The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-10-26
LIGHTS and SHADES
OF PRISON LIFE.
FIRST LECTURE OF THE clTI.
zEN's COURSE BY MRS. BOOTH,
GIVEN LAST EVENING - IN
TEREsTINe STORY OF PRISON
LIFE.

4 Mrs. Maud Darlington Booth spoke
before q crowded house at the A G,
armory last evening. the subject Of her
address being, Lights and Shadows OF
Prison Life. The address was the in
itial number of the Citizens lecture
course.
The little mother opened her re-
marks by speaking Of the people who
| judged prison reform work from the
the outside and had mere smattering
| knowledge of the work. This class Of
people were cynical critics of prisons
and criminals, and knew nothing of
| what their actual life was. She ex-
planned where she secured her knowl-
| edge of convicts and the reason Of her
great work among them. She said she
was not a phrenologist or criminolo-
gist, but a believer in humane nature.
Ever since I first went into the
work / believed that a prisoner was
worth saving. / believed in the re-
deemability of human nature Since
that time tens of thousands Of prison
ers have strengthened my faith and
what l know about prisoners life
can prove by flesh and blood facts.
at Is an erroneous idea that prisons
should be place of punishment" said
the little mother. 1.-THE idea that
prisons should be a place Of punish
ment has hardened the convict and
made him a more desperate man. The
idea that should prevail towards
prisons is that 1t should be a place
where the past is left behind. 1t
should be pointing to the future, not
to the fact that prisoners are Grim
inals. The prisons should be step
ping stone to hope.
THE prisoner upon entering the
walled house can use every day for the
purpose of making himself better
man. He can gain in his foundation
for the future and make it more solid.
But the Transformation must be made
within the prisoner himself before any
outside step will do him good. He
must make the deciding step himself"
The Prison League.
In speaking of her great prison
league and its work Mrs. Booth said
when first started into the work
tried to let the prisoners know that
had given my life to them. They
first shook their heads as did many Of
my friends, but finally organized my
first band Of prisoners into league Of
self help.
I'VE called our league the Volunteer
Prison League and the motto is Look
up and Hope while the emblem is the
blue star. Our first band started out
with about sixty members and today 1t
numbers 10000 men and is a real pow
er in the prison world. / have seen
the men take the vows of the Volun-
teer Prison league and have seen them
go outside of the prison walls and
make good.
when a prisoner leaves the walls
of his convict home he has no place to
so as a rule. have organized homes
for them and these are the thresholds
of hope for the members of the league
and are called Hope halls. Our work |
is practical and here we make a prac- |
teal home for the graduates. We do I
not know of any such word as ex-
convict. 1t Is unchristian and UNI
American to use the word ex-convict.
graduates and I tell you it is one Of
the hardest schools from which a man
can graduate.
SuI I1upe 11dllS are DIS sacred ana
private as any ones own home No
0ne can cross the Threshold Of the
doors of the home unless they have
done at least one term in prison.
nave passed over 5000 men in through
he Hope Halls into better world on
he outside"
In no uncertain tone did Mrs. Booth
lenounce the practice of the use of the
money gained by the work Of prison
ers,' for the purpose of the state She
said: mo state should profit by the
abor of it's prisoners while the wives
Ind children of the prisoners are suf-
ering, and they are suffering in every
state. Children of criminals become
criminals by the sheer force OF bitter
circumstances. 1t is not inherited as
some people are inclined to think"