Evening star., 1901-11-30
Massachusetts, Reformatory Methods
Lead All Others.
SOLITARY LIFE FOR INCORRIGIBLBS
Schooling and Lectures Offered
and Plenty Books to Read,
AIMS TO PRkVF,NT CRIME

Written for The Evening Star.
Massa chusetts has taken the lead of the
other states In the reformation of reforma-
tory measures. New York, to be sure, es-
tablished the Elmira reformatory, in which
the indeterminate sentence was first put
to the trial and found good, but Massachu-
sets has not stopped with her reforma-
tories; she is introducing the ticket Of leave
In all of her institutions, and she is doing
more than any other state has done TO
protect the criminal by accident from the
consequences of crime that would be visit
ed on the criminal by intent. She is well
supplied with defenses against the depre-
dator; she has a state prison in Charles
town, a state farm for short-term prison
ers and vagrants at Bridgewater, an asy-
lum for the criminal insane at the same
place, a reformatory for boys and men at
Concord, reformatory for girls and wo-
men at Sherborn, three houses of correc-
ton, nineteen jails and two schools for
minors which are operated on the open
system like that in vogue in the state
reforYna tories of California.
Yet with all this outfit, the aim is to
keep people from being locked up. And
with what success one may guess when he
sees the figures; something like 10000 peo-
pie released on probation during the last
ten years, and most Of this number justi-
fed the official mercy Massachusetts Is
ization. Crime is decreasing every year,
though it is in lesser ofienses that the
dimiuution is greatest, murders, outraGeS
and large thefts continuing as of yore.
Yet it must be remembered that stationary
figures would represent an ever decreasing
percentage, since the population is grow
ing all the time, and growing fast.
Oldest Prison StNl Good.
Oldest of all state prisons in the country,
that in Charlestown-built in 1S05--is yet
the superior in many ways of Sing Sing
fer it has been modernized, while Sing
Sing has not. For instance, the cells in
the New York prison are built over yard
wide whereas the Massachusetts, institu-
ton, though originally as meager in cell
room, has been enlarged by tearing out
| every second partition, thus making ont
cell of two, the result being that each in.
| moreover, a simple grated door, instead
| of the iron plates and latticeS that are
| still in use in Sing Sing. A new wing is
| entirely modern and is probably equal il
/ construction to any other in the world
| The ventilation is perfect, for there is al
alley between the cell blocks instead of th'
crevice that in Sing Sing can be reached
across by small handed prisoners who hav'
| occasion to pass files to one anothe
through the ventilating apertures.
| In it's form the edifice presents the Gus
| tomary wings radiating from a central oc
| tagon each wing separated from the hui
by cage of bars reaching from floor t.
| ceiling, so that all the corridors are visible
from the guard room. The shops are il
| buildings across the yards and inside tn
| walls. Both shops and prison are vel
lighted, the windows being tall, and as tn
| cell doors consist merely of upright bar
the light enters every room, except the fey