The Washington herald., 1909-01-12

cost Of time and convenience, and with
a dlsinterestedness which makes the en-
tire community their debtor. have made
the thorough investigation, the result OF
which I put before you.
The report takes up the criminal prob
lem in general, lays down the true prin-
ciples concerning the treatment Of cTimi-
nails. deals with conditions here in Wash
ington which have q manifest tendency 70
produce crime. and urges their removal
especially the dark and mar
TOT alleys and unwholesome dwellings
where most Of the criminal population
pass their days.
1T makes six specific recommendations
as follows:
y. a jan TO be used only as house
OF detention and never as place
where prisoners should be sent %
serve sentences
- A probation system for cases that
do not absolutely require impTisOn-
ment
3 A reforn1atory for all who must
be imprisoned and yet are hopeful
cases.
= -
not hopeful cases and yet are not
such as must lie sent 20 penitentary-
.. Confinement in a penitentiary for
the worst offenders
- A parole law for prisoners who
may be safely released upon conditions
before the expiration OF their term
I earnestly ask that the Congress act at
once in accordance with the recommends
tons Of the report The Two most urgent
measures, for which drafts Of bills &C
the report. are, First. a prOba-
ton law: and. second, an appropriation
act which viii relieve at once the present
impossible situation and set Us on our
way toward the realization OF an ade-
Quate prison system
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
The White House Jan Il. 1873
4 detailed account Of the circumstances
attending the creation Of the commits
sion IS given at the beginning Of the
report and the description q the local
institutions IS set forth The present
unheaIthfuI conditions existing IN the i'm
mediate vicinity OF the jail and other
buildings on the Eastern Branch Is an
other phase OF the situation dilated upon
at length
The introduction TO the main body OF
the report concludes with a complete
account OF the procedure relating 20 the
handling Of criminal cases in the District
by the Police and Juvenile courts, and
the Supreme Court Of the District
Suggestions of Report.
Among the suggestions contained IN this
particular part Of the report are the fol-
lowing:
Although the Police Court is prohibited
from sentencing for a longer period than
one year. even where there are 'cumula-
tive sentences against the same person.
yet it has happened not infrequenJly that
there have been IN that court against
the same person, for different Offenses,
several sentences, which have been held
not 70 be cumulative n a legal sense.
resulting in the prisoner being confined
IN the Jail for eighteen months or more.
such offenders do not always object
to a steady abode, with warmth and shell
ter and plenty Of food, and especially
with nothing to do. even though the place
be called a jail. and do not hesitate to
commit some OTenSe that viii obtain
them such winter quarters.
The jail was originally intended 70 ac-
commOdate three hundred II was com
pleted and first occupied In 1876. and cost
something over half a million dollars
(S557. .S2D In IS9S forty-eight cells were
added at a cost of S12.CoA
Most OF the cells are in size 5xSxsls
feet They were made TO be occupied by
one person only. They are being used for
two or three. The number confined in
the Jail has increased by 81 per cent dur
ing the past five years.
Owing 20 this straitened condition OF
things il has not been possible TO rigidIv
separate the convicted from those who
are only accused, and in the woman's
ward no separation whatever has been
possible. It IS quite out Of the question
20 keep the first offenders, or even those
who are innocent. away from those who
have become settled in their criminal
habits
That men and women should be sent
10 these narrow and crowded cells. the
innocent with the guilty. the first offender
with the hardened criminal, in one pro-
miscuOus assembly, 10 corrupt and be cor
rUpted by each other, the lazy 10 be hu-
mored and fOstered IN their laziness- the
industrious 10 be deprived Of every form
Of employment, TO be fed Ike beasts and
maintained al the public charge Tot only
with no prospect Of Improvement in their
condition but with the moral certainty
that they viii come out far worse than
they went in. is a fact that has become
a stencil in the nostrils OF the whole com
n munity and ought to be felt as a shame
and disgrace TO the whole nation whose
are responsible for its
existence.
Congress Is Blamed.
The attention Of Congress has been
called repeatedly TO the overcrowded and
defective condition Of the jail. In 1913
the Attorney General in his annual re-
port TO Congress informed them as fol-
lows:
e The Jail Is old without modern i'm
prOVementS, and OF insufficient capacity
for the pracouf nnadS Soroa+hg--- es.-..lz