New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-11-19
WHAT 10 DO WITH rHE BOYS.

WHAT 10 DO WITH THE BOYS. "a
In twenty States Of this Union there are
institutions having special reference to
the reclamation and reform Of the idle,
vicious and pgnnt youth Of the country.
Thsy ase specially devoted to boys, there
being in these ipstitutions about GO, 600,
Who are lundse the discipline connected
tigh sucha teformatory establishments.
With t4p AZ thres exceptions. al these
places aaeIviEA0Ht'snymethod or arrange
ment ~ which ths inmates are so sepa-
rated that the inAasnos Of The vicious viii
not more or less, Affect the innocent who
have committed no crime. and whose only
,eeease j. that of being without friends or
hodnee.S sssasa-9f -9s.qsitE .t.i3. N.
In the Ohio ReiormAtory School for
boys : system has been adopted which is
ven deserving the attention of philan-
thropists and Legislators. There the
school il entirely removed from city air
and influence, being built in quiet
country region, with an environage Of
1910 acres for it, sole use and susten-
ancs. Z. Secondly, mechanical and farm
works Of Ill kinds are taught, and the
period of instruction is made long
enough TO enable each pupil to obtain
real practical knowledge of trade or
useful empacyneht which is seldom the
case in houses IF refuge or correction. In
the third placs, andlmore important than
III, The pupils Hss divided into nine sep
azate families il diesrent buildings each
with IFS indiyidual icsfps of teachers, ma
irons, etc. By thiis simple arrangement
it ID rendered possible 10 classify and keep
distinct the different grades of boys, so
that the criminal end guiltless vagrant
may not come n iecntset: There is not
another such institution in the United
States, with, pethaps. tAe exception Of the
New York '5uysmills Asylum. under the
superintendenes If Dr.. Brooks, where
nearly the same plan is adopted which
prevail& Cx.guN .eQhioI school. 7 This
asylum has two places for the reception
and nshpcAGioR 81 The youth placed under
it, care, ,sneoa Thirteenth street. where
they Afst c6me ind remain for . month
Of more more preparatory to their removal to
the main institution at Washington
Heights. Here they are educated and
trained for ultimate location in some use
FIJI and remunerative employment.
The Childrens' Aid Society in New
York, under the able management of Mr..
G. l. Brace, has also done good service
in the diminution Of vice and vagrancy
among the youth Of that city, but the
food Of mosal corruption does not recede |
according to the expectations Of those who |
are interested in the rescue of these waits |
from degradation and destruction.
In the houses Of refuge in Pennsylvania,
New York and the Eastern States, where
the cost to the State Is the heaviest, the
youthful murderer, thief and rascal works,
plays, sleeps and eats side by side with
the one whose only fault is that he was
homeless and ffiendless. No counter
acting influence is used in these institu-
tions to prevent this course of training,
and what other result can be expected
than that the contact and association
should produce the infusion of that in
sidious poison which, sooner or later, ends
in ruin and disgrace. ,.'n-ri,a3 ,i. t4i i
Houses of refuge, as rule, share in the
defects Of monster asylums and reforma-
tories of every sort. What they are, be-
yond some seventeen States from which
returns have been made to the Commits
sioner Of Education, there is no definite
means for information; but, as to those
States, the buildings are said to be costly,
well built, well ventilated, exquisitely
clean structures, in which, doubtless,
there are laundries, bakeries and dormi-
tories after the latest and most approved
model The inmates may be made COM
Portable while undergoing their forced
plenary penance; but is this all that is
necessary for these poor unfortunates to
enable them to buffet the outside world,
and sustain themselves in the struggle of
life when they leave their reformatory
homes?
These children, kept as they are under
strict discipline, as regards cleanliness
and silence, tied down for few months
1t some branch of trade, in which at best
the most of them become mere botches
and teaches them nothing, and without
that relaxation and play SO necessary to
boyish life, and With strangers Who have
no interest in them beyond the perform