The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1888-10-31

its administration. lhe law leaves 1t EN-
tirely to the management to devise the
means to this end. So it is in its power to
establish any mode of discipline it may
think best.
The requirements of the rules, as they
now stand governing both officers and con-
victs, are not and cannot be enforced to the
letter; and to compel their enforcement
would be as cruel to one as the other. What
man can do thing which he knows to be
unnecessarily cruel without feeling lowered
in his own estimation? 1t is for that reason
that some of the rules remain dead letter
while others are reluctantly enforced. The
strict enforcement of the rules would BAN
ish all friendly feeling between officers and
prisoners prisoner would hate his
keeper and the keeper the prisoner or he
could not be a keeper. 1t would crush out
all individuality of prisoners and make
them as one man to oppose their OppreS-
sOrS. 1t would require doubling or treb-
ling of safeguards to prevent a revolt. AS
it now is, it is not the few armed guards on
the walls nor the watchful eyes OF the
keepers that prevent stampede for liberty
it is the little individuality allowed the
prisoners and the good feeling existing be-
tween them and their keepers, which only
exists by the inherent honor of the prisoner
sustained and encouraged in honorable
action by the officers through the evasion
of the rules. No keeper can command the
cheerful obedience of his men if they dis
like him, which they certainly will if he is
what the rules demand. No keeper with
natural feelings can be with his men for
years but will discover in some of them
qualities to win his friendship, and no rules
made by man can prevent him showing it;
and these feelings will be reciprocated by
the convict in his loyalty to the wishes of
his keeper. Every keeper knows the i'm
pOrtance of having the friendship-''re-
Spect," according to rules-Of his charges;
and have never yet heard of one being
discharged for being too we'll liked by
them. Furthermore, you have heard of
wardenS being removed from office for dis
honesty, cruelty and other causes, but you
have never yet heard of one losing his Of
flee for treating his charges too mercifully.
You have heard of revolts in prisons on ac-
count of brutal treatment, but you never
heard of a revolt in a prison where the pris-
Oners were well treated, and you never will.
l recently read an illustrated article in
one of the popular magazines describing
the Gatlin, and Gardner machine guns and
it spoke of one of them as being just the
thing for quelling prison revolt; and it
made me mad and set me to thinking Of the
matter. l am a fullfedged convict myself;
my head is we'll studded with Jerry Cruncher
spikes and l look villianous and feel so,
and more so at times. When | look in my
little glass L see that my countenance is
fast taking on the hardened cast of the
typical convict; my feelings are those of a
convict and l think l am about as thorough
going a one as can be found. Therefore,
l think l am capable of expressing the feel
ingS OF cOnvicts; what they will and will
not do under stated circumstances, and that
l do represent them when say that revolt
will not and cannot occur in prison where
humanely just treatment is administered,
for the simple reason that they cannot unite;
as the majority of the strongest minds will
always be on the side of the administration
and good order.
There is class of ignorant or malicious
persOns--but not influential in this day
who are ever ready to condemn any move
ment in the way OF better treatment Of
cOnvicts. We had fair exhibition of this
spirit right here but short time ago when
the unnecessary rigOr of discipline was re-
laxed little. They raised the cry that the
cOnvictS were about to revolt, Overrun and
pillage the city. 1t made me so mad at the
time, that l would have been glad to see it
happen If the pillaging could have been con-
fined to those who were predicting it.
will say to that class: it is not that prison
walls have been raised higher or the safe
guards increased that protects you from the
danger OF revOlts, but the humane treat
ment that tries to make men and not brutes,
the same you condemn. Every re-