The farm does build up the body of the anaemic; it gives a good
physical development. Moreover, the habit of industry can very much
better be taught where results are being achieved on the farm than
where work is being done at little or no profit in a factory. And
efficiency is better developed on the farm. The farm has a direct
physical value and an indirect mental and moral value. It clears a
man’s mind and allows him to think straight. It affords a foundation
for developing the spiritual structure, though of itself it will only
slightly develop one mentally or morally. The man is now physically
well, having had lessons in life. Here is the opportunity to further
develop his will in order that he may do right. Looking to that end, we
have introduced the regular presentation of the gospel in an orderly
way. We intend to teach by example, but we need an official who shall
be recognized by the prisoners as their friend, one who shall know
them and make it his exclusive business to help them establish the
desire to do right and aid them to be able to fulfill that desire. This
seems one of the unsolved problems in Cleveland and in nearly all such
institutions.
We have the parole system in operation, though there is not help enough
for its most efficient execution. There is the Brotherhood Club for the
men who have no home to which to go, established at the suggestion of a
former prisoner. There a man may stay until he appears strong enough
to live a normal life. The club is intended to be self-sustaining.
In my opinion, the country is the place for the misdemeanant, for
the very obvious reason that it affords plenty of light, pure air, a
variety of good food and wide opportunity for productive occupation
for the prisoners. There, work is purposeful, not a time-killer. They
work, eat, sleep, have recreation and religious teaching, all under
approximately normal conditions. Every man is treated with kindness
and consideration; discipline is not on parade. In short, the prisoner
is treated like a man and to the extent that there is manhood in him
it will come out. The purpose is to develop honor and faithfulness,
to accustom every man to useful occupation and to teach him to be
effective. The officers are not armed, they are not even called guards.
In fact, they act as teachers, foremen, or farmers as the occasion
requires.
There is so much work to do in developing, enriching and cultivating
the land, in erecting buildings, in making roads, that every feasible
labor-saving machine is used. This of itself speaks to the man the
appreciation of his work as a man and not a substitute for a machine.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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