The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-11-16
THE CONFERENCE OF CHARITIES
AND CORRECTIONS.

The annual meeting of the State Cor
ference of Charities and Corrections is a
reminder of the great progress Indiana has
made in recent years in the matters with
which the association concerns itself. Fiji
teen years ago our state penal institutions
were, in respect of management and morals,
among the worst types of the class then
prevalent; our charitable and benevolent
institutions were SO only in the fact that
they were supported by public expense; our
hospital for insane was a house of refuge
for political workers, and such thing as a
reform in the management of county jails,
poorhouses and orphan asylums was not
dreamed of. Political partisanship and cor
ruption dominated the control Of all the pub
lie institutions and of most local charities.
The trustees, wardens and employees of both
prisons, the managers, superintendent, as
sistants, teachers and employees of all the in
stitutions, from the highest to the lowest,
from warden to gatekeeper, and from super
intendent to carriage driver were all APP
pointed with reference to party politics. The
state institutions were part of the spoils of
politics, and 1.-The trail of the serpent was
over them ALL" One party was as bad as
the other in this respect. and it was ques-
ton whether the pot or the kettle was the
blacker of the two. The radical difference
between that condition and the present one
shows what progress the State has made in
this respect during the last few years. The
change emphasizes itself and does not need
to be described in detail. 1t is due in part
to legislation, but in a larger degree to the
change in public sentiment which has
brought about the legislation and which
makes it effective. The annual conference
Of those who are connected with the various
institutions, penal. reformatory, correc-
tional, educational and benevolent, is one of
the best features Of the progressive system.
Those who make a study of social problems
are best qualified to discuss them, and per-
sonal contact and exchange of views is the
best way Of evolving new ideas and methods
and keeping up an interest in a work which
grows more important from year to year,
and which concerns all the people.
A noteworthy feature Of the present con-
ference is the attendance of some of our
college presidents and professors and a
number of students. This shows the broad
ening scope Of modern education. The time
has passed when the president of college
must be mere scholastic or bookworn,
and when education consisted in examining
students with a knowledge of Greek and
Latin roots. Not that classical education
is to be despised or neglected, but there is
demand also for practical education and
for knowledge that can be brought to bear
on the great social problems that more and
more press themselves on the attention of
social scientists. statesmen and reformers.
The young men in our colleges who are
studying sociological questions to-day will
be leaders in progress and reform a few
years hence. For them the discussions of
the Conference OF Charities and Corrections
is university extension course