The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1911-10-08
Secretary Jordan of the Com
mercial Club Will Advo-
cate Such a System at
State Meeting, Oct. 81.
LITTLE OFFENDERS
HAVE A SOFT TIME
At State Penal Farm They
Would Be Forced to Work
and Help Support Family,
Is His Contention. !

'Prevention of Insanity" will be
the subject on which Dr. Samuel E.
Smith. superintendent of the Eastern
Indiana hospital for the insane, will
talk before the State Board of Chari-
ties and Correction at Indianapolis
Saturday evening, October %. DR..
Smith is chairman of the executive
committee of the board, and is well
versed on this subject and has discus
sed it before at the nineteenth annual
session of the Indiana Conference of
Charities and Correction, held at Mar
ion last year The conference this
year will be held October %.
Other local men vino are on com
mlttees OF the state board are Timo.
thy Nicholson, w. D. Foulke and Wal
ter S. Commons, and the Rev. Conrad
Huber. MIR. Nicholson is member OF
the committee on the offender, as is
Mr.. Commons, and the Rev. Mr. Huber
and Mr.. Foulke are members of the
committee on social welfare. They will
| take part in the round table discus
sions. Meredith Nicholson, member
OF the board of trustees of the East
| ern hospital for the insane, will par.
| ticipate in the discussion "The In
sane"
Charles w. Jordan, secretary of the
| Commercial club, will read a paper on
the "Workhouses,. Tuesday, October
81. The discussion on this subjec,
will be opened following the reading
OF the paper by w. Albert O'Harra
sheriff of Delaware county.
Advantages of System.
The advantages of a penal farm
from every phase by Mr.. Jordan. He
| believes if the petty offenders we're
sent to farm, maintained under the
| supervision of the state, that bette,
results would be obtained in more
than one way. In explaining his
theory Mr.. Jordan says:
Il was in a position for eight years
to see the effects which the work
house invariably has upon a man con
victed for petty offense. For ex
ample the man is arraigned on the
charge of drunk and he is given 4
fine, the extent of which depends
| largely upon the mood in which the
police judge is, and he goes to the
county Jail. There he plays cards and
has good time'in his idleness Mean
while his family is striving for living
and in their destitute circumstances
they appeal to the township trustee
The county is obliged to keep the man
and his family. By the method l ad
vocate the man could be put to work
on the farm and could work for his
maintenance and a surplus could be
sent to his family.
My idea is for the state to pass a
law for the establishment of penal in
stitutions. and for counties to be divid
ed into districts: counties of one GER
tain district sending their prisoners tC
| the farm of their district.
Favors Longer Sentence.
Another thing, ten or eleven day
sentence is nothing but stigma on a
| mans character which reverts on his
family. With the penal farm a police
judge would send the convicted man
to the farm for longer period, which
will give him time to study out just
what is right and what is wrong II
man were sent to the farm for six
ty days for not supporting his family
he would find that it was not such a
hard thing to work and support fam
lily after ALL.
I'VE brought this matter up at the
recent session of the legislature but
owing to the consideration of minor
subjects we only succeeded in getting
a commission appointed, but we hope
to carry the matter through in 1913.
Il suggest that the state purchase
unimproved land and let these men i'm
prove it and after it is improved to
farm it in garden produce. 1t is not
right for the state to force convicted
men to manufacture things as that is
working against the laboring man.