The following is a table showing the number and occupation of the inmates of Folsom Prison on June 30, 1903, and June 30, 1904:

In the two prisons under consideration there are 1,425 men engaged in labor that would to some extent come in competition with free labor. If we leave out of consideration 127 who are engaged in quarrying, the product of whose labor is utilized at the prison itself, we have but 1,298 so employed. This is less than one fifth of one per cent of the total number gainfully employed in California. But the law provides that even this small number shall be engaged in labor least likely to come in competition with the free labor of the State. The material from which jute bags are manufactured is produced in countries supplied with coolie labor in abundance, and under any other than prison conditions it is very unlikely that any jute bags would be manufactured here at all. Then, too, no one can buy this prison-made article except for his own use (and even then not in quantities greater than 5,000 per year), thus doing away with any temptation to speculate. (Stats. of Cal. 1893, p. 54.)

The output of crushed rock at Folsom is so very limited and the industry of such a character that no very great harm could possibly result to labor interests.

The Legislature enacted a statute at its last session, directing that at least twenty convicts be employed on the roads near San Quentin and a like number on the roads near Folsom, but in no case was this work to be performed to a distance exceeding six miles from the said prisons. (Stats. of Cal. 1903, p. 127.)

CORRECTIVE INSTITUTIONS.

The corrective work of the State is carried on at two institutions: the Preston School of Industry, for boys, at Ione, and the Whittier State School, for both sexes, at Whittier.

Preston School of Industry.-At this institution there are at present 149 boys, ranging in age from ten to twenty-one years. They have no employment that could in any way be deemed competitive. They are engaged in systematic industrial training, to the end that they may leave the institution master of some trade. One half of each working day is devoted to such industrial training, and the other half to school proper. The school is organized precisely as the regular public schools of the State, and embraces the studies of the elementary grades. There are no vacations in either the industrial or the common school departments.

Whittier State School.-At Whittier, on September 1, 1904, there were 307 boys and 45 girls. Besides these, there were 152 boys and girls out on parole, making a total of 504 under the jurisdiction of the school. Here, as at Ione, the inmates work one half of the day and attend school the other half. In the industrial department, tailoring, printing, shoemaking, carpentering, laundry work, electrical engineering, blacksmithing, painting, flower and vegetable gardening, farming, and cooking are taught.

As the law requires that the general condition of the inmates of State institutions be studied, it was thought a somewhat more detailed study

should be made of some one institution, and the Whittier School has been selected for this purpose.

The ages of the inmates of this school range from eight to eighteen years. The term of commitment is from three to eleven years. The State pays one half the expense and the several counties from which the pupils are sent bear the remainder. Care is exercised that the prison aspect of the school be little in evidence, while the educational features are emphasized.

Several tables taken from the last biennial report of the Superintendent are given. Although these tables are two years old, they will show the general conditions that prevail as to age, term of commitment, parentage of the inmates, etc.:

Pupils Admitted and Dismissed during the Fifty-third Fiscal Year-1901-02. Abbreviations: M. = Males; F. Females; T.: = Total.

=

62.18 per cent of the fathers of the inmates are American born and
68.45 per cent of the mothers. Of the foreign-born fathers, the largest
per cent are Irish, 6.08 per cent; next, Italian, 5.85 per cent; third,
German, 3.99 per cent; fourth, English, 2.8 per cent. Of the mothers,
the largest per cent are also Irish, 5.8 per cent, with Italy second, 3.9
per cent; Germany third, 3.7 per cent; Mexico fourth, 3.2 per cent.

The total number of foreign-born persons in California in 1900 was 367,240, or 24.7 per cent of the entire population of the State. Of these, 19.7 per cent were Germans, 12.1 per cent were Irish, 9.7 per cent were English, 6.2 per cent were Italians, and the remainder divided among the other nationalities. Compared to the total population of the State, 4.9 per cent are Germans, 2.9 per cent are Irish, 2.4 per cent are English, and 1.5 per cent are Italian.