  The  equipment  of  the  engineering  workshop 
is  admittedly  very  meagre  indeed,  inferior  to  that  of  some  certified 
reformatory  institutions. 

A  Visitor's  Impressions. 

The  conditions  of  daily  life  in  Camp  Hill  are  described  in  more 
petail  in  the  following  verbatim  extracts  from  an  unpublished  account 
r>f  the  system  by  Mr.  Laurence  Housman,'*  from  which,  as  from 
':he  observations  of  other  recent  visitors,  we  are  able  to  draw  our 
nformation :  — 

"The  general  plan  of  Camp  Hill  prison  ensures  broad  open  spaces, 

■  f-rally  an  outlook  including  grass  or  trees,  and  to  every  cell  a 
iciency  of  light  and  air.  The  cells  are  shghtly  larger  than  those 
he  older  prisons;  the  windows  [within  three  feet  of  the  ground], 

.-h  sash  openings  and  bars  outside,  are  similar  to  those  of  an 
prdinary  living  room;  the  beds  have  mattresses,  pillows,  and 
coloured  rugs ;  there  is  a  slip  of  carpet  upon  the  floor,  a  movable  stool 
inow  a  chair],  a  looking-glass,  and  shelves  for  books  and  utensils, 
prisoners  may  keep  photographs  of  relatives  and  friends.  They 
pay  have  safety  razors  for  shaving.       [This  concession  has  never 


in  additions  and  modifications  to  the  extracts  from  Mr.  Honsman  have  been  in?'?», 
of   more    recent    informsticn.    These    are    all    enclosed    in    square    brackets.       Mr. 
Man's  complete  report  was    seen   and  passed  by  the   Prison  Commissioners. 


448  PREVENTIVE  DETENTION 

yet  been,  abused.]  They  possess  Sunday  clothes  of  a  different  colour 
and  pattern  [a  kind  of  brown  Norfolk  suit]  from  those  worn  on  week- 
days; and  these,  though  uniform,  have  nothing  of  the  character  of 
convict  dress.  The  week-day  dress  carries  no  mark  of  degradation 
[i.e.,  no  broad  arrows.] 

"Baths  are  obligatory  once  a  week,  but  they  may  be  had  more 
frequently  on  request;  even  a  daily  bath  might  be  permitted  if  asked 
for. 

"The  routine  of  prison  hours  (as  regards  meals  and  labour)  is 
similar  to  that  of  other  prisons;  the  task  work  of  the  day  ends  at 
4.40,  and  more  time  is  allowed  for  reading  and  recreation.  [Those 
entitled  to  it  may  enjoy  their  evening  association  in  the  common 
room  for  their  block  from  tea-time  (about  4.45)  until  eight  o'clock.] 

"The  diet  of  the  prisoners  (other  than  those  in  the  disciplinary 
grade)  is  not  under  the  same  limitations  as  in  penal  servitude  either 
as  to  quality  or  amount.  It  is  varied  in  character,  and  sufficient  for 
an  ordinary  appetite,  and  the  variation  does  not  take  place  under  a 
strict  weekly  routine;  the  bread  is  of  white  meal. 

"The  prisoners  are  allowed  to  write  and  receive  letters,  and  also 
to  have  visitors  according  to  their  grade.  In  the  ordinary  grade  this 
means  a  letter  and  a  visit  once  a  month;  in  the  special,  once  a  fort- 
night ;  in  the  disciplinary,  once  in  three  months.  In  each  case  an 
extra  letter  is  allowed  when  desired  m  lieu  of  a  visit. 

"The  contents  of  letters  to  prisoners,  received  in  excess  of  the 
regulation  number,  are  always  communicated  to  them  by  the 
governor,  or  are  at  his  discretion  handed  over  to  them. 

"The  room  in  which  prisoners  see  their  friends  has  no  grille  or 
barrier;  they  sit  and  talk  to  each  other  across  a  table.  A  warder 
is  present.  Handshaking  or  embrace  at  meeting  and  parting  is  not 
prohibited.  [No  serious  attempt  is  known  to  have  been  made  to 
abuse  this  "privilege."] 

"After  these  interviews  there  is   no  regulation  searching  of  the 
prisoner,  nor  :s  sny  periodical  "dry-bathing"   (i.e.,  stripping  to  be 
searched)  a  part  of  the  regular  prison  discipline.     The  governor  only! 
causes  a  man  to  be  searched  if  he  has  any  special  reason  for  suspect- 
ing him. " 

Men  are  trusted  to  walk  back  to  their  cells  after  being  discharged 
from  labour,  etc.,  without  supervision,  and  in  many  otner  ways  the 
very  close  and  galling  supervision  of  the  Convict  prison  is  consider- 
ably reduced. 

As  a  commentary  upon  the  above  description,  we  may  add  the 
following  testimony  of  an  ex-prisoner:  — 

The  good  effect  of  men  having  smart  Sunday  clothes  and  polished 
boots,  the  possibility  of  purchasing  a  .«!afety  razor  and  using  it  for  shav- 
ing, the  looking-glass,  the  difference  it  made  at  meals  to  have  a  proper 
knife,  fork^  and  spoon;  all  these  things  gave  a  man  self-respect  and  a 
pride    in   keeping   himself   neat   and   clean,    in   contrast     to    the     utter. 


A     VISITOR'S    IMPRESSIONS  449 

degradation  and  filthy  habits  which  clung  to  men  inevitably  in  the 
ordinary  prison.  In  prison,  for  instance,  men  became  very  uncleanly, 
because  washing  meant  great  labour  in  polishing  your  metal  basin,  but 
at  Camp  Hill  there  was  no  polishing  of  tins  to  speak  of ;  everyone 
washed  outside  in  proper  lavatories. 

This  account  of  the  matter  is  borne  out  remarkably  by  passages 
n  the  verj'  interesting  reports  by  the  lat-e  Cathohc  chaplain,  which 
ire  printed  by  the  Commissioners.  Thus,  in  his  1913  report,  he 
vrites: — "If  the  ordinary  convict  is  put  into  contrast  with  the 
ireventive  detention  prisoner,  the  contrast  is  much  in  favour  of  the 
atter.  As  a  rule  convicts  are  listless  in  manner  and  untidy  in 
labits.  It  is  far  otherwise  with  the  preventive  detention  prisoner 
rheir  cells  are  not  only  models  of  order,  but  much  taste  is  shown 
n  the  arrangements  of  the  articles  which  adorn  the  shelves  . 
bhey  buy  dainty  articles  from  the  canteen.     .     .  Greater  still 

3  the  pride  that  men  take  in  their  own  personal  appearance. 
i  feature  of  Camp  Hill  is  how  clean  the  men  are  at  meals  and 
jecreation.     They  have  learned  to  respect  themselves."  '* 

i  Many  of  the  details  mentioned  in  the  preceding  paragraphs  may 
ippear  trivial  in  character;  but  they  are  important,  as  they  amount, 
vhen  taken  together,  to  what  is  little  less  than  a  revolution  as  com- 
pared with  penal  servitude.  The  prison  authorities  insist,  too,  that 
:he  Camp  Hill  regime  is  tentative  and  subject  to  experiment,  that  it 
6  (as  it  should  be)  a  growing  and  constantly  developing  system  of 
ireatment. 

i  Camp  Hill  has  no  hospital  accommodation  of  its  own.  The  men 
»ave  to  go  into  the  hospital  of  Parkhurst  prison,  which  is  next  door, 
■liis  is  a  serious  defect,  as  the  men  naturally  and  justly  object  to 
liaving  to  go  back,  when  ill,  to  the  humiliating  dress  and  to  the 
lisciphne  and  associations  of  a  Convict  prison. 

i  The  chaplains,  like  the  doctors,  are  shared  with  Parkhurst.  But 
Damp  Hill  has  two  very  fine  and  bright  chapels  of  its  own,  one 
Anglican  and  the  other  Roman  Catholic — buildings  all  the  more 
;emarkable  since  their  erection  and  decoration  have  been  carried  out 
almost  entirely  by  convicts.  In  the  chapel  the  warders  have  been 
removed  from  the  usual  observation  pews  facing  the  prisoners  at 
•very  fourth  or  fifth  row.  They  now  occupy  the  back  seat  only ;  and 
yhile  this  freedom  from  obtrusive  espionage  and  supervision  is  much 
-ppreciated  by  the  prisoners,  it  has  not  resulted  in  any  loss  of 
liscipline. 

As  their  printed  reports  indicate,  the  chaplains  have  opportunities 
'if  natural  human  contact  with  and  influence  over  the  men,  such  as 
{hey  could  not  have  in  the  repressive  atmosphere  of  any  other  Convict 
brison.  We  have  prisoners'  evidence  of  one  chaplain  at  any  rate 
^■ho  made  most  effective  use  of  these  opportunities.  On  Sundays, 
powever,  there  appears  to  be,   apart  from  the  religious  service,  no 


"P.C.  Report,   1912-13,  Part  2.  pp.    139-140. 


450  PREVENTIVE  DETENTION 

more  than  the  usual  association — so  that  Sundays  are  probably  toj 
the  majority,  as  they  are  in  other  prisons,  the  most  monotonousj 
and  trying  days  of  the  week. 

The  Parole  Lines  and  the  Disciplinary  Grade. 

"The  'parole  lines,'  "  to  quote  again  from  Mr.  Housman's  report,! 
"were  devised  by  the  Prison  Commissioners  in  1912,  and  made 
operative  in  1914,  as  an  extension  of  the  special  grade,  intended  to 
provide  for  prisoners  of  good  conduct  an  intermediate  condition; 
between  custody  and  discharge,  the  object  being  to  give  to  these 
prisoners  greater  liberty,  under  less  supervision,  as  a  preparation^ 
for  their  return  to  ordinary  life.  'In  this  way,'  says  the  [Com- 
missioners'] report  of  1912,  'it  is  hoped  that  the  re-entry  into  free! 
life  will  be  facilitated,  and  it  will  be  possible  to  form  a  better  judg-; 
ment  as  to  fitness  for  release  than  if  the  man  were  left  under  strict, 
surveillance  up  to  the  last  moment. '  '* 

"The  parole  lines  consist  of  a  block  of  16  tenements  [or  cabins] 
lying  in  a  garden  enclosure  outside  the  main  prison  walls.  Each 
tenement  opens  upon  a  verandah,  and  contains  a  bed  sitting-room, 
a  scullery,  and  w.c.  The  prisoners  have  their  own  latchkeys,  a 
gas-ring,  and  a  few  cooking  utensils  in  which  they  can  prepare  food| 
purchased  from  the  canteen.  They  are  obliged,  like  all  the  othen 
prisoners,  to  be  in  cells,  with  lights  out,  after  a  certain  hour;  but; 
they  have  their  meals  separate  from  the  rest,  and  their  own  associa-i 
tion  room.  With  these,  and  other  smaller  privileges,  they  are  con-' 
scious  of  being  under  considerably  less  direct  supervision  than  thpi' 
other  prisoners. 

"In  the  meal  and  association  room,  for  instance,  no  warder  is  ... 
actual  attendance;  he  occupies  an  adjoining  room  with  a  communicat-j 
ing  window."  Dui'ing  practically  the  whole  day,  at  work,! 
association,  and  meals,  quiet  conversation  is  permitted,  and  untilj 
lights  are  out  the  men  are  free  to  be  in  or  out  of  their  rooms  [or,  ifj 
they  choose,  cultivating  their  allotment] ,  except  when  duty  othern 
wise  calls  them."  'i 

This  intermediate  stage  of  liberty  appears  to  have  been  singularly' 
successful.  When  initiated  in  1914-15,  the  Commissioners  wrotej 
that  the  experiment  was  "perhaps  to  a  certain  degree  hazardous  J 
but  some  risk  must  be  taken."  Their  faith  was  justified,  for  ini 
1919  they  stated  that  none  of  the  175  prisoners  located  in  the  cabins 
(since  they  were  opened)  had  made  any  attempt  to  break  parole, 
while  only  three  had  been  removed  for  misconduct.  It  is  a 
deficiency,  though  perhaps  an  inevitable  one,  that  the  benefit  of  the 
parole  lines  is  not  attained  by  the  men  who  are  released  earliest. 
And  the  amount  of  trust  extended  to  the  men  might  well  be  increased! 
if  they  are  to  be  thoroughly  prepared  for  the  responsibilities  of  real^ 
life.     We  understand,  indeed,  that  the  authorities  have,  to  this  end,: 

10  P.O.   Report,  1911-12,  p.  23. 

•'This   is  also  arranged   for   in   the   most   recently  built  cell-block. 


PAROLE    LINES   AND    DISCIPLINARY    GRADE  451 

oontemplated  sending  a  prisoner  by  himself  into  a  neighbouring  town 
an  occasional  errands  of  trust  involving  money,  in  accordance  with 
successful  precedents  at  American  prisons  and  at  Irish  Intermediate 
prisons  of  the  last  century. 

At  the  opposite  pole  to  the  semi-freedom  of  the  parole  lines  stands 
the  disciplinary  grade. 

"The  disciplinary  grade,"  writes  Mr.  Housman,  "is  provided 
either  as  a  punishment  for  personal  misconduct,  or  as  an  administra- 
tive act  rendered  necessary  when  a  man  is  known  to  be  exercising 
a  bad  influence  on  the  others ;  that  is  to  say,  though  penal  in  its 
effects,  it  is  not  necessarily  charged  as  a  'punishment'  in  the 
prisoner's  record.  It  consists,  broadly  speaking,  in  a  reversion  to 
penal  servitude  conditions.  A  prisoner  in  this  grade  is  only  allowed 
association  during  labour,  and  is  liable  to  be  deprived  of  that  also. 
[He  has  no  gratuity,  newspapers  or  tobacco.]  He  is  also  strictly 
under  the  silence  rule,  from  which  the  other  grades  are  relieved;  and 
his  dress  (both  on  week-days  and  Sundays)  is  different  from  that 
oi  the  other  prisoners.  [He  is  only  allowed  a  letter  and  a  visit  once 
jin  each  three  months.] 

"It  is  provided  by  rule  that  any  [released]  prisoner  whose  licence 
las  been  revoked  may,  on  his  return,  be  placed  and  kept  in  the 
disciplinary  grade  for  such  length  of  time  as  the  Board  of  Visitors 
:hink  necessary  (Rule  15).  It  appears  that  this  permissive  rule  has 
|Deen  in  practice  interpreted  as  though  it  were  obligatory.  [Men, 
'or  instance,  who  have  been  sent  back  to  Camp  Hill  merely  for 
eaving  their  address  without  notice,  usually  spend  six  months  in 
lihe  disciplinary  grade.] 

'.  "It  should  be  noted  that  the  disciplinary  grade  involves  not  only 
jleprivation  of  the  right  to  associate,  speak,  earn  gratuities,  and 
purchase  articles  from  the  prison  canteen,  but  also  a  reversion  to 
ponvict  dress  and  diet.  It  is  therefore  very  penal  in  character;  and 
I'he  permissive  character  of  the  above  rule  ought  not  to  be  lightly 
Jjet  aside." 

j  Apart  from  this  penal  grade,  confinement  to  cells  as  a  punish- 
jnent  is  said  to  be  of  very  rare  occurrence.  Indeed,  it  is  stated 
(hat  during  the  last  two  years  there  have  not  been  more  than  30 
leases  of  punishment  in  all — all  for  minor  offences.  In  most  cases 
jhe  fear  of  losing  privileges  has  proved  a  sufficient  deterrent  to  mis- 
!»nduct — so  far,  that  is,  as  a  deterrent  has  been  necessary. 
I  Although  the  Home  Secretary  has  recommended  to  the  Courts 
jhat  only  confirmed  offenders  over  the  age  of  30  should  be  sentenced 
|0  Preventive  Detention,"  a  good  proportion  of  younger  men  are  in 
jact  committed.  In  his  report  for  1913,  the  chaplain  comments  on 
jhe  fact  that  the  ages  of  the  men  vary  from  25  to  over  70,  and  their 
■arlier  sentences  from  terms  of  simple  imprisonment  only  to  as  many 
s  six  terms  of  penal  servitude.     There  is  at  present  no  attempt  at 

••Memo,  to  Rules  made  in  regard  to  PrerentiTe  Detention   (P.C.  Beport,  1910-11,  p.  114). 


452  PREVENTIVE  DETENTION 

classification  in  Camp  Hill,  and  this  circumstance,  therefore,  means 
that  the  young  habitual  mixes  freely,  whether  in  the  Ordinary  or 
in  the  Special  Grade,  with  the  old  and  hardened  criminal.'' 

There  is  a  rule  that  a  man  may  be  placed  in  the  very  penal 
Disciplinary  Grade,  not  for  any  misconduct,  but  merely  "because" 
he  is  known  to  be  exercising  a  bad  influence  on  others,"  and  may  be 
kept  there  as  long  as  may  be  necessary  in  the  interests  of  himself 
and  of  others.  Fortunately,  this  provision  is  rarely,  we  under- 
stand, put  into  operation;  if  it  were  so,  it  would  be  very  inhuman! 
towards  the  victim,  who  may,  after  all,  be  doing  his  best.  i 

Eeverting  to  the  existing  conditions  of  the  non-penal  grades,  Mr,, 
Housman  draws  special  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  various' 
"modifications  of  disciphne  and  routine  are  not  definitely  provided' 
for  in  the  Act,  and  only  to  a  partial  extent  in  the  rules,  but  are  left 
to  the  discretion  of  the  Secretary  of  State  and  the  prison  authorities 
acting  under  him.  But  it  is  really  in  the  application  of  these i 
modifications  that  the  difference  and  the  advance  from  the  old  prison 
system  mainly  consists.  Under  the  actual  provisions  of  the  law 
governing  Preventive  Detention  there  is  little  to  prevent  it  from 
being  converted,  under  a  new  set  of  rules,  into  a  form  of  treatment! 
only  slightly  'less  rigorous'  than  penal  servitude."  While,  there-! 
fore,  it  is  highly  important  to  note  the  spirit  in  which  the  Act  isi 
being  administered,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  rules  and  theirj 
liberal  interpretation  have  given  to  Preventive  Detention  much  of  its! 
present  distinctive  character.  Subject  to  their  lying  upon  the  table! 
of  the  two  Houses  for  a  specified  time,  rules  might  at  any  time  be! 
altered.  They  might  also  by  the  same  means  be  liberally  amended.} 
Important  amendments  have  been  effected  outside  the  provisions  ofl 
the  rules  as  at  first  drawn  up  by  the  Secretary  of  State.  Of  that! 
the  institution  of  the  'Parole  lines'  is  a  notable  instance."  [Another: 
is  the  introduction  of  newspapers  and  tobacco,  recommended  by  thel 
Commissioners  in  1911-12."] 

The  Governor,  the  Staff,  and  the  Advisory  Board. 

"Very  much  of  the  success  achieved  in  the  working  of  the  system i 

at  Camp  Hill  is  certainly  due  to  the  personality  of  the  man  placed; 

at  its  head,   and   to  the  new  tradition  of  courtesy  and  absence  of] 

provocation  toward  prisoners  which  was  being  inculcated  by  him  in! 

i»  Under  the  Osborne  plan  of  corporate  responsibility  this  might  not  be  harmful;  bnt 
where  government  is  from  above,  some  classification  seems  most  desirable.    See  pp.  671-86. ^ 

20  Compare  Sect.  13  (2)  of  the  Prevention  of  Crime  Act.  "The  rules  applicable  to; 
convicts  and  Convict  prisons  shall  apply  to  persons  undergoing  preventive  detention,  and  j 
to  the  prison  or  parts  of  prisons  in  which  they  are  detained,  subject  to  such  modificationsj 
in  the  direction  of  a  less  rigorous  treatment  as  the  Secretary  of  State  may  prescribe  Dy| 
prison  rules  within  the  meaning    of   the  Prison   Act,   1898."  I 

Mr.  Winston  Churchill,  when  speaking  in  1910  on  the  Prisons  Vote,  as  Home  SeeretM7.| 
described  preventive  detention  as  so  severe  a  form  of  punishment  that  its  administration; 
should  be  "closely  watched";  adding  as  follows :— "There  is  great  danger  of  using  smooth 
words  for  ugly  things.  Preventive  detention  is  penal  servitude  in  all  its  aspects.  There 
may  be  modifications,  but  in  the  main  it  is  a  form  of  copfinement  and  of  surveillance, 
which  must  necessarily  be  of  a  severe  and  rigorous  chaiacter."— (Parliamentary  Debates, 
July  20th,   1910.) 

2' P.O.    Report,   1911-12,  p.   23. 


GOVERNOR,    STAFF    AND    ADVISORY    BOARD  453 

the  prison  staff.  It  was  evident  also  that  the  governor  was  prepared, 
at  some  personal  risk,  to  show  a  much  greater  trust  in  the  criminals 
under  his  charge  than  is  usually  the  case;  and  that,  in  his  personal 
interviews,  he  did  all  he  could  to  establish  sincere  and  confidential 
relations  between  himself  and  the  men.  As  a  result  it  is  found,  in 
the  main,  that  the  prisoners  appreciate  trust,  and  respond  to  it, 
even  though  there  may  be  temporary  breakdowns  or  failures." 

This  is  in  accordance  with  the  extracts  from  the  reports  of  the 

governors  and  chaplains,  as  printed  (unfortunately  up  to  1914  only) 

by  the  Commissioners.        The  present  governor's  predecessor,   for 

instance,  wrote  in  1914  of  "the  increasing  self-respect  which  the 

many  privileges,  and  the  trust  placed  in  them,  seem  to  inspire  in 

the  men  here;  and  the  inference  is  obvious  that  this  feeling  must 

i inevitably  tend  towards  reform."     In  the  same  report  he  speaks  of 

i"the  antidote  to  misconduct   which  is  contained   in  the  extensive 

;  privileges  which  preventive  detention  prisoners  enjoy.     There  is  so 

much  to  lose."  " 

An  experienced  magistrate  who  visited  Camp  Hill  during  1920 
[wrote  as  follows: — "The  new  and  right  spirit  of  the  governor  is 
reflected  in  the  whole  atmosphere  of  the  place  and  in  the  bearing 
and  demeanour  of  the  inmates.  The  faces  of  the  men  do  not  bear 
the  inferno  mark  of  Pentonville  or  HoUoway.  It  is  the  most 
promising  offshoot  of  our  penal  system." 

The  enlightened  attitude  of  the  governor  is,  we  believe,  supported 
by  the  influence  of  the  Advisoiy  Board  or  Committee  who  have  the 
duty  (under  Section  14  (4)  of  the  Act)  of  personally  interviewing  the 
prisoners,  reporting  upon  their  conduct,  and  recommending  them, 
or  otherwise,  to  the  Home  Secretary,  through  the  Commissioners, 
for  release  under  the  conditional  licence  which  will  presently  be 
,  described." 

I     The  warders  at  Camp  Hill  are  selected  men  taken  from  the  staff 

I  of  Convict  prisons.       Some  of  them  have  had  20  years  service  or 

;  more  as  Convict  warders,  and  the  majority  probably  were  originally 

-  drawn  from  the  old  regular  army.    The  relationship  of  the  warders  to 

governor  and  to  prisoners  respectively  is  not  very  different  from  what 

:  it  would  be  in  another  prison,  where  the  governor  is  a  wise  and 

I  humane  man.     It  is  said  that  the  warders  are  strictly  enjoined  to 

treat  prisoners   with  courtesy   and  not    to  give  their  orders   in    a 

provocative  way ;  for  the  Camp  Hill  governor  is  aware,  as  many 

prison  officials  are  not,  how  the  nervous  strain  of  imprisonment  may 

provoke  a  man  in   spite  of  himself  to  incalculable  acts  of  unpre- 

!  meditated    violence.        The  wearing  of  side-arms,    which  was   the 

practice  in  the  early  years  of  Camp  Hill,  has  now  been  discontinued. 

Still  the  relationship  is  in  many  respects  a  formal  and  mihtary  one. 

"P.C.  Report,  1913-14,   Part  II.,  pp.   127-8. 

••TBieie  is  also  a  Board  of  Visitors  appointed  by  the  Home  Secretary  for  terms  of  threa 
years  (under  Section  13  (4)  of  the  Act)  with  similar  duties,  as  regards  offences  and  com- 
plaints on  the  part  of  prisoners,  stc,  to  tb«  Visiting  Boards  ot  ConTict  prisons.  (See 
pp.  402-6.) 


454  PREVENTIVE  DETENTION 

The  approach  of  the  governor  is  met  by  the  usual  stiff  salute  and; 
gabbling  of  the  oft-repeated  formulas  "30  men,"  "40  men,"  "All 
correct,  Sir."  And  the  warders  are  not  trusted  with  their  charges;! 
familiar  conversation  is  not  authorised.  i 

All  this  is  out  of  harmony  with  the  other  features  of  Camp  Hill;! 
but  it  is  made  almost  inevitable  by  the  restriction  of  the  post  of 
warder  to  men  trained  in  Convict  prisons.  An  ex-prisoner  has  told 
us  that  this  was,  a  few  years  ago  at  any  rate,  about  the  greatest 
defect  of  the  preventive  detention  system.  The  warders,  he  said, 
naturally  had,  though  in  varying  degrees,  all  the  old  habits  of 
mechanical  domination  which  they  had  contracted  in  Convict  prisons, 
ordering  men  about  like  slaves  and  making  it  their  chief  task  to  spy 
out  wickedness,  wherever  they  could  find  it. 

The  Advisory  Board,  which  is  charged,  as  already  mentioned,  with 
the  function  of  recommending  prisoners  for  conditional  release, : 
appears  to  take  its  duties  very  seriously.  "Nothing,"  the  Com-| 
missioners  wrote  in  1914,  "can  exceed  their  conscientious  zeal."i 
Their  task,  of  course,  is  of  the  utmost  importance;  for  on  their  judg-' 
ment  and  their  decision  hinges  the  whole  success  of  the  system. ; 
We  understand  that  they  attempt  to  form  an  impression  of  a  man's! 
conduct  and  stability  of  character  over  a  long  period  of  time,  and,  i 
in  addition  to  personal  interviews,  consult  the  governor,  chaplain,  I 
and  medical  officer,  besides  the  instructors  and  warders.  Weekly  I 
reports  on  each  man's  conduct  and  industry  are  furnished  by  the? 
warders.  With  the  present  type  of  warder,  unfortunately,  these ! 
reports  are  often,  we  have  reason  to  think,  not  the  best  test  of  ai 
man's  fitness  for  release.  As  the  Scotch  Commissioner,  Dr.  Devon' 
has  said,  "It  is  not  uncommon  for  the  most  objectionable  character, ; 
by  subservience  and  sycophancy,  to  impress  favourably  those  who! 
have  the  dispensing  of  privileges."^*  Hypocrisy  is  a  vice  insepar-| 
able  from  prison,  where,  as  a  warder  once  told  the  present  writer,  I 
"appearance  counts  for  everything."  An  ex-Camp  Hill  prisoner; 
informs  us  that  early  release  depended  not  so  much  on  real  good  i 
character  as  "on  the  way  you  swank  or  study  your  particular 
warder,"  and  he  confessed  that  his  own  early  release  was  due  to 
such  artfulness. 

The  Drawbacks  of  the  System. 
In  this  connection  it  is  necessary  to  emphasise  that  much  of  the 
Camp  Hill  system  of  discipline  shares  the  defects  of  prison  treat- 
ment in  tending  to  make  good  institutional  inmates  rather  than  good 
men.  Promotion,  privileges,  and  release  are  based  on  outward 
behaviour  and  on  a  capacity  to  avoid  discovery  in  breaking  rules 
rather  than  upon  the  development  of  character.  There  is  little 
attempt  to  teach  the  elements  of  social  conduct,  and  the  prisoners 
still  move  in  an  atmosphere  largely  permeated  by  suspicion.     ^e\i- 

'*  Dr.   J.   Devon,   "The   Criminal   and    the    Community,"   p.    296. 


THE    DRAWBACKS    OF    TEE    SYSTEM  455 

discipline  is  only  encouraged  to  a  limited  degree,  nor  is  there  much 
appeal  to  a  sense  of  corporate  responsibility.  In  these  all-important 
respects  the  Preventive  Detention  system  seems  to  us  to  be  far 
behind  the  Mutual  Welfare  system,  for  instance,  which  Mr.  Mott 
Osborne  has  introduced  in  some  American  prisons.^* 

It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  the  implication  that  men 
secure  release  by  good  institutional  behaviour  only  is  not  in  harmony 
with  the  claim  as  to  the  large  proportion  of  men  released  who  act 
like  reformed  characters.  Is  this  because,  as  the  last-quoted  witness 
considered,  in  some  cases  at  least  "the  long  acting  of  a  part  became 
so  much  second  nature  that  men  of  bad  character,  by  force  of  habit, 
even  went  on  keeping  straight  permanently  after  their  release"? 

In  any  case  it  is  absolutely  necessary,  if  the  fitness  of  men  for 
I  release  should  be  judged  rightly  that  those  in  charge  of  the  prisoners 
J  should  be  trusted  to  associate  with  them  freely  and  should  be  men 
I  of  high  personal  character.  Whatever  the  merits  of  the  indetermin- 
late  sentence,  it  can  hardly  be  permanently  successful  without  a 
1  changed  prison  staff.  If  the  staff  consisted  of  experienced  men 
I  with  a  sense  of  "vocation"  for  their  work,  exerting  a  good  influence 
on  the  prisoners  through  feelings  of  friendship,  their  advice  might 
prove  trustworthy.  But  so  long  as  warders  are  only  engaged  as 
"keepers,"  and  kept  in  their  present  subordinate  position,  it  is  use- 
less to  expect  that  they  should  possess  such  capacity. 

Not  only  every  warder  at  Camp  Hill,  but  every  prisoner,  too,  has 
previously  graduated  in  a  Convict  prison.  The  Act,  as  we  have 
seen,  requires  that  the  preventive  detention  sentence  should  be 
served  continuously  with  a  prehminary  term  of  at  least  three  years 
penal  servitude.  The  effect  of  this  provision  can  scarcely  be  better 
described  than  in  the  words  of  an  ex-prisoner  who,  though  he  has 
himself  made  good  as  a  result  of  the  fresh  start  provided  by  the 
preventive  detention  system,  regarded  his  restoration  as  something 
scarcely  short  of  a  miracle. 

"The  greatest  curse  of  Camp  Hill,"  this  witness  told  us,  "and  that 
which  neutralised  most  of  its  good  points  in  many  cases,  was  that  men 
came  there  too  late;  that  is  to  say,  after  long  spells  of  penal  servitude. 
Nothing  could  be  more  deplorably  demoralising  and  ruinous  than  the 
effects,  mentally,  morally,  and  sometimes  physically,  of  the  convict 
discipline.  Instead  of  making  a  w^eak  mind  stronger,  as  punishment 
should,  it  makes  it  much  weaker.  Silence,  solitude,  compulsion,  harsh- 
ness, over  a  long  period,  cannot  possibly  strengthen  a  man.  Owing  to 
the  want  of  healthy  interests  and  the  intense  monotony,  they  are  driven 
back  upon  their  own  evil  thoughts  and  broodings.  The  worst  curse  of 
all  and  that  which  led  to  the  ruin  of  many,  was  the  vice  of  self-abuse, 
which  was  very  prevalent.  Owing  to  this  and  other  features  of  the 
discipline,  men  came  to  Camp  Hill  after  their  long  penal  servitude 
sometimes  in  a  very  bitter,  rebellious  state,  and  nearly  always  in  a, 
dazed  and  stupified  condition  of  mind.  They  naturally  continued  many 
of    their  bad   habits,    including   the   self-abuse,    even   under    the   better 

**  See  pp.  672-86. 


456  PREVENTIVE  DETENTION 

conditions,  and  were  not  able  to  rise.  They  were  already  case-hardened, 
and  many  of  them  would  hardly  be  able  to  benefit  by  the  most  kindly 
and  humane  treatment. 

We  believe  these  words  to  be  a  fair  statement  of  the  greatest 
drawback  of  the  present  system.  The  same  criticism  was  made,  in 
the  form  of  anticipation,  by  so  experienced  a  prison  administrator; 
as  Dr.  James  Devon.  Eeferring  to  the  ordinary  conditions  of  penal 
servitude  and  the  necessity  of  an  offender  passing  through  them,' 
before  he  quahfied  under  the  Prevention  of  Crime  Act  for  preventive 
detention,  Dr.  Devon  wrote  in  1911 :  — 

To  one  who  is  not  a  legislator  it  appears  foolish  to  insist  that  offenders 
should  be  placed  under  conditions  which  do  not  fit  them  to  live  honestly 
outside  prison,  and  that  the  process  should  be  repeated  until  they  have; 
become  habitual  criminals,  before  it  is  ordered  that  steps  shall  be  taken' 
for  their  reform.-'^ 

When  the  Prevention  of  Crime  Bill  was  passing  through  the. 
House  of  Commons,  an  amendment,  allowing  the  convicting  Court! 
to  impose  a  sentence  of  preventive  detention  without  penal  servitude,: 
received  large  and  influential  support.""  It  was  rejected  by  the! 
Home  Secretary,  Lord  Gladstone,  on  the  ground  that  it  would  send 
a  man  "red  hot  from  crime"  direct  to  a  treatment  less  penal  than 
that  of  penal  servitude,  so  that  the  worst  type  of  criminal  would  bej 
better  off  than  more  meritorious  offenders,  who  were  sent  to  penal | 
servitude  after  a  first  or  second  offence.  It  must  be  admitted  thatj 
there  was  considerable  force  in  this  objection.  As  will  be  indicated 
later,  if  preventive  detention  is  the  most  effective  way  of  reducing 
recidivism,  the  only  logical  course  for  the  authorities  would  be  to] 
impose  it,  or  allow  it  to  be  imposed,  upon  all  convicted  persons  whomi 
they  regard  as  fit  subjects  for  penal  servitude. 

In  spite  of  the  deficiencies  we  have  indicated,  however, 
there  is  no  doubt  as  to  the  superiority,  from  the  educative 
and  reformative  standpoint,  of  preventive  detention  over  the 
convict  system — assuming,  that  is  to  say,  that  the  men  who 
come  under  them  are  in  a  condition  to  be  re-educated  or  reformed'. 
The  judgment  of  the  highly  intelligent  ex-prisoner,  whom  we 
quoted  on  the  last  page  is  definite  enough.  This  witness  considered 
the  Camp  Hill  treatment  as  an  immense  improvement  on  penal 
servitude.  He  thought  it  a  reasonable  plan  to  go  through  terms  of 
probation  in  order  to  secure  complete  liberty  finally,  and  that  it  was 
beneficial  to  work  up  to  fuller  and  fuller  privileges  from  an  inferior 
status.  His  final  verdict  was  that  if  there  were  proper  instruction 
in  trades,  if  the  warders  and  some  of  the  higher  officers  were  a| 
better  type  of  men,  and  if  a  certain  amount  of  red  tape  were  swept  i 
away,  then  Camp  Hill  "would  be  something  hke  a  prison  should: 

26  "The  Criminal  and  the  Community,"  p.   290. 

27  It  was  urged  by  Sir  William  Collins  that  the  insistence  on  penal  servitude  as  part 
of  the  sentence  emanated  from  "a  bureaucratic  commission"  and  not  from  the  1895 
Departmental  Committee.    (See  the  Committee's  recommendation  quoted  abore  on  p.  442.) 


THE   NEW  METHOD   OF   LICENCE  457 

be."  This  witness  had  no  conception,  of  course,  of  the  new 
penology  which  rehes  not  so  much  upon  good  conditions,  or  even 
r.r,  crood  education  and  training,  as  upon  the  development  of  self- 
inline  and  social  conduct  through  the  utmost  possible  provision 
ui  iieedom  and  corporate  responsibihty. 

Mr.  Laurence  Housman,  after  a  prolonged  personal  investigation, 
has  summed  up  for  us  in  his  report,  as  follows: — 

"From  the  foregoing  it  will  be  seen  that  the  system,  in  its  present 
application,  is  a  milder  form  of  treatment  than  that  to  which  convicts 
tor  penal  servitude  have  hitherto  been  subjected.  The  dietary 
:>re  ample,  more  varied,  and  of  better  quahty ;  the  cells,  the  beds, 
the  general  conditions  are  more  comfortable ;  the  life  is  more 
d ;  conversation  and  social  intercourse  are  more  freely  permitted ; 
clothing  is  less  degrading  in  character;  and  there  is,  at  least 
e  Parole  Lines,  a  very  considerable  escape  from  subservient 
ne  and  a  beginning  of  self -order  and  self-discipUne. 
iiiay  be  said  that  with  the  exception  of  the  longer  period  of 
onment  to  which  the  con\"ict€d  person  becomes  liable  (a 
e  of  severity  rendered  largely  optional  by  the  extended  pro- 
s  for  conditional  release)  there  is  no  part  of  the  treatment 
does  not  show  a  more  humane  and  sympathetic  tendency 
■d  the  prisoner  than  the  old  penal  servitude  system;  and  we 
us  faced  by  the  fact  that  altogether  \sath  the  option  of  an 
t  shorter  sentence  than  he  would  otherwise  receive  (since,  as 
above,  judges  have  hitherto  tended  to  give  only  the  minimuna 
!nal  servitude  as  a  preliminary)  the  hardened  and  'hopeless' 
al  is  being  presented  with  a  prison  treatment  which  at  every 
reduces  the  rigours  of  the  system  to  which,  when  a  less 
ined  criminal,  he  has  to  accustom  himself.  And  if,  in  result, 
be  shown  that  as  large  a  proportion  of  preventive  detention 
ers  justify  their  conditional  release  by  keeping  straight,  as 
servitude  prisoners  justify  their  ticket  of  leave,  the  argument 
urther  application  of  what  we  have  described  as  the  amenities 
iventive  d^ention  becomes  irresistible." 


The  New  Method  of  Licence. 

Sfore    attempting    to    estimate    the   results    of    the    Preventive 

;^tention  system  upon  the  men  who  pass  through  it,  some  accoimt 

"  be  given  of  the  conditions  under  which  they  are  licensed,  when 

arged  from  prison,  as  is  usually  the  case,  before  the  complete 

of  their  sentence   expires."       This  conditional  licence  is  an 

rent  part  of  the  system;  indeed  it  appears  to  be  regarded  by  the 

juthwities  as  the  most  important  feature  of  it. 

i 

i**The  PreTentioB  of  Crime   Act    (Section   16)   prorides   that   the  Home  Secretary    may  at 
^UBe  discharge  absolutely    aoy  man   who    has   been  licensed.    This   is   only    done  Tery 

Q2 


458  PBEVENTIVE  DETENTION 

There  is  nothing  to  prevent  the  prison  authorities  from  recom- 
mending and  securing  the  almost  immediate  release  of  a  prisoner, 
after  he  has  passed  from  penal  servitude  to  preventive  detention, 
if  his  behaviour  gives  warrant  for  the  supposition  that  his  release 
will  be  attended  by  good  results.  The  Commissioners  inform  us 
that  the  power  of  conditional  release  is  very  liberally  exercised,  a 
great  proportion  of  the  men  being  licensed  "at  a  comparatively 
early  period  of  their  sentence.'"''  But  we  believe  that  the  practice 
is  not  to  consider  men  for  licence  before  they  obtain  the  Special 
Grade,  i.e.,  not  earlier  than  the  beginning  of  their  third  year. 

On  a  man's  discharge  he  is  required  by  the  terms  of  his  licence: 
(1)  to  place  himself  under  the  supervision  of  the  Central  Association 
for  the  Aid  of  Discharged  Convicts;  (2)  not  to  alter  his  address  with-] 
out  permission;  (3)  to  obey  its  instructions  with  regard  to  punctuall 
and  regular  attendance  at  work  and  to  report  himself  as  required;- 
(4)  to  abstain  from  any  violation  of  the  law,  not  to  associate  with 
persons  of  bad  character,  and  to  lead  a  sober,  industrious  life,  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  Association.  If  he  commits  a  breach  of  these 
conditions,  his  licence  may  be  revoked,  and  he  may  be  sent  back  toj 
Camp  Hill  prison  for  a  further  term  of  detention. 

The  Central  Association,  mentioned  above,  has  had,  since  1910,j 
the  duty  of  assisting  all  discharging  convicts."  But  the  ordinaryi 
convict  has,  as  a  rule,  to  report  to  the  police  and  is  not  under  suchj 
supervision  or  conditions  as  obtain  in  the  case  of  Camp  Hill  men.! 
The  Association  has  its  officers  and  representatives,  who  see  every! 
man  before  his  discharge,  make  arrangements  for  his  lodging  after! 
release,  and  find  him  employment,  providing  him,  so  far  as  is} 
necessary,  with  tools,  equipment,  or  other  outlay.  It  depends,  forj 
the  quality  of  its  work,  upon  a  supply  of  voluntary  "Associates"! 
who  are  ready  to  take  up  these  duties,  to  keep  in  touch  with  the  meni 
assigned  to  them,  and  act  towards  them,  not  so  much  as  supervisors,! 
as  in  the  capacity  of  friends.  j 

We  have  received  evidence  from  a  considerable  number  ol 
v/itnesses — from  ex-prisoners  themselves,  as  well  as  from  in- 
dependent persons  interested  in  helping  them — as  to  the  way  ir 
which  the  Central  Association  discharges  its  functions.  Practically! 
all  our  witnesses  are  unanimous  as  to  the  great  superiority  of  thfj 
Association's  methods  over  the  old  system  of  "police  supervision,'] 
and  as  to  the  liberal  manner  in  which  it  both  gives  moral  anc 
material  assistance  to  the  men,  and  also  interprets  the  conditions  oj 
the  licence  conditions  which  in  other  hands  might  be  made  sufficient!}! 
galling.  "We  have  also  reason  to  believe  that  most  of  the  personij 
whom  it  secures  for  the  very  responsible  task  of  "Associate"  anj 
men  well  worthy  to  bear  the  name  of  "prisoners'  friend."  | 

2»  P.C.  Report,  1916-17,  p.  13.  During  that  year  there  were  only  11  men  who  ooulij 
not  be   recommended   for   licence  before  their  sentences   expired. 

»•>  It  is  worked  from  the  same  offices  and  with  the  same  staff  as  the  Borstal  A»sooi»tioi!| 
See  p.   432. 


PREVEXTIVE  DETESTWN  459 

The  Eesults  of  Pbeventive  Detention  as  Compared 
WITH  Penal  Servitude. 

What  are  the  results,  expressed  in  terms  of  the  after-careers  of 
the  men  involved,  of  the  Camp  Hill  regime  followed  by  the 
8uper^^sion  of  the  Central  Association?  Eemarkable  results  they 
appear  to  be,  judged  by  all  penal  precedents.  "Preventive  detention 
has,  so  far, ' '  writes  the  chairman  of  the  Camp  Hill  Advisory  Board, 
"yielded  much  more  favourable  results  than  could  have  been  origin- 
ally expected." "" 

The  usual  annual  returns  given  to  the  public  as  to  the  number  of 
men  discharged  during  any  year,  who  were  "satisfactory"  or 
"unsatisfactory"  at  the  end  of  that  year,  are  of  comparatively 
small  value,  as  insufficient  time  has  elapsed  to  show  whether  men 
will  keep  clear  of  fresh  convictions.  Fortunately,  however,  the 
reports  of  the  Central  Association  for  1919  and  1920  give  us  more 
adequate  information.     In  the  1919  Report,  we  read  as  follows:  — 

"A  review  has  been  taken  of  the  progress  of  the  first  200  men 
discharged  from  preventive  detention  and  of  their  position  on  the 
31st  of  Marcli,  1919.  The  first  of  these  men  were  discharged  in 
September,  1912,  and  the  last  in  1917,  so  that  a  sufficient  period  has 
elapsed  in  every  case  to  show  whether  the  man  has  made  a  decided 
attempt  to  live  honestly. 

"Of  these  200,  no  unsatisfactory  report  has  been  received  con- 
cerning 135,  that  is  over  67  per  cent.,  and  only  48,  that  is  24  per 
cent,  have  been  re -convicted. "  " 

A  year  later,  ovk-ing  probably  to  the  difficulties  of  getting  employ- 
ment, the  figures  were  not  so  good.  We  are,  however,  informed 
that  "of  the  first  100  men  discharged  from  preventive  detention 
(all  of  whom  have  been  at  liberty  over  four  years)  61  have  incurred 
no  further  conviction;"  "  and  that,  of  the  325  men  in  all  discharged 
(on  licence  and  for  the  first  time)  during  the  eight  years  1912-1920, 
105,  i.e.,  32  per  cent,  have  been  re-convicted  of  a  further  crime  or 
crimes,  and  220,  i.e.,  68  per  cent,  have  incurred  no  further  convic- 
tion; while  of  these  last  the  conduct  of  172,  i.e.,  of  53  per  cent,  of 
the  whole,  has  been  good."  It  is  stated  that,  if  a  man  keeps  straight 
for  the  two  or  three  years  following  his  release,  he  scarcely  ever 
'relapses  into  crime. 

»»P.C.  Report,   1918-19,  p.   11. 

"  We    are   also   informed   that    the    large  majority   of    those   re-convicted    were    men    who 

jinaisted  on   returning  to  their  old  residence   and  enTironment,  instead    of  going   to  a  new 

{district. 

i    "  P.O.  Heport,   1919-20,  p.   16. 

i"  The  mental  and  physical  capacities  of  the  average  preventire  detention  prisoner  appear 
to  be  Tery  similar  to  those  of  the  average  recidivist  convict.  They  are  not,  except  very 
,rarely,  mentally  deficient,  but,  as  the  Camp  Hill  medical  officer  tells  us  in  his  reports  for 
1913-14,  the  physique  and  the  mental  ability  of  many  of  them  are  below  the  average 
standard  of  "the  hard-working  free-labouring  class."  He  admits  that  owing  to  this  and  to 
a  certain  amount  of  moral  instability,  many  ot  them  would  find  it  difficult  to  earn  a  living 
Outside  prison.  In  1914,  out  of  176  prisoners  then  under  detention,  44  or  25  per  cent, 
were  only  "fit  for  light  or  restricted  work."— (1914  Report  of  Commissioners,  Part  2.  p. 
130).  And  of  those  discharged  during  1915-16,  as  many  as  15Vj  per  cent,  were  "unfit 
j.or  ordinary  labouring  work."— (1916  Report  of  the  Central  Association,  p.  6).  These 
acts  make  the  high  percentage  of  men  returned  as  doing  well   all  the  more  remarlr^ble. 


460  PREVENTIVE  DETENTION 

In  order  to  estimate  the  value  of  these  figures,  it  is  necessary  to 
cx>mpare  them  with  similar  returns  showing  the  after-careers  of  the 
ordinary  "recidivist"  convicts  from  Dartmoor  or  Portland,  the  class 
from  which  the  Camp  Hill  men  are  drawn.  The  materials  for  any 
exact  comparison  are  not  supplied  to  us  by  the  authorities,  but  there 
can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  much  greater  hopefulness,  at  any  rate 
prima  facie,  of  the  preventive  detention  returns. 

We  are  informed,  for  instance,  that  of  2,568  male  convicts ' 
(including  many  "accidental"  criminals,  besides  "habituals")  in; 
custody  in  March,  1914,  as  many  as  2,153  or  83  per  cent,  had  beeni 
previously  convicted  (penal  servitude  or  imprisonment),  and  only 
415  or  16  per  cent,  not  previously  convicted."  And  during  1909-10' 
Mr.  (now  Sir)  Basil  H.  Thomson  conducted  for  the  Commissioners; 
an  investigation  into  the  after-careers  of  4,563  convicts  discharged! 
during  the  five  years,  1900  to  1904;  i.e.,  a  period  of  from  five  to 
10  years  was  allowed,  during  which  they  might  relapse  into  crime. ; 
The  records  showed  that  of  the  whole  number — men  of  less  hardened ; 
types  as  well  as  recidivists — only  1,386,  or  30  per  cent.,  had  not' 
been  re-convicted;  the  70  per  cent,  who  had  relapsed  were  composed} 
almost  wholly  of  confirmed  recidivists.  Of  the  recidivists  (i.e.,  meni 
of  the  preventive  detention  calibre)  taken  by  themselves,  83  pert 
cent,  had  been  re-convicted,  and  only  697  men  or  17  per  cent,  had; 
not  been  re-convicted;  and  a  considerable  proportion  of  this  17  perj 
cent,  had  either  disappeared  or  were  dead,  or  were  in  workhouses' 
or  asylums,  or  otherwise  "unsatisfactory."  ^°  I 

Matters  had  not  improved  very  much  by  1915,  at  any  rate.  For| 
in  the  Report  of  the  Central  Association  for  that  year  it  was  stated! 
that,  of  the  convicts  of  all  kinds  discharged  in  the  year  1911,  only: 
46  per  cent,  had  not  been  re-convicted  during  the  years  1911-1915;: 
54  per  cent,  had  been  committed  to  prison  again  for  some  freshi 
offence.  It  may  be  confidently  assumed  that  the  percentage  ofl 
convicts  not  re-convicted  is  principally  composed  of  the  much  more: 
hopeful  "star"  class,  and  that,  therefore,  the  percentage  ofj 
recidivists  not  reconvicted  still  remains  very  low.''  '  j 

Compared  with  the  results,  in  relation  to  recidivists,  of  the 
ordinary  Convict  prisons,  the  proportion  of  over  60  per  cent,  ol 
preventive  detention  prisoners  who  have  been  saved  from  a  furtheTJ 
relapse  into  crime  is  certainly  remarkable,  even  allowing  for  thei 
"comparatively  falling  rate  of  recidivism"  shown,  as  the  Commis- 
sioners tell  us  in  their  1920  Eeport,  in  the  penal  servitude, 
population  during  recent  years.  j 

There  is,  indeed,  room  for  a  considerable  difference  of  opinion  afj 
to  how  far  the  good  results  of  preventive  detention  are  due  to  th( 
abnormal  conditions  caused   by  the   great  war,  when  even  an  ex 

»*P.C.  Report,    1913-14,  p.   65. 

»*  P.O.   Report,   1909-10,  pp.   104-106. 

»' Of  the  number  of  convicts  discharged  during  1920-21,  and  reconvicted  during  th; 
same  year,  89  per  cent,  are  stated  to  belong  to  the  recidiTlst  class  (P.C.  Report,  1920-Zl 
p.   23). 


THE    RESULTS   OF    PREVENTIVE   DETENTION  461 

convict  was  either  drafted  automatically  into  the  army  or — assuming 
that  he  possessed  a  satisfactory  military  exemption  certificate — was 
usually  able  to  obtain  lucrative  employment  with  very  little  enquiry 
into  his  past  record.  For  of  the  total  number  of  325  men  discharged 
from  Camp  Hill  from  the  outset  up  to  May,  1920,  well  over  250  were 
discharged  during  the  war,  and  less  than  20  only  before  the  war. 
The  ofi&cial  figures,  however,  do  not  indicate  any  very  large  falling 
off  in  the  high  percentage  of  men  who  are  doing  well  after  con- 
ditional release  from  Camp  Hill."  And  if  these  old  "habituals"  are 
of  the  "incorrigibly  criminal"  class,  to  which  they  have  be-en  repre- 
sented to  belong,  no  amount  of  opportunities  of  good  employment 
would  be  sufficient  to  deter  them  from  fresh  crimes. 

We  are  justified,  therefore,  in  forming  the  conclusion  that,  even 
with  the  drawbacks  which  we  have  indicated  in  the  earlier  portions 
of  this  chapter,  the  preventive  detention  system  succeeds  in  rein- 
stating twice  or  even  three  times  as  many  of  its  "difficult  and  almost 
hopeless  cases"  as  does  penal  servitude,  when  working  upon  the 
,  same  "recidivist"  material."  "Reinstatement  in  honest  life  is 
1  rather  the  rule  than  the  exception"  is  the  Prison  Commissioners' 
I  conclusion  in  their  1919  Eeport." 

It  is,  of  course,  impossible  to  say  in  exactly  what  proportion  these 

[results  are   due  to  the   differences   of  prison  treatment  under  the 

^respective  systems,  on  the  one  hand,   and  to  the  difference  in  the 

I  conditions  of  licence  and  supervision  after  discharge,  on  the  other. 

The  reports  of  the  Commissioners  for  1919  and  1920,  on  the  whole, 

.suggest  that  their  view  is  that  the  remarkable  difference  in  favour 

of  preventive  detention  is  due  chiefly  to  the  superior  merits  of  the 

I  after-care  by  the  Central  Association,  and  to  the   advantage   of  a 

positive  licence  requiring  a  man  to  earn  an  honest  living  "under 

kindly  shepherding  and  supervision,"  as  against  a  negative  licence, 

, which  only  requires  him  to  report  himself  each  month  to  the  police 

iand   abstain  from  association  with  other  criminals,    etc.        But    it 

should  be  remembered  that  the  kindly  shepherding  of  the  Association 

jis  eqiially  available  for  all  discharged  convicts ;  indeed,  a  proportion 

of  them  (now  about   14  per  cent.)*^  are  excused   from  reporting  to 

the  police.     Our  own  view  is  that  the  greater  measure  of  success 

lobtained  is  due  in  a  much  greater  degree  to  the  state  of  mind  in 

which  they  leave   Camp   Hill,    and  only  in  a   less  degree   to  the 

jlicensing  and  after-care,  which,    admirable   as  they  are,  would  be 

'  *'  The  fifrures  given  by  the  Central  Association,  in  respect  of  the  reconTirtions  of  men 
elischareed  from  preventive  detention  during  1920-21  are  not  nearly  so  good  as  in  previous 
years  (21  reconvicted  out  of  49).  But  the  Association  states  that  it  is  not  fair  to  compare 
these  results  with  those  for  1912-20  given  above;  since  (apart  from  the  incitement  to 
".rime  provided  by  the  greatly  increased  difficulty  of  finding  employment)  it  exceptionaliy 
happened  that  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  1920-21  discharges  (24  out  of  49)  were 
jnot  released  on  licence  for  the  first  time,  but  were  either  men  discharged  for  the  second 
tune,  after  having  had  their  licences  previously  revoked,  or  "expirees"  owing  to  bad 
oehavionr   or  physical   or   mental   defect. 

i   *'  A  comparison   of  the  results   of  preventive  detention  with   those  of  Borstal  is  also  most 
instrnctive.    (See   p.    435.) 
!  "P.C.  Report.   1918-19,  p.   14. 
*'  See  p.    474. 


462  PREVENTIVE  DETENTION 

ineffective  as  a  restraining  power  upon  the  majority  of  convicts 
as  they  come  direct  from  such  a  prison  as  Dartmoor  has  hitherto 
been.  An  ex-convict,  who  himself  owed  much  to  the  assistance  of 
the  Association,  commenting  upon  what  he  regarded  as  quite  un- 
reasonable prejudice  against  that  body  on  the  part  of  some  of  his 
fellows,  states  to  us  that  "many  of  the  convicts  who  leave  prison 
are  in  a  state  of  mind  which  prevents  them  from  being  helped  by 
any  Society ;  owing  to  the  intense  repression  of  prison  life,  their  one 
idea,  when  they  get  out,  is  to  have  a  'fling'  and  indulge  in  every 
kind  of  dissipation — in  spite  of  the  Society  and  its  agents,  who 
naturally  give  them  up  as  hopeless."  The  present  writer  has  him- 
self heard  similar  statements  from  the  mouths  of  ex-convicts,  with 
the  addition  of  a  vividly  expressed  desire  that  they  might  get  their 
own  back  upon  the  authorities  and  society  by  committing  a  big 
enough  depredation  next  time  to  make  "another  lagging"  worth 
while.  This  kind  of  spirit  does  not  appear  to  be  so  common  amongst 
the  men  who  have  come  away  from  Camp  Hill ;  and  we  have  reason 
to  believe  that  the  authorities  have  realised  this  fact  and  are  prepared 
to  give  credit  to  the  Camp  Hill  treatment  for  performing  what  a 
few  years  ago  they  would  have  regarded  as  a  moral  miracle. 


The  Habitual  Criminal  and  Possibilities  of  Eeform. 

It  seems  desirable  to  illustrate  here,  by  some  quotations,  how  j 
uniformly,  before  the  Camp  Hill  experiment  was  tried,  commis- ; 
sioners,  governors,  and  chaplains  asserted  that  the  average  j 
professional  criminal  for  whom  it  was  intended  was  a  practically  ' 
hopeless  and  unreformable  character.  ! 

It  was,  for  instance,  of  this  class  of  criminal  that  the  Dartmoor  j 
prison  chaplain  wrote  in  his  report  for  1902  :  —  | 

Many  seem  to  have  given  themselves  up  entirely  to  the  powers  of  evilj 
and  are   incredibly   callous  ;  even  the   better  behaved  class  of  prisoners ' 
speak   of   their  wickedness   as   appalling ;   impervious   themselves   to  all 
good  influences,  they   should  at  least  be  prevented  from  contaminating! 
others.*^ 

In  the  same  year  (1902)  the  Commissioners,  when  outlining  the 
scheme  for  preventive  detention,  write  of  "those  older  criminals,] 
who,  by  a  long  course  of  repeated  crime,  have  proved  themselves; 
indifferent  to  all  reformatory  influences  and  must  be  regarded  as  the^ 
enemies  of  society — men  with  regard  to  whom  it  is  practically  hope- 
less to  expect  that  they  will  take  warning  from  past  punishment.""! 
In  their  1910  Eeport  they  referred  to  "the  residuum  of  incorrigibility,} 
whose  anti-social  instincts  refuse  to  yield  equally  to  the  restraints 
of  discipline  and  the  appeals  of  religion  and  charity.""  In  their 
1914   Eeport,    again,   the   Commissioners   laid   emphasis  upon  thei 

"P.O.   Report,    1901-2,  p.   10. 

*"  P.O.  Report,  1901-2,  Part  I.,  p.  9. 

**  P.O.  Report,  1909-10,  p.   15. 


POSSIBILITIES    OF    REFORM  4«S 

same  "hopeless  residuum,"  "the  class  of  habitual  offender  who 
defies  charity  and  baffles  any  effort  made  to  restore  him  to  honest 
life."" 

And  we  find  a  highly  intelligent  ex -governor  and  medical  officer, 
with  a  long  experience  of  convicts,  writing  in  1910  as  follows:  — 
"It  seems  to  be  generally  accepted  that  a  person  who  deliberately 
adopts  crime  as  his  profession,  and  earns  his  living  by  it,  is,  to  all 
intents  and  purposes,  a  moral  incurable,  'whom  the  criminal  law 
cannot  either  reform  or  deter  from  crime'  (to  use  the  words  of  the 
editor  of  the  'Judicial  Statistics').""  The  same  prison  admini- 
strator has  told  us  in  another  volume  how  little  hope  he  placed,  by 
anticipation,  in  the  re-educative  possibilities  of  preventive  detention, 
and  has  let  us  know,  incidentally,  the  kind  of  valuation  he  places 
'  upon  the  personahties  of  con\'icts:  — 

Habitual  criminals  have  been  hitherto  so  impervious  to  the  teaching* 
of  reason  and  experience  that  it  would  almost  appear  that  the  only  use 
to  which  they  can  be  profitably  put  is  to  make  them  a  warning  to 
waverers  by  subjecting  them  to  a  more  continuous  form  of  restraint. 
They  are  already  under  heavy  obligations  to  society  for  their  mainten- 
ance in  and  out  of  prison,  as  well  as  for  enormous  sums  spent  in  bringing 
them  to  justice  ;  if  they  can  be  made  to  render  this  small  social  service 
of  determent,  it  will  be  a  trifling  reparation  to  exact  (pace  humanitarians) 
in  view  of  the  valuable  prospective  advantages  offered  to  them  under 
preventive  detention.*' 

i      These  extracts  refer  to  just  that  very  type  of  man  who,  according 

!  to  the  official  returns  themselves,  is,  to  a  considerable  extent  at  any 
rate,  making  good,  and  raising  himself  unmistakeably  out  of  the 
category  of  "incoiTigibles,"  of  "enemies  of  society,"  "hopeless 
Tecidi\-ists,"  "moral  incurables,"  etc.,  under  the  new  treatment 
accorded  to  him  at  Camp  Hill  as  well  as  after  discharge.  In  the 
words  of  the  Prison  Commissioners  themselves,  written  in  1919,  "so 
far  as  experience  up-to-date  shows,  there  is  a  reasonable  chance  that 
under  the  Camp  Hill  system  the  habitual  criminal,  however  bad  his 

'  record,  can  be  successfully  dealt  with."^'  It  is  strange  and  tragic 
that  the  authorities  should  have  so  long  held  to  the  view  that  this  in- 
corrigibility was  due  to  some  inherent  characteristic  of  the  offender 
rather  than  in  large  part,  at  least,  to  the  penal  servitude  and  ticket- 
of-leave  systems  to  which  he  was  subjected."  If  preventive  deten- 
tion has  done  nothing  else,   it  has  demonstrated  the  entire  falsity 

;  of  this  idea,  and  opened  the  door  for  other  experiments  of  an  even 

I  better  kind. 

I 

"  P.O.  Report,    1913-14,  p.   11. 

**  Dr.  R.  F.   Quinton,  "Crime  and  Criminals,"  p.  75. 
*"  Dr.   R.  F.   Quinton,   "The  Modem   Prison  Cnrricnlnm,"   p.    49. 
P.C.  Report,   1919,  p.    14. 

Dr.  James  Devon,  on  the  other  hand,  declares  that  "when  efforts  to  help  a  man  resnit 
in  failure,  it  is  a  safe  working  rule  to  assume  that  the  fault  is  at  least  as  much  in  the 
nature  cf  the  means  employed  as  in  the  man.  .  .  .  The  (act  is  that  the  offender  is  no 
mere  incorrigible  than  the  reformer,  and  it  sometimes  not  so  stupid."— "The  Criminal  and 
the  Community,"    p.    263. 


464  PREVENTIVE  DETENTION 

The  Proposed  Extension  of  the  System. 

At  present  considerably  over  nine-tenths  of  those  offenders,  who 
are  judged  worthy  of  some  severer  punishment  than  a  term  of  simple 
imprisonment  (which  must  not  exceed  two  years)  are  sentenced  to 
penal  servitude  without  preventive  detention/"  Commenting  on  this 
circumstance,  and  upon  the  remarkable  success  of  the  preventive 
detention  system  in  dealing  with  the  worst  type  of  convicts,  the 
Prison  Commissioners,  in  their  report  of  1920,  make  the  following 
remarkable  statement :  — 

The  opinion  is  growing  among  those  who  actually  handle  this  rebellious 
element,  both  while  under  detention  and  when  released  under  the  special 
form  of  conditional  liberty  prescribed  by  the  Act  [of  1908],  that  the 
time  has  come  to  extend  the  system,  so  that  it  may  embrace  not  only 
those  who  come  technically  within  the  definition  of  habitual  crime,  but 
the  great  mass  of  the  penal  servitude  population  whose  record  shows 
that  they  belong  indubitably  to  that  class^  and  are  in  reality  a  danger 
to  society. 

Having  fully  considered  the  matter,  and  being  greatly  concerned  lest 
the  effect  of  what  we  believe  to  be  the  very  beneficent  and  protective 
effect  of  the  Act  may  be  lost  through  perhaps  some  legal  defect  in  the 
definition,  causing  embarrassment  to  the  Courts,  we  should  be  in  favour 
of  establishing  the  principle  of  Advisory  Committees  at  all  Convict 
prisons,  to  advise  the  Secretary  of  State  as  to  any  action  he  might  think 
fit  to  take  under  Section  12  of  the  Act.  That  Section  runs  as  follows  : — 
"Where  a  person  has  been  sentenced,  whether  before  or  after  the  passing 
of  this  Act,  to  penal  servitude  for  a  term  of  five  years  or  upwards, 
and  he  appears  to  the  Secretary  of  State  to  have  been  a  habitual 
criminal  within  the  meaning  of  this  Act,  the  Secretary  of  State  may,  if 
he  thinks  fit,  at  any  time  after  three  years  of  the  term  of  penal  servitude 
have  expired,  commute  the  whole  or  any  part  of  the  residue  of  the 
sentence  to  a  sentence  of  preventive  detention,  so,  however,  that  the 
total  term  of  the  sentence  when  so  commuted  shall  not  exceed  the  term 
of  penal  servitude  originally  awarded."  If  it  were  found  that  the  system 
worked  successfully  in  the  case  of  penal  servitude  for  sentences  of  five 
years  and  over,  it  might  be  extended  to  all  terms  of  penal  servitude  by  a 
slight  amendment  of  the  Section.  We  should  be  glad  if  the  Secretary 
of  State  would  take  these  matters  into  consideration.*^ 

In  their  report  for  1920-21  the  Commissioners  announced  that 
the  Home  Secretary  had  approved  of  their  proposal  and  had 
authorised  the  establishment  of  an  Advisory  Committee  to  recom- 
mend convicts  for  Preventive  Detention  treatment.  During  the  year 
the  Committee  submitted  particulars  of  18  convicts  and  in  16  cases 
the  Home  Secretary  issued  orders  for  their  removal  to  Camp  Hill." 

The  1919  Eeport  of  the  Commissioners  had  already,  it  is  well  to 
notice,  prepared  the  ground  for  this  recommendation  by  the  sugges- 
tion— in  regard  to  preventive  detention  and  to  the  principle  of  the 

so  In    1919-20    only    23    prisoners    were    sentenced    to    preventive    detention    loUowing 
p«nal  servitude,  whilst  434  received  sentences    of  penal   servitude. 

51  P.O.    Report,    1919-20,   pp.    16-17. 

52  P.O.   Report,   1920-21,    pp.    13  and    14. 


PROPOSED    EXTENSION    OF    THE    SYSTEM  465 

indeterminate  sentence  as  practised  in  America —  that  "for  many 
of  the  crimes  for  which  men  are  sentenced  to  penal  ser\'itude,  it  is 
neither  necessary  nor  reasonable  to  inflict  a  long  period  of  segregation 
under  severe  penal  conditions,"  and  that  "a  comparatively  short 
period,  followed  by  discharge  on  'positive  licence,  with  hability  of 
forfeiture  on  relapse,  would  restore  many  men  to  normal  conditions 
of  life,  before  the  habit  of  hard  work  had  been  blunted  by  imprison- 
ment, and  family  and  other  ties  broken,  and  would  save  large  sums 
of  public  money  now  spent  on  imprisonment."" 

The  Commissioners'  recommendation  (italicised  above  by  us)  that 
the  preventive  detention  system  might  be  extended  to  all  terms  of 
penal  servitude  is  a  momentous  one,  and  may  well  inaugurate  a  new 
and  better  epoch  in  the  slowly  moving  development  of  prison  reform 
in  this  country.  Though  it  does  not  actually  say  as  much,  it  dis- 
tinctly imphes  that  there  is  a  case  for  the  entire  abolition  or  the 
very  great  curtailment  of  the  preliminary  period  of  three  years'  penal 
servitude  now  imposed  upon  men  sentenced  to  preventive  deten- 
I  tion,"    and    imposed,    as    we    have    suggested    above,    with    such 

■  disastrous  results.  This  is  not  the  place  for  a  discussion  of  the 
i  difficult  questions  involved  in  the  indeterminate  sentence,  or  for  a 
I  review  of  the  comparative  merits  of  the  Camp  Hill  regime,  with  its 
!  careful  regulation  from  above,  as  against,  for  instance,  the  system 
'  connected  with  the  name  of  Thomas  Mott  Osborne,  which  hands 
;  over  much  of  the  responsibihty  for  the  management  and  occupation 

of  the  prisoners  to  the  corporate  direction  of  the  men  themselves 
1  and  their  elected  representatives.  It  is,  however,  an  unqualified 
;  blessing  that  in  the  minds  of  the  authorities  themselves  the  field  is 
!  now  apparently  open  for  a  sweeping  away,  for  all  outwardly  manage- 
,  able  criminals,  even  for  the  worst  of  them,  of  the  silent  system  and 
;  the  other  repressive  abominations  of  Local  and  Convict  prisons.  It 
j  is  impossible  not  to  conclude  that  the  Prison  Commissioners  are 
I  becoming  persuaded,  contrary  to  their  own  previous  convictions  and 

■  expectations,  that  a  comparatively  mild  and  educational  regime, 
J  such  as  Camp  Hill,  under  its  present  governor,  provides,  is  a  better 

protection  against  the  relapse  of  "habituals"  into  crime  than  the 
stern  repression  of  penal  servitude.     If  the  support  of  pubHc  opinion 

;  and  of  Parliament  can  be  won,  so  as  to  secure  the  translation  of  this 
view  into  practice,  a  great  step  forward   will  have  been  taken   in 

,  the  direction  of  transforming  our  prisons  into  centres  of  re-education 

!  and  of  healing. 

'»P.C.  Report,    1918-19,   p.   13. 

**  TJnder   Section   13    (1)    of   the    Pretention    of   Crime   Act,    the   Home   Secretary   already 
has  the   power    to   curtail   this  preliminary    three  yeara   in  particular   casea. 


466  PBEVENTIVE  DETENTION 


SOME     OF    THE    PRINCIPAL     DEFECTS     INDICATED    IN     THE 
PRECEDING  CHAPTER. 


1. — Before  undergoing  Preventive  Detention  the  prisoners  have  previously 
suffered  from  the  deteriorating  and  embittering  effects  of  over  two  years 
of  the  penal  servitude  regime.  The  system  of  Preventive  Detention  doeg 
not  therefore  have  a  fair  chance. 

2. — The  warders  are  drawn  from  the  staffs  of  Convict  prisons  and  are 
subject  to  the  rigid  discipline  of  the  ordinary  prison  service.  Both  their 
previous  training  and  their  present  status  incapacitate  them  from  influencing 
prisoners  rightly,  and  from  reporting  judiciously  upon  the  character  of  the 
prisoners  in  connection  with  the  scheme  of  release  on  licence. 

3. — The  system  of  progressive  grades  and  privileges  tends  to  encourage 
"exemplary  institutional  behaviour"  rather  than  to  develop  individual 
character  and   corporate  responsibility  among  the  men. 

4. — There  is  no  hospital  accommodation  at  Camp  Hill.  Sick  prisoners 
are  taken  to  the  hospital  at  Parkhurst  prison,  where  they  revert  to  convict 
dress  and   discipline. 

5. — No  wages  are  paid  for  industry.  The  gratuity  of  3d.  a  day  is  utterly 
inadequate. 

6. — The  equipment  of  the  engineering  shop  is  poor. 

7. — Paints  and  materials  for  hobbies  may  not  be  sent  to  prisoners,  nor 
may  prisoners  lend  or  give  such  articles  to  each  other. 

8. — Lectures  and  concerts  are  too  infrequent. 

9. — Prisoners  spend  a  great  part  of  Sunday  in  cellular  confinement. 

10. — Despite  the  permissive  character  of  Rule  15,  prisoners  who  have 
had  their  licence  revoked  are  almost  invariably  placed  in  the  severe 
disciplinary  grade. 

11. — A  man  may  be  punished  by  being  placed  in  the  disciplinary  grade 
not  only  on  account  of  misconduct,  but  "because  he  is  known  to  be  exercis- 
ing a  bad  influence  on  others."  This  may  be  a  matter  of  physical  or  mental 
infirmity  or  bad  upbringing,  and  not  of  the  committal  of  wilful  misdeeds. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 


THE    CARE    OF    DISCHARGED   PRISONERS. 

We  are  unable  in  this  volume  to  supplement  our  investigation  into 
the  prison  system  by  any  well-grounded  estimate  of  the  merits  and 
deficiencies  of  the  After-care  system;  but  our  report  would  be  in- 
complete if  we  did  not  include  some  record  of  the  eSorts  made  to 
give  discharged  prisoners  a  new  start  in  life  and  to  keep  them  from 
committing  further  breaches  of  the  law.  The  following  account 
gives  a  bare  outline,  as  accurate  as  we  have  been  able  to  make  it, 
of  the  existing  provisions  for  After-care. 

There  are  four  official  systems  of  aid  to  discharged  prisoners  (or 
After-care)  in  England  and  Wales,  namely:  — 

1.  A  network  of  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid  Societies  attached  to 
Local  prisons,  certified  by  the  Prison  Commissioners,  sub- 
sidised by  the  Treasury,  and  affiliated  to  a  Central  Discharged 
Prisoners'  Aid  Society  with  office  in  London.  These  Societies 
are  supplemented  by  local  "Borstal"  Committees  for  prisoners 
under  21,  and,  in  some  cases,  women  under  25. 

2.  The  supervision  and  aid  by  the  Central  Association  for  the  Aid 
of  Discharged  Convicts  (and  associated  societies  and  indivi- 
duals) of  convicts  discharged  on  licence,  usually  under  police 
supervision,  for  the  rest  of  their  sentence  of  penal  servitude. 

3 .  The  supervision  and  aid  by  the  Central  Association  for  the  Aid 
of  Discharged  Convicts  of  convicts  released  on  licence  from 
Preventive  Detention. 


The  supervision  and  aid  by  the  Borstal  Association  of  inmates 
released  on  Ucence  from  Borstal  Institutions. 


'^^Every  Local  prison  has  its  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid  Society. 
:  Some  prisons  are  served  by  more  than  one  society.  Bradford,  for 
1  instance,  has  its  Prisoners'  Aid  Society,  but  gets  its  discharged 
I  prisoners  mostly  from  Leeds  prison,  not  having  the  luxury  of  a 
'  prison  of  its  own.  In  other  places  prisons  have  been  closed,  but 
the  Prisoners'  Aid  Societies  survive.  There  are  also  special 
societies   for  Roman  Catholics,  Jews,  etc.     All  these   societies  are 


468  THE    CARE    OF    DISCHARGED    PRISONERS 

affiliated  to  the  Central  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid  Society,  being 
represented  on  its  Executive  Committee  and  at  its  annual 
conferences,  and,  at  least  in  some  cases,  receiving  financial  help 
from  it.  The  local  Aid  Societies  are  registered  and  given  a  certificate 
by  the  Prison  Commissioners,  receiving  a  capitation  grant  of  one 
shilling  per  head  of  prisoners  discharged  during  the  year  (exclusive  of 
"modified  Borstal"  prisoners,  who  still  draw  gratuity),  provided 
that  they  raise  at  least  half  as  much  by  local  subscriptions.  The 
sum  expended  on  any  one  prisoner  must  not  exceed  £2.  The 
societies  have  for  some  time  been  asking  for  the  capitation  grant  to 
be  doubled,  not,  one  would  think,  an  unreasonable  request.  The 
following  is  an  extract  from  the  Eegulations  made  at  the  Home 
Office  for  Local  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid   Societies:  — 

151.     The  following  conditions   shall   be  complied   with  : — 

(1)  The  affairs  of  the  society  shall  be  managed  by  a  committee.  The 
committee  shall  appoint  a  sub-committee  who  shall,  if  possible,  meet 
weekly  at  the  prison,  in  order  to  make  provision  for  assisting  prisoners 
due  for  discharge  in  the  ensuing  month  or  fortnight.  The  sub-com- 
mittee should  consist  of  at  least  one  member  of  the  Discharged 
Prisoners'  Aid  Society,  to  be  selected  by  roster  or  otherwise,  in 
addition  to  the  official  prison  authorities.  The  governor,  chaplain, 
priest,  and  minister  of  the  prison  shall  be  ex-officio  members  of  the 
committee  and  of  the  sub-committee.  Lady  visitors  shall  also  b« 
members  of  both. 

(2)  Where  the  amount  of  work  is  sufficient,  the  society  shall,  if  possible, 
appoint  an  agent  or  agents  to  act  under  their  direction  generally,  anr) 
in  particular  : — 

(a)  to  find  employment  for   discharged  prisoners. 

(b)  to  find  respectable  lodgings  or  homes,  in  suitable  cases,  in  which 
discharged  prisoners  may  be  placed  and   maintained. 

(c)  to   visit,   encourage,  and    report  on  the   progress  of  all  persons 
under  the  care  of  the  society. 

(d)  to  accompany  prisoners  to  the  railway  station  and  see  them  off,- 
if   required. 

(3)  The  payments  and   grants  received   from  the  Commissioners   shall  be  j 
expended  for  the  benefit  of  prisoners  and  shall  not  be  invested. 

(4)  The  society 

(a)  shall  render  assistance  to  all  deserving  cases  on  discharge,  ■ 
irrespective  of  length  of  sentence ;  all  prisoners  being  deemed  to  | 
be  eligible  for  assistance  provided  that  they  are,  in  other 
respects,  worthy  of  the  consideration  of  the  society,  special  j 
attention  being  paid  to  the  longer  sentenced  prisoners  who  I 
formerly  earned  gratuity  ;  ■ 

(b)  and  may  at  any  time  render  assistance  to  the  wives  and  families  : 
of  prisoners ;  such  assistance  shall  be  undertaken  by  Discharged  ; 
Prisoners'  Aid  Societies,  either  alone  or  in  co-operation  with  j 
Charitable  Associations. 


THE    AID    OF   DISCHARGED    "LOCAL''    PRISONERS        469 

5)  The  society  shall  co-operate  with  the  Borstal  Committees  in  giving 
special  attention  t-o  the  assistance  on  discharge  of  persons  treated 
under  the  "Modified"  Borstal  system.  It  shall  receive  and  administer 
the  gratuity  earned  by  juvenile-adult  prisoners. 

(6)   The  Society  shall  assist  all  prisoners  discharged  from  its  own  prison 

irrespective  of    the  prison  to  which  they  were  originally  committed, 

and   shall    co-operate   with   other  societies  in  such   a  way  as   may    be 
deemed  best  for  the  assistance  of  prisoners. 

Of  the  above  Eoiles  No.  151  (4)  (b)  was  inserted  at  the  request  of 
the  Central  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid  Society  in  1919,  and  the 
Prison  Commissioners  in  the  Report  pubUshed  that  year,  write:  — 

The  important  question  of  dealing  with  the  wives  and  families  of 
prisoners  whilst  undergoing  their  punishment  has  been  finally  and 
satisfactorily  dealt  with  by  the  Central  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid 
Society.  Steps  will  be  taken  to  ensure  that,  in  the  future,  no  deserving 
case  will  be  overlooked,  and  the  suffering  that  has  been  endured  by 
hundreds  of  innocent  women  and  little  children  will  become  a  thing  of 
the  past.' 

I  If  this  statement  were  true,  it  would  be  very  good  news  indeed. 
I  But  we  are  afraid  that  the  Commissioners'  prophecy  is,  to  say  the 
i  least,  premature.  At  any  rate,  the  practice  varies  in  different 
I  localities.  We  know  of  one  of  the  largest  Aid  Societies  that  has 
I  recently  been    forced,    owing   to  financial   difficulties,    to   suspend 

almost  entirely  the  practice  of   helping  prisoners'   families  diu-ing 

their  sentence. 

"We  are  glad  to  hear  of  more  than  one  prison  where,  when  a 
'married  man  is  committed,  his  family  is  at  once  looked  up  and 
:  assisted,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  this  practice  may,  before  long, 
i become  universal.' 

Another  matter  in  which  the  practice  varies  is  in  the  visiting  of 
prisoners  and  enquiring  as  to  iheir  needs  and  their  wishes  for  the 
j  future.  In  all  or  almost  all  cases,  it  seems,  the  Honorary  Secretary 
or  the  Society  Agent  visits  every  prisoner  (usually  in  his  cell)  before 
ihe  comes  out.  But  in  some  prisons  visits  and  conversations  about 
Ithe  future  seem  to  be  begun  earlier  than  in  others.*  Here  is  an 
account  of  "methods  of  work"  taken  from  the  report  of  one  society, 
which  is  probably  typical  of  most  Aid  Societies — at  any  rate  of  the 
best  of  them. 

A  card  is  hung  in  every  cell  telling  the  prisoner  of  the  existence 
and  objects  of  the  Society,  and  that,  if  he  needs  advice  or  assistance, 
he  should  apply  to  see  the  governor,  chaplain,  priest,  minister, 
visiting  justice,  or  the  lady  visitor.     A  sub-committee  of  the  Society 

1  P.O.  Report,  1918-19,   p.    28. 

'  In  some  cates  the  prison  chaplain  acts  as  honorary  secretarj  of  the  Prisoners'  Aid 
Society;  in  all  cases,  probably,  work  connected  with  the  Society  takes  up  a  good  deal  of 
his  time.     (Cp.  pp.   193  and  194.) 

^  On  the  admitted   importance  of  early  visitation,  see   p.   200 


470  THE    CARE    OF    DISCHARGED    PRISONERS 

meets  weekly  in  the  prison  to  decide  cases  brought  before  them.* 
The  general  committee  meets  once  a  month,  reviews  the  sub-com- 
mittee's  work,  deals  with  finance  and  exercises  general  oversight. 

The  hon.  secretary,  having  seen  and  questioned  the  prisoner,  | 
proceeds  to  verify,  as  far  as  possible,  his  statements.  Communica-  9 
tion  is  made  with  the  prisoner's  friends,  relatives,  former  employers,  | 
or  other  persons  likely  to  be  willing  or  able  to  assist  him.  Thus,  ' 
by  the  day  of  the  prisoner's  discharge,  the  plan  for  dealing  with 
his  case  has  been  fully  and  carefully  decided  upon.  The  agent  ; 
attends  daily  at  the  prison  at  the  hour  that  prisoners  are  discharged,  j 
and  takes  charge  of  those  to  whom  assistance  is  to  be  given,  and  j 
personally  supervises  the  prisoner's  fresh  start  in  life.  Where  it  i 
seems  likely  to  be  helpful  the  hon.  secretary  writes  about  the  out- 
going prisoner  to  the  local  clergyman  or  minister  of  the  denomina-  | 
tion  to  which  he  belongs.  The  Society  is  in  correspondence  with  I 
a  Sailors'  Home  and  other  agencies,  and  sends  suitable  cases  to  one  1 
or  other  of  these,  paying  for  rail  journeys,  lodgings,  &c.,  until  a  j 
berth  is  found  on  a  ship,  and  for  the  shipping  fee.  Clothes,  tools, 
&c.,  are  paid  for  when  required.  I 

In  some  societies  it  is  the  agent  who  does  most  of  the  interviewing 
of  prisoners,  and  he  generally  does  a  great  deal  of  the  work  of  j 
preparing  the  way  for  them  outside,  visiting  homes,  finding  work,  | 
etc.  He  does  not  always  meet  the  prisoner  at  the  gate,  preferring 
sometimes  to  give  the  man  an  address  to  go  to.  In  a  few  places  the 
society,  or  some  kindred  society,  keeps  a  workshop,  where  dis- 
charged prisoners  can  earn  something  while  waiting  for  or  looking 
for  a  job.  There  are  also  a  few  hostels  or  homes  which  take  in 
women  for  a  time.  The  Catholic  Prisoners'  Aid  Society,  in 
particular,  makes  use  of  such. 

An  active  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid  Society  does  not  depend 
only  on  its  Honorary  Secretary  and  official  Agent  or  Agents,  on  its 
committee,  and  its  lady  visitors.  It  will  find  helpers  and  frienda 
amongst  other  societies  and  individuals.  One  representative  at  a 
recent  Central  Society's  Conference,  reported  that  his  society  had 
correspondents  in  every  market  town  of  their  district.  Societies 
differ,    as  has  been  said,   in  the  frequency  and  earliness  of  their 

*  We  are  afraid  that  the  prisoner's  interview  with  the  sub-committee  is  not  alwa.vs  a 
helpful  performance.  One  witness,  who  for  a  time  acted  as  honorary  agent  for  a  Society, 
relates  his  experience,  which  one  hopes  is  exceptional,  as  follows: — "All  were  treated  alike, 
as  prisoners  with  numbers,  and  without  the  glimmer  of  a  thought  of  their  being  fellow-men. 
Senseless  bullying,  or  the  use  of  power  to  cow  and  terrorise  the  unfortunate  beings  who 
had  been  delivered  up  to  their  fate,  was  what  I  saw  almost  without  exception,  when  they 
appeared  before  the  'Aid  Committee.'  There,  almost  speechless  with  confusion  and  fear  and 
thynesi  of  the  unsympathetic  faces  of  the  committee,  frequently  startled  by  the  sudden 
sharp  command  of  the  warder  to  put  their  hands  palm  inwards  and  straight  down  the 
sides  of  their  legs,  almost  jeered  at  by  the  committee  for  their  inability  to  express  them- 
selves, bullied  for  their  slowness  in  re-employing  the  so  much  unused  power  of  speech, 
puzzled  by  impatient  questions  in  language  too  educated  for  them  to  understand,— I  '''•'" 
ally  got  hot  with  shame  and  longing  to  relieve  them  of  some  of  their  unnecessary  dis- 
comfort. The  governor  of  the  prison  was,  however,  always  courteous,  and  to  »ome  extent 
sympathetic,  and  certainly  had  a  great  effeot,  when  he  was  present,  in  making  tb"* 
proceedings  more   humane." 


THE    AID    OF   DISCHARGED    "LOCAL"    PRISONERS        471 

visits;  some  seem  to  begin  taking  an  interest  in  prisoners  quite 
early,  even  as  soon  as  they  arrive.  A  few  societies  take  a  general 
interest  in  their  prisons.  The  Birmingham  Prisoners'  Aid  Society, 
for  instance,  takes  a  part  in  the  arrangement  of  the  periodic 
concerts  and  lectures  for  the  prisoners,  and  we  find  the  medical 
officer  of  the  prison  giving  an  address  at  an  annual  meeting  of  the 
society  such  as  would  rejoice  the  heart  of  a  penal  reformer. 

A  gratifying  feature  in  the  annual  reports  of  the  Aid  Societies  is 
the  number  of  discharged  prisoners  who  are  stated  to  return  to 
former  employers,  but  an  experienced  official  says  that,  generally 
speaking,  "the  ex-prisoner,  if  his  record  be  known,  is  the  last  man 
to  be  engaged  by  the  employer,  and  the  first  to  be  discharged." 

The  value  of  the  work  of  a  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid  Society 
1  naturally  depends  very  largely  upon  the  character  and  capacity  of 
of  its  agents  and  of  its  workers  generally.  In  the  quality  of  their 
personnel  the  societies  appear  to  vary  greatly.  Sometimes  the  agent 
is  both  earnest  and  efficient.  In  other  cases  he  is  quite  unsuited 
for  the  post  both  by  temperament  and  training.  It  ought  to  be 
evident  that  specially  qualified  persons  are  required  for  this  work 
and  that  great  care  ought  to  be  taken  in  their  selection. 

Two  years  being  now  the  shortest  sentence  which  admits  to  a 
Borstal  Institution,  juvenile-adults  (16-21  years)  sentenced  to  shorter 
•terms  of  imprisonment  go  to  ordinary  prisons.  For  the  after-care  of 
ithese,  Borstal  Committees  have  been  set  up  at  all  the  Local  prisons 
las  adjuncts  to  the  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid  Societies.  Instead  of 
■capitation  grants,  they  draw  the  gratuities  granted  to  these  young 
:people,  and  spend  them  on  their  behalf.  Considerable  success  has 
been  achieved  in  starting  a  fair  proportion  of  them  at  work  and 
'.helping  them  to  "keep  steady."" 

j  The  Central  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid  Society,  with  office  in 
iLondon  (at  present  26,  Bedford  Row,  W.C.  1.),  embraces  all 
certified  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid  Societies  and  consists  of  (a) 
every  member  of  the  committees  of  these  societies,  (b)  three 
members  nominated  by  the  Prison  Commission,  (c)  members  c©- 
.Dpted  at  meetings  of  the  Central  Society,  and  (d)  all  members  of 
the  Central  Executive  Committee  not  comprised  in  (a),  (b)  and 
(c).  The  Central  Executive  Committee  consists  of  (a)  one 
representative  member  elected  by  each  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid 
Society  (or  two  by  a  Society  connected  with  a  large  prison), 
'b)  six  members  selected  by  the  Lady  Visitors'  Association,  (c) 
'ihe  President  of  the  Central  Society,  the  Chairman  and  Vice-Chair- 
mn  of  the  Reformatory  and  Refuge  Union,  and  three  members 
.lominated  by  the  Prison  Commission  (these  are  ex-officio  members), 
■md  (d)  10  co-optative  members,  at  least  half  of  whom  must  reside 

butaide  a  radius  of  40  miles  from  London. 

! 

'  See  p.  300. 


472  THE    CARE    OF    DISCHARGED    PRISONERS 

The  Society  must  meet  at  least  once,  and  the  Committee  at  least 
twice  a  year  in  London  or  the  provinces.  The  main  objects  -of  the 
Central  Executive  Committee  are  stated  in  the  "Constitution  and 
Rules"  to  be  "to  promote  co-operation  among  the  Societies,  to 
consider  subjects  of  common  interest  to  them,  to  encourage  the 
maintenance  of  a  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid  Society  in  connection 
with  every  prison  in  England  and  Wales,  and  to  provide  a  centre 
of  information  as  to  the  best  means  of  assisting  youthful  and  other 
offenders."  The  work  is  largely  done  through  sub-committees  and 
the  officers.  Each  Society  is  "invited  to  subscribe"  one  guinea  a 
year. 

The  Central  Committee  keeps  a  list  of  societies  willing  to  help 
in  various  portions  of  the  work.     The  Central  Discharged  Prisoners'  i 
Aid  Society  obtains  its  funds  from  the  balance  taken  over  from  its  I 
parent,  the  Reformatory  and  Refuge  Union,  grants  from  the  Royal  I 
Society   for    the  Assistance  of    Discharged   Prisoners,    interest  on 
investments   and  a  few   subscriptions  and  donations.       These  last  ; 
might  be  larger  if  it  were  more  widely  known  that  they  would  be 
acceptable.     But  the  Central  Committee  is  anxious  not  to  prejudice  [ 
the  interests  of  local  Societies. 

The  Licensing  and  Aid  of  Dischaeged  Convicts. 

Convicts — that  is,   prisoners   sentenced  to  three   years'  or  more  j 
penal  servitude — can,  by  "good  conduct"  in  prison,  earn  remission  | 
up  to  one-quarter  of  their  sentences  or,  in  the  case  of  women,  up  | 
to  one-third.       If  a  convict  earns  such  remission  in  the  ordinary 
way,  "he  is  discharged  on  a  licence  (commonly  known  as  a  'ticket-  i 
of-leave'),   allowing  him  to  be  at  large  during  the  remainder  of  his  ' 
sentence,  on  condition  that  he  reports  himself  to  the  police  of  the 
place  in  which  he  resides  on  the  day  of  his  discharge  and  on  the  j 
same  day  of  every  month  following,   and  further  reports  to  them  ! 
any  change  of  address  which  he  may  contemplate  making.     He  is  f 
further  bound  by  the   terms  of  the  licence  to  abstain  from  any  I 
violation  of   the   law    and    from   association   with    notoriously   bad 
characters,  and  from  leading  an  idle  and  dissolute  life  without  visible 
means   of   obtaining   an  honest  livelihood.     This    licence    may  be  i 
forfeited  and  he  will  then  be  liable  to  be  returned  to  penal  servitude  ! 
for   that    period   of   his    sentence    which   remained   when   he   was  i 
licensed." ' 

The  "negative"  nature  of  these  conditions  of  licence  is  frequently  I 
contrasted  with  the  "positive"  conditions  of  those  licensed  irom  \ 
Preventive  Detention.  A  determined  attempt  has,  however,  been  ; 
made  to  offer  to  the  ordinary  discharged  convict  such  help  in  re-  ' 
habihtating  himself  as  will  make  it  impossible  for  him  "to  say,  | 
with  truth,  on  a  subsequent  trial  that  he  has  never  had  a  chance.  '  j 

»  First   Annual   Report    of    the   Central    Association    for   the   Aid   of   Discharged    ConneU,  | 
1912,    p.   11. 


THE    LICENSING    AND    AID    OF    DISCHARGED    CONVICTS       473 

In  1911,  the  Central  Association  for  the  Aid  of  Discharged  Convicts 
was  instituted,  with  the  Home  Secretary  as  president,  the  chairman 
of  the  Prison  Commission  as  chairman  of  council,  and  Mr.  (now  Sir) 
Wemyss  Grant-Wilson  (hon.  director  of  the  Borstal  Association)  as 
director.  (Its  offices  are  at  present  at  15,  Buckingham  Street, 
Strand,  W.C.2.)  It  is  supported  entirely  by  pubhc  funds.  On 
the  council  are  representatives  of  the  leading  societies  engaged  in 
the  assistance  of  discharged  convicts,  the  Catholic  Prisoners'  Aid 
Society,  the  Church  Army  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid  Society,  the 
Church  of  England  Temperance  Society,  the  National  Council  of 
the  Evangelical  Free  Churches,  the  United  Synagogue  Discharged 
Prisoners'  Aid  Society  and  the  Wesley  an  Prison  Committee.  'The 
Association  has  many  representatives  or  "Associates"  in  various 
parts  of  England  and  Wales,  who  undertake  the  work  of  befriending 
and  supervising  ex-convicts. 

A  notice  is  hung  in  the  convict's  cell  "setting  out  the  object  of 
the  Association,  and  inviting  him  to  receive  its  representative  in  a 
frank  and  friendly  spirit,  so  that  he  may  be  helped  to  make  a  good 
start."  Every  convict  is  visited  privately  by  an  officer  of  the 
Association  before  his  release.  If  he  accepts  the  o2er  of  help, 
arrangements  are  made  for  his  reception  at  the  place  to  which  he 
ivishes  to  go,  and  "  for  such  assistance  being  given  him,  in  reason, 
is  he  desires" — lodgings,  if  he  has  no  friends  to  go  to,  tools,  clothes, 
ind,  if  at  all  possible,  employment.  Some  kind  of  aid  is  given  to 
svery  convict,  unless  he  refuses  it  or  is  certified  to  be  fit  only  for 
reatment  under  the  Poor  Law.  The  Report  of  the  Central 
\ssociation  for  the  year  ended  31st  March  1921,  accounts  for  462 
nale  convicts  and  30  women  discharged  to  the  care  of  the  Associa- 
ion  during  the  year  as  follows  ' :  — 

Work  was  found  for  140,  who  were  provided  with  the  neces.sary  equip- 
ment ;  assistance  in  board  and  lodgings,  tools,  stock,  or  clothes  was 
given  to  other  271.  Assistance  was  not  desired  by  41,  and  it  was  not 
given  to  10,  nine  of  w^hom  had  been  certified  by  the  authorities  as  un- 
likely to  be  able  to  support  themselves  honestly  owing  to  mental  or 
^physical  defects,  and  were,  therefore,  cases  for  an  Institution,  while 
ae  was  ill  and  was  sent  direct  to  a  workhouse  infirmary,  where  he  died. 
Work  was  found  for  12  women,  who  were  provided  with  the  necessary 
luipment.  Assistance  in  board  and  lodgings  and  clothes  was  given 
other  five.  Assistance  beyond  the  amount  of  their  gratuity  was  not 
equired  by  14.  Assistance  was  refused  by  one.  It  should  be  noted 
lat  women  sentenced  to  long  terms  of  imprisonment  still  receive  a 
iily  sum  (earned  on  good  conduct)  known  as  gratuity.  The  gratuity 
^stem  has  been  abolished  in  men's  prisons  except  at  Camp  Hill. 

Phe    associate  makes  detailed  reports  to  the  Central    Office," 
jiya  the  1913  Report,  "of  the  work  done  in  helping  the  man  and 

'  ^"♦v'*!  ^^'   ^  ^^^  ®'    W°™*°  ^'th  sentences  of  five  years  or   more  may,   ii   they  wish. 
I*j-  "''**  months  on  conditional  licence  in  a  home  certified  for  the  purpose.    We 

IT*  direct  evidence  of  inraluable  help  being   extended  to  women  ex-conyicts  by  the  Central 
isocUtion. 


474  THE    CARE    OF   DISCHARGED    PRISONERS 

of  his  progress,  and  does  not  relax  his  efforts  and  interest  until  the 
man  has  become  firmly  established  or  has  relapsed,  or  has  proved  to 
be  fit  only  for  assistance  under  the  Poor  Law." 

Occasionally  local  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid  Societies  help  in 
this  work;  also  Adult  Schools,  Guilds  of  Help,  and  other  Societies 
or  their  members.  The  Central  Association  deals  directly  with 
some  of  the  licensees,  including  all  those  sent  to  sea.  Some  of 
those  helped  are  excused  from  reporting  every  month  to  the  police.' 
Among  some  of  those  engaged  in  this  work  there  is  a  strong  feeling 
against  police  supervision  and  even  against  letting  the  police  know 
that  a  discharged  prisoner  is  coming  to  their  neighbourhood.  One 
experienced  associate  and  social  worker  has  made  it  a  practice  to 
refuse  to  take  charge  of  a  case,  if  the  police  are  informed. 


The  Supervision  of  Ex-Convicts  Eeleased  on  Licence  from 
Preventive  Detention. 

This  is  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  Central  Association  for  the 
Aid  of  Discharged  Convicts,  and  has  been  described  in  the  chapter 
on  Preventive  Detention. 


The  Borstal  Association.  j 

This  has  been  dealt  with  in  the  chapter  on  "Borstal  Institutions."! 
The  Borstal  Association,  with  the  Home  Secretary  as  president,  the; 
chairman  of  the  Prison  Commission  as  vice-president,  and  Sir  W.| 
Grant- Wilson  as  honorary  director, °  is  supported  partly  by  voluntary! 
subscriptions,  the  Treasury  giving  £2  for  every  £1  privately! 
subscribed. 

We  indicate  later  some  of  the  great  difficulties  which  con- 
front the  workers  in  these  different  societies  in  connection  with: 
their  task  of  helping  the  ex-prisoner.'"  Whatever  the  defects  ol' 
method  and  machinery  and  of  personnel  may  be,  a  great  amount  ol: 
good  work  is  certainly  being  done  by  the  societies — good  work,  o). 
which  the  fruit  would  be  far  more  durable  if  the  influence  of  prisor] 
were  not  in  such  glaring  opposition  to  the  influence  exerted  by  thej 
man  or  woman  who  has  the  ex-prisoner's  welfare  at  heart. 


•  The  original  proposal  was,  according  to  the  P.O.  Report  for  1909-10  (page  16),  t 
"remit  the  conditions  o!  police  report,  so  long  as  the  licensee  conforms  to  the  guidance  c; 
the  Central  Association."  It  was  afterwards  stated  that  the  reports  to  the  police  had  on! 
been  remitted  in  the  case  of  abont  10  per  cent,  ol  ex-con7icts.  At  the  present  time,  w; 
are  informed,  this  percentage  has  risen  to  about  14 — i.e.,  one  man  in  seven  is  excuse' 
from   reporting. 

»  Its  address  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  Central  Association  for  the  Aid  of  DischMgei 
Convicts,  see  p.  432  above.  \ 

1"  See  pp.   513-17  and   elsewhere. 


PART   II 


THE   EFFECTS   OF   THE 
PRISON   SYSTEM 


Chapter  1.— THE   PROBLEM   AND    THE   EVIDENCE. 
2.— ADAPTATION   TO  THE   SYSTEM. 
3.— POLITICAL  OFFENDERS. 
4.— ORDINARY  FIRST  OFFENDERS. 
5.— RECONVICTED    PRISONERS. 
6.— INSANITY    AMONG   PRISONERS. 
7.— SUICIDE  AND  ATTEMPTED  SUICIDE. 
8.— SPECIFIC   CAUSES  OF  DETERIORATION. 
9.— GENERAL   CONCLUSIONS. 


CONCLUDING  CHAPTER 

SOCIETY  AND  THE  OFFENDER 


CHAPTER   I 


THE    PEOBLEM    AND    THE    EVIDENCE 

The  English  Prison  System,  in  common  with  those  of  most  other 
countries,  aims  at  producing  certain  effects,  first  upon  the  prisoners 
and,  second,  indirectly,  upon  other  persons  with  a  predisposition  to 
crime,  who  are  presumed  to  be  susceptible  to  the  warning  supplied  by 
the  punishment  of  the  actual  offenders. 

The  extent  to  which,  in  practice,  the  deterrent  effect  upon 
potential  offenders  is  achieved  cannot  be  made  the  subject  of  exact 
investigation.  Judicial  and  criminal  statistics  afford  an  estimate, 
the  accuracy  of  which  is  only  specious  and  disputable.  This  aspect! 
of  the  effects  of  the  penal  system  is,  therefore,  not  included  within 
the  scope  of  our  enquiry,  which  is  primarily  concerned  with  the| 
observed  effects  of  prison  discipline  upon  the  mind  and  character  of 
the  prisoners.'  ' 

The  Conflicting  Views  of  the  Effects.  , 

Even  within  the  limits  so  defined,  and  despite  the  strictly  regu- 
lated conditions  of  prison  life — the  rigid  uniformity  and  systematici 
supervision  of  detail,  in  which  "nothing  has  been  left  to  chance  or  is! 
the  outcome  of  neglect,"  ' — the  evidence  as  to  the  mental  and  moralj 
effects  ot  imprisonment  reveals  a  great  diversity  of  opinion. 

This  diversity  arises  fi'om  two  sources :  first,  from  the  actual 
differences  in  the  effects  of  imprisonment  upon  the  various  types  0| 
prisoners,  owing  to  dissimilarity  in  age,  the  nature  of  the  sentence; 
and  other  concomitant  circumstances ;  and  in  the  second  place,  fron' 
differences  in  the  methods  of  observation,  and  in  the  status  am; 
mental  attitudes  of  those  who  have  attempted  to  gauge  the  natur-j 
of  the  effects.  j 

That  prisoners  differ  among  themselves  in  many  ways  that  mus; 
occasion  differences  in  the  effects  of  imprisonment  is  admitted  hi 
every  observer.  There  is,  for  instance,  the  young  and  inexperience 
offender,    who,   under   the  stress   of   the   first  incidence   of  prise 

1  It  should  be  clearly  understood  that  the  results  of  the  Borstal  and  Preventife  Detwitit, 
sy-itern-i  (described  on  pp.  410-40  and  441-66)  are  not  under  discussion  in  this  part  of  oil 
book,  which  is  solely  concerned  with  the  results  ol  the  Local  and  Convict  prison  regime. 

*  The  work  of  the  Prison  Commissioners  in  taking  over  the  prisons  is  thus  described  l) 
Sir  Godfrey  Lushington  to  the  Departmental  Committee  of  1895  (vide  Report,  p.  3).  »'i 
his  description  gives  a  fair  account  ot  th»  mechanical  rigidity  which  has  b»en  achiev : 
and  preserved  ever  since. 


THE  CONFLICTING    VIEWS   OF  THE   EFFECTS  477 

liscipline,  is  unnerved  and  almost  broken  in  spirit  and  mind,  suffer- 
ng  intensely  and  apparently  on  the  verge  of  collapse.  Later  on, 
ve  may  find  the  same  prisoner  cheerful  and  self-possessed, 
horoughly  inured  to  the  system  and  boasting  to  his  companions  that 
le  can  go  through  prison  "standing  on  his  head." 

Among  the  long-sentence  convicts  there  are  some  who  to  the  end 

;uffer  acutely,  recalcitrantly  continuing  to  fight  against  the  system, 

utterly  rebellious  and  perhaps  ever   afterwards   vindictive.     There 

3  the  occasional,  or   "accidental,"  offender,    on    whom    a    single 

entence  leaves  a  lasting  imprint,  fixing  in  him  a  certain  undertone 

if  melancholy  and  resentment,  and  who  attributes  to  imprisonment 

'  permanent  impairment  of  physique  and  mental  faculty.       Some 

lay   never  regain — ^in   spite  of  a  subsequent   life  of  complete  re- 

pectability — the  standard  of  happiness   and   harmony  experienced 

rior    to    imprisonment.       There    is    another    type,     perhaps    the 

lost  prominent  in  the  average  prison  population,  to  whom  the  first 

sperience  of  prison  is  but   an   introduction  to  a  life  of  habitual 

rime.     The  only  effect  of  his  imprisonment  has  been  to  remove  that 

l!ar  of  the  unknown  which  formerly  exercised  a  sufficient  deterrent 

[ifluence  against  the  commission  of  grave  offences. 

j  That  divergent  views  upon  the  effects  of  imprisonment  arise  also 

lom  the  difference  in  the  status  of  observers  and  from  difference 

I  outlook  and  of  methods  of  enquiry,  is  equally  clear. 

i  In   a  previous   chapter   of   this   work   we   have   endeavoured   to 

imraarise  the  declared  aims    and  alleged   results   of  the  English 

Kson  system,    as  revealed  in  the  utterances  of  those  responsible 

jr  its  administration.*     The  Prison  Commissioners  maintain,  with 

ime    reservations,    that    the    system    is    sound    in    principle    and 

^at  it  is  reasonably  effective  in  producing  the  desired  results:  i.e., 

jisoners  are  suitably  punished   on  retributory  principles,    without 

^ipairment  to  body  or  mind ;  they  are  to  some  extent  deterred  from 

kure  crime  and  the   system  does  in    certain   cases,   reform;   and 

litly,   whatever  defects  exist  are  being  steadily  eliminated  in  the 

iuTse  of  internal  reform.    Outside  the  administration  opinion  is  more 

stical;  and  the  criticism  ranges  from  the  extreme  of  radical  con- 

Cmnation  to  a  vague  disquietude  that  all  is  not  well  with  our  treat- 

fcnt  of  the  criminal. 

[Even  with  regard  to  the  purely  punitive  aspect  of  prison  discipline, 
ices  are  still  to  be  heard  in  protest  against  "the  pampering  of 
ijminals"  and  calling  for  an  increased  severity  in  the  infliction  of 
Hal  penalties.  But  while  it  is  a  matter  of  common  knowledge  that 
«|;ertain  type  of  habitual  offender  passes  in  and  out  of  prison  with 
I'nparative  indifference, — even,  in  exceptional  cases,  preferring 
[i|son  to  Poor  Law  Institutions  and  Salvation  Army  Hostels  or  other 
Woes  in  which  no  intentional  penal  element  is  to  be  found, — ^it 
iljaiore  generally  agreed  that  for  the  average  human  constitution 

e  Chapter  4  ol  Part  I.    This  chapter  may  with  advantage  be  read  as  an  introduction 

rl  II. 


#f^ 


THE   PROBLEM  AND  THE   EVIDENCE 


prison  discipline  is  sufficiently,  if  not  excessively,  severe.  This  view 
is  shared,  at  any  rate  up  to  a  certain  point,  by  the  Prison  Com- 
missioners themselves.* 

.'  More  important  are  the  divergencies  of  opinion  in  relation  to  the 
/'"reformatory"  aims  and  results  of  the  present  penal  system.*     The 

/  general  impression  that  prison  most  signally  fails  to  reform  the 
criminal    is    relieved    in    the    official    literature    by    the    recital   of 

.  occasional  "cases"  in  which  such  reformation  is  said  to  have 
•occurred.®  But  signs  are  not  lacking  that  the  administrators  of  our 
prisons  are  themselves  conscious  of  the  slight  extent  to  which  prison 
is  likely  to  exercise  reformative  influence.^  Although  they  are 
apparently  satisfied  that  a  period  of  imprisonment  does  in  certain 
cases,  and  to  a  certain  extent,  reform,  there  is  a  general  tendency 
to  relinquish  any  responsibility  for  the  prisoner's  reformation,  and 
to  adopt  the  point  of  view  that  "in  prison  we  must  be  content,  at 
any  rate  in  the  case  of  those  with  short  sentences,  if  we  have  puti 
them  on  the  first  step  of  the  ladder  towards  reformation,  leaving' 
them  to  the  good  offices  of  after-care  associations  for  a  continuance, 
of  the  good  work."  ' 

The  principal  contention  of  the  critics  of  the  present  system,  how-! 
ever,  is  not  merejy  that  it  fails  to  effect  the  reformation  of  the^ 
criminal,  nor  merely  that  it  wrongly  transfers  responsibility  to  after-| 
care  associations,  but  that  it  is  itself  responsible,  in  a  large  measure,! 
for  the  creation  of  the  habitual  offender,  and  that  it  so  impairs  thej 
mental  and  moral  constitution  of  the  prisoner  as  to  render  him  morel 
disposed  to  crime.  Prison,  it  is  asserted,  is  like  "a  machine  which 
has  the  extraordinary  faculty  of  doing  nothing  but  making  its  owi 
raw  material." 

Such  differences  of  opinion  must  naturally  arise  where  so  man}, 
questions  are  regarded  as  adequately  settled  by  mere  "general 
impressions"  and  casual  observation  instead  of  by  exact  aw; 
systematic  investigation  conducted  according  to  the  accreditee' 
scientific  method  applied  to  other  departments  of  life.'     The  pre- 

■♦  See,    for    instance,   the   protest   in   their    Report    for    1911-12    (p.    27)    against   ths^ 
that  prisons  are  too  comfortable;  and  the  discussion  in  their  Report  for  1902-5   (pp-  13 
on  the  alleged  attractiveness  of  prison  to  some  of  the  tramp  class,  where  they  insist  on  tr 
necessity  of   "guarding  against   the  impression,  which   might  be  formed  from  the  fact  that  | 
small  section  of  the  criminal   community  openly  prefer  prison  to  the  workhouse,  that  ther' 
fore   prison   life   is   unduly    attractive,    that   its   conditions   are    not   sufficiently   rigorous, 
that  the  whole  edifice   should  be  reconstructed  to  meet  the  special   case  of  a  few   nee 
wells   who   have  lost   all    sense   of   self-respect,   and  to    whom   it  is   a    matter   of   indiffe: 
whether  they  spend  a  few   nights  in  a  workhouse,  a  prison,   or  a  barn." 

5  See  Note  to  this  chapter  on  the  use  of  the  word   "reform,"  p.  484. 

*  Such   eases   are  recorded   from   time  to   time   in  the   Prison   Commissioners'  Reports. 
for    instance,  the  Report  for    1908-9,   p.   38-9,  Report  for   1909-10,   p.   55,  and   Repor 
1912-15,    p.   40.    The  discussion   of   this   subject,   however,   is   almost    invariably  vitiate,, 
a   failure   to    consider    the  extent  to  which    such   reforms    are   due   to  prison    treatment, 
to  what  extent  in  spite  of  it.    See  the  Note  on  Beneficial  Effects,  pp.  498-500. 

'  We  have  already   indicated  this  in  more  detail  on  pp.  80-82. 

'  Medical  Commissioner's   Report,   P.O.   Report,    1906,  p.  38. 

'  The  uniformity  and  standardisation  of  the  conditions  of  prison  life  should  have  rend- 
the  attempt  to  estimate  the  effects  upon  the  mind  comparatively  easy,  had  such  an  atte 
been  made   upon  systematic  and   scientific  lines. 


^^l^.yuk/'  ^  fi^  Pl^^  ^j(ff^ 


EVIDENCE    FROM   OFFICIAL    SOURCES  479 

enquiry  aims  at  providing  some  preliminary  material  for  such 
investigation.  No  exhaustive  study  of  the  problem  has  been  possible 
and  in  view  of  the  many  restrictions  imposed  upon  independent 
enquiry,  and  the  extreme  secrecy  preserved  with  regard  to  the  internal 
conditions  of  prison,'"  the  evidence  available  is  subject  to  certain 
inevitable  limitations. 

It  has  been  impossible   for  the  present   writers   to  secure   such 

direct  and  accurate  knowledge  of  the  prisoners'  condition  of  mind  as 

would  be  available  to  the  investigator  endowed  with  all  facilities  for 

sntering  prisons,  observing  the  life  of  the  prisoner,   and   applying 

3uch  tests   as    would    clearly   reveal   whatever  changes    might   be 

;aking  place  in  his  mental  condition;  but,  from  the  scrutiny  of  such 

sources  of  information  as  were  open,   we  have  been  able  to  draw 

certain  conclusions  which   subsequent    investigations   will   perhaps 

implify  and  explain.     Such  sources  of  evidence  as  have  been  avail- 

ible  may  be  classified  broadly  under  three  heads :  official  documents, 

he    observations    of     unofficial    students     (including    therein    the 

.^searches  of  prison  officials  which  have  been  published  independ- 

rntly  of  official  sanction),  and,  lastly,  the  evidence  of  those  who  have 

hemselves  experienced  prison  discipline.     The  separate  considera- 

ton  of  these  distinct  sources  of  evidence  is  necessary  in  view  of  the 

pecial   features  which  pertain  to  each,   and  which  influence  to  a 

reat  degree  the  nature  of  the  conclusions  reached. 

Evidence  from  Official  Sources. 

While  the  methods  of  systematic  research  have  rarely  been  applied 
D  the  investigation  of  the  mental  and  moral  effects  of  imprison- 
aent,'*  there  nave','  hevertKeless,  been  much  labour  and  thougTTE 
greeted  in  other  ways  to  the  problem.  Under  the  stimulus  of 
iticism  the  Prison  Commissioners  have  been  at  considerable  pains 
,  I  demonstrate  the  absence  in  imprisonment  of  any  injurious  effects 
pen  the  mind.  Apart  from  the  degree  of  bias  which  inevitably 
■*)lours  all  evidence  from  this  source  the  methods  of  investigation 
lopted  render  their  conclusions  unconvincing.  The  mere  collection 
opinions    from   the   higher  ranks    only  of   the    prison   service, 

p.  pp.  64-5  and  67-8. 

le    classic    researches    of    Or.     Charles    Goring     ("The    English    Con-rict — A    Statistical 

1913)),   Taluable    as  they    are,  do  not   atford  an   exception  to  this.    The  statistical 

tion  of  the  facts  relating  to  the  English  conrict  was  pursued  primarily  with  a  Tiew 

ling  certain   anthropological  theories,   not   to   examining    the    effects   of  imprisonment. 

been  claimed  by  the  present  chairman   of  the  Prison  Commissioners    (in   his    Preface 

Goring'?  worlc)   that  incidentally  to  its   main  purpose.  Dr.  Goring's   enquiry  established 

1th  of  the  contention  that   prison  treatment  has  no  injurious   effects  upon  the   mind; 

ich  a  claim  has  not  been  generally   admitted.    As   has  been  pointed  out  by  Dr.  Healy 

Individual   Delinquent,"   p.   312),   Dr.    Goring's    assertion    that    'imprisonment,   en   the 

has    no    apparent    effect    upon   mentality    as   measured    by   intelligence,'    "is    a   rery 

statement  and  not  at  all  contradictory  to  the  contention  of  all  the   other  observers 

▼e   set    forth    the   opposite,"   since   "there    are   many   mental    conditions   and    effects, 

■icularly   such   as    may   be   correlated   with   Immoral   tendencies,   which    are  not   disclosed 

-imple    intelligence    tests."    The    more    general    conclusion    that    imprisonment     has    no 

-■iou3  effect   upon  the  mind,  so   far  from  being  established  by   the  methods  and   data  of 

ficring's  investigation,  is  one  that  would  depend  for  its  confirmation  or  refutation  upon 

"ods  of  psychological  enquiry  which  have  been  developed  to  a  degree  of  practical  utility 

in  the  last  few  years. 


480  THE   PROBLEM  AND  THE   EVIDENCE 

governors,  chaplains  and  medical  officers,  is  in  itself  of  little  value.' 
The  gulf  of  hostility  and  suspicion  which  usually  separates  the 
prisoner  fi'om  the  higher  officials,  the  casual  nature  of  every  contact 
between  them,  and  the  decay  of  personal  sympathy  and  under- 
standing which  seem  almost  invariably  to  result  from  long  periods 
in  the  prison  service  all  tend  to  close  the  minds  of  prison  OxScials 
to  facts  immediately  apparent  to  more  impartial  observers. 

Concerning  cellular  confinement,  for  instance,  a  prison  governor 
writes :  — 

As  to  its  alleged  injurious  effects  on  the  prisoners  themselves,  I  can 
safely  say  that  the  instances  in  which  I  found  it  necessary  to  recommend 
exception  were  extremely  rare ;  that  I  never  witnessed  any  of  the  dire 
results  which  are  said  to  happen  now ;  that  the  dramatic  delineations 
of  separate  confinement  presented  to  us  lately  are  a  complete  revelation 
to  me.'' 

Perhaps  the  principal  reasons  why  injurious  effects  upon  the  mind 
pass  unnoticed  in  prison  lie  in  the  facts  that  the  absence  of  normal 
intercourse  with  prisoners  prevents  the  officials  from  observing  their 
state  of  mind,  and  that  the  high  proportion  of  weak-minded  and 
mentally  abnormal  types  to  be  found  there  '*  renders  less  conspicuous 
the  process  of  degeneration  in  those  of  a  higher  standard  of  mentality. 
In  any  case,  evidence  of  this  nature  from  prison  of&cials  stands  in' 
striking  contradiction  to  the  almost  unanimous  report  of  the  prisoners! 
themselves  and  of  others  who  have  carefully  observed  their  condition' 
of  mind  upon  release.  A  further  limitation  of  the  value  of  official! 
evidence  lies  in  its  preoccupation  solely  with  the  more  extreme  formsj 
of  mental  aberration.  Much  evidence  is  amassed  in  the  attempt 
to  prove  that  prison  discipline  does  not  ever  lead  to  insanity,  buti 
there  is  an  almost  complete  disregard  of  the  less  pronounced  effects! 
upon  the  nervous  system  and  the  mind.  This  fact  accords,  more-; 
over,  with  the  characteristic  features  of  the  prison  medical  service! 
viz.,  its  general  disregard  of  the  nervous  system.  The  attitude  o;' 
suspicion  adopted  towards  prisoners'  complaints  results  in  a  practical 
tendency  to  regard  as  a  form  of  malingering  every  professed  disorda 
in  the  prisoners  which  is  not  accompanied  by  unmistakable  bodil' 
symptoms.''  Similar  considerations  tend  greatly  to  depreciate 
value  of  the  general  results  of  official  observation.     The  evident,; 

'2  As  an  instance  of  the  methods  adopted  in  the  examination  of  the  mental  conditio 
of  prisoners,  reference  may  be  made  to  the  manner  In  which  statistics  of  feeble-mindedne'i 
are  compiled.  The  medical  officer  of  Leeds  reported  (P.C.  Report,  1918-19,  p.  15):  "Tlj 
statistics  of  feeble-minded  prisoners  called  for  must,  I  think,  be  more  or  less  incompletj 
as  these  cases  are  not  diagnosable  on  sight — and  to  get  really  reliable  numbers  one  Toulj 
need  to  make  systematic  examination  of  prisoners  by  the  Binet-Simon  and  other  test«-| 
difficult  matter,  as  each  case  takes  a  considerable  time  to  complete.  I  imagine  there  a'l 
a,  good  many  more  mental  defectives  than  appear  at  first  sight."  Thus,  such  inquiries  a^j 
conducted  by  casual  inspection,  and  with  a  complete  disregard  of  the  only  method  by  whir 
figures  of  any  value  could  be  obtained.  The  ficures  actually  arrived  at  naturally  shf^' 
absolute  divergence  from  those  reported  from  similar  institutions  where  exact  methods 
employed.     (See  p.    518.) 

13  Dr.   R.  P.   Qninton,    "Modern  Prison  Curriculum"    (1912),  p.    144. 

"  See  p.  518. 

»sSee  pp.  15-16  and  256-60.  , 


EVIDENCE    FROM    UNOFFICIAL    SOURCES  481 

governors,  medical  officers  and  chaplains  which  merit  most  attention 
are  not  usually  found  in  official  publications,  but  are  distributed 
through  independent  literature. 

Evidence  from  Unofficial  Sources. 

In  sociological  literature  there   is   much  evidence  to  be  gleaned 

which  bears  upon  the  mental  and  moral  eSects  of  imprisonment; 

but  even  here  references  are  scattered,  and  incidental  to  other  topics. 

It  is,  moreover,  unfortunate,  that  writers  in  the  field  of  criminological 

science    have     been    chiefly     preoccupied    with     the    pathological 

characteristics  of  criminals,   almost  to  the  total   disregard   of   the 

physically  and  mentally  normal  delinquent.       They  have  also  been 

concerned  to  a  greater  extent  with  the  etiology  of  crime — its  founda- 

■  in  inherited  defects  and  early  environmental  factors — than  with 

effects  of  various  penal  systems.       But  the  prison  system  is 

essentially  intended  for  the  fully  responsible  and  mentally  normal 

offender,  and  to  its  operation  the  subject  matter  of  these  crimin- 

_;sts  is  irrelevant,  except  in  so  far  as  it  may  indicate  those  classes 

36  abnormaUty  should  remove  them  from  penal  treatment. 

\ny  thorough-going  investigation  must  attempt  to  estimate  the 

.eiative  influence   upon   the    prisoner's    subsequent   career  of  two 

Groups  of    factors :   those  relating  (1)   to  the  original  causation  of 

;rime  and  to  criminal  "stigmata,"  and  (2)  to  the  influence  of  penal 

iiscipline  upon  the  mind  and  character  of  the  offender.     In  many 

Criminals  psycho-pathic  antecedents  are  to  be  found,  and  in  an  even 

jarger  number  of  cases   criminal  habits  have  been  formed,   and  a 

brocess  of  mental  and  moral  degeneration  has  set  in,  long  prior  to 

jhe  first  imprisonment.     Dr.  William  Healy  comments  specifically 

ipon  the  difficulty    of    isolating  the  eSects  of  these   independent 

actors,  adding,  however,  the  assertion:  "But  this  thing  is  -plain;  if 

■  bsolutely   innocent  individuals  were    put  under  prison  conditions, 

ney  would  tend  to  develop  anti-social  conceptions  of  conduct."  " 

The  V.\lue  of  the  Political  Offender's  Evidence. 

Since  this  sentence  was  written,   it  has  been  possible  to  test  its 

alidity  through  the   study   of  the    effects  of   imprisonment    upon 

adividuals  who  are,  at  any  rate,  not  sub-normal  in  their  mental  and 

ihysical  constitution,  and  in  whom  the  effects  of  incarceration  are 

j"ee  from  the  complicating  influence  of  the  social  stigma  and  other 

jancomitants  of  conflict  with  the  law.       The  imprisonment  of  men 

ind  women  for  political  offences  during  the  war,  of  conscientious 

Diectors  to  war  service,   and  of  Irish  Nationalists,    has  thrown  a 

siderable  amount  of  light  upon  the  conditions  of  prison  life  and 

effects  upon  mind   and    character — and   although   it   would  be 

"The   Indiridnal   Delinquent"    (1915),   Section    226.   p.    515.    This   is    one   of   the   very 

w  works   of  recent   years   which  attempts  to  make  a  scientific  study   of  the  mental  effects 

confinement    in    ordinary    prisons.    Dr.    Healy's    conclusions,    though    probably    referring 

imarily  to  the  conditions  of  American  prisons,  are  also  in   the   main   applicable   to  those 

oar  own,  or   indeed  to  those  of  almost   any  existing  type  of  prison. 

K 


482  THE   PROBLEM  AND  THE   EVIDENCE 

controversial  to  describe  such  prisoners  as  "absolutely  innocent 
individuals,"  they  are  sufficiently  free  from  ingrained  criminal 
habits  to  conform  with  the  requirements  of  Dr.  Healy's  hypothesis, 
or  at  any  rate  to  provide  evidence  which  is  supplementary  in  many 
useful  ways  to  that  derived  from  the  study  of  ordinary  criminals. 

Since  much  of  the  ensuing  evidence  has  been  derived  from  such 
political  offenders,  a  few  comments  may  be  made  here  upon  its 
significance.  The  primary  significance  of  the  evidence  of  political 
offenders  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  mental  effects  observed  in  the  course 
of  imprisonment  can  be  more  easily  isolated  from  the  consequences 
of  previous  habits  of  crime,  congenital  abnormalities,  and  such  con- 
comitants of  imprisonment  as  social  ostracism  in  its  varying  forms; 
the  last,  in  the  case  of  the  ordinary  offender,  being  one  of  the  most 
potent  forces  in  the  formation  of  criminal  associations  leading  to 
the  repetition  of  offences.  In  the  second  place,  it  may  be  noted  that 
political  offenders  usually  possess  some  facility  and  readiness  to 
express  themselves  upon  the  subject  of  their  prison  experiences; 
whereas  the  ordinary  offender  is  often  either  unable  or  disinclined 
to  express  himself  clearly  upon  this  matter.  The  evidence  given  by 
political  offenders  has  a  greater  completeness,  consistency,  and 
accuracy,  and  it  has  the  special  value  which  arises  from  the 
relative  simplicity  and  uniformity  of  the  conditions  under  which  it! 
is  obtainable  and  the  comparative  normality  and  moral  responsibility) 
of  this  class  of  offender.  It  has  fortunately  been  possible  to  find! 
among  such  offenders  many  whose  accounts  constitute  a  carefully 
weighed  and  balanced  judgment,  free  from  any  serious  degree  of 
distortion  on  the  score  of  prejudice  or  resentment.  i 

It  is  impossible  to  estimate  purely  in  the  abstract  the  differing 
effects  of  imprisonment  upon  political  offenders  and  other  types 
of  criminals;  the  relevant  evidence  tends  to  show  that  such' 
differences  are  much  less  clearly  marked  than  a  'priori  considerations 
would  suggest.  It  has  frequently  been  supposed  that  imprisonment! 
is  more  painful  to  the  political  offender  than  to  the  ordinary  criminal,! 
owing  to  the  former  being  accustomed,  as  a  rule,  to  more  comfortable 
surroundings  and  a  higher  standard  of  life.  This  view  arises j 
probably  from  the  fact  that  many  of  the  political  offenders,  whose; 
experiences  have  been  published,  have  been  poets,  idealists,  and  menj 
of  refined  susceptibilities ;  it  is  probably  fair  to  assume  that  such  are.' 
endowed  with  a  specially  sensitive  constitution.  But  to  base  anv. 
general  distinction  upon  the  prominence  of  this  particular  type 
political  offender  is  to  ignore  both  the  hardy  stoic  and  the  mi 
larger  class  whose  political  outlook  has  to  a  great  extent  b' 
conditioned  by  the  hardships  and  privations  of  their  ordinary  life. 

A  considerable  number  of  political  offenders  have  emphatically[ 
asserted  that  the  sufferings  of  the  ordinary  offender  were  in  theiij 
view  greater  than  their  own.  Indeed,  it  is  frequently  suggested  thatj 
prison  involves  comparatively  little  hardship  to  those  who  ani 
endowed  with  intellectual  resources,  and  are  sustained  by  then-  belieli 


EVIDEXCE    FROM    EXTERNAL    OBSERVERS  483 

in  a  cause.  There  is  much  to  corroborate  this  view,  so  that  it 
becomes  of  the  utmost  difl&culty  to  make  any  generalisation  as  to 
which  type  of  prisoner,  among  first  offenders  at  any  rate,  experiences 
■jhe  greater  suffering. 

But  this  question  is  of  a  less  importance  than  that  of  other  effects 
jf  imprisonment.  The  aspects  of  prison  life  to  which  the  present 
enquiry  has  been  particularly  directed  are  those  affecting  the  mental 
DOwers  and  character  of  the  prisoner;  and  there  is  every  reason  to 
juppose  that  the  impairment  of  morale  which  occurs  in  the  case  of 
nany  prisoners,  and  the  factors  in  prison  hfe  bearing  most  upon  the 
iroblem  of  recidivism,  are  of  less  significance  in  the  case  of  the 
5ohtical  prisoner.  The  greater  resources  of  the  latter,  his  ideals 
md  his  interests,  are  sufiicient  to  protect  him  from  the  dangers  of 
jontamination  and  the  effects  of  prison  discipline  which  render  the 
jveaker  type  of  offender  more  prone  to  future  temptation.  The 
x)litical  offender,  moreover,  resumes  his  previous  life  without  meet- 
ng  to  the  same  extent  the  dif&culties  which  beset  the  ordinary 
priminal. 

'  Official  investigations  undoubtedly  owe  many  of  their  ob\aous  short- 
fomings  to  the  complete  exclusion  of  the  evidence  of  prisoner s.  The 
wholesale  disregard  of  a  prisoner's  statements,  however  necessary 
b  may  appear  in  the  interests  of  prison  discipline,"  is  wholly  un- 
'/arranted  in  an  impartial  investigation;  certainly  no  sympathetic 
itudent  of  criminal  science  can  find  it  possible  to  ignore  the 
jvidence  of  the  offender  himself.  The  murderer  is  not  necessarily 
[ntruthful,  and  to  the  unconscious  distortions  which  arise  from 
irejudice  all  men  are  hable.  Subject  to  the  conditions  which  affect 
fie  credibility  of  testimony  in  general,  the  prisoner's  evidence  is  no 
28S  trustworthy  than  that  of  other  witnesses." 

IVEDENCE    FROM    PeRSOXS    F.\MILIAR    WITH    DISCHARGED    PRISONERS. 

It  is  desirable,  however,  whenever  possible,  to  test  and  supplement 
16  records  and  allegations  of  those  who  have  experienced  at  first 
'and  the  effects  of  prison  discipline  by  reference  to  the  evidence  of 
ixtemal  observers.  No  one  should  be  able  to  supply  more  valuable 
nformation  as  to  the  condition  of  mind  of  a  prisoner  after  a  period 

L imprisonment  than  those  whose  life-work  it  is  to  assist  him  upon 
1  release  in  regaining  his  lost  social  status  and  in  applying  himself 
9  honest  labour.  To  some  of  the  agents  of  the  various  Discharged 
'risoners'  Aid     Societies,     and  to  other  social  workers  with  long 

It  is  attested  both  by  prisoners  and  warders  that  in  the  case  of  any  diCerence  between 
iirisoner  and  an  ofiBcial,  the  prisoner's  word  is  never  accepted  in  contradiction  to  that  of 
|s  superior  officer.  This  principle  appears  to  apply  with  eqaal  force  in  the  collection  cf 
iicud  evidence  on  any  subject. 

'•  "Doubtless  some  will  say  that  the  statements  of  convicts  are  not  to  be  believed.  That 
jaches  upon  one  of  the  very  worst  features  of  the  situation.  No  discrimination  is  ever 
|*de.  It  is  not  admitted  that,  while  one  convict  may  be  a  liar,  another  may  be  entirely 
Uthfal;  that  men  differ  in  prison  exactly  as  in  the  world  oatside."— Thomas  Mott  Osborne, 
yithin  Prison   Walls,"   1915.   p.    133. 

have  found  very  few  prisoners  who  wilfully  sought  to  deceive  me  when  they  knew   why 
tht  information  from  them."— Devon,   "The  Criminal  and  the   Community,"  p.    46. 


484  THE  PROBLEM  AND  THE  EVIDENCE 

experience  in  such  work,  this  enquiry  is  deeply  indebted.  Whilsj 
the  administrative  official  naturally  feels  a  certain  responsibility  tc 
the  system  and  tends  unconsciously  to  adjust  his  evidence  so  a3  tc 
rebut  suspicion  of  the  injurious  effects  of  imprisonment;  whilsl 
resentment  or  bitterness  against  the  treatment  suffered  may  bias  the 
evidence  of  the  prisoner  in  an  opposite  direction,  the  independeni 
position  of  the  experienced  worker  amongst  discharged  prisoners 
invests  his  judgment  with  comparative  fairness  and  impartiality. 
Even  here,  however,  we  have  to  reckon  with  the  fact  that  many 
of  these  workers,  however,  sincere  their  intention,  have  inherited, 
with  others  of  us,  a  tendency  to  accept  the  status  quo  in  penal  pro- 
cedure, and  therefore  to  judge  results  in  relation  to  the  given  fact 
of  prison  inst€ad  of  examining  them  in  the  light  of  what  might 
have  been  possible  under  a  more  humane  and  educational  system. 

Upon  a  survey  of  these  various  sources  of  evidence,  as  wide  as  it 
has  been  possible  to  make  it,  the  following  investigation  is  based. 


A  Note  on  the  Use  of  the  Word  "Reform." 


We  use  the  words  "reform"  and  "reformative"  in  this  Enquiry  for  th<| 
Bake  of  convenience,  since  they  are  commonly  employed  in  the  literature  of! 
the  subject  to  express  the  more  beneficent  aims  of  the  existing  penal  and 
prison  systems,  aims  which  may  charitably  be  supposed  to  include  what  wtj 
should  ourselves  regard  as  the  proper  objects  (apart  from  any  necessarj; 
restrictions  upon  their  liberty)  of  any  satisfactory  method  of  dealing  witl; 
law-breakers,  viz.,  the  helping  of  a  fellow-creature  to  reach  the  fullest  ancj 
healthiest  development  of  his  whole  nature  possible  to  him  under  the  restrie^ 
tions  of  his  environment.  j 

There  appears  to  be  no  thoroughly  satisfactory  term  to  express  this  con  | 
ception — that  of  helping  a  man  to  help  or  develop  himself.     The  expressioi: 
"reform"   (together  with  certain  other  words  beginning  with  the  prefix  re-  j 
is  unsatisfactory  for  several   reasons.     It  seems  to  us  to  imply,  on  the  sidij 
of  those  who  use  it,  too  distant  and  superior  an  attitude  towards  the  offende: 
—an  attitude  that  is  a  poor  substitute  for  the  reverence  due  to  human  pefj 
sonality ;  and  also  an  over-estimating  of  the  part  played  by  the  administrator! 
of  any  penal  or  prison  system   in  shaping  the  inner  life  of  their  prisoners. 
Regeneration   must  always  come   from  within.     The  term   "reform"  is  alsi 
only   strictly   applicable  to  a  certain  proportion   of  the   prison  population- 
those  who  have  really  erred  or  fallen,  and  who  need  some  form  of  curativ  | 
or  "re-educative"  treatment.     Under  present  conditions  the  prison  population 
includes  some  whose  morality  is  well  above  the  average  ethical  standard  o| 
the  community;   and   it  includes   many  who  cannot  be   said  to   have  falloi 
from  the  standards  of  good   citizenship,  for  the  simple  reason  that,  owin;, 
to  their    unhappy  environment   or  upbringing,  they  have   never  had  a  fai 
opportunity  of  qualifying  for  such   standards.     It  appears  to   us  to  be  nusj 
leading  to  speak  of  "reforming"  either  of  these  classes  of  individuals.    Fo 
these  reasons  it  is  with  some  reluctance  that  we  use  the  word  at  all.  ' 


/ 


CHAPTER  II 


ADAPTATION    TO    THE    SYSTEM 

Whilst  it  is  true  that  the  most  significant  factors  in  prison  disciphne 
consist  in  the  denial  or  restriction  of  the  satisfactions  of  the  simplest 
and  most  universal  human  needs — liberty,  association,  social  desires, 
apeech,  and  useful  employment,  it  is  nevertheless  only  natural  that 
the  force  of  these  restrictions  should  fall  with  unequal  weight  upon 
persons  of  different  types.  The  effects  of  any  set  of  conditions, 
however  standardised  and  uniform,  will  vary  according  to  the 
jcmperaments,  habits,  and  past  experience  of  those  upon  whom  it 
operates.  But  no  classification  of  temperament  or  of  experience  can 
36  wholly  satisfactory. 

It  is  generally  admitted  nowadays  that  the  "criminal  type"  of 
Lombroso  is  a  figment  of  the  theoretical  imagination,  and  that  the 
ienizens  of  prisons  are  men  and  women  of  like  passions  to  ourselves, 
^hat  the  differences  between  us  are  more  of  degree  than  of  kind, — 
phe  average  weight  of  prisoners  is  less  than  our  average  weight,  their 
jiverage  stature  is  less  than  ours,  and  the  standard  of  intelligence 
prevaiUng  in  prisons  is  lower  than  that  of  the  ordinary  population : 
so  much  difference,  but  no  more.*  Clearly,  then,  any  absolute 
■classification  of  prison  types,  corresponding  as  it  would,  in  the  main, 
frith  a  classification  of  the  general  types  of  human  nature  as  a  whole, 
3vould  be  out  of  place  in  an  enquiry  of  this  special  nature.  It  is, 
lowever,  possible  to  adopt  a  purely  provisional  and  empirical  division 
•  »f  prisoners  in  specific  relation  to  the  effects  of  prison  discipline. 

Thk  "Sensitive"  and  "Hardened"  Types  of  Prisoners. 

j_A_prison  is  essentially  an  abnormal  environment  distinguished  iri 
4naay  important  respects  from  the  ordinary  surroundings  of  man, 
kn  environment  calling  for  the  exercise  of  qualities  of  mind  and 
pharacter  not  employed  to  the  same  extent  under  the  ordinary 
ponditions  of  freedom,  and  conversely  excluding  other  qualities  from 
finy  form  of  exercise  at  all.  Just  in  so  far  as  the  conditions  of  life 
'In  prison  differ  from  those  in  the  previous  experience  of  the  prisoner, 
BO  far  will  imprisonment  demand  a  process  of  general,  and  more 
jiarticularly  of  mental,  adaptation.  It  is  in  the  power  of  adaptation 
!ihat  enormous  differences  are  found  to  exist  in  different  prisoners, 
vnd  it  is  in  this  process — in  the  degree  of  success  or  failure  to  adapt 

'  Such  may  be  taken  ai  perhaps  the  chief  positiTe  contribntion  of  Dr.  Goring'g  inveatiga- 
jion.  (See  "The  English  ConTict,"  p.  370).  There  are  also  statements  in  the  Prison 
I'oinmlaiioneri'   Report  to  the   same  eHect.    See  pp.   8-9  and  251   above. 


486  ADAPTATION  TO   THE  SYSTEM 


I 


— that  we  find  the  conditions  of  those  mental  and  moral  effects  which 
are  the  subject  of  this  study. 

If,  therefore,  we  describe  those  who  are  unable  easily  to  adapt 
themselves  to  the  conditions  of  prison  life,  those  who  suffer  from 
the  conflict  of  their  temperament  with  this  environment,  as  con- 
stituting the  "sensitive  type,"  and  those  who  through  natural  coarse- 
ness of  fibre,  pliancy  of  will,  or  long  inurement  to  hardship  become 
able  to  adapt  themselves  with  ease  to  the  privations  of  prison  life  as 
constituting  the  "hardened  type,"  we  shall  thereby  include  the 
whole  of  the  prison  population.  It  is  obvious,  however,  that  the 
difference  is  largely  one  of  degree,  the  two  terms  representing  rather 
the  extremes  between  which  prisoners  are  ranged  in  an  almost 
infinite  number  of  gradations.  This  division  is  one  that  appears 
equally  clearly  w^hether  we  consider  the  reports  given  by  competent 
observers,  or  the  personal  records  of  experience  given  us  by  those 
who  have  passed  through  the  system. 

It  should  be   noted,    however,    that  the  distinction  between  the 
sensitive  and   the  "hardened"  prisoner   does    not  necessarily  cor- 
respond to  any  other  distinction  either  according  to  social  class,  type 
of  crime,   or  degree  of  moral  degradation.     Many  highly  educated 
accidental  offenders   and  political  prisoners  have  given  evidence  to 
the   effect  that   they  found  themselves  readily  adaptable  to  prison 
conditions.     The  "hardened  criminal,"  moreover,  who  in  the  usual ; 
sense  of   the  word   is  confirmed  in    vicious    proclivities,   does  notj 
necessarily  fall  into  the  class  of  "hardened"  prisoners.     It  is  true 
that  as  a  rule  he  does ;  but  he  may  be  as  fully  sensitive  to  penal 
discipline  as  is  the  first  offender,  and  it  may  be  only  after  repeated  or  | 
prolonged  imprisonment  that  he  becomes  hardened  to  prison  con-j 
ditions.     There  is  much  to  suggest,  indeed,  that  the  hardening  of  thej 
prisoner  is  a  by  no  means  negligible  factor  in  the  creation  of  thej 
hardened  criminal.     That  some  relation  exists  between  the  two  cases] 
is  obvious,  and  it  arises  from  the  fact  that  the  distinction  between  | 
the  sensitive  and  the  "hardened."  prisoner  is  relative  and  mutable: 
mutable,  that  is,  in  the  sense  that  the  sensitive  tends  to  become,  in 
course  of  time,  the  "hardened,"  i.e.  the  prisoner  becomes  adapted 
to  prison.     The  reverse  process  naturally  scarcely  ever  occurs.^ 

The  Process  of  Adaptation. 
It  may  also  be  noted  here  that  in  general  the  sufferings  undergone 
by  the  prisoner  are  limited  to  the  period  before  adaptation  is  com- 

2  It  is  true  that  the  more  obvious  signs  of  maladaptation  such  as  nerTous  breakdown 
may  not  appear  till  after  a  considerable  time  has  elapsed,  during  which  the  prisoner  is 
apparently  calm  and  adapted  to  the  conditions  of  prison  life.  This  is  often  the  case  withi 
the  more  highly-educated  prisoners,  who  are  sustained  by  their  internal  resources,  ard  with: 
some  of  the  political  offenders  who  occupy  themselves  in  "fighting  the  system."  In  thej 
course  of  time  internal  resources  become  exhausted  and  the  will  to  fight  against  the! 
system  becomes  impaired.  The  cumulative  effects  of  prison  discipline  may  then  begin  to: 
tell,  and  a  nervous  breakdown  may  ensue.  Such  cases  are  contrasted  with  those  ol; 
genuine  adaptation.  The  latter  depend  neither  upon  internal  resources  nor  _on_  other| 
extraneous  interests.  The  satisfactions  of  the  adapted  prisoner  are  found  within  tat, 
prison  system.  It  is  sometimes  described  as  a  system  ol  non-desire.  When  this  condition 
of   apathy  is  reached,   reversion  to  the  earlier  state   of   mind  is   unlikely  to  occur. 


THE    PROCESS    OF    ADAPTATION  487 

plete.  The  type  of  the  perfectly  adapted  prisoner  is  the  aged 
recidivist  who  has  spent,  perhaps,  the  greater  portion  of  his  hfe 
within  prison  walls.  Instances  are  frequently  quoted  of  such  men 
who,  upon  release,  are  positively  unhappy  and  take  immediate  or 
early  steps  to  effect  a  return  to  gaol.  In  prison  they  are  contented 
and  at  peace.  It  follows,  therefore,  that  the  more  rapidly  this 
idition  of  mind  is  acquired,  the  sooner  the  penal  and  detenrent 
ci^cct  of  imprisonment  is  exhausted,  and,  conversely  the  more 
i  protracted  the  process  of  adaptation,  the  greater  the  suffering 
"    -olved. 

This  law  of  adaptation   (for  the  process  of  hardening,  operating 

upon  the  originally  more  or  less  sensitive  condition  of  the  prisoner, 

variably  characterises  prison  life)  is  but  a  particular  example  of 

■  way  in  which  man  under  any  circumstances  tends  to  adapt  him- 
^f  to  an  unusual  but  unalterable  environment;  and  thus  we  may 
::iprehend  all  the  mental  and  moral  effects  of  imprisonment  within 

■  formula  of  "adaptation." 

.     "Prison,"   it  is  said,  "makes  the  good  prisoner  rather  than  the 
!good   citizen."      In   this    sentence   the    process    of    adaptation   is 
;!cisely    described.       The    good    prisoner    is    essentially    of    the 
.  ipted  "hardened"  type.       To  him  prison  is  no  very  great  mis- ^ 
fortune.       His  sufferings  are  not  acute,   and  he  has  adjusted   his    ^ 
desires  to  the  measure  of  the  possible   satisfactions.       He  is  fed,    / 
clothed  and  sheltered,    and  beyond  these  elemental  needs  he  has  I 
acquired  a  cei-tain  simplicity  of  tastes,   so  that  the   hmitations  of  I 
prison  life  are  hardships  which  have  grown  tolerable  by  use.     His    v 
fellow  prisoners  have  become  his  normal  associates,   and  he  knows  ^'" 
the  ropes  sufficiently  well  to  secure  all  that  he  needs  in  the  way  of  ( 
conversation  and  association.     Such  is  the  prison  life  of  the  recidivist 
and  the  professional  criminal.     Their  habitual  condition  of  mind  is 
probably  due  in  part  to  natural  disposition,  in  part  to  inurement  ti>^ 
hardship  under  the  normal  conditions  of  life,  but  to  a  considerable 
degree   it  is   directly  due,    as  we  shall  attempt   to  show,   to  the 
acter  of  the  prison  syst-em  itself. 

,^  e  ability  to  "do  time  on  one's  head"  (as  the  phrase  goes)  is 
not  learned  in  a  day,  nor  is  it  wholly  acquired  in  a  normal  life  of 
freedom.  The  completely  prison-hardened  type  is  very  rarely  to 
be  found  amongst  those  serving  their  first  sentence.  Most  of  these 
cont-ented  prisoners  were  "sensitive"  when  first  offenders,  a  category 
in  which  the  sensitive  type  is  much  more  prevalent,  and  it  is  here 
^.t  we  must  study  the  good  prisoner  in  the  making. 

Among  first  offenders  many  differences  are  naturally  to  be  found, 
but  excessive  subdi^^sion  would  only  obscure  the  underlying  identity 
of  experience,  which  is,  in  fact,  to  be  observed.  It  is  sufficient  for 
our  present  purpose  to  distinguish  the  pohtical  from  the  more  usual 

pe  of  first  offender. 


r  <  / 


CHAPTER   III 


POLITICAL  OFFENDERS 

The  offenders  from  whom  the  evidence  in  this  chapter  is  in  the  main 
derived,  consist  of  men  of  from  20  to  40  years  of  age,  who  have 
been  subjected  to  imprisonment  with  hard  labour  for  a  period  of  12 
months  or  more.' 

The  process  of  adaptation  to  prison  conditions  in  the  case  of  these 
political  offenders  is  usually  more  protracted  than  in  the  case  of 
juvenile  offenders,  and  of  prisoners  of  undeveloped  mental  powers; 
but  there  is  no  evidence  that  it  differs  in  any  important  respect  from 
the  same  process  in  the  case  of  the  ordinary  offender  of  average 
mentality,  whose  first  imprisonment  occurs  within  the  ages  specified 
above. 

The  study  of  this  process,  by  means  of  such  records  as  have  been 
preserved  in  diaries  or  subsequent  descriptions,  irresistibly  suggests 
that  it  is  one  of  steady  deterioration.  The  deterioration  in  its  main 
features  is  practically  universal.  In  certain  cases  it  has  been 
possible  to  trace  this  process  through  a  series  of  fairly  well  marked 
stages,  the  general  features  of  which  are  also  recognisable  frop^' 
external  observation. 

Mental  Effects  in  the  First  Stage  :   Excitation. 

Prisoners  differ  very  widely  in  respect  of  their  behaviour  and  their 
experiences  in  the  early  days  of  imprisonment,  but  this  first  stage 
has  nevertheless  certain  general  characteristics.  It  is  a  period  of 
excitation.  The  mental  powers  of  the  prisoner  are,  as  a  whole; 
stiTuulated  or  heightened.  That  is,  whether  it  be  one  of  misery  or 
otherwise,  whatever  its  particular  emotional  tone,  the  prisoner 
notices  in  himself  an  acceleration  of  mental  activity  and  of  emotional 
response.  The  phenomena  range  in  intensity  from  a  condition  dis- 
tinctly hysterical  to  a  moderate  activity  such  as  is  often  subjectively 
interpreted  as  "intense  curiosity  in  the  novelty  of  the  situation." 
Whilst  the  reasons  given  for  this  increased  subjective  activity  are 

1  The   eTidence   given    by    political   offenders    relates   primarily   to   the   first    experience  of 
prison    discipline,    but,     for    reasons    appearing    in    the    sequel,    there    are    fewer    differences  i 
between  the  mental  effects  of  the  first  term  and  those  of  subsequent  terms  of  imprisonment 
in    the   case   of    political   offenders   than    in    the   case   of   ordinary   offenders.    Nearly  all  the  | 
witnesses    quoted    in   this   section  were  conscientious   objectors   to   the   Military   Service  Acts, 
imprisoned   from    1916  to   1919    by   successive  and  consecutive    sentences   of  conrts-martial,  ■ 
who,    for   various    reasons,   refused    the   offer    of   work   in   England   under    the    Home   Office,  j 
which  would  have  secured  their   release.    Their   sentences   were  served  in  the  thiri   division 
with     hard    labour;    but    from    the    end    of     1917    a    few    privileges     (of     which    the    mMt 
important   was   the  "talkiiig  exercise")    were  conceded  under   Rule  243A  to  those  who  hs'i 
served  at  least  12  months.    (See  pp.  222-24.) 


THE  SECOND  STAGE  :  •'MAKING  THE  BEST  OF  IT"         489 

by  no  means  the  same  in  every  case,  the  fact  itself  is  universally 
attested.  Occasionally  the  excitement  is  regarded  as  being  by  no 
means  painful;  more  frequently  it  involves  a  great  intensity  of 
suffering.  It  is  no  doubt  during  this  phase  that  the  more  observant 
prison  chaplains  and  warders  find  prisoners  sensitive  and  responsive 
to  sympathy  and  humanising  influences. 

The  ofBcial  instructions  in  regard  to  the  risk  of  suicide  among 
prisoners  refer  specifically  to  this  period  as  being  more  dangerous 
than  any  other;*  and  in  many  of  the  personal  experiences  described 
by  political  offenders,  explicit  mention  is  made  of  symptoms  occur- 
'ring  during  this  period  which  suggest  the  incipient  stages  of  serious 
vous  breakdown. 

P  Solitary  confinement  with  Bible  and  Praj-er  Book  developed  a  religious 
mania  in  a  mild  form.  ...  a  militant  semi-insanity  took  possession 
of  me.  I  refused  all  discipline.  Later  I  became  morbid  and  moody, 
nother  remarks,  "I  had  one  or  two  strange  visions  which  are  to 
even  now  almost  unaccounted  for." 
"Roughly,"  writes  another,  "the  period  of  solitary  confinement  was  a 
hysterical  one,  and  the  rest  of  the  first  year  one  of  doggedness  and  a 
kind  of  misery,  above  which  I  was  continually  floating  in  waves  of 
inspiration  when   I  thought  of  certain  people  and  certain  ideals." 

The  Second  Stage:  "Making  the  Best  of  It." 
I  Arising  out  of  this  quite  spontaneous  phase  of  exaggerated  mental 
^ctivity,  there  is  frequently  a  conscious,  deliberate,  and  systematic 
ptempt  to  occupy  the  time  in  some  profitable  way,  to  employ  the 
beriod  of  solitary  confinement  just  in  the  manner  in  which  it  was 
intended  to  be  used  by  those  who  originated  it.  Social  activity 
peing  excluded,  this  attempt  naturally  takes  the  form  of  some  species 
af  self-culture.  The  highly  educated  prisoner  embarks,  so  far  as 
yhe  resources  of  prison  permit,  upon  a  course  of  study ;  a  man  whose 
[eligious  nature  is  strong  attempts  to  cultivate  his  spiritual  life. 
•)ome  prisoners  apply  themselves  to  physical  exercises.  The  activity 
n  all  cases  tends  to  become  self-centred  and  introspective. 

■Jxamples  of  this  second  phase  of  prison  experience  will   occur 
later  quotations.     It  is  important,  of  course,  in  relation  to  the 
ged  curative  or  i*eformatory  influences  in  prison;  but  it  should 
6  noted  that  most  of  the  evidence  on  this  point  comes  from  the 
lore  highly  educated  prisoners.     It  plays  a  much  smaller  part  in 
ne  life  of  the  ordinary  offender,  whose  mental  life  quickly  reaches 
third  phase. 

The  Third  Stage:   Deterioration. 

le  arrival  of  the  third  period  of  prison  adaptation  is  marked  by 

16  decline  of  profitable  reflection  or  attempts  at  self-culture.     This 

suits  in  part  from  the  exhaustion  of  the  prisoner's  internal  and 

eternal  resources.     The  routine  has  lost  the   interest   of  novelty, 

pp.  555-56. 

B2 


490  POLITICAL    OFFENDERS 

and  definitely  cultivated  interests  wane.  Those  who  reUed  most  upon 
their  intellectual  resources  are  unanimous  in  declaring  how  soon 
they  found  themselves  drifting  into  mere  dreaming  or  vacuity  of 
mind.  Mental  activity,  they  assert,  ceases  from  lack  of  stimulus, 
lack  of  variety,  lack  of  discussion  and  criticism,  and  lack  of 
opportunity  for  expression.  They  find  themselves  thinking  the 
same  thoughts  over  and  over  again,  reaching  a  point  at  which  the 
difficulties  in  concentration  are  insuperable. 

This  cessation  of  directed  thinking  seems  to  be  due  not  merely  to 
"mental  starvation,"  but  also,  in  part  at  least,  to  the  definite  intru- 
sion of  thoughts  and  images  which  are  irrelevant  to  the  subject  upon 
which  the  prisoner  is  endeavouring  to  concentrate.  Thoughts  of 
food,  of  liberty,  of  all  the  unsatisfied  desires  tend  more  and  more  to 
occupy  the  mind.*  "Profitable  reflection"  is  pursued  only  at  the 
cost  of  increasing  effort.  The  mind  perpetually  drifts  to  other 
things  or  is  monopolised  by  obsessional  ideas,  tunes,  and  the  asser- 
iion  of  trivialities.  "Day-dreaming"  is  recorded  as  being  the  most 
frequent  occupation  of  the  mind.  Memories  of  childhood  spring 
surprisingly  into  consciousness,  and  replace,  the  more  definitely 
cultivated  interests.  Side  by  side  with  this  change  of  mental 
content  there  occurs  an  encroachment  of  moods  of  depression. 

In  many  cases  it  is  this  third  or  intermediate  period  which  involves 
the  greatest  suffering,    and  the   prisoner's  distress  is  probably  in- 
creased and   prolonged  when  he  deliberately  resists  the  process  of 
deterioration.     It   certainly  appears   that  those  who  abandon  effort 
and  give  themselves  over  to  dreaming  more  rapidly  fall  into  that 
condition  of  torpor  and  indifference  in  which  prison  discipline  ceases  j 
to  be  a  pain.     Conversely,  it  appears  that  those  who  struggle  most  i 
to  maintain  a  vigorous  mental  life  are  frequently  those  who  in  the ! 
end     suffer     from     nervous     breakdown.*       During     this     period.  I 
depression    alternates    with    phases    of    excitement   or    exaggerated! 
emotion,   and  the  prisoner  is  in   a  state   of  heightened   irritability,  I 
which  may  express  itself  in  petty  breaches  of  discipline  or  in  violent 
fits  of  rage,  occasioning  quarrels  or  assaults,  or  the  breaking  of  the 
cell  furniture.     Perhaps  the  greater  part  of  the  malingering,  petition-! 
ing  and  frivolous   complaints  with  which  the  prisoner  annoys  the,' 
authorities  are  primarily  an  expression  of  this  irritability  and  of  the! 
prisoner's  desire  to  assert  himself  or  to  relieve  the  monotony  of  his] 
life. 

The  Foubth  Stage  :  Apathy. 

The  final  stage  in  this  process  of  degeneration  is  one  of  settled 
apathy  and  torpor.  It  seems  to  be  a  state  of  relative  "non-desire,"  in 
which  all  vital  functions  are  performed  with  an  absence  of  energy 

*  In  the  case  of  most  non-political  prisoners,  sexual  and  criminal  ideas  are  prominen  | 
features  of  the  mental  content.  The  unnatural  segregation,  confinement,  and  isolatior 
accentuate  sexual  impulses  in  all  types  of  prisoners.  See  Note  on  "The  Effects  of  ImpruoDj 
ment  upon  the  Sexual  Life,"  pp.   586-89.  ! 

*  A  nerve  specialist  states  that  these  conclusions  are  exactly  paralleled  by  the  incidenc ! 
of  "war  shock"  breakdown,  in  its  relation  to  preceding  mental  struggles.  "The  worst  e»»e 
are  those   that  hare  struggled  most." 


f  SOME  PERSONAL  DESCRIPTIONS  491 

or  tone.  The  routine  goes  on  mechanically,  and  the  passage  of  time 
is  no  longer  noticed.  Externally  the  prisoner  appears  to  be  calm 
and  free  from  suffering.  Whatever  discomfort  is  felt  is  of  the  nature 
of  a  sense  of  weakness  and  weariness,  but,  in  so  far  as  prison  life 
makes  no  great  demands  for  energy  or  interest,  this  is  not  felt  as 
undesirable,  and  the  freedom  from  responsibility  or  necessity  for 
eSort  may  come  in  time  to  be  positively  preferred  to  any  more  active 
mode  of  life.  , 

Some  Pebsonal  Descriptions. 

The  course  of  this  process  of  mental  decay  has  been  described  in 
considerable  detail  in  the  pubhshed  records  of  ex -prisoners  and  in 
i  private  communications.  The  following  extracts  have  been  selected 
!  merely  for  illustration.  Each  extract  is  quit-e  independent,  and  in 
every  case  typical  and  of  general  significance.  Mere  idiosyncrasies 
of  personal  experience,  or  those  due  to  special  or  unusual  circum- 
stances, have  been  excluded.     Our  first  witness  writes  as  follows  :  — 

I. 

Every  day  in  prison  brings  its  hour  of  desperation.  When  the  cell 
door  has  closed  on  the  prisoner  for  the  first  time,  he  experiences  a 
sense  of  relief.  The  worst  has  happened,  and  he  takes  also  just  a  little 
pleasure  in  the  novelty  of  the  situation  he  finds  himself  in.  But  the 
continual  closing  and  locking  of  the  cell  door  has  its  effect.'  My  ex- 
perience is  a  common  one,  I  fear.  On  the  two  occasions  I  have  been 
confined  in  prison,  the  climax  was  reached  on  the  fifth  day  after  ray 
entrance.  My  brain  began  to  repeat,  automatically,  like  a  telegraph 
instrument  ticking  out  a  message,  the  words  :  "You  can't  get  out.  Yoa 
can't  get  out."  And,  if  I  may  use  the  simile,  the  instrument  increased 
its  speed  continually  until  the  fifth  day.  The  words  clicked  faster  and 
faster.  I  worked  at  my  task  like  a  madman,  hoping  that,  by  the 
wearing  down  of  the  body,  I  might  overcome  the  persistence  of  the 
brain.  On  the  evening  of  the  fifth  day  I  was,  on  the  first  occasion, 
saved  from  a  fit  of  insanity  by  the  appearance  of  the  chaplain,  who 
stayed  and  discussed  Socialism  with  me.  On  the  second  occasion, 
salvation  came  through  the  knowledge  that  the  cell  door,  though  closed, 
was  not  locked.  Because  I  could  get  out,  one  part  of  me  was  able  to 
hold  out  against  the  other  part  of  me. 

1^^  But  in  this  kind  of  warfare  there  is  no  victory.  A  snatch  of  a  tune 
^H|  heard  in  chapel,  or  a  sentence  from  a  prayer,  takes  its  lodging  in 
^^  the  brain.  It  repeats  itself  and  repeats  itself  endlessly.  This  quite 
surely  marks  the  beginning  of  what  I  will  call  "prison  aberration." 
Such  an  experience  is  quite  common  among  prisoners.  The  things  one 
has  learned  in  the  past  fade  away  from  the  memory.  Names,  even  of 
personal  friends  and  familiar  districts,  become  forgotten,  and  that  which 
insists  on  being  remembered  is  a  few  notes  of  music,  a  few  words,  a 
1        mere  nothing. 

PII. 
"A   person   who  has   been    observant   and  reflective,"    writes   another 
political  offender,  "finds  plenty  in  his  mind  to  think  over  for  a  month  or 
two,   but  I    found    as  time  went   on   a    narrowing   down  of    mind   and 
memory.     The  same  thoughts   used  to  come  over   and  over  again   until 

'  The  constant    locking  and    unlocking    of   the  cell   door   appears    to  be   a   frequent   source 
of   BerTe  irritation  to  prisoners. 


h 


498  POLITICAL  OFFENDERS 

there  became  a  kind  of  circle^  as  it  were,  outside  which  I  could  seldom 
get.  The  same  with  a  tune,  sameness  was  incessant,  and  one  feels 
"Oh,  for  some  new  live  experience — my  kingdom  for  a  new  song."  Any 
news  which  one  may  get  is  taken  out  of  all  proportion  to  its  relative 
importance  in  the  world.  I  found  my  memory  becoming  affected  after 
about  two  years'  imprisonment,  and  remember  one  occasion,  after  I 
had  done  about  30  months,  when  one  evening  in  my  cell  my  mind 
seemed  to  become  a  blank.  I  could  not  think  what  I  was  doing  there, 
could  not  think  of  my  name. 

The  obsession  of  tunes,  etc.,  is  almost  universal,  whilst  the  curious 
lapse  of  memory  is  only  a  slightly  more  extreme  example  of  what 
is  reported  in  a  large  number  of  cases.  The  prisoner  was,  in  all 
probability,  extremely  close  to  a  definite  nervous  breakdown. 

Another  carefully  recorded  sequence  of  mental  changes  runs  as 
follows :  — 

III. 
A  certain  amount  of  solitary  confinement  I  found  pleasant  and  restful. 
It  gave  one  a  chance  of  dreaming  a  little.  As  time  goes  on,  however, 
one  becomes  faced  with  two  alternatives  :  either  one  can  go  on  dreaming, 
in  which  case  one's  mind  stagnates,  or  one  can  attempt  to  force  oneself 
to  think.     In  the  latter  case  one  is  very  soon  at  the  end  of  one's  stock 

of  ideas I  was  humiliated  to  find  how  small  was  the  number 

of  things  I  could  find  to  think  about  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  all  my 
previous  life  had  been  occupied  in  studying.  Always  one's  thoughtB 
seemed  to  come  round  to  the  same  point  and  get  stuck  there. 

Naturally  in  these  circumstances  one  tends  to  brood  over  one's  personal 
grievances,  even  the  most  trivial,  which  become  magnified  until  they 
fill  the  whole  of  one's  thoughts. 

The  general  tendency  for  the  prisoner  to  abandon  himself  to 
dreams  and  reverie  is  mentioned  by  most  of  those  whose  prison 
thoughts  have  been  recorded. 

At  times,  a  tendency  to  draw  away  from  life,  and  dream — an  in- 
creasing feeling  of  restlessness,  and  inability  to  settle  down  to  any 
study. 

In  the  following  account  this  point,  together  with  others  that  have 
been  mentioned,  is  subjected  to  a  more  exhaustive  analysis:  — 

IV. 

I  found  it  very  difficult  to  concentrate  my  mind  or  interest  myself 
in  any  subject.  At  first  it  took  the  form  of  one's  mind  wandering  from 
the  book  one  was  reading  to  scenes  of  life  outside.  .  .  .  One  s 
mind  would  be  filled  with  an  image  usually  of  a  dinner  table  round 
which  one's  friends  were  gathered.  Often  I  attempted  to  turn  the 
stream  of  their  imaginary  conversation  on  to  problems  in  which  I  wa« 
interested.  At  first  it  was  possible  to  achieve  a  measure  of  success, 
but  this  gradually  became  more  and  more  impossible.  After  12  months 
or  thereabouts  I  became  incapable  of  imagining  intelligent  conversation. 
There  was  no  play  of  mind,  no  variety,  no  wit  and  humour,  merely  the 
same  animal  appetite  under  the  same  thin  disguise.     .     .     . 

When  engaged  in  reflection  I  found  it  impossible  to  keep  to  the  subject 
I  started  with.  Two  or  three  aspects  of  the  problem  would  present  them- 
selves  always  in   regular  alternation,  pro  and  con,  and   then  my  mind 


SOME  PERSONAL  DESCRIPTIONS  493 

would  wander.  I  know  I  made  desperate  effort3  to  prevent  this. 
.  .  .  .  Every  time  I  wanted  to  settle  down  to  philosophising  it  needed 
&  great  effort  that  was  very  difficult  to  make.  The  power  necessary  to 
make  this  effort  seemed  to  grow  less  and  less  as  imprisonment  wore  on. 
During  the  last  nine  months  the  power  seemed  altogether  gone. 

The  chief  obstacle  was  this  :  As  soon  as  one's  mind  wandered  and 
one  was  plunged  in  reverie,  one's  prison  life  was  forgotten.  For  the 
time  being  one  was  at  rest,  free  from  all  fret  and  from  that  peculiar 
prison  wretchedness  which  is  unlike  anything  else  ever  experienced  out- 
side. I  argued  to  myself  that  this  reverie  was  bad  for  me.  I  kept  on 
addressing  appeals  to  myself  not  to  let  prison  impair  the  higher  faculties 
of  the  mind,  not  to  fall  a  victim  to  one's  environment  and  so  forth. 
But  all  without  avail.  It  was  too  great  a  relief  to  lose  for  a  while 
one's  consciousness  of  being  in  prison  that  one  could  not  forego  the 
pleasure.     .     .     . 

In  prison  everything  is  of  a  low  order.  During  most  of  the  time 
one  was  growing  consciously  more  primitive,  and  even  when  one  seemed 
to  have  reached  rock-bottom  the  process  still  went  on  without  one  being 
aware  of  it.  One  tended  to  dwell  more  and  more  on  memories  of  long- 
forgotten   childhood,    which  gave  tremendous  pleasure. 

But  efforts  had  to  be  made  to  concentrate  on  something.  The  very 
emptiness  of  prison  life  made  some  form  of  activity  an  imperative 
necessity.  The  ordinary  prison  routine  became  so  much  a  matter  of 
mechanical  habit  that  it  required,  after,  say,  nine  months,  no  conscious 
attention  at  all.  All  one's  movements  became  stereotyped.  The  way 
one  washed  in  the  morning  and  all  the  motions  involved,  the  movements 
made  in  polishing  tins  and  dusting  one's  cell  could  have  been  tabulated. 
"Mental  starvation"  was  a  phrase  constantly  in  my  mind  as  summing 
up  one  of  the  chief  evils  (for  me)  of  prison  life.  Something  had  to  be 
done  so  I  set  about  thinking  of  things  to  study.  .  .  .  But  I  soon 
realised  it  was  impossible  to  study  with  anything  like  the  profit  that 
one  could  do  outside. 

During  the  last  period  of  all — i.e.,  roughly  the  last  eight  or  nine 
months — one  felt  that  gradually  one's  powers  of  self-control  were  fast 
disappearing — ^self-control  of  all  kinds. 

Another  marked  characteristic  of  this  period  was  a  tendency  for  one's 

waking   thoughts   to    be   a  continuation   of   one's    dreams   of   the    night 

before.        Sitting  at  work,    one   or  other  of    the   vivid  episodes  of  the 

^^B  previous    night's   dream   would   crop   up   and   one  would   continue    in   a 

^^Bstate  of   semi-somnolence   a   reverie    that    seemed   of   a    piece    with   the 

^^Vdream. 

■^P^en   definite    collapse   is    avoided   the    final   stages    of    mental 

"laejgeneration  are  evidenced  mainly  by  weakness  and  general  atrophy 

of   faculty.     In  certain    cases   this    condition   is   acquired    almost 

deliberately  as  being  the  most  satisfactory  mode  of  adaptation.     Such 

is  the  case  of  the  following  witness:  — 

V. 

I  gradually  discovered  that  half  consciously  and  half  sub-consciously 
I  was  drifting  and  forcing  myself  (perhaps  partly)  into  a  condition  of 
mental  and  nervous  "hibernation,"  which  proved  the  best  possible 
protection  against  the  mental  and  nervous  strain  of  prison  conditions. 
So,  within  a  year  of  my  first  entering  prison,  I  had  developed  a  state  of 
mind  in  which  I  cared  little  whether  release  came  within  a  week  or  was 


494 


POLITICAL  OFFENDERS 


delayed  one  or  even  several  years.  My  world  had  shrunk  to  the  measure 
of  the  prison  walls.  I  had  become  mentally  as  well  as  physically  a  cog 
in  the  prison  wheel ;  I  had  found  my  place  in  the  new  system  of  things 
into  which  I  had  been  thrust,  was  in  a  way  content  with  it,  and  could 
have  continued  such  an  existence  indefinitely  without  experiencing  any 
consequent  mental  pain. 

The  prison  work  was  not  to  me  either  a  pleasure  or  a  pain ;  it  was  a 
thing  done  mechanically,  almost  effortlessly,  and  half -unconsciously  (from 
the  mental  point  of  view).  I  am  speaking  now  not  of  the  first  three 
or  four  months,  during  which  the  work  was  certainly  a  pain  and  a  "task" 
in  the  worst  sense  of  that  word,  but  of  the  subsequent  period.  Prison 
conditions  determined  the  shape  of  the  mould,  but  my  natural  adaptability 
(due  partly  perhaps  to  my  extreme  youth  *)  fitted  me  more  perfectly  into 
that  mould.  This  process  continued  throughout  my  imprisonment,  so 
that  the  second  sentence  was  less  irksome  than  the  first,  and  the  third 
than  the  second.  My  desire  to  read  was  weak ;  it  required  a  tremendous 
mental  effort  to  stick  at  any  book  but  the  lightest  novel.  Then  I  realised 
that  my  power  of  concentration  (once  considerable)  was  fast  disappearing, 
that  prolonged  study  was  rapidly  becoming  absolutely  impossible.  But 
not  only  was  the  faculty  of  concentration  impaired ;  that  of  memory 
was  likewise  enfeebled. 

VI. 

"Broadly,"  states  another,  "the  effects  were  an  increase  of  mental, 
and  especially  emotional,  intensity  during  my  first  sentence  and  a  falling 
off  through  my  second,  very  gradual  at  first,  but  increasing  rapidly  after 
a  year,  and  ending  in  an  advanced  stage  of  mental  stagnation.  I  should 
say  these  effects  and  my  state  of  mind  generally  were  determined  almost 
entirely  by  the  pressure  of  prison  conditions.  .  .  .  The  general 
impairment  of  my  mind  started  to  show  itself  markedly  about  the  end 
of  my  first  year  (about  contemporaneously,  that  is,  with  my  emotional 
adjustment  to  prison  conditions).  It  showed  itself  in  a  falling  off  in 
concentration,  but,  more  broadly,  in  an  increasingly  rapid  fatigue  in 
discussion  and  reading,  and,  above  all,  in  an  increasing  disinclination  for 
anything  involving  mental  effort.  ...  In  the  last  months  all  attempts 
to  think  about  anything  practically  ceased." 


Outstanding  Features  of  the  Mental  Degeneration. 
In   summarising   the  mental  effects   upon  the  prisoner  we  shall 
make  no  attempt  to  offer  technical  diagnosis  of  the  mental  aberrations 
induced  by  prison  discipline.     That  the  conditions  of  mind  induced 
by  incarceration  closely  resemble  certain  well-known  psycho-pathic 
conditions  is  obvious;  but  for  the  presents  purposes  it,  is  enough  to 
,  state  in  broad  outline  the  characteristics  of  "the  prison  psychosis' 
without   any    attempt   to   interpret   them    in   the   light  of   medico 
psychological  theory.       Certain  features  of  the  process   of   ment;) 
degeneration  which  occurs  in  prison  are  well  marked. 

1.     A  general  weakening  of  the  mental  powers.     In  the  case  of 
the  more  highly  educated  prisoner,  reference  is  usually  made  part' 
cularly   to    the    intellectual   faculties,   memory,    concentration,    th' 
power  of  abstract  thought,  and  facility  of  verbal  expression.     In  a 


*  His  age  on  reception  was  19.    See  fuller  statement  by  this  prisoner  on  pp.  645-50. 


FEATURES    OF    MENTAL    DETERIORATION        '         495 

general  questionnaire  answered  by  some  200  political  offenders,  the 
replies  to  the  question:  "Do  you  think  that  imprisonment  injured 
your  moral  and  mental  health;  if  so,  how?"  most  frequently  referred 
to  impairment  of  memory  and  of  the  power  of  concentration.' 

A  supplementary  questionnaire  *  dealing  more  fully  with  the  mental 
life  (from  which  most  of  our  quotations  in  these  chapters  have  been 
drawn)  has  made  possible  a  more  detailed  survey  of  this  process  of 
deterioration.  The  process  of  weakening  in  the  intellectual  powers 
is  clearly  shown  to  be  merely  symptomatic  of  a  much  more  general 
form  of  atrophy,  more  particularly  in  the  direction  of  volitional 
activity.  Even  when  there  is  no  marked  decrease  of  mental  activity, 
it  is  found  that  consciously  directed  thought  tends  to  be  displaced 
by  involuntary  sequences  of  ideas  and  a  mental  content  of  a  lower 
order.  Dreams,  phantasies,  and  obsessional  ideas  occupy  tlie  mind,  "^v^yv 
and  in  their  turn  tend  to  subside,  leaving  the  mind  relatively  vacuous  i>A*C 
and  inert.  /M^^M^ 

The  decay  of  memory  appears  to  take  place  more  particularly  in\^  *^' 

tain  forms  of  recollection  and  in  the  ability  to  learn.     In  other  C 

ways  memory  is  active.     Long  forgotten  incidents  of  childhood  tend 
to  be  recalled,  and  the  prisoner  seeks  relief  from  the  misery  of  the 
present  by  living  over  again  the  more  pleasurable  periods  of  life; 
but  the  retention  of  recently  acquired  information  becomes  increas- 
ingly difficult.     Impairment  of  memory   applies    more   particularly  ; 
to  names,   discrete    items  of  information,    the    contents    of  books,  i 
ent  events,  and   (after  release)   appointments,  and  all  forms  .of  r 
:nediate  memory  such  as  are  involved  in  vocational  pursuits.         j 

1.  The  prisoner  progressively  declines  into  a,  condition  of  listless- 
ness  and  apathy.  This  proceeds  pari  passu  with,  and  probably  con- 
ditions, the  impairment  of  mental  powers.  "Weakness,"  "weari- 
ness," "laziness  and  mind  wandering,"  "mental  vacuity,"  "loss  of 
interests  and  enthusiasm,"  are  phrases  constantly  recurring  in  the 
descriptions  given  by  prisoners  of  their  mental  and  spiritual  life. 
jThe  condition  of  life  is  sometimes  described  as  "neurasthenic,"  and 
I  in  the  popular,  descriptive  sense  in  which  the  term  has  come  into 
i  general  use,  some  of  the  principal  effects  may  be  expressed  by  the 
i  phrase  "prison  neurasthenia."  Frequently  this  inert  condition  may 
jbe  accompanied  by  depression,  but  very  o_ften,  especially  after  long 
i confinement,  depression  is  not  so  marked;  the  most  characteristic 
i  feature  is  emotional  apathy,  typically  described  as  "living  without) 
•any  positive  zest."  ^ 

3.  There  is  a  general  tendency  to  revert  to  the  ynentality  and  out- 
'look  of  childhood.  This  tendency  is  probably  to  be  regarded  not  as 
ja  distinct  or  separable  feature  of  the  prisoner's  mental  life,  but  as  a 
j  particular  aspect  of  the  process  of  mental  deterioration.  It  is  less 
"Timistakably  pronounced  than  the  preceding  characteristics,  but  there 

A  specimen  of  the  questionnaire  referred  to  is  given  on  pp.   636-42. 
This  questionnaire  !s  reproduced  on  pp.  643-45. 


496  POLITICAL  OFFENDERS 

are  certain  features  of  mental  life  in  prison  which  are  most  con- 
veniently expressed  in  this  form. 

In  the  dreamy  mental  life  which  absorbs  the  attention  of  the 
prisoner  in  the  intermediate  and  later  stages  of  his  incarceration,  the 
memories  and  incidents  of  childhood  play  a  large  part. ,  The  occupa- 
tions of  the  prisoner  in  his  solitude  are  frequently  of  a  childish 
nature.  He  plays  "noughts  and  crosses"  on  his  slate,  interests 
himself  in  trivialities,  collects  such  useless  and  insignificant  articles 
as  would  appeal  to  a  child. 

The  rehgious  life  of  the  prisoner  reverts,  if  not  to  that  of  child- 
hood, at  least  to  an  earlier  period  of  his  development.  It  was  noted 
by  many  of  the  most  spiritually-minded  political  offenders  (particu- 
larly those  objecting  on  religious  grounds  to  participation  in  war) 
and  by  those  in  whom  the  religious  attitude  was  mature  and  adapted 
to  practical  life,  that  their  feelings  and  thoughts  in  this  respect  took 
on  an  unwonted  sentimental  or  childish  nature.  With  those  who 
had  abandoned  their  religious  habits  and  beliefs  there  was  a  tendency 
for  these  to  be  reinstated.  But  in  both  cases  the  particular  forms 
of  the  spiritual  life  in  prison  seem  to  have  been  regarded  as  unhealthy 
and  not  calculated  to  be  of  any  value  in  effecting  the  strengthening 
of  character." 

Prisoners'  dreams  tend  to  approximate  to  the  same  type  as  child- 
ren's and  are  free  from  the  confusion  and  elaboration  characterising 
the  more  complex  product  of  adult  mind.  Like  those  of  the  child, 
they  are  often  a  relatively  undisguised  expression  of  an  un- 
satisfied desire,  in  which  food,  cycling,  travelling,  social  life  and 
personal  distinction  figure  prominently,  i.e.,  the  prisoner  procures  in 
his  dreams  many  of  the  satisfactions  denied  to  him  by  the  restrictions 
of  prison  life.  Frequently  it  is  recorded  that  sleep  and  dreams  con- 
stitute a  definitely  longed-for  pleasure,  the  prisoner  passing  through 
his  daily  work  as  expeditiously  and  mechanically  as  possible,  so  that 
he  may  sink  into  sleep  and  live  the  much  more  satisfactory  life  of  his 
dreams. 

4.  The  prisoner's  condition  of  mind  is  characterised  by  a 
heightened  disposition  to  emotional  response.  This  fact,  which  per- 
haps stands  in  apparent  opposition  to  the  first  and  second  mentioned 
features,  is  at  least  equally  well  attested.  But  the  conjunction  of 
a  general  spirit  of  apathy,  torpor,  and  mental  atrophy  with  a 
condition  of  heightened  emotional  disposition  is  inherent  in  the 
mental  condition  itself.  The  condition  of  apathy  characterises  the 
general  course  of  mental  life  as  affecting  interests  and  ambitions, 
but  it  does  not  preclude  a  condition  of  latent  irritability  or  periodic 
waves  of  excitement,  ecstacy  and  emotional  experience,  occasioned 
either  by  purely  internal  causes  or  by  some  chance  stimulus  or  varia- 

*  Thus   one  ex-prisoner,    speaking    of    a  wave    of    religious   emotion,   writes:   "There   wa« 
tendency,  looking  back,  for  this  wave  to  degenerate  into  superstition,  almost  into  childishni  - 
— that  was  its  bad   side." 


THE  EFFECTS   UPOX  MORAL  CHARACTER  497 

tion  in  the  prisoner's  environment."  A  weakened  will  may  show 
itself  at  one  time  in  the  form  of  lack  of  initiative,  and  at  another 
time  as  lack  of  restraint. 

Such  are  the  principal  characteristics  of  the  mental  life  of  the 
political  offender,  a  life  of  progressive  mental  deterioration,  perhaps 
more  accurately  defined  as  one  of  "regression"  to  the  primitive  and 
uncultivated  basis  of  mental  hfe.  The  process  is  one  which,  to  a' 
greater  or  lesser  extent,  undoes  the  effects  of  education  and  civilisa-/ 
tion,  and  at  times  engenders  distinctly  abnormal  states  of  mind  reA.^ 
sembling  the  forms  of  insanity  that  occui;  among  ordinary  offenders.? 

;  J 

The  Effects  Upon  Moral  Character. 

The  effects  upon  the  moral  life  are  more  subtle  and  more  difficult 
to  gauge.  Some  are  the  moral  consequences  of  mental  degeneration, 
whilst  others  are  the  direct  effects  of  the  prison  system. 
!  It  is  obvious  that  an  impairment  of  mind  which  involves  deteriora- 
tion of  mental  powers,  atrophy  of  the  will,  lassitude,  childishness, 
and  irritability,  must  react  to  a  serious  extent  upon  moral  character. 
A  certain  number  of  political  offenders  have  returned  from  prison  life 
with  less  enthusiasm  for  ideal  causes  and  with  less  capacity  for  high 
religious  or  political  faith.  Many  are  to  some  extent  embittered. 
IdeaUsm  is  transmuted  into  a  spirit  merely  revolutionary  and  in- 
transigeant."  The  moral  effects  of  political  repression  are  too  well 
inown  to  need  specific  illustration. 

The  effects  of  the  prison  system  upon  personal  character  are,  as 
Dne  would  expect,  much  less  marked  in  political  offenders  than  in 
others.  Political  offenders  do,  indeed,  often  acknowledge  the 
Influence  of  the  system  in  placing  a  definite  premium  upon  deceit 
and  underhand  practices,  and  in  discouraging  sympathy  and  kind- 
ness. But  moral  deterioration  is  almost  certainly  less  pronounced 
in  those  who  profess  to  notice  it  in  themselves  than  in  those  who  are 
jjnconscious  of  it.  We  have,  therefore,  so  far  as  the  ordinary  offender 
i.8  concerned,  to  rely  mainly  upon  the  judgments  of  the  most  impar- 
'tial  observers  of  prisoners,  rather  than  on  those  formed  by  prisoners 
phemselves. 

From  such  evidence  it  is  clear  that  the  acquirement  of  habits  of 
aeceit  is  almost  inevitable  in  prison,  not  only  for  the  purpose  of 
securing  personal  comforts,  but  also  for  the  expression  of  the  most 
natural  impulses  to  acts  of  sympathy  or  generosity.  To  many  the 
sense  of  moral  deterioration,  of  a  growing  selfishness,  and  of  becom- 
ng  primitive  and  brutalised,  has  been  one  of  the  worst  features  of 
prison  life.  Refinement  in  all  its  forms  tends  more  and  more  to 
give  place  to  a  life  dominated  by  the  cruder  appetites  and  desires, 
ind  a  progressive  weakening  of  the  higher  controlling  sentiments 

»•  See  pp.  508-10  for  further  eridence  of  this. 

>»  Compare  pp.  540-42. 

"Of  one  of  our  political  prisoners  who  gare  eridence  it  is  reported:  "He  went  to  pri'cn 
k  mt  of  an  idealist,  a  refcetarian,  and  so  on.  He  came  out  with  but  one  idea— a  desire  far 
«»«nge  on   those   who  had   made   hinj   sufier." 


498  POLITICAL  OFFENDERS 

almost  invariably  occurs.  This  process,  which  in  the  case  of  the 
better  educated  offender  proceeds  consciously  and  is  a  cause  of  much 
distress  of  mind,  is  largely  unconscious  in  the  case  of  the  ordinary 
first  offender  and  the  recidivist,  and  with  them  it  undoubtedly  pro- 
ceeds with  greater  rapidity,  and  goes  to  considerably  greater  lengths. 
We  shall,  therefore,  reserve  a  more  detailed  consideration  of  the 
nature  of  this  moral  degeneration  for  succeeding  chapters. 


'Note  on  the  Beneficial  Effects  of  Imprisonment 


Mention  may  here  be  made  of  the  indications  of  certain  beneficial  effects 
of  imprisonment  which  have  been  met  with  in  the  course  of  this  enquiry. 
Testimony  to  such  effects  is  somewhat  infrequently  afforded  by  prisoners 
themselves ;  but  when  received  from  this  source  the  evidence  is  of  greater 
interest  than  that  given  by  merely  external  observers. 

In  one  of  the  questionnaires  circulated  among  ex-political  offenders  an 
enquiry  was  included  concerning  benefits  derived  from  imprisonment.  Of  218 
"witnesses,  only  42  explicitly  denied  deriving  any  benefit  at  all  from  the 
experience  of  imprisonment ;  37  abstained  from  replying  to  the  question, 
whilst  five  were  vague  or  non-committal  upon  this  point.  The  remaining 
134  witnesses  mentioned  "advantages"  or  "benefits"  which  may  be  classified 
in  the  following  way  : — 

Opportunities  for  reading  or  meditation 46  cas*  - 

Spiritual  b^jwefits  (from  prayer  and  religious  exercises)  -      23 

Other  spiritual  benefits  (strengthening  of  character,  "the 

uses   of    adversity,"    etc.) 15       .. 

"Experience"    (not   further  specified)        -----       19      .. 

"Experience  of    prison" -      18       .. 

Sympathy  with   the  unfortunate 12      ,. 

Introspection  12,. 

Rest,  quietude,  and  sense  of  freedom  from  responsibility       10 

Patience  ..-        1      .. 

Zeal  for  penal  reform       .       -      - 3      .. 

Methodical   habits -        2       .. 

The  most  cursory  survey  of  this  list  of  "benefits"  is  sufficient  to  reveal  the 
fact  that  many,  if  not  most,  of  them  spring  from  the  character  and  ante- 
cedents of  the  offender,  and  are  peculiar  to  the  particular  class  of  prisoners 
from  whom  the  evidence  is  drawn.  The  one  exception  to  this  is  in  regard  to 
opportunities  for  reading.  These,  in  a  restricted  form,  are  undoubtedly 
provided  by  prison.*  Though  only  a  portion  of  the  prisoners  are  able  to 
avail  themselves  of  these  opportunities,  yet  there  are  probably  some  in  every 
prison  among  the  "ordinary"  offenders  who  gain  advantages  from  reading 
books  to  a  degree,  which,  for  various  reasons,  they  cannot  enjoy  outside. 

'  We  have  indicated  in  the  chapters  devoted  to  Education  and  Recreation  (pp.  159-65 
and  179-82)  some  ol  the  restrictions  imposed  upon  a  prisoner's  reading,  and  especially  upon 
any   sustained  course  of   study. 


BENEFICIAL   EFFECTS    OF    IMPRISONMENT  499 

But  it  is  different  with  the  other  alleged  advantages.  "Spiritual  benefits" 
ire  very  infrequently  mentioned  by  the  ordinary  offender,  from  whom  we 
jxpect  to  hear  at  best  an  admission  of  having  learnt  "the  lesson"  of  imprison- 
nent,  by  which  usually  is  meant  the  inexpediency  of  crime. 

Further,  the  benefits  experienced  by  offenders  appear  to  have  no  intimate 
•elation  to  the  aims  which  are  supposed  to  dominate  the  prison  system..  The 
enforced  leisure  and  quietude  of  prison  life  provides  opportunities  for  reflec- 
,ion  and  spiritual  activity,  but  do  not  in  themselves  supply  either  content  or 
ncentive  for  the  mind's  activity.  These  are  derived  from  the  prisoner's 
lormal  life.  When  that  life  is  filled  with  intellectual  or  spiritual  activities 
5ome  benefit  may  accrue,  though  it  does  not  do  so  always  by  any  means,  and 
8  usually  far  outweighed  by  the  deterioration  with  which  it  synchronises. 
To  the  more  unfortunate  majority  who  are  not  so  endowed,  the  opportunities 
ifforded  by  prison  usually  serve  only  to  render  the  mind  a  prey  to  thoughts 
;}f  vice  and  crime. 

I  It  is  clear,  moreover,  that  many  of  the  alleged  beneficial  effects  of  imprison- 
nent — "experience,"  ".sympathy  with  the  unfortunate,"  "patience,"  and 
'strengthening  of  character,"  may  be  gained  by  all  who  genuinely  desire  them 
n  almost  any  sphere  of  life,  and  there  is  little  reason  for  attributing  these 
vo  the  special  influence  of  the  prison  regime.  Such  effects,  with  many  others, 
iS,  for  instance,  "zeal  for  penal  reform,"  are  purely  accidental,  and  sometimes 
ndeed  contrary  to  the  express  purposes  of  the  system;  whilst  "experience 
if  prison"  in  the  case  of  the  ordinary  first  offender  might  easily  be  quite 
Ihe  reverse  of  beneficial. 

i  From  the  evidence  of  political  offenders,  therefore,  little  of  general  signifi- 
rance  as  to  any  beneficial  effects  inherent  in  imprisonment  is  to  be  inferred  * 
^t  most  this  evidence  tends  to  suggest,  what  has  been  indicated  elsewhere, 
hat  the  effects  of  imprisonment  are  less  harmful  in  their  case  than  in  the 
5ase  of  the  ordinary  offender. 

With  regard  to  the  ordinary  offender,'  cases  are  on  record  where  the 
)risoner  has  acquired  in  prison  habits  of  regularity,  and  has  become  accus- 
;omed  to  clean  surroundings,  and,  though  in  most  instances  it  appears  that 
hese  results  are  quickly  lost  on  return  to  liberty,  there  are  no  doubt  some 
prisoners  in  whom  the  improvement  is  more  permanent.  A  north  country 
friend  of  ex-prisoners  tells  us  that  he  knew  of  men  who,  after  the  compara- 
ive  cleanliness  of  prison,  had  been  disgusted  with  unclean  lodgings,  to  which 
previously  they  would  not  have  objected.  But  more  usually  it  appears,  as 
mother  witness  says,  that  "the  prisoner's  will  is  so  weakened  that,  if  he 
joes  to  a  clean  place,  he  may  keep  clean,  but  if  to  a  dirty  place  he  soon 
Irifts  into  the  habits  of   his  surroundings." 

'  In  any  event,  most  of  the  good  effects  noticed  in  occasional  cases  of  this 
hlass  are  of  a  somewhat  trivial  nature.  Fundamental  reformations  of  character 
ollowing  upon  imprisonment  appear  to  be  rare,  and  the  claims  to  have  been 
nstrumental  in  effecting  these,  which  are  made  by  some  prison  chaplains, 
;eem  to  us  to  be  exaggerated.*  Expressions  of  penitence  are  often,  we  are 
afraid,  more  or  less  hypocritical,  or  only  mean  that  the  speaker  is  sorry  that 
lie  got  into  prison,  not  sorry  for  his  wrongdoing.     As  the  evidence  from  which 

jve  quote  in  the  next  chapter  indicates,  prison  is  not  a  place  calculated  to 

I 

I  *  Indeed,  we  hare  it  on  record  from  a  high  authority  in  Whitehall  that  our  prisons  are 
kot  expected  to   "reform"  political,  as  distinct  from  criminal,  offenders. 

'  It  seems  convenient  to  make  this  note  more  complete  by  reference  to  this  class,  with 
^bom  we  shall  deal  in  the  next  chapter. 

*8ee  Note  on  p.  484. 


600  POLITICAL  OFFENDERS 

promote  penitence.  The  very  people,  as  one  chaplain  writes  to  us,  who  have 
made  apparently  sincere  promises  of  amendment  often  "come  rolling  back  in 
a  month's  time." 

There  are  no  doubt  cases  where  the  devotion  of  a  specially  gifted  prison 
chaplain  has  helped  to  effect  a  real  and  needed  change  of  character.  But 
such  cases  are  rare  exceptions,  and  they  are  in  spite  of  the  system  of  treat- 
ment. The  position  is  well  put  by  another  chaplain,  with  experience  of  both 
Local  and  Convict  prisons,  who,  after  expressing  his  opinion  that  prison 
usually   makes  men   worse,    not   better,    continues  thus  : — 

On  the  other  hand,  a  few  have  told  me  that  it  has  been  a  moral  benefit 
for  them  to  be  sent  to  prison.  They  had  seen  their  life  in  a  new  and 
better  light,  and  would  go  out  reformed.  But  in  their  cases  it  was 
not  due  to  the  discipline,  but  to  the  good  latent  in  human  nature  stirred 
to  life  by  Divine  influence.  It  came  from  within  the  men,  not  from 
without  through  the  prison  regulations  ....  based,  as  they  are, 
on  punitive  principles. 

It  is  true,  of  cour.se,  that  imprisonment  provides  the  occasion  for  the 
change  of  life  in  these  cases,  but  less  inhuman  conditions  would  be  likely 
to  provide  them   far  more  frequently. 

In  almost  every  case  of  a  prisoner  being  "reformed,"  the  result  seems  to 
be  due  to  one  or  other  of  these  causes,  or  to  a  combination  of  them.  It  is 
either  owing  to  the  spontaneous  moral  aspirations  of  the  offender  himself,  i 
expressing  itself  in  spite  of  the  regime  ;  or  else  the  change  is  to  be  attributed 
to  the  effects  upon  him  of  the  shock  of  arrest  and  to  other  antecedents  of 
prison,  effects  which  (as  we  shall  indicate  in  the  next  chapter)  would  prob- 
ably be  more  surely  produced  by  other  means,  e.g.,  by  a  good  system  of 
probation ;  or  it  may  be  due  to  the  good  influence  of  some  personal  friend  or 
helper,  with  whom  the  prisoner  has  come  into  contact  at  or  soon  after  his 
discharge.' 

A  dispas.sionate  survey  of  the  whole  of  the  evidence  relating  to  both  the 
political  and  the  ordinary  "criminal"  offender  forcibly  suggests  the  somewhat 
paradoxical  conclusion  that  the  wost  beneficial  effects  of  imprisonment  are 
experienced  by  those  least  in  need  of  them,  whilst  the  weaker  and  more 
criminally  disposed  tend  to  suffer  the  more  deleterious  effects — effects  that 
we  shall  attempt  to  describe  in  the  chapters  which  follow. 


«See  pp.  505,  514   (Note  32),  515-16,   and  517. 


CHAPTER  IV 


OKDINARY   FIRST    OFFENDERS 

The  Making  of  the  "Criminal  Type  " 

T  is  a  significant  fact  that  criminal  characteristics  are  attributed  by 
,lmost  every  observer  to  the  "old  lag"  or  habitual  criminal,  but  not 
.3  a  rule  to  the  young  offender  in  the  early  stages  of  his  career  of 
ilternating  crime  and  imprisonment. 

i  The  majority  of  first  offenders  do  not  possess  these  characteristics 
JD  any  marked  degree;  they  differ  widely  among  themselves,  and  the 
•uture  recidivist  cannot  at  this  stage  be  distinguished  with  certainty 
rom  the  merely  occasional  or  "accidental"  offender.  Confirmed 
ecidivists,  on  the  other  hand,  fall  into  a  few  fairly  well  marked 
'.lasses,  each  of  which  possesses  certain  common  characteristics, 
pie  statement  of  Dr.  James  Devon — an  observer  justly  noted  for 
nsight  and  penetration  into  the  nature  of  criminality  and  freedom 
[rom  doctrinaire  opinions — is  emphatic  on  this  point. 

If  those  who  come  to  prison  for  the  first  time  were  made  the  subject 
of  examination,  it  would  be  found  that  they  are  principally  remarkable 
for  the  absence  of  what  the  books  call  criminal  characteristics.  .  .  . 
No  two  are  alike,  even  among  those  who  have  committed  similar 
offences.  .  .  .  They  may  develop  certain  common  characteristics  as 
the  result  of  their  way  of  living.' 

It  thus  appears  that  the  criminal  in  the  early  stages  of  his  career 
;5  not  distinguishable  in  any  striking  or  generic  way  from  the  law- 
biding  citizen,  but  that  in  the  course  of  time,  and  after  several 
erms  of  imprisonment,  he  tends  to  conform  to  a  type  and  to  acquire 
he  characteristics  of  the  so-called  criminal  class.  From  the  evidence 
elating  to  the  different  classes  of  prisoners  and  from  a  study  of  the 
Sects  of  imprisonment,  more  particularly  upon  first  offenders,  it  is 
'ossible  to  trace  in  broad  outline  the  process  by  which  the  recidivist 
5  made.  It  will  be  found  that  some  of  the  most  important  factors 
etermining  a  criminal  career  are  to  be  traced  in  the  circumstances 
ttending  the   first  experience  of  imprisonment.     The   factors  fall, 

v!^^  (>iminal    and   the    Commnnity,"   p.    11.    A    similar   Tiew   is   expressed   by  Thoma* 

ftl'     \:°"  '*  "^   ^^^^  *  mans   facial  expression  changes  during  a  long  detention?    How 

It  that  his  Toice   becomes   hard  and  unnatural?    How  is  it  that   his   eves  become   shiftv 

anmng,  and  wild?    ...    It  is  the  syst«m  that  does  it,   the  long  coatinned  soul-and-mind^ 

psiroying   monotony,    etc.,   etc."— "London    Police    Courts"    (1900),   p     220 


SOS  ORDINARY    FIRST    OFFENDERS 

naturally,     into    two    main    groups,     which    may     be    separately 
considered :  — 

1.  The  mental  reactions  of  the  offender  to  his  first  taste  of  prison 
treatment. 

2.  The  experiences  dependent  upon  imprisonment,  but  following 
the  prisoner's  release. 

Mental  Eeactions  of  the  Peisonee  :   The  Haedening  Peocess. 

It  is  generally  recognised  that  a  recidivist's  career  usually  has  its] 
origin  in  a  sentence  at  an  early  age,  that  this  is  partly  a  consequence 
of  the  unsuitability  of  ordinary  prison  treatment  for  young  offenders, : 
and  that  it  is  therefore  desirable  that  other  means  should  be  devised 
for  dealing  with  the  early    manifestation    of  criminal   proclivities,  j 
Borstal   Institutions  and  the  Probation  system   are  expressions  of  I 
this  movement  in  the  direction  of  reform.     The  continued  practice  I 
of  sending  young  offenders  to  prison  seems  to  go  on  more  from 
custom  and  the  absence  of  a  better  system,  than  from  any  serious 
belief  in  its  utility. 

In  dep leering  the  evil  effects  of  imprisonment  on  the  young,  stress 
is  usually  laid  more  particularly  on  the  futility  and  harmfulness  of 
a  short  sentence,  as  not  only  failing  to  deter,  owing  to  its  shortness, 
but  actually  resulting  in  the  fostering  of  contempt  for  the  law's 
instrument  of  punishment,  by  its  familiarising  the  offender  with 
what  should  be  "the  great  mystery  and  dread"  of  prison.^  But 
evidence  indicates  that  it  is  not  the  shortness  of  the  imprisonment, 
but  any  impxisonment  at  all,  which  does  the  harm;  and  that, 
in  the  case  of  most  first  offenders,  long  sentences  served  in  Local 
prisons  are  more  likely  to  confirm  them  in  criminal  careers  than 
short  ones.  As  Dr.  James  Devon  points  out,  "the  shorter  time  a 
prisoner  is  cut  off  from  the  ordinary  life  in  the  community,  the  less 
chance  there  is  of  his  developing  habits  which  will  be  useless  to  him! 
on  his  return."  ' 

One  of  the  statistical  observations  of  Dr.  Goring  also  provides  ah 
important  contribution  to  the  question  :  — 

"It  would  seem,"  he  states,  "that  recidivism  measured  by  frequency] 
of  conviction  is  least  marked  in  convicts  vsrho  veere  fined  only  for  their, 
first  offence;  and  that,  measured  by  length  of  imprisonment,  thej 
recidivism  of  convicts  becomes  rather  more  pronounced  with  increasing 
severity  of  first  sentence."  * 

3  Cp.  PP.  80-1  and  296-97. 

»  "The  Criminal   and  the  Community,"   p.   531.  j 

*  "The  English  Convict,"  p.  283.  Such  a  conclusion  provides  an  interesting  commentary; 
upon  the  statement  of  Sir  E.  Ruggles-Brise  that  Dr.  Goring's  researches  demonstrate  tnatj 
imprisonment  has  no  adverse  effects  upon  the  offender.  It  is  true  that  Dr.  Goring  himsell! 
interprets  the  fact  as  indicating  a  relation  between  the  gravity  of  the  first  sentence  ana 
recidivism;  and  not  primarily  as  exemplifying  the  effect  of  imprisonment.  But  this  opinion; 
is  not  implied  in  the  facts  themselves.  The  qualitative  evidence  with  which  the  present! 
enquiry  is  more  particularly  concerned  strongly  suggests  that  the  correct  interpretationj 
of  Dr.  Goring's  statistical  conclusion  must  attribute  greater  importance  to  the  effect*  oi| 
imprisonment   than   to  the  gravity   of    the  first   offence. 


MENTAL  REACTIONS  OF  THE  PRISONER  603 

This  statement  is,  in  effect,  only  a  more  exact  expression  of  views 
current  among  prison  warders  that  if  a  man  has  done  a  wrong  action, 
and  has  not  been  imprisoned  for  it,  he  is  more  easily  reformed  than 
a  man  who  has  suffered  imprisonment  for  doing  the  same  action, 
and  that  no  prison  treatment  is  responsible  for  any  sincere  repent- 
ance. 

A  similar  view  is  expressed  by  agents  of  Prisoners'  Aid  Societies. 
In  answer  to  questions  relating  to  this  point,  such  replies  as  the 
following  have  been  given  to  us. — 

"I  have  not  found  offenders  usually  penitent  if  imprisoned  for  a  first 
offence." 

"Prison  for  the  first  time  is  the  most  important  thing  to  avoid." 

"Inflicting  a  fine  for  petty  larcenies  and  other  minor  offences  does  more 
good  than  any  other  form  of  sentence.  You  rarely  hear  of  an  offender 
so  treated  appearing  before  the  justices  twice." 

"I  do  not  expect  prison  to  promote  penitence  in  any  case." 

Many  expressions  of  approval  of  probationary  and  preventive 
methods  are  based  on  the  known  difl&culties  in  reforming  character 
after  imprisonment.  The  attempt  to  provide  facihties  for  the  pay- 
ment of  fines  similarly  involves  a  practical  recognition  of  the  danger 
of  imprisonment  for  a  first  offence. 

That  imprisonment  is  responsible  for  the  hardening  of  first 
offenders  in  a  way  likely  to  defeat  all  efforts  to  reform  is  also 
recognised  by  prison  governors  and  by  the  Commissioners.  The 
following  statement,  for  instance,  appears  in  a  governor's  official 
report  for  1911 :  — 

The  usual  outstanding  feature  of  the  returns  is  the  huge  bulk  of 
.  .  .  .  particularly  short  sentences  from  the  police  courts — always 
represented  (•*(> — consisting?)  mainly  of  repeated  infractions  of  the  law 
of  a  minor  kind.  Some  trace  of  such  early  hardening  process  is  to  be 
found  in  the  career  of  almost  every  criminal,  and  therefore  the  conclusion 
is  that  preventive  endeavours  should  be  directed  to  devising  means  for 
dealing  with  the  first  offender  still  more  and  more  without  recourse  to 
imprisonm,ent,  except  as  a  sterner  alternative  when  absolutely  impera- 
tive.* 

Similar  expressions  of  opinion  by  the  Prison  Commissioners,  in 
regard  to  the  unnecessary  and  harmful  imprisonment  of  young 
offenders  have  already  been  quoted  in  a  previous  chapter.' 

The  Theory  of  "the  Short  akd  Sharp  Lesson." 

The  evidence  that  short  sentences  are  entirely  ineffective,  if  not 
actually  conducive  to  criminahty,  might  be  considered  to  be  fully 
admitted  were  it  not  for  a  diametrically  opposite  theory  which 
exercises  considerable  influence  upon  the  administration  of  our 
present  system  of  punishment.     We  refer  to  the  view  that  a  "short 

5  P.O.  Report,  1911,  Part  2,  p.  81.    The  italics  are  our  own. 
«  See  p.   80. 


604  ORDINARY    FIRST    OFFENDERS 

and  sharp  lesson"  is  one  of  the  most  powerful  deterrents  frona  crime 
and  that  such  a  lesson  may  be  effectively  administered  under  the 
present  system.  This  view  is  typically  expressed  by  a  prison 
governor  in  the  following  passage:  — 

First  offenders  receive  special  attention  at  all  prisons.  A  large  pro- 
portion of  them  never  return  and  are  not  really  criminal  in  character, 
but  are  probably  drawn  from  that  large  section  of  the  community  which, 
though  it  may  be  blind  and  deaf  to  a  clear  warning,  is  nevertheless 
capable  of  profiting  by  a  short  and  sharp  lesson.' 

This  is  the  principle  of  the  plan,  now  considerably  modified,  by 
which  the  worst  features  of  prison  are  presented  to  the  offender  at 
the  beginning  of  his  sentence,  or,  if  it  is  a  month  or  less,  throughout 
his  term.  Thus  the  man  sentenced  to  hard  labour  must  still  sleep 
on  a  plank  bed  for  the  first  fortnight,  must  remain  in  separate  con- 
finement for  a  month,  and  do  without  such  relaxations  as  visits  and 
library  books,  even  though  the  differences  as  regards  labour  and  diet 
are  now  practically  abolished.  As  Mr.  Arthur  Paterson  says,  "the 
necessary  shock  is  given  to  the  first  offender,  who  must  at  any  cost, 
be  made  to  feel  that  there  is  hardness  in  prison  life."  ' 

Though  the  issue  involved  cannot  here  be  exhaustively  discussed, 
it  is  clear  that  the  practical  application  of  this  principle  demands  a 
considerable  degree  of  discrimination  and  individualisation  of  punish- 
ment :  discrimination  to  select  such  cases  as  have  the  requisite  self- 
control  to  profit  from  this  kind  of  lesson;  individual  treatment  in 
determining  the  particular  point  Pt  which  the  lesson  has  be/en 
sufficiently  enforced, — a  matter  of  considerable  importance,  since, 
in  the  course  of  punishment,  as  we  have  already  indicated,  a  certain 
point  is  reached  at  which  the  deten-ent  effect  of  imprisonment  gives 
place  to  the  counteracting  eiffects  of  familiarisation  and  adaptation  | 
to  prison  conditions.  The  present  system  signally  and  entirely  fails  ' 
in  providing  this  degree  of  discrimination  and  individual  treatment,  j 

That  this  is  so  must  be  clear  from  a  perusal  of  the  earlier  portions  j 
of  this  book.  As  a  prison  medical  officer  of  long  experience  has  j 
stated,  imprisonment  fails  to  be  reformative  in  its  effect  owing- 1 
to  "the  complete  absence  of  the  realisation  of  the  primary  conception  ! 
that  all  penal  treatment  must  be  personal  and  individual."'  The  • 
same  opinion  is  advanced  by  a  chaplain,  who  considers  that  prison  i 
treatment  may  to  a  large  extent  be  responsible  for  the  great  number  j 
of  recidivists  by  its  "woodenness,"  i.e.,  by  the  absence  of  individual  I 
attention  and  treatment  and  the  subjection  of  all  alike  to  one  rigid  | 
uniform  regime.'"  j 

Two  classes  at  least  which  bulk   largely  in  the   normal  prison  j 

'  Dr.   R.   F.   Qninton,    "Modern   Prison  Cnrricnlum,"    p.    140. 

«  "Our  Prisons,"  p.   12.    See  also  Note  27,  p.  77  above.  . 

1  "So   long,"    this    medical    officer   adds,   "as    the   penal    system    punishes    all    and   sund^   | 
■without   any    enquiry    into    why    the    man    has    committed    the   crime,    the    result    must   ot  j 
inappropriate  treatment  being   applied,  and  the  man's   condition  in  regard  to   society  betag 
made  worse."  I 

10  See  pp.    83,  97,   104,   353,   and  354. 


MENTAL  REACTIONS  OF  THE  PRISONER  505 

population  would  be  excluded  by  a  proper  application  of  the  principle 
of  individualisation — inebriates  and  those  characterised  by  mental 
weakness.  A  habitual  inebriate  giving  evidence  on  this  point 
says :  — 

Prison  is  horrible  ;  each  time  I  go  in  I  vow   it  will   be  the  last,  but 

a  few  weeks  after  I  get  out  I  forget  all  about  it  and  the  drink  gets  hold 

of  me  again. 

He  had  been  imprisoned  for  drunkenness  ten  or  a  dozen  times ;  and 
it  is  generally  clear  that  the  "lesson"  of  imprisonment  is  peculiarly 
ineffective  against  so  special  a  temptation  as  that  of  intemperance.  " 

The  principle  of  the  short,  sharp  lesson  is  as  clearly  inapplicable  to 
the  mentally  deficient,  the  confirmed  vagrant,  or  indeed  to  any 
persons  characterised  by  an  inability  to  adjust  their  conduct  accord- 
ing to  calculation  as  to  its  probable  consequences. 

Excluding  these  classes,  there  remain  the  more  normal  types  of 
first  offenders,  adult  and  juvenile -adult,  to  whom  this  principle 
might,  with  more  show  of  reason,  be  applied.  But  in  considering  its 
application  to  these  more  responsible  offenders,  it  is  of  the  greatest 
importance  to  distinguish  the  effects  of  imprisonment  itself  from 
those  produced  by  accompanying  circumstances.  The  mere  conflict 
with  the  law,  arrest  and  trial,  the  publicity  and  the  disgrace  involved, 
may  produce  sufficient  fear  and  shock  to  influence  markedly  the 
joffender's  subsequent  life,  even  though  imprisonment  does  not  ensue. 

i  The  results  of  these  two  groups  of  causes — those  connected  with 
'the  trial  and  those  arising  from  imprisonment' — are  frequently  con- 
fused, since  the  effects  of  emotional  shock  are  first  observed,  as  a 
rule,  during  the  period  of  imprisonment;  and  prison  discipline  is 
thereby  assumed  to  be  the  cause.  That  this  is  not,  in  fact,  the  case, 
is  shown  by  the  occurrence  of  the  same  effects  in  the  case  of 
offenders  who  escape  with  merely  a  warning  or  a  fine,'*  and  by  the 
absence  of  these  effects  upon  persons  who  enter  prison  under  con- 
ditions less  emotionally  disturbing  than  those  experienced  by  the 
average  first  offender." 

;  Whatever  validity  the  principle  of  a  short  and  sharp  lesson  might 
have  within  an  ideal  system  of  penal  treatment,  is  a  question  of 
theoretical  interest;  the  present  system,  at  any  rate,  fails  to  afford 
it  any  convincing  support.  A  careful  study  of  the  actual  effects  of 
prison  discipline  upon  the  normal  first  offender  shows  that  whatever 
beneficial  results  might  follow  from  such  a  "lesson"  are,  in  fact, 
ilmost  invariably  counteracted  by  other  features  of  the  system. 

"  Cp.   Thomas   Holmes,  "Known  to   the  Police"    (1908),  Chapter   3.    Inebriate^.  • 
"  It  is   true,   of    course,    that   the    first   incidence    of   prison   discipline   may    intensify   lh« 
ihock   produced    by    the    antecedent   erents.    A    warder    writes:    "The    whole    of    the    prison 
ijsteiB  is   a  stupendous    shock   to    the   man    who   comes   in   for   the    first  time.    But    if  this 
;hock   does   not   cure,   it   is   entirely   ineffective." 

"e.g.,  Thomas  Mott  Osborne  entered  prison  for  the  sake  of  understanding  the 
aperience.  Some  political  offenders  have  adopted  a  similar  attitude,  with  the  resalt 
'u  "*  '^eir  case  the  early  period  of  imprisonment  is  of  an  entirely  different  natnre  from 
o»t  of  the  ordinary   first   offender. 


606  OBDINARY    FIRST    OFFENDERS 

The  Fibst  Shock  and  the  Subsequent  Adaptation. 

The  first  result  of  the  initial  shock  is  that  the  prisoner  is  rexiuced  | 
to  a  softened  and  responsive  condition  of  mind ;  this  is  not  necessarily 
expressed,  however,    in  the   form  of  penitence.     He  is  responsive, 
but  responsive  to  good  and  bad  influences  alike.     In  the  hands  of  a 
sympathetic  guide  he  may  become  sincerely  penitent  and  desirous  of  | 
leading  an  honest  life,  but  in  prison  there  is  less  chance  of  his  re-i 
ceiving  the  appropriate  influence  than  outside.     Criminal  associations; 
are  only  too  likely  to  be  formed,  whilst  the  system  itself  is  almost! 
inevitably  hardening. 

There  is  practical  unanimity  of  opinion  in  the  evidence  of  prison! 

warders  on  this  point.  \ 

"The   first  few  nights,"   says  one   witness,   "often  bring  outbursts  ofj 

grief,  but  this  soon  passes  off.     Association  with  old  hands  and  the  whole] 

routine  lead  to  a  certain  callousness."  I 

Another  warder  states: —  : 

The  present  system   simply  hardens  pi'isoners — it   makes  criminals  of! 

them.     It  does  not  make  a  man  penitent.     In  the  first  few  days  muchj 

could  be  done  with  them,   for  they   need   human  sympathy  and  under-) 

standing,  and  kindly  treatment  would  go  a  long  way  with  them.  ' 

Such  statements  express  from  an  external  point  of  view  the  experi-j 

ences  already  described  in  the   case  of  the  political  offender — thei 

initial  period  of  emotional  excitation  followed  by  a  gradual  hardeningj 

and  a  growing  apathy.     In  the  case  of  the  ordinary  first  offenderi 

this  first  period  is  of  great  importance  for  any  efforts  that  are  toj 

be  made  to  reform  him.     That  such  efforts  are  so  rarely  successfulj 

is  not  the  consequence  merely  of  negligence,  or  of  any  personal  in-j 

efficiency  in  prison  chaplains,  but  of  positive  features  in  prison  lifej 

which  tend  to  embitter  the  prisoner  and  to  implant  in  him  a  state  of} 

hostility  towards  w^holesome  influences.'*     The  following  statement,! 

by  a  criminal  prisoner,  typical  of  the  utterances  of  many,  clearlvj 

illustrates  this  fact:  — 

Just  at  a  time  when  one  is  feeling  crushed  by  a  consciousness  of  guili 

and  weighed   down  by  a  sense   of  degradation,   a  stony-hearted,  thick j 

headed  warder  comes  along   and,    in  threatening  language,  insists  upor'. 

the  strict  observance  of  a  set  of  childish  regulations,  which  have  no  ain^ 

except  to   degrade  the  human  into  a  beast.     A   few   kind  words,  soin<i 

consideration   (not  petting),  some  humanity,  would  often  send  prisoner: 

back  into  the  world  enlightened,  repentant,  and  well-intentioned,  instead 

of   unrepentant,  revengeful,  savage  beasts  of  prey. 

This  transition  from  a  chastened  and  responsive  condition  to  a  re 

bellious  mood  is  usually  to  be  observed  during  the  first  three  or  fou; 

weeks.     It  is  the  first  marked  sign  of  the  hardening  which  adaptal 

tion  to  prison  conditions  involves.     It  is  in  part  due  to  the  wearing! 

off  of  the  effects  of  the  initial  shock,  effects  which  are  essentially  oj 

'<  ComTiare  the  ?trikinfr  words  of  Oscar  Wilde,  drawn  from  his  own  experieMe:  "Fc 
nrison  life,  with  its  endless  privations  and  restrictions,  mates  one  rebellious.  The  inc. | 
terrible  thing  about  it  is  not  that  it  breaks  one's  heart— hearts  are  meant  to  ?«  'jroicen^i 
but  that  it  turns  one's  heart  to  stone.  One  soicetimes  feels  that  it  is  only  with  a  iroi 
of  brass  and  a  lip  of  scorn  that  one  can  get  through  the  day  at  all."-De  Profundis,  p.  oci 


SHOCK  OF  ADAPTATION  mi 

a  temporary  nature,  but  more  especially  to  the  severity  of  the  con- 
ditions of  the  first  month,  and  to  the  realisation  by  the  prisoner 
that  effective  sympathy  is  not  to  be  expected  from  those  whose  duty 
it  is  to  administer  his  punishment.  The  prisoner  feels  that  what- 
ever amelioration  of  his  lot  is  possible  is  to  be  obtained  only  thi*ough 
himself,  and  that  a  friendly  spirit  is  only  to  be  found  in  his  fellow 
prisoners.  The  preliminary  period  of  solitary  confinement  in  this 
way  directly  leads,  by  way  of  reaction,  to  his  seeking  closer  associa- 
tion, chiefly  by  means  of  subterfuge,  with  the  criminals  about  him. 
The  criminal  gregarious  spirit  is  in  part,  at  any  rate,  a  measure  of 
self -protection  against  the  nervous  disorders  which  would  result  from 
a  literal  obedience  to  the  regulations  prohibiting  conversation  and 
intercourse." 

'ther  factors  in  prison  life  co-operate  in  transforming  the  sensitive 
offender  into  the  hardened  criminal.     Familiarisation  with  prison 
particularly    been   noted  as    a   cause  of  recidivism   in   j'oung 
|Gfienders.     A  medical  officer  states:  — 

'  Some  years  ago  many  more  boys  came  into  prison,  boys  of  12  and  13. 

For  some  hours  after  arrival  they  were  dissolved  in  tears,  but  in  a  few 
days  they  became  rid  of  the  idea  that  prison  was  such  a  bad  place  after 
all.  Many  lads  have  better  food  in  prison  than  they  are  accustomed 
to,  better  physical  conditions  altogether.  They  also  become  proud  of 
being  criminals,  they  look  upon  it  as  a  distinction." 

'v  political  offender  makes  a  similar  assertion  regarding  the  juvenile 
rs  W'hose  behaviour  in  prison  he  had  exceptionally  favourable 
imstances  for  observing. 

With  the  juvenile  adults  there  is  undoubtedly  terrible  suffering  in 
the  solitude,  as  evidenced  by  sobbing  and  restless  pacing  to  and  fro, 
but  when  in  the  presence  of  each  other  there  is  a  certain  bravado  and 
spirit  of  adventure.  In  one  prison  I  was  on  the  landing  above  the 
juvenile  adults.  For  the  first  week  or  two  there  were  sobs  and  cries 
of  anguish.  Later  developed  either  the  bravado  spoken  of  above  or  a 
heavy  sullenness. 

Ihere  is  little  doubt  that  the  mere  experience  of  prison  removes 

,>iiuch  of  the  fear  of  the  unknown,  which  might  otherwise  act  as  a 

deterrent    from  crime.       This  is  not  a  consequence  of    leniency. 

ility  of  adaptation  to  unusual  conditions  would  be  noticeable  in 

g  offenders  under  any  system  in  which  rapid  and  serious  injury 

alth  of  body  and  mind  were  not  inflicted. 

though  adaptation   is  usually  more   complete,   and  is   effected 
ore  rapidly,  in  the  case  of  young  offenders,  its  main  characteristics 
re  to  be  observed  in  all  prisoners  of  normal  ability  and  intelligence. 
)^^r  a  few  weeks  of  imprisonment,  signs  of  mental   atrophy  are 

||P^vit)i  the  specific  evils  of  separate  confinement  and  silence  we  deal  on  pp.  562-73. 

j  Pp-  ^^^  statement  of  Thomas  Holme?,  who  comments  in  a  similar  wav  upon  this 
|iiniliari?ation.  "Though  I  have  seen  hundreds  of  youths  weeping  bitterly  when  awaiting 
a  polic*  court  cells  their  first  conveyance  to  prison,  I  cannot  call  to  mind  a  single  instance 
|i  »  youth  weeping  or  showing  signs  of  fear  when  awaiting  his  second  term."— Hibbert 
journal,  October,  1910,  p.  119. 


608  ORDINARY    FIRST    OFFENDERS 

noticed  by  the  prisoner  himself,  and  would  probably  be  easily  suscep- 
tible of  objective  demonstration  if  the  prisoner  were  made  the  subject 
of  systematic  and  efficient  observation.  The  mere  fact  of  being 
cut  off  from  the  normal  opportunities  of  social  intercourse,  and  the 
ordinary  sources  of  information  and  mental  stimulus  such  as  the 
Press,"  is  in  a  large  measure  responsible  for  the  cessation  or  distor- 
tion of  mental  activity.  More  important  even  than  this  is  the  dis- 
continuity of  the  more  abiding  and  developed  interests  of  life.  This, 
in  the  case  of  the  ordinary  first  offender,  is  perhaps  one  of  the  most 
harmful  features  of  prison  life,  since  the  continuity  of  vocational 
interests  is  one  of  the  most  important  factors  in  the  life  of  the  law- 
abiding  citizen.  Conversely,  the  absence  of  such  a  continuous 
activity  is  one  of  the  most  marked  characteristics  of  the  habitual 
offender.  We  have  received  a  great  deal  of  evidence  on  this  point, 
of  which  the  following  (from  the  agent  of  a  Prisoners'  Aid  Society 
of  14  years'  experience)  may  be  taken  as  typical:  — 

A    prisoner    is   not    able   to    take    his   place    in    the    business    of    the  , 
world.     He  is  altogether  unreasonably  shut  off  from  civil  life  and  move- 
ments,   and   his   growth    ceases.     He   works   by   the    clock.     He   ijs   not  j 
required  to  think ;  only  to  obey.     Then  he  is  pitchforked  into  civil  life 
and  expected  to  "make  good"  !  j 

"When  the  deprivation  of  external  interests  does  not  result  in  the  | 
condition  of  apathy  and  listlessness  (as  described  in  the  previous  I 
chapter),  another  and  no  less  undesirable  condition  of  mind  is  pro- ! 
duced.  Interest  becomes  displaced,  and  may  be  dissipated  upon' 
trivialities  or,  as  is  more  probable,  be  turned  in  the  direction  of| 
crime.  The  development,  in  this  way,  of  a  mental  content  which! 
leads  to  criminality  is  one  of  the  effects  of  imprisonment  noted  by| 
Dr.  Healy: —  j 

"Various  undesirable  forms  of  imagery,"  he  asserts,  "are  likely  toi 
rush  in  to  fill  the  prolonged  vacuities  of  mental  life  during  custody.  | 
There  is  the  constant  suggestion  towards  misconduct,  which  comes  froml 
thinking  of  oneself  as  an  offender.""  ' 

In  consequence  of  all  this, 

"The  very  individual  whom  society  would  turn  into  the  paths  of 
rectitude  is  often  made  much  worse  by  experiences  forced  upon  him? 
(i.e.,   'during  custody.')"  " 


Exaggerated  Emotionalism  Among  Prisoners. 

It   has  been  noted   above"   that  a  further  characteristic  of  thej 

prisoner's  mental  Ufe  in  prison   is  a   disposition     for    heightened 

emotional    response   to    any   stimulus    which   breaks   in   upon  the! 

monotony  of  the  ordinary  routine.       This   responsiveness  persistfj 

"Op.  pp.  177-78.  ■ 

i»  "The   Individual    Delinquent, "    Section    226,    pp.    314-S. 

'» Healy,   op.   eit,  p.   310. 

»•  See  pp.  488-89  and  496-97. 


EXAGGERATED  EMOTIONALISM  509 

throughout  the  greater  portion  of  his  sentence,  even  though,  after 
the  first  few  weeks,  he  becomes  in  many  respects  hardened  and 
adapted  to  the  routine.  A  sUght  aesthetic  stimulus  occasions  strong 
emotion,  a  trivial  provocation  may  lead  to  an  act  of  violence  or  leave 

the  prisoner  trembling  with  excitement. 

The  observations  of  prisoners  themselves  to  this  eSect  are 
strikingly  confirmed  by  many  who  have  spoken  or  sung  before  a 
prison  audience.  Thomas  Mott  Osborne,  the  American  prison 
administrator,  v^itea  of  a  convict  audience  as  follows :  — 

But,  although  a  sad  audience  to  look  upon,  it  is,  as  I  have  found  on 
previous  occasions,  a  most  wonderfully  sensitive  and  responsive  audience 
to  address.  Each  point  of  the  discourse  is  caught  with  extraordinary 
quickness ;  every  slight  attempt  at  humour  is  seized  upon  with  pathetic 
avidity.  The  speaker  soon  finds  himself  stimulated  and  carried  along 
as  by  a  strange  and  powerful  force  he  has  never  felt  before.  It  is  an 
exciting  and  exhilarating  experience  to  talk  to  a  prison  audience ;  but 
one  must  take  good  care  not  to  be  a  bore,  nor  to  try  any  cheap  oratorical 
tricks ;  for  it  is  not  only  a  keen  and  critical  audience,  it  is  a  merciless 
one." 

Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  testimony  is  recorded  by  Sir  Leslie 
Mackenzie,   who  wrote  to  us  from  Edinburgh  in  1920:  — 

Yesterday,  Mrs.  Kennedy  Fraser,  author  and  collector  of  "Songs  of  the 
Hebrides."  told  me  of  an  interesting  experience  at  the  Calton  Gaol  here, 
on  Christmas  Day.  She  gave  a  song  recital  to  the  prisoners  (some  500 
men  and  women).  She  says  that  it  was  absolutely  the  most  responsive 
audience  she  had  ever  sung  to  (and  I  suppose  she  has  sung  literally 
to  thousands  of  audiences  in  all  parts  of  the  world).  ...  A  large 
number  of  the  prisoners  were  English,  not  Scotch.  .  .  .  The  numbers 
included  a  hundred  naval  mutineers,  who  can  hardly  be  regarded  as 
ordinary  criminals.  But  even  with  that  allowance  the  fact  was  very 
striking.  She  said  that  when  she  meant  to  make  them  laugh,  they 
laughed,  and  when  she  meant  to  make  them  cry  they  cried.  The  co- 
efficient of  emotional  explosion,  if  I  might  use  such  an  expression,  seems 
to  have  been  very  high.  Mrs.  Fraser  said  she  could  play  on  that 
audience  as  on  a  delicately-tuned  piano. 

This  account  is  confirmed  by  Mrs.  Fraser  herself,  who  even  formed 
the  opinion  that  "the  majority  of  those  who  are  in  gaol  are  there 
just  because  they  are  so  emotionally  responsive"! 

"The  co-effieient  of  emotional  explosion"  is  abnormally  high,  how- 
ever, not  merely  in  any  specific  direction,  but,  as  we  have  already 
found  in  the  case  of  the  political  offender,  for  almost  every  form 
,:)f  emotional  response.  Its  most  general  expression  takes  the  form 
>f  heightened  irascibility,  which  renders  the  prisoner  liable  to  violent 
i^aroxysms  of  rage  on  the  slightest  provocation.  Many  assaults  upon 
(Awarders  and  fights  between  prisoners  are  conditioned  by  this  irrit- 
vbility.  The  incidents  which  provoke  the  most  violent  expressions 
)f  emotion  are  such  as  would  in  normal  life  be  passed  over  without 

2' "Within  Prison  Walls,"    (1915),  p.    12. 


■(isiA  ^m}io 


610  ',     ■    .         OBDINABY    FIBST    OFFENDEBS 

comment;  in  prison  they  provide  an  outlet  for  pent-up  feelings." 
A  convict,  who  was  serving  the  sixth  year  of  his  sentence,  wrote 
in  1910:  — 

I  should  like  to  write  you  a  letter  in  which  I  could  insert  the  black 
as  well  as  the  white  !  I'd  turn  this  show  upside  down.  Sometimes  I 
relieve  my  feelings  by  standing  my  mattress  up  against  the  wall  and 
saying  to  myself  "this  is  so  and  so/'  and  then  I  let  out  right  and  left 
at  where  his  head  ought  to  be. 

Others  relieve  their  feelings  in  less  harmless  ways,  and  are  punished. 
"A  longing  to  smash  things,"  "to  shout,"  or  to  "break  out"  in  some 
way,  is  frequently  experienced  by  prisoners,  particularly  under 
punishment.  A  vicious  circle  is  set  in  motion.  Intense  irritability 
arises  and  finds  expression  in  some  infraction  of  regulations,  for 
which  the  prisoner  is  punished.  His  condition  is  thereby  aggra- 
vated, and  the  cycle  of  punishment  and  offence  may  continue  until 
the  prisoner's  spirit  is  broken  and  he  is  reduced  to  a  state  of  servility 
and  apathy,  or  even  of  lunacy. 

Closely  associated  with  this  condition  of  suppressed  irritability 
other  characteristics  of  the  prisoner's  behaviour  are  to  be  observed. 
The  rumours  which  circulate  in  prisons  are  excitedly  discussed  and 
valued  out  of  all  proportion  to  their  intrinsic  probability.  Judgment 
is  unbalanced,  and  the  prisoner  lacks  any  adequate  sense  of  propor- 
tion. Trivialities  are  treated  with  the  same  interest  as  would 
normally  be  attached  only  to  matters  of  great  concern.  The  fre- 
quency of  petitions  and  complaints,  which  through  their  apparently 
trivial  and  baseless  nature  wear  down  the  patience  of  prison  officials 
and  encourage  in  them  an  attitude  of  distrust  and  contempt  for  the 
prisoner,  is  to  be  attributed  to  a  similar  cause."  Malingering, 
also,  is  known  to  occur  on  a  considerable  scale.  Whilst  this,  no 
doubt,  is  in  part  due  to  the  deliberate  effort  of  the  prisoner  to  occasion 
some  variation  in  the  routine,  the  tendency  towards  an  exaggerated 
response  has  also  to  be  taken  into  account  in  the  explanation  of  the 
fact.  Silence  and  solitude  and  the  absence  of  satisfying  mental  j 
occupation  lead  to  a  self-centred  condition  of  mind.  Imaginary  ail- 1 
ments  become  the  object  of  exaggerated  attention,  and  frequently  i 
represent  the  beginnings  of  a  systematic  delusion.^*  ' 

The  Deteriobation  of  Moral  Character  : 
The  Loss  of  Self-Eespect. 
*"  _  Even  more  marked  than  the  more  purely  mental  effects  of  imprison- ! 
ment  upon  the  ordinary  offender  are  the  changes  effected  irt  hisj 
moral  character.  As  has  been  previously  observed,  many  of  the 
latter  arise  from  his  weakened  mental  powers  and  his  loss  of  interest, 
in  life.     With  the  disorganisation  of  the  mind,  and  the  destruction! 

*'  In  one  exceptional  prison  the  goTernor,  recognising  these  lacts,  has  been  accustomed 
to  give  the  warders  special  warning  against   assuming  any  kind  of  provocative  attitude.        | 

2'  The  same  phenomena  have  been  observed  among  interned  prisoners  of  war.  (A.  L- 
Vischer,  "Barbed  Wire  Disease,"  e.g.,  p.  37).  It  is  remarkable  that  the  mental  effects,  saidj 
by  the  writer  of  this  book  (published  in  1919)  to  arise  from  "internment,"  bear  a  closej 
resemblance  to  those    observed   in   the  case  of  men    in  civil  prisons. 

The  absence  of  "gradation  of  response"  has  been  observed  to  be  an  important  symptonij 
of  mental  abnormality — the  full  significance  of  which  is  a  topic  of  current  controversy.! 
See    W.   H.    Bivers,    "Instinct  and    the   Unconscious,"    Cambridge,    1920. 

a*  Cp.  A.  L.  Vischer,  op.  cit.,  pp.  25-27,  and  540-41.  i 


DETERIORATION   OF  MORAL  CHARACTER  511 

of  habits  and  interests  which  act  as  moral  safeguards  in  the  prisoner's 
Ufe,    tendencies  appear  which   are  coloured  by  the    atmosphere   of 
prison.     The  fact  that  crime  is  the  only  common  bond  of  interest 
among  prisoners  is  of  the  greatest  importance  in  this  connection. 
As  Dr.    Devon  points  out,    in  any  institution  intercourse  must  be 
based  upon  some  experience  common  to  all  inmates;  and  thus  in 
a  penal  institution,  "the  association  of  people,  whose  common  bond 
is    their    offence,    stimulates    them    to    wrongdoing,    or    at    least 
tends  to  hinder  them  from  breaking  off  their  old  interests.""     But 
the  moral  degeneration  of  the  prisoner  is  by  no  means  to  be  exclu- 
sively attributed  to    contamination   from   other  criminals.        Many 
features  are  the  direct  effect  of  the  prison  system  itself.     The  cellular 
prison,  designed  primarily  to  avoid  the  evils  of  contamination,  pro- 
duces scarcely  less  undesirable  effects  of  another  kind ;  as  Dr.  Healy 
writes,  it  tends   "to  depress  all  consciousness  to  a  bare   vacuous 
level.  "^'     The  excessive  cellular  confinement  must  also  be  held  res- 
ponsible for  encouraging  that  preoccupation  with  criminal  and  sexual 
'iOpics  of  thought  which  solace  the  hours  of  confinement." 
i    The  feature  of  prison  treatment  which  is  perhaps  most  responsible 
'■"or  moral  degeneration  is  the  systematic  destruction  of  self-respect. 
The  complaints   of  prisoners  against  the  numberless  indignities  of 
orison,    against  such  things  as  prison  clothing,    the  prohibition  of 
speech,  the  manner  of  serving  meals,  the  calling  by  numbers  instead 
)f  names,  the  humiliating  searches,  the  mechanical  "exercise,"  the 
igid  posture  demanded  in  chapel,  the  bullying  manner  of  officials, 
;.nd  the  imposition  of  useless  and  often  degrading  tasks,  arise  from 
he  feeling  that  these  things  are  meant  to  impress  not  only  their  guilt 
ipon  their  minds,  but  their  absolute  loss  of  human  status.**     They 
jCel  that  they  are  being  "treated  like  dogs,"  and  in  consequence  tend 
p  behave  as  such. 

1  Not  only  ex-prisoners  themselves,  but  other  classes  of  witnesses, 
bcluding  some   prison  officials,  hold  this  view  very  strongly.        A 
jisiting  chaplain  of  20  years'  experience  writes  to  us:  — 
I         Our   present   prison    system    conduces    to   sullen    morbidity    and   self- 
contempt.     This  I  have  felt  all  the  years  I  have  been  going  to  prison. 

.n  experienced  social  worker  amongst  ex-prisoners  states:  — 
I^K  When  prison  arouses  penitence,  it  also  destroys  self-respect,  rendering 
■■^)enitence  valueless  so  far  as  moral  rehabilitation  goes. 

The  following  is  a  fuller  expression  of  the  same  view  from   an 

1  chaplain  with  experience  of  both  Local  and  Convict  prisons :  — 

I  think  one  of  the  chief  evils  of  present  prison  discipline  is  the  injury 

the   prisoners'   self-respect.     It    degrades    personality    to   be    a  mere 

umber,   to   take   away   all    freedom    of     speech    or    action,    unduly    to 

lumiliate,  and  to  dress  men  grotesquely.     The  discipline  is  based  upon 

disregard,  if  not  disrespect,  of  personality. 

be  Criminal   and   the  Community,"    p.    282. 
lie  Individual  Delinquent,"  p.  170. 
Note  on   "The  EHect  ol  Imprisonment  upon  the   Sexual  Life,"   pp.  586-89. 
I*  Compare  the  passage  quoted  on  p.  77,  from  the  Commissioners'  1911-12  Report,  which 
rs  to  invoWe   an  ofiScial  acknowledgment  that  imprisonment  is  intended  to  emphasise 
ss  ol  seU-respect. 


512  OBDINARY    FIRST    OFFENDERS 

Once  the  self-respect  of  the  prisoner  is  undermined  he  quicklj 
drifts  further  into  vice.  Deceit  of  every  kind  is  employed  to  outwil 
the  officers,  and  to  secure  whatever  meagre  satisfactions  are  possible 
under  the  anti-social  routine ;  and  association  under  illicit  conditionj 
completes  the  process  of  degeneration. 

Many  offenders  hold  or  affect  to  hold  the  view  that  right  anc 
wrong  are  terms  denoting  a  quite  illusory  distinction:  the  real 
difference  is  between  the  man  who  is  "found  out"  and  the  man  whc 
is  not.  Nothing  fosters  this  view  so  much  as  the  present  regime. 
The  language  of  the  warders,"  the  conduct  of  the  officials,  the  entire 
absence  of  trust,  the  whole  atmosphere  of  the  prison — all  tend  tc 
give  a  fixity  to  this  warped  moral  sense,  even  in  the  minds  of  those 
afflicted  with  temporary  remorse.  No  prisoner  can  escape  its 
contagion. 

On  the  failure  of  the  regime  to  supply  that  moral  education  which 
would  assist  the  prisoner  to  return  to  normal  life  the  better  for  his 
experience  the  majority  of  our  witnesses  are  agreed."  The  following 
form  a  selection  of  the  considered  and  expert  opinions  that  we  have 
received :  — 

I. 
Prison  discipline,  so   far  as  I  can  observe  it,  and   from  the  unasked 

statements  of  prisoners  themselves,  makes  men  worse,  not  better 

It  is  not  corrective,  but  merely  punitive ;  it  is  vindictive,  not  Christian.' 
.  .  .  Prisoners  return  to  life  sly,  morose,  and  cunning — qualitiejj 
developed  by  the  discipline.  .  .  .  Many  contract  great  bittemeBij 
against  society  and  against  those  who  sentence  and  punish  them. — Offideui 
visiting  minister  with  experience  of  Local  and  Convict  prisons. 

II.  I 

The  present  system  is  not  reformative ;  it  does  not  seem  that  thij 
authorities  ever  had  this  aspect  in  mind. — A  Chaplain  with  over  25  yearsi 
experience. 

III.  I 

The  existing  discipline  does  not  regenerate.  Good  behaviour  as  i! 
prisoner  is  no  test  at  all  of  moral  character,  or  fitness  for  the  duties  o 
citizenship.  It  rather  encourages,  as  I  found,  artfulness,  hypocrisyi 
sycophancy.  Prisoners  would  confess  to  me  that  they  became  expert 
in  good  behaviour.  The  prison  system  meant  treating  men  like  animals, 
or  worse ;  it  was  so  degrading  that  I  could  only  think  of  it  as  the  bleakef 
and  blackest  thing  in  the  whole  world. — A  Catholic  priest  with  ,«?' 
years'  experience  as  a  cftaplain. 

IV. 
Prison  never  reforms  a  man  ;  it  tends  to  confirm  him  in  bad  conduc' 
and  to  weaken  his  resistance  to  evil. — A  warder  with  12  years'  exper, 
ence  of  Local  and  Convict  prisons. 

"  "Appearanoe  is  everything,  especially  in  prison"  is  a  remark  we  have  ourselvee  heaij 
Irom   the   mouth   of   a  principal    warder.  j 

"It  is  perhaps  unnecessary  to  state  that  a  number  ol  witnesses  whom  we  consult"; 
saw  no  grounds  lor  attributing  any  portion  of  the  mental  and  moral  deficiencies  j 
prisoners  to  the  prison  regime.  We  have  already  indicated  some  reasons  for  such  i, 
attitude  on  their  part.  (See  pp.  479-81  and  483-84.)  The  quotations  selected  ai 
representative  of  the  more  consistent  and  convincing  body  of  evidence,  and  are  dravj 
from  witnesses  who  appear  to  have  made  an  earnest  and,  as  far  as  possible,  nnpr^uai»i 
study  of  the  subject. 


THE    EXPERIENCES   FOLLOWING    RELEASE  513 

V. 

The  prison  system  produces  good  prisoners  only.  A  prisoner  is  a 
machine.  The  only  way  in  which  self-discipline  and  self-control  can  be 
promoted  is  when  there  is  free  agency,  and  temptation.  There  is 
neither  in  prison. — A  Prisoners'  Aid  Society  agent  with  14  years' 
experience.  yj 

I  have  for  20  years  been  dealing  with  men  of  all  kinds,  many  of 
whom  have  been  in  gaol  several  times,  and  I  am  absolutely  certain  that 
there  is  no  reformatory  influence  in  the  present  system  ;  it  is  so  entirely 
different  in  all  its  relationships  from  life  outside  that  it  underminea 
every  quality  that  fits  a  man  for  his  place  in  society. — A  social  worker 
with  experience  as  a  visiting  minister  in  prison. 

VII. 

The  cumulative  sentences  recorded  against  individual  prisoners  are 
iverwhelmingly  convincing  that  prison  discipline  has  no  good  effect  upon 

prisoner,  male  or  female,  in  any  sense  whatever. — A  chief  constable 
nder  a  Midland  County  Council. 

VIII. 

So  far  from  the  prison  system  encouraging  self-discipline  and  self- 
ntrol  it  has  precisely  the  opposite  effect.  A  man  who  has  been  a 
ng  time  in  prison  is  usually  both  mentally  and  morally  unfitted  to 
gage  in  the  outside  struggle  for  life. — .4  London  stipendiary  magistrate. 

e  may  compare  with  the  above  collection  of  evidence  the  state- 
it  once  made  by  an  Under-Secretary  of  State  for  the  Home  Office 

— perhaps  the  most  impressive  characterisation  of  the  English  prison 

kystem  that  has  ever  been  attempted :  — 

I  regard  as  unfavourable  to  reformation  the  status  of  a  prisoner 
throughout  his  whole  career ;  the  crushing  of  self-respect,  the  starving 
of  all  moral  instinct  he  may  possess,  the  absence  of  all  opportunity  to 
do  or  receive  a  kindness,  the  continual  association  with  none  but 
criminals,  and  that  only  as  a  separate  item  amongst  other  items  also 
separate  ;  the  forced  labour,  and  the  denial  of  all  liberty.  I  believe  the 
true  mode  of  reforming  a  man  or  restoring  him  to  society  is  exactly 
in  the  opposite  direction  of  all  these.  .  .  .  This  treatment  is  not 
reformatory.  I  consider  that  a  mediaeval  thief  who  had  his  right  hand 
chopped  off  was  much  more  likely  to  turn  over  a  new  leaf  than  a  convict 
who  has  had  ten  years'  penal  servitude." 

must,  we  fear,  be  conceded  that,  in  spite  of  the  improvements 
letail  that   have  been  made  in  our  Local  and  Convict  prisons 
[tiring  the  last  25  years,  this  statement  is  almost  as  near  the  truth 
llli^y  as  it  was  when  it  was  uttered.  , 

The    Experiekces    Followikg     Eele.\se. 

The  full  effects  of  prison  discipline  are  to  be.  observed  only  after 
slease,  when  the  ex-prisoner  is  called  upon  to  re-adapt  himself  to 
jie  conditions  of  normal  life.  It  is  a  matter  of  great  difficulty  to 
fbtain  exact  information  as  to  his  condition  at  this  time.  Many 
are  rapidly  lost  to  sight,  more  particularly  those  upon  whom 

lenoe  ol  Sir  Godfrey  Lnshington  in  the  Report  of  the  Departxental  Committea 
ons,    1895,  p.  8,  and  Minuter  of  ETidence. 


514  ORDINARY    FIRST    OFFENDERS 

imprisonment  has  had  the  most  serious  effects;  for  it  is  the  more 
promising  type  of  prisoner  who  is  selected  for  assistance  and  super- 
vision. The  prisoner  with  a  real  desire  to  "make  good"  is  taken 
under  the  care  of  a  Prisoners'  Aid  Society;"  one  who  has  become 
embittered  or  degraded  is  usually  given  up  as  hopeless." 

With  regard,  however,  to  the  class  of  offenders  dealt  with  by  the 
various  Aid  Societies,  we  have  a  considerable  amount  of  information 
from  which  it  is  possible  to  study  the  effects  of  imprisonment  after 
release.  It  is  the  general  rule,  except  for  those  who  have  sei-ved 
quite  short  sentences,  that  re-adaptation  to  normal  conditions  of 
life  is  possible  only  after  overcoming  the  most  serious  difficulties.  If 
this  be  the  experience  of  the  better  type  of  prisoner,  it  is  clear  that 
relapse  into  crime  is  almost  inevitable  in  the  case  of  those  who  are 
not  considered  worthy  of  assistance. 

Many  of  our  witnesses  assert  that  the  prisoner  upon  release  is  in 
a  weakened  condition  of  body  and  mind.  He  is  not  fit  to  take  his 
place  in  industrial  affairs,  and  he  faces  life  with  diminished  powers 
of  resistance  against  the  temptations  peculiar  to  his  circumstances. 

A  probationary  officer  of  30  years'  experience  writes:  — 

He   (the  discharged  prisoner)    is  like   a  child  bewildered,   everything  i 
is  strange.     He  imagines  himself  to   be   the  cynosure  of  all  eyes.     He  ! 
returns  to  work  shy,    lacking  every  essential   of  an   efficient   workman,  i 
skilled  or  unskilled.     If  sent  direct  to  work  he  invariably  has  to  drop 
out  in  a  few  hours  or  in  a  day  or  two. 

Another,    who   has   been    for   many    years    a    "prisoners'    friend," 
states :  — 

The   majority  come  out  shy,  morose,   often  cunning,  seldom   mentally 

alert.     It   usually  takes  weeks,  months,   or  even  years   before  they  caD 

concentrate  on  any  particular  job. 

A  Salvation  Army  Officer,  with  15  years'  experience  of  prisoners, 

writes  as  follows  :  — 

Loss  of  contact  with  the  outside  world  makes  men  mentally  petrified. 
Intelligence  is  numbed  and  a  period  of  convalescence  on  release  is  almost 
essential.     Great  allowances  have  to  be   made  for  some   months. 

A  witness,  who  has  been  for  20  years  agent  of  an  Aid  Society,  writes, 
in  special  reference  to  one  feature  of  prison  life: —  , 

I  regard  the  idea  of  depriving  prisoners  of  all  knowledge  of  outside 
events  as   one  of  those  which   belongs  to  a    dark  and  thoughtless  age.  | 
It  tend*  to  make  a  man  a  moral  and  social  invalid,  with  a  natural  shy- ' 
ness  to   speak,  and  an   inclination  to  act  foolishly  ;   and  he  must  lie  ' 
meet  awkward   questionings   in  regard  to  his   ignorance. 

s 2  Certain  prisoners  who  have  "made  good"  have  given  evidence  on  questions  in  connection  I 
with  this  enquiry.  In  each  case  it  has  been  shown  that  the  return  to  an  honest  and  law-j 
abiding  life  has  been  the  result  of  some  personal  influence,  either  of  a  friend,  or  of  ai 
social  worker.  It  has  been  in  spite  of  prison,  not  on  account  of  it.  On  this  we  have 
found   almost  complete  unanimity   of   opinion.     (See   p.  500.)  i 

33  Even  Thomas  Holmes,  with  all  his  humane  enthusiasm,  writes  of  the  so-called  incor-| 
xigibles  as  follows:  "I  confess  myself  hopeless  with  sucli  men.  The  chances  of  their 
reformation  are  almost  nil.  No  Prisoners'  Aid  Society  can  help  such  men,  and  those  of 
us  who  are  behind  the  scenes  know  perfectly  that  no  Prisoners'  Aid  Society  tries  to  ne'P! 
them.  They  naturally  prefer  more  plastic  material  to  work  upon."— "Known  to  the  Pouee  | 
(1908),  p.  38. 


MENTAL   CONDITION    OF  DISCHARGED  PRISONER        515 

The  agent  of  another  Aid  Society  asserts  that  most  men,  with  whom 
he  has  had  to  deal,  have  a  period  of  illness  beginning  some  weeks 
after  discharge.  "If  employment  has  been  found  for  him,  explana- 
tions are  difficult,  and  very  often  the  man's  place  is  filled  when 
he  returns  to  work.  The  mental  upheaval  which  attacks  an  ex- 
prisoner  is  no  doubt  responsible  to  some  extent  for  his  breakdown. ' ' 

The  Mental  Condition  of  the  Discharged  Prisoner. 

It  is  true  that  one  great  difficulty  besetting  the  prisoner  upon 
release  is  the  external  obstacle  in  the  way  of  securing  employment 
which  arises  from  the  mere  fact  of  his  having  been  to  prison.  But 
the  mental  condition  of  the  prisoner  himself  is  a  further  serious 
.disability,  and  handicaps  all  attempts  at  rehabilitation. 
■  The  imprisoned  first  offender  thus  has  a  greater  tendency  towards 
crime  than  one  whose  offence  is  dealt  with  by  other  means.  He 
has,  in  the  first  place,  entered  in  some  degree  into  criminal  associa- 
tion, met  more  hardened  criminals  whose  influence  is  particularly 
langerous  at  this  point  in  his  career.  However  slightly  marked  may 
;De  the  disapproval  of  the  society  in  which  he  previously  moved,  his 
!)wn  sense  of  degradation  will  often  lead  him  to  avoid  his  old  acquaint- 
iinces  and  seek  companionship  with  those  who  live  under  similar 
lisabilities  to  his  own.'* 

;  More  powerful  than  the  influence  of  accidental  associations  formed 
in  prison  are  the  effects  of  prison  discipUne  itself.  Even  though 
he  effects  of  the  initial  shock  of  conflict  with  the  law  may  have 
persisted  until  the  prisoner's  release,  this  in  itself  is  no  sure  guarantee 
|f  his  leading  an  honest  life.  Many  ex-prisoners  are  almost  in- 
apable  of  directing  their  lives  to  any  useful  end.  The  abrupt 
jransition  from  prison  to  normal  conditions  usually  produces  a  ner- 
'ous  reaction  which  renders  them  restless  and  incapable  of  applying 
hemselves  to  steady  work.  In  certain  cases  this  reaction  from  the 
ppressive  discipline  of  prison  leads  to  the  opposite  extreme  of  self- 
lidulgence.  Prisoners  also  complain  that  removal  from  their  normal 
'isks  in  life  involves  an  impairment  of  efficiency,  both  in  respect  of 
ctual  skill  and  strength  and  of  the  necessary  knowledge  of  current 
yents.  This  is,  of  course,  more  serious  in  the  case  of  the  long- 
ratence  prisoners,  but  it  must  be  included  among  the  factors  which 
ent  the  rehabilitation  of  first  offenders  with  comparatively  short 
nces. 

will  doubtless  be  objected  that  many  of  these  disabilities  are 

the  consequence  of  prison  discipline,  but  spring  from  the  in- 

t  weakness  of  character  in  men  who  are  predisposed  to  crime. 

ainst  this  suggestion  there  are  two  powerful  lines  of  argument. 

e  is,   first,   good  reason  to  show  that   the  same  type  of  first 

craring  for  hnman  sympathy  may  even  be  an  added  danger  to  his  career.  "At 
ne  of  release,"  states  an  agent  of  a  Prisoners'  Aid  Society,  "the  psychological  effect 
ison)  in  weakening  the  will  is  illnstrated.  It  all  depends  upon  whom  he  meeks 
tn  discharge.  If  the  Salvation  Army  or  a  similar  organisation  gets  hold  of  him 
bis  old  criminal    associates,  the   results  may  be    invaluable." 


516  ORDINAEY    FIRST    OFFENDERS 

ofiender,  when  only  fined  or  allowed  to  remain  in  ordinary  life  "on 
probation,"  will  not  as  a  rule  repeat  his  offence  or  slip  downwards 
into  the  recidivist's  career."  And,  secondly,  the  evidence  of  political 
ofi[enders,  from  which  we  have  already  quoted,  is  of  value  in  providing 
a  clear  illustration  of  the  nervous  reaction  of  comparatively  normal 
individuals  after  a  period  of  imprisonment. 

Political  offenders  return  to  normal  life  under  the  most  favourable 
conditions.  They  have  formed  no  criminal  associations,  the  stigma 
of  prison  is  of  little  importance,  and  they  usually  experience  little 
difficulty  in  resuming  their  places  in  their  social  circle  and  in  securing 
employment.  It  is,  nevertheless,  the  case  that  the  symptoms  of 
nervous  reaction  which  have  just  been  described  in  the  case  of  the 
ordinary  prisoner  are  almost  equally  marked  in  the  case  of  the 
political  offender.  He,  too,  frequently  endeavours  to  avoid  society. 
Restlessness  and  inabiUty  to  concentrate  on  any  work  are  noticed  by 
those  who  previously  had  been  used  to  a  life  of  regular  activity." 
"A  dangerous  reaction  to  pleasures  of  the  senses"  is  observed  by 
one  political  offender  as  one  of  the  after-effects  of  imprisonment,  and 
others  use  similar  phrases  to  express  a  certain  weakening  of  self-; 
control  and  a  loss  of  serious  purpose  and  of  capacity  for  effort."  j 
It  is,  therefore,  fair  to  conclude  that  the  experiences  and  mode  of - 
life  of  the  criminal  upon  release  after  his  first  sentence  are  adversely  > 
affected  by  the  demoralisation  of  character  resulting  from  prison  I 
discipline,  and  these  experiences  are  admittedly  among  the  chief 
causes  of  recidivism.  This  is,  to  some  degree  at  any  rate,  thej 
significance  of  the  statement  of  Gabriel  Tarde,  that  "the  criminal  1 
is  the  result  of  his  own  crime  and  also,  inevitably,  partially  the 
result  of  criminal  justice" — that  among  the  most  potent  causes  of! 
reconviction  lies  the  earlier  sentence  of  imprisonment,  as  well  asj 
the  whole  course  of  the  prisoner's  treatment  at  the  hands  of  the,' 
law."  _      I 

It  may  be  asked  how  it  is  possible  to  harmonise  the  conclusions! 
to  which  the  preceding  pages  point  with  the  apparent  fact  that  onlyi 
a  minority  (perhaps  between  35  and  40  per  cent.)  "  of  the  totalj 
number  of  first  offenders  return  to  prison.  To  this  enquiry  we  can: 
scarcely    give   a    better  ansv/er    than  that    supplied  in   an  official,' 

»*  ThJ8  is,  for  instance,  the  opinion  of  Dr.  James  Devon,  who  adds,  "Imperfectly  m  thfl 
probation  of  offenders  has  worked,  it  has  shown  this."  Op.  cit.,  p.  269.  In  America  ther(| 
is  a  great  body  of  evidence  which  points  in  the  same  direction.    See  Note  on  next  page,     j 

38  We  select  the  following  two  passages  from  much  evidence  on  this  subject  we  h»T(l 
received  from  political  offenders. — "Prison  life  had  the  effect  of  crushing  any  initiative 
After  some  months  of  it  I  did  not  wish  for  any  responsibility.  Upon  my  release  it  wa. 
many  days  before  I  dared  go  out  alone  (this  was  partly  due  to  nerve  trouble).  For  lonj 
my  self-reliance  was  nil."  I 

"The  renewal  of  normal  life  alter  imprisonment  was  in  some  ways  more  difficult  thail 
adaptation  to  prison  conditions.  Noise,  bustle,  and  much  company  proved  distasteful  to  me] 
I  found  it   difficult  to  settle  down  to  serious  reading  for  some  time."  j 

"  Dr.  Devon  also  points,  out  that  a  period  of  imprisonment  makes  a  man  awkward  ii 
society;  and  often  indirectly  drives  him  to  taking  intoxicants,  because  drink  stimulate) 
sociability  and  sets  him  free  from  the  feeling  of  restraint  to  which  he  has  been  subjectec 
— "The  Criminal  and  the  Community,"  p.  259.  ' 

»8  Gabriel   Tarde,    "Philosophie  Penale"    (1912   translation),    p.    264.  | 

»9  This  is  the  deduction  to  be  drawn  from  the  official  enquiry  into  the  after-careers  of  flrsi 
offender  prisoners  received  into  Stafford  prison  during  1900-1904.  (See  P.O.  EeporC 
1910-11,   pp.    18-20,  and  p.    226  above.) 


PROBATION  IN  AMERICA  517 

memorandum  of  one  of  the  present  inspectors  of  prisons."  This 
memorandum,  while  expressing  the  view  that  "it  would  be  going 
too  far  to  say  that  all  the  efforts  for  the  reclamation  of  the  prisoner 
which  are  brought  to  bear  in  prison  are  fruitless,"  contains  the 
following  remarkable  statements,  which  we  quote  verbatim:  — 

If  it  be  urged  that  the  large  number  of  men  who  never  return  to  prison 
after  undergoing  a  sentence  points  to  their  having  been  influenced  for 
good  while  there,  it  may,  on  the  other  hand,  be  argued  that  many  of 
these  have  no  real  criminal  instincts,  that  the  shock  of  a  conviction  has 
brought  them  to  their  senses,  and  that,  especially  if  shepherded  by  their 
friends  and  relations  on  release,  they  take  the  first  chance  w^hich  offers 
of  endeavouring  to  rehabilitate  themselves.  These,  it  may  be  urged, 
[become  good  citizens  not  on  account  of,  but  in  spit*  of,  their 
iprisonment. 
ter,  it  is  also  probable  that  a  certain  percentage  of  ex- 
soners  revert  to  crime  vnthout  being  caught  and  that  others  escape 
identification  by  changing  name  and  locality. 

*•  ■"Memorandnm   on   the  English  I^i»on  System,"  attached  to  Report  ot   the   Icdian  Jails 
'.Tottmittee,  1919-20,  p.  529. 


Probation  in  America 


"  e  have  recently  (in  1921)  received  the  following  statement  from  Dr.  George 

Kirchwey,  one  of  the  leading  authorities  on  this  subject  in  the  United 

jtates  : — "More    and    more    are    the    more    progressive    penal    reformers    in 

Vmerica  turning  to  the  'suspended  sentence'  and  probation  as  'the  way  out.' 

n  most  American  States  judges  of  criminal  jurisdiction  have  been  invested 

vith  the  power  of  suspending  sentence  on  a  convicted  criminal  (usually  only 

jn  the  case   of   'first  offenders,'  i.e.,  of  persons  convicted  for  the  first  time 

'(f  a  felony)  and  of  releasing  him,  subject  to  certain  restrictions  as  to  place 

■f  residence  and  his  behaviour  and  usually   (though   not  always)   under  the 

upersision  of  a  probation  oflGcer.     This  probation  officer  may  be  an  official 

appointed  by  the  Court,  or  he  or  she  may  be  a  paid  employee  of  a  welfare 

gency  of  a  religious  or  secular  character,  or  it  may  be  the  parent,  or  school- 

iiaster,  or  clergyman,  or  other  trustworthy  person  who  is  willing  to  assume 

'he  responsibility.     While  the  probation  system  is  still  very  imperfect,  many 

adges  still  regarding  it  with  suspicion  and  the  probation  officers  being  far 

DO  few  and  inadequately  trained,  it  is   safe  to  say  that  it  works   better — 

iss  automatically   and  with  a  far  more  effective  super\-ision — than  the  cor- 

isponding    'parole'   system   (i.e.,  the   plan  of   discharging  men  from  prison 

■gh^parole'  when  they  have  only  completed  a  portion  of  their  sentence).     But 

l^^pignificant  thing  about  it  is  its  rapid  growth.     At  the  present  time,  not 

^Wi^tlian  three- fifths  of  the  men,  women,  and   children  under  conviction  of 

^me  or  delinquency  in  New  York  city  are  'out'  on  probation,  only  two-fifths 

ii  confinement.       What  appears  to  me  to  be  the  most  hopeful  fact  in  our 

ixeat  penal  history  is  that  our  judges  and  magistrates — e.xcept  in  the  case 

t  hardened  offenders  and  of  persons  convicted  of  the  more  serious  crimes — - 

!*e  showing  an   increasing  reluctance  to  committing  convicted  persons  to  a 

inal  or  even  a  reformatory  institution.     This  is  due  to  a  growing  conviction 

lat  such   institutions  rarely   benefit  and  often  degrade  those  committed   to 

>em,  as   well  as  to   the  sporting   tendency  to   give  the  wrongdoer  another 

ance." 


CHAPTER  V 


EECONVICTED  PEISONERS 

Recidivists  (i.e.,  persons  who  are  repeatedly  or  at  least  several 
times  reconvicted)  fall  into  two  fairly  well  defined  classes.  The  first 
of  these  types — the  "petty  recidivist" — consists  of  "habitual" 
offenders  whose  delinquencies  arise  chiefly  from  weakness  of 
character  or  intelligence.  The  great  majority  of  these  serve  their 
sentences  exclusively  in  Local  prisons.  The  second  class  of 
recidivist  comprises  the  professional  criminal,  and  others  who  may 
be  regarded  as  more  fully  responsible  and  deliberate  in  committing 
their  offences  against  society.  Many  of  this  class  find  their  way  in 
the  end  to  the  Convict  prison,  with  its  regime  of  penal  servitude. 

Dr.  J.  P.  Sutherland  in  his  study  of  Recidivism  states  that  the 
physical  and  mental  capacity  of  these  two  classes  of  recidivists  are 
quite  different.  In  the  first — the  petty  delinquent — the  number  of 
pathological  types  (obsessed  and  weak-minded  inebriates,  vagrants, 
prostitutes,  and  petty  thieves)  is  large;  in  the  second — the  habitual 
criminal  (house-breakers,  burglars,  thieves,  and  the  alcoholic 
authors  of  crimes  of  violence  and  cruelty) — the  number  of  patho- 
logical specimens  is  small.'  The  same  writer  describes  the  petty 
recidivist  as  "passive,  idle,  debauched,  parasitic,  and  unproductive"; 
and  the  habitual  criminal  as  "aggressive,  noxious,  anti-social,  and 
to  a  slight  extent  industrious  and  productive."  *  The  pathological 
cases  among  the  habituals  are,  he  says,  mostly  acute  and  chronic 
alcoholics. 

The  Petty  Rf.cidivist. 

In  any  attempt  to  evaluate  the  causes  of  petty  recidivism  which 
lie  outside  the  prison  system,  importance  must  be  attached  to  con- 
genital mental  defects  and  other  psychic  abnormalities.  The  | 
proportion  of  mentally  defective  male  prisoners  has  been  judged  ' 
from  casual  inspection  to  be  not  more  than  four  or  five  per  cent,  of  : 
the  total  prison  population  in  England  and  Wales,'  but  Dr.  Goring  j 
estimated  the  percentage  to  be  between  10  and  20,  whilst  accurate  | 
research  in  many  American  prisons  has  shown  that  mental  weakness  j 
is  to  be  found  in  at  least  25  per  cent,  of  the  prisoners  tested.*  ' 

>  "Recidivism"    (1908),    Preface,  p.    6. 

2  "Recidivism"    (1908),  Chapter    1,  p.  1. 

'  P.O.  Report,   1918-19,  pp.    14-15;   and  ?ee   pp.  284-85,   and  Note  12.  p.  480. 

*  Before,  however,  drawing  any  final  conclusion  from  the  results  cf  earlier  researches  iu^- 
the  mentality  of  prisoners,  further  information  must  be  secured.  The  more  recent  invegtiga- i 
tions  ol  Dr.  U.  M.  Adlpr,  in  Illinois,  and  of  other  Amoriran?,  whilst  confirming  the  iranression  j 
that  a  high  proportion  of  offenders,  particularly  in  certain  classes,  are  of  inferior  intelligence,  ; 
show  also  that  there  is  a  higher  proportion  of  mentally  defective  persons  among  the 
ordinary  population  than  was  previously  supposed  to  be  the  case.  These  investigations,  i 
however,  relate  only  to  the  United  States;  systematic  researches  still  remain  to  be  anaer- 
taken  in  this   country  with  regard  both  to  prisoners   and  to  the  normal  iiopulation. 


THE   PETTY  RECIDIVIST  519 

The  effects  of  imprisonment  upon  such  abnormal  types  are 
difficult  to  ascertain ;  but  we  can  confidently  assert  that  to  imprison 
them  is  to  illtreat  them.  Beyond  this,  such  evidence  as  we  have 
been  in  a  position  to  obtain  does  not  justify  us  in  advancing  any  but 
the  most  general  conclusions.  In  certain  ways,  at  any  rate,  prison 
life  appears  to  afford  a  milieu  more  in  accordance  with  their  natural 
incUnation  than  do  the  more  strenuous  conditions  of  normal  life.     It 

■  demands  no  exercise  either  of  initiative  or  of  intelligent  self-direction, 
and  the  mentally  defective  prisoner  suffers  less  than  the  ordinary 

i  offender  by  the  deprivation  of  the  ordinary  sources  of  interest. 

'      Though  the  feeble-minded  prisoner  is  spared  the  somewhat  painful 

i  process  of  adaptation  to  prison  conditions,  repeated  imprisonment 

1  can  only  serve  to  confirm  his  incapacity  to  take  his  part  in  ordinary 

i  life,  and  he  is  equally  with  the  normal  prisoner  liable  to  suffer  the 

process  of  moral  degeneration,  which  repeated  experience  of  prison 

seems    to   entail.       The    prison    regime    alternating   with    spells   of 

licence  outside  tends  to  hasten  their  decUne  into  further  depths  of 

■  helplessness,  vice  or  crime. 

\Mien  we  turn  to  the  petty  recidivist  or  reconvicted  prisoner  who 
is  not  definitely  feeble  minded,  we  are  on  much  firmer  ground  for 
■drawing  conclusions.  The  results  of  repeated  terms  of  imprisonment 
in  Local  prisons  may  generally  be  stated  to  be  a  confirmation  of 
those  produced  by  a  single  sentence.  The  hardening  effects  become 
more  pronounced,  and  the  possibility  of  reform  proportionately 
reduced.  The  initial  shock  of  conflict  with  the  law,  which  was 
:  noted  to  be  a  possible  factor  in  reform,  is  almost  completely  absent 
in  any  subsequent  sentence.  It  is  probably  this  difference  between 
the  first  and  second  sentences  which  accounts  chiefly  for  the 
■prevalent  view  that,  if  a  second  sentence  be  incurred,  the  prisoner 
is  "done  for."  This  view  appears  to  be  almost  universal  among 
iprison  warders,  and  is  frequently  confirmed  by  the  more  experienced 
agents  of  the  various  Aid  Societies.  Thus  one  of  these  agents 
'States,  "If  a  man  is  sent  to  prison  a  second  time  he  loses  heart 
completely." 

The  following  is  from  a  visiting  chaplain,  who  has  made  a  special 
J||jidy  of  the  subject :  — 

^V*  If  sent  to  prison  a  second  time,  they  lose  the  esteem  both  of  them- 
^^B  selves  and  of  society,  and  grow  reckless.  Further  acquaintance  with 
^H  prison  life  and  prisoners  tends  to  induce  continuance  in  a  criminal 
^Hf  career. 

^Blnother  prison  chaplain  states  that  the  results  of  imprisonment) 
fehow  that  the  more  often  a  man  goes  to  prison  the  more  often  he  is 
jlikely  to  go.  "Prisons  discharge  more  criminals  than  they  admit, 
{many  more."  And  a  magistrate  of  long  experience  on  the  Bench, 
writes  as  follows:  — 

After  the  third  or  fourth  time  a  man  gets  accustomed  to  the  stigma 
and  to  prison  treatment,  and  does  not  mind  either.  No  person  should 
be  sent  to  prison  if  it  can  be  avoided. 


«20  RECONVICTED  PRISONERS 

The  man  who  has  been  in  prison  a  second  or  third  time,  or  who 
has  become  a  prison  "habitual,"  must  naturally,  in  the  present 
temper  of  society,  find  great  external  hindrances  to  recovery,  quite 
apart  from  any  inner  deterioration  of  character.  A  social  stigma 
rests  upon  him,  the  attitude  of  both  employers  and  workmates 
makes  it  difficult  for  him  to  obtain  work,  and  he  often  suffers 
from  excessive  attention  on  the  part  of  the  police.  For  these 
reasons,  as  one  witness  says,  "he  is  a  marked  man,  and  discourage- 
ment usually  completes  the  process." 

It  is  obviously  impossible  to  decide  how  large  a  proportion  of  the 
blame  for  any  particular  recidivist's  failure  to  shake  off  "criminality" 
is  to  be  laid  at  the  door  of  prison  treatment  as  compared  with  these 
other  adverse  influences.  It  can  only  be  said  that  the  observed 
effects  of  prison  treatment  upon  first  offenders,  political  and 
"ordinary,"  tend  to  show  that  the  factor  of  prison  operates  along 
with  other  factors  in  completing  the  hardening  and  demoralising 
process  in  the  case  of  the  short-term  recidivist. 


The  Recidivist  Convict. 

Penal  servitude,  to  which  many  recidivists  in  time  graduate,  is 
based  on  a  system  similar  to  that  in  force  in  Local  prisons.  Its  effects 
do  not  differ  in  any  important  respects  from  those  observed  in  Local 
prisons,  but  the  longer  sentences  undergone  by  convicts  result  in 
these  effects  being  experienced  in  an  aggravated  form."  Stress  has 
been  laid  in  an  earlier  chapter  upon  the  process  of  adaptation.  It  has 
been  noted  that  many  prisoners  rapidly  become  accustomed  to  the 
conditions  of  prison  life,  achieving  a  certain  contentment  if  not  a 
positive  satisfaction  from  the  ordered  routine  and  freedom  from 
responsibility.  It  might  naturally  be  supposed  that,  with  longer 
sentences  than  local  prisoners,  convicts  would  become  more  perfectly 
adapted  to  prison  life.  Whilst  there  are  undoubtedly  cases  in  which 
this  occurs,  we  also  find  frequent  failures  in  adaptation.  This  is' 
shown  by  the  intense  mental  suffering  endured  by  many  convicts, 
as  indicated  in  the  letters  quoted  below. 

A  further  observation  supporting  this  conclusion  is  the  greater 
frequency  of  assaults  and  violent  quarrels  in  convict  establishments.* 
Whilst  these  results  may  be  in  part  due  to  the  penal  servitude 
regime,  partly  also  to  the  despair  induced  by  the  prospect  of  long 
years   of  punitive   slavery,  they  are   to   be  explained    also  by  the 

5  strictly  speaking,  the  "star,"  or  first  offender  convict,  requires  separate  consideration, 
the  mental  reactions  of  such  men  being  comparable  in  some  respects  to  those  of  the 
ordinary  first  offender  in  a  Local  prison,  and,  in  other  respects,  to  those  of  the 
recidivist  convicts,  whose  treatment  is  almost  identical  with  theirs.  Our  space  and  the 
resources  of  evidence  at  our  command  do  not,  however,  enable  us  to  deal  separately  with 
this   class.    The  great  majority  of  convicts   have  been  previously  convicted. 

'  Thus,  in  1912-13,  in  Local  prisons,  with  an  average  daily  population  of  15,534  U 
both  sexes,  there  were  318  cases  of  violence  reported;  while  in  the  five  Convict  prisonB. 
with  an    average  daily  population   of  2,876,  there  were  584  cases   of  violence. 


MEXTAL  AND  MORAL  DETERIORATIOX  521 

difference  between  the  types  of  offenders  usually  to  be  found  in  the 
two  classes  of  prisons.  In  the  official  literature  this  difference  of 
type  would  be  expressed  by  describing  convicts  as  a  more  incorrigible 
and  criminal  type.  It  would  be  more  accurate  to  describe  them  as 
of  stronger  character,  for  it  is  clearly  the  more  energetic  types  which 
find  the  greatest  difficulty  in  adapting  themselves  to  prison  conditions 
and  accordingly  indulge  in  violent  outbreaks.' 

In  consequence  of  his  superior  power  of  resistance  against  the 
deadening  effects  of  imprisonment,  we  find  that  a  convict  after  two, 
four,  or  even  six  years'  "penal  servitude"  is  often  still  fighting 
against  the  system  and  apparently  suffering  as  intensely  as  the 
ordinary  first  offender  in  the  early  days  of  his  imprisonment.  After 
three  years  of  penal  servitude  a  convict  writes ' :  — 

This  is  worse  than  death.  It  is  a  wonder  one  can  suffer  so  mnch  and 
yet  live.     It  is  a  living  death  here.     (1908  :  during  second  sentence). 

At  the  end  of  a  similar  period  another  \sTites :  — 

The  life  here  is  dreary,  sad,  lonely  and  desolate.  There  is  no  feature 
of  the  whole  system  which  is  either  wise  or  commendable.  (1908  :  third 
year  of  sentence). 

Similar  utterances  are:  — 

I  honestly  believe  this  worry  is  setting  me  mad.  At  times  I  sit  down 
and  cry  like  a  child.  It's  simply  weakness  caused  by  getting  no  sleep. 
(1908  :  second  year  of  first  sentence). 

and  after  four  years:  — 

The  present   is  horrible,  unthinkable  !     (1912  :   during   first  sentence). 

The  following  brief  but  eloquent  expression  of  suffering  breaks 
crom  a  convict  in  the  eighth  year  of  his  sentence:  — 

Can't  sleep,  can't  read,  can't  rest;  oh  Christ!  (1907  :  during  first 
sentence). 

The  Mental  and  Moral  Deterioration  of  Convicts. 

j  It  is  therefore  easily  credible  that  when  the  strain  of  imprison- 
inent  persists  in  this  manner  over  a  number  of  years,  signs  of  mental 
nbnormaUty  should  appear,  even  in  the  case  of  those  who  escape 
Insanity  or  nervous  breakdown.  It  is  unnecessary  to  describe  in 
letail  the  process  of  mental  deterioration  which  occurs.  The 
jiharacteristics  of  the  mental  changes  previously  enumerated'  in 
|he  case  of  political  offenders  apply,  we  have  reason  to  believe,  more 
juUy  to  the  convict  population  than  to  any  other  class  of  offender. 
Chat  serious  mental  deterioration  does  occur  is  testified  by  many 
[■ompetent  observers  as  well  as  by  numerous  references  in  convicts' 
^^m  letters  to  premature  age,  childishness,   and  weakening  of  the 

H^K*^t)ftblT  also,  "high  grade"  defectives,  "psychopaths,"  and  other  abnormals.  graritate 
llMmrds  CoDTict  prisons.  This  class,  though  a  small  one  compared  with  the  "professionaU," 
.oold  proride   a  large  proportion    of  the  most   sensitive  and   ill-adapted  prisoners. 

^  ?«e  Jioie  12  on   the  next  page, 
-ee  pp.  488-91. 

S2 


622  BECONVICTED  PRISONERS 

mind."  These  references  are  all  the  more  striking  as  coming 
spontaneously  from  a  class  of  offenders  of  whom  the  majority  are  by 
no  means  introspective.  The  "old  lag's"  phraseology  is  somewhat 
different  from  that  of  the  refined  political  prisoner,  but  it  needs  Httle 
imagination  to  see  the  identity  of  their  experiences  in  prison. 

But  in  the  case  of  the  majority  of  convicts,  the  degeneration 
noticed  differs  from  that  experienced  by  political  offenders  in 
entailing  a  moral  rather  than  a  purely  intellectual  deterioration. 
The  convict  is  conscious  of  becoming  bitter,  hardened  and  brutalised. 
His  animal  passions,  so  far  from  decaying  from  disuse,  are  daily  fed 
by  countless  provocations.  Perhaps  the  most  striking  feature  of 
prisoners'  utterances  is  the  pervading  sense  of  injustice.  It  is 
frequently  asserted  that  the  majority  of  prisoners  know  that  they 
have  only  themselves  to  blame  for  what  they  suffer  and  that  their 
punishment  is  deserved.  So  far  from  this  being  the  case,  it  is 
evident  that  our  present  system  fails  most  signally  in  conveying  a 
sense  of  merited  chastisement.  It  has  been  pointed  out  by  students 
of  the  mental  aberrations  of  prison  life  that  one  of  the  first  symptoms 
of  these  abnormal  states  of  mind  is  a  pathological  belief  in  the 
prisoner  that  he  is  innocent  of  the  crime  for  which  he  is  imprisoned." 
Such  beliefs  are  well  known  in  English  prisons  and  are  obviously 
incompatible  with  sentiments  of  penitence.  But  they  do  not  stand 
alone.  The  prisoner  who  admits  his  crime  feels  that  his  punishment 
is  unjust,  not  only  in  amount,  but  in  the  way  in  which  it  is 
administered.  Whilst  many  would  be  prepared  honestly  to  accept 
the  fair  consequences  of  their  offence,  a  form  of  punishment  that  is 
degrading  and  injurious  to  mental  and  moral  health  is  judged  (and 
often  quite  rightly  judged)  by  the  prisoner  to  be  as  indefensible 
as  his  crime.  Political  offenders  are  said  to  view  their  punishment  i 
as  a  form  of  martyrdom.  That  is  the  attitude  of  almost  every  i 
prisoner.  Our  present  methods  of  punishment  not  only  fail  to  | 
inspire  respect  for  the  law,  they  inculcate  for  it  positive  moral'  j 
contempt.  I 

The  following  statements   of  prisoners  exemplify  this   failure  to- ! 
inspire  the  prisoner  v/ith  any  sense  of  penitence  or  any  hope  of  taking  ! 
a  useful  place  in  society.       A  system  that  convinces  the  offender 
merely  that  he  is  less  fortunate  than  his  fellows,  fails  in  its  most  j 
fundamental  purpose."     It  will  be  noticed  that  some  at  least  of  the  j 

'"  See  the  extracts    given   on  p.    521    and  pp.   525-26. 

''  See  reference  on  p.   541. 

1*  The  following    selected  extracts   from   convicts'   letters   from  prison  are  of   special  ralne  : 
as    corroborating    statements    made    by    ether    witnessps    in    answer    to    direct    enqnirios.    The  : 
extracts  were  copied  from  letters  written  by  many  difierent  convicts  in  the  years  named  to  l 
relatives    or    friends    outside;    in    each    case    we   have    added    particulars    of    the    year   and 
sentence  in  which  the  original  letter  was  written.    Where  the  words   "first  sentence"   occur, 
they   refer  to  penal   servitude,  and  it   is  not   necessarily    a    man's  first    conviction;   he  may 
have   already    served    one   or   more    sentences    in    a   Local    prison.    These   letters    are  simple  i 
personal  documents,  the  spontaneous  expression  of  feeling  and  opinion  without  any  conscious 
intention    to    provide    evidence    upon    the    prison    system.    To    object    that   these   utterances 
are    exaggerated   would   be   to   misconceive    their   real   significance.    It   is   precisely    in    their  | 
vehemence   and  startling  phraseology  that  they  convej  an  actual   experience.    It  is  not  the  , 
emotion    which    is   exaggerated,    though   the   emotion    be   sometimes   expressed   by   means    of 
an  exaggerated  estimate  of  the  facts. 


MENTAL  AND  MORAL  DETERIORATION  62S 

writers  are  men  of  considerable  powers  of  observation  and  expression, 
whose  potential  value  to  society  is  probably  above  the  average. 

I. 
This  life  and  the  awful  trouble  I  have  passed  through  has  eo  brutalised 
me,  and  after  I  have  spent,  as  I  shall  do,  four  years  in  an  atmosphere 
fetid  with  the  breath  of  every  crime  and  reeking  with  hypocrisy  and 
humbug,  I  shall  not  be  a  human  being  when  loosed,  but  a  human  tiger. 
At  times  I  shake  all  over  with  suppressed  anger  when  I  think  of  what 
torture  I  have  gone  through  and  am  likely  to  go  on  with. 

(1905  :  tecond  year  of  first  sentence). 

_  II- 

There's  nothing  to  beat  a  lagging  for  utterly  debasing  whatever  was 
left  in  a  man  of  what  was  good. 

(1905  :  second  year  of  first  senttnce). 

III. 
If  one  institution  more  than  another  tends  to  influence  men's  conduct 
in  an  inverse  sense,   it  is  prison  ;  it  degrades,  brutalises   and  estranges 
his  social   affection   and  begets   hatred  for  his  fellow-men   and   himself 
included. 

(1906  :  second  year  of  first  sentence). 

IV. 

Such  a  life  is  not  worth  living,  especially  under  those  in  authority  at 
present.  Men  they  are  not,  but  cads  they  are.  Bah,  enough,  the  subject 
sickens  me.  They  are  trying  to  drive  me  to  despair  between  them  ;  but 
if  I  go,  someone  goes  with  me.     A  life  for  a  life,  a  tooth  for  a  tooth. 

(1906  :  second  year  of  first  sentence). 

V. 

We  are  perpetually  having  it  instilled  into  us  to  love  one  another. 
.  .  .  .  Such  a  way  in  here  is  impossible.  ...  I  know  what  the 
moral  influence  of  a  place  like  this  is  on  a  sensitive  mind,  degrading, 
that  is  the  only  word ;  for  if  you  prevent  a  man  from  exercising  even  the 
smallest  good  intention,  how  are  you  going  to  raise  him  morally  and 
intellectually  ? 

(1907  :  fourth  year  of  first  sentence). 

VI. 

Twelve  months  in  this  place  and  a  man  is  eligible  for  a  situation  in  a 
deaf  and  dumb  asylum ;  two  years  will  make  him  eligible  for  a  padded 
cell  in  Colney  Hatch ;  three  years  for  the  dogs'  home  and  annihilation. 
I  am  eligible  for  all  these. 

(1907  :  fourth  year  of  third  sentence). 

VII. 

This  life  reduces  one  to  the  level  of  a  wild  beast,  and  every  bit  of 
one's  better  self  is  literally  torn  out.  .  .  .  leaving  a  sort  of  representa- 
tion of  Darwin's  idea  of  your  first  parents.  If  you  come  to  meet  me  in 
August,  look  out  for  something  between  a  man  and  a  beast,  uncouth  and 
uncivilised. 

(1907  :    first  sentence). 


534  RECONVICTED  PRISONERS 

VIII. 

Such  a  living  death,  that's  my  definition  of  this  place,  and  all  others 
like  it,  to  a  poor  convict.     Not  what  poor  deluded  society  thinks  it. 

(1907  :  second  year  of  first  sentence). 

IX. 

Now  this  sentence  has  not  reformed  me,  it  has  made  me  miserly  and 
wicked.     I  shall  treat  mankind  now  without   mercy. 

(1908  :  third  year  of  first  sentence). 

X. 

Instead  of  reclamation  in  90  per  cent,  of  the  cases,  we  get  the  civilised 
man  or  woman  depraved,  degraded,  brutalised  and  demoralised,  and  he 
or  she  goes  back  to  the  world  and  society  with  every  human  feeling  but 
that  of  self  seared  as  with  a  red-hot  iron,  callous  to  everyone  and  every- 
thing. 

(1908  :  fourth  year  of  fourth  sentence). 

XI. 
They  cannot  reform  one  in  a  hundred,  while  for  every  one  reformed 
there  are  a  thousand  made  ten  times  worse  than  when  they  entered  the 
prison  gate. 

(1908  :  second  year  of  second  sentence) 

XII. 
I  am  not  allowed  to  have  a  mind  in  prison,  and  what  little  I  do 
develop  must,  as  a  matter  of  course,  be  weak,  because  of  the  tyrannical 
surroundings  in  which  it  is  formed.  You  know  what  Dante  wrote  over 
the  gates  of  hell  :"A11  who  enter  here,  abandon  hope" — the  same 
inscription  would  well  apply  to  a  Convict  prison.     .     .     . 

(1908  :  second  year  of  first  sentence). 

XIII. 

I  should  like  to  see  anyone  make  me  tender.  Why,  this  life  has  taken 
all  the  feeling  out  of  me.  I  shall  have  neither  compassion  or  pity  on 
anyone  for  the  future  if  they  get  in  my  way.     .     .     . 

(1909  :  fourth  year  of  third  sentence). 

XIV. 

This  imprisonment  is  a  terror,  a  perpetual  nightmare,  and  there  are 
temptations  to  a  fellow  here  not  to  be  described.  This  prison  system 
has  robbed  thousands  of  their  manhood ;  they  leave  prison  soft  in  body 
and  mind,  unable  to  cope  with  real  steady  work,  a  couple  of  days'  work 
knocks  them  up ;  in  fact  they  are  not  worth  a  tinker's  curse,  they  become 
"drifters,"  and  many  dreadful  ends  of  such  may  be  cited. 

(1909  :  third  year  of  second  sentence] . 

XV. 

I  am  sure  this  place  is  next  to  hell,  and  instead  of  doing  any  good  in 
the  reforming  way  it's  the  other  way  about  by  putting  the  edge  on. 

(19Q9  :  seventh  year  of  second  sentence^ 

XVI. 
For  God's  sake  and  your  own,  and  for  the  sake  of  us  all,  stretch  out  a 
brotherly  hand  and  pluck  me  from  this  brand  of  hell  (for  it  is  hell). 

(1910  :  first  year  of  second  sentence). 


MEXTAL  AXD  MORAL  DETERIORATION  S2S 

XVII. 
From  this  cruel,   dreadful,  iniiaman   helotism   no   tongne  can  tell  and 
no  mind  conjectare  the  mental  torture  I  have  endured  and  the  physical 
inconvenience      I     have     suffered      in     this     fearful,      cruel,      accursed 
pandemonium. 

(1910  :   third  year  of  third  aeutenee). 

XVIII. 

The  pulseless  life  is  killing  me.  To  suffer  and  to  look  npon  the  ruins 
of  his  life  as  it  were  from  a  burial  place,  this  is  just  like  a  grave.  The 
night  follows  the  day,  and  the  long  hours  wear  away^  and  again  comes 
the  unfailing  dawn,  but  no  change  comes.  Under  this  sad  monotony  the 
heart  grows  almost  dumb  and  dead,  and  becomes  as  apathetic  as  a  stone. 
There  are  times.  Dad,  when  I  scarcely  wonder  that  Berkeley  was  ao 
sceptical  as  to  the  belief  of  anything  real  or  solid  in  the  universe. 

(1910  :  fir$t  year  of  third  sentence). 

XIX. 

The  only  thing  that  prison  has  done  for  me  is  to  sow  the  seeds  of 
^revenge  against  a  society  that  tolerates  it. 

(1910:  teeond  year  of  third  sentence). 

XX. 

It  is  a  hard  task  to  keep  it  (one's  sanity)  at  times,  as  the  mental 
'torture  is  beyond   bearing,  sometimes  far  greater  than  bodily  suffering. 

(1911  :  second  year  of  third  sentence). 

XXI. 

This  kind  of  life  unfits  a  man  for  anything.  It  makes  a  child  of  him. 
/We  are  all  a  little  bit  off  the  top  who  have  done  time  in  His  Majesty's 
Palaces  of  pain  and  degradation. 

(1911  :  second  year  of  fourth  sentence). 

XXII. 

It  is  scientific  punishment.  If  it  does  not  do  you  harm  direct,  it 
I  does  indirect,  and  causes  premature  age,  as  I  too  well  know.  But  I 
I  shall  never  cringe  to  become  a  coward  like  most  of  my  confederates. 

(1911  :  second  year  of  fhrtt  sentence). 

XXIII. 

My  bitterest   enemy   I   would  not    send   to  priKm.     Never 

jThis  place  makes  curses  and  sots  of  men.     .     .     .     Some  may  say  it  is 
tie  men,  not   the  place.     Partly.     Let  them  do  a  lagging  and  find  ont 
quick  all  bad  qualities  come  to  the  surface. 

(1911  :  eleventh  year  of  first  sentence). 

XXIV. 

This  place  is  the  home — the  birthplace  if  yoa  like — of  broken  hearts, 
lined  lives  and  crushed  manhood. 

(1911  :  second  year  of  ftst  sentence). 

XXV. 
I  am  letting  myself  go  down  to  the  bottom. 

(1911  :  second  year  of  first  sentence). 


526  RECONVICTED  PRISONERS 

XXVI. 

There   is  no  uplifting    influence,   but   everything   tends  to   grind  one 
down  to  the  last  indignity.  (ig^g  ;  second  year  of  second  sentence). 

XXVII. 

I  won't  be  sent  here  any  more  for  being  on  a  roof ;  I  will  get  inside 
next  time.  (j^g05  .  second  year  of  first  sentence). 

XXVIII. 

I  assure  you  it  is  my  intention  to  be  wicked. 

(1905  :  second  year  of  third  sentence).^* 

It  is  impossible  to  avoid  the  conclusion  that,  in  the  main,  these 
utterances  convey  a  true  impression  of  the  reaction  to  penal  servitude 
of  the   mind   and   character    of   the    writers.        We  have  received 
statements  from  medical  officers  as  well  as  from  other  superior  of&cers   : 
of  Convict  prisons,  and  also  from  after-care  workers,  that  the  eSects   i 
of  imprisonment  are  more  injurious  in  Convict  establishments  than  in   | 
Local  prisons ;  that  there  the  mental  and  moral  deterioration  is  more   ! 
pronounced.'*     It  is  sufficient,   perhaps,  to  quote  the  simple  state-   j 
ment  of  Dr.  James  Devon,  that  "the  longer  a  person  is  in  prison,    | 
the  less  fit  he  is  on  liberation  to  take  his  place  in  the  community   ; 
.     he  has  acquired  habits  in  prison  that  are  a  hindrance   ! 
to  him  outside."  " 

Official  Admissions  of  Deterioration. 

Occasionally,  even  English  official  utterances  are  recorded  admit-  i 

ting  some  of  these  defects  of  our  present  system.     Thus  the  official  j 

Central  Association  for  ex-Convicts  remarked  in  their  report  for  the  j 

year  1918-19,  that  "a  sentence  of  penal  servitude  involves  at  least  | 

some  years  of  separation  from  relatives  and  friends,  while  a  meti-  ; 

culous  regulation  of    every  detail  of     life   and  the  withdrawal  of  j 

ordinary  incentives  tend  to  destroy  vigour  and  initiative."     And  the  j 
Prison  Commissioners  in  the  same  year  alluded  significantly  to  the 
opinion  "that  a  comparatively  short  period,  followed  by  discharge- ' 

on   positive    licence  with     liability   to  forfeiture  on  relapse,  would  i 

restore  many  men  to  normal  conditions  of  life  before  the  habits  of  \ 

1'  In  perusing  these  and  other  similar  extracts  from  convicts'  letters,  we  hare  been  i 
strnck  with  the  prominent  expression  given  to  a  revengeful  bitterness  against  society—  i 
to  the  product  of  the  penal  system  which  the  Americans  have  styled  the  "anti-social  ! 
grudge."  In  England,  according  to  our  evidence,  this  characteristic  is  found  much  more 
among  convicts  than  among  short  term  prisoners.  Among  the  latter,  as  an  experienced 
London  stipendiary  magistrate  has  stated  to  us,  "the  general  feeling  seems  to  be  merely  | 
that  they  are  outcasts  from  society  and  must  accept  the  position  with  all  its  necessary  , 
limitations."  i 

1*  The  Royal  Commission  of  1908  on  the  Care  and  Control  of  the  Feeble-minded  adopted  | 
the  following  definition  of  feeble-mindedness :— "A  feeble-minded  person  is  one  who  is  I 
incapable,  because  of  mental  defect  existing  from  birth  or  from  an  early  age  (a)  of  [ 
competing  on  equal  terms  with  his  normal  fellows;  or  (b)  of  managing  himself  or  his  i 
affairs  with  ordinary  prudence."  It  is  remarkable  how  aptly  this  definition— apart  from  • 
the  somewhat  irrelevant  reference  to  the  congenital  nature  of  the  defect — fits  the  condition 
of  mind  of  many  convicts  at  the  end  of  a  sentence  of  penal  servitude.  Many  of  the  ■ 
quotations  in  the  concluding  pages  of  the  previous  chapter,  demonstrating  the  deterioration 
of  discharged  prisoners,   apply    to  convicts   even   more  than    to    shorter-sentence  prisoner*.      : 

la  "The   Criminal   and   the  Community,"   p.    257. 


OFFICIAL   ADMISSIONS   OF    DETERIORATION  527 

hard  work  had  been  blunted  by  imprisonment,  and  family  and  other 
ties  broken. "^^ 

It  is,  indeed,  apparent  that  the  minute  regulation  and  control  of 
the  convict's  life,  his  dreary  isolation  and  the  deadly  monotony  of 
the  routine,  while  making  for  habits  of  mechanical  regularity  and 
silent  submissiveness,  allow  little  room  for  the  free  play  of  healthy 
formative  influences.  The  men  are  not  taught  to  be  self-reliant ;  they 
are  not  trusted ;  they  can  show  no  initiative ;  of  social  life  they  have 
none ;  the  conditions  of  slavery  destroy  self-respect ;  life  is  self-centred 
and  they  are  not  allowed  to  be  of  any  service  to  their  fellows.  To 
attempt  to  foster  humanising  and  socialising  influences  is  incongruous 
■with  the  whole  scheme  of  prison  arrangements  and  in  direct  opposi- 
tion to  the  regulations.  The  difficulties  in  the  way  of  the  chaplains 
are  too  many  for  them;  the  most  zealous  among  them  has  to  bow 
to  the  soulless  mechanism  of  the  system.  Against  him  in  any  new 
developments  of  work  or  new  ideas  has  hitherto  been  ranged  the  con- 
servativism  of  the  official  mind,  fear  of  change  and  dislike  of  trouble. 
The  most  ardent  are  discouraged,  and  they  sUp  into  the  role  of 
officials,  expressing  and  supporting  the  official  regime,  and  perform- 
ing their  duties  in  a  perfunctory  way. 

"We  have  got  a  new  assistant  chaplain,"  a  convict  wrote  in  1909, 
■"and  he  is  making  a  desperate  effort  to  wake  the  man  in  us  up, 
hut  what  bit  he  does  on  Sunday  the  discipline  of  this  place  undoes 
again  in  quick  style;  it's  against  the  rules  and  regulations."  " 

Confirmation  of  the  evidence  and  conclusions  contained  in  this 
chapter  may  be  found,  in  some  measure  at  any  rate,  in  the  dreary 
statistics  of  recidivism.  We  have  added  to  this  chapter  a  note  on 
the  subject.  The  reader  may  also  be  referred  to  the  chapter  on 
Preventive  Detention,  where  it  is  shown  how  that  more  constructive 
•system  of  treatment,  acting  on  the  most  "incorrigible"  type  of 
offender,  appears  to  diminish  considerably  the  proportion  of  ex- 
oonvicts  who  return  on  discharge  to  the  alternating  life  of  crime  and 
imprisonment." 


I  P.O.    Report,    1918-19.    p.    13.    See    also   the    extract    from   the    1910    Report   of   th» 
^plain    at   Portland   prison,   which    we    quote   on    p.    575. 

'  Written  by   a  man   who   wag   serTine    the    4th   year   of    hia   1st  sentence. 

>  See  pp.  459-62. 


528  RECONVICTED  PRISONERS 

Appendix  to  Chapter  Five. 

THE    STATISTICS    OP    EECIDIVISM. 


In  view  of  the  scanty  nature  of  such  statistics  of  recidivism  as  are  avail- 
able, it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  they  should  provide  any  conclusive  results ; 
but  the  totals  are  none  the  less  very  suggestive.  In  considering  them,  how- 
ever, regard  must  be  paid  to  the  fact  that  they  do  not  represent  individuals, 
Tsut  convictions.  Thus  if  any  person  be  convicted  three  times  during  the 
year,  he  appears  in  the  Tables  as  three  convicted  persons.  This  confusion 
seriously  impairs,  of  course,  the  value  of  the  statistics.' 

The  accompanying  Table  A  gives  the  previous  convictions  of  all  persons 
committed  to  prison,  whether  with  or  without  the  option  of  a  fine,  and  in 
respect  of  any  crime  whatsoever,  serious  or  petty.  Since  the  number  of 
serious  crimes  is  comparatively  insignificant,  the  Table  may  be  taken  as  repre- 
senting petty  crimes.  In  each  column  of  totals  appears  every  person  who 
has  been  convicted  at  least  the  stated  number  of  times,  e.g.,  a  man  with  five 
previous  convictions  appears  not  only  in  the  "5  times"  column,  but  in  the 
"4  times,"  "3  times,"  "2  times,"  and  "once"  columns  as  well. 

The  first  thing  to  be  noticed  is  that  more  than  half  the  total  number 
convicted  are  previous  offenders.  This  in  itself  is  sufficient  to  show  what  a 
difference  would  be  made  in  the  extent  of  crime  if  a  regime  could  be  devised 
capable  of  producing  good  citizens  rather  than  good  prisoners.  Part  of  the 
increase  in  the  percentage  of  previous  offenders  in  the  years  preceding  the  war 
is  no  doubt  due  to  the  greater  leniency  of  the  Courts  in  the  case  of  first 
offenders,  who,  not  being  committed  to  prison  in  such  large  numbers,  do  not 
appear  to  the  same  extent  in  the  totals,  with  the  consequence  that  the 
proportion  of  previous  offenders  is  greater. 

It  will  be  noticed  that,  while  the  number  of  offenders  convicted  at  least 
once  moves  up  and  down  with  the  total  convictions,  it  does  not  vary  in  so 
great  a  proportion.  We  conclude  that  previous  offenders,  although  they  are 
affected  by  whatever  causes  crime  in  much  the  same  way  as  first  offenders,  are 
not  affected  in  so  great  a  degree  ;  their  numbers  tend  rather  more  towards  a 
constant  total,  a  nucleus,  as  it  were,  on  to  which  are  added  casual  or  temporary 
numbers  representing  the  effect  of  the  immediate  causes  of  crime.  This 
nucleus  clearly  consists  of   the  habitual  criminals. 

The  same  phenomenon  is  even  more  noticeable  in  the  case  of  persons  with 
at  least  three  previous  convictions  ;  and  when  we  come  to  the  column  giving 
the  number  of  prisoners  who  have  been  convicted  at  least  five  times,  although 
we  find  that  the  decrease  in  the  total  number  of  prisoners  in  the  later  pre- 
war years  is  still  reflected,  the  decrease  is  only  very  slight,  and  not  quite 
regular.  By  the  time  we  reach  the  columns  with  the  number  of  prisoners 
who  have  had  at  least  11  and  21  previous  convictions,  we  find  that  these 
are  actually  increasing,  whilst  the  total  number  of  prisoners  is  decreasing. 
That  is  to  say,  at  the  same  time  that  the  number  of  first  offenders  is  going 
down,  the  number  of  offenders  with  many  repeated  convictions  is  going  up. 

1  See  fuller  treatment  of  this  point  on  p.  19. 


THE  STATISTICS  OF  BECIDIVISM  529 

This  may  be  regarded  as  suggesting  that  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  repeated 
convictions  must  be  sought,  not  in  the  conditions  which  ordinarily  make  for 
crime  outside  prison,  but  in  our  treatment  of  criminals  either  during  imprison- 
ment itself  or  after  their  discharge. 

A  closer  examination  of  the  Tables  shows  that  there  have  been  two  waves 
of  crime.  If  we  look  at  the  different  columns  we  see  that  the  first  wave 
culminated  in  1904  in  every  case,  except  the  "once"  column,  which  shows  a 
trifling  increase  in  the  following  year.  After  this,  the  grand  total  of  con- 
victions decreases  till  1907 ;  there  is  then  a  sudden  jump  up  in  1908 ;  and 
then  a  progressive  decrease. 

The  "first  offenders"  column  follows  these  movements  throughout.  The 
nee"  column  also  follows  it,  except  that  its  highest  point  occurs  a  year 
later.  The  "three  times"  column  does  the  same,  but  the  decrease  in  1907 
is  very  small — 300  as  against  3,600  in  the  "once"  column,  5,600  in  the  "first 
offenders"  column,  and  9,200  in  the  table  of  commitments.  The  increase  in 
the  "five  times"  column  begins  in  1907,  and  not  until  1912  does  a  decrease 
occur,  whilst  the  "eleven  times"  and  "twenty-one  times"  columns,  starting 
their  increase  in  the  same  year,  continue  to  do  .«o  steadily  up  to  the  war. 

It  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  a  considerable  number  of  persons  implicated 
,  in  these  waves  have  become  "habitual?,"  and  so  have  travelled  diagonally 
j  across  the   Table.     Nor  is   it  easy  to  avoid   the   inference   that  this  is  due 

either  to  the  effect  of  the  prison  system  or  to  the  conditions  after  discharge. 

It  is  highly  improbable  that  the  persistence  of  these  waves  down  and  across 

the  Table  can  be  accounted  for  by  the  sudden  appearance  of  an  unusually 
;  large  number  of  irreclaimable  charact€rs  in  our  midst ;  and  there  would 
i  seem  to  be  no  other  satisfactory  explanation  than  that  imprisonment  and  the 

experiences  following  discharge  have  the  effect  of  confirming  prisoners  in  a 
!  criminal  career. 

The  only  recidivist  statistics  available  which  deal  with  serious  crime  refer 

to  prisoners  tried  on  indictment,  and  from  them  we  have  prepared  Table  B. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  to  what  extent  the  proportions  would  be  altered  by  in- 
;  eluding  indictable  crimes  tried  summarily,  which  are  far  more  numerous  than 

those  tried  on  indictment.  The  most  interesting  fact  is  that  the  waves  are 
I  entirely  due  to  previous  offenders ;  the  extraordinarily  level  number  of  first 

offenders   is   a   phenomenon   which   seems    incapable   of    being  satisfactorily 

explained. 

There  are  signs,  shown  by  the  percentages,  of  a  reluctance  to  decrease 
in  the  case  of  the  later  columns,  similar  to  that  we  have  noticed  in  the 
previous  Table.  The  movement  is  not  so  strong ;  but  it  is  worth  pointing 
out  that  in  this  case  we  should  not  expect  the  effects  of  the  treatment  during 
or  after  imprisonment  to  be  shown  so  markedly,  as  these  persons  are  mainly 
term  prisoners  and  include  many  convicts  with  sentences  of  three  years 
more.  The  effects  would,  therefore,  take  much  longer  to  become  apparent 
fcn  in  the  case  of  persons  whose  average  term  is  less  than  a  month. 

analysis  of  the  crimes  committed  by  recidivists  is  not  of  great  value 
less  we  can  determine  the  previous  crime.  There  is  a  tendency  to  assume 
(that  criminals  commit  the  same  crime  over  and  over  again,  an  assumption 
which  is  in  the  main  supported  by  such  figures  as  have  been  collected ;  but 
not  so  predominantly  as  to  make  negligible  those  criminals  who  indulge 
in  variety.  Dr.  J.  F.  Sutherland  gives  a  summary  of  370  Scottish  cases  of 
convicts  and   long  term   prisoners  as  follows '  : — 

*  ReeidiTism,  p.  32. 


h 


S30 


RECONVICTED  PRISONEES 


Homicides, 
Assaults,  etc. 

House-breaking,  ) 
Burglary,  etc.      | 

Larceny,  Theft,  ) 
Fraud,  etc.  | 

Sexual  Crimes 


No  Previous 
Convictions 


% 


49 

1.8 

4.5 
53.3 


Convicted  of 

Homicides, 

Assaults, 

etc. 

% 


35 

1.2 

1.5 
33 


Convicted  of 
Burglary, 
House- 
breaking, 
etc. 
% 


68.5 

30.6 
Nil 


Convicted  of 

Larceny, 

Theft. 

Fraud, 

etc. 


28.5 

63.4 
Nil 


Convicted  of 
Sexual 
Crimes 

% 


Nil 

Nil 

Nil 
13 


These  figures  are  sufficient  to  prove  that  it  is  the  acquisitive  crimes  \f 
which  professional  recidivists  mainly  deal.  Amongst  petty  offenders  we  find 
drunkenness  and  assault  to  be  the  most  frequent  causes  of  conviction.  The 
Prison  Commissioners  published  in  their  report  of  1911  an  account  of  5,316 
male  first  offenders  received  into  Stafford  Local  prison  from  1900  to  1904. 
By  the  end  of  1910,  1,787  (or  33.6  per  cent.)  of  these  had  returned  with  fresh 
sentences  to  the  same  prison.  The  percentage  of  reconvictions  for  the 
commonest  offences  were  : — 

Drunkenness,  43  per   cent. 

Offences   not  involving  moral  turpitude,  37  per  cent. 

Ordinary  Assaults,  36  per  cent. 

Burglary,  etc.,  34  per  cent. 

Larceny  and   Receiving,  30  per  cent. 

Of   the  prisoners  reconvicted — 

17  per  cent,  were  under  21  years  on  reception  for  the  first  time. 
29  per  cent,  were  over  21  and  under  30  on  reception  for  the  first  time. 
26  per  cent,  were  over  30  and  under  40  on  reception  for  the  first  time,  - 
16  per  cent,  were  over  40  and  under  50  on  reception  for  the  first  time. 

8  per  cent,  were  over  50  and  under  60  on  reception  for  the  fir$t  time. 

4  per  cent,  were  60  and  over  on  reception  for  the  first  time. 

These  last  figures  are  not   very  valuable  without  knowing  the    numbers  of 
each  age  in  the  original  total. 

Dr.  Goring  shows  that  of  2,204  "habitual"  convicts,  1,610,  or  72.8  per  cent., 
were  under  21  years  of  age  on  first  conviction,  and  1,846,  or  83.7  per  cent 
under  25.'     Returns  given  in  the  Prison  Commissioners'  Report  for  1920-21 
showed  that  approximately  : — 

Amongst  prisoners  as  a  whole,  men  were  to  women  as  3  to  1. 

Amongst  previously  convicted  persons  men  were  to  women  as  2  to  1. 

Amongst  persons  previously  convicted  over  20  times  men  were  to  women 
as  2  to  3. 


3  "The  English  ConTict,"  p.  201. 
•*  Op  cit.,  p.   8. 


THE  STATISTICS  OF  RECIDIVISM 


531 


The  Commissioners  point  out  that,  proportionately,  recidivism  is  increasing 
among  women.  In  1913-14,  one  out  of  every  five  of  the  women  in  Local 
prisons  had  been  sentenced  over  20  times  previously ;  in  1920-21,  the  proportion 
was  one  in  four.  This  is  probably  due  not  to  an  actual  increase  in  the 
number  of  recidivists,  but  to  the  great  fall  in  the  number  of  first  offenders. 
The  large  number  of  women  with  a  lifetime  of  previous  convictions  is  a 
well-established  fact ;  but  it  does  not  seem  to  be  specially  connected  with  the 
prison  system. 


582 


RECONVICTED  PRISONERS 


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CHAPTER  VI 


INSANITY    AMONG    PRISONERS 

If,  as  would  seem  to  be  clearly  indicated  by  the  evidence  adduced  in 
the  foregoing  chapters,  the  unnatural  restrictions  and  privations  of 
our  penal  system,  the  shock  of  imprisonment  and  the  ensuing 
nervous  strain  upon  the  prisoner,  combine  in  fostering  abnormal 
states  of  mind,  it  is  reasonable  to  enquire  whether  these  conditions 
do  not  also  account  in  some  measure  for  the  unusually  high  ratio  of 
insanity  in  the  prison  population. 

The  view  that  the  rigours  of  prison  Ufe  are  sufficient  in  many  { 
cases  to  unhinge  the  mind  or  seriously  to  impair  the  prisoner's  j 
nervous  constitution  has  often  been  urged,  and  attempts  have  { 
occasionally  been  made  to  support  it  by  statistical  argument,  i 
Official  opinion,  however,  has  consistently  held  that  the  admittedly  i 
high  ratio  of  insanity  in  prisons  is  to  be  explained  by  the  purely  '■ 
general  relationship  which  is  believed  to  obtain  between  insanity  and  ; 
crime,  in  virtue  of  which  many  who  are  predisposed  to  mental 
abnormality  tend  in  the  ordinary  course  of  events  to  be  convicted  for  j 
some  offence.  I 

In  much  of  the  discussion  of  this  problem  the  spirit  of  judicial  or  I 
scientific  enquiry  has  been  lacking,  and  it  has  been  largely  vitiated' 
by  two  important  defects.     In  the  first  place,  the  arguments  have  I 
been  almost  entirely  general  in  character.        No  detailed  study  of' 
actual  cases  in  English  prisons  has  been  published,  or  has,  as  far  asj 
we  know,  been  made.     In  some  other  countries  investigations  of  the! 
nature  of  insanity  in  prisons  have  made  it  possible  to  judge  with 
greater  certainty  the  ways  in  which  such  an  adverse  environment, 
may   affect   the    development   of    pathological    states   of    mind.     '^ 
similar  analysis  of    individual  cases  in    English  prisons,   with 
statistical  results,  would  do  much  to  elucidate  the  subject  here. 

The  other  defect,  to  be  found  chiefly  in  official  pronouncements, 
upon  the  matter,  lies  in  the  failure  to  distinguish  between  pureljj 
general  predispositions  and  the  more  significant  immediate  causes  n 
the  development  of  insanity.     It  is,  for  instance,  frequently  imp! 
in  the  Commissioners'  Reports  that  since  mental  instabihty  is  knoss. 


THE   EXTENT   OF    INSANITY  535 

to  have  characterised  the  prisoner  before  his  incarceration,  sub- 
sequent mental  breakdown  can  be  in  no  way  the  result  of  prison 
discipline.  Congenital  predisposition,  or  unfavourable  circum- 
stances in  early  life,  is  almost  universally  agreed  to  provide  a 
necessary  basis  of  all  psychoses.  The  fact  is  overlooked  that  the 
real  question  at  issue  is  whether  prison  treatment,  operating  upon 
such  predispositions,  may  cause  insanity  in  men  and  women  who, 
under  a  more  discriminating  and  humane  system  of  disciphne,  would 
not  only  avoid  serious  mental  disorders,  but  might  be  restored  to 
^^^K^dinary  social  conditions  healthier  in  mind,  as  well  as  in  morals. 

^H  The  Extent  of  Insanity. 

^^Ba  criticism  of  the  prison  system  from  this  point  of  view,  made 
■n^y   the   Eev.    Dr.    W.    D.    Morrison,    a    prison    chaplain    of   long  i^L^t^' 
I  experience,   arrested  the  attention  of  the  Departmental  Committee/ 

of  1895.     Dr.   Morrison   estimated  the    ratio  of   insanity  in  Local    /     ^   , 
,  prisons  in  the  years  1875-7,  at  113  per  10.000,  and  in' 1890-2,  at    JtSCvI 
226  per  10,000.     The  doubhng  of  the  ratio  of  insanity,  he  argued,    . 
was  largely  due  to  the  principles  of  prison  discipline  which  had  been 
'    employed  since  the  introduction  (in  1878)  of  the  centrahsed  systeni 
of  administration.  ./ 

The  Departmental  Committee,  after  examination  of  Dr.  Morrison's 
contention,  did  not  feel  competent  "to  form  a  judgment  either  on 
the  comparative  extent  of  insanity  in  prisons,  or  on  the  best  specific 
methods  of  treating  those  whose  mental  condition  is  doubtful  or  who 
are  obviously  weak  minded."'       A  memorandum  on  the  question 
i  presented  by  Dr.  Bridges  was,  however,  appended  to  its  report.     Dr. 
Morrison's  figures  were  contested,  but  it  was  admitted  that  "among 
■e  prison   population  the  ratio  of  insanity  arising  among  persons 
apparently  sane  on  admission  is  not  less  than  three  times  as  great 
'as  that  amongst  the  general  population  of  corresponding  ages."* 
A  more  exact  analysis  of  the  available  statistics  shows  that  neither 
cf  these  accounts  gave  an  entirely  satisfactory  presentation  of  the 
facts.       Dr.  Morrison,  being  concerned  mainly  with  the  effects  of 
tralised  authority  in  relation  to  Local  prisons,  ignored  the  even 
her  ratio  of  insanity  prevailing  in  Convict  prisons;  and  this  fact 
s  naturally  also  ignored  in  Dr.  Bridges'  reply. 
The    total    number    of    cases    of    insanity    occurring    in    prisons 
elusive  of  convicts)  during  the  years  1906-15  is  shown  in  Table 
'     Taking  an  average  of  the  ten  years,  the  total  ratio  of  insanity 
prisons  is  86.6  per  10,000;  and,  even  after  deducting  those  cases 
which  the  prisoner  is  regarded  as  mentally  unsound  upon  recep- 
o,  we  still  have  a  ratio  of  41.3  per  10,000,  nearly  five  times  as 

•  1895  Prisons'  Committee  Report:  par.  92.  p.  34.  This  Comtnittee  did.  on  the  other 
hand  make  certain  recommendations,  of  which  the  principal  was  that  weak-minded  prisoners 
should  be  concentrated  in  special  prisons  or  other  institutions.     (Beport:  pars.  92  and  93). 

^  1895  Prisons'  Committee   Report :  p.   48-9,  Memorandum  on  Insanity  in  Prisons. 

'See  p.  543.  .See  Table  G.,  p.  549,  for  returns  for  1915-21.  It  will  be  seen  that  the 
'alio  of  insanity  in  the  prisons  has  increased  considerably.    In  1920-21   it  was   113.09. 


336  INSANITY  AMONG  PRISONERS 

great  as  that  prevailing  during  the  same  period  among  the  ordinary 
population.*  These  figures  are  not  in  themselves  sufficient  to  in- 
dicate the  causes  of  the  mental  disorder,  nor  are  they  for  all  purposes 
comparable  with  those  relating  to  the  ordinsiry  population.*  More- 
over, a  large  number  of  different  types  of  insanity  are  aggregated 
together  in  a  way  which  confuses  a  variety  of  factors.*  At  the  same 
time  they  are  extremely  significant  and  demand  careful  consideration. 

In  a  preliminary  analysis  we  may  adopt  the  method  customary 
in  the  reports  of  the  Prison  Commissioners  of  distinguishing  the 
cases  of  insanity  in  Local  prisons  from  those  in  Convict  prisons. 
From  Table  B  (Insanity  in  Local  Prisons) '  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
average  ratio  of  insanity  among  prisoners  classified  as  mentally 
sound  on  reception  is  about  28  per  10,000,  more  than  three  times 
that  prevailing  in  the  general  population.  The  Convict  prison 
population,  on  the  other  hand,  shows  (as  set  out  in  Table  C)  a 
similar  ratio  some  13  times  as  great  as  that  in  the  general  population. 
The  difference  is  striking. 

A  closer  scrutiny  of  the  figures  relating  to  Local  prisons  indicates 
that  the  ratio  of  insanity,  high  as  it  is  when  compared  with  the 
general  population,  is  considerably  underestimated.  It  will  be  seen 
from  Table  B.  that  of  1,342  cases  of  insanity  occurring  in  the  ten 
years,  880  (or  over  65  per  cent.)  were  considered  to  be  mentally 
unsound  at  the  time  of  their  reception,  and  that  the  estimated  ratio 
of  insanity  is  based  solely  upon  the  remaining  462  cases.  But, 
though  it  is  probable  that  a  majority  of  the  "unsound"  reception 
cases  were  mentally  unbalanced,  a  considerable  proportion  were 
clearly  insufficiently  so  to  warrant  certification,  and  these  might 
never  have  become  certifiably  insane  had  they  not  been  subjected 
to  prison  discipline.  That  the  strain  of  imprisonment  acted  as  the 
immediate  cause  of  their  breakdown  is  (1)  strongly  suggested  by  the 
descriptions  given  of  the  prisoners'  condition  of  mind  when  received 
in  prison,  and  is  (2)  rendered  almost  beyond  dispute  by  the  time 
elapsing  before  formal  certification  of  insanity.  We  will  consider 
these  points  in  turn. 

*  Taking  the  ratio  of  insanity  in  the  ordinary  population  over  15  years  of  age  as  8.7 
per  10,000. 

5  Some  of  the  objections  that  may  reasonably  be  urged  against  such  comparisons  will  be 
found  in  the  Report  of  Medical  Inspector  (P.C.  Report)  1907-8.  Whilst  such  objections 
furnish  a  partial  explanation  of  the  disparity  between  the  ratio  of  insanity  in  the  two 
cases,  they  do  not  justify  us  in  going  to  the  opposite  extreme  of  denying  all  significance 
to  it.  In  the  absence  of  an  adequate  explanation  it  is  impossible  to  avoid  the  conclusion 
that  the  conditions  of  prison  lifei  provide  the  final  exciting  causes  of  the  mental  breakdown 
of  many  who  are  certified  insane  during  the  course  of  imprisonment.  This  conclusion 
becomes  the  more  irresistible  in  view  of  the  independent  indications  set  forth  in  the  present 
chapter. 

*  The  vast  majority  of  prisoners  serve  only  very  short  sentences,  and  in  this  class  th« 
ratio  of  insanity  is  low.  The  average  ratio  of  all  prisoner;  shows  a  close  correspondence 
with  the  ratio  of  insanity  among  prisoners  serving  a  twelve  months  sentence.  Of  17,320 
prisoners  serving  a  sentence  of  one  year,  139  were  certified  insane,  70  being  regarded  at 
having  been  so  upon  reception  and  69  having  then  been  declared  apparently  sound.  The 
ratio  of  insanity  among  these  prisoners  therefore  is  80.6,  comprising  40.6  unsound  on 
reception,   and  40  per  10,000  declared   sound  when  admitted  to  prison. 

'  See  p.   544. 

8  See  p.  545. 


EFFECT    OF   LENGTH    OF    SENTENCE  637 

(1)  It  is  necessary  to  emphasise  the  fact  that  a  comparison  of 
the  summarised  statistics  in  the  Commissioners'  Eeports  with  the 
more  expHcit  details  provided,  in  pre-war  years,  in  the  appendices 
thereto,  fails  to  confirm  the  estimate  of  the  number  of  those  un- 
sound at  reception  given  in  the  former.  Many  of  those  included 
are  vaguely  described  in  the  appendices  as  "doubtful,"  "weak- 
minded,"  or  merely  as  "peculiar. "  Usually,  in  fact,  those  definitely 
declared  to  be  unsound  do  not  exceed  45  to  50  per  cent,  of  the  total 
number  of  cases,'  and  even  of  that  number  some  are  retained  in 
prison  for  over  a  year  before  removal  to  an  asylum. 

(2)  The  conclusion  that  those  regarded  as  unsound  at  reception 
ii.clude  a  great  number  of  merely  doubtful  cases,  and  that  the  strain 
of  imprisonment  acts  as  the  immediate  cause  of  their  breakdown, 
jis  strongly  reinforced  when  we  consider  the  second  point,  viz.,  the 
■period  elapsing  between  reception  and  certification.  Of  those 
declared  unsound  (see  Table  D.")  only  65  per  cent,  were  certified 
within  the  first  month,  over  17  per  cent,  not  until  after  two  months' 
^imprisonment,  and  several  cases  remained  in  prison  12  or  15  months 
before  removal  to  an  asylum.  These  facts  are  the  more  significant 
ibecause  they  are  broadly  parallel  with  those  relating  to  prisoners 
regarded  as  sound  on  reception. 

I  We  may,  therefore,  conclude  that  the  ratio  of  insanity  among 
[those  mentally  sound  on  reception  in  Local  prisons  is  considerably 
jhigher  than  that  given  by  the  Cwnmissioners. 

The  Effect  of  the  Length  of  Sentence. 

It  is  the  custom  of  the  Commissioners  to  draw  attention  to  the 

number  of  prisoners  developing  symptoms  of  insanity  in  the  first 

month  of  imprisonment,"  with  the  object,  presumably,  of  suggesting 

that   their    early   occurrence    clears   the   prison   system    from   any 

jresponsibility.     A   careful  analysis  of  the  figures   shows  that  they 

lio  not  justify  any  such  interpretation.        The  Commissioners  base 

jtheir  conclusion   upon   the  absolute   number  of   cases   of  insanity 

occurring  in  the  first  month,  but  this  figure  is  clearly  worthless  for 

purposes  of  comparison,   since  a  large   proportion   of  prisoners   do 

pot  serve  more  than  a  month.     For  instance,  three  times  as  many 

risoners  serve  one  month  as  two  months.     The  fact  is  that  the 

atio  of  insanity  is  actually   smaller   during  the  first   month  than 

rwards,  and  that  it  increases  in  the  succeeding  months;  this  is 


C 


'[•The  following   is   tirpical.    In    1914-15,    126    cases   of   insanity    occurred   in   prison.       Of 
Mkese  90    (i.e.,  70   per  cent.)    are   stated,   in  the  body  of  the  Commissioners'   Report,   to   be 

Ij'Iiwane  at  Reception"    ;i.e.,   mentally  unsound  at  reception). 
1 1  An  analysis  of  Table   D   in  the  Appendix   to  the   Report,   gives  the  following  figures : — 
f|. :           Number     certified    within     a    month     58     (46  per  cent). 
I^H         Number  described   as   "Insane  or  Unsound,"  etc 60     (47.6  per  cent). 
^^H        Number    described    as    "Doubtful,    etc 46     (36.5  per  cent). 
HHp        Number   described  as  Sane,  Normal,   etc 20     (15.9  per  cent). 

II  These  regarded   as   "Insane"   include,   therefore,    most    of  the  merely   doubtful    cases,    and 
Inany   who  were    not   certified   until  after  the    first    month   of   imprisonment. 
"■  See  p.   546. 

P.C.  Reports,  1913-14,  p.   21,  1914-15,  p.   22,  1915-16,  p.  17,  etc. 


0S8  INSANITY  AMONG  PSISONERS 

clearly  to  be  seen  from  a  comparison  of  Tables  D  and  E/'  The 
relative  insignificance  of  the  number  of  cases  of  insanity  occurring 
in  the  first  month  is  also  shown  by  the  fact  that,  even  if  we  ignore 
all  such  cases,  we  still  have  a  ratio  of  insanity  exceeding  50  per 
10,000  of  the  daily  average  Lxxial  prison  population. 

If  prison  life  had  no  effect  upon  the  mind,  we  should  expect  to 
find  that,  after  those  insane  at  reception  had  been  eliminated,  the 
cases  of  insanity  would  be  more  or  less  evenly  distributed  over  every 
month  of  imprisonment.  The  fact  that  the  number  certified  bears 
a  close  relationship  to  the  period  of  imprisonment  served,  indicates 
very  strongly  that  imprisonment  itself  is  a  factor  in  its  determina- 
tion. This  is  shown  most  clearly  by  the  figures  in  Table  E.  In 
the  first  month,  the  ratio  of  certifications  is  35  per  100,000;  in  the 
second,  it  is  43;  in  the  third,  58;  and  the  general  tendency  is  for  it 
to  rise  until  in  the  42nd  month  it  stands  at  99  per  100,000.  After 
that  it  falls,  but  the  numbers  are  by  this  time  too  small  to  make 
inference  reliable. 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  increase  in  the  ratio  is  not  absolutely 
continuous.  A  perfectly  regular  increase  is  hardly  to  be  expected 
since  different  factors  likely  to  cause  mental  disorder  are  operative 
at  different  times.  The  cases  which  occur  in  the  early  period  arise 
from  the  same  causes  as  the  suicides,  which  have  been  observed 
to  occur  with  great  frequency  at  this  period."  These  causes  tend 
to  become  less  powerful  as  the  prisoner  becomes  adapted  to  his 
environment  in  the  way  we  have  described,  but  afterwards  other 
factors  supervene.  The  prolongation  of  the  strain  of  imprisonment 
and  the  accumulating  effects  of  the  severe  discipline  tell  upon  many 
prisoners  unaffected  throughout  the  earlier  period,  with  the  conse- 
quence that  the  successive  months  reveal  an  upward  movement  of 
the  ratio  of  insanity.  i 

Similar   conclusions  regarding    the    distribution  of  the  cases  of  j 
insanity  in  English  prisons  are  to  be  drawn  from  Table  F."     From 
an  examination  of  this  Table  the  following  points  are  clear:  — 

(1)  The  ratio  of  insanity  to   the   number  of  sentences  increases  \ 

with  the  length  of  the  sentence  imposed.     This  applies  both  to  those  i 

regarded  as    "unsound"   at  reception  and  to  those   deemed  to  be  j 

»  "sound"  (though  the  rate  of  increase  is  considerably  higher  in  the  j 

latter  case),  and  continues  throughout  the  whole  range  of  sentences.  ; 

In  all  sentences  under  one  month  the  number  of  those  certified  j 
insane  (though  considered  sound  in  mind  at  reception)  is  less  than  j 
one  per  10,000.  At  one  month  the  ratio  is  approximately  one  per. 
JO.OOO.  Thence  it  rises  somewhat  abruptly,  being  seven  per; 
10,000  at  three  months,    and    it    continues  to  increase  out  of  allj 


^ 

12  See  pp.  546  and  547 
"  See  pp.   555-56. 
1*  See  p.  548. 

THE   EFFECT  OF  THE  LENGTH  OF   SENTENCE  539 

proportion  to  the  increasing  length  of  sentence.  Twelve-month 
prisoners  shew  a  ratio  of  40  per  10,000 ;  those  sentenced  to  two  years 
have  a  ratio  nearly  three  times  as  large ;  convicts  sentenced  to  five 
years,  a  ratio  nine  times  as  large. 

(2)  Among  prisoners  sentenced  to  less  than  one  year's  imprison- 
ment, the  majority  of  cases  of  insanity  are  drawn  from  those 
regarded  as  unsound  at  reception ;  among  one  year  sentences  the  two 
classes  are  approximately  equal;  whilst  in  all  sentences  exceeding 
a  yea^  the  greater  number  of  those  certified  insane  are  drawn  from 
those  sane  at  reception.  At  six  months,  for  instance,  36  per  cent, 
of  those  certified  insane  were  presumed  to  be  sane  at  their  reception, 
whilst  among  two-year  prisoners  this  class  amounts  to  about  64  per 
jcent.  of  the  total  number  of  cases.  This  fact  is  perhaps  partially 
ito  be  explained  by  the  greater  care  taken  to  prevent  insane  criminals 
being  committed  to  prison  on  the  longer  sentences. 

The  low  and  somewhat  constant  ratio  of  insanity  in  prisoners 
sentenced  to  less  than  a  month  arises  partly,  no  doubt,  from  the 
less  systematic  observation  to  which  they  are  submitted,  but  chiefly 
ifrom  the  sentence  being  too  short  to  effect  complete  nervous  break- 
down. The  observations  of  Continental  investigators  indicate  that, 
jexcept  in  the  case  of  those  certainly  insane  at  reception,  three  or 
if  our  weeks  under  prison  conditions  is  necessary  to  produce  the  major 
iaymptoms  of  prison  aberrations  (that  is,  such  symptoms  as  would 
'warrant  certification  of  insanity),'^  and  many  of  those  in  English 
iprisons  who  develop  symptoms  of  insanity  in  the  first  month,  do  so 
only  in  the  last  week.  This  explains,  no  doubt,  why  the  first 
month's  ratio  of  insanity  is  disproportionately  low,  and  why  it  rises 
somewhat  abruptly  in  the  two-month  prisoners.  It  is  significant 
that  removal  from  prison  is  often  sufficient  to  arrest  insanity 
occurring  during  the  first  month. 

I  (3)  The  high  ratio  of  insanity  in  Convict  prisons  is  hardly 
surprising,  and  confirms,  with  regard  to  English  prisons,  conclusions 
Vhich  had  been  reached  concerning  similar  institutions  on  the 
Continent."  But  it  should  be  observed  that  Table  F  makes  clear 
phat  the  convict  statistics  are  even  more  significant  than  appears  at 
Brst  sight  from  Tables  B.  and  C.  In  those  Tables  the  ratios  are 
.worked  out  on  the  basis  of  the  average  daily  population.  Whilst  how- 
j?ver,  the  number  which  indicates  the  average  daily  population  in 
Local  prisons  represents  about  ten  individuals  (owing  to  its  shifting 
character),  the  parallel  number  in  the  case  of  Convict  prisons  (owing 

K9  much  greater  stability  of  the  population)  represents  less  than 
eeptions  to  thU  rnle.  howerer,  are  aSorded  by  the  cases  obserred  by  the  inrestigator 
imong  prisoners  awaiting  trial.  Certain  acute  mental  disturbances  may  dcTelop,  nnder 
^«,o  conditions,  in  a  few  days  or  eren  hours;  but  here,  of  course,  other  factors  than 
|Qere  imprisonment  are  operating,  e.g.,  suspense  regarding  the  trial,  etc.  "History  of  Prison 
I'sychoses,"  p.  51. 

^  '•  Three  times   as   many  of   the   long   term    prisoners    as   of   the  short   term   prisoners   are 
itat«d   by    Sommer    to    become    insane.    Sommer:    Beitrage    znr    Kenntnis    der    Kriminellen 
'r«n.    Allgem.    Zeitschr.    f.    Psych.    XL.,    588    £f.,    1834.     ("mstory    of    Prison   Psvchoses," 
i4). 


640  INSANITY  AMONG  PRISONERS 

two  persons.  One  might  have  expected,  therefore,  that  the  Local 
prisons  would  show  a  larger  ratio  than  the  Convict  prisons.  The 
fact  that  instead  the  Convict  prisons  show  a  ratio  four  times  as  high 
as  that  of  the  Local  prisons  is  very  noteworthy. 

From  the  foregoing  considerations  it  clearly  appears  that  imprison- 
ment is  in  a  large  measure  responsible  for  the  development  of 
insanity.  The  excessively  high  ratio  of  insanity  in  prisons  would 
alone  strongly  suggest  such  a  conclusion.  A  detailed  analysis  of 
the  facts  shows  that  the  attempt  to  explain  this  preponderance  by 
a  purely  general  hypothesis  concerning  the  relation  between  insanity 
and  crime  to  be  quite  unsatisfactory.  The  period  elapsing  between 
reception  and  removal  to  an  asylum  is  a  fact  of  great  importance 
in  this  connection.''  Still  more  significant  is  the  fact  that  in  Local 
prisons  insanity  is  more  prevalent  among  prisoners  sentenced  to 
long  terms  of  imprisonment  than  among  short-sentence  prisoners, 
and  that  it  is  far  more  prevalent  in  the  case  of  convicts  than  in  the 
case  of  local  prisoners.  The  only  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  these 
facts  is  that  prison  treatment  is  a  determining  factor  in  the  causation 
of  a  large  number  of  cases  of  insanity  in  prison. 


The  Development  of  Insanity. 

In  the  previous  chapters  describing  certain  of  the  mental  effects  of 
imprisonment  upon  the  comparatively  normal  offender,  references 
to  marked  pathological  conditions  were  intentionally  avoided. 
A  comparison  of  the  phenomena  of  insanity  in  prison  with 
the  mental  effects  of  prison  discipline  upon  normal  offenders 
reveals  certain  striking  and  disquieting  facts.  The  typical  symptoms 
of  the  more  serious  mental  aberrations  show  a  close  and  intimate 
correspondence  with  some  of  the  moet  common  features  of  the 
normal  prisoner's  mental  life  during  incarceration.  This  strongly 
suggests  that  the  two  classes  of  phenomena  arise,  to  a  large  extent, 
from  identical  causes,  and  differ  in  degree  rather  than  in  kind.  The 
fact  that  these  phenomena  in  the  case  of  the  normal  prisoner  are 
distinctly  traceable  to  the  effects  of  imprisonment  itself  tends  to 
substantiate  the  contention  that  imprisonment  is  one  of  the  principal 
causes  of  the  high  rate  of  insanity  among  the  prison  population. 

As  we  have  indicated,  no  thorough  investigations  appear  to  have 
been  made  into  the  nature  and  genesis  of  the  different  types  of  in- 
sanity occurring  under  the  conditions  of  English  prison  life,  but 
evidence  on  this  matter  is  to  be  found  in  researches  pursued  in  other 
countries." 

"  A  medical  man  who  has  had   10  years'  experience  in  the  Asylum  Service,  says:   "Thcic  . 

'prison    rsychoses'    olten    improve    wonderfully    alter    the    transfer    of    the     ratient    to    an  i 

a«ylum.    This   seems   to   indicate    an  unfavourable   effect   of  the    prison    environment  on  the  ; 

mental  state."  j 

"8  A  review  of  these  investigations  is  to  be  found   in  "Thf   History  of  Prison   Psychoses,"  ( 

by  Nitsche  and  Wilmanns  (Nervous  and  Mental  Diseases  Monograpks,  English  translation,  i 
New  York,   1912). 


'  THE  DEVELOPMENT    OF   INSANITY  541 

Gutsch,"  one  of  the  first  of  the  students  to  apply  himself 
to  this  field  of  enquiry,  refers  to  the  cycles  of  emotional  excitements 
and  depressions,  the  religious  and  agitated  melancholia,  suicidal  and 
maniacal  outbreaks,  home-sickness,  and  the  typical  delusions  of 
innocence  or  pardon.  He  attaches  special  importance  to  solitary 
confinement  in  the  causation  of  hallucinations  and  delusions  of 
persecution  and  of  poisoning.""  To  solitary  confinement  also  is 
attributed  responsibility  for  the  condition  of  irritability  and  restless- 
ness which  issues  in  insane  rebellion  against  the  prison  routine.*^ 
It  is  significant  that  many  of  the  cases  studied  showed  distinct  signs 
,of  recovery  when  the  patient  was  removed  from  sohtarj'  confinement, 
i  whereas  the  application  of  disciplinary  measures  to  cases  of  irritabihty 
;«■  captiousness  only  intensified  the  abnormality  of  mind.  The 
'findings  of  Sonmaer,  summarised  by  Nitsche  and  Wilmanns  as 
follows,  are  representative  of  those  of  many  observers:  — 

The  crime  itself,  the  excitement  incident  to  the  act,  the  detection  and 
publicity,  the  remorse  and  regret,  the  sad  outlook  for  the  future,  the 
hopelessness  of  the  situation,  especially  in  long  sentences,  all  these  along 
with  the  suddenly  changed  mode  of  life,  the  curtailment  of  freedom,  the 
forced  subjection  to  an  unaccustomed  severe  discipline,  the  scarcity  of 
exercise  and  air,  the  consequent  prison  anaemia,  the  sexual  aberrations, 
are  certainly  sufficient  to  unbalance  a  normal  mind  ;  how  much  more 
easily,  therefore,  a  mind  that  is  already  working  abnormally,  one  that 
is  accustomed  to  tha  routine  stimulations  of  customary  luxuries  which 
are  now  denied  it?  Certainly  the  punishment  itself  has  a  marked 
influence  upon  the  mental  condition  of  the  patient. 

Sommer  attributed  much  greater  importance,  however,  to  the  kind  of 
punishment.  The  inmate  of  a  reformatory  who  spends  most  of  the  day 
in  company  with  other  prisoners  or  in  the  open,  and  who,  as  a  whole, 
leads  during  his  imprisonment  a  more  rational  life  than  that  which  his 
poor  home  surroundings  or  his  vagabond  existence  afforded  him,  will 
seldom  develop  a  mental  disorder  as  a  result  of  his  imprisonment.  .  .  . 
In  contrast,  however,  to  the  workhouse  or  reformatory,  the  penitentiary 
with  its  long  term  sentences,  its  solitary  confinement,  its  hard  labour, 
and  enforced  mutism,  its  monotonous  occupation  and  severe  discipline 
....  furnishes  greater  opportunity  for  the  development  of  mental 
disorders.'^ 

A  more  detailed  account  given  by  Sommer  of  the  mental  changes 
occurring  in  the  prisoner  during  the  development  of  pathological 
atates  of  mind  accords  with  those  of  previous  observers,  and  includes 
many  of  the  points  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  chapters.  He 
instances  as  initial  symptoms  the  inability  to  concentrate,  irritability, 
and  the  manner  in  which  the  prisoner  sinks  into  apathetic  brooding. 
jHe  notes,  further,  the  tendency  of  disciplinary  measures  to  strengthen 

'*  "History  of   Prison   Psychoses,"  pp.  8  and  9. 

"  Compare  the  drugging  theory  mentioned  in  the  Note  to  Chapter  IX.,  p.  586. 

'_*'For   parallel   phenomena   among   normal   prisoners    compare    pp.    488-497,    507-10,   and 
,321-22. 

**Beitrage  znr   Kenntnia  der  Kriminellen   Irren.    AUgem.    Zeitschr.   f.    Pgych.   XL.,   1884, 
ummarised  in  "History  of  Prison  Psychoses,"  p.  13. 


642  INSANITY  AMONG   PRISONERS 

the    prisoner's    delusions    and    to    lead    to  vicious    assaults    and 
insubordination. 

Siefert/'  a  more  recent  investigator —  and  one  who  is  inclined  to 
attach  less  importance  to  the  influence  of  imprisonment  than  the 
majority  of  observers — states  that  many  of  these  mental  disorders 
are  to  be  regarded  as  the  product  of  the  joint  action  of  predisposition 
and  of  the  environmental  influences,  among  which  influences  the 
deleterious  effect  of  imprisonment  is  to  be  included.  In  many  such 
disorders,  he  writes,  "often  apparently  suddenly,  or  indicated  by 
premonitory  signs,  collapse  occurs  in  prison  ....  Whilst 
they  are  still  recent  and  dependent  upon  the  prison  environment, 
medical  interference  may  be  of  practical  value."  From  the  evidence 
relating  to  English  prisons,  such  medical  interference,  except  an 
order  of  confinement  to  an  observation  cell,  appears  rarely  to  occur 
until  the  disorder  has  become  sufficiently  aggravated  to  warrant 
removal  to  an  asylum. 

It  is  investigations  of  individual  cases  such  as  Sommer  and  Siefert 
have  conducted  which  show,  more  clearly  than  general  theories 
concerning  the  relation  of  insanity  to  crime — more  clearly,  perhaps, 
than  the  statistical  data  can  do, — ^the  true  significance  of  insanity 
in  prisons.  The  relation  is  not  merely  one  dependent  upon  pre- 
dispositions. If  insanity  in  prisons  is  to  be  regarded  merely  as  the 
effect  of  such  predispositions  carried  over  from  the  prisoner's  prior 
life,  the  experiences  of  apparently  normal  offenders  indicate  that 
such  predispositions  are  shared  by  the  great  majority  of  those  who 
pass  through  the  prison  system.  Moreover,  even  if  this  highly 
improbable  supposition  were  granted,  it  would  not  account  for  either 
the  actual  outbreak  of  symptoms  of  insanity  in  those  judged  at 
reception  to  be  sound  in  mind,  or  the  preponderance  of  cases  among 
convicts  and  others  with  sentences  exceeding  the  average  length. 

From  the  evidence  adduced  it  is  clear,  at  any  rate,  that  there  is 
much  which  calls  for  full  and  systematic  investigation  by  all  who 
desire  to  improve  the  condition  of  those  confined  in  the  prisons  of 
this  country.     On  the  Continent,   where  attempts  have  been  made 
in  this  direction,  the  enquiries  appear  to  have  been  wanting  in  the 
requisite  sympathy  and  imagination,  and  the  clearest  recognition  of 
the  harmful  effects  of  imprisonment  upon  the  mind  does  not  seem 
to  have  led  to  practical  reforms.     We  hope  that  these  faults  may  | 
be  avoided  in  England,  and  that  scientific  research  may  go  hand  in   ' 
hand  with  the  fullest  possible  imaginative  sympathy  with  the  human   i 
subjects  of  investigation." 


2sphysician    in   charge   of    the    Observation   Station    for   the  In?ane    at  Halle.    See  "Ueber 
die  Geistesstorungen  der  Strafhaft,"   1907.     ("History  of  Prison  Psychoses,"  p.  44). 
2^  Compare  the  wise  remarks  of  Dr.  Healy :  "The  Individual  Delinquent,"  pp.  34-35. 


INSANITY  AMONG  PRISONEBS 


MS 


Appendix  to  Chapter  Six. 


TABLES    OF   INSANITY. 


Table  Showing  Ratio  of  Insanity  to  Prison  Population. 
(Local  and  Convict  prisons). 


Total 

Mentally 

Year 

Average  Daily 

Number  of 

Unsound  on 

Remainder 

Population 

Cases 

Reception 

1905-6 

2H23 

148 

74 

74 

1906-7 

20943 

178 

94 

t<4 

1907-S 

20783 

172 

77 

95 

1908-9 

22029 

158 

73 

85 

1909-10 

21710 

154 

85 

69 

1910-11 

20291 

179 

100 

79 

1911-12 

18989 

201 

107 

94 

1912-13 

18410 

188 

99 

89 

1913-14 

17056 

184 

101 

83 

:  19H-r5 

14641 

152 

92 

60 

\verage 

19627-5 

171-4 

90-2 

81-2 

rotal  Ratio  of  Insanity  in  prison 86.8  per  10,000 

latio  of  those  mentally  sound   on   reception     41.3  per  10,000 

*ercentage  of  cases  mentally  unsound  on  reception     ...  52.7 

Percentage  of  cases  mentally  sound  on  reception  ...  47.3 


544 


INSANITY  AMONG  PRISONERS 


B 


Table  Showing  Eatio  of  Insanity  to 
Local  Prison  Population. 


Year 

Average  Daily 
Population 

Total 

Number  of 

Cases 

Mentally 
Unsound  on 
Admission 

Remainder 

1905-6 

1906-7 

1907-8 

1908-9 

1909-10 

1910-11 

1911-12 

1912-13 

1913-14 

1914-15 

18288 
17911 
17719 
18923 
18521 
16982 
15907 
15534 
14352 
12104 

129 
139 
128 
135 
118 
136 
156 
135 
140 
126 

73 
89 
72 

73 

85 

96 
106 

96 
100 

90 

56 
50 
56 
62 
33 
40 
50 
39 
40 
36 

Average 

16624-1 

134-2 

88-0 

46-2 

Total  Ratio  of  Insanity  in  Local  prisons         80.7  per  10,000  , 

Ratio  of    those    mentally  sound  on   reception — appro.ximately  28   per  10,000 

Percentage  of  cases  mentally  unsound  on  reception       65.5 

Percentage  of  cases  mentally  sound  on  reception 34.5  , 

Number   of   cases   certified   within  month    (including    those    mentally              j 
sound    on    reception)           ...         ...         ...         ...         ...         ...         ...       578 

TABLES  OF  INSANITY 


8tf 


Table  Showing  Ratio  of  Insanity  to 
Convict  Prison  Population. 


Tear 

Average  Daily 
Population 

Total 

Number  of 

Cases 

Mentally 

Unsound  on 

Admission 

Sound  on 
Reception 

1905-6 

3135 

19 

1 

18 

1906-7 

3032 

39 

5 

34 

1907-8 

3064 

44 

5 

39 

1908-9 

3106 

23 

0 

23 

1909-10 

31S9 

36 

0 

36 

1910-11 

3309 

43 

4 

39 

1911-12 

3082 

45 

1 

44 

1912-13 

2876 

58 

3 

50 

1913-14 

2704 

44 

1 

43 

1914-15 

2587 

26 

2 

24 

Average 

3003-4 

37-2 

2-2 

35-0 

Total  Ratio  of  Insanity  in  Convict  prisons      123.9  per  10,000 

Ratio  of  those  mentally  sound  on  reception      113.2  per  10,000 

Percentage  of  cases  mentally   unsound  on  reception           ...  5.9 

Percentage  of  cases  mentally  sound  on  reception      94.1 


546 


INSANITY  AMONG  PRISONERS 


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CHAPTER  YII 


SUICIDE    AND    ATTEMPTED    SUICIDE 

One  of  the  features  of  the  interior  of  an  Enghsh  prison  which  can 
scarcely  fail  to  attract  the  attention  of  a  casual  visitor  is  the  elaborate 
nature  of  the  precautions  adopted  against  suicide. 

The  cell  furniture  and  utensils  are  so  devised  as  to  render  extremely 
difficult  even  any  attempt  at  self-destruction.  The  knife  pro- 
vided for  the  prisoner's  meals  is  such  as  would  make  extremely 
i  slow  and  painful  any  suicide  attempted  by  its  means ;  cord  and  other 
"particles  which  might  be  used  for  self -strangulation  are  kept  as  far 
j  as  possible  from  the  prisoner's  possession.  The  artificial  lighting  in 
^  the  cells  is  apt  to  be  very  defective  largely  on  account  of  the  arrange- 
ments adopt-ed  to  prevent  the  inhalation  of  gas.^  This  precaution, 
as  Dr.  James  Devon  remarks  in  an  epigram  not  unworthy  of  Gibbon, 
"ensures  that  one  hundred  thousand  people  are  inconvenienced,  in 
order  that  one  may  be  prevented  from  ending  his  discomfort.'" 

Judging  from  the  extensive  structural  alterations*  and  other 
measures  introduced  into  prisons  in  the  last  20  or  30  years  to  prevent 
suicide,  one  would  naturally  infer  that  suicide  is  more  liable  to 
occur  in  prisons  than  in  any  other  institution — except,  perhaps, 
lunatic  asylums ;  and,  in  fact,  statistics  prove  this  actually  to  be  the 
case. 

Suicide  in  prison  has  certain  characteristics  in  common  with 
prison  insanity — the  subject  treated  in  our  last  chapter. 

(1)  The  ratio  of  suicide  in  the  prison  population  exceeds  that  in 
the  general  population  by  an  even  greater  extent  than  the 
)  ratio  of  prison  insanity  exceeds  the  ratio  of  insanity  outside. 

■v  (2)  The  age  incidence  both  of  suicide  and  of  insanity  is  lower  in  i 
J        prisons  than  in  the  general  population.  I 

I  (3)  The  types  of  offender  among  whom  suicide  is  frequent  are 
V^     generally  assumed   to   be  the  same  as  those  most   liable  to 
develop  mental    disorders  under   prison  conditions. 

'  See  p.  88. 

2  "The  Crimmal  and  the  Commnnity,"  p.   222. 

s  In  1896  strong  wire  nettings  were  fastened  across  the  interiors  of  nine  prisons  to  , 
prevent  suicidal  prisoners  from  throwing  themselves  down  from  the  higher  landings  to  the  , 
floor;  and  since  then  this  device  has,  we  believe,  been  extended  to  practically  all  prisons  , 
throughout    the   country.    See   illustration    opposite    p.    321. 


^ 


THE  RATIO   OF  SUICIDE    TO  THE   PRISON   POPULATION      551 

(4)  The  features  in  the  prison  regime  which  appear  to  operate  as 
causes  of  suicide  are  those  noted  as  the  most  important 
environmental  influences  which  cause  insanity. 


The  Ratio  of   Suicide   to   the   Prisox  Population. 
The   statistics  compiled   by  Dr.   Goring  covering  the  23    years, 
18S6-1909,  conclusively  show  the  excessive  frequency  of  suicides  in       ; 
prison.  i     / 

"The  death  rate  from  suicide,"  he  states,  "which  is  17  per  1,000  ^i.*'' 
deaths  in  the  general  population,  is  over  four  times  as  great,  73  per  ' 
1,000,  amongst  prisoners.  Is  this  increased  incidence  of  suicide  also  a 
direct  effect  of  prison  environment ;  or  is  it  due  to  the  fact  that  persons 
with  marked  suicidal  tendencies  are  more  liable  to  be  imprisoned  for 
crime?  This  question  cannot  be  definitely  answered  from  the  statistical 
evidence  before  us^  although,  in  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  there  can 
be  little  doubt  as  to  what  the  correct  answer  should  be.  We  know  that 
the  suicidal  act  does  require  a  certain  conjunction  of  favourable 
conditions  for  its  successful  accomplishment ;  and  that  these  conditions 
would  be  least  likely  found  in  the  prison  environment,  which  with  its 
constant  supervision  of,  and  restrictions  upon,  a  prisoner's  actions, 
operates  in  every  direction  against  his  committing  suicide  easily. 
Consequently  we  should  assume  that  the  greater  the  intensity  of  the 
suicidal  tendency,  the  less  would  be  the  likelihood  of  the  suicidal 
act  being  deferred  until  such  a  time  particularly  unfavourable 
for  its  consummation  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  we  would  conjecture  that 
amongst  persons  possessing  an  equal  tendency  to  commit  suicide,  the 
additional  strain  of  imprisonment  would  inevitably  lead  to  an  increased 
desire  of  death  amongst  suicides."* 

\  Goring 's  statistics,  being  concerned  solely  with  the  actual  death 
rate  in  prison,  ignore  the  much  greater  number  of  attempted  suicides 
;— both  those  which  are  i-egarded  as  feigned  and  those  apparently 
^^nuine. 

An  analysis  of  the  cases  of  both  actual  and  attempted  suicides 

,eveal8  not  only  the  extremely  high  frequency  of  these  attempts  at 

lelf -destruction,  but  the  very  considerable  increase  that  has  occurred 

n  recent  years  in  spite  of  the  greatly  increased  precautions  adopted 

0  thwart  them.     The  following  Table  (in  which  the  ratio  is  given 

or  convenience  per  10,000  prisoners,  not  deaths)  presents,  by  way 

•"  illustration,  the  suicides  reported  as  occurring  and  attempted  in 

-on  during  (a)  the  years  1896-8,  and  (b)  the  years  1912-14;'  ho 

Bims  of  attempted  suicides  have  been  published  since  1914 :  — 
oring,  "The  English  Convict"  (1913),  p.  224.  In  this  edition  the  suicide  rate  among 
i-ruuners  is  given  as  56  per  1,000,  a  ratio  which  was  subsequently  amended,  as  given  above, 
jo  73  per  1,000,  in  the  abridged  edition  of  "The  English  Convictj"  published  in  1915.  The 
iJaerepancy  arose  through  the  large  edition  having  included  in  its  total  deaths  all  those 
^ho  were  released  on  medical  grounds,  which  would  naturally  bring  down  the  ratio  of 
Inicides. 

*  It  would  appear  from  a  study  of  the  medical  statistics  in  Part  II.  of  the  Commissioners' 
jteports  that  in  the  case  of  certain  prisons,  particularly  in  the  earlier  years,  no  returns 
f  attempt«d  suicide  were  published.  It  follows  that  some  of  the  totals  of  attempted  suicides 
iven   in   our   Table  must   be  somewhat  under-estimated. 


552 


SUICIDE   AND   ATTEMPTED   SUICIDE 


Table  Showing  Actual  and  Attempted  Suicides  in  Convict  and  Local 
Prisons  in  the  Years  (a)  1896-8;  and  (b)  1912-14. 


<> 


Year 

Actual 
Suicides 

Attempted  Suicides 

Daily 
Average 

Genuine 

Feigned 

Doubtful 

Total 

Population 

1896 
1897 
1898 

5 
5 
8 

12 
18 
19 

52 
45 
50 

2 
6 
2 

66 
69 
71 

17,614 
17,076 
17,051 

Total 

18 

49 

147 

10 

206 

51,74 

Average 
per  annum 

6 

16-3 

49 

3-3 

68-6 

17,247 

Eatio  per 
10,000 

3-4 

9-4 

28-4 

1-9 

39-7 

1912 
1913 
1914 

9 
12 

12 

27 

41 
59 

58 
70 
69 

5 
0 

1 

88 
111 
129 

19,720 
19,359 
18,155 

Total 

33 

127 

195 

6 

328 

57,234 

Average 
per  annum 

11 

42-3 

65 

2 

109-3 

19,078 

Ratio  per 
10,000 

5-7 

22-1 

34-1 

M 



57-3 

It  appears  that  the  number  of  actual  suicides  has  almost  doubled  in 
the  last  20  years,  whilst  the  genuine  attempts  at  suicide,  as  reported,, 
have  considerably  more  than  doubled."  The  increase  in  suicides 
regarded  as  feigned  is  also  not  without  significance.  There  is  much 
to  suggest  that  many  of  the  so-called  "feigned  attempts"  are  in 
fact  perfectly  genuine.  In  any  case  there  is  no  sharp  division  to 
be  drawn  between  the  two  classes,  and  to  designate  one  class  as 
"feigned"  is  seriously  misleading.  It  would  be  better  to  describe 
attempted  suicides  as  "faint-hearted,"  "half-hearted,"  or  "whole- 
hearted." 

The  fact  that  the  so-called  "feigned,"  and,  indeed,  all  unsuccess- 
ful attempts,  are  almost  invariably  ignored  in  the  consideration  given 

6  And   yet  the  Medical   Inspector    of    Prisons    in  the  Commissioners'   Report    for   1910;11. 
says:    "Suicide   is   fortunately   of    infrequent    occurrence   in  prison.    .    .    .    suicide  in   prison  j 
shows  no  correspondence  with  suicide  in  the  general  population;   neither   has  it  shown   the 
upward  tendency  which,  until  quite  recently,  has  marked  the  statistics  of  ordinary  suieide.     ( 
See  Table  on  p.   550  for  returns  of  suicides  during  and  after  the   war.  ' 


n^f^ 


TEE   AGE  INCIDENCE   OF   SUICIDE 


553 


to  the  question  by  the  Prison  Commissioners  constitutes  a  serious 
defect  in  the  figures  derived  from  official  sources.  A  more  thorough- 
going investigation  of  individual  cases  would  almost  certainly  reveal 
the  number  of  genuine  attempts  to  be  greater  than  is  indicated  in 
ithe  foregoing  Table. 

The  Age  Incidence  of  Suicide. 
The  second  feature  of  the  statistics  relating  to  suicide  in  prison 
which  has  frequently  attracted  attention  is  that  its  age  incidence  is 
er  than  among  the  general   population.     The   following  Table' 
?ws  in  detail  the  nature  of  this  difference  :  — 


Table  Showing  Relative  Frequencies. 


■Ages 

15- 

20- 

25- 

35- 

45- 

55-    65- 

75 

jTotal 

ktL 

1-3 

6-6 

17-5 

18-9 

14-2 

8-3    2-5 

•3 

|69-7 

Prison 
Population 

16-1 

31-1 

54-2 

56-3 

35-2 

23-li  6-0 

1-0 

232 

-    Taking  the  number  of  deaths  from  all  causes  which  occurred  in 

bson  during  the  23  years  ending  March  31,  1909,  this  Table  shows 
w  the  deaths  caused  by  suicide  at  the  various  ages  in  the  prison 
population  compared  with  the  suicides  at  the  same  ages  in  a  similar 
lumber  of  deaths  among  the  general  population.  It  appears  that 
Jvhilst  the  average  frequency  of  suicide  among  the  prison  population 
s  at  least  three  times  as  great  during  these  years  as  that  among  the 
General  population,  the  relative  frequency  is  considerably  higher  at 
jhe  lower  ages.  Prisoners  of  20  to  25  commit  suicide  with  a 
jrequency  nearly  five  times  as  great  as  that  among  members  of  the 
jeneral  population  of  similar  age,  and  juvenile  suicides  are  at  least 
imes  as  frequent  in  prison  as  among  the  general  population. 

.8  was  pointed  out  by  the  medical  inspector  of  prisons  (Dr. 
^malley),  in  his  report  for  1910-11,  the  fact  that  young  adults 
jonstitute  a  relatively  greater  proportion  of  the  prison  population 
Ihan  of  the  general  population  is  quite  insufficient  to  explain  this 
xtraordinarily  high  figure.  "It  is  probable,  therefore,"  he  adds, 
'that  some  other  influences  are  operative  either  in  the  special  char- 
cter  of  persons  going  to  prison  or  in  the  special  conditions  that 
ittach  to  imprisonment."  It  is  natural  that  those  responsible  for 
ne  administration  of  the  prison  system  should  endeavour  to  show 
|bat  the  cause  of  suicide  lies  in  the  character  of  the  offender  more 
;  pan  in  the  influence  of  prison  discipline.     Accordingly,  we  are  not 

Abstracted   from    the  statistics  compiled  by  Dr.   Goring:  op.  cit.  p.    222.  Table  81.     (A 
ewhat  more  intelligible  table,  aToiding   decimals,  is   that  on  p.  400,  Table  254). 


h 


T  2 


y 


654  SUICIDE    AND    ATTEMPTED   SUICIDE 

surprised  to  have  our  attention  directed  in  the  same  report  to  the 
third  mentioned  characteristic  of  prison  suicide,  viz.,  its  greater 
frequency  among  prisoners  convicted  for  crimes  of  passion  or  impulse. 


The  Greater  Frequency  of  Suicides  among  Criminals 
OF  Passion. 

Commenting  upon  the  relatively  high  proportion  of  suicides  con- 
tributed by  criminals  of  passion,  the  medical  inspector  of  prisons 
stated  in  1911 :  — 

Its  frequency  in  the  criminal  record  of  these  prisoners  is  an  indication 
that  the  suicidal  tendency  is  really  related  to  the  nature  of  the  offence, 
and  is  not  an  effect  of  the  known  or  anticipated  severity  of  the  punish- 
ment which  the  prisoner  has  to  face — an  explanation  which  might  bo 
suggested  in  the  case  of  crimes  of  special  gravity.* 

"We  have  already  had  occasion  to  point  out  the  inadequacy  of  a 
general  disposition  in  a  prisoner  to  explain  a  specific  act  on  his  part.' 
That  the  conclusion  drawn  by  Dr.  Smalley  is  not  warranted  is  in- 
dicated by  Dr.  Goring,"  when  he  points  out  that  the  fact  to  be 
explained  is  why — ^if  the  punishment  has  no  relation  to  the  suicide — 
the  act  should  be  so  frequently  attempted  in  prison,  where  it  is  the 
more  difficult  to  perform.  This  consideration  is  so  patent  that  Dr. 
Smalley  immediately  proceeds — inconsistently  with  his  previous 
argument — to  point  out,  as  one  of  the  principal  causes  of  suicide  in 
prison,  the  effects  of  the  emotional  shock  of  imprisonment  upon 
persons  characterised  by  emotional  instability. 

The  type  of  criminal  whose  offence  arises  from  uncontrollable 
impulse  is  also  the  type  to  whom  the  monotony  and  the  restrictions 
of  prison  life  cause  the  greatest  suffering,  and  in  whom  the 
initial  experience  of  prison  induces  the  greatest  emotional  upheaval. 
This  instability,  however,  is  not  restricted  to  the  debased  types  of 
criminals,  nor  to  the  insane.  It  is,  also,  as  Dr.  Smalley  acknow- 
ledges, "notably  the  case,  for  instance,  in  children  and  adolescents ; - 
and  the  earlier  age  incidence  in  prison  suicides,  to  which  reference 
has  already  been  made,  may  perhaps  be  taken  to  point  to  the  influence 
of  the  psychological  instability  of  youth  as  shown  by  impulsive 
reaction  to  the  shock  of  detection  or  of  imprisonment. ' '  Dr.  Smalley 
justly  concludes  with  the  statement:  — 

From  thia  point  of  view  the  need  for  exercising  discretion  in  inflicting 
imprisonment  on  young  offenders,  and  the  desirability  of  making  the 
treatment  of  such  offenders  educative  and  reformatory  rather  than  merely 
punitive,  becomes  highly  important. 

Further  considerations    relative  to  this  point     fall   under  the  fifth 
characteristic  noted  with  regard  to  prison  suicides. 

•  P.O.  Report,  1910-11,  p.  41. 

»  See  p.  542. 

»•  Passage  quoted  abore,  p.  551. 


AvA/yy^vL^ 


FBEQUEXCY   OF   SUICIDES   IX   EARLY   PERIOD  555 


The  Greater  Frequexcy  of  Suicides  in  the  Early 
Period  of  Imprisonment. 

The  greater  frequency  of  suicides  in  the  early  period  of  imprison- 
ment is  specifically  recognised  by  the  Prison  Commissioners,  wha 
have  inserted  in  their  Standing  Orders  the  following  explicit 
warnings :  — 

The  attention  of  the  governor  and  other  responsible  officers  is  directed 
to  the  following  points  relating  to  suicide.     It  appears  : — 

That  the  tendency  to  commit  saicide  is  greater  during  the  first 
week  of  imprisonment  than  at  any  subsequent  period. 

That  persons  under  remand   or  awaiting  trial  are  more  liable  to 
commit  suicide  than  those  who  have  received  sentence. 

That  prisoners  in  prison  for  the  first  time  are   more  liable  t'. 
others  to  commit  suicide. 


'"'^"^i2t 


Precautions,  therefore,  are  especially  necessary  during  the  earlier 
weeks  of  imprisonment,  and  those  who  are  in  prison  for  the  first  or 
second  time  are  more  likely  to  suffer  from  the  state  of  mind  which 
tends  to  suicide  than  those  who  have  been  many  times  in  prison, 
and  are  hardened  in  crime." 

lis  point  also  received  attention  in  the  1911  Eeport  of  the  medical 
lector  already  quoted  :  — 

The  part  which  emotional  shock  plays  in  the  causation  of  suicides  in 
prison  is  also  shown  by  the  fact  that  in  nearly  40  per  cent,  of  the  cases 
the  prisoners  are  first  offenders,  and  further  by  the  frequency  of  suicide 
within  a  short  time  of  reception.  Of  the  86  cases  analysed,  no  less  than 
34  committed  suicide  within  a  week  of  their  admission  to  gaol,  and  five 
killed  themselves  on  the  day  of  reception.  That  imprisonment,  per  ae,  is 
not  an  inducement  to  self-destruction  is  also  borne  out  by  the  fact  of 
its  rarity  in  C!onvict  prisons." 

piven  though  a  distinction  be  drawn   between  "the  part  which 

lotional  shock  plays  in  the  causation  of  suicides  in  prison"  and 

le  known  or  anticipated   severity  of  the  punishment  which  the 

lisoner  has  to  face,"  it  is  hardly  possible  to  limit  to  the  former  the 

I  responsibility  for  suicides    occurring  in  prison.     In  the  published 

sports  of  actual  and  attempted  suicide  we  find  such  statements  as 

following :  — 

HoLLOWAT  (1897)  :  Suicide  was  attempted  by  a  prisoner  "who  had  just 
received  sentence  of  10  years  penal  servitude."  " 

Bhixton  (1912)  :  A  suicide  occurred  and  was  "due  to  anticipation  of 
a  long  sentence."  '* 

Portland  (1913)  :  A  young  prisoner  undergoing  a  sentence  of  penal 
servitude  for  life  committed  suicide.'* 

8.O.,  317. 
"  PC.  Eeport.  1910-11,  p.  42. 
"  P.C.   Report,  1896-7,  p.  232. 
««P.C.  Report,  1911-12,  Part  II.,   p.  19. 
»•  P.C.   Eeport,    1912-13,   Part  11..  p.  131. 


k 


566  SUICIDE    AND    ATTEMPTED   SUICIDE 

The  artificiality  of  the  distinction  between  the  shock  of  imprison- 
ment and  "imprisonment  per  se"  is  clearly  revealed  when  we  turn 
from  purely  statistical  argument  to  a  study  of  the  offender  himself 
and  of  his  condition  of  mind.  Suicides  in  prison  appear  to  be,  in 
the  majority  of  cases,  the  outcome  of  the  intensest  suffering,  the  fruit 
of  failure  in  adaptation  to  abnormal  conditions  of  life,  the  resulting 
condition  of  mind  being  one  that  would  probably  not  have  been 
developed  had  the  prisoner  not  been  imprisoned,  or  had  he  been 
subjected  to  a  form  of  treatment  which  was  truly  "educative  and 
reformatory,  rather  than  merely  punitive.""  It  would  not  be 
difl&cult  to  show  how  this  condition  of  mind  is  related  to  those  factors 
in  the  prison  environment,  whose  evil  effects  generally  have  already 
been  traced. 

Suicide  and  the  Environmental  Influences  of  Prison  Life. 

That  the  suicidal  tendency  is  based  upon  emotional  predispositions, 
or  conditions  of  psychic  instability,  more  or  less  closely  associated 
with  those  determining  mental  disorder,  is  unquestioned.  That  it  is 
also  dependent  upon  environmental  factors  as  the  exciting  cause  for 
its  actual  expression  is  scarcely  less  indisputable. 

The  meagre  accounts  of  suicides  to  be  found  in  ofi&cial  documents 
entirely  obscure  the  significant  factors  in  prison  life  which  lead  to 
attempts  at  self-destruction.  "We  may,  therefore,  quote,  by  way 
of  illustration,  an  account  given  by  an  eye-witness  of  a  prison  suicide. 
Apart  from  the  incidental  details  of  this  particular  case,  features  are 
to  be  observed  which  probably  present  themselves  in  a  considerable 
proportion  of  these  occurrences :  — 

One  afternoon  I  had  occasion  to  take  to  the  chief  warder's  office  a 
petition  to  the  Home  Secretary,  which  I  had  been  allowed  to  write  during 
dinner-time.  Owing  to  my  landing  officer  being  too  busy  to  escort  me, 
I  went  alone  from  Bl  landing,  on  which  I  was  located,  to  B2,  and  thence 
along  to  the  "centre,"  where  all  the  landings  converge,  and  where,  also, 
the  chief  warder's  office  is  situated.  As  I  was  about  to  cross  the 
"centre,"  suddenly  I  heard  a  sickening  thud,  and  lying  on  the  stone 
floor  several  yards  before  me  was  an  elderly  man.  He  had  flung  him- 
self from  the  topmost  landing  of  the  prison.  Before  I  had  time  to 
realise  what  had  happened  I  was  hurried  away  by  our  officer  who  came 
apparently  from  nowhere. 

I  was  deeply  impressed  by  this  terrible  incident  and  succeeded  in 
obtaining  a  fairly  comprehensive  account  from  certain  of  the  warders 
who  were  kindly  disposed  towards  me. 

Taskmaster  P ,  of prison,  was  a  hard,  exacting  officer — a  man 

brutalised  by  the  prison  discipline  which  he  administered.  If  a  prisoner's 
task  were  not  completed  for  what  did  not  seem  to  him  a  satisfactory 
reason,  he  would  threaten  to  report  him  for  idleness,  and  would  resort 
to  all  kinds  of  browbeating  devices  to  frighten  the  spiritless  prisoner 
into  giving  out  more  work  when  he  came  round  to  the  cells  every  morning. 
It  is  believed  that  the  prisoner  S had  been  bullied  by  the  taskmaster 

"  P.O.  Heport,  1910-11,  p.   42. 


SUICIDE  AND  ENVIRONMENTAL  INFLUENCES  557 

P for  several  days  in  succession.     Certain  it  is  that  after  listening 

to  some  threats  about  reporting  to  the  governor  for  idleness,  S turned 

and    struck   the  taskmaster   to    the   ground.     A   scuffle   followed,    S 

clutching   the   officer's   throat,    but    soon    the   latter   freed   himself   and 

hastily  left  the  cell,  slamming  the  door  behind  him,  and  leaving  S 

to  realise  the  enormity  of  his  crime. 

Violence  to  a  warder  meant  the  "cat"  (cat  o'  nine  tails),  that  was 
certain.  As  his  passion  cooled  he  became  more  fully  aware  of  his  utter 
helplessness ;  and  this  made  him  desperate.  He  was  an  "old  hand"  and 
had  been  in  prison  many  times  before.  He  had  already  served  several 
weeks  of  his  present  sentence  and  was  evidently  in  the  throes  of  one  of 
those  uncontrollable  fits  of  restlessness  which  periodically  overcome 
prisoners  and  make  them  yearn  to  do  anything  violent  to  throw  off  the 
smothering  cloak   of  monotonous  discipline   stifling  them  24  hours   each 

day.     Passion   exhausting    itself   and    his   restlessness    subsiding,    S 

brooded  over  his  forthcoming  punishment.  He  knew  what  to  expect — 
a  long  succession  of  days  with  nothing  but  bread  and  water  in  a  cold, 
barren,  stone  cell,  loss  of  privileges,  letters,  books,  and,  moreover,  th© 
"cat." 

Dinner  was  served   to  S at  noon   as  usual,  and  at  1-30   p.m.  the 

landing  officer  came  to  collect  the  dinner-tins.     He  evidently  overlooked 

or  knew  nothing  of  pri.soner   S being  under  report  and,   therefore, 

forbidden  to  leave  his  cell ;  or  else,  being  in  a  hurry  to  finish  collecting 

the  dinner-tins  and  "slopping,"  he  did  not  refuse  permission  when  S 

asked  to  be  allowed  to  empty  his  slops.  The  prisoner  hurried  to  the 
recess  where  the  slops  were  emptied,  and,  watching  his  opportunity, 
swiftly  ran  up  the  adjacent  stairs  to  the  topmost  landing,  then  along 
the  hall  where  the  landing  runs  over  the  "centre."  The  landing  here 
is  covered  with  netting  to  prevent  prisoners  throwing  themselves,  or  the 
warders,  over  to  the  stone  floor  30  feet  below.  With  the  frenzy  of  a 
hunted  animal,  S violently  tore  away  the  strong  netting  and  iron- 
work and  flung  himself  headlong  over  the  railings. 

He  turned  in  mid-air  and  struck  the  ground  with  his  back  and  head. 
Officers  rushed  from  the  chief  warder's  office  and  carried  him  away  to 
an  adjacent  cell.     Two  days  later  he  died. 

is  suggestive  description  requires  no  comment. 

ipart,  perhaps,  from  those  suicides  which  are  purely  pathological, 
le  of  the  chief  elements  in  the  mentality  of  an  individual  who 
attempts  self-destruction,  whether  in  ordinary  life  or  in  prison,  is 
he  sense  of  "hopelessness"  which  overcomes  him.  He  feels  that 
,10  practical  measures  can  be  adopted  to  alter  circumstances  or  to 
jivert  an  impending  catastrophe.  It  is  probable  that,  as  long  as 
JKHne  alternative  course  of  action  presents  itself,  suicide  is  not  com- 
piitted ;  even  the  most  unfeasible  project  will  be  tried  before  the  last 
lesperate  remedy  is  adopted.  It  is  undoubtedly  this  sense  of  the 
fexhaustion  of  all  alternative  measures,  more  than  a  desire  for  death 
per  se,  which  leads  to  many,  if  not  most,  suicides. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  pointed  out  that  although  prison 
uicide  is  more  frequent  among  criminals  guilty  of  crimes  of  impulse, 
he  suicide  itself  is  not  necessarily  an  act  of  impulse.       There  are 


t 


S58  SUICIDE   AND   ATTEMPTED   SUICIDE 

indications  that  it  is  usually  preceded  by  considerable  deliberation. 
When  the  decision  is  at  last  taken  it  is  only  as  the  result  of  much 
brooding  and  much  planning  of  the  methods  to  be  adopted  to  effect 
it." 

Now  these  two  contributory  factors — the  inability  to  relieve  the 
mental  tension  by  action  directed  towards  removing  the  cause  of 
suffering,  and  a  constant  condition  of  inward  brooding — these  features 
of  the  prisoner's  condition  of  mind  are  most  closely  dependent  upon 
the  nature  of  the  prison  regime.  The  futility  of  making  any  effort 
to  amend  one's  situation  is  felt  by  almost  every  class  of  prisoner. 
When  this  is  combined  either  with  a  general  temperamental  dis- 
harmony with  the  environment,  or  with  some  particular  sources  of 
inward  conflict  (as  illustrated  in  the  case  described  above),  an 
immediate  condition  favourable  to  an  attempt  at  self-destruction  is 
provided. 

This  is  indicated  even  in  the  feigned  cases. 

"Prisoners,"  says  a  warder,  "when  they  think  they  are  being  victi- 
mised sometimes  threaten  suicide,  but  few  carry  out  the  threat— they 
are  too  broken-spirited.  They  make  careful  preparations  which  absorb 
much  time  and  energy,  sharpen  their  tin  knives  or  smuggle  broken  nibs 
which  they  rub  to  a  razor  edge.  Nothing  else  happens.  ...  I  have 
heard  them  swear  to  drown  themselves  in  their  nine  inches  of  bath 
water." 

It  is  clearly  no  accident  that  the  statistics  for  feigned  suicides 
show  similar  movements  to  those  relating  to  deliberate  attempts. 
Both  indicate  the  operation  of  the  suicidal  tendency  under  prison 
conditions,  the  former  being  a  compromise  with  the  stronger  desire 
for  life.  Threats  of  suicide  serve  a  similar  psychic  function,  pro- 
viding a  less  desperate  substitute  and  a  kind  of  "moral  equivalent" 
for  the  act  itself.  Were  prisoners  to  suppress  all  promptings  to 
make  feigned  attempts  or  ostentatious  threats,  there  is  little  doubt 
but  that  the  figure  relating  to  genuine  suicides  would  rise." 

A  close  connection  between  isolation  and    suicidal  tendency   is 
evidenced  in  many  of  the  reports.     The  effects  of  associated  labour ' 
■  in  mitigating  the  evil  effects  of  separate  confinement  in  many  other 
directions  are  noted  elsewhere."     Its  influence  with  regard  to  suicide 
,is  mentioned  in  the  reports  of  various  prison  ^vernors. 
1^  No  suicide  or  attempts  have  occurred   [in  1900],  and  this  is  no  doubt 

attributable  in  a  great  measure  to  associated  labour  being  carried  out 
to  a  greater  extent  than  formerly.  —  (Beport  of  the.  governor  of  C'Jmbridge 
prison,  1900).'" 

"A  further  consideration  bearing  on  the  nature  of  the  snicidal  act  is  that  the  subject 
of  the  Tictim'8  distress  is  one  which,  as  a  rule,  is  not  communicated,  and  which,  under 
prison  conditions,  perhaps,  cannot  be  communicated,  to  other  people.  The  decision  to 
commit  suicide  is  made  by  the  victim  without  taking  anyone  into  his  confidence.  This 
fact  is  borne  out  by  the  very  general  testimony  of  warders,  that  the  most  dangerous 
cases  are  those  in  which  no  external  sign  of  the  prisoner's  intention  is  conveyed  before  the 
actual  attempt. 

18  The  reader's  attention   is  drawn  to  the  "Feigned"  column  in  the  Table  on  p.   552. 

i»  See  p.   572. 

20  P.O.   Report,   1899-1900,  p.   204. 


SUICIDE  AND  ENVIRONMENTAL  INFLUENCES  559 

The  absence  of  suicide  is,  in  my  opinion,  attributable  in  no  small  degree 
to  this  humane  regulation  [i.e.,  that  authorising  associated  labour].— 
(Rf-poTt  of  the  governor  of  NoTthallerton  prison,  1904).^* 

Conversely,  reports  of  attempted  suicides  sometimes  explicitly  give 
as  the  motive  a  desire  to  be  removed  to  associated  labour.*' 

In  general,  solitary  confinement  necessarily  fosters  the  suicidal 
tendency  by  depriving  the  prisoner  of  the  obvious  safeguards  inherent 
in  useful  activities  and  more  particularly  in  healthy  social  inter- 
course. There  is  little  doubt  that  a  word  of  encouragement 
or  a  sign  of  sympathy,  if  it  reached  the  prisoner  when  he  was 
'brooding  upon  projects  of  self-destruction,  might  restore  that 
minimum  of  hope  without  which  the  desire  for  life  cannot  continue. 
Under  the  present  regime,  owing  to  the  precautions  taken  to  isolate 
jthe  prisoner  from  his  fellow-men,  the  chances  of  such  encourage- 
ment are  very  slight. 

There  is  no  doubt  a  definite  "suicidal  tepdency"  in  certain  persons, 
but  that  it  is  independent  and  manifests  itself  without  reference  to 
ienvironmental  conditions  or  to  the  more  general  conditions  of  mental 
[life,  is  inconceivable  and  derives  no  support  from  the  evidence.  The 
itendency  is  conditioned  by  mental  health  as  a  whole,  which  in  turn 
jean  be  beneficially  or  adversely  affected  according  as  the  environment 
lis  favourable  or  the  reverse  to  the  strengthening  and  upbuilding  of 
jcharacter.  It  is  obvious  that  prison  environment  is  not  favourable, 
jand  that  to  it  is  largely  due  the  remarkably  high  ratio  of  suicides  in 
[prison.  The  feeling  of  hopelessness,  the  severe  mental  tension,  the 
Iburden  of  the  rigid  discipline,  the  cellular  confinement,  the  atmo- 
jsphere   of   general  animosity,    the  harsh  attitude   of   officials,   the  I 

lexaggerated  irritation  which  little  acts  of  injustice  cause  under  such 
iconditions,  the  absence  of  social  intercourse,  and  the  lack  of  friend- 
iship  and  encouragement, — these  are  undoubtedly  the  deciding 
factors  in  the  occurrence  oj  many,  if  not  of  most,  prison^si;jcides.    ^ 

-'P.C.  Report,  1905-4,  p.  407. 

--  e.g.,  at  Wakefield,    1897.    P.C.   Report,   1896-7,    p.    365. 


660 


SUICIDE   AND   ATTEMPTED   SUICIDE 


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CHAPTER  VIII 


SPECIFIC    CAUSES   OF    DETERIOEATION 

The  System  as  a  Whole 

In  general  the  effects  of  imprisonment  are  of  the  nature  of  a  pro- 
gressive weakening  of  the  mental  powers  and  of  a  deterioration  of 
the  character  in  a  way  which  renders  the  prisoner  less  fit  for  useful 
social  life,  more  predisposed  to  crime,  and  in  consequence  more  liable 
to  reconviction.  These  are  the  effects  of  the  system  as  a  whole; 
they  cannot  be  traced  to  any  single  feature.  In  many  cases  prisoners 
have  denied  that  there  is  any  one  feature  of  the  system  which  is 
more  objectionable  than  another,  asserting  that  its  defects  are 
fundamental,  and  can  only  be  remedied  by  a  complete  change  of 
principle,  and  of  the  spirit  in  which  it  is  administered. 

To  the  first  offender  the  peculiar  and  distinctive  feature  of  prison 
life  is  the  sense  of  being  in  the  grip  of  a  huge  machine  which  is  felt 
to  be  repressive  at  every  point,  inhuman,  aimless,  tyrannical.  The 
prisoner's  condition  of  nervous  irritability  arises  from  this  cause, 
inot  so  much  from  specific  provocation  as  from  the  cumulative  effect 
;of  the  strain  which  prison  life  in  its  entirety  produces. 

I  It  is  not  only  the  prisoner  who  condemns  the  system  as  a  whole. 
jits  oppressive  weight  and  mechanical  rigidity  are  felt  by  officials  of 
Uvery  grade  whose  duty  it  is  to  administer  it,  particularly  by  those 
[who  attempt  to  temper  its  severity  by  humanising  influences.  The 
Warder  who  would  exercise  his  influence  to  soften  and  assist  the 
jprisoner  to  regain  some  self-respect  is  restrained  by  the  impersonal 
jforce  of  the  system.  The  chaplain  who  endeavours  to  exercise  a 
^umanising  influence  upon  the  criminal  similarly  feels  the  weight 
of  the  system  in  opposition  to  his  efforts. 

But  whilst  the  system  as  a  whole  embodies  false  principles  and 
^:ands  in  need  of  fundamental  change,  it  is  possible  to  select  certain 
IsDecific  features  which  are  primarily    responsible    for    undesirable 

E suits.' 
In  the  questionnaire  addressed  to  political  offenders  they  were  asked  to  name  the  worst 
.tnre  of  prison  life.  Of  some  200  answers,  orer  50  per  cent,  referred  to  the  silenc* 
jmle  and  tlie  denial  of  social  intercourse,  15  per  c«nt.  referred  to  the  general  features 
pi  prison  or  the  system  as  a  whole,  whilst  about  10  per  cent,  referred  explicitly  to  prison 
[lueipline.  The  answers  of  the  remaining  27  per  cent,  were  distributed  over  a  wide  range 
l>t  topics,  many  of  which  referred  to  the  denial  of  self-expression  and  the  absence  of  any 
laWjfying  mental    and  bodily  occupation. 


b 


563  SPECIFIC    CAUSES    OF    DETERIOBATION 

The  system  operates  almost  entirely  without  the  direct  infliction  of 
physical  injury  or  bodily  pain.  Its  essential  nature  lies  in  the 
systematic  denial  of  liberty  and  of  such  activities  as  are  not. 
absolutely  essential  to  the  barest  existence.  The  problem  for  its  in- 
ventors has  been  to  devise  a  method  of  punishment  embodying  their 
conception  of  the  primary  importance  of  retribution  and  deterrence, 
which  would  be  applicable  to  every  class  of  offender.  The  mere 
denial  of  luxiuies  would  be  inadequate  in  view  of  the  numerous 
individuals  among  those  committed  to  prison  by  the  Courts,  whose 
lives  are  normally  so  wretched  as  to  render  the  withholding  of  luxury 
no  additional  burden.  This  difficulty  is  overcome  by  a  regime  of 
punishment,  the  essentials  of  which  comprise  the  denial  of  those 
activities  and  rights  shared  by  all,  even  the  most  needy.  The  chief 
of  these  common  activities  of  man  are  speech  and  association  with 
others,  choice  and  self -direction  in  the  actions  of  daily  life,  and  self- 
expression  in  the  arts  and  crafts  of  hand  and  brain.  The  prison 
system  operates  by  forbidding  speech,  restricting  association  within 
the  most  inadequate  limits,  abrogating  by  rigorous  supervision  all 
choice  and  self -direction,  and  depriving  the  individual  of  almost  all 
facilities  for  self-expression — prison  labour  being  as  far  as  possible 
lacking  in  interest  or  refining  qualities. 

These  four  features  may  be  made  the  subject  of  separate 
consideration. 

The  Silence  Eule. 

Originally,  as  is  well  known,  the  imposition  of  the  silence  rule 
and  the  system  of  separate  confinement  were  advocated  to  eradicate 
mutual  corruption  amongst  prisoners  and  to  effect  reform  of 
character  through  encouraging  meditation  leading  to  penitence.  It 
is  now  generally  agreed  that  the  first  aims  have  been  lost  sight  of, 
and  that  the  functions  of  these  regulations  are  partly  punitive  and 
partly  for  the  facilitating  of  discipline  and  the  smooth  working  of 
the  routine." 

The  first  rule  on  the  card  which  hangs  in  every  prisoner's  cell  is : 
"Prisoners  shall  preserve  silence."  One  of  the  offences  for  which - 
a  prisoner  may  be  punished  is  conversing  or  holding  intercourse  with 
another  prisoner  "without  authority,"  and  prison  officers  may  be 
punished  if  they  speak  to  a  prisoner  "unnecessarily."  The  prison 
authorities  have  recently  stated  that  there  is  no  rigid  rule  of  silence 
in  prison,  but  prison  governors  almost  invariably  interpret  the  rule 
as  prohibiting  all  speech  among  prisoners,  as  well  as  speech  between 
prisoners  and  officers  which  has  no  reference  to  prison  duties.' 

In  actual  practice  the  silence  rule  is  not  maintained.  It  is 
impossible  to  maintain  it.     It  is  beyond  normal  human  nature  for 

2  It  18  very  remarkable  that  the  Second  Report  of  the  first  Home  Office  Inspectorg  of 
Prisons,  made  in  1837  (when  the  advantages  of  the  Separate  system  were  in  question!), 
lurnishes  a  just  and  powerful  condemnation  of  the  Silent  system,  as  in  force  to-day.  (Quoted 
in  Chapter  IX.  (a)  of  Sidney  and  Beatrice  Webb's  "English  Prisons  under  Local  Govern- 
ment,"  from   Parliamentary   Papers,    1837,    zxxii.,    2,   3,   4.) 

3  See   pp.   555-56. 


THE    SILENCE    RULE  663 

men  to  come  into  contact  with  each  other  and  not  to  communicate  in 
some  way.  "It  was  not  until  I  tried,  that  I  discovered  it  to  be 
physically  impossible  to  obey  the  silence  rule,"  says  one  ex -prisoner. 
"I  cannot  explain  why,  but  it  is  so.  If  I  started  out  with  the 
intention  not  to  speak  throughout  the  day,  it  was  impossible  to  keep 
it  so  long  as  I  was  working  in  close  proximity  to  others. "  A  Roman 
Catholic  priest  at  one  of  the  prisons  points  out  that  hardly  any 
religious  orders  have  the  rule  of  absolute  silence,  and  the  members 
of  these  orders  are  very  exceptional  men.  The  "masters  of 
asceticism,"  he  states,  look  upon  continual  silence  as  the  greatest 
itrial  which  can  be  undergone;  "perpetual  and  enforced  silence  will 
drive  people  mad." 

Few  prisoners  attempt  to  obey  the  silence  rule.  Those  that  do  so 
jinvariably  suffer  grave  mental  consequences.  "If  it  were  possible 
to  enforce  this  rule,"  says  an  ex-prisoner  of  long  experience, 
"ninety  per  cent,  of  the  prisoners  would  lose  their  reason  within  a 
few  months.  I  know  one  prisoner  who  felt  that  he  ought  conscien- 
Itiously  to  observe  the  rules ;  he  tried  to  refrain  from  all  speech  and 
jcommunication  with  his  fellows,  and  at  the  end  of  three  months  his 
Imind  was  so  affected  that  he  had  to  be  removed  to  a  home  for  the 
jmentally  defective."  "There  was  a  young  chap  at  Portland  who 
iwas  punished  for  talking,"  states  an  ex-convict  who  served  a  life 
sentence.  "He  promised  never  to  do  so  again,  and  he  kept  his  word. 
(The  result  was  that  he  became  like  an  idiot,  and  could  be  seen 
iworking  his  face  in  a  horrible  manner  as  he  stood  at  his  work. "  "In 
|the  cell  adjoining  mine,"  says  another  ex-prisoner,  "was  a  young 
jlad  of  20  whom  I  had  met  in  the  guard  room.  He  was  reported  for 
speaking  on  his  second  day  in  the  association  shop,  and  was  given 
a  week  on  'stage  one'  (separate  confinement).  This  had  such  an 
effect  on  him  that  he  was  afraid  to  speak  thereafter,  and  came  out 
of  prison  at  the  end  of  the  sentence — 112  days — with  his  mind  an 
absolute  blank." 

A  number  of  similar  instances  could  be  given,  but  these  extreme 

cases  are  rare,  since  the  vast  majority  of  prisoners  make  no  attempt 

to  maintain  silence.     Conversation  occurs  to  some  degree  with  the 

prison  officials  ;  and  to  a  much  greater  degree  it  occurs  surreptitiously 

with  fellow  prisoners.     But  even  so,  the  strain  of  the  silence  so  far 

jas  it  is  enforced  is  severe,  and  often  the  effects  are  serious.*     "I 

jhave  little  doubt,"  says  an  officer,  "that  this  absurd  and  unnatural 

le  is  responsible  for  many  of  the  cases  of  mental  deficiency  which 

onstitute  a   certain  proportion  of  our  prison  population.        Most 

fficers    can    recall    cases    that    have    come    under    their   personal 

bservation  of  prisoners  who  on  first  entering  were  mentally  normal, 

lut  who,  later,  through  lack  of  common  intercourse  with  their  fellow 

■*  A  physical  effect  of  the  strain  imposed  by  the  silence  rnle  is  the  temporary  impediment 
speech  from  which  a  large  number  of  prisoners  suffer  when  they  return  to  conditions   of 
«stricted  speech.    "I  and  my  companions,"  remarks  one   ex-prisoner,  "were  often   affected 
a  stutter   and  a    definitely   tied   tongue." 


564  SPECIFIC    CAUSES    OF    DETERIORATION 

creatures,    became  weak-minded   and  a  permanent  burden  on  the 
State." 

The  following  extracts  from  letters  written  by  convicts  to  relatives 
and  friends  outside  prison  are  sufficient  illustration  of  the  oppressive 
effect  of  the  rule,  as  it  appears  to  some  inmates  of  a  Convict  prison  ' 

Most  long  timers  and  old  lags  arrive  at  a  sort  of  semi-balmy  state, 
fiimply  and  solely  from   being  kept  from  talking  with  other  men. 

(1904  :  third  year  of  first  sentence). 

I  expect  they  will  order  my  tongue  to  be  cut  out  next.  As  it  is  I  am 
in  a  deaf  and  dumb  party,  not  a  word  uttered  from  morning  to  night. 
This  is  the  beautiful  silent  system.     I  am  training  for  a  Trappist  Monk. 

(1910  :  third  year  of  second  sentence). 

You  can  take  my  word  for  it,  it  is  time  something  was  done,  as  the 
present  treatment  is  the  cause  of  most  convicts  going  weak-minded.  It 
is  nag,  nag,  nag  from  morning  till  evening,  all  because  one  man  speaks 
to  another   prisoner.  ^^g^^  .  ^^^^^^  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^^^j^  sentence). 

.  .  .  .  Walking  round  a  circle  in  Indian  file  three  yards  apart;  no 
talking  allowed.  Now  this  is  what  demoralises  a  man ;  you  see  they 
forbid  us  the  gift  of  the  tongue.     I  believe  God  gave  us  that  gift.    .    .    . 

(1906  :  second  year  of  third  sentence). 

I  am  afraid  I  will  be  mad  before  I  leave  this  place.  There  is  a 
strange  humming  in  my  head  cau.sed  by  this  eternal  quietness.  I  think 
this  prison  does  not  improve  a  man  at  all,  but  hardens  him  and  makes 
him  unfit  for  the  world.  (igig  ;   second  year  of   first  sentence). 

"The  silence  system  is  a  means  of  driving  men  mad,"  says  an 
ex-prisoner  who  served  a  term  of  seven  years.       "Whilst  I  was  at 

,  lots  of  men  went  to  Parkhurst  who  were  practically  off  their 

heads.     Three  men  committed  suicide." 

Officers  frequently  refer  to  the  silence  rule  as  a  cause  of  assaults 
by  prisoners.  "To  its  attempted  enforcement,"  says  one,  "may 
safely  be  credited  most  of  the  murderous  assaults  that  formerly  were 
so  common  a  feature  of  prison  life."  A  warder  of  a  Convict  prison' 
describes  the  rule  as  "the  curse  of  the  system,"  from  the  officer's 
point  of  view  as  well  as  the  men's.     He  proceeds:  — 

What  convicts  object   to  most  is  the   constant  reiteration,   "stop  that 

talking."        It  makes   for  friction,   and  is  the   cause  of    most  assaults. 

There   have  been  no   assaults  or   floggings    since  the  re-opening  of   the 

prison  in  1919.     The  reason  for  this  is  that  the  silence  rule  has  not  been 

enforced  so  strictly.  ° 

It  is  clear,  then,  that  the  more  completely  the  silence  rule  is 
kept,  either  by  self -discipline  or  the  vigilance  of  warders,  the  greater 
the  likelihood  of  mental  disorder.       On  the  other  hand,  the  more 

■"'  As   regards    these  extracts,  see  Note   12   on  v.   522. 

«  We  believe  it  to  be  the  rase  that  in  the  early  month?  of  1921  an  effort  was  made  to 
re-enforce  the  rule  (at  the  prison  in  question).  The  result  was  unrest  among  the  prisoner* 
and    serious    dissatisfaction    among    the   officers. 


THE   SILENCE    RULE  565 

frequently  the  silence  rule  is  evaded  the  more  harm  the  prisoner 
suffers  morally.  That  is  one  of  the  inherent  dilemmas  of  the  system. 
[n  order  to  protect  himself  from  mental  disintegration,  the  prisoner 
iiust  suffer  a  certain  moral  degeneration  by  developing  a  capacity 
for  cunning  and  hypocrisy;  and,  if  he  decline  to  practise  this 
leception,  the  unsociability  involved  in  the  maintenance  of  silent 
solation  is  in  itself  morally  degrading. 

Our  evidence  as  to  the  bad  moral  effects  of  the  silence  rule  is 
Dractically  unanimous,  whether  the  witnesses  be  ex-prisoners, 
varders,  chaplains,  or  governors.  "The  silence  rule  is  the  cause 
!)f  half  the  intrigue  in  prison,"  says  a  chaplain.  "The  silence  rule," 
ieclares  one  ex-prisoner,  "invites  prisoners  to  practise  deception  so 
constantly  that  underhandedness  and  deceitfulness  become  their 
ond  nature.' 

"Pretence  grows  on  one,"  he  proceeds,  "so  as  to  become  a  habit,  and 
[from  a  habit  it  becomes  a  vice.  'I  am  doing  things  in  here  without 
[turning  a  hair,  which  I  should  simply  have  blushed  to  do  outside,' 
I  remarked  a  prisoner  to  me  on  one  occasion,  and  I  am  certain  that  he  was 
invoicing  the  experience  of  almost  every  first  offender.  The  effects  of 
i  prohibiting  open  conversation  is  inevitably  to  encourage  surreptitious 
Miommunication,  and  human  nature  is  such  that  the  growth  of  a  capacity 
[for  deception  in  one  direction  encourages  a  tendency  towards  deception 
fin  other  directions  also,  and  degrades  the  whole  character.  It  is  not 
[too  much  to  say  that  the  silence  rule,  because  it  cultivates  a  capacity 
ffor  deception,  helps  to  manufacture  the  type  and  character  which  find 
[natural  expression  in  crime." 

It  is  needless  to  say,"  remarks  another  ex -prisoner,  "that  this 
bition  of  intercourse,  this  driving  a  man  back  exclusively  upon 
iimself,  his  own  defects,  his  own  grievances,  his  own  needs,  promotes 
he  habit  of  selfishness  to  a  most  grievous  extent."  "The  silence 
ind  the  constant  espionage,"  says  an  ex-prisoner  recently  released 
jrom  a  London  prison,  "have  a  very  deteriorating  effect  on  a  man's 
jharacter  by  changing  him  from  a  jovial,  open  type  to  sullen  and 
■juspicious."     One  further  quotation  from  the  evidence  of  a  "lifer" 

orth  giving: — 

The  silence  rule  encourages  such  a  practice  of  deception  that  men  grow 
artful  and  lying  as  a  matter  of  course ;  even  the  most  innocent  man 
becomes  crafty.  It  is  simply  a  matter  of  self-protection.  Men  become 
such  adepts  that  in  the  exercise  circle  they  will  converse  for  an  hour, 
and  anyone  a  few  yards  away  will  be  utterly  unable  to  perceive  that 
they  have  exchanged  a  word.  To  give  a  cheering  word  to  an  unhappy 
comrade  is  punishable.  Thus  a  morally  good  action  is  treated  as  a 
bad   action   in    a    prisoner. 


m 


erhaps  the  most  remarkable  part  of  our  evidence  on  this  point 
re  statements  that  the  evasion  of  the  silence  rule  is  so  recognised  a 

'  The  extraordinary  ax^nteness  of  hearing  which  many  priEoners  develop  is  dne  partly  to 
«  silence  rule,  and  partly  to  the  long  honrs  of  solitary  confinement.  Some  priionerg  in 
Ijoining  cells  xncceed  in  communicating  with  one  another  by  a  system  of  rapping*  on 
>e  vail. 


■ 


566  SPECIFIC    CAUSES   OF    DETERIORATION 

feature  of  prison  experience  that  an  officer  will  sometimes  actually 
instruct  prisoners  in  the  art  of  deception.     "I  was  in  the  garden 

party   at  prison,"  states  one  ex-prisoner,   "when  one  of  the 

warders  came  close  up  to  us  and  said:  'The  first  lesson  you  have 
to  learn  in  prison  is  deception.  You  should  talk  without  moving 
your  lips  thus  (here  followed  a  practical  illustration)  and  always 
appear  to  be  doing  something  else.'  "  Another  ex-prisoner,  a 
political  oSender,  writes:  — 

L.  didn't  mind  as  talking  so  long  as  other  officers  did  not  see,  but  on 
one  occasion  he  said,  "You  chaps  would  be  all  right  if  you'd  any 
gumption,  but  you  haven't  got  an  atom.  You  aren't  like  the  old  hands. 
When  you  talk  you  bend  towards  each  other,  and  anyone  can  see  tkat 
you  are  at  it  half  a  mile  off.  You  ought  to  talk  like  this — without 
turning,  or  moving  your  lips" — and  he  suited  the  action  to  the  word. 

"Nothing  better  illustrates  the  double  standard  of  morality  that 
permeates  and  debases  prison  life  than  this  question  of  talking,"  is 
the  comment  this  witness  makes  upon  his  own  story. 

In  addition  to  the  cunning  which  must  accompany  the  act  of 
speaking,  the  mental  atmosphere  created  by  this  artificial  and 
impossible  rule  is  fatal  to  moral  well-being.  Again  we  quote  from 
the  evidence  of  an  ex-prisoner :  — 

Try  to  conceive  what  existence  is  like  under  conditions  where,  from 
day  to  day  and  week  to  week,  it  is  only  possible  to  communicate  with  the 
fellow  human  beings  about  one  by  a  breach  of  rules — where  there  is  the 
constant  sense  that  in  doing  so  one  is  doing  something  wrong,  where  one 
has  constantly  to  stoop  to  all  kinds  of  deception  to  evade  discovery,  and 
where  there  is  the  constant  fear  of  being  spied  upon  and  detected  and 
punished.     How  can  character  be  refined  in  such  an  atmosphere  as  that? 

The  Experiment  of  "Talking  Exercise." 
The  unsatisfactory  effects  of  the  silence  rule  have  been  sufficiently 
recognised  to  lead  from  time  to  time  to  half-hearted  attempts  to 
introduce  a  mitigation  in  the  form  of  "talking  exercise."  In  1899, 
prisoners  who  had  served  six  months  in  Local  prisons  and  convicts' 
in  the  special  stage  (which  is  entered  after  a  period  of  from  two 
years  upwards,  according  to  sentence)  were  permitted  to  talk  with 
a  fellow-prisoner  when  on  exercise  once  a  week  in  cases  "where  the 
governor  thinks  association  is  not  likely  to  be  injurious."  In  Local 
prisons  the  experiment  was  apparently  a  failure.  In  the  Convict 
prisons  it  was  apparently  considered  successful,  since  in  1905 
"talking  exercise"  was  extended  to  men  in  the  long  sentence 
division  established  in  that  year,  and  was  permitted  daily.' 

*  The  long  sentence  division  la  now  composed  of  men  sentenced  for  eight  years  or  more, 
who  hare  concluded  five  years  of  their  sentences.  We  are  glad  to  hear  that  an  experiment 
is  now  being  made,  by  which  "long  sentence"  and  other  selected  convicts  are  allowed 
conversation,  with  newspapers  and  recreation,  on  two  or  three  evenings  weekly,  and  tha' 
it  is  proposed  to  allow  relaxations  of  this  nature  to  all  prisoners,  who  have  completed  two 
years   penal   servitude.    See    Note   on   pp.    533-34. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  the  system  of  silent  single  file  exercise  was  only  introduced  into 
Convict  prisons  in  1879.  Before  that  date,  talking  exercise  was  customary.  (Minuke'  o' 
1893  Dep.   Committee,    p.    341).     (See   pp.  326-7). 


THE  EXPERIMENT  OF  "TALKLXG  EXERCISE"  567 

The  failure  of  "talking  exercise"  in  Local  prisons  was,  no  doubt, 
in  part  due  to  the  opposition  of  the  officials;  but  rjot  altogether. 
Prejudice  was  evident  in  the  reports  which  some  of  the  governors 
submitted  on  the  point,  but  in  many  cases  the  criticism  was 
supported  by  facts  and  statistics.  The  grounds  of  objection  were 
stated  to  be  (1)  the  bad  effect  on  prisoners'  characters  through  moral 
contagion  and  incitement  to  future  crime ;  (2)  the  bad  effect  on  prison 
discipline  (but  this  point  is  rarely  mentioned) ;  and  (3)  the  disinchna- 
tion  of  prisoners  to  take  advantage  of  the  privilege.  In  1902  the 
privilege  of  talking  exercise  was  restricted  in  Local  prisons  to 
'prisoners  who  had  served  12  months.  Its  adoption  was  left  per- 
missive, and  by  the  year  1907  only  one  governor'  maintained  it. 
The  rule  remains,  but  since  that  time  it  has  apparently  only  been 
put  in  operation  in  the  case  of  conscientious  objectors  who  had 
■served  12  months,  and  some  other  political  prisoners,  to  whom 
special  concessions  have  been  made  under  the  so-called  "Churchill 
Eule."" 

The  grounds  of  objection  to  "talking  exercise"  in  Local  prisons 
do  not  appear  to  hold  good  to  the  same  degree  at  least,  in  the  case 
of  Convict  prisons.  A  witness  who  has  served  a  seven  years'  sen- 
tence assures  us  that  "little  obscene  language  is  to  be  heard,  though 
there  are  some  prisoners  who  indulge  in  it."  The  subjects  of 
discussion,  he  says,  were  mostly  "any  news  of  the  outside  world 
which  had  leaked  in,  books  read  during  the  week,  and  home  matters. " 
jOn  the  other  hand,  another  ex-convict  witness  does  complain  that 
!the  conversation  was  frequently  indecent,  and  two  women  ex- 
jconvicts  report  that  they  declined  "talking  exercise"  because  of  the 
"filthy"  language  of  their  fellow  prisoners."  So  far  as  discipline 
is  concerned,  we  have  no  evidence  that  it  has  been  impaired  at  Con-vict 
prisons  by  the  practice  of  "talking  exercise,"  whilst  the  prisoner 
whose  evidence  we  have  first  quoted  above  asserts  that  the  weekly 
opportunity  of  conversation  is  "greatly  appreciated." 

i  The  explanation  of  the  failure  of  "talking  exercise"  in  the  one 
jcase  and  its  success  in  the  other  probably  lies  in  certain  important 
differences  in  the  conditions.  The  open-air  work  done  by  most 
convicts  in  the  later  stages  and  the  limited  time  which,  until 
recently,  they  spent  in  their  cells  have  no  doubt  been  responsible 
jfor  the  lessened  degree  of  sexual  obsession  and  nervous  tension 
Ireflected  in  the  healthier  conversation  and  greater  orderliness  that 
marked  their  "talking  exercise";  whilst  the  disinclination  of 
prisoners  in  Local  prisons  to  participate  in  "talking  exercise"  was 
no  doubt  due,  first,  to  the  fact  that  many  of  them  who  were  not  of 
the  habitual   class  would  not  wish  to  associate  closely  with  other 


m 


*  The  goTernor  of  Wandsworth. 

Thig  Rnle  will  be  found  qnoted  on  pp.  222-23. 


The  difference  between  the  men's  and  women's  prisons  is  in  part  due,  no  donbt,  to 
.  *»ct  that,  whilst  the  women  were  not  permitted  to  select  their  partners,  the  men, 
|WAilst  not   authorised  to  do   so,  ooold    in  practice  walk  with   whom   they    pleased. 


I 


568  SPECIFIC    CAUSES    OF    DETERIORATION 

prisoners,  regarding  themselves  as  aliens  among  the  prison  popula- 
tion, to  whom  the  comparative  shortness  of  their  sentences  did  not 
justify  assimilation;  and,  second,  to  the  fact  that  the  opportunity 
of  selecting  partners  was  usually  very  slight  owing  to  the  few 
prisoners  entitled  to  the  privilege. 

Whatever  the  explanation,  however,  the  evidence  is  strong  that 
serious  difficulties  arose  when  "talking  exercise"  was  introduced  into 
Local  prisons.  The  subordinate  prison  officers  who  have  given 
evidence  to  our  enquiry  are  almost  as  agreed  upon  this  as  were  the 
governors  in  their  annual  reports.  One  warder  states  that  the 
experiment  was  discontinued  in  his  prison  not  only  because  the 
prisoners  took  advantage  of  it  "merely  to  retail  filthy  jokes,"  but 
because  fights  occurred  among  them.  Perhaps  nothing  testifies  more 
convincingly  to  the  effects  of  imprisonment  than  evidence  of  this 
nature.  It  would  be  absurd  to  suppose  that  such  things  are  merely 
the  result  of  "criminal  characteristics."  An  hour's  conversation 
under  normal  conditions  of  life,  even  among  the  most  pugnacious, 
hardly  provides  equivalent  causes  of  conflict,  and  even  the  most 
debased  have  other  topics  of  conversation  than  crime  and  in- 
decency. So  far  as  "talking  exercise"  has  failed,  it  has  failed 
primarily  because  the  conditions  of  prison  life  render  the  prisoner 
unfit  for  association.  Nervous  irritability  becomes  so  pronounced 
that,  unless  the  minds  of  prisoners  are  directed  to  some  definite 
interest  (as  is  the  case  in  the  debates  recently  introduced  with  great 
success  at  Pentonville  and  Wandsworth  prisons),  any  relaxation  of 
the  routine  is  likely  to  become  an  occasion  of  conflict  or  revolt,  whilst 
the  starvation  of  all  healthy  interests  leaves  the  prisoner's  mind  a 
prey  to  the  most  objectionable  themes.  "They  cannot  stop  us 
thinking,"  wrote  a  prisoner  from  Dartmoor.  "If  they  were  to  do 
that,  they  would  be  able  to  reform  men,  but  they  never  can  do  so 
under  the  so-called  silence  system.  If  we  could  make  our  thoughts 
published,  what  a  noise  it  would  make  in  the  world  of  clever  men ! "  '" 

The  character  of  the  conversation  when  the  "talking  experiment" 
was  permitted  in  Local  prisons  reveals  in  a  startling  way  the  thoughts  - 
which  germinate  in  silence.  So  long  as  silence  is  enforced,  it  is 
possible  to  preserve  the  illusion  that  it  fosters  profitable  reflection, 
but  the  expression  of  thought  in  talking  exercise  is  convincing 
evidence  that  the  reforms  most  needed  are  those  which  would  give 
the  prisoner  something  profitable  upon  which  to  exercise  his  mind. 

This  conclusion  is  reinforced  by  a  study  of  "talking  exercise"  under 
its  most  favourable  conditions — when  granted  to  political  offenders. 
Among  men,  the  majority  of  whom  endeavoured  to  spend  every 
leisure  hour  in  prison  in  reading  and  meditation,  we  find  what  is 
fundamentally  a  similar  effect — not,  indeed,  indecency  or  quarrelling, 
but  the  vitiating  of  the  benefits  of  the  "privilege"  by  the  other 
conditions  of  prison  life.     With  the  passage  of  time,  the  strain  of 

12  Written  in   1906  by  a  man  serving  his  third  sentence. 


THE  EXPERIMENT  OF  "TALKING  EXERCISE''  569 

imprisonment,  the  incapacity  to  read  or  think  clearly  and  consecu- 
tively, and  the  starvation  of  all  interests,  even  the  opportunity  of 
sustained  talking  becomes  a  burden  to  the  mind.  Many  political 
offenders  assert  that  after  some  time  "talking  exercise"  became  little 
less  wearisome  than  silence,  and  had  little  power  to  combat  the  list- 
lessness  and  apathy  which  characterise  the  later  stages  of  mental 
degeneration. 

Nearly  all  the  evidence  points  in  one  direction.  To  be  of  any  real 
value,  talking  must  be  allowecf  as  something  more  than  a  mere 
temporary  relief  from  machine-like  monotony  and  silence.  It  must 
play  its  part  in  a  wider  scheme  of  education  and  co-operative  activity, 
and  as  a  corollary  of  healthy  interests  bred  by  the  systematic 
encouragement  of  a  vigorous  mental  and  spiritual  life.  "The  remedy 
is  to  introduce  occupations  and  recreations  into  prison  that  will  give 
the  prisoner  wholesome  and  natural  subjects  of  conversation,"  says 
a  high  official  connected  with  the  prison  system.  "Then  conversa- 
tion could  be  allowed  without  much  fear  of  contanunation. ' ' 

Contamination  occurred  with  "talking  exercise,"  contamination 
occurs  now,  and  contamination  will  continue  to  occur  so  long  as 
nothing  is  done  either  to  fill  the  prisoners'  lives  with  healthy  interests 
and  their  minds  with  wholesome  thoughts,  or  to  foster  in  them  a 
feehng  of  responsibihty. 

.\n  educated  woman  who  has  been  in  prison  writes  as  follows:  — 
The  silence  rule  is  intended  to  prevent  contamination  of  prisoners  by 
one  another.  That  this  takes  place  under  existing  circumstances  no  one 
would  deny.  There  is  an  aspect  in  which  this  affects  women  especially 
which  needs  more  adequate  consideration.  Young  girls  often  find  their 
way  to  prison  for  the  first  time  for  small  crimes  which  arise  from  an 
exuberance  of  spirits  and  an  emotional  nature.  The  sudden  suppression 
of  one's  personality  and  the  entire  isolation  from  one's  fellows  have  a 
profound  psychological  effect  on  all  sensitive  natures.  An  intense  craving 
for  some  sign  from  a  fellow  human  being  probably  seizes  hold  of  the 
prisoner,  and  if  she  allows  herself  to  become  possessed  by  her  own 
thoughts  or  feelings,  madness  seems  imminent.  In  this  mood  a  chance 
sign  or  word,  after  the  intense  mental  struggle  caused  by  isolation, 
may  affect  her  whole  life.  Those  in  authority  have  no  adequate  power 
to  administer  comfort  or  healing  to  a  tortured  soul.  Her  sense  of  values 
becomes  altered,  and  the  most  degraded  fellow-prisoner  who  disobeys 
orders  to  get  in  touch  with  her  may  appear  as  an  angel  of  light.  Our 
first  duty,  it  would  seem,  is  to  learn  to  understand  the  needs  of  human 
nature  and  then  to  construct  our  theory. 

"If  warders  were  allowed  to  work  with  the  men  and  talk  freely 
with  them,"  urges  an  officer  of  15  years'  experience,  "there  would 
be  some  chance  of  lifting  the  talking."  "The  danger  of  contamina- 
tion will  be  very  great, "  says  an  ex -prisoner,  "so  long  as  the  interests 
of  prisoners  are  divorced  from  all  wholesome  activities,  from  every 
kind  of  corporate  responsibility  and  organisation,  from  all  normal 
social  or  moral  relations  with  their  fellows,  from  all  games,  from 
all  stimulating  and  useful  work." 


570  SPECIFIC    CAUSES   OF    DETERIORATION 

"The  privilege  of  talking  is  like  the  privilege  of  seeing — a  human 
right.  It  should  be  denied  no  one,"  says  a  governor.  We  agree; 
but,  as  we  have  shown,  the  right  to  speak  is  by  no  means  the  only 
human  right  which  the  prison  system  denies.  The  harmful  effects 
of  the  silence  rule  are  intimately  connected  with  all  the  fundamental 
features  of  the  system,  and  the  removal  of  these  effects  depends  upon 
the  entire  reorganisation  of  prison  life  in  a  way  which  will  provide 
scope  for  self-directed  activity  and  profitable  occupation  of  body 
and  mind. 

Separate  Confinement. 

In  all  ages,  kings  and  governments  have  employed  solitary  con- 
finement to  the  detriment  of  their  political  enemies,  real  or  fancied. 
We  are  officially  supposed  to  have  given  up  that  practice  now. 
"Solitary"  confinement  has  given  place  to  "separate"  confinement. 
But  there  is  in  fact  little  difference  between  them,  and  the  effects  are 
almost  identical. 

"There  is  no  such  thing  as  solitary  confinement, "  a  prison  governor 
asserts,  echoing  the  theory  of  the  Commissioners.  "The  prisoners 
go  out  of  their  cells  to  exercise  and  to  empty  slops,  and 
they  have  their  doors  open  before  and  after  meals.  The  only  excep- 
tions are  the  prisoners  who  are  on  punishment."  In  the  days  (now 
happily  long  past)  when  the  Howard  Association  defended  the 
"separate"  system,  it  argued  similarly.  "Prisoners  are  kept 
separate  from  other  prisoners  only,  but  have  numerous  visits  in  their 
cells  from  the  officers,  chaplain,  schoolmaster,  and  from  suitable 
persons  from  outside,  together  with  industrial  occupation,  books, 
instruction  and  daily  exercise."" 

At  the  time  when  this  was  written,  most  local  prisoners  were  kept 
in  separate  confinement  throughout  their  imprisonment.     Now,  in 
Local  prisons,    only  hard  labour   prisoners  are  placed  in  separate 
confinement,  and  they  only  for  the  first  month;  while,  among  con- 
victs, the  "recidivist"  is  liable  to  three  months  "separate,"  and  the 
other  classes  to  one  month.'*     But  during  this  preliminary  period 
the  "separation"  is  much  closer  than  indicated  in  the  passage  just  j 
quoted.     Many  prisoners  never  have  a  visit  from  the  schoolmaster' 
or  "a  suitable  person  from  outside,"  the  chaplain  is  not  likely  to  ; 
visit  them  more  than  once  during  the  month  and  for  a  few  minutes 
only,    their  instruction  and   occupation  are  limited  to  some  simple 
labour  task,  and  their  books  consist  of  a  Bible  and  an  educational 
work.     A  more  accurate  picture  of  present  day  conditions  is  given 
in  the  following  statement  of  an  ex-prisoner:  — 

The  warders,  though,  for  various  purposes,  they  mechanically  unlocked 
my  cell  door  nine  or  ten  times  in  the  24  hours,  were  as  a  rule  either 
unwilling  or  too  busy  to  listen  to  one's  remarks  or  to  say  anything  beyond 
the   different  formulas  of    the   day,    "All  right?"    "Exercise,"    "Empty 

"  Howard  Association  Report,   1894. 

'*  These  periods  are  laid  down  by  the  rules.  In  practice,  however,  there  seems  to  be  » 
tendency  to  shorten  them.  We  hope  this  is  premonitory  of  a  change  in  the  rules.  (S«e 
p.   519.) 


SEPARATE  CONFINEMENT  671 

slops,"  "More  bags  or  thread  wanted?"  etc.  This  is,  in  actual  practice, 
what  the  advocates  of  the  regime  have  called  association  with  the  prison 
staff,  insisting  that  it  is  a  separate,  and  not  a  solitary  system  ! 

As  Dr.  James  Devon  remarks,  the  differences  between  "solitary" 
and  "separate"  confinement  are  "merely  technical."  '^  In  past  years 
the  accepted  defence  for  separate  confinement  has  been  that  it  is 
not  merely  very  punitive,  but  that  it  leads  prisoners  to  reflect  upon 
their  misdeeds  and  to  repent  of  them."  Our  witnesses  almost 
unanimously  reject  this  view,  one  or  two  chaplains  and  one  warder 
alone  urging  it.  "I  have  found  men  during  this  period  amenable 
to  good  counsel,  and  in  a  penitent  or  softened  mood,"  says  the 
warder,   but  he  adds,   "as  soon  as  they   begin   to  mix  with   other 

-oners  they  become  indifferent  and  callous."  Obviously  the 
ftened  mood"  of  the  prisoners,  of  whom  this  witness  speaks, 

s  superficial  and  temporary,  and  of  no  value  when  brought  into 
(.•  iitact  with  life. 

The  evidence  regarding  the  bad  effects  of  separate  confinement 
is  overwhelming.  "The  first  month  of  separate  confinement  has 
no  reforming  value,"  declares  an  ofl&cial  visiting  minister.  "It  seems 
to  me  wanton  cruelty,  or  else  very  bad  psychology.  It  nearly  drives 
some  men  mad,  others  are  made  bitter  with  indignation,  and  it 
destroys  personality  with  a  third  class,  crushing  them  to  the  dust. 
'''  does  Uttle  to  promote  penitence."  "The  preliminarj'  period  of 
irate  confinement,"  says  a  priest,  "is  of  no  value  and  is  cruel, 
particularly  when  prisoners  are  commencing  long  periods  of  penal 
sei-vitude.  They  are  shut  up  just  when  they  need  company."  An 
experienced  agent  of  a  Dischai-ged  Prisoners'  Aid  Society  declares 
that  the  separate  confinement  "very  often  affects  mental  powers  in  a 
permanent  way,"  whilst  a  warder  asserts  that  "the  moral  and 
physical  dangers  of  the  month's  separate  confinement  are  far  and 
av.ay  more  serious  than  any  compensating  advantage."  An  ex- 
prisoner  who  sers^ed  over  two  years  in  prison  sums  up  the  effects 
of  separate  confinement  as  follows:  — 

The  silence  and  i-solation  merely  serve  to  drive  the  man  more  and  more 
into  himself  and  confirm  whatever  was  there  before.  The  effect  is 
confirmation  in  previous  tendencies — and  not  conversion  from  them ; 
remorse  for  having  been  caught,  but  not  penitence.  If  there  be  a  sense 
of  grievance,  it  leads  to  brooding  which  poisons  the  whole  life. 

Dr.  James  Devon  states:  "In  the  case  of  most,  to  shut  one  into 
no  company  but  himself  can  only  result  in  his  mental  deterioration 
and  .  .  .  some  have  been  driven  towards  insanity  through  this 
treatment."'"  Regulations  affecting  suicides  have  ah'eady  been 
,  quoted  indicating  that  the  early  period  of  imprisonment  is  the  most 
frequent  occasion  for  attempts  at  self-destruction,  i.e.,  they  usually 

"The  Criminal  and  the  Commnnity,"  p.   229. 
I    ^'  It   lias   also    been   justified,   ol  recent   years,   as   a    kind    of    quarantine,   "very   essential 
!    lor  adminiEtratire  purposes."    See  pp.  78  and  319. 
'■"The   Criminal   and  the  Commnnity,  p.  229. 


572  SPECIFIC    CAUSES    OF    DETERIORATION 

occur  during  the  period  in  which  isolation  and  separate  confinement 
are  most  I'igorously  enforced.'" 

The  experience  of  the  prisoner  during  this  period  is  strikinglv 
expressed  by  Edward  Carpenter  in  his  prose  poem,  "Portland":  — 
The  same,  same  thoughts  thought  over  and  over  and  over  and  over 
again ;  the  same  little  stock  of  memories  and  fancies  brought  with  one 
into  this  whited  sepulchre — getting  smaller  and  slighter  daily — now  like 
a  wheel  with  ever  rapider  motion  going  round  and  round,  till  the  brain 
itself  is  reeling.'' 

After  a  month  of  separate  confinement,  the  prisoner  with  hard 
labour,  or  the  "star"  convict,  works  in  association;  the  "recidivist" 
convict  may  have  to  wait  three  months  for  this  privilege.  Associated 
labour  provides  some  mitigation  of  the  severity  of  the  rule  of  separa- 
tion, for,  although  silence  is  enjoined,  it  is  impossible  rigidly  to 
enforce  it,  and  most  men  derive  some  satisfaction  from  the  mere 
sight  of  their  fellows.  Even  the  briefest  snatches  of  conversation, 
even  the  mere  sense  of  human  contact,  serve  to  relieve  the  inner 
tension  and  draw  the  prisoner  from  the  morbidly  self-centred  con- 
dition bred  by  isolation. 

Prison  governors,  almost  without  exception,  have  reported  an 
improvement  in  the  industrial  efficiency,  the  behaviour,  and  the 
mental  condition  of  prisoners  since  the  introduction  of  regular 
associated  labour  about  the  year  1900.  Eeference  is  often  made  to 
this  change  in  the  reports  of  the  Prison  Commissioners  and  the 
Comptroller  of  Industries.  Thus,  in  1901,  this  official  reported  as 
follows :  — 

The  concession  to  well-conducted  prisoners  of  the  privilege  of  working 
in  strictly  regulated  association  continues  to  exercise  a  humanising  and 
stimulating  effect.  More  than  5,300  local  prisoners,  a  large  proportion 
of  whom  would  formerly  have  been  strictly  confined  to  their  cells,  may 
now  be  seen  working  in  properly  supervised  groups  with  a  degree  of 
interest  and  assiduity  which  it  is  pleasing  to  witness.  More  than  one 
governor  has  drawn  my  attention  to  the  striking  contrast  between  the 
normal  expression  of  countenance  of  the  associated  prisoner  and  that  of 
the  solitary  worker  in  a  cell— the  former  animated  and  alert,  the  latter 
more  or  less  apathetic  or  depressed.  This  in  itself  is  surely  valuable 
evidence  in  favour  of  the  change  of  system.^" 

Whilst  such  passages  appear  rather  to  overstate  the  value  of 
mere  association  under  conditions  which  preclude  a  full  use  of  its 
possible  advantages,  they  are  of  interest  in  indicating  that  some 
slight  attention  is  being  paid  to  the  mental  as  well  as  to  the  physical 
health  of  prisoners,  a  matter  which  previously  had  been  almost 
totally  neglected. 

In  both  Local  and  Convict  prisons,  the  period  of  each  working 
day  spent  by  a  prisoner  locked  up  in  his  cell,  even  after  the  term 
of  separate  confinement  has  been  passed,  is  17i  hours  out  of  the 

>«  See  pp.  555-56. 

'*  Carpenter,  "Towards   Democracy"    (1905),   p.    470. 

2»  P.O.  Report,  1900-1,  p.  55.  The  change  of  expression  would  hardly  have  taken  place 
were  it  not  for  the  added  zest  of  occasional  opportunities   for  conreraation. 


PRISON  DISCIPLINE  578 

24,  whilst  on  Saturdays  and  Sundays  he  spends  19  to  20  hours  in 
the  same  condition.  There  is,  therefore,  in  reaUty  a  great  deal  of 
separate  confinement  even  for  those  who  are  technically  on 
association,  and  its  bad  effects  remain  throughout  the  term  of 
imprisonment/' 

Prison  Discipline. 

Next  to  silence  and  to  solitude,  the  feature  of  prison  life  most 
severely  criticised  both  by  prisoners  and  other  observers  is  the 
discipline  imposed  upon  them  through  the  warders  who  direct  their 
movements.  The  nature  of  this  discipline  will  be  sufficiently 
apparent  to  those  who  have  read  our  earlier  chapters  and  considered 
the  list  of  possible  offences  for  which  every  prisoner  is  threatened 
with  punishment.  The  rigid,  precise,  and  mechanical  routine 
is  not  only  excessively  irksome  to  the  prisoner,  but  is  morally  use- 
less and  in  no  small  way  responsible  for  the  development  of  "criminal 
characteristics."  Leaving  the  prisoner  practically  no  opportunity 
for  the  exercise  of  choice  even  in  the  smallest  things  of  life,  prison 
discipline  tends  to  reduce  him  to  a  merely  passive  machine,  incapable 
of  dehberation,  forethought,  or  intelligent  self -direction.  Once  the 
decision  has  been  made  to  accept  the  routine  and  to  obey  all  orders, 
no  further  demand  is  made  upon  the  will.  This  condition  of  purely 
passive  obedience  is  the  dominant  characteristic  of  the  "good 
prisoner,"  and  it  is  upon  the  ability  to  forego  the  satisfactions  which 
proceed  from  the  exercise  of  will  that  adaptation  to  prison  conditions 
largely  depends. 

After  a  long  term  of  imprisonment,  passive  obedience  and  depend- 
ence upon  authority  have  become  habitual,  and  the  prisoner  finds 
himself,  when  he  at  last  faces  the  tasks  of  normal  life,  without 
decision,  without  initiative,  and  lacking  in  self-control.  Obedience 
under  a  system  of  rigorous  discipline  becomes  aimless,  drifting  as 
soon  as  external  authority  is  removed.  It  has,  moreover,  a  further 
danger  when  the  offender,  particularly  if  he  be  in  the  early  stages 
of  his  criminal  career,  returns  to  a  criminal  environment.  Most 
of  the  expert  and  professional  criminals  make  use  of  docile  accom- 
plices; and,  in  general,  it  is  probable  that  a  majority  of  crimes  arise 
more  from  the  inability  to  resist  a  criminal  suggestion  than  from 
deliberate  aggression.  The  prevalence  of  recidivism  in  overcrowded 
urban  areas  and  its  intimate  association  with  intemperance  strongly 
indicate  its  dependence  upon  what  is  known  as  "herd  suggestion." 
Dr.  J.  F.  Sutherland,  writing  on  this  point,  Vv'hen  referring  to  slum 
areas  with  their  noxious  moral  and  material  atmosphere,  asserts  that 
"it  would  scarcely  be  possible  for  a  saint  to  live  in  them  and  not  be 
contaminated .  The  contagion  is  virulent  and  paralysing. ' '  "  The 
relaxing  effect  of  prison  discipline  upon  the  will  must  considerably 

*'  In  Scotland  "separate  confinement."  as  practised  in  English  prisons  during  the  first 
month,  has  been  in  principle  abandoned,  except  for  prisoners  under  punishment.  We 
nnderstand  that  the  new  prison  accommodation  now  being  provided  in  Scotland  will  enable 
all  prisoners   to   have  associated  labour  throughout  their   sentences. 

"  "Recidivism,"  p.   34. 


674  SPECIFIC    CAUSES    OF    DETERIORATION 

weaken  the  powers  of   mind  upon  wliich  a  good  life  in   such  a-.i 
environment  depends.       Whilst  it  would  be  too  much  to  say  th:: 
prison  discipline  is  mainly  responsible  for  this  contagion  of  criir 
upon   ex-prisoners,   it  is,    at   any   rate,   clear  that   the   process  « 
demoralisation  which   occurs   in   prison   considerably   weakens   ti; 
offender's  powers  of  resistance,  and  that  a  system  of  discipline  whit 
would  operate  in  exactly  the  opposite  direction  is  required  if  pris' 
treatment  is  to  have  the  effect  of  enabling  a  man  to  resist  the  tempt 
tions  of  a  bad  environment. 

Even  such  an  apologist  for  the  existing  regime  as  Dr.  R.  F. 
Quinton  suggests  that  the  true  aim  should  be  "to  cultivate  and  rein- 
force whatever  will-power  the  criminals  may  possess,  rather  than 
to  conquer  it  by  measures  of  repression, ' ' "'  though  he  does  not  se^ 
how  utterly  imprisonment  still  fails  to  carry  this  out.  Offenders 
who  have  passed  through  our  prisons  have  been  taught,  as  Dr.  Devon 
points  out,  "to  be  respectful  and  obedient,  but  they  have  lost,  in  a 
corresponding  degree  to  their  improvement  in  manners,  their  power 
to  act  for  themselves.""  Not  only  is  initiative  destroyed,  but  Vrr 
power  of  resisting  temptation  cannot  be  learnt  in  a  regime  whe. 
men  are  not  entrusted  with  responsibilities  and  where  no  appeal  is 
made  to  their  honour,  but  only  to  their  sense  of  fear  and  their  desire 
for  "privileges." 

We  have  much  evidence  of  the  pernicious  character  of  tl:- 
discipline.  For  instance,  a  prison  minister  with  experience  of  both 
Convict  and  Local  prisons  writes :  — 

Prison  discipline  is  detrimental  to  self-discipline.  It  destroys  the 
will — men  become  mechanical  and  as  soon  as  discipline  is  relaxed  are 
morally  at  sea.  There  is  no  effort — save  by  the  chaplain,  and  that 
too  often  very  formal — to  get  within  men.  The  discipline  is  external. 
.     .     .     Its  military  nature,  which  mechanises  men,  is  the  radical  fault. 

On  this  last  point  an  ex-officer  in  the  army,  who  before  the  war 
had  much  experience  of  prisoners  both  inside  prison  and  on  dis- 
charge, writes  to  us  that  "the  present  system  of  Convict  and  Local 
prisons  makes  good  soldiers  rather  than  good  citizens."     The  gre  ■ 
need,  he  asserts,  is  for  "experts  in  character"  on  the  prison  sta 
instead  of  "parade  ground  masters  of  cleanhness  and  symmetry. 
The  secretary  of  a  Prisoners'  Aid  Committee,  also  with  army  expe; 
ence,  testifies  to  the  same  point,  when  he  declares  that  "the  com:, 
having  everything  done  for  him,  his  initiative  becomes  sapped,  h 
independence  entirely  abolished." 

A  probation  officer  and  supervisor  of  ex-convicts  with  30  year^ 
experience,  compares  the  discipline  to  the  machinery  of  an  enginee: 

23  "Modern  Prison  Cnrriculum"   (1912),  p.  51. 

'*  DeTon,  op.  cit.,  p.  270.  The  reformer,  Captain  Maconochie,  made  a  similar  obserTati 
years  ago:— "Men  kept  for  weeks,  months,  years,  under  a  sense  ol  severe  e.xternal  pressir 
and  praised  and  encouraged  in  proportion  as  they  submit  to  it,  are  in  a  direct  conrs^^ 
preparation  to  yield  to  other  forms  of  pressure,  as  soon  as  they  present  themseWes.  Th' 
go  in  weak,  or  they  would  not  probably  be  prisoners,  and  they  come  cut  still  m; 
enfeebled."     (Quoted  from  his  "Crime  and  Punishment,"  pp.  2  and  9,  1846). 


PBISO.W  DISCIPLINE  573 

ng  shop;  but  in  prison,  he  says,  you  are  working,  not  on  metal,  but 
>n  "minds  which  differ  in  capacity,  decision,  and  imagination  more 
;.han  their  faces,  so  that  cast-iron  rules  with  no  elasticity  have  an 
.ne"vitable  tendency  to  paralyse  and  eventually  to  atrophy  and 
extinguish  any  latent  spark  of  initiative  or  self-control." 

One  of  the  most  powerful  indictments  of  the  discipline  is  to  be 
[bund  in  a  report  of  the  Prison  Commissioners  themselves.  The 
chaplain  of  Portland  Convict  prison  wrote  as  follows  in  1910: — 

I  should  like  to  mention  one  point  which  has  been  more  and  more 
firmly  impressed  upon  my  mind,  particularly  since  I  have  been  at  this 
prison.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  most  usual  effect  of  a  long  imprison- 
ment is  to  obliterate  almost  entirely  the  sense  of  responsibility.  The 
will  of  the  individual  is,  for  the  time,  completely  suppressed.  He  lives 
under  strict  rule  and  discipline.  He  gets  up  in  the  morning  and  goes 
to  bed  at  night  because  he  is  ordered  to  do  so.  He  w^orks,  because  he 
would  be  punished  if  he  refused.  He  exercises  at  stated  times  for  the 
same  reason.  He  takes  his  meals  when  they  are  brought  to  him,  and 
he  has  no  choice  as  to  what  he  shall  eat.  He  is  not  allowed  to  talk. 
The  only  chance  he  has  of  exercising  his  will  is  in  the  choice  of  library 
and  educational  books  with  which  to  pass  his  leisure  time.  This  being 
so,  it  follows  that  such  an  one,  even  supposing  that  he  has  the  desire 
to  recover  himself,  begins  his  struggle  under  a  terrible  handicap,  and 
it  can  hardly  be  wondered  at  that  so  many  fail.^* 

The  chairman  of  the  Commissioners  supplied  us,  by  implication, 
with  an  almost  equally  cogent  criticism  of  the  regime  when  he  wrote 
in  1900:  "The  majority  of  prisoners  behave  well,  or,  to  be  accurate, 
do  not  behave  badly."** 

However  much  the  prison  routine  succeeds  in  the  majority  of  cases 

in  producing  the  good   prisoner,  its  harsh   features  are  constantly 

creating  a  condition  of  suppressed  irritability  which  in  many  ways 

impaii's  its  smooth  working.     Punishment  and  offences  constitute  a 

vicious  circle  within  the  prison  system.     Offences  are  frequently  the 

outcome  of  the  irritation  bred  from  prison  discipline,  and  are  them- 

s  the  occasion  of  further  punishment."     The  extent  to  which 

factor  operates  is  largely  obscured  by  the  fact  that  prisoners  are 

:d  in  their  cells  for  most  of  the  day,  and  therefore  have  little  or 

pportunity  of  committing  offences.     It  is  probably  the  physical 

mpossibility  of  giving  trouble  more  than  the  effective  nature  of  the 

liscipline  which  accounts  for  there  being  no  more  offences  than,  as 

a  matter  of  fact,  occur.     It  is  noteworthy  as  indicating  the  injurious 

"P.O.  Report,    1909-10.  Part   2,  p.  245. 

;  **  Report  on  the  Filth  and  Sixth  International  Penitentiary  Congresses   (1901,  Cd.  575), 
).  25. 

*'  A   tra^c    instance  of    this   has   recently    come    to   our   notice.    A    mn?ical   composer   of 

'"'■■f?rable  talent  was  serrjng  a  sentence  of  three  years'  penal  serTitude.    He  suffered  greatly 

to   the   confinement    and   the   inability   to   reliere  his  mind    and  emotions  by  writing 

his    compositions.    His   friends    made  efforts   to   secure   permission   lor  him  to  have    a 

■  HMPuok  for   this   purpose.    It   was   denied   to    him   because   his  behaviour    was   bad,  and  he 

I^^B  only  promise  improvement  in  this   if  he  secured  the  coveted  book.    The  vain   straggle 

l^^^wn,   nntil   one   day   he   was    certified   as    insane  and    removed   to  the  criminal   lanatie 

P^^HB.    His   friends  consider   that    the  allowance   of  a    notebook   would,   at   the   least,   have 

lad    a   great   infiaence   in   preserving   hi*    sanity. 


576  SPECIFIC    CAUSES    OF    DETERIORATION 

effect  of  the  discipline  that  when  concessions  have  been  made  o 
relaxations  allowed,  it  has  almost  invariably  been  reported  tha 
improvement  in  the  conduct  of  prisoners  is  the  result.^' 

Absence  of  Self-Expression  in  Occupations. 

A  further  feature  of  the  prison  system  calling  for  specia 
consideration  is  the  denial  of  opportunity  for  self-expression  i; 
interesting  labour. 

Complaints  that  prison  labour  is  hard  are  surprisingly  rare;  tha 
it  is  monotonous,  useless,  and  degrading  is  almost  invariably  th 
burden  of  the  more  intelligent  prisoners'  protests.  Even  whe: 
enough  labour  is  provided  to  occupy  the  time,  it  is  usually  insufficier 
to  occupy  the  mind.  Mere  mechanical  and  monotonous  tasks 
however  effective  as  a  punishment,  are  incapable  of  developing  th 
qualities  most  needed  if  the  criminal  is  to  be  restored  as  a  usefu 
member  of  society." 

"Here,  it  seems,"  writes  a  prisoner  undergoing  penal  servitude  (th 
fourth  year  of  his  second  sentence),  "the  best  man  is  looked  on  as  he  wh 
has  thoroughly  mastered  the  noble  art  of   'fiddling.'  " 

"I  am  engaged,"  writes  another  convict  (the  second  year  of  his  thir 
sentence),  "in  such  intellectual  work  as  weeding,  and  picking  up  littl 
bits  of  brick  and  stone  in  the  prison  yard  and  then  scattering  thei 
abroad  again,  or  chopping  up  firewood  that  nobody  wants.  After  bein 
engaged  in  such  pleasant  pursuits  as  these  for  12  months  you  are  expecte 
to  go  out  into  the  world  and  suddenly  transform  yourself  into  a  rations 
human  being  again.     No  wonder  we  all  come  back  again  !" 

Whilst  minute  care  is  devoted  under  the  Eules  and  Standing  Order 
to  other  aspects  of  the  prisoner's  life,  the  care  of  his  mind  is 
subject  of  almost  total  neglect.  In  spite  of  the  limited  relaxatioi 
obtainable  through  the  prison  library,  long  periods  are  spent  ii 
isolation  with  nothing  to  relieve  the  blank  vacuity  of  consciousnes 
except  morbid  brooding,  unhealthy  images  and  idle  dreaming,  or  i^ 
some  cases  the  torture  of  obsessions.  A  convict  writes  (the  fir's 
year  of  his  first  sentence): —  : 

You  have  no  idea  what  it  is,  sir,  to  be  in  a  gloomy  place  like  thiij 
always  studying  and  thinking^  and  what  nasty,  unearthly  dreams ;  j 
is  enough  to  send  a  man  mad. 

! 

The  struggles  of  prisoners  to  find  something  outside  their  ow{ 
thoughts  with  which  to  occupy  themselves  provide  perhaps  the  mofj 
pathetic  passages  in  the  descriptions  of  prison  life;  every  effort  iij 
volves  a  conflict  wtih  the  regulations  and  provides  an  occasion  fd 

28  Cp.    Devon,   op.  clt.,   pp.   255-6,   and   the  passages    from   the   CoBiinissioners'   report*, 
which  reference  is  made  on  pp.  78-9.  ] 

^^  Most  of  these  statements  might  be  truly  apijlied,  mutatis  mutandis,  to  much  of  t 
■work  done  in  factories.  It  seems  possible  that  the  small  scope  allowed  to  the  creati' 
instinct  in  modern  industrial  life  is  in  it^.elf  one  element  in  the  want  of  eqailibric 
resulting  in   crime. 


ABSENCE    OF    SELF-EXPRESSION    IN    OCCUPATIONS      577 

further  punishment.  The  secretion  within  the  cell  of  forbidden 
articles  has  almost  invariably  for  its  motive  a  harmless  aspiration  to 
cultivate  some  hobby  that  will  occupy  the  mind. 

Sometimes  the  occupations  of  prisoners  are  of  a  trivial  and  childish 
nature,  such  as  playing  bricks  with  minute  pieces  of  wood  or 
meaningless  arrangements  of  the  meagre  contents  of  their  cell. 
Other  prisoners  manage  to  devise  pursuits  of  a  more  elaborate  and 
creative  character.  Most  prison  governors  possess  a  small  museum 
of  ingenious  contrivances  and  objects  of  art  produced  by  prisoners 
in  their  hours  of  solitude.  We  have  desci'ibed  some  of  these  cell- 
crafts,  when  dealing  with  prison  labour  and  the  need  for  greater 
educational  facilities."  The  somewhat  hmited  concessions  as  regards 
cell-occupations  that  have  been  granted  at  the  Preventive  Detention 
prison  and  the  Borstal  institutions  illustrate  what  might  be  done  to 
meet  this  hunger  for  mental  occupation  and  creative  activity. 

The  occasional  taming  of  wild  animals  and  birds  as  pets  affords  a 
rather  appealing  instance  of  the  exercise  of  the  same  starved  faculty 
of  self-expression,  which  rejoices  to  find  in  another  sentient  creature 
a  response  to  its  own  activities.  One  of  the  writers  of  this  book, 
whilst  serving  three  months'  solitary  confinement,  managed,  by 
means  of  potato  and  bread  crumbs,  to  induce  a  sparrow  to  come 
regularly  inside  the  tiny  window  opening,  and  finally  to  descend  on 
to  the  cell  floor  in  pursuit  of  its  crumbs  at  least  three  or  four  times 
a  day.  Warders  have  told  us  of  other  prisoners  who  have  managed 
to  catch  and  clip  the  wings  of  sparrows  and  even  of  a  jackdaw, 
keeping  them  under  circumstances  of  concealment  that  must  have 
been  cruel,  we  fear,  to  the  poor  birds ;  and  there  is  the  classic  in- 
stance of  Michael  Davitt  and  his  black-bird." 

At  one,  at  least,  of  the  Convict  prisons,  viz.,  Dartmoor,  the  keep- 
ing of  field  mice  as  pets  is  a  regular  practice.  One  of  the  warders 
at  this  prison  has  given  the  following  account :  — 

Quite  a  number  of  the  convicts  catch  field  mice  to  keep  as  pets. 
This  practice  was  encouraged  by  one  of  the  best  of  the  Dartmoor 
governors,  who  also  first  started  giving  men  a  little  cage  in  which  to 
take  away  their  mice  on  discharge.  The  giving  away  of  these  cages  was 
kept  up  until  1914. 

The  mouse  is  usually  kept  tied  up  in  a  cloth  bag  in  the  cell  during 
the  daytime,  and  it  is  a  recognised  practice  in  searching  the  cell  not  to 
interfere  with  them.  Men  have  also  been  known  to  keep  a  rat  as  a  pet. 
In  one  case  a  warder  cemented  up  a  hole  in  the  floor  of  a  man's  cell, 
at  which  the  man  complained  bitterly ;  he  explained  afterwards  that  the 
ole  contained  a  rat,  which  was  "his  only  friend  in  the  world";  so  the 

arder  tacitly  allowed  him  to  knock  the  cement  again  out  of  the  hole. 


m 


The  field  mice  are  sometimes,  as  might  be  expected,  the  cause  of 
jfights  between  two  prisoners,  both  intent  on  securing  a  mouse  as 

I    »*See  pp.  119  and  163-65. 
^'  M.    DaTitt,  "Leaves  from    a  Prison  Diary"    (1885),  preface. 


578  SPECIFIC    CAUSES    OF    DETERIORATION 

the  solace  of  their  soUtude ;  and  assaults  on  warders  are  said  to  have 
arisen  out  of  interference  with  one  of  these  pets.  The  following 
extract  from  a  letter  written  by  a  convict  in  1910  has  in  it  a  note 
of  bitter  irony  :  — 

I  had  a  little  mouse  that  could  do  no  end  of  tricks.  I  would  not  have 
parted  with  it  for  anything.  One  day  an  officer  drowned  it  to  save  me 
the  trouble  of  looking  after  it.  I  think  I  can  laugh  at  a  man  who 
carries  his  love   so  far   as  that ! 

But  such  a  catastrophe  is,  we  believe,  very  exceptional.  We  have 
it  on  good  authority  that  "for  the  sake  of  the  comfort  and  pleasure 
given  by  the  keeping  of  these  pets  and  its  humanising  influence,  the 
practice  is  not  forbidden,"  and  is  even  encouraged  by  the  governor 
and  Commissioners."  We  hope  that  the  precedent  will  induce  these 
authorities  to  introduce  into  our  prisons  many  more  "humanising 
influences,"  until  the  whole  atmosphere  is  changed.  Then  there 
will  be  no  need  to  fight  for  the  possession  of  a  single  much-coveted 
mouse. 

The  following  narrative,  written  by  an  ex -convict,  illustrates 
another  not  uncommon  outlet  of  this  same  passion  for  self- 
expression  :  — 

One  Saturday  afternoon,  when  the  prison  was  busy  with  cleaning ; 
and  much  jangling  of  keys,  slamming  of  doors,  shouting  of  orders,  and 
clatter  of  buckets  helped  to  drown  any  noise  otherwise  likely  to  be: 
heard,  a  peculiar  noise  was  heard  and  the  warders  commenced  to  localise! 
it ;  a  warder  on  rubbered  tip-toe  commenced  to  look  through  each  spy-| 
hole  on  the  doors  of  the  suspected  cells  ;  at  last  he  suddenly  opened  one,i 
and  found  a  prisoner  covered  up  with  his  bedclothes  and  trying  to  play 
a  tune  from  an  instrument  made  by  tying  pieces  of  thread  across  his 
washing  bowl  and  plucking  them  with  a  piece  of  wood  ;  poor  wretch,; 
he  was  fond  of  music  and  tried  his  best  to  get  some,  other  than  that! 
supplied  on  Sundays  at  the  prison  chapel. 

Again,  I  know  of  a  prisoner  serving  a  long  term,  who  with  muchj 
patience  and  indu.stry  managed  to  accumulate  sufficient  material  to  make 
a  very  presentable  zither ;  it  had  over  24  notes  properly  tuned  ;  for  quite; 
a  long  time  he  managed  to  evade  the  vigilant  warders  and  delighted  hLs 
fellow-prisoners  with  a  few  musical  moments  at  discreet  times.  Alas, 
in  a  moment  of  confidence  all  went  wrong.  It  so  happened  that  a  certain 
semi-religious  person  who  was  visiting  the  prison  for  the  good  of  the: 
inhabitants,  paid  a  visit  to  the  musician.  Just  how  the  subject  arose,, 
I  don't  know,  but  the  prisoner  showed  the  visitor  his  instrument.; 
explained  all  there  was  to  explain,  was  praised  for  his  ingenuity  and 
industry,  and  the  visitor  left  him,  feeling  a  somewhat  better  man. 
Nemesis  followed.  A  few  minutes  after,  the  principal  warder  came,; 
sought  for  and  found  the  music  maker's  instrument  and  took  it  away' 
and  the  next  day  the  penalty  was  paid. 

Of  such  a  nature  are  a  large  proportion  of  prison  offences. 
Immunity  from  punishment  is  secured  by  passive  resignation  to  thy 
vacuity  of  mind  and  the  restraining  of  every  impulse  to  create;  it 

•»  Patereon,  "Our  Prisons,"  p.  20. 


ABSENCE    OF    SELF-EXPRESSION    IN    OCCUPATIONS      619 


is  escaped  by  those  who  are  content  to  dwell  in  imagination  upon 
the  obscene,  by  those  who  idly  dream  of  successful  crime;  but  upon 
those  who  struggle  to  retain  a  living  interest  in  such  prinnitive  arts- 
and  handicrafts  as  can  be  practised  in  secret,  upon  those  who 
endeavour  to  cultivate  those  quaUties  of  mind  and  character  that  are 
of  value  in  ordinary  Ufe,  it  is  upon  them  that  the  full  weight  of  the 
system  falls.  It  is  for  this  reason,  perhaps,  more  than  for  any 
other,  that  prison  fails  in  itself  to  reform  or  to  re-educate  those  who 
need  it. 


CHAPTER  IX 


GENERAL    CONCLUSIONS 


I 


To  sum  up :  the  essential  features  of  our  present  penal  system  lie 
in  the  confinement  of  offenders  under  unnatural  conditions,  in  an 
environment  in  which  many  of  the  normal  human  functions  become 
inoperative.  Speech  and  association  with  one's  fellow-men — the 
most  elementary  of  human  rights, —  if  not  wholly  eliminated  in  prison 
life,  are  at  least  subjected  to  the  severest  limitations;  while 
mutual  aid  and  all  moral  and  social  co-operation  are  forbidden. 
Other  features  of  prison  life  are  the  imposition  of  monotonous 
and  uninteresting  tasks  of  little  or  no  use  as  training  for  the  future ; 
deprivation  of  opportunity  for  initiative,  choice,  or  any  form  of  self- 
directed  activity  and  submission  to  a  rigid  and  precisely  regulated 
discipline.  In  brief,  the  system  may  be  defined  as  the  deprivation 
of  every  influence  and  the  prohibition  of  every  activity  beyond  the 
bare  necessities  of  life,  excepting  only  certain  minor  concessions  in 
the  form  of  books,  religious  ministrations,  and — for  some  few 
prisoners — very  restricted  educational  facilities. 

Physical  Pain  Eeplaced  by  Mental. 

The    full   significance   of   this   system   can   be    seen   only   when 
contrasted  with  the  penal  codes  from  which  it  is  historically  derived. 
The  most  primitive  form  of  punishment  consisted  in  the  infliction  of 
bodily    injury,    of    a    temporary    or    permanent    nature,    with   its 
accompaniments  of  physical  pain.     It  is  noteworthy  that  with  the. 
exception  of  capital  punishment   and  a  restricted  use  of  the  lash, 
direct   physical   injury   has   been   discarded   from   the   penal   code.  ; 
Modern   methods  of  punishment   take  the   form  of  deprivation  of  > 
liberty    and    the    denial    of    intellectual,    emotional    and    spiritual  i 
satisfactions.     Stated   in  physiological   terms,    primitive   forms    of  j 
punishment  consisted  in  the  infliction  of  gross  bodily  hurt ;  modem  | 
penal  methods  are  directed  upon  the  higher  functions  of  the  central 
nervous  system. 

It  is  to  this  characteristic  of  modern  methods  of  punishment  that 
prisoners  mean  to  refer  in  their  frequent  allusions  to  the  "mental  ! 
suffering,"  "scientific  punishment"  or  "refined  cruelty"  of  prison.  | 
The  elimination  of  crude  physical  pain  from  penal  discipline  is  ! 
popularly  regarded  as  an  indication  that  prisons  are  being  | 
progressively  reformed.       Much  of  this  apparent  reform  in  penal 


EFFECTS  ON  "SENSITIVE"  AND  "HARDENED"  TYPES    581 

methods  is  illusory.  The  change  serves  as  much  to  protect  officials 
from  public  criticism  as  prisoners  from  unnecessary  suffering. 
Though  no  less  intense  than  physical  pain,  the  suffering  experienced 
under  prison  discipline  is  vague,  diffuse,  and  cannot  be  so  vividly 
represented  in  memory  or  imagination.  Whilst  public  sympathy 
might  easily  be  enlisted  to  assist  a  fellow-creature  who  is  suffering 
from  wounds,  mutilation  or  organic  disease,  as  the  result  of  his 
punishment,  the  depth  of  misery  to  which  our  prisoners  may  sink 
to-day  is  obscured  by  the  cleanliness  of  the  buildings  and  the  order- 
liness of  the  routine;  and  the  vacancy  and  inertia  of  the  prisoner's 
mind  are  mistakenly  regarded  as  inherent  criminal  characteristics 
beyond  all  remedy.  Thus  the  prisoner  is  effectively  isolated  from 
pubhc  sympathy,  and  the  sense  of  being  immured  and  forgotten  by 
the  world  increases  his  despair. 

The  well-known  difficulty  of  reproducing  mental  pain  in  memory  or 
imagination  has  another  and — from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
express  purposes  of  the  prison  syst-em — a  somewhat  serious  con- 
sequence. The  memory  of  prison  experience,  even  though  that 
experience  may  have  caused  permanent  mental  injury,  has  neither 
the  vivid  nor  compelling  quality  required  to  influence  conduct  in  a 
moment  of  special  temptation.  The  system  of  punishment  adopted 
in  modem  prisons  in  this  way  fails  even  to  achieve  its  own  professed 
intention  of  deterrence. 

Effects  on  "Sensitive"  and  "Hardened"  Types. 

The  mental  effects  of  imprisonment  which  have  been  dealt  with  in 
this  review  fall  broadly  under  two  heads.  There  is,  on  the  one 
hand,  a  group  of  effects  arising  from  the  prisoner's  failure  to  adapt 
himself  to  the  conditions  of  prison  life;  and  there  are,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  effects  which  appear  in  consequence  of  successful 
adaptation.  It  follows  from  this  division  that  the  two  classes  of 
effects  tend  to  be  mutually  exclusive,  though  the  possibility  of  vary- 
ing degrees  and  different  modes  of  adaptation  involves  under  certain 
conditions  the  occurrence  of  effects  of  both  types  in  the  same 
individual.  The  effects  of  imprisonment  upon  the  more  refined  and 
sensitive  natures  such  as  are  found  among  political  offenders  and 
offenders  drawn  from  the  more  favoured  social  classes  are  more 
frequently  those  of  failure  in  a-daptation.  The  ordinary  offender, 
especially  if  imprisoned  at  an  age  before  character  is  fully  formed, 
tends  more  frequently  to  experience  the  effects  of  adaptation. 

Failure  in  adaptation  to  prison  conditions  is  evidenced  by  mental 
aberration,  of  which  insanity  or  nervous  breakdown  produced  by 
the  stress  of  prison  conditions  is  an  extreme  example.  Other 
.examples,  the  pathological  nature  of  which  is  frequently  misunder- 
stood by  prison  officials,  are  nervous  irritability,  a  heightened 
.disposition  to  emotional  reactions,  morbid  fancies,  and  delusions  of 
persecution. 

Conversely,    atrophy    of   the    powers  of    mind    and   condition   of 


582  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS 

listlessness  are  changes  in  the  prisoner's  mental  hfe  which  place 
the  prisoner  more  in  harmony  with  his  environment,  and  diminish 
the  sufferings  that  arise  from  unsatisfied  desires.  When  rigid 
discipline  is  enforced  and  restrictions  are  most  severe,  the  stifling 
of  desires  which  cannot  be  satisfied  is  the  only  means  by  which 
peace  of  mind  can  be  obtained.  Complete  apathy,  therefore,  is  the 
most  perfect  form  of  adaptation.*  In  any  extreme  and  absolute  form 
such  adaptation  is  rare.  Various  modes  are  possible,  and  some  are 
unquestionably  beneficial.  For  instance,  the  prisoner  may  find 
occupation  for  his  mind  in  self-educational  pursuits,  which 
previously  had  played  but  a  small  part  in  his  life ;  it  is  to  be  feared, 
however,  that  under  the  actual  conditions  of  prison  life,  other  means 
are  adopts  with  greater  ease.  So  few  of  the  possible  satisfactions 
to  be  obtained  in  prison  depend  on  effort  or  practical  activity  that 
the  prisoner  turns  for  compensation  to  his  imaginations.  Just  in  so 
far  as  the  prisoner  is  denied  adequate  means  of  practical  activities, 
so  far  does  he  tend  to  become  more  and  more  absorbed  in  imaginary 
satisfactions.  Such  a  tendency  is  detrimental  to  his  practical 
efficiency,  and  may  often  take  undesirable  directions,  in  gratification, 
for  instance,  of  his  acquisitive  or  sexual  instincts.  Much  of  the 
moral  degeneration  which  occurs  in  prison  is  likewise  but  a  result 
of  adaptation  to  prison  conditions.  The  development  of  cunning 
and  of  the  habits  of  deceit  for  the  object  of  securing  forbidden  satis- 
factions exemplify  the  ways  in  which  such  adaptation  may  render 
the  prisoner  more  unfit  for  life  in  ordinary  society. 

A  statistical  study  of  the  distribution  of  these  effects  of  prison 
discipline  among  the  various  classes  of  the  normal  prison  popula- 
tion would  probably  show  that  the  effects  of  successful  adaptation 
are  more  prevalent  than  those  which  arise  from  failure.  They  are 
also  more  permanent,  and,  on  the  whole,  more  harmful. 

It  will  thus  be  clear,  we  hope,  that  the  fact  that  prison  possesses 
a  certain  attractiveness  (and  even  a  "mysterious  fascination")  for 
some  classes  of  offenders  does  not  indicate  that  its  routine  errs  on 
the  side  of  not  being  sufficiently  stern  and  repressive,  and  is  by  no 
means  a  legitimate  source  of  self-congratulation  to  the  authorities.  , 
The  attractiveness    of   prison   simply  shows  that  adaptation  to  its 
conditions  is  the  line  of  least  resistance  for  deteriorated  characters,  • 
to  whom  a  life  of  responsibility  and  initiative  and  prudent  forethought ; 
is   becoming  increasingly   irksome,  while  their  capacity  for  feeling ! 
mental  pain  and  even  physical   discomfort    becomes   progressively 
lessened.     In  the  contrary  cases,  where  insanity  occurs,  some  con-i 
genital  instability  is  probably  co-operative  with  the  effects  of  imprison- 1 
ment  in  producing  it,  as  well  as  the  more  serious  forms  of  nervous 
breakdown.     These  conditions  occur  primarily  as  a  result  of  prison 

I 

1  Kropotkin,  speaking  particularly  o!  French  prison?  in  the  eighties,  traced  the  tendency 
toward  adaptation  to  the  repressive  discipline,  combined  with  the  desire  to  economise  in  i 
the  stafl.  "The  ideal  of  our  prisons  would  be  a  thousand  automatons,  rising  and  working,  ' 
eating  and  going  to  bed.  by  electric  currents  transmitted  to  them  from  a  single  warder."  i 
—"In  Russian   and   French  Prisons"    (1887),  p.  325. 


INSANITY,   SUICIDE  AND  MENTAL   DETERIORATION     693 

discipline  chiefly  in  the  more  sensitive  and  refined  classes  of  offenders, 
who  constitute  a  small  minority  of  the  prison  population. 

Insanity,  Suicide,  and  Mental  Deterioration. 
The  ratio  of  both  insanity  and  suicide  is  incomparably  greater  in 
prison  than  in  the  ordinary  population,  and,  whilst  many  criminals 
may  have  greater  natural  tendencies  towards  mental  disorders  and 
self-destruction  than  the  law-abiding,  it  is  clear  that  the  regime  is 
in  large  part  responsible.  Insanity  is  more  prevalent  among 
prisoners  sentenced  to  long  terms  of  imprisonment  than  among  short 
sentence  prisoners,  and  more  prevalent  among  convicts  than  among 
local  prisoners.  As  regards  suicide,  the  gravity  of  the  results  is 
obscured  by  the  fact  that  the  authorities  have  failed  to  take  account 
of  the  very  large  number  of  attempts  at  suicide.  Moreover,  such 
att-empts  are  made  extremely  difficult  by  the  structural  and  other 
precautions  adopted.  That  the  hopelessness  of  prison  life,  the 
soUtary  confinement,  the  harsh  regime,  and  the  inhuman  system 
of  silence  help  to  cause  insanity  and  encourage  attempts  at  self- 
destruction,  will  not  be  doubted  by  impartial  minds. 

The  less  clearly  marked  degrees  of  impairment  of  mental 
powers  are  probably  almost  universal,  except  in  the  case  of 
the  shortest  sent-ences.  Even  a  few  months  of  imprisonment 
appears  to  be  sufficient  in  many,  if  not  most,  cases  to  produce  an 
effect  upon  memory,  concentration,  and  the  powers  of  will.  In  the 
case  of  the  long  sentence  prisoner,  this  process  of  deterioration  may 
lead  to  premature  senility,  or  a  childish  weakness  of  mind  which 
renders  him  almost  incapable  of  resuming  normal  life  in  any 
efficient  capacity.  Such  atrophy  may  be  general,  affecting  the  mind 
as  a  whole,  expressing  itself  in  a  kind  of  torpor  and  an  absence  of 
interest  in  life,  or  it  may  more  particularly  affect  certain  special 
functions.  Most  prisoners,  particularly  aft-er  a  sentence  exceeding 
a  few  months,  notice  an  impairment  of  the  powers  of  mind  employed 
in  their  vocational  pursuits.  In  many  cases  this  seems  to  arise, 
not  only  from  the  blunting  of  intelligence  and  the  loss  of  technical 
skill,  but  from  the  abnormal  nervous  condition  of  the  prisoner  upon 
release. 

In    the    case    of    abnormal    or    defective    prisoners    (occurring 

particularly  among  the  class  of  petty  recidivists)  it  does  not  appear 

that  injuries  to  the  intellectual  processes  are  so  great  as  in  other  cases. 

This  is  natural  enough  when  we  consider  that  they   enter  prison 

:   lacking  the  ordinary  incentives  to  mental  activity,  and  often  with  a 

j  more  or  less  pronounced   atrophy  of  volitional  powers.     But  it  is 

j  certain  that  these  unfortunate  persons  are  injured  in  other  ways  by 

I   the  rigid  and  unsympathetic  treatment. 

!       Whilst  the  impairment  of  mental  powers  probably  occurs  more 
I  among  the  better  educated  prisoners  than  among  those  endowed  with 
'  slender  intellectual  resources,  the  latter  class  has  less  power  of  re- 
cuperation.    Some  of  our  witnesses  assert  that  this  impairment  is 


584  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS 

permanent,  but  there  is  evidence  that  many  ex-prisoners,  particularly 
those  who  have  only  served  a  short  sentence,  regain  ultimately,  under 
favourable  conditions,  their  normal  alertness  and  mental  vigour. 
Recuperation,  it  seems,  is  less  likely  to  occur  when  the  powers  of 
will  or  the  moral  qualities  are  affected  by  imprisonment.  Feelings 
and  interests  may  find  in  prison  new  and  probably  anti-social 
channels.  In  his  struggle  against  the  system  and  to  preserve  hi» 
interest  in  life,  the  "bad  prisoner"  develops  a  state  of  nervous 
irritation  which  may  afterwards  become  settled  into  a  permanent 
sentiment  of  bitterness  and  revolt. 

The  process  of  mental  and  moral  deterioration  operates  in  various 
ways  as  a  positive  factor  in  the  production  of  recidivism.  The 
breach  in  the  continuity  of  habits  and  interests,  as  well  as  of  family 
ties,  and  the  cessation  of  activities  which  in  normal  life  provide 
legitimate  spheres  of  employment  prepare  the  ground  for  the  more 
far  reaching  effects.  Mental  atrophy  and  listlessness  render  the 
prisoner  less  fit  to  resume  his  prior  pursuits  after  release.  The 
general  suggestion  of  crime  within  the  prison  acts  upon  the  prisoner 
when  he  is  most  susceptible  to  its  influence.  In  countless  ways 
prison  life  provides  topics  of  thought  and  impulses  to  action  which 
are  criminal  in  character.' 

Exceptional  instances  are  found  of  men  who  have  apparently  not 
deteriorated  in  any  way  through  imprisonment, — on  whom  prison 
has  had  no  appreciable  effect  one  way  or  the  other.  Naturally  such 
cases  occur  most  frequently  with  very  short  sentences.  We  have 
indicated  that  the  alleged  beneficial  effects  of  imprisonment  appear 
to  be  either  merely  accidental — in  spite  of  the  tendencies  of  the 
system — or  else  due  to  the  effects  of  the  shock  of  conviction,  not  to 
the  prison  regime. 

Specific  and  General  Causes  of  Detekioration. 

Of  the  specific  features  of  the  present  system  most  responsible  for 
the  prisoner's  mental  and  moral  deterioration,  the  silence  rule  and 
the  rigid  separation  are  the  most  important.  The  original  intention 
inspiring  these  regulations  has  been  lost  from  view,  and  the  presenfc ' 
operation  of  these  rules,  so  far  from  serving  a  useful  purpose,  is 
productive  of  mental  abnormalities  and  of  serious  moral  results. 
Long  periods  of  isolation  and  silence,  without  profitable  occupation 

2  The  evidence  adduced  by  witnesses  in  this  Enquiry  has.  in  the  main,  confirmed  evfiry 
conclusion  reached  by  Dr.  William  Healy  in  his  investigations.  The  following  are  noted 
by  him  as  the  chief  moral  evils  resulting  from  imprisonment.— ("The  Individual  Delinquent" 
(1914),    Section   226,    pp.   312-315):— 

1.  The  development,  during  any  short  term  ol  imprisonment,  ol  the  conception  that 
prison  is  not    so  bad  a'ter  all. 

2.  The  spread  ol  pernicious  ideas  of  sexual  affairs  and  the  acquirement  of  bad  personal 
habits. 

3.  The   development   of   friendships    that   tend   to    corrupt   character. 

4.  The   development   ol   criminalistic   knowledge    and    technique. 

5.  The  development  of  a  mental  content  which  drives  towards  criminality,  both  throogb 
the  constant  suggestion  towards  misconduct  which  comes  from  thinking  of  onetelf 
as   an  oftendex,   and  from  the  prolonged  vacuities   of  prison   life. 


CAUSES    OF   DETERIOBATION  585 

for  body  or  mind,  not  only  fail  to  eradicate  criminal  desires,  but 
engender  a  condition  of  mind  which  renders  the  prisoner  more 
susceptible  to  the  undesirable  influences  which  surround  him.  The 
impossible  silence  rule  and  the  unnatural  separation  encourage 
artfulness  and  deceit. 

Another  feature  of  prison  life  productive  of  injurious  results  is 
the  nature  of  prison  discipline,  in  its  more  limited  sense.  Excessive 
control  of  the  details  of  the  prisoner's  life,  and  supervision  which 
excludes  all  opportunity  for  initiative  or  choice,  contribute  to  a  more 
or  less  pronounced  atrophy  of  the  will  and  a  consequent  degenera- 
tion of  mind  and  character.  The  denial  of  opportunities  for  self- 
expression  or  profitable  activity,  whether  in  arts  and  crafts  or  in 
educational  pursuits,  adds  to  this  effect.  It  withholds  the  very 
influences  which  might  provide  adequate  incentives  for  useful  social 
life,  and  whilst  it  impairs  his  vocational  efl&ciency  it  disintegrates 
the  habits  and  interests  of  the  prisoner  in  a  way  which  destroys  his 
self-i'espect  and  releases  criminal  propensities. 

While  such  features  of  prison  life  may  be  held  to  be  more 
particularly  harmful,  most  of  its  defects  reside  in  the  more  general 
principles  upon  which  the  system  as  a  whole  is  based.  These 
defects  appear  to  be  the  result  of  having  set  up  as  primary  aims  the 
ideas  of  retribution  and  of  deterrent  punishment,  and  of  allowing 
concern  for  economy  and  for  the  smooth  working  of  the  machine  to 
stand  in  practice  before  any  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  imprisoned 
men  and  women.  There  is  an  almost  complete  absence  of 
professional,  scientific  or  humane  interest  in  the  criminal,  and  in  the 
problems  he  presents.  Consequently  there  is  no  true  "individualisa- 
tion,"  whether  of  punishment  or  of  curative  treatment. 

All  prisoners  are  not  criminals,  but  those  that  are,  however  vary- 
ing their  circumstances  of  bii"th,  training  or  environment,  are  similar 
in  this,  that  their  sense  of  citizenship  is  defective.  Only  by  re- 
edification  of  that  sense  can  they  be  led  from  the  tendency  to  crime. 
But  our  prison  system,  while  it  sometimes  makes  good  prisoners, 
does  almost  nothing  to  make  good  citizens.  It  fails  to  restore  the 
weak  will  or  to  encourage  initiative ;  it  reduces  energy  by  the  harsh- 
ness of  its  routine  and  adds  depression  to  the  depressed.  The 
system  presents  no  outlet  to  the  emotions,  no  appeal  to  the  aesthetic 
sense,  no  object  lesson  of  goodwill  or  of  communal  solidarity.  The 
separation  which  it  aims  at  establishing,  as  a  discipline,  between 
prisoners,  gives  reinforcement  to  that  separation  which  it  establishes, 
as  a  fact,  between  them  and  the  society  which  so  uses  them.  The 
influences  of  the  prison  system  are,  therefore,  not  only  anti- 
individual  but  anti-social  as  well;  in  both  directions  alike  it  debases 
the  currency  of  human  feeling.  That  debasement  is  its  fundamental 
defect;  and  in  so  far  as  this  stands  proved  against  it,  it  must 
necessarily  be  judged  as  a  failure.  And  the  more  the  system  costs 
the  community,  and  the  more  highly  it  is  organised,  the  more 
monumental  must  that  failure  be. 

U2 


686  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS 

Appendix  to  Chapter  Nine. 

THE  EFFECTS  OF   IMPEISONMENT  UPON  THE 
SEXUAL  LIFE. 


In  the  course  of  the  Enquiry,  attention  has  occasionally  been  drawn  by 
our  witnesses  to  the  apparent  effects  of  imprisonment  upon  the  sexual  life. 
It  is  generally  believed,  and  it  is  probably  true,  that  some  forms  of  institu- 
tional life,  more  particularly  those  involving  the  prolonged  segregation  of 
individuals  of  the  same  sex,  are  an  exciting  cause  of  certain  perversions  of 
the  sexual  instincts.  Prisons  afford  no  exception  to  this  rule,  but  the  difficulty 
of  obtaining  exact  information  on  the  matter  makes  it  impossible  to  decide 
with  certainty  whether  prison  life  is  more  liable  to  produce  these  perversions 
of  the  sexual  instincts  than  are  other  institutions.  The  more  irregular  mani- 
festations of  perverted  sexuality,  such  as  are  associated  with  homo-sexual 
emotional  attachments  between  prisoners,  are  rendei'ed  almost  impossible  in 
English  prisons  by  the  strict  manner  in  which  the  system  of  separate  confine- 
ment is  usually  carried  out. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  has  again  and  again  been  asserted  to  us  that  auto- 
eroticijm  and  the  practice  of  masturbation  arise  in  direct  consequence  of 
this  segregation  and  of  the  intense  monotony  of  the  routine.  Warders 
appear  to  be  almost  unanimous  in  their  testimony  to  the  prevalence  of  this 
practice.  Among  the  higher  prison  officials  whom  we  have  consulted  on 
this  point  there  is  a  divergence  of  opinion,  some  holding  that  masturbation 
is  not  more  common  in  prison  than  it  is  outside.  Many  of  these  officials 
are  not  in  the  habit  of  observing  prisoners  closely,  and  it  is  in  any  case  net 
an  easy  matter  for  them  to  form  a  judgment  as  to  private  practices  of  this 
kind.  Some  chaplains,  however,  who  have  given  evidence  to  us,  have  ex- 
pressed themselves  very  strongly  as  to  the  connection  between  the  existing 
prison  routine  and   solitary  sexual  vice. 

Such  tendencies  in  the  evidence  would  probably  at  once  convince  most 
impartial  judges  that  this  form  of  sexual  perversion  is  more  prevalent  in 
prison  than  elsewhere,  were  it  not  for  the  apparently  contradictory 
implication  in  another  quite    independent  body   of   evidence. 

Among  convicts  and  prisoners  generally  there  is  a  widespread  belief  that  - 
drugs  which  are  intended  to  act  as  sexual  sedatives  are  secretly  and  in- 
discriminately administered  in  prison  food.'  No  definite  evidence  of  a 
trustworthy  kind  has  been  adduced  in  support  of  this  belief,  but  its 
origin  appears  to  arise  from  a  fact  of  considerable  significance,  namely,  that 
many  prisoners,  at  any  rate  for  a  certain  period  during  their  imprisonment, 
experience  a  marked  absence  of  sexual  feelings,  and  a  general  diminution 
of  virility.  The  drugging  theory  has  apparently  been  framed  as  an  attempt 
to  explain  this   fact. 

The  two  lines  of  evidence  might  appear  contradictory,  but  both  indicate  ; 
a  certain  di.«turbance  of  the  sexual  life  under  prison  conditions,  which  j 
deserves  further  investigation.  j 

The  sexual  aberrations  of  prison  life  are  not  isolated  phenomena.  They 
are  intimately  associated  with  the  process  of  mental  deterioration  described   j 

>  Op.  p.  128  (Note  5).  We  understand  that  petitions  objecting  to  this  alleged  practice  have 
been  not  infrequently  addressed  to  the  Home  Secretary  by  conTicts. 


EFFECTS    UPON    TEE   SEXUAL   LIFE  687 

in  the  foregoing  chapters.  Sometimes,  indeed,  the  view  has  been  expresFed 
that  this  process  of  deterioration  among  prisoners  is  not  due  directly  to 
prison  discipline,  but  to  the  practice  of  masturbation  which  has  its  origin 
in  the  earlier  life  of  the  prisoner.  Even  where  this  is  true  of  his  earlier 
';fe,   there    is   little   doubt   that   imprisonment    considerably   aggravates   the 

endency  to  such  perverted  activity.  But  that  self-abuse  is  the  universal 
cr  even  a  predominant  cause  of  mental  deterioration  in  prison  is  an  entirely 
mistaken  view  of  the  matter.  For  one  thing,  this  mental  deterioration  is 
?een  to  occur  in  prisoners  who  are  known  not  to  have  been  addicted  to  such 

abits  either  before  or  during  their  imprisonment. 
The  true  view  of  the  matter  seems  to  be  that  the  habit  of  masturbation 

3  very  often  acquired  as  one  of  the  results  of  mental  deterioration, 
particularly  on  account  of  the  weakening  of  the  will  and  of  the  power  of 
Bclf-control,  and,  when  this  occurs,  the  sexual  excesses  which  are  involved, 
must  as  a  rule,  considerably  increase  the  mental  and  moral  deterioration 
which  has  already  set  in. 

That  prison  life  is  specially  liable  to  lead  to  perversions  of  this  kind  is 
indicated  by  the  fact  that  among  the  answers  to  the  questionnaires  upon  the 
mental  effects  of  imprisonment  allusions  occur  (though  this  topic  was  not 
mentioned  among  the  questions)  to  the  special  need  of  self-control  in  this 
respect.     Thus  one  man,   giving  an  account  of  his  experience,  writes  : — 

Self-abuse  is  common  among  prisoners.  The  loneliness  is  greatly 
responsible.  I  know  what  a  grip  I  had  to  keep  upon  myself.  What 
would  be  the  effect  of  19  hours  behind  a  locked  door  on  a  youth  between 
16  and  21 ? 

liile  another,   in  speaking  of  the  prison  routine,  says  : — 

Long  hours  of  solitude,  lack  of  physical  exercise,  and  sleepless  nights 
often  caused  my  thoughts  to  run  into  unhealthy  channels.  If  I  had 
been  leading  a  more  natural  life,  this  would  not  have  occurred. 

The  vitiated  atmosphere  within  prison  walls  is  described  as  only  too 
favourable  to  "morbidity  of  thought  and  increase,  through  repression,  of 
sexual  impulses."  One  prisoner  contaminates  another  by  his  suggestive 
conversation,  and,  in  some  cases,  even  warders  are  said  to  be  infected  by  the 
general  corruption.  Other  statements  of  ex-prisoners,  which  are  all  the 
mere  significant  because  they  were  not  the  result  of  any  direct  question  as 
to  sexual  effects,  are  the  following  : — 

Broodiness,  morbidness,  brain  fag,  loss  of  self-control,  self-abuse, 
were  the   vices  and  weaknesses   I  had  to  fight  against. 

The  silence  rule  tends  to  make  a  prisoner's  only  occupation  introspec- 
tion. It  has,  for  example,  led  me  to  brood  far  too  much  on  certain 
pathological  sexual  tendencies   heretofore    far  less  developed. 

By  the  exclusion  from  mj'  sight  of  all  the  things  worth  living  for, 
I  gradually  developed  the  bad  habit  of  unclean  thinking.  The  prison 
surroundings  were  hopeless  and  depressing. 

lOther  prisoners  have  asserted  that  a  sexual  motive  is  to  be  found  in  prison 
ims  more  frequently  than  is  the  case  in  ordinary  life. 

iThe  above  statements  all  refer  to  the  short  sentence  (Local)  prison, 
lat  evidence  we  have  from  ex-convicts  is  still  more  emphatic.  Thus  one 
an,  with  experience  of  three  years'  penal  servitude,  writes  that 


588  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS 

Most  of  the  prisoners  seem  to  delight  in  unhealthy  ideas,  and  very 
great  evil  often  resulted  from  this.  The  men's  nervous  systems  were 
wrecked,   and  one  could  see  them  gradually  drifting  towards  lunacy. 

Another  very  intelligent  ex-convict,  who  has  definitely  "made  good," 
after  undergoing  three  sentences  of  penal  servitude,  told  us  that  he 
considered 

self-abuse  as  the  worst  effect  of  the  penal  servitude  system.  The 
majority  of  men  practise  it ;  and  many  men  ruin  themselves  physically 
and  mentally  by  it.  Prisoners  are  driven  to  it,  especially  those  who 
cannot  take  interest  in  their  books,  and  who  are,  therefore,  without 
any  means  of  alleviating  the  monotony  of  long  hours  of  cellular 
confinement. 

The  authorities  know  the  extent  of  the  practice  of  masturbation. 
Chaplains  preach  against  it  openly  in  the  pulpit,  but  they  do  not  care 
enough  to  see  the  real  remedy. 

In  spit«,  however,  of  much  evidence  to  the  above  tenor,  no  very 
confident  generalisation  is  possible,  in  view  of  the  almost  equally  frequent 
testimony  to  the  absence  of  all  sexual  feelings  during  imprisonment,  which 
is  regarded  as  part  of  the  general  lowering  of  vitality.  The  reconciliation 
of  these  two  lines  of  evidence  is  suggested  by  other  witnesses,  who  distinguish 
the  effects  of  prison  upon  the  sexual  life  according  to  the  period  in  which 
they  are  observed.  The  absence  of  sexual  feelings  is  asserted  to  be  a 
characteristic  of  the  earlier  period,  whereas  after  several  months  the  more 
primitive  passions  return  with  renewed  intensity ;  the  prisoner  becoming 
a  prey  to  sexual  obsessions  and   temptations  to  perverted  activity.' 

One  prisoner,  who  observed  in  the  earlier  period  of  his  sentence  this 
absence  of  sexual  feeling,  writes  as  follows  of  the  later  phases  of  his  state 
of  mind  in  prison  : — 

Instead  of  the  day  to  day  vacuity  of  mind,  one  was  constantly 
disturbed  by  a  phantasmagoria  of  sexual  imagery,  accompanied  by 
acute  depression  bordering  on  melancholy.  Try  as  one  might,  it  seemed 
impossible  to  clear  one's  mind,  the  only  respite  being  a  sort  of  erotic 
torpor,  a  kind  of  reverie  marked  by  an  absence  of  violent  irritability 
and  of  the  desire  to  break  out  in  some  way  or  another.  One  felt  that 
gradually  one's  powers  of  self-control  were  disappearing. 

Whatever  restraint,  however,  the  absence  of  physical  impulses  in  certain 
cases,  or  at  certain  periods  of  imprisonment,  may  place  upon  perverted 
sexual  actions,  there  is  no  doubt  that  indecent  sexual  imagery  often 
dominates  the  prisoner's  thoughts.  As  a  famous  prison  governor  and 
reformer  observed  years  ago,  "in  the  desire  to  while  away  his  time,  the 
prisoner  conjures  up  in  his  mind  and  indulges,  when  he  has  the  opportunity, 
in  every  sort  of  prurient  and  stimulative  thought,  and  word,  and  even, 
when  he  can,  act."  *  We  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  this  generalisa- 
tion   will   remain   true,    so   long   as    prison    routine    includes   many   hours  of 

>  Another  very  importai.t  aspect  of  the  effects  ot  imprisonment  upon  the  sexual  life, 
but  one  upon  which  we  have  been  nnable  to  secure  sufficient  reliable  evidence,  is  that 
relating  to  the  behaviour  of  the  prisoner  upon  release.  Mention  has  been  made  of  th« 
possibility  of  a  general  reaction  after  imprisonment  to  pleasures  of  the  senses  and  in  soms 
(possibly  in   most)    of  these    cases  this  reaction   has   led  to  aexual  excesses. 

3  Capt.  Alexander  Maconochie,  the  governor  ol  Birmingham  prison,  in  Parliamentary 
Papers,   xvii.,   1850.    Compare   Healy,   quoted    on   p.   508  above. 


EFFECTS    UPOX    THE   SEXUAL   LIFE  68a 

solitary  or  "separate"  confinement  and  the  other  repressive   and  deadening 
features  that  we  have  described  in  previous  parts  of  this  book. 

Upon  the  fact  of  this  domination  of  the  mind  by  sexual  ideas  hinged 
largely  the  criticism  of  the  experiment  of  "talking  exercise,"  as  discussed 
above,*  and  from  it  also  arises  the  necessity  for  most  of  the  precautions 
against  the  contamination  of  young  first  offenders.  The  absence  of  healthy 
mental  exercise  and  interests  in  prison  life  is,  of  course,  one  of  the  more 
obvious  causes  of  this  undesirable  condition  of  affairs,  but  the  roots  of 
the  problem  lie  considerably  deeper.  A  completely  normal  life  is  from  the 
nature  of  the  case  impossible  in  prison.  It  is,  therefore,  of  immense  import- 
ance that  such  factors  as  facilitate  the  formation  of  undesirable  habits  and 
mental  tendencies  should  be  eliminated,  and  that  greater  precautions  should 
be  adopted  to  prevent  such  injuries  to  the  nervous  system  and  to  the  mental 
life  as  tend  to  produce  the  more  serious  perversions,  most  of  which  appear 
to  be  intimately  associated  with  insanity  "  or  with  definitely  pathological 
states  of  mind  of  a  less  pronounced  character. 


*  See  \ip.  566-70. 

5  References  to  the  connection  between  insanity  and  sexual  perfersions,  as  found  more 
particularly  in  prisons,  are  scattered  tbrough  the  literature  of  prison  psychoses,  (jutsch, 
in  particular,  stresses  this  fact,  and  at  the  same  time  notes  with  emphasis  "the  weakening 
and  inactiTity  ol  the  reproductive  life,  of  the  animal  and  vital  functions  in  the  prisoner's 
physical  organisation,  the  predominance  ol  apathy  and  passivity,  which  are  the  unavoidable 
attributes  of  every  form  of  imprisonment  and  ol  every  penal  system." — (.See  Nitscfae  and 
Wilmanns,  "History  ol  Prison  Psychoses,"  p.  6.) 


CONCLUDING  CHAPTER 


SOCIETY    AND    THE    OFFENDEK 

The  Need  to  Eevise  our  Penal  Theory 

At  the  close  of  the  chapters  in  the  First  Part  of  this  Eeport  we  have 
indicated  the  most  serious  defects  revealed  in  the  course  of  our 
examination  of  the  English  Prison  System.  Even  if  these  defects 
were  remedied,  however,  such  reform  would  be  rather  a  paUiative 
than  a  cure.  The  whole  existing  treatment  of  crime  and  of 
criminals  rests  upon  a  theory,  or  theories,  which  modem  thought 
and  experience  are  showing  to  be  both  confused  and  erroneous. 

Punishment  is  commonly  justified  on  some  or  all  of  various 
grounds.  These  may  be  distinguished  as  revenge,  retribution, 
prevention,  and  deterrence.  Of  these,  the  two  former  imply 
necessarily  guilt  in  the  criminal;  the  two  latter  do  not.  But 
it  is  commonly  assumed  both  that  ciiminals  are  guilty,  and  that 
their  punishment  tends  to  prevent  future  crime.  This  assumption 
requires  reconsideration  in  the  light  of  facts. 

Eegarding  the  matter  historically,  it  seems  clear  that  revenge  is- 
the  origin  of  punishment.  Eevenge  was  taken  in  more  primitive 
social  conditions  by  the  injured  party  or  his  representatives.  Hence 
the  blood  feud,  which  has  played  so  great  a  part  in  history,  and 
which  still  survives  in  some  communities  remote  from  civilisation. 
But  this  indulgence  of  private  revenge  was  so  inconvenient  and  dis- 
orderly that  the  substitution  for  it  of  punishment,  enforced  by  the 
whole  community  through  its  judges,  is  commonly  recognised  to 
have  been  a  great  step  in  advance.  This  step  further  implied  a 
change  in  the  motive  of  punishment.  The  offence  was  regarded  as 
being  committed  against  the  community,  "contrary  to  the  Peace  of 
our  Lord,  the  King,  and  His  Majesty,"  rather  than  against  the  in- 
dividual, and  for  the  idea  of  revenge  was  substituted  that  of  justice. 
It  is  now  the  rules  of  conduct  laid  down  by  society,  rather  than  the 
feelings  and  rights  of  the  individual  affected,  that  are  regarded  as 


TEE   NEED   TO    REVISE    OUR    PENAL    THEORY  591 

outraged  by  crime,  and  although  some  theorists  consider  that  the 
gratification  of  revenge  is  still  a  legitimate  and  desirable  adjunct  of 
the  criminal  law,  the  judge,  it  is  agreed,  should  act  impartially  as 
the  representative  of  the  order  of  the  State.  From  this  point  of 
view  he  may  be  supposed,  so  far  as  guilt  is  attributed  to  the  oSender, 
to  represent  and  vindicate  abstract  Eight,  and  what  he  inflicts  to  be 
a  just  and  impartial  penalty.  This  is  the  theory  of  retribution  as 
distinguished  from  that  of  revenge,  and  it  still  profoundly  influences 
opinion.  For  punishment  is  very  generally  regarded  as  righr, 
whether  or  no  it  benefits  either  the  community  or  the  criminal.  This 
common  view  must  be  considered  separately  before  passing  on  to  the 
theory  of  deteri'ence. 

Most  reUgious  people  believe  that  God  punishes  sin.  But  it  is  a 
long  step  from  this  to  accepting  a  human  judge  as  a  representative 
of  God  or  human  law  as  an  expression  of  the  divine.  In  the  fii^sb 
place,  the  law  makes  no  attempt  to  punish  everything  that  is  recog- 
nised as  sin.  For  instance,  sexual  offences  such  as  fornication  or 
adultery,  though  consistently  denounced  by  religion  as  sin  against 
God,  are  not  punished  by  law.  Conversely,  many  offences  punish- 
able by  law  are  not  commonly  regarded  as  sin.  If,  therefore, 
human  law  rested  upon  or  corresponded  with  either  current  morality 
or  divine  laws  of  conduct  as  prescribed  by  the  consensus  of  religions, 
it  would  have  to  be  modified  in  ways  which  certainly  would  not 
commend  themselves  to  enlightened  opinion. 

Moreover,  the  conception  of  Divine  Justice  is  undergoing  change. 
As  men  come  to  see  that  misfortune  is  often  the  direct  cause  of 
offences,  and  that  punishments  usually  demoralise  and  degrade  the 
offender,  they  are  less  able  to  conceive  of  a  beneficent  Power  inflicting 
punishments.  Misfortunes  once  regarded  as  divine  judgments 
on  sin  are  now  increasingly  recognised  to  be  due  in  many  cases  to 
causes  which,  so  far  as  the  individual  is  concerned,  have  no  moral 
relation  to  the  suffering  they  entail.  The  "natural"'  punishment  of 
-in  is  seen  to  ax'ise  from  within,  instead  of  being  imposed  from 
vithout.  Hence,  among  those  who  possess  faith  in  a  Divina 
Providence,  the  temptation  to  seek  to  be  the  instrument  of  its  Justice 
■  in  the  old  retributive  sense)  is  passing  away. 

Further,  on  the  view  that  punishment  ought  to  correspond  with 
It,  we  are  faced  with  the  difficulty  of  estimating  the  guilt.    Judges 

re  human  and  liable  to  all  the  weaknesses  of  the  indi%'idual  and  of 

is  class.  This  is  ob\ious  in  the  case  of  a  country  gentleman 
linistering   the   game   laws    against    a  destitute    poacher,    or    a 

propertied  person  applying  the  law  of  theft  to  a  stax-ving  man.  In 
fully  democratic  society,  no  doubt  the  class  bias  would  cease  to 
important.  But  it  must  remain  impossible  for  any  man  precisely 
assess  the  guilt  of  another.     All  that  a  judge  can  be  expected  to 

lo,  and  that  not  infallibly,  is  to  ascertain  whether  the  offence  waa 


«92  SOCIETY   AND    TEE    OFFENDER 

committed  and  whether  it  was  intentional.  The  assumption  that 
the  offender  is  also  wicked  may  or  may  not  be  correct.  But  how 
far  he  is  so  is  a  question  which  no  ordinary  judge  or  jury  can  reason- 
ably be  expected  to  determine. 

These  general  considerations  are  immensely  strengthened  by  a 
sympathetic  study  of  the  real  circumstances  and  antecedents  of 
criminals.  Much  crime  is  due  to  poverty,  to  lack  of  opportunity 
and  education,  to  bad  counsel  and  bad  example,  much  to  inferior 
or  diseased  development,  for  which,  as  modern  psychology  and 
medicine  more  and  more  show,  the  offender  is  not  responsible. 
Much  crime  is  committed  by  people  who  can  find  in  our  society  no 
outlet  for  capacities  which,  under  other  circumstances,  might  be 
regarded  as  virtues.  It  would  be  interesting,  for  instance,  to  know 
how  many  people,  released  for  the  purpose  from  prison,  made  good 
soldiers  during  the  recent  war.  In  all  such  cases  it  may  be  neces- 
sary to  deal  with  the  offender  by  the  compulsion  of  the  law.  But  in 
none  of  them  can  he  be  fairly  and  truly  dealt  with  as  morally  guilty. 
Guilt,  and  the  measure  of  it,  is  a  question  for  a  higher  and  a  more 
competent  judge  than  human  beings  are  ever  likely  to  provide. 

Similar  considerations  must  affect  our  view  of  the  effect  of  punish- 
ment on  the  criminal.  Punishment,  it  is  sometimes  thought,  pro- 
duces a  moral  reformation.  It  would  be  rash  to  affirm  that  this  is 
never  true.  But  it  may  be  safely  said  that  it  is  very  rarely  true  of 
punishment  inflicted  by  the  law.  The  offender  is  often  not  guilty  in 
his  own  judgment  and  his  punishment  then  appears  to  him  as 
arbitrary,  cruel,  and  unjust.  This  point  has  been  illustrated  in  a 
previous  chapter.  And  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  point  out  that  the 
conviction  that  he  is  being  made  to  suffer  pointlessly  and  unjustly 
will  produce  the  directly  contrary  effect  to  moral  reform. 

Eeflections  such  as  these  based  on  experience  and  reinforced  by 
medical  science  and  psychology  are  steadily  modifying  opinion. 
Less  and  less  frequently  is  punishment  justified  by  the  idea  of  guilt, 
more  and  more  by  that  of  prevention  and  deterrence.  But  if  this 
latter  point  of  view  be  considered  by  itself,  it  will  be  found  very 
difficult  to  reconcile  with  the  facts.  Prevention  from  repeating  an 
offence  can  only  be  guaranteed  by  the  death  penalty  or  by  impiison- 
ment  for  life.  Such  punishments,  however,  are  practically  re- 
served for  murder,  which  is  of  all  crimes  the  one  least  likely  to  be 
repeated.  The  ordinary  punishment  is  imprisonment  for  a  limited 
term.     Does  this  deter? 

"We  must  distinguish  between  the  effect  on  the  prisoner  and  the 
effect  on  others  who  might  be  tempted  to  crime.  As  to  the  prisoner, 
the  evidence  reviewed  in  previous  chapters  proves  that  imprison- 
ment has  in  most  cases  no  deterrent  effect,  but  the  contrary.  The 
sense  of  fear  and  dismay,  often  present  at  first,  passes  into  bravado, 
depression,  callousness,  or  despair.  On  release  after  a  first  imprison- 
ment, the  offender,  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  societies  to  assist  him, 


TEE   NEED   TO    REVISE    OUR   PENAL   THEORY  593 

finds  it  hard  to  obtain  work  because  he  is  regarded  as  disgraced,  and 
harder  still  to  do  it  properly  if  he  obtain  it,  because  he  is  weakened 
in  habit  and  will  by  what  he  has  undergone.  These  effects  are  in- 
creased with  every  new  conviction.  Indeed,  as  we  have  seen,  it  is 
a  view  widely  prevalent  among  prison  warders  and  officials  of 
Prisoners'  Aid  Societies  that,  if  a  second  sentence  be  incurred,  the 
man  is  "done  for."  The  figures  of  recidivism  show  that,  after  a 
certain  number  of  convictions,  a  prisoner  is  almost  certain  to  return 
to  prison. 

That  imprisonment  cannot  and  does  not  cure  is  not  only  owing  to 
its  effect  on  the  criminal  and  on  his  chances  of  employment  outside, 
but  to  the  fact  that  so  much  crime  is  really  due  to  feeble-mindedness 
or  other  such  defect.  This  point  has  been  sufficiently  treated  in 
other  chapters  and  need  not  here  be  further  developed.  But  even 
where  there  is  no  such  defect,  much  crime  must  be  attributed  to 
poverty  and  its  accompaniments  and  consequences ;  and  imprison- 
ment could  in  no  such  case  help  those  who  commit  such  crimes,  since 
it  merely  makes  it  more  difficult  than  before  for  them  to  live  without 
crime.  It  must  be  recognised  as  an  established  fact  that  our  prin- 
cipal punishment  actually  creates  or  perpetuates  rather  than  abates 
crime  in  those  upon  whom  it  is  inflicted. 

It  may  still  be  argued,  however,  that  such  punishment  deters 
other  people  from  similar  crime,  and  probably  it  is  on  this  ground 
that  it  would  be  chiefly  defended.  This  is  a  point  on  which  it  is 
difficult  to  speak  with  confidence.  It  is  obvious  that  there  are  certain- 
crimes,  such  as  some  crimes  of  sudden  passion,  or  those  due  to 
mental  defect,  which  cannot  be  affected  by  the  fear  of  punishment ; 
in  other  cases  it  is  probably  not  the  actual  hardships  of  prison  life 
that  deter.  Thus  even  the  Chairman  of  the  Scottish  Prison  Com- 
missioners wrote  in  1911:  — 

Unless  for  very  sliort  periods,  it  is  not  in  fact  in  civilised  countries 
now  possible,  even  if  thought  desirable,  to  impose  such  conditions  of 
hardship  as  would  themselves  act  as  deterrents.  The  los.<»  of  liberty  is 
the  real  deterrent,  combined  with  the  feeling  of  disgrace  which  the 
more  sensitive  experience.* 

It  may  be  argued  that  if  the  defects  exposed  in  this  book  were 
amended,  such  small  deterrent  effect  as  the  fear  of  the  hardships  of 
prison  may  in  fact  possess  might  be  diminished.  Such  an  argument 
assumes  that  there  are,  in  all  societies,  great  numbers  of  people 
prone  to  crime  and  restrained  only  by  fear.  This  belief  is  impossible 
to  prove  and  is  in  our  opinion  not  borne  out  by  the  evidence.  At 
the  most,  it  may  be  thought  that  acute  poverty  conduces  to  this  state 
of  mind,  and  it  is  the  business  of  society,  in  the  ordinary  course  of 
its  political  development,  to  prevent  or  amehorate  such  poverty. 
J5o  far  as  this  argument  bears  on  reform  in  our  system  of  punishment, 
^"le  most  that  can  be  reasonably  said  is  that  in  the  guidance  of  such 

^Eeport    to   Secretary    for    Scotland    on    the    1910    Washington    Prison    Conference    (1911 
"    5640),  pp.  19-20. 


594  SOCIETY   AND    THE    OFFENDER 

reform  an  eye  should  be  kept  on  this  consideration,  not  that  it  should 
be  regarded  as  barring  it. 

When  so  much  crime  is  plainly  due  to  poverty,  to  feeble-minded- 
ness,  and  to  other  causes  which  punishment  cannot  cure,  the  adapta- 
tion of  our  institutions  to  these  facts  should  not  be  obstructed  by 
a  perhaps  hypothetical  fear  of  making  crime  more  popular. 

The  Directions  of  Reform. 
In  reviewing  the  cures  for  crime  suggested  by  the  facts  brought 
out  in  this  book,  we  must  note  that  some  of  them  and  not  the  least 
important,  are  the  same  as  the  remedies  for  poverty,  for  lack  of 
proper  education  and  the  like,  and  are  therefore  political  rather 
than  specifically  criminological.  No  one  can  judge  how  much 
residue  of  crime  there  might  be  in  a  society  more  just  than  ours, 
where  opportunity  was  more  equal.  If  we  had  fewer  of  the  idle  and 
incompetent  rich  as  well  as  of  the  destitute  poor,  we  should  have, 
no  doubt,  proportionally  less  crime.  But  that  problem  belongs  to 
the  general  theory  and  practice  of  politics. 

Meantime,  we  have  in  the  first  place  to  deal  with  offences,  chiefly 
by  young  persons,  due  not  to  disease  or  inherent  defect,  but  to  lack 
of  opportunity,  of  good  education  and  influence,  or,  perhaps  not 
seldom,  to  an  adventurousness  to  which  their  surroundings  give  no 
satisfactory  vent.  For  such  cases  we  desire  to  see  a  great  extension 
of  methods,  such  as  probation,  which  give  offenders  opportunities 
to  "make  good"  without  withdrawal  from  ordinary  life.  Where 
all  such  methods  fail,  the  treatment  provided  should  be  definitely 
educational.  To  send  such  offenders  to  prison  is  merely  to  run  a 
grave  risk  that  they  will  fall  into  the  ranks  of  habitual  criminals. 

For  offenders  clearly  not  amenable  to  such  treatment  as  probation, 
we  desire  to  see  a  drastic  enquiry  into  the  causes  and  antecedents 
of  their  offence ;  followed  by  a  careful  (though  not  minute)  differentia- 
tion for  purposes  of  re-education,  by  various  kinds  of  curative 
treatment  for  mind  and  body,  and  by  a  thorough,  and  probably 
arduous,  training  for  ordinary  life  and  resumed  liberty — a  training 
which  will  involve  wide  opportunities  for  individual  and  corporate 
responsibility  on  the  part  of  the  delinquents. 

We  hope  to  see  this  treatment  placed  in  the  hands  of  men  and  i 

women  of  proved  aptitude  and  sympathy,  who  have  received  special  | 
preparation  for  the  work.     We  are  of  opinion  that  whatever  small 

residuum  of  offenders,  failing  completely  to  respond  to  such  treat-  I 

ment,  continue  to  exhibit  definite  and  recurrent  anti-social  tendencies  ! 

of  a  serious  kind,  should  be  regarded  as  being  not  so  much  culpable  \ 

as  abnormal.     That  such  people  must  continue,  at  any  rate  for  some  \ 

time,  to  exist  in  small  numbers,  we  are  prepared  to  believe;  but  we  j 

anticipate  that  society,  if  it  thinks  itself  compelled  in  self-defence  ■. 

to  deprive  them  of  liberty,   will  segregate  them   under  conditions  j 

secHiring  for  them  not  merely  the  minimum   of  suffering,  but  the  ' 


A   NOTE  BY    THE   CHAIRMAN  OF   THE  ENQUIRY 


593 


maximum  of   wholesome   happiness  that  is  compatible  with  their 
isolation  and  their  infirmity. 

If  our  methods  of  treating  offenders  were  remodelled  on  these 
lines,  instead  of  the  long  procession  of  men  and  women  passing  con- 
tinuously in  and  out  of  the  prison  gates,  hardened  and  deteriorated 
by  the  rigours  and  deprivations  of  the  regime,  every  offender  would 
be  given  an  opportunity  to  turn  back  from  the  path  of  crime  and 
again  to  become  a  good  and  useful  citizen.  Thus  would  our  national 
life  be  relieved  of  the  hideous  burden  of  the  present  punitive  system, 
and  much  misery  and  degradation  be  transformed  into  hope  and 
endeavour  for  better  things. 


A  NOTE    BY  THE  CHAIRMAN  OF  THE  ENQUIRY. 


In  the  preceding  chapter  we  have  surveyed  the  ground  on  which 
punishment,  and  specifically  judicial  punishment  by  means  of  our 
prison  machinerj-,  is  "commonly  justified."  But  the  reasons  com- 
monly offered  in  justification  of,  or  apology  for,  courses  of  civic 
procedure  enforced  by  ancient  authority,  evolved  by  slow  and  long- 
intermittent  modifications  from  primitive  and  barbarous  expedients, 
and  not  forced  into  the  consciousness  and  criticism  of  the  great 
majority  of  the  nation  by  any  common  personal  experience  or  in- 
sistent provocation  or  interest  in  their  working,  may  very  easily  be 


ERRATA 


Page  595,  line  20 
„  „  „  35 
„     598,    „    16 

JJ  5f  »»         ^1 


"or  interest"  should  be  "of  interest" 
"brothers'  helpers  "  should  be  "brothers'  keepers' 
"starting"  should  be  "staffing" 
"different"  should  be  "difficult" 


feep  the  criminal  law  in  action  for  any  of  these  purposes.  Indigna- 
lon,  resentment,  or  vindictiveness  may  no  doubt  prompt  many  of 
luch  prosecutions  as  are  not  instituted  officiously  by  the  police,  but 
"le  overwhelmingly  predominant  motive  force  of  the  functioning  of 
le  criminal  law  is  that  certain  modes  of  activity  of  men  in  advanced 


594  SOCIETY   AND    THE    OFFENDER 

reform  an  eye  should  be  kept  on  this  consideration,  not  that  it  should 
be  regarded  as  barring  it. 

When  so  much  crime  is  plainly  due  to  poverty,  to  feeble-minded- 
ness,  and  to  other  causes  which  punishment  cannot  cure,  the  adapta- 
tion of  our  institutions  to  these  facts  should  not  be  obstructed  by 
a  perhaps  hypothetical  fear  of  making  crime  more  popular. 

The  Directions  of  Reform. 
In  reviewing  the  cures  for  crime  suggested  by  the  facts  brought 
out  in  this  book,  we  must  note  that  some  of  them  and  not  the  least 
important,  are  the  same  as  the  remedies  for  poverty,  for  lack  of 
proper  education  and  the  like,  and  are  therefore  political  rather 
than  specifically  criminological.  No  one  can  judge  how  much 
residue  of  crime  there  might  be  in  a  society  more  just  than  ours, 
where  opportunity  was  more  equal.  If  we  had  fewer  of  the  idle  and 
incompetent  rich  as  well  as  of  the  destitute  poor,  we  should  have, 
no  doubt,  proportionally  less  crime.  But  that  problem  belongs  to 
the  general  theory  and  practice  of  politics. 

Meantime,  we  have  in  the  first  place  to  deal  with  offences,  chiefly 
by  young  persons,  due  not  to  disease  or  inherent  defect,  but  to  lack 
of  opportunity,  of  good  education  and  influence,  or,  perhaps  not 
seldom,  to  an  adventurousness  to  which  their  surroundings  give  no 
satisfactory  vent.  For  such  cases  we  desire  to  see  a  great  extension 
of  methods,  such  as  probation,  which  give  offenders  opportunities 
to  "make  good"  without  withdrawal  from  ordinaiy  life.  Where 
all  such  methods  fail,  the  treatment  provided  should  be  definitely 
educational.     To  send  such  offenders  to  prison  is  merely  to  run  a 


as  abnormal.  That  such  people  must  contmue,  at  any  rate  lor  some' 
time,  to  exist  in  small  numbers,  we  are  prepared  to  believe;  but  we 
anticipate  that  society,  if  it  thinks  itself  compelled  in  self-defence 
to  deprive  them  of  liberty,  will  segregate  them  under  conditions 
securing  for  them  not  merely  the  minimum   of  suffering,  but  the 


A  NOTE  BY    THE   CHAIRMAN  OF   THE  ENQUIRY         595 

maximum  of   wholesome   happiness  that  is  compatible  with  their 
isolation  and  their  infirmity. 

If  our  methods  of  treating  ofienders  were  remodelled  on  these 
lines,  instead  of  the  long  procession  of  men  and  women  passing  con- 
tinuously in  and  out  of  the  prison  gates,  hardened  and  deteriorated 
by  the  rigours  and  deprivations  of  the  regime,  every  offender  would 
be  given  an  opportunity  to  turn  back  from  the  path  of  crime  and 
again  to  become  a  good  and  useful  citizen.  Thus  would  our  national 
life  be  relieved  of  the  hideous  burden  of  the  present  punitive  system, 
and  much  misery  and  degradation  be  transformed  into  hope  and 
endeavour  for  better  things. 


A  NOTE    BY  THE  CHAIRMAN  OF  THE  ENQUIRY. 


In  the  preceding  chapter  we  have  surveyed  the  ground  on  which 
punishment,  and  specifically  judicial  punishment  by  means  of  our 
prison  machinerj-,  is  "commonly  justified."  But  the  reasons  com- 
monly offered  in  justification  of,  or  apology  for,  courses  of  civic 
procedure  enforced  by  ancient  authority,  evolved  by  slow  and  long- 
intermittent  modifications  from  primitive  and  barbarous  expedients, 
and  not  forced  into  the  consciousness  and  criticism  of  the  great 
majority  of  the  nation  by  any  common  personal  experience  or  in- 
sistent provocation  or  interest  in  their  working,  may  very  easily  be 
something  quite  different  from  the  actual  and  operative  reasons  why 
such  modes  of  civil  procedure  persist.  And  this  is,  in  fact,  very 
much  the  case  with  our  penal  theories. 

For  whoever  will  reflect,  without  prepossession  by  the  influence 

or  associations  of  words  and  phrases  and  cliches,  judicial,  ofi&cial, 

)r  endeared  to  the  Criminal  Investigation  Department  and  the  police, 

Iwill  recognise  that  persons  who  break  the  law  are  not  in  the  actual 

ife  of  our  time  apprehended  and  sent  to  prison  in  consequence  or 

le  pressure  of  any  general  pubUc  desire,  or  any  demand  that  their 

souls  may  be  purged  by  penance  or  that  they  may  suffer  retribution 

for  misdeeds,  or  otherwise  experience  any  of  the  salutary  ingredients 

>f  punishment,  nor  yet  that  they  may  be  reformed  or  educated  to 

inable  them  to  live  honourable  lives.     No  number  of  ordinary  citizens 

forth  taking  account  of  care,  or  think  it  their  business  to  care,  or 

regard   themselves  as  being  their  brothers'  helpers,    sufl&ciently  to 

teep  the  criminal  law  in  action  for  any  of  these  purposes.     Indigna- 

ion,  resentment,  or  vindictive ness  may  no  doubt  prompt  many  of 

fcuch  prosecutions  as  are  not  instituted  officiously  by  the  police,  but 

the  overwhelmingly  predominant  motive  force  of  the  functioning  of 

fihe  criminal  law  is  that  certain  modes  of  activity  of  men  in  advanced 


696  SOCIETY   AND    THE    OFFENDER 

societies  are  troublesome  or  injurious  to  the  average  citizen,  and 
criminals  at  large  a  nuisance  from  which  he  expects  and  demands 
to  be  protected.  The  average  citizen,  therefore,  merely  feels  a 
desire  that  those  whom  he  fears  or  conceives  of  as  criminals  should 
be  killed  or  crippled  or  tortured  or  beaten  or  at  least  locked  up  safely 
and  kept  from  troubling  him.  Penal  reformers,  and,  on  their  in- 
centive, Governments,  by  fits  and  starts,  and  in  later  days  more  or 
less  enlightened  prison  authorities  with  some  continuity,  have  had 
regard  to  the  point  of  view  of  the  criminal,  and,  whilst  insisting  that 
the  killing  should  be  restricted,  the  physical  (though  not  the  spiritual) 
mainiing  abated,  the  implements  of  mechanical  torture  (such  as 
treadwheel  and  crank)  superseded  by  impalpable  devices  of  moral 
evisceration,  the  flogging  confined  to  crimes  which  still  provoke 
so  much  answering  savagery  among  vocal  classes  of  citizens  that 
politicians  give  way  to  their  outcries  for  violent  retaliation,  they  have 
found,  in  the  ideas  of  the  justice  and  salutary  nature  of  punishment, 
in  that  of  deterrence  and  in  that  of  reformation,  useful  bases  for 
compromise  between  the  demands  of  humanitarian  penal  reformers 
and  of  the  advocates  of  more  drastic  prison  discipline. 

Now  it  has  (at  any  rate  up  to  within  recent  years)  been  very 
wholesomely  recognised  and  insisted  upon  among  Englishmen  that 
the  Stat€  takes  on  itself  a  most  serious  responsibility  when  it  deprives 
any  man  of  his  liberty,  and  great  jealousy  of  such  a  proceeding  has 
been  maintained.  But  when,  after  all  the  safeguards  against  illegal 
imprisonment  have  been  (at  least  ostensibly)  observed,  conviction 
has  been  judicially  pronounced,  the  interest  of  the  community  as  to 
the  treatment  of  the  convicted  man  in  prison  is  comparatively  in- 
finitesimal, partly  because  he  has  become  what  is  spoken  of  as  a 
criminal,  a  member  of  "the  criminal  class,"  and  is  branded  by  that 
classification  as  something  below  and  outside  common  manhood, 
with  only  "reversionary  rights  (as  Sir  E.  Ruggles-Brise  expresses  it) 
in  humanity,"  and  partly  because,  whilst  there  are  many  who  might 
be  falsely  imprisoned,  those  actually  in  prison  are  few,  and  few, 
at  best,  those  concerned  at  all  about  them. 

These  few  people,  then,  are  locked  up  and  put  away  for  the 
protection  and  relief  from  annoyance  of  us  who  remain  out  of  prison. 
Persons  deemed  insane  are  locked  up  and  put  away  for  reasons 
substantially  similar,  namely,  that  they  are  felt  as  a  nuisance  in- 
tolerable to  their  neighbours.  Everyone  who  has  had  to  concern 
himself  with  the  fate  of  such  persons  knows  that  the  defects  in  their 
treatment  in  institutions  have  very  much  in  common  with  the  defects 
in  the  treatment  of  prisoners,  and  to  a  great  extent  for  the  same 
reasons.  But  the  common  responsibility  of  all  citizens,  including  all 
the  readers  of  this  book,  must  be  recognised  as  being,  in  regard  to 
the  imprisonment  and  prison  treatment  of  criminals,  far  greater  than 
in  regard  to  the  confinement  and  treatment  of  lunatics.  These 
people  are  put  away  for  our  benefit  and  for  our  protection.  How 
ought  they  to  be  dealt  with  ?     "We  deprive  them  of  liberty  and  subject 


A   NOTE   BY   THE  CHAIRMAN  OF   THE  ENQUIRY         597 

them  to  a  mechanical  and  severely  exacting  discipline.  We  know 
that  their  bodily  and  mental  constitutions,  their  temperaments  and 
their  characters,  must  be  exceedingly  diverse.  We  profess  to  aim 
at  the  elimination  of  crime,  and  the  denial  of  liberty  only  to  those 
who  cannot  be  weaned  from  the  criminal  life.  Diagnosis  of  each 
particular  case  to  be  dealt  with  ought,  therefore,  to  begin  at  the 
prison  gat^es.  The  first  thing  that  the  Home  Office,  if  it  is  to  deal 
with  prison  life  to  any  serious  purpose,  must  do,  is  to  organise  an 
adequate  staff  properly  qualified  by  education  in  sociology  and 
psychology,  normal  and  morbid,  to  undertake  this  diagnosis,  which 
must  include  sympathetic  enquiry  into  the  prisoner's  antecedents, 
and  which  will  in  time,  through  collaboration  of  the  persons  engaged 
in  it,  consolidate  and  classify  understanding  of  the  causes  and 
idosyncracies  of  crime.  As  we  have  seen,  the  duty  of  providing  for 
such  diagnosis  has  been  recognised  at  Birmingham  and  Bradford, 
and  a  beginning  made  of  putting  it  into  practice.  Nowhere  else. 
Why  at  Birmingham  and  Bradford?  Because  enlightenment  and 
human  sympathy  have  been  strong  among  the  justices  there.  Why 
not  elsewhere?  Because  the  Prison  Commis8ionei*s,  whilst  discours- 
ing very  liberally  about  "individualisation, "  have  not  been  moved 
by  similar  endowments  to  establish  at  all  other  necessary  centres  a 
properly  qualified  personnel  for  the  purpose.  Of  course,  the  ex- 
penses would  be  appreciable,  and  the  properly  qualified  personnel 
would  be  hard  to  find.  What  right  have  we,  when  we  take  these 
men  and  women  and  destroy  them  (in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  because 
we  cannot  forgive  injuries,  and  consistently  regard  the  precepts  of 
Christ  as  absurd),  to  refuse  to  spend  what  is  necessary  to  mitigate 
as  far  as  we  can  our  part  in  that  destruction?  The  immense  de- 
population of  our  prisons  by  the  war  (they  are  filling  up  again,  un- 
fortunately, under  the  Peace)  enabled  the  Treasury  to  cut  down  the 
Prison  Votes  very  substantially.  Here  was  a  margin  that  ought  to 
have  been  made  one  for  increasing  the  efficiency  of  our  prison 
treatment. 

And  it  must  be  clearly  recognised  and  boldly  kept  in  mind  that 
except  by  the  adoption  of  a  very  much  more  liberal  scale  of  expendi- 
ture than  the  Treasury  have  been  prepared  hitherto  to  sanction,  or 
than  political  critics,  now  terrorising  Parliamentary  politicians  with 
invectives  against  departmental  extravagance,  are  likely  to  abstain 
from  denouncing,  the  reproach  of  our  methods  of  deaUng  with  our 
prisoners  cannot  begin  to  be  taken  away.  The  military  and 
mechanical  organisation,  the  peremptory  routine,  the  gang-treatment, 
the  locking  of  the  prisoners  in  their  single  cells  for  nearly  three- 
fourths  of  their  time,  in  whatever  degree  they  may  be  imagined  to 
be  desirable  on  grounds  of  penal  theory,  are  maintained,  in  contempt 
of  the  professions  in  favour  of  greater  "individualisation,"  by  the 
desire  to  save  money.  If  we  are  not  to  have  a  mechanical  prison 
staff  for  whose  behaviour  in  the  control  of  prisoners  we  must  per- 
force rely  chiefly  on  drill  and  discipline,  but,  as  is  the  only  hope  for 


598  SOCIETY    AND    THE    OFFENDER 

improvement,  are  to  employ  as  prison  officers  men  and  women  who 
have  sufficient  intelligence,  force  of  character,  education,  and 
adaptability  to  be  trusted  to  use  their  discretion  in  dealing  with 
different  prisoners  and  to  enable  differentiation  to  be  extended  not 
only  between  classes  of  persons  convicted  and  sentenced  as  criminals, 
but  again  between  individuals  in  those  classes,  there  must  not  only 
be  greater  numbers  employed  (just  as  it  is  recognised  that  there  must 
be  in  our  public  elementary  schools,  where  the  classes  are  still  too 
large  for  the  allowed  staff  of  teachers  to  cope  with),  but  these  men 
and  women  must  receive  the  higher  pay  which  their  abilities  would 
earn  in  other  trades  or  professions,  and  must,  moreover,  have 
themselves  had  a  far  more  expensive  and  advanced  education  than 
is  postulated  as  qualification  sufficient  for  our  present  types  of  prison 
official  and  warder. 

Those  among  the  contributors  to  this  book,  who  have  had  the 
highest  responsibihty  in  regard  to  the  control,  the  starting,  and  the 
finance  of  prisons,  are  most  painfully  convinced  on  this  point. 
Prisons,  lunatic  asylums,  and  elementary  schools  all  suffer  on  the 
same  lines  in  this  connection ;  whilst  in  schools  we  do  less  justice  than 
we  might  to  valuable  human  material,  in  asylums  are  less  than 
humane  and  shabbily  scamp  our  duty  of  endeavouring  to  cure  different 
cases  among  the  unfortunate  whom  we  desire  to  relieve,  in  our  prisons 
we  put  away  men  for  our  own  convenience,  and,  for  the  sake  of 
financial  economy,  control  them  by  mechanical  methods  which  not 
only  deteriorate  their  own  characters  and  dissipate  their  inheritance  in 
humanity,  but  in  the  majority  of  cases  ensure  that  if  we  release  them 
we  shall  have  to  put  them  away  again,  and  continue  the  process  of 
their  destruction  till  nothing  but  animal  life  can  be  said  to  remain  to 
them. 

Sydney  Olivier. 


APPENDICES 


L— SPECIMENS    OF  EVIDENCE. 
2.— SOME  AMERICAN    EXPERIMENTS. 

3.— REPORT  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS  OF  THE  INDIAN  JAILS 
COMMITTEE  AFTER  INVESTIGATING  ENGLISH  AND 
AMERICAN    PRISONS. 

4.— LIST  OF   PRINCIPAL  AUTHORITIES. 


APPENDIX  I 


SPECIMENS   OF   EVIDENCE 

Over  400  witnesses  with  special  knowledge  of  prison  life  gave 
evidence  to  our  Enquiry.  It  is  impossible,  of  course,  to  print 
their  evidence  in  full,  but  we  think  it  of  interest  and  value  to  include 
the  views  of  a  few  of  these  witnesses  as  some  indication  of  the  nature 
of  the  contributions  made  to  our  investigation  in  this  manner. 

The  specimens  of  evidence  which  we  give  in  the  following  pages 
must  not  be  taken,  however,  as  necessarily  typical  of  the  class  of 
witness  represented.  The  evidence  given  from  a  Church  of  England 
chaplain,  for  instance,  probably  does  not  do  justice  to  Anglican 
chaplains  as  a  whole,  while  on  the  other  hand  we  fear  it  must  be 
said  that  the  evidence  from  the  visiting  Free  Church  minister  and 
the  Aid  Society  agent  is  too  enhghtened  to  be  accepted  as  a  reflection 
of  the  point  of  view  of  the  general  body  of  their  colleagues.  The 
evidence  from  these  two  witnesses  may  be  compared  with  the  evidence 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  priest  printed  on  pages  202-4,  which  ia 
fortunately  rare  in  its  extreme  unimaginativeness. 

We  have  made  no  attempt  to  select  witnesses  who  corroborate  our 
conclusions.  In  fact,  the  reader  will  notice  that  in  some  instances 
the  answers  given  are  in  direct  contradiction  to  these  conclusions. 
In  such  cases  we  have  a  body  of  contrary  evidence  which  decisively 
outweighs,  in  our  view,  the  evidence  printed  in  these  particular 
answers. 

In  some  cases  it  has  been  found  convenient  to  select  the  specimen*' 
of  evidence  from  among  the  written  answers  supplied  to  question- 
naires which  were  sent  to  different  classes  of  witnesses;  in  others, 
the  replies  reproduced  were  given  at  interviews  and  transcribed 
verbatim  or  summarised. 

Finally,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  conditions  of  their 
service  make  it  impossible  for  us  to  give  the  names  or  particulars  of 
prison  officials,  and  in  some  cases  it  has  not  been  possible  to  reproduce 
their  evidence  in  full. 


SPECIMENS  OF  EVIDENCE  601 

—EVIDENCE  OF  A  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND  CHAPLAIN 


1. — Would  you  prefer  a  local  administration  of  prisons,  as,  e.g.,  in  the  case 
of  lunatic  asylums,  with  central  inspection  and  a  measure  of  central  control? 

A. — I  should  be  against  local  administration. 

2. — Do  you  think  the  authorities  have  any  clear  idea  of  how  far  the 
deterrent  and  the  reformative  element  respectively  enter  into  the  present 
type  of  prison  discipline  ?  Do  you  consider  that  it  is  reformative  to  any 
extent^.  If  not,  how  far  is  this  to  do  with  a  wrong  personnel,  and  how 
far  with  bad  regulations  ? 

A. — Some  reforms  might  produce  a  more  reformative  influence.  The 
personnel  with  which  I  had  to  deal  has  been,  on  the  whole,  excellent. 

3. — Are  you  prepared  to  advocate  free  association  between  prisoners?  If 
.  under  what  safeguards  ?  Is  the  present  degree  of  association  of  any  real 
value.  1  Do  you  thini  the  silence  rule  is  beneficial,  as  it  is  now  practised! 
Do  you  think  men  are  injured  morally  by  the  loss  of  self-respect  involved, 
e.g.,  in  the  calling  by  number  rather  than  name,  the  suppression  of  person- 
ality by  the  rigid  discipline,  the  convict  dress,  and  other  humiliating  features 
of  imprisonment  ? 

A. — I  am  not  prepared  to  advocate  "  free "  association.  I  think  the 
•ilence  rule  is  to  some  extent  beneficial.  I  do  not  think  the  ordinary  tyje 
of  prisoner  is  any  further  degraded  by  present  regulations. 

4. — Do  you  think  the  first  month  of  solitary  confinement  has  any  value 
in  a  deterrent  or  reformative  direction?  Does  the  opportunity  for  reflection 
which  it  affords  promote  penitence  and  the  desire  for  a  better  life?  Does 
it  have  the  effect  of  breaking  the  spirit  of  the  prisoner,  and  thut  making  him. 
more  amenable  to  prison  discipline? 

[No  answer  given.] 

5. — Do  you  think  it  wise  to  encourage  reform  along  the  lines  of  the  free-er 
association  and  greater  amenities  contained  in  the  present  Borstal  and 
Preventive  Detention  experiments?  Or  do  we  want  a  complete  re-casting 
of  the  present  regime,  possibly  giving  liberty  to  religious  or  other  bodies 
to  experiment,  as  they  can  now  do  in  social  work? 

A. — Much  depends  on  the  individual  prisoner.  I  should  not  be  in  favour 
of  outsiders  belonging  to  religious  bodies  coming  into  the  prison,  beyond  the 
chaplains  of  various  denominations. 

6. — How  far  do  you  think  the  prison  regime  is  responsible  for  the  great 
ttumber  of  recidivists  ? 

[No  answer  given.] 

7- — Have  you  known  eases  of  men,  who  have  learnt  a  trade  in  prison, 
0ufjS,ciently  to  earn  their  living  at  it  outside! 

A.— Yes. 

8.— Do  you  agree   that  one  of  the   greatest  needs  is  further  classification 
of   prisoners,   with  a   view   to   more    individualised  treatment! 
A. — Certainly. 


602  SPECIMENS  OF  EVIDENCE 

9. — Do  you  think  that  many  persons  are  now  left  in  prison,  who  ought 
rather  to  be   treated  in  an  institution  for  the  mentally  defective? 

A. — I  have  found  such  cases,  but  some  prisoners  are  extremely  clever  at 
shamming  defective  mentality. 

10. — Is  the  present  "Modified  Borstal"  system  of  treating  juvenile  adults 
successful  in  giving  them  a  chance  of  starting  afresh?  What  are  its  chief 
defects  ? 

[No  answer  given.] 

11. — Do  yau  think  that  the  opportunities  of  communication  between  the 
prisoner  and  his  family  mAght  be  increased  with  advantage  in  many  cases? 

A. — In  some  cases. 


12. — How  far  have  you  found  sincere  penitence  for  past  faults  am&ng  (a) 
rst  offenders,  (b)  previously  convicted  prisoners?  Jjk 

A. — More  among  first  offenders  than  "old"  prisoners.  % 


13. — Have  you  come  across  cases  of  men  who  have  received  serious  damage 
(a)  to  their  physical  health,  or  (b)  to  their  mentality,  owing  to  the  conditions 
of  their  imprisonment? 

A. — (a).  The  health  of  nearly  all  prisoners  improves  in  prison  ;  (b).   No. 

14. — Do  you  consider  that  the  effect  of  confinement  upon  a  prisoner's  mind 
is  bad,  leading  him  to  concentrate  his  thoughts  upon  crime,  and  upon  sexual 
things?  Does  the  confinement  and  lack  of  healthy  interests  and  activitiea 
encourage  sexual  abuse? 

A. — Not  to  my  knowledge. 

15. — Do  you  agree  that  mfiny,  if  not  most  prisoners,  find  Saturday  after- 
noons and  Sundays  exceedingly  monotoTWus?  And  that  Sunday  might  be 
much  more  effectively  utilised  for  true  educational  and  reformative 
purposes?     If  so,  on  what  lines? 

[No  answer  given.] 

16. — In  your  visits  to  the  prisoners  in  their  cells,  have  you  observed  the 
effect   of  restraint,  separation,   isolation    and    self-centred  activity  on   their  ■ 
mental  life?    Is   any  marked  psychological  change  noticeable  in  prisoners? 

A. — I  have  not  found  much  evidence  of  psychological  change.  Tha 
answer  to  the  former  question  is  "no". 

17. — What  part  does  literature  play  in  the  prisoner's  life?  Is  it  one  of 
the  chief  factors  in  his  mental  health?  Do  you  find  most  prisoners  appreciate 
books ? 

A. — Most  prisoners  certainly  appreciate  books. 

18. — Could  greater  facilities  be  given  for  education?  If  so,  on  what 
lines  ? 

A. — I  think  that  the  means  of  improving  their  education  should  be  in- 
creased among  the  "long-sentence"  prisoners.  What  I  have  found  is  that 
most  prisoners  have  forgotten  most  of  what  they  learned  at  school. 


EVIDENCE  OF  A   CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND   CHAPLAIN      603 

19. — Should  more  facilities  be  given  for  creative  activity — such  as  loood- 
icark,  drawing  and  the  making  of  little  articles  of  use  and  decoration,  in 
order  that  prisoners  may  express  themselves  and  their  personalities  in  crafts- 
manship and  on  their  immediate  surroundings?  Should  there  be  greater 
provision  of  writing  facilities? 

[No  answer  given.] 

20. — Have  your  religious  ministrations  been  seriously  hampered  by  rules 
and  restrictions?  Would  you  like  the  discipline  by  warders  to  be  less 
prominent  during  the  services? 

A. — It  greatly  depend.s  upon  hoia  divine  service  is  conducted.  In  my  own 
prison  the  warders  have  exercised  little  or  no  discipline  in  the  chapel.  It 
has  been  unnecessary. 

21. — Do  you  feel  that  a  chaplain's  pulpit  work  is  worth  while  and  gener- 
ally helpful  to  the  moral  and  spiritual  needs  of  the  prisoners?  Have  you 
indications  of  this  from  prisoners  ? 

A. — It  depends  on  the  chaplain.  Personally,  in  my  own  case,  scores  of 
prisoners  have  expressed  to  me  that  they  have  found  much  help  from  my 
pulpit  ministrations.  I  would  give  the  chaplain  far  more  to  do  than  he 
usually  has,  e.g.,  in  the  work  of  teaching.  The  whole  question  turns  upon 
the  kind  of  man  the  chaplain  is.  I  speak  from  experience  of  work  both  in 
civil  and  military  prisons.  A  large  number  of  chaplaina  are  wholly  unsuit- 
able for  their  work,  especially  part-time  chaplains.  Good  men — except  in 
rare   instances — cannot  be  obtained  at  the  price  the  Home  Office  pay. 

22. — Would  the  effect  not  be  better,  if  prisoners  cmdd  enjoy  in  prison 
some  facilities  for  the  practice  of  Christian  love,  charitableness,  and  open- 
ness of  disposition? 

A. — I  don't  understand  thia  question.  Has  the  one  who  has  framed  it 
any  practical  knowledge  of  the  inside  of  a  prison,  i.e.,  as  an  official! 

23. — Is  it  a  good  thing  to  leave  the  personal  reformative  side  of  the  treat- 
ment to  the  chaplain  only?  Would  the  co-operation,  for  example,  of 
warders  or  of  outside  visitors  be  desirable?  How  far  do  governors  co-operate 
in  this  work  by  persorud  contact  with  and  knowledge  of  the  prisoners? 

[No  answer  given.] 

24. — Do  you  think  that  the  ground  of  many  prison  practices  and  restric- 
tions is  the  wish  to  save  time  and  trouble,  and  to  keep  down  the  numbers 
of  the  staff?    If  so  give  examples. 

A.— No. 

25. — Do  you  consider  the  practice  of  putting  men  in  observation  cells  a  good 
one?  Can  you  illustrate,  from  your  own  experience,  any  bad  results  that 
have  come  out  of  this  practice? 

A. — It  is  absolutely  necessary,  I  should  say,  for  some  prisoners  to  be 
put  into  observation  cells.  I  have  never  known  the  least  harm  result  from 
the  practice. 

26. — Are  the  arrangements  for  the  After-care  of  prisoners  adequate?  How 
far  in  your  experience  are  the  societies  able  to  find  work  for  ex-prisoners  who 
will  accept  their  help? 

A. — As  secretary   and  acting-treasurer  for  the   Discharged  Prisoners'   Aid 

Society  for I  have  had  a  good  deal  of  experience  in  this  work.     Here, 

again,  it  is  chiefly  a  question  of  personality.  Get  a  really  good,  sensible 
a^ent  and  the  work  is  admirable. 


604  SPECIMENS  OF  EVIDENCE 


Appendix  to  Foregoing  Replies. 

In  prison  work  the  danger  is  generalisation.  What  is  needed  is  individual 
treatment.  Governor,  chaplain,  doctor,  and  warders  should  (ideally)  have 
a  training  in  psychology,  so  should  magistrates.  In  'prison  reform'  I  should 
begin  vrith  these  last  and  abolish  most  amateur  magistrates,  putting  trained 
lawyers  in  their  place,  i.e.,  stipendiaries.  The  governor  with  whom  I 
worked  had  risen  from  the  ranks.  He  knew  the  difficulties  of  the  warders 
from  personal  experience.  One  needs  to  know  prison  life  from  the  inside  to 
understand  how  extremely  trying  prisoners  can  be  and  yet  not  actually  do 
anything  for  which  they  can  be  punished. 

I  believe  a  far  closer  study  of  moral  psychology  is  needed.  I  have  also 
been  chaplain  of  a  lunatic  asylum.  The  dividing  line  between  moral  responsi- 
bility and  moral  irresponsibility  is  exceedingly  hard  to  draw. 

Personally  I  have  a  very  considerable  dread  of  those  who  have  no  experi- 
ence of  prison  life  from  infide  interfering  in  ita  management. 

The  queetion  of  reform  I  regard  as  a  question  of  personality  in  the  staff. 
(Jet  the  right  officials,  pay  them  liberally,  and  I  believe  reforms  in  the  right 
direction  will  come. 


SPECIMENS  OF  EVIDENCE  60S 

B.— EVIDENCE  OF  A  VISITING  FEEE  CHURCH  MINISTER 


1. — Would  you  prefer  a  local  administration  of  prisons,  as,  for  exarruph, 
in  the  case  of  lunatic  asylums,  with  central  inspection  and  a  measure  of 
central  control? 

A. — I  think  I  should.  At  present  a  prison  stands  in  a  population  entirely 
ignorant  of  its  working,  and  with  no  meana  of  bringing  interest  or  humane 
feelings  to  bear  upon  it.  Local  administration  with  central  inspection  and 
control  would  secure  local  interest.  In  some  prisons  enlightened  governors 
and  chaplains,  especially  the  latter,  call  in  local  lecturers  and  choirs,  ai  d 
occasional  entertainers — but  the  general  community  knows  nothing  of  this 
and  is  not  therefore  interested  in  the  prison  in  its  midst. 

2. — Do  you  think  that  the  authorities  have  any  clear  idea  of  how  far  the 
deterrent  and  reformative  element  respectively  enter  into  the  present  type  of 
prison  discijiline? 

A. — I  do  not.  Prison  discipliiie,  so  far  as  I  can  observe  it  and  from  the 
unasked  statements  of  prisoners  themselves,  makes  men  worse  not  better. 
A  prisoner,  who  had  served  very  many  years,  told  me  it  was  calculated 
to  make  men  worse  not  better,  and  others  have  said  the  same.  On  the  other 
hand,  a  few  have  told  me  that  it  had  been  a  moral  benefit  for  them  to  be 
sent  to  prison.  They  had  seen  their  life  in  a  new  and  better  light  and  would 
go  out  reformed.  But  in  their  cases  it  was  not  due  to  the  discipline,  but  to 
the  good  latent  in  human  nature  stirred  to  life  by  Divine  influence.  It  can-.e 
from  within  the  men ;  not  from  without,  in  the  prison  regulations. 

The  lack  of  reformative  influence  in  prison  seems  to  me  to  be  due  to  the 
punitive  principle  upon  which  the  regulations  are  based. 

3. — Does  prison  appear  to  encourage  a  man  to  be  self -disciplined  and  self- 
controlhd? 

A. — Prison  discipline  is  detrimental  to  self-discipline.  It  destroys  the 
will — men  become  mechanical  and  as  soon  as  the  discipline  is  relaxed  are 
usually  at  sea.  There  is  no  effort — save  by  the  chaplain,  and  that  too  often 
very  formal — to  get  within  men.    The  discipline  is  external. 

4. — Do  you  think  that  prisoners  are  injured  morally  by  loss  of  self-respect? 

A. — I  think  one  of  the  chief  evils  of  present  prison  discipline  is  the  in- 
jury to  the  prisoners'  self-respect.  It  degrades  personality  to  be  a  mere  num- 
ber, to  take  away  all  freedom  of  speech  or  action,  unduly  t-o  humiliate,  and 
to  dress  men  grotesquely.  The  military  nature  of  the  discipline,  which 
mechanises   men,  is  the  radical   fault.     It   is  based  upon  a   disregard  to,  if 

ot  disrespect  of,  personality. 

I. — About    which    features   of   prison    treatment    do   prisoners    speak    most 
tterly  as  a  rule? 

I^A. — The  long  hours  of  silent  confinement,  made  worse  (longer)  by  the 
4(fliortening  of  the  w^orking  hours  of  the  warders.  Staffs  have  not  been  in- 
creased to  compensate  for  the  ehorter  hours. 

9. — Do  you  think   that    the  first   month  of  solitary   confinement  has    any 
fve  in  a  deterrent  or  reformative  direction? 

. — No.     The  first  month  of  solitary  confinement  has  no  reforming  value, 
seems   to    me   wanton    cruelty   or  else  very    bad   p.'vchology.     It    nearly 


606  SPECIMENS  OF  EVIDENCE 

drives  some  men  mad,  others  are  made  bitter  with  indignation,  and  it 
destroys  personality  with  a  third  class,  crushing  them  to  the  dust.  It  does 
little  to  promote  penitence.  The  prohibition  of  communication  with  or  from 
relatives  is  especially  resented  all  the  time. 

An  imprisoned  solicitor  informed  me  one  day  that,  familiar  as  he  was 
with  criminal  law,  he  was  absolutely  horrified  at  the  cruelty  and  inanity  of 
the  first  month. 

7. — Do  you  think  that  the  effect  of  confinement  leads  the  prisoner  to 
concentrate  his  thoughts  upon  crime  and  sexual  things? 

A. — ^I  am  afraid  it  is  so,  but  have  not  enough  knowledge  to  say  much.  1 
have  observed  signs  of  both. 

8. — Is  it  ycur  experience  that  many  prisoners  find  Saturday  afternoons 
and  Sundays  exceedingly  monotonous  ? 

A. — Yes.  Sunday  and  Saturday  afternoons  are  felt  to  be  very  irksome. 
There  should  be  more  personal  freedom  granted,  with  safeguards.  Freedom 
to  walk  about,  to  converse.  Companionship  (temporary)  could  be  permitted 
(or  a  few  hours.  Study  circles  on  religious,  social,  literary,  artistic  and 
scientific  subjects  could  be  held,  conducted  by  qualified  outsiders.  Singing 
and  music  could  be  encouraged.  Fraternisation  with  warders — it  is  often 
secretly  practised  now  in  humane  interests  by  good  warders — could  be 
allowed  also.  Lectures,  concerts,  free  religious  services  by  experts  from 
outside  could  be  permitted  (to  some  extent,  they  exist  to-day),  with  great 
advantage.  No  po.ssibla  harm  could  be  done  by  th©?e  things,  wisely  super- 
vised, but  much  good. 

9. — Are  you  prepared  to  advocate  free  asso'^iation  between  prisoners^.  Do 
you  think  the  silence  rule  is  beneficial  as  it  is  now  practised? 

A. — The  present  degree  of  association,  small  as  it  is,  is  a  comfort  to 
prisoners.  But  from  its  guarded  nature,  it  leads  to  deceit  and  under- 
handedness.  The  Silence  Rule  is  bad.  It  is  bitterly  resented,  it  is  defied, 
surreptitiously  broken,  and  its  violation  is  often  connived  at  by  kindly 
warders.  It  is  bad  in  its  moral  and  mental  effects.  Yet  naturally  there 
will  need  to  be  restraint  in  speech  between  prisoners  in  the  interests  of 
order,  of  work,  and  even  of  morality,  for  certain  depraved  types  might  use 
it  for  corrupting  purposes  and  others  for  conspiring  purposes.  Some  safe- 
guards would  therefore  be  necessary,  best  determined  or  recommended  by 
those  in  charge.  Reasonable  conversation  should  be  allowed  at  exercise,  also- 
at  work. 

10. — Do  you  think  it  wise  to  encourage  reform  along  the  lines  of  the  greater 
amenities  contained  in  the  present  Borstal  and  Preventive  Detention 
experiments? 

A. — Yes.  I  should  like  to  see  wis©  and  bold  experiments  along  the 
Borstal  and  Preventive  Detention  lines.  But  even  then  nearly  everything 
depends  upon  the  persons  who  administer  the  system,  and  their  principles. 
Those  whose  ideas  are  of  mere  "punishment"  or  "deterrence"  and  not 
"restoration,"  "reform"  or  "true  humanity,"  cannot  successfully  work  Borstal 
schemes.     Hence  much  failure. 

I  should  prefer  a  recasting  of  the  whole  system.  We  have  much  to  learn 
from  America — in  certain  quarters, — from  Russia,  and  still  more  from  the 
East.  The  power  of  "forgiveness"  is  too  little  understood  in  our  criminal 
system.  Its  methods  are  too  wholesale  and  mechanical.  A  more  individual 
treatment  ib  necessary  to  secure  even  justice,  to  say  nothing  of  reform. 


EVIDENCE    OF   A    VISITING  MINISTER  607 

If  Christian  churches  could  qualify  some  of  their  members  for  the  care 
of   law-breakers,  much  might  be  done  to  de-populate  or  possibly  close  our 

prisons. 

11. — Do  you  consider  that  one  of  the  greatest  needs  it  further  dassification 
of  prisoners  ? 

A. — Yes.  I  think  there  should  be  some  organisation  outside  the  prison 
system — of  Christian  experts — to  whom  each  case  could  be  referred.  To  be 
Christian  justice  it  must  be  moved  by  love  not  wrath  or  cold  calculation.  Each 
case  should  have  infinite  pains  taken  with  it  by  right-minded,  compassionate 
people.  To  this  end  a  wide-spread,  highly-trained  Christian  organisation, 
through  reformed  Churches  would  be  needed.  For  the  very  churches  need 
education  in  compassion  and  Christian  criminology. 

12. — What  part  does  literature  play  in  the  prisoner's  life? 

A. — The  library  at  my  prison  is  an  excellent  one.  All  my  prisoners  epeiid 
much  of  their  time  in  reading  fiction,  biographies,  travels,  histories,  technical 
and  religious  books  and  illustrated  magazines.  They  find  them  their  chief 
comfort. 

13. — Could  greater  facilities  be  given  for  education? 

A. — I  think  outside  educationalists,  many  of  whom  would  delight  to 
render  such  service  and  could  be  trusted,  might  be  admitted  to  hold  classes 
and  train  and  educate  individuals  during  those  long  hours  of  solitude — just 
as  "outside"  chaplains,  like   myself — go  round  in   such   hours  and  converse 

d   "instruct"  religiously. 

14. — Should  more  facilities    be  given  for  creative  activity — such  as  xcood- 
rh,  drawing,  and  the  making  of  little  articles  of  use  and  decoration? 

A. — Yes.  To  the  small  ext€nt  to  which  prisoners  are  allowed  to  decorate 
vi.eir  cells  with  photographs  there  is  gain,  in  mental  contentment,  in  evoking 
finer  feelings,  or  keeping  alive  affection.  Provision  might  well  be  made  for 
prisoners  to  express  themselves  freely  in  wood  or  leather  or  other  material ; 
much  clever  and  happy  work  would  be  done,  which  would  keep  from  harmful 
thinking,  feeling  or  acting  in  loneliness.  Great  improvement  is  needed  in 
writing  facilities.  The  slate  is  a  barbarous  provision  for  adults — especially 
when  it  is  the  only  provision.  I  knew  one  man  who  solaced  and  inspired 
himself  in  writing  quite  decent  poetry.  He  was  much  hampered  by  having 
only  a  slate. 

15. — Have  you  known  of  men  who  have  learned  a  trade  in  prison  sufficiently 
earn  their  living  at  it  outside  ? 

-No. 

16. — Have   you  found  men  who  have   learned  cleanly,  rogulnr,    temperate 
hits  as  a  result  of  the  prison  regime? 

. — None  who  were  not  so  before — with  the  exception  of  a  few  ruined  by 


17. — Would  you  have  mere  frequent  visitation  of  prisoners  by  friends  and 
itives  ? 

fA. — I  would.     It  is  humanising,  and  to  deny  it  is  a  cruel  and  hardening 
lishment. 


608  SPECIMENS    OF   EVIDENCE 

18. — Do  you  think  health  is  impaired  by  imprisonment? 

A. — Yes.  Prisoners  suffer  greatly  in  their  health  from  the  food  and  from 
the  long  hours  of  confinement  in  cells — some  for  18  hours  at  a  stretch.  This 
latter  is  sometimes  said  to  be  due  to  reduction  of  staff,  and  at  others  to 
reduced  hours  for  warders  and  re-arranged  shifts.  I  knew  one  criminal — a 
man  of  45 — who  was  obviously  going  out  of  his  mind.  An  old  warder  con- 
fided to  me  that  it  was  due  to  repeated  terms  of  imprisonment — '  'it  did  have 
that  effect  on  some  of  them,"  he  said.  I  have  known  conscientious  objectors' 
health  ruined  by  imprisonment.  A  high-minded  man  reduced  to  utter  nervous 
feebleness — indeed,  two  such. 

19. — Do  you  consider  that  the  practice  of  putting  men  in  observation  cells 
is  a  good  onet 

A. — I  cannot  say ;  and  it  is  probably  necessary  in  some  morbid  cases, 
or  mental  cases.  A  few  cannot  be  trusted  to  behave  decently  or  sanely  alone. 
Yet  it  is  not  certain  that  they  are  at  a  stage  for  a  lunatic  asylum.  For  a 
normal  prisoner — if  ever  used  as  a  punishment  it  would  be  a  terrible  cruelty. 

Prisoners  resent  the  grating  or  "spy -hole'*  in  the  cell-door  »is  it  is.  Yet 
perhaps — it  is  necessary  with  so  many  bad,  vicious  and  desperate  men  on  hand. 

20. — Have  your  religious  ministrations  been  seriously  hampered  by  the 
rules  and  restrictions? 

A. — No.  The  only  disability  I  have  suffered  has  been  from  inability  to 
use  the  prison  chapel  for  the  administration  of  the  Sacrament  according  to 
the  rites  of  my  denomination.  The  warders  do  not  obtrude  themselves  and 
my  services  are  often  "unconventional." 

21. — Do  you  think  that  many  prisoners  are  morally  and  spiritually  helped 
by  the  influence  of  the  chaplains? 

A. — To  some  extent — but  my  opinion  is  naturally  biassed.  I  think  it 
would  be  a  calamity  not  to  have  an  official  chaplain.  He  serves  many 
humane  as  well  as  Christian  purposes.  Obligatory  services,  perfunctory 
performance  of  duties  are  certainly  harmful.  Much  depends  upon  personality 
in  the  chaplain.  Prisoners  should  have  religious  freedom  to  a  greater  extent 
than  they  now  have  it.  I  see  no  reason  why  earnest-minded  outsiders,  lay 
or  clerical,  should  not  be  admitted  to  help  individual  cases,  upon  satisfactory 
credentials.     Even  now,  outside  chaplains  (unofficial)  are  admitted  on  request. 

22. — Is  it  a  good  thing  to  leave  the  personal  reformative  side  of  the  treat-  ■ 
ment  to  the  chaplain  onlyl     Would  the  co-operation,  for  example,  of  wardert 
or  of  outside  visitors  be  desirablel     How  far  do  governors  co-operate  in  this 
work   by  personal  contact  with  and  knowledge  of  the  prisoners! 

A. — I  think  other  persons  than  chaplains  should  be  allowed  to  help  in  the  \ 
personal  reformative  work  of  prisons.  The  governor,  of  course,  knows  his  | 
prisoners  personally,  but  mostly  in  a  disciplinary  or  petitionary  capacity. 
I  have  known  one  who  was  most  humane  and  visited  men  in  their  cells  for  j 
friendly  and  helpful  talk.  The  vilest  of  men  spoke  well  of  him  and  welcomed  | 
him.     The  office  is  one  of  noble  possibilities.  I 

23. — Have  you  found  a  majority,  at  any  rate  of  first  offenders,  penitent    \ 
and  desirous  of  leading  an  honest  life  on  discharge  ? 
A. — Yes,    I  have.     First  offenders — and  even  some  old  offenders. 

24. — It  is  sometimes  said  that  if  a  man   is  sent  to  prison  a  second  time    \ 
he  is  done  for.     Is  there  a  rough  truth  in  this! 


EVIDENCE    OF   A    VISITING   MINISTER  6C9 

A. — There  is  much  truth  in  it.  Men  then  feel  hopeless.  They  fall  both 
in  their  own  esteem  and  that  of  society,  and  grow  reckless.  Further  acquaint- 
ance with  prisoners  and  prison  life  also  tends  to  induce  continuance  in  a 
criminal  career. 

25. — How  far  do  you  think  the  prison  regime  is  responsible  for  the  great 
number  of  recidiviite^. 

A. — I  think  that  the  Rev.  W.  D.  Morrison  has  demonstrated  that  the 
prison  regime  is  responsible  for  recidivists.  One  young  fellow  of  19,  in  my 
care,  has  been  in  prison  seven  times — each  time  for  a  worse  offence.  He 
has  good  desires  and  intentions,  which  alternate  with  hopelessness  over  his 
"record"  and  "police  reputation."  He  has  declared  that  he  now  feels 
"doomed  to  the  gallows."     Not  much  good  in  the  past  treatment  of  that  lad  ! 

26. — Are  the  arrangements  for  after-care  of  discharged  prisoners  adequate! 

A. — No!  The  "after-care"  work  needs  developing.  The  Salvation  Army 
and  Free  Church  mission  methods  of  meeting  prisoners  need  increasing. 
I  think  the  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid  report  and  the  report  of  the  police 
court  missionaries  and  societies  indicate  fair  success. 

27. — Is  an  ex-prisoner  really  able  to  take  his  place  in  the  business  of  the 
tcorld  ? 

A. — It  is  difficult  for  an  ex-prisoner  to  resume  his  business  life — apart 
from  the  damage  done  to  his  reputation.  Prison  takes  away  alertness — and 
cuts  men  off  too  much  from  the  knowledge  of  the  world's  affairs.  Prisoners 
should  have  more  access  to  papers  (news)  and  not  have  news  served  out  to 
them  only  by  the  chaplain.  They  return  to  life  shy,  morose,  and  with 
I  cunning — qualities  developed  by  prison  discipline. 

23. — Do  you  find  that  prisoners  have  a  sense  of  bitterness  against  society! 

A. — Many  contract  great  bitterness  against  society  and  against  those  who 
I  sentence  and  punish  them. 

29. — Are  there  any  general  observations  you  would  like  to  make! 

A. — In  general   I   am  deeply  concerned   with  the  need   for  prison  reform. 

I  Imprisonment  is  not  corrective,  but  merely  punitive.     It  is  vindictive,  not 

'  Christian.     What  humanity    is   in  the   administrators   escapes  them    despite 

,  and  not  because  of  the  system.     Human  sympathy  and  kindness   often  are 

■  manifested  by  governors  and  warders — but  the  system  facilitates  the  work  of 

men  inclined  to  brutality  and  tyranny.    The  food  is,  to  my  mind,  unnecessarily 

repulsive.     But,   above   all,  there  is  far  too  much   solitary  confinement,   and 

•  the  prohibition  of  human  intercourse  and  fellowship  are  too  drastic.     Prison 

cannot  be   made  a  holiday — if  we   are  to  have  any — and  care  is   needed   in 

allowing  bad   men  too  much  freedom  of   intercourse.     But  there  is   infinite 

room   for  wise  experiment  and  reform.     Men  and    women  on   remand,  too, 

■  legally  innocent  till  proved  guilty,  ought  not  to  be  herded  and  confined  with 

;  the  guilty  and  sentenced. 

i  Finally,  the  structure  of  modern  society  and  its  social  conditions,  with  its 
!«3aphasis  on  property,  and  luxury  at  one  end,  poverty  at  the  other,  its 
!  maldistribution  of  wealth,  its  slums,  its  false  standards  of  life,  its  materialism 
and  load  of  misery,  its  strain,  its  unemplojonent  and  injustices  to  in- 
dividuals not  provided  with  opportunities  for  earning  a  living — all  tend  to 
create  law-breakers.  Society  creates  criminals,  and  needs  to  repent  and 
reform  itself,  as  well  as  the  prisoners. 


610  SPECIMENS  OF  EVIDENCE 

C— EVIDENCE  OF  A  MEDICAL  OFFICER 


1. — How  many  years'  experience  have  you  had  of  the  'prison  medical 
service^.      Were  they  passed  in  small  or  large  prisons  1 

A. years.     Both  in  large  and  small. 

2. — Do  you  consider  that  the  initial  separate  confinement  which  hard  labour 
and  penal  servitude  prisoners  undergo  is  often  harmful  to  their  health, 
physically  or  mentally^. 

A. — Not  as  a  rule.  In  the  exceptional  cases,  which  are  rare,  the  M.O. 
can  step  in. 

3. — Apart  from  this  separate  period,  do  you  consider  that  the  monotony 
of  prison  life,  the  long  periods  of  confinement  to  the  cells,  the  lack  of  social 
intercourse,  and  the  restricted  opportunity  for  physical  exercise,  have  any 
harmful  effect  upon  prisoners'  health,  physical  and  mentals 

A. — Not  in  Local  prisons.  My  experience  ia  that  prison  life  in  the 
majority  of  cases  acts  as  a  rest-cure,  and  that  the  health  on  discharge  is,  as 
a  rule,  much  improved. 

4. — Do  you  consider  it  healthy  for  labour  to  be  performed  in  the  cells  : — 
(a)  throughout  the  day^.  (b)  during  the  meal-times  and  after  supperl  Are 
any  kinds  of  cellular  labour  unhealthy — e.g.,  repairing  old  mail-bags  and 
picking  horse-hair  and  cocoa-nut  fibre  ? 

A. — There  is  not  much  cellular  labour  now,  and  I  have  not  found  repairing 
mail-bags,  horse-hair  picking,  and  cocoa-nut  fibre  detrimental.  Should  the 
hair,  etc.,  be  found  very  dirty,  it  is  condemned. 

5. — Do  you  consider  that  the  diets  provided  for  prisoners  are  adequate  and 
health-making^ 

A. — Yes ;  as  a  rule  the  weights  increase. 

6. — Do  you  regard  the  "body-weight"  test  {the  one  usually  employed, 
according  to  official  reports)  as  by  itself  a  satisfactory  test  of  the  adequacy 
of  the  diet  or  of  a  man's  general  health  (apart  from  specific  complaints  on 
his  part)  ? 

A. — The  body-weight,  taken  in  conjunction  with  the  man's  general  appear- 
ance and  condition,  yes. 

7. — Do  you  consider  that  the  facilities  which  medical  officers  possess  for 
supervising  the  health  of  prisoners  are  sufficient^.  If  not,  in  what  respects 
are  they  inadequate! 

A.— Yes. 

8. — Is  the  prison  medical  service  under-staffed  (a)  in  small  prisons'!  (b)  in 
large  prisons  ? 

Should  medical  officers  have  sufficient  time  to  examine  all  prisoners 
periodically  ? 

A. — (a)  and  (b),  No.  I  consider  the  prisoners  have  every  attention 
medically.  It  would  be  better  to  have  full-time  M.O.'s  at  all  prisons,  but 
with  the  small  prisons  it  would  hardly  be  feasible. 


EVIDENCE    OF  A   MEDICAL    OFFICER  «ll 

9. — Is  the  medical  equipment  sufficient — e.g.,  the  medical  instruments,  the 
medicines  and  other  medical  necessities^. 

A. — Yes.     I  have  always  had  my  demands  granted. 

10. — Is  the  assistance  provided  for  medical  officers  adequate  and 
sufficiently  trained^  Ought  there  to  be  trained  nurses  in  the  hospitals^. 
How  far  are  there  such^  Would  you  advocate  the  introduction  of  female 
nurses  into  the  male  prisoners'  hospitals^. 

A. — The  hospital  staff  here  is  not  adequate.  There  should  be  trained 
nurses  in  the  hospitals.  I  should  not  advocate  female  nurses  in  the  male 
priaoners'  hospitals. 

11. — Are  the  hospitals  adequate*.  In  small  prisons  as  well  as  large*. 
Would  you  urge  that  the  dormitory  system  should  be  extended  in  the 
hospitals  and  the  cellular  treatment  restricted *. 

A. — I  think  the  hospitals  are  adequate  in  the  prisons  I  know. 

12. — Are  the  arrangements  for  observing  and  dealing  with  mentally 
deficient  prisoners  adequate^  If  not,  what  improvements  are  necessary* 
Would  you  advocate  the  removal  of  "mentally  deficients"  from  prison 
entirely*    How  far  are  they  being  removed^ 

A. — Yes,  fairly  adequate.  I  should  advocate  the  removal  of  mentally 
defi  ients  from  prison  entirely  to  some  farm  or  labour  colony.  There  is 
atill  some  difficulty  in  disposing  of  them,  although  this  is  gradually  improving. 

13. — What  do  you  consider  the  value  of  the  observation  cells*.  Do  they 
sometimes  increase  mental  instability*. 

-V. — I  think  the  observation  cells  very  useful  if  properly  employed.  In 
those  cases  where  mental  instability  is  increased,  the  M.O.  can  again  use 
his  judgment. 

14. — Are  the  facilities  for  dealing  with  venereal  disease  cases  adequate*. 

A. — Yes.  I  have  know  cases  who  have  confessed  to  being  sentenced  for 
the  sake  of  treatment. 

15. — Are  the  facilities  for  dealing  with  tubercular  cases  adequate* 

fA. — I  have  never  met  with   advanced   cases   of   tuberculosis.       The  cases 
Ith  tuberculous  tendency,  or  old  sanatoria  cases,  always  seem  to  do  well  in 
special  cells  provided. 

16. — Do  yon  consider  the  habit  of  sexual  abuse  (masturbation)  is  prevalent 
pri.?on*.     If  so,  do  prison  conditions,  in  your  view,  encourage  iti 

^A. — I  have  very  seldom  had  cases  of  masturbation  reported  to  me  and  have 
reason  to  think  it  is  especially  prevalent  in  prisons. 

117. — Are  there  any  forms  of  prison  punishment  which  you  think  should  bs 
fandoned  or  modified*. 

[a.— No. 


612  SPECIMENS  OF  EVIDENCE 

18. — Are  sanitary  conditions,  ventilation,  and  heating  satisfactory! 
A. — Yes  :  taking  into  consideration  the   difficulty  of  heating  and  ventilat- 
ing equally  large  buildings  (e.g.,  the  Houses  of  Parliament). 

19. — Do  you  consider  some  men  suffer  throvgh  not  having  sufficient 
opportunity  to  visit  the  w.c.  ? 

A. — This  is  not  my  experience;  have  had  no  complaints. 

20. — Is  the  inspection  by  the  Assistant  Medical  Inspector  of  Prisons 
valuable  ? 

A. — Any  inspection  has  a  certain  value;  it  smartens  men  up  if  inclined  to 
slacken. 

21. — Do  medical  officers  have  adequate  opportunities  to  make  recommenda- 
tions to  the  Prison  Commissioners!  Is  proper  attention  paid  to  their 
recommendations  ? 

A. — Yea,  as  a  rule. 

22. — Do  medical  officers  have  any  opportunity  to  carry  out  research  as 
to  the  relation  of  physical  and  mental  defects  to  crime,  etc.  ? 

A. — Opportunity  would,  I  think,  be  given. 

23. — (a)  What  percentage  of  criminals  would  you  say  fire  mentally  defective! 
(b)  How  far  do  you  consider  that  physical  and  mental  defects  are  responsiblt 
for  crime  ? 

A. — (a)  Perhaps,  two-thirds.  (This  is  a  difficult  question ;  as  difficult 
almost  as  saying  the  proportion  of  the  really  mentally  sound  of  the  outside 
population),     (b)  I  don't  know. 

24. — Are  medical  officers  and  their  assistants  adequately  remunerated! 
Are  the  conditions  of  the  service  otherwise  satisfactory  to  medical  officers! 

A. — It  is  not  a  well  paid  service. 

25. — Do  you  consider  that  the  present  constitution  of  the  Prison  Commission 
at  Whitehall  is  satisfactory  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  work  of  the 
medical  officers!     Should   the  medical   officers   be    represented   upon  it! 

A. — I  don't  consider  I  am  capable  of  forming  an  opinion. 

26. — Have  you  any  other  observations  or  suggestions  to  make! 

A. — I  consider  it  rather  dangerous  to  idealise  with  prisoners,  especially  with 
Local  prisoners  (convicts  probably  require,  with  their  long  terms,  some  differ- 
ence in  treatment).  Idealists,  it  seems  to  me,  for  the  most  part  regard 
prisoners  from  their  own  stand-point,  forgetting  that  the  large  majority  of 
prisoners  are  not  very  intelligent  or  intellectual,  are  not  in  the  habit 
of  thinking  very  deeply,  and  ignore  details  which  would,  affect  a  more 
sensitive  mind  ;  that  it  is  difficult  to  find  officials  with  the  qualifications  to 
carry  out  suggestions  intelligently  and  efficiently ;  and  that  the  result  would 
probably  be  a  maudlin  sentimentality,  doing  more  harm  than  good. 

How  many  schoolmasters  are  really  capable  of  teaching  and  educating? 
How  many  parents  thoroughly  understand  or  take  the  trouble  to  understand 


EVIDENCE    OF    A    MEDICAL    OFFICER  613 

their  children's  characters?  How  many  persons  are  really  able  to  train  a  dog? 
My  experience  is,  that  prison  is  a  sort  of  Rest  Home  for  many,  and  that  the 
improvement  in  health  is  usually  very  marked,  regular  hours,  rest,  no 
worries,  good  food,  and  clean  clothes.  The  routine  and  discipline  are  restful. 
A  woman  sentenced  here  some  years  ago  remarked,  "Had  I  known  it  was 
like  this,  I  would  have  come  in  long  ago." 

I  have  known  venereal  cases  get  sentenced  on  purpose  for  treatment,  and 
women  who  have  once  been  confined  in  prison  come  in  again,  when  pregnant, 
with  the  object  of  again  getting  a  special  nurse,  clean  linen,  etc.,  etc. 

One  woman,  an  elderly  troublesome  prisoner,  as  she  had  behaved  well — 
she  had  passed  a  longish  sentence  and  was  not  very  strong — I  thought  I 
would  be  rather  indulgent  to  her,  so  I  put  her  into  hospital  and  gave  her  fish 
and  potatoes,  with  the  result  she  immediately  became  insolent  and  unbearable, 
so  that  at  the  end  of  two  days  I  had  to  discharge  her  to  her  cell  again  on  her 
ordinary  diet,  when  she  resumed  her  previous  good  behaviour.  I  put  my 
confidence  in  discipline  with  justice.  I  have  never  found  any  prisoner  resent 
strictness  and  firmness,  if  it  be  dealt  with  justice. 

It  is  the  feeling  of  not  being  fairly  treated  that,  as  a  rale,  causes  disturb- 
ances and  unrest. 


614  SPECIMENS  OF  EVIDENCE 

D.— EVIDENCE  OF  A  WAEDER 


1. — What  is  your  view  of  the  surveillance  {spying)  to  which  prison  officers 
are  subjectedl 

A. — This  practice  is  not  so  prevalent  as  heretofore,  but  it  is  an  abominable 
practice  at  any  time  and  tends  to  lower  the  humane  standard  of  the  officer. 

2. — What  is  your  opinion  of  the  list  of  32  "breaches  of  regulations"  for 
which  officers  are  liable  to  punishment! 

A. — I  am  of  the  opinion  that  many  rules  are  unnecessary  and  only  tend  to 
strengthen  the  hand  of  authority.  These  rules  are  often  abused  when  a  superior 
officer  wants  to  show  a  keen  sense  of  his  authority. 

3. — Do  you  think  the  practice  of  accepting  secret  reports  of  one  officer 
against  another  has  really  been  abolished! 

A.— No ! 

4. — Why  are  you  so  emphatic! 

A. — The  text  of  a  recent  circular  to  all  prisons  says  in  effect  that  an  officer 
will  now  be  allowed  to  become  acquainted  with  the  report  of  another  officer 
upon  him,  and  "prepare  his  defence."  That  shows  that  reports  are  still  ex- 
pected. 

5. — Can  you  illustrate  the  abuses  to  which  such  reporting  leads! 

A. — One  of  the  abuses  of  this  practice  was  that  any  ill-will  existing  between 
two  officers  would  be  introduced  in  the  report,  often  bringing  about  the  down- 
fall of  the  one  in  a  most  unfair  manner.  An  accused  officer  can  now  demand 
to  see  the  evidence  against  him,  but,  to  counteract  this,  verbal  evidence, 
omitted  from  report,  is  taken  behind  the  back  of  the  accused  officer. 

6. — What  evidence  have  you  of  tliis! 

A. — It  is  a  known  fact  that  indirect  questions  are  put  to  other  officers  and 
answered ;  these,  of  course,  may  go  for  or  against  an  accused  officer.  Jealousy 
has  a  great  deal  to  do  with  this  :  tittle-tattle  combined  with  ignorance. 

7. — Is  it  possible  for  a  warder  to  give  an  uplift  to  a  man's  character  under 
the  present  rules  ! 

A. — Only  by  his  own  example. 

8. — If  free  conversation  between  warders  and  prisoners  were  allowed,  do 
you  think  many  of  the  present  warders  would  try  and  help  in  this  way! 

A. — Yes,  in  the  majority  of  cases.  I  have  practised  this  myself,  unofficially, 
for  many  years  and  am  sure  that  I  have  been  successful  in  many  cases. 

9. — And  would  more  trust  and  freedom  attract  better  men  into  the  service! 

A. — Even  with  this  practice  in  operation  I  am  afraid  the  Prison  Service 
would  be  unattractive.  It  is  not  contact  with  prisoners  which  makes  the  ser- 
vice lose  its  attraction,  so  much  as  the  iron  rule  and  the  red  tape  to  which 
he  is  subjected. 


EVIDENCE  OF  A    WABDER  616 

10. — Is  the  wort  of  merely  watching  for  breaches  of  the  regulations  good 
for  a  warder's  character^ 

A. — Generally  speaking,  no. 

11. — Do  you  think  it  would  be  better  for  warders  to  work  alongside  men 
' "  foremen,  talcing  their  share  in  the  troT-i? 

A. — Much  better,  but  hardly  applicable  when  "safe  custody"  becomes  the 
first  consideration. 

12. — Is  the  warder  given  any  opportunity  of  initiative! 

A. — The  warder  is  not  supposed  to  possess  initiative,   being  a  subordinate 
rison.     In  every  action  he  is  completely  governed  by  regulations. 

13. — Do  you  think  different  types  of  prisoners  should  be  given  different 
and  appropriate  treatment  by  specially  trained  officers  with  knowledge  of 
psychology,  hygiene,  educational  theory,  etc.  ? 

A. — I  have  always  been  an  advocate  of  this  and  personally  am  of  the 
opinion  that  it  would  be  one  of  the  finest  measures  towards  the  reformation 
of  the  prisoner. 

14. — Would  you  say  that  a  prisoner  is  often  ill-used  by  a  warder  1 
A. — No.     Years  ago,  even  in  my  time,  this  was  so,  but  it  is  hardly  ever 
n  now — in  fact,  so  seldom  that  it  cannot  be  earnestly  considered. 

15. — Or  unjustly  reported! 

A. — Tliis  depends  upon  the  type  of  officer.  But  I  think  I  am  correct  in 
saying  that  the  percentage  of  this  class  of  report  is  below  consideration. 
Generally  there  is  a  marked  absence  of  reports,  and  the  majority  of  those 
which  crop  up  are  the  result  of  the  most  stringent  enforcement  of  regulations 
by  Superior  Officers. 

16. — Are  there  any  forms  of  punishment  which  you  think  should  be 
abandoned ? 

A. — Yes,  "close  confinement"  to  my   mind  is  the   most  abhorrent  form  of 

punishment  possible  and  I  would  welcome  its  abolition,  although  in  practice 

•!  this  punishment  eases  things  for  the  officer  under  whose  charge  the  offender 

j  is.     But  it  is  "hellish"  for  the  offender,  mentally,   and  to  a  certain  extent, 

j  physically,  as  he  is  deprived  of  fresh  air  and  exercise. 


17. — What  do  you  consider  the  first  object  of  the  prison  system — punish- 
ment or  reform! 

A. — It  is  quite  apparent  that  punishment  is  the  first  object. 

18. — Does  it  succeed  in  deterring  a  man  from  another  crime! 
A. — I  cannot  say  that  it  is  a  great  deterrent. 

19. — Or  in  reforming  him  ! 

A.— It  seldom  if  ever  reforms  him.  I  think  the  real  answer  to  these  last 
questions  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  is  not  prison  which  deters  or  reforms,  but 
social  conditions  in  civilian  life.    It  is  these  which  axe  mainly  respon.«ible. 


616  SPECIMENS  OF  EVIDENCE 

20.— Have  you  come  across  many  men  who  are  sincerely  penitentl 
A.— Very  few,  for  with  adverse  conditions  always  against  him,  a  man  can 
hardly  regret  what   he  has   done,    particularly  as  it  often   happens  that  his 
wrong-doing  has  been  brought  about  in  self-defence— m  the  widest  sense  of 
the  term. 

21. — What  is  the  value  of  the  silence  rule! 

A. — Concentration  of  mind  on  whatever  is  in  hand. 

22. — How  far  do  governors  expect  it  to  be  observed^ 
A.— Governors  expect  the  fullest  observance  of  this  rule. 

23.— Z?o  governors  really  think  that  the  rule  can  be  enforced^. 
A. — I  am  sure  that  most  governors  do  expect  the  silence  rule  to  be  enforced. 
Most  governors  will  not  listen  to  anything  concerning  slackness  of  this  rule. 

24. — Does  it  in  your  view  encourage  deceit^ 
A. — Undoubtedly. 

25.— Do  you  think  men  are  injured  by  loss  of  self-respect  involved  in  the 
convict  dress  and  other  humiliating  thingsl 

A. — Without  a  shadow  of  a  doubt.  I  am  sure  a  more  suitable  civilian 
dress  could  be  used.  It  is  obvious,  though,  that  with  the  very  unfortunate 
classes  they,  at  least,  must  be  provided  with  some  dress  for  purposes  of 
health  and  sanitation.  And  I  think  that  in  the  majority  of  cases,  if  prisoners 
were  allowed  to  wear  their  own  clothes,  they  could  not  themselves  provide 
clean  underwear  or  a  change  of  suit  when  required.  I  think  style  is  what 
is  required — something  in  which  a  man  could  feel  and  look  comfortable  and 
human. 

26. — Would  you  be  ready  to  trust  prisoners  more  T 

A. — Yes.  They  should  talk  freely  at  exercise  and  at  common  meals ;  but 
more  moderately  at  work,  for  work  is  essential,  I  think,  to  each  and  every 
being.     Work  with  occasional  relaxation  is  certainly  beneficial. 

27. — Do  you  think  that  they  could  be  induced  to  talk  about  healthy  things, 
without  contaminating  each  other  ^ 

A. — With  careful  classification  of  prisoners  I  do  not  fear  contamination, 
but  rather  the  reverse. 

28. — Does  the  present  separation  of  trial  prisoners,  stars,  and  J.A.'s  really 
keep  these  classes  from  bad  influences! 

A. — Not  entirely,  for  the  "trials,"  particularly,  are  made  up  often  of 
the  very  worst  class  of  prisoners  morally.  That  is  to  say  that  the  man  with 
a  long  list  of  previous  convictions  is  associated  with  the  first  offender,  often 
to  the  latter's  detriment.  And  the  "trial  class"  should  be  divided  and 
sub-divided  into  classes  of  its  own,  viz.,  either  according  to  number  of 
previous  convictions,  or  moral  status.  Star  men,  J.A.'s,  and,  in  fact,  every 
class  could  and  should  be  sub-divided  according  to  moral  and  social 
standards. 


EVIDENCE  OF  A    WARDER  617 

29. — Do  you  think  that  the  month's  separate  confinement  for  hard  labour 
prisoners  does  them  any  goodi 

A. — No.  I  am  against  all  forms  of  "separate"  or  "close"  confinement, 
as  I  consider  it  prejudicial  to  health  and  mind. 

30. — Would  you  say  that  it  is  intended  to  keep  prisoners  in  ignorance  of 
many  of  their  privileges  and  dutiesl 

A. — I  think  this  may  apply  when  an  unscrupulous  or  lazy  officer  has  direct 
charge  of  prisoners,  but  so  far  as  the  heads  of  the  department  are  concerned 
I  am  .sure  they  desire  all  privileges  to  be  enjoyed  and  all  duties  to  be 
performed. 

31. — Do  you  think  the  ground  of  many  prison  practices  and  restrictions 
is  the  wish  to  save  trouble  and  to  keep  down  the  staff. 

A. — Undoubtedly ;    for  many    practices   and   restrictions   are  the    outcome 
t   the  inadequate   staff.     This   inadequacy   seems  prevalent  throughout  the 
[Jiison  department,  on  the  clerical  as  well  as  discipline  side. 

32. — Do  you  know  of  cases  where  a  man  has  learned  a  trade  in  prison  suffi- 
ciently to  enable  him  to  earn  his  livingl 

A. — No ;  for  no  trade  can  be  thoroughly  taught,  even  with  facilities,  under 
existing  conditions.  And  I  am  sure  that  no  prison-taught  man  could  be 
tailed  a  tradesman,  although  the  knowledge  thus  acquired  may  assist  him 
to  earn  his  living  in  civilian  life. 

33. — What  do  you  think  of  the  value  of  the  chaplain's  cell  visits^ 

A. — Entirely  without  value  and  usually  resented  inwardly  by  the  prisoner, 
except  as  a  means  whereby  the  spell  of  solitude  is  broken. 

34. — And  the  church  services! 

A. — The  church  service  is  generally  looked  upon  as  a  part  of  the  prison 
routine,  and  for  any  religious  purpose  is  useless.  But,  again,  it  is  at  present 
a  break  in  that  monotonous  solitude  which  breaks  the  morale  of  most  men. 

35. — Have  you  known  of  a  governor  or  a  doctor  who  had  a  personal  influence 
for  good  over  prisoners! 

A. — In  my  experience  I  think  the  reverse  is  the  case.  Each  of  these 
officials  is  generally  so  self-important  as  to  repel  even  any  genuine  respect. 

,36. — How  far  is  the  "close-search" — to  the  shirt  and  beyond — practised  in 
cat  prisons! 

'  A. — This  is  officially  practised  fortnightly  and  in  any  special  search.     In 

ptual  practice  it  is  seldom   carried   out.     Since  I  rejoined  from  the  Forces 

have  not  seen  it  once  put  into  practice,  and  throughout  my  service  I  have 

Brsonally   only  performed    this    duty    when   under  compulsion.     Of   course, 

does  not  cover  the  searching  of  prisoners'  clothing  w^hen  at  the  bath. 

t37. — Hare  you  noticed  that  many  prisoners  suffer  through  not  being  able 
visit  the  w.c.  ? 

'A. — No.     At  present  facilities  are   fairly  good,   and  if  a  prisoner  chooses 
regulate  his  system  (this  is  easily  possible)  the  suffering  is  nil.     Prisoners 
»y  now  visit  the  w.c.  up  to  8  p.m.  and  in  severe  cases  a  night  commode 
be  placed  in  the  cell. 

X2 


618  SPECIMENS  OF  EVIDENCE 

38. — What  are  the  objections  to  more  frequent  communication  between  a 
prisoner  and  his  family^ 

A. — This  is  a  method  of  punishment.  There  can  be  no  other  reason  than 
this  for  objection. 

39. — Does  the  long  separation  do  men  any  good^. 

A. — I  am  sure  that  more  harm  than  good  accrues  from  this.  The  influence 
of  relatives  or  friends  from  outside  must  have  a  beneficial  effect  upon  a 
prisoner  and  help  a  man  in  those  hours  of  solitude,  of  which  a  prisoner  has 
far  too  many. 

40. — Do  you  think  it  is  much  advantage  to  a  prisoner  to  be  in  the  second 
division  ? 

A. — Very  little.  The  privileges  practically  only  affect  the  first  28  days 
of  the  sentence,  except  that  outside  I  think  it  is  looked  upon  as  not  being 
so  detrimental  to  the  man  or  his  relatives. 

41. — Do  you  think  that  the  statutory  rules  for  trial  prisoners  as  regards 
food,  books,  papers,  and  work,  are  properly  observed! 

A. — Yes.  I  have  seen  much  trouble  taken  for  a  prisoner  in  the  observance 
of  these  rules.  But  it  is  seldom  that  "trial"  prisoners  are  employed  at  their 
own  trades. 

42. — Are  they  ever  allowed  to  converse  with  one  another! 

A.— No. 

43. — Are  many  prisoners  keen  to  finish   their  task  quickly! 

A. — A  considerable  number. 

44. — To  save  leisure  for  reading! 

A. — This  is  practically  the  sole  reason. 

45. — How  much  of  the  day  must  a  man  work  according  to  the  rules! 

A. — Nine  hours. 

46. — And  in  practice! 

A. — Approximately  six  hours. 

47. — Do  you  think  the  practice  of  putting  men  in  observation  cells 
beneficial! 

A. — Yes.  If  a  man  is  mentally  deficient  or  physically  unsound  I  think 
either  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  safety  of  the  man  or  of  other  prisoners 
it  is  advisable.  Also,  in  the  case  of  a  man  of  unnatural  or  immoral  habits, 
it  is  a  check  to  his  practices. 

48. — Have  you  known  bad  results  come  from  such  confinement! 

A. — I  cannot  honestly  say  that  in  my  experience  have  I  ever  known  any 
bad  results  from  this  practice.  And  in  all  cases  it  is  only  the  medical  officer, 
usually  after  examination,  who  has  the  authority  to  place  any  prisoner  in  an 
"observation  cell."  This  also  applies  to  "matted  cells"  for  prisoners  subjected 
to  fits.  The  more  drastic  practice  of  confinement  in  a  padded  cell  can  only 
be  carried  out  under  the  supervision  and  personal  authority  of  the  M.O., 
and  in  these  cases  (rare)  the  visiting  magistrates  must  be  informed,  and 
they  also  visit  these  prisoners  when  so  confined. 


SPECIMENS  OF  EVIDENCE  619 

E.— EVIDENCE  OF  AN  AGENT  OF  A  DISCHARGED 
PRISONERS'    AID    SOCIETY 


[This  witness  has  had  14  years'  experience  as  agent  of  a  large 
society.  He  has  not  only  known  prisoners  after  discharge,  but, 
having  been  allowed  cell  and  pass  keys,  has  been  able  to  visit 
prisoners  freely,  and  has  consequently  gained  an  intimate  knowledge 
of  the  inside  of  prisons.] 

1. — Are  you  able  at  all  to  com.'paTe  the  good  and  bad  effects  of  a  month' 8 
"hard  labour"  in  separate  confinement  with  a  month's  working  in  association 
under  prison  conditions  ? 

A. — Hard  labour  in  separate  confinement  is  a  wicked  and  barbarous  in- 
stitution. It  lays  a  foundation  of  bitternesa  and  hatred  on  which  it  is  next 
to  impossible  to  erect  anj-thing  good  subsequently.  Working  in  association 
is  infinitely  better  from  all  points  of  view.  I  believe  in  the  principle  of 
association.     I  would  extend  it  to  meals^  evening  concerts,  and  lectures. 

2. — Do  you  agree  that  the  silence  rvle  {and  its  inevitable  infringement  by 
secret  talking)  promotes  artfulness  and  deceit^.  Under  what  safeguards,  if 
at  all,  would  you  advocate  free  association  between  prisoners^. 

A. — The  silence  rule  is  inhuman  and  defeats  the  best  intentions  of  every- 
body concerned  in  the  welfare  of  prisoners.  It  does  promote  artfulness  and 
deceit. 

For  free  association  I  would  select  my  prisoners.  All  star  class  men 
should  be  allowed  to  associate.  I  have  not  much  faith  in  "safeguards."  I 
am  convinced  we  could  get  a  lot  more  out  of  prisoners  by  trusting  them. 
There  are  far  too  many  rules  in  prison. 

I  am  perfectly  certain  that  nearly  everything  depends  on  the  officer  in  charge. 
Generally  speaking  they  are  incapable — mostly  ex-soldiers  who  apply  military 
methods  to  the  poor  prisoners.  I  consider  officers  should  be  most  carefully 
selected,  well-paid,  and  they  should  be  trained  in  the  art  of  getting  the  best 
out  of  the  men,  and  in  the  recovery  of  those  in  their  care.  A  great  number 
of  officers  with  whom  I  have  come  in  contact  were  nigger-drivers,  with  little 
appreciation  of  the  value  of  a  human  soul.  Given  the  right  sort  of  officer, 
association  would  lose  most  of  its  terrors. 


3. — Do  you  consider  that  the  military  pattern   on  which   prisoners  are  so 
rgely  modelled  is  goodl 


I 

V^K^  A. — The  autocratic  methods  of  militarism  are  resented  very  keenly  by 
^^^Kiany  men  who  are  down  in  the  world,  and  who  are  already  suffering  from 
a  deep  sense  of  disgrace  and  remorse.  Moreover,  often  these  methods  are 
used  by  ignorant  and  incapable  men — ^perhaps  the  best  type  of  man  the 
Home  Office  can  get  to  express  their  point  of  view,  and  certainly  the  best 
they  can  get  for  the  remuneration  offered — who  think  the  way  to  obedience 
and  industry  is  by  way  of  bullying.  It  not  only  immediately  sets  up  friction 
between  the  inmates  and  the  warders,  but  it  does  more,  it  represses  all  the 
er  instincts  of  the  man  as  he  sees  himself  developing  into  an  automatic 
lachine.  The  man  who  responds  to  the  orders  of  the  officer  most  willingly 
its  on  best.     The  man  who  indicates  his  abhorrence  of  the  treatment  meted 


620  SPECIMENS  OF  EVIDENCE 

out  to  him,  especially  to  the  frightful  language  with  which  some  of  the  orders 
are  accompanied,  is  often  given  a  rough  journey.  The  whole  regime  is  devoid 
of  soul,  of  tenderness,  of  mercy,  of  sympathy.  Even  the  furniture  (sic)  and 
domestic  utensils  are  repellent,  and  there  is  hardly  a  single  operation  to  save 
the  prisoner's  life  fi'om  being  one  long  soul-torture. 

4. — Some  of  our  witnesses  say  that  officers  who  huve  not  been  in  the  army 
are  worse  than  those  who  have. 

A. — I  should  imagine  it  to  be  impossible.  I  could  tell  of  many  a  case 
of  officers  with  no  army  experience  whose  whole  tone  and  bearing  towards 
prisoners  have  been  helpful.  And,  of  course,  ex-army  men  are  not  all  alike. 
I  knew  one  who,  owing  to  his  perpetual  smile,  was  the  idol  of  every  prisoner 
who  came  to  gaol.     But  no  one  would  suspect  h'uii  of  being  an  ex-service  man. 

5. — Do  you  think  that  many  prisoners  are  morally  and  spiritually  helped 
by  the  influence  of  the  chaplain  and  the  church  services! 

A. — It  depends  on  the  chaplains.  So  many  of  them  are  pot-boilers.  They 
have  a  magnificent  opportunity,  and  many  of  them  don't  know  how  to  use 
it.  Preaching  at  these  poor  people  is  futile.  Prisoners  are  the  keenest  of 
critics,  and  they  know  when  there  is  something  human  in  the  pulpit.  The 
chaplains  will  insist  on  being  parsons  instead  of  ir^en.  I  have  seen  over- 
whelming evidence  that  prisoners  may  be  influenced  by  the  right  type  of 
man  in  the  pulpit ;  and  I  have  been  in  prisons  where  the  ministrations  of  the 
chaplain  were  a  by-word.  I  believe  the  Church  Service  is  a  good  thing 
for  prisoners ;  but  I  believe  more  useful  work  could  be  done  in  small  group 
classes.     Individual  work  in  the  cell  is  neglected  or  done  mechanically. 

6. — Could  you  give  illnstrations  of  good  influence  by  the  ministration  of 
chaplains  in  prisonl 

A. — I  have  one  chaplain  in  mind.  I  have  known  him  do  heaps  of  things 
totally  outside  the  prison  regulations  in  order  to  help  a  man  under  his  care, 
and  no  service  was  too  great  for  him.  I  have  had  hundreds  of  letters  from 
ex-prisoners  speaking  in  terms  of  the  highest  admiration  for  his  ministrations 
— something  he  said  in  his  sermon,  or  in  their  cell,  or  some  little  act  of 
unexpected  kindness  made  an  impression  on  their  minds.  But,  generally 
speaking — and  I  know  quite  a  lot  of  prison  chaplains — their  work  is  worse 
than  useless.     In  the  hands  of  the  right  men  the  possibilities  are  illimitable. 

7. — Is  it  a  good  thing  to  leave  the  personal  reformative  side  of  the  treat- 
ment entirely  to  the  chaplain,  as  is  done  now^. 

A. — It  again  depends  on  the  chaplain.  Personally,  I  would  admit  any 
recognised  social  worker  who  would  organise  reformative  agencies.  I  would 
very  much  like  to  see  classes  organised  for  the  study  of  economics,  history, 
and  literature.  The  value  of  music  has  never  been  fully  realised.  It  is  an 
immense  instrument  for  good. 

I  have  also  known  agents  of  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid  Societies  to  wield 
enormous  influence.     Generally  speaking,  however,  they  are  a  poor  lot. 

8. — Would  you  have  much  more  visitation  of  prisoners! 

A. — Certainly.  And  I  would  exercise  a  great  deal  more  common-sense  in 
the  way  visits  were  made.  Some  governors  do,  but  most  of  them  are  so 
feeble  that  they  strictly  adhere  to  Standing  Orders. 


EVIDENCE   OF   A    D.P.A.   SOCIETY   AGENT  621 

9. — How  do  some  governors  exercise  "common-sense"^. 

A. — I  was  thinking  of  one  governor  in  particular.  He  always  exercised  his 
discretion  in  interpreting  regulations.  He  was  head  and  shoulders  above  and 
better  than  the  system.  He  often  permitted  a  wife  to  see  her  husband 
in  a  room.  I  have  known  him  to  take  them  to  his  private  office,  and  he 
would  permit  me  or  the  chaplain  to  be  present  instead  of  an  officer.  I  have 
also  known  him  to  permit  extra  visits,  not  only  by  relations,  but  by  interested 
people.  Any  of  our  agents,  or  any  clergymen,  or  any  officer  of  a  society, 
could  obtain  permission  to  visit  prisoners  if  the  governor  was  persuaded  they 
were  trying  to  help. 

But  this  was  an  exceptional  governor.  I  have  known  others  who  were 
so  inefficient  that  they  would  not  swerve  by  a  hair's  breadth  from  the  letter 
of   the   Standing  Orders.     In  that  they   were  perfectly  safe. 

10. — Would  you  see  any  objection  to  a  much  more  frequent  communication 
between  the  prisoner  and  his  family,  where  this  is  suitablel 

A. — No.  It  is  inhuman  to  shut  off  a  man  from  his  family  in  the  way 
it  is  done.  No  greater  injury  is  done  to  a  man  than  this.  It  rankles  in 
his  mind,  and  embitters  him   against  everything  and   everybody. 

11. — About  which  features  of  prison  treatment  do  discharged  prisoners,  as 
a  rule,  speak  most  bitterly^. 

A. — The  soul-destroying  labour  of  oakum-picking.  [This  has  been  greatly 
decreased  lately.]  It  is  practically  a  useless  industry;  it  certainly  is  not 
creative.  To  many  men  it  is  terrifying.  There  can  be  no  object  in  it  but 
punishment.  Unless  a  first-time  prisoner  is  shown  how  to  do  it,  it  is  an 
impossible  task,  and  often  men  have  been  punished  for  not  doing  what  they 
couldn't  do.  It  is  exceedingly  painful  to  the  fingers,  and  there  is  nothing 
to  see  for  a  day's  work  except  a  heap  of  hemp  on  the  cell  floor.  It  is  a 
deadening  labour,  and  any  man  with  a  spark  of  pride  in  his  soul  must  feel 
it  a  gross  insult  to  be  compelled  to  do  it. 

12. — Have  you  known  any  cases  of  men  who  have  learnt  a  trade  in  prison 
sufficiently  to  earn  their  living  at  it  outside^. 

A. — I  do  not  think  I  could  cite  one  case  of  a  man,  having  learned  a  trade 
in  prison,  earning  his  living  at  it  outside.  They  do  not  learn  trades — not  in 
Local  prisons.  They  are  not  there  long  enough.  Machinery  in  prison  is 
^ery  primitive,  and  a  man  is  quite  at  sea  in  a  modern  factory. 

Prison  life  generally  unfits  a  man  for  industry.     The  mental  upheaval  in 

make-up,  together  with  the  artificial,  inhuman,  and  senseless  atmosphere 

his  daily  life,  disqualifies  him  from  taking  his  place  in  industry.     Most 

en  I  have  had  to  deal  with  have  a  period  of  illness  some  weeks  after  dis- 

irge.     Many  convicts  were  totally   unfit   to  be   discharged    into  civil  life 

»d  were  without  the  least  preparation  for  it. 

13.— Can  you  give  any  illustrations  of  ex-prisoners  who  have  had  "a  period 
illness^'  after  discharged 

A. — This  applies  more  particularly  to  convict  long-timers,  but,  in  a  lesser 
Bgree,  also  to  men  serving  long  sentences  in  Local  prisons — up  to  two  years. 
have  always  set  it  down  to  the  sudden  change  of  food,  and  from  regular 
ibits  to  the  comparative  freedom  of  their  own  homes,  where  they  may  do 
they  like.     Whatever  the  cause,  the  fact  is  borne  out  in  numerous  cases 


622  SPECIMENS  OF  EVIDENCE 

v?hich  have  passed  through  my  hands.  After  two  or  three  weeks'  freedom 
they  strike  a  period  of  ill-health.  If  employment  has  been  found  for  the 
man,  explanations  are  diflBcult  and  very  often  the  man's  place  was  filled 
when  he  returned  to  work. 

The  mental  upheaval  which  attacks  an  ex-prisoner  is  no  doubt  responsible 
to  some  extent  for  his  breakdown.  He  is  a  very  sensitive  creature  after 
discharge.  But  I  don't  think  it  is  the  only  reason.  In  most  cases  they  are 
totally  unfit  to  face  the  duties  and  demands  which  a  return  to  civil  life 
makes  upon  them. 

14. — Does  prison  appear  to  encourage  a  man  at  all  to  be  self-disciplined 
and  ael f -controlled  1  Is  it  true  that  the  prison  regime  tends  to  produce  the 
good  prisoner  rather  than  the  good  citizen! 

A. — Certainly  not.  A  prisoner  is  a  machine.  The  only  way  in  which 
self-discipline  and  self-control  can  be  promoted  is  when  there  is  free  agency, 
and  temptation.     There  is  neither  in  prison. 

Yes,  the  prison  system  produces  good  prisoners  only.  Some  of  the  most 
difficult  men  I  know  always  got  the  best  jobs  in  prison.  Officers  looked  for 
them ;  they  know  their  way  about,  and  can  be  depended  upon  to  do  as  they 
are  told.     That  is  all  that  is  expected. 

15. — Have  you  found  a  majority,  at  any  rate  of  first  offenders,  penitent 
and  desirous  of  leading  an  honest  life,  when  they  come  outt 

A. — Emphatically,  yes,  a  majority.  Not  only  first  offenders,  but  men  who 
have  served  several  terms.  I  have  dealt  with  a  very  large  number  of 
convicts  in  my  time.  I  know  how  intensely  most  of  them  want  to  "make 
good."  But  ex-prisoners  without  a  friendly  hand  to  help  them  up  the 
ladder  again  have  a  task  few  of  us  appreciate.  Everything  seems  to  be 
against  them.  When  the  law  condemns  a  man,  the  world,  alas  !  damns  him. 
Even  his  friends  look  shy.  The  community  to  which  he  returns  is  un- 
friendly. The  police  give  special  attention  to  him.  Workmen  very  often 
won't  work  with  him,  if  they  know  he  has  been  in  prison.  Ex-prisoners 
need  patient  shepherding  by  some  friend  who  will  stand  by  them  until  they 
are  able  to  stand  on  their  own  feet.  I  know  they  can  be  recovered  by  this 
method.     It  is  hard  work,  but  worth  while. 

16. — Most  of  our  witnesses  have  suggested  that  ex-prisoners,  instead  of 
being  penitent,  come  out  of  prison  animated  by  an  anti-social  grudge.  That 
is  not  your  experience  ? 

A. — By  a  "majority  of  ex-prisoners"  being  penitent  I  mean  a  majority  of 
men  selected  by  the  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid  Society  as  being  deserving  of 
assistance.  Many  prisoners  were  "turned  down"  for  various  reasons,  and 
I  cannot  include  these.  But  a  majority  of  the  men  handed  over  to  me  for 
re-settlement  in  various  parts  of  the  country  or  in  their  own  homes  were 
genuinely  sorry  for  their  mistakes. 

I  know  the  "anti-social  grudge"  theory.  But  I  had  unique  opportunities 
day  after  day  of  meeting  these  men  in  their  cells,  doing  all  sorts  of  kind- 
nesses to  them  which  no  one  else  could  do,  such  as  writing  letters  to  their 
wives  and  friends  when  they  could  not  write  themselves ;  and  whilst  they 
may  have  had  a  sneaking  feeling  that  they  had  been  badly  treated,  in  their 
best  moments  they  often  expressed  their  contrition.  To  a  casual  visitor,  the 
^anti-social  grudge"  would  be  emphasised.  But  to  a  friend,  such  as  I  had 
opportunities  of  being,  they  were   not  slow  to  unburden  their  regrets.     If 


EVIDENCE   OF   A    D.P.A.    SOCIETY   AGENT  623 

there  was  more  real  fellowship  inside  a  prison  we  should  hear  less  of  the 
"anti-social  grudge."  It  is  a  sense  of  loneliness  which  often  compels  a  man 
to  magnify  his  grievances. 

17. — It  is  sometimes  said  that  if  a  man  is  sent  to  prison  a  second  time  he 
is  done  for.  Is  there  a  rough  truth  in  thisl  If  so,  on  what  account^ — the 
difficulty  of  obtaining  work,  the  ill-will  of  respectable  society,  suspicion  on 
the  part  of  the  police,  or  incapacitation  and  demoralisation  due  to  prison 
treatment^ 

A. — It  is  the  imprisonment  that  "does  for"  a  man.  He  often  loses  all 
then.  But  no  man  is  really  "done  for,"  however  many  times  he  goes  to 
prison. 

18. — Have  you  found  men  who  have  learnt  cleanly,  regular,  temperate 
habits  as  a  result  of  the  prison  rigimel 

A. — No.  The  prison  regime  is  a  soulless  conception  and  quite  incapable 
of  producing  "cleanly,  regular,  temperate  habits." 

19. — Some  witnesses  have  suggested  that  ex-prisoners  have  been  disgusted 
with  uncleanly  conditions,  particularly  in  lodging  houses,  after  the  experience 
of  prison. 

A. — I  have  had  no  experience  of  this  sort.  My  work  did  not  lead  me 
very  much  to  visit  ex-prisoners  in  their  homes.  I  would  not  say  it  is  not 
a  possible  result,  but  I  think  it  extremely  doubtful. 

I  never  took  a  discharged  prisoner  to  a  lodging  house,  even  if  he  had 
been  accustomed  to  living  there.  I  always  found  private  lodgings.  But 
there  are  thousands  of  ex-prisoners  who  go  back  to  the  lodging  house  on 
discharge  and  live  under  the  most  sordid  conditions.  In  prison  a  man  has 
a  bed-board  and  blankets  to  sleep  on,  but  that  does  not  induce  thousands  to 
give  up  their  summer  pastime  of  sleeping  under  hedges  or  in  hayricks. 
They  prefer  it.  Prison  is,  however,  a  Godsend  during  the  winter  to  the 
tramp  who  has  been  sleeping  out  all  summer. 

20. — How  far  do  you  find  ex-prisoners  mentally  deficient,  i.e.,  men  who 
would  be  better  treated  in  an  asylum  or  home,  rather  than  in  prison  ? 

A. — To  a  very  large  extent.  They  are  better  described  as  weak-minded. 
They  ought  not  to  be  in  prison  at  all,  but  I  am  afraid  the  mental  deficiency 
is  not  sufficiently  acute  to  bring  them  within  the  scope  of  the  Mental  De- 
ficiency Act.  It  is  particularly  noticeable  among  boys  who  go  to  prison ; 
they  are  dull,  slow,  silly.  In  a  suitable  home,  with  expert  treatment,  they 
could  be  much  improved.  They  have  little  or  no  moral  sense,  and  the  ridicule 
to  which  they  are  subjected  by  thoughtless  and  incapable  officers,  the  punish- 
ments which  are  meted  out  for  failing  to  do  tasks  for  which  they  have  little 
or  no  capacity,  do  not  tend  to  make  them  better.  The  Mental  Deficiency 
Act  cannot  remedy  this  condition,  even  if  it  were  working  efficiently. 

21. — Is  an  ex-prisoner  really  able  to  take  his  place  in  the  business  of  the 
world  1 

A. — An  ei-prisoner  is  not  able  to  take  his  place  in  the  business  of  the 
world.  He  is  altogether  unreasonably  shut  off  from  civil  life  and  move- 
ments, and  his  growth  ceases.  He  works  by  the  clock.  He  is  not  required 
to  think ;  only  to  obey.  Then  he  is  pitchforked  into  civil  life  and  expected 
to  "make  good"  ! 


624 


SPECIMENS   OF  EVIDEXCE 


22. — How  far  are  the  opportunities  of  ex-prisoners  to  obtain  work  prejudiced 
by  Trade  Union  regulations,  or  the  ill-will  of  other  workersl 

A. — I  have  no  experience  of  Trades  Unionists,  as  such,  disliking  to  work 
with  an  ex-prisoner.  I  have  abundant  evidence  that  men  generally  won't 
work  with  a  man  who  has  been  in  prison,  except  in  the  lower  walks  of 
general  labourers  and  navvies.  I  have  found  employers  sympathetic,  but 
they  dare  not  let  it  be  known  that  a  man  has  been  in  prison.  I  have  had  to 
keep  away  from  the  firm,  being  well-known,  and  most  of  my  arrangements 
with  employers  have  been  made  on  the  'phone  or  by  correspondence.  The 
same  argument  applies  to  lodgings.  Men  will  not  live  in  the  same  house 
with  a  discharged  prisoner. 


SPECIMEXS    OF   EVIDENCE 


F.— EVIDENCE   OF  A  CRIMINAL  CONVICT 


[This  witness  was  arrested  in  1917,  spent  a  month  in prison 

as  a  trial  prisoner,  and  was  subsequently  sentenced  to  Penal  Servitude. 
He  was  released  in  1919,  after  serving  about  two  years  as  a  convict. 
His  evidence,  given  in  an  interview  and  in  writing,  is  summarised 
below.] 

THE  PRELIMINARY  SEPARATE  CONFINEMENT. 

Witness  was  sent  to  serve  his  preliminary  month  of  separate  confinement 

in  Local  prison,  and  remained  there  two  months  before  transference  to 

Convict   prison.     This    delay,   he   said,   often   happened   owing    to  the 

inconvenience  of  transferring  prisoners  on  the  exact  termination  of  their 
month.  During  this  period  he  was  subject  to  exactly  the  same  regime  as 
hard  labour  men,  except  that  he  was  not  deprived  of  his  mattress  for  the 
first  two  weeks,  and  he  had  more  books  during  the  first  month.  In  his  view 
the  preliminary  separate  confinement  was  intended  as  "an  essential  stage  in 
paralysing  and  rendering  abortive  one's  thinking  capacity." 

THE    STAFF. 

The  witness  spoke  of  two  governors.  One  was  autocratic  and  officious,  and 
relied  upon  military  discipline.  He  was  a  stern  and  heartless  man,  and 
was  unable  to  converse  with  convicts  (unless  a  Director  or  magistrate  was 
present)  without  abuse  or  sarcasm.  He  endeavoured  to  conform  to  the  utmost 
with  the  text  of  the  Standing  Orders,  regardless  of  the  effect  upon  the  men. 
If  the  convicts  asked  for  "privileges"  due  to  them,  which  caused  him  more 
than  his  usual  routine  work,  he  expressed  extreme  resentfulness,  with  the 
result  that  many  men  surrendered  their  rights  rather  than  face  him.  The 
other  governor  was  very  different.  He  used  to  come  into  the  cells  and  chat 
with  the  men  in  quite  a  friendly  way.  He  was  much  appreciated  by  the 
convicts. 

The  witness  spoke  bitterly  of  one  of  the  prison  doctors.     He  was  "indifferent 

I  respecting   the  health  and  comforts  of  the  men,   and  his   behaviour  callous 

and  brutal."     Like  the  governor  previously  referred  to,  he  was  sarcastic  and 

bullying.     Another   doctor    he   described    as   very   clever.     The   chaplain   at 

was   very   kindly,    and   sensible   to    the    need   of    prison    reform.        He 

was  practically  the  only  friend  a  prisoner  had  in  the  whole  system,  and  the 
only  educative  and  regenerative  factor.  His  cell  visits,  however,  were  not 
of  much  value,  because  (owing  to  want  of  time)  they  were  so  few  and  far 
between — perhaps  once  in  two  months. 

The  chief  warder  acted  as  the  buffer  between  the  governor  and  the  men. 
It  might  be  said  that  the  life  of  a  convict  was  tolerable  in  direct  proportion 

to  the  humane  nature  of  the   "chief."       The   "chief"    at  was  a  very 

firm,  just  man.  The  principal  warders  usually  modelled  themselves  upon 
the  "chief." 

The  warders  ("screws")  were  of  different  types.  There  were  the  slackers, 
the  sneaks,  the  bullies,  and  the  officious.  They  were  much  divided  into 
cliques.  Some  of  them  indulged  much  in  filthy  jests,  and  were  of  a  low 
mental  tj-pe.     Some  of  them  were  corrupt.     Though  they  were  often  lax  in 


626  SPECIMENS  OF  EVIDENCE 

maintaining  discipline,  the  warders  did  not  help  prisoners  as  they  might  have 
done.  For  example,  the  prisoners  were  left  to  find  out  their  privileges  from 
the  other  men  through  illicit  talking. 

THE  DISCIPLINE. 

Warders    could    not  be   found   to   enforce   the   rules  to  the  letter.        The 

discipline  at  was  lax,  and  talking  at  exercise  was  practically  ignored. 

Inter-communication  generally  was  easy ;  he  had  heard  it  was  very  different 

at   and  .     Prisoners  learned  to  talk   so  that   their  features  could 

not  be  seen  to  move.  The  witness  himself  could  hardly  be  recognised  as 
speaking  a  yard  away.  The  warders  largely  connived  at  talking  in  the 
workshops.  The  prisoners  were  absolutely  at  the  mercy  of  the  officials.  There 
was  no  possibility  of  effective  appeal  against  unfair  treatment.  No  redress 
was  really  possible.  The  prisoners  were  called  by  their  names  more  often 
than  by  their  numbers. 

LABOUR. 

Convicts  had   no  fixed    "tasks" ;  they  were   marked    on   general   results. 

Practically    no    work    was    done    at    prison    which    would    enable    the 

men  to  learn  a  trade  whereby  they  might  earn  a  livelihood  on  leaving.  He 
did  not  think  any  convicts  wanted  to  work  in  their  cells.  There  was  much 
more  freedom  and  activity  in  the  workshops  of  Convict  prisons  than  in  those 
of  Local  prisons.  The  men  moved  about  freely  from  one  part  to  another, 
and  there  was  more  variety  of  jobs  and  plenty  of  opportunity  for  talking. 
The  machinery  made  this  easier.  This  greater  freedom  was,  as  the  authorities 
probably  knew,  indispensable  to  preserve  the  men  against  falling  victims  to 
the  prolonged  deadly  monotony.  There  were  only  three  or  four  "red-collar" 
men  in  the  prison. 

DIET  AND  CLOTHING. 

The  food  was  good,  but  hopelessly  insufficient.  The  war  diets  were 
extremely  scanty,  and  witness  had  known  men  cry  with  hunger.  The  body 
weight  was  artificially  kept  up  by  the  diet,  which  made  the  body  puffy  with 
fat  and  caused  secretion  of  water.  On  leaving  prison  the  weight  dropped  at 
once. 

The  bedding  at  the  Local  prison  was  insufl^cient,  and  the  mattress  was 
filthy  and  verminous.  The  clothing  at  the  Local  prison  was  ill-fitting,  un- 
comfortable, and  in  winter  insufficient.  At  the  Convict  prison  the  clothing 
was  better  and  warmer,  but  the  underclothing  was  still  poor.  Prisoners  at 
did  not  have  separate  "kits"  as  they  did  at  other  Convict  prisons. 

EXERCISE. 

On  Sundays  the  Convict  prisoners  had  90  minutes*  exercise  in  the  morning 
at  quick  pace  without  stopping,  and  45  minutes  in  the  afternoon.  The  long 
morning  exercise  was  designed  to  tire  the  men  out,  and  it  was  very  distasteful 
to  them.  On  very  wet  days  there  was  no  exercise  round  the  landings  inside, 
as  in  Local  prisons,  because  talking  would  be  too  easy, 

IGNORANCE  OF  PRIVILEGES. 

Throughout  their  prison  life  prisoners  were  kept  in  absolute  ignorance  of 
their  duties  and  tasks.  This  ignorance  was,  of  course,  an  excellent  basis 
for  bullying  and  sarcasm  on  the  part  of  warders.     Prisoners  were  also  kept 


EVIDENCE    OF   A    CRIMINAL    CONVICT  69T 

ill  total  ignorance  of  concessions,  privileges,  and  rights.  Extra  work  or  trouble 
mnst  not  be  put  on  any  official ;  otherwise  one  experienced  the  direst  penalties. 
It  was  important  always  to  bear  this  in  mind.  If  a  prisoner  asked  for  a 
privilege  due  to  him,  the  warder  often  wanted  to  know  how  he  knew  it  was 
due.  The  officials  expected  the  prisoners  to  take  all  that  came  smiling,  to 
ask  for  nothing,  and  to  waive  all  claims  to  privileges. 

THE  PRISON  HOSPITAL. 

Owing  to  an  accident,  the  witness  was  in  hospital  for  five  weeks.  Much 
kindness  was  shown  to  him  by  some  of  the  officials,  but  the  so-called  hospital 
nurses  were  unskilled  and  many  of  them  were  callous.  The  witness  strongly 
expressed  the  view  that  lack  of  proper  care  and  of  trained  nursing  "murdered 
patients  in  prison." 

THE    "LIFERS." 

Capital  punishment  ought  to  be  abolished,  or  otherwise  no  reprieve  should 
be  given.  The  anxiety  of  waiting  for  the  reprieve  had  in  every  case  of  which 
he  had  knowledge  partially  deranged  the  mind. 

MENTAL  REACTION. 

Prisoners  generally  suffered  a  reaction  after  conviction,  and  frequently 
had  nervous  breakdowns.  There  was  a  great  danger  of  suicide  and  incipient 
madness  during  the  early  period  of  separate  confinement.  There  was  nothing 
to  relieve  the  strain  except  two  educational  books,  a  Bible,  and  prayer 
book.  The  rare  visits  of  the  clergy  were  useless.  The  usual  relaxation 
adopted  by  most  prisoners  was  to  exhaust  their  strength  by  continued 
masturbation,  which  brought  about  tiredness  and  sleep.  Other  methods  were 
to  work  hard,  and  then  pace  the  cell  until  thoroughly  exhausted.  Deception, 
cunning,  and  bare-faced  lying  were  also  practised  as  means  of  easing  the 
mental  pressure.  The  constant  and  often  frivolous  complaints  (and  petitions 
to  the  Home  Secretary),  the  insubordination  and  bad  language,  were  mainly 
due  to  the  intense  monotony.  Later,  slow  mental  decay  was  caused  by  this 
monotony,  the  dreary  silence,  and  the  isolation,  which  was  an  agonising 
feature.  Between  16  and  17  hours  per  day  were  spent  in  the  cell  alone,  and 
40  hours  at  the  week-end.  If  wet,  the  confinement  was  still  longer.  Men 
quickly  found  that  to  take  the  line  of  least  resistance  was  the  only  course. 
The  harsh  treatment  and  the  brutal  and  demoralising  conditions  broke  one's 
spirit  of  endeavour  to  retain  self-respect ;  the  utter  want  of  trust  also 
hastened  the  loss  of  self-respect,  and  in  two  years  the  system  had  gained  the 
victory.  Thereafter  prison  was  no  longer  a  matter  of  great  concern  ;  the  men 
just  drifted.  Degeneration  continued  for  a  year  or  so  longer,  and  then  came 
a  stage  of  absolute  childishness.     Filthy  and  obscene  language  was  common. 

Iie  men  had  no  healthy  interests  to  talk  about. 
THE  SYSTEM  AS  A  WHOLE. 
The  present  prison  system  was  the  culmination  of  many  years'  experience 
refined   mental   torture,    and    it   had    for   its    direct   aim   the   immediate 
generation  and  final  extinction  of  all  self-expression.     The  personality  was 
)  eventually  so  obscured  that  the  convict  after  a  while  became  an  indiscriminat- 
j  ing   machine.     The  residuum  of  character  found    expression    in   a  childish 
(  display  of  interest  in  the  most  minute  objects,  in  cunning  of  the  lowest  type 
and  in  deception. 


628  SPECIMENS  OF  EVIDENCE 

G.— EVIDENCE  OF  A  "LIFER." 


[This  witness  was  sentenced  to  death  for  murder,  but  was  re- 
prieved, and  served  a  Ufe  sentence  of  15  years.  He  was  confined  in 
one  Local  prison  and  three  Convict  prisons,  including  Parkhurst.l 

1. — Do  you  feel  better  fitted  to  do  useful  work  as  a  result  of  imprisonment  1 
Have  you  learned  a  tradet 

A. — I  learned  bookbinding,  but  I  feel  that  I  only  owe  that  to  my  own 
efforts.     And  I  have  not  been  able  to  get  work  at  it. 

2. — Did  the  absence  of  responsibility  in  prison  lead  to  a  lessening  of  self- 
reliance  after  released 

A. — The  absence  of  responsibility  tends  to  make  men  childish  and  in- 
capable, and  it  is  thus  deteriorating  in  its  effects.  From  the  first  years  of 
my  sentence  I  had  the  impression  that  imprisonment  was  a  hardening  process 
and  that  it  undermined  character.  It  allows  for  no  initiative  and  leaves  the 
prisoner  very  weak  in  will ;  he  goes  out  capable  of  any  villainy.  The  element 
of  humanity  is  wanting ;  the  object  is  punishment,  and  it  is  a  slow,  harden- 
ing process,  neither  reformative  nor  uplifting. 

They  should  try  to  get  a  prisoner  to  act  like  a  nwn  and  not  like  a  numbered 
machine.  No  good  actions — to  help  others — are  tolerated.  To  keep  the 
moral  law — such  as  feeding  the  hungry,  cheering  the  wretched,  and  so  on — 
is  punishable.  Hence  there  is  continual  deterioration  of  the  moral  life  of 
the   prisoners,   and  they  become  hardened.     There  was  a   nice  young  fellow 

named  D who  came  to  prison  when  16  years  old  and  who  left  it  brutalised 

and  immune  to  kindly  actions.  I  sacrificed  some  margarine  for  him  on  ona 
occasion  when  he  did  not  get  any,  and  he  told  me  I  was  a  fool. 

The  man  who  gets  on  best  in  prison  is  generally  the  worst  criminal. 
Criminals  do  not  mind  going  back  to  prison.  They  have  no  responsibilities, 
life  is  regular,  and  they  get  treated  better  than  the  first-sentence  men.  In 
addition,  they  are  adepts  at  dodging  the  regulations. 

3. — You  seem  to  be  an  exception  to   the  hardening  effect  of  imprisonmr: 
A. — No;  I  can  never  explain  the  bitter  feelings  that  arise  in  me  sometimes. 
4. — What  was  your  condition,  physically  and  v\entally,  on  leaving  prison^ 

A. — I  was  physically  well,  but  not  strong.  Mentally  I  was  quite  sane, 
but  nervous  and  unable  to  stand  worry  or  any  great  strain.  I  shrank  from 
brain  work.  I  went  into  prison  a  drunkard,  but  the  regular  life  steadied 
me  in  that. 

5. — What  do  you  consider  the  worst  features  of  prison^ 
A. — The  childish  treatment  to  which  one  is  subjected,  and  the  inhumanity 
of  everything.  Just  at  a  time  when  one  is  feeling  crushed  by  a  consciousness 
of  guilt  and  weighed  down  by  a  sense  of  degradation,  a  stony-hearted,  thick- 
headed warder  comes  along  and,  in  threatening  language,  insists  upon  the 
strict  observance  of  a  set  of  childish  regulations,  which  have  no  aim 
except  to  degrade  the  human  into  a  beast.  A  few  kind  words,  some  con- 
sideration (not  petting),  some  humanity,  would  often  send  prisoners  back 
into  the  world  enlightened,  repentant,  and  well-intentioned,  instead  of  un- 
repentant, revengeful,  savage  beasts  of  prey. 


F.V1DEXCE   OF    A    ''LIFER"  68» 

6. —  What  was  the  effect  of  the  f Hence  rule  upon  youl 

A. — Silence,  as  enforced  in  prison,  made  me  morose,  unsympathetic,  and 
prone  to  brood.  It  encouraged  such  a  practice  of  deception  that  men  grew 
artful  and  lying  as  a  matter  of  course ;  even  the  most  innocent  man  becomes 
crafty.  It  is  simply  a  matter  of  self-protection.  Men  became  such  adepts 
that  in  the  exercise  circle  they  would  converse  for  an  hour,  and  anyone  a 
few  yards  away  would  be  utterly  unable  to  perceive  that  they  had  e.\changed 
a  word.     To  give  a  cheering  word  to  an  unhappy  comrade  was  punishable. 

The  silence  nearly  drove  me  mad,  and  it  inevitably  makes  mentally  de- 
fective prisoners  go  mad.     There  was  a  young  chap  at who  was  punished 

for  talking.  He  promised  never  to  do  so  again,  and  he  kept  his  word.  The 
result  was  that  he  became  like  an  idiot,  and  could  be  seen  working  his  face 
in  a  horrible  manner  as  he  stood  at  his  work. 

When  relaxation  of  the  silence  rule  was  allowed,  as  in  talking  exercise, 
men  became  more  cheerful  and  happier  at  once. 

7. — What  was  the  effect  of  the  preliminary  period  of  separate  confinement 
upon  youl 

A. — I  did  not  do  any  "separate."  I  was  in  hospital.  But  I  know  thou- 
sands who  did,  and  the  effect  was  very  bad.  Many  told  me  that  it  made 
them  want  to  commit  suicide. 

8. — Did  you  find  the  long  daily  periods  of  confinement  in  the  cell  a  strain 
— particularly  the  confinement  on  Saturday  afternaons  and  Sundaysl 

A.-r-It  was  a  heavy  strain.     I   was  always  glad   to  get  out  when  Monday 

me.     I  occupied   myself  by  reading,   studying  music,    and  writing   letters 

on  my  slate  and  rubbing  them  out  again.     It  is  a  dull,  drearj-  time  to  nearly 

all.     Some,  who  can,  sleep  it  away.     Some  read.     But  large  numbers  brood. 

This  brooding  affects  the  brain  and  engenders  in  many  cases  a  state  border- 

'    ing  on  insanity. 

9. — Was  the  chaplain  any  help^. 

A. — No,   not   to   me,   or  any   others   I   have   conversed   with.     All    of  the 
hiplains  with  whom  I  had  any  dealings  have  been  hardened,  self-sufficient, 
sympathetic  officials   only. 

10. — What  did  you  think  of  the  chapel  services^. 

A. — The  chapel  services  were,  as  the  chaplain  admitted,  only  part  of  the 
prison  routine  and  had  to  be  gone  through  the  same  as  anything  else.  They 
were  utterly  useless  as  far  as  helping  men  was  concerned,  and  totally  in- 
effective as  far  as  giving  them  a  true  idea  of  religion  was  concerned.     One 

i  man  said,  "I  would  rather  lose  my  Sunday  dinner  than  go  to  chapel,"  and 

!  hundreds  have  repeated  it. 

11. — What  did  you  think  of  the  medical  officer^. 

A. — The  M.O.'s  I  have  known  were  good — that  is,  they  would  do  all  yon 
needed  to  get  and  keep  you  well  if  you  were  ill.     But  they  shared  the  hard- 
^■ss  of  the  prison  staff;  prisoners  were  to  them  only  things,  not  men. 

^H12. — Did  you  spend  any  time  in  hofpitaV. 

PVA. — I  was  in  hospital  a  number  of  times.     It  is  (or  was)   a  dull,  dreary, 
nfifekss  time.     Many  men  ask  to  come  out  as  soon  as  they  "get  round"  a  bit. 


•80  SPECIMENS  OF  EVIDENCE 

The  silence  rule  was  just  as  strictly  observed  there  as  elsewhere.  Some- 
times one  is  in  a  cell,  sometimes  in  an  "association  ward,"  where  association 
is  a  punishable  offence  !  We  were  let  out  for  two  exercises  daily,  about  two 
hours. 

13. — What  is  your  view  of  the  warders^. 

A. — Few  were  fit  for  their  jobs.  They  were  mostly  thick-headed,  ignorant 
men.  The  education  of  the  board  school  and  a  few  years  in  the  army  or 
navy — and  they  were  considered  fit  to  have  charge  of  hundreds  of  men  whos» 
future  a  great  deal  depended  on  the  treatment  meted  out  to  them ! 

14. — Then  they  did  not  exert  a  good  influence  upon  prisoners! 

A. — No ;  they  only  spoke  to  the  men  (other  than  giving  orders)  at  their 
own  risk.  They  were  like  bits  of  a  machine  that  had  to  treat  the  men  as 
if  they  had  no  feelings.  Familiarity  with  a  prisoner  was  (and  is)  a  dis- 
chargeable offence.  They  detested  most  of  the  prison  rules  as  much  as  the 
prisoners  did.  If  they  tried  to  be  considerate  to  the  prisoners,  the  principal 
or  chief  warder  would  sooner  or  later  perceive  it,  and  they  would  be  reported 
and  punished  accordingly.  They  went  in  daily  fear  of  losing  their  jobs, 
and  the  better  class  of  men  didn't  stop  long  under  a  strict  governor  or  chief 
warder.  They  either  left  or  got  themselves  into  trouble  through  being 
humane.  A  good  warder  (the  sort  of  man  they  all  ought  to  be)  said  to  me 
once  :  "If  I  could  get  another  job  I'd  go  out  and  chuck  this  belt  over  the 
wall  the  next  minute."  Warders  are  generally  anxious  to  enforce  the 
regulations  to  protect  themselves.  I  remember  a  very  kind  officer  who  was 
discharged  for  treating  prisoners  too  leniently. 

15. — What  did  you  think  of  the  governors  and  deputy-governors'! 

A. — Of  most  of  them,  not  much.  They  may  have  been  gentlemen,  but 
they  never  showed  it.  They  were  simply  military  men,  overbearing,  in- 
considerate, impervious  to  prisoner  and  warder  alike — men  utterly  opposed 
to  reform  in  its  good  sense.  Discipline  is  their  god,  and  they  enforce  its 
worship  vigorously. 

Only  one  good  governor  have  I  known  out  of  eight  or  nine.  He  was  a 
Christian  gentleman.  Only  this  one  ever  conversed  with  me.  To  the  others 
I  was  only  a  number,  a  name,  a  dog,  anything  but  a  human  being. 

16. — Did  the  infrequency  of  letters  and  visits  cause  you  anxiety  1 
A. — Yes,  much.  I  entered  prison  recently-married.  Three  years  after  I 
heard  that  my  wife  "was  going  wrong."  I  wrote,  but  I  was  obliged  to 
wait  three  months  (in  those  days)  before  I  could  write  again.  She  eventually 
threw  me  over  for  another  man,  but  I  believe  that  if  I  had  been  allowed 
more  contact  with  her  I  might  have  had  her  yet.  The  time  was  one  of  great 
anxiety. 

17. — Did  you  experience  any  censoring  of  letters! 

A. — I  took  care  myself  to  avoid  it  and  I  told  my  relatives  just  what  they 
could  say  without  being  stopped,  though  even  then  some  of  their  letters  were 
censored.  I  know  hundreds  of  cases  where  prisoners'  letters  were  half- 
blotted  out  or  stopped  altogether.  As  long  as  you  kept  to  family  matters 
you  were  all  right,  but  anything  outside  that  was  always  stopped. 


EVIDENCE   OF    A    ''LIFER"  681 

18. — Under  what  conditions  did  the  visits  take  place  ? 

A. — Behind  double  bars,  with  openings  about  18  inches  square.  A  warder 
stood  in  a  passage  between  the  bars ;  and  you  behind  one  set  of  bars  and  the 
visitor  behind  the  other.  The  room  was  called  the  wild  beast's  cage.  Soma 
of  the  prisoners  refused  to  have  visits  under  these  conditions. 

19. — Were  the  visits  of  the  visiting  magistrates  of  any  value  to  you^. 

A. — They  were  but  another  instance  of  officialism.  I  never  saw  any  in- 
dication on  their  part  of  interest  in  the  prisoners.  One  could  complain,  but 
at  the  finish  what  the  governor  said  prevailed.  We  always  used  to  look 
upon  a  complaint  or  a  request  to  the  visiting  magistrates  as  futile.  The 
general  rule  held  here  as  in  other  cases — the  prisoner  was  to  blame  until 
proved  otherwise. 

20. — Did  yo^t  find  the  food  sufficient  and  appetising  1 

A. — When  I  went  in  the  food  was  so  bad  that  you  could  have  eaten  for  a 
week  and  never  be  satisfied.  During  the  first  five  years  I  could  have  eaten 
anything.  It  was  a  common  practice  for  men  to  drink  out  of  oilcans  and  to 
chew  rags.  About  1900,  an  inquiry  was  held,  and  the  food  was  improved 
both  in  quantity  and  quality.  It  was  sufficient  in  quantity,  but  appetising 
— no  ! 

21. — Were  the  sanitary  conditions  satisfactory  I 

A. — No.  You  could  only  go  to  a  w.c.  at  stated  times.  If  you  are  hard 
pressed  at  other  times  you  have  to  keep  it  in  your  cell,  even  if  it  is  all  the 
night.     If  you  have  diarrhoea  it  is  horrible. 

22. — Were  the  various  classes  of  prisoners  strictly  separated^ 

A. — There    was   some   attempt    to    keep   the   various    classes    of   prisoners 

I     separate,  but  all  prisoners  could  communicate  with  each  other  if  they  were 

only  artful  enough  and  willing  to  risk  punishment.     Life  in  prison  consists 

I     largely  of  such  underhand  scheming ;  studying   to  be   cunning  and   crafty ; 

j     it  is  inevitable.     Illicit  communication  is  possible  under  any  conditions. 

23. — Were  you   ever  punished^ 

A. — No,  but  I   was  reported  more  than  once.     The  first  time  was  at  the 

■     critical  moment  of  my  prison  career,  when  it  was  a  case  of  my  "going  right" 

1    or  "going  wrong."     It  was  six  months  after  I   was  sentenced,   and   I   was 

j    desperate.       I  cared  for  nothing,   I    was   utterly  godless,  I  wished   I  were 

;    dead.     They  put  me  to  work  at  turning  a  printing-press,  for  which  I  was 

scarcely  strong  enough.     Words  passed  between  me   and  the  warder,  and  I 

was   placed   "on  report."     I   expected   punishment,   but   the   governor    only 

asked  me  if  I  didn't  think  I  had  behaved  foolishly.     I  confessed  I  had,  and 

]    he  let  me  off.     Through  the  governor  refraining  from  punishing  me,  I  became 

I    one  of  the   handiest    and  most  willing  workers  in  the   prison.     If    he    had 

{    punished  me  I  should  have  committed  suicide.     Simultaneously,  an  encourag- 

j    ing  letter  came  from  a  Chri.stian  lady  who  corresponded  with  me,  telling  me 

tthat  my  wife  would  wait  40  years  for  me  if  need  be,  and  conveying  some 
toiritual  comfort.     I  have  been  a  Christian  since. 
»The  second  time    I  was  reported  I   waved  my   hand  to  another  prisoner 
p  ray  cell  door  was  being  shut  for  the  night,  in  token  of  "good-night."     I 
I 


632  SPECIMENS  OF  EVIDENCE 

■was  reported  by  the  warder  for  "signalling  to  another  prisoner."  A  third 
time,  a  man  smiled  at  me  from  his  cell  window  (it  was  Sunday  afternoon, 
when  he  was  not  allowed  to  be  out,  and  I  was),  and  w'e  were  both  reported. 
But  on  both  these  occasions  the  chief  warder  had  the  sense  to  suppress  the 
reports  before  they  went  to  the  governor. 

24. — W?Lat  did  the  effect  of  punishment  appear  to  be  on  otherel 

A. — The  effect  of  punishment  was  simply  to  harden  prisoners.  In  fact, 
the  more  they  were  punished,  the  more  they  did  to  deserve  it. 

25. — Wit/i,  what  feeling  did  you  come  out  of  prisonl 

A. — I  came  out  with  a  nervous  dread.  I  did  not  know  what  was  before 
me.  In  15  years  the  world  and  I  had  become  utter  strangers  to  each  other, 
and  I  didn't  know  how  we  were  going  to  meet.  I  had  some  good  friends, 
however, — I  can  only  say,  "God  help  those  who  haven't."  I  wanted  to  go 
straight,  because  I  had  been  endeavouring  whilst  in  prison  to  lead  a  Christian 
life,  and  I  hoped  to  continue  it  in  the  new  life,  both  for  my  own  sake 
and  for  my  friends'  sake. 

26. — Did  you  apply  for  assistance  to  the  Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid  Society  1 

A. — Yes,  but  it  did  not  find  me  work.  A  private  person  did  that.  The 
Society  had  in  their  hands  about  £11,  which  I  was  entitled  to  for  my  labour 
in  prison,  and  they  doled  it  out  to  me. 

27. — Did  you  find  any  hostility  among  your  fellow-workers  1 

A. — No.  I  was  placed  under  the  Corporation  as  a  street  sweeper  among 
men  who  are  often  of  doubtful  character.     No  "references"  were  required. 

28. — //are   the  police  harried  youl 

A. — No.  The  police  were  very  good  to  me  and  helped  to  cheer  me  up  a 
great  deal.  Some  of  them  tried  to  get  me  work,  and  it  was  through  a  police- 
man that  I  was  introduced  to  Mr.  B,  who  put  me  in  the  way  of  work, 
which  I  kept  for  five  years  or  more.  I  have  only  had  two  jobs  since  I  left 
prison,  and  I  am  still  working  at  the  second.  My  experience  is  that  if  a 
man  (no  matter  what  his  past  has  been)  will  only  show  by  his  conduct  that 
he  is  intent  upon  deserving  respect,  he  will  win  the  sympathy  and  considera- 
tion of  his  fellow-men  and  what  help  they  can  give  him. 


SPECIMENS  OF  EVIDENCE  68S 

H.— EVIDENCE  OF  A  PREVENTIVE  DETENTION 
PRISONER. 


[This  witness  had  served  thi-ee  sentences  of  Penal  Servitude.  After 
his  third  sentence  he  served  over  two  years  at  Camp  Hill  Preventive 
Detention  prison,  being  then  released  on  probation.  The  following 
is  a  summary  of  liis  evidence.] 

^^  STAFF. 

^^pThere  seemed  to  be  no  one  in  the  Preventive  Detention  prison,  with  the 

^^tception  of  the  Catholic  Priest,  who  really  took  the  trouble  to  get  to  know 
the  men  and  to  help  them  personally    [this  was   before   the  coming  of   the 

I     present  Governor].     The  members  of  the  Board  of  Visitors  interviewed  men 
privately,  but  in  a  superficial  way. 

One  of  the  greatest  curses  of  the  Preventive  Detention  prison  was  that  the 
officers  were  all  ex-convict  warders.  They  naturally  had  all  the  old  Convict 
prison  habits,  ordering  the  men  about  like  slaves  and  spying  out  for  wicked- 
ness everywhere,  with  eyes  closed  to  good  qualities.  Many  of  them  were 
dishonest,  and,  in  some  cases,  this  led  to  what  was  practically  blackmail  on 
the  part  of  some  prisoners.  Thus  the  worst  prisoners,  threatening  perhaps 
to  report  a  warder  for  dishonesty,  would  get  all  sorts  of  favours  from  him, 

i    along  with  good  reports  of  conduct  and  industry. 

The  work  at  Camp   Hill  was  not  "tasked,"   but  the  warders  gave  daily 

reports  ("v.g.,"  "g. ,"  "bad,"  etc.).     It  appeared  that  the  governor,  in  recom- 

i    mending  a  man  for  release,  depended  a  good  deal  on  these  reports.     For  this 

I    reason,  the  most  artful  and  dishonest  men,  who  were  able  to  get  favours  from 

I   the  warder,  got  the  best  reports  and  earliest  release.     Witness  said  that  in 

this  way  early  release  depended  not  so  much  on  real,  good  character,  as  "on 

the  way  you  swank  or  study  your  particular  warder."     He  admitted  thafc 

his  own  early  release  was  due  to  his  artfulness  in  some  such  way. 

LABOUR. 

Another  serious  defect  was  that  few,  if  any,  trades  were  properly  taught. 
j  He  thought  perhaps  this  did  not  apply  to  shoemaking,  but  at  any  rate  there 
-   was  no  opportunity  for  getting  proper  instruction  in  carpentry  or  fitting  or 
smithing.     The  warders  were  not  qualified  instructors,  and  the  only  chance 
for  a  man  to  learn  a  trade  was  the  possibility  of  getting  hold  of  a  fellow- 
prisoner  who  was  an  efficient  tradesman,  and  learning  from  him. 

THE  ALLOTMENTS. 

The  provisions  for  garden  allotments  for  men  after  a  certain  period  were 
not  in  fact  nearly  so  good  as  they  looked  on  paper.  In  the  first  place,  the 
prison  only  supplied  the  ground  and  the  tools.  Men  were  supposed  to  buy 
seeds  and  plants  and  manure  out  of  their  weekly  Is.  6d.  If  one  was  lucky 
and  "wangled"  seed  and  manure  which  belonged  to  the  prison,  then  you 
might  get  started  and  make  a  profit  out  of  your  allotment ;  otherwise  not. 
For  instance,  in  the  case  of  the  witness,  he  put  in  lettuces  twice,  which  were 
destroyed,  first  by  rain  and  then  by  rabbits.  After  that  he  did  not  care  to 
spend  money  on  it,  and  only  used  the  two  afternoons  a  week  (from  two  to 
four  p.m.,  which  was  all  the  time  available,)  in  playing  at  digging  on  the 


634  SPECIMENS   OF  EVIDENCE 

ground.  After  six  months  (when  he  got  released),  owing  to  it  being  winter 
and  his  disinclination  to  spend  money,  he  had  grown  no  crops  at  all  on  the 
ground  and  got  nothing  out  of  it.  This  was  the  case  with  a  good  many 
other  allotments. 

THE   PENAL  GRADE. 

An  abuse  which  the  witness  thought  was  serious  was  the  power  of  the 
governor  to  degrade  a  man  to  the  very  penal  disciplinary  grade  for  an 
indefinite  period.  Some  men  were  kept,  he  thought  without  good  reason, 
in  this  grade  for  very  long  periods. 


PREVENTIVE  DETENTION  TOO  LATE. 

But  the  greatest  curse  of  Camp  Hill,  and  that  which  nuetralised  most  of 
its  good  points  in  many  cases,  was  that  men  came  there  too  late;  that  was 
to  say,  after  long  spells  of  penal  servitude.  Nothing  could  be  more  deplor- 
ably demoralising  and  ruinous  than  the  effects,  mentally,  morally,  and 
sometimes  physically,  of  the  convict  discipline.  Instead  of  making  a  weak 
mind  stronger,  as  punishment  should,  it  made  it  weaker.  Silence,  solitude, 
compulsion,  harshness,  over  a  long  period,  could  not  possibly  strengthen  a 
man.  Owing  to  the  want  of  healthy  interest  and  the  intense  monotony, 
they  were  driven  back  upon  their  own  evil  thoughts  and  broodings.  The 
worst  curse  of  all,  and  that  which  led  to  the  ruin  of  many,  was  the  vice 
of  self-abuse,  which  was  very  prevalent.  Owing  to  this  and  other  features  of 
the  discipline,  men  came  to  Camp  Hill  after  their  long  penal  servitude 
sometimes  in  a  very  bitter,  rebellious  state,  and  neai'ly  always  in  a  dazed 
and  stupified  condition  of  mind.  They  naturally  continued  many  of  their 
bad  habits,  including  the  self-abuse,  even  under  the  better  conditions,  and 
were  not  able  to  rise.  They  were  already  case-hardened,  and  many  of  them 
would  haixlly  be  able  to  benefit  by  the  most  kindly  and  humane  treatment. 


PRISON    "RELIGION." 

Another  vice  which  terms  of  imprisonment  had  forced  upon  most  of  the 
men  was  that  of  hypocrisy.  Prison  religion,  for  instance,  was  chiefly 
hypocrisy,  in  order  to  curry  favour  with  the  chaplain  and  get  privileges  from 
him. 

Again,  in  pretending  to  be  well-conducted  in  order  to  secure  early  release, 
men  screwed  themselves  up  to  "act  the  part"  continually.  The  most  honest 
and  straightforward  men,  who  would  not  do  this,  suffered  in  consequence. 
In  some  cases,  however,  the  witness  thought  this  acting  of  a  part  became 
so  much  second  nature  that  men  of  bad  character,  by  force  of  habit,  even 
went  on  keeping  straight  permanently  after  their  release. 


ADVANTAGES    OF    PREVENTIVE     DETENTION. 

In  spite,  however,  of  all  these  defects,  the  witness  considered  the  Camp 
Hill  treatment  an  immense  improvement  on  penal  servitude.  He  thought  it 
a  reasonable  plan  to  go  through  terms  of  probation  in  order  to  secure  complete 
liberty  finally,  and  that  it  was  beneficial  to  work  up  to  fuller  and  fuller 
privileges  from  an  inferior  status.  His  final  verdict  was  that  if  there  were 
proper  instruction  in  trades,  if  the  warders  and  some  of  the  higher  officers  were 


EVIDENCE  OF  A  PREVENTIVE  DETENTION  PSISONER  635 

a  better  type  of  men,  and  if  a  certain  amount  of  the  red  tape  were  swept 
a^ray,  then  Camp  Hill  "would  be  something  like  a  prison  should  be." 

He  spoke  as  to  the  much  greater  self-respect  which  was  instilled  at  Camp 
Hill,  the  good  effect  of  men  having  smart  Sunday  clothes  and  polished  boots, 
the  possibility  of  purchasing  a  safety  razor  and  using  it  for  shaving,  the 
looking-glass,  the  difference  it  made  at  meals  to  have  a  proper  knife,  fork 
and  spoon  ;  all  these  things  gave  a  man  self-respect  and  a  pride  in  keeping 
himself  neat  and  clean,  in  contrast  to  the  utter  degradation  and  filthy 
habits  which  clung  to  men  inevitably  in  the  ordinary  prison.  In  prison, 
for  instance,  men  became  very  uncleanly,  because  washing  meant  great  labour 
in  polishing  your  metal  basin,  but  at  Camp  Hill  there  was  no  polishing  of 
tins  to  speak  of ;  everyone  washed  outside  in  proper  lavatories.  The 
possibility  of  earning  a  little  money,  too,  helped  the  men,  and,  as  for  the 
canteen   arrangements,  "you  could  not  grumble  at  them." 

It  was  also  a  tremendous  relief  to  be  able  to  occupy  yourself  in  some 
artistic  or  mechanical  way  in  your  cell.  The  witness,  for  instance,  had 
purchased,  out  of  his  earnings^  water-colours  and  trigonometrical  instruments. 
Another  man,  who  was  a  rare  artist,  and  had  wasted  years  and  years  of  his 
time  doing  nothing  during  penal  servitude,  was  able  to  do  really  good 
sketches  at  Camp  Hill.  The  witness  had  given  him  some  of  his  own  water- 
colours  to  start  on.  This  handing  on  of  things  to  other  prisoners,  including 
food,  was  against  the  rules,  but  was  winked  at.  The  chief  difficulty  was 
that  the  materials  for  this  cell  work  had  to  be  purchased  out  of  your  weekly 
Is.  6d.,  so  that  it  took  time  to  put  by  enough  money,  as  well  as  to  order 
them  and  get  the  things  through. 

A  friend  of  the  witness  had  been  in  the  "parole  lines"  and  had  given  a 
very  good  account  of  them  and  their  partial  liberty.  The  witness  himself 
was  released  too  soon  to  qualify  for  them,  and  this  arrangement^  according 
to  which  some  men  missed  the  opportunity  of  the  lines  altogether,  was  a 
defect. 

REASONS  FOR  BETTER  RESULTS. 

When  asked  to  what  he  attributed  the  greater  success  of  Camp  Hill  men 
in  keeping  straight,  the  witness  put  it  down  to  three  reasons,  apparently  in. 
s  order  : — 

1.  The  excellent  supervision  of  the  Central  Association,  under  Mr. 
Grant  "Wilson.  The  Association  found  men  jobs  and  treated  the  men 
straightforwardly  and  well,  allowing  them  plenty  of  money  to  set  them- 
selves up  in  their  new  occupations. 

2.  The  more  humane  and  self-respecting  treatment  at  Camp  Hill,  to 
which  many  of  the  men  responded,  notwithstanding  all  the  drawbacks. 

3.  The  more  deterrent  nature  of  the  long  Preventive  Detention 
sentence.  The  witness  was  not  very  clear  about  this ;  bat  his  chief  point 
seemed  to  be  that  a  man  out  on  licence  from  Camp  Hill  had  reason  to 
consider  that  another  conviction  would  mean  three  years'  penal  servitude 
with  subsequent  preventive  detention  for  perhaps  ten  years,  and  little 
prospect  of  another  early  release  on  licence.  This  consideration  did  act 
as  a  deterrent  to  some  men,  witness  thought,  who  might  face  three  or 
five  years'  confinement  with  equanimity.  Also  he  thought  that  the 
indeterminate  nature  of  the  sentence  in  itself  acted  as  a  greater  deterrent 
in  some  ways.     He  had  heard  men  say,  "I'm  beat,"  in  reference  to  this. 


686  SPECIMENS  OF  EVIDENCE 

I— EVIDENCE  OF  A  POLITICAL  PEISONER 


[This  witness  was  in  prison  practically  continuously  from  June 
17th,  1916,  to  April  7th,  1919,  owing  to  his  refusal  to  obey  military 
orders  on  conscientious  grounds.  He  served  successive  hard  labour 
sentences  of  112  days,  6  months,  1  year,  and  2  years  (of  which  last 
he  completed  14  months),  and  was  confined  in  four  different  prisons. 
This  is  an  exceptional  case  of  a  man  who  endured  many  months  of 
imprisonment  with  the  minimum  of  physical  and  mental 
impairment.] 

1. — Apart  from  the  first  month  of  your  sentences  did  you  have  any  strict 
separation  {i.e.,  without  "association")! 

A. — Occasionally,    but    not    for    long    periods.     Often    at   and 

"association"  consisted  in  sitting  with  the  cell  door  open,  and  often 
the  doors  were  only  opened  down  one  side  of  the  landing  at  a  time.  Shortage 
of  officers  was  the  reason  given  for  irregularity  of  real  "association"  in 
prison  halls  or  work-sheds.     Things  may  be  better  now  the  war  is  over. 

2. — What  breaks  in,  or  modification*  of,  the  strictness  of  separation  did 
you  have! 

A. — None  during  the  first  month  of  my  second  and  third  sentences,  but 
when  I  returned  for  my  fourth  sentence  new  regulations  were  in  force  for 
the  benefit  of  C.O.'s,'  which  allowed  them  to  go  on  association  from  the  very 

beginning  of  their  sentences.     At  I  had  association  from  the  third  day 

onwards,  as  the  work  I  was  doing  (ships'  fenders)  was  not  easily  done  in 
cells,  and  was  supposed  to  be  important. 

3. — Any  remarks  on  food  as  to 
{a)  Quantity* 

A. — Ordinary  prison  diet — just  or  barely  sufficient.  1917,  January 
to  October — quite  insufficient.  After  that — passable.  From 
October,  1917,  to  my  release,  I  was  receiving  extra  bread, 
porridge  or  milk. 

(b)  Quality! 

A. — Grood  on  the  whole. 

(c)  How  cooked! 

A.— Fairly  well,    mostly.     meat,  leathery.     Porridge,    watery 

at  times. 

(d)  How  served! 

A. — Tins  often  very   dirty,    especially  at  .       All    meals,    of 

course,  in  solitude. 

(e)  Any  noteworthy  ill-effects  upon  yourself  or  others! 

A. — On  myself — practically  none,  except  loss  of  weight,  which  was 
largely  regained  before  I  left  prison,  and  occasional  attacks 
of  diarrhoea,  which  soon  passed  off.  Other  C.O.'s  often 
complained  of  various  ill-effects. 

»  i.e.,  Conscientious   objeotora   to  military  seryice. 


EVIDESCE  OF  A   POLITICAL    PRISONER  687 

4. — Wtre  you  given  any  food  in  addition  to,  or  modification  of,  the 
ordinary  dietary^ 

A. — In  October,  1917,  at ,  owing  to  serious  loss  of  weight,  I  received 

1  pint  of  milk  and  1  pint  of  porridge  extra.      At  at  the  beginning  of 

1918,  I  received  extra  porridge.     When  on  fenders  at  ,  I  received  bread 

and   cheese  extra  for  this  work.       Milk   diet  when   I  had  slight  attack  of 
indigestion. 

5. — Do  you  think  that  your  imprisonment  injured  your  physical  health, 

(a)  Temporarily! 
A.— Slightly. 

(6)  Permanently! 

A. — Not  at  all,  so  far  as  I  can  tell. 

//  80,  how"! 

A. — While  in  prison,  memory  bad,  marked  hesitation  in  speaking, 
and  in  recalling  names,  etc.     Better  immediately  on  release. 

6. — Remark  on  arrangements  for  personal  cleanliness — bath,  clothes, 
bedding,  utensils,  etc. 

A. — Baths  always  hot   and  good,  but  time  allowed  (particularly  at  ) 

inadequate,  and  a  great  rush.     Clothing  very  often  badly  torn,  and  occasion- 

'  ally  not  changed  regularly.  Once  or  twice  slightly  verminous — but  for  the 
most  part  passably  clean.  None  too  warm  in  cold  weather.  Great  care  taken 
that  cotton  or  flannel  underclothing  should  be  worn  in  prison,  in  accordance 

j  with  what  prisoners  were  wearing  when  they  came  in.  Bedding  usually 
clean,  though  blankets  hardly  ever  changed.  Not  enough  in  cold  weather, 
and  had  to   make  out  with  mail-bags,   etc.       Usual  allowance — 2   blankets, 

2  .sheets,  1  coverlet. 

7. — Did  you  suffer  materially  from  the  sanitary  arrangements!  Please  give 
details. 

A. — Sometimes  very  awkward  not  being  able  to  get  out  of  cell  in  evening 
I  and  night.  In  some  prisons  no  prisoners  are  allowed  outside  cells  for  any 
;  purpose  between  4  p.m.  and  6  a.m.  Earthenware  chamber  with  zinc  lid  the 
\  only  convenience  allowed,  with  limited  supply  of  water.  Cell  thus  got  very 
.  unpleasant  at  night  often.  Other  sanitary  arrangements  usually  fairly 
satisfactory. 

8. — Is  improvement  urgently  needed  as  re  ^ards,  for  instance,  additional 
freedom  for  visiting  the  water  closet!  Any  other  improvements  needed  in 
fanitary  arrangements! 

A. — It  i.s  often  very  difficult  to  make  officers  hear  or  answer  bells  rung  in 
i  cells.  I  have  known  prisoners  ring  repeatedly  for  an  hour  without  any  result, 
'and  then  get  abused  for  their  pains.  The  w.c's  are  unplea.santly  public, 
with  only  half-height  door,  over  and  under  which  anyone  can  see. 

9. — Were  you  in  hospital!  If  so,  for  how  long!  What  remarks  have  you 
to  make  on  the  hospital  arrangements! 

A. — Never — except  for  visit  to  dentist,  who  was  an  outsider  and  quite 
■  satisfactory. 


638  SPECIMENS  OF  EVIDENCE 

10. — Give,  your  genercd  impressions  of  the  character  of  the  medical  attention 
given.     Can  you  suggest  any  reforms  as  regards  this  part  of  prison  life^. 

A. — The  medical   officers  varied   considerably.     At ,  the   doctor  was  a 

very  pleasant,  kindly  gentleman,  and  did  his  work  most  conscientiously, 
visiting  each  prisoner  each  week.  Other  prison  doctors  were  the  reverse — 
surly,  bad  tempered,  and  forbidding.  The  assistants  nearly  always  seemed 
to  be  kindly  people.  As  for  the  medical  skill  and  attention,  I  had  little 
chance  of  judging. 

11. — Do  you  think  that  your  imprisonment  injured  your  moral  or  mental 
Tiealtht     If  so,  howl 

A. — Certainly  not  moral,  and  I  think  not  mental. 

12. — Specify  the  different  kinds  of  work,  of  which  yon  had  experience. 

A. — Making  mail-bags  of  many  kinds,  button-holing  hammocks  (two  weeks), 
twine  and  thin  rope  making  (nearly  a  year),  ships'  fenders  (si.x  months), 
cleaning,  etc. 

13. — Any  remarks  on  nature  and  method  of  work,  implements  used,  etc.^. 

A. — Work  usually  dull  and  monotonous,  with  little  opportunity  of 
exercising  initiative  or  skill.  Methods  were  usually  antiquated,  and  tools 
to  match.  Officers  often  stupid.  E.g.,  in  a  twine  shed,  a  certain  amount 
of  twine  had  to  be  turned  out  weekly,  measured  by  weight,  not  length.  The 
amount  fell  rather  below  weight  one  week.  The  officer,  who  was  easy-going, 
instead  of  attempting  to  speed  up  the  work,  put  another  strand  into  the 
twine,  thus  making  extra  weight,  but  not  increasing  the  output  of  twine  f 
Time  or  labour-saving  never  seemer  to  enter  into  calculations  in  most  prison 
shops. 

14. — What  were  the  arrangements  for  reading''.  Remark  on  these.  Any 
improvements  you  can  suggest  1 

A. — Prison  libraries  vary.     was  shocking.     seemed  fairly  good. 

(Educational  books  for  six  months,  as  follows  : — "Wealth  of  Nations," 
Mill's  "Political  Economy,"  Whittier,  Motley's  "Dutch  Republic," 
Macaulay's  Essays,  and  a  book  on  Sheep  Farming.     All  but  the  last  I  asked - 

for  and  received).     At  my  first  sentence  at there  was  no  chance  of  seeing 

a  catalogue  or  choosing  books  at  all,  and  we  had  to  take  whatever  rubbish 
was  given  us.  I  only  got  two  really  good  books  during  the  112  days.  Even- 
ings were  allowed  for  reading  in  most  prisons,  though  we  were  supposed  to 
work  till  7.30  p.m.  at  . 

15. — What  facilities  were  allowed  for  writing  1     Suggest  improvements. 

A. — One   slate  in  most  prisons.       I  managed  to  get  two   at  ,  second 

sentence.  Letters  according  to  prison  rules.  No  other  facilities  at  all.  I 
would  suggest  that  prisoners  should  be  allowed  note  books.  If  any  danger 
of  being  wrongly  used  for  illicit  correspondence,  a  system  of  numbered 
pages,  to  be  examined  each  week  by  landing  officer  or  other  official,  could 
easily  be  devised.  But  writing  paper  and  pencils  of  some  sort  should  mast  j 
certainly  be  provided  for  use  of  all  prisoners.  \ 


EVIDENCE  OF  A   POLITICAL   PRISONER  689 

16. — Had  ycm  full  opportunity  of  speaking  to 

(a)  the  Governor  or  Deputy  Governor^. 

A. — Possible  to  complain  every  morning  to  governor.  In  some 
prisons  the  complaint  had  to  be  stated  to  the  chief  officer  first, 
who  would  say  whether  it  was  to  go  forward  to  the  governor 
or  not.  I  think  this  arrangement  unsatisfactory.  Governor 
naturally  took  officers'  defences  rather  than  prisoners' 
complaints. 

(6)  Visiting  Magistrates! 

A. — About      once     a      month.  Always     felt     it      was      futile 

speaking  to  these  gentlemen.  They  always  asked  if 
there  were  any  complaints.  I  invariably  answered  "no."  I 
felt  they  were  in  with  the  prison  officials,  and  did  not  under- 
stand the  position  of  the  prisoner.  Also,  if  one  once  began 
complaining,  where  was  one  to  stop? 

(c)  Inspectors! 

A. — Above  remarks  apply  to  the  visits  of  inspectors.  Officials 
always  knew  when  these  gentry  were  coming,  and  prepared 
accordingly. 

17. — Give  your  impressions  of  the  personal  influence  upon  the  prisoners  of 

(a)  the  Governor. 

A. — In  most  cases  the  governor's  influence  was  negative, 
and     fear-inspiring.  He     was     regarded     as     a     sort     of 

angry  deity   who  sat  behind  a   table,   and  gave  punishments. 

There   were  honourable  exceptions,  however,   notably  at  , 

where  the  governor  was  distinctly  above  the  average,  and 
would  chat  with  the  prisoners  on  his  rounds  each  morning.  He 
once  took  the  word  of  several  C.O.'s  against  that  of  an  officer. 

(b)  the  Chaplain  (C.  of  E.  or  B.C.) 

A. — Mostly  regarded  as  an  official  (as  governor,  doctor, 
etc.)  varied.  Mostly  highly  unsatisfactory.  Preaching 
in  most  cases  poor,  and  theology  antiquated.  Visits  (at  any 
rate  to  non-C.  of  E.  prisoners)  short,  few,  and  far  between. 

(c)  the   Warders. 

A. — Chief  warder  usually  an  unpleasant  person  with  much 
power,      and     great      influence     with     governor.  Warders 

— usually  harmless  when  left  to  themselves,  but  much  harassed 
and  badgered  by  chief  and  principal  warders.  They  are 
attempting  to  carry  out  many  absolutely  impossible  rules,  such 
as  the  "silence  rule."  On  the  whole,  far  too  good  for  their 
mean  and  pettifogging  jobs.     They  often  become  friendly  with 

prisoners,  but  in   an  underhand   sort   of   way.       At   the 

warders  were  mostly  very  stiff  and  strict.  The  warders 
certainly  improve  when  treated  kindly.  To  sum  up — they  are 
very  ordinary  people  in  a  very  unpleasant  position.  Many  of 
them  are  old  soldiers,  and  are  sticklers  for  discipline ;  but  I 
think  the  new  generation  are  seeing  the  folly  of  the  whole  prison 
system   and  are  becoming   ashamed  and  disgusted. 

["he    whole    of     the    prison    service    is    one    vast    system    of     espionage, 
ief  warder  spies  on  warders,  warders  spy  on  prisoners  (because  they  have 


640  SPECIMENS  OF  EVIDENCE 

to),  governor  spies  on  chief  warder,  and  so  on  up  to  the  Home  Secretary, 
apparently. 

18. — What  do  you  think  of  the  services  in  prison,  and  the  way  they  are 
conducted  (including  the  position  and  conduct  of  warders)  T 

Name  the  persuasion  {C.  of  E.,  B.C.,  etc.)  to  which  you  refer. 

A. — Church  of  England  services  are  dull  and  dreary.  Very  little  life  or 
variety.     Sermons   very   poor.     Chapels    uncomfortable.        Backless   seats   at 

and    other    places.     The    whole    services    are    most     wearisome    and 

unsatisfactory. 

19. — Did  you  have  a  denominational  minister  and  meet  with  him  for 
(a)  Conversation! 

A. — Yes.     In  each  prison  I  saw  a  Quaker  Chaplain  (I  am  a  Quaker) 
and  met  him  often. 
(6)   Worship! 
A.— Yes. 

20. — Did  you  have  "talking  exercise"!    How  far  was  this  an  improvement! 

A. — Yes.  I  had  talking  exerci.se  for  the  last  year  and  a  half.  A  very  great 
improvement.  It  made  all  the  difference.  I  would  advocate  its  use  through- 
out prisons.  If  men  want  to  talk  they  will  talk,  and  no  power  will  stop 
them.     So  let  them  do  it  openly. 

21. — What  visits  of  relatives  or  friends  rvere  allowed!  Under  what  con- 
ditions  (room,  duration,  supervision) ! 

A. — None  for  first  eight  weeks  of  sentence.  Then  one  after  six  weeks ; 
then  one  each  month.  Visits —  half  hour  long,  behind  "grill,"  with  warder 
in  attendance.  Later  (after  concessions  for  C.O.'s),  two  visits  a  month,  in 
ordinary  room,  but  away  from  visitor,   with  warder  in  attendance. 

22.~~What  punishments,  if  any,  were  awarded  to  you!     What  for! 
A. — "One  week  on  first  stage,"  for  talking  in  work-shed. 

23. — What  do  you  consider  the  most  cruel  form  of  prison  punishment 
known  to  you! 

A. — Difficult  to  say.  Little  experience  of  prison  punishment.  I  should 
say,  prolonged  solitary  confinement  is  most  cruel,  made  worse  by  reduced 
diet. 

24. — What  single  feature  of  the  prison  system  affected  you  most  cruelly! 

A. — Solitary   confinement. 

25. — What  is  your  opinion  of  the  value  of  the  system  of  progressive  marks 
and  stages! 

A. — Of  practically  no  value  under  present  conditions,  because  when  the 
highest  marks  are  earned  there  is  nothing  at  the  end  of  it  except  slightly 
less  dreary  conditions  and  liberty  a  few  days  earlier.  There  is  no  value  in 
the  work  iteeU— educational  value,  I  mean— therefore  little  use  in  giving 
men  any  incentive  to  do  the  work.  If  there  were  really  useful  work,  and  the 
doing  of  it  brought  more  wholesome  conditions  with  it  and  more  real  re- 
sponsibility, more  beauty  of  outlook,  more  chance  of  self-expression,  there 
might  be  some  value  in  marks  and  stages.  But  then  that  would  mean  a 
new  system  altogether. 


EVIDEXCE  OF  A   POLITICAL   PRISONER  64l 

25. — What  effect  does  the  prison  system  seem  to  have  on  the  warders^ 

A. — I  believe  that  there  are  two  classes  of  warders.  First  the  older  men, 
■who  joined  the  service  20  and  30  years  ago,  and  who  are  welded  into  the 
system.  These  men  do  their  best  to  carry  it  out  to  the  letter,  and  look  upon 
prisoners  as  their  natural  enemies.  The  newer  type  of  warder  is  different. 
I  believe  a  large  proportion  of  them  hate  their  jobs.  When  they  are  not 
being  watched  they  do  not  attempt  to  carry  out  the  more  ridiculous  and 
inhumane  of  the  rules.  Thus,  at  one  prison  an  officer  would  set  a  watch 
at  the  window  of  a  work-shed  for  the  governor,  and  tell  the  prisoners  that 
they  might  talk  so  long  as  they  did  not  let  the  governor  see  them.  The 
effect  of  the  system  on  the  warders  is  undoubtedly  degrading  and  demoralis- 
ing. It  makes  them  underhand,  lazy,  and  inclined  to  grovel  before  officials. 
And  they  realise  this,  and  several  have  told  me  that  they  wished  they  were 
clear  of  the  whole  business.  But  there  again,  they  cannot  get  clear.  "They 
cannot  dig,  to  beg  they  are  ashamed"  !  The  system  unfits  them  for  any 
other  work. 

27. — Do  any  of  them  seem  dissatisfied  with  the  system  from  the  point  of 
view 

{a)  of  their  own  treatment; 

A. — Yes.  They  regard  their  treatment  as  petty  and  mean.  (See 
above). 

(6)  of  any  feeling  of  their  orvn  as  to  its  cruelty  and  inefficiency^ 

A. — Yes,  in  some  cases.  I  fancy  C.O.'s  have  made  them  think 
pretty  hard. 

28. — Mention  any  advantage  you  gained  from  imprisonment. 

A. — Time  for  thought.     Time  for  reading  (under  CO.  concessions). 

29. — Had  you  any  opportunity  of  observing  ordinary  prisoners  and  the 
tnects  of  imprisonment  upon  theml     If  so,  please  give  yaur  impressions. 

A. — Plenty  of  time  for  observation.     In  many  cases  the  physical  effects  of 
imprisonment   were   most   marked.     Men   became   thin   and   haggard.     Many 
■were  mentally  affected.     I  fancy  that  after  the  first  month's  solitary  confine- 
ment most  men  are  in  a  very  plastic  condition  and  might  be  influenced  for 
1  good  at  that  period.     After  that,  a  sort  of  dullness  seems  to  settle  on  them, 
and  the  one  thought  seems  to  be  when  they  are  going  out.     All  prison  walls 
1  are  scored  with  the  words  "Roll  on  such  and  such  a  date,"  with  calendars 
I  marked    up,    and  crossed   off  day   by  day.       Conversations     heard    out    of 
windows,  etc.,  often  turn  on  length  of  sentence,  or  crime. 

). — Do  you  think  it  would  be  possible  in  any  prison  you  were  in 

{a)  to  learn  a  trade; 

A. — I  learnt  no  trade,  but  my  work  was  hardly  in  the  line  of  any 
useful  trade.  Gardening  might,  I  think,  have  been  learnt  iu 
one  or  two  prisons. 

(i)  to  learn  how  to  work  properly  1 

A. — For  the  most  part,  tools  were  primitive,  and  not  much 
trouble  was  taken  to  teach.     In  the  up-to-date  steam  laundry 

at  ,    the   instructor  told  me  he   had   trained  several  men 

and  made  them  fit  for  good  positions  outside. 


e43  SPECIMENS  OF  EVIDENCE 

31. — Did  you  see  any  boys — 

(a)  apparently  under  16; 
A.— Yes. 

(b)  apparently  under  14,  in  prison^. 

A. — Some  who  might  have  been  under  14,  but  all  were  under-sized. 
I  should  not  care  to  state  definitely  that  many  were  actually 
below  this  age. 

32. — To  what  extent  were  different  classes  and  divisions  of  prisoners  iept 
apart  from  each  other  and  from  juvenile-adults  (16-21)  and  from  any  prisoners 
under  16? 

A. — Strictly  in  most  cases.  First  division  usually  exercised  separately. 
Second  and  hard-labour  prisoners  often  exercised  together.  Debtors  seemed 
to  do  everything  apart  from  other  classes.     J.A's  exercised   separately,  but 

at they  worked  (mail-bags)  in  the  same  shed  with  hard-labour  prisoners, 

with  canvas  screen  dividing  them.  They  had  a  landing  to  themselves. 
In  chapel  they  occupied  the  front  forms,  and  thus  entered  first  and  went 
out  last. 

33. — Did  any  cases  of  particular  ill-treatinent  com^e  to  your  notice  in  prison  ? 
A. — Nothing  outside  the  usual  routine   of  the  prison  system   itself. 

34. — Did  you  notice  any  marked  difference  between  prisons^. 
A. — None. 

35. — Mention  two  or  three  reforms  which  appear  to  you  most  urgent. 

A. — The  first  reform  is  to  pull  down  all  existing  prisons.  The  second  is 
to  keep  about  three-quarters  of  the  men  (particularly  first-timers)  out  of 
prison  altogether,  by  means  of  probation,  medical  and  mental  attention,  etc. 
For  the  remainder,  prison  should  be  for  reform,  not  for  punishment.  Let 
the  men  have  the  things  which  help  you  and  me — bemity,  art,  music.  Self- 
expression — writing  and  drawing  facilities.  liesponsibHity — self-government 
(as  in  Auburn  and  Sing  Sing  Prisons,  America).  As  much  liberty  as 
possible,  and  a  minimum  of  restraint  A  new  type  of  warder  should  be 
introduced,  who  regards  his  work  as  a  vocation.  This  is,  of  course,  creating 
a  new  system,  not  reforming  the  old.  I  am  not  sure  that  the  old  can  be 
reformed.  Reforms  have  been  tried  before,  but  when  the  reformers  with 
their  enthusiasm  have  passed  away,  the  whole  thing  has  become,  stereotyped, 
and  formal,  and — a  system. 

36. — Any  other  remarks^. 

A. — The  whole  prison  system  should  be  made  public.  More  facilities 
for  the  unofl[icial  public  to  enter  the  prison  gates  should  be  given.  Evil  and 
oppression  always  thrive  behind  stone  walls  and  locl-ed  gates.  The  Penal 
Pieform  League  should  do  their  part  in  doing  this,  by  lectures,  lantern 
sJides,  pamphlets  and  meetings.     It  is  a  most  urgent  question. 


SPEC  I  MESS  OF  EVIDENCE  643 

J.— THE  MENTAL  EFFECTS  OF  IMPRISONMENT 


To  a  number  of  our  ex-prisoner  witnesses  who  revealed  more  than 
average  ability  in  self -observation,  we  submitted  the  following 
questionnaire  on  the  mental  effects  of  imprisonment :  — 

A  MENTAL  QUESTIONNAIRE. 

The  purpose  of  the  following  questions   is  to  gain  vrhat  information  we 

can  concerning  the  mental  effects  of  a  period  of  imprisonment.     This  is  clearly 

important  for  the  purposes  of  an  Enquiry  like  ours,  which  aims  at  investigating 

the  results,  good,  bad,  or  indifferent,  of  the  existing  British  system  of  prison 

discipline  and  prison  regime  upon  different  tjrpes  of  individuals  thrust  under 

it. 

I      You   will  assist  us  most  by  making  your  answers  as   full  and  as  concrete 

I  as  you  can.     For  this  reason  we  are  not  limiting  the  space  at  your  disposal, 

and  it  is  left  to  you  to  deal  with  the  facts  in  any  way  that  may  seem  to  you 

best,  and  which  will  make  prominent  what  you  consider  most  important.     But, 

;  in  this  connection,  no  detail  need  be  considered  trivial ;  your  prison  dreams, 

i  your  habits  of  work  and  employment  of  leisure  time,  your  mental  attitude 

j  toward    people    around   you  and  to  the   routine,   may    all    be  significant  of 

I  important  changes  in  your  mental  life  consequent  upon  silence  and  repressive 

I  discipline. 

Though  you  may,  if  you  prefer,  deal  with  these  matters  in  another  way, 
iwe  suggest  an  arrangement  of  your  answers  upon  the  following  lines  : — 

j     1.  The  effects  of  prison  upon  your  general  state  of  mind. 

i     2.  The  effects  upon  your   intellectual  powers. 

3.  The  effects  upon  your  emotional  life. 

4.  The  effects  upon  the  will  and  practical  abilities. 

5.  Other  aspects,  special  points,  etc. 

Specific  questions  under  these  headings  will  be  found  on  the  accompanying 
sheets.  In  answering  these  questions,  please  give  details  and  examples.  If, 
Ifor  instance,  you  noted  a  weakening  of  your  powers  of  concentration,  state 
in  what  respect,  in  efforts  to  read,  in  attempting  abstract  thought,  in  practical 
'iffairs  or  in  your  normal  occupation,  or  whatever  it  might  have  been. 

Wherever  possible,  state  when  these  changes  in  your  mental  life  occurred, 
^vhether  in  the  early  or  later  stages  of  imprisonment.  If  you  can  distinguish 
narked  stages  in  such  mental  changes,  please  give  an  account  of  the  order 
'n  which  they  occurred.  Distinguish  also,  when  possible,  between  the  tem- 
>orary  and  the  more  permanent  effects,  and  between  those  occurring  in  prison 
ind  those  noticed  since  your  release. 

If  they  are  easily  accessible,  you  will  probably  find  j^our  prison  letters 
nost  useful  in  reviving  your  past  memories ;  unless,  indeed,  you  were  able 
o  keep  a  diary  or  some  more  intimate  and  uncensored  record. 


1. — Give  a  brief  description  of  your  general  attitude  of  mind  during 
imprisonment,  and  estimate  how  far  this  state  of  mind  was  brought  about 
y  the  pressure  of  prison  conditions.  Did  you  notice  an  increase  of  mental 
ctivity  or  a  tendency  for  your  powers  to  grow  weaker  and  to  atrophy? 

Was  solitary  confinement  conducive  to  profitable  reflection  or  to  any  definite 
liritoal  benefits? 


644  SPECIMENS   OF  EVIDENCE 

2. — What  were  the  effects  of  imprisonment  vjwn  your  intellectual  poiven 
your  powers  of  concentration,  memory,  observation,  etc.  ?  Give,  if  possible 
an  account  of  your  mental  life  in  prison,  the  subjects  of  your  thoughts,  you 
interests,  etc. 

Was  it  possible  to  follow  up  the  intellectual  interests  of  your  life  outsidi 
prison  or  to  form  new  ones? 

Which  of  the  circumstances  of  prison  life  interfere  most  with  reflectioi 
and  intellectual  development,  and  which  are  favourable  to  these  things? 

3. — Can  you  give  an  account  of  your  emotional  condition  in  prison!  Wen 
discomfort  and  pain  (i.e.,  apart  from  any  definite  physical  ailment)  continuous 
or  was  it  easy  to  adapt  yourself  to  the  conditions? 

What  emotions  played  most  part  in  your  life  (e.g.,  bitterness,  sympathy 
with  fellow-prisoners,  anxiety  concerning  relatives,  despair,  longing  for  socia! 
intercourse  and  the  other  advantages  of  freedom,  etc.)? 

Were  your  emotions  heightened  as  compared  with  your  life  outside,  or  did 
you  experience  a  weakening  in  their  intensity  or  even  a  condition  approaching 
to   indifference  or  entire  want  of  feeling? 

A.— What  effects  did  prison  have  upon  the  practical  side  of  your  nature, 
your  will,  and  such  qualities  of  your  character  as  self-reliance,  determination, 
etc.  ? 

Incidentally,  please  mention  in  which  directions  you  had  any  opportunity 
of  exercising  initiative  or  choice  (e.g.,  in  choice  of  labour)?  Please  also 
state   your  occupation    before  your  arrest. 

After  your  release,  did  you  notice  any  loss  of  practical  efficiency  in  your 
daily  pursuits,   any  loss  of  acquired  skill  or  training? 

5. — Can  you  estimate  how  far  any  ivant  of  efficiency  in  your  prison  labour 
was  due — 

(a)  to  the  special  characteristics  of  that  labour  (uninteresting,  tasked, 
unpaid,  quantity  not  quality  aimed  at,  etc.),  and  how  far  (6)  to 
the  pressure  of  the   discipline  and   other  conditions  of  prison  life? 

What  was  your  mental  attitude  to  your  labour,  and  how  far  was  it  deter- 
mined or  affected  by  the  rewards  or  punishments  of  the  system? 

6. — Did  you  notice  any  marked  differences  in  your  mental  and  spirituai 
condition  at  different  periods  of  your  imprisonment  (e.g.,  first  week, 
remainder  of  first  month,  the  following  months  of  your  first  sentence,  etc.)? 

Were  there  any  important  differences  between  the  first,  second,  and 
following  sentences? 

7. — What  was  to  you  personally  the  most  objectionable  feature  of  prison 
life? 

From  what  features   did  you  derive  most  benefit  or  pleasure! 

8. — If  you  have  had  any  opportunity  of  making  observations  upon  and  of  i 
giving  considered  thought  to  the  question,  can  you  say  in  what  especial  | 
respects  the  mental  effects  of  imprisonment  which  you  have  mentioned  would 
be  likely  to  differ  in  the  case  of  typical  non-political  offenders — for  instance  ; 
(or)  the  "accidental  criminal,"  i.e.,  the  first  offender  who  has  yielded  to  a  > 
stress   of   strong  temptation   in   respect   of   some  offence    against  the  person 


THE   MENTAL  EFFECTS  OF  IMPRISONMENT  645 

or  property,  or  (6)  the  habitual  thief  or  burglar,   who  makes  his  living  by 
stealing  and  takes  terms  of  imprisonment  almost  as  a  matter  of  course? 

9. — Give  the  date  of  your  final  release. 

Can  you  summarise  the  mental  effects  of  your  imprisonment,  which  have 
revealed  themselves  since  that  date'!  Have  these  effects,  so  far  as  can  now 
be  judged,   proved  to  be  permanent  or  only  temporary? 

10. — What,  generally,  was  the  condition  of  your  physical  health  during 
your  imprisonment?  Did  you  suffer  from  any  ailment  causing  frequent 
physical  pain  or  discomfort?  If  so,  at  what  period  of  your  imprisonment 
did  this  apoear,  and  was  its  appearance  closely  connected  with  changes  in 
your  mental  powers,  outlook,  or  emotions? 

Did  you  suffer  from  sleeplessness? 

Did   you  experience  any  form  of  nervous  breakdown? 

Please  give  your  age  (in  years)  when  arrested,  and  describe  in  one  or 
two  words  your  general  state  of   health   previously. 

11. — Mention  any  other  relevant  information,  which  you  have  to  give,  not 
included  under  the  foregoing  heads. 


From  the  answers  received  to  the  above  questionnaire  we  select  the 
following  as  a  specimen.  The  witness  quoted,  a  conscientious 
objector,  represents  a  notably  successful  case  of  "adaptation":  — 


ANSWER    BY    A    POLITICAL    PRISONER. 

The  witness  was  arrested  18th  Sept.,  1916.  Aged  19  years.  Entered 
prison,  30th  Sept.,  1916. — Final  release,  8th  April,  1919.  Total  imprisonment, 
30  months  (approx.). 

1st    period  of  imprisonment —  3  months.  1st  month,  solitary  confinement. 

2nd  period  of  imprisonment —  5  months.  1st  month,  solitary  confinement. 

3rd  period  of  imprisonment — 10  months.  1st  month,  solitary  confinement. 

4th  period  of  imprisonment — 12  months.  No  solitary  confinement. 

In  looking  back  over  any  period  in  one's  life  it  is  only  possible  to  divide 
that  period  into  distinct  and  differing  divisions  if  there  occurred  marked 
events  either  on  the  physical  or  spiritual  planes,  which  stand  out  clear  and 
definite  on  the  photographic  plate  of  memory  and  from  the  mile-stones  which 
separate  one  stage  from  the  next.  In  reviewing  my  2|  years'  imprisonment, 
the  monotony  of  which  was  unbroken  by  any  striking  events  (for  my 
occasional  brief  sojourns  in  a  guard-room  differed  little  from  actual  imprison- 
ment), I  therefore  find  myself  unable  to  say  that  during  certain  months 
«uch  and  such  were  my  feelings  and  emotions,  and  in  the  immediately  follow- 
ing months  I  experienced  certain  other  conditions  of  mind,  but  rather  I 
have  a  general,  and,  at  this  distance  of  time,  somewhat  vague  idea  of  my 
feelings  during  the  whole  period. 

I  went  into  prison  young — within  a  few  days  of  my  nineteenth  birthday 
to  be  precise — and  probably  the  two  traits  in  my  character  which  made  them- 
selves at  once  conspicuous  in  my  new  environment  were  obstinacy  and  adapt- 
ftbility ;  the  former  because  I  was  determined  to  remain  in  prison  any  length 
of  time  rather  than  accept  a  compromise,  however  specious,  which  might  be 


646  SPECIMENS  OF  EVIDEXCE 

offered  by  the  Government  as  a  condition  of  release,  and  was  even  disposed 
to  reject  any  offer  of  release,  without  considering  it  :  the  latter  because, 
foreseeing  a  long  period  of  confinement,  I  was  determined  to  make  the  best 
of  it  and  get  through  it  with  as  little  trouble  to  myself  as  possible. 

My  natural  obstinacy  (and  I  have  at  least  my  fair  share  of  that  quality), 
was  increased  rather  than  otherwise  as  the  long  months  slipped  away.  In 
adapting  myself  to  my  surroundings  I  gradually  discovered  that,  half 
consciously  and  half  sub-consciously,  I  was  drifting  (and  perhaps  partly 
forcing  myself)  into  a  condition  of  mental  and  nervous  "hibernation,"  which 
proved  the  best  possible  protection  against  the  mental  and  nervous  strain  of 
prison  conditions.  So,  within  a  year  of  my  first  entering  prison,  I  had  fully 
developed  a  state  of  mind  in  which  I  cared  little  whether  release  came  within 
a  week  or  was  delayed  one  or  even  several  years.  I  had  not  lost  my  love 
and  longing  for  my  home  and  friends,  but  that  love  and  the  thought  of  those 
things  had  been  changed,  had  become  a  sort  of  half-real  dream,  a  pleasant 
memory,  which  the  mind  scarcely  thought  of  as  realisable.  In  other  words, 
the  consciousness  of  unity  between  myself  and  those  outside  prison  had  grown 
very  weak.  My  world  had  shrunk  to  the  measure  of  the  prison  walls ;  I 
had  become,  mentally,  as  well  as  physically,  a  cog  in  the  prison  wheel ;  I 
had  found  my  place  in  the  new  system  of  things  into  which  I  had  been  thrust, 
was  in  a  way  content  with  it,  and  could  have  continued  such  an  existence 
indefinitely  without  experiencing  any  consequent  mental  pain.  Unless  I  be 
differently  constituted  from  the  majority  of  my  fellow  C.O.'s' — a  theory  I 
can  hardly  credit — I  must  conclude  that  it  was  to  some  extent  by  an  effort 
of  the  will  that  I  got  into  the  dead-alive  condition  to  which  I  have  referred, 
for  to  moat  of  them  (i.e.,  my  fellow  C.O.'s)  the  period  of  imprisonment  was 
a  long  agony  (more  or  less  acutely  felt)  during  which  they  hoped  only  for  its 
termination.  There  were  many  to  whom  a  letter  was  scarcely  welcome  if  it 
brought  no  news  of  a  prospect  of  speedy  release ;  to  me  release  was  a  matter 
of  indifference. 

The  prison  work  was  not  to  me  either  a  pleasure  or  a  pain  ;  it  was  a  thing 
done  mechanically,  almost  effortlessly  (from  a  mental  point  of  view)  and  half 
unconsciously.  I  am  speaking  now,  not  of  the  first  three  or  four  months  of 
imprisonment,  during  which  the  work  was  certainly  a  pain  and  a  "task"  in 
the  worst  sense  of  that  word,  but  of  the  subsequent  period.  How  far  this 
state  of  mind  was  due  directly  to  prison  conditions  it  is  difficult  to  say. 
Prison  conditions  determined  the  shape  of  the  mould,  but  my  natural  adapt- 
ability (due  partly  perhaps  to  my  extreme  youth)  fitted  me  more  perfectly  to 
that  mould,  and  that  process  was  aided  by  an  effort  of  the  will,  when  I  had 
realised,  more  or  less  intuitively,  that  to  fit  myself  to  tlie  environment,  to 
accept  the  circumstances  in  which  I  found  myself  and  not  to  kick  against 
the  pricks,  was  the  line  of  least  resistance  and  of  least  pain.  This  process 
continued  throughout  my  imprisonment  so  that  the  second  sentence  was  less 
irksome  than  the  first,  and  the  third  than  the  second,  as  I  got  moulded  more 
and  more  perfectly  to  the  prison  machine,  fell  into  its  routine  and  lost 
consciousness  of  my  individuality  and,  perhaps  it  would  not  be  too  much  to 
say,  of  my  humanity. 

If  any  subsequent  statement  of  mine  may  appear  to  contradict  what  I  have 
said  regarding  my  condition  of  "hibernation"  during  imprisonment,  it  must 
not  be  thought  that  one  or  other  is  therefore  false ;  for  in  the  strange 
vagaries  of  human  psychology  I  believe  it  possible  for  two  apparently  opposite 
states  of  mind  to  co-exist.     And  so  it  happened  that  even  while  my  life  had 

'  i.e.,  Conacientiou*  objectors    to  military  service. 


THE   MESIAL  EFFECTS  OF   IMPBISOXMEXT  6i7 

become  a  mere  mechanical  existence,  I  wrote  more  and  perhaps  better  poetry 
than  I  had  ever  done  before.  While  at  school  I  had  been  of  a  poetical 
temperament  and  occasionally  written  verses,  but  from  about  the  end  of  the 
first  six  months  of  my  imprisonment  onwards,  scarcely  a  month  passed 
without  my  writing  one  or  more  poems  (at  the  most  fertile  period  even  five 
or  six  per  month)  though  they  were  not,  as  a  rule,  of  great  length.  The 
[surreptitious]  circulation  of  a  manuscript  magazine  among  us  C.O.'s  in 
prison  may  have  stimulated  my  efforts  in  this  direction.  I  do  not  know 
whether  it  be  mere  coincidence,  but  it  is  nevertheless  a  fact,  that  during 
the  first  six  months  of  my  imprisonment,  i.e.,  before  I  had  found  my  feet, 
so  to  speak,  and  settled  down  to  prison  life,  I  wrote  no  verse  whatsoever. 
What  may  seem  more  strange  is  that  since  release  I  have  written  practically 
no  verse,  though  this  is  doubtless  in  part  explained  by  preoccupation  with 
other  things. 

I  had  always  been  a  keen  ntudent  and  made  full  use  of  the  books  provided 
by  the  prison  library,  reading  at  first  indifferently  on  all  subjects  according 
to  the  books  I  chanced  to  receive.  My  "strong"  subjects  as  a  boy  were 
English  literature  and  history  and,  with  a  view  to  following  up  the  former, 
I  endeavoured  when  first  imprisoned  to  get  some  of  my  own  books  sent  in 
to  me  for  study,  but  without  success.  At  a  later  period  of  my  imprisonment 
I  made  up  my  mind  to  make  a  special  study  of  history,  and  obtained  what 
few  books  the  prison  library  afforded  relative  to  that  subject.  When,  at  a 
later  date,  the  modifications  of  treatment  were  issued  for  the  benefit  of 
C.O.'s,  I  had  books  sent  in  to  me.  But  by  that  time  (i.e.,  after  18  months' 
imprisonment)  I  found  that  I  could  not  make  such  use  of  this  privilege  as . 
would  have  been  possible  earlier.  My  desire  to  read  was  weak  ;  it  required 
a  tremendous  mental  effort  to  stick  at  any  book  but  the  lightest  novel,  and 
often  when,  by  such  an  effort,  I  had  sat  myself  down  to  do  some  definite 
study,  I  found  myself  reading  mechanically,  following  the  words  with  my 
eyes,  perhaps  even  pronouncing  them  with  my  lips,  but  without  receiving 
^  any  mental  impression  therefrom.  Then  I  realised  that  my  power  of  mental 
concentration  (once  considerable)  was  fast  disappearing,  that  prolonged  study 
was  rapidly  becoming  absolutely  impossible. 

But  not  only  was  the  faculty  of  concentration  impaired  ;  that  of  memory 
was  likewise  enfeebled.  When,  by  a  great  effort  I  had  studied  a  few 
chapters  of  a  book  and  grasped  their  significance,  the  impression  was  but 
temporary,  and  within  a  few  days  I  retained  but  the  vaguest  notion  of  what 
I  had  read.  My  memory  of  pre-prison  experiences  was  as  keen  and  lively 
as  ever  even  with  regard  to  the  things  I  had  undergone  ;  since  arrest  my 
memory  was  faithful,  but  the  power  of  remembering  things  acquired  by 
intellectual  effort  in  prison  was  no  longer  mine. 

The  faculty  of  observation  grew  weak  for  want  of  use.  In  the  world  out- 
side prison,  the  constant  change  of  surroundings,  the  continual  stream  of 
new  faces,  the  ceaseless  changes  in  the  appearance  of  Nature,  quicken  and 
exercise  one's  observation ;  but  in  prison  it  is  otherwise.  The  drab  wall.=< 
and  corridors,  the  white-washed  cell,  the  beautyless  workshop  and  uninspired 
countenances  of  warders  and  prisoners  become  too  familiar  to  be  noticed,  or, 
if  noticed,  repel  everything  in  one  that  yearns  for  beauty  and  variety  and 
sympathy.  There  is  nothing  fresh  to  be  obser\-ed,  so  one  ceases  to  observe, 
and  with  disuse  of  the  faculty  comes  its  gradual  loss.  It  is  only  since 
release  that  I  have  realised  this  to  the  full,  whwi  time  and  again  friends 
have  said  :  "Did  you  notice  this  thing  or  that  person?"  and  I  have  had 
to  reply  in  the  negative.     Even  when  again  free,  I  continued  at  first  to  go 


648  SPECIMENS   OF  EVIDENCE 

about  in  the  same  half-blind  way  in  which  I  had  tramped  round  the  prison 
€xercise-yard  or  marched  from  the  cell  to  the  workshop.  Akin  to  this 
weakening  of  the  power  of  observation  is  the  weakening  of  eyesight,  ex- 
perienced by  myself  and  many  other  prisoners,  for  that,  too,  is,  I  think, 
due,  among  other  causes,  to  more  limited  use  of  one's  eyes. 

Many  have  remarked  that  the  prison  system  has  the  effect  of  making  its 
victims  cunning  and  sharp,  and  the  weakening  of  observation  which  I  have 
mentioned  might  seem  to  contradict  this.  But  that  is  not  really  the  case,  for 
in  my  experience  it  is  rather  by  the  development  of  a  sixth  sense  than  by 
actual  use  of  the  eyes  that  one  ascertains  whether  or  no  the  warder's  attention 
is  distracted  when  wishing  to  communicate  clandestinely  with  a  fellow- 
prisoner. 

People  who  have  never  been  in  prison  have  sometimes  spoken  of  the 
solitary  confinement  afforded  by  it  as  a  splendid  opportunity  to  get  away 
from  the  world  and  the  cares  of  ordinary  life,  from  the  stress  of  competition 
and  the  struggle  for  existence,  and  to  meditate  on  the  great  spiritual  problems 
as  did  the  hermits  of  past  days  in  the  caves  of  the  deserts.  This  is  quite 
a  mistaken  idea.  It  is  almost  impossible  in  prison  to  feel  alone  even  when 
double-locked  in  a  cell.  One  is  always  conscious  that  there  is  a  spy-hole  in 
the  door  through  which  at  any  moment  of  the  day  or  night  a  hostile  and  un- 
sympathetic warder  may  be  observing  one's  most  intimate  movements ;  ready 
to  report  one  for  punishment  for  even  the  most  trivial  thing,  and  especially 
for  not  working ;  and  even  when  one's  actions  are  quite  innocent,  the 
thought  that  one  is  perhaps  being  secretly  watched,  does  not  conduce  to  the 
state  of  mind  best  adapted  for  reflection.  Doubtless  men,  even  under  the 
present  regime,  have  had  great  spiritual  experiences,  but  it  has  been  rather 
in  spite  of  the  hindrances  of  the  system  than  in  consequence  of  the  facilities 
it  affords. 

To  a  sensitive  nature  the  solitary  confinement  of  an  English  prison  has  all 
the  disadvantages  of  physical  confinement  and  separation  from  one's  fellows 
without  the  spiritual  advantage  of  real  solitariness ;  while  to  a  brutalised 
and  hardened  nature,  with  no  intellectual  or  spiritual  reserve  to  fall  back 
upon  and  no  talent  for  beneficial  self-introspection,  it  is  conducive  only  of 
evil,  of  further  hardening  and  brutalisation,  of  the  crushing  out  of  all  that 
is  divine  or  even  human,  i.e.,  love,  sympathy  and  goodwill  towards  one's 
fellows,  and  of  the  engendering  of  hatred  not  so  much  against  the  system 
as  against  those  who  administer  it  and  the  society  which  is  responsible  for 
it.  The  English  prison  system  is  well-calculated  to  turn  its  victims  into 
Ishmaels  ;  but  its  reformative  influences  are  nil. 

The  spiritual  effects  of  imprisonment  vary,  of  course,  with  the  individual  ; 
for  the  ordinary  man  I  believe,  they  scarcely  exist ;  for  sensitive  and  religious 
natures  they  are  sometimes  considerable  though  not  always  beneficial.  During 
the  second  year  of  my  imprisonment  I  passed  through  a  period  of  religious 
doubt  and  difficulty  which  affected  me  considerably  at  the  time,  but  gradually 
passed  away.  "Whether  I  should  have  experienced  it  without  going  to  prison 
it  is  impossible  to  say.  Many  young  men  do  pass  through  such  a  condition. 
Its  direct  permanent  effects  were  very  slight  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to 
observe,  though  indirectly  it  may  have  strengthened  and  deepened  my 
character.  I  entered  prison  accepting  the  ethical  teaching  of  Christ  and  a 
more  or  less  unitarian  theology;  the  doubts  just  mentioned  were  inward 
questionings  as  to  the  all-appHcability  of  Christ's  teaching  of  passive  resist- 
ance, on  which  I  finally  reached  a  fairly  definite  affirmative  conclusion,  and 
speculations  as  to  the  truth  or  otherwise  of  the  theological  teaching  of  the 


THE   MENTAL  EFFECTS  OF   IMPRISONMENT  649 

Christian  Church,  on  which  I  reached  no  conclusion  (or  rather  an  inclination 
to  a  negative  one),  and  which  gradually  ceased  to  trouble  me ;  and  I  left 
prison  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  an  agnostic.  And  there  were  many  other 
C.O.'b  who,  like  myself,  came  out  of  prison  agnostics,  who  had  entered  it 
with  a  definite  belief  in  God.  My  ethical  faith  was  probably,  on  the  whole, 
strengthened  by  my  imprisonment,  but  what  little  religious  faith  I  had, 
disappeared. 

My  emotional  life  (which,  however,  was  very  slightly  developed  at  tha 
time  of  my  arrest)  was,  for  the  time  being,  largely  crushed  by  prison  (or 
perhaps,  "lulled  to  sleep"  would  be  a  better  expression  in  so  far  as  it  was 
but  part  of  the  process  which  I  have  called  "hibernation.")  Of  intense 
personal  emotion  I  experienced  practically  none,  though  I  could  generally 
manage  to  work  up  a  sort  of  unreal  objective  emotion  when  I  wanted  to 
write  a  love-lyric  for  the  prison  magazine.  Concerning  purely  physical 
emotion,  the  effect  of  imprisonment  in  unnaturally  exciting  sexual  instincts, 
leading  often  to  self-abuse,  is  testified  to  by  every  prison  doctor. 

There  were  peculiarities  in  the  position  of  the  CO.  which  differentiated 
him  widely  from  the  ordinary  inmate  of  prisons  and  developed  sides  of  his 
character,  which  in  the  case  of  others,  would  remain  comparatively  unaffected. 
To  take  up  a  definite  stand  against  the  majority  of  one's  fellows,  and  to 
suffer  for  it,  has  great  dangers  for  the  individual  who  does  it.  The  develop- 
ment of  self-righteousness  and  spiritual  pride  were  things  against  which  I 
think  most  C.O.'s  found  the  necessity  of  guarding.  The  less  objectionable 
qualities  of  self-reliance  and  determination  were  certainly  encouraged  by  the 
experience,  but  they  would  have  been  even  had  we  not  gone  to  prison,  so  it 
is  impossible  to  say  how  far  prison  was  responsible  for  the  development  of 
these  characteristics  in  individual  cases.  In  my  own  case  I  know  that  my 
natural  obstinacy  and  blind  adherence  to  a  conviction  once  fully  accepted 
(unfriendly  critics  would  call  it  "pig-headedness")  were  certainly 
strengthened  by  imprisonment. 

My  occupation  in  prison  (in  which  I  had  no  choice)  was  principally  mail-bag 
making  and  repairing,  and  rope  and  twine  making.  The  work  was  fairly 
hard  and  not  over-interesting,  but,  without  wishing  to  take  credit  for  the 
fact,  I  can  say  that  I  did  not  fall  into  the  habit  of  scamping  the  work  to  the 
same  extent  as  many  other  prisoners.  But  the  monotony  of  prison  work  and 
its  industrial  inefficiency  (i.e.,  the  retention  of  antiquated  methods  and 
appliances,  because  they  make  the  work  harder)  tend  to  disgust  even  the 
most  enthusiastic  prisoner  with  it,  and  discourage  interest  and  good  work- 
manship. 

Though,  however,  I  maintained  a  fair  level  of  quality  in  my  work,  I  showed 
no  zeal  to  do  more  than  the  minimum  task  required.  Prison  work  is  given 
and  received  as  a  punishment,  and  it  is  impossible  for  the  prisoner  to  get 
away  from  that  feeling.  Thinking,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  that  he  is  being 
unfairly  punished  (and  this  applies  to  criminals,  so-called,  quite  as  much  as 
to  C.O.'s — a  warder  once  told  me  that  he  had  never  met  a  prisoner  who 
admitted  being  guilty  of  the  offence  of  which  he  was  convicted  !)  he  is  not 
prepared  to  inflict  on  himself  any  more  puni.shment  than  is  necessary.  The 
only  exception  to  this  rule  is  the  case  of  men  (and  I  have  known  several 
such  among  ordinary  prisoners,  but  never  among  C.O.'s)  who  will  do  a 
tremendous  amount  of  work  just  to  kill  time;  especially  would  this  apply 
to  men  who  could  not  read  or  disliked  reading.  In  the  majority  of  cases  a 
prisoner  does  unwillingly  just  suflScient  work  (both  as  regards  quality  and 
quantity)  to  obtain  his  remission  marks  and  avoid  punishment  for  idleness. 

Y2 


650  SPECIMENS  OF  EVIDENCE 

Before  imprisonment,  my  occupation  was  that  of  an  insurance  clerk,  but 
■while  I  was  in  prison  I  became  more  than  ever  convinced  of  the  immorality 
of  the  present  competitive  commercial  system  and  determined  to  take  as 
little  direct  part  in  it  as  possible  after  release.  I  therefore  gave  considerable 
thought  while  in  prison  to  the  question  of  my  future  occupation,  and 
gradually  came  to  the  conclusion  that  I  had  a  vocation  for  school-teaching, 
and  that  occupation  I  have  since  release  not  unsuccessfully  followed. 
Whether,  had  I  returned  to  my  former  occupation  I  should  have  noticed  any 
decreased  efficiency  in  it  due  to  imprisonment,  I  cannot  say ;  but  it  is  certain 
that  my  imprisonment,  or  rather  the  attitude  to  life  which  led  to  my  imprison- 
ment, unfitted  me  morally  to  follow  my  former  occupation. 

Since  my  release  (8th  April,  1919)  I  have  gradually  recovered  from  the 
more  obvious  mental  ill-effects  of  prison,  and,  though  I  have  no  means  of 
making  an  adequate  comparison,  I  imagine  that  I  am  now  about  as  efficient 
ae  before  my  arrest  in  1916.  My  power  of  adapting  myself  to  circumstances 
is  perhaps  increased.  But  there  has  remained  with  me  as  with  most  prisoners 
— and  especially,  I  think,  with  so-called  "criminals" — a  contempt  for  the 
law  and  for  the  opinions  and  moral  code  of  society  which,  though  it  may  be 
a  valuable  asset  to  a  reformer  of  strong  character  and  sound  subjective 
morality,  bears  obvious  dangers  for  the  ordinary  man.  The  spy  system  by 
which  prison  discipline  is  maintained  (to  me  the  most  objectionable  feature 
of  the  system — even  worse  in  its  effects  than  the  silence  rule)  destroys  all 
sense  of  honour  and  individual  responsibility  in  a  prisoner,  inculcates  craft 
and  suspicion  and  under-handedness,  and  after  two-and-a-half  years  in  such 
a  morally  venomous  atmosphere,  I  do  not  claim  to  have  come  through 
unscathed;  still  less  is  the  ordinary  "criminal'  likely  to  remain  uninfluenced 
by  it. 

The  mental  effects  of  imprisonment  which  I  have  described  above,  from 
my  own  experience,  may  be  taken  as  normal  in  so  far  as  they  were  not 
accentuated  or  influenced  by  physical  pain  or  ailment.  Before  imprisonment 
I  had  enjoyed  excellent  health  ;  during  imprisonment  I  continued — though 
pomewhat  weakened  by  confinement,  lack  of  exercise,  and  insufficient  nourish- 
ment— to  remain  fairly  fit ;  and  subsequent  to  release  I  have  regained  all  my 
former  health   and  strength,  with  the  exception  of  weakened   eyesight. 

To  sum  up,  the  general  effect  of  a  period  of  imprisonment  is  to  der-den  one's 
mental  and  intellectual  faculties,  the  permanence  of  the  effect  varying 
according  to  the  length  of  the  imprisonment  and  the  power  of  resistance  to 
its  effects  possessed  by  the  individual.  Its  moral  effects  are  generally  ill  ; 
its  beneficial  spiritual  effects  practically  nil ;  while  in  reiigious  minds  a 
condition  approaching  religious  mania  is  sometimes  excited. 


APPENDIX   II 


SOME    AMERICAN    EXPERIMENTS 

Two  prefatory  remarks  are  called  for.  The  first  is  that  no  paper  oa 
American  experiments  in  penology  is  complete  which  does  not 
describe  what  is  probably  so  far  America's  chief  contribution  to 
penal  reform,  namely,  the  suspended  sentence  and  probation;  but, 
since  we  have  confined  ourselves  in  this  work  to  prison  treatment, 
that  side  of  the  subject  is  not  dealt  with  here.^  The  second  is  that 
this  paper  is  not  intended  to  be  a  description  or  criticism  of  American 
prisons  as  a  whole.  If  it  were,  we  should  have  to  point  out  that 
America  is  in  some  respects  behind  other  civilised  countries,  that 
many  of  her  arrangements  for  the  custody  of  prisoners  are  deplor- 
able, and  that  some  of  the  influenced  and  movements  we  here 
describe  have  not  yet  penetrated  or  extended  very  far.  Our  present 
concern  is  with  particular  experiments  and  proposals  of  especial 
promise.  The  reader  is  asked  to  accept  this  warning  at  the  outset 
and  (not  expecting  a  complete  study  of  American  prisons)  to  be 
content  to  accompany  us  in  the  more  pleasant  and,  we  hope,  profit- 
able quest  of  examples  and  projects  likely  to  be  helpful  to  us  in  the 
British  Isles.  It  is  necessary  to  bear  in  mind,  also,  that  the  experi- 
ments here  described  have,  for  the  most  part,  yet  to  be  tested  by 
time  and  that  they  may  not  always  be  applicable  to  other  countries 
and  circumstances.  Moreover,  we  have  had  chiefly  to  rely,  not 
upon  unbiassed  accounts,  but  upon  the  testimony  of  those  who 
believe  enthusiastically  in  their  success. 

In  North  America  for  some  50  years  past,  and  especially  during 
tlie  last  10  or  15  j'ears,  penal  problems  have  been  subjected  to  an 
amount  of  practical  thought  and  experiment  to  be  found,  we  suppose, 
in  no  other  country  and  at  no  other  time.  This  is  in  great  part 
due  to  what  is  commonly  regarded  as  a  source  of  weakness  in  penal 
matters,  namely,  the  fact  that  the  country  is  divided  into  many 
States,  each  with  a  number  of  different  authorities.  We  find,  con- 
sequently, decentralisation  and  great  variety. 

Among  the  State  administrations  of  "correctional  institutions" 
there  are  three  recognised  types — (1)  the  centralised  system,  where 
the  heads  of  institutions  ^re  appointed  by  the  governor  of  the  State, 
or  by  a  central  authority  (an  official  or  board)  appointed  by  him ;  (2) 

»  B«t  SM  tb*  Note  on  p.  517. 


652  SOME  AMERICAN  EXPERIMENTS 

the  decentralised  system,  where  each  institution  has  its  governing 
board  which  appoints  the  warden  or  superintendent ;  and  (3)  a 
mixture  of  the  two.  As  an  instance  of  this  last  type,  New  York 
may  be  cited,  where  there  is  a  superintendent  of  prisons  over  the 
State  prisons,  but  boards  of  managers  for  the  State  reformatories.' 

Now,  when  one  is  dealing  (in  addition  to  the  federal  system  for 
the  whole  country)  with  48  States,  each  with  its  own  way  of  doing 
things,  it  is  rash  to  generalise;  but  one  impression  gained  is  that, 
whatever  the  system  or  the  theory  of  administration  may  be,  the 
warden  or  superintendent  generally  has  a  free  hand  and  is  looked 
upon  as  a  leader,  not  only  by  his  own  staff,  but  often  by  the  members 
of  his  board  of  managers,  who  regard  him  as  the  expert  who  knows 
his  business,  and  themselves  as  persons  whose  duty  is  to  bring 
common  sense  and  business  principles  to  bear  in  judging  results. 
Not  infrequently  a  head  is  appointed  to  carry  out  a  policy  of  which 
he  (or  she)  is  known  to  be  an  advocate  or  exponent.  He  has  power  to 
appoint  or  dismiss  his  own  subordinates,  sometimes  with  the 
approval  of  his  managers,  sometimes  quite  independently,  with  the 
exception  of  the  physician  and,  here  and  there,  one  or  two  other 
higher  officials.  In  some  places  he  has  to  choose  new  officials  from 
a  Ust  of  successful  candidates  submitted  by  Civil  Service  Com- 
missioners. 

One  great  advantage  arising  out  of  the  decentralisation  and  the 
numerous  authorities  is  that  there  is  no  long  list  of  prison  governors 
and  deputy  governors,  of  prison  doctors  or  chaplains,  waiting  for 
promotion  and  transference  to  a  more  important  prison  and  certain 
to  feel  aggrieved  if  any  outsider  is  brought  in  over  their  heads.  This 
has  two  results  (where  "politics"  are  excluded),  namely,  (1)  that 
a  warden  or  superintendent,  resident  physician  or  chaplain,  may, 
and  often  does,  remain  for  many  years  in  one  prison,  identifying 
himself  with  its  welfare;  and  (2)  that  authorities  may  look  where 
they  like  all  over  the  country  and  appoint  the  best  person  they  can 
find  from  any  field  of  life.  Thus  one  finds  successful  administrators 
who  have  never  been  in  the  prison  service  before.  The  superinten- 
dent and  deputy-superintendent  of  one  famous  women's  reformatory 
which  the  writer  has  visited,"  are  instances  of  this;  they  had  been 
social  workers,  and  the  superintendent  was  a  graduate  of  several 
universities  in  America  and  Europe. 

The  boards  of  control,  parole  boards,  and  the  managers  or  com- 
missioners, are  appointed  by  the  governor  of  the  State  from  among 
the  public — business  men,  social  workers,  etc.     Thus  many  public- 

2  In  North  America,  that  is,  the  United  States  »nd  Canada  (included  in  this  survey),  the 
head  of  a  rrison  is  railed  warden;  that  of  a  reformatory  is  called  superintendent;  and  the 
offici.il  whom  we  call  a  "warder"  is  there  called  a  "guard."  OfRcials,  in  contrast  with 
prisoners  for  "inruatos,"  as  the  prisoners  in  reformatories,  and  ercn  in  other  prisons,  are 
often    called),    are  sometimes   called   "employees"   or,    occasionally,    "citizens." 

*  The  writer  of  this  Appendix  made  an  investigation  of  American  prisons  in  1910.  The 
information  there  gathered  has  been  supplemented  and  brought  up-to-date  by  a  study  of 
the  literature  (reports,  reviews,  and  books)  since  issued.  This  Appendix  has  been  submitted 
to,   and   endorsed  by,   several    leading   American   authorities    on   prison   administration. 


SOME  AM  Eli  WAN  EXPERIMENTS  653" 

spirited  men  and  women  are  brought  into  contact  with  prison 
problems  and  have  opportunities  of  putting  theories  to  the  test  of 
experience.  One  comes  away  from  an  examination  of  the  better 
prisons  and  reformatories  of  North  America  with  an  impression  of 
outstanding  personaUties,  leaders  of  men  and  women,  grappUng  with 
their  problems  with  initiative  and  enterprise.* 

Other  noticeable  features  of  the  North  American  system  are  the 
greater  pubUcity  and  accessibility  of  the  prisons  and  the  extraordinary 
amount  of  public  discussion  of  penal  and  cognate  problems  at  con- 
ferences and  in  reports  and  special  magazines.  The  co-operation  of 
private  societies  is  encouraged;  for  instance,  the  Prison  Association 
of  New  York  is  required  to  inspect  prisons  and  gaols  and  report  to 
the  Stat«  Legislature.  At  the  annual  congress  of  the  American 
Prison  Association,  and  the  National  Conference  of  Social  Work, 
papers  by  experts  are  read  and  discussed.  Here  meet  members  of 
governing  boards,  wardens,  superintendents,  prison  physicians, 
chaplains,  judges,  probation  officers,  professors,  social  workers,  and 
other  interested  members  of  the  public. 

The  result  of  all  this  thought,  discussion,  and  experiment,  is  the 
commencement  of  a  revolution  in  the  treatment  of  criminals.  This 
revolution  is  what  we  have  to  try  to  describe. 

So  far  about  six  phases  may  be  distinguished,  namely:  — 

1.  The  reformatory  movement,  which  opened  its  campaign  in 
1870. 

2.  The  recent  expansion  of  convict  road  camps,  and  the  increase 
of  prison  farms.  (This  might  be  described  as  the  "open- 
air"  movement.) 

3.  The  "honor  system." 

4.  The  so-called  "self-government"  movement.  (As  this  term 
is  apt  to  be  misleading,  we  prefer  to  call  it  "corporate  res- 
ponsibihty  of  prisoners.") 

5.  The  entry  of  science,   especially  medico-psychology. 

6.  The  movement  for  efficient  organisation  of  industry;  still 
largely  in  the  stage  of  discussion  and  recommendations. 

All  these  really  belong  to  one  great  reform  movement,  which  is  a 
progressive  attempt  to  get  away  from  the  tradition  of  punishment, 
and  from  legal  cat-egories  of  crime,  to  the  view  of  criminals  as 
members  of  human  society,  with  a  human  psychology,  but  with 
individual  peculiarities  and  infirmities,  which  call  for  study  and 
suitable  remedial  and  educative  treatment.  EehabiUtation  is  perhaps 
the  one  word  which  sums  up  the  aims  and  aspirations  of  the 
movement. 

*  In  this  connection  even  a  decidedly  weak  point  may  have  its  good  side.  In  some  States 
a  change  of  government  entails  a  change  of  the  entire  personnel  of  the  goTernment 
inatitDtioDS.    This   at  any   rate  brings  more   people  into  contact   with  priion  problems. 


864  SOME  AMERICAN  EXPERIMENTS 

The  Eeformatoby  Movement. 

The  Indeterminate  Sentence. — The  root  principle  of  the  reforma- 
tory movement  being  remedial  treatment  for  the  offender,  the  logical 
corollary  is  an  indeterminate  sentence.  Obviously,  if  you  undertake 
remedial  treatment  you  must  continue  it  till  you  have  achieved  a 
cure,  and  no  longer;  and  you  cannot  say  beforehand  how  long  it  will 
take.  Therefore,  to  the  reformers  the  first  necessity  seemed  to  be 
to  get  rid  of  the  predetermined  or  definite  sentence. 

American  legislatures,  however,  have  not  yet  been  induced  to  enact 
a  fully  indeterminate  sentence.  All  that  could  be  obtained,  in  one 
State  after  another,  was,  what  Z.  E.  Brockway,  the  first  superinten- 
dent of  the  pioneer  reformatory  at  Elmira,  called,  a  "bastard  in- 
determinate sentence,"  a  sentence  with  a  minimum  and  a  maximum 
term.  A  prisoner  must  serve  the  minimum  term,  after  which  he 
may  be  released  on  parole  if  the  paroling  authority  see  fit.  On 
the  expiry  of  the  maximum  term,  whether  in  prison  or  on  parole, 
he  must  be  discharged.  If  released  on  parole  he  may  be  kept  on 
parole  till  the  expiry  of  the  maximum  or  until  such  earlier  time  as 
the  proper  authority  see  fit  to  discharge  him.  This  partial  indeter- 
minateness  is  now  quite  common  in  many  States. 

In  practice  the  minimum  sentence  has  often  come  to  be  regarded 
as  the  real  sentence,  at  the  end  of  which,  if  his  conduct  has  come 
up  to  prison  requirements,  the  prisoner  is  released  on  parole.  Then, 
at  the  end  of  six  months  or  a  year,  if  nothing  is  reported  against 
him,  he  obtains  his  discharge.  The  intentions  of  the  indeterminate 
sentence  are  thus  stultified. 

In  a  few  places  recently  the  minimum  term  has  been  dropped. 
The  New  York  State  refonnatories  for  women,  for  instance,  by  a 
recent  Act  retain  their  maximum  of  three  years,  but  have  no 
minimum.  So,  also,  the  Courts  of  New  York  City,  Buffalo,  and 
Eochester,  have  power  to  give  sentences  to  their  municipal  prisoners 
without  a  minimum.  This  does  not  satisfy  the  advocates  of  an  out- 
and-out  indeterminate  sentence.  Some  prisoners,  they  say,  are  not 
ready  for  parole  before  the  maximum  sentence  has  expired,  and,  if 
kept  in  prison  till  then,  they  lose  the  advantages  of  the  tentative 
release  with  its  supervision  and  support.  "We  have  to  choose 
between  paroling  her  when  we  know  she  is  not  ready  and  having  no 
supervision  over  her  after  her  discharge,"  wrote  Dr.  Katharine 
Bement  Davis,  then  superintendent  of  the  Bedford  women's  reforma- 
tory, in  "The  Survey,"  of  February  18th,  1911. 

A  common  requirement  before  the  prisoner  is  released  on  parole 
in  America  is  that  he  should  have  approved  employment  and  a  good 
home  or  "wholesome  living  conditions"  ready  for  him  to  go  to.  In 
some  reformatories  it  is  preferred  that  he  should  be  employed  at  the 
trade  he  has  practised  in  the  reformatory. 


THE  REFORMATORY  MOV  EM  EXT  655 

The  prisoner  is  released  after  a  parole  board  has  considered  his 
fitness  for  parole.  The  board  is  either  the  managing  board  of  the 
prison  or  a  State  or  Municipal  body.  The  parole  agents  likewise 
either  belong  to  the  prison  or  are  State  or  Municipal  officials.  In 
New  York  City  committing  magistrates  may  sit  with  the  parole 
commission  when  the  cases  of  those  committed  by  them  are  con- 
sidered for  parole,  and  paroles  from  the  city  penitentiary  require 
the  approval  of  the  committing  court  or  judge. 

Opinions  diSer  on  the  question  of  institutional  as  opposed  to  State 
control  of  parole.  The  Hon.  Burdette  G.  Lewis,  no  mean  authority, 
considers  that  to  take  parole  out  of  the  hands  of  institution  (prison) 
officers  lessens  their  responsibility  and  effectiveness.  All  agree  that 
the  co-ordination  of  efforts  in  prison  and  on  parole  is  essential. 

UHnois,  which  claims  a  leading  role  in  this  regard,  has  a  division 
of  pardons  and  paroles,  the  superintendent  of  which,  with  the  assist- 
ant director  of  the  department  of  public  welfare,  the  superintendent 
of  prisons,  and  the  State  criminologist,  form  the  board,  which  visits 
the  prisons  monthly  to  consider  reports  of  the  parole  work  and  to 
consider  the  progress  of  prisoners  and  their  fitness  for  parole.  Each 
State  prison  or  reformatory  has  a  supervisor  of  parole  to  whom 
parole  agents  report  daily  and  monthly.  The  State  is  divided  into 
10  districts  each  having  an  agent  (the  district  which  contains  Chicago 
has  six  agents  and  six  police  sergeants  specially  detailed  to  co-operate 
with  them).  Co-operation  with  the  police  is  a  main  feature,  and  it 
is  reported  that  the  paroled  prisoners  now  recognise  the  police  as 
friendly  and  helpful.  The  prisoner  is  paroled  to  a  "sponsor," 
approved  after  careful  investigation.  The  agents  who  supervise  in 
districts  are  furnished  with  descriptive  cards,  giving  information  from 
the  mental  health  officer  in  the  prison  as  to  peculiarities  of  character 
in  parolees. 

There  is  increasing  resort  to  scientific  aid.  Psychiatrists  and 
psychologists  are  more  and  more  employed  and  consulted  at  the 
beginning,  during  imprisonment,  and  before  paroling  prisoners.  At 
the  New  Jersey  women's  reformatory  the  parole  department  has 
been  from  the  beginning  under  the  psychologist,  who  has  also  had 
charge  of  the  school  work. 

The  writer  found  one  institution,  the  Pennyslvania  industrial 
reformatory,  which  did  not  use  parole  agents.  Here  inmates  were 
required  to  have  an  approved  situation  to  go  to,  and  to  report  monthly 
to  the  reformatoiy  with  their  employer's  endorsement.  Unsatisfac- 
tory behaviour  resulted  in  a  communication  to  the  police  with  a 
photograph  and  warrant  for  arrest.  The  superintendent  claimed  that 
his  returns  showed  fewer  violations  of  parole  and  more  violators 
arrested  than  did  those  of  institutions  which  had  parole  agents. 

In  some  parts  prisoners  are  paroled  to  "best  friends"  or  "first 
friends."  The  services  of  private  societies  and  individuals  are 
welcomed,  but  official  control  is  largely  retained.       The  New  York 


656  SOME  AMERICAN   EXPERIMENTS 

Prison  Association  has  a  department  for  this  service  with  an  employ- 
ment secretary. 

"Where  the  responsible  co-operation  of  ex-prisoners  is  secured,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  Mutual  Welfare  League  (described  below),  they 
have  proved  themselves  capable  of  doing  a  good  deal  to  help  one 
another  after  release.  The  Mutual  Welfare  League  has  an  after- 
care department. 

Factors  of  the  Discipline. — Leaving  the  principal  factor,  namely, 
work,  to  be  considered  later,  let  us  glance  at  some  other  features 
of  reformatory  discipline — not  confined,  however,  to  reformatories 
so  named,  but  to  be  found  in  other  prisons  as  well. 

Schools. — The  original  American  reformatories  have  their  schools 
of  letters,  which  often  claim  the  inmates  for  a  considerable  part  of 
the  day,  and  credit  marks  Are  generally  earned  by  attention  and 
progress  in  the  school.  In  other  prisons  there  are  evening  classes, 
largely  if  not  entirely  voluntary.  Much  use  is  made  of  prisoner 
teachers.  Sometimes  all  the  teachers  in  a  prison  are  prisoners, 
under  the  supervision  of  a  school  superintendent  or  director  or  of 
the  chaplain.  At  Elmira,  in  1910,  the  school  staff  consisted  of  a 
school  superintendent,  three  lecturers  and  35  "inmate"  teachers. 
The  superintendent  taught  the  teachers,  not  the  pupils,  and  planned 
the  outlines  for  the  classes.  In  addition  to  their  regular  school 
classes  there  were  Sunday  school  classes,  lectures,  ethical  classes, 
and  discussions.  A  college  lecturer  came  on  Sundays  and  both 
lectured  and  answered  questions  on  various  subjects. 

At  the  Massachusetts  State  prison,  Charlestown,  there  was  a 
correspondence  school  of  350  or  360  pupils  (out  of  between  800  and 
900  prisoners)  organised  and  managed  by  prisoners  under  a  prisoner 
superintendent,  studying  30  different  subjects.  The  chaplain  told 
the  writer  that  they  had  the  books  necessary  for  passing  a  pupil 
through  the  primary,  grammar,  and  high  school  grades,  up  to  the 
second  year  in  college. 

Books  and  Magazines. — In  many  prisons  the  authorities  are  liberal 
with  books,  and  there  are  fairly  large  libraries.  At  Charlestown, 
in  1910,  they  had  5,000  text  books,  2,000  or  3,000  vocational  books, 
and  between  8,000  and  9,000  circulating  volumes.  They  had 
arrangements  with  the  Boston  public  library  to  supply  annual  cata- 
logues. These  were  marked  by  prisoners,  so  that  they  received  50 
to  80  books  a  month  of  their  own  choosing,  to  be  kept  four  weeks. 
At  Elmira  the  writer  was  given  6,000  as  the  number  of  volumes  in 
the  library,  with  about  500  bound  magazines.  The  catalogues  of 
the  Illinois  State  penitentiary  library  at  Joliet,  dated  1904,  showed  a 
grand  total  of  16,271  volumes,  including  525  magazines  and  343 
reference  books,  with  a  supplementary  catalogue,  dated  1908,  of 
2,697  more  volumes.     The  JoUet  prisoners  numbered  some  1,500. 


THE  BEFORMATOBY  MOVEMENT  57 

At  Charlestown  the  chaplain  selected  the  vocational  books.  For 
men  who  did  not  know  how  to  use  a  catalogue  a  selection  would  be 
made  from  lists  of  new  books  on  various  trades,  and,  in  addition, 
the  chaplain  used  to  secure  men  at  the  head  of  their  calling  to  speak 
to  prisoners  on  their  own  subjects.  Manufacturers  also  sent  trawie 
journals.  The  aim  was  to  return  men  to  the  outside  world  up-to- 
date,  or  even  a  little  ahead  of  others. 

News. — The  modem  American  prison  administrator  does  not 
believe  in  the  vacant  mind.  He  does  not  shut  out  the  news  of  the 
world  from  prison.  At  Elmira  a  big  notice  was  put  up  by  the 
stairs,  where  the  inmates  passed  to  and  from  meals,  giving  items 
of  the  day's  news,  home  and  foreign.  In  another  prison  the  news 
was  posted  in  the  dining  hall  and  furnished  subjects  for  conversation 
at  meals.  In  some  prisons  papers  are  taken  for  the  prisoners. 
Sometimes  they  are  allowed  to  take  in  papers  for  themselves,  or  to 
have  their  home  local  papers  sent  to  them  (but  only  direct  from  the 
publishers,  as  a  precaution  against  improper  enclosures).  For  the 
Charlestown  prisoners  the  State  bought  25  different  monthly 
periodicals  and  10  weeklies — in  some  cases  a  number  of  copies  of 
the  same  paper,  whilst  hundreds  of  periodicals  were  donated.  These 
were  first  circulated  amongst  the  teachers  (all  prisoners);  then  thev 
went  to  the  bandsmen  and  orchestra  and  others  who  wished  for 
them. 

Elmira  reformatory  subscribed  to  seven  morning,  evening  and 
commercial  papers,  three  weeklies,  and  two  Elm.ira  papers.  "Why, 
we  have  from  360  to  370  papers  a  day  at  Jackson,"  the  chairman  of 
the  Board  of  Control  of  the  Michigan  State  prison  is  reported  as 
saying.  "What  chance  has  a  man  got  coming  before  a  parole  board, 
or  coming  out  into  the  world,  if  he  doesn't  know  what's  been  going 
on?" 

Many  prisons  publish  their  own  paper.  Some  27  were  counted 
in  1915  or  thereabouts.  These  are  generally  produced  and  edited 
by  prisoners.  The  writer  came  across  one  which  was  mostly  in  the 
hands  of  the  chaplain.  The  printing  is  done  by  prisoners — a  trade 
at  least  partly  taught.  These  journals,  however,  perhaps  come 
rather  under  the  head  of  recreation. 

Recreation. — This  takes  various  forms.  In  some  reformatories 
there  is  a  good  deal  of  military  drill  as  well  as  physical  culture — 
not,  however,  regarded  as  recreation.  Some  prisoners  have  games 
for  an  hour  and  a  half  in  the  yard  or  other  playground  on  Saturday 
afternoons — or  oftener.  Those  not  playing  sit  or  stroll  about,  and 
talk  or  shout  as  they  please  ("the  more  row  they  make  the  better," 
said  General  Bridges,  the  veteran  warden  of  Charlestown.)  National 
holidays  are  celebrated  with  games  and  sports,  and  probably  a  cinema 
or  other  entertainment.  At  Elmira  the  winners  at  the  sports  had 
a  special  dinner  or  supper.        Entertainments  are  fairly  common, 


658  SOME  AMERICAN  EXPERIMENTS 

sometimes  given  by  the  prisoners,  sometimes  by  the  management 
or  by  outside  people.  The  cinema  is  becoming  a  regular  feature  of 
the  prison  regime.  Sometimes  a  play  is  got  up  with  prisoners  taking 
part,  or  running  the  whole  thing,  or  nearly  so. 

In  America  recreation  is  regarded  as  an  aid  to  discipline  and  health. 
Over  and  over  again  this  is  emphasised  by  prison  experts.  One 
administrator  said  he  considered  it  as  important  as  food.  Mrs. 
Hodder,  superintendent  of  Sherborn  women's  reformatory,  Massa- 
chusetts, told  the  1912  American  Prison  Association  Congress:  — 

My  reasons  for  letting  them  have  games  are  exactly  the  same  as  would 
hold  good  for  people  outside  such  institutions.  "All  work  and  no  play 
makes  Jack  a  dull  boy."  I  think  the  reasons  for  allowing  games  are 
manifold.  It  is  humane  to  do  so.  It  helps  to  let  off  steam.  It  helps  to 
make  them  forget  their  own  sorrows.  It  teaches  them  co-operation  with 
others.  It  teaches  fairness,  and  I  believe  it  is  very  wholesome  to  do  it. 
I  also  do  it  because  I  know  that  I  should  go  almost  mad  if  I  had  to 
sit  in  a  workroom  all  day  long  and  could  not  have  a  minute's  freedom  of 
my  own.  I  let  up  on  the  discipline  because  I  feel  sure  that  if  the  women 
cannot  be  trusted  in  a  wholesome  womanly  way  in  here,  they  cannot  be 
trusted  outside,  and  I  v.  rait  them  to  do  in  the  institution  only  what  is 
necessary  to  keep  dignified  order,  but  I  want  no  humiliating  discipline. 

I  think  the  effect  upon  the  health  of  the  women  has  been  excellent. 
.  .  .  I  think  that  music  as  a  recreation  factor  has  tremendous  value 
in  institutions  of  this  kind.* 

One  writer  points  out  that  the  recreation  of  the  employees  (i.e.,  the 
prison  officials)  is  as  important  as  that  of  the  prisoners  for  the  good 
working  of  a  prison." 

Music. — Prison  bands  and  orchestras  may  be  mentioned  as  part 
of  the  contribution  to  educational  and  recreational  disciphne.  In 
one  or  two  prisons  the  orchestra  plays  regularly  at  meals.  Some 
prisons  allow  prisoners  to  have  their  own  instruments  and  play  them 
in  the  cell.  The  chaplain  of  Charlestown  prison  told  the  writer  that 
there  were  some  300  instruments  in  the  hands  of  prisoners,  "and 
this  does  not  include  harmonicas  and  Jews'  harps."  Good  singers 
from  outside  came  sometimes  to  Sunday  services  and  occasionally 
to  concerts. 

The  report  of  the  Standing  Committee  on  Prison  Discipline  of  the 
American  Prison  Association  for  1914  has  these  words : — 

Music  and  flowers  are  indispensable  to  the  best  government  of  a  prison. 
The  management  that  wants  all  its  money  in  guard  force  and  none  in 
music  and  flowers  has  not  studied  very  profoundly  the  hearts  of  men. 

The  amount  of  devoted  thought  and  energy  put  into  the  work  of 
introducing  and  encouraging  art  and  other  helpful  and  recreative 
agencies  in  some  prisons  is  remarkable.  At  Charlestown  $6,000 
(£1,200)  worth  of  art  work  was  produced  in  the  prison  every  year — 

s  "Proceedings"  ol  the   1912  Congress,  p.   318. 

« Philip  Klein,    "The  Delinquent,"   June,   1915,  p.  11. 


THE  BEFORMATOBY  MOVEMENT  659 

illuminated  cards,  oil  painting,  bone  work,  inlaid  work,  paper  flowers, 
eto.,  etc.     Half  went  in  gifts;  half  was  sold. 

Chaplains. — A  word  should  be  said  on  the  chaplains.  The  writer 
was  much  impressed  by  the  amount  of  useful  work  some  of  them 
did.  We  have  already  told  something  of  the  colossal  educational 
and  recreative  work  done  by  or  under  the  direction  of  the  chaplain 
at  Charlestown  prison.  Another  chaplain  stated  that  he  regarded 
the  prisoners  as  his  parishioners,  and  they  were  so  in  every  respect, 
excepting  that  he  could  not  ask  them  to  dinner  and  they  could  not 
ask  him.  It  seems  to  be  not  unusual  for  the  chaplain  to  have  an 
office  where  prisoners  can  visit  him  for  an  interview,  and  for 
prisoners  to  write  to  him  there  for  advice  or  put  questions  to  him  to 
be  dealt  with  in  class  or  meeting.  This  is  in  addition  to  cell  to  cell 
visiting.     In  at  least  one  women's  prison  the  chaplain  was  a  woman. 

Food. — The  authorities  are  very  particular  about  the  food  in  the 
best  prisons  in  America,  and  responsible  administrators  repeatedly 
emphasise  its  importance.  "I  believe  that  good  food  is  a  pre- 
requisite to  good  disciphne,"  said  one  speaker  at  the  American  Prison 
Association  Congress,  1910.  "It  should  be  good  in  quality, 
abundant  in  quantity,  well-cooked  and  served  with  a  rehsh."  "The 
food  should  be  put  in  a  nice  dish,"  said  another,  "and  there  should 
be  particular  care  in  the  matter  of  cleanliness."  The  prisoners 
assigned  to  the  service  of  food  are,  in  some  prisons,  specially  passed 
by  the  doctor  and  dressed  in  clean  neat  clothes. 

Only  in  one  prison  visited,  if  the  writer  remembers  rightly,  did 
all  the  prisoners  eat  separately  in  their  cells.  In  others,  the  first 
or  first  and  second  grades,  or  all  except  those  undergoing  punish- 
ment, dined  in  the  hall. 

In  Jackson  prison,  Michigan,  every  oflficer  was  required  to  take 
two  meals  a  week  with  the  prisoners,  on  different  days,  to  ensure 
good  food.  More  and  more,  decent  delft  is  being  insisted  on;  knives 
and  forks  are  generally  used. 

Conversation. — In  some  prisons  talking  is  allowed  at  meals,  or  for 
<i  few  minutes  at  the  end  of  work-time,  or  during  recreation  outside. 
Sometimes  talk  at  work,  about  the  work,  is  allowed.  In  other  places 
conversation  is  allowed  at  any  time.  "We  do  not  believe  in  the 
silent  system,"  reported  the  Standing  Committee  on  Prison  Discipline 
in  1914.'  "There  are  times  when  they  (the  prisoners)  can  with 
propriety  converse,  and  for  them  not  to  do  so  is  destructive  of  good 
order  and  good  government."  Dr.  Peyton,  the  former  superin- 
tendent of  the  famous  Indiana  reformatory  at  Jeffersonville,  said  to 
the  1912  Congress:  — 

I  have  been  asked  recently  the  question  :   "Why  are  prisoners  denied 
the  right  of  ordinary,   polite  conversation  within  our  institutions?"     I 

'  "Prooeedinga,  National   Priion  Association,  1914,"   p.  74. 


660  SOME  AMERICAN  EXPERIMENTS 

Siiy  to  you  that  my  answer  was  :  "I  do  not  know."  I  am  personally 
unable  to  answer  that  question  intelligently,  except  to  say  that  I  believe 
that  it  is  a  I'elic  of  the  things  that  have  been  (and  should  now  be  entirely 
done  away  with)  but  which  have  been  handed  down  along  with  other 
things  that  are  mistakes  and  that  are  still  to  be  found  in  the  accepted 
order  of  handling  men  in  our  institutions.* 

General  Bridges,  of  Charlestown,  told  the  writer  that  the  best 
way  to  guard  against  the  prisoners  "talking  schemes"  was  to  give 
them  as  much  freedom  as  practicable.  "Then,  if  they  do  talk 
schemes,"  he  said,  "they  are  likely  to  give  themselves  away.  You 
can't  do  it  by  silence  rules." 

Letters,  Visits,  etc. — The  more  modem  prisons  allow — or 
encourage — frequent  letter  writing.  The  allowance  varies  from 
once  a  month  to  "as  often  as  they  like."  In  at  least  one  prison 
the  inmates  are  allowed  to  use  ordinary  notepaper  to  obviate  the 
reluctance  of  some  to  write  home  or  to  friends  on  piison  paper. 
And  no  prison  stamp  or  mark  is  put  on  these  letters. 

In  some  cases  good  arrangements  are  made  for  visits  of  friends. 
In  one  or  two  reformatories  the  prisoner  and  his  visitor,  or  visitors, 
sit  on  comfortable  chairs  or  benches  in  the  "guard  room,"  a  large 
central  hall,  where  one  or  more  officers  are  always  about,  but  where 
they  can  talk  privately.  The  visit  often  lasts  an  hour,  or  longer  in 
the  case  of  relatives  coming  from  a  distance. 

Dress. — The  Hon.  Burdette  G.  Lewis  writes:  — 

Tattered  clothing,  or  clothing  which  fits  the  prisoner  like  a  gunny 
sack,  should  not  be  tolerated.  Nothing  is  more  likely  to  retard  the 
prisoner's  development.  Human  beings  are  affected  in  a  marked  degree 
by  their  clothing.  This  need  not  be  expensive  in  the  case  of  prisoners, 
but  it  should  fit  the  person  wearing  it,  and  it  should  be  possible  to  keep 
it  in  a  neat  condition." 

Such  considerations  are  observed  in  many  American  prisons  to-day. 
The  ridiculous  stripes  are  gradually  being  abandoned,  and  the  dress 
in  some  institutions  is  quite  smart.  In  some  prisons  each  prisoner 
has  his  own  marked  underclothing. 

Buildings  and  Hygiene. — Some  of  the  worst  and  some  of  the  best 
prison  buildings  are  to  be  found  in  America.  The  outside  cell  system 
(that  is,  cells  built  against  the  outside  wall,  with  doors  facing  inwards) 
is  finding  more  favour,  and  the  windows  are  often  better  than  ours 
(if  we  except  Borstal  institutions.  Camp  Hill,  and  the  new  prison 
near  Edinburgh).  There  is  a  difference  of  opinion  about  sanitary 
arrangements.  With  good  ventilation,  such  as  is  often  found  in 
American  prisons,  it  is  confidently  claimed  that  it  is  better  to  have 
complete  lavatory  fittings  in  the  cell  than  the  bucket  arrangement 

«  "Proceedings,"   1912,  p.  96. 
»  "The  Offender,"   p.   242. 


THE  REFORMATORY  MOVEMENT  661 

with  no  special  ventilation.  Warden  Tynan,  of  Colorado,  advocates 
a  plumbing  system  in  the  cell  block,  on  the  grounds  of  economy.  A 
sanitary  night  bucket,  he  says,  costs  $1.85  annually.  A  drinking 
bucket  would  bring  it  to  $2.25  a  year  for  the  two.  And  bucket  duty, 
he  adds,  consumes  about  40  minutes  a  day." 

The  Westchester  (New  York)  county  reformatory  has  about  the 
most  up-to-date  buildings  of  their  kind.  It  has  outside  cells  with 
"tool  proof"  steel  bars  inside  the  windows.  These  bars  can  be 
painted  a  light  colour.  There  are  no  bars  outside.  The  modem 
prison  architect  sets  store  by  appearances,  and  aims  more  at  educa- 
tional, and  less  at  punitive,  objects  than  formerly. 

A  new  cell  house  was  lately  projected  (and  presumably  is  now 
built)  at  the  Kansas  State  prison  without  doors  to  its  cells.  The 
prisoners,  it  was  said,  were  to  be  free  to  move  about  the  cell  house, 
and  were  to  have  curtains  to  give  them  privacy  in  their  cells  when 
they  wanted  it.  A  feature  of  some  new  or  planned  prison  buildings 
is  a  dormitory  for  six  or  more  prisoners  with  sitting-room  space  and 
a  bath.  At  Guelph,  Ontario,  the  dormitory,  accommodating  about 
20,  has  sitting-room  space  in  a  bay  window,  with  a  wash  room,  a 
lavatory,  and  a  dressing  room  attached.  At  this  reformatory  the 
prisoners  were  to  progress  fi-om  cell  to  dormitory,  and  thence,  we 
believe,  to  a  private  single  room. 

Perhaps  the  best  "cells"  the  v»-riter  saw  were  in  women's  prisons. 
Some  of  those  in  the  Indiana  women's  prison  looked  quite  pleasant 
rooms  with  large  windows,  with  perhaps  a  plant,  and  even  a  canary 
in  the  room.  This  prison  has  a  board  of  trustees  of  four  women,  one 
of  whcMn  told  the  1913  Congress  :  — 

We  try  to  make  it  as  homelike  as  possible.  We  have  no  cells.  Oar 
women  are  in  rooms,  and  ....  we  try  to  make  the  rooms  comfort- 
able and  pleasant." 

The  Bedford  and  Albion  women's  reformatories  of  New  York  State 
are  built  on  the  "cottage  system,"  as  is  Clinton  Farms,  the  New 
Jersey  women's  reformatory.  Some  of  the  newer  penal  farms 
probably  come  near  to  the  cottage  system.  They  often  have  huts 
and  buildings  constructed  more  for  ordinary  living  and  sleeping 
purposes  than  for  safe  custody,  with  windows  and  without  bars  or 
bolts,  light  and  air  being  more  thought  of  than  the  prevention  of 
escapes. 

The  building  solution  and  its  correlaticm  with  the  industrial  solu- 
tion are  fairly  well  summed  up,  for  men,  by  Mr.  James  Govan,  the 
Ontario  architect,  in  the  following  passage  from  an  address  to  the 
National  Committee  on  Prisons  and  Prison  Labour,  in  January, 
1919^':  — 

1*  "The  Delinqnent."  March.   1915.  p.  6. 

"  "Proceedings,"  1913,  p.   289. 

"  "Prison    Construction,"    Leaflet   57,   pp.    19-21. 


662  SOME   AMERICAN   EXPERIMENTS 

To  my  mind  the  solution  of  many  of  the  difficulties  that  we  all  have 
to  contend  with  in  prison  construction  and  financing  is  this  :  To  use 
our  short-term  prisoners  for  clearing  land,  farming,  lumbering,  and 
work  of  that  kind,  housed  in  buildings  of  temporary  character,  which 
can  be  built  far  more  cheaply  than  heretofore.  That  would  only  leave 
the  long-term  men  to  be  dealt  with  in  more  permanent  constructions, 
and  probably  they  could  be  trained  to  make  most  of  the  furnishings 
and  furniture  required  by  the  Government  in  hospitals  for  the  insane, 
epileptics,  feeble-minded,  and  so  on.  Work  of  that  kind  would  not 
conflict  with  Union  labour  on  the  outside,  because  consumption  of  all 
products  would  be  by  wards  of  the  State, 

"Successful  prison  administration,"  he  says  further  on,  "depends 
not  on  buildings  but  on  staff;  therefore  spend  the  money  on  those 
who  produce  the  real  results  in  terms  of  human  reformation." 

Punishments  and  Rewards. — In  America,  as  elsewhere,  less  and 
less  reliance  is  placed  on  punishment  for  maintaining  disciphne  in 
prison.  Flogging  has  largely  been  abandoned — officially,  at  any 
rate.  Deprivation  of  food  seems  to  be  obsolescent.  Many  wardens 
and  superint-endents  rely  much  on  deprivation  of  "privileges."  In 
a  few  cases  of  intractability  or  obstinate  refusal  to  work,  a  prisoner 
is  (or  was  till  lately,  for  nowadays  in  the  best  prisons  the  doctor 
would  be  consulted  about  his  mentality)  confined  either  in  his  own 
cell  or  some  other  special  place  of  detention,  perhaps  on  two  meals 
a  day,  or  even  on  bread  and  water.  The  special  place  of  confinement 
would  not  always  be  a  dark  cell.  The  usual  rule  seems  to  be  that 
the  prisoner  remains  in  this  confinement  till  he  gives  in  and  promises 
to  behave,  w-hen  he  is  released. 

But,  generally,  reliance  is  now  placed  on  other  influences — the 
indeterminate  sentence;  "good  time"  (time  deducted  from  a  definite 
sentence);  promotion  and  "demotion"  in  grades  according  to  marks 
gained  or  lost;  earning  and  losing  of  "privileges,"  such  as  tobacco 
(generally  a  little  smoking  or  chewing  tobacco  is  allowed),  games, 
entertainments,  etc.  The  writer  found  that  at  least  one  or  two 
heads  of  American  prisons  did  not  set  great  store  by  systems  of 
marks.  Yet  that  a  well-devised  credit  system  can  be  made 
to  subserve  real  educational  purposes  seems  to  have  been  shown  by 
Mr.  Calvin  Derrick  at  Westchester,  New  York,  and  in  New  Jersey." 

The  Illinois  Progressive  Merit  System. — This  system  deserves 
special  notice.  The  Hon.  John  L.  Whitman,  superintendent  of 
prisons,  Illinois,  claims  that  entirely  visible  to  the  prisoners,  it 
serves  to  maintain  discipline  and  promote  industry,  as  well  as  to  fit 
the  prisoners  for  successful  careers  in  after  life.  It  provides  that 
they  pass  through  the  following  stages  in  their  preparation  for 
freedom  :  — 

1.  (E). — Confinement  within  the  prison,  and  subjection  to  all  the  prison 
rules,  with  very  little,  if  any  personal  responsibility. 

•'  See  Report  of  the  New  York  State  Prison  Survey   Committee,  pp.  251-3. 


THE  REFOSMATORY  MOVEMENT  663 

2.  (D). — Increasing  opportunity  to  merit  more  confidence  on  the  part 
of  prison  authorities,  by  strict  application  to  industry  and  adherence 
to  prison  regulations. 

3.  (C). — Positions  of  trust  within  the  prison  walls. 

4.  (B). — Life  in  cottages  outside  the  prison  walls ;  but  under  supervisioii 
of  the  prison  officials. 

5.  (A). — Work  on  the  prison  farm,   without  guards. 

6.  Parole. 

7.  Freedom. 

A  prisoner  enters  grade  C,  from  which  he  may  be  "demoted"  to 
D  (forfeiting  five  days  a  month)  and  E  (forfeiting  ten  days),  or 
advanced  to  B  after  three  months  good  progress,  and  to  A  after  at 
least  three  months  good  progress  in  B.  In  B  he  can  gain  five,  and 
in  A  ten,  extra  days  a  month.  He  must  have  three  months  progress 
in  A  before  being  ehgible  for  a  hearing  before  the  Division  of  Pardons 
and  Paroles.  He  is  given  marks  for  hehaviour,  taking  into  considera- 
tion mental  and  physical  capabilities  and  general  attitude  and  honesty 
of  purpose,  and  for  workmanship,  counting  sincerity  of  effort  as  well 
as  amount  and  character  of  work.  The  provisions  are  carried  out  by 
"a  staS"  composed  of  the  warden,  his  assistant,  the  physician,  the 
psychiatrist,  the  psychologist,  and  at  least  two  of  the  subordinate 
prison  ofi&cials  who  are  in  constant  personal  contact  with  the 
prisoners.  "This  staS  meets  daily,  and  their  deliberations  and 
conclusions  are  minutely  recorded  by  a  secretary.  It  considers  new 
cases,  and  interviews  prisoners  at  regular  intervals,  as  progress  or 
lack  of  progress  is  shown.""  The  prisoner,  on  arrival,  is 
"thoroughly  examined  by  the  physician,  psychiatrist,  and  psych- 
ologist, each  of  whom  prepares  a  report  of  his  findings."  With  this 
information  before  it,  the  "staff"  "calls  the  prisoner  into  con- 
ference." The  system  and  what  is  required  of  him  is  care- 
fully explained  to  the  prisoner. 

The  peculiar  architecture  of  the  new  State  penitentiary  at  State- 
ville,  Ilhnois,  is  said  to  be  adapted  to  this  system.  Of  2,193  acres 
of  "State  farm,"  64  acres  are  enclosed  by  a  concrete  wall,  33  feet 
high,  with  no  buildings  close,  so  that  they  can  be  watched  from 
towers  at  the  corners.  The  prisoners'  cells  are  on  the  outside  wall 
with  large  outside  windows,  their  inner  side  being  mostly  glass,  so 
that  they  can  be  seen  into  from  a  central  observation  tower.  With 
regard  to  this  arrangement,  the  architects  say : — 

It  may  be  claimed  that  such  constant  supervisory  control  mar  not  be 
beneficial  to  the  inmates  ;  if  so,  it  can  be  said  that  during  the  year,  or 
more,  that  the  first  unit  has  been  in  operation  at  Stateville  this  objection 
has  never  been  raised  by  an  inmate.  It  can  be  said  also  that  any  inmate 
who  is  detrimentally  affected  by  such  supervision  may  have  his  cell 
front  provided  with  a  curtain,  if,  indeed,  he  is  entitled  to  such  privacy 

1*  "Th»  niinoii  Progressive  Merit   8yst«iD,"   p.   8. 


664  SOME   AMElilCAN   EXPERIMENTS 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  claimed  that  this  plan  provides  for  healthful 
cells,  security  of  confinement,  and  classification  by  means  of  small 
units.  There  are  some  dormitories  for  from  three  to  six  inmates  in 
each.  The  lighting  from  the  roof  is  so  arranged  that  each  cell  can 
have  at  least  two  hours'  direct  sunshine  on  a  sunny  day."  ** 

Wardens'  Experiments. — One  might  fill  many  pages  with  accounts 
of  the  devices  that  wardens  and  superintendents  think  out  and  try. 
One  warden  will  instal  boxes  (of  which  he  keeps  the  key)  into  which 
prisoners  can  drop  letters  to  him,  and  will  grant,  if  necessary, 
absolutely  private  interviews.  Another  sends  a  man  out  to  his 
mother's  funeral  or  to  tend  a  sick  relative  till  the  illness  is  over. 
A  third  meditates  inviting  a  man's  family  to  come  and  stay  with  him 
(as  is  done  in  the  Philippines).  A  fourth  sends  out  a  large  party  of 
prisoners  to  work  in  the  open  on  their  honour  not  to  escape ;  while 
yet  another  invites  his  prisoners  to  form  a  society  of  their  own  and 
manage  it  themselves.  These  things  show,  not  only  the  goodwill 
and  zeal  of  the  wardens,  but  also  their  independence.  They  are  not 
tied  up  with  rules  or  dependent  on  orders  from  a  central  ofl&ce.  The 
fact  is  that  the  heads  of  American  prisons,  though  they  are  not,  as 
here,  called  governors,  do  govern  their  prisons.  Some  mistakes 
occur — even,  perhaps,  an  occasional  scandal — but  progress  is 
achieved. 

Perhaps  the  departure  from  routine  is  most  marked  and  general 
in  the  women's  prisons  directed  by  women  independently.  The 
superintendent  of  one  women's  prison  told  the  writer  that  occasion- 
ally she  took  a  prisoner  out  for  a  stroll  when  she  thought  she  required 
it,  and  let  her  pick  flowers.  Another  said  that  she  sometimes  broke 
the  monotony  by  having  all  the  prisoners  out  in  the  morning.  In 
another,  the  prisoners  are  sometimes  taken  out  in  the  woods  for  a 
walk  and  to  pick  berries.  One  can  hardly  repeat  too  often  that 
discipline  and  progress  in  American  prisons  depend  on  the  personali- 
ties of  the  prison  chiefs. 

Convict   Eoad    Camps    and    Farms.  s 

Formerly  associated  with  chains  and  degradation,  road  work  now 
appears  in  a  new  light.  It  has  joined  the  movement  for  "God's 
own  air  and  sunshine,"  an  expression  used  by  practical  prison 
administrators.  It  is  also  coming  more  and  more  into  the  field 
of  the  "honor  system."  We  find  one  State  after  another,  one 
county  after  another,  taking  it  up,  and  we  read  of  States  with  30 
and  more  camps  of  convict  road  workers.  If  you  were  to  come 
across  an  up-to-date  convict  road  camp  you  would  not  know  it  from 
an  ordinary  workers'  camp,  except,  perhaps,  by  its  extra  tidiness. 
You  would  see  no  one  who  looked  like  a  prisoner.  The  men  are 
generally  "on  their  honor";  they  are  far  from  prison  walls,  some- 
's For   the   Ulinoi*  parole   system,   sea  p.   656. 


CONVICT  ROAD  CAMPS   AND  FARMS  665 

times  a  100  or  more  miles  away,  under,  perhaps,  one  warder  per 
camp,  perhaps  no  warder,  but  just  a  foreman.  One  or  two  camps 
have  been  run  by  prisoners  alone.  Road  camps  cannot  be  praised 
without  exception.  We  are  afraid  some  "honor  camps"  have  not 
much  honour  about  them. 

The  story  of  prison  farms  is  not  unlike  that  of  convict  roads. 
Some  old  convict  plantations  with  their  horrors  still  survive,  as  do 
chain-gangs  for  road  work;  but  in  other  places  the  prison  farm  and 
plantation  are  now  in  the  open-air  movement,  and  to  a  great  extent 
in  the  "honor"  movement.  Penal  farms  are  springing  up  here  and 
there  in  one  State  after  another,  in  one  municipality  or  county  after 
another,  in  the  United  States  and  in  Canada.  In  Indiana  the  State 
farm  for  misdemeanants  (short-sentence  prisoners)  at  Putnamville 
is  putting  the  Local  gaols  out  of  business  for  imprisonment  purposes. 
In  Ontario  the  central  prison  migrated  gradually,  over  several  years, 
from  Toronto  to  Guelph,  where  a  large  plot  of  farm  and  quarry  land 
had  been  taken.  The  writer  was  there  in  the  better  days,  before 
they  had  built  the  substantial  "reformatory"  building.  At  that  time 
there  were  about  170  men  working  in  the  open,  on  the  farm,  in  the 
quarry,  building  a  bridge  over  the  river  which  flowed  through  the 
grounds,  carting,  building,  and  so  on,  with  only  three  unarmed  guards 
over  them,  and  these  working  with  them,  rather  like  foremen  than 
warders.  "We  all  w-ork  here,"  said  the  works  superintendent. 
They  were  housed  in  temporary  buildings,  two  long  dormitories  with 
real  windows,  no  bars,  no  bolts,  no  arms,  and  some,  I  believe,  were 
still  billeted  in  neighbouring  cottages.  In  the  meantime,  other  work 
being  called  for  about  the  province,  camps  were  formed  to  build  a 
hospital  in  one  place  and  clear  bush  and  make  valuable  farming  land 
in  another.  During  the  war  the  solid  buildings  at  Guelph  were 
wanted  for  other  purposes,  and  the  prisoners  were  taken  north  to 
Burwash,  where  they  had  to  cut  out  a  camp  for  themselves.  They 
seem  to  have  done  well,  working  hard  in  the  open,  trusted  and 
knowing  that  they  were  trusted. 

The  writer  saw  the  same  sort  of  thing  at  Warrensville,  where  the 
Cleveland  (Ohio)  city  workhouse  migi-ated,  about  eight  or  nine  miles 
from  the  centre  of  the  city,  and  became  a  "correction  faiTn."  Here 
also  men  were  working  in  the  open,  driving  carts,  doing  various 
jobs,  looking  much  like  ordinary  labourers  under  the  sort  of  super- 
vision, and  want  of  supervision,  that  ordinary  labourers  would  have. 
It  was  not  "do this"  or  "do  that,"  the  superintendent  explained,  but 
"come  along,  Smith,  let's  do  this,"  or  "I'll  start  in  here,  and  you 
go  over  there."     The  officers  had  to  set  the  pace. 

Some  of  these  farms  are  either  self-supporting  or  hope  soon  to  be 
80.  Others  have  no  such  hope.  The  secretary  to  the  Board  of 
Charities,  Washington,  D.C.,  told  the  Prison  Association  Con- 
gress of  1917  that,  of  about  600  men  in  the  workhouse  at  Occoquan, 
"200  can  do  a  fair  day's  work;  200  more  are  'useful' ;  200  more  are 
a  burden.     That  is  about  the  general  average.     If  we  have  to  care 


666  SOME   AMERICAN   EXPERIMENTS 

for  all  of  the  600,  I  do  not  see  exactly  how  the  institution  can  be 
self-supporting;  but  I  am  not  worried  about  it."  " 

The  Superintendent  of  the  Indiana  State  Farm  told  the  same 
Congress  that,  as  against  more  than  a  dollar  a  day  for  gross  main- 
tenance of  a  man  in  gaol,  the  55  cents,  per  man  per  day  allowed 
him  for  the  farm  met  "the  entire  pay  roll,  subsistence,  fuel,  light, 
heat,  medical  services,  clothing,  transportation,  field  and  garden 
seeds,  fertilizers,  common  labor  tools  and  all  other  items  of  main- 
tenance." "  They  had  found  it  practicable,  he  said,  to  do  all  kinds 
of  labour,  both  common  and  skilled,  with  these  short-term  prisoners. 
They  sent  men  to  live  in  camps  and  maintain  the  State  Parks, 
ditching  the  farm  land  of  a  hospital  for  insane  more  than  100  miles 
away,  and  to  a  railroad  camp  to  make  railway  switches  for  State 
coal  mines.  These  men  were  said  to  do  more  work  than  ordinary 
men  employed  on  a  railway  switch  nearby. 

The  superintendent  of  the  Municipal  Farm  of  Kansas  City  gave 
the  same  Congress  a  very  roseate  account  of  the  work  his  prisoners 
were  doing,  and  of  the  "very  noticeable  transformation  from  filth 
and  unkempt  duds  to  their  gentlemanly  dress  when  they  leave. 
There  is  a  like  change  in  their  countenance  and  their  character  as 
well.""  They  expected  to  be  self-supporting  when  their  plans  for 
the  "manufacture  of  commercial  products"  were  complete.  They 
seem  to  get  excellent  work  of  various  kinds  out  of  prisoners  who  "a 
few  days  previously  were  loafing  about  the  streets  of  Kansas  City, 
begging,  carousing,  stealing." 

It  ifl  true  that  they  are  not  with  us  long  enough  to  become  proficient 
in  any  trade,  but  this  fact  does  not  show  in  the  character  of  work  they 
perform  at  the  Farm,  and  they  at  least  receive  the  notion  that  they  can 
be  producers  instead  of  parasites.  It  is  not  unusual  for  a  man  to 
continue  in  the  same  craft  after  he  gets  back  into  free  life." 

A  cripple,  who  had  been  begging  his  living,  went  to  the  general 
superintendent  and  asked  him  to  find  him  a  place  where  he  could - 
learn  a  trade  by  which  to  earn  a  living,  without  being  on  his  feet.  He 
was  advised  to  go  to  the  Farm,  and  there  learned  shoemaking. 
Another  man  learned  blacksmithing  at  the  Farm,  started  a  shop  of 
his  own,  and  wrote  to  the  Board  of  Public  Welfare  that,  if  they  had 
a  man  who  had  worked  under  the  foreman  at  the  Farm,  he  would 
give  him  a  place  in  his  shop,  for  he  knew  he  would  know  his 
business. 

The  claims  generally  made  for  this  kind  of  short  sentence  are  well 
summed  up  in  the  following  extracts  from  an  interview  with  Mr. 
Charles  E.  Talkington,  Superintendent  of  the  Indiana  State  Farm: 

>•  "Prison   Congress  Proceedinga,"   1917,  p.    129. 
1'  Ibid,  p.   116. 
"  Ibid,  p.  127-8. 
>•  Ibid,  p.  125. 


CONVICT  ROAD  CAMPS  AND  FARMS  667 

We  get  the  alcohol  out  of  their  syatema,  give  them  all  they  can  eat, 
make  them  keep  regular  hours  and  do  a  man's  work,  and  the  good  in 
them  has  a  chance  to  show  itself. 

We  do  not  say  our  plan  is  perfect,  nor  do  we  make  any  great  claims 
about  oUr  ability  to  reform  a  man  during  the  short  time  he  is  here. 
But  we  do  say  this  is  the  best  manner  yet  devised  for  handling  them. 
We  take  a  man  from  the  gutter  and  at  least  make  it  possible  for  him 
to  improve.  We  give  him  health  and  direction  enough  to  get  him  into 
some  employment  at  which  he  can  earn  his  living.  Although  we  refuse 
to  put  forth  any  claims  about  how  much  good  we  do  for  the  man,  we 
at  least  know  that  we  do  not  injure  him.  And  that  is  more  than  can 
be  said  for  any  jail  or  prison.  We  aren't  running  any  school  for 
crime  here.  We  do  know  that.  We  also  know  that  we  can  make  this 
institution  self-supporting  and  a  meana  of  revenue  for  the  State.  What 
more  can  you  ask?  '* 

Here  also  the  "guards"  are  working  foremen —  none  standing  idle. 
Some  of  the  prisoners  lived  on  the  lower  end  of  the  farm  working 
under  a  prisoner-foreman.  Of  these  the  superintendent  said :  ' '  We 
see  them  only  when  we  are  making  the  weekly  round  of  inspection. " 

Farm  work,  reclaiming  land,  putting  men  on  their  honour,  have 
been  in  practice  with  short-sentence  prisoners  for  a  good  many  years. 
They  are  now  increasingly  being  appUed  to  other  prisoners.  Several 
States  have  been  buying  large  areas  of  land  for  prison  purposes. 
Pennsylvania  has,  within  the  last  few  years,  acquired  5,250  acres 
at  Bellefonte  for  its  Western  Penitentiary,  and  apparently  means  to 
move  the  famous  Eastern  Penitentiary  there  also.  In  Louisiana 
the  Angola  Plantation  alone  has  6.000  acres."  In  1917  there  were 
3.125  acres  reported  under  cultivation  in  connection  with  the  penal 
system  of  this  State."  Of  a  prison  population  of  1,900  in  that 
year,  about  a  third  were  constructing  levees  on  the  Mississippi,  and 
the  other  two-thirds  were  doing  farm  work,  largely  on  sugar  planta- 
tions. In  the  same  year  the  Texas  State  Penitentiary  system,  said 
to  be  the  largest  cotton  growing  concern  in  the  world,  had  35,000 
acres  planted  in  cotton,  and  altogether  65,000  acres  in  cultivation, 
keeping  nearly  3,000  prisoners  employed  on  its  different  farms.** 
This  penitentiary  svstem  was  declared  to  be  self-supporting  for  the 
first  time  in  1917."' 

The  State  of  Florida  has  a  prison  farm  of  about  15,000  acres, 
with  some  500  prisoners  and  "only  eight  employees."  All  the 
guards  have  been  dispensed  with  except  three,  two  night  guards  and 
one  day  guard;  and  the  last  is  the  gate-keeper.  The  Mississippi 
Penitentiary  was  reported  a  few  years  ago  to  employ  12,000  men  on 
16,000  acres,  raising  cotton  and  fodder  crops.  An  area  of  about 
1,000  acres  of  land  is  used  by  the  Great  Meadow  Prison,  Comstock, 

-•  "Th»   Delinqaent,"    March.    1917.    pp.    10-12. 

"  "The  Delinquent,"    June,    1917.   p.    13. 

"  njid.  October.  1917,  pp.  11-12. 

»»  Ibid.  p.  15. 

••  "The  DeUaqnent."  January,  1918.  p.  26. 


668  SOME  AMERICAN  EXPERIMENTS 

largely  for  open-air  work,  under  comparatively  free  conditions  for 
the  more  reliable  prisoners. 

Thus  while  open-air  work  with  approximation  to  free  conditions 
is  established  as  especially  suitable  to  short-sentence  prisoners,  the 
same  methods  are  also  being  successfully  applied  to  long-sentence 
prisoners.  But  for  the  latter  the  provision  of  a  great  variety  of 
occupations,  with  facilities  for  thorough  training  and  practice,  is 
necessary. 

The    "Honor    System." 

Many  and  various  are  the  practices  that  come  under  this  heading ; 
but  all  that  are  included  under  the  name  have  this  in  common,  that 
the  warden  or  other  responsible  official  trusts  a  prisoner  with  such 
liberty  that,  if  the  prisoner  took  advantage  of  it  and  escaped,  the 
official  would  fail  in  his  custodial  duty.  The  official,  that  is,  risks 
his  reputation  and  duty  to  the  public  in  trusting  to  the  prisoner's 
loyalty  or  honour.  In  some  cases  the  prisoner  pledges  his  word, 
orally,  or  in  writing;  in  others  there  is  a  tacit  understanding. 

The   percentage  of  failure — that  is,   of  misplaced  confidence — is 
small.        The  Americans   are  not  greatly    concerned   about   a  feW; 
escapes,   which  seem   to  occur  anyhow,   "honor"  or  no  "honor."! 
(Indeed,  some  comparisons  show  a  much  higher  percentage  of  escapes  ■ 
of  escorted  and  watched  prisoners  than  of  trusted  ones).     In  one 
prison  where  they  began  "honor"  experiments  on  a  large  scale,  those 
responsible  for  them  expected  20  per  cent,  of  escapes.     The  actual 
escapes  were  very  much  less ;  but  the  confessed  expectation  shows 
what  responsible  American  officials  will  risk  in  the  hope  of  gaining 
an  educational  result.     "Our  method  may  not  entirely  eliminate  the 
occasional  escape  of  the   individual  prisoner,"  said  Mr.   Richards, 
the  architect  of  the  new  Ohio  Penitentiary,  "but  it  has  not  been  our 
feehng  that  the  occasional  escape  of  an  individual  prisoner  was  a 
matter  of  serious  moment."" 

"The  warden  is  doing  great  work,  and  the  boys  out  here  appreciate 
it,"  said  a  "lifer,"  one  of  some  80  prisoners  working  on'  the!'- 
honour  from  a  large  State  prison;  "nobo<ly  is  going  to  run  awa; 
and  we're  going  to  make  this  farm  go."  "No  surveillance,  anu 
better  work  than  we  could  get  if  we  had  hired  labour,"  was  the 
warden's  judgment. °° 

Warder  Tynan,  of  the  Colorado  State  Penitentiary,  who  has  put 
hundreds  of  prisoners  on  their  "honor"  on  road  work  and  thereby 
built  many  miles  of  road,   says:  — 

The  convict's  word  of  honor,  when  given,  is  just  as  reliable  and  just 
as  binding  as  that  of  his  brother  in  freedom.  It  is  simply  a  matter  of 
adjusting  conditions  to  meet  the  man,  not  the  Quixotic  idea  of  adjusting 
the  man  to  meet  conditions.^' 

**  "Prison  Construction,"  p.   31. 

2«  "The  Delinquent,"  July,    1915,   p.  11. 

2'  Article,   "The   Convict's   Word  of  Honor,"   in   "The   Review,"    May,   1912. 


THE   "HONOR  SYSTEM"  669 

"These  camps,"  he  writes,  "are  hundreds  of  miles  from  the 
prison ;  they  are  in  charge  of  trained  and  competent  overseers ;  not 
a  gun  guard;  no  sign  of  prison  life;  well  housed,  well  clothed  and 
well  fed."  He  asks  what  it  is  that  prevents  these  men  from 
escaping,  and  answers  :  — 

Nothing  but  the  word  of  honor  they  pledged  to  the  writer,  and  their 
own  innate  sense  of  loyalty,  which  is  in  itself  the  greatest  step  toward 
genuine   reformation  possible. 

At  the  Ohio  Reformatory,  Mansfield,  the  writer  stood  one  evening 
and  watched  little  groups  of  "honor"  men  coming  in  from  farm 
work  outside,  and  Dr.  Leonard,  for  so  long  superintendent,  told  him 
how  it  came  about.  He  had  an  "Ethical  Society"  of  inmates,  which 
met  weekly  for  discussions  on  ethical  and  other  subjects.  To  this 
gathering  he  put  the  question  whether  he,  as  responsible  to  the  State 
for  the  safe  custody  of  inmates,  would  be  justified  in  taking  an 
irmiate's  word  that  he  would  not  run  away  if  he  trusted  him  to  work 
outside  on  his  honor.  The  "Ethical  Society"  debated  the  subject 
and  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  he  would  be  justified.  So  Dr. 
Leonard  started  a  system  by  which  he  and  the  inmate  so  trusted 
both  signed  a  bond.  He  told  the  members  of  the  International 
Prison  Congress  in  1910  that  he  had  trusted  1,500  men  and  nine 
had  failed  him." 

Moral  and  educational  motives  were  not  always  uppermost  at  the 
inception  of  "honor  systems."  Economy  sometimes  had  a  good 
deal  to  do  v^^ith  it.  A  young  State  like  New  Mexico,  for  instance, 
wanting  to  ease  its  over-crowded  prison  and  put  its  convicts  to  build 
roads,  set  them  to  work  on  their  "honor"  to  save  the  expense  of 
extra  staff.  The  superintendent  of  Clinton  Farms  explains  in  her 
1915  report  that,  though  she  had  always  believed  in  "honor" 
methods,  she  had  been  compelled  by  circumstances  into  much  more 
of  it  than  she  had  imagined  could  be  safely  resorted  to.  The  neces- 
sities involved  in  practical  management  of  farm  and  other  departments 
had  forced  the  pace. 

Economy,  probably,  accounts  for  the  fact  that  for  many  years  it 
has  been  quite  common  in  some  States  for  short-term  prisoners  to 
work  in  the  open,  reclaiming  land,  farming,  etc.,  more  or  less  "on 
their  honor."  Lately  it  has  become  more  and  more  common  for 
all  kinds  of  prisoners,  up  to  "lifers,"  to  be  put  "on  their  honor." 

*s  Or  take  this  from  an  article  in  the  "Houston  Chronicle,"  Texas.  January  4th,  1918, 
on  the  Chicago  House  of  Correction: — "Superintendent  Whitman  has  succeeded  in  mating 
men  and  money  for  the  city.  Working  with  a  short-term,  unskilled,  and  in  most  cases 
deficient  prisoner,  heretofore  considered  a  hopeless  proposition  by  those  who  profess  to 
Jmow  the  prison  field,  he  has  proved  that  the  man's  interest  can  be  aroused  and  his  loyalty 
secured.  Prisoners  work  outside  the  walls  without  cuards;  they  go  into  remote  parts  of 
the  city  with  motor  trucks  to  wreck  buildings  or  to  haul  in  waste  mate-ial.  In  attempting 
to  conserre  the  waste  of  the  city  the  superintendent  has  paid  as  much  attention  to  the 
men  as  he  has  to  the  material.  The  prisoners'  relief  fund  pays  the  salaries  of  the  social 
workers,  who  assist  men  upon  discharge.  Mr.  Whitman  is  preventing  wastage  in  human 
life  through  the  profits  on  the  waste  of  the  community."  Here  the  "honor"  was  probably 
based  as  much  upon  the  interest  of  the  work  and  general  tone  and  business-like  methods 
as  on  any  explicit  pledge  between  the  superintendent  and  the  prisoners.  There  was  no 
explicit  pledge. 


670  SOME  AMERICAN  EXPERIMENTS 

We  have  already  seen  some  of  this  under  the  heading  of  roads  and 
farms.  In  Iowa,  in  1915,  there  were  about  100  prisoners  in  five 
prison  camps  under  one  unarmed  foreman  for  each  camp,  the 
prisoners  wearing  plain  clothes.  There  were  also,  besides  other 
special  jobs,  three  farms,  half  of  whose  men  remained  on  the  farm, 
the  others  returning  each  day  to  the  prison :  altogether  some  250  out 
of  673  prisoners,  coming  and  going  and  working  more  or  less  "on 
their  honor,"  and  able  to  escape  if  they  desired."  The  entire  work 
of  the  farm  and  dairy  of  a  State  Institution  in  Ohio  was  carried  on 
by  19  life  prisoners  "without  a  guard."  On  the  farm  of  the 
Michigan  State  Prison  they  had  600  men  without  a  guard. 

In  the  summer  of  1914  the  warden  of  Wisconsin  State  Prison 
reported  that  the  "honor  system"  had  operated  there  for  about  two 
and  a  half  years  without  an  attempt  at  escape  or  serious  infraction 
of  rules.  On  April  1,  1912,  they  had  given  up  having  guards  on 
their  prison  farm,  "leaving  only  a  general  superintendent  in  charge 
of  the  work,  who  was  not  made  responsible  for  the  men  in  the  sense 
of  being  a  guard."  They  had  obtained  better  service,  and,  out  of 
more  than  300  men  trusted,  only  one,  it  was  reported,  had  returned 
to  this  prison  for  a  second  sentence  "or  in  any  other  way  become  a 
burden  to  society."  The  men  left  the  building  at  5  a.m.  and 
returned  at  7  or  8  p.m.  unattended.  At  the  time  of  the  report,  they 
had  77  men  in  camps  at  various  works,  roads,  buildings,  etc.,  who 
did  not  return  to  the  prison  at  night,  their  work  being  supervised  by 
a  superintendent  and  assistant  superintendent,  like  any  other  work. 
"It  is  conceded  by  all,"  said  the  warden,  "that  our  camps  surpass 
the  average  construction  camp  in  efficiency,  co-operation,  moral 
conditions,  sanitation,  and  general  good  fellowship  among  the 
men."  " 

Many  other  ways  are  tried  of  putting  prisoners  "on  their  honor." 
New  experiments  are  constantly  being  reported.  They  are  feeling 
their  way,  as  one  warden  put  it.  There  is  the  well-known  story  of 
Governor  West,  of  Oregon,  who  telephoned  to  the  State  Prison  for 
a  certain  prisoner  to  be  sent  to  him  unattended.  He  commissioned 
the  prisoner,  who  was  on  a  life  sentence,  to  go  about  selecting 
machinery  for  a  prison  industry. 

Not  an  uncommon  practice,  which  has  been  going  on  here  and 
there  for  years,  is  what  is  sometimes  called  "temporary  parole." 
Prisoners  are  allowed  to  go  home  to  attend  funerals  or  to  see  sick 
relatives.  In  several  places  they  are  sent  home  for  Christmas 
holidays.  In  one  State  they  were  each  given  a  cheque  for  $10 
(£2)  to  take  with  them  as  Christmas  gifts  for  their  families.  Sheriff 
Tra.cy,  of  Montpelier,  Vermont,  wrote  that  whenever  a  member  of 
a  prisoner's  family  was  seriously  ill,  the  prisoner  was  allowed  to 
go  home  and  stay  till  the  crisis  bad  passed;  and  not  one  had  ever 

*»  "The  Delinquent,"  June,   1915. 

•o  "The  Delinquent,"  March,  1915,   p.  7. 


II 


CORPORATE  RESPOXSIBILJTY  OF  PRISONERS  671 

broken  faith.  Dr.  Hastings  H.  Hart,  in  his  Report  on  "Social 
Problems  of  Alabama,""  says,  that  "well-behaved  and  deserving 
convicts  are  there  allowed  to  go  to  their  homes  in  order  to  attend 
a  funeral  or  to  visit  a  sick  friend,  or  to  assist  in  farm  work.  The 
•suits  of  this  plan  have  been  amazing."  It  had  been  reported 
.t  "out  of  585  temporary  paroles,  only  five  violated  their 
,  roles  and  failed  to  return,"  and  that  "when  a  man  returns  from  a 
temporary  parole  he  comes  back  Uke  a  new  man  and  makes  a 
*    :ter  prisoner." 

One  of  the  latest  forms  of  "honor  system"  was  reported  from 
Oklahama  State  Penitentiary,  where  some  of  the  prisoners  were 
bving  allowed  "to  go  down  town"  on  Saturday   evenings.     They 

jht  walk  in  the  street,  go  shopping  or  to  theatres  or  "movies," 
:  ..:  not  to  pool  i-ooms,  dance  halls  or  questionable  resorts. 

Speaking  generally,  the  "honor  system"  depends  primarily  on  a 
personal  relation  between   the  warden  or  superintendent  and    the 
individual  prisoner  whom  he  trusts.       But  the  bond  is  not  always 
"y  between  warden  and  individual  prisoner,  at  any  rate  where  a 
:nber  are  trusted  together.     In  such  cases  they  are  often  actuated 
by  loyalty  to  one  another  and  by  fear  of  discrediting  the  "plan" ;  as, 
for  instance,   in  the  case  of  the  prisoner  already  quoted,  who  ex- 
claimed,  "we're  going  to  make  this  farm  go."     During  the  war, 
"2  prisoners  were  working  on  what  is  called  "industrial  parole" — 
t  is,  they  wej-e  released  "on  their  honor"  to  do  war  work — in 
•k  Island.     One   of  them,  a  man  who  appears   to  have  had  a 
story"  of  mental  defect,  committed  a  larceny.     The  others  passed 
hat  round  amongst  themselves  and  raised  the  money  to  refund 
amount  stolen. 

In  large  prisons,  only  prisoners  selected  by  the  warden  or  super- 
ndent  are  put  on  their  honour,  and  it  seems  that  the  wardens  who 
-•rise  this  system  think  they  can  apply  it  to  somewhere  about 
:  of  their  prisoners.  In  farms,  camps,  and  gangs  they  are  often 
trusted  together.  Generally,  no  doubt,  these  are  selected  groups. 
•  not  always.  In  such  cases  we  border  upon  a  system  of  "self- 
-   ernment"  or  collective  responsibility. 

Corporate    Responsibility    of    Prisokers. 

Warden  Tynan  has  been  quoted  as  claiming  that  the  loyalty 
ked  by  the  "honor  system"  is  "the  greatest  step  toward 
,..:iuine  reformation  possible."  We  now  have  to  consider  what  is 
laimed  to  be  a  much  greater  step.  It  is  based  on  the  innate  sense 
•f  loyalty,  not  to  one  man  as  a  quid  -pro  quo,  but  of  prisoners  to  one 
nother.  We  have  seen  that  the  "honor  system"  can  evoke  this 
oyalty  when  extended  to  a   number  of  prisoners.     But  the  move- 

'Jp.  cit.  pp.   67-8. 

'.n    this    connection     it    may    be    noted    that    a    New    York   8tat«    law    now    permit?    a 
ner,  accompanied  by  a  warder,  to  attend  a  funeral  or  visit  a  relative  who  is  serionsly  ill. 


672  SOME  AMERICAN  EXPERIMENTS 

ment  now  under  consideration  takes  "honor  among  thieves"  as  its 
starting-off  point,  and  expands  it  to  loyalty  to  all  the  prisoners  in  the 
prison,  with  the  hope  of  its  growing  eventually  into  the  kind  of 
fellowship  which  includes  the  whole  of  society  and  knows  no  limit 
to  its  growth. 

"Self-government"  is  the  name  usually  given  to  this  movement, 
or  method ;  but,  as  has  been  pointed  out  by  Mr.  Mott  Osborne,  the 
word  is  apt  to  mislead.  Also,  it  lends  itself  to  some  confusion  of 
thought.  It  may  be  used  to  mean  individual  self-control;  some 
people  appear  to  think  it  means  control  of  others  by  anyone  who 
contrives  to  induce  them  to  put  him  into  a  position  to  exercise  such 
control;  while  others,  again,  seem  almost  to  think  that  self-govern- 
ment consists  in  electing  delegates  and  ofi&cials. 

To  speak  of  self-government  by  prisoners,  is  actually  a  contradiction 
in  terms.  Prisoners  are  prisoners,  however  the  pill  may  be  gilded. 
They  are  ultimately  under  the  control  of  their  gaolers.  So  that, 
however  much  freedom  or  self-control  may  be  granted  to  them,  it  is 
always  something  that  is  granted,  and  may  be  taken  away  again.  In 
a  sense  it  might  even  be  said  that  there  is  more  self-government  in 
the  secret  life  of  the  prison  fellowship  carried  on  in  defiance  of  rules 
and  officials  in  the  old-fashioned  prison,  than  in  the  open,  but 
officially  limited,  "self-government"  of  the  most  modern  prison. 

We  do  not  hope  entirely  to  dispense  with  the  term  self-government, 
which  is,  after  all,  a  convenient  one;  but,  being  anxious  to  avoid, 
as  far  as  may  be,  the  misunderstanding  and  confusion  connected 
with  the  word,  we  have  ventured  to  adopt  the  phrase  "corporate 
responsibility  of  prisoners."  This  seems  to  us  more  clearly  to  in- 
dicate the  nature  of  this  method,  which  places  a  certain  amount  of 
responsibility  on  the  prisoners  as  a  body,  and  induces  them  to  co- 
operate with  the  authorities  out  of  loyalty  to  one  another. 

The  father  of  the  movement  (perhaps  one  should  say  grandfather, 
or  even  patriarch)  is  "Daddy"  George,  the  inventor  and  founder  of 
the  Junior  Eepublic.     The  story  of  that  founding  with  some  of  the 
results  is  recorded  by  Mr.  George  in  "The  Junior  Republic,"  and  by 
Lyman    Beecher     Stowe,     with    Mr.    George's    collaboration,     in 
"Citizens  Made  and  Eemade. "    Add  Mr.  T.  Mott  Osborne's  "Within  ; 
Prison  Walls"  (1915)  and  "Society   and  Prisons"   (1916),  and  youj 
have  the  classics  of  this  movement  in  four  of  the  most  interesting ' 
books  you  could  read." 

The  two  main  principles  of  Mr.  George's  scheme  are  self-suppon 
("nothing  without  labour"  is  the  Junior  Eepublic  motto)  and  self-j 
government.  His  Republic  is  a  sort  of  model  village,  whose  citizens, 
are  aged  15  (now  16,  we  beheve,)  to  21,  with  an  administrative  super- 
structure  modelled  after  the  American  State  and  National  Govern- 

33  Further  useful  informaticn  is  to  be  found  in  "The  Prison  and  The  Prisoner,"  < 
by  Julia  K.  .Taffray,  "Prison  Reform,"  compiled  by  Corinne  Bacon,  "Punishment 
Reformation,"   by    H.   Wines   and   W.    D.    Lane,   and  numerous  pamphlets  and  articles. 


CORPORATE  RESPONSIBILITY  OF  PRISONERS  673 

niont — with    a    president    and    vice-president,     cabinet    ministers, 
!ges,  courts  and  prison.     At  one  time  they  had  two  Houses  of 
.  trliament,  but  soon  gave  them  up  and  contented  themselves  with 
a  Town  Meeting  for  legislative  purposes. 

It  was  not  long  before  Mr.  George  began  to  think  of  applying  the 

:Tie  principles  to    adult    criminals,    and    in   "Citizens    Made  and 

made"  we  find  a  proposal  for  the  enclosing  of  a  large  area  of  land 

ere  convicts  should  be  allowed  to  carry  on  business  and  manage 

ir  affairs  in  their  own  way.     No  inmate   was  to  be  allowed  to 

:e  any  money  with  him  into  this  enclosure,  but  each  man  must  pay 

-  way  by  his  own  earnings.     There  were  to  be  one  or  more  interior 

e;j closures  to  which  offenders  against  the  convicts'  own  law  could  be 

committed  by  their  own  court. 

In  1914,  or  thereabouts,  Mr.  George  started  a  venture  of  this  kind, 
which  he  calls  a  "Social  Sanitarium,"  on  the  grounds  of  the  George 
•Junior  Eepublic  at  Freeville,  New  York.  It  has  one  extraordinary 
"     ture.     In  the  book  the  proposal  begins  in  this  wise:  — 

Let   several  thousand   acres   of    land    be   surrounded   by  a  wall  or   a 
stockade  with  a  dead-line  of  sufficient  distance  running  along  inside.** 

To  this,  the  authors  add  in  a  footnote:  "Personally,  we  believe  that 
's  wall  would  be  found  to  be  unnecessary."     In  fact,  the  wall  has 
.  vv  far  not  been  built.     The  scheme,  which,  we  understand,  has  so 
far  only   been  applied  to  young  people,   provides    for  five  interior 
enclosures.     The  offender  against  the  law  of  the  inmates  is  com- 
mitted to  No.  1  enclosure.     If  he  offend  there,  he  is  committed  to 
^'   .  2,  and  so  on.     No.  5  is  for  hopeless  offenders  who  will  probably 
d  permanent   care — to  be  made    as   happy   and  useful    as  they 
1  be  with  their  limitations.     To  get  back  to  the  outside  world  each 
late  must  return  by  the  way  he  came.     If  he  is  in  No.  4,  he  must 
duate  from  there  to  No.  3 ;  thence  through  No.  2,  No.  1,  and  the 
icral    sanitarium    before    reaching    free    conditions    again.     Up 
August,   1920,  not  more  than  three  enclosures  had  been  found 
cessary.     But  the  joke  is  that  they  are  not  enclosed!     "Although 
re  is  mingling  between  the  patients  of  the  various  enclosures,'' 
■•.   George  writes,   "they   understand  distinctly  the  enclosure  to 
ich  they  belong.     .     .     .     Each  one  of  these  enclosures  has  a 
•.emment  unto  itself  to  which  it  holds  allegiance.     The  only  way 
tfc  one  may  rise  from  a  lower  to   a  higher  enclosure  is  through 
•   decision  of  the  residents  of  that  enclosure  immediately  above 
e."     "Patients"   are  dressed  like  ordinary  people.       They  may 
ve  their  families  with  them  if  they  and  their  families  like,  the 
•allies,  of  course,  being  free  to  leave  at  any  time.     According  to 
■  original  scheme,    "patients"  would  have  to  prove  their  fitness 
vj  return  to  the  outside  world  to  a  "Court  of  Eehabilitation. " 

Since  Mr.  George  and;  his  boys  began  their  experiments  at 
Freeville  in  1895,  the  idea  has  spread  far  and  wide.       Within  15 

'*  W.  R.  George  and  L.  B.  Stowe,  "Citizens  Made  and  Ee-made,"  p.   237. 


674  SOME  AMERICAN   EXPERIMENTS 

years  or  so  there  were  some  seven  or  eight  Junior  Eepublics  in 
America.  We  know  not  how  they  have  fared.  Mr.  Calvin  Derrick, 
who  had  been  superintendent  of  the  George  Junior  Repubhc,  Free- 
ville,  in  (or  about)  1912  became  the  superintendent  of  the  Preston 
School  of  Industry,  a  boys'  reform  school  at  lone,  California.  At 
the  request  of  a  troublesome  company  of  boys  he  drafted  an  inten- 
tionally faulty  constitution  for  them  to  play  with.  The  boys  soon 
discovered  its  faults,  and  by  degrees  the  constitution  was  amended, 
and  was  adopted  by  other  companies.  The  companies  or  houses 
became  something  in  the  nature  of  States  in  a  national  federation, 
and  adopted  civil  or  mihtary  constitutions,  the  civil  form  gradually 
winning  its  way.  By  the  institution  of  mental  examination  some 
10  per  cent,  were  judged  to  be  unfit  for  "self-government."  Later, 
as  warden  of  the  Westchester  County  Penitentiary,  New  York,  Mr. 
Derrick  demonstrated  that  a  modified  form  of  "self-government" 
could  be  successfully  used  with  short-term  local  prisoners,  and  the 
"Effort  League"  founded  under  his  auspices,  was  canied  on  there 
by  his  successor. 

The  New  Jersey  State  Reformatory  for  women,  was  founded  at 
Clinton  Farms,  New  Jersey,  in  January,  1913,  with  methods  of 
individual  and  corporate  responsibility  which  have  developed  with 
apparent  success.  They  have  an  "honor  group,"  whose  members 
elect  their  own  "student  officers."  They  also  select  the  recruits  to 
their  own  ranks  from  the  prisoners  who  have  had  a  preliminary 
probation  of  at  least  three  months.  Each  cottage  has  its  own  govern- 
ing unit,  with  officers  according  to  its  particular  activities.  Generally 
they  have  about  six  student  officers  or  commissioners  each,  two  in 
charge  of  hygiene  and  sanitation,  and  four  responsible  for  morale 
and  discipline  in  various  departments. 

In  November,  1914,  an  "honor  community"  was  organised  at  the 
"Washington  State  Reformatory.  It  seems  to  have  had  its  turn  of 
political  intrigues,  and  cliques,  but  we  gather  that  it  weathered 
the  storm.  A  report  in  "The  Delinquent,"  May,  1917,  quotes  a 
statement  that 

In  a  period  of  two  short  years  the  honor  community  of  the  University 
of  Another  Chance  has  graduated  from  the  experimental  ranks  to  those 
of  an  absolute  success  such  as  cannot  be  duplicated  in  any  other  part 
of  this  country.  .  .  .  students  elect  all  of  their  officers  from  mayor 
to  sheriff,  and  manage  a  three-storey  building,  housing  about  one  hundred 
men.  The  mayor  is  the  head  of  the  community,  with  the  following 
offices,  each  filled  by  election  every  three  months ;  three  judges,  on© 
presiding  and  two  associate ;  prosecutor,  public  defender,  marshal, 
community  clerk,  legislative  body,  board  of  health,  and  board  of 
examiners. 

In  a  former  issue  (March,  1916)  we  read  that  this  community  haJ 
"the  initiative,  referendum  and  power  of  recall."  The  community 
appeared  to  be  a  selection  from  the  reformatory  population.  In 
"The  Delinquent,"  February,  1917,  is  an  account  of  "the  ballotinjf 
among  the  prisoners  of  the  Missouri  Penitentiary  to  choose  nine  of 


CORPOBATE  RESPONSIBILITY  OF  PRISONERS  675 

their  number  to  draw  up  plans  for  an  honor  system  in  the  prison  and 
estabUsh  a  form  of  self-government."'  A  "delegate-at-large"  was 
also  chosen  to  preside  over  the  council. 

Probably  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  firmly  established  prison 
"self-government"  systems  is  to  be  found  in  the  Philippine  Islands. 
The  Philippine  penal  system  might  well  have  a  chapter  to  itself, 
with  its  industrial  training  and  its  recreation  and  social  life.  We 
suppose  it  is  about  the  most  complete  and  elaborate  prison  system 
in  the  world.  Our  concern  for  the  moment  is  with  the  "self- 
governing"  features  of  the  Iwahig  and  San  Eamon  penal  colonies 
there.  The  former  has  100,000  acres  on  the  Island  of  Palawan  and 
a  considerable  preserve  of  sea  for  the  colonists  to  fish  in.  To  quote 
from  a  paper  of  Dr.  Dade,  Director  of  Prisons,  Manila,  P.I.,  at  the 
1916  Congress  of  the  American  Prison  Association":  — 

These  colonies  have  been  allowed,  under  careful  guidance,  to  form  a 
practical  and  almost  self-governing  body.  They  elect  colonist  oflficials, 
including  the  police  force,  colonist  judges  and  jurymen  for  the  main- 
tenance of  peace,  apprehension  and  trial  of  offenders.  Here  the 
colonists  have  organised  and  are  conducting  a  co-operative  store,  in 
vrhich  only  colonists  can  become  stock  holders,  and  which  stock  has 
paid  as  high  as  80  per  cent,  per  annum.  No  barred  windows,  no  stock- 
ades, and  no  guards  are  required  to  retain  the  colonists,  who,  while 
naturally  anxious  to  gain  their  release,  are  willing  to  do  so  by  honest 
endeavor  and  diligent  service.  If  these  means  do  not  bring  about  their 
pardon  or  parole  after  a  few  years,  they  at  least  win  for  them.selves  the 
privilege  of  having  their  family  or  even  their  fiancee  join  them  at  the 
colony  at  government  expense,  the  condition  imposed  upon  the  fiancee 
being  that  she  must  marry  on  the  day  of  her  arrival  at  the  colony. 

San  Eamon  is  on  the  same  lines,  but  on  a  smaller  scale,  being  a 
separate  complete  penal  establishment  for  Moros.  It  is,  we  beheve, 
generally  reckoned  to  be  the  best  prison  in  the  Orient,  if  not  in  the 
world. 

Mr.  Mott  Osborne's  Experiments. 

"We  have  not  exhausted  the  list,  but  we  must  come  to  the  move- 
ment which  has  excited  particular  interest  and  controversy  since 
1914.  Thomas  Mott  Osborne  had  been  President  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  the  George  Junior  Republic  for  over  15  years.  In  1913, 
being  appointed  Chairman  of  a  New  York  State  Commission  on 
Penal  Eeform,  he  was  anxious  to  study  prison  conditions  from  the 
inside,  and  prevailed  on  warden  Eattigan  to  allow  him  to  spend  a 
Week,  as  a  prisoner,  in  Auburn  prison.  In  order  to  disarm  the 
suspicions  of  the  prisoners  it  was  decided  that  the  thing  should  be 
done  openly,  and  he  addressed  the  prisoners,  explaining  his  motives, 
;he  day  before  he  went  in.  The  warden  gave  orders  that  he  was  to 
56  treated  like  other  prisoners;  and,  ha^nng  gained  the  confidence  of 
the  prisoners,  Mr.  Osborne  felt  able  to  trust  them  to  tell  him  if  any 
iifference  was  made. 

**  "Priion  Congrese  Proceedings,"  p.  155. 


676  SOME  AMERICAN  EXPERIMENTS 

Let  us  pause  here  to  pay  a  tribute  to  Warden  Charles  F.  Eattigan 
and  the  part  he  played  in  the  inception  of  this  movement.  He  was 
responsible  for  Auburn  prison  when  Mr.  Osborne  did  his  week's 
imprisonment  there;  he  gave  his  consent  to  this  extraordinary 
proceeding,  consented  to,  and  helped  with  his  advice  in,  the  founding 
of  the  Mutual  Welfare  League,  consented  to  the  release  of  the 
"dangerous  and  desperate"  prisoner,  "Coney  Island,"  from  solitary 
confinement  to  the  care  of  his  fellow  prisoners,  and  to  other  depar- 
tures without  precedent.  His  attitude  is  well  illustrated  by  his 
reply  to  Mr.  Osborne's  request  for  an  unheard  of  experiment.  "It's 
never  been  done,"  he  said;  "but  that's  no  reason  why  it  shouldn't 
be.  I'll  take  the  chance,  if  you  will."'°  But,  as  Mr.  Osborne 
points  out,  the  official  responsibility  was  certainly  the  warden's. 
Perhaps  no  one  who  has  not  himself  been  the  responsible  head  of 
a  prison  can  quite  realise  what  Warden  Eattigan  risked.  The  debt 
of  prison  reform  to  his  faith,  courage,  and  sagacity,  would  be  hard 
to  exaggerate. 

Mr.  Osborne  surrendered  himself  in  Auburn  prison  on  the  29th 
September,  1913.  He  was  put  to  work  in  a  shop  with  a  reputation 
for  difficulty  from  the  disciplinary  point  of  view,  but  where  he  could 
converse  v/ith  his  mate  if  he  did  it  quietly.  He  even  spent  part  of 
a  day  and  a  whole  night  in  the  "cooler",  that  is,  the  punishment 
cells.  By  this  feat  Mr.  Osborne  not  only  gained  firsthand  knowledge 
of  prison  conditions  and  came  to  close  quarters  with  the  mentality  of 
prisoners,  but  he  also  gained  an  entry  into  the  fellowship  of  prisoners 
and  criminals  in  general.  His  action  amounted  to  an  appeal  to  be 
accepted  as  "one  of  the  gang."  He  was  accepted.  He  was 
admitted  as  a  member — to  be  accurate,  as  an  honorary  member ! 

His  shop-mate  was  Jack  Murphy,  whose  name  should  find  a  place 
in  a  new  book  of  golden  deeds.  Not  only  was  he  the  suggester  of 
the  idea  of  the  Mutual  Welfare  League  and  its  joint  founder,  but 
he  refused  to  allow  Mr.  Osborne  to  move  for  a  reduction  of  his 
sentence,  because  he  felt  he  could  be  of  more  use  to  the  League  ia 
prison.  The  Mutual  Welfare  League  was  the  result  of  this 
momentous  week  of  voluntary  imprisonment.  The  story  of  ita 
founding  is  told  in  Mr.  Osborne's  two  books  already  mentioned. 
On  December  26th,  a  committee  of  49  was  elected  to  determine  the 
nature  and  organisation  of  the  League.  It  sat  on  the  26th,  un- 
guarded, with  "Thomas  Brown"  (Mr.  Osborne's  prison  name)  voted 
in  the  chair,  and  debated  the  matter.  In  January,  1914,  the  Leagae 
was  founded,  and  nearly  all  the  prisoners  in  Auburn  prison  joined  it. 
Its  object  was  ao:reed  to  be  "to  promote  in  every  way  the  true 
interests  and  welfare  of  the  men  confined  in  prison."  It  adopted 
the  motto:  "Do  good — Make  good,"  and,  for  colours,  green  and 
white — emblematic  of  Hope  and  Truth. 

The  first  governing  body  at  Aubui'n  was  a  board  of  49  delegates, 

»«  "Society   and  Prisons,"   p.   172. 


MR.    UOTT    OSBORNE'S    EXPERIMENTS  «77 

elected  every  six  months  (every  three  months,  afterwards,  at  Sing 
Sing,  we  believe)  who  selected  an  Executive  Board  of  nine  from 
among  their  number.  This  Executive  appointed  a  clerk  and  a 
sergeant-at-arms,  who  could  add  as  many  assistant  sergeants-at-arms 
as  necessary,  the  delegates  also  acting  in  that  capacity.  The  Board 
of  Delegates  was  at  first  divided  into  eight  grievance  committees,  of 
fi.ve  each,  to  hear  and  to  determine  complaints  against  members. 
Later,  at  Sing  Sing,  these  committees  were  changed  a  good  deal  and 
multiplied.  One  was  the  Judiciary  Committee,  which  acted  as  the 
Trial  Court,  and  tried  most  charges  against  prisoners,  with  an  Appeal 
Court  consisting  of  the  warden,  principal  keeper  and  physician.  The 
only  punishment  enforceable  by  the  prisoners'  court  was  suspension 
from  the  League.  Other  modifications  have  been  made  which  need 
not  be  gone  into  here.  The  secretary,  the  chief  officer  of  the  League, 
who  generally  took  the  chair  at  meetings,  was  a  whole-time  ofi&cer 
and  very  busy  man,  with  an  office  next  to  the  principal  keeper's  The 
oath  of  office  which  Warden  Eattigan  administered  to  the  elected 
representatives  on  Sunday,  January  18th,  1914,  was:  — 

You  solemnly  promise  that  you  ■will  do  all  in  your  power  to  promote 
the  true  welfare  of  the  men  confined  in  Auburn  Prison ;  that  you  will 
cheerfully  obey  and  endeavor  to  have  others  obey  the  rules  and  regulations 
of  the  duly  constituted  prison  authorities,  and  that  you  will  endeavor 
in  every  way  to  bring  about  friendly  feeling,  good  conduct  and  fair 
dealing  among  both  officers  and  men  to  the  end  that  each  man.  after 
serving  the  briefest  possible  term  of  imprisonment,  may  go  forth  with 
renewed  strength  and  courage  to  face  the  world  again.  All  thia  you 
promise  faithfully  to   endeavor.     So  help  you  God." 

The  method  of  procedure  of  such  a  League  seems  to  be  gradually 
to  extend  its  scope  by  gaining  the  confidence  of  the  warden  and 
asking  for  one  "privilege"  after  another.  The  first  privilege  wanted 
by  the  Mutual  Welfare  League  was  to  have  Sunday  afternoon  meet- 
ings of  their  own  in  chapel.  It  was,  in  fact,  largely  a  means  whereby 
the  prisoners  could  have  alleviation  from  some  of  the  worst  periods 
of  monotony  without  gi'ving  more  trouble  to  the  officers.  Through 
committees,  not  only  are  meetings,  entertainments  and  games 
arranged,  but  hygiene  and  sanitation  are  looked  after,  educational 
courses  of  various  kinds  promoted,  and  discipline  greatly  improved 
with  less  trouble  to  the  staS.  The  marching  of  prisoners  from  cells 
to  work,  to  meals,  etc.,  was  early  undertaken  by  the  League  officers. 
Then  guards  were  withdrawn  from  workshops  and  prisoners  left 
with  ordinary  foremen.  At  Sing  Sing,  when  Mr.  Osborne  took  over, 
the  knit-shop  had  a  bad  reputation.  There  were  seven  guards  over 
some  100  men;  but  they  could  not  prevent  quarrels  and  fights, 
breaking  of  windows,  even  smashing  of  machinery.  Mr.  Osborne 
took  the  guards  off.  "If  there's  no  one  to  make  trouble  for,  there 
can't  be  any  trouble,"  he  said.  So  they  kept  themselves  in  order, 
and  increased  their  output. 

*'  "Society  and  Prisons,"  p.   166. 


678  SOME  AMERICAN  EXPERIMENTS 

It  was  on  December  1st,  1914,  that  Mr.  Osborne  went  as  warden 
to  Sing  Sing.  A  branch  of  the  Mutual  Welfare  League  was  soon 
organised  there.  Sing  Sing  prison  was  probably  one  of  the  last 
places  any  friend  of  the  movement  would  have  cliosen  to  start  a 
branch.  Notoriously  it  had  one  of  the  worst  prison  buildings  in  the 
world.  It  v»as  a  very  mixed  lot  of  prisoners,  young  and  old.  The 
League  members  would  have  preferred  to  start  next  at  Clinton 
prison,  where  there  were  older  and  more  "hardened"  prisoners,  more 
reliable  men  from  their  standpoint.  Ttiere  had  been  riots  at  Sing 
Sing.  The  authorities,  without  consulting  those  who  had  experience 
at  Auburn,  had  been  trying  new  departures  in  an  ill-advised  way. 
The  prison  was  in  an  unsettled  condition.  Nevertheless,  the  riota 
ceased  and  discipline  improved  rapidly. 

But  Mr.  Osborne  was  assailed  from  inside  and  from  outside  the 
prison,  and,  finally,  a  number  of  very  grave  accusations  being  made 
against  him,  he  was  relieved  of  his  post  on  December  31st,  1915, 
pending  their  investigation  in  the  Courts.  Fortunately,  his  friend. 
Dr.  George  W.  Kirchwey,  stepped  into  his  pTace  during  his  absence. 
To  Dr.  Kirchwey  also  must  be  awarded  a  tribute  of  gratitude  for 
invaluable  service  to  the  League  in  its  early  days  of  storm  and  stress. 
He  thoroughly  understood  the  movement,  and  under  him  the  League 
still  went  forward.  In  July,  1916,  the  charges  having  broken  down, 
Mr.  Osborne  was  reinstated.  But,  becoming  convinced  that  the 
authorities  were  working  against  him,  he  finally  resigned  in  October 
of  the  same  year.  Yet,  in  spite  of  all  these  difficulties  and  obstacles, 
and  continued  attempts,  apparently,  on  the  part  of  the  authorities 
to  throw  cold  water  on  the  League  and  curtail  its  operations,  it 
persisted  and  remained  in  being,  and  renewed  its  strength  when 
Major  Lawes  was  appointed  warden  in  1920. 

In  1917,  Mr.  Osborne  was  given  charge  of  the  naval  prison  at 
Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire,  and  remained  in  the  post  till  June, 
1920,  starting  with  a  preliminary  reconnaissance  of  a  week's  "bit" 
in  a  penal  ship.  Here  the  prisoners  organised  another  branch  of  the 
Mutual  Welfare  League,  and  we  read  that,  whereas  he  found  170 
prisoners  with  180  marines  or  guards,  all  the  guards  had  before  long 
been  withdrawn.  Charges  of  maladministration  and  immoral 
practices  were  inquired  into  by  a  board  composed  of  the  Assistant 
Secretary  to  the  Navy  and  two  rear-admirals,  who  completely 
vindicated  Mr.  Osborne  and  reported  that  the  guarding  of  prisoners 
by  prisoners  was  "proven  to  be  justified  by  the  result  obtained."" 
The  same  system  was  continued  by  Mr.  Osborne's  successor.  We 
understand  there  are  now  (Midsummer,  1921)  some  eight  or  nine 
institutions  successfully  practising  the  method  of  the  Mutual 
Welfare  League. 

Certain  palpable  and  apparently  indisputable  results  are  credited 
to  the  League.     They  come  for  the  most  part  under  two  heads:  — 

>•  "The  Sur?ey,"  March  27bh.  1920. 


MR.    MOTT    OSBOBXE'S    EXPERIMENTS  «79 

(1)  improved  discipline,  and  (2)  individual  conversions.  "Improved 
discipline"  is  hardly  an  adequate  expression  for  a  complete  change 
of  attitude,  on  the  part  of  the  prisoners,  from  antagonism  to  co- 
operation; and,  on  the  part  of  the  officials,  for  what  might  be  called 

\  change  of  function,  namely,  from  suspicious  watching  and 
ppression  to  friendly  help   and  encouragement.       The   prisoners 

•  ere  raised  from  ill  will  and  depression  to  good  will  and  hope. 
Eesulting  symptoms  could  not  but  be  remarkable.  At  Sing  Sing, 
riots  ceased;  escapes,  assaults  and  fights  were  enormously  reduced. 
Drug-taking  and  vice  were  drastically  dealt  with  by  the  prisoners 
emselves.  There  seems  to  have  been  much  of  both  before. 
Verj'  little  here  now,"  said  several  delegates  at  once  to  a  question 
about  drugs,  from  a  visitor  at  Auburn.  "It  isn't  needed  now,  and 
it's  frowned  upon."  A  member  of  the  Executive  Committee  added : 
"I'll  be  frank:  I've  taken  nearly  every  kind  of  dope  that's  known. 
I  took  it  deliberately.  Now  I  don't  need  it,  and  I've  cut  it  out."" 
Dr.  Kirchwey  says:  "There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  the  substantial 
accuracy  of  Mr.  Osborne's  claim  that  'dope'  and  drink  were  practic- 
ally eliminated  from  Sing  Sing  during  his  first  term,  and  that  un- 
natural vice  was  hunted  down  and  exposed  as  never  before  in  the 
history  of  the  prison.""  The  output  of  the  industries  has  also 
increased. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  this  system  has  proved  itself  useful  from 
an  administrative  and  disciplinary  point  of  view.        Dr.   Kirchwey 

says :  — 

As  an  aid  to  good  administration  the  Mutual  Welfare  League  at  Sing 
Sing  was  a  pronounced  success.  The  zeal  and  authority  of  the  sergeant- 
at-arms  and  his  aids,  of  the  elected  delegates  representing  the  several 
squads  or  "companies,"  and  particularly  of  the  Judiciary  Board,  or 
inmates'  court,  stiffened  the  discipline  by  making  good  behavior,  even 
in  small  matters,  an  obligation  due  to  the  entire  inmate  body.  The 
numerous  committees  of  the  League,  covering  a  wide  range  of  administra- 
tion, from  education,  sanitation  and  food  regulation  to  the  decent  burial 
of  dead  comrades,  were  active  and  energetic,  and  not  infrequently 
capable  and  efficient.  All  these  activities  were  supervised  by  an 
Executive  Board,  which  held  daily  sessions  and  which  kept  in  constant 
touch  with  the  official  administration.*' 

In  the  same  report  of  the  Prison  Association  of  New  York,  the 
following  account  of  the  work  of  the  Inmate  Educational  Committee 
is  quoted  from  the  American  Year  Book  for  1916,  p.  400:  — 

A  most  remarkable  venture  in  prison  schools  has  been  the  develop- 
ment of  classes  and  curricula  at  Sing  Sing  prison  by  the  Mutual  Welfare 
League.  The  prison  population  forsook  to  a  large  extent  the  school 
conducted  by  the  teacher  appointed  and  salaried  by  the  State.  Evening 
classes  were  started  and  excellently  conducted  by  a  staff  of  inmata 
teachers  under  leadership  of  an  inmate  director  with  advice  from  noted 

»»  "The  Delinquent,"  Augnst,   1914. 

•*•  72nd   Annual    Report.    Priion    A*>oci»tion   of  New   York.   1916,   p.   38. 

*'  Ibid.  pp.  48-9. 


680  SOME  AMERICAN  EXPERIMENTS 

educators  from  outside.  English,  Italian,  French,  Spanish,  arithmetic, 
electricity,  mechanical  drawing,  automobile  mechanics,  are  the  chief 
courses.  While  there  has  been  but  a  beginning,  the  progress  has  been 
almost  incredible.  Financial  support  has  been  generously  supplied  by 
sympathisers  of  the  League.  The  development  of  this  educational  pro- 
gramme, as  well  as  the  complete  reorganisation  and  modernisation  of  the 
medical  service  and  the  establishment  of  the  psychiatric  clinic,  were 
made  possible  by  the  zeal  of  Warden  Kirchwey  and  by  the  remarkable 
loyalty  and  co-operation  which  he  was  able  to  call  forth  from  the  inmates 
of  Sing  Sing. 

A  great  reduction  in  insanity  is  recorded.  The  prisoners  being 
allowed  out  of  the  cells  into  the  open  air  a  great  deal  more,  naturally 
their  physical  health  improved.  This  was  also,  no  doubt,  largely  due 
to  the  change  in  mental  and  spiritual  conditions,  which  latter  are 
difficult  to  measure  or  to  prove  on  paper.  Some  indications,  how- 
ever, may  be  mentioned.  The  new  attitude  of  prisoners  to  escapes 
surprised  the  men  themselves;  we  read  of  prisoners  out  all  night 
hunting  for  a  runaway  and  reheving  the  officers  in  manning  the 
walls  to  prevent  the  escape  of  a  man  believed  to  be  hiding  on  the 
precincts.  Instead  of  corrupting  young  prisoners,  we  are  told,  old- 
timers  have  become  anxious  to  help  them  to  go  straight.  "There 
are  100,000  prisoners  in  this  country,"  said  George  Evans,  formerly 
a  judge  of  the  prisoners'  court  at  Sing  Sing,  to  an  audience  in 
Carnegie  Hall,  New  York.  "It  is  the  hope  of  the  Mutual  Welfare 
League  that  it  may  help  to  prevent  100,000  children  from  growing 
up  to  take  our  places.""  The  change  of  mind  could  hardly  be 
more  strikingly  expressed  than  in  the  words  of  a  prisoner  quoted  by 
Mr.  Osborne :  — 

"Do  you  realise  what  it  is  that  the  League  has  done  here?"  said  he. 
"Let  me  tell  you.  It  has  started  the  men  discussing  the  right  and 
wrong  of  things,  every  day,  from  one  end  of  the  yard  to  the  other."  " 

Another  prisoner,  an  experienced  New  York  pickpocket,  is 
reported  as  saying. — "You  can't  hear  anythin'  round  dis  prison  nov/, 
'cept  how  we're  goin'  to  make  good  when  we  goes  out. "  '* 

As  for  the  officers,  the  Mutual  \Yelfare  League  has  evidently 
removed  from  them  a  load  of  distrust  and  nerve-strain.  The 
testimony  of  Mr.  F.  A.  Dorner,  formerly  principal  keeper  at  Sing 
Sing,  seems  conclusive.     He  writes:  — 

Twenty  years  of  prison  service  under  the  old  system  and  two  years 
under  the  new  have  convinced  the  writer  that  the  new  prison  system 
is  as  beneficial  to  the  officers  as  to  the  men,  that  it  is  based  on  sound 
common  sense,  and  will  grow  stronger  and  stronger  as  officers  and  men 
realise  more  fully  their  opportunity  under  it.** 

.  .  .  .  The  officers  who  were  formerly  armed  have  voluntarily 
discarded  even  their  clubs,  and  are  on  very  friendly  terms  with  the  men. 

*^  Prison   Leaflet  No.   33.    Nat.   CorDmittee   on   Prisons,   p.    3. 

■•»  "Society  and  Prisons,"  p.  229. 

"Ibid,   p.  191. 

**  "The  Prison  and  th«  Prisoner,"  p.   117. 


MB.    MOTT    OSBOIiXE'S    EXPERIMENTS  681 

.  .  .  When  first  the  new  system  was  inaugurated,  I  had  little  faith 
in  it,  but  it  has  stood  the  test  and  I  am  convinced  that  the  men  are 
better  under  it,  the  officers  are  happier  under  it,  and  the  officers'  families 
are  grateful  for  it.*' 

Some  of  the  improvements  to  which  Mr.  Dorner  refers  have  been 
brought  about  in  other  places  without  any  League  or  "self-govern- 
ment" methods;  but  that  fact  does  not  nulhfy  his  whole-hearted 
approval  of  the  main  scheme.  Considerable  economy  in  officials,  as 
mere  guards  or  warders,  becomes  possible,  and  officers  are  enabled 
to  turn  from  their  old  occupation  of  suppressing  prisoners  to  the 
more  congenial  and  promising  one  of  helping  them  to  find  and 
express  themselves. 

Such  a  wholesale  conversion  could  hardly  be  achieved  without 
individual  conversions.  And,  if  conversion  mean  the  discovery  of 
fine  gold  where  only  dross  was  seen  before,  then  the  Mutual  Welfare 
League  has  wrought  not  a  few  conversions.  It  discovered  much 
fine  gold  in  men  like  Jack  Murphy,  "Canada  Blackie"  and  other 
dreaded  criminals  of  whom  the  old  regime  had  despaired.  "The 
Story  of  Canada  Blackie"  has  been  told  by  Anne  P.  L.  Field  in  a 
book  of  that  name,  and  Mr.  Osborne  gives  an  epitome  of  it  in 
"Society  and  Prisons."  He  was  a  notorious  criminal,  a  "veritable 
hero  of  the  underworld. "  He  was  in  prison  for  "life  and  ten  years" 
at  the  time  the  League  was  started  at  Auburn.  He  had  been  in 
solitary  confinement  for  years  on  account  of  his  supposedly  desperate 
character.  We  will  only  add  the  following,  which  Mr.  Osborne 
relates  of  him  :  — 

"I  wish  I  could  get  out  of  that  back  gate,"  he  said  to  me  one 
day.     .     .     . 

"Why?"  I  asked. 

"So  that  I  could  walk  right  around  and  come  into  the  front  gate.  I'd 
like  to  show  them  what  this  League  means." 

To  him  it  meant  something  high  and  holy,  something  more  than  life ; 
it  meant  service.  A  passionate  desire  seized  upon  him  ;  a  desire  to  aid 
his  fellow  men,  which,  after  all,  was  only  another  expression  of  his  old 
loyalty  to  his  pals.  This  dangerous  criminal, — this  wild  beast,  fit  only 
to  be  caged  and  beaten  and  broken — according  to  the  old  theories, 
became  one  of  the  most  potent  forces  for  good  in  the  whole  State  of  New 
York.'' 

Tony  Marino,  one  of  the  prisoners  at  Auburn,  had  a  scar  on  his 
face,  the  result  of  a  slash  made  by  another  prisoner  when  he  was 
lying  ill  in  bed.  He  had  vowed  to  kill  this  man.  Under  the  influence 
of  Mr.  Osborne  and  the  League  he  spontaneously  renounced  his 
vengeance  before  his  assembled  fellow-prisoners  and  shook  hands 
with  his  enemy. 

One  of  the  first  requests  the  League  made  of  Warden  Eattigan 
was  to  allow  a  prisoner  known  as  "Coney  Island,"  who  had  been  in 

*•  Ibid,  p.  123. 

*'  "Society  and  Prisons,"  pp    202-3. 

28 


682  SOME   AMERICAN   EXPERIMENTS 

solitary  confinement  over  a  year  and  was  considered  incorrigible  and 
dangerous,  to  be  released  to  work  with  other  prisoners  in  a  depart- 
ment where  there  were  no  warders.  He  had  been  in  constant  trouble 
when  with  other  prisoners  before.  The  request  was  granted,  and 
he  became  an  exemplary  and  much  trusted  man.  Over  and  over 
again  prisoners  whose  records  had  been  bad  under  the  old  regime 
became  well-behaved  after  the  League  was  started.  One  striking 
case  is  related  of  a  man  whom  even  his  fellow  prisoners  did  not 
expect  to  "make  good"  outside.  After  keeping  straight  under  most 
trying  and  disappointing  circumstances  he  came  to  Mr.  Osborne, 
refused  money  and  begged  for  help  in  getting  employment. 

On  the  whole,  it  must  be  conceded  that  Mr.  Osborne  and  his 
supporters  have  some  ground  for  believing  "that  the  true  foundation 
of  a  new  and  successful  penology  has  at  last  been  found."*'  In 
short,  as  Mr.  Osborne  says,  "the  thing  works." 

Some  weak  points  have,  however,  revealed  themselves.  Not  all 
the  prisoners  respond  to  these  methods  of  responsibility.  There 
seem  to  be  some  who  think  themselves  superior  to  it,  and  others 
whose  mentality  is  too  deficient.  Medico-psychology  might  be 
helpful  in  both  cases.  For  a  time  there  seemed  to  be  a  certain 
slackness  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  officers,  a  tendency  to  resign 
their  duties  to  the  prisoners.  This  appears  to  have  been  a  passing 
phase,  but  it  is  not  surprising  that  some  prison  officers,  accustomed 
to  a  regime  of  suppression,  should  at  first,  during  the  transition 
therefrom,  feel  their  occupations  gone.  What  seems  to  us  a  possibly 
more  serious  matter  is  a  report  conveyed  in  correspondence  that  in 
Sing  Sing  a  condition  of  affairs  was  reached  when  it  seemed  neces- 
sary to  be  constantly  devising  fresh  interest  or  excitement  for  the 
prisoners,  and  the  multiplication  of  committees  was  perhaps 
partly  the  result  of  this  craving  for  emotional  stimulation. 
How  far  this  is  a  true  representation  of  facts  we  do  not  know ;  but, 
even  if  it  is  well-founded,  it  must  be  remembered  that  one  great 
preoccupation  of  the  Warden  in  Sing  Sing  was  to  find  excuses  for 
keeping  the  prisoners  out  of  their  insanitary  cells  for  as  much  of  the 
day  as  possible,  and  no  doubt  the  facilities  for  wholesome  and  interest- 
ing industries  were  limited.  To  build  up  these  must  take  time.  It 
is  one  of  the  chief  needs  in  any  prison  system. 

There  are,  as  far  as  we  know,  three  failures  to  be  recorded.  Miss 
Doty,  in  her  interesting  book,  "Society's  Misfits,"  tells  the  tale  of 
the  short-lived  League  in  the  Auburn  women's  prison.  It  was  a 
wonderful  success  for  a  time.  Perhaps  it  suffered  from  the  over- 
zeal  and  strictness  of  one  of  its  leading  members.  But  it  appears  to 
have  succumbed  to  the  hostility  of  the  staff.  If  so,  the  lesson  in 
this  case  would  seem  to  be  that,  in  trying  new  departures,  it  is  well 
to  consult  with  your  colleagues,  however  subordinate,  and  try  to 
carry  them  with  you. 

"  Ibid,   p.    186. 


MB.    MOTT    OSBORXE'S    EXPERIMEXTS  663 

The  other  two  "failures"  were  at  the  Connecticut  and  New  Jersey 

\t€  reformatories,  at  each  of  which  "self-government,"  after  about 

i.  year's  trial,  was  discontinued  in  pursuance  of  a  large  majority 

vote  of  the  inmates.     We  are  not  well  acquainted  with  the  history 

:'  these  two  experiments.     There  may  be  some  force  in  the  argu- 

ent  that  there   were   too  many   feeble-minded   and  psychopathic 

mates.     From  the  comments  of  several  officials  connected   with 

e  two  institutions  in  question  we  are  inclined  to  think  that  some  of 

,vm  did  not  fully  understand  the  nature  of  the  business  in  hand. 

Mr.  Osborne  says   "the  ihing  works."     What  is  the  thing  that 

Nvorks?     WTiat  we  are  considering  seems  to  be,  among  other  things, 

a  practical  method  of  securing  the  co-operation  of  prisoners  in  their 

:^' -education,  somewhat  on  the  principle  of  consulting  "the  man  on 

e   spot."     Obviously  the  prisoner  is  the  man  who  has  the  best 

.^.nee  of  knowing  where  the  prison  shoe  pinches.     The  prisoners 

-ow  more  about  the  prison  regim.e  than  the  warders  do;  as  the 

irders  know  more  than  the  prison  governor.     And  the  governor 

ows   more,   at  any  rate  about  his  own  prison,  than  the   Prison 

mmissioners.        It  is,  therefore,   a  great  advantage  to  have  the 

isoners'  knowledge  available   for  improving  the  efficiency  of  the 

ison.     And  it  becomes  available  as  soon  as  the  prisoners  are  able 

give  it — willingly  and  with  responsibility.     But  they  cannot  feel 

-ponsibility   in   giving   advice  or  information  unless  they  have  a 

-ire  in  bringing  about  results,  and  are  consulted  as  a  body,  organised 

their  own  way.     They  must  themselves  choose,  and  be  responsible 

r.  any  spokesmen,  organisers  or  other  representatives  that  may  be 

eded.     And  they  must  be  consulted  honestly,  with  a  view  to  their 

:^d^■ice  being  accepted,  unless  some  good  reason  can  be  shown  for  not 

accepting  it.     They  must  be  taken  seriously  into  partnership  in  the 

rk  of  their  own  betterment,  on  the  principle  that,  subject  to  the 

.ohc  interest,  prison  is  for  the  good  of  the  prisoners. 

And  so  we  find  that  corporate  responsibility  is  worked  out  step 

step  by  the  prisoners  with  the  sympathetic  help  of  the  officials. 

e  prisoners  take  the  initiative  in  asking  for  "privileges."     Begin- 

rg  with  petitions  for  facilities  for  meeting  or  recreation,  and  for 

•^  removal  of  the  more  obviously  useless  restrictions  and  irritations, 

they  go  on,  as  they  feel  increasing  confidence  in  themselves,  to  ask 

for  more  scope  for  their  powers  of  self-discipHne,  mutual  aid,  self- 

improvementr — always  remembering  that  more  scope   entails   more 

responsibihty. 

Once  prison  is  recognised  as  an  educational  establishment,  it  be- 
comes obN^ous  how  important  and  helpful  to  the  staS  will  be  the 
.'-esponsible  co-operation  of  prisoners.  Under  the  "honor  system," 
:or  instance,  w^ardens  take  great  pains  in  selecting  the  men  they 
think  they  can  trust.  They  generally  think  they  can  not  trust 
about  half  of  them,  who,  therefore,  remain  under  suspicion  and  are 
watched.       The  Mutual  Welfare  League  puts  the  responsibility  of 


684  SOME  AMERICAN  EXPERIMENTS 

making  selections  on  the  prisoners,  who  have  the  best  means  of 
knowing.  The  men  who  know  best  are  now  co-operating  and  feeUng 
responsible.  They  have  left  behind  the  antagonism  and  irrespon- 
sibility forced  on  prisoners  by  the  ordinaiy  system  of  distrust.  And 
so,  when  at  Auburn  it  was  decided  to  send  out  a  party  of  prisoners 
to  an  "honor  camp"  for  three  months'  hard  work  in  the  open,  the 
officials  of  the  Mutual  Welfare  League  helped  to  select  the  men. 

This  is  a  process  by  which  a  common  conscience  grows,  a  pro- 
gressive public  sentiment,  under  which  the  better  nature  of 
individuals  unfolds,  and  surprising  qualities  and  capacities,  formerly 
inhibited,  reveal  themselves  and  become  available  for  service.  Men 
who  before  were  accounted  the  worst  now  take  the  lead  as  the  best. 
Speaking  of  "Canada  Blackie,"  Mr.  Osborne  says:  — 

The  very  qualities  which  had  made  this  man  one  of  the  most  dangerous 
of  criminals — his  skill,  ingenuity,  boldness,  bravery,  intellectual  power, 
and  loyalty — ("the  whitest  of  pals"  is  the  way  one  friend  has  described 
him)  :  all  those  things  were  assets  of  the  highest  value  to  society,  the 
moment  he  turned  to  "go  straight."  The  dangerous  and  desperate 
criminal  is  often  the  hero  gone  wrong.*' 

In  this  new  prison  community  the  individual  seems  to  find  his  natural 
place,  tends  to  be  rated  according  to  his  merits,  and  to  get  the 
medicine  he  needs.  Thus,  through  corporate  responsibility,  in- 
dividual differential  treatment  seems  to  have  its  best  chance. 

The  aim  of  the  modern  prison  should  be,  of  course,  to  prepare 
prisoners  for  life  outside  prison,  and  one  of  the  merits  attributed  to 
this  responsible  community  in  prison  is  that  it  prepares  prisoners 
for  the  future  by  making  life  in  prison  as  much  as  possible  like  life 
outside — prepares  them  for  freedom  by  giving  them  as  much  freedom 
as  possible  while  they  are  still  prisoners.  Here  one  is  inclined  to 
ask  if  the  system  has  not  the  defect  of  its  quality.  For  we  have  seen 
that  this  foretaste  of  freedom,  this  responsibility  and  co-operation 
in  prison,  results  in  public  sentiment  and  fellowship  which  raise  and 
sustain  the  morale  of  individual  members.  But  in  the  outside  world 
such  public  sentiment  and  fellowship  are  far  to  seek,  and  will  surely 
be  missed.  Therefore  the  fellowship  must  be  extended  to  help  out- 
going members.  This  is  what  the  Mutual  Welfare  League  has  done. 
It  has  its  ramifications  outside.     It  even  has  an  employment  agency. 

We  hope  that  it  is  now  plain  that  this  is  not  a  plan  for  handing 
over  the  prison  to  the  prisoners  straight  away,  or  for  relieving  the 
officials  of  their  I'esponsibilities.  Eather  is  it  a  plan  which  requires 
of  the  officials,  and  especially  of  the  prison  governor,  more  intelli- 
gence, energy,  and  spiritual  force  than  our  present  system  calls  for. 
It  is  no  good  denying  that  personality  comes  in.  It  would  be  quite 
contrary  to  fact  to  say  that  no  personal  influence  was  exercised,  or 
personal  loyalty  evoked,  by  Mr.  Osborne.  When  Mr.  Osborne  left 
Sing  Sing,  pending  the  trial  of  the  charges  against  him,  a  prisoner 

*•  "Society  and  Prisoni,"  p.  220. 


J 


Mli.    MOTT    OSBOENES    EXPERIMENTS  885 

named  Tony  Marino,  having  been  very  depressed  over  the  matter  for 
some  time,  and  fearing  that  Mr.  Osborne  would  not  come  back, 
escaped  from  prison,  to  the  consternation  of  his  colleagues.  H.  B. 
Bolasky,  an  ex-prisoner  and  Mr.  Osborne's  valet,  tells  how  he  hunted 
him  up.  After  searching  in  New  York  for  some  hours  he  met  an 
old  friend  while  on  his  way  to  get  an  automobile  to  take  Tony  away. 
Bolasky  explained  his  errand,  and  the  old  criminal  replied  :  — 

I  never  saw  Mr.  Osborne  in  my  life,  Harry.  But  let  me  tell  you  this, 
there  is  not  a  real  crook  in  the  city  who  would  not  go  the  limit  for  him. 
Come  on,  I'll  fetch  you  to  Tony.*' 

A  number  of  friends  gathered  to  plead  with  the  runaway. 

We  started  by  pointing  out  to  him  what  his  escaping  meant  and  that 
it  would  kill  the  League.  One  by  one  we  pleaded  with  him.  One  fellow, 
who  in  former  years  was  the  terror  of  the  East  Side,  said  :  "Tony,  I 
have  been  a  thief  all  my  life  and  it's  not  in  me  to  tell  a  pal  to  go  back 
to  prison.  But  you  know  what  Tom  Brown  means  to  us.  He  is  the  only 
man  who  has  ever  given  us  a  square  deal,  and  he  has  got  society  to  look 
upon  us  as  human  beings.  Take  my  advice,  pal,  and  go  back,  for  it 
does  not  pay  to  throw  down  a  real  friend." 

For  over  five  hours  we  pleaded,  and  finally  Dick  Richards  said  :  "Tony, 
you  know  me.  I  have  been  on  the  level  with  my  pals  all  my  life.  Tom 
Brown  is  our  pal  and  we  can't  double-cross  him.  Tony,  you  must  go 
back,  and  go  alone.     Now  say  the  word." 

Tears  came  to  most  of  our  eyes  as  Tony,  all  dressed  and  supplied  with 
money  for  his  getaway,  replied  :  "Fellows,  it  means  about  four  more 
years  for  me,  but  if  I  have  to  do  every  day  in  solitarj'  confinement  for 
it  I  will  not  throw  down  the  boss.  I  see  where  I  have  made  a  big 
mistake.     I  am  going  back." 

This  strong  personal  loyalty  to  one  man  may,  to  some  people,  appear 
to  be  a  weakness  in  the  movement.  But  it  will  depend  upon  such 
devotion  less  and  less  as  the  League  becomes  firmer  on  its  feet.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  Mr.  Osborne's  influence  rests  on  renuncia- 
tion. He  renounced  his  superiority,  made  friends  with  criminals 
and  treated  them  "on  the  level,"  as  they  say.  The  intensely 
dramatic  opening,  the  "semi-religious  enthusiasm"  of  the  early 
movement,  was  perhaps  needed  to  enable  it  to  weather  the  stoiTns  of 
those  first  days.  It  does  not  follow  that  the  same  strong  emotions 
will  be  required  all  along.  Thought  and  practice  will  make  the  way 
easier  as  both  ofi&cials  and  prisoners  gain  understanding. 

Dr.  Kirchwey  sums  up  the  matter  well  in  the  following  passage  :  — 

Viewed  from  the  outside,  the  League  is  an  ingenious  device  for  utilising 
the  goodwill  and  talent  of  the  inmat«s  in  the  production  of  better 
discipline,  better  work  and  a  better  disposition  in  the  prison.  Viewed 
from  the  inside,  as  Mr.  Osborne  contemplates  it,  it  is  a  means  and  a 
process  of  moral  regeneration.  From  the  one  point  of  view,  the  moral 
benefits  are  illusory,  problematical  or  merely  incidental ;  from  the  other, 
the  material  advantages  of  better  administration  are  only  the  by-products 

»»  "The  fnrvey."  February  5th,   1916. 


686  SOME  AMERICAN  EXPERIMENTS 

of  the  moral  process.  Probably  the  truth  lies  in  a  combination  of  the 
two  views.  For  a  prison  there  is  no  better  administrative  machinery 
than  a  well-organised,  co-operating  Mutual  Welfare  League.  For  the 
inmates  there  is  no  better  training  in  the  essential  elements  of  character 
than  to  serve  whole-heartedly  in  such  a  League.  It  takes  a  wise  heart 
as  well  as  a  wise  head  to  bring  and  keep  such  an  organisation  in  the 
service  of  law  and  order.  It  is  easier  to  make  it  impotent  or  to  degrade 
it  into  a  tool.  It  calls  for  all  that,  and  for  something  more — for  a  quality 
of  inspiration  in  which  the  wisdom  of  the  heart  and  head  are  fused  into 
one — to  bring  and  to  keep  the  inmates  in  the  service  of  the  common 
good." 

From  all  of  which,  a  legitimate  inference  seems  to  be  that,  if  we 
cannot  find  a  man  or  woman  with  the  required  wisdom  of  heart  and 
head,  or  if,  having  found  such  an  one,  we  cannot  find  authorities 
willing  to  give  him  or>her  a  free  hand — then  perhaps  we  had  better 
not  try  to  introduce  any  such  methods  into  our  prisons.  And  yet 
we  unhesitatingly  agree  with  an  experienced  critic  who  remarks  that 
"almost  any  form  of  corporate  responsibility  of  prisoners  is  better 
than  none,  and  the  thing  should  work  under  the  average  warden  or 
superintendent  who  can  be  inspired  to  try  it  in  good  faith,"  haying 
first  (we  will  add)  won  the  willing  co-operation  of  his  staff. 


The  Entry  of  Science. 

The  members  of  the  Mutual  Welfare  League  soon  found  that  they 
had  to  deal  with  certain  fellow  prisoners  who  did  not  respond  satis- 
factorily to  the  appeal  of  the  League,  and  could  not  be  relied  on  to 
keep  up  to  required  standards.  They,  therefore,  asked  for  scientific 
help. 

It    happened   that    for    some    years    scientific    men — physicians, 
psychiatrists,  psychologists — had   been  conducting  researches,  pre- 
paring the  public,  and  training  themselves  to  give  just  the  help  which 
the  organised   prisoners  themselves  now    asked   for.        A    medico-  ( 
psychological  movement  has  been  growing  for  some  years,   and  is  ' 
claiming  its  right  to  co-operate  in  revolutionising  penal  methods.       ] 

Already  for  many  years  experts  had  been  trying  to  impress  on  the 
American  public — sometimes,  perhaps,  not  without  exaggeration — 
that  a  considerable  proportion  of  criminals,  inebriates,  and  prostitutes, 
were  mentally  defective  and  required  something  other  than  imprison- 
ment. In  March,  1909,  a  juvenile  psychopathic  institute  was 
organised  by  private  initiative  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  W.  Healy, 
in  the  juvenile  detention  and  court  building  in  Chicago,  and  some  of 
the  results  of  five  years'  work  were  published  in  1915  in  two  books, 
"The  Individual  Delinquent"  and  "Pathological  Lying,  Accusation, 
and  Swindling."  Work  of  this  kind  grew  apace.  Psychopathic 
clinics  and  laboratories  sprang  up  in  connection  with  courts  about 
the  country,  and  are  finding  their  way  into  prisons. 

'I  72nd  Annual  Report  ol  the  Prison  Association  of  New  York,  1916,  pp.  37-8. 


THE  EXTBY  OF  SCIEXCE  687 

Already  in  1910  the  ordinary  medical  work  in  penal  institutions — 
ourts  and  prisons — ^in  some  parts  of  America  seemed  to  be  far  ahead 
^f  what  was  to  be  found  in  this  country.  The  writer  was  particularly 
impressed  by  its  development  in  the  Chicago  House  of  Correction 
under  Superintendent  John  L.  Whitman.  In  an  article  in  "The 
Review,"  of  May,  1911,  Mr.  Whitman  said:  — 

In  my  estimation  it  is  highly  important  in  an  institution  of  this  kind 
to  be  prepared  to  give  the  best  of  medical  or  surgical  treatment  to  those 
of  the  inmates  who  need  it.  We  have  a  medical  department  well 
equipped  with  all  the  facilities  of  a  first-class  hospital.  The  regular 
staff  of  that  department  consists  of  four  physicians  and  two  trained 
nurses,  who  live  on  the  grounds,  besides  specialists  who  visit  the 
institution  at  regular  intervals.  In  addition  to  this  we  have  a  staff 
of  consulting  surgeons  and  physicians,  each  of  whom  visits  the  depart- 
ment at  least  once  a  week.  No  better  attention  is  given  patients  in  any 
hospital  than  our  inmates  receive.  From  fifty  to  seventy-five  major 
operations  are  performed  each  month  by  as  competent  surgeons  as  there 
are  in  the  city.  The  results  obtained  in  this  department  have  been  most 
gratifying,  and  tend  to  prove  that  if  permanent  progress  is  to  be  made 
in  the  matter  of  the  management  of  penal  institutions,  much  assistance 
must  come  from  a  well-regulated  medical  department,  where  the  mental 
condition  of   the  inmates  is  considered  as  well  as  the  physical. 

In  1913  we  find  Mr.  Whitman  telHng  the  American  Prison 
Association  that  his  medical  department,  in  addition  to  the  ordinary 
c>re  for  the  health  of  the  2,000  inmates,  and  the  sanitation  and  food, 
ad  each  week,  with  the  aid  of  a  consulting  staff  of  12  physicians, 
-urgeons,  and  specialists  (the  entire  sta2  then  consisted  of  19  pro- 
't-ssional  experts),  the  following  clinics:  — 

Three  Surgical  Clinics, 

One  Medical   Clinic, 

One   Nervous  and  Mental  Clinic, 

Two   Eye,   Ear,   Nose   and   Throat  Clinics, 

One  Skin,  Genito-Urinary  Clinic, 

One   Gynecological   Clinic, 

Two  Dental  Clinics." 

The  City  prison,  said  the  medical  superintendent,  had  come  to  b* 
"looked  upon  by  the  police  department,  the  judges,  and  part  of  the 
public,  as  a  city  emergency  hospital  and  sanitarium  for  all  the 
-Icohohcs,  drug  habitu6s,  epileptics,  chronic  incurables,  cripples, 
lind  and  helpless  beggars,  cranks,  perverts,  and  mental  and  moral 
defectives  who  require  special  medical  and  surgical  attention." 

We  find  this  lead  being  followed  in  other  prisons,  both  local  and' 
State,  with  a  steady  development  in  the  medico-psychological 
direction.  The  position  of  the  prison  physician  is  developing 
apace.     He  is  organising  and  systematising   studies  and  efforts   to 

*>  "Proceedings,"   1913,    pp.    320-329.    A    large   part   oi  this  paper  was   reprinted    in   th» 
'Tenal  Relorm  League   Record,"  lor  Jnly,  1914,  p.    27. 


688  SOME  AMERICAN  EXPERIMENTS 

include  the  mental  welfare  of  patients  as  well  as  their  physical  needs. 
These  are  the  words  of  Dr.  Guy  G.  Fernald,  resident  physician  of 
the  Massachusetts  Reformatory,  who  told  the  1917  Congress"  :  — 

A  notable  step  taken  by  the  progressive  physicians  has  been  the 
recognition  of  the  importance  and  necessity  of  treating  in. prisoners  the 
remedial  physical  obstacles  to  clarity  of  thinking  and  symmetrical  mental 
development.  The  next  logical  step  in  penal  medicine  is  the  recognition 
of  the  importance  of  classifying  prisoners  on  the  basis  of  their 
mentality 

The  physician's  duty  and  privilege  to  study  and  safeguard  the  mental 
integrity  of  his  patients  should  be  regarded  as  not  less  important  nor 
apparent  than  his  responsibility  for  their  bodily  health.  The  prison 
physician  may  convey  vastly  more  benefit  to  his  charges  in  one  hour  by 
his  advice  and  prescriptions  of  moral  and  intellectual  calisthenics  based 
on  their  mental  needs  as  ascertained  by  the  analysis  and  friendly  in- 
ductive reasoning  of  the  psychopathic  interview  than  by  ministering  to 
them  in  the  hospital  for  days. 

Two  extracts  from  an  article  by  the  same  author  in  the  "Journal 
of  the  American  Institute  of  Criminal  Law  and  Criminology,"  for 
May,  1920,"  will  perhaps  indicate  more  clearly  the  kind  of  work  the 
American  prison  physician  is  now  making  his  own:  — 

The  real  reformatory  influence  of  a  penal  institution  with  a  psycho- 
pathic laboratory  is  of  two  kinds,  namely  :  (1)  The  constantly  exerted 
influences  born  of  the  community  knowledge  that  the  institution  exists 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  pointing  each  individual  to  his  best  course  of 
action,  and  (2)  the  critical  hours  in  the  laboratory  where  the  psychiatrist 
presents  the  case  to  the  prisoner  constructively  on  the  basis  of  the 
ascertained  and  checked-up  facts. 

The  direct  responsibility  for  behavior  rests  with  the  individual 
offender,  of  course.  The  prison  physician  is  responsible  not  for  the 
prisoner's  reformation,  but  for  doing  all  that  his  province  may  do  to 
assist  and  direct  the  offender  to  self-reformation. 

It  is  illuminating  to  some  prisoners  to  find  how  many  of  the  following 
five  steps  in  reformation  have  been  taken,  and  how  much  it  will  cost  to 
take  the  remaining  steps  : — 

1.  To  regret  the  damage  to  the  offender  and   to  others   caused   by  his 
mistakes. 

2.  To  intend  to  do  better. 

3.  To  ynake,  a  plan  of  how  he  may  live  day  and  evening  for  a  long  time 
(3  to  5  years)   while  practising  his   good  intentions. 

4.  To  decide  to  follow   the  plan  for  the  time  set  and  to  determine  to 
adhere  to  it 

5.  To  go  out  and  live  the  plan  as  determined. 

ts  "Proceedings,"   1917,  p.   208. 

»*  Article,   "The    Importance  of   Character  Study   in  Criminology."   p.    109;    also    reporti 
in   the  "American  Prisons   Association    Congress   Proceedings,"   1915,  commencing  p.  475 


THE  ENTRY  OF  SCIENCE  68» 

There  is  a  tendency  in  America  nowadays  in  a  case  of  ill-beha\'iour 
in  prison  to  refer  it  to  the  doctor  rather  than  have  recourse  to 
punishment  in  the  first  place." 

There  is  not  space  to  explain  all  that  these  scientific  people  hope  to 
do  for  prisoners.  In  the  words  of  Dr.  Spaulding,  they  are  working 
for  "increased  resources  in  institutions  for  re-education  along 
academic,  domestic  and  industiial  lines  as  well  as  for  the  treatment 
of  physical  disease  and  abnonnal  mental  conditions,  so  that  when 
the  individual  is  returned  to  the  community,  he  will  have  developed 
to  the  greatest  extent  possible  his  mental,  physical  and  social 
capacities."  " 

Naturally  the  phj'sician  has  a  leading  part  to  play  in  the  examina- 
tion of  the  prisoner  on  entry,  which  is  becoming  quite  an  elaborate 
affair.  This  leads  to  the  classification  of  prisoners;  or  at  any  rate 
some  people  hope  it  will.  When  the  present  proposals  are  fully 
carried  out  the  investigations  and  examinations  in  some  cases  will 
last  days  or  months,  and  will  be  supplemented  by  investigations  out- 
side prison  by  "field  officers,"  that  is,  trained  investigators  who 
visit  homes  and  any  places  where  information  is  to  be  had.  Cut  of 
all  these  investigations  the  physician  and  other  officials  will  work 
out  a  policy  for  each  px-isoner's  re-education. 

One  of  the  proposals  is,  to  quote  Dr.  Fernald  again,  for  "specially 
adapted  training  of  prisoners  in  suitably  constituted  groups,  these 
being  determined  by  individual  psychopathic  examination  for  classi- 
fication." A  new  plan  (already  under  way  when  America  entered 
the  war,  but  since  interrupted)  is  to  have  a  special  clearing  house 
for  each  State  or  municipal  system,  where  prisoners  will  be 
thoroughly  examined  and  tested  before  being  passed  to  the  institution 
considered  most  suitable  in  each  case.  Thus  for  New  York  State 
the  clearing  house  or  reception  prison  was  to  be  at  Sing  Sing,  and 
for  New  York  City  one  was  to  be  instituted  on  Blackwell  Island. 

Mr.  Lewis  F.  Pilcher,  New  York  State  architect,  addi'essing  the 
Congress  of  the  American  Prison  Association,  in  November,  1917,"' 
on  "The  Old  and  The  New  in  Prison  Construction,"  described  the 
new  Sing  Sing  prison  then  "under  way. "  After  giving  an  account  of 
the  prisoner's  first  reception,  his  physical,  educational  and  occupa- 
tional examination  leading  to  a  "first  classification,"  in  the 
Eegistration  Building,  he  proceeds  :  — 

**  Dr.  Edith  Spaulding,  formerly  director  of  the  psychopathic  hospital  of  the  laboratory  of 
social  hygiene  connected  with  the  Bedford  Hills  reformatory  for  women,  New  York,  in  her 
annnal  report,  dated  July,  1918,  makes  the  following  suggestions  arising  out  of  experience: — 
(1)  The  "need  of  study  and  diagnosis  both  sociological  and  mental  in  the  courts,"  before 
sentence,  so  that  "cases  with  marked  mental  defect  or  with  definite  psychoses"  may  re<-eiTe 
(iiitable  treatment  elsewhere,  "instead  of  receiving  a  penal  sentence";  also  that  advanced 
scientific  knowledge  may  be  applied  to  probation,  etc.;  T2)  in  institutions  (prisons,  etc.), 
"beside?  resources  for  sociological  investigation  and  p«ycholoeical  study,  either  in  a  consulting 
or  a  resident  physician,"  there  should  be  "a  psychiatrist  to  whom  every  rase  of  unus'ial 
behaviour  may  be  referred";  (5)  there  should  be  a  special  department  where  unusual  case^^^ 
could    receive    individual    study    and    treatment. 

*•  "Proceedings,"  Congress,    .^.P.A.,  1917,  p.  288. 

*^  Ibid,    pp.  82-89. 


690  SOME  AMERICAN  EXPERIMENTS 

Adjacent  to  the  Registration  Building,  and  on  the  same  high  plateau 
overlooking  the  Hudson,  is  a  temporary  detention  building,  -with  cell- 
rooms  so  arranged  as  to  place  the  prisoners  under  the  constant  super- 
vision of  the  clinical  experts,  who  conduct  their  examinations  in  the 
adjoining  clinical  laboratory  building. 

This  clinical  laboratory,  which  was  developed  under  a  special  Medical 
Commission,  has  on  the  first-floor  provisions  for  a  modern  X-ray 
apparatus,  and  its  various  accessoriea ;  three  rooms  for  the  surgical 
director  in  charge  of  the  venereal  examinations ;  an  X-ray  and  venereal 
laboratory ;  rooms  fitted  for  the  examinations  covering  the  eyes,  ears  and 
throat ;  and  a  laboratory  for  the  use  of  the  staff  working  in  the 
diagnosis  and  examination  rooms. 

On  the  second  floor  is  a  quantitative  laboratory,  a  museum,  a  recording 
room,  a  library,  and  lecture  rooms,  while  on  the  third  floor  are  surgical 
wards,  subdivided  for  major  and  minor  operations,  together  with  medical 
wards,  so  planned  as  to  have  ordinary  and  chronic  medical  cases  in 
separate   divisions. 

The  fourth  floor  contains  a  complete  operating  department  with  two 
operating  rooms,  one  for  major  and  the  other  for  minor  operations,  each 
having  separate  sterilization  facilities,  together  with  preparatory 
etherising  and  recovering  rooms,  while  the  remainder  of  the  floor  ia 
given  up  to  rooms  for  the  male  nurses  and  a  convalescent  solarium. 

In  addition  to  using  the  building  as  a  clinical  hospital  for  the  housing 
of  psychiatric  and  medical  requirements  of  the  prison,  it  is  also  planned 
to  use  it  as  a  school  for  the  education  of  male  nurses.  It  is  found 
that  efficiency  in  prison  nursing  is  directly  proportional  to  the  nurse's 
understanding  of  the  relation  of  scientific,  medical  and  psychiatric 
knowledge  to  the  peculiar  problems  of  a  prison  community. 

It  is  also  proposed  that  before  being  paroled,  prisoners  should 
return  for  examination  at  the  same  medico-psychological  clinic. 
Another  r6le  proposed  for  these  clinics  is  to  help  in  vocational 
guidance.  In  fact,  the  object  is,  in  the  words  of  Dr.  Bernard 
Glueck,  the  first  Director  of  the  Psychiatric  Clinic  at  Sing  Sing, 
"the  intensive  study  of  the  individual  delinquent  from  all  angles  and 
points  of  view." 

Psychiatrists  repeatedly  insist  that  this  scientific  study,  to  be 
successful,  must  be  a  personal  and  human  affair,  that  the  human 
being  behind  the  act  is  the  cnix  of  the  problem.  Good  personal 
relations  must  be  established  with  him.  And,  we  read  in  the  1917 
Report  of  the  Prison  Association  of  New  York,  "a  diagnostician  in 
crime  must  be  a  sociologist  as  well  as  a  clinician. "  He  cannot  afford 
to  ignore  faulty  economic  or  social  conditions.  A  Social  Service 
Bureau  was  organised  to  help  prisoners'  families  and  paroled 
prisoners,  in  connection  with  the  Sing  Sing  Psychiatric  CHnic. 

Universities  are  also  joining  in.  They  send  students  to  help  in 
prison  studies,  and  to  study  themselves.  The  Preston  School  of 
Industry  gives  scholarships  to  the  University  of  California  for 
students  who  will  study  in  the  school.  The  same  University  does 
extension  worK  in  St.  Quentin  prison.       The  Westchester  County 


THE    ENTRY    OF    SCIENCE  691 

Reformatory  offered  three  scholarships  to  New  York  University. 
Pennsylvania  State  College  of  Agriculture  gave  two  courses  of  agri- 
culture and  farming  to  the  prisoners  in  the  Eastern  Penitentiary ;  and 
the  prisoner  students  did  so  well  that  others  were  organised. 
Engineering  and  agricultural  certificates  have  been  won  through 
correspondence  and  other  tuition  by  both  men  and  women  prisoners 
m  several  places.     No  doubt  the  list  might  be  prolonged. 

The  above  information  will  meet  with  a  varied  reception  in  different 
minds.  With  regard  to  the  eagerness  of  the  doctors  to  classify 
prisoners,  we  are  reminded  of  the  prisoner  who  said  to  Mr.  Hanna, 
formerly  Provincial  Secretary  of  Ontario,  under  whom  so  much  was 
done  for  Ontario  penal  and  other  institutions :  ' '  You  will  make  the 
mistake  of  your  life  in  connection  with  this  whole  prison  if  you 
attempt  to  classify  us  at  all.  We  will  not  be  any  better  inside  than 
society  is  outside,  because  the  classification  of  society  is  what  brought 
us  here,  and  we  will  have  to  get  away  from  that  or  the  whole  thing 
falls  to  the  ground.""     We  find  Mr.  Osborne  writing**:  — 

But  the  great  difference  between  the  Elmira  system  and  the  prison  of 
the  future  would  be  that  the  classification  would  not  be  arbitrary  nor 
determined  by  the  prison  officials  (always  prone  to  error),  but  by  the 
verdict   of  each   man's  peers — ^his  fellow-prisoners. 

He  is  talking  here  of  the  two  or  three  groups  into  which  the  prison 
population  would  divide  itself  in  accordance  with  ability  to  hve  up  to 
standards  of  behaviour  set  in  the  "prison  of  the  future"  by  the 
organised  prisoners.  At  the  same  time  the  temporary  grouping  of 
prisoners  in  small  classes  for  purposes  of  instruction  or  training 
would  not  necessarily  interfere  with  the  general,  natural  grouping  of 
the  prisoners  by  themselves,  and  it  is  difficult  to  deny  the  useful 
part  the  medico-psychologist  might  play  in  helping  to  classify 
prisoners  for  industrial  purposes.  Nevertheless,  over-emphasis  of 
the  pathological  view  is  a  danger  to  be  guarded  against. 

A  point  which,  although  it  may  be  outside  the  immediate  scope  of 
this  inquiry,  bears  too  closely  on  it  to  be  ignored  is  the  fact  that  the 
medico-psychologist,  not  merely  asks  for  the  examination  of  con- 
victed persons  before  sentence;  he  asks  for  the  examination  of  all 
children  who  show  any  peculiarity  in  behaviour.  It  is  obvious  that 
this  latter  advice,  if  universally  followed,  would  greatly  affect  prison 
problems.  In  America,  medico-psychological  examination  before 
sentence  is  instituted  in  a  number  of  places ;  and  the  medico- 
psychological  clinic  for  children  is  established  as  a  regular  part  of 
the  educational  system  in  at  least  one  locality. 

Norfolk  State  Hospital,  Massachusetts. — A  conspicuous  example 
of  science  and  commonsense  combined  is  Massachusetts  hospital  for 
inebriates  and  drug  victims.     (There  may  be  others  of  the  same  kind 

'>  "Proceedings,"  Annual  Congress   American  Prison  Association,   1913,  p.  143. 
«»  "Prison  Reform,"  p.   308. 


ee2  SOME   AMERICAN   EXPERIMENTS 

and  as  good,  but  this  is  the  only  one  of  which  the  writer  has  know- 
ledge.) It  now  stands  in  about  1,000  acres  of  land  in  Norfolk  and 
Walpole  counties.  The  patients  do  various  kinds  of  work,  which 
they  seem  to  enjoy.  The  hospital  co-operates  for  employment  with 
other  institutions,  such  as  the  State  Fish  and  Game  Commission, 
forestry  and  agricultural  departments,  and  Amherst  Agricultural 
College,  from  which  it  receives  advice  and  help  (the  farm  seems  to 
be  practically  an  extension  colony  for  the  agricultural  college) ;  so 
that  it  is  able  to  join  in  the  work  of  furthering  advanced  agricultural 
methods. 

The  hospital  takes  voluntary  patients  as  well  as  those  sent  by  the 
courts.  The  latter,  on  signing  an  undertaking  to  abide  by  hospital 
rules,  are  allowed  the  same  freedom  as  other  patients. 

A  most  important  feature  is  the  out-patient  department,  which 
has,  throughout  Massachusetts,  a  number  of  out-patient  ofi&ces  and 
visiting  centres,  where  discharged  or  paroled  patients  as  well  as  others 
not  needing  admission,  or  before  admission,  can  be  seen  and  attended 
to.  Here,  also,  lectures  are  given  and  information  about  the  work 
of  the  hospital  disseminated.  Patients'  relatives  are  looked  up, 
employment  found,  and  generally  the  way  prepared  for  their  return 
from  hospital.  Dr.  Neff,  the  superintendent,  long  ago  thought  the 
two  years  maximum  period  of  detention  too  long,  and  the  actual 
stay  in  hospital  has  been  so  reduced  that  patients  are  often  paroled 
after  a  few  weeks  (in  1917  an  average  of  four  weeks),  thus  enabling 
them,  in  the  words  of  the  trustees,  to  "obtain  work  and  support  their 
families  during  the  critical  weeks  of  their  rehabilitation." 

The  courts,  in  dealing  with  inebriates,  have  come  more  and  more 
to  ask  the  advice  of   the  officers  of  this   hospital.       The  hospital 
authorities  themselves  regard   their  institution  as  fundamentally    a 
preventive  agency ;  while  Dr.  Neff,  the  superintendent,  writes  in  one  i 
of  his  reports  : —  1 

This   re-educational    work   can   be   briefly   expressed    as   follows  :    (a)  j 
physical   improvement  of  the  patient ;    (b)   removal  of  underlying  canw 
for  inebriety;   (c)   sustaining  interest;  (d)  return  of  patient  to  congenial 
employment    and   environment ;    (e)   extended   educational   treatment   by 
out-patient   department. 

We  have  here  an  example  full  of  suggestion  for  dealing,  not  onl]j 
with  inebriates,  but  also  with  other  persons  suffering  from  anti-socifi 
defects. 

Pbison  Industries. 

All  problems  of  the  re-education  and  rehabilitation  of  prisoners 
turn  on  the  central  problem  of  the  prisoner's  occupation,  especially 
his  daily  work.  The  founders  of  the  reformatory  movement  no  doubt 
recognised  this,  but  they  seem  to  have  handicapped  themselves  by 
overloading  their  curriculum  with  formal  "education."  Much  of 
the  working  day  is  spent  in  the  school  of  letters  and  in  the  "trade 


PRISOX  IXDUSTRIES  893 

school."  Manual  training  methods  and  "exercises"  in  making 
models  or  practising  processes  are  pursued  at  the  expense  of  pro- 
ductive work.  Twelve  or  18  months,  the  usual  actual  period  of 
detention  in  a  reformatory,  are  all  too  short  a  time  in  which  to 
learn  a  trade.  What  can  be  expected  when  this  time  is  reduced  by 
a  half  or  more? 

Dr.  Arthur  D.  Dean,  director  of  Agricultural  and  Industrial  Educa- 
tion in  the  New  York  State  Department  of  Education,  says: — "I 
cannot  conceive  of  a  prison  system  of  industrial  training  which  is  not 
a  part  of  the  educational  system."'*  Dr.  Christian,  superintendent 
of  the  Elmira  reformatory,  says : — "In  all  prison  industries  the  first 
consideration  must  be  training  for  future  honest  liveUhood."  *'  Taken 
in  conjunction  with  the  insistence  of  the  New  York  State  Prison 
Survey  Committee  that  "work  is  to  be  the  foundation  around  which 
every  activity  revolves  in  every  prison,""  we  may  take  these  state- 
ments as  summing  up  the  best  thought  in  America  on  the  subject. 
Dr.  Dean  points  out  that  in  many  prisons  "men  are  assigned  to  jobs 
in  a  perfectly  haphazard  manner,"  not  because  they  would  have 
chosen  such  work  or  will  necessarily  follow  it  after  they  leave,  and 
adds :  "  It  is  not  a  bit  of  an  overstatement  to  say  that  these  people 
are  really  forming  habits  of  idleness  rather  than  of  work,  and  when 
they  do  form  habits  of  work  they  are  learning  under  methods  and 
machinery  which  are  often  antiquated  and  produce  a  low  quality  of 
workmanship."     And  again:  — 

If  these  imprisoned  people  are  to  be  ruined,  I  can  think  of  no  better 
way  to  destroy  a  man  who  enters  prison  industrially  and  commercially 
capable  along  certain  productive  lines  than  to  as.sign  him  in  prison  to 
lines  of  labour  which  have  no  relationship  to  what  he  did  before  he 
came  in  or  w^hat  he  can  do  after  he  leaves." 

Apart  from  necessary  work  for  building,  repair  and  service  of 
prisons,  there  are  five  "Labour  systems"  in  American  con'ectional 
institutions,  namely:  — 

(1)  The  Lease  System,  by  which  prisoners  are  leased  out  to 
employei-s  away  from  the  prison,  much  like  so  many  slaves. 

(2)  The  Contract  System,  by  which  industry  is  carried  on  in 
prison  workshops,  under  prison  supervision,  the  contractor  supply- 
ing raw  material,  machinery  and  instructors,  paying  the  authorities 
so  much  a  day  per  man  for  the  labour,  and  disposing  of  the  products 
in  his  own  way.  This  involves  a  kind  of  dual  control  of  the  prisonei-s, 
and  the  warden  is  not  always  quite  master  in  his  own  prison.  There 
are  often  several  contracts  in  one  prison. 

••"The  Prison  and  the  Prisoner:  A  SymiK>sium,"  edited  by  Jnlia  K.   JaOray.  p.   127. 

•»  "The  Delinquent,"  April,   1915,  p.   5. 

•>p.  187. 

"  "The  Prison  and  the   Pri*on«r,"  p.   128-129. 


694  SOME  AMERICAN  EXPERIMENTS 

(3)  The  Piece-Price  System,  by  which  the  State  or  municipaUty 
manufactures  goods  in  prison  and  sells  them  to  contractors  at  an 
agreed  rate. 

(4)  The  State  or  Public  Account  System,  under  which  the  State 
or  other  public  authority  manufactures  its  own  goods  and  sells  them 
in  the  public  market. 

(5)  The  State  Use  Syst-em,  under  which  articles  are  manufactured 
for  the  use  of  the  State  and  public  institutions  and  political  dirisions 
of  the  State. 

Some  would  add  a  sixth,  the  Public  "Works  System,  to  denote  work 
on  roads,  bridges,  reclaiming  land,  etc.,  but  we  think  these  are 
generally  included  in  Stat^e  Use. 

The  trend  of  reform  is  in  the  direction  of  State  Use,  though  the 
Contract  System  remains  widely  used — until  lately  very  widely  used 
— and  still  has  its  advocates.  The  State  Account  System  prevails 
in  such  progressive  States  as  Minnesota,  Wisconsin,  and  Michigan, 
and  enables  prisons  of  the  highest  reputation  to  be  self-supporting, 
or  nearly  so,  or  even  make  a  surplus.  Under  this  system,  of  course, 
the  prison  competes  with  outside  trade,  excepting  where,  in  a 
particular  industry,  there  is  no  competition.  Such  a  trade  is  a  kind 
of  "blind  alley."     It  cannot  be  followed  after  release. 

The  State  Use  system  is  not  so  lucrative,  or  not  so  soon  made 
so,  as  others;  but  it  is  claimed  that  it  affords  more  diversified 
occupations  and  better  opportunities  for  trade  instruction,  and  gives 
many  openings  for  trade  carried  on  in  the  outside  world.  The 
following  is  a  statement  of  the  method  of  selecting  industries  under 
the  State  Use  system  in  Ohio:  — 

In  the  first  place  we  try  to  select  an  industry  that  will  be  instructive, 
and  will,  if  possible,  teach  the  men  a  trade.  Furthermore,  we  endeavour 
to  select  an  industry  that  will  go  back  as  nearly  as  possible  to  funda- 
mentals, one  in  which  the  raw  material  is  something  that  is  produced  by 
the  farm,  forest  or  mine.  In  other  words,  our  manufacturing  industries 
are  not  assembling  industries.  For  instance,  we  manufacture  practically 
all  of  the  furniture  used  by  the  State,  and  a  great  many  of  its  sub- 
divisions. This  requires  a  vast  amount  of  lumber,  and  to  secure  this 
we  are  working  in  conjunction  with  the  forestry  department  so  that 
the  forests  of  the  State  will  produce,  as  far  as  possible,  the  raw  material 
required.  In  like  manner,  in  our  woollen  mill  department,  our  raw 
material  consists  of  wool  purchased  from  the  farmer.  In  our  spinning 
department  our  raw  material  consists  of  a  bale  of  cotton,  and  the  finished 
product  is  a  garment. 

When  everything  is  taken  into  consideration,  the  State  Use  system 
is  ideal  from  a  manufacturing  standpoint,  in  that  the  market  is  all 
created.  There  is  no  sales  expense,  no  insurance  or  taxes,  and  no 
labour  troubles. 

In  selecting  an  industry,  our  first  move  is  to  select  a  man  to  have 
charge  of  it ;  a  man   who  is  skilled  in  that  pai  ticular  line,  and   a  man 


PRISON  INDUSTRIES  696 

who  can  handle  men.  With  his  advice  and  assistance  we  purchase  and 
instal  the  equipment.  His  assistants  in  turn  are  rated  as  guard-fore- 
men, and  are  men  who  have  had  experience  in  their  respective  lines  of 
work. 

We  endeavour  as  far  as  possible  to  obviate  all  appearances  of  detention. 
The  guards  work  with  the  men. 

All  the  clerical  work  at  the  brick  plant  and  the  stone  quarry,  the 
book-keeping  operations,  the  cooking,  and  all  service  in  the  dormitories, 
is  performed    by  prisoners. 

Each  of  these  industries  is  obliged  to  stand  on  its  own  base,  and  the 
cost  of  operation  borne  strictly  by  the  proceeds,  even  so  far  as  the 
clothing  and  feeding  of  the  men  themselves,  together  with  the  ordinary 
repairs  and  upkeep. 

In  addition  to  the  men  employed  in  strictly  manufacturing  industries, 
we  have  others  scattered  throughout  the  State  in  various  capacities,  such 
as  firemen  and  engineers'  helpers,  plumbers,  pipe  fitters,  table  waiters, 
hospital  attendants,  farmers,  gardeners  and  greenhouse  men.  These 
men  are  employed  singly  or  in  groups,  with  and  without  supervision.  At 
one  time  the  entire  work  on  the  farm  and  dairy  of  one  of  the  State 
institutions  was  handled  by  a  group  of  19  life  prisoners  without  &  guard. 

One  of  the  principal  aims  in  our  manufacturing  industries  is  to  gather 
up  waste  products,  to  stop  leaks,  and  to  operate  the  State  institutions  as 
efficiently  as  possible.  How  well  this  has  been  done  is  evidenced  by  the 
fact  that  during  the  past  year  when  the  highest  prices  in  history  have 
prevailed,  we  were  able  to  operate  the  several  State  institutions  at  a 
cost  practically  the  same  as  prevailed  during  the  year  1911,  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  in  the  interim  the  population  of  the  institutions 
had  increased  more  than  1,800,  and  that  there  had  been  added  two 
additional  institutions  under  the  control  of  the  Board.  The  Ohio 
Penitentiary  alone  is  operating  at  a  cost  of  $100,000  per  year  less  than 
in  1911." 

How  to  keep  the  work  up  to  the  standard  of  the  world  outside, 
so  as  to  send  prisoners  out  able  to  take  their  place  beside,  and  on 
an  equality  with  other  men — that  is  the  great  problem.  Efficiency 
IS  in  the  main  a  question  of  interest,  and  one  recalls  the  words  of 
The  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Control  of  Jackson  Prison,  Michigan: 
"Let  him  run  the  whole  thing  and  share  in  the  profits,  and  see  how 
long  it  takes  to  get  him  interested."  This  was,  apparently,  to  some 
extent  being  done  at  Jackson.  There  are  trades  which  carry  in  them- 
selves an  obvious  incentive.  In  one  or  two  prisons  the  writer  found 
v/hat  seemed  to  be  good  commercial  tailoring  and  bootmaking  for  the 
s  apply  of  prisoners  on  release,  so  that  they  could  go  out  presentably 
dressed.  They  were  in  some  cases  offered  a  choice  of  material. 
Suits  were  fitted  individually  in  one  case,  in  another  a  number  of 
sizes  were  made. 

The  Hon.  Burdette  G.  Lewis,  says:  — 

No  person  should  be  discharged  from  a  correctional  institution  unless 
supplied   with  a   well-fitting,   well-pressed    suit  of    clothes,  a  good   hat, 

•*  "The  State   Use  System  in  Ohio."    By  H.   S.  Riddle,  member  of  Ohio  Board  of  Admini- 
ttration.    National  Committee   on  Prisons,    etc.    Piiscn  leafiet   No.  52,   ip   3fl. 


«95  SOME  AMERICAN  EXPERIMENTS 

and  a  good  pair  of  shoes,  as  neatness  in  appearance  is  essential  if  a  man 
is  to  secure  work.'' 

Here  we  have  three  trades  called  for — tailoring,  shoe  making,  and 
hat  and  cap  making — all  of  which  should  be  taught  and  practised  up 
to  outside  standards  in  prison.  This  is  an  idea  which  might  be 
extended.  In  more  than  one  prison  the  barber's  trades  was  taught. 
Modern  American  prisons  have  bands  and  orchestras,  which  serve 
the  double  purpose  of  adding  music  to  the  educative  amenities  of 
prison  life  and  teaching  a  wage-earning  occupation. 

"The  best  judges  now  agree,"  writes  Mr.  Thomas  Mott  Osborne 
to  a  Board  of  Trustees,  under  date  2nd  April,  1920,  "that  prisoners 
should  receive  full  compensation  for  the  work  they  do  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  should  pay  for  all  they  receive — lodging,  board,  clothing, 
etc.  That  is  not  only  fair,  but  it  gives  to  the  prisoners  elementary 
lessons  in  pohtical  economy  which  most  of  them  badly  need."'* 
In  the  Eeport  of  the  Committee  on  Compensation  of  Prisoners  made 
to  the  1917  Congress  of  the  American  Prison  Association,  Warden 
C.  S.  Eeid,  of  Stillwater  Prison,  Minnesota,  made  the  following 
statement :  — 

In  the  institution  at  Stillwater,  Minnesota,  it  is  claimed  that  a  payment 
of  a  wage  to  the  prisoners  has  been  a  very  material  aid  in  the  matter  of 
prison  discipline,  and  has  increased  the  efficiency  of  the  prisoner  to  a 
very  marked  degree.  It  is  the  opinion  of  the  officials  of  that  institution 
that  the  wage  feature  more  than  doubles  the  efficiency  or  output  of  tha 
prison  industries.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  spirit  of  the  inmate  is 
very  materially  benefited  by  the  payment  of  a  wage.  It  gives  to  the 
inmate  a  sense  of  feeling  that  the  State  is  willing  to  reward  him  for 
good  conduct  and  industry,  and  very  much  lessens  the  helpless  and  hope- 
loss  feeling  that  is  apt  to  prevail  in  an  institution  where  a  man  is 
required  solely  to  do  so  much  time  for  so  much  crime.  The  effect  is 
also  beneficial  to  the  family,  for  in  Minnesota,  where  perhaps  as  much- 
or  more  is  done  than  elsewhere,  the  claim  is  made,  and  can  be  supported 
by  facts  and  figures,  that  no  child  is  deprived  of  its  schooling  by  reason 
of  the  fact  that  the  head  of  the  family  is  in  prison.  This  effect,  of 
course,  cannot  be  reduced  or  shown  in  dollars  and  cents,  but  will  always 
remain  an  unseen  force   and   benefit.*' 

In  this  remarkable  prison  they  keep  a  fund  for  helping  their 
prisoners'  dependents,  into  which  a  dollar  a  day  (apart  from  his 
wages)  is  paid  by  the  industry  to  which  a  prisoner  is  detailed." 

«■■>  "The  offender,"  p.   247. 

««  "The  Evening  Journal"    (Delaware),   April   6th,   1920. 

"  "Proceedings,   Congress  American  Prison  Association,"   1917,  pp.    74-5. 

•«  To  show  how  this  works  it  may  not  be  too  much  of  a  digression  to  quote  the  following 
from  a  paper  by  the  warden  to  the  1916  Congress :— "Last  winter  we  had  a  case  of  » 
family  of  six  children,  the  husband  having  been  committed  to  prison.  We  sent  our  agent 
that  day  to  his  family;  they  lived  30  miles  away.  He  found  the  wife  and  children  in  very 
»ad  circumstances.  He  'phoned  to  the  institution,  giving  information  regarding  their 
condition,  and  was  ordered  to  go  to  a  grocery  and  buy  provisions,  and  to  get  coal,  and 
not  to  leave  the  family  until  they  were  absolutely  taken  care  of.  It  was  done  without  delay. 
This  is  done  in  every  case,  if  we  find  them  in  immediate  need.  If  a  man  has  father,  mother, 
wife  or  children  depending  on  him,  rslief  is  lurnished.    ("Proceedings,"   1916,  pp.  141-2.) 


PSISOy  INDUSTRIES  697 

In  various  American  prisons  daily  "compensation"  of  from  1^ 
cents  to  $1.50  (say  about  three  halfpence  to  six  shillings)  is  paid 
or  credited  to  prisoners.  The  latter  figure  was  reported  from  Still- 
water (Minnesota  Prison)  in  1918,  with  probability  of  a  further  rise 
in  the  following  year.  The  families  of  local  prisoners  sentenced  for 
non-support  are  often  paid  50  or  75  cents  (say  two  or  three 
shillings). 

At  Montpeher,  Vermont,  Sheriff  F.  H.  Tracey  has,  since  about 
1910,  been  finding  employment  for  his  prisoners  with  neighbouring 
,  farmers  and  other  employers,  who  pay  from  $1.75  to  $2.50  (say 
I  eight  shillings  and  ninepence  to  twelve  shillings  and  sixpence)  a  day. 
j  One  dollar  ((5/-)  is  deducted  for  board  in  prison,  and  the  remainder 
goes  to  the  prisoner  for  himself  and  family.  The  prisoners  go  out 
to  work  in  ordinary  dress  and  return  to  prison  in  the  evening.  It 
is  reported  that  when  their  term  expires  they  have  no  difficulty  in 
finding  employment.  In  Windham  County,  Connecticut,  gaol 
prisoners  are  employed  in  gangs  of  10  or  12  on  farms,  on  excavations 
or  other  rough  work,  and  $2.50  is  paid  to  the  County,  which  allows 
nothing  to  the  prisoners.  But  the  contractors  voluntarily  added 
50  cents  (2/6)  for  the  prisoners  themselves.  In  Dayton,,  Ohio, 
the  city  Director  of  Welfare  finds  employment  for  local  prisoners, 
through  the  Free  Labour  Exchange  and  other  agencies,  with 
various  employers  in  factories,  etc.  Here  the  prisoners  receive 
the  whole  wage,  like  free  labourers.  They  return  to  prison 
each  night  on  foot  or  by  tram.  In  Wisconsin  there  is  a  State 
law  requiring  county  sheriffs  to  find  employment  for  their 
prisoners  outside  the  gaol,  and  some  counties  comply.  In  parts 
of  Delaware,  employment  is  found  for  prisoners,  who,  it  seems, 
earn  for  their  County  or  State,  as  the  case  may  be,  as  much  as  free 
labourers,  and  are  allowed  50  cents  a  day.  This  plan  of  employing 
prisoners  at  ordinary-  rates,  says  Dr.  Hastings  Hart,  from  whose 
reports  much  of  the  above  is  obtained,   "has  invariably  resulted  in 

surprising  increase  in  the  efficiency  of  the  prisoners,  and  a  very 
marked  improvement  in  the  numbers  who  become  honest  workmen 
after  their  discharge. "  "  In  Maryland  payment  of  wages  is  reported 
to  have  brought  prisoners'  work  up  to  the  standard  of  free  labour. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  in  1918  President  Wilson,  in  authorising 
the  placing  of  war  contracts  with  the  heads  of  prisons  and 
reformatories,  ruled  that  prisoners  engaged  on  such  contracts  should 
receive  wages  corresponding  with  those  paid  for  similar  work  in 
he  vicinity. 

It  is  supposed  by  some  people  in  America,  as  in  this  country, 
hai  "organised  labour"  bars  the  way  to  efficient  organisation  of 
srison  industries.  It  is,  of  course,  not  unnatural  that  workers 
ihould  object  to  the  competition  of  slave  labour,  which  is  what  prison 
abour  generally  is.     But,  where  "organised  labour"  has  been  con- 

•*  "The  War  Programme  of  the  Sta'.e  of  South  Carolin*"  (dated  February,  1918),  p.  53. 


«d8  SOME  AMERICAN   EXPERIMENTS 

suited  in  America,  it  has  been  found  ready  to  co-operate  in  the 
working  out  of  something  really  helpful  to  the  community  and  to 
the  prisoner.  Dr.  Dean  gives  the  sound  advice  that  "the  trade 
work  in  institutions  must  not  be  entered  into  until  there  is  an  under- 
standing with  organised  labor."'"  The  scheme  of  the  New  York 
State  Prison  Survey  Committee,  referred  to  below,  was  worked  out 
with  the  co-operation  of  Labour  representatives. 

The  organisation  of  prison  industries  with  an  educational  aim,  but 
on  a  business  footing,  is  not  a  very  simple  task.  Several  recent 
reports  have  tackled  the  problem;  for  instance,  the  Eeport  of  the 
Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania  Commission  to  investigate  Penal 
Systems,  1919;  the  Report  of  the  National  Committee  on  Prisons 
and  Prison  Labor  on  the  Penal  System  of  the  District  of  Columbia, 
U.S.A.,  1920;  and  the  Report  of  the  Prison  Survey  Committee  of 
New  York  State,  1920.  For  details  the  student  must  be  referred  to 
the  Reports  themselves,  especially  to  the  last-named,  which  is,  w© 
imagine,  the  most  complete  study  of  the  kind  yet  published ;  but  the 
following  rough  summary  of  most  of  their  recommendations  may  be 
offered :  — 

1.    The   Prisons  Department  to  have  the  following   diviaions,    amongst 
others  : — 

A  Bureau  of  Finance,  Supplies  and  Audit,  with  well-paid,  expert 
purchase,    store-keeping,   and    sales  agents ; 

A  Bureau  of  Industry,  Agriculture  and  Public  Work ; 

A  Bureau  of  Medicine  and  Psychiatry ; 

A  Bureau  of  Education ; 

Each  under  a  well-paid  chief  with  corresponding  directors  and 
divisions  in  the  prisons. 

Also,  for  the  various  industries.  Wage  Adjustment  Boards,  each 
composed  of  a  trades  union  representative,  and  a  manufacturer 
in  its  line  of  industry  and  a  representative  of  the  prisons'  finance 
department,  with  a  delegate  of  the  prisoners'  shop  committee  as 
secretary. 

Independent  of  the  Prisons   Department  proper,   there  should  be— 

(a)  A  Board  of  Standardisation  to  determine  kinds  and  qualities  of 
products,  create  standards,  prepare  specifications,  etc.,  and  see 
that    public  institutions   and   departments  buy  prison   products; 

(b)  A  Prison  Commission  for  inspecting  purposes  ; 

(c)  A  Board  of  Pardon  and  Parole  (with,  in  New  York  State,  the 
Superintendent  of  Prisons  or  his  deputy  as  a  member),  which 
would,  amongst  other  things,  require  of  a  prisoner  a  certain 
standard  of  industrial  efficiency  and  character,  and  perhaps  a 
bank  account,  before  granting  him  parole. 

The   State   Industrial    Commission   (of    New   York)    should   also, 
it  is  recommended,  have  power  to  inspect  prison  workshops. 

to  "The  Prison  and  the  Prisoner,"  p.  145. 


PRISOy  IXDUSTBrES  699 

2.  A  rotating  capital  fund,  to  be  turned  over  and  used  as  often  as 
required  for  business  purposes. 

3.  A  Receiving  Station  or  Clearing  House,  where  the  Bureaux  of 
Medicine  and  Psychiatry  and  of  Education  will  be  located  and  each 
prisoner  be  examined,  tested  and  classified  with  a  view  to  bein^ 
allocated  to  the  prison  and  to  the  work  most  likely  to  suit  him.  It 
is  a  part  of  the  scheme  that  the  prisons  should  be  classified  mainly 
according  to  the  industrial  efficiency  of  their  occupants. 

4.  Modern  and  adequate  equipment  in  workshops,  etc. 

5.  Business  (including  hygienic)  rules  for  working  conditions  and  hours. 

6.  Supplementary  vocational  instruction  and  other  educational  and 
recreational  provisions. 

7.  Wages  to  be  paid  as  recommended  by  Wages  Boards,  and  prisoners, 
as  far  as  possible,  to  pay  for  their  keep  and  for  that  of  their 
dependents. 

8.  Willing  co-operation  of  prisoners  to  be  secured  by  granting  them  a« 
much  freedom  and  responsibility  as  practicable.  Prisoners'  shop 
committees  or  councils  to  be  instituted. 

9.  Prisoners  to  be  encouraged  to  join  trades  unions  on  proving 
themselves  qualified  to  the  satisfaction  of  union  officials. 


CON'CLUSION, 

Although  the  application  of  the  principles  of  re-education  for 
criminals  is  difi&cult  and  complicated,  the  principles  themselves  are 
simple.  They  have  been  stated  by  Mr.  W.  R.  George,  in  four 
words: — Self-government  (which  has  here  been  called  "corporate 
responsibility"),  Self-support,  Recreation,  Service.  We  have  seen 
how  American  penal  reformers  are  trying  to  realise  the  first  three. 
In  America,  as  in  this  country,  it  was  discovered  during  the  war 
that  the  inmates  of  a  prison  would  respond  to  a  call  of  pubUc  service 
like  other  people;  and  it  would  not  really  be  hard  to  find  in  more 
normal  times  means  of  taking  advantage  of  this  trait  for  their  own 
good  and  for  the  good  of  the  community. 

The  lesson  of  this  short  study  of  American  thought  and  effort 
is  well  summed  up  in  words  which  it  would  be  well  if  the  public, 
and  its  sen'ants  who  administer  the  prisons,  would  take  to  heart  "  : 

"Unless  a  prison  is  curative  and  makes  a  man  better,  so  that 
when  he  goes  out  he  will  see  things  from  a  different  standpoint, 
it  has  no  more  right  to  exist  than  a  hospital  which  would  maim 
and  crippl-e  its  patients  and  send  them,  oui  a  greater  burden  on  the 
c-ommunity  than  when  admkted." 


"  Mr.  B.  Ogden  Chisbolm.  in   an  address  to  the  1919  Congress   o!  the   American  Priaoa 
Association   ("Proceedings,"  p.  25S). 


APPENDIX   III 


EEPOET    AND    RECOMMENDATIONS    OF    THE    INDIAN 

JAILS    COMMITTEE    AFTER    INVESTIGATING    ENGLISH 

AND   AMERICAN    PRISONS. 


In  April,  1919,  the  Government  of  India  adopted  a  resolution  recom- 
mending that  a  commission  should  be  appointed  "to  investigate  the 
whole  subject  of  jail  administration  and  to  suggest  improvements  in 
the  light  of  the  experience  of  the  West."  The  Secretary  for  India 
(Mr.  Montagu)  agreed,  and  a  Committee  was  appointed  under  the 
chairmanship  of  Sir  Alex.  G.  Cardew,  of  the  Madras  Executive 
Council.  It  consisted  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Home  Department  of 
the  Indian  Government  (Sir  J.  H.  Du  Boulay),  two  inspectors  of 
Indian  prisons  (Col.  Jackson  and  Sir  W.  Buchanan),  an  inspector  of 
English  prisons  (Mr.  Mitchell-Innes),  and  two  Indians  (K.  B.  K.  S. 
Hamid  Husain  and  D.  M.  Dorai),  with  an  official  of  the  Indian  Civil 
Service  (D.  Johnstone)  as  secretary. 

The  Committee  inspected  prisons  and  examined  witnesses  in 
England,  Scotland,  America,  Japan,  the  Philippines,  and  Hong 
Kong,  before  investigating  the  conditions  of  Indian  prisons,  and  its 
report  *  contains  most  useful  memoranda  upon  the  English  prison 
system  (prepared  by  Mr.  Mitchell-Innes)  and  the  treatment  of  child 
and  adolescent  offenders  in  Britain  and  the  United  States,  besides 
discussions  of  mental  defect  and  mental  abnormality  and  disease  as 
a  causative  factor  in  crime  (by  the  two  inspectors  of  Indian  prisons — 
both  medical  men)  and  the  indeterminate  sentence,  parole,  and  con- 
ditional release,  as  practised  in  America,  etc. 

Indian  prisons  are  very  different  from  English  prisons,  but  much 
of  the  report  and  many  of  the  recommendations  are  relevant  to 
English  conditions.  Mr.  Mitchell-Innes  appears  to  take  the  view 
throughout  that  the  English  prison  system  should  be  taken  as  the 
perfect  model,  but  he  is  frequently  in  a  minority.  We  summarise 
some  of  the  more  interesting  points. 

The  Silence  Rule. — On  the  subject  of  conversation  Mr.  Mitchell- 
Innes  advocates  "the  introduction  of  the  English  rule  under  which 
unnecessary  talking  at  all  times  renders  the  prisoner  liable  to  report," 
but  his  colleagues  hold  that  this  prohibition  is  not  necessary,  desir- 
able, or  enforceable,  and  recommend  that  quiet  conversation  should 
be  permitted,  except  at  parades. 

>  Cmd.   1303,   1921,  H.M.   Stationery  Office,  3s.  6d. 


REPORT  OF  INDIAN  JAILS  COMMITTEE  701 

Cellular  Confinement. — Similarly  on  the  question  of  cellular  con- 
finement Mr.  Mitchell-Innea  advocates  the  English  system,  being 
supported  on  this  occasion  by  the  chairman.  The  majority  of  the 
Committee — the  inspectors  of  Indian  prisons  and  one  of  the  Indians  * 
— defend  association  and  the  dormitory  system.  They  urge  that  the 
cellular  system  "would  seem  almost  of  necessity  to  result  in  em- 
bittering a  criminal  and  in  rendering  him  less  fit  to  resume  his  place 
in  the  ranks  of  honest  men.  A  prisoner  would  emerge  from  a 
sentence  carried  out  under  such  conditions  devitalised  by  cellular 
confinement,  depressed  by  silence  and  demoralised  by  monotony.'' 
The  true  method  of  preventing  contamination,  they  argue,  is  not 
cellular  confinement  but  classification,  "combined,  if  possible,  with 
a  psychological   and  psychiatrical  examination  of  each   criminal." 

To  shut  up  every  prisoner  in  a  cell  for  16  hours,  or  for  12  hours,  for 
the  whole  of  the  sentence  to  be  served,  on.  the  ground  that  some  may  be 
bad  and  may  infect  the  others,  is  akin  to  the  action  of  a  huntsman  who, 
discovering  a  couple  of  mangy  hounds  in  his  pack,  stops  his  hunting 
and  proceeds  to  put  every  hound  in  a  separate  enclosure  instead  of 
segregating  the   infected  animals  and   curing  their   disease. 

Every  gaol  should  contain  "a  fair  proportion  of  cells"  for  depraved 
or  refractory  prisoners,  or  for  better  class  prisoners  desiring  them. 

"Maconochie  found  Norfolk  Island  a  hell,"  say  the  advocates  of 
association,  "and  left  it  an  orderly,  well-regulated  community.  To 
effect  this  marvellous  change,  no  recourse  was  had  to  cells ;  he  relied 
on  a  firm,  even-handed  justice,  the  inspiration  of  hope,  and  his  own 
influence — that  of  a  good  and  earnest  man.  It  is  by  action  on  these 
ideas  that  we  shall  reform  and  improve  our  prisoners ;  we  shall  never 
do  so  by  putting  our  faith  in  bricks  and  mortar.     .     . 

"We  consider  that  to  shut  up  a  prisoner  in  a  cell  from  6  o'clock  every 
evening  till  6  o'clock  the  next  morning  for  years  together,  is  an  unnatural 
proceeding.  Undesirable  imagery  fills  the  mental  vacuity  of  the 
prisoner ;  and  if  there  is  risk  of  unnatural  vice  in  an  association  sleeping 
barrack — a  risk  in  our  opinion  grossly  exaggerated  as  likely  to  exist 
among  selected  prisoners  or  in  properly  lighted,  properly  patrolled 
wards — there  is  a  much  greater  risk  of  self-abuse  in  the  cell.  The 
objection  to  cells  would  largely  disappear  if  prisoners  were  not  locked 
up  in  them  till  9  p.m.  ...  It  is,  in  our  opinion,  most  important 
that  the  idle  time  between  5.30  p.m.  and  the  hour  of  sleep  should  be 
fully  occupied  by  education,  reading,  and  simple  indoor  games." 

Recreation. — The  Committee  as  a  whole  accepts  the  view  that 
"the  hours  between  lock-up  (5.30  to  6.30)  and  8.30  or  9  p.m.  are 
those  in  which  time  must  hang  most  heavily  on  the  prisoners'  hands 
and  in  which  ilHcit  practices  and  harmful  conversation  are  most 
likely  to  occur."  It  recommends,  therefore,  that  wherever  possible, 
a  recreation  room  should  be  provided  "where  prisoners  would  be 
allowed  to  read,  either  to  themselves,  or  aloud,  to  play  quiet  indoor 
games,   or  to  receive  education."     Mr.   Mitchell-Innes  opposes  the 

»  D.  M.   Dorai   Rajah. 


702  REPORT   OF  INDIAN  JAILS  COMMITTEE 

introduction  of  this  plan  into  cellular  jails  "on  the  ground  of  the 
risk  of  contamination  involved." 

The  Staff. — The  Committee  urges  that  in  order  to  achieve  the 
objects  of  imprisonment — "the  prevention  of  further  crime  and  the 
restoration  of  the  criminal  to  society  as  a  reforaied  chai'acter" — "it 
is  in  the  first  place,  essential  that  the  care  of  criminals  should  be 
entrusted  to  men  who  have  received  an  adequate  training  in  peno- 
logical methods.  The  day  is  past  when  it  can  be  supposed  that 
anyone  is  fit  to  manage  a  prison,  just  as  it  is  no  longer  imagined 
that  anyone  can  teach  in  a  school."  It  therefore  recommends  that 
"every  prison  should  be  under  the  superintendence  of  a  trained 
expert,"  and  that  "the  whole  prison  staff  should  be  so  selected  and 
remunerated  that  they  may  exercise  a  salutory  influence  on  the 
prisoners  under  their  control."  In  order  to  secure  "wise  and 
careful  management,"  the  number  of  prisoners  in  one  prison  should 
not  exceed  1,000. 

Labour. — The  Committee  declares  that  the  object  of  prison  labour 

must    be    "the    prevention    of    crime    by    the    reformation    of    the 

criminal."     In  the  case  of  the  long-terra  prisoner  trades  should  be 

taught.     The  Committee  feels  that  "to  supply  agricultural   labour 

for  100,000  prisoners  who  represent  the  daily  population  of  Indian 

jails,  is  out  of  the  question,"  but  recommends  that  the  old-fashioned 

industrial  implements  now  used  should  be  replaced  by  modern  tools. 

It   is  evident  that   training  under  modern  conditions  must  possess   a 

greater  instructional  value  than  a  period   passed  in  breaking  stones,   in 

turning   the   handle    of    an   oil-press,    or   even   in    working   the   simple, 

primitive  mechanism  of  a  hand-loom.     We  have  come  to  the  conclusion 

that  the  greater  benefit  to  the  prisoner  will  be  conferred  by  giving  him 

the  best  available   instruction  in   up-to-date  methods  of  labour,   and   so 

enabling  him  to  command  a  living  wage  on  his  release  from  prison. 

The  Committee  recommends  that  attention  should  be  concentrated 
in  each  jail  on  one  or  two  large  industries  and  that  each  should  have 
at  its  head  an  expert  "who  has  received  thorough  training  in  the 
special  industry  of  the  jail."  Power-driven  machinery  should  be 
introduced.  Familiarity  with  such  machinery  is  "instructive  and 
mind-awakening"  and  at  the  same  time  "it  increases  production  and 
tends  to  give  increased  relief  to  the  taxpayer."  The  articles  pro- 
duced should  be  sold  to  the  various  Departments  of  the  Government, 
which  should  be  compelled  to  purchase  them,  "subject  to  the 
condition  that  they  are  of  similar  quality  to,  and  not  of  greater 
price  than,  those  obtainable  in  the  open  market."  The  sale  of 
articles  to  the  general  public  should  not  be  prohibited,  but  it  should 
be  reduced  to  a  minimum.  Prisoners  should  be  paid  a  money 
gratuity  for  any  out-put  in  excess  of  the  fixed  task.' 

Mental  Defectives. — The  Committee  recommends  that  mentally 
deficient  prisoners  should  be  entirely   removed   from  the  ordinary 

>  »e«  OP.   121-82. 


BE  POST   OF  INDIAN  JAILS  COMMITTEE  703 

prisons  and  that  in  each  Province  there  should  be  estabUshed  a 
special  institution  for  such.  It  suggests  that  mental  deficiency 
should  be  defined  as  in  the  English  Mental  Deficiency  Act,  except 
that  the  words  "froin  hirth  or  from  an  early  age,"  should  be 
omitted.  The  two  inspectors  of  Indian  prisons  *  advocate  among 
other  things  (1)  that  all  young  adults  and  children  who  commit 
crime,  should  be  mentally  examined  by  an  expert;  (2)  that  all 
persons  should  be  so  examined  before  being  released  on  probation ; 
(3)  that  all  persons  should  be  so  examined  before  being  released 
on  parole;  (4)  that  all  mentally  defective  and  mentally  abnormal 
persons  should  be  sent  to  a  special  prison,  and  (5)  that  selected 
medical  officers  in  the  prison  service  should  be  sent  to  the  United 
States  to  study  the  subjects  and  the  methods  there  in  use.  The 
Secretary  of  the  Home  Department  of  the  Indian  Government 
concurs  in  the  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  of  these  proposals. 

Unconvicted  Prisoners. — The  majority  of  the  Committee  is 
opposed  to  unconvicted  prisoners  being  kept  in  their  cells  all  day 
(Mr.  Mitchell-Innes  and  one  of  the  Indians  form  the  minority),  but 
any  prisoner  who  desired  to  remain  in  his  cell  should  be  allowed  to 
do  so,  and  adolescents  and  those  who  have  not  been  previously 
sentenced  should  be  separated  from  other  unconvicted  prisoners. 
The  Philippine  custom  of  counting  half  the  period  of  detention  before 
and  during  trial  as  part  of  the  sentence,  is  urged  to  be  worthy  of 
consideration.     Tobacco  should  be  permitted,  but   not  alcohol. 

Indeterminate  Sentence.  —  The  Committee  recognises  "  the 
theoretical  advantages  of  the  indeterminate  sentence,"  and  thinks 
it  probable  "that  it  will  continue  to  be  more  and  more  widely 
accepted,"  but  does  not  think  it  suitable  everywhere  in  India  at 
present.  It  recommends,  however,  that  every  long  sentence  should 
be  brought  under  review  when  half  the  period  has  been  served  in  the 
case  of  "non-habituals,"  and  two-thirds  in  the  case  of  "habituals." 
The  Revising  Board  should  consist  of  the  Inspector-General  of 
Prisons  for  the  Province  (chairman),  the  district  judge,  and  a  non- 
official  appointed  by  the  Government.  Prisoners  released  on  parole 
should  undergo  some  sort  of  probationary  stage,  during  which  their 
fitness  for  final  release  could  be  tested  and  they  themselves 
gradually  habituated  to  freedom.  In  all  cases  the  release  of  a 
prisoner  on  parole  should  be  made  subject  to  conditions,  breach  of 
which  would  render  him  liable  to  be  remanded  to  undergo  the  full 
original  sentence.  The  duty  of  seeing  that  a  prisoner  fulfils  the 
conditions  should  not  be  imposed  on  the  police,  but  upon  parole 
officers. 

The  Committee  (with  the  dissent  of  one  of  the  Indian  members) 
recommends  the  prohibition  of  sentences  of  imprisonment  for  less 
than  28  days. 

*  Ool.  Jackson  and  Sir  W.  Bocbanav^^ 


APPENDIX    IV 


LIST    OF    PEINCIPAL   AUTHOEITIES 

[The  following  List  comprises  all  the  principal  publications  and  documents 
which  have  been  quoted  or  otherwise  used  in  the  text  and  footnotes  of  this 
book.  It  is  not  an  exhaustive  bibliography,  even  for  English  Prisons  for 
the  years  1895  to  1922.] 

I.— OFFICIAL    PUBLICATIONS. 

The  Prison  Act,  1877. 

The   Prison   Act,  1898. 

The  Prevention  of  Crime  Act,  1908. 

The  Criminal  Justice  Administration  Act,  1914. 

The  Annual  Reports  of  the  Commissioners  of  Prisons  and  Directors  of 
Convict  Prisons  in  England  and  Wales,  1895-1921.  (For  certain  years  these 
were  published  in  two  separate  parts.     See  pages  62-3  ante.) 

Statutory  Rules  and  Orders  made  by  the  Secretary  of  State  under  the 
Prison  Act,  1898,  for  Local  Prisons  and  for  Convict  Prisons,  in  April,  1899, 
and  subsequently.     (See  pages  57-8  ante.) 

Rules  and  Standing  Orders  for  the  Government  of  Local  and  Convict 
Prisons,  1911,  and  subsequently.  (The  Standing  Orders  are  privately  issued 
for  the  Prison  Service  and  are  not  obtainable  by  the  public.  See  pages  63-4 
ante. ) 

Judicial  Stati-stics  (Criminal),  England  and  Wales,  for  the  years  1905  to 
1919. 


1895.  Report  of  the  Departmental  Committee  on  Prisons,  1894,  Cmd.  7702 
(5id.)  :  Minutes  of  Evidence  and  Appendices,  Cmd.  7702,  I. 

1896.  Observations  of  the  Prison  Commissioners  on  the  Recommendations 
in  the  Report  of  the  1894-5  Prisons  Departmental  Committee,  Cmd.  7995. 

1898.  Statement  by  the  Prison  Commissioners  of  the  action  taken,  up  to 
January,  1898,  to  carry  out  the  Recommendations  in  the  Report  of  the  1894-5 
Prisons  Departmental  Committee,   Cmd.    8790. 

1896.  Report  of  the  Departmental  Committee  on  the  Education  and  Moral 
Instruction  of  Prisoners  in  Local  and  Convict  Prisons  (Prisoners'  Education 
Committee),    Cmd.   8154  ;   Minutes  of  Evidence,  Cmd.   8155. 

1899.  Report   of  Departmental  Committee  on  Prison  Dietaries. 

1900.  Report  of  Departmental  Committee  on  Scottish  Prisons,  Cmd.  218. 


LIST   OF   PRINCIPAL  AUTHORITIES  706 

1911.     Report  of   Departmental   Committee   on    the    Supply   of    Books   to 
Prisoners   (Prison   Libraries   Committee),  Cmd.   5589. 


1901.  Report  on  the  Proceedings  of  the  Fifth  and  Sixth  International 
Penitentiary  Congresses  (Paris,  1895 ;  Brussels,  1900),  by  Sir  E.  Ruggles- 
Brise,  Cmd".  573  f9d.). 

1906.  Report  on  the  Proceedings  of  the  Seventh  International  Penitentiary 
Congress   (Buda-Pesth,  1905),  by  Sir  E.   Ruggles-Brise,  Cmd.  2849. 

1911.  Report  on  the  Proceedings  of  the  Eighth  International  Penitentiary 
Congress  (Washington,   1910),  by  Sir  E.  Ruggles-Brise,  Cmd.  5593  (4id.). 

1911.  Report  on  the  Proceedings  of  the  Eighth  International  Penitentiary 
Congress  (Washington.  1910),  by  the  Chairman  of  the  Prison  Commissioners 
for  Scotland,  Cmd.  5640. 

(See  also  Actes  du  Congres  Penitentiaire  International,  1910,  a  Washingtoo 
(1913,  Staempfli,  Berne)  :  Vol.  V.  :  Article  on  "The  Construction  and  Equip- 
ment of  English  Prisons,"  by  Major  H.  S.  Rogers,  Chief  Surveyor  of  English 
Prisons.) 

1921.  Report  of  the  Indian  Jails  Committee,  1919-20,  Cmd.  1303, 
especially  Appendix  II.,  "Memorandum  on  the  English  Prison  System,"  by 
Mr.   N.  G.  Mitchell-Innes,  Inspector  of  Prisons  in  England  and  Wales. 


II.— REPORTS    OF    ASSOCIATIONS. 

The  Howard  Association  :  Annual   Reports,   1895  to  1920. 

The  Penal  Reform  League  :  Annual  Reports  and    "Records,"  1907-1920. 

The  Howard  League  for  Penal  Reform  *  (being  the  joint  body  now  repre- 
senting the  former  Howard  Association  and  Penal  Reform  League)  :  The 
Howard  Journal,   1921. 

The  Central  Association  for  the  Aid  of  Discharged  Convicts  :  Annual 
Reports,  1912  to  1921. 

The  Borstal  Association  :  Annual  Reports.  1910  to  1921. 


III.— GENERAL    LITERATURE. 

B.\LrouR,  Jabez  Spencer,  author  of  "Mv  Prison  Life,"  1907  (Chapman  and 
Hall). 

Brockway,  a.  Fenneb,  author  of  "Prisons  as  Crime  Factories,"  1919 
(International  Bookshops,  Ltd.). 

Devon,  Dr.  James,  member  of  the  Scottish  Prison  Commission,  late  Medical 
Officer  of  H.M.  Prison,  Glasgow,  author  of  "The  Criminal  and  the  Com- 
munity," 1911  (John  Lane,  6s.);  and  of  a  paper  on  "The  Relation  Between 
Crime  and  Destitution  and  the  Effects  of  Imprisonment"  (Report  of  the 
Proceedings  of  the  Crime  and  Inebriety  Section  of  the  National  Conference 
on  the  Prevention  of   Destitution,  1913,  P.  S.  King,  28.  6d.). 

Du  Cane,  Sir  EoMrND  F.,  First  Chairman  of  the  Prison  Commissioners, 
1878-1895,  author  of    "The  Punishment  and  Prevention  of  Crime"  (1885). 

'Addresses:  43,  OeTonshirs  Chambers,  Bishopsgate,  London,  E.C.2;  and  7,  Dalmen/ 
Avenne,  London,  N.7. 


706  LIST   OF   P  RISC  I  PAL  AUTHORITIES 

Goring,  Dr.  Charles,  late  Deputy  Medical  Officer  H.M.  Prison,  Park- 
hurst,  author  of  "The  English  Convict  :  A  Statistical  Study,"  1913  (H.M. 
Stationery  Office,  9s.  ;  abridged  edition,  1919,  3s.). 

Healy,  Da.  William,  Director  of  the  Juvenile  Psychopathic  Institute, 
Chicago,  author  of  "The  Individual  Delinquent,"  1915  (Heinemann,  2l8.). 

HoBHOUSE,  Stephen,  author  of  "An  English  Prison  From  Within,"  1919 
(Allen  and  Unwin,  Is.). 

Holmes,  Thomas,  late  Secretary  to  the  Howard  Association  and  Polica 
Court  Missionary,  author  of  "Pictures  and  Problems  from  London  Police 
Courts,"  1900;  "Known  to  the  Police."  1908  (Arnold)  ;  and  "Psychology  and 
Crime,"  1912   (Dent). 

Hopkins,  Tighe,  author  of  "The  Silent  Gate  :  A  Voyage  into  Prison,"  and 
"Wards  of  the  State,"  1913   (Herbert  and   Daniel,  lOs.  6d.). 

Mason,  E.  Williamson,  author  of  "Made  Free  in  Prison,"  1918  (Allen 
and  Unwin,  28.  6d.). 

NiTSCHE,  Dk.  Paul  and  Wilmanns,  Karl,  authors  of  "The  History  of  the 
Prison  Psychoses,"  1912  (authorised  translation  by  Dr.  F.  M.  Baines  and 
Dr.  Bernard  Glueck,   New  York). 

Osborne,  T.  Mott,  late  Warden  of  Sing  Sing  Prison,  and  afterwards  ol 
the  Naval  Penitentiary,  New  Portsmouth,  author  of  "Within  Prison  Walls," 
1915,  and  "Society  and  Prisons,"   1916  (Humphrey  Milford,  7s.  6d.). 

Paterson,  Arthur,  author  of  "The  Metropolitan  Police,"  and  "Oui 
Prisons,"  1911  (Hugh  Rees,  Is.). 

QciNTON,  Dr.  R.  F.,  late  Governor  and  Medical  Officer  of  H.M.  Prison, 
Holloway,  author  of  "Crime  and  Criminals,  1910  (Longmans,  Green,  48.  Gd.), 
and  "The  Modern  Prison  Curriculum,"  1912  (Macmillan,  5s.). 

Ruggles-Brise,  Sir  Evelyn,  Chairman  of  the  English  Prison  Commission, 
1895-1921,  and  President  of  the  International  Prison  Commission,  author  oi 
various  papers  at  International  Pri.son  Congresses  and  Reports  of  their  Pro- 
ceedings, and  of  "The  English  Prison  System,"  1921  (Macmillan,  7s.  6d.). 

Smalley,  Sir  Herbert,  M.D.,  late  Medical  Inspector  of  Prisons  and 
Medical  Member  of  the  Pri.son  Commission,  1899-1918,  author  of  "Prison 
Hospital  Nursing,"  1902  (H.M.  Stationery  Office,  published  for  the  Prisor 
Service  only). 

Suthehland,  Dr.  J.  F.,  late  Medical  Officer,  H.M.  Prison,  Glasgow,  and 
Setretary  (f  the  Departmental  Committee  on  Habitual  Offenders,  Inebriates, 
Vagrants,  and  Juvenile  Delinquents,  author  of  "Recidivism  :  Habitual 
Criminality  and  Habitual  Petty  Delinquency,"  1908  (W.  Gi'een  and  Sons, 
3s.). 

Thomson,  Sir  Basil,  late  Governor  of  Dartmoor  Prison,  author  of  "Th« 
Story  of  Dartmoor  Prison,"  1907  (Heinemann). 

Webb,  Sidney  and  Beatrice,  authors  of  "English  Prisons  Under  Local 
Government,"  1922  (Longmans,  Green  &  Co.,   15s.). 

Wines,  Dr.  F.  H.,  author  of  "Punishment  and  Reformation  :  A  Study  ol 
the  Penitentiary  System,"  1895  (Swan  and  Sonnenschein,  7s.  6d.  Revised 
edition  with  two  papers  added  by  Winthrop  D.  Lane,  1910,  T.  Crowell, 
New  York). 


INDEX 


Accidental  Criminals. 

Classes,  9-11. — Effect  of  imprison- 
ment,   82-3. — Lapses    to    habitual 
class,  12-13. 
See  also  First  Offenders. 

Adleh,  Dr.  H.  M.,  518. 

After  Care,  Ch.  XXVIII.  (Part  1), 
467-74. 

Borstal  inmates,  410,  430-35.  467, 
474;  438-39  (girls).  —  Commis- 
Bioners  and,  82,  468,  469,  471,  473. 
—Convicts,  326,  403,  467,  472-74, 
632.  —  Departmental  Committee 
(1895)  and,  71.  —  .Juvenile  Adult 
prisoners,  299,  300,  303,  410,  467, 
471.  —  Lady  visitors  and,  166-67, 
199-200,  471.— Local  prisoners,  105, 
467-72.  —  Preventive  Detention 
prisoners,  445,  457-62,  467,  474.— 
Women  prisoners,  199-201,  467 ; 
348,  467,  473  (Convicts). 
See  also  177-78.  193-94.  200-1,  205, 
309,  323,  399,  515-17,  603,  609.  620, 
621-22,  623,  624;  and  American 
prisons. 

Age  or  Prisoners,  5,  22,  24,  38. 
Borstal  inmates,  412,  415-16,  434- 
35,  440.— Convicts,  317.— Habitual 
criminals  on  conviction,  13,  530. — 
Preventive  Detention  prisoner;!, 
13,  451-52. — Prisoners  committing 
anicide,  553.  —  Women  prisoners, 
6,  22,  38. 

American  Prisons,    Appendix   II., 
651-99. 

Absence  of  secrecy,  653.  —  After 
care,  654-56.  —  American  Prison 
Association,  653,  658,  659,  665, 
666,  675,  679-80,  686,  687.  688, 
689-90,  691,  696,  699.  —  Auburn 
prison,  642,  675-77,  679,  681.  682. 
—Buildings,  660-62,  663,  689-90.— 
Cells,  660-61,  663,  690;  662 
(Punishment).  —  Centralisation, 
651-52,  664.  —  Chaplains,  656-57, 
658,  659.—  Classification,  217-18, 
664,  689.— Concerts,  175,  657,  658. 

—  Conversation,  659.  —  Convict 
Road  Camps,  116,  653.  664-70.— 
Corporal  punishment,  662.  —  Cor- 
porate responsibility  of  prisoners, 
217-18,  452,  465,  642.  653,  671-86. 

—  Crafts,  658-59.  —  Debates,  669. 

—  Diet,  659.  —  Dietary  punish- 
ment,   662.    —  Dormitories,     664, 


665.  —  Dress,  660.  —  Drug 
victims,  679,  691-92.  —  Economy, 
669-70.  —  Education,  656,  698.— 
Elmira  prison,  654,  656,  657,  693. 
—  Employees  (warders),  658.  — 
Escapes,  668.  —  Farms,  116,  653, 
661.  662,  663,  664-70.  —  Finance, 
665-66,  669,  698.— George  Junior 
Republic,  672-74.  —  Health  of 
prisoners,  680.  —  "  Honor  " 
System,  451,  653,  664,  668.  —  In- 
determinate sentence,  654-56.  — 
Inebriates,  691-92.  —  Instructors, 
665-67,  669-70,  677.  —  Labour. 
124,  635,  663,  664-71,  692.  — 
Letters,  206-7,  660.— Library,  656. 
—Lighting,  664.  —  Meals,  659.  — 
Medical  attention,  653,  655,  662, 
663,  682,  686.— Mental  and  moral 
effects,  680.  —  Mental  treatment, 
412,  653,  655,  662.  663.  682,  686-92, 
698,  703.— Mutual  Welfare  League, 
217,  455,  656,  676-86.  —  News- 
papers, 657.  —  New  York  Prison 
Association,  97,  124,  653,  656, 
690.  —  Norfolk  State  Hospital, 
691.— Parole,  212.  654-55,  663.  664. 
670-71,  690,  698,  700,  703.— 
Philippine  prisons,  305,  664,  675. 
700,  703.  —  Physical  exercises, 
657.  —  Police  and  parole,  655.  — 
Portfsmouth  Naval  prison,  678. — 
Principles  of,  76. — Probation,  517, 
651.  —  Progressive  Merit  Svstem, 
662-64.— Punishments.  662,  '689.— 
Recreation,  657-59,  662. — Reforma- 
tory prisons,  73.  442,  653,  654-64. — 
Sanitation,  660-61. — Schoolmasters. 
656. — Self-Government  Movement, 
217-18,  452,  465,  642,  653,  671-86. 
—Sing  Sing  prison,  217-18,  642, 
677-82.  690.  Sunday,  656.— Tem- 
porary paroles,  664,  670-71. — 
Tobacco,  662. — Trade  L'nions  and 
prison  labour,  697-98,  699. — Venti- 
lation, 660-61.  —  Visits,  660.  — 
Wages,  121-22.  696-98.— Wardens 
(Governors),  652,  661,  663,  664, 
671.  —  Washington  "Honor 
Community,"  674-75.  —  Women 
prisoners,  654,  655,  661,  664,  682. 

Andrews,  A.,  J. P.,  435. 

Appeals,  47-8  (from  Magistrates)  : 
48  (from  Quarter  Sessions  and 
Assizes). 

Attellants,  215,  312. 


708 


INDEX 


Artificial  Feeding,  257-68,  278. 
AsQuiTH,  Right  Hon.  H.  H.,  M.P., 

56. 
Association  of  Prisoners. 

See  American  Prisons,  Borstal, 
Convicts,  Debtors,  Education, 
First  Division,  Hospital,  Labour, 
Meals,  Preventive  Detention,  Re- 
creation, Silence  Rule,  Talking 
Exercise,  Unconvicted  Prisoners, 
Women  Prisoners. 
Aylesbury     Borstal     Institution 

FOR  Girls,  411,  418,  435-39. 
Babies  in  Prison,  17,  346-47,   350; 

437  (Girls'  Borstal). 
Bacon,  Corinne,  672. 
Bail. 

See  Unconvicted  Prisoners. 
Baird,  Sir  J.,  198. 
Balfour,  Jabez,  183,  231,  359,  705. 
Baths,    95,    101,    138-39,    218,    279, 
637;   146   (hospital);  448   (Preven- 
tive  Detention). 
Bed,   96,    133,    134,    140,    148;   419, 
435-36    (Borstal);    319,    324,     348 
(Convicts) ;   221    (First   Division)  ; 
218    (Second    Division);    447,    457 
(Preventive  Detention) ;  307   (Un- 
convicted). 
Bedford  Prison,  18,  299. 
Bentinck,  Lord  Henry  Cavendish, 

M.P.,  271-72. 
Birmingham  Experiment  in  Mental 
Observation,  52-3,  68-9,  218,  261, 
286,  306,   332,  398-99,   401,  597. 
Birmingham  Prison,  18,  52-3,  68-9, 
173,  218,  261,  272,  286,  306,  332, 
398-99,  401,  471,  597. 
Board  of  Control,  58. 
Board  of  Education,  153,  155,  158, 

168;   402,   422   (and  Borstal). 
Bolasky,  H.  B.,  685. 
Borstal,  Ch.   XXVI.  (Part  1),  410- 
40. 

Aims  of,  410.  —  Alternatives 
to  imprisonment,  6,  51. — Buildings, 
418-20,  429,  660.— Cases  in  Local 
prisons,  414-15,  440.— Cost,  124-25. 
— Diet,  426. — Educational  stand- 
ard, 416.— Education,  420-26,  440; 
436-37  (girls).— Girl  offenders,  411, 
418,  435-39.— Labour,  124,  422,  423, 
424,  426-30,  440;  436  (girls).— 
Location  of  institutions,  18,  418. — 
Medical  attention,  272,  274,  420; 
437  (girls).  —  Mental  defectives, 
412,  416,  418,  423-24,  440;  438 
(girls).    —    Population,     411-18.— 


Religious  ministration,  422 ;  436 
(girls).  — Results,  433-35  (boys); 
438-39  (girls).— Staff,  419-22,  440.— 
Trade  instruction,  426-30,  440; 
436   (girls). 

See  also,  6,  18,  22,  51,  57,  58,  65, 
68,  70,  83,  203,  298,  316,  442,  467, 
474,  476,  606;  Borstal  Association 
and  Modified  Borstal. 

Borstal  Association,  410,  417,  418, 
424,  425,  426,  428,  450-35,  437, 
438-39,  467,  474,  705. 

Borstal  Committees,  300,  303,  467, 
469,  471. 

Brace,  Right  Hon.  W.,  271-72,  274. 

Bridges,  Dr.  J.  H.,  535. 

Bridges,  General,  657,  660. 

Bristol  Prison,  18,  276,  299,  300. 

Brixton  Prison,  18,  255,  261,  276, 
310,  367. 

Broadmoor  Criminal  Lunatic 
Asylum,  58,  331. 

Brockway,  a.   Fenner,  301,  705. 

Brockway,  Z.  R.,  654. 

Buchanan,   Sir   W.,  700. 

Buildings,  Ch.  V.   (Part  1),  86,-92, 
139,    356,    399;    418-20,    429,    660 
(Borstal) ;     444,     447     (Preventive 
Detention). 
See   American   Prisons. 

Burns,  W.  E.,  267-68. 

Camp  Hill  Prison. 

See   Preventive   Detention. 

"Canada  Blackie,"  681,  684. 

Canteen,  424  (Borstal) ;  328,  334, 
408  (Convict  Prisons)  ;  408,  445-46, 
451   (Preventive  Detention). 

Canterbury  Prison,  18 ;  418 
(Borstal). 

Capital  Punishment  Act  (1868), 
249. 

Cardew,  Sir  Alexander,  77,  217, 
700. 

Carpenter,  Edward,  572. 

Casement,  Roger,  248. 

Cells,  88-90,  95-7. 
Basement,  89-90,  92.— Borstal,  419 ; 
435-36  (girls).— Cards  in,  105,  136, 
308,  395,  469,  473.— Cleaning,  97-8, 
140-42;  221  (First  Division);  224 
(Political  Offenders)  ;  218  (Second 
Division)  ;  307  (Unconvicted  Pri- 
soners). —  "Condemned,"  89,  246, 
248-49.— Contents,  419,  435  (Bor- 
stal ;  324,  348  (Convict  prisons) ; 
299  (.Juvenile  Adults)  ;  95-7,  106 
(Local  prisons) ;  447,  457  (Preven- 


INDEX 


709 


tive  Detention  prison).  —  Convict 
prison,  88,  324,  333.  348.— Darkness 
of,  87.  92,  96.  253,  277.— First  divi- 
Fion.  221.  224.— Heating  of,  88-89, 
92.  96,  223,  612.— Hospital,  89,  269- 
70,  277,  278,  282;  246  ("con- 
demned").— Labour  in,  114,  141- 
42,  378,  610 ;  322-24,  335  (Convict 
prisons)  ;  343-44  (women's  prisons). 
—  Local  prisons,  88-90 ;  350 
(women).  —  Matted,  89,  287.— 
Observation,  89,  205,  284-89,  291, 
292-94,  603,  608,  611,  618.  — 
Padded,  89,  243,  286-89.— Photo- 
graphs in.  96,  104,  107,  165,  324, 
348  ;  435-36  (Borstal)  ;  447  (Preven- 
tive Detention).  —  Police,  48-9. — 
Preventive  Detention,  447. — "Pri- 
vate room,"  221  (first  division) ; 
307  (Unconvicted  prisoners).  — 
Punishment,  140-41,  148,  237-38; 
424  (Borstal).— Reception,  90,  94, 
140-41,  148.  —  Silent,  89,  244.  — 
Special,  89,  243,  244 ;  424  (Borstal). 
—Tubercular,  89.  265.  —  Ventila- 
tion, 87,  88-89,  92,  96,  612. 
See   also   American   Prisons. 

Censorship. 
Books,  182. — Conversation  at  visits, 
210,     213.— Letters,     208-10,    213, 
630.  —  Petitions,     409.  —  Reports 
from  prisons,  63,  72. 

Centr.\l  Association  for  the  Aid 
OF  Discharged  Convicts,  326, 
328,  441,  444,  445,  458-62,  467, 
472-74,  526,  632,  705;  348  (women). 

Central     Discharged     Prisoners' 
Aid  Societt,  467-74. 
Centralisation  of  Prison  Admin- 
istration, 54-8,  66,  69-71,  203,  214, 
389-90,  399-407,  535,  601,   605. 
See  American  Prisons. 

Chairman  of  the  Prison  Com- 
mission. 

See  Commission  (Prison)  ;  Du 
Cane,  Sir  E.  ;  Ruggles-Brise,  Sir 
E.  ;  and  Waller,  M.L. 

Chapels,  89,  110,  112,  189,  348;  449 
(Preventive  Detention). 
See   Religious  Services. 

Chaplains,  185-98,  601-4.— and  Con- 
certs, 175. — and  Convicts,  320, 
629.— and  Debates,  175-77.— and 
D.P.A.  Societies,  193,  194,  469.— 
and  Education,  152,  153,  155.  156, 
158,  161.  162,  163,  165,  166,  167, 
170.— and  Executions,  247,  249.— 
and  Juvenile  Adults,  209-10,  299, 
503 :  330  (convicts).  —  and  Lady 
Visitors,      199.   —  and     Lectures, 


173-74.  —  and  Libraries,  178-79, 
182,  358-59,  394  —  and  Preventive 
Detention  prisoners,  449.  —  and 
Prisoners,  185,  210,  480,  639.— 
and  Prison  reform,  67,  70.  — 
and  Public  News,  177.  —  and  Re- 
ligious services,  189-93,  283,  629.— 
and  Prison  system,  186,  600-604. — 
and  Unconvicted  prisoners,  310. — 
Annual  reports,  63,  72. — Appoint- 
ments, 59,  186,  390.— Cell  visits, 
102,  187-89,  202,  357,  617,  620, 
625,  639. — Commissioners  and,  79- 
80,  186,  190,  202.— Duties,  95,  105, 
187-96,  202.— Full-time  and  part- 
time,  186-87.— Handicaps,  185,  193- 
96,  202,  204.  —  Prohibited  from 
publishing  views  on  prison  matters, 
vii.  64-5,  66,  72,  185,  378.— Salaries 
of,  186,  195. 
See    also   American   Prisons. 

Chaplain  Inspector,  61,  152-53,  155, 
173,  176,  178,  182,  186,  187,  189, 
192,  193,  200. 

Chelmsford  Prison,  369. 

Chief  Warders. 
See    Warders. 

Children  Act  (1908),  6,  20,  21,  22. 
47,  80-1,  295-96. 

Chisholme,  B.  Ogden,  699. 

Christian,  Dr.,  693. 

Church  Army,  196,  473. 

Chttrchill,  Right  Hon.  Winston, 
M.P.,  58,  65,  172,  178,  215,  222, 
319,  354,  452. 

Civil  Service  Commission,  155. 

Classification  of  Prisoners,  Ch. 
XIII.,  214-30;  204,  301-3,  317-18, 
356,  403,  594,  616,  701. 
See  also  Appellants,  American 
Prisons,  Borstal,  Convicts,  Court 
Martial  prisoners.  Debtors,  First 
Division,  First  Offenders,  Juvenile 
Adults,  Mentally  Deficient,  Pre- 
ventive Detention,  Political  prison- 
ers. Second  Division,  Uncon- 
victed,  Women. 

Cleaner,   13,   95,  109,  110,  275,  342. 
See  also  Labour  (cleaning). 

Cleanliness,    95,    101,    107,    135-42. 
146,  148,  218,  219,  261,  264-67,  279. 
339,  356,  448-49,  623,  637. 
See   Sanitation. 

Close    Confinement,     231-33,    236, 
237,  239,  245,  256,  356.  391,  615, 
640. 
See  also  Separate  Confinement. 

Collins,  Sir  William,  404,  456. 


710 


IXDEX 


Commission,  Paisox. 
and  After-care,  82,  468,  469,  471, 
473. — and  Birmingham  experiment, 
68,  332,  401,  597.-and  Boards  of 
Visitors  to  Convict  Prisons.  402-4. 
—and  Borstal,  65,  68,  70,  410-11, 
413-14. — and  Causes  of  crime,  8, 
23-4.— and  Chaplains,  79-80,  186, 
190,  202.— and  Children  Act,  80-1. 
— and  Classification,  215,  225;  318 
(convicts). — and  Corporal  punish- 
ment, 240,  242.— and  Debtors,  228. 
— and  Dietary  punishment,  239. — 
and  Education,  77, 149-51,  154,  157, 
167-68.— and  Effects  of  the  system, 
477,  479-81,  503,  526-27.— and 
Fines.  50,  65,  215.— and  Habituals. 
68,  81,  463-64.— and  Health  of 
prisoners,  252. — and  Home  Sec- 
retary, 55,  58-61,  72.— and  Hospital 
staff,  271.— and  Inebriates,  81.— 
and  Inspection  of  prisons.  61,  66. 
—and  Juvenile  Adults,  80-2,  296- 
97.— and  Labour,  111,  113-14,  123- 
24.— and  Lady  Visitors,  199.— and 
Lectures,  171-72,  174.  —  and 
Library,  163,  182-83.  —  and  Long 
Sentence  Division  convicts,  327, 
329.  —  and  Magistrates,  42.— and 
Mental  defectives,  81.— -and  Mod- 
ified Borstal,  298.— and  Open-air 
work.  116. — and  Penal  servitude, 
59,  329,  460.  464-65.— and  Political 
prisoners,  222.  —  and  Preventive 
Detention,  65,  68.  70,  81.  83,  435, 
450,  460,  462-65.  —  and  Prison 
discipline,  77. — and  Prison  labour, 
77.— and  Prison  libraries,  163,  182- 
83.  —  and  Prison  reform,  65-71, 
72.— and  Prison  staff,  59,  69-70,  72, 
385,  576. — and  Progressive  stage 
system,  74,  78-9,  157;  326,  333-34 
(convicts).  —  and  Public  News  for 
prisoners,  177. — and  Punishments, 
23^-35,  236.— and  Recidivism,  81.— 
and  Recreation,  175.  —  and  Red 
Band  system,  117. — and  Reforma- 
tion of  prisoners,  67-9,  78-85,  478 ; 
462-63  (habituals).  —  and  Repre- 
sentative Boards,  385. — and  Re- 
search, 68,  72. — and  Restraints, 
244. — and  Roman  Catholic  prie-sts, 
196. — and  Sanitation,  143.  —  and 
Second  Division,  215. — and  Short 
sentences,  80-1,  297. — and  Special 
cells,  244.— and  Star  class,  225-26. 
—  and  the  Enquirv,  vi,  vii.  — 
and  Trade  Instruction,  111-12 ;  322 
(convicts). — and  Unconvicted,  6.— 
and  Vagrants,  81,  478. — and  Visit- 
ing justices,   399-402. — and  Visits, 


77.— Annual  reports,  vii,  viii,  57, 
62-3,  704. — Appointments,  55. — as 
Directors  of  Convict  prisons,  57, 
236,  255,  327,  332.— Chairmanship, 

60,  66,    74. — Medical   member    of 
255,  273.— Membership,  60,  72.  — 
Penal  theorv  of.  Ch.  IV.  (Part  1), 
73-85;    228,    477,   479-81.   —  Rare 
visits  to  prison,  66,   72. — Salaries, 

61.  —  Secretary,  61  (See  Wall. 
A.J.). 

CoMPL.AiNTS,  98,   129,  148,  208,  367 
394-98,  403,  404-6,  408-9,  638,  693. 
Comptroller  of  Accounts,  63,  265. 

Comptroller  of  Prison  Industries, 
78,  110,  111,  114,  572. 

Concerts,  356,  358,  366,  606,  619; 
426,  437  (Borstal);  175.  333,  334 
(Convicts)  ;  446,  466  (Preventive 
Detention) ;  348  (women  pri-soners). 
See  American  prisons. 

Conscientious    Objectors,   59,   223- 

224,  408,  481,  488-500,  636-50. 
See  Prisoners  (political). 

Consumption. 
See  Phthisis. 

Contamination,  Danger  of,  216-17 
218,  220,  224-26,   230,  270,  301-03. 
311-12,  327.  344.  369-70,  415,  569- 
70,  701. 
See  Silence  Rule. 

Convictions,    19,  25. 
See  Offences. 

Convict  Prisons. 

Board  of  Directors,  57,  236,  255. 
327.  332.— Board  of  Visitors  to, 
57,  59,  389,  402-7.  453.— Historv, 
54-56.— Location,  18,  316,  320.' 
See  Convicts,  Invalid  Convict 
prison,    and   Finance. 

Convicts,  Ch.  XXI.  (Part  1).  316-35. 
After-care.  326,  328,  403,  441,  444. 
458-62,  467.  472-74,  526,  632,  705; 
348  (women). — Age,  317. — Aged. 
332.— As.sociation  of.  319,  320-24.— 
Canteen,  328,  334,  408.— Cells,  88. 
324,    333,    348.— Classification,    58, 

225,  317-18,  330-31,  403.  —  Com- 
pared with  Local  prisoners,  3, 
316-17,  319-20;  and  with  Preven- 
tive Detention  prisoners,  449,  465. 
—Concerts,  175,  333,  334.— Con- 
sumptive, 265. — Corporal  punish- 
ment, 139,  241.  —  Deaths,  254.  — 
Debates,  175.— Diet,  58,  128,  325. 
403,  626,  631;  331  (invalid);  344, 
348    (women).  —  Dress,  133,  148, 


IXDtJX 


711 


244.  526,  328.  333.  626.— Educa- 
tion, 156-58,  167.  170.  320,  334, 
356.  602.— Exercise,  320,  323,  326- 
27.  328,  333-34,  626;  348  (women). 
— Forfeited  licences,  327. — Gratu- 
ities, 328;  348  (women). — Health, 
251-53,  330-32.— In  Local  prisons. 
93,  625.— Insane,  536,  545.— Inter- 
mediate class,  317-19,  330.  — 
Invalid,  330-32. — Juvenile  adult, 
296,  330.— Labour,  124,  319,  320-23, 
324,  378,  626;  320-22,  331,  332  (in- 
valid) ;  348  (women).  —  Lectures, 
171-72,  175,  333.  —  Letters,  208. 
320,  325-26.  335,  403,  521,  522, 
523-26,  630;  332  (invalids);  334 
(new  proposals).  —  Library,  183. 
320,  403;  334  (new  proposals).  — 
Life-sentence,  316,  329.  627,  628-32. 
Long  Sentence  Division,  58,  79, 
327-29,  333,  335.  359.  566,  628-32.— 
Medical  attention,  255,  259,  261, 
272,  330-32,  335.  -^-  Mentallv 
deficient,  286,  330-32,  335.  — 
Number,  3.  4.  27,  28.  316.  — 
Offences.  316-17.— Petitions,  408.— 
Progressive  Stage  System,  175,  183, 
325-27;  333-34  (new  proposals). — 
Punishment,  59,  233,  235,  241-42, 
244,  321,  356.  403,  632.— Recidivist 
class,  317-18,  319,  335,  570.— 
Pvccommended  for  Preventive 
Detention,  453,  454,  464. — Recrea- 
tion, 175,  330,  566;  333-34  (new 
proposals).  —  "Red-collar,"       117, 

322,  326,  626.— Released  on  licence, 
326.  472-74.  —  Religious  ministra- 
tion to,  188.  189,  192,  193-94,  320. 

323.  629.  —  Remission,  326,  403, 
472  ;  334  (new  proposals).  —  Re- 
straints for  violence,  242-43,  244. 
319.— Routine,  319-20,  323-25,  332- 
33,  335,  372.  —  Safeguards  against 
escape,  324-25.  —  Sentences,  4, 
41,  316.  —  Separate  confinement, 
58,  318,  319,  335,  403,  453 ;  348 
(women).  —  Silence  rule,  320,  455, 
564;  332  (invalid). — Special  grade. 
322,  325-27,  566.— Star  class,  214. 
225,  317-18,  520;  330-31  (invalid). 
—Talking  exercise,  326-27,  328. 
566-69;  348  (women).  —  Trade  in- 
struction, 322-23,  335.  607,  621,  628. 
Venereal  di.'seases,  266.  —  Visits, 
211,  320,  325-26,  335,  403;  334 
(new  proposals).  —  Women.  255, 
259,  316-17,  334,  336,  342,  344,  347- 
48,  473. 

See  also  77,  214,  215,  320,  333 ;  and 
Convict  prisons,  and  Invalid  Con- 
vict prison. 


CORrORAL  PUNISHJIENT,  57,    59,   237, 

239-42,  245,  391,  403;  424  (Boistal;. 
See  American  prisons. 

CoRroR.^TE    Responsibility,    217-1<J, 
452,   465,   594. 
See  American  prisons. 

Cost  of  Prisons. 
See  Finance. 

Court  Martial  Prisoners,  93,  131, 
215. 

Courts,  The,  42-8. 

Central  Criminal  Court,  42.— 
Courts  of  Assize,  42,  45-6,  48,  53, 
240,  411,  414.~Couit  of  Criminal 
Appeal,  47,  48,  312.— Courts  of 
Quarter  Sessions,  43,  45-46,  47-48, 
53,  240,  411,  414.— Courts  of  Sum- 
mary .Jurisdiction,  20,  42,  43-5,  47- 
8,  51,  227.  411,  414. 

Cr.kfts,  114,  119,  164-65,  166-67,  170, 
204,    356,    567,    576-79.    585,    607; 
446,  466  (Preventive  Detention). 
See  American  prisons. 

Crime. 
Movement  of,  19-21,   25-8. 
Classification,  29-33. 
See   offences. 

Criminal  Appeal  Act  (1907),  48,  312. 

Criminal  Lunatic  Asylum,  58,  331. 

Criminal  Lunatics  Act  (1884).  284 
394. 

Crimin.\l  Justice  Administraticn 
Act  (1914),  5.  20,  23,  24,  46,  49- 
50,  59,  65,  80,  215,  296,  316,  394, 
411,  415,  420,  426-27,  431,  432,  433. 
704. 

Criminal  Type,  Theory  of,  8-9, 
251,  485. 

Crofton,  Sir  Walter,  442. 

D'Aeth.  Capt.,  372 

Daily  Chronicle,  353-54. 

Davis,  Dr.  Katherine  Bement,  654. 

Davitt,    Michael,  353-54,  577. 

Dartmoor  Convict  Prison,  18,  57 
196,  208.  211,  256,  290,  296,  316 
318,  320-21,  323,  325,  327,  328,  330,' 
332-33,  355,  367,  408,  421,  460,  568 
577. 

Dean,  Dr.  Arthur  D.,  693,  698. 

Deaths  of  Prisoners,  253-55,  269, 
279-81,  340-41. 

Deb.\tes,  175-77,  358,  568,  606;  331, 
333,   334  (convicts). 
See  American  prisons. 

Debtors,  227-29. 
Commissioners     and,    228. — Dreaa, 
131.    227.— Gratuities.    227,    228.— 
Labour,  227-29.— Letters,  206,  227- 


712 


INDEX 


29.— Number,  93,  227,  228. 
See  also  215,  216,  642. 

Defects,  Lists  of,  72,  85,  92,  106, 
120,  148,  170,  184,  202,  213,  230, 
245,  250,  262,  278,  291,  304,  313, 
335,  350,  361,  384,  407,  440,  466. 

Departmental  Committees. 

On  Diet,  126  (1878);  126-27,  704 
(1898).  —  On  Dress  of  Prisoners 
(1889),  131. —  On  Education  and 
Moral  Instruction  of  Prisoners 
(1896),  150-52,  155,  156,  157,  159, 
168,  171-72,  181,  192,  704.— On 
Scottish  Prisons  (1900),  111,  270, 
273,  704.— On  Supply  of  Books  to 
Prisoners  (1910),  149,  150,  160, 
162,  164,  178,  181,  182-83,  425,  705. 

Departmental  Committee  on 
Prisons  (1895). 

and  Board  of  Visitors,  57,  402.— 
and  Borstal,  65,  410-11.  —  and 
Centralisation  of  administration, 
56,  70-1.— and  Classification,  214, 
225. — and  Cruelty  by  warders,  374. 
—  and  Debtors,  227-28.  —  and 
Dietary  punishment,  239.  —  and 
D.P.A.  Societies,  71.— and  Educa- 
tion, 150-51,  159.— and  Exercise, 
135;  566  (talking).  —  and  First 
offenders,  214,  225.— and  Habitual 
criminals,  442.  —  and  Health  of 
prisoners,  251. — and  Home  Secre- 
tary, 71.  —  and  Hospital  dormi- 
tories, 270.  —  and  Insanity  in 
prison,  535.  —  and  Inspection  of 
prisons,  61,  64,  66-7. — and  Labour, 
114,  115,  116.— and  Lectures,  171. 
— and  Preventive  Detention,  65, 
442,  456.— and  Prison  Act  (1898), 
56,  57,  74. — and  Prison  Commis- 
sioners, 65,  71.  —  and  Prison 
reform,  66-7.  —  and  Prison  staff, 
69,  363,  368,  374.  —  and  Uncon- 
victed prisoners,  307,  309-10.  — 
and  Visitation  of  prisoners,  198-99. 
—and  Visiting  justices,  71,  389-90, 
398. 
See  also  i,  v,  704. 

Deputy  Governors,  59,  367;  419 
(Borstal). 

Derrick,  Calvin,  662,  674. 

Deterrence. 

Commissioners  and,  75-78.  —  Cor- 
poral punishment  and.  241,  242. — 
Debtors  and,  228.— Diet  and,  127. 
—Discipline  and,  477-78,  580-81, 
593,  615.  —  Dress  and,  131-32.— 
First  offenders  and,  226-27,  516-17. 
—Letters  and,  206-7.— Penal  Servi- 
tude and,  77,  327. — Prison  labour 


and,  113-15.  —  Separate  confine- 
ment and,  77,  203,  204,  605.— 
Shock  of  arrest  and,  47. — Silence 
rule  and,  77,  Visits  and,  77,  211. 
See  also  Penal  Theory. 

Devon,  Dr.  James,  7-8,  241,  247, 
248,  256,  310,  354,  454,  456,  463, 
483,  501,  502,  511,  516,  526,  550, 
571,  574,  576,  705. 

Diet,  126-30. 
Alleged  drugging,  128,  586.— and 
Health,  126-28,  142,  608,  610,  636. 
—at  Borstal,  426.  —  at  Convict 
prisons,  58,  128,  325,  403,  626,  631 ; 
331  (invalid)  ;  344,  348  (women). 
— at  Preventive  Detention  prison, 
448,  451,  457.  —  Complaints,  129, 
148.  —  Dietary  Committees  and, 
126  (1878);  126-27,  704  (1898).— 
Food-tins,  129-30,  148,  636.  — 
Hospital,  274-75,  280.  —  House  of 
Lords  Committee  (1863)  and,  126. 
—Medical  officers  and,  128,  239, 
256.  —  of  Appellants,  312.  —  of 
"Condemned"  men.  246 — of  First 
division,  221  —  of  Political 
prisoners  224.  —  of  Secon.l 
division,  218.  —  of  Unconvicted 
prisoners,  307,  309,  618— of  Women 
prisoners,  342,  344 ;  348  (convicts). 
—  Punishment,  231-33,  236,  237, 
238-39,  245,  256,  356,  391,  403; 
424,  438  (Borstal)  ;  451  (Preventive 
Detention).  —  Theory  of,  126.  — 
Vegetarian,  130,  409.  —  Visiting 
ju.stices  and,  399. 
See  also  148 ;  and  American 
prisons. 

Discharge,  105. 

Discharged  Prisoners'  Aid 
Societies,  Ch.  XXVIII.  (Part  1), 
467-'74. 

Agents'  visits  to  prisoners,  200-1, 
470-71,  620.  —  and  Prisoners' 
gratuities,  328,  348  (convicts) ; 
445  (Preventive  Detention)  ;  309 
(unconvicted,  subsequently  found 
guilty). — Conferences  of  Agents, 
69. 

See  also  71,  193,  194,  399,  469; 
and  After-Care. 

Discipline. 
and  Corporal  punishment,  241-42. 
245. — and  Education,  161.  —  anJ 
Mentally  deficient,  290,  398-99,  407. 
— and  Punishments,  231,  235,  575- 
76. — and  Violence  among  prisoners, 
235,  242.—  at  Convict  irisons,  318, 
355.  —  at  Invalid  Convict  prison, 
530-31. — at    Preventive    Detention 


LXDEX 


713 


prison,      448.      451.      454-55.     — 
Deterrent    effect,     477-78,     530-81, 
593,    615. — House    of   Lords   Com 
mittee,   126    —  in    Hospital.    238, 
?71,  278,  280,  355,  362  63,  629-30. 
— Mental  and  moral  effects,  561-62. 
573-76,   585,  605,  621,    628.— Mili 
tarv  model,  354.  364,  368,  371,  605, 
619';     421-22.     440      (Borstal).    — 
Official  view,  77.  78.  —  Severity, 
231,  234,  245,  375,  477-78,  580-81. 
—Uniformity,    54,    93,    97,    104-5, 
106,  573. 
See  also  Routine. 

DoDE,   Dr.,    675. 

Don-kin,  Sir  Bryan,  M.D.,  9,  15-16, 
255,  284,  332. 

Dokai,  D.  M.,  700. 

DoRNER,  F.  A.,  680. 

Doty,  Miss,   682. 

Dress,    130-34. 

at  Borstal,  423;  437  (girls).— De- 
partmental Committee  (1889)  on, 
131.  —  Humiliation  of.  131,  356, 
616. — of  Appellants,  312.  —  of 
Court  martial  prisoners,  131.  — 
of  Convicts,  133,  148,  244,  326. 
328,  333,  626.— of  Debtors,  131, 
?27. — of  First  division  prisoners, 
131,  221.— of  Juvenile  Adults,  300. 
— of  Political  offenders,  223.  — 
of  Preventive  Detention  prisoners, 
448,  451.  —  of  Second  division 
prisoners,  130-31,  218,  219.  —  of 
Star  prisoners,  214  (Local)  ;  318 
(Convict).— of  Third  Division,  130. 
— of  Unconvicted  prisoners,  131, 
307,  309. — of  Violent  and  prison- 
breaking  convicts,  244,  403.  —  of 
Women  prisoners,  131,  132,  133, 
148;  218  (second  division).  — 
Underclothing,  101,  132-33,  139-40, 
148    219    279. 

See  also' 95.  130-33,  203,  233,  637; 
and  American  prisons. 

DRrNKENNESS. 

Cause  of  crime,  7,  10,  17-18,  21.— 
Liquor  restrictions,  3.  23.— Num- 
ber of  offences,  4-5,  29,  30,  31,  530. 
— Women,  336. 

Du  BotTLAY,  Sir  J.  H.,  700. 

Dr  Cane,  Sir  E.,  55.  60.  65.  73-4. 
103,  114,  152,  156,  167,  199,  406, 
705. 

Durham  Prison,    18,   261,  299. 

Dyer,  Dr.,  255. 

Economy  and  Prison  Administra- 
tion,   55,    74,   107-8,    117,    123-24, 


168,  170.  205,  207,  324,  341,  384, 
597-98,  603,  605,  617;  418,  428 
(Borstal) ;  444  (Preventive  Deteu- 
tion). 

See  American  prisons. 
Education,  Ch.  IX.  (Part  1),  149-70. 
Absence  of  in.spection,  155,  168, 
170.— at  Borstal,  420-26,  440  ;  436-7 
(girls). — at  Convict  prisons,  156-58, 
167,  170,  320,  334,  356,  602.— at 
Local  prisons,  104,  149-56,  156-70, 
356,  602. — Board  of  Education  and, 
153,  155.  158,  168 ;  402,  422  (Bor- 
.stal). — Chaplains  and,  152-53,  155- 
56,  158,  162,  165,  204.— Classes 
for,  152-53,  190.  —  Commissioners 
and,  77,  149-51,  154,  157,  167-68. 
Craft  teaching,  165. — During  war, 
153.— Further,  169,  170,  607,  620; 
159-67    (convicts).  —  of   Illiterates, 

49,  182.— of  Juvenile  adults,  111- 
12.  153-54,  155,  156,  166,  299,  300. 
304;  330  (convicts).— Sir  E.  Rug- 
gles-Brise  on,   357-59. 

See  American  prisons ;  Prisoners 
(Educational  Standard  of) ; 

Library  (schoolbooks)  ;  School- 
masters ;  Trade  Instructors. 

Education     Acts,     Sentences     for 
Infringement  of,  18,  20,  220. 

Edwards,  William,  J. P.,  42^ 

Ellis,  J.,  420,  423,  425,  428,  ^29. 

English    Law,    Principles    of,   46, 
76. 

Epileptics,  10,  15,  17,  259,  287 ;  412 
(Borstal). 

Escapes.   90,   235,   244,   310,   324-25, 
403,   450. 
See   American  prisons. 

Executions,  Ch.  XV.  (Part  1),  246- 

50.  —  Delay  in  announcing  re- 
prieve, 329,  337-38,  627.— Effect  on 
staff  and  prisoners,  247-49. — Num- 
ber, 249.  —  Petitions  by  "con- 
demned" men,  408. — Treatment  of 
"condemned"  men,  246-47. 

Exercise. 
At  Borstal,  437.— in  Hospital,  277, 
283,  286,  630.  —  Medical  officers, 
256. — of  "Condemned"  men,  246. 
—  of  Convicts,  320,  323,  326-27, 
328,  333-34,  626 ;  331-32  (invalid)  : 
348  (women).— of  Debtors,  227.— 
of  First  division  prisoners,  133-35, 
221.— of  Juvenile  adults,  299,  300. 
— of  Local  prisoners,  98,  99,  100, 
134-35. — of  Political  prisoners,  223. 
— of  Prisoners  under  punishment, 
237.  —  of    Unconvicted    prisoners. 


714 


INDEX 


307.— on  Sundavs,  102-3,  104,  135, 
148,   191;   626  Vonvicts). 
See   Talking  Exercise. 

Exeter  Prison,  18,  276. 

Extradition  Act  (1870),  222. 

Eyes. 

Effect    of    imprisonment,    87,    88, 
253,  343.— Treatment  of,  264,  278. 

Farming. 

See  American  prisons  and  Labour. 

Feltham  Borstal  Institution,  418. 

Fernald,  Dr.  Guy  G.,  688,  689. 

Ferri,   Prof.  Enrico,   122. 

Field,  Anne,   P.  L.,  681. 

Finance,  124-25,  399;  444    (Preven- 
tive Detention). 
See  also  American  prisons. 

Fixes,  Imprisonment  in  Default  of, 
5,  20,  21,  23,  24,  34,  35,  36,  49,  50, 
54,  65,  80,  206,  215,  296-97. 

Finger  Impressions,   225. 

First  Division,  57,  93,  94,  137,  179, 
214,  215,  220-22,  223,  224,  642. 

First  Offenders,  224-27,  Ch.  IV. 
(Part    2),   501-17. 

At  Convict  prisons,  214,  225,  317- 
18,  520;  330-31  (invalid).— Con- 
tamination, 214,  216,  217,  225-26.— 
Effects  of  imprisonment,  204,  487, 
501-27,  602,  608.— Labour,  225,  621. 
-Number,  529,  532-33.— Return- 
ing to  prison,  226,  516. — Star  clas.-s, 
214-15,  216,  224-27,  317-18,  330-31. 
— Visiting  Justices  and,  393,  394. 
See  also  24,  176,  188. 

Forcible  Feeding. 
See  Artificial  Feeding. 

Eraser,  Mrs.   Kennedy,  509. 

Free  Church  Visiting  Ministers. 
Facilities  for,  196,  197-98,  202,  283, 
473. — on   the   Prison   svstem,    600, 
605-9.  —  Payment   of,  'l86,    198.— 
Women  as,  200. 

French  Prisons,  121,  305,  582. 

Friends,  Society  of,  198,  200. 

Fry,  Elizabeth,  199. 

Gallows,  246,  248-49. 

Games. 

See  Recreation. 

Gardening. 
See  Labour. 

Gates,  Prison,  90;  436  (Borstal 
girls). 

George,  W.  R.,  672,  699. 

Gladstone,  Lord  Herbert,  56,  442, 
456. 


Glueck,  Dr.  Bernard,  690. 

Goring,  Dr.  Ch.\rles,  8,  9,  15,  68, 
251,  253,  269,  284,  317,  479,  485, 
502,  530,  551,   553,  554,  706. 

GovAN,  James,  661-62. 

Governors,  362-67. 

Absence  of  initiative,  67,  70,  108, 
366,  384,  —  and  Juvenile  adults, 
217,  299,  366.— and  Letters,  206, 
208.— and  Petitions,  408,  409.— 
and  Prison  Commission,  67,  70. — 
and  Prisoners,  205,  359,  366,  480. 
—and  Punishments,  236,  239,  391. 
—and  Talking  exercise,  327,  567. — 
and  Unconvicted  prisoners,  307. — 
and  Visiting  justices,  392,  400, 
407.  —  and  Visits,  210,  211-12.— 
and  Warders,  366,  375-76. — Annual 
reports,  63,  72. — Appointment,  59, 
362-64,  384.— Complaints  to,  394- 
95,  639.  —  Deputy,  59,  367;  419 
(Borstal).  —  Duties,  365-66.  — 
Influence.  366,  400,  407,  608,  617, 
620-21,  625,  630,  639,  702;  419-20 
(Borstal)  ;  452-53  (Preventive  De- 
tention).— Inspection,  99,  365-66. — 
Military  training,  362-65,  630 ; 
421-22  (Borstal).— Prohibited  from 
publishing  vievrs  on  prison 
matters,  64-5,  66,  72,  378.  — 
Trials  before,  235-36,  245. 
See  also  173,  199,  240,  243,  247. 
249,  284-85,  363-66,  437,  616;  and 
American  prisons   (wardens). 

Graham,  Sir,  J.,   126. 

Grant-Wilson,  Sir  Wemyss,  430, 
473,  474. 

Gratuities. 

At  Borstal,  423-24.— of  Convicts, 
328 ;  348  (women).  —  of  Debtors, 
227,  228.— of  Juvenile  adults,  299. 
— of  Long  Sentence  Division  con- 
victs, 328,  408.  —  of  Preventive 
Detention  prisoners,  444-46  451, 
466,  633-34.  —  of  Unconvicted 
prisoners,  307,  309. 
See  also  103,  117,  239,  702. 

Griffiths,   Major  Arthur,   131. 

Grounds,  Prison,  86,  90-1,  92,  134, 
148,  277,  343. 

GuTSCH,  Dr.,  540,  589. 

Guy,  Dr.,  126. 

Habitu.\l   Criminals. 

Age  on  conviction,  13,  530. — and 
Preventive  Detention,  51-2,  81, 
138,  441-66.--at  Invalid  Convict 
prison,  330.  —  Cause  of  crime,  8, 
573. — Effect   of  prison  system,  67, 


INDEX 


715 


486,  487,  501,  518-33.  602.  608,  609. 
—Number.  11-15,  19,  20.  24,  241, 
317,  459-6i.  528-33 :  416  (Borstal). 
—  Recidivist  class  for,  214,  216, 
225,  317-19,  335.— Reformation  of, 
68,  81,  462-66.— Trial  of,  45.— 
Tj'pes  of,  11-15. 
See  Recidivism. 

HAiR-ruT,   138,  307,  320,  326,  333. 

H.\LL,  Cl.\bke,  J. p.,  311. 

H-tiiS,  Peisox,  87-88. 

H.AiSBURY.  Lord,  46. 

'Haxna,  Mn.,  691. 

Harcottit,    Sir  William,  254. 

Hard  L.ABOrR,  78,  93.  99,  100-1,  104, 
113-14.  151-53.  168,'  173,  174,  176, 
179,  184,  188,  203,  215,  239,  570. 
Except  where  otherwise  stated. 
Hard  Labour  (Third  Division)  is 
made   the   basis    of   the   Report. 

Hart,  Dr.    Hastings  H.,  671,  697. 

Health  of  Prisoners.  Chs.  XVI.- 
XVIII.  (Part  1),  251-94. 
And  Labour,  112,  610.— at  Borstal, 
412-13,  416. — at  Convict  prisons, 
251-53,  330-32.— at  Preventive  De- 
tention prison,  459. — Complaints, 
208,  409.  —  Departmental  Com- 
mittee (1895)  and.  251.— Diet  and 
126-28,  142,  608,  610,  636.— 
Effect  of  imprisonment,  142.  204, 
252.  262,  302,  602,  607.  610.  613, 
621-22,  628,  637.  641,  645.  — 
Official  view,  8-9,  251.  252-53.— 
on  Reception,  7-9.  297-98,  52-3.— 
Unfit  for  discipline,  398-99,  407.— 
Visiting  Justices  and.  398-99,  407. 

HE.ALT,   Dr.  William,  91,  479,  481, 
508,  511,  542.  584,  588,  686,  706. 

HoDDER,  Mrs.,  658. 

Holloway  Prison,  Ch.  XXII.  (Part 
1),   336-47,  350. 

Ad\-isory  Board  to  hospital,  273. — 
Creche, '  347.  —  Labour,  341-44. — 
Lady  visitors,  199-200. — Lectures, 
172.— Medical  staff,  255,  261,  345 ; 
272-3,  278  (nurses).— Staff,  155. 
314-15,  344-45,  350,  367,  369,  371- 
81.  387.  —  L'nconvicted  prisoners, 
306,  311,  314-15,  339,  340-41,  351- 
52. 

Holmes,  Thomas,  200,  501,  505,  507, 
514,  706. 

Home  Secretary. 
And  Board  of  Visitors  to  Convict 
prisons,   402-3,   404. — and   Borstal. 
411,   412-13.  431,  432.— and   Chap- 
lains, 186,  202. — and  Classification, 


214,  215. — and  Commissioners,  55. 
58-61,  72. — and  Corporal  punish- 
ment, 240,  391. — and  Departmental 
Committee  (1895),  71.— and  Health 
of  prisoners,  398-99.  407.  —  and 
Mentally  deficient,  285,  398-99.  407, 
— and  Political  prisoners.  222-23. — 
and  Preventive  Detention.  441,  442, 
452,  457,  464,  465.— and  Prison 
inspectors,  61. — and  Prison  Rule.*, 
57-9.  —  and  Probation,  51.  —  and 
Staff,  64. — and  Visiting  Justices, 
389,  390.  391.  398.— Petitions,  209, 
394,  408-9. 

See  Asquith,  Churchill,  Gladstone, 
Graham,    McKenna,    and   Shortt. 

Hopkins,  Tiohe,  258,  354,  706. 

Hospital,  269-83. 
At  Girls'  Borstal,  437.— at  Invalid 
Convict  prison,  331.  —  at  Small 
prisons,  275-76,  278.  611.— Baths, 
146.  —  Books,  179-80,  283.  —  Cells, 
89,  269-70,  277,  278,  282:  246 
I  "condemned"). — Confinements  in, 
546.— Diet,  274-75.  280.  —  Discip- 
line, 238,  271,  278,  280,  355.  362-63, 
629-30.  —  Dormitories,  269-70.  — 
Location,  277. — Religious  ministra- 
tion, 189.  283. — Sanitary  arrange- 
ments, 146,  148. — Separate  confine- 
ment, 269-70.  278.  280,  282-83,  611. 
—Staff,  249.  252.  263,  270-74,  278, 
287,  611.  627.— Corporal  punish- 
ment, 240.— Visits,  212. 

HorsMAN  Laurence,  ix,  447-48,  450- 
53,  457. 

Howard  Association  (now  Howard 
League  for  Penal  Reform),  76,  143, 
200,  570,  705. 

See  Howard  League  for  Penal 
Reform  and  Penal  Reform  League. 

How.ARD,  John,  131. 

Howard  League  for  Pen.al  Reform, 

355,   435,  705. 

See  Howard  Association  and  Penal 

Reform    League. 
Hughes,  Thomas,   171. 
Hull  Prison.  18,  369. 
HusAiN,  K.  B.  K.  S.  H.AMiD,  700. 
Idlen-ess  in  Prison,  15,  231,  235. 
Illiterates. 

See   Prisoners   (Illiterates). 

In-determinate   Sentence,  455,   464- 

65. 

See  American  prisons. 
Indian  J.ails  Commtttee,  77,  78,  121- 

22.   201,   217.   301.   303,   505,   318, 

321,  324,  356,  362,  421.  700-3,  705. 


716 


INDEX 


Individtjalisation  of  Treatment, 
83.  93,  106,  204,  216,  218,  252,  303, 
331,  353-54,  505,  585,  594,  597,  601, 
604,    615;    410    (Borstal). 

Industbial  Schools,  410,  412,  413, 
414. 

Industrial  Training. 
See   Trade   Instruction. 

Inebriates,  81,  217,  505,  518. 

Inebriate  Act  (1898),  58. 

Infanticide,  337. 

Insane  Prisoners,  9,  52-3,  58,  83, 
290,  398-99,  534-49,  583. 

Inspection. 

By  Board  of  Visitors  to  Convict 
Prisons,  402-7. — by  Governors,  99, 
365-66. — by  Inspectors  of  Prisons, 
59,  61-2,  63,  72,  127,  255,  317,  612, 
639. — bv  Visiting  Justices,  46,  61, 
394-98,  '399-402,  631.— Commission- 
ers and,  61,  66.  —  Departmental 
Committee  (1895)  and,  61,  64,  66-7, 
—  of  Prison  education,  155,  168, 
170.— Secrecy  of,  61,  62,  66,  72. 

Instructors. 
See  American  prisons  and  Labour. 

Intermediate  Prison,  Irish,  442, 
451. 

International  Prison  Congresses. 
Brussels    Congress    (1900),   74,   77, 

81,  82,  201,  207,  261,  359,  575, 
705.  —  Buda  Pesth  (1905),  705.— 
London  Congres.s  (1872),  76. — 
Paris  Congress  (1895),  201.— Wash- 
ington Congress  (1910),  75,  76,  80, 

82,  83,  206-7,  244,  246,  382.  593, 
669. 

Inquests,  267-68. 

Invalid  Convict  Prison  (Park- 
hurst),  330-32. 

Aged  Convicts,  332.  —  Classifica- 
tion, 330-31.— Labour,  320-21,  331, 
332. — Medical  attention,  255,  261, 
272,  331,  332,  335.  —  Mentally 
deficient,  286,  330-32,  335.— Num- 
ber of  prisoners,  330.  —  Routine, 
330-33,  372.— Violence,  235,  242-43. 
See  aLso  171,  211,  316,  317,  325, 
335,  367. 

Irish  Prisons. 
Board,  178.  —  Lusk  Intermediate 
prison,   442,   451. — Royal   Commis- 
sion, 237,  442. 

Italian  Prisons,  Wages  in,  122. 

Jackson,  Colonel,  701. 

Jaffray,  Julia  K.,  672. 

Jews,  189,  196,  198,  467,  473. 

Judicial  Statistics,  19-41,  150,  463, 
704. 


Justice,  Lord  Chief,  426. 

Juvenile  Adult  Prisoners,  Ch. 
XIX.  (Part  1),  295-304. 
After  care,  299,  300,  303,  410,  467, 
471.— and  Fines,  50,  296-97.— 
Classification,  215-17,  616.  —  Col- 
lecting depots,  153,  155,  299. — 
Commissioners  and  short  sentences, 
80-82.  296-97.— Contamination,  216- 
17,  301,  415.— Convicts,  296,  330. 
Dress,  300.  —  Education,  111-12, 
153-54,  155,  156,  166,  299,  300, 
304;  330  (convicts). — in  Women's 
pri-sons,  295-96,  341.  —  Lectures, 
166,  173,  174,  190.  —  Meals  in 
association,  299. — Number,  6,  38, 
153,  295-97,  299.— Poor  physique, 
297-98.— Punishments,  236,  240.— 
Recreation,  299,  304,  366;  330 
(convicts).  —  Religious  ministra- 
tion, 201,  209-10,  299,  303;  330 
(convicts). — Sex,  6,  38.— Suicides, 
553.— Unconvicted,  311,  415;  340- 
41  (girls). 

See  also  49,  158,  204,  209-10,  246, 
505,  594,  642. 

Juvenile  Prisoners. 

Classification,  214-15,  216.— Com- 
missioners and,  80-1. — Contamina- 
tion, 301-2.  —  Number,  6,  22,  38, 
295-96.— Sex,  6,  38.— Suicides,  553. 
See  also  594,  642. 

Kent,  Beatrice,  271. 

KiRCHWEY,  Dr.  George  W.,  ix,  517, 
678,  679,  685. 

Klein,  Philip,  658. 

Kropotkin,  Prince,  212,  582. 

Labour,  Ch.  VII.  (Part  1).  109-25. 
And  Trade  instruction,  109,  HO- 
IS, 120.  204,  357,  377,  556-57,  601, 
607,  617,  621,  638,  641,  702 ;  426-30, 
436,  440  (Borstal)  ;  322-23,  335,  621, 
628  (convicts)  ;  300,  304  (juvenile 
adults)  ;  447,  633  (Preventive 
Detention). — Associated,  101,  104, 
319,  322-24,  341,  343,  572, 
636.— at  Borstal,  124,  422,  423,  424, 
426-30,  440;  436  (s;irls).— at  Con- 
vict prisons.  124,  319,  320-23,  324, 
378,  626;  348  (women).— at  Invalid 
Convict  prison,  320-21,  331-32.— 
at  Preventive  Detenton  prison, 
124,  447-48,  466,  633.— Building, 
109-10,  124;  429  (Borstal).- Cellu 
lar,  114,  141-42,  322-24,  335,  343- 
44,  378,  610.— Choice  of,  321,  576. 
—Cleaning,  97,  98,  109,  110,  140- 
42,  218,  221,  224,  226,  275,  307, 
342, — During    punishment,    238. — 


INDEX 


717 


Eamincs.  117-19,  120 ;  423-24  (Bor 
stal) ;  328,  548.  408  (convicts)  •  227, 
228  (debtors)  ;  221  (First  Division)  ; 
702  (Indian  prisons) ;  299  (Juvenile 
Adults);  444-46,  451,  466,  633-34 
(Preventive  Detention)  :  307,  309 
(Unconvicted).  —  Equipment,  109, 
120,  138.  638,  641,  702.— Farming, 
115-16;  '430,  436,  440  (Borstal); 
320-21,  335  (convict);  447  (Pre- 
•ventive  Det^ention). — Gardening, 
90.  109.  115-17,  120,  128,  134,  135. 
256,  3^0;  427,  436  (Borstal);  332 
(Invalid  Convict  prison) ;  445, 
447,  633-34  (Preventive  Deten- 
tion); 342-13  (women's  fiisonsV 
—Hospital.  269.  342.— Hours,  99, 
100,  618.— Idleness,  15.  231,  235.— 
Instructors,  109,  112,  120,  356,  377. 
556-57,  615,  633,  638;  427-23,  440 
(Borstal)  ;  322-23  (convicts)  ,  300 
(Juvenile  Adults) ;  447  (Preventive 
Detention). — Medical  tfficers  and. 
256,  281.— of  Debtors.  227-29.— of 
First  Division  prisoners,  221. — 
of  Juvenile  Adults,  300.  —  of 
Political  prisoners,  224. — of  Second 
Division  prisoners,  218,  219-20. — of 
Unconvicted  prisoners,  309.  —  of 
Women  prisoners.  116,  341-44 :  348 
(convicts V — Penal  view,  77  113-15, 
120,  576,  64a— "Red  band"^  prison- 
ers, 117,  377;  117,  322,  326,  626 
("red  collar"  convicts). — Reforma- 
tive influence,  78,  109,  110-11,  616, 
702.— Supervision.  116-17,  120.  — 
Task,  99-100,  115,  120,  232,  377, 
556-67,  618,  626,  649.  —  Trade 
unionists  and,  118,  119.  —  Value, 
109.  116.  123-24.— Visiting  justices 
and,  390,  399.  —  Workshops.  109. 
115,  120,  343,  344,  348;  427-30 
(Borstal)  ;  447,  466  (Preventive 
Detention). 

See  also  324,  356,  644,  646,  649; 
and  American  Prisons,  Crafts, 
Trade  Instruction,  Oakum  Pick- 
ing. 
Lady  Visitohs,  69,  166-67.  172,  173, 
199-200,  210,  310,  468,  471. 

Lancaster  Peisok,  18,  276,  303. 

Lane,  W.  D.,  672. 

Laundry,  109-112,  139-40.  148,  341- 
43,  348,  427,  641 ;  437  (Borstal). 

LEcrrRES.  102.  166,  171-74,  175,  177, 
184,  190,  299,  300,  333,  356,  358, 
366,  394,  407,  606.  619;  426  (Bor- 
stal); 446,  466  (Preventive  Deten- 
tion). 


Leeds  Prison,  18,  261,  272,  277,  467, 

480. 

Leonard,  Dr.,  669. 

Letters,  206-10. 

at  Borstal,  423.  424. — at  Convict 
prisons,  208,  320,  325-26,  335,  403, 
521,  522,  523-26,  630;  334  (new 
proposals).  —  at  Local  prisons. 
104,  204,  206-10,  213,  356,  618, 
621,  640.  —  at  Preventive 
Detention  prison,  445,  448.  451. — 
Censorship,  208-10,  213,  630.— of 
Debtors,  206,  227-29.— of  Juvenile 
adult  prisoners,  299,  300.  —  of 
Political  prisoners,  224. — of  Second 
division  prisoners,  218-19,  221. — 
of  Unconvicted  prisoners,  307,  308, 
309.  —  Smuggled,  373.  —  Special, 
107-8,  206. — Visiting  Justices  and, 
393;  403  (Board  of  Visitors). 
See  also  96 ;  and  American  prisons. 

Lewes  Prison,  18,  276. 

Lewis,  Hon.  Burdette  G.,  655,  660, 
695-96. 

Lewis,  O.  F.,  124. 

Library,  178-83. 
and  Education,  160-61,  162-63,  170. 
— Appellants,  312.  —  at  Borstal, 
424,  425. — at  Convict  prisons,  183, 
320,  403;  532  (invalid);  334  (new 
proposals). — at  Preventive  Deten- 
tion prison,  446.  —  Chaplain 
inspector  and,  178,  182. — Chaplains 
and,  178-79,  182,  358-59,  394.  — 
Commissioners  and,  163,  182-83. — 
Debtors  and,  227.  —  Educational 
books,  95,  107,  160-61,  179.— First 
division,  221. —  Political  prisoners, 
223.— Religious  books,  107,  179.— 
School  books,  107,  179.  —  Second 
Division  prisoners,  179,  219.  — 
Third  division,  95,  104. — Uncon- 
victed prisoners,  307,  309.  — 
Visiting  justices  and,  393-94. 
See  also  184,  191,  204,  232,  283, 
357,  358-59,  602,  607,  618,  638, 
647 ;  and   American  prisons. 

Licences,  411,  431-32,  438  (Borstal)  ; 
326-27,  472-74  (convicts) ;  451,  457- 
58,  465,  466,  472,  474  (Preventive 
Detention). 

Life  Sentence  Prisoners,  316,  329, 
627,  628-32. 

Lighting,  87-8,  92,  96,  253,  277. 
See  also  American  prisons. 

Liverpool  Prison,  18,  196,  255,  272, 
276,  299,  303,  316,  342,  344,  347-48, 
367. 
See  Women  prisoners  (convicts). 


718 


INDEX 


Local  Prisons. 

History,  54-8.  —  Location,  18. — 
Number,   18,  55. 

See  Chapters  I.-XX.,  XXII.- 
XXV.  and  XXVIII.  (Part  1)  ; 
Chapters  I.-IV.,  V.  (518-20), 
VI.-IX.  (Part  II.);  Concluding 
Chapter ;  Appendix  I,  pp.  601-24, 
636-50 ;  and  Convicts  (in  Local 
prisons)  and  Borstal  (Cases  in 
Local  prisons). 

LoMBROso,  Dr.,  8-9,  485. 

Long  Sentence  Division,  58,  79, 
327-29,  333,  335,  359,  408,  566, 
628-32. 

Lords  Committee  on  Prison  Dis- 
cipline, House  of,  126. 

LxjNN,  W.,  M.P.,  123. 

LusHiNGTON,  Sir  Godfrey,  65,  67, 
476,  513. 

Mackenzie,  Sir  Leslie,  509. 

Maconochie,  Cai'tain  Alexander, 
103,  574,  588. 

Magistrates. 
and  Bail,  44,  305-6,  340-41.— and 
Borstal,  413-14.  —  and  Classifica- 
tion, 214-15,  217,  222.  —  and 
Corporal  punishment,  240,  391,  403. 
—  and  Executions,  249.  —  and 
Preventive  Detention,  443-44.  — 
and  Principles  of  Punishment, 
46-7.  —  and  Prison  treatment,  42, 
46. — and  Probation,  50-1.  —  and 
Remand  of  women  for  medical 
examination,  339,  351-52.  —  Bir- 
mingham, 52-3,  398-99,  597.— Home 
Omce  Circulars,  49,  51,  254.  — 
Visits  to  prison,  46,  61,  390,  394- 
98,  399-402,  407,  631.  —  Women, 
389-90. 
See  also  44-5. 

Maidstone  Prison,  18,  167.  175, 
256,  272,  277,  316,  317,  318,  320, 
322,  324,  327,  328,  329,  358,  367, 
408. 

Malingering,  238,  258-60,  290,  357, 
602. 

"Manchester  Guardian,"  116. 

Manchester  Prison,  18,  255,  272, 
276,  299,  303,  367. 

Marino,  Tony,  681,  685. 

Mason,  E.  Williamson,  706. 

Matrons,  59,  367;  419  (Borstal). 

Maurice,  F.   D.,  171. 

McKenna,  Right  Hon.  R.,  48,  420, 
426. 

Meals,  98,  99,  128-29,  148,  299,  304, 


328-29,  356,  359,  616,  619;  423, 
437  (Borstal)  ;  445,  448,  450  (Pre- 
ventive Detention);  342  (v?omen;. 
See  also  American  Prisons. 

Medical  Attention,  Chs.  XVI.- 
XVIII.  (Part  1),  251-94. 
at  Borstal,  272,  274,  420;  437 
(girls).  —  at  Convict  prisons,  255, 
259,  261,  272,  330-32,  335.  —  at 
Preventive  Detention  prison,  449, 
466. — at     Women's     prisons,     255, 

261,  270,  271-73,  278,  339,  345, 
351-52. 

See  also  94,  142,  339-40,  346,  351- 

52,  356,  357,  388,  398,  409,  637, 
638 ;  and  American  Prisons. 

Medical  Commissioner,  255,  273. 

Medical  Inspector  of  Prisons,  61, 
255,  612. 

Medical      Officers,      Chs.      XVI.- 
XVIII  (Part  1),  251-94. 
Absence  of  mental  specialists,  261, 

262,  332,  335.— Adequacy  of  staff, 
260-61,  262,  610.  —  and  Corporal 
punishment,  237,  240-41.  —  and 
Dietary  punishment,  237,  256.  — 
and  Diet,  128,  239,  256.  —  and 
Effect  of  imprisonment  on  health, 
252-53.— and  Executions,  247,  248, 
249.— and  Labour,  256,  281.— and 
Malingering,  238,  258-60,  262.  — 
and  Observation  cells,  287.  —  and 
Prison  Commission,  63,  72,  255, 
612.— and  Prisoners,  256-60,  480, 
617,  625,  629,  638.— and  Punish- 
ments, 236-37,  239,  245,  398-99.— 
and  Restraints  for  violent 
prisoners,  242-43. — and  Sanitation, 
142,  144. — and  Separate  i^onfine- 
ment,  256;  270  (hospital). — Annual 
renorts  of,  63,  72.  —  Appointment 
of,'  59.—  Part-time,  255-56,  610.-- 
Prohibited  from  publishing  views 
on  prison  matters,  vii,  64-5,  66,  72, 
378. — Promotion  of,  255. — Salaries 
of,  255,  612. 

See  also  67,  70,  105 ;  and  Medical 
Attention,  and  Invalid  Convict 
prison. 

Mental  Deficiency  Act  (1913),  16, 

53,  284-85,  416,  623,  703. 

Mental  Effects  of  Imprisonment, 
Chs.  I.  to  IX.  (Part  II.),  476-589; 
134-35,  161,  183,  204,  212,  252-53, 
302-3,  306-7,  311-12,  345,  353-55, 
356-60,  409,  602.  607,  609,  610,  623, 
627,  637,  638,  641,  643-50. 
See  also  American  Prisons. 


INDEX 


719 


Mentally  Deficient  Prisoners, 
Ch.  XVIII.,  284-94. 
at  Invalid  Convict  prison,  286,  330- 
32,  335. — at  Preventive  Detention 
prison,  459.  —  Birmingham  experi- 
ment in  obsersation  of,  52-3,  398- 
99.  —  Borstal  and,  412,  416,  418, 
423-24,  440;  438  (girls).— Commis- 
sioners and,  81,  398-99,  407.— 
Number  of,  9,  15-16,  204.  284-85, 
480,  612.— Segregation  of,  81.  216, 
217,  505,  518,  611,  618,  623.  702-3. 
See  also  10,  240,  342,  602;  and 
Insane  prisoners. 

Mental  Treatment,  52-3.  68-9,  218, 
261,    262,    286,    306,    332,    398-99. 
401,  597,  603,  608,  611,  618,  703. 
See  also  American  Prisons. 

Metropolitan  Police  Courts  Act. 
47,   349. 

MiLLBANK  Prison,  56. 

Ministry  of  He.alth,  402. 

Mitchell-Innes,  X.G.,  77.  78,  217, 
301,  318.  321,  324,  356,  421,  517, 
700-03,  705. 

Modified  Borstal  System,  204,  298- 
304,  410. 

Montague,  Right  Hon.  F.  S.,  700. 

Moral  Effects  of  Imprisoniient, 
Chs.  I. -IX  (Part  II.),  476-589: 
203,  212,  302-3,  306-7.  311-12,  353- 
55,  356-60,  607,  609,  610,  623.  627, 
638,  643-50. 
See  also  American  Prisons. 

Morrison,  Rev.  W.  D..  LL.D., 
viii,  56,  535,  609. 

Murderers. 
Effect  of  reprieve  on.  329.  —  Life 
sentences  for,  316,  329,  627,  628-32. 
See  Executions. 

Murphy,  Jack,  676,  681. 

Mutu.\l  Welf.are  League,  217,  455. 
See  also  American   Prisons. 

Myers,  Tom,  M.P.,  ix,  158,  186, 
189,  198,  223,  299. 

Xation.al  Association  for  Social 
Hygiene,  351. 

National  Society  for  the  Preven- 
tion of  Cruelty  to"  Children, 
209-10. 

Neff,  Dr.,  692. 

Newcastle  Prison,  18,  272. 

News    of    Public    Events,    177-78, 

184,  208-9. 
Newspapers. 

Convicts  and,  332,  334,  566.— First 


division  prisoners  and,  221,  224. 
— in  Irish  prisons,  178. — Preven- 
tive Detention  prisoners  and,  445- 
46,  451,  452. — Secretly  published 
in  prison,  164,  647.  —  Smuggled, 
109,  373.  —  Unconvicted  prisoners 
and,  307,  309. 
See  also  American  Prisons. 

New  York  Prison  Association,  97, 
124. 
See  also  American  Prisons. 

New  Zealand  Prisons,  Wages  in, 
116,  121. 

Nightdress,  132,  148 

NrrscHE,  Da.  Paul,  540,  541,  589, 
706. 

Nonconformist  Visiting  Ministers. 
See  Free  Church  Visiting 
Ministers. 

North-allerton  Prison,  18,  276. 

Northampton  Prison,  18,  276. 

Norwich  Prison,  18,  276. 

Nottingham  Prison,  18,  276. 

Nurses,  252,  261,  271-74,  278,  611; 
437  (Borstal  girls). 

0.\KUM  Picking,  15,  101,  110,  114, 
124,  238,  621. 

Observation  Cells,  89,  205,  284-89, 
291,  292-94,  603,  608,  611,  618. 

Observer,  The,  122. 

Occup.xTioNS  of  Prisoners,  7,  22,  39. 

Offences. 

Acquisitive,  5,  20,  21,  31,  32,  33; 
417  (Borstal). — against  Education 
Acts,  21,  29. — against  Persons,  5, 
21,  30,  31,  32,  33,  317,  336.  — 
against  Property,  5,  21,  23,  30,  31. 

32,  33,  316-17, '336,  530.— against 
Regulations,    4,  5,  18,  21,  29,  32, 

33,  336;    417  (Borstal).— Assaults, 

4,  20,  21,  23,  29,  30,  31,  43,  530.— 
Classification  of.  4-5,  32.  — 
Drunkenness,  3,  4-5,  10,  17-18,  20, 
21,  23.  29,  30,  31,  32.  33,  336.— 
Indictable,  20,  23,  25,  26,  31,  42, 
633.— :Malicious,  5,  9,  21,  31,  32, 
33. — Military,    7. — Non-indictable, 

5,  20,  23,  25,  26,  31.— of  Borstal 
inmates,  417;  435  (girls). — of  Con- 
vict prisoners,  316-17. — of  Juvenile 
Adults,  296-97.— of  Misfortune,  10- 
11. — of  Women  prisoners.  5,  29,  30, 
32,  33,  336-38 :  235  (convicts)  ;  297 
(juvenile  adults). — Pettv,  4-5,  29. 
—Prostitution,  10,  21,  24.  31,  39, 
336.— Serious,  4-5.  23.  29.— Sexual, 
4-5,  9.  17,  21,  29,  31',  32,  33,  336, 
341,  530.— Vagrancy,  5,  14,  15,  20, 


720 


INDEX 


21,   23,    30,    31,    32,    33,   81;    417 

(Borstal). 

See  Prison   Offences. 

Official  Secrets  Act,  378. 

Officers,  Prison. 
See  Warders. 

Olivier,  Sir  Sydney,  K.C.M.G., 
C.B.,  vi,  viii,  595-98. 

Operations,  Surgical,  268-69. 

Osborne,  Thomas  Mott,  119,  186, 
217,  359,  397,  452,  455,  465,  483, 
505,  509,  672,  675-86,  691,  696,  706. 

Parkhurst. 

See  Invalid  Convict  prison. 

Paterson,  Arthur,  65,  66,  308,  325, 
332,  504,  577,  706. 

Patmore,  Dr.  Tennyson,  258. 

Patrols,  Mounted,  325. 

Penal  Reform  League  (Now 
Howard  League  for  Penal  Re- 
form), 13,  130,  168,  642,  687,  705. 
See  Howard  Association  and 
Howard  League  for  Penal  Reform. 

Penal  Servitude,  Ch.  XXI.  (Part 
1),  317-35. 

See  Convict  prisons  and  Convict 
prisoners. 

Penal  Servitude  Act  (1857),  103. 

Penal  Theory,  Oh.  IV.  (Part  1), 
73-85. 

and  Education,  167-68,  170.— and 
Lectures,  171.— of  Diet,  126-27.— 
of  Labour,  77,  113-15,  120,  576, 
649.— of  Penal  Servitude,  327.  — 
of  the  Regime,  54,  55,  67-8,  77, 
477,  479-81. 

See  also  203,  228,  601,  605,  618; 
Concluding  Chapter,  590-98 ;  and 
American   Prisons   (Principles  of). 

Pentonville  Prison,  18,  56,  174, 
175-76,  251,  255,  272,  276,  358,  367, 
568. 

Petitions,  209,  398,  408-9,  586,  627. 

Peyton,  Dr.,  659-60. 

Philippine  Prisons,  305,  664,   675, 
700,  703. 
See  also  American  Prisons. 

Photographs  in  Cell,  96,  104,  107, 
165,  324,  348;  435-36  (Borstal); 
447   (Preventive  Detention). 

Physical  Exercises. 

Borstal,     423,     425-26;     436,     437 
(girls).  —  Departmental  Committee 
(1895)  and,  135.— .Juvenile  Adults, 
299,  300. 
See  also  American  Prisona. 

Pigeon,  Dr.,  268. 


Pilcher,  Lewis  F.,  689-90. 
Pike,  L.  0.,  241. 
Police  Cells,  48-9. 
Police  Courts. 

See  Courts,  Summary  Jurisdiction. 
Police,  632. 

and  Crime,  19,  45,  609.— and  First 

offenders,  225. — and  Licencees,  432 

Borstal) ;  472  and  474  (convicts).— 

and  Prostitution,  338-39. 

See  also  American  Prisons. 
Polishing  of  Tins,  98, 136, 148,  231. 

449. 

Political  Offenders. 
See  Prisoners  (political). 

Poor  Prisoners'  Defence  Act,  53. 

Population,  Prison,  Ch.  I.  (Part  1), 
3-41. 

at  Borstal,  93,  416,  420.— at  Convict 
prisons,  3,  4,  27,  28,  93;  316 
(women). — at  Local  prisons,   3,   4, 

27,  28,  93.  —  at  Invalid  Convict 
prison,  330.  —  at  Preventive  De- 
tention prison,  444.  —  of  Juvenile 
Adults,  6.  —  of  Juveniles,  6.  —  of 
Women  prisoners,  4,  6,  20,  22,  27, 

28,  30,   38,  336;  316  (convict). 
See  also   Prisoners. 

Porter,  Haldane,  430. 

Portland  Prison,  18,  56,  157,  181, 
211,  256,  272,  316,  318,  321,  323, 
325,  327,  359,  460,  527,  575 ;  418-19 
(Borstal). 

Portsmouth  Prison,  18,  276. 

Preston  Prison,  18,  272,  303. 

Prevention  of  Crime  Act  (1908), 
51,  52,  58,  59,  73,  410-11,  412,  425, 
431,  441-42,  443,  452,  455,  456,  457, 
465,  704. 

Prevention  of  Crimes  Act,  21,  43. 

Preventive  Detention,  Ch.  XXVII. 
(Part  1),  441-66. 

Absence  of  classification,  451-52. — 
Advisory  Committee  to  recommend 
convicts  for,  453,  454,  464. — Age  of 
prisoners,  13,  451-52. — ^Allotments, 
445-46.— and  After-Care,  445,  457- 
62,  467,  474.— Board  of  Visitors, 
451,  453,  633.— Camp  Hill  prison, 
18,  444,  447,  660.  —  Canteen,  408, 
445-46,  451.  —  Commissioners  and, 
65,  68,  70,  81,  83,  435,  441,  442-43, 
450,  460,  462-65.  —  Compared  with 
Borstal,  435 ;  Penal  Servitude,  459- 
60.  —  Cost,  124-25.  —  Crafts,  165, 
446,  466.  —  Departmental  Com- 
mittee (1895)  and,  65,  442,  456.— 


INDEX 


721 


Diet,  448,  451,  457.  —  Disciplinary 
grade,  444,  448,  451-52,  466.  — 
Dress,  448,  461.  —  Governor,  452- 
53.  —  Gratuities,  444-46,  451,  466, 
633-34.  —  Labour,  124,  447-48,  466, 
633.  —  Letters,  445,  448,  451.  — 
Library,  446.  —  Licences,  453,  454, 
457-58;  451,  466  (forfeited).  — 
Magistrates  and,  443-44. — Medical 
attention,  449,  466.  —  Ordinary 
grade,  444-48. — Parole  lines,  445, 
450-51,  457.  —  Population,  444. 
—Purpose.  51-2,  441-43.  —  Punish- 
ments, 451-52,  466.  —  Recreation, 
175.  445-47,  449,  450,  466.  — 
Religious  ministration,  449-50.  — 
Results,  435,  455,  456-57,  459-62. 
—Shaving,  138,  447-48.  —  Special 
grade,  444-47,  448.  —  Staff,  449 
(chaplains) ;  255,  449  (medical)  ; 
447,  453-54,  455,  466  (warders).— 
Visits,  445,  448,  451. 
See  also  57-8,  476,  606. 

Pbisok  Acts,  131  (1779) ;  55,  73.  185 
(1865) ;  55,  56,  57,  61,  73,  74,  237, 
307,  389-90.  396,  407.  704  (1877)  ; 
56-7,  58,  59,  73,  74,  156,  214-15, 
218,  222,  228,  240,  242,  389-90, 
402-3,  407,  411,  452,  704  (1898). 

Prisoners. 

Accidental,  9-11,  82-3.  —  Age.  6, 
22,  24,  38.  —  Agnostic.  196,  198. 
— Between  21  and  25  years,  303. — 
Church   of    England,  '180-81,    185, 

197,  376.  —  Classification  of,  204, 
214-30,  301-3,  317-18.  356.  403,  594, 
616,  701.— "Condemned,"  246-49. 
—  Court  Martial.  93.  131,  215.  — 
Debtor,  93,  131,  206,  215,  216,  227- 
29,  642.  —  Educational  standard, 
7,  22,  40,  149-50,  602;  416  (Bor- 
stal). —  Epileptic,  10,  15,  17,  259, 
287;  412  (Borstal).— First  division, 
220-22.  —  Free  Church,  196.  — 
Illiterates,  7.  22.  40,  149-50,  182; 
416  (Borstal).  —  Jewish,  189.  196, 

198,  467,  473.  —  Occupations,  7, 
22.  39.  —  Political.  23.  58,  59,  82. 
130,  212.  215,  222-24.  305,  398, 
408-9,  481-83,  488-500,  561,  568-69, 
636-50.  —  Professional  criminals, 
12,  13-14,  39,  81,  82,  357-58.  — 
Religion,  196.  —  Roman  Catholic. 
180-81,  189.  196,  376,  467,  470,  473 ; 
348  (women).  —  Sex.  6,  22.  27,  28, 
29.  38.  —  Types,  9-18.  —  Unfit  for 
discipline,  398-99.  —  Vagrants,  5, 
14-15,  20,  21,  23.  30.  31,  32,  33. 
81.  83,  105,  478,  505,  518;  417 
(BorstalK 

See    also    94,    97 ;    and    Conyicts ; 


Habitual  prisoners ;  Health  of 
prisoners ;  Mentally  Deficient 
prisoners  ;  Offences  ;  Population ; 
Second  Division ;  Third  Division ; 
Women  prisoners. 

Prison  Officers'  Federation,  375, 

385. 
Prison  Officers'  Magazine,  355-56, 

369,  375,  385. 

Prison    Officers'    Superannuation 
Committee  (1919),  387. 

Prisons. 
Convict,  54.— Cost,  124,  125,  399. 
—Large    and    small,    274-76,    366, 
702. — Local,   54.— Location  of,  18. 
See  Small  Pri.sons. 

Prison  Trials. 
before  Governors,  235-36,   245.    — 
before    Magistrates,  245,   391-93. 

Privileges. 
Effect  of,  78-9,  224.  —  of  Borstal 
inmates,  423-24. — of  Convicts,  319- 
20,  321-22,  323,  325-29,  335 ;  333-34 
(new  proposals). — of  Debtors,  227. 
— of  First  Division  prisoners,  220- 
22. — of  Invalid  convicts,  331-32. — 
of  Juvenile  adults  and  juveniles, 
300,  304;  330  (convict).— of  Long 
sentence  convicts,  79,  359.  —  of 
Political  prisoners,  222-24.  —  of 
Preventive  Detention  prisoners, 
445-49,  453,  634-35.  —  of  Second 
Division  prisoners,  188,  218-19, 
618.  —  of  Unconvicted  prisoners, 
307-11,  312.  618. — Prisoners'  ignor- 
ance of,  106-107,  162,  397-98,  617, 
626.  —  Stage,  422-23,  435-37  (Bor- 
stal) ;  325-27  (convict)  ;  104  (Local 
prisons)  ;  444-45,  448,  466  (Preven- 
tive Detention). 

Probation,  6,   47,  50,  51,  217,  413, 
517,  594,  642. 
See  American  Prisons. 

Probation     of      Offenders'      Act 
(1907),  6,  47,  50. 

Professional  Criminals. 
See  Prisoners  (professional 

criminals). 

Progressive  Stage  System. 
and  Education,  151,  159.  —  at 
Borstal,  422-23,  440 ;  435-37  (girls). 
— at  Convict  prisons,  175.  183,  325- 
27;  333-34  (new  proposals).  —  at 
Local  prisons,  103-4.  —  at  Preven- 
tive Detention  prison,  444-45,  448, 
451,  466.  —  Commissioners  and.  74, 
78-9,  157 ;  326,  333-34  (convicts).— 
for    .Juvenile    Adults,     299.  —  in 


722 


INDEX 


Hospital,  115. — Punishments  and, 
236,  239,  391. 

See  also  101,  106,  107,  115,  640; 
and  American  Prisons  (Progressive 
Merit  System). 

Prostitutes,  10.  21,  24,  31,  39,  336, 
338-40,  341,  349,  439,  518. 

Phthisis,  89,  265,   342,  611;  412-13 
(Borstal). 

PUNISHMEN'T     OF     Pp.ISON      OfFENCES, 

Ch.   XIV.   (Part  1),  231-45. 
at  Borstal,  424;  437-38   (girls).   — 
at   Convict   prisons,   59,    233,   235, 
241-42,  244,  321,  356,  403,  632.  — 
at  Invalid  Convict  prison,  332.  — 
at  Local  prisons,  59,  231-45,  356. 
— at  Preventive   Detention  prison, 
451-52,  466.  —  Books  allowed,  237- 
38.    —  Cells,   140-41,    148,  237-38; 
424  (Borstal).— Chaplains  and,  189. 
—Commissioners  and,  234-35,  236 ; 
239  (dietary)  ;  240,  242  (corporal). 
—Corporal,    57,     59,    237,    239-42, 
245,    391,    403;    424    (Bor.stal).  — 
Dietarv,   231-33,    236,   237,   238-39, 
245,  256,   356,  391,   403;  424,  438 
(Borstal)  ;  451   (Preventive  Deten- 
tion). —  Discipline  and,  231,  235, 
575-76.  —  Labour  during,  238.  — 
Medical  certificate  for,  236-37,  245, 
398-99.  —  Number.  234-35,  241-42  ; 
437-39  (Borstal).— of  Debtors.       7. 
of   Unconvicted  prisoners,  309.   — 
Remission,     236.  —  Visiting     jus- 
tices and,  236,  245,  391-92,  407. 
See  also  96-7,   409,  611,   615,  640; 
and  American  Prisons. 
QuiNTON.  Dr.  R.  F.,  73.  78,  83,  109, 
187,  239,  259,  463,  480,   504,  574, 
706. 
Rattigan,  Charles  F.,  675,  676,  677, 

681. 
Reading  Prison,  18,  276. 
Reid,  C.  S.,  696. 
Reception,  88-89,  90,  94.  109.  140-41, 

148,  187. 
Recidivism. 
Causes  of,  8,  204,  502,  573,  609.— 
Commissioners  and,  81. — Effect  of 
war,  24.— Statistics,  11-15,  19,  20. 
24,  241.  517,  459-61,  528-33;  416 
(Borstal). 

See  Habitual  Criminals. 
Recreation,  Ch.  X.  (Part  1),  171-84. 
at  Borstal,  422,  423,  425-25;  436, 
437  (girls).  —  at  Convict  prisons, 
175,  330,  566;  333-34  (new  pro- 
posals).— at  Invalid  Convict  prison. 


331.  —  at  Preventive  Detention, 
175,  445-47,  449,  450,  466.  —  for 
Aged  convicts,  332.  —  for  "Con- 
demned" men,  246-47.  —  for 
Juvenile  Adults,  299,  304,  366; 
330  (convicts). 

See  also  356,  701-02  ;  and  American 
Prisons. 

"Red  Band"  Prisoners,  117,  377; 
117,  322,  326,  626  ("Red  Collar" 
convicts). 

Reformation  of  Prisoners 
Borstal  and,  410,  414,  419-20,  428. 
—Chaplains  and,  79,  185.  189-90, 
194.  204,  601.— Classification  and, 
217.  —  Commissioners  and,  67-9, 
73-85,  478:  462-63  (habituals).  — 
Du  Cane,  Sir  E.,  and,  73-74.  — 
First  offenders,  226,  501-17.  — 
Habituals,  68,  81.  462-66.— Labour 
and,  78,  109,  110-11,  616,  702.  — 
Prevention  of  Crime  Act  (1908) 
and,  73.  —  Preventive  Detention 
and,  414,  454-56.— Prison  buildings 
and,  90-1.— Ruggles-Brise,  Sir  E., 
on,  357-59.  —  Visitation  and,  199- 
201,  202,  205.— Warders  and,  79. 
205,  370,  371-73,  601. 
See  also  203,  205,  226-27,  484,  498- 
500,  601,  605,  615. 

Reformatory     Schools,     410.     412, 
413,  414,  419. 

Reform.^tory      Syste.m.      American 
Penal. 

Preventive  Detention  and,  442. 
See  American  Prisons. 

Reform,      Directions     of,     594-98, 

640,  642. 
Regime. 

See  Discipline,  and  Routine. 
Registrar  of  Habitual  Criminals, 

225. 

Reich,  Dr.,  539. 

Religion,  Ch.  XI.  (Part  1),  185-205. 
as  Reformative  influence,  77,  356, 
357,  358,  601,  608.  —  Change  by 
prisoners,  393.  —  Prayer  cards,  95.  * 
—  Prisoners'  hvpocrisy,  192,  193- 
94,  202,  634.      ' 

See  also  Borstal,  Chapels,  Chap- 
lains, Convicts,  Free  Church 
V^isiting  Ministers,  Hospital, 
Library  (religious  books).  Preven- 
tive Detention,  Religious  Services, 
Roman  Catholic  Priests. 

Religious  Services. 

at  Borstal  institutions,  422 ;  436 
(girls).— -at    Convict    prisons,    189, 


IXDEX 


723 


195-94,  323,  629.— at  Local  prisons, 
98. — at  Preventive  Detention,  449. 
— Chaplain  inspector  and,  189,  192. 
—Discipline  at,  190,  202,  204,  357, 
603,  608;  449  (Preventive  Deten- 
tion prison). — Facilities  for  differ- 
ent denominations.  196-97,  608. — in 
Hospital,  189,  283.  —  Visiting 
justices  and,  393. 
See  aLso  103,  189-93,  356.  357,  617, 
620-29,  640. 

Rem.\nd  Homes  for  Gibls,  296,  311. 

Remand  Prisoxers. 
See    Unconvicted. 

Remission  of  Sentence. 
and  Prison  discipline,  78-9. — Loss 
of,  231-33,  236.  239,  357.— of  Con- 
victs, 326,  403,  472 ;  534  (new  pro- 
posals).— of  Debtors,  229. — of  Local 
prisoners.  58,  105,  115. — of  Pre- 
ventive Detention  prisoners,  455, 
454,  455.  457-58.— of  Women  con- 
victs, 543,  472. 

Reports  by  Warders,  231-34,  236, 
245,  374. 

Represent.\tive  Bo.\rd,  384,  385 
(subordinate  staff)  ;  69,  385  (super- 
ior officers;. 

Research,  Absence  of,  68,  72,  261. 
262,  545-46,  412,  612. 

Restraints. 

at  Borstal.  424;  458  (girls).— at 
Convict  prisons  242-43,  244  519.— 
for  Prison  breakers.  525. — for  Vio- 
lent prisoners.  242-44,  245,  525.— 
Strait- jacket,  257,  242;  424  (Bor- 
stal).— Transfer  of  convicts  and, 
519. — Visiting  justices  and.  591. 
See  ako  257. 

Richards,  Mr.,  668. 

Riddle,  H.  S.,  694. 

Rivers,  Dr.    W.  H.,  510. 

Rogers,  Major  H.  S..  86.  87,  88,  89, 
90,  142.  244,  246,  587,  705. 

Roman  Catholic  Priests,  162.  186, 
195,  196-97,  205,  449. 

RoM-iN  Catholics. 
See  Prisoners. 

Routine.  Ch.  VI.  (Part  li,  95-108; 
Ch.  XXIII..  555-61. 
at  Borstal.  422-25  :  456  (girls).— at 
Convict  prisons,  519-20.  525-25, 
532-55,  535.  —  at  Invalid  Convict 
prison,  550-53.  372. — at  Preventive 
Detention.  444,  448,  452.— at 
Women's  prisons.  556.  —  General 
characteristics  of.  555-61. — Mental 
effects.  561-62,  585.— Rigiditv,  54. 
150. 


RorAL  Commission  on  the  Feeble- 
suNDED  (1908),  285,  526. 

Royal  Commission  on  the  Irish 
Prisons  (1884),  257,  442. 

RoY.u<  Commission  on  the  Penal 
Servitude  Acts  (1865),  171. 

RoT.u,  Commission  on  the  Preva- 
lence OF  Venere.\l  Disease  (1913- 
14),  265. 

Ruggles-Brise,  Sir  E.,  vi.,  x.  23, 
60,  61,  66,  74-5,  76,  77,  79.  80,  81, 
84,  93,  97,  117,  123.  155,  154,  177, 
201,  261,  554,  555-59.  572,  410,  414, 
415,  419,  420,  421,  427,  450,  451, 
596,  706. 

Rx:xes,  Statutory,  57-9,  64,  74,  79, 
93,  222-25,  227-28,  571-72,  590,  393, 
412,  452,  618,  704. 
The  Statutorv  Rules  are  also 
quoted  on  pp.*  152,  185,  189,  218, 
221,  243,  253-54,  290,  500,  507,  508, 
512,  527,  528,  548,  575,  589,  594, 
598,  599,  405,  404,  405,  407,  415, 
451. 

Russell,  C.  E.  B.,  417. 

Russian  Prisons,  606. 

S.u-v.tTiON  Army,  194,  198,  200. 

Santiation,  89,  107,  154,  142-48,  356, 
612,  617,  651,  657. 
See    also    American    prisons. 

School-masters,  95,  154-55,  157,  162, 
167,  170,  500,  558-59,  564,  567,  577. 
See    also    American    prisons. 

Scottish  Prisons,  111,  155,  167, 
187,  206-7,  212,  270,  275,  546,  575, 
595,  660,  704. 

Se.\rches. 
at  Convict  prisons,  524 ;  348 
(women). — at  Local  prisons,  94, 
101-2,  591,  617.— at  Preventive  De- 
tention prison,  448.  —  in  Hospital. 
271. 

Second  Division,  218-20. 
and  Library  books,  179,  219.— Com- 
missioners and,  215.  —  Disadvan- 
tages of,  219-20.— Dress  of,  150-31, 
218,  219.  —  Establishment  of,  57, 
214.  —  Letters,  218-19,  221.  — 
Number  of  prisoners,  220. — Privi- 
leges. 188,  218-19,  618.— Visiting 
justices  and,  215,  595,  594. 
See  also  216. 

SEmECY,  vi.  vii.  61-2,  65,  64,  66,  67 
70,  72,  168,  208,  577-78,  642. 

Self-Abuse,  237,  455,  586-89,  602, 
606,  611,  618. 

Sentences. 
Length  oL  4,  22,  41,  80,  95;  411 


724 


INDEX 


(Borstal) ;  4,  41,  316  (convict) ;  537- 
40,  546-48,  583    (and  insanity).  — 
Life,  316,  329.    —  Maximum  and 
minimum,  47 ;  229   (debtors). 
See  also  Fines,  Short  Sentences. 

Sepahate  Confinement. 
and  Suicide,  558-59.  —  at  Invalid 
Convict  prison,  332.  —  Effect  on 
education,  151,  168,  170.  —  Effect 
of  warders'  eight-hour  day,  97, 
322,  323,  324,  335,  384.  —  for 
Hard  Labour  prisoners,  78,  99, 
100-1,  188,  203.  —  in  Hospital, 
269-70,  278,  280,  282-83,  611.  —  in 
Scottish  prisons,  573.  —  in 
Women's  prisons,  341,  345;  348 
(convict).  —  Mental  and  moral 
effects  of,  204,  480,  492,  511,  570- 
76,  584-85,  586,  602,  605-6,  608, 
610,  617,  619,  627,  629,  641,  648, 
701.  —  of  Appellants,  312,  313.  — 
of  Convicts,  58,  318,  319,  335,  403, 
453 ;  348  (women).  — of  Debtors, 
228-29.  —  of  Second  Division 
prisoners,  219.  —  of  Unconvicted 
prisoners,  307,  310,  313.  —  on 
Sundays,  102,  103,  135,  174,  182, 
190-91,  193,  198,  202,  344,  449-50, 
466,  573,  606,  629. 
See  also  77,  106,  256,  636. 

Sex,  4,  5,  6,  9-10,  20,  22,  27,  28,  29, 
30,  32,  33,  35,  38,  40,  48,  128,  345- 
46,  490,  511,  586-89,  602,  606,  611, 
618. 
See  also  Women  prisonerB. 

Shaving. 

at  Preventive  Detention,  138,  447- 
48.  —  not  Permitted  in  Local 
prisons,  137-38,  148.  —  of  Con- 
victs, 333  (new  propoaals).  —  of 
Unconvicted   prisoners,    137,  307. 

Short  Sentences. 

Classification  and,  225.  —  Com- 
missioners and,  80-81,  297.  —  Diet 
during,  126-27. — for  Juvenile  and 
Juvenile  Adult  prisoners,  296-97, 
300,  303.  —  for  Prostitutes,  339. 
See  also  4,  24,  41,  93,  126-27,  179, 
253. 

Shortt,  Right  Hon.  Edward,  76, 
123,  153.  158,  168,  189,  223,  299, 
328,  341,  362,  363,  368,  424,  451, 
464. 

Siefert,  Dr.,  542. 

Silence  Rule. 
and  Contamination,  302,  311,  344, 
369-70.  —  and  Religious  ministra- 
tion, 190,  192-93.  —  Effect  on 
education,  168-70.  —  Evasion  of 
134-35,  138,  398,  626.  —  in  Convict 


prisons,  320,  455,  564;  332  (in- 
valid). —  in  Hospital,  270,  630. 
—  in  Women's  prisons,  344-45.  — 
Juvenile  Adult  prisoners,  299, 
301-2;  330  (convict);  341  (girls); 
311-12  (unconvicted).  —  Mental 
and  moral  effects,  203,  562-70, 
584-85,  587,  606,  616,  619,  629.  — 
Preventive  Detention,  450,  451, 
457.  —  Punishment  for  breach, 
231-33,  234,  235,  374-75,  640.  — 
Ruggles-Brise,  Sir  E.,  on,  355-56. 
— Unconvicted  prisoners  and,  309- 
10,  311.  —  Warders  and,  344,  355- 
56,  563-64,  565-66,  568,  569;  381 
(wardresses). 

See  also  77,  106,  107,  609,  700 ;  and 
Talking  Exercise. 
Sing  Sing  Pribon,  217-18. 
See  American  prisons. 

Skin  Diseases,    139,    140,   142,   148, 
264-65,  278. 
See  also  Venereal  Disease. 

Smalley,  Sir  Herbert,  M.D.,  7,  9, 
10,  12,  14,  15-16,  17,  18,  83,  251, 
254,  265-66,  270-71,  285,  298,  306, 
331,  552,  553,  554,  555,  706. 

Small  Prisons. 
Compared  with  large  prisons,  366. 
— Governors,  365-66.  —  Libraries, 
181.  —  Medical  attention,  255,  274, 
275-76,  278. — Wardresses,  quarters 
at,  379,  384. 

Smith,  Dr.  Hamblin,  53. 

Social  Conditions. 
and  First  Division  treatment,  221. 
— as  Cause  of  crime,  3,  6-8,  9,  14, 
15,  18,  20,  21,  23,  297-98,  337,  573, 
592,  594,  609,  615;  417-18  (Bor- 
stal). —  Poverty  as  handicap  in 
Court,  53,  308. 

SoMMBR,  Dr.,  539,  541-42. 

Spadlding,  Dr.,  689. 

Spoor,  Ben,  M.P.,  ix,  123,  166,  174, 
362. 

Staff,  Ch.  XXIV.  (Part  1),  362-88. 
Commissioners  and,  59,  69-70,  72, 
385,  576.  —  Cost,  124,  125.— Fit- 
ness, 381-82,  594,  597-98,  604,  606, 
614,  619,  642,  702;  419-22,  440 
(Borstal);  447,  453-54  (Preventive 
Detention).  —  Shortness,  97,  605; 
322-24  (Convict  prisons)  ;  449  (Pre- 
ventive Detention)  ;  341,  378,  384 
(women's  prisons). 
See  also  Chaplains,  Governors, 
Medical  Officers,  Schoolmasters, 
Warders,  Wardresses. 

Stafford  Prison,  226,  516,  530. 


INDEX 


725 


Standing  Orders,  vi,  vii-viii,  54, 
59,  64,  66,  72.  79,  93,  107,  224,  371, 
376,  393,  414,  620,  621,  704. 
The  Standing  Orders  are  also 
quoted  on  89,  94,  110,  111,  132, 
133,  138,  139,  140,  141,  144,  147, 
152,  154,  157,  162,  180,  190,  208. 
209,  223,  225,  228,  236,  258,  242. 
269,  271,  289,  299.  307,  308,  324, 
326,  331,  333-34,  335,  355,  364,  370, 
373,  376,  378,  386,  388.  390,  394, 
398,  408,  413,  415. 

Stabs. 
See  First  Offenders. 

State    Chimin al    Lunatic   Asilum, 
58. 

St.\te  Inebriate  Refobuatoribs,  58, 
124. 

Statistics. 

Limitations  of,  12,  19-20.  —  of 
Acquisitive  offences,  4-5,  23,  31, 
32,  33,  435.  —  of  Age,  6,  22,  24, 
38;  415-16,  434-35  (Borstal);  317 
(convicts)  ;  13,  530  (habituals)  ; 
553  (prisoners  committing  suicide) ; 
451  (Preventive  Detention).  —  of 
Birmingham  experiment,  53.  —  of 
Borstal  inmates,  93,  125,  413,  415- 
16,  418,  419,  433-35;  435,  437-38, 
439  (girls).  —  of  Chaplains,  186. 
— of  Commissioners'  salaries,  61. — 
of  Convicts,  3-4,  27,  28,  41,  93, 
125.  235  241,  242.  243,  316-17,  330. 
460-61,  464.  —  of  Corporal  punish- 
ment, 241-42.  —  of  Cost  of  prisons, 
124-25  ;  444  (Preventive  Detention). 
— of  Court  Martial  prisoners,  93. 
— of  Deaths  in  prison,  254-55.  —  of 
Debates,  176.  —  of  Debtors,  93, 
227,  228.  —  of  Drunkenness,  4-5. 
17-18,  21,  23,  30,  31,  32,  33;  530 
(habituals).  —  of  Education,  7, 
22,  40,  149-50,  152,  153,  154,  155- 
58.  —  of  Executions,  249.  —  of 
Fines,  5,  20,  21,  23,  24,  30,  34, 
35.  36,  50.  —  of  First  Diivsion 
prisoners,  220. — of  First  offenders, 
529,  532-33;  24,  226.  516,  530  (re- 
turning to  prison). — of  Floggings, 
241,  242.  —  of  Habitual  prisoners. 
11-15.  19.  20,  24,  241,  317,  459-61, 
528-33 ;  416  (Borstal).  —  of  Health 
of  prisoners,  251,  252;  459  (Pre- 
ventive Detention).  —  of  Hospital 
treatment,  259.  276.  —  of  Idleness. 
235.  —  of  Illiterates.  7,  22.  40, 
149-50,  182.— of  Indictable  offences, 
20,  23.  25.  26,  31,  42,  533.  —  of 
Insanity,  290,  535-39,  543-49.  — 
of  Invalid  convicts,  330.  —  of 
Juvenile      and      Juvenile      Adult 


prisoners,  6,  22,  38,  153.  295-97, 
299.  —  of  Lady  Visitors,  199.  —  of 
Lectures,  172-74.  —  of  Length  of 
sentences,  4,  22,  24,  41,  93.  —  of 
Local  prisoners,  3-4,  27,  28,  125, 
235,  241-42,  243.  —  of  Long  sen- 
tence division,  327.  —  of  Malicious 
offences,  4-5  9,  21,  31,  32.  —  of 
Mentally  dencient  prisoners,  15-16, 
284-85,  480,  518-19;  412,  416  (Bor- 
stal). —  of  Military  trained  staff, 
362,  368.  —  of  Non-indictable 
offences,  5,  20,  23,  25,  26,  31.  —  of 
occupations,  7,  22.  39. — of  Offences, 
4-5,    19-20,  22-23,    25,  26,    29,  30, 

31,  32 ;  416-17,  435  (Borstal).  — 
of    Offences    against    persons,    4-5, 

21.  30.  31,  32,  33 ;  530  (habituals). 
— of  Offences  against  property, 
4-5,  21,  23,  30,  31,  32,  33 ;  530 
(habituals).  —  of  Offences  against 
regulations,  4-5,  18-20,  21,  29.  32, 
33.  —  of  Political  prisoners,  223. 
— of  Preventive  Detention  prison- 
ers, 125,  435,  443-44,  459-61,  464. 
— of  Prisoners  removed  for  opera- 
tion, 269.  —  of  Prison  labour,  110, 
111,  115-16,  121,  123,  124;  342-43 
(women).  —  of  Prisons,  18.  —  of 
Prostitution,  338.  —  of  Punish- 
ments, 234-35. — of  Recidivism,  11- 
15,  19,  20,  24,  241,  317,  459-61, 
528-33;  416  (Borstal).  —  of  Re- 
ligions, 196.  —  of  Restraints  for 
violent  prisoners,  243 ;  438  (con- 
victs and  Borstal).  —  of  Second 
Division  prisoners,  220. — of  Sexual 
offences,  4-5,  10,  21,  24,  31,  32,  33 ; 
530  (habituals). — of  Staff  salaries 
and  wages,  61,  186,  198.  —  of 
Suicides,  551-53,  560.  —  of  the 
War,  22-24,  549;  560  (suicides).— 
of  Unconvicted  prisoners,  5-6,  21- 

22,  37,  305;  340  (women).  —  of 
Vagrants,  4-5,  14-15,  20,  23,  30,  31, 

32,  33.  —  of  Venereal  disease,  265. 
— of  Violence  in  prison,  235.  520. 
— of  Women  sentenced  to  death, 
337.  —  of  Women  prisoners,  3-4, 
5.  6,  10,  12,  19,  20,  23 .  22,  24,  27, 
28,  29,  30,  32,  33.  35.  38.  235,  243, 
249,  336;  415-16,  435  (Borstal); 
435  (Borstal  girls)  ;  316  (convicts)  • 
530-31  (habituals) :  444  (Preven- 
tive Detention). 

Stephen,  Sib  J.  F.,  76. 
Stone,  D.  John,  700. 
Stout,  Sir  Robert,  116. 
Stowe,  Lyman  Bebcher,  672. 
Strait  Jacket. 
See  Restraints. 


726 


INDEX 


Suicides  in  Prison,  Ch.  VII.  (Part 
II.),  550-60  J  87,  138,  289-90,  550- 

^J-,  ooo. 

Summonses,  19,  25,  44. 

Sunday,   102-3,    135,    145.    154,    165 
174,  182,  189-93.  197,  198,  202,  204' 
299,  309,  334,  344,  355-56,  449-50 
466,  573,  606,  629. 
See  also  American  prisons. 

Surveyor  of  Works,  63. 
See  Rogers,   Major. 

Sutherland,  Dr.  J.  F.,  8,  518    529- 
30,  573,  706.  ' 

Swansea  Prison,  18,  276. 

Talking  Exercise. 

at  Borstal,  437  (girls).  -  at  Con- 
V^o  P^'^o"-*^'  326-27,  328,  566-69 ; 
348,  567  (women).  —  Debtors  and, 
^^7.  —  First  Division  and,  221.— 
m  Local  prisons,  566-69.— .Juvenile 
Adults  and,  299.  —  Political 
offenders  and,  223,  640.— Rugo-les- 
Brise,  Sir  E.  R.,  on,  355-56 
See  also  606,  616. 

Talkington,  Charles  E.,  666. 

Tarde,  Gabriel,  81,  516. 

Teeth,  Care  of,  107,  138,  264,  278 
637;  437  (Borstal  girls). 

Third  Division. 
Except  where  otherwise  indicated, 
the    Third    Division   is    made   the 
basis  of  the  Report. 

Thomson,   Sir  Basil  H.,    321    325 
460,  706.  '         ' 

Time-Table. 
at  Borstal,  422,  427;  436  (girls).— 
at    Convict  prisons,    97,  323-24.— 
at     Local     prisons,     97-100.  —  at 
Preventive   Detention   prison,   448. 

Towns  Police  Clauses  Act  (1847) 
549. 

Tobacco. 
at  Preventive  Detention  prison, 
445,  447,  451,  452.  -  Convicts  and^ 
328;  334  (new  proposals).  —  First 
Division  and,  222.  —  Smuggled, 
109,  373.  —  Unconvicted  prisoners 
and,  309,  310;  703  (Indian  prisons). 
See  also  American  prisons. 

Tracy,  Sheriff,  670,  697. 

Trade  Instruction. 
at  Borstal,  426-30,  440 ;  436  (girls). 
— at  Convict  prisons,  322-23,  335, 
607,  621,  628.  —  at  Local  prisons, 
109,  110-13,  120,  204,  556-57,  601, 
607,  617,  621,  638,  641.  —  at  Pre- 
ventive Detention  prison,  447,  633. 


—for  Juvenile  Adults,  300,  304. 
See  also  357,  377,  607,  702. 

Training    Schools    for    Warders, 
369-70.  ' 

Transference  from  Local  to  Con- 
vict Prisons,  319. 

Trials,   19-20,   25,    26;  235-36,  245, 
391-92,    407    (prison   offences). 

Troup,  Sir,  E.,  vi. 

Tutors  at  Borstal,  420-22. 

Tynan,  Warden,  661,  668,  671. 

Unconvicted  Prisoners,   Ch.    XX 
(Part  1),  305-15. 

Bail,  44,  305-6,  340-41.— Chaplains, 
and,  310.  —  Diet,  307,  309,  618 
—Dress,  131,  307,  309.  —  Eifect 
of  imprisonment,  225,  306-7,  616. 
—Homes  for  girls,  311.— Juvenile 
Adults,  311,  340-41  (girls) ;  415.— 
Legal  facilities,  308,  313.— Letters, 
307,  308,  309.  —  Long  imprison- 
ment, 305,  307.  —  Number,  5-6, 
37,  305 ;  340  (women).  —  Not  re- 
turning to    prison,   5-6,    21-2,   37, 

305,  313,  340.  —  Punishment,'  309! 
—Remanded  as  punishment,  306. 
Remanded   for  medical  treatment, 

306,  339,  351-52;  53,  306,  597 
(mental  observation).  —  Visiting 
Justices  and,  307-8,  393.— Women, 
306,  311,  314-15,  339,  351-52;  340- 
41  (pregnant). 

See   also   93,    137,    215,    216,    221, 

310,  609,  618;  703  (Indian  prisons). 
UsK  Prison,  18,  276. 
Vaccination  Act  (1898),  220. 
Vagrancy  Acts,  21,  349. 
Vagrants,  5,   14-15,  20,   21,  23    30, 

31,   32.   33,  81,  83,  105,  478,  505, 

518;  417  (Borstal). 
Valera  De,  90. 
Vamberey,  Professor,  382. 
Vegetarian  Diet,  130,  409. 
Venereal    Disease,    139,    140,    142, 

148,  265-67.  278,  314,  339-40,  351- 

52,  611,  613;  350  (women). 
Ventilation  of  Cells. 

See  American  Prisons  and  Cells. 
Violence    in    Prison,    235,    239-40, 

242-44,  287,  325,  329,  391,  403,  509, 

520;  424  (Borstal). 
Vischer,  a.  L.,  510. 
Visiting  Committee. 

See  Visiting  Justices. 
Visiting  Justices,  Ch.  XXV.  (Part 

1),  389-409. 


IXDEX 


127 


and  Corporal  punishment,  240, 
391.  —  and  Complaints,  394-96, 
693.  —  and  First  Division  prison- 
ers, 221,  393,  394.  —  and  Labour, 
390,  399.  —  and  Lectures,  173,  394. 
— and  Prisoners  unfit  for  discip- 
line, 398-99,  407.  —  and  Second 
Division  prisoners,  215,  593,  394. 
—and  L'nconvicted  prisoners.  307- 
8,  393.  —  and  Warders.  399.  — 
Commissioners  and,  399-402.  — 
Departmental  Committee  (1895) 
and,  71,  389-90,  598.  —  Establish- 
ment of,  55.  —  Ignorance  of 
duties,  398,  400-1,  407.  —  Inspec- 
tion bv,  46,  61,  394-98,  399-402, 
631.  —  Powers,  59-60,  391-95.  395. 
—Punishment  bv,  236.  245.  391-92, 
407. 
See   also   69,    107,    167,    179,   300, 

389,  409. 

Visiting  Ministers,  59,  186,  196, 
198,  200,  202.  221,  236,  243,  283, 
359. 

Visitors  to   Prison,    198-201.   205, 

390,  620. 

Visits,  Prison,  210-13. 
at  Borstal,  423,  424.  —  Censorship 
of  Conversation,  210,  213.  —  Con- 
ditous,  210-11,  213,  356,  651.  — 
for  "Condemned"  men,  247.  —  for 
First  Division  prisoners,  221.  — 
Infrequency  of,  210,  213,  607,  618, 
621,  630,  640.  —  of  Appellants, 
312.  —  of  Convicts,  211.  325-26. 
335,  403;  334  (new  proposals!  :  320 
(on  entry).— of  Debtors,  227,  229. 
—of  Juvenile  Adults,  299,  300.  — 
of  Political  prisoners,  224.  —  of 
Preventive     Detention     prisoners, 

445,  448,  451.  —  of  Second  Divi- 
sion prisoners,  218-19.  —  of  Un- 
convicted prisoners.  307,  308-9.  — 
Special,  210,  212.  —  Visiting  Jus- 
tices and,  210,  393. 

See    ako  72.   77,   104,   200-1,  202, 
204,  210-13,  231-55,  279,  408-9,  602 ; 
and  American  Prisons. 
Wages. 
at    Preventive    Detention    prison, 

446,  466.  —  of  Unconvicted  prison- 
ers, 307,  309.  —  the  Problem  of, 
117-19,  120,  121-22. 

See       American        Prisons       and 

Gratuities. 
Wakefield  Prison,  18,  %1,  269. 
Wall,  A.  J.,   143,  355. 
Waller,  M.  L.,  x. 
Wandsworth  Prison,  18,  175,  261, 

272,  276,  358,  367,  566,  568. 


W.ar,  The. 
and  Borstal  inmates,  453.  —  and 
Health  of  prisoners,  253.  —  Educa- 
tion during,  153.  —  Effect  on 
crime,  3,  4,  14,  22-24.  —  Effect  on 
diet,  127,  253:  258  (punishment). 
— Effect  on  prison  insanity,  549. — 
Effect  on  vagrancy,  14.  —  Lec- 
tures during,  175.  —  News  of, 
177.  —  Prison  population  during, 
5-4. 

Warders,  367-88. 

Absence  of  initiative,  108,  384, 
615.  —  Abuse  of  power,  234,  245, 
375-74,  575.  581,  584,  596,  599, 
405,  409,  556-57,  615,  626.  —  and 
Corporal  punishment,  240,  241, 
245.  —  and  E.xecutions,  246-50.— 
and  Governors,  566,  575-76.  —  and 
Juvenile  Adults,  502-5,  585.— and 
Prisoners,  79,  102.  205.  225,  234, 
559,  570.  571-74,  578.  579,  580,  581, 
582,  584,  409,  455,  460.  569-70,  594, 
606,  609,  614,  625-26,  627,  650,  659 ; 
419-20  (Borstal!.  —  and  Silence 
Rule,  544,  555-56,  565-64,  565-66, 
568,  569;  581  (wardresses).  —  and 
Trafficking,  210.  575.  —  Appoint- 
ment, 59,  367-68.  —  Arming,  325, 
455.  —  Assaults  upon,  255,  287, 
325,  329.- at  Borstal,  419-22,  440. 
— at  Preventive  Detention  prison, 
447,  453-54,  455,  466.  —  Chief, 
240,  367,  395,  625.  632,  639.— Clerk 
and  schoolmaster  class,  95,  154-55, 
157,  162,  167.  170,  300,  558-59.  564, 
367,  377.  —  Cook  class,  371,  577. 
—  Duties,  571-75,  581.  —  Effect 
of  system,  569,  587,  641.  —  Eight- 
hour  dav  and  prisoners,  97,  322, 
525,  524,*  578,  584,  605.  —  Espion- 
age on  prisoners,  1(X).  555-54,  571, 
575-76,  581,  584,  615.  —  Hospital 
class,  240,  249.  265,  271-74,  278, 
287.  —  Militarv  training,  565,  368- 
69,  384,  619,  630  ;  421-22  (Borstal) ; 
453  (Preventive  Detention).  —  on 
the  Svstem,  67-70,  79,  369,  371, 
382-85;  615,  641.  —  Principal,  249, 
567.  —  Prohibited  from  publishing 
views  on  prison  matters,  vii,  64-5, 
72,  577,  578,  584.  —  Quarters,  584, 
387.  —  Reporting  and  fining,  234, 
375-77,  384,  614,  639-40.  —  Report- 
ing of  prisoners,  232,  255-54,  245, 
574-75,  615,  631-32.  —  Training 
schools.  369-70. — Visiting  Justices 
and,  599.  —  Working  conditions, 
584,  585-88. 

See  also  59,  145,  287,  557,  405,  642  ; 
and  American  prisons  (employees) ; 


728 


nVDEX 


Instructors  ;  Representative  Board  ; 
Staff ;  and   Wardresses. 

Wardresses,  155,  314-15,  344-45, 
367,  369,  378-81,  437. 

W^ARwicK  Prison,  18,  276. 

Webb,  Sidney  and  Beatricb,  ix,  54, 
117,  562. 

Weymouth  Institute. 

See  Portland. 
Whitman,  Hon.  John  L.,  662,  669, 

687. 

Wilde,  Oscar,  91,  105,  360,  505. 
WiLMANNS,  Dr.  K.\rl,  540,  541,  589, 
706. 

Wilson,  President,  697. 

Winchester    Prison,    18,  272,   307. 

Windows,  Cell,  87,  88,  92,  96,  232. 
310,  660;  447,  660  (Preventive 
Detention)  ;  237  (punishment  cells). 

Wines,  H.,  672. 

Woman  Inspector,  61,  62. 

Women  Prisoners,  Ch.  XXII.  (Part 
1),  336-52. 

After-Care  of,  199-201,  467;  348, 
467,  473  (convicts).  —  and  Silence 
Rule,  344-45,  355,  569.  —  Age,  6, 
22,  38. — Association  of,  341. — Con- 
demned to  death,  249,  337-38.  — 
Convicts,  255,  259,  316-17,  334, 
336,  342,  344,  347-48,  473.— Crafts, 
166-67,  567.  —  Diet,  342,  344.  — 
Dress,  130,  132,  133,  148;  218 
(Second  Division).  —  Education, 
155. — Educational  standard,  40. — 
Habitual  criminals,  12,  14,  530-31. 
—  Hard  Labour,  100,  101.  — 
Illiterates,  22,  40.  —  Infanticide, 
337-38.  —  in  Hospital,  270,  271-73. 
—Labour,  116,  341-44;  348  (con- 
victs). —  Lady  Visitors,  69,  166-67, 
172,  173,  199-200,  210,  310.  468, 
471.  —  Lectures,  172,  173.  — 
Library,  178-79.  —  Male  staff,  345, 
350.  —  Medical  attention,  255,  261, 


270,  271-73,  278,  339,  345,  351-52. 
—Number,  4,  6,  20,  22,  27,  28,  30, 
38,  336 ;  316  (convict).  —  Nurses 
for,  272,  273.  —  Offences,  5,  29, 
30,  32,  33,  336,  337-38;  235  (con- 
victs). —  Pregnant,  340-41,  346, 
613.  —  Preventive  Detention,  444. 
—Prisons,  18.  —  Professional 
criminals,  14.  —  Prostitutes,  10, 
21,  24,  31,  39.  335,  338-40,  341,  349, 
439,  518.  —  Punishment,  235,  239. 
— Remanded  for  medical  examina- 
tion, 339,  351-52.  —  Remission  of 
convict  sentences,  326,  348,  472. — 
Restraints  for  violence,  242.  — 
Sanitary  arrangements,  143,  145- 
46.  —  Sentenced  in  default  of  pay- 
ment of  fine,  5,  35.  —  Special 
physical  needs,  345,  350.  —  Talk- 
ing exercise,  348,  567  (convicts). 
—Types,  11,  14,  613.  —  Uncon- 
victed, 306,  311,  314-15,  339,  351- 
52.  —  Under  25  years,  303.  — 
Venereal  disease,  266,  338-40,  350, 
351-52. 

See  also  11,  15,  16,  17,  18,  21,  24, 
48-9,  94,  115,  214,  215,  216,  261, 
273,  312,  337,  341,  343,  345,  346-47, 
389 ;  and  American  Prisons. 

Women  Suffrage  Prisoners,  59, 
215,  220,  223,  224,  481. 

Worcester  Prison,  18,  276. 

Workers'  Educational  Associa- 
tion, 169. 

Workshops. 

at     Borstal,     427-30.  —  at     Local 
prisons,  109,  115,  120. — at  Preven- 
tive Detention  prison,  447,  466. — at    | 
Women's  prisons,  343,  344,  348. 

Wormwood  Scrubbs  Prison,  18, 
86,  195,  255,  259,  261,  272,  276,  367, 
369,  371,  385. 

Writing  Materials,  104,  161,  163- 
64,  165-66,  167,  170,  176,  204,  222, 
232-33,  358-59,  366,  638,  642;  530 
(convicts). 


Printed  br  the  Blackfriars  Press.  Ltd..   17-23  Albion  Street.  Leicester. 


HOW   THE    ENGLISH    PRISONS 
CAME    TO    BE    AS    THEY    ARE. 


New  book  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sidney  Webb 
with    a    Preface     by    G.    Bernard    Shaw 

Demy  8vo,  320  pages.  Price  15s.  net 

Uniform    with    English    Prisons    To-Day 

English  Prisons  Under 
Local  Government 

By   Sidney   and    Beatrice  Webb 
with  Preface  by  G.  Bernard  Shaw 

What  will  arouse  attention  and  excite  controversy  in  this 
volume  is  the  lengthy  Preface  by  Mr.  Bernard  Shaw,  extending 
to  more  than  a  tenth  of  the  book,  in  which  the  whole  theory 
of  punishment  and  the  several  apologies  for  the  incarceration 
of  our  fellow-citizens  are  subjected  to  a  penetrating  analysis 
of  thought-provoking  originality,  in  Mr.  Shaw's  characteristic 
style. 

In  the  body  of  the  book  (which  has  been  prepared  as  an 
historical  introduction  to  English  Prisons  To-Day,  being  the 
Report  of  the  Prison  System  Enquiry  Committee,  by  Stephen 
Hobhouse  and  A.  Fenner  Brockway)  the  authors  of  The 
Parish  and  the  County,  The  Manor  and  the  Borough,  and  The 
Story  of  the  King's  Highway,  give  a  detailed  account  of  the 
evolution  of  the  English  Prison  System,  from  the  common 
gaol  and  the  House  of  Correction  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
down  to  the  statutory  changes  of  the  twentieth  century.  The 
successive  efiEorts  at  reform  of  John  Howard  and  Elizabeth 
Fry,  Jeremy  Bentham  and  James  Neild,  Sir  T.  Fowell  Buxton 
and  J.  J.  Gurney  are  described.  The  origin  and  development 
of  the  cellular  system  are  analysed.  The  treadwheel  and  the 
crank,  the  penal  dietary  and  the  "system  of  progressive  stages" 
all  come  under  review.  The  administrative  changes  made  by 
Sir  Edmund  Du  Cane  and  Sir  Evelyn  Ruggles-Brise,  and  the 
legislative  reforms  of  the  past  quarter  of  a  century  are  related, 
80  as  to  bring  the  story  down  to  the  point  at  which  English 
Prisons  To-Day  takes  up  the  examination. 


LONGMANS,  GREEN  &  Co. 


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