Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1899-10-13
PRISON DISCIPLINE.
Extracts From Paper Read by Warden
Boucher Before the National \
Prison Association.
Views of the North Dakota Warden on
the Means to be Employed and the
Ends Attained,
PRISON DISCIPLINE.

AT the annual meeting of the Ma
tional Prison Association ut Hartford,
Conn.,. one Of the papers presented
for the consideration Of the %associa-
zion was by Warden Boucher of the
North Dakota penitentiary, who was
selected Mt the meeting Il year ago to
prepare and present a paper on prison
discipline. The paper is published
by the Hartford Courant. and is in
pant as follows:
When Il citizen, or person within
any State fails to fulfill the 0blira-
tlons incumbent upon him, it is but
justice THAT the heavy hand of the
law should be laid upon him. that he
should be restrained of his liberty,
THAT he should be compelled to pay tile
penalty for his violation of his com-
pact with the state. which has been
prescribed by his fellow citizens in
the laws OF the stnte. In cases where
the penalty provided by the law is
imprisonment and such penalty has
been Justly and fairly imposed then
IT Is that the onus of the application TO
the individual is shifted from the stane
and thereafter rests upon those in the
Immediate control of prisons and there
remains until the relations thus formed
are ended by operation of law or by
the death of the individual.
Prison management or discipline
takes the individual ut the point of
time that the obligation shifts from
Inc state and the new relations and
conditions begin to exist. and not be-
fore. Each individual at this time
becomes a study in nature for those
who have him under their control, and
the aim and object in every case
should he the anne that is. to pro-
dllcc in the individual higher ana bet
ter conditions by developing his phys
ical. mental ana moral faculties to
the highest degree possible. He must
learn at the outset that most difficult
OF ;ll le~ssons-1ready. implicit. UNI
questioning and unqualified obedience.
II while he should never he unneccs-
sal'ly degraded or Inundated. Tie
should he made to realize and fully
understand that he is. at all times.
the servant. not the master; the pupil.
not the teacher. He must realize that
he has by his w wrongful acts for
feited rights and privileges which can
only he regained by u%nvnrying good
conduct. that his destiny is largely in
his W hands. that the burden and
responsibility rests upon himself and
cannot be removed or avoided.
1t has been said in sessions of our
association that obedience should in
all cases be willing and cheerful, and
that lacking these elements. it is not
obedience. That it is desirable and
better that this should be so can
hardly be questioned. That lit is
either possible or practicable to accom-
plish this in many cases arising in the
management OF Institutions. such us
we are discussing. can hardly he
claimed, nor could such Il result he at
TANNED at times. except ut the sacri-
flee Of good order and by mourning
the dangers that naturally and un-
q~uestionably would result. The sac
rifice is too great and the dangers toe
serious to he even thought of. ODE.
dience must at all times and under all
ordinary circumstances be rendered
without hesitation or question.
Our calling. or profession. if it may
be so termed, does not. as has been
said, deal With an exact science. tho
rules of which are fixed and unerring
and no system of management or dis
ciplinc which has been in practice in
the past. is now. or will be in the
future, is perfect; but with due defer
encc to and respect for the opinions OF
those who may differ, no management
can be termed good nor attain de.
serving results. which does not have
and use the physical force necessar!
to compel unquestioning and unquali'
fed obedience to all it's rules and reg.
ulatiOnS at I'LL times.
The ultimatums of a nation. the
III Tia Das~ ~