Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-02-13
JAILS BAD As
40 YEARS AGO
State Charities Commission
Condemns Illinois County
Bastiles.
DEFEAT ENDS OF JUSTICE
Almost Unbelievable Conditions Pre-
vail in Many Cases-Reforms
Recommended.

Springfield. Ill. Feb. 10. The
fails of Illinois and the treat
ment accorded prisoners in them are
severely condemned in report issued
today by the state charities commits
sion, following its first inspection OF
these institutions.
The commission finds, by comparing
its reports with the report issued IN
1870 by the old state board Of chart
ties. that no Improvement has been
made in the jails in these 40 years.
Only 10 jails in the state are placed
in the first class as TO sanitation. The
common Jail is referred TO as relic
of the dark ages. a disseminator OF
foul blood diseases and tuberculosis,
school for crime. a violator of the laws
themselves, a place of detention where
men are debased physically by unfit
and insufficient food and morally by
vicious environment.
ABOLISH THE FEE SYSTEM.
The commission recommends the
adjustment of the fee system of feed
ing prisoners; the creation of some
means by which men. women and
children may have decent, humane
surroundings, plenty Of fresh air. good
light. clean quarters. adequate nourish-
ment, employment and instruction.
The conditions found are an awful
commentary upon our boasted civiliz-
alton. saws the commission.
The report was sent 10 Governor
Deneen today.
ALMOST INBEIIEsN ABLE.
The details that unfold the horrors
in this class of institutions are almost
unbelievable. The commission says:
In a period in which humanity has
asserted itself and secured for many
classes Of unfortunates a proper con
sideratiou imbued by heart instincts.
we find that little Improvement has
been made in the publics expression
towards its Jail and almshouse wards.
There has been no appreciate i'm
pgoycmeut in physical plant. little bet
tCrmout IN methods of treatment and
the laws Of today relating 10 these
classes reflect few OF the higher ideals
of mans responsibility 10 his fallen or
distressed brother So slight have been
these changes in these 80 years hat thu
report Of the state board of charities.
upon its FIRST inspection Of Illinois
jails in 1870. might be lifted bodily
from the dust-covered archives OF the
state and set down in the first years
records Of the state charities commits
sion as its account OF what it has
found in these same institutions.
SCHOOLS IN CRIME.
Waste. extravaganza. inhumauity,
inefi cheney. neglect. Indifference, petty
partisan and fractional politics making
gain Of the uufortunates, the jails
schools for crime the almshouse the
refuge Of conditions that shrink from
the light of publicity were
found in 1870 by the old board of
charities; these were found in 1910 by
the state charities commission The
board of charities said in 1870: In
sane inmates OF jaiis 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 from the
women. The effect of this indisCrim-
mate herdng is TO make the Jail a
school for crime. Hospital accommo-
daticn for the sick is a thing usually
a
ploymeut for mind or body No at
tempt at secular instruction and edu-
cation has been found in any Jail IF
forts a, reformation are wanting"
The state charities commission
makes the report mat practically The
same conditions arc found in the jai.s
r. 1910.
CHANGES MUST BE MADE.
The commission says that if the
county system Of jaiis is TO continue
there must he made at once radical
changes for the better. This means
new plants in a large number Of
counties and extensive and costly i'm
proyemeuts in practically all the rest
Large OUTLAWS OF money must be made
tC bring them IN To reasonable
standard. and even then the work tha,
should be done for the inmates own
individual benefit. such as giving him
employment and instruction. cannot be
done with the best results
THIS commission further SAYS THAI
there is scarcely a Jail in the state
that Is free from cause for serious crit
icism A large majority OF them are
oid and antiquated and have outlived
The day for which they We're construct
Cd There are found among these
jails diSseminators II loathSome dis
eases that undermine both body and
mind and furnish a portion Of those
piyiable patients confined in the paretic
wards of the state hospitals for The in
sane. There are found among them
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