JB/060/018/001

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1822 June 13

J. B. to Rivadavia

My Letter to Colombia as above — an enormous long one — turned chiefly upon two
topics — the Panopticon plan of construction and Management
for Prisons &c and the Junction of the two Seas Atlantic & Pacific. Being so
well acquainted as you are with the Traité de Legislation
&c Panopticon can scarcely be altogether out of your
mind: if it be, what you will find in the Testimonials part of
my Codification Proposal may serve to replace it. Colombia
having in her service in the rank of Colonel an Englishman of the
name of Hall a very superior man who is in high trust & favor there
that part of my Letter had for its object the
engaging the Colombian Government to set on foot — not Panopticons
by hundreds which is what the Prison Committee of the Spanish Cortes recommended
as you will see to be done in Ultramaria
as well as the Peninsula, but one single one to begin with
and Colonel Hall, to whom I also wrote,
to undertake the management of it. In Portugal José Fernandez
Thomaz was Commissary General during the war: the best of all
introductions to
a management
of the sort in question. After
reading the looking over my English work in two Volumes on that subject
José has promised me that he will use his endeavours
to obtain that , employment if his Brother Manuel, without
whom he does nothing approves of it, which is what we
little doubt of. I Of that part of my Letters to these
to the two functionaries, my the chief purpose
object was — to present to their view the facts, the principal ones
of the public to the utmost degree of publicity, from whence it might be
seen, that it was not any doubt of the excellence aptitude of the plan, but the
personal vengeance of George 3 that caused it to be laid aside:
George 3 but for whom, Minister Pitt was about to place
not only the Prisoners of of the country but all the paupers of
the country in my hands. It being essential that for responsibility'
sake the management should be by contract
par entreprise — profit and loss — profit at any rate — being on
which, or in partnership with Government, for the account of the Contractor, if there be
any man of adequate talent and probity whose fortune you
would wish to make, any gratuitous services, such as could be rendered
by me in this country should be at your and his command. My
Panopticon was to have contained 2,000 prisoners, all of them visible at all times
gratuitous
by one man at one view. With the help of machinery from England think of the

profit extractible from that number of hands, not one of which need have a morsel of bread till his task were done!
For a Commercial Agent for such a
purpose as well as for every thing
else that affords a promise
of usefulness to mankind Bowring would be your man of all men I ever knew, or can
look to know. Criminal Code may be heaped upon Criminal Code but without such an instrument belonging to it, no tolerably efficient one will can be found framed for in
countries the population of which is in the state in which yours is, and in this opinion I am far indeed from being singular.

Identifier: | JB/060/018/001 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 60.
Date_1	1822-06-13	Marginal Summary Numbering
Box	060	Main Headings	panopticon
Folio number	018	Info in main headings field	jb to rivadavia
Image	001	Titles
Category	correspondence	Number of Pages	1
Recto/Verso	recto	Page Numbering	e3
Penner	jeremy bentham	Watermarks
Marginals		Paper Producer
Corrections		Paper Produced in Year
Notes public	letter 2898, vol. 11	ID Number	19576
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