The chronicle=news., 1913-02-01
PRISON
pm NOT TO
punish BUT
Rff0Rm

The uuQeflyinG ideh O p!sou
sentences today said commodoas
A. Y. Wadhams. L. ;. ". who was
n member OF the board OF parole ap-
pointed under Governor Hughes, In
an address before the League for
Political Education al the berkeley
thsate<. lis no longer 10 punish the
convict. but TO reform him. There are
live state prisons In New York. and
In these. going and coming an the
time. are five thousand and moro
prisoner-men and women-most.
Is men. Seven hundred different ar
ticieS arc manufactured and many
trades are taught. Many OF these ar
t!cies arc uSed In the different pol!t-
ical departments OF the state-desis
In offices Of The city department.
tho mayors dsSk. 10000 school desks
for tho department OF education. the
hrcnms. pans. cans and brushes for
the White Wings In the streets. are
made by prisoners.
''Th. prison conditions are much
better than they used TO be. Disci-
piinc In mild and kind. There is no
lonEcr i!o9SIug or hanging men up
b. tho thumbs. The dark cell. with
careful medical attention. Is the
worst punishment for had discipline.
aud that Ia going. The other day
;:ind-hcRrtcd guard who Il always
doing things for the prisoners loan
cd trusiy u hammer to fiS n nall
In hls Tho" and :he prisoner struck
him on tho head with IL. There Ia
no punishment hut bread and water
for ,his uneratefui prisoner.
Stripes and the clipping Of the
hair and tho lockstcp have been
done away with. and each man now
has hts own undcrciothinG each week
instead OF having to take any that Ii
handed out to him. Every iIl!terate
has 10 40 to school nm hour and n
half oach day. and the teachers have
done wonderful things In teaching
tn. English Language and reading
and writing to prlsnncrs who know
nothing Of either OF thcm. Ono pris.
oncr. wnx. was writing on the
hoard when we went through the
other day. How quickly and pleas
anily the hours pass 10 this place
In another room where great atten.
ton and stiffness prevailed wc found
pupils how TO raise a check. You
have TO watch them all the time bc-
cause some ure keen. xhrewd men.
whose whole thoughts rest on crime.
There nre large libraries. and II
man 10 interested in any subject
and wantx hook TO read upon Il, II
Ia bought II IL Il not In the library.
for instance. u 6aHtet Ia . clergy
! man-yes. we hare )them-and he
! wants n theological work. II 10 OBJ
tanned for him.
AT Auburn prison many OF the
women arc kept at work In tho gar.
dens because II has been found that
they improve morally In that work.
Ono extra hard case who tore up
everything she could lay her hands
on. was nut to work In tho garden.
and got 70 interested that her whole
mental condition WAS changed. Aft
er getting out some OF these women
have devoted fhemselveS to truck
gardening.
Many convicted people 60 to pris-
on through sheer la8iness. Parental
neglect. and dime novel reading II
| another cause. Predetermined boys
rnd girls grow up to commit crimes
for which they are sent to prison.
when as matter OF fact We should
have a great Institution especially
for this class. Ninety out Of every
| hundred are serving sentences for
crime committed while under the
Influence OF liquors or drugs. They
aud their friends make every effort
to smugsle liquor and especially
drugs into the prison. A small box
; OF candy sent by mother TO her son
vas cound 10 contain on opium pill
IN every piece OF candy. Another
mother sent her son q pair OF sus-
rcnders: In the pad which unItes the
h.
found five opium pills.
The earnings OF prisoners are
only cent and half n day: II
should 20 to the families OF the con.
rIcfs. for II is not the prisoners
themselves who suffer 80 much
they are well taken care of-but
their families. Oftentimcs relatives
go up 10 Sing Sing carrying little
dainttes to them when they can not
even afford the carfare from their
ineaxer earnings.
Much good is, done through the
parole law. but II should be reuem-
hered that eighteen out OF every one
hundred convicts come back 10 us.
some OF the cases have IN amusing
side. There was one OF middle
aged man serving a life term who
told us he wanted to get out because
wealthy woman in Brooklyn was
ready TO marry him. She had writ
ten: oh. John. I wish that you
could get out SO We could he married
ann never parted again We wen
ovar to Brooklyn and found the wo-
man living In luxury. She had writ
ten the letter out OF the kindness
or her heart to comfort the man,
with no thought tha, he would ever
&c out. And when we told her that
he had asked for a pardon she swoon
cd. and coming to herself cried: For
GODS sake. don't let him out. I
wouldn't marry him II he was the
last man on earth But he deserv-
ca q parole, and we sent him to a
chIcken farm at Buffalo with stip-
'Ilation that If he ever set foot in
Greater New York II would break
bis parole. He got into bad company
got into q fight pot dr,ink m nd baaf