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XXI. MONTESINOS AND HIS PRISON AT
VALENCIA.

BY THE CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.

Probably the most successful experiment in prison discipline the world has ever seen was that conducted in Valencia, Spain, by Don Manuel Montesinos, a colonel in the Spanish army. It covered a period of fifteen years, from 1835 to 1850. In view of recent developments in our own prisons, and the evident desire of the public for a reform, a brief account of this experiment, in its principles, methods, and results, cannot fail to be interesting, and may prove both instructive and useful. The public prison at Valencia, when Colonel Montesinos was appointed its governor, in 1835, was an old convent a large building, but ill-arranged, ill-ventilated and very filthy-containing an average of 1,000 prisoners, which was sometimes swelled to the number of 1,500. At that time the percentage of recommittals was from 33 to 50, which was about the average in other European prisons, both British and continental, though in exceptional cases it rose to 60 and even 70; these latter being the figures in the prisons of Perth and Liverpool. The administration of Colonel Montesinos lasted, as above stated, fifteen years. For the first two years it produced little effect on the number of recommittals; during the next ten years the average of recommittals was less than one per cent; and during the last three years, 1848, '49 and '50, there were absolutely none.

To what was this extraordinary decrease in the percentage of recommittals during the administration of Colonel Montesinos owing? Simply to the substitution of moral for physical force. It was just the difference between coercion and persuasion. But the persuasion did not consist in a weak indulgence of the prisoners, in a laxity of discipline, in any want of firmness and vigor in the administration, or in mere moral exhortations to reform. It was an organized, systematized persuasion; a persuasion pervading and vivifying all the arrangements and machinery of the prison. In one of the reports of the governor we find the following sentences, in which are embodied a whole manual of reformatory prison discipline:

Never forgetting that the object of punishment is to reform those subjected to it, as well as to give a salutary warning to others, I have sought, by every means and at every cost, to extirpate in my prisoners the lamentable germ of idleness, and to inspire them instead with a love of labor, seeking to impress this beneficial senti

ment ever more and more on their hearts. But, as unproductive work in the prison could by no means affect this, I made it a rule whenever any one showed a disposition to labor, but had no occupation which could contribute after his discharge to maintain him honestly, to endeavor to procure him such; and for this purpose I sought to bring within the prison as many workshops as possible, allowing him to choose among them the one which was likely to be most advantageous to him; and now there are above forty of these all in full operation, and all originally organized and still maintained by the knowledge and capacity of the prisoners themselves. Neither for their introduction, nor for the rebuilding or repair of the prison, have I ever asked the government for a single farthing (un solo maravadi), nor called in the assistance of any mechanics from without. It is true that the progress of many of these workshops has been very slow and troublesome; for, not having had funds at my disposal for the first purchase even of the necessary tools and machines for them, I have been compelled to proceed only step by step in them. But, on the one hand, I could not help the want of money, and, on the other, I have always thought a frequent and intimate correspondence between the prisoners and persons of a different description outside objectionable; and I have thus had no choice.

The establishment of one workshop, and the difficulties experienced in managing it, showed me both how to introduce more and to enlarge those already in operation; and I thus further gradually acquired the intimate conviction that, without the stimulus of some personal advantage accruing to themselves for their labor, it is difficult to obtain work even from the already skilled, and almost impossible to get the unskilled to learn. Repeated experiments convinced me of the practical lesson involved in this maxim of social economy; and that what neither severity of punishments nor constancy of inflicting them could exact, the slightest personal interest will readily obtain. In different ways, therefore, during my command, I have applied this powerful stimulant; and the excellent results it has always yielded, and the powerful germs of reform which are constantly developed under its influence, have at length fully convinced me that the most inefficacious of all methods in a prison- the most pernicious and fatal to every chance of reformare punishments carried to the length of harshness. The maxim should be constant and of universal application in such places - not to degrade further those who come to them already degraded by their crimes. Self-respect is one of the most powerful sentiments of the human mind; and for this reason, that it is the most personal (el mas egoista); and he who will not condescend in some degree, according to circumstances, to flatter it, will never attain his object by any series of chastisements- the effect of ill treatment being to irritate rather than to correct, and thus turn from reform instead of attracting to it. Moreover, the love of labor cannot be communicated by any violent means (vejamenes), but rather by persuasion and encouragement; and, although it is quite possible to obtain a specific amount of work from prisoners by the aid of the lash (as is sometimes recommended by high functionaries in this department), yet the consequence is, necessarily, aversion for an employment which involves so many penalties, and of which such a bitter recollection must always be preserved. And the moral object of penal establishments is thus also, in fact, defeated, which should be not so much to punish as to cure- to receive men idle and ill-intentioned, and return them to society, if possible, honest and industrious citizens.

It was not till after making many experiments of severity, that I came firmly to this conclusion; but, ultimately, I made it the base of all my operations on the minds of my prisoners; and the extraordinarily small number of recommittals to my prison, and the excellent health and perfect state of submission in which those con fined in it have always been kept, seem to me to leave no doubt of its soundness. [Senate No. 21.] 48

So much for the governor's statements, than which nothing could be better thought or said. His declarations are confirmed by the testimony of other and disinterested witnesses. The author of "Notes of an Attaché in Spain, in 1850," thus states his impression of the prison:

The penitentiary gave us more satisfaction than any other institution we visited. Here we beheld nearly 1,000 prisoners under the most admirable system of discipline, and severally engaged in every branch of human industry. I could scarcely realize that I was in a prison, so like an immense and enterprising factory was the general aspect of the interior, and so happy and contented seemed the busied operatives in their various employments.

Mr. Hoskins, an English traveler, in his work entitled "Spain as it is," gives also a full account of the establishment. We can cite but a few of his sentences:

*

*

It is greatly to the credit of the city of Valencia that it can boast of one of the best conducted prisons in Europe. This being one of the great social problems of the day, I made particular inquiries about it. There are a thousand prisoners, and in the whole establishment I did not see above three or four guardians to keep them in order. They say there are only a dozen old soldiers, and not a bar or bolt that might not be easily broken — apparently not more fastenings than in any private house. The sergeants and inferior officers are all convicts, who, of course, are acquainted with the temper and disposition of their companions, and best able to manage them; and the prospect of advancement to higher grades is an inducement to all to behave well. When a convict enters he is asked what trade he will work at or learn, and above forty are open to him, so that he has the means of devoting his time to any he knows, or, if ignorant of all, to one he feels an inclination for, or which he knows will be useful to him when he is liberated. There seemed to be the most perfect discipline; they were obedient to a word. They are not allowed to talk to each other during their work; but this rule does not seem to be very strictly enforced, and they may speak to their instructor, who is often one of themselves, and ask each other for tools, or any thing requisite for their work; and every night after prayers they are allowed to converse with each other for an hour. There were weavers and spinners of every description, manufacturing all qualities, from the coarsest linen cloths to the richest silks, damasks and velvets. There were blacksmiths, shoemakers, basket makers, ropemakers, joiners, cabinet makers, and they had also a printing machine hard at work. They were all most respectful in their demeanor, and certainly I never saw such a good-looking set of prisoners, useful occupation and other considerate treatment having apparently improved their countenances. There is a shop where they can purchase, if they wish, tobacco and other little comforts, out of one-fourth of the profits of their labor; another fourth they are entitled to when they leave; the remaining half goes to the establishment, and often this is sufficient for all expenses, without any assistance from the government. This is quite surprising, as the expense is very considerable, and the governor has invariably made the teaching and moral improvement of the convicts his chief consideration, without regard to the profits to be derived from them. Instruction is open to all in a large school, which the boys under twenty are obliged to attend for one hour daily, and any prisoner above that age, who wishes, may join the classes. This system may be thought too indulgent; but what is the result? During the last three years not one prisoner has been returned to it; in the ten

previous years the average of those returned was not more than one per cent. The success attending the reformation of the prisoners in this establishment is really a miracle.

All this seems truly wonderful, and yet it is less so than it appears. It is simply the fruit of a natural system of penitentiary training. Colonel Montesinos did not foolishly attempt to repeal the laws of Heaven. He seized those great principles which the Creator has impressed upon the human soul, and moulded them to his purpose. He aimed to develope manhood, not to crush it; to gain the will, not to coerce the body; to secure the co-operation of the prisoner by kindness, not to awaken his hostility by harshness and severity. He thus employed the law of love, and he found love the most powerful of all laws. He acted upon his men by urging them to self-discipline, self-help and self-reformation. He excited them to industry by allowing them a portion of their earnings, part of which might be expended for their present gratification, the remainder being reserved to the day of liberation. He enabled them to raise their position step by step, by their own industry and good conduct. When they had won his confidence he intrusted them with commissions which carried them beyond the walls of their prison, relying solely on his moral influence over them to prevent their desertion. And, finally, he discharged them before the expiration of their sentences, when he had satisfied himself that they desired to do well, and that they had acquired habits of patient labor, such a degree of skill in some handicraft as would insure employment, the inestimable faculty of self-denial, the power of saying "No" to the tempter, and, in one word, such a general control over the infirmities of their minds and hearts as should enable them to maintain the liberty which they had earned.

The moral to be drawn from this history is clear, and it is no less important than it is plain. Colonel Montesinos reformed his men solely because he unfeignedly desired and sought their reformation. Their return to society as honest, industrious, useful citizens was the great object of his pursuit, and every difficulty was overcome under its guidance. He triumphed over bad prison buildings, deficient funds, and to say the least, an irregular apparatus. It is hardly too much to say, that he annihilated the criminal propensity in those who had been subjected to his treatment. We have but to propose to ourselves the same object, and pursue it as steadfastly as he did, with our better means and machinery, and with whatever better lights of experience and reflection we may possess, and we shall be at least as successful. It would be humiliating to acknowledge the inferiority of American to Spanish genius.

XXII. OBERMAIER AND HIS PRISON AT MUNICH.

BY THE CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.*

The experiment in prison discipline, inaugurated and conducted some years ago by Councillor von Obermaier, in Munich, Bavaria, was one which bore good fruit while it lasted, and would, no doubt, have borne more and better had not the machinations of its enemies at length succeeded in breaking it up. The late celebrated George Combe, of Scotland, visited Obermaier's prison in 1854, and thus describes it in a letter written from Munich at the time:

I have found here an unexpected illustration of the power of the moral sentiments and intellect to govern and reform criminals, without using the lash or any severe punishment, and also irrespective of all theory or system. Herr Regierungsrath Obermaier is the governor of the criminal prison of this city, and has under his charge about 600 of the worst male convicts, collected from all the districts of Bavaria. Their sentences extend from eight to twelve years' imprisonment, and some of them for life. Their crimes have generally been attempts to murder, murder with extenuating circumstances, or highway robbery. A more unpromising set of convicts could hardly be imagined, and yet there are no separate cells, no severe discipline, no paid superintendents, except a turnkey to each ward, whose station is outside the door, and who does not see into the apartment.

The prisoners are collected in workshops to the number of ten, twenty or thirty, according to the size of the room; for the prison is merely an old cloister, and they labor each in a trade, under the superintendence of one of themselves. They sleep in similar groups, and have each a separate bed, a straw mattress, two very clean white sheets, a pillow, and a white blanket. In the winter there is a large stove in each sleeping room, and also in each workshop. They eat in common, take exercise in the yard in common, and, in short, are under no perceptible restraint, except the prison bars and walls, and look much more like men working quietly in different kinds of production, in a great manufactory, than a collection of desperate criminals undergoing penal sentences. They card wool and flax, spin both, dye the wool, weave both, and dress both the linen and woolen cloth, so as to complete them for use. There are tailors, carpenters, shoemakers, and blacksmiths' workshops; and in none of them is any intelligence, except that of the convicts themselves, employed either to teach or superintend. The bars on the widows are so slight, and so many tools are intrusted to the convicts, that escape could be easily accomplished, for outside there is only one soldier, and he cannot see a fourth of the windows; yet the culprits do not break the prison.

Every prisoner, said Obermaier, is brought before me on his entrance, and I converse with him. I ask him if his father or mother be alive; if he has a wife and children, brothers or sisters; and how they must feel degraded by his crime and sentence. I appeal to him through them; I tell him that I am his friend, not his

*The Secretary acknowledges his indebtedness to Mr. F. B. Sanborn for the facts in this paper. They are drawn from a special report on Prisons and Prison Discipline, presented by him to the Legislature of Massachusetts in 1865.

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