Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1885-05-27

SYSTEM which involves an outlay for
machinery, material, etc, that in this
State must amount to millions OF dol
lars, while the product will be less in
come than was secured under the con-
tract system. Therefore i; is fair TO
conclude that the 5000 convicts, more
or less, in the state prisons this year
will cost the taxpayers anywhere
from 81 100000 to $2,3OO,OO0, and
perhaps as much more next year. This
is paving dear for the demagogue's
whistle. and if it turns out so. the
people of New York will throV party
considerations aside and enact COM
mon sense once more in the matter of
prison labor. In other respects than
this the prison system here has been
approaching excellence in its theory
and practice for ten years past, and
still retains features that make il Sill
perior TO the convict system of most
states. The state prisons generally
are in good hands, the management is
bipartisan, and the rules of civil SER
vice promotion are pretty well obeyed
in the appointment of officers.
The most fully developed part of the
New York prison system in the state
reformatory at Elmira, which scarce
Is seems like prison at all and is not
known as such to the citizens of FL
MIRA, who when you ask for ''the
prison." suppose you mean the county
| iail but which is in fact a prison of Sc
| we're discipline-''a school OF adver-
sitv'' as Maconochie called his prison
but also a school in another sense.
| Indeed, il is a great industrial and
| ethical university, where young men
| are net only lectured TO, but actually
indoctrinated with morality which
stands the test of practice, and are
| brought TO snch manual skill in trades
that they can easily earn their own
living when they go out upon pa
role rs the ticket-of-leave is called i'll
New York. And this university, like
Cornell, and Columbia and Yale and
Harvard, maintains newspaper, and
| will venture to say, more useful
and remarkable newspaper than
any of these universities can show.
Mr.. Warner speaks of this paper
The Summary" in his excellent ac-
count of the Elmira rcformatory in
| the North American for April; but he
gives no extracts from il, hardly does
| Justice to some of its most interesting
features. 1t is not only a clean and
wholesome sheet-cnlarged, since Mr..
Warmers visit, to an eight page week
", containing rs much reading matter
as an ordinary four page daily-but il
has some specialtics and performs
some functions that the ideal ncwspa-
pers are often called on for but can
/ 4 20.
steadily wholesome, moral sentiment
which thus becomes the public Opini III
of the reformatory-for every body
reads the "Summare," and trcporIs
| the school exercises and comments
upon them in such a way that it is a
most useful adjunct in the education
that this university gives its gradu-
| ates.
The business OF the young convicts
at Elmira is not TO write poetry and
| edit newspapers, but to support
| themselves by hard work, to learn
useful trades, to overcome vile habits,
| and TO cultivate and practice honesty
of every sort. And they do actually
90 forward and accomplish something
honest in the sight of all men. To
bring about this result much Time
was needed, and a man who had
learned by the experience OF whole
life time how TO treat young cOnvicts
and such man is Mr.. Brockway,
who for nearly nine years lever since
it was opencd) has been at the head of
tins convict university. lie had al
ready successfully managed prisoners
for years at Detroit and Rochester:
had spent wears of preparation under
the training of old General Pilsbury
n lhap earp ad every and Wn a.
the ordinary prisoner. He has
finally elaborated for himself
and has put in successful
system which has all the good features
of Maconcchie's and of the Irish Sys-
TEN, while il carries the education of
the convicts to a point that has never
been attempted before, and that
proves to be IA potent influence in their
reformation. The old fashioned
prison school, dragging men painfully
along through primers and arith-
metics and Sunday school books. N
odd hours and without the hearty CO.
operation either of men or Office
has been replaced at Elmira by all the
eagernc>> and proficiency that belongs
10 an elective course of study in an
enterprisiug college. | have seen The
Elmira students, as Mr.. Warner and
Others have, and know this To be the
case. Their class in practical moral
ity meeting in the chapel. 200 IN all. !
on Sunday mornings after the Catho-
lie convicts have had mass said, is Is
interesting body of students and de- |
baters as any college professor COM |
monlySees.
The labor of the reformatory, mean
time, goes on rs vigorously a if there |
were no school about the premises: the |
workshops are a perfect hive OF in
dustry, and in themselves school for
manual training, habits of diligence.
self-reliancc and honesty, and the
backbone of the whole establishment.
But Tor the tinkering of legislators on
the prison labor question, the profits
of this industry would almost support
the establishment and we should see
n manual labor school in full course
which would be paving its own ex-
penses. As il is the 615 convicts now
n Elmira cost the state S25 900 to $50
900 year; and no part of the revenue
of this great dominion is better ex-
pended. by a strict application of
the work system and BY iudicious en-
enlargement rs we'll as severity, the
convicts go ont reformed. in the ma
jority of cases, and earn their own liv-
ing honestly outside. There are three
main grades in the rcforrnatory and
one-the paroled men--outsidc, and
so well does this grading work that
the men help each other forward, in
stead of pulling one another down, as
in the ordinary prison. This is great
point in favor of Elmira.
| know that this will seem over
praise 10 many who have never Wis
tied Elmira but all who 90 there
and stay long enough To see what il is
doing will find that the half has not
been told. There is no teacher or
ruler of men who could not learn
much from seeing the course of life al
Elmira and the admirable cooperation
OF one part of the city with another
The reformatory itself stands in a fine
country, with noble hills about il and
on large farm which is cultivated by
the labor of conyIcts and i managed
by man who was once a prisoner
Mr. Brockway makes much
Use of reformed and high-grade pri>-
Duers in tho instruction mud