Sunday Washington globe., 1902-01-19

Y will never be decorated because Of deeds
4 done IN that service" In view Of these
facts, it seems certain that il is as impracti-.
cable 70 reach and mold prisoners morals
by putting him into a company with toy
4 gun on his shoulder as TO measure his soul
by the Bertillon system,
Since the first day Of May, 1896. Warden
/ X. 9. Coffin, Of the Ohio Penitentiary. has
! demonstrated that complicated machinery
/ is unnecessary to the reformation of a
I prisoner. He has likewise shown beyond
fear OF successful denial, that the necessary
factors in the solution Of the problem are
kindness, experience and perseverance.
\ These are old-fashioned names for qualities
/ as ancient as the hills, but the employment
! Of such qualities is essential 10 the well
being Of the prisoner and the society that
he once presumably, preyed upon This
trinity must subsist 10 obtain success.
Some men Of kindly, sympathetic disposi-
tion and energy Of character have been
placed in charge Of prisoners, end after
number Of months or years their experience
has turned their love to gall and they have
gradually become sterner in their treatment
Of the unfortunates under their charge
until their administration has become
systematic tyranny, a rigid, sOul-grinding
machine in which there pulsates no hui
maniiy. Their philanthropy has quickly
tired through that lack Of knowledge of
human nature that in some men amounts to
genius or through their imperfect equip
men, in other respects and they have be-
come skeptiCal Of the power of gentleness
The sympathy in the soul of the guardian
OF shut-in men must be no intermittent
spring like hope it must arise eternally in
his breast never discouraged by the III con-
duct Of his wards, and not fatigued by re-
peated efforts, but renewing its strength
with every sun.
The second quality, experience, is as in
dispensable as the first He should have
observed prisoners and studied prison life
closely in order to know what effect the
restraint and the disgrace have upon them,
that he may 6nd the clew TO their better
ment Not that prisoners are essentially
different from other people They are SIM
| ply human beings plus their confinement
and degradation. Shakespeare makes King
Richard IT, while prisoner, say; II am
studying how may compare this prison,
where live, unto the world '-and that is a
comparison fairly and easily made because
/ prisoners and the outside world differ chiefly
III the element of freedom. What is It that,
when an erring man is put in prison by his
erring fellows, demands that he shall be
Technically classed as a criminal2 There is
7 no such division in nature no criminal
class as such The classification is un-
scientific The larger number of law break
ers escape punishment. The prisoner, if
guilty, is simply a mis- doer who has got his
deserts, that is all. while multitudes Of
others Just as bad have gone unwhipped of
justice. But if the doctrine Of involuntary
criminality, so persistently taught of late
years were true, we should be forced to say
that some men commit crime for the same
reason that others are d-headed-because
they can not help il, they were born SO.
/ Whether criminal heredity be true or not,
however makes no difference in the effect
1 iveness Of the treatment referred TO- They
/ will be reclaimed under it, whether their
teeth have been set on edge because their
fathers ate sour grapes or not It's fruits
win justify it,
The third power Of the successful trinity
as indispensable as the others, is persc-
verance that is active and. energetic to the
I end. 50 active that il goes everywhere;
so energetic that it plucks up by the roots
! every time worn custom that stands in the
way Of progress. Every contrivance in use
in the prison has to show its passport and
give healthy reason for its existence every
day The eyes of The chief, like the Lords,
must be in every place wi tn Argus glance,
penetrating every nook and Granny and
each habit aud Characteristic Of prisoner
and subordinate officer
Warden Coffin has had great experience
in the management of prisoners, and for
forty Eve years has been officially familiar
with Lawmakers and law-breakers. When
only eighteen years old he was marshal of
the town in which he lived, South Char
lesion. He has been mayor, justice Of the
peace and sheriff, holding the last named
Office sixteen years, OF four terms He was
warden Of the Ohio Penitentiary from the
spring of 1886 until the spring Of 1900, and
his administration ELECTED general COM
mendatOn But his experience OF prison
life has not soured him nor reduced his
native kindness in the slightest measure
His heart is full of sympathy, his head Of
sense aud yet, in opposition to wrong and
in maintaining his ground, he is as firm as
the primitive rock that holds up the world
There Is nothing Pecksnifiian about him, no
lip-sympathy He practices more than he
breaches; in short, he has an eye to see,
heart to feel and mind to think. This is
not eulogy, only fact, and is stated here by
one who does not believe that all the able
and good men are dead. There are still
some few remaining"
ITO be continued