The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-08-06


tartan institution of its kind not only
in the United States but throughout
the world it is unique because of the
fact that the large majority of its
inmates are of the elite of the cr1mi-
nal fraternity. Here the high class
professional of the vast membership OF
clever crooks is more abundant than
The representatives of the lower order
of felons. The great bankers, the skill
ed counterfeiters ard the slippery pos
tai fraud perpetrators claim the honor
Nof being present in the largest mum :
hers.
This United States penitentiary owes
its extremely modern system of hand
ling its large assent age of convicted
crooks, to the progressive ideas of it's
warden, Major Robert McClaughry, who
besides being president of the Prison
Wardens of the United States has filled
various positions of note. not the least
of which was that of chief of police
of his native city-Chicago. Major
McClaughry has been close friend
of Uncle Joe Cannon since the day s
of their civil war comradeship and is
responsible in great measure for the
revolution in prison mana cement which
has swept over the country in late
years. Warden McClaughry's reforms
take into consideration the benefit to
society at large to be derived from
turning convicts out as useful MEM
bers of the community, with definite
means of being self-supporting in
stead of the old way of merely letting
them go at the expiration of their
sentence with IS in their pockets and
the prison mark of the locked step and
cropped head to help them to fall into
their former evil ways as soon as then
money was all gone.
Good i'm All Men.
Believing that there is good in ali
men, even the worst of criminals and
Of will
given another chance, he works with
that end in view and while some of
his radical ideas hold the department
officials aghast for a time. the results
bear out the wisdom of this man whc
knows how to punish men without in
fiicting physical pain or degradation.
So we'll does he understand human n;l-
ture that he has repeatedly held 1000
men in perfect control and order with
but II guards between them and es-
cape.
Although this prison has been un-
der construction for about Is years
there still remains considerable build
ing to be done. When the main cell
wing is completed it will no longer be
necessary to keep two prisoners in each
cell as is now the case. The compile
ton of the hospital will also relieve
the congestion and the finishing of
the woman's annex will remove the
necessity of sending all of the female
pI1SOueTS 10 the state pen1tentlary-
According to the last report there
were 1,132 prisoners. of whom 500 were
white, 3T2 colored, so Indians and the
rest Mexicans, japanese and Chinese
all ranging in ages from under 20 to
over 60 years, the greatest number be-
ing from 80 to 40 years, and the least
among those over IS. From which II
would seem that the greatest tendency
towards crime exists between the ages
of from 30 TO 40 years.
Many Clever Criminals.
OF the crimes for which these 1882
men and boys were convicted, murder
of course takes the lead naturally,
since it knows no class restriction. be-
ing common to every walk and condi-
ton of life. But outside of this, Of
all Of the other crimes in the entire
category of sins against the laws and
statutes of the land, those with the
largest representation among the con-
vIcts are such as require more brains
than brute strength. For instance
there were 296 postoflce crimes, nearly
all Of them of a nature to be the
work of men with either education or
mechanical knowledge. In addition to
this list there are over a hundred
counterfeiters, 80 bankers and a large
number of forgers and clever conf
dence men The common low down
workhouse order of crimes are only
found in rare instances when the Of
tense was extreme. Nearly a thou
sand of these prisoners are American
born and their sentences run from one
year to life and 80 year terms, though
the greatest number are in for five
years.
Like the nationalities all religions
are represented. Among the number
who claim any religious predictions
are to be found Quakers, Dunkards.
Latter Day Saints Swedenborgians and
followers of Shintuism, Holiness, Chris
-ian Science are interspersed with the
more popular sects and Salvation
Army recruits.
All Trades and Professions There
In the list of occupations every let
ter in the alphabet has it's quota and
"A the heterogeneous mass of trades, pro-