We propose that the farm shall gradually become a model in all
respects. In fact, this year we will produce certified milk for
the city and the contagious disease hospitals. We plan, as soon as
possible, that the correction farm shall produce the meat, milk,
vegetables and fruit, both fresh and canned, for the entire workhouse
and the public hospitals, while the adjoining infirmary farm will
render similar service for its own use and that of the growing
tuberculosis sanatorium.
From the standpoint of the prisoner, the farm policy is to give to each
man the largest degree of liberty consistent with the well-being of
others. The ultimate purpose is to employ as many without the walls as
possibly can be trusted, and to employ out-of-doors within the walls
all the remainder except those whose conduct imperatively demands
closest supervision.
For years there will be work for all workers, no “idle-house” in any
sort of weather or trade conditions. Every working day from twelve
to twenty men are sent to work on the adjoining infirmary farm. Such
transfer was one of the purposes of placing the infirmary on a great
contiguous tract of land. But the plan works to the detriment of the
correction farm which for years and perhaps always can use to advantage
the labor of all men committed to its care. No key is turned on these
men during the day. The night guard and the locked door are more to
remove temptation than to prevent escape. You realize this when you
know that all these men, instead of sleeping in stuffy cells, sleep
in large dormitories, giving them every facility for overpowering
the night watch and making their escape. Prisoners arrive a typical
bridewell company, drunken, dirty, diseased and discouraged. They go
away bronzed, with regular habits of living, accustomed to work, with a
new determination and a new grip. Of course some fail, and return. But
we do not assume to insure immunity against all the wiles of the world,
the flesh and the devil.
Americans seem in constant search for a cure-all. There is a great
demand for some hobby for the alert philanthropist to ride. In their
order institutionalism, organized charity, juvenile courts, medical
charities and country life have had their turn in the spot light. Each
is efficient but all together are not sufficient. It is urged that if
a convict be sent out under the blue sky to breathe God’s pure air,
behold green fields and hear the birds sing from the swaying boughs he
will become as one of the best citizens, especially if he digs in the
dirt. But unfortunately the country does not afford the alchemy which
converts men into angels. This is amply attested by the record of most
diabolical crimes committed by country-bred men who would not know
an elevator from a subway. The farm prison is no panacea, but it is
tremendously worth while.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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