Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-09-07
oun Ex-Cory1Crs.

il q w nat are we TO 90 Will OuIseAs 49, .
That is practical question " ~ 11 Oh V 1s
constantly arising and which. somehow,
4 will not settle itself The absence8of any
DEFINITE statistics on Athis subject makes
the problem all the more difficult. While
/ occasional. efforts are being made toauP-
lift and elevate this unfortunate class. 1t
| is by nc means certain that the world
gives them the support and encourage
ment which they deserve. There's many
a latter-days Jean Vatican who could tell
a dolcful story If the world would only
listen.
A tale of this sort recently came from
New York, and shows how impossible 1t
/ is for an ex-convict to lead an honest
! life in that city. The man in this case
] had served Is months in Sing Sing, and
on his discharge was forced to adopt an
assumed name in order to secure en-
ployment and support his almost des-
| titute family. He worked nine months as
a street-car conductor, but finally, In
| moment of gratitude, revealed his iden-
| tity to the judge who had sentenced him.
|
the short sentence which the latter had
| given him, and told him of the honest
| life he was leading. AS a result of this
| outburst of confidence, the ex-conv1ct was
! soon in cell again, charged with giving
| a false name, and his home once more
| has been wrecked.
That cases in some respects analogous
| to this occur every day, cannot be de-
MED, and yet the public is not altogether
| to be blamed. The dread excited by those
| who have been convicted in the criminal
| courts is almost instructive with the aver
| age mortal, and few terms in our Ian
guage carry more opprobrium than that
| compound word ex-convict. Although the
! law presumes every man innocent until
| he is proved guilty, the public regards
! every person once convicted of a felony
| as prone to the commission of other
| crimes Furthermore, the stain Of prison
| life, in the mind of most people, is almost
| inera dicable. And so the average ex-
! convict leaves the prison gates with lit
| tie or no hope before him. His one sal
! vation-and horrible one it isis to put
as much distance as possible between
| himself and those who knew him before
| his downfall. He cannot go too far from
| home And with his exile must come a
complete self-effacement, or rather an eff.
| facement which oblterates all connec-
] ton with his past. But his difficulties do
| not end even here. Even though he seeks
~ ~,
| is always some one to find him out-son1e
| one who feels it duty to society to re-
veal the secret which would best be kept
yelled. The burden of proof is ever on
| the former criminal to show the honesty
| Of his intentions. No effort on his part
can uplift him socially, whatever be his
success in financial matters.
There is a grim pathos in it ala pa
| tllos which sometimes makes us think
| that society gets more than her due when
| she Furnishes criminals, anG that mans
| inhumanity to man is a hideous trait.
OF the convicts discharged from pris-
ons and penitentiaries only reasonably
small percentage, SO far as known, lapse
| into crime again, though there is no def
mite means of gaining information along
this line. AS we have minated, many
| of the former prisoners drift far from
| the scenes Of their crimes, They know
that their one hope lies in losing them
selves, and this they a lmost invariably seek
to do A still smaller proportion go back
| to their homes and fight out to the bitter
| end the battle which their errors have
| compelled them to wage. A glimpse of
| this limited few can be gained at this
| Governors office. as all applications for
| the removal of political disabilities are
| sent to the State Executive. Occasionally
| these applications tell remarkable stories
| of the former offenders rehabilitation, but
! such instances are very few In proportion
to the sad stories of those who have Jared
less fortunately.
They serve, however to show that the
reformation of ex-convicts is by no means
impossible, and that in many cases the
! quondam breakers develop into good,
substantial citizens.
| Our recent conditional pardons act is
another illustration of what lenty to
criminals can do. It embodies the ticket
| of-leave system and is source of con-
slant encouragement to its benefciaries
| True, some of the convicts have been re-
turned to prison for violation of the pro-
visions whereby they gain their freedom,
| but this is to be expected, occa sionally,
! especially where negroes are concerned.
That race at best, is far more irresponsi-
| BILE than the whites, and social theories
which apply to the latter, do not always
hold good when brought to bear on ne
groes.
But consider the matter how you
may, it is obvious that we are
| not so charitable as we should be to the
! eX-convict. We quite overlook the fact
! that some amnesty, at least, should come
when his term is served and he leaves his
prison to start life anew. The man who
can solve this grave economic problem
and devise some means for the moral and
social uplifting of this unfortunate class
will indeed be benefactor to humanity.
| =------=
| Since the Duchess of Marlborough has
returned to this country she has been
| in1v 6ictipp1,iebah1o IN, +bo ,,..a ,,,;+,,