Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1915-08-06
ALLEN QUITS
PRISON POST
WITHTEMPER
Warden Considers Resigna
tion Forced and Promises
to Unload Mind Later.

Springfield, Aug. 6.-After announc-
ing today that he had accepted the
( telegraphed resignation of Edmund N.
Allen as warden Of the state peniten-
ttary at Joliet, Governor Dunno de
clared the honor system would CON
tinue. on a bigger and better plan
1t Is nay honor system, said the
governor Il instituted it, Six
months before / appointed Allen, in
my inaugural address. I said In the
actual construction of highways, when
/ it becomes necessary, short term pris-
oners should be employed on an honor
system, such as is employed in Colo
radO. Humanitarian reasons underlie
the employment of convicta in open
air work Of this sort 50
The governor kept several seCre-
taries on the run, while he talked.
looking up cores spondence in the
files and carefully verified all his
statements.
Six months after I delivered this
statement I appointed Warden Allen,
the son of a former warden Of the
/ peniteutiary who had conducted the
, prison on the old system. To Allen
I said. 7 want you to run Joliet on
an honor system; we must get away
from the old way Then I told him
to go out TO Colorado to see Tom
( lyman, warden at Canyon City peni-
teutiary, and learn their system from
start TO finish. I told him to install
that system at Joliet"
Allen Issues Statement.
Chicago, III, Aug. 6.-When shown
/ Governor Dunne's statement in which
the governor claimed credit for in
stalIing the honor system at the Joliet
/ penitentiary, Warden Allen, who is in
/ Chicago today, said:
Il am surprised to hear Governor
Dunno instituted the honor system. I
never received any suggestions from
him and am ready to let my work
/ speak for itself. If it was his idea
why did he not make it general and
institute it in the Pontiac reforma-
/ tory"
Il quit because I felt that in justice
to myself / could not do otherwise.
Governor Dunno refused my request
and gave out an erroneous i'm
preston Of the request made Of
him did not ask to spend my even
ings and spare time in Chicago. I told
the governor that I wished to install
/ the deputy warden and his family ia
+ my quarters and asked him to allow
me to maintain two or three rooms for
myself in the womens prison.
would have willingly set aside my per
sonaI feelings in the matter and would
have spent three or four nights week
/ in Joliet but l did ask the right to visit
/ my family once or twice a week and
Sundays. He denied the request and
therefore did the only thing left for
/ me to do and maintain my manhood -
7 resign.
L am still heart and soul in the
+ honor system. It is right as time viii
prove, and the biggest setback ever
given the honor system was given it by
/ Governor Dunno at a critical moment.
/ Two days after Mrs. Allen was muir
dered he sent Representative Devine
/ as hts personal representative TO see
/ that no third degree" methods were
i practiced there, By so doing he show
/ ed his ignorance of the workings of
+ the system which does not permit OF
/ inhuman treatment of any convict. no
matter what the offense, and at the
same time he effectively stopped what
ever chance we had of ever securing a
| confession from Campbell, who / am
convinced killed Mrs. Allen / am sur
prised at Governor DUNES statement.
Iif he made such statement, that the
honor system was his idea, not mine. "