THE PRISON ASSOCIATION
AND ITS FIELD
THE SIXTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT
PRISON ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK
1912
PART ONE
‘THE PRISON ASSOCIATION IN 1912
PART TWO
OUR CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM. A Summary by ©, F. LEWIS,
‘General Secretary
J. L¥ON COMPANY, PRINTERS
5S ID
When the discharged prisoner returns
Shall he meet
\SA\ THIS
Ger?
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NES
2
PREFACE.
66 JTUST what is the Prison Association?”
This question is becoming each year so increasingly
frequent that the Board of Managers of the Prison
Association has decided to present this year a state-
ment, in two main parts, as 2 general answer t0 the above
inquiry.
“The above question, as to what the Prison Association is,
is a sign of the times. Serious and complicated problems of
public and private conduct are engaging the attention of
Americans. During 1912, the events preceding and following
the murder of Herman Rosenthal in New York Ciey in July
centered public attention upon the problems of crime and its
treatment as_seldom before. Subsequent investigations of
graft and maladministration of office have led to a state of
public concern perhaps not even equalled at the period of the
Lexow investigations of police conduct.
Meanwhile, prison and reformatory methods are rapidly
changing nd expanding. In New York State, our newest
State prison at Comstock has shown the remarkable resules
to be obtained from careful classification, from the adaptation
of the honor system co outdoor work, and from the adminis-
tration by a warden of sound common-sense. Reformatories
are analysing psychologically and psychiatrically theirinmates.
‘The Stare Reformarory for Women at Bedford has established
a bureau of social hygiene through the munificence of Mr.
J.D. Rockefeller, Jr. for most careful study of the individual
inmate. During the year Elmira and Napanoch Reforma-
tories have placed their parole system upon new basis, that
promises with adequate force of officers to achieve most grati-
fying results. ‘The probation systems of the cities and counties
are being strengthened, and general public interest is keener
than in years.
‘Therefore, the Prison Association believes it to be a feting
time to give its members a survey, not too exhaustive, but
sufficiently compact, of the “New York field.” The’ frst
part of the survey will present the activities of the Prison
5
6 ws Prison Assoctation or New York.
Association in 1912, and the bearing of such activities on the
problems of this State. The second part of the survey will
be in the navure of compendium of information, such as in
recent years we have endeavored to give in part in very many
inecances, and which isnot elsewhere gathered in one place
We stated last year, in the Sixty-Seventh Annual Report,
thar “ie was hoped that the next Annial Report sould con
tain a study of German and Duteh prisons, and of certain
prisoners’ aid societies.” Because of the presentation in the
present report of the lengthy summary mentioned above,
we are obliged further to postpone the treatment of foreign
prisons.
The Prison Association of New York
eureve
ca
. The protection of society against crime.
. The reformation of the criminal.
. Protection for those unjustly accused,
. Probation for first offenders.
. Improvement in prisons and prison discipline.
. Employment, and when necessary, food, tools
THE PURPOSES
and shelter for discharged prisoners.
Necessary aid for prisoners’ families.
Supervision for those on probation and parole.
Needed legislation.
Parposes of Aseociation
ble of Contents
Ofer.
Scanding Commitee.
Prison Assocation Stal
Chapeee
Chapeer 2
Chapror 3
Chapter 4
Chapters
Chapeer 6
2
Chapeer
Chapter 19
Chapter 20,
Chapter 20
Chapter 22.
Chapter 25,
Chapeer 24
Chante
Pacole,
Probation
Families of Prooner.
é
‘The Financia Year
Other Activites.
Death of Doctor Jackson
rectional Institution
PART TWO,
(Ovn Connterionat Sveres.
Scope ofthe Problem
(Crime and Criminal,
The Place of Imprizonmens.
Prison System af the State
The State Prisons
Elmira snd Napanoch Reformatores
State Refurmatoris for Women.
Reformatorce for Misderennants
Reform Schols and the Juvenile Dengue
Department of Cocection
Penitenintis and Jail
Probation and the Probation Commision.
Vagrancy and the State Indartral Farm Colony
Intoxication and the Bosrd of Tnbrity
Boarde, Commistions, exe
Reports, Proceedings and Hooks
Teeanirers Repo
Constitution and By-Laws
THE PRISON ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK.
OFFICERS FOR 1913.
PRESIDENT.
Evcexe Surru.
RECORDING SECRETARY,
Decatur M. Sawyer,
J. Senuy Wann, 155 E. 15th Se, N. Y.
0. F. Lems,
VICE-PRESIDENTS.
Re. Rev. Davin H. Greer, Eucene A. Para,
Frurx Auen, Jacos H. Serr,
Roserr W. ve Forest, Tuomas Morr Osonxe.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE,
W. W. Barrersxaut, Joux W. Hurcwsox,
B. Oopen Cittsom, Georor W. Krncuwey,
J. Fenimone Coren, Epwaro B. Merit,
Jous H. Finuey, Frank D. Paver,
‘Austin Furr, M.D, Dean Sace,
Corwestus B. Gown, Gronce G. Seton, M.D,
Wx. H. Grarwicr, Gino C. Speranza,
Hesny G. Grav, Cuances Sreece,
Heyry E. Grzcony, Evert Jansen Wenpett,
‘Atexaxper M, Happs, Mornay Witutams,
Eowin O. Hourer, Jamzs Woon,
Ricuarp M. Huxo.
STANDING COMMITTEES FOR 1913.
LAW COMMITTEE, SECTION 1
Messrs, Wittams (Chairman), Kincuwey ax Gnscony.
LAW COMMITTEE, SECTION 2.
NEW LEGISLATION.
Messrs. Sace (Chairman), Pavey AND SPERANZA.
COMMITTEE ON PRISON DISCIPLINE
Messrs. SawyrR (Chairman), Husp ano Woop,
COMMITTEE ON DISCHARGED CONVICTS.
‘Messrs. Hannes (Ch
airman), Hrcatssox, Gray ann Hourer,
COMMITTEE ON DET?
TIONS.
Messrs, Happen (Chairman) axp WENDEL
FINANCE COMMITTEE.
Messrs. Warp (Chaicman), Citsota aND SAWYER.
HOUSE COMMITTEE,
Messrs, Wann (Chairman) Axo Grecony.
LIBRARY COMMITTEE,
Messrs. Gregory (Chairman) avo WenELt.
‘THE, PRISON ASSOCIATION'S STAFF.
ADMINISTRATION.
©. F, Lewis, General Secrecary,
D. E. Kiwnatt, General Agent.
Miss F. S, Avenauraven, Private Secretary.
R. S. Monisox, Cashier
Mise Joua Maenemer, Clerk.
Miss Brarnrce Srecker, Clerk.
Miss Bessie Rater, Clerk.
Mise ALice Scare, Messenger
Gzorce Corser, Messenger
PAROLE. AND RELIEF BUREAU,
H. B. Ropaers, Chief Parole Agent
A. G, Bensprcr, Patole Agent.’
Avoust L, Boxy, Parole Agent.
Mrs. H. B. Ropcrrs, Relief Agent.
Miss Hevex H. Levy, Stenogeapher.’
Miss Anwa F. Perny, Stenographer.
PROBATION BUREAU.
D. E, Kunats, Chief Probation Officer.
Samvet B, Orwtrz, Investigator
Mise Mrvexva Rosextuar, Stenographer.
MEDICAL BUREAU:
Dr. Grorce M. Parker, Psychiatrist
* Entered State service, July 1, 1912.
STATE OF NEW YORK
SIXTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT
oF THE
PRISON ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK
Hox. Mantix H. Giynn, Liewtenant-Governor of New York:
Sin.—In accordance with chapter 163 of the Laws of 1846,
wwe have the honor to present the sixty-ighth annual report of
the Prison Association of New York, and to request that you
will lay the same before the Legislature.
Respectfully,
THE PRISON ASSOCIATION
‘OF NEW YORK,
by Evcene Siri,
President.
0. F. Lems,
General Secretary.
THE PRISON ASSOCIATION IN 1912.
CHAPTER ONE.
PAROLE,
‘T 135 East 1sth Street, New York, just east of Irving
Place, the Prison Astociation owns a four-story and
basement dwelling, used for the purposes of the
Association.
In this building also are che parole offices of Elmira and
Napanoch Reformatories, which institutions,
nutually satisfactory arrangement, have
for many years used the Association’s offices
for the reception and supervision of men
paroled from the Seate reformatories
These lines are written on the morning of
February 21, 1913. At the present moment
some forty young men are seated in the
Jarge central Library of the Association.
They have just been released on parole
from Elmira’ and Napanoch Reformatories
The circumstances of their release are as
follows:
Convieted of felony, they were sentenced to Elmira Refor-
matory from one to several years ago. Some were transferred
from Elmira to Napanoch, because they were older or had not
conducted themselves properly at Elmira. Ultimately they
obtained the privilege of parole through their good conduct,
their industry and the attainment of a certain degree of
scholarship. Having written out to many possible employers,
or having enlisted the interest of their friends, they finally
secured a promise of a “job.” When this had been verified by
the agents of the Reformatory and pronounced O. K., the
Reformatory released them and they come unaccompanied by
any prison officer co New York, where their first duty is to
report to the offices of the Reformatory at 135 East rsth
Street
2 ”
‘Tur Prison Association or New York.
18
‘These young men are typical of the most conspicuous work
of the Prison Association, the supervision of young men on
parole. The parole work of the two reformatories has within
a half year been made independent of the Prison Association,
because of a decision of the Attorney-General that a corpora-
tion shall not act as a salaried parole officer of the Reforma.
tories. Practically the same close relationship however, still
sine between the Association and the ro State reformatores,
This morning those young men are being told by the chiel
parole officer of the Reformatory that every effort is to be made
in their case to help chem to keep straight and honest, to
hold their employment, to earn a reasonable amount of money,
to obey the sensible rules and regulations Iaid down by the
reformatories and to gain in six monchs, or shorely after, their
absolute release
At least once a month these young men, are obligated to
report personally to their parole agents. At not infrequent
intervale during the minimum period of six months the parole
agents of the Reformatory will visit them at their work and
at their homes. A certain proportion, happily small, will be
found to be deceiving the parole officers. ‘The great majority,
probably three out of four, of these young men will ultimately
gain their absolute releases because they have satisfactorily
complied with all the parole requirements.
These forty young men could be taken as the text of one of
the most fundamental principles in the treatment of crime at
the present day. Not the period in prison, bur the period
immediately afier prison is in the opinion of ehe Association
pethaps the most crucial. The paroled man returns directly
from prison to the grea city. He is relatively: penniless,
unless he has friends to help supply him with his most emergent
needs. ‘The sum of money given by the Reformatory will
soon be exhausted. The old temptations are still presents
often the “gang” is awaiting his artival. Under these cite
cumstances, all the proper pressure possible is brought to bear
by the parole agents and by the Prison Association to keep
the man on the right track. Lodging, food, clothes, tools,
small loans of money are among the relief measures cheerfully
furnished by the Association in proper instances. Quietly
but persistently the Prison Association helps hundreds of these
men a year.
Is the work necessary? No one can deny it. Is society
benefited? For every released prisoner diverted from. a life
Panoz. 19
of crime to a life of industry, the world is benefited not only
by the elimination of property loss, but of the possibility of
Toss of life. Is the principle right? ‘The twentieth century is
a century in which the theory of social justice will be predom-
inant. Justice to the released prisoner will be given to a far
larger degree than ever before. Are the results in general
satisfactory? The Prison Association answers emphatically
This Association acts also as one of the principal parole
agents for the four State prisons, Sing Sing, Auburn, Clinton,
and Great Meadow. Once a month the Parole Board of the
State meets at each of these prisons and places on parole to
the Prison Association a certain number of men. It has been
our plan to take those who are friendless, who have no job,
who are poor, and in short have the least chance and who need
most the “ first friend.” No part of our work in recent years
has been more gratifying than the results of our State prison
parole work.
Before analysing specific results of our parole work, we
would call attention to a remarkable development of recent
years in the treatment of prisoners by the so-called honor
system, which, as practiced at Great Meadow Prison affords
the best preparation yet devised in this State for a successful
parole period. At the newest State prison, several miles
south of Whitehall, several hundred prisoners are daily trusted
to g0, more ot less unguarded, to various parts of th
‘thousand-acre farm that furnishes the basis for the activities
of that prison. “In the West, in Colorado, Arizona and else-
where, much has been writeen, and spoken regarding the
remarkable trustworthiness of prisoners working on honor on
roads and other tasks, often miles distant from the central
prisons. What has been so enthusiastically said of these
Western prisons may with almost the same degree of enthusi-
asm be said concerning the “out-door methods” practiced at
Great Meadow Prison
Therefore the prisoner released on parole from Great
Meadow may reasonably be supposed to be in good training
for his supervisory period on parole. The Prison Association
has over fifty men now on parole from this prison. ‘Their
conduct has been in general excellene and most careful watch
is being kept of the results during the period of parole, which
extends from six months to more than a year.
should be most rigidly
First, we would
hundred records.
his sister whom he suppor
Paroue.
‘Te Prison Association or New York.
Consecutive No. 60526, paroled to us from Sing Sing December
oth, He went to work for a former inmate of the same prison.
‘The employer is an inventor and is running an immense business
down town. The paroled man is bur 19 years of age, is doing
good work and has already received an increase in his wages.
Let us now analyze the parole statistics of the State Prisons
and the ewo reformatories for ro12
Panore BUREAU, JANUARY, 1912 10 SEPTEMBER, 1912,
Tscwusive
On July 1, 1912, the parole work for Elmira and Napanoch
Reformatories was taken over by parole officers ditectly tespon-
sible to the Board of Reformatory Managers. ‘The parole offices
continued t be in the Prison Association building, and the
relief for released prisoners continued to be furnished by the
Prison Association.]
el
Menos'| New |ratcuea | gl lpeceszal com
ge | er |Raum| gree |Rerened] On
Pao enon Wace) at “al
Parocen "rolatie
Set 30 [eae
Paroue ano RELiEr
Investigations made. 2,867 Cash refunds $55 72
Employment found. go Garments given 227
Meals given g2t Shoes (pairs) 24
Lodgings given 226 Persons selieved 38
Cash relief, including Men calling, found
‘meals and lodging. $1,992 72 prisoners, not on
parole.
Paroue. 23
As above stated, on July 1, 1912, the administration of the
parole work in New York City for Elmira and Napanoch
Reformatories ceased to be under the direction of the Prison
Association of New York, and was placed by the Board of Re-
formatory Managers in charge of Henry B. Rodgers and Asa
G. Benedict, who until July 1st had been parole agents of the
Prison Association. This change was eaused by a decision of
the Attorney-General of the State that itis illegal for the above-
mentioned reformatories to employ a corporation as a sal
parole agent. To be sure, the salary received by the Prison
Association from the Board of Reformatory Managers had
been but $125 a month, whereas the Association had each
month disbursed several times that sum in salaries and in relief
for released inmates of the Reformatories and their families.
In the emergency, the Prison Association was very glad to
cooperate with the Board of Reformatory Managers in furnish-
ing the services of two of its parole staff and of one ste~
nographer. ‘These former members of the Association’s staff
have since been taken into the State service and are conducting
the parole work of the Reformatories in the building of the
Prison Association.
The change to a more immediate responsibility of the Re~
formatories for their parole work is in our opinion not only
satisfactory, but very advisable. An adequate development of
the parole system has, however, only begun in the Stare. We
emphatically urge the Board of Reformatory Managers and
the Superintendent of State Prisons to make every effort to
develop 2 comprehensive and adequate parole system
parole and a degree of efficiency of supervision that will make
It possible to have every paroled man under proper super
during the post-prison period before absolute release.
Prison Association will cooperate to the fullest extent of its
ability, not only in receiving men on parole, but in the effort
to establish local commirtees throughout the Stare to under-
take volunteer parole work. We repeat our statement of
previous years, that it is the height of folly for the State to
expend but a few dollars at the most in the supervision of a
paroled prisoner when it expends very properly from $150 to
over $200 a year for the care and training of prisoners within
prison and reformatory walls,
Tux Prisow Assoctarion or New York.
24
parole period is pechaps the most vital portion of that
ca eae came time a period forthe prevention of Facute
cae ae saan eficigne and adeqate parole system throvgh-
sur the State ender ie possible to care penwanendy a Tate
erePetheravce to the State and to the individuals themselves
would be incalculable.
CHAPTER TWO.
PROBATION.
‘© part of the work of the Prison Association appeals
more to its board of managers and to its staff than
does the probation work. The difference between
probation and parole is easily. understood, While parole is
that period immediately following incarceration, during which
the paroled inmate is under supervision, and not yet free of
his sentence, probation means a period of supervision of
persons convicted of crime who, instead of being sent to
prison, are given the chance to show their ability to lead
honest and industrious lives without undergoing the stigma
of a term in prison
Probation is co such an extent a common sense provision,
that the principle of suspending sentence has long been con-
sidered an inherent right of the judge. Probation is not
a substitute for imprisonment, but rather a concession of
conditional liberty. For a detailed outline of the principles
of probation we refer to page 212 in the second part of
this report
As for many years, the Prison Association has maintained
probation officers in the Court of General Sessions of New York
City. The work this year has been very similar to that of
previous years. Mr. D. E. Kimball and Mr. Samuel Ornitz
have devoted their time between probation work at the Court
of General Sessions and Tombs visiting. In the courts can be
found on each court day one or both of our officers, ready t0
receive assignments from the judges, to make investigations
and reports and to reeeive upon probation for the Prison Asso-
ciation whoever may be assigned to this society.
‘The City Prison, better known as the Tombs, is the central
prison receiving persons committed in Manhattan and
the Bronx for trial in the courts of general and special
sessions. The prisoner who reaches the Tombs has usually
3s
‘Tur Prison Association or New York.
Copy of card posted in City Prison, New York.
NOTICE TO PRISONERS
Do not trust in fellow prisoners.
tell your story to the agent of
yyou as to all your rights without charge,
Af you have no money to pay for a lawyer,
‘assign one to defend you, This will cost you nothing,
charge,
: sure he was sent by your friends.
land prison who act as “ steerers ” for lawyers.
Address letters as follows:
‘Agent, Prison Association, City Prison.
Or, 135 East 1sth Street, New Yori.
IF you are without friends,
f this Association who will advise
the court will
Jeep ens cen See
‘will hear your story and look after your interests without
If a lawyer sends for you, be very careful, unless you are
‘Tell those who visit you to beware of those around the court
Free advice will be given by the agent of this Association
‘who visits the prison daily. Letters for him may be dropped.
in his letter box at the front gate, by the prison messengers.
Prozation. 27
been in a station-house cell and in a district prison cell. ‘There~
fore, to a certain extent he knows what it means to be behind
the bars. The information as to his rights and standing
before the Iaw, which has been obtained from fellow prisoners,
is generally false and misleading. In prison as well as out,
he finds that those who seem interested in him have, as Poor
Richard expressed it, “‘ an axe to grind.” They are only too
often after his money.
To correct this, the Prison Association has placed on each
tier of the Tombs a placard, warning prisoners of some of the
traps set for the unwary, and advising them to send a note
to the Association’s lecter-box asking to see an agent. . This
box is opened three or four times a day by our agents, and all
requests are attended too as promptly as possible. Our
prison visitors are also probation officers. Each occupation
helps the other. Let us record a typical day of the visiting
probation officer and Tombs agent.
At nine the General Agent, who is the chief probation
officer, and his assistant arrive at the Prison Association's
offices, 135 East 15th Street. Here they spend an hour in the
preparation of written reports of investigations made the day
before, in writing letters, and in consulations with relatives and
others interested in Tombs prisoners.
By ten o'clock the Tombs letter-boxes are opened by one of
the agents of the Association, who goes to the cells of prisoners
who thus ask for an interview. We can assume that he finds
a certain prisoner, an alleged first offender, penniless and
innocent.” “Tam a civil engineer and have had good jobs
in South America. T came home and spent nearly all my
money, and not being able to get work went to a cheap fur-
nished-room house. ‘There I met a man who offered me five
dollars to get a check cashed, assuring me it was good, and
that a saloon-keeper on the corner would cash it. Like a
fool I tried it and was arrested. T am innocent.”
“Well, my friend,” replies ‘the probation officer, “ your
guile or innocence must be passed upon by a judge and jury.
T advise you to tell all the truth, when taken to court.”
“ But I have no lawyer,” says the prisoner.
“The court will assign’ a lawyer to you, if you say you are’
‘without counsel and without means, but if you are guilty and
own up to it beforehand, you need no lawyer. The probation
officer can do more for you.”
28 ‘Tur Prison Association or New York.
“ Another thing, mister. All my clothes are at the boarding
onset sue cases, T need a change badly: can you get
my things for me?”
“Certainly,” the Tombs visitor assures the Tad, “if you
swill write an order on the man who has them, the Prison Asso-
Gation will see that you get them. That's one of the things
Tam here for.”
‘By this ime court has opened, and the agent hastens to his
office in the Criminal Courts Building across the street. Six
people are waiting, all impatient for him, bue he must be
excused for another brief period, and after rushing around to
Several court rooms, filing reports in each of these regarding
prisoners abour to be sentenced, he then returns to his waiting
withe Bist caller, a weary looking woman, wants to know
what can be dor ut. She ie about to be
Gispossessed and her boy’, who was her only support, is inno~
cee he General Agent heats ler story patiently and sends
her to Mrs. Rodgers, the relief agent of the Association, after
promising to see her boy, who is “ across the street
Second visitor. A Bible reader in the Tombs, who is doing
missionary work. “Mr. Kimball.” she says, what can be
done for a young girl who—" is interrupted by
a request to the probation offcer to come immediately to one
of the judges. Here, before the bench, the agent talks over
svith the judge the case of John Doe. Buck to the office then,
and the Bible visitor continues—‘ a young git! who ran away
from home and did many other things too wicked and vile to
mention? She's very young, only eighteen, and is very
penitent.” .
‘The third visitor is one who doesn’t exactly know how Mr.
Kimball can help her, but the trouble is that she has lost
some jewelry through’ a thieving elevator boy who was sent
to prison some days ago. ‘‘ I don’t know what court sent him
away,” she says, ‘and I think it’s a shame that T have not
recovered my property.” The agent promises to ass
‘The fourth caller is 2 man on probation, making his report
as required by court order, He appears prosperous, happy,
and says he is working steadily.
Next--a wife whose husband is “‘on the Island.” This
means in the Penitentiary, serving 500 days because he cannot
pay a fine of 8500. “Won't you get him out for me? Why
Pronation. 29
was the heavy fine imposed?” “Well,” replies the agent,
“you see he was in Sing Sing before that, and he lied to the
Court when about to be sentenced, and the probation officer
found it out and the judge gave him the fine.” ‘* But I have
a twelve year old boy at school, and I do washing for a living.”
“Well, madam, for your sake T'll try to get him out. Come
again next week.”
Simple Letters from Friendless People
(FROM THE “ OUTSIDE")
Mr. Kimbel:
Thave sent my litle girl down to you to see if some of yous
down in the court House would buy some of my work. Ihave
‘been sick in bed for two weeks and aint able to work and
these things I want to sell will help to keep my ¢hildren in
food and to buy coal. If Twas not sick, I would go and peddle
‘them myself.
(Signed) Mrs. Rooney
(FROM THE “ INSIDE”)
‘The Tombs.
Dear Sir:
Tam writing to yous People Asking yous to try and Help
me as I am not getting a Fair Chance, as I would like to see
fone of the Probation officers so I could explain my case to
them. Hopping to hear from one soon and OBlige,
BE
The next caller is a sad-faced girl who says: “I have a
brother only eighteen years old; he won’ work; he uses bad
language, keeps bad company, and we cannot control him.
Ts there some place where he might be sent for atime? He is
not a thief, but I am afraid he will be if he keeps on.” “No,”
replies the agent, “ the city will not take him until be becomes
a criminal. There is no place to send a bad boy over sixteen
years of age, with the exception of the Workhouse, and he
30 ‘Tur Prison Association or New York.
would probably come out of ehiere worse than when he went
“Phen the agent closes his desk, and hurries to Part I of the
Court of General Sessions. He copies from a book the names
and crimes of persons who have pleaded guilty and have been
remanded to the Tombs for sentence later in the week ot
Guring the following week. A boy is brought to the bar, and
the clerk says," What have you now to say why sentence
should not ‘be passed upon you, according, to law?”
fe questions the policeman who made the arrest, hears
Ane fhe boys father has 0 s9¥, learns from his employer
that he was industrious and that he is willing to cake him
back. The judge then reads the report of the probation
officer of the Association, recommending mercy because of
‘Then he looks ae the trembling boy
ind you to Sing Sing
holding up a rusty
wrevious good cl
tnd says,” Don
for seven yeats for carrying this revolver”
old weapon.‘ Where did you get it?”
®T bought it from another boy for half a dollars when I was
trying to work it the officer saw me and arrested me.” “ Well
- Ch he
continues the judge, “you have told the truth, and as
probation officer has made a good report of you, I will not
Send you to prison this time. How much do you earn a week?
Bight dollars.” .
“Very well, I fine you two weeks pay, sixteen dollars.’
“ But judge, [ have no money, and neither has my father,
for he is out of work.”
“We wil fx cha,” zepies che judge,“ T will let you go on
robation in the custody of the Prison Association, and you
Will pay to them through the probation officer one dollar each
week till you have paid your fine.
“The next case beloze the court is that of a young map for
burglary, breaking into a grocery store. The officer produces
SEED slip which the judge reads carefully,“ Well, young
man, your record is bad you have been in prison ewice before
and now | might send you away for ten years. What
have you to say?"
sr iMdge, your honor, I never had a chance. 1 was drunk,
and ‘didn't know what I was doing.” ;
‘will take off two years because you pleaded guilty.
aT
Eight years in State Prison.” .
The agent then goes to another court, justin time to hear
the following. “Iam going to give you, prisoner at the bar,
Prowarion. az.
another chance, but this does not mean that you are to go
free at all, It means that you are to be 2t liberty just so
long as you are fit to be at liberty. If you keep bad company,
drink, or stay out nights I will send you to prison. You are
not like other boys; you are a convieted criminal, but you'll
never hear of it, ff you are decent and law-abiding. "Remember
this: There are ninety million people in chis country; most
of them are honest, and they want men like you to let them
alone. If you don’t, they will put you in a cell and forget
you, Mind what I say! Go with Mr. Kimball and do what
he or his associate Mr. Ornitz tells you to do.”
‘Then the agent takes the boy to the office, and gives him
a yellow probation card with printed instructions as to re-
porting. Back to court the agent then goes, to find in Part T
another paroled prisoner, who is to be deported to Germany.
Back to the office again, with the man, whom he sends to
2 German steamer in care of an agent who finds that the man
has been a coal trimmer on some boat; the man is only too
glad to get off so easily.
‘Again in Pare I, the agent finds four new cases on the pro-
bation book for investigation and reports. Then down to
the “ prison pen,” to talk with the four prisoners, but only
two of them are there, the other two having been returned
over the “* Bridge of Sighs” to the Tombs. At the office the
agent finds now two detectives looking for information and
a woman asking what she has co do to get her son out of
Elmira Reformatory. Printed rules answer most of these
special questions about the Reformatory.
Alll this before lunch. After a hasty meal, the agent walks
back with one of the judges and discusses the case of a young
Greek who has stolen his employer's money that he had been
sent to the bank with to deposit.“ Why not send him back
to Greece to fight in the army?” queries che judge. But the
agent suggests the Elmira Reformatory, because investigation
by the assiseane agent had shown that the Greek had once
before been guilty of 2 similar crime and that the former
employer had never prosecuved him.
Back at the office, the agent consults with Mr. Ornitz, his
assistant, regarding the investigations the latter has made
during the morning. Thence to the Tombs and up eight
tiers, one by one, going from cell to cell, 320 in all, interviewing
persons on the court lists. Mr. Ornitz takes half the eases,
32 Tur Prison Assoctation or New York.
calling the agent only when it scems necessary to clear up
some disputed point. ‘Then to the woman's prison, to see the
young girl mentioned by the Bible reader. The girl's story
makes her seem a dishonest servant, but not hardened. ‘The
agent resolves to have her if possible sent to a “Home”
instead of to prison. Another woman in the woman's prison
stops the agent. She has been four months waiting trial for
forgery, and she is delicate and ill. She was out of work
and sick, so forged her employer's name to an order for
$25.00. ‘The agent promises to have her trial hurried, and
he gives her a litele money to buy nourishing food from the
prison restaurant.
On the way out, the agent is accosted by the warden, who
asks why it is that the judges allow so. many prisoners, to
wait for weeks before being sentenced. ‘The agent promises
to look into the matter and report. On the first tier of cells,
the agent directs the attention of the warden to a man who
is clearly insane,
Back once more to the court office, where two probationers
are waiting to report, One of them reports being “down
and out,” but he expects work next day, and needs some
financial help, which is given.
lieve the ‘report of the. agent, from which chis diary is
made, states, “rested a short time.” One might judge it
Now the agent sees his way clear to make a few investi-
gations himself, having already assigned to his assistant
a number of other calls to by He goes himself to
Washington Heights, ro see abo
that of a young inan who refused to Work steadily
his mother. ‘The mother states that when the bo
that the probation officer was coming on a visit, he improved
and went to work,
Back finally, at the end of the day, to the offices of the
Association, dicates reports and letters until five, and then
rests until six. [eis Thursday, the day chat brings ch
bationers in the evening to report at the Association's toms.
So, from 7:15 to 9 in the evening, a constant stceam o}
Srobacioners come to "Fifteenth Street" and the day of the
probation officer and his assistant is over only when they
reach their homes, about ten o'clock.
‘And the next day begins at nine o'clock.
Prosarton. 33
‘One more story, this time about a film-inspired desperado,
with a sense of humor.
Willie's father, an honest hardworking German, was an
armorer, Not 2 maker of coats of mail, shields and swords,
but an employe of a regiment of State soldiers, charged
with cleaning and caring for the State's weapons, used by
ies citizen soldiery in target practice and parades.
Willie's father, mother and the children lived in apart-
ments set aside for their use in the Armory, so that the boy
had access to guns and revolvers at all times. What he saw
of cow-boy life in the moving picture shows, hold-ups, train
robberies and wild western life, moved him to such an extent
that he at last left home, after filching a 45 calibre Colt’s
revolver, a bele of cartridges and a slouch hat. He prowled
about the avenues of New York for a few days and was
captured by the enemy (the police who arrested him for
violation of the Sullivan Law, which means the unlawful
carrying of a weapon).
His outlandish attire had invited the scrutiny of two de-
tectives in Madison Square Park. Wearing # sombrero with
jaunty tilt of the bravado, a soft blue shire with ci
ming buttons, and khaki crousers, he swaggered
about the Park in true moving-picture-wild-western style.
The imposing and deadly 45 calibre revolver, dangerously
cocked, he carried in his belt, and over his arm was slung
am improvised lariat of awning rope. In his boyish, im-
aginative mind, all trembled at his approach. Yet, when
‘one night 2 devective, simply curious, stopped him, he fled,
throwing the primed pistol into a grass enclosure, and one
of the cartridges exploded. Fortunately no one was hurt.
He was arrested. Technically speaking, he was guilty of
a crime which may be punished by imprisonment for seven
years.
‘That he was a criminal, even the suggestion of it, was
dismissed by all. Here then is an illuminating case of the
indispensable need of the suspended sentence and probation.
Our boy, clean-cut, clean-minded, fired by a perfectly normal
desire to be a cow-boy or a fearless “bad man” tamer or
perhaps the broncho rider, whose daredevil feats he had
breathlessly watched in the moving pictures, is no proper
subject for any sort of imprisonment. Ie would ‘hurt him.
However, he needed discipline, a guiding hand, a watchful
3
34 ‘Tue Prisox Association or New York,
eye. Probation made it possible to save this boy. The
judge suspended sentence and placed him for five years in
the care of our probation agent, to whom he reports weekly,
and by whom he is visiced. We are glad to report that this
boy on the threshold of manhood is making good, and there
is every reason to believe that he will make an excellent citizen.
‘The Association also aims to investigate promptly any com-
plaints of inmates of the Tombs. We have from time to
time called the attention of the Department of Correction
to alleged conditions and have on several occasions pointed out
what seemed to us ¢0 be serious cases of favoritism in the treat-
ment of men of means and of a certain standing in the city,
and confined in the Tombs prior to or during trial
We regret that during 1912 the judges of the Court of
General Sessions have not seen fit to ask from the city the ap-
pointment of a corps of probation officers, to be selected under
and to be under the direction of a chief
the civil service rule:
probation officer. We print herewith again our statement
tained on page 30 of the report for 1911 of this Asso
eral Sessions there is a numerically imade-
‘They have far too many cases,
y from a numerical stand~
The probation
In the Court of G
quate corps of probation offers
and the cases are distributed unevenly
point. There is no chief probation office
officers in the Court of General Sessions are salaried, not by the
city, but by private societies, and while there may be cocdiality
and even friendship beeween probation officers, chere is not the
responsibility of the coordination of work necessary to make
the working out of the probation system wholly successful.
The Prison Association, having several probation officers in the
Court of General Sessions, is nevertheless an advocate of the plan
of the State Probation Commission, providing for a corps of pro-
bation officers salaried by the city and a chief probation officer,
the force to be adequate, t0 be experienced, and to be centralized
2s to method. In the opinion of the Prison Association, neither
the judges nor the district attorney's ofice will receive the best
sesults from a probation system until such corps of probation
officers is established. Te is to be hoped thae when such a corps
is established, che experience and ability of the probation officers
now working in the Court of General Sessions will be eaken
into consideration.
COURT OF GENERAL SESSIONS,
ign.
N Doninc Finer Nive Montus oF 1
TON By PRis0N Assoctattos
__Recerven ox Prosar
Prowarion.
er Suyqueg,
(eureseg) sxe [ouag ghd wonsag
(suodea4) ae jruag Z6gr uo1is9g
;adoxd oy Ain(uy
Prozarion.
adog | Sny | Ainf | oun
sanngy
“ZiGi 40 SRINOWY ani Ieulg OwnunG] NoLLviDOsTy Noslug Ae NOLCOWg No GlAIGDuy SURV) ao FaRTID
120,
weg
AOL
wears.
52a
| any | at | ung
7161 40 SHINO
samy asuig ostung (soswtang ox) SoHEMDORBY nos AE NOUINDLSEANY WaIAY aaanadeag TOMALES
4
&
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é
ig
z
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F
é
‘Te Prison Assoctation or New York.
38
(@oweawoparyy) ate]
Asuanbuypp ape>any
euibp 1 yneasy
1 aatiop at ‘odes paid
3 218sp pur ey
7 “aoitop 1 906
; up
Auedig
: uouuopuesy
[> 2estey ae g 5 aooms
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5 suey Yvag “69t woR9g
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ar [a ere a wa |
“(papnqu0g) — NOLLVIDOSSY NOSI¥Y AK GRLVOMSIANT 638VE) £0 S3HTHD
saiop pur ‘108104,
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cle
rat [sa fe Pa ea 7
161 40 SHINOWY SNIN, A9UIy ONTADG| NOLLVIDOSSY Nosrag Ae GaUVDIUNGANT S88VD) 40 S2NII)
Pronatton.
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rns. | as vx tang
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‘venue emt
Prozation.
yaaa
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“s¥aNOLLVEOW] 40 SINOTY
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‘Tur Prison Association or New York.
Sano aang Gowty ontang mHoIEEAG) AWVNOIEVGOEY MOR] GEO9¥d
Tue Prison Assoctatiox or New York.
&|
Moxey Cotecren Fro Prosarrowsns (Restirurion ap Fauy-svrPort).
Sf E818
g | 8 Ie
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Restitution
Prowartox. 45
Ages of probationers die
Ages of probationers reporting charged during 1912 (to
October 1, 1912. October 1).
16-20. ciseeess 47 16-20. 3
21-35 36 21-35, 23
26-30. 18 26-40 20
31-35 19 3135. 20
36-40. 16 36-40. 6
44s 6 gras. 4
46-50. 4 46-50 2
5r-6r 7 51-6 2
153 8
Average age.......27--years. Average age......27-+years.
Average length of time of reporting. 1 year, 3 months,
Number of cases on probation January 1 1912. 1s
Number of cases received during rgi2. ‘ o
Towa. 242
Number of cases passed from probationary oversight 89
‘Number of eases remaining on probation October 1, 1912153
CHAPTER THREE.
‘THE. FAMILIES OF PRISONERS.
I= came recently t0 the Association che following
lerter from Warden Homer of Great Meadow Prison:
“ John Doe, an inmate of this institution, has asked me to
Name and address as fole
This woman
write to you of behal! of his wife
lows, (Here followed che name and address.)
has five children, and because she could not properly support
them, three of them had to be placed in a charitable home,
here they now are. Two are with the mother, who works
very hard to provide for thom and for herself. She is now
in poor health, discouraged, and in need of friendly sympathy
and assistance,
‘Will you kindly undertake to look into the case, and see if
anything can be done for this woman. I shall be pleased to
Ihave you write me the resule of chis investigation.
Very cordially yours,
(Signed) War, J. Hower, Warden.”
Nobody can fail to be moved by the intense pathos and
severe suffering caused in many families because of the crime
of the breadwinner and his removal as the mainstay of the
family,
We have so often found that those left behind, the
fe, the children or the other immediate
dition of poverty” through lite oF mo
fault of their own, and s0 unexpectedly,
that we have during the last year changed
tnd broniened on rle polis conser
whose soe work is with families in which
the need has arisen through erime.” We
ope during 1913 to.appoine an additional
Our sti work is conducted wonder the
supervision of the chairman of the AUx-
itary Relief Committec, Mr, Alexander M. Hadden. The
appeals for help come to us from waried sources, now from the
‘Tue Famittes or Prisoners. a
wardens and superintendents of the institutions, sometimes
through the press, often from the families themselves. We
welcome from all sources references of this nature.
The functions of the relief visitor are as simple as they are
necessary. She is to call as promptly as possible upon the
families that we learn of who need us. _ She becomes acquainted
with their alleged needs, and wich their stories of theie difieul-
ties. The officers dealing with the parole work of the reforma-
tories and che prisons obtain for the relief visitor promptly the
facts regarding the crime and sentence of the breadwinner.
Relatives and friends of the family are called upon, and other
sources of relief are sought. Whatever the relief visitor believes
the family needs while the plan for the future is being made is
cheerfully and promptly given, so far as lies within the means
‘of the Association
There is now far too much work for the one relief visitor. A
second visitor is very necessary. Nevertheless, very gratify=
ing results have been obcained in our firse year's work of the
separate relief bureau
‘The bare statements of our work in several instances are
given in the following paragraphs. We are confident that our
readers can zead between the lines the efore of the Association
and the results accomplished.
Family of W’. Ka» oral relief $127.50. Referred to the Prison
Astociation by probation officer of the Association. Six in the
family; husband, wife and four children. Oldest child eight
years. Husband sentenced co the Penitentiary for six months.
Family kepe together during husband’s absence. Released in
July, 1912. Found employment wo weeks later at $13.50 2
week. Case closed August 9, 1912, Family now selé-suppore
Referred by Charity Organization
September, 1911. Toral relief given, $148.50. Principal item,
ent. Five in family, father, mother and three children. Oldest
ebild, fourteen. Husband sentenced to Penitentiary July, 19115
for one year and $500 fine. In June, 1912, after man came
out, employment found for him at $50.a month. Family now
selfsupporting.
Family of 4. B. Referved by Mr. Kimball, probation officer
of the Prison Association, February, 1912. otal relief, $85.
Principal item of relief, rent. Four in family, father, mother
and two children. Husband sentenced to Penitentiary, Febru-
Family of M. M.
48 Tur Prison Association or New York.
Man released
ary, 1912, six months. Oldest child, four years.
Present state
‘August, 1912. Found employment, 82 per day,
of family self-supporting,
Family of D. M. Referred by lever of husband from Sing
‘Sing, November, z9¢t. Total relief, $30, all for rent. Four in
family, father, mother and two children: oldese con. Father
paroled from Sing Sing April, 1912. Work found for him as
watchman, $1.75 a day. Relief discontinued March, 1912,
Present condition of family. self-supporting.
Family of D. J. Referred to Association by personal appeal,
August, 1911. Total amount of relief, $73-80. Principal isem,
food. Five in family, father, mother and three children:
Oldest giel, ewelve years. Case closed June, 1912, when husband
was released from prison and employment found for him by
Association. Present condition self-supporting.
OF course we do not always have success, yet ehe results in
general have proved encouraging. At present about fifty
families are more or less dependent upon the Association for
advise and assistance. We are still in the stage of defining
our relief policies. In general we believe we should carefully
restrict our relief work to those families in which the destitu-
tion has arisen directly from the commission of erime. Two
kinds of cases of distress particularly appeal to us as proper
for us to help:—Those in which the breadwinner is unable to
support his [a d
nily because of his prison record, and those in
which the family has been plunged into destitution because
of the absence of the breadwinner in prison. We different
iate however between those families whose breadwinners
have received a very long sentence and those in which the
sentence is relatively short. In the latter ease, our policy is
to tide the family over, avoiding the breaking-up of the
family except as a last resort. We believe that we should
adopt a liberal policy with such families, if they deserve it,
and maintain the standard of relief ceasonably high, bringing
special pressure to bear upon the breadwinner when he comes
‘out of prison to make him take up at once the obligation of
continuing the support of his family. Tn the ease of those
families in which the conditions approach those of widowhood,
the sentence of the father or husband being so long as to neces=
sitate a radical change in che maintenance problem of the
family, we are coming to feel chat the family should more
properly be assisted by a charity organization society.
‘Tue Famunies oF Prisoners. 9
anksgiving and Christmas are two holidays when the
of giving and of gratitude provide “ our families” wich
a very liberal dinner. In 1912, upon both holidays, baskets
containing the following articles were sent to each one of the
families in our charge. Through the cooperation of several
merchants the articles were obtained either without cost or at
a substantial reduction in price.
THANKSOIVING
42 Families
9 0r 10 pound turkey
cumustacas
47 Families
gb. turkey.
$1.00 cash, 31.00 cash,
1 Ib. potatoes. 4b. coffee.
Can plum pudding, 3b, tea
3 1b. coffee. 4 Ib. cocoa,
2b, tea. 2 Ibs. sugar.
2 Ibs, sugar. Ib. potatoes.
1 can peas. 6 apples.
6 apples 55 cents worth onions.
4 1b. mixed nuts 2 Ibs. sirloin beef.
In addition, through the kindness of friends of the Associa
tion, 112 children in our families received Christmas stockings,
filled as follows:
Woolen eap.
Woolen gloves.
Box colored chalk
Woolen cap.
Woolen gloves.
‘Toy furniture.
Woolen cap.
Woolen gloves.
Woolen stockings.
Bag marbles. Box erackers Soft ball
Gospel of Se. John Gospel of St. John. Toy dog,
Bag of candy. Bag of candy. Toy horse
Ball Candy motors. Box erackers.
Pair skates Large doll Box candy.
Candy mottoes. pair stockings. Mottoes.
Woolen stockings. Doll
‘We do not need to say that the gifts were appreciated. One
of the mothers wrote us that it was the first time that she or
her family had tasted turkey in six years. Fortunately we
were able to obtain the turkeys at wholesale prices, so that
‘
so Te Prison Assoctation or New York.
here seemed no extravagance in sending the brds at aime
thee seem prices made curkeye almost prohibitive to many
ee scehoue a breadwinner imprison.
2 ec 2 dah some ery sincere exer of shanks
from our families. We cite the following as typical:
“ T suppose vou and Mes. Rare just as busy a8
eves with co many'on your hands to do for. 1 never realised
Ha any ace amor of god yout Association doce
beer ego eee me fe Mr. Paes The
Sometime wil You 733 toe pen ee tings for the eilren
Fah as | pe woul wo wre a thank bat ite
Se nT ope you wil cone tose me Some”
” can never thank you enough for the kindness
‘you have done for me, and I will always appreciate it, And T
pray and trust that you will be rewarded in Heaven.
“ Jase ine oan so for tending co my ee
so gale Tstghe sure T would be put ou onthe sidewalks
Boekeiest eld me this mowing sh the Lady ha called with
BE low bees?
me ‘The landlord asks me about the check for the
rents © God I am half erasy to think of all my trouble. He
Told me that you would send it. Hoping you do all you can for
Tre T don’t want to break up my home it would break me to
think to pare with my children that all I have in chis world.’
. T shank you very much for the nce basket you
sent me, indeed we enjoyed our dinner very much and pent @
ice days, Daniel could not get over all you sent. God bless
you and Mr, R. is all T can say.”
‘Tue Fawtites oF Prisoners. st
“You Will have che satisffaction of knowing that never had
a sacrifice done so much good as in the present case as I didn't
have a cent and the owo dollars came like a friend in need
because I would be ashamed to ask for any more help from the
Association. I chink that ic has already did enough for me.
I thought I could pay all thar was given to me back but this I
am unable to do at present as I am not working steady therefore
am always short of money. Dear Lady I hope that God will
give you the power to always give other poor people assistance
in a time of need. God bless you for it.”
Tt is natural that friends of prison reform should ask: “ Why
cannot these prisoners earn wages in prison and support their
dependenc families outside?” ‘The faces ate that in no insti-
tution in New York State are the earnings equivalent to the
cost of maintenance of the prisoners. A somewhat detailed
statement of the reasons therefor is given on pages 107-115,
Until a comprehensive study of our prison industries is made
by competent and unbiassed experts, we are likely to see our
correctional institutions continue to be largely non-selfsupport-
‘The Prison Association intends that this problem shall receive
adequate attention. We are aware that even in the most
dustrially equipped institutions of a penal nature in the United
States, the earnings of the mose skillful prisoners are relatively
small.’ We believe, however, that che State should have no less
2 goal than the provision for the maintenance of the penal
institutions through the earnings of prisoners. Tt is clear that
the educational and reformarory clements of prison discipline
should not be sacrificed to the desire for financial returns, nor
should a system be advocated which would make the prisoner
subject to exploitation for private gain. It seems, however,
clear that for the present any payment as so-called earnings to
prisoners for work performed will be in actuality a gratuity, if
it be planned that the work of the prisoners shall in the first
inseance pay for their maintenance.
Therefore, for_a considerable time to come, it is inevitable
that prisoners’ Families will require financial’ assistance from
charitable sources, and the Prison Association is peculiarly obli-
gated to make that assistance prompt and just. We therefore
bespeak from the friends of unfortunate families their assistance
in this feld,
CHAPTER FOUR.
THE PRISON ASSOCIATION AND CORRECTIONAL
INSTITUTIONS.
ACH year the Prison Assocation ic called pon 002
eter ith che eneabishment, marneenance and. de-
‘elopmen of coretionslinsetins."Nov only do ach Bede
sere forthe sociery open more and more in New York,
as Dut from all parts of the United Seaees,
bat fom comneries as far off at Japan
Minions advice and plans. The Prison
Reem hoe f nea "seeny
Fay ines iseory i was one of the fow
Segisientone hac assembled from the
aren uiized world faces bearing upon
Binders: Tm the period from 1850 £0
"Bye asc dig she scot
ship of Pr Tid authority in plisgn matters. While Dr. Samuel
T Barrows was the secretary of the Association the national
did intrnatnnal pfu of he soy was sul furher
Tees ailtacion wrth scientific bodies and. individuals
thot AeSmve necesary, because in the United States
eae is TS mo ceneel autRoriy to which the almorecoune-
phere i a St 78 ontnaton a8 to prison reform and the treat
les request 1F quant can be addressed with surety of Fly.
Fa osc Aswociation fe body tnesting but once
zycar and ig sera aehough 2 apeilan 8
eae ee and andoubeedly has not the time oF the
treitties for developing a central bureau of information of the
Fall tor sere eeaticed. ‘Therefore the Prison Assocation
Prison Assoctarton ann Correcrionat INstrrurions. 53
bureau of exchange of information. ‘This Association urges,
as one of the most necessary bureaus yet not established, a
central bureau of information upon matters relating to delin-
‘quency.
In the State of New York the Association's activiey as a
consulting authority is still increasing. During 1912, in par-
ticular, the General Secretary of the Prison
Association gave a considerable proportion of
his time eo the frst stages of the establish-
ment of the Seate Industrial Farm Colony,
or as it is more widely known, the “Tramp
Colony.” In view of the very earnest in-
terest taken by the Association in the estab-
lishment of this new Seate institution, and
in view of the active championing of the
bill providing for its foundation, we shall
speak of our pare in the establishment of
this new Colony in some detail. ae
Governor Dix appointed in November, 1911, the Board of
‘Managers of the State Industrial Farm Colony as follows:
Samven Unrenwyen. New York City.
Mrenaet J. Drusoxp, New York City.
Jony G. O'Kerrre New York City.
0. F. Lewis. New York City.
Panvenick Aly Buffalo, N. Y.
Gronce F. Warren Ithaca, N.Y.
Joszen Beau, Oneida, N.Y.
Ie will be noted thar the General Secretary of the Prison
Association of New York was appointed one of the Board, and
was elected at its first meeting Secretary of the Board. Upon
him fell naturally many of the details during the first year.
‘The Prison Association, believing that the best interests of the
State would be furthered by his active participation in the con
struction of the Industrial ‘olony atong the lines whic
this Association has a & willingly acquiesced in this
form of cooperation between the State and the Association.
In the first annual report of the Board of Managers of the
Industrial Farm Colony, presented to the Legislature in March,
1912, the following paragraphs occur:
‘The passage of this bill by the Legislature and ite signing by
the Governor was a matter of much gratification co the many
‘Tue Prison Association or New Yore:
public and private boards and organizations that for many years
had emphasized che costly and evil efects of practically wnre-
stricted vagrancy in this State. Not for a number of years, in
‘uropinion, has a measure received more generally favorable men-
‘Gon and commendation than the above. Superintendents of the
poor, the wardens of penitentiaries, the sherifs and the jail
Keepers in the several counties, the judges on the bench, the
chatity organization and other relief societies, the Prison Com-
mission and the Prison Association, as well as the State Board
Of Charities all bear witness to the vagrancy “plague” and to
the necessity of adopting large and general messures to reduce
vagrancy and, s0 far a5 possible, to reclaim the vagrant who
Je noc already too habituated to sloth and parasitic living to be
feclaimed by the amount of energy the State can expend.
Other States are watching with keen interest this move of our
State to build and maintain che first farm colony for habieual
tramps and vagrants. Our annual losses in public and private
‘charity, because of vagrancy, estimated by the State Board of
‘Chatitcs to be notless chan 2,009,000 a year, are duplicated in
proportion to the population ia many another state
“The Boaed, recognizing that it had but a brief time to act
before the time when by lavr it should repore to the Legislature
Gon of before March 1, 1912), gave immediate and expeditious
attention to the question of securing adequate information
egarding possible sites for the colony. At the first meeting
of the Board it was decided, tentacively (a) that the colony
Should be located not over 75 to 10 miles from New York City,
land in a general way between the cities of Albany and New York
for Port Jervis and New York.
(b) That the site should be chosen largely with reference to
the excellent quality of the land for farming purposes or for its
possibilities from the agricultural standpoint through reclamation
of land.
(©) Thac ie would be unwise to atcempt to acquire less than
(@) That while ie is desirable to secure a site from State lands
if possible, the fact that certain State lands may be available
should not weigh against the desirability of acquiring a site
thoroughly suitable for agricultural purposes.
{@) That the site should be chosen partly with reference to
quarrying possibilities, and also with reference to the mainte-
fnance of winter industries as well as ro summer farming
Paison Association AND Correcrionar Insrrrutions. 55
During che spring of 1912, the Board gave serious considera-
tion to that section of the law providing that if possible the
colony should be located upon State lands, i. e., land owned
by the State thar had reverted to ie through the non-payment
of mortgages or for other causes, but not including the forest
preserves. The following elements entered into consideration:
1. Fenty of
2 Access to rllroad and transportation facilisi,
5: Acces chrough such facie to and ftom various pars of
the State
Distance from Sealine o be suficient to avoid cempéation
to escape into adjoining State.
Architectural advantage
‘Wares and drainage
Woodland and rock formation
Condition of implemencs,buldings and stock
As the Board came better to know the necessary elements
entering into a successful farm, it realized the unavailabili
and unsuitability of any listed State lands, However, all of
the large parcels were examined and were found for other
reasons than size, unavailable and unsuitable. “Among the
reasons for che decision of the Board not to use State lands were
the following :
Mountainous land.
Remoteness from railroad facilities.
Rocky and barren soil.
- Proximity to State line.
Permanent unproductivity of soil.
The Board ultimately, in August, 1912, after a most thorough
search on the pare of the Secretary and other members of the
Board, selected adjacent parcels of land in the town of Beek-
man, Dutchess County, of approximately 820 acres. The sive
proved one of exceptional worth, agriculturally, and was pur-
chased for the very reasonable sum of $60,000 in January, 1913.
Opposition, stimulated seemingly by a relatively small num-
ber of property owners in the towns of Poquag and Beekman,
developed during September, and after a hearing before the
6° Tus Prisox Assocration oF New York.
sovernor on September 24, 1912, the latter's approval was
Tepugh search of the State lands. ‘The Governor's request
sroreuenplied with during October, and his approval of the
Ste was again obtained
Bur thewway was not yet clear. Certain taxpayers sued for
an injunction against the Board, so restrain the latter feom
Murkasing this property. and establishing thereon a colony
Pic maar incendedy oa the ground that the Seate would be
Shereby establishing 9 nuisance. A cemporary injunction ¥
Genied by Justice Chester in Albany in December, and in Fel
seniys igi, Justice Rudd dismissed che suit. ‘The Board of
Managers has been unable to ascercain that the opposition
wraneeticed any considerable proportion of the property owners
Gf he section im which the Colony isto be established, and
lieves that the many affidavits presented. fiom property
Convincing 25 to the willingness of the majority of che adjoin~
fee owners to have the Colony established in theiz neighbor-
hood. ae
‘Wich the appointment of a Superineendent of the Colony
in 1913 much of the detail work until now performed by the
25 oF teen over by the Superintendent” The
Prison Association, rejoices in the final establishment of this
Industrial Farm Colony, and is gratified by the important
share which the Association has been able co contribute toward
the present stacus of the Colony,
Secretary will
Prison Association aND CorRecriona Instrrurions. 57
In time, the Commissioner became increasingly interested in
the possibilities of a cottage plan of institution, and in the
country, and rough plans for an all-cortage institution were
drawn. " A fourth radical change was made when in the summer
and fall of 1912 @ comprehensive set of plans were prepared
by the architect, Charles B. Meyers, for a combination of con-
gregate and cottage institution, so planned that the build:
necessary to every institution can be grouped around a hollow
square, and that the cottages may be placed more or less distant
from the central group. These plans will enable the adminis-
tration to deal with the inmates (who will be mainly from 16
to 22 years of age) with much chance for classification, and
with a range of treatment from the strictest custodial care
to relative liberty’, shore of freedom to leave the institution.
The Department of Correction has also had difficulty in
finding an advantageous site for the Reformatory. Hart's
Island having come to appear aleogerher too small, acreage in
the country was sought ‘on the Harlem River Division
of the New York Ceneral Railroad was ultimately found, but
the title was Tater shown to be clouded, and at the present
wrising the Commissioner is considering another very suitable
site. “An appropriation of 550,000 has been sanctioned by
the City for the purpose of erecting-this institution. When
finished, ic will be the first prison along modern lines in the
Departmene.
‘Throughout the year the Commissioner has done the Prison
Association the honor to consult frequently regarding the es-
tablishment of the Reformatory, and the Association has con-
tributed materially toward the working out of the present plans
for the institution,
During the year 1912, plans for the erection of the farm
colony of the Board of Incbriety of New York City have slowly
made progress. Delay was unforcunately caused, first through
the selection of a site on Long Island that Iater proved unsuit-
able; then through the very unfortunate illness of Dr. Morrison,
the executive secretary of the Board, which’ seriously delayed
negotiations for the cheice of a site in Orange county; and
finally, when a_ site in Orange county had been. selected,
through the difficulty of obtaining a clear title to the land,
The Prison Association has from time to time been consulted,
boch by members of the Board of Inebriety and by representa-
58 Tue Prison Association or New Yors-
.e City. government whose
tion ean be made for
‘The
Bae ema ey bil
igi em ay ne ae
Inthe Hane time ad
Weide oe ya ot laren
plans suggested by the Association
misdemeanors
Seate is shown in detail
of this report, pages
Among those apo
Pa
Sc aon the Board of Manages of chi
Poa eeeroe Dis an November, 1912, Wat
uate Reformarory by Govern pesipes wae
Reform ro ier, who for several years has
payehraric examine OT aul. professional service entirely
red in smpensrion, to the Prison Association. Dr, Parker
Without compet py his fellow members Secretary and Treasurer
tas eee ey acer) Board, and will novaraly Have 20
of the State Refoe clecton of the site, and in the eesti
ime bailing thereon.
J attention
ing the year the Ase gam Mankactan (The Tombs)
Bate cone ion Irequesely made by Dr Parker and che
sits Mav easy, and the probation officers of the Assocla~
General Secresahy, actly daily wits eo inmates eherein
During the year the Association has also given clos
PRISON AssoctaTIoN AND CoRRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 59
Many suggestions have been made to the Commissioner of
Correction regarding possible improvements in methods of ad-
ministration. At present the Department of Correction is
preparing to introduce a system of records whereby the history
and careful study of the younger offenders imprisoned in the
‘Tombs may be made the nucleus of a central bureau of identi-
fication, that eventually should be extended to become. a
central registration bureau for the entire Department. The
Association has also during the year taken up with the Depart-
‘ment, among other things, the present system of records, the
necessity of a hospital and a psychopathic ward, the change in
the system of granting passes in the Tombs and the alleged
favoritism shown to cerrain well-known inmates. Throughout
the year the relation of the Department and of the Association
has been one of close cooperation.
Occasional visits have been made by members of the staff
and of the Board of Managers of the Association to correc-
tional institutions of the State and of the counties. A member
of the parole staff has each month attended meetings of the
parole board of the State at Sing Sing Prison, and has willingly
taken upon parole, in the name of the Prison Association,
such men as the State Parole Board has desired to parole in
‘our custody. Mr. Alexander M. Hadden, as in many
vvious years, has been most assiduous in his private eapacity
and as one of the Board of Managers of this Association in
visiting Sing Sing and other State prisons, to help by advice
and fitendly conference many of the inmates, As a result
of a visit of the General Secretary of the Association to Great
Meadow Prison in November, 2 full-page article upon the
honor system and the outdoor employment of prisoners at that
prison was published in the New York Times on December
28, 1912, and has since been given wide circulation in Ge
man periodicals. The Association has maintained a special
interest in the development of road work by prisoners in
Onondaga county, and in company with Commissioner
Wade of the Prison Commission the General Secretary gave
two days in November to a study of the results
Careful and_persistent inspection of the correctional insti-
tutions of the State should be, however, much more developed
by the Association than at present. In recent years the
Prison Commission, upon which this duty of inspection
60 Tate Prtson Assoctation or New York.
nd
evolves, has increased its corps of inspectors,
eal spe ‘State isthe gainer each year
By che more frequent inspections,
which now extend to lockups as el
eo the jails and penitentiaries an
ae the State institutions, The Asso-
Sation will, ie is hoped, be within
sae months ina position to secure
The wervices of an assistant secretary’
hove funetion wil "be to Become
Thoroughly acquainced with the admin-
rome Nethods of the correctional
iNTiuutions of the Seate, thus filling 2
‘need that the Association has recognized for many Years
a bill providing for the establishment of a commission to
fot Seasons therefor being outlined on pages 134-136 of the
Fe biltwas actively
wpe part ofthis report. The passage of the b sly
som Parie Stare Board of Charities, but ax soon ast became
Hoe eae ane prospects of the passage of the bill estab
Fn eee c Reformacory for Misdeineanants, might be
Tshing ay iy farther urging of the passage of the Custodial
ire Bie acevey for the Tater bill was suspended. und
Asylum, Pile session of 1913, when the Prison Associa
SEI enin introduce the meastie
‘That a new prison to replace Sing Sing Prison is| most
tegen needa been san for any year ee
ining. of tpr2. the erection
ay geate Prison upon a site of
ome sit hundeed acres in the
Soin of Wingdale was under
wave alehough great opposi-
Tay nad been ised to. the
troposed loeation, en the ground
Ther a portion of the site was
Miisanitaryy and hae the site, 2
tras go broken by a ridge of
Torest land thae dhe various pasts
Prison Assoctation anv CorrecrionaL INstirurions. 61
accessible, and that the prison would be when completed
within a few miles of the Connecticut boundary, thus afford-
ing prisoners a relatively easy method of passing beyond
the jurisdiction of the State, in the event that they should
escape when engaged in farming or other outdoor occupa-
tions, of the nature probably to be carried on at Wingdale.
The ‘Governor and the Superintendent of Prisons opposed
the location of the prison at Wingdale, and appropriations
for the prison were not signed by the Governor.
‘The Prison Association has favored neither the establish-
ment of 2 State prison upon the Wingdale site, nor the reno-
vation of Sing Sing prison at its present location, believing
that the trend of modern penology is strongly and reasonably
toward the development of prison farms, with lange acreage,
abundant chance for outdoor employment. for prisoners,
the development of the honor system, and the pursuit of
industries in coordination wich agricultural work. ‘The re-
markable success of the warden of Great Meadow Prison
in employing hundreds of prisoners daily on all parts of a
thousand-acre farm, with only two escapes in a year, with
greatly increased heslth and self-respect in the prisoners,
has confirmed the Association in the position it has taken
for several years, that when the Seate builds new prisons,
the institutions should be in the country and upon wide
acreage. We are of the belief that within the nexe decade
our American theories of prison location and construction
are to undergo fundamental changes, and that the renova-
tion of Sing Sing prison by the complete rebuilding of 2
cell-block for twelve hundred inmares, while retaining the
cramped acreage of approximately fifteen acres for the entire
prison, thus making its activity for generations to come
almost wholly industrial, would be a most serious mistake.
CHAPTER FIVE.
ING the year 1912, the Association
Da sees
ne emane fund of Over 3 :
ae ¢ to an association
at when 2 3
N portunities do not ©
Naturally such py
each year
By vore of eh
tion the fiscal y
ce executive committee of the Prison Associa
sects Qaeaiagon for 912 ended, 08
tember 30. ‘Therefore all financial statements printes ua
e . Tt can be stated, however, that for the whole =
of Tota, ont Beer ens wese approximately the #2
Guring the previous year.
[A brief summary is herewith given for the two years:
Recipe
so own
mene foovees 32 Sone 28
ele nb
Toco om investment
pre bank talons
efosnvores
Retuds
Una,
$26,605 96
Tue Financran Year. 63
Expenditures
General Secretary's Department... $14,410 17
Parole Bureau fee 3.497 37
Probation Bureat 35499 81
Relief Bureau...... 5,300 93
House
Sundry.
27,022 90
The year 1913 bids fair to mark another milestone of pro--
gress financially for the Association, for we have secured
already a considerable part of a $15,000 guarantee fund for
the purpose of cmploying two assistant secretaries of the
Prison Association for a period of three years. The Asso-
ciation has long felt that one of its greatest needs is to
establish geadually a corps of expert advisors and investigators,
who can make it possible for the Association to gather and
give out on proper occasions and vo the proper officials or
other individuals exhaustive and accurate information regard~
ing conditions prevailing in the correctional institutions of
the city and the State. Such a corps of assistants is especially
needed during the legislative session and during the con-
sideration of the City budget for the ensuing year. ‘There
‘came also to the Association frequent requests for information
regarding our institutions, their administration and the
possibilities of betterment, ‘The Association hopes within the
next half decade to establish several additional positions, to
be filled by experts
During the year the Association was called upon to mourn
the death of its honored Secretary, Dr. Samuel Macauley
Jackson. In another place in this report we have printed the
memorial adopted by the executive committee upon his death,
and upon the services which he sendered to the Association
and. other organizations. Here we would state our appre-
ciation of the legacy of 82,500 which he left to the Association.
While the bequest was entirely unrestricted, it was his desire
that it be used to form a nucleus of a library fund, the interest
of which should be used for the purchase of books.
During the year also we have received $3,000 from the
estate of William A. Smith. We nove also, early in 1913, the
64 Ta: Prison Association or New Yort.
Figen an 8509 Fe eae goth of on
tpt ane pene lope
CHAPTER SIX.
OTHER ACTIVITIES.
HE dissemination of the principles of prison reform and
I of the proper treatment of the offender is held by the
Prison Association to be one of its important functions.
During 1912 we believe that much has been accomplished.
Our annual sepore for 1911, published in the spring of 1912,
nat only presented a statement of the most imporeant facts
fof progress in this State, bue embodied an exhaustive report
by the General Secretary upon his tour of European labor
colonies in the suminer of tors. This report was. peculiarly
timely, in view of the establishment of a State Industrial
Farm Colony in New York. The demand for the repore was
widespread and most gratifying. This year the Prison
Association has sought to bring together, within one binding,
the most necessary information regarding institutions and
methods of dealing with delinquents in this Seate. We feel
that the Association should, so far as possible, make its annual
report of permanent value through the inclusion each year of
important material that otherwise might not be made
available.
‘The Association believes in close cooperation with national,
State and local conferences of charities and correction. At
the American Prison Association in Baltimore, in November,
1912, the General Secretary presented a report on parole
methods, as chairman of the Committee on Discharged
Prisoners. As president of the Fourth New York City Con-
ference of Charities and Correction, which will hold 2 three
days’ session in this city in May, 1913, he will show the
cooperation of the Prison Association in the development of
efficient social work in this ‘The Association will also
participate, through the holding of 2 chairmanship by its
General Secretary in the 1913 meeting of the American Asso-
ciation of Officials of Charities and Correction at Springfield,
Mlinois, in June, and similarly in the 1913 Seate Conference
of Charities and Correction at Bufalo in the autumn.
6
66 Tue Prison Association or New York.
During the year many addresses and informal talks have
been given by the members of the staff of the Association.
Two committees of the Association have met occasionally
at our rooms during the year: the Committee on Defective
Delinquents, and the Relief Committee. The former com-
mittee has brought together more than a score of specialists,
who in the spring of 1912 held several conferences, being
addressed by Dr. Henry H. Goddard, Dr. George M. Parker,
Miss Elizabeth Farrell, inspector of ungraded classes of the
Board of Education, Dr. Frank L. Christian, assistant super-
intendent of Elmira Reformatory, and others. ‘The impetus
toward a better treatment of the criminal fecble-minded
gained considerably through these meetings.
Under the chairmanship of Mr. Alexander M. Hadden
a Woman's Auxiliary Relief Committee was formed during
the year, to meet at frequent intervals for the consideration
of the proper methods of dealing with destitution in families
caused by the absence of the breadwinner in prison, or with
similar cases. The committee’s usefulness has already been
proved, although it is still largely in the period of organization.
A telief visitor, Mrs. H. B. Rodgers, has been permanently
appointed by the Association, and during 1913 the work of
this committee should prove increasingly useful.
In April, 1912, the Association gladly offered its rooms as
the headquarters for the distribution to male Titanic sur-
vivors of clothes and other necessary relief. For several days
the members of the staff gave much of their time to this work.
In 1910, the President and the General Secretary of the
Prison Association assisted in the organizing of the National
Prisoners’ Aid Society, a body of prisoners’ aid societies that
by a loose yet effective form of affiliation and cooperation has
brought much more closely together the relatively few societies
engaged primarily in helping prisoners and in furthering
prison reform. In January, 19r1, the first number of monthly
journal called the Review was published by Mr. O. F. Lewis,
‘our General Secretary, as editor for the National Prisoners’
Aid Society. The Association has been glad to cooperate in
this method of publicity. The Review has described itself as
in a way a “trade journal in the field of delinquency.” It
has aimed each month to present to an increasingly wider
field of subscribers not only important articles upon modern
methods and principles, but also an abundance of information
Page from ‘The Review,” January, 1013
VOLUME III, No. 1. JANUARY, 1913
THE REVIEW
A MONTHLY, PERIODICAL, PUBLISHED BY THE
NATIONAL PRISONERS’ AID ASSOCIATION
AT 125 EAST 15th STREET, NEW YORK CITY.
TEN CENTS A COPY. ‘ONE DOLLAR A YEAR
T. F. Garver, President F, Emory Lyom ELA. Fredenhagen,
Wr, MR, French, Vice President.” Member Ex. Committee Memtr Ex Commitee
OF. Lewin, Secretary, Tressurer W. G. MeLaren, Joseph P.
snd Editor Review. Member Ex: Committee
Edward Field ACH. Votaw, RB McCord
(Chairman Ex. Committee. Momber Ex. Commit
EXTINCTION OF THE DEFECTIVE DELINQUENT
A WORKING PROGRAM
Hastines B. Harr, LL.D.
Deo fhe Depart of Child Hele he Ral Sage Foonon
(Ths pop wate fare he Amscn ion Avociain Babine at Novem. The pape erly
shgerghan wi eplied epee ment nsbe o Reso
In every state prison and every re- ed, im 1020, “all degrees of mental de-
formatory’ for adults or juveniles there fect due to
development, a5
person so affected
peting 8 cq terme
laws, or of managing
irs" with. ordinary "pr
2 fot Has been defined 28 2
commitied by the courts, a
and. superintendents have 40 a
hem as best they ea as one whose mentality would
The term ‘defective delinquents” is that of a normal child of seven years,
now applied by common consent to in- and a. moron.as one whore. mentality
Aividaale of the lasses above mentioned. would not that of a normal child
It is not the intention of this paper to OF twelve years.
tive delingueats, bit — Until rccently, there has been no re
are fectleminded. Table information as to the number of
“delinquents” is meant feebleminded inmates of prisons and re
‘sho have been eon formatories, bur within the past. five
years efforts have been made to oblain
Information on this point
Five years ago, 1 believe that the av-
is'meant, aecording to the def erage pifson warden or reformatory su-
nition adopted by” the American Associ: fave eatimated the
ition for the Study of the Peeblemind- cminded persons in such
“Typical Press Service of Prison Assocation
PRISON ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK
PRESS SERVICE
Released on Receipt
FEEBLEMINDED CRIMINALS
NEW STATE INSTITUTION PROPOSED
HUNDREDS OF MENTALLY DEFECTIVE PRISONERS WITHOUT
STATEWIDE, AGITATION 10 SECURE LeGGLATION 70 eKoTECT
Oruer Acrivimies. &
in the form of so-called “ Events” and “Notes ” that other
wise would not find their way to the workers in the field.
The publication of the Review has been made possible by
a number of generous contributions of from fifty to one
hundred dollars, and by a subscription list at present of several
hundred contributors of from one dollar to twenty dollars.
Everything connected with the magazine except the printing
and the postage is given gratuitously.
‘The Barrows League, founded in 1910 as a result of the
suggestions of the General Secretary of the Prison Association,
has continued its beneficent activity during 191:
organization is a“ big brother ”
or for those beyond the age of “*
many years the Prison Association has enlisted the interest
of individuals in aid of released prisoners or of their families,
but such helpfulness was sporadic. The Barrows League, in
the three years of its life, has shown the value of concentrated
effort. After an experimental period with a number of sub-
committees, the League found its chief usefulness in individual
vwork for prisoners or for those who recently had served terms
in prison. The membership of the League is made up of
a half-hundred business and professional men. While no
definite obligations are placed upon the members, it is under-
stood thar they are ready to serve the purposes of the League
when called upon. The League is not a part of the Prison
Association, but meets at its offices monthly except during the
summer, and is in closest affiliation with the Association
during the whole year.
‘A very useful study of the principles of reformatory ad-
ministration is being made by Mr. Philip Klein, Fellow of the
School of Philanthropy, under the direction of the General
Secrecary of the Association. Mr. Klein has spent several
months in study in the State Reformatory of New Jersey at
Rahway, the New York State Reformatory at Elmira, the
George Junior Republic at Freeville, N. Y., the State Agri-
cultural and Industrial School at Industry, N. ¥., the House
of Refuge on Randall's Island, New York City, and at the
City Reformatory for Misdemeanants at Hart’s Island, New
York City. It is expected than an abundance of valuable
material will be presented by Mr. Klein to the Director of the
School of Philanthropy and to the Executive Committee of
Prison Association. Two first-year students of the School of
68 Tue Prison Association of New York.
ilanthrophy_are in training under the supervision of the
plato the General Seercary ie one of the lecture
staff of the School of Philanthropy.
Meetings of the staff of the Association have been held fairly
frequent during the year. Matters of administration and
policy are discussed, and the meetings have been an important
means of welding the interests of the members of the staff,
and of increasing the efficiency of the work of the Association
"The Association has whenever possible cooperated with
other organizations and boards in the furtherance of social
betterment.
In addition to the naturally frequent cooperation between
the Association and Stare boards and organizations, we
mention the following inseanees, among others, of the policy
Of the Association to affiliate with other similar organizations
for the purposes of social betterment.
With the Public Education Association, relative to the schoo
bbudger for 1913.
With the Gramerey Neighborhood Association, relative to
the “cleaning up’ of prostitution in the immediate vicinity
fof the Washingron Irving High School. A condition that had
been most offensive prior to the opening of the school.
With the Permanent Census Bureau of the Department of
Education, relative to the development of a statistical record
of certain physical and mental facts regarding all school children,
With the New York Library Association, in a
at the am
conducting a Prison Libr
‘Niagara Falls in September,
New York Library Association
Avie the New York City Conference of Charities and Correc
ovetnmental id for dependent faniton
Tinh the Citizen's Commitee appointed a€ 2 mass meeting
ae Cooper Union, for the purpose of studying the methods of
‘With the ower) Branch ofthe. Young. Men's. Christan
Assocation telaive to the erection of anew building.
"With the ifgyeseventh Sereet Branch of the Y--M. C. An
in aranging a setts of Sunday afernoon addresses on penolony
tnd criminology
‘Orner Activrries,
The observance of Prison Sunday on the last Sunday in
October was more general this year throughout the State.
‘The Association furnished as usual ample material to. all
clergymen who responded to the first inquiry, in September,
of the society as to their intention of observing Prison Sunday.
More than 200 churches gave one or more services upon that
day to a consideration of prison reform and the treatment of
the delinquent, ‘The Prison Sunday plan has attracted
attention in Germany, where the methods of the Association
have been widely mentioned in scientific journals.
Doll stories seldom find their way into the pages of the
Prison Association’s report, yet why not? Here is a simple
tale that may make some of our readers feel as did the mem-
bers of the staff of the Association, and the three hundred
little girls at the Hudson State Training School for Girls
last spring.
‘The General Secretary of the Association, Mr. Lewis, made
carly in the spring of 1912 a visit of inspection ro the State
Training School for Girls at Hudson. This school is excellently
managed, and receives young girls from all over the State
who have become delinquent or dependent and who have
been committed ro the school. ‘The rest of the story can be
cold, with perhaps a parenthetical remark or two, by excerpts
from the letters the little girls wrote to the General Secretary
after the great reception to the dolls at Hudson had occurred.
We have pieced various parts of the several letzers together.
“One day last spring a gentleman came to the School and
requested us to name the one thing that we would all like, and
we answered in chorus ‘Dolls’ On his return home to New
York he interested many of his friends about the dolls. A few
days later there was an announcement in the papers asking the
people to give dolls for some little girls. The announcement
was read to the gitls (ae the School) and dolls was the calle for
days
“We were all so glad when we learned we were going to have
dolls and we wondered how they would look, and if chere would
be enough co that each of us could have one. ‘The ‘doll man?
‘was answered by the dolls coming into his office in New York;
they were sent so fast that he could not find room enough for
them.”
Tue Prison Association or New York.
“They were then packed and sent as an Easter gift to us.
A surprise was planned for our gitls. ‘The dolls were unpacked
and arranged in the Big Room of our Main Building. When
all was ready for inspection, each cottage came to see the dolls.
The collection amounted to over three hundred. You cannot
imagine the scene as we entered the large recreation room, where
the dolls were displayed; it seemed just like fairyland with the
lights, and the dolls with their pretty hats and dresses and com-
bination of colors.”
“They looked as if they belonged to one family. We went
from doll to doll admiring them and each girl wishing she could
‘own them all. We left the room with happy hearts and faces
all aglow. A few days later a basketful of dolls came to our
cottage. The girls lined up in the recreation room and each
girl in curn was blindfolded and led to the basket. She then
took the first doll that she touched. That night we all took our
dolls to bed with us. There were two especially funny ones;
we named them Sunny Jim and Sunbonnet. Each girl got the
doll she longed for, we hugged and kissed them so, it was a
wonder there was anything left of them but there is.”
“Many of the girls during their stay in quarantine (for
trachoma) would not have known what to do if it were not for
these dolls. ‘They sew for their dolls dresses in many different
styles. This taught the girls many things which will help them
when they need to sew their own clothes. We think thae this [
gentleman has not only made us girls happy but has made
us more ambitious to want to learn to do things. To be gener-
ous, kind and good natured.
“ We were ever so grateful for the dolls and hope to write
you soon another story of dolls.”
And the following comment was made by letter by one of
the ladies in New York who put much time into the not easy
task of collecting a large number of the dolls for the little
girls:
“Thanks so much for the letters from the little girls. It
certainly paid for all the hard work and disagreeable part of
begging —~ which is always horrid.
‘THE DEATH OF DOCTOR JACKSON.
IN August 2, 1912, the Prison Association lose by death
one of its most devoted and generous friends, Dr.
Samuel Macauley Jackson, D. D., LU. D., who had
long been the Recording Secretary of the Prison Association.
At its first meeting in the autumn the Executive Committee
of the Prison Association of New York, as an expression
of sorrow at the death of their former associate and in grate-
ful recognition of s to the Association, adopted
the following memorial minure-—
Dr, Jackson was born in New York June 19, 1851, and died
at Washington, Connecticut, August 2, 1912.
Except for brief periods of residence elsewhere, his entire life
vwas spent in New York. He was a member of the Executive
‘Committee for more than twenty years (January 21, 1892, to
August 2, 1912) and its Recording Secretary for nearly eight
‘years (October 27, 1904, to August 2, 1912)
‘After graduation from college in 1870, he studied theology
at Princeton and Union Seminaries and in Germany. In 1876
he accepted the pastorate of a church in New Jersey, and
remained there about four years. He then withdrew from the
active ministry and tured his attention to editorial and literary
work, principally in the department of church history and
biography.
‘At the time of his election as a member of the Executive
Committee of the Prison Association, Dr. Jackson was about
forty years of age. He was not a man to regard the duties of
such a position as formal and perfunctory merely. He recog
nized the pitiable state of those unfortunate persons who render
themselves obnoxious to the eriminal law, and as a good citizen
and true philanthropist, interested himself especially in those
necessitous and too often neglected ones, discharged prisoners.
In attendance at meetings of the Committee he manifested 2
somewhat unusual promptitude and regularity and proved
himself 2 most valuable member of the Committee and of the
Association.
Tue Prison Association or New York.
The library of the Association quite naturally received par-
ticular consideration from him and he gave freely of his time,
advice and money towards its enlargement and development
and the increase of its usefulness. His bequest of 2 generous
amount to the Association for the purchase of books is an
indication of the value and importance, in his estimation, of an
adequate penological library in the equipment of the Prison Asso-
ciation. Itis hardly necessary more than to refer to other instan-
ces of his liberality and munificence, to his numerous pecuniary
gifts to causes which enlisted his sympathy or to persons who
needed his assistance. While it is true that he had the predi-
lections of a student and the habits of a scholar, and liked to spend
long happy days with his books, extracting information, cor-
recting errors, verifying references, accumulating knowledge,
living in imagination and sympathy with “the great of old
who still rule our spirits from their urns,” he was far from
being wholly enamored of the life retired, far from being a
mere bookworm or dry-as-dus
Dr. Jackson was a kindly, friendly, brotherly man who found
genuine satisfaction in intercourse with men of similar tastes
and interests and in the amusements and recreations of educated
and refined people. From an inner fount flowed a stream of
cheerfulness and benignity, strong and inexhaustible, which
made him a most agreeable and affable companion and won
for him friends not 2 few. To associate wich him in his hours
of relaxation was a real gratification, and to one less well in-
formed than himself, highly profitable, for his stock of informa-
tion was a fund upon which his friends were always privileged
to draw. His table talk was notably free from satirical comment
upon others, from anything like asperity or denunciation.
Though a celibate he was not in the least inclined to unfavor-
able criticism or depreciation of women; on the contrary he
was their defender and champion. He was no Rechabite,
believing that his profession required of him moderation rather
than abstinence. He enjoyed good music and the drama,
especially plays of the better sore and of an artistic quality.
He was fond of travelling. It apparently gave him more
pleasure than any other form of recreation. He liked in summer
to quit the “imperial city’s din” and betake himself across
the sea to Europe. As he was generally engaged in biographical
studies or historical investigations he found it instructive to
visit the localities associated with the characters or events in
Tne Deata or Doctor Jackson. B
which he was especially interested. Tr delighted him to make his
way to some remote and unfrequented place where one of his
favorite heroes had been born and lived, or worked and died;
(o visit world-famous edifices and great libraries where he might
consult some rare and ancient volume or precious manuscript.
Dr. Jackson was one of that not very large company of unusual
men, who, from a sincere desire to help others, or to advance
a cause, are content and even eager to engage in occupations
fof an inconspicuous nature, without any hope or expectation
of notice or remuneration. He held the chair of Church History.
ar the New York University for a number of years (1895 to
1912); but in addition to the work this professorship required
of him, during several winters, at some personal inconvenience
he lectured once a week to 2 small class of poor students who
met at night at a small theological school in the city, being
unable on account of their daily labors to attend lectures at
any other time.
He was no seeker after public notice in any direction; but
found sufficient satisfaction in the faithful performance of his
‘numerous tasks and varied duties. He was noc impressed by
bulk, bluster or pretension; being simple and sincere himself,
he liked genuineness and sincerity in others. No one even
moderately well acquainted with Dr. Jackson could fail ro
observe his modesty and humility, and the unworldliness of
his nature. Usterly free from pride, envy, or the desire to com-
pete with and excel others, it might be said of him what Ruskin
said of Fra Angelico, that he lived in perpetual peace. His
theory of life differed ftom that of the majority. His aim was
not primarily co get something for himself, but to impart some-
thing to others. Hence, his generosity, his willingness to each,
hisjoy in teaching. Worldly prosperity and position, as commonly
regarded and sought were not, in his estimation, supremely
important; but rather that spiritual opulence attained by com-
munion with the Master spirits of religion and the Church,
of literature and history, and the study of their inspiring and
imperishable works.
His was not a speculative intellect. He was not distinguished
for analytical or dialectical acumen. He found no pleasure
in unprofitable disputations, nor in theological controversies
His thoughts floated in no mystical or metaphysical cloudland.
His religious faith was simple, definite and strong. ‘The develop-
ments and discoveries of scientific investigation; the results of
‘Tue Prison Association or New York.
the exhaustive labors of German scholars in the field of exegesis
and textual criticism; the gradual displacement and abandon-
ment of the old dogmatic rigidity —none of these, it seemed,
seriously disturbed his almost child-tike faich. No doube his
Calvinism was mitigated and modified, if not renounced. But
there was no weakening or wavering of his faith, rather a deepen-
ing and broadening of it. As his comprehension of the essence
and reality of religion strengthened, intolerance became more
than ever repugnant to him. What is merely external and
temporary —dogmas, ceremonies, polities and systems of
theology — became less and less important.
The influence of such a man as Dr, Jackson could not he
other than gracious and beneficent. One who like him led a
Tife of scudious labor and of unostentatious benevolence under
the impulsion of high and unselfish motives and the stimulation
of great personalities, in the performance of duties assigned to
him or voluntarily assumed by him, always manifesting a
cheerful, contented spirit, and a serenity that was seldom
disturbed —such a one surely must leave an abiding impres-
sion upon the minds and hearts of others, and continue in the
memories and live in the lives of those privileged to come into
association with him, or to be numbered among his friends.
Even in far-distant China, a land to which his thoughts often
tumed in recent years, a land he longed and hoped to visit,
in China his name is known and his influence fele through his
connection with the Canton Christian College, of whose Board
of Trustecs he was president, an institution largely indebeed
to his interest and liberality for its present flourishing condition.
In the death of Dr. Jackson the Executive Committee laments
the loss of an admirable citizen, a true friend of the unfortunate,
a man of singularly gentle nature and useful life, and one whose
services to the Association and to the cause of humanity and
scholarship enticle him to grateful and affectionate remembrance.
OUR CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM.
‘A summary prepared by O. F, Lewis, General Secretary of the
Prison Association of New York,
CHAPTER EIGHT.
SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM.
HE intelligent citizen, reading his (or her) morning paper
I in New York city on a given morning, and being
interested in the problem of lawlessness, might find the
following items in the same edition
1. A hardened criminal has escaped from the Tombs.
2, Baseball has become a Saturday afternoon sport of the
inmates of the new State prison at Great Meadow.
3. County jails are schools for crime. Idleness prevails. “The
State Prison Commission condemns the jail in ** *****
county.
4- The judges in the Court of General Sessions are charged
by’ the Police Commissioner with giving hardened offenders
suspended sentences.
5, The Police Commissioner is charged with accepting crimi-
nals as policemen.
6. The State Probation Commission advocates wider use of
the probation system.
7. Three young men on parole from Elmira Reformatory are
arrested ina loft building while burglarizing the premises at
8. The State Industrial Farm Colony for tramps and vagrants
will be located on 800 acres of land. ‘The first tramp colony
+0 be established in che Unieed States.
9. The wife of 2 man sent to prison attempts to commit
‘suicide because poverty-stricken and humiliated before her
neighbors.
10. A very wealthy “ promotor ” is pardoned by the President
of the United States because apparently sick unco death.
11. A noted psychologist announces: that of 100 children
examined in the children’s court of Newark, New Jersey, the
97th child was normal mentally.
12, Three illiterate Italians were executed at Sing Sing Prison
for a brutal murder on the Westchester county watershed.
78 Tue Prison Assoctation or New York.
15. The Prison Astociation appeals for funds because the
law-breakers and the released prisoners ought to have a“ square
deal.”
‘The intelligenc citizen is confused. Many of these items
seem paradoxical. Is any plan really adhered to in dealing
with crime? Why allow suspended sentences, if brutal murders
‘occur? Why have farm colonies and humane care for tramps,
and bascball for convicts, if convicts’ wives are forced by
poverty into suicide? Is reformation possible? What, anyway,
are State and city doing to deal with erime? What about the
rights of honest citizens?
“Therefore, because every day thousands of taxpayers and
other citizens ask themselves and others such pertinent ques-
tions as these, and do not or cannot learn the answers, the
following chapters have been prepared. This Sixty-cighth
Annual Report of the Prison Association of New York aims
to outline simply and accurately those facts regarding laws
and institutions, crimes and criminals, that the intelligent
citizen should know and generally wishes to know. It cannot
be an exhaustive compendium, but it can be serviceable in
presenting the most salient facts.
CHAPTER NINE.
CRIME AND CRIMINALS,
NTELLIGENT understanding of institution methods of
administration and of the principles underlying the
methods must be based on clearness of definitions. If
an institution is to be maintained for the safe imprisonment
of criminals, we must know what a criminal i
A criminal is a person who commits a crime. Nothing is a
crime which is not so made by law. New crimes are made
by law each year. ‘The anti-tuberculosis campaign, for instance,
has made spitting in certain public places a misdemeanor; the
automobile has developed laws against speeding.
‘A crime has certain elements. It harms society. Ie is
defined by law. It is punishable.
Hence the Penal Code of the State of New York says:
Sec. 2. Avcrime is an act or omission forbidden by law,
and punishable upon convietion by (1) death, or (2) imprison-
ment, or (5) fine, or (4) removal from office, or (5) disqualifi-
cation to hold any office or trust, honor or profe under the
state, or (6) other penal discipline:
Therefore crime is
an offence having’ social consequences, defined by law, and
having a penalty attached
Crimes punishable in or by the State of New York are
defined in the Penal Law. As the Legislature each year
defines new crimes, or amends existing laws regarding crimes,
such laws are designated as amendments to the Penal Law.
The United States Penal Code defines so-called “federal
crimes,” such as counterfeiting, post office crimes, smuggling,
offences against laws passed by Congress and applicable to
the entire country. Crimes in violation of State laws are
tried in county or local courts; crimes against United States
laws are tried in United States (federal) courts.
“TA wwf edition is Cook's Criminal Code, including Penal Law and Criminal Pro-
cedure. Albany, Matthew Bender and Co.
p
80 Tue Prison Association or New York.
‘The New York Penal Law (sec. 2), divides erimes into
2) Felonies, and
1b) Misdemeanors.
Felony’ is a crime punishable by (a) death or (b) imprison-
sent in a Seate prison. Any other crime is a misdemeanor.
These distinctions are important to understand. In general
ie can be said that a felony is 2 serious crime, a misdemeanor
is a less serious crime. Such crimes as homicide, burglary,
robbery, arson, grand larceny, are felonies. Convicted felons
may be executed (for murdet, frst degree) or committed to
ing, Elmira Reformatory or other State prisons or
reformatories.
‘The above distinctions between felonies and misdemeanors
are legal distinctions. Moral distinctions — questions of
intent — are partially recognized in criminal law by the pro-
vision chat there may be degrees af the same crime
For instance, the laws of this Stare provide that
One who kills another deliberstely and_with premeditation
st degree The penalty is elec
is guilty of murder in the
But, if the crime is commitred with design to effect the death
of the person killed, or another, but without deliberation or pre-
‘meditation, it is murder in the second degree and punishable
by life imprisonment.
Or, if the person who kills another ir less shan seven years of
age, he is not legally responsible for his ace.
Gr, if when he kills another person, he i insane, he is not
punishable,
‘The Penal Law is filled with definitions as to degrees of
crime. Nevertheless, in recent years the belief has become
stronger that the law is faulty and inadequate in that it does
not provide proper penalties for the complex variety of motives
and attending circumstances in the commission of crimes.
Hence systems of probation (release under supervision with sus-
pended sentence) have been widely legalized, and systems of
parole (release of a prisoner, under supervision, before the
tend of his legal term of imprisonment) are being developed
Crime is therefore law-made, and criminals are law-made
The tendency of criminal law has been, and is, to measure
more definitely the question of intent, In centuries past, fixed
Crime an Crimiazs, sr
and firm law was the people’s protection against arbitrary
persecution of courts or high authority; to-day that same
fixed law, in justice to the people it formerly protected, needs
to become more and more flexible, as arbitrary justice is
being gradually superseded by social justice. The great task
of criminal law is to become adequately applicable to each
individual case of crime.
Punishment is the logical result of erime, Forms of punish-
ment have been, through centuries, most varied. Burning,
crucifixion, boiling in oil, the rack, feeding to wild beasts,
beheading, poison, impaling, maiming, hanging, burying
alive —such were a few of the older punishments. Horrors
lunmentionable were perpetrated in the past. The history of
punishment fills volumes — and crime continues.
We can distinguish at least six general stages in the treat-
ment of che offenders. The further back we go, the severer,
the cruder do we find in general the treatment of erime to
have been, Successive stages might be outlined as follows:
1, Vengeance — We can imagine that, even before history
began, when one prehistoric man robbed another prehistoric
man of his female companion, the former had but one idea,
namely, to kill the robber and to recover his mate. No court,
no probation, no indeterminate sentence. Just a very deter
mined vengeance.
2. Retribution or retaliation.— A. second stage in the treat-
ment of the offender. “An eye for an eye and a tooth for
a tooth.” The old Germanic custom wergeld, monetary
absolution from crime, is illustrative. It represents a more or
less definite standard of compensation. Our system of fines
is analogous in modern times.
3. Repression.— A form of punishment remarkably developed
in the later middle ages —and surviving sturdily until the
present day. In Niirnberg, Germany, the visitor to an_ old
museum sees the Eiserne Jungfrau (iron maiden). The front
of this instrument of torture opened as do folding doors.
Inside of the image, and on the inside of the doors, were
spikes. When the vietim was placed inside the image and
the doors were shut, the spikes pierced the wretched sufferer,
“TSee Wines, Punishmene and Reformation, pp. 25-119.
6
82 Tue Prison Association or New York.
Witches were burned in New England. Negroes are still
lynched and sometimes burned in southern States, and in
Pennsylvania. Sing Sing prison was built as an instrament
of repression. The older cells in Sing Sing, still used, contain
less than 200 cubic feet of air space. Frequently, because of
congestion of population, two men have occupied one cell,
‘This has given less than 100 eubjic feet of air space per person,
when in New York the board of health requires 400 cubic fect
of air space per lodger in 2 lodging house on the Bowery.
4. Reformation— This method of “ punishment” is fairly
recent in origin and growth. In the late cighteenth century
children were still sentenced to death for stealing small amounts
of money. Not until r824 was the first reformatory for children
established in this country, the House of Refuge on Randall’s
Island. The first adult reformatory in the world was opened
at Elmira, N. Y., in 1876. Reformatories for adults are still
Jacking in one-half the States of the Union. On the other
hand, reformatory principles ate penetrating and permeating
the State prisons.
‘The principles of reformatory treatment are:
a) The reformabilicy of offenders.
) Physical, industrial, moral and scholastic education.
©) Selfsmastery, and the acquisition of liberty through the effort
of the individual persons, under merit system.
4) The indeterminate sentence.
©) Parole.
‘These methods of reformation have been worked out more
fully in the United States than anywhere else in the world.
Probation and the suspended sentence are replacing imprison-
ment. The indeterminate sentence replaces the deadening
fixed sentence. Parole replaces unconditional discharge from
prison, The rehabilitation of the prisoner replaces the casting
out of the prisoner by the prison when his term is finished.
5. Prevention — This is the “ slogan” of the early part of
the twentieth century. Why manufacture criminals if the
output can be checked? Why have reformatories if people
can be made not co fall? The beginning of delinquency gener-
ally far antedates even the first imprisonment of the delinquent.
Crime ano Criwtnats. 83
Crowded city streets and sordid housi iti
« and sordid housing conditions make
ignorant and vicious transgressors of the law. Southers
cotton mills and northern mines turn out a stunted, prema:
furely aged vietim of child labor. Overwork and low wages
in many places lead to illness or to the life of the street. Con.
tupt policemen will put a premium on crime. A faulty or
perverted education leads to ineficiency and sloth. “The
ble-minded and the insane force society vo sctutin:
lives ofthe forbears of such unfortunaees, unas the
Therefore institutions like the children's courts, the proe
bation system and the parole system appeal strongly to those
who want to deal with crime further back. Researches ix
psychiatry and psychology are revealing subtle and. deep
lying springs of crime. ‘The campaign for social justice, forme
ing 2 principal plank in one political party and affecting all
other parties, is a campaign for the reduction of criminality,
Now alll the above elements,
a) Vengeance
b) Retribution or retaliation
©) Repression
&) Reformation
©) Prevention
can we judge justly
s imporeant to under-
into the purpose and the
what different angle,
The word punishment is used common} i
The wor is used commonly to designate the
Period of imprisonment of a criminal.“ Hle is undergoing hag
punishment.” Yet punishment is but one of the purposes of
imprisonment, There are at least four purposes,
84 Tar Prison Association or New York.
Punishment— This probably seems to most people the
inor of life for. wrongdoing ox; eetions'error. One who injures
another generally gets injured. If one falls into the fire, he
is punished for his carelessness by being burned. The little
child is told that if he lies, toads will jump out of his mouth.
Punishment has always been a prominent feature in the treat-
ment of criminals.‘ Serves him right; let him take his punish-
ment ” is a current expression.
2. Protection of socicty.—The law is often considered to
edie for this purpoot, ‘The theory of the Stace holds that
society exists for the welfare of the individuals composing
society, and that each individual must obey laws passed for
the benefit of all. The law-breaker is therefore an enemy of
society and must be removed from the possibility of injuring
society. Hence correctional institutions, bars, walls, guards,
deprivation of liberty.
3. Deterrence of others from committing crime.—The indi-
viduals composing society must learn that the way of the trans~
gressor is hard. If this can be learned vicariously, by example,
so much the better. Hence imprisonment is justified. Carry-
ing the principle further, it could be contended that the severer
and more gruesome the penalty the greater the deterrent
effect. This has not proved so in fact, and to-day it is widely
held that the certainty of punishment is more efficacious in
reducing crime than the severity of punishment.
4. Reformation — This is obviously an important purpose
of the deprivation of liberty. The reader is referred back to
page 82.
Now one or more of the above four elements enter into the
administration of any correctional institution. Later on in
this book we shall analyze certain forms of administration,
testing them by the degree to which the above-mentioned
elements enter. It may be found, for instance, that the work-
house of the city of New York punishes the inmate and pro-
tects society (temporarily), but that it acts neither as a deter-
rent nor a reformative agency. We may find that some juve-
nile institution emphasizes reformatory methods without
either punishing or deterring. We may find county jails in
which the protection of society seems the only purpose; where
Crime AND CRIMINALS. 8s
idleness and moral debauchery are prominent and where the
temporary protection of society from the presence of the law-
breaker for a brief interval is often followed by his return to
society from imprisonment a vicious, degraded, anti-social
being, whose release brings danger to the community
The above analysis of the leading purposes of the depriv-
ation of liberty is made because relatively few persons see
clearly that persons are sent away to prison for a number of
reasons. ‘The enthusiastic reformer may claim that crime is 2
disease, that all criminals are sick, that the prison should be
a hospital and that the reformation of the individual is the
goal. ‘The man who writes lertefs to the editor may see in
the apparent increase of erimes 2 strong reason for abolishing
the new humanism in prison and for restoring a severer treat-
ment. ‘The merchant whose clerk has stolen thousands may
believe in punishment; and the judge on the bench may believe
the principal reason for prisons is that they remove from society
such creatures as the cuffian before him
They are all partly right and partly wrong,
CHAPTER TEN.
‘THE PLACE OF IMPRISONMENT
HE need of holding safely. those deprived of their liberty.
I has developed various kinds of prisons. prison is a
place for the safe incarceration of a member of society
whom society declares to have violated ane or more of its laws.
Prisons have long existed. Early types of prisons, antedating
the Christian era, were dungeons and caves. European tourists
visit nowadays medieval dungeons at Antwerp or the lead
roofs at Venice. ‘The suffering of the wretched. suffocacing
persons in the Black Hole of Caleutta is still told of. Such
prisons were primarily places of confinement and security
John Howard in the late eighteenth century found in English
jails “ the confining of all sorts of prisoners together; debtors
and felons, men and women, the young beginner and the old
offender; and with all these, in some countries, such as are
guilty of misdemeanors only. Few prisons separate men and
women in the day time.”
One of the earliest State prisons of the United States was
in Connecticut, at Simsbury. “In an abandoned copper mine,
in pens seventy feet below ground, scores of wretched male-
factors were confined, and subjected to the ucmost severity."
Let us trace the development of types of prison architecture,
from the single cell of olden times to che cottage system of
1912-1913.
1. Single cell or room.
“VJoha Howard. The State of Prisons, Vol. Ip. 8.
2 Gotection and Prevention, Val p38
86
Tue
PLack oF IMpisonMeNr.
87
2. When a single cell or room became too small, two cells
Cece | Cour
3. Necessary additions would give the following plan, to
which would be added 2 corridor running at right angles to
the cell fronts or placed between the rows of cells
Cen Care [Cece | Cour
Conn: wor
4. Such series of cells were superimposed one upon another,
as the jail population increased, thus:
teotiee |_|
Finer Tien,
im
sore
LI
Vearicnt View
‘Therefore we [find several types of prison architecture
developing, as follows:
88 ‘Tue Prison Assoctation of New York.
5. Prison with rows of cells, back to back, corridor facing
cells, and building wall on outside of corridor, thus
Conaimon
lele|ctelelelelefelels fe
wearuveD
Coar tDeR,
This type of cell-block is characteristic of most Ameri
prisons. Small county jails will have one building, sometimes
several tiers high,
6. State prisons will have several cell-blocks, often in
following plan. Such cell-blocks may be several stories
height.
Ll
[Rorywon | Senerbon
‘The State prisons of New
York are built according
to this general plan.
blocks radiating
from central
rotunda,
Yards back of
Cal
Tae Piack oF Inprisonmenr 8%
7. Returning now to type 3, on page 87, showing center
corrider and cells on each side of corridor, we can trace the
following development:
Cen Cen
Corrimbor
Cer | Carn | Cen | Car | Can
In this type, the windows of the cell open to the outer aif.
In the cell-biock in types 5 and 6 the door of the cell, opening
upon the corridor, also acts as the only window of the cell.
Light in types 5 and 6 is admitted to the corridor by high
vertical windows in the building wall
When several tiers of cells aro needed of type 7 they may
be superimposed on each other. When several cell-blocks
are necessary, they may radiate from a common centre, a8
in the case of the original plans of the Eastern Penitentiary
of Pennsylvania, type 8
On such lines, in general, the leading European prisons are
constructed. The United’ States enjoys the distinction of
having furnished to civilized nations the two leading types of
prison construction, i. e. the Auburn (N. Y.) type, shown in
type 6 and the Pennsylvania type, shown in type 8.
What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of
the two systems, often designated as the “outside corridor
system ” and the “central corridor system?” The American
states have adopted for nearly one hundred years the outside
corridor system for reasons of safety, economy of construction,
and ease of supervision. Continental and British countries
have adopted the Pennsylvania type for reasons of privacy,
90 Tu Prison Association or New York.
ventilation, and morality. Americans argue that with cell
windows opening to the outside air, the danger of escape of
inmates is increased. Europeans argue that escapes are ex:
sremely few if diligent supervision is maintained. Americans
argue thatthe “inside ‘cll” admits of more economical
umbing, because pipes can run into an open “utility
Condor between the backs of the rows of Cala. Europeans
argue that the difference in cost is not great, and that ventila-
ion is much betcer in the outside cell. Americans argue that
itis desirable to have stecl-barred open-front cell doors because
Sy oeshed supervision, and tae the oui and dsilne of
the prison cannot be too well maintained where the prisons
have free. communication with each other across the open
corridor. Europeans argue that a prisoner deserves the privacy
of a closed door, and that supervision can occur through the
use of the inspection peep-hole in the center of the door. Many
Americans favor the central-corridor system. Europeans
denounce the American outer-corridor system,
‘We turn now to the cottage system of construction. Developed
during several decades for dependent and delinquent children,
the adoption of the cottage system for adult offenders is still
in its infancy i
Some significant dates in child-caring work in this country
1729. Founding of Ursuline Orphanage in New Orleans.
Oldest orphan asylum in the United States.
1824. Founding of the New York House of Refuge. First
juvenile reformatory in che United States, Beginning of che
indeterminate (or indefinite) sentence in this country. Fore-
runner of the juvenile reformatory and the reformatory for
adults.
1847. Establishment of the Massachusetts State Reform
School: the frst State reformatory for juveniles.
1848. Establishment of Massachuseves School for Idiotic and
Fecbleminded Youths. First institution in America for care
of feebleminded children, marking the beginning of the attempt
to preserve chem from becoming vagrants, drunkards and
delinquents,
1854. Establishment of the Ohio State Reform School. The
original cottage insticution for delinquent boys. May be con-
sidered che pioncer of the modern juvenile reformatories.
~TGoreection and Prevention, Vo. IV, pp. ne
‘Tue PLace oF Imprisonment. or
1858. Organization of the Massachusetts State Industrial
School for Girls. ‘The frst separate reformatory for girls in the
United Seates.
1863. Organization of the New York Catholic Protectory for
destitute, neglected and delinquent children. Beginning of the
greatest Catholic institution in America for these classes of
children; ie has developed methods of trade-teaching for boys
which place ie in the front rank of schools for children of these
wees.
1868. First public playground in United States established at
Boston.
1869. Establishment of a system of visitation of delinquent
children in family homes, by the commonwealth of Massacl
1870. Establishment of separate courts for children in Massa-
chusetes
1876. Opening of the Elmira Reformatory at Elmita, N. Y.,
the first State reformatory for males above the age of 1%
1895. Founding of the George Junior Republic at Fieeville,
New York.
1898. Establishment of the free juvenile court, ia Illino
We are concemed in this chapter with institutional archi-
tecture. The cottage system grew out of the necessity of
slassifying children and giving them, approximately, home
influences. Especially ought the smallest children, though
delinquent, to be spared confinement in prison buildings.
8. The cottage system is a collection of cottages.
The cottages generally contain sitting room, dining room,
Kitchen, basement, playroom or baths or gymnasium or all
three, dormitories, matron’s room, ete. Special buildings are
devoted to administration, laundry, hospital, chapel and
assembly hall, shops, power-house. Certain’ buildings or
cottages are used for disciplinary purposes.
The cottage system offers individualization of treatment
through greater classification, and through the supervision of
house mothers and house fathers. Walls are generally absent.
Escapes are liable to be more frequent than in walled institu
tions. Institutions having large buildings, housing scores oF
ory ‘Tne Prison Association of New York.
hundreds of inmates are said to be on the congregate plan,
ao distinguished from the cottage plan, which places from
20 to 40 children in each cottage.
‘The most modern institutions now planned for_adule
offenders, such as the New York State Industrial Farm Colony
for Tramps and Vagrants, the New York City Reformatory
ea an ca ake Farm Colony of the Board of Inebriety
of the City of New York, and the New York State Reforma~
oF Cishemeananea wl probably sim to combine the best
tory tor Me coetage and of the congregate s)stems
arUTes of eed the Department of Correction for a
farm colony embraces an enclosure and a number of scattered
tar eon enclosure (congregate system) will contain
the administration building, reception building, disciplinary
building, shops, dining room, kitchen, chapel, library, laundry,
hospital, power-house. ‘The cottages are designed for about
jo inmates each. In the series ‘of cottages are two honor
cotta seem here worked out admits of all gradations of
treatment, from the strictest digcipl my and custodial care
10 oe ce ae he congregate system has been that it
hampered individual treatment of jones od ae means
amperes ne normal progress. Criticisms of the cottage
system have been that it involves too much freedom and admts
of too little discipline.
Sean assaf the principal developments of architecture
relation to correctional institutions. No pla is sled se
ermanent block. "On the other hand, @ reaction from
the extreme cottage system is apparent. With the types
aan is chapter in mind, the student of penology and
criminology can classify correctional institutions in this and
Sther_states, and to some extent estimate their methods by
Mieane of their physical characteristics.
2
CHAPTER ELEVEN.
‘THE PRISON SYSTEM OF THE STATE,
'E now come to describe and discuss the several prison
systems of the State. The uninstructed reader must
eon hlirPats,f some, confusion; even workers in the
prison field somerimes find difficulty in seeing clearly the ineer-
relations of the several systems. — ees
First, let us define our terms. What are the differences
between a prison and a reformatory, a jail, a workhouse and a
penitentiary?
1. State Prison. A State prison receives only felons. All
sentences are at least one year in length. ‘The State prison is
maintained by the State.
2. State Reformatory. A prison with reformatory principles
and with age limits (16-30). The two State. reformatories
for males (Elmira and Napanoch) receive felons only; the two
State reformatories for women (Albion and Bedford) receive
both felons and misdemeanants. Maintained by the State.
3. Penitentiary. A county institution, receiving felons and
misdemeanants, originally planned to receive first offenders.
Maintained by county
4 Jail, A county instieution, designed primarily asa
place of detention until trial, for persons under arrest. Con
victed misdemeanants may serve sentence in county jail. One
jail maintained by each county.
5. Workhouse. Local term for an institution on Blackwell's
Island, New York City, receiving misdemeanants committed
from New York county.
6. The Tombs. Local term for a house of detention for
persons above age of 5 held for trial in New York county.
* For defnition of felony and misdemeanor, see page So.
94 Ti Prison Associarion or New York.
7- Gity Prison. Official designation of the Tombs (see
No. 6.
8. House of Refuge, Catholic Protectory, New York Jusenile
Asylum, Jewish Protectory. Titles of juvenile reform schools.
Correctional institutions under the above titles, and cognate
titles in New York State are the following:
Instirurion, Management
State Prisons
Auburn State Prison. Auburn. State Supt. Prisons
Sing Sing State Prison....-| Ossining. ......] Seare Supt. Prisons
Clinton State Prison Dannemora.....| State Supt. Prisons
Great Meadow State Prison) Comstock Seate Supe. Prisons
State Prison for Women....| Auburn State Supt. Prisons
State Farm for Women. ...| Valatie. State Supt. Prisons
Matteawan State Hospital.| Matteawan......| State Supt. Prisons
Dannemora Stare Hospital | Dannemora.....| State Supt. Prisons
io
Bedford Board of Managers
Western House of Refuge. | Albion. Board of Managers
Penitentiaries
N.Y. County Penitentiary.| N.Y. City. Com. of Correction
Albany County Penivensiary) Albany. Sherif
Onondaga Co, Penitentiary,| Syracuse Sheriff
Monroe Co. Penitentiary..| Rochester Sherif
Erie County Penitentiary..| Buffalo Sheriff
County Jails
Albany Albany. Sheriff
Allegany Belmont Sheriff
Broome: | Binghamton
Cattaraugus. | Lieele Valley
Cayuga | Auburn
Chautauqua, Docol Mayville
‘Tue Paison System oF THe Stare.
]
Insrrruvion Location Management
County Jails — Cont'd. ]
Chemung Elmira | Shere
Chenango. Norwich....-...) Sheriff
Giinton: Plattsburg......| Sheriff
Coluenbia Hudson. Sherift
Cortland Cortland Sherif
Delaware... Delhi... Sheil
Dutchess Poughkeepsie | Sheriff
Erie. | Bufalo. Sherif
Essex Elizabethtown..| Sherif
Franklin 2] Malone | Sherit
Fulton S Johnstown......| Sheriff
Genesee Batavia Sheriff
Greene Catskill Sheriff
Hamilton 121] Lake Pleasant...) Sheriff
Herkimer Herkimer Sheriff
Jefferzon Watertown, ...| Sheriff
Kings Brooklyn Sheriff
Lewis Lowville Sheriff
Livingston Geneseo. | Sheriff
Madison, Morrisville...) Sheriff
Montoe Rochester, --..| Sheri
Montgomery. 221] Fonda Sheriff |
Nassau Mineola Sheriff i
New York New York Sheriff
Niagara Lockpore Shesiff |
Oneida Rome. Sherif
Oneida Utica Shecff
| Onondaga 21] Jamesvitle Sheriff ‘
Ontation. 2. 221] Canandaigua.-..| Shes i
Orange Goshen. Sheriff i
nee. | Newburgh Sheriff ‘
Orleans 21) Albion | Sheriff |
Oswego. Osscego Sheriff
Oswego. 21) Patasks Sheriff
Orsego. 11] Cooperstown. ..} Sheri
Putnam: | Carmel...) Sherif
i Queens... | Long Isiand City] Sherif
96
‘Tur Paisox Association or New York.
‘Tue Prison System oF THe Srare.
| ‘Management
County Jails — Cone. |
pases Troy.
Richmond. | Richmond.
Rockland | New cy
‘St. Lawrence | Canton,
Surat, | Batson Spa
Scheneetady | Schenece
Schohavie | sahotaie
Schoyler | Wectine
Seneca, Oud
= Waeiioo
Steuben |
Suite Riverhead
Sulleen | Mondello
Tiows Owe
Tompiina Tiheee
Ute Kinston
Warren Take George
Wathingon Salem
Wayne Lyon
Westchester. | White Plains.
Wyoming Wars
ae Penn Yan
New York City Institutions
N. ¥. County Penitentiary
Workhouse.
City Reformatory for Mis
demeanants
Branch Workhouse, Harts
New York City
New York City
Tsland New York City
Branch Workhouse, Ryker
Island New York City
City Prison, New York....] New York City
Gity Prison, Brooklyn. ..-| New York Giey
District Prisons New York City
Lista under peniteniaries,
[ae
| Sheritt
Com.
| com
Com.
Com.
Com.
Com.
Com:
New York City..| Com. of Correction
of Correction
of Connection
of Conrection
of Correction
of Correction
of Correction
of Correction
Instrrurion Location ‘Management
Reform Schools |
State Agricultural and In-
dustrial School Industry. Board of Managers
‘New York State Training
School for Girls | Hudson. Board of Managers
House of Refuge
New York State Training!
Schoo! for Boys
Catholic Protectory
N.Y. Juvenile Asylum.
Jewish Protectory
| Randall's Island | Board of Managers
| Yorktown Hges.| Board of Managers
New York City... Board of Managers
Dobbs Ferry....| Board of Managers
Hawthorne Board of Managers
The prison systems fall therefore into several natural divi-
sions.
1. State prisons, under State Superintendent of Prisons.
2, State reformatories, under boards of managers
3. Jails and penitentiaries, county institutions, under sheriff
of respective counties
4 Slate reform schools, under boards of managers,
5. Reform schools, maintained partly by public funds and
partly by private funds, under boards of managers.
6. New York city's correctional institutions, under city’s
Department of Correction,
This very much decentralized administration of our prison
systems has been the subject of both favorable and unfavorable
criticism. Friends of separately managed institutions or
groups of institutions believe that such separate administration
develops interest and initiative in boards of managers and
superintendents, secures larger total appropriations and gives
opportunity for expetimentation in new methods. Opponents
of so decentralized a system believe that greater efficiency and
a higher standard might be obtained by centralization of
administration and supervision. It is not possible at present
to speak of a trend toward the centralization of administration
Tue Prison Association or New York.
8
but there is a strong tendency
jails
rer rcitentaces and perhaps the eunty
sae control of te Sate
ee one to coir in separate ¢
hapters the several
CHAPTER TWELVE.
‘THE STATE PRISONS,
HIE word prison is frequently used to denote any kind
of an institution for the incarceration of criminals
To State prison are committed felons. Sentences co
State prison must be for at least one year; sentences may
include life imprisonmene and even the death penalty. There
are four State prisons for men and one State prison for women,
as follows:
Auburn Prison, Auburn.
Sing Sing Prison, Ossining.
Clinton Prison, Dannemora
Great Meadow Prison, Comstock.
Women’s Prison, Auburn.
The State prisons are under the direction of the Superin-
tendent of State Prisons, whose offices are at the Capitol in
isons for males are s0 located as to serve the
diferent sections of the State. Auburn is in the western
central part of New York; Sing Sing, 30 miles north of New
York City; Clinton Prison, 20 miles west of Platesburg, in the
Adirondacks; and Great Meadow Prison, a few miles south
of Whitehall and 71 miles north of Albany.
In addition, the Superintendent of State Prisons has direction
of the Mavteawan State Hospital and of the Dannemora Hos-
pital for Insane Conviets. ‘These institutions are for the
confinement of insane criminals. To Matteawan (adjoining
Fishkill Landing, 58 miles north of New York) are com-
mivted persons adjudged insane by courts of criminal juris-
iction, and such convicted persons as may be declared insane
while tndergoing sentence of one year or less or for a misde-
meanor at any of the various penal institutions of the State.
female convicts becoming insane while undergoing sen-
tence must by law be transferred to Matteawan.
‘The Dannemora State Hospital is used for the purpose of
confining and caring for such male prisoners as are declared
»”
100 Tu Prison Association or New Yonk. |
insane while confined in a State prison or reformatory, or while
serving 2 sentence of more than one year in a penitentiary.
The Legislature of 1910 established the State Farm for
Women, which has been placed under the direction of the
Superintendent of Seate Prisons, and is being buile at Vala-
tic, 15 miles southeast of Albany
‘The Superintendent of State Prisons receives his appoint-
ment from the Governor, by and with the consent of the Senate,
which he holds for a term of five years. He has general super-
vision of the State prisons, just enumerated, the prisoners
therein, and the discipline, police, contracts and fiscal concerns
thereof. He appoints agents and wardens, physicians and
chaplains of the prisons. The warden (whose legal title is
“agent and warden”) exercises general supervision (under
the State Superintendent) over the government of che prison
of which he is the executive head
Population of the Prisons
On September 30, 1911, the population statistics were as
follows:
|
Auburn: 1,329 Hy
Bing Sine ssxscrywenanes sve ewionee se 1,528
Clinton 1275
Greae Meadow. 262
Women’s Prison 132
Macteawan Stare Hospital. 796
Dannemora State Hospital 493
5,725
‘The trend of population is graphically shown by the accom
panying tables.
‘These tables do not include the population of the Women’s
Prison or that of Great Meadow. The total State prison
population on September 30, 1911, as compared with that of
‘eptember 30, 1908, 1909, and 1910, was as follows
1908 1909 1910 tgtt
3,967 4,320 41509 4308
Tacladed who were in Great Meadow Prisoa
Asbuen Prison
102 Tue Prison Association or New Yorx.
‘The present Superintendent of State Prisons, Joseph F.
Scott, stated in his annual report for 19t1 that “as soon as
preparation is made for the employment of prisoners at Great
Meadow Prison, so thae the cell eapacity can be made available
at that prison, there will be practically a cell for each prisoner
and in a short time the congested conditions in the other
Prisons can be relieved. 1 am of the opinion that the prison
population will decrease, rather than increase, during the next
Condition of the Prisons
Auburn, Sing Sing and Clinton Prisons ate old prisons.
These prisons all have the customary inside cell-block
construction, Auburn and Sing Sing Prisons. are historic
The system of silence enforced during the work of the prisoners
association, and the stringent punishments for infractions
of rules, gave to Auburn Prison in the early nineteenth century
a reputation in the United States and Europe as the origin of
the Auburn System, as diatinct from the so-eailed Pennaylvanta
System, enforced in the Eastern Penitentiary: at Philadelphia,
of constant separate confinement of each prisoner in his own
cell, even during a term of years. Neither the Pennsylvania
nor the Auburn system is enforced in ies original rigor today
Clinton Prison was buile to serve the northern part of the
State, and to furnish convicts with labor in mining. | Of late
years it has become in pare the hospital prison of the State
for cases of tuberculosis. ‘The death rate from chis dread
disease has fallen remarkably within the prisons since the
transfer of tuberculosis inmates was begun. In 181 there
were 76 deaths from tuberculosis within the three prisons;
in 1909 only 18. The number of deaths from tuberculosis fell
as low as 7 in 1906. ‘The transfer system is not yet extended
to cover all cases of tuberculosis.
‘The physical conditions of Auburn and Sing Sing are in part
very undesirable. Not only has the average population. in
Sing Sing been largely in excess of the number of cells (oith
¥200 cells in Sing Sing an average population of 1720 for the
fiseal year 1910-11) but many of the cells are the original cells
of the insticution, thus described in ro1t by the State Com-
fon on Prisons, an official body appointed by the Governor
VPase 9,
Tue State Prisons. 103
with power of inspection of correctional institutions in which
adult males are confined,
wt Sing is a very old prison. As long ago as 1906 the
Legislature determined thae it should be abandoned and a new
Prison be built to take its place. At that time the population
ranged from 1,260 0 1,300, but ir was considered an unfit
place in which’ to Keep any prisoners. The cell-block, which
rests directly on the ground only a few feet above tidewater,
is damp and unhealthful, The 1,200 cells are deficient in venti
lation and light. The cubic contents of each cell are 168.67
feet. In these small cells the prisoners have to spend fourteen
hours out of the twenty-four, and on Sundays and holidays
a much longer time. ‘These cells are not provided either with
washing facilities or closets, necessitating che use of the bucket
system.”
In 1906 it was determined to build two new prisons, to
supersede Auburn and Sing Sing. One prison, Great Meadow,
is approaching completion, with ultimate provision for 1200 in-
mates. It preserves the inside cell-block system, and is modern
inconseruction. _‘Theplans for the second prison suffered numer-
ous vicissitudes, including change of original site from Bear
Mountain to Wingdale and the ultimate abandonment of the
latter site in 1912 on the ground of unsuitability. Ae present,
except for the new prison at Comstock (Great Meadow), the
prison situation is practically as ic was in 1995. The present
Superintendent of State Prisons has suggested that the present
Sing Sing can be satisfactorily renovated for upwards of a
million dollars. ‘The Prison Association has favored neither
the renovation of the present Sing Sing nor the building of a
new prison upon the Wingdale site, bur the erection of a new
State prison upon a fertile and well located site of from 500
to 1000 acres, and the abandonment of Sing Sing Prison.
Classification. Prisoners convis ithin the
judicial districts contiguous to the several prisons are sentenced
to the State prison nearest the place of conviction. Ie is
estimated thar more than 70 per cent. of all the population of
the State resides in New York City and in the district contigu.
‘ous to Sing Sing Prison. A like proportion of all the convicts
come to Sing Sing Prison, and are from there transferred to
the other State prisons.
104 Tue Prison Association or New York.
Since 1897 the State prisoners have been classified on the
basis of their criminal records into the following groups:
Group A. Prisoners serving first term for felony.
Group B. Prisoners serving second term for felony.
Group C. Prisoners who have already served two or more terms
jar felony.
First offenders are retained at the prisons to which they
have been originally committed, or are sent to Great Meadow
Prison. Second offenders received at Sing Sing and Clinton
are transferred to Auburn. Members of Group C that are
received at Sing Sing and Auburn are transferred to Clinton.
So far as possible each group is kept by itself. A sub-classifi-
cation of each group, based on conduct in prison, is effected
by a system of honor bars and stars worn upon the sleeve, as
follows:
For each year of good conduct the prisoner wears a bar of red
cloth upon the left sleeve, and for each five years of good conduct
a red star.
Further classification has been developed by Superintendent
Scott at Great Meadow Prison. “This prison,” according to
the Superintendent’s report for 1911, “can be made unique
in the prison system of the State. At present no prisoners are
committed directly to this prison by the courts, but are trans-
ferred from among first offenders of the other prisons for a
period before their final parole, where they may be employed
in the open air in agricultural pursuits. Transfers from the
other prisons to Great Meadow are looked upon in the light of
a reward.” +
Indeterminate and Definite Sentences
Two forms of sentences are imposed upon prisoners com-
mitted to the State prisons. They are known as the indeter-
minate sentence and the definite sentence. The criminal who,
according to the records before the court, has never before
been convicted of a felony is sentenced to an indeterminate
term of imprisonment. The minimum and the maximum
terms are fixed by the court. The minimum shall not be less
then one year, and the maximum limit is fixed by law. The
court may fix a lower maximum but the minimum sentence
nual epost, 294%, p12,
Tus Stare Prisons. 105
shall not exceed one-half the longest period provided by Iaw
as a punishment for the particular crime.
Under the indeterminate form of sentence the prisoner can-
not earn commutation (see below under definite sentence),
but after serving his minimum term, if he has a good record
he may become eligible for parole (see pages 115-119).
‘The persistent or professional criminal, who has previ
served one or more terms for felony, is on subsequent conviction
sentenced to serve a definite term which is fixed by the court.
By good conduct the prisoner so sentenced may carn commu-
tation time, sufficient to shorten materially the period of
For example. A five year term may by good conduct be com-
muted to three years and seven months. A ten year term may be
commoted to six years and six months. The scale of commutation
is as follows: For the fist year, 2 months; for the second year, 2
months; for the thied and fourth year, 4 months each; for each
successive year, § months. A 1o-year term is thus reduced:
ast year = 10 months.
ad year = 10 months
gd year— 8 months. 8th year—7 months
gthyear—= 8 months. oth year —7 months.
Sth year—= 7 months. roth year—=7 months
Total. .... 78 months == 6 yr. 6 months.
From 1889 to 1901 only a small number of prisoners were
received at the prisons under indeterminate sentences. After
an amendment to the law in 1991 the number increased rapidly.
In 1908 a further amendment provided that all first offenders
convicted of crimes other than murder in the first degree
should be sentenced to indeterminate terms. Eventually two-
thirds of the prison population will be serving under inde-
terminate sentences.
By an amendment in 1907, a person convicted of murder
in the second degeee and sentenced to life imprisonment may
become through good conduce eligible for parole after serving
twenty years.
‘The purpose of the indeterminate sentence law is to stimulate
the prisoner to good conduct and to reformation through the
opportunity offered him to shorten his term of imprisonment.
106 Tuk Prison Association or New York.
Prison Progress
‘The first decade of the twentieth century was marked, in
the State prisons, by noteworthy progress in sane humani-
rarian principles of administration and discipline. Progress
has been marked by the following innovations not al:
referred to:
Penalty for fourth conviction for felony an indeterminate sen-
tence with maximum of life sentence.
Dannemora State Hospital opened and the segregation of the
convicted from the unconvicted insane prisoners accomplished.
‘Matteawan and Dannemora State Hospitals enlarged.
Graduated scale of compensation for prison officers.
Suitable and well-equipped hospital accommodations provided at
Clinton Prison for cuberculosis patients
Electric lights installed in place of kerosene amps in prison cells.
Striped clothing abolished.
Custom of clipping prisoners’ hair abolished
Tin plates and cups in mess hall replaced by those of crockery.
‘An oven provided in cach prison which permits greater variety
in preparation of food without increased cost.
Lockstep abolished and military method of marching substituted.
‘A comprehensive school system for prisoners established in the
P*Classifcation rules enforced. First. offenders and confiemed
criminals kept separave in every department of the prisons.
Adoption of honor emblems; each prisoner's conduct record
indicated by chevrons on the left sleeve of his coat
System of numbering shirts and underwear by which each prisoner
receives from the laundry the same garments he turns in. Indis-
criminate discribution of garments from laundry prohibited.
A barber shop with homely but sanitary equipment established
in each workshop with individual lather cup and soap for each
prisoner. Travelling barber shops abolished.
Competent dentists and oculists give prisoners’ teeth and eyes
such attention as they actually require
Prisoners clothed in summer in light weight washable suits.
Inauguration of che finger print system of identification in 1995,
Since the above list was published in the annual report of
the Superintendent of State Prisons for 1907 further bene-
ficial innovations have been the following:
"Pages sig.
‘Tue Stare Prisons.
107
Development of prison schools. J
Reasonable modification of laws regarding definite sentences,
Work begun on State Farm for Women. z .
‘Meadow Prison, and develop:
Prison Industrie
The prison labor question is the mos
complicated problen z sae ha =f
; relating to the Seate prisons. Theo:
retically the principles governing prison labor in this Stare
are simple; practically the administration of an equitable
system of prison labor is extremely diffcule.
Jn the United States a number of aystems of prison labor
exist: the Jease system, the contract system, the piece prt
system, the State account system and the Seate we een
OF these systems, briefly outlined in the following paragraphs,
only the State use system is legal in New York
Leare system. The leasing of prisoners at so much per capita to
{onttactors, who maintain the prisoners. Example: dhe turpentine
forest convict gangs of Florida.
Contract system.— The selling of prisoners? labs
7 prisoners’ labor, on a per diem
per capita basis to contractors. ‘The State generally furnishes
building, Tight, heat, power, supervision, and prisoners, the sone
{factor furnishing macerial and instruction, Per diem prices paid
for convict labor range from a few cents to over a dollar. Example
Sf contract labor: the industries at the Maryland State Penicentiayy,
Picce-price plan— A variation of th
we e contract system, whereby
ate els to the contractor ie poo labor selene mene
of the labor of its prisoners. ” ® .
State account syste
3 ‘The State manufactures on its own account,
the labor of its prisoners, one or more products, and sella the same
the open matte. Example: the bindercwine made a ie
Minnesota State Prison, Eel
hs
Staie ‘use system— The State sells its prison labor products, not
'm the open market, but to itself and to the political subdivisions
108 Tue Prison Association or New York.
of the State, such as counties, cities and towns. Prohibited from
selling to the public. Example: New York State-
The above systems are financially profitable in general in
the order of their sequence in the above outline. The outright
leasing of convicts for a blanket sum of several hundred dollars
and no maintenance cost to the State is largely clear profit.
The State-use system, restricting the market and making the
prison industries only one feature of the educational and
reformatory policy of prison administration, has proved so
far the most expensive, the net profits falling in New York
State far short of the costs of maintenance.
The production and marketing of prison products in this
State is governed by Article 7 of the Prison Law, and by
Article IIT, Section 29 of the Constitution of the State of New
York. The main provisions are the following:
No inmate of any prison, penitentiary, jail or reformatory
shall be required or allowed to work while under sentence
thereto, at any trade, industry or occupation, wherein or where-
by his work, or the product or profit of his work, shall be farmed
out, contracted, given or sold to any person, firm, association
or corporation. Convicts may work for, and the products of
their labor may be disposed of to, the State or any political
subdivision thereof, or for or to any public institution owned
or managed and controlled by the State, or any political divi
sion thereof.
Constitution, Article 3, Paragraph 29, and
Prison Law, Article 7, Paragraph 170.
Physically capable State prisoners to be employed so far as
possible at hard labor for eight hours daily.
Prison Law, Article 7, Section 171
Labor of prisoners of first grade to be educational; of second
grade to be primarily for State or political divisions; of third
grade for preservation of health or for benefit of State or political
divisions.
Prison Law, Section 172-174
Prison Commission to establish rules and regulations for
employment of prisoners.
Prison Law, Section 175.
All articles manufactured in the State prisons, reformatories
and penitentiaries, and not required for use therein, shall be of
Tue Stare Prisons 109
the styles, patterns, designs and qualities fixed by the Board
of Classification, and may be furnished to the State, or to any
political subdivision thereof, at and for such prices as shall
be fixed and determined by the Board of Classification (said
board consisting of che Fiscal Supervisor of Seate Charities, the
State Commission of Prisons and the Lunacy Commission),
No article manufactured by the prisons shall be purchased from
any ether source, for che State or public institutions of che
State, or the political divisions thereof, unless the Seate Com-
mission of Prisons shall certify that the same (articles) cannot
be furnished upon such requisition.
Prison Law, Section 182-5.
The Board of Classification fixes the prices of prisoners’ labor,
and of prison products, as near the usual market prices as pos-
sible.
Prison Law, Section 184.
The earnings of prisoners are graded by the warden of the
respective prison, but shall not exceed ten per cent. of the
earnings of the respective prison. For misconduct or violation
of the rules the prisoner may forfeit fifty cents a day from his
earnings.
Summarizing the foregoing paragraphs, we find that the
prison labor products may not be sold in the open marker;
that eight hours’ labor a day is required of able-bodied pris-
oners, and that earnings not to exceed ten per cent of the
prisoners’ earnings may be paid to prisoners.
What has the Seate use system produced? Reports are very
favorable or unfavorable, as one culls from different sources.
Mr. F. H. Mills, sales agene for the Prison Department, has
recently stated:
“For the past fifteen years the prisoners in the State of New
‘York have been employed in che manufacture of supplies for
the State, its institutions and political divisions, and in farm
work, the erection of new buildings and other outside work.
During that time the value of supplies so furnished has been
£$10,548,401.38, and che amount credited to the State for earnings
from the business so carried on has been $1,704,217.81. The
amounts represent the financial result of che manufacturing
TRepare of Commitee on Prison Labor, American Prison Assocation, Balimare,
Novenber 14 9912,
Tue Prison Association or New York.
‘enterprise where two-thirds of the prisoners were employed,
‘one-third being employed in farm work, building erection and
repairs, and in the feeding, clothing and care of the prison and
prisoners, No account has been made of the prisoners’ work
except in the manufacturing departments, but a fair estimate
of the work accomplished outside of the manufacturing depart-
‘ment is $500,000, making a total earning of #2,204,217.81
“The catalogue of articles manufactured in. the New York
prisons comprises more than seven hundred different articles
‘There are in the prisons twenty-six separate industrial organiza
tions. Seventy-five different trades are carried.on; the convicts
assigned to and working at these diferent trades are placed
in exactly the same relative position as to labor and the ways
of acquiting a living by their own efforts as thar which they
must meet after their release from prison. Clothing is made
for institutions, the investment in raw material being confined
to raw cotton and raw wool. The wool is scoured, picked,
carded, spun into yarn and woven into cloth, which is finished
tailored and made into suits. Corton is put through the same
processes and made into underwear, stockings and the whole
range of cotton cloths. Shoes are made by modern methods
and up-to-date machinery. Printing is done with new appli-
ances. A newspaper is printed, all the matter being contributed
by the convicts. Street brooms and the whole line of street
cleaning equipment is made. Baskers, brushes, woodenware,
tinware, kettles, ironware, brass and iron beds, chairs, bureaus,
general furniture and cabinet ware are made in a large variety
Two hundred prisoners are employed in the manufacture of
school furnicure
“The whole manufacturing business, as here outlined, is di
and carried on by the Superintendent of State Prisons.
immediate ditection of the derail, the supervision of the pur-
chase of raw material, and the placing of the product is in the
hands of one deputy, with an industrial superintendent in
ich prison and a supervisor at Albany. ‘The expert supervision
the several prisons is limited co a citizen foreman and in-
structor for each branch of industry
“The placing of the product within the prescribed limits of the
law is really the most difficult part of the so-called Stare use
system. The law directs the Superintendent of Stace Prisons
to cause to be manufactured such articles as are needed and
used in the several institutions and political divisions of the
‘Tue State Prisons un
State, and it in turn directs the several purchasing officers to
buy these articles of the prisons, and ie further prohibits the
auditing officers from paying bills for such goods purchased
elsewhere. All this would seem to make it easy for adminis.
tration, but it is just at chis point where the law either breaks
down by unwise selection of articles to be made, and the market
is lose because of the failure of the prisons to supply standard
product in reasonable time, or succeeds by the prison's ability
to meet reasonably the demand of the purchasers.
“A commission appointed in 1911 to investigate conditions
in the prisons of New York reported that the potential market
created by the law in the State for prison products amounts to
4#20,000,0c0 per annum, and they criticized the prison admin-
istration for their failure to supply this large market. The
ideal condition in prison labor will of course be reached when
‘we can give satisfactory industrial eraining without any resultant
product to compete with outside labor. However, since this
is not possible, your committee believes that work must be
provided for the men, and the product resulting from such
employment should be distributed where ir will compete as
licele as possible, which we interpret to be first to the prisons,
shen so the State insiutons, the school, and then whatever
product remains to the political divisions of the State generally.
‘The law contemplates primarily the employment of the prisoners.
‘The sale of the product is incidental. Te is not the intention
of the law thae the prisons should reach out for more than
enough work than is necessary to keep the prisoners employed.”
‘The reference in the preceding puragtaph to the report of
an investigating committee refers ta a commission appointed
by Governor Dix in 1911 to examine the Department of State
Prisons. This Commission reported on December 26, 1911,
in part as follows:
Our investigation of the prison industries shows a riot of
management, waste and wrong-doing. Of a possible market
to the State and municipal departments of not less than
$20,000,000 per anmum, the prison industries with the free labor
of 4,400 men and no overhead charges, except supervision, have
supplied less than $1,000,c00 pet annum. With an ample feld
for labor, prison industry has paid only 15} per cene. of the
cost of prisoners’ maintenance. The failure ro fil the orders
‘open to the prison industries Keeps a thied of the prisoners in
Tue Prison Association or New York.
absolute idleness. Those who are given work are occupied
much less than the legal working day and are allowed to idle
away most of their time at that. We believe that the prison
industries must continue to be unsatisfactory until the more
profitable industries are extended and additional facilities are
provided for the employment of the idle convict population
and the work of each convict is so arranged under the present
statutory conditions that his efforts will be of the highest effic-
iency from the point of view of production
“We conclude chat the prison industries have not had a fair
chance in this State. If managed under the Superintendent of
Prisons by such a man as would ordinarily be employed to con-
duct a business of $5,000,000 to $10,000,000 a year, they would
give better results. It is possible that they would make the
prison system self-supporting
“Your commissioners find and report that the greatest
source of criticism and censure in the Department of State
Prisons, apart from specific instances of corruption, lies in the
management and control of the prison industries. Neither the
spirit nor the letter of che law applicable thereto has been
observed; the immense economic possibilities have been
neglected; and the entire management of that part of the depart-
ment which is basic to our present prison system has been
palpably lacking in the acumen and energy essential to a
successful business administration.
“The Prison Law requires that prisoners in the State prisons
shall be employed at hard labor. ‘The prisoners: themselves
desire to work, and prolonged confinement to cells, with the
obvious evil consequences which ic breeds, is extreme hardship;
nevertheless, each of the State prisons contains a large and
unnecessary percentage of idle men. The distribution of the
convict population at Sing Sing on February 28, 1911, is a fair
illustration of this conditio:
Employed in maintenance department. 443 25 per cent
Employed in industries bees 790 44 per cent
Idle (assigned to maintenance) 48027 per cent
Idle (condemned, invalids, ete.)...... 78 £ percent
1,791 100 per cent
“By these figures 27 per cent of the available convict popu-
lation were idle, and in addition we further find a large propor-
sie RSET IOT
‘
‘Tue Srate Prisons. 113
tion of the men assigned to work in the maintenance depart-
ment have no real duties and their labor could be utilized to
better advantage to themselves and the State if they were
employed in the industries of the prison. Of the men assigned
to the industrial depacument, a large part are not actively
engaged. The proper and desirable segregation of second and
third-term offenders does not necessitate that such convicts
shall remain in enforced idleness
“Your Commissioners find chat the conditions in this State
are particularly favorable to the profitable operation of prison
industries. By statute the prisons ate given certain economic
advantages over similar industries operated in the open market
at 2 profit to the manufacturer. ‘The law requites that no
article manufactured by the prisons shall be purchased from
any other source for the State or institutions of the State or
political divisions thereof. The market so established is con-
stant and certain. Competition is eliminated and the selling
expense is reduced to a minimum.
“Not only is the available market constant and certain, but
wwe find chat ie is of suficient magnitude to consume an output
many times the amount now produced by the prison industries,
‘The expendicures for supplies for the City of New York alone,
exclusive of such items as coal, foodstuffs, forage, horses, etc.
aggregate $16,000,000 annually. ‘The sales of the State prisons
in the entire Scate amount each year to about $900,000. Labor
is practically free. By scatute, the price of the manufactured
article is maintained at the market price and the earnings beat
no charges for depreciation of plant, taxes, rentals or interest,
“Notwithstanding these advantages conferred by starute, the
prisons fall far shore of being self-supporting. The penal insti-
tutions for the fscal year ending September 30, 1910, cost the
State of New York approximately $2,000,000; and for the last
fiscal year the profits on the sale of prison-made goods, over
and above the bare cost of materials and supervision, were
$138,000. The average prof so obtained during che period
between the years 1899 and 1960 was 18} per cent of the amount
required to maintain the prisoners, exclusive of expendicures
for new construction and beteerments; and in the period be-
tween 1900 and 1910 this percentage fell 1 15) per cent. To
support themselves, without contributing anything to the
treasury of the State, there would be required a six-fold increase
in the productivencss of the work of the convice population.”
114 Tu Prison Assocration of New York.
It-is evident from the above widely differing analyses that
the problem is complicated and bewildering. The State
Investigating Commission in 1911 did not present a thorough-
going constructive program for the reorganization of the
prison industries, although the chance given to the Commission
was exceptional.
Still furcher complicating the distribution of the products
is the provision of law whereby the State Commission of
Prisons alone has legal authority to grant releases, i. e., per-
mission to buy in the open market instead of from the prisons,
because of the limited capacity for production. The Investi-
gating Commission's repore stated in this connection.*
“By statute, these releases may be granted only by the
State Commission of Prisons, but we find that it has been the
practice to grant, as a matter of course, a request for a release
presented by the Superintendent of Prisons without independent
investigation by the Prison Commission. As a result of the
magnitude of the unsupplied market and the requisite detailed
knowledge of industrial conditions, the function of passing upon
these requests for releases has been delegated by the Superin-
tendene of Prisons to 2 subordinate. Your commissioners find
that approximately 60 per cent of all releases have been granted
upon the recommendation of the sales agent of the Prison
Departmeat in New York City.”
From this situation has arisen the anomalous situation that
the Prison Commission, required to release or not to release
in accordance as the prisons cannot or can supply the required
articles, works often in the dark, not knowing whether the
articles are available, or not having personal knowledge of the
facts.
It is inevitable that radical changes in the administration
of the prison industries are necessary. ‘The Prison Association
believes that a comprehensive analysis of the prison industries
should be made, preferably by a governmental agency and
certainly by experts, and with the elimination of political
motives or bias, and that such a study should eventuate in
clear-cut, intelligible and well-founded recommendations as to
the most efficient management of the prison industries.
*Page 10,
Tus State Prisons. 5
To give an idea of the present scope and financial importance
of the prison industries, the following statements are given:
PRINCIPAL INDUSTRIES.
Sing Sing:
Clothing, Printing and stationery,
Shoes, Carts and wagons,
Brushes and mattresses, Knitting and hosiery,
Sashes and doors, Foundry.
Auburn
Cabinet department, Bed and brass department,
Cloth department, Brooms and baskets,
Iron castings and school fur- Blankers and toweling
niture, (qvomen’s prison).
Clinton:
Shires and clothing, Woodenware,
Tinware, Spinning.
Weaving,
Great Meadow Prison:
Construction, Farming,
(nctuding Sing Sing, Auburn, Clinton and Women’s Prisons).
Main-
Year Produets Profits tenance
1905 $814,121 $158,036 $486,685
1906 833,245 1374105
1997 819,750 111,331
1908 952.464 149,267
1999, 866,950 118,876
1910. 893,244 138,034
wort 826,825 136,951
Parole
Parole means the supervision of prisoners who have been
released from prison on condition that they undergo a period
of conditional liberty during which they shall maintain good
conduct, be industrious, and obey the rules and regulations
aid down by the Board of Parole.
116 THE Prison Association or New York.
‘The Board of Parole * for the State prisons consists of three
members: the Superintendent of Prisons, and two members
appointed by the Governor. The Board meets once a month
at each of the four State prisons, maintains a system of marking
prisoners, determines the eligibility of prisoners for parcle,
Feleases prisoners on parole, maintains a system of supervision
of prisoners on parole, and seeks to secure the return of chose
who violate their parole. Ie is also the duty of the Board
to make examination and report to the Governor with its
recommendations on all applications referred to it by the
Governor.
Prisoners subject to parole are those whose sentences are
indeterminate (see page 104). Thus: John Doe, sentenced
to Sing Sing for not less than two years nor more than four
years, is eligible for parole, so far as the time limit is concerned,
When his first two years, the minimum, have expired. The
Parole Board has full authority in its discretion to hold him
imprisoned until che expiration of his maximum sentence.
In the following paragraphs we deal solely with the parole
system of the State prisons and its results. Parole in several
forms is in practice in the various adult and juvenile reforma-
rories of the State, and will be described under the proper
headings,
‘The report of the Parole Board for the twelve months ending.
September 30, 1911, gives an idea of the nature and volume
of the work,
Initial applications of prisoners heard 877
Paroles granted on initial hearings 644
Percentages of paroles granted on initial hearings. 73%
Reapplications heard. sar
Reapplications granted, 184
Percentages of reapplications granted 35%
Total cases paroled during year 828
Declared delinquent while paroled. 204
Proportion declared delinquent to number paroled 24%
Arrested and returned to prison. 78
38%
Proportion arrested to delinquents
+ Prison Law, Ses. 210,
‘Tar Srate Prisons. n7
‘The statistics of the Parole Board do not give an adequate
survey of the whole period since parole was administered by
the Board, but the following figures are herewith cited
Prisoners on parole and in good standing Septem-
ber 30 1911 665
At large and delinquent on same dave 43,
Percentages of delinquents during year. 18%
A more general view is obtained from a report written b;
a member of the Board of Parole in the summer of 1904,
George A. Lewis, and published in the New York Herald.
“OF che value of parole in the Seate of New York there need
only be said that, so far as the parole authorities have been able
to learn, out of every 109 men paroled from Sing Sing, Auburn
and Clinton prisons, since the system went into practical effect,
in October, 1901, cighty-three have made good. During the
ten years, approximately 2,000 men on parole have complied
with all conditions required of them and have been discharged.
Aside from the moral advantage derived from the parole, the
State has made a material gain to the extent of some hundreds
of thousands of dollars that would otherwise have been expended
for the maintenance in prison of men who have been at large
and are self-supporting
“The hope of early and favorable action furnishes the strongest
incentive for the prisoner to conduct himself without fault in
his cell, in the workshop and in the school. The family and
friends on the outside bestir themselves to obtain suitable
offers of employment (which are always investigated by the
board) 2 proper place of abode, and to enlist the interest of
good people generally to lend a helping hand to the released
prisoner.
“In each instance the application for parole, signed by the
risoner, contains a statement 3s to his regular trade, profes-
sion of vocation, an account of his occupations in prison, his
hopes and expectations on his release, with full details as to
prospective employment, while on parole and residence during
the period. This application is accompanied by a written
statement made by the prisoner at the beginning of his term,
and by separate reports of the warden, the prison clerk, the
principal keeper, the prison chaplain, the principal of the prison
school and the district attorney who had prosecuted the case
generally. Each prisoner's preliminary statement, filled out
118 Tae Prison Assoctation or New York.
and signed on entering prison, covers about thirty-five points,
including his own version of his criminal history, particulars
of his conviction, family relations, information relating to drink-
ing habits and insanity in the family, his own account of the
particular esime for which he was convicted and his industrial
history, with the names of his employers.
“The repars of the warden gives his estimate of the character
and capacity of each man, with that offcial’s view as to the
probability of the prisoner Keeping his parole. The report of
the prison clerk is as to the 1's crime, the date of his
reception in prison, his criniunal history as revealed by photo-
graphs, finger-prints, and measurements, and an account of
punishments, if any, and other particulars from the prison
records, The principal keeper's report is along the same lines
as that of the warden, but made out quite independently, as is
another by the prison chaplain. The prison physician's report
is as to the prisoner's physical and mental condition, and his
ability to do work of various kinds. ‘The report of the principal
of the school shows the conduct and progress of the prisoner
in the classes, unless he has been excused as competent or on
account of bodily or mental disabilities. The report of the dis-
trier attorney who has convieted che prisoner is merely a stace-
ment of his views ag to the advisability of granting the parole.
“In addition to these formal documents, each prisoner's
report contains letters from persons whose names he has given
as references, and offers of employment, written with a blank
form and signed by the proposed employer, before a notary
giving his name, address and business, and stating the amount
of wages he proposes to pay and whether the amount includes
board. These offers of employment have been investigated
by a parole officer or some one connected with the
hhave been endorsed as approved or otherwise. All
of the documents have been prepared wich care and delibera-
within six weeks of the meeting of the board.
“Each applicant is brought separately before the Beard of
Parole, the Superintendent of Prisons generally presiding,
As a misstatement to the Board, if detected, has a most un-
favorable effect upon the prisoner's petition for parole, and as
any statement he may make is subject to verification, he gen-
erally speaks the truth * * * ‘The Parole Board does not
permit prisoners to avail themselves of the services of lawyers
to present their cases or argue them upon the Board by argu-
ments or appeals, whether writcen of oFal.”
Tur Stare Prisons. 19
Prisoners are paroled by the Board to individuals or to
organizations. During the last two years and a half the
Prison Association has consistently extended its parole service
to the State prisons and has received since January of 1911,
196 prisoners on parole. ‘The records of these men have been
remarkable during the parole period. ‘The men themselves
are of the “nobody's friend ” class, men who generally have
not succeeded in finding friends or employment, and for whom
the Prison Association therefore is willing and glad to stand
"There are still a number of weaknesses to the State prison
parole system. There are not enough parole officers. The
three parole officers, assigned one to each prison, find it quite
impossible to keep under supervision the very large number
of men on parole. Offers of employment give the parole
agents much to verify. Delinquent prisoners on parole must
be found and brought back to prison. ‘The State is large.
A system should be developed as soon as possible to keep under
supervision, through committees throughout the State, the
men paroled from prison. More parole officers should be
engaged by the State. The men on parole should probably
be visited more frequently than at present. A larger degree
of friendliness between officer and paroled prisoner can be
developed.
Furthermore, in the opinion of the Prison Association, the
Parole Board should be composed of men who can give their
entire time to the duties of the Board. They should be ap-
pointed with that understanding. Their salaries should be
sufficient compensation for high grade service. Undoubtedly
there should be an executive staff to assist the Board and to
carry out their rules and regulations, and to obtain still
more adequate information as to the eligibility of prisoners
for parole.
Parole and the indeterminate sentence are two parts of a
modern and effective instrument for the reformation and
sehabilitation of lawbreakers. The one without the other
‘s much less than half-efective. The parole period is as
etucial a period as the prisoner passes through. ‘The State
has not yet awakened to this fact, and treats the post-prison
months of the parole with relative indifference, so far as the
ranting of appropriations for adequate supervision is con
ned. A comprehensive development of the parole system
can come none too quickly.
120 Tue Prison Assoctation of New York.
Punishments and Pardons. Conporal punishment is, for-
bidden by law in the correctional institutions of the State.
“No guard in any prison shall inflict any blows ieee
upon any prisoner, unless in self-defense, or to suppress a
Fevole oF incurecton."" If in tho opinion of the warded;
unusual punishmenc is necessary, co produce the entire sub-
mission and obedience of any prisones i ie dash oi
warden ¢o confine such prisoner in a cell, upon a short allow-
Be Guscveeinees uni he shall be reduced to
submission and obedience. The punishment is subject to the
phasis of the physician, and js solitary. Dark cells are
still used in the prisons, but the tendency is strongly away
from them. At Auburn Prison a separate isolation building
has been erected, with large cells, 2 small yard opening from
the cell, and facilities for the careful guarding of recalcitrant
prisoners. ‘This robs the prisoner of the sense of heroism or
martyrdom by removing him from the immediate knowledge
or scrutiny of his fellows, and has materially reduced. the
cases of punishment, although the conditions of such solitary
confinement are materially better than was the case in the
old dark cells.
Prison Law, See. 153
CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
ELMIRA AND NAPANOCH REFORMATORIES,
HE Elmira Reformatory is probably the most noted
Prison in the world. Opened in 1876, ie was the first
reformatory in Europe or America’ established. for
adults. Tes methods and principles are known through the
world of penology. Its official title is the New York State
Reformatory. In 1901 the Eastern New York State Reforma.
tory at Napanoch, 105 miles from New York City on the New
York, Ontario and Western Railroad, was opened. The two
reformatories are under the same board of managers.
anoch holds the older or more unruly inmates; Eh
reception reformatory for both reformatories
Elmira is situated on the Erie and on the Delaware, Lacks.
wanna and Western Railroads, 265 miles from New York and
146 miles from Buffalo, and is the county seat of Chemung
county. The reformatory is situated on an elevated plaveaur
several miles from the city's centre. Ie is a congregate prison,
The population on September 30, 1911, was 1,285, On the
same day there were at Napanoch 431 inmates, a total in the
two reformatories of 1,
Reformatory principles today permeate not only juvenile
reform schools and the score of State reformatories for adults
in this country, but also most of the modern American prisons,
The New York State prisons are often called “prisons on
reformatory principles.” English and continental prisons
show the reflection of American reformatory methods.
What are the Elmira principles? Briefly, the reformation
and rehabilitation of the inmates through physical, industrial,
mental and moral education, The divisions of ‘activity at
Elmira corresponding to these departments of education are
1. The gymnasium and military eraining,
2. The trade schools and other industries.
3. The schools,
4 Religious and ethical training.
122 Tue Prison Association or New York.
In short, Elmira seeks to make the unfie young man fit for
freedom and for self-support by a comprehensive interlocking
system of activities that make him to an extent the master
of his fate. The Reformatory is regarded primarily as a
training school for honest, intelligent, industrial life and not
as a place of punishment. It aims to supply what the school
and the home and outside employment have not supplied or
taughe.
The machinery for the purpose has developed through
nearly forty years. The following sections of this chapter
present the system in some detail.
The Management. Elmira Reformatory is governed by
a board of seven managers, appointed by the Governor.
The terms of office of the managers expire in turn, one each
year.!. ‘The members receive no compensation beyond their
reasonable expenses. The same board manages the reform-
atory at Napanoch. The managers make the rules and
regulations, not inconsistent with law, for the proper govern-
ment of the two reformatories, They appoint the general
superintendent, the assistant superintendents and other
employes. ‘They may transfer prisoners from one reformatory
to the other, or to a State prison, in case of incorrigibility
or for other proper cause.
The general superintendent, Mr. P. J. McDonnell, has
general oversight over both etosinatelie “There fo an
assistant superintendent for each institution. The super-
intendents are the executives of the board of managers.
Admissions. ‘The law provides? that a sentence to Elmira
Reformatory shall be indeterminate, but “ such imprisonment
shall not exceed the maximum term provided by law for the
crime for which the prisoner was convicted and sentenced.”
‘That is to say, a person convicted of burglary in the second
degree, for instance, may receive a sentence to Elmira, but
he may not be held ‘there for more than the maximum period
provided by law for that degree of burglary. In actual
practice, the length of detention at Elmira averages from 13
to_17 months
The law further provides’ that “
a male between the ages
‘Prison Lay, section 289 and following
afec creating the New York State Reformatory, section 3.
+ Sceion yoo Penal Code
122 Tue Prison Association or New York.
In short, Elmira sceks to make the unfit young man fit for
freedom and for self-support by 2 comprehensive interlocking
system of activities that make him to an extent the master
of his fate. The Reformatory is regarded primarily as a
training school for honest, intelligent, industrial life and not
as a place of punishment. It aims to supply what the school
and the home and outside employment have not supplied or
taught.
The machinery for the purpose has developed through
neatly forty years. The following sections of this chapter
present the system in some derail.
The Management. Elmira Reformatory is governed by
a board of seven managers, appointed by the Governor.
The terms of office of the managers expire in turn, one each
year.!. The members receive no compensation beyond their
reasonable expenses. ‘The same board manages the reform-
atory at Napanoch. The managers make the rules and
regulations, not inconsistent with law, for the proper govern-
ment of the two reformatories. They appoint the general
superintendent, the assistant superintendents and other
employes. They may transfer prisoners from one reformatory
to the other, or to a State prison, in case of incorrigibility
or for other proper cause.
The general superintendent, Mr. P. J. McDonnell, has
general oversight over both’ reformatories. There is an
assistant superintendent for each institution. The super-
intendents are the executives of the board of managers.
Admissions. The law provides! that a sentence to Elmira
Reformatory shall be indeterminate, but “ such imprisonment
shall not exceed the maximum term provided by law for the
crime for which the prisoner was convicted and sentenced.”
That is to say, a person convicted of burglary in the second ff
degree, for instance, may receive a sentence to Elmira, but
he may not be held there for more than the maximum period
provided by law for that degree of burglary. In_ actual
practice, the length of detention at Elmira averages from 13
to 17 months
The law further provides’ that “a male between the ages
Prison Law, section 280 and followin
1 Ace creating the New York State Relormatory, section 2.
+ Section 709, Penal Code,
Eusra ano Naraxocu Rerorstavontes. 123
of 16 and 30 convicted of felony who has not heretofore been
convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment in a State
prison may, in the discretion of the trial court, be sentenced
to imprisonment in the New York State Reformatory at
Elmira.”
The Merit System. ‘The basis of the reformatory system is
the marking system, which makes ultimate release on parole
dependent upon his conduct and progress. There are three
grades: first, second and third, the first grade being the
highest. An inmate upon his entrance is admitted to the
second grade. An inmate, to be promoted from the second
grade to the first grade, must have to his credit six perfect
months in demeanor and must have passed in his examinations
in the school of letters and the trade school. An inmate may
be reduced in grade if he makes imperfect months, in suc~
cession, or for serious conduct in any one month. An inmate
in the first grade may be paroled after making six perfect
months in demeanor, if he also passes his examinations in the
school of letters and the trade school. Parole is granted by
vote of the board of managers (see page 128).
Methods. The following description of methods employed
at the Elmira Reformatory was written in 1910
Joseph F. Scott, formerly general superintendent of Elmira
and Napanoch reformatories:*
‘The methods employed in. the reformation of criminals do
not and cannot differ materially from those employed in the
instruction of the young in the community at large. Te is the
aim of the methods employed in the reformatory to develop
the inmate physically, quicken him mentally, improve him
morally, teach him obedience and self-control and equip him
industrially; consequently there are provided for these purposes
a gymnasium, a milicary organization, a school of letcers, religious
and ethical instruction, trades schools and a marking system.
Te is designed ro have each inmate take a course in physical
culture. There are two general classes of pupils assigned to
the gymnasium for treatment; one of these is composed of all
the new arrivals; this class usually comprises between 200 and
4003 its sessions occupy one and a half hours daily. The other
ion and prevention, Vol. IL, pp. 102-108.
124
Tue Prison Association of New Yor.
class comprises about 150 in the forenoon and 50 in the after-
noon and is made up of inmates assigned by the physician to
the gymnasium for special creatment; its sessions are of two
hours’ duration daily. The pupils remain in the class until in
the judgment of the physician they are sufficiently improved
to assume the regular routine.
Certain body measurements are taken of each pupil upon
his admission to the class and these are repeated from time to
time by the physician, and a record of the same is kept for the
purpose of ascertaining the rate of physical improvement. In
taking these measurements the anthropometric system is used.
‘The Ralston system of gymnastics is found to be eminently
satisfactory and is the method practiced in these classes. Each
pupil while exercising is furnished with a special gymnasium
suit and at the close of his exercise he is required to take both
a spray and plunge bath.
The military organization has been one of the most efficient
disciplinary agencies under reformatory methods; supplement-
ing the physical culture classes, it gives the inmate an erect
and graceful bearing; it makes him respectful and obedient to
commands, and, by promotion from the ranks, through different
grades of officers, teaches him responsibility. It allows the use
of a large number as inmate officers in the discipline of the institu-
tion, which allies them with the administration and makes the
institution largely self-governing, The military department
under the supervision of a citizen officer termed the military
instructor. He is commanding officer or colonel of the military
organization known as the reformatory regiment.
‘Newly received prisoners, before they are allowed to participate
in the daily regimental exercises, are given preliminary training
in the way of suitable gymnastic exercises for the purpose of f
improving their physical condition and personal bearing and
in the art of handling military arms; and are taught other
movements with the aim of qualifying them for taking their
places in due time in the reformatory regiment. This group of
beginners in military work is termed the “Awkward Squad.”
The reformatory regiment includes all men not in the awkward
squad or excused by the physician on account of physical in- f
firmities.
‘The regiment is divided into four battalions of four companies
each. A citizen major is in command of each battalion and a
few of the companies are in command of citizen captains. All
ovo uy Bus
sq yoouLBay — 6
Y — SsoyeuOpY eH
Etaura ano Naraxoct Reronmarortes. 125
officers below the rank of captain are inmates. The uniform
fof the regiment for summer is khaki and for winter, woolen
cloth, consisting of black coat and gray trousers, excepting the
citizen officers who are uniformed in blue. During the military
exercises, all citizen officers of the regiment and all inmate
officers higher than the rank of sergeant, carry swords. The
remainder of the inmate officers and the rank and file of the
regiment are equipped with wooden models of rifles for use
in executing the manual of arms.
The military organization includes a brass band recruited
from the inmates, and a squad of artillery. For an hour and
a half, four days each week, the military organization is engaged
in regimental and battalion drills, preceded by the setting up
exercises. Two days in the week, Wednesdays and Saturdays,
the military exercises are held in the afternoon and close with
a dress parade. A flag staff stands in the parade ground, from
which float the national colors, raised and lowered each day
in milieary form,
‘The school of letters contains ewenty-six class rooms. In
addition co these rooms, the auditorium, with a seating capacity
of 1,600, and 2 lecture hall with a seating capacity of 500 are
also used for school work. The schools are under the supervision
fof a school ditector who is assisted by lecturers engaged in
educational work outside the institution, the chaplains of the
institution, and a group of inmate teachers. The inmate teachers
are assembled each week in a normal clase to receive instruc-
tion in teaching their respective classes. Outlines are prepared
by the school director and printed each day for the school work.
The subjects taught in the school of letters are arithmetic,
language, nature studies, history, ethics, sociology and literature.
‘The classes in history, nature studies and ethics, sociology and
Hicerature are instructed personally by the school director, the
chaplains and the visiting lecturers. ‘The classes in arithmetic
and language are divided into eleven differene grades, each of
which has ies inmate teacher who, subject to the school director,
hhas entire charge of and personally conducts the class sessions.
The schools are in session five days each weck, including
Sunday, and school classes are apportioned as follows: Monday,
arithmetic, American history; Tuesday, arithmetic and_soc-
fology; Thursday, language and American history; Friday,
language and literature; Sunday, ethies and nature studies.
‘The course of study in arithmetic and language is arranged
Tue Prison Assoctation or New Yor.
practically as follows: There are twelve groups, or grades;
the work in each grade consists of a four months’ course of
study, with examinations occurring monthly. At the conclusion
of the course, the regular monthly examination includes a
review of the four months’ work just completed, and is che
final one for the course, determining the pupil’s fitness to advance
from one grade to another.
In the classes in American history, nature studies, ethics,
sociology and literature, the instruction is imparted by means
of lectures delivered as stated above, by the school director,
the chaplains and visiting instructors. Each class is convened
in one group. As aids to memory, printed outlines are issued
to the pupils; these contain the salient points upon which the
lectures are based. Examinations are held periodically as in
the other courses.
Special classes are formed for foreigners unable to speak the
English language. Inmates able to speak the different languages
are assigned as teachers of these classes and outlines printed
in the English ‘anguage and the language of the pupil
are used. Text-books for this class are specially prepared by
the school director and are printed and illustrated in the insti-
tutional printing shop.
Supplementing the school work there is connected with the
institution a well selected library of about 5,000 volumes, in
addition to which so weekly and monthly publications, including
three prominent mezropolitan and two local papers, several
religious papers and the standard weekly and monthly magazines
are taken, In addition to this there are many journals devoted
especially to the trades in which instruction is given at the
reformatory. ‘The grade and character of the books allowed
the prisoner depend in large measure upon his status in the
school of letters.
In 1884, the Summary, an institutional newspaper designed
for the instruction and entertainment of the prisoners, was
established, and itis still continued. It is an eight page weekly,
issued on Saturday evenings to inmates, citizen officers, and a
necessarily limited outside circulation. It is edited and printed
by the inmates. The paper includes general news, editorial
comments, local institutional items, together with a record
showing total number of inmates at time of writing, number
received, number discharged, paroled or returned for violation
of parole during the current week; likewise a record of changes
New Shop,
Exaika axp Napanoc’ Reroratontes. 127
in grade, number in school of letters and in the trades school,
and other information of local interest. All matter of a criminal
ot otherwise objectionable character is carefully excluded
The trades schools are under the supervision of a trades
school director. Each trade class is in charge of a citizen in-
structor who is assisted by more or less extensive groups of
inmate instructors chosen from the most advanced pupils,
preferably graduates of the class, Twenty-nine trades are
taught; barber, book-binder, brass smith, bricklayer, cabinet-
maker, carpenter, clothing ‘cutter, electrician, frescoer, hard-
wood finisher, hotse-shoer, house painter, iron forger, machine
woodworker, machinist. military band music, plasterer, plumber,
printer, shoemaker, sign painter, steam fitter, stenographer
and typewriter, stone cutter, stone mason, tailor, tinsmith and
upholsterer.
In the reformatory system of trades teaching, the minimum
time in which a trade may be learned is designated as a certain
umber of hours. This total number of hours is divided into
examination periods. When the pupil works at his trade for
the specified number of hours allowed to the trade in which
he is employed, he is examined by the citizen instructor in
regard to the quality of his work and if he passes he is entitled
to be advanced to the next higher period or outline, When
he has successfully passed all the outlines of the tiade at which
he is employed he graduates from the class and thereafter
tuncl his release from the insticution may be employed in making
repairs, constructing new work or, if necessary, assigned as
an assistant instruevor in the class from which he has graduated.
The members of the differene crades classes also receive special
instruction in mechanical drawings one day each week. Blue
prints of the different outlines are prepared for the use of each
inmate in the different classes, when they are necessary. Many
of the buildings have been constructed by the inmates who
have learned their trades in these classes
addition to the mechanical trades, there is connected with
the institution a large farm, including garden and propagating
houses. The inmates are given instruction in agriculeure and
horticulture and practically all the work done in this depart
ment is performed by the prisoners.
‘The religious work of the institution is conducted by chap-
lains of the Roman Catholic, Protestant and Jewish faiths.
Religious services are conducted each Sunday; the catechetical
Tur Prison Association or New York.
classes are held at other times. The chaplains are given the
opportunity for pastoral work among the inmates, ad libitum,
‘The marking system is a monetary marking system, including
wage earnings for the purpose of making the inmates industrious
and frugal. A certain amount is allowed each inmate for his
day's work, varying with che grade, standing and rank in the
military organization. Each inmate is charged for board, all
articles of clothing and equipment purchased at the storehouse,
and for medical attendance. He is fined for misconduct, and
failure to pass his examinations in the school of letters and the
trades school. His grade and release upon parole are deter-
mined by his marking. When paroled he is allowed whatever
money balance may be due him.
Parole
‘As has been already stated,’ parole means a period of
conditional liberty for the inmate before absolute release.
He gives his word that he will be honest, industrious, and of
good conduct if released from within the reformatory walls.
Providing the inmate has fulfilled the requirements of the f
first grade, and providing he has through correspondence
with the “outside” obtained a suitable and verified offer of
employment, he may be released by the Board of Managers
on parole, ‘The released inmate then is required to proceed
directly to his place of employment, and at least once 2 month
thereafter to report in writing to the superintendent concern-
ing his work, his earnings, his habirs, etc. The Reformatory
maintains several parole officers at 135 East 15th Street, New
York (che offices of the Prison Association) and one officer at
Buffalo. Ie is the purpose of the Reformatory to appoint
a number of additional parole officers very soon,
When a prisoner has been on parole for a period of at least
six months, and has made reports satisfactory to the parole|
officers and to the Superintendent, and when it appears to|
the Board of Managers that there is a strong and reasonable
probability that such prisoner will remain at liberty without
violating the law, and that his release is not incompatible
with the welfare of society, they may issue to the inmate
an absolute release from imprisonment.
But not all prisoners on parole conduct themselves properly
‘on parole. Some fail to report to the Superintendent, some|
run away, some become idle and vicious and some get atrested|
Exaira ano Napanoc ReroRmatories. 19
for new crimes. ‘Therefore it is necessary to return to the
Reformatory such violators of parole. Many cannot be
found, partly because the number of parole officers of the
Reformatory is far less than it should be. The captured
and returned violators of parole must serve out the terms
of their original sentence unless again paroled.
The Results of the Reformatory Treatment. This question
is dificult to answer. The name “ reformatory,” given to
this institution in the early seventies of the last century,
has caused the natural inference that its results should be
the reformation of its inmates. Prison for punishment,
reformatory for reformation was the reasoning —and is
still in large measure —of the average citizen. Hence in
early years the Reformatory, to justify its existence, needed
iF possible to show a large percentage of reformations.
For many years it was claimed that 80 per cent or over
the paroled inmates of Elmira Reformatory were probably
‘formed. In 1910, Mr. Scott, then Superintendent of the
Reformatory, wrote! that “since the establishment of the
Reformatory’ «£3,357 inmates have been paroled. From the
records and the best information that can be obtained, at
least 75 per cent have not come before the courts again.”
More recently serious doubts have arisen as to the possi-
bility of so high a percentage of success. ‘The Prison Associa-
tion, which for many years conducted the parole work for
Elmira Reformatory in New York City, published statistics
in its annual report for 1911, showing that in six years, from
January 1, 1908, to December 30, 1911, 3,570 men were
received by the Association on parole from the Reformatory
and that 2,440 men received their absolute releases during
the same period, or a proportion of absolute releases to men
received on parole of 68.5 per cent. It is necessary to note
that the up-State record of successfull parole periods may be
higher, bur ie is extremely doubtful if all inmates who finish
successfully their parole period refrain permanently from
further crime, Indeed, the proportion of permanent reforma-
tions is more probably about one in ‘two, or 50 per cent. of
those inmates released on parole.
Such results, far from being discouraging, should be con-
sideted encouraging, when it is considered that the majority
Correction and prevention, Vol IE, p14
130 Tur Prison Assoctation or New York.
of Elmira inmates return into the unfavorable urban environ-
ment that frequently caused their original crime.
Statistics. ‘The more important statistics for the fiscal
year 1gto-1911, according to the latest available report,
are the following:
Inmates, October 3, 1910.
Received October 1, 1910-September 30, 1911
Disposed of during yea
By parole
Expiration of sentence
Pardon
Order of court
prison.
‘Transfer to Dannemora,
‘Transfer to Napanoch.
: Total disposed of.
Present September 30, 1911
OF 750 persons paroled there had eared absolute
release ot were in good standing while on parole
Which is of the whole number.
Delinquent on parole, warrants issued for return,
returned for violation and in other prisons
Regarding population, cell capacity, ete the following
figures are instructive:
POPULATION oF ELMIRA aNp Naranocn REFORMATORIES,
PorvLATiON ors on Servewen sorm oF Eacu YEAR
3900 19019021993 1904
Elmira 1275 14276 1,523 1433 16244
‘Napanoch 234240338 aM
1,275 1,510 1763 1,688
1910
1997
Eh 1,238
‘Napanoch. 201 347
1,439 1,459
4
‘
Euaina anp Naranocn Rerormatortes. 131
On the average Elmira Reformatory contains about. 1,300
inmates; there is, however, a constant shifting of population.
Between 2,500 and_3,000 persons pass through the institu-
tion in the course of a year. According co statistics there are
becween
16 and 20 years of age...
20 and 25 years of age.
25 and 30 years of age
52 per cent
37 per cent
11 per cent
According to a report of the State Board of Health, 20
per cent. of the population of the Reformatory are more or
less diseased on admission. In 1909 there were three deaths;
in 1908, seven; in 1907, eight. Basing a computation on
the average inmates present at any one time the mortality
rate will be about six per thousand, approximately the normal
rate for the particular age period represented in the institu-
tion. ‘The physician of the institution estimated in 1909
that some 20 per cent. of the inmates on arrival have tuber-
culosis in some form. In 1909, one of the three deaths was
from tuberculosis.
Crimes of Prisoners
of conviction were, di
ign
‘The most frequent crimes as causes
1g the year ending September 30,
Napanoch Elmira Total
Assaul, second degree 133
Arcempe burglary, third degree 45
‘Ateempe grand larceny, second
degree 168
Burglary, third degree 455
Grand larceny, second degree 353
Receiving stolen property 7
1342
‘Total admission L778
Proportion of above crimes to
total admissions
aual report, Prison Commision for 191%) p.354
1j2 Tate Prison Association or New York.
‘The total percentage of crimes against property is still
higher than the above percentages, which are based only on
the principal causes of commitment.
eNGbmpating the maximum terms of those admitted ro the
two reformacories with the average length of imprisonment
kr each of the institutions, one receives a clear impression
of the difference
Maxntum Teens oF Parsoxens Comarrep Durixo Year Enpine
‘SEPTEMBER 30, 1911, UNDER INDETERMINATE SENTENCES
Napanoch Elmira Total
Six months
One year
Two years
‘Two yeats and sic monchs
Four years.
Five years.
Seven years.
Seven years and six months
Ten years
Forty years
Principat Occurarions Paion to Apurrrance; ParsonEs
‘AburrreD Dunine Year Expne SePreMBen 30, 1911
Apprentices. : -
Clerks. : a
Drivers 17
Errand boys 83
Farmers.
Laborers.
Machinists
Painters
Plumbers.
Printers.
Salesmen
Tailors
Waiters.
Euatra ano Naranocn RerorMatorins. 133
Previous Convictions. Elmira Reformatory was originally
intended asa prison on reformatory principles for first offenders.
Mainly because of the inadequacy of our criminal statistics
and records, many inmates are found in Elmira who have
previously been in prison or reformatories, as the fllowing
table shows
Skowinc THe Numsx oF Puisonens Apurrre> Durine THe
‘Year Enpine Sepresper 30, 1911, Wxo Hap PreviousLy
Been Conriven in Oruer Instrrurions
Napanoch Elmira Total
Prisons. 8
Penitentiaries 162
Reformatories 217
Reform Schools 158
Jails
Miscellancous.
Other Statistics. Regarding the total admissions,
the following statistics have significance:
Marvied.
Unmarsied
Read and write
Read only
Cannot read oF write
Temperate
Ineemperate
White
Roman Catholic.
Protestant.
Jewish.
Miscellaneous
Tue Prison Assocation or New. York.
Commitmenrs By Counties.
New York county.
Kings
Erie
Onondaga........
Westchester
Montgomery
Oneida
Broome
Jefferson.
Niagara.
Queens
Ontario.
Cattaraugus...
Other counties, total.
Mental Defectiveness. This is a serious problem not only
at Elmira Reformatory but at all correctional institutions,
though not recognized equally in all inseicutions.
mindedness, as characteristic of a certain proportion
on inmates, and as seriously clogging reformatory
ss, has received special emphasis in recent years at
Elmira. Wide circulation has been given to a statement
by Dr. Christian, now assistant Superintendent and formerly
senior physician at Elmira, chat “on 8,000 consecutive ad-
missions examined by him, he classified 2,993, or 37.4 per
cent., as mentally defective, or in other words as mentally
not normal human beings.”
‘The profound significance of Dr. Christian’s record is
evident when one realizes that in the struggle for an honest
existence —hard enough for the ex-prisoner of normal mind
and good ability —the mental defective is fearfully handi-
capped. Indeed, the menace of fecble-mindedness in New
York State at present is graphically presented in the following
statement issued by the Prison Association of New York
during 1912, in urging the establishment of a state custodial
asylum for feeble-minded male delinquents.
1. There are probably 30,000 feeble-minded in New York
State.
Shop Work, Elmira Reformatory
juilding at Napanoch Reformatory
Exaara anp Navanoch ReFoRmatories. 135
2. Tn the great State of New York there is no special custodial
institution to which the criminal feeble-minded can be committed
and transferred.
3. Present laws permit of the transfer of insane criminals
from penal institutions of the State to hospitals for the criminal
insane but not of the transfer of the criminal feeble-minded 10
custodial arylums of that class.
‘4 The ewo Stace hospitals for ehe criminal insane are fall
(Matteawan and Dannemora).
5. There are in any one year undoubsedly over 1,000 feeble.
minded prisoners in correctional institutions in_ New York State
6. The assistant superintendent of Elmira Reformatory, Dr.
Christian, has stated recently that his records — extending
over several years — show that at least 30 per cent. of the inmates
are mentally defective, and 70 per cent. below a normal standard.
7. The 39 per cent. of mentally defective inmates of the reform-
atory are ultimately released or discharged from that institu-
tion, although, 2s Dr. Christian writes, the imbeciler have no
‘place in a reformatory of that nature in the first place, and are a
hindrance to its work for the brighter boys.
8. OF 17 such imbeciles paroled to the Prison Association in
1904 12 had previously been arrested and 10 had previously
been imprisoned. At lease 5 of the 17 have been in prison
since their release from the reformatory in 1904. One of the
men reported as imbecile had been 6 times arrested and 3 times
imprisoned before his commitment tc Elmira, and is now a
Fugitive from justice. Of the 60 men recorded as defective mentally
in a group of 450 men paroled in 1904, 42 had been arrested prior
to their commitment to Elmira, and 23, or coer $0 per cent. have
been arrested since their parole. Incidentally ie should be stated
that of the 77 men reported as mentally defective or imbecile,
26 were found to he infected with venereal disease.
9. What is true of Elmira is probably true of other institutions.
ro. Dr. Henry E, Goddard, of Vineland, who has a national
reputation as a student of feeble-mindedness, estimates chat
25 per cent. of delinquents are mentally defective. “AM mental
defectives would be delinquent,” he states, “in the very nature
fof the case, did noe some one exercise some care over them.
There is only one possible answer to the question, ‘What is
to be done with che feeble-minded person who is delinquent?”
He muse be cated for, but he must be cared for in a place where
wwe care for irresponsibles. The jail or prison oF reformatory
136 ‘Tue Prison Association or New York.
is not for him, neither must he be turned loose on the streets
or sent back to the home and environment in which he has
already become a delinquent.”
11. The current report of the State Board of Charities says:
The State reformatory institutions, both for men and for women,
have long had their discipline and progress injuriously affected
by the presence of feebleminded inmates committed for various
forms of delinquency ranging from misdemeanors of @ mild type
to felonies of a serious character. Owing to the constantly over-
crowded condition of the State institutions for the dependent
feeble-minded, it has not been possible, except in isolated
cases, to secure the transfer to such institutions of the mentally
defective reformatory inmates, even in cases where such transfer
seemed to be most desirable
12, Amos W. Butler, formerly president of the National
Conference of Charities and Correction, has sa
“Feeble-mindedness produces more pauperism, degeneracy
and crime than any other one force. Tt touches every form of
charitable activity. It is felt in every part of our land. Ie
affects in some way all our people. Irs cost is beyond our com-
prehension. It is the unappreciated burden of the unfortunate,
Ie is a burden we are compelled to bear; therefore let us bear
it intelligently to the end that the chain of evil may be lessened,
the weak cared for, and the future made brighter with hope
because of our efforts.”
13. OF the 300 inmates in Bedford (N. Y.) State Reformatory
for Women, a special study found 44 feeble-minded, 39 in need
of permanent custodial care. Of these, 18 were the mothers of
22 illegitimate children, 3 the mothers of 3 legitimate children
All of them are illiterate, 24 are able to read and write a little,
3 are able to read but are unable to write, 8 had never been
in school until they were sent to Bedford where exceedingly
good instruction is furnished.
Finances. The net cost of maintaining Elnira Reforma-
tory during the fiscal year 1910-1911 was $239,041.71. The
institution had a daily average population of 1,282. This
gave an average daily cost per prisoner of §.511, or $186.51
per year. The net earnings of the industries (stationery
and printing, clothing and soap) were very little, totalling
$1,786.21.
Outdoor Work, Napanoch Reformatory
Extra anp Naranoch REFoRMATORIES, 137
Industries. The Reformatory attitude toward industrial and
je school instruction is that in every institution there should
be maintained a thorough system of manual trade schools
for industrial training. A large majority of men go to prison
from their inability to work skilfully. In prison they should
bbe made to work, and their labor should be such that they vwill
love to work and to become sufficiently skilful to be able
to enter, with a fair degree of equality, the ranks of working-
men when released. If the best results are to be obtained
in this direction, the immediate earning capacity of prisoners,
while in prison, could well be sacrificed to their better trades
Special Needs. The chief needs are, apart from certain
improvements and additions to buildings, an adequate corps
of parole officers, a lengthening of the parole period, and the
development of volunteer parole officers throughout the state.
The post-reformatory period of six months to one year is
often more crucial to the prisoner than the period of his
mprisonment. ‘The State expends approximately $200 a
year to train the inmate to be a decent citizen on release.
‘The amount now expended by the State for parole guidance
and supervision is deplorable — only an average of a few
dollars per prisoner.
The Prison Association is heartily cooperating with the
Reformatory. managers and superintendents in efforts to
secure an adequate parole system.
‘Tue Eastern New York Stats Rerormatory Ar NaPANOCH
This institution, now under the same board of managers
as Elmira Reformatory, is located in Napanoch, Ulster County,
and was established in 1900. Before it was organized as a
teformatory institution, it was transfered to the Prison Depart
ment and used as a state prison until October, 1906. This
Reformatory is still in process of construction. All. com-
‘itmenes to the institution are by transfer from the New
York State Reformatory at Elmira. When completed, the
Napanoch Reformatory will furnish accommodation for 1,009
inmates, and is planned to afford an opportunity for a more
thorough classification of the inmates of the two institutions.
138 Tue Prison Assocration or New York.
Population. During the fiscal year 1910-1911, the Nap-
anoch Reformatory had an average daily population of 374
inmates. The average daily cost of maintaining each prisoner
was $.60 as compared with §.s1 at Elmira. There are no
earnings recorded in the annual financial statement for 1910-
1g1t, but the prisoners are employed on construction and
farm work.
The Napanoch prisoners are as a rule the least amenable
to reformatory discipline and education. The parole sta-
tistics for 1910-1911 present a far less satisfactory appear
ance than do those of Elmira.
Toe sciabee Baloled ROR Spates UGE BAL
year é
Earned absolute release
Delinquents at large. .
In other prisons
Returned for violation of parole.
Still reporting
In short, only 60.8 per cent. earned absolute releases or
were in good standing on parole at the end of the fiscal year,
and 4o per cent. were delinquent. Furthermore, of the total
number paroled during the fiscal year, 99 or 35 per cent. had
been paroled once before, and had been returned from parole
All of which, taken together with the inadequate parole
supervision of both reformatories, is a striking and convincing
argument for the development of a proper parole system
Industries. Napanoch is essentially an industrial and
agricultural reformatory-prison. All work of improvement
during 1910-1911 was by inmate labor under citizen super-
vision."
The following were some of the principal assignments
the close of the year: Building mess-hall and kitchen, 795
grading, 70; building wall, 38; barn work, 11; farm work, 75
tailor and shoe shop, 20; blacksmith shop, 43 painters, 3;
machinists, 8; cleaning reservoir, 18.
“About 65 acres of the prison farm are under cultivation.
Alll the products of che farm are consumed in the kitchen.”
“Seventeenth Annual Report, Prison Commission, p. 6
At Napanoch Reformatory
CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
STATE. REFORMATORIES FOR WOMEN.
R Seate is in the forefront in the reformatory, treat-
ment of women offenders. While a number of states
agicating for che establishment of women’s reform
atories, New York leads the entire country with two re-
formatories solely for women.
Tue New Yous Stare Rerormarory ror WoMEN.
This reformacory is at Bedford, Westchester County, on
the Harlem Division of the New York Cencral and Hudson
River Railroad, 39 miles from New York
‘The institution was established by Chapter 637 of the Laws
of 1892, and was opened May 11, tgot. Its object is:
For the commitment of any female between the ages of fifteen
and thirty years, convicted by any court or magistrate of petit
larceny, vagraney, habitual drunkenness, of being a common
prostitute, or of a misdemeanor, and who is not insane, nor
mentally or physically incapable of being substantially benefited
by the discipline of such an institution,
The Reformatory is under the control and management
of 2 Board of seven managers, appointed by the Governor.
The terms of office of said managers are five years. The
managers, as in the case of other State institutions, serve
without compensation, but their actual and necessary expenses
in attending meetings of the Board are allowed. The managers
have the power usually vested in such boards. The executive
management is vested by the Board in the Superintendent,
Miss Katharine B. Davis, Ph.D.
The Institution. The Reformatory is on the cottage plan,
and now consists of eight cottages, a reception house, adminis-
The ps ting he elena ae oy fund unr capt 55 fhe Coe
Hage (he See Cases Ln) Sctinna0 5) alo aoe
oof the Lame of 1995,
Shaper qo of the Consledated Laws, section 3187, chapter
snilchapter 659 of the Laws of 1910
140 THE Prison Assoctation or New York.
tration building, two small structures providing for discip-
linary needs, and a hospital. The buildings are of attractive
brick architecture, a number of the buildings forming the
borders of a campus. The grouping of the institution
resembles that of a seminary or small college. The site is
better chosen for scenic purposes than for agriculture, and
an additional farm has recently been added to the original
107 acres,
Bedford Reformatory, as its “short title” is commonly
known, is one of the leading correctional institutions for
women in the country, due largely to the singular ability
of the Superintendent, Miss Davis, and of her staff to develop
the honor system among the inmates, and a desire among
the latter to do varied and useful outdoor work. The annual
report of the Superintendent for 1910-1911 contains this
typical paragraph:
“ We have begun the clearing of certain lowlands lying along
‘our streams which, if cleared and drained, will prove very fertile.
The girls have undertaken this work and have really done
remarkably well in brushing and ditching.’ They also dug the
trench and laid the water line to the buildings on the new farm,
our engineers making the necessary fittings and connections.
We have built with inmate labor a very fine concrete canal
from the lake to the ice house. We have built a stairway down
the terrace to the barn and graded the banks in the immediate
vicinity. We have entirely removed the wire fence which
formerly circled the hack of the campus, and we are construct-
ing a new farm road at the foot of the bank in order to utilize
all the available land at the bottom of the valley.” *
‘The industrial classes are: laundry, sewing, domestic science,
and farming and gardening. Much attention is paid to the
school classes. ‘Two hundred and twelve women committed
during the year were classified as to their school standing
at time of commitment as follows:
Cannot read or write any language — six American
born Eee eee
Reads and writes a foreign language — no English. .
Reads and writes a little —no further education...
TRannal Report of New York State Reformacory for Women, Sept 1901 p20
Ditch Work, Bedford Reformatory
State Rerormarortes FoR WoMEN.
Did not finish primary grades
Reached but did not finish grammar grades.
Graduated from grammar grades
Entered but did not finish high school
Graduated from high school
One year in normal school
Graduated from normal school
During the last decade the methods of reformation employed
by Bedford Reformatory have received wide notice at con-
ferences and in the press. The following paragraphs are
typical.
‘At the National Prison Association in Lincoln, Nebraska,
in 1905, Miss Davis said
“At” Bedford we have done a variety of things. We
have filled ditches, supervised by the assistant superintendents
buile concrete man-holes, from the plans of the chief engineer
and chaperoned by various matrons; we have cut ice and laid
cobble stone gutters. While I am away now our resident
physician, a Vassar woman, has undertaken in her spare
time to lay a cellar bottom with a squad of girls. They are
preparing the ground, mixing the concrete, laying the floor,
doing the troweling of the cement and all.’ Dr. Halleck has
had no experience as a mason, but we believe in learning
to do by doing.
“Some of che girls thought when we first began that it was
queer work for women, and said we ought to employ men,
but we think there is a great deal of philosophy in the way
Tom Sawyer got his fence whitewashed, and at Bedford we
are fortunate enough to have a body of officers who have
gumption and are willing to turn their hands to anything.
To illustrate, last winter when the pigs were killed and we
hhad sausages to make and it seemed to be no one’s job in
particular, the chief engineer, who is a man, and a resident
physician took the pigs down to the power house after they
had been killed and cut up and ground the meat, while the
‘oking teacher and her class did the rest.
"National Prison Assciation, 1905, p. 209-210
142 Tu Prison Association of New York.
“You need officers who will turn to and do anything that
seems desirable. Example is contagious and when the girls
see the officers do these things, they are willing to try, and
think it fun. This fall we have been laying cement’ walks
and it is as good a piece of work as you will find in any city
every particle of the work done by girls. They excavated
the earth, brought scones in wheelbarrows for the foundation,
wheeled and spread the cinders after sifting them, mixed
and laid the three inches of cement, then the inch of cement,
all in the most approved fashion, and so have made 709 lineat
feet of five-foot sidewalk in six weeks
“ Unlike Elmira Reformatory, we receive not only commit-
ments for felony, but for all other offenses, beginning with
vagrancy and going up to manslaughter in the first. degree.
There still remains in the mind of the public a notion that
women are sent to reformatories as a punishment, and we
constantly hear it said by magistrates and judges, who should
know better:—Is it fair to punish a woman guilty only of
vagrancy by sending her away for possibly three years'—
for in these two institutions the maximum term is three years.
"Ts it fair,’ they say, ‘to send a woman away for that time
for associating with’ dissolute or disorderly characters, to
send her away on that ground for as long a time as a woman
convicted of murder?”
“You cannot tell anything about what is necessary in
the way of training for a git) or a woman by the character
of the specific crime for which she stands sentenced. As a
matter of fact, in ourexperience we have found that the women
convicted of murder have been women far less dangerous
to the community and far less likely to commit the same
offense another time than the women committed for vagrancy.
Often the women committed for vagrancy need the greatest
amount of training, for they are most dangerous to the com-
munity in which they live, and are most likely to become
public charges unless trained and sent out reformed,
“You cannot tell by the character of the offense how long
it ig necessary to have a person remain in a reformatory insti-
tution. T wish to point out and emphasize this point in our
work, that the institutions are educational, When I say
that, I mean in the broadest sense of the word, that the women
are sent there to be educated.
“Te goes without saying that if for five and six and seven
and eight years they have led the lives which are led by the girls
Construction at Bedford Reformatory
Sats RerorMatortes ror WOMEN. 143
who have fallen into these irregular sexual habits while they
are so young, their appetites increase and deepen, they run
greater danger of disease, their nervous systems become more
and more unstrung, and while they may realize, as the little
girls cannot, what are the probable consequences of the life
they are leading, the habit has become so fixed that. in many
cases we cannot overcome it. They know what the conse-
quences will be, but when they come out into the world after
leaving us they have not the will power. They have acquired
the appetite, they have acquired the desire for excitement,
and lack the ability to apply themselves steadily when they
come back upon their own resources, when they are not under
the direction of people of stronger will.”
Population and Commitments, The capacity of the Refor-
matory is approximately 400. ‘The average population during
191O-I9TT was 362.
Population September 30, 1911
Women. 305
Infants,
Committed October 1, 1910 to September 30, 1911
Retumed for violation of parcle
Returned for illness
Returned for change of position. ..
Infants bo:
Infants admiteed with mother
Paroled October 1, 1910-Sepeember 30, 1911
Reparoled
Discharged, expiration of sentence.
Replaced in positions
Deported
Died:
‘Adults
Infants
‘Transferred to Matteawan.
‘Transferred to Sonyea
‘Transferred to hospital
‘Tur ‘Prison Association or New York.
Discharged es
Returned on request of magistrate.
Infants placed with mothers.
Infants adopted
Other disposition
Population September 30, 191
Women
Infants.
Commitments by Counties. ‘The commitments to this Reform
ine are limited to the counties in the first, second and
third judicial districts. Commitments from the other judicial
districts of the Seate are made to the Western House of Refuge
for Women at Albion. '
Commitments to Bedford Reformatory during the fiscal
year, October 1, 1910, to September 30, 1911, were:
From New York county.
From Kings county
From Richmond count
From Queens county.
From Westchester county.
From Dutchess county
From eight other counties
‘Total
Most of the women are committed from police courts, i. ¢
the inferior criminal courts, or by justices of the peace. Thus:
City magistrates, city judges, police justices, Court of
Special Sessions, ete
Court of General Sessions, county courts, Supreme
Court
179
Total
See pages 47-149.
Stare Rerorwarortes FoR WoMEN.
The Offenses leading to commitments were:
Misdemeanors (most frequent offense, petit larceny, 30).
Felonies (most frequent offense, grand larceny, 37)
Other offenses (most frequent offense, common pros
titute, 72)
Total
‘The Superintendent has stated that unchastity underlies
a large proportion of the offenses.
The ages of the committed women range from 16 to 30
years. OF the 212 women admitted, 86, or 40.6 per cent.
were between the ages of fifteen and nineteen; 79, oF 37.2
per cent between the ages of twenty and twenty-four, and
47, or 22.2 per cent. between the ages of twenty-five and
thirty. ‘The average at commitment was 21 years, 2.9
months.
Of the occupations, there were given: General housework,
51; factory operatives, 45; no occupation, 453 day’s work, 14.
Many other occupations were given by small numbers of
inmates. Of the 212, 163, or 77.4 per cent. were born in the
United States, mostly in New York State. The Protestant
women predominated. Two-thirds of che women were single.
More than one-third of the women admitted a previous
criminal record
Parole. The institution made recently a study of the
first thousand women committed to the Reformatory, show-
ing the following resule:
OF those committed, total paroled
Ratio total released from parole to total committed.
Ratio of those still reporting to total committed
Percentage of those released from parole to those
paroled
In short, six out of ten were released from parole of those
ed, And of the total released from parole, the investi-
ations at Bedford show 32 per cent. doing well, 43 per cent.
unknown and 24 per cent. delinquent.
146 Tate Prisox Association or New York.
The average length of stay in the institution seems some-
what longer than at Elmira. Of 140 women paroled during
the year, 72 or st per cent, stayed two years or longer; 45
for 32 per cent. between nineteen months and two years,
23 oF 16 per cent. eighteen months or less. ‘The length of
parole is also elastic, extending from three months co wo years
Byer 50 per cent. were held on parole for more than a year
Most of the women, 72 out of 120, went into domestic service
Finances. The total expenditures of Bedford Reformatory
in the fiscal year 1910-1911 were $77,017, or a daily per capita
of $583, an annual per capita of $212.79. This is net, for
the gross per capita, which included the value of home and
farm products consumed, was $225.
Feeblemindedness and the Bureau of Social Hygiene. During
recent years the Reformatory has emphasized the prevalence
of feeblemindedness among its inmates. In 1911 a small
appropriation was secured from the New York Foundation
to equip a small laboratory at the Reformatory and to employ
a trained psychologist. In ro12 the need of investigation
and treatment of feeblemindedness, and of the study of the
Subtle mental and physical causes of criminality drew the
attention of Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr-, who made possible
the organization of a Bureau of Social Hygiene. In January,
1913, Mr. Rockefeller gave out the following:
“One of the first things undertaken by the bureau was the
establishment at Bedford Hills, adjacent ro the reformatory,
of a laboratory of social hygiene, under Miss Davis's direetion.
In this laboratory it is proposed to study from the physical,
mental, social, and moral side each person committed to the
teformatory. This study will be carried on by experts, and each
ase will be kept under observation for from three weeks to
three months, as may be required. When the diagnosis is
completed, it is hoped thar the laboratory will be in position
St likely to reform the individual
of, if reformation is impossible, to recommend permanent cus
todial care. Furthermore, reaching out beyond the individuals
involved, it is believed that thus important contributions may
be made to a fuller knowledge of the conditions ultimately
responsible for vice. If this experiment is successful. the prin
Srare ReFoRMAToRIEs Fox WoMEN. 147
ciple may prove applicable to all classes of criminals and the
conditions precedent to crime, and lead to lines of action not
nly mote scientific and humane, bue also less wasteful than
those ac present followed.”
‘The foundation has national significance, and marks the
commencement of a promised wide and thorough investi-
gation of the social evil
‘That feeblemindedness is a serious problem at Bedford
is shown by the following quotation.
OF the 300 inmates in Bedford (N. Y.) State Reformatory
for Women, a special study found 44 fecble-minded, 39 in need
of permanent custodial care. Of these, 18 were the mothers of
22 illegitimate children, 3 the mothers of 3 legitimate children.
All of them are iliterate, 24 are able to read and write a litle,
3 ave able co read but are’unable to write, @ had never been
in school until chey were sent to Bedford where exceedingl
good instruction is furnished. ad
‘Tue Western House or Reruce.
aut Western House of Refuge for Women is located in
Albion, Orleans County, on the Niagara Falls Branch of the
New York Central Railvoad, 31 miles from Rochester. The
institution was established by Chapter 238 of the Laws of
1890, and was opened for the reception of inmates December
18, 1893,
Its object is the following:
For the commitment of any female between the ages of fifteen
and thirey years, convicted by any court or magistrate of petit
lareeny, vagrancy, habitual drunkenness, of being 2 common
prostitute, or frequenting disorderly houses or houses of pros-
titution, or of a misdemeanor, and who is not insane, nor mentally
or physically incapable of being substantially benefited by the
discipline of such institution.
The Reformatory is in general principles similar to the
New York State Reformatory for Women at Bedford. The
institution is on the cottage plan, and has 92 acres of land,
of which 60 acres are used for a farm, which is cultivated
largely by the inmates under the direction of an agricultural
148 Tue Prison Assoctation of New York.
expert. Aside from the field work, each cottage has its own
garden.
Administration’ The Reformatory is under the control
of a board of seven managers, appointed by the Governor,
the terms of each manager being six years. The duties of
the managers are those usually appertaining to such boards.
The chief executive is the Superintendent.
Commitments and Population. Commitments ‘are inde-
terminate, with a maximum of three years. The institu.
tion has a capacity for 250 inmates.
Population
On October 1, 1910.
Received during yea
‘Commitments
Girls retuned...
Infants received
Infants born
Deaths
Escapes
Deported
Retumed to sheriff
Transferred
Paroled. :
Remaining September 30, 1911
The commitments are from the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh
and eighth judicial districts. Commitments from the other
judicial districts are to the New York State Reformatory
at Bedford.
Commitments are in the main from the inferior courts.
The principal offense for which the women are committed
is immorality. No county furnishes a preponderating number
of commitments. According to the eighteenth annual report
of the institution most of the women gave their occupations
at the time of arrest as servants. The ages of the women
were predominantly between sixteen and twenty. Protestants
constituted two-thirds of the number committed. Two-
» State Charities Law, Article 14, Sec. 220-253,
Srare RerorMatonies For Women. 49
thirds of the young women were unmarried. Seventy-seven
out of ninety-one of the inmates committed during the fiscal
year 1910-1911 were born in the United States. A larger
proportion of the parents were born abroad.
Parole. ‘The Western House of Refuge maintains a parole
system, but the annual repore does not give statistics in such
completeness as to give the reader 2 clear understanding of
the results of parole.
Paroled October 1, 1910 — September 50, 19t¥
Retuined for violation of parole.
Visits made to girls on parole
Homes investigated
Each girl, when leaving the institution on parole, is pro-
vided with suitable clothing; approximately one-half of the
paroled inmates are sent to their own homes. The annual
report states that a good home and place of employment
are always provided when necessary.
Finances. For the fiscal year 1910-1911, the average
weekly cost of support per capita, including the value of
home and farm products consumed, was $5.11; excluding
this value 4.85. This means a daily net per capita cost of
$693. This would make the annual per capita cost $252.20.
In general it is a fact that the smaller the number of inmates,
the higher the per capita cost.
he total receipts for the year were $63,071; the total
expenditures $62,638. ‘The receipts from " home products ”
were $2,889. The farm manager reported that the value
of the farm and garden crops was $2,035.
‘The State Prison Commission's report for rorr states
that “ this is a well managed insticution.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
REFORMATORIES FOR MISDEMEANANTS.
HE “boy in jail problem has furnished a basis for
I the severest criticism of our prison methods of the pres
ene century. In this Seate the imprisoning of youch~
ful first offenders between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one
in jails and_penitentiaries, where they are forced t0 associate
with debauched tramps and jail-rounders, has broughe down
scathing condemnation upon this part of our prison system.
For many years the Prison Association, the Prison Commi
sion, and the State Board of Charities have urged the Legis
Tature to provide at least one State reformatory for misde-
meanants. In 1912, as the result of a persistent legislative
campaign, in which’ the above mentioned organizations and
others united, the State established
Trix New York Stare Rerorwatory rox Mate Mrspe-
MEANANTS. reasons for stich an institution were cogently
set forth in December, 1911, by Hon. Frank E. Wade, Prison
Commissioner, as follows:t
“The prion aystem in New York State presents a strange
parades. ‘Praning schools are_ provided for delinquent boys
TET, ind men from sccen co thirty years of age who have
berm convicted of fonise.Reformatoves ae ano able
tpi tom Bfteon to thirty years of age- The wayward bt
Et SEEE Kecen years, however, who has noe commited 2 felony
Bue Ghe anus be sene sway forthe commission of «minor
Fe denied al selormatorywseaement
Sac cana. of age i simply an arbitrary division extab-
lished by Tne Many boys of nteen, seventeen, and eghteet
eee amature and susceptible to evil associations 26 hose
Sic aiteen, The boy ne snten i ust beginning to propre
eae Meure life. Hei hen young enough to be cai
~aSixeysevench Annual Report, Prison Association, peas 44
ReFormatories For MispemEaNants. 151
‘moulded by environment, and old enough to have some dis-
cretion in the selection of his trade or life work.
“During the five years from sixteen to twenty-one the boy
is preparing to shape his future career and to become an American
citizen. These are formative and more or less restless years.
‘The virile animal propensities are beginning to assert themselves,
unaccompanied by maturity and balance of judgment. Many
reckless and neglected boys who commit minor crimes are
unfit to remain at liberty, even under probation, and are moving
in the grooves that lead to confirmed criminality. You all
meet the type daily in your courts:— Wrong-headed boys,
towisted out of gear by bad habits and associations, stubborn and
sullen, generally dissipated, intolerant of advice, sowing the
wildest oats of the smart period of life.
“Guardianship of minors has been reserved by the State in
law and equity from time immemorial. Ie follows consequently
that, both in morals and in law, the State owes a special obliga
Sion to neglected and delinquent minors. How does the great
State of New York discharge this moral and legal obligation to
boy minors between sixteen and twenty-one years of age who
the courts decee must receive institutional treatment for the
commission of minor crimes? ft consigns them to penitentiaries
and jails, ° *
“Most of the inmates of the penitentiaries are kept in idle-
ness, with the exception of those in the New York and Onondaga
county penitentiaries, and there work should be increased fifty
per cent. In some of the penitentiaries, the cell accommoda-
tions are unfi for human beings. I could name a penitentiary
where most of che inmates are kept in their cells during the
twenty-four hours of the day, except for short exercise periods.
T could name two other penitentiaries where the inmates are
Gaily marched into workshops denuded of all industries, and
are seated on benches, remaining there during the working da;
ding absolutely nothing, There is not 3. penitentiary in the
state that gives educational instruction, with the exception of
New York penitentiary, where the warden is about to institute
something in that line. ‘There is not a penitentiary in the State
sshere minors are separated from adults, except in the New York
penitentiary. In 1909, 1,560 and in 1910, 1,333 boys between
the ages of sixteen and twenty-one were imprisoned in the
penitentiaties.
“The conditions in the county jails are even worce. Only
few jails furnish employment, and that of the most rudimentary
Tar Prison Association or New York.
ni it is constantly violated
inmates are not watched, and degraded characters are confined
are "Such am insietion shouldbe of the character of
be committed on an jndewerminate sentence, inseructed %
Sere magia cam commie the dling
‘oy between sixteen and twenty-one years of age with the
to usefulness and good citizenship.”
RerorMarorses rox MispEMEANANTS. 153
Such a State reformatory for misdemeanants has now been
established, by chapter 502 of the Laws of 1912, which in
substance provides as follows:
1. A State teformatory for the reformation and the educa-
tional, industrial and moral inseruction and training of males
tunder conviction and sentence for commission of misdemeanors
and other minor offenses.
2. Board of seven managers, term of one manager expiring
each year
3. Fifty thousand dollars appropriated toward selection of
site, preparation of grounds, water supply, drainage, ete.
4. Term of detention of inmates indefinite, but not to exceed
three years.
Governor Dix appointed a board of seven managers in
November, 1912.
The managers favor the utilization so far as possible of the
cottage system. Ground will hardly be broken for buildings
before 1914, the selection of a site being a matter of import-
ance and of considerable time.
‘Tus New York Cry Reronsiatory ror MispEMBaNanrs.
This institution, now located on Hart's Island in Long
Island Sound and 12 miles from the foot of East 26th Street,
Manhattan, by boat, was founded in 1902 by the Commi
sioner of Correction of New York city, Hon. Thomas W.
Hynes, who availed himself of a provision in Section 698 of
dhe New York Charter that authorizes the Commissioner
to establish such schools and classes for the instruction and
aining of youthful offenders as may be authorized by the
urd of Estimate and Apportionment.
Commissioner Hynes removed the boys between the ages
of sixteen and twenty-one from the Workhouse on Blackwell's
Island to Hare’s Island. Certain buildings formerly used for
an insane asylum were fitted up. The limitations of a definite
Sentence, which at that time all inmates of the Workhouse
ccived, was a leading cause for the introduction of a bill
the Legislature in 1904, providing for the continuation of
school at Hart’s Island, and the further classification of
154 Tue Prison Association or New York.
youthful offenders. ‘The age limits were fixed at 16 to 30, to
correspond with the age limit for felons who may be com-
mitted to Elmira Reformatory. Commitments under the new
law were to be indeterminate, but with a maximum of three
years, and a parole board was provided for, composed of
nine members, of whom two should be from the Courts of
Special Sessions respectively of New York and Brooklyn, and
one member from each Board of City Magistrates. The
Commissioner of Correction also was made a member. The
law passed as Chapter 627 of the Laws of 1904, to take effect
January 1, 1905,
Chapter 516 of the Laws of 1907 provided that only first
offenders should be committed to the Reformatory, and
further that no commitment before the age of sixteen years
to_any institution for children should be construed as a first
offence.
In 1909, Chapter 565 of the laws of that year provided for
the transfer of inmates in certain cases from the Reformatory
to the House of Refuge or the Penitentiary
Present Conditions and Methods. The Hart’s Island Re-
formatory has never been a satisfactory institution. From
995 to 1909 it was hampered by the lack of appropriations
and there was little evidence that the Department of
Faction! seclsaitoing #0: ectablish-a high-grade-modernm Retort
atory. ‘The dormitory buildings were old; the industrial
building was burned in 1909, and not until’ r910 was there f
much evidence that the City of New York could ultimately
hope for a modern and satisfactory institution in time, Over-
crowding was common; teaching force and facilities were
deplorably small, and the proximity of the Branch Workhouse
to the Reformatory on the same Island was only one of the
many conditions that led the Prison Association to say in its
annual report for 1910 that it was a Reformatory only in
name.
In 1911 the Board of Estimate and Apportionment appro-
priated $450,000 toward the construction of a new Reform
atory. The plans for the new Reformatory have passed
through several stages, the relative value of inside cellblock,
outside celblock and cottage system having received thorough
discussion, with the ultimate result that Commissioner of
Correction Patrick A. Whitney has adopted a semi-congre-
fropemuo}Y KAD HOA, MON ALONE aH
REeFORMATORIES FOR MISDEMEANANTS. 4155
gate, semiccottage plan, whereby the necessary service,
reception and disciplinary buildings, shops, chapel, school,
hospital, laundry, dining room, kitchen and power house will
be grouped in hollow-square formation for the custodial deten-
tion of inmates that cannot be trusted to observe the honor
system upon which the life in the various cottages will be
based.
“The location of the Reformatory has also been a subject
of long deliberation. So long as a congregate institution was
planned, the northern end of Hart’s Island was the selected
site, The agitation for a cottage system by the Prison Asso-
ciation and other organizations led to a complete change of
plan, and in close cooperation with the Prison Association,
the Commissioner of Correction has planned a farm colony:
reformatory. A site on the Harlem division of the New York
Central Railroad proved satisfactory, but after 2 number of
months it was shown that a-defective title precluded the
purchase of the site, and a half year was thereby lost. Early
in 1913 the Commissioner introduced a bill at Albany pro-
viding for authority to purchase land for a site for the
Reformatory outside of New York City, the Corporation
Counsel of the City having rendered an opinion that the
City might not legally without further legislation make such
a purchase.
Industrial instruction at the Reformatory on Hart's Island
is given in tailoring, painting, plumbing, tinsmiching, car-
pentry, shoemaking and electrical work. A new dormitory
providing beds for 240 inmates has recently been completed.
Work in cement and concreting is carried on. School facilities
ace still inadequate. During rg12, military drill has been
developed creditably. ‘The whole plant, however, as respects
adequacy of methods, supervision, equipment or results falls
far below the standard set by the best American reformatories.
Population.
Inmates of Reformatory Dec. 315 1910.
Received during 1911
Rearrested and returned
Paroled during year.
Otherwise released or discharged
Inmates in Reformatory Dee. 31, 1911
‘This Bill has become law.
156 Tur Prison Assoctarion or New York.
Parole and Other Statist
The following parole statistics of 49 inmates are given in
the annual report of the Deparment of Correction for 1911
Earned final discharge 213
Reporting regularly, and in good standing, and
employe:
Reporting regularly, but unemployed.
Enlisted in Army or Navy
In foreign country
Returned for violation of parole
Ordered rearrested, but not yet apprehended
Under investigation
In other prisons
Discharged by board
Te should be noted that che 78 per cent. of apparent success
is:"* conduct on parole,” not advertised as “ permanent,” ot
even “probable reformations.” About 40 per cent. of the
inmates were still on parole when the figures were compiled,
‘The inmates are on the whole children from poor or poverty
stricken families. ver half the inmates are Catholic, 22 pet
cent, Protestant, and 21 per cent, Jewish. ‘The character of
the associations of nine out of cen boys has becn bad. Fifty-
seven per cent of the boys had carried their schooling as far
as the grammar grade. ‘The principal occupations are classi
fied in the annual report of the Department of Correction
for 1911 as follows:
Worked at trades. :
Messenger, errand, cash, tool, wagon boys, news-
boys, bootblacks and elevator runners.
Laborers, drivers, ete.
42 per cent.
a1 per cent.
19 per cent
Offenses against property bring 58 per cent. of the boys,
the predominating crime being petty larceny. Offenses
against the person bring 13 per cent., the most frequent com
Revormatortes For MisDEMEANANTs. 157
jetion being for assault, third degree. Offenses against the
peace bring 28.79 per cent., the principal charges being dis-
orderly conduct and vagrancy.
The average age on admission is 18 years, 8 months
The admission by ages was as follows:!
4 years
Alchough 75 per cent. of the inmates were born in the United
States, only’ 24 per cent. of the parents were born in the
United States. In 9 per cent. additional, one of the parents
was born in this country. In short, the bulk of the inmates
are American-born children of foreign-born parents.
Ie is stated that 85 per cent. of the inmates were never
convicted of previous crime. However, serving time in a
juvenile institution before the age of 16 is not regarded as
4 previous conviction
As to previous commiements to institutions in the case of
inmates admicted during 1911, the following figures give an
New York Catholic Protectory:
One term. mee
‘Two terms
Jewish Protectory.
"Ranoal Report, Department of Cotrecton,
158 Tue Prison Assoctarton or New York.
New York Juvenile Asylum.
Truant School.
House of Refuge.
Workhouse, Biackwell’s Island 29
Training School 7
Parental School 5
New York City Reformatory. n
Elmira Reformatory. 3
Previously paroled . so
Fined. : 4
OF the inmates, 57 per cent. had no parents or only one
parent living
Finances. ‘The expenditures for maintenance in 1911 were:
Provisions $14,535.11
Clothing. and bedding.
Salaries
Drugs and liquors.
Surgical instruments, ete
Miscellaneous
Total $59,692 03
‘The per capita per diem cost of maintenance in 1911 was
8.397 a per capita annual cost of $144.90.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
REFORM SCHOOLS AND THE JUVENILE DELINQUENT.
itself in a commendable manner with the treatment of
the juvenile offender in institutions. The value of
carly and modern institutional treatment becomes clearer each
year in the case of those for whom probation and lighter
measures will not work the best results. Several of our State
inscicutions hold high rank among similar institutions through-
cour the country.
This chapter will devote itself primarily to a description
of the following institutions: The State Agricultural and
Industrial School at Rush; the State Training School for Girls
at Hudson; the New York Catholic Provectory in Westcheste
the New York Jewish Protectory at Hawthorne, Westchester
county; the New York Juvenile Asylum at Dobbs Ferry,
and the House of Refuge on Randall's Island. With the
exception of the Catholic Protectory and the House of Refuge,
the above institutions are upon 2 more or less definite cottage
plan, The Catholic Protectory has an exceptionally large
Population, but nevertheless plans are being completed for
the development of the cottage system in a country location
for this institution. The Protectory at present maincains che
Lincolndale Farm, under the efficient supervision of Brother
rnabas.
The child is the Father of the man in a special sense in con-
rection with crime. The full-fledged criminal is often under
Ts State of New York has for generations concerned
1 the age of twenty. Despite most careful methods, the young
delinquent still progresses only too often from truant school
to protectory, from the protectory to reform school and from
reform school to reformatory. Beyond all other admonitions
to-day, emphasis should be laid upon the necessity of swerving
early the young delinquent from the wrong path into the
path
e day of the old congregate ins
‘idly passing in this State. The typical cottage institution
159
160 Tue Prison Association or New York.
for children comprises a certain number of cottages, housing
on the average from 25 to 30 inmates. The children attend
school together, assemble together at chapel service and at
entertainments, and more often than not, have their meals
and most of their daily life within the limits of their own cot-
tage or the cottage farm. General methods of juvenile reforma-
tories are herewith summarized, from Chapter I of “ Preventive
Treatment of Neglected Children,” by Dr. Hastings H. Hart,
director of the Department of Child Helping of the Russell
Sage Foundation.
The juvenile reformatory of the twentieth century represents
a radical departure from the penological methods that prevailed
seventy-five years ago. Many juvenile reformatories were at
first juvenile prisons, with prison bars, prison cells, prison garb,
prison labor, prison punishment and prison discipline generally.
‘The juvenile reformatory of the twentieth century abandons
entirely the prison method and the idea of retributive punish-
ment. It is designed to create and establish right characcer
in delinquent children. It is no longer the instrument of first
aid to erring children, but it is now recognized as the last resort,
This view of the juvenile reformatory at once clevates and
depresses it. The children who are sent to the institution ate
of a more difficult class than formerly, because the most amenable
and reformable children are now dealt with through che pro-
bation system.
‘The juvenile reformatory is not designed as a permanent
institution in which to bring up children to manhood and woman-
hood. The child ought to be returned at the earliest practical
moment to the more natural environment of the family home.
Many juvenile reformatories have visitors or parole agents, to
find homes and care for children who are sent out from the
institution.
Every inmate upon admission should be subjected to a com-
plete and thorough physical and mental examination. The
work of the medical officer in the juvenile reformatory is second
in importance only to that 6f the superintendent. The medical
and surgical examination of the child should discover whether
he is a moral imbecile.
The spirit of the juvenile reformatory centers in the one pur-
pose of developing the highest character which the young wards
of the reformatory are capable of attaining. To this end there
Rerorm ScHoors anv THE JuvENILe DeLinguenr. 161
should be an absence of prison features. For instance, there
are generally no cells, no high fences, no barred windows, no
cells; che grounds are open to all comers; the cottages are built
Tike ordinary dwelling houses; the boys are sent freely co all
parts of the large farm of sent on errands to a distant villages
the inmates live in families in the care of a house-father and
hhouse-mother; and boys of all ages attend school under the
charge of women teachers. ‘The model reformatory’ is marked
by encouragement of self-control and self-dependence.
Education in the juvenile reformatory must be religious, ineel-
lectual and physical. Religious teaching should be given to
the children by those chosen and authorized by the superin-
tendene and trustees. ‘The intellectual training should be of
the highest quality, ‘The teachers should be men and women
of originality, versatility, tae and patience, and strong belief
in the possibilities of human nature. Industrial training should
be organized stricely with a view to its value as a means of
producing charseter. This will eliminate productive industries
except in the agriculeural department. The training of the boy
for agriculture fits the hoys for farm life, which is a wholesome
and happy life, In order to meet the diverse needs of the pupil
i is necessary to diversify the industrial training, which tends
te ereate character by developing the steady hand, the true
eye, the obeying of orders, the fulfillment of design, delight in
a perfeet and finished job and ocher characteristics
The plan of the juvenile reformatory should be that of 2 large
farm of nos less than 300 acres, conveniently near 2 good-sized
town. The buildings should be of substantial and enduring
character, and the reformatory should be planned for not more
than 500 bays or girls. Institutions on the cottage plan have
been built at a varying cost of from $500 10 $2,002 a bed. “Cot-
tages should be built for nor more than 25 children each. ‘The
school buildings of a reformatory should pattern after the best
‘ward schools in cities. The farm buildings should be planned
with as much thoughe and care as the other buildings.
‘The after care of the children is of the highest importance,
a duty equally importane with that of the child’s care in the
institution. Agents of the reformatory should be diligent in
maintaining close relations with the children after they have
been released from the institution on parole. Upon the directors
of the institution, who should be persons of practical experience,
devolves the duty of choosing the superintendent, who should
162 Tue Prison Association or New York.
be a person of extraordinary qualifications both as educator,
as to personality and as a master of industry. Similar methods
should obtain in the appointment of the other members of the
staff of the institution.
Tue State AcricuturaL anp [npustrtat. ScHoot.
‘The State Agricultural and Industrial School consists of a
tract of 1,433 acres of land located twelve miles south of
Rochester in the town of Rush, on the Erie Railroad. This
school is a successor of the State Industrial School at Rochester,
where on a tract of twelve acres, enclosed by a high stone
wall, from 250 to 500 boys were for many years imprisoned
on the congregate plan.
“Industry,” as the State Industrial and Agricultural School
is called, lies along the eastern bank of the Genesee River
on beautiful, rolling uplands. ‘The cottages at the two extremes
of the farm are two miles and a half discane from each other.
‘The school has twenty farm colonies, nine industrial colonies,
two detention colonies and one disciplinary colony. ‘The farm
colonies are occupied by the better class of boys, who cultivate
the farm. The industrial colonies are occupied by boys not f
so reliable, and who are employed in the more easily’ super
vised shops. The disciplinary colony is occupied by boys
who are thoroughly unreliable and must have constant super
vision, both day and night. They do the hardest work, such
as digging trenches and sewers. The two detention houses
are used for housing boys just received, where they are under
observation for three weeks, No cottages are less than 400
feet apart. ‘The tract of land is nearly three miles long and
a mile wide at its widest point
A supervisor and his wife are assigned to each cottage. Inf
each cottage are housed twenty-five boys. They sleep, play
and attend school at the cottage where they live, and do not
congregate with other boys of the school at any time except
when called to chapel service. ‘The farm produces all the
vegetables, butter, cheese and eggs needed for the consumption
of the inmates, and also operates its own flourmill.
Prominent features of this institution are the following:
(a) The extensive acreage. Whereas in che old congregate
institution at Rochester all the buildings save one were located|
RerorM Scxoots anp tue Juventie Detinguent. 163
within the walled enclosure, 12 acres in extent, Industry has
over 1,400 acres. In the city institution as many as 235 boys
lived in a building, 150 feet long and 42 feet wide. Ac Industry
only 25 boys live in a cottage, which is placed at a minimum
istance of 409 feet from any other cottage. At the city insti-
ution the boys lived in 4 great groups. At Industry they live
in more than 20 groups. In the city no stock was kept. At
Industry each of the farms is provided with horses, cattle,
sheep, swine and poultry.
(b) The general division into wo distinct sete of colonies,
the farm colonies heing for the more trusted boys, the industrial
colonies for the less crusted boys.
(©) Classifcation of the boys into two groups, the older and
the younger boys, the two general groups being again subdivided
con the basis of mentality, after which further subdivisions are
made, with the purpose of eliminating the evils arising from
the coming together of boys of all dogrecs of moral depravity.
(@) The farm unit plan whereby each farm is, so far as pos-
sible, an entity."
Population
Inmates in school, October 1, 1911 746
‘Admitted during year 60r
Received on new commitments. 485
Recommicced :
Returned for violation of parole 6
Discharged during fiscal year. 619
OF which paroled 499
Escaped and not returned 15
Inmates in school, October 1, 1912 78
Commitments from Counties:
ie. a &
Onondaga ”
roome 33
Cayuga 4
Chaurauqua. 4
Chemung, 2 2B
Columbia 10
ene of she juvenile delinquent with special reference to, Industry,
“Jove Balouctehy Bo ge Seventh NP, Sate Cateence of Gases
Tue Prison Association or New York,”
Commitments from counties — (Continued):
Dutchess
Rensselaer
Saratoga
Schenectady
Monroe
Nassau
Westchester...
Other counties
Total.
There were no commitments from New York City.
Offenses:
Juvenile delinquency.
Ungovernable
Disorderly. 3
Improper guardianship
Vagrancy
Total
Commitments:
Under age of 10
Under age of 31
Under age of 12
Under age of 13
Under age of 14
Under age of 15
Under age of 16.
Total.
Parental relations:
Lost father
Lost mother
Lost both parents.
Parents living separately
Parents living together
Total,
aBenog uondosoy —wBnkeg ‘Aaenpay ‘oor Dusy aig
Rerorm Scioors aNp tue Joventte Devinguent.
Religion:
Protestant
Catholic
Hebrew
Total
Natio
American,
Other
Total
American
Other
Toral
Character of home:
Good
Pair.
Poor
Very poor
Bad
Very bad
No home
Boarding house
Unknown.
Total
The statisties further show a large number of cases in which
some relative of the boy had been arrested, had suffered from
2 physical or mental infirmity, or had been intemperate or
immoral. A large number of the boys had been in other insti-
tutions prior co commitment to Industry.
166 ‘Tite Prison Assocratton or New York.
Receipts, fiscal year, 1911-12
Disbursements.
$189,229 09
185,751 49
Balance $3,477 09
833,042 40
33,042 60
Special receipes
Special disbursements
Per capita cost of maintenance. $247 53
‘Average daily population : ms
EDUCATION.
“The superintendent of schools reports that of the Got entering
the schools
Could neither read nor write
Tn second grade
In third grade
In fourth grade.
In fifth grade
Tn sixth grade
In seventh grade
In eighth grade
In high schoo!
Total
Tue House or Rervce,
(Society for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinguents in the City
of New York.)
"The New York House of Refuge, located on Randall's
Island within the City of New York, was established in 1824,
and was the first juvenile reformatory in the United States.
Te was also the first institution in the United States in which
the time sentence (or definice sentence) was discarded and in
which children were placed under the guardianship of the
Board of managers during their minority, "This legislation was
the beginning of the indeterminate or indefinite sentence in
the Unted States, and the New York Tlouse of Refuge besame
the forerunner both of the juvenile teformatory and of the
reformatory for adults.
“Correction and Prevention, vole 4 2
Rerorm Scuoo1s aNp THE Juventte DELinguent. 167
“The House. of Refuge was incorporated under chapter 126
of the Laws of 1824. It is an institution under private manage-
ment, although the funds for its support are derived from
State appropriations. Tt is a reformatory for children under
sixteen years of age, charged with and convicted of crime,
vagrancy or disorderly conduct. ‘The Board of Managers
consists of twenty-four members, of which Board the Governor,
Comptroller and Attorney-General are ex-officio members.
‘The institution is on the congregate plan, and is walled.
The inmates are committed from the first, second, third and
ninth judicial districts of the State, which embrace the Long
Island counties, the City of New York and the Hudson River
counties. The boys on arrival are classified into divisions
according to their age and size. The curriculum embraces
not only day schools, but manual and vocational training,
litary drill, and religious training. ‘The boys do all the
cooking, I2undry and housework of the institution. The
carpentry, mason work, painting, and printing are also done
by the inmates. ‘They also cue and make all their own cloch-
ing and repair the same.
‘Time is allowed for games and athletics, An annual exhibit
of school and industrial work is held. The institution is one
of the leccure centers of the New York City Board of Education.
The parole system of the institution is particularly com-
plete and serviceable.
Populatio
Since opening of institution:
On October 1, 1911:
Males, white
Males, colored.
Received during year:
Males, white,
Males, colored...
Total in house during year
Disposed of during year
68 Tus Prison Association of New York Rerorm ScHoois AND THE JUVENILE DeLINguENt. 169
Social conditions.
On October 1, 1912 zs
Males, white
Males, colored.
Temperate fathers 86 per cent.
‘Temperate mothers 98 per cent.
Irregular school attendance 8 per cent.
Previously arrested 82 per cent.
Previously in other institutions 51 per cent.
Commitments General facts
The ‘average time of inmates in house, committed for first
« count time, was 18 months, 18 days. Average time of recommitted
New. Yonueounty: i inmates, 5 months and 27 days. Average daily aceendance in
Kings county he b
Other counties. IDG 435. boys.
Previous records
28 Were never arrested.
41 Were arrested once
Parentage of new children received during year
‘American
‘American, colored.
Austrian
Trish
Iealian
Russian
Others Recommitted boys
Were on parole, less than 6 months.. 67 or 29.91 per cent.
Were on parole, more than 6 months
Protestant, 43: Catholic, 78; Hebrew, 45: and less than 1 year.
60 oF 26.79 percent.
Were on parole, more than 1 year and
Ch at ‘Tess than 2 years 57 0F 25.44 per cent.
si sua Were on parole, more than 2 years... 49 oF 17.86 per cent.
Disorderly child
Disorderly conduct Summary of parole siatistics:
Ungovernable Whole number released from January 1, 1905, to
September 30, 1912
‘epiteat Total number ‘released without parole
Burglary, thied degree obligations
Juvenile delinquency Total number released from parole obli-
Petty larceny gations through desth, insaniey, feeble-
Ohare mindedness orrerurmed tohomecountry 48
Number of reparoles 148
317
Total ‘Total individual boys paroled.
170
Doing well
Not doing well
In other institutions
Rerurned and still in house
‘Under arrest awaiting trial
Whereabouts unknown
Total
=|
Have been in corrective
Have been in noncorrect|
Have been in. both cor
rective and _noncor-
Have not been in any’
Total.
‘Tue Prison Assocration oF Ni
vision | Seltunae |
| supe 2 yearsof age!
yblan.05) 764134.51
1102.30,
lew York.
1,230) 55.
51] 02.
389) 17
14) 09.64
a
18.74
\
56. 43}2,2t4}x00.00
Sern
pervaion
apred
js
Rejuned and
Those
Rerorm ScHoors AND THE Juventie Dewinguent. 171
Receipts October 1, 1911-September 30, 1912 $148,293 40
Expenditures same period 143,553 12
Balance September 30, 1912 4,740 28
Per capita annual cost, daily average popu
lation of 435 inmates. 329 46
‘Tue New York Catnortc Prorecrory.
This is che largest institution of its kind in the country and
the largest institution for children in the world. Its objects
are: The protection of destitute, and the reformation of
wayward, Roman Catholic children from two to sixteen years
of age. ‘The governing board is a board of managers. “Te is
situated in Westchester, New York City, and was incor-
porated by chapter 448 of the Laws of 1863. The value of the
property is now over two million dollars.
‘The capacity of the New York Catholic Protectory is about
4,000 beds. The average population is about 2,500, and
includes both girls and boys. During the year 1911, the
tution cared for 4,283 children.
‘The institution maintains a home for children (both sexes),
the Lincoln Agriculeural School at Lincolndale, St. Philip’s
Home for Industrious Boys, and a Placing-out Department.
Terms and qualifications for admitrance: Destitute children
under sixteen years of age, intrusted by parents, committed
by magisceates, or transferred by the Commissioner of Public
Charities, are received at $2.25 per week; reformatory cases
at $135 per annum,
The chief characteristic of the Catholic Protectory, apart
from its size, is its very detailed organization. The industrial
department is efficiently organized, The boys are taught
actual working trades, including the following: Printing,
bookbinding, clectrotyping, blacksmithing, carpentry, sign-
painting, house painting, plumbing, bricklaying, masonry,
machine work, the wheelright’s trade and telegraphing. This
institution has always been administered on the congregate
plan, with large dormitories containing as many as 200 children
in a single room, with congregate playrooms and playgrounds
where 260 or 300 have been assembled,
A half dozen years ago the institution acquired a farm at
Somers Center, N. Y., where it has established the Lincoln
Agricultural School. This school has provided for an average
172 Tue Prison Association or New York.
of 200 boys and the Protectory states its regret that it has not
been able to offer the facilities of the school to more of its
children.
Population:
On September 30, 1910....... 2,646
Received on commitment during year 1,509
Received otherivise 128
4,283
Discharged, absconded or died during year 1,936
Remaining September 30, 1911
OF which at Lincoln Agricultural School
Average population
Males
Females
Juniors
Lincolndale (boys)
Parole :
On examination of 764 cases of children paroled there were
found:
Doing well
Doing fairly well
Doing poorly or doubtful
Returned to Protectory
Committed to other institutions. .
Not found
Died
In short, 80 per cent. were found to be doing well or fairly
welll
Nativity:
OF 1,637 children received, 1,366, or 83 per cent. were born
in the United States, but the parents of only 271, or. 16 per cent.
were natives of this countr
Receipts for the year ending September 30, ‘1912, $552,355;
expenditures, $513,745-
Kingsley Cottage, Now York Juvenile Asylum
Rerorm Scuoors axp TH Juvente DeLingvenr. 173
‘Tue Jewish PRorectory. a
(The Jewish Protectory and Aid Society.)
This institution, on che cottage plan, is located in Haw-
thorne, Westchester county, New York, on the Harlem divi-
sion of the New York Central Railroad, ewenty-cight miles
from New York. The society was incorporated by chapter
489 of the Laws of 1902. “The objects of this corporation
shall be to receive and take charge of such children between
che ages of five and sixteen years, both male and female, who
are of Jewish parentage, as shall be committed to its charge,
after conviction, for any delinquency, by a competent authority
* * * 5 to provide for the care, maintenance, and sup-
port of such childrens ro impart to them religious training,
in accordance with the tenets of the Jewish faith, and to
bestow upon them moral, intellectual and industrial trainings
to establish and maincain a reformatory for the religious,
moral and intellectual amelioration of males and females of
Jewish descent between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one
Years, who shall be lawfully committed to its custody.”
The governing body is a board of managers. The number
of boys, all supported by public funds, cared for during the
year of 1911 was 447, and 290 remained on December 31,
rrr. It is planned chat ultimately the institution will
accommodate 500 inmates
During the year, 135 boys were committed to the protec-
tory by the courts, and 153 boys were discharged on parole
Of the 321 boys paroled since the opening of the school, 24
are reported as doing well. The society is now considering
the possibility of making institutional provision for Jewish
girls committed by the courrs.
The cost of the site, buildings, equipment and furnishings
to date has been $567,656. The income for the year ending
December 31, 1911, was $80,360, of which the City of New
York paid $53,847. ‘The net maintenance expense of Haw-
thorne School was $67,482.
Tur New Yor Juventus Asytum.
‘This iristitution, situated at Dobbs Ferry, twenty miles
from New York on the Hudson Division of the New York
Central and Hudson River Railroad, is known as the
“Children’s Village.” It is a juvenile’ reformatory, on the
174 Tue Prison Association or New York.
cottage plan, “to receive and take charge of such children
between seven and sixteen years of age as may be voluntarily
entrusted to the Board of Managers by parents or guardians,
or committed to their care to provide for their support, and
to afford them the means of moral, intelleceual and industrial
education. ‘The institution provides homes in the country
for friendless, destitute, homeless or surrendered children.
The training is industrial, educational and moral. There are
to be ultimately accommodations for 500 in the twenty-five
cottages of the children’s village, and fifteen at the reception
house.””*
The New York Juvenile Asylum was incorporated in 1851
The asylum was opened in 1853 on Bank Street, New York
and was moved in 1853 to the foot of East ssth Street.
Again, in 1856, the institution was moved to Washington
Heights. In igor a farm of 277 acres was purchased at Dobbs
Ferry, and in 1905 the institution moved to the country. ‘The
total number of children received by the institution from the
opening until December 31, 1911, Was 40,554
The children’s village is attractively located and the cot-
tages and other buildings are of harmonious though varied
architecture. Farming, gardening, industries, schools and
ethical training are characteristics of the institution.
Population:
On school register January 1, 191
Received in tort
Total enrollment for year. es
In western homes January 1, 1911.
Grand tocal under care and control, 1911
Sent to private homes
Sent west
Discharged
‘Transferred to other it
Died
On school register December 31, 1911.
Temporarily absent, escaped and under super-
vision
Present in village December 31, 1911
“Charities Directory, 1913.
Reroam Scuoois anp THe Juvenie DeLinguenr. 175
Commitments
New:
Whiee
Colored
Second:
White
Colored
Committed by magistrate
Committed by magistrate at request of parents or
friends
Surrendered by parents or friends
Received from other institutions:
Age at time of commitment
he years or under.
Nine years.
Ten years
Eleven years.
Twelve years
Thirteen years
Fourteen years and over
Total,
Habits when committed:
Unfortunate
Pilfering
Vagrant
Bad ot disorderly
Disobediene and truant
sducation previous to commitment:
Read, write and cipher.
Read and write
Read only.
Could not read
176 Tue Prison Association or New York.
Parents
Living.
Father living.
Mother living
Both parents dead
Unknown
Nativity of children
United Seates
Other countries.
The receipes for 1911 were $106,892, and the disbursements
were $107,707.
Tue New York Stare Tratixe Scuoor. ror Gress.
This institution is situated at Hudson, 29 miles south of
Albany, and 1r4 miles north of New York, on the Hudson
River Division of the New York Central and Hudson River
Railroad. ‘The insticution is on the cottage plan, and is for
the training of destitute, neglected and delinquent girls under
the age of sixteen years. They are received from all parts
of the State. Itis the only State institution to which delinquent
girls under sixteen years of age can be committed. It is wholly
supported by the State.
The present buildings include seven three-story and ewo
two-story brick cottages, each of which provides dining-room,
sitting-room, laundry, ‘kitchen, sanitary bath and toilet
acconimodations, and separate sleeping rooms for an average
of twenty-six pupils and three officers. Besides the cortages,
there are seven large buildings and seven smaller ones, including
chapel, administration building, cottage-hospiral building, and
school building.
The institution is governed by a board of seven managers,
appointed by the Governor in accordance with the Stace
Charities Law. The Board appoints the Superintendent, who
is the paid executive officer.
The methods include primarily the development of the
individuality of the child, Classification is carefully planned,
the cottage work is done by the girls, and there is necessary
Reon ScHoos ano tHe Juventie Deinguenr. 177
school work, as well as instruction in cooking; laundry, sewing,
dressmaking, music, physical culture, religion and gardening.
‘This institution is overcrowded
Population:
October 1, 1910
Received during year
Discharged during year
October 1, 1911
Ase, at admission, of committed girls:
Eleven years
Twelve years
‘Thirteen years
Fourteen years
Fifteen years
Nati
‘American born
Foreign bora.
Nativity of parents
American born
Foreign born.
Unknown,
Education
literate
Primary.
Intermediate
Grammar
Occupation:
School girl
Domestic
None
Other occupations
Religion:
Protestant
Catholic
Jewish
None.
178 Tue Prison Association of New Your,
Finances
g September 30 1931,
“The receipts for the fiseal year ending September 30. 19
were $180,302, the disbursements $177,636. The disburse:
wereee for maintenance were 94,278. ‘The total weekly.
per capita cost was $5.474, oF an annual per capita cost 0
284.65.
New York Stare TRratninc Scuoot. ror Bos.
: “The Legishacure of 1911
“This institution is nor yet built, “The Legi :
placed the manage f the school in the hands of a Board
of Managets, under
site of the institution is
The ets from New. York on the Putnam Div
See ow York Central and Hudson River Railroad
whe embraces 4g acres. The institution will be on the
erage plan and wil receive male children under the age of
Ceeee Mears, convicted of a ctime amounting to felony, oF
Trencer the ages of seven and sixteen if deemed guilty o
Favenile delinquency, in the frst, second, third or ninth
tudicial districts ays
imine State Board of Charities, in its latest report,
regarding this institution:
‘il « provision for life in
“The new insticution will have ample provis
the open, for the boys will be employed upon the farms and
woe open the gardens. They will receive instruction in che
a crond breeding of farm stock; observe the growth of veuetablesy
Fescrund grains; learn through the actual life of the farm the
ree sty for work, order, persistence and thrift, and by this
Training frm new cals of life and acquire a ivelligent apr>
aeenkss che privileges and responsibility of citizenship, |The
fur equipment of this institution will cover the needs of dif
ferent types of boys, forthe farm is noe suitable for all. Shops
wind teade schools with theit opportunities in the arts and eralse
are fo be established. and chese will open the way to hones
Ietihoed for such of the boys as are best freed for trades, but
Mrore dan ail le the discipline of the instcution will encourage
samo self-respect and chus by education and association
ected in the moral power and determined character of the
enduates. ‘The need ie #0 great that everything possible should
frome to expedite the opening of this institution at the earliest
possible date.”
Rerorm Scuoors ano THE JuveNite DELINQUENT. 179
‘Tue Groxoe Juniox Repusiic.
This institution, or rather “village” has no “inmates,” but
“ citizens.” The Republic is playing a very interesting and
in many cases important part in the reformatory work of the
State.
‘The George Junior Republic was founded by William R.
George in the summer of 1895, at Freeville, Tompkins county,
nine miles from Ithaca, on the Lehigh Valley Railroad. It
ig. town ot colony for young people; an organization that
aims to instil into the minds of boys and girls the principles
of selfreliance and selt-government, by giving them actual
powers and duties of citizenship in a miniature state wherein
are operating the same economic, social and civic conditions
that they will find outside on leaving the Republic.”
‘The Republic is an all-the-year-round home for children,
founded upon the belief that
First: A boy may break a law, or commit an offense, and
still not be necessarily what is known as “bad or “ criminal.”
Second: As « tule, a boy or girl who commits an offense
against civic or social laws is possessed of many of che qualities,
courage, leadership, self-reliance, which will, if rightly directed
make the strongest character and the best citizens.
Third: That co commit a child at an impressionable age to
an institution where he is thrown into contace with the hardened
criminal and restrained from acting upon his own initiative by
rigid discipline, and where his individuality is lose in numbers —
will never prepare him for the responsibilities of life and citizen
ship.
Fourth: To develop a sense of responsibility the child must
have responsibility placed upon it; to overcome pauperism the
child must learn self-support; to respect law and order, the child
must practice self-government.
The Association owns and controls over 350 acres of land,
whereon is a little village of some twenty-five buildings. Ten
are cottages in which citizens live; the other buildings are
necessary industrial and administrative buildings. ‘The boys
and girls live in Families of ten or twelve in a cottage, under
the supervision of a woman, or a woman and her husband
‘Nothing Withous Labor” pumpllae published by the Republi, p1, rom which
180 THe Prison Association or New York.
‘The motto of the Republic is ‘* Nothing Without Labor,”
and each citizen, male or female, works for what he receives,
although the Republic is not self-supporting, the annual
expenses according to the Republic's statement, amounting
to about $45,000 a year, of which $40,000 is secured through
contributions. The seacemene of the Republic is that it costs
about $250 annually for each child ac che Republic. Boys
and girls over fourteen and under eighteen, of sound mind
and body, arc accepted. Parents or relatives pay what they
can toward the maintenance of the children. ‘The Republic
believes that the reformative results are excellent, and states
that very few of the citizens have proven failures.
‘According to the report of the State Board of Charities for
rgrt, the estimated value of the property of the Republic on
October 1, 1911, was $168,848. On October 1, 1910, there
were 137 citizens in the Republic; there were received during
the year 106; total in Republic during year, 243; discharged
during year, 933 remaining on October 1, 1911, 150.
Of those received during the year, 16 were received by judicial
commitment for delinquency; 5 by judicial commitment for
improper guardianship; t by Commitment of poor law officials
72 from parents and guardians, and 11 of their own appli
tion, In addition, 34 boys from 16 to 21 years of age were
received, a total of 106, Of these, 58 were supported by public
funds, 185 by private funds, The average number of citizens
during the year was 144
Tue Berxstre INpusretat Pare.
Founded twenty-six years ago, three miles from Canaan,
four hours from New York city on the Harlem Division of
the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad. The farm
has an area of 1,000 acres. Its purpose is to give the “ bad
city boy ” another chance. Ie takes boys from six ro sixteen
years of age, committed by the courts or surrendered by parents
or guardians. The term of commitmene or surrender is four
years. ‘The average stay is three years. ‘The institation is
Protestant, but non-sectarian. The plan is a modified cottage
system. Ae present there are accommodations for eighty
boys
A half day’s schoolwork alternates with a half day’s indus-
‘vial or agricultural work. More thant five hundred boys have
graduated from the farm
Rerorm Sctoots anp tax Juvenie DeLinguenr, 181
‘The farm is valued with build
ed with buildings, stock, ete, at approx:
imately $50,000, and is partly self-supporting. re The
approrimace cost of maintaining a boy at the farm is $350
annual ate Fequired to pay in proportion to thar
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION OF NEW YORK CITY.
HE. prisons of New York City are administered by the
Department of Correction, the Commissioner of Cor~
rection being the chief official of the Department
pointed by the Mayor, and serves during four years,
or until his successor is appointed. The chief offices of the
Deparement are at 148 East zoth street, New York. The
present Commissioner is Hon. Patrick A. Whitney
‘The following institutions are included in the Department
1, Seven district prisons for cases pending ial.
2. The City Prison (Tombs), Manhattan, for cases pending trial.
3. The City Prison, Brooklyn (Raymond Sereet Jail), for cases
pending trials also for short-term prisoners
4. The Workhouse, on Blackwell's Island, for convieted mis-
demeanants, and those violating city ordinances.
5. The New York County Penitentiary, on Blackwell’s Island,
for convicted misdemeanants and felons.
The Branch Workhouse, Riker’s Island, for Workhouse or
Penitentiary prisoners,
- The Branch Workhouse, on Hart's Island, for Workhouse
prisoners (male and female).
‘The New York City Reformatory, on Hare's Island, for male
prisoners between 16 and 30 years of age.
1. The Queens County Jail, in Long Island City, for cases
pending trial, and for convicted prisoners."
There is no distinctly modem prison among all these build-
ings. The Tombs (City Prison) is the most recent building,
having been first occupied in 1902.
‘The buildings fall, therefore, into two groups, those for the
detention of prisoners prior to and during trial, and those for
convicted prisoners. In the first group are the district prisons,
the Tombs, the Raymond Street Jail, and the Queens County
Jail. The other institutions are for the imprisonment of
convicted persons
‘The procedure in the detention, trial and imprisonment of
offenders in New York City (Manhattan) is in general as
follows; and is typical of the other boroughs of the city.
me undee Department of Coxretion in 1913
te
Tue Derartwent or Correction or New Yorx Crry. 183
‘The prisoner is taken from the station-house to the magis-
trates court, Tf held for further tral, he is placed in a district,
prison adjacent to the court. The district prisons in New
York County are as follows: ome x
District Prison Location
Second... Jefferson Market soth St. and Sixth Ave.
‘Third Essex Market... Second Ave. and Second St.
Fourth... Yorkville hird and Lexing-
Fifth Harlem
Sixth, Mortisania r6rs¢ Se
Seventh... West Side 53d St. bet. Eighth and Ninth
‘Aves.
Bighth... Westchester... Main St
Cexsus, Manem 13, 1913
Capacity of Institutions
City Prison, Manhartan Male "Female. Total Prisoners
‘Women’s prison, 68 cells) 8552
City Prison, Brooklyn {80
iy Prison, Queens, 70207
Penitentiary, B. 1 120° 1,104
Workhouse, B. I 420 1,000
Branch Workhouse, Rikers
Tsland 300
Branch Workhouse, Hart's
Tstand 520
New York City” Reform:
District Prisons, Manhartan
and The Bronx
Second, Jefferson Market.
Third, Essex Markee
Fourth, Yorkville
Fifth, Harlem
Sieth, Morrisania
Seventh, West Side
Eighth, Westchester
184 THe Prison Association or New York.
If the prisoner is to be tried in che Courts of Special or
Genetal Sessions, he is soon transferred to the City Prison
known as the Tombs. He awaits trial here. There is a
woman’s division in the Tombs. Convicted prisoners may
be sent to the Department prisons for conviceed persons, or
to other correctional institutions within or without the city.
Tue City Prison.
The City Prison (The Tombs). Located at ror Center
Street. It is an celliptically shaped building with eight tiers;
it contains 320 cells for male prisoners and in the winter has
frequently a population of over 700. Doubling-up of prison-
ers is necessary in practically all the cells in the winter, and
in many of the cells at all times. There are two annexes,
one being the women’s prison, with a capacity of 58 cells,
and the other the so-called boys’ annex” of similar type,
with 174 cells in which young men awaiting transfer to Elmira
Reformatory and other prisons are confined.
The congestion in the City Prison has been the cause of
much public criticism, and the Deparement has requested an
appropriation for an extension to the City Prison sufficiently
ample to afford a separate cell for each prisoner, and also
an adequate hospital and psychopathic ward.
The City Prison offers no employment to prisoners awaiting
trial, ir being forbidden by law.
Statistics. The average population of the City Prison
during tort was 655, varying from an average of 569 in
January to 747 in October. There were received, during
T9I1, 13,403 males and 1,242 females. The per capita per
diem cost of 1911 was 8.537, a total expenditure of $128,1
Disrricr Prisons.
The district prisons are relatively old prisons with small
capacity, for the temporary imprisonment of those awaiting
trial. The cells are often large enough to give sleeping room
for four or more prisoners. ‘The locations of the prisons are
often such as to afford little sunlight. The prisons are kept
clean and in general as sanitary as possible. New district
prisons are greatly needed
These prisons assume an enormous importance, in view of
the small army of persons received during the year. In 1911,
‘The City Prison Manhattar
Tue Derartmenr of Correction iv New York Crrv. 185
433,166 males and 10,082 females passed through the prisons,
of whom 13,172 were transferred to the Workhouse, and
71323 were transferred to the City Prison. ‘The number of
prisoners discharged totalled 22,309.
The total disbursements of the district prisons in ror
were $78,291
The: Penrrentiary.
‘The Penitentiary, located on Blackwell's Island, is the most
imposing, externally, of the institutions of the Deparment,
and is te best organized industrially, and the most productive
The capacity of the Penitentiary is 104. Te is built on the
inside cellblock plan, two wings being old and with small cells,
while a wese wing of 270 cells of larger size has recently been
completed.
To the Penitentiary are commited both felons and mis-
demeanants. ‘The sentence of imprisonment shall not exceed
‘one year, but if the prisoner is sentenced to pay a fine in
addition, he must serve one day for each dollar of the fine
unpaid. "A fine of 8300 is the maximum that may be imposed.
Commutation of five days for each month of imprisonment is
allowed for good conduct on sentence of six months or more.
There is no parole system.
The Penitentiary was frst occupied in’ 1832. Ie is in no
sense a reformatory. So inadequate has been the equipment
for the education on the inmates that not until 1911 were
any teachers appointed. Stripes are worn, although the
lockstep is not used. ‘The industries are the most progressive
feature of the institu The warden and all other officers
26 appointed by che Commissioner of Correction
By an act of the legislacure in 1895, it was provided that
no more buildings should be built by the Department of
Correction upon Blackwell's Island, and that as soon as prac-
ticable the buildings owned by the said department should be
vaeated and become the property of the Department of Pub-
lic Charities. For many years therefore the Department of
Correction has only made “ repairs,” which have sometimes
extended almost co new structures. This law has seriously
hampered the development of the industries.
‘The purpose of the law was and is to force the removal of
the correctional group of buildings now upon. Blackwell's
Island to other islands or locations. The City plans to make
of Blackwell's Island a hospital park, under the admin-
186 Tur Prison Assoctation or New York.
istration of the Department of Public Charities. Therefore
plans have been made, which will be further outlined on page
198, for the occupation by the Department of Correction of
Riker’s and Hart’s Island by modern prison buildings
The industries of the Penitentiary fall under the Prison
Law, in the same manner that the sale of the product of the
State prisons is controlled. No penitentiary-made products
may be disposed of in the open market. The products are
sold to other city departments. A recent inspection made
by the Prison Commission, showed the division of inmates
among the industries as follows:
Bedsteads : Barbers
Brooms Bakers
Brushes Boiler room
Carpenter work Halls, kitchen, ete.
Painters... . Laundry
Printers......... Outside 120
Shoemakers. Quarry 66
Tailors... si Stone shed..... 03
Masons
“In the shops the men were not fully employed,” states
the report, “ caused by lack of orders, and from which I infer
that the various public departments are purchasing in the
open market too many of the goods manufactured here.
The latest report of the Department, for 1911, shows chat
substantial progress has been made during the year, both
in extent of production and breadth of work accomplished.
The aggregate shipments for rot1 were $143,679, against
$116,927 for the preceding year. The refilling of cylinder
blocks for the Street Cleaning Department increased the
output considerably. ‘The net earnings are given as $44,470.”
The following recapitulation is given for 198t:
24,113 pairs of shoes and slippers... $28,572
395461 brushes. : 5 21,617
26,457 corn brooms
58,741 street brooms
96,443 clothing and knit goods. .
1,145 hair mattresses and pillows
2,859 iron beds and wire mattresses. .
1,441 cylinder brooms
over Asenentuog a4,
Leanne RENEE
‘Tue Derartwenr or Connection ix New Yors Crrv. 187
4,000 paper bags.
1,469,866 printing
Total sales $143,679 47
Inventory 82,768 78
Charges against Manufacturing Industry
Inventory of Dec. 31, 1910. $92,370 97
Purchases, requisition, 1910.
Purchases, requisition, 191
181,977 78
Earnings or surplus Bet, 470 54
‘The principal departments of the City to which the Depart-
ment of Correction furnished supplies were in 19t1:
Department of Public Charities, Manhattan $29,809 63
Department of Public Charities, Brooklyn. 31995 50
Department of Education 16,680 90
Department of Correction. 22,581 98
Department of Street Cleaning 53,832 17
In addition, the annual report shows a considerable amount
of goods not charged, as well asa large number of ‘goods
repaired. All of which suggests the great need of 2 careful
balancing of the maintenance costs of the Penitentiary as
compared with the earning capacity
‘The per capita per diem cost of maintenance seems to be
for 1901, $. ‘The toral maintenance disbursements for
irr were $240,625. Deducting the net earnings of 844,470,
we have a per capita per diem net cost of 8.479.
‘The Commissioner of Correction states that the industries
could be considerably increased, were the appropriations
forthcoming from the city government.
Population.
‘The average number of inmates during 1911 was 1,
The following statistics show the movement of population:
Male Female Total
Remaining, Dee. 51, 1910. 1,080 1139
Received, 1911 21635 2/809
During year. 30715 3,948
188 Tue Prison Assocration or New York.
Discharged 2,711 158 2,869
Died wor oa
Escaped 1 :
2,722 159. 2,881
ig Dec. 51, 1911 99278. 1,067
‘The ages of the convicts seem to run considerably higher
than those of convicts sent to the State prisons:
Male Female Total
15 to 20 years 219
20 to 25 years $50
25 to 30 years
30 to 35 years.
35 t0 40 years
40 0 45 years
445 to $0 years
50 t0 §5 years.
Over 65 years
A large proportion of the prisoners are illiterate, and
are recorded in the Penitentiary statisties as “ uneducated.”
Two thirds of the men give their social status as ““ unmarried.”
About 60 pet cent. claim to have been born in the Unit:
States. ‘The Italians are the second largest national group,
but register only 377 out of a total of 2,809.
The terms of commitment were the following
Male Female
ea 102
fo days. 1364
go days x63
1 month. 7 6
2 months 10710
5 months 54543
4 months 10315,
Tue Department or Correction in New York Crrv.
Male Female ‘Total
6 months. 61244656
9 months. eer)
to months 42 46
11 months, 29 days 1419283
4 year. 4962 SI7
‘The principal causes of commitment were:
Assault, 3d degree 377
Concealed weapons 204
Grand larceny, 2d degree 107
Intoxication : 152
Petie larceny 732
Tramp 133
Unlawful entey 126
By far the largest number of persons giving an occupation
were those designated as “laborers.” This is an ambiguous
term, probably embracing those who gave no definite occu-
five per cent. of the prisoners had not previously
been received at the Penitentiary. Nine per cent. had been
received once before. Six hundred of the inmates received
had been convicted before and sent to other institutions.
Tux Worxnovse
The Workhouse, located on Blackwell's Island, has at all
times a large and floating population of “ short-termers,” no
commitment to the Workhouse being for more than six months.
The institution receives mainly those convicted of public
intoxication, vagrancy and disorderly conduct
The Workhouse has been severely criticized 2nd condemned
by penotogists and the more intelligent part of the public
for years, Buile in 1852, the dormitories of various sizes; the
lun-modern construction, the necessity of putting even as
many as thirty prisoners in one large room, the character of
the population, and the relative absence of hard work, have
again and again brought down the severest criticism’ upon
the institution and the Deparement.
Tt should be borne in mind that all modern penologists
are agreed that the unsupervised association of prisoners at
night is likely to be attended by most deplorable forms of
190 Tue Prison Assoctation or New York.
vice. Particularly in a prison like the Workhouse is the
population likely to contain a considerable proportion of
immoral or vicious characters. ‘The enforced association of all
kinds of prisoners in the dormitories and cells, even though the
prison authorities seek to make some sort of a classification, is
harrowing in its possibilities. One receives an idea of the
vicious nature of the construction of the Workhouse cells
from the following list of cells in the male prison and their
capacity:
1 cell . 31 inmates.
Eedllssannorentses seosweaecceneenens 3g SaMates,
2eells...scevaee2 . 27 inmates.
2 cells So. 33 inmates.
Fedlicrusmsnmimmiinecreucecsemmuccuae 18 inmater
3 cells 16 inmates.
5 cellavswoztes se te. 1g inmates.
ee : 13 inmates
2 cells 9 inmates.
Feel... . Saee tee Sinmates.
ete, ete.
The cells in the female prison are not so large, but there
are few cells that contain less than three inmates. For in-
stance:
50 cells. 3 5 inmates
42 cells < i 4 inmates.
14 cells _— . cess 3 inmates.
3 cells. sutnagemecamnaaets 2 inmates.
8 cells. : 1 inmate.
4 cells © inmate.
The female prisoner is thus forced into the most intimate
association with others, even against her will. And as will
be seen from the population statistics, the proportion of
women sent to the prison for intoxication and for prostitution
is large. Nor have the cells modern toilet conveniences.
Inder such conditions, and in view of che industrially
inferior population, it can hardly be expected that the record
ot the reputation of the Workhouse can be satisfactory.
There is capacity for 583 male prisoners, and for 528 female
prisoners. Three branch workhouses, of which one is on
‘Tae Department of Correction in New York Crry, 19t
Riker’s Island, and two are on Hart's Island, will be described
later in this chapter.
Commitments and Population. To the Workhouse are
committed misdemeanants and those who have violated City
ordinances. The term of imprisonment shall not exceed six
months. Certain categories of inmates may be discharged
after twenty days on order of the committing magistrate
There is no parole system.
Male Female Total
Remaining December 31, 1910 527383 gto
‘Admitted during year 90467 6535 15,818
Returned from other institutions 520209729
Total 10,514 6,943 17,457
Discharged : 71504 6,034 134538
‘Transferred to other insticutions 2,390 2,836
Died 28 “4
Total 91922 16,418
Remaining, Workhouse, Dec. 31, 1911.. 592 1,039
Remaining, other institutions 470 369,
Total remaining on register, Dec.
3% 1911 1,062 546 1,608
In short, nearly sixteen thousand people were received at
the Workhouse during 19rt. If the early stages of crimi-
nality offer the greatest chance of reformation; and if the
lesser prisons can easily become under improper adminis-
tration or equipment schools of crime for the Reformatory
and the State Prison later, what can be said about the Work-
house maintained by the City of New York?
Nearly 600 other prisoners of the Workhouse were assigned
on December 31, 1911, to other institutions of the city. To
each of the district prisons are sent “helpers” to do the
ordinary cleaning and other unskilled work.
‘The ages of the Workhouse prisoners run high, as compared
to the ages of Reformatory and State prisoners.
‘Tue Prison Association or New York,
Males Females
17 years and under re 6
18 to 21 years 1317351
21 t0 25 years. 14333 1,486
26 to 35 years 2,343 24557
35 to 50 years 24631 1,452
51 t0 65 years nyo 452
66 and over, 2330147
91467 6,35
Several significant facts are shown above. Sixty-three per
cent, of the male inmates admicted during the year were over
2g years of age, and 73 per cent. of the female inmates
admitted during the year were over 25 years of age, Bur
there were nearly 40 per cent. of male inmates nnder 26 years
of age, and over 25 per cent. of female inmates under 26 years
Of age. In short, the Workhouse offers a distinerly: menacing
School for vice and crime, because of the necessary’ association
of prisoners ia the large cells and rooms.
Throughout the civilized world penologists condemn the
custom of short sentences, many saying: “ Better no sen-
tence at all than one of a few days.” Yee the following was
the record at the Workhouse for 1911
Males Females Toral
5 t0 5 days 2,919 5669
10 days 1,601 2.766
15 days, 11534 21107
2 t0 3 months 750 1150
2 to 6 months. 2,917 4,000,
Over six months 126 126
9.487 15,818
ty-seven per cent. therefore ofthe inmates served fiteen
lays or less. This refers to the sentence, and not to the fact
GRRE REISE, re cues the order of he maginrate discharged
the inmate before the expiration of his or her sentence.
“The record of “ times committed” is serious enough to be
an indicement of the short sentence system. ‘The following
table is illustrative:
‘Tue Derartwenr oF Correction ix New York Crrv. 193
‘Times Commrrrep.
toa 3 4 5 G4o 420 Total
Males... 6,328 1,565 537 513 123 2763.67
Females. 2,184 1,143 762
8,513 2,709 1,419 1,246 358 1,570
To the Workhouse are sent mainly those convicted of
disorderly conduct, which also includes prostitution, intoxi-
cation, and vagrancy. Indeed intoxication, vagrancy and
disorderly conduct are three of the four chief causes of
commitment to penal institutions throughout the United
States. More than half the Workhouse population claim to
have been born in the United States, those born in Ireland
occupying the second place in the list.
As to the kind and amount of labor performed by Work-
house prisoners at the Workhouse, the Department presents
the following statistical rable
Total number days’ work performed by male prisoners
‘of Workhouse 215,581
Total number days’ work performed by female
prisoners 158,329
‘Total number of days’ work performed by Workhouse
prisoners at other institutions during fiscal year 1911 99,622
Were these working days of eight hours’ duration and of
relatively hard work, this would be an imposing total. In
practice, however, the working days are of very varying
lengths and the work is of very varying laboriousness. The
industries at che Workhouse ate, in proportion to the possi
bilities of labor, slight and it is generally fele that the ourput
doth as to the produce and as to hours could be increased
many fold. One activity of the Workhouse population is the
handling of articles for the Department of Public Charities
md for the Department of Correction, the island being
setved by steamboats, Three hundred and sixty thousand
pieces were handled for the Department of, Public Charities
and 254,000 for the Department of Correction,
8
194 ‘ap Prison Association of New York.
Yn a word, a most serious need is an accounting system
whereby the Workhouse would be able to show the relative
Fnancial value of the activity of the Workhouse inmates,
Finances, ‘The total expenditures for maintenance for the
Workhouse during the fiseal year of rgrt were $194,871, The
total per capita per diem cost averaged $.522. Nothing in
the report of the Department credits the Workhouse with
ancial product. Hence the figure $.522 represents
sel cee Mfgure is. considerably
gross per capita per diem cost. This
greater than the per capita per diem cost of State prisons.
Brancn WorkHouses
“The Department of Correction maintains also two branch
Warthosten one. on Riker’s Island and one on Hare's
ker's Island is situated but a short distance
above Hellgate, and in proximity to North Brother Istand.
Harv’s Island is opposite City Island, and is a sail of several
from the Department's Dock at the foot of East 26th
"Ac the Branch Workhouse on Riker's Island are
prisoners,
hou:
Street.
employed Workhouse prisoners and Penitentian
Ehiefy in grading, complesing the sea wall, building roads,
Excavating, filling in and to a limited extent gardening,
Riker's Island is City property. The original island had
an area of some 80 acres. A number of years ago the City
fetermined to fill in Riker’s Island, and erected a sea wall to
aeterne te Hilts of the Island. When entiely filled in,
pearly so acres will be available, of which more than 400
nares will be made-land. ‘The Screet Cleaning Deparment
Je furnishing the fling from the street sweepings and refuse
OF the streets, The prisoners are employed in the unskilled
Srork of filling, grading and the like. Later in this chaprer
ae he intention of the Department of
mention will be made of
‘ for the purpose of a municipal
Correction to use this island
fatsee's Island is much smaller, having an area of approxi
mately 100 acres. Upon Hart’s Island are located not only
the buildings of the Branch Workhouse, but of the City
Reformatory (see page 153) and the Branch Workhouse
for Women. The Potter's Field, with an area of 20 acres,
occupies the middle section of the Island. Here 172,569
Bodies have been interred, the labor being done by inmates
of the Branch Workhouse
‘Tue Derartwent oF Correction in New York City. 195
To the Branch Workhouse at Riker’s Island are sent able-
bodied prisoners, who live in shacks. To the Hart’s Island
Branch Workhouse are sent mainly the crippled and the
aged, so that it resembles in large measure an almshouse
with powers of detention. At the northern end of Hart’s
Island is 2 Branch Workhouse for Women, with small shacks
for buildings. Here women with babies are sent.
‘The statistics regarding the Branch Workhouse popula-
tion, so far as ages, social conditions, etc., are concerned,
are similar to those cited for the main Workhouse. The
maintenance cost of the Branch Workhouse on Riker’s Island
in rgrt was $29,201, an average daily per capita of $834.
While this per capita cost is large, the labor of these inmates
is probably as profitable as that of any prison labor to the
city. The average daily population at the Riker's Island
Workhouse was 98.
At the Branch Workhouse on Hart's Island the average
population is much. larger, numbering 474. ‘The Branch
Workhouse cost of maintenance in 191t was $163,579, an
average per capita per diem cost of $.967. This is probably
the most unproductive group of City prisoners. At the
Branch Workhouse, the leading industries, apart from the
general work at the Potter's Field and in the halls and kit
chens, was the stone-shed work, the manufacture of ice and
the raising of vegetables,
‘At the Potter's Field, from the opening of the cemetery
in 1869 to the close of the fiscal year of 1911, the total burials
were 172,569. During 1911 there were 5,571 interments
and 66 disinterments. The bodies are those of paupers.
‘The Foundling Hospital furnished of the 5,571 bodies, 1,115
or 20 per cent.
‘The Outdoor Poor Department (Department of Public
Charities) furnished 2,156 bodies, or approximately 40 per
cent.; Bellevue 620 bodies, or about 9 per cent.
In the Branch Workhouse at Hart’s Island are found a
relatively large proportion of inmates serving from two to
six months. Over 50 per cent. of the inmates had been pre~
viously committed. Most of the commitments are for
vagrancy. The Hospital at Hart’s Island is naturally quite
active, the total number of cases treated during r9rt being
733
196 Tue Prison Association or New York.
‘Tae City Prison, BRooxtyy.
In Brooklyn the Department of Correction has control
and administration of the City Prison which is located at
149 Raymond Street. This prison is commonly known as
the Raymond Street Jail. Ir serves both as a remand
prison for prisoners awaiting trial and as a prison for con-
vieted offenders. In the absence of districe prisons in Brook-
lyn adjacent to the courts, prisoners awaiting trial, even in
the lesser courts, must be brought from the City Prison and
returned to the City Prison after trial. ‘The prison occupies
approximately a city block and has only a small yard for
exercise purposes, There are no industries at the prison
In this respect it compares with many county jails where
unemployment and idleness prevail.
Population:
Remaining at City Prison December Male Female Total
3%, 1911... : 226 3357
Received during year 56,973 1,815 18,788
Transferred during year....0....-. 1,985 377
Discharged during year. 14,949 15383
Died 2 1
Escaped . a: wey
Remaining December 33, 1911... 257 32
‘The daily average census for prisoners for the year 1911
was 274. The total maintenance cost of the City Prison for
the year 1911 was $90,962, the average per capita per diem
cost being $.919.
Nothing ‘could speak more loudly for the constant and
active employment of prisoners, to reduce the cost of prison
maintenance, than a per capita per diem cost of nearly $1.00,
Population; Summary izing the population sta-
tistics of the New York City institutions under the Deparc-
ment of Correction for the year 190-11 we have the following:
Male Female Total
Admissions during year............ 76,286 18,945. 95,231
Discharges during year. . 76,025 18,924 94.949
Tar Derartwent or Correction ix New York Crry. 197
Future of the Department of Correction. At the Third
City Conference of Charities and Correction, held in New
York City in May, 1912, O. F. Lewis, the General Secretary
of the Prison Association of New York, stated the principal
needs of the Department of Correction. ‘The following
paragraphs ate quoted from his report
principal deficiencies of the Department of Correction
my opinion the following:
1. The liability that in the future, as too often in the past,
the department will be made a political plum. I am glad to
commend highly vhe attitude of the present Commissioner of
Correction toward improvements in this department.
2, The doubling-up system, that is, two or more prisoners
in a single cell, necessitated by the excess of population over
cells. This occurs particularly in the District Prisons, the
Tombs, the Workhouse and to some extent in the Penitentiary.
g. The antiquity of the buildings and their inadequacy for
the general purpose of modern prison and reformatory treatment.
4- The location of the Workhouse and the Penitentiary on
Blackwell's Island, admitting of inadequate farm space.
5. The inadequacy of industrial equipment in all the insti
tutions for convicted prisoners.
6. ‘The unprogressiveness in the past in relation to the Hart's
Island Reformatory, whereby after seven years the Reformatory
is manifesting practically the firse inkling of the reformatory
system.
7. The absence of industrial training and effort to develop
the industrial side of the institutions,
‘The general low average grade of officials in the prisons.
9. The absence of modem prison methods of administering
the prisons of the Department, in connection not only wit
labor, but with health, recreation, education and rehabilitation.
10. The absence of any clear knowledge on the part not only
of the general public, but even of those especially appointed to
estimate and pass upon the needs of the Department of Corree-
tion, a situation arising from the indifference or the inability
of the Department in the past to present the necessary facts
relating to the Department.
11. The absence of any coordinated system which would
enable prisoners released from institutions of the Department
of Correction to find friends or help on their release.
~T Proceedings Thied New York City Conf, Charities and Correction, 1912, pp. 29-31
198 Tue Prison Association or New York.
“Suggestions, therefore, as to the development of the
Department of Correction are in general che following:
1. The general cooperation between the Department of C
rection, the Prison Association, the Bureau of Municipal Re-
search and other organizations on the one hand, and the City
government on the other in all questions involving important
appropriations or important movements in che administration
of the Department of Correction,
2. The development of x plan of insticutional and adminisera-
tive improvement in the Department.
3. As part of this plan the establishment of the following
(a) The City Reformatory for Misdemeanants to be relocated
on a combination congregate and cottage plan, in the country,
with accommodations for sco inmates.
(b) The establishment of a new Workhouse on Riker’s Island
to accommodate approximately 1,200 male inmates; Riker's
Island to be filled in as soon as possible; top soil to be added
to the necessary depth, and the island to be made ultimately a
great municipal farm, cultivated by che work of male inmates
of the Workhouse,
(6) The women inmates of the Workhouse to be removed to
Hare's Island as soon as the inmates of the City Reformatory are
removed to the country; ultimately the women to be moved
from the Hart's Island City Reformatory buildings to a separate
stitution in che countey for women misdemeanants of the City
of New York.
@) A Penitentiary to be established on che southern portion
of Hare’s Island, to he an Industrial Penitentiary, manufacturing
as large an output as possible for che City departments, the
products to be mainly those which the City needs in large quan-
tity, such as school furniture, boots and shoes, beds, ete.
(©) The Tombs to be added to, to the extent of a new building
buile upon mose modern lines, probably south of the present
Tombs, thereby providing a separate cell for each prisoner
(f) A Detention Prison for Women, to be erected in a central
part of Manbatran to take the place of the women’s prison in
the City Prison and to afford adequate opportunity for obser-
vation purposes; but not to be a prison for women convicted of
Tue Drrartment oy Correction in New York Cry. 199
(g) The gradual but not neglected renovation of the District
Prisons, to conform to modern theories of the housing of
offenders,
“Thave not by any means exhausted the important needed
improvements in the Department of Correction, but have
offered a skeleton for immediate consideration. So far as
the work and equipment of the Department of Correction
in this city is concerned as compared with similar institutions
here and abroad, my experience shows that we are by no
means obtaining from our prisoners the amount of indus-
trial return that we might; that we are in lietle or no way
giving our convicted prisoners the advantages of education
or of reformation; and that in general our institutions are
regretted if no ridiculed by modern penologists in his country
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
PENITENTIARIES AND JAILS.
PrxrrenTianies.
Ts word “penitentiary,” in New York, means a county
ison, nota State prison. To penitentiaries are
eemfeted felons as well as misdemeananrs, but in no
case for longer than one year, although the convicted prisoner
may also be visited with a fine. In case the fine is noe paid,
the prisoner must serve one day for each dollar remaining
unpaid at the time that his sentence expires. Felons sentenced
to over one year are sent to a State prison. The county
penitentiary therefore is an. institution that has come to
have partly the attributes of a State prison and partly those
of a county jail.
There are five county penitentiaries in New York
New York County Penitentiary, Blackwell's Island.
Albany County Penitentiary, at Albany. .
Onondaga County Penitentiary, at Jamesburg, near Syracuse.
County Penitentiary, at Rochester.
Penitentiary, at Buffalo.
Dissatisfaction with the continuance of county peniten-
tiaries is increasing, and in the Legislature of 1913.2 bill will
undoubtedly be introduced by the Prison Commission pro-
viding that the county penitentiaries shall be acquired by
the State, and become State district workhouses. Serong
arguments have been advanced against the county_peniten-
tiaries as centers of idleness, slothfulness and non-reformative
influences. And with the exception of the New York County.
Penitentiary, industriousness such as can be found in the
State prisons is often conspicuously absent, Sentences to the
penitentiaries are in general shore. ‘The cost of the maintenance
of the institutions is not at all compensated for by recurns
from prisoners’ labor. ‘The population of the institutions is
naturally largely of a slochful nature, and at present the absence
* Penirentianiss aNp Jals. 201
of reformative agencies or comprehensive plans for the main-
tenance of industries makes specialists believe that the only
solution of the “county penitentiary problem ” is that they
be taken over by the State.
‘More specifically, it can be stated that “ prisoners’ at the
New York county institution are kept fairly busy; at Albany
a deplorable condition of idleness prevails; at Erie, while the
board of supervisors has been seriously considering the matter
of work for prisoners, nothing of a permanent nature has as
yet been put into operation, Monroe county continues to do
a large amount of farm work, which furnishes very considerable
employment during the farming season, but there is still great
idleness during the winter, at a time when the population is
the greatest. In Onondaga, in addition to the farm and quarry
work heretofore carried on during the summer, an experiment
has been made in road building, with fairly satisfactory
The State Commission of Prisons has been the leader in
the agitation for the taking over of the county penitentiaries
by the State, with the following arguments:
First: Inmates have been sentenced thereto for the violation
of some State law. Iv is unwise to farm out the punishment of
these offenders to any institution or local authority not exelu-
sively under the control of the State.
cond: “There is no real economy to the taxpayer in main-
taining these institutions by the county. The State is con-
tributing every year from its own treasury a very large amount
for the maintenance of these penitentiaries, in paying for the
maintenance of all tramps and also of persons convicted of
felony and sentenced thereto. The State in 1911 paid $86,926
for 3,498 persons thus committed
Third: ‘The institutions under county management afford
practically no facilities for the mental, moral and industrial
improvement of the prisoner; all our State institutions now
furnish opporcunities for instruction in letcers and trades.
Large numbers of these prisoners are boys between the ages
of sixteen and ewenty-one, who should be receiving industrial
and reformatory instruction.
‘The maintenance of penitentiaries by counties is voluntary.
Providing necessary institutions for the care of persons sentenced
to imprisonment for violating of State law is an imperative
Sta
202 Tue Prison Association or New "York.
‘The following statistical tables are reprinted from the report
of the Prison Commission for 1911
|, Tova Number of Total Number of,
pike ia'Gussody | Brtomers in Custody
Sine | "Berembersosie | Seiembetsoaiy
Mate | Female Tota
Albany... 2199 190) 206
Erie 318) + 520 347
Montoe 32: 3s
New York. 983 on
‘Onondaga 359] 396
[seek
Total. 168) 2,295
Nami of Prins
Perret en ect
olin Celie" | Year dig
Male | Female| Tota |
1,075}
4922
Onondaga
Total.
Penrrenriaries AND Jans 203
Avprace Dany Numsee oF Prisoners iv Custopy Dunine THE
‘Year ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 1911.
couNTY
Albany.
Brie
Monroe
New York
Onondaga
Total.
1 Caracrry oF Insrrrutions — Now
INTY Single
Albany -”
Erie Cn
Monroe a
New York.
Onondaga
Total
20g ‘Tae Paisox Assocratron or New York. PeNITENTIARIES AND JAILs.
Enoine SEPTEMBER 50, 1914
‘Tem oF SouteNce oF Pri
‘Tue Prison Assoctation or New York.
wowace
| New Yous
a
oy Were Coxrivea ow Serrewsen 5
T
Snownne tae Nuxagn op Ties tts Pausonsns AosrteD Du
PoNrTeNTIARIES AND Jats. 207
General facts—The cost of the five county penitentiaries
to their respective counties in the fiscal year 1910-1911 was
8494798, the great bulk of which was net cost. It has been
impossible to figure the per capita cost of maintenance in the
several institutions,
Single men predominate in the ratio of three to one. Most
of the prisoners are able to read and write. In the ratio of
two to one the prisoners are intemperate. Native born pre=
dominate over foreign born ewo to one. More than one half
the prisoners are Catholics, and about one third are Protestants.
‘The most frequent causes of commitment are the following
for the fiseal year in question.
Assualt, third degree and ateempts.. 753
Bexging 237
Burglary, third degree and attempts! .......... 153
Carrying concealed weapons
Disorderly conduct
Grand larceny, second degree and attempts
Intoxication
Pesty larceny and attempts
Riding on callrond erin egal
‘Tramps
Vagrancy
All other causes
‘The very significant fact in the above statistics is that the
following causes of commitment gave the percentages of com-
mitments cited therewith:
Intoxication 29 per cent.
1 18 per cent.
Vagrancy 7 per cent.
‘A total of 54 per cens, oF more than one in every two commit-
a County Jats.
No correctional institution has been so severely criticised
in this country as the county jail. “In the State of New York
the law contemplates that jail shall contain both those
208 Tu Prison Association or New York. Penrrentiaries anp Jauts. 209
detained for trial and those convicted, and it must necessarily There was 2 cime when local conttol was necessary and proper
continue to do so until either the State or the counties provide J! but that was long ago. Today the county: prison is an anach-
a large number of workhouses for the housing of prisoners now | ronism. We imported it with other institutions from England,
sentenced for short terms to county jails.” but conservative England has outgrown it and dates the dawn
"Our jail system is a survival of former times. It has been of its regenerate prison system from the year of its abolition,
adapted to various uses through the pioneer period. It is There is no good and sufficient reason why the State which
pow a curious remnant of the past, not adapted to present enacts a criminal code with its defnition of exime, its prohibi-
conditions or needs tions and its penalties should assume the custody and care of
‘At the National Conference of Charities and Correction in the man committed to prison for three years and refuse ro recog-
Boston, June, 1911, Frederic H. Wines, a life-long opponent nize its responsiblity for the man sentenced for thzee months,
of the American jail system, delivered a ringing arraignment abandoning him to the haphazard mercies of the inferior juris-
of the jail, which is herewith summarized: | diction which is certainly ignorant, often brutal and sometimes
dishonest. Tt is not the majesty of the county but that of the
“The average county or municipal jail in chis counery isa school State which calls for vindication. ‘The supervision of crime,
for crime, a cesspool of moral contagion, a propagating house lee it vake what form it may; is the business of the State. The
of criminality, a feeder for che penitentiary, 2 public nuisance State should name, and it should have exclusive authority,
fand a disgrace to modern civilization public indifference lover the executive agents to whom i entrusts the discharge
to the situation is attribured partly to ignorance. The county of this supreme governmental function.
officials do not know what a jail should be and the people do ‘The one hope of enlightened progress in dealing with che
not know what their jails really axe, In plain Anglo-Saxon, problem of erime is the overthrow of the county jail system.
the cruth is that wherever there exists local graft and political To this end we muse direct our energy. With the State once
dishonesty the county prison is its center and its stronghold. in command, there can be no question but it will find a way
The sheriff or the jailor makes a personal profit from crime by to right the wrong and remedy the evils which inhere in the
charging a per diem for board for prisoners and by the receipe present organization and management of minor prisons.
of fees for locking and unlocking the jail doors. That profit
is a live wire. No local politician, possibly no member of the
Legislature or even of the State administration dares monkey
In the State of New York there are 65 county jails. On
September 31, 1911, there was a total population of 1,782
isla men and 163 women. The population ranged on that date
with i sanyreeacuengnes sour tievectensstoy from tar persons in the Westchester county jail tox inmate
oe a eee nice aah gce because we com, | Of the Schuyler couney jai. The jail population is a very
centrated our fie upon a vulnerable point and made every rapidly changing group. During the fiscal year from October
Se Fecal ae cues ial pstem ne ave puraed | 1970 «9 September joy tort the admissions tothe county
the opposite policy. We have addressed our arguments and jails numbered 35,351 males and 1,958 females. These figures
paca voles ide aa ancmnaureol Sh ‘ do not include the institutions of New York city under the
remonstrances co the county suthorcis, of whom these are i Deiat of Coreton
ound umber « 500'sexs, aneesad of oa, chs legislative, bodies Returning now to the consideration of the number of inmates
fof which there are less than fifty. We have pleaded for new new to the
jails, better jails, when we should have demanded their replace- 1s isilsion' Seprembers30, tots Ot the coral Husaber, which
ment by prisons owned and controlled by the State and their ees fifa gales SdH) females cote alters rere
emanci jon from local political control with its petty and fe Bkurep yee’ aa) follows:
selish interest. Awaiting tral
hn an Mates
Fe tmnt tees
210. Tae Prison Association or New York.
Convicted of crime:
Males.
Females
Wirnesses:
Males.
Females
Debtors:
Males
Females
“These figures should be carefully studied, in the light of the
following question. What kind of surroundings, what, kind
of bed, of cell, of food, of sanitary conveniences should be
provided for those who, arrested on the charge of crime, are
Iegally to be considered presumptively innocent? Should they
Be treated as guilty and forced to mingle with those convicted
of crime?
employment? $
izing rounder
that is exactly what happens.
the “suspects,” those arrested and hel
have to await for a quarter of a year or more the sitting of the
grand jury, the function of which is to pass upon. the ques-
Jon whether there is enough evidence of the commission of a
crime to warrant holding the prisoner furcher for
“The typical councy jail is a two-story structure, with incetior
cell blocks, or with cell blocks affording a corridor between
the blocks and the building wall, as well as an interior corridor.
The cells have only indirect light. In the central corridor or
in the outside corridors the inmates of the jail often loaf the
entire day. Most of the jails provide no work, even for the
Convicted prisoners. The jails are under county management,
snd arrangements are seldom made for the marketing of any
products. So idleness and often debauchery prevails, ‘To be
Pure, the “juveniles” are by law separated from the older
inmates, and the women have separate quarters.
The Brison Commission has given for a number of years its
special attention to the betterment of jail conditions, through
Fhinly. rigid. inspection and persistent recommendations to
counties to improve their faulty jails. A number of new jails
have been built and counties have been forced to consider
Penrrentianigs AND Jars. 2m
the problem of employing their prisoners. In recent years
new jails have been built in Kings, Suffolk, Essex, Tioga,
Goshen and Rensselaer counties. Since 1905, when the present
Faison, Commission was created, forty-five counties of the
ate have cither built entirely new jails, or enlarged ai
modernized their jails. YY new Jallsy or enlarged and
Gonral fas OF tose adie wo county jas during the
fiscal year 1910-1911, 25,47 were native born and 11,962 were
foreign born. Of those committed to the jails during the year
less chan half were sentenced to imprisonment after conviction.
The persons giving thet social seatar tangle” audicinguished
: atu a8 “single ” as distinguishes
from ** marcied " outranked the “ ay
Taartied” in the proportion
of two and one-half to one. me
dees
‘rider sateen years
Male
Female %
Sixteen and under ewenty-one
Male ase
, Female... “289
Twenty-one and not over thir
Male
Female aed
m7
Over thirty
Male 20.493
Female. on
Total: a
Male
Fonis 7s
1938
CHAPTER NINETEEN.
PROBATION AND THE, PROBATION COMMISSION.
ment, This is erroneous, Probation is a suspension
Of imprisonment during good behavior. Sometimes
probation is accompanied by the requirement that so far
Bp possible compensation shall be made by the probationer
for the injury that he has caused, and which led to his trial
and conviction.
rhe principle of probation is easy to understand. Pro-
paritg Ria commonsense answer to the question: “Why
Should we send. to prison a person who probably will not
commit another crime, and who, if given a reasonable chance,
wil reform without the stigma of imprisonment and the
attendant possibility of becoming criminal through the
Eriminal associations of the prison?”
"Therefore the State Probation Commission gives the follow-
ing definition of probation
Pprers is generally called a substitute for imprison-
: conduct of convicted adult offenders and juve-
and improve the te
wile delinquents, without commitment co an institution,
aie gear f behavior ad under the auchoriatve, bial
Sversight of an official known as a probation officer.
‘The placed on probation are ustally required — For a period
varying from a few months to a year or two— Co report
Texalerly to the probation officer, and to observe certain restric-
Ca oa ou to th etoon amd behav, The
Tabation officer, besides receiving reports fram these proba.
jruheie homes, makes inquiries from other sources concerning
their conduct and manner of life, and aids chem in practical
Says to become rehabilitated as orderly, useful members of
wey? Hany probationer fils co satisfy the conditions laid
Gown by the court, he may be returned to court for commitment
or other treatment
In short, John Doe, convicted of grand larceny, and stand-
ing before the judge for sentence, may hear these words:
form in New York State, has ‘come to stay.
Propation AND THE PRonatioN Comission. 213
“Doe, you have been found guilty of grand larceny. The
penalty that might be imposed upon you is so-and-so many
years in State prison, or a sentence to Elmira Reformatory.
The probation officer has made a careful investigation of
the circumstances of your deed, and of your home surround
ings, your employment, and has also with much care learned
what your employers, your people, and others who know
you well have to say about you. The reports that come to
me are in the main very favorable. It appears that you
committed this very serious erime when you were intoxicated,
and in the company of a number of young fellows, two of
whom have already served a term in the Elmira Reformatory.
I believe thar you were led astray by your associates, and
that this trial, and the ignominy of this appearance in court
as a criminal will teach you a sufficient lesson. Sentence
is therefore suspended upon you during your good behavior.
You are placed in charge of Mr. Kimball, the probation
officer of the Prison Association, to whom you are to report
weekly until he tells you that you need no longer do so. If
you do not observe carefully the rules that Mr. Kimball
lays down to you, he will return you to this court, and I
shall impose sentence upon you. You have one more chance
to make good. Profit by it.”
What are the essentials of a good probation system’
Briefly:
1. A wise judge, discriminating in his choice of probationers.
2. An adequate and experienced corps of probation officers,
preferably chosen from civil service lists.
3. Systematic supervision and assistance of probationers.
4 An adequate period of probation,
5. Regular reports to the judges as to the conduct and other
circumstances of probationers.
6. No overcrowding of probation officers, through the assign-
ment of too many eases.
7. Rigorous prosecutions of delinquent probationers.
8. Cordial and considerate appreciation of the difficulties
attending a wise administration of the probation system by
jndges, by district attorney's office and by the public.
Probation, although only twelve years old in, its present
Te is an
214 Tar Prison Association or New York.
inherent right of the court to suspend sentence, but a sus-
vended sentence without a period of supervision of the recent
prisoner by a probation officer is largely futile.
The State of Massachusetts took the lead in the direction
of creating probation officers in 1869 by passing, an. act
fequiting the governor of the Stace to appoint a “ visiting
Seine” This act was confined to juvenile probation. In
3878 an act was passed in Massachusetts, applicable only
to Boston, providing for probation officers for adults. Some
Important dates in the development of probation throughout
the United States are the following:*
s8ot, Judges of cach municipal and pelice and district court
Mecctinhectay required so appoint a least one. probation
office.
Gi. Probation organization extended to che superior cour
Maseachuseits
See hade Island adopted probation in a mie form.
toe New Jersey and Vermont followed
1200 Rint adult probation jn Now York State enacted.
Data Be Somel J Baurows, secretary of the Prison Assocs-
Dereon Work Authoreed all courts baving.exgial
Sete jundiction to use. probation -pracdeally without
Califia, Connecticut, and Michigan adopted adul
robation
° 1905. Maine adopted adult probation in ‘Cumberland county
1985: Tadiana etablished adult probation, excluding specie
Toe. Obi
Joo, Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, Oregons
Pennsylvania, Wisconsin.
1910. District of Columbia.
191. Delaware.
Mr. Wade states that while adult probation has made
great progress during the past ten years, it has not kept
pace with juvenile probation in the number of States adopt-
Ihe it or in its general use in many States in which both
systems have been established.
“Fe Prevent Status of Probation, Frank E, Wade in Sept, 1012) Review.
PRopatioN AND THE Pxosarion Commission. 215
In New York State the milestones in probation have'been
the following:
1g0t. Adult probation established
1902. Authorization éo place children on probation, and exten-
sion of probation system throughout State, instead of applying
solely to cites
1905. Appointment by Legislature of a commission to inves-
tigate the workings of the probation system.
1906. Report of that commission
1907. Establishment of the State Probation Commission.
Thirty-five salaried probation officers employed in State.
1910. Number of salaried officers has increased to 109. About,
2,000 children each year placed on probation.
Probation therefore can_be considered firmly established
in principle in this State. ‘The center of the probation move-
ment in the State is the State Probation Commission, estab-
lished in 1907. This Commission has its offices at ‘Albany
(Address: State Probation Commission, ‘The Capitol, Albany),
and its duties are as follows:!
1. To exercise general supervision over the work of probation
officers, and to keep informed as to their work.
2. To collect and publish statistical information and other
information as to the operations of the probation system.
3. To inquire into the conduct and ficiency of probation
officers, and when advisable, to conduct a formal investigation
of the work of any probation officer.
4. To secure the effective application of che probation system,
and the enforcement ofthe probation law in all parts ofthe
age inform magistrates and probation ofices of leiaton
ivectly affecting probation, and eo publish a list of probation
officers
6. To make an annual report to the Legislature.
‘The Probation Commission is an indispensable part of
the correctional system of the State. The following sta-
tistics and paragraphs are summarized from portions of the
fifth annual report of the Commission
‘There was a marked growth in the use of probation during
the year ending December 31, 1911. There were 4,748 persons
TFifth Annual Report, State Probation Commission, 9.9.
‘Tne Parson AssociaTion or New York,
on probation ding pte o lof de year, OF she nar
10,669 were aceon Pe compared sith the preceding Year
sins lowing semen, seas inthe Sate de
i Children Adults Total
3,849 10,899 14.748
On probation during year. . phe 10.00 THe
Placed on probation during year
Remaining on probation, December
3 1911
Percentage of persons passed from
probation reported as improved
Number of cities using probation
Counties in shich the supreme or county co
tused probation
Towns and villages using probation, :
Probation officers holding appointments, Dec. 31; 191
Salaried, publicly
Salaried, privately
Detailed from other branches.
Volunteers se
jon officers appointed during the year
1,176
mutt, x both,
about.
Volunteers.
i , according to
Probation Commission during 91%, according. ©
ste eS uat reports completed a manual and directory, revised
i anaes of forms, prepared and published a uniform syscem
a aeeeimee, cashbooks, ledgers and other. documents, assis
mg a municipal juvenile detention home in Syraciy
in securing 2 riled investigation and made recommends:
ons oa end: investigacions in other parts of the State
court, and Tompetitive examinations for probation officer
cone erence for probation oficers, and assisted in arranging
Bethe annual ‘conference of magistrates. Many othet
FOr ate athe Commission will be found in the annua
= probation officers have
port:
o ual State conferences of b
Te ities teat State Probation Com-
been held under the auspices of the
PROBATION AND THE PROBATION CoMMISsION. 217
mission, At the fourth conference, at Watertown, in October,
1gtt, the following topics were discussed:
How to deal with boy probationers under sixteen years of age.
How to deal with girl probationers under sixteen yeats of age.
Requiring probationers to pay moneys for family support,
restitution, reparation and fines
‘The probationary treatment of drunkenness.
The difficulties in che administration of probation today
lie principally in the attitude of judges toward the system
and in the securing of properly qualified probation officers.
Judges should keep in close touch with the working of the
system in their court. Probation officers should be persons
of integrity and experience. Tt has been demonstrated that
civil service examinations for probation officers are not only
advisable bur very feasible. A disposition has frequently
heen shown to appoint policemen, sheriffs and officers attached
to police stations, jails and prisons as probation officers.
Friends of politicians have been suggested, and persons with
warm hearts and deep sympathy, as though these were the
only qualifications necessary. Mr. Wade's recommenda-
tions before the National Probation Association were:!
First: That the most constructive and effective adult pro-
bation system is one in which the judicial discretion is unre-
striceed in selecting defendants to be placed on probation and
in which all persons released on probation are placed under the
supervision of qualified probation officers appointed by judges.
Secoxp: ‘Thar the appointment of probation officers be
made from competitive civil service examinations in which at
least 50 per cent. be allowed for personality and experience, to
be tested so far as possible through an oral examination.
‘Tuinp: ‘That State probation commissions be established.
Fourru: That probation can safely be used for the public
good in selected cases of felonies in many stares where its use
is now restricted or disallowed.
Fieri: That domestic relations courts be instituted in all
large cities, and that more attention be paid to the use of pro=
bation ia non-support cases in all places,
The Present Status of Probation, Review, Sepe, 1912, p-9
Te Prison Assoctation oF New York.
ation among the courts and
sean: ‘That there be cooperation among the courte and
pee, Taegan so sbsconders from probation,
be urged
Eicurit
probation laws an
Maule probation statutes of
and publish a see of standard fo
book-keeping system for use in adv
Bare in ae eae comple and publish the
the various states; that it prepare
a poo and record blanks and 8
ie probation work.
‘That the National Pi
CHAPTER TWENTY.
VAGRANCY AND THE STATE INDUSTRIAL FARM COLONY.
N January, 1913, the State took title to some 825 acres
situated in the town of Beckman, Dutchess County, for
the purpose of erecting and maintaining thercon x State
Industrial Farm Colony for Tramps and Vagrants. The Colony
station is Green Haven, 19 miles southeast of Poughkeepsie
on the Western Division of the New York, New Haven and
Hartford Railroad. This is the most important single step
yet taken by the State or a political division of the State in
combatting the problems of intentional vagrancy.
The act creating the State Industrial Farm Colony is of
sufficient importance to quote in full, in view of a wide-
spread movement in many States to establish so-called tramp
farms.
“Aw Acr in relation to a farm and industrial colony for tramps
and vagrants.
Became a law July 28, 1911, with che approval of the Governor.
Passed, threesfifths being present.
‘The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate
and Assembly, do ena
Section 1 A state industrial
farm colony is hereby established for the detention, humane
discipline, instruction and zeformation of male adults committed
thereto as tramps or vagrants
Sec. 2. Board of managers; appointments, powers and duties.
The said colony shall be under the control and managenient
of a board of seven managers to be appointed by the governor
by and with the advice and consent of the senate, in accordance
with the provisions of sec. 51 of the state charities law. Such
‘managers shall serve without compensation but shall be entitled
co their actual and necessary traveling expenses in che perform-
ance of their official duties. ‘The governor shall have power
to remove any member or members of the said board of managers
39
‘Tae Prison Assoctation or New York.
for cause after an opportunity ro be heard. The said board's
control of the said colony shall include among other things
a. The election of the officers of the said board.
b. The appointment of a superintendence and such other em-
ployees as the said board shall deem proper.
¢. The establishment and alteration of rules. and regulations
for the management of the said colony, including the classi
i 1g of inmates, and a system
rion and credits, by marks or otherwise.
The said board of managers shall ascertain whethe
any lands now owned by the state are suitable for use as a site
for the said farm and industrial colony and available therefor.
If the said board of managers shall find that any lands now
owned by the state are suitable and available for such purpose,
the state authorities having charge and control of such lands
are hereby
transfer said lands to the board of man:
and the said board shall cherenpon eause such
ready for use as a site for such facm and industrial colony
case no lands now onned by the state are found to be suitable
for said farm and industrial colony, the board of managers
hereby established shall, wich the approval of the governor
select a site therefor of toc less than 300 acres, and may ente
into options in behalf of the state for the purchase of such lands
ata price not to exceed sixty thousand dollars, and shall make
full report thereon to the legislature on or before March first
nineteen hundred and twelve. ‘The said board shall cause to
to be made by che state engineer and surveyor a map or maps
of the lands selected, which shall be certified by a majority of
them, and filed in the office of the secretary of state and dupli-
cates thereof in the office of the clerk of the county wherein
such lands are located. It shall be the duty of the said board
to prepare such site as may be required for the use by the said
“colony, t0 provide a water supply and a system of drainage
therefor, to decermine whae buildings are necessary to be
erected thereon for che proper housing and educational and
dustrial training of not less chan five hundred inmates and
to act as a board of managers jn the erection of seid buildings
and in the expenditure of the moneys herein or hereafter appr
priated for the purchase and improvements of the said site
Tn all the work of construction and improvements, the labor of
inmates of the said colony shall be employed wherever and so
far as practicable.
Vacrancy AND THE Stare Inpustrtat Parm CovoNy. 221
See. 4 Commitment; term of detention. When the sai
colony sll be ready to sceive any inmates the mie bos
Shall notify the several county leeks ofall the counties of che
state of that fact. Te shall be the duty of the said county
clerks immediately on receipt of the said olfcal nouikcence
{0 transmit a copy thereof to each and all ofthe averal cone
in thee respective counties and to each and all of the seve
justices of the supreme court and other judges, jurcces sed
Thereafer any aush coute or inagistrate may comm wo dhe
sad colony 20 be thee dened under the procs of hs
act any male over the age of twenty-one who hall be adjedge
by such court or magistrate to be a vagrant of tame bat
no person shall be! 20 commie who shal say he id
coutt or magistrate that he habitually syppors hinslf tou
Inf employmene. Te ie the inte sed meee ea
act thar reputable workmen, temporarily out of work and
seeking employment shall not be deemed eetmps of veprence
nor be committed a auch co the suid colonyy mor shall ane
person be commited to the sid colony for any ater cae
sham herein provided. "Any person who shall be commit
tothe sed colony shall be Uetaned there serene
ace and not otherwise, anything inthe penal aw tothe gone
notwithstanding. Such commitment shall not be fora deka
sem but any such mal a any tine after his commionen,
may be paroled or discharged by the saié hoard of mareeen,
and shall nor in any ate be detained longer than two vests
and unless he shall since reaching the age of sixteen have been
previously commited to a penal institution, he shall hot be
derained longer than eighteen moaths. If through oversight
or otherwise any mae be commieted to the sail elony foe a
deinite period of time, such commitinene shall not fo that
reason be void, but the person so committed aball be ented
to the beneit and subject co the abilities of thin act the
same manner and to the same extent as it the commitment
had been made according to the terms described by this at
See. §. Provisions of code of eiminal procedure tobe felon,
In the commitment of amps and vagrants to the steiner
teal farm colony the provisions of the code of criminal pros
cedure with selaton to such classes shall so far ae conssent
with the provisions of this act, be observed and followed,
Persons committed a8 vagrants shall be local charges a pos
Tur Prison Association of New York.
vided in such code, and those committed as tramps shall be
maintained at the expense of the state as at present, but inno
event shall any locality be charged 2 greater amount for the
‘are of vagrants than the actual per capita cost of their main
tenance in such state industrial farm colony.
‘See. 6. Appropriation. ‘The sum of ten thousand dollars
(10,000), or so much thereof as may be necessary is appro-
priated for the purpose of this act.
‘See. 7. This act shall ake effect immediately.
In the Prison Assosiation’s annual report for sort 3
jeparate chapter was given to the reprinting of an article
iprthe General Secretary of the Prison Association entitled
«The Tramp Problem in the United States "* and the reader
is referred to that reprint. We summarize herewith the main
recommendations of the article
Vagraney is a national problem,
Vasrancy ranked second among causes of commitment 10
penal insitatons, according to the census of 1904
‘We must des! with the tramp evil along broad and national
lines not by federal lav, bat with keen senge of the mations
character of the problem
Formost in atch methods should be the establishing of
farm colonics for the compulsory detention of tramps 30d
‘We must use our best energies 10 the reduction of railway
trespars
Make the cost of maintenance of vagrants and tramps in
conrecdonal insttusione 1 sate charge
Almshouses should. not be used a6 the abode oF restingup
place for able-bodied wortshys
Tris desmable and even necesary that certain state officials
should be delegated vo acest and. prosecute vagrants
Pessvcne effort should be mace in all states to do away so
far ar poutble with the short sentence and the ide ji
Should be organized.
of free employment. urenos
should be established
Targings for honest work-seckers should be provided, at
freee inverale, where they may eat and slesp in revo
fe wok dene
“TBreventh Anal Report, Pritam Asin 9p 7087
VaoraNcy AND THE Stare INpustriat Farw CoLony. 223
‘The low common lodging houses in the cities should be
cleaned up.
Begging on the streets or in public places should be prose-
cuted.
‘The very most effective check on vagrancy is the proper
kind of education between the years from cen to twenty.
Recent Conditions in New York State. For many years
the Prison Commission, the State Board of Charities and
the Prison Association ‘have campaigned for a State farm
for the detention and care of tramps and vagrants. Con
ditions in this Stare were —and still are — approximately
as follows.
as been estimated that the cost to the taxpayers of,
the State from tramps and vagrants amounts to at least
two million dollars annually. It is fair to assume that from
seven to nine thousand differene tramps and vagranes are
committed in any one year to correctional institutions in
this State. Their terms are short and they are sent to insti-
tutions like workhouses, county jails and county penitentiaries
that have no facilities for giving them the kind of treatment,
inseruction and discipline likely to restore them to normal
citizenship.
Cosmirnuenrs of Tramps AND VacRawrs To Correcrionat.
Ixsrirutions, New York Stare.
October 1, 1910~ September 30, 1911.
Penitentiaries
Albany.
Erie
Montoe
New York
Onondaga
Tol < 2,193
Couney jails B15
Total committed as tramps or vagrants to county peni-
tentiaries or county jails, October 1, 1910~September 30,
1911, 9,410
“TAgpual report, Pezon Commision, 2908, p. 8. Nor including commitments to
weir York iy inition.
324 Tue Prison Assoctarton or New York.
fal arguments for a state industrial colony are
a Let us turn now to the legal definitions
therefore strong.
of tramps and vagrants.
Title VI of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides that:
‘The following persons are vagrants: ;
having no visible means of support, live
eet ee re habitual drunkards and
wile goployment; 2) those who a
eae crt aon-suppore of family; (3) those whe, having an
are uly of nenPPo Sartable ax fo) common pest
infections deer et pander aboue wad beg (6) those who
tae (9 thom Tan ive gud secount of cme
ae a eo agin, loerers public places
© i tee gun acount of themiles
be <n eee vagrant in hat he has not
oe i (1) He has no visible
Dei or a one ees wathout employment, of (2) wanders
howe and begs. se () wnders about and
cannot give a good account of himself
Until the State Industrial Farm Colony
je inmates committed thereto, commitments
Yc exeeed six months in peni-
Commitments
is ready to receiv
of vagrants or tramps may no
Commitments 0. th
be for not to exceed ei
ment, and not to excee
‘mitments.
Stare Industral Farm Colony, may
ightcen months for the first commit
red two years on subsequent com
dy te Fe ment has not
Aaminineaion of, State Farm. Axnounce
et been made by the board of managers as to their polici
Tor eee mech forecast may be made. The colony will aim
to rehabilitate its inmates so far as possible for honest tahoe
and industry. While the honor system will be developed
an ihe colony, the inmates will be guarded adequately for
ne heocecton of the neighborhood *
. ‘The agricultural possibilities of the Colony are oath
A-vanety of soils makes possible the growing of practically
all fruits and grains that can be grown in this latitude. The
7 Gode of Criminal Procedure, See. 8873.
VaoRANCY AND THE Stare INpusTRIAL Farm Cooxy, 225
managers will aim to provide the widest possible classifica-
tion of inmates, and by the most modern systems of treat-
ment and awards will aim to stimulate the inmates to industry,
honesty and sobriety. ‘The management is aiming to receive
inmates at the earliest possible moment. The site has been
warmly approved by agricultural experts.
The Future. ‘The State Industrial Farm Colony should
not be regarded as a panacea for the vagrancy evil. In this
connection we repeat paragraphs from the Sixty-seventh
‘Annual Report of the Prison Association:t
‘“Whae will be the result? Prophecy is dangerous. Ie is
believed that che best weapon with which to fight vagrancy is
compulsory work, just as there is nothing like water afver all
with which to fight a large fire, although chemicals may do with
smal] blazes. Wherever work is announced at workhouses,
jails, almshouses and other institutions and organizations, the
attendance of the loafing vageant falls off. Wherever in cities
the mendicancy squads are active and persistent, the city is
relieved of the influx of the panhandler and the whining,
shuffling man who has work to go to on Monday.
“The Farm colony will combine compulsory work with 2 long
enough term of imprisonment (even under restricted liberty)
to make the predatory vagrant careful about traveling through
the State or seeming to be for a considerable time without
employment. And I would say here that the law expressly
states that the colony is not meant for ‘ reputable workmen,
temporarily out of work and seeking employment.” The courts
will be instructed by the board of managers of the colony when
i is ready to receive inmates, that the colony is meant not for
those tramps who can be readily swung back into inlusteial
life and self-support, but for those ‘ customers,’ as the Germans
call chem, who have purposely and persistently defied the effores
of the law and the customs of the community.
“Hence ic is reasonable to expect that the total number of
vagrants in the State will be reduced. But, says the inhabi-
tant of New Jersey, you are simply throwing the tramps into
New Jersey and Connecticut. True; but the advice of New
York is that both New Jersey and Connecticut establish. farm
"Pease 180-18
5
226 Tue Prison Assoctatiox or New York.
colonies. ‘Then, in two ways, the deterrent influence of the
colony will be more or less potent. For those who pass chrough
the colony the idea of giving another year or more to the ser-
vice of the State at hard work, if again convicted of vagrancy,
will not be agreeable. For those who have shunned the colony
by staying in another State the deterrent effect of the New
New York colony is obvious.
“In short, the farm colony is simply typical of what in
general the methods must be of counteracting vagrancy. The
tramp is the most volatile of all dependents or delinquents
Pages of proof can be presented of ehis fact, and pethaps most
striking of all would be the facts gathered from juvenile institu-
“Will the colonies reform the shiftless, work-shy tramp?
Probably not to any great extent. In individual cases, yes.
But Tam firmly of the opinion chat co reduce vagrancy we
need to employ strong and persiscent corrective measures,
T have this last summer visited the leading lahor colonies of
Belgium, Holland and Germany. Everywhere the testimony
is the sime, although some of the colonies have been in exist-
fence nearly one hundred years. The foreign vagrant, in four
cases out of five, is a repeater, not permanently reclaimable.
The great service rendered by foreign compulsory labor colonies
is to act asa segregating center for the half-efficient and in
tentionally idle, and as a deterrent for those who can fores
that a life of vagrancy willl mean frequent compulsory segregation
in the colonies. The European countries would not think of
giving up the forced Inbor colonies, but they do not make claims
that they ate reformatories, We must not allow ourselves in
this country to hail the new farm colonies as reformavories
fr as strong factors in the elimination of the tramp, for 1 have
no belief at all that the tramp can be climinaced so long 28
the world takes summer vacations, and rich people follow
their bent and go to Florida in the winter, and so long as
Cook's tours find a justification for being.” The tramp has
the same desires, but not the same means. Being withour
means, he tramps, or as I have already said, he rides.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE.
INTOXICATION AND THE BOARD OF INEBRIETY.
HAT there is an important direct connection between
drunkenness and crime is apparent. ‘The special cen.
sus of 1904 showed that 22 per cent. of all commit
ments to penal institutions in that year in the United Seates
were for intoxication. ‘The annual report of the Prison Come,
mission of this State for rgtt gives the following statistic:
‘Total admissions to county jails, year ending Sep-
tember se 19
[ales nevee seve eGR FBiage
(Of these, commitments for intoxication oe
Males. :
Females na
‘otal admissions
Males
Females
11,386
382
32 percent,
29 per cent,
State prison statistics show that of pri dmc
i ics show that of prisoners admitted to
the four State prisons during the fiscal year 1910-191 1, 722
cut of 2,282, or 31 per cent., were intemperate, During she
fame period 746 prisoners out of 1,778, or 12 per cents in
Elmira and Napanoch Reformatories were classified as inten
erate.
Most women prisoners over 30 years of age are committed
tot public intoxication. | Because of this the State has recenely.
established the State Farm for Women, (See p. 100) The
Prison Commission states that it is not unusual to find that
75 pet cent. of the inmates of 2 county jail have been commit,
In shore, vagrancy can be reduced only as it is attacked ted for public intoxication and kindred offences,
along the many lines indicated on page 222 of this report. The public intoxication problem in New York city has been
‘The Farm Colony will be a very important factor in such af) conspicuously serious, The Commitcce on Hese ade fake
campaign, =?
228 ‘Tue Prison Association or New York.
Seate Charities Aid Association has for several years con-
Seat ign for the better treatment. of
That Association showed
a startling proportion of
the alcoholic wards of
house on Blackwell’s I
system (or rather lack of
system) were thus outlined.
1A shore sentence accomplishes nothing either in reforming
invaded or in provectng Society
oe ‘A fine, if paid at all, is usually paid by relatives to save
eee Phe person. anested from further disgrace
sree rane instances, cnt afford copay fe
neem me ey seleacapecting citizen who becomes in.
solicnd ‘once not only hs slezespece. bur fequendly hi
meesene by tring publicly exposed and brought before the
stone elous typeof eiinal case.
adh de bee eae! ;
arigted os aatmene and theve i ho peovision for commitmen
eee eager nthe hospital, the police stadons, the
coer SF spe term commitments nd petty AS.
Shin remedial motanes are emphasized
sco that ought never
gine daar of the ety priate and oriboue snd of
the municipal hospitals is due ro che “ rounder.”
‘Through the activity of the State Charities Aid Ass:
tion and with the cordial support of other organizations,
d comprehensive plan for the establishment of a Board o
Inebriety and hospital and industrial colony for inebriates
Te Fillowing, publications of the State Charities Aid Association, 105 East
Inroxicarion AND THE Boar or Inepriery. ‘229
was realized through the passage of the bill in 1910 that
became Chapter 5st of the Laws of 1910. The purpose of
the act was:
1. To establish a board which shall have general control of
the problem of dealing with public intoxication and inebriety.
2. To provide a graded series of remedies dealing appro
priately with the first offender, the occasional offender, the
helpable inebriate and the confirmed inebriate
3. To release first offenders after their case has been investi=
gated, without bringing them to court.
4: To provide a central bureau of records of persons arrested
for public intoxication, in order that the first offender may be
separated from the “rounder.”
5. To provide that a person who has been arrested within
twelve months may be
a. Released on probation.
. Released on probation with an additional fine to be paid
in instalments.
©. Committed to the Board of Incbriety for treatment, the
commitment £0 be indeterminate, but not to exceed
three years.
6. To provide a hospital and industiial colony in which
persons committed may be treated, the treatment to be directed
by expere medical authorities and to inelude work for able-
bodied patients.
7. To provide for commitment of habitual drunkards who do
not appear before che courts for intoxication upon theit own
application, or upon the application of friends or relatives and
upon proper medical certification.
8. To provide field officers to act as probation and parole
officers, and to investigate all cases of arrest for intoxication,
9. To provide for the parole of persons from the institutions
at the diseretion of the Board: a person so patoled to be under
the supervision of a field officer.
10, To provide for commitment to the workhouse of persons
who prove refractory and do not yield readily to the discipline
of the insticution established by the Board of Inebriety, such
commitment to be for at least one year
11, To provide for commitment to the Board of Inebriety,
of “ rounders” in public hospitals.
230 Tue Prison Association or New York.
In 1911, the Mayor of the City of New York appointed a
Board of Inebriety. _Ofiices have been opened at 300 Mul-
berry Street, New York, an executive secretary has been
engaged, but the probation system prescribed by the act
has not yet been put into operation, ‘The Board has cen-
tralized its main efforts on the acquisition of a proper site
for the industrial colony. Eight hundred acres of land in
Orange County, near Greycourt, have been purchased at
approximately $75.00 per acre. It is proposed to fit up
buildings for fity inmates, as quickly as possible, who will
be used in the construction of new buildings, and in the
necessary clearing and grading. The soil of the colony is
said to be excellent. A lake of 200 acres is partly on the
property. The architects for the industrial colony are Warren
and Wetmore, of New York
In tort a law was passed? making possible the establish-
ment of colonies for inebriates and boards of inebriety by
cities of the first or second class. The act of 1910 had applied
solely to New York City. Buffalo is now agitating the estab-
lishment of a farm colony for, inebriates. Bills providing
similarly for “inebriate farms” have been introduced in
other States.
‘The ultimate success of the industrial colony as a reclaimer
of men is, of course, problemati tle experience has
been had in this or other American states with inebriate
hospitals on a comprehensive scale. In this State, the United
States Inebriate Hospital at Binghamton, and’ the Kings
County Hospical for Inebriates were not permanently sue-
cessful, partly because the period of detention was not long
enough.
In Massachusetts, a State institution for dipsomaniaes was
founded ac Westboro, in 1891. ‘The board of trustees was
reorganized in 1907. Its experience to date has not justified
any strong belief in the permanent reclamation of a large
proportion of its inmates. On the other hand, the resules in
Massachusetts and in Towa, where a State hospital for in-
ebriates was established in 1904, warrant hope for the fut
England maintains several Stave reformatory hospitals for
inebriates, and licenses a number of private hospicals. To
the State hospitals are committed, or transferred, those
inebriates who are the least helpable. English experiance of
7 Chapier 702 of Laws of tors
Intoxication aND THe Boarp oF INemnrery. 21
a number of years is outlined in Dr. Branthwaite’s report to
the International Prison Congress of 1910.1
Quoting from Dr. Branthwaite’s report to the International
Prison Congress of 1910, we find that “the promoters of the
inebriates’ act of 1808 had two purposes in mind — reform
when possible, and when this should prove impossible, deten-
tion of ‘irreformables’ for the benefit of the community.
Te has been found that the majority of persons
included in groups 1,2 and_3 of the above classification are
more or less unable to exercise the will power which is neces.
sary to enable a victim to throw off his fetters a struggle
which in some cases has to be sustained through a long life in
order to maintain sobriety when it has been attained. From
10 to 15 per cent. of class 3 recover a fair amount of mental
stability after long continued detention and treatment. But
with the exception of this 10 or 15 per cent, all persons in
these three classes are too mentally impaired to appreciate
that they are inebriates or that there is any necessity for
amendment. So our probability of producing good results
has been limited to inmates in class 4 — those of average men-
tal capacity — in addition to the 10 or 15 per cent. of class 3
above referred to. ‘This estimate, based on scientific ground,
hhas been amply confirmed by practical experience during the
last ten years, efforts to reform the mentally defective have
proved valucless, and all the persons who have done well
have been those gifted with the possession of a fairly well-
balanced mind. Only about 40 per cent. of all cases sent to
reformatories have been possibly reformable, and of this num-
ber about half have done reasonably well... . From a
reform standpoint, therefore, the experiment has been suc-
cessful, not so much in the actual number of reformations
that have been produced, as in demonstrating the possibility of
reform even in bad cases, and the certainty of being able co
produce a large number of good results under more favor-
able conditions.
“Considered from the second standpoint — the benefit to
the community resulting from the segregation of irreformable
inebriates — there is no doube as to the success of the act.
Our ten years’ experience has taught us the advantage of
removing such persons from the streets, the peace resulting
from this action, and the safety to the public. The public
" Sixty-seventh Annual Report, Prison Astociation, pages 166-167,
232 Tue Prison Association of New Yorx.
has a right to claim protection from the unpleasant effects
of inebriates that have their freedom, and derention is there:
fore justifiable, apart from any question of reformation.
AA recent official inguity into the working of the acts in Eng:
land has been held with a view of deciding whether or not
they have served their purpose. ‘The verdict is a favorable
one; the departmental committee has recommended amend-
ment of the acts to enable not only continuance but also
extension of the work.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO.
BOARDS, COMMISSIONS, AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS DEAL-
ING WITH DELINQUENCY.
HE State of New York is well equipped with public and
| private boards and organizations whose purpose isthe
care of the delinquent or the inspection of institu
tions, or the betterment of conditions relating to the treat
ment of crime. ‘The limits of this report will enable us to
touch only upon the more important.
The State Commission of Prisons. (Offices at the Capitol,
Albany, N.Y.) The laws governing the appointment and
activities of the Prison Commission are contained in Chapter
43. of the Consolidaced Laws, known as the Prison Law,
paragraphs 40 to 53. The State Commission of Prisons is
composed of seven members, appointed by the Governor by
and with the advice and consent of the Senate. ‘The members
hold office for four years and elect a president and vice-presi-
dent from their own members. The executive officer of the
Commission is the secretary, who holds office during the
pleasure of the Commission. Each commissioner is entitled
to receive $10 for each day’s attendance at meetings of the
Commission, or of any of its committees, and also his actual
expenses incurred in the performance of the duties of his
office, Meetings of the Commission shall be held at least as
often as once each month. ‘The Commission publishes an
annual report. The powers and duties of the Commision
are as follows:
‘The State Commission of Prisons shall visit and inspect all
institutions used for the detention of sane adults charged with
for convicted of crime, or detained as witnesses or debtors,
excepting such reformatories as are subject to the visitation
and inspection of the Stare Board of Charities; and shall
1. Aid in securing the just, humane and economic admis
ation of all institutions subject to its supervision.
234 Tae Prison Assocrarton or New York.
in the performance of their ofcal duties
5. ANd in securing the erection of suieable buildings for the
accommodation of the inmates of such institutions, and. ap-
pee vestigate the management of all institutions made sub-
Uiency of the ofcers or persons charged wich their manage
sie Secure the best sanitary conditions of the buildings and
rounds of all such insitutions, and. protect and preserve the
Reale of the inmates
6 Collec statistical information in respect to the property
receipts and expenditures of sid insteations and of any d=
partment of she State oF any subdivision thereof in charge of
the sume, and the number and condition of the inmates thereof.
9 Ascertain and recommend such system of employing said
inmates 24 may, inthe opinion of sd. Commission, be for the
best interest of the publi and of said famates and notin con-
fice with the. provisions of the consitation relating, to the
employment of prisoners
‘The Commission has large powers of visitation and in-
spection. It may take proof and hear testimony upon any
such visit ot inspection, and it has full access to the grounds,
buildings, books and’ papers relating to any institution.
Refusal to admit any member or employe or to give required
information constituees a misdemean
‘Orders of the Commission requiting changes may be directed
to institutions or to officers in charge thereof, and any per
son to whom such an order is directed who shalll refuse to obey
the same shall be adjudged guilty of a misdemeanor
“The Commission on Prisons publishes an annual report
addressed to the Legislature. This report contains voluminous
information regarding the correctional institutions of the
State. The rights and powers. conferred upon the Commis-
sion of State Prisons may be enforced by an order of the
Supreme Court or by indictment of the grand jury of a county
‘The Prison Commission therefore is the representative of the
State and of the public. Its purpose is to guard the rights of
ner, the rights of the public, and the rights of the
stration of the several correctional institutions.
Boanps, Commissions, anp Orner ORGANIZATIONS. 235
State Board of Charities. (Offices av the Capitol, Albany,
N.Y.) The State Board of Charities has powers and duties
in’ relation to institutions of a charitable, eleemosynary,
correctional and reformatory character, similar in general to
the powers and duties possessed by the Prison Commission.
‘The general difference is that the Prison Commission has
jurisdiction over all institutions used for the detention of
sane adults charged with or convicted of erime, or detained
as witnesses or debrors, excepting such reformatories as are
subject to the visitation and inspection of che State Board of
Charities. The State Board of Charities has jurisdiction over
ail reformatories except those in which adult ‘males convicted
of felony are confined.?
The Board consists of one member from each of the nine
judicial districts of the Seace and three additional members
from the City of New York, making a toval of twelve members.
They are appointed for 2 term of eight years. Each com-
missioner is paid actual expenses necessarily incurred while
engaged in the performance of the duties of his office, and
receives as compensation $10 for each day's attendance at
meetings of the Board or of any of its committees, not ex-
ceeding in any one year the sum of $500. The Board is
required to report to. the Legislature annually. Its. chief
officers are a president and a vice-president elected annually
from its members; its paid executive officer is a secretary.
‘The duties of the board are as follows:
1. Aid in securing the just, humane and economic adminis-
tration of all institutions subjece to its supervision.
2. Advise the officers of such institutions in the performance
of their official duties.
3. Aid in securing the erection of suitable buildings for the
accommodation of the inmates of such institutions aforesaid,
4. Approve or disapprove the organization and incorporation
of all institutions of a charitable, eleemosynary, correctional ot
reformatory character, which are or shall be subject to the
supervision and inspection of the board
5. Investigate the management of all institutions made sub-
ject to the supervision of the board, and the conduct and effi
ciency of the officers or persons charged with their management,
‘and the care and relief of the inmates of such inseicutions therein
FE ofthe uae of New York Arce
ae
236 Tu Prison Association or New York.
6. Aid in securing the best sanitary condition of the buildings
and grounds of all such instiutions, and advise measures for
the protection and preservation of the health of the inmates
7. Aid in securing the establishment and maintenance of such
Industrial, educational and moral training in institutions having
the care of children, 8 is best suited co the needs of inmates
8. Establish rules for the reception and retencion of inmares
of all institutions which, by section 14 of article 8 of the Con
stitution, are subject to its supervision.
The State correctional institutions reporting to che Board
and under the supervision of the Board are the following:
Agricultural and Industrial School, Industry; New
ate Training School for Girls, Hudson; Western
House of Refuge for Women, Albion; New York Stare Re-
formatory for Women, Bedford; New York House of Refuge,
Randall’s Island; New York Stare Training School for Boy
Yorktown Heights; Stace Industrial Farm Colony, Beekma
State Reformatory for Misdemeanants.
The Board publishes a very voluminous annual report
generally in three volumes, which contains invaluable data,
statistical and otherwise, regarding the institutions reporting
to it.
servizor of State Charities
Fiscal 8: Article 4 of Chapter 55
of the Consolidated Laws, known as che Stace Charities Law,
provides for the office of Fiscal Supervisor of State Charities
‘The powers and duties of the Fiseal Supervisor are as follows
The fiscal supervisor shall, as to the State institutions report
ing to him:
1. Visic each of such institutions at Teast twice in exch
calendar year.
2. Examine into the condition of all buildings, grounds and
other property connected with any such institution, and into all
macters relating to its financial management, and for such
purpose, he or his represencatives sha
grounds, buildings, and all books, papers, properties and sup-
plies of any such inscicution; and all persons connected with
any such institution shall give such information and afford such
facilities for such examination or inquiry as the supervisor may
requite.
have free access to the
Boaros, Commissions, ano Orirer OxcaNtations. 237
3. Appoint, in his discretion, a competent person to examine
the books, papers and accounts of any institution to the extent
deemed necessary.
4 Annually report to the Legislature his acts and proceedings
for the yeat ending September 30 last preceding, with such
facts in regard to the conditions of the buildings, grounds and
property, and the financial management of the State institutions
reporting to him as he may deem necessary for the information of
the Legislature, inchiding estimates of the amounts required for
the use of such institutions and the reason therefor. ‘The
fiscal supervisor shall also on the first days of January and July
in each year report to the governor the condition of the build-
ings, grounds and property on such date, together wich such
suggestions in regard to the financial management of such
institutious as ke deems proper. He shall also on request of
the governor or of any committee of either house of the Lezisla-
ture make a special report in relation to the condition of the
buildings, grounds and property, or the financial management
of such insticutions or any of them,
The term of the office of the Fiscal Supervisor of State
Charities is five years. An office and clerical force iS pro-
Yided. To the Fiscal Supervisor report the State charitable
institutions: those of a correctional nature are the Western
House of Refuge for Women, Albion; New York State Re-
formatory for Women, Bedford; New York State Reformatory,
imiras New York State Training School for Girls, Hudson;
State Agricultural and Industrial School, Industry; Eastern
New York State Reformarory, Napanoch; New York House
of Refuge, Randall's Island; New York State Training School
for Boys, Yorktown Heights (not yet in operation); New
York State Industrial Farm Colony’ (not yet in operation),
Beckman; New York State Reformatory for Misdemeananes
(aor yet in operation).
The Prison Association of New York. This is a charitable
society, supported by voluntary coneributions, with offices at
135 East r5th Street, New York. ‘The society was organized
in 1844 and was incorporated in 1846. The officers of the
society are president, vice-president, recording secretary, gen~
eral secretary, treasurer and an executive committee, which
constitutes the governing board of the Association. The
238 Tur Prison Associariox or New York.
general secretary is the salaried executive of the Association.
‘The objeces of the Association are, according to the charter:
1. The amelioration of the condition of prisoners, whether
detained for crial, or finally convicted, or as witnesses.
2, The improvement of prison diseipline and the government
of prisons, whether for cities, counties or states.
3. The support and encouragement of reformed conviers after
their discharge, by affording them the means of obtaining an
honest livelihood, and sustaining them in their efforts at reform.
In recent years the objects of the Association have been
stated briefly as follows:
The protection of society against crime.
The reformation of the csiminal
Protection for those unjustly accused.
Probation for first offenders.
Improvement in prisons and prison discipline.
Employment, and, when necessary, food, tools and shelter
for discharged prisoners.
7. Necessary aid for prisoners’ families.
8. Supervision for those on probation and parole.
9. Needed legislation.
The legal power of the Association is considerable. The
executive committee, by such committees as shall from time
to time be appointed, has the power and the duty to inspect
and examine all the prisons in the State, and annually report
to the Legislature their state and condition, and all. such
other things in regard ro them as may enable the Legislature
to perfect their government and discipline. The authority
for such inspection is found in Paragraph 6 of Article rx of
the constitution of the Association. Orders for the purpose
of inspection and investigation are issued by one of the judges
of the Supreme Court, or by other competent authority.
The record of the Prison Association has been one of honor
and of value to the State, The Association was founded at
a time when the rights of the prisoner and the duties of the
Stare were very insufficiently guarded or understood. ‘The
society grew out of a wave of protest against abuses of
prisoners and the low state of prison administration in this
State. The activity of the society has been characterized not
Boarps, Commisstons, and OTHER ORGANIZATIONS. 239
so much by a conspicuous declaration of activities as by
persistent and quiet cooperation when possible with prison
authorities and by consistent propaganda for the betterment
of prisoners and the treatment of crime.
Conspicuous among the many results in which the Asso-
ciation shared were the campaign for the establishment of
Elmira Reformatory; the study of the Jukes family by Mr.
Dugdale, one of the managers of che Association; the develop-
ment of probation in New York State; the development
through many years of the parole system in New York City
for the State reformatories and State prisons; the establish-
ment of the National Prison Association (now the American
Prison Association) through the activity of Dr. E. C. Wines,
corresponding secretary of the Association in 1870; the
organization of the International Prison Congress by Dr.
Wines after he had laid down his office as corresponding
secretary of the Prison Association; the election of Dr. Bar
rows, corresponding secretary of the Association from 1900
to 1909, as president of the Eighth International Prison
Congress; the campaign against the fee system in the case of
county sheriffs; the increase of the endowment fund of the
Association in 1910 and 1911 from $9,000 to $69,000, and
the increase in recent years not only of the membership of
the Association, but of the income of the Association and the
companying development of the fields of activity of the
Association. In recent years the Association has made
a considerable part of its activity the cooperation in
development of new institutions, such as the State Industrial
Farm Colony, the State Reformatory for Misdemeanants, the
the farm colony of the Board of Incbriety of New York City
and the proposed State Custodial Asylum for Feeble-minded
Male Delinquents.
‘The Prison Association is recognized throughout the country.
as an important association in its field, and is daily called
upon to furnish information to citizens’ of other States and
countries as to the betterment of prison conditions, legis-
lation and other social problems connected with delinquency.
‘The Association cooperates with several foreign associations
distinguished criminologists as corresponding
members of the society
The State Charities Aid Association — This Association has
its offices at 105 East 22d Street, New York. It was organized
240 Tue Prison Association or New Your.
1872 and is supported by voluntary contributions. Among
its objects are the visitation and improvement of charitable
institutions maintained by the State and by counties, cities
and towns.
Tn the summary of its work for the fiscal year of 1gtt~1912,
are the following items relating to corrections
(2) Aided materially in securing a site for a hospital and
industrial colony for inebriates, and in preparing plans therefor.
(2) Opposed successfully legislation which would have made
it difficuls to establish such 2 colony outside the city limits.
National Committee on Prison Labor. The National Com
mittee on Prison Labor is incorporated under the laws of the
State of New York, with offices at University Hall, Columbia
University. The Commictee, which has a membership of
approximately thirty-five, has appointed an executive commit-
tee, which is the governing board of the Committee. The
executive officer is the general secretary.
‘The object of this organization is to study the whole prob-
Jem of labor in prisons and correctional institutions with 2
view to secuting legislation among the States of the union to
the end that all prisoners may be so employed as to promote
their welfare and at the same time to reimburse the institutions
for expense of maintenance, while preventing unfair competition
between prison made goods and the products of free labor, and
securing to their dependent families a fair proportion of the
rightful earnings of prisoners.
Te has been in existence since 1910. Ie has devoted its
attention exclusively to labor conditions in penal institutions;
as the result of an extended study it has declared itself an
advocate of the development of the State-use system and has
declared its opposition to the contract system. Through the
general secretary the Committee has made a number of studies
Of prison labor conditions in various States. Tt has published
reports of such studies and has recently issued a book entitled
“Penal Servitude” by Dr. E. Stagg Whitin, General Secretary,
which treats of the prison labor problem.
‘The Committee, although having offices in New York City,
is a national organization.
Boaros, Commissions, AND Oren OROANIZATIONS. 241
The American Prison Association. ‘This organization was
founded in 1870 under the name of the National Prison Asso-
ciation by Dr. E. C. Wines, at that time corresponding
secretary of the Prison Association of New York. The
‘American Prison Association is a forum and a conference
rather than a society. Its meetings are held annually and
in various parts of the United States. The annual meeting
in 1910 was held in conjunction with the International Prison
Congress at Washington, D. C.; in 1911 at Omaha, Nebraska,
and in 1912 at Baltimore, Maryland. The membership of
the Association is not restricted, but is made up largely of
wardens and other prison officials, members of boards, mem-
bers of private charitable organizations and others’ inter-
ested in the treatment of the delinquent. ‘The annual meeting
of the Association Iasts from Saturday until the following
Thursday. Committees report at each session, and papers
are read and discussed. The Association has had a con-
siderable influence upon prison reform and upon the develop-
ment of probation, parole, juvenile courts and other modern
methods of dealing with the delinquent. ‘The objects of the
Association are stated as follows
‘To ameliorate the laws in relation to public offenses and
offenders and the mode of procedure by which such laws are
enforced; improvement of penal, correctional and reformatory
institutions throughout the country, and of the government,
management and discipline thereof; care of and providing
employment for discharged prisoners.
‘The general secretary and executive officer of the American
Association is Joseph P. Byers, Commissioner of
and Correction, State House, Trenton, N. J. The
proceedings of the American Prison Association are among
the most valuable papers on penology and criminology pub-
lished in this country. ‘The membership fee in the American
Prison Association is 3s.
American Institue of Criminal Law and Criminology. This
society is composed largely of criminologists and penologists,
was established in 1909, and incorporated in 1g1r. The
central offices of the Institure ire at the Law School of the
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin. It holds
6
242 Tue Prison Association of New York.
annual meetings in various parts of the United States. In
Tgtt ie met in Boston and in 1912 in Milwaukee. ‘The objects
of the Institute are
to further scientific study of erime, criminal law and, procedure,
to formulate measures for solving the problems connected
therewith, and to co-ordinate the efforts being made to cause
the administration of justice to be certain and speedy.
The Institure publishes a bi-monthly journal entitled the
Journal of the American Institute of Criminal’ Law and
Criminology. Subscription is $3.00 year. Membership fee
in the Institute is $2.00 per year. The magazine is becoming
particularly valuable as 2 scientific journal
National Prisoners’ Aid Association. This Association is
an affiliation of the prisoners’ aid societies throughout the
country, and holds its annual meeting at the time of the
American Prison Association’s annual meeting. The object
of the Association is to further the work of the prisoners’ aid
associations ‘The executive ofcer of the Assocation, whois
also the editor of the monthly publication of the Association,
The Delinquent, formerly known as The Review, is O. F.
Lewis, 135 East rsth Sereet, New York. ‘The Delinquent
aims to be an up-to-date monthly summary of modern move-
ments in the field of delinquency. ‘The subscription price is
$1.00 per year, including membership in rhe Association,
The Woman's Prison Association and Issac T. Hopper Home.
This Association was organized in conjunction with the
Prison Association of New York, was incorporated in 1854,
and has for many years been an independent organization
with offices at 110 Second Avenue, New York City. Its
objects are to improve the conditions of female prisoners and
to support and encourage female convicts after their discharge
by aiding them to reform and to obrain an honest livelihood.
‘The Association maintains the Isaac T. Hopper Home,
opened in 1845, at T10 Sccond Avenue, where discharged
women prisoners are given employment and cared for until
permanent homes and respectable occupations can be found
for them. The Home has 2 capacity for 40 inmates and
in 1912 cared for 653 women. _ The Home maintains a laundry
‘The financial support comes from the income of the laundry,
Boarps, Commissions, aND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS. 243,
annual subscriptions and the interest on the permanent fund,
‘The Association publishes an annual report. Mrs. William
Emerson, Jr., is the first director.
Volunteer Prison League. This is an organization under
the direction of Mrs. Ballington Booth, and a part of the
work of the Volunteers of America. Offices, 34 West 28th
Street, New York. The League is established in twenty-six
of the leading State prisons. Its purpose is to aid discharged
prisoners and the families of men confined in State prison. The
statement of the League is that in the last 15 years over
,000 men from State prisons have been enrolled, and that
hrough the homes maintained by the Volunteer Prison
League 8,000 men have passed. To every discharged prisoner
who goes at once to the Volunteer Prison League office on
the day of his discharge a home is promised until satisfactory
employment is obtained. The League supports five homes,
one for women and children and four for men. The League
maintains Hope Hall at Spark Hill, N.Y. Instruction is
given at the home in certain trades. The average number
in the home in 1911 was 26
Other organizations aiding the released or discharged
prisoner or concerning themselves with the treatment of
crime are the following. In a number of instances a deserip-
tion will be found in the Charities Directory.
Barrows League a group of business and professional men
meeting at the tooms of the Prison Association, 135 East
sth Street, New York, once a month for individual work
with prisoners.
Big Brother Movement, and Big Sister Movement, both at
200 Fifth Avenue, to develop friendly interest for children
arraigned in the Children’s Court.
Gospel Mission to the Tombs, in existence since 1860, main-
tained by the Protestant Episcopal City Mission,
Washington Square Home for Girls, 9 West 8th Street,
organized in 1865, an unsectarian free home for girls and
fallen girls
Chrystie Street House, 77 Horatio Street, aids young men
who have been in prison.
244 Tue Prison Assoctarton or New Yor.
Upanin Club, 174 High Street, Brooklyn. ‘Temporary home
for homeless boys.
Jewish Big Brothers, 356 Second Avenue.
Church Mission of Help, 37 East 28th Street, work both rescue
and preventive. Girls in reformatory institutions are visited
and after-care provided.
National Council of Jewish Women, sends teachers of
religion to certain correctional institutions.
Door of Hope, Tappan, N.Y. Organized in 1890 for fallen
girls. Has a piece of property of 43 acres at Tappa
Florence Crittenton Mission, 245 West 13th Street, home
for the reformation of fallen women and young girls.
House of Mercy, incorporated in 1865, Inwood-on-Hudson,
N. Y., a Protestant Episcopal institution for the reception
and reformation of destitute and fallen women,
House of the Good Shepherd. A Roman Catholic institu-
tion, incorporated in 1858, located at foot of goth Screet
and the East River, for the reformation of inebriates and
fallen women. In Brooklyn, Hopkinson Avenue and Pacific
Street,
House of the Holy Family. Roman Catholic institution
at 136 Second Avenue, for the voluntary reformation of
young women.
Margaret Strachan Home for Women. Incorporated in
1887, 103 West 27th Street, for the rescue and temporary
shelter of unfortunate women and unmarried girls who are
to become mothers.
New York Magdalen Benevolent Society. Organized in
1833. Maintains an asylum at Inwood for intemperate
and immoral wornen under,thirty years of age.
Boanps, Commissions, axp Orr ORGANIZATIONS. 245
St. Michael's Home, Mamaroneck. Reformatory for gitls
maintained by the Midnight Mission, 289 Fourth Avenue.
Salvation Army Rescue and Industrial Home for Women
516 Ease 15th Street, to educate and train girls and fit them
to earn an honest living. In Brooklyn, 1009 Hancock Street.
Lakeview Home, for wayward girls and unmartied mothers.
Arrochar, Staten Island,
New York Probation Association, organized in 1908, located
at 38 West roth Street. Its purpose is to improve the pro-
bation system in the courts, and to aid in the reformation
of offenders and in the prevention of crime. It maintains
2 temporary home especially for the carc of women who may
be referred by the courts, probation officers and individuals.
The House maintains classes in sewing, millinery, basket
weaving and gymnastics
Te also maintains an employment bureau. This Association
has had a rapid and strong development since its organization
and is supported entirely by contributions. Miss Maude E.
Miner is the Executive Secretary.
Board of Inebriety. This is a city board, the members of
which are appointed by the Mayor. The board consists of
seven members, of varying terms of service. For detailed
description see Chapter Twenty-one.
Criminal Courts Committee of Charity Organisation Society,
105 East 22d Street, to aid the administration of justice in
the lower criminal courts. Lawrence Veiller, Secretary.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE.
REPORTS, PROCEEDINGS, AND BOOKS.
Oxcanizations anv Revorts.
NTERNATIONAL Prison Congress. Meetings every five
[yore Seraey, Prater Sin van der Aa, rae
ingen, Holland. Proceedings published in French. No
report yet published of Eighth Congress, held in Washington,
U.S.A, 1916.
Union Internationale de Droit Penal. Next meeting at
Stockholm, Summer of 193.
Congres International d’ Anthropologie Criminelle, Has held
seven congresses
United States Conus Reports, Bureau the Census, Prison
ers and Juvenile Delinquents, 19043 published 1907
‘Bureau of Labor. Convict Labor; bulletin No. 5, 1995;
‘Twentieth annual report, 1908.
‘National Prison Association (now American Prison Asso-
ciation). Annual proceedings, ‘from 1876, Address J. P.
Byers, The Capitol, Trenton, N. J.
‘National Conference of Charities and Correction. Annual
proceedings, 1874. Address Alexander Johnson, Angola,
Indiana.
New York State Conference of Charities and Correction.
Annual meetings since 1900. Secretary, Marcus A. Beeman,
Buffalo.
New York City Conference of Charities and Correction,
Annual meetings since 1910. Secretary, John B. Prest, 105
East 22d Street, New York. ;
“Annual Conference of New York State Magistrates. Since
1910. A. W. Towne, Secretary, The Capitol, Albany.
‘Annual Conference of New York State Probation Officers
Since 1911. A. W. Towne, Secretary. The Capitol, Albany.
Awxvat Reports.
Prison Association of New York, 135 East rsth Street,
New York City.
6
Reports, Procrepinos, AnD Orer Simutan Revorts. 247
Massachusetts Prison Association, 25 Pemberton Square,
Boston, Mass.
Journal of prison discipline and philanthropy; published
annually by Pennsylvania Prison Society.
Maryland Prisoners’ Aid Association, ror West Saratoga
Street, Baltimore, Maryland.
Central Howard Association, 157 West Adams Street,
Chicago, ML.
New York Probation Commission, The Capitol, Albany,
N.Y.
Massachusetts Probation Commission, Boston, Mass
New York Probation Association, 34 West’ 1oth Street,
New York City
Committee of Fourteen (social evil and Raines law hotels),
27 East 22d Street, New York City.
Superintendent of State Prisons, The Capitol, Albany, N. Y.
State Commission on Prisons, The Capitol, Albany, N. Y.
State Board of Charities, The Capitol, Albany, N. Y.
Board of Reformatory Managers, Elmira, N. Y.
Annual Reports of other State and local institutions.
Commissioners of Prisons and Directors of Convict Prisons,
England.t
Reformatory and Industrial Schools in Great Britain.
Howard Association, London, England.
Penal Reform League (also monthly bulletins).
Each European government publishes some form of annual
report on its prisons that may be obtained through foreign
booksellers
PeRroprcars.
Journal of the American institute of criminal law and
criminology, 187 East Lake Street, Chicago, Ill. Bi-smonchly
$3.00 year,
The delinquent, formerly the review, 135 East 15th Street,
New York City. Published by the National Prisoners’ Aid
tion. Monthly, $1.00 a year.
fe survey, 105 Ease 22d Sereet, New York City, weekly,
$2.00 a year.
American journal of sociology, Chicago, Ill,
‘The star of hope. Monthly. Published by inmates of
State prisons. Sing Sing Prison, Ossining, N. Y.
The summary. Weekly. Published at Elmira Reform-
atory, Elmira, N. Y.
"Foreign books may best be ordered through foreign booksellers in New York
248 Tue Prison Assoctarion or New York.
Buntrocrarntes. 5
For foreign periodicals, consult foreign book-sellers, or
Wigmore, J. H.s Preliminary bibliography of modem criminal
law and criminology.
Drachins, A. Alphabetical list of works upon criminology
in the English language, New York, 1900.
‘National prison association, Index to reports from 1870 to
Rt ional conference of charities and correction. Index +0
reports, 1874 10
GE crc ommerity of de
criminal law and criminology. Chicago. Northwestern Uni
Tay OP ble library. List of works relating to eximin-
ology. New York, 1911.
Bulletin of New York school of philanthropy. 105 East 22d
Street, New York.
1, Farm colonies.
Juvenile delinquency.
4, Feeble-minded children
Generar Wonks.
Boies, H.M. ‘The science of penology. New York. G. P.
Purnam’s Sons, 1901 ;
"Brockway, Z. R. Fifty years of prison service. New York.
Charities Publication Comimictee, 1912.
Draehms, 4. ‘The criminal. ;
Dugdale, RL. The Jukes, a study in crime, pauperism,
disease and heredity. New York, Putnam, 1912.
Powe, G. L. Lombroso’s criminal man. New York.
Putnam, 1911
‘Henderson, C. R. Dependents, defectives, delinquents.
Boston, D.C. Heath, r90r
‘Henderson, C. R. Editor, Correction and prevention.
1. Prison reform. Criminal law.
2) Penal and reformatory institutions.
3. Preventive agencies.
Reports, PROCEEDINGS, AND Orner Snaar Reports. 249
New York charities publication committee, 1910. (This
is che most exhaustive recent American compilation on the
subject.)
Wines, F. H. Punishment and reformation.
Macmillan, 1911
New York.
CrimunaL ANTHROPOLOGY AND SoctoLocy.
Bilis, Havelock. ‘The ctiminal. London.
Ferri, Bnrico. " Criminal sociology. New York. D. Apple-
ton & Co., 35 West 32d Street, New York.
Gross, Hans. Criminal psychology. Boston. Little, Brown
& Co,
Lombroso, Cesare. Criminal man
McConnell, R. M. Criminal responsibility and social con-
straint. New York. Seribners, 1912,
MacDonald, Arthur. Abnormal man. Washington. “Gov-
eximent Printing Office
Parmelee, Maurice. Anthropology and sociology in its
relation to eriminal procedure. New York. Macmillan, 1908.
Tarde, Gabriel. Penal philosophy. Boston. Little, Brown
& Co, 1912,
Femane Crimtnats.
Kellor, Miss F. A. Experimental sociology. New York.
Macmillan & Co., 1901.
Lombroso, Cesare. The female offender. New York. D.
Appleton & Co., 1895.
Juvexne Deumguency.
Bacrnreither, J. M. Jugendfuersorge und Strafrecht in den
i
Vereinigeen Staaten v. Amerika. Leipzig. Duncker, 1905.
Barrows, Samuel June. Children’s courts in the United
States. Washington. Government Printing Office, 1904.
Breckenridge, Sophonisha and Abbott, Edith. ‘The delinquent
child and the home. New York. Charities Publication Com-
mittee, 19%
Coulter, Ernest K. The children in the shadow. New
York, MeBride, Nast & Co., 1913
_Folks, Homer. ' Destitute, neglected and delinquent children.
New York. Macmillan, 1902.
Hart, Hastings H. "Preventive treatment of neglected
children. (Fourth volume of correction and prevention, see
ago ‘Tae Prison Assoctation or New York.
p. 248). New York. Charities Publication |Commictee,
Gorge, William R. Junior sepublic. New York, Apple-
ton, 1910.
Gorn, William Re, and Stowe, L. B. Citizens made and
remade. Boston. Houghton Mifflin, 1912.
‘Herr, Paul. Das moderne amerikanische Besserungssystem.
Berlin. Kohhammer, 1997 ,
“Merrill, Lilburn. Winning the boy. New York. Revell,
08.
*Sforrison, W. D. Juvenile offenders. New York. Appleton,
8 .
Fussell, C. E. Bs and Rigley, L. M. The making of the
criminal.” London. Macmillan, 1906. ;
"Russell, CE. B. Young gaol birds. London, Macmillan,
"Tavis, Thomas. ‘The young malefuctor
Crowell, 1908.
New York,
Poutce ADMINISTRATION.
Fuld, Leonhard. Police administration. New York, Put-
ams, 1910.
‘Freund. The police power. :
Meddoo, William. Guarding a great city. New York.
Harpers, 1906.
Hisroricat.
Howard, John. ‘The state of prisons in England and Wales.
ondon. 1780.
cor en eG, ‘The state of prisons and of childsaving
jons in the civilized world. Cambridge. 1880.
Prison Lanon.
Whitin, E. Stagg. Penal servitude, New York. National
committee on prison labor, 1912.
Whitin, E. Stage. Editor Prison labor. Annals of Ameri-
ean academy of political and social science, Phila., 1915,
Prisons
Barrows, Samuel J. Prison systems of the United States
Washington. Government Printing Office, 1990.
Revorts, Proceepines, aNp Orne Snatar Reports. 251
Henderson, C. R. Modern prison systems.
various couneries of Europe and America. Washington. Gov-
emment Printing Office, 1903.
Lowrie, Donald. My life in prison. 1912.
No. 1500. Life in Sing Sing. New York. Bobbs Merrill,
1904.
Rerorwarotes.
Barrows, S. J. ‘The reformarory system in the United
States. Washington. Government Printing Office, 1900.
Handbook of the New York State reformatory at Elmira.
Elmira. 1966
Farm Cononies anv Ourpoor Lazor.
Henderson, C. R. Outdoor labor for convicts. Chicago
University of Chicago Press, 1907.
Kelly, Edmond. Elimination of the tramp. New York.
Putnam, 1909.
Lewis, O.F. Vageancy in the United States. New York.
3997.
Labor colonies abroad. See sixty-s
Prison Association of New York.
Daseson, WH. Vagrancy problem. London. King, 1910.
Solenberger, Alice. One thousand homeless men. New
York. Charities Publication Committee, r91t
enth annual report of
Feepte-Minpepyess.
Barr, M.W. Mental defectives. Philadelphia, Blackeston,
1904.
Davenport, @ .B. Heredity in relation to eugenics. New
York. Hole,
Goidard, HH. ‘The Kallikak family. New York. Mac-
912.
B. Backward and feeble-minded children. “Balti-
arwick, 1912.
Mental deficiency. New York. Wood,
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR.
‘TREASURER’S REPORT.
FOR NINE MONTHS ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 1912.
By vote of the Executive Committe of the Prison Associacon, che fiscal yeat of he
“Aviocintion ends in 1912 and subsequendly on September soth.
“Teeanute’ statement for i9za coveer therefore but nine months.
SCHEDULE “A.
SraveMBNT OF AssETs AND Lianiuiries at Date oF SEPrEWRER
30, 1912,
Fash AsseTs,
Treasurer's Fund:
Mechanics & Metals Nacional Bank
General Secretary's Fund:
Bank of the Metropolis. $752 07
Petty cash 119 52
Sundry Debtors (Cash,
items) 53 88
Endowment Fund:
United States Trust Co
Reserve Fund:
New York Life Insurance & Trust
Company
Mary H. Brush Fund:
Union Trust Co
Total cash 5,364 50
Tnoestments (at ¢os!):
‘Endowment Fi 865,767 50
Mary H. Brush 2,500 60
———— 8,267 50
‘Treasurer's Revorr.
Real estate (at cos)
House and lot, 135 East 15th Se
Rent die from reformatories:
New York Stace,
Elmi
‘Napanoch
Total rent
Interest accrued:
Investmencs 1,228 33,
Prepaid expenses:
Insurance Premiums 82 59
‘Total assers $97,542 72
Special donations for relief.
Funds held in crust
Salaries accrued. .
Capital:
Endowment Fund
Reserve Fund.
Mary H. Brush Fund
Russell Sage Foundation
Capital account
96,668 73
Total liabilities $97,542 72
Endowment Fund... $263 74
Reserve Fund. 2,965 50
Mary H. Brush Fund . 500 60
Russell Sage Foundation, BI 94
$3,811 18
254 Tue Prison Association or New York.
SCHEDULE “B."
Recesprs ap Exrexpirungs ror tHe 9 Mowrus Expine
SEPTEMBER 30, 1912.
Balance, December 31, 1911:
In Mechanics and Metals Nasional
Bank. 83,416 90
Of which, Endowment Funds tra
ferred to United States Trust C
February 9, 1912 594
$3,357 46
In general secretary's hands. 129 46
$3,486 92
$13,916 of
658 50
Donations
General
Special
Relief 3: 417 48
814,992 08
Interest:
Investments
Bank balances.
$1,705 09
146 73
———_n8sne73
Reformatories:
‘New York State, Elmira
Napanoch
$750 00
225 co
Funds held in trust...
Refunds
17,954 07
$21,440 99
Less amount received December 18, 1911, considered
‘asa donation for relief, afterward found to be a pri-
‘vate donation to be disbursed by Mr. Rodgers as an
individual, therefore transferred on January 8, 1912.
‘Treasurer’s Revorr.
Special donations for relief
Funds held in trust,
Exchange on cheques.
General secretary's bureau:
Salaries
Printing and stationery,
Postage:
Telegrams, telephone and messengers.
Office supplies
‘Transportation, hotels and carfares..
Sundries
Furniture and fixcures
Conferences, membership and organi
Newspapers and periodicals
Express and cartage.
Library
Photot and fle (mainly halftones
for appeals)
Publicity.
87,129 19
149 43
1,101 64
Hows
Salaries
Fuel
Light.
Supplies
Repairs.
Water
Express and cartage.
Parole bureau:
Salaries,
‘Transportation, agents’ expenses and
carfares : 230 51
Sundries : 100
$2,840 49
Probation bureaus
Salaries:
Transpoitation, agents’ expenses and
carfares. tet
$2,404 52
122 49
10,922 88
256 Tue Prison Associarion or New York.
Relief (See also first item under expendi:
tures):
Food and meals
Rent, board and lodgings. .
Goods from pawn
Sundries
‘Transportation and carfares:
Clothing
‘Medical and surgical
Labor for and by applicants
Agency fees:
Stock for business
coal ——— $1414 19
$19,605 93
Balance, September 30, 1012:
In Mechanics and Metals
‘National Bank
Tn general si
hands:
Bank of the Metropolis.
Petty cash.
Sundry debtors. (cash
items)
retary’s
#752 07
119 52
53 88
SCHEDULE “C.
Investments ar Dare oF Serrmunex 30, 1912.
ievearicents Rave Valuation
Esowannt Few:
Bonds:
5C.R.I.&P. Railway,
5 C. & N, W. Railway
Interose
‘ive
$4,823 78
4943 75
4 Jan. & July
4 May & Nov.
overt
$50 00
8335
Treasurer's Revonr.
Tatereat
seerved
Tnvesmunnrs Race Valuation
B
Espowneaner Fox:
Bonds and mortgages:
Tncerest
‘ue
43 May & Nov. $42,000 00
4} May & Nov. 12,000 09
4h Apr. & Oct. 2,000 09
8787 50
225 co
45.00
$65,767 50 81,190 83
Mary H. Brush Trust
‘und:
Bond and Mortgage:
43 June & Dec." 2,500.00 37 50,
868,267 50 $1,228 33
SCHEDULE “D."
Copimion or tue Vantous Fuxps ar Sepremnen 30, 1912.
STATEMENT OF THE ENDOWMENT FUND.
Balance at credit of fund, December 31, 1911 = $66,053 63
‘Transferred to treasurer's fund, interest received from
United States Trust Co, see 2239
Balance September 30, 1912:
On deposit in United States Trust Co.
Invested (per Schedule ”
$263 74
65,767 50
= 66,031 24.
STATEMENT OF THE RESERVE FUND.
Balance at credie of fund, December 31, 1911...
Interest received from New York Life Insurance &
Trust Co. : fe
$3,010 43
44 56
$3,054 99
Interest transferred to treasurer's fund.. $44.93
Tncerest transferred to treasurer's fund. 44 536
—— 89 49
Balance, September 30, 1912, on deposit in New York
Life Insurance & Trust Co... $2,965 50
"7
258 ‘Tue Prison Assoctarton or New York.
STATEMENT OF THE MARY H. BRUSH FUND.
Balance at credit of find, December 31, 1975 83,034 85
Interest transferred to treasurer's fund
Balance, Seprember 30, 1912
‘On deposit in Union Trust C
Invested (per Schedul
STATEMENT OF THE RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION FUND.
Balance at credit of fund, December 31, 191 $81 94
Receipts and expenditures. :
Balance, September 30, on deposit in Bank of the Me-
tropolis $81 04
We hereby certify that we have examined the books, accounts
and vouchers of the Prison Astociation of New York, for the period
of nine months ending September 30, 1912, and that the above
statement is correct.
‘Townsunp ano Drs
Accountants.
LIFE PATRONS.
By Consibuioes of $500 or More at One Tine.
Basbey, Mes, Henry 1
Benatiny het Exeebur,
Biles
F
ae
Bader, Cendand
Hittees E'S
Harry, Chiles J
fo ete Ci
Js, Me. Whe
Gyighag fhe Miss Alice and Tene
Metfore, Heney K.
Phipps Heney
Ehioe
‘Sch Moree
Store Willams
aris Lynde.
Stewart, eponat
Tame Co
Woertofer, Mes, Anna,
HONORARY LIFE MEMBERS.
By Contributions of $100 at One Tine
BEE pe Fact
ree
Ciwalt Samual B
Keele, ies ‘lis.
Kashar
‘Conse,
Consor, W
opel Fae Fesimoe
Beker iene W.
Bice I
rey
he Kaen Minit Nie Robert
Bat Ry Moe it
Noes ii: Bags
. Parrish, Dani
gine Hitec, FLEE, Bl Voseshine
Deceased. 260
Lire (Memners.
Perkin, George W. Sullnan, Me. T §
rake D. Stakes, Anson Phelps
Stone, ‘Miss Annie
Tee,
Seth E
Whe Ma Jove a
Wowace, Genes W.
Wood: Wales
al
ne Weedon Willan 1
Bauneer, Min: Catherine ‘Zabeatle, Mi
Simos, Miss Charlotte R
LIFE MEMBERS.
By Camron a $0 wt Ove Tne
Dora A.
Browa, Stewart Pease,
Bulle. Mig: Edwin M. Gallstn, A
Ceinpbell, Nice Henry G. lc: Me Aber
ik Mee Win E: Wat
(Gorse, Yn
Sie Mesos ey.
{a Bephen V.
Havenyen
262 Tu Prison Association or New York.
Honey, Jo
on
Hetlbeine
Henn Sis Albee ©
Folder James C
Ha
Hom i Edrad Sturn
Tisbbar omar
Huntington, Henry
aaa ee
=e
Nebo, ts Chris N
Neviate, Oe Cai
Olysha
Oskorne, Thomas W.
Pee
Ratt, Chates
Ranolphy Edmond & Charles
"Deceased
Robbins, Geo
Robers? Mi fe Bini oth W.
Roberts, I
Seni eB bs
Talo Charles W,
Es Hoss
Ticker, Sue A
Van Nest Abram
Van Wagunen, Blecher.
Van Wily Mao My D.
Wa ie
Wilard, Mrs Laura
Wnron fis EY
soa
Zabsakje Andre
CONTRIBUTORS’ LIST.
FOR NINE MONTHS ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 1912.
‘The Fiscal Year of the Prison Association has been changed. Begioning in 1913, i
‘ends on September 50th. Therefore, only thote contributions given between
January t, 1912, and September 30,1912, will be found in this lise
Combis preceded by same only ace forthe General Fund. Other contibetons ae
tered as fellows: C for Contry Fond, G. R. Geowral Ree
Fd, for Speci Fund
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Adame, Thatcher Mt
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Babsork, Orville E
Auandis, Mes! Aadeow J
‘ecander Eugene
‘Alesander, Mts
Aterandex, George’
Dues Chases Hi.
ur Willson 8 Co
“a Whi, Tie
Bangs fis Lain
Banks
Buber © On,
Belg, Mae Sei
George Mac
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Andrews’ Witham Loins: G
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Atmatong, Mi. B. Nisi
3 alors
BRRRReeReeegsesess eeess
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‘Rehr, Miss Louie Barjer Co
264 Tue Prison Association or New York. Cowreinvrors’ List.
c Gites F,Ackeran
Bactelle & Rewnick freuen E.
Bowge, Ee GRE
Boyd Mer Pisses 612000 8
Bovign, Miss Ga
Bayatca Furnace Co,
Braden, Wil
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McLane, Mn, Adee. $10 22 Molineux, Roland B. ONNsit, Mes, Hush,
Guy 1320 Suihous, Mrs Jane
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274 Tue Prison. Association or New York.
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DONATIONS OF CLOTHING, READING MATTER: AND OTHER
HELPFUL ARTICLES.
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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE.
CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS.
AN ACT to incorporate the Prison Association of New York. Passed
May 9, 1846, by a two-thirds vote. (As subsequently amended.)
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and
Assembly, do enact as follows:
§ 1. All such persons as are now and hereafter shall become
members to the said association pursuant to the constitution thereof,
shall and are hereby constituted a body corporate by the name of
‘The Prison Association of New York, and by that name have the
powers that by the third title, of the eighteenth chapter, of the
first part of the Revised Stacutes, are declared to belong to every
corporation, and shall be capable of purchasing, holding and con-
veying any estate, real or personal, for the use of said corporation,
provided that such real estate shall never exceed the yearly value
of ten thousand dollars, nor be applied to any other purposes than
those for which the corporation is formed.
§ 2. The estate and concerns of said corporation shall be managed
and conducted by its executive committee, in conformity to the
constitution of the said corporacion; and the following articles
that now form the constitution of the association shall continue to
be the fundamental laws and consticution thereof, subject to altera-
tions in the mode therein prescribed.
‘The objects of the astociation shall be:
1. The amelioration of the condition of prisoners, whether
detained for trial, or finally convicted, or as witnesses.
2. The improvement of prison discipline and the government of
prisons, whether for cities, counties or states
3. The support and encouragement of reformed conviets after
their discharge, by affording them the means of obtaining an honest
livelihood, and sustaining them in their efforts ac reform.
ca
278 Tae Prison Association or New York.
The officers of the society shall be a president, vice-presidents, «
recording secretary, a cortesponding secretary, and a treasurer,
and there shall be the following standing commiteees, viz.: a finance
‘committee, a committee on detentions, a committee on prison dis-
ipline, a committee on discharged convicts and an executive com.
mittee. The number of the executive committee shall consist
of not more than thirty-five, of whom not more than ten shall be
officers of the society, and not more than twenty-five shall be persons
other than officers.
The officers named in the preceding article shall be ex-officio
members of the executive committee, who shall choose one of their
number to be chairman thereof.
‘The executive committee shall meet once in each month, and keep
regular minutes of their proceedings. They shall have a general
superintendence and direction of the affairs of the society, and
shall annually report t0 the society all their proceedings, and such
‘other macters as shall be likely co advance the ends of the association.
ARTICLE FIFTH.
The society shall meet annually in the city of New York, at such
time and place as the executive committee shall appoint, and at
such other times as the president, or in his absence, one of the vice-
presidents, shall designate,
Any person contributing annually co the funds of the associa
tion not less than five dollars shall, owing to such contribution, be
a member theroof. A contribution of five hundred dollars shall
constitute a life patron; a contribution of one hundred dollars shall
constitute an honorary member of the association for life, and a
contribution of fifty dollars shall constieute a member of the associa-
tion for life. Honorary and corresponding members may, from time
to time, be appointed by the executive committee.
Constitution axp By-Laws. 279
A female department shall be formed, consisting of such females
as shall be selected by the executive committee, who shall have charge
of the interest and welfare of prisoners of their sex, under such
regulations as the executive committee shall adopt.
The officers of the association shall be chosen annually at the
annual meeting, at which time such persons may be elected honorary
members as shall have rendered essential secvice to the cause of
prison discipline
Any society having the same objects in view may become auxiliary
to this association by contributing to its funds and cooperating
swith it
“The executive committee shall have power to add to any of the
standing committees such persons as, in their opinion, may be
likely to promote the objects of the society, and shall have power
toll any vacaney which may occur in any of the offices of the associa
tion, intermediate the annual meetings.
ARTICLE ELEVENTH.
This constitution may be amended by a vote of the majority of
the society at any meeting thereof, provided notice of the amend-
ment has been given at the next preceding meeting.
‘The officers elected for the current year, under the constitution
shall continue to be the officers thereof until others shall be duly
chosen in their places.
‘And it is hereby farther enacted chat no manager of said society
shall receive compensation for his services.
$5... The said executive committee shall have power to establish
a workhouse in the county of New York, and in their discretion,
to receive and take into the said workhouse all such persons as shall
be taken up and committed as vagrants or disorderly persons in
said city a8 the Court of General Sessions of the Peace, or the Court
‘of Special Sessions, or the Court of Oyer and Termine in said
county, of any police magistrate, or the commissioner of the alms-
house may deem proper objects, and the said executive committee
280 Tue Prison Association or New Yorx.
shall have the same powers to Keep, detain, employ and govern the
said petsons as are now by law conferred on the keepers of the
bridewell or penitentiary in said city
$4. The said executive committee may, from time to. time,
make by-laws, ordinances and regulations, relative co the manage-
iment and disposition of the estate and concerns of said association,
and the management, government, instruction, discipline and em-
ployment, of the persons so a6 aforesaid commitced to the said
‘workhouse, not contrary zo law, as they may deem proper, and may
appoint such officers, agents and servants as they may deem neces-
sary to transact the business of the said association, and may
designate heir duvies. And the said executive commitcee shall
make an annual repore to the Legislature and to the corporation
of the city of New York, of the number of persons received by chem
into the said workhouse, the disposition which shall be made of
them by instructing or employing them therein, the seceipts and
expenditures of ssid exccutive committee, and generally all such
faces and particulars as may exhibie the operations of the said
nittee shall have power, during
the minority of any of the persons so committed to the said work-
house, to bind out the said persons so being minors, as aforesaid,
as apprentices or servants, with their consent ducing their minority,
to such persons and at such places, to Jearn such proper trades
and employments as in their judgment will be most conducive to
their reformarion and amendment and future benefit and advantage
of such persons.
$6. The said executive committee by such committees as they
hall from time to time appoint, shall have power, and i shall be
their ducy to visi, inspect and examine, all the prisons in the State,
and annually report to the Legislature their stave and condition,
and all such other things in regard to them as may enable the
Legislature to perfece their government and discipline. And to
enable chem to execute the powers and perform the duties hereby
granted and imposed, they shall possess all the powers and authority
that by the ewenty-fourth section, of title frst, chapter third, part
fourth of the Revised Statutes are invested in inspectors of county
prisons and the duties of the keepers of exch prison that they may
examine shall be the same in relation to them, as in the section
aforesaid, are imposed on the keepers of such prisons in relation
to the inspectors thereof; provided, that no such examination or
inspection of any prison shall be made until an order for that purpose
Constrrurion ap By-Laws. 281
to be granted by the chancellor of this State, or one of the judges
of the Supreme Court or by 2 vice-chancellor or circuit judge, or
by the first judge of the county in which the prison to be examined
shall be situate shall first have been had and obtained, which order
shall specify the name of che prison to be examined, the names of
the persons, members of the said association, by whom the examina-
tion is to be made, and the time within which the same must be
concluded.
BY-LAWS.
I. There shall be a stated meeting of the executive commirtee
on the third Thursday of each month, and special meetings shall
be held on the requisition of the chairman or any three members
of the executive committee. The call for 2 special meeting shall,
all cases, state the business to be transacted at said meeting.
IL. At every meeting of the executive committee five members
shall be necessary to constitute a quorum
TIL. ‘The order of business at the annual meeting shall be as follows:
1. Election of chairman and secretary
2. The reading of the minutes of the last meeting.
3. Report of committee on nominations.
4 Election of officers
5: Report of corresponding secretary on the work of the
year,
6. Annual report of the treasurer.
IV. The order of business at every other stated meeting shall
be as follows:
1. The reading and approval of the minutes of the last
preceding meeting.
2. Report of treasurer.
3. Reports from scanding committees.
{ Repore from the corresponding secretary.
§. Reports from special committees
6. Report from the general agent.
7. Miscellaneous business.
‘Ata special meeting no other business shall be transacted than
that for which the said meeting was called.
'V. The chairman shall appoint all standing and special committees
and decide all questions of order, subject to an appeal; and the rules
of order shall be those embodied in Cushing’s Manual, so far as
they are applicable.
Coxstrruri6n anp By-Laws. 283
VI. The recording secretary of the association shall be the secre
tary of the executive committee; and it shall be his duty to keep
the minutes of the proceedings of said committee, to record them
in a book provided for that purpose, and to give due notice of all
meetings of the committee.
VIL. ‘The corresponding secretary shall conduct the correspondence
of the executive committee and of cach of the standing committees;
and shall act as che general financial agent of the association, and
shall report at each seated meeting of the commictee.
VILL. The treasurer shall have charge of the funds of the associa~
tion, and shall give such security as the executive committee may
require, His duties are more fully defined in by-law X.
IX. ‘There shall be six standing committees, namely, on finanee,
detentions, discharged convicts, law, house, and library.
X. The committee on finance shall be charged with the duty of
raising and caring for the funds,
The funds of the association shall be divided into three parts
ta be known as
1. The endowment fund
2. The reserve fund.
3. The general fund.
The Endowment Fund— The endowment fund shall consist of
such contributions as shall be given with the restriction that the
income only shall be used for the purpose of the association, and all
legacies.
The Reserve Fund.— The reserve fund shall-consist of such sums
as may be set aside from the general fund from time to time by the
executive committee for investment. Whenever any part of the
reserve fund shall be appropriated by the executive commieee,
such sum shall be immediately transferred to the general fund.
‘The endowment and reserve funds shall be under the immediate
dizection and control of the committee on finance, and all invest-
ments of these funds shall be ordered by the committee. The
treasurer of the association shall be a member and act as the treasurer
of the committee on finance, and shall be responsible for the safe=
keeping of the sureties of the endowment and reserve funds.
Any uninvested balance of the endowment and reserve funds shall
be kept each in separate trust companies in the name of the associa-
tion, subject to check of the treasurer, and shall, whenever possible,
bear interest. All income from the endowment and reserve funds
may be transferred to the general fund as soon as ret
284 ‘Tne Patson Association of New York.
No part of the reserve fund shall be used for any purpose except
by resolution of the executive committee, and whenever any part
shall be appropriated by the executive committee it shall immediately
be transferred to the general fund,
The General Fund.— The term “general fund” shall cover all
reccipts of the association not constituting a special fund or specified
for the endowment fund, the intention being that all the income,
except legacies, including donations for general purposes, and income
from endowment and reserve funds, shall be credited co the genetsl
fund to which the authorized disbursements of each activity of
the association shall be charged at the close of the fiscal year.
‘The treasurer shall notify the corresponding secretary at once
of all transfers of income from the endowment and reserve funds
+o the general fund
‘The excasurer shall notify the corresponding secretary, immediately
‘on receipe by him of any sum for the account of the association, ther
such receipt may be entered at once to the credit of the proper
account on the books of the association.
‘The corresponding sccretary shall be the gencral disbursing agent
of the association, the object of the provision being to keep in the
central offices of the association all receipts for payments by him
for the association of any kind, nature or description, and to have
in the central offices immediate record of all his disbursements
‘This provision shall not apply to the endowment and reserve funds.
All donations received by the corresponding secretary shall be
entered by him upon the proper books of the association and #
deposited in such bank as directed by the treasurer to the credit
of the association. Whenever the executive committee shall make
an appropriation out of either the reserve or general fund, the
corresponding secretary shall send to the treasurer a copy of the
resolution making the appropriation, certified by the recording
secretary, which certified copy shall be the treasures’s authority
for transferting the appropriated amount to the corresponding
‘The treasurer shall keep an account covering the general fund
in the name of the association, subject to his check ag treasurer i
such bank as may be selected by him and approved by the committee
on finance. Such account shall he separate and distinct from those
accounts opened for the uninvested balance of the endowment and
reserve funds.
The corresponding secretary shall keep 2 bank account in the
name of the association, subject to his check a8 corresponding
Constitution axp By-Laws. 285
sectetary for current disbursements, and shall deposit to the credit
of said bank account all moneys he may receive from the treasurer
Grawa from the general fund,
‘The committee on finance shall audit and report upon accounts
of the treasurer and of the corresponding secretary.
Ac each regular meeting of the executive committee the treasurer
shall make a detailed statement of the receipts and disbursements
for the preceding calendar month. He shall make a statement
showing investments and the receipts and disbursements of the
endowment and reserve funds; he shall make, at the annual meeting
of the association, 2 dezailed statement of receipts and disburse-
ments for the fiscal year.
XI, It shall be the duty of the committee on detentions:
1. To inquire, 2s far as may be practicable or necessary, into the
causes of commitment of persons in the prisons or houses of detention
in the cities of New York and in Brooklyn, and to adopt proper
measures for procuring che discharge of providing for the defense of
such as shall appear to be encicled thereto. .
2, To visit frequently the prisons under their charge, and to
endeaver to improve both the physical and moral condition of the
prisoners in all suitable and practicable ways.
XIL. It shall be the duty of the commictee on discharged conviets:
1. To correspond with prison agents or superintendents relative
to the character and trades of prisoners, and to ascertain, previous
to the discharge of each prisoner, his feelings, views and capabilities,
with a view of making the best arrangements for his future employ-
2. To keep a record of all persons who will employ discharged
prisoners and of cheir several occupations; to procure such employ-
ment for prisoners and applying therefor as seems best adapted to
the capacity of each; to hold correspondence with employers; to
keep a record of the conduct and prospects of those for whom places
have been obtained, that they may be sustained and encouraged
with the idea that a continued friendly interest is fele for them.
3. To secure suitable boarding places for discharged prisoners,
where they will not be exposed to corrupting influences, taking care
not to have more than one in a place, where it can be avoided.
4. To see that the prisoners are provided with suitable clothing,
of a kind that will not attract particular attention,
5. To consider the internal organization of the management of
prisons, and che physical and moral influences to be exerted on the
Prisoners during their confinement; to report upon their health,
286 Tu Prison Association or New York.
reformation, upon convict labor, administration and internal police,
fon the comparative merits of different prison systems, and on the
visitation of prisons and houses of reformation,
XIIL. Te shall be the duty of the committee on Jaw t0 examine
land report from time to time upon the penal legislation of the State,
with cheic suggestions for the amendment thereto, 10 consider ques
tions relating thereto which are under discussion in the
the Legislature, including pending bills, and report thei
conclusions upon them, sIs0 to cate for the law business of the asso
XIV. Ie shall be the duty of the commirtee on house to care for
the maintenance of the real estate of the association.
XV. Ir shall be the duty of the committee on library to see that
itis properly housed and catalogued and to cake steps for its increase.
XVI. One or more agents may be appointed by the executive
committee to assist the standing committees in their duties.
XVIL ‘The president, chairman of the executive committee, and
gorresponding secretary shall be members, ex officio, ofall the stand-
ing commitiees.
XVII. No alteration shall be made in these by-laws except
upon notice of the proposed amendment given at a previous mecting
of the executive committee.
INDEX.
Amescan Inetiste of Criminal Law
tind Criminology warn
American Prison Associaton. 65, 264
Barrows League 67243
Radford Reformatory Ben7
Bequest, form o! 2
Berkshire Endustial Faso... 80-288
Bidiogaphy
Big Brothers
Mig Brosh, Jew,
CChuteh Mision of Help
Consist and
CGrinial Courte Commitee
Gorestion, Dept of, N.Y. C
Correctional instcutions, visitation
of
CCorectional eaten of sta.
rime and cccinals, lew
smethodo for dealing with
faéé 317
Supervisor of Srate
‘Chastes,
Florence Critteatoa Mission
George Jonior R
Gospel Minion tthe Tombs
Great Meadow Pevon
Ser alo State Prisms
Home of the Good Shepherd
House of the Holy Family
House of Mercy a
House of Refuge. eer
at
Hudson State Training. School for
Git, i
See sito New Vor State Trai
Margaret Strachan Home
Misdemeanor, definition of
[Napanach Reformatory
[Naional Commies on Prsoa Labor 249
‘Council of Jewish Women 244
National Prioner’ Ald Asoc
tion a
[Now York Catholic Protectorya7e-t73
Conference of
New York City Reformatory for
Migdemeanante. 0 86-97, 495°158
New York Juvenile Ag... 473-176
New York Ma
Soci
New York Probation Asodation
New York State Confrence
Chasses and Correston
New York State Reformataty for
Women, ses Beford Refer
‘Male Miademeanants.
New York Sete Tring Sch for
178
[New York Sta Tiaiing Scholfor
Gin. 70-178
Parole 4
See alo under various insti
Pesiventities, county,
150-152, 200-207
Pion architecture 6-93
