The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1890-03-27
" Like Begets Lfke.o

Ject to what may be termed "Off days, "
that is, they get the 'blues'' occasionally
and for the time being their disposition is
like that Of man who was never known
to be satisfied. Such man may not be a
bad fellow, but on these occasions
nothing will satisfy him. He has an eye
for blOts; the sun may shine in all it's beauty
and SplendOr, but he does not see it-at
least he don't want to. He has a nose for
mistakes; the atmosphere may be redolent
with all that is sweet and pure, yet it will
not satisfy him. If you meet him with a
friendly greeting will very likely re-
ceve sarcastic reply for your palms,
After venting his spleen on every object he
happens to come in contact with, he finally
winds up with finding fault with himself
In an institution OF this kind this trait of
character Is more apt to show itself than it
would be on the outside; and ii a man in
prison is possessed of this deplOrable trait,
is it to be wondered at that he gets little
off now and then? Perhaps he sees the
best years of his life dwindling away be-
hind stone walls and iron bars. Each day
is day of battle for the convict, and who
knows what he has to contend with, as mo
other can know the joys, sorrows, fears
His surroundings are enough to make him
'cranky"; and by trying to bring hun to
terms by resortlng to punishment will, in
most cases, have tendency to make him
worse. 10 establish the truth of this fact
| would call your attention to the time in
the history of this institution when men
were subjected to very strict discipline
and were usually punished for the least de-
Walton from the ruleS-and l venture to
say that upon an examination of the records
of punishment it would be found that it
was as general thing, the same individ-
uals punished over and over again.
There is no intelligence in force. A
prison managed by coercion requires very
little experience and scarcely any intelli-
gence. 1t requires no very great mental
development to handcuff a prisoner to a
grated door, nor does it trequire an extended
knowledge of the great principles which
should govern human conduct to inf1ict
physical suffering in any way to so terror
iZe man as to compel obedience" Such
are the sentiments of Warden II. F. Hatch,
of the Michigan penitentiary, as voiced in
his address before the Prison Congress last
fall.
The system of dealing with prisoners
which has been adopted in this institution,
and which has been in vogue in the Mich
igan penitentiary must and will prove a
very effective one. In support of this
statement submit the following extract
from all article came across short time
ago:
1T is not good thing even from self
ish point of view, to deal with men in gen.
eral as if you had the lowest possible Opin-
ion of their deserts, such as you may pick
up in the kennels and cutters of the great
cities. AS a matter of fact, there must
have been multitudes of men better than
the bad men you may have chanced upon.
For my part, in dealing with men, l have
always found high opinion of them, a
more effective instrument than low One
Praise fits many more human locks than
blame and opens the way far more readily
into those good parts Of character which
even very bad men sometimes have. 1t is
much better to expect that man will do
his duty-Or at any rate, seem to expect it
than to show any unreasonable suspicion
that he will neglect it. Confidence begets
fidelity, and want of confidence often goes
far to create its own justification. If you
want to make man rascal take it for
granted-and let him see you dO-that he
has in him the making of a rascal. And
remember this: A man may have in him
latent. possibilities of rascality that will
never come to anything If they be not de-
veIoped by such evil culture as l have in
dicated. A man often shapes his life ac
cording to the foregone conclusions which
his intelligent neighbors have formed about
it. This is eminenty true of young per-
sons, and it is for this reason that am in
clined to think that Mr.. Worldly Wiseman,
or Messrs. the Cynic and the Scoffer. are
worse companions for boy than even what
l may call an honestly wicked person."
SERENO.