Various

“ But admitting all this, the management of prisons must consider reform as the ultimate service to be performed in all penal institutions. The new prison law of New York has admitted that reform is the ultimate end of all confinement. But it views reformation as the only radical means of protection to society. ”

“ First and foremost is the consciousness of the prisoner that he has been a convict, that he has worn the striped clothes and been separated from society for a period of years on the supposition that he was not worthy to live in said society and therefore had forfeited his right to live in it. If he be strong enough to overcome the effects of such a feeling he must indeed have received a permanent reform or be strong in character. ”

“ In modern times there have been a great many who call themselves social scientists, who devote a great deal of time to the criminal and the pauper, and properly so, for, indeed, it is from these broken down parts of humanity that we realize more especially the nature of human society, and discern more clearly the means of preventing crime; but the ideal or legitimate society must not be lost sight of. We must keep before our eyes the proper laws, proper government and proper protection of organized society while we investigate the habits, conditions and qualities of its outcasts. ”

“ No doubt it is highly gratifying to the tax-payers of Kansas that the institution is on a self-supporting basis. Especially is this to be approved in a new state where so much must be done in a short time; where schools, churches, hospitals, asylums, and penal institutions must be built and maintained by the people almost before they have made themselves comfortable in a new country. These must be provided for, while railroads, roads, bridges and court houses must be built and the native resources be made productive for the support of all. ”

“ But in each of these cases it is to make the commitment of crime less frequent that men are imprisoned, rather than that they should suffer for their sins. But, finally, in the last case the reform of criminals within or without the prison walls has become one of the prime principles of penology. No present system or theory can be complete in these days that does not consider in some manner the methods of bringing back into legitimate society those who by their deeds have become outcasts from the body politic. ”

“ True there are prisoners of entirely different character, who consider all attempt at reform within the prison walls as so much nonsense, or at least nothing more than opportunities for winning the favor of their superiors while under sentence, and when they pass from the prison walls they still feel, if they feel at all, that society is against them and they are against society, and they are ready at the slightest opportunity to engage in their old pursuits without even attempting to enter a legitimate calling and live respectable and honored citizens. ”

“ Even the statutes passed by the state ought to be sufficiently flexible to give large discretionary powers to the warden. Too many boards are a supreme nuisance to rational government. There is no greater mistake made than in the creation of a prison law which shall treat a thousand prisoners as one man, whether in regard to their food, or to the hours they shall work, or to the method of confinement, or the length of sentence, or to grade marks, or to the method which may be taken to reform them. ”

“ At the Kansas penitentiary the system of solitary cell confinement at night and when off duty, and the silent associations of prisoners in groups during the day while at work and at meals, is now in vogue. Without doubt this association during the day carries with it evil influences which are in a measure lessened by the requirements of the law for ten hours of labor for all able-bodied prisoners.
Whatever system of classification is adopted the reform idea must be faithfully considered. ”

“ While we have carried on the work of reform of prisoners to a considerable extent and while many seem to be carried away with it as the only great method of solving the evils of the day, we must not forget that the great institutions which tend to develop society on the basis of prevention of crime are not the only ones which are important to consider. ”

“ Certain it is that no criminal should be returned to the ranks of society until a reform has been thoroughly commenced. And when it can be ascertained that he will not commit crime again, it is idle to confine him longer. New York and Ohio have taken advanced steps in this direction and have instituted what is known as the indeterminate sentence for all criminals, whether in reformatories or penitentiaries. ”

“ Consequently the singling out of each individual as a character study with a desire to give him the full benefit of all helpful measures to reform him, and to place him in a way to make himself independent after he leaves the prison is, indeed, one of the prime factors in prison discipline. The method of classifying together individuals of the same character and degree of criminality, with a view to make them mutually helpful by conversation and association rather than to deteriorate their character has been tried in some instances but as a rule it has proved a failure. ”

“ Mental discipline brings a reform of intelligence, of knowledge and of judgment which are supremely necessary in the care of persons criminally disposed and in the prevention of crime. In this respect a careful classification of the inmates of every prison should be had, whatever be the system adopted, and each individual should have a treatment that best suits his case. Men are not reformed in groups and companies but by special influences brought to bear upon the individual. The Elmira reformatory has been a living application of this theory. ”

“ If he is employed by those who do not understand that he is from prison he carries with him continually the consciousness of deception, and this in itself has rather a bad tendency in developing a spirit which (if it does not already exist) will tend to make him feel that he is an enemy to the society which seems against him. It will be a strong character, even though it be determined to do right at all times and even though the prison reform has been salutary, if it resists the influence of such conditions. ”

“ In all the experience of the mines, only one individual has been seriously hurt, and that when he disobeyed orders directly.
There have been many objections to the contract system urged by persons who are outside of the prison and its management. Whatever objections there may be to the contract system in itself, those usually observed are of no force. It is said that the goods made by prisoners come into close competition with goods made by union men outside of the prison and therefore the union men urge the repeal of the law granting the privilege of contracting prisoners for work. ”

“ A reform measure which shall by direct application tend to develop and strengthen that which is already considered good and, on the other hand, a reform measure which shall reclaim and reform that which is considered bad. In this respect the state prison and the state university are not so far apart as it would seem: one tending to build up and strengthen legitimate society, to protect the state in all its interests, to make law more prominent, reform more stable, human society more moral and intellectual, crime less frequent and industry more prevalent by well ordered education. ”

“ In other words, the practical application of theory, in spite of all the progress that has been made, leaves serious difficulties to be met and mastered. It is generally considered by all right-thinking persons versed in prison science that the following objects of confinement are essential in every case: First, the protection of society; second, punishment of the offender; third, prevention of crime; and fourth, reform of criminals. Doubtless no theory of prison discipline may be considered complete which lacks any one of these four great fundamental principles. ”

“ Some conclude that, because prisoners are dishonest, there is no method by which you can find out about their past life or early conditions. A careful study of this question by men who are expert in handling criminals, has convinced the public that this may be done. Possibly as much of the record of the prisoner as is convenient to be obtained, should be procured by the court and sent to the warden with the sentence. If it could not, the warden then could ascertain through a commission the past history of each prisoner as he comes to him and a full record of his life, condition, habits, etc. ”

“ This record will enable those who have charge of prisoners to study their character, and not only enable them to manage them better as a disciplinary means, but also furnish a means for such reform as the prisoners are capable of. It may do more even than this, in the study of the influence of heredity in crime. There are those who hold that not much can be made out of the fact that criminal fathers are more apt to have criminal children than others. But no one who has made a careful inquiry into hereditary taints can question that there is a great tendency in hereditary crime. ”

“ Certainly a reform prison is needed at present for the younger criminals, where they can be separated from the old and hardened and be placed under the best influence possible. One chief detriment to the effective working of such a reform school in the West is that it is an expensive institution, and that the people of to-day are not willing to pay sufficient taxes for the support of an institution in which so much care is given to those who have committed crimes against the state. ”

“ First, there is what might be called legitimate society, which has sprung up from indefinite and simple beginnings, but has grown into a strong organism, which might be called the proper status of social life; and then there is the other side of humanity which may be termed the broken down, decrepit or fragmentary part of the great social body, which may be called disorganized society. It is as much the duty of the reformer to study the organized and legitimate society as it is to study the disorganized or the fragmentary. ”

“ In this way the management of the prisoners in their graded condition would be more directly under the control of the warden and, instead of being treated as a gang at work in the shop and elsewhere, an individual consideration of every prisoner would be reached in discipline, manual labor and intelligent training.
It is not the purpose of penal institutions to humble or degrade humanity. There is no object in it and moreover it has a tendency to breed crime. ”

“ First, because every citizen of Kansas is interested in the right management of the prison as a means of protecting him and his family. In order to have this protection it is necessary that laborers be given employment for the sake of proper management. As there are less than a thousand of these prisoners all told, many of them are employed about the buildings and grounds and many employed in furnishing coal and other goods to state institutions, the competition does not figure at all in the great labor market. ”

“ A close inspection of the prison management will convince one that a strictly military discipline prevails within the prison. [2] It is a busy place at the penitentiary. All able-bodied men not undergoing special punishment are employed. It is not a place for idlers, for the law permits and requires service. The management of the different industries, the hospital, the library, the insane department, the kitchen and dining room all show care and system. So, also, for cell-ventilation and other forms of sanitation there is great care exercised by those in authority. ”

“ According to our principle each individual should be treated according to the character of his crime and the condition of his criminality, indeed, according to his [Pg 163] own character. Sweeping laws which pass upon a great mass of criminals, that are made inflexible and indiscriminative, are the most valueless that can ever be instituted for the guidance of the warden of a prison. In his judgment should rest the determination of many things concerning prison discipline. A warden should be a person especially trained for his position by long practice and theoretical study. ”