experiment, coupled with the results obtained from the operation of General Order No. 110, are believed to demonstrate the fact that a probationary period on board ship is a more effective method of reclaiming offenders than a period of detention ashore, and from a monetary standpoint it is vastly more economical.

As stated in my previous annual report, the expense of the detention system was out of all proportion to its results. Furthermore, the theory of reclaiming and rehabilitating offenders is not of the same importance in the naval service as in civil life. In the one case we are dealing principally with offenders against military discipline; in the other with criminals. It is the function of civil prisons as far as practicable to reform their inmates before liberating them on society. The same necessity does not exist in regard to military offenders. Also, a careful study of this class of offenders shows that fully 50 per cent of them are unfit and undesirable for a military organization, and are rarely successful in any walk of life. In chronic cases the cheapest and best method is to rid the naval service of them, while those whose records show their offenses to be isolated can more effectually be disciplined by a suspended sentence, as provided by General Order No. 110 and article 4893, Naval Instructions.

Accordingly, the detention system is now used only in two classes of cases, namely, first, for youthful offenders whose records do not warrant their restoration to duty on probation in the service at large, but who should not, from a humanitarian point of view, be confined in prison; and second, for older offenders who have been imprisoned for military offenses, and while serving their term of imprisonment give indications of reform justifying the mitigation of their sentences to detention. For these purposes the continuance of the detention system on a much reduced scale, as at present, is recommended.

It will be seen from the above that offenders in the Navy are now divided into four general classes, namely:

I. Criminals.-These are men whose offenses involve moral turpitude, which if prosecuted in the civil courts would result in their imprisonment at hard labor. Arrangements for their confinement in State prisons have been made with the prison authorities of New Hampshire, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and California.

II. Naval prisoners. These are men convicted of purely military offenses, but whose offenses require imprisonment. They wear the prison garb and perform hard labor, but if their conduct and attention to duty during the first one-third of their imprisonment justify clemency and their past records do not render them manifestly undesirable for retention in the service, they may secure mitigation of their sentences from imprisonment at hard labor to detention, subject to certain conditions and regulations governing such cases.

III. Detentioners.-These are men confined on board a disciplinary ship, and are composed of two general classes, namely: First, youthful offenders, who do not belong to the criminal class, but are not primarily fitted for probation in the service at large. If sufficient. time remains on their enlistment they are placed in detention without first undergoing a term of imprisonment, and are eventually restored to duty if their conduct warrants such action; second, naval prisoners whose sentences have been mitigated to detention because their conduct while in prison and their past records warrant the belief that they may be deserving of another chance. As heretofore explained,

detentioners wear the regular naval uniform, but instead of being required to perform hard labor they are given a thorough course of drill and instruction with a view to better fitting them for the duties of their ratings should they earn their restoration to duty. Men whose conduct is satisfactory are released from strict detention after they have completed one-half of their adjudged term of confinement, and are then placed on probation on a disciplinary ship until twothirds of their total sentence has expired. While thus on probation they receive pay, liberty, etc., and are in all respects in the same status as enlisted men in good standing in the service at large, except that if during the probationary period they commit a serious infraction of the regulations they may be returned to hard labor or to strict detention, and be required to serve out the remainder of their sentence, or such portion thereof as may be deemed advisable. Upon completion of two-thirds of their adjudged sentences with excellent conduct while on the disciplinary ship they are unconditionally restored to duty in the service at large, and the dishonorable discharge and remaining third of their adjudged sentence are remitted.

IV. Probationers in the service at large. These are men sentenced by general or summary courts-martial for military offenses of approximately the same nature as those who, under the former system, were sent to disciplinary ships or barracks. They are cases which warrant the belief that the offenders will profit by the clemency extended them, endeavor to avail themselves of the opportunity to avoid the stigma of a dishonorable or bad-conduct discharge, and at the same time be adequately punished by the withholding of one-half of their pay each month for a period of from six months to one year, according to the nature of their offense, and the sentence adjudged.

NAVAL PRISONS AND DISCIPLINARY BARRACKS.

During the previous fiscal year we had in operation naval prisons at Boston, Mass., Portsmouth, N. H., Mare Island, Cal., and Puget Sound, Wash.; naval disciplinary barracks at Port Royal, S. C., the detention system on board the Philadelphia at Puget Sound, Wash., and the prison ships Southery and Topeka at Portsmouth, N. H., and Philadelphia at Puget Sound, Wash. This enumeration does not include the naval prison at Cavite, P. I., which was and is now used for confinement of prisoners awaiting transfer to the naval prison at Mare Island or to the California State Prison.

The naval prison at Boston, Mass., and the naval disciplinary barracks at Port Royal, S. C., and Puget Sound, Wash., have been discontinued; the use of the Southery as a prison ship and the Philadelphia as a disciplinary ship has been discontinued; and the prison ship Topeka was converted into a disciplinary ship, and later its use for this purpose also discontinued.

At the present time, therefore, we have in operation only one prison, strictly speaking, on each coast, namely, the naval prisons at Portsmouth, N. H., and Mare Island, Cal. The U. S. S. Southery is being used for the detention system on the east coast, retaining a few prisoners on board for special purposes, and provision has been made for a camp at Mare Island to be used for the detention system on the west coast. A small number of detentioners and prisoners are still at Port Royal, S. C., on board the Philadelphia at Puget Sound, Wash.,

and at the naval stations, Norfolk, Va., Philadelphia, Pa., and New Orleans, La., where they are being utilized to perform certain necessary work while awaiting transfer or the completion of a short remaining period of their sentences. These changes have resulted in releasing for other duties 15 officers and 494 enlisted men of the Marine Corps who were formerly required in the operation of the naval prison and detention systems. As heretofore stated, the total number of prisoners and detentioners has been reduced from 1,835 to 740. The reports received from naval prisons show them to be in an efficient and satisfactory condition.

At Portsmouth, N. H., the reports show that the prisoners are employed as much as possible in the open air, where their labor is utilized to the best advantage for the improvement of the navy yard, in the care of buildings and prison surroundings, in running a large garden, which has been very successful and the products of which aid materially in feeding the prisoners; and during the winter season in clearing snow, getting out rock, and harvesting ice. About 1,800 tons of ice were cut last winter for use at the navy yard. Prisoners are also employed on mechanical work in the machine shop, blacksmith shop, carpenter shop, and electrical shop, in the laundry, and in repairing shoes, and printing. Care is taken to keep the prison and prisoners in the best sanitary condition possible and the medical report shows that the general sanitary condition for the year was excellent. The health of the prisoners has been excellent, and is almost invariably better upon discharge than when first confined, due to working in the open air, constant and regular exercise, excellent but plain food, and the sanitary conditions.. Divine services are held on Sundays and also at intervals during the week. Moving picture entertainments are furnished at the prison once each week. A school is conducted which all attend. Fifteen instructors are detailed from among the prisoners, and the school is in a high state of efficiency. The results have been gratifying, and reports received after the men have been discharged show that their instruction in the prison school has directly aided them in securing promotion or performing their duties more efficiently when returned to the service. It is noted by the commanding officer that nearly all of the prison students whom he classifies as drones were confined for desertion.

At Mare Island, Cal., the reports show that the discipline has been firm and just, the practice being to grant every privilege compatiblo with confinement to deserving men and to punish summarily those guilty of infractions of the prison regulations. The large majority of the prisoners are of a manly type, realizing that they have made a mistake, for which they are paying the price. The physical condition of the prisoners has been excellent. Classes in school work are held three evenings each week and the educational advantages are highly appreciated by a majority of the prisoners. In addition, seamanship classes are held twice a week for instruction in knotting, splicing, and laying sennet. Indoor games and books are provided for the entertainment of the prisoners. The commanding officer has corresponded with a number of Federal and State penitentiaries and has thus been enabled to compare their methods with those in use at this prison, with a view to adopting measures which might possibly improve conditions. This correspondence dis

closed that from a humanitarian and progressive point of view the treatment of the men at this prison is in harmony with modern ideas on the subject. The average age of the prisoners is 26 years and 3 months, as compared with an average age of 30 years and 2 months for prisoners confined in 35 of the largest penitentiaries in the country. At Puget Sound, Wash., the reports show that while the naval prison was in operation the discipline and health of the prisoners were excellent; that a satisfactory workshop for exercise and instruction of the prisoners was in operation; that the food was sufficient in quantity and excellent in quality, fresh vegetables being obtained from a small garden worked by the prisoners; also that a school was established which all prisoners attended voluntarily. The prisoners were employed regularly at hard labor out of doors, in doing useful work around the navy yard. The spirit of the prisoners and their conduct were improved in consequence of an order issued by the department on October 7, 1914, permitting them by excellent conduct to secure the benefit of detention, after undergoing a period of confinement.

At Port Royal, S. C., the reports show that while the disciplinary barracks were in operation the sanitary condition of the station and general health of the men were excellent; that the discipline was very good, although it suffered considerably in consequence of the shortage of officers, and the fact that the enlisted force detailed for duty as guards were not especially qualified for that class of duty; that during the first half of the fiscal year daily drills were energetically carried out; that vocational schools were maintained to such an extent as practicable; that an academic course of instruction was conducted four evenings each week, under the supervision of four commissioned officers detailed for that purpose, the result being satisfactory, considering the status and class of students, only about 15 per cent of whom were actively interested in the various subjects and endeavored to take full advantage of the instruction offered; that the station was operated by men in detention and on probation, who satisfactorily performed such duties as might be required by the different departments of a naval station and accomplished in a most economical manner an unusually large amount of work classified as minor repairs.

Reports from the U.S. S. Topeka show that while the detention system was in operation on board that ship the general sanitary condition was excellent, the food of good quality and sufficient in quantity; that notwithstanding the great care exercised in advancing detentioners to the higher classes, 29 per cent deserted after being made first class and allowed liberty.

Reports from the U. S. S. Philadelphia show that the sanitary condition of the ship and health of the detentioners were excellent; that the food was sufficient in quantity and excellent in quality; that divine services were held weekly; that the detentioners gladly availed themselves of the benefit of the educational system in force in the service, including both the academic and technical instruction; that it was impracticable to hold all the usual military drills, because of the great decrease in the number of detentioners; and that for this reason the instruction and drills were held along naval lines, the idea being to make the men proficient in drills and in the duties of their ratings.

DEFECTIVES.

In my previous annual report I mentioned certain investigations that were being made by the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery in the effort to develop a mentality test for application in recruiting, in the hope of eliminating many of the men who now find their way to prison. As pointed out in that report, something is lacking in the make-up of a very large percentage of naval prisoners, though investigations which have been made by the bureau fail to develop as high a percentage as I had anticipated of men who under various tests could be classed as morons. The final results of the investigation along these lines show that, while there are numerous mental defectives in prison, no test has yet been developed which is practicable for use in recruiting that would be reasonably certain to eliminate this class from enlistment.

Absence over leave.

Absence over leave, drunkenness.

Absence over leave, using threatening language toward another person in the naval service.

Navy.

Marine
Corps.

Total.

1

Absence over leave, violation of a lawful regulation of the Secretary of the Navy, conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline.

1

Absence over leave, disobey ing the lawful order of the Chief of Bureau of Navigation...

1

Conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline.

Conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline, scandalous conduct tending to the destruction of good morals.

Conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline, violation of a lawful regulation issued by the Secretary of the Navy..

1

Conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.

Culpable inefficiency in the performance of duty.

4

Culpable inefficiency in the performance of duty, neglect of duty.

Culpable inefficiency in the performance of duty, violation of a lawful regulation of the Secretary of the Navy, rendering false and fraudulent returns.

Drunkenness, conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman, conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline..

1

Drunkenness, maltreating a person subject to his orders.

1

23871°-Ab. 1915-vol. 1-63