The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-06-21

Humanity holds out helping hand
to the man behind prison bars No
matter what his crime may have been,
there is II chance for him An APP
peal is made to the better side of his
nature, with what wonderful results
prison records show
The night school established In the
Maryland penitentiary one year ago
by Warden John f. Leonard is typi-
cal of modern methods OF handling
prisoners in State penitentiaries. There
was some shepticism. 1t Is said, among
THE powers that be" when Warden
Leonard first suggested his plan, but
the success Of the Intramnral school.
as it Is known officially, has been so
marked that the warden is already
making plans TO increase the size OF
his schoolroom in the mems depart
ment and proposes to extend his cur
ricuium."
The school Is a fine testimonial to a
humane official, and it affords astrik-
ing proof of the fact that it is pos
sibie to reach" man, no matter
how low in the scale Of society he has
fallen Some of the worst men in
the Maryland penitentiary have been
SO changed by the auieting influence
Of the night school that they have
given no further trouble and have APP
piled themselves with pathetic ca
gerness to getting the rudments of
an education,
The night school Is intended only
for illiterates. 1t has now 112 stu
dents. Imagine 1f2 conyicts. dressed
quietly In gray suits--the hideoua
stripes having been done away with
when humanity achieved another
step forward--the majority of them
murderers and long-term men, in a
large room with only one unarmed
guard to preserve order, seated at
rows of typical schoolroom desks and
bending laboriously over the text
books that children use. and you will
have some idea of the intramural
school in session. Scattered about
the room are blackboards which can
be easily moved to accommodate the
vision, while others are fixed to the
walls. The teachers. who are them
selves inmates and have therefore a
strong bond of sympathy with their
pupils, move from one desk to an
other, helping backward students, or
else they stand In the middle of a
small. absorbed circle Of men, all in
tensely interested in their recitation
and striving like model schoolboys
to master such simple problems as
children learn in primary schools.
Teachers and Men on One Footing.
Said one of the teachers, an intelli-
gent young man of good address:
I'VE feel that we can do more with
these men than outside teachers
could, because we are inmates just
as they are and subject to prison dis
cipline They know that We are not
taskmasters. but fellow unfortunates
who ar trying to put some bright
ness into their darkened lives We
do not represent the outside world
to them. They know that we have no
power except that of kindness, ITO
carry on our work and when school
Is ended we go back to the same kind
OF rooms they do
He said room" and not cell, and
that also Is significant OF new ideas
in prison management. A man Is not
constantly reminded that he Is n con-
vict He is permitted and encour-
aged to forget that bitter truth as
much as his environment will per-
nit. The teachers are chosen by
Warden Leonard, who picks them out
from among the convict4 with unerr-
Ing judgment They are not asked
to stand examinations or show Ger
tificates.' A big. kindly man with
knowledge OF human nature simply
looks them over and his judgment
has never yet proved at fault. Al
though he has had thirteen teachers