The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-02-22
THE FRUIT OF OUR PRISONS
The Author Declares That It Il Not
Men Made Over Unto Righteousness,
but Creatures Hardened II the WAYS
of Crime, and Augmenting Fearfully
the Criminal Stream
FER weathering Gags Parole.

~ nOOO 1Im0s AGu WWOD0 VG9OM
records are clear are liberated
after serving two-thirds Of their orig.
inal sentences. This new posture Of
my mind invited . revisw Of the sx-
perience through which ! had been
passing, and q the conditions with
which had become convsrsant, and
their signiscsncs IN connection with the
policy q penal imprisonment In gen.
eral. I will introduce some Of these
reflections In this place.
As have just said. men whose prison
records are clear are liberated after
serving two-thirds Of their original
sentences. hut part OF al Of this
conduct. One man, At least. within
my knowledge. was punished by the
dark hole several months before the ex-
piration Of mis- original sentence. and
was kept there until that sentence had
expired. Then. out Of that nlthy dun
geon. he was thrust abruptly forth Into
broad daylight and the crowded world.
II was Q miracle u he survived. What
have most convicts to live forf Per-
haps those who have most to live for
are unlikslisst 70 sarvivs-thsir anxiety
y greater.
On the other hand. sevsrity itself
may stimulate . convict. Hls human
mind cannot comprehend despair. In.
stinct forces him to hops. 30 weeks.
months. years 20 by, and hope seems
to him more instead Of less justinable.
till at last. perhaps. he dies with the
Illusion still strong In him. Real de-
spair ID unhuman and possibly rare.
Otherwise prison mutinies and killings
would be more frequent. The argument
Of despair u "Since must die here
anyway. I'll take two or three Of those
devils with mel" But few men be-
1ieve they will die in Jail. therefore
the guard or other official escapes.
Not 10 per cent. Of men In jail would
regard such q killing rs untustihable.
We were taught In school that resist
ance to tyrants Is obedience to God,
and many who had disobeyed God in
other ways would gladly obey Him in
this. speak not merely Of Ignorant
and brutal" convicts. but Of educated
and intelligent men like you and me.
Even . sensitive conscience may con-
done the killing Of q tyrant who Ii
slowly and surely destroying you. body
and soul. under sanction Of law. But
W punish convicts who tight for re.
vOu8C VI hOCISyp SI0 RGOtCCt VIC Oku.
cials who taunt and torture them into
doing It.
What . hideous and almost unbe.
1ievable situation! Historians wonder
that the Axtecs Of Cortez's time. with
their comparatively high civilization.
tolerated human sacrifices. But their
human sacrifices were merciful COM
pared with ours What u cutting out
r mana han nm n n alta IN nr,ie IN "a
. god to bounding him to death through
miserable years In q prison to placate
the spite Of an accuser. the Justice Of
. court. or the grudge Of q warden or
guard?
And what is the fruit Of It? For pure,
carefree. smiling. remorseless wicked
ness nothing in human annals surpasses
the young criminals. blackmailers. bomb
throwers. GUNNER. now infesting our
cities.
II think no more Of killing a house,
full Of human beings. men. women and
children" one Of them was quoted a.
saying the other day. "than Of crushing
20 many beetles"
How came such q monster to exist
Why. We bred him: supplied him with
the poisonous conditions that generate
such beings and can generate nothing
else. He had intelligence enough to I'M
derstand that the established order made
earning an honest living hard work: saw
thousands living well without labor ap-
parently, other thousands robbing under
cover Of legal technicallties; q legal pro-
fession living by devising statutes to
punish crimes and prosecuting the GRIM
inals thus manufactured; often living
better yet by teaching criminals to es-
cape the penalties which their law i'm.
posed. He saw reform schools which In.
structed such children as he had been
TO become such men ~ he was-prisonf
and penitentiaries which graduated such
as he In the latest devices OF crime; and
ne made up his mind that goodness was
at bottom humbug-that only a foo
would be honest or merciful when money
could be got by theft and murder.
We breed poisonous snakes and scor.
plons-give them no chance to be any.
thing but that-and then wonder they
are not doves and butterflies. Things
like this gangster are Internal spirits
irreclaimable: but we gain nothing by
extirpating the indlvlduals-the black
stream which carries them must b.
damned at Its source. OF the conditions
which generate them. q part 10 the pris.
Ons and their keepers. But We are not
yet at the root Of the matter-the keep.
ers are not primarily to blame. It Il
the principle which prisons illustrate
which attracts and moulds keepers till
they become often a. bad as the men
they have charge Of. and often much
worse.
Prisons mean social sclfishness. the
disowning Of our own flesh and blood
They segregate visible consequences a
social disease; but the disease IL invisi-
bly, present In all parts Of the body cor.
porate and can no more be healed BY
cutting on the visible part than we car
heal smallpox by cutting out the pus.
tulea. Prisons are not the right remedy
They inhame and disseminate the poison
We would b rid Of and prevent any
chance OF cure. The soul Of all crime
y sslf-seeking In place Of neishborl,
good will. We send men to prison e
get them out OF our way and that \
criminal self-seeking and III will to tn.
misunderstanding to hirelings oul
own proper business.
In attempting thus selhshly to ex
tirpate crime We commit the crime leas
- III