The Cairo bulletin., 1911-02-15
SCHOOL FOR CRIME In CIRCUIT COURT
JAlLS OF ILLINOIS DENoUNCE-
AS BAD BY ILLINOIS STATE
CHARITIES COMMISSION.
Waste, Extravaganza, lnhumanity, IN
efficiency, Neglect, Indecency,
Petty Partisanship Evident
fc d.
\, ,,s,. In Many Cases.

nv gtfgex iH M-Hy SdSSSs
Springfield, III, Feb. 1.-THE Jail:
of Illinois and the treatment acco d
ed prisoners in them are severely
in report issued today
by the State Charities Commission
following its first Inspection of these
institutions.
The commission finds by comparing
its reports with the report issued ir
1870 bv the Old State Board of Chart
ties, that no improvement has been
made in the jails in for,Y yea S. Only
rem jaiis in the state are placed in
the first class as to sanitation.
The common Jail is referred to as a
relic OF tire dark ages, dissemination
OF foul blood diseases and tuberculo
sis, school for crime, a yiolator OF
the laws themselves, place of de
tention where men are cer>ased phys
scally by unfit and insufficient food
du lApiUtls w fiGlUuS civ UhAiCit.s
Fee System Scored.
The commission recommends the
adjustment OF the fee system OF
feeding prisoners; the creation OF
some means by which men, women
and children may have decent, flu-
name surroundings, plenty Of fresh
air, good light, clean quarters, ade-
quate nourishment, employment and
instruction
The conditions found are an awful
commentary upon our boosted civilf-
cation, says the commission.
The report was sent to Gov. De.
neen today.
The Commission says:
Waste, extravaganza inhumanity,
neglect, Indifference. pet
ty partisan and factional politics
making gain of the unfontunates. the
jails chools for crime, the aims housr
the refuge of conditions that shrinl
from the light of publicity-tAese
we're found in 1870 oy the old Board
of Charities: these were found. In
1910 by the State Charities Commits
sion. The Board OF Charities said
in 1870: Insane inmates of jails are
not separated from the sane; nor the
guilty from the innocent; nor the
suspected from the convicted; nor the
hardened criminal from the child;
nor the men fro mthe women. The
effect of this indiscriminate nerding
is to make the Jail a school for crime.
Hospital accommodation for the sick
is thing usually unknown. Prisoners
are without employment for mind o.
body. No attempt at secular instruc-
ton and education has been found in
any Jail Efforts at reformation are
wanting"
Practically the same conditions
are found in the jails in 1910.
Never See Daylight.
illinois has iails in which pris-
oners never see daylight; In which
they never feel the rays OF artificial
heat in the winter or the fresh breath
of air in the summer: in which men
and women sleep uron damp, vermin-
infected floors; in which water
stands durirg the wet seasons: in
which prisoners srread and contrac'
in which men, clean and
unelean, battle in the same tubs and
use he same towels: in whiCih three
and four times as many prisoners are
herded as the building was erected to
accommodate: in wnich the kangaroo
court imposes upon newcomers out
rageous punishments and crue,ties,
even to robbery of money.
twenty-five children under 1c
years of age were found among the
1924 prisoners. In eleven OF the fif-
teen ials in which these children
were they occupied cages with older
men and women without a pretense OF
separation. Nine per cent of the to.
tai jail population were under ri
wears Of age. Only thirty of tine
iails inspected comply
with section II of chapter rs OF the
statutes, which provides for separS'
ton of minors from older offenders
and criminals. The same statute
specifies that men and women shall
be separated, yet fourteen of the jails
have no provision for such segrega-
ton" ~ N:F