a change of cell
the day i had completed the nine months of solitary confinement i entered upon a new stage, that of probation for nine months. i was taken from hall g to hall a. there were in woking seven halls, a, b, c, d, e, f, g, separated by two barred doors and a narrow passage. every hall has three wards. the female warder who accompanied me locked me in my cell. i looked around with a sense of intense relief. the cell was as large again as the one i had left. the floor was of wood instead of slate. it contained a camp bedstead on which was placed a so-called mattress, consisting of a sack the length of the bed, stuffed with coir, the fiber of the[77] coconut. there were also provided two coarse sheets, two blankets, and a red counterpane. in a corner were three iron shelves let in the wall one above the other. on the top shelf was folded a cape, and on top of this there was a small, coarse straw bonnet. the second shelf contained a tin cup, a tin plate, a wooden spoon, and a salt-cellar. the third shelf was given up to a slate, on which might be written complaints or requests to the governor; it is a punishable offense in prison to write with a pencil or on any paper not provided.
there was also a bible, a prayer-book and hymn-book, and a book from the library. near the door stood a log of wood upright, fastened to the floor, and this was the only seat in the cell. it was immovable, and so placed that the prisoner might always be in view of the warder. near it, let into the wall, was a piece of deal board, which answered for a table. through an almost opaque piece of square glass light glimmered from the hall, the only means of[78] lighting the cell at night; facing this, high up, was a barred window admitting light from the outside.
evils of the silent system
the routine of my daily life was the same as during “solitary confinement.” the cell door may be open, but its outer covering or gate is locked, and, although i knew there was a human creature separated from me only by a cell wall and another gate, not a whisper might i breathe. there is no rule of prison discipline so productive of trouble and disaster as the “silent system,” and the tyrannous and rigorous method with which it is enforced is the cause of two-thirds of all the misconduct and disturbance that occurs in prison. the silence rule gives supreme gratification to the tyrannous officer, for on the slightest pretext she can report a woman for talking—a turn of the head, a movement of the lips is enough of an excuse for[79] a report. and there is heavy punishment that can be inflicted for this offense, both in the male and female prisons. an offender may be consigned to solitary confinement, put for three days on bread and water, or suffer the loss of a week’s remission, which means a week added to her term of imprisonment—and all this for incautiously uttering a word.
unless it be specifically intended as a means of torture, the system of solitary confinement, even for four months, the term to which it has since been reduced, can meet only with condemnation. i am convinced that, within limits, the right of speech and the interchange of thought, at least for two hours daily, even during probation, would insure better discipline than perpetual silence, which can be enforced only by a complete suppression of nature, and must result in consequent weakness of mind and ruin of temper. during the first months of her sentence a prisoner is more frequently in trouble for breach of this one[80] rule than from all other causes. the reduction of the term of probation from nine to four months has been followed by a reduction in mental afflictions, which is proof that nothing wholesome or good can have its growth in unnatural solitude.
the silent system has a weakening effect upon the memory. a prisoner often finds difficulty in deciding upon the pronunciation of words which she has not heard for a considerable period. i often found myself, when desirous of using unusual words, especially in french or german, pronouncing them to myself in order to fix the pronunciation in my memory. it is well to bear in mind what a small number of words the prisoner has an opportunity of using in the monotony of prison life. the same inquiries are made day after day, and the same responses given. a vocabulary of one hundred words will include all that a prisoner habitually uses.
insanity and nervous breakdown of prisoners
no defender of the silent system pretends that it wholly succeeds in preventing speech among prisoners. but be that as it may, a period of four months’ solitary confinement in the case of a female, and six months’ in the case of a male, and especially of a girl or youth, is surely a crime against civilization and humanity. such a punishment is inexpressible torture to both mind and body. i speak from experience. the torture of continually enforced silence is known to produce insanity or nervous breakdown more than any other feature connected with prison discipline. since the passing of the act of 1898, mitigating this form of punishment, much good has been accomplished, as is proved by the diminution of insanity in prison life, the decreasing scale of prison punishment, and the lessening of the death-rate. by still further reducing this barbarous practise,[82] or, better, by abolishing it entirely, corresponding happy results may confidently be expected. the more the prisoners are placed under conditions and amid surroundings calculated to develop a better life, the greater is the hope that the system will prove curative; but so long as prisoners are subjected to conditions which have a hardening effect at the very beginning of their prison life, there is little chance of ultimate reformation.
need of separate confinement for the weak-minded
there are many women who hover about the borderland of insanity for months, possibly for years. they are recognized as weak-minded, and consequently they make capital out of their condition, and by the working of their distorted minds, and petty tempers, and unreasonable jealousy, add immeasurably not only to the ghastliness of the “house of sorrow,” but are a sad clog on the efforts to self-betterment of their[83] level-minded sisters in misery. of these many try hard to make the best of what has to be gone through. therefore, is it necessary, is it wise, is it right that such a state of things should be allowed? the weak-minded should be kept in a separate place, with their own officers to attend them. neither the weak-minded, the epileptic, nor the consumptives were isolated. there is great need of reform wherever this is the case. prisoners whose behavior is different from the normal should be separated from the other prisoners, and made to serve out their sentences under specially adapted conditions.
i read in the newspapers that insanity is on the increase; this fact is clearly reflected within the prison walls. it is stated that the insane form about three per thousand of the general population. in local english prisons insanity, it is said, even after deducting those who come in insane, is seven times more prevalent than among the general population.
reading an insufficient relaxation
the nervous crises do not now supervene so frequently as formerly in the case of prisoners of a brooding disposition, but the fact remains that, in spite of the slight amelioration, mental light is still excluded—that communion on which rests all human well-being. the vacuity of the solitary system, to some at least, is partially lighted by books. but what of those who can not read, or who have not sufficient concentration of mind to profit by reading as a relaxation? there are many such, in spite of the high standard of free education that prevails at the present day. the shock of the trial, and the uprooting of a woman’s domestic ties, coupled with the additional mental strain of having to start her prison career in solitary confinement, is surely neither humane, nor merciful, nor wise. these months of solitary confinement leave an ineffaceable mark. it is during the first lonely months that the seeds[85] of bitterness and hardness of heart are sown, and it requires more than a passive resistance—nay, nothing short of an unfaltering faith and trust in an overruling providence—to bring a prisoner safely through the ordeal. let the sympathetic reader try to realize what it means never to feel the touch of anything soft or warm, never to see anything that is attractive—nothing but stone above, around, and beneath. the deadly chill creeps into one’s bones; the bitter days of winter and the still bitterer nights were torture, for woking prison was not heated. my hands and feet were covered with chilblains.
my sufferings from cold and insomnia
oh, the horrors of insomnia! if one could only forget one’s sufferings in sleep! during all the fifteen years of my imprisonment, insomnia was (and, alas! is still) my constant companion. little wonder! i might fall asleep, when suddenly the[86] whole prison is awakened by shriek upon shriek, rending the stillness of the night. i am now, perforce, fully awake. into my ears go tearing all the shrill execrations and blasphemies, all the hideous uproars of an inferno, compounded of bangs, shrieks, and general demoniac ragings. the wild smashing of glass startles the halls. i lie in my darkened cell with palpitating heart. like a savage beast, the woman of turmoil has torn her clothing and bedding into shreds, and now she is destroying all she can lay hands on. the ward officers are rushing about in slippered feet, the bell rings summoning the warders, who are always needed when such outbursts occur, and the woman, probably in a strait-jacket, is borne to the penal cells. then stillness returns to the ghastly place, and with quivering nerves i may sleep—if i can.
medical attendance
but what if one is ill in the night? the lonely prisoner in her cell may summon aid by ringing the bell. the moment it is set in motion it causes a black iron slab to project from the outer wall of her cell in the gallery. on the slab is the prisoner’s number, and the ward officer, hearing the bell, at once looks for the cell from which the call has been sent. presently she finds it, then fetches the principal matron, and together they enter the hard, unhomelike place. if the prisoner is ill they call the doctor of the prison, and medicines and aid will be given. but sympathy is no part of their official duty, and be the warder never so tender in her own domestic circle, tenderness must not be shown toward a prisoner. the patient may be removed from her cell to the infirmary, where they will care for her medically, perhaps as well as they would in a hospital; she may even receive a few flowers from an infirmary[88] warder whose heart comes out from its official shell; but through it all, sick though she be, she is still a prisoner under lock and key, a woman under surveillance, a woman denied communion with her kind.
added sufferings of the delicately nurtured
what words can adequately describe the long years, blank and weary enough for all prisoners, but which are indescribably so to one who has been delicately nurtured! i had enjoyed the refinements of social life; i had pitied, and tried, as far as lay in my power, to help the poor and afflicted, but i had never known anything of the barbarism, the sordid vices of low life. and i was condemned to drag out existence amid such surroundings, because twelve ignorant men had taken upon themselves to decide a question which neither the incompetent judge nor the medical witnesses could themselves determine.
so far as i can learn, there is no other instance of a woman undoubtedly innocent and of gentle birth, confined for a term of nearly fifteen years in an english convict prison. in the nature of things a delicate woman feels more acutely than a robust prisoner the rigors of prolonged captivity.
neither confidence nor respect can be secured when punishment is excessive, for it then becomes an act of persecution, suitable only for ages of darkness. the supineness of parliament in not establishing a court of criminal appeal fastens a dark blot upon the judicature of england, and is inconsistent with the innate love of justice and fair play of its people.
how criminals and imbeciles are made
the law in prison is the same for the rich as the poor, the “star class” as for the ignorant, brutalized criminal. my register was “l. p. 29.” these letters and[90] numbers were worked in white cotton upon a piece of black cloth. your sentence is indicated thus: “l” stands for penal servitude for life; “p” for the year of conviction, which in my case was the sixteenth year since the previous lettering. this is done every twenty-five years. the “29” meant that i was the twenty-ninth convict of my year, 1889. in addition to this register i wore a red cloth star placed above it. the “star class,” of which i was a member, consisted of women who have been convicted of one crime only, committed in a moment of weakness or despair, or under pressure which they were not strong enough to resist at the time, such as infanticide, forgery, incendiarism; and who, having been educated and respectably brought up, betray otherwise no criminal instincts or inclinations; and who, when in the world, would be distinct in character from the habitual criminal, not only from a social point of view, but in their virtues, faults, and crimes.
there should be separate rules and privileges to meet the case of a prisoner guilty of moral lapses only, as distinguished from the habitual breaker of the laws. at present the former gets the same treatment and discipline as the habitual criminal of several convictions, and can not claim a single privilege that the old offender has not a right to ask—for example, members of both classes are limited to the same number of letters and visits. the “star class” is supposed to be kept separate from ordinary prisoners. it was so at woking prison. but at aylesbury prison, to which i was transferred later, they were sandwiched between two wards of habitual criminals, with whom they came continually in contact, not only in passing to and from the workshops, fetching meals, and going to exercise, but continuously. that contamination should ensue is hardly surprising. it requires a will of iron, and nearly the spirit of a saint, not to be corrupted by the sights and sounds of a prison, even when no word[92] is spoken. it is a serious accusation against any system to say “that it produces the thing it is designed to prevent,” but such, i am convinced, is the fact as regards the manufacture of criminals and imbeciles by the present system of penalism almost the world over.
