Sunday Washington globe., 1902-01-19


scum Of humanity, have done the same
thing but large numbers have continued in
crime, or after an efficient apprenticeship
therein in prison, have gone forth into the
world as nature Is journeymen-p professional
tramps-synonym for professional erim
inals.
Here let il be borne in mind that the re-
formatory has had the best chance for sue.
cess, having the best material 20 work
upon--the young-not hardened offenders
and prisoners of all ages convicted Of every
offence known to the code, such as the
other state prisons
The pseudo-military system that prevails
in the largest reformatory in the world has
been fayorite for years and Is held up as
a pattern for universal imi'ation. Now
the military system in operation in is own
field, the army is one thing in the prison IL
Is another The soldier is engaged in his
life-work, the prisoner is not The soldier
Is disciplined to attain effectiveness in his
chosen profession he wishes 20 make sue
cess of it, for its own sake and the promo
tion it will bring; the prisoner wants only
to be free, and his future career will
have no connection with that Of the reform
atory army if he can avoid it, The soldier
is proud Of his regiment, its colors, its tra-
ditions. Ithas become famous on many a
well foughten field" and he will try TO
maintain IFS prestige, so that at the close Of
some glorious day his country may proudly
say Of him, this too, is my SON."
The esprit de- corps wich involves re-
spect for his comrades, who are presumably
honest men, ilis the soldiers heart with
one OF the greatest and most vital forces the
world has ever known that joins him to
them in those invisible bonds that victory
only strengthens and defeat and disaster
cannot destroy. When a soldier parts with
a comrade he hopes to meet him again,
when they viii embrace and talk over the
times when they drilled, side by side OF
sat at mess, or charged the enemy together
with their honored flag waving above them
the blossom Of their honorable calling
And when he is old and crippled he will
shoulder his crutch and show how fields
were won But the reformatory prisoner
entertains the sincere and earnest wish that
he may never see the face Of any reforma-
tory companion again. Such a meeting
might be dangerous to his peace and pros
/ perity, making known his antecedents, and
l could revive no glorious memory, but only
a shameful experience.
He cannot have the same respect for his
unchosen comrades that the son Of Mars
has for his, because they are men who have
been convicted Of crime Of ali OF nearly all
the ofenses known to the penal code He
has almost the same lack OF respect for a
man who has committed a crime as others
have and if the olTense Of the man who
stands with shoulder touching his is held
I II. Jtgr~ra.Nssc,f
! in an eminent degree among men, he can.
not be proud of that comrade He may be
more tolerant of the man whose offense is
similar to his own, but unless his character
is hopelessly warped, OF he is good enough
to be canonized, he cannot be proud Of him
1t would be unre easouable 10 expect him to
entertain a more Christ-like charity toward
the sinner than free people have although
he frequently does. If il were otherwise,
| that is TO say, if he did not abhor the other 5
] crime, and hold him and it, ia some dis.
| esteem, he would be degraded indeed. IN
! fact, il is only by raising him above such a
| low level of estimating men and their mis
deeds that he can ever be reclaimed.
The military system in prison or reforma-
tory is only shell-the life is not there--a
borrowed coat, worn without glory The
buttons may be 8s bright as those Of the
soldier, but their tuster is a mOckery The
system, so transplanted, is defective for one
Of the gravest reasons known TO men who
have had practical experience Of prison
life and that is in the placing OF one pris-
oner in position Of authority over another
The system necessitates this, or il would
not be of military pattern at all If there
is one thing on which prisoners and prison
officials will agree, 1t is that one prisoner
should not be placed in the power Of
another. In the FIRST place il is degrading
to a prisoner to be Oficered and ordered
about by any one except free man How
can he respect as an officer, the fellow
criminal whom he does not respect as a
man2 This lack of Difference the other win
see and instinctively feel; he will resent il
and, in trying TO raise himself IN his own
and the others estimation, will make him
feel the brief authority with which he is
clothed The cOnscript lieutenant may
hope to win promotion or the good viii Of
the prison authorities by playing the marti-
net, and if he cherishes a grudge against a
man. below him in rank, he can report him
for breach of rules, have him degraded
and defeat the reformative intent Of the in
stitution.
The qualities of a servile race, OF of con-
quered people, are well known, especially
in a country that once contained millions Of
slaves Toadyism, Aunkeyism and other
attributes of an abjectly subordinate spirit
flourish. like creepers in tropical soil,
among them. And the same is true of many
persons undergoing involuntary servitude
for offenses against the law These if
clothed with authority, by being invested
with a lieutenancy among the pseudo sol
diery Of a reformatory, will be apt to mag
Nifty their Office and require the same syco.
phancy toward themselves that they exhibit
toward the officers ofthe institution, and il
man of lower rank refuses thus to trample
his self respect under foot, be will be re-
ported by the toady, eventually degraded
and the date of his manumissiOn indefinitely
postponed BY this means the youth Of
fine spirit will be subject 70 a being who
ought to crawl on all fours instead Of stand.
ing upright like a man, By what avenue
can reformation enter the soul Of a uian be.
ing thus oppressed He becomes enraged,
disgusted, desperate, and the last state Of
that man will be worse than the first That
such things are doue is a common complaint
e