New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-07-15
EVOLUTION ~ JUVENILE Reform.


Industrial School in that city are enjoying a
months vacation at their several homes. There
Is nothing remarkable about hundred boys and
girls taking a summer vacation. Almost all our
boys and girls do it. II their parents are not too
DOOR and we have Fresh-Air Funds and excur-
sion societies for those whom poverty would
keep from having healthfnl pleasures. Yet this
simple estatement about these chlldren's play
spell marks a stage Of social evolution. IT Is the
sign Of a relation between the state ana Its
wards. the possibility Of which twenty years ago
would have been laughed at on every hand "a
the dream Of sickly sentimentaliss. 1t means
the recognition OF the dignity OF human nature,
the right OF childhood TO enter manhood unham-
pered by the brand Of officially pronounced dis
grace 1t declares that the errors and the sins
Of boyhood, though they must be corrected, ana
a; times under governmental hand. are not 10
stamp youths as criminals and render them pre-
sumptIve enemies Of law That IL revolution
ary doctrine for the managers OF some reforma-
tories. There are stern moralists who even yet
say concerning such delinquent juveniles: I'VE
do not regard them criminals. and hope to
educate them by rigid discipline and contne-
"ment into honest citizens, but we cannot for
get that they are not like other children. that
they are under our care because they are Of
"fepders. and we cannot believe II just TO the
good children to give the bad ones as pleasant
surroundings and better advantages FOR cdu-
cation and technical training than those who
have done 10 wrong" Accordingly, they lock
the ten-ycar-olds within prison walls and teach
them the convict trade Of chair Gaming.
Fifteen years ago the Rochester institution.
then known as the Western House ~ Refuge for
Juvenile Delinqucnts, WAS typical specimen OF
the childrens prison II was developed on the
lines which Cadwalllder Golden and his contstt-
porarcs half century before. with humanIta\
rlan impulse genuine but not yet able TO sr5N'
rate Itself from the prevailing harsh theories of
training and punlshmeni--lad down as likely 10
bring blessing - the youth who were dividing
their time between the slums OF this city and the
by high wall and guarded by iron gates. The
windows were grated. The inmates slept In
locked cells, walked In convict STEP worked for
contractors nj the usual prison Industries, and
were subject TO corporal punishment not only
from officers Of the institution but from super
in,enden,s for contractors who might be- dis
pleased with the quality or quantity Of the work
done From that time TO this gradual change
has been taking place. II began under the lead
ership of the late ID. u. $. Brown and cxJudsc
Thomas Ralncs. who II still In the Board and the
moving spirit Of the present management, In an
effort TO restrict 10 the superintendent the power
OF corpOrcal punishment and 10 abolish the use
Of dark cells as disciplinary measure. The
reform plans encountered great opposition ON
the part Of the adhcrents Of the old system. and
q bitter fight and n legislative investigation fol-
lowed. The innOvators finally carried the day.
and the change OK name and the gradual evolu-
ton Of the prison into q technical and military
school followed. The habit of locking the grated
cell-doors was discontinued. and later the doors
were removed entirely Dormtories were. where
possible, substituted for solitary apartments,
military drill was introduced. and the greater
part Of the discipline maintained by the boys
themselves through their officers. A variety OF
trades We're taught, and the boys learned TO
erect their own buildings, to become blacksmiths,
electricians printers. carpenters, mouders. ma
sons Discipline was made strict, but sclfre.
spect was encouraged
Now It Is a rule Of the school that all students
who have obtained no black marks for period
Of four months are allowed vacation Of thirty
days, and, Notwithstanding the fact that these
children are truants and lawbreakers. who reach
the institution by way Of the courts, over one
eighth Of them gained this perfect record while
great proportion Of their fellows strove 10
reach 1t. At the State Industrial School now
the rear gateway leading from the buildings in
closure to the farm is left open, and the boys at
playtime wander at their will. Recently the
superintendent gave the smaller boys. whose
yard had no such gate. permission to tear hole
in the wall, so that they might be able to visit
the fields, and with bar and trowel and hammer
they quickly made gateway SO they roam
over the farm, each anxious that the others
should damage no trees and break no rules lest
all their privileges be restricted and they all
return time for their lessons. their trades and
their drill The fact that other children do not
have all these advantages has not been thought
q reason to deny them to those who need ex-
cepti0nally careful training to keep them from
going astray through life The predictions Of
escapes and disorder have not been verified Tho
buildings stand, the teachers are safe, discipline
is maintained the vast majority Of the inmates
nre graduated well prepared to earn an honest
livelihood and determined to do II. They are
treated az boys, wilfu headstrong, extra0rd
narily aggressive and in need Of tanning, but they
are put upon their honor and taught that they
are 10 work out their own salvation, not with
fear and trembling, but with the joyousness and
strength Of youth. And Fl few years ago such
boys were treated like convicts.
This change has not come without labor. The
success Of reformatory training based on self
government and the study Of Individual capac-
ties Is almost exactly proportional to the altru-
istlc enthusiasm Of managers anc teachers De-
linquents can no more be reformed by machinery
than other children can be educated by II. The
instant the work Of the school becomes formal
the inspiring manager relaxes his vigilance or
the officers drop into routine habits It u found