The Washington times., 1910-12-28
Five Hundred More Prison
Weary Men Ask for
Freedom.
LAW REACHES MAN
WITHOUT INFLUENCE
Convicts Appear In Person Before
Board and Plead Own Cases.
Humane Measure.

ThirJy-dNe prisoners who have served
more than One-third OF their sentences
( IN Federal rris0ns are out IN the air Of
freedom: this Christmas because OF the
new parole law. declared By crinirolo-
I gists 20 be one OF the most humane
measures ever enacted BY the American
Congress.
According TO Robert Y. La Dow. su-
peTintendent or prisons, OF the Depart
ment Of Justice. who has just returned
from the Federal Institutions n Atlanta
and Fort Leavenwortn. mere are so
prisOn-wesry men who already have
asked for mercy under the new law
Each application is plea for another
chance. Each convict is permitted to
come before the parole board, and each
case Of the so Is to be decided upon its
merit and the impression made by the
man who wants to be paroIed
The parole law reaches the man with
out influence on the outside. who has
little chance for an Executive pardon.
whose case may have been forgotten bv
those VINO pass upon hundreds Of It's
kind every year Here is a little story
that tells what the parole bill is doing
for the convict today
The Case of One Man.
The parole board has just TeGeg sed
from the Atlanta penitentiary a man
who has served thirteen years OF a
Wenty-one-year sentence He came
from Arizona, with its floating popu-
IatiOn. before it began 70 assume the
dignity OF Statehood He had been for
gotten by his quickly made friends.
For years he had received no word
from the wife and the little ones he
left out there on the plains
For FF-frraar7 wars he had artisan a 2
the same hour. performed the same
tasks, eaten the same sort OF food and
gone TO bed again in the same cell
There was no one who cared for him.
and no one for whom ne might care
He was growing old with eight more
years to serve He did the ICck-step
capable Of the hard labor Of thirteen
years ago
This man, suppose his number was
S333B. heard OF the parole bill He
heard. too. that the parole board soon
would sir at the Atlanta prison Il
was the first encouraging message
that had sifted through his barred
windows in more than a decade
The board came-three men, whose
recommendation meant either freedom
or continued confinement for this con
vict with hfr rainbow homes and his
prayers for an opportunity TO make {
good again.
Faces Parole Board
Number SSSSB was ushered into q (
small room where sat the three men,
bers OF the board The door was shut
behind him His chance WAS before ]
him The convict, his own lawyer and /
his own witness plead and argued with /
ali the earnestness born Of thirteen
years Of waiting HIS story was clueT- |
ent and his promises rang true u
wasn't such a heinovs crime after all !
but the law dealt heavily with those
who stole money in Arizona back IN
those days I
on parole and he has a positiot- Every /
Jew months he viii report 10 she board /
and, f. his conCrct Is eEems,i3ryy the
Law vii soon wipe his slate clean
The above IS just one OF the 80 TO
come before the parole board since its
creation at the past session Of Congress I
Each application has underlying II
story OF patnoS' or nope steInal; or A.
least q promise 10 lead a better lie 1t
Is no enviable position held by the three
men at each Federal peniteutiary who
must pass upon the plea Of each striped
suit convict who comes before them
Some Of these cOHyicts come almost on |
bended knees, others with tears in their
eyes, talking of helpless women and
children on the coveted outside Still
others come like soldiers, socially pre-
sent their case as would a nired barTis-
ter-thejr arguments all annotated and
review Of their life's history and their
crimes written out as court brief
But few Of these men Il the ordinary
course OF things could expect an execu-
tive pardon In the parole board and
the new law lies their hope
The board is composed Of Robert V
La Dow, Of the Department OF Justice,
and the resident warden ard resident
physicians Of the respective peniten-
tiaries- Under the law the board IS
TeQuiEFd to hold a session At each peni-
Tertiary every four months this be-
cause OF the fact that any prisoner
sentenced for more than one year IS
entitled to consideration for parole