Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1901-12-07
.R[FORNA|ORY NEEDS
Board OF Controls Suggestion
Being Observation-Disclosures
Should Be Classified.
All Errine Men Should Not Be
Incarcerated With Hardened
Criminals.
Horticultural Society Meets in
Des Moines Next Week-.Will
Discuss Peaches.
Special to Times-Republican.

Des Moines, Dec. 7.--"I am of the i'm
preston" said W. S. Richards, pardon
secretary in the executive office that
the working out OF the details Of the
proposed reformatory for men, as sug-
gested in the report of the state board
of control, is likely to be more difficult
matter than many suppose. That there
ought to be some change is evident to
and prisoners. 1t is all wrong to send
young man who has always borne a
good reputation and conducted himself
becomingly, but has fallen into error In
one thing, to big prison and put MN
In with hardened convicts and habitual
criminals. / believe that the state
should never put more than one convict
In a cell-each and every one shoulo
have cell for himself. Association
makes convicts and makes criminals.
But when the new cell house IS com
nieted at Anamosa that prison is going
to be nearly large enough for all the
sconyicts in the state. It will be too big
for a reformatory and the penitenuary
at Fort Madison will not be large
enough for all the convicts who are ielt
outside the reformatory. And yet,
sc nothing ought to be done. 1t may be
necessary for the state to build re-
forinatory somewhere. believe the
suggestion of the board of control that
all who are under 80 years Of age might
be sent to the refcrmatory to be not ex-
actly right. AT 80 years you go into the
class of men with families / know
that at the reform school persons nave
been accetped who were over age, and 1t
was because the judges preferred not
to send them to the prisons. There is
need OF filling in the gap between the
reform school and the prisons In some
way, and while the problem is hard
one it must be met soon. The sugges-
ton of the beard of control Is all right
and 1t only needs some one to work out
the details.
ararden Hunter of the penitentiary at
Anamosa. however. has figured 1t out
that II the suggestion of the state board
of control is acted upon and that insti-
tuition be made reformatory for all un-
der 80 years he will have a larger NUM-
ber of persons under his care than now,
and Fort Madison Will lose. The new
cell house, or north wing OF the prison,
is to be larger than the south wing now
in use, and as 1t will be fitted with steel
cells it will hold a larger number OF
convicts. AT present number Of the
convicts are paired off for the cells.
When the new part is finished. which
will not be for several months, Iowa will
have cell room for rent.
There are only few of the men who
founght under Col Kinsman who are
now in the G. A. r. post which bears
his name in this city. These are of the
Twenty-third Iowa. They and others
interested in the proposed monument to
Col. Kinsman at Council Bluffs, are
anxious to secure the names of COM
rades of the Twenty-third Iowa and the
Fourth Iowa, with which regiments
Kinsman was connected, and especially
to learn il there has been any regiment
al organization and who the officers are.
The movement to popularize the con-
tributions for Kinsman monument
meets with hearty approval here among
the scores of old soldiers residing in the
city.
The program of the Iowa Horticultur-
al Society which meets here next week
is an unusually good one and contains
many papers that ought to be Of gem
eral interest. On the program are two
papers about peaches for Iowa, a sub
ject which has attracted great deal OF
attention from the fact that larger
number of peaches were grown in the
state than for many years. Another
subject is that of growing pecans in
Iowa 1t is not generally known that
pecans are raised in this part of the
country but the fact is that there are a
large number of trees on an island in
the Mississippi not far from Clinton and
several good pecan orchards still fur
ther north 1t is also true that among
the crops of Iowa which might be enum-
Grated are peanuts. tobacco and sun
flower seed.
Des Moines labor unionists have noted
with some pleasure that the Sioux City
labor unions have strongly indorsed A..
E. Holder, deputy labor commissioner,
for the position of chief of the bureau.
Holder is the president of the Iowa
State Federation of Labor, and is very
popular with the labor union men here
as we'll as in Sioux City. He is man
of courage and convictions. and he has
accomplished much good for the state
in his present position, and could do
more as commissioner. But he has not
been pressing his claims very positively.
Inasmuch as the Des Moines labor
unonists are not agreed on anybody it
would. not be hard for them to turn in
favor of Holder. especially if he is
strongly urged by the members of the
federation elsewhere in Iowa.
1t has been suggested that 1t is the
position of assistant adjutant general of
the G. A. r., department Of Iowa, that
Col. l.. M. Langstaff, of Dubuque, is af-
ter, instead of head of the state militia.
If so he would succeed George A. New
man, who will eventually become par
don secretary in the governors office.
Base Ball League.
Dubuque, Des. An Iowa base ball
League is being worked UP on the quiet
Among the cities mentioned are Dubu-
que, Waterloo, Mason City. Fort Dodge,