North Carolina Board of Public Charities. First Annual Report of the Board of Public Charities of North Carolina. February, 1870

First Annual Report of the Board
of Public Charities of North Carolina. February, 1870:
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North Carolina Board of Public Charities

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(title page) First Annual Report of the Board of Public Charities of North Carolina. February, 1870
(serial) Annual report of the Board of Public Charities of North Carolina
North Carolina Board of Public Charities
126 p.
RALEIGH:
PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE BOARD.
1870.

Call number C360 N87p 1870 (North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

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[Title Page Image]

FIRST ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
BOARD OF PUBLIC CHARITIES,
OF
NORTH CAROLINA.
FEBRUARY, 1870.

RALEIGH:
PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE BOARD.
1870.

Page 1

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA,
February 10th, 1870.

The Honorable, the General Assembly
of North Carolina:

The undersigned, members of the Board of Public Charities, have the honor to present this, their First Annual Report, for the consideration of the General Assembly. Several suggestions are made that may not be altogether unworthy of attention, and such information is appended as could be obtained by the Board, and which is

Respectfully submitted by

G. WM. WELKER, Pres.,

EUGENE GRISSOM,

G. W. BLACKNALL.

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FIRST ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
Board of Public Charities.

The Act defining the duties of "the Board of Public Charities" of North Carolina, makes it the duty of the Board to present an Annual Report to the General Asssembly, and that it be printed. This first Annual Report must, in the necessities of the case, be but a meagre one, as but little opportunity and no means were had to prosecute the purposes for which the Board was created. While the Act invests the Board with sufficient powers to perform the duties that are required of it, no means are provided with which to accomplish their work. Only that has been done which could be performed without means, and results only are presented that were reached incidentally.

POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE BOARD.

For the convenience of the General Assembly and the information of the reader, we present the Act as it may be found in the Public Laws of 1868 and 1869, Chap. 170:

AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A BOARD OF PUBLIC CHARITIES, AND
PRESCRIBING THE DUTIES THEREOF.

SECTION 1. The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact, That the General Assembly shall, immediately on the ratification of this act, proceed by concurrent vote to select five electors who shall be styled the Board of Public Charities of the State of North Carolina. One of the persons so elected shall hold office for one year; one for two years, one for three years; one for four years and one for five years, the term to begin the first of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine. Appointments to fill vacancies in this Board, caused by resignation

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of removal from the State, death, or from any other cause, may be made for the residue of such term by the Governor.

SEC. 2 The Board of Public Charities shall hold regular meetings on the first Tuesday in January, April, July, and October, and as often besides as they may deem needful. They shall make such rules and orders for the regulation of their own proceedings as they may deem proper; they shall investigate and supervise the whole system of the charitable and penal institutions of the State, and shall recommend such changes and additional provisions as they may deem needful for their economical and efficient administration, and no changes shall be made in the management of any of the institutions without the advice or consent of the Board. They shall receive no compensation for their services except their traveling expenses, which shall be allowed and paid.

SEC. 3. The general condition of the State as effected by crimes, vagrancy and pauperism, shall also come under the view of the Board, and it shall be their duty to report to the General Assembly when, in their judgment, it may become needful for the erection of the several reformatory institutions whose organization is provided for in article eleven of the Constitution.

SEC. 4. The Board shall give special attention to the causes of insanity, defect or loss of the several senses, idiocy, and the deformity and infirmity of physical organization. They shall, besides their own observation, avail themselves of correspondence and exchange of facts of the labors of others in these departments, and thus be able to afford the General Assembly data to guide them in future legislation for the amelioration of the condition of the people, as well as to contribute to enlighten public opinion and direct it to interests so vital to the prosperity of the State.

SEC. 5. Personal visits may be required by the Board, of one or more of its members, or otherwise, to make careful investigation into the condition of the several County jails and alms-houses, and the treatment of their unfortunate inmates, and report on these points, so that the provisions of section six, article eleven, of the Constitution may be enforced.

SEC. 6. Whenever the Board shall have reason to believe that any insane person, not incurable, is deprived of proper remedial treatment, and is confined in any alms-house or other place, whether such insane person is a public charge or otherwise, it shall be the duty of said Board to cause such insane person to be conveyed to the State Asylum, there to receive the best medical attention. So also, it shall be their care that all the unfortunates shall participate in the charities of the State.

SEC. 7. The Board may require the Superintendent, &c., of

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the several charitable and penal institutions of the State to report to them of any matter relating to its inmates, their manner of instruction and treatment, with structure of their buildings, and to furnish them any desired statistics at their command.

SEC. 8. The Board of Public Charities shall annually prepare and submit to the General Assembly a complete and full report of their doings during the preceding year, showing the actual condition of all the State institutions under their control, with such suggestions as they may deem necessary and pertinent, which they shall print.

SEC. 9. This Board shall make a special report to the General Assembly of eighteen hundred and seventy, on the cause of crimes, pauperism, &c.

SEC. 10. This act shall be in force from and after its ratification.

Ratified the 10th day of April, A. D. 1869.

At a meeting of the members of the Board appointed and named in this Act, held in the City of Raleigh, on the 20th day of May, 1869, the Rev. G. Wm. Welker was chosen President of the Board, and W. J. Palmer was elected Secretary. The term of the several members was fixed by lot, and that of G. W. Gahagan was for one year, that of G. W. Blacknall for two years, that of G. Wm. Welker for three years, that of Eugene Grissom for four years, and that of William Barrow for five years.

At this meeting steps were taken to obtain information respecting the condition of the Jails and Poor Houses of the State. See Report of Secretary.

July 6th, 1869. Circulars were ordered to be sent to the Chairmen of the Board of Commissioners of each County.

Dr. G. W. Blacknall was appointed to visit as many of the Poor Houses and Jails of the State as practicable and report on their condition. His report will be appended to the report of the Board.

December 13th, 1869. In compliance with a request of the General Assembly, it was provided for to obtain information in regard to suitable buildings for the Insane in different parts of the State. See report to General Assembly.

Also, a circular was sent to the Chairman of the Commissioners of each county to learn the number of Insane and Idiotic persons in the State not now in the Asylum. See Report of Secretary.

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It has already been stated that the Board had no means appropriated for the prosecution of their work and did not feel at liberty to ask any in the present condition of the State finances, although the benefits of a wise use of a limited amount of means would be of great service to the State. The Constitution declares "that the Board of Public Charities shall be entrusted with the supervision of all charitable and penal State Institutions." This is a work that challenges the use of all the time and energy of men of leisure. The members of the Board are all burdened with duties and labors that occupy their whole time and test all their energies. Much that has been done is owing to the earnest labors of the Secretary of the Board whose toil has no reward but the consciousness of doing good. The members of the Board should have leisure and means to gather facts in relation to the cause of crime, idiocy, insanity and pauperism from all parts of the State, so as to enable the General Assembly to adopt preventative legislation, in order to the decrease of these calamities, and to lessen the burdens of taxation. It is also of utmost moment that the treatment of prisoners in our penal institutions receive attention, in order that the convicts may be reformed, so that every year the number may grow less in proportion to population. An examination of the provisions of the Act providing for the appointment of the Board will show that that is no unimportant or light work committed to them by the State, and that these questions, on which they should place information before the General Assembly, are needful, in order that action be not taken without data--that has no reason for it but custom, and that may rather serve to increase the crime, misery and pauperism of the State than to lessen it.

THE PENAL AND CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS OF THE STATE.

The charities of our State have not been varied or lavish, and there is not much that we can present with laudation. Even to this day, no institution has been established in this State, whose object is the reformation of the vicious or the restoration of the fallen. It was not altogether the old institutions of the State that produced this indifference, and our

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purpose does not require us to demonstrate the real cause. The county jail, one of which was usually erected on the creation of a new county, was the completion of the necessary trio--the Court House, the whipping post and the jail. There was nothing in the structure or management of these prisons, and is not to this day, so far as the Board are aware, that indicates any serious attempt to improve the morals or intelligence of any of the numerous unhappy beings who have, for a time, been their tenants. Their inmates were not only secluded from the outer world, but from all its sympathies and interests. It was not felt by society that anything was proper to be attempted in their behalf, except in some cases, once or oftener, to lead them from the place of incarceration to the pillory, to be publicly whipped--not, so far as experience testifies, a very improving moral or intellectual discipline. In those receptacles of accused persons and criminals, persons of every age and grade of moral character were huddled together indiscriminately, and so are to this day, and perhaps, until recently, no regard was had to sex, and both were herded in the same cell. Whenever an unhappy being passed these prison gates all claim to decent regard or christian sympathy was left behind, and he who said, "when I was in prison ye visited me" could rarely have said so here, unless it was by relatives or special cases of interest or notoriety. Even the physical wants and comforts of these unfortunate beings were not cared for, and often they were made to suffer from brutal treatment and cruel neglect.

Even, very recently, in these cold and cheerless houses, without fire, their feet have been frozen by winter, and in these same ill-ventilated and unsheltered buildings, they swelter and almost perish from heat during the summer. Many of these prisons are filthy in the extreme, and offensive to every sense.

The County Alms-houses are also an institution of the olden time, and very properly called "Poor Houses." These are the receptacle of the infirm, aged and diseased who are destitute or cast off by unnatural or equally poor kindred, the orphan and the child of poverty, for whom beats no heart warm with the kindly emotions. Here is almost equal banishment

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from the presence of human love and care, as in the case of the prisons. The respectable, aged and infirm pauper is shut up with the worn out strumpet, whose very presence is pollution, and no care is had, in many cases, for the innocence of childhood. Perhaps, at rare intervals, a sermon is preached at the "Poor House," but no provision is made for teaching the children gathered there, or the religious instruction of any of its inmates. The State appears satisfied with the knowledge that there is a Poor House--that there is an annual tax imposed upon the citizens which is in some manner supposed to advantage the poor. No enlightened, christian concern is felt for the welfare and comfort of these forlorn creatures, or for the education and training of the neglected children of want, who know nothing of the blessedness of parental affection. Something more is surely demanded of a christian State than what is now done in these institutions to prevent and punish crime, and to provide for the infirm and poor properly. The whole system, or rather want of system, that seems to have grown up by accident and without any benevolent concern for the welfare of the pauper classes, or the reformation of the erring or vicious, needs patient and thorough revision. No better direction could be given to public sympathy than to point it to this field of action; or to the efforts of enlightened patriotism or intelligent statesmanship, than that the legislation originating these institutions have a higher moral value, and that the character and interests, both of the State and society, be considered, in all that respects these houses, for the vicious and unfortunate; that the principle and actions of Him who was the friend of the erring and poor be brought into requisition, and their efficiency tried in the cure of great moral and social evils that are the problem of the present age.

It is with pleasure that we now turn to those two Institutions--the pride of North Carolina--the Institution for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind and the Asylum for the Insane.

The education of the Deaf and Dumb received attention in this State as early as 1828. On January 8th, 1845, a bill was passed making an appropriation for this purpose, and to levy a tax of $75 on a county for each pupil that was sent to the Institution.

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In January, 1847, an Act was passed appropriating money for the erection of suitable buildings for said Institution. They were completed in 1849, and occupied in January of that year for its benevolent purpose. It has been growing in usefulness and importance to the State ever since. It only asks from the people of the State the confidence it has hitherto received, and that they cherish it as its purpose demands. The department for the Blind was organized in connection with this Institution in 1851, and now light finds its way into their mind, and life is made tolerable and even pleasant to them also. Since the close of the war a department--the first instance in the South--has been organized for the colored youth, where they enjoy every advantage that the most favored in their condition can enjoy.

The Asylum for the Insane had its origin in the wise and earnest philanthropy of Miss Dix, who visited the State in the winter of 1848 and '49, and was successful in enlisting the General Assembly in behalf of the unfortunate insane, so that an appropriation of $80,000 was made for an Asylum. In February, 1856, it was sufficiently completed to receive patients, and from that day to this hundreds have enjoyed its advantages.

So firm is the hold of this Institution on the public heart--so widely spread over the State are its blessings--that even a demagogue need not be afraid to levy taxes on the people for its support. It cannot fail to elevate the mind and enlarge the heart of any one to pass through its wards and see what the charity of a christian State can do to redeem its unfortunate children from the greatest of calamities.

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE.

This instrument was planned with a purpose to place our noble old State among the foremost of all her sisters in the charities that redeem and alleviate the condition of her unfortunate or vicious classes. The several provisions thereof that relate to the duties of the State toward the suffering and criminal are clearly an advance on the past of her history and policy. It proceeds to require certain action that necessitates the assumption that all the unfortunate are alike the children of the State--that all such shall be cared for at the

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expense of the State, and thus with prudent forecast relieving the minds and hearts of the poor from the distress occasioned by their designation as paupers. All ranks and classes meet now in the halls of our great public charities on a complete equality. It were not possible more deliberately to do away with all distinction in their treatment by the State of all those who claim a part in her enlightened sympathies. Not only this, but such provision is equally just. It grants to all who need it the benefit of a bounty secured by the taxation of all property. Each feels that what he bestows upon others, they, in like manner, may bestow on him and his.

But few of the States of the Union have as yet completed their system of Institutions for the restraint of the vicious, the reformation of the fallen, the punishment of the guilty and the comfort and welfare of the unfortunate. The Constitution of North Carolina has marked out for the General Assembly a course that even now presses for completion, and only the inability of the people to meet the demand for the means, can excuse it for neglect or delay. Every country almost has its idle and vagrant population. Every city and community has its neglected children, and uncontrolled youth, whose very neglect is training them for crime, and who are soon to be a burden to the State and the violators of its laws. To prevent such a result, to turn their elements of power for good or evil, so as to neutralize their harm or convert them into engines of moral power in the State for its well-being, is both policy and economy.

Under this view it is that the Constitution makes provision for the erection in the future of Houses of Correction for the vagrant, and Houses of Refuge for those who are the waifs of society. It is of the utmost moment that these intractable elements of a people's power be utilized for their advantage, growth and glory; for, if neglected, as certain as necessity, they will prove the peril and ruin of society. It is intended that to the orphans,--and they are counted by thousands,--the sad fruit of the late war, many of them, the State shall before God aud society, be to them as parents!that they have afforded them every facility, every care to become by education and by habits of business, fitted for the positions awaiting

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them in this great Republic, and for the duties and responsibilities of lite in enlightened society. They are in part, the hope of the State, and it is eminently important that they be not blasted by neglect and want. They will become her ornaments or her shame. It depends essentially on the manner in which the State may discharge her duties towards them whether they will cause her to rejoice over them, or to weep over their ruin. Such was the thought embodied in the Constitution. One of the saddest sights that is revealed by the light of the sun as in his march he looks down on our revolving darkened earth, or that makes the philanthropist shudder in discouragement, is the sight of intellectual imbecility and the demented victim of strong drink. They exist as dark figures on the back ground of every picture of the prosperity or happiness of the State. These too are taken into account. Enlightened, christian civilization, philanthropic statesmanship must ask what shall be done with them? Shall the finest intellects, the most genial spirits of our State, bound by the infrangible fetters of habit, be doomed to perish in a drunkard's grave and the State have no care for them? Such has been the conduct of our State in the past of our history, and thousands now fill untimely graves who well might have said: "No man careth for my soul." Until this day no Legislator has had the moral courage, urged to a noble deed by the appeals of widows and orphans, to raise his voice to ask of the State for these victims of untold horrors, these splendid bondsmen of sin, that a cure be provided for them by the suffering State as is provided by the Constitution that it may be done. It even declares that it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to put forth the hands of the State for these, often her valuable and brilliant children, and rescue them from impending ruin and shame by devising means for their restoration. Other States already are engaged in this great work of pity--New York, Massachusetts, et. al. have made provision for the rescue of their imperiled children. Shall then these provisions of our Constitution only mark the neglect of this duty, or its own advance beyond the progress of the spirit of the people as seen in the General Assembly.

In how many households of this State are there grinning

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gibbering skeletons in the shape of an idiotic or mentally imbecile member. It has been taken for granted that a life so desolate, scarcely a remove from the brute, could have no alleviation of its intensely dreary sadness. Our eminent statesmen have ridiculed the idea that one ray of truth, light or love could be made to irradiate that chaotic and darkened understanding. Christian love and natural affection alike, appear to have been paralyzed before the wrecked or misformed mind that was thrown upon its care. Thousands have been, many are even now, cast into that common receptacle, the County Poor House, where amid filth and neglect they do not live but only languish out the burden of an existence that is scarcely more than physical, or they are consigned to an Asylum for the Insane where no special provision is made for them; or still oftener, they are the constant, living, moving sorrow of the family that knows no means to alleviate its own great grief, and cannot command, or even does not hope or know that a cheerful beam of gleaming intelligence might perhaps be made to flit over that face, or that in the evidences of care, modesty and cleanliness, there were proofs of awakened intelligence and of glimmering consciousness. Our Constitution deemed it possible to do what private means could not accomplish--devise means to train or educate to some degree all that is human and capable of being taught to imitate in such a creature and that could be called forth by painstaking effort. It is the proof of faith in the power of christian love and patient, sacrificing labor--labor that while we write has its reward in the traces of light and affection that flit over the faces of those unhappy beings on whom rest so great an affliction in the Institution at South Boston, Syracuse, Media and other places. If aught can be done to shed one ray of hope or joy on the dreary pathway of such, let it be done--let the sceptic deride and scoff, let the inert and unloving yawn, but do not let the guardian of the poor and helpless--the State--be indifferent. If he is a benefactor who makes two blades of grass to grow where but one grew before, how much more so is the State that enlarges the power to enjoy life, and that recovers and redeems the victim of vicious appetite and those of feeble minds.

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No greater proof can be given of the indifference to the welfare and character of the criminal and pauper population than the wretched hovels that are made to answer the purpose of Alms Houses, and the horrid places called jails, where every sense is offended. The Constitution of the State proposes to remove these blemishes from her character by requiring the General Assembly to secure to the prisoners the means of breathing pure air, the denial of which is not supposed to be implied in any judicial sentence to imprisonment. It also requires that the mingling of the sexes shall not be allowed.

That the Institutions of the State--penal, reformatory and charitable--may not become centres of idleness and vice, that the primal law which imposes labor on all should not there fall entirely into desuetude, the Constitution also provides. It guards the people against reckless, lavish expenditure while it demands that labor shall be imposed upon all that enjoy the benefactions of the State, and that they contribute all that is in their power to their own support. This is a provision that wise charity insists upon and such as the people approve and commend to the Legislators of the State, and which the Board also fully approve and believe alone to be consistent with the best interest of all those who are interested in these great duties of the State.

THE IDEA IN PENAL INSTITUTIONS.

A very marked change has been made manifest in the prevailing idea giving character to penal institutions since the day when Howard sacrificed his life in attempting the reformation of such institutions, or the calm, sweet voice of Mrs. Fry was heard in the cells of the vicious and abandoned in those receptacles for criminals in England. It is no longer simply to punish--no longer to vindicate the majesty and severity of the law alone, but the idea is justly set forth as it respects those of civilized lands where the gospel of "good will to man" holds the sway in the words of our fundamental law--"that it is not only to satisfy justice, but also to reform the offender." So fully is this in harmony with the spirit of the age that in the statute books of nearly every State in the Union there may be found the declaration of this as the purpose of their prison restraint. This idea was entertained and

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embodied in the laws of some States soon after the war of 1776 gave the people time to perfect their own free institutions. The Commissioners of the New York Prison Association, in their report of 1866, give very full information as it respects the prevalence of this view. The uniform answer they received to the question "What do you conceive to be the primary object of prison discipline?" from the warden, inspectors, etc., of prison, was: "The reformation of the imprisoned." As this State is now for the first time in her history about to erect a penitentiary, it may not be amiss to invite the attention of those having its conduct and the charge of the convicts, to this most interesting and important question. It is well known that in 1846, when the question of "a Penitentiary" or "no Penitentiary," was submitted to the direct decision of the electors of the State, the project was voted down by the most decided majority--not one county, if we remember correctly, casting a majority of votes in its favor. No effort has since been made to accomplish so important a work, although many persons in all parts of the State favored the erection of such an institution. It was deemed a hopeless effort, and no man was willing to sacrifice his personal popularity in its championship. It was only in the reconstruction of the organic law, after the close of the recent war, that provision could be made, under greatly altered circumstances, in the new Constitution, for such an institution. Even at this late day there is a strong minority in the State who still believe in "the whipping post," and who esteem it as the very ideal of the expression of insulted justice. With such, penal inflictions have no end but to avenge wrong and deter from crime. The reformation of the criminal--the restoration of a man to society and the State as a virtuous human being and a valuable citizen, is no part of their object, and to reform does not claim their attention as feasible or desirable. Doubtless, time with its observations and experiments, will serve to change such views--with increase of light and the wider prevalence of the spirit of Him who said : "I was in prison, and ye came unto me," will secure friends to the guilty and fallen, in such persons. While it is no purpose of this report to propose any system of prison conduct or agency of reformation,

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it may be pardonable to insist on the fact that the reformation of the convict is possible, and use this possibility as a motive to induce the adoption of every means warranted by experience, enlightened reason and christian charity, to compass an end so very desirable. It is to be hoped that the exploded notions of the hopelessness of the reformation of the convict population will never find a place in the plan or views controlling the State Prison. The result under this view, of perhaps the best conducted American Penitentiary--that of Massachusetts, in the testimony of the Warden, Mr. Haynes, is that 80 per cent. or four-fifths of all the convicts can be redeemed. All those who are conversant with the history of our States' prisons in recent years, hold that much the larger proportion of them can be reformed and restored to society as honest men. Capt. Machonochie, who, "in an incredibly short space of time transformed the community of thieves and ruffians, brutalized and sunk to the lowest depths of vice and crime, in the penal colony of Norfolk Island, into a society of peaceful, obedient and well-behaved men." This man says "that convicts can be gained to a man by a system which would study their natural feelings and seek their own improvement, together with that of their country in their treatment." This may seem extravagant, and perhaps not soon or easily realized, yet the uncommon success of this remarkable man gave him full warrant to believe as he held on this subject. Unquestionably it demands and allows that the attempt be made in every prison to reform every convict placed in charge of its officers. No greater service could be done a State than this, and it opens a path of noble endeavor to every benevolent and christian man. No doubt there is yet much to do before the most perfect system of prison discipline is adopted. Much to be learned of the most successful mode of reaching the criminals and leading them to abandon their habits of vice, and to adopt a virtuous and honest life. No effort certainly will prove vain, and no labor will remain unrewarded. The Statesmen and Philanthropists of our day have had done for them a grand work by those who have gone before them, and it remains for them to follow and surpass.

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THE MEN TO SUPERINTEND.

With the question of convict reformation is closely allied that of the character and fitness of those to whom is entrusted this important service for the State. This will be deemed very delicate ground to traverse, and must require very judicious advances. Were we to say just in one sentence, what lies clear in our mind, it would be that no other position requires such an assemblage of rare and varied qualifications as those that fit men to treat properly and successfully the unfortunate and criminal classes. No such talents are required in those that command armies or govern States as in those who govern and manage these unhappy beings whom the State assembles in an Asylum or confines in a prison. This subject has already claimed the attention of those who are most interested in the welfare of these classes of human beings, and the success of many Institutions is greatly impaired and serious harm done to the inmates as well as the State, by having improper men placed over them. When an examination shows the utter failure, in many cases, of our County Almshouses to meet the demands of enlightened charity, and our County jails as receptacles of criminals, where only vice is engendered, it usually follows, on inquiry, that the unfitness of the presiding officer is at fault for the system, for even a bad one should work better results. Often the incumbents of place are the results of a false economy or a reward for partizan services. There is no doubt but these things are the cause for most abuses that are found to exist in any of these institutions. It is poor economy, worse policy, and still worse rule of action, to prefer a man to any position where the happiness or reformation of a human being is concerned only because his services do not cost much. In the end it is great expenditure without adequate result, and great wrong done to the wards of the State. It is with a view to reach a correction of these evils that the Board have proposed to themselves the work of collecting correct and ample information, as it respects the condition and management of all the Alms Houses and jails in the several counties of the State. So far only a portion of the work is accomplished, yet the result is not by any means satisfactory, and will be found in the Report of

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the Secretary, appended to this Report. When, also, the most important positions are the reward of services done for a political party, and subject to the short rotations caused by frequent changes. There is inaugurated a system, the consequences of which can only be disastrous to such Institutions. The changes in political dynasties being so frequent there is not time to become even interested and acquainted with the duties of the office or to mature and frame, much less elaborate practical improvements. The progress and elevation of prison conduct can only be the result of patient trial, and requires that the officers of these Institutions, when found to be capable and efficient, to be permanent. In order to obtain a faithful and efficient corps of officials at any Institution of the State, care should be had, first of all, to capacity and fidelity. Removals should be promptly made for the want of these qualities--the result will be to sift out all incompetent and unworthy men--to retain the valuable without respect to political affiliation, and thus, getting the right men in the right places, it will secure an efficient and successful administration. Rotation in the offices of State Institutions, both charitable and penal, with the successive displacement, at very short periods, by party ascendancy, has been the bane of such Institutions in other States. This is the uniform testimony that is given in all cases, and a tender concern for the welfare and prosperity of those institutions about to be manned, should lead their friends, in whose discretion is placed the power of appointment, to demand fitness and honesty as absolutely essential to the designation to any office. It is proper that all Institutions of this character should be exempted from that rule of party that declares "to the victors belong the spoils." The people should teach the victors in party contests that here is a domain of the State--a world outside partizan contests, where holy duties to the unfortunate and fallen find exercise, and where this rule has no fitness of application, and where they are not allowed to intrude, in order to receive reward for service done and earned in an entirely different sphere, and in a spirit alien to the work here to be done. In the Asylums for the unfortunate and innocent wards of the State it is eminently fitting that only men of exalted moral character should be

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placed. It is revolting to every virtuous mind to have placed over the charities of the State men whose conduct fills every pure heart with loathing. Can such men, with propriety, manage and oversee the innocent children of the State? Can they represent the spirit of christian charity that seeks to bless and make happy those on whom rests the hard lot to be bereft of any sense? Equally so is it important that such men should not be set over the vicious and fallen. Such patrons would lead to confusion and degradation--make the vicious to hate the State--would lead them to despise counsel and confirm them in vice and crime rather than reform and save. The men who represent the enlightened benevolence of the State should be patterns of virtue--examples to those whose guardians they are. Aside from this crowning qualification in those who have rule in such Institutions, many other qualifications of mind and heart, of experience and peculiar habit, are needful, and make a rare union of gifts in those who shall be the immediate overseers of such Institutions. The Board will be suffered, to recommend these things to the powers that may exist, to fill these offices or to create and define the duties of such officers.

DURATION OF SENTENCES.

It may not be improper to call the attention of the General Assembly and the Judiciary of the State, to the matter of the duration of sentence to imprisonment in the jails and Penitentiary. First: To the inefficiency of punishment in the Penitentiary when sentences are very short. In cases where the sentence is only for a month or two the punishment is hardly appreciable by the convict, and no beneficial effects are secured by it. They cannot in such time be brought under any moral restraints. It is not of sufficient duration to teach them a trade or even to read, and they will pass out only that they may again depradate upon society--that they may, at the cost of the people, be convicted anew. In all the cases where the offence is not such as to justify a term of at least six months or perhaps rather a year, and where fines cannot be collected or are not adequate, it were better for the State and better for the criminal to sentence him to the county jail, but we would commend the entire question to those

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whom it concerns directly. It is a question whether any sentence short of one year is any punishment at all aside from the disgrace--which only serves to degrade. It is very probable that this term is the shortest that affords room for the hope to realize any of the reformatory effects resulting from enlightened prison discipline so that the convict may return a better man and qualified to earn an honest livelihood, and fitted for the duties of a citizen.

Secondly: The Inequality of Sentences. The Board are aware how very difficult this matter must be in its adjustment. Yet it is possible that legislation may improve on the present want of system or uniformity. In most cases of crime a large margin is allowed for time to which the sentence may extend, ranging from one to thirty years. It is very true that cases of the same crime may be more or less aggravated and that the Judges may have the very best reason for the disparity of sentence. But in cases of the first conviction there is excited a feeling prejudicial to the prisoner's reformation when he learns that another man from an adjoining county for the same crime as his, for which he is sentenced thirty years, has only one year to serve in the Penitentiary. He cannot see that it is just. His own innate sense of fairness is aroused against the authority of the State, and it becomes difficult to overcome his sullen sense of wrong done to him. He becomes a source of trouble in the prison which he would not be did he feel that he was dealt with as all are that were guilty alike with himself. His State and her institutions, society and its benefits, lose their value and attraction to such a man and his reformation may be regarded as hopeless. Our attention is called to this question on looking over the several terms to which convicts are sentenced for the same crime to our infant Penitentiary, viz: Arson, five years; stealing four pieces of meat, five years; felonious slaying, three years; a child 15 years old, stealing a suit of cast off clothes, one year; attempt at rape, five years; stealing $15, four years; a case of burglary, thirty years; another, one year; robbery, ten years; another case, one and one-half years; manslaughter, five years; assault and battery; two years; rape, five years; stealing, four years. Should our legislation be as near equitable as possible, yet

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perhaps, it still may be proper for the Judiciary of the State to reach some common rule to guide them in fixing the term of their sentence for the various crimes known to our law. If any existing defect in the penalties attached to certain crimes by our laws can be remedied, there is a guarantee in the position and character of the Judiciary that they will unite with those who have the oversight of our penal institutions in the great effort to reform the criminal, and that they will not willingly increase the obstacles that lie in the way. It is desirable that the legislation of our State and the conduct of our penal institutions shall become so related by and by that the sentences of criminals instead of being arbitrary as to time, will be made to depend alone on the evidences of such reformation as will prove it safe to return the criminal to society. The day that places our prisons in the hands of wise, good and experienced men, will also make it safe for the General Assembly and the Judiciary to commit all criminals into their custody only to be set at liberty when punishment has effected its main purpose, and when a recommital would be feared as the most dire calamity.

PARDONS.

The Constitution of the State commits to the Governor the power to pardon those sentenced to death or imprisonment. It is proper that this power should be lodged somewhere, under existing modes of treating criminals. We have no purpose to arraign the wisdom of this provision, or to find fault with any pardon bestowed, but only to speak of the great difficulties that surround most of the cases where pardon is sought--the effect on prison discipline and on the prisoner's reformation. The short experience of this State in prison discipline does not afford many data, but it is evident that a hope of pardon is entertained generally among the convicts, and it so occupies their thoughts that it interferes with their duties and makes the reformation a deferred matter. It is a very questionable kindness on the part of friends to assure them that efforts will be made to obtain their pardon. It is yet more improper for prison officials to hold out to them any hope of this kind. Whatever is done for them should be done without their knowledge. The very life power of punishment

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for crime, as a reformatory agency, is its certainty. The possession of the power subjects the Chief Executive of the State to great annoyance and unnecessary importunity, yet it is only seldom that it can be used with benefit to the prisoner or the country. In cases of atrocious crime no pardon should be extended, and in no case unless the Warden of the Penitentiary can commend the criminal for such act of clemency. In cases of capital conviction the power to commute the sentence to imprisonment is one less dangerous in its exercise, as it only substitutes one form of punishment for another, but, perhaps, even the effect of this is unfavorable to the repression of crime. Let there be no uncertainty as to the consequences of crime. Let the penalty of the law be just and equal, and then inflicted with unfailing certainty. This is a matter to be viewed simply, we judge, in the light of its effect on crime, and the life and reformation of the guilty ones.

STATISTICS.

The attention of the General Assembly is also directed to the fact that at present no provision is made by which the statistics of the county prisons and Alms-houses are required to be collected and returned to any officer of the State, or to this Board. Such legislation as will not only require to be reported the number of the inmates of such Institutions, but also the place of their nativity, their color, their occupation, previous condition, their degree of education, their moral training, their habits, the character of their parents, whether brought up in the country or in cities or villages, with all other information that will enable an approach to be made at some conclusion relative to the causes of crime and pauperism in the State.

THE DEAF AND DUMB AND THE BLIND INSTITUTION.

This institution needs only to be visited to learn at once that its present location is not a fitting one--not only is it too small to afford room for all those who are by the Constitution entitled to its benefits, but surrounded, as it is, by other buildings, and having only a few acres of ground, it affords no adequate play-ground for the many active children collected there, who need daily exercise not only for enjoyment but for the preservation of their health. The suggestion of the

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Principal, made in his last Annual Report, that a location be found in the environs of the City of Raleigh, is very proper. While it should contain not less than fifty acres, it should be a dry, airy and elevated site, where perfect sewerage could be had--that part of the grounds should be devoted to gardening, where the vegetables and small fruits needful for the Institution might be cultivated by the larger boys, and afford them healthful employment a few hours every day. The grounds surrounding the building could be laid off and ornamented, so as to add attractiveness to the place. This being done, the present building could be devoted to the Blind, whose misfortune does not permit them the pleasure of a play-ground, or to labor in the field and garden.

THE INSANE ASYLUM.

This noble charity also fails to meet the demands made for admission, and to-day several hundreds are unprovided for, with the care that it was contemplated they should have. The accommodation should be largely increased. This demand has been recognized by the General Assembly in their action requiring this Board to give information of suitable buildings for this purpose, in several sections of the State. It may not be improper to repeat a suggestion already made, that in point of economy, it would not be advisable to provide such temporary institutions, and that the successful treatment of insane patients, in the judgment of those competent to decide, is best secured when the several classes of patients are under the same roof and the same management. The Board would suggest that, as the present Asylum building is so constructed as to admit of its enlargement; and as a larger number of patients can be managed and cared for, without greatly increasing the present corps of officials, immediate and effective steps be taken to enlarge the present buildings, so as to accommodate 450 or 500 patients. The economy of the measure demands its adoption, and the claims of those waiting and suffering press it eloquently.

THE PENITENTIARY.

This great work undertaken by the General Assembly is worthy of the confidence and support of the people. Should

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its great purpose be realized it will add to the character of the State abroad, and will become one of the finest institutions of the kind in the United States. There will be needed the prompt and liberal appropriation of large sums of money. There should be no delay in the prosecution of this work to its completion. Economy demands that there be no hinderance interposed by any cause. It is important that all the convicts be assigned to profitable labor as speedily as possible, thus reducing the annual expenses to the people. There is also a large amount of very important legislation required by the establishment of a State's prison that the necessities of the case and the experience of similar institutions will make manifest. Early attention should be given to this matter so that no contingency can occur that will create difficulty in its conduct.

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SECRETARY'S REPORT.

OFFICE OF THE BOARD OF PUBLIC CHARITIES OF N. C.,
RALEIGH, February 10th, 1870.

To Rev. G. W. Welker, President Board of Public Charities of N. C., Raleigh:

SIR:--I beg leave to present the following report containing such information as I have obtained in relation to the Penal and Charitable Institutions of North Carolina, from the time of the organization of the Board of Public Charities, May 20th, 1869, to February 10th, 1870.

In accordance with a resolution of the Board, passed at a meeting held July 6th, 1869, I addressed the following circular to the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners in each county in the State:

OFFICER BOARD OF PUBLIC CHARITIES,
RALEIGH, N. C., July 7th, 1869.

SIR:--The undersigned, having been elected and organized under an act of the General Assembly, entitled "An act providing for a Board of Public Charities, and prescribing the duties thereof," ratified April 10, 1869, beg leave to request that you will cause full and accurate answers to the subjoined questions to be made and returned to this offiec, directed to W. J. Palmer, Esq., Secretary, with as little delay as possible.

Very respectfully,

G. W. WELKER, President.

WM. BARROW,

EUGENE GRISSOM,

G. W. BLACKNALL,

G. W. GAHAGAN.

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PRISON.

QUESTIONS.

1. Of what material is your County Prison built?

2. Is it fire proof?

3. What means are there for extinguishing fires?

4. What is the size of the building?

5. How many stories high, and how many rooms and cells for prisoners?

6. State the size of the rooms and cells.

7. What size are the windows in the rooms and cells, and how many in each?

8. Are the windows closed, or in any way obstructed? If so, why?

9. Are there any means of ventilation except by the windows?

10. What are the arrangements for heating the building in Winter?

11. Are the prisoners subject to much suffering in cold weather?

12. What amount of bedding and covering is allowed and furnished each prisoner?

13. How many prisoners now in confinement?

14. What part of the prison is occupied by the male and what part by the female prisoners?

15. How often is cool drinking water furnished them during the day?

16. What is the daily allowance of food to each prisoner?

17. Has any punishment been inflicted upon any prisoner since confinement? If so, who? By whom? What punishment? For what offence?

18. What means are used to preserve the cleanliness of the jails? What disposition is made of the excrement?

19. Give the name, age, sex, color, offence or crime, date of imprisonment and term of confinement of each prisoner.

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POOR HOUSE.

QUESTIONS.

1. Is there a poor house in your County? If not, what provision has been made for taking care of the poor?

2. How far is the poor house from the County seat?

3. State the number of buildings, size of each, and of what material built.

4. How many rooms in each building?

5. How are the buildings and rooms ventilated?

6. What are the means of protection against fire?

7. How is the supply of water furnished for drinking, cooking and bathing purposes?

8. How are the buildings heated in winter?

9. How many inmates can be accommodated with the present arrangement?

10. How many now in charge?

11. How many of these are able to work?

12. How many are helpless or bed-ridden?

13. How many are under involuntary confinement?

14. Give the names of all such, and the cause of confinement either here or on a separate list.

15. What is the daily average of food allowed to each inmate?

16. What is the average weekly cost of maintenance of each?

17. What is the name of the keeper or overseer of the poor house?

18. Is he industrious, sober and discreet?

19. What pay does he receive?

20. What is the name of the physician who attends the inmates?

21. How far does he reside from the poor house?

22. What pay does he receive for his services?

23. How many inmates were there in poor house July 1st, 1868?

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24. How many admitted since that time?

25. How many deaths since that time, and of what diseases did they die?

26. How many discharges from other causes?

27. Give a general description of the premises. Are they well arranged, neat and in good condition, or dilapidated and out of repair?

28. How many acres of land belong to poor house tract, and what is the quality of the land?

29. How much is in cultivation?

30. What crops are raised on the land, and how are the products used?

31. What vegetables are raised for Summer and Winter use?

32. Are the houses and yard protected by shade trees?

33. Are the ashes and manures saved and used in improving the land?

34. Has any punishment been inflicted upon any inmate since admission? If so, who? By whom? What punishment? And for what offence?

In response to this circular, I received returns from seventy-one counties. The following counties have sent in no report up to this time:

Aleghany, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Carteret, Columbus, Currituck, Edgecombe, Harnett, Hertford, Jackson, Johnston, Jones, Macon, Madison, Mitchell, Orange, Rutherford, and Stokes.

The information contained in the returns received, is embodied in the papers appended to this report, as follows:

I. General report of the condition of the Prisons and Poor Houses in the State.

II. Tabular Statement, showing the number, condition, &c., of the inmates of Poor Houses.

III. Tabular Statement showing the number of Prisoners confined in the county Prisons.

IV. General Statement showing the ages of Prisoners.

V. General Statement showing the crimes and causes of confinement.

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At a meeting of the Board, held July 6th, 1869, Dr. G.W. Blacknall was appointed a Special Agent of the Board to visit as many penal and charitable institutions as was practicable, and report to the Board with such recommendations as he deemed necessary. He made an interesting report which you will find appended to this report, No. VI.

You will also find appended to my report, the following papers:

VII. Report of Penitentiary.

VII. List of officers N. C. Asylum for the Insane.

IX. List of officers N. C. Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind.

The expenses of the Board have been up to this time, as follows:

For Postage, $ 8 50

For Printing, 12 50

The stationery used has been furnished by the Secretary of State.

On the 1st of November, I addressed a circular to the Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners of each county in the State, requesting them to report to this Board the number of Insane and Idiotic persons in Prisons, Poor Houses and private families in their respective counties. The returns received so far, you will find appended to this report, marked No. X.

It will also become my duty during the coming year, in accordance with a resolution of the Board, adopted September 16th, 1869, to address the Annual Convocations of the different religious denominations in the State, asking them to urge upon the ministers the duty of visiting the criminals and paupers in their respective counties, to look after their spiritual interests. I shall perform this duty cheerfully, feeling the spirit of the resolution will meet with a hearty response from the Ministers of the Gospel in the State, of all denominations.

After learning the onerous and responsible duties which would devolve upon me, I accepted the position of Secretary of your Board with some hesitancy; fearing that the varied cares and duties incident to the office I hold as Principal of

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the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind would prevent me from devoting as much attention to this important work as would be necessary.

I have done the best I could under the circumstances, and if the facts developed will awaken an increased interest among our people in providing for properly taking care of the afflicted, the poor and the criminals, I shall feel that I have been amply repaid.

In conclusion, permit me to express the hope, that during the coming year, steps may be taken in connection with the census returns to ascertain the number of afflicted in our State, so that in the language of the Law, defining the duties of the Board of Public Charities, you may "be able to afford the General Assembly data to guide them in future legislation for the amelioration of the condition of the people, as well as to contribute to enlighten public opinion and direct it to interests so vital to the prosperity of the State."

Respectfully submitted,

W. J. PALMER,
Secretary.

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NO. I.
GENERAL REPORT OF THE CONDITION OF THE
PRISONS AND POOR HOUSES OF THE STATE.

ALAMANCE COUNTY.

PRISON.

Is built of wood and iron, and is 36 × 42 feet. It is two stories high and has 5 rooms and cells 16 × 18 feet. Two windows in each room 2 × 3 feet. No arrangement for heating in winter, and "it may be possible and probable" that the prisoners suffer from cold, 2 blankets allowed each prisoner. Males and females are confined separate. Fresh drinking water furnished twice a day. One pound of flesh and one pound of bread is the daily allowance of each. The excrement is carried off in vessels.

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BRUNSWICK COUNTY.

POOR HOUSE.

No Poor-house, but paupers are assisted by the county.

PRISON.

Is built of wood and is 35 × 25 feet. It is 2½ stories high and has 4 rooms for prisoners, three of which are 10×25 feet, the other, the full size of the building. The windows are 14 inches square and there are three in each room. Only one of the rooms is heated during the winter, though very little complaint has been made of the cold. Each prisoner is allowed two blankets. No female prisoners. Fresh drinking water is furnished twice per day and oftener. One pound of meat and one pound of bread is the daily allowance of food. All available means are used to preserve the clean-liness of the prison. The excrement is buried in the jail yard.

BURKE COUNTY.

POOR HOUSE.

Located four miles from the County seat. One building 50 × 18 feet built of wooden logs, partition in centre, three rooms in each end. A supply of water is procured from a spring about 40 yards from the house. The building is heated by fire places. As much of ordinary food as is usually used is allowed to the inmates. $1 90 is the average weekly cost of maintenance of each inmate. The building is in a very dilapidated condition. One hundred acres of poor land belong to the poor-house tract, of which twenty are in cultivation. Wheat, oats, corn and the usual garden vegetables are raised. Peas, beans, corn, potatoes and cabbage, are raised for winter consumption. The ashes and manure are used in improving the lands. Mr. H. Calvin Snipes is the overseer, and his salary is seventy three dollars per anuum. Christopher Happold, M. D., is Physician. He gets no pay for his services.

PRISON.

No report.

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CAMDEN COUNTY.

PRISON.

The prison is built of brick and timber, and is in size thirty by twenty feet. It has two stories and two prison rooms. The size of the rooms is about twelve by eighteen feet; two windows in each room--very small, without glass. No arrangement for heating in winter, except chimney of fire-place in adjacent room, and the prisoners are subjected to much suffering from cold. The excrement is carried out by jailor.

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CLEVELAND COUNTY.

POOR HOUSE.

The poor house, which has been in operation for the past twenty years, is situated about three miles from the county seat, and consists of three houses--one for the overseer and two for the paupers. There are two rooms in each of the buildings, twenty by twenty-one feet in size. The supply of water is from a spring. The heating in winter is by fire-places. There has never been any regular allowance of food. The location is a very good one, but the houses are in a very dilapidated condition. The poor house tract contains one hundred and fifty acres of very poor land, of which four acres are in cultivation; cotton was raised this year. Sweet and irish potatoes are raised for summer and winter use. The houses for paupers are not well shaded. The ashes and manures have been used by the keepers to put on their own lands. Lewis Gardner is the overseer; he gets $5.00 a month for each inmate. Dr. J. W. T. Miller is the physician; he receives for his services, one-third less than the regular fees.

The county prison is built of brick and covered with tin, and is in size thirty by forty feet. It contains two stories by a basement; four cells for prisoners. Size of cells thirteen by fourteen feet. The windows are two feet, seven inches, and four feet, six inches. There is a stove for heating in winter. A straw bed and a blanket are furnished each prisoner. Males and females confined separate. Fresh drinking water is furnished three times per day. No restriction in food; the prisoners have as much as they will eat. The excrement is carried off by means of a pipe and sewer.

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FRANKLIN COUNTY.

POOR HOUSE.

It is situated six miles from county seat, and consists of six buildings. There is one dwelling house, thirty-two by eighteen with four rooms; one kitchen, twenty-eight by sixteen; one house, forty-eight by sixteen, with four rooms, besides an old framed house, thirty-two by sixteen. The others are out houses. They are all built of wood. The supply of water is from a well. The heating is done in winter by fire places. The inmates are not restricted in what they eat. The average weekly cost of each inmate is one dollar and forty-two cents. The buildings are very well arranged; some of them are good, the others need repair. Five hundred and seventy acres of poor land belong to the poor house tract, of which fifty-eight acres are in cultivation. Corn, potatoes, cotton, oats, pease, cabbage, turnips &c., are raised. The buildings are situated in a beautiful grove. Ashes and manures used in improving the land. Henry Best, Esq., is the keeper. He gets seventy-five dollars a year for each adult and half that price for children. Dr. P. S. Foster is the physician. He receives the regular fees for his services.

PRISON.

The county prison is built of brick and is lined with thick oak planks. Its size is twenty-four by forty-four feet. It is two stories high and has two rooms and two cells. Size of rooms, fifteen by twenty; of cells, twelve by thirteen. In each of these rooms there are two windows two and one-third feet by four feet, and in each cell, one, twelve inches by eighteen. The windows in the two upper rooms are free to the air and sunlight, those in the cells are obstructed by the outer wall of the house. No means of heating the prison except stoves which are dangerous, as the prisoners have tried to burn through the floor and make their escape. The prisoners do not suffer much, however, with cold. Four blankets are allowed the prisoners, generally. Males and females are confined separate. The prisoners have more bread to eat than the law allows but not so much meat; they also have plenty of vegetables. The jail is swept clean twice a day; the excrement is thrown into the river near by.

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GASTON COUNTY.

PRISON.

No county prison, it having been burnt by the Federal army in 1865. There is one being built at present.

HENDERSON COUNTY.

POOR HOUSE.

There is no Poor House, but the County Commissioners have rented two small houses in the county seat in which

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to take care of the poor. The size of the buildings are eighteen by fifteen feet, and there are two rooms in each of them. The supply of water is from a well in the yard. The buildings are heated by fire places. No limitation in eating. The average weekly cost of each inmate is about one dollar and seventy-five cents. The buildings are badly arranged--neat enough but not furnished--cold and uncomfortable--will do well enough in summer. The situation is healthy. Ferrell W. Taylor, Esq., is the overseer. He receives for his services eight dollars per month for each inmate. W. D. Whitted, M. D., is the physician who attends the inmates; he receives therefor the regular pay of physicians.

PRISON.

The county prison is built of stone and wood and is two stories high, being forty by twenty feet in size. There are four rooms, of which the size is as follows: One dungeon, eighteen by fifteen feet; debtor's room, fifteen by twelve feet; one room, fifteen by eight feet, nine inches; one room, nine by eight feet, nine inches. The dungeon has two windows; the three other rooms have one window each, besides which two of them have gratings facing a passage. There are no arrangements for heating in winter, in consequence of which the

First Annual Report of the Board of Public Charities of North Carolina. February, 1870: Electronic Edition.