blackmar: penology in Kansas. 171 



stating that he must remain exactly two years and three months to be 

 cured, when in fact it may take longer or he may be cured before the 

 end of a year. Certain it is that no criminal should be returned to the 

 ranks of society until a reform has been thoroughly commenced. And 

 when it can be ascertained that he will not commit crime again, it is 

 idle to confine him longer. New York and Ohio have taken advanced 

 steps in this direction and have instituted what is known as the inde- 

 terminate sentence for all criminals, whether in reformatories or pen- 

 itentiaries.* 



When the solitary cellular system is in vogue, the prisoners are lim- 

 ited to certain occupations within the cell, but when the associated 

 system is practiced, all kinds of industry involving machinery may be 

 carried on. This has given rise to what is known as the contract sys- 

 tem, a method of employing prisoners, which should not be confounded 

 with the unfortunate and nearly antiquated lease system. The statutes 

 of Kansasf permit the contracting of prisoners to responsible parties, 

 but still the state maintains its disciplinary control over the prisoners. 

 The directors are obligated to advertise for bids in the leading papers 

 in each congressional district. Contracts shall not exceed a term of 

 ten years, and awards are made to the highest responsible bidder. 

 Forty-five cents per day for able-bodied men is the minimum poirit 

 below which bids are not accepted. There is a great controversy 

 respecting the defects of the contract system, but it is not as bad as it 

 at first appears when laborers are employed otherwise with great dififi,"- 

 culty. Doubtless the better way is absolute management of all indus- 

 tries, as in case of the coal mines, by the prison superintendent. 



The management of the mines is intrusted to a skillful engineer, 

 Mi:/ Oscar F. Lamm. The writer has investigated the conditions 

 under which men work, and has been to the face of the mines where 

 they were at work, and can testify that the stories circulated about 

 hard usage in the mines are wholly unfounded, except by persons who 

 consider all labor, particularly mining, hard usage. The air below is 

 pure— men are sent down every morning to test the air before prison- 

 ers are allowed to go down — and the mining is comparatively easy. 

 There is very little difficulty in it, and the prisoners are not so bad off 

 in these mines as are the miners in private mines elsewhere in Kansas! 

 It may be a dreary life to lead for a person who has not been accusr 

 tomed to work underneath the ground, but the average miner would 

 pronounce the life in the mines endured by the prisoners as one of 

 comparative ease and very few hardships. In all the experience of 



* See Proceedings of the National Conference of Charities, 1891, p. 330. 

 + Revised Statutes, 6443, 1889, 



