The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1914-05-28
THE PRISONS
OF THE FUTURE
A Writer in the Detroit Journal Gives His
Ideas Of What the Great Penal Insti-
tutions are Soon to be. Many Changes
Necessary for Good
NOW IN VOGUE HERE
By William H. Tenm.

The prisons OF the future VIII be
vastly smaller than the larger ones
of the present time. Not alone be-
cause of the fact that better results
can be achieved by the penologist
who is at the head of the institution
where fewer men are confined, but
also because Of the added reason that
verious other institutions will be in
re to care for many unfortunates
criminals) who are now sent
penitentiaries.
The feeble-m minded class in our
prisons in the United States is said
number between 25, 900 and $4,000
individuals, or about one-fourth of
the prison population. These will
be cared for in other institutions
than prisons, confinement in which
is a greater crime upon the part of
society towards these poor unfortu-
mates than were the offenses for
commission of which these feeble
minded individuals were sent to
prison. According to the general
statistics, the farm for epileptics in
Michigan should care for two hun
dred persons now confined IN the
prisons of this state.
The wider extension of the system
of probation will save thousands Of
men from a prison experience, there
by protecting the taxpayer and re-
claiming the individual himself, the
latter occurring in between IS and
IS per cent. of the cases. This saw
ing to taxpayers is most evident to-
day, for were the two recorders of
Wayne county to bring to court and
sentence those who now enjoy a
probationary relation to their courts,
there would not be empty cells
enough in our state penal institu-
tlons to receive them. 1t is much
better to build up homes than to
erect more prisons.
Undoubtedly the physician, the
surgeon, the alienist and the psy-
chologist will serve as greater fac
tors to relieve our crime problem
than in the past. 1t is we'll known
that nervous condition occasioned
by affections of the eyes, nose and
ears has played large part in the
delinquency of boys and girls, of
young men and young women. The
splendid results achieved in Chica-
go and in Railway, N. j., as we'll as
in other localities. have already
warranted great deal more of in
vestigation and effort along the
same lines.
Prisons of Future
The prison of the future will be
located miles away from the city,
upon a tract of sufficient acreage to
insure outdoor employment for a
large number of men during the
large portion of the year. Work
under such conditions will not only
be more lucrative to the state, but,
better still, the means of building
up physically and mentally, as we'll
as morally, these wards of the COM
monwealth.
The warden of our prison at Jack
son already is planning to divide
some of the acreage into small tracts
to be gardened" by TRUSTEES; a
record being kept of the cost of care
and seeding of these little farms, as
we'll as the value of the products
thereof, thus encouraging healthy
rivalry among those responsible for
these sections of the prison farm.
How much this will accrue to the
benefit of the men will be best un-
derstood by those who have worked
among paroled or discharged pris-
oners.
The prevailing style of prison ar
chitecture will be superseded by
one which will admit of the great
est possible amount of sunlight and
circulating air in the cells. Most
cellhouses are constructed with the
corridors running along the outer
walls of the building. while the cells
are arranged In the center, end to
end, a thick wall separating them.
In an effort to reduce the possibility
of escapes, the health of the inmates
has not always been properly con.
sidered.
The Richmond Prison
The United States can well afford
to turn backward for improvement in
cell construction. In Richmond,
Va. today stands building erected
from plans drawn by Thomas Jeffer-
son in the year 1897. This cell
house. still in use. and esteemed by