Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/889

* REFORMATORIES. 785 REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA. In 1898 there were in England 48 reformatories and Hi industrial schools; Prussia had 7 re- formatories and 16 private institutions under Government supers'ision. In 189G France had 6 public and 12 private reformatories for boys {one being in Algeria), and 4 public and 7 private for girls. In Holland juvenile delin(|Uonts under ten are sent to reformatories, of which there are four. Most of these schools are situated in the country. The reformatory system has had its widest de- velopment in the United States. In 1824 the House of Refuge on Randall's Island, New York, was established by law. It was and still is con- ducted on the congregate plan. Other cities fol- lowed the example. Such houses of refuge were under private control, but the public shared in the expense. These early institutions were fol- lowed by State reform schools. The change in names is interesting. All indications that the boys were committed to the institution for breaches of the law were avoided, as for ex- ample in the title of the Lyman School for Boys (1848). Besides these institutions for delin- quents there have sprung up many industrial schools for orphans and neglected children. Usu- ally the two are separated and the se.xes also are usually in separate schools. In 1900 there were 65 juvenile reformatories in the country, with a population of 19,410. while the total number of children they had sheltered was 209,600. In the earlier institutions the employment of the children was too often decided from a financial standpoint solely. It is now recognized that it should be not "productive,' but 'instructive.' It remained for the United States further to develo)) the reformatory system and make it ap- plicable to j'oung men and women. The prin- ciples introduced at Norfolk Island by Macho- nochie, and in Ireland by Crofton, had found favor in the country. It was proposed to combine these wdth the principles of the reformatories and seek not merelj* to punish, but to bring to self-support and self-respect the younger criminals for whom there might yet be hope. The beginning of this move- ment dates from the National Prison Congress of 1870, at which Z. R. Brockway outlined a plan for a new class of institutions. In 1866 New- York had enacted legislation establishing a re- formatory. The plans were altered in 1869, but it was not opened until 1876, when Mr. Brock- way was appointed superintendent of the Elmira Reformatory (q.v.). In 1877 the principle of the indeterminate sentence was legally adopted. The growth of the institution and its constant success won world-wide attention. In 1877 Mas- sachusetts founded a reformatory for women at Sherborn. and in 1884 one for men at Concord. JIany other States have followed the example of these two. The fundamental idea of these reformatories is that instead of repressive and punitive meas- ures there should be constant training along lines of industry, physical and mental development, to enable the prisoner to stand alone after his release. To make more effective this training, his self-interest is appealed to by the indeterminate sentence. This makes the length of his stay in the institution largely dependent upon his be- havior and progress while there. He is thus stimulated to take advantage of his opportunity. His release is conditional, and if he violates the terms of his parole he may be returned to the institution. The claim is made that fully eighty per cent, of .young felons released from American reformatories Have subsequently led upright lives. Unfortunately, the claim can be neither supported nor disproved, because no systematic trace and record is kept after the full terra of the original sentence has expired. The age limits within which first offenders are sentenced to refininatories varj-. The lower limit is usually fifteen or sixteen years. The upper limit seldom exceeds thirtj-. "in form of construction reformatories are like prisons with separate cells. The inmates are divided into grades, usually three. The Shelborn Reforma- tory for Women in Massachusetts has four. There are diffei'ent privileges for the different grades, and release on parole is open only to those in the highest. Consult: Barrows, The Reformatory System in the United States (Wash- ington, 1900). The best general sources are Drahms, The Criminal (New York, 1900), and Wines, Punishment and Reformation (ib., 1895). The Reports of the International and National Prison Congresses, and the Reports of the Na- tional Conference of Charities and Correction con- tain many papers on the general subject. See JrvExiLE Offexders; PEXoLooy; Prisons. REFORM BILLS. In Knglish history, the name of several measures introduced into Parlia- ment, chiefly during the nineteenth century. These bills, three of which were passed — namelv, in 1832, 1867, and 1884-85— aimed to abolish the abuses which had grown up in regard to the representation in the House of Commons. The franchise was also widely extended, and in prac- tice the House of Commons became all-power- ful. For details regarding the struggle, which preceded the passing of the great Reform Bill of 1832, see Grey, Charles, second Earl Grey; for the provisions of the various acts, see Pab- LlAiiENT. See also sections on History and Gor- ernmcnt under Great Britain. REFORMED CATHOLIC CHURCH. A movement begim in New York City between 1880 and 1885 among priests who had renounced the jurisdiction and doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church and engaged in evangelistic labors among the people. It has 6 ministers, church organ- izations, and 1500 members, chiefly in New Y'ork, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Illinois. REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA. The. a body of I'liristians in the United States composed originally of settlers from Holland, but now largely intermixed with elements from many other sources. Until 1867 it was known as the Reformed Protestant nutch Church in North America. The historj' of the Church begins with that of the Reformation in the Netherlands, where the movement met with a lieart.v welcome. Entering from German.v, it afterwards received its chief impetus from Switzerland and France. Hence its distinctive type of the Reformed doc- trine and the more democratic Presbyterian polity. But in Holland, as elsewhere, there had been a great preparation made bv reformers before the Reformation. The monks John Esch and Henry Voes for their evangelical preach- ing were burned at Brussels (1523) and were perhaps the first mart.vrs of the Reforma- tion. The Reformed Church of the Netherlands began her more formal existence in 1566, when the so-called 'League of Beggars' was formed.