Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 120, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 May 1916 — THE CHARITIES AND CORRECTION CONVENTION [ARTICLE]

THE CHARITIES AND CORRECTION CONVENTION

Interesting Report Written by Mrs. John I. Gwin, Who Attended * Meeting as Delegate. All who have been reading the Indianapolis dalies for the past week will know of the doings of the national conference of Charities and Corrections held in that city, but to those who have not, an account of some of the happenings of that occasion may be of interest. Delegates were invited to visit the various churches of Indianapolis for the Sunday morning service. The theme selected by Dr. Clippenger of the Tabemacel Presbyterian, was “The Power of Thought to Change the Life,” using the text “As a man thinketh, so Is he,” and in a logical way he proceeded to make.it very evident that the basis of all reform must be first in thought, and that it is not possible t#_ make people do right until their thoughts have been directed into right channels. It was in this way that the ideals advanced by the experts at this great meeting could be made to help in every community by oeing carried home and delivered x> them by their delegates. A great majority of the people in every locailty are almost entirely unacquainted with the needs of their own community and consequently uninterested in these needs, which unless they are met influence every other life in the community. The first step therefore in any work of local improvement to change the attitude of indifferent thoughtlessness to that of interested helpfulness. In none of the sessions was this thought more greatly emphasized than in the addresses on prison reform given by Thomas Mott Osborne, of Sing Sing prison, New York, and Judge Edwin L. Gavin, of the court of special, sessions, New York city. These speakers who have had such a large experience with the criminal classes, made plain the fact that prison walls do not reform that class of society but on the contrary are the very conditions, that furnish a school of vice. The new idea of those who are working reforms is to change the thought of those whom they wish to reform. The jails in our own community, though smaller, present the same evil condition. What can we do to make them better ? Is it any of our affairs that young boys and men who have made mistakes are allowed to go on in their wrong ways of thinking, locked in a cell with nothing else to think about ? The more opportunity they have for such thoughts the more dangerous they become. We will never improve . hese conditions by an attitude of indifference. In our prayer meetings and gathernigs of a similar character are we as much concerned about the wickedness of our own city as we are in the evils of the ancient Hebrews of Jerusalem? We all want to do our duty in all respects but when one hears men and women who are in such close touch with these great problems, one feels that none of us do all that we should in the solution of them. *

Conferences were conducted dealing with the following lines <f work: Children; Corrections; The Family and the Community; Feeble-minded-ness and Insanity; Health; Inebrity; Promotion of Social Programs; Public and Private Charities; Unemployment. The speakers were all experts in their particular fields and one who listened was struck with the emphasis placed on the idea of prevention in every line. In the health discussion, disease prevention was the chief topic; in the talks on inebrity, feeblemindedness and insanity, much was said about how these conditions might be prevented and so on in every department. Much was dene to furnish pleasing and beneficial entertainment for the

delegates. Each day a program was given in the rotunda of the state house by inmates qf some of the various state institutions. I had the pleasure of hearing the one given by the boys and girls of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Orphons Home from Ksnightstown and a& they played the national airs and gave beautiful and intricate flag drills, the tears would dim eyes to see so many children whose only home was an institution. The boys of the correctional school mantained by the state at Plainfield, gave a historical pageant on the campus of that institution in compliment to the visiting delegates and the Indiana Historical Commission. A ravine surrounded by undergrowth formed a natural ampitheatre for the onlookers and a fine setting for the actors. The six hundred boys in this institution between the ages of ten and sixteen, portrayed very comprehensively the complete history of Indiana from the coming of fKeTesulf missi6nawer<!bwa to the present time, and as I watched this simple reproduction of Indiana “history in a nutshell,” I wished tjh&£ we might have the same pageant given in Milroy Park as our. county's observance rtf this centennial year. The music was furnished by the boys and

the costumes were designed and made in the art and tailoring departntent and the carpentering by the manual training department. The deportment and ability of these boys was evidence that were it not for the stigma attached to these places of correction they are better than many homes for training the boy for efficiency and usefulness. The girls’ school at Clarmont, 8 miles northwest of Indianapolis, does for the girls what the school at Plainfield does for the boys. 11118 school was the destination of the lady delegates who were taken for a 35-mile automobile ride around the city and entertained by a pageant given by the girls. Every correctional and penal institution in the state as well as every organization that has for its purpose the helping and betterment of humaniy was represented by an extensive exhibit occupying the entire corridor space of the three floors of the state house. This is said to have been the most extensive educational exhibit of its kind ever attempted in this connection. Here was shown the wonderful and beautiful work done by the children in the schools maintained by the state forJthe children* of the blind, the deaf and dumb, the, feeble mjnded and insane, as well as the numerous organisations that have for their object the aiding of all classes of needy. An intiment knowledge of this exhibit would enable one to understand whpt wonderful things are being accomplished along these lines by those who have them in charge and that are maintained by every taxpayer in the state. Mqre than 3,000 delegates‘were in attendance, making it the largest convention of its kind yet held. The next meeting will be held in Pittsburg.