Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 15.djvu/491

 AMERICAN REFORMATORY SYSTEM 477

Eden episode; and it does not preclude the highest aim and attainment. The far-reaching reformatory possibilities of work are admirably pointed out by Professor Drummond. I quote:

Work is an incarnation of the unseen. In this loom man's soul is made. There is a subtle machinery behind it all, working while he is working, making or unmaking the unseen in him. Integ^rity, thoroughness, honesty, accuracy, conscientiousness, faithfulness, patience — these unseen things which complete a soul are woven into the work. Apart from work these things are not. As the conductor leads into our nerves the invisible force, so work conducts into our spirit all high forces of character, all essential qualities of life, truth in the inward parts. Ledgers and lexicons, business letters, domestic duties, striking of bargains, writing of examina- tions, handling of tools — these are the conductors of the Eternal ! So much so that without them there is no Eternal. No man dreams integrity, accuracy, and so on. These things require their wire as much as electricity. The spiritual fluids and the electric fluids are under the same law; and messages of grace come along the lines of honest work to the soul, like the invisible message along the telegraph wires.

The principles of the American Reformatory Prison System as here set forth are as yet incompletely practiced; but, more and more, men are learning that the eternal verities are within the acts and incidents of the daily life, that the public safety hinges upon a proper adjustment of individual and collective relativeness, and that the fulcrum of leverage is economic efficiency. This better view is fraught with promise for better public protection by means of rational reformation of offenders.