The Washington herald., 1916-11-18
The Meaning Of Stripes
By JOHN ID. BARRY.


What could have been the first reasons
that caused society to dress in stripes?
They must have included the instinct to
brand those considered dangerous with
THE marks of shame and to make thcr7
carry on their backs q warning that they
were dangerous. Deeper still must have
been the desire to punish, still active IN
! the minds Of men, and to punish ss
cruelty as possible.
It was not enough to infict physical
pain. There must be intense mental
languish, too. It could be effectually
Iachisved by making men wear the clothes
of shame. And the clothes Of shame mus:
lbe, not really hideous. but ridiculous,
lgrotesque.
other man: "I'n see him in stripes yet"
And hear or read words like these: He
ought to be In stripes"
In the first case there is gloating, the
assumed qualification of the desire to put
another in public shame. In the other
case there Is the expression OF the desire
to expose infamy. real or imagined, TO
have t Inundated
In both cases there is, not the will
to reform or to help the evildoer in any
! way, but the longing to see the evildoer
suffer. a longing that IN itself 10 a form
| of suffering.
| II one-tenth OF the energy expressed
through ill-feeling were devoted to the
expression of good-feelIng. the world
| would be much farther advanced than
1t is today. and there would be far less
need Of prisons and no possible justifica-
ton OF stripes.
| OF course there are plenty OF excuses
given for stripes plenty of reasons for
keeping prisoners in striped clothes.
One reason is that criminals ought TO
feel their shame.
Il
1t enough.
| Another reason is that wearing stripes
makes II exceedingly dificult for a pris-
oner to escape. His stripes are in them
| selves an alarm wherever he goes.
| And yet. prisoners clever enough TO
break through bolts and bars. TO scale
high walls. and TO dodge bullets. are
| usually clever enough to secure clothes
| without stripes to make their escape in.
In many prisons stripes have long
| been abolished. We never hear Of
prison that abolishes stripes and then
goes back to them. On the contrary. the
| abolishing of stripes is one Of the many
ways by which. during the past quarter
OF a century. the prison system has i'm
proved. one OF the steps that mark the
advance from inhumanity to humanity.
from harming to helping.
| The old theory OF dealing with prison
ers was not unlike the old theory OF 1eal-
ing with refractory children.
First OF all. break their spirit.
! The use OF stripes was an ideal method.
! When the spirit was broken the theory
was that the character could then be
built up all over again.
| But the formation OF character is
spirit. Without spirit there can be no
character.
The idea Of building character on a
broken spirit is preposterous.
There are unauestionably many men
whose spirits have been broken by the
wearing of stripes. Never again can
they hold up their heads without fear
and shame. Never again can they respect
| themselves.
The stripes become a part OF their
souls.
They may leave the prison behind them.
but on their souls there still remain the
marks OF stripes.
Does II become easier, I wonder, for
those prisoners to wear stripes who stay
in prison for years?
Or do the stripes inspire them each
day with the same lcathing and horror?
| Perhaps they become dulled to stripes.
Perhaps stripes grow to be merely one
expression among many hideous express
sions of the CHASTITY monotony OF their
lives.
On the other hand there must be those
In whom stripes inspire, not shame or
horror, but a fierce hatred Of the So
ciety that forces them to wear the stripes.
And this hatred helps to harden their
hearts against the world.
| 1t makes them long TO get even with
the world that has put upon them this
Ignominy.
And they know OF only one way OF get
ting even, by continuing TO prey on So
ciety as soon as they get the chance. by
indulging in more criminality.
Religious people often speak Of being
convicted of sin. They maintain that,
to the sinner. that is, to every human
being. conviction OF sin is one Of the most
important means OF salvation.
And yet how many people are there
who can be said to be really convicted o.
sin?
Usually when people say that they are
convicted of sin they mean that they
know they have sinned in the past and
they have put their sins behind them.
In such conviction there is a good deal
Of satisfaction. AZ times there ts, un-
happily. self-righteousness as well.
When conviction OF sin becomes re-
morse even the believers in the import
ance of being convicted OF sin realize
that the state of mind of the sufferer
from remorse is likely to be unwhole-
some.
They do their best TO comfort and as
suage.
As a matter Of fact. conviction Of sin
consists very largely in that determine
ton of the sinner to sin no more, to put
of his sins, to ally himself for the future
with the forces OF good.
This disregarding of the past and this
alliance with virtue is regarded by all
religions as a wholesome and happy con-
dtion.
But it is a condition that We never
allow our prisoners to get into.
In most prisons they don't let a pris-
oner forget his sins-the sin he was con-
rvicted of-during one Of his waking hours
They put the symbol Of his sin upon his
back. Wherever he walks he carries his
sin with him. a burden Of shame