Brief Notices.
Escapes and Pardons.—The two chief ends which are usually supposed to be answered by punishment are,—1. To reform the offender; and, 2. To deter others from the like offences. Some persons deny the legitimacy of the latter purpose, affirming that society has no right to inflict pains and penalties on me, for the benefit of my neighbors. Without attempting to settle any such nice points, we have a plain, palpable fact staring us in the face, which seems, in a large measure, to frustrate both the ends to which we have referred. That fact is—that the punishment of crime, in our country, is one of the most uncertain events with which we are conversant. If a horse-thief, contemplating the fastenings of a stable-door, should have fore-thought enough to inquire whether there is such a reasonable probability of his punishment as should deter him from his purpose, we can scarcely suppose he would come to an affirmative conclusion. The contingencies on which the result depends are very numerous and complicated. If his picture is in the rogue’s gallery; or if he is an old, well-known horse-thief, so that suspicion would naturally fasten upon him if he was within fifty miles of thelocus in quoat the time; or if a reward is offered for his arrest, more tempting than what he can offer for leave to run,—it may be his turn to be caught. But if he has money, or friends who understand the “intricacies” of the administration of penal law in some of our chief cities; or if he has had opportunities, in some associate prison, to learn how to dodge an officer, either before or after sentence, or to earn his liberty, even when fairly caged, either by working through bricks and mortar, or through the more porous and yielding tissue of a Governor’s sympathy,—he has little or nothing to fear. If there is no more risk than that, the State is certain to be plundered.
We hazard nothing in saying that the influence which the punishment of crime exerts, in deterring the criminally disposed from committing it, is scarcely worth a padlock. A single escape of a prisoner from gaol, or from the custody of an officer, weakens whatever deterring influence is exerted over hundreds of minds; and so likewise does a single pardon. Each one of the hundreds betakes himself to a criminal life, expecting to be the favored rogue. We sometimes think, with a sigh, of the good time past, when, under English law, the constable was the chief man in the parish, and when the parish was responsible for all robberies committed within its limits, if the thieves were not apprehended.
If we had a general, succinct return of the escapes and pardons in the United States, for a single year, it would show a degree of looseness in the administration of criminal law, and of imprudence in the exercise of executive clemency, of which the public have little conception.
From a great number of cases which go to corroborate the statement we have made, we have room for but a few, and these will serve to indicate the character of all. We give them as reported in the newspapers:
On a late Saturday night five prisoners escaped from the gaol of Cook county, Ill., at Chicago. A paltry reward of $150 was offered for their apprehension. The prisoners were supplied with tools by their friends outside. They were arrested for larceny. Three other prisoners, charged with robbery, were engaged in digging a hole through the floor, when the escape of the others caused them to be detected. The prison is in a very insecure sort of place, and had been grossly neglected by the authorities.
In Blair county, on the same Saturday night, a man, alleged to have stolen several horses, and who escaped from the person having him in charge, while on their way to Bedford recently, was re-arrested at a private house on Bobb’s Creek, on Saturday night a week. Assuming a religious guise, previous to retiring he called for a Bible, and read a chapter, and prayed with the family. When arrested he was in bed, with a six-shooter under his pillow, and every barrel charged with a bullet! and in his pockets were found several counterfeit notes and a small amount of good money. A reward of $500 had been offered for his arrest, with the horses.
Two prisoners escaped from the gaol of Clinton county, Ohio, under circumstances (says the Clinton Watchman) that would indicate a good deal of carelessness on the part of the sheriff, who had charge of the gaol. They escaped by cutting a hole through the floor of the hall around the cells, where the prisoners are permitted to stay during the day. After cutting this hole, which they did with an old case-knife, they crawled under, and finding there an old scaffold-pole, they made a battering-ram of it, and punched a stone out of the outside wall sufficiently large to permit their egress!
About a year ago, Norristown, in this vicinity, was harassed by the operations of a burglar of special daring and adroitness, who, after perpetrating a series of successful burglaries, was arrested, and imprisoned under a sentence of fifteen years. He had served about a year thus far, and on a late morning was found to have successfully broken gaol and made his escape.
He got away, it is supposed, about four o’clock in the morning. His cell was in the upper story of the gaol, and had an arched roof of solid masonry, nine inches thick. When the turnkey entered the cell, it was discovered that the prisoner had cut entirely through this arch,and then through the sheet-iron roof above it, and had lowered himself by means of a cord made of the carpet-warp furnished him for working purposes. The escape was perilous in the extreme; while it is the opinion of experts that the preparations for it have been going on for a long time. Upon entering the cell the officer discovered an old shirt, which the prisoner appears to have stuffed in the hole during the daytime, while it is equally apparent that, by means of pieces of bread manipulated to the consistency of putty, and plastered into the edges of the hole, the discovery of the cheat was rendered still less probable. As a matter of course, the anxiety to recover such a prisoner, on the part of the sheriff, is very great; and a reward of a hundred dollars is offered for his capture! Due anxiety tokeephim when they had him would have been more creditable to the officers, and much better for the public.
On the second of December, six convicts employed in the moulding shop of the New York State Prison, at Auburn, effected their escape. The prisoners had got half a mile from the prison before pursuit was commenced, and succeeded in leaving their pursuers behind.
On the evening of December 15th, two convicts, confined in a Virginia gaol, under sentence of death, to be executed the next day, escaped from the gaol, and were fired upon by the sentinels and driven back to prison. The prisoners had mounted the gaol wall when they were discovered by the sentinel on the outside, who immediately gave the alarm and fired on them. They had sawed their manacles asunder with the blade of a Barlow knife, which they had concealed and made into a fine saw. It was ascertained, from their confession that they had been engaged in preparing for their escape during the preceding ten days. They made a hole in the wall near the window, which they concealed with paper, hiding the bricks they removed under the bed. Upon the alarm being given, they made no resistance, but surrendered as soon as they discovered, by the shot of the sentinel, that they were detected. One of them said he could have made his escape had he jumped down and throttled the sentinel.
All the inmates of Warren county (Pa.) prison, two women and two men, escaped one night recently. The women up stairs burnt the clasp out that fastened the door through a single pine board,—came down stairs and unlocked the cells in which the men were confined, by means of false keys, when the party departed in peace, taking a wagon that was waiting in the vicinity, with them.
Thirteen prisoners escaped from Munroe county gaol, at Rochester, N. Y. They seized the gaoler and wrenched the keys from him,—then thrust him into a closet with double doors, fastening them outside. The gaoler’s wife was in the office, but heard nothing of the disturbance until the whole gang were at the door, demanding an outlet, which it was in vain for her to oppose.
Two prisoners, burglars and counterfeiters, on the way to the Jacksonpenitentiary (Mich.), guarded by three officers, jumped from the cars while under way. They were heavily ironed, and pretended to be asleep. As they approached Grass Lake station, the sheriff, who sat in front, stepped back to look out of a window, when they rushed to the door, and their irons mysteriously parted, and one jumped one side, and the other, leaving the officers in gaping wonder.
A man, whose crime (forgery) was of such a heinous character as to induce the government of Wurtemberg to pursue him to this country, was found and arrested. After a partial examination, instead of being remanded to prison or held to responsible bail, he was allowed to remain at his own lodgings, being in theconstructive custodyof the Deputy Marshal. This functionary, instead of producing his prisoner when wanted, stated to the commissioner that, on a preceding evening, the foreign rogue invited him to take a friendly glass, which he accepted, and soon after lost his consciousness; and the prisoner, availing himself of so favorable an opportunity, took to his heels and, before the officer recovered his wits, was beyond recapture.
So it was with one Dr. Gallaudet, not long ago, who succeeded in getting the officer drunk, and escaped from his clutches, and, finally, from the country.
These cases do not constitute a tenth part of the advertised escapes of a single quarter; and those that are never brought to public notice—who knows their number?
Early Crime.—Few persons are aware of the extent of juvenile crime in our principal cities. A large majority of these offences are overlooked until they become so serious in their consequences to private interest as to command attention. And even then, the prosecution of the offence is generally waived if compensation is made, or if the delinquent is sent away upon a voyage, or to a distant part of the country.
We have grouped together a few items out of many scores which a single quarter furnishes, from which our readers can make their own inferences. They confirm us in the conviction long entertained, that we need a place ofpunishmentfor those who are too old in iniquity to be safe inmates of Refuge or Reformatory, and too young to endure the severity of rigid penitentiary discipline—ajuvenile separate prison.
A gang of boys, none over fourteen, were arrested, a few days since, in Cincinnati, for stealing. They were detected in the act of taking goods from store doors. They stated that they belonged to a gang of boys employed in this business by a man who gave them 75 cents for every article they would bring him, and that they used the money in visiting the theatres and in refreshments. An officer took one of them to the National Theatre, where he pointed out two more of the gang, who were taken into custody. On visiting the premises of the man whom they charged withreceiving the goods, they found some of them concealed under the floor. There was also another place of deposit disclosed in another section of the city. The boys, who were all of Irish parentage, exhibited the utmost indifference and shamelessness, and the parents of two of them did not feel interest enough to attend the hearing!
The Boston papers give us an account of a similar band of boys who had clubbed together for thieving purposes, in Medford, a few miles from that city. They were discovered in an outbuilding which had not been used for some time. Various articles, such as portemonnaies, wallets, passbooks, pencils, &c., were found in their possession, and identified as having been stolen the day before. A book was found among them, containing the names of the members of the organization, about half a dozen in number, as far as recorded. Following the names was the word “Rules,” in large letters. The only rule which appears, was the following:
“1. The boys must steal as much as they can, and present it to the chief.”
The book also contained a number of passwords, and a list of the articles stolen, above enumerated, and the date. The boys belonging to this young thieves’ association are from ten to fourteen years of age.
At Cleveland, Ohio, a party of juvenile vagrants, some twelve in number, recently organized themselves into a society for the purpose of robbery, dock-thieving, &c. They took possession of a large cave in the side-hill on the west side of the river. They chose their captain and were progressing very smoothly when the officer pounced upon them. They were all sleeping in bunks, with the exception of the guard, who took to his heels on the approach of the officer. Two or three others made their escape. The following boys, the oldest of whom is not over fourteen, were arrested:—John Fitzgerald, Thomas Doland, Michael Dunn, William Mulcoge, Patrick M‘Donald, William Donald, William Shay and James Mahon. Their names are given as indicative of a nativity not otherwise to be particularly specified.
One of the boys is only six years old. He said his parents, in a fit of drunkenness, kicked him out of doors. The other boys said that they had no home or friends. They could only live by stealing, and on advice of one of their number, who had read Mike Martin and other yellow covered books of that sort, a band of robbers was formed, and the cave taken possession of. The boys were sent to the State Reform Farm, there to remain until discharged by law. [Of this school we have given a full account in a former number, and would be glad to hear of its more recent success.]
Not long since, in New York, a policeman, about 11 o’clock at night, was surprised to find the front door of a jewelry store, in Broadway, unlocked, and on entering he found a boy named Joseph Bascom,seventeen years of age, employed by the firm, tied down upon a bed and gagged. After being released, the boy said that about ten o’clock, shortly after the store was closed, he heard a rap at the door, and supposing that one of the clerks had returned for something, opened it, when three men rushed in, one of whom threw a large sheet over his face, while the other two grasped him by the throat, and after gagging him, took him to the bed and fastened him there, his head all the time being covered. After this he heard them open the safe, and in a short time they left. The officer doubted this plausible story, and subjected him to a severe cross-questioning, which resulted in Bascom confessing that the whole affair was contrived by himself and another lad named Primrose! They obtained an impression of the safe key, and selected the time when the holiday stock was in store for the commission of the robbery. Bascom admitted his accomplice after the store was closed, and then laid down upon the bed and was gagged and tied by him. Their plan was a success, and $15,000 worth of goods were taken from the safe. The police were soon on the track of Primrose, whom they followed to the establishment of a well known receiver of stolen goods named Schwartzwelder, who, with Primrose, was arrested. On searching the place all the stolen goods were recovered.
Ought a criminal of this stamp to be sent to a reformatory school? Is he to be regarded as no more depraved and desperate than a truant, or an insubordinate child? Ifheis sent there, shouldtheybe?
Compromising with Rogues—In a former number of this Journal, we entered somewhat at large into the mischievous consequences of concealing or winking at, or compromising deliberate, overt, criminal acts. A clerk in a store abuses his master’s confidence, by abstracting money from letters or purloining letters containing remittances—he being entrusted with the duties of mail clerk. The fraud has been practiced for weeks, and the adroitness with which it was perpetrated and the ingenuity displayed in concealing the disposition of the funds, evinces a singularly depraved disposition. The father or friends interpose, and a public prosecution is avoided. The young scape-grace is sent from the country, and having unusual shrewdness and audacity, succeeds in winning confidence. He writes home and tells of his good fortune, and hope is excited that his ways are reformed; but soon a bolder and deeper game of villainy is played, and the scene again changes, but with the same result. At last, however, he is brought to the bar of public justice, and now a revelation is made of the successive steps in his downward path. Each of the delinquencies has its witnesses and victims; but silence has been volunteered, or purchased, or imposed, and so the reckless career has been encouraged. This is not a fictitious case and it may serve to introducean illustration of this misconceived leniency which has lately been made public. A man of glib tongue and imposing appearance, professes to be a physician. He takes up his residence in one of our suburban districts, and, in process of time, is guilty of gross malpractice. To avoid an exposure of his ignorance and cruelty, he pays the injured parties $1200 and removes to another part of the country. There he defrauds a bank of $1,000, but the evidence is not absolutely conclusive, and upon his refunding the amount the bank forbears to prosecute. By-and-by he is arrested for a felonious assault on a female patient, (the wife of a college student who wishes to conceal the fact of his marriage,) and so the offence is hushed up. Next he marries the widow of a man who had died suddenly while he was in professional attendance upon him, swindles her out of her property and then abandons her. He now turns his attention particularly to the practice of procuring abortions. Three young women, who, to hide their shame, put themselves under his care, died at his house during one summer, and not many weeks apart. And not long ago, he was convicted of manslaughter, in causing the death of a young woman who had resorted to him for the same inhuman purpose, and of this he was convicted and sentenced for it.
It turns out that the man is a native of Ireland, and that his name was assumed. He was sentenced to the Penitentiary, but who can tell how soon he may be liberated by an improvident pardon, and find himself in full practice, under some other name, and in some unsuspicious community?
Why was not his character properly exposed, when, by successive criminal acts, its settled traits were discovered, at least so far as to put the unwary on their guard?
Consumption of Intoxicating Drinks.—Some persons have flattered themselves and the public that there has been a sensible decrease of the consumption of ardent spirits in the British Empire, but it is confidently affirmed that the population statistics and excise returns show a very different state of things. In 1821, the population of England and Wales was 11,978,875, and they consumed 7,261,581 gallons of spirits. In 1856, the population was estimated at 20,000,000, and they consumed 13,964,284 gallons, besides over 600,000,000 of ale and beer. In 1821, the population of Scotland was 2,093,456, and they consumed 2,558,285 gallons of spirits. In 1856, a population of 3,000,000 consumed 7,402,643 gallons. The population of Ireland in 1821, was 6,780,826, and they consumed 3,340,472 gallons of spirits. The population in 1856, about the same as in 1821 (famine and pestilence having taken off 1,500,000 of consumers), they consumed 6,936,938 gallons of spirits. We apprehend the state of the case is but little, if any, better in these United States.
Prisons and Prisoners in South Carolina.—In his late message to the Legislature, the Governor of South Carolina suggests the propriety of making a breach of trust a higher offence than larceny, and making the punishment equal, if not more severe. He thinks their system ofdiscipline needs reform, (of which, we apprehend, no intelligent citizen can doubt,) and he justly complains that, while witnesses are subject to close confinement, prisoners held on criminal charges, have the free range of the prison!
Annual Census of the Philadelphia County Prison.—Total number received during the past year, 19,846, being an increase of 4,933 over the number the year previous. Of this number 19,822 were discharged—446 to the convict side of the house; 4,604 having served out their time; 25 have died, 3 been pardoned, and one committed suicide. The rest have been released by magistrates, or acquitted by courts.
The number of prisoners received during the months of the year were:
December 31, there remained in confinement 777 prisoners of various grades.
A Quarter’s Police Work in New York.—The police force of New York numbers 1,699, and the district embraces the counties of New York, Kings, Richmond, and West Chester. The expense of the police for the year is stated to be $1,167,336, or an average of $700 for each officer. The operations of the last quarter are as follows: Total number of arrests, 23,971, and of these 16,701 were males, and 7,220 females. For the same quarter last year there were 21,022 arrests, showing an increase of 2,949. Four-fifths of the persons arrested were of foreign birth. Of the offences committed 17,077 were against the person, and only 3894 against property. Two thirds of the offences were committed under the influence of intoxicating liquors; 15,917 of the offenders could read and write; 6,783 had no education whatever; 1,273 cases were not determined; 12,039 were married; 10,659 unmarried; 1,073 cases not reported.
Alabama State Prison.—The Governor’s Message states, that there are 216 convicts in the Penitentiary, of whom six are females. He recommends theseparatesystem, to be applied to them. The male convicts are let out to a contractor, who agrees to board them, and pay the State $1,550 per annum for their labor. A poor bargain in any event.
New York Prison Association.—At the December monthly meeting of the executive committee of the New York Prison Association, the report of the agent of the committee of Detention and Discharged Convicts, showed that during the year then about to close, 5,740 persons committed to the city prisons were “visited and familiarly spoken with” by him. In 1,394 cases, circumstances of extenuation were offered, and hopeful signs exhibited—532 cases were investigated and discontinued on proper representation—551 were discharged from custody as improperly held—679 were relieved by small sums of money till they obtained employment, and 320 were supplied with clothing or employment, or both. The contributions to the funds of the Association during the year were but two thousand dollars!
Deliberate Murder by a Boy under Nine Years of Age.—On the 25th of October, a boy between eight and nine years of age, went to a neighbor’s house while the elder members of the family were absent, and with a gun deliberately shot down a girl about twelve years of age, killing her instantly. The boy, upon being questioned, first said the gun had fallen accidentally and shot her. He subsequently stated that he was mad at her, and had killed her! They had attended school together, and had quarreled. The boy had threatened to shoot the girl, and took this occasion to carry out his threat. The occurrence took place in Montgomery county, Pa., a short distance across the Chester county line, from Valley Forge.
Distribution of Labor in Paris.—A recent inquiry into the occupations of the laboring people of Paris, with a view to ascertain how far public improvements now in progress bear favorably on their interests, shows a very different distribution of labor from that supposed. Of the 360,000 men and women engaged in various trades and handicrafts, it was apprehended that by far the greater part were employed in building operations, as masons, carpenters, joiners, painters, &c., but the late investigation shows that the trade which engrosses the largest amount of hands is that of tailors and workers in ready made articles of clothing. In this branch of industry alone, the recent statistics prove 100,000 out of 360,000 working men and women to be engaged.
New Jersey State Prison.—We learn that there are now confined in the State Penitentiary at Trenton 350 convicts. In many of the cells three prisoners are put together, and some far-seeing newspaper observes, that unless the prison premises are enlarged, there is danger that theseparate system, which the law requires to be carried out in the prison, will have to be abandoned! If a man was as near being dead as the separate system is to being violated there, most doctors would give him up.