The Prison Association of New York, Office, Room No. 38 Bible House. The Prison Association was organized in 1844, and chartered by the Legislature in 1846. It was formed on the suggestion of the Board of State Prison Inspectors, of which the Hon. John W. Edmonds was, at the time, chairman. Many leading citizens of New York took part in its organization, among whom may be mentioned the following, all now deceased: Benjamin F. Butler, William Kent, Theo. Sedgwick, John Duer, Ogden Hoffman, Theo. Frelinghuysen, Daniel Lord, Archbishop Hughes, Bishop Wainwright, and Rev. Dr. Milnor. The officers for 1868 are: John David Wolfe, Presidet. Hon. John T. Hoffman, Francis Lieber, LL.D., John H. Griscom, M.D., Hon. Theo. W. Dwight, LL.D., Hon. Charles J. Folger, and Hon. John Stanton Gould, Vice-Presidents. E. C. Wines, D.D., LL.D., Corresponding Secretary. Cephas Brainerd, Esq., Recording Secretary. William C. Gilman, Treasurer. Abraham Beal, General Agent. The above officers, together with an Executive Committee of twenty-five members, constitute a Board of Management. are: The objects of the Association, as stated in the charter of incorporation, "1. The amelioration of the condition of prisoners, whether detained for trial, or finally convicted, or as witnesses. "2. The improvement of prison discipline and the government of prisons, whether for cities, or counties, or States. "3. The support and encouragement of reformed convicts, after their discharge, by affording them the means of obtaining an honest livelihood, and sustaining them in their efforts at reform." The act of incorporation imposes important duties, and confers high powers on the Association. Among its other duties, it is required “to visit, inspect, and examine all the prisons in the State, and annually report to the Legislature their state and condition, and all such other things in regard to them as may enable the Legislature to perfect their government and discipline.” The members of the Association are thus made by law inspectors of prisons, and the powers conferred upon them are stated as follows in the statute: "It shall be the duty of the keepers of each of the said prisons to admit the said inspectors, or any one of them, into every part of such prison; to exhibit to them, on demand, all the books, papers, documents, and accounts pertaining to the prison, or to the persons confined therein; and to render them every other facility in their power to enable them to discharge the duties above prescribed. And for the purpose of obtaining the necessary information to enable them to make such report as is above required, the said inspectors shall have power to examine on oath, to be administered by either of the said inspectors, any of the officers of the said prison, and to converse with any of the prisoners confined therein, without the presence of the keepers thereof, or any of them." Corresponding with the three objects of the Association, named above, are three departments of labor, called the Detention Department, the Discharged Convict Department, and the Prison Discipline Department. In the first two of these departments the Association employs a general agent to aid the Standing Committees on detained prisoners and discharged convicts. The agent visits frequently all the detention prisons in New York and Brooklyn; inquires into cases that need special attention; imparts suitable counsels and exhortations; calls often upon the families of the imprisoned, with a view to mitigate and relieve their suffering; examines complaints; sees complainants, and gets them to withdraw their accusations, where they are without foundation, or where the interests both of justice and humanity would be better served by such withdrawal; attends upon the criminal courts of both cities; hastens up cases that seem to require immediate trial; procures counsel for prisoners who have neither friends nor money to obtain such service for themselves; inquires into the antecedents of persons on trial, at the instance of the judges; procures necessary witnesses; obtains the discharge, without trial, of prisoners who are manifestly innocent; adjusts numerous difficulties originating in mistake, passion, drink, or some frivolous cause, many of which would otherwise grow to formidable proportions; very frequently heals family differences, and reconciles hostile parties by his wise and timely interpositions; receives prisoners on their discharge; furnishes needful clothing to the deserving; procures temporary board for such as require it; obtains situations for them; purchases tickets or gets free passes for those who desire to return to their friends at a distance, or go to work in the country; and performs other offices innumerable of kindness and philanthropy to the fallen and the unfortunate, for whose benefit this Association was organized. The results of twenty-three years' work in the Detention and Discharged Convict Department, so far as they are susceptible of being represented in figures, may be summed up as follows: 83,314 persons visited in prison. 23,716 complaints examined. 6,508 complaints withdrawn. 7,216 prisoners discharged from custody. 14,481 released prisoners aided with board, clothing, tools, or money. 3,804 discharged convicts provided with situations, the great majority of whom have done well, regaining a respectable standing in society, and eating the bread of honest toil. This gives a grand total of 137,841 cases in which relief-moral, material, or both has been extended to persons who have been arrested and impris oned, whether justly or unjustly, on a charge of crime. Besides the aid thus given to the accused and the convicted, relief, more or less extensive, has been afforded to thousands of persons connected with the families of prisoners. But prisons themselves need reforming as well as prisoners. Prison discipline is a problem which still awaits solution. The world is yet in its infancy on the whole subject of the disposal and treatment of criminals. The investigation and discussion of this great theme constitutes the theater of the labors of the Prison Discipline Department. To facilitate this study and aid in the inauguration of the needed reforms, the Association is made by law the inspector general of the prisons of the State. Many hundreds of inspections of prisons of every grade have been made; an immense mass of facts collected; numerous able essays written, some of them amounting to full treatises, on all important points connected with prison discipline; and material reforms introduced into the administration of our prisons. A few of the improvements in this department, inaugurated through the agency of the Prison Association, may be specified in this connection: The present prison law of our State is the work of the Association. The punishment of the lash has been abolished by law as an instrument of prison discipline. The right of inflicting punishment on prisoners is confined to the head of the prison. Libraries, ample in size, and composed of well-selected books, are now found in all our State prisons and county penitentiaries. Secular instruction, embracing most of the branches taught in common schools, is given to all convicts in State prisons, who need and desire it, by teachers appointed and paid by the State. The dietary of our prisons has been greatly improved; and this is especially true as regards the supply of vegetables in their proper season. The principle of rewards, as a stimulus to good conduct and industry, has been adopted as an element of prison discipline. To reclaim and reform the criminal is now recognized as the true end of punishment. Finally, there can be no doubt that many thousands of dollars are annually saved to the community, through the benevolent labors of the Prison Association, in a lessened expenditure for criminal administration, and the diminution of thefts and other depredations upon the property of citizens. New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, (ORGANIZED IN 1842-INCORPORATED IN 1848,) No. 39 Bible House, third floor, entrance on Eighth street. Robert B. Minturn, Treasurer. Robert M. Hartley, Corresponding Secretary. George Griswold, Recording Secretary. The design of this Association is the elevation of the moral and physical condition of the indigent, and, so far as is compatible with these objects, the relief of their necessities. The first principle of the Association is founded in the admission that the alms of benevolent societies and of private liberality are often misapplied and as often abused by those who receive them. To guard against these evils, it covers, by a minute division of labor and responsibility, the entire city. Its arrangements are: First, a general division of the entire city into twenty districts, with a local Advisory Committee in each, one of whom is also a Manager in the Central Board. Next, it subdivides the districts into 350 sections, and appoints a visitor to each section, whose field of labor is compressed to a limit which admits of his personal attention to all the needy therein. It thus covers every avenue, street, and alley within the bounds of this great metropolis. It ministers to all, not otherwise provided for, irrespective of creed, color, or country, in a way to benefit the recipient, and promote the best interests of the community. The number of families thus annually relieved varies, according to the pressure of the season, from four to fifteen thousand, containing from fifteen to sixty thousand persons. The expenditures correspondingly differ, being from $40,000 to $90,000 annually. During the twenty-four years of its organization it has relieved 164,000 families, containing 693,000 persons; disbursed among them over $1,000,000, and made over 800,000 visits. The labors of the visitors are entirely gratuitous. All its sources are derived from voluntary donations and subscriptions. Every annual contributor to the association becomes a member, and is thereby entitled to the privilege of referring applicants thereto for aid. Women's Brison Association of New York, ("THE ISAAC T. HOPPER HOME,") INCORPORATED 1845, Located at No. 191 Tenth avenue. OFFICERS. Mrs. T. C. Doremus, First Directress, 47 East 21st street. |