The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1914-10-23
WHAT A PARDoNE0 PRISONER
HAS TO SAY
Oeala. Fla. OFT. L. 1911.

Ocala, Fla, Oct. - 1914.
To the Edaor Ce1a Banner
For the pas. seven years ami eve
months ! Rare been iacarcer4ea3 In
tbs Ftorida sealc panltoagsaeg. .1~
Ing l-T l1aare sras.on Z have oaeaGa!1s
obse-fel everything -alae.ge co she
prisons Ia waich I have been con n
ed. By careful. systematic scare
with sears &C experience. ( ana cen
Finced tAa- tae beat wa1 TO refer
men is 70 treat them kindly, ana ia
lead then seniy aioas. Il IS by rec.
titude and gooi example CT prison al,
thorities that the prisoner Is reform
ed. Prison Officials should be very
careful to always give helgfai ADVICE.
\ very small deception or co.oring
seems to have nGch WIDER 0eoeut-
ance alnong the fallen class Of men
than very large deed Of charity. The
board OF commissioners is dong a
sood work in having their prison
laws enforced.
Among the many benefits conferred
upon the state by Governor Trammeu
| consider none so magnificent as his
appointing Hen r. r. Tomlin as state
superintendent. / have found 4Ir.
Tomlin to be a conscientious gentle
man, and his services as superinterd-
ent have found to be irreproachable.
The prison camps in Florida today,
leaving out very few exceptional
cases, are almost equivalent to the
former homes of the inmates Nobody
knows better than do how to appre-
ciate the prison management under
the administration of Governor Tram
nell.
BY eternal vigilance during my i'm
prisonment / learned that the great
est obstacle in the way of reforma-
ton of men who are sent to prisons
is that the eonvicts are rendered des-
perate oftentimes by the fact that
their families are suffering for neces-
stiles, such as food, clothing and a
place to live. The suffering with I'M
told misery of poverty often leads
such families to lives of disgrace and
shame 1t is not always true that
such is the case, but too often it is
true Single men, without families
and without the slightest faint of
criminal instincts, moved by sudden
of passion, or driven by des-
perate circumstances to do things
which have brought about their incar-
ceration. After their release from
prison they find it hard even in this !
state of Boosting enlightenment and !
paraded Christianity to establish /
themselves in the ways of honesty !
and decency and self-support. Going .
out financially embarrassed some /
times leads them to take further Grim I
NAL steps. In other words, they are
placed where they associate with the I
very worst company, almost unavoid-
ably.
After making a careful examination
Of those facts | am impelIed to believe
hat were the legislature to pass law
hat each state prisoner, having
sentence of more than one year,
where his conduct is sufficient to war
ant it, shall have a small share of
lis earnings, to be held at the capital
Until his release. Or, in cases where
me has family, destitute of support,
lllow his family to draw the amount,
the prisoner prefers that it should
re used in this way. The legislature
would do righteous act. In this way
he money that is being paid out as
ewards for escaped convicts would
'e thing of the past. With this adj
antage, together with good treat
nent, guards would not be needed
We should mix brain with our SYM
athies and affections.
B. B. MCCALL.