The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1908-06-23
LETTER FROM REV. DR.. RAY
He Gives His Views on The Treatment Of
Criminals.
To The Free Lance.

To The Free Lance.
In a preceding paper wanted 20 inn.
press the Idea that all criminals should
DE employed, old and young. Our refor.
unatories Tor criminal Young should
arrange 10 keep the minds and hands OF
ali such in heRlthy activity. Itisan old
saying that Satan hath some evil thing
Tor Idle hands to do Ii IL healthful
and In every way wholesome TO keen
ones self employed
Judge sam Witt, son Of my old friend
Dr. Daniel Nitt, has struck the kevnots
OF kindness when he insists that the
criminals OF Richmond city must be kept
at work Tor the sake of their health. aud
to earn their rRtions best when they arr
turned loose. lt is not the wisest and
kindest thing To give them freedom With
out any means To 20 ON. 1t Is "a hard
thing Tor an ex-convict TO get employ
ment. People are mostly afraid of rhpm
anu no one wants them, 80 hunger may
press them again to crime and thus keen
Them In the lost social estate. II w.
could make them work and earn their
bread and meat, and at the expiration
oil their sentence turn over to them "A
part, II not all their earning, after the
cost oi their keep. under judicious man.
agement, 50 they might have something
10 so on, or the means TO take them
away from the neighborhOod OF their
humiliation and start afresh in Nfs on n
new career, large per cent of them might
be developed TO honesty and Industry.
and promote the general uplft Of society
and advancement OF civilization. IL is
not lair to keep our criminal classes In
idieness, penned up In prisons, and tax
honest labor TO keep them SO, and thus
violate the laws of hygiene and lower
the standard OF civilization, and so rIsk
the health oi the prisoners. | say this in
spite OF the facts that some OF our small
men In the Legislatures have. of labor
unions, raised hue and cry against
convict labor. This labor. even II N
compete with free honest labor. is neces.
sary To the health OF this class of our
people, aud to the uplift OF society. II
these men had never gone into prison
they would be competing with the labor
unions and 1t will be a mercifu relief to
our overburdened tax payers, as we'll as
"a truly best medicine for our prisoners
and so we must have that charity '.that
suifereth long and is kind" II we have
wise management and wise managers W.,
could keep the young criminals at school
part OF the time, and the more hardened
criminal employed in the usual and reeu-
lar hours so they might accumulate
something TO take with them when they
go into the world, instead Of keeping
them seated To do nothing but play cards
or devise mischief " hen they do get ont.
To do the best that can be done for
the criminals and the taxpasers both Is
what we need, and IL is not best for
either that the taxpayers should keep
and support our criminals In idleness. /
said two or more counties could mite
to police their criminals and have The
roads worked. Suppose, for instance.
SpOtsylvania and fredericksburg sbould
work the roads and streets with criminal
labor, using cOnvicts or prisoners and
have half their time In and the other half
out OF the corporation.
The roads near fredericksburg might
thus be worked and made good, whereas
now they are almost impassable and
these roads where the teams concentrate
need special attention. Even II theeoun.
~ should pay the usual per diem for this
labor, and after the keeping is paid for
and the police expenses are paid. we
might divide what is left OF their earnings
between the county and the criminals
when they are discharged. We must
not have unsafe men as taskmasters
Ac" oubht hOt ~ ket the pitce as guards,
iailOrs or superintendents Of reforma-
tories, or insane asylums, for political
considerations, but rather FOR their
trained capacity to fill these places.
They ought to be well trained and well
paid men, and ought not to be put in
office for any particular pull.
We want good men, well trained and
who will not make these places sinecures.
We don't need men in our Isoiaiaf fnr.s
who are afraid TO do the best thing for
our civilization. As member OF the ma
tional convention OF charities and reform
10 Virginia raise my voice against such
perversiOn OF the great end OF govern
ment, which is the good OF the people.
George II. Ray.
Spotsylyania. Va, june 18th, 1905.
DeWitt's Kidney and Rladder PHI ara