The record-union., 1897-12-04
REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS
HOW THEY MUST BE CONDUCT
ED TO BE SUCCESSFUL.
There Is No Sense in Whipping a
Youth in Order to Re.
form Him.
Correspondence of Record-Union.)

QcatlOlldl ana l6CQlliCdl Piuo
the character of the inmate. Whne
such an institution should in no sense
lose any of it's intellectual character
istics, or lessen in any degree the IN
dustriel feature, it still remains 10 De
said that the predomlnating idea that
imparts to it its true Characterization
lies in it's moral and reformatory tone
the approximate rehabilitation OF the
character of the inmates committed
to its charge to the extent OF httlnS
them by the cultivation of head and
hand and heart to take their places as
industrious and law abiding factors IN
the social ranks. The essential differ
entiatlon between this and the ordinary
educational processes may be simply
indicated by arraigning the underly-
ing characteristics in the order of their
Importance, viz: reformatory, educa-
tional ard industrial, with the neces-
sary explanation that the two latter are
chiefly valuable as adjuncts to the main
idea. The cultivation of either or all
of thase departments cannot but ope-
rate r6utually and refieXively to the up
building of individual character under
a properly and wisely adjusted system
Of Informative education. l speak ad-
visediy in the use of the term reforma-
ton, being fully aware of the difficult
ties that baset it, nevertheless, stripped
of its sentimentalities We are prepared
to say that the persistent holding of a
youthful recalcitrant to high moral
ideals (other things being equaD have
their due weight in the correction and
refurnishing of their mental and nor
! NAL recaptiyities. To deny this would
be to refute all accepted theories of in
dividual and social progression.
| Familiarity, suggestion, association,
experience are not only modifiers, but
! solidifiers of individual character, and
| are the agencies We rely upon in the
| social procession. Viewed thus the as
sumption that reformatory institutions
| erected and maintained by the State,
| however expensive, are in any sense
! of less Importance than those usually
| endowed for the liberal education of
| the more fortunate youth is a position
| hardly tenable from moral or eco
| nomic standpoint. If one is justly
viewed as the finishing school of the
| higher education the other at least
holds as vital position as the con-
| servator of the moral as well as intel
| most critical period of his existence
The point of divergence between the
two Gf l may be allowed to put it thus)
| lies as to whether the one will qualify
its m+mb bers to become an ornament to
| society; the province of the other, as
to whether it can fit him to become a
| member of society at all. The test
| would seem to be one of ultra educa-
-, -
tion of the anti-social element on the
| other, and it Is a question which would
| return the larger dividends in the long
| run.
1t is at any rate largely the difference
of educating at the top, or commenc-
| ing at the bottom, involving as it does
not only the elementaries of individual
character, but touching many Of the
gravest features that stir at the heart
of the social problem. That the tenta-
tive and scientific spirit of the age has
| taken these facts into practical consid-
Grafton by the Inauguration of reform
| atory institutions, many Of them plan
ned upon liberal and scientific prin-
! ciples and equipped with all the ap-
! pliances and methods to render them
effective, is matter of congratulation
| that speaks well for the moral and hu-
manitarian sentiment that constitutes
after all the chief features of modern
! civilization. | desire to record it as
my deliberate opinion, after a number
| of years Of intimate practical exSeri-
! ence and no little thought tupon the
problem Of crime and its personnel. that
the only hopeful sign of an approx
mate solution of the same lies along the
| lines marked out in the evolution of
these reformatory institutions for the
reclalming of recalcitrant youth under
the fosterting care of the State and
| the management of wise and efficient
supervisorial scheme.
1t would be superhuous to dwell upon
the philosophy of the system. The rea-
sons for their existence lie upon the
surface and the day for their apology
has passed. The unspeakable carceral
J system that relegateS the plastic life
| of youth to the common Jail or peni-
Tertiary to pay the penalty Of what
must be considered in the majority of
cases the burden of inherited tenden-
cies. there to be cast into the molds of
every conceivable form of crime until
! it assumes fixidity, is in itself a crime
/ under the guise of law. If it be true
| that an ounce of prevention is worth
pound OF cure, the effectiveness of the
maxim depends upon the approximate
ness of its application to that plastic
! period of human life that represents it's
/ formative stages. This is the time
when these institutions propose to take
UP the youthful delinquent rather than
whea the mischief is already done un-
| der the current method of the present
unr1ghteous carceras system That such
| institutions are weighted with especial
difficulties not peculiar to the ordinary
systems, goes without saying An or
der of efficiency and ministerial adapt
| iveness must here come into play. such
as is entirely unknown to its purely
| literary compeer. to say nothing of the
instructive knowledge of individual
character and experience with the re-
calcitrsnt classes, which must call into
operation personal qualifications that
would be largely out of place elsewhere.
A proper conception of the scope of
the ideal institution presupposes all
these as necessary to the successful
working out of it's prime object. With
out entering into detail. 1t follows as
a matter of vital necessity to the ef-
/ fective accomplishment OF the purpose
of its organization that the executive
| department of an institution of this
kind should represent in it's numerical
! head all the features of an absolute
and unquestioped autocracy
/ 1t might smack decidedly un-Amer-
lean. but 1t must be remembered that
| all the factors that enter here are too
arbitrary TO admit of a division of au-
i thordty or delegation of power. A re-