The Chanute times., 1909-06-18

Public interest is directed to the
state prisons of New York state by the
recent action of the legislature in en-
acting a measure transferring the
property at Comstock, Washington
county, purchased by the state from
Hon. Isaac " Baker about five years
ago, from the jurisdiction of the state
Lunacy commission to the superintend'
ent of state prisons and appropriating
S500.000 for the construction and
equipment of an additional new state
prison to be known as the Great
Meadow prison.
The overcrowded condition of the
prisons of the state has become a
more and more serious problem In the
last few years, and Notwithstanding
the erection of the new prison at Bear
Mountain down the Hudson to take the
place of the old Sing Sing prison,
which is now well under way, State
Superintendent of Prisons Cornelius
V. Collins pointed out to the legisla
ture that the need of another new
prison is already imperative, owing
to the growing prison population nat
urally due to the steady increase OF
the population of the empire state
There has been practically no new
prison construction, aside from neces
sary improvements, with the excep-
ton of one wing of Clinton prison,
since 1S45. There are at present in
the three state prisons 4,107 convicts,
an increase of 1 1,2S1 in IS months, and
as the prisons provide but 5000 cells,
it is necessary to double" in more
than 2,O00 of these small cells. To
afford relief as soon as possible 1t is
proposed to start work this summer
on the Comstock property so as to
have the buildings ready for occu-
pancy early next year.
Few persons, except those who have
inspected state prison or are directly
connected with one of these institu-
tions, have any adequate conception
of their magnitude, and only by COM
parison with the conditions existing
in the prisons of this state a decade
or more ago can the far-reaching ef-
feet of the numerous prison reforms,
in which this state has been the pi.
oneer. be understood comprehensively.
These changes and the establishment
in New York state of what are recog'
nized as the model penal institutions
of the country have been brought
about directly by the orders OF the
present State Superintendent OF PriS-
ons, Cornelius V. Collins, who has
been head of the state prison depart
ment since 1897, or through legisla'
ton enacted upon his recommendation.
The policy of the state in regard to
these institutions is best expressed in
a statement made by the superintend-
ent before the National State Prisons
association in Baltimore. Md:
"The state in committing a man to
prison not only intends that the COM
monwealth shall be protected from his
criminal acts during the time of his
incarceration, but that those in whose
charge he is given shall use all pos
sible means to effect his reformation
and return him to society better and
with a higher conception of his own
moral obligations"
Even in these days of enlightenment
Il is not far cry to the whipping
post, the darkened cell and the bread
and-water diet. For years all other
considerations in prison management
we're subordinated to large industrial
production and the greatest financial
returns to the state from the prod
ucts of prison labor. Hard labor un-
der strict discipline is still required,
as It must be, but the reformation
and education of the criminal, to re-
store his moral sense and send him
forth from prison to become, II pos
sible, a useful and productive indivi-
dual. has been made paramount
With this conception of the duty OF
the state toward those convicted of
crime an intelligent treatment of the
prison problem has resulted in changes
of methods, frequently revolutionary,
but always progressive, which have
proyen effective to a remarkable de-
gree. Il is only necessary to enumer-
ate some of the more important re-
forms introduced in the last ten OF
12 years to show by what steps the
present standard of the prison system
of the state has been reached.
First the prisoners we're classified |
In four grades. namely: A, first