Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-01-25
How Merciless Keepers
Stay Helpless Charges,
Sometimes by Actual
Violence, Sometimes,
as Surely, but More
Slowly, by Torture.

Will nght and die in defense of what
they love. Human mothers generally love
their offspring. Love In the common sense is
common or instructive, and involves no moral
quality 1t is love of ones own, and contains
better form of self love.
But mercy Is Of higher birth Animals know
nothing of it; savages and the lower types of
man ignore It. We ascribe a divine source to
It when we pray God to have mercy on us; we
do not ask Him to love u.s. All higher religions
enjoin It. Mercy is love purified from self, or
wholly altruistic. 1t is a man loving another
not because of blood relationship, or because
Of benefits bestowed, but on the simple ground
that he Is his human brother, child OF the
same Divine Father. It is purer than the ra-
cial feeling and it includes the animal crea-
ton outside humanity in its scope-as the
Bible puts it. ''the merciful man Is mercifu
to his beast"
1t is the Golden Rule in manifestation; we
see in the one to whom we are merciful our
self in another form, under different condi-
tions and we DO to him as we wo4ld have him
do to us. 1t seems to require certain ma
turity of mind, acquired inherited; children
below puberty seldom have it. 1t is easily
forfeited, and Indifference to the suffering of
others is readily established. 1t is to be guard
ed and developed as a sacred possession of
man at his highest, and constantly nourished
by thought and deed. And no man is SO high
and strong but he may and does need the
mercy Of some being loftier and more power
full than himself, which he can not claim if he
have not himself done mercifully to those be-
lew him
I have remarked heretofore that officials of
prisons should be men of the highest character
in the State--at least as high as what we would
wish to ascribe to our judges Of the criminal
bench. Judges send men to prison. but prison
guards and wardens have charge of them dur
ing their Imprisonment, with powers practi-
cally unlimited Unlimited power is trust too
arduous for any mortal, for it should presup-
pose perfect knowledge. all-penetrating intel
lgence boundless experience, and the mercy
which is born to these-for there is bastard
brother of mercy which is of the parentage OF
ignorance and cowardice, which shrinks from
the sight of suffering from mere pusillanimity
of the nerves. and does not recognize that sur
fering may be mercifully inflicted or permit
ted and bene1cently endured
But the community does not select its prison
officials on the basis above indicated; it is sat
is6ed if they be competent to handle men"
have sagacious familiarity with human de-
pravity. will tolerate no nonsense, can indite
plausible reports for the Department, and
show a good balance at the end OF the fiscal
year. or, as guards and understrappers keep
the men submissive and orderly and allow no
outbreaks. As for knowledge, public school
education is ample with such intelligence as
may be supposed to go with it; and the ex-
perience of a ward heller or thug will ordi-
narily suffice to pass candidate AS a mat
Ter of fact, the community never knows any
thing about its prison officials until some spe-
cia1 scandal transpires under their administra-
ton or unless some heaven-sent phoenix of
warden unaccountably manlfests humane and
enIiehtened tendencies. Their appointment is
left to the political machine, which hands 1t
out on the principle of what is or was he worth
tn us? As for justice and mercy-my good
sir. YOU seem to forget we are talking OF con
victed criminals!
affirm. however, that justice-which Is in
talligeut mercy-is required nowhere so ur-
Gently as with convictsi that any punishment
which aims at more than restraining convicts
from practices calculated to injure their own
boet interests. is a crime; and that cruelty 10
oorsons imprisoned and helpless, be the plea In
attenuation of It what it may, is damnable
ard uuuardonable wickedness. Meanwhile
tbere Il rot and has never been in the United
states a Jail in which revengeful, malicious
and uoiustiriable punishments have not been
inflicted. and in which cruelty does not stain
The record of eacn year and day.
There have appeared lately in the news
naners stories of enormities perpetrated IN
Russian prisons. Terrible barbarians tnose
russians, Yet. barring one feature OF them
only they can be paralleled by what Is cur
raotlv aone in prisons here. This one feature
g.. tbe absence in the Russian internos OF al
h, nocritica protestations to the public OF hu-
,,,ooa treatment and of aversion from seyerl'
49,. rho Russian can not do more than beat
,or+,,re and kill his prisoners; but we 40 the
oone II is done at Blaekwens lsianu' at
S,nn cling at Auburn, at Jefferson City az
aay.rvorth (untl the other day at least)' in
-, quentin and countless others, including
' IN Atlanta: only, there, the pollcE VI
n 10y of news and PRONUNCIATION OF IaIse
6ood is perhaps carried 10 more nearly PEI
ssnt eytrame than in most other prisons.
few years ago, but under me presehl 80