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R H - AND NORTH -CAROLINA STATE GAZETTE. Ourare the Tlani of fr dtHgbtfol Peace, Unwarp'd by Party Rage tolivelike Un then. VOL.IV. Tuesday, December. 14, 1802. No. 165. R E i - ' - OK THE , Penitentiary Bill Concluded from our laft, Mr.C. JoNJtsi i The very im portant alteration which this bill propofesto introduce into our cri initial code, may well excite all the intereft that has been manifefted fioce its frrft introduction into this houk.- But I am unable to difco ver, from all the information I can obtain, or from any arguments that have been urged upon this floor, that the propofed amendment would be an improvement; that it would tend to lefTen the frequency of crimes,, or produce any advantages that woruld be in any degr&k.cpm menfurate with the expence. I be lieve the contrary I believe it would tend to demoralize fociety, and to involve us in expencos frorn which no benefits would refult. Though I feel prepared to decide, without perceiving the fhado w of a doubt upon my mind, 1 believe thcrere many aoembcrs of thishoufe who do not feel an equal raid inefs to do fo. I have lived ;io a State w hare a fimilar law cxifted, and ray experience . of it s tihfavoura bk? to tlw &nniotl either of its juf tice or its policy. But here the fubject is new In our neighbouring Mates, fuch infitutions have been fe recently eftablifhed, that we have hardly had ths opportunity of wit--ne fling their effects. They are in deed every where of modern date, of coirferooft of us know very lit tle ol the propofed eftablifhment, tht expence it would involve us in, or ihe effe&s it will produce ; and thus, m the dark, we are called onl to decide upon a mealure of the higheft importance to the commu nity, from the imperfect and per haps partial information to be ob tained in debate. ; . I fliould have believed the novelty of the fubject, and this want of in formation, would preclude the ne ceflity of combating its .principles is form, if i had not known the influence which fplendid and delu ive theories often have over the mind, when thev axe flattering to the human character. It is humiliating to the pride of man to admits that his ownjpecies may be degraded fo low, be fo loft to every principle of moral recti tude, to become fuch an enemy to foriety, as to be unfit to have an ex iftence in it. The ideal perfectibi lity of human nature is more footh ing to his feelings, and in a fancied bief of wbich he fomethnes in dutgefbimfelfm fpite of every day's fad experience, A falfe eftimateof ..the powers and qualities of the mind, I have no doubt, has too much influence in promoting the meafure before us. The planof leusnidg the freqHeo cy of crimes, by 'reforming inftead or punifbing criminals" has origi nated in; orincinles tha I revere: but fure I am, the advocates of this raeafure are miftken in the effects it is calculated to produce. The idea fir ft originated With philoio- Dhers. -who, irf' they, clofets, faw human nature only throoghVthe Thev had 41 fpeftacles of books . . r -u not, like men of the world, expe rimentally traced it through all its labyrinths of depravty. They" have deceived thtmfelves in making too favourable eftjmates of the qualities of man ; and have proportioned hi puniQiments to that perfect charac-; ter which exifts only in their own warm imaginations, j T will, indeed admit, that punifhments muft be in fome degree proportioned to the ad vance man has roacje- towards civi lization and refinement. ; la Rfliaj it is fatd. bv travellers of diiecrn- rneiat," that the crul punithmcnt of tne Knout is necuary to xbjiku" crimes among their jBarbarian hords. Frequent decapitationtnay poflibly beneeeflary in Turkey. But in this country, 1 fonldly Ihope, the human mind has made thejjjreateft a'dvanpes to perfection, and accorclingiy our puniflxments are Very confidently tHe mildeft. . If this ameliorating fvftem is a otited. if this fill becomes a law, let us ice what tht experiment Willi coft us. By the face of the DU, we are made to belicVeUhe ex'pencc will be moderate, froW-the (mailncfs of the tax propofed to be laid. But 2 or 30,000!. will not be fufficient for thefpurpofe. The ftate-prifon i f New-York colt nearly 300,000 ollars. 1'his State is very near as populous as that of New-York ; public morals are perhaps no better, and certainly will not be if this pro ject lucceeds. Why then will not asexpenfive a bujflding be required here as there ? Are the materials j C iL. -u: t v 1.1 1 'w ouimjng cneapcr, anainc wages of workmen lower ? No, fir, we Jiavt a building to erect that wilful timately coft 2 or ooo.coo dollars, M or we have none at all. Weare now J 5 lhcwn but the beginningofexpence: j But once lay the foundation ex. , pend to or 30,0001. and you will Then be comDellcd toexDend more. 5 It willje too late to give over the project. It will demand fupply after fupply with infatinble voracity. i ou mult fubmit to all. You muft wade through every Cxprnce that is offered to lave your fir ft expendi ture, and to preferve the appear ance of con fiftency in your con duct.) ! For what purpofe then, we may enquire, is this enormous expence incurred ? It is for the chimerical DTOiect.of reforminir rriminiile. A hail is the laft place J fhould have thcUftht of for that pwrpofe. Cri.' minals are not there to be taught the duties they we to locietyj They Certainly will not be mucjh bene-! htted by each other's companv. Murderers, robbers, and horle-. thieves, are not fuitablc peHons to teach good morals. By fuch com pany bad men are made wofe. They there lay their plans for future vil lainies ; and, after a few yars, they aretu1 ned out upon fociety as aban doned and as vile, as the influence of fuch infamous fociety 'can make them. n j : But fhis extravagant prtjjeft has in bther ftates been Vnore to accommo date vagabond wretches whom the jails of Europe have vomited upon our ihores, thn native citizens; and this ftrongly increases my ob tection to the meaare. In New- York, I am aflured from authority on which 1 can .rely, j that two thirds of the criminals m the ftate-" prifon are freed negroes atad foreign ers. The prudent policy of this State in refilling to libeji ate'any of its flaves, will relieve us from one fpecies of thele pefts of Tccieiy, but we have no fecuntyagainft the other but in the rigour of our laws. In Pennfylvania too, more than one-: half of the criminals are foreigners. I never will con lent to impofe on tny coDftituents fuch jail intolerable burthen, to acenmmodate a fet of wretches, who have Held their own country to avoid the penalty of its laws. It is too much jtoippen our arms to thefe fugitives from the gal lows, and to prepare hofpitals for their reception. We have criminals enough of our own country, with out encouraging importations. But if thefe Botany Bay. principles pre vail if the fufferiiig villainy of all Europe is to come herje for 3fn afy lum,ve fliall be deluged with crimes that will iUnhinge iociety. Thele profligate jautcallshvclal jways lived in theexercife of the trades of thiev ing and rebellion trades to which t hey are as reguiarly trained, as an aoprenticed c prster is to the ule his fquare and compalfosj, and like ierfetf adepts they arej iure to tol- ow them with in flex e perlerve- rance. It is in vain you vfal pretend that your Penhntiry3 will be fuf ficient to puuifh the crimes or r ftrain tne enormities they will com trWtNRifir, fb far frfopi it,; they will tninp themlelves bppy jfthay can be accommodated with afr place in it. I It will be much preferable to their fituation in their own conn try. Comparatively they live in alfluence. The fearful apprehen- iions of the gallons Will be rcmo- t veel, ana l navono aouoi oul ii an i opportune ofrereel, they would lend over lor tneir irienas to eeme and partake of their good cheer ; and nere they Would eahly gain ad mittance. No extraordinary quali fl Cat ions are required, but thole of cccomplifhed knavery. There is ino entrance money to pay,, no board to be accountable for ; they; nave only to fteal.a few jhaTtes or cut the throats of lome of their honeft ni(rhhours. and they are imme- I dutciy provided for, haudfomcly, j ijai Te pablic expence. As in fane tuarjest ihe Rons ifh church, a bre- vi i or lniamy wuiu oc a iur re commendation to protcitien knt! fa vour; I beg tat I may not be tr-.er-ftood, in thefe remarks, to call any reflections on the er "'grants from n Europe in general. 1 ai vary tar intending it. lucre are nwny of them who are an honour to their own country, and wU are now an ornament to this. I objoeV nly to thofe vagrant wretches who have no trade or profeflioo, but thievintr and fedition ; whofa fchonls of edu- cation htve been Jails af armies", and who tranfsort them Pel vtfs here. jU avoid a tranfportation to Bota Bay or to elude the oitilefs ooofe of t l.e V.angman. But if inftead of holding out en couragement to vice, you would Japply to feme other purpofes the immenle lums which you are 2 bout to expend on this pernicious pro ject, what immenfe advaatsge could you procure to the ftate. The magic influence of 30',ooo dollars, would diffufe a knowledge of feience, and a refinement of morals, throughout the whole of it. But youpropofeto lavifh it on criminals, while the fiow ning walls of your unfinished coYfcge buildings, which yu have defened and neglecled. ftand to reproach you, for the waftc ful, the bfelels expenditure. It is worfe than uf r fs; y.u had better haveburjed the yjqey in the bottom of th 4jreean. You are about to" e ftablifh an afylum of the vileft of malefafctois, a nurlery of crimes, a fchool of wickednefs and infamy, a cankered box of Pandora, that 'will poifon the morals of the ftate. . I will not deny but thejtime may artive, when fuch an inftution as a Penitentiary may be proper. I fhill rejoice to iee fuch a time ar rive. Itwiiimajka djftinguifhed sera in the hi (lot v of our civilization and refir;rment ; t Will fhow that tht minds of every clals of our citi zens are elevated and pol'fhcd bv education, that ;)Jd puhifriments will he fufE-.icnt to correft the lit tle corruption rat may then ex ill. The delicate min will' then revolt with as much horrr at the lmputa "tion of djfhonour, as our rogues fiow do at the fight of a pillory or a vvhi bing-poft. Such period moy ppfflbly hereafter' arrive; but fure I am, th is js not the time. Civiliza- j tion is net yet fufficiently advanced ; nine-tenths, and I believe i mav lay, ninevrnine hundtedths of the wretheslwho now hi! our Jail--, have never received ir.ftructjon in natural or moral things. Tkz na tural corruption of the heart is, on the ccntrarv. fhenetnened bv lire- cept and example. Upon thefe, j your mild punifliments will have no other effect than to encourage to 2 perferverance. But if your humani ty prompts you to introduce fuchNm in(iitution, prepare the public mind to receive it. Promote the educa tion of youth, and baflen the pe riod of refinement, which' fuch its ftitutions muft alwavs follow, hut with prclpnetv can revcr precede. ; Endow your Univerfny. Eftablifh I fchools in every part ?nd corner of your count ic-s. mOpSy 'Tj any then hope for a time to exe.rcile the vir-. tues of humanity, in a um.-er, not j inconfiftent with the ftern nemands I of Inftice. You my tlim ie fieri tth-" nifliments of crimes, it edu- ca has not already eradicated them. iSat inftead of doing this. vou are making a retrogade move inient. You have abandoned to itj i fate, the Univerfny, which wasthc i bt ft hope of the frjends of human happmels. You r.avt done more : you have deprived it of the proper ty which 'once belonged to it, ant' thole funds which were de (fined to rear up our youth to ft lence and to Virtue, are now propoieo iod '. i fquandered on a project to lave ficrr ; the gallows, a-fet of wrctdhes, whe fo far from being mtjtle to fK' I bounties of the community, ha ve;b the, atrocity of their crimes, julti) forfeited their tito exutence. I As a dernier reuhn, it has been at lempted to employ your a varice tt advocate the meafure. Y'ou hav been told that the labour of the crj minalsvlli yield a very coniiderabl pjront, and add to the revenues oJ thtate. What then is it come tv ibis? Are we reduced fo low it f: M , ' : . . ' ' ; ; wealth &reputation,as to encourage crimes to fupport our government .? chall we f"afFr it to be faid that our boafted republican government n upheld by crimiiials, bv polluted mifcreants, Who, in other coun tries, would have fallen under the axe of the law ? Shall we be fcen to calculate on the value of' a mur der, or the profits of a houfc burn ing with the coolnel's of a twenty per cent, ufurrr? Pride and path otifm forbid it 1 Let it not be faid that we raife a revenue at the ex pence of the public mprals. f Let us rather afpire'to the character o virtue, and not fubjeel ourf elves to the merited repioaches which fuch principles and fuch meafures wouit inevitably draw upon us. It is, hoWVer worth our while to examine whether ;he inftirution . v ii 1 nr iciii 1 y a luuitc 01 jji Mil . a whether we are about to enibark in lucrative fpecuhr ion. In New Y"ik and Philadelphia, it is laid, ami perhaps truly, for they are large manufacturing towns, that the; la bour of the criminals compenfates for their food and cloathtng. But it never can be calculated on, that they will, in any reafonable time, defray the enormous expences of the buildings erected to confine them. If thev do, they muft have forue more cffe&U;?! way of encouraging rrimes than a Penitentiary, if human ingenuity can pofliblv deviie oac. In Virginia, exclufiveof the build ings and guards, 54 criminals j who were confined in the Penitentiary for a year, ending on the lft of No vember laft, had incurred an ex pence of nearly eight thoufand dol lars more than than the amount of their earnings. In Connecticut the expence of their prifon is triil.ng It is a lead mine penetrating a great diftance into the eartfi. In Mafia chufetts, the criminals, until lately, were confined on Cattle Wrlliam, a fortrefs which defends the Harbour of Bofton, and were guarded by the foldiers of the garrifon. In thefe States it is probable no expence was incurred in confining the criminals, and both too, it muft be recollect ed, are large manufacturing ftates. But in North-Carolina circumftan ces are very different. We have no manufactures. Our criminals are idl vagabonds that have always lived at the expence of the fommu, nity. An expenfive building muft be creeled, and an expenfive guard he maintained; We muft ot nc ..,:n 1 11 r ( -. J. ';.- - t r ceftity be plunged into an ocean of expence. without t fie moft dif tant profpect of its ever be:r-;g de frayed. AH therefore who calculate on its being; a fource of pta-lit to the State ; all who attemt t o gain friends to the mealureby off ring al luremen's to avarice, are a if u redly,! preparing dilappointmenr for them lelves and others. They " ill awike from their illulion, when they fee crimes and taxes multiply ing toge ther. Reflect, I beieech you, be fore you take the?decifive ftep. lit is a meature once taken from which you cannot recede. Aftr bitter ex perience fhallfhave convinced you of its impropriety, you cannot, jby reoffalms; the law, reftore tbe im menfe fums theprojeft. will coftou flidin to the pockets of tie people. You cannot heal all the Woujnd winch the impunity of wickednefs ;nay have inflicted. The coftlv Walls tr the penitentiary will forever 'i-indla? a monument of; your roil guided policy. I repeit it, you cannot renaft. The Hep once ta ken, you may deplore over thccon- ; 1 -j icquences, but you can never repair he injury. Now is the niy time n which you can refolveiot to in volve :he State in expejices thai will impovehih and diflrefsit. liut f you are reftraified by ncpydmoni- cion?; if you arx aet?rmned 10 car- the tneafu'-e. in the face of cx- iirnce, of difficulty, a'rd all the. ha- zard and lols of th.e public peace, though my vfoice may be ditt garded, you will b addreflect by a yt ice thai tways icommands lefoecti ; nd that a-ill not with impunity bje jiiiobey d. Tfie merits of this fubjdet have not ye been fully canvifled by noie wno gave us our leats lure-. nut whenever its evils ate under i j 1.. 1 ! ... - 1 1 toou, wnenever us cxperices arc "it, you may reft aUured the pub jX wiilj itamp n wub the lea) ot -napproDation. Mr. J. G. Wright cfclervfd that as the perietal principle of the Hill before the committee had been fo 3blv exarnified by the. r;ent!etrUn from; Orange, he role lefs fron defire to favj any. thing in favour a of the bill, thar to anfwer feme of he objections Which had beenurfcd Bgrfinft it. - f i It had been ftated. that thfs bill if pajETed into, a law, will not fiavi a rerdency toieflen the number of crimes, but that they will con tinue as great as ever. This, Mr. W, faid, was a mere Jnatter ofj vi-. nion. But We have fomething mlqtre than .opinion in its favour ; we have the experience of our filter ftare and of other countries. WJibvts alf the experience of other coun tries to fhew that fnguinary puniifb. men ?s hv& not a tendency to redjuce the .number and enormity of crimes. No laws are more fanguinarv tftari thofe of Gieai Britain, and in no country ?re qrims more frsqinjnt j but he helreyed wherever 10's ame liorated fyftem had been in ejxif tence, crimes had been dirainifbed 'this bill $1 not purpofe, as the gentleman from Johrfton had ftited, a pjan for the reformation of Icon y is 4 hut to ameliorate our prpfent criminal code; b punifhing of fenders in ftich a manner as fhali comport with juftice, and tend to deter othcrsitom committing like crimes. But it is alio hopedj that the reformation of criminals will be an end attairjedr in addition tj the due punifhtnent propofed, and that offenders will come from prifon w uh foberer and more induftrous ijabhs ; . and' with this expectation it wsy thst iJad been laid that this (would be one' of the effecls of this Hill, j It had been objscled, that he ex" pence of this efrablifhmer r (would be greater than we are in a fiuntion to bear.; that the Penitentiary Ho-ife at New-York, had coft thft ftaie 3 or 400,000 dollars 5But it ought to be con fidered, that the fijuations of the ftates of New-York and North-Carolina are very d.iffeier t.. nd that it cannot be proprf tocom- pare the two ftatea tofetberi In the ftate of New! -York is a verv larce arjl populoi knows that and populous city, and every one kuows mar large aues are the hot beds of vice;; and the truth is, that the city of Naw-Yoik produce more cp vjfts than all the rrft of the fta te put togerhe r . The j Pen i ten -tiary there erected Is calculated to contain from 3 to 400 prifoners j whilft the one propofed by this bill, contemplates ahoufe to contain only. The expence of I the tx eftbliftimei)ts, therefore, j are not comparable. , , ; It had. been faid by t ht, gent Jejcan from John ft on,, that th$ mealure was advocated on the ground that il w.iuld raile a revenue to the ftate. It was not advocated o that prnr c-jple ; it was mentioned oaly that th)s had been the effect produced in other ftates, and that therefore the meafure would not be fo expenfivo as the oppofers of the bjU would hjye it believeoV This objects rC of J expence, laid Mr. W. is aJw ys bp ou ght to t w a rd w bene veir any iic w neafure is propofed, j however great and ufefpl may be the ends which it is calculated - to effea. Bu, however proper it may be (and certainly is, to calculate thA kexpenceof ny propofed : meafure ; yet it mat mealure is a nereflary and defirablc one, the i xpeAce f we aie able t meet if, ought to bfe met. ( It is laid that inltitutlont Ai thi kind can only be fupport cu where n r" muntu wiiiio .j tbjere are fvlanujaclurea to employ viuYiio uuu. xvir. w, m re ply to this objeftion, thought the in (lit ution would.be likely to in create our mamufacture mrtir..J iiany thole ot the moft Tim pie kind ; ffiince it is often found J thit men who go into the Penitentiary corn- 7.3 lis. from tii i., A.xl :-. J i i lUHiuujoiji inry . is cccjveq irtere. in New-York; th fhoe-tnakei s had found it neceU -f MrV to eater:;jnto a combination to1 purcrufe all the Am ;n k- ;! 9 lnitentiarv. to Dravmt fb r.U HP1dC beilS lowered. And it Uiqn an mftitution hA -v in ;J v !5f tc, V it is-brobabie tliat weifl fliould no longer find it ncceflaryiy nl",r"f,v noro oincr rtates 10 Utf a quantitv of thef 0, .- 3s we o prcfeot i for it is fact,1! he ritw tii. " . L . . . i v
The Weekly Raleigh Register (Raleigh, N.C.)
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Dec. 14, 1802, edition 1
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