Rocky Ford enterprise., 1908-01-24
STATE PRISON
ASSOCIATION
Irs WORK REVIEWED At rgNTH
ANNUAL MEETING AND
ANNIvERsARY.
AIDING Ex.C0NvIcTs
WOULD ABOLISH KANGAROO
COURT AND FURNISH WORK
FOR PRISONERS.

Denver-The Colorado Prison Asso-
citation celebrated Its tenth anniversary
ut It's annual meeting In this city
Thursday. The anniversary program
was held at Unity church. under the
auspices OF the board Of direction OF
the Prison Association. Luncheon was
served by the ladies' Of the church at
O p. m. and there were numerous nd
dresses afterward. Former Governor
C. s. Thomas delivered the principal
address.
Hon. Henry v. johnson, president OF
the association. was unable to be pres
ent owing to a recent fall from which
he is still suffering. but he sent com.
munication to be read. which is In part
as follows:
"The care and attention and little
money properly expended ut the right
time has saved many n poor. dcspond.
cnt and hopeless man from rclapsins
into tho old iifc which has placed him
behind the bars. This Ia not only hu.
manity In Its highest form. but II In OF
great bcncht TO the state OF Colorado.
because every cx.convict that this so
cicty through its efforts can savc from
a relapse. means n large amount In
good. hard dollars to tho honest citi'
xcns Of the state.
-The Kangaroo court which has cS.
listed. and ! understand still exists In
tho city Of Denver. ] take great pleas
urc In branding as disgrace To tho
pcopi. Of tho city and county Of D-n'
yer. and as a thing which tn. Judges
Of III. pis,rie, cour, of this city and
county should 500 To ID at once and
forever abolished.
Another thing which this associa.
iion. through its officers. has been On.
dcayorins to accomplish. Ia tho enact.
mcnt and execution Of Law by which
tho convicta Of the state of Colorado
shall bc put To some useful and 70.
mun~sa,isc work. Il ID economy on
that part Of the state. and II In human.
i,y toward the consicts themselves.
With the 700 or more able bodied COZ
yicts In the state p~nitcniiary. much
beneficial. useful and rumuncraiiss
work could b- done for the state. whca
I thought over this matter. have pic
tus-d to myself. what a Er-a, uors
these cunsicts eoaid do for the state
Of Colorado. in the building of roads
throughout the state. or III" building
Of reservoirs al proper plarcs. Th-sr
works, under the supervision uf com
p~trns engineers. could bc done In a
t.r Ia "a fNr \
thousand years or more. Think uf
the MAGNIFICENT roads that could ba
bull, ,hrpnsh our mountains and other
parts Of III. state. and thereby enable
the citizens of tho state To transform
what today IL a desert. into homes and
gardens. Hut they would no, bc linn
tied to these two things. There arc
many other useful lines in which they
could b. employed to the great adsan.
,aEr at tho cunsicts themselves. and
to tho state a, large.
"Sonc people may pronounce such
aims and hopes as vaEarics and tho
ofies. but happily the matter has been
thoruushiy and beyond all caSii reri'
fed. and shown TO be entirely possible
and practicable.
LAST November while on a visit 10
Detroit. had the pleasure Of visiting
the Detroit House Of Correction.
was met by the superintendent. Mt.
ScDouaid. who very kindly and srac'
iousiy took me all through that i'm
mcnsc institution. The cells occupied
By the prisoners were in large court
or building that vas thoroughly lighted
and thoTpushiy ventilated. The air in
the place was as fresh and as pure as
that outside. Order and discipline and
NJ n
was found to be easily maintained. not.
withstanding the fact that they have
on an average Of over 400 prisoners in
the place. All Of the prisoners able to
do any work are occupied In manufac.
turing three or four useful things. viz
chairs. pearl buttons. scrub brushes
and horse brushes. and although they
arc employed In manufacturing only
these four named articles. all Of the
expenses Of taking care Of the pris.
oners. Of feeding them. Of guarding
them. Of buying material and imple-
men,s for them TO work with. are paid
for. and last year a net profit TO the
city Of Detroit. they showed the enor-
nous sum Of $4,000. In addition 10
paying all Of these expenses and In
paying for the raw material. there is a
small amount each day credited TO the
prisoner who proves himself Of good be-
havior. and to be steady and indus
trious. The prisoner IL credited with
this amount. and at the time that his
expires, he has some
small amount Of money To his credit,
which Is paid over to him. The pris-
ouers were not dressed In stripes. and
as q rule. they had a happy or at least
a contented look upon their faces
Tho Vpfsnrf of NJ = f~o1lptt 0onpraI
secretary Of the association. shows
that In four years. since the associa.
tons enlargement from the Prisoners
Aid Society. between 500 and COO ex
prisoners and the families Of men who
are in prison. have been assisted in
securing suitable employment. and fur.
nished with extra clothing. tools.
and like essentials.
More than one.half Of the ahnre are