The Washington herald., 1907-05-26
SUNDAY. MAY %. 1907.
Mitigating Our Penal system.

Our penal system comes in for a goOdly
share Of wholesome criticism nowadays
particularly when it deals with first Of
tenders, or with that large class Of IN
fortunates who find themselves in police
courts for minor breaches of conduct
Judge Mckenzie Cleland, Of the Chicago
Municipal Court, goes so far as 20 say
that the whole penal system Is wrong,
and that the interests OF society would be
much better served by paroling prisoners
He has put in operation in his court a
parole system under which a man who
promises TO do better IS given a chance 10
live down the error Of his ways. Out Of
rs persons put on probation. 1i5 kept
their word with him. and are doing well
- according % his report a month or more
ago
In an interview. Judge Cleland illustrates
his method and his theory Of dealing with
crime by the case Of a man who. while
intoxicated. attacked another. iuficting
a serious and possibly fatal wound. I
will send that prisoner to jail for thirty
days said the Judge He will then call
himself a fool a thousand times over.
and thereafter will be as good a citizen
as any Of you. He was a good father
until this act. and what possible benefit
IS TO be derived by making this man a
convict. instead Of letting him resume his
place as a good citizen?'
Such a method Of treatment almost
wholly ignores the punitive idea which
Gnr1fu1rae
severely criticised on that account. but
it has the support Of Judge Clelard's as
sOciates, among them Judge TuthiH. OF
the Chicago Circuit Court, who has re-
Gently said.
The sTeat mass of those charged with crime are
simply ignorant and mislsd. All that the State has
done has been 20 confirm them in wrong wavs
They have been kept in Jail until they have learned
all anybody ever knew about crime. and then have
been sent 20 the peaitentiary. where they have as
sociatsi with The professors Of crime So the State
has been educating criminals not only in teaching
them the principles Of crime but in making them
feel that every enc is against them. They become
cm6lttered aHd never set over IT,
The probationary work done by Judge
Cleland fin Chicago has a counterpart in
that Of Charles A. Massie, Of this city.
for number Of years agent Of the
Prisoners Aid Society. Mr.. Massie has no
official status, but the cordial cooperation
Of the police court judges with his
humanitarian labor has made it lust as
effective as that Of the Chicago jurist Mr.
Massie's work is preventive and re-
demptive. He seeks to save men and
women from lives as criminals, and TO
give them the encouragement needed 10
set them in the narrow way from which
they have temporarily strayed The pur-
pose Of the Aid Society is thus outlined.
To bec1me acquainted through It's agent with
the Circumstances 4 each case whore an arrest has
been made or party detained because # ofFerse
against the laws or regulations of the District and
when it seems 10 call for the good Offices Of the
ASSOCIATION. 10 throw protection around those who
through ignorance or carelessress rr brinr yo-1ra
and less hardened. have thus offended. When il
can properly be DONE with the approval Of the
court. the agent seeks 10 return % their families
those who can be thus disposed o. Of 10 find other
shelter for them. that they may start life anew
saved from the humiiiating and debasng influence
II prison life.
In seven years lir. Massie has assisted
over 17.000 persons, sending many Of them
home, paying the fines Of others. provid-
ing food for the hungry, obtaining en-
plOyment, and so on, and all at a cost Of
only $500 This meager expense Of seven
years philanthropy is accounted for by the
significant fact that police court prison
ers themselves repaid more than 30 per
cent Of the advances made them for fines
railroad fares, and expenses by Mr.. Mas
sic. OF S26.s)0 invested on faith in human
nature, S24,54 was returned. The show
Ing made by the records Of the Aid So
ciety is evidence that most Of those
hailed into police court have the i'm
portant quality Of honesty, at any rate
That a great social good may be accom-
plished by standing between the police
court and the prisons to prevent the nor
nal operation Of the penal code is In il
self a serious indictment of our system Of
preventing and Furnishing minor crimes.
After all, Judge Cleland and Mr. Massie
are only putting into practice the great
Christian doctrine Of human redemption
stripped OF its theological implications. the
doctrine is simply that humanity contains
within itself the power Of moral reforma-
ton, and that it should be given oppor
tunity for redemption. Open the door of
hope, and in nine cases out Of ten our
poor human nature will accept q new
chance 10 make good in the daily strue-
gle for bed and board
Chicago Jeffersonian Democrats arc