WEST VIRGINIA.

There is no State prison in West Virginia.

WISCONSIN.

The State prison of Wisconsin, under the efficient management of its warden-H. Cordier-has pursued "the even tenor of its way," only advancing from one degree of excellence to another. This is one of the very few prisons in our country where the reformation of its inmates is made a leading object.

As regards the apparently less successful administration of the finances of the prison, Mr. Cordier explains that the labor of the convicts having been for the most part withdrawn from the erection of the prison buildings, now completed, it became necessary to provide new and remunerative employment for them. This was a matter of much embarrassment and delay, and caused a great loss of time on the part of the men. However, all difficulties were in the end surmounted, and the manufacture of chairs successfully established as the main business of the prison; and despite all disadvantages, the prison very nearly reached the point of self-support.

On the subject of discipline, and the mode of administering it in this institution, the warden (here called commissioner) has the following remarks:

A cruel and inhuman system of prison discipline cannot be otherwise than injurious in its effects. It destroys good will and confidence, and makes the men suspicious, revengeful and reckless of consequences. It promotes insubordination and conspiracies, makes labor a curse, fills the dark cells with desperadoes, and the hospital with the sick; in short, it has the tendency of making good men bad, and bad men constantly worse.

Kindness is the principal means of discipline employed in this prison, and it has always been found most salutary in its effects. Human nature is the same here as elsewhere; while men may be influenced by counsel, remonstrance or persuasion, they very seldom can be moved by mere brute energy. They certainly cannot be made better by inflicting those barbarous punishments which have been the terror of past ages, and would be a disgrace to any civilized nation now. Aside from privileges of various kinds to be earned by good conduct, the following may be cited as the most noteworthy agencies employed in the reformation of our convicts.

First. The commutation law, by which each prisoner against whom is not recorded any infraction of the rules of discipline, may diminish his sentence five days in each month, and if he should be entitled, after the expiration of his term of imprisonment, to a certificate of good character for obedience, industry and integrity, then the commissioner shall be authorized to restore him to citizenship.

Second. Religious instructions, consisting in divine service every Sabbath morning, and private conversations of the chaplain with convicts in their cells, at any time during the week. The present chaplain, to whose report your attention is respectfully called, deserves much credit for his indefatigable labor in behalf of these unfortunate persons.

Third. The day school, in which those convicts, who are unable to read, write or cypher, receive instructions in those branches of education. This school, now in successful operation for nearly two years, may be considered one of the most remarkable features of the institution.

Fourth. The prison library, although not as extensive as it should be, is well calculated to communicate useful knowledge, and elevate the minds of the convicts. All books of every description are eagerly sought, well read and pondered, and afford a rich source of amusement and instruction.

Fifth. The prison dress. The parti-colored dress heretofore worn, and regarded by all experienced prison officers as degrading in its tendency, has been changed for one of uniform color-a light grey-and the former is used only as a means of punishment. This change met more than my expectations. It inspired the convicts with confidence and self-respect, encouraged them to new efforts to redeem their manhood; not being constantly reminded of their disgrace, it promoted cheerfulness, and with it a higher degree of industry. It appeared to them like a sacred token that they were still children of the human family, fallen from grace, but not hopelessly lost. May the time be near, when the parti-colored and zebra-striped dress will be banished from all American prisons.

The mode of dealing with our convicts may be briefly summed up as follows: We treat them always as human beings, entitled to our heartfelt sympathy, and not as hardened criminals, insensible to all feelings of kindness and affection. We never allow any officer to speak to them harshly, or to allude in any manner, however remote, to the crime of which they stand convicted. No prisoner is punished for his first offence against prison rules; he receives, instead, an earnest but kind warning not to repeat it. Punishment is never inflicted until it has been explained to the offender, that his own good, as well as that of the institution, requires it, and corporal punishment is in all cases abolished. We never let prisoners suffer for want of comfortable clothes, or of good wholesome food. We take good care of them when sick. We encourage them, at every opportunity, to cultivate their mental, moral and physical powers, and to make a solemn pledge to enter society again as better men.

The chaplain-Rev. H. Drew-thus speaks of his spiritual and educational labors, and their results:

In presenting this report, I am happy to say that the religious department of the prison is in as good and prosperous a condition as I have ever seen it at any time since my connection with the institution. Nothing has occurred during the pas year to disturb the harmony of our chapel services. On the contrary, all the corvicts have evinced, by their good conduct in church, an interest in the returning services of the Sabbath that would be creditable to any outside congregation. May who have been discharged from prison during the past year have left this institution better men, and, I believe, with a true, earnest and honest purpose to lead a new life, a life of honest industry and Christian integrity. Many others, who still remain in confinement, evince by their daily deportment a determination to reform their habits of life, and yet convince the world that they can become honest and respectable men. The prison school is still in successful operation, with a membership of about sixty scholars. We have received into the school, since my last report, forty-eight scholars, the majority of whom had no education whatever. The remainder could read but imperfectly in the primer, or in the beginning of the first reader, but had no knowledge of writing or arithmetic. We have discharged from prison thirty-four, all of whom could read and write intelligently, and understood arithmetic sufficiently for the common transaction of business. Of those now in the school, there is but one in the primer class, eight in the first reader, eleven in the second reader, and the

remainder in the third reader. In arithmetic there are ten in the mental and the balance in the practical arithmetic, in various stages of advancement, from the beginning to nearly completing the book.

It is truly surprising to see what proficiency the school has made in the art of writing during the past year. Many, who one year ago had no knowledge whatever of this art, now write a very fair business hand. This experiment of a school in a prison has demonstrated its utility. The salutary effects of the school are clearly seen in the improved habits and uniform good conduct of those who enjoy its benefits. The little education which the convicts obtain in this school seems to inspire them with more self-confidence and higher and clearer conceptions of human duty.

The office of prison warden in Wisconsin, as in too many other of our States, is a political one. He is chosen once in two years, as the Governor is, by the popular vote of the whole State. Mr. Cordier has been thrice elected to the office, and has therefore served six years. So successfully, in a financial point of view, has he fulfilled the duties of the position, that one of the leading papers of Wisconsin lately declared that he was "worth his weight in gold to the State." But another person wanted his place, and the exigencies of party required his sacrifice. Mr. Cordier, we believe, declined to be a candidate for re-election, alleging that it would involve too much canvassing and wire-pulling, and that, after all, he could neither refute nor deny "the only charge brought against him, viz., that he had held the office six years"! We trust that his successor will prove himself equally capable and efficient; and, in the meantime, are glad to learn that Mr. Cordier's services will not be lost to the cause of prison reform in this country. He has been chosen to preside over the large penal institution recently organized in Pittsburgh, Pa., where, we presume, partisan politics will not be felt as a disturbing element. The people of Western Pennsylvania are to be congratulated on having secured for their new prison the services of a head so experienced, enlightened, progressive and able as the late commissioner at Waupun.