The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1907-02-22
tions of the association.

Inc fEthlan Association.
President. d.. ). H. Bitch. presid-
ing.
Presidents address, The Open VS..
he Close Penitentiary system" by
DR. :. II. Bitch. Ocala.
Prison Sanitation" By Or ". d.
Stewart. West Virginia
The tuberculosis Problem in Pris-
ons and Reformato7ies. by Or.
Knoph. New York city.
Mental Defects Among Prisoners"
by J. W. Miliigan Michigan City. In.
dianna.
. The above was the program a. ar
ranged for the physicians session Of
The congress and should your board
desire synopsis OF the addresses
it will be furnished later. This report
containing only referenme 10 your
representatives address. The Omen
vs.. the Close PeniJcntiary System" It
{ Is believed that your Florida delegate
was foremost in openly and vigorous
~ advocating working Prisoners in
the Open" The many complimentary
remarks OF our subject. the wide range
I of discussion it assumed and the adj
vocacy of our views by Penolosists all
over the United States and in other
countries were n sOUrSe OF qualification
/ 10 US. Frederick Howard Wines. \.
/ VI l.. l.. D., OF Scranton. Pa. fore
most in Pathological studies in Ameri-
ca, in commenting on our address in
short but extremely pithy talk dealt
with conditions in the south. said. 4
endorse DR.. Blitch'~ views recently
visited some prisons in the south.
and their open Air Methods" man
agement and quarters are ideal The
Prison question III the south IS prac-
ideally a negro question: in a. much
. Is seventy-iiyc 80 ninety percent OF
. the crimes are committed by his race.
over one half of these prisoners are
charged with homicide or homicidaI
OffenseS. From these facts | draw the
conclusion borne OUT by facts that a
little education is dangerous for when
. The average negro secures little ed
ucatjOn he becomes too good TO work
and IL consequently led 10 crime He
is emphatically an open air animal
and to cOnfine him is 10 undermine his
physical being. No man who has not
visited the South can form an opinion
OF Southern people. Or of the charac-
ter of the majority OF their prison pop
ulation." In the North they have be-
come welded 10 the close system and
have pushed ii to extremes. The prac-
tice OF shutting men up has become
tradition. II is fraught with great
evils. Unrelieved as it is by exercise
in the open air bTOOds tuberculosis
and other diseases. The moral effect
is still worse. Employment, outside
prison walls keeps cOnyicts from
deSperatiOn-frOm insanity. Out door
work is wholesome for not only our
class OF prisoners. but for inmates Of
prisons wherever established. and
they can handle an ak, pick. shovel or
farming tools, little as they like it.
The man who works in the open has
"a companion al his hands that rings
true-Nature. There is something up
lifting. as well as revivifying, in the
mere sight OF Sun and Sky-Forest
and Field. A man of the baSeSt Capac-
lily and the baseSt disposition cannot
be inSenSible 10 the world around him.
Confined within walls and labOring
within a prison wOrk-rOOm. he may al
most forget that he is a man. Not SO
with the earth under his feet. the very
air stirring about him and the open
sky above him. The writer acknowl-
edges that there is in the Congress So
called scientific theories of Prison
Reform and Reformation of criminals,
which schemes oScillate from one ex-
Itreme TO the other. One would sur
round the prisoner with a prayer meet
ing atmosphere; another would make
him sweat in the tropics OF torment:
my method would be 10 treat Grim
Iinal like a man. not like an infant, nor
like a wild beast. and that each case
should be governed by circumstances
and under the auspices OF sound com
mon sense. This allusion TO theoriz-
ing is not intended 10 convey the i'm
PRECISION tha: the papers and discus
sions are largely given over 10 this
Iprincipal.-far from it-as it should
be remembered that many of the most
distinguished men and progressive
thinkers are included in each session.
b. whose experience. learning and OBJ
iservation many foundation facts in
The science OF human bctJerment are
established and the subject OF SUI
prcme interest To human society. How
TO Eliminate Crime" is made easier
and palmer al each convention. This