Hawaii Holomua, Volume III, Number 192, 18 August 1894 — MISUSED AUTHORITY. [ARTICLE]

MISUSED AUTHORITY.

Whftt are the prinou inspectors domg? We liear reports froin tlie Oaim Jail, wbicb wheu pub!ished will creatc a i»ensation iu our coinmuuity. Wliile we do uot believe iu treatiug prisouers in such a niauuer that imprisonment does uut become a pnnishmant, wo are decidedly opposed to brutality, persecution uuJ any merciless treatment. A inan is uot seud to jail for puuishment alone. Tlie hope of society is that he may Icare a reformed man with prospects of filling his plaee in the world with advantage. Iirutal treatment docs not reform, it simply hardens nnd makes the prisoner hopeless, pessimistic, aud a hater of society and his feilow-raen. Wo shall in a eomiug issuo publisb some facts from the o a bu Jail thnt will show that the present management is not all that eau be desired, aud thnt the iuspectors aro not doiug thoir duty. To day we siraply meution that the tlogging of a prisoner is not authorized under our laws. No r»les or regulations ean supercede the status. The jailor who dogs r pris'»uer is gnilty of assault aud battery and onght to be pnnisbed. Prison discipliue is necessary. so is discipline in an array. The best disciplined armies «.» well ns the best eonducted prisons iiave done away wiHi corporeal punishmeut—aud the discipline has never sutfered or becorae less strict. Corporeal puuishment is a reranant from barbnrous days, and hamaneity whioh now pervades eociety and all its institntions has demonstrated snliioiently that society does not gain by legabzing brutulity. For brutal auJ violent assanlts, be they wanion or for tbe sake of robbery, we favor the use of the whipping post,because brutality sball ke met with brutality. A refractory prisoner as well as a rerfactory soldier eau be brougbt to lerms and tamed through Iegal means. Our inspectors of jails bave better get a movō ou. Tbo flogging iu Oahu , prison is not the worst feature. bv a K*ng shot.