The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1891-05-22
REFORM SCHOOL FOR BOYS.
1 Wsy to Reduce The Criminal Expenses Of
The State.
yEJOR STILES SUGGESTION ABOUT 1T.
ole Remarks Colonel Cutshaw, Police jus
tice, and Others Also Heard on
the Subject.

teal expenses met yesterday ABOUT noon IN
hs senate Chamber Senators J. w. G.
blackstone, Of Accomac county. and William
little. Jr., Of Fredericksburg, were the
only members present.
MAJOR Robert Stiles, president Of tho Prison
,ssociation of Virginia, appeared before the
,,mnittce and advocated the organization of
, .eform school for boys. He gave a detailed
history Of the doings of the Prison Associa-
EN- which had undertaken 20 take care Of the
,ssvWard boys who were committed 20 them,
t,~ the reason that they are Just on the verge
., cnme. and II sent TO a penal institution
v,uld most likely turn criminals.
MAJOR Stiles has visited quite a number of
oointres in Europe IN the interest Of the
v,rk and made some very interesting state
.,s1ts iu regard 20 his experience.
Grcat Britain, he said. supports more re-
t,-matories and industrial schools in proper
t.,o ta population than any other country.
~..ro are to-day ia successful operation IN
.,o british Isles over four hundred Of them.
f4-,tes 20 least half as many more institutions
III kindred character. Within the last
ror,,v years about one hundred thousand
children and youth have passed through these
Meanwhile in other countries-in none 10 a
,--sst4r extent than in \irgnia-the children
II to so-cailed criminal class have been
Ind are to-day. neglected or herded with
-8ened offenders. IN common jails, in abso-
'sts dleuess. The contrast in the effect of
,se two systems upon the growth of crime has
isen startling.
CRIME INCREASING.
1r every other country Of the world save
Great Britain CRIME Is increasing faster than
,,r..ati0n In the United States generally
e.r.c the war, One-third faster. In Virginia
within the past nine years commitments 10
,lr penitentiary have nearly doubled, and
oar criminal expenses more than doubled.
lu Great Britain. the Major continued, on
-le other hand, 50 out of ll3 convict prisons
lave been closed within the past ten years,
willie the number of male prisoners has de-
creased . per cent. and of female 45 per
CENT. during the same period, and criminal
arrests have decreased from 1928 in 1869 10
.44i 1855 All this decrease III crime while
pl0ul8tlOn has been steadily increasing.
.u Ireland there were confined in convict
prisons ZOO persons in 1865 and only 800 IN
l.>t I'm the same country IN 1858 before
These schools went into operation II. 23S chill
aren under sixteen years Of age were SEN
fenced for crime; IL 1889 only 4t3. The above
figures are taken almost exclusively from
official sources.
CHRISTIAN sTArEsMANsHIP.
These reform schools of Great Britain are
tie most philosophical and superb outcome
and agency OF Christian craftsmanship. OF
the youth who pass through them only a very
small fraction drop back into the criminal
class. the overwhelming bulk of them dong
We'll and becoming productive members of
society. The imprisoned criminals Of Great
Britain are today largely confined TO adults
q the incorrigible. hopeless class, who seem
O. 0e fast dying out. 1t Is the freely-eXpressed
opinion Of parliamentary commissions, Of
prison and school inspectors and of lntell-
gent Englishmen generally, that these pre-
yel-iye and child-saving institutions have
solved the problem of successfully dealing
with crime IN modern life The British home
Office Itself commenting on the above and
similar statistics, has lately given utterance
O. this suggestive and tremendous statement:
"lt is certain that, by reformatOries and IN
dgsral schools. a large proportion OF the
supply or raw material for the manufacture
a criminals has, to great extent. been cut
or
VIRGINIA ASSOCIATION.
The Prison Association Of Virginia is to-day
bending its energies, Major Stiles went on 10
say. toward the erection of such State re-
form school for boys, and the Commonwealth,
IN her poverty, has. by express statute,
pledged TO It's support, when established, as
full governmental aid as the British Govern
ment extends 10 any Of its schools.
With this aid, u IS estimated that an instl-
tuition accommodating 100 boys would be self
supporting. The boys Will be forthcoming.
but the enlightened and liberal people of the
State must build and equip the school. We
believe this movement, if properly supported,
viii compass perhaps as much OF blessing for
Virginia and for humanity Us any other ever
inauguTated in the State.
The Prison Association of Virginia has in
all collected $4,000 for the work. and this
amount has been spent in the purchase of
land. etc. The organization started out on
some property of their own IN the lower end
If HenrcO county in November last. but
since then has purchased about a hundred
acres al Laurel Station, on the Richmond,
fredericksburg and Potomac railroad, at the
very low figure of SO per acre. Adjoining
the property was "a building belonging 10 the
Virginia Fire Insurance Company, which has
been purchased and is now being used as
reform school for eighteen or twenty inmates
COLONEL CUTsHAw.
Colonel Cutshaw. the City Engineer, has
visited the place with Major Stiles. and has IN
every respect pronounced 1t to be a very good
acquisition.
I'll the intention Of Major Stiles to apply
10 Governor Mckinney 10 secure the aid OF
some Of the conviots of the penitentiary tolay
ora, and grade the place and construct road,
SD that the institution III the near future
can be reached from this city over fine
driveway. The Major thinks that under
the statute he can get convict labor 70 do this
kind of work. After a building has been
erected SufuClenlly large 10 dccOMuiOIdJe
one hundred and fifty boys, in the opinion Of
Major Stiles, the institution would become
and all the Improvements
necessary could be carried on by the inmates,
as ii is done in similar institutions IN other !
countries.
BAD BOYS.
Mr. Stiles thinks that there are at least a !
hundred boys in this city whose parents do |
not know half of the time where they |
spend their nights He cited several instances |
from his experience which led him to this be- |
lief In his opinion the criminal expenses of |
q State can be materially reduced by the sup |
port OF such institutions TO which boys can be |
for conditions rather than for /
crime before they have dropped over the |
border into crime.
ID has been estimated by statisticians that |
he support Of criminals outside OF the jails
AID penitentiaries IN the United States costs
about 500 900 900 annually by keeping the ne
oessary watch and guard over them, protect
lg the property of others etc.
Messrs. blackstone and Little expressed
themselves highly pleased with the explana-
Ton given by Major Stiles and promised him
tier support with the rest Of the committee.
Later in the day POlice-Justlce Crutchheld
appeared before the committee and gave his
views in regard 10 the proposed MODIFICATION
" The laws concerning the powers OF magls-
YATES and county courts.