Another timely measure permits prisoners to participate in their own earnings. Five per cent. of each day’s labor at the rate of seventy-five cents per day, are entered to the credit of each prisoner.[12] If, on account of good behavior, a sentence is commuted at the end of the first year, the prisoner may have the privilege of sending these earnings to his family. There certainly is no reason why the prisoner within the walls should not support a family, if he has one, rather than allow it to be thrown upon the public. At least part of his earnings should be sent home and part saved for him to the end of his term. A certain per cent. of the earnings may be used by the prisoner in providing himself with a few comforts. (The floor in the cell shown in fig. 5 has a carpet provided in this way.) This, among other rules, suggests that the condition and conduct of the prisoner, as well as the crime, should determine the length of the sentence. If crime can be reckoned as moral insanity, as many specialists hold, then a sentence for a fixed time is similar to sending a sick man to a hospital for treatment, stating that he must remain exactly two years and three months to be cured, when in fact it may take longer or he may be cured before the end of a year. Certain it is that no criminal should be returned to the ranks of society until a reform has been thoroughly commenced. And when it can be ascertained that he will not commit crime again, it is idle to confine him longer. New York and Ohio have taken advanced steps in this direction and have instituted what is known as the indeterminate sentence for all criminals, whether in reformatories or penitentiaries.[13] [11] Kansas Statutes, 6421, 1889. [12] Ibid., 6439. [13] See Proceedings of the National Conference of Charities, 1891, p. 290. When the solitary cellular system is in vogue, the prisoners are limited to certain occupations within the cell, but when the associated system is practiced, all kinds of industry involving machinery may be carried on. This has given rise to what is known as the contract system, a method of employing prisoners, which should not be confounded with the unfortunate and nearly antiquated lease system. The statutes of Kansas[14] permit the contracting of prisoners to responsible parties, but still the state maintains its disciplinary control over the prisoners. The directors are obligated to advertise for bids in the leading papers in each congressional district. Contracts shall not exceed a term of ten years, and awards are made to the highest responsible bidder. Forty-five cents per day for able-bodied men is the minimum point below which bids are not accepted. There is a great controversy respecting the defects of the contract system, but it is not as bad as it at first appears when laborers are employed otherwise with great difficulty. Doubtless the better way is absolute management of all industries, as in case of the coal mines, by the prison superintendent.