Evening journal., 1896-09-11

home Of the New Castle County Farm
ers' Institute Speeches were made by
John C. Higgins. Republican candi-
date for governor, and a member of
the Executive Committee of the insti-
tute, and Rev. Wilmer Jaggard. ]. w.
Day was chairman of the meeting.
Mr.. Higgins spoke on Prison Re
for" He said in part:
"The United States census Of 1850
shows that at that time the arrests for
crime were 29O to 1,OOO,0 900 inhabitants.
That of 1860 showed COZ arrests for
crime out of 100000. In 1870, S53 per
1,OO0, 600. In 1880, 1169; and by our
census Of 1890 arrests had grown to
1876 in every million. In 1890 four and
a half times as many as in 1850 per
million people. Such figures as these
suggest the thought that if the in
crease is to continue society will not
long be able to protect the persons and
property of its law-abiding members
from the murderers and thieves-the
criminals of every class-whO stand
ready to attack and appropriate; to
whom nothing is sacred who either
contemn the power of the state or are
willing to take all the chances of evad-
ing it's penalties.
Meantime they do not go unpunish-
ed. Jails are filled with criminals
courts, juries, lawyers, sheriffs not
only continue, but a vast expense is
met, principally by taxation, and that
taxation falling with crushing force
upon the farms from which the COM
pany assembled here to-day is trying
to wiring a living, however scanty.
He then went on to describe the ad-
vance in prison methods with the ad-
vance of civilization, from the time
when nearly every offense was punish
able by death to the present, and said:
"The new student of this prison
science known as 'Penology,' cannot
fail to be very shortly aware OF two
distinct reflections:
Il. That it has taken 500 years for
Christian nations, even the most adj
vanced, to be brought to the reclaim
ing principles of Him, who came to
seek to save the lost as the most
hopeful in the treatment of prison in
mates, and
80. The utter failure of the old sys-
TEN; extirpation of the criminal his
transportation, torture and the othel
instruments of human vengeance.
Men, in this regard. did not become
human until inhumanity, with all o
it's mistaken devices. had brough
them to the knowledge that societ,
could not long bean the increasing
charges of its criminals. There ar
to-day two methods where a few de
cades ago only one existed.
1.-The old doctrine of retaliation. ey'
for eye and tooth for tooth, is M
longer tenable. The death penalty il
limited to such Offenses as treason anC
murder In place of all the destructive
penalties have come Imprisonment
with classification, productive labor,
industrial training, and various othe
appliances and methods for the recon
struction and reformation of the pris
oner so that upon his discharge h
shall be a law-abiding citizen, ant
shall earn an honest living by homes
industry.
1.-The Elmira Reformatory is tn
most advanced of American penal in
stitutions. It is a great compulsor.
educational establishment for imprOv
able felons between the ages OF 10 ant
26, who have never before been sen
fenced for felony.
k Criminals are not sent to the refor
matory for a fixed time, but for an in
definite period, not to exceed the maxi
mum period fixed by law for the pun
ishment of the offense.
when the paroled man has prove
his stability he is discharged absC
lutely. usually in six months. The
have a variety of industries and mil
I. tary discipline. A regiment is organ
e. lied, of which every man from the co
y onel down is a convict.
J., THE schools are graded from tn
primary up, so as to be adapted
every intellect.
Rigid examinations are held. tt
superintendent maintains that 1t
necessary to dig new channels
thought and re-occupy the mind in o
der to reform men.
In 1890 the percentage of probab
reformation was S2.2, or 2,147 of Il
2,611 paroled since 1876.
Why it is asked, should not Il
same treatment be extended to Grim
r, nalsg This treatment is already
Y. force in Ohio and Massachusetts,.
n. Ohio the law provides that any pers'
convicted the third time of a felOl
shall be deemed an habitual crimin;
and shall be detained during life;
he may be released bythe board of ma
ayers after serving a designated tin
= provided they are satisfied that he W
D. become an upright and law-abidil
citizen.
n 1t is claimed that this system offe
O. the most prospect of reforming su
A. criminals; since their only hope Ii
n in not only obeying the prison rul'
on but also in so conducting themselves
'c- to convince the prison managers th
&C they have reformed Massachusei
IL requires the habitual criminal to
he sentenced for twenty-five years; II
'er nois for twonty-one.
r,s "The principle is this: If a m
,is knows that he will be discharged wit
he out any change of character, and wit
nj out any effort of his own, he will ma
ial no effort and will not change his ch;
,ot acter.
ire IF the system is wisely devis'
he radical and thorough the criminal ca
re- not respond to it's demands, and co
ON ply with it's requirements, without {
IN veloping those traits of charac