davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-05-26
STRONG FOR TEMPERANCE.

The commissioners came out strong for
temperance and decided to have ministers
and laymen send letters. toi the members of
Congress. when they return to their homes,
where they represent 100000 people,
urging the Legislature to submit a Consti-
tuttonal amendment for total prohibition of
the traffic in alcohol for beverage purposes
to the-people Of the States. An amendment
to the resolution provides that the District
OF Columbia shall be included. ="
Much fun accompanied the adoption of
the resolution concerning going to temper
ance hotels. John NJ. McInnis, Syracuse,
n. Y, wanted to know why 1t was necessary,
to close the hotel bars when the ministers
were at an Assembly session. and the Rev.
Hubert Kettele, Huron, said, IF this
Presbyterian Assembly is in the world to
do any good. 1t ought to go to the cities
where there are saloons"
The commissioners also went on record
as favoring the abolition of the sale of
Federal licenses for liquor in Prohibition
States saying that this would help do
away with blind pigs"
In adopting the resolution on the nom
use of tobacco for ministers of the GOSPEL
and officers Of the church, the commission
ers did not make 1t mandatory, but gave
strong recommendation that the habit
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-05-26
Allies Recall ENJOYS to Greece

BERLIN, via London, May 26.-The
italian Minister to Greece, Signor Buslari,
and the French Minister, M. Guillemain,
have been recalled, according to Athens
dispatches, because they failed to obtain
Greece's consent for the transportation of
Serbian troops to Salonica by rail-
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-05-26
English Leather Inferior rh.. y

LONDON, May 26-Britisb sboa -.
has this year been found wantJns leather
traditional good quality. Dealers m its
the reason for this is that owing Eeciare ~ =,
war, the supply of chestnut extTsct % the
Fra, France and Vaionia acorn cups from rU, mon
compelled to use inferior tannSnS nave nave been
The Washington times., 1916-01-09
Clancy Advised Against
Convict ORGANIZATION

Clancy advised against 1t. The Mutual
Welfare League had been formed in
Auburn. Clancy said that It's only effect
had been to put the reins of authority
in the hands OF few INSCRIPTIONS con-
vlcts.
However. Mccormick had the coura ge
of Independent thought. He was on the
job only few days when he instructed
the men of the various industries 10
elect delegates from their shops. These
men, he made clear, We're to come 10
him with the grievances of their groups
and together they would seek curatives.
The convicts were astoundcd Their
first thought when they had recovered
from their amaZement was that there
was a Joker in the scheme somewhere.
They believed that Mccormick was GO
inE to exploit them against themselves
ard to the advantage of the prison ring,
as the grating politicians who have eN-
ercised their sinister influence on Sing
Sing. are known. They knew McCor-
mick was of the Tammany stripe.
Half-heartedly they selected their rep
resentatives. These men met McCor-
mick In his private office. With timidity
the men put forth their complaints
They We're encouraged by the warden
to frankness. They told how shop con.
The Washington times., 1916-01-09
New Element in
Penology From Travail

Born out of travail has been this new
element in penology. 1t has been
brought to its best fulfllment at the
sacrifice of the careers of three of the
four swardens who have held office in
the last three years.
It used to be said that man who
became mayor Of New York city signed
his own political death warrant. A re-
view of the last three years shows that
the man who accepts the wardenship
OF Sing Sing makes his own grave.
Nemesis has camped upon the trail or
the recent incumbents.
Kennedy, who gave the prison Its
first taste of humanity, wes ousted by
Governor SulZer after a report mad,
by a specially appointed investigator OF
the prison. Afterward he was indicted
tor misfeasanCe in office. The charges
have been dismissed since, but Ken
ncdy is broken man.
lie was succeeded by James \. Clan
cy, who was appointed by Governor
Sulzer. Clancy, who had no traininl
in prison work, whose appointment was
the humane measures Of Kennedy 20 n
point regarded as extreme by students
on penology. Finally. in his reforms
he stamped on the toes of CERTAIN po'-
tticiars and he quit. He ts the only
one Of the four given the privilege pf
resignation.
Hilarious laughter and indignation
marked the advent Of Thomas McCor
mick. who followed Clancy into the
wardenship. When he was appointed HI
was a bankrupt plumber. He. too. was
Glynn needed the support of Eonkers
MrCormick'S home town,
The Washington times., 1916-01-09
Convicts Feared Old
Methods Would Return

1t was feared among the con,icts In
the prison that IL Osborne ever left
Sine Sing In a cloud like that which
descended upon his predecessors that
there would be reversion that would
put matters where they stood three
years ago. 1t Is i'm this short span that
sanity and humanity have entered the
prison.
There will be no backsliding. The
trend is forward and upward. In Dean
kirchwey the prison has an exec
utive who has given years OF exhaus-
tive research to his work. His recent ef-
forts have been given completely to the
uplifting Of the inmate: mind you, the
word is inmate now-since the incum-
bency OF osborne the term convict has
been shelved.
Such mistakes as Osborne made were
due entirely to his own short tcominss as
an individual. and to an idealism he
attached to the convict as concrete
type.
His biggest mistake-this Is not going
into the merits or demerits of the in
dividual-has been leniency.
Next in Importance. and seemingly an
Inconsistency when set beside the first
has been his arrogance.
Following in order his mistakes the
third may be set down as his resentful-
ness of criticism.
Fourth. as mistakes that can be charg-
ed against him. is his blind trust in the
responsiveness of Convicts to kindness.
Fifth, his absentee system of adj
ministration may be put among his car
dinal mistakes.
And last, there must be set against
him his craving for favorable pIblicity
The Washington times., 1916-01-09
Riley Asked For
Grand Jury Probe

1t was Riley who asked for the grand
jury investigation. One OF the first
| fruits of its work was the Indictment Of
twenty one men for immortality in prison.
Some OF these were known to be in the
favor of the warden. He went to the
| point OF defending them in court after
| the indictments were found.
For more than q month the grand
| jury took testimony. Osborne, meantime
| gave part of his time to the prison. and
| more of II to his personal crusade for
his reform. Time and again he went into
| court TO protest against the action OF
! the grand jury and District Attorney
| Weeks, who presented the evidence.
Two weeks before the indictments
| against Osborne were handed down one
| of the district attorneys assistants pub
| liCly charged in court that Osborne
| was morally unfit to hold the warden
ship of Sing Sing.
Osborne went before the grand jury at
| his own request. He was asked to dis
| close confessions that had been made to
him by some of his prisoners. and he re-
| fused fiatly. He asked that some Of his
| friends be called to testify in his behalf
| Dean Kirchwey was among those who
offered testimony for the warden.
Finally. on December y, the grand
jury gave out it's findings. Osborne was
| indicted on seven counts 1t was charged
that he had absented himself from
the State superintendent thirty-eight
tfelcnies that had been committed. that
he had permitted four prisoners to gC
into the death house to talk with
Charles Becker. that he had permitted
| lax discipline. and gave improper pro-
lection TO the convicts.
One count alleges that he is guilty oi
personal immortality. From the indict
ment ii is evident that all the ole
charges against Osborne-thoso thai
Tamnany sought to operate agains
him-were gone into by the grand jury
Riley refused to let Osborne resign
he would not consent to give him a ieav,
of absence. Governor Whitman stepped
in. but could not stir Riley from his de
! termination to let Osborne continue IL
his place until the trial Of the charges.
AS a result kirchwey now has tn,
power. 1t Is more than certain tina
Governor Whitman had more to do Will
| this than did Riley.
| As violently as Osborne fought Sefor'
he is more determined now 1t is know
! that he has had detectives working u
anticipation Cf the indictment for SOW
c"al months
His whole battle in court will he I,
prove that he is the victim of baseles
charges inspired by the prison ring an,
! fathercd by Superintendent Riley
On the 1ther hand, Riley will give n
mercy to Osborne when the issue come
, TO trial
Whatever be the outcome. wh:the
c sborre be exonerated on the charges
! or whether he goes tC Sing Sing as
| convict, selt-govGrnment will ccntiru
in Sing Sing. The era has just opened
r. =. HANLEl.
The Washington times., 1916-01-09
Tried To Stamp Out
Traffic In Drugs

Clancy gave most of his efforts to
stamping out the traffic in dope of all
kinds and the illicit sale of liquor. He
industries that were nurtured by the
set of politicians who claimed Sing Sing
as their personal grating ground.
II took months of hard work against
influences both in and out of prison.
Clancy had to fire several keepers. vino
simply were sales agents for those wEo
supplied the dope and whisky. lie
found organized against him a cabal
of group of conviCts, men who had
been getting profit out of their en-
couragement of the use of drugs and
liquor.
Hard was the battle, and CLANCY often
was close to despair. There were manv
times when he confessed to the writer
that he believed the principal keeper
estimate OF the character of the con-
vict as a type was absolutely right.
Governor Sulzer, who had appointed
Clancy, was impeached' and Tammany
Ted-tongued, demanded his blood. How
| ever, he had made a record. there could
be no impugning of his character. He
held on under Governor Glynn until he
was good and ready. to quit.
Slowly his job became intolerable. and
| in July, 1914, he announced himself ready
| to get out. He had made record, but
more than all else he broke clean. The
writer was present at midnight wher
he turned over his keys to Mccormick
The new warden was asked for his
plans. He said he hadn't any. But
| within a few minutes he proved he ha
DO you think" he asked Clancy
that It would be a good move to stag
an organization among the prisoners
The Washington times., 1916-01-09
OSBORNE SUCCESS,
VERDICT OF CONWCTS
Lack Of Protest at Warden's
Reform Hailed by Friends as
"a Vindication.
Continued from First Page.>

the charges against him-they allese
perjury, malfeasance and personal I'M
norslity--his withdrawal from Sing
Sing brought no demonstration from the
convicts as a body. Not a single act or
disorder within the prison walls can
be sscribed to his removal.
In this passive acceptance the sue
GEES of the Osborne system Ia written,
according to his admirers.
II the charges that have forced Os-
borne out are proved true he will go
back to his laboratory. He will go back
a. convict. should he be doomed to
don the prison gray in this worst prison
of the country, where he had proved
there Is honor among thieves and the
instinct for law among the lawbreak-
ers, he will find his own theories. the
theories he set in operation. still in
force.
They have been found to sustain the
severest test that could be put upon
found not only to bring discipline and
efficiency, but happiness.
New York; State will have no other
system than that which Osborne brought
to fun flower. His bitterest enemy,
superintendent Riley, has given the new
warden. George w. Kirchwey. former
- dean Of Columbia University's law
school, explicit instructions to continue
the Mutual Welfare League as the gov
erning body among convicts.
Il recognize that the first big step in
prison reform was Mr.. Osbornes insti,
tuition of the Mutual Welfare League
and its system OF self-government.
said Prof. Kirchwcy in accepting the
post from RILEY,
The Washington times., 1916-01-09
Story of Osbornes Struggle for Reform Interests Countr

Riley. some OF whose sdhsrents among
the Keepers had been dismissod. Once
the crisis was eensed war was declared.
1t waged until the indictments, and It
on trial.
Riley went to Governor whitman and
asked his support. So did Osborne. At
first the governor kept his hands Off
that It was his intention to let the men
fight to the end SO, like Kilkenny cats,
they would destroy each other. Re-
Gently. tho governor gave the benefit
OF every doubt to Osborne, and even on
tho day of the indictment, said:
From the first 1 have believed the
charges against Mr.. Osborne's personal
character entirely unfounded. and l am
astonished at the action Of the grand
jury. But, of course. know nothing of
the evidence that was presented to that
bOdy.n
The Washington times., 1916-01-09
Man of Culture
Comes Into Office
After Mccormick came Osborne.

After Mccormick came Osborne.
Here was a man Of culture, means.
social standing and political power.
Born wealthy. he was graduated from
Harvard. and took up his work in one
OF the family's manufactures n his
native city, Auburn. the site OF the
second largest prison in the State
There he owns a plant that ranks tLird
IN the country In tho manufacture If
Icapers
Osborne went into politics lie was
elected mayor on an independent ticket
and he gave Auhurn one of the best
administrations IL ever has rad, though
he had to dip into his private puIS,,
deeply to carry out his reform.
He served or State committees and
en- national committees Of the Demo-
cratic party in which lie soon was
recognized as a power When the pub
lie service commission was formed he
Was named for the un-State bod. in
spite of Tammany's oT position II wa.
III this fight that Tnmmanv ma l.
against him that the rrst breath of
scandal was uttered against him
On thu floor OF the State senate Ten
Grady, the spokesman for the Tiger
dramatically registered his protest
| II have here he said pointing to his
| inside coat pocket. documents that
! prove this man is unworthy to serve .
Naturally there was a sensation. ant
! an executive session was called at once
" hat was said cannot lie told here, hut
The Washington times., 1916-01-09

Hall. to whom Osborne has been q
growing wound for many years. How
ever. Charles S. Whitman. the incoming
governor, wanted Osborne, too, and so
he was put in the place.
At this writing the attitude OF Cover
nor Whitman toward Osborne is not
clear, although he has not lost an op-
portunity In the year of his term to
support the warden, even against SUI
perintendent Riley.
Osborne told Sing Sing convicts in tho
mess hall the day he left that he would
be back among them as soon as he had
been exonerated of the charges. Super
intendent Riley IL emphatic in asserting
that Osborne never will 60 back into
the prison. The governor has remained
1t Is neither a guess nor q prophecy
to stay that by the time jury acts on
the accusations against Osborne. Riley
will not be holding the superintendency
OF the prison department.
In the report that George W. Blake
made to Governor Sulzer about Sing
Sing prison In June of 1918, he said that
conditions that would shame the Dark
Age were existent in the prison. En-
llghtenment has been sitting In in the
intervening period. Conditions are not
by any means perfect in Sing Sing: they
never will be, perhaps, considering per
faction in its penological sense, but they
never will relapse.
The Washington times., 1916-01-09
Typifed Yesterdays
Prison Conditions

He typfed the old conditions In Sing
Sing just as Thomas Mott Osborne is
typical of the new.
His day ended when humanity began
to play a part in the life OF the con-
vict. When Kennedy began the sweep
OF the new thought carried him and his
kind out of existence. Also. the con-
vict they dealt with has passed. It has
been demonstrated that it is possible TO
change the type of convict.
1t was a cruel era. that the old prin-
cipal keeper represented. 1t was one in
which the convicts day was equally di-
vided between shop and cell.
In those days the convict was called
from his bunk at in the morning.
was rushed into the mess hall for coffee
and bread and thence to his shop. Once
the men left their cells they could have
no intercourse with their fellows. ST.
The Washington times., 1916-01-09
Took Up Golden Rule
Brotherhood In Prison

When he went to Sing Sing he took
up the Golden Rule Brotherhood, and
cleared the Decentralization that had re-
suited after the departure Of McCor-
mick. He had with him as assistant
Charles Johnson, a penologist Of note.
Together they attacked the problem.
The first result was the granting of
the broadest privileges to the convicts--
inmates they became now in the cupie-
mstic sense. The most noteworthy of
these was the institution of a court Of
prisoners. In which their own judges
sat and passed judgment on those who
had broken the prison rules.
Then followed the concession OF per-
| hitting the relatives of prisoners to visit
| them on Sundays. The restrictions that
had been put upon the inmates mail
were removcd--and only prisoner can
| tell just how much that means.
Osborne. in his first speech, declared
war on the keepers. He announced thu [
he would give as much credcnce to the
word OF a convict az he would give 10
| the pal! guardians. As consequence.
| he found arrayei against him a group
| IF mcn with strong political backing.
| 1t 8 known now that these men con-
| spired against him.
| He gave full liberty of speech i'm the
| mess halls and shops He took the
guards away from these places. Wher.
| ever he could he reduced the suryeil'
| lance Of the uniformed men and put
| convict keepers In their stead. With:
! "A month after he took office the con
victs in the actual sense OF the wore
were running the prison. Whether thls
, was q nIstake the jury that tries Os
borne will have to determine; penolo
| glits differ on the point.
Osborne was the man who frame.
the reforms. Johnson put them int;
! execution. 1t can be told In all truti
| that johnson often failed to carry ou
| his instructions. lie modified th'
| changes so as to make them adaptabl'
, 10 the conditions as he saw them
| Some weeks Osborne was in the prison
only for two or three days The indict
| ments say he abscnted himself withou
rermissiOr. lie employed all his t!ln'
outside the prison in telling clubs
leagues, and church meetings his plans
lie worked uD not only in New Yori
| state. but all through the adjoinin:
States, a deep interest in his reforms
As a consequence he has with him nov
The support of innumerab" OrGaniza
tions who believe in the efficacy Of hi
efforts.
Another change that Osborne mad
was in the name of the organization
lie had the Brotherhood change itsei
to the Mutual Welfare League, and pat
tern itself after the parert body II
Auburn.
This stirred up measure of disat
foctior that was fostercd by certai
! Of the bic men among the inmate:
rhe warden, with his characterised
impaticnca OF opposition. had these dis
, cordant mon transferred to other pria
ons. Ry this means. although he pro
ressod - keep his hands removed fror
the action of the league. he exercise
an sutocratic power in its destiny.
II is not an unfair statement to sa
that he picked favorites among the con
ViCts These men enjoyed his conf
. dcnce to an extraordinary degree; i
| fact, some Of them had the free ru
OF hin house.
t Soon he ran atoul Of Superlntenden
The Washington times., 1916-01-09
Whitman Rsopsns
Secret Stairc1ss
Visitors to Executive Chamber NM
Now Enter and Leave
Il Unseen.

ALBANY. Jan s-ocvevnoe waknw
has restored tho hidden staircase ~
which visitors may enter and leavU u
executive chamber unseen. Il lssAs
from . blind room on the Groand fioos.
in the museum section Of the capitol.
freauentsd only by tourists and sight
seers. direct to the private ofYice Of the
governor.
This secret entrance has not been used
since David b. Hill was governor. Gov
ernor Hughes had the staircase torn
out and the room was given over to the
prison department Today carpenters
nailed uD the entrance from the little
blind room to the prison department Of
fees. A force of men was put to work
replacing the staircase.
Ir the dark ages Of invisible gov
ernment in this State the hidden pas
| sage was used to admit favored lobby
lists and political bosses who had busi.
ness with the governor they preferred to
transact In secret.
The door leading to this secret stair
case Is masked with the innocent legend
| Room 20"
The Washington times., 1916-01-09
Number of Mistakes
Startlingly Small

Reviewing them all. 1t Is startling
that there are so few, no matter how
embracing may be their generic head
ings. Whoever sets about to correct
the errors in authority that have re-
suited through these defects in the
character of Osborne will develop d
crop OF his own in some other dircc-
lions. That is bound to happen. it ~
in human nature. Only a sodlike person
dealing with gcdlike charges can euro
them all.
There was man in Sing Sing who
felt that ne made no mistakes In deal
ing with the prisoners. He acted on
the principle that all conricts, the first
offenders and the habituals, were rat3
that was his favcrte word for them
and he treated them accordingly. He
was for quarter OF century principal
keeCer in the rat trap on the banks OF
the Hu ison, and it was not until in the
evolution of the last three years he
was retired that there came ary vari-
ance with his habits Of thought and
action.
fIe had started in Sing Sing as a
keeper when he was a young man. In
his home life he was kindly. indulgent.
and generous. In his dealings with men
not of prison he was fair-mtnded. lie
vas a devoted churchman who applied
the precepts Of mis- faith to an extraor-
dinnrily extreme degree-excep: in his
prison work.
Probably he was not TO blame. his
ideas on convicts were not his own; he
took what the traditions gave him and
never saw any other side of the sit
| us ton. This man who never uttered a
harsh word in his own home gave his
spare time in prison to thinking up new
ways of making the lot of the convicts
! harder His primary principle was that
| to make a man dread prison was to
cure him of crime. IF torture. hard
| ship and privation could intill that
| dread he carried out his mission to
The Washington times., 1916-01-09
Knew Nothing of Prison
But He Knew Men

This man. who had no more knowledge
of prisons than a rabbit had greater
asset. He understood men. Further
more. he regarded the convicts as men
men who had made mistakes. but never
theless men who had the usual set OF
emotions. who had capacity for suf-
fering. who would respond to fairness
and justice.
1t was this master plumber who in
stituted self-government in Sing Sing.
not Osborne. The Mutual Welfare
Rule Brotherhood that Mccormick
founded. 1t was he who organized base
ball In the prison. who gave the men
opportunity for healthy recreation and
made them their own guardians.
He went one step too far. Sing Sing
contained bank wrecker. David Sui
Ivan, who ruined the Union Bank of
Brooklyn. Mccormick took a liking to
Sullivan. and put him in a. position
where he exercised the power of a
deputy warden. Moreover. he made him
his chauffeur. and together they rode
out OF prison to Honkers and Man
haitian. sullivan abused the favoritism.
A scandal resulted and Mccormick was
Ousted and humiliated.
When Governor Glynn sought man
for the vacant place there was an
unanimous demand for r. NJ. Osborne.
He had been known for years as a
prison retormer. He had made q study
OF penal conditions not only in this
country, but abroad. For first-hand in
formation he submitted to the unusual
experiment OF having himself incarce-
rated in Auburn Prison for a week
Under the name OF Tom Brown" he
ste and worked with the convicts. He
learned their point of view. He found
the flaws in the conditions and he had
definite ideas about the remedy. That
he might apply the remedy. civic or
CARNATIONS and the newspapers of New
York practically compelled Governor
Gtynn to appoint him.
1t was little of Glynn's affair. He was
shout to so out OF the govenorship
When he appointed Osborne he did so
contrary to the wishes of Tammany