The Topeka state journal., 1906-04-17

social evening. one of the wards must
be cleared for the event There is no
library. no magazine fund, practically
no pictures and yet the last legislature
cut the special appropriation for Par
sons into fragments and gave them the
smallest bit
All the hospitals need papers and
magazines and books, and Osawatomie
and Parsons need pictures. Parsons
should have fine greenhouse. At
the best with all that can be done,
institutional life is without color, with
out much happiness; it is a life of re-
preston, and sadness, for it is lived
away from home and family and
friends. I have no desire to see Kan
sas famous for cranks and crankiness,
but I long with all my heart to see
her light the way Of the world in the
protection and love she extends to the
wards Of the commonwealth.
Move Boys RefOrn1atory.
The boys industrial school should
some time be moved away from To-
peka to the western part of the state
and placed in the midst of 1900 acres
of land. 1t could be made self-sup-
porting with a large dairy, stock rails
! ing, chicken farming, and the raising
| of corn, wheat, alfalfa, fruit and the
other things grown in the garden spot
of Kansas As it now is, the school
4 has $50 acres of land, and Soldier
creek winds in and out, so that there
are 80 acres of tillable land. Eleven
times in four years this land Chat
two good healthy boys could farm in
! the short-grass country has been un-
der water and the crops destroyed.
There is not enough work for the boys
and they must be kept in school 12
| months in the year. This destroys
most of the value of their school work.
With big farm this institution could
/ be practically self-sustaining, giving
the boys work out of doors in summer,
leaving the winter for schooling, with
plenty Of chores to make them
healthy and happy. This school
/ should be the boys Industrial and
agricultural school, with more forms
| Of real industry and less play work.
! The boys should be taught the things
for which there is a demand in the
world of labor, gardening, horticul-
ture, dairying, stock raising, brick
| laying, plastering, carpenter work,
painting, blacksmithing bookbind ding,
steam fitting. plumbing, as well as the
! tailoring, printing, harness and shoe
making they have now. With the ex-
penditure of a few thousands for ma
terial, the labor of the 226 boys in our
reform school could build a splendid
/ institution Colonel Drake now su-
perintendent of the Iowa school, went
to Boonyille, Mo, when the institution
was small, and with the labor of those
/ whom the state was trying to save
built a plant worth hundreds of thou
sands of dollars Their education
went on all the time and no boy was
overworked but neither did he loaf
The present Topeka Institution could
be used for other wards of the state
The hospitals for the insane are full
and the buildings at the BOYS school
would accommodate the overflow
from there. The boys industrial
pictures, more books, better magazines
and newspapers.
ReformatOry for Women.
The Girls Industrial school at BeIoft.
needs many things. There should he a
dairy and a big chicken farm. as a mat
ter Of revenue. and to give the girls the
benefit of outdoor life There should he
a green house and florist enpInye5 10
teach the girls scientific Horticulture f3r
there Is a demand for women florists.
we nave woman gardener now. who
viii teach them gardening. They do no>
need typewriting or stenography or
china painting which they have been
having They should be taught the
things for which there is a demand.
and that will bring them in contact
with women and not SO much with the
world when they go out to earn a liz
ing The domestic science department
made practical, is one of the strongest
features IN that institution today.
This state has no refOrmatory for v-o-
men, On a criminal charge there are
the jails and penitentiary for the deten-
ton of women. In neither place would
there be a reformation of the criminal
Mr.. Simmons, formerly superintendent
of the reformatory for men at Hutchin-
son. believes the best plan is to build
one a half mile from the present build
ings at Hutchinson, keeping the two in
stitutions under one general manage
ment. The state already has a section
of land that could be furnished from
the present plant. and other forms Of
cooperation would be possible Whether
there or elsewhere. every Kansas news
paper man will see the need Of place
for this class Of delinquents both for
their own reformation and the protec-
ton of society
There should be a separation of the
feeble minded and innbecile population
at Winfield. IN order that more atten-
ton be given to the development of the
feeble-ninded. The institution is full.
and more room is needed. Back of ali
this sorrowful story, every one of Us
should have a care for the social vel
fare Of our communities. That will turn
our thought toward the prevention OF
this pitiful stream OF human waste
flowing into the reformatory and cor
recti0naI institutions.