Of the "congregated" Sabbath school the chaplain says:

The Sabbath school now numbers 100, and many wish its privileges who can not be accommodated. It affords an important aid to discipline. It brings back the memories of home and boyhood days and associations, which tend to elevate and set the conscience at work. It can only be looked upon as a noble auxiliary to reformation.

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A paragraph on congregated" secular instruction must close our exhibit of the new régime introduced into this important penitentiary:

For want of a suitable room I have not been able to accomplish what I desired in the way of classification for secular training. Only two classes for rudimental instruction have been formed. There is a strong desire on the part of most of the prisoners to obtain knowledge. The very ignorant as well as the better informed urgently press their wants. These necessities are met chiefly by the personal attention of the chaplain. Also, whenever it is deemed judicious to do so, by placing the tolerable scholar in the same cell with the more ignorant one, thus stimulating both to study. Some of the keepers also occasionally help their men out of their entanglements in arithmetic and other books. So that by these several plans all are tolerably well reached. But the work is distributed over so much space that it consumes much time and energy with less benefit than a fully classified school would do.

RHODE ISLAND.

Improvement, progress, is still the word in the prison of this State. On the subject of finding work for prisoners on their liberation, the inspectors say:

The inspectors would strongly urge the consideration of the subject of the employment of discharged convicts. Men and women, upon leaving the prison or jail, frequently have no proper place to which they can go, and meet with no person who is especially interested in giving them employment. How often the same criminals are committed and re-committed, let the records of the prison and jail testify. If our system of punishment is reformatory, it should carry its good influences beyond the prison walls. The State and the city could find no office more economical and more salutary than one which should take cognizance of the needs of discharged convicts, and provide for their complete supply.

The commutation law, recently enacted, bears the same fruit here as elsewhere, as the following statement attests:

The law providing for the commutation of punishment, in cases where good behavior of the convict merited such a favor, has, in its practical working, accomplished good results. It is believed that there is less need of punishment, and a greater willingness to obey the regulations and laws necessary for the enforcement of discipline. But few instances of disorderly conduct have occurred during the past year, and it is believed that a feeling of mutual good will prevails among the prisoners and those who have them in charge. The encouragement which the law holds out is very salutary in its effects. The hope of shortening, even for a few days, the term of imprisonment, is a stimulus to the good conduct which is to merit such an indulgence, and the inspectors have every reason to congratulate the people of the State upon the complete success of what was deemed by some a doubtful experiment.

On the advantage of an occasional lifting of the stern restraint of prison rule, the inspectors use the following language:

The inspectors have thought that some relaxation from the usual severity of prison discipline might be beneficial in its results. They have accordingly authorized the warden to permit the prisoners to enjoy an hour or two of comparative freedom in the prison yard, upon the occasion of the public holidays. On Independence day and on Christmas day a certain portion of the day was spent in recreation. On Thanksgiving day the prisoners were assembled in the chapel, and spent an hour in singing and indoor amusement. The inspectors as yet have seen no evil, but only good, resulting from this occasional indulgence. It has served to break the monotony of prison life, and to introduce into it an agreeable feature. Out-of-door exercise seems particularly essential, not alone for the preservation of the physical health, but also for the promotion of the moral welfare of persons who are confined in prison. In the best managed prisons in England, France and Italy, a certain time each day is devoted especially to physical exercise, and certain places are set apart in the prison yards, where, under the eye of an officer, the prisoners are required to walk in the open air for at least half an hour, and in some instances an hour, daily. The inspectors believe that if more frequent opportunities were afforded, and better facilities furnished for such exercise, the result would be advantageous to the best interests of all our penal institutions and their inmates.

The chaplain, Rev. Wm. Douglas, bears this testimony to the improved tone and bearing of the prisoners:

Since my last report to your honorable body, there has been a very marked improvement in all departments of the prison. By the exercise of unremitting attention on the part of General Viall and his corps of officers, a state of discipline and good order has been attained much in advance of previous years. The quiet and ready obedience of the men to the wholesome restraints of the prison discipline, shows that they appreciate the kind and humane, yet just, treatment which they receive. Their personal appearance is much improved. Instead of a morose and sullen look, they now, for the most part, present a cheerful appearance.

The Sunday school in this prison is one of the best of its class. The teachers not only faithfully instruct the prisoners on the Lord's day, while they remain in confinement, but diligently seek employment for them on their discharge, endeavoring in this manner, after having raised them up, to keep them from falling again. The chaplain remarks:

We have now in our Sunday school twenty-three classes composed of the inmates of the State prison and county jail, both male and female. The females are in a space partitioned off by themselves, and are taught by ladies. The teachers in both departments of the school have attended constantly and faithfully to their duties. They have taught and advised their scholars while in the prison; and after their liberation these teachers have cared for them by finding them employment, still following them with Christian counsel. The good accomplished by the devoted labors of these pious men and women will never be fully known till the revelation of all things.

From an incidental reference of the chaplain to a "conference meeting held on the first Sabbath of the month," it would seem that

a meeting for prayer and mutual edification has been instituted in this prison. We are glad to learn this fact, and all we have to say in the way of criticism is, if a monthly prayer meeting is good, would not a weekly be better?

We paid a short visit to this prison last autumn, and in a brief detail of our observations there, published soon after in a New York paper, we said:

Gen. Viall, who in the field did his country good service in its hour of greatest need, is now doing equally good service in his warfare upon crime-not criminals— as the head of the State prison of Rhode Island. I found a very great improvement in the condition of things here since my last visit, four years ago. Gen. Viall is emphatically "the right man in the right place." He has toned up the prison immensely. He governs almost wholly by moral means. His only punishment is the solitary cell, and even the use of this has become rarely necessary. The discipline is excellent, and breaches of order few and far between. Without any appropriation from the State, the general has instituted a prison school, to be held two hours during each of five evenings in the week. He takes charge of it himself, without additional remuneration, and is aided by his under-keepers, who officiate in turn. The desire for instruction on the part of the convicts is general and eager.

An agency for maintaining the discipline, very simple and yet quite efficient, has been put in practice by Gen. Viall. It is a roster of the prisoners, on which the name of each is plainly written. This is hung up at the end of the block of cells, with the names in full view, except when a man is under punishment, and then the reverse side of the slip on which his name is written is exposed to view, showing a black surface. This simple contrivance has a wonderful effect upon the men, as every one is anxious to see his name exposed, which is a token of honor, and not the black streak, which is a token of dishonor.

There is one feature in the present management of this institution worthy of all praise. The only branch of productive industry pursued here is boot and shoemaking. The contract on which the men are let binds the contractors-the Bay State Company, I think-to give to all who are employed by them work in their shops outside on their discharge. If such an arrangement were but universal in our prisons, the problem how to dispose of our discharged convicts would be solved.

SOUTH CAROLINA.

We are without information in regard to the penal affairs of this State beyond the statistical items communicated by the superintendent (which will be found tabulated with the statistics of other prisons), and the further fact that all the labor of the prison is used in the construction of the new prison buildings. The per diem value of this work is estimated at fifty cents. The punishments used are "dark cell, bread and water diet, ball and chain, and 80 forth." How much may be included in this last expression, we

know not.

TENNESSEE.

The State penitentiary of Tennessee is not, or was not at the date of the last report received (1868), in a satisfactory condition. Two

reports a majority and minority report-were made by the board of directors; and there was a controversy of long standing between the board and the lessees, involving an issue of some $30,000. Into these matters, even so far as to state their history, we do not propose to enter. We cite a gratifying passage from the majority report of the directors:

Discipline has been and is carefully enforced, and the health, comfort and moral and material wants of the prisoners carefully looked to. Under the direction of the Rev. Dr. Robinson, of the Freedman's Bureau, with a self-sacrificing corps of assistants, schools have been opened, where the convicts are taught the rudiments of an English education. A Sabbath school has also been organized under the auspices of the same parties, which, as a means of reformation, has produced the most gratifying results. The Sabbath is now largely devoted to educational and religious exercises, in which nearly all the convicts participate. These exercises are carried on in strict subordination to the rules or discipline of the prison, and by reason of them it is hoped that even a penitentiary may become a place of reforma tion rather than of punishment. The convict feels that he is not a Pariah, but a human being, with a mind and soul to be cultivated and cared for. To these efforts of self-sacrificing and philanthropic ladies and gentlemen, the directors and officers have given the most cordial sympathy and support believing that no class are beyond the pale of reformation and improvement.

Per contra, the minority report contains this passage:

The majority report fails to give any list of punishments since the removal of Mr. McElwee. During a great portion of the time since that date, no record has been kept of the punishments. The old and barbarous system of whipping convicts has again been introduced, to what extent I am unable to say, owing to the absence of records.

The chaplain of the penitentiary, Rev. Jonathan Huntington, departed this life on the 23d of September last, in the 65th year of his age. An obituary notice speaks thus of him and his work:

He held the position of chaplain to the penitentiary, and took a deep interest in his work. Any signs of real reformation in the convicts were hailed by him with unaffected pleasure, and always secured from him the most assiduous attention. As the Tennessee State prison has been crowded with inmates who cannot, in very many cases, be considered vicious culprits, Mr. Huntington really had a promising missionary field. He believed so, and often said so, and he felt satisfied that not a few of those who professed to have experienced a change of heart in that prison, under his ministrations, would justify his expectations and adorn the profession they made.

TEXAS.

No report and no information.

VERMONT.

Vermont has heretofore been behind all her sister States of New England, both in the financial and moral management of her State prison; but the report for 1868-9 gives token of solid progress in

the right direction. On the subject of "reformatory agencies" the directors say:

These centre in the specific work of the chaplaincy, aided by the library, secular instruction and the general discipline and government of the institution. Of the value and necessity of these in the prison, no intelligent person can have a doubt. They are above price, and they deserve the most liberal encouragement. To these agencies the public mind is now turning with increasing interest; and the people of Vermont, we are persuaded, do not intend to be far behind other States in this respect.

The time has gone by, if it ever existed, for regarding punishment as the chief end of the imprisonment of violators of the law. Reformation is superior to that, in the esteem of thinking people; and the just combination of the two is found to be of growing importance. The commutation law has important relations to reformation. It works well both for the discipline and the interests of the men.

They have also the following just and weighty remarks on secular instruction in prison:

The matter of providing for secular instruction is, in our judgment, worthy of grave consideration. In the general, the inmates of prisons come from that class which have had the least advantages in our schools. Few of them are well educated. Many have neglected the opportunities once proffered, and in their confinement they lament their folly. Most of them are anxious to learn. Is it wise for the State to lose its own opportunity of making good citizens of ignorant and vicious men, by neglecting to instruct them, when, in their sorrow under punishment for crime, they are most ready to receive it, and most easily molded?

The directors deal some heavy blows at the contract system. Indeed it meets with little favor any where at the present time, and we look upon the system as doomed in our American prisons. The Prison Association has made war upon it for twenty-five years. This is what the board say of it:

Our conviction is that the practice of contracting the labor of the convicts in such a way as to put the control of the prison industries out of the hands of the directors and superintendent is attended with insuperable objections. It almost inevitably interferes with the proper discipline of the institution, by placing the men during the working hours under the partial control of persons whose pecuniary interests stand over against those of the State, and who are in danger of conflict with the rules and authorities of the prison. It impedes reformation by impeding discipline, preventing the proper classification of the men, and subjecting them to the influence of motives which do not conduce to their moral improvement. Nor do we think the practice wise as a financial measure. If a contractor can do well with the employment of convicts, why cannot the superintendent do the same?

The chaplain, Rev. Franklin Butler, states the nature and extent of his work, with its encouragements, in the following sentences: Worship in the usual form, for the men, and a separate religious exercise for the women, on the Sabbath; Bible-class instructions in some portions of the year; occasional visits to the cells and private conversation with the inmates, together with the distribution of religious tracts under certain conditions; the instruction of some in the rudiments of reading, spelling, geography and arithmetic, combined with the general influence of a pastor and a friend, have constituted the sum of my labors.