El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-01-22

concentrations so sweeping as the cir
| cumstances seem to justify.
1t should be stated here that Chap
lain Hodges gave up his position, If
not his life, for his friends in prison.
Following the publication of Mr..
Briggs's articles he was called upon to
resign. He figured no further in the
reform movement than to testify before
the committee
This committee began it's labors July
10. Two weeks later, because of the
intense heat prevailing, because it
wanted to give time for an audit of the
penitentiary books, and because 1t
wished to visit the convict camps dur
ing cane harvest, it took recess until
October 49,
The Real Needs.
In the meantime the writer had fin
lShed his tour with the investigating
committee, and had supplemented the
reports OF its proceedings with series
of five articles pointing out the funda-
mental defects of the Texas peniten-
t1ary system and the consequent
abuses therein. The conclusions then
reached, It may be stated parentheti-
cally, have only been fortified by fur
Their investigation. This work finished.
the publishers of The News Galveston
News and Dallas News resolved TO
place light before the committee and
before the people of Texas as to the
conduct of penitentiaries in other
states. Accordingly they sent the
writer to Seattle to attend the prison
congress and TO visit a number Of pen
ftentiaries en- route. The writer had
resided forH six years of his life in
prison towns and had casually visited
number OF state prisons. His in
Quiries and Investigations upon this
trip were made to meet not merely the
requirements of The News, but also TO
cover the suggestion of the chairman
of the Investigating committee, who
furnished credentials which proved
helpful.
The program at Seattle furnished
less maternal to illuminate the Texas
problem than did personal interviews
with the delegates; the prisons visited
prove even a more prolific field
These were the penitentiaries of Colo
RADIO, Utah. Oregon, Washington, Ne
braska and Kansas and the United
States prison at Leavenworth. 1t would
have been desirable to extend the itin-
erary, but pressing engagements in
Texas rendered it impossible at that
time; also, previous visits to other pen
itentiaries and satisfactory information
got at Seattle made it unnecessary
TO go further.
Information From Elsewhere.
The information gathered at Seattle
and in the several penitentiaries visit
ed was placed before the public in a
series of % articles published in The
News. These were subsequently print
ed as a book and widely distributed
where it seemed that they would do the
most good. The information seems to
have profoundly impressed the people
of the state, first of all with the idea
that penitentiaries ought TO be con-
Quoted for the reformation of crimi-
nails, and then with the desirability of I
and grading prisoners, the |
utility of the parole system, the use
lessness and worse of inflicting cor |
poral punishment, etc. The articles
have brought to the writer the reputa- |
ton Of having been in more pensten- |
tiaries than any other man in Texas
and have rendered it necessary to ex-
plain frequently that because of good |
behavior he is "out on parole
By the time the committee II
sumed its labors in October, public |
interest in the subject of prison re-
form had been greatly quickened, AMI |
an increasingly large number of |
arranged for reports OF |
he proceedings. Upon this round |
he committee while often en-
evidence of substantial i'm
provements made within the past Few
years. such as good buildings, adequate
bathing facilities, sanitary closets ana
better food also began 10 unearth ID /
places the most sickening stories of bru-
-al practices and revolving conditions.
often backed up by such indutiable evil
1ence as the lacerated bodies of prls-
1ners In consequence. even that ele-
n.ent of the public which plants itself
upon the judgment of practical prison
men," to the exclusion of theorists,
was shaken loose and joined in the
demand for reform.
The Committee Report.
The committee completed its round OF
The penitentiary properties on Noyem-
Der 10. Ten days later it submitted It's
report to the governor. II
will meet again soon 10 receive the
report Of its auditors and to take some
further testimony. after which it Will
make it's final statement
The report is in some respects disap-
pointing, notably so in its failure to emz
phasize sufficiently the desirablllty OF
the convict forces and III
its assent to the retention of whipping
as a mode of punishment, but under
more stringent regulations than now
exist. Encoura gingly, three memers OF
the committee filed minority reports
the complete abolition or
corporal punishment, and suggesting
that under the present excellent laws
and rules upon the subject had peen
flagrantly disregarded, they entertalne9
no hope that new regulations Wouiu
prove more efficacious
Genuine Reform.
The occasion seems ripe for genuine
prison reform in Texas insofar as the
people and the press are concerned
That other factor. the politician, is as
yet to some extent an obstacle, as usual
being slow to trust the people. /