Omaha daily bee., 1915-09-08


system was considered so unusual and
had achieved such remarkable results
that the prison rule was broken and per-
mission given him to publish under his
own name the article herewith describing
the school and its effect.
When one wishes TO get the trend OF
another's mind he watches his unguarded
utterances. 1t is through language that
''prisoned thoughts are released" He
who said Language was invented to
conceal thought must have been a
diplomat
The men who are cropping for mental
light in the Intra-Mural school are too
little acquainted with world subtlety to
fall into the insincerities of diplomacy.
The work of the men in the school for
illiterates at the Maryland penitentiary
has ELECTED editorial commentator.
Trained educators concede astonishing
results. Evidences Of progress. as ex-
hibited in penmanshlp specimens and
general written and oral declarations,
have lured the mentally elect to its ses-
sions.
But those qualities which make for
good citizenship may not develop CORE
spondingly. Has the school touched the
nature? II so, its influence should be OBJ
servable in speech not directly related
to assigned lessons, and in conduct in
spired by logical thought. Are these men
through this schools influence making
a successful effort to fit Themselves to
enjoy those blessings organized society
offers all her advocates?
Remember, many of them have never
NH L. hnQ n oa
they didn't think-didn't know how to
think. Impulse, not mind, has dictated
physical action. They have never before
been governed by thought standards-just
emotion standards.
Out of eighty new men-total illiterates
brought into the class room last Sep
TENDER citizens OF Maryland, not one
could say whether George Washington
was an American or a steamboat.
Think of $50 In a room. between 20 and
90 years of age, sprung from one OF the
most imaginative races, who had never
heard of Jack and the Beanstalk,"
Cinderella" or ALADDIN" And when
they were told the story OF Jack and
later the first presidents life was
sketched they We'd with one another Tor
DAYS outside the school in repeating the
IanCieQ ana nlSlOTlCdl llCiuCuSS ~
Think of the possibilities OF a school in
which a 3O-yesr-old man defined poetry
az '.chickens' the first night he entered
and smiled in bewilderment when shown
his own name written--sending we'll
penned letter home in three months car
rylng this thought:
Every line ! write you tonight is
stroke from my heart!
A. NalEWN 4aA n
tanned solely as a place of punishment
No attempt was made to improve the
men. They were returned to society inn
FILTERED. The first-timers came back in
numbers They had seen no virtue In
dominating man or system. Punishment
narrows. Expansion of views had been
checked The futility of warning against
system comes only with the appreciation
that "the stars themselves obey law.
One hundred and ninety are nightly in
the big school room, with only one officer
present There has never been dis
turbance--an unnecessary commotion'
ONLY the hum Of earnest workers-each
class unaffected by the recitations of its
neighbor ENCOURAGEMENT, kindness main
tain where once physical and spiritual
suppression were monitors.
The teacher, with twenty years OF
prison monotony hanging over his head
spends half an hour daily communing
with a tree. 1t is many city blocks
away and visible only to the raised eye
from a certain spot In the prison yard.
All about him are wells and towers and
barred windows. Beyond is the heart OF
the city. but TO him the city In only a
mass OF ugly roofs as far as the vision
extends
lust this tree towering to heaven and
spreading its branches to the four winds
breaks the wearying view. 1t stands upon