The New York prison schools rely on reading as a means of accomplishing their purpose. They have demonstrated that it is not necessary to yield to the demands of a perverted appetite for harmful reading. Mr. Taplin says: I believe that supervised or directed reading is the most important part of our work. As soon as the men have acquired the art of reading so as to understand a book there is a great demand for reading matter. It is not difficult to arouse interest in practically any book we have. Mr. J. R. Crowley, head teacher in Sing Sing, says: The men manifest a great interest in the books of the school library, preferring them to those of the general library. He gives this list of books that are most popular: Man Without a Country; Boys of '76; Green Mountain Boys; Stoddard's Lectures; Our American Neighbors; Around the World; First Steps in History; Young America; The New American Citizen. Most of the men in the Sing Sing school begin as illiterates, and their progress is indicated by their interest in such books as these. Mr. Taplin submits the following list as among the most popular with the Auburn men: Christmas Stories; The War of 1812; Civil War Stories; Days and Deeds; War for Independence; Columbus and Magellan; Four American Pioneers; The Giant Sun Family; Men of Iron; Northern Europe; Story of China; Story of Russia; In Darkest Africa; National Geographic Magazine; Boys of '76; Up from Slavery; Triumphs of Science; Boys' Life of Lincoln; The Simple Life; Elements of Physics; Stoddard's Lectures. The results from keeping the men supplied with good reading and from oral and written reproduction of what has been read can not be otherwise than good. Knowledge of the world, of the various nations, their extent, the occupations of the people, their government and customs sets the men to thinking, and when men really think, they are in a hopeful mental and moral attitude and open to suggestions. The fact that sessions of the New York schools are held in the daytime and all through the day has contributed in no small degree to their efficiency. The minds of the teachers are concentrated on their work. They would not be nearly as efficient if they were in school for an hour only and otherwise occupied the rest of the time. The men in the classes are more alert and interested in the day session than they could be in the evening. The small size of the classes is another favorable factor in the New York schools. This enables the teachers to do direct personal work and gives the men a chance to take an active part in every school exercise. The interchange of thought in the classroom adds interest and gives the vibrant human note that should run through all prison effort. What the New York schools have done and are doing is an indication of what they might accomplish with greater facilities and encouragement. They have only touched the outer edge of their possibilities, but they have pointed the way to better things which will some day be realized. CONCLUSION. Several conclusions are evident from a survey of what is done for adults in prison. First. Every possible opportunity and incentive for reformation should be afforded even the worst criminals. The door of hope should never be closed. Second. Better methods and greater efficiency in character building are needed all along the line, back through the institutions for the neglected, the streets, and the schools to the home, which are the ultimate sources of the influences that make men and women good and bad. Third. Every step in wrongdoing, immorality, and crime lessens the chances of recovery and salvation from moral and social ruin. Fourth. It is better from every point of view to keep the young in the narrow path of virtue than to neglect them until the commission of some crime calls public attention to their conduct. Fifth. The activities of philanthropy, the benefactions of the prosperous, and public effort should be turned more fully to providing the right kind of education for the thousands of neglected children whose environment is such as to make the development of bad and dangerous characters almost inevitable. Sixth. The hopeful sign of the times is an aroused public sentiment that is demanding a full knowledge of the facts and the vigorous use of the best means of checking moral degeneracy at its source. APPENDIX. I. THE EDUCATION OF ILLITERATE CRIMINALS. By LEE N. TAPLIN, Head teacher, Auburn Prison. The New York State prison schools were organized on September 15, 1905. Since that time they have been in continuous operation for 6 days in the week and 12 months in the year. The men attend school in groups, and each individual is allowed only one hour of schooling daily. Before we attempt a description of the school work, let us consider for a moment the meaning of the word "criminal." When you hear the word "criminal," what image rises in your mind? Do you not see a beetle-browed man, sullen, desperate, whom from mere wantonness or downright wickedness will steal or rob or kill? Your picture is wrong. Most criminals are men; rarely is there a monster. A criminal is defined as one who willfully inflicts injury upon his neighbor or upon society in general, and most of us are criminals in so far as we willfully or wantonly injure others. But not all crimes are brought to book; neither are all criminals prosecuted. The wealthy Sybarite, who with wine, women, and song sets an alluring example of licentious living to the young men about him, is a far deeper criminal than the passer of counterfeit money, for he injures society far more grievously. After conviction comes prison. There the prisoner forfeits certain rights, and we would suppose that he naturally loses the rights which he has abused, but that he retains all other rights. To illustrate, if a man in a violence of temper commit a murderous assault, he is sent to prison; but he is not dishonest; he is not a thief. He may have nothing low, mean, nor sneaky in his nature. He is still entitled to be considered and trusted as an honest man. During the last few years there has been a growing tendency to treat each case of crime by itself and upon its own merits. We see that to expect the same sort of treatment to check or prevent all sorts of moral sickness is quite as foolish as to expect a single patent medicine to cure all bodily ills. There are in school daily in the prisons of New York State approximately 1,200 men, ranging in age from 18 to well past 60. These men are criminals because of various combinations of circumstances, but for our consideration they may be roughly classified as, first, the product of city and village streetcorner gangs; second, incorrigibles from houses of correction and reform schools; third, foreign illiterates. After having talked with hundreds of these men who have passed through the prison school, we are convinced that all of the above-mentioned classes are products of neglected childhood. The foreign illiterates are most numerous, over three-fourths of our pupils falling under this head. More than 25 different nationalities are daily receiving instruction in our prison schools. We try to teach them to read and write and speak the English language and to know something of the customs and laws of this country. We aim to teach only that which is necessary and practical for good citizenship in a lowly station in life. The school work is divided into 12 sections or standards, the completion of which gives a man a fairly good grammar-school education. The teachers are inmates of the prison. What? The blind lead the blind? No; the teachers are not blind. They understand the men under their charge as a civilian can not. They are all fairly well-educated and well-bred men. They have a deep sympathy for the boys under their instruction. They have shared their sorrows. They know prison life-the narrow cell, the vigorous discipline. They have felt the cold scorn of former friends and even the neglect of loved ones. All of these things have been burned into their souls so deeply that they are full of compassion for the men who are more unfortunate and deeper in degradation than themselves. Their zeal and enthusiasm for teaching show no waning. Their good influence over their pupils grows constantly, and the consciousness that they are doing a work of real benefit for their unfortunate associates is like balm to their suffering souls. An hour of school work daily for each class seems to be just the right amount. The men do not weary of it. Their interest is well sustained. They like school work, are proud of their attainments, and are eager for more. They complain often that the hour passes too quickly and are jealous if a teacher gives a little extra time to any particular man. They respect learning, and they clutch close about them any clinging shreds of their former self-respect. The essential difference between the old-time retaliatory punative treatment and the reformative methods now used consists in how we treat those few remaining shreds of the garment of respectability. The old-time régime tore them ruthlessly away, leaving the mere brute; the new seeks to rehabilitate the man. By means of the schools we try to arouse slumbering intellectual powers, to reclaim tracts of the brain long unused, to stimulate thought, and awaken emotions and recall memories of former better days and thus quicken sluggish moral natures. After teaching the men how to read, we endeavor to inculcate the desire for reading good books. The State provides a large library in each prison. Each cell has an electric light. Long, indeed, are the evenings for those who do not know how to read. By directing the character of the reading we are sure of getting before the minds of the men much that is mentally stimulating and valuable. The question may well be asked, "What better off are these men for this schooling?" I will mention a few of the practical benefits accruing. The keepers and instructors in the shops tell us that the foreigners, after attending school a short time, begin to understand better the orders given them concerning their work. Men who were formerly very troublesome and disorderly are much more tractable and docile since becoming interested in the school work. Dull minds have been quickened. Men who formerly could do no more than touch the pen while the clerk signed their names for them are now signing their own names and writing their own letters home. Many men have told us of the employment which they might have secured had they been able to read and write. A large number of men have left the prison equipped for much more remunerative employment because of the education received within the prison walls. We believe that after a man has been taught to read and write, to think for himself, to reason, and to enjoy good books that he is far less liable to return to his former evil ways. Finally, we must acknowledge that we are working at the wrong end of the problem. A small part of the effort expended upon these same men in the innocence of their childhood would have availed more than all of our strivings now. But even the criminal is worth saving, and we believe that reformative treatment is the cheapest and best perfection with which society can defend itself from crime. |