Various

“ The general public looks upon a convict with a certain amount of fear. The word criminal is awe-inspiring. But the idea of the insane criminal is more than that; it is replete with the vague terror of the weird and unknown. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Those who commit crime as a matter of choice are few indeed. Many follow it as a means of livelihood because it is the only vocation open to them; and they must be men of stamina, courage, and brains, if they would survive. Those who match their wits against the vast resources of the Powers Who Rule must be clever rogues indeed. They are, in short, just such men as those who attain success in other walks of life—no different. ”

“ These are the men who have chosen crime as a vocation, because their talent and training equipped them for that career, just as you may have chosen the law or the field of high finance for similar reasons. And these men in some degree succeed as law breakers, but even they must pay the cost of their success. And the toll is not light, my friend.
There are others, men who were born a hundred years too late. Men who live as their kind has always lived—by the strength of their own right arms. ”

“ No warden can administer a prison with success unless he has a scientific knowledge of what has been developed and accomplished through the studies and experience of the great leaders in prison reform and such scientific knowledge can only be acquired and practically applied by personal experience in dealing with prisoners. There are to-day, in the prisons of this State, men who have had long experience, as guards or in other subordinate posts, who possess both the scientific knowledge and executive ability qualifying them to fill with success the office of warden of Sing Sing Prison. ”

“ In Iowa the board of control of the State institutions with the advice of the warden of any penal institution, may permit able bodied male prisoners to work on the roads. The law specifically states such labor shall not be leased to contractors. A prisoner opposed to such work, or whose character and disposition make it probable that he would attempt escape or be unruly, is not to be worked on the highways. Although the prisoners are under the jurisdiction of the warden while building or repairing roads, their work is supervised by the State Highway Commissioner. ”

“ Already the day has dawned when men are being placed at the head of these institutions, not because they are politicians with a “pull,” but rather because they are capable business men and broad-minded humanitarians with a heart. Men are to arise who will feel as much “called” to labor among the prison “shut-ins” as do now those who are set aside to serve as ministers of charity or uplift workers. ”

“ In this prison of the coming day discipline will be largely maintained, not by fear of force, but rather by the self-interest and personal pride of the men confined. Punishment will more and more take the form of deprivation of privileges, which latter will be greatly increased because the better spirit and attitude of the men will be such as to warrant the greatest possible privileges.
Wardens, under-officials and guards will be recruited from individuals who have a positive social vision, and who will look upon their position not as a “job,” but as an opportunity for service to humanity. ”

“ The wider extension of the system of probation will save thousands of men from a prison experience, thereby protecting the taxpayer and reclaiming the individual himself, the latter occurring in between 75 and 85 per cent. of the cases. This saving to taxpayers is most evident to-day, for were the two recorders of Wayne county to bring to court and sentence those who now enjoy a probationary relation to their courts, there would not be empty cells enough in our State penal institutions to receive them. It is much better to build up homes than to erect more prisons. ”

“ They want a chance to enlarge their powers and work, because many courts are calling for probation officers and what business they do must come under the care of the Commission. But the serious question is as to what the State is coming to while it enlarges on the plans to make the delinquents pay their way as they do in the cases cited and still have an increase of crime and dependence on the public charity for support. The courts do no less, the jails and prisons no more, and still there is the claim that the people are being taught to do better. ”

“ The feeble-minded class in our prisons in the United States is said to number between 25,000 and 35,000 individuals, or about one-fourth of the prison population. These will be cared for in other institutions than prisons, confinement in which is a greater crime upon the part of society towards these poor unfortunates than were the offenses for commission of which these feebleminded individuals were sent to prison. According to the general statistics, the farm for epileptics in Michigan should care for about 200 persons now confined in the prisons of this state. ”

“ The governor of the prison is General Demetrio del Castillo, and Lieutenant Colonel Tomas Garzon is assistant.
Cuba is thoroughly modern in her treatment of prisoners. The terrible “third degree” is an unknown quantity. There is no whipping post nor “chamber of horrors” at Principe. Solitary confinement in a well ventilated cell, equipped with toilet and shower bath and a wall berth is the usual punishment. The prisoners are not only taught industrial trades, but are given the elementary branches of schooling. Even some study music, painting and sculpturing. ”

“ The measure of success is both in work accomplished and benefit to the prisoners, physically and mentally.
What first impresses the visitor to the camp is the total absence of anything suggestive of confinement and of a corrective institution. The inmates are free to wander within certain limits from the cluster of buildings and while they are garbed in the customary gray suits worn by other county prisoners, there is little to suggest the prisoner to the passerby in their actions and general demeanor. ”

“ As a warden should be selected without the slightest regard to his political affiliations, he should also have a free hand in discharging his duties unhampered by political influence.
“Politics constitute the greatest obstacle encountered by every movement for prison reform. So long as the appointment of prison officials and their retention in office are dependent on political favor or influence, it is hopeless to look for improvement in prison systems or any measures of reform. ”

“ The word HOPE in big letters has been written over the doorway of our reformatory institutions, and so it ought to be. There is no charitable or correctional institution of which society expects so much, and there is no kind of institution that has a greater desire to meet that expectation, but honesty and fairness demand that it shall be stated that the quality of human material given to it is of such a character as to, of necessity, greatly limit its results.”
Other Items From the Reformatory.—During the year 456 inmates of the New Jersey State Reformatory worked outside of the enclosure. ”

“ I have seen how recklessly they can live, and I have also seen how gamely they can die. I have known them intimately, and well, and never have I been able to discover any difference between them and their more fortunate brethren. They entertain in their hearts the same ideas, the same hopes, and the same ambitions as do average men. ”

“ So far, twenty-two miles of road have been constructed through the forest, at a small expense to the county, by the prisoners. A stone crusher and a compression drill are parts of the equipment of the road building gang, which is under the charge of the master of the camp.
Flanked on three sides by mountain slopes and by a large meadow on the other, the camp is situated in an ideal spot. Thankful are the prisoners for the change from indoor confinement, and in token of appreciation they work as hard if not harder than men on the outside who enjoy their full liberty. ”

“ 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.” ”

“ You ask what is a criminal? In the last analysis the question is unanswerable. You could as readily ask, “What is a man?” and the definition would be as undefinable as this. What is a criminal? Out of the depths of my experience I would say that a criminal is a thousand changing moods, a thousand inherited tendencies, a thousand mistakes, a thousand injustices, wedded into a thousand different personalities ”

“ Then crime must be on the increase in Massachusetts, not only in occasional lapses of the people, but as a regular condition which grows with the years. The probation service of the State costs over $20,000 a year, but the receipts the last year were, for the benefit of the State, $80,000 more than that. The following from the commission’s report is worth reading by all the people:
“While the large sum of money collected by the probation officers of the state is not covered permanently into a public treasury, it is not less an actual financial benefit. ”

“ The idea has been created in the public mind that every reformatory is a miracle-working machine; that no matter what is run into it, it will return all material, no matter how good or bad, back into the world, made over into first-class men. ”

“ The cots are not near the floor, but about on a line with the lower sash of the cell-window, some four or five feet from the floor, insuring to bedding, cell and inmate the greatest possible modicum of sunshine and air.
In the prison of the future each man will be paid a certain sum for the performance of his work, whether his task be remunerative or what is termed state work. From this wage he will pay for his food, clothing and such other necessities or luxuries as he may obtain from the inmates’ co-operative store. ”

“ 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 [16] are in the majority. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The average Cuban of the criminal type has but few necessities of life, and these of the barest.
“How do you manage to keep the prisoners so orderly and apparently well satisfied?” was asked General Castillo.
“We try to make them contented,” he replied. “We have a band that gives concerts in the court yard. We let them study, work them, feed them well, keep them sanitary, study each one personally and let them know they must obey the regulations. Each man knows he will get fair and impartial treatment. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ It is estimated that at the present time there are in London alone 20,000 habitual criminals. “The only way of dealing with these habitual criminals”, says an English authority, “is to expel them from the community against which they wage incessant war. A third conviction should cause the prisoner to be deported to some island and reduced to a state of industrial serfdom, in which he could earn his living.” ”