USA > Indiana > LaPorte County > Michigan City > History of Michigan City, Indiana > Part 22
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WARDEN JAMES D. REID
to usefulness, as well as to
the protection of more law abiding com- munities from his presence. How
this modern science
of penology developed can be studied no where else with better results than in the Indi- ana State Prison at Michigan City.
In 1881 there were 572 convicts, and of those 490 were under contract, but the
ling deficit of $486.64 was creditable indeed. During this year of 1881, the prison established connection with the water works system of Michigan City, so that a greater supply was secured. J. R. and J. Winterbotham are entered as contractors for 125 men.
Annual reports are now made to end on October 31 of each year. In 1882
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HISTORY OF MICHIGAN CITY
the prison had 620 inmates, 570 being under contract. Although the cost of living was still rising, the cost of main- tenance had declined to 37 2-3 cents, while a noticeable sum of $5,382.24 was the net balance in favor of the prison. The library, which at first was merely a miscellaneous collection of odds and ends, had become a feature of the prison, and inmates were encouraged to pass their leisure time in reading, but the moral instructor, as the chaplain is again called, joined with the warden in report- ing it in a poor condition, and begs the legislature to appropriate money for its improvement. The contracts in force are those with J. R. and J. Winterboth- am for the cooper shop, with John G. Mott for the wire and agricultural im- plement shop, with Ford, Johnson & Company for chairs, and a new contract is signed with Joseph Pratt for the man- ufacture of boots and shoes.
In 1883 the prison is again self sup- porting, there are 566 convicts all under contract, but the Pratt shoe factory went bankrupt and Vail & Oakley undertook to use up the unexpired term.
In 1884 the self supporting condition is maintained, but rather at the neglect of some repairs which ought to have been attended to. Complaint is made of the lack of a bath house, of a wash and dry house; the store rooms are inade- quate, and the prison is not kept warm enough for the proper health or com- fort of the inmates. The legislature had recently passed a "Good-time Law." which met the hearty approval of the warden, of the chaplain, and of all who interested themselves in the care of crim- inals, and nothing better than this illus- trates the humane spirit entering this. function of the state.
A new name appears among the con- tractors for this year, that of George E. P. Dodge of Chicago, who manufac-
tured boots and shoes with prison labor. Six hundred and eighty-nine inmates were reported, all employed.
The prison was again self supporting in 1885, with 703 convicts, all employed. $20,000.00 was expended on the needed repairs mentioned in the last report ; a three story factory of brick, for the use of the Amazon Hosiery Company of Chi- cago, was completed, and an insane ward, long desired and earnestly advo- cated by the warden as necessary to aid in the proper segregation of convicts, was finished and open for patients. The library was enlarged, and with careful management the daily cost of an inmate did not go above 341/2 cents.
In 1886 a high net gain in income is reported, with 697 prisoners all under contract. The warden and the board of control join in a suggestion to the gov- ernor to consider some plan for placing released convicts when their terms ex- pire-another step, it may be remarked, in the later science of penology.
The use of the 'cat' was abolished in 1887, and punishment was found to be more efficacious when its essence was moral rather than physical. In this year the prison contained 634 inmates, all being employed.
Each year shows greater attention to the morale of the prisoners, and greater study not only of the causes of crime, but also of its cure. Thus in 1888, the board of control has a long report on the ideal at which Indiana should aim in the conduct of its Northern Prison; some features preserved at Michigan City are commended, yet, without harshness or bias, many existing conditions are crit- icized as unwarranted and obsolete, and they request authority from the legisla- ture to institute reforms that may place the institution within the front rank of modern prisons. The system in Ohio had been examined and commended,
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THE BLAIR RESIDENCE, WHICH WAS AFTERWARD CONVERTED INTO A SISTERS SCHOOL
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while emphasis is given to the 'parole system' which for the first time finds mention in written reports. Meanwhile there is no falling off in the net profit from labor contracts, and within the walls are made chairs, boots and shoes, barrels, and the output of the Amazon Hosiery Company. The convicts, all employed, number 702. On December 24. 1887, fire destroyed the three story. brick factory in which boots and shoes were made, but it was at once rebuilt.
In the report for the year ending Oc- tober 31, 1889, a new board of control is found, and they manifest their interest and activity in having built a private electric light plant, whereby the prison was saved considerable money over the cost of gas supplied by the Michigan City Gas Company ; they also substituted the use of oil for fuel in the prison fur- naces, and an independent sewer passing under Hoosier Slide was constructed.
In 1890 the prison was self sustaining, and the dining room had been changed, although the number of convicts had de . creased to 735.
J. W. French had been warden for eight months when the annual report ending October 31, 1891, was made. The number of convicts under his charge has increased to an even 800, but the prison can accommodate only 760 men with each in a separate cell, so that it has be- come necessary in some cases to permit two men to sleep in one cell. This con- dition is of course unhealthy and sub- versive of discipline, but no improvement is warranted by the legislature, nor was any change made up to the time of the annual report of 1892, although the num- ber of convicts had decreased to 763. Again is the value of a parole law em- phasized, but no action concerning it is taken. The income balances the outgo. and the daily cost of an inmate is rock - oned at 3414 cents. During the year the
new Tecumseh Facing Mills had been built within the walls. Warden French showed his energy by solving an embar- rassing dispute between the city and the state: it seems that the Blair brothers had laid out a new subdivision near the prison, but at the side of it ran an open sewer, which, so the citizens declared, received some of the refuse from the prison and thereby polluted the neigh- borhood. If everybody had waited for either the city or the state to settle the dispute as to which should be responsible for the condition, it is probable that the sewer and the vacant lots of the subdivi- sion would be there yet, but Warden French cut the knot by sending unem- ployed prisoners into the ditch and fin- ishing the needed repairs in short order.
The prison meanwhile was not in the best repair : the various departments had not been kept in the best order, the walls were insecure, the water was insufficient and perhaps unhealthy, and the chapel with the hospital were not large enough. These conditions received some atten- tion under Warden French, and in his report for 1894 he mentions the improve- ments begun.
This year 1894 marks a new era in the prison regime. A biennial report takes the place of the annual one, but the date of making it, October 31. is retained. A greater change must be noted in the condition within the prison. In 1803 there had been 841 convicts, in 189-4. 008, but of these 375 had been idle. For 1893 income had balanced expenditure. but in 1804 a deficit had been reported. An important reason for this had been the depression in all business throughout the entire country, but a much more sig- nificant reason was the growing opposi- tion shown by free labor to contract prison labor. Bids therefore for the use of prison labor were becoming less and less as the years went by, and the price
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HISTORY OF MICHIGAN CITY
offered for the labor was lower and low- er. In some instances it was difficult to obtain any bids, and discussion of this matter cropped up in the legislature not only of Indiana but also of many other states. Warden French calls as much attention to this as to the condition of the buildings.
The next warden was Charley Harley. In his biennial report on October 31, 1806, he stated that there were 851 pris- oners at the end of 1895, and 842 at the end of 1896. A large deficit occurred, and the entire institution was submitted to an exhaustive scrutiny. The new ad- ministration represented by fresh mem- bers on the board of control supplement- ed the warden's report, and even added criticisms of their own. The hospital was declared unsuitable, the chapel un- safe and other departments were out of date : in fact, great desire was shown to restore completely what could be mod- ernized, or to build completely anew what had outlived its usefulness. Under guidance of an outside architect im- provements were proposed to the amount of $185,068.00.
In this period the Amazon Hosiery Company had in a sense repudiated its contract, but Mott, Dodge, Ford, John- son & Company continued their connec- tion with the prison, and the Allen Man- ufacturing Company (bicycles), togeth- er with the Lakeside Knitting Company, signed contracts.
In 1897 the prison held 884 convicts, and in 1898, 782, but of these only 380 were employed. The report of Warden Harley for the term ending October 31, 1898, calls attention to this fact, but no remedy can be proposed for the lamenta- ble idleness through which the prisoners suffer while unemployed. One com- mendable feature for which all humane students are congratulated, is mentioned ; the 'Parole Law' had been in existence
one year, and gave promise of even bet- ter results and influence upon the pris- oners than the instigators of it had dared to hope. The board of control, of which Walter Vail of Michigan City was a member, announced the completion of many of the improvements requested in the last report, so that the prison can be compared with those of other states and the good system and general regime fol- lowed is beginning to attract wide atten- tion. The Allen Manufacturing Com- pany had gone into bankruptcy, but the other contracts, such as they were, held on without change. The last Assembly (1897) had passed the new Contract La- bor Law, and it went into effect for a fair trial, only under the administration of Warden George A. H. Shideler, who had been appointed on November I, 1899.
The new law permitted the employ- ment under a contract system of only fifty per cent. of the inmates of the pris- on, and then allowed each contractor only a maximum of one hundred con- victs. This was to continue up to Octo- ber 1, 1904, when the state was obligated to find employment.
At the commencement of the century, therefore, the contract plan in the North- ern Prison stood as follows: John G. Mott was allotted 100 men in the coop- erage work, The Ford Johnson Company 100 men in the chair industry, the Lake- side Knitting Company 100 men, and the Reliance Manufacturing Company, mak- ing shirts and working clothes, 100 men. A new steam plant was built and put in operation at a cost of $20,000.00.
In the report for October 31, 1898, the name of the institution had been changed, and it is no longer called the Northern Prison, or the State Prison North, but receives the title of the Indi- ana State Prison, while that at Jefferson- ville, the first penal institution of the
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state, becomes the Indiana Reformatory.
James D. Reid was appointed warden on November 1, 1901. In the biennial report ending October 31, 1902, he con- gratulates the state on the fact that the parole law has proved such a success ; 84 per cent of the prisoners receiving parole have fulfilled the conditions re- quired, and they have to that extent be- come useful members of society and re- lieved the state of both burden and expense. The warden commends the cash allowance of $10.00 which by a recent statute has been given to every convict dismissed at the expiration of his time, and thinks that the amount so donated is really a valuable asset to the state. The Bertillon system of measure- ment has now been introduced, and is a proper step. The library has been im- proved to the comfort of the prisoners. He refers to the law of 1899 under which only 50 per cent of the convicts could be employed in contract labor, and though the law as a whole is warranted, he thinks that soon some practical means must be devised to find and furnish em - ployment for all convicts, so as to keep them busy and to offer them a suitable trade after they are dismissed. In the power plant electricity has been substi- tuted for steam, with economy and effectiveness. The cost a day a man has been kept in 1901 to 34 1-5 cents, while in 1902 it has decreased to 32 2-5 cents. The number of prisoners in 1901 was 864, and in 1902, 796, only 400 being employed on contract.
By the report ending October 31, 1904, it is remarked that the merit sys- tem was inaugurated October 1, 1903, and about the same time a merit braid was used to give the convicts credit for good conduct. Thus every prisoner on his entrance into confinement was ad- mitted to the first grade, but degraded to the second or even the third grade for
improper conduct, while for fidelity to work and duty he was advanced by the use of the braid. A night school and an orchestra had been started, both of which were highly appreciated by the prisoners. The cost of maintaining a prisoner a day remained close to 34 cents ; on Octo- ber 31, 1903, there were 751 prisoners, and on the like date 1904. there were 833
September 17, 1904, very early in the morning, a disastrous fire destroyed three large factories, the prison store room and their supplies. The cause of this fire has not been well explained.
In 1904 the contract with the Ford & Johnson Company expired and was not renewed, but J. G. Mott was to employ 100 men, the Reliance Company 100 men, the Stirling Manufacturing Com- pany 100 men, and the Mt. Airy Stone Company 100 men on a six year contract ending October 31. 1910. Besides these, James Hiner was allowed 15 coopers if the number of convicts ran above 800 so as to permit of the use of the percentum established by law.
The last available report dates to Oc- tober 31, 1906. There were on October 31. 1905. 896 convicts, and on the like date 1906, 950 convicts. The daily cost of maintenance has declined to 321/2 and to 301/2 cents during this period. The library has almost 4,000 books with nu- merous dailies and several magazines, thus enabling cach convict to read two books a week, and to keep posted on current events and literature. Thirty- seven officers and guards were engaged in the routine conduct of the prison and the moral tone was eminently high. The contract system, still restricting the number to 50 per cent of the inmates, had been extended to October 1, 1910, but on March 15. 1906, a great step had been taken in prison management. Then had been introduced the binding twine
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HISTORY OF MICHIGAN CITY
plant, which promised not only to keep the prisoners busy, to give them useful employment and a trade available when they ceased prison life, but also to sell the product at a lowered cost to the farmers of the state, without competition with outside industries dependent upon free labor. Two hundred spinners work- ing eight hours a day were already en- gaged, one half a million pounds of twine had been made and sold, saving the farmers $75,000.00.
These details of the development of the State Prison bring to light the im- portant features not only of the growth of the local institution, but also of the whole subject of penology. Before 1860, a prison was a citadel in which were confined those unfortunates who had been guilty and legally convicted for the perpetration of some crime : but once within the walls, the convict was a hope- less, helpless, abandoned human unit. To be sure the kindheartedness of some war- den, or the religious zeal of some chap- lain, might attempt something to miti- gate the forsakedness of the prisoner, but supposing all this, he remained a name- less unit, he had only a number, and he became insane through idleness, or bru- talized through exhausting work, or criminalized through bitter reflection on the heartlessness of the world as well as by association with the more hardened inmates around him. When he was dis- charged, there was seldom any life be- fore him except that of the criminal at large. Besides this, the duties of those in charge of the prison were more than usually performed by those who had no love for the work but accepted the offices as political rewards.
Today the whole scheme of prison life is changed. The convicted man is by law and by more charitably growing cus- tom considered merely as guilty of a mistake, he is only to that extent more
guilty than many without the walls; his tendencies and his motives are studied rather than his act. Once in prison his health is carefully considered ; his fitness for certain work, his physical and mental aptitudes and requirements. The moral side of his nature is sympathetically given a chance, his intellectual faculties are encouraged to develop, he can study, read, keep in touch with the outside world, he gets civilization's point of view, and when he is dismissed, he has a trade, his physical and mental sides are better than when he entered, he can hold up his head with the knowledge that society does not despise him, prison life instead of a disgrace has oftentimes become a source of dignity and pride-in two words, he has acquired a genuine man- hood.
Michigan City in its State Prison has offered to the world a worthy object les- son in the treatment and reform of the criminal. Its merit system, by which the decently behaved and ambitious convict is given a chance to rise, its parole law by which good service and faithfulness to duty are rewarded by a limited free- dom, its rule for providing the dismissed convict with respectable clothing and money, combined with the legally au- thorized society which secures him work and protects him against suspicion and mistreatment, its contract labor reforms together with the independent labor sys- tem by which the convict is kept occu- pied and given a trade, while avoiding the vexing conflict with free labor,-all these have made this prison a model of its kind. It has aided in the prosperity of the city, its codes have been quoted throughout the country, there has grown up here an esprit de corps unequaled in but few similar institutions, and visitors from at home and abroad have come here to see put into practice the latest theories of humane prison management.
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HISTORY OF MICHIGAN CITY
It has been shown in this hasty sketch that during several administrations re- forms in prison methods had been rec- ommended to the general assembly and that some response had been made in the way of advanced legislation, more especially noticeable being the indeter- minate sentence and parole laws. To take these reforms out of the realm of ideality and put them into actual and successful practice has been the task of James D. Reid, the present warden, who was appointed November 1, 1901. Mr. Reid was born in the Empire state, in rather humble circumstances, about mid- way in the past century. He received some small education in the minor schools of his boyhood and turned out early in life to make his own way to fame and fortune. Engaging in various enter- prises, and not omitting to supply as best he might the deficiencies in his carly education, he ultimately found him- self settled in South Bend as a success- ful contractor in large public works and an employer of many men. Being elec- ted trustee for the township containing South Bend his administration of the dif- ficult and multifarious duties of that in1- portant office in such a city during a pe- riod of much poverty drew the attention of the State Board of Charities to his unusual capacity and fitness for public service in the line of institutional work and paved the way for his selection as warden when a successor for Mr. Shide- der was to be chosen.
Coming to the prison in the prime of a healthy and vigorous life, Warden Reid brought to the office an equipment which insured success and rapidly brought him to the front among the executive heads of similar institutions in the United States, and indeed in the world, for the Indiana State Prison is in every civilized country regarded as a model of its kind. He is rapid, accurate and profoundly
sympathetic in reading the character of mien, his own character is above re- proach, he is firm, shrewd, tactful and always just in his contact with the un- fortunates in his care, and he adds to this the business ability and experience es- sential to success in managing the ma- terial interests of the institution.
On the latter side Warden Reid has, at an unexpectedly low cost, made great- er improvements in the grounds, build- ings and physical equipment of the pris- on than have ever before been made there in an equal period of time, and the work of modernizing the institution is still in progress along practical and eco- nomical lines. The exterior and interior grounds have been cleared up, rearrang- ed, improved and beautified. The prison farm has been made a source of profita- ble supply to the prison table. The ma- chinery has been overhauled and put in perfect running condition. The old con- demned dining hall and chapel building has been torn down and its place occu- pied by a new cell-house, than which there is none better anywhere. A new dining hall and kitchen and a new and modern chapel occupy more convenient places than formerly. The buildings destroyed by the fire of 1904 are replaced by better ones. The insane ward has been removed from its former inappro- priate place in a cell-house to larger and better quarters in the upper story of the hospital. The great encircling wall is being extended so as to double the ground space within. The twine fac- tory, one of the most notable prison in- dustries ever undertaken in the country, has been put in successful operation. These are a part of the achievements of the past few years.
The warden holds that the true func- tion of a penal institution is to fit its con - victs for restoral to society as law-abid- ing, self-maintaining citizens, and that
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the only foundation upon which such character can be built is self-respect. If convicted criminals were to be perma- nently confined it might not be particu- larly dangerous to dehumanize them, but if they are to be temporarily restrained and then sent back into the body of so- ciety it is the summit of absurdity to make them worse and more dangerous by their treatment in prison before re- leasing them. The paramount interest is that of society at large, not that of the individual convict. This is the cen- tral thought of the indeterminate sen- tence and parole legislation, and acting on it intelligently and with full sympa- thy for its purpose Warden Reid seeks to inculcate in the mind and heart of each inmate that self-respect which leads to respect for the rights of others, respect for the laws of the land. It is in this aspect that the Indiana State Prison has in Warden Reid's time won world-wide recognition as a successful exponent of the best and latest prison ideals.
Without entering into the details of the existing administrative method at least two elements making for success must be mentioned. Foremost is the rigid exclusion of politics from prison affairs ; and without this it is not worth
while to enter upon any scheme of im- provement in penal methods anywhere. Next is the careful attention given to the morale of officers and employees in the institution ; for mad or indifferent char- acter in subordinates will overcome the best influences flowing from the higher officers.
In his efforts and plans for better things Warden Reid has had the warm co-operation of the Governor of the state under whom he has served and of the members of the board of control who have held office in his several terms, for he was re-appointed in 1903, 1905 and 1907. The present members of the board of control, who also act as the members of the board of parole, are as follows :
Patrick O'Brien, South Bend.
Michael Foley, Crawfordsville. H. R. Coffel, Knox.
Following is the warden's official staff :
Ward A. Garner, deputy warden.
David S. Durbin, steward.
Walter H. Daly, chief clerk.
F. J. Harvey, chief of Bertillon depart- ment.
James Kennington chief stenographer. Rev. O. L. Kiplinger, prison chaplain. Dr. H. M. Milligan, prison physician.
HON. JOHN H. BARKER.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE HASKELL & BARKER CAR CO. FOUNDED 1852. INCORPORATED 1871.
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