Los Angeles herald., 1909-01-10
nest Plea for Betfenlent Of Conditions California Prisons

committed he is arrested on suspicion
| ana frequently locked up for days or
| weeks without evidence.
One Reform Started
In line with modern ideas the good
| people Of San Francisco are now going
/ 70 DulIo nome where liberated or pa
| rOled prisoners will be helped practical
| ~, where bed and meals NAV be had
| Tree and fresh start in life given the
| nelpless ones. 1t is to be conducted bv
the society known as the California
prison commission. These societies in
a Europe are supported by government
alu, as we'll as by private subscrfption
Thelr friendly supervision is Infinitely
Detter than aims giving and the value
! or such organizations has been con-
! splcuously shown in the great reduce
ton OF recommitments (recidivists)
| where best established.
Similar societies are doing good worlr
in Chicago, Philadelphia and other
eastern cities in this country. England
mas ninety and France fifty such so
cletles. Germany, Holland and Den
mark nave many, while Switzerland
ledus imam all with less prisoners per
capita than any other country. She
mas branch society wherever a
prison is located, whose members form
the acquaintance Of incarcerated men
ana when the latter are liberated ex-
tend helping hand and surround the
helpless one with moral influence.
| out Of a total population 1920 now
confined in Folsom prison, S61 are reel
dlVlsts, and there are 1868 recidiyists
IN San Quentin. These are up to date
Lgures and authentic. Can anybody
OelIeVe that with fair show and.
oqudIe zeal thls enormous percentage
OF men would return to crime? Ger
talnly not. Besides, it is very easv. in
most cases, to convict a man who has
served d previous term in prison. And
II there be an object in the conviction
oHlcers or the law can be found who
are are Iouo IN their denunciation Of the
eX-con' and in some cases deliher-
ately manufacture evidence out of q
WhoIe cloth In order to convict q man
u d crime ne never committed
Known to Be Innocent
know man in San Quentin prison
serving a life sentence who is absolute
~ innocent of the crime for which he
is paying the penalty. Sixteen hundred
dollars reward paid to detectives is the
secret oenlnd his conviction, together
with the fact of his being an ''ex-con .
The judge who sentenced him. the sher-
III OF the county where he was convict
ed, the people who paid part of the re-
ward and all the prison officials for
fourteen years deeply sympathized with
him and they all know that my state
Hneht is positively true, and yet the
man remains in prison. Every inteIlI-
gent prisoner in San Quentin knows
MIN and is aware Of the facts and the
truth or my statement. Several others
are confined there, not because they
are criminals, but because they are
poor. 1 ask not favor, but fair play
LOT these helpless men. Does not the
Bible say: open they mouth and
plead the cause Of the poor and needy?'
Proverbs, 31-9.
I am deeply in earnest about these
REFORMS, and my knowledge comes from
experience, and is ample and profound.
L am not discussing these matters for
either wealth or notoriety-I have both
l slept in room A with forty-eight
others for fourteen months, right over
Il the dungeon, where most of the tor
turing is done. Hundreds of times I
heard p1t1ful cries for mercy, followed
by human means and groans. My heart
was sick many times, yet 1 was help
less. See what l have seen and hear
what have heard and you, too, would
be moved to action.
i A thousand prison visits would fail
to give you the knowledge that pos
i seSS. My heart reaches out in deep
/ sympathy to my helpless, deserving
i fellow men and especially to those
legally dead yet buried alive behind
|
der the fatherhood of God are we not
all brethren? And oh! how sad to
think of the good men whose time must
be spent in slavery and misery for the
state when in them lies so much of the
stuff which marks the true man!
i Sadness That Is Infinite
| I know that among them are victims
j of circumstances, over which they had
no control, and as 1 saw 14-year-old
| boys and many young men enter the
bastile the very picture of health and
manly vigor, others with locks gray
/ and faces marked by burrows of care,
and some bent and infirm, on the very
/ brink of eternity, could not help but
contemplate the sadness of it al.
| Knowing these things, why should /
not plead for the needy and helpless?
/ 1t is the blessed privilege Of hope
which makes us all forbear, and every
breath of human cheer opens to the
| prisoners heart the hope of succor.
| We're l possessed of the eloquence of
a former great statesman l would say
much on Grimes Against Criminals
However, the bitter things I say about
! officials is neither hate nor malice, but
| lever for the upIift of mankind
| have no desire to be revengeful, for
| verify we should all be tempered with
mercy when we sit in judgment on our
fellows, because we do not yet realize
| the mixture of good and evil that is
in every man. If we cultivated more
| divine love and less hatred this world
| could be made a veritable paradise.
| have talked with murderers, train
| and stage robbers, burglars, pick
! pockets, hobos, yeggmen and others
| guilty of nearly every crime known,
| yet 1 never found a prisoner but could
easily be convinced that a criminal
career does not pay. A sane young
man so convinced can be reformed.
Give Him Chance
In conclusion, If you are convinced
| that have looked into the very depths
Of human knowledge bearing on
crime punishment and REFORM al
low me in closing to briefly suggest
| that while ten, twenty and thirty-year
| terms look hard to face, yet I am not
so opposed to long sentences as I am
| intensely in favor of giving the pris-
oner a chance to reform, aided by the
most modern methods.
1t is claimed that the state prison
capacity is insufficient for our fast
| growing population. My answer is, if
another is needed, by all reason build
| It in Southern California, and, above all
] things, avoid the evils of the congre-
| gate system in its constructors.
Again I say, without fear of contra
diction, that if San Quentin were
turned into a, modern reformatory, with
| the indeterminate sentence, and a bet
| ter parole system in careful operation,
| crime would decrease, society would be
better protected and the expense of
running the criminal branch Of our
| state government very greatly reduced.
| The average citizen has neither the
time nor inclination to investigate
l IL