Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1916-11-16
BETTER PRISON CONDITIONS
Former Secretary of Thomas
Mott Osborne Gives Address.
Fa~ors Indetermfnste Sentences with
Payment ut Regular Rates for pris-
on Labor and Release Depend
Ing on Individual.

"a new prison system. under which nor.
sons convicted OF offences against the law
ana order OF the state should receive
lndehnite commitments to prison, the
termination of which should dopond uron
the prisoner himself. and the establishing
OF prisons in which such person should
acquire industry, self-control a rcspcct
TOT the laws of the country and other
necessary essentials to good citizenship
10 replace the present methods under
Whl'n 80 per cent. Of the persons com
fn'tted to prison become second offenders
was advocated by Donald Iowric for
iner secretary to Thomas Mott Osborne
IN an eloquent address on the bcttcr,ncn,
OF prison conditions. delivered before a
meeting Of Unity at the Unitarian Church
tuesday Mrs. S. G. w. BENJAMIN,
president of Unity, presided at the meet.
ing which was the opening one of the
season and was very largely attended
The marked interest with which Mr.
Lowric's audience listened to his address
was manifested by the eager manner in
which they took advantage Of the sneak
er s offer to answer any questions al the
close of his speech
Tho first part Of Mr.. Iowrcs address
was devoted to demonstrating the inius-
tlce of the present system Of arbitrary
sentences, under which first offender
may receive a sentence of ~ years Tor
"A comparatively petty attempted crime
while in the same prison there may he
confirmed criminal. SERVING perhaps his
tenth term, whose sentence may be only
one year. Crime" said the speaker, lis
merely man-made degree Of sin, and i,
Is wrong to try 10 TIT the penalty to the
offence, instead of to the offender"
The evils Of what he termed a most
stupid prison system were then explained
by the speaker, who told how a prisoner
upon arriving at the prison to which h,
was sentenced ceased to have any further
responsibilities. He not only became a
prisoner, but pauper as well, since his
earning capacity ceased with his incar-
ceration. and he lost not only his liberty
but his manhood. If the prisoner drirtod
along on the muddy current of prison
affairs. he was regarded as a model
prisoner
NEW PRISON SYSTEM
THE new system" said Mr. Lowric
! would be constructive. or at least would
opdeavor To construct rather than to de-
stroy, the human being" The prison
would not be place of punishment, but
an institution rather more resembling a
hospital, whore the prisoner would he
looked upon as a person not to he pun
iShed. but to be cured. BY virtue of the
lndetcrminato sentence, it would be
strictly up to the prisoner as to how
long he would remain in the institution
and the most important feature Of the
now system would be that the prisoner
would be paid for his labor.
The speaker believed that by ia wing
the prisoners for their work, the prisons
could be made sclf-supportnE. so that
they would not cost tho communities a
cent. instead of having the keeping OF
1900 men in Sing Sing. under the most
wretched conditions. cost the State Of New
York from a quarter to half a million
of dollars annually. The prisoner wouc
learn responsibility through being com
PEELED to pay from his earnings fol
everything that he received, to support
his family or any dependents whom hi
might have. or to make restitution fol
the wrong which he had done Mr. Low
re believed that a specific amount might
he assessed as payment for the damage
done by the prisoner and that the pay
ment Of this sum should be one of the
conditions precedent to his release. Tn,
men would be taught how to use thcii
freedom when released and would be pro.
vided with sufficient money from then
earnings to enable them to get star
in new life. They would also hav,
learned respect for the law by having in
frat tions Of the prison rules punished by
fines. which would delay their release
The prisoner would automatically carr
his release when he had complied viii
certain requirements
OSBORNE AND SING SING.
A splendid tribute to Thomas Mot
Osborne, the man. and to the WORK
which he accomplished as warden n
Sing Sing, was paid by Mr.. Lowrie, who
was also inclined to be rather harsh
with the New York papers for the way
| in which they treated Mr.. Osborne:
accomplishments. Prisoners in Sins
Sing, when Mr.. Osborne commenced hi.
work had always been regarded as thu
! Legitimate prey of New York STATE
politicians and We're ruled with an iror
! hand, despite the continually demon
strated fallacy of punishment as :
deterrent He explained some of thu
methods by which prisoners had beer
| tortured. such as the head cage, bee
of roses a cell with corrugated iror
| walls and floor. the water cure etc
Mr.. Osbornes reforms included thu
| self governing idea by which all trou
BILE among the prisoners is settled b,
| their own self elected court of fiv.
members, the removal of the guard
from the workshops and the establish
ment of the Mutual Welfare League
for the mutual betterment and uplif
| of the prisoners. Mr. Osborne's de;
Of central Identification bureau
where all the fingerprints takcl
throughout the country could he classi
fled and kept and whore under a re
Gently devised system any set of print
could be obtained In a short time, wa
| explained and was declared by III,
| speaker to he scientific, sound and sen
sibla Mr., Lowre also told of MIR. Os
| borne's experiences in Auburn an,
sing Sing prisons and at the prisol