The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1888-08-08
Saltwater, Minn., Wednesday, Aug. 8, 1888.
Five Gents

that would shame free labOrer. He would
be quick to learn and anxious te earn all he
possibly could. Those of us with families,
could support them. and pay for the educat-
ing of our children. that they might be.
kept from crime. Our families could be
kept together. and how happily the dis
charged prisoner would return to them.
They are innocent but oh. how they suffer.
The young single man would be able to save
up from $500 to 81. 200. every penny of it
earned by the sweat of his brow; and he will
never spend it fOolishly. 1t is not that kind
Of money. 1t should not be paid to him
until such time after his discharge. when it
can be ascrtained that he is doing the right
thing, and it is my belief that not more
than one in 500 prisoners SO treated would
again enter criminal career. To back
this belief | will quote from DR.. Wines ac-
count Of the large industrial prison Of
Count Sallahub. at Moscow. Russia, as
stated to the international penitentiary
congress held in London in 1872. DR.. Wines
said: 1.-The refOrmatOry results OF the dis
cpline OF this prison is remarkable. only
nine prisoners having returned during six
years out of 1, 100 DISCHARGED At this pris
on various industries are carried on. Each
convict is permitted to choose the trade he
would learn, and on mastering it was al
lowed two-thirds of his earnings So great
a stimulus was this to industry that a man
often became skilled workman in two
months. To this system is the surprising
reformatOry results attributed"
Now. you would not think of going to-
tyrannical Russia for such report. would
you? How would our model" Elmira
prison compare with this Russian prison?
Elmira makes vain endeavOr to teach a
trade in from one to three years. keeps all
the earnings of the prisoner and turns him
out penniless. l hope our st. Cloud reform
atOry will be mOdel--cOme right out and
tell prisoner. I'VE want you to be man."
Let him act like a man in prison. The OBJ
ject is reformation, do it as quickly as you
can. Let him have his wages, all he can
earn, or keep one-third of it toward paying
expenses. Don't think of making the
institution pay. If you do, it is at the price
of blood.
Secretary Hart told us that we should
not get the idea that the refOrmatory was
going to be kind of Young Mems Christian
associa ton, as they are not going to estab-
lsh that kind of an institution. Now, Y.
NJ. c. \. is an excellent thing for good
men, but from our Secretary'S remarks it
is not good for men you are trying to make
good. l think Mr.. Hart has little of
that eternal fire" idea left in him and
wants to mix it up with refOrmatOry medi-
cine.
My advice is. don't. Establish all institu-
ton upon the most advanced industrial
training ideas. allow and encourage all the
independent characteristics the prisoner
should possess. were he to be a model man.
Put the whole teaching and demeanor Of
Jesus Christ toward prisoners into practice.
just try Christ's idea once, and see if it has
any truth in practice. Lose all sight of
punishment when you undertake to reform
the man, and above all. pay him at least
two-thirds of all he earns. and give him an
opportunity to earn all he can. Then every
state in the union will copy your model
AS to our own prison, teach us trades,
and as soon as we can walk alone. pay us
at least twO-thirds of all we earn. If we
were paid all we earn. and by that means
the criminal was reformed, would it not be-
money saved to the taxpayer in the end?
The cost OF maintaining all the prisoners Of
the state. regardless of their earnings,
would not amount to SO cents on the thou
sand OF taxable property. You who own
thousand dollars worth of property. would
you give annually so cents toward reform
ing and reclaiming hundreds of the criminal
class every year in this state, and that our
poor innocent wives and children might have
our support? You who own 500, 600
worth of property. would you give $50 to
that purpose? Remember, before answer
ing to ask the questions who were their
fathers? who were their mothers? had they
kind sisters? or had they good brothers%