Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-03-12

for InebTlateS in umberldnd County,
and she Women,s Reformatory.
Hearings on chlldren's Act.
Speakers of national reputation
We're present al the hearings on the
Childrens Act and the Woman's Re-
, forma tory For the latter Dr. kath-
crime Bement Davis, superintendent
# Bedford Reformatory, New York.
the institution we wish to model ours
upon. was the principal speaker.
She outlined the history Of her in
stitution and explained the methods
/ in vogue there for the reclamation 81
fallen girls and women. Dr. Davis
has had charge If the institution fot
l. years. since its establishment, has
worked Out her theories. and demon
stfaled beyond "a doubt that it is =
successful proposition.
The Maine Prison Association has
placed the bill before the Legislator"
this year. On Jan. % a hearing was
given by the committee on legal at
fairs.
1t has been favorably reported b.
+ the committee, has had its first read
/ ing in the Senate and been tabled.
This covers legislative history brief
~ to date. The next point l wish te
present is the need OF this reforma-
/ tory.
NE have in the State for the inear-
ceration Of worf1en criminals the State
Priston at Thomaston and the l.
county jails.
The report of the inspectors of pris-
ons and jails for 1911 (the last one
printed) shows 22S of women commit
Inents for the year TO prisons and jails.
AS but eight women We're at the state
Prison this leaves 220 in the jails.
II the county jails offer anything N
/ their curriculum that promotes refor-
nation there would be no need of this
+ long prayed for reformatory, outside
+ of the fact that the Jail in Cumber-
land county is overcrowded
Now, what sort Of a reputation does
/ the county Jail system enjoy??
When the International Prison Con-
gress met in Washington. p. G, in
19l0-the first time on American soil
our prison and Jail system We're I'M
der discriminating scrutiny. For
eign delegates visited a great number
OF our prisons, local and county jails
and work houses.
Six months later the chairman OF
the English commission, Sir Evelyn
Ruggles- Brise, president-el elect of the
next International Prison Congress
which meets in London in 1915, com
mended in general American state
prisons and reformatcries. but de-
nOunced tAe systems in the city and
county iails. He said Among the
jails many features still linger, such
as called forth the wrath of John
Howard at the end of the 18th cen
fury. Unsanitary conditions, idleness
promiscuity, corruption-these remain
features in many places
Another of the delegates reported
that Every Jail he saw on the Amer
| scan trip ought to be wiped off the
face of the earth" So much for whal
foreigners think of our jail systems
and our own penologists are quite a.
denunciatory.
Personally. l cannot say that our
jails should be elassed in this cate
CORY, but 1 am told by those who have
first-hand knowledge that our jails
are far from models. In no way what
soever are they fit for women pris-
oners. Jail sentences are always COM
paratiyely short There can be no
attempt at anything educational. for,
at the most, the period of detention Is
I not long enough.
The most common causes for send
f, ing women TO jail are disorderly con
! duct. prostitution, drunkenness. keep
ing houses of ill-fame. The majority
i Tor sueh crimes serve their sentences.
come out and do the same over again.
| time and time again. 1t gets to be an
| old story, self respect is gone. and
they go down to degradation. The Jail
/ houses and feeds them; it can do Moth
/ ing more
Viii Find the Mental Defect
| a Woman's remormatory with the
right superintendent and officers, and
equipped as a modern Institution shoub.
be, will take these girls and women.
/ study the individual neeu. find in their
life history the eausative factors that led
/ to the delinquency. by tests find the
mental defect. if any exists.
DIR. Goddard says that % per cent. of
the delinquent class is mentally defective.
From one-fourth Of the delinquent popu-
| lati5n we must not expect too much.
then. This leaves US three-fourths to
work upon among whom we find great
number of shiftless, diseased. unbal-
| anced, inefficient humans To a vast
| majority heredity did not give a great
store Of moral momentum and environ