Putnam patriot., 1915-08-13
WARDEN-ELECT
 VISITS CHESHIRE
.. A. Johnson. New Head of Re- fOrmatory, Is 0sborne's Aide
CITES SING SING CONDITIONS
Escapes Are tssolated Cases, He Says Believes in Golden Rulea-- Will Follow Same Plan
 al Cheshire.

Waterbury," a political mud de was the laconic comment of Charles F. Johnson. deputy warden of Sing Sing prison when asked here to explain the attacks made upon Warden Thomas Mott Osborne of Sing Sing. Mir Johnson who will succeed Albert Garvin as warden of the Cheshire reformatory. October 1, arrived here and went to Cheshire with John F. Elton. a membr of the re sormatory board, to inspect the in eitution.
 Mr Johnson was reluctant to dis cuss the troubled affairs of his su- perior at ossining. apparently feel ing it would be indelieate for him to do so, in spite of the fact that his sympathy with the Osborne move ment for prison reform is widely known. He was equally averse to discussing his plans for the better ment of youthful prisoners ill the Cheshire institution.
 Tt is rather poor taste" he said. ito talk about what you are going
 
 work and know the conditions. There will be plenty of time for that later"
 No" he said, quietly, it won't be such a change from Sing Sing to Cheshire, after all We have great many young prisoners at Ossining
 Prisoners Are Youthful.
 "The average age is going down steadily every year. as the New York gangs feed more and more of their boys and young men into the prison The average age of Sing Sing pris onerB now is only 26 It won't be so different and then, your chances Of success with youngsters are al ways greater
 As you know. Sing Sing has al ways been the prey of politicians. What Osborne has done has been strictly non=polucal He took the place to do straight prison reform work, and he has done it. Of course, as he has considered politics and prison reform two entirely different breeds of cats, he has often cut straight across political lines.
 Many of the things for which he is criticised, the privileges he is said to have granted with high hand, were granted under his predecessor, Mccormick, before he became war. den
 ''The Mutual Welfare league, as a matter of fact. started under Me, Cormick. No, I don't regard 1t as a scheme to help out some of the worst offenders l think it works out very well. and is doing a considerable ser vice to the cause of prison reform.
 SeIf-Government.
 Homer, at Great Meadow prison, started the honor system Osborne went great step further, and es- tablished self-government His idea has been to develop among the pris. oners a sense of self-relance and responsibility, to make them fit foT citizenship. The result has justified his theory, as a matter Of fact. There have been fewer escapes, fewer at tempts to take advantage of priv ileges under Mir Osborne than un. der any previous warden"
 Do you believe that self-govern- ment can be made as beneficial to youthful prisoners as to grown men?" he was asked.
 Certainly" he said.
 Here John P. Elton. president of the American Brass company, and one of the Cheshire Reformatory board, who is MT. Johnson's host. explained that the system of self government had been used, as far az possible. in the conduct of the re. formatory.
 Cheshire Conditions.
 Every now and then" said MT. Elton "a boy runs away. We ex- pect that But it doesn't refute the argument that the majority Of the boys will respond to confidence and will act honorably if they are given a sense of responsibility In most cases escaped prisoners have been brought back by other boys"
 Undoubtedly Mir. Johnson's views of prison reform coincide with those of the reformatory board, and un- doubtedly. too. his administration will carry the self-goyernment the ory into effect as widely and com pietely as possible at Cheshire.
 Mir. Johnson was asked what per cent. of criminals, in his experience he had found absolutely in able of reform.
 That's a hard question" he an- severed. Tt all depends. l should say that probably 30 per cent Of criminals are mentally defective to a greater or less degree and consequently are not ameDable to ordinary treatment. Of the remaining TO per cent. well. most ef them will try to be decent if they feel that you expect them to be decent and there is always a good chance of making good citizens of them.
 Whether or not the percentage Of hardened prisoners holds good in Con- neetieut ] cannot say, but 1t safely