New Britain herald., 1915-03-13
(By Frances England in New York
Tribune.)


Tribune.)
The inmates of New York correc-.
tional institutions may nave another
! chance. Those who are handicapped
mentally or physically and most of
them are-may be rehabilitated and
made fit for the struggle of life. That
the state should forsake its old pri-
son ideal Of punishment for the more
humane point of view, that of re-
formation, is the aim of the Hoff- Mills
bill, which is being pushed by the
Woman's Municipal League, and which
is to be voted on soon at Albany. The
bill provides for a parole BOARD, whose
ultimate end will be the rehabilitation
of the inmates of the penitentary and
workhouse.
Prisons Filled With the Young.
"Our prisons and correctional insti-
tutions. are filled with mere boys and
girls explained Mrs Henry A. Slim
son, president Of the Woman's Munci-
pal League. 1.-THE greater proportion
OF the inmates are under thirty years
or age. And at present they are all
housed together, the old offenders and
these young ones who are new'to crime.
They have had so little training most
of them that they are not capable of
earning living. And then, too, many
OF them suffer from drug habits and
from dangerous diseases.
Under the new system provided for
by the parole bill these individuals
will be segregated and put into proper
classification. The hardened offenders,
for instances, will be put together in
one institution, the younger ones in
another. All Of those suffering from
tuberculosis will be separated from the
others, that they may receive proper
treatment The drug users will be sent
to a hospital where they may be
treated. Those who have had trade
training will be placed together, and
those who have had none will be plac-
cd where they may receive instruction.
The feeble minded, of course, will be
segregated from the others.
Under our present System the
workhouse is an absolutely futile in
stitution,"\ Mrs. Stimson declared. "a
penal institution should be reforma-
tive, deterrent, and punitive. And the
Workhouse has none Of these virtues.
1.-The inmates are there for such
short sentences it is impossible to help
them in any way. They are not there
long enough to be cured of disease or
of drug habits nor long enough to be
taught anything. Consequently, they
are turned out in the world again a
little worse off than when they enter
Ell the institution, and, Of course, they
reappear. The institutions lose juris-
diction over these people for just time /
enough to prevent carrying on orderly
work. Finger print records kept since !
1911, show that over thir- !
ty per cent had been committed three |
times or more in that time.
you can imagine how expensive to |
the community are these recurrent /;
commitments. 1t means more expense ,
to the police department, to the courts, |
to the institutions themselves. x
Under the parole system there will !
be no definite sentences. The parole
beard will have control over persons
released from prison three years from
the time Of their commitment. This
means that the individual will be car
ed for until he is cured of disease. or
Of liquor or drug habits, and until he
Is able to be self-supporting. Then he
Is released but remains under the
of the board Of parole. The
board will help the former inmates
get work, and will keep in touch
with them"
According to Mrs. Stimson, the
stony hearted prison official who
wishes to see the former inmate go
wrong and forced to return to prison
doesn't exist Most prison officials
want to see the inmates make good
after they are released and they want
tc help them get work. '.. .-
Under the present system, she stat !,
ed the penitentiary and worknouse Of
ind 70 hn iYY00 toc,
work and profit by discipline and
medical authority. "As a result he
now makes no progress in self-gov-
eminent. There is little reason why
a prisoner should be good in prison.
But under the parole system he has
every inducement toward working to
better himself.
From the standpoint of public
health, too, the system outlined in the
Hoff- Mills bell is infinitely better
than our present one. Now rnagis-
trate must state the number of days
or months a prisoner must spend in
the workhouse Or penitentiary. He
may say Fl days or he may say six
months. But record shows that about
half of the inmates suffer from habit !"
forming drugs, and the physicians say
that years treatment is necessary
to overcome this evil. Now most sem
fences are too short to do any good.
"Under the proposed plan the phsi-
clans must certify how long the indi-
vidual should be under treatment, and
It Is not necessary for the magistrate
to give definite sentence. Most Of
the women in institutions controlled
BIZ the present board or correction
eighty five per cent of them to be ex-
act-are suffering from contagious
blood diseases dangerous to public
health, and many Of the men from an
equally dangerous disease. Under
IL.