Worcester daily spy., 1852-01-21
state Reform school.

state Reform School.
The Trustees Of this bene6cent and peculiarly
American institution, have made their report for
the year ending Both Nov. 1851, and it is high
iy gratifying to find that their statement is highly
favorable to the success Of the experiment Of re-
claiming and Reforming, instead of puais1iag
youthful offenders against the laws.
In Great Britain there is no public institution of
kindred character with this. The Draconian
spirit still prevails in British jurisprudence, and
in no respect is this cruel spirit so strikingly ex-
emPli6ed as in the modes practiced towards the
young.
The petty judges in the British Metropolitan
and County Courts, are composed to summarily
punish chidsea charged with uinor offences; and
we know that aOggiug is daily practiced in the
prisons
In report of the Chaplain of Newgate Prison,
London, for lS49, we see strong ground taken
\ against this brutal system of decorating the body
in order TO improve the morals ofthe young, and
several the chief Judges Of England have de-
uounced it; still tall policemen ply the lash on
etiny backs of the youthful offenders and send
.l'n out to the streets, feeble from prison diet and
auiscipline, and torn and bleeding from the blows
...u.i...Sed 1.-The morning of their liberation.
In Lo~. le there are thirty thousand neg
lectedyouihs, whose whole lives were an inccs-
SAINT crusade against society. The law offered
no antidote to their practices save Imprisonment
and blows, and the evil only increased until pr-
vate benevolence instituted the ragged schools,
since the establishment of which, the number of
commitments for juvenile offences have consider
ably decreased.
At the State Reform School at Wesiborough,
the object is not to degrade and brutalize, by
summary punishment, those youths who have
offended against the laws. but to reclaim them by
kindness, elevate them by education, render them
useful by labor, teach them self respect by con-
fiding in them, ,and returning them without bIem-
ish to society. That this can be accomplished
as general rule, we think the State Reform
School has already demonstrated.
The School can accommodate conveniently
three hundred boys, but last year, in consequence
of the pressure Of commitments, the number
ranged between three hundred and ten, and three
hundred and forty two. Fourteen Of those COM
mitted On 1851 were from Worcester, which
makes the whole number who have been sent
from this County since the shool was established,
so. The total number committed during the past
year, and previously, was $685. of whom ATT
were American born and 90 foreigners, chiefly
Irish. Ofthe ATT reported born in the United
roI "A -.
American parentage; one hundred and twenty
nine Of Irish parentage; six of English; two each
of Scotch and French, and one each of Danish
and German.
OF the parents Of these boys, it was ascertained
that 220 were fatherless; I3O motherIess 225:
had intemperate fathers, and 72 lntemperate
mothers. -Four hundred and seventy two oftbese
boys had no steady employment; three hundred
and seven Of them had been over induIged: three
hundred and sixteen were neglected; four hun
dred and ninety three were truants from school.
and two hundred and sixty one of them were ac-
4ual drunkards- The Trustees report that those
statements are not based upon casual but habtual
practices and facts.
The pupils in the State Reform Schools ar.
put in grades, daily conduct and character being
the titles to position, and be is tapght that the
same test shonld regulate his success In future
life. BY this means public opinion is created
in favor ofgOod conduct and good order, which
produces the best results. One Of the most OBJ
dnFate and common vices Of those BOYS. is living.
Nbut the admirable discipline tends to suppress
this meanest Of vices
The pupils are divided, as far as labor IS con.
cerned into three departments, farming, nsechan-
cal, and domestic.
Farming includes labor on the farm and garden
connected with the institution and on the farms Of
their neighbors. extea and all outdoor la
Dor about the bsiidings.
Those at mechanical employmelns, work at shoe
making and in the tsilor's shop, where all the max
ing and repairing Of the clothes and bedding Of fine
Institution is done.
Domestic employment inciudes washing, ironing,
baking. cooking, scrul,bing, and miscellaneous work
II the house.
While thus employed, attempt has been made
10 escape during the year, though on some occasions
oxer three hundred have been at work in the fields
IL the same time.
All the boots and shoes used in the institution are
made by the boys. independently OF which, they
nanufacture considerable quantity of boots and
shoes, for sale, annually. In the tailoring depart
ment, all the cinfhing required is manufactured,
besides bedding, and numerous articles Of wearing
apparel
On the farm, produce to the amount Of $5, 1915
was raised last year, besides what was necessary
for the maintenance Of live Stock valued at S2,5l9.