New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-01-23
THE RAILWAY REFORMATOpo
ONE OF THE COMMISSIONERS rpor,
COMPLETION

toMfLETION
In response 10 request from The r,,,,
Rev George S. Mott. Ole Of the Rabw." me
formatory Commissioners made ,b,. Ne'
about the history plan and scope ~ ,s's
tuition: '"e 'hstl-
The Governor Of New-jcrscy plac..
i ,, OF that state in dilemma e lers-
ITS incOmpleted form tho building noy' states: IN
d stands either a. a monument 10 ~ pnat,,y erect
wnlch me unIertaking was conceived ~ oyy with
Iam"ntaDle lack OF good Judgment shovn 20 the
pushing tn, wofk 10 completion" Wbch IN not
II cannot be the folly Nth which the u ~ II!
ing vas conceived for n the ros,Y, s,.nertak-
and effort extending over az least oI1b, ol though,
The establishment Of the State e3er,neln. Years
Elmra. ~ Y. IN 1874 attracted tho a',.,natory a,
those interested in the treatment OF nytsniion Of
It's continued success led to the founalrg -, and
reformatories in the States most adoaeD ' similar
telligence and philanthropy In IN, s me IN In.
haustive report was pres ,ntal 10 tho s and er
Of New-Jersey by an able Cornmlssio, "sssislaturs
the pro yous year tho Treatment Of iappolntd
our liiron. = hoy urged the establishment =. IN
rofo:n.atory. ihree years later an able cor,, ~
Of three was appointed 10 report 10 the nex, r.es
lature "on tho probability or want y, ieels-
formatory. and the probable cost Of the bugs,Iss.
Again the matter came up in 1850 vh.,
was passed declaring that 1T was for tho ha n ~
terest OF the state to provide such an insttu,on..
and providing FOR the appointment OF five perso,
70 select plans and site. They seecfes ', ~
Edgar farm. in Railway, recommended plans ,, ns
pared by j X Thomas and an institution viii
capacity Of not less than Ave hundred to he 1870
Cd at an estimated cost Of between So6 ~ s;
100000. In April. 1888. Governor Werts annol,,..ss
six Commissioners, In compliance with an a..
which he signed. The act provides that ''ths &C az
missioners shall prepare and mature a plan Tor ~
construction Of suitable buildings for Inc a,s ~
Reformatory. superintend its erection vb,ess
when completed shall have a capacity Of no, ~,
than one thousand prisoners. and 70 be 50 cos ~
sructed as 10 admit ~ the classification Of nr,
oners. said plans. drawn out in detail shah h
approved by the Governor, or such experts an :.
may select before deciding upon the pronra,. y y
the same. and no change snall be made IN the s,s
plans 10 materially anect its general characi,,
without the consent OF the Governor or said expert,
in writing"
This Commission. in order to qualify them.vx
for an Intelligent performance Of their durlss
consulted with expert architects 10 the he's,
method Of procedure, and as result Of adyies
visited rcformatories az Elmira, Concord Mass.
Huntingdon. Penn. and Mansfield Ohio takr,,
with them plans upon which they obtained ths
The plans. finally adopted We're presented "a
Governor Werts. and we're approved by him: aT
by all who have a knowledge OF reformatones and
who have examined them they adjudged 10 "a
the most complete Of any Institution Of the kind
in our country. As Governor Voorhees, correctly
states THE buildings arc models IN simplicity n
design, and there H. an absence OF elaborate and
exterior ornamentation calling for useless expend.
ture."
Thus it will be seen that in compliance with n,
phianthropic spirit and intelligence Of the Ssr
this refOrmatory was begun. and II will be 10 ths
disappointment OF that spirit II the work Is De-
ayed.
The bill instituting the reformatory required h.
Commission al once 10 complete the main building
hospital and one wing 10 accommodate $50 inmates
and for that purpose slNe0 was appropriate
AFTER receiving bids the Commission realized that
this sum was far short OF the amount required
Accordingly they conferred with Governor Wer,l
s wm9 do wiih in them the best they could SoW M
been stated that the UNDERSTANDING was that u.
reformatory should cost s90Cco or $1,000 bs
there is no ntimat.on OF this in the bill establs.
ing the refOrmatOry. and We never heard az
whisner of such ''unders,andlng" until last wln,s
Certainly there was no such opinion on the par
OF Governor Werts or Governor Griggs Then
has been no such intmation from the Commis
sion. There could be no such conclusion reach&
upon a reading Of the requirements Of the act
The attack against the reformatory made bef,,
session that the Commission was unable 70 defend
the measure: but so soon as they could. they
wrote to the superintendants Of the refromaorss
already established. and from. them obtained tho
information that II cost about 5000 A cell TO estab
lsh their institutions.
lature in 1850 that Commission estimated the cost
OF establishing reformatory. capable OF accom-
zoo odS and 900 The estimated cost by ths
present Commission is $50 90 for 100 inmates. Il
Ar Rahwav that IT would cost $4,000 but this
was a snap judgment without foundation
This one fact stares us In the face: The criminals
increase faster than take proper care OF them
creased in the last TWO years 23S A. enl arse-
menf was made TWO years ago, and again, ia
so brief time. there is a call Tor more room
There s5 cells for l25s prisoners sIca over;
reformation. More room must be obtained either
by an enlargement OF the prison az Irsntoa q 10y Dy
dred and twenty-five thousand dollars VIII enable
the reformatory TO care Tor go persons ana 70
begin to lessen ar a rapid rate the inflow mo NE
prison To enlarge the prison 10 accommocate ~
more convcts will require probably N.y' ana w
suitable provisions can be made there lot reUO'"''
tory work III, 49,, ,-,,.,,,.
Besides this what can be done with me stru s
at Railway? II will be a Illumination 20 q ss.e
which boasts Of large resources annually .nsrsas
ing but which refuses TO Join its sister states
an endeavor to decrease and reform us crlmin s
Foundation Wherever reformatory measures ap
proved by penO.ogsts are tried. the success s,.s
gratifving In NewYork. before the es.so . =,
ment Of the institution at Elmra - per cen. , a.
Tho convicts were reformed Now. me rrcy us
show 50 per cent While gsatures OF Ass's and
The insane only $50 COZ has been exQended N en-
beavers reform criminals onehast S az ~T1 and
be rescued from long career Of u's"'O'
WilI The Legislature any longer cling 10 "a,
second horn Of the dilemma presented by i oveIne,
9 1O" The iamentable lack OF good judgment
IN not nushing the work "a completion