New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-21
IS SING SING TO RELAPSE,
A Plea for the New Idea Of Hope a. As,is
Torments for Lost Souls
or Of The Tribune.

SIT. I ne people OF INC SthLs OF New YAH
are deeply interested in the question a, :.
whether tho new administration at Sin, e.
will continue the self-governing system :,
Mr. Osborne. or whether il will relap,. ia.
the old-fashioned repressiye system OF VII.
Clinton Prison, in this state, furnish.,
typical example.
4 deep spiritual gulf separates th.,. -.
systems. The old system aims to punish r..
for crime with the supposed eorollary tb,.
the punishment improves the character Of "a.
men and deters others from crime. Clint.
Prison is a particularly bad type Of prison !.
that 10 has always been the "punishn.,,
prison" o. me state, which has carried si,.
Il the tacit permission to use upon the mar,
difficult cases sent there from other pri,o,,
more severe measures than those in use ola.
where
When punishment g aimed at in any pr,
on ono may rest assured that cruelty !,
achieved. The foundation OF the old sy,,,-
is to regard inmates as criminals and no, a,
men. Such a system is dominated By ,..,
lives over powder magazine Of smould.r,,
resentment and aims 20 keep itself SAT. b,
brutal punishments which brighten the mas,
Of the inmates into suilen acquieseene.. +
is true that torture in prisons is disappears,
under public opinion, but the spirit Of n,
administration is the same, under which il,
full duty is held 20 be the keeping Of the IN.
mates closely locked up. even though hi,
crushing process discharges from prison,
wrecks instead Of men. This spirit Of oxc,
contempt, indifference and brutality breed,
among the men a spirit OF hatred and Do.
term nation 20 get even with society sh.,
released, which is strengthened By their r,.l
ling the crimes which society has COMMITTED
against them. On the economic sid. NJ
William Dean Howells has pointed GU, ,l,
where man steals a small sum Of mon.y
and the state steals his labor for lon,
term Of years, theft for theft the man /. Ne
small thief and the state is the big THE,
The state commits a crime against It's in.
prisoned wards when it houses them for ysar
in small, damp, stone cells with tuberculosis
and chronic rheumatism resulting when il
so reprcsses them that numbers 80 insane.
and when il neglects 20 furnish moral edses.
ton and stimulus.
The new system approaches the prison PROB
lem from the standpoint, Of pity, rot Of hate.
pity for the men born wiki mental defect,
for the men raised in foul environments WITH.
out education in right things. Scared and
scanned By dissipation and disease, unframed
and unable 70 compete in the industrial orgar
ization. The new system, without the slight.
est aim Al punishment, faces the problem hey
70 build up these men physically, mentally
and morally, so that they can 90 straight
when they return to society. This is N,
only defensble aim OF prisons and the Only
way ~ which society can be protected. Ger.
tainly. the old system is an abject failure,
under which the stream OF discharged cor
yicts returns by thousands annually 10 pr.y
upon society b. practising the only proi...
sion they know. having had no influence dur
ing their prison terms to make them wsri
anything different.
Mr.. Osborne bases his system on Mr. Glad
stones dictum that 1T is only liberty that
fits men for liberty" 1t is difficult 70 thin.
OF any more discouraging field in which to
institute any measure of liberty than the
vailed confines of a prison, but it was IN
Auburn and Sing Sing that prison self-gov
eminent was started
This selfgovernment, necessarily limited
in scope, depended for its success upon
sufficient amount of self-control 10 take ii.
place of the disciplinary repression from
above. The first step in Auburn Prison Was
n ha lon call nd
permit the men to meet in the chapel or ia
the yard under supervision OF their Osn
elected officers. II is significant that Will.
IA men went insane in New York States
prisons in the fiscal year 1918. only 81 be-
came insane in 1914, the year this system vas
started. and As in 1915, and 4s in 1915, when
the outdoor system further developed
and extended. In place OF discipline en-
forced by punishment, stress is laid upon
privileges for good conduct and, in psrtiea-
lar, new interests, ambitions and hopes ss
furnished to the men to replace the brood
ngs of the past. In word, the one aim ia
change Of heart in the men. II is true hs'
all the men do not respond, some are ren'
tally incapable. others are hardened by long
prison terms, but no such proportion OF mes
who want to 20 straight has ever come out o.
New York States prisons as has left sing
Sing in the past year.
The extension OF Mr. 0sborne's work os'
side of the prison is only less important un
that within, in making the public realize 'n'
prisoners are still men, many Of whom |"
capable of honest work and deserve ehsao
10 rehsbilitate themselves, so that more ina
more business men are now willing to 8"
such men positions.
Is the new system at Sing Sing 70
modified that the self-governing prInePs'
will be lost? Shall the stream OF thousa's'
OF men annually returning from prison 70 ="
ciety in New York State be as in former eN,
the semblance OF men only, with oesasa.'
minds and hardened souls, or shall the!
men who have been physically and msn"p
healed and morally inspired The oia ~.
tenn is not punishment, but revenge, ana .
700 base a thing for this civilized son y
continue. Physical equipment for me'''''
attention and education is fundamental w
catonsl and industrial training are VITA, ",
these will largely fail unless spin' !"
moral inspiration dominates the sdmihH"'
ton.
The old style prison was place OF '''"'
for lost souls. The new style prison
hospital, a school and a beginning o. w
for future citizens Which shall the Nv