The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-11-20
THE PRISONS PETTY PERSECU-
TI0NS.

new phase of conditions in the Still
water prison was revealed yesterday by
an ex-convict which. while less shock
Ing than are the cases of beating
pounding. kicking, knocking down and
dragging out. is nevertheless one that
merits condemnation quite as, if not
more. severe than do acts of grosser
brutality. The evidence was given by
an ex-convict, whose name, under the
humane ruling of the commission, Is
withheld from publication. Men who
have slipped and fallen and are try
ing. after serving their term of impris-
onment, to regain their footing in the
outer world, rightly feel that their eff
forts would be hampered and their
success ieopardized if their names were
published in connection with any testi
mony they might give. To obviate
this the commission has requested the
press to withhold the names of such as
ask it. The man referred to is one of
superior intelligence, as the editors of
the state will admit who have received
the Prison Mirror, which he edited for
fifteen months. 1t is his story that
is told in the G o e this morning,
and it is he that reveals a system of
petty prosecutions more demoralizing,
more cruel than the brutal blows Of
Lemon or Colligan.
1t is the ambition of every prisoner
TO try to shorten his term by good be-
havior, and this depends upon his OBJ
servance of the rules of the prison,
some of which are needlessly minute
and trivial Breach of any of them de-
tracts from his standing, lowers his
grade and lengthens his term. Much de-
guard. If, for any cause, he is preju-
diced against a convict under his
charge, he can find or create opportu-
mites for reporting him for some
breach of a rule to the warden. The ad-
vantage is all with the guard. His word
outweighs that of the accused. The
dement's accumulate against him, his
credit for good behavior diminishes, he
falls into the lower grades among the
intractables; hope and ambition die
out. and the reformatory purpose of
the parole system is wholly lost
In the light given by this intelligent
and impartial witness anyone can now
better understand why old man Law
ton threw himself over the gallery to
lon al hot no
no longer stand the petty prosecutions
of his guard, who was constantly send
Ing him to the warden for alleged
breach of some rule. 1t is said he was
weak minded, but one can readily
realize how strong-minded man of
nervous temperament might, under
such constant irritation, conclude that
death would be a relief. The eX-editor
of the Mirror tells of the man Baker
who attempted to kill himself because
his guard, Parker, had thus persecut-
ed him and he was driven to that con-
dition of mind that he felt that he
must kill Parker or himself. Under
such cOQQlIlOnS lue SullIe uuInDeE OIL
convicts pass their lives daily. The
Mirror editor was reported to the war
den sixteen to eighteen times during
his fifteen months, mostly for wanting
bread and other food, and once, the
only one having any foundation in
fact, was for talking to fellow con-
Wet. The nervousness, the apprehen-
sion, the dread created by this system
unavoidably tend to violations of some
rule not through willfulness, but from
the involuntary action of muscles di-
rected by over-wrought nerves.
Whether it be the malice of a guard
Dr. his overzeal, the effect on the pfis-
Oners is the same, and that effect can
not fail to be deleterious. If malice