New Britain herald., 1914-11-23
WHAT OTHERS SAY
Views on all sides of timely questions as discussed in ex- changes that come to Herald Office
Warden Osborne's Prison.
(New York Sum-

Sing Sing, where Thomas Mott Os- borne is to try his hand at prison management, is the most discreditab ble penal institution New York maintains. It is relic of the past, infested with disease, inadequate in accommoda- tions, and cursed by tradition of graft and politics. That MT. Osborne is willing to risk in the physical and moral surroundings it furnishes the trial of his theories of penology testi- fies little in favor of his judgment, but it shows that he does not lack courage
 The enormous wastage of the puni- tive methods now generally followed is universally recognized. They exer- else no moral rcformatory inf1rfence and not infrequently their effect on the bodily health of their subjects has been such as to render it impossible for the best intentioned man to main tain himself in any decent occupation after serving his term. Having robbed their victims of self-respect, inocu- lated them with disease and deprived them of hope, they brand "Outcast' on their foreheads, clothe them in a dress that advertises their shame, and turn them loose to receive the re- buffs, careless, selfish or malicious of an ignorant and unsympathetic world. With flesh and blood the wrongdoer pays the nominal price exacted by so- ciety for his criminality, only to find when the gates open to release him that in many ways the lot of the con- vict is far better than that of the ex- convict.
 Against such a consummation of -lo process. humane men and statesmen alike have protested for generations The economic waste not less than the cruelty of the system and it's fruits have never enlisted intelligent de- fence. Nobody has said that the state, society or the criminal benefit ed permanently from the measures adopted; all have recognized the mo- torious failures that have marked the treatment administered, the corrup- tion, extending far beyond the prison walls, it has engendered; and it has been perpetuated only through the apparent impossibility of devising means to achieve better things. Tn these circumstances prison reform has long languished; the subject as a whole is repulsive it's details are un-
  thusiasts who have linked themselves with it have contributed their share to restrain sane and responsible men from devoting serious thought and eff fort to the attempt to mend matters.
 It is unfortunate that MT. Osborne has allowed himself to become identi- fied/with some of these sentimental ists Yet from this association 1t does not necessarily follow that he is in capable of a sound, enlightened and beneficial discharge of the duties of warden at Sing Sing. He has shown sufficient intelligence to keep a large fortune: he is beyond the temptation of vulgar bribe taking; he knows what bodily cleanliness is, and it's value as moral tonic: and his impulse is to maintain discipline without neglect ing the duty of making provision for the future of the men committed to his charge. He will undergo the sobering notifications brought about by direct responsibility, and have the neartening consciousness that his rec ord at Sing Sing cannot be worse than, though it may be different from, those of his predecessors.
 To Warden Osborne we wish suc- cess.