The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1893-04-13

ONOI OOO were lOuIlu 10 nave no CrdU0.
With the exception of those physically
disabled, not one has been left without
effort having been made to teach him a
trade for his selfmaintenance. The
prisoners are taught to perform their
tasks well and dexterously. They are
frequently examined and are fined for
lengthenS confinement and the knOwl-
edge of this stimulates them to their
best action.
When man by reason Of diligence
and improvement and faithfulnesS gets
into the upper first grade he gets bet
ter room. somewhat better clothing,
better food, and for these he is charged
40 cents day. Men who fall to the
second grade, of which more will be
said hereafter, get no wages and are as
cOnvicts in penitentiaries. The law is
at present at the trial stage for this
wage earning system, and, if it cOntin-
ues to approve itself, the law will in all
probability be changed AS it stands
now even the most diligent can earn
but meagre sum, as there is a maxi
mum beyond which wages cannot be
paid.
X
The military training was begun in
1888 and has advanced most rapidly. I'M
til now the refOrmatOry is practically a
military school, with privates, non
commissioned officers, officers of the
line and staff, and musicians, all from
the young convicts. The reformatory
is under military rather than peniten-
tiary discipline, and thus gets all the
good effects of rigid government with
the least possible show of force and of
prison law.
THAT it improves the body" says the
report, 'can be readily understood 1t
also aids the mind by means of the
systematizing influences it introduces
into the workings of the BRAIN The
necessity of responding promptly to
every command, of watching untiringly
for every order, and of executing it with
rapidity sharpens the perceptions of
those unused to intellectual activity.
1t imparts a strict conception of the
value Of order, government, command,
obedience, duty. 1t also offers an in
centive to mental and moral progress
by the institution of military diStinc-
tiOns carrying with them numerous
privileges.
"Men of low organization" says this
report, with wise insight, ''can be made
to do class work with head erect, Shout
ders back and elastic step. But remove
the tension of drill and there returns
the shutting gait, with relaxed Shout
ders and head bent forward, suggestive
of the cart horse, which holds its head
alOft under the influence of the check
rein. but whose nose seeks the ground
when the rein is relaxed.
So the military drill would be of small
value but for the physical culture which
the gymnasium of the reformatory
gives. In the estimation of the authOri-
ties of the institution the gymnasium
ranks first among the reforming in
fiuences. This high esteem is based up
on those facts about the physical con-
dltiOn of young criminals which are
known to all police officers and medical
men. The gymnasium of reformatOry,
unlike the gymnasium of club or a
college, takes in hand vitiated material,
and seeks to evolve higher grade of
purely animal being on which to build
mental power. 1t deals with MANNED
and diseased bodies, bodies improperly
nOurished, blighted by heredity or &C
quired disease, wasted by bad habits,
habitually unclean. There are not only
apparatus, but baths and dietary regu
latiOnS.
Out of hundred arguments it adj
vances the following are quoted here in
conclusions:
at is conceded that within the past
two decades crime has more than
doubled. The very life of society is de-
pendent upon the arrest of this appall-
ing abnormal growth of vice. 1t i'm
plies that the measures heretofore
adopted for the prevention of lawless-
ness have signally failed in their pur-
pose; that whereas created for the re-
pressing Of crime, they have witnessed,
have abetted, have favored it's develop
ment. 1t implies that if the evil is to
be stopped other measures must be
brought to bear.
Probably the most serious blunder
committed by legislative bodies in the
treatment of felons is the habit of deal
ing with the offense itself and not with
the offender. The object of criminal
L. :oto 10 %hA 1od