Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-02-23
DISCUSSES TREATMENT
OF STATE PRISONERS
DIR. Hart Approves Pending Bill to
Pay Them 10 Cents for Each
Day They Work.
THEIR EFFICIENCY
Tells OF Trip Through South In
specting Prisons and Prison
Camps-Sanitary Provisions Are
Often Shamcfully Neglected.

Before gathering OF members of
both branches Of the State Legislature,
in the hall OF tho House of Delegates
last night. DR.. Hastings H. Hart. Of
tho Russell Sage Foundation, former
superintendent of tho State Board Of
Charities of Minnesota, under tho aus
piccs of the Virginia State Board OF
Charities. spoke approvinsly of the
House bill TO regulate the treatment.
handling and work OF prisoners sen-
fenced to the State penitcntiary.
Each section of the bin. designated
rs House bill No. 253 fathered by Rep
rcsentatives Taylor SDroul and Willis
was taken up. compared with laws
similarly enacted in other States and
thoroughly reviewed. DIR. Hart ex-
pressed his keencat desire to sec the
bill enacted into a law.
The speaker was introduced by SUI
rerintendent J. T. Mastin, of the state
Board of Charities, whose efforts were
largely responsible for tho appearance
of the distinguished visitor in this city
to deliver his views student oe
prison reform on the bin now pending
Legislative action.
DR.. Hart said that he had just ar
rived from a trip to the States of South
Carolina. Georgia and Florida where
he had been called by the Governors,
State boards nf charities and State
Councils OF Defense of the respective
states to undertake investigation of
their penal institutions. In South Car
olina he recommended that the State
penitentiary be made State supporting
by means Of an appropriation of $4,000.
WOULD GAIN IN
CONVICT EFFICIENCY
The bill. in the opinion of DR.. Hart
is not Objectionable nor coLld be sub.
ject 10 criticism. Leaving aside the
consideration Of it from humarita-
riaa standpoint and looking at its eco
nomic features nc declared that its
passage would enable the state 20 gain
so per cent in convict efficiency an.
nually.
The l0-cent "A day allowance. though
seeming n small sum, served as a
stiInulant for work by keeping the
prisoner constantly in a cheerful frame
or mind. Many cases OF experiences OF
wardens OF penitentiaries in Vermont
Illinois. New York and in Minnesota.
where systems similar 20 that proposed
for the Virginia pen!;cntiary are in
vogue. were cited by the speaker. These
tended to show the economic adj
vantaGes and the moral influence which
was eSerted on the prisoners. In the
Minnesota State Pcnitentiary, where 10
cents is allowed for every day the
prisoner works the warden said the
1910 drawn monthly appeared TO the
prisoner a small fortune and that at
tcnpts to escape were few because OF
the fear of cutting off the pay
SANITARY PROVISIONS
ARE Frequently NEGLECTED
Special emphasis was laid by the
speaker on that part of the bill pro-
ridins for sanitary conditions which
he said were being shamefully neg
lected in many prisons that he had
visited where the false theory pre-
vailed that the convict was not hu-
man being and could be treated any
sort OF way. Proper sanitation of en-
vironment and ventilation AFFORDED the
prisoners better health and their labor
would be more profitable to the State
ne said.
Conditions az the Florida State Prison
Camp located in Raiford were excellent
and TO be taken for n model way Of
using convict labor said Dr. Hart. A
farm consisting OF 1850 acres was
purchased four years ago on which the
prisoners spend most of their time in
raising food products. The enthusiasm,
displayed by the prisoners which mark
ed the innovation OF this plan was
especially worthy of mention
He suggested that a committee of
two be appointed to go to this farm and
TO the institution at Occoquan to in
vestiEate for themselves the actual con-
d!tions that should the bill be passed
a great deal of experimentation might
be saved