The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-03-22
FEW WOMENINPRISON
DOES THAT PROVE THAT THEY ARE
BETTER THAN MENf

A Newspaper Woman Hss Re.n Investi.
/ eating the subIr.i-A PenitentIary
/ warden Teii> Her That TIA. Courts Are
/ Lsnisut. hut Sd. Eefute. HIN Easily.
have been studying prison statistics,
and find the average proportion g. 20
women to 900 men. In the cu-e " the
/ Columbus 90 peuitentiary there are only
- women - nearly 600 men. Al the
Western pauitentiary IN this state there
are ~ women 10 over 900 men Talking
[ with the courteous warden of this latter
l institution "A few days since. ! asked him
| for his theory and got IL with readiness.
| IL was with a mind made up that be an
swered, 1T is largely owing 10 the lenien-
/ cy Of the court that more women arr not
convicted"
But" said ], people must be ar
/ raigned before they can be convicted. and
there are proportionately so few women
brought TO trial. Either they do not vio-
late the law, or they are more clever in COW
ering mp their tracks. and this with a clev-
erness that amounts to talent. and even II
this last be true does there not still remain
something to he said for them from a
worldly point of View The Spartans
taught their youth the sin was not in
stealing, but in being found ont, you
hiNN 4Ahfl Ait NhTttn NEfNtfl luAN the
Spartaus 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 /
have concluded and having known them
both wisely and well | 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 find
out is why there are not rs many women
as men Of this same gradei 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
incorrigible, and it is his cxperience that
there are not 80 many refori.ations among
women convicts as among the men. by
which W. may infer that women love
wrongdoir3
Out of til, fnllnese OF ! F., knowledge Mr..
Wright argu that e the time women
land In the PEN estuary they are so STEPPED
in sin as 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
ought they not to commitat least an equal
number of crimesi
But they have not equal opportunity.
They are not in the world as men are
therefore are not so beset by temptations,
Ii the reply. But we may deny this, since
there are now over 500 occupations for
women and all crowded until there is
scarcely any room, even at the top, where
as in 1850 there were but 30 employments
in which women earned living.
They are now 10y the hundreds working
shoulder to shoulder with men in all the
professions and majority of the trades.
And are they not subjected TO the same
temptations 1t is now quite the exception
to find man on the cashiers stool in
stores and restaurants, etc. and could
there he a better card TO womans honestly
And yet IL has been said women ARE only
given this place and like places of respon-
sibility because they can be hired for less
money. So more the temptation to steal
then. IL women are so prone TO 20 to such
lengths to crafty their love for dress, as
has been asserted, would they not, unless
morally better, be more likely 10 steal than
men who are paid a living salary and have
less provocationl
But who ever heard Of n woman running
away with funds intrusted to herr There
Is no such curiosity on exhibition in the
human menagerie Mt the Western peniten-
tiary at least, though, to tell the truth,
there Is "A greater one-that Of a horse
thief The mention of this freak feminine
suggests one more manly pursuit. as free
TO women as to men. Why do not more
women steal horsesi They admire them,
and surely stolen horse is worth as much
owned or sold to n woman who would steal
as 10 mani
A,..I = III
penn Then why not Jane the penman as
well as Jim' Yet how seldom we hear of
women forging!
Prison reports the country over for
1912 show an alarming increase In the
population of such institutions, but such
statistics do not show proportionate in
crease in crime among women One of the
propelling forces leading TO criminality
upon which the authorities are quite
agreed is 1.-The desire to live beyond leRiti-
mate means, and ever since women began
wearing 'store clothes" they have been
accused Of this very thing. Why, then,
do they not steal to crafty this desire as
their brothers doi
Through the courtesy of the warden
was permitted to visit the woman i depart
ment Of the Western penitentiary. So far
as know then stood for the first time
face to face with a criminal of my own
sex. assure all who have not had the ex-
perience that IL is painful one, even
though one cannot fully realize the stua.
ton just at the time That character can--
be read in the countenanoe had up to that
time been pet theory OF mine. II has
been exploded.
There they sat in the light sewing room,
working away as demurely and industri-
ously and apparently as contentedly as IL
az a boarding school. Smiling and good
humored, too as IL never thought OF
evildoing had crossed the mind. There
were pink and white blends, the soulful
blue eyes one reads about and clear skin
ned brunettes, with the equally fetching
dark eyes Of that quality commonly called
mournful, but whether blends or brunettes
think the most expert observer without
having known they were criminals, could
not have - essed il, nor could he have
picked out from the lot those having had
murder in their hearts or on their hands,
Meg In Philadelphia Times.
What Shall We Call Him.
Professor Muyhridge, the artist who
first succeeded in photographing an ami