Dr. J. T. Gilmour, Canada-What is the population of your county asylums?

Mr. Grotophorst-It averages about one hundred and forty persons to each institution; about forty-five hundred in all.

Judge L. S. Estelle, Nebraska-Do I understand that your board has the power to transfer a boy from the State reformatory to the penitentiary?

Mr. Grotophorst--Yes, sir. It is very easy to find fault with a system, but we have had experience and I think our experience is superior to any one man's judgment. The result of such transfers has been very satisfactory.

Judge Estelle-I have had experience in work of that kind for thirty years. The mistakes that have been made were in sending boys to the reformatory at all. That is a grave mistake. I have paroled numbers of them and have got good results in four out of every five cases. We make criminals by the treatment of our young men in this country and I do not favor reposing in any board the power to transfer a boy from that which is misnamed a reformatory to that which should properly be named a hell, namely, a penitentiary.

Question-When jail improvements which your board orders are not made in two years, I think the law says the prisoners shall be transferred. To what place do you send them?

Mr. Grotophorst-We do not have any power over county jails except as stated before. The law provides that when a jail is condemned the prisoners may be transferred to the jail of another county.

D. Sulzberger, Pennsylvania-We have at present in our Eastern Penitentiary about twenty-five young men who have been sent there from the Huntingdon Reformatory. One young man broke his parole and was away three years, and when he was brought to Huntingdon the superintendent added three years to his sentence. I brought that case to the attention of the judge in Philadelphia. It has not yet been decided. I heartily agree with the gentleman that it is a mistake, from what I have learned regarding reformatories, to send them there at all.

T. B., Patton, Pennsylvania--I am here representing the Huntingdon Reformatory. The laws of Pennsylvania direct that whenever in the judgment of the board of managers of the Reformatory any inmate's presence is considered detrimental to the welfare of that institution, they have the right to transfer him to the penitentiary. We exercise that right only when in the judgment of our board of managers it is advisable. I can explain to the entire satisfaction of this Congress what this gentlemen referred to. The law directs that when a paroled man violates his parole he shall be declared a delinquent by the board of managers and that stops his time from counting on his maximum time. This individual had a ten-year sentence. He violated his parole and was arrested. The Board of Managers directed that instead of being returned to the Reformatory he should be transferred to the Eastern Penitentiary and they did what the law authorized them to do, added to his maximum time the length of time he was out on escape. As the gentleman said, this case is in the courts and the board is very anxiously awaiting a decision.

Mr. Coates-I take pleasure in introducing as the next speaker, Mr. John C. Easley, a member of the Board of Directors of the State Penitentiary at Richmond. His subject is Prison Management.

PRISON MANAGEMENT.

JOHN C. EASLEY, RICHMOND, VA.

Under the benign influence of modern civilization, the prison is happily no longer considered as primarily for the purpose of punishing offenders and "getting even," as it were, with those unfortunates who, for one reason or another, have fallen by the way. It is rather for the protection of the State by reclaiming, as far as possible, those who have transgressed the law and restoring them as useful members of society instead of confirmed and hardened criminals. Viewed from this standpoint the prison can be made the means of doing good to many whose environment and associations have kept them beyond the reach of good influences, many whose ideas of right and wrong are blurred only for want of opportunity to see clearly.

In dealing with these unfortunates we must remember that they are fellow beings, with like feelings and aspirations, actuated by the same impulses, inspired by the same hopes, cast down by the same disappointments, and made callous by the same wrongs and oppressions which stir within us evil passions and poison the fountains of our better natures. They have transgressed human law and they suffer human punishment. Is there, one among us who has not transgressed a higher law and who stands in the presence of his Maker less guilty than they?

If I were called on to express in a single line that which in my opinion will contribute most to good prison management and prove most effective in reclaiming and uplifting the criminal classes, I would say, teach them to hope. Without hope they are beyond human reach; inspired by hope, reformation is half accomplished and all things are possible. Fan the sacred spark of hope with the breath of human kindness and its responsive glow will burst into a flame of good endeavor.

No better illustration can be found than the Virginia Penitentiary affords.

Our parole system has recently been put into operation. Under the law any prisoner is eligible for parole who has served half his sentence, is in the opinion of the board a fit person, and has two years of good behavior to his credit if so long confined. After the expiration of the half time, paroles are granted at the discretion of the board.

Carrying out the policy of the law, the board holds all prisoners otherwise eligible for parole until each has to his credit the necessary good behavior. The result has been a marked improvement in discipline with something like fifty per cent. reduction in punishments. They have come to understand that the rule, though inflexible, is no more so than the reward is certain. In other words, we have inspired them with hope.

No wiser or more humane provision for adult criminals was ever instituted than the parole system. It ranks with probation and the indeterminate sentence and is second only to the juvenile court in its far-reaching benefits. It is difficult to over-estimate its good results either to the prisoner or to society..

Think how it helps the convict who starts life anew to have the kind and constant supervision of the parole officer to direct him along other paths than those which lead to ruin, to procure him employment and insure him justice. Think of the incalculable benefit to society in bringing this man, who has hitherto known the strong arm of the law only as an avenger, to lean upon that arm for guidance and protection. In teaching him that the object of the law is protection and not punishment, you have inspired him with hope and cleared away otherwise insurmountable obstacles that stand in the way of reformation.

That the State of Virginia has so far failed to provide a parole officer is much to be regretted.

To be the chief executive of a prison is no sinecure. It claims the constant exercise of the best efforts of a man of parts. Even justice, wise humanity, firm discipline and a deep knowledge of mankind are alike essential. Without them no prison can be properly conducted, nor the evils of an increasing mawkish sentimentality guarded against.

In all prisons there are some criminal-minded incorrigibles who require constant restraint or the evil of their example will leaven the whole; but harsh measures should be resorted to only in case of actual necessity and punishment of any kind ordered with discretion and inflicted with moderation.

While remedial measures are good, preventive measures are better, and the state which protects itself by the adoption of wise preventive measures builds on the surest foundation. But what these wise preventive measures are is a question which is now claiming some of the best thought of the day and so nearly allied is it with "Prison Management" that I feel that it is no digression to refer to it.

It is generally admitted that education is one of the most effective methods of lessening crime and its truth is attested by some of the facts in this State. Our public school system was put into operation in 1871, and the first census thereafter taken in 1880. At that time we found one white felon for every 3,932 of white population. Notwithstanding the more rapid growth in our urban communities, where the percentage of crime is always greater, and notwithstanding a very considerable influx of foreign population, we found in 1900, when the last census was taken, that the proportion of felons among the whites had been reduced to one in every 4,849. Thus it was demonstrated that with our présent system of public education, the percentage of crime among the whites has decreased, notwithstanding the unfavorable conditions referred to.

What a pleasing picture this would be could we draw the curtain here, but there is another side from which we cannot in prudence turn away, however much we would like to pass it by in silence. In the multitude of counsel there is wisdom and I feel constrained to bring this matter to your attention, hoping that this body by reason of its wisdom and experience may suggest a remedy.

In 1880 we had one colored felon for every 817 of colored population; in 1890 one colored felon for every 650 of colored population; in 1900, one colored felon for every 549 of colored population. Allowing for the same percentage of increase in colored population until 1910, and taking the number of felons in 1908, we have one colored felon for every 433 of colored population, and this, too, in face of the fact that the average monthly attendance of colored pupils on the public schools has increased about three hundred percent. Or, in other words, while the colored population in Virginia has increased but 28 percent. since 1870, there has been an increase of about one hundred percent. in the proportion of felons, until now more than nine times as many felonies are committed among a thousand blacks as among a thousand whites.

Surely the soil has not been well prepared or the good seed would have brought forth a more abundant harvest. But what does this mean? Is it that our system of education for the negro is faulty and does not meet his requirements? Are we unfitting him for the position he must occupy in the world as a bread winner? Instead of doing him good by the enormous sacrifices