The herald., 1897-07-09


Patton's manner expressed the stronger
adjective that his lips did not speak.
"I have been in favor of sending some
of those mutinous boys to San Quentin.
You see they are there for burglary.
grand larceny, and such offenses, and
it was only because they swore that they
were under IS that they were not sent
there in the first place. Many of them
swore falsely; others have been there
two or three years, and the consequence
is there are lot of great big sluggers
out there that can beat all the football
teams they play with, who wear boards
and mustaches who are from 20 to "a
years old, and the proper place for them
is really in San Quentin; yet If they were
sent there that would be the last or
them-there would be no hope for them
and so we are trying to give them the
benefit of the doubt and keep them on
to the end Of their terms in Whittier.
"Lt is a very serious problem dealing
with boys most Of whom are very bad,
but they must be taught, not with bru-
tality, but with extreme firmness, to
have respect for the officers. believe
the present superintendent to be firm
and conscientious man who will accom-
plish as much as any one could now that
his supremacy has been proved and ac-
knowledged.
''I think that the newspapers of the
present day are text books of crime; the
boys out there get hold of them, pass
them around, and read them with avid
fty, and I believe that the recital In the
papers of the San Quentin affair had
much to do with this revolt. The only
things they secured by their mutinous
acts have been the whippings, season
of confinement on a diet Of bread and
water and the dismissal of Thompson,
who was popular because his control
was in line with the past administra-
| ton, and he was solid with the larger
boys. Captain Brady who has been, put
in his place is most excellent officer; he
| is strict disciplinarfan, and although
not unnecessarily strict, he manages
| the company through and by discipline. T"
| An interview was sought with Mrs.
Mitchell on her return from the school
last evening and she was found willing
to talk upon the Subject Of the outbreak.
'4The spirit of rebellion and disobedi-
ence in the school," she said, "is entirely
under control at this time. Whether this
upon the firmness and capacity of the
officers in charge. For my own part and
| in my own opinion, am free to confess
that much of this recent disturbance
was caused by Major Thompson treat
| ing the lowest element with a weak,
vacillating, pandering and sugar-coated
| discipline, and in that way following
in the methods of his predecessor. The
| l. - ~ 1t n
was threatened before was because the
former superintendent was in sympathy
with and organized this treatment and
| permitted the large and vicious boys to
dominate them and the institution. On
the other hand, superintendent Van AL
styne, backed by the board of trustees,
refused to longer tolerate these methods
and undertook to control the school
| themselves and eradicate the evils and
correct the abuses there. Resentment
and rebellion was naturally the conse-
quence-especially when they found a
ready sympathizer in their major.
GAS to the dismissals in the institution,
so many would not have been necessary
| if there had been proper system and
efficiency before. Though I have been
on the board without any support for
over two years, this present board has
only been organized and in charge less
than three months. 1t inherited, in my
judgment, the worst organized and man
aged institution in the state or perhaps
| in the United States. The whole plan is
wrong from beginning to end--including
| the grounds and buildings. Nearly a
| million dollars of the states money has
been spent with little or no result This
board is handicapped by all this. We are
| trying to remedy the evils and change
| the system as soon as possible. 1t can
not be done in a few months or without
some friction. We are not infallible, and
may make mistakes in the selection of
| officers, but when we do, want to rem
| edy it as soon as possible and put the in
| competent out and the competent in.
| Now I believe this school can be reor-
ganized and a proper system inaugu-
rated with firm but kind discipline and
secure such results as have been OBJ
| tanned elsewhere in modern reformato-
ries. When this kind of a system lis in
augurated and all the results of lax and
wrong methods of the past eradcated,
believe corporal punishment can be
dispensed with. 1 have always been and
am still opposed to corporal punishment.
'At the girls department I was told
we could not do without it. But since it
was abolished there, after contest of
| months-the like of which Ishouldn' de-
sire to pass through again--and the good
results obtained in that department
where no girl has been whipped since the
girls school was reorganized nine
months agony opinion has been
strengthened on this subject. AS to the
criticism of our efforts in this commun-
ity 1 want to say for myself do not care
for it, but shall continue to follow my
best judgment as long as 1 am trustee
of this school. But / must say there is
an apparent lack of sympathy or appre-
citation of the efforts of those who are
laboring without compensation in be-
half of an unfortunate class of human
ity. l know that many of these boys are
rough and bad, but / do not blame them
as much as they have been by many and
think their wrong-doings and the dam
ger that menaced has been exaggerated
AS strange as it may seem to many I
think this disturbance at the school has
been providential and will be beneficial
1t has helped us to gauge the boys and
the officers-and we will thus gain wis
dom by experience. will add just this:
One thing above all others guides me-
these boys were sent to Whittier be-