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But our school system is also at fault, for by it our children are crammed with an amount of information the whole, or even the greater part, of which very few of them will ever use. Imagine the object, if one can, of spending the precious hours of a child's educational life in teaching it the names of every dozen or so of the different towns of each county in the United Kingdom, and at the same time entirely neglecting its moral training and giving very little attention to the physical.
If a child be bright he has every consideration from his teachers and receives from his companions the opprobious nickname of "Teacher's Pet." He gains a reward, perhaps a medal, and at the annual distribution of prizes the speech-makers point to the coming legislators and successful men of business in a manner which conveys to this scholar the idea that the one thing to live for is to gain an exalted position in the world. This would not be so bad in itself, were it not that the love for honest labour is not inculcated at the same time, and consequently the children imagine that they are going to be pitchforked into prominence. As an evidence, witness the speculative spirit so universal among our youth. They hope to make their way in life simply by "striking it lucky." Personally I have spoken to a large number of boys about the ages of from fourteen to sixteen years and I have never yet been able to find a boy who could tell me definitely what he would like to be. His father looks about for something for him to do without any knowledge of the boy's possibility of greatest success lying in one well marked direction. The boy remains in a billet only so long as he fails to get another with a greater wage attached to it, and when perhaps twenty years of age are reached he is conscious of where the true lines of his destiny lie; but it is then too late for him to begin the necessary education, and the consequence is that his life loses its inspiration. Now it is quite possible that if our school system were so reorganised that parents saw as a result that their children developed a true love for labour and worked with definite purpose, that they would take a more intense pride in them and enter more sympathetically into their labours and ambitions. The education of the child would thus be brought to react upon the parent and tend immediately to reorganise the domestic life and bring it closer to the Hebrew conception, which conception when realised would most thoroughly solve the problem of the moral regeneration of the race. It is impossible for the State to have to commence to educate the parent except by reactionary methods and by compelling the observance of all legitimate obligations. That our present school system does not react favourably upon the parent must be obvious from what has already been said. In the past when only the fortunate few were able to secure the advantages of a good education, they, for the most part, recognised the greatness of their opportunity and prosecuted their studies with zeal. But to-day, with an universal educational system the value of these opportunities is, by the child and sometimes by the parent, very much lost sight of. The child needs now a stimulant, something to arouse and sustain his interest in his work. He should learn to regard his school work with pleasure and his home with affection.
The three principal standpoints from which education is regarded are:—(a) the utilitarian, (b) the disciplinarian, and (c) a compromise between the two.
The Utilitarians consider that an educational system should store the mind of the child with such knowledge only as shall be of direct value to it in its after life. The disciplinarians consider that a child's education should content itself with so developing the faculties that when matured they may be adequate for such mental tasks as the after life or vocation may provide. The middle course is held by those who endeavour to train the faculties of the child in the manner prescribed by the disciplinarians, but in so doing, they employ the mind upon exercises, the accomplishment of which, is of immediate and permanent value.
The education system in New Zealand is constructed upon the utilitarian basis. The children's minds are crammed with knowledge—USEFUL knowledge let it be called—and they are encouraged to be diligent because of the great benefit this knowledge will be to them when they become men and women—which development the child of eight expects will be attained sometime before the end of the world, and will then come by chance. The reward of the child's labour is thrown into the far distant future, and is so entirely lost sight of as an inspiring factor, that artificial rewards have to be provided and the child ponders over his lessons in the hope of winning one of Ballantyne's or Henty's "Books for Boys."
Now, the facts of a child's life demonstrate conclusively that the child is capable of having all its interests absorbed in its work. The diligence with which it will build up a doll's house out of a soap box, a jam tin, a few stones and any odds and ends that it can lay its hands on, is sufficient evidence of this. The child loves to make things for itself, and its affection for the rude creations of its own mind is far greater than that for its most gorgeous and expensive toys. Upon the recognition of these facts, the kindergarten system is based.
In Sweden a very successful attempt has been made to construct the whole of the primary system upon this basis, and for this purpose Sloyd has been introduced into the schools. Certain Sloyd exercises have made their appearance in our New Zealand schools and have met with somewhat severe criticism, the whole system being condemned as being ideal theoretically, but valueless practically. It took many years before the Swedish system was perfected, and it should follow obviously that a very partial experiment, such as the colonial one has been, gives no idea of what value the complete system may achieve.
By Sloyd, we understand a system of educational hand-work. The children are employed upon various kinds of hand craft with the object of developing their mental, moral, and physical powers. The object is NOT to make artisans of the children, although undoubtedly those children who afterwards become tradesmen find that the educational principles of their trade has already been grasped by the intellect, but the same will apply to those entering any legitimate vocation without exception.
Although there are many different kinds of Sloyd, woodwork has been discovered to be the most useful, and it alone survives the severe tests imposed. A glance at the accompanying table will explain what is meant.
COMPARATIVE TABLE OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF SLOYD.
Key: A - Does it accord with children's capability? B - Does it excite and sustain interest? C - Are the objects made useful? D - Does it give a respect for rough work? E - Does it train in order and exactness? F - Does it allow cleanliness and neatness? G - Does it cultivate the sense of form? H - Is it beneficial from an hygienic point of view? I - Does it allow methodical arrangement? J - Does it teach dexterity of hand? - - Branches of Sloyd. A B C D E - - Simple Metal Work Yes & No Yes Yes Yes Yes & no Smith's Work No Hardly Tolerably Yes No Basket Making No Hardly Tolerably Yes No Straw Plaiting Yes Yes? Yes Yes & no Yes Brush Making No? Yes?? Yes Yes? Tolerably House Painting No No Yes & no Yes No Fretwork Yes? No & yes No & yes No Yes Yes Bookbinding No No & yes Tolerably Hardly Tolerably Yes Card-board Work Yes & no Yes? Yes No very high Sloyd Carpentry Yes Yes Yes Yes? Yes partly (not Turnery No Yes Yes? Hardly quite No) Carving in Wood Yes? Yes & no Yes & no No Yes Clay Modelling Yes Yes No No Yes & no - - From "Theory of Sloyd," Salomon.
Table continued
+ -+ + + + - Branches of Sloyd. F G H I J + -+ + + + - Tolerably Simple Metal Work No Yes Yes? Yes Yes Smith's Work No No? Yes & no Perhaps No Basket Making Yes? No No No No Straw Plaiting No & yes No? No Yes No Brush Making Yes No No No No House Painting No No No No No Fretwork Yes No & yes No No & yes No Bookbinding Yes? No No? Perhaps Tolerably Card-board Work Yes Yes? No Yes No? Sloyd Carpentry Yes Yes Yes? Yes Yes Turnery Yes? Yes No No No Carving in Wood Yes Yes & no No Yes No Clay Modelling No Yes No Yes No + -+ + + + -
The objects of Sloyd are:—(a) to instil a taste for, and love of, labour in general.
NOTE.—(For this analysis of the Sloyd system the author has based his study upon Herr Salomon's works "The theory of educational Sloyd" and "The Teacher's hand book of Sloyd.")
Children love to make things for themselves and prize their own work much more than ready made articles. The educator should follow Nature's lead and satisfy this craving. By a skilful direction of the child's interest a love for labour in general is instilled, and rewards are found to be unnecessary, the children being only too eager to achieve. To sustain their interest in the work they are engaged upon must be useful from THEIR OWN STANDPOINT. The work should not be preceded by fatiguing exercises, but the first cut should be a stroke towards the accomplishment of the desired end. The exercise must afford variety. The entire work of the exercise must be within their power and not requiring the aid of the teacher to "finish it off." It must be real work and not a pretence; and the objects should become the property of the children. To give children intricate joints to cut is of no real value. The child has no genuine interest in what are simply the parts of an exercise, it must make something complete and useful in itself. To make a garden stick accurate according to model is of more value than to make the most intricate joint. One may say that the child who could do the one could do the other, but that is not the point, for the object is not merely to gain manual dexterity but to develop all the faculties of a child, and this is what the complete exercise achieves and in what the partial exercise absolutely fails.
(b) To instil respect for rough, honest, bodily labour, which is achieved by the introduction of the work into schools of all grades so that ALL classes of the community may engage upon it, and by the teachers taking pride in it themselves, and by their intelligent teaching of it to their classes.
(c) To develop independence and self-reliance. The child requires individual attention, the teacher must not tell too much, the child should endeavour as far as possible to discover by experiment the best methods for holding and manipulating tools, and also to be allowed as much free play as possible for its judgment.
(d) To train in habits of order, exactness, cleanliness, and neatness.
Which are acquired by keeping the models well within the children's range of ability, demanding that the work shall always be done in an orderly manner and with the greatest measure of exactness that the child is capable of. How far cleanliness and neatness may be instilled is apparent from the nature of the work.
(e) To train the eye, and the sense of form. To cultivate dexterity of hand and develop touch.
The models are of two kinds:—rectilinear and curvilinear. The former are tested by the square, the rule and the compasses, but the accuracy of the latter depends upon the eye, the sense of form and that of touch. This training enables the child to distinguish between good and bad work and to put a right value upon the former, to understand the right use of ornament, and also cultivates the aesthetic taste upon classic lines. An enormous number of jerry built articles are sold, which the public readily buy simply on account of their ornamental appearance. If the ability to distinguish between good and bad work were more universal it would go far towards improving trade morality.
(f) To cultivate habits of attention, interest, etc. The success of the work requires that the mind shall be closely concentrated upon it. The nature of the work excites the interest of the child, and under careful direction this interest is sustained throughout. A genius has been described as a man capable of taking pains—a master of detail. Sloyd is eminently suited for concentrating the attention upon the details of work and for training the Sloyder to be thorough and never content with "making a thing do."
The desire of the child to finish the work and to finish it well, overrides any element of impatience or irritability that may be in his character, and in a natural way introduces the elements of patience and perseverance in his work. These qualities are not confined to his Sloyd work but extend throughout his character, so that he realises that the work of life all contributes to some definite aim.
(g) Uniform development of the physical powers. Statistics collected from any country show that many forms of disease before unknown among the young, are now very prevalent among the children taught in the schools. These diseases are attributed to the many hours during which children are required to sit and to the bad positions they assume during those hours. Skoliosis—curvature of the spine—a serious disease, as it produces displacement of the internal organs, nose bleeding, aenemia, chlorosis, nervous irritation, loss of appetite, headache, and myopia, are diseases which are declared by experts to accompany the present system of education.
Sloyd when properly taught tends to develop the frame according to the normal standard. It may not be as good as gymnastics in this direction: but it has this advantage that it trains the pupil to engage in his work in such a manner as not to hinder nor stunt the development of his body, and not to cramp the vital organs in such a manner as to interfere with the discharge of their functions. The pupils are taught to use both hands and to develop both sides of the body. The following chart from Herr Salomon's work will show to what degree the body may develop on a lopsided manner when one side only is used in performing work. The chart shows the sectional measurement of the chest of a boy of thirteen years of age who for three years had worked at a bench using the right side only.
The foregoing brief analysis may show the ends which Sloyd is destined to accomplish, and upon the value of those ends no explanation is required. Habits of industry, patience and perseverance are inculcated. The child learns to know his own power and how best to use it. His tastes are cultivated and he learns to love work and understand the true dignity of labour. Such results are not the results of the copy book but they are permanently impressed upon the child's character. That such an education must react upon the parent is obvious. The child's life is full of aim and he does everything with a purpose, and in such a child only the most depraved parent will fail to take interest, and children have this characteristic, that they force their knowledge upon the notice of their parents whenever they can. The boy who begins to learn house painting soon expresses the wish to paint his own home; if carpentry, he wishes to build a shed; if joinery, he wishes to make a table; and how often one notices a home where tidiness and order are due to the educated child, and where taste in furnishing is accounted for by the daughter's cultivated aesthetic taste. Children then, so trained as the Sloyd system provides, may contribute enormously to the happiness and brightness of the home life. Instead of regarding them as a burden their parents will behold them with delight and pride, and instead of looking out for "something for them to do," indifferent whether it be driving a cart, selling in a shop, or clerking in a lawyer's office, they will find that the child himself has a definite idea of where his after course should lie, and they will do their utmost towards assisting him to follow it.
It cannot be supposed that Sloyd will succeed in the midst of incongruous surroundings. To train the eye to a sense of the beautiful in a dirty schoolhouse is somewhat difficult. The glorious handiwork of God will not be taught in the playground which, with its mudholes, ruts, and filth, more resembles a cattle yard than anything else. A school and its grounds must at least show that the authorities themselves really appreciate the lessons they are endeavouring to have instilled into the minds of their scholars. So, too, a similar system must underlie the method of teaching the ordinary lessons at the school desk. How many children will say "I love history but I detest dates"? What value are the dates? Let history be taught as Fitchett teaches it in his "Deeds that won the Empire" and the end will be accomplished, patriotism will be inspired, and the nation loved. Dates, names of deeds, causes of war, international policies may easily be introduced incidentally. Let geography be taught as Fraser teaches it in his "Real Siberia" or Savage Landor in his "In the Forbidden Land" and the map will be studied with interest and the subject never forgotten. Let the notation be dispensed with until the child understands the problem or theorem and Euclid will become fascinating.
Without a shadow of doubt the best preventive of crime is an universal system of education so designed that the whole interest of the child is absorbed in its work. An absolute solution of the whole problem undoubtedly requires that the religious education of the child be also undertaken and effectively carried out. The question of the religious education of the young is one which is exciting attention throughout the whole of the English speaking world. There are those who advocate that instruction in the Bible lessons should be given by teachers during school hours to the scholars attending the Government schools, and there are those who vigorously oppose such a course.
The advocates base their arguments upon their belief that no system of education which ignores religious teaching can be effective or complete. Their opponents declare that it is unjust to call upon the teachers of a secular education to give instruction in religion, or for the State to, in any way, subsidise the various religious denominations or to supplement their efforts in this particular direction. Both sides petition the Government and both sides prepare the people for a possible referendum upon the question.
The State cannot be expected to regard the matter from other than a purely utilitarian standpoint. "Will it make the people better citizens?" it enquires. "Will it lesson crime and promote honesty, thrift and loyalty?" These questions still remain unanswered, and in the midst of so much rationalistic teaching, and especially with the example of the noble lives of many rationalists before it, the State believes that there is room for much difference of opinion, and therefore it cannot move in the matter. The advocates of religious education seem to take it for granted that their beliefs are unassailable and that they are simply fighting against the powers of Darkness: but they forget that they are doing very little to bring others to hold the same convictions as themselves. It should not be a difficult task to answer to the utilitarian position with an emphatic affirmative and to bring conclusive evidence to support that affirmative. Where, it may be asked, are to be found the men who are leaders in thought and action who have, without any religious influence whatever, risen from the depths of misery, crime and filth? Where are to be found the families now living in honesty and virtue, though still in poverty, families in the midst of which every form of wickedness was once to be seen, who owe nothing to religious influence? The rationalist may claim that when his educational theories are adopted and put into practice all dens of misery and vice will disappear, but he cannot support his statement with convincing proofs. The teacher of religion is infinitely better off. While he strenuously supports the adoption of better and larger educational effort, he insists that, in order to gain the active co-operation of those on behalf of whom it is to be employed, religious influences must be brought to bear, and for the support of his statement he need only say "open your eyes and look around you."
The influence of religion in regaining criminals cannot be gainsaid by any, and the United States Educational Report for 1897-98 declares that it is most important for the inculcation of sound morality, that children should, from a very early age, be brought under the influence of good religious teaching.
When the State is convinced that religious education is an absolute necessity, it will approach the question of ways and means with a determination that a satisfactory solution must be arrived at, and what it will then demand is not so much an emasculated Bible as the bringing to bear upon the children of the vital regenerative influences of religion.
Chapter IX.
SOME AMERICAN EXPERIMENTS:—
THE PROBATION SYSTEM.
THE ELMIRA SYSTEM.
The Probation System.—In several of the States of America an attempt has been made to devise a substitute for imprisonment in the cases of persons convicted for minor offences.
The State of Massachusets was the first to take the lead by initiating a somewhat elaborate system of probation.
Briefly described, it is an attempt to reform a prisoner OUTSIDE.
Imprisonment for minor offences has had many bad features and should, where possible, be avoided. Firstly, there is the stigma that attaches to every man who has worn the broad-arrow. Secondly, there is the loss of self-respect which, together with the contaminating influences existing in a prison, often convert the minor offender into the hardened criminal. Thirdly, there are the hardships that the wife and family are called upon to endure while the bread-winner is in gaol and not earning wages.
The Probation System seeks to overcome all these difficulties. Instead of sentencing an offender to a period of imprisonment, the judge confides him to the care of the probation officer for a period co-terminous with that which he would otherwise have had to spend in prison. The minimum period of this sentence is six months, and the average about twelve months.
In the cases of female offenders and of youths under the age of 18 years the probation officer is usually a woman; for adult males, a man acts as officer.
The officers are invested with very considerable authority. It is their duty to keep the very closest watch over their wards and to report continually upon their behaviour. They frequently visit the homes and do their utmost to become acquainted with the conditions of the home and industrial life under which their wards live. The visits are so arranged that they by no means imply an official errand, the officers endeavour to discover the weaknesses of their wards and the temptations to which they are most likely to succumb, and as far as possible to remove them out of the reach of these temptations or to strengthen them against their power. Some officers provide for meetings to be held for those committed to their charge. Especially is this the case with those who have the charge over youthful offenders. At such meetings games, edifying entertainment and instruction are provided. It is also quite competent for an officer to receive the wages of a probationer. In these cases, he will give the man's wife a sufficient sum to meet the ordinary household expenditure, allow him enough for his personal expenses, and retain a small sum to be returned when the period of probation has expired. This course is invariably pursued in the case of drunkards. A drunkard may, upon the authority of the probation officer, be forbidden to enter a public-house or to enter it during certain hours only, and he may also be obliged to remain at home after a certain hour. In fact, the probation officer may make almost any such rules that he thinks best to be observed by his ward, and there is always the threat of being sent to prison to discharge his sentence, if he should refuse to behave properly when under probation.
To have an officer constantly watching over a man may affix a certain stigma to the man, but even so, it is not indelible nor nearly so great as that which the prison leaves behind it. To make this disadvantage as small as possible, the officers wear no uniform and, within their prescribed area, work among the convicted and unconvicted alike.
The type of officer required is not easily found. Of humane instincts, and yet a firm disciplinarian, well educated, competent to give good advice and able to gain the affections and confidences of those amongst whom they work, is the type of person required. The ex-soldier or the ex-policeman is just the man who is NOT wanted. The advantages of this system Miss E. P. Hughes thus sums up:—
Firstly.—Instead of a few highly-paid officials and many badly paid warders, you have a number of independent, well-paid probation officers, chosen for their knowledge of human nature, and their skill in reforming it.
Secondly.—Far greater adjustment of treatment to individual cases.
Thirdly.—The stigma of the prison is avoided, and while great care is taken that the prisoner shall be strictly controlled and effectively restrained, his self-respect is carefully developed.
Fourthly.—The family suffers less. The home is not broken up, the wages still come in, and if the prisoner is a mother and a wife, it is, of course, most important that she should retain her position in the home.
Fifthly.—The prisoner does not "lose his job," nor his mechanical skill, if he is a skilled workman. "I was told that six months in prison will materially damage this in many cases." He does not lose his habit of regular work.
Sixthly.—He has one intelligent friend at his side to give him all the help that a brother man can. And this friend has the unique opportunities for studying his case, and has also an extraordinary power over his environment.
Seventhly.—Good conduct and a capacity for rightly using freedom is constantly rewarded by a greater freedom.
Eighthly.—It is far cheaper than prison. The prisoner keeps himself and his family, and one officer can attend from sixty to eighty prisoners.
The Elmira Reformatory.—"The New York States Reformatory at Elmira" is the official designation of this institution. It was established in 1875 and had for its first superintendent a Mr Z. R. Brockway.
Mr Brockway had from the age of nineteen years been working in an official capacity among prisoners, and his religious beliefs led him to acknowledge that the men committed to his charge had their place in the redemption of the world.
Maconochie's humane method of dealing with the criminals of Norfolk Island attracted his attention, and from Maconochie's mark system he evolved the now famous indeterminate sentence.
When the New York State established a Reformatory at Elmira, Mr Brockway was placed in charge and given practically a free hand in the adoption of such methods as he deemed most likely to effect the permanent reform of the men committed to imprisonment there. A restriction was placed upon the age of the offenders who should be admitted, the law reading thus:—"A male between the ages 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, to be there confined under the provisions of the law relating to that reformatory" (vide section 700 Penal Code).
This by no means implies that all the inmates are first offenders. Many of them have been in juvenile reformatories, penitentiaries, and houses of correction, so that in some cases a considerable advance in the career of crime has been made before they are handed over to the authorities at Elmira. Again, only felons are received, not minor offenders.
The principles upon which the reformatory system is based are practically those set forth in the declaration of the National Prison Congress held in Cincinnati in 1870 as follows:—
1. Punishment is defined to be "suffering inflicted upon the individual for the wrong done by him, with a special view of securing his reformation."
2. "The supreme aim of prison discipline is THE REFORMATION OF CRIMINALS, not the infliction of VINDICTIVE suffering."
3. "The progressive classification of prisoners based on character, and worked on some well adjusted mark system, should be established in all prisons above the common gaol."
4. "Since hope is a more potent agent than fear, it should be made an ever present force in the minds of the prisoners, by a well devised and skilfully applied system of rewards for good conduct, industry, attention to learning. Rewards, more than penalties, are essential to every good prison system."
5. "The prisoner's destiny should be placed, measurably, in his own hands; he must be put into circumstances where he will be able, through his own exertions, to continually better his own conditions. A regulated self-interest must be brought into play and made constantly operative."
6. "Peremptory sentences ought to be replaced by those of indeterminate length. Sentences limited only by a satisfactory proof of reformation should be substituted for those measured by mere lapse of time."
The old system of penology may be described as "so much suffering inflicted for so much wrong done and with the object of expiating that wrong."
The principles upon which the reformatory system is founded must be clearly grasped before the system itself can be understood. Criticism is frequently levelled against it on the ground that the prisoners are given "too good a time." This criticism is based upon some theory that vindictive retaliation is the attitude that should be assumed towards the criminal. When this theory is renounced, then the system stands or falls according as it accomplishes the objects for which it is designed. When it is asked why should a prisoner in captivity be better looked after than he would be if left in his old haunts of crime, the question must be answered from the prisoner's point of view, and he will candidly reply that the prison which deprives him of his freedom until his reformation has been effected is not the place which has any attractions for him. The life of discipline and industry does not at all agree with his idea of blissful surroundings. Upon admission at the reformatory, the prisoner is placed in the middle of three grades of classification. From this grade he can, by industry and good behaviour, advance to the highest grade. If he should prove refractory, he sinks to the lowest or convict grade. Each grade has its own particular privileges, these being of course at their maximum in the highest grade. They consist chiefly in a better diet, better bed and freer access to the library. His fate is practically placed in his own hands. If he shall show himself industrious and shall apply himself diligently to the task set before him he may make such progress in his grades as will secure his release after a comparatively short period of detention. If, on the other hand, he will not exert himself to embrace the opportunity, he is kept under detention until the maximum limit of his sentence is reached. The authorities urge for legislation making the sentence absolutely indeterminate, so that those who resist the reformatory measures may be kept in prison for a period co-terminous with that of their resistance. The principles upon which the system is founded are developed in a course of training described as a three M course, i.e. mental, moral and manual. The machinery consists of, the indeterminate sentence, the school of letters, the trade school, and the gymnasium.
The Indeterminate Sentence.—The ideal Indeterminate sentence provides that when once a criminal falls into the clutches of the law he shall be deprived of his liberty until he has given satisfactory evidence that he is able to conduct himself as an honest and industrious citizen. It makes no distinction between different crimes, such as to provide that the man who embezzles shall receive a longer sentence than the man who commits arson or vice versa, but makes the restoration of liberty depend entirely upon reformation. It refuses to tolerate the idea that any criminals should be at large to prey upon society, and it thus imposes upon society the obligation to undertake the reform of all criminals. This IDEAL sentence, however, does not exist. At Elmira, the authorities are obliged to recognise a maximum, so that if at the expiry of this maximum, the prisoner should have made no progress towards reform he must, nevertheless, be discharged. Since, however, a man may at Elmira reduce a sentence of ten years to something like 22 months, a great incentive is given to him to identify himself with the efforts being made on his behalf. From every point of view the indeterminate sentence in the case of those sent to reformatories appears the most reasonable. The business of the trial court is concluded as soon as the question of guilt is determined. The judge has not imposed on him the impossible task of measuring out a punishment which in its severity shall exactly accord with the degree of crime committed. The question of the prisoner's sanity is not left to the jury to decide but to qualified alienists. Neither does this question determine his GUILT but only his RESPONSIBILITY. No account has to be made of the provocation from which the prisoner suffered at the committal of his crime. If but a small degree of criminality exist, the safest adjustment of punishment is to be found in the indeterminate sentence. From the social point of view, it gives the best safeguard to the society. It guarantees that a criminal once convicted shall cease to prey upon society. He will either reform and return to society as a useful member thereof and a contributor to its wealth, or else, refusing to reform, he will never regain his liberty. This sentence lays it down that society ought not to tolerate criminals in its midst. Imprisonment for a fixed period under our present penal system serves but to exasperate the criminal, and at the end of his sentence, when he is a more dangerous criminal than ever, the law demands that he shall be released. It is only by indeterminate sentences that society obtains the guarantee it may justly demand. For its effect as a means of discipline a prisoner will give his own experience. The following extract, was written by an inmate of the Reformatory in 1898:—"From the view-point of a 'man up a tree' I would say that the character of our sentence has everything to do with furnishing a motive which induces and stimulates us to a degree of activity we could never acquire under a fixed penalty. Where, under a definite sentence, we would spend most of our time crossing off days from the calendar and lay awake nights counting over and again the amount of time yet necessary for us to serve before the dawn of freedom, now every moment is utilised in taking advantage of all opportunities for improvement that are offered, well knowing that only by advancement in the trade-school and school of letters, together with strict compliance with the rules of the disciplinary department, can liberty be earned. And the word earn is used advisedly, for a man to get along in this reformatory can be no sluggard but must be alert, ever ready to advance and not drag behind."
The ideal sentence, so far as an incentive to reformation goes, would be an ABSOLUTELY INDETERMINATE ONE, where a man must either reform or remain in prison for life, for where would be the welfare of society considered if a man be released prepared to prey upon it as he did before imprisonment? In the case of the absolutely indeterminate sentence there is a motive that will quicken every energy and arouse the dullest to life and exercise, for he would be fighting for life and liberty—liberty that could never be his until he had shown by his conduct that ready compliance with all requirements here was intended, and willingness to discard the old and detrimental habits, taking on new and profitable ones. The fact that a man could get along in here would indicate his ability to live in accord with society in the outside world.
Under such a system no one fit to be released would fail to gain it. Why? Because the motive is so strong as to force the most unwilling to willingness; because a man who would rather rot in prison than try to regain his freedom by legitimate means is better off where he is. He would only be a stumbling block to society in general if he were set free, and would sooner or later land again in some penal institution or other, and thus his life would be wasted, and public funds wasted in arresting, discharging and rearresting the useless drone, the balance of whose life would be passed in various prisons of the country.
That the indeterminate sentence furnishes a powerful motive for reformation is shown daily in this institution. You have only to watch the student over his books, or mechanic over his tools to see the effort that is being made to win that golden prize—a parole. How that motive is undermined or taken away entirely when the sentence is definite is readily perceived by taking a cursory glance over the records of men sentenced here for a definite period. The greatest percentage of them are careless, insolent, and furnish most of the class that goes to form the nucleus of the lower or convict grades. Why? Because there is nothing to work for. No parole can be gained by attention to duty. Time, and time alone, counts for this class. Only to pass time and get to the end of the sentence, that is all. No one can make a study of, or even look about him and compare the records made by definite and indefinitely sentenced men, without becoming a warm advocate of the indeterminate sentence. The longer the maximum sentence of the man sent here, the greater is his effort to travel along the straight and narrow path, picking up such advantages as offer him through his stay in this institution. The longer the maximum the stronger the motive, the smaller the maximum, the smaller effort to earn a release. For example, men sent here with two or two and a half years as the limit of their maximums, on an average, remain here longer than those with a five, ten or twenty years maximum hanging over them. The reason is obvious—the motive is strengthened or weakened according as the sentence is lengthened or shortened. The deterrent value of the absolutely indeterminate sentence would be enormous. Not a question of a few months or years would the criminal have to face; but a period which would not terminate until he either reformed or died. As we have seen it gives a tremendous stimulus to reform, and it would likewise give a powerful check to criminal tendencies. Thus it relieves the Judge of an impossible task, is most satisfactory to society, and most humane to the culprit.
It may be urged that since liberation would depend in a measure upon proficiency in the trade-school and school of letters, that some criminals whose criminality might be of a lesser degree, would be at a greater disadvantage than others. That is not so. The system is obviously a very complicated one, and only the bare outlines are being given here. In operation it is absolutely fair, neither is any inducement offered to commit crime for the benefits which the trade-school confers. The managers know no such defect in their system or otherwise they would report it. They have a free hand in the employment of their methods, they are continually experimenting, and they owe no devotion to "red tape."
A further advantage that the indeterminate sentence has, is that it provides for a second period of probation. A man may behave himself well in prison but upon his release betake himself immediately to his old surroundings and then to his old habits. The most critical moment is when the prisoner steps outside the gaol walls and finds himself a free man. The habits of industry and good conduct acquired when in confinement have to be accommodated to new conditions, and if unassisted the task is often too great. The consequence is that he falls away and rejoins his old companions and soon becomes a recidivist. The indeterminate sentence allows for his freedom being regained gradually. Having given evidence of reform and of abilities to support himself, employment is found for him, and he is granted a parole. That is he is released conditionally. For the next half year he must report himself every month, and if at the end of that period he has behaved well he is granted absolute discharge. Opportunity is thus given for him to establish himself gradually amidst the conditions of free social life. The sense of freedom comes without shock, and when it comes, the critical period has long since passed away.
Should he violate his parole in any way, he is rearrested and may be called upon to serve the maximum penalty for his crime.
The School of Letters.—As has been said the system of the Reformatory is classified under the headings of mental, moral and manual. There is no sharp distinction between all three, inasmuch as no mental or manual training is considered of any value which does not also assist to develop the moral character of the pupil.
The whole aim of the system is to develop minds and bodies, arrested in their growth, in order that they may become more susceptible to moral influences, and that habits of correct thinking and useful industry may be established. Every prisoner upon entering the institution is assigned to the school of letters, care being taken that the task imposed upon him is well within his mental grasp, but at the same time shall require an effort on his part in order to master it.
The school is divided into three sections—The Primary, the Intermediate and the Academic or Lecture division. Each section is subdivided into classes and each class again subdivided into groups. The usual method of making the lower classes large and the upper classes small is exactly reversed at the Reformatory. There may be as few as twenty pupils in the lower classes and as many as two hundred in the upper ones. The school is under the management of a director who is assisted by a competent staff of civilian teachers, as well as by a number of the inmates themselves. Some of the prisoners, being illiterate, have to commence their education at the very bottom of the ladder. Others, according to the education they have received, enter the course at higher points. In the case of foreigners much of their education consists in teaching them the English language and instructing them in American customs and manners. The training is of immense advantage to them.
The classes are held in the evening and the routine of the Reformatory is so arranged that throughout the whole of the prisoner's waking time he is kept employed.
From the elementary instruction in reading, writing and arithmetic, given to illiterates, the course progresses so as to include History, Civics, Political Economy, Ethics, Nature study and Literature. Attached to the school there is a well stocked library from which books are issued under regulations relative to good conduct and progress made. There is also a weekly paper issued within the institution called "The Summary," to which the prisoners may contribute articles. Attendance at the school is in all cases compulsory. The inmate has no option whatever. He is not consulted as to what course of study he would like to pursue but this is chosen for him and he is set to it. In selecting his course, every attention is paid to the man's abilities, tastes and attainments. No useless studies are undertaken. Every study must be of value from a reformative point of view and also from an educational one. That is, it must serve to correct bad and wandering habits of thinking and to cultivate good and consecutive habits. It must assist to broaden the outlook of life and to bring the individuals into living touch with the life and traditions of the country to which he belongs. It must serve to inspire hope, confidence and zeal. It must cultivate a taste for the beautiful, a love for the natural, and an adoration for the Divine. When released, the student must find himself equipped with such a knowledge as will enable him to steadily advance in his station of life. And yet there is on an average, only two years in which to impart such an instruction. How is it done? Firstly, nothing useless is taught, the object primarily aimed at being the formation of character. Attendance is therefore compulsory, and attention and application are necessary in order to obtain a parole. Monthly examinations are held and failures at these gives a set-back in the matter of obtaining a release. A failure, however, may be overtaken by extra exertion during the next month. However distasteful it may be to the prisoner to study regularly and methodically, or however difficult his former irregular life may have rendered this task, yet it is so intimately bound up with his interests that he soon finds a motive powerful enough to correct mere dis-inclination. He must work and work at his best, and invariably he does so.
Upon entering the class room each student receives a printed slip which gives an outline of the lesson to be studied. This serves to convey an idea of the amount of work to be undertaken, to show the progressive steps and to prevent any idle speculation concerning the development of the lesson. These slips are kept by the student and they are made the basis of the monthly examination. These examinations are conducted with great strictness. In order to pass 75 per cent. of the maximum number of marks must be obtained, and marks are given for exact knowledge only. For instance, if in a sum in arithmetic a right method is employed but a wrong answer given no marks are rewarded. The student has shown an inability to use his knowledge. In other subjects the men in answering their questions must give the exact "how," or "why," or "when," or "where," or "which" before their work will pass. They may write sheets but it will not count if they miss the point. They soon find therefore that in order to pass their examinations they must pour forth all their energies upon their work. Needless to say, no catch questions are ever introduced, neither does the examination task exceed the men's abilities.
When English literature was first introduced the men regarded it as an imposition. They did not know what the new study meant nor what was expected of them. A great amount of coaxing and gentle treatment was necessary to overcome the general bewilderment. The first examination passed off measurably well. Soon a change took place and English literature rose rapidly to become the most favourite study. The demand upon the librarian for the supply of English and American Classics became so great that special restrictions had to be placed upon their issuance.
Marked success from a Reformatory point of view has attended this study, and the men enthusiastically enter upon a new and broader life.
The late Prof. S. R. Monks, for twelve years Lecturer at the Reformatory, says:—"But does such education contribute to the reformation of the criminal and the protection of the public?" Unqualifiedly and unhesitating I answer, Yes. Men are found to acquire in this school month by month a growing application of better things, a readier apprehension of truth and a heartier sympathy with virtue, and best of all, a greater capacity for sustained and consistent effort in practical undertakings. These transformations are the successive steps of a real reformation, and every step puts the man at a greater and safer distance from past shiftlessness and viciousness. "The virtues," says Felix Adler, "depend in no small degree on the power of serial and complex thinking," but, continues that practical philosopher, "the ordinary studies of the school exercise and develop this faculty of serial and complex thinking. Any sum in multiplication gives a training of this kind." It is hardly possible to exaggerate the benefit that true education will confer on one who has come under the condemnation of the law. His improved education will counter-balance some of the disgrace of his past criminality; it will with industrial training extricate him from the hopeless mass of ignorant unskilled labour where competition is always hottest and most perilous, it will teach him, better than he could know without it, the relative value of things; it will so elevate his thoughts and refine his tastes that the path of duty in its roughest and steepest places, will yet steadily attract his footsteps.
The charge is sometimes made that the criminal is made more dangerous by education. The assertion begs all it carries. It assumes that education strengthens character but does not transform character which is false for it does both.... No man can use his mind in the careful investigation of moral principles, and become thereby merely a more dangerous cheat. No man who has opened his eyes to see the revelations of eternal wisdom and goodness written in letters of light on all the handiwork of Nature, can be made thereby merely a more dangerous villain. On the contrary, every hour of honest search after reality, of careful industry governed by principles and lined to accuracy, every hour spent in happy contemplation of wisdom and goodness, wherever manifested will make the man forever the better for it.
Physical Culture.—This Department of the Reformatory falls into three divisions—the Gymnastic, the Military and the Manual.
The Gymnastic.—The idea of a gymnasium within a gaol must deliver no small shock to the prejudices of many, but in studying the Elmira system we must endeavour to keep before us the end which the authorities are aiming at, viz., the restoration to society of their criminals in a not only harmless state but in their most useful state, and this can only be made possible by the most careful and thorough training of the mind, body and soul.
Neither is there any cause to think that the prisoners are getting too good a time, and that, being treated better than the industrious worker, a premium is being offered to crime. The investigation of the authorities has revealed no case in which a man has entered the institution on account of advantages offered. To criminals they are not realised as advantages. They understand them only as the rough road leading to their release, and it is about the last thing for men of shiftless, lazy, inconsequent habits of mind and body, to suppose that they are having a good time when sent to a gymnasium every morning for two hours' steady work. Work which brings all the muscles of the body into play and which demands the fixed attention of the mind and its submission to the word of command from the instructor, is many times more distasteful than the "hard labour" of lazily cracking stones.
Until 1900 the whole prison population went through a regular gymnastic course. This is now changed and assignments are made to the gymnasium only upon the certificate of the physician. All new arrivals however spend a period, averaging about five weeks, in the "awkward squad," half of whose morning time is spent in the gymnasium. They come in a very ungainly looking set of men. Many are undersized, underweight, rickety and diseased in body and generally of a slovenly, unmanly appearance. A multitude of causes have been at work to produce this condition. Chiefly, these are a bad ancestry, foul atmosphere of their dwellings, their idle dirty habits, intemperance and sexual abuse.
The course of treatment prescribed for these is one which brings into exercise all their latent muscular power. Special attention is paid to deformities and weaknesses resulting from any cause whatsoever.
Turkish baths, swimming baths and massage also play an important part in their treatment and help to bring the dregs of disease, the results of excessive drink and the use of tobacco, out of their systems.
The effects of such treatment are at the end of a few weeks very apparent. The body is supple, the carriage is erect, the cutaneous, circulatory, muscular and nervous systems are in a healthy state, and the stupid, bewildered or stolid expression has given way to one of manly concern.
At the end of five weeks most of the men graduate from the awkward squad and engage in the work of other departments. Some, however, for various reasons have to remain for a longer period of physical exercise.
The majority of these are classified into three groups:
I. Mathematical Dullards. II. Deficient in self-control. II. Stupids. These groups are described by Dr Hamilton Wey in his report for 1896 as follows:—
Group I.—The Mathematical dullards. These were incapable of solving the most elementary problems in Mental Arithmetic or else did so with hesitation and difficulty. They were instances of sluggish and dragging walk, and presented a sleepy or dreamy appearance at work or in repose. They suggested arrested mental growth. From a careful study of these men by observation and immediate contact exercises were selected that would tend to act upon their defects. In addition the exercises prescribed necessitate the direct employment of their mathematical faculties. The following schedule was adopted, though subject to constant change as occasion for change presented itself. The exercises of their group as with others are confined to one hour's practical work five days per week. The men receive a daily rain bath and rubbing down immediately after their exercises. With this group the hour is divided into sessions of half-an-hour each, subdivided into periods of fifteen minutes. The first fifteen minutes are devoted to light calisthenics executed by command with loud counting and simultaneous movements. This is followed by 15 minutes of marching and facing movements with step counting. The first 15 minutes of the second half hour are occupied in the laying out of geometrical fields for athletic events. Employing the 50ft. tape and the 2ft. rule with divisions of an inch. After being instructed as to dimensions they are required to lay out the following:—
(a) Baseball diamond; (b) basket ball field; (c) track for 30 and 40 yards running races; (d) placing of hurdles at intervals, in harmony with established athletic field rules. The closing 15 minutes embraced practical work, viz., high and long jump, hop skip and jump, high kicking, target throwing, etc.
Group II.—Those deficient in self-control. The members of Group II, compared with those of Groups I and III, are physically of better quality. In general appearance they show a better all-round physical development, and in some instances the deteriorating effects of sexual abnormality were not so apparent, this class would, in the performance of athletics, compare favourably with the scholar outside prison walls. In the general performance of their work they have shown more interest than either Group I or III, and in some instances have acquired skill in some of their athletic branches. The tendency of the athletics selected for this group by the Gymnasium Director was of a nature conducive to the cultivation and encouragement of self-control and self-reliance among its members as shown by the spirit of good-fellowship displayed by the successful towards the unsuccessful player, and in a measure subduing the ebullition of passion and the spirit of jealousy that formerly influenced their every notion in competitive contests.... It can be safely asserted that one essential feature in athletics, viz., will-power, which was conspicuous at the first by its absence, has been strengthened and inculcated, especially in this group.
It was observed by the Director that perhaps by their exuberance of animal spirit, the men were prone to make frequent excuses for changes from one game to another, instead of striving to excel in one branch. Another observable feature was the attempt to shirk the exercises which required any exertion on their part. These defects have been remedied, not entirely, but sufficiently to justify the efficiency of athletics as a fact in the production of self-control; and instances can be cited of complete subordination of will to the controlling powers.
Group III.—The Stupids. The members of this group are not far above the standard of feeble-minded boys. They are what might be termed "all-round defectives." The object of the athletics selected for this group has been to awaken and arouse them from that lethargic state into which they periodically relapse. This has been in a measure accomplished, a great aid to which has been the daily rain bath. The following physical defects (some of which have been remedied wholly or in part) come under my observation: general weakness, weak chest (respiratory organs), bent carriage of the body, stiffness of wrist, joints, and clumsy movements of fingers, spinal curvature, extreme (comparative) development of right arm. To overcome these defects systematic exercise was necessary, including free-hand exercises, club-swinging, dumb-bell exercise, etc., meted out according to the respective deficiencies and requirements of the men. This group also spent one half-hour in practical outdoor gymnastic and athletic work. After a general resume of the work accomplished it can safely be asserted that outdoor athletics and gymnastics have proven to be in a measure, a prophylactic for a number of the ills which these three groups of defectives are subject to.
Military Instruction.—Military drill was introduced into the Reformatory as a direct outcome of the Prisons Bill of 1888 which forbade all machine labour in prisons being conducted for profit. The statute requiring the "shutting down" of all industrial plants the work of the institution was practically brought to a standstill. In this difficulty the management conceived the idea of forming a military regiment. Most beneficial results immediately followed. The men began to walk with more erect carriage and to respond to quick words of command. Besides this, the open-air exercise developed their lung-power and stimulated their circulatory system. A pride in their performance was also inspired by the opportunity given to rise through the different ranks to that of lieutenant. Above all, good habits of discipline were cultivated. Although the circumstances that rendered necessary the introduction of military drill have passed away, yet the organization has been found of such great reformatory value that it has become an integral part of the Elmira system.
The regiment consists of sixteen companies, four companies to the battalion, company roll of about seventy. The colonel's staff is composed of colonel, four majors, inmate adjutant, and sergeant-major, and national and state colour-bearers. The uniforms are blue, black, and red, corresponding to the grades. White belts, with nickel buckles, are worn and white cross-belts. Proper insignia of rank is also worn. Dress parade is held daily at four p.m. on the regimental grounds, or, if weather be inclement, in the armoury.
So far as is possible the regiment is drilled on exactly the same lines as those observed by the United States army.
Manual Training.—Manual training was introduced into the Reformatory in 1895. The number of men who had been in the institution for a considerable period of time and upon whom the ordinary reformative measures exerted little influence rendered the adoption of some other means absolutely necessary. The men, with whom the ordinary methods failed, belonged to the defective classes already described as mathematical dullards, deficient in self-control, and stupids. The habits of vice seem to have wrought such a destructive work upon the will-power of these men that in order to repair it some potent influence would have to be brought into operation. The conception was to entirely disengage the mind of its connection with the past and to concentrate it upon healthy, useful and interesting work. Habit produces character, and if the old habits of thought could be destroyed and new ones implanted it would naturally follow that the character would be improved and developed. The character of the normal man requires for its development a moral, religious, intellectual and physical training, and the abnormal man requires the same, in a greater degree.
It was with this knowledge that the managers introduced manual training into the Reformatory. As the usefulness of manual training (Sloyd) is described in a preceding chapter no more need be said upon its value as a factor in education now. It needed the greatest skill on the part of the managers to adopt the various Sloyd exercises to the requirements of the different defectives, but each year has given additional proof of their success, and its inclusion in the reformatory system was amply justified. In 1899 it was discontinued on account of the small appropriation that was made for the maintenance of the institution, making it necessary to curtail expenses.
Before the abolition of Sloyd the following course was employed for defectives:—
(With each year the group was divided into three terms, there being 17 weeks in each term and 35 hours in each week.)
GROUP I.—(Mathematical Dullards.)
FIRST TERM.
Mechanical drawing, Sloyd, athletics, and calisthenics, clay-modelling, and mental arithmetic.
SECOND TERM.
Card-board construction takes the place of clay-modelling.
THIRD TERM.
Wood-turning instead of card-board construction.
* * * * *
GROUP II.—(Deficient in self-control.)
FIRST TERM.
Athletics and calisthenics, geometric construction involving the intersection of solids, etc., wood-turning, pattern making, mechanical drawing and Sloyd.
SECOND TERM.
Athletics and calisthenics, wood-carving, clay-modelling, mechanical drawing and Sloyd.
THIRD TERM.
Athletics and calisthenics, chipping and filing, moulding, mechanical drawing and Sloyd.
* * * * *
GROUP III.—(Stupids.)
FIRST TERM.
Athletics and calisthenics, free-hand drawing from solids and familiar objects, elementary Sloyd, clay-modelling, mental arithmetic, and sentence building.
SECOND TERM.
Sloyd, free-hand drawing, wood-carving, mental arithmetic, and calisthenics.
THIRD TERM.
Sloyd, free-hand drawing, wood-turning, athletics and mental arithmetic.
The Trades' School.—Of all crimes, about 95 per cent. are committed against property. It therefore appeared imperative to the management of the Reformatory that every man passing through the institution should be taught a useful trade so that he would be able to provide an honest and sufficient livelihood for himself and for those who would be dependent upon him. For this purpose the trades' school was established and a regulation passed that all men entering the Reformatory without the knowledge of a trade should be required to learn one before they would be granted a parole.
Under conditions of free life it would be impossible to teach these men a trade. In their haunts of crime the criminals live a lazy ambitionless life and regard work as an evil to be avoided; the reformatory system, however, captures his interest on behalf of industry by making his liberty depend upon his having reached the status of an honest and enthusiastic tradesman.
Two or three days after his arrival the newly committed prisoner is personally interviewed by the superintendent. This interview, which is in the nature of an exhaustive examination, generally discloses the species of criminality to which his crime belongs. This knowledge is made the basis of the plan which is then formulated for the course of treatment to which he will be submitted.
In the selection of a trade, the prisoner is given the opportunity of choosing for himself. If the choice show sincerity and intelligence, he is applied to it. If, on the other hand, it should reveal mere indifference or a desire to shirk hard work, the managers take all matters into consideration and select the trade for him. Once placed at a trade he is given to understand that he will be kept rigidly to it and no release from imprisonment granted until his progress has satisfied the authorities. Changes from one trade to another are rarely granted, and then only when the learner has given unmistakable signs that he cannot succeed at his first task. Within the trades school, his identity is not lost sight of. Day by day, a record of his conduct and also of his progress is kept. Every persuasive means is used to awaken his understanding to the fact that his best interests are to be served by habits of industry and application. The whole system is an appeal to his desire for freedom. Freedom is offered to him but at a distance, and he can reach it by no other means than that of following a given road, the direction of which is very clearly pointed out to him.
The work is graduated according to his ability to make progress, and care is taken to so arrange his course that he shall be taught thoroughly all the fundamental principles of his trade. The ordinary apprentice works so that he will be able to fulfil the orders that are given to his master. The consequence of this is that two ideas exist, the apprentice having the desire to learn a trade, his master desiring to profit by his work. The end of the apprentice is served by constantly advancing to new work, even though this should mean the loss of time and the waste of material; his master's object is attained by keeping him at that work which he learns quickest and giving the difficult work to more experienced men, consequently he passes through his time and learns but very little. Now, the pupil of the Elmira trades' school is not considered to have completed his course until he has gained a thorough knowledge of every department of his trade. Besides the practical instruction given in the workshops, classes are also held in the evenings and instruction given in mechanical drawing so that the men may be able to understand any plan that may be put into their hands, and also to draw plans for themselves. Trade journals are subscribed for and circulated among the men.
The value of this industrial training extends beyond the providing the means of obtaining an honest livelihood, for by making release depend upon success, interest is thereby combined with industry. This combination is bound to react upon the voluntary system and produces a moral effect. Again it re-acts, this time beneficially upon the character of the man.
The following is a list of all the trades taught in the Reformatory:—
Barbering Bookbinding Brass-smithing Bricklaying Cabinet-making Carpentry Clothing-cutting Electricity Frescoing Hardwood-finishing Horseshoeing House-painting Iron-forging Machine-wood-working Machinist's Moulding Music Paint-mixing Photo-engraving Plastering Plumbing Printing Stenography & typewriting Shoemaking Sign-painting Steam-fitting Stone-cutting Stone-masonry Tailoring Telegraphy Tinsmithing Upholstery Also, Mechanical-drawing
In the year 1903 there were 1986 pupils instructed in these trades.
The Results of the System.—English critics have regarded the system as being somewhat extravagant and as placing the honest labourer at a disadvantage to the criminal. This criticism has been considerably weakened of late years and the results investigated instead of being imagined. The most careful investigation has made it impossible to deny that the Reformatory achieves all that it claims to, viz.:—that it contributes nothing to the strengthening of the criminal habit[1] and therefore it is not a partial remedy, and that it actually returns to society as useful citizens no less than 82 per cent.[2] of those committed to it.
Lombroso speaks of the system as a practical application of the results of the science of Criminology.
Should the system be adopted in other countries, it would need to be so translated that it would accord with the traditions and customs of the people.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] It is generally supposed that such a system cannot act as a deterrent to crime. The American delegates to the International Prison Congress (held in Paris in 1895) declared that the obligation imposed upon the prisoners, in such institutions, to raise themselves by mental as well as by industrial labour, into higher grades as a necessary condition for liberation, is felt by many of them, to involve so much exertion, that they would rather be consigned to some ordinary prison, where self-improvement is not specially enforced. This system, they declared, was more deterrent than was generally supposed.
[2] Of some 13,000 criminals who have passed through the Reformatory, the number known definitely to have returned to crime is a little less than 1 per cent. of the whole!
Chapter X.
CONCLUSION.
The reader will have formed his own conclusion. He may conclude that the author has a sentimental affection for the criminal and would have all disturbers of the public peace treated with more compassion than the hard-working and honest labourer. But that reader will have jumped to his conclusion from his preconceived prejudices. The reformation of the criminal is no chimera, it has been undertaken for thirty years and every year has seen better results. The results for 1903 (86 per cent. of reforms) ought to convince the most sceptic that the reformation of the criminal is the true aim for society to pursue.
Another reader may ask why, if all these results are so good, does not the Government adopt some such system as the Elmira one instead of continuing the present obsolete penal system. The New York State Government experiences a difficulty in finding, for their reformatory staff, men who will undertake their work with a real sense of mission.
Nor is this the only difficulty. If New Zealand is going to undertake the reformation of its criminals and to restore them to society as honest and industrious persons, society itself must be prepared to drop its prejudices and suspicions and receive the men at their present worth, and not forever stamp them as outcasts. Nothing less, then, is required than an earnest desire among all classes to recover those among men who have fallen into villainy and vice and to receive back among their ranks all those who, having responded to the efforts made on their behalf, can make a claim upon the confidence and good-will of society.
But the reformation of the criminal is not the only obligation laid upon society, there is also the education of the child. It is frequently being stated that criminals are on the increase; it has been shown that this increase is not a national one, it must be then that for some reason the practice of virtue is becoming more and more difficult, whereas that of vice is becoming increasingly easier. Recruits are steadily joining the ranks of crime, and when one sees that, as a result of their home and school training, the rising generation is developing all the characteristics of the criminal, a somewhat alarming conclusion very strongly suggests itself. Society has the criminals that it deserves. It may fail to recover those who have entered upon a criminal career, or it may be actually guilty of manufacturing criminals. What are we doing? New Zealand has this hope, that its traditions do not fetter it, and its institutions are young and plastic.
THE END.
Transcriber's Note: Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have been preserved. Typographical errors corrected in the text: Page 12 Gcd changed to God Page 12 criminoligists changed to criminologists Page 14 violaters changed to violators Page 20 effrontry changed to effrontery Page 24 tpyes changed to types Page 34 healty changed to healthy Page 35 alcholic changed to alcoholic Page 46 physichological changed to physicological Page 74 maxium changed to maximum Page 80 Obviviously changed to Obviously Page 93 removed duplicate word "and" Page 98 Chappel changed to Chapple Page 98 celebate changed to celibate Page 104 exacttitude changed to exactitude Page 111 Chappel's changed to Chapple's Page 116 syphillis changed to syphilis Page 121 unkown changed to unknown Page 128 aguments changed to arguments Page 133 consideraly changed to considerably Page 134 Charle's Reades changed to Charles Reade's Page 137 removed duplicate word "of" Page 140 approbious changed to opprobious Page 141 abont changed to about Page 143 demonstate changed to demonstrate Page 144 kindergartem changed to kindergarten Page 148 betweeen changed to between Page 151 removed duplicate word "the" Page 163 destinction changed to distinction Page 178 defficient changed to deficient Page 180 prophylasic changed to prophylactic Page 181 lins changed to lines Page 184 indiffererence changed to indifference Page 186 stone-masonery changed to stone-masonry
THE END |
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