EVOLUTION IN REFORMATORY METHODS 267 



tion and training of our youth as to toach thom the nol^iUty of 

 labor. Those who have said, ''The world owes me a living, 

 and I am bound to have it," furnish this sad spectacle and to 

 their own discomfiture. On the other hand, the honest toiler, 

 who embraces every opportunity for self advancement by 

 occupation and endeavor, can rise to a height which seems to 

 be Hmitless in consequence of the ingenuity of the man who 

 applies himself and ennobles labor. Our boys can have no 

 l^etter teaching than this, all of which Vv ill assist them to rise 

 above the necessities of to-day. 



That which tends toward the elevation of the boy will 

 reflect itself in the man insomuch as the boy is said to be the 

 father of the man. While the achievements of the nmeteenth 

 century were marked in a degree in the advancement of our 

 institution methods and reflect the zeal and labor fraught with 

 more or less anxiety, it furnishes our workers of the present 

 day with an inspiration to try to accomplish even greater 

 things for those who require their help. The changes from 

 the old to the new methods are certainly gratifying and satis- 

 factory. To see the walls, bars, dungeons, stocks and chains, 

 which were regarded as absolute necessities in the years gone 

 by, disappear, and in their stead cottages or homes for boys 

 with parks, lawTis, flowers and the handiwork of nature^s 

 beauties to be seen on every side, certainly reflects the intelli- 

 gence and zealous efforts of an advanced civilization. 



In conclusion, let me suggest what I might term a 

 model refonnator}^ : First, an institution created by a mag- 

 nanimous people for the sole purpose of reformation and 

 not profit. The cottage system to be taken as the basic prin- 

 ciple in its broadest sense. Boys to be carefully classified; 

 congregating those only of like temperament, not to exceed 

 thirty boys in a cottage; presided over by trained men and 

 women, a living example worthy of the emulation of every boy; 

 devoting their best thought and energy to the individual boy, 

 transforming and reforaiing the crooked and gnarled into the 

 symmetrical and stately. The occupation of the boys to be of 

 such a character as may be best suited to the boy and his prob- 

 able surroundings after returning to his home, with the miH- 

 tary, music, and as many other influences as would feature the 



