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RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR THE GOVERNMENT

OF THE HOUSE OF REFUGE,

Requisites which the House of Refuge possesses for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents.

1. THE MEANS OF SECURITY. 6. ALLOWANCE OF FOOD AND 2. INSPECTION.

3. CLASSIFICATION.

4. CONSTANT EMPLOYMENT.

5. RELIGIOUS AND MORAL IN

STRUCTION.

CLOTHING.

7. SPACE FOR EXERCISE CON

DUCIVE TO HEALTH.

8. SEPARATION OF THE SEXES. 9. ATTENDANCE UPON THE SICK.

THE introduction of labor into the House of Refuge will be regarded principally with reference to the moral benefits, and not merely to the profits, to be derived from it.

Preference will be given to those trades, the knowledge of which may enable the delinquents to earn their subsistence, on their discharge from the House.

LABOR.

The Children shall be employed every day in the year, except Sundays, at such labor, business, or employment, as may from time to time be designated by the Acting Committee; and, in order that the children may be properly instructed in the Arts or Trades at which they may be employed, the Superintendent shall, with the approbation of the Acting Committee, engage as Assistant Keepers, persons who are properly qualified to give such instruction.

A LIST OF EMPLOYMENTS AT PRESENT CARRIED ON IN THE
HOUSE OF REFUGE.

These may be increased or changed for other employments, as circumstances may require and the Committee direct.

FOOD.

The Children shall be fed with a sufficient quantity of coarse, but wholesome Food, and in conformity with a Dietary to be established by the Acting Committee.

The greatest economy and plainness shall be used in furnishing food for the children. The Superintendent shall inspect every article, and take care that nothing unsound be admitted into the House, and that the contracts made for its supply are fairly executed.

CLOTHING.

The Children shall be clothed in coarse, but comfortable apparel, of the cheapest and most durable kind. The cloth to be of a uniform color, and the clothes of the same cut or fashion. All the clothes, garments, shoes, &c. must, if practicable, be made on the premises, and by the children.

FEMALES AND MATRON.

The Females shall eat their meals and lodge in separate apartments from the males, with whom they shall have no intercourse or communication.

The Females shall be placed under the immediate care and superintendence of a Matron or Female Keeper, who shall reside in the House, and shall at no time absent herself from the premises, without the permission of the Acting or Visiting Committee.

None but the Matron shall search or examine the Female Delinquents. She shall superintend their work, and take charge of their clothes and bedding. She shall accompany the Superintendent or Physician, whenever it may be necessary for either of them to visit the apartments of the Females. She shall endeavor to unfold to those under her charge, the advantages of a moral and religious life, and to impress them with a conviction of the evils and miseries that attend the wicked and profligate. She shall, at the season set apart for the purpose, teach them the rudiments of education, and instruct them in the business of Housewifery, &c. She shall be authorized to punish them for offences against the rules of the House, or for indecorum in their behavior towards herself or

one another, and she shall regularly report to the Superintendent such matters relative to their deportment and conduct, and the punishment she has inflicted, with the nature of the offence committed, as will be proper for him to lay before the Acting Committee. No female subject shall pass out of the female yard or house, into the public yard or any of the adjoining tenements, upon any pretext whatever. And no boy, except the messenger, specially approved of by the Visiting Committee, shall go into the female house or yard, except to attend Divine Service on Sunday, or unless he is accompanied by an officer of the Institution.

PUNISHMENTS.

If any child shall refuse or wilfully neglect to perform the work required of him or her, or to obey the orders of the Superintendent or Assistant Keeper or Keepers, or shall use profane or indecent language, or shall assault or quarrel with a fellow delinquent, or shall make a noise or talk after having retired to the sleeping room, he or she shall be punished at a suitable time; and if, after this, such child persist in disobedience, he or she shall be confined in solitude for such time as the Superintendent may direct.

If any child shall strike or resist the Keeper, or attempt to escape from the House, or shall wilfully injure any article belonging to the Society, he or she shall be punished.

The Superintendent shall possess a discretionary power in awarding the punishment to offenders; but this must be exercised with great caution and judgment, and never under the influence of passion. He shall in all cases enter on the daily Journal, and report to the Acting Committee, a brief detail of the of fence, and the punishment inflicted for the same.

If it should ever be necessary to inflict corporal punishment upon females, it shall only be done by or in the presence of the Matron.

KINDS OF PUNISHMENTS THAT MAY BE USED IN THE HOUSE OF REFUGE.

1. Privation of play and exercise.

2. Sent to bed supperless at sunset.

3. Bread and water, for breakfast, dinner, and supper.

4. Gruel without salt, for breakfast, dinner and supper.

5. Camomile, boneset, or bitter herb tea, for breakfast, dinner, and supper.

6. Confinement in solitary cells.

7. Corporal punishment, if absolutely necessary. 8. Fetters and handcuffs, only in extreme cases.

WARDSMEN OR MONITORS.

The Superintendent may, whenever in his opinion it shall be useful, appoint for each ten or more children, one of the delinquents as Wardsman or Monitor, who shall be selected from the most orderly, well behaved, and best qualified for the purpose.

The general duty of the Wardsmen shall be, to observe the behavior and conduct of their respective classes; to see that they daily wash their persons: that their sleeping and work rooms are regularly swept every morning, and washed or scrubbed once in each week; that the rooms and bedding be ventilated and aired, and the night utensils removed and cleansed; and that decency and good order prevail throughout the class.

The Wardsman shall be authorised to select from his class, in rotation, one of the number to perform the duty of sweeping, scrubbing, &c. and it shall be an offence against the rules, for any of the class to disobey the reasonable commands of the Wardsman. He shall report to the Superintendent any improper act committed by a member of his class immediately after its occurrence, in order that it may be corrected forthwith.

ARRANGEMENT OF TIME.

A bell shall be rung every morning one quarter of an hour before the unlocking of the lodging rooms, and also at the hour of unlocking, when every child shall be prepared to leave his room, in order to wash &c. previous to going to work.

The time of beginning and leaving off work, of eating breakfast, dinner, and supper, of attending school, and of retiring to sleep, shall be in conformity with

a table prepared by the Acting Committee, and each time shall be designated by the ringing of the bell, as the Superintendent may direct.

CLASSIFICATION.

The Boys and Girls shall be classed according to their moral conduct, and as soon as practicable there shall be four grades of classes formed, viz: Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4.

Class No. 1, shall include the best behaved and most orderly Boys and Girls: those who do not swear, lie, or use profane, obscene, or indecent language or conversation, who attend to their work and studies, are not quarrelsome, and have not attempted to escape.

Class No. 2. Those who are next best, but who are not quite free from all the foregoing vices and practices.

Class No. 3. Those who are more immoral in conduct than Class No. 2.

Class No. 4. Those who are vicious, bad, and wicked.

Badges bearing the number of each class, shall be worn on the arm, at all times in the day.

In case of improper and bad conduct, the children in Classes, Nos. 1, 2, or 3, shall be transferred or degraded by the Superintendent to the lower or lowest Class. And for improvement, or good conduct, in Classes 4, 3, or 2, they may be transferred or promoted to a higher class.

The children in Class No. 1, who behave well, and are orderly and correct in their conduct, may be rewarded by the Superintendent, in the presence of all the children, and of the Acting Committee.

Those children who have behaved well for three months in succession, shall be allowed to wear a badge of distinction and approbation.

SUPERINTENDENT AND KEEPER.

The Superintendent and Keeper shall have the general superintendence of the House of Refuge, and shall carry into effect all the rules and regulations adopted by the Acting Committee for its management and government.