The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-10-17

the downmost man. The downmost man In
society is not he who is simply unfortunate
not ne who, through stress of circum-
stances, disease or accident or all these
combined, is left a HELPLESS sufferer for
whom society must provide relief through
its charities, personal and Institutional Be
low these is that large. perhaps increasing.
class who as a class are confessedly unde-
serVin,g. Ihey have proved traitors to the
enemies to society, and society. through it's
appointed officers, has laid hold on them.
and after due process resulting in conviction
has locked them up in prison. There they
are compelled to bear the Just punishment
Of their crimes. All this is necessary and
Christian. But while society In thus acting
toward the criminal is right as far as it
goes, how far short this action fails of its
full duty. We have not done our full duty
toward the Criminal when we have given
him over TO the stern but just hands OF the
law to endure penalty for it's violation. Yet
sibility ends at that point. They practically
class all prisoners alike-culpabe and ire
deemable. The brand is virtually upon all
who have been sentenced. That a man,
young or old, has been a Jail bird is suffi-
cient to take him almost entirely out Of
practical Christian concern for him as a
brother man needing help. and whose case
calls for peculiar efforts toward his ref
ormation. This / affirm is society's atti-
tude and spirit toward the downmost man,
and to say that ii is far from Christian Is
to voice a sef-evident fact and largely be-
cause society has failed in this regard the
criminal classes are so large If some Of
you not members OF the prison association
have assembled here to-day with the ex-
pectation of hearing something about need
ed changes i'm prison administration and
methods, you will be disappointed Where
prison reform is most needed just now is
not in our penitentiary and reformatory IN
sttutions though there is a vast amount
of work to be done before most or them can
be made what they should be. hut II is IN
public opinion and sentiment-tnose old con-
trolling factors in American civilization.
What society needs Is the cultivation and
expression of higher and more Christian
attitude toward the men at the bottom,
When man has broken the laws and has
been incarcerated and has put on the prison
garb, he has not ceased to be man. He
is not a thing or beast and no prison wall
should be a barrier to our right estimation
of the innate worth of the nature he yet
carries. -
'iMany a mans progress in right living is
in proportion to his fellow-mef1s belief IN
him To be believed i'm is a large factor In
human redemption. How frequently. II goes
a long way toward making, a man faithful
so How significant 1t is to note the ways
i'm which Christ trusted his disciples even
in the beginning and after their temporary
breakdown. He gave himself into their
hands and he gave them his work to do.
One of the twelve betrayed MS commences
but only one.
every man imprisoned for any length Of
time or who has been discharged. who
shows what gives evidence of being an hon.
est desire to do better, should have SONS
test allowed him as to his sincerity. So
ciefv should give him chance of some sort
10 prove himself worthy What am point
ing to now is this element of Christianity
which in our time is finding increasing ex-
preston in the graded system the trusty
system, the parole and ticket-of-leave sys-
tens and the indeterminate sentence sys-
tenn as employed to greater or less eAleut
sn our prisons and reformatores. They All
include in some form the exercise or a prac-
tical trust in men. When conloined with
strict discipline, who can estimate what
large possibilities of good there are yet to
come from their wise uSey