Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-29

the other hand, the official reports rem
dered by wardens in response to gov
ernmental inquiries are not calculated
to inspire one with overweening con-
fidence For example, the report
made by the warden of the Ohio state
penitentiary, given in Modern Prison
Systems" document No. 452, House or
Representatives, issued in 1903, begins:
mo other punishment mentioned
than that of loss of grade, privileges
and good times" Yet this is the very
penitentiary in which Brand Whitlock
and Charles Edward Russell found
torture worthy of the Inquisition in
habitual use.
Folsom Prison Criticised
Again, the report made by the
warden of the Folsom state prison,
California, reads: I'VE do not chain.
cage or whip prisoners; our punish
meut consists in solitary confinement
with bread and water, and partial or
total suspension Of privileges" As a
matter of fact the bull rings were
chen in constant use there and con-
victs brought terrifying tales of the
treatment TO which they had been sub
jected. In reality the average convict.
dreading the vengeance of the authori-
tbs, dare not tell the truth the aver
age prison official will not.
Col. Griffith !. Griffith. secretary
and treasurer of the Prison Reform
league, has given. with immense
wealth of detail such accounts of the
abjeCt subjection in which San Quen-
tin prisoners are held that the story
has become a familiar one to Cali
fornia readers At least; and If may
be added that the vast bulk of san
Quentin inmates are employed in tho
I, 3yI,
convicts in no way for the tasks they
must take up when they emerge from
prison, since the manufacture of those
particular goods is confined to the San
Quentin and Walla Walla. Washing
ton, penitentiaries. If the convict is
fitted in any way there for his future
struggle with the world, it must be
by the disciplinary education he re-
ceives, which is simply that of terror
ism-the one object being to break the
will and convert man, the final prod
uct of evolution, into a spineless
jellyfish.
From oregon's History
Joseph Kelly. in his Thirteen Years
in the Oregon Penitentiary" gives
sickening details of the floggings that
were administered there within quite
recent times (his book was published
last year,, what he terms "the murder
of the boy Delmane," forming an ap-
palling chapter His general criticism
cf flogging is as follows; THAT man
who is flogged you need never be
afraid Of He will do you no harm,
for he is a dog for life and coward,
of course. This is what men have
told me that have been f1ogged. They
say the spark of manhood is out of
them. They begged for mercy when
their backs was being lashed, and
mercy was refused them. They were
only laughed at and told the next
time they would be killed with the
lash" He declares, however, that con-
ditions in this particular penitentiary
are better now than they were when
his term began.
In Facts About Flogging," by
Joseph Collinson, honorable secretary
of the criminal law and prison COM
mission, Humanitarian league eng
land), the general effect not only of
flogging, but of all other forms of
brutality is expressed thus: 1.-THE
lashed and hacked prisoner has no
future. He is no longer a man; he
has been degraded to brute, and
for the rest of his life alternates be-
tween ket-of-leave and prison. He
is alive and yet dead. When you have
broken the spirit of a criminal,
lacerated his flesh as far as human
endurance is possible (gauged by the
medical man in attendance), be sure
Of one thing: You will have TO sup
port that man, in and out of prison,
for the rest of his life. Let the ad-
vocates of the cat note that fact, To
lacerate and smash up, morally and
physically, the criminal is-apart
from all questions of humanity--a some
what expensive luxury for the already
overburdened people of this country"
The author of Life in Sing Sing"
singularly restrained and well-balanced
book, reports the following converse
ton: YOU" cried the irate warden
to a prisoner before him on some
trivial offense, you, damn you! you
have a will of your own. Well, I'll
have no Wills here except my own.
I'll tame you, damn you, I'll tame
you. If you were a tiger I'd tame
you" And he adds; "They did tame
him, and he wasn't very wild, so far
as l could see; and when they had
him really tanned ne was in Dame
mora insane asylum, where he Will
die a raging maniac
A shallow public seems very geneT-
ally to picture the discharged con-
Wet as a dangerous, wild beast, wan
derfng about and seeking whom he
may devour. Those. on the other
hand, who have had experience in
aiding this most unfortunate class
will tell you that they are often so
unstrung and bewildered by the roar
and hustle of our industrial centers'
to which they return of necessity In
their search for work, that they dare
not venture across the street unas-
sisted. No wonder they remain perma-
oh