VOLUME V, No.

4 OCTOBER, 1925
THE

PRISON JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE SCIENCE OF PENOLOGY

Published Quarterly by .

THE PENNSYLVANIA PRISON SOCIETY .

(Organized 1787)
~1 i

, -1 ~ ~,i ~ 119 South Fourth St., Philadelphia, Pa. - - _

This Number (Fifteen Cents) Fifty Cents a Year

THE NINTH INTERNATIONAL PRISON CONGRESS

The meetings began with a very elegant official reception of delegates
and members of the Congress, which was given by the British Govern-
ment at Lancaster House, St. James, London, on the evening of August
3rd. Here
they were welcomed by the Home Secretary, Sir WM.
Joynson-Hicks and his lady, who in turn presented the guests to the
Prince and Princess Arthur of Connaught. The guests wandered
around the beautiful rooms of the palace, illuminated gardens and con-
servatories and were served with bountiful refreshments.

The first business Session of the Congress opened on the morning of

the 4th of August in the large hall of the Imperial ot X<>uth
Kensington. The Home Secretary delivered an addre~~~ving sapie
details of the prison system prevalent in England, noted and
impressive changes occuring since the first
Internati I Pri~i1) Cou.
sress was held in London in 1872.
.
In his introductory address Sir Wm. Joynson-Hicks
progress in prison conditions of the last 50 years. He s J~t/
&dquo;50 years ago in Great Britain there were 20,000 people in local
prisons; today there are only 8,000.
&dquo;50 years ago there were 10,000 people in penal servitude; toddy
there are only 1,600.
&dquo;50 years ago there were 113 local prisons and 13 penal servitude
prisons; today there are 31 local prisons and 4 penal servitude
institutions.

Downloaded from tpj.sagepub.com at SIMON FRASER LIBRARY on June 14, 2015

2

&dquo;The reasons for this decrease are to be, found in better education,
.

in improved sobriety, higher standards and conditions of living,

and also in the greater care taken by judges and magistrate
to make the greatest possible use of alternatives to imprisonment&dquo;.
Questions Grave
&dquo;In depriving a human being of his liberty,&dquo; he further said, &dquo;an
executive Government has undertaken a new responsibility of the very
gravest kind-that of the treatment and training of the offender while in
prison. A man does not lose his rights as a human being because he has
broken the law. A man must not come out of prison in such a condition
of mind and body that he is no longer fit to take. his place in society.
&dquo;The State is free to experiment on prisoners with mental, moral,
and physical forces in order to restore them to a state of normal citi-
zenship. This is the present object of our prison administrators.
&dquo;Two experiments are being conducted at present in regard to prisons.
One is that Wormwood Scrubs has been organized on the basis of the
idea of a separate establishment for first offenders. The prison was
set aside entirely about two or three months ago for men committed
from the London area who had never been in prison before, with the
object of training them in an environment free from the prison
atmosphere. _ ; ; ;.+.> ., . - .
:

Industrial Training
&dquo;Wakefield Prison has been kept for those with sentences long enough
to enable them to take advantage of the opportunity of industrial
training afforded. No one is admitted to this prison with a sentence
of less than six months; and an eleven-hour day-nine hours work
and two hours education-is enforced.
&dquo;Separate confinements have been almost entirely abolished in our
English Prisons. Systems of voluntary education, in which a voluntary
education assistant to the prison governor guides the work of his fellow-
prisoners, have been inaugurated.
&dquo;The classes take place free from the presence of prison officers and
warders, and it is regarded as a point of honour among the prisoners
to behave themselves and to do their utmost.
&dquo;There is a change of spirit in our prisons to-day. The atmosphere
is one of hope rather than of despair, and among the prisoners there

Downloaded from tpj.sagepub.com at SIMON FRASER LIBRARY on June 14, 2015

 3

is co-operation with the prison regime rather than opposition to it.

The prisoners look on the officers as friends instead of enemies.&dquo;
Sir William declared that the shore sentence was absolutely useless.
A few weeks imprisonment did not give the authorities a chance, and
was not long enough to make people dread the idea of prison.
The senior member of the International Prison Commission, Mr.
Almquist, warmly thanked the Home Secretary for his eloquent dis-
course and moved that he be elected as Hon.orary President of the Con-

gress. This motion was carried unanimously. Also, he moved that

Sir Evelyn Ruggles-Bz~ise be made the permanent President of the Con-
gress and that Dr. Simon van der Aa be appointed general secretary.
This proposition was also adopted.
The Home Secretary thanked the assembly for the distinction con-
ferred upon him and resigned the chair to the President-elect, Sir
Evelyn Ruggles-Brise, who congratulated the Congress upon the large
number of delegates present and delivered an inaugural address, touch-
ing upon the changes which had taken place in ideas concerning im-
prisonment and dwelt at some length upon the penal questions which
were to be discussed by the Congress. ,.

THE ATTENDANCE
Eventually it appeared that fifty odd countries and peoples were

represented in the membership of the Congress, with a total of some 500

delegates. The official delegates from the United States, appointed by
the President, were
.

DR. HERMAN M. ADLL~R~ DR. R. F. C. KIEB,

:&dquo; . n
,

Illinois Beacon, N. Y.
.

HON. SANFORD BATES, LEWIS E. LAW~1S~

_
_

Massachusetts Ossining, N. Y.
DR. AMOS W. BUTLER ,
_ DR. FRANK MOORE,
Indiana ,
_
,
Rahway, N. J.
DR. HASTINGS H. HART~ ,
.

WM. F. PDNN~ ,

New York City, N. Y. ,

Pennsylvania
MRS. JESSIE D. HODDERt DR. R. B. VON KLEIN $XIID,
Massachusetts Southern California
DR. CHARLES H. JOHNSON, J. J. SULLIVAN,
Albany, N. Y. Minnesota
In addition to these there were many eminent penologists present
from the United States, appointed by Governors of several States of

Downloaded from tpj.sagepub.com at SIMON FRASER LIBRARY on June 14, 2015