Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-01-04
MODEL FARM FOR
COUNTY JAIL?
w ork S hop Reformatory
Method Being Discussed by
Attorneys of City

Model farms and workshops as sub
stitutes for penitentiaries and refor-
matories in the reformation of Grim
inals are heartily advocated by many
well-known lawyers of the Dauphin
county bar
The farm-and- d-workshop reforma-
tory method was the subject of con-
siderable discussion at the annual ses-
sion of the Pennsylvania State Bar
Association last week in Pittsburgh
and the plan was endorsed by the
bar committee.
Ihe committee made an exhaustive
report on the revision of the penal
laws and some remedial legislation
was recommended for presentation to
the next session of the State LegisIa-
lure The abolishing of the county
Jails in every one of the siXtv-seven
counties of Pennsylvania for all pur-
poses except that of detention is one
of the important moves suggested by
the lawyers
The real object has a double incen-
tlNe-the Inauguration of a modern
system of penology with a view to
producing better citizenship and the
reduction of cost of maintenance of
penal Institutions
Among the local barristers who talk
ed on the subject We're A. Carson
Stamm, member of the law firm of
Oimsted and Stamm, and president of
the city school board; John Fox Weiss.
former district attorney of Dauphin
county and a member of the COM
mittee on revision and amendment
which drafted this suggestion;
Charles II. Bergner and Jesse E. B.
Cunningham, formerly deputy at
torney General.
Opinion Differs
Expressions of opinion on the part
of lawyers and jurors in this city seem
TO indicate that the idea, while re-
garded by some as an excellent step
to be taken, from the humanitarian
standpoint, to others does not appeal !
at all. but is the result of hysteria |
and soft sentiment. One prominent
lawyer spoke i'll highly commentators
terms of the new State Penitentiary
in Center county, near Bellefonte and !
of its warden, John Francies. as an
example. Francies, he said, has in
augurated recently a new method of !
handling the criminals under his care. !
using the merit system and treating |,
them more as men than beasts, as
suming that they have enough intel !
ligence and human feeling TO recog- !
ni2e the humane treatment that they !
receive and act accordingly.
y. Carson Stamm, taking the view !
point that reformation of the wrong !
doer is the only real justification for |
punishment. made the following state !
ment anent the above recommended |
ton:
Reformation Objective
ANY Improvement in the penal |
system that will make for better citi- |
zenship and reduce the cost of main /
tanning penal institutions must be well !
coined. There are or have been at .
least three theories about punishment (
for rcrime-vCngeancc, an example to .
deter others. and the reformation of /
the wrongdoer. The first two are
happily fast becoming obsolete. Venge-
ance is hate; and to punish one for ,
tho sake of deterring another hardly /
appeals to a sense of Justice The only ,
real Justification for punishment for .
wrong doing would seem to be the re- ,
formation of the wrongdoer and his .
restoration to his rightful place in So /
ciety. Anything that viii help ac-
complish this end must be a good .
thing"
John Fox Weiss, member of the |
committee on revision and amend |
mont that drafted this suggestion, de-
clared his belief that the proposed 1.
step is an advance in penology that is
certainly worth trial.
on the other hand. the confidence
that Charles II. Bergner, well-Known |
lawyer, and J. L. B. Cunningham, eX-
deputy attorney general, have in the
adVisability and efficacy of such a
move was best exempted in the short !
expression of opinion which each !
made. The former exclaimed, Per !
feet rot" and the latter answered in !
an equally forcible way, "Poppycock." .
Easier to Commit Grimes?
Criminals" said an eminent jurist |
recently on this very subject, feel the ,
disgrace. not of having committed the |
crime for which they are sent up, but |
of the actual going to Jail. If you are
going to ffX up all these lovely re-
ceptions and things for them, you
are going to take away in GER /
tain measure the disgrace that attends !
being put in a place of detention. |
Take away this disgrace, which is the /
only one that the criminal feels, and |
YOU have made 1t much easier for
man to commit crime"
The plan suggested by the commit !
mittee. which also advised that the !
legislation necessary to bring about |
the changes be introduced at the next |
session of the Legislature in 1917, in |
cludes the establishment of six sec |
tional farms, in different portions of
the State, and the extension of the |
employment and compensation theory |
to a county or intercounty plan, us |
ing products raised or manufactured |
by the inmates in the counties COM |
prisng these various districts.
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