The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-10-17

may accrue from its operation, every man
interested in the good. of society should
only on the facts as determined ny the
evidences of reformation apparent III the
man. To this end relatives and friends OF
convicts should not use any influence. either
political religious to secure the parole
OF a prisoner until it has been demonstrated
to the men who have him in charge end
who have keener perception IN these mat
ters than the unintiated that the man Is
ready Tor parole. In this way the most
good will be derived from the parole sys-
tenn"
F. b. sanborn, of Concord. Mass. who
was to have spoken next. was not able to
be present, but sent a letter OF rcninis-
censes, which was read before the meet
MR.. HART A "PREvENTER'
President Hart, of the Chicago Children's
Aid Society. i'm defining his profession in
connection with the prison reform move
ment, said he was a 'preventer" He had
been for years a minister he said but in
the language of one of his former parish
toner's, was not practcing now said he:
In my capacity as a preventer / am try
ing hard to get all these wardens and super
intendents here out of jobs, and / am doing
it along odd lines. Home is one of the
strongest preventive institutions against
vice, and it is my business to provide homes
for children unhappily surrounded soon
after they are brought to my attention as
possible. The Juvenile probation idea by
which no child or first offender' of tender
years is allowed to go to prison, has been
extended in many places to the older ones
ana even to adults. The latter is notably
the case in Massachusetts, where all first
offenders are turned over to societies like
my own. which make an effort by system
of espionage to turn them away from their
evil ways. In case it is found to be i'm
possible to do so. they are turned over to
the court again and sent to the reformatory
Many men are saved by never seeing pris-
on, and the experience of the society in
Massachusetts is that over so per cent. of
those turned over to the society by the court
are never seen in court again. There are
many things in prisons from which the new
sinner should be saved. and most MINDS new
IN crime only need severe shock to turn
them once more and generally permanently
into lawful pursuits"
Archdeacon 3. M: Spur. of West vir-
of the country. He said he was general
hustler" because he had church. owned a
hotel of a refuge sort. operated a gym
nasium. bowling alley. was chaplain of the
penitentiaryy and on occasions cook, waiter
or any other thing that he could be. Said
England | thought drunkard was a cad
and fallen woman something loathsome.
but 1 went after time to the Northwestern
plains and prairies and learned more sense
than | ever knew before. A drunkard is
not stingy, any more than a stingy man
ways found to be free-handed. not narrow
and her own worst enemy The first step
TO iake IN l r,eforming Is to reform Christian
movement more than anything else possibly
could. The church is not doing its duty
because man is supremacy selfish Many a
young man in the West who came there
pure and upright has been ruined because
MS relatives and parents in many cases
first opportunity to feel homesick and then
gradually sink down step by step to degra-
daticn Churches should not be closed six
days in the week and open one. They should
be run on full time, seven days in the week.
all the time"
He then briefly related his experience in
conducting his rescue home and indenomi-
national church at Moundsville, W. Va
ana az wound ,1 up by saying that the gospel
would do more to reclaim fallen humanity
than all the other causes in the world
whether applied in a prison or in the or
binary course of contact with humanity in
its homes.
PRISONS IN LOUISIANA.
Michael Heymann. of New Orleans pres
ident of the Louisiana State Prison Board.
then told of prison reforms in his State In
opening, he said: Il am here to tell you
about prison reform in Louisiana. 1t won't
take long, for there isn't much of it to tell
about. He then told of the efforts of a
few men single-handed against the whole
sentiment of the State, rather the apathy
of the whole State Tine real reason, ac-
cording to him, why bill abolishing the
convict lease system had never been passed
by the Legislature was that the lessees
welded too great an influence to overcome
lime after time said he, bills had been
framed incorporating all the reforms now
in operation in Indiana only to be killed
in one or the olner of the legislative houses
or the state government. In closing he
said: God never created a criminal child.
We make them, and we must find a way
TO eradicate the evil there is in society. /
visited your Reform Scnool for Boys to-day.
and can say freely that it is the finest of
its kind in the world, and if Indiana does
nothing else in prison reform it has done
much in building this school. The future of
the South rests largely from pXnoripncp
with the people of the North. The North
must help us. We are not bad people. but
we don't know how to get on very well by
ourselves with our prisons"
The last speech of the evening was made
of the University of Chicago, who said: Il
am like Phillips Brooks when he said L
have but one theme. My theme is at all
times humanity Opinions differ OH points
where the question of the good of human
lty is concerned we stand together on com
mon ground for it is one of the easiest of
the lessons of the Great Teacher to assim-
ilate We stand for those who are too weak
to stand. for themselves, and have faith for
those who destitute of it, As an
amateur in prison work. it seems to me that
the great reformatory at Elmira needs
much less thought than the common-too
conmon-jails of the country. and the prob
lens they represent. The Jail is the great
American home of tragedies occurring
every day, and too little attention is paid
to the men who are charged with the care of
them, and the inmates in them. The pub
TIC seems 10 tlllnk tndt any hard-fSted man
of strong mind and severe disposition is the
proper man to be given charge of the com
mon Jail into which thrown at random
the scum of the criminal world with the
erring son of a tender parent, W no has COM
mitted his first small misdemeanor. The
policeman who guards your home at night
when you are sleeping. should be selected
with as great care as the man who dis
penseS justice from the highest tribunal in
the land. Instead of brutes, jailers should
be first of all humane, even If severe. They
should use discretion, that the moral
wrecks will not contaminate the boy or
man who has fallen for the first time and
who may easily be reclaimed. The harder
the material we have to work on the softer
sh0ul1 be the hand which subdues it," The
speaker then dwelt at length on the neces-
sity of civil service reform In prisons as
well as in other public service. He con-
tended that whenIa prison official had dem
onstrated his ability to do good and adj
minister the affairs of the institution, it
should be made impossible for any power
to supplant him so long he did good serv-
ice and that the good of the prison move
ment demanded that new officials be edu-
Gated by the process of civil service reg
ulations to take the places of the present
officials, and thus insure the permanency
Of the reform movement in truth and in
spirit.
SERMON TO THE DELEGATES.