men and women in far off provinces, with no provision for the weakling within our borders. But the man we left in the play ground! He puts the elixir, which is deadly, to his lips and the inertia of defeat upon his soul. He steps out to the work of life. He finds each avenue closed against him. No corporation has work for an ex-convict. No man, no body of men, no sect, no church, no reformer, no organized body of reformers has taken.cognizance of his needs or made provision for their supply.* Hence without money, without friends, without occupation, without lodging or food, with lost home his only possession, he finds him~ self in the midst of that sweet, wide world of his dungeon dreams — a stranger in an unknown realm. What remains of its language to him, is unintelligible to those around him. He appeals perchance, to that God who has tenanted his dungeon dreams, and to his obtuse ears comes back the harsh echo of that verdict of which he is already apprized: "The way of the transgressor is hard." In the line of personal effort, to give the released convict an impulse to a better life it ia necessary: 1st. To convince him there is something redeemable within him. 2d. That the I will-power is dormant, not dead. 3d. That there is a Divinity above, if not within him to restore the function of the will. 4th. That he may lay tribute upon that Divinity, and lastly, organized corporate institutions, with graded employments and relative wages, available on application, must furnish the practical solution of this man's redemption. The state should furnish such organized industries as a matter of public economy. Respectfully submitted. Angie F. Newman, To the Secretary of the Conference of Charities and Corrections]: Dear Sir — By request, I hereby respectfully submit the following brief report of our Institution: Our school was established in the year 185.5, and was called the New Hampshire House of Refuge. The build *Having heard the discussions of the Conference we are assured there are corporations, there are reformers, there are individuals, who are recognizing the needs of the ex-convict and are making provision for their supply. We believe this National Conference will hasten the day when such aid shall no longer be exceptional. ings are very pleasantly located on the east bank of the Merrimac river, and one and a half miles from the City Hall, Manchester, 1ST. H. The main buildings are of brick, five stories high; the rooms, forty in number, consist of chapel, school-room, dormitories, bathing rooms, dining and sleeping-rooms, offices, etc., work shops irt the rear and connected with main buildings, one story high. Our farm contains 100 acres of excellent land, in a high state of cultivation. Our school is on the congregate plan and has accommodations for 140 pupils. We have on an average 120 —100 boys, 20 girls. Our inmates are employed in farming, chair seating, shoemaking, making of clothing, etc. They attend school on an average 4J- hours daily, work 5£ hours. Health of the children remarkably good—only two deaths in the institution since my connection with it — (nearly ten years). This favorable showing we attribute largely to regular habits, wholesome food, good air and drainage, excellent water. Our management is under the supervision of a Board of Trustees, appointed by the Governor' and his Council (appointed once in two years). The board consists of seven men of the highest character and ability who, from time to time, choose a Superintendent, who is allowed to select the subordinate officers and teachers necessary in the management of the Institution. Our discipline is mild, but firm; we seldom, if ever, resort to severe measures to maintain it. We give our inmates many privileges not customary in schools -of like character. In good weather we take them all out into the open fields for recreation, frequently treat them to a ride in a, barge drawn by six horses belonging to the school. Have religious services every Sabbath. conducted by the. Young Men's Christian Association of our city. Our children are committed by the supreme and police courts as well as by justices of the peace in towns throughout the State. The average sentence of our children is five years, average time of detention less than two years. Most of the children are allowed to go out on probation; a few are honorably discharged by our Trustees for good conduct. We are satisfied that 85 per cent, do well after leaving the Institution. J. C. Bay, The Conference then took a recess till evening. THIRTEENTH SESSION. Friday Evening, Sept. 28,1883. The Conference met for the closing session. Mr. Caldwell, of Kentucky: JLouisville has been rather modest in this convention. We felt that it was our place to sit back and listen. Not a word has been said by a Louisville man in behalf of Louisville or her institutions. This afternoon Mr. Faulds suggested to me that the City of Louisville ought to be represented here by somebody, and that he did not know anybody to call upon except me. If I had supposed that our representative in Congress or Judge Bullock were going to be here I would not have consented. But as I have urged others to speak, I must now practice what I preach, and make some endeavor in that line myself. If you cannot do a big thing be ready to do a small one. If you cannot make a thirty minutes' speech try and make a five minutes' one. This lesson is taught us by the widow who oast in her two mites. If Paul had not been willing to talk to his Jailor, I do not know that he would ever have stood before King Agrippa. I am proud of my adopted state. I do not think anyone will ever charge me with sectionalism. The place of my birth is far from here, and yet' my heart is as warm towards my adopted state, and I am as proud of it as any native. I am proud of the noble men and noble women of Kentucky. I am proud of these fields, the most beautiul that the sun shines on, and I am proud of the institutions within her borders. I do not say that they are perfect. I do not expect perfection inside the State of Kentucky or outside of it. I do not expect to find perfection in a penal or a charitable institution. Imperfection is the nature of man. There are dark spots on the life of every man and every woman; and we will find dark spots on every institution, no matter where it is. Heaven is the only place I know of that is perfect. The angels and the spirits of just men made perfect are the only ones that I know of that are perfect. The Bible tells us that he that covereth up his sins shall not prosper, but he that confesseth and forsaketh his sins shall find mercy. Wrongs in the city and wrongs in the state must be confessed. Every wrong done in an institution will sooner or later find its way to the outer world. Cain tried to cover up his sin. Peter tried to cover up his sin. Some men try to cover up the sins of their institutions, or say there is no sin in them. As I said all our state institutions are imperfect. I have often been puzzled to find the cause of this imperfection. When I was down south in the interest of this conr f erence, I thought that I had to some extent deciphered the cause. When I reached Tennessee, I stopped at Nashville, and there I found a man whose heart is as big as his body, at the head of the Tennessee Penitentiary. We were welcomed and permitted to enter the prison, although it was the Sabbath day; and although there were but a dozen men in the hall, in less than five minutes after we entered it, it was thronged. The warden was willing and anxious that we should do something to instruct the prisoners, and we had service there, and he says that to this day his boys have not forgotten my visit, that I fixed myself in the hearts of those convicts, so that they will always remember me. I will tell you. the cause of the loose screw. It is in the ministers. The ministers of the Gospel have never lent themselves to this noble cause with the zeal that we should expect from their holy calling. If the ministers would only put themselves to the task of condemning this punitive system in the south, it would sooner be abolished Wherever I have gone, there has not been a man, woman or child, that did not condemn the punitive system of the southern prisons. Yet I will say this for the south: that though her penitentiaries may not be on a par with the prisons north, yet her orphan asylums are equal to any north of the Ohio river, and one that I know of is superior. The first night of this Conference we had four ministers, but since that time I have looked and looked and not seen a single minister. Our good men and good women of the city of Louisville were notified of the fact that the capacity of this; hall was hardly large enough, and it is to that fact that the paucity of people who have attended to witness your deliberations is due. Yet they have, though not present, watched these meetings with the greatest care, and I tell you that you have made and will leave upon the citizens of this community a lasting impression — nay, not only on the city of Louisville, but upon the state of Kentucky. It has gratified me h?yond measure .that this Conference held in our city has been such a success; and I only hope that our Conference next year may be alike successful. The following report from Massachusetts, was presented by F. B. Sanborn, Inspector of Charities: REPORT FROM MASSACHUSETTS. I have the honor to submit, in behalf of the State Board of Health, Lunacy and Charity, a brief report of the changes in legislation and in the general management of the public charities of Massachusetts, so far as these have come under the notice of the State Board within the past year. The Board for which I speak has more extensive Kowers than most State Boards possess, and has always een far more than a merely advsory and visiting body. It grew out of the old Alien Commission, which was' |
