El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-10-19
SALVATION ARMY
IN PRISON WORK
Commander Eva Booth Ad-
dresses Prison AsSOcia-
ton on Reform Work

Omaha. Neb., Oct ly.-Ine Work OF
the Salvation Army and kindred organi-
cations among prisoners and those dis
charged from prison, was the subject Of
a paper read by Miss Eva Booth, com
mander OF the Salvation Army before
the American Prison association here.
The address embodied the findings Of
the standing committee on discharged
prisoners of which Miss Booth is chair
man.
Miss Booth made a strong plea for CO.
operation between the prison author1-
ties and the organizations working Tor
the welfare Of the prisoners. she stat
that much could be done Tor conElctSs
were IL possible to work among them
while they were yet incarceratedi IN
stead of being obliged to wait their
parole OF dismissal
She said that such organizations
among the prisoners served as a shield
between the state and society and Inal
in order to make such shield eLLecLlNe
to the prisoners, it was necessary Tor
the organizations to have access 10 the
houses Of correction
with regard TO the handling of dis
charged prisoners, Miss Booth limited
herself almost entirely to the metnoos
employed by the salvation army On
this tonic Miss Booth said in part
Sometimes the arrangements for the
discharged man consists or restoration
to friends Frequently Iney conslst o.
a position to which TO go, involving
transportation to some distant place,
and I'm other cases no such arrangement
has been found possible, In which case
temporary care must be EXTENDED: a.
ways associated with such care IS lne
Obligation to work on the part or the
recipient. We permit no Incidence or
idIeness with any OF those with whom
we deal As in the case with oJners
branches Of our system Tor the ala OF
the needy, so in this, work Dy the SUD
iect is an essential element associated
with his rehabilitation
This temporary help or care IS not
bestowed under the roof OF Home IOr
discharged prisoners We have no
such homes throughout the United
States and Canada our experience
goes to show that the assistance rem
dered TO these needy cases snOuld De
merged with the efforts made TO help
other needy cases without any sucn
distinguishing label-'for discharged
'-The army is i'm the fortunate con
ditiOn where it can do good work WITH
out the eX-pris0ners home as an lnte-
gral part Of its system, Tor we nave
developed so much Of other institution
al work that 1t is an easy matter Tor US
to temporarily care for any man VINO
comes to us from penal institutions
by placing him with the management
of one Of these workshops pending the
finding for him OF other employ menL-
Here he at once loses the stigma OF
prison life. He just takes MS place
I among the other men and shares with
. them the DenEAlLH Oh LAAE lAs-A--- $3.50
/ into which he has come. This consists
of clothing. food and lodging, together
with vigorous Christian manaselnell
and plenty Of healthy work, for which
: he at once begins to receive
I remuneration in addition to the
help Of material and moral sort
1 indicated. None OF his Fellow
inmates know Of his recent incar-
/ and wisely uses that knowledge IN the
/ intelligent handling of the cases. We
I individualize in the treatment and thus
/ meet the need Of the patient and by the
I law Of evolution he gradually ascends
] the social scale.
before leaving this matter I must
, saw that one Of the most important
I functions OF an organization such as
4 the Salvation army is to show an IN
| terest fin the suffering family or the
Z man who has got into trouble
Here is a field for the operation OF
I an agency such as ours and very often
we are privileged to step into such
/ conditions and tender the offices OF
friend and counselor, providing tenn
7 rorory helD and seeking to arrange roI
the care Of the children and make pos
sible the support of tho mother TO US
the privilege Of rendering material aid
as important as that may be, becomes
/ small as compared with the whisper
ing Of words Of hope and comfort to the
lacerated and despairing heart, and thus
I seeking to mitigate to some extent the
I crushing sorrow.
Miss Booth closed her address with 2
[ strong plea for the aid of the Amerr
I can Prison association in bringing
about an extension Of the parole sys-
I TEN. citing the success Of such meth
I DDS under the united efforts Of the Eng
/ lish authorities and her father. Gen
Booth. commander in chief Of the sal
I walton army.
Many Are Weak Minded.
The number Of persons in pena
{ institutions who belong to tn'
class whose minds have a GER
tain amount of development, but who
are too weak to reach the fui menta
/ standard Of civilization, was declared
surprisingly large by Frank Moore, su
perintendent of the New Jersey reform
atory,- before the American Prison con
gress here today.
I In the New Jersey retOrmatory 81
! percent of the inmates were found TO D'
deficient. ne said. in the last two years
A special system of training must b,
adapted to such charges, he declared
and he challenged the belief of MANI
that such charges should be kept ID
permanent custOdiaI care.
"Our success with this class on par
ole has been fully as good as it haI
been with the normal minded" said Mt
Moore. "Of SO parOled during thre
months, not long aEo, they have mad
O. @