The times., 1901-05-16

mitted by Charlton II. Lewis President
of the New York Prison Commission He
was not able to attend the meeting. The
report is directly opposed to the present
system of penal incarceration. The claSsi-
tcation Of crimes into classes with fixed
sentences for each offence is declared alb
surd. The change recommended is the
adoption Of the indeterminate sentence
and the probation method. The indeter-
inmate sentence is based on the princi-
pie that imprisonment does an offender
little good, and that length Of sentence
should be determined only by the fitness
of the prisoner to move in society again.
The closing portion of the report fol-
,ows:
THE system of parol1ing prisoners un-
Ger conditional release after they have
served part of their terms with credit
mas already been widely practced IN
many countries. 1t has been tOund an
important auxiliary to the refOrmatOry
work of weil-conducted penal institutions.
But its best use is in connection. unqueS-
tionably with the indeterminate sentence.
When an offender is found of such char
acter that he cannot safely be left in free
dom, but after proper moral and indus
tri5tl training IN n retOrmatOry institution
has given evidence of his capacity and
disposition to support himself honestly,
he should obtain a conditional release.
with proper employment, subject in case
OF any irregularity to be returned to pris-
on. but with the privilege OF earning a
complete restoration to independent So
cial life after a sufficient period of trial.
This process, in connection with the best
reformatOry institutions of the country,
has been found to result in the entire re-
establishment of large majority of those
TO whom It's benefits have been extended.
The report was followed by general dis
cuSsion in which q number of those pres
ent participated. Among them were Col.
c. B. McHardy. of Edinburgh. Chairman
OF the Prison Commission OF Scotland,
VINO told of the care of criminals and of
the methods of their apprehension in the
land of the thistle. Major Sylvester, Su-
nRTTntpnnnnt n of he n
Columbia, said that on July /, he would
inaugurate an investigation with a view
TO placing before the judges Information
regarding the prisoner which would show
whether he needed hospital treatment or
whether he should be sent to Jail. Judge
NJ. ID. FOllett of Ohio; Mrs. l.. Lincoln, Of
Boston: Thomas r. Ellicon, of Indiana,
aud Gen. r. Brinkerhoff, of Ohio, also
spoke.
The section on needy families in their
homes considered the subject of friendly
visiting. Only technical and private mat
ter of this valuable branch Of work were
considered
Ira c. Otterson, Superintendent of the
State Reform School, at Jamesburg, n.
j.. talked about "The Model Superintend-
ent-What He Should Be and How to Get
Him before the meeting of the section
on juvenile reformatories.
a list of the members by States, as an
nounced Tuesday night, shows: Massa-
chusetts, IS: New York 81: Ohio, 5S; Illi-
nois, 10; Maryland, 30; Pennsylvania, 30;
New Jersey, 20; Connecticut. II; Nebraska,
Il; Missouri. Il: Rhode Island, 9: Colo
rado. 9; Cuba, 9; Virginia, 8; Delaware,
s: West Virginia. s.; Canada, 3; Wiscon-
sin. 3; Alabama, 3; California, g; Iowa, Z;
Kentucky, 4; Louisiana, 8; Maine. 4; Mis-
sissippi. |; New Hampshire, 3; North
Carolina, 2; Oregon, l; Porto Rico. 2; Ten
nessee, 2: Japan, l; Mexico, l; Scotland l,
making a total of 526
or this number 1886 are members of the
Conference and 129 are enrolled as Wis