Los Angeles herald., 1909-10-10


their escape. They were unhappy be-
cause some of their associates had
broken their word. That is why we
do not need guards to watch these
men,"
Their frue Punishment
Is it not true that the liars real
punishment is not that others cease
to believe him, but that he himself
loses all belief in the veracity of 9th
ers, and, losing all confidence in his
fellow-men, leads the life of the
Ishmaelite? And just as certainly the
real punishment of those who, with
cynicism that is only narrow minded
ignorance, worship at the altar of de-
terrence is that they become incurable
towards, placing their sole reliance on
the gun and the revolver.
Mr. Howe continues his account as
follows There is another thing too,
which the files of the newspapers tell
of this experiment for making men.
Four or five years ago, when many
prisoners were paroled by DIR. Cooley
from the workhouse because they
could not pay their fines, the min
listers of the city and the newspapers
united in a protest against the whole
sale iail delivery which was going on.
DR.. Cooley quietly justified his policy
by saying: The rich avoid imprison-
ment by paying the fines which the
police court imposes. The poor can
not pay their fines because they are
poor, and are sent to the workhouSe
in consequence. That is Imprisonment
for debt, and debt due the city. And
Imprisonment for debt is contrary to
justice and humanity
"This same policy" Mr.. Howe con-
tinues, "has been continued ever since.
Now the city accepts it without pro-
test. AS a matter of fact it accepts
it with pride. Probably no one of the
radical departures from established
traditions which have been accom-
plished during the administration of
Mayor Johnson meets with such uni
versal approval as does the human
izing of the treatment of the poor and
the semi criminal class. Whether the
criminals have been made better or
worse (~nd there seems to be no
doubt that they are made better)
the city itself has been bettered by
this policy. Cleveland is a living ex-
ample OF the philosophy of Tolstoy,
that society suffers more than the Of
fender by its punishments, for society
is hardened by the public expression
of vengeance"
Compared with Japan
In the Los Angeles Herald of Sep
tember a. 1902 appeared an account
of the life led by female prisoners in
Japan, which, did space permit, might
be added as a fitting pendant to the
foregoing picture of the Cleveland
Farm colony The noted correspond
ent, H. Norman, has given descrip-
tion of the prison for male offenders
in Tokyo, JAPAN from which we quote:
IF the prisoner can make artistic in
laid metal work, well and good; if not,
perhaps he can carve wood or make
pottery; if not these, then he can make
fans or umbrellas or baSket-work; if
he is not up to any of these, then he
can make paper, or set types or cast
brass, or do carpentering; if the limit
is still too high for him, down he goes
to the rice mill, and see-saWs all day
long upon a balanced beam, first rails
ing the stone weighted end, and then
letting it down with great flop into
a mortar of rice. But if he cannot
accomplish even this poor task regu-
larly, he is given a hammer and left
to break stones under a shed with the
twenty nine other men out of 1000 who
could not learn anything else" And he
tells us that he found only one punish
ment cell in the prison, which, as he
was informed by the official, had not
been used for a month.
Notably on the Pacific coast there is
a prejudice against the japanese and a
Do we come within hailing distance of
them in our treatment of crime and
criminals, and If not, why not? Can
we even boast that we are more hu-
name than in Russia, of which Peter
Kropotkin, a recognized authority, says:
Eastern Siberia is full of liberated
assassins; nevertheless there is hardly
another country where you could travel
and stay with greater security" While
DR.. Benjamin Howard tells us that in
Saghalien Convict labor has added to
the Russian empire an island the
length Of England, not an acre of
which was previously under cultiva-
ton" He continues: 'The main lesson
to be drawn from this system is the
absolute futilty of punishment for it's
sake alone. The first principle taught
is that of self-maintenance. Convict
labor should be productive of net
profit to the state, so that instead (aS
in England, for instance) of costing
many millions it should prove a source
of annual revenue by putting in force
organized forms of industry suited to
the capacity of the respective criminals.
BY the means employed in Siberia the
conVicts do not lose their self-respect
and are often better fitted than before
to become useful members of society"
Public Opinion Stagnant
Why not? Why should not a great
and enlightened nation such as is the
United States adopt these humanitarian
and pre-eminently practical policies in
stead of plodding along in the degrad-
ing rut of barbarism in her treatment
of crime and criminals? Simply be-
cause the people at large have not given
the matter any serious thought, being
content as, alas! they are content in
so many other things to leave the
question to the care of politicians. So
long as this attitude prevails no great
change Is possible; for wardens,
sheriffs, guards and all those who
make their living from the prisoner
will never work, as a whole, for
thorough reformation of the system
1t is, therefore, to the public that the
appeal must be made, and for this rea
son the Prison Reform league uses all
its energies in catching the public ear,
neglecting, in fact, much organization
work that it would gladly do had it the
leisure
With the publication of it's book, in
which the facts and arguments given
in these syndicate letters receive much
amplification, the league expects to
enter a larger field of activity, in
which it will utilize new literary chan
nels and other agencies now within its
reach.
Whether its latest effort in the way
of immediate, practical work-that of
endeaVoring to induce the clergy of
the country at large to observe prison
Sunday, the last in October-will meet
with any decided success seems doubt
full, but inquiries for literature have
been coming in from the clergy with
VT l.