The mirror., 1914-07-16
THE PRISON PRESS
REMOVES THE LID
The Privilege Accorded Inmates
to Express Themselves in Their
Organs Columns, Acts Much
as Boilers Salty Valve.
o. E. Lib. Critic

Gradually it has been discovered
that one of the best ways to make a
man docile is TO allow the fullest
freedom of expression consistent
with good discipline-that is to say !,
with efficiency and good behavior.
Greater liberty of movement is per-
mitted, conversation is not seriously
iuterfered with, athletic sports are
encouraged and associations among
the men for entertainment or mutual
improvement are organized. And
experience has proved that what SOL
itary confinement and the blackjack
cannot accomplish can be readily
brought about by the simple expedi-
ent of letting the men do what they
enjoy doing.
One of the most interesting express
sions of this greater liberty is to be
found in the newspapers written,
edited and printed in prison, usually
by the prisoners themselves. Per-
haps they should be called maga-
zines rather than newspapers, for
with one or two exceptions they do
not pay much attention to current
public events, but are devoted to
the interests of prisoners, to local
prison news and the inevitable sport
page and joke column; and in this
last connection it may be said that
the sense of humor of the inmate is
so keen as to put the joke paper to
shame. The absurdity of the posi-
tion in which he has been placed
not infrequeDtly appeals forcibly to
the inmate. Where profanity would
not be tolerated joke will pass.
There are at the present time per-
haps twenty-five such publications.
weekly or monthly, issued in the
prisons and reformatories of this
country. With few exceptions the
editor is a prisoner, often one under
a severe sentence; occasionally it is
the chaplain, but the principal con-
tributors are inmates. They vary
from large weeklies down to small
folders. and considering the diff
culties under which they are pub
lished they are surprisingly we'll
gotten up. The mechanical work
is usually excellent and the tone
dignlfed. 1t is claimed by most
that they are not censored.
These papers play some very i'm
portant roles. In the first place
they serve as means of infOrma-
tiOn to the inmates as to what is 60
ing on in their own institution; they
contain accounts of the proceedings
of the parole board, the baseball
club, the orchestra, and other mat
ters of strictly local interest. They
contain important news from with
out, of matters of interest to inmates;
discussions of new laws, expressions
of opinion from prison reformers,
extracts from other prison papers.
in short, whatever may interest the
man behind the bars.
Speak in SeH-Defense
But they have a function which
is still more important than inform
ing and amusing the prisoner. They
give him the opportunity Of express
sing himself; they keep his mind
active. And still more important
in the long run is that they give
him the chance to show the public
what he is; they afford him the op-
portunity of speaking in his own
defense, an opportunity which hith-
erto practically ceased after sentence
was passed. Standing before the
judge. faced by hostile prosecutor,
usually without means to defend
himself effectively, the accused can
only bow in confusion and despair
before the verdict, often knowing
full we'll that he is not half so black
as he has been painted. We do not
mean that individuals can air their
personal grievances in the prison
sheet-far from it. But they have
the opportunity open to speak in
defense of their class, to analyze the
motives and acts which lead to the
court and the prison, to point out
the disadvantages under which they
have labored in the struggle for ex.
istence. 1t is only in the prison
newspaper that we can see the type
as it is, and very different is it from
what is presented in the outside
press.
The prison paper is therefore an
exponent of the humanity of the
prisoner, from his own standpoint.
No one can hope to understand him
except by coming into touch with
him in sympathetic way, and for
this these papers are invaluable.