The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1911-11-07
ATTACKS REV.
AUGUST DRAINS OF HAWAII
Coast Newspaper Allows Serial Writer to Heap
Abuse on Former Chaplain Of San
Quentin-.-"Facts" DisprOved.

Il is only necessary 20 call for the
testimony of others who knew him
either froemcn or prisoners, to sub
stantioic what I am going to tell. II
the telling diseredits me with. those
who are satisfied to have their thinking
done for them by Others / can Z hoip
that.
! have met many spiritual Christians
during my lifc-l am meeting them
every day and / know there are n
great many men and women in the
world who have tho capacity to put
themselves in the other person s place
to understand and feel what the other
person understands and feels, but there
is no sense in deluding ourselves with
the idea that every professional Chris.
tian has the Christian spirit.
Reverend" August brahms certain
ly did not have it: He stands out like
an ugly toad on a marble pavement.
cannot forgive him, and / honestly
believe that his influence did more to
turn men away from religion than any
other element that has ever obtained
within the four walls of San Quentin.
One needs but to read his book. "14e
Criminal,'' to find a self-indictment
more scathing than any facts I can
bring to bear,
In that book he devotes chapters to
the terminal ear, the criminal nose,
the criminal head" In one place he
asserts that one of the surest indica-
tions of criminosityp is the love of
pets. The fact that prisoners are prone
to lavish their attention upon mice,
birds or cats dogs are not permitted)
thus giving expression to the yearning
that. lies latent in every human breast
and bids us find and love some one or
something more than we love ourselves,
he calls criminal.
He was the chaplain at San Quentin
for nearly twenty years, Each warden
tried to GUST him, but couldn't do so
because he had been a chaplain in sthe
army during the Civil War and there is
law on the California statute books
inhihiting the discharge of such a per-
son from the employ off the State
without a hearing on written charges.
The man held services every Sunday
and seldom left thesreservation. 1t re-
manned for the present Board of Prison
Directors to. solve the problem, which
they did by abolishing the position of
things they have done.
Mr.. brahms used to lecture in the
smaller towns and cities about the bay,
invariably holding that prisoners were
criminals in all that the word implies
and advocating that they be reduced to
still lower lever.
4 - -
these lectures, "Worl them hard and
work them long, and then give them
more work. Make them feel that they
are despicable and that they have no
place in the established order of things,
and when they come out of prison rest
assured that they viii not go back, for
if there is anything prisoner hates it
is work. -
These are not his exact words, but
they convey just what he meant. He
had then been prisoner chaplain for
fifteen years, and he was supposed to
be a Christian. Naturally, great
many people believed he knew what he
was saving and that his ideas were
based on facts
Such was the man that Smoky and
the rest of us went to hear preach that
cold winter morning in the year of our
Lord 1902. two thousand years after
the crucitixion of Jesus Christ "to save
sinners"
Arrived at the chapel, we got seats
near the door. The benches were
and hard. never had
more uncomfortable seat in my life.
The person who planned them knew
very little about human anatomy.
So soon as we were seated / looked
toward the rOstrum. I saw a weakened,
yellow-skinned man of about so years,
with hard features and wisps of thin,
straight hair hanging down, giving him
the appearance of wearing a wig.
"That's hin" whispered Smoky.
nudging me in the ribs. ''That 8 tn
celebrated August brahms, only they
ought s'a' named him December stead
of August. If there was ever human
icicle he's it. Why, he's so cold
he d.
Smoky didn' I finish the thought, for
the guard stationed in the aisle close
by had heard his voice and was en-
deayoring to locate the man who was
talking. II is against the rules to talk
in the chapel.
The men were still fling into the
plhce anu GROWING uOWn the alhleb.
When the doors were finally closed a
large number were shut out. Like a
huge serpent the line of striped figures
reversed its motion and cTawled back
TO its hole-the cold, eheerless yard.
Those of us who had been fortunate
enough to get In were comparatively
warm, though there Is no artificial
a small stove IN the corner
reserved AS the chaplain . oiiiee--in the
chapel. But IN a few minutes the
packed human bodies had emRnated
enough warmth 20 make II cosy. and
We settled ourselves for the service.
A middleaged man with tragic
features, serving life, arose beside The
wheezy organ Ian instrument bought
BY The prisoners themselves State
makes 40 provision for such fhinRu, not
even Tor library baoka The library Il
'uppofled by lhe pTis0noTsl and sang
Lead Kindly Light quite effectively.
lils Yolee Nas cracked and broken, bat
4 NBe very apparent that hf felf ihe
= ofdf % W. aang them.
feii moved, J vac eHTYied bach 10
Hf ehlllhNnf aea alHalIls ahalaf
pf fond mother hnm Fhali aiaaYs