Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1894-02-02
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
DOES THAT PROVE THAT THEY ARE
BETTER THAN MEN?

4 Newspaper Woman Has Been Inyesti-
eating the subject-A Penitentiary
warden Tells Her That the Courts Are
Lenient, but She Refntes Him Easily.
have been studying prison statistics,
and I find the average proportion is ~
women to 900 men. In the case OF the
Columbus (O.) penitentiary there are only
% women to nearly 1000 men. At the
Western penitentiary in this state there
are 10 women to over 900 men, taking
with the courteous warden Of this latter
institution few days since, ! asked MN
for his theory and got it with readiness.
It was with mind made up that he an
swered, st is largely owing to the lenien-
cy Of the court that more women are nos
convicted"
.sBut," said ], "people must be ar
raigned before they can be convicted, ana
there are propOrtionately 50 few women
brought to trial. Either they do not vio-
late the law, or they are more clever IN COW
cring up their tracks. and this with clev-
erness that amounts to talent. and even IL
this last be true does there not still remain
thing to be said for them from Il
worldly point of view? The Spartans
taught their youth the sin was not in
stealing, but in being found out, you
know And the warden agreed that the
Spartans were not all dead yet, or at least
that their teachings had lived after them.
but would concede nothing to women on
the ground OF morality.
Women are something OF bother to
most men, but to wardens in particular, l
have concluded, and having known them
both wisely and well I suppose when one
such custodian insists that women of
low grade are worse than men OF the same
grade we should accept his Judgment
without question. But what want to lind
out is why there are not as many women
as men of this same grade? Warden
Wright goes further and is especially posi-
tive that women in general are not better
than men, and that once bad they are more
incorrigibIe, and it is his experience that
there are not so many reformations among
women convicts as among the men, by
which we may infer that women love
wrongdoiDg.
Out of the fulIness of his knowledge Mr..
Wright argues that by the time women
land in the penitentiary they are so stepped
in sin rs to be quite past redemption here,
and got the impression he had not much
hope of them hereafter
But let us see about the iniquity Of wo-
men. In the first place, there are more
women than men in the world. Therefore
If women are more immoral than men
ought they not to commit at least an equal
number of crimes?
But they have not equal opportunity.
They are not in the world as men are,
therefore are not so beset hy temptations,
Is the reply but we may uehy tiiiS' eir r
,hero arc no" ''cr ooo 'oou l., - -.
women anu VII eFc"ueu uhtii 'ne,0 -
scarceiy any rooni' even az que 'op' nIio,t
as III iooo there were pa' ~ eulPi's n'eh''
III wh'en ""iiie" e"i',e' i,i"$s
Ahey arg ~" ~ INC n"Ai"ie w. -
Shouioei W HNouiu'i "I.i iIe' ~, IA ..-l w
p'o,essioiiS anu MAUI IVY % 'u1
Ana are .hey io' supJec.eu 70 'ne saiie
.eii,p'a'iolis' ~ II NJ" qu'to Vne i?i
w inu man o'i 'i'o N''0n4ei n'0Oi
s.''ee "ii', ie s, wv go ~
'nelo po ~ ne''e, o1i" W " oAiai . ilo'ea'y
-,nu Seo !" n"7 "eei, s"i" "Oiii0i ''i0 oiIi'
s.'r. 'i,' li''"' ,'"' I'M "
eiplii's BECAUSE 'iey 'an pe iIitcu 'oi ,oss
uones % i''ore - 'eili''"'ioii ~ s'e',i
,"eh. IL ""n'e,' ave - prone " ~ " ouoi
i'hS.h9 W si".'iy 'neii ~ ioi uie9a, %
mas psei asser'eu' "ou'u 'iies hu'' ui I,
hloraiis pe''er' oe h'oit iiheiI ~ Slo'', .ndi'
,icn Mho a'e pun i''ns' '''ia's anu i'''o
icss pro,oca'loi,f
D''' no ever ,iearu VI Woman running ~,
AWAY WIN lu',os iil'rus'eu 10 iier' nere
~ no s"ch curiosity On eMnio''ioii III 'he
,.'''''n n,en"Se''e aU 'ne "eS,ei' p'.'''e.'
.,ars az ie"s'' 'nous"' !" ,eii ,ho run
tnere N sre".er ole-'.ao VI .oiSe
'niei' inc ''iei''ioii VI .','s ireaA ioi'iii,lic
sosses'sono more manly pursuit "s iree
W women az 10 'hen' why 10 ,io' ,'i"'o
women s'eai horsesF lhey auinire 'heii,
ana surrey stoleh morse Is worth as h'uch
owned or SOFA 10 woman VINO "ouio s'e''i
az 70 MANI
anu are NOV women as cie'er WIN Tue
penn Ineh why ho' Jane ,he pehniah as
wen as ,,ihI let now seldom we near OF
women forging
Prison reports the country over Tor
ls9l-3 show an alarming increase IN the
population OF such lnstitutions, nut such
statistics 90 not snow proportlonate IN
crease IN crime among women. one OF the
propelling forces leading to crimlnality
upon winch the authorities are quite
agreed IL the desire to live beyond ieSiti-
mate means, ana ever since women began
wearing store clothes" they have been
accused OF TINS very thing. Why, then,