SCOTLAND. During the last month, a plan has been in operation, connected with the work department, which, so far as we can judge at present, is likely to be productive of beneficial effects. Every Reports on prisoner is required to do 10 hours' fair work per day for the benefit of the establishment, and Separate Prisons. he himself receives the value (or rather is credited with the value) of all over-work. When Glasgow Bridewell, the nature of the employment admits of it, the whole week's work, namely, 60 hours' labour, `is estimated at the beginning of the week, and the prisoner is apprized that, as soon as he has formed that quantity, he will have the time to himself, and that he may employ such time either in working for his own benefit, in reading, or in whatever way he may choose. Each prisoner has a little book, in which is entered, once a-week, the value of his earnings, distinguishing the part which he has obtained for himself; and it need scarcely be stated that, of this latter column, I found that every prisoner could, from memory, at once tell me the precise amount. per It is intended to allow the prisoners interest for the money which they earn, at the same rate and upon the same plan as that given at the savings' banks, so as at once to give them a practical knowledge of what is meant by interest, and to hold out an inducement to them to become connected with a savings' bank after they leave prison. I was again disappointed at not finding the prison library turned to greater account, although much more has been done this year than last. I am satisfied that a well-selected library of interesting books may, under intelligent and active management, be made a powerful instrument of reform in a prison, it being very important to create in the prisoners a taste for rational and agreeable occupation, like that of reading, with which they may occupy a portion of their leisure time, after their liberation. I hope that an arrangement has at length been made at the Glasgow Bridewell, which will secure this being done. A person has been appointed to have the special charge of the library, whose duty it will be to see that every prisoner able to read has at all times a library book suited to his peculiar tastes and capacity; and, before receiving the book back, he will examine the prisoner on its contents, and record the result. The state of the prison reflects great credit, as usual, on the talent and zeal of the governor, and the governor makes a favourable report of the qualifications and conduct of the subordinate officers. It should be remarked, however (and the governor quite agrees in this), that the person at present holding the office of matron, although a very industrious and respectable woman, is not suited for other than an inferior situation, and that it is very desirable that a head matron should be appointed, possessing those superior qualifications which are necessary to give her moral weight with the subordinate female officers and with the prisoners, and to enable her to obtain great influence over their minds and feelings.. I have, in previous reports, sometimes noticed that there are not unfrequently some voluntary prisoners in the Glasgow Bridewell. There are three at the present time, one male and two females. The period of imprisonment to which one of the females was sentenced expired last May, and she has remained ever since, alone in her cell, and subject to exactly the same restrictions as the other prisoners, in order that she might, by over-work, earn money to purchase clothes with, so that, on leaving prison, she may have a fair chance of obtaining a decent situation. The male prisoner is a plasterer and painter, who came to the prison a few weeks ago, stating that he was unable to procure employment, and expressing his willingness to do any kind of work which the governor might give him, and to submit to all the rules of the prison, if he might be allowed to remain until he could get work elsewhere. The governor consented to receive him; and I found the man, of respectable appearance, working very industriously. It has been objected that, in showing by illustrations of this kind, that the separate system is not the cruel mode of discipline which some have considered it to be, I prove too much, for that it appears that a prison, where this system is in use, instead of being a place of dread, is one of attraction. If it were found that there were numerous applications for admission, and these from a class not in destitute circumstances, there might be just ground for the remark; though, even then, it could scarcely be supposed that the attraction could consist in the rule forbidding companionship. A more probable explanation would be, that the diet was too good, compared with that of the poorer classes of honest labourers; or that the prisoners had not enough work to do. So long, however, as the applicants belong to a very destitute class, it appears to me to be an advantage that they should be willing to consent to place themselves voluntarily in that situation, in which their necessities, improvidence, or want of self-control, would probably soon drive them, through the expensive medium of a police office and court of justice. December, 1839. The following return has been made by the governor, of the proximate causes of the different offences committed by the prisoners received during the year ending 2nd August, 1839, as nearly as they could be ascertained: Fraud and imposition, swindling, embezzlement, and breach of trust Contravention of the Act, 2d William IV. cap. 34 Contravention of Sect. 5th, Act 5th Geo. IV., Disorderly prostitutes, guilty of assaults and breaches of the peace, including three destitute persons who petitioned to be admitted. Breach of engagement and indenture. Total. Drink. Idleness and Confirmed Want. Uncertain. M. F. M. F. M. F. M. F. M. F. M. F. 15 5 ::: ::: ::: ::: 125 239 4 2 4 3 170 223 6 1 83 2 2 21 23 25 25 69 68 451- 253 373 322 173 291 75 54 2 9 21 9 192 165 45 1,128 969 WILLIAM BREBNER. SCOTLAND. HOUSE OF REFUGE, GLASGOW. The number of inmates in this refuge has increased since my last visit to nearly 250. I found everything in good order, and the same spirit of cheerful industry as before. I stated, in my last report, my grounds for objecting to the rule which confines admission to this asylum to those who have been convicted of crimes, and these objections I still hold. I am, too, of opinion that, taking the standard of living among the poorest class of honest labourers as a guide, the scale of comforts among the inmates of the refuge is too high, although abstractedly it may be very moderate. I think, moreover, that until the number of suitable objects for the refuge be greatly reduced, it would be better to provide for the speedy emigration of many who enter it, rather than attempt to give that long course of training which forms part of the present system. These, however, are matters which, if approved of by the directors, can be readily adopted at any time. The question most urgently pressing at present, is the supply of funds; for I regret to state that the existing income is very much less than the expenditure, and that there is an urgent want of money. I sincerely hope that the public will respond to the call of the directors for support, and that some plan will be adopted that shall place this excellent institution on a permanent basis. Reports on House of Refuge, GLASGOW, LANARKSHIRE. October, 1839. The following report on the number and character of offences committed within the jurisdiction of the city police, and the amount of property stolen, &c., has been drawn up by Captain Miller, the excellent superintendent of the city police. Glasgow. GLASGOW POLICE. RETURN of the Number of Offenders brought before the Magistrates in the Police Court of the City, and the Results. From 1st January to 31st December, 1839, inclusive. Number of attempts at housebreaking discovered by the police, 84. Number of cases brought into court in 1839, 5,047. The foregoing statement applies solely to the city of Glasgow, and does not include the suburban districts. As might be presumed, the aggregate number includes many parties who reappeared. It is necessary to state that nearly all the watches and money abstracted from the person, as well as thefts by domestic and other servants, were in circumstances beyond the observation of the police, and in which the police could not be expected to act in a preventive capacity. It is of importance to observe that the table includes every individual lodged in the police office on a charge of theft, however small the value of the article stolen. In a great proportion of these cases the property was of a very trivial amount, consisting in some of articles of provision, weights from shop counters, and liquor measures from public-houses; while in others the articles were bedclothes taken from lodging houses in which the parties resided, and put by them in pledge, with the intention, it is believed, in not a few instances, of redeeming and restoring them after the pressure of want and necessity which prompted to the commission of the offence had ceased. It must also be observed that a considerable number of these parties were not habitual thieves; not a few of them were wives deserted by their husbands, and children by their parents; and many of them, as well as of the parties in other classes of offences, were led to the commission of these by intemperance. The Glasgow police office is not a prison, except for the detention of parties to be brought before the magistrates and remanded for further examination; and many of the offences being such as not to merit the severe punishment of confinement in gaol or bridewell, the temporary detention in the office till the case has undergone investigation is deemed by the magistrates as a sufficient correction of the parties, many of whom are young persons, who are ordered by the magistrates to be given over to their parents for that purpose. Since the house of refuge was opened for juvenile male offenders, there has been a considerable SCOTLAND. reduction of the number of that class; and there can be no doubt the decrease would have been greater if the funds of that establishment had enabled the directors to extend the accommodation. Of the juvenile female class, an equal reduction is anticipated from the opening of a similar institution for young offenders of that sex, now nearly completed. But what must never be lost sight of is an extension of the police jurisdiction for several miles round the city, and a strict surveillance kept over the movements and haunts of known thieves, and also over small brokers and other dealers of a similar description, many of whom are in the suburban districts. The number of these, it is believed, amounts to nearly 500. Great facilities are given for disposing of stolen property, while at present the Glasgow police have no jurisdiction there whatever. Police Chambers, Glasgow, H. MILLER, March, 1840. DEAR SIR, Superintendent of Police. Police Chambers, Glasgow, 7th March, 1840. I BEG now to forward to you a return of prisoners in this office during the year 1839, and also an estimate of the state of crime in this city; and I trust that, so far as it goes, you may find it satisfactory. Every pains have been taken to render it as correct as possible. When the great number of warehouses, stores, and other places, entering by common stairs, sunk areas, &c., is taken into account, and the tens of thousands of property which are daily exposed in transit and otherwise, it is matter of astonishment to myself that the loss sustained by the community should be so small. I may mention for your information that the value of the property stolen and reported to the Clyde police, who have jurisdiction over the whole shipping, will not amount to 57. a-month. Short imprisonments are found to be a great evil. No less than 120 prisoners will be liberated from bridewell this month, after various periods of imprisonment, by sentence of different courts, many without friends or home, liable to mix with former associates, and again be sent to bridewell. I know that you are making this a subject of grave consideration. I have not been able to give any idea of the extent of property stolen in the suburban districts; but if this is wished I will get it done. I am, dear Sir, yours respectfully, Frederic Hill, Esq. H. MILLER. Reports on Separate Prisons. LANARK*, LANARKSHIRE. The following remarks in a letter to the provost of Lanark show the result of my observations at my late visit: Although the present keeper is evidently better than his predecessors, and improvements to a certain extent have been made in the prison, still the state of things is very unsatisfactory, and calls loudly for amendment. With a building better constructed than that of almost any prison in Scotland, the discipline is of the lowest kind, consisting of little beyond shutting up each prisoner in his cell, without any concern for his improvement. Useful work, the great moral restorer, is so little provided for, that of 14 prisoners I found only 3 employed, some having remained in a state of idleness for several months; so that, instead of the indolent acquiring habits of industry in the Lanark Prison, the industrious are in great danger of contracting confirmed habits of indolence. There is, too, no library, and no means of affording instruction of any kind, mental, moral, or religious. Again, there is no provision for warming the cells, and the want of this is not compensated for either by suitable clothing or labour; so that, with few exceptions, each prisoner is doomed to pass his time pinched with cold, and without any means of employing either his mind or his body. Such an utter disregard of the most important principles of good prison discipline, and of the very claims of humanity, is most strange and melancholy. In my opinion it is quite sufficient to rouse the worst passions of the prisoners, and to bring on sickness and insanity; and although I have already made repeated efforts to induce the magistrates to adopt another course, and although I have the consolation of thinking that the present state of things cannot endure after the Prisons' Act shall have come into full operation, still as the prison must remain many months in the hands of those now in authority, I cannot consistently with my duty neglect making this last appeal to them to abandon the present bad system of management. To effect a reform requires no large expenditure of money, and but little trouble. All that is necessary is to lay out a small sum in tools, books, and clothes, and to offer such a salary as will procure a keeper really able to discharge his duties, two of which are to find profitable employment for all the prisoners, and (in a small prison like yours) to give them instruction. Mr. Brebner, whose authority in such matters is decisive, has stated, as you are well aware, that if a reasonable salary be offered, such a person can be found, and that he will undertake to procure him. The pittance now given, however, is but little more than that afforded to a farm-servant, and is such as it is vain to expect, under ordinary circumstances, will procure a trustworthy and efficient officer. The above communication did not elicit any reply. HAMILTON†, LANARKSHIRE. October, 1839. There have been no changes of any importance since my last visit. Many recommendations, made nearly two years ago, have not yet been carried into effect, chiefly on the ground of expense. A full description of the construction and general state of the prison at Lanark appeared in page 78. The last notice (dated January, 1839) is in my Fourth Report, page 125. † A full description of the construction and general state of the prison at Hamilton appeared in my Third Report, page 74. The last notice (dated December, 1838) is in my Fourth Report, page 123. Lanark. Hamilton. SCOTLAND. Reports on Separate Prisons. Hamilton. General Observation. One of the rules requires that prisoners should wash themselves daily, and the keeper assured me that he now always stands by to see this done; but this I found on examination is not the case. The keeper has still an interest in the supply of food, being allowed, as heretofore, 6d. per day for each prisoner. I recommended a change in this matter nearly two years ago, and I was assured that the recommendation would be carried into effect at the expiration of the contract then existing, i. e., from Whitsunday, 1838. Nevertheless, as already stated, no change has been made. Extra supplies of food are still allowed (to well-conducted prisoners) from without. There was an error in the last Report in stating that untried prisoners get nothing but straw to lie on. It appears that it is only persons brought in in a state of drunkenness who are so treated. Several of the prisoners were insufficiently clad, and their clothes were ragged. Some, indeed, were not in a state required even by decency. The keeper states that he finds it impossible altogether to prevent the introduction of tobacco, whilst the prisoners continue to wear their own clothes. Tobacco, too, is sometimes thrown over the wall. With tobacco there is, of course, smoking also. The same keeper is in office as before. He is still without any assistant; and, as most of the prisoners are furnished with hammers, and are brought out into the open air to work, (at stone-breaking,) they might any day seize him, get possession of the keys, and set themselves at liberty. The same medical gentleman who has for so long a time attended the prison gratuitously, does so still; and he now, about once a-week, goes through the whole prison, and makes a written statement of the result of his examination. General Observation. The discipline of this prison continues to be lax and unsatisfactory, and there is not likely to be much improvement until the management is transferred to those who will hold it under the Prisons' Act. At present the prisoners are only occasionally and to a slight extent separated from each other: and the procurator-fiscal states that this is productive of serious practical difficulties in attaining the ends of justice. The investigation before trial is often frustrated, he says, by prisoners having opportunities of concerting with one another as to what tale they shall tell, and what things deny. October, 1839. Since leaving Hamilton, I have learned from a prisoner in the Edinburgh Gaol, who had been transferred there from the gaol at Hamilton, and in whose statements, from his position in society and for other reasons, I place considerable reliance, that mock trials are common in Hamilton Gaol; that the doors at the ends of the corridors are often left open; and that not only prisoners in different cells communicate, but that there is frequent communication between the different flats; that there is much gambling for halfpence; and that the prisoners often steal from one another. He states also that the prisoners believed that they did not get the proper allowance of food, and that they were defrauded by the keeper (a belief arising, no doubt, from the circumstance of the keeper having an interest in the supply of food,) but that he himself knew no ground for these suspicions. Greenock. GREENOCK*, RENFREWSHIRE. The only change since my last visit has been a more general introduction of hammocks in place of ordinary beds, and supplying the cells with proper stools. As stated in previous Reports, this prison is very ill constructed, and is both damp and insecure. Bad lime seems to have been used in the mortar, for the stones in the walls are not firmly bound together. The ceilings, too, in the upper cells could easily be broken through. I recommended that a bath should be provided; but this has not been done, nor is its place supplied by requiring the prisoners to wash themselves all over even on their admission to the prison. The daily allowance of bread has been reduced from 11 ozs. to 8 ozs. The present quantity of solid food (consisting of wheaten bread, barley made into broth, and oatmeal made into porridge) is 20 ozs. per day to each prisoner, besides part of an ox-head twice a week. On Sunday the hammocks are left in the cells all day, and the prisoners generally lie in bed the whole time. The conduct of the prisoners appears to be generally good; but there are, from time to time, cases of obscene language, swearing, quarrelling, and stealing. Whiskey, too, is sometimes found on the persons of visitors to debtors. The keeper informs me that a sheriff-officer, named, in conveying one of the prisoners, named to Glasgow, to stand his trial at the Circuit Court lately held there, gave him both whiskey and porter on the way, and this notwithstanding the prisoner is subject to epileptic fits. I have found several instances at different times of sheriff-officers having acted in a similar manner. A full description of the construction and general state of the prison at this town appeared in my First Report, page 60. The last notice (dated November, 1838) is in my Fourth Report, page 133. |