The morning journal-courier., 1908-11-05
OPERATION OF
 PAROLE SYSTEM Practical Workings of the Inde- terminate Sentence Law
 in Connecticut.
ITS METHODS AND RESULTS
Explanation of the Principles and Pol lcics Governing the Admlnistra-
 ton of Important Statute.


 At the meeting of the Connecticut Editorial association In Hartford this week Thomas Dudley Wells, secre- tary of the board of state prison d. rectors, delivered an address on The Operation of the Connecticut Indeter- minate Sentence Law" Mir. Wells spoke in the main as follows:
 For seven years the indeterminate sentence law has been playing a part in the tragedy of crime in Connecti- cut Quietly 1t has put new wine ln- to the old bottles of judicial procedure and penal administration. Although the measure is important the public doesn't know much about 1t, and 1t ls- mt deeply interested In 1t. What's important isn't always interesting; what's interesting isn't always import ant. If some lawyers were held up and asked to tell about the act I fancy they would have to tumble in their pockets long time before finding the exact change for convincing and de- tailed reply. Many laymen, imagine are una ware that the law exists, and very likely If they saw the label they wouldn't recognize the goods. Craft ing great changes on the criminal sys- tenn of the commonwealth and sub mitting an elastic for rigid system the statute Is the most important piece of penal legislation enacted in Connecticut within a generation. and have been asked to outline the methods and principles governing the administration of the act, especially it's provisions concerning parole.
 Of the two fundamental features oi the lndeterminate sentence law one has to do with getting the offender into prison and the other with getting him out of prison. Under the old pol icy, now discarded and gathering dus in the attic, when the rascally Johr Doe was convicted of stealing a horse forging a check. picking a pocket. talk | ing an extra wife or committing somt other felony, he was sentened tt Wethersfleld for a specific time; sa, | four years. Under the new scheme h, Is committed for an indefinite period say a minimum term of not less tlar two years and a maximum term O not more than six years. Formerl, | he could tell when he would get out now he's kept guessing and his hope and fears play tag with each other Is the convict likely to emerge iron Wethersfeld sooner after the expira ton of the minimum term, or will n have. to remain within the grim wall until the end of the maximum term The riddle cannot easily be read Il advance. The answer involves man considerations, and each case is de cidedly upon its own merits or de merits. The problem can't be solve, by copybook notices or cast iron for mula.
 Methods of Procedure,
 After the prisoner has complete his minimum sentence and has com piled with certain requirements as t conduct he Is brought before tn board of parole, which consists of tn state prison directors and the warder Data concerning the fellows behavio in prison and his previous crimina record, if one is included in his outh t,, ui nf board. The convict is thoroughly, al belt sympathetlcally, questioned cor cerning his offense. Perhaps ne wi insist that he Is Innocent, or that h was drunk the time the law was knock ed into a cooked hat, or that ne wa led into the affair by others or tha anyhow, the crime wasn't as bad q alleged. The man in prison, like tl man out of prison, Is prone to assun personal credit for his virtues and shove responsibility for his vices e to other shoulders.
 One of the formal rules of the boar Ia that "in determining the questio of the parole of a prisoner the boar of parole will consider hls Conduc history, career ana character but WI not be governed by outside Influence Attorneys for the convict are now pe mitted to appear before the board ar urge his parole The reason for th exclusion policy is to prevent q prtsol ar who Is able to retain counsel fro having any possible advantage ovr his less fortunate fellows The boar prefers to be guided by its own disll