Evening star., 1915-07-18

E@lHE new idea in prison reform II
being tried out in this country in
several states. 1t is very simple
q II is to treat prisoners less like
wild animals and more like human beings
The men who first conceived this
thought appear to be many. 1t is in
variably 50. For the credit Of every i'm
portant idea or invention there always
are rival claimants. When, to save labor
or eliminate space and time, a mechanical
device is wanted, men of inventive minds
in different parts of the world start max
ing experiments to fill that want. Later.
they sue one another. 1t is the same
when a great wrong needs to be righted.
The first man to attack the wrong can
generally choose between being called a
crank or rascal.
In their time the abolitionists, Henry
Bergh, Susan B. Anthony and Prof. Lang
ley with his flying machine were
cranks. They were hated or ridiculed.
In the last hundred years those who
worked to reform the condition Of prison.
ers have been many and of different coun-
tries. and in the last twenty years in this
country In the treatment Of convicts there
have been great changes and many ex-
periments. The one that fs now being
worked out at Sing Sing by Thomas Mott
Osborne, the new warden. is the one that
Is being watched perhaps with tho great
est interest This Is SO partly because
Sing Sing has always been notorious. and
because the changes now being tried out
there are SO extremely radical.
The fact that the warden is not a
political appointee entirely ignorant Of the
question of prison reform-the last warden
was plumber-but millionaire who
does not need the job, a graduate Of Har-
ward and a man who for years has
studied the different methods Of handling
convicts. even to the extent Of living in
cell as one. has given to his effort the
widest publicity. Mr.. Osborne himself is
receiving both abuse and praise. Some
honestly oppose him. They believe him
entirely unselfsh and we'll meaning, but
carried away with dreams that are i'm
practicable. He is opposed also by the
politicians Their opposition is not honest
They want control Of Sing Sing for the
rich graft that IN hundreds of ways,
obvious and hidden, there Is in 1t for
them They nlisrepresent Osborne in his
work. they hamper and impede him They
are after his scalp. and unless he IL very
careful and his friends with influence
stand by him he will lose 1t.
1t is fortunate that Gov. Whitman be-
believe in II. They see in Osborne
himself valiant crusader prosecuted
and misunderstood. but one who is
leading the blind out of darkness. who
is fighting a cruel and inhuman super
stition. Owing to the nature of the
work to which he 10 devoting his life,
Mr. Osborne has not escaped publicity.
But he is not seeking it, He is. be-
1ieve. working solely for the good of
others. and what people think of him.
so long as IL does not stop the progress
of his work, does not concern him.
Personally. / know Mr.. Osborne but
slightly. but with Sing Sing and its
inmates 1 have been acquainted for
several years, and. having seen II under
both the new and the old regime,
am with those who believe Mr.. Osborne
is working in the right direction. That
in giving SO much freedom to the pris-
oners he has gone too far has still to
be proved.
But one thing Is certain. The tor
lures and cruelties practiced upon them
in the past will never be revived Upon
that Mr.. Osborne may safely congratu-
late himself. In the future, thanks to
him. so may hundreds of thousands of
convicts.
Years ago i first saw Sing Sing an
reporter. l used to go there after
news stories and special articles. Since