New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-08-08
Columbia Professor, Prais-
ing Warden, Points Out
Sing Sing Defects.
ERROR TO TREAT
ALL AS NORMAL
DR.. Katharine Davis Defends
College Women-Pleads for
Education in Prisons.

George w. Kirchwey, who has been
mentioned as a possible successor. first
to Warden Osborne Of Sing Sing and
then as a possible successor to Superin-
tendent Riley, was one of the principal
speakers at conference on discipline
at the Fairhope League Summer School
to-day Miss Katharine B. Davis, Com
missioner Of Correction of New York
City, also spoke.
Professor Kirchwey's talk was large
" a plea for more humane and rational
treatment of prisoners. He made fire.
quent reference to Warden Osborne,
and almost always in praise Of his
methods.
Miss Davis discussed many phases of
prison life, touched on the recent accu-
sations of graft and gave the opinion
that college women did not go to pris-
on.
"a prison is, after all, very much like
any other community" Professor Kirch-
wey said prisoners have just as good
an idea of living up to discipline as the
members of any other community"
II was a peculiar fact, he pointed OUT
that the most lawabiding prisoners
we're those prisoners who were PROBES
sional criminals, burglars and the Ike
and many Of these regarded their pro-
fossions lust as Wall Street men regard
theirs.
1.-THE men who break over the prison
discipline are almost always men VINO
get into prison merely incidentally;
thew are naturally Anarchists and oe-
long to Just the same type as the un-
ruly and disorderly folks out OF prison.
They amount to from to per cent
of the population both in and out OF
prison. Usually they are detectives OF
some sort and require, like all detec-
tives, special treatment, not PUNISH
ment."
Would Abolish Prison Course.
According to Professor Kirchwey. the
cause of most of the trouble IN prisons
is that they have been made beasts by
being treated like beasts. The whole
present prison course should be abol-
ished, he thought, because it is founded
on the idea of battering prisoners into
being better men. You can't do that,
he said.
He expressed the opinion that the
best way TO have prisoners accomplish
really good work was to put "macmen"
like Osborne in charge of them. The
only point which he brought on wherein
he differed with Mr. Osborne was that
the warden regarded all the prisoners
as normal men. Mr.. Kirchwey held
that the unruly ones, when the condi-
tions were humane, were abnormal and
should be treated as such.
Miss Davis spoke on education and
prisons. She said that very often 1t
was stated in the papers that college
men and women were arrested and
sentenced to prison. She said that
in all her experience she had never
seen woman prisoner who really was
a college graduate. There were few
men sometimes, but not as many as
represented. She added:
ave train our children from the time
they are infants through school; then
we send them TO college, and after they
come out we give them a special edu-
cation and depend on them to protect
themselves"
"The Department of Correction has
them for six months, and is expected
to train them over. We can't do it,
she said.
81 believe personally that our insti-
tutions should send the prisoners on:
at least as well off as they came in"
said the Commissioner. Il believe
more than that. | believe that they
should go out better than they came in,
and in the City Of New York the very
best majority of them go out of the
penitentiary physically better than
when they came in, due to regular
living, regular food, regular hours. AL
helps and improves. Last year we
spent S1.500,000 for maintenance alone.
That looks large sum, but when you
come to figure il out we only spent S240
for the whole year on each prisoner.
1t costs us IS cents day for food for
each individual, fairly well fed.
'In the years from 1910 to 1915, this
year, there has been an increase of 81
per cent. Now people say there has
been graft in the management of these
funds and you should be able to do
every identical thing that needs TO be
done in this institution with the money.
II they did little figuring they would
see and know differently.
81 was asked the other day to allow
the prisoners to write two letters more
a month. They are allowed TO write let
tiers once in two weeks. That would
mean once a week. II means Just
doubling our expense for postage at
$1,000.
"Mr. Kingston, Of the department.
was asked to give the prisoners one
egg, and he figured that it would cost
about $1,000 to give one egg to each
prisoner on Sunday morning.
There are 1900 in the City Of New
York who said that they did not APP
prove of a certain home rule. and until
the present administration had gone
out they would not obey il. These peo-
pie could not be removed 1t means
$500 civil service men who can stand
up and say: We will see a change in
the administration before we do it,
Puts Blame on Civil Service.
"We cannot remove them; also vet
Grams of the Civil War or the Volun-
teer Fire Department-w cannot re-
move them, only by charges which can
be brought in court of law. We can
not do as you can do in your private
business-go out and get the right help
that will carry out your ideas, and
then, if we find that they are not doing
exactly what is right, say that a change
is desired. Please send in your resigna-
ton. That is the reason why in civil!
service things are not done better
81 cannot go into details about the
labor and discipline problems. They are
In my mind the most vital problems II
we did not have good discipline the
place would be impossible to live IT,.
1t would take long, long time 20 pre-