Arizona republican., 1904-05-01
PHoENIx. ARIZONA, MAY l, 1904
The Mutlny at Yuma and Its Lessons


 superintendent and other officials or the territorial prison presents no ne" phase of prison life. Outbreaks or des- perate prisoners occur in penitenuarles occasionally, and the authorities III charge must always be on guard against such mutiny as was witness cd at the Arizona penitentiary on Thursday.
 But the conditions under which this prison is operated no doubt contribut- ed directly to the murderous revolt the conditions which keep the convicts in idleness most of the time. So far' the problem of keeping them employ ed has never been satisfactorily solved The quarrying of rock and the excaVa- ton of earth for improvements about the prison have for years constituted the principal items of work in the pris- ou. Even when labor of this Kind IS te be done, only a small percentage or the prisoners can be employed. Ac- cordingly. a convict may work more or less for one or two days in the week. and the remainder of the. time he IS idle. There is a ''prison-farm' owned pS the territory adjacent to the prison, and for short time in the year 1t IS practicable to employ some of the pris- oners at farm work But during the annual summer rise in the Colorado river this farm becomes inundated, and actual farming on the tract is largely n farce. At Lest but comparatively few conyicts, can be utilized on the farm.
 AS a general thing the prisoners are simply herded together in bull pen inside the prison walls. With nothing for their hands to do, and their minds unemployed except in the wrong direc- tions altogether, the surprising thing Is that they do not organize insurrections oftener than they do. All students of penology agree that the worst possible fate that can befall a prisoner is idle ness Reformation becomes impossible so long as mind and hands are not busy, and when, as at Yuma, the prls- oners mingle together freely from day to day, it is inevitable that the best becomes like the worst. The convicta that are the most actively vicious drag down to their level the convicts that have some remnants of character re- fnaining, and when terms are com pleted the product returned to society is worse by far than when it was re- ceived from the sentencing court.
 It is clear that the dangers of mutiny are the least important of the results which flow from existing conditions. Proper administration and vigilance will render all outbreaks abortive. but the best management cannot guard against the utter ruin of all the pris. oners except those who happen to have extraordinary stamina of char aeter. Accordingly, when a man is sent to the Arizona prison all the prob abilities are in favor of his becoming d professional criminal Not only do the environment and associations of idleness confirm nearly all prisoners in a career of crime, but the present sys- tenn actually sets a premium Cn felony for most of the criminal population. Possibly one-tenth of Arizona's popu- tation in Mexican. This tenth fur nishes three fourths of the convicts for the territorial prison. For the crim- inal class in this element of our citi- zenship, imprisonment at Yuma has practically no terrors, for the reason, simply. that a term in the penitentiary has no hard labor" connected with it. At the worst, it means confinement for a stated period within a certain area. But as offsets to this inconvenience the criminal Mexican finds at Yuma plen- teous and regular meals and good treatment, and no work to do-"mtcho conner no trabajo." So far as deter. ring this class from committing crime is concerned, prospective imprisonment at Yuma is a failure; it has no re- straining influence.
 That regular and steady employment the hard labor" contemplated by the law-has not been provided for the in- mates of the territorial prison argues carelessness and indifference on the part of succeeding administrations, rather than anything else. It is every where confessed that the problem of employing prison labor offers some difficulties, but the trouble has been settled practically everywhere except In Arizona. That the prisoners can be employed, and should be employed, is some line CT lines of manufacturing, is a necessity of the case. The task be- fore the authorities is to determine what branches of manufacturing should be taken up. The state of Kan sas has solved the question of employ