Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-11

| it would be a distinct advantage to the
public
Every one knows that when a prisoner
comes back to the community he is look
| ed upon with suspicion and often finds
| it all but impossible to win back the
| confidence of his fellows. Often it is i'm
| possible for him to obtain employment.
and necessity itself may tempt if it does
| not drive him to his old course.
Something has been done here and
! there by associations formed to assist
| and relieve discharged prisoners. but 1t
would be much better and more efectuai
| if it could be supervised by the govern
!, ment itself and as a part of the prison
! discipline
When a man has served out his SEN
! tence to the limit and is entitled to his
discharge he goes out a free man. but If
| he is released before the end of his term,
upon his own application. under parole,
with conditions which have been imposed
| to prevent his falling into evil ways, the
| situation is entirely different. Then he
goes out under the supervision of author
! ity. his whereabouts are known, his sub
| Sequent course is followed, he is helped
to obtain employment, and if he breaks
! the conditions of his parole he is brought
! back to prison.
I'VE think that in the case of the pa
role system. just as in the case of the
probation system. the chief argument to
| be considered in its favor is not the
| chance that now and then criminal
may be reformed and thereby philan-
| thropic duty be performed by the state.
| but that the state will by this means
| protect itself against the depredations of
| those who have tendency toward crime
and will be able to strengthen the forces
| of order at the expense of the forces that
oppose ii.
| A Parole Board.
Somewhere there should be lodged the
authority to decide whether a prisoner
who has served a substantial portion of
| his term may be released upon parole, not
merely with advantage to himself, but
with advantage to the state. This au-
| thority should be al liberty to impose
| such restrictions and conditions upon the
| freedom and occupation of the paroled
prisoner and require from him such re-
ports and proofs of lawful conduct as
| reason. prudence and justice may ulctd'e
| in each case.
Such authority should. III our opinion.
| be vested not in the courts, but In the
! executive department. 1t Is admlnls-
| trative rather than judicial work II
belongs in one view to the discipline or
the prison. for a paroled person Is stlil
| restra aimed of his liberty.
Prisoners Earnings.
| "AIlusion has heretofore been made to
| the wisdom and justice of setting apart
| for the benefit of the prisoners family,
| OF IOT the VI INC piiSoAiNA A'-''A
self upon his release. substantial part
of his earnings. Such fund as that
could evidently be better managed in
| connection with d parole system than
without it
| 1t has sometimes happened where
this plan of paying prisoners a portion
/ of their earnings upon release has been
| adopted that large amounts have been
paid~to the departing convict, who has
| squandered it all in a single nights de-
bauch. That might be prevented even
without a parole system by provldlnS
that the fund SO reserved should not be
paid to the prisoner all at once but In
periodical installments
| But under the parole system 1T would
be much easier and simpler to control
| the disposition of such fund. In some
institutions there is reserved for the
prisoner only the miserable pittance of
| 5 1-3 cents a day. and out of the small
sum accumulated in this manner he must
pay for the ticket and suit of clothes
which are furnished him when he leaves.
! United States prisoners are provided
with one plain suit of clothes, with IS
in money and with ticket to their home
| or the place of convection. In other In
lstitutions the allowance is so liberal that
at the end of long term men have gone
out with 5000 or 500 of their own.
| 1T seems to us it would be at once
prudent and practicable to fix an arbi-
trary amount as the fair price of the
prisoners days work. and then to charge
against it the expense of his mainte-
nance. including therein a round per-
| centage say 20 per cent. of the total
wage as interest upon the capital in
vested in the plant. Let this fund ac-
| cumulate during the prisoners confine-
ment unless it shall be paid to his fam
| lily in necessity at home, and be turned
over to him in installments after his re-
! lease.
Prison Wages in Maryland.
In the Maryland penitentiary in 1906
and 1907 prisoners earned for themselves
| S41 $50 e. a single prisoner earning in the
course of a year over six hundred dollars.
| In 1906 $4,000 was paid out of the earn
| ings of prisoners for the support of their
| families. and $1,000 was paid to the
| prisoners themselves upon their discharge.
The plan also exists in other institu-
! tons whose authorities mention it with
| favor
I'VE have found that the parole law has
won the favor and support Of prison
! officials generally. The warden of the
| United States pententiary at Leaven-
| worth and the warden of the United States
| penitentiary at Atlanta nave both put
| themselves on record believing in the
! principle and hoping for its adoption.
In none of the states where ii has been
adopted has it been made applicable to
murder in the first degree or the second
| degree. Such cases may best be left
to the pardoning power inherent in the
| executive.
1T may safely be said that the benefi-
cent character of parole statutes has
! been established, that opinions in their
favor are we'll nigh unanimous. and that
the states which have tried them longest
. are their foremost advocates. The COM
| mittee CT the American Bar Association
! declares that its general investigation is
amply sufficient TO justify it in reporting
! that the parole laws in operation are
working benefcially and that the commit
| tee deems their wise execution and eX-
| tension to be in the interests of sound
| public policy. and the prisoner.
Constitution of Parole Board.
THE question to he determined by the
authority vested with the power to parole
| is not a question which can be de-
termned upon any mere system of marks
! or bookkeeping in the prison. 1t goes
| deeper than that. 1t concerns the dis
position of the prisoner and his whole
| attitude toward life.
! The determination of such a question
but word more wisely be vested in a
| board. constituted as to insure a cen
servative and yet an unprecedented hear
| ing. The case should be heard upon ap-
| plication by the prisoner seeking the
| parole. which application should be re-
| CURED to he made in a prescribed form
! 1t should have the Endorsement OF the
superintendent or warden of the inStitlI-
! tion where the prisoner is confined and