The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-08-15
OUT THE GUILTY ONES

chap had been one OF five who had
set on to another lad and finally
killed him This boy had been sent
to the House of Refuge and had tried
to escape on three separate occasions
He had been doing penance this
time for fifty two days when we ar
rived at his cell Col Barber spoke
to him and asked him when he was
going to yield to the discipline and
behave himself. II cant make good"
said the little chap, stubbornly; ~
have tried and | can't"
"Then you stay here until you do"
said COL Barber. "You cannot expect
to win out against the discipline OF
| the house"
This standing at attention." per
forming physical exercises and being
separated from his comrades all day
and all night long Is not very easy
penance for a boy, yet this youngster
had been at 1t for rifty-two days and
still refused to give in One could
not but wonder what such determln-
alton might achieve If directed along
proper lines.
Col Barber knows all his boys.
There are Gao of them, and he can
pick out any one of them, tell you
his complete record, what he Is there
for and how long, and he knows how
to handle each one.
'No two boys are alike" he said,
lin character any more than they
can be exactly alike in eatures. Each
boy has to be dealih with as a sep
arate individual, requiring individual
care, teaching and management.
What does for one does not do
for another, and each character Is a
case for separate study No general
principle can be applied to any num-
ber collectively.
"It is Impossible not to be in
terested in the boys They are in
clined to think at first that they have
the hole world, and especially the
officers of the institution, against
them, and they imagine that If they
repeatedly commit offenses of misde-
meanor here it is impossible for the
officers not to feel sore against them.
But one becomes very fond of the lads
and the very bad boy creates no lii
feeling in the mind of any officer,
because the atmosphere of the place
continually reminds one that such
warped products Of civilization are
naturally bad and cannot help their
tendencies. "
asked Joseph p. Byers, Super
! intendent of the House of Refuge TO
what degree the institution was able
to claim reliable percentages OF act
ual reform. Mr.. Byers admitted that
their system in this respect was not
yet perfect: It could not be under the
present regulations provided by law.
, They had to let a boy go when he
reached the age of twenty-one years,
whether his record In the institution
was good or bad, and there was no
provision whereof II a boy were still
refractory he could be directly trans
ferred TO Elmira State Reformatory,
where they take men up to thirty
years and keep them under supervi-
sion and restraint. Mr.. Byers ad-
mitted this was a flaw in the system,
for when the boy reached the age of
tyenty-one years, according to records
in hand, no matter how determinedly
bad he might be, he had to be let
loose on society again and could not
be put under fu:Iher restraint un-
til he had committed some other Of
iense while at large. The boys that
go to the House Of Refuge are self
proved bad boys. for, as a rule, they
, are sent 10 that institution as a last
resource When they reach Randall's
Island they already have been through
various other institutions Of rather
less strictness and restraint. They
are boys with whom the Sunday
schools, the churches, the charitable
and for whom the other and more
! lenient places of Correction have
been able 70 do nothing.
Mr. Byers does not favor the pres
ent system of the aggregation of a
large number of boys under one roof
so to speak, as the best OF reforma-
tory organizations. He would pre-
fer the country cottage system, where
the boys could be classified ana
grouped and have more individual at
/ tention, and a care that sayored OF
the parental, as likely TO be more
generally effective. lie agrees that
the statistics put forward as TO the
percentage of actual reformations al
legged to be effected each year are
not altogethr reliable, as such statist-
les are in Germany, for instance. In
! Germany, the system of supervision
suffers no break; it Is continuous and
rigid and after boy Is discharged
from reformatory he Is more or less
on parole for several years after
ward Mr.. Byers has inaugurated
an excellent parole system here, but
he can maintain it only up to the
boys age of twenty-one years. Then
the boy has to be discharged.
These institutions throughout the
country form sort of national nurs
cry. The boys work and play and ere