The Washington herald., 1914-02-12
WANT TO MAKE
PRISON RECORD
]. Barton Miller, m Baltimore
Penitentiary. Hopes for
Pardon.
WELL TREATED, HE SAYS
Clerk in Bsr6llon Department Called
by Name. but Is Number
20.6l0.-s
WELL TREATED, HE SAYS
By J. STUART PRICE.

.Ds~ -
ny J. STUART PRICE.
Baltimore. Nd. Feb. Hills lips sealed
as to his past and his mind centered or
the one thought OF freedom twenty years
hence. j. Barton Miller. Washington EN-.
bezxler, has served the first month Of his
long sentence for embezzling s13sooo oi
the funds of the First Cooperative Build
ing Association, of Georgetown.
Though time alone will tell whether hs
will get a year or SO on Tor good be.
havior. Miller 20 far has been q mode
prisoner Unlike the custom in most pen.
itentiaries. he Ia not garbcd in stripes.
neither is he known by a number" The
Maryland State Penitcntiary does things
differently from the average penal insti-
tuition. Its prisoners wear neat suits OF
greyish blue. Their heads are not shaved
Each prisoner, of course, In numbered
and Miller has been stamped As "Pris-
oner No. 2o,sio" But they call them
not by numbers but by their names They
even say ''Mr. Miller" thus making the
embexxler feel that although he is q pris-
oner he Is yet human and redeemable.
II am well satisfied with my surround
iugs. Prison life. of course. IL not bed
of roses. but they treat me splendidly
here and I have no kick coming" said
Mr.. Miller In an interview. The Wash
ington Herald's police reporter was given
the special privilege of seeing the pris-
oner today. "I am doing clerical work.
mostly typewriting. because am familiar
with this class of ONCE duty" he con-
tinued.
Began Tern January ..
Miller began his twenty-year term jan
he -u, 20 fv,
the Bertillon department. where meas
urements OF prisoners are kept He at
once made himself popular with others
In the department and gained the conf
dence Of the prison officials. He goes
to his work At o'clock each morning
and quits about $50.
Miller eats along with hundreds Of other
men here for crimes ranging from burg
larry to murder. He 10 not the only en-
bezzler. The other prisoners know not
what he is serving time for. unless he
himself sees fit to tell them. The In
terests of prisoners are protected. II they
come in laborers they 60 out skilled
workmen- II they are tradeless they go
away capable of earning an honest living
by the vocation taught them while i'm
prisoned.
Miller. however. is educated. He La bet
ter of mentally than the average prison.
er. Therefore, he has been put to work
doing clerical duty, and he is doing II
well.
Striving for Record.
when 1 leave this place I want to go
away feeling that even though 1 served
a prison term / left a record of which
even an humble prisoner can really be
proud. i realize / am here to stay and
to serve my sentence. but hope by doing
my duty to the fullest I may win clem-
ency some day."
Miller hopes to receive a pardon be-
fore he is forced to serve his term Of
twenty years, and he wants his record
at the penitentiary TO be a help In
getting II. While he would not talk of
his past, he intimated strongly he want
ed to make amends for what he had
done.
When Miller left Washington the final
chapter in one of the hardest legal bat
ties ever waged in the District was writ
ten; written as far as the law Is con-
cerned. but among the hundreds OF work.
ing men and women who lost heavily
when the First Cooperative Building
Association of Georgetown failed there
fingers still a hatred for the emblezzer
Sympathy Is expressed. however. for the
mans wife and his six-year-old daughter.
There were thirteen mile posts or turn
ing points on tne rOdQ Mliler trdNele0 10
reach prison bars.
The first came on July L, 1905, when
a warrant for Miller's arrest was issued.
Two days later the second point was
reached. Then a warrant was served on
him as he lay ill in bed. April 5. 1909,
almost a year later. he was indicted for
destroying the books of the building asso-
citation of which he was secretary and
treasurer.
January IS, 1910, he was reindicted on
charges of embezzling sums aggregating
SIS. 900 of the associations funds. June
l3, 1910, he was found guilty and SEN
fenced by Justice Stafford to twenty
years in the penitentiary.
April 5, 1911, Miller won q temporary
victory when the Court Of Appeals or
dered a new trial. but June Is, 1911, his
hopes again were blighted, when he was
found guilty for second time and SEN
fenced by Justice Wright to twenty years.
The Court of Appeals again stepped in
March J, 1872, and ordered re-trial OF
the case December 5. 1872, he was found
guilty for the third time, and on De-
cember Is, eight days later, was sentenced
-'rs.
vember 3, 1919 the Court of Appeals
~, 10 reopen the case. December
isi2, ne Supreme Court Of the United
States reused a writ Of certiorari, and
December Miller was surrendered by
bis bondslnen and locked UP to begin his
E5RE sentence.
view OF J-stice Wright.
Justice W-isA, N sentencing Miller at
his second con-iC -Iss. took q firm stand
Ia the matter =. nd:
cent see hcr d more grievous case
Il err sazz.srs-nt could be conceived. The
ASSOCIATION vas destroyed, the property
iuotrd sn. Es.de away with by the de-
laadant Esi rights of the depositors and
sICcSr5t s were utterly disregarded. II
the De- adant saw fit to disclose the
boois md produce them, there might be
.easnI for substantial diminution of the
sentence. II the defendant so sees fit, il
q matter for his future consideration"
In an unpretentious home in the
northwest section, a little girl, not
quite seven years old, knows her papa
has gene away. but does not understand
the full purport Of his absence. When
she kissed him good-by the day he went
to the District Jail she noticed big tear
drops rolling down his cheeks. But little
Virginia Kemper Miller, full of natures
wonderful childish devotion to her father,
still listens for a familiar football, and
questions her sad-eyed mother as to when
L.