East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1913-09-12

Z1Na w DA OEI EN- DEN j
whose policies for "humanlzing'
prison administration are rapidly at
tracing widespread attention.
1T Is the silent man who con-
spires" declared Warden Allen today,
In Explaining his order permitting
conyicts to converse with one another
an unheard Of thing several years
ago. and even today considered pre-
posterous by many prison heads
Force man into moodlness by .re-
fusing to permit him to talk to his
fellows and he will occupy his mind
plotting. Give him a chance to air
his views among his fellow prisoners,
roast the country or the prison ad-
mlnistration IL he sees fit. and he
will feel contented when he gets
through Kicking is a great Ameri-
can privilege and a convict feels like
human being when he has chance
to indulge in 1t to his hearts con-
tent"
The honor system. according to
Warden Allen. will some day be in
put 1t In force when the first gang Of
convicts was sent out on road work
near Dixon under the state convict
labor law that went into effect July
1. Forty convicts were in the first
gang. They will be employed on road
construction in Lee county until De-
cember / and the warden declared
the honor system Is to be used en-
tirely during the 9Oday period.
No Guns In Camp.
There is not a gun in the camp"
said the warden. "Of course, the men
send out on road work are among
the best prisoners and would not
be afraid TO send them without guards
to Chino. but / believe there are sew
eral score more like them in the
prison workshops. They know they'll
get chance at outside work IL they're
good and they are being good" Gov
ernor Dunno has agreed to commute
the sentence of every convict employ
ed with the road gang ten days for
each 30 days he is employed
The new warden shies at the sug-
gestion that he is a "reformer." APP
parently. he feels that he will be clas-
sed with the 'tyros." who enthuse over
their appointment to wardenships an
nounce the adoption of reform polio
les and subsequently abandon them
Allen knew all about prison life when
he took the job. His father was war
den of the same prison when the
present warden was a boy, and there
are "lifers' here who recall the
youngster in knickerbockers One or
two of the TRUSTEES still call him Ed
die
The Punishment of the silence
rule" was only one of a number of
changes Warden Allen has wrought
in his uplift policy at Joliet. Prison
stripes were abolished and those who
have violated their parols are dis
tinguished by clothing from the 9TH
ers. They wear cross-bar suits of
black and white.
Baseball behind the great white
washed walls was one of the innova-
tions that has attracted most atten-
ton among visitors to Joliet, and a
pennant race is on that would do
credit to any of the big leagues Fash
department of the prison has team
and there are IL of them in the
league The broom factory team
now leads by a scant margin of four
games over the team from the tam
merry, chiefly by reason of the Prov
ess of one "Red" Connoors. who is
the Walter johnson Of the prison and
whose victories are more numerous
than his aliases-and that is going
some. Red is doing a short "bit"
for taking money from the wrong
pocket-another man's-and when ne
gets out he says he's going to change
his name and try to connect with
some professional team.
The baseball diamond is laid out
inside the walls. and one hour each
day is devoted to the sport. Con-
permitted to spend the time wrestling
or boxing. There is nothing to curb
the roofing of the fans, but the high
walls and a rigid rule against pro-
family, and when two teams meet the
comments of the convict fans can be
heard for several blocks.
Warden Allen umpires most of the
games himself. He is probably the
least disputed umpire in the world.
When he is too busy to do the
umpiring Warden Allen assigns
deputy or guard to hold the indicator.
A new diamond is being constructed
outside the walls for the TRUSTEES "
Warden Allen also has adopted the
policy of spending so much time ev-
cry day going about the prison shops