The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1913-06-19
THE HONOR SYSTEM
Governor Oswald West Of Washington
Continues to Hold to the Belief that
his "Honor" System is Successful.

his "Honor" System is Successful.
Orin Edison Croker in American Mag
azine:-Out in Oregon there is a governor
who believes in men-even though they
have sinned against society and have been
committed to the keeping of the penal in
stitutions of the state. Oswald West be-
lieves in men to such an extent that sixty
two per cent. of the prisoners serving time
in the Oregon State penitentiary are out
ION honor, as it is called. A consider
able number of these are earning an honest
living outside the prison walls, entirely
independent of any prison discipline or
oversight. The rest are TRUSTEES work
ing for the State at other public insttu-
tions, or building roads without being
guarded-frequently one or two hundred
miles away from the prison, and often in
thinly settled portions of the country
where escape would be comparatively easy.
And yet fewer prisoners try to get away
under this system than in the old days
when the guards stood by, armed with re-
peating Winchesters.
Gov. West is man who gets results in
whatever he undertakes, for the reason
that he understands men. Young, decis-
i've, clean-cut, he has studied humanity
from many angles, and has mixed with men
Ir,rr be rf Oh
on the Oregon ranges, as prospector in
Alaskan gold fields, and as political Office
holder he had learned to know men-their
good as well as their bad qualities, their
weaknesses and their virtues. And out of
this experience ne has learned that most
men can be trusted.
One of Governor Vests first experiences
in trusting men was to release temporarily
murderer serving life sentence, simply
on his word of honor, in order that he
might earn sufficient money to pay off the
Indebtedness on his father-in-law's home
which had been mortgaged in order to
raise money for his legal defense. About
the middle of last January the man reap
peared at the penitentiary after an absence
of nearly year. Sim back he said
to the Warden. "The mortgage is paid"
Naturally such methods as these have
head an avalanche of criticism. But he
has worked steadily on toward the goal he
has in view. Confident in the ultimate
success of his system, he believes it will
eventually convert even his critics. GA
thing that is right" he states, 'always
works somehow, sometime, somewhere
When the present executive of Oregon
came into Office the State Penitentiary had
reputation that was anything but envi-
able, Discipline was administered thru
methods that had long been outlawed in
many penal institutions.
Over one-third of the prisoners were un-
provided with work of any kind. Guards
with loaded rifles watched every foot of the
prison property, and went with each group
of prisoners that was sent outside the walls.
Governor West has changed all this.
He has put every able-bodied man to work.
He has removed most of the guards. Over
two hundred of the four hundred and fifty
men now under sentence at the Salem in
stitution are outside the walls daily without
guard of any kind, trusted to return at
night and honor bound to do fair days
work.
The shonor system also reaches one
hundred men who are out on parole or on
conditional pardon. These men are ex-
pected to make report once month of
their Whereabouts and WI !, they are doing.
In place of the harsh methods of years
past the prisoners are punished by having
privileges Withdrawn and by being put in
to stripes. But of the four hundred and
fifty prisoners only sixteen are "zebras,
as they are termed-men who have sinned
against prison grace.
Governor West gives the men whom he
trusts to understand that he expects them
to make good and not take advantage of
the confidence he reposes in them.
When they betray his trust, as occasion
ally happens, he has been known to lead
the posse that undertakes their capture.
One such escaped "trusty,' whom he ran
down after hard chase, said to him as he
took him into custody: "Who are you,
the sheriff. "No," replied the executive.
IN the man to whom you lied.