Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1908-07-29
WORK FOR PRISONERS .
ITO Keep Them In Idleness Crime,''
Says Prison INSPECTOR.

in which William l.. Scribner. chairman
Of the Maine board of prison inspectors,
characterizes the practice Of combining
men in Jail without keeping them at work.
| Mr.. Scribner's ideas are not those Of a
| theorist, but the result OF observation
made by practical man in q position to
| see things as they are. Mr.. Scribner was
Tor many years member of the board of
| county commissioners for Penobscot
county, and there had ample opportunity
to see the workings OF prison life. AL
most Immediately after he ceased his du-
ties as county commissioner, he was APP
pointed to the board of prison inspectors,
which gave him much broader field for
observation.
ut is inhuman," declared he, 'sto send
men to jails which have no workshop con-
nected. To keep men confined in jails
and in idleness is crime against society.
Such practice counteracts all the correc-
tive good of a Jail. Instead Of being an
agent for good, the Jail becomes a school
OF crime and viciousness. The men who
allow such conditions to exist; who send
men to jails, fail of the good they mean to
accomplish.
''For years the board has urged in every
possible manner the necessity of prisoners
in the institutions of the State being
given employment and not allowed to re-
main in idleness. All of our reports have
asked for this. To-day we are nearer
realization Of this than ever before.
I'm the early times it was the idea that
the thing to do was to punish and degrade
the prisoner. Now it is changed. We are
trying to elevate the morals OF the men to
make better citizens. The workshop is
one OF the great factors in this, and people
are beginning to realize it. Confined in a
jail without work, the man gives his
thoughts to crime. He has opportunity
to imbibe knowledge of criminal ways
from his fellow convicts, as well as to i'm
part il to them. Kept at work these OPP
portunities are lacking. The results are
better for the man and society as whole"
The inspector further said that it was
not advisable for all jails in Maine to
establish workshops. The number of
prisoners confined in them is not sufficient
to warrant it. The Hancock county Jail
at Ellsworth and the Franklin county Jail
at Pennington are good examples of this.
At those institutions, the average number
of prisoners is only about sufficient to do
the required work about the jail. It
would be absurd to establish workshops
in those counties. 1t is etter, when there
is surplus of prisoners, to send them to
some other jail, where they may be kept
at work.
by the county commissioners of all
counties where there are no workshops
and the prisoners lie about in idleness,
that such conditions shall cease, and that
employment of some kind will be supplied
the prisoners.
| For the most part, stone and wood yards
will be established. These are the more
tive as any form of labor used in jails.
Also, they are good preventives of tramps.
| The genuine wanderer has no love for q
| buck saw or big stone sledge. When he
| finds that visits to q county mean from
thirty to ninety days at stone- breaking or
wood saving, he finds it convenient to
keep far, far away from said county.
But in addition to being d cure for the
tramp evil, there is another practical value
of the stone yard. 1t makes possible bet
ter roads at greatly reduced price. Stone
crushed by prisoners in the jails is about
the cheapest crushed rock obtainable.
For the most part all it costs the city or
town which benefits thereby is the cost of
hauling the rock to the Jail and taking
away the crushed product Of the mems
| sledges.
| A notable example of how roads can be
improved by this method is found in Wis
casset, Lincoln county. There they have
stone yard connected with the jail, and
the crushed rock is used on the highways.
Within the past few years the improve
ment in the conditions of the roads of that
town has been remarkable. Other places
in Maine have benefited by this same plan.
| When Mr.. Scribner was a member of
the board of county commissioners for
| Penobscot county there was not employ
ment enough for all the prisoners. After
considerable discussion Of the matter it
was decided to esta blish a stone yard. A
high board fence was erected at the rear
of the Jail workshop and contract made
with the city for the rock. By this con-
tract the city was to provide the big rock
necessary for the work and in return was
| to receive the crushed product for use on
the streets free of cost. In the end it
! proved profitable for Penobscot county.
At the expiration of six months the num-
Der of men in the Bangor Jail had been re-
duced to less than bali the original num-
| Der. This was directly attributable to the
stone yard. Men found that going to jail
meant something more than place to eat
and sleep, with some tobacco to smoke
and chew and plenty of good reading mat
ter. 1t meant that they had got to work
just as did the men whose taxes helped
! to support the jail. They either decided
to go to work where they collect their