THE CONVICT:LED CLASSES IN IRELAND.
SOME flippant public man once spoke of the "unconvicted class of the community." There seemed a kind of absurdity in its impli- cation that the " convicted " could be at all a class of the com- munity. In England, they have never been fairly recognized as such : in Ireland, for something more than four years, the re- leased convicts have been really admitted as a class of the com- munity, and have got fair play in their efforts to replace them- selves in their old position in society. We have from time to time recorded the progress of this great experiment, and in the sixth annual report of the Directors of Convict Prisons in Ireland, we have an additional record of what is being done.
The general diminution of serious crime in Ireland is very gratifying. The convicts sentenced to penal servitude in 1854 i were 710; since then, there has been a steady decrease, although,
in 1857, fhe Sentences of penal servitude were extended by means of the legalization of "three years" sea term for penal servitude ; in 18.59, the number was only 322. "Since 18.53, no convicts have been sent from Ireland to a penal colony," so that within that period "Ireland has had to absorb, reincarcerate, or provide for her own convict population." The country has thus been saved the expense of transportation, and, in addition, the Convict Prisons of Ireland cost 28,000/Jess now than in 1856. The "In- termediate Prisons," the "Refuges," and the system of Registra- tion are, it is clear, the agencies in this good result. The system of registration acts in the most efficacious way in deterring the convict from his old paths of crime, and in imperatively inducing him to adopt a new life, or to leave the country of his own free will. We read in this report :— " 1240 convicts have been liberated conditionally in this country between the 3d March 1856, and the 3d March 1860. Only 77 of these have had their licenees revoked. Of these 28 were for cases of irregularity, not criminal, but very properly, by the rules involving forfeiture. 854 convicts have been liberated unconditionally from the Intermediate Prison during the same period, and only 20 have as yet been reconsig-ned to the Govern- ment prisons. We beg to submit that these results are entirely satisfactory, although in the cases of those unconditionally liberated, the statistics are only negative, and must be taken for what they are worth. As has been stated in our former Reports, a very large number of liberated convicts have thought it to be their best course to emigrate."
These statistics speak volumes for the good effect of the system administered by Captain Walter Crofton and his colleagues. The great difference between the English and Irish systems of treating criminals is, that in England a convict is absolutely dis- charged at the expiration of his sentence, and he is at large among the community. In Ireland, the same man is registered; the police do not molest or annoy him, but his residence and con- duct are strictly watched, and he must conform to certain rules. In England, part of the original sentence is absolutely remitted on account of good conduct. In Ireland, instead of liberating the convict unconditionally at the period of time when a portion of his sentence is thus remitted, he is placed under a condition of subsequent good conduct, duly enforced, until the original period of his sentence has been completed—the latter portion of his de- tention being in an intermediate prison. Captain Crofton points out that the terms of penal servitude are in many cases too short—much shorter than the terms of trans- portation for which they are the substitute—in this going di- rectly counter to the resolutions of the House of Commons Com- mittee of 18,56? The sentences now, it is to be regretted, are "too short to reap the full benefits of the system." The chief features of the Irish system are "intermediate prisons" and conditional liberation coupled with registration. The convict prison itself affords in its strict laws and close watch- ing the first test of the prisoner's nature ; the "intermediate prison" acts at once as a reward for his good conduct, and a fur- ther test ; the conditional liberation gives the convict the op- portunity of regaining his lost footing in society, and the regis- tration enables the authorities to put at once a stop to his career, should he recommence a course of crime. The Directors say, in this, their Sixth Annual Report :—
" We now, after another year's experience of these results, extending over 2300 prisoners, are able completely to confirm the strong opinions we have always expressed of their value. 'We would not for one moment with- hold the credit due to those in our department who have laboured unre- mittingly in promoting the reformation of the criminal and his well-doing on liberation ; but we feel bound to repeat our opinion that the system pur- sued would be incomplete in its action if unaccompanied by the powerful adjuncts of conditional liberation' and registration until the expiration of sentences. We have found them to operate as wholesome checks on the criminal, to protect the public, and to be the means—the only means of which we are aware—of effectually scattering the criminal class.'
"By their use crime may, for the first time, be rendered a hazardous and an unprofitable calling.
"Aft authorities agree in the importance of making punishment more certain. Without registration, this is scarcely possible ; and it is of daily occurrence that 'hardened offenders,' not identified by the police driers, escape with very trifling punishment. This immunity from the conse- guences of crime enters very fully into the calculation of the criminal classes, and tends more than any other cause to recruit their ranks. So long as this immunity is suffered to exist, so long shall we fail to reap full benefit from our very heavy expenditure, incurred for the purpose of arrest- ing the progress of crime."
It has been thought by some persons that the greater portion of crime in Ireland is agrarian, and that this accounts for the success of the Irish system. This is a misapprehension. The convicts are of the ordinary class, burglars, felons, pickpockets, and the same results obtained in Ireland might be obtained here if the same system were adopted.
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