Chapter II: Part 2

In view of the opinion holding the parole law of 1904 unconstitutional, the question arose as to the future conduct of the prison directors. In a statement issued at the time Governor Stuart expressed the view that it was certainly not contemplated in the Constitution that the prison board should sit as a sort of superior court, to review and reverse in criminal cases not only the verdicts of trial juries and the judgments of Circuit Courts, but the deliberate opinions of the Supreme Court of Appeals as well. The Attorney-General upheld the view that any action releasing a prisoner before he had served the specific term for which he was sentenced by due process of law was to upset and reverse the trial court. This power, it was held, was vested by the Constitution exclusively in the Governor, who may grant absolute pardons or may grant pardons with conditions attached, which are in effect paroles.

Prior to the act of 1904, under the statute of 1896 and subsequent acts, there was a parole system, under which the prison board from time to time made recommendations to the Governor of those convicts who were, in their judgment, suitable for conditional pardons or paroles, thus acting in an advisory capacity. The act of 1904, which is the one now in question, eliminated this report to the Governor and made it possible for the prison board, in its own discretion, at any time to release any convict after he had served one-half of the term for which he had been sentenced.

Under this act the prison board has been from time to time paroling convicts at its own discretion, acting entirely independent of and without connection with the actions of the Governor in granting pardons or conditional pardons, which are in effect paroles.

It has been agreed to make a test case to determine the status of the parole law of 1904, which Attorney-General Pollard has held to be unconstitutional.

* * * * *

_In Kentucky._--The Louisville Post says editorially that:

“In no department of the State government has there been progress
made in the last two years comparable to that shown in the
administration of the Kentucky penitentiaries, and Governor McCreary
deserves liberal commendation for the wisdom he manifested in
selecting the members of the board--Messrs. O’Sullivan, Conley
and Lawrence--and the firmness he has shown in supporting his
appointees. This is the one bright spot in our State government and
the improvement made will be valuable in the future outside of the
progress in prison administration by the standard it holds up for
other departments of the State.”

Prison Commissioner O’Sullivan has thus summarized the recent developments:

“The most important act passed by the last General Assembly affecting the prisons was the bill providing for State aid in the building of county roads. While it makes no reference to the penal institutions, the opportunity it presents is providential. On January 1, 1915, the contracts on the labor of at least 900 prisoners will expire. In the face of the adverse legislation in Congress, it is probable that the prison contractors will not again bid for this labor, even if the Prison Commissioners were inclined to make new contracts.

“The law permitting the Prison Commission to lease farms adjacent to the prisons at Frankfort and Eddyville is of inestimable value. These farms can not only be made self-sustaining, but the tubercular prisoners can be transferred there and given the chance for life which is sometimes denied them in the narrow confines of a prison cell.

“The indeterminate sentence law does away with the automatic parole of prisoners and gives the jury the power to fix a minimum and maximum sentence proportionate to the crime committed.

“The passage of a law limiting the age of children sent to the House of Reform, near Lexington, and making the county pay part of the cost when the child is not guilty of a penal offense, will prevent the scandalous practice prevalent all over the State of consigning innocent, dependent children to this institution. Some of the officials seem to be in a conspiracy with the parents to get rid of their unfortunate offspring and make the State support them. The Prison Commissioners have returned to their homes 125 children under thirteen years of age who were sent to the House of Reform on flimsy charges. Two boys, six years old, were among the number. They were charged with ‘housebreaking.’ Dozens of cases just as flagrant could be cited.

“The Board has under way plans that will broaden and better this institution, which is one of the most important in the State, as it deals with the child after he has made his first mis-step.

“Before the recent parole of 450 prisoners under the Court of Appeals decision there were 1,450 convicts at the Frankfort Reformatory and 780 at Eddyville. The number of children at the House of Reform will average 700.

“The contractors at Frankfort and Eddyville paid into the State treasury last year $352,000. The cost of conducting these institutions, salaries, supplies etc., was $340,454. The cost of maintaining the House of Reform was $123,386.

“In eighteen months from August 1, 1912, to January 1, 1914, the prisoners have been paid in earnings the sum of $86,000. A great portion of this amount is sent home to their families.

“In the two prisons there are 556 men confined for murder, 115 for manslaughter, and 153 for malicious shooting and wounding. Of this number 340 are life prisoners.

“There are 1,250 negroes to 900 whites. There are 1,300 single men and 950 married men.

“There are 419 men serving second terms, 104 serving third terms, twenty-seven serving fourth terms, and one prisoner serving his seventh term.

“Since the adoption of the parole system 2,200 men have been paroled, which number includes the 450 men liberated under the Court of Appeals decision. Less than 5 per cent. of these men have violated their paroles and been returned to prison.

“In the past twenty-one months the present Prison Board has only paroled one life prisoner sentenced for murder. He had served fifteen years for killing a man who invaded his home and insulted his daughter, and had he been a white man he would never have been convicted.

“The night schools are very successful. Next to the abolition of the lash they have had a most humanizing effect on the prisoners.”

* * * * *

_Cleveland’s City Farm._--Dr. Harris R. Cooley reported recently in Des Moines, Ia., regarding recent results in Cleveland:

“We have three different departments on the farm,” he said. “We have 100 consumptives on one section, 700 people in the alms house located in another section, and 700 prisoners working on the ‘correction farm.’ These men are convicted of different petty crimes and sent to the farm to work out their sentence.”

According to Mr. Cooley, the farm’s profits from products raised last year were $22,167.04.

“It takes a little nerve to start a farm of the kind,” he said, “as it is necessary for a time to keep up two places. While the farm is being started it will be necessary to have some prisoners in jail and some on the farm, until enough buildings are completed to accommodate all the prisoners. However it is a great system when once in working order and would be a great thing for Des Moines.

“We also have a 450 acre farm for the juvenile prisoners,” he continued, “and this too, is proving a great success. It is located twenty-three miles from the city and the large farm is ten miles from Cleveland. All boys under sixteen years are sent to the juvenile farm.

“Our large farm,” said Mr. Cooley, “cost us $330,000 ten years ago. We have recently been offered $1,000,000 for it, but of course refused to consider the offer. We have hundreds of heads of fine cattle, hogs and horses and raise everything in the way of farm products. The profits possible on a farm of this kind are not to be realized by people who have had no experience with the system.

“We also do away with the problem of labor. We have the men on hand with nothing to do with them but let them work. We do not compete with labor, either. The men enjoy the work and nine times out of ten leave the farm better morally and physically than they came to it. Such is not the case with the man who spends a week or six weeks in the stagnant atmosphere of a city jail.”

* * * * *

_422 Convicts to be “Turned Loose.”_--The New York World, of April 5th, prints a special dispatch from Louisville, Kentucky.

“Kentucky is facing the problem of caring for 422 convicts, to be liberated at approximately the same time and for whom no provision has been made. The prospect is viewed with varying sensations in different parts of the State. In cities and towns there is alarm, but on the farms and plantations, where help is scarce, no fears are felt, and in fact the liberated criminals will be made welcome for the labor they can perform.

“This condition is brought about by the new indeterminate sentence law which is now operative in Kentucky and which does away with the old law by which the jury trying a case fixed the term of years for which a person should be confined, in the same verdict declaring him guilty. As it is now, the jury merely passes upon a prisoner’s guilt or innocence, and if he is found guilty his prison term is automatically fixed by the law covering the offense with which he is charged. These sentences, of course, range from a specified minimum number of years to a maximum. And it has been the rule heretofore for the Prison Board with whom the power of parole rests, to allow the prisoners their freedom largely upon the character of their crime and their conduct while in prison.

“But in the John De Moss case (recently decided by the Court of Appeals), it is held that if a prisoner has completed his minimum sentence and shows a clear record in the prison he must be issued a parole then. Another feature is that he must be able to show that he has some legitimate occupation waiting for him when he is set at liberty again. This parole, of course, does not free the prisoner absolutely. A string is held on him, and should he ever transgress again he may be brought back and made to complete his original sentence.

“Naturally, the convicts are delighted. Of the 422 convicts to get their liberty 232 will go from the penitentiary at Frankfort and 190 from the Eddyville prison.

“One of the requirements with which a prisoner must conform before he can be paroled even under the new order is that he must have a job awaiting him. This has caused the 422 prisoners who are to be released to cast about for a landing place. Among them are individuals of all classes, some very expert in certain lines, but the most of them are ordinary laborers, this being especially true of the negroes, who are in the majority. Right here is where the release of the prisoners promises to be a good thing for the State at large. For several years the question of farm labor has grown to be more and more a matter of serious nature. The negroes prefer to live in the towns or to work on the public works, where they can be together in crowds. Often the farmers are sorely tried in their efforts to get labor at rush seasons and are forced to pay exorbitant prices.

“But the ordinary laborers among the convicts find the farms their best chance for getting the coveted job. The farmers are willing to take the risk, if risk it is, and they are offering to give employment to the prisoners. In one county the seventeen negroes that are due to return have all been thus guaranteed work. Other counties are doing the same thing and probably the majority of this class of the convicts will find a home and freedom on the farms.

“Much consolation is found in the fact that a radical change in the methods of handling and treating the convicts will result. They will be better citizens when their terms are out.

“One of the results of the new law will be the changing of the Frankfort prison into a reformatory, where the female and younger prisoners will be confined, and the Eddyville prison into the penitentiary, where men only will be confined, and these only for major offenses.

“The prisoners are now allowed more liberties; they are permitted to enjoy the prison libraries, attend night school, organized in the various cell houses, attend religious services, to have the freedom of the grounds at stated times, and when the weather permits to play ball and take other healthful outdoor exercises, to receive mail, and are given better and cleaner cells and better food.

“So, after all, the situation does not appear alarming, but on the other hand it is believed by those in touch with conditions that the released prisoners will come out into the world again with a full appreciation of the joys and privileges of liberty, and few of them will again wilfully disobey the laws and be returned to bondage once more.”

* * * * *

_Modern Detention Prison For Women in New York City._--After years of effort on the part of civic organizations, borough officials and individuals, the city is at last to have a Home of Detention and Court for Women. It is to be a fourteen-storied structure and is to occupy a 100×100 foot plot on the north side of West Thirtieth street, between Sixth and Seventh avenues. The working drawings are now being prepared by the architects, Griffin & Wynkoop of No. 30 Church street, and construction will begin in the near future.

The need of such a building has from time to time been emphasized by the numerous abuses attendant upon the imprisonment of women. Heretofore both men and women have been confined in the same building, and because the police stations and the City Prison were of an obsolete design, there was no way of segregating the first offenders from the hardened criminals, a condition which sociologists have long deplored.

The plans for the new building provide for this segregation. Provision is made for three general classes of prisoners, these to be again subdivided into other groups. No longer will first offenders be herded into dark, unsanitary cells along with the habitual offenders. The building is so arranged that each room will be flooded with sunlight at some time of the day; moreover, each cell will have its own individual window and will be provided with running water, basin and sanitary conveniences.

The Magistrates’ Court with its entrances and subdivisions is placed in the first four stories. The Detention Home and District Prison with their subdivisions are placed in the fifth to fourteenth stories.

It was found that by placing the small rooms of the Home of Detention and Prison around the court, recessed from the street, most of the dangers of communication between prisoners and the outside could be obviated, and the possibility of introducing drugs and weapons into the building overcome.

The prisoners are to be delivered through a driveway court into the room for arrested persons, taken to their individual temporary detention rooms on the first and second floors, from which an officer conducts them to the complaint room, or in a continuous line of circulation through the prisoners’ waiting room, the court room, the finger print room, and after sentence, to the room for detained persons, from which they are taken by guards of the Detention Home and Prison and after examination put among that group of prisoners which their degree of crime permits or requires.

The public will enter the building through a public vestibule, pass up a large stairway and enter the court room or complaint room through a public lobby on the second floor. The court room is 25 feet high, of ample size, and has abundant light and cross ventilation from the street into an interior light court, which opens at its top into the recessed light court of the Detention Home above.

The entrance to the probation and administrative portions of the Magistrates’ Court is through a special vestibule controlled by the janitor of the building at the southwest corner. Women on probation of the court can report to their probation officer in the second floor without coming in contact with the crowd frequenting the courtrooms and public vestibule. Probation officers are to be located on the floor immediately below the courtroom and will have ready access to the courtroom when their attendance there is required. Reporters are to be given a special room and provided with tables and seats in the court. The judge, the clerk of the court, the assistant clerks and the district attorney are allotted rooms on the fourth floor, which is accessible to all of the lower floors of the building by a special elevator and stairs.

On the fifth floor of the building are placed the administrative offices of the home and prison, the apartments of the superintendent and assistant superintendent and separate facilities for visitors coming to see the home and prison. The visitors cannot at any time pass to the prisoners either weapons or drugs. Double wire screens will at all times separate the prisoners from the visitors.

From the sixth to the fourteenth floor there will be twenty-four rooms on each floor, these being for housing the inmates of the home and prison. Each group of twelve rooms will have a dining and living room, a service pantry, a bathroom and a storage closet for linen and clothing. An open air exercise loggia will connect the two twelve-room groups.

The prison and home rooms will be slightly different, in that the prison rooms will have steel grilled fronts opening onto the corridor, whereas the rooms of the detention home will have regular fireproof doors fitted with a small grilled panel, for the convenience of matrons in overseeing their charges. Each of the small rooms will be provided with a wash basin, a water closet and a bed.

* * * * *

_Criminals in War._--Criminals generally turn out to be cowards on the battlefield, according to observations in the cases of 225 men with jail or prison sentences in their record made during the campaign of Italy in Tripoli by Dr. Consiglio, chief of staff surgeons with the Italian army.

Dr. Consiglio says:

“The abnormal man is unfit for methodically disciplined effort in times of peace; in war, where the demands of discipline and the strain of systematic preparations increases, he displays invariably sooner or later a reaction against his surroundings, which manifests itself chiefly in morbid lack of discipline, disobedience, insubordination or even desertion. The moral strain and the violent manifestations of war induce in such men physical disturbances, excitative crises, hysteric and epileptic attacks and acute insanity. They lack the possibility of methodic action, the iron will to respond to the multiple demands of the instant and to the continued physical and intellectual strain.”

* * * * *

_Probation in New York State._--The increasing use of the probation idea throughout the State is shown by reports of the State Probation Commission. More than 9,000 persons are now on probation in the State, including over 2,000 children. Approximately one-half of these are located in New York City; the remainder are scattered in nearly every city and in many of the rural communities of the State. The appointment of county probation officers to have charge of the probation work in all the courts of the counties is rapidly increasing in favor. Twenty-three counties now have such officers.

The use of volunteers to assist the regularly appointed officers is still practiced in many courts. Forty-nine new volunteer officers have been commissioned during the last two months.

Probation officers were shown to have more than justified their work from a financial point of view alone. During the past year more than $77,000 was collected by probation officers throughout the State from husbands charged with non-support, and the same turned over directly to their wives and children. Ten thousand dollars was also collected for fines on the installment plan. This amount went direct to the various cities and counties employing the officers.

The Commission meets every two months in various cities of the State.

* * * * *

_Parole and Other Matters in Rhode Island._--Prisoners who have served part of their sentences at the Rhode Island penal institutions will be admitted to parole if the recommendation of the State Board of Control and Supply, made in its annual report to the General Assembly is carried out.

This recommendation, which the Board seeks to have made into law, would allow a prisoner to remain at liberty as long as he lives up to the terms of his parole. It is pointed out that other States have such laws on their statute books, and that Rhode Island, if it is to live up to modern methods in handling prisoners, must fall into line.

Another recommendation contained in the report, is that one board should be given full control over the management of the various institutions, while the sociological work, such as welfare, admission and probation of inmates, should come under another board.

One of the most important items is that connected with the operation of the new shirt contract, the returns from which show a substantial increase over the revenue obtained by the State from the old agreement.

According to the report, the change from the contract with the Sterling Manufacturing Company has been a most beneficial one.

Under that agreement the State received 30 cents per dozen for shirts, whereas under the new contract with the Crescent Garment Company, the State receives 50 cents per dozen for the same garments.

The result of this during the past year has been an increase in the total revenue derived by the State from $24,185.04, the amount received under a year’s contract with the old company, to $42,930.56, the total received during the year 1913 under the new contract.

The additional revenue to the State from this contract alone, over the year 1912, it is figured, will be sufficient to pay all salaries of the members of the Board of Control and Supply, as well as the clerical staff of the office.

* * * * *

_Chicago to Study Criminals._--Enthusiastic press notices come from Chicago about the proposed criminal laboratory.

The judges of the Municipal court have unanimously voted to establish a psychopathic laboratory for criminal study, thus, it is asserted, placing that court far in advance of any judicial body in this country.

All prisoners who go before a judge of the Municipal court and show indications of being weak mentally or who are believed to have physical defects will be sent to the new laboratory for expert examination in the hope that some way may be found to correct criminal tendencies and restore the victims to normal condition.

If possible, arrangements will be made to send a certain class of prisoners into the country, where they may breathe pure air and come in direct contact with the best there is in nature. Dr. William J. Hickson of Vineland, N. J., who has spent years in psychopathic work, including six months as an assistant in the department of neurology and psychiatry at the Royal Charity hospital, Berlin, has been selected by the judges to take charge of the Chicago laboratory at a salary of $5,000 annually. Miss Mary R. Campbell of Milwaukee was selected as an associate to Dr. Hickson after a committee of judges had made a year’s search for the best experts to be had in this country.

There is an appropriation of $8,500 by the city council available for the work.

In arguing for a psychopathic laboratory Chief Justice Harry Olson and other jurists interested in scientific treatment of criminals have said that under present conditions there was no alternative for the judges except to sentence those found guilty of transgressing the law. Time and again, it is asserted, they have been compelled to deal with prisoners who were not considered actually insane though having mental defects. There was no expert advice available and, in a way, they dealt blindly with the cases. Now it is declared it will be possible to give every such suspect--murder, pickpocket or otherwise--a scientific examination.

“It is not a theory and it is not an experiment”, said Chief Justice
Olson. “It is a practical department. This work is very successful in
Germany. Every day almost, subnormal boys and feeble minded tramps
appear in the municipal court. All that the boys need is a chance to
breathe some real air and get out among the pigs, horses and cows,
where they can do chores.

“Many of those boys can be transformed into material for respectable
citizens. They need assistance, and we start wrong by sending them
to jail and cutting off most of the chances they ever had. The new
laboratory will save persons who have something actually the matter
with them. They will not be packed off to Joilet when there is a
belief that their criminal tendency is caused by epilepsy or other
defect.”

Coroner Hoffman several months ago established a psychopathic laboratory in connection with his office. Its mission is to ascertain causes of mysterious deaths. The Juvenile court also has a psychopathic laboratory.

* * * * *

_Five Escaping Convicts Killed._--On April 4th, a carefully planned prison delivery was frustrated at the State penitentiary in Folsom, when five convicts were shot down. Four were killed instantly and one mortally wounded by prison guards who had been stationed at vantage points where they could rake the entire corridor of the incorrigible ward with rifle fire at the least sign of a disturbance.

Only a dozen prisoners were connected with the plot out of the thousand or more convicts in the prison. Previous warning received by the prison officials that a break was to be attempted prevented what might have been a general prison delivery. The most desperate convicts in the State are confined in the Folsom prison.

Folsom, or Repressa, as it is known officially, is a prison without surrounding walls, the convicts being employed largely in the stone quarry and prison farm during the day, returning to the prison buildings at night, but always under guard.

The fact that the prison is without walls has impressed the convicts that it would be comparatively easy to escape at night and several fatal attempts have been made.

* * * * *

_Flogging Convicts._--According to the Chronicle of Charlotte, N. C.:

“The North Carolina supreme court has handed down a decision written by Chief Justice Walter Clark saying that corporal punishment by flogging is not reasonable and cannot be sustained. It is true that this decision refers to whipping convicts by guards, but it is only a little stretch to make the application cover all cases except where used by parents as a corrective method for children, and it is not too big an undertaking to even reach that form. The court now takes judicial notice when the parent becomes too severe with the child.

“Some months ago a Wake county convict was whipped by a guard, and the matter was carried into the courts. The defendant was adjudged guilty in superior court and a fine of $10 was imposed. In this case the defendant raised the point that flogging was necessary for the maintenance of discipline among the convicts. It was shown further that it has been the custom in all camps to use whipping to subdue the unruly. The case was carried to the supreme court by the defendant, but that body affirmed the decision of the lower court.

“Continuing, Judge Clark gives it as the opinion of the court that while the constitution of the State does not directly prohibit corporal punishment in prison discipline, its spirit is against the longer use of floggings for that purpose. The opinion cites the powers of the world which have abolished prison whipping, and says even Mexico by legislative enactment more than a decade ago did away with such punishment for prisoners. In conclusion, Judge Clark says, ‘we have, however, been discussing the legal rights of the prisoners and we find no authority for its longer continuance.’

“It is true that there is a general opinion among many, especially those who have to deal with convicts, that flogging is the only effective way to secure and maintain discipline, and they contend that unless proper methods are used with a certain class of prisoners a condition will soon arise in the camps which will cause a great deal of trouble. With a squad of vicious and unruly prisoners who have a resourceful leader knowing that the courts will protect them from that only dread of convict-flogging--the ingenuity of the officers will be taxed to secure proper results.

“On the other hand the decision will prevent the undue use of the whip by guards, a few of whom are only too anxious for an opportunity to administer corporal punishment to those who are helpless. While cases of the abuse of this power by the guards are very rare, heretofore the opportunity has always been present for the man who was vicious enough to use it.

“What will be the result of the decision upon the convict discipline of the future, time alone can tell.”

* * * * *

_Brick Plant at Elmira._--Bricks for use in constructing highways in New York State will be made at the Elmira State Reformatory as soon as buildings and apparatus are erected, Governor Glynn having signed the Murtaugh bill, appropriating $75,000 for this purpose. The plan is the first step in the Governor’s recommendation to the Legislature that convicts be employed in manufacturing road material.

Governor Glynn pointed out the greatest item in the construction of brick roads is the cost of vitrified brick. “If the State can secure this brick cheaply,” the Governor said, “the road problem would be solved. In a brick road costing twenty-five thousand dollars a mile, the brick itself costs twelve thousand dollars. Those who are qualified to speak inform me that by securing the vitrified brick for New York’s roads in this manner brick roads can be constructed at a cost of $15,000 a mile.

“On this basis the total cost of a mile of brick road for twenty years would be $16,000, including $15,000 for building and twenty years of maintenance at $50 a year. The total cost of macadam road for the same period is $36,000.

“An idea of the importance of the economy I propose may be gained from the fact that the total saving in the 7,300 miles of road yet to be constructed would amount to $146,000,000 in the twenty years after their completion, or more than the total cost of constructing our entire systems of highways, and I am gratified that the first decisive step toward this end has been taken in the enactment of the Murtaugh law.”

* * * * *

_Apropos of Brick Makers._--More than 150,000 concrete bricks were made by workhouse prisoners at Minneapolis during the month the new plant has been in operation. Superintendent Frank McDonald says his theory of winter labor and the utilization of the short term prisoner for skilled labor has been justified. The plant is employing 60 men and will continue to operate until May 1 when the clay brick industry will open. Whether it will be operated during the summer is not certain.

* * * * *

_Parole in Wisconsin._--Society’s benefit as the result of the adoption of the parole system for prisoners of the State penitentiary at Waupun is demonstrated in a report that has just been compiled by the state board of control which shows that less than 10 per cent. of prisoners paroled violated it. The percentage of violation among the “lifers” is even smaller.

The Wisconsin parole law has been in operation over six years. It became effective in August, 1907. Up to February 28 this year, 938 applications have been considered for parole at the State prison at Waupun. Of this number 480 were granted; 445 were denied; 8 were continued and 5 were withdrawn.

Of the 480 granted, 345 have received their final discharge, 27 were not discharged on account of not having proper employment, 46 defaulted, 10 applications did not meet with executive approval, 5 died while on parole, 2 were pardoned while on parole and 45 are now making monthly reports.

Of the 45 who defaulted 37 have been returned to prison, 7 are at large and two are in prison in other states and will be returned to Wisconsin penitentiary to serve out their terms as soon as they have completed their other sentences.

Under the Wisconsin law “lifers” are eligible for parole after they have served a certain number of years and have been on “good behavior.” In the time the law has been in effect, the applications of 34 “lifers” have been considered. Fourteen have been granted and twenty refused. Of the fourteen granted, 10 are now making monthly reports, two have died and one returned to the prison voluntarily claiming that he was not fitted for the world and that “prison is a more desirable place for me.” One violated a rule of the board of control, was returned to prison, but when it was discovered that others were probably more to blame for the technical violation than the prisoner, he was paroled. He is now making regular reports.

For the past calendar year 227 applications for parole from the prison were considered, of which 114 were granted, 108 denied, 2 withdrawn and two were continued. Of the 114 granted during the past year 66 have received their final discharge, 33 are now making monthly reports, 13 have defaulted, and 2 were not discharged on account of not having proper employment.

Of the 13 who defaulted, 11 were returned to prison and two are at large. In the six years out of the 480 paroles granted there were only 46 who defaulted. This is less than ten per cent.

“The men who are on parole draw from $20 to $35 a month and some of them more,” said President Smith.

* * * * *

_Honor Camp in Georgia._--On motion of Commissioner Winn the first honor convict camp to be established in Georgia was recently authorized by the Fulton County board of commissioners, recently. A force of negro convicts, who have long been trusties, will be put to work grading. Some of these trusties will take the place of drivers, who are now employed by the county at a cost of $4,000 per year.

Two other resolutions tending toward convict reform were adopted. One provides that the convicts shall not be worked more than ten hours a day at any time during the year, and fixes longer dinner hours than have heretofore been allowed. Another provides that the convicts shall not be forced to walk a longer distance than three-quarters of a mile to their work.

* * * * *

_Up to Father._--We copy the following story from the annual report of the Pennsylvania Prison Society.

James A. Leonard, President of the American Prison Association, relates the following story:

“A man came into my office one day, greatly excited,” said Mr.
Leonard. “He appeared to be a hard-headed business man--a live wire.
I asked him what I could do for him.

“‘I don’t know whether you can do anything’, he replied. ‘My boy is
in the hands of the sheriff over there. My boy has been sentenced to
the reformatory. But I guess you can’t do anything for him, because
he’s a born criminal.’

“‘If he’s a born criminal, he’ll be the first one I ever saw’, I
replied.

“Then this man went on and told me what he had done for his boy. He
had bought him a pony and cart when he was little, and later he had
bought him a gun and a boat, and so on, and so on, and before he
got through I marveled that the boy had not been sentenced to the
reformatory much sooner.

“‘You have bought all these things for your boy’, I said, ‘but have
you ever been a father to him?’ The man looked surprised. ‘I mean,
have you ever been a companion to him? Have you ever interested
yourself into the things he was interested in?’ He had not done so
because he was a busy business man.

“One year later when that boy was paroled he shook hands with me and
said: ‘Mr. Leonard, there is one thing above all others that I want
to thank you for, and that is for getting me acquainted with my dad.’

“I wasn’t worried much about that boy after that because he had
reached the stage where he called his father ‘my dad.’”

* * * * *

_Prison Earnings in New York._--The convict population of the State of New York at present is 4,604, an increase of 88 over a year ago. The highest number confined at any one time during the year was 4,838. The total cost of maintenance during the year was $814,583. Sing Sing earned $73,371.50, a decrease of $3,513 over the previous year; Auburn earned $29,167.45, decrease of $39,954; Clinton earned $36,963.72, decrease of $7,811.

* * * * *

_The Views of Boston’s District Attorney._

To the Editor of the Boston Post:

Sir--The morning Post states that in a speech last night I said that in 10 years there would be no prisons. This is far from what I said and I would ask you to make due correction.

With the fullest hope and confidence in human nature I must confess that I have not as yet reached the point where I could express the belief that Utopia would be realized within the next decade. What I did say was that within that time courts would no longer pronounce definite sentence upon those found guilty of crime, but that the sentence or length of time during which a guilty man should be deprived of his liberty for the safety of the community would be determined by some competent board of men appointed for that purpose, with all the power and dignity of a court, who, after the fullest investigation, would determine where the person should be sent and for what length of time, subject to modification thereafter.

I said that the distinction between felony and misdemeanor would be abolished and the State Prison and House of Correction would be abolished under those names and that all institutions would be known as Houses of Reformation only, the added sting and stigma of felony and State Prison being removed.

I do feel that the prison of the future will differ from the prison of to-day as much as ours does from the dungeons of yesterday, even as the thought of punishment of a guilty man is disappearing from the theory of advanced thinkers in criminology and in its place reformation and development of the convicted man is becoming the principal consideration.

Yours truly,
J. C. Pelletier, District Attorney.

Boston, December 18, 1913.

* * * * *

_Not Stripes, But Uniforms._--The fourth State Legislature of Oklahoma provides modestly colored jeans--gray jeans for the regulars, brown jeans for trusties in the State Penitentiary. The “ring-tailed” stripes are still found in the store rooms of the penitentiary, but they are used only as a means of punishment, to be worn only by prisoners who have escaped and been returned after capture. Suits of novelty goods, various colors, but neat, though cheap, business cuts, are provided when prisoners have served their terms.

* * * * *

_“Dope” in Magazines._--A prisoner recently released from Stillwater Prison, Minnesota, has been arrested by post office inspectors in New York.

According to the inspectors, Chessman has been sending sulphate of
morphine to prisoners in the Stillwater Prison for several weeks,
inclosed in magazines. Single copies of a current periodical often
contained as much as 30 grains of the “dope”, it is alleged, and the
inmates professed an amazing fondness for reading.

The warden became suspicious when magazines not ordinarily read by
criminals began to pour in by every mail, and directed that some of
the packages be opened. It was found that the pages were literally
covered with “dope”, which had been carefully distributed between the
leaves. One of the magazines was forwarded to the government chemist
for analysis and it was discovered that 28 grains of sulphate of
morphine had been secreted in the package.

* * * * *

_Prisoners’ Wages in Iowa._--Under date of February 6th the Des Moines Register states that the method of paying prisoners for their work within the State Prison walls has been tried long enough to prove the venture successful. The corps of salary-earning convicts are those employed on the new cell house, including electricians, wirers, plumbers, plasterers, steam fitters, mechanics and iron workers. Just now the working force is somewhat reduced, though the weekly payroll amounts to $69.

An effort is on foot to secure a wage allowance for the men employed upon the construction of a new reservoir, to be followed by compensation to prisoners for all work on strictly prison industries. As an ultimate possibility in this direction is the plan to put all prisoners upon a salary, charging them for their care and living, with opportunity given for earnings.

At the same time, throughout the city of Fort Madison is being circulated a petition to Governor Clarke to halt the employment of prisoners to do laboring work about the city. Such work as papering, plastering, painting and carpet cleaning is specifically mentioned. The petition has nearly a thousand signers.

* * * * *

_At Duluth, Minnesota._--Although the joint city and county work farm had been in operation little over a month by February 9th, prisoners sent there have already cleared the underbrush from nearly 20 acres. It is expected by spring over 200 acres will be cleared. During the summer the men will prepare the land already cleared so that it may be plowed in the spring of 1915.

According to Superintendent Fred Ward of the farm, all men now at the institution are apparently satisfied with conditions and appear willing to work. A few have been encountered, he says, who at first refused to do their share.

In all 52 men have been sent to the farm from municipal and district courts. Four men have been discharged, leaving 48, the limit, now in the toils.

* * * * *

_Ending an Old Abuse._--The Boston Transcript thus characterizes the effort of the War Department of our country to modernize its treatment of military prisoners. “The bill for the revision of the Articles of War, which was passed by the Senate recently without dissent, and almost without debate, is intended to be the legislative expression of Secretary Garrison’s advanced ideas on military penology. It will be remembered that in September last Secretary Garrison issued an order applying the principle of endeavoring to make the military prisoner better instead of worse for his imprisonment. This is a familiar purpose in civil penology, but an innovation in the military code. Secretary Garrison could proceed but tentatively in putting his reform--for reform it is--into operation, but now, if the House concurs, he will have the authority of unquestionable law with him in substituting detention barracks for military prisons.

“The scope of Secretary Garrison’s new departure becomes apparent when it is said that heretofore criminal and military offences have been regarded almost from the same point of view, and the offenders have been treated along the same lines of punishment. Men were sent to the army prisons, where they were worked hard and were made to feel their disgrace whenever possible, only to be finally dishonorably discharged, which included the forfeiting of all the rights of citizenship. Naturally, this kind of treatment was not exactly fair to all the prisoners, for many of the offenders had made serious mistakes through an ignorance of military matters, or through the yielding to some outside influence, such as deserting to visit a sick relative. Such men as these were not really bad, but nevertheless they were made to serve time with the ultimate disgrace of dishonorable dismissal hanging over them along with men who were convicted of acts of moral turpitude.

“The military prisoners now are practically divided into two classes, a classification that the proposed law will maintain:

1. Soldiers convicted of offences against the discipline of the army;
that is, purely military offenders; and

2. Those convicted of statutory and common law offences.

“This new order of September 17 deals mainly with the first class.

“All soldiers of the first class are separated from those of the second class, and are given a chance to make good and to ultimately return to their regiments and fulfil their term of enlistment. The time they have spent in confinement is not taken out of their period of enlistment. Most of these men are sent to the new detention barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Ks., while the remaining few go to the barracks at the Presidio, just outside of San Francisco. No men go to these barracks unless they have a term of three months or more to serve, as men with short sentences are placed in the post guard house.

“Upon a soldier’s arrival at one of these detention barracks he is eligible for one of the companies or battalions, which are organized, equipped and drilled as infantry under the command of officers and non-commissioned officers specially selected and detailed from the active list. A serious attempt is made to do away with all the atmosphere of a prison. The men are not known by numbers, but by their own names; and the heretofore prison garb is replaced by a uniform, differing slightly from that of the Service. There is also school for the more illiterate men, and courses in shorthand and typewriting are open to all wishing to take up these subjects. Thus, these men will learn things which will be to their advantage later in civil life. No menial work whatever will be performed by the prisoners, except their own police duty. Under this system the men will not feel all the while that they are prisoners as they formerly did, but as soldiers doing soldiers’ work and receiving soldiers’ training. And when these men return to the colors they will not return as men who have worn stripes and numbers, but as men who have been subjected to a special and rigid regime of military instruction and training, for the purpose of bestowing upon them new ideals of conduct, and to make them capable of performing efficient service upon rejoining the army.

“And as for the men of Class II.--those convicted of acts of moral turpitude--they are sent to Federal penitentiaries, where they will serve the sentence given them by a military court martial. When their time is up they will be dishonorably discharged, thus forfeiting their right of citizenship.

“Also, this new system will have much to do in the saving of material, money and character. It will save many from becoming social outcasts, who only spread germs of antagonism against the army and all organized government. The shorter terms of confinement, during which the men receive schooling of more than one kind, cannot but help in making soldiers and not in destroying them.”

* * * * *

_Alphonse Bertillon Dead._--Alphonse Bertillon, who died recently at Paris, was the creator of the famous Bertillon system for the identification of criminals. He was director of the anthropometric department of the Paris police. The system was introduced into France in 1883, and was eventually adopted by police departments in all parts of the world, including the United States. However, in later years it is being gradually supplanted by the finger-print system.

M. Bertillon’s system was based on his discoveries that certain physical features and dimensions of certain bones or bony structures in the body practically remain the same during adult life. He took the measures of the head length, head breadth, the length of the middle finger, the left foot and the length of the forearm from the elbow to the end of the little finger. These various measurements were subdivided into three classes, “small,” “medium” and “large.” As the system developed, M. Bertillon added the height of a person, the color of the eyes and length of the little finger. All this information was entered on classified cards.

By means of the system police departments have been able to keep records of crooks who have been arrested and convicted. This information has been of great value in the prosecution of criminals, identified as previous offenders by means of the records, notwithstanding their professions of innocence. Identification bureaus in the largest cities exchange Bertillon measurements one with another, and thus increase the efficiency of the system and add to the embarrassment of the criminally inclined.

* * * * *

_Parole in Michigan._--During the fiscal year ending December 31, 1913, the State pardon board paroled 647 prisoners, having investigated a total of 1,424 cases. The average length of parole was 10.8 months, the average number on parole during the year was 619 and the number of prisoners violating their paroles was 199, the percentage of violation being 15.9 per cent.

Forty-three meetings were held by the board, four being at Marquette, 12 at Jackson, 12 at Detroit and three at Lansing.

The paroled prisoners earned a total of $287,796.65, while the total expenses of the board were $4,370.30.

There is some opposition to the present system of a pardon board, the members of which receive $7 per day and expenses when acting. No member is paid for more than 200 days of any one year, however.

* * * * *

_The Jacksonville Correctional Farm._--Police Justice Stein, of Detroit, has recently brought this description of the Jacksonville (Fla.) city prison farm:

“The farm consists of 640 acres, a mile square, and lies about seven miles outside the city of Jacksonville,” he said. “The property was purchased by the city two years ago. Several hundred acres were then covered with timber. Much of it was high and dry and clear of timber, while the remainder of the land was submerged. The land was purchased at a low price. Since the city bought it the water has been drained off into the St. Johns’ river, and this portion of the farm is now as fertile as any land in Florida.

“An ordinary wire fence, about five feet high, is the only enclosure about the farm. There are four buildings on the land, all of wood. One is for the women who are sent to the farm, and one for the attendants, consisting of a warden, a cook, a physician and several guards and helpers. The other two are used by the prisoners. The buildings for the prisoners are equipped with shower baths.

“The prisoners are taught to work on the farm. They raise all the vegetables used on the farm, and the sole cost to the city of operating the farm is for meat and clothes which averages about seven cents a day for each prisoner. The prisoners do not wear striped clothes, but overalls and ordinary jumpers. Neither is a ball and chain fastened to them when they go to work. During the last two years but one prisoner has escaped or tried to escape, and he came back of his own volition two days later.

“The average number of men on the farm runs from 75 to 100, while the number of women averages about three to five. Both whites and negroes are sent to the farm. Besides the farm work carried on, the men work on roads, ditches, at cutting timber, and in planting new trees. The men are divided into squads.

“No prisoner is sentenced to the farm for more than ninety days.

“By a peculiar architectural arrangement one man can guard all the buildings. Each building has but one door. These doors all face a common center, about 25 yards away. The walks from the doors to the center are bordered by a high wire fence. At the center is the gate, which admits the prisoners to the farm. Here the guard sits with his rifle, and he can cover the buildings easily.

“The increased value of the land since it was purchased by the city, due to the draining of the swamp, its high degree of fertility and the good roads on it, have more than offset the purchase price, and the money expended by the city to keep the prisoners in meat and clothes.

“I think the day is not far distant when Detroit will consider the advisability of establishing a prison farm.