Omaha daily bee., 1910-03-28

bamboo furniture was made for sale. Then
a laundry was established and It has grown
until today Il is a model American steam
laundry plant with a capacity Of 1900
prison pieces a day, with room for as much
more outside work II can successfully
lsunder the sojled linen Of a battleship In
two days doing as high as 1900 pieces for
a single ship in the harbor
In its Industrial department care Is taken
thaa the products do not come in competi-
Non with outside free labor products Of
the same naure. In the fiscal year 1905 the
profits OF his department amounted to
more than $1,000 pesos Adding to this the
64,000 pesos paid to the government for
prison labor, the result is a well-nigh self
supporting prison population. According to
the provaAhng system Of bookkeeping. how
ever, the receipts Of the Industrial depart
ment are not available for the upkeep Of
the prison. but are turned into the general
treasury,
The whole prison system Of the Philip
pine Islands Is now being conducted along
reformatory lines. The prisoners are taught
20 read and write English and are given a
trade suited 10 their tastes and ability II
has been found that three years of train
ing In Bnibid usually converts a criminal
into a useful, decent, law-abiding citizen.
When prisoner has served his sentence he
Is among the best trained Of the natives Of
the islands, and the management finds 1t
comparatively easy to get him a good Job.
II is very seldom that the employer has
occasion to regret the employment of one
whom the prison authorities recommend.
Practically every trade followed on the
islands Is taught at Binbid.
There Is a system OF merit in force and
the ones VINO distinguish themselves for
good conduct are sent to the Iwahig penal
colony, where they may live in the open
and have their families with them. II so
happens, however, that most OF the men
who are sent TO this colony are doomed to
disappointment In the matter Of reuniting
with their families, for Bhibid sentence
for husband Is considered by the wife as
emitting her to a divorce, 50 she usually
becomes the wife of some other native be-
fore her prison husband can establish a
reputation for good behavior sufficient to
entitle him to go 70 Iswahig. However,
many families have been reunited there.
This colony is governed so that the only
restraint is that Of moral suasion. OF
course the superintendent has power to
firearms are allowed In the colony. There
are no guards, but the working force is
we'll organized, with the most trustworthy
in charge When the men come to the
colony they gain In weight in spite Of the
hard farm and forest work they are re-
quired to do.
There have been several attempts at
TAIL delivery at Bnibid since the American
II, oF pt1n
was used to quiet the mob. 1t was shortly
after the inauguration of the industrial
system. The prisoners hgd been supplied
with bolos for use in making cots, and
they felt we'll enough armed to make an
attempt for liberty. After fifty rounds
were fired from the gatiins gun there
were nineteen dead and many wounded.
After that all that was needed was a sur
geon and en- undertaken. asN1iT
There are comparatively few white men
in Bilibid, and most of them are serving
short sentences for petty thieving, vag-
rancy, embezzIement and other crimes that
usually follow hard drinking and fast liv-
ing The Spaniards awllo are there have
in most cases been sent, down for duelling
Less than a hundred women are to be
found in the prison. 7o-&
In proportion to population the Philip
pines show a comparatively small per-
centage of criminals The United States
has 1000 prisoners In it's prisons, while
the Philippines have less than 6OoO, all
told. II the ratio that obtains in this
country were applied In our Oriental in
sular possessions, It would give a total
of nearly 5000 prisoners in the Philippines
There are approximately half million
convicts in the prisons of Europe, where
the proportion is even higher than in the
United States.
The order, the health and the perfect dis
cipline of Bilibid are the result CT twelve
years OF American rule in a half-savaRe,
tropical country, where even the little
children can remember horrible atrocities
Of tyrannical government, which have been
forgotten in Europe for centuries, and
which were never known in the, United
States. Instead Of place of punitive tor
ture, as It was, Bilibid Is now a place
where prisoners are helped as much as
possible, where they are trained in some
useful trade, where they are taught the
primary laws Of sanitation, and where
they are brought under the influence of
order and discipline as men, not brutes
Bilibid prison is stir the largest prison
on earth, but it has changed from being
the worst to the best
BY FREDERIo ]. RAsKm.
TomOrrOw-The sponge Industry.