New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-07-31
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RHODE ISLAND REFORM.

RHODE ISLAND REFORM.
Tho Aldermen of Providence have been en-
Gagged since the 23d of last November in taking
testimony respecting the management OF the
Rhode Island Reform School, against which Sc
rious charges have been brought by some OF
the inmates. The eight months deliberation
has resulted thus far in very little-as is apt to
be the way with such prolonged inquiries; but
from the four reports presented by the COM
mittee who had the matter In charge, some very
instructive facta are at last evident. HOW nttle
children who are committed to this institution
in order that they may be reformed OF thelr
Juvenile vices, ever grow up to anything put
the prison or the gallows is a mystery which
we trust the Providence Fathers will be able,
in the course of their still pending examination
TO divine. Upon the general features OF the
process by which natural or acquired wicked
ness is taken out of the infant heart, there Is
no substantial disagreement. Generally speak
ing. it seems TO have been waxed out. The
most popular instrument Of reform IS COM
posed of five or six leather e-strinRs, attached
TO n pen-bandle; not O formidable looking
weapon, but one of the officers testified that
he could easily draw blood with it, 1t was
usually applied to the bare back, and, shocking
as it seems, young girls were subjected to this
degrading punishment, their clothing being
stripped from the upper part of their bodies,
so that the little instrument might have fair
chance. Girls were not exactly knocked
"down,r as the complaints averred, but buff
feted with the open hand" in a way which
appears to have been remarkably vigor-
GUS and exciting, to say the least OF
It. They have been dragged out of bed
and whipped in their night dresses, pushed
under the table with the foot" and re-
peatedly kicked" This last, as everybody
knows, is one Of the most elevating methods
Of moral reform and discipline ever invented
especially when it is applied to girls. Duck
ing refractory children was extensively prac-
ticed at one time, but of late 1T has been
abandoned. Of the charge that some OF the
officials had been guilty of immodest or cor
rupt behavior with female inmates, the Com
mittee all speak tenderly. 1t seems that only
three persons were guilty, and two of these were
discharged as soon as they were found out.
The third was too useful to be spared. and
moreover was brought into contact with the
children only occasionally, with two or three
"at time,n so he was retained. One poor
girl, who seems to have been filter for the in
sane asylum than the Reform School, since
she was subject TO periodical alterations OF
mind was admitted TO the School at the age
of six, and remained there nine years, during
which che was subjected to every punishment
in the large and varied assortment known at
that institution. She was hogged on the bare
back, beaten about the head, kicked, and
ducked though it is probable that she was
not responsible for her misconduct; and if
after this excellent Christian discipline she did
not emerge into maideuhood pattern of all
the virtues and graces, the officers, we pre-
sumo, laid all the blame upon her incorrigible
perverseness of disposition. They certainly
took her in hand early enough and kept her
long enough to test their system pretty thor
oughly. No child can be thoroughly hardened
in vice at the age of six, and for purposes of
educational experiment this girl was probably
as good subject as any theorizer could have
desired
Theory we dare say, however, had nothing
to do with this Providence scandal. The
managers of the Reform School seem to have
gone about their business with no ideas what
ever upon the subject of education, no capacity
for guiding and developing character, no gift
LOT lno mOlulnS OI .lnOldl QUALITIES ana latncr
less fitness for their place than the keepers
of an average menagerie. That they hogged
and abused children who were placed under
their care is not the worst of their offense
the great shame and pity, the crying reproach
of the community, is that when children who
had gone astray were sent to them for refor-
matiOn-when the little waits of society were
brought into this refuge in order to be trained
as virtuous and respectable men and women
system was ignorantly followed which
could hardly fail to stamp out what
ever spark of virtue remained in those
unfortunate breasts The boys and girls were
bad we dare say, but kicks and lashes cannot
have made them any better When the young
women were soused in the pond, we don't be-
lieve they came up dripping but devout; when
they felt the weight Of the teachers boot they
certainly did not improve in temper, and a
whack over the head we are certain produced
nothing but evaporation.
What the Providence Aldermen will do with
their four reports remains to be seen but if
they cannot intrust the reform of naughty
young people to more competent educators
than the well-meaning gentlemen whose con-
duct has been under examination they had
better abolish the school altogether and give
the Devil no unnecessary assistance
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