selves while in prison as to merit assistance when they come out. And bravely has that resolution been kept in numerous instances. The Association can point to numbers of its beneficiaries who are doing well, and who enjoy the confidence of their employers and the respect of the community. When we consider what was the condition of these erring ones when they first claimed our assistance-broken in health, prostrated in mind, without friends, without solace, without hope even- and now see them industrious, respected and happy, it is a source of unalloyed gratification, and affords the strongest incentive to perseverance in our labors. These erring ones are members of the human family as well as we, possessing human sympathies and affections, as well as human passions and vices. They are our brethren; children of the same Father; heirs of the same immortality; candidates for the same heavenly inheritance; and which is an infinitely higher consideration - the Redeemer of the world is equally willing to save them, as he is the more favored of their fellow creatures.

The statistics for twenty-five years in this department are as follows: 18,307 discharged prisoners aided with board, clothing, tools, railroad tickets or money; 4,139 persons of the same class provided with permanent situations; making a total of 22,446 persons aided in this branch of our work; or a grand total in the two departments of the detained and the discharged, of 156,368 cases, in which relief of some kind-moral, material, or both-has been extended to persons who have been arrested and imprisoned, justly or unjustly, on a charge of crime. It should also be mentioned, in this connection, that besides the relief given to the accused and convicted, aid, more or less extensive, has been afforded to thousands of persons connected with the families of prisoners. Particularly, for some years past it has been the custom of the executive committee to place a few hundred dollars in the hands of the general agent for the relief of such families, to be distributed on New Year's day. The character of this work will be best shown by a single sentence from one of the agent's reports. He says: "What a delightful employment I found it to alleviate the distresses of the poor, the very poor, the worthy poor, the Lord's poor; to minister to their pressing wants; to feed the hungry; to clothe the naked; to redeem bedding and warm clothing in midwinter from the clutches of the pawnbrokers; to pay the rent of those in danger of being put out of doors; and to enable the needy to procure the absolute necessaries of life."

Having illustrated, by the narration of a few cases, the nature and utility of our work in the detention department, we think it not

unsuitable to introduce some illustrations of a similar kind in that of released prisoners.

A young man had been imprisoned at Sing Sing for an offence committed in a moment of sudden temptation. He had previously sustained a fair reputation, and was therefore not a criminal in the sense of being addicted to crime as a business. After his discharge he came to New York, and sought for work. Said he: "I have looked about for employment, but every door is closed against me. The moment I am known as a discharged convict, I am shut out of employment, and, it appears to me, out of the pale of human sympathy. I am ready to work; there is no kind of employment I would refuse; but the world appears in arms against me. O God! what shall I do? If Heaven had not passed sentence against selfmurder, I would commit suicide; but this I dare not do. Christ has forgiven me, if man has not, and I must not offend him. But oh! I shall die; and if I do, it will be the death of a man who has starved in a land of plenty. But when I die, it shall be the death of an honest man." The anguish of this man, under his failure to get work, was intense. He was aided to start a little business for himself, in the management of which he was industrious and exemplary in all respects. He became a member and class-leader in the Methodist church; lived a consistent life; was prospered in business; purchased a home for his family; laid up a moderate competence; and died respected, honored and loved by all who knew him. A poor, crushed, desolate man called at the office of the Association, and stated that he had been confined in State prison for five years. He had looked diligently for work, but, being a "State prison bird," could find none. He said he was willing to do any thing, and go anywhere to do it. He said imploringly: "Please give me employment, and I solemnly promise to disgrace neither myself nor the Association." A delicate hint was given him that his clothes were not quite suitable, and a looking-glass was placed in his hand. He stood aghast, almost petrified, and wept profusely. To an inquiry as to the cause of these painful emotions, he replied: "I have not seen myself in a looking-glass for the last five years. I remember well what I was then; but, oh! what am I now? A discharged convict, and every body knows me to be such." His appearance was indeed sadly against him. But words of encouragement were spoken to him; he was taken into an adjoining room, where he had a good wash; a decent shirt and suit of clothes were put on him, and a black sick handkerchief was tied about his neck. This kindness overwhelmed him, and he wept convulsively. After a half hour of friendly talk, hope beamed in his eye, and he fervently

thanked God that the Prison Association had proved to him an ark of safety. Remunerative work was obtained for him. Some months afterward, he called at the office, so improved in his appearance that he was not at first recognized. Among other grateful reminiscences, he said: "I shall never forget the day when that handkerchief was tied around my neck; nor shall I ever steal again, for I always carry that handkerchief with me." Nor has he. On the contrary, he became a deacon in a church, superintendent of a Sunday-school, exemplary in all his deportment, and active in every good work.

Another case, that of a middle aged woman, who had been often committed to prison. On one occasion, when our agent visited the penitentiary, she begged him to intercede for her that she might go out. "I am afraid you would come back again soon," he said. "Very likely; I expect to be brought back soon." "Then where will be the use of letting you out?" "I should like to go out; it would seem good to be free a little while, in the open air and the sunshine." "But if you enjoy liberty so much, why do you allow yourself to be brought back again?" "How can I help it? When I go out of prison, nobody will employ me. No respectable people will let me come into their houses. I must go to such friends as I have. If they steal or commit other offences, I shall be taken up with them. Whether I am guilty or not, is of no consequence; nobody will believe me innocent. They will all say, 'she is an old convict-send her back to prison-that is the best place for her.' O, yes, I expect to come back soon. There is no use in my trying to do better." The agent's feelings were touched to hear her speak thus, and he said: "Mary, if I could obtain steady employment for you, where you would be treated kindly and be paid for your services, would you really try to behave well?" Her countenance brightened and she eagerly replied: "Indeed I would." He procured her release, and succeeded in obtaining for her a place as head nurse in a hospital for the poor. She remained many years in that position, discharging its duties with such fidelity and acceptance as to gain the respect and confidence of all who knew her. Nor did she ever afterwards return to crime.

Whole volumes might be filled with the record of cases just like these. Of the four thousand and upwards of released prisonersmen and women-for whom permanent places have been procured by the Association, not five per cent, according to the best information that can be obtained, have fallen back into criminal practices; while, certainly, more than ninety per cent have been quietly reabsorbed into virtuous society, have become good citizens, and have pursued and are pursuing a career of useful industry as farmers,

mechanics, laborers, clerks, merchants, and a few even as members of the learned professions.

VISITATION OF PRISONS.

By its act of incorporation, it is made the duty of the Prison Association to "visit, inspect and examine all the prisons of the State, and annually to report to the Legislature their state and condition." There are in our State four State prisons-three male and one female; six penitentiaries (so called)—belonging to and managed by the counties in which they are severally situated, but most of them receiving prisoners from the counties adjacent, and one (that at Albany) constituting in effect a United States prison; sixty-eight county jails; and some twenty or more station houses; about one hundred in all. These have all been again and again visited; their condition and management thoroughly explored; and the facts elicted spread out in the fullest detail before the Legislature and the people. Probably not less than six hundred inspections have been made of the penal institutions of our own State, and at least a hundred of those of other States; and the reports in which the results of these numerous examinations have been embodied cover 5,349 printed pages.

The degree to which political influence pervades and controls all classes of our penal institutions, makes the administration of them fluctuating and uncertain, and renders anything like steady progress impossible. There are no settled principles of prison management, but the character of the discipline depends upon the character of the head for the time being, and unfortunately, "the time being" is, for the most part, exceedingly short, the successive administrations of our State prisons not much exceeding, on the average, two years. Nor is it merely the heads of the prisons that are changed, but ordinarily the entire staffs, within these brief periods. This fact will account for the alternations of praise and blame meted out in our reports to the discipline maintained in the prisons at different times, since it fluctuates with the fluctuations of administration. Upon the whole, however, the management of the prisons-financial, industrial and moral — appears of late years to have been rapidly deteriorating, and abuses and corruption to have multiplied to an alarming degree, so deeply has the canker of change and consequent incompetency worked itself into the system. We propose to review and exhibit, at some length, the observations made, the facts elicited, and the conclusions reached, in the various and searching examinations instituted by this Association, within the past few years.

A CENTRAL AUTHORITY.

has no

New York-and the same is true of all the other States supreme central authority, clothed with a general power of contro and direction over the entire penal and correctional system of the State. It is the conviction of this association, deeply felt and often expressed, as the result of its long and wide study of our prisons, that in any comprehensive reorganization of our prison system, the creation of such central authority will be found absolutely essential. At present the fundamental principle of all good government—a responsible head-is wanting in relation to our prisons; scores of separate boards, and hundreds if not thousands of individuals, including county boards of supervisors, having a voice in their management. This one fact is an ample explanation of the slow progress made in the general improvement of our prison system. The select committee of 1850, on prison discipline, in the British Parliament, took no wiser action than that of adopting a resolution, that "it is desirable that the Legislature should intrust increased power to some central authority," the design of such centralized power being to secure uniformity in prison construction and management. Without some such supreme authority, ready at all times for deliberation and action, there can be no homogeneous system of administration, no well directed experiments, no careful deductions, no established principles of prison discipline, nor any skillfully devised plans for carrying such principles into effect. But if the construction and management of all our prisons were intrusted to a central board or bureau, improvements of every kind could be readily introduced, and that, too, in the safest manner, by first trying the plan proposed on a small scale and under the best circumstances for insuring trustworthy results, and then, if successful, gradually, under the guidance of experience, extending the sphere of its operations. It is material to remark, though the observation would naturally occur to reflecting minds, that a supreme authority, like that proposed, would be quite compatible with local boards acting under its direction. But with or without local boards, a general board, properly constituted, could find little difficulty in the efficient superintendence of the whole system. We ardently hope yet to see all the departments of our preventive, correctional and punitive institutions-the industrial school, the juvenile reformatory, the jail for the adult, the local penitentiary, and the State prison-moulded into one harmonious whole; its parts mutually answering to and supporting each other; and the whole animated by the same spirit, aiming at the same results, and placed under the same control, yet without the loss of [Senate No. 21.]

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