The Grange advance. [volume] (Red Wing, Minn.) 1873-1877, 1875-11-17
me iowa Reform School. Snx~es
t1ons to Legislators.
IChfcagU TribnnefIs

,suu,u, .,,., ,.s'..".,. %. leg A~AuSOISs
tchicago Tribune
Iowa has her Beadle Bundle in Super.
intendent McCarty Of the State Reform
School at Eldorado.a The inyestiv.t;n,
committee which has been exploring HE
management Of that institution re1oorts
that he began building up his reput af;on
as model official by series of exner;.
ments upon the boys whom he was to re.
form, for the PURPOSE Of fdetermin i,;oifhe
least possible amount of food that Would
suffice to keep their souls and hod;es IN.
getherr.i re thus succeeded, without
killing any outright, in fetching. them
down to close starvation Diet At the
same time this model official drew nam
the State Treasury, in all, Sl,l55 for Tho
subsistence Of fictitious inmates Of the
institution. The boys who were he;no
reformed by hcCarty stole moldy crnsts
from tho cook room and raw potatoes.
and begged from neighbors the privilege
Of eating refuse food picked out of the
Stop pals. And yet that didn't reform
them, these voracious bad boys With
gnawing appetites. A number Of them
plucked up spirit enough to smusgle to
the resident trustee petition asking for
more. The trustee at once advised Nc.
Carly of this INSTRUMENTATION. The lat
ter thereon arraigned these hungry lads,
significantly admonished them that The
trustees would not thank them for such
complaints, and first giving an oppor-
tunity to those who chose to do SO to
tie themselves OUT of the petition, SEN
fenced the remainder, for having forged
their fellows signatures, to be put on
bread and water-which must, of course.
have satisfied the most OBJ lurately hun.
cry Of them of the suficiency Of the star.
walton diet, and have reformed OUT Of
Them the idea of complaining in the fu.
ture. McCarty further reformed the
lads placed under his charge bv
series of refined cruelties, such
as under our enlightened code,
the officials of penal institutions general;
" seem left to practice at pleasure.
though what warrant Of law there is for
them no lawyer has ever been able to ex.
plain. McCarty thrashed the BOYS as
often as he felt like it.; so did the subor.
dinate officials generally. Chastisenent
was inflicted with raw-hides, buggy
Whips, broom-handles, harness.straps, and
ropes double and .quadrupled, boards and
chair bucks. AS many as one hundred
lashes were inflicted at a single punish
ment. Some Of the boys received in all
over $500 lashes. Besides, they were
further reformed at this Reform Schoo
by being slapped, knocked down, kicked,
shot at. and handcuffed. For the pur-
pose of further reforming them, they
were shut up in the dungeon for weeks at
a time. The dungeons, which built in the
cellar, measured from 80 to A inches in
width, IA IL feet long and 7 feet
high. with no opening for light,
and, when the door was closed,
without ventilation, except what might
come through the crevices about the
door. A boy was placed there twenty.
one days for the crime of surrept;tiously
putting on two pairs Of pants in cold
weather. This school was one of the in
situations. too, of which 1t was boosted
that corporal punishment was not prac-
ticed therein, but the report of the COM
mittee, which was in session sixty-tive
days, and with the aid Of eminent law.
yers on both sides, examined witnesses,
more than half OF whom were for the de-
Tense, is filled with instances OF beating,
kicking and knocking down of the boys,
as we'll as of starvation and Imprisonment
in the dungeon for weeks at time. This
expose is significant as indicating the ten
dency of our penal and charitable institu-
tons to develop Beadle BUNDLES, and i'm
pressively inforces the self:evident fact
that the era has passed for permit ing the
officials, whether of Reform School or
Penitentia1y. to prescribe at will code
Of punishment to be imposed upon the
inmates without trial or appeal. In the
nature of things, these barbarities will
obtain to a greater or less degree in all
such institutions until fixed code of
rules is enacted by the legislature, a for
NAL accusation and proof required before
punishment for infraction of the rules be
inflicted, a record kept of each case, and
provision be made for appeal to public
legal tribunal, where an impartial hearing
should be accorded the accused, and
exposure and punishment of cruelties be
insured. As it is, it would be interesting
to know by what law prison keeper,
warden of a penitentiary or superintend-
ent of reform school sentences an in.
mate of such institution to the dungeon,
the lash, or other punishment, and that
without trial and for violation Of rules
prescribed by such official, while the in
Fiction of cruel and unusual punishments
is prohibited by the constitution, and the
full right of trial by jury is secured to
every person charged with an offense, even
though committed in prison, as has been
ab',ndantly established in the trial and
conviction of convicts for murder of their
keepers.
Increase i'm POstmasters Salaries- =,