The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1915-05-16

pie are interested in il, fewer still care
No enc goes to the jail except on bust
ness unless he is committed, and perhaps
these local prisons to which few people
give thought are making more criminals
than any other one agency Our public
schools are supported by taxes for the
purpose Of making good citizens. Our
lails too, are public schools, hut they are
making bad citizens. They are schools
for the training of criminals
An important development in penoogy
has been the recent changes in the treat
ment of misdemeanants in Indiana This
involves change of attitude and of the
ory. An offender against the federal law
becomes Il prisoner of the United States
The Judge of the court having jurisdic-
| ticn-a United States offcer-has full au-
| thority over the prisoner. including his
| keeping and care.
WHER INDIANA LEADS.
! In effect, that principle has been adopted
| BY the state of Ipdiana alone so far as
/ We know. Under its Jail supervision law
all prisoners are really prisoners of the
state. They are under the authority Of
| the judge of the circuit or criminol court
/, who Is n state officer The Judge may
determine where the prisoner shall be
| kept how he shall be cared for: his food
! bathing. etc. He is given authority to
Of prisoners and the conduct of officers,
10 condemn a jail If it is unfit for use
and to remove the prisoners until it is
/, reTaired, renodeled or rebuilt As re-
| silt the buildings are in better condition
There is Improvement in cleanliness, neat
! ness and sanitation.
| These combine to effect a lessening in
| The number of prisoners in many of the
! jails. Where discipline regular habits
| and cleansing OF quarters and persons ar.
required. MANY persons who love careless
ways of living manage to keep out OF
| Jail
Indiana also established a house of cor
| rection for women misdemeanants. This
is branch of the womans prison. 1t is
! wholly under the charge of women. This
| law has been in operation since 1905 with
| very gratifying results. Many of the
women who know nothing about domes
J tic employment are trained 80 that when
lsthey so out they may do something for
| themselves. Some Of them have been re-
| claimed and re-established and are do
| Ing we'll
| fhe next step was the establishment of
| the state farm for male misdemea ma MIS-
! This was provided for by the Legislature of
1918 IT is located near Greencastle about
| 40 miles from Indianapolis within req 81,
| of two important railroad lines On this
| sarn there are different grades of lime
stone, principally Mitchell limestone. the
best road building material in the state
There is good surface clay for use in
! brick and tile making 1t is we'll water,,l
and there is considerable tract of forest
land.
| Twenty-four men We're iirst transferred
| from the state prison at Michisan CITY
and placed in tents borrowed from the
state national guard. They did their ow,,
cooking and practically guarded them.
| selves On the dav of the first cold
weather and the beginning of the first
\ heavy snowfall they completed Tho 1rst
building and moved into it, This will,
I eventually be the storehouse They arc
i nov at work upon the dormitories ths
1 kitchen, dining room and other necessary
buildings. These at first will provide for
go or 300 men. Others will later be added
20 double this capacity
| The newspapers call this farm the
| prison without walls" That is what II
| Is hoped il may be, but probably at first
| it will be surrounded by barbed wire
/ fence. However the building will be of
| the same one-story frame dormitory tyne
and IT is expected there will be no bars.
IS is the institution after which it is
modelled
AT any rate. It will be an industris,
| farm colony for short-term or nisdemean
ant prisoners. II will he built nv the
| prisoners. inexpensvely, OF wood at lea at
at tirst The prisoners will be employ ed
1 in usefui occupation contributing to their
| own support instead of living in idleness
1 at the expense of the taxpayer in a To-
cal jail
The governor proclaimed the institution
ready to receive prisoners April II, 1915.
There will be sent to 1t the men with
longer sentences of the class that now
so to the warehouses and iails. Eventu-
ally, there will doubtless be estabishco
more farms of the same kind. Then there
will be opportunity for an indeterminate
sentence of some form for misdemeanants
This will naturally mean that the county
| jails will not be used for the confine-
msnt of convicted misdemeantants They
will serve only as phases of detention for
prisoners awaiting trial. 1t is confidently
believed the result Will be a notable less
enng in the number of these prisoners.
People often speak of prison farlns.
| This is rot alone prison problem. The
| Industrial farm colony is type of insti-
tuition which has come to be regarded as
a desirable means for the care of certain
groups of practically all classes of public
charges. 1t has been adopted and sue
cessfuly conducted for the care of the
| insene in Wisconsin, Massachusetts and
Indiana: for the feehe-minded In Mas
sachuetts New Jersey and Indiana; for
epileptics in New Jersey and Indiana.