USA > Connecticut > Tercentenary pamphlet series, v. 3 The Beginnings of Roman Catholicism in Connecticut > Part 38
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TERCENTENARY COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT
OUI
SUSTINET
TRANSTULIT
COMMITTEE ON HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS
LVII Charities and Corrections in Connecticut
WILLIAM WALTER THOMAS SQUIRE
PUBLISHED FOR THE TERCENTENARY COMMISSION BY THE YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS 1936
TERCENTENARY COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT
COMMITTEE ON HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS
LVII
Charities and Corrections in Connecticut WILLIAM WALTER THOMAS SQUIRE
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T HE organization of governmental institu- tions to handle the problems of charities and corrections in Connecticut has been mainly a task of its third century. Throughout the first two centuries the population was small, numbering less than 75,000 at the end of the first century, and just over 300,000 at the end of the second. That population was homogeneous in race and traditions and largely so in religion. In occupation it was almost entirely agricultural. Even in 1830 the town of New Haven counted only 10,678 inhabitants; Hartford, Middletown, Norwich, and Say- brook were the only other towns with over 5,000, and only six others exceeded 4,000; the census gave Water- bury 3,070 and Bridgeport 2,800. The census of 1840 reported, out of a population of 309,978, only 526 over twenty years of age as illiterate.
In Connecticut's third century, the rate of increase of the population averaged 20 per cent in each decade-the rate was highest between 1850 and 1860. At the end of the
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third century, although forty-sixth in size among the states of the Union, Connecticut ranked twenty-ninth in population, having about 333 persons to each of the 4,965 square miles of its area. In 1930 the census showed 1,606,903 inhabitants of whom only 74.8 per cent were native born. The foreign-born white population was larger than in thirty-seven of the other forty-seven states in the Union. About one third of the population of voting age had been born in foreign countries, and nearly an- other third were the offspring of parents born abroad. Thus the parents of the majority of Connecticut inhabit- ants in 1930 were natives of foreign countries distributed in order of numbers among the following: Italy, Ireland, Poland, Great Britain, Canada, Germany, Russia, former Austria-Hungary, Sweden, Greece, France, and Syria.
The character of the state has been increasingly influ- enced by the influx of these immigrants, who have brought with them their varied ideals and traditions and their diverse religious faiths and organizations, which they have transmitted to their children. Thus, while the first Roman Catholic parish in the state was organized in 1829, a century later over one third of the population of the state were adherents of that church. Furthermore, while in 1830 but 10 per cent of the population of the state was to be found in the cities, in 1930 70 per cent of the popu- lation was urban. This growth in the urban character of the population has been associated with an occupational change. In 1830 nearly the whole population was engaged in agriculture. In 1930 only a small percentage of the people labored on the land, while the vast majority were engaged in manufacturing and trading. Obviously, Con- necticut institutions have had to undergo changes to meet the needs of this cosmopolitan population, even as the aliens have had to adapt themselves to new customs
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in a strange land. The rapid growth of the population during the third century in numbers; in racial, religious, and occupational diversity; and in its urban character has conditioned the development of the state's system of charities and corrections.
Yet, not entirely. The forms and methods developed through two centuries of governmental activity had created the frame within which the new developments were to take form. The ideals and traditions of the origi- nal Yankee population possessed a vitality capable of impregnating the newcomers as well as the new genera- tions, in no small measure, with the Connecticut spirit of steady habits.
Church and state were closely integrated in Connecti- cut from the first settlement until the adoption of the present state constitution in 1818. No sharp line can be drawn between their respective fields of influence and activity. Furthermore, neither the individual nor the family had yet transferred to either the state or the church various responsibilities and functions. On the governmental side the settlers of Connecticut brought the traditions of English law and of English political practice; on the church side they were strongly influenced by the Bible, especially the Old Testament with its Mo- saic law. These two strains were combined with peculiar effectiveness as the new conditions of life in the wilder- ness were faced. Strange situations arose and novel prob- lems had to be solved. To them the sturdy colonists ap- plied their common sense, guided by English precedent and biblical precept.
Thus, through six generations of practical experience, the Connecticut Yankee evolved organizations and pro- cedures ingeniously fitted to his needs in dealing with social problems. In the end, as Connecticut entered its
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third century, many responsibilities of the social sort rested with the town, a few with the county, and the remainder with the state. By the new constitution of 1818, the church had been divorced from the state and all governmental activities, but its influence upon thought and behavior persisted. Since the earliest days of settle- ment, it should be reiterated, there had been steadily built up a body of precedents as well as of laws which provided the basis upon which, in its third century, Con- necticut was to develop the extensive system, through which it now administers its social responsibilities in charities and corrections.
Until as late as 1830, only a few functions within the field of charities and corrections had been transferred from the local authorities of the parish, the town, or the county to the government of the colony or, later, of the state. The principal functions thus transferred during the first two centuries had to do with certain classes of the indigent and of the criminal. With the rapid growth in population and the steady increase in the complexities of life, more and more functions had to be assumed by the state government. It is only with these responsibili- ties in the field of charities and corrections, which have become the functions of the state government and which are at present mainly administered under the commis- sioner of welfare, that this article is concerned. One after another, schools for the deaf and dumb and for the blind, hospitals for the insane and feeble-minded, correctional institutions for felons, misdemeanants, and juvenile de- linquents, and other institutions and activities have been established and developed under state control.
Meanwhile, there has occurred a revolutionary change in the ideas and aims involved in the administration of charities and corrections. The principle has come to be
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well established that, while private charity should meet temporary needs, public charity should provide for the permanent needs. In the main, cases involving institu- tional care and problems requiring expert treatment or management have come to be the responsibility of the state government. Lesser problems and cases dependent upon local knowledge of the circumstances are left with the town or county authorities. Financial responsibility with regard to individual cases rests, in the first place, upon the private parties concerned; secondly, upon the towns or, in some cases, the counties; and lastly, in a small number of cases where the responsibility cannot be otherwise allocated, upon the state. Financial responsi- bility for expenditures of a capital nature belongs, in most cases, to the state government.
Most significant has been the change in the general concept of the relation of society to its unfortunate mem- bers. It is now believed that the interest of society re- quires the reformation of the criminal, rather than his punishment. A century ago Emerson could say, rather impatiently, "Society is full of infirm people who inces- santly summon others to serve them." Then the "infirm" were the objects of charity. Now the concept of social justice imposes upon society, especially in its organized governmental capacity, the responsibility of giving these unfortunates fair treatment and such care or training as may, if possible, restore them to society as self-respecting and productive members. Thus the state has shouldered responsibilities for child welfare; for the care of widows and the aged; for suitable ministrations to the insane, the feeble-minded, and the alien poor; and for the special training of the deaf and dumb and the blind. High stand- ards were established by Connecticut in the beginning, and although there were few women prominent in public
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welfare work until 1903, the state has brooded over its wards like a mother, so that today there are few states in which the progress of public welfare institutions is more advanced. Nevertheless, the severe simplicity characteristic of the religion of the Puritans has been manifested in economical as well as efficient conduct of charitable and correctional social action in the state, and in an attitude toward the task which has been practical rather than sentimental.
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CORRECTIONS, in the social sense, have to do with the treatment of offenders who have committed what may be considered crimes. Montesquieu has been quoted as saying, "As is the criminal law of a country so is a coun- try itself for the criminal law is not only the ultimate secu- lar arbiter as to right and wrong but the most authorita- tive secular instructor." Connecticut, like every other state, from its inception, has suffered from poverty, disease, and crime. Possibly crime may be bred by social injustice but surely the English settlers of Connecticut demonstrated conceptions of social justice far in advance of their time. Successive stages of culture are reflected in the theories of crime and punishment prevalent in each period. The curious paradox about crime is that it flourished when most severely punished, and those who know most about it say that it is increasing now that penalties are the mildest they have ever been. The Con- necticut State Prison at Wethersfield witnessed its high record population on June 20, 1933, when it had 788 prisoners.
Many types of punishment have been used, from tribal customs of the savages to the complex criminal code of today, in the attempt to repress and prevent crime. Men
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and women have been flogged, hanged, beheaded, burned at the stake, and even torn asunder for crime; still crime exists. Possibly the question of responsibility was not considered in earlier days; offenders were simply annihi- lated. The separate study of the causes of crime is said to have been started by Cesare Lombroso in Italy in 1876, which was long after the settlement of Connecticut. Probably in colonial times, as now, it was believed that the criminal is born, not made, and that to try to correct him is hopeless. But now few deny that environmental influences are factors in the matter. To protect citizens against further harm and from the depredations of the criminal and the delinquent, penal and correctional insti- tutions were established in the state. Revenge has been, perhaps, part of the objective in the punishment of offenders but, with the realization that about 90 per cent of offenders must return to society after imprisonment, the idea of revenge by detention in idleness and discom- fort has given place to attempts to rehabilitate the crimi- nal by the introduction of work and education in order to return a useful citizen.
Like other states, Connecticut has tried to achieve moral excellence by the difficult means of legislation. While it has never yet been possible successfully to legis- late morals it has seemed necessary to prohibit by law behavior offensive to the majority. With the rise of science the influence of the church seems to have de- clined. Earlier offenders were believed possessed by Satan, but of late the offender's intelligence, heredity, and environment are studied to learn the cause of his crime and how to rehabilitate him. It has been reported that during the eighteenth century in Connecticut even chil- dren of tender age were convicted of capital offenses; but of Connecticut, which established the first state prison
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in the United States, Zephaniah Swift, writing in 1796, said that the legislature was unwilling to punish so many by death, and finally erected Newgate, after having tried fines and "corporal pains" as substitutes for the death penalty.
An abandoned copper mine on the west slope of Tal- cott Mountain in East Granby was first used by the colony of Connecticut as a prison in 1773. A committee appointed to explore the mine had reported that, by expending a small amount of money, it could be made so secure that it would be next to impossible for any person to escape. Many did escape, however, but in spite of frequent trouble Newgate was in use by the colony and the state as a prison until 1827. Even children were con- fined there. The shaft of the mine was about one hundred feet deep and the cells were in galleries not more than sixty feet below the surface. A traveler who visited New- gate in 1807 wrote that without any extraordinary cruelty in its actual operation there was "something very like cruelty in the devise and design." Nevertheless the cavern was considered to be favorable to the health and longevity of the prisoners, one of whom died at the supposed age of one hundred and ten years. The keeper was authorized to punish the convicts by whipping, not to exceed ten stripes, and by putting shackles and fetters upon them. In order to grind grain for prison use a treadmill was erected, provided with flanges upon which the prisoners trod. Of all required labor the prisoners are said to have dreaded this most. The prison buildings at Newgate were burned three times in nine years and more than half the convicts had escaped. Then, too, Newgate cost the state over and above the earnings of the convicts more than $80,500 in the ten years preceding 1827, when the prisoners were removed to Wethersfield.
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Every state in the Union is said to have admired the new prison at Wethersfield which, by 1837, had paid for itself and the land whereon it stood, and in addition had paid $7,000 to the counties of the state for the erection of jails and $7,000 more to the school districts of the state, "causing ignorance to decline and to help educate the rising generation." The original structure is still in use. Wethersfield Prison was built on the Auburn plan with 136 solitary cells and arrangements for health and clean- liness. The cost of the ground and buildings is said to have been $45,602.18. Starting with 127 prisoners in 1827, Wethersfield Prison is the oldest Connecticut state insti- tution in use and now has a normal capacity of 700. Women and children offenders are no longer received at Wethersfield Prison, other provisions having been made for them, but commitments of children were made to the prison until 1843. For a time thereafter juvenile offenders were committed to the county jails, but the year 1851 saw the birth of the reform school movement. Women who had been convicted of felonies were received at Wethersfield up to 1930, when women prisoners were transferred to the Connecticut State Farm for Women.
Until 1895 the chief prison industry was shoemaking under contract; then shirtmaking was introduced and became the principal activity, employing about 400 inmates. A new project for manufacturing concrete articles for the state highway department was started as part of the work program planned to supplant the shirt- making employment which was abolished in 1934, when the federal Hawes-Cooper Law went into effect. An im- proved educational program was introduced in 1935. There was little opportunity for outdoor employment of prisoners until 1931, when a farm of 1,586 acres at En- field, formerly a Shaker settlement, was added as prison LVII
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property. By 1934 it had received 165 transfers. There are no iron bars and no enclosing walls at the prison farm. Nearly 300 acres are already under cultivation and the early results of this experiment have been gratifying. Insane criminals have been cared for at the prison, a separate ward having been erected for them in 1897, but in 1932 all insane inmates were transferred to the Nor- wich State Hospital; and now, whenever it is found that an inmate has become insane, the governor may order his transfer to a state hospital.
Since 1895 prisoners have been classified into three grades. Promotions and reductions are determined by conduct. Those in the third grade are deprived of privi- leges enjoyed by those in the first and second grades. The most trustworthy prisoners are rewarded with the com- parative freedom of the life at the farm. The more serious violators of discipline are punished by solitary confine- ment, loss of time for good behavior, and a diet of bread and water. No officer may strike a prisoner except in self- defense. Great effort is made to safeguard the health of prisoners. Those who may be in solitary confinement are visited twice daily by the prison physician. All are given physical and mental examinations upon entering, and a well-equipped hospital is maintained with an isolation ward for care of tubercular cases. There is a medical staff of six including a resident physician and a dentist.
The original structure has been added to from time to time and alterations have been made to modernize the plant. There are 648 cells in two large blocks. They are well lighted and ventilated and are kept clean. There is a congregate dining room for the prisoners where well- balanced meals are served. The prison library contains over seven thousand volumes; the prisoners publish a monthly paper, and are offered various educational op-
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portunities. General recreation is provided. There are a prison band and an orchestra. Entertainments are given in the auditorium during the winter. Religious services are held for all faiths. The law for the release of certain classes of prisoners on parole became effective in 1897. Lock step at the prison was abolished in 1899. Indetermi- nate sentences became possible by legislative action in 1901. More liberal application of the principle is believed by many to be desirable. The Connecticut Prison Asso- ciation, organized in 1875, assists discharged prisoners and supervises the adult probation service of the state.
Known as the State Reform School prior to 1893, the Connecticut School for Boys at Meriden is said to have originated as early as 1842, but is known to have been in operation by 1854. Uniform clothing, barred windows, and solitary confinement were formerly part of the re- form school system. Reorganization in recent years has introduced a type of homelike life at the institution. Each boy is studied individually by trained social workers, and the educational and medical services have been greatly improved. Between 1933 and 1935 seven new buildings were erected on the 170-acre site, and it is planned eventu- ally to replace the older buildings still standing. It is char- acteristic of the new régime that boys who merit the privilege are allowed to go home for summer vacation. The population on June 30, 1934, was 341. Boys from five to sixteen years of age are admitted.
The state school for girls, Long Lane Farm, was for- merly the Connecticut Industrial School for Girls estab- lished in 1868 and conducted by a private corporation until 1921. Delinquent girls under sixteen years old may be committed to Long Lane Farm and, when adjusted, may be paroled under supervision during their minority unless discharged or returned. The normal capacity of the
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institution is 251 and the average population in 1934 was 223.
The need for reformatories for both young men and young women who had passed the age limit, sixteen, fixed for the Connecticut School for Boys and for Long Lane Farm, was recognized long before the reformatory for younger male offenders was provided for by the legis- lature in 1903 and the reformatory for females in 1913. The Connecticut Reformatory at Cheshire receives males between sixteen and twenty-five sentenced for offenses punishable by imprisonment for a shorter period than life. It was opened in June, 1913, and contains a block of 400 cells. This institution produces the automobile markers for the state motor vehicle department. While the capaci- ty of the institution is 400 the population on December 31, 1933, was 327.
The Connecticut State Farm for Women was opened to receive inmates in July, 1918. It is located at East Lyme on a tract of 850 acres. Women over sixteen may be committed to this institution, which includes in its plant a building erected in 1929 designated as the Connecticut State Prison for Women. All women prisoners were trans- ferred here from Wethersfield on June 24, 1930. There are no walls at the institution. Neither are inmates confined to their rooms. The buildings consist of several old farm- houses remodeled and seven new brick structures erected since 1921, including a maternity and babies' hospital with a capacity for 40 mothers and 70 infants. The total capacity for adults is 230.
The House of the Good Shepherd, a state-aided insti- tution for wayward girls, was opened at Hartford in December, 1902. It is under the direction of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, and occupies a tract of 30 acres upon which five buildings have been erected. The aver-
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age number of inmates in 1934 was 267. In former years the state paid the Florence Crittenton Home in New Haven for boarding girls sent there.
Adult probation laws were obtained in Connecticut in 1903 but, before probation received legal recognition, police court judges had been persuaded to suspend sen- tences of first offenders and commit them to the care of a church or of some other organization. Almost the whole story of the application of psychiatry to the behavior problems of offenders has developed within the last twenty-five years. Separate juvenile courts for Fairfield and Windham counties having exclusive original juris- diction were established in 1935, and provision was made for all probation officers for these courts to be appointed from a list certified by the public welfare council. Or- dinary misdemeanants have been sent to county jails in Connecticut while felons have been sent to prison. The first jail in the colony, otherwise known as the House of Correction, was built in Hartford in 1640. Later, each county was ordered to erect a jail in its county town. Windham built one in 1728 and the other counties had complied with the order by 1750.
Today there are ten jails in the eight counties of the state-Fairfield and New London counties each have two. Perhaps the county jails in Connecticut have been but little better than the average in America, for it is sur- prising how few improvements have been made in jails in the seven centuries during which they have been in existence. In years gone by, in some towns where there was no lockup, accused persons awaiting trial were de- tained in the town poorhouse; nor were paupers segre- gated from them. A commission to make a survey of the jails was created by the general assembly in 1931. The commission was continued in 1933 and authorized to
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formulate plans for a central jail farm. While its recom- mendations were not adopted in 1935 the commission was again continued.
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POSSIBLY the friendly and careless manner in which relief was given in the early days of Connecticut by private individuals and by the church bred idleness. It would appear, however, that charity has ever been abused by some ingrates, for as early as 1671 investigation of a re- quest for relief revealed that for eighteen years the appli- cant had been living at the expense of congregations in New York as well as in Connecticut. At any rate, the church began to withdraw its aid to some extent and the town authorities began to put paupers to work, farmed out to the highest bidder for their labors. The lot of such servants was not easy, although no harder in Connecticut than elsewhere, for the system was widely prevalent at that time. Ever since the seventeenth century the main burden of poor relief in Connecticut has been borne by the towns. The contract system, early in general use and unfortunately subject to abuses, became the adopted state policy for the care of paupers in 1820. The problem of paupers, however, was not acute in the state until after 1840 when the almost unrestricted influx of aliens re- quired additional effort and institutional provision. The selectmen were the overseers of the poor and regulated the management of the town's almshouse even as they do today. The almshouse, an institution of eighteenth- century European origin, was, for the greater part of the nineteenth century, the chief institution in the state for the aid of the needy and helpless. The development of the almshouse called from Graham Taylor the opinion that, "It was a great advance to have the state recognize the
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