, 1880-08-01

! place Ot steam as an element OF transports
ton. The most that can be said now is that
tile model in ATenlo Park works we'll; and il
1fr. Ellison Is more successful upon an en-:
1arged scale, if he can produce the reQulsit
power more economically than steam can be
produced, his new invention will work q
revolution.
TIE FAMILY AND FARM PLAN or JU-
VENILE REFORMATION.
The problem how to reform vicious boys
| and girls, too, might be inclnded-was very
intclligently discussed at the National Con-
ference of Charities, recently in session in
Cleveland, in paper read by Dr., Howe,
now at the head of the Farm School in Con-
necticut and at one time Superintendent Of
the Farm School Of Ohio. DR.. Howe's
recommendations were two in number-hrst,
the adoption Of the family or cottage plan
instead Of experimenting the inmates Of the
rcformatory institution en- masse, and, second,
the cultivation OF the soil instead Of other
manual labor.
III advocating these two methods, as prefer
able to any others, Dr.. Howe presented some
very strong arguments. In a reformat0ry
1GNOOA HAEAN Liz AV15 dAV tANtIt@A ID q AN4A"
gregation, the individual is lost in the mass
to the Superintendent, and lost to himself in
his own individuality. If . Superintendent
has 800 buys massed together and acting as
whole, i: is impossible for him or for his ass
sistants to get acquainted with their pc
cnliarIties, SO that they can apply the neces:
sary reform remedies to each case. The
vicious boy is:one Of multitude justas he was
when {: vagabond in the city streets. In his
vicious career before entering the institution
he never knew the wholesome restraint of
family discipline;;and he does not know any
more Of 1t in his new surroundings. His lib
er1y Of motion and action is circumscribed,
but he has not lost the opportunities
of concealing his viciousness. Worse than
this, he is exposed to the influences of all the
others, has no pride in himself and no i'll
ducement to cultivate self-respect OF i'll
dustry, or to take any responsibility upon
himself. Tie is surrounded by five hundred
bad influences and as many opportunities to
plot mischief and evatle duty. He has never
had good personal influence working upon
him, because, in the majority of cases. he has
never known the good influences Of home,
and he does not have it in the asylum because
it is impossible when he is only one Of great
herd. Dr. Howe's plan con templates the
erection OF small cottages instead Of one
great building into which all are crowded.
In each of these cottages there is a little
group of boys, constituting family, with an
oyerseer at the head Of each. These groups
can be- arraneed with regard to the char
acter Of the boys. In the gregariOus
system every boy is exposed to the influences
Of every other boy. By the family plan, boys
who are inmates from no fault Of their own,
or who are not hopslesly depraved or en-
tircly vicious, can be separated from those
who are. The head Of each little family has
the opportunity to become acquainted with
eac1r member, and to study his case separate.
ly and apply the remedies OF reform with
more intelligence and directness. It is pos
sible also to arouse competition between the
different families and develop feeling Of
PRIDE
The second part Of DR.. Howe's system is
quite as important as the first-name1y: to set
the inmates at work upon a farm cu1tivating
the soil. LII nine eases out Of ten the ayoca-
tions pursued by boys in these reformatory
institutions are Of no value to them after
their terms have expired, and are not adapted
to them. and are not healthy. On the other
hand, the cultivation of the soil is. of value,
because there is always demand for farm
labor, because any boy Of ordinary strength
is adapted to it, and because it is
the hcalthiest OF all work. Besides
these advantages, the nearer a boy comes
in contact with Nature the farther he is re-
moved from vice. No labor IS more lnde-
pendent, honorable. dignitied, or healthy |
than the cultivation of the earth; and it these |
boys-brought up in the streets Of great I
cities and exposed to all their temptations |
md vile associations-can be taught q form |
Of labor that will eventually withdraw them |
from such associations. a hopeful point has |
oeen gained in teaching them self-respect |
and self-reliance,:: besides providing them
with the knowledge Of a department Of labor
II which there Is always a demand for ID
]orers. :. -:
: The best test OF Dr. Hcve's plan is the
success Of al the reformatory institutions !
which are conducted as farm schools, COM !
Jared with those which are not. There are
cyeral institutions of this kind In the coun-
~, some OF which, like the Boston Farm
School, have been in operation many years,
with valuable results, though, If We mistake
lot, the family plan is comparatively new,
md has not yet been very generally tested.
che two plans, however, seem to be admira-
'ly adjusted to each other. and offer new
nd very attractive theme for moral philoso-
hers and charitable, people in general to
onsider and test BY practical experiment.
HAVING obseured his views upon the one
helne which he >endeayored to elucidate,