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uc much1S57* is morn-for an ) of the Lce'com-r bankg, y Trcns-• an Ac o repeal office of of Ste-e table, irief dc-ittec oaan Act onmcntfor an cforrcdate the i Com-i Act to i quart, Selectan Act cinuati Selecte same rxed toinkinglmincrcso£»d nnd hers.weronty of 1 nre-Wa*►aub-id foradred n rc-i kid-nays, ivillem m-i car-E laid lOrn-II.09 its rhfch i the hundred otes, i arb wtab aSed Z aaat^thatt~n'tekuuccci certainly aa low as ten cents pa mile. *The Chaplain, J£ct. Dr. MiALisn^s, states that .divine services aro performed twice cveiy Sunday in the prison, *jnce to the men and once to the women.. Besides this, several hours are devoted every Sabbath afternoon, ty walking through the wards and conversing with the convicts on religions subjects. Ho states that during the last fifteen months ninety-five of tho convicts have mado public professions of repentance, while many others have promised amendment f life- He does not express confidence in the sincerity of all these professions, but many, he thinks, aro truly penitent and steadfast in their purpose of reformation. Tho convicts are generally ag cheerful as could be expected- The Chaplain suggests that a small appropriation be mudc for the purchase of bookg for the use of the prison j as he justly thinks there can be no great improvement morally without Intellectual enlargement.Tho Inspectors speak of the Prison Physician, Dr. ITez. Williams,in very deservedly high term9. They say:'•To tho report of the Physician, we taka a particular pmle in directing year attention. When it w recollected that a large proportion ol th« convicts received at the priaaa are afflicted with some chronic 1 incase, while other* are Baffhricg from Xunclionul of long atnadinir,the mortuary report for the lalt;t two years u a matter of great satisfaction,and present* a remit, the joint uffect of medical PfcilJ andprbon difct-plme, not excelled, If equaled by any rimiLor institution in the country.” .In filiation to some exceptional cases, but which require some action on tho part of the Legislature, the Inspectors say:“ Several cos i* 6 f insaoi tj haiii ig o«u rr ed tn tho prison, and ihere being no provision made for the I proper treatment of fuch eoaej within the prbon wall*, wo would nvpectfnlly represeut the pro-ErLety of roxa* IjglsUtive notion on ill at Pul-iect. y which tha inr.niity of tha convict can be tried* audit so pronounced, that «ome provision be made for th«r admidon into the uStadi Asylum, or oliierwiso di^osed of. ru your honorable body may think bwt.There u another gliwa of to which wewould Invite jour ottectiunanciiinmcdiafceacti un. We refer to a cliws of fetnnlo convicta who come into tho prison pregnant. The laws p*£«ed for tho government of the prison do not appear to havo contemplBtoi such an event, and no provision ho* been mudo fur such case^ The prison b neither provided with a ljiug-m-Iujpit*[ nr nurses. The convict nml hep offspring nn* on incumbrance tr» the Warden. The child cannot Lm separated fromits mother* and yet it has no proper plnce there._Tho XuBpcetor# and Warden have no power in the premises f and if it should ba understood that tho executive clemency could bo aaecosiTulty invoked in such cases, tho evil would only be incroaeod, for it Is not to bo doubted that sack ni art convicted of crime, or expect to be convicted, would not Jong hwitnte to comLt on* crime to flflcarxj tho . penalty attached to the commbion of another. .Evers convict should have separate c«li. Hi*health and morals imperatively demand it* but intn« preent condition of things it u impomble.'The cells are very small, balng three and a half rnet by aeveu feat, and axe barelylarge enough for one. To continue this state of thing* would engender disease in winter, and in summer invito nml almost inaure a deadly opidemic. With two m a celt, in a great majority oC.caaed, tie hope of the moral reformation of the conrict mdestroyed.The (comparatively innocent are placed In the closest relations with the most hardened and desperate, and cnn»B_ out of prison at the expiration of the time for which they were sentenced, educated m the ways of crime, odd ready for nay desperate deed, and thus tha objwt of tjieir incarceration, nude from tho'. public security, will haro totally failed.Tho lease' of this prison expires on tho 10th day of Jutnj, 1S58,. nniL it will therc-foro.boneccasary for the present Legislature to pass snchT laws' in relation,ta its futura management orj3ispp3al_M they inny think best- The subject is now before the Legislature*
Newspaper Details
Alton Weekly Courier
Alton, Illinois, US
Thu, Feb 05, 1857
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Hayner P.
IL, USA 06 Mar 2025
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