Albert H. Votaw, of Philadelphia, was elected President of this Association for the year 1918, and Geo. B. Newcomb, Bismarck, N. D., Secretary.

STATE PENAL FARM AT ANGOLA.

The day before the meetings closed Governor Pleasant, of Louisiana, in an address to the Association gave the members a warm invitation to make a visit to the 18,000 acre prison farm of the State, at Angola, about 130 miles from New Orleans. On Saturday about fifty members of the Association availed themselves of this privilege. The railroad ran up the rich valley of the Mississippi through cane fields, cypress swamps and timbered country adorned with tropical vegetation and scenery to Angola where we received a warm welcome. At the Administration Building on the lawn, tables loaded with provisions were placed to which soon our company was doing full justice. It was explained that practically every article of the food was a product of the farm and was such as was supplied to the convicts with exception of the roast turkey, a few of which were kept on the place and which had been slaughtered for our delectation. Even the fish caught in the great river adjacent to the plantation may have belonged to the farm by some riparian right. There was some white bread which was not made from wheat flour native to Louisiana. Automobiles conveyed the party over the huge plantation affording full opportunity to examine the rude temporary barracks where the prisoners are kept. The men eat at mess tables and the food seemed to be ample and to be well prepared according to the culinary arrangements usually found in penal institutions. We saw much to admire and some things to condemn.

  1. We did not approve of armed trusties stationed to guard the men while at work in the fields.
  2. We hope at no distant day to hear that striped clothing is tabooed.
  3. We were unanimous in condemning the system of punishing with the lash. One northern warden, not a sentimentalist either, offered to come down at his own expense and inaugurate a new system of penalties in which no corporal punishment should be allowed.

We saw the men at work in the cane fields cutting, stripping and piling the cane for the trucks or wagons. The most interesting proposition was the huge and complete sugar refinery. How the canes in car loads and wagon loads were carried by the endless carriers to the huge crushers, and after triplicate crushing the dry residuum was discharged in the furnaces, how the juice in huge vats was subject to three chemical processes, how the purified syrup was then conveyed, all without hands, to the heated evaporators and centrifugal apparatus, and how the product in the form of hot granulated sugar, six hours from the time the canes entered the mill, was caught in barrels at the rate of 400 barrels daily, is a truthful fairy story whose details we cannot enter upon in this report. Penal Farms in Southern States have become very popular and successful. From the standpoint of the reformer, they furnish better opportunities than the closed prison or the stockade both with regard to health and morals. The negro problem is in the forefront in their institutions; still many of us were disposed to believe that the punishments meted out to those who disobey the rules are too severe and fail to accomplish the main object of imprisonment which is to endeavor to build up character not by brute force but by reasonable restraints.

SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY.

The good people of New Orleans fully exemplify that genial and gracious hospitality which appears to be indigenous to the Southland.

Courtesies were extended on every hand and there was an air of friendliness delightful and assuring to the visitors. Four features of their cordial hospitality deserve special mention.

  1. A series of personally conducted walks to the French quarter and other places of interest.
  2. Automobile tours of the city giving the delighted guests an opportunity to see the beautiful lawns and residences, the parks and the magnificent live oaks, the cemeteries where the dead repose above ground, Lake Pontchartrain and its handsome shore resorts, the splendid drives level as the floor.
  3. A steamboat ride on the Mississippi bringing into view the immense lines of docks and the admirable shipping facilities.
  4. A reception at the home of Mrs. G. R. Westfeldt, President of a Prisoners’ Aid Society. A delightful lunch was served by the ladies of this society. A picturesque aged turbaned mammy dispensed pralines. The old home, typically southern, with its wide verandas, central hall and spacious rooms, lent itself admirably to the occasion. The company was entertained by readings, Southern songs and negro impersonations. President Peyton concluded the entertainment by expressing the appreciation of the guests for these tokens of southern hospitality which they realized was neither mythical nor merely traditionary.

FINAL.