Los Angeles herald., 1909-07-11

ness to save in order that he may get
a fresh start I'm life. From every stand
point they are i'm a position to pass
judgment that shall have, at least,
chance of approximating justice.
In addition to abstract argument
wealth of evidence culled from those
familiar with the workings Of the IN
determinate sentence was brought for
ward by Colonel Griffith to support MS
argument. Among them he was able
to refer to Governor Cummins of Iowa,
Governor Tyler of Virginia, Governor
Mead of Washington, Major Nc
Claughry, warden of the federal prison
at Fort Leavenworth, Kan; Hon. Eu-
gene Smith, president of the Prison
association, New York; Hon. u. X.
Brockway of Elmlra.g Charles Dudley
Warner and many others, all of whom
had become conVersant with the prac-
teal workings of the indeterminate
sentence and indorsed 1t emphatically.
Perhaps Governor Hanly of Indiana
may be quoted most conVincingly, be-
cause he had opposed the change and
had become converted by facts. Under
date of September 16, 1907 he tells us:
Il entered upon the duties of the
executive office prejudiced against It,,
and intending to condemn and attack
it when opportunity offered. 1t was
said the shrewd criminal would study
the prison rules and observe them and
would therefore have no trouble in
making good with the board and in re-
gaining his liberty; that the poor un-
fortunate who was an accidental and
not a professional criminal, who lacked
advantages of education, who knew
nothing of human nature and had no
faculty for getting into the good graces
of the board, and who most of all need
ed the helping hand of the state, would
be compelled to stay the limit of his
time" He then tells us that INSTEAD
of its critic, 1 have become its defend
er 1 have been convinced by what
have seen and heard and learned" He
says that Indiana is able to speak from
results after an experience of ten years.
and sums them up thus:
Figures That Talk
Under the old law. as we have seen,
10 per cent of the prisoners discharged
drifted directly into criminal ways, ut
terly failing to sustain themselves,
under the present law 25 per cent. OF
the 3745 prisoners paroled from April 1,
1897 to April 1, 1907, the life of the
presents slaw 20S4 completed their pa
role probation.
THE term of 293 others expired while
April l, 1907. In ten years the 3745
paroled prisoners have earned $949, ,773. 63
and have saved over and above eX-
penses, $1S7, 1853, a thing absolutely
impossible under the old law"
Amos w. Butler of the Indiana State
Board of Charities and a noted au-
thorlty on this subject, sums up the
experience of the states that have
adopted the indeterminate sentence by
saying that "a much larger per cent of
those discharged under the old system
returns TO lives of crime, and a far
less per cent of those so discharged
manages to keep out of prison. Under
the new system by far the larger num-
Der of those released after the parole
test become law abiding citizens, and
but a small per cent again find their
way behind the prison walls"
Justice Franklin j. Fort of the
supreme court of New Jersey urges the
indeterminate sentence to usher In "a
new and enlightened method for the
reduction of crime, namely, the study
reformation and elevation of the in
dividual man."
Marquis Barr, warden of the Ana
mosa reformatoFy, Iowa, bears testi-
mony to the same effect, adding, as a
clincher the following argument: IF
a man Is found to be insane, he is sent
to the hospital to be retained until
dangerous to society. The commits
sioners for the insane cannot tell how
long this may take, neither can a court
determine the length of time man
should remain in prison before it is
safe to release him."
Protecting the Prisoner
1t should be noted that all the seven
teen states that have adopted the in
determinate sentence protect the pris-
oner by fixing a term beyond which he
cannot be confined, while leaving II to
him to work out his own salvation by
showing that he can be safely restored
to society at an earlier date
Hitherto our codes have furnished
no uniform standard. In Maine, Mis-
sissippi and Iowa, for example, 1t has
been possible for a judge to give
man a life sentence for perjury; in
New Hampshire, Kentucky and Con-
necticut five years has been the limit,
while in Delaware the offense has been
punishable only by fine. Incest, that
has been punishable in Louisiana with
Imprisonment for life, has brought only
six months in Virginia and fine OF
S100 in Delaware. In the state of New
York he who steals $2495 is but mis-
demeanant, while he who takes $25.05
is q felon, and Samuel ]. Barrows, pres
ident of the International Prison as
SOciatiOn, said only iaSt year. len
thousand young men every year lie
neglected in the jalls and county PEN
itentiaries of the state of New York
because there is no power under the
law to sentence them to the state re-
formatories."
In a word. the old system, looking
solely to punishment. gives no guar
antee either for the protection of So
ciety or the reclamation of the Of
fender, and therefore the old system is
doomed. In the words of an address
issued recently by the Massachusetts,
Prison association THE changes
which have been made in the past fif-
teen years in methods of dealing with
crime have eliminated, in large meas
ure, the penal element from the judi
cial system. The melting out of pun
ishment has ceased to be the main
function of the courts. In the new
system the reformation and reclama-
tion of the criminal have become lin
theory at least) the central purpose"
The philosophy of the Prison Reform
league cannot be expressed in better
terms. 1t seeks, however, to translate
theory into fact.
500 Frogs Rain Prognosticators
NEW YORK, July 10.-Some 500
hun a..1a 70 4