Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1926-10-30

lportance in Industrial accloehe Eases
for an attorney is needed immeulate-
ly after the accident to present the
| case before the Industrial Accident
Commission. The unrepresented
client is at a disadvantage no matter
how fair the Commission Is.
The speaker enumerated several
cases where free legal aid would be
of vast help to poor people and ne
pointed out that there should be close
cooperation between welfare assocla-
| lions and local attorneys. lie rec
| commended that the Conference pass
resolutions asking the state ana
County Bar Associations to establish
legal aid societies in the larger cities
and organize legal aid committees III
the smaller communities of the State.
i Department Conference
The convention then dissolved Into
a department conference under the
leadership of Miss Evelyn Buchan of
Orono and many matters Of interest
to the welfare workers were discuss
ed formally, these including the
transfer of patients from one insti-'
tuition to another; sterilization; caro-
index of subnormals; and extent Of
training feeble minded.
Prof. MacCormiek Speaks on Prisons
i DIR. George Holden Coombs of the
State department of health introduce
ed as the first speaker of the after
noon. Professor Austin Fl. Mac
Cormck of Bowdoin College, who
has made special study OF the penal
systems of the county.
Professor MacCormick explained at
the outset that while his subject was
1.-The Changing American Prison ne
would speak for the most part on
general trends in the prison fields
10
tremendous changes during the past
20 years. Regarding prison popula-
ton he pointed out that the increase
has not been so great as one might
anticipated when confronted by the
alleged increase in crime. For in
! stance in Maine on Jan. !, 1910 there
were POI inmates of the States
prison; this had increased to only
223 on Jan. 1. 1926, and now has
dropped to 1875. In Massachusetts
| and Connecticut there were less
prisoners in their prisons on Jan. l,
, 1926, than on Jan /, 1910.
While the census report shows a
, decrease in the number of commit
, ments to prisons, the prison popula-
ton is in excess of last year and
it has been increasing. since 1914
Comparing 1910 to 1926, there has
; not been much of an increase in
prison population in many states due
to the parole system and the creation
of state reformatories.
There has been a changing idea
of what the prison plant should be,
getting away from the old idea which
was inherited that prisons were
places only for punishment. AS a
part of that punishment in many
prisons there were cells only about
three and half feet wide. This
was the situation early at the Maine
State prison at Thomaston as shown
by the cells three feet and 10 inches
in width that burned in the fire
: few years ago. In the Charleston
prison there was the old type OF
. cells. In some prisons the cell
blocks were so dark that artificial
i light would have to be used at 2
, P. NJ and the prisoners had to stoop
in going through the cell door
Today, prisons are made with thin
steel partitions rather than those
of heavy stone which were the cause
of unsanitary conditions. For in
stance. at Sing Sing one can scrape
the water off the cell walls. And
that was the general type OF cells
we are now changing from. A COM
mon type Of cell block today is the
Auburn type, so-called. where the
!
distance from the walls. The sani-
: tary arrangements are perfected.
The new idea is now coming for
ward that only a minority of the
prisoners need to be held by cells.
t Many institutions are planning the
new system which provides for the
: cell block for about one half of the
. prison population and ordinary bar
. racks for the .other men, and the
population can be shifted between
, the cells and the barracks as neces-
: sity requires. There are in the coun-
, try a number of cell blocks as fine
as could be arranged. but there are
many at the other end of the line.
the majority lying there or between
the two extremes.
Mr.. MacCormick spoke of the pass
ing of the type of warden who be-
lieves in threatening feeble minded
prisoners with fiogging or who con-
fines prisoners in small steel cages
upon bread and water for 10 to II
hours at time. Each year there is
a higher quality of men come in as
the older wardens pass out. In one
prison in Pennsylvania they have
selected a school man as warden
and judging by the results of the past
! year they have made a fine choice.
The opinion was expressed by the
speaker that there is now more OPEN
mindedneSs among the wardenS of
country; they want to learn how
matters are being handled in other
states. That is a new attitude and
a helpful one.
Prison Industries
That the problem of prison indus
tries is the most difficult one in the
country, Mr.. MacCormick believes.
IF has heen q diffcuIt ono baro In
Maine, too. Many wardens in the
country are devoting more time to
the question of recognizing indus
tries than to any other problem
One of the best industries for
training men was the brick plant in
one prison, but then came the deci-
sion of the union bricklayers not TO
lay prison made bricks and the
brick plant has closed down. Ari-
IONA intended to put up a cement
plant in connection with its prison.
but the cement trust announced that
the next year it intended to put up
an Immense plant of it's own. So the
prison officials postponed their plans
and the trust delayed in the con-
strucuon and no progress has been
made.
If the prisons are going to flood the
country with cheap production. as
for instance, prison made clothing
underselling other clothing in the
western market, labor has a right to
OBJECT to these subsidized industries.
Inc answer to this many people say,
is Tor the states to use the products
Oh their prison, but even in that
there is competition against the
manufacturers who would like to
furnish the products.