A Visit to the United States in 1841 by Joseph Sturge
page 90 of 367 (24%)
page 90 of 367 (24%)
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allowed in the possession of the attendants, or indeed upon the
premises. As compared with the "silent system," exhibited in the not less famed prisons of the State of New York, this is much less economical, as the mode of employing the prisoners, in their solitary cells, greatly lessens the power of a profitable application of their labor. If prisoners exceed their allotted task, one-half of their surplus earnings is given to them on being set at liberty. My visit was too cursory to enable me to give a decisive opinion on the "separate system," but I confess my impression is, that the punishment is one of tremendous and indiscriminating severity, and I find it difficult to believe that either the safety of society, or the welfare of the prisoner, can require the infliction of so much suffering. Criminals are sometimes condemned for very long periods, or for life; and in these cases, I was informed, occasionally manifested great recklessness and carelessness of their existence. I am also not quite convinced that the reformation of prisoners is effected to the extent sometimes inferred from the small number of recommittals. A statistical conclusion cannot be drawn from this datum, unsupported by other proofs. On the 2d of the 6th Month, (June,) I proceeded to Wilmington, Delaware, with my friend John G. Whittier. Here we met a company of warm-hearted and intelligent abolitionists, with whom we discussed the prospects of the cause. It was calculated that if compensation were conceded, to which many would on principle object, a tax of less than one dollar per acre would buy up all the slaves in the State for emancipation. It was admitted by all, that the abolition of slavery would advance the price of land in a far greater ratio; probably ten or twenty dollars per acre. We went forward the same evening to Baltimore, accompanied by one of our Wilmington acquaintance, and in the railway carriage was a member of the |
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