Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-05-05
PRISON REFORM AT SING SING
tho Days Best Cartoons.
ny FREDERIC !. lJASISI<

Sing Sing as long as 1t is run on the
Osborne plan, but IL that pla n ia una,
he VIII break out.
Since sing sing became self-govern.
ing. its politics are interesting. Tho
Italians are regarded as pretty good
politicians and 60 per cent OF the In.
mates OF Sing Sing are Italians. AT
nrst the Italians ran tho Mutual We'll
rare League. But By the end OF the
first year the Irish influence began Ia
assert Itself. Only 10 per cent of the
inmates are Irish, but soon they had
| huilt an organization True to their
| colors. they called 1t Tammany. and
now they have all the Offices and the
spotlight.
Case. Mny he Appealed.
Certain cases from the Welfare
, League Court may be appealed TO the
"ardens Court There was an echo OF
politics in the case OF Rosetti who
appeared on appeal He WAS formerly
! an officer Of the Welfare League, and
one OF the prominent politicians of the
insutution-an interesting and pic
turcsque young Italian. But ne had
sent vile insult to Il member OF the
I successful Tammany opposition ana
had been hailed into court because Of
/ IT. When he appeared before the war
} den he was asked what action he would
have taken, an officer OF the court
/ II such a case had come before him
. II he did not think that. in the in
iercst Of discipline. he should take his
medicine. II letting him of would no,
/ injurc the thing they were all try
ING To build up. In the end he asked
that he be punished and went away
/ Tor TWO weeks in his cell on bread and
! water.
J AZ a sitting Of this court an offender
| WAS tried for attempting to smuEClc
letters past the censor. Another was
charged with having made AN electric
stove and having had IL I'm his cell
in violation Of rules. Another had
been out OF his cell without PERMITS
sion. They were mostly small ofrenses
: but Intensely interesting to all CON
! ccrned. because this court was theirs
something with which to busy them
selves, something about which TO think
Before seif-government. better cxer-
/ clSe regulations and other OF the Os-
! borne reforms were inaugurated. there
had been AN average OF ffty-fve men
who each year went insane and had
/ TO be transferred TO Matteawan. The
! first year under the new regime there
were hut nineteen men who went crazy
! Under the self-rovernment system
there are but one-eighth the number
I Of infractions OF rules that took place
under the old plan.
The great need of the institution is
more opportunity for work on the part
I or the prisoners. There are print
! shops. shoe shops, garment working
shops and several others In these
shops there is more or less opportunity
/ FOR the men to learn trades. There are
! trade schools along all these lines Blu,
the output Of the shops is limited 20
T. material that may be used by this
and other State institutions as the
law allows no prison-made article to
! he sold. This limited outpu, offers lit
| tie for 100 able bodied men to do in
the way of work. and consequently lit
trades The osborne management asks
. that a means be devised to keen tho
men busy in the shops. so that human
! effort may not he wasted and they
may he benefited by a better work
ing experience
Mike Kelly was bank burglar with
n long record up New England way
VINO some years ago got caught In New
YORK ana put away" Kelly was but
Ter for acting Warden kirchwey Like
wise he Is an encyclopedia of infor-
nation on prison life and statistics
Tor that official. There is not moro
solemn and correct butler in the world
but when Mr. Kirchwey has friends
to dine he uses Kelly in furnishing de-
tailed Information about prison life.
I The old dollhouse at Sing Sing was
built In 1928. and has not been changed
nor added to since that time IT is
obviously Inadequate and out of tune
with the twentieth century, but New
York seems satisfied with IL. Until
the last two years the institution has
been run on the theory that the com
munity was aveneing itself upon Of
tenders against the law Osborne apd
Kirchwey are theorists who hold
announcer IDEA and believe that civiliza-
ZION Is centuries ahead OF this view
and that the present generation. and
humane. progressive America, should
solve The age-long problem Of the of-
fender against the law on a different
basis from that of taking vengeance