The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1888-11-21
THE OBJECT SOUGHT.


Mr.. c. f. FELTON,, in recent speech at Atlanta,
Ga, in referring to "PrisOn Labor makes the fol-
lowing interesting statement in which he states
that to make prison life idle life, there is moth
ing correctional reformative about it; neither
is it lettering to Others A sentence to imprisOn.
ment should convey to the convict a knowledge
that crime has its penalty, and that freedom can
only be maintained by living honestly. and by
obey ng the laws. Labor is necessar ly part OF
that penalty. Inn risonment in county Jail is
neither deterrent nor refOrmatve. since there is
| no labor there. 1t is demOralzing in the extreme
What would be the effect of Imprisonment upon
an inmate of juvenile reformatOry without In.
Dor? In convict prisoner. mind and muscle
be kept at the greatest tension, he will no,
gain his berry reformed man. Criminal life
to him. has been an easy life. His livelihood has
not been obtained at wage-working; but by pro-
cesseI yielding large harvests W tn little toll He
will not work at physical employment since by
crime commission he Obta MS large suits without
doing SO. With him, when in prison, hard labor
should be used a force until he has been made
to feel that it does not pay to commit crime. This
force must be the physc that puts his system in
condition to receive mo -al impressions. Howard
Or. ~ Times.
Here is fair sample of false reasoning
from the utter inability of the reasoner to
fathOm the prisoners character. That men
imprisoned should labor. there can be nc
doubt; but for the reasons gwen above and
in the manner indicated for the purpose
sOught-NEvER. If men are imprisoned
as punishment for crime. then the greatest
punishment is idleness and solitary con-
tinement. If the convict must be impressed
that ''crime has it's penalty" as above de-
clared, then the greater the punishment.
the greater the probability of reformation.
Here is the same old idea that has re-
tarded the advance methods of penal
science: Hard labor should be used as a
does not pay to commit crime" Then the
harder the labor the more probable would
be the reformation. In other words, you
can force men to do right when not under
restraint by brutal methods while under
restra mt. What nonsense. What must be
the reasoning OF one who jumps at such a
conclusion? Contrast this with the re-
formatOry methods in vogue in the modern
prisons of our country. Contrast it with
the refOrmatOry principle that is soon to
prevail in our own state. If Mr.. FELTON, is
posing as a philanthropist it would be well
for him to study the prisoners character
until he learns that they are men and can
not be made better by hard labor, but must
be educated away from criminal methods
by an intelligent process. Men imprisoned
should be taught useful trades and educated
toward the general advance civilization of
our times. Those who are criminally in
clined can be thus fitted for the honorable
avOcatiOns of life; those who are not so in
cIined can be better fitted for the peaceful
pursuits of life and instead of imprisOn-
ment forcing them into criminal career,
they can leave the prison better men, men
tally, morally and physically. Then will
Imprisonment serve the purpose for which
it should exist. and until it does serve such
purpose it were better that we go back to
the penal code of England in the time Of
Blackstone. and intlict the death penalty
for 100 otfenses. Society would then get
rid OF the criminals and a great many who
are not criminals and perhaps crime would
not be on the increase as it was at the
period above referred to.