The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-11-17
sEATTLE. THURSDAY. NoT. ~.
THE BOMB PROOF FOR TEAMPs.

THE BOMB PROOF FOR TRAMPs.
There is periodical complaint from vari-
aus parts of the country that county iails
have no terrors for Migrants, professional
drunkards and petty criminals. because
as rule they are agreeable places of shell
ter to such offenders; because they furnish
an opportunity for idleness soaced by
card playing and the consumption of to-
bacco.
If this be true that the average county
Jail in the United States is an attractive
place of abode, why then 1t would seem to
be the business of every state to make it as
unattractive as is rossible, consistent with
humanity and health. For idleness SUBJ
stitute hard and constant work; for gem
eral association in a common room substi-
tute confinement in cells, and if the use of
tobacco Is permitted at all make it
privilege dependent on good conduct.
Make the jail healthful. but make its dis
cipline SO severe and its whole life so hard
and cherries that it will be repulsive in
stead of welcome to an offender.
Ten years ago the county jails OF small
inland New England state were filled every
winter with Migrants. who deliberately got
drunk or committed some petty crime,
whose legal punishment the ioafer knew
would only subject him to confinement in
the county Jail. The result was the Jail
all winter long was crowded with tramps
and indolent drunkards, who played cards,
smoked and exchanged obscene anecdotes
I'm absolute idleness from November to
April.
Then when the snow was gone and the
cold winds of winter were growing bland
and balmy with the breath of spring, these
lusty loafers and perennial topers came
forth chuckling over the fact that the state
had furnished them with food, fuel, bed
and an agreeable opportunity to perfect
themselves In the intellectual sinuosities
of ''seven up" and to acquire that batter
pudding opacity Of expression that is in
dispensable to success at poker.
But unfortunately tor the continuous
life of this kind of earthly paradise for
tramps the intelligent public grew weary
of furnishing fire, food, shelter and day
and night gambling school winter long
to these incorrigible Migrants; so the legis-
lature voted to build q work house for
such offenders. The work house was
built, and its discipline was as rigorous as
that of the state prison in that it com.
PEELED these creatures to work hard all
winter in the open air at stone cutting,
and it sent every man to his cell at night,
where there was no opportunity for any
general open court of gambling and OBJ
scenity. The result was that the tramps
gave the state a wide berth; the local
ioafers and bummers became more cir
cumspect in their conduct, because if
there is anything that a vagrant or pro-
fessional hummer hates it is hard manual
labor.
OF course man who enjoys hard man.
ual labor or even contentedly welcomes
1t as vulgar necessity of human econ
omy, never becomes . yagrant or q slug
gish drunkard whatever else he may be-
come. The rule should be to make all
fails, not unhealthy or inhuman places of
abode, but absolutely unattractive to va
grants and petty criminals by making
them places where the convicts are made
10 work hard from morning to night.
Jail life should be made life of hard, in
exorable labor to all convicts to the extent
Of their physical ability TO endure It.
There should be no common room for in
discriminate association. no card playing,
no tobacco, no amusements OF any sort.
The aim should be to make prison fe as
repulsiye and cherries rs is possible TO
make IL, consistent with health and HUI
manity.
We are not talking now about convicts
that are sent to Walla Wsila for serious
ofenses: we are talking about the ordi.
nary inmates of a county iaii--vagran,s
ana drunkards and kindred creatures who
are committed for minor crimes that do
not justify a term in the state prison. Put
these Migrants, chronic drunkards, petty
thieves and kindred criminals TO hard
labor from morning to nigh. without
opportunities for general association and
amusement. and in Q short time their
numbers would decrease, for labor and
discipline are as repuisive to this Glass of
offenders as the smallpox to village belle.
The local jail TO Migrants. chronic drunk
ards and petty criminals is too often Ia
many places as attractive as the low sa-
loon, except that the Jail has no beer, but
when the vagrant or hummer Is absolutely
''broke" he is glad TO go to Jail, where he
gets the fire, the food and shelter he can
not furnish for himself; he gets it without
labor and enjoys il because of that delight
full leisure which has not cost him q cent,
but is presented TO him as the reward of
vice, Incidence. inebriety. etc, by the
state.
This iatser-dsy passion 10 make prison
a paradise for tramps and bomb-proof
for industrial shirks and victims to slco-
hello bronchitis bag been cultivated by the
doctrinsires and demagogues of the
nation who have given each ether the
hand in q stupid effort to devise a prison
system without labor on the silly plea
that convict labor completes with free
labor. Grant, for the sake of the argument.
that il does here and there compete with
free labor. is that any logical reason in
social justice and humanity for condemn