The Washington times., 1914-12-07
'OSbOrne,S Rule Of
Prison Is Assailed
Noyices Turned Out Adopts in
Crime by "Tammanyized'
institution, Says Man Who
Spent Year in Auburn.
By ]. R. HILDEBRAND.

Asserting that Thomas Mott Os-
borne's Mutual Welfare League at
Auburn prison. New York. has Tam
manyized" that institution. that no
>real progress has been made toward
| Summarizing" treatment of prisoners
there. and that conditions today re-
main such that "novices In crime are
| turned out full fledged criminals"
Benjamin Legere today gave graph
ic word picture of his year within
Auburn's walls.
Legere gave an address under Social
list auspices last night at National Rifles
Armory. He Is the leader Of the textile
strike at Little Falls, n. Y, who was
sentenced to a year in Auburn for
melting a riot, and later refused
pardon on the ground that he would
not accept pardon for an Offense he
did not commit
Many OF LegereS criticisms are in
accord with recent comments made Oy
John Joy Edison. Washington bank
er. who has been inspecting prisons
OF this country as a part of the pre-
liminary work of a commission, of
which he is member. to establish
a Federal penitentiary in the District.
Would Abolish Cells.
No prison reform, in Legere's opin-
ion, can be effective unless it begins
with the elimination of cells and the
abolition of silence rules. Legere gave
a wonderful vivid description Of the
dark. dank cell blocks in Auburn. lie
said:
The cell where 1 was first confined
was six feet six inches long by three
feet five inches wide. In that l
spent fourteen hours each day. And
then Osborne tried to improve upon
efficiency of men while in the shops.
Stayinl in a place like that takes
all the vitality all the resistance
out OF n man. lie can't work, in
the day time. worse yet, he hnds he
can't work when he gets out.
One night | tried to walk in that
cell. At first | could not because Of
the unevenness OF the floor. At last
l discovered the SECRET. The I'M
evenncss was caused by four hol-
lows worn into the bricks. found
that il one stood in the hollow be-
fore the door and took three steps
forward, turning on the third and
three back. the feet fall regularly
into the hOllOwS and so one can walk
three steps to the wall and three
steps to the iron door. These hol-
lows. it dawned upon me, had been
worn into the paving by those who
had walked there before me!
Convicts Driven Mad.
The much talked of psychological |
effect Of prison life on men, Legere !
said. is no pretty theory, but Gsue- |
some fact to those who have expert
enced a penitentiary term. He con- /
tinucd:
The minute that heavy door closes
upon a man, there shoots through
him a feeling Of helplessness he
can't describe To ono who does not
know prison conditions his predica-
rnent may not be apparent for a
time. But he soon finds that the
very characteristics which make
man of him. are killed out. Routine
at Auburn, for example. is wholly
repressive. Later | was made
prison teacher. and I found men who
could not talk. because Of long COM
pliance with the inhuman silence
rule. Men who comply with the
regulations become weak, willess !
creatures. Those who do not are
soon broken.
1t takes time to become habituatcd
to the cell life. Some never do. The
Blake investigation reported twenty
eight suicides at Auburn in 1911.
Three men went crazy in one week
IL my own cell block. | frequently
heard screams and shouts and
pounding upon cell doors in the
night. Then came the rattle of