A Governor to Stump for Prison Reform.—The Boston Advertiser reports that Gov. Foss having pardoned 51 convicts, and broken the record, will make prison reform an issue on the stump. He says:
“I have pronounced ideas on the subject. I have received many letters commenting favorably on the reforms that I suggested in my address before the American Bar Association. Massachusetts is standing still on the treatment of its prisoners.
“There are hundreds of so-called criminals in the prisons who may be cured just as people in hospitals are cured of disease.
“Only a very small number of the men in prison are habitual criminals. I don’t wish my ideas to be misinterpreted. Some of my political opponents are attempting to picture me as opening the doors of the prisons. As a matter of fact, I have very decided ideas on the protection of the public from the habitual criminal.
“There are many men in the prisons, however, who commit crime when under the influence of liquor. They become brutes when under the influence of liquor, but when sober and temperate are perfectly normal, first-class citizens who may become a credit to their various communities.”
Transferring Prisoners.—A recent Auburn (N. Y.) newspaper item states that forty-four prisoners were that day transferred to Comstock prison, a journey of about 200 miles. “At 9.30 the prisoners were manacled by twos, with handcuffs on their wrists, and short lengths of chain between their feet, making the act of walking as difficult as a three-legged race. They were marched by twos to the outside prison gate, and lined up while the guards placed themselves in position. At the word, the gate swung back, and the line of gray suits filed out, with a guard in blue at the side of every ten or twelve men. Marching to the New York Central station across the street, each man carrying a small bundle containing a few private belongings, they waited for the train which was half an hour late. A crowd of morbidly curious quickly rushed to the spot.
“When the train finally pulled in, the prisoners were marched up the steps of a special car and down the aisles in regular order. Some difficulty was experienced in getting the men, impeded as they were, up the car steps, and they all smiled at the bystanders as if they were enjoying the little trip in the open air. The guards took up their positions inside the car, the doors were locked, and the train pulled out, leaving the crowd to comment upon the late spectacle.”
Germany’s methods could teach us much by comparison. Transfer of prisoners is specially frequent because in Prussia practically all persons are under a central authority, the department of justice, which transfers prisoners according as fluctuations of population in the prisons occur. By arrangement with the railroads—which in Prussia are under governmental control and operation—specially constructed railway prison cars are attached to early morning or late evening trains, the cars being so constructed as not to afford public display of the prisoners. From the interior of the prison the prisoners are conveyed in vans to the railway stations. So important and frequent are these transfers that a small corps of prison department officials are assigned solely to this special work. This is a “made in Germany” humane plan that deserves our contemplation.