62 Sioux City Academy of Science and Letters. 
methods, the purpose of the older penologists, who aimed 
at deterring persons from the committal of crimes, and 
it is going far beyond any such mean object and it is 
‘raining men, who in some way have gotten out of 
harmony with their environment, so that they are able to 
re-establish themselves as normal and useful members of 
society. I refer, of course, to the work in which Mr. 
Brockway of Elmira Reformatory has been so distin- 
guished a leader. It is not my purpose to give an account 
of the origin of the method, but to describe it briefly, as 
a basis for a consideration of its merits, with a view to 
its application to the criminal problem in Iowa. I shall 
speak of the work at Elmira because of its importance, 
but my remarks will be based more fully upon the work 
of the reformatories for men and women at Concord and 
Sherborn, Massachusetts. I know the work of these 
institutions from actual investigation, and one of my 
treasured recollections is of the personality of Mrs. Ellen 
C. Johnson, who gave her life for the reformation of 
criminal women in Massachusetts. 
The Elmira Reformatory receives “nominally first 
offenders not less than 16 nor more than 30 years old.” 
They are placed in custody for an indefinite period to be 
determined by the managers at their discretion according 
to their conduct; the length of time cannot be greater 
than the maximum time which the statute allots for par- 
ticular offenses. While in custody they are subjected to 
various reforming agencies. “These are educational, 
employment, and regularity of conduct.” The prisoners 
are divided into grades. These grades are determined 
by a marking system which is based on the progress 
made by the prisoner. When the highest grade is 
reached the prisoner is a candidate for release on parole 
and after a certain length of time on parole, continued 
good conduct will procure his discharge from all super- 
vision and he becomes again his own master. Thus the 
elements in this course of treatment for the young crimi- 
nal are: the indeterminate sentence, reformatory disci- 
pline and conditional liberation. 
The individual convict is brought to Elmira by an 
officer of the Reformatory, not by a deputy of the court. 
In the office of the Superintendent he is submitted to a 
