Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1902-04-16
ART FOR CONVICTS.
UNIQUE SOLUTION OFFERED FOR
PRISON LABOR PROBLEM.


Today a solution of the veXing prob
lem of prison labor lies at the very door
Of the Anticonvict Labor league. 1t is
so palpable and significant that l can
but marvel at the neglect which our re-
formers have shown it. Has it ever oc-
Cured to our interested friends that
soul saving can play an important part
in the great question of prison reform?
Let me begin with the de facto as
sumption that there is dignity in labor
both in and out of prison. 1t seems
that the question has at last been mar
rowcd down as to what work the con-
Wet shall be given to do. My sugges-
tion is that work which shall serve to
reflect a higher ideal of existence,
better definition of what life is, what it
means and its ultimatum, is what is
needed in our prisons.
One visit to the Illinois penitentiary
is quite enough to set any humane
mind to thinking. Under the merciless
lash of greed the convict is driven
hourly, daily, and you can but wonder
what reason he has for so much haste.
You might be led to think that his life
had been shortened by some of the
wiles of fortune or misfortune and that
he must of needs crowd two years into
one to catch up.
In the years 1859 and 1860, when the
Joliet prison was being built, relative
Of mine being a guard therein, l used
to follow squads of prisoners up into
the great stone quarries, where l saw
them shaving in the torrid sun until
they dropped from prostration. Thirty
or forty years later l made tours
through that institution and watched
the discipline to which the men were
subjected. 1t was the same. The body
was being punished, and no one seemed
to entertain thought that the menial
prisoner was possessed of soul worth
saving.
Time goes on, and our labor agitation
develops the fact that the goods turned
out under the state contracts came in
direct competition with the labor of
honest citizens. This is but natural a
working out of the inevitable law of
human progress. Now, Is this not proof
that something very radical must be
done-be done, | mean, after all the
mooted experiments of mere muscular
labor have been tried in vain?
Let me state my theory in brief. In
stead of work that shall produce the
greatest amount of goods why not plan
work for the convict that shall take the
longest possible time to complete-a
work, for example, that shall contain
ideals just little above the prisoners S
artistic powers of conception?
Under discreet tutelage articles of
great beauty could be turned out. Let
time cut no figure whatever. Let the
idea of perfect work be the one object
in view. Let the best of discipline pre-
vail and let the work embody an ideal
Of symmetry, finish and design. Very
sterile indeed must be the human soul
that could not be made better by means
thus employed, which is confessedly
the one aim of prison discipline after
we have sifted the matter to the bot
tom.
What might we do with these arti-
cles of value? Adorn our public build
ings with them. Sell them to the
wealthy classes to adorn their homes
and use the proceeds thus derived to
buy raw material for more goods like
them. Set them up in our parks and
boulevards and let them serve to ele-
vate the ideals and tastes of the multi
tude. In all conscience they might bet
ter be destroyed outright than to allow
our prisons to turn out the necessaries
of common life.
Only a few of our leading minds
seem to see what the present situation
presagcs. 1t means in reality that
mere body punishment taken alone is
wrong, out Of date and un-Christian,
and that public sentiment is firing Of
shutting up the criminal and then
turning him loose a worse yagabond
than when he commits his crime. Once
show an erring mortal how poor in
spirit he is and you have meted out
to him a greater punishment than can
be possible in any other way. A per.
son who is hardy enough to commit a
crime is hardy enough to go to prison
or be hanged for it, and very often
without even grimace of discomfort.
Now, suppose that the criminal shall
be confronted with an education rather
than body labor wholly. AS soon as a
glimmer of light is once let into his
soul the remorse he then suffers will
amply punish him for all his misdeeds,
whereas if he remains in total dark
ness he has been made worse instead
of better. When this glimmer of light
has reached his soul, then let him
come up higher. Let him be given
work to do that is refining, elevating.
Let our prisons build supernuous
articles which only the most wealthy
people can afford to buy. Let the nee
essaries of life be produced by the
artisan whose sense of right doing
keeps him outside the prison walls.
! do not need once to refer to the ulti-
mate effect of this upon society. 1t