The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1898-08-04

tion of what has been accomplished in
this field within the past few years.
Prison reform looks two ways: first
to the reformation of the prison; and
second to the reformation of the pris-
oner. Much has been accomplished in
the reformation of the prison. Such
prisons as the Western Penitentiary at
Allegheny, Pa, the intermediate Pen
itentiary for Young Offenders at Mans
field, Ohio; the state Reformatories at
Concord, Mass, and St. Cloud, Minn.,
are examples of the very great i'm
provement which has been made in
the architecture and the physical ad-
ministration of prisons. Numerous
county jails in Massachusetts,, Penn
sylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin and Mime
sofa, illustrate the advance which has
been made in the architecture of
county jails.
The improvements in the admins
tratiOn of state prisons and reforma-
tories in the discarding of cruel pun
ishments, in measures for wholesome
occupation for minds and hands of
the prisoners, in ventilation, feeding,
care Of the sick and preventive of dis
ease, all show that this great work has
not been neglected.; but it must be
confessed that in general there has not
been corresponding improvement in
q I'm Jcf Of 1c
DeTocqueville said some seventy years
ago that the American jails were the
worst prisons in the world, and an in
dictment hardly less severe might be
justly brought against large proper
tion of them today, as may be easily
discovered by many of you if you will
take the trouble to inspect the Jail in
the county in which you live. The
majority of the jails of the United
States are unwholesome, vile smelling,
poorly ventilated and pestilential.
Their construction is such as to force
unfortunate prisoners, many of whom
are accused and not yet convicted of
crime, and some of whom are witnesses
who cannot give bail, or insane persons
on their way to the hospital or to be ex-
amined, into the most intimate and de-
basing associations. Jail inspectors
throughout the United States mite in
testifying that our jails are schools of
crime and breeding places of vice. The
practice of Massachusetts, and numer-
Gus counties of Pennsylvania, and the
laws of Ohio and Minnesota provide
for the confinement of prisoners to
their separate cells in order to prevent
moral contamination, but in nearly
all of the jails of the United States
prisoners associate freely, with very
little restriction. In many jails there
is no adequate provision for the sep
aration of children or even for the sep
aration of the sexes. But county jails
like the Charles Street Jail in Boston,
the Bucks County Jail and the Media
Jail in Pennsylvania, the jails at Col
umbus, Ohio; Duluth, Minn., and
many others, are examples of suitable
Jail architecture, and today many of
the best sheriffs advocate heartily the
classification and separation of pris.
OnerS.
JUVENILE REFORMATION.
The juvenile reformatories of the
United States have been doing admira-
BILE work for many years. Most of
these institutions have long been free
from prison walls, barred windows and
other insignia of penal institutions.
During recent years great improve
ments have been made in the classifi-
cation of the inmates and in approxi-
nation to natural conditions by the
adoption of the cottage plan whereby
the children are brought together in
families of from twenty to fifty chill
dren. Another important advance has
been the introduction of scientific
manual training, both as means of
more perfect education and as means
of fitting the children for self support.
The superintendents of the juvenile
reformatories hold an annual confer
| ence in connection with the National