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Page 58
But all prison systems, however excellent in theory, are comparatively
useless unless conducted in an enlightened spirit by competent and
sagacious officials. The best of systems if worked, as sometimes
happens, by a mere martinet, with no horizon beyond insisting on the
letter of official regulations, will be productive of no good
whatever, and, on the other hand, an indifferent system will achieve
excellent results with a competent person at the head of it. This was
admirably pointed out by the head of the Danish Prison Department at
the Stockholm Prison Congress. "Give me," he said, "the best possible
regulations and a bad director, and you will have no success. But give
me a good director, and, even with mediocre regulations, I will answer
for it that everything will go on marvellously." In a recent handbook
on prison management by Herr Krohne, an eminent prison director in the
German service, the qualifications requisite for successful prison
work are clearly laid down.
The successful management of a prison, he says, "demands special
knowledge and ability. This knowledge should first of all consist in a
comprehensive general education, so that the head of a prison may be
able to form a competent opinion in all those branches of knowledge
which bear upon the punishment of crime. He thus stands on a footing
of equality with his subordinates. If he is deficient in this
knowledge he will not be able to carry out the sentences of the law
efficiently, and the maintenance of his official authority will be
encumbered with difficulties. He must also possess an understanding of
the economic and social causes of crime as well as of its individual
causes. An understanding of its economic and social causes supposes
that he should be acquainted with the principles of sociology and
political economy; an understanding of its individual causes supposes
that he should know something of psychology. The historical,
philosophic, and legal aspects of criminal jurisprudence as well as
its formal contents ought not to be unknown ground. In the domain of
prison science he should be thoroughly at home. He ought to be
acquainted with the historical development of punishment by
imprisonment, as well as with the nature of the various prison systems
in existence among modern civilised communities. He ought to have a
clear understanding of the aim and object of imprisonment, and be
thoroughly cognisant of the legal and administrative arrangements by
which it is effected, more especially those of his own State. He
should possess a competent knowledge of all matters and regulations
bearing upon prison administration, so that his own arrangements may
be based upon a ripened judgment.
"This knowledge in the head of a prison should show itself in his
manner of dealing with prisoners. This task demands a high degree of
pedagogic skill, and a force of character which is able, easily and
quickly, to bend the will of others to his own. He should also possess
the power of setting every branch of the administration to rights
whenever anything happens to have gone wrong. He must have a quick eye
for all that is being done; he must see everything; he must hear
everything; nothing should escape him; and still he ought to leave
independence and initiative to every officer in his own department. He
should respect and bear with the individual characteristics of every
officer, especially the superior officers, so that they may be able to
perform their duties with pleasure. In this way all officers will be
able to do their work in his spirit rather than according to his
orders. In order to succeed in this, the head of a prison should
consult with the other officials on all important matters; a daily
conference is best for this purpose. He should hear and weigh their
opinions even when the ultimate decision rests entirely in his hands.
Above all he must understand how to keep peace among the officials, so
that through their harmonious co-operation the objects of a prison may
be more certainly attained.
"A good prison chief," Herr Krohne continues, "is not matured or
educated, but discovered. On this account, the selection of persons
ought not to be narrowed down to any definite class or profession.
Experience has shown that able prison governors have been drawn from
all callings; from the law, from public offices, from the army, from
medicine, from the Church, from trade, from agriculture, from
merchants and manufacturers. From each of these occupations a man may
bring knowledge and ability which makes him suitable for the position.
His preparatory studies will teach him much, but he will learn most
from actual practice, and he will never finish learning, however
experienced he may become. But the root of the matter which can never
be taught is a heart for the miserable; a determination in spite of
failures and disappointments to despair of no man and nothing."[46]
[46] _Lehrbuch der Gef�ngnishunde von K. Krohne
Strafanstalts-director_, pp. 534-6.
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