The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1911-12-01
FOR THE REFORMATION or IT'S
CRIMINAL

The New York Sun prints a s'oi'
from it's Atlanta correspondent unue
date of November 81, in which nc
orotos an ex-prisoner as saying that
life in the United States penlteh'i"''
at Atlanta is like taking treatment
at q high class sanitarium operateu
for the betterment of the physical
mental and moral condition OF us III
mates.
"The only forbidding thing aoou'
the place is it's name" said the man
TO the Sun correspondent. warden
Mover is such a humane and kindly
manager that nothing remains Dut the
walls. locks and iron bars to remind
a man that his liberty has been TAKEN
from him. I entered the prison De-
lieying that was doomed to SIX years
If misery. Presently l found myseh
being treated for restoration OF my
civic health. walked out 2 better
man in every way and tie way they
treated me is the way they ,reat
them all.
What this man thought as he cross
ed the prison threshold IS doubtless
what the run of men would think.
Maybe he had read tale OF the bru-
tally of such NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS." for
instance One of the first volumes to
attract YOUR eye when you enter the
private office of Warden Meyer at the
prison is "90O9.'' 1t is a horribly re-
alistic thing. 1t tells of the lock
step. the despicable selection of trIs-
ties, the utter vengeance of the great
prison monster.
One of these days an enterprlslng
novelist of the muck-rake type will
get himself sentenced to the federal
pen" in Atlanta and come out and
tell the world what he saw there.
Then maybe the world Tor the popular
reading public will undergo change
of heart toward prisons; and it will
be very good thing, for the time has
about arrived for contra-comparison
piece to "9OO9."
"a sanitarium'-think of it!
The Sun story is full of human in
terest. 1t declares there's no such
thing as the lock-step in the Atlanta
federal prison; that even stripes have
been abolished; and it tells about he
formation of a regular baseball league
of six teams among the prisoners, and
the formation of an orchestra; and
the formation of a school to teach il
literates; and, most remarkable of
all, about the recommendation of
Warden Meyer that the prisoners be
paid a certain salary for the work
they do.
No wonder the man who was inter
viewed for the Sun came out of the
prison feeling that he had been given
a course of treatment for his civic
health.
He had worked eight hours, slept
eight, recreated eight. His food had
been abundant and we'll cooked. His
surroundings mad been absolutely
clean and sanitary. His daily routine
had been as regular as the clock. He
had seen baseball games, heard fine
music, read good books, and, above
all, he had not been Inundated, but
on the contrary had been made to
feel that the prisons policy was to
clean him out, straighten him up, and
start him on the right road again.
so long as spark of self-respect
can be kept alive in a man there's
hope for him."
That's Warden Meyers doctrine
He carries it out all down the line.
And every day or so comes fresh tes-
timony to the success of it.
Better to reform the criminal. it
seems to us, than to degrade him and
deaden all his moral sensibilities. and
then turn him out upon the world TO
commit other and worse crimes.