St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-11-14
PRISON REFORM.
intermediate Prisons and Abolition
of Contract system advocated.

intermediate Prisons and Abolition
of Contract system Advocated.
The announcement that Rev. NJ. MEG.
Dana and Secretary Hart of st. Paul would
address the Knights of Labor upon the sub
ject Of Prison Reform and its relations to
the convict system. was sufficient to ill
A O. U. W. hall last evening to its utmost
capacity with workingmen, who manifested
the deepest interest in question which is
of manifest importance to them. j, P.
McGaughey called the meeting to order
and J. s. Rankin was elected chairman for
the evening.
BY way of introduction DR.. Dana, the
first speaker. said:
1T is with unwonted pleasure that 1 am
here tonight by your invitation to speak
on a theme of growing importance in
which you have deep interest. 1t is not
often that men of my cloth appear before
you, fact l personally regret, for they
need to come into closer sympathy with
workingmen and that contact would do
them good. The Gospel we preach
is the real socialism of the age.
and if understood and universally
adopted and carried out. would remove
those inequalities and injustices against
which the industrial classes make their just
protest and complaint. For one. would glad
" secure this platform for representatives
of my profession, that they might come and
understand you better, appreciate your
aims and lend helping hand in the realiza-
ton of every scheme likely to promote
brotherhood to diminish the chasm between
rich and poor. to elevate and improve the
condition of the wage-classes.
Mr. DAM then took up the subject of
convict labor. In the United States, he
said there are now 20, 595 criminals in
penal institutions, and 500. 900 discharged
criminals are abroad 1t annually costs us
1882, 600, 900 for the care of our state prison
convictS, Only 10 per cent. are estimated
to be professional criminals, and not to ex-
coed 25 per cent. are habituals in tech
nical sense. leaving 65 per cent. who, if
properly trained, would be reclaimed and
saved.
THE INCREASE OF CRIME
is Ominous, and in order to show this forci-
bly, DR.. Dana quoted the following statis-
tics: 1850, 6,737 prisoners, or l out of
3,442 citizens; 1860 19,O61 prisoners. or l
out of 1,647 citizens; 1870, So 901 prison.
ers, or out of LODI citizens; 1880, SO, 25S
prisoners. or 1 out of S37 citizens.
The prison statistics of Great Britain
were quoted TO snow Inc Denehclal effects
of the system there, which in measure not
only tends to reform the prisoners but to
enable them to support themselves honestly
after they get back into the world. With
the same amount of watchfulness exercised
in the detection and arrest of criminals
there are annually 4. 726 fewer criminals in
prison than there would be if their system
was the same as that of the United States.
As the average term of such convicts is six
years the actual prison population is fewer
by %, $50; in other words, that many more
men in England and Wales are in conse-
quence of prison reform supporting them
selves by honest industry. In England all
the prisoners awaiting trial in jails are con-
fined in separate cells; are thus cut of
from contamination. What we need in this
country and here in Minnesota is
PRISON RRFORAI.
The speaker then proceeded to explain
the Elmira plan, or Norton system. Ameri-
canized. as the ideal system which has been
found eminently successful. 1t appeals
to hope, it uses the stimulus of rewards;
it is manhood making, and not money
making. The distinct features of the sys-
tem-the grading. marking, and parole
were read from a descriptive pamphlet. Al
Elmira, only per cent of the criminals
lapse into crime after their release, instead