The reformatory in Elmira, N.Y., in 1877 embodied most of the progress in penological thought and practice in Europe and America between 1825 and 1875, including, among other things. emphasis upon reformation, commutation of sentence for good behaviour, a system of grading, classification and promotion of inmates, a quasi-indeterminate sentence, and the provision of productive labour. The Elmira system was utilized for youthful first offenders guilty of the lesser felonies, and has not been ex tended to prisons for adults, except for the grading system. The inmates of the Elmira type of reformatories have usually been between the ages of 16 and 25. • The most notable innovation in prison discipline is found in the work of Thomas Mott Osborne, Auburn, N.Y. Undergoing voluntary servitude in the Auburn prison in 1913, he became convinced that no extensive reformation was possible in connec tion with the system of ruthless repression and corrupt politics which characterize the conventional prison administration. He saw that a convicted criminal could be taught habits of obedience and respect for order only while in prison, whereas the present prison system was designed to increase the anti-social tendencies of the convict. Accordingly, he introduced at the New York State prison at Sing Sing a system of convict self-government known as the "mutual welfare league." This aroused the bitter opposition of the exponents of harsh punishment and of the cor rupt politicians and contractors, but it proved remarkably suc cessful when applied by Mr. Osborne at Sing Sing and later at the U.S. naval prison at Portsmouth, N.H. The plan discards punish ment and concentrates upon the objective of reformation.
A major phase of the progress of prison administration since 1800 has been the gradual differentiation of institutions accord ing to the type of prisoner to be received. In 179o, in an insti tution like the Walnut street jail in Philadelphia, the same institution housed debtors, those accused of crime, those convicted of all types of crime, young and old, male and female, white, black and red, sane and insane. During the last century imprison ment for debt has been abandoned ; those convicted of serious crimes are separated, though, pending trial, they are still housed with vagrants and others consigned to the county jail; separate institutions have been provided for the young, the youthful and adults ; males and females are housed in separate institutions or in separate departments; in some States the races are segregated; and to an increasing extent the insane. Those convicted of mis demeanors and lesser felonies are sent to jails, houses of correc tion or reformatories, while those convicted of the more serious felonies are sent to State penitentiaries.
Prison labour has undergone many changes. It was first em ployed as a means of increasing the severity of punishment; from about 183o to 188o the chief emphasis was laid upon the eco nomic aspects ; in the last generation more concern has been shown with regard to teaching a useful trade and making prison indus try an aid in reformation. At the outset the prison industries
were conducted by the prison authorities; after about 183o the labour of convicts was very generally sold to contractors subject to the disciplinary rules of the institution. About 187o the labour leaders began a wide movement of protest against contract con vict labour and restrictive legislation was passed in many States. Since 188o there has been a gradual trend towards institutional control of all prison industries under either the public account or the State-use system. The start was made with crude work, like breaking stone and picking over wool and oakum. In the contract regime textile industries, tailoring, boot and shoe making, the manufacture of crude furniture and hardware, and making of cheap cigars were the common industries. Where the State-use system is employed the prison industries are devoted chiefly to manufacturing the clothing, furniture and hardware used in the State institutions and the registration plates used on automobiles. Many States have purchased large prison farms and carry on ex tensive agricultural enterprises ; convict labour is also used on State and county highways. The attempt to provide types of labour which will train inmates for an improved economic status after discharge is still in its infancy Prison architecture has made little progress. Leaving aside the archaic plumbing of that period, the Eastern penitentiary opened in Philadelphia in 1829 was the most spacious and habitable in stitution ever utilized for the detention of adult felons in the United States. The first prisons were composed of large rooms where congregate imprisonment was practised. After 1800 the trend was distinctly towards the cellular system. The Penn sylvania type of prison was constructed with a central corridor running down each wing, with cells opening off both sides of the corridor. The Auburn type of prison was constructed in the form of a cell-block of several storeys or tiers of steel and stone or brick cages. Practically all the modern American prisons are merely refinements of this original Auburn cage construction, the improvements being chiefly ingenious devices for opening and closing all the doors of an entire tier of cages with one motion. Illinois recently constructed a great new prison at Joliet on the circular plan, the cells opening on a large central space which makes the inspection of the cells relatively easy; it is but an adoption of the "panopticon" scheme proposed by Jeremy Ben tham more than a century ago. Some of the institutions for juvenile delinquents have adopted the "cottage" system, first introduced from Mettray in France about 1855, but it has never been adopted for adult cnminals. Almost without exception the American prisons are still surrounded by walls higher and thicker than those which protected ancient cities or mediaeval castles.