Judsonia weekly advance., 1913-10-29

CC1Vl1C2S AZ WCIoHOU COZUG4DO AGRTY4S entered element that unthought of former iy. This new element has to do with the reclama ton of the convicts, the development of their moral senses and their ultimate return to the world lawabidng citizens, rather than human derelies. made unfit, through their prison life, for any fur ther affeufp3t' to lead honest existence.
 The idea of convict road labor is to aid both the state and the convict; to give the state the benefit of the labor that can be utilized to greater advantage in this way than in any other, and to give the convict the benefit of the out door hfe the freedom from the restraint of prison walls and the different character of discipline that makes it possible for him to regain his selfrespeet
 In working out this idea, especially with the view to the reformation of the convicts, old ideas Of prison regulations necessarily have dsap- peared and the whole system of discipline has been revolutfonized. The honor system has taken the place of armed guards in many instances, and the road camp" has replaced the stockades and Dull pens" of the old days of convict road labor
 Colorado of the first states to adopt the new idea. New Jersey began experiments along the same line short time later. President Wood. row Wilson, then governor of New Jersey, is given credit for the inauguration of the convict road work in that state along the new lines. Several other states have fallen in line, each working possibly in a different way, but toward the same general end
 Illinois Is the latest state to make begin ming in this work. A force of nearly one hun dred convicts was recently taken from the peni- tentiary at Joliet and placed at work on the dispensed the men were placed upon their honor. The convicts pledged themselves to make no effort to escape and the authorities are relying upon their keeping this promise
 In this case a tendency developed on the part of the people to overdo the idea of giving the coDvicts greater liberty and pleasure A plan to give the convicts automobile ride and theater party in nearby city was pro- posed to the authorities, but Governor Dunne vetoed this program and let it be understood that while 1t is planned to give the convcts greater freedom than they have been accustomed to within the prison walls and to aid them in get ting better view of life, the fact that they nave been sentenced to pay a penalty for in- fraction of the states laws must not be forgot ten and the must be made to realize that punishment awaits such violations of the stat utes
 The working of convicts upon the roads in Colorado made possible only few years ago by act of the legislature The system has been generally adopted throughout the state during the past two or three years the various counties cooperating with the state in the i'm provement of the highways The result is seen in many miles of splendid roads built by the convicts
 The honor system adopted simultaneously with the placing of the convicts the roads in Colorado. All of the convicts were not turned loose from the pententiary without guards, but certain percentage of the prison CTS. including those having the best prison rec ords, taken from the penitentiary first as an experiment. As the success of the experi- ment seemed evident to the authorities, the num- Der of "honor" increased and more than 50 per cent. of the convicts were finally removed from the prison and placed in the road camps
 Warden Tynan and other prison authorities de clare the experiment has been even more sue cessfu than they anticipated
 During the last three years we have had more than one thousand individual prisoners in the convict camps" says tho warden. These men.