The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1886-02-04
PR1soNR EFoRM.
Education as Factor In ROusing the
Dormant Minds OF COnviets.

| Education as = Factor In ROusing ths
Dormant Minds OF COnvicts.
In order to reform any person addict
ed to evil living, an adequate motive
must be offered. At Eimira the power.
full motive is the desire of reoainine
liberty. This would seem enough, but
it is not always sufficient to arouse am
bition in sluggish nature, especially
when the period of incarceration is fix
ed and is short This motive, then, has
to be supplemented by others. A way
must be found to. arouse the sluggish
body and interest the dormant mind. 1t
is sometimes long before this way can
be discovered. These ruined natures
have often very little that can be appeal
ed to successfully. But do believe there
is in most men and women, however de
graded, the seed of a better life. The
first step will probably be the awaken
ing of an interest in something outside
themselves; not a purpose of change,
but simply an interest. 1t may be de-
sire to learn the alphabet, or an awak-
ened taste for reading, or a little in
elination to know something. 1t may
be pride in personal appearance, or q
wish to get communication for good be-
hayior, or a dawning sense of the agree
ableness of order, neatnesS, cleanliness.
Or 1T may be some pleasure in a dis
covered power to do well Ell piece of
work. This interest, once aroused, can
be stimulated by various indictments,
slight rewards of promotion, the fear of
social degradation; and this path of do
ing well will become powerfully attract
i've when it is seen to be the path, and
the only one, to liberty. But this inter-
est in any form, with even the prize of
liberation, can not be depended on to
last. The Will of the criminal is weak
and vascillating. He can not be de-
pended on, he can not depend upon
himself, for continuance. He may fail
and fall again and again. The only
remedy in his case-and it is the COM
mon case-is to keep him at it, keep
him trying, until habit is formed, UNI
til his will is strengthened, until, in fact,
it is mentally and physically just as
easy for him to live a normal, healthful
life as it was to live a disorderly life.
In the life that is required of him
under the Elmira system it is very diff
cult for II man to sham. The study, the
work, the behavior, demanded of him
continuously almost preclude hypocrisy.
The neophyte may try TO pass himself off
as docile, and even as piOuS, but no de-
ceit lasts long under this severe, exact
ing, trying discipline, which is applied
equally to his attention in the workshop,
his alertness in school, and to all the de-
tails of his personal behavior and APP
pearance. The requirements are too
rigid. If the man does not put himself
willingly and honestly into harmony
with his position, he is pretty certain to
break down and go back into the harder
conditions of prison life. These he finds
very unwelcome after taste of some
thing better, and he tries again, with
rev resolution. The pressure is inces-
SAINT. The incentive of liberty, better
unprecedented as he gets into a normal
state, is always inviting him. Mean
while habit is doing its work. He can
continue longer in Il straight course. He
begins to feel in all his renovated physi-
cal and moral nature not only the desire
for liberty, but a longing, however faint,
to make man of himself.
The important thing, AS necessary in
this system to getting out of confine-
ment as to becoming man, is the for
nation of habit. And here is where the
notion of an indeterminatc sentence
comes in as the only condition of form
ing fixed habit.
An indeterminate sentence is the SEN
tence of a convict to confinement until
in the Judgment of some tribunal he is
lit TO 90 out into society again, until it
is evident that he is likely to be law
abiding. If Il person is determined up
pom criminal life, the best thing tn at
can be done for him and for society is
to contine him where he can do no mis-
chief, and where his labor will paw for
his keeping, SO that he may nof be an
expense to society nor terror To it.
And, logically, he should be confined
until there Is good reason to believe that
he will be a self-supporting. law-abiding
member OF community. Now, the diff
Guilty heretofore has been to determine
when a person might safely be released
on an indeterminate sentence. Under
the present prison system, If release de-
pended simply ON good behavior, on eX-
ternai observance of rules, most Grimm
ais are shrewd enough to behave adj
mirably, and to even offer evidences OF
Christian conversion, in order to get re-
lease, Where is there n tribunal that
could pass upon mis- character? The
Elmira system compels person literally
to work out his own salvation. Ii will
take some men "a longer and some men
a shorter time to do it, that is, TO acquire
such habit that for a given period they
can stand perfect in study, in work, IN
conduct. Under our present rule of de
terminate sentences there are many In
corrigible cases. Probably there are
some natures incapable of being chang
ed to ANYTHING better. Let snch stay
where they can pay for their living and
not iniure society. But it is difficult to
say of any man that ne can not be
reached and touched by discipline.
physical, mental and moral. for a long
time and continuous; that it is impossible
to drill him, in years of effort, into
habit of decent living and Il liking for
an orderly life. 1t is Impossible, psyche
logically and physiologically, for per-
son to obey rigid rules of order and de-
cency, TO be drilled in mental exercises,
to be subject to supervision for intelll-
gent and attentive labor, for consider
able length of time, and not form new
habits, not to be changed sensibly and
probably radically. 1t may be in one
year, it may be in ten years, but ulti-
mately habits will be formed, and the
man can not, without a greater or less
effort, be what he was before he was
subjected to this process.
This is the education of which lspeak;
this is the education which does not ut
or incline man to be an expert crimi-
nal, DuC Wnleh makes 0lSOEuSfIy uI0
in his case improbable. And he him
self determines when he is fit to go out
of confinement and out of discipline to
which he has been subjected. His re-
cord shows it, for his record shows
whether he has acquired new habits
and is really changed. OF course some
tribunal must pass upon this record and
upon the whole appearance and ten
dency of the man. but IFS work is compara-
lively easy, and liable to few mistakes.
After release, of course, something must
be done to place this man, who has ae-
quired habit of and liking for a cor
rect life, IN a position in community
where he has q chance to maintain him
self He can not be turned loose to all
temptations in face of the contempt
of the world. But philanthropy can
provide for that as part of the system
which has given him, by long discipline,
the habit of decent living. And it viii
happen that when the community under
stands this system, the finding employ
ment for men who have been in State
prison will not be so difficult as it Is
now Charles Dudley Warner, tn HGT-
per's Magazine for February.
Eggs are Eggs.
The wife of a certain suburban resi-