Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-09-26

mot only have we established voca-
tional schools, but we teach the foreign
ers to read and write the English IAN
guaRe, and permit all who desire TO
study and learn anything they may want.
1t is even possible for them to become
electrical or civil engineers, for'we have
correspondence courses In such practical
work. and the men are glad to take ad-
vantage Of the opportunities.
Now, besides fitting the men for work
at some specific trade or profession, we
also do something else for them. we
permit them to apply their trades during
their spare time at making various arti-
cles for sale, and these they dispose OF
for good prices. Their funds are depos-
tied In one OF the largest savings banks
In Philadelphia, and when the prisoners
leave most of them have fair-sized roll
of bills to take with them.
PUTS HOPE INTO MEN.
Both these things make them hold up
their heads and feel like men who can
look the world squarely In the face and
begin again, determined TO accomplish
something because they do not have the
handicap of having no skill or ability for
any definite thing that will make them
self-supporting and able to support their
oft times unfortunate families.
Now, let us see what the parole sys-
tenn does for the men who arc fitted for
honest employment. The law requires
that the men must have employment
and must have responsible persons
to stand as their moral hackers after they
have finished their minimum sentence
in here. What is the result of this? In
stead of the men going out like whipped
dogs and diving Into the first den they
can find in the Tenderloin, they march
out with their chins in the air and with
Il look of hopefulness on their faces
They've got jobs! They are probably
| going TO receive bigger envelopes for
their work than they have ever received
| in their lives, and perhaps their first hon
| est dollars are before them They have
| certain feelings of independence and self
| respect. And we have found that when
| they leave under these circumstances
they seldom come back, and as our re-
ports show, they make good In their work
and become citizens of value in the
world"
After this little talk Warden McKenty
| proudly turned over the pages of the re-
| ports on paroled prisoners, and here Is
what was found:
Since 1909. when the law went into
| effect, prisoners paroled, between 1000 and
| 100; about 125 returned for breaking
parole rules; IL returned and asked TO
, be taken back, because they felt the need
of more of the influence they had had
while prisoners. and feared that they
might do something very wrong: 80 have
been recommitted to this prison or sent
to some other penal institution for some
later crime, and all others-more than
900 of them-have been reporting regu-
! larly. working and living respectable
lives.
KEEPS HIS EYE ON THEM.
Among them are many who have
t~,,4 1t,,
warden keeps an eye on them, and knows
that they are doing well. Several of the
men paroled are in business-one or two
| of them we'll known here-and are MAX
ing profits of as much as $500 every
| month, and the average earnings of the
men on parole Is $40 n month This is be-
lieved to be a fair wage when 1t is con-
sidered that most of them are working
in the country or small towns and cities.
Every one of the men who came back
for the protection of the warden had
allowed rum to get the better of them,
and practically every who was
brought back for breaking parole rules
was found to have fallen from his
| straight path because of drink, Warden
Mckenty AYERS.
Directly or indirectly The Preacher
! Warden" declares, rum" sends almost
| every prisoner to the peuitentiary, and
he has turned the convicts against II
so much that more than 500 OF them,
without his knowledge, signed petition,
which is to be presented TO the State
LEGISLATURE the coming winter. asking
that the sale of liquor be ytopped
Bob is a firm believer in religious
freedom. and only few months ago
Masses were first said within the prison
walls for the Catholic prisoners, and now
each Sunday there are services con-
Quoted by Protestant clerSymen and
Catholic priests. and the Jewish rabbls
also held services for the Hebrew pris-
onors during the New Year holidays just
past. Any religion is good, so long as
| IL stands for the right, declares the war
den, and it is the practical Christianity"
| that counts most.
HELPFULNESS Is BEST.
Practical Christianity means unself-
ish helpfulness," says Warden McKen-
| ty "And that is what is needed most
among the church people to keep men
| out of prison, and to make men out OF
| prisoners when they get out. Church
| people can do most to keep men out by
| practicing what they preach. The little
| things they do during the weekdays go
| toward pointing the way for the tempted
| to right living than all the big things
| the church people can do on Sundays
"Instead of criticislng the unfortunatcs