New-York tribune., 1876-02-07
THE MORG1NZA REFORM SCHOOL.

THE MORGIN/h NEFOhM o'H"Oh'
1t is not year since THE TRIBUNE called
attention as to hopeful sign of reform to
the appropriation made by the State OF Penn
sylyania for the establishment of a Reform
School near Pittsburgh, which was to be con-
Quoted it was stated az far practicable on the
plan of that of Mcttray i'll France. Vicious or
yagrant children were to be subjected to firm
but gentle Christian influence. and, III accord
ance with the system which NJ. Demetz has
found so successful were to be trained In
handicrafts or farm work until qualified to
earn their own living. The school was estab-
lished on pleasant farm. and subsequent re-
ports from commissioners and phianthroplsts
etc., reached u.s. which pronounced the expert
ment successful, the management admirable,
buildings well kept, and so on.
During the last week, the Pittsburgh papers
have been filed with an examination into the
cruelty which is alleged to have been habltu-
ally pIactced upon the children by the Super
intendcnt and officers. The revelations so far
have been sickening. The food furnished was
insufficient, poor, and at times filthy. The
children, both boys and girls, were ordinarily
punished by beating with catwhips, but when
this did not prove sufficient, ingenious devices
worthy of the pamy days of the lnqusltlon
were not wanting. The girls were confined III
strait it-jackcts, gagged. and lashcd for trivial
ofienses, and their head. were shaved close as
q common punishmcnt-a mode OF treatment
by the way which is rcsOrted to by keepers oil
insane asylums to tame only incOrnglble maj
women. and never without effect There IL some
subtle subdung torture to even the coarscst
girl in n bald naked head, and these bircllng
keepers ut Morganza found it out. Boys
were beaten. kicked, and dubbed until
manned. and were kept for months in
stone cells where the frost clung to the walls,
until their feet froze a4 they were taken out,
inyalids for life. a little girl OF eight was
gagged. brutally beaten, aud then tied to the
bansters of stone stairway and left through
Winters night. Yet none of these yslcal
tortures are so appalling as the revelation of
the moral treatment which was brought to
bear on the chldrcn-the vicious and prOiil-
gate being hcrded with the innocent, and all
left to grow vile and 90 To pcrdltion together
at their leisure. They were jeercd at lnccs-
sanity by their keepers for their previous lives,
their ilegtimacy, or their parents crimes !;
there was Sunday sermon read by the man
who piled the cartwlip most vigorously on
week days, which religious service was not
likely, we suppose, to prove very effective
Beyond that We find no recognition by any
officer of the institution of the fact that these
were human beings and not actual beasts OF
prey committed to their charge.
The remedy for these outrages appears sim
plc enough. The brutal men and more brutal
women can be promptly removed and Others
.I,o;, IL lut ha al lie
deeper than chance mistake in the appoint
ment of officers. The natural effect of the
control of number Of human beings upon
tho managers of every institution il to make
them fail into mechanical, unsympathctic sys-
TEN when the men or children to be con
troled are vicious, this system readily becomes
one of brute force. The most humane philan-
tbropist grows hopeless and hardened at times
through long disappointment, and unfortu-
natey the keepers of reform schools have
seldom any capital of tenderness to start with.
This State, as well IA Pennsy ylvania, does
her part nobly toward the dangerous
classes money is poured out like water to-
Houses Of Refuge Training and Reform schools,
and there are State COmmissioncrs-honO able,
enlightened meil-whOse business it Is to act
IA mddlemen between the State and the men
to whom these reforms are cOniidcd to see
that the public money is not wasted, nor the
children sent downward more rapidly than
their home life would take them, AZ ut Nor
ganza The real obstacle in the way of
progress is that these Commissioners become
partisans of the keepers and managers of the
Institutions. They meet them as gentlemen
do gentlemen visit the establishment once
a year; find accounts correct, laundry and
kitchens in admirable order children or con-
yicts as the case may be, marshaled for In
spection, clean. orderly, and-dumb. a favor
able report is sent out tO the State that her
great charity is successful. Presently, when
whispers are heard of outrages, such as these
at Morganza, the Commissioners naturally
take part with the accused that their own
previous verdict may be sustained. Better that
the money of the state should be wasted and
the miserable class for whose salvation it is
given be suffered to perish unhindered than
that "a few men should be proved TO have
grossly erred in Judgment. The Pennsylvania
Legislature have just empowered Il committee
to examine into the condition of the Philadel-
phIa House of Refuge, in which similar abu es
were discovered last year. IL would be wise
in New York just now to oversee more closely
her own charities, by means Of men not too
practical to be humane nor too sympathetic to
be sharpsghted.