Elmira Reformatory, New York State

Abstract

The New York Correspondent of the Lancet states that in this large reformatory there has been within the past year and a half a complete change in management with a corresponding sqmewhat radical alteration in the methods pursued. The twenty-fifth annual report of the board of managers has recently been presented to the New York State Legislature, and referring to “discipline” the report says:—“Since the statement in the last annual report that flogging had been abandoned at Elmîra some sincere friends of the reformatory have expressed the fear that its discipline would deteriorate. The board has not shared that fear.” The maintenance of the educational system by the present board has been seriously questioned by those who profess to see in the withdrawal of Mr. Brockway the first step towards the destruction of the fabric which he has laboriously created. The board finds in this system much to admire and uphold, something to criticise and modify, and something to condemn. The gross number of inmates who have been on the books during the past twelve months is 2050, of whom 666 were received during that period and 774 were dismissed, producing a daily average of 1365. The efficient control of so large a reformatory is an undertaking which will tax the brains and energies of the most active and intelligent superintendent and staff. It remains to be seen how the new methods will work. The result will be a matter of much interest to philanthropists everywhere.