RECLAIMED CRIMINALS BY PAROLE LAWS.
It is only in recent years that the idea of making a good man out of a bad one has had any prominence in the penal system. The old idea was simply to punish the criminal and lock him away from honest people so he could do them no more harm. The actual result seemed to have proved that it made him more proficient in the school of crime. In many States this evil still exists. In New York State for example, seventy per cent. of the released convicts return to criminal lives. Several other States have tried the plan of releasing well-behaved convicts, with comparatively clean records, finding work for them, and keeping them under surveillance until assured of their reform. Here are the results:
| Offenders Redeemed. | Returned to Crime. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 85 | per cent. | 15 | per cent. |
| Ohio | 90 | “ | 10 | “ |
| New Jersey | 95 | “ | 5 | “ |
| Indiana | 94 | “ | 6 | “ |
| Connecticut | 100 | “ | None. | |
| Utah | 100 | “ | None. | |
| Michigan | 94 | “ | 6 | per cent. |
| Alabama | 96 | “ | 3 | “ |
| Virginia | 100 | “ | None. | |
| Minnesota | 92 | “ | 8 | per cent. |
The convicts themselves are enthusiastic in praise of the new plan, for many of them would prefer to lead honest lives if given a fair chance. “The Star of Hope,” a paper written and printed by the convicts of the N. Y. State Prisons, is full of articles in favor of the parole system, which the convicts hope to see adopted throughout the State. At present, it applies to the Elmira Reformatory only.
Indiana State Prison, at Michigan City, has had the parole system in force three years; 132 prisoners have been paroled, 6 have been returned for violation of their parole, 2 have failed to report, and we do not know where they are. We consider this a good showing for the management. We have now 80 men on parole, who make report promptly, earning all the way from $5 to $40 per month and their board, in many cases caring for their families, that would otherwise be a public charge upon the township where they live had the prisoner been kept in confinement.
PROPOSED MARRIAGE REFORM.
The Tri-State Medical Society of Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia, in session at Chattanooga, have taken steps to secure medical Legislation in those three States, for the purpose of regulating or prohibiting the marriage of habitual criminals, or persons afflicted with incurable diseases, drunkards and victims of harmful drugs.
CONTRACT, PRICE-PIECE, STATE ACCOUNT.
Formerly the contract plan was followed in most penitentiaries, the labor of each convict being hired out in a certain industry at a fixed sum per day. This has been succeeded in many States by what is known as the price-piece plan, where the contractors pay for the convict labor at so much for each piece of work done; and in other States by manufacturing done on the account of the State.
The contract system, where it is possible to contract the labor at a fair price, is undoubtedly the best one for the State. In such case the State only furnishes the room, heat and labor, saves the great outlay for machinery and power.