[Under this heading will appear each month numerous paragraphs of general interest, relating to the prison field and the treatment of the delinquent.]
The Disgraceful Jails of Iowa.—Rev. Charles Parsons, of the Iowa Society for the Friendless, is on the warpath. He says that “the jails of Iowa have been condemned and relegated to the junk pile many times, and yet they go on doing business at the old stand in the same old way, as if they were the most scientific institutions possible.
“I have spent enough time in the jails of our State during the past five years to almost entitle me to membership in the jail fraternity. If the jail has anything to be said to its credit, I have been unable to find it, though I have searched diligently for it in most of the jails within our borders.”
“One step in the program for betterment would be to avoid imprisonment through inability to pay a fine, but give the opportunity to pay the fine upon installments. This plan would save the culprit his employment if he has any. It would save his family humiliation and disgrace and help to save his self-respect.
“Another step in the line of progress would be to parole all offenders where the penalty is less than 30 days. If they fail to make a right use of the parole, give a work-house sentence.
“A third step in the program for progress would be the establishment of district custodial farms with work-house facilities for all prisoners serving 30 days or more. These district institutions must and should be under the management of the State.
“Farming, gardening and diversified industries should be followed most suited to the location of the institution, but such industries must be used which are most easily acquired. That the labor of short term men can be profitably utilized in such institutions has been demonstrated in a number of instances.
“The work-house of Minneapolis is a financial success with men whose average terms is only 17-1/2 days.
“That such labor can be used outside of prison walls with perfect safety is shown by the success of the prison camp which has been in operation for several months past, at Ames, and the hay pressing gangs that have been working from Fort Madison.
“During 1912, 3,739 inmates passed through the Minneapolis work-house. All the men worked in the open without walls, yet during the year there was only one escape.”