The weekly Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1911-1922, 1911-03-09
JAILS IN GENERAL
The County Jails of Indiana Are
Operated Under System Which
is a Lasting Reproach to
The State

Below is given the opinion of the
State Board of Charities on jails III
general and on the Marshall county
Jail in particular:
The county jails of Indiana are
operated under a system which is a
lasting reproach to the State. AT
least thousand persons are confined
in them at all times; in the course
of a year more than thirty thousand
pass through their doors-men and
women. boys and girls. Guilty or in
nocent, young or old, hardened lis
crime or taking the first step-all
classes gather beneath the same roof.
receive practically the same treat
ment. What the first offender does
not know of serious crime he is given
opportunity to learn. What the lazy
and shiftless, the intentional law
breaker, want of shelter and food
without the necessity of earning it.,
is provided. Nothing that is cal
culated to restore men and women to
good citizenship is to be found. Our
lack Of thoughtful care of short term
prisoners is inexcusable. From them
our prison population is recruited and
we do nothing to stop the source,
We make no effort to save expense
to the State or to save the prisoner
before too far gone. Under the
present system we are but adding to
the number of criminals with whom
we must work and to whose support
we must contribute.
When the international Prison
Congress, with its representatives
from every part of the globe, came
to the United States this year and
the delegates were taken to visit a
number of our penal and correctional
institutions, we had IN excellent OPP
portunity to learn their opinion of
our system. Many expressed them
selves emphatically. Mr.. Thomas
Holmes, secretary of the Howard As
ISOLATION, London, England, said:
'The great conviction which thrust
itself upon the mind of every one of
the foreign delegates with whom I
have spoken was the extraordinary
quality of your reformatories and the
extraordinary defects of your town
and county jails. Every Jail I saw
ought to be wiped off the face of the
earth. So far as / can learn, having
spoken to the delegates representative
of the continent, nowhere in Europe
do such conditions exist. I need not
describe them. They are all alike.
If America wishes to accomplish one
great humanitarian triumph, it may
do so by a great reform in this direc-
tion.'
The vagrants in Jail during the year
number 4,219., of whom 4,1S4 were
men and 35 were women. One hun
bred and fifty-six Of the men and 10
of the women were colored.
We are advised by the Bureau of
Statistics that the total Jail expenses
for the calendar year 1909 amounted
to $292, 1922, of which $145,608.64
was for boarding PRISONS and $146-
523.68 for all other items of expense
Marshall County Jail, Plymouth
Visited August II, 1910. The outer
walls of the cells Of this Jail. are of
stone. AS usual with this type, both
light and ventilation are poor. The
equipment generally appears salts
| factory, except that there are no bath
tubs and the prisoners must use port
able tubs, water being heated in The
kitchen. The sexes are completely
SEPARATED and there is excellent oppor.
tunity for classifying the prioners. Nc
occupation is provided and no reli.
gious services are held. Some reading
matter is furnished. Two insane
men were. in the Jail on the day OF
the inspection. The needs of the in.
stitution are bath tubs and window
co-Hovc