The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1876-01-06

| $50: and he states that they will ,urn,.s
| the Penitentiary for J4 conyicts. or 1ae room in
its present capacity-there being now r ceR than
the fact that, with the increasing popnl,tionew Of
| State and the rapid growth Of its la a : Of the
| the number OF convicts must coSSJr cities,
%, msras,ion ief ars years wortb to g. some, these rscOS TO-
ton. The Warden also ecommanS nsidefa.
the Deputy be PAID $1,000 per annsn mus. that
$1,000; that the Clerk be paid a salary Of ~ q Of
and the guards be paid $50 per month f I7n law,
| Grafton OF the arduOus duties of these oaio cohsid.
| employees, l am Of opinion their salaries SSen and
increased, and | hope the General Assemb1v'aa be
be convinced of the justice and propriety III y may
recommendation. 1t is estimated that I, M M I'll.
be required for the transportation OF mr. y VIII
which should be provided. p''soAeFs,
Special attention is invited to tn. reu,.
the Warden and the physician OF the pen;tsrsss@
| upon the subject of insane criminals, that ,-nna.afy
worthy Of thoughtful consideration. ' We'll
The additional PenUsntiory. Since IN.
meeting OF the General Assembly the ta" m last
cell room for which an appropriation wa spU Uyy
has been completed. This building contains niae
enty-two cells. and is built IN a ~wOrkmoniit'o rev,
substantial manner, creditable alike TO tb@ aug
| ness management of the COMMISSIONS a 0tsl-
| Superintendent, and to the mechanics inv, me
~ in charge OF the work. And it is remA9S S.ILe
that nearly all the labor upon this bujlJim Nn a
performed by ]convicts, but few OF whom h." vas
experience in stone-work prior to incarCer,ttti, any
the PCnitentiaEy. The Commissioner, sIutI
ing the recommendations of tie WardaT1N
that the general support fund Of thu ic AK
tuition. now SS.33b per month Der man hi1ll!-
creased to twelve dollars. | heartily infnr. .' m
| recommendation, and would call special gt,.nt u
to the reasons given for it. Provision should IN
made for the employment Of 4 physician; and Nv, H.
| physician who has acted IN that capacity Tnr ,%o
years, and whose report accompanies the ITIrJ.TnHIo
| should be paid for his services. There sLnnt3n :,
a Deputy Warden provided for by law, and ,p ~
guard who has faithfully performed the durir. |;
Deputy in the past should be compensated ft M u
more responsible and Onerous labor SIS
policy, enforced by the spirit of our Christian rn
i~lization, demands that provision BE- made rCt.
Chaplain. who shall also act a. d teacher In -
Of the beneicent results Of the plisop-scbnoiIa y,
Fort Madison, which is but a repetition Of t 1ba'
pcrience of all Penitcntiaries in which school.
have been organized, | need not occupy splrs hs .
an argument in support of this suggestion A.
appropriation OF So, 900 is asked for With wbi,5HAA
build prison-walls. There is no doubt As IN ~.
necessity and propriety Of an early iuclosura. T oT
the Prison-grounds. The character of the wall,
and the amount of money they should cost will hs
for the General Assembly to determine
come now to consider briefly another question
in connection with the future of our Penireutiariss
which involves tho welfare and honor Of th. S.
| assume that but few persons will Question m,
doctrine that crime is a moral disease. and that tbs
object OF punishment is to protect society from sv
posure to the results of this malady and to rnrs
the disease. Modern thinkers and writers pnnn
social science have made many suggestions a
garding tho improvement of methods and n-or
tees in the discipline Of prisons and reformnato.
ries. The aggregated result of the discussions nv
the most experienced delegates to the international
Prison Congress of 1872, held in London. and At III.
National Prison Congress of 1874, in s.. Ions
WAS practically to agree that, TO give prnltevtia-ias
the largest measure Of efficiency as ~iefOrmlfnrieS
no prison should contain over 800 COnvicls At arv
one time. Between 800 and 800 were held 70 he
about the number best calculated to nabIe the
manager TO exercise Il personal influence upon
each individual and TO afford the best results in
moral and intellectual progress as well Us in The
profits OF labor. They also agreed in the cynr'u,
sion that ~convicts should be classified acr5rIi1g ia
the grade Of their crimes and the moral pr1.T.,,
made subsequent to incarceration.
The time is rapidly approaching when. II tn.
proportion of criminals TO population rrmains 4.
at pre-ent-and we can hardly expect this prupo-.
ton 10 be materially diminish 1.-THE Penilcntiary
at Fort Madison will be filled 10 the limits I'M,
may be prutitably cared for under one MANAGE.
ment, and the Additional Penittntlavy will fni is
accommodation for Conyicts in full demand
Now / suggest that the State try, in It's main lpat-
ures, the experiment OF prison discipline which
! has been found TO work so admirably in other
countries. Say we should use the IcGi'rntlary
nj Fort Madison for all conyicts properly
classified as of q CrjHGtHG! Ha'ars. Let The
Additional Penitentiary be for those who
d. 1t belong to this cla>s-tIost Whose
C. ts consisted in giving way to Sudden
passions. or who had ialieu from having
come into the presence OF an unlocked Tor t'jupta-
ton. And then, gradually, those who have been
held with the criminal class, e,pecia,.g vouths
I convicted of a first Otense. after i probationary
schooling under the rigorous discipline u Fort
Madison. and upon showing Satisfactory progress.
in reformation could be transferred 10 the prison
Of O milder discipline, and whore the inmates
might safely and prOntably exercise u more en-
Jared personality than could be permitted 10 tho
entirely UNIFORMED. The Irish system uf pro
dictionary prisons takes the convict through sew
eral intermediate classifCatious during his prm-
Tertiary life. and finally, when discharged. be 10
| still partially supervised by a system OF tIcker,-Ot-
leave. until he finds his place in society. At
LHsk, in ireland, some seventy or eighty prisoner.
are employed in agricultural labor, all OF whom
have graduated through the rigorous discipline Of
the Intermediate prisons, and, Reaching this last
stage in the reforming process, they or" here
held in subjeCtiOu by the moral influence
of the manager, without walls 10 bed--
them or guards to intimidate them. This
illustrates what moral and intellectual train
ing may do for the most hardened.
am thoroughly convinced that with pgoprr nan.
agement Il fair proportion of all persons convicted
OF crime may be reformed. The daily Routine iI
Dor of the prison fOr those who have never b"sH
taught habits of industry; the night -gNDtl fM
those who have been raised in ignorance; the sun
day-=ChOol and ministratiOns and friendly visits 81
the Chaplain for those who have never been taught
the way of 81 higher fife. and the cheering word u
encouragement from the generous hearted prison
officers will all enter as elements into the TX
perlence and education which may BE- made ID
transform the lives of even criminals. But | vii
be told that this viii cost. and that society is unwII
ing to suffer the dCprcdations Of criminal ANA thtE
pay money to educate them. 1t l. by no mran'
certain, when you take into consideration the
dlmlnutiOn OF crime from a system that viii re
form men instead Of turning them out to repeat
their old crimes, and in view Of the fact that th,
PenItentiary containing the parti4lly-retOrme
Will require comparatively ight walls and few
guards, and Will contain prisoners who may N
worked proftably outside the yard, that there vii
be any additional expense in the system proposed
But if it should cost, TO begin with, s~omtthin!
more than under present arrangements, it won,
in the end compensate by lessening crime in tn
State. But | only hint at reforms which presrn
inviting fields for argument, and which | deem
worthy the best thought and the earnest attention
OF legislators in an enlightened age and i pro
gressive State.
THE REFORM SCHOOL.
In harmony with the foregoing th2o-,ps %reisti.
to prison management. the state established i r
form School for vicious and incorrigihir youth. q
ElGora, in Hardin COunty. The DuUrd Of Trustee
and Superintendent have stated in their REPORT
the condition and needs OF this school ! w0nl
respectfully invite your attention TO their sn-ges
tons. They deem it important that the rontrin
plated main building should be Immediately rect
ed, and estimate its cost at $4,000. This will per
nit the building now occupied az headquarters 4
be used as a general shop (the purp0Nr 70
which 1t was originally intended to The gTra
advantage of the State and in aid Of the innu-tris
department of the school. 1t will also enable m
Trustees to remove the girls department to Fl
dora and temporarily care for it in this mail
building, where the girls can be isolated from th'
boys and under the immediate supervision OF tn
Superintendent and Matron. The necessity 70
some provision to accommodate the girls sth0o
is enforced by the fact that the lease OF the quar-
tiers now occupied for this department viii hHpir
in 1873. The amount of funds which may proper
ly be used toward meeting these objects will re-
main for You, having in view all the State lnstitD
tons and all their needs, to determine.
In the removal of the school to h new and unpTn
ductive farm, attended by the expenses OF th
transfer and reestablishment, Il debt Of som
$500 was necessarily contracted, and good iAt
requires its pay ment.
Last April, in compliance with\what seemed t
be q necessity, and at the request of the Board o
Trustees for o committee to aid them. | 4ppointe
Hon A. G. Dodge, Vim. II. Leas, Esq. snd Mrs
Deborah Cattell to visit and investigate To
finances and management of the school and 70 re
port their conclusions to me. The com
mittea aud Trustees met. at Eito~a. wl.hn