The Sunday globe., 1901-07-28

unfortunate soldier and gentleman VINO
has all his life associated with the
cream of the very best elements OF So
cietv. suddenly finds himself subjected
to a discipline primarily devised for
criminals by instinct, practice and
choice. whose associations have from
their birth been of unspeakable vile
ness. And because the prison oficais,
who are generally callous to these
things, are touched by the gentlemanly
dignity and irrepressible breeding Of
this fallen man, who suffers not only
the physical discipline provided for
the government of criminals, but un-
dergoes mental tortures these crimi-
nails have no conception Of and are
free from, the press jumps with both
feet upon the prison management for
showing the unfortunate officer some
favors not prescribed by the rules, but
which are not prohibited and are left
discretionary with the warden and his
guards.
Here is an extract from the vile
screed going the rounds Of the press,
touching this matter:
If common report is to be trusted,
a scandal Of considerable moment is
brewing at Fort Leavenworth, that
may result in the degradation of the
authorities of that institution. Reve-
lations have been made by a prisoner
confined i'm the stockade which are cef-
tainly deserving of investigation, for
they alleged that neither the letter nor
the spirit of the law is lived up to in
the case of the star prisoner Capt
Oberlin NJ. Carter, and that favoritism
is practised within the Government
penitentiary.
ut is alleged, among other things,
that while the poor devils who are
serving time for minor offenses are
treated like slaves, the eX-otiicer, VINO
was convicted of the greatest thievery
i'm the annals of the Government serv-
ice. is enjoying remarkable measure
of liberty; that he plays golf with 9th
er attaches of the place that his cell
has been made more comfortable by
the mysterious touch of unknown
hands, and that the star prisoner does
not subsist upon the hOmely prison
fare allotted to other Conyicts, but is
secretly Supplied with extra food and
dainties. apparently from some officers
headuuarters. All this, OF course, Is
not done openly, and the appearance
of unpreiudiced treatment of Carter
is kept on its face, but the other pris-
oners were not slow to grasp the situ'
alton. and their grumbhngs have hnal-
lv led one of them with more nerve
than the rest to make an open com
pIaint. His charges have been forward
ed to the department of justice at
Washington"
"Tbe poor devils who are serving
time for minor offenses' are the pro-
fessional thieves, thugs, burglars,
footpads. sandbag artists, highway
men and degraded wretches from the
sIums of crime. One of these objects
to anv favors being shown Captain
Carter which is denied himself, ana
forthwith the press champions the
cause of the cut-purse and natural
horn villain. who has all his life, and
will to the end thereof, prey upon the
nronertv and take the life Of man,
woman or child in the pursuit of any
criminal attainment calling for such
action as calmly, mercilessly, and de'
| roerateIv as an honest citizen cuts the
| head off a chicken for his Sunday am
ner These vicious and abandoned
Uretches are known to the prison or
fcials, who humanely try to inspire
them with some redeeming human
qualities, that they might be fitted, on
their discharge from prison, to take up
some honest calling. A small per cent
! age of them are, It is believed, redeem
ed and manage to abstain from the
commission Of crime, but the records
of tbe penitentiaries for second, thlrd,
/ fourth. and even fifth and sixth term
/ ers only too plainly demonstrate the
! Inherent character of their viclousness
and the utter hopelessness Of attempt
| inc their reformation. Still we believe
| in persisting and showing this class
| every humane consideration and in en-
| couraging them to lead reformed lives
| .Jumerically. they are very small per
cont of the vast body of the conYlcts,
! either of the accidental or professional
class perhaps not one in fifty but what
thev lack in numbers they make up IN
active depravity. 1t is one OF this
Glass who objects to a gentleman, Dy
breeding and association all his LIE
heing treated any differently from hlm'
cole and the press take up his COM
nlaint to the ridicule of the prison OF
| fetal and the disgust OF every syupa'
! tnetic and decently bred man or wom-
an who reads the stuff Perhaps Gap
! tain Carter, since his confinement, mas
rondered service to the State in one
! bour of more value to the prison ana
! its management than this complaining
| "profegsionaw could render in an en-
| tire year
Rut setting this aside, let only the
fact of the equal punishment Of cap
| tain Carter or men of his class and the
punishment of the professional Grim
inal he considered If equality of pun
! ishment includes mental as well as
nhvsical suffering, which it unques-
/ tionablv does. then Captain Carter Tor
every hour he serves behind the walls
as a convict, is undergoing a year OF
the professional criminals punish
ment. for this latter class can be pun
! isned only through heir physlcal sur
ferings. The banker, army otncer OF
| other we'll raised, refined ana eau
| Gated citizen who is sentenced by the
| courts to a term of years in the penn
| tentiarv receives q sentence originally
designed and intended for the coarse,
brutalized and professional criminal,
who can be reached alone through his
nhvsical sufferings When, therefore,
| The same penalty is provided by law,
| and inflicted upon an hitherto honest,
reputable and refined citizen, the court
and society inficts not an equality OF
punishment but the most glaring in
equality. and in favor Of the man with
list of crimes from his birth as
against the
Thousand virtues linked but to
single crime
The decent citizen who goes through
| the ordeal of trial, conviction and i'm
| -------.----..L a., thn nnnitnntinrN gmlfnrg