The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1892-01-07

sinking deeper yet into the slough of de-
spond. puts himself on the moral plane of a
murderer. He is neither a good Christian.
good Jew, good Mussulman, nor good
Pagan.
Neither is this charge brought in the in.
terest of sound finance. What is more
costly than crime? What would add more
to the wealth of the world than its suppress
sion? There are. in round numbers, one
hundred thousand men, women, boys, and
girls in our penal and refOrmatOry institu-
tiOns who cost. On an average, for their
custody and support in state of incarcera-
tiOn, over and above what they are able to
earn, not less than $50 each per year.
This single item of expense aggregates
$15. 600. 900 annually. But it is only one
item of many which go to swell the count
against crime. Think of the cost of arrests.
of our police and cOnstabulary, and of con-
victiOns. of the courts, with their officials,
witnesses, and attorneys! Think of the
losses sustained in consequence of the dep.
relations of criminals at large! Think of
the enormous expenses involved in self pro-
lection against theves-vaults,. safes,
alarms, and what not! We hold our pos
sessions, great or small. by struggle which
knows no end, and are compelled to pay
perpetual tax for such degree of security
as will enable us to sleep at night. The
Prison Association is part of the machinery
for the protection of society against these
losses 1t devOtes much time to the study
of methods for reducing the volume of
crime to minimum. 1t concerns itself
with the question of better police as we'll as
of better prisons, of improved criminal leg
islatiOn as we'll as improved prison admins
finn nf q Af nri, oil
as its punishment. If it favors intelligent.
humane. persistent effort for the refOrma-
tion OF criminals, that is because the surest
way OF getting rid of your enemies is to
convert them into friends. There is no
safety against the criminal, except in his
reformation or Interpretation.
Let us consider. just for a moment. in
closing, what you do represent. If l under
stand your purpose Alright, you do not sim
ply aim to dole out temporary aid to dis
charged prisoners. but to educate the COM
munity of which you form part, to help
develop public opinion in favor of better
methods OF dealing. not only with cOnvicts.
but with crime. You base your work not
on sentiment. but on information, and are
willing to take the pains necessary to &C
quire it. You propose to study the prison
question. and, when you speak, to speak
with the authority which is inseparable
from the truth. You want more just and
equitable criminal laws and firmer admin
istration of them. You want fewer arrests
and more convictions. You want less legal
quibbling in your courts. not so many need
less delays, and fewer miscarriages of jus.
tice. You want sentences for crime which
are not travestY upon every principle
which ought to characterize a criminal code
and its enforcement. You want better men
in charge of your prisons, from the warden
down to the turnkey; and, when you get a
good man there, you want him kept there.
You want such tests applied to men in
prison as will enable you to distinguish be-
tween the cOrrlgible and the incOrrigible.
You want to empty your prison cells of the
corrigible as fast as possible, and to retain
the incOrrigible permanently confined, at
least until they are no longer dangerous to
life or property. You want to see prison
ers leave the walls better men. not worse.
than when they entered. You want such a
state of things as will justify right minded
employer in giving employment to every
discharged convict. so that he may be classed
as wOrkingman, not as pauper. You
want to see the date of his discharge made
to depend upon his own progress in regain
ing his lost self control. and the reality of
his reformation tested by period of pro.
baton on the outside. You are opposed to
the herding of prisoners together, to their
association in idlenesS. and especially to the
mingling of the sexes in prison, or of chill
dren with adults, or of the innocent with
the guilty. You are opposed to all systems
of prison labor. and to all arrangements for
the payment of fees which give to any hu.
man being personal pecuniary interest in
the commitment or detention of prisoners.
You are opposed to all rules. regulations,
and punishments which tend to degrade
men in their own sight and that of others.
You are opposed to the subOrdinatiOn of
prison appointments and prison discipline
to the supposed exigencies of party politics.
You believe in the suppression of crime by
putting as effectual restraints as may be