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i Through the kiuduess of the Clerk of gu. the Penitentiary, we are enabled to fur-j nish the number of life prisoners in the o ‘ State’s prison, and the Counties from ! which they were sent. We omit publishing the names of the convicts for the f , reason that we do not wish to injure the feelings of their surviving relatives, or «open afresh the wounds of sorrow which !time may have partially healed.There are now living in the prison,' sixty-four convicts, who arc serving out j life-time sentences.. From 8tark County I | 1; Warren 2; Hamilton IS; Washington i j 1: h illiams 1; Seneca 1; Morrow 1; Cuy-1 ahoga 7; Franklin 2; Mahoning 1; Clin-' i ton 1; Greene 2; Lucas 5: Ashtabula 1; ^uc Jefferson 1; Vinton 1; Adams 1; Pickat 1: Licking 1; Morgan 2; Marion 1; ji; Ur i! Sandusky 1; Jackson 4; Oosbu j Miami 1; Portage 1; Scioto 1; Gallia 1; j Lawrence 1. There are three out on I Al(, . writs of error, having had new trials 1,10 I granted. Two of these are from Kamil- frJ,J I ton and one from Putnam county—which j j y | would make the number now under sen-. teuce for life sixty-seven. Of the above i„« I six are negroes and mulattoes, ‘and [ J“ J [ twenty foreigners, fine of the number ! mk-! has been confined 24 years, one 17, one I ! 14, two 13, one 12, one ll, three 10. lt;! 7, six U, five 5, eleven 4; live 3, nine and teu less than one year.1 j Of the above number ten are hope-| lesslv insane, and others verging upon nity, and we think four insane prioners have died within twoy this fact it appears that life imprisott-nt has an inevitable tendency to in-ity, if the prisoner has mind enough be crushed. We have had some reflections on this matter, and propose here merely to glance at the subject and leave it to those who arc more competent to do justice to a theme of such magnitude, and fraught with so much interest to mankind.The design of punishment is two fold: first, the protection of society; second, the reformation of the offender. To secure this two fold result, criminals are imprisoned for a period of time intended to be in proportion to the magnitude of the offense. Some are incarcerated for or a term of years, and some for life—and now we wish to ask the question, do life sentences protect society, ind reform the subjects of them? We nswer negatively. Punishment pro-ects society by removing the vicious from it, and operating upon the fears of .those who have not, as yet, entered upon a course of crime, and so restraining them from transgression.The punishment for murder is designed to prevent that crime, but imprisonment for life docs not, adequately, do this, for it always leaves the criminal with the hope that the punishment may be shortened, either by executive clemency or the exercise of sharpened ingenuity.— nre certain that not one of the lifetime convicts now confined came to the n expecting to die there, and perhaps there is not one rational one but that still hopes to be restored to liberty. Consequently, though the sentence be for life, in the estimation of the convicts, well as those who meditate murder, it :aus only a term of years. The Judge who seutences a inau convicted of mur-:o imprisonment for life, seldom, if ,does it under a realizing sense that the doomed one will remain in “durance ile,” until the vital spark goes out, and n pronouncing sentence upon the guilty, he alludes to the possibility of an escape from the full vigor of the terrible seu-lee. For this, and other reasons, a life-ic sentence means only a term of years the estimation of those unfortunates whose strong passions have been aroused, and in whom the demon clamored for blood. With this idea impressed upon his mind, the prisoner outers upon his dreadful servitude. His thoughts are wholly occupied with it by night and by day. He spends some time in suspense. Ilis friends then may make an effort to Lave him pardoned, but do not succeed. His mind is then called into activity to form some plan of escape—he tries, and tries again—but his plans arc all frustrated. How faint theu is the prospect that men thus situated will reform!— Spread before them truths of the greatest importance, and to them they are idle tales, unless they are connected with thoir freedom. Speak to them in words of burning eloquence concerning a future state, and the necessity for a preparation therefor, and they will reply: release me from this place—give me freedom—and then I will prepare for the future.No one can conceive of the intensity of the desire for freedom on the part of these convicts, save those who are conversant with them. That desire is with the last lingering thought that yields when sleep begins, and it mingles with their dreams, and in the first waking to consciousness it is there with all its idncss—it is interwoven with all their thoughts and purposes—and there it will remain, absorbing everything else, until all hope of a release expires; and then, instead of repeuteuce, there will be derangement—monomania.If the above hasty review of the question be correct, then it follows that ’ prisonment for life neither protects ciety nor reforms the criminal, and, c sequently fails to secure the result of punishment. What then shall be done? This question opens a vast field for discussion. Who will enter, explore and return laden with truth, and bio world?If happily we are born of a good nature; if a liberal education has formed in U3 a generous temper and disposition, well regulated appetites and worthy inclinations, ’tis well for us, and so indeed we esteem it. But who is there endeavors to give these to himself, or to advance his portion of happiness in this kind? Who thinks of improving, or so much of preserving his share, in a world where it must of necessity run so great a hazard, and where we know an honest j nature is so easily corrpted? All other | things relating to us are preserved with, and have some act or economy be-1 ^ in- longing to them; this which is nearest ■ l.’-! related to us, on which our happiness! il-: depends, is alouc committed to chance; w- and temper is the only thing uugoverued j »n*i w- j while it governs all the rest. iBQk.The depth of the artesian well at :ot' Columbus is 2,575 feet. By means of; Pi he 1 a registering thermometer, it has been j p ;y. I ascertained that the temperature at that i “J1 ke I depth is 88 deg. Fahrenheit. Taking ; if * other similar experiments for a basis, a , this would show the increase of tempera-' ~ ture to be at the rate of 1 deg. for every 1 uventy feet descending. The artesian a*j well at Louisville shows an increase of T D 1 deg. for every sixty-seven Icet. The , increase observed in sinking tbeGrenclle te- well at Paris was 1 deg. for fifty-eight r„ ry feet. In the artesian well at Mondorf, ut on the frontier of France and Luxem- Ni ey bourg, the water at a depth of 2,200feet, eli had a temperature of 93 deg. Fahrenheit, o- showing an increase of 1 deg. for fifty- |„r
Newspaper Details
Pomeroy Weekly Telegraph
Pomeroy, Ohio, US
Tue, Aug 21, 1860
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Linda R.
USA 27 Jun 2024
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