Memorial-Sketch 
of 
Hon. JOHN W. EDMONDS. 
A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE STATE PRISONS OF NEW YORK, 
AS HE FOUND THEM, AND THE IMPROVEMENTS HE 
ENDEAVORED TO EFFECT IN THEM BY THE 
AID OF THE PRISON ASSOCIATION 
j3v E P H A S yoRK. 
Reprinted from Thirty-second Annual Repoi't of the Prison Association of N. Y. 
ALBANY: 
THE A KG U 8 COMPANY, PRINTERS. 
1877. MEMORIAL-SKETCH OF HON. JOHN W. EDMONDS. 
[A brief account of the State prisons of New York, as he found them thirty-three years ago, and the 
improvements he endeavored to effect in them by the aid of the Prison Association.] 
By Cephas Brainerd, 
Recording Secretary of the Prison Association. 
This sketch is not intended to call attention to the late Judge Edmonds 
save as he was interested in the work of Prison Reform. His long and 
interesting public career is left to other pens, or more likely to that 
fleeting tradition which preserves but for a lifetime an uncertain memo- 
rial of the career of most great lawyers. As a wise and earnest reformer 
in all branches of the great science which claims the services of the mem- 
bers and friends of the Prison Association of New York, his life and 
work are entitled to far more extended treatment than is here allowed 
for them. 
John W. Edmonds was born at Hudson, New York, December, 1799. 
He graduated at Union College, studied law, and began practice in the 
city of New York. He shortly removed to Hudson, where he gradually 
attained prominence as a lawyer, and soon became widely known as a 
public-spirited citizen and an active politician. In April, 1843, he was 
appointed one of the inspectors of the Sing Sing State prison, and held 
that office until February, 1845, when he was appointed circuit judge. 
Ceasing to hold the office of judge of the Supreme Court, he resumed 
the practice of law in New York, where he died 5th April, 1874. The 
condition in which he found the prison is best described in a letter 
addressed by Judge Edmonds to Governor Bouck, in June, 1843. 
“ * * * Free admittance was granted to all who would pay a small 
fee; frequent and almost unrestrained intercourse with their friends was 
allowed to the convicts. They conversed with their keepers, with the 
contractors and with each other. Knots of them would assemble in the 
yard and other places in unrestricted conversation with each other. They 
had newspapers among them, knew what was going on without the 
prison, would inquire the result of the elections and have been known to 
amuse themselves by going through the manual exercise with hoop poles. 4 
Memorial-Sketch of Hon. John W. Edmonds. 
In the Sunday-schools convicts were allowed to he teachers. Three hun- 
dred or four hundred convicts would assemble in the chapel, be divided 
into classes of eight and ten each, and with only two or three keepers in 
the room it was impossible to prevent free intercourse between them. 
Frequent instances were discovered, and the offending convicts dismissed 
the school. And there is no doubt that a recent attempt at an escape 
was devised between the teacher and one of his class in the school. 
These things did not comport with just notions of a penitentiary, and 
whether they were a necessary part or consequence of the change in the 
discipline or not, they demanded immediate reform. 
“ The prison is regarded by the Inspectors as a place of punishment and 
reform, and not one of relaxation, and so far as the convicts are to be 
taught from books, they ought to learn only such things as would teach 
them the nature of the crimes they had committed, and their duty to the 
society whose laws they had violated. But the Inspectors found in the 
prison, belonging to it, and purchased at an expense of $650 to the State, 
quite a miscellaneous library, in which books of fiction and sectarian 
essays had common entrance; and they found, in the possession of con- 
victs, newspapers, songs, story books, obscene pictures and novels, among 
which were Handy Andy, Barnaby Rudge, The Burglar’s Companion, 
History of Buccaneers, Comic Almanacs, ‘ The Murderer,’ Convict’s 
Journal, Chronological Dictionary, Lady of Refinement, and Lives of 
Females. The Inspectors also regarded it as the duty of the officers of 
the prison to deal with entire impartiality towards all the convicts and 
make no discrimination between them other than that necessary one 
between those who behaved ill or well or that between the hale and the 
sick. Yet it was discovered that the relatives and friends of convicts 
who had means or who resided in the vicinity of the prison, by the free- 
dom of this intercourse, were enabled to afford them many luxuries and 
comforts which were denied to poorer and more friendless prisoners. 
Hence in some of the cells were found such articles as writing materials, 
novels, tobacco, snuff, pipes, matches, flints and steels, ardent spirits, 
ornaments, penknives, pocket-books, canes, gloves, and looking-glasses. 
In some were eight or nine blankets, in others surplus shirts, coats, 
and other articles of clothing ; and in some, book-cases, bureaux, 
stone-hammers, chalk, drill-hammers, leather shoe-knives, onions, sewing 
implements, brad awls, scissors, silk, nails, spikes, skeins of yarn, files, 
gouges, chisels, kits of tools and shoe nails, constituting a miscellaneous 
collection of articles, in no respect necessary to the comfort of the pris- 
oners or to the enforcement of due punishment upon them. In respect 
to cleanliness, so essential to health, the change in the discipline dis- 
played its effects. In some of the cells dirt and filth and decaying pro- Memorta T/—Sketch of Hon. John W. Edmonds. 
5 
visions were found, while others were infested with lice and bed-bugs.” 
In the language of the keeper, who, under the directions of the Inspect- 
ors, examined the cells, he found in them “ a good many unnecessary 
articles, such as alcohol, tobacco, boxes with secret drawers, matches, 
books of a nature not calculated for convicts, newspapers, clothing, pro- 
visions, decaying or spoiled. In some of the cells the air was intoler- 
able ; I vomited several times in the operation. Most of the ventilators 
were stopped up by stuff and rubbish. I found obscene pictures and let- 
ters of the same kind, novels, plays, stories and obscene paintings on 
their walls and in their books.” 
The picture of the prison as it then was, is completed by an extract 
from the report of Mrs. Farnham, the new matron of the Female Prison, 
made to the Inspectors shortly after, in 1844: 
“ It is known to you, gentlemen, that at the time I assumed the duties 
of matron, the prison was in a deplorable condition. Scenes of violence 
between the convicts or attempts on their part against their officers, 
seem to have been of frequent occurrence. Misrule and disorder were 
the prevailing characteristics of the institution. Your last report set 
forth a painful and forbidding state of affairs, which was amply con- 
firmed by the statements of the officers then in charge. The duties to 
which I was appointed were undertaken with the hope and intention of 
reforming the condition of things and reducing the convicts to a sound 
state of discipline, obviously the first necessity in all institutions of the 
kind. I believed not only that this could be done, but that it could be 
effected by means which had not hitherto been tried, viz., by substi- 
tuting kindness for force, and other restraints, imposed through the men- 
tal constitutions of the prisoners, for those founded in fear of suffering, 
or growing out of physical inability to be disobedient and refractory. 
It is painful to observe that almost every facility requisite for carrying 
out such views was wanting in the commencement of the effort. The 
construction of the prison and buildings attached thereto permitted but 
little attention to the laws of life, or the many conditions which are 
indispensable alike to the existence of physical and moral purity, and 
still more so to the restoration of that purity where it has been extin- 
guished by long persistence in depraved habits. There were no means of 
inflicting that mode of correction which must be mainly relied on here 
for the graver offenses, except by confining the offenders in the com- 
mon cells of the prison, darkened and wholly deprived of fresh air, by 
the use of plank doors hung inside. As these cells opened directly into 
the common hall, where, at that time, most of the prisoners were seated 
during the day at their different kinds of labor, the seclusion was at 
best very imperfect, while the violent or turbulent had a better oppor- 6 
Memorial-Sketch of Hon. John W. Edmonds. 
tunity than at any other time for giving utterance to foul language, 
profanity or any abuse they might wish to heap upon their officers or 
fellow-prisoners. The sleeping cells were insufficiently ventilated; 
there were no arrangements whatever for bathing; the bedding was of 
such a description that any thing like cleanliness, in so much of it as 
came in contact with the person, was entirely out of the question; there 
was no provision for exercise, unless taken in a very small yard for a 
few minutes on first coming out in the morning, and the diet was of a 
description as stimulating as that taken anywhere in our country by 
laboring men. But the greatest deficiency was in books. There were 
none in circulation, and only a few ill-chosen and worse-used volumes 
belonging to the prison, which were stored away in the attic.” 
Notes made by Judge Edmonds, on the occasion of his first visit to 
the Prison after his appointment, show that he immediately appreciated 
the situation, and then began his studies of the subject of Prison Disci- 
pline and Reform. In but little more than one year thereafter, at a 
public meeting in New York city, he set forth, in an elaborate address 
then delivered, the results of his experience and reflections. A portion 
is here quoted as showing the completeness of his scheme at that early 
day : “ But this reform [*. e., diminished use of the whip] though 
important, and promising soon to be complete, was by no means all that 
could be done toward reclaiming prisoners. The further reforms 
demanded and which would require Legislative aid, could be compre- 
hended in two words, Classification and Instruction ; not the imper- 
fect classification attempted in some of the British prisons, according to 
the crimes committed, nor instruction confined merely to their moral 
and religious duties, but that which should separate the hopeful from 
the incorrigible, and elevate the mind and improve the understanding. 
Two errors prevailed in regard to prisoners. One was the harsh notion 
of regarding the hardened and irreclaimable as characterizing the whole 
class, and condemning all, for their sakes, to enduring degradation. The 
other was that sickly sensibility, which, because of a few distressing 
incidents, looked upon all as deserving of compassion only. There was 
a common-sense view of the matter, alike alien to both these extremes, 
which did not regard a prison as a place of ease, nor yet as a place 
devoted to purposes of torment only, but as a house of repentance, 
where the most hardened might be taught the useful lesson that the way 
of the transgressor is hard, and that virtue is sure of its reward here 
and hereafter. To plain common sense, a classification would readily 
suggest itself — into the innocent, the irreclaimable and the doubtful. 
Our duty to each class is widely different. To the innocent we owe it 
that they should be protected against the contamination of vice and, Memorial-Sketch of Hon. John W. Edmonds. 
7 
above all, against the dire necessity which ofttimes compels to crime as 
the only refuge from starvation. To the irreclaimable we owe it that 
they should be deprived of the means of preying upon society, of grati- 
fying their vicious propensities at the expense of the virtuous and the 
good, and of spreading the contagion of their evil example. And while 
to them the way to repentance should always be open, however faint the 
prospect that they would ever travel it, above all things it is due to 
them and to humanity that vindictive punishments should never be 
inflicted upon them. Vengeance belongs to the Creator, and not to 
mere mortal man, and can never be dealt out by us without arming for 
the conflict on both sides, the worst passions of our nature. The third 
class, however, is that which would be most deserving the regards of 
such a Society, not merely because it was the most numerous, but 
because here is to be found the germ from which, with proper cultivation, 
the green tree shall spring. Among such persons, external circumstances 
turn the scale. In low life, uneducated, neglected and destitute, they often 
become criminal, while in a more favorable condition of education and 
society they would have continued respectable, but within the influence 
of bad example they will be found sensual and often profligate, always 
selfish and self-indulging. 
“ To such, let a new chapter in human life be opened. When the suffer- 
ing, which must follow the evil lives they have led, shall awaken in 
them a due sense of their fall, and of the duty which they owe to them- 
selves and to society, let them be helped on in the path of reform, and 
let us, by our timely aid, convert the convicted felon into the honest 
man and the good citizen. To this class, particularly, let instruction be 
directed while in prison. 
“ Dr. Johnson well remarks, ‘ That the present occupies but little of our 
time ; it is mostly engaged with recollections of the past and anticipa- 
tions of the future.’ ” 
In a letter to an eminent penologist in Berlin, in 1846, Judge Edmonds 
sets forth, with great conciseness, some of the existing opinions in regard 
to prison discipline, and his own conclusions in regard to them. They 
are too striking to be withheld, and I quote them : 
“The most glaring ills I found were : I. The use of physical to the 
almost entire exclusion of moral means in the government of our prisons; 
and 2. The state of utter destitution in which the prisoners found them- 
selves upon their discharge from confinement. 
“ As to the first point, I was surprised at the entire absence of moral 
appliances and the prevalence of great cruelty in the government of the 
prisons. My inquiries seemed to lead to one of two conclusions, either 
that this cruelty must be continued as a necessary means of preserving 8 
Memorial-Sketch of Hon. John W. Edmonds. 
order and discipline, or that disorder, confusion, and the corruption 
of mutual contamination must result from the relaxation of that harsh 
usage. That, at all events, was the conclusion to which I was brought 
by my inquiries of all those whose experience in prison government ren- 
dered their opinions of value, and I made up my mind that it would be 
better far that the whole system should be broken up than that it should 
be sustained by barbarities that were shocking to every sensitive mind. 
“ This was a sad alternative and I did not believe that there was any 
necessity for its existence and I therefore took measures for introducing 
a different system of government into our prisons. I acted upon the 
principle that violence would beget resistance, and kindness would 
beget submission, and I directed that the prison should be governed 
accordingly.” 
Judge Edmonds did not disregard the demand made upon society by 
the condition of the discharged prisoner to which he adverts in the fore- 
going extract. Ilis services in that branch of this work will be hereafter 
noted. He held the office of Inspector less than two years, but in that 
time, in spite of the difficulties which were to be encountered, there was 
marked improvement in the pi-ison. In his letter to Gov. Bouck, he thus 
describes the change: 
“ From Mrs. Farnham’s two reports (one of which you will find in 
the report I sent you, and the other in the report of the Inspectors this 
year), you will form something of an idea of the extent and nature of 
the reforms she introduced. But you cannot fully know, unless you had 
personally seen it as I have, how great is the change she has wrought, as 
well on the condition and conduct of the prisoners as in the mode of 
government. She has now been there about two years, and she and her 
assistants have persevered in their efforts, under difficulties which would 
have deterred very many strong men, and I thank God that she has thus 
persevered, for she has, in my judgment, demonstrated the correctness 
of the principles I have mentioned, that kindness, truth and justice are 
the best means of governing the prison. In her department, the experi- 
ment has been fully tried, and has fully succeeded. In the male jwison it 
has been only partially tried, and yet it is gratifying to know that so far 
as it has progressed, it has been successful.” 
Concurring with the above is the testimony of an eminent person, 
now deceased, and a student in this and all kindred subjects, who speaks 
as an eye-witness : 
“ About ten months after this [i. e., after the appointment of Mrs. 
Farnham], I was at the prison and saw them dine. There was a white 
cloth upon the table; four or five volunteer waitresses served the table, 
and the meal was conducted with as much civility and order as is usually Memorial-Sketch of Eon. John W. Edmonds. 
9 
met with at our best hotels. I spent most of the afternoon in the prison. 
I did not hear a single oath or a single obscene allusion; they sang 
several of the Sabbath school hymns, and conversed pleasantly and intel- 
ligently.” 
When Judge Edmonds became an Inspector, the lash was freely used 
in the punishment of the refractory. It is stated in a report of the 
Senate Committee on State Prisons, in 1846, that, a few years before, 
12,000 stripes were inflicted in a single month at Sing Sing, on 900 
convicts. The death of a convict at Auburn the year previous 
called public attention to this matter, and it became the subject of 
legislative investigation. At the request of the Senate Committee, 
Judge Edmonds stated his views at length, and urged a modification of 
the law. His letter forms a part of the report. The Senate Committee 
adopted the views of Judge Edmonds, and reported strongly against the 
practice, and proposed legislation in conformity with the views expressed 
in the reports. In 1849, the use of the whip among males was abolished, 
except in cases of insurrection, revolt and self-defense ; it had been 
abolished among females in 1830. In the letter referred to, as in all his 
correspondence, the humane and philanthropic views of Judge Edmonds 
shine forth with surpassing clearness. Let a few words be quoted : “ When 
I first became connected with the State Prison there was a very general 
looseness of discipline, arising from the kindly disposition of the keeper, 
and his repugnance to the severity which had for years preceded him. 
The consequence was great disorder among the convicts and great dilap- 
idation in the finances. We attempted to correct that, and introduced an 
old and experienced keeper, instead of the one we found there, and, as a 
natural result, we brought back the former severity. This was very 
revolting to my feelings, and conflicted with my judgment as to the 
proper mode of government. I attempted to correct it, through the 
officers we then had, but was assured by them and by all whose experi- 
ence rendered their opinions valuable, that that system of government 
was necessary; that without it the prison must be the scene of disorder 
and confusion which it was when I first became connected with it. 
Several months elapsed under such a regime, until, determined if possi- 
ble to change it, we removed the keeper and substituted for him one 
who had been some ten years engaged as a keeper. Under him we, in 
a measure, reformed the evil, but only partially, the story still being 
‘ whipping is indispensable.’ To convince me that it was so, I was tri- 
umphantly referred to the uniform practice in our prisons in this State 
and to other prisons of the same kind elsewhere. In order to ascertain 
whether it was so, I visited other prisons and I read a good deal, par- 
ticularly several legislative reports of investigations, and I thus had 10 
Memorial-Sketch of Hon. John W. Edmonds. 
ample opportunity, from personal observation, from the experience of 
old officers and from the legislative inquiries, to become well acquainted 
with the mode of government which had ever prevailed in the prisons 
of this State, and I was able, in some measure, to judge of its results. 
* * * Under the severe rule which we had thus been instrumental in 
establishing, about 2,000 blows were inflicted in a month, and when you 
learn that the weapon is a ‘ cat ’ with six tails, you will perceive that 
nearly 12,000 lashes were struck upon about 900 prisoners in one month. 
This was horrible! A universal gloom settled upon the prison. Despair 
and dread were painted in every face. The most desperate efforts were 
made to escape from prison. The convicts seemed to be willing to 
risk being shot down by the guard, rather than remain in such a horrible 
place. Bickerings and quarrels and ill-feeling prevailed among the offi- 
cers. No kindly feeling was exhibited anywhere. If a prisoner com- 
plained that he was not well clothed, that he had not enough to eat, that 
his ailments were not cared for, that he was overtasked, or that he was 
severely whipped, the answer was always at hand, ‘ You were sent here 
to be punished,’ therefore any suffering which could be inflicted upon 
the convicts was a matter of duty on the part of the officers. This was 
an extreme state of things; yet I never could discover why it was not 
the legitimate and inevitable product of the principle which authorized 
the whip as the sole means of government. And as to reforming the 
prisoners under such a government, the idea seemed to be preposterous. 
* * * With the great majority of convicts, kindness, truth and jus- 
tice are the most effective instruments of government. I have been 
astonished at the keen perception they have shown for what is just and 
true, and what a high regard they have for it as applied to themselves; 
and I have over and over again observed that where a keeper has estab- 
lished his character among them for being truthful and just, he could 
do what he pleased with his men. * * * 
“All this is perfectly natural. They are conscious that they owe their 
fall to their disregard of truth and justice, and hence the value that they 
now attach to them. It is hard to persuade them that he who whips in 
anger is just. But the great thing is kindness; by this I mean sympathy 
for their sufferings and a kindly regard for their feelings and comforts; 
treating them, in fine, as if they were fellow-men, not brutes devoid of 
feeling, and not mere machines to be worked all in a particular manner.” 
Comments or exposition cannot add to the force of J udge Edmonds’ 
reasoning as presented in this extract, nor can words increase the effect- 
iveness of the picture which he paints of the effect of the use of the lash. 
It appears from Judge Edmonds’ papers that very shortly after he 
became connected with Sing Sing prison, the condition and needs of con- Memorial-Sketch of Hon. John W. Edmonds. 
11 
victs after their discharge attracted his attention. These were adverted 
to by him in one of the letters already quoted. In that letter he states 
that the Prison Association of New York was designed to care for this 
class. In the formation of this Association, Judge Edmonds took a promi- 
nent part. An appeal, signed by him as President of the Board of 
Inspectors of Prisons, dated November 23, 1844, appeared in the papers 
of New York city on the third December. A card dated the twenty- 
fifth of the same month, signed by many very prominent gentlemen, 
most of whom are now dead, appeared on the same day, calling a public 
meeting at the Apollo Rooms on the sixth December. In both of these 
papers, as well as in the circular privately distributed, the care of dis- 
charged convicts was presented as a prominent topic. 
Vice-Chancellor McCoun presided at the meeting; Rev. Dr. Spring 
and Gen. Prosper M. Wetmore were vice-presidents; John L. O’Sullivan 
and John Jay were secretaries. Addresses were made by Isaac T. Hop- 
per, Prof. Tellkampf, Rev. W. H. Channing and Judge Edmonds. The 
address of Judge Edmonds was carefully prepared, and embraced most 
of the topics pertinent to the subject of reformatory discipline, while Dr. 
Channing dwelt more especially upon the need that an association be 
organized, as he stated it: “First, to insure the permanent establishment 
of the reformatory system in our penitentiaries amidst all accidents of 
change in administration; and, second, to produce such a spirit of 
humanity and justice in the community at large as will‘lift up the 
hands that hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths, 
lest the lame be turned out of the way.’ ” It will be observed that Dr. 
Channing’s first proposition contains the germ of the recent amendment 
of our Constitution in regard to the government of prisons. At that 
meeting the Prison Association of New York was formed. Its objects 
have been already suggested in the extracts made from Judge Edmonds’ 
papers. They are, however, thus stated in its constitution: 
“ 1. The amelioration of the condition of prisoners, whether detained 
for trial or finally convicted, or as witnesses. 
“ 2. The improvement of prison discipline and the government of 
prisons, whether for cities, counties or States. 
“ 3. The support and encouragement of reformed convicts after their 
discharge, by affording them the means of obtaining an honest liveli- 
hood, and sustaining them in their efforts at reform.” 
In this movement Judge Edmonds had the co-operation of many emi- 
nent and philanthropic men and women. But it is doing no injustice to 
any one to say that none were in advance of him. The drafts of the 
circulars calling the first meeting were in his handwriting, and so are the 
programmes for the first and other public meetings of the Society. The 12 
Memorial-Sketch of Hon. John W. Edmonds. 
draft of the Charter is in his handwriting, and preserved among his 
papers. 
From the day the Association was organized, to the day of his death, 
Judge Edmonds was its faithful friend and servant. He was a regular 
attendant upon the monthly meetings of the Executive Board, and 
Chairman of its Prison Discipline committee. The reports of that com- 
mittee, drawn by him, are most effective arguments in favor of the 
reforms from time to time suggested by the Association, and a valuable 
contribution to the literature of reformatory science. Many of them are 
incorporated in the annual reports of the Society. Two of more recent 
date may here be noticed. One in the year 1870, upon the moral and 
financial condition of the prisons of the State, which was subsequently 
adopted as a memorial on behalf of the Association to the Governor, 
in favor of an amendment to the Constitution, placing the State Pris- 
ons beyond the influence of partisan politics, is an unanswerable argu- 
ment in favor of the idea which, at the last election, was incorporated 
into the fundamental law of the State by the amendment under which 
Mr. Pilsbury now holds his appointment. The other is a report for 
1873, equally elaborate and conclusive, in favor of the adoption of “a 
general system which shall include all prisons, local as well as general, 
for the juvenile and the insane, as well as workhouses and houses of cor- 
rection.” 
A sketch of the work of the Prison Association does not belong here. 
Its thirty-three years of service have culminated in the adoption of the 
Constitutional Amendment which secures the State Prisons from the 
contingencies incident to political changes ; in recent laws for improve- 
ment in reformatory discipline ; and in the creation of a State agency 
for the care of discharged convicts. Its thirty-three annual reports, 
which, however, contain but a part of its history, are a most important 
addition to the statistics and discussions bearing upon questions of 
reformatory science. No student can afford to pass them by. 
While Judge Edmonds took part in this work in its larger aspects, he 
did not neglect its details. A most voluminous correspondence has been 
preserved, showing his care for and interest in individual cases. Both 
while on the bench and afterwards, when in full practice at the bar, he 
hunted up persons who had been discharged ; he visited them at their 
lodgings; he advised with them; he sought out their friends; he obtained 
for them employment. 
But Judge Edmonds was not a mere sympathizer with the suffering 
prisoner. He believed in the rigorous infliction of just penal sentences. 
This is strikingly shown in his letters to Gov. Fenton in 1868, on the 
pardoning power, in which he answers the various suggestions made in Memorial-Sketch of Hon. John W. Edmonds. 
13 
favor of pardons, contending that the reforms introduced within the last 
twenty years had excluded, as grounds of pardon, the elements of 
remorse, repentance and reform, while previous good character was to be 
considered by a jury on the trial of a cause. He insisted that the pardon- 
ing power had no place in our system of criminal jurisprudence, except to 
correct errors into which our courts may fall, or to provide for events 
occurring or brought to light after the trial and conviction of the 
accused. He asks, “ upon what principle was it, that one, two or a feAv 
should be selected out of this large number as the exclusive recipients of 
this reward ? Simply because the favored ones had influential friends out- 
side who could present their cases to the Governor, while the poor 
unfriended and deserted ones, though just as well — nay! even more 
entitled to the reward, were of necessity overlooked,” and he insisted 
“that it was just as essential that the exercise of the pardoning power 
should be governed by an abiding principle as it is that any other 
part of the administration of justice should be so governed.” 
As Judge Edmonds began in this work, so he ended. The last paper 
from his pen, prepared early in 1874, is entitled “Points submitted by 
the Prison Association in conference with the Board of Prison Inspect- 
ors.” The preliminary propositions are quoted here. These are stated 
with the precision and severe beauty which characterized everything 
that came from his pen. 
“ General Principle. — To ameliorate, as much as possible, a gov- 
ernment of force, and extend in its place one of justice and kindness; 
and to that end, consider the following topics : 
I. Classification of Prisoners. — This cannot be carried out in full 
without a rebuilding of our prisons, but such attention can be paid to 
the subject as will do a good deal toward preventing contamination of 
the young by too free intercourse with the old offenders. 
II. Education. — By establishing it as a fixed and invariable rule, that 
no prisoner shall leave the prisons without being able to read. 
III. Over-stent.— (1) Adopt such arrangement as will give to all the 
same opportunities for this as is now enjoyed by the laborers from con- 
tractors. (2) To have it under the control of the officers, and not left 
to an arrangement between the contractors and the prisoner. (3) To 
have the time of its payment to the prisoner to be entirely under the 
control of the prison officers, so that the contractors shall never pay 
directly to the prisoner. 
IV. Commutation. — (1) To have this, in all cases, the result of a 
formal and deliberate judgment, and not the result of a mere examina- 
tion of the conduct and punishment reports. (2) To see if some mode 
may not be devised by which life prisoners may enjoy the benefit of 
this measure. 14 
Memorial-Sketch of Hon. John W. Edmonds. 
V. Miscellaneous. — (1) Seats and tables in cells. (2) Gas-light for 
reading in cells. (3) Bodily exercise on Sundays. (4) Such provision 
that no one shall be idle, especially in the female prison. 
VI. Inquiry into the condition and discipline of State prisoners in 
local penitentiaries. — To have some measure devised whereby they shall 
be placed under the supervision of State officers.” 
Judge Edmonds lived long enough to be assured by events that the 
reforms for which he had so long contended would receive formal offi- 
cial sanction, and be carried out in actual practice by prison officers 
kindred to him in spirit and in talent. Deliberate public actions since 
his death have made most of these reforms legislative and administra- 
tive facts.