Los Angeles herald., 1908-04-13
PRISON HORRORS
ARE RECOUNTED
TORTURE CHAMBERS AT SAN
QUENTIN DESCRIBED
AUDIENCE CRIES OUT AT TALE
OF CRUELTY
Col Griffith j. Griffith Relates lncl-
dents of Injustice and Oppression
He Say at the State
Penltentlary

Horrible" frequently interrupted Col.
Griffith J. Griffith during his lecture
ON prison reform work at Simpson Au-
ditorium Saturday night.
Mrs. Hester Griffith. president of the
Los Angeles County w. c. L. u, pre-
sided, the Rev Baker p. Lee, rector or
Christ church, offering prayer; while
Mrs. Fred Dorne and Mr.. Hendricks
sang several selections. Among the
women on the platform was Miss a.
A. Chevaillier, great granddaughter OF
the senior warden of the church in
which were hung the lanterns signal
ing Paul Revere to start on his Ia
nous ride.
The following telegrams were read
TO the audience by Mrs. Griffith, the
messages having been received by Col.
Griffith:
SAN FRANCISCO, April IL, 'Os.-
Col Griffith ]. Griffith, Hotel Rosslyn,
Los Angeles: Strait Jacket cruelties
still exist at San Quentin. Man named
Rozales recently subjected to torture
for ninety-nine hours. Great suffering
occasioned r. LAWRENCE.
SAN FRANCISCO, April II, 'OS.-
Col Griffith j. Griffith, Hotel Rosslyn,
Los Angeles: God speed you in your
campaign for better prison conditions.
We heartily indorse your good work.
The California Prison Committee.
"WILLIAM RAIDER.
CHARLES MONTGOMERY"
LAS summer 1 travelled over 10000
miles in the United States and Mexico
and visited many prisons, from ore
gon to New York, the most notable of
which. in the City of Mexico. contained
5000 men and 700 women prisoners"
said Col. Griffith. "For comparison
allow me to state that both San Quen-
tin and Folsom prisons have but twen-
ty-seven female prisoners, thanks to
and God bless American motherhood.
ton and knowledge, l am forced to
the conclusion that the discipline of
the average prison hardens, degrades
and is a perpetual exhibition of cruel,
arbitrary power. l wish l could make
it so convincingly clear that the civ
ilized world could fully realize that a
prisoner can never be reformed by
being wronged.
DID VENGEANCE EVER MAKE
ANY MAI OR WOMAN BETTER?
Man is not a commodity. He is not
compound of mathematical quantities
or chemical gases. He has heart and
brain, and between these spring
thousand needs and emotions. He has
the instinct of love He Is conquered
by Justice and any scheme for the
computation of man which leaves out
justice will and must be a failure.
instruments of Torture Used
I'm many of the penitentiaries there
are instruments of torture, and now
and then a convict is crippled for life
or murdered. Inspections and inyes-
legations go for naught because the
testimony of a convict Is unbelieved.
He is generally prevented by fear from
telling his wrongs, for II he speaks he
Is not believed-he Is regarded as less
than human being, and so the i'm
prisoned suffer and remain without
remedy Every noble or manly feel
iY,ox r1
tion is trampled under foot, so that
when the convict's time is out there
is little left on which to build. He
has been cruelty humiliated to the last
degree, and his spirit has so long been
bent or crippled by authority and fear
that even the desire to stand erect has
faded from his mind. The keepers
know that they are safe, because no
matter what they do the convict, when
released, will not tell the story of his
wrongs, for If he desires to conceal
his shame, he must also hide their
guilt. Thus 1t is plain that, no mat
ter what happens in the average prison,
there is no redress for the convict.
California Is Behind
prison laws and methods are vastly
ahead of ours in nearly all the follow
ing states, all of them within the last
twelve years having passed new or
added to their parole laws Oregon
South Dakota, Indiana, Virginia. Ari-
zona. New York, Ohio, Massachusetts,
Connecticut, Kansas, Kentucky, Wash
ington, Illinois and Idaho.
'In addition to the improved condi-
tions made by the parole system in
the above named states, the, indeter-
inmate sentence law is now in force
in some form in all the following
states: New Hampshire. Connecticut,
Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas
nhueattS MichiQan New TercaU
New York, Ohio, Wisconsin and Penn
sylvania. Moreover, the modern physi-
cal and mental training afforded in
many of the institutions in these states,
patterned mainly after Elmira. n. Y,
has not reached California yet. Why
should this be behind any state in the
line of progress?
"The indetermnate sentence plan
embodies as one of Its basic principles
that the individual offender, and not
the crime, shall finally determine the
length of confinement or detention that
is necessary to reform him.
lndeterminate Sentence Favored
"The principles involved in the in
determinate sentence and the parole
system are logically one and the same,
and are inseparable. Probation, or pa
role, cannot scientifically be applied to
the convicted person except through
the indeterminate sentence. Califor-
MIA is far behind other states in mod
ern methods, and the lawmakers during
the next session of the legislature
should remedy some of these defects
"A study of codes on one hand and
of sentences on the other reveals an
amazing amount of contradiction and
rank injustice in the application of
penalties. For this inequality and in 4
justice the indeterminate sentence fur |
nishes the necessary relief. Instead
of the codemaker or judge declaring |
when a man shall come out of prison
it puts the main responsibility of de- |
Gliding that question with the prisoner
himself. How can any judge, though
he be learned and as wise as Solo |
mon in the brief space of time usual |
ly allotted by a trial court, determine |
accurately and justly the time 1t would
take to reform the prisoner? Is it pos
sible under these unfavorable environ
ments with such limited opportunity |
to study, weigh and analyze the pris- |
oner's character, to measure his stature
mentally, physically and morally and
pronounce just sentence?
Injustice Is Done Prisoner
Can it be done Except in rare in
stances) without working a great in |
Justice? Then why send him to prison |
for a fixed term? 1t may take but a
short time to cure him, or 1t might
take a lifetime; how is that judge to
know? Society demands that he be