Two or three days after his arrival the newly committed prisoner is personally interviewed by the superintendent. This interview, which is in the nature of an exhaustive examination, generally discloses the species of criminality to which his crime belongs. This knowledge is made the basis of the plan which is then formulated for the course of treatment to which he will be submitted.
In the selection of a trade, the prisoner is given the opportunity of choosing for himself. If the choice show sincerity and intelligence, he is applied to it. If, on the other hand, it should reveal mere indifference or a desire to shirk hard work, the managers take all matters into consideration and select the trade for him. Once placed at a trade he is given to understand that he will be kept rigidly to it and no release from imprisonment granted until his progress has satisfied the authorities. Changes from one trade to another are rarely granted, and then only when the learner has given unmistakable signs that he cannot succeed at his first task. Within the trades school, his identity is not lost sight of. Day by day, a record of his conduct and also of his progress is kept. Every persuasive means is used to awaken his understanding to the fact that his best interests are to be served by habits of industry and application. The whole system is an appeal to his desire for freedom. Freedom is offered to him but at a distance, and he can reach it by no other means than that of following a given road, the direction of which is very clearly pointed out to him.
The work is graduated according to his ability to make progress, and care is taken to so arrange his course that he shall be taught thoroughly all the fundamental principles of his trade. The ordinary apprentice works so that he will be able to fulfil the orders that are given to his master. The consequence of this is that two ideas exist, the apprentice having the desire to learn a trade, his master desiring to profit by his work. The end of the apprentice is served by constantly advancing to new work, even though this should mean the loss of time and the waste of material; his master's object is attained by keeping him at that work which he learns quickest and giving the difficult work to more experienced men, consequently he passes through his time and learns but very little. Now, the pupil of the Elmira trades' school is not considered to have completed his course until he has gained a thorough knowledge of every department of his trade. Besides the practical instruction given in the workshops, classes are also held in the evenings and instruction given in mechanical drawing so that the men may be able to understand any plan that may be put into their hands, and also to draw plans for themselves. Trade journals are subscribed for and circulated among the men.
The value of this industrial training extends beyond the providing the means of obtaining an honest livelihood, for by making release depend upon success, interest is thereby combined with industry. This combination is bound to react upon the voluntary system and produces a moral effect. Again it re-acts, this time beneficially upon the character of the man.
The following is a list of all the trades taught in the Reformatory:—
| Barbering | House-painting | Shoemaking |
| Bookbinding | Iron-forging | Sign-painting |
| Brass-smithing | Machine-wood-working | Steam-fitting |
| Bricklaying | Machinist's | Stone-cutting |
| Cabinet-making | Moulding | Stone-masonry |
| Carpentry | Music | Tailoring |
| Clothing-cutting | Paint-mixing | Telegraphy |
| Electricity | Photo-engraving | Tinsmithing |
| Frescoing | Plastering | Upholstery |
| Hardwood-finishing | Plumbing | Also, |
| Horseshoeing | Printing | Mechanical-drawing |
| Stenography & typewriting. |
In the year 1903 there were 1986 pupils instructed in these trades.
The Results of the System.—English critics have regarded the system as being somewhat extravagant and as placing the honest labourer at a disadvantage to the criminal. This criticism has been considerably weakened of late years and the results investigated instead of being imagined. The most careful investigation has made it impossible to deny that the Reformatory achieves all that it claims to, viz.:—that it contributes nothing to the strengthening of the criminal habit[1] and therefore it is not a partial remedy, and that it actually returns to society as useful citizens no less than 82 per cent.[2] of those committed to it.
Lombroso speaks of the system as a practical application of the results of the science of Criminology.
Should the system be adopted in other countries, it would need to be so translated that it would accord with the traditions and customs of the people.