REPORT OF THE SECRETARY ON THE CONDITION OF PRISONS IN EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA.
Philadelphia, Pa., 12th mo. 1, 1908.
To the Acting Committee, Pennsylvania Prison Society, Philadelphia, Pa.
Dear Friends:
In accordance with a resolution of the Acting Committee, adopted at a special meeting held 6th mo. 29, 1908, authorizing the Secretary to visit some prisons in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, I now present the following report:
Since that time I have visited the prisons in thirty-eight counties, including the State Reformatory at Huntingdon, and I am gratified to report that I have been received everywhere with courtesy, and have been enabled to maintain cordial relations with all prison officials whom I have met. Interviews at some length have been held with sheriffs, wardens, under-keepers, inspectors, and the fullest freedom has been granted to inspect the prisons and to speak with the prisoners. As a rule these officials appear to be discharging their duties as well as the equipment of the prisons allows and as faithfully as the conditions admit. Some of the caretakers seem to have a genuine interest for the best welfare of those over whom they have been placed.
I am under the impression that there has been improvement in recent years in the direction of securing a greater degree of cleanliness and better sanitation, and while much of this improvement is due to the various county officials, it must not be forgotten that along these lines the State Board of Charities has rendered important service.
In twenty-four of the prisons visited the prisoners have little or no labor to perform, although the sentence of the presiding judge may have been “to separate and solitary confinement at hard labor.” In no prison is the work arduous. The majority of prisoners welcome opportunities to work. Such occupation is refreshing, as it aids them in whiling away the tedium of their hours of restraint. I heard of no complaints arising from the necessity of laboring, but I did hear complaint arising from the scarcity of employment. In several places both officials and prisoners claim that they are hampered by the State regulations on the subject of prison labor.
“Separate and solitary confinement” is a portion of the sentence which is honored more in the breach than in the observance. It is almost impossible, considering the limited facilities of most of the prisons, to carry out this enactment. In some of the smaller prisons the prisoners are together during most of the day with entire freedom to engage in games, conversation and such exercise as their quarters will permit. At a few of the smaller jails the full freedom of the yard is allowed at all times of the day. It is a source of deep regret that in some prisons the juvenile criminals are confined in the same part of the prison with the older lawbreakers. Usually the boys who have been convicted are very soon sent to the State Reformatory at Huntingdon, but while awaiting trial, or while serving short sentences, they are held in county prisons where there are no arrangements for the segregation of the male prisoners. The women prisoners are usually entirely segregated, but in a few prisons they are confined in cells opening into the same corridors which the men use.
A complete prison ought to have several distinct departments: one for men, one for women, one for boys, one for vagrants and common drunkards, and probably a department for those who are for the first time held for trial. Few of the prisons of the State are so constructed as to admit of such segregation. It seems pitiful that hardened criminals should have such opportunity to corrupt the minds of the young or of those who have committed their first offense under peculiar circumstances of temptation. Those prisons which are constructed with the cells back to back, with door opening into a corridor toward the outside wall of the building, admit more readily of the separation of the various classes of criminals. This plan affords better facilities for light and cheerfulness, and commands some view of the courtyard. It does not give the individual prisoner the opportunity to get air directly from the outside. When such prisons are built, with an additional narrow corridor between the cells at the rear, this objection is in part obviated. At York a prison has recently been built on this general plan. Being three stories in height, it contains several separate subdivisions. The addition to the prison at Allentown, now in process of construction, will have accommodations for about one hundred prisoners, and the commissioners have adopted some of the distinctive features of the York prison.
Your Secretary made some inquiries as to the daily rations, and discovered quite a variety of bills of fare. In more than one half of these prisons there is a per diem allowance for the maintenance of the prisoners. This allowance varies in the prisons visited from fourteen cents to fifty cents. In the smaller prisons this allowance should of necessity be proportionately larger than in the prisons of the more populous counties; but there is a constant tendency, where this allowance is made, to take profit on the transaction, and it appears to be the understanding in some counties that the sheriff is to receive some of his compensation from this source. In one large prison, where there are about one hundred and thirty occupants, the daily ration consists of bread and coffee, the bread being served three times and the coffee twice. Soup is given three times during the week. The allowance for provisions at this prison is thirty cents a day. Those prisoners who have means are allowed to purchase additional supplies from tradesmen, and they can make arrangements to have meat, oysters, etc., especially cooked and served, if they will meet the additional expense. The privilege of purchasing little comforts and additional provisions is almost universal. It is a surprising fact that in one or two prisons it is possible for prisoners to procure, either by purchase or from their friends, a supply of intoxicating drinks. Generally the supply of food is ample and the quality fair. In two or three jails the food is sent from the sheriff’s table. On the whole I am inclined to the belief that the best diet conditions prevail where the authorities let contracts for supplies every three or six months. In prisons where the number of prisoners is fifty or more the daily cost of maintaining a prisoner is from ten cents to twelve cents. I noted in one small county, where a rather profuse bill of fare is served, that the cost was about thirty cents a day.
Vagrants, drunkards and railroad trespassers are often treated with considerable rigor. They may have bread and water for diet and a plank for a bed. In one prison a third offense of this kind is punished with confinement in a small, dark, unfurnished cell for thirty days on diet of bread and water. But in many of the smaller jails these distinctions of punishment are not observed.
It is quite possible that men of just that laudable combination of talent which may fit them for both restraining and reforming the erring are rarely to be found, but surely more attention should be given to the selection of men who have adaptation for such an important work. A faculty for both ruling and governing is an important qualification, but in no field of labor is there more need of a sympathetic spirit, of power to implant new motives and to inspire with desires to lead a better life. These positions should not be regarded merely as a reward for political services. I am glad to report that some of the men in charge appear to realize their duties and responsibilities. Let me call attention to one warden, who, entirely unarmed, calls a company, largely belonging to the famous “Black Hand,” about him in the open yard and asks them to relate stories of their homes once under Italian skies. The same official spoke with feeling of the religious services on the Sabbath and of the conversions and requests for prayer. It is possible that those prison officials who report that all religious services accomplish not the slightest good are themselves not very susceptible to impressions of a religious nature. On the other hand, if these religious services are performed perfunctorily, with lack of evidence of Christian fellowship, the convicts receive little or no benefit.
In most of the counties visited the prisons are under the direct care of the sheriff, who holds his office for only one term of three years. Before he has scarcely served an apprenticeship in prison management his successor assumes the duties and begins a new apprenticeship; hence many of the county jails, from one decade to another, are under the care of apprentices. Other things being equal, I have the impression that the best results in prison administration are found in those prisons which are under the care of a warden, who may hold his office year after year so long as he gives satisfaction. This office calls for efficiency, which is obtained by training and experience, supplemented by good executive ability, and should not be granted merely as a reward for political services. Since the care of the prisoners is, in most of the counties, a minor part of the duties of the sheriff, I think it might properly be considered whether the county jails should be placed in the charge of some official appointed by the commissioners. Such a man would be chosen with direct reference to fitness for such work.
The subject of commutation of sentences has received special attention. There is much ignorance in some of the smaller counties about the application of commutation, and prisoners often serve the entire term for which they have been sentenced, although by statute they have earned by good behavior a diminution of their sentence. The statute provides that “every convict confined in any State prison, penitentiary, workhouse or county jail in this State on a conviction of felony or misdemeanor, whether male or female, where the term or terms equals or exceeds one year, exclusive of any term which may be imposed by the court or by statute as an alternative to the payment of a fine, or a term of life imprisonment, may, if the Governor shall so direct, and with the approval of the Board of Inspectors, or Managers, earn for himself or herself a diminution of his sentence or sentences.” Now while this statute explicitly mentions those sentenced to a term in county jail as coming under the provisions of this statute, yet in about one fourth of the counties visited there is little attempt to secure for the prisoners the benefit of this statute. As the sheriffs are in office only three years and have manifold duties, they do not become familiar with the provisions of all the statutes relative to prisons and prisoners. It is provided by law that all prisoners sentenced to a term of one year or more, excepting those sentenced for life, should be promptly informed of this provision by which, by good behavior, they can secure a diminution of their sentences. This is neglected in several counties. It is true that those sentenced for the longer terms are taken to the State Penitentiary, yet there are many in the county prisons serving sentences for from one to ten years. In one county the services of an attorney may be secured to aid in getting the commutation, but those who lack means to employ an attorney serve out their time. This is unjust to the prisoner who has behaved satisfactorily, and besides imposes on the county a charge from which it might readily be spared. Copies of the law have been given to the officials in charge of the prisons, the conditions have been explained and blanks indicating the information which is to be forwarded to the Governor of the State for his action in the premises have been supplied; and your Secretary has reason to believe that a large number of prisoners will in the future receive the commutation which they have earned.
As will be seen from our reports, this Society is engaged in very important service for the prisoners in the Philadelphia County Prison and in the Eastern Penitentiary, both while in prison and after they have been discharged, which work we have no intention to relinquish; but in whatever way this Society enlarges its present field of labor throughout the State, its work would in greater degree correspond to its corporate title, The Pennsylvania Prison Society. In conclusion I desire to call attention to the hope expressed by the retiring Secretary, John J. Lytle, in the report made in 1907, that the “Pennsylvania Prison Society may constantly widen its scope of operations and grow in efficiency and usefulness as it grows in years.”
Very respectfully,
Albert H. Votaw,
Secretary.
John Way, Treasurer,
IN ACCOUNT WITH
The Pennsylvania Prison Society
| Receipts. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1908. | |||
| January 21. | To | Balance on hand | $841 26 |
| ” | Members’ Dues and Contributions | 278 00 | |
| ” | Net Income from Investments | 1,748 02 | |
| ” | Income from I. V. Williamson Legacy | 645 00 | |
| ” | Interest on balances to November 30, 1908 | 58 46 | |
| $3,570 74 | |||
| Payments | |||
| By | Salaries | $2,337 48 | |
| ” | Printing and Postage | 130 85 | |
| ” | Janitor Service | 97 00 | |
| ” | Advertising in P. E. City Mission Directory | 5 00 | |
| ” | Expense, Committee on Police Matrons | 3 00 | |
| ” | Expense, Delegates to National Prison Congress | 92 83 | |
| ” | Traveling Expenses of Secretaries | 114 83 | |
| ” | Office Expenses, Incidentals | 23 10 | |
| ” | Engrossing and Framing Minute to J. J. Lytle | 8 20 | |
| ” | Amount to Cover Overdraft in Principal Account | 40 00 | |
| ” | Accrued Interest on Bonds Bought | 44 69 | |
| ” | Balance on hand December 31, 1908 | 673 76 | |
| $3,570 74 | |||