ABSTRACT G. Arms and Accoutrements received from the United States from the year 1844 to 1849 inclusive. No. 8. LEGISLATURE, 1850. ANNUAL REPORT of the Inspectors of the State Prison. STATE PRISON OFFICE, To the Secretary of State of the State of Michigan: } As the several reports of the Agent, Chaplain and Physician hereto appended, embrace a full and detailed account of all the material facts and events which have accrued during the current year affecting the interest of this Prison, the Inspectors believe that their duty will be best performed by taking only a brief view of its general concerns and condition. More than this could scarcely be done without reiterating statements and facts clearly set forth in the reports above alluded to. The building department of the Prison, together with the management of its financial concerns, come more directly within the range of duties belonging to the Agent. It will be seen by a reference to the report of that officer, that considering the number of men employed and the comparatively small sum expended for that purpose, a very large amount of building has been accomplished. This result, we are of opinion, may justly be attributed to the fact that the Agent, during the progress of the work, has devoted to it nearly his whole personal attention, being almost constantly employed with the men, and by his example stimu. lating them to a greater degree, energy and perseverance in their daily toil. It is also believed that the Agent has practiced the most rigid economy in all expenditures for building materials. For information in relation to the financial concerns of the Prison, we would beg leave also to refer you to the report of the Agent. That report and tables annexed, together with the monthly statements made to this board under the oaths of the Agent and Clerk, hereto appended, present a clear, comprehensive and truthful exhibit of all the receipts and expenditures on account of the Prison during the current year. More especially would we call your attention to that part of the Agent's report which suggests the propriety of making such improvements upon the walls and in the work shops as are calculated to diminish the number of men necessary to guard and keep the Prison If the estimated cost of these improvements there made be correct(which we have no reason to doubt,) it would certainly be wisdom on the part of the state to authorise their completion at the earliest possible day. For it will at once be perceived, that by making a comparatively small appropriation for this purpose, the state will annually save a sum nearly equal to the amount expended. The managemeut of the internal police and government of the Prison, together with the maintenance of discipline among the convicts, are duties devolving more especially upon the Deputy and Assistant Keepers, subject, it is true, to the general supervision and direction of the Agent. These duties, it is believed, have been ably and faithfully performed During the past year comparatively few cases of insubordination and violation of the rules have accrued among the convicts, while a large proportion of them have pursued their daily avocation with a surprising degree of resignation, and even cheerfulness. This happy state of things results, unquestionably, from the institution, to a great degree, of the law of kindness in the place of brute force. The number of cases in which it has been thought necessary to inflict corporeal punishment have been gradually diminishing in the Prison for a series of years, and those cases have been more rare during the past year than for any other corresponding length of time. While the convict has been taught that the least infringement of the rules would meet with its due award, he has at the same time been made to understand that he will be regarded and treated as a man-as a being capable of comprehending the force of reason and moral suasion. Appeals are made to his judgment rather than to his fears and anima] passions. These, and their kindred mild measures, such as occasional solitary confinement, &c,, (giving the culprit time to reflect upon his conduct,) have been found amply sufficient in nearly all cases te bring the offender to repentance and a strict observance of the rules of discipline. We are aware that the opinion has, and still does, to some extent, prevail, that there are some men whose moral perceptions are so entirely blunted as to render them wholly insensible to the law of kindness, and accessible only through the medium of their animal fears. It may, perhaps, well be questioned, whether this opinion is not founded in an ignoronce of the motives which operate upon the minds of such men. At all events, it is to be hoped that the time is coming, and is not not far distant, when the treatment heretofore, and even now, to some extent, administered to men in Prison, and especially corporeal punishment which they are often doomed to receive, will be looked upon as unchristian and denounced as a relict of barbarism. Perhaps the wonder is that a practice so inhuman and reprehensible in all, or nearly all cases should have been so long tolerated in this enlightened country It should be remembered by all who are entrusted with the prerogative of administering punishment, that the convict in Prison is sentenced by the law to expiate his crime by confinement and hard labor, and that every degree of punishment beyond what is necessary for the due execution of this sentence and the attainment of the best ends to be answered by it is excessive and beyond the sentence and intention of the law. These sentiments, we firmly believe, will commend themselves to the mind and heart of every philanthropist, and are destined to prevail and to be acknowledged in every Prison and place of punishment in the land. The report of the Physician will be found to contain all necessary details in relatian to the health of the convicts. We will only remark in general terms that there has occurred only one death within the walls of the Prison during the past year. This is certainly a matter of profound gratitude. Especially when we reflect that the past season has been marked by the prevalence |