Sunday Washington globe., 1902-01-26

ordinary law abiding citizen, the hope that,
when he is freed, no reaction will bring his
conduct down to a lower level than the
best class of citizenship requires. His
grading depends upon rigid rectitude.
Think of only FIVE men out of every four
hundred being reported for such niceties of
misdemeanor as Bed not properly made"
Clothing not in proper order" Goat not
buttoned in line;' "Inatteutive in school"
"Out of place" mot at the door for
COUNT Not promptly out of cell when
company is called" Each man has a book
in which he keeps an account with the
state of Ohio If he has been as truthful as
George Washington, as punctual as Benja-
min Franklin and as painstaking as Alex
ander Hamilton, the state owes him five
marks at nine O'Clock in the evening. This
is his days wage, and he credits himself
with it In his pocket day book. II will be
seen that, for a month of thirtyone days
he may have one hundred and fifty marks
to his credit If he loses no marks at all
for four consecutive mouths, he receives a
reward Of one hundred and 6fty additional
marks, which gives him surplus capital
But to remain in the first grade he is not
obliged to realize FIVE marks for every day
in the month he is allowed a margin for
loss OF course a FIRST grade man may
slump to the third If his offense is serious.
This plan Of classification has been vindi-
Gated by results, as already shown in the
surprising decline in the number of reports
for breaches Of rule. Hope and ambition
those twins Of the human soul, are rarely
separated; where one is the other will gen
orally be found They either run dead heat
in the race of life or leap the rails together
into suicide So the prisoner who is the
accountant Of his own conduct finds these
friendly spirits at his elbow at every sun
set, encouraging him, pointing out what he
has already gained, and picturing what is
to come in bright colors. They show him
that evening comes with a reward, and he
looks forward to the next for the prize it
will bring. He knows also that poor work
may affect his account; his energy, pride
and perseverance are awakened, the quality
of his work improves, his skill increases
and his intrinsic power becomes more val
liable. His self-respect is thus built up
from day to day, and when he is discharged
he has a wise contempt for the temptations
of the past, and being self-reliant, he will
be self-denying and seli-supporting There
after his chief trial will be the prejudice Of
those who know his past-no small trial
truly-but his self-respect gives him endur-
ance and persistence. He is reformed.
Through all the process, it will be re-
membered the uuconquerable spirit of
kindness runs like a nourishing stream
Without it the most cunningly contrived
system ever devised by man would be a
useless machine, locomotive without
fuel, a water mill built on the bank of a
dried up river bed. The spirit Of kindness
is creative, regenerative ~ the veritable
spirit of life--and the only power on earth
or in heaven that can be a success on a
large scale in the reformation Of offenders
This is no sermon, no goodygood discourse,
no Sunday school talk, simply a statement
of fact merely a recognition and applica-
tion Of the greatest force in the universe.
Whatever its origin, mission or destiny, it is
the power Of powers, the chief motor in
world where many forces strive for the
mastery When a man has it, he win do to
tic to- for his anchor and cable are strong
and he will stand the storm. When a man
has it, he is the man for reform in whatever
sphere he may exercise it, and that is the
spirit that pervades this institution to day.
Such a man imparts to his subOrdiuates
and then each one goes forth to his duty
like an apostle animated by the spirit of his
master. This is the power the poet saw
when he wrote his poem Of The Re
former" and after recitng his mission,
showed the fruit thereof thus
looked; aside the dust cloud rolled
The Waster seemed the builder, too,
Upspringing from the ruined Old
saw the New.
hope,
Fresh breezes blow, and sunbeams
strayed,
And with the idle gallows rope
The children played
Where the doomed victim in his cell
Had counted DER the weary hours,
Glad school girls, answering to the bell,
Came crowned with flowers.
The Ohio penitenuary covers about
twenty eight acres Of ground, and as the
dining halls are just in the rear of the
front structure, where the cells are, the
prisoners have to march some distance to
and from their shops to meal OF bed. TO
see them in procession is a great attraction
to the numerous visitors When they wore
the striped suits and marched in the famous
--or rather infamous-locks'ep there was
combination and a form indeed" on
which every demon ''did seem to set his
seal, as if to give assurance of a man" de-
based, With from forty to fifty men in a
file, each striped victim of the laws wrath
pressing closely to his breast the back Of
the man in front Of him, clutchiug his
shoulder with his right hand and embracing
him with his left, the company was piteous
spectacle for gods and men. and used TO
make observant and sensitive visitors un-
certain whether to laugh or cry. They FREE
quenty compromised by doing a little of
both. A second termer once told the writer
that shortly after being discharged from his
first imprisonment, he came to the parting
of the ways-after parting with his last dol
lar-and was tempted to renew his finances
by turning to the left but resisted success
fully until he thought Of the lockstep that
he had marched in for two years under the
eyes of visiting multitudes, when ungov-
eruable rage filed his soul against the So
cial order and he cared not what he did.
The sequel was more crime and--the lock
step again. OF what use was il to take
prisoners to chapel, to hear of the I'M
4 r..faI 4.F Il "