THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
f 
 
THE 
 
 PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 A SYMPOSIUM BY 
 
 GEORGE GORDON BATTLE 
 R. J. CALDWELL 
 JOHN COLLIER 
 CHARLFS HENRY DAVIS 
 ARTHUR D. DEAN 
 FREDERICK A. DORNER 
 BERNARD H. GLUECK 
 
 E. KENT HUBBARD 
 KARL W. KIRCHWEY 
 COLLIS LOVELY 
 THOMAS MOTT OSBORNE 
 THOMAS W. SALMON 
 WILLIAM H. WADHAMS 
 E. STAGG WHITIN 
 
 EDITED BY 
 JULIA K. JAFFRAY 
 
 SECRETABY 
 THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE ON PRISONS AND PRISON LABOR 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 
 1917 
 
Copyright, 1917, 
 BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. 
 
 All rights reserved 
 Published November, 1917 
 
 Set up and electrotyped by J. S. Gushing Co., Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 
 Presswork by S. J. Parkhill & Co., Boston, Mass., U.S.A. 
 
TO ONE WHO SAW THE REALLY GREAT 
 SIGNIFICANCE IN THE PENAL PROBLEMS 
 OF TO-DAY, GRASPED THE FORCES SHAPING 
 FOR THIS STRUGGLE, AND ORGANIZED THESE 
 FORCES TO BE COMPREHENSIVE AND POTENTIAL 
 IN THE MAKING OF A NEW PENAL SYSTEM 
 DEVELOPING OUT OF THE CONDITIONS POR- 
 TRAYED BY THIS BOOK TO OUR 
 PRESIDENT, ADOLPH LEWISOHN. 
 
 436067 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 THE last twenty-five years have marked many 
 movements for the amelioration of conditions under 
 which people live and labor. Housing, Child Labor, 
 Industrial Conditions, Tuberculosis, Insanity, all 
 have come under our purview. In each case the 
 movement has become definite and effective when 
 academic moralizing has given place to personal 
 visitation, when suggestion and direction have been 
 had from those who have looked for themselves and 
 speak with the authority of experience. 
 
 Penology, criminology, etc., have been the specula- 
 tion of the wise in their own conceit. The prisoner 
 has remained an abstraction to be babbled about, 
 though never really known a thing apart, dis- 
 owned, investigated at arm's length for fear that the 
 contagion might possess the investigator. 
 
 The humanness and fallibility of convicted and 
 unconvicted alike have raised a barrier between the 
 prisoner and those who attempted to study him. 
 His criminal characteristics, his love of evil, and the 
 outlawry of his practices have all been discussed in 
 the third person, but it has been dangerous to admit ' 
 that he is simply a man like ourselves, the difference 
 being that a chance turn of the wheel of justice has 
 singled out one of his acts and condemned it with the 
 power of the law. 
 
 vii 
 
viii INTRODUCTION 
 
 But the new day has dawned for the prisoner. At 
 last we look for ourselves ! 
 
 Having brought the study of the prisoner to the 
 basis of scientific reality, having divorced from our / 
 discussion the thought of our own superiority and 
 having sought the interpretation of the problem from 
 the only one who can really interpret it the pris- 
 oner himself we can feel that our effort will reach 
 to the heart of a great problem, that our rising knowl- 
 edge will help to lift the whole superstructure of 
 society. 
 
 What have we learned ? That our former methods V 
 of dealing with the prisoner have sent him from the 
 prison less able than at entrance to conform to the 
 standards of society; that we must call upon the 
 physician, the psychiatrist, to help discover what 
 manner of man the prisoner is; that we must fit 
 him for outside life through industrial training, 
 through educational methods, through responsibility 
 assumed in governing himself; and that we must 
 stand beside him on release and aid him in making 
 those social contacts through which he can re- 
 establish himself. . 
 
 After seven years of scientific study and personal 
 investigation, the National Committee on Prisons 
 and Prison Labor is in position to point to the solu- 
 tion of these several problems, to call upon those 
 associated in its work for authoritative recommenda- 
 tion based on personal experience. 
 
 What is the pressing need to-day? Men and 
 women to carry on the work ; men and women with 
 the broad conception of the problem, trained to meet 
 
INTRODUCTION ix 
 
 the issues it presents. Such workers the Committee 
 is prepared to train. Through the cooperation of 
 the President and Trustees of Columbia University, 
 courses have been established in practical penal 
 problems, and another year, it is hoped, will see these 
 courses available through correspondence to students 
 throughout the United States. 
 
 The perusal of the articles contained in the follow- 
 ing pages will convince the reader that there has been 
 secured a broad, scientific background of fact upon 
 which can be based in the years to come the training 
 of prison workers, the constructive reform of our 
 institutions, and the accurate case study of individ- 
 uals in these institutions development which can 
 only follow the routing of the forces of exploitation 
 and the establishment of the new relationship with 
 the man in prison. 
 
 E. S. W. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction vii 
 
 Cases Cited xv 
 
 I The Prisoner and the Courts ... 1 
 
 BY WILLIAM H. WADHAMS 
 
 Judge, Court of General Sessions, New York City 
 
 II The Prisoner Himself . \ : . . . 21 
 
 PART I 
 
 BY BERNARD H. GLUECK, M.D. 
 Director, Psychiatric Clinic, Sing Sing Prison 
 
 PART H 
 
 BY THOMAS W. SALMON, M.D. 
 Medical Director, National Committee for Mental 
 Hygiene 
 
 III The Prisoner Ward or Slave? . . 47 
 
 BY KARL W. KIRCHWEY 
 Of the New York Bar 
 
 IV The Control over the Prisoner . . . 81 
 
 PART I FEDERAL 
 BY GEORGE GORDON BATTLE 
 Chairman, Committee on the Federal Office of 
 Prisons, National Committee on Prisons and 
 Prison Labor 
 
 xi 
 
rii CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTEB PAOH 
 
 PART II STATE 
 BY E. STAGG WHITIN, PH.D. 
 Chairman, Executive Council, National Commit- 
 tee on Prisons and Prison Labor 
 
 V Self-Government by the Prisoner . . 99 
 PART I SELF-GOVERNMENT IN A STATE PRISON 
 BY THOMAS MOTT OSBORNE 
 Former Warden Sing Sing Prison, New York 
 
 PART II SELF-GOVERNMENT IN A REFORMATORY 
 
 BY E. KENT HUBBARD 
 
 Treasurer, Connecticut State Reformatory 
 
 VI The Prison Officer , . * . 115 
 
 BY FREDERICK A. DORNER 
 Former Principal Keeper, Sing Sing Prison, New 
 York 
 
 VII Industrial Training for the Prisoner . 125 
 
 BY ARTHUR D. DEAN, SC.D. 
 
 Director of Agricultural and Industrial Educa- 
 tion, New York State Department of Educa- 
 tion, and Professor of Vocational Education, 
 Teachers College, Columbia University 
 
 VIII The Prisoner in the Road Camp . . 151 
 
 BY CHARLES HENRY DAVIS 
 President, National Highways Association 
 
 IX The Union Man and the Prisoner . . .163 
 
 BY COLLIS LOVELY 
 
 Vice President, International Boot and Shoe 
 Workers' Union 
 
CONTENTS xiii 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 X The Man Who Comes out of Prison . 177 
 
 BY R. J. CALDWELL 
 
 Chairman, Committee on Employment, National 
 Committee on Prisons and Prison Labor 
 
 XI The Community Center and the De- 
 linquent . . . . . . 187 
 
 BY JOHN COLLIER 
 
 Director, The Training School for Community 
 Workers, New York ; Secretary National Com- 
 munity Center Association 
 
 Index 203 
 
CASES CITED 
 
 Anderson v. Crescent Gar- 
 ment Co 52 
 
 Andrews v. Page, 3 Heisk. 
 (Tenn.) 635, 668 55 
 
 Avery v. Everett, 110 N. 
 Y. 317 62 
 
 Harrington v. Logan, 2 
 
 Dana (Ky.) 432, 434 ... 63 
 Bowles v. Habermann, 95 
 
 N. Y. 246 62 
 
 Buchalew v. Tennessee 
 
 Coal, etc. Co., 112 Ala. 
 
 146,157(1895) 68,73 
 
 Clyatt, United States, 197 
 U.S. 207, 218 73 
 
 Craig's Adm'r v. Lee, 53 
 Ky. 96 59 
 
 Cunningham v. Bay State, 
 25 Hun. 210 63 
 
 Dassler, In re, 35 Kans. 
 
 678, 684 (1886) 69 
 
 Dave v. State, 22 Ala. 23, 
 
 34 56 
 
 Exeter v. Warwick, 1 R. I. 
 63, 65 68 
 
 Gaudet v. Gourdain, 3 La. 
 
 Ann. 136 55 
 
 Gist v. Toohey, 2 Rich. (S. 
 
 C.) 424 62 
 
 Guardian of Sally v. Beaty, 
 lBay(S.C.) 260 54 
 
 Hall v. U. S., 92 U. S. 27 . . 62 
 
 Jackson v. Lervey, 5 Cow. 
 
 (N. Y.) 397 55 
 
 James v. Carper, 4 Sneed 
 
 (Tenn.) 397 59 
 
 Jameson v. McCoy, 5 Heisk. 
 
 (Tenn.) 108 55 
 
 Kennedy v. Meara, 127 Ga. 
 
 68,77 68,74 
 
 Kenyon v. Saunders, 18 
 
 R. I. 590, 592 54,69 
 
 La Chapelle v. Burpee, 69 
 Hun. 436 62 
 
 Latimer v. Alexander, 14 
 Ga. 259 59 
 
 Mayor etc. of Monroe v. 
 
 Meuer, 35 La. Ann. 1192 69 
 Miller v. D willing, 14 Serg. 
 
 and R. 442 63 
 
 Nelson v. People, 33 HI. 390 
 (lS64<),semble. . 58 
 
 Nugent v. Arizona Co., 173 
 U. S. 338 67 
 
 Oliver v. Sale, Quincy 
 (Mass.) 29 note 55 
 
XVI 
 
 CASES CITED 
 
 Oliver . State, 39 Miss. 
 526, 539 56 
 
 Peonage Cases, 123 Fed. 
 
 (1903) 69 
 
 People v. Hawkins, 157 
 
 N. Y. 1 170 
 
 Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 
 
 U. S. 537 53 
 
 Rice v. Cade, 10 La. 288, 
 294 54 
 
 Robertson v. Baldwin, 165 
 U.S. 275, 282 69,74 
 
 Slaughter House Cases, 16 
 Wall. 36, 42 66 
 
 Stenhouse v. Bonum, 12 
 
 Rich. (S. C.) 620 62 
 
 Stephani v. Lent, 63 Supp. 
 
 (N. Y.) 471 62 
 
 St. Louis, etc. v. Boyle, 83 
 
 Ark. 302 63 
 
 St. Louis, etc. Co. v. Hy- 
 
 drick (1913), 160 S. W. 
 
 (Ark.) 196 62 
 
 Topeka v. Boutwell, 53 
 Kans. 20, 27 L. R. A. 
 593 (1894) 69 
 
 Westbrook v. State, 133 
 Ga. 578, 585 (1909) . . .62, 72 
 
 Wicks v. Chew, 4 H. & J. 
 (Md.) 543, 547 62 
 
CHAPTER I 
 THE PRISONER AND THE COURTS 
 
 BY WILLIAM H. WADHAMS 
 Judge, Court of General Sessions, New York City 
 
CHAPTER I 
 THE PRISONER AND THE COURTS 
 
 BEFORE considering how to do a thing it is impor- 
 tant to know what the thing is that you want to do. 
 The first inquiry, therefore, before discussing method 
 is to consider purpose. It is generally admitted 
 by thoughtful minds that the purpose of the ad- 
 ministration of the criminal law is not the avenging 
 of society on the wrongdoer; not the infliction of/ 
 punishment for the sake of getting even. It must 
 be generally conceded that the purpose of the ad- 
 ministration of the criminal law is to protect society 
 against the commission of crime. In order that the 
 community may enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit 
 of happiness, ever since organized communities have 
 existed, certain rules of conduct have been pre- 
 scribed, the violation of which has been termed 
 crime. Different rules have prevailed at different 
 periods in the world's history. The rules are also 
 found to be different in the same period in different 
 countries, and even in the same country in different 
 localities. In the United States there is a marked 
 difference in the several States in the definitions of 
 the degrees of larceny and homicide. As these 
 rules are made, they differ according to the character 
 
 3 
 
4! THE PftlSON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 understanding of the makers and represent the 
 views of the lawmaking powers. Crime is the do- 
 ing of that which is prohibited by the lawmaking 
 power of a particular community. 
 
 This discussion does not undertake to determine 
 whether all the laws are wise or unwise. From the 
 time when Moses, the great lawgiver, returned from 
 Mt. Sinai with the ten commandments, rules of 
 conduct have been formulated by ecclesiastic and 
 temporal power. It may be said, as in the making 
 of books so in the making of laws, there is no end. 
 Each succeeding year the duly constituted law- 
 makers return from their several Sinais with new 
 books of the law. This must necessarily be so, as 
 these rules of conduct represent the consensus of 
 opinion, at least the opinion that has power to make 
 the law for the time, as to what is desirable and 
 necessary for the protection of society. The deter- 
 mination of what shall constitute crime is in the 
 hands of the lawmakers. The legislatures not only 
 formulate the definitions of crime but also make the 
 laws with respect to the procedure, the penalties, 
 the administration and government of penal institu- 
 tions. The law may, therefore, be divided on this 
 topic into two heads, the definition of what crime is 
 and the regulations with respect to the administra- 
 tion of the criminal law. 
 
 / The function of the courts is to determine whether 
 crime, as defined, has been committed and having 
 so determined to pronounce sentence in accordance 
 with the law. The endless procession of the un- 
 fortunate and the vicious who are charged with the 
 
THE PRISONER AND THE COURTS 5 
 
 commission of crimes passes before the judge. 
 Men, women, and children are brought before the 
 court by the police. It may be said with truth that 
 in the last analysis they are not brought in by the 
 police, although the police are the instruments of 
 arrest, but that often they are the victims of social 
 conditions which arrest their lives and bring them 
 into court. If there is to be any permanent pre- 
 vention of crime, it must be stopped at the source 
 by changing the conditions which lead to crime.\ 
 The submerging power of poverty, failure in the 
 care and culture of children, careless neglect of the 
 unadjusted and defective are undoubtedly some of 
 the underlying causes of crime and lead to what is 
 generally termed bad environment, such as conges- 
 tion, bad housing, unemployment, and the abuse of 
 drink, which are so often found to be the imme- 
 jliate ^nciting causes of crime. These questions 
 present the great struggle of the human race, and 
 it must be conceded that they are the more impor- 
 tant questions. But we have to turn our attention 
 to the immediate need of things, and conditions be- , 
 ing as they are and crime being committed, what 
 shall be done Vith the offender that society may 
 best be protected? 
 
 The emphasis has heretofore been laid upon the 
 capture and conviction of the offender. It was not 
 long ago that the criminal was permanently put out 
 of the way, even for minor offenses, by hanging. 
 As late as 1794, men were hanged in the State of New 
 York for larceny. When juries would no longer 
 convict in such cases, the pressure of public opinion 
 
6 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 changed the punishment to imprisonment, and 
 apparently the only thought was that the offender 
 should be safely locked up. When it has been estab- 
 lished that the offender has violated the rules which 
 society has made for its protection, and it appears 
 likely that he will violate them again, the offender 
 must be set apart for a time. Under this system, 
 when the time of his detention terminates, he is 
 released. The great contribution of Thomas Mott 
 Osborne is the emphasis which he has placed upon 
 the fact that under the prison sentence method the 
 offender comes back. At the end of his sentence he is 
 returned to society. Under the old prison method 
 frequently he returned crushed in body and in 
 mind by reason of his neglect and confinement, less 
 equipped to take his place in the community than 
 when he went in, and often filled with a spirit of 
 hatred and revenge, a worse man than when he 
 went in. The result was that he failed to take his 
 place in society, returned to commit crime again, 
 and if caught was sent to prison for another term. 
 An investigation has shown that over sixty per cent 
 of the men in Sing Sing Prison, New York, had been 
 in jail before, many of them many times before. 
 In a recent tour of prisons of twelve States I found 
 no case in which less than fifty per cent of the inmates 
 of the prisons were old offenders; in some cases 
 the estimates given by the keepers and wardens 
 were as high as ninety per cent. In one convict 
 camp the entire "gang" had been in prison before. 
 The jails, reformatories, penitentiaries, and prisons 
 have been turning out a veritable army of ex-con- 
 
THE PRISONER AND THE COURTS 7 
 
 victs. 1 When the percentage of those who are caught 
 and returned to the prisons because they have again 
 committed crimes is considered, it is obvious that 
 the State is deeply concerned to bring about an 
 administration of prisons which will lessen the num- 
 ber of habitual offenders. As a matter of self -pro- 
 tection it is only common sense to take measures to 
 protect the community against the coming back of 
 these men. While in jail these offenders are the 
 wards of the State. The State has a responsibility, 
 which it cannot avoid, to take that care which will 
 best insure against the recommission of crime by 
 these wards when they are released. 
 
 In reviewing the cases which have passed before 
 me in the Court of General Sessions in the City of 
 New York, I have been impressed with the large 
 number of men approximately one in three 
 who have criminal records. 2 Many of them began 
 in juvenile institutions from which they were ap- 
 parently graduated to reformatories, penitentiaries, 
 
 J The number discharged or paroled in 1910 from New York penal 
 institutions, as shown by the last United States Census, was from State 
 prisons and penitentiaries 1,421, from State reformatories 1,894, from 
 County jails and workhouses 37,353, from Municipal jails and work- 
 houses 2,886, from institutions for juvenile delinquents 2,337, making 
 the total number discharged from New York State jails in one year 
 45,885. The total number discharged in 1910 from all jails in the United 
 States was 468,277. 
 
 2 In 1914, the total number of convictions in the Court of General 
 Sessions of the City and County of New York was 3,724, of whom 1,227 
 had been in jail before. In 1915, the total number of convictions was 
 3,728, of which number 1,348 were old offenders, and in 1916, the total 
 number of convictions was 2,834, of whom 1,113 had been previously 
 convicted. 
 
8 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 and State prisons. Many of them were obviously 
 feeble-minded or mentally deficient.' The Great 
 Britain Royal Commission on the Care of the Feeble- 
 minded, which made the most elaborate study of 
 the problem ever undertaken, in discussing the rela- 
 tionship of mental deficiency to crime, gives 10.28 
 per cent as an extremely conservative estimate of 
 the proportion of feeble-minded in the prison popu- 
 lation. 1 Doctor Henry H. Goddard, writing on 
 the situation in this country, states: "Although 
 we cannot determine at present just what the 
 proportion is, probably from 25 % to 50 % of the 
 people in our prisons are mentally defective and 
 incapable of managing their affairs with ordinary 
 prudence." 2 Of course, feeble-mindedness may be 
 variously defined, but the lower grades which are 
 unable to care for themselves or to adjust themselves 
 to their surrounding social conditions may be readily 
 ascertained. 
 
 \ Among the prisoners there are also a large num- 
 ber who are not prepared, by reason of lack of train- 
 ing, mental and physical, to properly provide a 
 living for themselves or those dependent upon them, 
 and there are also many who by reason of environ- 
 ment have been warped but who are capable of 
 correction. 
 
 All those who are convicted must be sentenced 
 by the court. Under the laws of New York State 
 
 1 As cited in the Report of the New York State Commission to Investi- 
 gate Provision for the Mentally Deficient, 1915, p. 50. 
 
 2 Henry H. Goddard, "Feeble-mindedness its Causes and Conse- 
 quences," p. 7. 
 
PRISONER JtNt> Ttit COtfRT& 9 
 
 and in many other States there is a choice of institu- 
 tions and of the length of sentence which may be 
 imposed. In some States there is neither choice 
 of institutions nor of the length of sentence, the 
 sentence being prescribed by law "to fit" the crime, 
 regardless of the particular facts of the case. The 
 inadequacy of such method to properly protect 
 society against the commission of crime is obvious. 
 With growing experience new lessons should be 
 learned, but through the experience of the last few 
 years, while attention has been drawn to the fact 
 that the men "come back", that they come out of 
 prison to take places in society, a point has been 
 reached where certain conclusions may be drawn 
 from the experiments already made. 
 
 There are three essentials in the new prisons, 
 methods : classification, preparation to come out, 
 and the indeterminate sentence. 
 
 CLASSIFICATION. The records show that certain , 
 types, which are not classified in law as legally in- 
 sane, are a menace, often even more dangerous than 
 the insane. A feeble-minded person with a criminal 
 tendency, when left uncared for, will recommit 
 crime, no matter how many times he has been in jail. 
 One case in my experience may be sufficient to il- 
 lustrate the point. In 1907, a boy was committed 
 to Randall's Island, it being known at the time 
 that he was mentally deficient. At the end of his 
 term he was released and committed another crime, 
 after which he was again released; he committed 
 a third crime and was sent to the penitentiary. 
 Later, he was brought before me, having committed 
 

 10 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 forcible abduction upon a schoolgirl. No institu- 
 tion had been provided by the State of New York 
 for the especial care of the feeble-minded delinquent. 
 Under the auspices of the National Committee on 
 Prisons and Prison Labor, and with the aid of a 
 generous gift, a psychiatric clinic has been established 
 at Sing Sing Prison for the purpose of examination 
 and classification of the inmates, and it is a part of 
 the plan of the new Prison Commission of New York 
 State to provide for the suitable care and custody 
 of defective delinquents. Recently, the legislature 
 of the State of New York appointed a commission 
 to make investigation and proper provision in the 
 State for such cases. 1 
 
 Mentally deficient persons with criminal tenden- 
 cies should be under proper restraint until such time 
 as it appears that they are in proper condition to 
 be released. It is obvious that a mentally deficient 
 person should be removed from society not only 
 for his own protection but also for the protection 
 of the community, and for like reason he should be 
 set apart from other offenders because he cannot 
 adjust himself to prison life with normal prisoners; 
 he interferes with the industries and the discipline 
 of the prison, and before his status is understood 
 he is often abused and disciplined for faults which 
 he cannot help. Classification should also segre- 
 gate those who are suffering from infectious venereal 
 diseases and should provide for the separate care 
 of those who have tuberculosis. It is extraordinary 
 
 1 2, sub-sec. 9, c. 238, N. Y. Laws, 1917, known as Hospital Develop- 
 ment Commission. 
 

 THE PRISONER AND THE COURTS 11 
 
 that in many States the first step in classification, 
 the separation of children from adults by provision 
 for children's courts and juvenile institutional care, 
 has not been taken. 
 
 PREPARATION TO COME OUT. If a man is to 
 take his place in society when released from prison, 
 he should be healthy in body. Therefore, his hous- 
 ing and conditions of living should be such as do 
 not destroy his health. 1 He should have sufficient 
 air, light, exercise, and recreation to build him up. 
 He should also be equipped to take part in some use- 
 ful wage-earning occupation. It is for this reason 
 that vocational and trade schools have been intro- 
 duced and the reorganization of prison industries 
 undertaken with a view not only to produce revenue 
 for the State but also to afford educational facilities 
 for the inmates by the most progressive prison man- 
 agement. 
 
 The building up of the body and the training of 
 the mind and the hand are not, however, in them- 
 selves sufficient to protect society against the com- 
 mission of crime by the inmate when he comes out. 
 They help, because they give him a better oppor- 
 tunity to face the, world and to take part in useful 
 occupation, but bodily health and mental equipment 
 may, if diverted to wrong use, only make a more 
 dangerous criminal of the offender. Something 
 more is needed. Something which will give a new 
 motive to the life, which will create a new attitude 
 
 1 The author drafted the clause which provides "for the demolition 
 of the present cell house and cell block at Sing Sing." (N. Y. Laws, 
 1916, c. 594.) 
 
12 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 of mind, a new purpose and determination to make 
 good. The most approved buildings, educational 
 classes, industrial schools, even outdoor work, will 
 not necessarily produce the desired result. All 
 these improvements and changes are obviously ap- 
 propriate and will be adopted by a State which 
 undertakes to deal in an intelligent way with the 
 prison problem, but the greatest of all experiments 
 which has been made in prison management, the 
 Mutual Welfare League, 1 has demonstrated, even 
 under adverse conditions, adverse conditions of 
 housing, of old and inadequate machinery for the 
 industries, and under limitations of ancient legal 
 restrictions, that genuine correction, the birth of 
 a new hope, resolution to lead correct and honest 
 lives and the actual living of them after release, 
 may be accomplished by the simple means of self- 
 government in the prisons. By this method the 
 men are taught a sense of responsibility to the 
 small community within the prison, from which 
 they learn a sense of responsibility to the larger 
 community without the prison. It would be diffi- 
 cult to convince any one by assertion that the 
 principle of democracy so applied would produce 
 the remarkable results which it has achieved among 
 the men who had been convicted of crime, but the 
 facts establish the case. The results were imme- 
 diately noticeable in the prison itself. It was ob- 
 servable in the bearing and the appearance of the 
 
 1 Inaugurated at Auburn Prison, New York, February 1913 ; and at 
 Sing Sing Prison, New York, December, 1914, by Thomas Mott 
 Osborne. 
 
THE PRISONER AND THE COURTS 13 
 
 men; it was reflected by their conduct while in 
 prison. 1 
 
 But the best proof is the record of the men after 
 coming out of prison. The final test of the efficiency 
 of any institution from the point of view of accom- 
 plishing the desired purpose of the administration 
 of the criminal law, namely the protection of society 
 against the recommission of crime, is the record of the 
 convicts after their release. From January 1, 1915, 
 to July 1, 1917, hundreds of men have appeared 
 before me who have been released from penal in- 
 stitutions and who have returned to the commission 
 of crime, but during that entire period only three 
 have been brought before me who were released 
 from Sing Sing Prison since the Mutual Welfare 
 League was established. Thinking that perhaps my 
 experience was, through some accident of chance, 
 exceptional, I made inquiry and have a letter from 
 the Superintendent of Prisons of New York, Mr. 
 Carter, stating that during the year 1916, among 
 the hundreds who had been released from Sing Sing, 
 only fifteen had been returned for the recommission 
 of crime. 
 
 The old prison method was a demonstrated fail- 
 ure, if it be viewed from the standpoint of the record 
 of its inmates when released from prison, but it was 
 a record which was to be expected from the unin- 
 telligent treatment of those in the care of the State. 
 
 1 In 1912-1913, with a prison population of 1,442, the surgeons dressed 
 387 wounds; in 1913-1914, with a prison population of 1,466, they 
 dressed 367 wounds, and in 1914-1915, under Mr. Osborne, with a 
 prison population of 1,616, they dressed 156 wounds, or a decrease of 
 64 per cent. 
 
14 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 Now that we know better, our responsibility is 
 greater. We should put into effect as rapidly as 
 possible those methods which have produced the 
 best results. 
 
 SENTENCE. Having in mind that the convict 
 is to come out, the question of sentence necessarily 
 requires consideration. When is he to come out ? 
 How long is he to be held? The obvious answer , 
 is that he should be released when he is ready and 
 equipped, when it is safe for him to be released^: 
 Under the present method in some States the jury, 
 merely hearing the facts of the crime, everything 
 else would be irrelevant and immaterial, and there- 
 fore excluded, determines off-lfand the sentence, 
 that is, when the defendant shall be released. In 
 many States, as in the State of New York, the sen- 
 tence is fixed by the judge within the limitations 
 of the law, which provides a maximum which he 
 may not exceed, and in some instances a minimum 
 which he must impose. How long should the 
 patient be detained at the hospital? The answer 
 is until he is cured. But who can tell how he will 
 respond to treatment ? Judges are called upon, with 
 such information as they are able to gather at the 
 moment generally without any knowledge of 
 the underlying currents of the man's life, of his 
 medical history, or his physical condition, of his 
 environment, of his moral qualities excepting as 
 shown by the particular instance before the judge 
 to determine in advance just how long the defend- 
 ant should be held. When that time expires he 
 is released. All those who have to do with the 
 
THE PRISONER AND THE COURTS 15 
 
 management of penal institutions know perfectly 
 well that inmates are released, because of the expira- 
 tion of their terms, who are a menace to society 
 and a danger to the community. On the other hand, 
 there are men languishing in jail who, if released, 
 would be capable of leading useful lives. 
 
 Appreciating this situation, Doctor Katherine B. 
 Davis, George W. Kirchwey, and I recommended 
 the passage of a law which provided for what might 
 be termed an experiment in a genuine indeterminate 
 sentence. A bill was passed 1 and has been in opera- 
 tion since January 1, 1916. It is commonly known 
 as the Parole Law. The effect of its provisions is 
 that defendants committed by judges in New York 
 City to the workhouse may be held for an indeter- 
 minate period of two years and those committed to 
 the penitentiary may be held for an indeterminate 
 period of three years, but may be released at any 
 time before such maximum upon the recommenda- 
 tion of the Parole Board, and in the case of those 
 committed to the penitentiary with the approval of 
 the court. I suggested that the report of the Parole 
 Board be submitted to the court for approval for 
 the reason that by this method the recommendation 
 of the Parole Board was subject to judicial review 
 and was given the publicity of open court, with an 
 opportunity for any one, including the district 
 attorney, to be heard in opposition, thereby avoid- 
 ing possible objection that the determination to 
 release was reached by a board in executive session, 
 
 1 Chapter 579, N. Y. Laws, 1915, amended by c. 287, N. Y. Laws, 
 1916. 
 
16 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 without publicly stating its reasons. This method 
 has worked with admirable success. During the 
 year 1916, 1,836 men were committed to the peni- 
 tentiary; of these, 519 have been released on pa- 
 role. Of those released, 54 have violated the condi- 
 tions of their parole and were returned. Of the 
 remaining 463 on parole about 96 per cent are appar- 
 ently endeavoring to make good. During the same 
 year, 74 women were committed to the penitentiary, 
 sixteen of whom have been released on parole; of 
 those released, only one has violated the conditions 
 of her parole and been returned. There were com- 
 mitted to the workhouse 400 men and 334 women 
 in 1916. Of this number, 114 men and 109 women 
 have been paroled. Three men and eight women 
 were subsequently returned for violation of their 
 parole or have been arrested for other offenses. 1 
 
 By this method, instead of guessing in advance 
 just how long a prisoner shall be held, the court 
 determines in view of all the circumstances of the 
 crime and also the character of the defendant, upon 
 application and hearing, that the prisoner may now 
 come forth from the prison on a trial of liberty. In- 
 formation is obtained as to where the defendant is 
 going, whether he has employment, whether he has 
 relatives or friends to look after him. He is always 
 released on parole, that is, a trial of liberty, and if 
 he fails to make good may be returned. The sys- 
 tem has worked so well in penitentiary sentences 
 that it should be extended to State prison sentences. 
 
 In view of the fact that by long custom maximum 
 1 Annual Report, 1916, N. Y. City Parole Commission. 
 
THE PRISONER AND THE COURTS 17 
 
 sentences for different crimes have been established 
 by law, the transition in New York State could 
 be easily effected by allowing the maximums to 
 remain as they are. Upon the conviction of the 
 defendant, unless sentence was suspended, he would 
 merely be committed by the court to State prison, 
 the law fixing the maximum for the crime as, the 
 longest time during which he could be held, with 
 the provision that upon the recommendation of 
 the Parole Board, with the approval of the court, he 
 could be sooner released. 
 
 The question as to the deterrent effect of pun- x 
 ishment is frequently raised by sincere inquirers 
 as to the best method to be pursued. It is in- 
 teresting to note that there are several classes 
 of persons who commit crime upon whom the 
 thought of punishment has little effect. First, 
 there are the calculating crooks who never expect 
 to be caught. This is frequently illustrated by old 
 crooks who can always point out the mistake which 
 led to detection and how they could avoid detection 
 another time. Then there are those who commit 
 crime in the heat of passion without thought of the 
 consequences. I am satisfied from my observation 
 that the effect of punishment as a deterrent has been 
 exaggerated. It was supposed that crime could 
 be suppressed by cruel and what we would now con- 
 sider inhuman treatment, but the desired result was 
 not produced. The most effective result is produced 
 by swift and sure conviction in case of guilt. The 
 punishment consists in depriving the defendant of 
 his liberty. There is greater deterrent effect in 
 
18 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 treating the defendant as a defective or inferior 
 individual who may not safely be permitted to 
 mingle with his fellows unless cured than in treat- 
 ing him as a desperado to be caged. This fact has 
 been demonstrated by what I have called the experi- 
 ment, now a proved success, in the indeterminate 
 sentence to the penitentiary. The experience of 
 the judges in New York City has been that the inde- 
 terminate sentence has proved the most effective 
 deterrent yet devised. 
 
 When I was in Pittsburg in January, 1917, I was 
 informed by the warden of the County Jail that 
 since the passage of the indeterminate sentence 
 law in New York State large numbers of pickpockets 
 who would have been subject to that sentence had 
 come from New York City to ply their trade in Pitts- 
 burg, and the decrease in the number of those charged 
 with larceny from the person in New York City has 
 been noticeable. The indeterminate sentence is an 
 effective deterrent for the reasons : first, the defendant 
 knows that he has no chance to obtain a light sen- 
 tence, since the sentence is alike no matter who is 
 the judge, and the defendant always has to run the 
 risk of being held the maximum term, his earlier 
 release depending upon genuine guarantees that he 
 can make good and will make good when released; 
 and, second, when released, the defendant comes 
 out on parole, and if he fails to make good must 
 return and may be held for the remainder of his 
 term. The indeterminate sentence, therefore, makes 
 for uniformity of sentence and is also a great stimulus 
 to the offender to correct his ways and make good. 
 
THE PRISONER AND THE COURTS 19 
 
 Through classification the incapable may be 
 cared for ; through preparation those who are capa- 
 ble may be fitted for honest and useful lives; 
 through the indeterminate sentence release may be 
 granted when the capable are ready to be returned 
 to society. By these means society will be better 
 protected against the commission of crime. ^ 
 
CHAPTER II 
 THE PRISONER HIMSELF 
 
 PART I 
 
 BY BERNARD H. GLUECK, M.D. 
 Director, Psychiatric Clinic, Sing Sing Prison 
 
 PART II 
 
 BY THOMAS W. SALMON, M.D. 
 Medical Director, National Committee for Mental Hygiene 
 
CHAPTER II 
 THE PRISONER HIMSELF 
 
 PART I 
 
 THE relation of the prisoner to the various agencies 
 with which he comes in contact during his intra- 
 mural career are ably discussed by the several con- 
 tributors to this volume. There remains for consid- 
 eration another important relationship, that is, the 
 relationship of the prisoner to himself. To one who v 
 subscribes to the theory of absolute psychic deter- 
 minism, to the belief that nothing in life happens 
 fortuitously, but is the result of antecedent factors, 
 the discussion of the latter relationship at once as- 
 sumes a leading place in a book dealing with the 
 prisoner. The ultimate success of any remedial 
 agencies that may be applied to this problem depends 
 in the first place upon a proper acquaintance with 
 causative factors. The writer, of course, assumes 
 that we are all in agreement concerning the function 
 of a modern system of penology, namely : that it is v 
 primarily intended to be remedial, reconstructive, 
 reformative, and not purely punitive in its aims.' 
 
 Society has, at all times, endeavored to formulate 
 conceptions regarding causative factors of crime, 
 some of which, though born in the infancy of the race, 
 are still adhered to tenaciously by a large portion of 
 
 23 
 
24 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 mankind. These notions concerning the causation 
 of criminal behavior naturally suggested certain 
 remedies which society has been assidupusly applying 
 in its effort to cure itself of this evil. How effective, V 
 or more correctly how ineffective, these remedies 
 have been is common knowledge. But contrary to 
 the prevailing belief, one is tempted to venture the 
 suggestion that the fault does not lie entirely with the 
 remedy, but that it is the promiscuous, unintelligent, 
 blind manner of its administration that has had a 
 great deal to do with its inefficiency. What would 
 one think, for instance, of a modern hospital where 
 all the patients were to receive the same medicine, 
 the only variation being in the amount administered 
 or in the length of time that a given patient is sub- 
 jected to the treatment. And yet, we are doing just * 
 this very thing in promiscuously sending all offenders 
 against society to prisons, where no attempt is made 
 at individualization, either in the application of the 
 punitive phase of prison administration or in its re- 
 formative phase. Those who have given attention 
 to this problem are quite convinced that Healy's 
 dictum that the problem of delinquency will ever 
 remain a problem of the individual delinquent is a 
 correct one. There are very few phenomena common 
 to all offenders, even to all chronic offenders. There 
 are very few factors which are wholly responsible 
 for the criminality of all chronic offenders, or even 
 for the criminality of a large majority of them. And 
 yet, we persist in our endeavors to fit all these 
 extremely varying units into a uniform system of 
 penology or reformation. 
 
THE PRISONER HIMSELF 25 
 
 We cannot hope to succeed in any effort towards " 
 reformation if we do not start out with the convic- 
 tion that human beings vary within very wide limits 
 in their susceptibility to correction or reformation; 
 that some individuals, because of their psychological 
 make-up, either qualitative or quantitative, are 
 absolutely or permanently incorrigible and have to 
 be dealt with in only one way, and that is permanent 
 segregation and isolation from society 1 If there is 
 a single phenomenon which is common to all careers 
 of chronic, antisocial behavior, it is this : The chronic 
 offender against society has, for one reason or an- 
 other, never succeedecTin adequately "differartratitig 
 himself from the environment in which he is obliged 
 to live, an absbititeessentiaMiriEe Devolution from 
 savagery to civilization. Thus, on the one hand, 
 he, has failed to develop a .dear conr.ept.ion . oLprop- 
 ert^ngljis; while on the other hand, he lacks the 
 appreciation of and respect for 1.1 m )ii-rn f]| , in frf 
 individual, of the laws and prescriptions which 
 society has imposed upon its members for the regu- 
 lation of their conduct. Now, there are many 
 reasons why an individual may have failfidla. attain 
 this differentiation, but whatever these reasons are, 
 it cannot be denied that failure in this respect forms 
 the greatest and most important debit, which it 
 should be our aim to equalize by adequate credits 
 during the individual's sojourn in a penal institution. 
 Any attempt in this direction means intense speciali- 
 zation, and it is this recognition of the need for spe- 
 cialization that has prompted the establishment of 
 the Reception Prison. 
 
26 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 Starting out with the conception that an individual 
 whom society has elected to isolate from its midst 
 for a certain perioct of time and confine within a cer- 
 tain specialized environment labors under the burden 
 of a deficiency, of a debit which has caused his iso- 
 lation, it should be the function of the Reception 
 Prison to first make possible an accurate delineation 
 of that debit, and second to outline the type of 
 credits that would tend to equalize it. Thus, the 
 primary function of the Reception Prison is the in- 
 tensive study of the individual so that a proper esti- 
 mate of his personality may be gained, and to exert 
 its influence through the various reconstructive 
 methods which are at present at hand or may be 
 introduced in the future with the view of bringing 
 about a proper adaptation, or a proper coordi- 
 nation between the individual prisoner and these 
 agencies. , 
 
 Doctor Salmon will discuss the administration of 
 the Reception Prison and the methods of operation 
 as devised by experts in the allied fields of medicine 
 and psychiatry. ^ I will only say in passing that to 
 the psychiatrist it seems that too little attention has 
 been paid in the past to those instinctive and un- 
 conscious forces which are operative in the control 
 and direction of human conduct. More attention 
 should likewise be paid to antenatal determinants, 
 more especially to those traits of character which are 
 dominant in the lives of the antecedents, both indi- 
 vidual and racial. The life of the mother and the 
 influences under which she was obliged to live during 
 the period of gestation, the story of the birth, of in- 
 
THE PRISONER HIMSELF 27 
 
 fancy and childhood, all of these deserve special at- 
 tention. The succeeding period, which embraces 
 perhaps the most important epoch in an individual's 
 life, namely, the epoch of the emancipation of the 
 individual from his parental bonds, should consti- 
 tute a very interesting subject of study. Next, 
 school and occupational career, and the evolution 
 of the conscious sex life of the individual, are of great 
 importance. A due amount of interest should be 
 accorded to extrinsic insults to which the individual 
 may have been subjected and which may have had 
 an influence in determining his career of crime. 
 There can be no doubt that during the early stages 
 of the evolution of a psychosis, there are many 
 possibilities of going astray in the line of antisocial 
 behavior at any rate, this is being illustrated to a 
 rather surprising extent in our work at Sing Sing. 
 Then comes the period of decline, of loss of efficiency, 
 of the endeavor to compensate for powers and abili- 
 ties that one feels slipping away from under his con- 
 trol, which endeavors sometimes express themselves 
 in antisocial behavior. The importance of the field 
 investigation of a great part of the life history of 
 the individual should not be overlooked. Detailed, 
 comprehensive study of the individual, such as has 
 been outlined above, cannot help but furnish us with 
 a dependable estimate of the human being before us, 
 and must naturally aid us very materially in out- 
 lining a course of procedure necessary for bringing 
 about an adequate, socially acceptable balance. 
 
 What is to be done, after such estimate has been 
 reached, cannot be outlined in detail. The variations 
 
28 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 are bound to be so extensive and the nature of the 
 reconstructive agencies so protean as to make it im- 
 possible to start out with a well-formulated outline. 
 One thing is true, that whatever agencies there may 
 be at hand, these should be directed towards bringing 
 about a proper adjustment between the individual 
 and the environment. Certain activities in an in- 
 dustrial way, in a vocational way, in a purely educa- 
 tional way suggest themselves, but only as general- 
 ities. The ultimate application of these activities 
 must, in the final analysis, be determined by the 
 individual who is to benefit from them. Were it 
 not for the fact that one cannot escape a great deal 
 of blatant criticism at the hands of penologists of 
 the older order of things, we would not stop here 
 even to mention the fact that in this proposed scheme 
 too much emphasis is being laid on the individual 
 and too little on society's share in a penal system. 
 But there is only one answer to this, and that is that 
 society can ultimately only benefit by applying its 
 efforts toward reconstructing the individual offender, 
 that its benefits can only be proportionate to the 
 benefits in the evolution of the personality which will 
 accrue to the prisoner as a result of his sojourn in 
 a penal institution. So much for the internal ad- 
 ministration of the Receiving Station. 
 
 There is one other activity to which such an 
 institution would admirably lend itself, and that is 
 its association with an outside educational insti- 
 tution. One does not have to argue extensively that 
 the place to study the criminal and the place to 
 acquire knowledge concerning the subject of anti- 
 
THE PRISONER HIMSELF 29 
 
 social behavior is the prison. No amount of abstract 
 discussion of crime and punishment, of original sin 
 or more concrete causes of antisocial behavior will 
 ever bring us any nearer to the solution of the problem 
 before us. Crime cannot exist apart from the crimi- 
 nal, and it is the criminal as a human being, acting, 
 feeling, and willing, who must teach us the nature, 
 the causes, and the cure of criminal behavior. A 
 Reception Prison, such as is planned for the prison 
 system of the State of New York, could articulate in 
 many ways with an educational institution. First, 
 it could offer to such an institution an admirable 
 course in clinical criminology. Second, it could offer 
 a very fertile field for research on the basis of fellow- 
 ships to be carried on in conjunction with work at 
 the university. Third, it could avail itself of the 
 affiliation with the university to bring into the prison 
 such extension courses as may be of benefit in carry- 
 ing out the reconstructive aims of the prison. Such, 
 in brief, is a general survey of the work that it is 
 planned to carry out at Sing Sing, and which it is 
 hoped can be suggestive to institutions throughout 
 the country. 
 
 PART II 
 
 The general principles which underlie the effort 
 to determine the relationship of the prisoner to him- 
 self have been outlined by Doctor Glueck. It is there- 
 fore fitting to discuss some of the specific methods 
 which are being put into operation at the experi- 
 mental station established at Sing Sing Prison, which 
 is to serve as the clearing house for the prisoners of 
 
30 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 New York State and to which will eventually be sent 
 all such prisoners at the time of their commitment. 
 
 The plan of utilizing Sing Sing as a Reception 
 Prison was first promulgated by the New York State 
 Commission on Prison Reform in its preliminary 
 report published in 1914. The Commission recom- 
 mended that the Sing Sing site should be abandoned 
 as a prison, and that to it all prisoners sentenced in 
 New York State should be sent for medical examina- 
 tion, observation, and for study of their character 
 and aptitude, before being disposed of in pursuance 
 of the sentence of the court. 
 
 The proposition passed through a period of dis- 
 cussion to its recognition in the law of 1916 which 
 provided for a new Sing Sing prison and the con- 
 version of old Sing Sing into a scientific receiving 
 station. Psychiatrical and medical experts have 
 already taken up their abode at Sing Sing. Even 
 amid the dingy surroundings of old Sing Sing an ex- 
 cellent hospital and laboratory have been established, 
 and the first reports of work accomplished can be 
 expected shortly. 
 
 A preliminary plan for the psychiatrical work in 
 a Reception Prison such as that suggested for Sing 
 Sing was made during the summer of 1915 by Doctor 
 George H. Kirby and Doctor L. Pierce Clark of New 
 York City. Their recommendations have formed 
 the basis for the organization of the Psychiatric 
 clinic now in operation. Doctor Kirby and Doctor 
 Clark recommend the investigation of a year's ad- 
 missions, and, in addition, a careful mental study of 
 at least three other groups among the prison popula- 
 
THE PRISONER HIMSELF 31 
 
 tion : (1) refractory and incorrigible cases : (2) pris- 
 oners convicted for or suspected of sexual perver- 
 sions : (3) all prisoners who develop symptoms of 
 mental or nervous disorder or exhibit suicidal im- 
 pulses or. seem to be mentally defective. 
 
 The psychiatric investigation of the groups men- 
 tioned, they suggested, should aim to include the 
 following for each case : 
 
 (a) Family history and heredity. 
 
 (6) Early development and later life history of the 
 individual in detail. As complete an analysis of 
 the personality or mental make-up as is possible for 
 the purpose of establishing correlations between the 
 criminal situation and the various internal (psy- 
 chogenic) and external (environmental) factors oper- 
 ative in each case. 
 
 (c) Mental status of the prisoner : attitude and 
 conduct in prison and reaction to confinement : de- 
 termination of intellectual level and mental capacity 
 for appropriate tests for f eeble-mindedness, educa- 
 tional acquirements, etc. : symptoms of mental 
 disorder with careful investigation of unusual emo- 
 
 X^s^ -___^ i"^* ^ ^^""^ "^ 
 
 tional reactions and peculiar-trend of ideas : special 
 study of the criminal situation (subjective analysis) 
 with efforts to get at the deeper motives underlying 
 various criminal tendencies. 
 
 (d) Physical examination : abnormalities of physi- 
 cal make-up (stigmata) : general bodily condition, 
 signs of specific and other diseases : neurological ex- 
 amination sufficient to detect any disorder of nervous 
 system. Wassermann blood test in each case, lumbar 
 puncture when indicated or necessary for diagnosis. 
 
32 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 These recommendations have been embodied in 
 the plan for the work already under way at Sing Sing, 
 and the writer wishes to emphasize that no one phase 
 of the work constitutes an independent unit but is 
 a coordinate part of a comprehensive scheme. 
 
 Medical Examination 
 
 The .plan for dealing with the medical phases of the 
 problem has followed the principles which have led 
 to success in solving the problems of our profession. 
 Not many years ago we used to talk of "the sick" 
 and it was believed that, in providing a hospital, the 
 community had done its duty by those who belong 
 to this class. That conception has long since disap- 
 peared, and we provide now for the diagnosis and 
 treatment of many kinds of sick persons in many 
 different kinds of hospitals. This practice we are 
 now carrying over to the prisons, though its opera- 
 tion will to a certain extent be retarded by the lack 
 of institutions where certain groups can receive 
 adequate care. 
 
 General Features 
 
 RECEPTION OF PRISONERS. Each prisoner, in 
 order that the study may be effectively conducted, 
 ought to serve a so-called probationary period in the 
 receiving station of at least three months, during 
 which time enough information will have been gained 
 concerning his personality and aptitudes to justify 
 the recommendation of a line of procedure for the 
 remainder of his imprisonment. 
 
 MEDICAL CLINIC. As soon as practicable after 
 
THE PRISONER HIMSELF 33 
 
 the arrival of the prisoner he will be presented at 
 the medical clinic. Here he will be subjected to a 
 most critical physical and mental examination. In 
 such an examination the immediately practical ques- 
 tion of general physical condition and the presence of 
 contagious or infectious diseases will first receive 
 attention but, in the course of two or three days at 
 the most, and possibly half a day at the least, a com- 
 plete examination will be made which will include 
 careful anthropological measurements, estimate of 
 nutrition, detection of defects and anomalies in 
 growth and the determinative integrity of all the 
 different organs. 
 
 Affections requiring treatment and defects capable 
 of remedy will receive special attention in this exam- 
 ination. Every clinical facility will be used in this 
 preliminary examination, the laboratory test made 
 in each case, including at least the Wassermann test, 
 the tuberculin test, and complement fixation test for 
 gonorrhea. The records of this examination will be 
 very carefully made and preserved. 
 
 HOSPITAL AND DISPENSARY TREATMENT. This 
 examination having been carefully performed, cer- 
 tain immediate issues will have to be dealt with. 
 All prisoners physically ill with acute or chronic dis- 
 eases will be sent to the general hospital for treat- 
 ment, except in the case of minor conditions which 
 can be as effectively treated in the surgical and medi- 
 cal dispensaries. The condition of the teeth of each 
 individual will be carefully noted and treatment in 
 the dental dispensary commenced in each case in 
 which defects are shown to exist. 
 
34 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 In mental conditions, if the diagnosis can be made 
 by examinations conducted in the clinic building, 
 admission to the psychopathic pavilion will not be 
 necessary. In all cases, however, in which observa- 
 tion is desirable in order to determine the condition, 
 or in which treatment is required pending transfer 
 to an appropriate institution, the prisoner will be 
 cared for in this pavilion. 
 
 All cases of venereal disease will be treated in the 
 venereal pavilion. This applies to gonorrhea as well 
 as to syphilis, the object of treatment being not 
 only the earliest possible complete cure of the 
 prisoner but elimination of the possibility of infecting 
 others. 
 
 When, after active treatment, cases of syphilis 
 give negative Wassermann reactions, transfer may 
 be made to one of the different groups of prisoners 
 at Sing Sing and from these groups to the other 
 State prisons for which Sing Sing is intended to con- 
 stitute the distributing center. 
 
 Prisoners who have tuberculosis will be immedi- 
 ately admitted to the general hospital and kept there 
 continuously until their transfer to the hospital for 
 tubercular prisoners at Dannemora is effected. It 
 is suggested that pavilions for such cases can be con- 
 structed on the roof of the hospital building. 
 
 All prisoners with incurable diseases or those re- 
 quiring continued treatment will be kept at the 
 general hospital. Those in whom partial infirmity 
 not requiring continued hospital treatment exists 
 will be transferred to the "special group" which will 
 be mentioned later. 
 
THE PRISONER HIMSELF 35 
 
 The medical work outlined thus far will make it 
 possible to pass on to the "normal group" or to the 
 " special group" in Sing Sing only prisoners whose 
 mental and physical condition has been exactly de- 
 termined and who have been treated continuously 
 for whatever disease they may possess. The insane, 
 the tubercular, those with severe grades of mental 
 defect and those with chronic or incurable diseases 
 will not leave the hospital department except through 
 transfer to more suitable institutions, the expiration 
 of their sentence, parole, or pardon. 
 
 Normal Group 
 
 The normal group, doubtless, will be made up of 
 prisoners found to be free from physical or mental 
 defect or conditions requiring treatment. It is 
 understood that the period of residence of such pris- 
 oners will be short, all of them being transferred to 
 other prisons after a period of preliminary training. 
 
 Special Group 
 
 The establishment of a "special group" of pris- 
 oners is believed to constitute the most important 
 constructive feature of the plan proposed. The 
 principal constituents of this group may be briefly 
 mentioned, and then a few suggestions made as to 
 their management and disposition. 
 
 FEEBLE-MINDED. There exists no institution in 
 the State at the present time for feeble-minded 
 prisoners other than those whose mental grade is 
 so low that they are likely to be detected before 
 conviction and committed to the Matteawan State 
 
36 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 Hospital. Until a suitable institution for this type 
 of cases can be provided, Matteawan State Hospital 
 will probably continue to be used, although an un- 
 suitable place for their detention. The higher grade 
 classes can be cared for in the "special group" which 
 it is proposed to establish until more suitable provi- 
 sions are made in institutions for defective delin- 
 quents. In this group they can receive industrial 
 training devised to fit their individual needs, such 
 carefully supervised education as will be of the most 
 practical benefit and special management with refer- 
 ence to conduct and responsibility. Such groups 
 have been successfully established in reformatories. 
 In other words, the management of mentally defec- 
 tive prisoners in the "special groups" will approxi- 
 mate that existing in an institution for high-grade 
 cases of feeble-mindedness. 
 
 SPECIAL MENTAL CASES. All individuals in whom 
 insanity (mental diseases or psychoses) exists will 
 be transferred as soon as practicable to the Mattea- 
 wan State Hospital. Without mental examination 
 and under a system which brought mental cases to 
 the attention of the physician only when they at 
 first came to the notice of lay employees, about one 
 in forty-five of the average daily population of Sing 
 Sing Prison has been committed to the Matteawan 
 State Hospital each year during the last three years. 
 The ratio of commitments to the adult male popula- 
 tion of the entire State is only one in 320. It is ap- 
 parent, therefore, that we will have to deal with a 
 very heavy incidence of mental disease among those 
 received at Sing Sing. It is impossible to predict 
 
THE PRISONER HIMSELF 37 
 
 the number of such cases which will be found after a 
 careful psychiatric examination is made of all prison- 
 ers, but the experience of those few prisons in which 
 such examinations have been conducted makes it 
 certain that it will be several times greater than the 
 proportion given. It is an obvious duty of the 
 State to provide increased accommodations for such 
 patients in the hospitals for the criminal insane. 
 
 The mental cases to be provided for in the "special 
 group" will not, therefore, be those of frank mental 
 disease. There is, in addition, however, a consider- 
 able proportion of prisoners in whom various psycho- 
 pathic types of personality exist. It is felt that 
 prolonged observation of these prisoners and special 
 methods of management and care will not only bene- 
 fit many of them individually but will remove from 
 the prison population a small but important group 
 in whom reformative measures applicable to the 
 general prison population are likely to fail. 
 
 SEXUAL PSYCHOPATHICS. In this group of prison- 
 ers are included those with various types of sexual 
 inversions or perversions. Not a few of these prison- 
 ers will be found capable of much improvement by 
 treatment, although most of them are not proper 
 subjects for treatment in an institution for the insane 
 or one for the mentally defective. Their collection in 
 the "special group" where special oversight is to be at 
 all times possible will help solve one of the most diffi- 
 cult problems which confront prison administrators. 
 
 INFIRM AND CRIPPLED. A small proportion of the 
 prisoners admitted to the Reception Prison will be 
 found to be unimprovable by hospital treatment and 
 
38 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 incapable of any except slight physical labor. In 
 the "special group" such cases can be provided with 
 a very suitable environment, and their industrial 
 training can be modified with special reference to 
 their needs and abilities. 
 
 In addition to the members of the "special group" 
 which have been indicated, any prisoner presenting 
 a problem which, either for his advantage or for the 
 advantage of the prison, requires highly individual- 
 ized treatment should be added to this "special 
 group." In this way those presenting striking 
 anomalies of conduct, unusual personalities, etc!, 
 will receive the special attention which they require. 
 
 The Mental and Sociological Study 
 
 The mental and sociological study will follow the 
 general lines suggested by Doctor Kirby and Doctor 
 Clark. The accurate diagnosis will come, however, 
 as the result of the man's participation, under ob- 
 servation, in the community life of the institution 
 and will grow out of it, being modified by it, rather 
 than being arbitrarily made by an external labora- 
 tory. Psychological, mechanical, and other tests 
 will be used, the cooperation of the field worker will 
 be enlisted, but the receiving station itself will con- 
 stitute the laboratory. 
 
 It is no easy task to obtain a personal, industrial, 
 and sociological history of an adult delinquent who 
 may have served several sentences under different 
 names and have become expert in avoiding the sur- 
 render of such information, even when confronted 
 by expert prosecutors and third degree examiners. 
 
THE PRISONER HIMSELF 39 
 
 The success or failure of the receiving station will 
 be determined by the attitude of the prisoners. 
 Even at Sing Sing where the Mutual Welfare System 
 is developing in the prisoners a determination to help 
 in every way, the old habit of suppression of facts still 
 partially persists. Accurate information can only 
 be called out when it is apparent that the informa- 
 tion will not be used against the man in his future 
 career, and where there will be a direct profit to him 
 from revealing the facts. 
 
 Reliable information can only be gained through 
 the establishment of the best kind of personal rela- 
 tionships between the prisoners and the investigators 
 and through the gradual demonstration of the fact 
 that the release of information will better a man's 
 opportunity in the institution and secure adequate 
 recognition before the Parole Board or Indeterminate 
 Sentence Board. 
 
 Buildings Required 
 
 The buildings required to carry out the plan herein 
 proposed include a medical clinic building, general 
 hospital, psychopathic pavilion, venereal pavilion 
 and isolation pavilion. The attached estimate gives 
 the approximate cost of such buildings. 
 
 MEDICAL CLINIC BUILDING. This building should 
 provide the following examining rooms : laboratory ; 
 physical examination, special ; physical examination, 
 eye, ear, nose, and throat; physical examination, 
 general ; office of chief physician ; office of medical 
 clerk ; psychopathic examination room ; record room 
 and library ; surgical dispensary ; drug room ; medical 
 
40 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 dispensary ; dental dispensary ; psychopathic labora- 
 tory ; toilet rooms ; and storage space in attics. The 
 records of the medical department will be of great and 
 increasing value, and so arrangements will be made 
 for their storage in fireproof filing cabinets. The 
 general offices of the physician and his associates will 
 be located in this building, and it will be the center 
 of the hygienic, sanitary, and medical activities of 
 the prison. The library will form a place for staff 
 conferences and for research, as well as for the safe 
 keeping of records. The morgue will be in the base- 
 ment of the medical clinic building directly connect- 
 ing with the laboratory. It is believed that a plain 
 but substantial building providing all the facilities 
 needed can be constructed for the amount estimated. 
 
 GENERAL HOSPITAL. The general hospital will 
 provide for fifty patients, one side being devoted to 
 surgical and the other to medical cases. In the 
 center portion between the two wings will be situated 
 the operating, dressing, and sterilizing rooms, the 
 X-ray and photographic room, and quarters for the 
 resident physician and nurses. A two-story brick 
 building of plain but substantial construction (fol- 
 lowing the excellent type adopted by the United 
 States Army) could be constructed for the amount 
 estimated. 
 
 PSYCHOPATHIC PAVILION. The Psychopathic Pa- 
 vilion will provide for fifteen patients, ten of them 
 in individual rooms and five in a small ward. A 
 day room and a room provided with complete hydro- 
 therapeutic apparatus will be included, together 
 with the necessary service rooms. 
 
THE PRISONER HIMSELF 
 
 41 
 
 Buildings Required by the Medical Department 
 
 (HYGIENE AND SANITATION, MEDICAL OBSERVATION, HOSPITAL AND 
 DISPENSARY TREATMENT) 
 
 DESCRIPTION 
 
 CAPA- 
 CITY 
 
 APPROXIMATE COST 
 
 GENERAL HOSPITAL 
 
 For Medical and Surgical cases and 
 tuberculosis pending transfer to hos- 
 pital for insane 
 
 PSYCHOPATHIC PAVILION 
 
 For special mental observation and 
 treatment pending transfer 
 
 ISOLATION PAVILION 
 
 For contagious diseases other than 
 tuberculosis and venereal 
 
 VENEREAL PAVILION 
 
 For active cases of venereal disease 
 
 CLINIC BUILDINGS 
 
 Offices and record rooms of medical 
 department 
 EXAMINATION ROOMS 
 General physical 
 Eye, ear, nose, and throat 
 Psychopathic 
 DISPENSARIES 
 
 General medical 
 Surgical 
 Venereal 
 Dental 
 LABORATORIES 
 
 EQUIPMENT 
 
 Totals 
 
 50 
 
 15 
 
 30 
 
 50,000 
 
 10,000 
 3,500 
 
 15,000 
 25,000 
 
 6,500 
 
 100 
 
 $110,000 
 
 Kitchen service (except diet kitchen) for General Hospital and 
 Psychopathic Pavilion to be from main service department of prison. 
 Independent kitchen service for Venereal Pavilion and Isolation Pavilion. 
 
 VENEREAL PAVILION. The venereal pavilion, to 
 accommodate thirty patients, will consist of two 
 wards accommodating twelve patients each, six isola- 
 
42 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 tion rooms, and the necessary service rooms. A dress- 
 ing room and small ward laboratory will also be 
 provided. The kitchen and dining-room service of 
 this building will be independent. 
 
 ISOLATION PAVILION. The isolation pavilion will 
 consist of five separate rooms, each with a water 
 section, so that cases of different contagious diseases 
 can be isolated at the same time. This building will 
 probably rarely be occupied, but it is an indispen- 
 sable adjunct of an institution of this size, no matter 
 what its purposes may be. 
 
 Personnel 
 
 Thus far the plan has dealt only with general pro- 
 cedure and physical facilities. All these might be 
 provided, and the great problems which it is proposed 
 to attack remain unsolved unless an adequate per- 
 sonnel is also supplied. 
 
 PHYSICIAN. Under this title, by which the chief 
 medical officer of a prison is officially known, there 
 will be appointed to the Reception Prison a man 
 qualified by scientific training, experience, character, 
 breadth of vision, and personal qualities to direct 
 and coordinate all the activities which have been 
 suggested. He will be in effect, if not in official 
 terms, the chief sanitary officer of the prison and in 
 all matters will report directly to the warden. All 
 other persons, both officers and employees, in the 
 medical department should report directly to him. 
 
 ASSISTANT PHYSICIANS. One assistant physician 
 will be assigned constantly to the general hospital, 
 one to the medical clinic building, and one as a gen- 
 
THE PRISONER HIMSELF 4S 
 
 eral assistant, devoting himself chiefly to the care of 
 patients in the venereal pavilion. At least two of 
 the assistant physicians will reside in the prison. 
 
 ALIENISTS. An alienist and his assistant will, 
 under the chief medical officer, have charge of the 
 psychopathic pavilion and the mental examinations 
 at the medical clinic. They will also, in cooperation 
 with other prison officials, supervise the care and 
 training of the mentally defective and other mental 
 cases in the "special group." The assistant alienist 
 will reside in the prison. 
 
 DENTIST. There will be a nonresident dentist 
 who will be required to devote his whole time to the 
 work of the dental dispensary. 
 
 MEDICAL CLERK. The medical clerk will have 
 had practical experience in the care of medical records 
 in a large general hospital. He will have, under the 
 chief medical officer, full responsibility for the medical 
 records of the prison. 
 
 LABORATORY ASSISTANT. As it is hoped that it 
 will not be necessary to make the extensive provision 
 necessary for laboratory examinations at Sing Sing, 
 the duties of the laboratory assistant will deal with 
 the routine examination of blood, sputum, and urine, 
 and the preparation of specimens to be submitted for 
 examination elsewhere. It is believed that the State 
 Health Department and one of the medical schools 
 in New York City will cooperate by providing the 
 extensive laboratory which will have to form a part 
 of the examination and treatment at Sing Sing. 
 
 NURSES. There will be a supervisor of nurses. 
 All the nurses employed in the psychopathic pavilion, 
 
44 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 and the head nurses in the general hospital and in the 
 venereal pavilion will be paid employees of the State. 
 
 SOCIAL WORKERS. One or two field workers (non- 
 medical) will be required to assist in getting family 
 and personal histories of the cases. 
 
 STENOGRAPHERS. A stenographer will be em- 
 ployed for the chief medical officer and one for the 
 psychopathic pavilion. 
 
 Transfer of Prisoners 
 
 TRANSFER WITHIN THE RECEPTION PRISON. It is 
 very essential to bear in mind that the establishment 
 of the "special group" which has been described does 
 not involve a rigid or permanent division. There 
 will be free transfer from the "special group" to the 
 "normal group" when there is a fortunate outcome 
 to efforts at specialized training ; from the "normal" 
 to the "special group" when the test of prison social 
 life discloses abnormal conditions not previously as- 
 certained, and to and from the hospital as exigencies 
 require. At all times the hospital and medical clinic 
 building will serve the medical needs of the prison 
 population. 
 
 TRANSFER TO OTHER PRISONS. One of the chief 
 objects of the plan herein proposed will be to supply 
 to the other prisons a stream of healthy, sane, able- 
 bodied prisoners who have received the benefits of 
 preliminary training, have had physical defects cor- 
 rected, and have already entered into the spirit of 
 self-government upon which the success of their 
 future lives, both in and out of prison, will chiefly 
 depend. 
 
THE PRISONER HIMSELF 45 
 
 In consequence of the retention at the Reception 
 Prison of the sick, the defective, and those requir- 
 ing special care, the problems of other prisons will 
 be immensely simplified. Hospital accommoda- 
 tions will be restricted to those required for emer- 
 gency cases, and each prisoner will have definite in- 
 dustrial capacities. Thus the greater expense of 
 maintenance in the Reception Prison will be offset by 
 the saving in other prisons due to the highly selected 
 type of prisoners with which they will be supplied. 
 
 When a prisoner becomes seriously or chronically 
 ill in another prison, or is in need of reexamination 
 or special observation to determine his mental or 
 physical condition, he will be returned to the Recep- 
 tion Prison at which all scientific facilities will be 
 concentrated. At the time of discharge, each 
 prisoner will be returned to Sing Sing where he will 
 be very carefully reexamined. In this way it will be 
 possible to determine what prison life under favor- 
 able conditions actually does for the prisoner. Its 
 effects upon him mentally and physically, as well as 
 morally, can be ascertained, while if such a prisoner 
 is readmitted to Sing Sing it will be possible to learn 
 also what the effects of community life have been. 
 
 The Reception Prison, the functions of which have 
 been briefly reviewed, is the latest development in 
 the field of scientific penology, and so far as the ap- 
 plication of medical and psychiatrical information 
 can help, should both test the real utility of the prison 
 system and devise the means whereby ineffectiveness 
 can be overcome and reconstructive measures be 
 made available for each individual prisoner. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 THE PRISONER WARD OR SLAVE? 
 
 BY KABL W. KKCHWET 
 Of the New York Bar 
 
CHAPTER III 
 THE PRISONER WARD OR SLAVE? 
 
 "THIS nation cannot continue half slave and half 
 free" was the doctrine of Lincoln and written through 
 the bloodshed of the Civil War into our Consti- 
 tution. Yet one segment of our population was 
 seemingly not included in the sweeping declaration ; 
 the segment that behind prison walls is paying the 
 penalty for the perpetration of crime. 
 
 The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution ~ 
 of the United States holds "that neither slavery nor 
 involuntary servitude, except as a punishment 
 for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly 
 convicted, shall exist within the United States or 
 any place subject to their jurisdiction." By in- 
 ference at least this amendment can be read to sanc- 
 tion slavery, as well as involuntary servitude, as 
 punishment for crime.^ 
 
 Slavery or involuntary servitude as punishment 
 for crime is not limited to this country nor to this 
 day and generation. It is a survival from next-to- 
 primitive days. The earliest form of punishment 
 was death or expulsion from the family or tribe, but 
 as soon as the tribe gathered unto itself goods and 
 chattels, the evildoers, like the prisoners of war, 
 were held as captives to perform the menial duties. 
 
 49 
 
50 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 This continued through Roman days in the servi 
 poena who labored in building the great Roman 
 highways and manned the galleys, to the feudal days 
 when resort to the hangman was found less costly. 
 
 The beginning of the eighteenth century wit- 
 nessed revulsion from the hangman's methods and 
 also a demand for laborers for the colonies ; deporta- 
 tion into slavery resulted as substitute for the hang- 
 man. In brief, as Doctor Whitin has analyzed 
 the situation, "The economic value of the labor of 
 the wayward individual has directly affected the 
 method of his punishment." 1 
 
 The upheaval of the French Revolution has left 
 its mark on the treatment of the French convicts. 
 Since the fall of the Bastile, wage for their labors 
 has been granted not as a privilege but as a right. 
 Thus was one element of slavery swept from the 
 lot of the French convict by that great holocaust ! 2 
 
 In this country, as in England and Germany, wage 
 has never been deemed the right of the convict. 
 It has been granted at times for overtime work or 
 to stimulate activity and lead to increase in the out- 
 put, but never has the right to wage been established. 
 It has been urged before legislatures, discussed by 
 reform gatherings, and preached from pulpits. 
 To-day we have labor without compensation in 
 practically every prison in this land. 
 
 Is this tolerated because the Constitution may 
 be construed to permit slavery as punishment for 
 crime? Does the lack of wage constitute a slave 
 
 1 "Penal Servitude", E. Stagg Whitin, C. I. 
 
 2 "Le Travail dans les Prisons", Roger Roux, p. 31. 
 
THE PRISONER WARD OR SLAVE? 51 
 
 status, or, taken in conjunction with other elements 
 in the convict's lot, does it create a condition of 
 slavery ? Is the status of the convict slavery, servi- 
 tude analogous to slavery, or totally different there- 
 from ? 
 
 The exact status of the prisoner in this respect 
 has never been fully defined by the courts, though 
 an interesting legal problem is involved and the 
 decision might have far-reaching effect. Should it 
 be held that slavery is actually imposed as punish- 
 ment for crime, would our modern conscience tolerate 
 its continuance ? Would not a readjustment of our 
 whole prison system follow such a decision ? 
 
 The National Committee on Prisons and Prison 
 Labor decided to bring the matter before the 
 courts, and in 1913 instituted a test case in Rhode 
 Island, the constitution of which prohibits slavery 
 without mention of involuntary servitude and with- 
 out the exception as to punishment for crime found 
 in the federal and most of the State constitutions. 
 
 The Rhode Island State Board of Control has full 
 power and authority over the labor of prisoners 
 and other inmates of State institutions and is em- 
 powered "to sell the products of such institutions 
 and make such contracts respecting the labor of 
 the prisoners and inmates as it shall deem proper." 
 The statute which authorizes the contracting of 
 the labor of the prisoners provides further that "all 
 orders, agreements and contracts made by said 
 board in respect to such labor shall be binding upon 
 the prisoners and inmates." l 
 
 1 Rhode Island Public Laws, 1912, c. 825, 21. 
 
52 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 A contract was entered into December 24, 1912, 
 between the Rhode Island Board of Control and the 
 Crescent Garment Company, under which the lat- 
 ter hired the labor of not less than 250 prisoners, 
 furnishing the necessary machinery, material and 
 supervision to keep all these convicts employed, 
 and paying the State fifty cents for every dozen 
 shirts manufactured under the agreement. The 
 Board of Control agreed to furnish all the factory 
 room, power, heat, and light necessary for the proper 
 conduct and operation of the manufacture and all 
 the transportation of materials, supplies, and manu- 
 factured articles from and to the railroad station. 
 
 The status of the prisoner forced to work under 
 the terms of this contract was considered by the 
 National Committee on Prisons and Prison Labor 
 to possess all the essential attributes of slavery, 
 and the statute authorizing the contract to be in 
 contravention to the provision of the State Consti- 
 tution prohibiting slavery. 
 
 The Committee therefore backed an ex-prisoner 
 who brought suit against the former and the present 
 contractors for wage for his labor during the time 
 he had worked under their contracts. 1 
 
 The case was heard before the Supreme Court 
 of Rhode Island in November, 1914. George Gor- 
 don Battle, the counsel for the plaintiff, argued that 
 the Rhode Island constitution is self-executing and 
 applies equally to negroes and white persons and 
 established the fact that the framers of the con- 
 
 1 State of Rhode Island, Anderson and Crescent Garment Company, 
 Supreme Court, C.Q. No. 455. 
 
THE PRISONER WARD OR SLAVE? 53 
 
 stitution were too familiar with the discourses on 
 slavery, 1 to have intended that the word "slavery" 
 should be restricted to "African Slavery": or in 
 other words that it is inconceivable that the people 
 of Rhode Island when they enacted the Constitu- 
 tion, would be willing to do less than was accom- 
 plished by the Thirteenth Amendment or permit 
 any form of human bondage to flourish within the 
 borders of the State. Furthermore, the Rhode 
 Island fathers must have known that Illinois, In- 
 diana, Michigan and Ohio had enacted anti-slavery 
 clauses at a much earlier date, yet all modified the 
 prohibition by the exception as to punishment for 
 crime. The people of Rhode Island too could have 
 included the exception, but their language is clear and 
 final. They prohibited slavery slavery in every 
 form, under any guise whatsoever. 
 
 The definition of slavery, advanced by Mr. Battle 
 as the most careful and accurate to be found in the 
 books, was that laid down in Plessy v. Ferguson : 2 
 "Slavery implies involuntary servitude a state 
 of bondage ; the ownership of mankind as a chattel, 
 or at least the control of the labor and services of 
 one man for the benefit of another, and the absence 
 of a legal right to the disposal of his own person, 
 property and services." 
 
 According to this definition the elements of slav- 
 ery are: (1) The control of the labor and services 
 of a person, (2) for the benefit of another and (3) 
 the absence of a legal right in the former to dispose 
 of his own person, property and services. 
 
 1 Kent's Commentaries appeared in 1827 and was undoubtedly familiar 
 to all the lawyers who took part in the framing of that agreement. In 
 his thirty-second lecture (p. 247, et seq.) Chancellor Kent gives a full 
 discourse on slavery, Greek, Roman, feudal, etc. 
 
 2 Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U. S. 537, p. 542. 
 
54 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 Under the contract, it was pointed out, the ser- 
 vices of the plaintiff were controlled directly by the 
 contractor ; the benefit or profit from these services 
 accrued to the contractor, subject to the fixed pay- 
 ments to the state, the plaintiff being entitled to 
 no benefit from these services ; and, moreover, the 
 plaintiff was without legal right, under the contract 
 to dispose of his own person, property or services, 
 either by working for the state, some other contrac- 
 tor, or himself, or by not working at all. As to his 
 person and services this is clear. His right to the 
 disposal of his property was equally non-existent; 
 a convict may not make a will or any conveyance 
 of his property or any part thereof during his im- 
 prisonment. 1 
 
 The lack of a right to compensation was an 
 essential characteristic of slavery as it existed before 
 the Civil War. The prisoner, it was shown, might 
 receive compensation at the will of the Board of 
 Control ; so might the slave in the South be per- 
 mitted by his master to receive wages as his own 
 property. 2 Slaves in Louisiana had a legal right 
 to wages for work done on Sunday, even against 
 their masters, while an early South Carolina case 
 upheld the right of a slave as against her master, 
 to retain wages which he had permitted her to ac- 
 quire and keep as her own. 
 
 In spite of this apparent exception, however, 
 the absence of a legal right to demand compensation 
 for work involuntarily done may be described as 
 an infallible attribute of slavery. 
 
 iKenyon v. Saunders, 18 R. I. 590, 592; Public Statutes of R. I., 
 c. 248, 52. 
 
 2 Guardian of Sally v. Beaty (S. C.), 1 Bay 260 ; Rice v. Cade, 10 La. 
 288, 294. 
 
THE PRISONER WARD OR SLAVE? 55 
 
 The fact that the plaintiff's term of confinement 
 and compulsory service terminated at a fixed date 
 was shown not inconsistent with the status of slav- 
 ery. In at least one state the negro was recognized 
 as a slave even though he had a definite right to 
 freedom at some future date. 1 
 
 The power to contract was not entirely withheld 
 from the negro slave. In Louisiana and Tennessee, 
 contracts between slaves and their masters whereby 
 the master agreed to free the slave on a future date, 
 or on the payment of a certain sum, were valid and 
 enforceable. 2 Similarly, in certain jurisdictions, ne- 
 gro slaves were capable of entering into valid con- 
 tracts of marriage. In Tennessee this was permitted 
 at common law, if done with the master's consent, 
 and also by early statutes in New York and Massa- 
 chusetts. 3 
 
 The status of the convict was not essentially 
 different from that of a slave even in the mat- 
 ter of protection from brutality. The protection of 
 the convict is only secured through the constitu- 
 tional prohibition against cruel punishment, and by 
 a statute forbidding whipping or other corporal 
 punishment except under the direction of two mem- 
 bers of the State Board. 4 
 
 The Southern slave owner did not have absolute 
 power over the person of his slave : for mere dis- 
 obedience he was entitled to administer only such 
 punishment as was appropriate to the case without 
 
 1 Jameson v. McCoy (Term.), 5 Heisk 108. 
 
 2 Gaudet v. Gourdain, 3 La. Ann. 136. 
 
 3 Andrews v. Page (Tenn.), 3 Heisk. 635, 668. Oliver v. Sale (Mass.), 
 Quincy 29 Note. Jackson v. Lervey (N. Y.), 5 Cow. 397. 
 
 4 General Laws, 1909, p. 1337, 23. 
 
56 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 endangering the life or limb of his slave. The slave 
 might lawfully resist his master in defense of life 
 or limb ; and if the master killed him in the ensuing 
 conflict, it was murder. 1 There is nothing in the 
 statutes to suggest that the power of the state over 
 the person of its convicts is restricted to any greater 
 degree than this. 
 
 The argument for the plaintiff continued as 
 follows: 
 
 The labor of the Rhode Island convicts had never 
 been leased at the time the constitutional provision 
 was enacted. The first evidence of any system of 
 convict labor in the state appears in the year 1834 
 when a popular referendum was had upon the ques- 
 tion whether a state prison should be built. The 
 election resulted in favor of the scheme; commis- 
 sioners were appointed to buy land and build a 
 prison under a plan of "separate confinement at 
 labor, with instructors." The prison was completed 
 in 1838 and on November 16th four convicts were 
 committed to its cells. While it is stated that they 
 could "arrange and contract for the labor of the 
 prisoners," contract for the disposal of the product 
 of their labor is undoubtedly meant; at all events 
 the present contract system was not adopted nor 
 even considered for many years thereafter. 2 
 
 Slowly the labor system developed. First, the 
 solitary labor, owing to its evil effect on the sanity 
 of the prisoners, gave way to shop labor; then a 
 wage of 33J cents for each day a prisoner labored 
 was allowed towards the payment of his fine ; finally 
 in 1852 the contract system was introduced and in 
 1857 we find the statutory provision that convicts 
 
 1 Oliver v. State, 39 Miss. 526, 539; Dave c. State, 22 Ala. 23, 34. 
 
 2 Report, State Prison Inspectors, 1876, pp. 16-27. 
 
THE PRISONER WARD OR SLAVE? 57 
 
 "shall be let or kept at labor ... for the benefit 
 of the state, in such manner, under such contract, 
 and subject to such rules, regulations, and discipline 
 as the inspectors of the state prison may make or 
 appoint." l An important innovation was intro- 
 duced in 1874 when the Board of Inspectors was 
 authorized, in its discretion, to pay to convicts 
 upon their discharge or during their imprisonment 
 to their dependents a sum not exceeding one tenth 
 of the convict's actual earnings during confinement. 2 
 
 Commenting upon this experiment in their next 
 report the Inspectors state : 
 
 " There have as yet been but two applications for 
 relief under the law authorizing the inspector to 
 pay a certain portion of the earnings of a prisoner 
 to his needy family. But the inspectors are fully 
 convinced of the wisdom and benefit of such a law, 
 and regard it as a wholesome element in the dis- 
 cipline of the Institution. Hope is the chief factor 
 in the moral elevation of mankind, and so far as 
 it can be applied in this and kindred ways, to the 
 reformation of the criminal, by inducing good be- 
 havior and diligent habits of work, it will be found 
 successful in the production of encouraging results." 3 
 
 A further provision for wage is found in the legis- 
 lation of 1877 which created the State Board of 
 Charities and Corrections to have control over the 
 conduct of the prison and the discipline and employ- 
 ment of the prisoners. This new Board was in- 
 structed to provide that the convict on discharge 
 should be decently clothed and that in no case should 
 he receive a sum less than five dollars. 4 
 
 1 R. S., 1857, c. 226, 15. 
 
 2 Laws of 1874, c. 350. See Report of Board of Inspectors, 1872, p. 10. 
 
 3 Report of Board of Inspectors, 1872, p. 10. 
 R.S. 1882, c. 254, 39. 
 
58 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 A careful review of the prison legislation from 
 the date of the constitution shows that while wage 
 for convicts had not been thought of at that time, 
 contract labor was equally foreign to the thought 
 of that day, and was not introduced in the state 
 until at least ten years later. Indeed, in 1842, 
 the problem was not a considerable one, as in that 
 year, "the number of convicts had increased to 
 thirty-seven. " x There is no evidence that had the 
 framers of the Constitution considered the contract 
 system they would have desired to except it from 
 the anti-slavery provision, and the provision must 
 be applied to the situation which has arisen since 
 its adoption in the light of its general meaning and 
 purpose to prohibit utterly the existence of slavery 
 in any form. 
 
 The well-established facts regarding the contract 
 system were advanced to show the reasonableness 
 of such a proposition and that there were no grounds 
 for claiming that a reasonable construction of the 
 constitutional provision would forbid the denial to 
 the State of the right to lease its convict labor to 
 private contractors. The inevitable tendency of 
 the contract system is to employ the convicts at 
 tasks injurious to their health and to drive them 
 far beyond their strength in an effort to extract 
 the largest amount of profit for the contractor and 
 the state. Its detrimental effect upon the free 
 workingman employed by manufacturers striving to 
 compete with the prison contractor and at the same 
 time attempting to pay their employees a living 
 wage, is equally well known. In short, the worst 
 features of the sweat-shop system, both in and out 
 of prison, are exhibited in every industry and state 
 where the system of contract labor obtains. The 
 
 1 Report of Board of Prison Inspectors, 1876, p. 27. 
 
THE PRISONER WARD OR SLAVE? 59 
 
 wide-spread public belief to this effect is shown by 
 the number of states which have prohibited, in whole 
 or in part, the leasing of convict labor to private 
 contractors. 
 
 Summing up the facts of the case, it may be said 
 that the state stands in the place of the slave-owner 
 of ante-bellum days ; and the contractor is the lessee, 
 or purchaser for a term of years, of the services 
 of the convict. This amounts in substance to a 
 disposal of the convict himself, since it entails of 
 necessity the practical control of the convict's 
 person, as well as his services, by the lessee's agent. 
 It is true that the latter has not absolute power 
 over the convict's person. Neither did the lessee 
 of a slave; he was obliged to use reasonable care 
 and moderation in the treatment and discipline of 
 the slave hired by him and was liable to the owner 
 for any injury resulting from an abuse of power. 1 
 
 The fact that part of the state's control over the 
 convict was not delegated by the Board of Control 
 and Supply to the contractor is not sufficient to 
 differentiate the present case. The statute obviously 
 authorized the Board to delegate to the contractor 
 complete control over the person and conduct of the 
 prisoner while at work, subject to the restriction 
 as to corporal punishment, and this power conferred 
 by the Board, not the extent to which it was exer- 
 cised, is the test of the statute's validity. A court 
 in passing on the constitutionality of a statute is 
 not confined to its language, but may look to its 
 necessary or natural effect and its actual operation. 
 Hence, a statute, which is fair on its face will be 
 found unconstitutional if in its actual operation 
 
 1 Latimer v. Alexander, 14 Ga. 259; Craig's Adm'r v. Lee, 53 Ky. 
 96; James v. Carper (Term.), 4 Sneed 397. 
 
60 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 it leads to a result, prohibited by the constitution, 
 or if its natural effect will be to bring about such a 
 result. Applying such a test to the statute authoriz- 
 ing the State Board of Control and Supply to con- 
 tract the labor of prisoners, the statute is in viola- 
 tion of the provision of the State Constitution 
 forbidding slavery and must be deemed invalid. 
 
 The counsel for the defense, Honorable Herbert 
 A. Rice, Attorney General of Rhode Island, and Mr. 
 Zechariah Chafee, Jr., threw interesting light on the 
 question of convict slavery. Their argument may 
 be briefly summarized as follows : 
 
 The letting of prison labor by the state under 
 contract is not slavery within the Rhode Island 
 Constitution when considered both in the light of 
 Rhode Island statutes and decisions and on general 
 authority. 
 
 The rights and conditions of a prisoner under 
 Rhode Island law are widely different from those of 
 a slave. The accepted definition of slavery, "slav- 
 ery as defined in our statutes means a special kind 
 of servitude for life," puts the emphasis on "servitude 
 for life" which was considered interchangeable 
 with slavery. Moreover, slavery was the ownership 
 of one human being by another and not simply the 
 temporary service which existed in the case at bar. 
 The word "slave" as used in the Rhode Island 
 statutes, clearly meant a person held under the 
 well-known institution of slavery, and not one 
 under involuntary servitude in a general sense. 
 The members of the constitutional convention in 
 1842, 1 living under these statutes, would naturally 
 
 i Laws of Rhode Island, 1798, p. 607. Public Laws, 1822, p. 441 
 (in force till 1844). 
 
THE PRISONER WARD OR SLAVE? 61 
 
 have them In mind when they used the word, and 
 employ it with the same meaning. 
 
 The rights of a prisoner are far wider in Rhode 
 Island than those of a slave : 
 
 "The slave had no property rights whatever, 
 could neither sue nor be sued, nor take by descent, 
 there being in him no inheritable blood." 
 
 The rights of a Rhode Island prisoner in regard 
 to property and access to the courts may be con- 
 trasted with those of a slave : 
 
 A convict can have interest in property while a 
 slave cannot; a convict can sue while a slave can- 
 not; a convict is liable on a contractual obligation 
 while a slave is not, this distinction remaining 
 whether or not the convict's labor is subject to a 
 contract. While the convict's rights are consider- 
 ably limited because of his imprisonment he still 
 retains many important rights, which a slave en- 
 tirely lacks, and consequently cannot be considered 
 a slave under our law. 
 
 Definitions and judicial descriptions of slavery, not 
 limited to Rhode Island but based on general author- 
 ity, do not apply to the situation of the plaintiff. 
 
 The only characteristics, according to these defini- 
 tions, which a slave and the plaintiff have in com- 
 mon are compulsory unpaid labor with benefit to 
 the private person, and confinement. There are 
 several other important features of slavery which 
 may be considered in the following order : 
 
 (1) Deprivation of practically all civil rights; 
 
 (2) Practically complete control by a master; 
 
62 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 (3) Service for life ; 
 
 (4) The imposition of similar disqualifications 
 
 upon the offspring. 
 
 Deprivation of practically all civil rights: A slave 
 could neither sue nor be sued, at law or in equity, 
 except to enforce his freedom. 1 A convict can sue 
 and can be sued and appear to defend himself. 2 
 
 A slave could not contract and an attempted 
 contract created no rights or obligations on either 
 side. 3 A convict can contract. 4 
 
 A slave could not own property or acquire it by 
 deed or will, except that his freedom could be willed 
 him. 5 A convict can acquire and own property, 
 although according to the Rhode Island Statutes, 
 he cannot convey it or make a will. 6 The convict 
 is not a mere chattel like a slave but has the same 
 rights with regard to his person as any other man. 7 
 
 Practically complete control by a master : A man 
 is not a slave unless an owner is shown to exist. 
 The convict cannot show completeness of control 
 as paragraph sixth of the contract between the 
 state and the Shirt Company provides : 
 
 1 Wicks v. Chew, 4 H. and J. (Md.) 543, 547. Stenhouse v. Bonum, 
 12 Rich. (S. C.) 620. 
 
 2 Bowles v. Habermann, 95 N. Y. 246. 
 
 3 Hall v. U. S.. 92 U. S. 27. 
 
 4 Stephani v. Lent, 63 N. Y., Supp. 471. 
 
 B Jackson v. Lervey, 5 Cow. (N. Y.) 397. Gist v. Toohey, 2 Rich. 
 (S. C.) 424. 
 
 6 Avery . Everett, 110 N. Y. 317. La Chapelle v. Burpee, 69 Hun 
 436. 
 
 7 Westbrook v. State, 133 Ga. 578, 585 (1909). St. Louis etc. Co. v. 
 Hydrick, Ark. (1913) 160 S. W. 1.96. 
 
THE PRISONER WARD OR SLAVE? 63 
 
 "It is understood and agreed that said party of 
 the first part (the state) shall at all times have the 
 right to control and govern said inmates, to regulate 
 their conduct and to assign the tasks to be performed 
 under this agreement, and further to make and in- 
 stitute all rules and regulations for the proper dis- 
 cipline and guidance of said inmates, and at any 
 time to change the same, and further to forbid and 
 prevent any mode, or any manner or method of 
 performing the same, that may be deemed injurious 
 to the health, dangerous to the person, or subversive 
 to prison discipline." 
 
 Under such circumstances the relation between 
 the Shirt Company and the plaintiff is not even 
 so strong as that of master and servant. 
 
 Other cases are cited which hold that the contrac- 
 tor is not liable to an outsider for injury caused by 
 a convict's negligence, as the latter was not a serv- 
 ant ; 1 and that the contractor is not liable for the 
 willful act of a convict leased, since the state had 
 control, even though the injury was on Sunday 
 when the contractor paid the convict for his labor. 2 
 This case is especially strong because the convict 
 was receiving pay from the contractor, yet even 
 this circumstance, in addition to those which existed 
 in the case at bar, was not sufficient to make the 
 contractor master of the convict. 
 
 Service for Life : Service for Life is a well-known 
 characteristic of slavery 3 which does not exist in 
 the plaintiff's case. 
 
 1 Cunningham v. Bay State, 25 Hun 210. 
 
 2 St. Louis, etc. v. Boyle, 83 Ark. 302. 
 
 3 Pennsylvania Statute of March 1, 1780. Barrington v. Logan, 2 
 Dana (Ky.) 432, 434. Miller v. Dwilling, 14 Serg. and R. 442. 
 
64 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 The imposition of similar disqualifications upon 
 the offspring: The children of slave women were 
 slaves. Of course, the children of a convict are not 
 convicts, nor can they, in Rhode Island, be sub- 
 jected to any disability. 
 
 Thus, unlike a slave, the plaintiff could sue and 
 be sued, contract, own and acquire property; he 
 was hardly at all under the control of his alleged 
 master, the Shirt Company; he was not in service 
 for life ; and no disqualifications were imposed upon 
 his offspring. In view of these circumstances his con- 
 dition was absolutely different from that of a slave. 
 
 The contracts for the labor of convicts existed 
 in Rhode Island before 1842 when the constitution 
 was drafted. An act of February 3, 1838, reads : 
 
 "Nor shall they (the inspectors of the state 
 prison) be in any way interested in any contract 
 for the supplies for the same (the prison) or the labor 
 of the convicts." Thus contracts for the labor 
 of convicts were in sufficient common use to make 
 it desirable that those in charge of the prison should 
 be prohibited from having any improper personal 
 interest in such contracts. If the word "slavery" 
 in the constitution was intended to have a wide 
 meaning and include the letting of prison contracts, 
 why were such contracts suffered to continue and 
 why five years after the constitution was drafted 
 did the legislature, which included many members 
 of the constitutional convention, expressly provide 
 for contracts for prison labor ? 1 
 
 Thus, although the validity of the prison contracts 
 has never been before the courts, it has been re- 
 peatedly recognized by legislators through a period 
 
 i Public Laws of Rhode Island (1844-1857), p. 672. 
 
THE PRISONER WARD OR SLAVE? 65 
 
 of over seventy-five years, nor has it been questioned 
 by any person until this suit was brought. Such 
 protracted, continuous and thorough acquiescence, 
 if not conclusive, is a strong argument, and the 
 settled opinion and practice of many legislatures is 
 entitled to serious consideration, even if it has not 
 the authority of a judicial decision. 
 
 If it is not slavery for the state to employ the 
 prisoners in making articles which are sold by the 
 state to an outsider, who resells them at a profit to 
 himself, then it is not slavery for the state to 
 oblige the prisoners to work on materials furnished 
 by an outsider when the state retains control over 
 the prisoners and is paid by the outsider for their 
 labor. In both cases, they are servants of the 
 state and controlled only by the state. In the one 
 case, the state furnishes goods to an outsider; and 
 in the other, labor, just as when a carpenter brings 
 his gang to work on a house. The gang does not 
 become the servants of the owner of the house. It 
 may be said that it is slavery for the state to oblige 
 the prisoners to work for the profit of the contractor, 
 but there is a similar profit for the contractor if he 
 buys goods from the state and then resells. 
 
 The question of slavery or no slavery can hardly 
 be said to depend upon whether the state is paid 
 an adequate price for the labor of the prisoners. 
 
 Moreover, even when the prisoners are employed 
 on material furnished by the state, private persons 
 may profit. Shortly after Rhode Island had pro- 
 hibited slavery in its constitution the legislature 
 provided that "the keeper of each county jail, except 
 the jail of the county of Providence, shall be allowed 
 in full for his services under this Act, fifty per cent 
 of all profits on the labor done under his care and 
 
66 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 oversight by prisoners committed to such jail." 
 If the plaintiff was a slave of the shirt factory, then the 
 prisoners under this statute were slaves of the keeper. 
 
 The consideration of the provisions as to slavery 
 in other constitutions shows that it does not include 
 prison contract labor. 
 
 The provision in the federal constitution regard- 
 ing slavery came from the ordinance of 1787 enacted 
 by the Continental Congress for the government 
 of the Northwest Territory. The federal constitu- 
 tional amendment abolishing slavery was in ful- 
 fillment of the plank in the Republican platform of 
 1864: "We are in favor of such an amendment 
 to the constitution, to be made by the people in 
 conformity with its provisions, as shall terminate 
 and forever prohibit the existence of slavery within 
 the limits of the jurisdiction of the United States." 
 
 This plank makes no exception of slavery as pun- 
 ishment for crime. The reason for the addition of 
 "Involuntary servitude" is given by Justice Miller 1 
 who explains that the word "slavery" was too nar- 
 row to apply to imperfect forms of servitude, or in 
 the words of Professor Willoughby : 2 "Its terms 
 were purposely made broad enough to include not 
 only the slavery of any person, whatever his race or 
 color, but his involuntary servitude save as a punish- 
 ment for crime." 
 
 Punishment for crime is the one kind of invol- 
 untary servitude which properly could not be for- 
 bidden. Therefore, as Professor Willoughby says, 
 the exception was made to the prohibition of invol- 
 untary servitude. Some commentators on the con- 
 
 1 Slaughter House Cases, 16 Wall. 36, 42. 2 Constitution, p. 850. 
 
THE PRISONER WARD OR SLAVE? 67 
 
 stitution have considered that it is also an exception 
 to the prohibition of slavery. This question has 
 never been passed upon by the courts but it is incon- 
 ceivable that a man convicted of crime should be 
 condemned to the condition of a negro slave before 
 the Civil War and the exception in the thirteenth 
 amendment can be said to modify only the words 
 immediately before, "involuntary servitude", and 
 not the word "slavery." Slavery is absolutely 
 forbidden by the Thirteenth Amendment as well 
 as by the Rhode Island Constitution, and if prison 
 contract labor is illegal slavery in Rhode Island it 
 is illegal slavery throughout the United States. Yet 
 no case has ever arisen contesting its constitutionality 
 on this ground, and the United States Supreme Court 
 has decided litigation connected with prison contract 
 labor without question as to its validity. 1 
 
 The prohibition of the Rhode Island Constitu- 
 tion is not wider than that of the federal constitu- 
 tion ; it is narrower. In the absence of any informa- 
 tion, the word "slavery" must be taken in the sense 
 usual at that time and applied to the institution of 
 slavery as it then existed. It could not for instance 
 be applied to the white slave trade. 
 
 The upshot of the discussion is this. "Slavery" 
 in the Federal Constitution has been regarded as 
 a narrow term, meaning an institution like that 
 which formerly existed in this country, and "in- 
 voluntary servitude" was added to include imperfect 
 forms of compulsory labor. There is no reason to 
 suppose that "slavery" had a wider significance in 
 the Rhode Island Constitution. 2 
 
 1 Nugent c. Arizona Co., 173 U. S. 338. 
 
 3 R. I. State Constitutional Journal, etc. (In Library of the Rhode 
 Island Historical Society, R. 34 J.) 
 
68 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 In many constitutions there is possibly an excep- 
 tion of slavery in punishment of crime, but such a 
 construction is objectionable and if it is not taken, 
 the existence of prison contract labor under those 
 constitutions, particularly that of the United States, 
 is an argument that such labor is not slavery. In 
 the Constitution of Rhode Island and several other 
 states, no such exception can possibly be construed, 
 and the long-unquestioned establishment of prison 
 contract labor in all of these states except Ohio is 
 a serious obstacle in the way of the plaintiff. The 
 judiciary of one of these states, Alabama, has ex- 
 pressly declared that prison contract labor is not 
 slavery. 1 
 
 Comparison is made between the system of con- 
 tracting the labor of convicts and of apprenticing 
 minors without pay to be skilled mechanics. The 
 servitude in cases of apprenticeship is held nearer 
 slavery than in the case of the convict because 
 the latter did have a choice whether or not he would 
 commit the crime while the minor has no choice in 
 the matter, absolute power to bind him out being 
 in the hands of his father. 2 
 
 The binding out of the pauper children and adults 
 by the overseer of the poor is analogous to the 
 case at bar. A decision that prison contract labor 
 is slavery would necessarily result in a declara- 
 tion that this method of lessening the burden of 
 pauperism on the public is also slavery, though 
 it has prevailed since 1741 and is provided for in 
 the very statute which abolished slavery. 3 
 
 1 Buchalew v. Tennessee Coal, etc., Co., 112 Ala. 146, 157 (1895). 
 
 2 General Laws 1909, c. 249, 1, Nelson v. People, 33 111. 390 (1864), 
 
 3 Exeter v. Warwick, 1 R. I. 63, 65 ; Kennedy . Meara, 127 Ga. 68, 77. 
 
THE PRISONER WARD OR SLAVE? 69 
 
 Employment of prisoners at hard labor is a long 
 established practice in all the states which clearly 
 abolish slavery without exception as to punishment 
 for crime, yet in no case has it been held to be 
 slavery. 1 
 
 Other forms of compulsory labor which are closely 
 connected with the functions of the state and public 
 welfare have not been held as slavery; compulsory 
 labor on streets with imprisonment as a penalty for 
 refusal, 2 compulsory military service, 3 compulsory 
 service by merchant sailors who attempt to desert, 4 
 working out fines for violations of municipal ordi- 
 nances not amounting to crimes. 5 
 
 To sum up the arguments for the defence : 
 
 The plaintiff was not a slave, because the de- 
 fendants had none of the control over him which a 
 master has over his slave; because prison contract 
 labor has never been held to be slavery in this or 
 any other state which absolutely forbids slavery, 
 and because it is declared by the Supreme Courts 
 of Illinois and Georgia not to be slavery; because 
 it existed when the Rhode Island Constitution was 
 drafted, and was expressly continued by a statute 
 passed soon afterwards, and reenacted over and 
 over again, so that all contemporary and legislative 
 opinion in this state supports its constitutionality; 
 because hard labor and other analogous forms of 
 involuntary servitude are not slavery ; and because 
 a direct Rhode Island decision 6 and many other 
 
 iTopeka v. Boutwell, 53 Kan. 20; 27 L. R. A. 593 (1894). 
 
 2 Re Dassler, 35 Kan. 678, 684 (1886). 
 
 3 Peonage Cases, 123 Fed. 671, 681 (1903). * 
 
 4 Robertson v. Baldwin, 165 U. S. 275, 282. 
 
 8 Mayor, etc., of Monroe v. Meuer, 35 La. Ann. 1192. 
 6 Kenyon v. Saunders, 18 R. I. 590. 
 
70 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 cases l show that a convict, whether under a labor 
 contract or not, has opportunities and rights com- 
 pletely denied to a slave. 
 
 The temporary and limited effect of a prison 
 contract upon the laborer, and its public purposes, 
 differentiate it sharply from the complete private 
 appropriation of labor forbidden by the slavery 
 clause of our constitution. 
 
 The logical conclusion is that the statute authoriz- 
 ing the prison contract is not in conflict with the 
 constitution and the contract is legal. 
 
 In the Reply Brief for the plaintiff we find further 
 consideration of the authorities relied upon by the 
 defendant : 
 
 The Counsel for the defence, it is stated, argued 
 from the statute of 1798, which seems to use 
 "slavery" and "servitude for life" as synonymous 
 terms ; they also claimed that the constitution of 
 1842 used the word "slavery" in the same limited 
 sense. 
 
 This conclusion does not follow. The Act of 
 1798 was a very partial abolition of slavery compared 
 to the constitutional provisions, both state and 
 federal, which came after it. For example, Section 
 I provided : 
 
 "That for the future no negro, mulatto, or Indian 
 slave shall be brought into this State; and if any 
 slave shall hereafter be brought in, he or she shall be 
 and hereby is rendered immediately free, so far as 
 respects personal freedom and the enjoyment of 
 
 1 Previously cited in this article. 
 
THE PRISONER WARD OR SLAVE? 71 
 
 private property in the same manner as the native 
 Indian ; provided nevertheless that this Act should 
 not be deemed to extend to the domestic slaves or 
 servants of citizens of other states or of foreigners 
 traveling through the State or coming to reside 
 therein, nor to servants or slaves escaping from 
 service or servitude in other states, or in foreign 
 countries and coming of their own accord into this 
 state." 
 
 It is apparent that the intention of this Act was 
 not absolutely to do away with human bondage 
 within the state. 
 
 The simple, direct provision of the constitution 
 of 1842 evidences quite a different intention. "Slav- 
 ery shall not be permitted in this state." The 
 absence of definition or qualification suggests an 
 intentional broader use of the term. It is impos- 
 sible to believe that the framers of the Rhode Island 
 Constitution in 1842 only 19 years before the 
 outbreak of the Civil War intended to permit, 
 even in a qualified form, the existence of human 
 bondage within the state. 
 
 The assertion, sustained by reference to the Act 
 of 1838, that prison contracts existed prior to the 
 constitution does not hold, in that the report of 
 the Board of Inspectors in 1876 definitely states 
 that the contract system was introduced in 1852. 
 The same report shows that "on the 16th of Novem- 
 ber of that year four convicts were committed" to 
 the cells of the State Prison. If the contract system 
 obtained among these four prisoners and we may 
 safely take the word of the State Prison Inspectors 
 that it did not it must have been a somewhat 
 insignificant problem, not in the minds of the fram- 
 ers of the Constitution. 
 
72 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 Regarding the "chief characteristics of slavery" 
 enumerated in the defence, it has been earlier shown 
 that all of these disabilities attached to the ordinary 
 slave in most of the Southern States, but that nearly 
 all of them, either by statute or common law, were 
 partially removed in several states of the South. 
 In short, they were the usual but not the necessary 
 incidents of slavery as it obtained in the South 
 before the Thirteenth Amendment. 
 
 The statement that the convict is not a mere 
 chattel like a slave but has the same rights with 
 regard to his person as any other man can hardly 
 hold when viewed in the light of the following stat- 
 ute provision : 
 
 "A warden in charge of convicts working on a 
 county chain-gang has no authority to administer 
 corporal punishment to a convict except such as 
 may be reasonably necessary to compel the convict 
 to work or labor in the execution o his sentence 
 or to maintain proper discipline." 1 
 
 The inference is that in the absence of such stat- 
 ute provision, there would be no limitation on the 
 power of the warden, while even under this statute 
 the condition of the convict is not substantially 
 unlike that of the old time slave. 
 
 A decision holding that the convict is not the 
 contractor's servant seems rather irrelevant to the 
 question of the status of the convict himself. Be- 
 sides it is not necessary to a condition of slavery 
 that a slave be subject to the control and direction 
 of a single person, the contractor. The control may 
 well be divided, as in this case. If the convict 
 were owned outright by the state and his services 
 
 1 Westbrook v. State, 133 Ga. 578. 
 
THE PRISONER WARD OR SLAVE? 73 
 
 leased to the contractor, no one would question that 
 a state of slavery existed ; yet such a control would 
 be as divided as it is in the present case. 
 
 It has been argued that the qualification "except 
 as a punishment for crime" in the Federal Consti- 
 tution does not apply to slavery, but only to invol- 
 untary servitude. The language and punctuation 
 of the Thirteenth Amendment do not seem to justify 
 this interpretation. It is natural, however, that 
 judges should be unwilling to concede, when they 
 do not have to decide, that slavery in its narrowest 
 sense the ownership of mankind as a chattel 
 is permitted by the Thirteenth Amendment even as 
 a punishment for crime. 
 
 It does not follow, however, that slavery in its 
 broader sense is not excepted from the prohibition 
 of the Thirteenth Amendment along with involun- 
 tary servitude. Even if it were so it would not 
 follow that the system under which the plaintiff's 
 services were sold to the defendant does not con- 
 stitute slavery within the meaning of the Rhode 
 Island Constitution. 
 
 The prevalence of the Contract System in other 
 states whose constitutions forbid slavery in any 
 form is slight argument for the legality of the sys- 
 tem when it has not been the subject of direct judi- 
 cial attack on that ground. 1 
 
 That no analogy ought to be established between 
 contract labor and the employment of prisoners at 
 ordinary hard labor has earlier been discussed. 
 Apprenticeship and compulsory service are dis- 
 posed of by the Supreme Court as follows : 2 
 
 1 In Buckalaw v. Tennessee Coal etc., Co., 112 Ala. 146. 
 
 2 Clyatt v. United States, 207, 218 (1905). 
 
74 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 "We need not stop to consider any possible 
 limits or exceptional cases such as the services of a 
 sailor, 1 or the obligations of a child to its parents, 
 or of an apprentice to his master, or the power of 
 the legislature to make unlawful and punish crim- 
 inally an abandonment by an employe of his post 
 of labor in any extreme cases." 
 
 Clearly the punishment of crime was not con- 
 sidered one of these implied exceptions by the 
 framers of the Thirteenth Amendment, or they 
 would not have included it expressly. 
 
 The binding out of pauper children as appren- 
 tices by the overseer of the poor is hardly an analo- 
 gous case. The opinion in regard to binding out 
 pauper children states : 
 
 "Therefore it necessarily follows that when the 
 state has to assume the control and custody of the 
 child, its conduct towards it would be the same that 
 a dutiful parent would exercise, keeping in view the 
 welfare of the child." 2 
 
 No argument is needed to show the difference 
 between that case and this. That the state stands 
 in loco parentis to the convict, and leases his services 
 to a private contractor with an eye to the convict's 
 welfare, will hardly be contended. 
 
 Prison contract labor is primarily a benefit to 
 the private contractor and incidentally a benefit 
 to the state. The vast discrepancy between the 
 compensation paid the state under such a contract 
 and the wages paid free labor is demonstration 
 
 1 Robertson v. Baldwin, 165 U. S. 275. 
 
 2 Kennedy v. Meara, 127 Ga. 68. 
 
THE PRISONER WARD OR SLAVE? 75 
 
 thereof. The private rather than the public nature 
 of the benefits derived from such contracts, as 
 well as their detrimental effects upon the convict, 
 the state, and the public at large have led to the 
 abandonment of the system in many states. 
 
 The opinion handed down in February, 1916, 
 some fifteen months after the case was heard, was 
 by Chief Justice Johnson. 
 
 The court, in a lengthy and elaborate opinion, 
 sustained the arguments of the plaintiff's counsel 
 that the clause of the Rhode Island Constitution 
 under consideration had the same effect upon slav- 
 ery as the Thirteenth Amendment to the Federal 
 Constitution, that slavery as a legal status ceased 
 to exist within the state upon its adoption, and that 
 this provision, while designed to forbid slavery as 
 it existed in this country and had existed in Rhode 
 Island, doubtless applied equally to all races of men. 
 The point to be determined, then, was whether the 
 condition of the plaintiff was slavery. 
 
 The court found that "The condition of slavery 
 sought to be established is a synthetic slavery made 
 up from the incidents inherent in the conditions of 
 being a convict lawfully under sentence and the 
 fact that said convict was compelled to work pur- 
 suant to the contract made under the statute. 
 
 "As we have seen," the opinion reads, "the alleged 
 direct control by the contractor is not present. 
 The plaintiff's inability to dispose of his person, 
 property and service, is in no way due to the contract 
 of which he complains, but is an incident of his 
 condition as a convict. Then, on the other hand, 
 
76 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 there are present rights which are not those of a 
 slave, as the right to sue and the right to enter into 
 a contractual obligation in the necessary prose- 
 cution of his suit; and in short all the rights of an 
 ordinary citizen which are not necessarily taken 
 from him by reason of his condition as a convict. 
 The condition of alleged slavery which he has con- 
 structed fills the requirements of no definition, 
 which has been cited, not even the one he selects 
 as the most accurate one to be found in the books. 
 That requires ' a state of bondage the ownership 
 of mankind as a chattel.' That portion of the defi- 
 nition he passed by and depends upon the remain- 
 ing portion, viz. : ' at least, the control of labor and 
 services of one man for the benefit of another, and 
 the absence of a legal right to the disposal of his 
 own person, property and service/ Of the portion 
 thus selected, the words : * the control of labor and 
 services of one man for the benefit of another' 
 constitute the sum total of material for the construc- 
 tion of the condition of slavery claimed, as 'the 
 absence of a legal right to dispose of his own person, 
 property or services' is incident to his legal status 
 as a convict under sentence for a term in State 
 Prison, and does not in any way result from the 
 contract. As to said first part of said selected por-. 
 tion of the definition, his counsel seem to recognize 
 the necessity of a master for a slave and say that 
 ' the labor and service of the plaintiff were controlled 
 directly by the contractor,' which is not alleged 
 in the declaration, adding 'and he was compelled 
 by force and threats, against his will, to perform 
 tasks assigned him,' which last is alleged in the 
 declaration, but the declaration fails to allege that 
 he was thus compelled by the defendant. 
 
 "As has been seen, it is not claimed that to cause 
 a prisoner to work for the State is a violation of the 
 constitutional provision forbidding slavery, but that 
 
THE PRISONER WARD OR SLAVE? 77 
 
 to cause him to work upon the materials of another 
 than the State, under a contract between such other 
 person and the State, under the control of the State, 
 in the prison of the State, the State receiving compen- 
 sation therefor, results in the transformation of the 
 labor which is imposed upon the convict as a part 
 of his sentence, into that of a slave, and constitutes 
 a condition of slavery. If this contention is sound, 
 it follows that while the State may compel the con- 
 vict to work for the State upon the materials of 
 the State in its workshop situated in the prison, the 
 State must own the materials upon which the work 
 is done or the convict cannot be lawfully compelled 
 to work. The State must therefore engage in busi- 
 ness in which it directly employs the convict upon 
 its own material or it cannot lawfully compel him 
 to work at all. 
 
 " Does the convict work any the less for the State 
 when he is compelled to work upon the property 
 and with the appliances of a contractor with the 
 State, in the prison of the State under the control of 
 the State, for a wage paid to the State by the con- 
 tractor under a contract made with the State, than 
 when he so works upon materials owned by the 
 State? It is claimed that he is compelled to work 
 for the benefit of another and not for the State. 
 True, his labor is done upon materials which are 
 not the property of the State. The contractor with 
 the State, however, only has the labor done thereon 
 for which he pays the State, and which it was the 
 right of the State to have done as a part of the sen- 
 tence imposed upon the convict. We cannot think 
 that the condition of the convict is changed by such 
 work upon the materials of the contractor from his 
 condition as a convict into that of a slave, either of 
 the State or the contractor. 
 
 "We see no reason to doubt that, in adopting Sec- 
 tion 4 of Article I of the Constitution, the conven- 
 
78 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 tion and the people had in mind slavery as it then 
 existed in some of the states of the Union and as 
 it had existed in this State. 
 
 "The word 'slavery' at that time was used both 
 in our statutes and in common parlance to mean 
 a very definite thing, namely, the institution of 
 slavery. We see no reason to suppose that it was 
 used in the constitution in any other sense. The 
 fact that prison labor existed, without question, 
 contemporaneously with the adoption of the con- 
 stitution is also strong evidence that the prohibition 
 was not intended to include such labor. The long 
 acquiescence in the legislative exercise of the power 
 to let prison labor, beginning January, 1847, is also 
 a strong argument in favor of the validity of that 
 power. 
 
 "We are of the opinion that the plaintiff has en- 
 tirely failed to establish his contention that his sta- 
 tus under said contract was that of a slave." 
 
 The court has thus decided that the contract 
 system of convict labor, when the contractor is not 
 given absolute power to enforce his control over the 
 prisoner, does not create a slave status for the pris- 
 oner. What would be the opinion in the case of a 
 contract such as that, dated January 20, 1858, 
 between Thomas W. Hix, Warden of Maine State 
 Prison, and David H. Summer and Henry Maxcy, 
 the contractors ? After providing that the contrac- 
 tors shall feed and clothe the convicts, the contract 
 continues "and it is hereby further stipulated and 
 agreed that the aforesaid overseers in the several 
 departments of labor shall perform all the duties of 
 disciplinarians and turnkeys, and be paid by the 
 said Summer and Maxcy." This would appear 
 
THE PRISONER WARD OR SLAVE? 79 
 
 to give definite and complete power of enforcement 
 to the contractors. Would it create a slave status 
 for the prisoners ? 
 
 We know that the convict is not a freeman ; the 
 Rhode Island court has decided that under the con- 
 tract system when the contractor has not absolute 
 power of control over the convict the latter is not 
 a slave. We have yet to learn what the precise status 
 of the convict really is. Is he the slave of the State, 
 a ward of the State, or does he occupy still some other 
 status ? 
 
 To answer the question we must know the true 
 interpretation of the Thirteenth Amendment. Does 
 this amendment sanction slavery, or merely invol- 
 untary servitude as punishment for crime? A 
 final and satisfactory answer to this question can 
 only be had from the Supreme Court of the United 
 States. Meanwhile, however, the principles and v 
 spirit of modern penology point to the abolition of 
 uncompensated prison labor, along with other sur- 
 vivals of the outworn theory that the convict is an 
 outcast from society and has no human rights which 
 the State sees fit to withhold. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 THE CONTROL OVER THE PRISONER 
 
 PART I FEDERAL 
 
 BY GEORGE GORDON BATTLE 
 
 Chairman, Committee on the Federal Office of Prisons, 
 National Committee on Prisons and Prison Labor 
 
 PART II STATE 
 
 BY E. STAGG WHITIN, PH.D. 
 
 Chairman, Executive Council, National Committee on Prisons and Prison 
 
 Labor 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 THE CONTROL OVER THE PRISONER 
 
 PART I FEDERAL 
 
 THE Constitution of the United States makes no 
 provision for the punishment of crime other than the 
 violation of the laws of the United States as they 
 affect international relationships, cases of admiralty 
 and maritime jurisdictions, and the relationships 
 between the several States, between citizens of dif- 
 ferent States, and between a State or the citizens 
 thereof and foreign States, citizens or subjects. 1 
 All other matters relative to the perpetration of 
 crime and the punishment of the criminal come under 
 the jurisdiction of the several States. Imprison- 
 ment for violation of our international relationships 
 has been very rare, while, until a few years ago, there 
 were few statutes regulating interstate relationships 
 under which convictions were made; moreover, of 
 the more serious offenses, prior to 1892, sixteen were 
 punishable by death ! 2 The result has been that the 
 number of prisoners held directly under Federal 
 control has been restricted to the military and naval 
 prisoners and to men convicted of such offenses as 
 tampering with the mails or stealing stamps, pension 
 
 1 Constitution of the United States, Art. Ill, 1. 
 
 2 Gen. Newton Marten Curtis, Speech before the House of Representa- 
 tives, June 9, 1882. 
 
 83 
 
84 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 frauds, infringement of patent rights, and the of- 
 fenses of the frontier cattle stealing, and fraud- 
 ulent registration of homestead rights. The policy 
 of the Federal Government has further limited the 
 number of prisoners, for the control of which it is 
 directly responsible, by boarding out its prisoners in 
 State and county institutions, where they are subject 
 to the same rules and regulations as other prisoners 
 in those institutions. These several factors have 
 contributed to render the development of our Federal 
 penal system of minor importance, and to-day we do 
 not look to the Federal Government for leadership 
 in prison matters. 
 
 This state of affairs cannot continue. The ad- 
 vancement of the theory of general governmental 
 supervision has greatly increased the number of 
 statutes under which prosecutions are made. The 
 greater number of national banks and the severity 
 of the laws regulating these institutions have resulted 
 in a corresponding increase in the number of persons 
 prosecuted for violation of the national banking 
 statutes. The Department of Agriculture is doing 
 salutary work in attempting to keep pure our supply 
 of foods and drugs. To accomplish this a number 
 of penal statutes have been enacted under which 
 innumerable criminal prosecutions have been insti- 
 tuted. So in other departments of government, the 
 field of operations is being extended with an attend- 
 ant increase of criminal prosecutions to enforce the 
 law. The present attitude toward capital punish- 
 ment also tends to increase the number of Federal 
 prisoners, for although the death penalty is still 
 
THE CONTROL OVER THE PRISONER 85 
 
 retained by statute for murder, rape, and treason, 
 the jury is given the option of life imprisonment even 
 for the grave offense of treason. The growing oppo- 
 sition to the exploitation of the prisoner under the 
 lease and contract system has forced the withdrawal 
 of all Federal prisoners from State and county insti- 
 tutions where such systems prevail, and the retention 
 of these prisoners in the Federal institutions. 
 
 A decided increase in the number of Federal pris- 
 oners has resulted, and the tendency is that this 
 number will grow greater and greater, while we must 
 also remember that public standards as to the treat- 
 ment of the prisoner are steadily becoming higher, 
 and the public will naturally expect from the Federal 
 prisons conformance with the standards, if not the 
 leadership, already pointed out as lacking to-day. 
 The control over Federal prisoners presents, therefore, 
 problems of increasing difficulty, and makes impera- 
 tive a well-conceived plan, and a well-equipped plant 
 to carry out the plan. 
 
 The present system falls far short in both these 
 essentials. The responsibility for the Federal prisons 
 is to a great degree vested in the Department of 
 Justice, a department overburdened with its many 
 other duties. Even though certain matters are and 
 have been from time to time under other departments 
 State, War, Labor, and the Interior this does 
 little to lessen the real burden while it gives rise to 
 the many difficulties which follow divided authority. 
 The situation can best be made clear by a brief survey 
 of the development of our Federal prison system and 
 the forces that have directed its operation. 
 
86 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 Congress in 1821 directed that Federal prisoners 
 be quartered in State prisons and penitentiaries, 
 subject to the approval of the State, and at the same 
 time such prisoners were placed under the custody 
 of United States marshals, under the direction of 
 the Federal judges of the various districts. 1 Thir- 
 teen years later it was decreed that all prisoners 
 quartered in State institutions should be subjected 
 to the same discipline and treatment as the prisoners 
 of the State or territory in which the institution was 
 situated. 2 Territorial prisoners were brought under 
 the jurisdiction of the Attorney-General in 1871, 
 the latter being empowered to prescribe all needful 
 rules and regulations for their government, though 
 the United States marshals were made responsible 
 for the enforcement of these rules and regulations. 
 
 The cost of maintenance, custody, and control of 
 all prisoners in " a territory in which there may be 
 no penitentiary or jail," was in 1864 authorized to 
 be met out of the judiciary fund of the Department 
 of Justice. 3 
 
 We have noted that Federal prisoners quartered 
 in State institutions were placed under the custody 
 of the United States marshals, yet statutes were 
 enacted in 1870, 1875, and 1891 providing that such 
 prisoners might receive a deduction of time for good 
 conduct upon a certificate of good conduct from the 
 local warden or keeper, subject to the approval of 
 the Attorney-General. 4 
 
 1 U. S. Compiled Stat., 1901, Sec. 5537-5538. 
 
 2 U. S. Compiled Stat., 1901, Sec. 5539. 
 
 3 U. S. Compiled Stat., 1901, Sec. 5540. 
 
 4 U. S. Compiled Stat., 1901, Sees. 5543-5544. 
 
THE CONTROL OVER THE PRISONER 87 
 
 The Federal government was forced to make 
 further provision for its prisoners in 1887, when it 
 was enacted that the Government of the United 
 States should not contract with any person or cor- 
 poration for the labor of prisoners, nor permit prison- 
 ers to remain in any institution where the contract 
 system obtained. 1 
 
 Responsibility for Federal prisoners was placed 
 upon the Secretary of the Interior as early as 1854 
 when the warden of the penitentiary of the District 
 of Columbia was instructed to submit to him his 
 annual report. 2 
 
 The Secretary of the Interior was further in- 
 structed by a statute of 1874 to transfer, upon the 
 application of the Attorney-General, to the In- 
 sane Asylum in the District of Columbia all Federal 
 prisoners who during the term of imprisonment 
 should become insane. 3 
 
 This act in 1882 was amended to include "all 
 persons having been charged with offenses against 
 the United States who are in the actual custody of 
 the officers." 
 
 The Attorney-General and the Secretary of the 
 Interior in 1891 were jointly directed to purchase 
 three sites for prisons for all persons sentenced to 
 one year or more of hard labor by any court of the 
 
 1 U. S. Compiled Stat., 1901, Sec. 5539. 
 
 Editor's Note. Congress has begun the installation of industries in 
 Federal prisons for the production of supplies needed by the Federal 
 Government, by appropriating money for shops in the Sundry Civil 
 Bill, June 12, 1917. 
 
 U. S. Compiled Stat., 1901, Sec. 1828. 
 
 8 U. S. Compiled Stat., 1901, Sec. 4852. 
 
88 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 United States. 1 They were jointly to select the sites 
 and erect the buildings, but the Attorney-General 
 alone was charged with the expenditure of a fund of 
 $100,000 for the equipment of workshops where the 
 prisoners were to be employed exclusively "in the 
 manufacture of such supplies for the government 
 as can be manufactured without the use of ma- 
 chinery." The Attorney-General was given control 
 over these prisons, and power to appoint the neces- 
 sary officers and to arrange for the transportation of 
 prisoners, while expenses for marshals, etc., were to 
 be met from the judiciary fund. 
 
 An attempt to centralize in the Department of 
 Justice the responsibility for Federal prisoners can 
 be noted in the legislation of 1895, which transferred 
 the military prison at Fort Leavenworth from the 
 Department of War to the Department of Justice. 2 
 This centralization was of short duration, however, 
 as next year the Department of Justice was ordered 
 to restore Fort Leavenworth to the War Depart- 
 ment, 3 on the completion of a new penitentiary on the 
 military reserve, though the plans for the institution, 
 the employment of the architect, and the matters 
 pertaining to its construction were left with the 
 Attorney-General . 
 
 The Department of State was drawn into the 
 prison arena in 1896, when it was enacted that the 
 United States subscribe as an adhering member of 
 the International Prison Commission, the commis- 
 
 1 U. S. Compiled Stat., 1901, Sec. 5550. 
 
 2 U. S. Compiled Stat., 1901, Sec. 1361. 
 * U. S. Compiled Stat., 1901, Sec. 5550. 
 
THE CONTROL OVER THE PRISONER 89 
 
 sioner to be appointed by the President "under the 
 Department of State." l Each succeeding Congress 
 has made appropriation for the expense of this com- 
 missioner and for the proportionate expense of the 
 Commission for the United States. 
 
 The Secretary of Labor also has his activity in 
 connection with the Federal prison system. In 1914, 
 in response to a Senate Resolution of November 10, 
 1913, he transmitted to Congress a compilation of all 
 Federal and State laws relating to convict labor, in- 
 cluding all legislation regulating the sale and trans- 
 portation of all convict-made goods, in so far as they 
 relate to interstate commerce; and information as 
 to the effect on free labor of the sale of convict-made 
 goods, together with a description of the industries 
 in which convict labor is employed and the value of 
 the product of such labor. 2 
 
 What does it all mean ? In brief, that the Presi- 
 dent appoints the United States Commissioner to the 
 International Prison Commission who serves under 
 the State Department. The Navy Department has 
 control over naval prisoners; the Department of 
 War over military prisoners, together with super- 
 vision of the prisons in Panama, Porto Rico, and 
 the Philippine Islands. The Bureau of Labor Statis- 
 tics in the Department of Labor publishes informa- 
 tion in regard to the labor of prisoners and the 
 products of the various penal institutions. The 
 Department of the Interior has, with the Depart- 
 
 1 U. S. Statutes at Large, 54th Congress, Sess. 1, C. 420, 1896. 
 
 2 63 Cong., 2d Sess. S. D. # 494, Federal and State Laws relating to 
 Convict Labor. 
 
90 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 ment of Justice, the responsibility for the selection 
 of the sites and the erection of Federal prisons. All 
 the reports from the correctional institutions in 
 the District of Columbia are presented to the Secre- 
 tary of the Interior. The Department of Justice 
 has full charge of the three Federal penitentiaries, 
 in which some 2,034 prisoners 1 are confined, and the 
 1,180 Federal 2 prisoners confined in the State, county, 
 and city prisons, the prisoners from the territories, 
 and also the Bureau of Criminal Identification. The 
 United States marshals, under the Federal courts, 
 have oversight of prisoners held for trial, and lastly, 
 the Department of Justice is responsible for the 131 
 convicts in the government hospital, 3 which hospital 
 is under the Department of the Interior. 
 
 The final authority in matters pertaining to the 
 care and discipline of the Federal prisoners is vested 
 in the Attorney-General, a prosecuting officer. His 
 success has lain in bringing the criminal within the 
 pale of the law, but has his experience prepared him 
 to apply the methods which will promote the rehabili- 
 tation of the prisoner? To-day is the day of the 
 specialist ; should we not call for the specialist in the 
 penal as in every other field ? 
 
 Furthermore, there is an increasing demand that 
 the methods of modern business shall be applied 
 to the administration of government. This would 
 point to the centralization under one responsible 
 head of all the activities of a department to prevent 
 
 1 Letter to National Committee on Prisons and Prison Labor, June 
 30, 1914. 
 
 2 June 30, 1914. 3 June 30, 1914. 
 
THE CONTROL OVER THE PRISONER 91 
 
 duplication of effort, waste, and inefficiency. The 
 National Committee on Prisons and Prison Labor 
 has suggested that this thought be carried to the 
 Federal Prison System; that a Federal office of 
 prisons under the direction of a commissioner, an 
 expert capable of applying the best thought along 
 penal and coordinate lines, be established in Wash- 
 ington with authority over all Federal prisons and 
 prisoners and power to investigate all penal institu- 
 tions where Federal prisoners are confined. 
 
 This Federal office of prisons could facilitate co- 
 operation between State agencies dealing with prison 
 problems and conduct scientific researches for the 
 Federal Government into the causes of crime with a 
 view to the extermination of human pests. The 
 Department of Agriculture is spending millions of 
 dollars a year in exterminating insect pests, yet not 
 one penny is at present devoted by the Federal / 
 Government to the study of human pests, of the V 
 forces which undermine and destroy the manhood 
 and womanhood of our nation. 
 
 The centralization of control would make possible 
 the establishment of a clearing-house system and the 
 development of a comprehensive and coordinate 
 scheme of institutions, each equipped to meet the 
 needs of special types of individuals as these needs 
 are determined by scientific investigation. The Fed- 
 eral prisons could then become great governmental 
 laboratories, the model for State institutions, while 
 the discipline under which the lives of Federal pris- 
 oners are regulated could standardize prison dis- 
 cipline throughout the country. 
 
92 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 In matters penal we have passed through the period 
 of indifference and inertia to the period of transition 
 and uprooting of the forces which have hindered 
 development. We next must witness the applica- 
 tion of sane, constructive measures which will insure 
 permanent reform. The Federal Government must 
 perforce meet its full responsibility to the prisoners 
 under its control and Congress insure its leadership 
 in the penal field by the establishment at Washington 
 of the proposed Federal office of prisons. 
 
 PART II STATE 
 
 The businesslike administration of penal institu- 
 tions is demanded by the public as a result of the 
 exposure of the inadequacy of the methods used in 
 these institutions to meet the conditions which they 
 present. There has been much progress in the ad- 
 ministration of all institutions, whether penal or 
 educational, in the last decade. The duties of a 
 college president, as has been so ably pointed out 
 by President Butler of Columbia University, con- 
 sisted a hundred years ago of teaching classes, whip- 
 ping pupils, locking the building, and seeing that the 
 place was clean ; , to-day he plans the fiscal policy 
 three years in advance, and gives much attention 
 to the national and international relationships of his 
 university. 
 
 Our conception of the duties of the administrative 
 head of a penal institution is still on the former level 
 and will have to rise to the latter. The first requi- 
 site, therefore, to a reorganized prison administra- 
 tion is the reshaping of our views as to administra- 
 
THE CONTROL OVER THE PRISONER 93 
 
 live functions and the interesting of men of broad 
 viewpoint and recognized ability to undertake the 
 administration of penal institutions. 
 
 The warden who wrote "my prison is just a factory 
 and is only interesting as such" failed to recognize 
 the material with which he was working. Whatever 
 our attitude toward the prisoner may be, it is clear 
 that prisons exist to confine him and change him if 
 possible; only incidentally must they produce 
 marketable commodities in the way of manufactured 
 articles. The output upon which success or failure 
 must rest is the human output and it is generally 
 admitted that the prison on this basis has so far been 
 a failures 
 
 Conditions exist which must be recognized. 
 Probably the most important is the fact that this 
 human material has been selected from the commu- 
 nity by the hit or miss method of the discovery of a 
 crime and a man's conviction. Another important 
 factor is that the institution has to receive every 
 person so selected. In our more populous States, 
 where the prison population has been distributed 
 amongst a number of institutions, there is the possi- 
 bility of a man's being placed in an institution to 
 which he is suited, though the framers of the law 
 even in New York State did not comprehend nor pro- 
 vide for such classification. To take this human 
 material which is sent to the institutions and evalu- 
 
 EDITOR'S NOTE : The control of the prison and the production and 
 distribution of prison commodities are discussed in "Penal Servitude." 
 This chapter might well be read in connection with "Penal Servi- 
 tude", chapters 3, 5, 7. "Penal Servitude", E. Stagg Whitin. 
 
94 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 ate it so as to secure from it and for it the best possible 
 results is the first requisite of business administra- 
 tion. The reception prison with a competent staff, 
 discussed in a preceding chapter, is the method 
 by which to accomplish the result. 
 
 Next, we must remember that the prison differs* 
 from an ordinary industrial plant in that the prison 
 workmen are not selected because of their special 
 qualifications for a specific job. Their individual 
 qualifications are as diversified as those of any group 
 that could possibly be brought together. Efficiency v 
 is secured by causing each member of a group to 
 perform the function for which he is best suited. It 
 will immediately become clear that an attempt to 
 force all the members of this group of people into one 
 factory producing one line of commodity will reduce 
 practically all of them to the level of unskilled artisans. 
 This has been the case when private prison contrac- N 
 tors have leased prison workshops under contract ; 
 a man has been considered simply as one more human 
 machine to be worked despite his interest, former 
 training, or ability. The result is the deadening, 
 brutalizing work, under compulsion, which confirms 
 the antagonism of the prisoner to the community 
 outside the prison and strengthens his determination 
 to return to a life of crime and get square with so- 
 cietyA 
 
 Now the prison should not be a factory but a 
 community. We should realize that it is a commu- 
 nity, a segment of society. The leaders of organized 
 labor are right when they demand for the man skilled 
 in his trade that he continue in that occupation, even 
 
THE CONTROL OVER THE PRISONER 95 
 
 though confined within the prison. Their conten- 
 tion that he should not lose his skill and fail to be 
 acceptable to the union upon release because of that 
 loss emphasizes the fallacy of not usin'g his skill for 
 the benefit of the prison community i The prison 
 community should be self-sustaining. It should 
 then provide an opportunity for the participation on 
 the part of the man in every community activity. 
 Besides being self-sustaining, the prison can produce 
 for the other State and county institutions, which 
 afford a market extremely diversified. There is, 
 therefore, opportunity to meet the diversified indus- 
 trial needs of the men. 
 
 The training in a penal institution must be pri- " 
 marily to adjust the prisoner to a normal environ- 
 ment and to teach him to conform to the needs of 
 community life.) The conception of the prison as a 
 community is therefore of educational value as well 
 as the means of securing the greatest efficiency from 
 an administrative viewpoint. 
 
 The conception of the prison as a lock-up or jail is 
 evolving into the conception of the prison as a com- 
 munity. The conception of the administrative head 
 as a jailer is evolving into the conception of the gov- 
 ernor of a self-expressing and self-developing com- 
 munity. A businesslike administration postulates 
 the highest development of self-government on the 
 part of the inmates so that as many functions as 
 possible can be performed by them, thus relieving 
 the State of this duty and expense. The other 
 functions which it is impossible for the prisoner to 
 perform, such functions as those dealing with the 
 
96 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 relation of the prison community to the outside 
 world, must be performed by a well-regulated pur- 
 chasing department. The goods, supplies, and other 
 commodities which may be sold to other institutions 
 must be under the control of a competent bureau 
 which will keep the prison community supplied with 
 orders and be responsible for delivery. Expert 
 advice must be available as to the best methods for 
 providing work for the men not only in lines where the 
 produce is transferable to other institutions, but also 
 in the maintenance work of the community. Should 
 the prison possess farm acreage, the most approved 
 methods of scientific farming should be applied both 
 to afford the best training to men who may continue 
 as farmers and to produce foodstuffs for the inmates 
 of the institution. A well-balanced and properly 
 prepared diet is essential, and an efficiently run 
 institution with coordination between the culinary 
 and farm departments will give appreciable result 
 in the improved physical condition of the inmates. 
 
 The efficient organization of farm and industrial 
 work will give opportunity to observe the varying 
 contributions made by members of the prison com- 
 munity to the community. The profit from their 
 work will become an asset which should result in a 
 self-adjusting wage scale. The plan of paying this 
 wage in "Token Money" is based upon administra- 
 tive needs in that it insures the divorcing of the prison 
 community from the general community, except in 
 so far as the redemption of currency in United 
 States coinage is permitted and guided by the 
 administrative authorities. 
 
THE CONTROL OVER THE PRISONER 97 
 
 The development of a model administration based 
 upon the community idea will necessitate growth by 
 slow stages and by the education of both the prison 
 community and the administrative staff. The fail- 
 ure most business men encounter when attempting 
 to establish business administration in a govern- 
 mental situation is that they do not realize that 
 political life is hedged about by many limitations 
 which are foreign to general industrial enterprises. 
 The generation which has profited by prison graft 
 must pass away before many of the new ideals can be 
 attained. What is needed is a practical program, 
 a determined endeavor, and a constant appeal to 
 the best part of the community to support the prop- 
 osition. These are parts of an adequate prison 
 administration and call not only for an enlightened 
 leadership, but a confirmed conviction upon the part V 
 of the men in prison and those going out of prison, 
 that the prison administration is tending more and 
 more to meet the test that the human material which 
 is sent to the prisons for reshaping shall come forth 
 the better for the refining process. As long as this 
 conviction persists it will stay the hand of politics 
 and corruption and make possible the business admin- 
 istration of the prison. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 SELF-GOVERNMENT BY THE PRISONER 
 
 PART I SELF-GOVERNMENT IN A STATE PRISON 
 
 BY THOMAS MOTT OSBORNE 
 Former Warden, Sing Sing Prison, New York 
 
 PART II SELF-GOVERNMENT IN A REFORMATORY 
 
 BY E. KENT HUBBABD 
 Treasurer, Connecticut State Reformatory 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 V 
 SELF-GOVERNMENT BY THE PRISONER 
 
 PART I 
 
 IN June, 1913, the Governor of the State of New 
 York appointed a Commission on Prison Reform for 
 the purpose of studying the different State institu- 
 tions and suggesting desirable changes in what 
 every one agreed was a mournful and unmitigated 
 failure the prison system. The Commission was 
 organized with Thomas Mott Osborne, former 
 Mayor of Auburn and former Public Service Com- 
 missioner, as Chairman ; Professor George W. 
 Kirchwey, Dean of the Columbia University Law 
 School, as Vice-Chairman ; and Doctor E. Stagg 
 Whitin, of the National Committee on Prisons and 
 Prison Labor, as Secretary. 
 
 In the fall of the year (1913), the chairman spent 
 a week as a voluntary prisoner in Auburn, to study 
 at close quarters the system and methods then exist- 
 ing in the prisons and their effect upon the inmates. 
 The most important result of the experience was the 
 growth of a new feeling of confidence toward the 
 Commission on the part of the prisoners leading to 
 a desire on their part to cooperate in a new effort 
 to reform the prison system. 
 
 101 
 
102 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 ORGANIZATION. In response to a request from the 
 inmates of Auburn Prison, Warden Rattigan, with 
 the approval of the Superintendent of Prisons 
 himself a member of the Commission on Prison Re- 
 form permitted the formation of a good conduct 
 league, to be officered and managed by the inmates. 
 On December 26, 1913, a committee on organization 
 was elected by the prisoners ; in January an organi- 
 zation was perfected, and on Lincoln's birthday, 
 February 12, 1914, the first meeting of the Mutual 
 Welfare League was held at Auburn. A year later 
 the League was extended to Sing Sing Prison. 
 
 No one knew what the League could do its 
 activities were absolutely in the hands of the prison 
 authorities. It has never asked nor claimed the right 
 to act except under the consent and close super- 
 vision of the warden, and subject to his proper 
 authority. The organization of the League is simple. 
 Each company at Sing Sing Prison each industrial 
 or maintenance unit elects one or more represent- 
 atives to be the governing body of the League, 
 the Board of Delegates. These elections must be 
 free, without pressure or dictation from the authori- 
 ties, else the men would lose faith in their represent- 
 atives. The Board of Delegates, fifty-five in num- 
 ber (forty-nine in Auburn) elects a secretary of the 
 League, and from its own number an executive com- 
 mittee of nine. The Executive Committee appoints 
 as many assistants as it may deem necessary to keep 
 good order and discipline in the prison. 
 
 Each member of the Executive Board is a member 
 of one of the nine subcommittees; Membership, 
 
SELF-GOVERNMENT BY PRISONER 103 
 
 Industries, Hygiene, Education, Athletics, Enter- 
 tainment, Music, Visitors, and Outside Employ- 
 ment. 
 
 Every afternoon when there are any cases, court 
 is held and all matters involving infraction of the 
 rules of the prison or of the League or any violation 
 of good order and discipline are brought before the 
 judiciary board. The members preside in turn and a 
 majority decides. The procedure is very simple and 
 punishment consists of suspension from the League, 
 with a consequent loss of all privileges. An appeal 
 can be made in any case by any party to the warden's 
 court, where the warden, the principal keeper, and 
 the doctor hear and determine all matters brought 
 before them from the inmates' court. 
 
 PRIVILEGES. The privileges granted to the League 
 at Sing Sing have been numerous, the fundamental 
 one of self-government within practical bounds being 
 the most important. Elections of delegates are held 
 every four months ; and the prisoners are expected 
 to vote without dictation or direction of the prison 
 authorities, except that all arrangements are at all 
 times subject to the convenience of the prison man- 
 agement. 
 
 The discipline of the prison is now largely in the 
 hands of the League. The guards in the mess-hall, 
 the workshops, the school, and chapel have been 
 withdrawn. But while it has been found unnecessary 
 to keep so many idle officers inside the prison, the 
 guards on the walls have been increased. 
 
 The ridiculous and futile system of silence has been 
 abolished. Conversation between inmates is allowed 
 
104 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 except under such natural restrictions as would exist 
 in any well-regulated factory. 
 
 After work hours there is a period of relaxation, 
 during which, within proper limits, the men are free. 
 Baseball and the swimming pool are the favorite 
 recreations in the summer, and walking in the winter. 
 
 After supper the afternoon count is taken in the 
 cells, after which the educational classes and evening 
 lectures and entertainments take place. All mem- 
 bers of the League in good standing may attend. 
 
 AIMS. Such are the simple methods of the League. 
 As will be seen, the particular details are compara- 
 tively unimportant. What is of vital consequence 
 is the self-government. Human society rests upon 
 the ability of the great majority of mankind to gov- 
 ern themselves. Men whose comings and goings 
 have to be regulated constantly from outside them- 
 selves, who have no well-developed power of choice 
 between good and evil, are properly sent to prison 
 because they are unable to get along in a world which 
 is too free for them to act wisely in. 
 
 The old prison system endeavors, by harsh and v 
 brutal treatment, to make such men respect author- 
 ity and reform their ways, by becoming obedient 
 automatons, moving only according to the will of an 
 authority outside themselves. The result was and 
 always will be failure ; for when the man leaves 
 prison he will again be free ; there will be no author- 
 ity outside himself to direct his ways, except once 
 more the police and the courts. 
 
 The so-called "honor system" endeavors, by 
 sentimental, kindly treatment, to make such men 
 
SELF-GOVERNMENT BY PRISONER 105 
 
 respect authority and reform their ways, by becom- 
 ing obedient automatons, moving only according 
 to the will of an authority outside themselves. The 
 result is, and always will be, failure ; for when a man 
 leaves prison he will again be free ; there will be no 
 authority outside himself to direct his ways, except 
 once more, the police and the courts. 
 
 In other words the "honor system" results, as the 
 old brutal system results, in men who have not been 
 exercised in initiative, self-control, power to resist 
 temptation; and unless these men have been so 
 exercised, they are not fit to return to the world. 
 
 The sole aim of the Mutual Welfare League is to 
 prepare men for real life in the free society of the 
 world outside. That is all. It does not advocate 
 privileges unless the privileges can be used to 
 develop a sense of responsibility. It does not care 
 for entertainments unless they can be used as a 
 means to an end and that end self -discipline. It 
 does not seek luxuries of any kind; it cannot be 
 bribed by a promise of mere comforts for the body ; 
 for it knows that unless the conscience be quickened 
 there is no such thing as ultimate freedom. 
 
 Over against the brutality of the old system and the 
 sentimentality of the "honor system" and the moral, 
 mental, and physical pauperizing involved in both, 
 the Mutual Welfare League sets the "square deal" 
 which throws each upon his own resources and 
 upon his own responsibility and holds him strictly 
 to it. 
 
 It does not coddle the prisoner, but asks genuine, 
 human sympathy for him. 
 
106 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 It does not gush over him, but tells him to be a 
 man and to fight his own battles. 
 
 It does not crush his spirit, but encourages his 
 loyalty to his pals and to the community. 
 
 It does not brutalize him; it provides means of 
 training and education so that he may make of him- 
 self an efficient and honest worker. 
 
 It does not wish to produce good prisoners, it aims 
 to train good citizens.} 
 
 PART II 
 
 THE State of Connecticut, some seven years ago, 
 appropriated nearly half a million dollars for a mod- 
 ern reformatory. It was planned that this reforma- 
 tory should house six hundred and should make it 
 possible to separate men and boys between the ages 
 of eighteen and twenty-five, who were convicted for 
 the first time, from confinement in company with 
 men who had been imprisoned before and might be 
 considered real criminals. 
 
 It is interesting to note that since its creation the 
 Board of Directors five representative men of 
 Connecticut, chosen to guide the destinies of this 
 reformatory has been kept intact ; these men, 
 with no political affiliations whatever nor financial 
 recompense, have given their personal services not 
 only to the selection of the location and supervision 
 of the erection of the building, but also to the 
 development and policy of the reformatory. The 
 work has been of absorbing and increasing interest. 
 The Board has been united in the high ambition for 
 efficiency, honesty, and nobler ideals, and was fortu- 
 
SELF-GOVERNMENT BY PRISONER 107 
 
 nate in having had associated with it in the organiza- 
 tion of the work one of the ablest superintendents in 
 this country, and one of the foremost men in penal 
 work Mr. Albert Garvin^ 
 
 The old methods of government were in vogue 
 during the first year of the existence of the reforma- 
 tory which opened its doors in July, 1913. At the 
 end of this time the new method of self-government, 
 as originated and installed in Auburn Prison by the 
 Honorable Thomas Mott Osborne, began to inter- 
 est the Directors of the Connecticut Reformatory. 
 One of the Directors was a friend of Mr^Osborne's, 
 and with others of the Board went to Auburn at 
 Mr. Osborne's request to study the working-out 
 of the self-government theory through the so-called 
 Mutual Welfare League. This League had been in 
 operation about six months, but the results which 
 had been accomplished, not only in increased effi- 
 ciency in the work in the prison shops, but also in the 
 morale of the men, and the astonishing cooperation 
 which the warden received, had begun to be noticed 
 by the public at large. It was decided to try for 
 the boys at Cheshire some of the self-government 
 ideas. 
 
 There was reasonable doubt in the minds of the 
 Board, and of the superintendent, as to the capabil- 
 ity of boys of this age to organize and manage intel- 
 ligently a system such as that of the Mutual Welfare 
 League at Auburn. However, after the boys had 
 been called together and had been told how the 
 League was operated and some of the privileges 
 granted, also the results accomplished at Auburn, 
 
108 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 they became most anxious for an opportunity to 
 put into effect a similar plan. Delegates were elected 
 from the different departments of the reformatory 
 and they in turn elected their officers. 
 
 The first meeting of the Board of Control, so-called, 
 of the Cheshire Branch of the Mutual Welfare 
 League, was a memorable one to the Directors of the 
 reformatory. The boys, although imperfectly organ- V 
 ized, saw that by their efforts and by their good be- 
 havior they could ask and obtain certain privileges, 
 never dreamed of under the old form of prison dis- 
 cipline^ The two most important factors in a League 
 of this kind are : first, the ability of the inmates to 
 manage themselves without the constant supervision 
 of the officers in charge of the prison ; and, second, 
 the privileges, the request for which must originate 
 with the inmates, who must show themselves equal 
 to the increased responsibility imposed when such 
 privileges are conferred. 
 
 The Constitution and By-Laws of the Auburn 
 League were taken over by the Cheshire Branch as a 
 guide. These were rewritten to meet the require- 
 ments of Cheshire, and at once the boys were fired 
 by an enthusiasm to raise the standards in all depart- 
 ments of the institution. Previous to this, for 
 example, on Sunday afternoons the boys were locked 
 in their cells, as they are to-day in most prisons. 
 The superintendent of the reformatory at Cheshire 
 granted the boys the freedom of the cell house for 
 some three hours on Sunday afternoon, during which 
 time the conduct of the inmates was guarded by the 
 officers and delegates of the League, only one repre- 
 
SELF-GOVERNMENT BY PRISONER 109 
 
 sentative of the reformatory staff being on hand, in 
 case of disturbance. The privilege not only of walk- 
 ing around and visiting with one another but also of 
 securing suitable books to read, and writing letters, 
 means much to the boys, especially as Sunday had 
 previously been a day to be dreaded. 
 
 The next privilege was marching to meals with 
 music under the care of their own officers. Saturday 
 afternoon sports and Sunday morning recreation after 
 religious services were then granted under the same 
 jurisdiction, while the request for certain entertain- 
 ments followed. 
 
 Bad language and petty brawls which naturally 
 are to be expected were reduced to a minimum. 
 In addition, the Directors of the reformatory found 
 that all dope as well as liquor was kept out of the 
 reformatory. The delegates were interested in carry- 
 ing out the wishes of the several departments they 
 represented, but as might be expected among men 
 and boys of this age, politics have from time to time 
 interfered with the best success of the League. The 
 elections to the Board of Control have been hotly 
 contested, and on account of parole and the changing 
 population, new officers are elected oftener than is 
 desirable. 
 
 The parole of the boys is placed in the hands of the 
 Directors of the reformatory, and the Board of 
 Parole receives at its monthly meeting recommen- 
 dations from the Mutual Welfare League as to the 
 behavior and the standing of those boys who are 
 eligible for parole, and also suggestions as to restora- 
 tion of time for good conduct. The results obtained 
 
110 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 are remarkable : the boys feel that they have oppor- 
 tunity to be heard by the Board of Directors, and 
 the Board of Parole, and that their truthful represen- 
 tation of conditions is conscientiously considered. 
 
 It must be understood that in the organization of 
 such a government it is not possible simply to decide 
 on this form of government without the personal 
 touch of those in charge of the institution. The 
 many questions which naturally arise in such a 
 movement must have not only the careful judgment 
 of those responsible for control of the institution but 
 also the touch of sympathy and interest. The men 
 and boys are human, and nothing appeals to them as 
 does the assurance that those who are watching their 
 conduct have a friendly interest in them. 
 
 There are many questions which this form of 
 government brings up, for example, the tobacco 
 question. It had been decided that smoking should 
 not be permitted in the reformatory, and much dis- 
 turbance came from the boys smoking despite this 
 rule. The amount of tobacco that was brought into 
 the institution was astounding, the boys securing 
 it in the most unexpected ways. In the spring of 
 1915, through the efforts of one of the Directors, the 
 Highway Commissioner, with the consent of the 
 Governor of the State, accepted boys for road work. 
 These boys were paid fifty cents per day, and the 
 money that they made was either sent to their 
 families at their request or kept as a credit until they 
 should be discharged. Men working on the high- 
 way, on motors, trolley cars, and the public in general 
 felt that they were rendering a kindness to the boys 
 
SELF-GOVERNMENT BY PRISONER 111 
 
 by throwing them tobacco. This the boys naturally 
 accepted, and when they thought they were not 
 observed, would, as they express it, "Hike a smoke." 
 When caught they would plead to be allowed to 
 smoke. The question has greatly interested the 
 Directors, for, on one hand, it is argued that most 
 boys who have been sent to the institution have been 
 smokers and will smoke no matter what rules are 
 made; and, on the other hand, it is argued that 
 boys who have not smoked should not be taught to 
 do so at the reformatory. However, it is probable 
 that the Mutual Welfare League will petition the 
 Directors to grant the boys the privilege of smoking 
 at certain periods of the day, and at other times 
 severe penalty will be meted out to those who 
 infringe the rules. 
 
 The League requested that in the dining room the 
 boys be allowed to talk. This was granted, and in 
 addition, men who had reached the honor grade 
 were allowed to dine at their own tables, with table- 
 cloths, etc., and the pride which they take in being 
 treated as'gentlemen is remarkable. At these tables 
 the boys have certain delicacies, such as extra sugar 
 and pickles, which the other boys do not have. 
 During the meal they are officered by their own 
 officers, with only one of the guards in attendance, 
 to be present in case of disturbance. The most inter- 
 esting current topics are posted on the bulletin boards 
 so that the boys while at their meals may have in 
 their minds something worth talking about. 
 
 The relieved anxiety of the guards as to disturb- 
 ance is a marked aspect of the self-government 
 
THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 system. In other words, the officers in case of trouble 
 know to which of the inmates to turn in fact, most 
 disturbances are taken care of by the inmates without 
 attention from the officers. 
 
 There are three grades in the reformatory : first, 
 second, and third. The boys are received in the 
 second grade, and according to their behavior are 
 advanced to the first grade, or if disobedient to the 
 rules of the institution they are reduced to the third 
 grade. The Mutual Welfare League assumes no 
 responsibility over the third-grade boys, who are 
 taken care of by the prison authorities, but the 
 League does recommend that certain boys be re- 
 stored to the second grade from the third. 
 
 The Inmates' Court, in which all infringements of 
 rules are tried, is one of the most important features 
 of the self-government system, for none of us will 
 deny that the men who are confined in prison have a 
 better knowledge of each other than any one else has, 
 and if through their own officers they can settle, 
 punish, or adjust any infractions of rules, the feeling 
 of revenge is not so manifest as it would be if this 
 punishment were given by State officers. 
 
 Self-government must be developed little by little 
 from the bottom up, not from the authorities in power 
 down to the prisoners. Each institution, as far as it 
 is possible, should present to its inmates the oppor- 
 tunity to suggest and the opportunity to form an 
 organization which may be directed when neces- 
 sary by the officials so that the inmates may feel 
 that they have a real part in the work of manage- 
 ment, and that they, through their own officers, are 
 
SELF-GOVERNMENT BY PRISONER 113 
 
 responsible for the work and conduct of the men or 
 boys. 
 
 In the self-government plan as much liberty is ^ 
 given as the men are capable of handling. As with 
 a child who is allowed to walk as its strength develops, 
 so with the self-government of prisoners; they are 
 made to feel that as fast as they are capable of carry- 
 ing out certain plans they are welcomed by the officers 
 and other opportunities given. Instead of the 
 sullen, hangdog look we find under the old prison 
 system, we see to-day a bright, hopeful expression 
 on the faces of the prisoners, and a belief in the future 
 that they will be an important factor in the com- 
 munity to which they will return. 
 
 Those who from the outside have regarded the 
 prison or reformatory as a place to be dreaded or 
 shunned, cannot fail to be impressed by the atmos- 
 phere which can be observed in institutions where 
 this self-government is in vogue. They should com- 
 pare this system with the system of handling the so- 
 called criminal classes to be found in most States 
 to-day. 
 
 It is only a question of time until the old prison v 
 methods are entirely obliterated. In fact those who 
 have studied prison conditions in this country are 
 amazed at the thought that they have been allowed 
 to continue at all in this present day of enlighten- 
 ment, j 
 
 It is true that there are men confined in our penal 
 institutions who are unworthy of effort to restore 
 them to society, but the great majority of men are in v 
 prison through misfortune, or hereditary conditions, 
 
114 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 or on account of crimes committed under the in- 
 fluence of drink, and these men are willing and glad 
 to grasp the opportunity to show that they welcome 
 and desire some kind of a chance to make good, and 
 to be able to return and take their place in society. 
 
 It is not necessary, in establishing self-government, J 
 to surrender, as many people ridiculously suppose, 
 the management of the prison to the prisoners; 
 it merely means that in the government of the prison 
 the men or boys have a part which they play in 
 establishing not only good order, but also efficiency 
 in the work that they perform,. No manufacturer 
 who has not the active cooperation and support 
 of the people whom he employs gets the maximum 
 amount of production, and how can any one suppose 
 that a prison, which must be made to pay its own 
 expenses as far as possible, can get good results 
 without the cooperation of the inmates ? 
 
 In closing, I must beg those who may read this 
 chapter to do one thing, and that is not to put the 
 self-government idea aside without a personal inves- 
 tigation of conditions in one of the institutions where 
 it exists. They will be convinced, I feel sure, in 
 spite of the many improvements still needed and the 
 errors still existing, that when compared with the old 
 system, the new method of handling men in prison 
 has so much in its favor that it must be everywhere 
 adopted. 1 
 
 1 Editor's Note. This article was written in 1915, and describes 
 conditions at the Cheshire Reformatory at that time. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 THE PRISON OFFICER 
 
 BY FREDERICK A. DORNER 
 Former Principal Keeper, Sing Sing Prison, New York 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE PRISON OFFICER 
 ll 
 
 TWENTY years of prison service under the old 
 system and two years under the new have convinced 
 the writer that the new prison system is as beneficial 
 to the officers as to the men, that it is based on 
 sound common sense and will grow stronger and 
 stronger as officers and men realize more fully their 
 opportunity under it? " The soundness of these con- 
 clusions will be admitted by one familiar with the 
 daily life and duties of the prison officer under the 
 old system and under the new, which is my excuse 
 for the following rather detailed account. 
 
 The prison officer receives no special training be- 
 fore entering upon his duties. He is appointed after 
 civil service examination in which emphasis is placed 
 on his height, age, and physical condition generally 
 and upon " great personal courage, a kindly but firm 
 disposition, sound judgment and discretion, inclina- 
 tion to carry out the orders of a superior faithfully, 
 and a personality and temperament calculated to 
 command respect and obedience of persons in their 
 custody." 1 
 
 1 State of New York, The Civil Service Commission, "Manual of 
 Examination for Prison and Reformatory Guard." 
 
 117 
 
118, THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 The possession of these characteristics, well enough 
 in their way, can never take the place of that special- 
 ized training received by the teacher, the physician, 
 or lawyer. The prison officer enters upon his duties 
 ignorant of how to meet the problems which hourly 
 present themselves ; too often he covers his ignorance 
 by roughness, which in addition to the deadly monot- 
 ony of his daily duties leaves him, at the end of a 
 few years, a "bully" or at best a machine with little 
 human sympathy or understanding. 
 
 At Sing Sing Prison, New York, the day began 
 for the officer under the old system when he un- 
 locked his one gallery, counted his men, and, as the 
 turn for his squad came, took them to the shop to 
 wash up and on to the mess-hall to breakfast, the 
 men being under his eye at all times and not allowed - 
 to speak while at their meal. 
 
 The officer simply could not be on friendly terms 
 with the inmates, and was taught to believe that after 
 a man came into State prison he didn't own the 
 hair on his head. If an inmate spoke to an officer, 
 the latter would yell at him loud enough to deafen 
 him. If an officer had any friendly feeling and made 
 any display of it, he was criticized by the other 
 officers and called soft and unfit to do his duty by 
 the institution. 
 
 After breakfast the squad was marched to the shop 
 at once, and work began under the strictest discipline 
 until eleven-thirty, when machines were stopped 
 and the men were allowed to wash up for dinner. 
 The officer couldn't talk to the men, except to direct 
 their work, other matters being referred to the 
 
THE PRISON OFFICER 119 
 
 authorities. The men were taken to dinner still 
 under the strictest discipline and immediately after 
 dinner back to the shop. 
 
 At twelve-thirty work started again and continued 
 till four. At four-thirty the men were brought to 
 their cells and as they went in each man took some 
 bread, under the eye of the officer who saw that he 
 didn't take more than was necessary. Tea was put 
 in their cells in tin cups at four-thirty and as all the 
 men were not in their cells till five the tea was cold 
 and unfit to drink, a constant source of irritation. 
 The men had for supper nothing but tea and a few 
 slices of bread unless they bought groceries or food 
 boxes from outside being allowed once in two months. 
 They were in their cells by five, and at five-fifteen 
 the prison closed, leaving the men locked up until 
 six-forty-five the next morning. 
 
 On Sunday morning the men were brought out at 
 six-forty-five and taken to the mess-hall for break- 
 fast and from there to the chapel, to the Protestant 
 or Catholic service. All were required to attend one 
 service or the other, tea being served to them before 
 service. The services were over by nine-forty-five 
 when the men were given a pan of rice or prunes and a 
 slice of bread : that was supposed to do for dinner 
 and supper and until the next morning. They were 
 kept in their cells all day Sunday until six-forty-five 
 Monday morning. You can imagine the state of 
 the men on Monday morning after having been 
 locked in their cells for nearly twenty-four hours. 
 They were cross, irritable, and hard to manage on 
 Monday : much more so when there was a holiday 
 
120 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 on Saturday, as then the length of time in their cells 
 was doubled. 
 
 We had considerable trouble with "dope" which 
 reached the prison through different channels. 
 Some of the men were constantly under the influence 
 of a drug. Even when kept in confinement in their 
 cells and only taken out once a week for a bath, 
 they found some way to obtain "dope." 
 
 A large number of men were constantly locked in 
 the lower cells for punishment, sometimes for thirty 
 days or even longer, without exercise, meals being 
 served to them in their cells. There was a constant 
 fight with these men from morning till night to try 
 to keep them under control. After being locked up 
 for thirty days they were interviewed by the officials, 
 and if it was considered wise were again returned 
 to their cells ; otherwise they were sent back to work 
 in the shops and if their work was not well done they 
 went to the cells for a longer period. 
 
 The officer was just a mere machine under the old 
 system, and if he had any kindly feeling in his heart 
 he was subject to discipline by the prison authorities. 
 
 Under the new prison system the men are counted 
 in the morning at six-thirty. Immediately after the 
 count the officers unlock the doors and turn the men 
 over to the officers of the Mutual Welfare League 
 who take them to the shops to wash up for breakfast. 
 After breakfast they have ten minutes' recreation 
 to smoke in the yards before going to the shops to 
 begin their day's work.! Officers of the Mutual 
 Welfare League are in charge during working hours 
 except in a few shops where it is absolutely necessary 
 
THE PRISON OFFICER 
 
 to have an officer give out material or keep account 
 of the goods and in the storehouse and shipping 
 departments. 
 
 At no time does an officer march with the men; 
 wherever they wish to go they are in charge of a Mu- 
 tual Welfare League Officer. There, is no restriction 
 on their speech other than would be imposed in an 
 ordinary factory.) 
 
 After dinner the men again have ten minutes in 
 which to smoke, then the whistle blows and they 
 return to the shops and work until four o'clock. 
 The whistle sounds again and the men go to the 
 yard for recreation until five. At five the whistle 
 sounds again and they go to the shops and form in 
 companies to march to the mess-hall for supper. 
 After supper they go to their cells for the count which 
 takes from fifteen to twenty minutes. Then the 
 men who are members of the several classes are let 
 out and go to their classrooms. At eight o'clock 
 all the men who desire may go to the chapel to a 
 lecture, concert or moving-picture show, which 
 generally lasts until about ten o'clock. Then they 
 go to their cells for the night and the prison closes 
 about ten-thirty. 
 
 Saturday afternoon is a half-holiday, the prison 
 ball team often playing a visiting team. All kinds 
 of sports are enjoyed, especially swimming in "the 
 pool" where two hundred can swim at one time. 
 They are allowed one hour in the pool so all may 
 have a chance to bathe once during the afternoon 
 and again on Sunday afternoon. 
 
 On Sunday morning the men turn out at six-thirty 
 
THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 and march to the mess-hall for breakfast which lasts 
 until about eight o'clock. All who wish to attend 
 the Catholic service go directly to the chapel, the 
 Catholic service being the first for the day and usu- 
 ally lasting about an hour. The rest of the men may 
 go to the yard during the time of service. 
 
 At eight-forty-five the bugle is sounded and those 
 who wish to attend the Protestant service fall in line, 
 under an officer of the Mutual Welfare League, and 
 march to the chapel where the service begins 
 promptly at nine. The third service for the day is 
 the Christian Science. The men are free to attend 
 any one of these services but are not compelled to do 
 so unless they desire. 
 
 At the sound of the bugle at twelve the men fall in 
 line, not, as on week days, from the shops, but from 
 their respective galleries. They are marched under 
 Mutual Welfare League officers to the mess-hall and 
 as on week days after dinner they go to the yard 
 for sports until five o'clock. At five o'clock the 
 bugle sounds, and they fall in line for supper. At 
 about seven o'clock the classes begin and are gener- 
 ally followed by some entertainment in the chapel 
 which lasts until ten o'clock. 
 
 The men return to their work on Monday morning 
 in a pleasant frame of mind and jump at their work 
 with a will not with a grouch or in fault-finding 
 mood as under the old system. 
 
 It must be understood that during the hours in the 
 dining room not one officer is present, except of course 
 the chef, the men being entirely in charge of officers 
 of the League. 
 
THE PRISON OFFICER 
 
 M 
 
 Under the new system the prison officers work only 
 eight hours, instead of working from twelve to four- 
 teen hours as they formerly did. They are divided 
 into three shifts instead of two, and their chief duty 
 is to see that no man goes beyond the boundaries of 
 the prison. The officers who were formerly armed 
 have voluntarily discarded even their clubs and are 
 on very friendly terms with the men. Often now in 
 cases of sickness or trouble the officers take personal 
 charge and see that their prisoners get proper care 
 and in many cases bring delicacies from their own 
 homes for a man in trouble; under the old system 
 an officer would have been discharged for attempt- 
 ing anything like this. His nose was always at the 
 grindstone and if he did not report a prisoner he 
 would be reported himself, and at the end of the day 
 was not human if he was not nervous and a grouch. 
 Now the officer has more time with his family and as 
 his nerves are not constantly on edge he enjoys this 
 time and so does his family. 
 
 When first the new system was inaugurated, I had 
 little faith in it, but it has stood the test and I am con- 
 vinced that the men are better under it, the officers 
 are happier under it, and the officers' families are 
 grateful for it. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 INDUSTRIAL TRAINING FOR THE 
 PRISONER 
 
 BY ARTHUR D. DEAN, Sc.D. 
 
 Director of Agricultural and Industrial Education, New York State 
 Department of Education, and Professor of Vocational Education, 
 Teachers College, Columbia University 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 INDUSTRIAL TRAINING FOR THE PRISONER 
 
 WHILE I am very glad to contribute a chapter on 
 industrial training for the prisoner, I must ask that 
 the topic assigned be considered in its relationship to 
 the whole question of prison reform. I cannot con- 
 ceive of a prison system of industrial training which is 
 not a part of the educational system. Furthermore, 
 it is useless to think of the reorganization of prison 
 industries from the standpoint of their training value 
 without taking into consideration the relationship 
 which the educational and vocational work of the 
 prison bears to the whole question of prison ideals 
 and efficiency. 
 
 I appreciate that there are many difficulties in es- 
 tablishing a new educational and vocational system 
 in prisons. The clientele, taken as a whole, is not 
 particularly interested either in shop work or book 
 work. Many of the men and women are unskilled, 
 with irregular habits of work, and with a vitality 
 lowered before entering the prison. We know that 
 the incentive for good work is lacking, that men are 
 called away from the shops for considerable periods 
 of time for medical attention, to meet the chaplain, 
 to receive relatives, and for numerous other things 
 which break in upon steady productive employment 
 or upon other activities which may be or might be 
 
 127 
 
128 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 educational. We know that men are drafted from 
 one prison to another, that the prison term for some 
 is too short to do effective work, while for others it^ 
 is so long that the inmates are discouraged or dis- 
 inclined to profit by useful and productive study or 
 labor. 
 
 We know that the productive incentive is not only 
 lacking on the part of the men, but also very often 
 on the part of the prison officials, or at least on the 
 part of the shop foremen. The latter are not in com- 
 petition with business. The output of the shop is 
 seldom at its peak load. The inmates are, perhaps, 
 not only inclined to lie down on the job, but the 
 prison methods, whether initiated by the prison itself 
 or emanating from some official higher up, are sure 
 to make it quite impossible to conduct the shops on 
 a business basis. 
 
 It is perfectly obvious to any one that in a good 
 many prisons there are very few shop activities 
 in which the men are engaged which can be followed 
 after they leave prison. Men are assigned to jobs in 
 a perfectly haphazard manner, sometimes because a 
 particular shop needs some men and not at all be- 
 cause these men and women have chosen the par- 
 ticular work represented by that shop while in prison 
 or will necessarily follow that work after they leave. 
 It is not a bit of an overstatement to say that these 
 people are really forming habits of idleness rather 
 than of work, and when they do form habits of work 
 they are learning under methods and machinery 
 which are often antiquated and produce a low quality 
 of workmanship. 
 
INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IN PRISON 
 
 As I have already said, I appreciate these difficult 
 ties and it is fair to ask, for what are these men and 
 women in prison? What purpose has society? 
 Are they there to be punished, exploited, redeemed, 
 or ruined? Are they to become more dependent 
 than ever upon society through so-called reformative 
 methods which make them more dependent, or are 
 these mentally or morally or vocationally defective 
 people to be redeemed into a state of economic, 
 social, and civic independence? If they are to be 
 punished, I can imagine no worse punishment than to 
 be put to work on a type of work in which one has no 
 interest and in which there is no outlook, and for 
 which one is not fitted. If they are to be exploited, 
 I can suggest no better type of exploitation than the 
 manufacturing of articles for the State to be sold in 
 the open market for State profit, when such articles 
 have absolutely no relationship to the educational, 
 vocational, or reformative needs of the people who 
 make them. If these imprisoned people are to be 
 ruined, I can think of no better way to destroy a 
 man who enters prison industrially and commer- 
 cially capable along certain productive lines than 
 to assign him in prison to lines of labor which have 
 no relationship to what he did before he came in or 
 what he can do after he leaves. But if these people 
 are to be redeemed, then we must know and appre- 
 ciate some aim for prison industry and education, 
 We must be able to adjust the educational and 
 vocational purposes and methods of the new prison 
 to meet the new requirements of prison schools and 
 industries. 
 
130 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 My program, therefore, rests entirely upon the 
 proposition that the educational and vocational sys- 
 tem of a prison is but a part of a larger progress for 
 making, through every activity within and without 
 the prison walls, dependent men and women into 
 independent members of society. In other words, 
 the prison system is to be a big educational, social, 
 and industrial enterprise to make physically, men- 
 tally, vocationally, and spiritually new men and 
 women. It should be the business of the prison to 
 so organize its work as to make these very dependent 
 people into independent individuals. They, more 
 than any other type, require that every prison ac- 
 tivity contribute towards changing them from de- 
 pendents into independents. It is essential that all 
 their educational work be made more or less directly 
 productive and that all their activity work be made 
 educational. It is expected that all the vocational 
 work be projected into the useful useful in the de- 
 velopment of physical health, of moral character, of 
 intellectual capacity, and of socialized citizenship. 
 It is expected that all productive work will react 
 in the physical, mental, moral, and social develop- 
 ment of the prison. 
 
 A prison has a greater opportunity in many ways . 
 than the public school, for it has twenty-four hours 
 a day program a program which may be divided 
 up on the basis of five aims. First, the development 
 of vital efficiency. This concerns the physical 
 side of the prisoner and is related to the prison work 
 which is chosen for him or which he chooses in that 
 the labor must be in accord with his strength and with 
 
INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IN PRISON 131 
 
 conditions making for increased health. Second, 
 vocational efficiency along the lines of the industrial, 
 agricultural, commercial, or professional. This will 
 be taken up in detail later. Third, civic efficiency 
 or fellowship, and the very best way to develop this 
 type of efficiency is through some form of self-govern- 
 ment. The public schools are finding that they^ 
 cannot train boys and girls for citizenship by study- 
 ing dates, reigns of political parties, times and 
 places of battles, or even mere book lessons on civics. 
 The public schools are reaching out to incorporate 
 somehow into their school activities the spirit of self- 
 government. These young people have not been 
 tested in self-government and the time for such 
 testing does not come until they meet the conditions 
 imposed by society and their fellow beings. The 
 prisoners have been tested and have been found 
 wanting, and this want can never be met any more 
 than the public schools can teach through preach- 
 ments about civic duties and individual rights and 
 community needs. Some good people would impose 
 still more preaching systems on the public school 
 children instead of some system of practical govern- 
 ment, and I suppose like-minded persons would ad- 
 vocate lesson leaflets to be distributed to the prison- 
 ers on how to be good citizens. But the best way 
 to learn how is to learn to be, and the best way to 
 be, is to have the chance to be, and to have the best 
 chance is to participate in some type of self-govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Fourth, moral and social service efficiency. The 
 pedagogy which has been given in the preceding para- 
 
132 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 graph applies here equally well. One does not 
 learn how to be good by having some one stand over 
 him with a club. Genuine goodness is not generated 
 in a dark cell. " Do good and make good " is the only 
 way to make goodness. People are never made good 
 any way. They make themselves good, and so I 
 am led right back to the principle of some form of 
 self-government. 
 
 Fifth, avocational efficiency, which means the 
 right use of leisure where men get the habit of using 
 their leisure profitably the habit of reading in the 
 evening, the habit of going to good prison entertain- 
 ments, the habit of electing whether one wants to 
 stay in his cell and read, or go to a "movie ", or go 
 to a class in book work, or to some evening vocational 
 work. In this way prisoners will learn to be masters 
 of their leisure and to choose in one form or another 
 a type of recreation or study, but one can have no 
 choice when he is locked in his cell after the working 
 hours are over. How, by such a system, does society 
 develop initiative and judgment as to the use of 
 one's free time ? 
 
 I should not speak of these general things which 
 may seem to some to be apart from the title of the 
 chapter except, as I have already implied, that I 
 must think of a prison as being somehow a social, 
 or perhaps a better term would be a civic, unit in 
 itself. It takes in at its back door human and 
 material products and by thoughts, manipulations, 
 and expressions of each makes them both over for 
 larger social and economic needs. The wood comes 
 in as a raw product; it goes out as an office desk. 
 
INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IN PRISON 133 
 
 The prisoner comes in as a knotty problem ; he goes 
 out as a useful and productive citizen. Now the 
 prison, like a community, has its civic work to be per- 
 formed. It has people to be fed, clothed, housed, 
 instructed, governed, and guided. Each person in a 
 city finds opportunity, or ought to be able to find it, 
 to express himself and to contribute to the well- 
 being and conduct of the community. Some hold 
 positions of responsibility and direction. Others 
 are directed in a narrow field of work. Of course 
 there is some injustice in the way the cities are 
 governed. There are individual failings and indif- 
 ferent rewards, but taken as a whole, .is there not a 
 recognition of service and opportunity for advance- 
 ment and free choice of occupation and the normal 
 finding of vocational levels ? If the community offers 
 this freedom, why should not a prison, which is to 
 fit people for this freedom ? If a community takes 
 into account the vital, normal, social, industrial, 
 vocational, and avocational efficiency of its citizens 
 and considers these elements collectively, why should 
 not a prison system think of these types of efficiency 
 collectively and not as separate and independent or 
 neglected units? 
 
 We hear a good deal these days about the Gary 
 plan in the public schools, that is, the system used in 
 Gary of dividing the activities of the school into three 
 heads : work, play, and study. I am thinking that 
 the prison system might adopt the same spirit of a 
 fair division of the activities into : first, useful, prof- 
 itable, and productive labor ; second, health-giving, 
 morally uplifting, and socially serviceable recreation ; 
 
134 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 and third, book work related to the activity work in 
 the institution where correlation will be profitable, 
 or, book work dealing with the primary needs of the 
 illiterate prisoner at one extreme, or with the intel- 
 lectual desires of men already intellectually trained, 
 at the other. These three divisions of time would 
 vary with the seasons and with the weather condi- 
 tions. They would recognize holidays, days of 
 religious observances, the seasons, and so on. But 
 generally speaking there would be some set division 
 of time for the activities under each head as are con- 
 sidered in any well developed educational institution, 
 and I take it, .that is primarily what a prison is : a 
 great educational enterprise. 
 
 Nothing in the prison causes me more concern 
 than that there seems to be such a large number 
 of men and women employed in what are commonly 
 called the maintenance occupations men and 
 women who are cleaning, scrubbing, washing, cook- 
 ing, running errands, doing chores, and so on. Un- 
 questionably most of this work, as it is arranged, at 
 least, does not fit a man or woman for employment 
 after release. I appreciate that it is necessary to 
 carry on these maintenance occupations and that 
 there is need of food to be cooked, halls to be cleaned, 
 and dishes to be washed, but I insist that this sort of 
 work is to be done as quickly and effectively as 
 possible, not so much as tasks, but as duties neces- 
 sary to the social welfare of the institution. There is 
 little or no educational or vocational value in such 
 work, but it can be made to have its social value. 
 We must remember that there is a vast difference 
 
INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IN PRISON 135 
 
 between being a washer of dishes or a peeler of pota- 
 toes, and being trained as an expert cook. There is 
 a large difference between service as a waitress at a 
 prison dining table and being trained at expert serv- 
 ice at table work in a private family. I would 
 separate most definitely service in necessary institu- 
 tional duties from training for service in vocational 
 life outside of the prison. There is a legitimate field 
 for the ordinary institutional duties when properly 
 handled, but this field is clearly outside that of voca- 
 tional training. For example, take a woman's 
 prison. To train these women to be waitresses, 
 laundresses, cooks, mothers' helpers, child carers, 
 junior nurses, second maids, chambermaids, means 
 something definite, purposeful, instructional, and 
 intensive in doing through institutional activity the 
 type of work demanded by the outside world. If 
 a woman prisoner is to take care of some young 
 children belonging to an officer, the work may have 
 social content. If she is trained to take care of these 
 children, her work may have educational content. 
 If she does this work with the idea and is taught with 
 the idea that she is to go out into the world as a nurse 
 girl, then it has -vocational content. 
 ; There is a big difference for a male prisoner between 
 cleaning out the cow barn and learning to be a dairy- 
 man, or sweeping out a printing room as compared 
 to being a printer's apprentice; between cobbling 
 institutional shoes and working in a shoe factory on 
 automatic machinery; between being ordered to 
 clean up a yard and learning to become a gardener ; 
 between caning chairs, weaving rugs, making willow 
 
136 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 baskets, and learning a profitable, useful, and decent 
 trade. Some persons emphasize the importance of 
 agriculture for prisoners but I would have them go 
 into it with some definite vocational and educational 
 aim. To have them fuss around a garden or be 
 domineered over in the garden on about the same 
 basis as they would cobble shoes or make cheap 
 shirts is unsocial, uneducational, and non vocational. 
 To have persons do garden work with the same 
 amount of thought put into it and the same quality 
 of teaching which they would get in a classroom if 
 they were studying from books, would be to make 
 their garden work most decidedly educational and 
 mentally developing, but this sort of garden work 
 might be educational and social without being 
 vocational, and here is my point. If we expect to 
 make these prisoners into farmers, we must get them 
 to become farm-minded so that they will stay on the 
 farm when they are placed there. To become farm- 
 minded they must have definite farm work, or rather 
 I should say, farm training. Full opportunity must 
 be given them to discover whether or not they are 
 farm-minded, and then when they are placed on a 
 farm they will make good not only because they have 
 been trained, but because, through a system, they 
 have been selected and placed as well as trained. 
 
 I appreciate that it is necessary to carry on main- 
 tenance occupations, but I believe they should be 
 thought of along two lines : first, that a good deal 
 of this work should be done by men and women who 
 show no skill nor any desire to be skilled ; and second, 
 that every member of the prison community should 
 
INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IN PRISON 137 
 
 make a small contribution, no matter what other line 
 of activity he is pursuing, in furthering some of the 
 necessary maintenance work of the prison. I under- 
 stand that a very large percentage abnormally 
 large of the inmates of prisons are engaged in 
 menial tasks incident to maintenance, and yet we 
 are thinking that these men are being trained for the 
 workaday world and that they learn their place in 
 citizenship. But what a poor sort of a community it 
 would be that used the full time of more than half of 
 its inhabitants in the menial tasks incident to the 
 maintenance of the civic plant. 
 
 Broadly speaking, the maintenance activities of 
 the prison come under three heads : first, the social 
 and necessary occupations such as dish-washing, 
 cleaning, etc. They have no vocational value and 
 are to be disposed of as quickly and effectively as 
 possible. Second, the educational activities of cook- 
 ing, caring for heating plant, expert janitorial service, 
 and so on, which may have thinking and training 
 values and may be so taught as to have intellectual 
 development and also an educational value. Third, 
 those activities which are directly vocational and 
 which may be taught with this end in view : such oc- 
 cupations as plumbing, tinsmithing, agriculture, 
 painting, and so on. 
 
 Perhaps agriculture and farm work offer a good 
 illustration of the foregoing. I can think of men 
 pulling weeds, hoeing corn, and digging potatoes as 
 a social service for the prison. This work would 
 be a physical benefit to many inmates and these 
 activities are necessary to maintain operations. 
 
138 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 But if some of the men who are mentally competent 
 were taught something of soils, fertilizers, plant life, 
 rotation of crops, and so on, then one can see that 
 they would receive intellectual training. And then 
 if these men, or some of them at least, were taught 
 these things and did these things in order that they 
 might become farmers and were carefully instructed 
 and inspired that they would become farm-minded, 
 and were placed, after the expiration of their sen- 
 tences, upon farms and followed up in their work, 
 then one sees that the third type of training would be 
 vocational. I should not for a moment think that 
 I were training farmers by having inmates hoe 
 corn or dig potatoes, and neither should I think I 
 had made a farmer by teaching a man farming when 
 I had not during the process made him so farm- 
 minded that he would stay on the farm after a posi- 
 tion had been obtained there for him. 
 
 Prisoners must be paid for their work. Very few 
 men, and I suppose, strictly speaking, no man, 
 works without some strong incentive ranging from 
 desire for food to desire to do unselfish deeds. A 
 prisoner differs little in this respect from the free 
 laborer. Many prisoners have a strong feeling of 
 antagonism toward the State while working in the 
 shops, and they vent this feeling upon the work 
 which they are doing. I recall the first office desk 
 which was given me when I entered on a State posi- 
 tion. It was made in one of the prisons of the 
 State, and I was reminded every time I attempted 
 to raise the roll top or open a drawer, that the par- 
 ticular prisoner or prisoners who worked on that 
 
INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IN PRISON 139 
 
 article of the State must certainly have had a grouch. 
 And somehow, I don't know that I exactly blame 
 them. There seem to be only about two ways to 
 overcome such poor workmanship : one is by pun- 
 ishing a man for the poor work, and the other is by 
 rewarding him for good work. The slave days of the 
 old South are like the modern days in some of the old 
 prisons. Booker T. Washington in his book "Work- 
 ing with the Hands" says of the negro : "The race 
 had been worked in slavery and the great lesson 
 which the race needed to learn in freedom was to 
 work. As a slave the negro was worked. As a 
 freeman he must learn to work." Being worked 
 means degradation working means civilization. 
 If labor goes hand in hand with opportunity then 
 labor has a purpose. When it is accompanied by 
 denial of opportunity its effect is limiting if not actu- 
 ally crushing. As I have said, there must be some 
 incentive. This incentive may come from time off, 
 or token money, or real money. It is very likely 
 that it is inadvisable to give the prisoner actual 
 money, as the opportunities afforded for corrupt use 
 are many. It is clearly evident that the payment of 
 some sort of wage, either in time off or token money, 
 will result in profit to the State in all the productive 
 work in that the prisoners will be exerting energy 
 for the State instead of being against it. From the 
 standpoint of the prisoner, some sort of rewarding 
 system will give him responsibility and practice in 
 his prison world with conditions with which he will 
 deal on the outside. It is clearly evident that men 
 can quickly recognize their vocational status by the 
 
140 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 pay envelope, and if privileges like tobacco, enter- 
 tainments, buying things on the outside, special 
 dinners, etc. depend upon the amount of token 
 money which these men have and the latter in turn 
 depends upon the type of work and the amount of 
 work which they do, it is evident that these men 
 would see the relationship between personal cause 
 and economic effect. 
 
 Whatever we may think of the George Junior 
 Republic idea as a whole, Mr. George's idea of 
 "Nothing without Labor" can never fail to impress 
 us. The productive end of the prison will produce 
 neither men nor things in any efficient or effective way 
 until there is some way of recognizing efficiency and 
 some way of letting men see themselves that un- 
 skilled work, loitering, and loafing bring their just 
 retribution ; and that ability to do skilled work, re- 
 sponsiveness to demands made upon them, bring 
 their just rewards. I would go so far as to charge up 
 to the prisoner the cost of his board, his cell, the 
 salaries of the guards required to watch over him. 
 I would pay him in token money in proportion to the 
 quality and quantity of his work. If he did skilled 
 work and did it well and if the prison were disposing 
 of this product and getting good value for his work, 
 I would pay him, and I would pay him an amount 
 such that he could live in the Waldorf Astoria end 
 of the prison and have privileges inside the prison 
 walls in accord with the kind of work that he does 
 and the kind of man that he is. The State is 
 getting something from this sort of man and it is 
 quite reasonable that it give something back to him, 
 
INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IN PRISON 141 
 
 that he in turn may spend it in the prison, save it 
 up for use outside or send it, as he would be expected 
 to, to his dependents if he has any, on the outside. 
 On the other hand, if a man had to be watched con- 
 stantly, which meant a large expense for guarding, 
 if he were only capable or only willing to do low- 
 grade work, then he would have the privileges of the 
 Bowery lodge and could eat at the cafS des enfants 
 end of the establishment. I have no interest in or 
 any understanding of any other system of prison 
 industry unless, of course, one is thinking of develop- 
 ing the type of industry which is frankly punitive, 
 slavish, and definitely planned to economically and 
 socially ruin every prisoner it touches. 
 
 Men should be assigned to occupations for which 
 they are fitted. If they are unfitted for the skilled, 
 they should be assigned to the unskilled, and as fast 
 as they desire to work into the skilled, they should 
 be given opportunities. And in choosing a skilled 
 occupation the educational director should assist 
 by a careful study of the prisoner's ability, previous 
 education, previous vocation, and his present motives 
 and interests. There is practically no vocational 
 or educational justification for male prisoners being 
 assigned to knit, mat, brush, and broom shops. 
 Nearly all knitting work is done by women, and 
 there is practically no labor market for mat workers. 
 The same is true of the brush industry, for in the 
 outside world all brush making is done by machinery. 
 The broom business in institutions is very properly 
 in the hands of those who are unfortunately blind. 
 It is the chief outlet for the hands that see and the 
 
142 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 X 
 
 eyes that are dim. The only justification for the 
 above mentioned industries is that they may make 
 money for the State and may punish the inmates. 
 They are frankly punitive industries and bear abso- 
 lutely no relationship to the vocational or educa- 
 tional. Of course some inmates who have no partic- 
 ular intelligence, being practically defective, might 
 be assigned to this work and paid accordingly, and 
 the privileges which they would receive would be in 
 accordance with the kind of work they were doing. 
 It would not be very long, if a man were bright, be- 
 fore he would catch the incentive of the workaday 
 world and ask to be transferred to the vocational 
 training department where he would learn a trade 
 which would be worth while, or to some productive 
 activity of a higher order which would pay him better. 
 If it is discovered through psychiatric tests that a 
 man is really defective, then it would be unfair 
 to assign him for a long time to the type of work 
 the financial rewards of which kept him down in the 
 Bowery end of the prison. A mental defective 
 rather likes routine work. He becomes quite adept 
 in automatic motions, and it is very likely that the 
 quantity of his work would be such that he would 
 receive far more remuneration than those who were 
 working alongside of him who were on a punitive 
 basis, so that he would not be obliged to live on a 
 low economic scale. 
 
 But I am expected to give more specific details. 
 This I am glad to do, although I believe that voca- 
 tional and educational work in prisons is more in 
 need of philosophy of purpose and method at the 
 
INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IN PRISON 143 
 
 present time than it is of attention to specific details, 
 especially when the material in this chapter is ex- 
 pected to be applicable to any State and any type of 
 correctional institution. This forbids any very 
 specific statements. I suggest, however, for con- 
 sideration the following : 
 
 First. There must be some system of adminis- 
 tering correctional institutions to bring to pass the 
 principles already mentioned. There is need of a 
 board of standardization and distribution of goods 
 to be manufactured in the various correctional insti- 
 tutions. There should be a State superintendent of 
 industries as the executive officer of this board. 
 
 Second. The board should find a market for in- 1 
 stitutional goods. This market will be other public 
 institutions such as schools, asylums, poorhouses, 
 and so on. The State should require the purchase 
 of these goods and there will be little difficulty in 
 such purchasing if the goods are excellent in quality 
 and reasonable in price. But no one wants to be 
 required to purchase inferior goods out of the meager 
 appropriations usually allotted to schools, asylums, 
 and so on when they can obtain better goods in the 
 open market. 
 
 Third. The board of standardization must create \ 
 a market by manufacturing some products which 
 are not sold in the open market. For example, 
 physical training in the public schools has taken an 
 immense forward step within the last year. Thou- 
 sands of pieces of outdoor apparatus simple and in- 
 expensive must be purchased. This affords excellent 
 opportunity for some correctional institution to 
 
144 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 make this apparatus from original designs. Or 
 again, the country schools are beginning to put in 
 simple domestic science equipments. Here is splen- 
 did opportunity for some enterprising superintendent 
 of prison industry to devise an inexpensive equip- 
 ment consisting of a demonstration table, alcohol 
 stove, tinware, and so on; something which could 
 be sold to the schools at an expense ranging from 
 twenty -five to fifty dollars. 
 
 Fourth. It must be kept in mind that the indus-^ 
 tries must be of such a nature that the prisoner on 
 release will be fitted for some useful line of occupa- 
 tion, and the industries undertaken must be of such 
 a nature that the State will derive financial advan- 
 tage from their pursuit. 
 
 Fifth. The State must develop some working 
 plan of coordination and cooperation of all the in- 
 dustrial work of charitable and correctional insti- 
 tutions financed in whole or in part by public money. 
 For example, the schools for the blind should have 
 the monopoly of brush and broom making. A 
 prison located in the dairying district should have 
 the monopoly of producing condensed milk, cheese, 
 and so on. An institution located near a large city 
 would naturally have a good portion of its vocational 
 equipment devoted to sheet metal work, machine 
 shop practice, plumbing, and so on. 
 
 Sixth. Each institution must have an educational 
 director or a supervisor of shop work. Some institu- 
 tions require two officials, but all institutions having 
 only one will require that the one employed com- 
 bines the industrial and educational spirit of prison 
 
INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IN PRISON 145 
 
 work. If the prison has two officials who are directly 
 concerned with the educational and vocational work, 
 one must be of the manufacturing, executive type 
 an organizer of men. The other associated with him 
 and of equal rank and working directly with him 
 should be an educational director who knows edu- 
 cational and vocational needs and who knows the 
 opportunities open to men and women after they 
 leave prison; who knows how to train inmates for 
 these opportunities and who has ability in analyzing 
 the vocational and educational needs of individual 
 prisoners, and who can follow up their progress in 
 the various shops. 
 
 Seventh. The educational and vocational work in 
 institutions must include the principle of vocational 
 guidance. Men and women must be studied with a ' 
 view of determining the intellectual and vocational 
 interests and needs. The educational and voca- 
 tional work must be adjusted to meet these needs. 
 This means mental and physical examination at en- 
 trance and continued examinations from time to time. 
 It means the segregation of mental defectives. Effi- 
 ciency of shop plants would increase immeasurably 
 thereby. 
 
 Eighth. It should be a condition of parole that , 
 no prisoner may be discharged until he can read, 
 write, and speak the English language, except for 
 reasons of physical or mental defect. Perhaps the 
 only feature of educational work which should be 
 made absolutely compulsory is that of removing 
 illiteracy, and no inmate should be allowed to 
 escape the first obligations of citizenship. Attend- 
 
146 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 ance upon classes in reading, writing, and speaking 
 the English language should be made compulsory for 
 those who are illiterate. They might receive "com- 
 pensation" as those in productive labor and there 
 might also be voluntary class work in hygiene, civics, 
 history, and arithmetic. There may even be classes 
 in economics, political science, elementary engineer- 
 ing, stenography, typewriting, telegraphy, and such 
 work and any other subject where at least five in- 
 mates are willing to attend the full number of evening 
 classes. Whether these classes should be held in the 
 daytime or evening or both is not discussed here. 
 
 Ninth. The trade work in institutions must not 
 be entered into until there is an understanding with 
 organized labor. This principle has a deep signifi- 
 cance especially in some trades. For exaniple, in 
 printing. In New York State it would be practically 
 impossible for a man to secure work as a printer if 
 he had been trained in a prison trade school of print- 
 ing unless the Union desired to or were willing to 
 admit him. I do not anticipate very much difficulty 
 in this matter provided those interested in prison re- 
 form work on the principle that they must cooperate 
 with organized labor and have the latter understand 
 the economic and social advantages of the new voca- 
 tional educational movement. 
 
 Tenth. The State administration in charge of 
 charitable and correctional institutions should co- 
 operate with other State boards or commissions. 
 The department of agriculture, for example, can as- 
 sist materially with suggestions and expert assist- 
 ance in matters agricultural. The State superin- 
 
INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IN PRISON 147 
 
 tendent of public instruction through his association 
 can give direct help in the educational work. The 
 United States Government and a number of the 
 States employ specialists in vocational instruction 
 whose services may be requisitioned. 
 
 Eleventh. Suggestions as to the occupations 
 which may be represented in correctional institutions 
 follow. Obviously one must keep in mind that 
 these suggestions are very dependent upon location 
 and type of institution. 
 
 (A) AGRICULTURE. Farm enterprise can play a 
 large part in a scheme of rehabilitation of prisoners. 
 There is a marked moral and physical reaction from 
 intimate relationships with growing objects and 
 responsibility assumed in their care. Furthermore, \ 
 the food supply of the institutional table from the 
 farm is naturally superior to that purchased. In 
 obtaining a site for an institution, the State should 
 take into consideration the conditions/ of the soil, 
 drainage, and location. There can be an exchange 
 of products between the various State institutions. 
 For example, butter, cheese, condensed milk, and so 
 on from an institution located in a dairy district 
 could be exchanged for products of an institution 
 which is more favorably located for the growing of 
 fruits and the specialty of which would be canned 
 and preserved goods. Plants and flowers might be 
 successfully put on the market from an institution 
 located near a city and where the soil was such as to 
 produce these products. 
 
 Too much cheap meat is eaten by the average pris- 
 oner. Unless these men perform more manual labor, 
 
148 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 it would be better for an institution to discover 
 grains and vegetables which would furnish the same 
 nutriment. These would be very nutritious and 
 less expensive. 
 
 Again, every State has a large amount of land 
 which is practically valueless. It either needs re- 
 forestation or drainage or scientific cultivation for 
 a number of years. Here alone is a never ceasing 
 occupation for institutions to undertake. 
 
 (B) PRINTING AND PUBLISHING. Annual reports 
 of the various State departments and commissions, 
 the session laws, letterheads, printed and embossed, 
 lithographed letters, school certificates, and so on 
 furnish an ample field. 
 
 (C) SCHOOL AND OFFICE FURNITURE. The quan- 
 tity of goods used by State, county, and city in- 
 stitutions and by the public schools in the lines of 
 wood and metal furniture is very large. Manual 
 training benches, cooking tables, drawing equip- 
 ments, school desks, physical apparatus, filing cabi- 
 nets, lockers, and a score of other articles might be 
 made with profit to the inmates and to the State. 
 But the institutions will need more adequate machin- 
 ery to handle a well turned out product. 
 
 (D) SHEET METAL. Cornices, metal ceilings, 
 ventilators, waste cans, automobile license signs, 
 utensils, and other 1 products in the line of sheet 
 metal wates will find a steady outlet and the making 
 of these products will provide excellent trade instruc- 
 tion. 
 
 (E) KNIT GOODS. Hosiery, underwear, sweaters, 
 gloves, caps, scarfs, and any other products of knit- 
 
INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IN PRISON 149 
 
 ting machines are admirable lines of work for useful 
 and profitable employment for female inmates. It 
 would make an angel weep to visit some institutions 
 and see men doing this sort of work under the name 
 of vocational training. 
 
 (F) BOOTS, SHOES, AND SLIPPERS. These articles 
 are much needed. If making brooms is a blind man's 
 job and making overalls and knit goods is a woman's 
 job, then the present way of making shoes in a State 
 prison is a grandfather's job. The machinery used 
 and methods employed are antiquated. Now if the 
 institutions that claim to make shoes are doing it for 
 the sake of making shoes, then all one has to do is to 
 change the label over the door and say : " This is the 
 place where we make poor shoes by ancient processes 
 and do all we can to unfit a man to earn a living 
 through shoe manufacturing after he leaves this 
 institution." The shoe industry offers a great 
 opportunity for trade education in institutions if 
 the shops are conducted on a plan of organization 
 and equipment and method similar to that provided 
 on the outside. 
 
 (G) MECHANICAL AND SKILLED TRADES. Plumb- 
 ing, machine shop practice, electrical work, automo- 
 bile repairing, foundry work, painting and decorating, 
 building construction, steam fitting, boiler and 
 engine practice are useful and profitable trades. 
 Obviously the equipment for some of these lines of 
 work is expensive. It is equally true that not every 
 institution could have all these lines, and some 
 located in the country would have practically none 
 of them. Generally speaking, which is all one can 
 
150 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 do if he is thinking of the country as a whole, it 
 would be well to have one State institution so 
 equipped for the teaching of these trades that it 
 could do considerable of the repair work for all the 
 institutions. 
 
 (H) BRICK, STONE, AND CEMENT WORK. Arti- 
 ficial stone, brick for State roads, cement roads, and 
 the manufacture of brick for building offer a field 
 for effort for an institution located where the raw 
 material may be easily obtained and where there is 
 a market for the output. 
 
 (I) LAUNDRY WORK. Of course every institu- 
 tion has its laundry. A good many of them claim 
 to be training laundry workers. It is safe to say that 
 no laundrymen are made through washing overalls 
 and prisoners' shirts. The skill and experience ob- 
 tained here can hardly be transferred to the ironing 
 of a lady's waist or a dress skirt in an outside laundry. 
 If laundry workers are to be trained, they must have 
 material from the outside on which to work, as well 
 as the ordinary washing and ironing connected with 
 the average institution. 
 
 (J) BRUSHES AND BROOMS. Absolute elimina- 
 tion from all institutions except those for the blind. 
 These industries might have a place in the solitary 
 confinement cell. They would serve as vocational 
 punishment. 
 
 (K) BREAD AND OTHER BAKERY PRODUCTS. 
 Ice manufacture and other occupations most directly 
 concerned with the maintenance of the institution 
 need no elaboration beyond what has already been 
 given in the text preceding the enumerated articles. 
 
CHAPTER Vin 
 THE PRISONER IN THE ROAD CAMP 
 
 BY CHARLES HENRY DAVIS 
 President, National Highways Association 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 THE PRISONER IN THE ROAD CAMP 
 
 "TRUTH FOR AUTHORITY, NOT AUTHORITY FOR 
 TRUTH" 
 
 I DO not like the title of my chapter, nor its limita- 
 tions, but having enlisted for the war will do the part 
 assigned by those who, knowing more, are leading us 
 and our brothers to better days. In doing so, how- 
 ever, I shall not limit this chapter to the chapter 
 title. The whole problem is too broad, too inter- 
 laced for that. In fact too new one might say 
 at least newly thought about by thoughtful people. 
 
 There is both everything and nothing in a name 
 there is the very beginning of our trouble in 
 getting a really good start. How can we get rid of 
 words like "crime ", "convict ", "prisoner ", "jail ", 
 "cells", "detention camps"? In one breath we 
 admit that fully three fourths of our brothers are not 
 wholly responsible, and in the very next treat them 
 as though they were. Even "Honor Men" does not 
 leave quite the right feeling. I emphasize the im- 
 portance of somehow changing present designations 
 to kindlier ones that may point to brighter, better 
 days instead of to the evil ones of the past. It will 
 take skill and thought to do it in manly fashion 
 
 153 
 
154 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 but do it, and we will have a real foundation to build 
 upon. Give a dog a bad name and it is fastened to 
 him. But give him a good one and he will keep that 
 as well. And we want our brothers to keep their 
 good names. 
 
 But there is even more in the spirit of our surround- 
 ings, our environments, as the scientists say. Preach- 
 ing and telling by word of mouth will go for nought 
 if the precept, the example, is lacking. How can 
 one expect improvement within a jail or the cell 
 within the jail itself ? We shall not rightly attack the 
 problem until we tear down jails and destroy their 
 cells. Such pest-holes destroy our brothers. Their 
 retention will make all our other efforts of no avail. 
 
 We should remember that our brothers have only 
 made MISTAKES like other children before them, 
 like ourselves, and like those who come next after 
 us and them. They and we are, after all, but 
 children although grown in stature. While impor- 
 tant, temporarily, to apply scientific corrective 
 methods, why not go farther back and stop it all at 
 the source ? People of themselves are not criminal, 
 feeble-minded, imbecile. Society is responsible in 
 the first place for their making, so why does not 
 society stop such "products"? Why shift the 
 responsibility upon the innocent? Society has, for 
 centuries, manufactured more criminals than human 
 nature of its own accord produces. The more for- 
 tunate but not necessarily less criminal, have almost 
 universally cruelly punished those less fortunate 
 brothers caught in their so-called crimes. Correc- 
 tion, instruction, forgiveness, kindness, have played 
 
THE PRISONER IN THE ROAD CAMP 155 
 
 but a small part in dealing with the "criminal" or 
 "convict." Would that we might call him by a 
 kindlier name ! For many of us now think and talk 
 of him as of a different breed, forgetting that he is, 
 after all, a man. We cry out against slavery, yet 
 legalize it for tens of thousands. We scorn revenge, 
 yet mete out vengeance in the name of the law. We 
 remove from society offenders against society and 
 forcibly detain them for years in surroundings as 
 much unlike real society as possible. We then once 
 more thrust them upon society, untaught, revenge- 
 ful, weak, broken in mind and body, and wonder why 
 they fall again ! Why should they not ? Has not 
 society done its utmost to prevent their rise ? And 
 yet society places the responsibility upon these poor 
 unfortunate beings ! Most of them are mentally 
 deficient and should have our care and help not 
 our contempt. Many of them have been sorely 
 tempted, without ability to run from temptation. 
 And all of us must run ! Some have led honorable 
 and useful lives and would continue to do so did 
 society have the forbearance and forgiveness of the 
 parent toward the child. And society should have 
 such forgiveness, and thus restore men to society 
 and not brand them as criminals. Our modern 
 prisons are barbaric. They typify the mediaeval 
 prisons so loathsome to our imagination, and yet 
 we call them modern. They are not. They still 
 hold men in abject slavery, in idleness worse than 
 death; without sun sometimes without light; 
 with foul air and fouler companions. Does this 
 treatment, even of the convict, produce repentance ? 
 
156 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 No ; a thousand times no ! Revenge, insanity, more 
 crime are the inevitable results. 
 
 As in many other activities, our laws and their ad- 
 ministration are fifty years behind the times. Once 
 in prison how many of us could resist the debauch- 
 ing influences? How many of us could resist the 
 degrading example of those associates more steeped 
 in crime and hardened by their previous contact 
 with still earlier criminals ? How many of us could 
 return to the life outside without a feeling of bitter- 
 ness or resentment against our whole social structure ? 
 We have abolished negro slavery a paradise to that 
 of criminal slavery. We maintain institutions little 
 better than the torture chambers of ancient times. 
 They are not designed for reform, tuition, enlighten- 
 ment. They offer little incentive to right living, 
 high ideals. They are not places where erring hu- 
 manity may be schooled and trained to become good 
 citizens. They are more fit to drag and trample 
 down into the mire the unfortunates sent there for 
 their "first offense." There even plant life does not 
 exist. The grass, the plants, the flowers, the trees 
 do not grow within their yards. How much less 
 does man ! Could there be greater shame to our 
 nation than thus to cling to the ancient custom of 
 depriving men of their freedom, shutting them up 
 within four walls, leaving them to their fate ? "Men 
 are but children of a larger growth." But do we 
 treat our children in this wise ? Do we not believe 
 in pointing out to them and making attractive and 
 possible the road to virtue? Do we rather enslave 
 and chastise them unmercifully for having failed to 
 
THE PRISONER IN THE ROAD CAMP 157 
 
 find it out for themselves? We used to, when 
 parents held the lives of their children in their hands. 
 The State now so holds the lives of its citizens.* 
 When shall we take such power away ? In our crim- v 
 inal procedure we now have the spirit of punishment, 
 cruelty, unkindness, physical force, slavery, confine- 
 ment, isolation, darkness, silence, and all the result- 
 ant evils thereof resistance, revenge, sullenness, 
 depravity, hopelessness, insanity. 
 
 We should turn on the light ; we should give men 
 the sunshine, the free air and fields of the country. 
 We should have and thus give hope, faith, help. 
 We should correct, not punish. We should be kind 
 and fair, and our "pals" will respond most wonder- 
 fully. Children are not controlled by physical 
 force. Deliberate, low-voiced, firm kindness and 
 " square " dealing gain their confidence. So it is with 
 their larger brothers. What results to be attained 
 by such a change change in our acknowledg- 
 ment of the wrongs we have done to the convict ! 
 We have been too long blind to this wrong thinking 
 and doing. We have had too much pride, too little 
 charity. We have admired too long the public 
 prosecutor. We have delayed too long the coming 
 of the public defender. 
 
 How can we do all this ? We must do something - 
 with those who violate the rules. Yes ! But that 
 something should be to help them not to break the 
 rules again. Temporary exile into a temporary so- 
 ciety as nearly as possible like normal society on 
 the outside would seem the best solution. They 
 would thus be learning to play the game according 
 
158 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 to the rules. Responsibility during their temporary 
 exile would increase this desire to play so well, so 
 fairly, that they could go back from whence they 
 came. To do this we must get them "Back to the 
 Land." But how ? One way is through the building 
 of good roads, although some prefer railroading ! 
 
 To have good roads everywhere throughout these 
 United States will mean more to this nation than any 
 other development since the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence. During all the ages it has been of primary 
 importance to provide means of intercommunication. 
 People, like water, must move or stagnate. They 
 must run and play like the brook itself or become 
 sluggish and dull to themselves as well as to 
 others. Of the seven modes of intercommunication 
 water, roads, post, railroad, telegraph, telephone, 
 and wireless only one, roads, is free to all the 
 public of the earth. Roads are the most universally 
 used and therefore the most beneficial to the greatest 
 number of people. The importance of good roads 
 everywhere is paramount their benefits are all- 
 embracing. 
 
 There are eighteen million children who endeavor 
 to attend school. There are over thirty million who 
 should attend school. Why don't they? Largely 
 because during much of the school term a consider- 
 able part of the two million miles of our roads is 
 impassable. This is shown by the fact that only 
 nine tenths of one per cent (0.9%) of the urban 
 white population of the United States of native 
 parentage is illiterate, while rural illiteracy is six 
 hundred per cent greater in the same class of inhabit- 
 
THE PRISONER IN THE ROAD CAMP 159 
 
 ants. How can we have or get good schools in the 
 rural districts if we have not the good roads to reach 
 them at all times and in all seasons ? If we do not 
 have good schools, and illiteracy results, then we 
 help, to the greatest possible extent, the growth 
 of our criminal classes. 
 
 The relation of good and bad roads to illiteracy 
 and thus to crime is indicated by the accompanying 
 table : 
 
 
 NATIVE WHITE OP 
 NATIVE PARENTAGE 
 TOTAL POPULATION, 
 1910 
 
 PER 
 CENT 
 IM- 
 PROVED 
 ROADS, 
 1909 
 
 PER CENT OF ILLITER- 
 ATE NATIVE WHITES OP 
 NATIVE PARENTAGE, 
 1910 
 
 NEW ENGLAND 
 Maine, New Hamp- 
 shire, 
 Massachusetts, Rhode 
 Island, Connecticut. 
 SOUTH ATLANTIC 
 Delaware, Maryland, 
 Virginia, West Vir- 
 ginia, North Carolina, 
 South Carolina, 
 Georgia, Florida. 
 PACIFIC 
 Washington, Oregon, 
 California. 
 WEST SOUTH CENTRAL 
 Arkansas, Louisiana, 
 Oklahoma, Texas. 
 
 2,135,801 
 
 22.2 
 6.7 
 
 14.2 
 2.6 
 
 Total 
 0.7 
 
 8.0 
 
 0.4 
 5.6 
 
 Urban 
 0.5 
 
 2.2 
 
 0.3 
 1.4 
 
 Rural 
 1.2 
 
 9.8 
 
 0.6 
 6.8 
 
 6,552,681 
 5,397,864 
 
 12,194,895 
 1,684,658 
 
 4,192,304 
 4,101,510 
 
 8,784,534 
 
 This table does not of course include foreign born, 
 native born of foreign parentage, or negroes, all of 
 whom are excluded for obvious reasons. Illiteracy 
 is eleven times greater in the South Atlantic States 
 than in New England, while the percentage of im- 
 
160 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 proved roads (such as they are) is less than one third. 
 Similar figures for the Pacific and West South Central 
 are : fourteen times greater illiteracy, while the per- 
 centage of improved roads is less than one fifth as 
 much. The excess of illiteracy over urban New 
 England is only one hundred and forty per cent, 
 while in the South Atlantic States this excess is nearly 
 four hundred per cent, due to the lower percent- 
 age of improved roads. This difference is slightly 
 greater in comparing the other two groups in the 
 table. 
 
 The children of to-day are the electors, the repre- 
 sentatives, the senators, the judges, one of them the 
 President of to-morrow. The population is increas- 
 ing by leaps and bounds. If education means 
 liberty, and if poor roads mean illiteracy, or worse, 
 have we a right not to build good roads, even if they 
 will not pay for themselves well within the genera- 
 tion which builds them? 
 
 To-day we have preventive medicine. Instead of 
 waiting to cure people of disease, we are bending 
 every effort to prevent disease. Why not profit 
 thereby? Crime is a kind of disease. Why not do 
 those things which will prevent crime? Idleness 
 more than any other one thing, produces moral 
 deterioration and crime. The building of good roads 
 everywhere by the nation, the State, the town, will 
 give constant employment to the army of unem- 
 ployed. This will tend to prevent crime if we apply 
 it rightly. 
 
 What better thing than to employ those tem- 
 porarily withdrawn from our society in the building 
 
THE PRISONER IN THE ROAD CAMP 161 
 
 of good roads everywhere ? It will give brawn, brain, 
 and heart to those most needing them. It will give 
 freedom of mind and body. It will give them in- 
 spiration, hope. Tear down our prison walls, and 
 rear no more, for they are festering places for our 
 fellow beings. Let us no longer go back on those of 
 our kind ! Let us rather, from now on, give our 
 "pals" a "square deal" ! We can be sure they will 
 answer in kind ! 
 
 EDITOR'S NOTE : The methods of organizing and operating convict 
 road camps are fully discussed in the following theses prepared under 
 the joint direction of the National Committee on Prisons and Prison 
 Labor and the Graduate Department of Highway Engineering at 
 Columbia University : " The Utilization of Convict Labor in Highway 
 Construction in the North ", by Sydney Wilmot (published in the Pro- 
 ceedings of the Academy of Political Science, January, 1914) ; " The 
 Utilization of Convict Labor in Highway Construction in the South ". 
 by James Wilmot ; " Convict Road Work for Misdemeanant Prisoners ", 
 by James L. Stamford; also in Bulletin No. 414 of the United States 
 Department of Agriculture, " Convict Labor for Road Work." 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 THE UNION MAN AND THE PRISONER 
 
 BY COLLIS LOVELY 
 Vice President, International Boot and Shoe Workers' Union 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 THE UNION MAN AND THE PRISONER 
 
 THE attitude of the union man towards the worker 
 in prison has been misunderstood, misrepresented, 
 and misinterpreted to such an extent that it seems 
 advisable to sketch its development in order to point 
 the determining factor active opposition to the * 
 exploitation of the prisoner in defiance of his rights 
 and those of the public. 
 
 The type of prison which we have to-day was de- 
 vised by the good Quakers of Pennsylvania at the 
 close of the Revolutionary War. Solitary confine- 
 ment in a cell with time to meditate and pray was 
 the means, they believed, to overcome the horrors 
 of herding men, women, and children in filthy prison 
 pens as depicted by John Howard and Elizabeth 
 Fry. The Pennsylvania system, as it came to be 
 known, was taken over by New York State in 1796 
 when Newgate Prison was built in New York City. 1 
 Auburn Prison was built some years later, the Penn- 
 sylvania plan being modified by the creation of 
 workshops where the prisoners could work together, 
 returning to solitude in their cells when working 
 hours were over. Sing Sing, built in 1827, followed 
 the Auburn plan, and since that time practically 
 
 1 Charles Richmond Henderson, " Modern Prison Systems." 
 165 
 
166 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 all the Northern States and a goodly number in the 
 South have built one or more of these bastile prisons 
 and the factory work has become a vital part of the 
 prison system. 
 
 The New York law of 1796 authorized the inspec- 
 tors of State prisons to employ the prisoners in such 
 a manner as they deemed best and "accredit them 
 for their labor as they shall deem just and right." 1 
 
 The words "just and right" in the law are a mock- 
 ery for, even in those early days, the labor of the 
 prisoner was exploited and the products of his labor 
 placed in unfair competition with those of the free 
 working man. Efforts to restrict the evil effects 
 of this unfair competition appear in the New York 
 Statutes in 1801 when provision was made that boots 
 and shoes made by convicts should be branded 
 "prison made." 2 
 
 Branding was the earliest mode of protection and 
 was followed by such schemes as limiting the number 
 of prisoners employed in one industry, instanced 
 by the New York legislation of 1804, which prohib- 
 ited the employment of more than one eighth of the 
 prisoners in the business of shoe-making ; this one 
 eighth not to include women and men whp had 
 formerly learned the trade. 
 
 A further effort to restrain the unfair competition 
 would seem to have inspired the legislation of 1817 
 restricting the purchase by the State of any materials 
 "to be wrought or worked up for sale by the convicts 
 
 1 C. Z. Lincoln. "Constitutional History of New York State", Vol. 
 Ill, pp. 249, 252. 
 
 2 C. Z. Lincoln. " Constitutional History of New York State ", Vol. 
 Ill, p. 249. 
 
THE UNION MAN AND THE PRISONER 167 
 
 confined in the State Prison on account of the State, 
 but to employ them solely in manufacturing and 
 making up such materials as may be brought to the 
 prison by or for individuals or companies to whom 
 such materials may belong to be manufactured at 
 fixed prices for the labor bestowed upon them, to be 
 paid by the owner of the goods to the agent of the 
 prison for the use of the State." l 
 
 Further consideration would point to this as an 
 insidious creeping in of the Contract System rather 
 than a means of protecting free workers. The 
 Contract System, which Doctor Whitin discusses in 
 detail in "Penal Servitude", 2 was firmly established 
 in New York State in 1828 when the inspectors of the 
 prisons were authorized to make contracts from time 
 to time for the labor of the convicts "with such per- 
 sons and upon such terms as may be most beneficial 
 to the State." 3 The inspectors were also instructed 
 to defray all the expenses of the prisons by the labor 
 of the prisoners. In brief, it was ordained that the 
 prisons should be self-supporting without any con- 
 sideration as to the effect on the prison workmen or 
 the laborers outside the prison. 
 
 The Contract System was sooner or later adopted 
 in every bastile prison, the alternative when there 
 were no bastiles being the lease system which Doctor 
 Lucile Eaves has described as it existed in California 
 prior to the erection of San Quentin Prison : 
 
 1 C. Z. Lincoln. " Constitutional History of New York State ", Vol. 
 Ill, p. 249. 
 
 2 E. Stagg Whitin. "Penal Servitude." C. 3-5. 
 
 3 C. Z. Lincoln. "Constitutional History of New York State ", VoL 
 HI, p. 256. 
 
168 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 " The first plan adopted for the regulation of the 
 State Prison," Doctor Eaves states, "had nothing 
 to recommend it but its cheapness. The whole re- 
 sponsibility of caring for the prisoners and finding 
 them employment was turned over to the lessees. 
 Two men undertook to guard and maintain the con- 
 victs of the State without other compensation than 
 that which they hoped to take from their labor. As 
 might be expected this plan under which the State 
 sought to shirk its responsibilities for the manage- 
 ment of the State prison worked very badly while 
 the prison inspectors were not explicit in their report 
 of conditions, the distressing details which must 
 have called forth their general remarks are easily 
 imagined. They declared the State Prison of Cali- 
 fornia, as it now exists, is no paradise for scoundrels. 
 It is a real penitentiary a place of suffering and 
 expiation of these there is abundance, with priva- 
 tions and corporal punishment." 1 
 
 These labor systems, both contract and lease, were 
 brutal and degrading to the prisoner, the contractor 
 or lessee seeking only the greatest pecuniary profit 
 from his undertaking and caring nothing for the 
 welfare of the inmates. 
 
 Their effect outside the prison was equally disas- 
 trous. Employers in similar lines of industry were 
 placed at a disadvantage, not so much because of the 
 quantity produced by the prisons as because the 
 contractors were able to circularize the market at a 
 low figure, setting the selling price of the product so 
 low that even if it did not entirely ruin the employer 
 of free labor it had a depressing effect which bore 
 
 1 Lucile Eaves. "California Labor Legislation" (University of 
 California Publications in Economics), Vol. II, p. 353. 
 
THE UNION MAN AND THE PRISONER 169 
 
 down upon the wages of the free working man. In 
 several instances the prison contractors concentrated 
 upon one line of industry with the result that that 
 industry was destroyed as a free industry. Samuel 
 Gompers frequently refers to the time in New York 
 State when the stove molders who were not serving 
 a term in prison and working at their trade there were 
 walking the streets in idleness. 1 
 
 The mechanics of the State of New York were 
 active against the prison competition as early as 
 1831 when protest was made to the legislature against 
 the suffering endured by outside working men because 
 of the marble cutting and iron industries in the prison. 2 
 
 The history of the labor movement in the different 
 States disclosed a similar struggle against the unfair 
 competition resulting from the labor of the prisoner. 
 
 Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massa- 
 chusetts, and New York prohibit the manufacture 
 of certain articles in the prison. Massachusetts, 
 Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Ohio limited the num- 
 ber of convicts in any one line of industry. Illinois, 
 Indiana, and Pennsylvania forbade the use of ma- 
 chinery in the prison. 3 
 
 These efforts were fruitless, for if the prison out- 
 put in any line of industry were checked in one State, 
 it was sure to increase in another. 
 
 The organization of the Knights of Labor in 1869 
 made possible national concerted action against the 
 
 Address before the Executive Committee of the Mutual Welfare 
 League, Sing Sing Prison, July 29, 1916. 
 
 2 C. Z. Lincoln. "Constitutional History of New York State ", Vol. 
 Ill, p. 257. 
 
 8 E. Stagg Whitin. "The Caged Man ", p. 40. 
 
170 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 pernicious Contract System. The first platform of 
 the Knights contains the clause : 
 
 "Resolved that we demand the abolishment of the 
 system of contract labor in our prisons and peniten- 
 tiaries and that the labor performed by convicts 
 shall be that which will least conflict with honest 
 industry outside." 1 
 
 The chief evidence of the activity of the Knights 
 is found in the enactment of legislation, requiring 
 that prison-made goods be branded "Prison-made" 
 or a license required for their sale. At the present 
 time such laws are on the statute books of New York 
 and some twelve other States, but have failed to meet 
 the situation in that they are impossible of enforce- 
 ment, having been declared unconstitutional when- 
 ever tested by the courts. 2 
 
 The first suggestion that this difficulty should be 
 overcome by federal legislation was made in 1886 
 by the National Anti-Contract Association, an asso- 
 ciation organized to protect the market by curtailing 
 the contractor's ability to sell his goods. 3 
 
 The proposal made by the Anti-Contract Associa- 
 tion was indorsed by the Industrial Commission of 
 1900 which states that "it seems clear that Congress 
 should legislate to prevent the importation and sale 
 of convict-made goods from one state into another 
 without the consent of the state into which the goods 
 are imported or where they are sold." 4 
 
 1 Carroll D. Wright, "Historical Sketch of the Knights of Labor." 
 
 2 157 N. Y. 1, People v. Hawkins ; see also Bulletin New York State 
 Department of Labor, March, 1910, p. 58. 
 
 3 E. Stagg Whitin, "Penal Servitude", p. 92. 
 
 4 Report of the Industrial Commission on Labor Legislation, Vol. 5, p. 6. 
 
THE UNION MAN AND THE PRISONER 171 
 
 Through the efforts of organized labor, a bill was 
 drafted embodying this thought and introduced and 
 reintroduced into Congress. Several times it has 
 passed the House and in 1914 was favorably reported 
 by the Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce. 
 The prison contractors and wardens have persist- 
 ently opposed the measure, the methods to which 
 they resorted being exposed in the report made by 
 the Maryland Penal Penitentiary Commission in 
 1913 to the Honorable Phillips L. Goldsborough, 
 Governor of Maryland. 1 
 
 The attitude of the present administration would 
 point to favorable action towards the measure should 
 it once succeed in passing Congress, 2 and that its 
 passage would be effective in overcoming the evils 
 of the Contract System is evidenced by the fact that 
 many contracts provide that on its passage they shall 
 immediately become null and void. 3 
 
 Restrictive legislation has not been the only means 
 suggested by organized labor for solving the prison 
 labor problem; to union men is due the credit for 
 the first constructive scheme for the distribution of 
 prison products. 
 
 Into the constitution of New York State in 1894, 
 and largely through the efforts of labor men who con- 
 
 1 Report of the Maryland Penitentiary Penal Commission, 1913, pp. 
 130-137. 
 
 2 The bill abolishing the Contract System in New Jersey was signed in 
 1911 by Honorable Woodrow Wilson, at the time Governor of the State; 
 also the National Democratic Platform, 1916, declared in favor of prison 
 reform. 
 
 3 See contracts, Maryland House of Correction, cited "Penal Servi- 
 tude", appendix 1, pp. 115-117. 
 
172 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 ceived the idea, was written a provision that no 
 prison product should be sold on the open market, 
 but setting aside for these products the market in the 
 State's own institutions and departments and those 
 of its political subdivisions, which were forbidden 
 to buy on the open market commodities which the 
 prisons could supply. 1 
 
 This system, known as the "State Use" System, 
 has been slow to develop, largely due to the in- 
 fluence of those who had profited by the old-time 
 Contract System and were determined to reinstate 
 it. 2 
 
 Another factor, as Thomas Mott Osborne has 
 pointed out, is that "slave labor is inefficient labor ", 3 
 and the prisoners themselves, having no incentive to 
 efficient work, have taken care that the State make 
 as little as possible out of them. 
 
 With the introduction of self-government a new 
 day dawned for prison industries. The prisoners 
 now desire to "make good" when they leave the 
 prison and realize the advantage to themselves in 
 the ability to do a good day's work and earn a good 
 day's pay. The increased output of the prison 
 shops at Sing Sing since the introduction of self- 
 government bears testimony to their new ambition. 4 
 
 J C. Z. Lincoln, "Constitutional History of New York State", Vol. 
 Ill, p. 287. 
 
 2 Final Report of the Commissioners to examine the Department of 
 State Prisons, New York, 1911. 
 
 3 Thomas Mott Osborne, "Prison Reform", an address delivered in 
 Bridgeport, Conn., Feb. 28, 1915. 
 
 4 William H. Wadhams, "The New Prison System" (published by 
 National Committee on Prisons and Prison Labor, Pamphlet 36). 
 
THE UNION MAN AND THE PRISONER 173 
 
 Labor men noted this new activity in the prison 
 industries, and Thomas Mott Osborne had not been 
 many months warden of Sing Sing before a repre- 
 sentative group of labor men, headed by Samuel 
 Gompers, visited the institution and offered to help 
 in the reorganization of the prison industries. The 
 attack on Mr. Osborne delayed the work for a year, 
 but at the annual meeting of the New York State 
 Federation of Labor in October, 1916, definite action 
 was taken when a committee was named "to devise 
 a system of welfare craft instruction for state prison 
 inmates learning trades." 
 
 John J. Manning, the moving spirit in this under- 
 taking, prepared for the Federation a comprehensive 
 scheme for the reorganization of the prison industries 
 of the State, which the Federation Committee 
 adopted and is presenting to the prison authorities 
 and the people of the State. It seems fitting here 
 to outline the plan which Mr. Manning proposed 
 and which, by the action of its committee, the 
 Federation indorsed as essential to the establish- 
 ment of a satisfactory and efficient system of prison 
 industries : 
 
 On commitment all prisoners should pass through 
 a receiving station in order that their physical, 
 mental, and industrial qualifications can be deter- 
 mined ; as a result of this study they should be as- 
 signed to industrial work. 
 
 A survey of all the buildings connected with the 
 penal institutions of the state should be made to 
 determine their physical condition and for what 
 industries they can best be used as now constructed, 
 also whether changes are necessary in the construe- 
 
174 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 tion of these buildings and whether new buildings 
 should be erected. 
 
 A Board of Classification and Standardization 
 should be established and empowered to standardize 
 and classify the commodities consumed in the dif- 
 ferent state institutions for a period of not less than 
 ten years. The prison industries could then be 
 placed on a sound working basis, and the market for 
 the prison products being assured, the prison author- 
 ities would be warranted in preparing a stock of goods 
 for immediate delivery. This would prevent many 
 of the manipulations of the law at present made by 
 state departments in regard to the purchase of prison- 
 made goods. 
 
 The prison industries should be as diversified as 
 possible, in order that the training afforded a prisoner 
 may tend to meet his individual needs. This will 
 also tend to restrict the number of men in each in- 
 dustry so that on discharge a man can be assimilated 
 readily in the trade in which he has become proficient 
 while in prison. 
 
 Outdoor work should be provided on prison farms, 
 in road-building and on public works. The road 
 work should be coordinated with a comprehensive 
 system for the building of roads throughout the state, 
 and the farm work afford opportunity for agricultural 
 training to men who will become farmers on release. 
 
 Skilled and practical teachers or instructors should 
 be secured for every industry, farm project or road 
 undertaking and these instructors should be disas- 
 sociated with politics in every sense of the word. 
 It should be the aim of the institutions to turn out 
 not a vast number of products, but good marketable 
 articles which state institutions will willingly pur- 
 chase and which will compete on a fair basis with 
 goods made by free labor. 
 
 A wage should be paid commensurate with the 
 work done by the prisoner. This will insure two 
 
THE UNION MAN AND THE PRISONER 175 
 
 decided advantages : a higher grade of workmanship, 
 every industry having demonstrated that contented 
 workmen do better work; and the incentive which 
 will stimulate the man who knows that those near 
 and dear to him benefit by his labor. 
 
 Organized labor has answered the challenge that 
 it seeks to prohibit labor in the prison. Labor men 
 opposed the exploitation of the prisoner under the 
 lease and contract system. Labor men devised the 
 "state use" system which affords opportunity to the 
 prisoner and fair play to him and to the free working 
 man. To-day labor men present and stand firmly 
 behind a broad constructive program for the develop- 
 ment of prison industries on a right basis. And, 
 furthermore, if the prisoner will seize his opportunity 
 and develop himself to union standards on his release 
 we will receive him into the Union and afford him 
 the protection, the fellowship of the union group. 1 
 
 1 Statement made by John J. Manning at Conference at Sing Sing 
 Prison, July 29, 1915. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 THE MAN WHO COMES OUT OF PRISON 
 
 BY R. J. CALDWELL 
 
 Chairman, Committee on Employment, National Committee on Prisons and 
 Prison Labor 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 THE MAN WHO COMES OUT OF PRISON 
 
 THOUSANDS of boys leave the reform schools 
 and reformatories of this country every year. 
 Thousands of them find their way back to the courts 
 and on to the penitentiaries and State prisons. 
 Thousands of the men in the State prisons, and who 
 come out year by year, will tell you that they began 
 their life of crime in a reform school or other juvenile 
 institution. It is an endless chain. 
 
 In the city of Baltimore an illegitimate child is 
 placed on the turning wheel and enters the foundling 
 institution ; at eight he is transferred to the indus- 
 trial school, and at fourteen is graduated into the 
 reformatory end of the industrial school. At eight- 
 een he graduates, trained in a trade at which only 
 women work, unable to get a job. He is picked 
 up on the street and sent to the city jail for a term, 
 and again works at the woman's trade. Upon 
 graduation from this pest-hole, he is no better off 
 than before. He is picked up again, goes to the 
 workhouse to continue his education in the same 
 woman's trade. Several years later he finds him- 
 self again released. He is skilled in a trade profit- 
 able to the penal institutions. The governor " for- 
 
 179 
 
180 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 mally notifies the justices that they must send as 
 many convicts as possible to the House of Cor- 
 rection because of the need of keeping good faith 
 with the contractors at the institution." 1 The 
 Governor of one of our Western States found the 
 contractors following up just such cases, framing them 
 and returning them to the prison. 2 What chance has 
 our "graduate" to get an honest job? Once in the 
 State prison his skill is valuable ; he works at the old 
 trade, but when he graduates at the end of four, 
 five, or ten years is it strange that he soon returns ? 
 Some men have a chance when they get out of 
 prison a chance to commit again the crime for 
 which they entered prison. They have protection 
 in their life of crime. The only requisite is the 
 guarantee of the old gang to the politicians that 
 they will be on the level with their pals, and if the 
 politicians will control the police and the court, 
 they will control the elections by casting fraudulent 
 votes, as my friend Jim did thirty times one elec- 
 tion day, and in return was allowed to continue 
 his old life unmolested. Every clever man coming 
 from prison to a great city like New York has this 
 opportunity. Is it to be wondered when he sees 
 all around him political corruption, in prison and 
 out, that he takes the chance and continues in the 
 old life? 
 
 1 See " Report on the House of Correction, Jessup, Maryland, 
 Made by the National Committee on Prison Labor, November 1st, 
 1911", to the Board of Managers, House of Correction. Published in 
 "Penal Servitude", Appendix 1. 
 
 2 As stated in correspondence with the National Committee on Prison 
 Labor, 1912. 
 
MAN WHO COMES OUT OF PRISON 181 
 
 Should he desire to go straight let us see what 
 the struggle is. Pale and emaciated, garbed in an 
 ill-fitting suit of prison make and of a material 
 which every detective knows at sight, with carfare 
 to the place of conviction and five or ten dollars to 
 boot, this wreck of humanity faces the problem of 
 readjusting his life to a community which he has 
 left five, ten, or twenty years before, with former 
 friends who shun him, with employment agencies 
 which refuse to assist him, with police who dog his 
 steps. He spends the night under the shelter of a 
 sister's roof. Some crime takes place in the vicinity. 
 The police arrest him, and he is taken to the lock-up. 
 He avoids conviction and starts again. He secures 
 a small job of a menial type and gets a little money 
 ahead. He is visited by a member of the old gang. 
 "Come back to the Gang" is the demand. He 
 refuses. "Give up your money, or the boss will 
 know you are a Con!" The problem is to decide 
 between the old life of crime, the payment of black- 
 mail, or the loss of the job. There is no protection 
 except to the evildoer. 
 
 Yet society has thought that it did its duty towards 
 the man who comes out of prison. Humane people 
 possessed of human sympathy have established 
 Prisoners' Aid Societies, have given old clothes and 
 wood-yard jobs to the ex-convict and his family 
 since the founding of the Pennsylvania Prison Society 
 in 1787 to the present day. These efforts have been 
 fruitless. The old prison system with its oppres- 
 sion, cells, clubs, guards, and chains, so brutalized 
 the creatures that endured it that, in the majority 
 
182 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 of cases, they remained permanently in the criminal 
 class, living half in prison and half out, half their 
 time denouncing society, and half their time wreak- 
 ing vengeance upon society. 
 
 Prisoners' Aid Societies have been profitable 
 even to those whose salaries were not paid by Prison- 
 ers' Aid Societies. Hysterical furor, temporary 
 "clean-ups'', exposure of petty graft, the tickling 
 of the sensibilities of lady bountiful and pardoning 
 the noisy to the despair of the deserving prisoner 
 for the special gratification of an administration or 
 a statesman, mark an emotional wave and little, 
 if any, real progress. 
 
 Can opportunity be given the ex-prisoner to make v 
 a place, an honest place for himself, in the world 
 outside the prison? If so, what is the approach? 
 How can he be so protected that society itself is 
 protected ? 
 
 The first approach lies in the prison; the initial 
 work must be done there. The so-called Mutual 
 Welfare System is a very simple expedient whereby 
 the individuals we find in prison can express the 
 best that there is in them, can improve their own 
 conditions by consorting with others who are sit-* 
 uated like themselves and can demonstrate to the 
 unconvicted community that despite the accident 
 of their incarceration they have the ability to over- 
 come evil propensities with good, and to conduct 
 themselves according to the dictates of societyl 
 Ball games, concerts, plays, the workshops, the 
 schoolroom classes, sociability in the mess-hall, 
 the prisoners' court, are simply the necessary ad- 
 
MAN WHO COMES OUT OF PRISON 183 
 
 juncts to a suppressed community which seeks 
 self-expression, self-respect. 
 
 Those who fail in this community life, and no 
 one expects that number will be small, will need to 
 be brought by their fellows to medical and psy- 
 chiatrical specialists. The prison community must 
 see to it that those who cannot meet its standards- 
 are not permitted to rejoin the community outside 
 the prison. The first step must be taken in the 
 prison and only the man who has "made good" 
 in the prison be permitted to leave the prison walls. 
 
 The men emerging from prison, whose relations 
 have been right with their fellows in the institution, 
 possess a new idea, a new thought of opportunity, 
 and they carry the germ of this to the larger com- 
 munity they enter; no longer do they carry forth 
 the germs of crime, of vengeance, and skill in exploit- 
 ing the community. 
 
 The new prison movement is reaching beyond 
 the ex-prisoners to their fellows in the underworld, 
 to the lowest strata of our social structure. Peter 
 Cullen, a member of the Mutual Welfare League, 
 escaped from Sing Sing Prison and for several weeks 
 no clue could be had as to his whereabouts. Sud- 
 denly one day Peter notified Thomas Mott Osborne 
 that he was voluntarily returning to the prison be- 
 cause his pals urged him not to betray the League. 
 Peter's pals had felt the spirit of the new move- 
 ment and responded to it in their own crude way. 
 
 The change that is taking place in the roots of 
 our civilization is hard to describe as we know so 
 little of real underworld conditions, but in brief, 
 
184 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 the tyranny of the police, the exploitation by fellow- 
 criminals, the subtle influence of the politicians, are 
 passing. The underworld is responding to the op- 
 portunity for freedom and protection in that free- 
 dom "free to do right" is fast becoming a reality. 
 
 . The movement must spread to the upper strata, 
 the well-to-do must learn how to regard, how to 
 meet the man who has been in prison. They must 
 learn to eschew charity, to refuse to patronize, to 
 demonstrate that democracy is a vital thing, the 
 dominant factor in the life of the nation. 
 
 Protection to the man coming out of prison, pro- 
 tection to do right, is the great new thought. We 
 have shown that, when released under the new sys- 
 tem, the ex-prisoner will have a guarantee of physi- 
 cal health, normal mentality, and industrial ability 
 sufficient for self-support. This guarantee makes 
 possible the protection to the worker of the union 
 organization in his particular line, and the group 
 power of the honest working man can be substi- 
 tuted for the group influence of the crooked gang 
 even the unorganized trades have their social clubs 
 or other agencies with which the ex-prisoner can be 
 associated. His great need is to be connected up 
 with these outside agencies. 
 
 To connect the ex-prisoner with these agencies 
 for good, to open up for him a job which corresponds 
 to the work he has successfully carried on in prison, 
 is the task of those who would really help. This 
 is equally true in regard to the graduate from a 
 reform school, a reformatory, or a State prison; 
 the emphasis is not on the place from which the 
 
MAN WHO COMES OUT OF PRISON 185 
 
 man has come but on that to which he is going. The 
 person who would make this connection should 
 be informed well in advance from the prison ; when 
 a man will be released, what his trade is and his 
 ability in this trade, what social or religious activ- 
 ities he would seek, what weaknesses he needs to 
 fear and wherein his ambition lies. The man who 
 welcomes the ex-prisoner to the world outside, who 
 introduces him to his new life, needs a sympathetic 
 understanding of the very soul of the man, yet must 
 have a practical working knowledge of the world 
 into which the man is going and be big enough and 
 broad enough to be the "pal", not patron. Then, 
 and then only, can the day of release from prison 
 be divorced from the old thought of despair and 
 possess the hope which comes from the sense of safety 
 and protection secured by a drawing together of 
 the forces of community life which are uplifting 
 society. 
 
 The ex-prisoner himself has no mean part to play 
 in this work. He it is who can best welcome the 
 newly released prisoner when he comes to the social 
 center, the church, or the union. He it is who 
 knows the heart-burning. He it is who knows 
 the true friends who will help. It is the same ex- 
 prisoner who can do most for the graduate of the 
 juvenile institution or the wayward boy in the 
 community. He is no mollycoddle, he has known 
 life, he has been the outlaw, has lived through real 
 temptation and understands the forces which appeal 
 to the restless spirit of youth. His warning, his 
 quiet suggestion, his reproof, have a subtle influence. 
 
186 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 The test of any prison system is the man who is 
 released from prison ; his after life will demonstrate 
 the practicability, the reality of any prison reform. 
 From the ex-prisoner will come suggestions as to 
 what he has found most difficult to withstand, as 
 to where the new movement can be strengthened 
 and made more effective. The "follow-up" work 
 has a vital bearing on the whole prison problem, 
 how great a bearing we can hardly realize ; it is too 
 early as yet for us to grasp its full significance. 
 
 But the work has been started. Some of us have 
 joined together and through the medium of the 
 Committee on Employment of the National Com- 
 mittee on Prisons and Prison Labor are endeavor- 
 ing to harness together forces never before coor- 
 dinated, to make social relationships real and protec- 
 tion adequate for the man who comes out of prison. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE COMMUNITY CENTER AND THE 
 DELINQUENT 
 
 BY JOHN COLLIER 
 
 Director, The Training School for Community Workers, New York, 
 Secretary, National Community Center Association 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE COMMUNITY CENTER AND THE 
 DELINQUENT 1 
 
 THE community center and the delinquent, not 
 merely the problem of delinquency, need to be 
 brought together. This is true whether the delin- 
 quent be the graduate of a penal institution or the 
 wayward youth not yet committed. The need is 
 mutual; there is no greater need on either side. 
 To make this proposition convincing it is necessary 
 to define the community center and also to venture 
 on a speculation as to the nature of delinquency. 
 
 The , community center is an impulse toward 
 meeting, and a device for meeting, one of the crying 
 needs of all industrial civilizations. This need is 
 the restoration of the possibility for human expres- 
 siveness which in the first stages of industrialism 
 is broken down ; and the provision of new means 
 for ethical development among the common people 
 who in our day are subjected to kinds of ethical 
 stress which in the past have been experienced by 
 none except the more adventurous members of the 
 small leisure class. These considerations can only 
 
 1 This chapter is largely based on a report not yet published, prepared 
 by Miss Mildred Taylor, Secretary, Committee on Unadjusted Chil- 
 dren of the People's Institute and the National Committee on Prisons 
 and Prison Labor. 
 
 189 
 
190 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 be broadly stated here. The moral life of custom 
 and of supernatural hope and fear, which has sus- 
 tained and constrained the ninety and nine who 
 did not stray in the past, is being rapidly made impo- 
 tent under the reactions of science, of cosmopoli- 
 tanism, of congestion, of factory production, of 
 rapid transit, the diffusion of ideas and influences 
 through printing, and the constant shifting of in- 
 dividuals from group to group of differing customs. 
 So much for the ethical part. It all applies to the 
 human part too. The specialization of industry 
 has de-humanized work; the family as an institu- 
 tion has relatively lapsed. The organization of 
 all social processes into vast units controlled from 
 remote centers has deprived most individuals of 
 the means for vital social expressiveness, wholesome 
 self-assertion, and the sense of responsibility. 
 
 The old order changeth ; the new order is a seeth- 
 ing-pot Macbeth's witch-pot rather than Zang- 
 will's melting-pot. Custom and law diverge ever 
 more widely ; the actual group standards by which 
 individuals really live grow more contrasting, while 
 at the same time the individual moves (in America 
 at least) freely from group to group. The whole 
 order of things is more complex, more unstable, 
 and the means for rightly "placing" the individual, 
 whether socially or vocationally, are yet waiting 
 to be forged out through social science. 
 
 The above condition, as a totality, is not bad 
 but good. It is, however, the background against 
 which the delinquent must be studied, and it is 
 the condition directly and consciously responsible 
 
THE CENTER AND THE DELINQUENT 191 
 
 for the world- wide movement to establish community 
 centers. 
 
 Now for the community center. This is a name 
 for any local organized center for ethical, human, 
 or common interests. It is a watchword for those 
 who are trying to win life back to the small unit 
 basis in those fields of concern where the small unit 
 is the right unit. If the theory back of Thomas 
 Mott Osborne's work at Sing Sing is a correct one 
 the theory that men live normally in groups of a 
 fairly intimate character, that the community is 
 made up of cooperative groups, that men grow vir- 
 tuous through taking their destiny into their own 
 hands through responsible action in small groups 
 then the principles of Sing Sing must be estab- 
 lished in the larger community, or else Sing Sing 
 must continue as a refuge for the fortunate few. 
 Sing Sing has become a fascinating laboratory for 
 community work; its greatest interest lies in the 
 fact that one may there observe in clear cut and 
 favorable operation certain forces of human nature, 
 certain hugely important principles of the endur- 
 ing social organization which can also be observed 
 in the community center movement in its many 
 forms and under its many names; neighborhood 
 association, social center, grange, Wirt School, 
 and above all in the cooperative consumers' move- 
 ment of European countries. 
 
 This last named movement is of the same type 
 as the community center movement in nearly all 
 essentials. In it, vast economic processes have 
 been reorganized on the small-unit basis. Retail 
 
192 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 societies, federations of retail societies, wholesale 
 federations, propagandizing federations, an annual 
 business of several billions of dollars, a membership 
 of twenty-five million wage-earners, all, from bot- 
 tom to top, rest on a basis of intimate units where 
 every man knows his fellow man, where the local 
 unit rises or falls by its own virtue and yet, in its 
 hardships, is sustained by the resources of a great 
 movement, and in its success contributes in ways 
 vividly manifest to the success of the whole. The 
 European movement has flooded over into social, 
 moral, and spiritual life, in a hundred definable 
 ways. In Belgium it constitutes the main part 
 of the vital environment of a million members, 
 and it remains in Belgium and eastern France the 
 only important social structure, except possibly 
 the Roman Catholic Church, which has not been 
 shattered through the ravage and subjugation of 
 the Great War. 
 
 In America, the community movement centers 
 in its latest phase in the use of public school build- 
 ings by organized groups of the people. It is a 
 new phase, yet sixty-eight cities were represented 
 in the National Conference of Community Centers 
 formed during the last year, and this number (of 
 cities or towns, not of individual members) will 
 grow to several hundred before another year has 
 passed. In general, school community centers tend 
 to become self-governing in a real way and are more 
 or less sometimes wholly self-supporting. The 
 promotion of self-governing and increasingly self- 
 supporting community centers has become a policy 
 
THE CENTER AND THE DELINQUENT 193 
 
 with many State and municipal boards of education. 
 These centers have memberships including all ages 
 and both sexes, with emphasis on attendance by 
 families as groups. The activities are whatever 
 the people want, theoretically ; and in large measure 
 what the wise professional leader suggests and pro- 
 motes, practically. 
 
 The community centers have not yet consciously 
 related themselves to the problem of delinquency 
 or of unadjustment ; they tend to be and do in ac- 
 cordance with the tastes of the supposedly normal 
 members of the immediate community that is, 
 the members neither too rich nor too poor, neither 
 geniuses nor subnormals, neither passionate advo- 
 cates of reform nor fugitive enemies of society. This 
 is the infancy of the community center; it must 
 and will face the real problem, pool the interest of 
 its members toward great ends, and enlist the trou- 
 blesome because yet untamed individual, if it is to 
 have a future. 
 
 The reason why the community ' center must in- 
 terest itself sympathetically in the delinquent in- 
 dividual contains within itself the theory as to the 
 nature of delinquency intimated at the beginning 
 of this chapter. The delinquent individual, when 
 he is not an outright feeble-minded case, or mere 
 accidental case, brought into the law's coils through 
 fortuitous legal circumstances, or when his delin- 
 quency is not a direct result of the law's attempts 
 to correct some previous minor delinquency, must 
 be viewed as merely an acute manifestation of 
 what is sub-acute through a large part of all our 
 
194 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 population. He is the unadjusted individual. His 
 overt act, and his criminal classification supposedly 
 based on the act, signify little and sometimes less 
 than nothing, for they are, in the case of most ju- 
 venile "offenders", neither the crime nor the cause 
 of the crime. 1 Looking at the fount ainhead of all 
 delinquency, juvenile delinquency, we find the 
 following list of approximate causes, assigned by 
 the Committee on Unadjusted Children of the Peo- 
 ple's Institute and the National Committee on 
 Prisons and Prison Labor. The list is patently true 
 as far as it goes : physical defects ; feeble-minded- 
 ness; border-line insanity; vocational unprepared- 
 ness ; strong interests with no outlet ; moral mal- 
 education; unfortunate school environment; social 
 isolation; social misplacement; gangs and other 
 unfavorable relationships ; family economic distress ; 
 conflict with family; irresponsible parents. 
 
 The Memorandum of the Committee above quoted 
 continues: "The same causes produce truancy, 
 delinquency and dependency, and the children 
 classified under each of these headings experi- 
 ence, with varying degrees of emphasis, the same 
 needs." 
 
 But it is evident that the above list of causes of 
 delinquency, and any other list which would reason- 
 ably cover the facts of experience, is a list of causes 
 which are afflicting or undoing multitudes of other 
 children and multitudes of other families, of young 
 people and old, who never become wards of the 
 
 ^'The City Where Crime is Play" (published by the People's Insti- 
 tute, 1914). 
 
THE CENTER AND THE DELINQUENT 195 
 
 State. These persons are never stigmatized as 
 criminals, victims, or failures, or even classified as 
 " unadjusted", but they are in fact unadjusted, 
 unhappy, they represent vocational failures, they 
 live within the neurotic zone, and in a sad and 
 meaningful sense they are defeated lives. Quoting 
 further from the Memorandum of the Committee 
 on Unadjusted Children : 
 
 "The unadjusted child is the index of a far vaster 
 latent misery among all the people. We class 
 ourselves as normal and these problematical persons 
 as abnormal ; we dream that underneath our 
 imagined good fortune we are not as they are; or 
 that they are 'unfortunates', and we think that 
 our own children are not bound to the same wheel. 
 So we are willing to lavish public expenditures 
 and technical resources on the unadjusted child, 
 if only he can be kept away from our children and 
 out of our immediate sight. And in our community 
 and recreation centers, our playgrounds and settle- 
 ments, we say : * We are not reform institutions ; 
 we work for the average child.' It is a fact that 
 most settlements and social centers to-day virtually 
 debar the unadjusted child who has passed under 
 the law, though few will explicitly say that they 
 do. All the while the mass of those who are made 
 at home in our neighborhood institutions, have the 
 same needs as the unadjusted child and are, save 
 for accident or circumstances, as unadjusted as 
 he. The 'average' child, and family in fact, need 
 the help of the special remedial agency, and the 
 special agency to do its work effectively needs to 
 operate within the community itself. For in the 
 last analysis, unadjustment in the child, feeble- 
 mindedness and other inherited pathology debarred, 
 is just homelessness, nothing less and nothing more 
 
196 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 a lack of vital and satisfying relation to neigh- 
 bors, to work, to the social life through which one's 
 personality is discovered and maintained." 
 
 The point of view here suggested, as to the nature 
 of delinquency, is especially important. If the 
 community produces the delinquent, then we must 
 attend to the community. If most men are basi- 
 cally sufferers just in the way the delinquent is 
 before he is "caught", then we must attend to most 
 men. Unadjustment is our gravest human prob- 
 lem, without exception. In it the special problem 
 of the recognized delinquent must be absorbed, 
 and our whole direction of treatment the kind 
 of demand which we make on our institutions 
 must be altered. The community center is poten- 
 tially important in the facing of this issue because 
 if it "gets ahead" at all, it must accomplish the 
 following results : 
 
 1. It must make the people conscious of their 
 problems and of ways of collectively meeting them. 
 None of these problems is greater than that of unad- 
 justment, and it calls for concerted action; the 
 most Utopian reconstruction of the individual will 
 not solve it, unless we are to continue isolating the 
 individual forever. The crisis will come when he 
 "goes back home", and that "home", the neigh- 
 borhood, and intimate group must be reconstructed 
 from within under its own leadership. A community 
 center could be viewed as such a "home" reconstruct- 
 ing itself. 
 
 2. The community center must bring the common 
 people and the specialist together. Both elements 
 
THE CENTER AND THE DELINQUENT 197 
 
 require it. Our civilization is specialized. Scien- 
 tific endeavor involves specialization. The specialist 
 must be conserved, including the specialist in cur- 
 ing unadjustment and improving institutions. The 
 people must learn how to get at the specialist and 
 use him, and this use must be reciprocal. It is in 
 the fields of medicine and of the correction of unad- 
 justments of the psychic and social kind that this 
 mutual usefulness is most required. If we had 
 community centers inspired by dynamic interests 
 and had them functionally related with the spe- 
 cialists who work on delinquency, the dominant 
 question of prevention and of after care would be 
 met. They cannot be met otherwise. 
 
 3. A final and distinct aim of the community 
 center must be to teach the people of a community 
 to expect to find good in one another, to solicit 
 talent, to devise uses for special talent and special 
 experience. If our prisons have many feeble- 
 minded inmates, they also have strong-minded 
 inmates, and many inmates of the neurotic, the 
 functionally disordered type, the type which is 
 rich in special talent of many kinds, richer in tem- 
 peramental endowment than perhaps any other 
 type, and not without inventiveness. The commu- 
 nity center needs these qualities. The child or man 
 who has been in trouble and who possesses these 
 qualities will make good if we can put them to the 
 service of the community and win a place in the 
 community by serving. We must hasten the time 
 when prisoners, adult as well as juvenile, will be 
 discreetly paroled to community center service. 
 
198 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 To make this thought real an illustration is quoted 
 from the Memorandum previously referred to : 
 
 " A family with eight boys. One boy has passed 
 through a Protectory and is now being called upon 
 periodically by a parole officer from the Protectory. 
 He is out of work and the Employment Bureau of 
 the Protectory's After-Care Department is trying 
 to get him a position. A local employment bureau 
 connected with a settlement is likewise trying to 
 place the boy. The next younger brother, who is 
 under the supervision of an attendance officer and 
 has been threatened with the truant school, has 
 also been before the Children's Court for delinquency 
 and is on probation, reporting to a probation officer. 
 A still younger brother is, according to the father, 
 incorrigible. 'He likes nothing but playing the 
 violin,' the father says. 
 
 " This remark leads back to the Protectory experi- 
 ence of the elder brother. There, according to the 
 institution's record, the boy had learned to play the 
 cornet ; he had played in the institution's orchestra. 
 
 " The father had once played an instrument. Music 
 is the one common interest of the family. Their 
 quarters are small, and as the babies had come along, 
 one each year, the space for playing music had 
 dwindled. At last they ceased to play together. 
 The mother is ashamed of her eldest boy because 
 he has been to a protectory, but she likes music 
 too. 
 
 "There is a community center four doors from 
 the tenement where this family lives. The distin- 
 guishing achievement of this center has been in the 
 line of music. Orchestras and choral societies have 
 been created there under the leadership of an am- 
 ateur genius. 
 
 " The family has never heard of the community 
 center. The community center has never heard 
 
THE CENTER AND THE DELINQUENT 199 
 
 of the family. The probation officer, the parole 
 officer, the truant officer, have not consulted one 
 another about this group of interrelated cases. None 
 of them know the community center and it knows 
 none of them. 
 
 " Here is a family with special talents which are 
 at the same time their one common, passionate 
 interest. These talents are needed and honored 
 by the community. Here is a community instru- 
 ment developed through years of labor with the 
 object of enabling people to give of themselves to 
 their neighbors. The family is 'down' in its own 
 esteem and in that of its neighbors. 
 
 " To meet this case, there is no dearth of expert 
 agencies, no dearth of community resources. There 
 appears no intrinsic incapacity in the family. But 
 each of these elements of social aid and of human 
 hope and worth are moving, as it were, in a void. 
 A solitude of the desert surrounds each one. 
 
 "Associate them," the Memorandum concludes, 
 " and the whole situation will be transformed." 
 
 Space for further illustrative cases is lacking in 
 this article ; the above case alone opens many teas- 
 ing vistas. But why, it will be asked, is this chap- 
 ter devoted to " must be " and " can be " with no refer- 
 ence to actual past achievement ? We must reply : 
 The approach to the problem of delinquency, from 
 the standpoint of sympathetic community aid, the 
 approach of equal to equal, from without the prison 
 and within, is new even in popular thought. As 
 for the community center, it is as yet more a wide- 
 spread and enduring impulse than anything achieved ; 
 three presidents of the United States have declared 
 it to be the most significant current phase of funda- 
 
200 THE PRISON AND THE PRISONER 
 
 mental democracy, but it is yet infantile, plastic, 
 unsure of its own values. For this very reason, 
 experiments, demonstrations, courageous applied 
 imagination are needed. "Action is the beginning 
 of everything." It is likely that the present year, 
 in New York City at least, will witness radical 
 developments in the bringing together of effort 
 in community centers, effort toward the correction 
 of unadjustment, and effort toward the moderni- 
 zation of prisons. 
 
 Postscript, April, 1917. 
 
 All that is said above has been embodied in a 
 project just instituted by the Committee on Unad- 
 justed Children of New York. The project is 
 called the Community Clearing House. It serves 
 an area of about fifteen thousand people in the 
 Gramercy district of New York. Through this 
 clearing house the experts of public and of private 
 social service will be enabled to cooperate more 
 intimately with one another and will be placed in 
 touch with the organized common people. The 
 clearing house is made semi-official through the co- 
 operation of the following, among other public de- 
 partments : Education, Charities, Correction, Health, 
 Tenement, Employment, Hospitals. 
 
 Associated with the clearing house will be a social 
 clinic for unadjusted children where experimental 
 work in the rehabilitation of delinquent young 
 people will be carried out in cooperation with the 
 Children's Court, the Compulsory Attendance 
 Bureau, and the parole officers of institutions. 
 
THE CENTER AND THE DELINQUENT 201 
 
 The Community Clearing House and the Social 
 Clinic will operate in close relations with the large 
 experimental Community Center which is main- 
 tained at School 40, Manhattan, by the Training 
 School for Community Workers of the People's 
 Institute. 
 
INDEX 
 
 ACADEMY OF POLITICAL 
 SCIENCE, proceedings of, 
 Jan. 1914, 161 
 
 Administration of State penal 
 institutions, 92, 94, 95, 
 97 
 
 Administrative head of a State 
 penal institution, 92, 93, 
 95 
 
 Agriculture, a factor in the re- 
 habilitation of prisoners, 
 147 
 United States Department of, 
 
 161 
 Alabama, prison contract labor 
 
 not slavery in, 68 
 Anderson v. Crescent Garment 
 Co., a case to test the 
 status of the convict, 52 
 argument for defendant, 60 
 argument for plaintiff, 52 
 opinion, 75 
 
 reply brief for plaintiff, 70 
 Anti-slavery clauses in State 
 
 constitutions, 53 
 Apprenticeship of minors, 68, 
 
 73 
 Attorney General, a prosecuting 
 
 officer, 90 
 jurisdiction over federal 
 
 prisons, 88 
 
 jurisdiction over territorial 
 prisoners, 86 
 
 Attorney General, Continued 
 to order transfer of insane 
 
 prisoners, 87 
 to purchase sites for prisons, 
 
 87 
 
 Auburn Prison, 101, 102, 165 
 Mutual Welfare League in, 
 
 12, 102 
 
 results of, 107, 108 
 Warden Rattigan of, 102 
 
 BALTIMORE, ILLEGITIMATE 
 
 CHILD IN, 179 
 Bastile, wages paid to French 
 
 convicts since fall of, 50 
 Battle, George Gordon, 52, 53 
 Binding out of paupers, 68, 74 
 Board of Standardization for 
 correctional institutions, 
 143, 174 
 
 Butler, Nicholas Murray, Presi- 
 dent of Columbia Univer- 
 sity, 92 
 
 CALIFORNIA, LABOR LEGISLA- 
 TION OF, 168 
 lease system in, 168 
 San Quentin prison in, 167 
 University of, 168 
 Capital punishment, 83, 85 
 Carter, James M., 13 
 Causative factors of crime, 23, 
 24 
 
204 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Chafee, Zechariah, Jr., 60 
 Civil Service Commission of 
 New York State, manual 
 for examination of prison 
 and reformatory guard, 
 117 
 Civil War, 49, 54, 71 
 
 condition of negro slaves be- 
 fore, 67 
 
 Clark, Dr. L. Pierce, 30 
 Classification of prisoners, 9, 
 
 10,19 
 
 Columbia University, Graduate 
 Department of Highway 
 Engineering of, 161 
 President Butler of, 92 
 Community center, 189, 191, 
 
 193, 196-199 
 cooperation with community 
 
 clearing house, 201 
 national conference of, 192 
 reason for interest of, in the 
 
 delinquent, 193 
 use of public school buildings 
 
 for, 192 
 
 Compulsory service, 73 
 Connecticut, appropriations for 
 
 reformatory in, 106 
 board of directors of, 106- 
 109, 111 
 
 a board of parole, 109, 110 
 grading of reformatory in- 
 mates in, 112 
 
 Mutual Welfare League in 
 reformatory of, 108, 109, 
 111, 112 
 reformatory at Cheshire, 107, 
 
 108 
 
 road work for reformatory in- 
 mates in, 110, 111 
 wage for reformatory inmates 
 in, 110 
 
 " Constitutional History of 
 
 New York State", by C. Z. 
 
 Lincoln, 166, 167, 169, 172 
 
 Constitution of the United 
 
 States, 73, 75, 83 
 
 Thirteenth amendment, 49, 
 50, 66 
 
 Willoughby's, 66 
 Continental Congress for 
 government of North- West 
 Territory, 66 
 
 Contract system of convict 
 labor, 58, 85, 94, 110 
 
 abandonment in many States 
 of, 59 
 
 abolished in New Jersey, 171 
 
 comparison with apprentice- 
 ship of minors, 68 
 
 comparison with binding out 
 of paupers, 68 
 
 contention that it is not 
 slavery, 66, 68 
 
 contract between Rhode 
 Island Board of Control 
 and Crescent Garment 
 Company, 52 
 
 effort to reinstate in New 
 York State, 172 
 
 established in New York 
 State by 1828, 167 
 
 existed contemporaneously 
 with adoption of constitu- 
 tion in Rhode Island, 78 
 
 exploitation of prisoner under, 
 85, 168 
 
 federal legislation to over- 
 come, 171 
 
 first evidence in Rhode Island 
 of, 56 
 
 held to be in contravention 
 of Rhode Island constitu- 
 tion, 52 
 
INDEX 
 
 205 
 
 Contract system of convict 
 labor, Continued 
 
 in Rhode Island, 52, 56, 60, 
 64, 67, 71 
 
 in States which prohibit 
 slavery, 73 
 
 litigation decided by Supreme 
 Court of U. S. in connec- 
 tion with, 67 
 
 long establishment in Rhode 
 Island, 64, 65, 69 
 
 Maine contract, 78 
 
 national concerted action 
 against, 169, 170 
 
 not slavery if contractor can- 
 not enforce control, 75, 78, 
 79 
 
 not slavery in Alabama, 68 
 
 not slavery in Illinois and 
 Georgia, 69 
 
 primarily a benefit to the con- 
 tractor, 74 
 
 prohibited in federal prisons, 
 87 
 
 prohibited in prisons where 
 federal prisoners are con- 
 fined, 87 
 
 recognized by legislators, 65 
 
 statute authorizing, in Rhode 
 Island, 51 
 
 (See LEASE SYSTEM OF CON- 
 VICT LABOR) 
 
 Convict, labor of the, 51, 52, 
 56, 58-60, 63-35, 67-69, 
 72-75, 77, 78 
 
 rights of, in Rhode Island, 
 60, 61, 70 
 
 state in loco parentis to, 74 
 
 status of, 51, 52, 55, 78, 79 
 
 wage for the, 50, 54, 56-58, 
 63, 96, 138, 139, 174, 
 175 
 
 Convict labor, contract sys- 
 tem of, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 
 64-69, 71, 73-75, 78, 79, 
 85, 94, 171, 172 
 shop labor, 56 
 solitary labor, 56 
 wage for, 50, 54, 56-58, 63, 
 
 96, 138, 139, 174, 175 
 "Convict Labor for Road 
 Work ".Bulletin 414, U.S. 
 Department of Agriculture, 
 161 
 
 "Convict Road Work for 
 Misdemeanant Prisoners", 
 James L. Stamford, 161 
 Cooperative Consumers' Move- 
 ment, 191, 192 
 
 Corporal punishment pro- 
 hibited in Rhode Island, 
 55, 59, 72 
 
 Correctional institutions, board 
 of standardization for, 143 
 cooperation with other 
 State boards and commis- 
 sions, 146 
 
 coordination of, 144 
 educational directors for, 144, 
 
 145 
 
 occupations for, 147-150 
 State superintendent of in- 
 dustries for, 143 
 supervisors of shop work for, 
 
 144, 145 
 (See PENAL INSTITUTIONS ; 
 
 PRISONS) 
 
 Court of General Sessions in 
 
 the City of New York, 7 
 
 Courts, function of, 4 
 
 Crescent Garment Company, 
 
 contract with Rhode Island 
 
 State Board of Control, 52 
 
 Criminal records of prisoners, 7 
 
206 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Cullen, Peter, 183 
 
 Curtis, General Newton Mar- 
 tin, speech before the 
 House of Representatives, 
 June 9, 1882, 83 
 
 DAVIS, KATHARINE B., 15 
 Death penalty 
 
 (See CAPITAL PUNISHMENT) 
 Declaration of Independence, 
 
 158 
 Delinquent, 189, 193, 194, 196, 
 
 199 
 Department of Agriculture, 84, 
 
 91, 161 
 
 Department of Interior, 85, 89 
 government hospital under, 
 
 90 
 Department of Justice, 85,86, 
 
 88 
 charge of Bureau of Criminal 
 
 identification, 90 
 charge of convicts in govern- 
 ment hospital, 90 
 charge of federal prisons and 
 
 prisoners, 90 
 
 charge of Territorial pris- 
 oners, 90 
 
 Department of Labor, 85 
 Bureau of Labor Statistics 
 
 under, 89 
 Department of State, 85 
 
 International Prison Com- 
 missioner under, 88 
 Department of War, 85 
 
 control over military prisons, 
 
 89 
 
 control over prisons in 
 Panama, Porto Rico, and 
 the Philippines, 89 
 Discharge, preparedness for, 
 11,19 
 
 District of Columbia, insane 
 
 asylum of, 87 
 correctional institutions in 
 report to Secretary of the 
 Interior, 90 
 penitentiary of, 87 
 "Dope", 120 
 
 EAVES, DOCTOR LTJCILE, 
 "California Labor Legisla- 
 tion", 167, 168 
 
 Educational directors for cor- 
 rectional institutions, 144, 
 145 
 
 Employment of prisoners at 
 hard labor not slavery, 69 
 
 FEDERAL AND STATE LAWS 
 REGULATING CONVICT LA- 
 BOR, 89 
 
 Federal Constitution 
 
 (See CONSTITUTION OF THE 
 UNITED STATES) 
 
 Federal Courts, supervision 
 over United States Mar- 
 shals, 90 
 
 Federal Government, need for 
 leadership in penal field, 
 85,92 
 
 policy of boarding out pris- 
 oners, 84 
 
 Federal Judges, 86 
 
 Federal legislation to regulate 
 interstate commerce in 
 convict-made goods, 170, 
 171 
 
 Federal Office of Prisons, a 
 clearing house for federal 
 prisons, 91 
 
 suggested by National Com- 
 mittee on Prisons and 
 Prison Labor, 91 
 
INDEX 
 
 207 
 
 Federal Office of Prisons, 
 
 Continued 
 
 to insure leadership for 
 federal penal system, 92 
 Federal penal system, 84, 85, 91 
 Federal prisoners, deduction of 
 time for good conduct of ,86 
 increase in number of, 85 
 in State and county institu- 
 tions, 84, 86 
 
 responsibility for, centered 
 in Department of Justice, 
 88,90 
 under custody of United 
 
 States Marshals, 86 
 withdrawal of, from State 
 and county institutions, 87 
 Federal prisons, Department of 
 Justice control over, 85, 90 
 erection of, 90 
 industries in, 87 
 selection of sites for, 90 
 should be governmental 
 
 laboratories, 91 
 Feeble-minded, 154 
 in prison, 8 
 
 in reception prison, 35 
 Royal Commission on care of, 
 
 in Great Britain, 8 
 (See MENTAL DEFECTIVES) 
 Forces operative in control and 
 direction of human con- 
 duct, 26, 27 
 French Revolution, 50 
 
 effect of, on treatment of 
 French convicts, 50 
 Fry, Elizabeth, 165 
 
 GARVIN, ALBERT, 107 
 Gary system of education, 133 
 Georgia, prison contract labor 
 not slavery in, 69 
 
 George Junior Republic, 140 
 George, William R., "Nothing 
 
 without Labor", 140 
 Glueck, Dr. Bernard H., 29 
 Goddard, Henry H., 8 
 Goldsborough, Phillips Lee, 
 
 171 
 
 Gompers, Samuel, 169, 173 
 Grading of prisoners in Con- 
 necticut, 112 
 
 HEALY, DR. WILLIAM, 24 
 
 Henderson, Charles Richmond, 
 ' ' Modern Prison Systems ' ', 
 165 
 
 "Historical Sketch of the 
 Knights of Labor", 
 Carroll D. Wright, 170 
 
 Hix, Thomas W., 78 
 
 Homicide, definitions of, in 
 different States, 3 
 
 "Honor Men", 153 
 
 "Honor system", 105 
 
 Hospital Development Com- 
 mission of New York 
 State, 10 
 
 Howard, John, 165 
 
 ILLINOIS, ANTI-SLAVERY CLAUSE 
 
 IN CONSTITUTION OF, 53 
 prison contract labor not 
 
 slavery in, 69 
 
 restriction of prison manu- 
 facture in, 169 
 Illiteracy, in United States, 
 
 158-160 
 relation of good and bad 
 
 roads to, 159, 160 
 Indeterminate sentence, 14, 18, 
 
 19 
 
 Indiana, anti-slavery clause in 
 constitution of, 53 
 
208 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Indiana, Continued 
 
 restriction of prison manufac- 
 ture in, 169 
 Industrial Commission of 1900, 
 
 170 
 
 Industrial training for the pris- 
 oner, 127 
 cooperation with organized 
 
 labor in, 146 
 farm training, 136, 147 
 in trades, 146 
 maintenance occupations, 
 
 134, 135 
 productive incentive lacking 
 
 for, 128, 134, 135 
 program for, 130, 131, 132 
 International Prison Commis- 
 sion, United States adher- 
 ing member of, 88 
 President appoints com- 
 missioner, 89 
 
 International relationships, im- 
 prisonment for violation 
 of, 83 
 Involuntary servitude, 49, 
 
 79 
 
 reasons for inclusion in 
 Thirteenth Amendment, 
 66 
 
 JOHNSON, CHIEF JUSTICE, 75 
 
 KENT'S COMMENTARIES, 53 
 Kir by, Dr. George H., 30 
 Kirchwey, Professor George W., 
 
 15, 101 
 Knights of Labor, 169, 170 
 
 LARCENY, DEFINITIONS OF, in 
 
 different States, 3 
 hanging for, in New York 
 State, 5 
 
 Lease system of convict labor, 
 exploitation of prisoner 
 under, 85, 168 
 (See CONTRACT SYSTEM OF 
 
 CONVICT LABOR) 
 Lincoln, Abraham, 49, 102 
 Lincoln, C. Z., "Constitutional 
 History of New York 
 State", 166, 167, 169, 
 172 
 
 MACBETH, 190 
 
 Maine, Hix, Thomas W., 
 Warden, State prison, 78 
 prison contract in, 78 
 restriction of prison manu- 
 facture in, 169 
 
 Manning, John H., 173, 175 
 Market for institutional goods, 
 
 143 
 
 Maryland, Governor Golds- 
 borough of, 171 
 house of correction of, 171, 
 
 180 
 
 penal penitentiary commis- 
 sion of, 171 
 
 prison contracts in, 171 
 restriction on prison manu- 
 facture in, 169 
 
 Massachusetts, restriction on 
 prison manufacture in, 169 
 Maxcy, Henry, 78 
 Mental defectives, like routine 
 
 work, 142 
 segregation of, 145 
 (See FEEBLE-MINDED) 
 Michigan, anti-slavery clause 
 
 in constitution of, 53 
 Military prison at Fort Leaven- 
 worth, 88 
 Miller, Justice, 66 
 Minnesota, restriction of prison 
 manufacture in, 169 
 
INDEX 
 
 209 
 
 "Modern Prison Systems", 
 
 Charles Richmond Hen- 
 derson, 165 
 Moses, 4 
 
 Mutual Welfare League, 12, 13 
 address before, at Sing Sing, 
 
 169 
 
 aims of, 104, 105 
 board of control of, at 
 
 Cheshire Reformatory, 109 
 board of delegates of, at 
 
 Sing Sing, 102 
 court, 103 
 differs from "Honor system", 
 
 105 
 duties of officers of, at Sing 
 
 Sing, 120-122 
 escape of officer of, 183 
 established at Connecticut 
 
 Reformatory, 112 
 executive committee of, 102 
 extended to Sing Sing, 102 
 first meeting of, 102 
 first meeting of, at Cheshire, 
 
 108 
 inmates' court at Cheshire, 
 
 112 
 membership of executive 
 
 board of, 103 
 organization of, 102 
 paroles recommended by 
 
 Cheshire branch, 109 
 privileges of, 103, 108, 111 
 results at Auburn prison, 107, 
 
 108 
 Mutual Welfare System, 182 
 
 NATIONAL ANTI-CONTRACT AS- 
 SOCIATION, 170 
 
 National Committee on Prisons 
 and Prison Labor, 51, 90, 
 101, 161, 172 
 
 National Committee on Prisons 
 and Prison Labor, Con- 
 tinued 
 
 case to test the status of the 
 convict, 52 
 
 employment committee of, 
 186 
 
 joint committee of, on unad- 
 justed children, 189, 194 
 
 psychiatric clinic under aus- 
 pices of, 10 
 
 report on Maryland house of 
 correction made by, 180 
 
 suggestions for establishment 
 of federal office of prisons, 
 91 
 
 National Conference of Com- 
 munity Centers, 192 
 National Democratic Platform 
 
 of 1916, 171 
 Navy Department, control over 
 
 naval prisoners by, 89 
 Neighborhood association, 191 
 New Jersey, contract system of 
 convict labor abolished in, 
 171 
 
 New prison system, address by 
 William H. Wadhams on, 
 172 
 
 duties of Mutual Welfare 
 League officers under, 120, 
 121, 122, 123 
 
 duties of prison officers under, 
 120, 121 
 
 effect on prisoners of, 183 
 
 schools and industries under, 
 
 129 
 
 New York, adoption of Penn- 
 sylvania prison system by, 
 165 
 
 branding of prison-made 
 goods in, 166, 170 
 
210 
 
 INDEX 
 
 New York, Continued 
 
 choice of institutions and of 
 
 length of sentence in, 9 
 civil service commission of, 117 
 civil service examination for 
 
 prison officers in, 117 
 clearing house for prisoners 
 
 of, 29 
 
 commission to examine the 
 department of State pris- 
 ons of, 172 
 commission on prison reform 
 
 of, 30, 101, 102 
 constitutional history of, 166, 
 
 167, 169, 172 
 contract system of convict 
 
 labor in, 167 
 
 Department of Labor of, bul- 
 letin of, March, 1910, 170 
 federation of labor of, 173 
 hanging for larceny in, 5 
 hospital development com- 
 mission of, 10 
 laws of, 11, 166 
 mechanics of, active against 
 
 prison competition, 169 
 new prison commission of, 10 
 no classification of prisoners 
 
 in, 93 
 
 parole law of 1915 of, 15 
 printers' union in, 146 
 reception prison for prisoners 
 
 of, 25, 30 
 
 restriction on prison manu- 
 facture in, 169 
 sentence fixed by judge in, 14 
 Sing Sing prison, 6, 10-13, 27, 
 29, 30, 36, 102, 118, 165, 
 169, 172, 173, 175, 183, 191 
 State hospital for insane at 
 
 Matteawan, 36 
 statute of 1801, 166 
 
 New York, Continued 
 
 stove industry in the prisons 
 
 of, 169 
 New York City, community 
 
 clearing house of, 200, 201 
 court of general sessions in, 7 
 ex-convict in, 180 
 experience of judges in regard 
 
 to indeterminate sentence 
 
 in, 18 
 
 Newgate prison built in, 165 
 parole commission of, 15-17 
 peoples' institute of, 189, 194, 
 
 201 
 " Nothing without Labor ", 
 
 William R. George, 140 
 
 OCCUPATIONS FOB CORREC- 
 TIONAL INSTITUTIONS, 147- 
 
 150 
 
 Ohio, anti-slavery clause in con- 
 stitution of, 53 
 
 restriction on prison manu- 
 facture in, 169 
 Old Prison System, 117-119 
 
 brutality of, 104, 105 
 
 duties of officers at Sing Sing 
 under, 118, 119 
 
 punishments under, 120 
 Organized labor, 94 
 
 need for cooperation with, in 
 prison industrial work, 146 
 
 proposal by, for distribution 
 of prison-made goods, 171 
 
 proposal by, of federal legis- 
 lation to regulate interstate 
 commerce in convict-made 
 goods, 171 
 
 suggestions by, of " State use ' ' 
 system, 172 
 
 willing to receive ex-prisoners 
 into unions, 175 
 
INDEX 
 
 Osborne, Thomas Mott, '6, 13, 
 101, 107, 172, 173, 183, 
 191 
 address on prison reform, 172 
 
 PANAMA, PRISONS UNDER WAR 
 
 DEPARTMENT, 89 
 Parole, commission of the city 
 
 of New York, 15-17 
 from Cheshire Reformatory, 
 
 109 
 
 Penal institutions, administra- 
 tion of, 92, 97 
 administrative head of, 92 
 training in, 95 
 
 (See CORRECTIONAL INSTITU- 
 TIONS; PRISONS) 
 "Penal Servitude", E. Stagg 
 Whitin, 50, 93, 167, 170, 
 171, 180 
 Pennsylvania, prison society 
 
 founded in, 181 
 prison system of, 165 
 restriction of prison manu- 
 facture in, 169 
 statute of March, 1780, 63 
 People's Institute of New York 
 City, joint committee of, 
 on unadjusted children, 
 189, 194 
 the city where crime is play, 
 
 194 
 
 training schools for commu- 
 nity workers, 201 
 Phenomenon common to of- 
 fenders, 25 
 
 Philippine Islands, prisons 
 
 under War Department, 89 
 
 Plessy v. Ferguson, definition of 
 
 slavery in, 53, 76 
 Porto Rico, prisons under War 
 Department, 89 
 
 President of United States, ap- 
 points international prison 
 commissioner, 89 
 Prison, a community, 94-97, 
 133 
 
 assignment to work in, 128, 
 141 
 
 control of, 93 
 
 diet in the, 96 
 
 difference between industrial 
 plant of, and ordinary in- 
 dustrial plant, 94 
 
 distribution of commodities 
 of, 93, 95 
 
 educational and vocational 
 purposes of, 129 
 
 educational work in, 130 
 
 farm training in, 96, 136-138, 
 174 
 
 maintenance occupations in, 
 134, 135 
 
 organization of work in, 96 
 
 population of, 93, 127 
 
 production and distribution 
 of commodities in, 93, 95, 
 96 
 
 productive work in, 130 
 
 punitive industries in, 141, 
 142 
 
 purchasing department for, 
 96 
 
 trade work in, 146 
 
 vocational guidance in, 146 
 
 vocational work in, 130 
 
 wage for work in, 50, 54, 56- 
 58, 96, 110, 139, 174, 
 175 
 
 (See CORRECTIONAL INSTI- 
 TUTIONS ; PENAL INSTITU- 
 TIONS) 
 Prisoners' Aid Societies, 181, 
 
INDEX 
 
 Prison officer, duties of, under 
 old and new prison sys- 
 tems, 117-123 
 
 appointed under civil service 
 in New York State, 117' 
 
 no special training for, 117, 
 118 
 
 productive incentive lacking 
 
 for the, 128 
 
 Prison reform, address on by 
 Thomas Mott Obsorne, 172 
 
 advocated by National Demo- 
 cratic Platform of 1916, 
 171 
 
 need for cooperation with 
 organized labor in, 146 
 
 New York State Commission 
 on, 30, 101, 102 
 
 relation of industrial training 
 
 to, 127 
 Public, defender, 157 
 
 prosecutor, 157 
 
 schools, Gary plan in, 133 
 self-government in, 133 
 use of buildings of, for 
 community centers, 192 
 Punishment of the criminal 
 under jurisdiction of the 
 several States, 83 
 
 QUAKERS, MODERN TYPE OF 
 PRISON DEVISED BY, 165 
 
 RATTIQAN, WARDEN, AUBURN 
 
 PRISON, 102 
 Reception prison, 25, 30 
 
 adjustment of individual to 
 
 environment in, 28 
 articulation of, with an edu- 
 cational institution, 29 
 buildings required for, 39 
 feeble-minded in, 35 
 
 Reception prison, Continued 
 
 general features of, 32 
 
 hospital and dispensary treat- 
 ment in, 33 
 
 infirm and crippled in, 37 
 
 intensive study of the indi- 
 vidual in, 28 
 
 internal administration of, 
 26 
 
 medical examination in, 32, 
 33 
 
 mental and sociological study 
 in, 38 
 
 method of evaluation of 
 prison population, 94 
 
 normal group in, 35 
 
 personnel of, 42 
 
 recommended by New York 
 State Federation of Labor, 
 173 
 
 sexual psychopathies in, 37 
 
 special group in, 35 
 
 special mental cases in, 36 
 
 transfer of prisoners from, 44 
 Republican platform of 1864, 
 
 66 
 
 Revolutionary War, 165 
 Rhode Island, acts of, 70, 71 
 
 case to test the status of the 
 convict in, 51 
 
 constitution of, 51, 56, 58, 
 65, 67, 68, 71, 73, 75-77 
 
 constitutional provision 
 
 against cruel punishments 
 in, 55 
 
 contract system of convict 
 labor in, 52, 56, 60, 64, 67, 
 71 
 
 convict not a slave under 
 existing contracts in, 68, 79 
 
 corporal punishment pro- 
 hibited in, 55 
 
INDEX 
 
 213 
 
 Rhode Island, Continued 
 
 definition of slavery accepted 
 in, 60 
 
 general laws of, 51, 54, 55, 57, 
 60, 64, 68 
 
 prison contract in, 52, 54 
 
 prohibition of slavery in con- 
 stitution of, 60 
 
 regulations for discharge of 
 convicts in, 57 
 
 rights of convicts in, 60, 61, 70 
 
 slavery in, 75 
 
 State Board of Charities and 
 Correction of, 57 
 
 State Board of Control and 
 Supply of, 51, 52, 54, 55, 
 59,60 
 
 State Board of Prison In- 
 spectors of, 56-58, 64, 71 
 
 wage to convicts in, 54, 56-58 
 Rice, Herbert A., 60 
 Road work, by inmates of 
 Cheshire Reformatory, 110 
 
 recommended for employ- 
 ment of convicts by New 
 York State Federation of 
 Labor, 174 
 Roux, Roger, "Le travail dans 
 
 les prisons", 50 
 Royal Commission on Care of 
 Feeble-minded in Great 
 Britain, 8 
 
 SALMON, DR. THOMAS W., 26 
 San Quentin Prison, 167 
 Secretary of Labor, reports of, 
 to Congress in regard to 
 convict labor, 89 
 Secretary of the Interior, cor- 
 rectional institutions in 
 District of Columbia re- 
 port to, 90 
 
 Secretary of the Interior, 
 
 Continued 
 first responsibility of, for 
 
 federal prisoners, 87 
 to purchase sites for federal 
 
 prisons, 87 
 to transfer insane prisoners, 
 
 87 
 Self-government, 95, 107, 112- 
 
 114, 172 
 
 in community centers, 192 
 in public schools, 131 
 Sentence fixed by the judge in 
 
 New York State, 14 
 Servi Peonce, 50 
 Sing Sing Prison, abandonment 
 
 of, as a prison recom- 
 mended, 30 
 a clearing house for New 
 
 York State prisoners, 29 
 built in 1827, 165 
 address before Mutual Wel- 
 fare League of, 169 
 commitments from, to 
 
 Matteawan State Hospital, 
 
 36 
 
 criminal records of men dis- 
 charged from, 6 
 increased production under 
 
 the new prison system in, 
 
 172 
 labor conference at, 173, 
 
 175 
 Mutual Welfare League in, 
 
 12, 13, 102, 183 
 Osborne, Thomas Mott, 
 
 Warden of, 173, 191 
 provision for demolition of 
 
 cell-block of, 11 
 provision for new prison in 
 
 place of, 30 
 psychiatric clinic at, 10, 30 
 
214 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Sing Sing Prison, Continued 
 
 under new prison system, 
 118-123 
 
 work in laboratory at, 27 
 Slave, condition of, before the 
 Civil War, 67 
 
 labor inefficient, 172. 
 
 rights of, 54, 55 
 
 work of the negro as a, 139 
 Slavery, 51, 61, 62, 72, 139, 
 156 
 
 abolition of, by Thirteenth 
 Amendment, 75 
 
 anti-slavery clauses in State 
 constitutions, 53 
 
 as punishment for crime, 49 
 
 characteristics of, 54, 72 
 
 compulsory labor on streets 
 not, 69 
 
 compulsory service by mer- 
 chant sailors not, 69 
 
 contract prison labor not, in 
 Illinois and Georgia, 69 
 
 contract system of prison 
 labor in States which pro- 
 hibit, 73 
 
 definitions of, 53, 60, 61, 76 
 
 did Maine contract create? 
 78 
 
 does Thirteenth Amendment 
 sanction, as punishment 
 for crime ? 49, 67, 79 
 
 elements of, 53 
 
 employment of prisoners at 
 hard labor not, 69 
 
 has contract convict labor 
 the elements of? 52, 66 
 
 imposition of similar dis- 
 qualification upon off- 
 spring, 62, 64 
 
 not determined by wage or 
 lack of wage, 65 
 
 Slavery, Continued 
 
 prohibition in Rhode Island 
 narrower than in federal 
 constitution, 67 
 service for life, 62, 63 
 status of, not established by 
 
 test case, 77, 78 
 termination of, advocated in 
 Republican Platform of 
 1864, 66 
 
 termination of confinement 
 at fixed date not inconsis- 
 tent with, 55 
 
 United States constitutional 
 provision regarding, 49, 50, 
 66, 67, 72-77, 79 
 working out fines not, 69 
 Social center, 185, 191 
 Solitary confinement, 165 
 Southern slave owner, power of, 
 
 over slave, 55 
 Stamford, James L., "Convict 
 Road Work for Misde- 
 meanant Prisoners", 161 
 State- Board of Charities and 
 Correction in Rhode Island, 
 57 
 
 State Board of Control and 
 Supply in Rhode Island, 
 51, 52, 54, 55, 59, 69 
 contract with Crescent Gar- 
 ment Company, 52 
 State Board of Prison Inspec- 
 tors in Rhode Island, re- 
 ports of, 56-58, 64, 71 
 State Superintendent of Indus- 
 tries for Correctional In- 
 stitutions, 143, 144 
 "State Use" System, 172, 175 
 Summer, David H., 78 
 Sundry Civil Appropriations 
 Bill, June 12th, 1917, 87 
 
INDEX 
 
 215 
 
 Supervisor of shop work for 
 correctional institutions, 
 144, 145 
 
 Supreme Court of the United 
 States, litigation connected 
 with prison contracts in, 67 
 only court which can inter- 
 pret Thirteenth Amend- 
 ment, 79 
 
 TAYLOR, MILDRED, 189 
 
 Territorial prisoners, under ju- 
 risdiction of Attorney Gen- 
 eral, 86, 90 
 
 "The Caged Man", E. Stagg 
 Whitin, 169 
 
 "The City Where Crime is 
 Play", published by Peo- 
 ple's Institute of New York, 
 194 
 
 Theory, of absolute psychic de- 
 terminism, 23 
 
 of general governmental su- 
 pervision, 84 
 
 Thirteenth Amendment to the 
 Constitution of the United 
 States, 49, 53, 73-75, 79 
 
 Token money, 96, 139, 140 
 
 Training School for Community 
 Workers, 201 
 
 " Travail dans les Prisons ", le, 
 by Roger Roux, 50 
 
 UNADJUSTED CHILDREN, 195, 
 
 196 
 report of committee on, 189, 
 
 194, 195, 198, 199 
 United States, adhering mem- 
 ber of International Prison 
 Commission, 88, 89 
 census of 1910, 7 
 compiled statutes of, 86-88 
 
 United States, Continued 
 
 Constitution of, 49, 50, 53, 66, 
 67, 72, 73-77, 79 
 
 Declaration of Independence 
 of, 158 
 
 Department of Agriculture, 
 84, 91, 161 
 
 employment of specialists in 
 vocational education by, 
 147 
 
 illiteracy in, 158, 159, 160 
 
 marshals, 86, 90 
 
 need for good roads in, 158 
 
 peonage cases, 69 
 
 statutes at large (1896), 89 
 
 Supreme Court of, 67, 79 
 
 three presidents of, favor 
 community center move- 
 ment, 199 
 
 Willoughby's Constitution 
 
 of, 66 
 
 University of California, pub- 
 lications in economics, 
 168 
 
 "Utilization of Convict Labor 
 in Highway Construction 
 in the North, The", 
 Sydney Wilmot, 161 
 "Utilization of Convict Labor 
 in Highway Construction 
 in the South, The", James 
 Wilmot, 161 
 
 VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN 
 PRISON, 145 
 
 WADHAMS, WILLIAM H., "The 
 New Prison System", 172 
 
 Wage for convicts, advocated 
 by New York State Feder- 
 ation of Labor, 174, 175 
 for overtime work, 50 
 
216 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Wage for convicts, Continued 
 for Rhode Island convicts, 
 
 54, 56-58 
 
 in Connecticut, 110 
 never established in this 
 
 country, 50 
 
 not the right of the convict 
 
 in England or Germany, 50 
 
 not thought of at the time the 
 
 Rhode Island constitution 
 
 was adopted, 58 
 
 right of French convicts, 50 
 
 self-adjusting wage scale, 96 
 
 to be paid in token money, 96 
 
 to increase output, 50 
 
 towards payment of fine, 56 
 
 will result in profit to the 
 
 State, 139 
 
 War Department, Fort Leaven- 
 worth restored to, 88 
 Washington, Booker T., " Work- 
 ing with the Hands", 139 
 
 Whitin, E. Stagg, 50, 93, 101, 
 
 167 
 "Penal Servitude", 50, 167, 
 
 170 
 "The Caged Man", 169 
 
 Willoughby, Professor, "Con- 
 stitution of the United 
 States", 66 
 
 Wilmot, James, "The Utiliza- 
 tion of Convict Labor in 
 Highway Construction in 
 the South", 161 
 
 Wilmot, Sydney, "The Utiliza- 
 tion of Convict Labor in 
 Highway Construction in 
 the North", 161 
 
 Wirt School, 191 
 
 Wright, Carroll D., "Historical 
 Sketch of the Knights of 
 Labor", 170 
 
 ZANGWILL, 190 
 

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