The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-11-02
HELP AT PRISON DOOR
HOW RELEASED CONNECTS ARE
 STARTED AFRESH.
Business Men Assisting by Giving Them Employment-Work of
 Mrs. Booths League.
New York Evening Post.


 The modern case of Jean valjean. which occurred In Brooklyn some weeks ago. does not fairly represent the attitude of present day justice toward the ex-convict. This man had served term in States prison for some minor offense, and came out to find his wife waiting for him. she having kept his children in ignor- anes of their fathers disgrace. There was every Incentive for his reform. and he did re- form. but fearing that the stigma of prison would prevent him from getting employment, he changed his name. He got a position as street car conductor and was doing well, when one day he recognized fin one of his pas- sengers the Judge who had sentenced him. Acting on a rather foolish impulse the ex convict spoke to the Judge, thanked him for having imposed such light sentence. and told him that his prison experience had had salu- tary effect upon his character.
 The thing was undoubtedly good dinner story. kand the Judge told 1t. Then the man was arrested and punished for having sworn falsely when he made application to the street car company for employment
 It 10 this sort of experience that makes criminaisout of weak men. turns them against the law and develops within them all latent anti-social tepdencies- Fortunately, In these days. such cases do not happen often. The released convict wao wants to reform has many friends who are willing to help him 10 get back into step with society.
 There have always been plenty of people, women especially. who count it a privilege to visit prisons with tracts and flowers and portable organs, but their efforts, doubtless well meant, have not been crowned with great success. That dismal ballad, Where Is My Wandering Boy TonightT' is warranted to de- press the spirits of the most hardened jailbird. but its practicability as an agent for reform has been questioned by sociologists.
 The longest step toward the reformation of criminals was taken when the indeterminate sentence and the system of parolling certain offenders came into use. The fixed sentence, stiil in vogue in the majority of prisons. has for its object simple retribution. Tne crime and not the criminal is considered. So the one fe punished it does not concern iaself with the repression of evil instincts in the other. The offender Is supposed to be so sobered and terrified by his prison experience that he req frains from crime out of fear of rearrest His wrongdoing.
 Mr Round of the Prison Association of New York estimates that 30 per cent of the prison CTS discharged from punishment prisons re- turn to crime; according to published reports more than 70 per cent of the prisoners m ten countries are recidivists. The deterrent ef- feet of mere imprisonment. of the death pen alty itself upon persons inclined to crime mas been greatly overestimated- It IS not ooserV- ed that the penalties of the law have a ter rorizing effect on the classes who are likely to be reached by them.
 The worst feature of the fixed sentence Is that the convict must leave the prison when his term expires whether he has a home or moi He is simply bundled out. to sink or swim as his moral equipment decides He has been confined like wild beast for term Of years and Is suddenly turned loose. only one class of people does not shrink rom him with fear and distrust. and to that class he re- turns.
 The underlying motives of the indeterminate nenteuce are protection of society and reforma- lion of the offender The criminal is disarmed, temporarily. and while he is isolated from society his viewpoint, his habits, his whole mentality are striven with. He is made to feel that he must earn his freedom. that the key 10 the prison door is nowhere but in his own hand
 There is a difference in the emotions which these two prisoners-the man undergoing fioomy punishment. and the man working out lis own salvation-arouses in the minds and hearts of persons leading good and normal lives The one is horror, the other compassion Charlton T. Lewis writing on the reformatory system. says:
 ..An enslaved people rising against oppres- Fors and fighting to the death for freedom. is esteemed a noble theme for eloquence and ronR; and not less inspiring to every lover of mankind is a band of prisoned convicts whose hearts and lives have been wasted and trodden by evil passions and brutal impulses. now struggling to put down these tyrants and win back for themselves the free light and air of manhood and heaven"
 Tn this altered attitude of the public mind us much as to his own change. lies the hope of the released convict. A few years ago 1t ,.~,t hard with a man who had worn stripes tr ref the humplest job. He had to go to a dis . tnnt place. change his name, and for the rest as hia life live in dread of recognition. Now sn the prisons of this State, at least and of several others. before mans release comes ha ia visited by the offioeres of the Prison ..-o,sa,toY who approaching him in frank ana friendly manner. enquire what he intends = do when he leaves the prison. Has he a home to return to? Will his friends receive